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Should a zoo be able to sell beer and wine? {Slashfood}
Apr 26th 2007 4:29PM Yep. I've been to one such place. It calls itself the 'Analcoholic restaurant'. If you really don't want any mention of alcohol whatsoever around you, go to one.
Instead of legislating against people's civil liberties, governments should create initiatives for people to make 'Ansmoking restaurant's.
Unbelief as a Form of Payback {News Bloggers}
Apr 21st 2007 4:56AM Atheism permits us to view the world as it is, not coloured by some form of deity.
Atheism provides more tranquility to the wellbeing and peace of mind of the living than religion, with its focus on the life after death. Religion focuses on how to maximise your chances of getting into Heaven once you die - rather a selfish endeavour. An atheist can comfort a weeping mother - a religious person would tell her her son could either be in Heaven or Hell.
Given the impressive track record of religion in matters of making people suffer, I would personally recommend you do not pursue the idea that atheists heap abuse.
And if you wonder about the reaction you got, substitute the word 'atheists' for 'blacks' or 'Jews' and you'll start to understand (I hope) the bigotry you've displayed.
The final... final word on the A/B list. {The Jason Calacanis Weblog}
Mar 31st 2007 3:48PM Er... that's kinda cruel to the kid. It was funny for maybe 10 seconds.
Balkan Odyssey: Or, What I Did on My Summer Vacation {Gadling}
Aug 17th 2006 8:46AM "because the Eu and everyone else is not just going to tear a nation apart after putting in so much money"
That's funny, I could have sworn the West did exactly that with Yugoslavia after pumping money in to support it's stance against the Soviet Union.
Balkan Odyssey Part 24: The End {Gadling}
Aug 16th 2006 10:30AM Very interesting route, but there is one, no, two glaring omissions in your travel plan.
Macedonia:
Absolutely magnificent little country. Today, the western part is torn in political conflict among the immigrant Albanians and the Macedonians, but it is truly an amazing pearl.
Serbia !!!!:
Belgrade has been touted as the New Prague. The mountains of Kopaonik and Zlatibor are awe-inspiring (and not that far away from where you went), and there are many little citis worth visiting. But above all, Belgrade, which really is a fascinating place.
Also, although I have not been there, I have heard great things of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.
I truly recommend Macedonia, Serbia (espexially Belgrade) and Zagreb. Pity you missed them!
Balkan Odyssey Part 18: Dubrovnik, the Pearl of the Adriatic {Gadling}
Aug 16th 2006 10:24AM To tell the truth, the whole area you toured is absolutely spectacular. It looks like Spain looked 40 years ago, before the construction boom.
Dubrovnik is, with reason, the pearl of the Adriatic. Similar to it is the isle of Sveti Stevan in Montenegro, only a little bit further south than you were. It was where Tito used to vacation, and many American celebrities rent rooms there (exactly which ones escape me). It's a small, walled, fishing village which has been completely turned into a luxury hotel, with the old houses doubling as rooms today. It is open to visitors, however, so that is one of my recommendations.
Balkan Odyssey Part 12: Kosovo!!! {Gadling}
Aug 16th 2006 10:16AM "Muslim dominated Kosovo had been granted autonomy while part of Yugoslavia. This autonomy, however, was revoked in 1990 during a period of strikes against Serbian domination. To make matters worse, the Serbs banned the Albanian language in much of the mass media--the first sign of an empire swallowing up an indigenous culture. The Kosovo Liberation Army formed in 1996 and fought a guerilla style war with the Serbs. In early 1999 Slobodan Miloševic amped up the Serbian campaign and drove 850,000 Albanians into exile across the borders into Albania and Macedonia. NATO responded with a bombing campaign which eventually led to Serbian forces withdrawing from Kosovo. The exiled Albanian returned en masse and extracted what revenge they could from the few remaining Serbs. This included torching Serb homes on the mountainside (above photo) and destroying orthodox churches."
The only unfortunate paragraph in an otherwise brilliant travel journal. Couple of points to make the correction:
* There never was a Serbian empire.
* Kosovo never had any autonomy until very recent years
* The Kosovo Liberation Army is a terrorist organisation as stated by the FBI, and to date still makes incursions against the native Serbs and death is still a common occurence - they are massacring the Serbs and not the other way around.
* I also noted you mentioned "Every single person in these photographs was marked for extermination". Not only is this a blatant lie, but the argument does not have two legs to stand on. The KFOR entered to find evidence - and found none.
* Coincidentally, the NATO bombing campaign was not, as logic would have it, restricted to Kosovo. NATO bombed and razed civil infrastructures in the rest of Serbia (including the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade), leaving Kosovo barely scathed. The total civilian death count in Serbia from this campaign rank over 5000, which is well over the 1000 death toll during the fighting against the KLA (1000 being military KLA casualties).
* 'Revenge' from Albanians resembles more of an ethnic cleansing in itself. 13th century orthodox monasteries were torched, despite being protected by the UNESCO, and to date, lynching of Serbs is a common occurence. The KFOR has strict orders to protect the Albanian population. It is also strictly ordered, however, not to protect the Serbian population, so the death toll is still rising.
* The number of Serbs displaced out of Kosovo far outweighs the number of Ablanians displaced by fighting - and it is still rising as homes are being torched and communities are being slaughtered.
* For your interest, Kosovo is the cradle of Serbian culture and of its people. I'm not sure if CNN left that clear enough.
Otherwise, this is a very interesting journal, and I read on with great anticipation.
