“Legal experts said that while the International Court of Justice had ruled that Kosovo’s declaration of independence was legal, it had avoided saying that the state of Kosovo was legal under international law, a narrow and carefully calibrated compromise that they said could allow both sides to declare victory in a dispute that remains raw even 11 years after the war there.”
From: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/world/europe/23kosovo.html?_r=3&ref=world

Disgrace.

And I’m not saying this as a Serbian nationalist from Kosovo or anything. It is a disgrace because  an institution that is supposed to use the logic and common sense (whatever that is in this case) decided not to decide at all (!!!), and left the politicians in the UN to play the game and make a “final decision” withing the General Assembly of the UN. An easy parallel would be if the pedagogues in the kindergarten would be asked for an opinion on who is right and who is wrong and they just tell the kids to decide themselves. Who wins? Bigger and stronger, of course, and in most cases those that won’t ever admit they made a mistake.

This way, all they did was to pretty much retain the status quo for now. Both sides will read between the lines in their own ways and we are still far from any kind of a decision. Disgrace!

What has this shown us? Only one thing, in my opinion – that ICJ doesn’t have cojones/balls/muda to do their job.
I mean, since the ’90s, we are being told that we have to deal with what our leaders and people did in the past, been that Srebrenica or whatever else. And we pretty much have dealt with it. I don’t know many people in Serbia that don’t accept Srebrenica as a crime against humanity, and don’t feel ashamed that someone of our kind did that. Sure, there is still a lot that needs to be discussed and accepted on all sides in that bloody war, but we are going into the right direction. As a whole region, that is.

However, what we have in this case is that a major institution – International Court of Justice, which was created to deal with such situations, clearly rejected to show some courage and either confirm that independence is OK, or admit a mistake and support the negotiations about the final status.

What kind of a crap is that? Were they afraid to make a decision that either USA or Russia will not like and thought that this way they won’t get in a position where one super-power doesn’t care about and overrules such decision (remember USA and UN)? Or were they just afraid that a clear decision will spark either fights between Albanians and Serbs or enforce secessionist movements in many regions in the world (Catalonia, to start with - check out the reaction of their PM yesterday, or Armenians in Azerbaijan, or Cyprus situation - check how quickly Germans issued this press release)? (check also other reactions here and here)

I honestly believed that this agony will be finished, whatever the decision would be… Honestly… For the sake of  the youth that should grow up learning about important things and enjoying life and not watching the news and looking forward to find a way to get a passport and leave the country. I honestly believed that international community has balls to make a decision and stick with it.  And, believe it or not, I was ready to accept that Kosovo will not be part of Serbia anymore. I knew it would be hard, but I was ready to cry my ass off and feel miserable for some time. For the sake of the future.

But that was until yesterday. Who is going to convince me today that it is OK to be OK with losing Kosovo? Nobody. Ever. Again.
I’m OK when someone proves me wrong. Someone with a clear idea why I am wrong and he/she is right. But who can prove me wrong here? Someone without a stand?
And stupid rhetorics about “de-facto situation” or “it would be too hard to get back there and convince Albanians that living with Serbs is OK” doesn’t work anymore. It’s just absurd.

And don’t think I’m becoming a nationalist. Nope. Never been, never will be. My thoughts are on a much higher level. I’m actually sure now that my old idea about the need of the  World War 3 and “restart of the system” is actually very good. Couple of nukes would probably help solve all the world’s problems. Am sure that Mr. Bush and Clinton would agree with me, along with all leaders of NATO countries. Don’t you agree?

That, or and old idea of Mr. Arthur C. Clarke (somebody reminded me of this idea today):
“Any teacher (leader) that can be replaced by a machine, should be!”
Machines think logically. They know only 1 and 0, true or false. Their logic cannot be affected by Monica Lewinsky, Mr. Putin or fancy Mr. Obama and his administration. They don’t know what the word “inat” means. They don’t give a fuck. That’s why I love computers.

It’s funny ’cause it’s true…

Cartoons from: http://www.donika.com/cartoon.html

A moment we waited for 12 long years has finally arrived -- Partizan won Maccabi in the quarter-finals and reserved the place at the Final 4 in Paris! With a little luck this team can also achieve something we are waiting for 18 years -- to win Euroleague…

Yup, I actually said “with a little luck”, because this team is, despite the youth and low budget (salary of just one Olympiacos’ player is bigger then the complete budget of Partizan), really something special and far from an underdog. It is consisted of a carefully selected group of players which are all talented, but combined with Partizan’s legendary coach, Dule Vujosevic, and the equally legendary Partizan’s fans, Gravediggers, this group becomes a very special team that gives 150% on every match and has become a very tough cookie for all the biggest teams in Europe.

Even Mr. Gershon, Maccabi’s coach, has noticed in one of his interviews that Macabbi has already taken a couple of great players from Partizan, but they never played anywhere as good as in Pionir Arena and under Dule’s guidance.

Below is what I’m talking about, and what Paris can expect from 7th to 9th of May.
I suggest the city of Paris to strengthen the foundations of Bercy Arena, for earthquake called Gravediggers is coming!

Last minute and celebrations:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZTjTXNNOb0

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRa0AePQS8M

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnCEMe1QEvI

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzQUsQlyo8M

www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4NpPN-NC5U

I’m not really sure who’s fail this is, as I don’t like pointing finger at anyone and am quite sure that all players in this chain have “logical” explanation, but in the bottom line, it is Toshiba’s responsibility and definitely deserves attention as a great example of how a great company can fail in customer focus/relations/centricity.

So, what happened was that a friend bought a Toshiba laptop with Windows Vista pre-installed and with a free upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium Edition. A free upgrade sounds very good, especially since Win7 is far better option then Vista, easier to use, faster, more secure etc…
And doing the actual upgrade should be really easy, shouldn’t it? I mean, the year is 2010, even in Serbia a lot of people have a good internet connection and downloading the upgrade file should not be a big deal… Or the company itself should offer free upgrade service to it’s clients. Not a big deal really…

However, it is not that easy as it sounds, apparently… He was told that he will be contacted regarding the upgrade and 2 weeks later he was contacted by DHL and gets this:

If you can’t see it properly, it’s a ~77 EUR bill, and it came with an information that you additionally have to pay customs, VAT and if you don’t have your own carrier, they will use their daughter company (or something) and will charge you extra 5.000 RSD (~50 EUR).
Simple math told him that this “free” upgrade will cost him around 14.000 RSD (~140 EUR) which is 2.000 RSD (~20 EUR) more then buying a Full Home Premium version od Win7 in Belgrade. Just how stupid and illogical does this sound?
Of course, he sent them an e-mail to return the shipment…

I don’t know anyone in Toshiba Serbia, but would be cool if this post somehow reaches someone there, and would be even more cool if that someone contacted me to get this friend’s contacts and actually tried to fix this problem (regardless of who in the chain has actually failed).

(Funnily enough, this example came just in time when a company I work for is pointing out customer centricity as one of our major focuses, so I’ll use this as a very good example)

2 important things happened in last 2 days, and both are moving Serbia forward, one way or another…

First is long waited abolishment of visas for Schengen zone for Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, or in other words all EU countries except UK. What this means for Serbian people cannot be translated in words, really…
Most of my readers probably don’t know that 20 years ago Serbian (well, Yugoslav at that time) famous “red passport” was among the most respected in the world. Yugoslav people could travel freely to most of the countries of the world etc.
Balkan wars and sanctions did the thing and in last 2 decades borders of most of the countries were closed for Serbs (in order to stop refugees and immigrants), and getting visa was for most countries so tough that we often felt really helpless…
I mean, when they ask you to bring confirmations that you are paying taxes regularly (along with the actual amounts), or to confirm that you don’t want to immigrate to this certain country by submitting proofs that you own real estate in Serbia and also salary slips of all family members, then you really feel small and pathetic… and you are not sure anymore if you want to go to this country or not…
Myself, I consider myself a very lucky person, because being an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) in such Serbia is definitely not an asset However, I started working early (when I was 19) and could support myself for travelling quite a lot in last 10 years, and was really lucky to get proper support for visas when I needed them the most (and couldn’t really prove to consulates that I’m not a potential immigrant). Support from relevant individuals and institutions, that is…

All this resulted into almost 70% of people in Serbia not even having a passport! Can you imagine that?

Therefore, this abolishment of visas means much easier traveling for us. Not only that we don’t need visas, but also the prices are going down… Low cost airline companies are already announcing flights from Belgrade so for example a return ticket to Vienna is not anymore 300 EUR but around 100 EUR…

As soon as it was announced, people on twitter got crazy with planning the trips for new years and Christmas, so I think that only Slovenians will be in Belgrade on December 31st (traditionally there are thousands of tourists from Slovenia in Belgrade for new year eve)

There’s another joke already: “Last one that leaves Serbia on December 19th should turn off the light!”

Read more at:
EU scraps visas for three Balkan states
The EU has granted visa-free travel for citizens of three Balkan countries – Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
From 19 December citizens of the three former Yugoslav republics who hold biometric passports will not need visas to enter the borderless Schengen area.
Read the rest here…

Second big thing happening is Kosovo case debate at International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Everyone basically knows the story – Kosovo unilateral proclaimed independence, Serbia rejects it, around 60 countries recognized it so far, and then Serbia managed to move this fight from political to legal/judicial arena, so Int. Court of Justice is supposed to give an opinion now.
This opinion is not something obligatory whatsoever but it is a big thing anyways.

If you are not convinced that it is a big thing, let me just tell you that 29 UN member countries are going to debate this topic for 10 days, including all Security Council members, and it is going to be the first time the China is giving an official opinion before this Court.

Regardless of the process and results, this is a big thing for Serbia and Serbs. It’s a step. We still don’t know in which direction, but it is a step forward!

Read more here…

And then again – I am sure that both of these are taking us forward!
Have never been so sure, to be honest…

Great great Partizan tonight!

Photo by http://goserbia.com

7000 fans did the thing again

In my last post, I announced a tweetup, or a meeting if you like, of a group of enthusiasts that care strongly about Serbia and its image.

Dragana kind of sparkled everything couple of weeks ago, and now Pedya chose a right moment (we took enough time to swallow the whole idea) to start the engine, and here we are…

Several volunteers already offered very concrete help, so please read comments in Pedya’s post and think about ideas… (google translate version in english is here)

Let’s paint this map in beautiful colors!

Thursday, 18:00, Belgrade, Restaurant El Toro

One more remark, for the skeptical ones:

Image by http://www.gapingvoid.com/

Photo found @ http://damienkatz.net

There’s hope!

Dragana Djermanovic wrote at her blog (only in Serbian, here’s google translate version of her post – link) emotionally about Serbia’s poor brand, about our illogical attitude to look towards past instead of future etc. She compared 2 approaches to promoting something – one is Serbia @ CNN with promoting our historical values (mainly orthodox churches) and second one Kosovo @ TV, Facebook, Twitter etc. promoting people and the future.
Now it’s clear that approach of government of Kosovo is the right one – looking towards future is always better then in the past, promotes young people, young nation, it is colorful etc.
The only issue is – it is as wrong just as the Serbia’s one… It deceives and it is not true. No further analysis needed. Full stop.

Now, who doesn’t know Dragana or doesn’t follow her blog doesn’t really know that she is like.no.other Serbian lady – trying to move things regarding this topic for some time already. She was active on round tables, contacted Ministries, initiated talks among many of us, but in the end she had no luck so far. We all silently nodded while reading her blog posts, or we loudly hated everything she criticized, but that’s about it… Of course, am a bit generalizing, there are for sure some good folks that tried to help her, but in the bottom line – no visible success whatsoever.

But we are a weird nation, we function really in mysterious ways… We had to wait until we could almost feel Dragana’s tears at her blog in order to move our asses and offer initiative, help, whatever…
Or is it Kosovo’s big.awesome.lie that moved us?

In any case, her post caught me off-guard. Am working on my behavior last couple of weeks to become more focused on solutions and while reading her post, I realized I’m thinking about the topic with negative attitude – trying to find out why something doesn’t work and why it is impossible to change it Very Serbian, huh?
But I had to offer a solution, and knowing that people reading her blog are bunch of a cool and smart people, I couldn’t think of a better one but to initiate a meeting of all of them.
Simple idea, but in my opinion it should work – these bright people are meeting often anyways, they know each other, so one thematic meeting could sparkle more then we hope for…
I can already see @Pedya generating ideas on @NovinarskaPatka blog. I wish he takes active role in that idea he proposes, at least with his ingenious drawings that we remember from famous Svet Kompjutera magazine.

What’s my point here?

Again – simple. We need one Radomir Antic in every aspect of our lives, apparently. First he gave us hope with his endless energy, then he brought all the best players together, brought authority and the system and here you go – Serbia is on Fifa World Cup in South Africa and more importantly the fans are so happy now that they don’t have a need to boo at opponent’s national anthems anymore! In just a few months he did it! And he did it with almost the same team other coaches had… How? he just knew how to restructure and direct the huge amount of energy we are spending anyways into a right direction.
We are a very strange nation…
But I believe in us!

Dragana moved us – now let’s meet and see what the next steps and who can do what…
Is that a specialized blog promoting Serbia to foreigners?
Is that something that promotes beautiful Serbia to us, Serbs?
Is that influencing our nation to change attitude, way of thinking, behaviors? How?
Is it all of that?
Is it something else? Something more?

Do you want to help? Please join us in person (still working on a date, let us know at http://twtpoll.com/3znx0q) or leave a comment here…

I was thinking what should I do with my 200th post on this blog… Thought it should be special or something…
And then a good friend of mine, that used to be one of my favorite bloggers, has sent me this text.
A very special one.
About a very special thing for Serbs.
Thing they say die the last when you are passing away.
It’s about Hope.

The text has been written long time ago… then updated some years later… and then updated again couple of days ago…

No further due, but this text has moved even the most optimistic myself.
My apologies to my readers that can’t understand Serbian – the text is originally in Serbian and I don’t feel really competent to translate it myself. However, you can still use http://translate.google.com.

Nekad i sad
by Bojan

Volim more. Valjda zato što sam rođen u gradu na moru i što sam imao tu sreću da svake godine idem tamo. Nikad se nisam navikao na grad na reci niti zavoleo reke kao što ih ljudi vole. Ali, ako već moram da biram, onda mi je Sava draža od Dunava. Pitomija je a i bliža je mom kraju. Uvek sam imao fobiju od mutne vode, od toga da ne vidim šta je na dnu, po čemu gazim i ka čemu ronim. More me je uvek smirivalo i držalo me spokojnim da sam bio u stanju da zaronim kao u Big Blue i nikad ne izronim. Taj grad, ex Yu grad, iako u njemu nisam proveo mnogo godina, mi nedostaje ponekad. U stvari to je čisto projektovanje za »onim« vremenima. Kao SFRJ dete koje se rodilo, živelo i vaspitavalo u tom duhu, nikad nisam mogao do kraja da se ubacim u nacionalistički trip busača grudi.

Uvek sam na to gledao kao na nekog ko je živeo u državi New York, a onda su jednog dana došli neki likovi i rekli da ja više nisam Amerikanac već Njujorkanac, da moram da mrzim iz dna duše sve Teksašane, a posebno one iz Kalifornije. Da sam prodana duša i izdajnik svoje državice ako slučajno i maštam o letovanju na ostrvima Key West ili ne daj Bože zimovanju u Koloradu. Da u svoj rečnik uvedem reči ubi i zakolji, mrzim i narod sa neba. Da u životu svom mi ne padne na pamet da pustim neku dobru jazz ili blues muziku, već da skakućem po nekoj pijačnoj tezgi uz neki dobar folk. Samo tako mogu da budem IN, da ostanem među ostalim Njujorkancima i da budem proud to be Ali kako? Do juče sam bio ponosni Amerikanac koji je se naježi svaki put kada čuje Star Spangled Banner, koji lumpovanjima po gradu proslavlja svaku titulu i zlatnu medalju, kome je bilo normalno da živi i radi u NY a da letuje i zimuje diljem lijepe naše. Ne. Sada je samo, najbolje a naše uz neke nove, čudne Star Spangled Banner i uz sve češće prizivanje onozemaljskih sila, jer smo mi, jadni mali Njujorkanci ipak narod from the sky. Nekako, nije mi ulazilo u glavu zašto sad ja moram da idem tamo negde u šume i močvare Misisipija i pucam na neke tamo koji mi ništa nisu skrivili u životu. Zašto ja više ne mogu da pređem ni kanadsku granicu bez bar kofera papira i dokumenata? Zašto me svi gledaju čudno na svakoj toj granici kao da sam masovni ubica i kao da mi iz usta viri nečija krvava lobanja? Zašto? Šta je falilo mojoj Amerikici? Ništa. Naprotiv.

Imali smo sve i bilo nam je super. Laže ko kaže da nije bilo tako. Nije bilo krvi, nije bilo mrtvih, silovanih, zaklanih, spaljenih kuća, izbeglih, ludih, nije bilo straha, nije bilo osećaja nesigurnosti i bede. Nije. Nije to bila ni kapitalistička zemlja a nije ni bila gvozdena zavesa. Bila je neka malo tvrđa sredina, ali sredina. Radiš, živiš, putuješ, uživaš, mirno spavaš. A onda su došli neki bolesni umovi i rešili da to više ne može tako i za čas posla je sve nestalo kao balon od sapunice. Koliko je zaista lako nešto uništiti i srušiti. Izgleda da niko toga nije bio svestan. A možda i jeste.

Te godine, godine nove Amerikice, su bile nešto što samo može da se zaboravi i da se gurne ispod tepiha. Da se izbriše gumicom i da se nikad više ne priča o tome. Samo nekoliko godina ranije, podsećanje na prethodnu godinu bi izgledalo ovako:
Nova godina u Rimu, prolećni šoping u Veneciji, leto na Hvaru ili Braču, zima na Bledu ili Jahorini.

Kola na kredit i plata na vreme.

Poslednjih godina to je izgledalo ovako:
Nova godina uz sveće i ćebad, prolećno dovlačenje kobasica i toalet papira iz Segedina, leto na Adi, zima uz sveće i ćebad. Kola u kvaru ili u redu za benzin. Plate nema.

I sad, ne znam kako neko može da kaže da u »ono« vreme nije bilo dobro. Ja možda zvučim previše nostalgično, ali mislim da je to samo žal za NORMALNIM životom. Za spokojnim i srećnim životom, za nasmejanim ljudima i za jednom globalnom opuštenošću. Opuštenošću u svemu. Muzici, filmovima pa i knjigama. Vesela muzika, vesela garderoba, vesele frizure, veseli filmovi. Kakvo je vreme na globalnom planu dovoljno je da se pogleda neka Top 10 muzička lista spotova i to je to. Neko reče, a gde je nestao Nick Kershaw iz naših života. Da, zaista. Sve to što se desilo je palo na nas kao giljotina, užasno brzo sa užasnom preciznošću da ni bol ne može da se oseti. Bol dolazi kasnije.

13.03.2002.

Šta da kažem? Dokle sa tom NADOM (lažnom)? Ja zaista ne vidim ko može sada posle svega da sjebe ta govna. Neću da kažem da je kasno, ali mi sve to sada zvuči suviše licemereno i patetično. Nisu znali prekjuče ko je odgovoran za silna ubistva i ostala sranja a danas znaju. I ti likovi sa kojima su se oni talili 5. oktobra da ovi ne krenu na narod, talili se oko šverca pljuga i svega ostalog, sada će isti ti likovi da se bore protiv svojih polu-ortaka. Izvinite, ali meni je gospodo to jako smešno što pričate. Ko? Čedomiri, Mihajlovići, Živkovići? By the way, gde se tu pominje surčinski klan, zvezdarski klan, dorćolski klan, gde se tu spominje Mirko Marjanović, Dragan Tomić, Mira Marković sa decom, Gorica Gajević, Ivica Dačić i još hiljade onih imena kojih ne želim ni da se sećam. Gde su svi oni ove 3 godine? Pa utalili ste se sa svima njima a sad kad su vas uhvatili za jaja glumite neki holivud i Ramba, kao sjebaćemo ih sve. Nije nego. Meni je sve to tragikomično. I tužno i jadno i bedno. Ne mogu da verujem da njega više nema, znam da je muljao sa istim tim krimosima, ali ga pravdam da je morao na finjaka sve zbog naroda. I sad posle svega da se nadamo da će se Srbija očistiti od te stoke. Daj Bože, ali ne verujem. Ja sam od juče izgubio svaku nadu, i osećam se da su moja nadanja zalivena armiranim betonom i prelivena čelikom.

Znaš, starije generacije su imale nešto od života i danas neko bledo sećanje na lepa vremena, a moja generacija se vraćala u plastičnim kesama kući. Stražario sam sa praznom puškom ’92/’93 na granici sa Bosnom u nekim šumama iznad Drine i nadao se da ću preživeti. I jesam. Neki nisu. Najbolji ortak mi je po povratku ’92 završio u Lazi, ortak iz kraja se vratio u limenom sanduku. Onda smo se nadali da ćemo preživeti ’93. I jesmo. Neki nisu. Pa je došao novi dinar ’94, pa smo se nadali da će biti bolje. I bilo je malo bolje. Nekima nije. Pa onda Knin i traktorske kolone, pa protest ’96/’97 gde su nas prodali, sedeli kod onog majmuna na kanabetu i utalili se. Jebeš 3 meseca smrzavanja, jebeš prebijene ljude i zatvarane, jebeš sve, zaboraviće ljudi. Nadali smo se da će možda i biti nešto od toga. Pa bombardovanje, pa nada da ćemo preživeti. Preživeli smo. Neki nisu. Kako je onima u Aleksincu, Kuršumliji, Prištini, Kosovu? A onda 5. oktobar i nada da će svi oni govnari završiti kako dolikuje, na banderi na Terazijama. A kada sam posle par dana video debelo, klempavo govno kako nas obaveštava da ide da se odmori sa unukom Markom shvatio sam da je tu samo još jedan tal i deal po sredi. I da će pre ili kasnije isplivati govna na površinu. I jesu. Žalosno je mnogo. Sve.

I mi od toga sto znamo da je ono GOVNO u Hagu krivo za sve nemamo ništa. Krivi su i ovi, i to je fakat. Krivi su sto su ispali sise pa su se talili misleći da nije to tako strašno, da će svako da uzme po parče već očerupanog kolača i nikom ništa. Ali kad su videli da je vrag odneo salu i da ovi sad hoće mnogo veći deo nego što im pripada onda su se usrali. Ne znam, samo se pitam koliko ta NADA ima života više i dokle se više nadati u prazno. Svi su potkupljeni, od portira na ulazu do sudija i predsednika. Svi. I gde naći nekog ko će dići vojsku i policiju i iskoristiti ovo stanje da se sjebe što više govana je moguće. Iskreno ne verujem uopšte u tako nešto, ali se i dalje mazohistički kao pravi srbin NADAM. Jedino što ja imam tu “sreću” da posle 11 godina svih sranja i posle svega što smo tamo proživeli, prvi put pratim tako nešto sa distance od 5000 milja.

A najgore mi je od svega što shvatam koliko smo mazohistički narod, i da bez obzira što se osećam da NADE više nema, imam neki mali crv u mozgu koji mi govori biće nešto. Mada, tako mi je govorio i onih 10 godina pa je bilo jedno veliko ništa. Nisam imao tu sreću da me mama i tata naprave sredinom ili krajem 60-ih. Imao sam nesreću da pripadam jednoj od najnesrećnijih generaćiji u istoriji. Jer, ovi klinci pamte samo sranja, sancćije, prazne prodavnice, ratove, tako da je njima sad sa 17-18-19 godina do jaja, njima je ovo najbolje okruženje u kom se živelo, oni za bolje ne znaju. I njima je sve to normalno, a da li znaju šta znači normalno? A šta je nama bilo normalno i do koje granice smo savijali kičmu i trpeli sranja.

Normalan život nam je postao ako stignemo na red za hleb i mleko.
Normalan život nam je da imamo struje bar 5 dana u nedelji. Normalan život nam je da primimo platu.
Normalan život nam je da švercujemo kobasice iz Segedina. Trst? Rim? London? NYC? Šta to beše?
Normalan život je da letovanje otplaćujemo pola godine (u nekoj vašljivoj sobi na vrh brda) a o zimovanju samo maštamo. Normalan život je da se voziš smrdljivim GSB-om i da si srećan do jaja ako sedneš.
Normalan život je da ako jednom u 5 godina odeš na koncert do Budimpešte ti si bogat čovek.
Normalan život je da ako možes da popiješ dva piva (strana) u kafiću mora da si dobio na kladionici.
I onda mi dođe neko i kaže, pa dobro, nemoj da si pesimista, bar imamo struje.
Da li mi znamo sta je normalan život više? Imali smo kartu da se bar nadamo da će jednog dana biti nešto od te nesrećne zemlje, i postalo je normalno ono što i treba da bude normalno, da ima struje, hleba, mleka, benzina, prevoza. Vraćalo se (fakat, sitnim koracima) u neku kakvu-takvu klimavu normalu. Bez sranja, sankcija, da nas ne gledaju kao poslednja govna, da nismo kao Burkina Faso ili Nikaragva.

A šta sad? Šta? Samo da mutavi mutanti, kilavi, spori, mlohavi, dosadni i staromodni “neobavešteni” demagozi ne preuzmu stvari u svoje ruke. Oni neka se vrate u svoju rupu iz koje smo ih mi izvadili. Za bolje i nisu retardirani mutanti.
Ne znam. Znam da mi je mozak tiltovan i da bi valjda trebalo da budem srećan što sam ovde. A sedim sinoć na terasi i ubijam pivo da smirim živce da bih mogao bar malo da odspavam, i čekam da čujem neke sirene, neko pucanje, nasmejem se i pomislim, pa jebote, ja sam u Americi, nisam u Beogradu. Smešno mi a plače mi se. Ne znam više, mozak me boli.

Neka bude. NADAM se (zvanično poslednji put) da će ovi (ko god to bio) očistiti ona govna i oterati ih u tri lepe jednom zauvek. NADAMO se, to nam je jedino i ostalo U suprotnom ako se to ne desi nije potrebno imati mnogo mozga da se skapira sta će biti dalje. Biće šljiva i jedan srbin ispod nje, koji se pita šta se to desilo i NADA se.

U internet knjizi zalosti sam upisao: Hvala ti sto si postojao i sto si doneo sunce u ovu zemlju…

6.5 godina kasnije

A onda je jednog lepog septembarskog dana Tuluz gostovao u Beogradu…

Sada znam… da nade vise nema, niti je bilo.

Tacka.

Ad Acta.

Dunno what to say really… I feel awful, ashamed, terrible…
There are not many things that can be said in a moment like this, at least not in an articulated way…
In just a few days, Belgrade has lost its biggest pride – to be the safest city we know about… I’m travelling a lot, and I mean a lot, but never ever do I feel so safe like when I am in Belgrade.
Not anymore, though…

Bunch of products of the social situation in Serbia in last two decades, products hiding among football fans and usually ultra-right organizations, encouraged by completely corrupted and screwed up system, have again shown how easy it is to misrepresent the majority on good and hospitable people of this country…

They cowardly attacked and beaten up to death this poor guy, which will, I still believe and hope, become a symbol of the time when Serbia finally said NO to hooligans of any sort. That’s the least we can do at this moment.
RIP Brice – you will not be forgotten…

I think Adam has put it together very good in his post at http://www.balkanfile.com/belgraders-say-no-to-violence.

See you tomorrow at the Republic Square…

Belgraders, Say NO to Violence
Sep 29th, 2009

by Adam.

28-year-old Toulouse football support Brice Taton died this morning in a Belgrade hospital. Brice was critically injured on 17 September while sitting with other Toulouse fans in a cafe in central Belgrade when a group of some 30 hooligans/cowards attacked them unprovoked. This incident, along with a series of other attacks on foreigners over the last 2 weeks, has shocked Belgrade and her citizens.

No words can describe how terrible this is. This young man came to Belgrade, a city which has been recently gaining a reputation for being a safe, friendly and welcoming city, to support the team he loved, to spend time with his friends and enjoy himself, but he died at the hands of cowards who need numbers and weapons to carry out their pointless violence.

The police arrested and detained a number of young men and intended to charge them with attempted murder. Now they’ll be facing charges of murder and I hope they receive adequate sentences for their involvement in the death of this visitor to Belgrade.

You may be thinking, “what’s the big deal? Football violence and tourist attacks happen all the time in other countries.” Yes. It does. But it does not happen in Belgrade. Foreigners who have made Belgrade their home go on and on how it  is one of the safest places they’ve ever lived. That’s why it is so shocking for us who live here. I’ve never felt threatened in Belgrade – I can’t say the same for the time when I lived in the UK.

The people of Belgrade need to denounce the violence that has taken place on our streets over the last 2 weeks. There are hundreds of condolence comments on Serbian news websites, but Belgraders need to go out and show the world that we will not allow thugs and hooligans to threaten our amazingly safe city. And you know what, I think they will.

The Serbian Ministry of Human Rights has called on citizens to light candles and lay flowers tomorrow, Wednesday 30 September, at 11.30am at Trg Republike (Republic Square). Also, a Protest Walk Against Violence will take place on Thursday 1 October at 5pm, from Plato to the Victor Monument in Kalemegdan Park.