I feel sick and I stand on my opinion that he should not be allowed to reenter the political and much less the academic life of this country. I’ve heard plenty of sad stories where this person has abused his position and authority and am truly disappointed by the court’s decision to acquit him of any wrong doing with regard to the scandal that was widely reported in the media about one year ago. Well, one thing is for sure, the court’s decision is obviously subjective and does not clear the dirt-level moral standing that this person represents.

My hope is that if the decision is made for him to return to the academic life, that students would rise to oppose this decision by boycotting classes and other types of peaceful and democratic forms of protest.

We just have to start saying “no” to immoral behavior and abusive conduct of such people. This is my stand on the issue.

Other interesting posts

• No Related Post

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

123►

Other interesting posts

• The winter is here, right? (0)
• Estimating the Costs of Living in Tirana, Albania (6)

Congratulations, your cell phone has won 500,000 paunds in the onging Nokia UK prom. For claims Email: coordinatior.nokiaprom@live.com or call +447024038551

Well, being acquainted with different scam schemes I went directly online and searched for “Nokia UK Promotion Scam” to immediately find out that this was another old trick which is now expanding in Albania as well.

It’s so sad, but sadder when you think that these schemes go on because innocent or naïve people fall for them all the time.

Some months back a friend of mine almost fell for another major amount of funds that he was supposed to receive from an investor to start businesses in Albania. Another friend got a very similar SMS on his cell that he was decided to ignore thanks to good counsel.

Thankfully there are recognized websites such as “Complaints Board” which have been operating for years now that help point these scams out to innocent recipients like myself. Scams will always be part of our human interactions, while technologies seem to only make it easier for them to reach a wider audience.

Feel welcome to share your experiences below….

Other interesting posts

• New Year’s Dinner and My Family’s Turkey Tradition (5)
• Do you notice any similarities with Albanian TV channels? (3)
• Educational advice to parents about their children in this information age (0)
• Say hello to my new laptop! (0)
• Albanian Blogger: Surprized and Grateful – Google Results (2)

Excerpt:

“Years after the collapse of the Stalinist regime, many families of Albanians executed by the communists are still desperately looking for the bodies of their relatives.

As the excavator’s bucket scraped the earth in a narrow path sandwiched between the old military barracks and the pine forest that lines the slopes of Mount Dajti, a skeleton emerged, buried in a shallow grave.

The cotton prison jacket suggested the victim had been executed in winter while his healthy teeth and strong jaw showed he died young. Goni, a small businessman who had earlier been digging for his father’s remains at another location, knew others would surely follow.”

Another excerpt:

“Albania is one of the few former Iron Curtain countries not to have opened the archives of its communist-era security services. As a result, precise data on the number of political prisoners killed by the regime is not available.”

Obviously this story has been commented much from both political sides and the media in recent days. I will not add any of my comments, but thought it of importance to highlight here.

Other interesting posts

• Do you notice any similarities with Albanian TV channels? (3)
• EU free-visa travel postponed again for Albania! Is our mentality to be blamed? (12)
• Albania General Elections 2009: The Process has Improved but Violations Persist! (0)
• Great Presentational Video For Albania (0)
• Undecided About My Summer Vacations (4)

In fact for several years now the cold has rarely shown its bite and I suppose people like it that way. However, though not scientifically proven, every time the winter has been like this the summer seems to have gotten hotter. At least that is my impression.

Other interesting posts

• Snow in Tirana (0)

My Dad and the Turkey

The other day my parents went out to do some New Year’s food shopping, and upon my return to the house I discovered that they had bought a large 7 kg turkey. As I looked at the massive amount of poultry meat that my dad was cleaning, I became even more cognizant of the painful fact that someone would have to consume it all somehow, though not me! So, respectfully, I asked my dad to explain how the turkey would be consumed since I was not planning on eating it, nor where the other members of the family, as far as I knew.

His answer was not what I expected. I was very aware of the fact that the main reason we had gotten a turkey, was because he had wanted it in the first place. I knew he enjoys eating the turkey meat. I had witnessed that fact on many New Year’s dinners, but the short explanation that he gave, shed much light on his persistence.

After I asked him, he immediately went on to tell me the story of how his own father (my grandfather) would buy two turkeys every year for his family. He would go back to his home village and get the live turkeys himself and then help prepare them for his whole family. Though I never got to see what my dad had seen his father do, I have gotten to see my father do the same for our family.

So, upon further reflection, I discovered that I had a distinct desire for turkey meat. That is why, I have decided that this year and in the years to come, I will help prepare the turkey because it’s part of my family’s tradition at New Year’s. Yes, I am crazy for turkey!

Other interesting posts

• Nokia UK Promotion Scam in Albania (2)
• Educational advice to parents about their children in this information age (0)
• Say hello to my new laptop! (0)
• Albanian Blogger: Surprized and Grateful – Google Results (2)
• Elvis Plaku’s Blog changes to “Albanian Blogger” (1)

Based on several estimates this is a summary of major annual expenses in USD for a single person living in Tirana.

I need to stress that these are not the most accurate estimates, since I only spend very little time putting them together, so with your input, suggestions and corrections I would like to update them.

Other interesting posts

• Snow in Tirana (0)
• Albanian Journalists Protest Attack on Colleague, report by BalkanInsight (1)
• Sorry, I can’t hear you, I’m deaf and I stink – of smoke! (1)
• Earthquake shakes Tirana at 11:50 PM (2)
• Enjoy Tirana while you can! (0)

What am I talking about? Well, the friend I’m talking about is a US citizen, whom I’ve met here in Tirana, but is now working and living in the Far East, more precisely, Japan. And as he is learning that language, he very kindly wished me “Happy Birthday” in Japanese. I thought that was so cool that now I have started asked all those who want to wish me Happy Birthday, to try and do that in another language, possibly in one that no one else has done already – Japanese, Albanian and English are already taken (read them at my profile in FB).

You may post your message here, or go directly to my profile at Facebook and post it there. Go ahead and make the world even smaller…

Update 1: Norwegian is also taken

Update 2: Spanish, Arabic, Dutch, Italian, French, Russian, Italian, German…

Update 3: Greek, Rumanian, Portugese, Turkish, Welsh, Finnish, Chinese, Mongolian…

Update 4: Ukranian – which makes it over 20 languages in all. Awesome

Other interesting posts

• Traveling Back to Albania (0)

A group of Albanian journalists and civil society activists protested on Wednesday in front of the office of Prime Minister Sali Berisha against the brutal assault of Tirana publisher Mero Baze by oil magnate Rezart Taci.

Following the symbolism of the Iraqi journalist that attacked U.S. President George W. Bush with a shoe, the protesters threw shoes at the office of the prime minister, while accusing him of being responsible for the violence against the journalist.

Baze was beaten late on Monday evening in Tirana, following a series of reports in the publisher’s media accusing the businessman of tax evasion.

According to witnesses present in the Capriccio Bar in the center of Tirana’s upscale Bllok neighborhood, Rezart Taci and his bodyguards attacked the journalist, kicking and beating him for roughly four minutes, leaving him unconscious.

Present during the assault were also two other journalists; political commentator Andi Bushati and the editor-in-chief of Vizion Plus TV Arban Hasani, who later testified on the assault on the journalist.

Baze recovered in Tirana’s military hospital on Monday evening and was released in the early hours of Tuesday. He had ran a series of critical reports on his TV Show, Faktor Plus, on Vizion Plus TV accusing Rezart Taci and his company, the ARMO oil refinery of massive tax evasion.

Apart from the TV show, Baze also publishes the Tirana daily Tema, a publication that is very critical of the government.

Rezart Taci is known as one of the Tirana businessman in Prime Minister Berisha’s inner circle. His other company, Taci Oil International has spent millions of euros organising charity football matches, with the proceeds donated to a children’s charity ran by Berisha’s wife.

The businessman through a statement for the media, admitted he had been present during the assault, but denied he had participated.  Police so far have arrested two of his bodyguards and issued a warrant for Taci’s detention, but have not yet arrested him.

On Tuesday a journalism organisation, offered a 10,000 euro reward for information, leading to Taci’s arrest.

Source: BalkanInsight

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this issue…

Other interesting posts

• I Am Not a Jehova’s Witness, IWPR Made a Mistake (1)
• Estimating the Costs of Living in Tirana, Albania (6)
• Sorry, I can’t hear you, I’m deaf and I stink – of smoke! (1)
• Earthquake shakes Tirana at 11:50 PM (2)
• Enjoy Tirana while you can! (0)

To help you with this process, out of the many different sources out there I would direct you to one scholar whom many would recommend highly for his wonderful work, translations, study and research regarding the Albanian language and literature. His name is Robert Elsie and is one of those few people that has contributed and continues to contribute so much to this ancient language that I is my mother-tongue.

A most recent and very interesting development on one of his websites is the publication of audio recordings of the Albanian language spoken in different dialects in all the major areas where Albanians live today.

This is how Robert Elsie introduces the Albanian Dialects section, “This website offers the listener audio recordings in Albanian from various regions where the language is spoken. Though the dialects of Albanian are usually mutually intelligible to the listener with an ear for language, regional differences, deriving largely from the historical development of the language, can be substantial, and they are quite fascinating. You can thus listen here to people speaking in a wide range of Albanian dialects. Some of these individuals are good dialect speakers, others were recorded at random to give an idea of how modern Albanian is used in various areas.”

To listen to the recordings please visit: Albanian Dialects on AlbanianLiterature.net

Do you think this kind of research is worthwhile? Post your comments below. Thanks.

Other interesting posts

• No Related Post