Croatia and it´s tie to AIG

The new CEO of AIG is a fan of Croatia.
O h my god. This news would trigger another paranoid phase to some of my family members.
But it´s another sign, that this country will very soon change. Time to invest., already.
Maybe it was the cristal clear water and the relaxing background of the news, that helped boosting some shares?

Read Articel and watch video here:
AIG CEO defends holiday.

And yes, Dubrovnik is breathtakingly beautiful and comforting.

Croatia – Dubrovnik

Croatia – Dubrovnik

Ursprünglich hochgeladen von Sandro Mancuso

A beautiful city, not just for CEOs

Why follow anyone? Twitter and the phenomenon of being a follower,

It has been quite a while. There´s too much work for me right now, I haven´t had the slightest chance or even want to do anything besides checking me e-mails.

But it is depressing. I have quite a few ideas for this blog, but I have to make some changes in my schedule. Time passes so qickly and suddenly I realize how within just a few weeks I seem to become some kind of net-illeterate
Though I can state I enjoy my netfreedom. I never used my facebook account so far usefully, the few times I tried it seemed stupid.

Same with twitter. I still find it amusing, I am more trapped by the romatic idea of witnessing other peoples moments. Often not really romantic, rather bleak.
Still I wonder-why should you follow anyone on twitter? Maybe friends, but why any corporation? There´s a fine line between being curious and simply stupid.

Do friendships really deepen if I can tweet my friend anytime?
Then, what impact does this following and backtracking have for future generations? Just imagine- you find your grandmother during all her various age stages on the net. Granny ón MySpace, on twitter, on WordPress and on numerous posts somewhere, anywhere on the net. If some former lover or even your grandfather posts a vengeful private video?

How are we as people shaped by this changing environments?
I found some interesting facts in this article:

NYTimes: Whos´Driving Twitters Popularity? Not Teens.

A twisted thought

It was a while ago, that I had a news feed on Mladic.
In June Bosnian Television broadcasted some video footage of Mladic taken during some family gatherings or family celebrations.

Here is a link, along with the footage (can be found on YouTube as well)

• Jutarnji.hr: Proof, Mladic lived normally after the war?
• The Independent: Mladic, the most wanted man in Europe?
• The Ney York Times News Blog: dacing, laughing, celebrating and playing table tennis
• Blic online: new, old footage

I followed only a few  comments briefly, because I can not bare to read some . There may be some old footage among the material, but his grandchildren were born in 2001 and 2006. The one, where you see him holding his grandchild can´t count as “old” as in in “before the war”.

In this age, with all the technology, there lies danger in the use of technology. Or with images being presented . Maybe in a few weeks or days the world will be presented footage of Mladic´s death? The appearance of death. To close the matter.

What if we are shown the images we want to see versus images that are camouflage?
Following the news, especially Iran and the clashes and demonstrations. The use of digital cameras, mobile phones and the instant publication on the net – we have the ability to bear witness, to some extent – to be involved. You can twitter, and suddendly there´s a new angle at that technology.

But, it won´t be long, until cunning powers see the advancement in installing or staging events. The very same companies that brought innovation can help or be used in another way.

how to work with racist idiots, or idiots just in general

Ok. I know this sound mean and it´s probably totally unfair.
I still don´t know how to handle occurences such as

a) a coworker you´ve been friendly with suddendly offers you a glimpse of … his /her well, pretty awful racist dumb idiotic view.

b) you overhear a conversation that is nothin but racist chit-chat

What is the best way to handle this situation?

In case you´re comfortable with it- that is a problem. Because you´re dumb and stupid yourself. But then you do not need to handle the situation.You have to handle yourself.

Otherwise – one is ashamed, shocked and appaled. But , what to do?

Being calm and sophisticated? Telling myself “People will never change”

or is it better: Persons will never change, in most cases?

But then – in my case : I explode, or worse implode.

Rewards of waiting

The New Yorker has an article on the rewards of self-control. Read here

After having read the artice I wondered, how I would have had behaved as a child.
I could, of course draw conclusions from my “adult” life, but the outcome for me is kind of twofold.

Anyway. It was interesting.

Whatchalmacallit? april 2009, recently during lunch

A recent conversation with someone from work went:

She: So, what type of car do you drive?
Me, kind of : ?best described as vintage, useful.
She: do you listen to our music? Zabavna ili narodna?
Me, slightly  nervous: well, depends on the occassion, you  know ..
You´ve been to Bosnia, haven´t you?
Yes
You know the city …….
No, not really.
Ah, P….(town) is so beautiful, I loved it when I was there!
I know, I am planning to visit some places soon. I´d love to visit Sarajevo soon.
Oh, hm. Well. You know, life in Bosnia is so much better than here in Germany.
I can´t go anywhere without seeing those Turks or Africans. I am so fed up with it.

Me, silently practicing the art of controlled breathing.

She continues  I don´t undestand, how the germans (!) can put up with it!

More controlled breathing. It?, I ask.What do you mean with it?

End of conversation. After a few awkward moments we part.

She is planning to open a nail salon in Bosnia. For peace.

twittering war criminals

with Ashton Kutcher having more “followers”  than CNN – oh well.Sign of the times.
I´am still working on it – being an illiterate non-twitter . With “it” I mean- instead of posting messages like “want more candy” I am trying to twitter up some war criminals.

Maybe certain services are already using this tool  – undercover, understandingly?

If only I was tech-savy enough to integrate it on my blog, for whatever use.

But in this connected age – what if services just like twitter, are used more and more to harras people? (as was the case with Courtney and…….) Being popular becomes increasingly important. Either you have followers or you don´t . As friends on Facebook. But for what cause?

Of course, all these tools could be used reasonably.

ICRC Report on CIA´s handling od detainees

Apparently, confinement in a box is a proven technique in the war on terror, as well as forced shaving, beating and kicking and suffocation by water.

look here: http://www.nybooks.com/icrc-report.pdf.

Intense power for investigation_ends up in Kenya

Numerous google alerts “hunt for mladic” have reached my postbox.
Nothing worth mentioning, apart from this story:

A man named Igor Majewski was arrrested in Kenya on suspicion being a war criminal from the former Yugoslavia. …….

• Kenya arrests wrong man in search for Mladic
• Lookalike freed in Kenya
• Finally Igor Mejaski speaks
  

An here is a story by Aleksander Hemon from The New Yorker:

The Noble Truths of Suffering