Croatia: Almost Joint Declaration Signed on Adriatic Euroregion Launch

14:54 - 07 February 2006 - Representatives of local authorities from six Adriatic countries signed in Venice a declaration on the launching of the Adriatic Euroregion aiming to strengthen economic development, security, social cohesion, and environmental protection in a region populated by 22 million people, Hina News Line agency reports. Representatives from Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro and Albania attended the conference. The Adriatic Euroregion will be formally launched after the six states' regional representatives adopt the Euroregion's statute estimated the procedure to be finalised in July.

Ivan Jakovcic, head of the northern Croatian Adriatic County of Istria, was elected president of the Euroregion, which will be based in Pula, Croatia, but will also have an office in Brussels. Speaking of the significance of the declaration, Council of Europe Secretary-General Terry Davis said the Adriatic was rich in terms of history, culture, and natural resources, but had been burdened with wars throughout history adding that this was the reason it was necessary to draw lessons from that and build a better and safer future, notably through interregional cooperation. Jakovcic stated that without the Adriatic's east coast there was no real or integral Europe.

Slovenia did not sign the declaration because authorized representatives of its maritime municipalities did not attend the conference.

The Adriatic Euroregion's objectives include preservation of the stability of its regions, strengthening of social and economic cohesion, sustainable development, the advancement of agriculture, fisheries and tourism, and environmental protection.

The Adriatic Euroregion will unite seven Italian regions, three Slovene maritime municipalities, seven Croatian counties, Bosnia's Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Montenegro, and seven Albanian provinces.

http://www.reporter.gr/fulltext_eng.cfm?id=60207145420
 

Otto Lang 1908-2006

Otto Lang shows off his circa-1940 skiing style.

The former director of the Sun Valley Ski School died Monday.

He was 98.

The following concerning Washington State ski instructor Otto Lang, born in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, of a Croat mother and Austrian father.

John Kraljic

Otto Lang, 1908-2006: Northwest icon founded first ski school at Mount Rainier
Thursday, February 2, 2006

By DEBERA CARLTON HARRELL
P-I REPORTER

Otto Lang, a skiing pioneer and filmmaker, was a Northwest icon who had few equals in elegance, work ethic and zest for life.

Lang, who touched the lives of neophyte skiers and Hollywood stars alike, died Monday at his West Seattle home at the age of 98. He had been suffering from heart disease.

Lang, who was born in Bosnia and spent part of his childhood in Austria, pioneered skiing in the United States, bringing European cache and technique to the United States in the 1930s. He founded the first ski school at Mount Rainier in 1937 and directed Sun Valley's ski school before and after World War II. Then he launched a successful career as a Hollywood filmmaker.

He also became an accomplished photographer, woodworker and writer. He wrote ski columns for the Seattle P-I and two books.

"He was an unbelievable human being," said skiing filmmaker and longtime friend Warren Miller. "He is the last of the old Austrian ski instructors; it is the absolute end of an era."

Miller also called Lang a "Renaissance man."

"Otto was successful at multiple careers and always kept his mind active," Miller said. "He was a great athlete, yet he'd always wear a cravat or necktie; he dressed to the nines. But he was always gracious."

Gerard Schwarz, music director for the Seattle Symphony and a friend of Lang's, said in a statement Wednesday that tonight's previously scheduled performance of Mozart's C Minor Mass will be dedicated to Lang, "a dear friend to our orchestra ... (and) a continual inspiration to us all in so many ways."

Lang was born in 1908 in the small village of Zenica, Bosnia, to an Austrian father and Croatian mother. It was the year Bosnia became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After World War I, the family left for Salzburg, Austria. Otto, then 10, found his first pair of skis -- Austrian army surplus from the war -- for 10 cents, friends said. The young Lang became smitten with skiing, proving adept as a racer and jumper. He was hired in 1929 by Hannes Schneider, considered the father of modern skiing, to teach at the famed Austrian ski area, St. Anton am Arlberg. Lang brought the so-called Arlberg turning technique to the United States, revolutionizing a sport that had no chair lifts, no groomed runs and long, tough-turning skis.

In the winter of 1937, Lang opened the first official North American branch of the Hannes Schneider Ski School on Mount Rainier. He opened two more Schneider schools at Mount Baker and Mount Hood in the winter of 1937-38.

One of his best-known pupils was Gretchen Kunigk of Tacoma, who later won an Olympic gold medal for the United States in 1948 under her married name, Gretchen Fraser.

In 1939, Mr. Lang joined the Sun Valley Ski School, becoming its executive director from 1941 to 1942 before the Idaho resort closed because of World War II. Mr. Lang resumed his position in 1946 when the resort reopened, remaining until 1950.

One of his Sun Valley students was Hollywood film producer Darryl Zanuck, who asked him to direct the ski-action sequences for the movie "Sun Valley Serenade," starring ice skater Sonia Henje.

That work led to a job as an assistant director at 20th Century Fox, where he directed and produced dozens of films and TV shows. He shot all over the world and worked with some of the biggest entertainment names of the time, earning four Academy Award nominations for short subjects and documentaries.

He also wrote two books, the autobiographical "Bird of Passage" and "Around the World in 90 Years," a travel-photography memoir.

But he never lost his love for skiing and participated in the sport into his 90s.

Seattle skier Debbie Armstrong, who won a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, near where Lang was born, had a special bond with Lang. Both shared a love of Bosnia, a passion for skiing and a grounded, clear-eyed approach to life.

In an article published last fall in The Professional Skier magazine, Armstrong wrote about contacting her friend Lang in early 2005 after doctors ordered her off the slopes after a medical ordeal that nearly killed her. "I learned how Otto is viewed in West Seattle," Armstrong wrote. "He is a celebrity! (A word he detests, by the way. He sees himself as a very ordinary guy.)"

Lang is survived by his companion of more than 20 years, June Campbell, and two sons -- Peter Lang of Santa Rosa, Calif., and Mark Lang of Coronado, Calif. His wife, Sinclair Gannon, preceded him in death.

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/257952_langobit02.html

P-I reporter Debera Carlton Harrell can be reached at 206-448-8326 ordeberaharrell@seattlepi.com .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ski legend Otto Lang dies
By Karen Bossick
For The Times-News

SUN VALLEY -- Former Sun Valley Ski School Director Otto Lang died early Monday, a little more than a week after he celebrated his 98th birthday.

Longtime friend Susan Moffett of Seattle said Lang had a heart attack in his sleep at his Seattle home and never woke up.

"He was doing fine to the very end -- able to go to lunch and give an interview to my husband, Dave, right up to the very end," Moffett said.

Lang was a good friend of Sun Valley Resort owners Carol and Earl Holding. In fact, Carol mentioned Sunday afternoon during a community-wide tribute to the Holdings that Lang had called and expressed regrets that he couldn't make it to Sun Valley for the celebration.

He was, however, present when Carol Holding threw a party celebrating the opening of her Dollar Mountain Lodge in December 2004.

The Bosnian-born Lang opened America's first ski school in 1935 at Mt. Rainier.

He visited Sun Valley in 1937 at the invitation of Nelson Rockefeller and was asked to join Sun Valley's ski school in 1939. He happily accepted, becoming instructor to such celebrities as Groucho Marx, Gary Cooper and Gerald Ford.

And, in 1941, he became the ski school's director when Friedl Pfeifer was arrested on suspicion of being a spy for the Germans, a charge that was later dropped.

It was one of his students, Twentieth Century-Fox studio head Darryl Zanuck, who started him on a Hollywood career that resulted in four Academy Award nominations.

He directed the skiing sequences in the ski film classic "Sun Valley Serenade." And he made several ski movies, including "Ski Flight," which premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York in 1938.

Following World War II, Lang became a full-time Hollywood director, directing such TV series as "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." as well as episodes of such shows as "Bat Masterson," "The Rifleman," and "Sea Hunt."

He was a producer for such films as "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and "Call Northside 777" and assistant director on such films as "Viva Las Vegas," "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing," "Call Me Mister" and "The Ox-Bow Incident."

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2006/02/03/news_localstate/news_local_state.1.txt
 

Ever been so tired ?

Marko Gazic in 7 & COUTING

You can visit our website atwww.sevenandcounting.com
Album is available for purchase on cdbaby.com/7COUTING

Thank you, and I hope you are well these days,

Marko Gazic
gazic68@hotmail.com

NEXT SHOWS - 2006

- Friday, february 17th @ The Parlour, 250 West 86th St, $5 cover.
- Friday february 24th, @ at Cousin Larry's, Danbury, CT.
- Friday, march 10th, @ The Underpass, Elmwood park, NJ, 11:00 pm
- Monday, march 13th, @ Crash Mansion, on the lower east side.
- Friday, april 14th, @ Kenny's Castaways.

- Friday, february 3rd, @ Ace of clubs, (formerly ACME underground)
- Friday, january 20th @ Sidewalk; midnight

Hrvatski Jazz u New Yorku

http://www.jazz.hr/

HGM jazz orkestar Zagreb nastupio na konferenciji IAJE u New Yorku

HGM jazz orkestar u New Yorku Od 11. do 14. siječnja odrĹžana je u New Yorku 33. konferencija Medjunarodne udruge jazz pedagoga (IAJE), koja posljednjih godina vrijedi za najveći i najvaĹžniji svjetski skup jazz glazbenika. Posebni značaj ove konferencije je prvi nastup nekog hrvatskog ansambla u povijesti te organizacije. Naime, HGM jazz orkestar Zagreb je u petak 13.1. u njujorskom hotelu Sheraton, a u sklopu konferencije, odrĹžao koncert pod ravnanjem svog sefa dirigenta Sigija Feigla. Gost solist bio je američki trubač John Thomas.
HGM Jazz Orkestar Zagreb je bio odlično pripremljen za taj vaĹžan nastup, a izvodio je djela koja su mu već odranije na repertoaru, uključujući i skladbe hrvatskih skladatelja Miljenka Prohaske i Antun Tomislava Sabana. Uz Thomasa, kao solisti su se istaknuli i neki članovi orkestra, posebice trombonist Vid Zgajner i trubač Antonio Geček.
Unatoč velikom broju vrhunskih koncerata (izmedju ostalih, na ovogodisnjoj konferenciji su nastupili i Chick Corea Trio, Count Basie Big Band, WDR Big Band, Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra), koncert hrvatskog jazz orkestra bio je dobro posjećen, a o iznenadjujućoj kvaliteti njihovog programa najbolje svjedoči činjenica da je na kraju koncerta bilo dvostruko vise slusatelja nego na početku. Uz brojne američke i nekolicinu austrijskih glazbenika, u publici su se zatekli i hrvatski glazbenik nastanjen u New Yorku Nenad Bach, te generalni konzul RH Petar Ljubičić, a ulogu prezentatorice nastupa preuzela je dopredsjednica udruge IAJE Mary Jo Papich, inače ugledan pedagog iz Chicaga hrvatskog podrijetla.
Ovim značajnim iskorakom preko "velike bare", moĹžda najvaĹžnijim koncertom od svog osnutka, HGM Jazz orkestar Zagreb jos je jednom dokazao da se polako ali sigurno potvrdjuje kao nezaobilazan ansambl europske scene, čija zanimljivost programa i kvaliteta muziciranja stoje uz bok drugih europskih orkestara koji djeluju već desetljećima. Taj uspjeh postaje jos značajniji u svjetlu činjenice da u Hrvatskoj ne postoji institucionalizirana jazz pedagogija. Antun Tomislav Saban
 

DUBROVNIK FOLKLORE ENSEMBLE LINDJO USA TOUR

Hrvatska Loza i Hrvatski kulturni centar Chicago, organiziraju gostovanje cuvenog folklornog ansambla LINDJO, iz Dubrovnika u Americi. Ansambl postoji vec 40 godina i uvijek je bio u samom vrhu hrvatske kulture. Vise o njima mozete procitati na www.lindjo.hr .

Ulaznice su u prodaji. Nazovite sto prije i kupite ulaznice za taj jedinstveni dogadjaj.

Koncerti ce se odrzati u Milwaukee, Chicagu, Clevelandu i New Yorku.

Croatian Vines (Loza) and Croatian Cultural Center proudly sponsor an US tour of world famous folklore ensemble LINDJO, from Dubrovnik, Croatia. The ensemble has been in existence for 40 years and it has always been at the very top of the Croatian culture. Read more about Lindjo at www.lindjo.hr.

Tickets on sale now. Call as soon as possible to secure tickets for this special event.

The concerts will take place in Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland and New York.


========================================================
MILWAUKEE CONCERT

Federation of Croatian Societies in Milwaukee proudly presents LINDJO on:

Friday, February 17, 2006 @ 6:00PM

Greenfield High School
4800 S. 60th
Greenfield, Wisconsin

Reception to follow at Sacred Heart (49th and Wells)

TICKETS AND INFORMATION:
$25 Advance, $30 Door…$10 kids 10-18 yrs. of age
Mirjana Markovic 414-421-0738 or 414-429-5714mmarkovic@elakeside.com 
Mary Schauer 414-321-8175
Ante Rados 414-541-6031

==========================================================

CHICAGO CONCERT:

Croatian Cultural Center Chicago and Croatian Vines proudly present LINDJO on:

Saturday, February 18, 2006 @ 6:00PM

St. Scholastica Auditorium,
7416 N. Ridge
Chicago, IL

Reception to follow at Croatian Cultural Center, 2845 W Devon, Chicago

TICKETS AND INFORMATION:
$30.00 Advance, $35.00 Door
$25.00 Children (12-18).
Vesna Praljak 847-520-6386 or 847-477-4950, vpraljak@yahoo.com ;
Mare Romanovic 773-624-0337 or 773-914-5020,mmromanovic@sbcglobal.net .

==========================================================

CLEVELAND CONCERT:

American Croatian Lodge proudly presents Lindjo

Thursday, February 23, 2006, at 7:00 PM:

The American Croatian Lodge (Cardinal A. Stepinac)
34900 Lakeshore Boulevard
Eastlake, OH

TICKETS AND INFORMATION:
$15.00 Advance, $20 Door, Children (under 12) free
Dubrovnik Gardens 440-946-3366
Branko Medancic 216-407-6725
Mandica’s Gift Shop 440-897-4013

========================================================


NEW YORK CONCERT:

Croatian Center in New York proudly presents Lindjo

Saturday, February 25, 2006, at 7:00 PM:

Croatian Center (Hrvatski Centar)
502 W. 41st Street
New York, NY 10036

TICKETS AND INFORMATION:
$30.00, Children (12-18) $20.00
Fr. Ivica Majstorovic 212-563-3395 or 646-322-3395, e-mail:crkva.nyc@verizon.net 
 

Jele Croatian Women's Choir a joint concert with Tamburica "Dobri Decki"

The 18 - voice Jele Croatian Women's Choir will present a joint concert with Tamburica "Dobri Decki" at Immaculate Heart of Mary Croatian Catholic Church, February 26 at 4PM. Tickets are $10. Principal arranger and conductor John Morovich will give a pre-concert lecture at 3PM.

Jele will present traditional Croatian women's music specializing in regional vocal styles from strident two voice songs of the Dinaric region, to sweet, four part serenades of the Adriatic Seacoast, harvest songs of the Panonian plain, to the lyrical "popevke" of Podravina and Medjimurje with a heavy Hungarian influence. The concert will also feature music of Croats living in Bosna and Hercegovina and Southern Italy.


The Dobri Decki Tamburica orchestra will accompany Jele on several songs and will perform traditional tamburica tunes from the Slavonija region and will sing Klapa songs from Dalmatia.

For tickets, please email choirjele@hotmail.com

CroNetwork: The Croatian-American Organization for Young Professionals.
 

The Sylvan Winds celebrate GEORGES BARRERE

Join us for wine and music on Valentine's Day......

The Sylvan Winds invite you on

FROM: Svjetlana Kabalin
FOR: the Sylvan Winds

RESERVATIONS / PROGRAM INFORMATION (phone/fax): 212/222-3569

February 10, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SYLVAN WINDS Celebrate GEORGES BARRÈRE

now at CHRIST & ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH (120 West 69th Street)
Tuesday, FEBRUARY 14, 2006 at 8:00 PM
with PRE-CONCERT LECTURE at 7:30 PM

The Sylvan Winds

Svjetlana Kabalin, flute; Alexandra Knoll, oboe; Amy Zoloto, clarinet;
Thomas Sefcovic, bassoon; Zohar Schondorf, horn

with Guest Artist: Christie Julien, piano

continue its exploration of ‘flute monarch’ Georges Barrère’s legacy, tied to the pub­li­ca­tion of his biography by Nancy Toff, with a Valentine’s Day gala for their inaugural con­cert of the new season in a program entitled


To Barrère with Love
Adolphe Deslandres (1840-1911) Trois pièces en Quintette (1900)
Patrice Devanchy (1876-1943) Suite for winds and piano (1903)
AndrĂŠ Caplet (1878-1925) Quintet for winds and piano (1900)
RenĂŠ de Boisdeffre (1834-1906) Scherzo, op. 49
Hedwige ChrĂŠtien (1859-1944) SĂŠrĂŠnade sous bois (1920) et Arabesque (1921)
Albert Seitz (1872-1937) Sextet No. 1 for winds and piano (1897)
Ticket prices for the concert are $30 for adults and $15 for students and seniors

For further program information and reservations, please call or fax 212 / 222-3569.


Georges Barrère (1876-1944, France/USA) was one of five French wind players recruited in 1905 by Walter Damrosch who envied the woodwind sounds of the Boston Symphony and wanted to emulate them in his New York Symphony Orchestra. In 1895, Barrère had founded the Société Moderne d’Instruments à Vent in Paris, a chamber music organization that performed 60 new works by 41 composers in its first 10 years. In New York, Barrère would go on to found the woodwind department at the Institute of Musical Art, now the Juilliard School, bringing with him the traditions of the French school of woodwind performance. In 1910, he founded the Barrère Ensemble of Wind Instruments consistently promoting new repertoire, advocating American composers, and supporting women composers long before it became fashionable. He toured throughout the country from 1912 to 1936, encouraged the new voices of the future – Henry Brant, Wallingford Riegger and Edgard Varèse - and was responsible for the premières of more than 170 works, with more than 40 dedicated to him. This is the third concert by the Sylvan Winds dedicated to preserving his legacy.

Nancy Toff, a past president of the New York Flute Club, is the author of The Flute Book and The Development of the Modern Flute. Her Monarch of the Flute: The Life of Georges Barrère has just been published by Oxford University Press, coinciding with the centenary of his arrival to the United States. It is the first biography of this important musician, whose life is a veri­table tale of two cities, Paris and New York, to which he contributed sig­nifi­cantly as a performer and pedagogue. With a missionary zeal for stimulating woodwind chamber music ensembles and the performance of new compositions for that medium, his many ensembles toured the United States, building new audiences for chamber music and promoting French repertoire as well as new American music. – Ms. Toff will open this gala concert with a pre-performance lecture at 7:20 p.m.

French born pianist Christie Julien is a graduate of Baltimore’s Peabody Con­ser­vatory where she earned her Artist Diploma under the tutelage of Leon Fleisher. In 2002 she made a spec­tac­ular U.S. debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center under the ba­ton of Leonard Slatkin in Bartok’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a work that she also performed in Baltimore and repeated at the French Embassy. Her first solo public ap­pearance on French na­tional television was when she was twelve. The following year she won a national prize and soloed with the orchestra. After winning the French Steinway competition, she performed at Berlin’s Phil­har­mon­ic Hall at fifteen, and she graduated from the Paris Conservatory with a unani­mously conferred first prize in both piano and chamber music. She has also toured China and ap­peared at festivals in Europe and the United States, including Santa Fe, La Jolla, Great Lakes and Ravinia.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Most of the works on this program were premièred by Barrère and his wind ensembles in Paris; some have been dedicated to him as well. Except for the Ar­gentinian-born Lalo (Boris) Schifrin, all the composers on this program were also Barrère’s French compatriots. There is a Parisian connection with Schifrin, too; he won a schol­ar­ship to study at its Conservatory with Koechlin and Messiaen, before being dis­cov­ered in his native land by Dizzy Gillespie, whom he joined as a pianist and arranger, on his way to becoming a notable film and TV composer. In this flute-oriented program, it is worth noting that in ad­dition to his numerous off-screen compositions he wrote a 1996 Caribbean Flute Concerto. However, it is as a gesture of gratitude that this work is being included, for the continuing French support of the victims of the recent ravages suffered by the cruel blows of Katrina. Indeed, this concert is offered in hopes of a continued appreciation of French and American culture and a celebration of our fraternity.

—————————————————————

Hailed by the New York Times for “its venturesomeness of programming and stylishness of performance,â€? the ensemble has performed throughout the tri-state area, and has toured both domestically and abroad. The Sylvan Winds has established a reputation as one of the city’s most versatile chamber music ensembles and has received many honors, including an invitation to perform at the New York Governor’s Arts Awards. Dedicated to exploring the entire body of literature for wind instruments, the ensemble has consistently earned audience and critical acclaim. Of its spring ‘99 concert at Weill Recital Hall, New York Times critic Paul Griffiths wrote, “the work was beautifully executed here, with due care for its rhythmic demands. Indeed, throughout the evening the musicians showed themselves able to think, breathe and enter as one.â€?

—————————————————————

Additional performances by the SYLVAN WINDS this season will take place on Sunday, April 23, 2006 at 3:00 PM under the auspices of the Kosciuszko Foundation, 15 E 65 Street, featuring works of Poldowski, Kotonski, Kilar and Lutoslawski, and the ensemble will close the season as usual at Weill Recital Hall on Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 8:00 PM, with the world première of Robert Dick’s Startling Stories, framed by Mozart, Adagio & Allegro, K 594; Karl Husa, Five Poems; and Maurice Ravel, Mother Goose suite arranged for wind quintet by Mark Popkin.
 

I have traveled to the soil you washed from your hands

First printed in the Zajednicar Fraternalist
Croatian Fraternal Union of America
PUBLISHED on 31 August, 1988; Vol.#83/No.33; Page 6
Written by Constant (Connor) Vlakancic

A Search For Roots - Stivan, Cres, Croatia

Sunnyvale, CA -- This is a true story. For the last two years, my life is this story. It is also a story of the end of life, Not my life, I hope, for I have only just discovered but perhaps yours, as you have known it, as I hope you have known it.

-- I am a grown man with a well developed and materially successful life. There is always more to have but as in all life, a price is extracted when we indulge in our wants. As such and in the best of health, and raising my son, a son I am genuinely proud of, what more does the soul of man hunger for?

-- That which I have never known or known about. That which my grandfather left behind on the island of Cres in 1918. He bravely left on the greatest adventure of his young life. With a single mindedness, he looked forward, never went back that I know of and he built a life with the timber of the new world but on the foundation of his heritage that he knew so well but took for granted. For reasons that were his, he took this foundation to the grave with him.

-- My grandfather died when I was but a young teen. Yet I do have memories of him. A machinist at Barber-Green in Aurora, Illinois, respected and responsible, he had built his life to his measure. I did not know him real well as we (my father "his son", my mother, my sister and myself) did not live nearby. But this I know without hesitation, I never heard any words from him but articulate English. From my own father who had known him for all his life, I never heard any words except English. Whatever he knew, he also took to his grave many years ago.

Now moving forward to but two years ago, I accidentally learn (an amazing story in itself) that I am Croatian. A word, a nation, a culture that I had never known of or even heard of. A heritage to feed the hunger in my guts, in my heart. In two years, I have learned of things that I could not even have dreamed of. But this has not been learning to satisfy the hunger, this has only been learning that the food exists.

I sit writing this in a jet plane returning to the United States from three weeks in Croatia. I have lived the monumental frustration of my hunger that I do not know if I will ever surmount. I cannot communicate in my grandfather’s native tongue. Oh father of my father, why must I suffer this so. I am a bird with spirit in my heart, with wings to fly, to soar in this beckoning sky. Trapped in the small cage of my few words laboriously learned, I am deaf and dumb and nearly blind.

Through my own efforts, I have forged myself into a strong man, stronger than many. I demand of myself the courage to speak the unpopular thought, to perform the unpopular deed when in my heart I believe in the integrity of my convictions. And I will be patient as the oyster growing a pearl when actions are for naught. But I would say to you grandfather I am not certain that I can now still learn this language. Why did I not grow with it as a child?

I believe and live this; “To know and yet not to do, is not yet to know.” I have done! I have traveled to the soil you washed from your hands and walked the paths of the village that bears your footprints. But will the research that I have started ever yield to me a life I have only just discovered? This is a story of the end of life. Not my life, for I will share with my son whatever soil is on my hands. I will show him the paths with my footprints. I will show him the food that he may hunger for.

But what of your life? You, the sons and daughters born on the soil you explored with your father but now emigrated to another land, have you washed your hands? Do you share your foundation with your children? Or teach them your language? Will you take to the grave your life as you have known it?

If you do not return, with your children, then others most certainly will and your life, as you have known it, will be as dead as an old cold candle that nobody knows what it burned brightly for - or - may - never - care - again. • Constant Vlakancic/Lodge 1983

Connor Vlakancic

Connor Vlakancic was born and raised in the rural environment of northern Illinois, close to the birthplace of California Governor and U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Vlakancic was raised in a conservative farming family environment where productive work was encouraged and respected.
His paternal Grandfather was of Croatian heritage from the Dalmatian Coast in the north Adriatic Sea, as a citizen during the end of Austro-Hungarian rule. Immigrating to America in 1917, he became a journeyman machinist.
His maternal Grandfather was of German heritage from the Alsace-Lorraine region. Immigrating to the United States in 1916, he built a substantial dairy farm in the center of the northern Illinois "Corn Belt".
Connor Vlakancic started his career in Silicon Valley, California, as an electronic engineer with Fairchild Semiconductor, Timex, Inc., Intel Corporation, National Semiconductor and Siemens Opto-electronics, developing semiconductor technologies. He also spent many years at Honeywell Instruments and Raychem Industries developing digital control systems in paper and plastics manufacturing, traveling worldwide to install multi-million dollar control systems.
During the mid-1980’s, he was an early entrepreneur in the personal computer systems revolution by founding a successful computer retail sales company in Silicon Valley. He followed this success with several years at Apple Computer as a competitive, computer-marketing annalist.
In 1990 he was a technologist in computer network standards at Networld+Interop, which, by 1995, had become the world’s largest open computer standards, tradeshow and exposition. He then joined a division of Alcoa Company responsible for a new business unit to produce desktop computer network technology products aimed at the Fortune 1,000,000 companies that were losing market-share to their networked competitors.
During the late 1990’s, he created a family reunion, live videoconference service to provide "Familia Visitas" from San Jose, California to Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico. He captured business videoconference service contracts with Western-Union, the State of California and Sprint International. Additionally, as the end of the millennium approached, he was a business consultant and due-diligence investigator for the international venture capital investors headquartered in Silicon Valley, and a business development executive at Netscape Corporation and Sun Microsystems.
His education includes undergraduate and graduate studies in Chicago, IL and California universities earning degrees in electronics and an aircraft pilot’s license. He has continued his business professional and leadership education, attending numerous extension programs from multiple Universities.
He has published technology articles in several computer magazines and has been a featured lecturer at Internet communications conferences. His most recent communications business development expertise was focused in wireless messaging application solutions. He was awarded three US and international technology patents. His past and current membership in professional organizations includes The Commonwealth Club of California, The Churchill Club of Silicon Valley and The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of several corporations. He is a current active Trustee in the Committee for Economic Development www.CED.org national policy think-tank in Washington, DC.
He is a published political author with a visionary dissertation registered in the U.S. Library of Congress, www.loc.gov (TXU-677-205), “The 1996 Federal Paradigm” on 16 Feb 1995, which defines a 10-point "contract" to be championed and advanced by the President of the United States. He presented his visionary "contract" to Rep. Newt Gingrich, Aug. 1994, which become a critical segment of the GOP “The Contract with America” in 1995. www.uwsa.com/issues/contract/A-TofC.html The visionary concepts of The 1996 Federal Paradigm did forecast and predict national and international issues which have become of paramount consequence since September 2001.
He was recommended by US Ambassador to Croatia, William D. Montgomery, and selected by the US Department of State to support international elections monitoring, with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), during the year 2000 federal elections, in the Republic of Croatia.
He has been a candidate for US Congress, the 15th Congressional District of California in 1995, 1998 and 2000 and also in the 17th Congressional District of California in 2004.
He is developing "Favorite Son" support to deliver an innovative November 2006 election campaign for US Senator (Independent) from California. He has filed a benchmark California Proposition http://caag.state.ca.us/initiatives/pdf/sa2005rf0103_amdt_2_s.pdf to provide highly popular consumer and parental relief from California ABC regulations. This proposition is planned to be included on the General Election Ballot of November 2006. He is also promoting an extraordinary California Proposition www.generation18-20.com that would reduce to elimination alcohol abuse among 18, 19 and 20 year old young adults.
 

U ISTINI JE MIR

ZA ISTINU, PRAVDU I MIR
Fra Nikola Mate Roscic
Slovo prigodom dodjele priznanja 'Junak hrvatskog Domovinskog rata'
General pukovniku Anti Gotovini
Zagreb, Hrvatski novinarski dom, 1. veljace 2006. u 11 sati

Postovani predstavnici Udruga proizaslih iz Domovinskog rata!
Ugledni casnici i duznosnici!
Cijenjene gospodje i gospodo!

Smatram prikladnim zapoceti ovaj govor obnavljanjem uspomene na proslavljenog spartanskog kralja i junaka Leonidu koji je 480. godine prije Krista sa svojim izabranim vojnicima iz Sparte i saveznicima iz Grcke htio obraniti svoju zemlju od najezde ratobornih i mnogobrojnih Perzijanaca. Htio ih je docekati u klancu Termopile. No, bili su izdani od Efijalta i svi su junaci izginuli. Leonidino ime i lik ostalo je do danas simbol junastva i domoljublja, a Efijaltovo ime simbol sramote i stravicnog grijeha izdaje protiv domovine. Kazu da jos uvijek i nakon gotovo 2500 godina postoji spomenik na kojem su uklesane rijeci: 'Putnice, ako ides u Grcku, reci njima dolje da smo ovdje svi mi pali za njihovu slobodu'.

Postovani prijatelji! Kao katolicki svecenik i redovnik danas zacijelo ne bih bio na ovom mjestu, niti bih se odvazio progovoriti u ovoj prigodi, da se u svijesti i savjesti ne osjecam potaknut pismom novoizabranog rimskog pape Benedikta XVI., koji je za svjetski dan mira, dakle za Novu godinu 2006., uputio svijetu svoju poruku koja nosi naslov U ISTINI JE MIR. To je zapravo dubokoumno teolosko i duhovno razmisljanje o miru koji u svom ostvarenju na osobnoj i univerzalnoj razini mora biti utemeljen na istini. To je ponajprije istina o Bogu i Bozja istina o covjeku, istina o vrijednosti i dostojanstvu covjekovog zivota, istina o temeljnim vrjednotama, ali i istina o povijesnim dogadjajima, njihovim stvarnim uzrocima i posljedicama. Odnosno, to je osuda lazi i laznog pogleda na zivot, kako pojedinca tako i cijele ljudske zajednice. Jer, kako istice papa, 's lazju je povezana drama grijeha sa svojim perverznim izvedenicama koje su prouzrocile strahovite posljedice u zivotu pojedinaca i naroda i jos uvijek to prouzrocuju. Treba se samo sjetiti sto se dogodilo u proslom stoljecu – nastavlja papa – kad su nastrani ideoloski i politicki sustavi planski izvrtali istinu i tako doveli do izrabljivanja i potcinjavanja golemog broja ljudi, stovise, citavih obitelji i zajednica'

Zbog povijesnih i politickih lazi i izokretanja istine mnogi narodi trpe nepravde i nasilja. Papa se pri tom poziva na vazni i velebni dokument II. vatikanskog sabora O Crkvi u suvremenom svijetu (Gaudium et spes). A tu je, izmedju ostalog, i rijec o miru i svemu onome sto stoji u sluzbi mira medju narodima. Papa navodi rijeci iz 5. poglavlja spomenutog saborskog dokumenta koji se odnosi na 'promicanje mira i izgradnju zajednice naroda'. Ne bez razloga u tom kontekstu Benedikt XVI. izrijekom citira rijeci o ulozi vojnika koje glase: 'Oni pak koji sluzeci domovini vrse vojnicku duznost neka se smatraju sluzbenicima sigurnosti i slobode naroda, i ako ispravno vrse tu duznost, istinski pridonose ucvrscenju mira' (GS, 79).

Pomno citajuci papinu poruku nisam se mogao oteti dojmu da je pred njegovim ocima i u njegovim mislima bila i nasa aktualna hrvatska situacija koja se u svojoj najozbiljnijoj i najpresudnijoj komponenti upravo vrti oko pitanja istine o nasoj suverenosti i slobodi, nasem Domovinskom ratu, o glavnim akterima nase najnovije povijesti, ali i lazima i krivotvorinama koje se oko toga splicu i isplicu. Potrebno je utvrditi istinu o tome je li to bio Domovinski rat za slobodu i suverenu cjelovitost jednog naroda i drzave, ili pak 'zajednicki pothvat i plan zlocinacke organizacije', dakle djelo/nedjelo zlocinacke politike i generala zlocinaca, odnosno jesu li nasi branitelji zasluzni i casni hrvatski vojnici, casni duznosnici, junaci i heroji ili pak zlocinci, zlikovci/zlikavci. Bez te istine nema mira, bez te istine nema pravedne prosudbe, pa ma od kojeg suda, politicara ili povjesnicara bila proglasena. A istinu se ne trazi, istinu se ne priznaje, istinu se ne postuje. Istinu se, izgleda, zeli diktatom nametnuti. To je diktat 'medjunarodne zajednice', a ne pravorijek na temelju svih relevantnih cinjenica. Po tom diktatu neki tudjinci pisu nasu novu povjesnicu, ideoloski i politicki povijesni katekizam u reziji vladara svijeta. To je diktat orwellovskog 'Velikog brata' iz 'ministarstva istine'. Nazalost, u njemu sudjeluju i domaci koautori koji, kako primjecuje dr. Zdravko Tomac 'vrlo sustavno i agresivno provode novu titoizaciju, obnavljaju kult Tita i bratstva i jedinstva, idealiziraju Titovo vrijeme i bivsu Jugoslaviju, a destruiraju i kriminaliziraju Hrvatsku nastalu u Domovinskom ratu' (usp.: Z. TOMAC, Predsjednik protiv predsjednika, str. 173).

Na tragu pisma pape Benedikta XVI. treba podsjetiti da je iz laznih postavki proizasla nacisticka 'istina', komunisticka 'istina', a odatle i druge 'istine' koje sluze za opravdanje nemilih ratova, ugnjetavanje naroda i krojidbu planova 'novog svjetskog poretka'. Te lazne ideoloske i politicke 'istine' izrodile su uzasne zakone u pojedinim rezimima, koji su upravo u tijeku XX. vijeka, koji je bio 'stoljeca ratova', prouzrocile stravicne zlocine. Po nacistickoj i Hitlerovoj 'istini' svi Slaveni, Zidovi, Romi i brojni drugi, proglaseni su nearijevcima i potom brutalno tretirani kao neljudi. Na osnovi neistine i lazi trebalo ih je pokoriti, istrijebiti, unistiti. Po lenjinisticko-staljinistickoj ideoloskoj 'istini' vodjeni su procesi nad milijunima ljudi, kad je cuveni drzavni tuzitelj Visinski fabricirao i iznudjivao dokaze. Te zrtve ideoloske mrznje napunile su Sibirske zatvore i rudnike, to je Solzenjicinov Arhipelag Gulag, to su svi nacisticki logori, to je Bleiburg, Krizni putovi, Jazovke i Maceljske sume, to je Stara Gradiska, Lepoglava, Goli otok i sva druga mjesta Titovih komunistickih progona, osuda. To je stravicni smrtopis izopacene ideoloske mrznje, povijesne lazi protiv Boga i covjeka, protiv brojnih naroda i vjera. Stoga dr. Tomac pise: 'Borba za istinu jest presudna. Istina je jedna od temeljnih vrijednosti demokratskog drustva. Zato ce narod koji dopusti krivotvorenje svoje povijesti, prije ili kasnije, izgubiti sposobnost suvereno odlucivati o svojoj buducnosti' (usp.: Z. TOMAC, Predsjednik protiv predsjednika, str. 162).

U medjunarodnoj literaturi i vojno-politickom pojmovniku, kad je rijec o dogadjajima na nasim prostorima obicno se govori o sukobima na Balkanu. To je preblag izraz za brutalne dogadjaje, za sve poginule i usmrcene, prognane, nestale, silovane, zatvorene, ranjene, za sve porobljene i ponizene ljude, za sve ono sto je poruseno i spaljeno, za sva etnicka ciscenja, za sve bombe, mine, bojna kola i oruzja koja su upotrebljavana. To je preblag izraz za toliki naboj mrznje, za masovne grobnice i sabirne logore, za Vukovar, Srebrenicu, Sarajevo, Dubrovnik i Pristinu i sva druga mjesta i gradove, za toliko krvi, smrti i pepela!

Kroz minule godine trazilo se, nalazilo i rabilo razlicite sintagme za opis i izricanje dogadjanja na Balkanu. Zabiljezeni su nazivi: bratoubilacki ratovi, etnicki sukobi, gradjanski rat, plemenski rat (tribalizam), nacionalisticki sukobi, osvajacki rat, revansizam, vjerski fundamentalizam, balkanska posla, drevne etnicke razmirice, plemenske osvete, stara neprijateljstva (atavizam), krizarski ratovi, humanitarna intervencija, janjicarski ratovi, treci balkanski rat, itd. A Samuel P. Huntington tvrdi: «Rat u Bosni bio je rat civilizacija», pa pokusava tu svoju hipotezu opisati i dokazati (usp.: The Clash of Civilisations, hrv. prijevod, str. 353 i 356). Nasuprot tome filozof Alain Finkielkraut kaze: «Teza o ratu civilizacija je potpuna glupost» (usp.: intervju u Novom listu, 5. X. 1997., str. 28).

Povijest poznaje mnoge i razlicite ratove: osvajacke i obrambene, kolonijalne, svjetske, ideoloske, bratske, plemenske, gradjanske, revolucionarne, partizanske, vjerske, stogodisnje, tridesetogodisnje, sedmogodisnje i brze ratove (Blitzkrieg), pustinjske, morske, atomske i nuklearne ratove, ratove zvijezda, psiholoske, hladne, diplomatske, spijunske, mafijaske ratove, pa konacno i rat protiv rata. ©to se je od svega toga dogodilo na Balkanu? Jesu li to bili sukobi ili ratovi? Tko je to zapoceo, tko prouzrocio, tko vodio, proveo, sudjelovao i dovrsio?

cini se da jedno ipak stoji: naime, sve sto se na Balkanu dogadjalo, nikada nije bilo proglaseno (definirano) pravim ratom te sluzbeno i pravno od medjunarodnih instancija tako nazvano i kategorizirano. Jer, «Zapad je, kao vrhovni krizni manager, sebi pridrzao vlast definicije nad konfliktima» (usp.: Zborno djelo koje je uredila Dunja MELcIc, Der Jugoslawien – Krieg. Handbuch zu Vorgeschichte, Verlauf und Konsequenzen, Westdeutscher Verlag, 1999., str. 11). A upravo su zbog toga nastali ociti propusti i prouzrocene posljedice tog propusta. Ujedno, upravo stoga, sva ta pomutnja u govoru, s velikim zlim posljedicama koje su otuda proizasle. Svjetska je politika najprije zakazala jezicno, nije se znalo kako nazvati te dogadjaje, i stoga Hans Magnus Enzesberger u jednom clanku pise: «Vjerojatno se radi o jednoj povijesnoj novosti» (usp.: Franz SCHIRRMACHER, Der westliche Kreuzzug. 41 Positionen zum Kosovo-Krieg, DVA – Stuttgart 1999., str. 28). Ili se pak s Robertom Spaemannom moze govoriti o semantickom triku, jer se ne govori o ratu, nego o sukobu, a «rat je, kao i mir, jedno pravno stanje, iako manje radosno» (usp.: Der westliche Kreuzzug, str. 151). A buduci da po toj semantici nije bilo nikakva rata, nema ni ratnog prava, nema agresora, nema ratnog pobjednika, nema ratne stete, a nazalost, naposljetku ni pravog zavrsetka rata, niti pravednog mirovnog sporazuma. Sve se strpalo u jedan te isti kos, sve strane i sudionici bili su podjednako proglaseni krivima, a to znaci i podjednako neduznima, svi jednako zlocesti i jednako odgovorni. Otuda, i stoga, zbunjenost, pomutnja, neistina, nepravda. Ovo je za Europu bila prigoda, ali ona je izabrala jednaku distancu prema svim zaracenim stranama. Stoga je reakcija i akcija Europe tijekom citavog trajanja konflikta bila preslaba i stizala je prekasno (usp.: Der Jugoslawien - Krieg, str. 464).

Medjutim, moze se, a i treba drukcije misliti. Stravicni sukobi na Balkanu nose i imaju u sebi sve vidljive znakove rata, stovise jednog svjetskog rata, iako geografski ogranicenoga, u minijaturi. Napadnuti su samostojni narodi i neovisne, suverene drzave, okupirani su teritoriji, postojao je agresor, a na drugoj strani branitelj, bili su poznati ratni ciljevi, ratni stroj je bio u punom pogonu, sa svim sto u to spada i sto to znaci. Nikakav slucajan sukob, nego jedan pravi pravcati rat! Mnoge svjetske organizacije i drzave sudjelovale su u tome: UNO, NATO, EU, OSCE, pravoslavni blok drzava, Islamska liga. U Hrvatskoj, BiH, Albaniji, Makedoniji i Kosovu bili su i jos se uvijek nalaze vojnici iz raznih drzava. Bio je to fragmentarni i ogledni predlozak Treceg svjetskog rata u globalnoj strategiji determiniranog kaosa. A taj se rat ne vodi vise po prirucniku austrijskog generala Karla von Clausewitza (1780 -1831), nego po novim strateskim smjernicama velikih sila koje ratove izazivaju, vode i njima upravljaju. Odbaceni su i prekrojeni klasicni pojmovi jus ad bellum, bellum justum, jus in bello, jus post bellum (pravo na rat, pravedni rat, pravo u ratu, pravo nakon rata), pa oni danas imaju posve novo i sasvim drukcije znacenje, tumacenje, zagovornike i nositelje.

Nakon nemilih i tragicnih dogadjaja na nasim prostorima koji su se zbivali pred ocima svjetske javnosti i uz veliku izravnu ukljucenost brojnih drzava i svjetskih organizacija, nastupilo je vrijeme redefiniranja onoga sto se i kako se dogodilo. Na visokim razinama, nama cesto nepoznatima i nedostupnima, stvorene su i diktirane politicke i pravne odrednice po kojima se dogadjaji u ovoj regiji trebaju prikazati i kategorizirati kao svojevrsni gradjanski sukob u kojem su suprotstavljene strane podjednako odgovorne. Stoga se brise pojam 'agresija i agresor' kao i 'obrana i branitelj'. Sukladno tome uspostavljeno je medjunarodno sudiste koje ce procesuirati 'zlocince' s jedne i druge sukobljene strane. Po tom diktatu odbacuje se naziv 'branitelji Domovinskog rata', a uspostavlja kategorija 'sudionici u zlocinackom pothvatu'. Slijedom toga i nije bilo 'Domovinskog rata', a vojni i politicki duznosnici se nisu borili za obranu, slobodu i suverenitet svoje drzave, nego su bili zdruzena 'zlocinacka skupina' koja je smislila, planirala i izvrsila 'zlocinacki cin'. Ona je to ucinila posebno na podrucju 'Srpske krajine' te na prostorima druge drzave, to jest Bosne i Hercegovine. Sudskom presudom, koja bi usvojila ove kvalifikacije Haaskog tuziteljstva, definitivno bi se iz povjesnice hrvatskog naroda i kolektivne svijesti nacije trebala brisati sintagma 'Domovinski rat', a na politicko-pravnom planu uslijedile bi sankcije i reparacije za izvrseni 'zlocinacki pothvat'. Kao posljedica i ovjekovjecenje te presude jamacno bi u dogledno vrijeme u Kninu mogao niknuti memorijalni muzej i spomenik o 'srpskom holokaustu'. Sukladno tome u sredisnjoj BiH bi mogao nastati drugi memorijalni spomenik o 'bosnjackom holokaustu'. U tom kontekstu, kao posljedica nametnute i lazne krivnje, hrvatski bi entitet u BiH, odbacen i zaboravljen od svoje maticne zemlje, naroda i drzave, bio sveden na etnicku i vjersku manjinu, postao bi 'hrvatsko-katolicki milet', koji bi doduse uzivao pravo 'zasticenih gradjana – sticenika' (zimije) medju islamskim Bosnjacima, placao bi podanicki porez (dziziju) i pokorno zivio u svom getu kao gradjani drugog reda.

Postovani branitelji!

1. Hvala vam na pozivu i mogucnosti da kao covjek i svecenik smijem i mogu pozdraviti suglasnu odluku Udruga proizaslih iz Domovinskog rata, da se general-pukovniku Anti Gotovini, sada uzniku Haaskog tribunala, dodijeli casni naslov 'Junak Domovinskog rata'. To je zasluzeno i pravicno priznanje za njegovo zivotno vojnicko djelo. Neka mu bude na ponos i utjehu, na poticaj da se casno i muzevno drzi i odrzi u nemilom sudskom okrsaju u kojem treba braniti i obraniti sebe i svoju Domovinu. Podrska njemu osobno ujedno je i podrska svim visokim duznosnicima i casnicima Hrvatske vojske i Hrvatskog vijeca obrane koji su u procesu sudjenja, bilo da se brane sa slobode ili kao uznici.

2. Smatram da je posve razvidno kako se kroz sudjenje pojedincima smisljeno i ciljano smjera na osudu cjelovitog politickog i vojnog vrha Hrvatske tijekom Domovinskog rata, napose kroz vojno-redarstvene pothvate 'Bljesak' i 'Oluja'. To dokazuje toliko puta ponavljana sintagma 'zlocinacka organizacija'. Stoga je to ustvari sudski proces i tuzba PROTIV HRVATSKE. Zalosna je cinjenica da je takva tuzba dobrim dijelom satkana od iskaza i optuzbi iz Hrvatske, od prodanih dusa i antihrvatskih revansista. Zacudjuje preslaba obavijestenost i svijest o cemu se zapravo radi i koje su sve moguce posljedice toga.

3. U teskim i zamrsenim narodnim i medjunarodnim sudjenjima, tuzba i presuda nikada nisu lisene snaznog politickog utjecaja. Stoga je ovo politicko, a to hoce reci i ideolosko sudjenje, jer su cinjenice podvrgnute diktatu svjetskih politickih, vojnih i gospodarskih mocnika. Vec su davno Rimljani rekli Summum jus summa injuria, i time dali do znanja da pozitivno pravo i pravednost nisu jedno te isto, da se ponekad istjerivanje vrhunskog prava pretvara u vrhunsku nepravdu. Povijesno iskustvo svjedoci da su ljudski sudovi i sudista, pozitivno pravo i zakonske presude, bezbroj puta bile neistinite, pogresne. Samo je Bozji pravorijek istinit i vjecan.

4. Institucija svjedoka i svjedocenja stara je koliko i institucija suda i sudaca. Biti svjedokom je casna i odgovorna duznost u sluzbi istine. To zacijelo vrijedi i za svjedocenje pred Haaskim sudom. No, oduvijek je bilo presudno je li svjedok pouzdan, vjerodostojan, istinit. Nazalost povijest poznaje i brojne lazne svjedoke i lazna svjedocenja, poznaje svjedoke dodvorice i izdajice, placene svjedoke, osvetoljubive svjedoke. Najtragicnije je kad se izdaja pretvara u optuznicu. Kako se ne sjetiti biblijskih krivokletnika i tuzitelja iz knjige proroka Danijela (Dn, 13,42-64) ili pak Jude koji je poljupcem izdao Isusa (Lk 22,48), ili laznih svjedoka u procesu protiv Isusa pred Velikim svecenickim vijecem (Mk 14,55-59; Mt 26,60), a napose rimskih vojnika koji su bili potkupljeni od starjesina da daju lazno svjedocanstvo – i 'oni uzese novac i ucinise kako bijahu pouceni' (Mt 28,11-15).

5. Pod svodom ove dvorane Hrvatskog novinarskog doma, nije moguce zaobici i cinjenicu da je uz Haaske optuznice protiv Hrvatskih generala i visokih casnika HVO podignuta optuznica i protiv nekolicine hrvatskih novinara. No, iz ovog se doma nije cula zauzeta rijec i prosvjed u njihovu obranu i zastitu. Uzalud novinarski eticki kodeks, utaman pozivanje na slobodu pisane i govorne rijeci, uzalud priziv na demokratska prava gradjana, uzalud smrt Sinise Glavasevica i Gordana Lederera. Izgleda kao da se ovdje brani samo lijevo krilo medijskih poslenika koji dodvornicki i sluznicki ubojitim medijskim streljivom i prepoznatljivom jakobinskom gorljivoscu promicu i podupiru tzv. proces 'detudjmanizacije', odnosno, tocnije receno, 'dekroatizacije'. Ne sluzi im na cast!

6. Sudske procese i osude koji nose pecat politicke i ideoloske obojenosti treba promatrati u velikom povijesnom kontekstu, jer povijesni pravorijek nadvladava pristrane i jednostrane zakone i osude. To pokazuju neki primjeri iz nase hrvatske i vjerske proslosti:
· Godine 1391. u Jeruzalemu je na okrutnu smrt po islamskom zakonu osudjen ©ibencanin Nikola Tavilic – a Crkva ga proglasila blazenim i svetim.
· Godine 1616. po zakonima kalvinisticke antikatolicke osvete u Kosicama je podnio mucenicku smrt Marko Krizevcanin – a Crkva ga proglasila blazenikom i svecem.
· Godine 1671., 30. travnja, po zakonima Habsburske Monarhije u Beckom Novom Mjestu pogubljeni su hrvatski rodoljubi ban Petar Zrinski i markiz Franjo Krsto Frankopan – a Hrvati ih postuju kao simbol rodoljublja i kosti su im prenijete u zagrebacku katedralu.
· Godine 1946. na komunistickom procesu i sudistu kao ratni zlocinac i klerofasist osudjen je Alojzije Stepinac – a Crkva ga proglasila blazenikom i nadamo se uskoro svecem.

7. Duboko boli i zabrinjava cinjenica da se Domovinski rat, a narocito hrvatski branitelji i hrvatska vojska sustavno prikazuju u negativnom svjetlu, da se u tako kratkom vremenskom roku urusio domoljubni etos. Treba njegovati nacionalni ponos, raditi na sveopcoj nacionalnoj konsolidaciji i strategiji, promicati nacionalne vrjednote kako bi Hrvatska, kao relativno mala nacija, uzmogla sacuvati svoj prepoznatljivi identitet u globalnim bespucima svjetske moci. Stoga jos jednom citiram rijec dr. Tomca koji kaze: 'Bolje je sacuvati obraz i dostojanstvo, sacuvati istinu o Domovinskom ratu, suprotstaviti se politici koja zasluzne ljude krivotvorinama pretvara u zlocince, nego uci u Europsku uniju u kojoj cemo biti tretirani kao zlocinacki balkanski narod' (usp.: Z. TOMAC, Predsjednik protiv predsjednika, str. 196).

8. U svemu tome smatram da Crkva u Hrvatskoj ima svoju posebnu zadacu i poslanje. Oslobodjena od bilo kakvih politickih i klerikalnih pretenzija, u duhu Evandjelja mira i ljubavi Isusa Krista te smjernica koje su izrecene na II. vatikanskom saboru, kao i u duhu enciklika papa XX. stoljeca (kao sto su Populorum progressio, Pacem in terris, Mater et Magistra, Gaudium et spes i brojnih drugih), u duhu netom objavljene enciklike pape Benedikta XVI. Bog je ljubav, Crkva je pozvana da se angazira na svim podrucjima od zivotne vaznosti za konkretnog covjeka, a to znaci i za covjeka koji pripada i tvori odredjeni narod, naciju, drzavu. Ponekad se stjece dojam kao da se Crkva odvec povlaci u bontonsku sutnju, da je iznenadjena ili zastrasena pred trendovima neoliberalizma, antikonfesionalizma, prerusenog ateistickog i komunistickog revivala, koji u nekim segmentima dominiraju hrvatskom kulturnom, medijskom i politickom javnom scenom. Podrucja gdje se narocito uocavaju trendovi neokomunisticke ideologije, anarholiberalne gradjanske opcije i jugonostalgije upravo je odnos prema naciji, prema vojnickom pozivu, prema Crkvi. Uspostava suverene i neovisne Hrvatske, Domovinski rat i branitelji, uloga Katolicke crkve u narodu i drzavi, to je ono sto se vec godinama sustavno napada i razara, kritizira i kriminalizira. Poznato je da je Katolicka Crkva stalna meta jurisnika determinizma, kako pise Davor Domazet-Loso u knjizi Gospodari kaosa (str. 448sl.). No, valja postaviti pitanje: sto je narod bez svoje nacionalne suverene drzave, sto je drzava bez svoje vojska nadahnute i vodjene domoljubnim etosom, sto je Crkva bez zivotodajne vjere svojih vjernika? U traganju za istinom o Bogu i covjeku, o narodu i povijesnim dogadjajima, o nasilnim ideologijama i tvorcima laznih i pogubnih krivotvorenja - Crkva ne smije sutjeti !

Dragi prijatelji, postovani branitelji!

Ovaj danasnji cin dodjele priznanja, odnosno casnog naslova Junak Domovinskog Rata generalu Anti Gotovini, sada uzniku Haaskog suda, veoma je znakovit, vrijedan i vazan dogadjaj. On u sebi nosi poruku, ali je u isto vrijeme i prosvjed protiv krivotvoritelja istine o nasem Domovinskom obrambenom ratu, prosvjed protiv neprijatelja nase slobode i suvereniteta, protiv zatiraca hrvatskog domoljubnog etosa, protiv podloznika i pokornih slugana koji pod formulom 'detudjmanizacije' ustvari sustavno provode 'dekroatizaciju'. Ima u tom nesto sto je domoljubna romantika i nostalgija, ali to je daleko uzvisenije od izdaje i nehaja. Stoga mi se cini prikladnim i u ovoj prigodi istaknuti vaznost i potrebu vjere u domoljubne ideale i u ovim sadasnjim okolnostima, pa zavrsavam ovo moje slovo poznatim stihovima S. S. Kranjcevica iz pjesme Mojsije, iz daleke 1893. godine:

'I tebi bas, sto goris plamenom
Od ideala silnih, vjecitih,
Ta sjajna vatra crna bit ce smrt,
Mrijeti ti ces, kada pocnes sam
U ideale svoje sumnjati.'