GRANDE SUCCESSO PER LA SERATA

DI DEBUTTO DI BUONE VIBRAZIONI 2005

Great Success of Klapa FA Lindjo in Ravenna Italy
 

(12 July 2005)

E' iniziata nel migliore dei modi la 2° edizione di BUONE VIBRAZIONI - RASSEGNA DI GRUPPI E GIOVANI MUSICISTI. Ieri, lunedÏ 11 luglio, un folto pubblico ha accolto con calore l'esibizione delle due formazioni straniere ospiti della rassegna. Nell'atmosfera tutta speciale di piazza Garibaldi a Cervia hanno aperto la serata le ragazze croate dell'ensemble vocale KLAPA FA LINDJO con un repertorio di brani tradizionali dalmati e brani originali contemporanei. La formazione ha recentemente realizzato un cd prodotto da Nenad Bach con la straordinaria collaborazione dell'ingegnere del suono John Holbrook.
 

La serata, dedicata al ricordo del decennale dell'eccidio di Srebrenica e agli accordi di Dayton, ha visto la
partecipazione del Presidente della Provincia di Ravenna Francesco Giangrandi e dell'Assessore allo sviluppo economico e produttivo del Comune di Cervia Mariano Dellachiesa che, insieme alla Direttrice della Scuola Superiore di Musica di Tuzla, hanno avuto l'occasione di ricordare i tragici eventi accaduti a Srebrenica nella speranza di un futuro migliore e di festeggiare l'attività ed il talento dei giovani musicisti provenienti da Croazia e Bosnia ospiti della rassegna. La serata è proseguita con l'esibizione della formazione TUZLANSKI ORNAMENTI composta da giovani musicisti talentuosi della Scuola Superiore di Musica di Tuzla. Con un repertorio di brani classici e tradizionali, i giovani musicisti bosniaci hanno saputo catalizzare l'attenzione del pubblico proponendo diversi duetti e assoli per concludere in un emozionante assieme.
La serata si è conclusa con un ulteriore notevole performance da parte delle ragazze del coro KLAPA FA LINDJO che si esibiranno anche stasera in Piazza S. Francesco a Ravenna insieme all 'Orchestra Classica della Scuola di Musica 'G. Sarti' di Faenza.

http://www.sonora.ra.it/news.htm

Srebrenica

Dear All,

The New York Times today printed my editorial on Srebrenica. You can follow
the link to see it, and I'm also pasting it at the bottom of this
message.

With best wishes to everyone,

Courtney Angela

'At the end of the Second World War, Allied troops forced German citizens to
walk through Nazi death camps. They were confronted by crimes committed in
their name, in order to ensure that those crimes could not be denied or
minimized later. The people of Serbia and Montenegro, by contrast, have
never been forced to acknowledge the crimes committed in their name.'

Op-Ed Contributor

The Wages of Denial

By COURTNEY ANGELA BRKIC
Published: July 11, 2005
Washington
TEN years ago this week, Serbian forces slaughtered more than 7,000 Muslim
men in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica. Despite the efforts of a
dedicated few in Serbia, and despite the war crimes prosecutions at The
Hague, Serbia is no closer today than it was a decade ago to reckoning with
its war guilt.
For years Belgrade has denied involvement by its citizens in Srebrenica and
other massacres of the 1990s. The recent broadcast of a graphic video that
showed Serbian paramilitary police executing six young men from Srebrenica
should have made it very hard to sustain that revisionism. Amazing as it
seems, however, the video was not enough to shatter what Serbian human
rights activist Sonja Biserko has described as the country's "state of
collective denial."
Fewer than half of Serbs polled last spring believed the Srebrenica massacre
took place. And while much has been made of the video's effects on a shocked
Serbian public, it remains to be seen where that public will stand once the
furor recedes. The Radical Party, which won 27 percent of the popular vote
in the last national elections, making it the largest party in Parliament,
has already criticized what it sees as the anti-Serb hysteria that "wishes
at all costs to put the burden of all crimes on Serbia." Graffiti has
appeared in several cities praising the "liberation" of Srebrenica. Rumors
circulate that the video was doctored, or that the men committing the crimes
were acting independently.
Instead of coming to terms with its past, Serbia has circumvented the issue
with the narrative skills befitting a psychopath. For example, a debate on
Srebrenica at the Belgrade Law Faculty earlier this year was initially
titled "10 Years After the Liberation of Srebrenica." In response to the
video, Serbia's president, Boris Tadic, said, "Serbia is deeply shocked"
that "the killers had walked freely among us." But Mr. Tadic's government
surely knows that the killers in the video are but a small fraction of the
number who continue to walk the streets of Serbia and Montenegro as free
men.
A fairy tale has passed for public memory until now in Serbia and Montenegro
and it is conspicuous in its omission of Serb atrocities in Croatia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, which left hundreds of thousands dead. The
Serbian version of that history denies the fact that President Slobodan
Milosevic of Yugoslavia and those like him enjoyed overwhelming popular
support in Serbia during the war, despite the evictions, rapes and unchecked
slaughter by Yugoslav troops and irregulars. It suggests that Belgrade today
has nothing to do with Belgrade as it was 10 years ago. It aims at an absurd
relativism, placing Serbian atrocities within the context of crimes
committed by other ethnicities (in fact, the C.I.A. has reported that Serbs
were responsible for 90 percent of all atrocities committed in Bosnia). Mr.
Tadic was quoted as saying, "Crimes are always individual." All of this is
fiction.
At the end of the Second World War, Allied troops forced German citizens to
walk through Nazi death camps. They were confronted by crimes committed in
their name, in order to ensure that those crimes could not be denied or
minimized later. The people of Serbia and Montenegro, by contrast, have
never been forced to acknowledge the crimes committed in their name.
There are those who refuse to whitewash Serbia's recent past. The Helsinki
Human Rights Committee in Serbia and the independent broadcaster Radio B92
are admirable examples. People like Natasa Kandic, chairwoman of the
Humanitarian Law Center in Belgrade, have spent years fighting for the
truth, often at great personal risk. Extremists threatened to lynch Ms.
Kandic at the law school debate on Srebrenica, and one of them spat in her
face.
Eight of Serbia's human rights groups have drafted a declaration on
Srebrenica that would obligate the country's government to confess to the
massacre and to "expose and punish any ideological justification of crime."
But the daily newspaper Blic reported that the majority of parties in
Serbia's Parliament refused not only to endorse the declaration but also to
debate it.
Serbia must relinquish the fairy tale that its own wartime suffering was
equivalent to the devastation it visited on others. Adopting an honest
declaration on Srebrenica would have been an important first step, and the
Serbian Parliament should have taken it. For as long as Serbia's people deny
complicity in war crimes, they undercut any hope for justice and cheat their
country out of any decent future. The Western aid money that has poured into
Serbia may help rebuild the country's infrastructure, but it will do nothing
to cut out the cancer that riddles the country's heart.
Western governments are anxious for reconciliation in the Balkans, which
would ensure future stability in the region. They are pushing hard for the
arrests of people like Radovan Karadzic, the architect of the genocide, and
Ratko Mladic, who carried it out, and they lauded the speed with which the
Serbian government detained those suspected of being the killers shown on
the video. But those arrests will not be nearly enough.
Such men were not exceptions, nor were they acting independently, and Serbia
must acknowledge this truth, rather than denying or minimizing it. That
means surrendering all war crimes suspects to The Hague and paying
reparations to the victims of war. The West should ask for no less than this
when it considers Serbian requests for aid.

Courtney Angela Brkic is the author of "Stillness: And Other Stories" and
"The Stone Fields," an account of her work excavating mass graves outside
Srebrenica.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/11/opinion/11Brkic.html
 

CroatianRadio Los Angeles KTYM

http://www.croatianchurch.org/radio/radio_070905.mp3
 

In the group B semifinal today in New York:Croatia defeating Russia 12-7

Canadian Water Polo
Canada loses 14-8 to Spain in World League men’s water polo semifinal tournament

July 6, 2005

TORONTO.- A rebuilding Canadian men’s team got caught in an scoring festival with Spain on Wednesday and lost 14-8 in the opening game of the A group World League men’s water polo semifinal tournament being held this week at the University of Toronto.



The Canadians who were 0-6 in the round robin portion of the tournament which took place last month in Europe were led by Kevin Mitchell of Vancouver with three goals, Thomas Marks of Vancouver with two while Kevin Graham of Regina, Noah Miller of Regina and Jean Sayegh of Montreal notched one apiece. The score was 9-4 Spain at the half.


“This was by far our worst game we’ve played so far in the World League,â€? said Canada’s head coach Dragan Jovanovich of Calgary. “The mistakes we made tonight were incredible. This was the first time we were playing at home and we looked paralysed out there. The only positive is we only lost by six goals. We hadn’t played in 10 days and I think we lost our rhythm. We need to get back to our defensive ethic and ball control.â€?

Guillermo Molina led Spain with four goals while Felipe Perrone, Kiko Perrone, Jose Rodriguez and Xavi Valles added two each with singles to R. Diaz and Ivan Perez.

In Wednesday’s other game here Greece defeated Serbia and Montenegro, the Olympic silver medallists 8-7. Greece led 5-4 at the half. It was Serbia and Montenegro’s first lost of the tournament. Scoring for Greece were Antonis Vlontakis, Stefanos Santa and G Nioskas with two goals each and Argyrios Theodoropoulos and Theodoros Chatzitheodorou with one each.

Aleksandar Sapic, the league’s top scorer, scored four times for Serbia Montenegro with singles to Danilo Ikodinovic, Vladimir Vujasinovic and B. Zlokovic.

On Thursday, Canada has the bye with Serbia Montenegro facing Germany at 7 p.m. and Spain vs Greece at 8:30 p.m. Canada’s next game is Friday against Serbia Montenegro, the Olympic silver medallists in Athens.

The group B semifinal also started today in New York with Croatia defeating Russia 12-7 and Italy edging the U.S., 6-4. The top-three teams from the two groups advance to the World League final next month in Belgrade. More than $430,000 (U.S.) is up for cash prizes in the tournament.

More information at: www.waterpolo.ca and www.fina.org

Source: http://www.sportsfeatures.com

Marasovic, Croatia sniper, overpowers City

Marasovic scored all three Toronto Croatia goals

Croatia 3, City 1

By KATHY RUMLESKI -- London Free Press
In the battle between the top two teams in the Canadian Professional Soccer League, Toronto Croatia emphatically made its case that it is now supreme.

Croatia scored three goals in 13 minutes, all by Leo Marasovic, to defeat London City 3-1 last night at Cove Road field.

Marasovic, with his speed and height, was able to cruise through City's defence and shoot bullets at goalkeeper Ibrahim Hadzic.

Croatia, last year's league champions, improved to 4-1-1 atop the Eastern Conference while City fell to 5-3 but still remains tops in the West.

City manager Harry Gauss was frustrated that his team didn't stick to basic plays.

"We're meat and potatoes -- we're not filet mignon."

London got on the board first in the 27th minute on a goal by Jeff Johnson, playing in his first game for City this year. He last played for City two years ago.

Croatia tied the game just over a minute into the second half.

Marasovic dribbled past two defenders and sent the ball over the head of Hadzic.
Marasovic then popped in two more goals in the 56th and 60th minutes.
Two minutes later and Hadzic had to knock out two more shots.
"(Hadzic) still did a good job," said Gauss.

One of Hadzic's best saves came in the 12th minute when he came out of the net to steal the ball from Croatia's Leo Laurito. Hadzic had to guard the net after starting goalie Haidar Al-Shaibani learned this week he'll be out for six weeks. Al-Shaibani suffered a torn hamstring while playing as a full- back in last Friday's game.

Another London player was injured last night. City defender Shawn Ord was knocked to the ground late in the game when Croatia's Tom Granic hit Ord in the face with his shoulder. Ord had to be helped off the field.

City's Erik Elmauer received a red card at the end of the game when he booted the ball at referee Justin Tasev, a former Western player. Elmauer and Tasev later shook hands. London was playing without two starting midfielders, Dennis Peeters and Eris Tafaj, the team's leading scorer.

Peeters and Tafaj were selected to play for the CPSL all-stars in a game today against Glasgow Rangers.

That game is at the University of Toronto at 6 p.m.

GAME GLANCE

Croatia 3, City 1

Toronto goals: Leo Marasovic (3)
London goal: Jeff Johnson
Next: The North York Astros come to Cove Road field Friday for an 8:38 p.m. game.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Soccer/Canada/2005/07/09/1124329-sun.html
 

MARIN CILIC, JUNIOR WINNER AT ROLAND GARROS

New Croatian Tennis Star

By Katarina Tepesh & Jeffrey Lesser

In an amazing turn of events, 16-year-old Croat Marin Cilic won the boys’ junior championship at Roland Garros to become the first Croatian champion of the event in French Open history.

In his title run, the unseeded Cilic won six matches in a row, including a third-round dismantling of the #3 seed, Son-Yong Kim, Jr. of Korea, a straight set victory over 5th seeded Sergei Bubka of the Ukraine, and a semifinal shocker over #1 seed Andrew Murray of Britain. After defeating three seeded players in a row, Cilic faced Antal Van Der Duim of the Netherlands in the final, and won the title convincingly, 6-3 6-1. Marin Cilic, an unseeded player not expected to do much damage on clay at the French Open, had won the title in superlative fashion.

Cilic, who now officially represents Croatia, moved to Zagreb in 2002 from his home in Medjugorje, Bosnia & Herzegovina, the same village where in 1981 youngsters affirmed that they had seen the Virgin Mary “Queen of Peace.â€?

Said Cilic of how he became involved in tennis, “One of my relatives was playing tennis. So I started to play initially just to get involved with sports. I learned pretty fast and I started to think that perhaps I have a future in tennis.â€? He realized this potential was genuine in 2004. “I was thrilled when as a 14-year-old, my idol Goran Ivanisevic invited me to train with him and asked me to play doubles with him at the Zagreb Open,â€? Cilic remembered.

It was truly unexpected that Cilic, an unseeded underdog in almost all of his matches at Roland Garros, won the clay-court tournament, because he greatly favors playing on hard courts and grass. This should say something for his ability to win the US Open and the upcoming Wimbledon junior championships.

Cilic is sure to no longer have financial troubles, which plagued him greatly in the past. A delighted Cilic noted, “The Croatian tennis association is paying for my apartment in Zagreb and I also receive 2000 kunas pay. Now that I won at Roland Garros, I will receive additional money from Zagreb municipality.â€? On his imminent sponsorship opportunities, Cilic remarked, “I also received several offers from well known sponsors. Now I’m in the process to seriously consider them. Of course, my main sponsor Fila will definitely increase my pay.â€?

Training in Zagreb with coach Andrej Tonejc, to whom Cilic greatly attributes his success, Cilic hopes to do more than just win the boys’ junior championship at Roland Garros. “My goal is to one day reach top 50,â€? said the 16-year-old tennis phenom.

While playing in Croatia has helped his tennis game, it has not come without its drawbacks. “I miss my family who are still living in Medjugorje. I hope we will be together soon,â€? said Cilic.


For all wishing to get a chance to see Cilic play live, he competed among Juniors at US Open 2004 and therefore is sure to play at the US Open 2005. With his great preference for hard courts, perhaps Cilic is better suited to winning this tournament than even Roland Garros.

****

Job Opening for Film Festival Director

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Seeks Director

The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is accepting applications for the position of Festival Director. The position involves planning, promoting, and facilitating the annual event (February 16-22), coordinating sponsorships, grant writing and other fundraising activities, supervising volunteers, and handling administrative tasks. Applicants must be available to begin work in Missoula, Montana no later September 1, 2005. This is a full-time, year-round position with a seven-month initial commitment. Excellent communication and organizational skills a must. Knowledge of the documentary film and video industry will be very helpful. Salary $18-24k (+ benefits) depending on experience.


Email a resume (.pdf, .doc or email text) and short letter of interest to <bigsky@highplainsfilms.org>. PLEASE, NO PHONE CALLS OR APPLICATIONS BY MAIL. We will contact applicants by phone or email to schedule an interview.


*****************
Doug Hawes-Davis
Festival Programmer
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
131 South Higgins Avenue, Suite 201
Missoula, Montana 59802
(406) 541-FILM
bigsky@highplainsfilms.org
www.bigskyfilmfest.org

'White House and our Gimnazija that are made of that same brilliantly white stone from island Brac in Dalmatia my faraway homeland Croatia.'
 

Hi all,

The author is a female civil engineer; lives in New Zealand.

Regards,
Branko Padjen

BACKGROUND STORY

Quite often, I see in the newspapers photos of the White House in Washington DC. It is a symbol of power and freedom to everyone, a sort of a guarantee, a promise of a better life for all the people. But most of all, I am fascinated by the whiteness of the stone it is made of.

What is interesting is that my old grammar school in my hometown of Sibenik is made of exactly the same stone as the White House.

But to me, our old grammar school "Gimnazija" is much more than just an old school. My father went to "Gimnazija". When I turned six, I started my first proper school classes in that old building.
When I was eighteen, my grammar school graduation was held in that very building - to me, the most beautiful in the whole wide world - my "Gimnazija".

Years went by, my life continued far away from my homeland. One day I saw on TV terrible photos of Manhattan. Destruction of innocent human lives, their work, hopes and dreams.
I remembered then, how my daughter as a determined and feisty little girl used to watch every day on TV shows, serials and movies about America, New York, Manhattan.

It was her dream then to go and live there on Manhattan when she grows up. She "decided" to have her own jewelry shop, "mostly diamonds of course" as she liked to say. It cheered me a great deal to hear my little girl talking about her "great life plans".

-As a -teenager she too went to Gimnazija and then she learned that this building was made of that same stone as the
White House in the country of her dreams where she were one day "to have her jewelry shop".

September 11th hit hard, I was most deeply hurt because of all those innocent people and also that feeling that somebody had just swept away all those beautiful dreams about new greater life that my little girl had. That day I felt an even stronger bond between the powerful White House and our Gimnazija that are made of that same brilliantly white stone from island Brac in Dalmatia my faraway homeland Croatia.

Copyright.Š 2002 All rights reserved

http://www.thelinkcompany.com/travel%20background%20story.htm
 

Montenegro Willing To Pay War Damages To Croatia

PODGORICA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP)--Montenegro is willing to pay an unidentified sum of money to Croatia for damages inflicted during the 1991 war, Montenegro's President Filip Vujanovic said Friday.

Vujanovic spoke after meeting Croatia's Stipe Mesic in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, at the end of Mesic's three-day visit to Serbia-Montenegro, the country that has replaced ex-Yugoslavia.

The visit was part of efforts to patch up ties after a series of conflicts that followed the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

Croatia declared independence from the Yugoslav federation in 1991, triggering a rebellion by its minority Serbs.

The Yugoslav army bombed Croatia's ancient coastal city of Dubrovnik while its troops and volunteers, including those from Montenegro, moved in and looted the property in the Konavle region, near Dubrovnik.

Mesic and Vujanovic did not specify how much Montenegro would pay Croatia in war damages. There was also no immediate reaction from Serbia - the main player in the conflict - with which Montenegro remains tied in a loose union.

But Vujanovic's statement reflect a readiness by Montenegrin leaders to acknowledge the role of the Montenegro citizens in the conflict.

Mesic said the agreement was mutual and that "it is only a question of time" until Montenegro's payment materialized.

"They (Montenegro) cannot return the cattle that were taken from Konavle, or equipment from the (Dubrovnik) airport, but there should be financial compensation," Mesic added.

"The inflicted damage is evident, and Montenegro intends to repay it," Vujanovic said.

The payment is not related to lawsuits brought by Croatia and Bosnia before the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands, against Serbia-Montenegro. The suit could lead to a ruling that would include compensation for war damages.

Earlier on his visit, Mesic also met with Serbian officials in Belgrade and visited the U.N.-run province of Kosovo, which formally is part of Serbia-Montenegro but has been a U.N. protectorate since 1999.

July 08, 2005

Summer Research Opportunity in Zagreb, Croatia
 

UCSF Institute for Global Health (IGH)
This research opportunity in the summer of 2005 is primarily geared towards first-year students, but a fourth-year elective could be considered. Only UCSF students are eligible. IGH has an ongoing research/training collaboration with the University Hospital for Infectious Diseases (UHID) as well as with the Andrija Stampar School of Public Health in Zagreb, and under this program, a small pilot study of HIV-positive patients at the UHID is planned. This will examine risk behavior as well as subtyping of the HIV to determine the patterns and history of the nascent HIV epidemic in Croatia. The student will assist in this study, and will work with infectious disease specialists in Zagreb to understand
global health challenges in the post-conflict situation of the Balkans. In addition, the student will participate in a short course training in clinical research to be provided by UCSF faculty in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It is expected that the student will develop a research protocol for a small study as part of this course. There is no language requirement for this opportunity. A stipend of $1500 is available to defray living expenses in Croatia, and the selected student may also apply for Office of International Programs funding by May 15 for airfare and expenses. The assignment will begin about June 20 and finish in mid-August, with a minimum commitment of six weeks. For further information, contact Tom Novotny ( tnovotny@psg.ucsf.edu  ) at (415) 597-8201.