With a Grain of Druska

Situation at Snoras worse than suspected, bank to be liquidated

2011-11-30T10:53:00.000-08:00

Of course Snoras, a Lithuanian bank taken over by the Lithuanian government on 16 November, has been in the news a lot recently. I first wrote about this situation here: Fifth largest bank in Lithuania seized by government. It turns out that the situation at the bank is much worse than the government first suspected.

In this article (in Lithuanian), Vitas Vasiliauskas, the head of the Lithuanian national bank (Lietuvos Bankas), says that it was thought that Snoras had the flu but it turns out that it has cancer. Fewer assets and more irregularities were found than the government had been expecting.

In this article (in Lithuanian), Vasiliauskas states that the Lithuanian government suspects that the heads of Snoras were trying to increase the authorised capital of Snoras by using customers' deposits.

This article (in Lithuanian) reports that both Vladimir Antonov (who controlled 68.1% of Snoras) and his father were employees of Snoras, as well as both sitting on the Snoras board of supervisors. Vladimir Antonov was hired as an administrative consultant and was making LTL 58,500 (EUR 16,685 / USD 22,110) a month after taxes for this "work". Antonov's father was making LTL 14,700 (EUR 4,256 / USD 5,677) a month after taxes. (This doesn't include the money he was making for being on the board of supervisors.) I wonder whether he has even stepped foot in Lithuania. The article also says that the members of the board of supervisors were making an average of LTL 51,500 per month (EUR 14,911 / USD 19,887). Raimondas Baranauskas, president and owner of 25.31% of Snoras made LTL 58,500 (EUR 16,938 / USD 22,590) per month after taxes. That doesn't include the amount he got for sitting on the board of directors of the company. The members of the board of directors were pulling in an average of LTL 40,100 (EUR 11,611 / USD 15,485) a month for sitting on the board. To put this in perspective, the average Lithuanian makes somewhere around LTL 2,000 a month (EUR 579 / USD 774).

Latvijas Krajbanka, a bank in Latvia controlled by Snoras, has also been seized by the Latvian government because of financial irregularities. This article (in Lithuanian) states that the bank's current administrator, Janis Brazovskis, discovered what had happened to LAT 100 million (EUR 143 million / USD 190.8 million) that disappeared from the bank. Brazovskis said that the money had been used for two purposes: to raise the authorized capital of the bank and to finance a personal project of Vladimir Antonov--his plans to purchase the automaker Saab. Mortgage bonds were used to move the money out of the country. Brazovskis stated that this was "a crime, indeed several crimes".

In this article (in Lithuanian), Edward Lucas, who is the International Editor of The Economist, says that the activities of Snoras should have been carefully looked into much earlier and that the former Lithuanian government and Lietuvos Bankas share the blame for their lack of action. According to Lucas, it had been known for many years that the bank was run by suspicious people and was engaging in suspicious activities. (I wonder how many Lithuanian officials profited from their silence?) He also states that the Lithuanian authorities acted improperly by not earlier sharing information with the Latvian authorities concerning their suspicions about Snoras.

On a good note, at least Vladimir Antonov and Raimondas Baranauskas have been arrested. They were seized in the UK and are currently out on bail.

After looking over the situation at Snoras, the Lithuania government has decided to liquidate it. Earlier there was talk of trying to preserve the bank, but the situation appeared hopeless. In this article, Andrius Kubilius, the prime minister of Lithuania, stated that the scope of financial crimes at Snoras had never before been encountered by the government. He added that Snoras could hardly be called a real bank; rather it was a massive financial scheme reminiscent of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme. Still, few actual details of the fraud that took place at the bank have been released by the government.

In a related (but minor) note, a Mercedes-Benz driven by Sigita Baranauskiene, the wife of Raimondas Baranauskas, was seized by the government as she tried to drive to Riga, Latvia. As this article reports, her reaction to this was to tell a journalist that she wanted to "like that Norwegian Breivik [who in a murderous bombing and shooting rampage killed almost 80 persons this past summer] pick up a machine gun and kill" the people involved in the downfall of her husband's evil empire. Nice woman. I like her humility after it became common knowledge that she and her husband have been living the good life on the deposits of the people putting money in their bank. Yeah, just gotta love it.

Problems with education reform in Lithuania

2011-11-18T00:22:00.001-08:00

An article (in Lithuanian) that recently appeared on the Lithuanian news site Delfi confirms some of the problems I touched on in my 24 October post, "Life in Lithuania II," concerning education reform in Lithuania. In this recent article, Prof. Rimantas Mikalauskas talks about several of the factors that are preventing true change in the Lithuanian system of higher education and states that the main problem is the low quality of research and education.

His opinion is that some changes, such as making universities autonomous, have failed. After gaining autonomy from state control, universities made changes to their study programs, administrative methods, and financial systems. Intense competition for funding even began taking place. But education and research quality "still remains low." And serious problems have cropped up. First, as Mikalauskas puts it, "the administration of every university abuses" this autonomy by adopting decisions that are important only to the administration. And second, occupying a high-ranking administrative position is being equated to being qualified to hold this post. Loyalty to the person and the "stupid ideas" that are emanating from that person, even when those ideas are "destroying academic values," is widespread. This lackeyism is another thing I discuss in my "Life in Lithuania II" post.

The professor also touches on students not being required to study very hard to get a diploma (e.g. some students are able to have a full-time job while at the same time studying "full time") and the "relatively high level of corruption" in Lithuanian higher education. "Giving presents is widely practiced in the study process when taking exams and performing various academic qualification requirements." (Yet another thing I hinted at in my earlier post.) "The tolerance that universities have for corruption means that losing [the reputation of the university] has no effect on the financial standing of the university. And there is one conclusion you can reach from that--that the level of knowledge that university graduates receive is not a priority."

Among other problems, Prof. Mikalauskas of course also mentions the problem of low salaries for professors. The article is rather long and detailed, and I unfortunately don't have the time to translate everything now. Besides pointing out the shortcomings of the system, Mikalauskas makes some suggestions about what could be done. The professor ends the article by saying that solving the many problems in higher education in Lithuania will require the joint effort of the government, the private sector, and society. I thought the article made some very good points.

Fifth largest bank in Lithuania seized by government

2011-11-17T02:41:00.001-08:00

Snoras, the fifth largest bank in Lithuania, was seized by the government on 16 November. An article in English covering this event can be found here: Lithuania Seeks Missing Assets in Takeover of Fifth-Biggest Bank. This nationalization doesn't surprise me. I had always figured that it was more or less common knowledge that the bank was controlled by the Russian mafia, and, well, would you trust your money to Russian criminals? I of course can't produce any proof of this assertion concerning the ownership of the bank, which is simply me putting 2 and 2 together. I remember about six years ago or so reading about Snoras being controlled by a small Russian bank. Well, that was one piece of evidence. About three years ago I read about Snoras being investigated for money laundering. There's another. And now, according to this article (in Lithuanian), the Office of the Prosecutor General in Lithuania is again investigating the bank in connection with money laundering.

It's quite a coincidence that at this moment all the high ranking executives in the company happen to be out of the country. I suspect that some will decide that it's safer to stay in Russia or some country that doesn't have any extradition treaty with Lithuania. The chairman of the board and president of the bank was Raimondas Baranauskas. (According to this article [in Lithuanian], he owns 25.3% of Snoras.) I don't really know anything about Baranauskas except that he drives a Bentley with a vanity plate that reads "Snoras I" and owns one of the most expensive apartments in the old town of Vilnius. When the apartment building was being renovated a few years ago, the architect had to adjust the size of the automobile elevator/lift just to make sure his big ol' Bentley would fit. In this article (in Lithuanian), Baranauskas, interviewed by a journalist from the newspaper Lietuvos Rytas, calls the government takeover of his bank "theft" and says that if he doesn't put up a fight, other Lithuanian companies will be in danger of being destroyed by the government. He also claims that the government continually derailed recent plans of Snoras to raise its liquidity. (I have no idea whether this is true, but I suspect that if it is, then that is the result of the bank being unable to satisfy certain requirements that have to do with the legitimacy of its money, ownership, or operations.) On 15 November, an anonymous article appeared in Lietuvos Rytas stating that the president of Lithuania was planning to nationalize all Lithuanian banks. This news has of course been denounced by the government and the prime minister said that the paper may have broken laws by publishing such "lies". It should be mentioned that through a subsidiary Snoras controls over one-third of Lietuvos Rytas.

It's not yet clear who's being (or going to be) charged with what, but I would like to provide a list of the people involved with this bank. Time will tell who the bad guys were and who the good guys were (though this being Lithuania, things may never really be cleared up), but too often the criminals remain faceless and nameless, and I want to have this record at least for myself. Here are the (former) members of the board of directors.

Raimondas Baranauskas
	Position Bank SNORAS, Chairman of the Board, President of the bank, Co-Owner JSC bank "Finasta", Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board Bank Latvijas Krājbanka, Chairman of the Supervisory Board Has been working in Bank SNORAS since 1993 Activity in the banking sector 1994 - now: Bank SNORAS, Chairman of the Board, President 1993 - 1994: Bank SNORAS, Deputy Chairman of the Board
Naglis Stancikas
	Position Bank SNORAS, Deputy Chairman of the Board, First Vice President JSC "Finasta Holding", Chairman of the Board JSC "SNORAS Media", Chairman of the Board JSC "SNORAS Investment Management", Chairman of the Board JSC bank "Finasta", Member of the Supervisory Board Bank "Latvijas Krājbanka", Member of the Supervisory Board Has been working in Bank SNORAS since 1994 Activity in the banking sector 2006 - now: Bank SNORAS, First Vice President, Deputy Head of Administration 2008 - 2010: Bank SNORAS, Director of Investment Business Division 2004 - 2008: Bank SNORAS, Director of Finance Management Division 2001 - 2004: Bank SNORAS, Director of Treasury and Investment Division 1999 - 2001: Bank SNORAS, Director of Planning Department 1994 - 1996: Bank SNORAS, Head of Crediting Unit
Romasis Vaitekūnas
	Position Bank SNORAS, Deputy Chairman of the Board, Chief Compliance Officer Has been working in Bank SNORAS since 1998 Activity in the banking sector 2008 - now: Bank SNORAS, Chief Compliance Officer 2006 - 2008: Bank SNORAS, Director of Security and Prevention Division 1998 - 2006: Bank SNORAS, Director of Administration Division 1998 - 1999: Bank SNORAS, Director of Security Department
Modestas Keliauskas
	Position Bank SNORAS, Deputy Chairman of the Board, Director of Corporate Business Division JSC "SNORAS Media", Member of the Board JSC "SNORAS Investment Management", Member of the Board Has been working in Bank SNORAS since 2004 Activity in the banking sector 2008 - now: Bank SNORAS, Director of Corporate Business Division 2004 - 2008: Bank SNORAS, Director of Crediting Division 2004 - 2004: Bank SNORAS, adviser to the president 1998 - 2004: Bank Nord/LB Lietuva, member of the Board, Manager of Retail Banking Division, Director of Crediting Department 1993 - 1998: Lietuvos taupomasis bankas, Director of Crediting Department
Aušra Ižičkienė
	Position Bank SNORAS, Member of the Board, Director of Legal Department JSC "SNORAS Media", Member of the Board Has been working in Bank SNORAS since 1997 Activity in the banking sector 2004 - now: Bank SNORAS, Director of Legal Department 2000 - 2004: Bank SNORAS, Director of Legal Department 1999 - 2000: Bank SNORAS, Head of General Unit of Legal Department 1997 - 1999: Bank SNORAS, lawyer of Legal Unit
Gitanas Kancerevyčius
	Position Bank SNORAS, Member of the Board, Director of Risk Management Division Has been working in Bank SNORAS since 2001 Activity in the banking sector 2008 - now: Bank SNORAS, Director of Risk Management Division 2004 - 2008: Bank SNORAS, Director of Risk Management Department 2003 - 2004: Bank SNORAS, Director of Financial Risk Department 2002 - 2003: Bank SNORAS, Head of Risk Management Unit of Treasury and Investment Division 2001 - 2002: Bank SNORAS, analyst of Treasury and Investment Division
Jurgita Bliumin
	Position Bank SNORAS, Member of the Board, Chief Financial Officer Has been working in Bank SNORAS since 2006 Activity in the banking sector 2010 - now: Bank SNORAS, Chief Financial Officer 2008 - 2010: Bank SNORAS, Director of Finance Division, Chief Accountant 2006 - 2008: Bank SNORAS, Deputy Director of Accounting Division

I suppose that if you're making enough money, you don't really worry about working with criminals.

And here are the (former, I assume) members of the board of supervisors.

Vladimir Antonov
	Position Chairman of AB Bank SNORAS Supervisory Board, main shareholder of the bank Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the International Financial Group "Konvers Group" Chairman of the Supervisory Board of JSC "Finasta Holding" Member of the Supervisory Board of JSC bank "Finasta" Member of the Supervisory Board of the bank "Latvijas Krājbanka" Member of the Board of Directors of the bank "Banco Trasatlantico S.A." Chairman of the Supervisory Board since 30.03.2004 Activity in the banking sector: Work experience in the banking sphere is over 13 years. During this period, V. Antonov worked in the largest bank of Russia "Sberbank", he held responsible managing positions in the banks "Konversbank", "Akademhimbank".
Alexander Antonov
	Position Member of AB Bank SNORAS Supervisory Board President of the International Financial Group "Konvers Group", member of the Supervisory Board Member of the Supervisory Board of JSC bank "Finasta" Member of the Supervisory Board of the bank "Latvijas Krājbanka" Member of the Supervisory Board since 15.03.2006 Activity in the banking sector: Started activity in the banking sector in 2002: managed the bank "Konversbank Moskva", worked in the Supervisory Board of the bank "Konversbank" and in the Board of Directors of the International Financial Group "Konvers Group" where he later held the managing positions and works until now.
Oleg Sukhorukov
	Position Member of AB Bank SNORAS Supervisory Board Vice President of the International Financial Group "Konvers Group" Member of the Supervisory Board of the bank "Latvijas Krājbanka" Member of the Supervisory Board since 15.03.2006 Activity in the banking sector: The total work experience in the banking sector - over 10 years. Worked in the banks "Eksportno-Importnyj bank", "Rosbank", "Moskovskij delovoj bank" where he held responsible positions in the structural subdivisions of finance management and analysis.
Maxim Anchipolovsky

	Position Member of AB Bank SNORAS Supervisory Board Director of Volter Vols International Member of the Supervisory Board since 01.09.2008 Activity in the financial sector: In 2002 he began a professional career in the bank "Nationalnyi kosmicheskiy bank", later he performed legal work in the company "Kredit Moskva" and in the bank "Konversbank"; he also was the head of International Legal Division of Legal Department in the international finacial group "Konvers Group".
Adam Habib

	Position Member of AB Bank SNORAS Supervisory Board The senior partner and the CEO of the company "Jubilee Financial Products" which manages the alternative investment fund "JFP Emerging Europe Momentum Fund" Member of the Supervisory Board since 05.05.2011 Activity in the financial sector: Has experience in the financial industry since 1993. Over 10 worked in international bank Credit Suisse. In 2008 together with partners set the company „Jubilee Financial Products".

Well, well. The board of supervisors certainly includes a lot of Russian names. I wonder what that means. Make your own conclusions. If you will, place bets on who will end up in prison or never return to Lithuania. If I were a betting man, I'd bet that not one of the last five people will ever step foot in Lithuania again and by doing that will escape all legal consequences.

Vladimir Antonov, who according to this article (in Lithuanian) owns 68.1% of Snoras, even has his own page on Wikipedia. You know, I don't care what your situation is, but if you have amassed 300 million dollars just 10 years after graduation from university, you didn't make your money legally. Read through the article and it should be clear what kind of person he is. On his record of withholding information from supervisory bodies: “These failures are not an isolated instance but are examples of an ongoing pattern of behaviour by institutions controlled by Mr Antonov" (the UK Financial Services Authority).

Life in Lithuania II

2011-10-24T07:12:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of talk about education reform in Lithuania now. Various ideas have been put forward. The current Minister of Education and Science says that a lot has been accomplished. Others say that very little of substance has been accomplished. One idea that is often mentioned is reducing the number of post-secondary institutions.

I have to say that I can't get very interested in the discussion. Perhaps something such as what is mentioned in the preceding paragraph needs to be done. I'm more interested in the view that I receive of post-secondary education however.

Did you know that if you are a university student and your mother is a member of the Lithuanian parliament, you will be able to regularly drink coffee with the dean of the Faculty of Medicine and get passing grades no matter how little you do or how poor the quality of your work is? Did you know that if your father is a professor in the Faculty of Medicine and you are not passing an introductory class in that faculty, you can transfer to another introductory class where the teacher is more easily persuaded to give a passing grade? Did you know that the Lithuanian doctor who could now be treating you or a loved one (or making medical policy as a member of the government) may not have passed one class without cheating?

That's just a glimpse of the view I have of Lithuanian post-secondary education. It's the same problem that can be found in much of Lithuanian society: lack of moral/ethical standards by a large percentage of people and plenty who feel that such a situation is none of their business or don't care to get involved. Oh, there are a few, a very small minority (by my calculations), who would like to do something, but they are so afraid that they rarely raise their voices. Those who do make waves often have their careers derailed by both the guilty parties and the many who hold the idea that conformity is sacred and the whistle-blowers are the real criminals. As in many other parts of the world, these same people hide behind patriotism and church/family/loyalty to superiors/etc.

So, yeah, education reform in Lithuania: I just don't think that anything meaningful is really going to happen. Those rotten parts of the system are encouraging more rot by helping put their children and other family members into positions of authority. And that problem is one that I haven't seen anyone in Lithuania address seriously in the 16 years I've been here.

Life in Lithuania I

2011-10-05T05:11:00.000-07:00

I read an article yesterday on Alfa.lt, a Lithuanian news portal, that pretty much perfectly sums up what is wrong with Lithuania. I've just got to pass it on. The original story appears here.

Actor Juozas Bindokas, who works at the Siauliai Drama Theatre, had a very curious experience. A police officer responding to the actor's call for help advised him to compensate the "damages suffered" by the drunken youths who were hassling him.

Saturday (2 October) evening, around 9 p.m., 60-year-old Juozas Bindokas, who had appeared in two plays that day, was driving home. On the way home, he decided to stop by a shop. Bindokas pulled off the main road onto a drive leading to the parking lot of the store. There he was forced to stop by three young men who were drinking alcohol and blocking the road. They moved out of the way reluctantly after being asked by the actor. Very shortly after Bindokas began driving again he heard his left rear wheel run over something.

"As soon as I heard the noise, I stopped the car and turned on my hazard lights. The young men who were drinking pointed out that I'd run over a can of beer and immediately demanded that I buy them another one. I refused to do that and then one of them began yelling and saying that I'd run over his foot. I understood that nothing good could come from this situation, so I called the police", Bindokas reported.

The actor said that the young men were quite happy to hear that the police were coming. "They continued to berate me for not buying them some beer. While we were waiting for the police to come, they threw the other cans that were lying around into a nearby trash bin. A policeman arrived shortly thereafter and tested the drunkeness of the young men", Bindokas said.

The young men told the police that the actor "hadn't signaled or flashed his lights". Otherwise they would have had time to get out of the way. "They said that they had put their money together and only had enough to buy that one can of beer. They then said that they had set it on the road because they wanted to smoke a cigarette. And I, jerk that I am, went and ran over it", Bindokas said, not hiding his irony.

The policeman then advised Bindokas to buy some beer for the young men who had "suffered a loss", because that would solve everything. "I was shocked by his suggestion. But he told me that I was better off to give them several litas now than to have to go through a court hearing later. I had to give in, but I really didn't expect such a reaction from the policeman," Bindokas said with disappointment in his voice.

According to the actor, it was interesting that the policeman completely ignored the story about one of the young men getting his foot run over. "The young man whose foot I supposedly ran over left the scene after a while. The others then said that he had a very good lawyer. And the officer didn't even question the person who was working in the shop and who saw the entire situation", Bindokas reported.

Gailute Smagriuniene, a spokesperson for the police in Siauliai, told Lietuvos Zinios [a Lithuanian newspaper] that a police officer reponded to a call at approximately 9 p.m. yesterday. "A young man stated that his foot had been run over. The officer determined that hadn't happened and that the driver of the car had only run over a can of beer," she said. When asked whether it would be possible to talk to the police officer who had responded to the incident, she stated that he was sleeping after working the night shift.

A little slice of life from Lithuania. I admit that the actor shouldn't have given those punks any money (or bought them beer--whatever he eventually did) and he shouldn't have been scared to pursue the matter (even though it might have meant going to court), but really what can a person do in such a situation? It's clear that calling the police doesn't do any good.

New African Link

2011-09-27T23:17:00.000-07:00

I've added a new link to my collection of African links at the side of this page: StewDiaw African Apparel. They're offering African clothing, jewelry, accessories, soap, drums, and other items. Check it out!

Insult to injury -- a recommendation about a law firm to avoid

2011-06-30T01:53:00.000-07:00

In my 1 June 2011 post, I talked about a traffic accident I had and my negative experiences with the police and justice system of Lithuania. I didn't mention the law firm that represented me because I had nothing positive to say about the firm except that the people I dealt with seemed relatively nice. I'm compelled to write about that firm now because of a recent incident.

I was represented by the lawyer Darius Gumbrevicius, who does business as Advokato Dariaus Gumbreviciaus kontora. The law firm he works for is called Advokates Dianos Gumbreviciutes kontora.

Just a couple of days ago I got the final bill for my legal services. That came as quite a shock since I was sure that I had paid my final bill some time ago. Not long after I decided to go to court about my traffic accident, I got a bill for LTL 756.25 (USD 317/EUR 220) and promptly paid it. After the case went to court, I got another bill, this one for LTL 907.50 (USD 379/EUR 264). I assumed that this was some sort of total bill for services, and I therefore paid the difference between the two bills. That sum was more or less what Darius Gumbrevicius told me when I asked how much it would cost to take the matter to court: "about LTL 700". As it turns out, however, the two bills were separate, meaning that my total costs to take this matter to court were LTL 1663.75 (USD 696/EUR 484). Holy moolah, Batman! That seems like an awful lot of money to charge someone to take a traffic offence to court, especially one for which the potential fine was LTL 100 (USD 42/EUR 29).

The law firm and I exchanged several e-mails as I tried to wrap my head around this new sum. Now, I have to admit that the law firm explained the fees in detail (that 1 hour of services is LTL 250 + 21% VAT, that 2.5 hours was spend doing this, that 3 hours was spent doing that, etc.). I was even told that I had received a discount (some services were supposedly provided free of charge) since "only the preparation of the complaint [for court] took about 3 hours". (It was two pages long.)

I suppose that it could be said that on the surface of this situation everything looks more or less kosher, except for the fact that I understood that my total bill would be less than half of what it actually was, and maybe that could be considered simply a misunderstanding, not misrepresentation or fraud. Right? Well, my opinion is slightly different. I feel that I was deceived about the total fees and about my chances of winning the case, and I was decidedly not satisfied with the strategy or performance of my lawyer.

Concerning the fees, let's give the law firm the benefit of the doubt and say that there was a misunderstanding (which, again, I don't believe was the case). But I would say that a professional law firm should be open and up-front about the the expected fee to represent a person, especially if that person is a foreigner and language or cultural differences might cause misunderstandings. I would never have taken the matter to court had I known how much it was going to cost. I think that was the point in keeping me ignorant of the total costs.

Concerning my chances of winning the case, the law firm said, "you were informed about the fact that the probability to win the case is small and you knew that from the very beginning". I do not remember hearing anything such as that said. I remember being told that I "had a chance". I assumed that meant a 50% chance. Perhaps that's a cultural or language difference and another misunderstanding, but again I feel as if I was misled.

Concerning the quality of the services provided, well, it's only my opinion, but I felt that there was a lack of quality. Perhaps this lawyer wasn't used to dealing with traffic offences. Maybe there was another problem. I don't know. But I can say that he himself admitted to me that his delay in pursuing the matter was the reason we had to appeal the decision of the traffic police rather than file suit against the actual culprit (the person who caused the accident). I can also say that one point used in the appeal was completely meaningless--that the police had not provided a translator during an interview. As it turns out, since one was provided in court, that is enough to make up for the earlier "oversight" according to Lithuanian law. Apparently my lawyer wasn't aware of that. I can add that I also wasn't happy that my lawyer didn't focus on the discrepancies in the written and oral testimony of the person that caused the accident. That seemed to me to be one of the most important aspects of the case. That's my opinion. Perhaps Lithuanian law doesn't worry about such things as giving false testimony or lying to collect an insurance claim.

Because of all this, I've decided to report this matter here and state that I cannot recommend using the services of this law firm. My decision to report this matter was reinforced by something that the law firm wrote me: "it is your decision whether or not to report this matter on your blog and 'warn people to avoid using the services' of our law firm (for the latter mentioned, we explain, that in a such case, we will be forced to take legal remedies against you for the ungrounded information made public - defamation". Wow. That's not very good PR. Anyway, I have tried to not include any ungrounded information.

Lithuanians spend more on food than most

2011-06-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

According to "Lietuviai pagal islaidas maistui - antri ES" (Lithuanians in second place in EU according to spending on food), an article I found on Alfa.lt, the price of food products in Lithuania has increased 11 per cent over the past year, and Lithuania is in second place behind Romania according to amount of money spent on food.

It's written that the average Lithuanian spends about one-fourth of all expenses on food products, not including drinks. The European average is 12-14 per cent.

The emigration problems of Lithuania

2011-06-22T06:24:00.000-07:00

Emigration is a problem that has plagued Lithuania at various times in its history, and it's become a particularly vexing problem since the country regained independence about 20 years ago. Here are some articles from the past several months talking about that situation.

In "Lietuvos gyventoju skaicius pernai mazejo sparciausiai ES" (Population of Lithuania decreasing most rapidly in EU), Lina Laurinaityte writes that the benefit of the money emigrants send to Lithuania is overvalued and that the decreasing birthrate and increasing mortality threaten to cause new social and economic problems.

"Those who leave are active in business and brave. That is needed by the country, for the political sphere and for non-governmental organisations", Buguslavas Gruzevskis, a director at the Social Research Centre, said.

"The number of children is decreasing and many children who remain are like orphans with living parents. [...] What that means is that a significant amount of new social problems will arise in the next 10-15 years", Rasa Alisauskiene, director-general of Baltic Research, said.

In "Emigracijos prognoze siu metu pabaigai - 90 tukst. isvykusiuju" (Emigration forecast for end of year - 90,000 emigrants), which was written in September 2010, the scale of emigration is looked into. According to data from the government, 58,328 people declared their emigration between 1 January 2010 and 31 August 2010. The article goes on to say, however, that the data concerning the amount of people leaving is being warped by a new law requiring inhabitants to pay monthly premiums into the government-run health system. Because of that law, many more people were registering the fact that they had left the country, and many of those had been abroad for a significant amount of time.

Dainius Paukste, vice director at the Department of Migration, stated that the image of Lithuania was being formed by emigrants. "The people leaving our country, whether we like it or not, help to form an image for the world that Lithuania is a country of unhappy people. This advertisement seems free now (though everyone knows that the only free cheese is moldy cheese), but in the future we may get a horrible bill for it", he said.

"Demografine katastrofa: Lietuvoje jau nera ne 3 mln zmoniu" (Demographic catastrophe: no longer 3 million people in Lithuania), was written on 9 May 2011, right after the recent census was completed. Preliminary data suggested that there were no longer 3 million people in Lithuania, but additional data has led the Department of Statistics to report that there are just over 3 million. There's actually little information in the article but there is a video accompanying the article that contains several interesting facts. It is stated that when Lithuania regained independence about 20 years ago there were 3.7 million inhabitants. According to the most optimistic forecasts now, by 2050 there will be only 2.5 million people. Prof Stankuniene, a demographer, states that the problem is threefold, with the increasing mortality rate and decreasing birth rate adding to the problems caused by runaway emigration. In the past, I've heard her say that the biggest problems were actually the mortality and birth rate.

Over the past several months, I've also read several other articles talking about this problem. Besides facts and figures, the authors usually discuss why so many people are leaving, what can be done about the problem, and why the government is doing so little (or nothing) to combat the problem. After all, population has decreased about 19 per cent (the same as if 62.3 million US citizens left the U.S.A.). And best case scenario, another 16.7 per cent of the population will disappear. You would think that supporting families, creating jobs, and improving healthcare would be priorities for the government. They aren't, though.

If things go on as they are, Lithuania will certainly disappear as a political entity in the future. Possible ways to fix things would be a balanced policy of immigration, liberalising labour laws to attract blue-collar workers, and providing more support for education and research and development to attract the brains to help move the country forward in those spheres. I've read that Lithuania has the strictest immigration laws in the EU. From my personal experience with the government/Department of Migration here, I've never felt welcome. I've heard the same story from friends from other countries. Now that Lithuania is a member of the EU, things have changed for citizens of other EU countries. If you're not from the EU, however, things have actually got worse. And to all that can be added the propensity that many Lithuanians have for being racist/xenophobic. In my experience, the foreigners who live here, especially those with families, tend to be better "citizens" than the majority of Lithuanians. Unless the government begins to make us feel welcome and safe and protected by the law, many of us will eventually leave the country and take our children. I know that I consider it my duty to make sure that my children will be able to leave Lithuania when they are old enough.

My accident or how I lost the last shreds of faith I had in the Lithuanian police and judicial system

2011-06-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

I was hoping that I would be able to entitle this "My accident or the cost of justice in Lithuania", but that hope was crushed by the verdict issued by the judge some time ago. But let me start at the beginning. On 19 February, I was involved in a traffic accident. As I was making a left turn at an intersection, the driver behind me (also making a left turn) accelerated and began passing me (as we were turning). I honked to warn him to watch out and then after he cut in front of me I honked again and flashed my high beams as a warning to drive more carefully. He was apparently angered by my actions because he braked suddenly and came to a stop right in front of me. I saw his brake lights but assumed he was preparing to turn into a nearby filling station. When I understood he had come to a complete stop, I slammed on my brakes, but the road was covered with snow and I could not stop in time.

When the police arrived on the scene, they questioned me and then talked to the other driver. Before even looking at the accident, they said that everything was clear--that I was following to closely. That the other driver was driving recklessly (passing as he did and then slamming on his brakes in the middle of the road for no reason) did not seem important. The patrolmen pushed me very hard to fill out paperwork stating that the accident was solely my fault, but despite their threats (big fines or confiscation of my driving licence) (and even though they said several times that I was wasting their time--their shift had ended and they said they should have been home already), I refused to take full blame for the accident, which meant that we had to go to the police station to fill out paperwork (and where I was admonished by a senior officer for "mocking" the patrolmen--after all their shift had already ended and they should be at home).

Refusing to take full blame for the accident also meant that I had to go to the police station on 22 Feb. to attend a hearing, which was ostensibly to determine whether I was actually at fault. The officer I met at that hearing was Sigitas Kūjalis. I explained how the accident happened, and I told him that I had found a video recording of the accident (made by a security camera on the Polish Cultural Center) but had not had time to get a copy. We scheduled a meeting for another day. At that time, I showed him the video and explained to him that there was a discrepancy between the written evidence that the other driver had given (that he hadn't stopped) and what was on the recording. He nonchalantly flipped through the pages of the accident file and said, "I don't see that he was lying". He then told me that I would have to pay a fine of about US$40.

I decided to take the matter to court. Surely everything could be cleared up there. It was not the fine that bothered me (I knew that hiring a lawyer would cost at least $300); it was mostly the principle of the matter. Of course, that I would be paying higher insurance rates (and would most likely be paying thousands more for this accident because of the higher rates) was also a consideration. My wife was 100 per cent against the move. But then again she had earlier said that I should take the easy way out and take full responsibility for the accident, so I decided to ignore her advice. The judge was Algimantas Valantinas, a former prosecutor general who had lost his post because of some malfeasance. According to my lawyer, the hearing was conducted in a reasonably and seemingly fair manner. I explained my side of the story, putting particular emphasis on the fact that the written testimony of the other driver obviously differed from the filmed evidence. The other driver lied once again, though he changed his story slightly for the judge. Instead of saying that he hadn't slowed down at all (much less stopped), he stated that he'd slowed down because he thought that I was signaling that something was wrong. Nevertheless, the difference between the other driver's original written testimony and his oral testimony in court remained. And I pointed that out.

The decision of the judge was therefore shocking. The basic decision, that the fine was assessed fairly, was made because the judge decided to take the word of the other driver and disregard the filmed record. I have no doubt that this decision was made on the basis of the identity of the other driver, Filionis August. His identity is connected with the licence plate of his vehicle, DOU 222 (Toyota Land Cruiser), another one for the bad drivers' hall of shame. My lawyer found out before our hearing that licence plates having three numbers that are the same were in the past given to anyone who was formerly in the police force or to people with ties to the police force. So, it can't be proven, but it seems that I hit a former police officer, and in Lithuania that means that I'll always be at fault. I'm sure that the thought of "what can he do for me in the future?" was also not in my favour.

What does that say about the Lithuanian police? Justice system? Filionis August? Well, as for this Filionis August fellow, who I found to be a particularly slimy 'person', I can say this: Fil, you taught me a lesson. Justice in Lithuania doesn't come from the systems the government has set up to "serve" the people. It comes from oneself. If you're lucky, we won't cross paths again. And you can better believe that I'll boycott your company, August & Ko, and encourage others to do the same.

Now, this incident itself is nasty business: being blamed for an accident that at least wasn't entirely my fault and having to pay dearly for this in the form of increased auto insurance premiums. But this incident was actually the straw that broke the camel's back. We've had problems with the police before, the most prominent incident being when our car was hit while parked on the street. (The culprit was caught but then "lost". Some very angry calls from me to succeedingly higher layers of police administration finally solved everything.) There have been other minor incidents as well. And our experiences with the justice system here have been rather ugly as well. The most prominent of those experiences was about a year ago when my wife made a mistake on some pro-forma document that needed a judge's approval and the judge, Petras Kazys Smaliukas, asked for a bribe to help straighten things out. Nevertheless, I--being the naive, trusting fellow I am--preserved some modicum of respect for those two arms of the Lithuanian government. Past tense.

So, I'd like to say something to the people involved in this situation: patrolman Jurij Pliargo, senior specialist Sigitas Kūjalis, and Judge Algimantas Valantinas. You shame yourselves and your country, and you are part of the reason why living in this country, to put it bluntly, sucks. And you know that's not just my opinion.

Drivers' hall of shame update

2011-04-26T01:55:00.000-07:00

This fine Easter weekend the family and I drove up to the northeast of the country to spend some time with my wife's parents. In a departure from usual practice, my wife drove. I therefore decided to make a list of offending drivers and update the "Drivers' Hall of Shame" that I started earlier. The distance from our place to theirs is about 180 kilometers (112 miles), but I didn't start keeping track of things until we were about 30 km into our trip, so we can say that I monitored about 150 km (93 mi.) of road. In that 150 km/93 mi., I managed to record 25 offending drivers, an average of one every 6 km (or if you like, one every 3.72 mi.). In fact, there were probably more like 35 drivers breaking the law. Sometimes two or three would pass us at one time, and I wasn't able to write everything down in time. (And one car passed so fast that I wasn't even able to see the licence plate.) Just for the record, my wife drove right at the speed limit. The most common offence was speeding, but there was plenty of reckless driving, some of that bordering on vehicular assault (or assault with a deadly weapon). This trip took place on Friday, 22 April.

So, in no particular order:
FDL 559--dark blue Chrysler Voyage--passing dangerously (reckless driving)
DEC 692--silver Toyota Yaris--tailgating, speeding
CEZ 365--silver Jaguar--speeding, passing dangerously
ECK 968--Skoda Octavia--speeding
FCZ 041--VW Golf--speeding, passing dangerously
EEK 062--Citroen C5--speeding
LSA 565--VW Passat wagon--speeding
BCZ 835--Peugeot wagon--speeding
DGZ 897--Audi wagon--speeding
BOS 500--silver Lexus--speeding
EZE 648--blue BMW--speeding
LSA 990--black BMW 4WD--speeding
BOH 117--VW Passat wagon--speeding
EDF 326--white Ford Escort wagon--speeding, tailgating
EUC 252--red Ford Transit--speeding
CZZ 967--blue Toyota Corolla wagon--speeding, passing dangerously
CDE 680--Subaru Impreza--speeding
FUF 600--gold VW Golf--speeding
ETD 464--Nissan Almera--speeding
FCF 202--Mercedes Benz--speeding
RVL 868--blue BMW--speeding
DOR 142--white Renault van--passing illegally
EET 974--dark VW van--tailgating, speeding
DZE 974--silver Honda Accord--speeding
FCZ 007--green Audi A4--speeding

I have a personal message for the drivers of those cars. Number 1: You broke the law and deserve to be punished. Number 2: By driving dangerously, you are directly contributing to the "War on the Roads" (as the grotesquely high number of fatal traffic accidents has been called in Lithuania), and you are directly endangering yourselves and all other people on the roads.

So, hey, grow up, will ya? When are you going to understand that it isn't some other guy or some faceless, nameless, drunken driver that is the problem? You are. Change your ways before your driving leads to the death of someone.

And why is that?

2011-03-24T01:56:00.000-07:00

Some of the most intolerant, hateful, and just plain baffling things I've read recently have been written by people who claim to be Christians. The chief targets seem to be homosexuals, Islam (and anyone who practices this religion or even claims to be Muslim), and Obama (or as I read today "the Obama regime"). From my years of attending church while growing up, I somehow don't recall such behavior being acceptable. I have always thought that a Christian should practice forgiveness, loving (and not judging) others, and not spreading falsehoods or hatred. I was therefore somewhat encouraged to read this: From Jim and Tammy Faye to Evangelical Punk Preaching: Q&A with Jay Bakker.

RIP Gerry Rafferty

2011-01-04T23:28:00.000-08:00

article about the death of Gerry Rafferty (includes link to obituary)

For me the music of Gerry Rafferty will forever be inextricably linked to my teenage years. I'll always remember the pure joy I experienced listening to 'Baker Street' on my AM radio in the late 70s and early 80s.

And from my early years at university, I remember very well my friend Tim's City to City album, which if I'm not mistaken he 'borrowed' from his dad. That's still one of my favorite albums and one of few I own that doesn't have any throwaway songs on it. And the cover art--gotta love it.

One of my favorite songs from that album:

And a great song from his following album, Night Owl:

Here's part one of a three-part interview that was on Radio Scotland in 2003:

Part II and Part III

And I almost forgot--almost 2 hours of Gerry Rafferty on the Internet Archive--from the radio show 'Crap from the Past'. Right here.

On desecrating the flag and such

2010-09-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

A cousin recently posted a photo on Facebook of an incident that apparently took place in Santa Fe. She mentioned the state capital (and they live in New Mexico). [Or Phoenix? I've just noticed that the caption says Phoenix; I'm confused.] Anyway, the photo shows an American flag lying on the ground. The flag has been spraypainted with S.O.S. and distress and some other words I couldn't make out. Three photographers, four onlookers, and one person who appears to be a policeman can be seen in the photo. According to my cousin, this was done as part of a rally and people were spitting on the flag, walking on it, and burning it with cigarettes. Those actions were not visibly taking place in the photo, but she said that her husband witnessed those things taking place. The tone of her comments accompanying the photo was blazing anger.

My first reaction was to think about Colors, the 1988 movie starring Sean Penn and Robert Duvall as L.A. cops who work in gang-controlled parts of the city, where wearing the wrong color in the wrong area could get you killed. (If you haven't seen it, do so.) I have to admit that I thought "what is it with people and their symbols?" Don't get me wrong. I think that desecrating any national flag is odious. The US flag is one important symbol of the country and it is extremely disrespectful not to treat such a symbol with regard. But it is only a symbol. Do soldiers who fight and die for the country fight and die for the flag? Perhaps at times it might seem so on a certain level. I've never served in the armed forces, but I suspect that they fight for loved ones and for the ideals that the country represents. As a symbol, the flag may be the strongest representation of those things, but desecrating a flag does not destroy the ideals (or people) behind the symbol.

I wish I knew what the rally/protest was about. It does seem short-sighted though to do such a thing if you're trying to win people to your side of an issue. That makes me think that the people who organized the rally either were not too clever or were just wanting to stir up trouble. Burning, spitting on, or walking on a flag might get attention, but logic should tell you that most of the attention will be negative.

My cousin seemed to be outraged by the fact that her husband and others who attempted to interfere with this rally were told to back away or face charges. That attitude seems odd to me. The Supreme Court of the United States has determined that desecrating the flag is a constitutionally protected right. If you attempt to interfere with someone exercising a constitutional right, you deserve to go to jail. To me, it seems as simple as that. That doesn't mean I think the protesters were right, but they were within their rights.

Two other comments are worth mentioning: "direct threat to our country" and "[i]f you believe this is OK, I believe you are a traitor to this country and everything it stands for." Concerning the first sentence, my cousin obviously feels quite strongly about this issue. She should therefore work to make desecrating the flag a crime. It's been done in other countries. Concerning the second sentence, I'm not sure whether believing as I do I'm a traitor in her eyes, but I can say that I have a firm doubt whether such inflammatory speech is contributing anything positive to the discourse taking place in the USA right now. I've also been called anti-American (inadvertantly I hope) by my brother (or sister-in-law?) for not sharing their appreciation of the We the People clip. (Not recommended viewing: it's made to start your blood boiling, no matter which side of the fence you're on.) The idea is the same--a lot of anger, hatred, and strong words being spread around now. Is it so hard for people to understand the concept that perhaps the strength of the American system lies in the fact that those people were able to desecrate the flag? You might disagree vehemently, I might think it's short-sighted and disrespectful, but nevertheless those people were exercising their rights. An attempt must be made to find some understanding, because both sides can look at each other and shout "anti-American." But what good is that doing?

Just how does your language shape the way you think?

2010-09-03T01:03:00.000-07:00

Does Your Language Shape How You Think?

Interesting article from the NY Times exploring the question of how your mother tongue influences your perception of the world. Any article that talks about the language Guugu Yimithirr is worth a read.

Thanks for that, Jeff.

Swastikas on Lithuanian dairy products in Russia

2010-06-16T02:24:00.000-07:00

This is a translation of an article that I found on Delfi.lt. The article can be found here. I've edited things a bit to avoid some repetition. The article is dated 31 May.

Photos taken in Russia show Lithuanian products labelled with a swastika

Lithuanian producers of food are encountering new problems in Russia. Photos on the internet show that stickers with a swastika have been attached to Lithuanian dairy products on the shelves in shops. Antanas Kavaliauskas, director of Pieno Centras, a Lithuanian dairy association, says that he has received information about the stickers from partners in Russia and admits that they are not beneficial for business.

Earlier the Russian youth organisation Nashi, which is supported by the Kremlin, called for a boycott of Lithuanian products because of the decision of Klaipeda District Court to recognise the swastika as part of Lithuania’s historical heritage.

‘We have received information that in certain shopping centres groups of people have been applying swastika stickers to Lithuanian products. Some shops have taken the products off their shelves. ... Who wants to buy a product that has a swastika on it? [...] Of course, these kinds of things are not good for business in general’, Kavaliauskas said. He added that the stickers were being placed on all types of food products made in Lithuania.

Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said that he had not received information about such incidents and could therefore not make a comment. ‘I really don’t have such information and therefore don’t know how to react. As far as I know, in Moscow and St Petersburg Lithuanian products are considered to be quite good’, the prime minister said after a government meeting on Monday.

At the same time, Jonas Sviderskis, director-general of the Lithuanian Association of Agricultural Firms, called such behaviour ‘child’s play’ and said he doubted its influence on the popularity of Lithuanian products in Russia.

[...]

Dairy products and live hogs are currently the main Lithuanian exports to Russia.

Lithuanian diplomat: swastikas on Lithuanian products—a onetime campaign

[...]

Andrius Pulokas, an official with the Lithuanian embassy in Moscow, told BNS [Baltic News Service] on Monday that the occurrence of stickers on Lithuanian products was not a widespread phenomenon and that it was a onetime campaign. ‘This information has appeared on the internet and been announced on the radio station Echo Moskvy. It was a onetime occurrence and was apparently put on the internet in an attempt to create a stir in every way possible. Employees of the embassy haven’t seen such things’, the diplomat told BNS during a telephone conversation. ‘This is not a widespread occurrence. Obviously it’s not difficult to get a few stickers, put them on something, and put it on the internet’, Pulokas added.

Last week the movement Nashi announced that on Friday in the largest grocery stores it would begin distributing leaflets protesting ‘against the legalisation of the use of fascist symbols’.

DELFI reminds its readers that in May Klaipeda District Court dismissed a case against four young men who were charged with carrying placards bearing swastikas during a parade on 16 February. The young men were successful in convincing the court that the swastika was not a Nazi symbol, but a part of Lithuania’s historical heritage. Ancient rings, clasps, and bracelets bearing a swastika have been unearthed in Kernave [ancient capital of Lithuania].

The police intend to appeal the court’s decision.

Andrius Pulokas told BNS that on Friday a small group of people gathered outside the Lithuanian embassy in Moscow to protest the court’s decision.

Ridin' Easy

2010-05-31T05:22:00.000-07:00

R.I.P. Dennis Hopper

Seven-part Easy Rider documentary on YouTube.

Famine in Niger/the Sahel???

2010-05-28T05:27:00.000-07:00

Just happened to be thinking about Africa today. I checked some of my links and looked over a few blogs written by expats living in Africa. I also happened to run across this news article: Millions face hunger in arid belt of Africa. I read that article right after viewing this report (The Famine Scam) about the 2005 "famine" in Niger. Fascinating! I have to say that my eyes were opened by that report; it's given me a completely different way of looking at such crises and the impact of the help that is provided. Highly recommended viewing.

I have a lot of respect for what's been done by the Garvi family in Niger. Information about their work can be found here: Eden Foundation. That seems like the ideal way to contribute. Their support page is here.

A trip to Lithuania

2010-04-13T22:57:00.000-07:00

A Lithuanian blogger (Ežiukas Vilniuje--blogas kuris myli Vilnių) (Hedgehog in Vilnius--the blog that loves Vilnius) recently posted a set of clips from a program about travel in Lithuania that appeared on the Travel Channel. You can watch the episode (three clips) on his website here. If you'd rather watch the entire episode in one clip, you can find that here or here.

Contact me when you arrive and I'll treat you to a beverage of your choice. But beware the liqueur sampler! (See clip.)

Polish tragedy

2010-04-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

News about the airplane crash involving the Polish president:

AP via Yahoo news

The Guardian

BBC

LA Times

A real tragedy. Heartfelt condolences to all Polish people.

Lithuanians are also grieving. According to the article, at least three special masses took place in Vilnius on Saturday, and on Sunday the cabinet of ministers is scheduled to have a special meeting. It's expected that a period of mourning will be announced.

Spreading hate is not free speech

2010-02-12T06:12:00.000-08:00

An article I read the other day: Tension fills Oregon campus over extremists. My thoughts about this are clear from the title of this entry. I decided to include this article since a Lithuanian was mentioned--not in the best light, I'm afraid. I'll refrain from making generalizations since I don't think they would be accurate or fair, but I can say that as a fairly racially homogeneous country, Lithuania couldn't be described as a beacon of tolerance for people whose skin is any shade darker than pale. What's strange, however, is that I've heard some of the most vehemently racist comments from Lithuanians who've lived abroad in multi-cultural countries. I should probably add that those comments came not from educated professionals, but from less well educated people. Quite likely the negative stereotypes of certain people can be reinforced by their negative experiences abroad, while at the same time people with more enlightened souls would tend to find the positive in their environment and understand that people are people.

So you think your language is difficult to learn?

2010-02-11T03:45:00.000-08:00

An entertaining and informative article about, among other things, languages and the relative difficulty of various languages can be found here. Nothing about Lithuanian, but Estonian does get a mention because of its notorious 14 cases. Thanks for that, Jeff.

Buying Lithuanian

2009-12-30T02:34:00.000-08:00

The readers of Delfi have chosen a quotation of the year. I think it's worth exposing to a larger audience.

Maybe a drumroll isn't necessary, however. Here it is: "Aš laikausi šūkio 'pirk prekę lietuvišką', bet perku ją Lenkijoje. Ten lietuviškos prekės vos ne per pusę pigesnės."

My translation: "I support the slogan 'buy Lithuanian products', but I buy them in Poland. There Lithuanian products are about half the price". Hmm. I'll leave others to explain why that is.

I've gotta get out of this place...

2009-12-16T01:04:00.000-08:00

A recent article that appeared on Delfi indicated that 36.4 percent of the inhabitants of large cities in Lithuania would like to emigrate. This figure has gone up an amazing five times since April 2008 (from 6.9 percent). Another 33.4 percent state that they would emigrate if their standard of living got significantly worse. Only 28.8 percent of urban dwellers state that they are not interested in emigrating. In April 2008, this figure was 62.6 percent.

The economic crisis has obviously taken its toll, but in fact large scale emigration has been a problem for Lithuania for many years and complicates the task of making the country viable.

Another recent article also addresses this topic. In it, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Lithuanian parliament states that emigration will be brought under control only when employers lose their overbearing and haughty behavior with employees. He admits that the difference in salaries of 5–8 times is the main problem but says that the creation of rules for businesses and a suitable work environment would encourage people to stay in Lithuania even if they were making a lower salary.

This article, which appeared on 7 December, has generated 135 comments. Perhaps it would be interesting to look at some of the reactions (in some cases I'll paraphrase or shorten what is written).

Perkunas—10 December: Emigration from villages will stop when it gets easier for children to settle near their elderly parents and build new houses, when the government changes the horrible Soviet laws, and when bureaucrats stealing from the poor are... I wonder if the people in government will ever understand that.

joooo—9 December: Emigration is taking place because of the unwillingness of politicians and the outright rejection of "businesspeople" to raise the minimum wage. Unfortunately, the president, wanting to remain popular with business, doesn't want to say anything. People aren't stupid. They see that some are becoming ridiculously rich and not paying workers. And they choose to leave for a more respectable place. And now the only way is to raise the minimum wage. No amount of tax reform will help matters. Our so-called businesspeople will not look after the interests of Lithuania. They're more likely to rip the rest of the country off and force the last of the workers out of the country and then start whining because no one is left to work. Then they'll start yelling that they need laborers from the East. It's happening now...

ciabuvis—8 December: The problem isn't employers; it's the government. At a corporation I worked for, about 10 government auditors came in a 2-month period. They didn't audit anything, just bargained with the managers for a bribe. It was this way: if you didn't pay the bribe, they would close up the business and not allow you to operate. And then you'd have to go to their bosses, who would demand bigger bribes. ... It seems as if the entire government works this way...

mama—8 December: Young, healthy people have been leaving Lithuania for 15 years and they will continue to leave for the next 15. So what are they going to do when they return to Lithuania when they're 50? Their children and grandchildren will already be abroad. Empty words. Lithuania WILL NO LONGER EXIST then...

q—7 December: I've had to sweep streets in America. I've also been a high-ranking manager in a Lithuanian company that was proud of the way it treated its employees. And I can say that in the States I felt more respected than I do here. If you work there, you're respected as a person.

lola—7 December: I worked as a bookkeeper in Lithuania. The boss called the bookkeepers vermin. I work as a bookkeeper in the U.S.A. The boss says "thank you" every day.

What's Wrong with This Picture?

2009-11-25T01:51:00.000-08:00

The Lithuanian Ministry of Education took the time (sometime in the past) to write a rule stating that schoolchildren must use fountain pens exclusively beginning in the first grade. (Oh, the mess!) But strangely enough, at no time in the past did they take the time to write a rule stating that schools must provide toilet paper in the bathrooms/restrooms/toilets for children. Oh, no. It's BYOTP for children in Lithuanian public schools.

So typical of Lithuanian governing. Long lists of mindless, often arcane, rules (which can and will be interpreted differently by various bureaucrats you encounter) for the average citizen to follow, but almost nothing about the responsibility of the government to provide anything of value.

I heard another story recently that sort of fits into the same category (bad governance). You want to get your house hooked up to the gas main? You say it runs just a few meters from your property? Expect to shell out US$100,000+ (so I was told--obviously a gross exaggeration, but I'm sure the actual figure is something ridiculous when compared to salaries here [maybe US$1000?] ) for all of the fees, permits, projects that need to be prepared, etc. Make no mistake. Those in power are not interested in eliminating the excess bureaucracy that leads to corruption. It puts too much money into their pockets and the pockets of their family and friends working in the bureaucracy.

Pickpocket alert

2009-10-29T02:09:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I was sitting in the cafe Vynine on Vilniaus Street with some friends listening to a trio play some jazzy numbers. My mobile telephone was in the inside pocket of my jacket, which I had hung on the back of my chair. When the concert finished, we got up to go and when I checked the pockets of my coat I discovered that my phone was missing. At no time had I left my coat unattended, so my phone was stolen, it's possible to say, right from under my nose, or at least my armpit.

Apparently Vynine is fairly crowded on Friday and Saturday nights (it certainly was when we were there), so it's the perfect place for pickpockets to work. So keep a very close eye on your belongings if you visit there!

By the way, I highly recommend going there to listen to the band that was playing. They sounded very good and were obviously having a great time performing. I'm sorry that I don't know the name of the band, but the lead singer told us that they play there every Friday and Saturday evening, starting at about 9. (But as I said, beware of pickpockets!)

Dupsie's

2009-10-12T22:30:00.000-07:00

Note that I've added a new link in my African section: Dupsie's. (http://www.dupsies.com/) The physical address is
2289 South Cobb Drive
Smyrna, GA 30080

The shop features a great selection of clothing, jewelry, and other accessories from Africa. Check it out!

Legalize It

2009-09-06T07:56:00.000-07:00

The sooner the better. It just makes sense. Here are a couple of articles I ran across in the Guardian today.

Former president of Brazil says hardline war on drugs 'has failed'

Prohibition's failed. Time for a new drugs policy

Conversation over Dinner

2009-09-02T01:43:00.000-07:00

My Dinner with Andre

This is one of my favorite films. A conversation between two men in a restaurant, it can take you places and, indulge me, gives you a lot of food for thought. I was searching for it for a long time and finally ran across it earlier this year. It has since been released on DVD and can be found for sale on Amazon, but it is also still available here on YouTube. A bit of information can be found here on the Internet Movie Database. A transcript (script?) of the movie can be found here. My opinion: worth seeing again and again.

Other resources about the movie:
A review by Roger Ebert.
A New York Times article.
A review on TMC.
A review on Film.com.
A synopsis and discussion questions on Philosophical Films.

The Family and Family Month

2009-05-28T23:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and son walked into the Maxima (supermarket chain) near our house and were greeted by some people filming television ads. Vaiva wanted to quickly walk away (as I would have), but Adam saw that anyone who took part could get a cake as a present and he was all for it. So, Vaiva reluctantly agreed. It's family month and as part of that Maxima was filming question and answer sessions with families. The clips air every evening after the news on LNK. We missed their appearance on TV (although many friends and family members caught it), but the clips are also stored on YouTube.

Anyway here's the clip:

Here's a translation of the dialogue:
Adam: Are you happy having two kids like us?
Vaiva: Kids like you are the best in the world. I wouldn't trade you for 100 million other kids. [No, two are sometimes really more than enough.]
Adam: And I wouldn't trade you for anybody or anything else--for a million thousand dollars. Can you imagine life without us?
Vaiva: No, I really can't imagine that. Life would be empty and quiet [or maybe peaceful?] and very sad.
Adam: How do you imagine people without families live?
Vaiva: I suppose they have friends who take the place of family. Having friends, just as having a family, makes life more enjoyable.

Ramuma

2009-05-27T04:16:00.000-07:00

At the request of Eugenia, I'll translate "Ramuma" by Alina Orlova. I found the lyrics here: Ramuma. If anyone sees that I've messed up, please correct me.

Peacefulness

Between the train tracks and among the blooms of poppies,
I'll dedicate songs to blind train drivers.
I'll sing, I'll sing...
Even though they won't understand anything.

Between the train tracks and among the blooms of poppies,
In calm I'll protect beaten cats.
I'll rock (back and forth), I'll rock...
Until autumn cracks and cries in puddles

When my death comes,
Peacefulness, etc.

Rough, but I'm no poet, so it will have to do.

Here's a video of the song from YouTube:

New president in Lithuania

2009-05-17T23:35:00.000-07:00

Three articles about Lithuania's new president-elect: Dalia Grybauskaite, who will be the first female president of Lithuania:

Lithuania elects first female president

EU budget chief wins Lithuanian presidential election

EU commissioner wins Lithuania vote

I'm happy to see a woman in this position, and I think that Grybauskaite was the most promising candidate. By that I mean that she seems to have strong (and apparently reasonable) convictions and not be afraid to state her mind. Whether she'll be able to take on the clan of halfwits that runs the country and make some real changes remains to be seen. Because the president of Lithuania doesn't act as the head of the government, she won't have anything to do with the actual day-to-day running of the country. The current president often referred to himself as a sort of moral compass directing the country. I respect the job that President Valdas Adamkus did, but it is time for a younger, more energetic leader. I will have all the respect in the world for her if she makes it clear that the people in the cabinet of ministers, parliament, and bureaucracy will be held accountable for their actions (or lack thereof). My advice to Her Excellency: start by cleaning the deadwood out of the bureaucracy. Make it easier to get rid of bureaucrats that aren't doing their jobs. Lithuania would be a much nicer place if that happened. I could name several people right now (Varnaite, for one) who are on the state payroll, but doing absolutely nothing good for the country. Contact me.

Just Barely

2009-04-19T23:36:00.000-07:00

Here's a well-written, concise summary of the economic situation in the Baltic States.

Still afloat in the Baltic, just

Thanks, Jeff.

Council Jargon -- English?

2009-04-17T00:22:00.000-07:00

It sort of looks familiar, but I don't think it deserves the appellation English. This is what local councils in the UK have made of the English language. A quote:

Councils have been told to cut the gibberish and speak plain English - and the Local Government Association has compiled a list of 200 banned words.

Newspeak or just nonsense? You be the judge. When I first took this quiz about a month ago, I got 2/7. Today I managed 5/7.

7 Questions on Council Jargon

Thanks, Phil.

Grumpy Old Editor Speaks about Lithuania

2009-04-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

The Center of Europe

Another blogger's thoughts about Lithuania. Well worth a read.

Lithuanian Pop

2009-03-25T01:48:00.000-07:00

...is usually nothing to write home about (at best). But I have to agree with my friend Damon that this is the best Lithuanian pop song I've heard in quite a while.

By the way, he's not singing about the airport (the video was filmed at Vilnius International Airport). The song's about a woman who doesn't get wet despite the rain (which is an almost constant phenomenon here, except in the winter when the rain becomes snow).

The Hunt for Mr Prawo Jazdy

2009-02-19T07:39:00.000-08:00

A funny story from the BBC involving a mysterious Pole who is Ireland's worst driver.

The mystery of Ireland's worst driver

Thanks for that, Phil.

Prices in Lithuania not much different from prices in other EU countries

2009-02-02T05:02:00.000-08:00

This article, which I found here, caught my eye. Now if salaries would just catch up... I'd even be happy with 75% of the average in western Europe. According to what I found at this website, the average salary in the EU is EUR 32,414 (USD 41,538) and the average salary in eastern European countries is less than EUR 10,000 (USD 12,815). That sounds about right. In countries like Denmark, the UK, and Germany, the average annual salary is around EUR 40,000 (USD 51,259).

Here's my translation of the article.

Average prices in Lithuania little different from those in other EU countries

According to a new European Commission consumer price report, average prices in Lithuania are not smaller than those in other European Union countries. As reported today in the newspaper Latvijas Avize, the cheapest potatoes (EUR .54/USD .69) can be found in Latvia. For comparison, a kilogram of potatoes costs EUR .90/USD 1.15 in Lithuania, .62/.79 in Poland, and 1.56/2.00 in Ireland.

Milk costs .79/1.01 in Lithuania, .84/1.08 in Latvia and Poland, and 1.12/1.44 in Ireland.

Butter however costs more in Latvia (1.59/2.04) than it does in other countries. In neighboring countries it costs 1.35/1.73. A cup of coffee costs .78/1.00 in Lithuania, 1.08/1.38 in Latvia, and 1.38/1.77 in Poland.

Prices for clothing were not given.

(Prices below in EUR)

Product Ireland Latvia Lithuania Poland
white bread 1.04 0.71 0.70 0.63
pork (kg) - 5.33 4.39 3.72
chicken (kg) 4.37 2.66 2.48 1.87
milk (l) 1.12 0.84 0.79 0.84
eggs (10) 3.05 1.32 1.26 1.19
butter (kg) 1.30 1.59 1.35 1.35
carrots (kg) 1.37 1.05 0.83 0.91
potatoes (kg) 1.56 0.54 0.90 0.62
orange juice (l) 1.75 1.07 1.20 1.27
beer (l) - 1.38 1.29 1.41
newspaper - 0.53 0.51 0.41
cup of coffee - 1.08 0.78 1.38

Musical instruments

2009-01-28T00:08:00.000-08:00

If I had a workshop, I would have to try to make some of the musical instruments this guy has made. Check out his site: http://dennishavlena.com/. Lots of links to other instrument makers and musicians as well.

And a word for the day: limnology--'The scientific study of the life and phenomena of fresh water, especially lakes and ponds'.

Flight of the Conchords

2009-01-08T04:51:00.000-08:00

I was looking over top-10 music lists on NPR the other day and noticed that Flight of the Conchords was on the listeners' list. I decided to do some research and here is what I found:

Music:
Business Time

Comedy Sketches:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8cRtCIzIbI&NR=1
Dave's Pearls of Wisdom
Racism
Bret & Coco
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWvyLfN9mZs

Of course, that's just a small sample of these guys on YouTube.

Drinking and driving

2008-12-22T01:05:00.000-08:00

Drinking and driving. Somehow the two activities seem to be inextricably linked here, even though the laws against drunken driving were tightened up at the beginning of the year (look here for more information). Here's my translation of a recent article I found here.

459 drunken drivers caught in 1 week

In one week, police officers tested the sobriety of 39,397 drivers. A total of 459 drunken drivers were caught. The police department announced that 331 drivers were mildly intoxicated [.41–1.5 permille], 143 had a medium degree of intoxication [1.51–2.5 permille], and 48 were seriously intoxicated [>2.51 permille].

In Lithuania, as in many other European countries, the police organized a special campaign to test the sobriety of drivers on 8–14 December.

The initiator of this campaign was the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL).

The most drunken drivers were found in Kaunas County (88), Panevezys County (55), Vilnius County (53), and Siauliai County (51).

During a similar campaign that took place in Lithuania in December last year (10–16), 518 drunken drivers were caught.

During another campaign that was organized by TISPOL and took place on 2–8 June, police caught 491 drunken drivers.

In the first 11 months of this year, 469 traffic accidents were caused by drunken drivers, 38.3% (or 291 accidents) fewer than the amount that were caused by drunken drivers in that time period of the preceding year. That amounts to 10.4% of all registered automobile accidents in which people are injured. Of the accidents caused by intoxicated drivers, 42 people lost their lives (29 fewer [than in 2007]) and 709 were injured (445 fewer [than in 2007]).

Vandalism

2008-12-16T02:10:00.000-08:00

There seems to be a lot of mindless, pointless vandalism like this (http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/crime/article.php?id=18777655--visit to see the photos) going on here. I just don't get it. The article's old, but anyway here's my translation of (most of) it:

Record number of bus stops destroyed over weekend (80)

In the capital [Vilnius] Monday morning, people driving by Cathedral Square on their way to work could see signs of vandalism at public transport stops--broken glass and a nearby telephone booth completely destroyed.

Similar scenes could be seen at Opera stop on Gostauto Street--broken glass and a broken frame.

According to Vadimas Komarskis, advertising manager for JC Decaux, the firm that takes care of the stops, every Monday it is necessary to repair more than a dozen stops that have been vandalized over the weekend.

"I'm not talking about the scribbling and graffiti that is hard to remove. What I have in mind is the serious vandalism, when glass is broken and the frames are bent", Komarskis said. "Just the glass costs about LTL 200 (EUR 58/USD 79), and that's not including the costs of labor and transport. Fixing up one of those stops is an expensive proposition."

According to Komarskis, it is really difficult to break the glass at the stops. "There's no way you could break it with your fist. A brick is needed. That's good tempered safety glass, so that it will not break easily and injure people waiting at the stop."

From 10 to 20 stops are seriously vandalized over an average weekend. There are 415 public transport stops in the city.

The firm buys glass and parts in advance and is not afraid that it will run out of spare parts.

Komarkis said that the stops in outlying parts of the city where there are fewer police patrolling are constantly being vandalized. "But on the weekends the entire city is a risk zone. Drunken people leave bars and begin vandalizing things. So, we're forced to clean up their mess."

According to Liucija Boreseviciene, the head of the 3rd Police Precinct in Vilnius, it isn't often that the police are informed about such incidents of vandalism. "In September only one such incident was reported by a passer-by", the official said.

Second Round of Election in Lithuania Held Today

2008-10-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

Lithuanians vote against backdrop of global crisis

Gotta love the accompanying photo.

Frightening YouTube Video

2008-10-13T23:22:00.000-07:00

The Sidewalk to Nowhere

That scared me. Very much. Must ... divert ... thoughts.

Devo--'Whip It'

Ah.

Devo--'Girl You Want'

Yes. Everything back to normal. And a final video.

John Cleese on Sarah Palin: "Monty Python Could Have Written This."

Election Update

2008-10-13T01:38:00.000-07:00

A couple of articles about the Lithuanian election held yesterday:

Lithuania's centre-right set for election win

Conservatives ahead in Lithuania election

Political scientists in Lithuania seem to think that a center-left coalition is more likely than a center-right coalition:

Political Scientists: Center-left Coalition One of the Most Realistic

Lithuanians Voting Today

2008-10-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

Another article I found about the election today.

Lithuania: Populists poised for a strong showing

Lithuanians to Vote This Sunday

2008-10-10T04:27:00.000-07:00

Lithuania to vote amid economic fears, Russia worry

A Reuters article about the upcoming election in Lithuania.

For Lovers of the English Language

2008-10-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

The Speech Accent Archive

The speech accent archive uniformly presents a large set of speech samples from a variety of language backgrounds. Native and non-native speakers of English read the same paragraph and are carefully transcribed. The archive is used by people who wish to compare and analyze the accents of different English speakers.

It's possible to search according to various criteria or browse according to language/speaker and region. A native phonetic inventory provides charts of the sounds found in many languages. Interesting!

Thanks for the link, Jeff.

For Lovers of World Music

2008-10-06T22:53:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I was looking for some information about The Gambia (a possible destination next summer) and ran across two really interesting sites. If you love music, in particular African music or world music, you'll have a lot of fun visiting these two websites.

http://www.the-real-africa.com/
There it's possible to find African music videos by artist and by country. Here are a few that I enjoyed:
http://www.sirelazik.net/video/malouma01.html
http://www.musicvideos.the-real-africa.com/senegal/youssou_n_dour_birima_clip.html
http://www.musicvideos.the-real-africa.com/mali/tinariwen_chet_boghassa.html
http://www.musicvideos.the-real-africa.com/mali/toumani_diabate_the_mande_variations.html
http://www.musicvideos.the-real-africa.com/mali/ali_farka_toure_savane_2.html

The other website is Benn loxo du taccu. As it says on the front page: 'That's Wolof for "one hand can't clap" and this is Matt Yanchyshyn's world music for the masses.' Very simply, it's a journal of this guy's travels and the music he encounters along the way. It's interesting and the music is really unbelievable. There are dozens of great tunes there that you can download. So, what are you waiting for? I won't keep you any longer...

So It Seems We Were Wrong...

2008-10-02T07:08:00.000-07:00

I think it must have been the spring of 1985, when I was a 1st-year university student, that a couple of friends and I figured out the shape of the universe while we were sitting in a bare spot in the middle of a field on a farm in south-central Kansas in the middle of the night. According to our theory, the universe was a parabola (or was it hyperbola?)--23+ years have passed, so I think I can be excused for having an imperfect memory of the theory (and event). Of course, the creative fuel we were using at the time may also be to blame.

You may be able to imagine my shock and disappointment when just a few days ago I received this message:
"I guess we were wrong."
and this link:
New findings reveal that the shape of the Universe is a dodecahedron based on Phi
from one of my fellow scientists/philosophers/(stoners).

One of my friends committed the theory to paper. I wonder if it still exists... Of course, such a thing would have served as incriminating evidence if one's mother would have happened to run across it (which actually happened).

Gerry Rafferty

2008-09-29T05:15:00.000-07:00

For the edification of my friend Philip, who, even though he is from Scotland, admitted he wasn't familiar with the music of Gerry Rafferty.

Home and Dry

Get It Right Next Time

Right Down the Line

Baker Street

Enjoy!

Worst Crisis Since 30s

2008-09-18T03:48:00.000-07:00

More negative news about the economy, only this time about the U.S.A.:
Worst Crisis Since '30s, With No End Yet in Sight

Baltic States' Banking Systems in Trouble

2008-09-16T00:08:00.000-07:00

A while back I heard (probably on the radio) that heating costs in Vilnius are now as high as they are in Brussels. I wonder if salaries here are half or a just a third of what people make in Brussels? Doesn't seem to make sense, does it? I understand that this is mostly the result of market forces, but that doesn't make tolerating it any easier (and I know in my heart that the owners and upper-level managers of the heating company here are getting filthy rich). Well, I have to admit that I'm not on the city's centralized heating system, but I figure it won't matter too much since we're heating with natural gas and the price of that has also gone through the roof. I think this winter will be telling as people struggle to pay for heating and food. I haven't seen any figures about whether salaries and pensions here are keeping up with inflation, but as far as I know, they aren't in most parts of the world. But it's not only the people here that are having a tough time of it...

Here's an article I found recently about the banking systems in the Baltic States. It's from right here: http://www.delfi.lt/news/economy/business/article.php?id=18507054. The translation is mine.

Citigroup: Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Banking Systems in Trouble

SEB Bank is getting ready to announce losses in Estonia and Latvia, and the profits of Swedbank in the Baltic States are dropping because of greater losses in the loans sector. This news was reported by Baltic Business News and based on a report Citigroup sent its clients.

Losses caused by bad loans means that dividends for the next 2 years will stay at the same level as they were the previous year, Ronit Ghose, an analyst at Citigroup, wrote.

"The economies and banking systems of the Baltic States, especially in Latvia and Estonia, are in trouble", Ghose wrote. "Our visits to Tallinn and Riga this week have caused us to worry even more about a collapse because it hard to imagine a quick turnaround in this region...

The article goes on to say that pre-tax profits of SEB in the Baltic States would drop 40 percent from EUR 261.62 million (USD 372.05 million) to EUR 156.97 million (USD 223.23 million) and that the profits of Swedbank from operations in the Baltic States would most likely drop from EUR 502.31 million (USD 714.34 million) to EUR 439.52 million (USD 625.05 million).

This Is Aikido?

2008-09-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

The other day, my wife took our son to the introductory lesson of the aikido club that trains in Simono Daukanto Primary School, where my son goes to school. She wanted to find out about fees, the class schedule, etc. Although they arrived a bit early, the head of the school (and president of the Lithuanian Traditional Aikido Association) had already launched into his introductory speech. She was, however, able to catch the part with him saying that it was essential to learn aikido to help protect the country from the hoards of "darkies" moving here. Huh? What was that? Now, I'm used to hearing all sorts of people spout all sorts of racist and nationalistic crap here, but using aikido and a rented space in a public school for such a forum seems way out of line to me. Isn't there some international aikido association that this guy could be reported to? From what little I know about aikido, I can't imagine that any dojo (or national organization) would support such hatred. In fact, it seems the antithesis of what aikido stands for. Anybody have any ideas? Thoughts?

Bike Tour

2008-09-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

I just can't seem to get motivated to write about Lithuanian events/news since I returned from the U.S.A. If someone's waiting specifically for such topics, all I can say is forgive me and maybe I'll have the time and inclination to write about those things some time in the near future.

But something else caught my eye today. I was visiting http://www.ibike.org/ today and started thinking about the possibility of going on one of the tours they offer: Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Togo/Benin, and Ghana. At US$1490 for two weeks (includes lodging and two meals a day while traveling), the price seems a bit steep. There's no way I could afford such a trip this year, but I might be able to do it (or something like this) next year. But I was wondering... Would anybody out there be interested in such a trip (specifically, joining me on such a trip)?

The Rio Bravo

2008-09-05T03:40:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that The Rio Bravo has several songs available for download on their website (http://www.theriobravo.com/). I haven't listened to all the songs all the way through, but Mordecai is interesting, and I'd say that the others are worth a listen. Some parts of Life in the West remind me of an ELO song, strangely enough. Must be the same chord progressions.

Adomas on TV

2008-09-02T00:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the ensemble that my son Adomas (Adam) is in played in the concert at the President's Office to celebrate the beginning of the school year and Freedom Day (the day the Soviet Army pulled out of Lithuania). The concert was broadcast on Lithuanian National Television. Despite a bit of a problem when they started playing (the keyboard hadn't been turned on) and one a little later (the keyboard player's chair [and keyboard player] fell off the stand it was on), I think they did well. Here's the link to the footage of the concert: http://www.lrt.lt/archyvas/?channel=234940&section=1&filter=&record=4825359_1220284800. They go on stage at the 41:10 mark, just about exactly halfway through the concert. My boy's the sharp looking, focused one playing the bongos. Yeah, I guess you could say I'm proud.

Divided Village, Divided Europe

2008-07-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

Interesting story about a village that lies partly in Lithuania and partly in Belarus.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008003378_belarusvillage29.html

Shonen Knife

2008-06-30T07:51:00.000-07:00

The first time I heard Shonen Knife (http://www.shonenknife.net/english/) was maybe '92 or so on KLZR in Lawrence, Kansas. At that time it was a pretty cool radio station playing mostly alternative music. The song I heard was My Favorite Town Osaka.

As soon as I found out the name of the band, I went and bought Let's Knife, which includes this song: Riding on the Rocket.

Shonen Knife always puts a smile on my face and a Hello Kitty in my heart.

From their album Rock Animals:
Brown Mushrooms
Tomato Head

From their album Brand New Knife:
Wind Your Spring

From various other albums:
It's a New Find
Mass Communication Breakdown

Still with me? In that case, you might be interested in these cuts from their very first album, Minna Tanoshiku, which was released on cassette in Japan in 1982.
Miracles, which can be compared to Miracles from the album Burning Farm.
Parallel Woman
Burning Farm, which you can compare with Burning Farm from 1992's Let's Knife. If you like any of those songs, you can read more about the album here. You can also download that very rare album there. When I tried, the bandongo.com link didn't work but the zshare.net link did. I didn't try downloading from the megaupload.com link, but it looks as if the file's still there.

Philip, enjoy!

Economic Review

2008-06-27T01:38:00.000-07:00

A review of some recent articles about the economy in this part of the world. I'll just translate selected parts of each article.

DnB Nord: We Live Half as Well as the Richest EU Countries

The highest standard of living in the European Union can be found in Denmark ... and its standard of living is twice that of Lithuania. Growing at the same tempo it did last year, Estonia could catch up with Denmark in about 2020, and Lithuania and Latvia would require another three to five years.

If our country does not make the adjustments that are needed, however, it could, according to its rate of growth, become an outsider among its neighbors.

These comments were made on 12 June by DnB Nord Bank chief analyst Rimantas Rudzkis when he was presenting the bank's economic review of the six Baltic Sea countries.

"No one believes that the economies of Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia will hit rock bottom. The talk is about a loss in tempo", the analyst emphasized.

He said the the inactivity of the government could cause Lithuania to become an outsider compared to Latvia, Estonia and Poland since, for example, the reform of the educational system in Estonia took place long ago, the labor market is more flexible, and the taxation system is simpler, not only in Estonia, but also in Latvia.

"If the business and investment climate here doesn't get better, we are in danger of becoming outsiders. These problems in Lithuania have been brewing for quite some time, but nothing is changing. Most likely Prof. Kestutis Glaveckas was correct when he said that it would take a crisis for us to start solving such problems", Rudzkis said.

He admitted that the political situation in Lithuania is not favorable since no one political party has a solid majority.

"It seems to me that investors from the West probably think that our conflicts with our neighbors to the east are troubling. Investors are not interested in ideologies. They are interested in earnings and they go to those countries that get along better with such a market as Russia", the analyst added.

The article continues...

And another article:

World Bank: Baltic Countries Are Dealing Well with Crisis

According to a report (the EU10 Regular Economic Report) prepared by the World Bank, the ten former communist countries that are now members of the European Union are adapting fairly well to the slowdown in the global economy...

And another article:

Dalia Grybauskaite: It Is Necessary to Forget Cheap Fuel and Food

European Commissioner Dalia Grybauskaite continues to call the activities of the Lithuanian cabinet of ministers "a feast in a time of famine" that is only getting bigger as time goes on. She says that the government is not properly fighting rising food and fuel prices, and in place of negotiations about keeping the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant open for a longer period of time, only technical consultations are taking place.

"For a country that wants to introduce the euro, Lithuania looks bad and is going to look even worse."

"There is always a way out. Only competence and political will is needed", Dalia Grybauskaite, the European commissioner for financial programming and the budget [from Lithuania], said to journalists on 20 June...

The rest of the article goes on to say that she thinks both those things (competence and political will) are missing. The prime minister didn't take kindly to her criticism and said her criticism was harmful to the country and accused her of politicking (Kirkilas: Grybauskaite's Criticism of the Government Is Harmful to Lithuania). In turn, Grybauskaite said that she was only passing on the opinion of the European Commission (Grybauskaite: Criticism of Lithuania Is Official Opinion of European Commission).

I haven't begun stockpiling food and weapons yet (would probably need to move to the United States to do such a thing), but I have a feeling that things could get quite bad and no matter what will certainly get worse before they get better.

Australian Music

2008-06-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

It must have been about 1983 when my Australian pen pal Marcelle (I wonder what happened to her?) sent me Australian Crawl's Semantics EP. My cassette long ago gave up the ghost, but Australian Crawl is still alive and well on YouTube. Reckless (Don't Be So). It still sounds great.

Burke and Wills and camels,
Initials in the trees

I'd always wondered what that meant. Found out yesterday:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke_and_Wills_expedition
http://www.burkeandwills.net.au/

And another great Australian band: Midnight Oil Beds Are Burning

Some other music from the land down under: Powderfinger (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powderfinger and http://www.powderfinger.com/)
On My Mind
D.A.F.
By the way, Tim, Benmont Tench played piano and keyboards on the group's most recent album, Dream Days at the Hotel Existence.

Photos of Fire

2008-06-22T03:16:00.001-07:00

My parents' house. See also: http://grainofdruska.blogspot.com/2008/06/fire-or-end-of-era.html.

The Musical Box

2008-06-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

For fans of old Genesis and progressive rock: The Musical Box.

James Low

2008-06-17T04:23:00.000-07:00

If you like your music with a bit of a country twang, check this out. James Low. It's well worth a listen and there are two(!) albums worth of music there to listen to. It's good stuff, Maynard. Take my word for it.

My friend Tim (see also http://www.theloudlounge.com/, http://www.theimprints.com/, and http://www.timhuggins.com/ -- need a jingle, graphic designing, website designing?) is the bass player for James.

Who's in Charge of Corruption

2008-06-13T01:50:00.000-07:00

Here's an article I found on Delfi.lt: http://www.delfi.lt/news/ringas/lit/article.php?id=17350372. The translation is mine.

Jurgis Jurgelis. Who Is in Charge of Corruption?

This spring, masked officers pried open the doors of several local governments. Not long after that, the doors of several jail cells slammed shut. Political attack, conspiracy, and clique were words that could be heard coming from the lips of those who were arrested. A hit below the belt was the response of the arrestees' friends who remained free. People said that it was the work of the STT [the Specialiųjų tyrimų tarnyba, the main anti-corruption body in Lithuania].

In general, corruption is not a law enforcement problem, but a management [could also be translated governing] problem. It arises because of the lack of order: lack of oversight, responsibility, proper personnel policies, transparent decision making, openness, etc. Law enforcement only picks the fruit of this "order". Without a change in the way things are managed, this fruit will always be in season.

On the other hand, the crime of corruption is a hard nut to crack even for the most efficient law enforcement agency because:

such crimes are committed by educated people;
both sides (the givers and the takers) are making an agreement and for that reason neither side complains;
well-organized corruption leaves no physical evidence;
the technology used by law enforcement becomes old very quickly—now everyone knows that you shouldn't say certain things on your mobile telephone;
the bigger the corruption, the higher up the chain of command.

Whoever controls the country also controls corruption

Corruption always appears in certain spheres: privatization, return of formerly held (later nationalized) property, bidding for government contracts, issue of various licences, distribution of European fund money, etc. Whoever is in charge of these spheres is in charge of the corruption in those spheres. There is no separate ministry of corruption (anticorruption) in the country—a sphere can be managed well and corruption can be controlled (limited). It is also possible to govern poorly and allow corruption to flourish.

In principle, only those institutions or those authorities in whose hands the control of the country rests are able to change the situation. It would be difficult for anyone else to do anything, except perhaps change the government.

Political will

This is the ability of the government to understand and to want and to be able to do something, in this case, limit corruption. When a national strategy to fight corruption was prepared, it received more or less this evaluation in the halls of government: "There are some interesting things there. I'll have to read through it". And that means that the strategy will never be put into practice, because what is needed is not to read through it but fight for it. In democratic countries political will is born and shaped in political parties. Political parties form the representative government, which forms policies and governs.

Our parties (some more than others) have certain problems with corruption. They are tormented by non-transparent sources of money. The parties admit that it is necessary to make it illegal for legal entities to provide financial support to parties. But they do not dare to make that illegal because they need the money.

The STT reveals another party-corruption handicap, the sale of people—members of parliamentary groups. A party wanting to get more power can buy members of other groups or at least temporarily rent his vote. There are other party-corruption problems. Political will is touched by corruption.

It is necessary to note that in the European countries in which corruption has been more or less eliminated, parties (not organizations like the STT) fight for clean politics in their own ranks, they control the members of parliament and ministers that represent them, etc. A corrupt government official could bring the party huge losses and hurt its authority. Here it does not harm parties at all.

Some propaganda

Two years ago the political groups in the parliament signed an agreement about unifying in the fight against corruption. There was talk and there were remarks to the effect that the agreement was of a propagandistic nature. With the passage of two years, it would be proper to discuss the result that have been achieved and let people know what has been done, what has not been done, and what will be done. But there will apparently be no compilation of the results, since there is not really anything to compile. The agreement will lose its spark and fade away silently, without anyone noticing. No one needs to discuss propaganda.

Who is leading the front line?

There is no one in that position. There is also no responsibility for the front.

Some time earlier an attempt was made to put the STT in that position. But the STT does not have the authority to give orders to governmental units, require that they take certain steps, or demand certain results from them. It can only desire, suggest, ask, ask again, and ask yet again.

At this time, several anti-corruption commissions operate in Lithuania. There is one in the parliament, one that is connected with the Interior Ministry, one that is run by the Interior Ministry, and one that is connected with the Cabinet of Ministers. They all do certain jobs. But not one of them has enough authority or the obligation to lead the country's fight against corruption. And for that reason, they do not have to answer for the situation in the country.

The position of leader of the front is open. It could be occupied the the Cabinet of Ministers. The leaders of the country could use their power and the power of governmental institutions they manage in this fight. No matter what, a leader who is willing to take responsibility is needed. Maybe after elections.

Not really so bad

A significant amount of money is spent (although of course more is needed) fighting corruption. We have a special organization to fight corruption, the STT. There are also other organizations fighting against corruption. There are no fewer than in other European countries.

According to level of corruption, the situation in Lithuania is not the worst in the European Union. It is true that we are starting to slip at little behind Slovenia and Estonia, which were earlier about level with us, but have now passed us up. We are floundering in the same place with our neighbors Latvia and Poland. We are in a better position than the new members of the EU, Romania and Bulgaria. If Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine join the EU some day, there will be even more countries in a worse situation. Not bad.

There are countries that are in incomparably worse shape, for example Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and even Russia. But the discussion is not about Africa or Russia or even about the index of corruption in various countries around the world. As one French writer said, it is not the poverty that a people live in that is terrible; what is terrible is when people get used to living in poverty.

Vilnius II

2008-06-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

A short clip about Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, can be found here, courtesy of the Vilnius Tourist Information Centre. The clip can be viewed in Russian, Lithuanian, Polish, German, and English.

I'm already preparing for the onslaught of tourists. Just give me a couple of weeks notice if you plan to stay with us.

P.S.
Will work as a guide for food and drinks.

You Know You've Been in Lithuania Too Long When:

2008-06-11T06:05:00.000-07:00

An e-mail forward I received from a friend of mine. (Thanks, Steve.) Rather humorous and provides some insight into what it means to live in Lithuania (too long).

You know you've been in Lithuania too long when:

· You only eat in restaurant-chains that start with Čili.
· You put ketchup on your pizza and think that's the way the Italians do it.
· Half of your friends disappear to work in the British Isles, Scandinavia, or the United States and you think that's normal.
· You have become tired of explaining to your friends and relatives at home that you are a) not in Latvia, b) not in Russia, and c) Riga isn't the capital of the Baltic.
· With a meal, you drink either beer or tea.
· Basketball has become the most important thing in your life.
· There is only one beer for you: Švyturys Extra.
· Half of the population working as "managers" seems reasonable to you.
· Tall, blonde beauties in short skirts are nothing special for you anymore.
· During winter, instead of looking for a thermostat to adjust the temperature in your room, you just open the window.
· You learned everything about the glorious Lithuanian language, and now you get angry about the ignorant people who deny the existence of a Lithuanian language or, worse, consider it some branch of the Slavic languages.
· You've learned the hard way that a triangle means women's toilet and a triangle upside down means men's.
· During a long night of partying, you went out to take a pee in the cold streets because there was only one unisex toilet in the whole pub.
· You think drunks shouting at you in Russian are a normal part of life.
· When you enter a bus and there is no strange smell, you think there's something wrong.
· Buses without antennae seem awkward to you.
· If anything goes wrong, you blame the Russians, the Poles, or the rest of the world.
· You see someone smiling in public and you think: well, a bloody foreigner.
· A meal for you must contain either potato or meat, but usually both.
· You start leaving out the articles, even in English or your native language.
· You become scared when you come upon big old babushkas in furs because they trample everything in their way.
· You are afraid crossing a street, especially at zebra crossings or traffic lights.
· You feel guilty about wearing your shoes after entering a flat.
· You consider cranberry the best flavour for water, juice and vodka.
· You think beer is a soft drink, not an alcoholic beverage.
· Going to the opera, the concert hall, or the theatre is just a usual thing to do in the evenings.
· Given names like Christmas tree, sun, amber, diamond, and oak seem normal to you.
· Everything 50 m above sea level seems like a mountain.
· You get a one-centimetre haircut and buy a fake leather jacket and a black cap (if you are male) OR you buy a skirt the size of a belt and don't leave the house without tonnes of make-up (if you are female).
· You consider smoked pig's ears a tasty beer snack.
· You love the Baltic Sea and go swimming there at nearly any temperature.
· For you, garlic has become an ingredient just like salt or pepper.
· You consider Lithuania the best and worst place on earth at the same time.
· You teach everybody that in medieval times the Lithuanian Grand Duchy ranged from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
· You add "as", "a" or "is" to the end of foreign names so you can conjugate them.
· You carry around five cell phones and several cards from eight different phone companies so that you always get the best price.
· You consider fastening your seatbelt a sign of weakness and are not surprised if a car doesn’t have seatbelts at all.
· You think Coca Cola is the unhealthiest drink in the world and that drinking lots of beer, sugary juice, and bread drink prolongs your life.
· You haven't seen a clear sky for months and you don't miss it anymore.
· You consider rain the norm and sunshine a special weather phenomenon.

On the Verge of a Catastophe?

2008-06-09T05:42:00.000-07:00

I found this article here, on Alfa.lt, and it seemed rather interesting. The global ecomonic crisis, if it can be called that, is worrying, but I'm in no position to say whether we're any worse off here than anywhere else in the world (besides the fact that prices for about everything but food and services were always too high [close to or higher than prices in Western Europe] and now food and services are catching up). This article suggests that indeed things are worse here. The translation is mine, and as usual, I am solely to blame for any mistakes or omissions (except of course those that occur in the original article).

Lithuania -- On the Brink of Disaster

"What can you do when the members of your family complain about the rising prices of food, gasoline, and airline tickets?" a British journalist asked in the Sunday Times. The answer was this: "Just for a minute consider how someone from Ukraine, where food prices have risen 30 percent in the past year, feels."

Britons are complaining that it will not be possible to tolerate inflation, which in April reached 3 percent, while in Eastern Europe and Russia consumer prices have experienced double-digit growth. People in Eastern Europe are already beginning to panic, although the most important cause of inflation, the rising cost of food products, is the same in both Eastern and Western Europe. The difference is that in poorer countries the amount of money spent on food makes up a bigger part of the cost of living: 60 percent in Ukraine, 40 percent in Russia, almost 26 percent in Lithuania, and barely 10 percent in the United Kingdom.

Besides that, there is a very serious situation in the Eastern European labor market not only because there are too many cleaners or plumbers, but also because inflation is having a strong effect on salaries. In the private sector in Hungary, salaries have gone up 9 percent over the past year. Even if prices for food products go down at the end of the year, inflation will not be stopped.

The West has become concerned about rising inflation in Eastern Europe. First of all, that is because they have been encouraged to pump massive investments into those countries in the belief that as the economies of those countries grow, inflation will fall. But those "new markets" are suffering from a problem that make the "credit bubble" in the West look like a fairy tale in comparison. Experts from the investment bank Morgan Stanley have already called Eastern Europe the next place for a catastrophe and have begun comparing it to Asia in 1997.

Eastern Europe is deeply in debt and that debt is quickly getting bigger. In Latvia in 2002–2006, real estate prices grew 40 percent (though they have gone down a bit recently). The complaints of people in the West do not appear to be worth any attention if compared to what is going on in Latvia and its neighbors.

There are experts, however, who say that the situation in Europe will not affect other regions of the world such as Asia and Latin America. The countries of Asia have truly recovered from the crisis of more than ten years ago. Even though inflation stands at 8 percent in China, if food prices are not counted, the figure falls to just 1.8 percent. Latin America is now being flooded with money, and prices for the most important raw materials are growing in leaps and bounds. It would be naive to expect that the "new markets" will protect the West from recession, however. Climbing inflation could destroy macroeconomic stability. In the worst case, investors will lose faith in the local currency. There is more faith in Eastern Europe, where investments are made in euros and Swiss francs. Some economists have warned, however, that having such faith may lead some to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire since large debts will not be the cause of the crisis in those countries, as has happened more than once. "Everything can be blamed on easy money", Morgan Stanley economist Joachim Fels says. Professor Carmen Reinhart of Maryland University agrees with him: "Technology, the height of people, and fashion change. What doesn't change is the desire of governments and investors to fool themselves."

Nine countries on the brink of disaster:
1. Jamaica
2. Ukraine
3. Kazakhstan
4. Bulgaria
5. Surinam
6. Latvia
7. Lithuania
8. Vietnam
9. Sri Lanka

No Jail for Paralytic Driver

2008-06-08T02:48:00.000-07:00

This is my third and final update of the story of Kestutis Zutautas, a Lithuanian who got caught for drunken driving in the Shetland Islands. The final article from the Shetland News can be found here. My previous posts about this can be found here: I and II. Thanks, Phil.

And a musical interlude:
Little Green Machine -- Most of the members of this band are from the Shetland Islands, or at least that's what Phil tells me...

Food for Thought

2008-06-06T01:22:00.000-07:00

I found this article, which is about the link between the food crisis and biofuel production, quite interesting.

Here's a quotation from that article:

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has challenged critics who claim biofuel production is contributing to high food prices and demand, arguing the problem lies instead in poor agricultural and distribution models.
"It is not ethanol that is causing food prices to rise, because Brazil, which produces more biofuel, also produces more food," he has said.
That view has support among government analysts.
The food crisis "is a problem of wealth distribution, a political problem," said Giselle Ferreira de Araujo, who works for the state National Council for Scientific and Technological Development.

Peter Gabriel Break

2008-06-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I saw some fairly recent photos of Peter Gabriel. They made me realize several things.

1. He's getting old. Surprise, surprise.
2. I've been "out of the loop" for a long time. I'm sure I would have seem him on TV or in a newspaper in the States, i.e., it's been a long time since I've seen his photo.
3. If he's getting old, I must also be getting old. Well, that's nothing new but something I try not to think about.

A few videos:
Digging in the Dirt

Steam

Shakin' the Tree

20th Anniversary of Sąjūdis

2008-06-04T00:57:00.000-07:00

The 20th anniversary of Sąjūdis, the organization that helped usher in the reestablishment of the independence of Lithuania, is being celebrated in Lithuania this week. Meetings, conferences, television and radio programs, and concerts are taking place to mark this event.

An interesting thing I learned was that one of the initial goals of this movement was not reestablishing independence but overcoming bureaucracy. And boy, oh boy, was that goal not met. That still remains one of the biggest obstacles here. Not only does it directly hinder economic development, but it also stifles the initiative of people and in general makes life extremely difficult. And there is no doubt that it encourages the all-pervasive corruption that plagues Lithuanian society.

I've decided that this blog can be a modest forum for exposing those who ask for bribes. I've been asked for bribes a few times in my 10+ years here, but I won't dredge up the past. But from now on, I resolve to record such events here.

The Fire or The End of an Era

2008-06-02T06:37:00.002-07:00

Here's an article as it appeared in the Hutchinson News. The event occurred on 12 May.

Fire Damages Portions of Pretty Prairie Couple's Home

Leon and Linda Hendrixson returned home from the bank and the hardware store Monday to discover their house on fire.

"I didn't even go inside," Linda Hendrixson said. "I knew it was on fire before I got to the door."

She smelled smoke and heard "popping noises" coming from their home at 14413 S. Whiteside Road, located south of Arlington Road in Reno County, Linda said.

Leon Hendrixson turned the gas off and the couple went to a neighbor's house to call authorities.

Then, surrounded by family and friends, they watched from afar as about a dozen firefighters from Pretty Prairie and Reno County fire departments worked to put out the blaze.

Fire officials told the Hendrixsons the kitchen and back portion of their home - where they have lived since 1962 - were a total loss.

Officials are still investigating the cause of the 9:30 a.m. fire but think it started on the back porch, said Pretty Prairie Fire Chief Rick Graber.

"There is a gas heater there they had run a little this morning," he speculated. Linda Hendrixson lamented the loss of her kitchen, which had been completely remodeled last summer, and wondered whether their new beds, antiques and her sewing machine could be salvaged.

The couple does have insurance, but it "will never be enough," she said as she watched firefighters spray down the scorched wood.

She'd been looking forward to a visit from her son, Alan, a teacher living in Lithuania who was set to return home in July with his wife and children.

For now, the couple will stay with family living near Yoder and wait to assess the damage.

Graber said there was no burn damage to the rest of the house, but there was heat and smoke damage.

He said officials have not yet calculated the total loss. "Everybody got out, and nobody was hurt," he said. "There was a lot of damage, but they might be able to save a lot, too."

Well, for any who don't know, the article is talking about my parents' house, the house where I grew up. The fire took place almost exactly two weeks before my father's 87th birthday, which was on May 25. The house was declared a total loss by the insurance company.

I can't imagine what my parents felt as they watched their house go up in flames. At least some family mambers were there to comfort them. And from what I've heard, the response of the community has been nothing less than amazing, which must also help keep their spirits up. Still, losing one's house, I can only imagine, must be terribly traumatic, especially for people who are 86 and 82. On a slightly brighter side, many antiques and family mementos were salvaged.

I knew that old house wouldn't always be around, but hearing that I wouldn't get to spend my summer there on the farm (my family will travel from Lithuania to Kansas to spend most of this summer with my parents) was painful. It seems that my parents will now move to the nearby town of Pretty Prairie. I hope they are able to make the adjustment of moving from a rural setting. I know my dad will miss being able to go out to his shop and putter around.

I had planned to publish this earlier, but I was hoping that I would receive some photos. None have arrived, but I can nevertheless add a couple of photos of how the place looked. These were taken during a visit about five years ago.

Morcheeba Break

2008-05-28T23:50:00.000-07:00

Another addition to the Lithuanian Drivers' Hall of Shame:

TVP 295 -- a blue VW Golf

Uh, if you can't find a parking space, buddy, no, it isn't OK to park in the middle of the driveway and block other drivers. File this under the common Lithuanian ailment of "I can do whatever the heck I want to do and if what I do affects you in an adverse way, that's your problem, not mine".

And something to lift the spirits: Morcheeba.

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day

Be Yourself

Up with People

2008-05-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite songs and videos of all time: Up with People by Lambchop.

We are doin',
And we are screwin',
Up our lives today,
Up our lives
today,
Up our lives today...

The Great Deportation

2008-05-22T01:59:00.000-07:00

This article comes from here: http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/article.php?id=17113068. I'm only going to translate the first half of the article.

Great Deportation of 1948 Marked in Lithuania

It has been 60 years since 22 May 1948, the day the Soviet Union began the operation called Vesna. It was the most massive deportation of Lithuanian people in the history of the country. Forty thousand people [11,000 of which were children] were deported from Lithuania. This deportation is remarkable not only for its size, but also because it took place only in Lithuania, Lithuanian Radio reports. Deportations on a massive scale did not affect the other two Baltic States that year. In the entire Soviet Union, about 80,000 people, half of them Lithuanians, were forced to move in 1948.

The largest portion of the deportees at that time were wealthy farmers, who had been called the enemies of collectivization. Historian Arvydas Anusauskas says that the goal of the mass deportation was to crush armed resistance and the boycott of social, economic and agricultural reforms. Other aims were to frighten the remaining population and to furnish laborers for the far eastern and northern parts of the Soviet Union.

The 60-year old plans and maps of the deportation are still stored in top secret archives in Moscow. The first mass deportation took place in Lithuania in 1941.

Events to mark the 60th anniversary of this event are being held in Vilnius and Kaunas.

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_transfer_in_the_Soviet_Union
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Involuntary_settlements_in_the_Soviet_Union
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Baltic_states

Lithuanian in UK

2008-05-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

Click here if you'd like to hear a little about the life of a Lithuanian student in the UK. He has some interesting things to say. Some of the things he talks about are stereotypes (and then he goes on to stereotype British students), Lithuanian education vs. British education, and immigrants in the UK. I found this at Lithuanian Jotter.

Nordic Music II

2008-05-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

Some more music from Scandinavia.

This first video is FC Kahuna (from the UK) but the vocalist is Hafdis Huld, who is from Iceland.

The other videos are of songs that come from Hafdis Huld's 2006 album, Dirty Paper Cup:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N_JCpentwc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUd1XqwyI5o
The dancer in this video, who is an Icelandic actor, looks exactly like one of my former co-workers. The resemblance is really uncanny.

Patriotism???

2008-05-15T01:52:00.000-07:00

Read this article about Obama and his flag pin and you'll see why the people in the U.S.A. elect "presidents" like Dubya. I saw the headline and was all like "whuuut?". Maybe I've been away from the States for too long, but I have a couple of questions:
Since when did such information become important, and since when does a flag pin and not a person's deeds tell us anything about his/her patriotism???

Reading stories like that, I no longer wonder why the good ol' U.S. of A. is going down the crapper...

More Fanaticism

2008-05-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

Since my last post was about fanaticism, I decided that this article would be a good follow-up. Actually that link is for another blog that talks about the article and provides a link to it.

The war on drugs? Ah, yes, the dangers of putting fanatics in charge of something that's doing absolutely no good in the first place. Education? Rehab programs? Providing people with other activities? Nah, too complicated. Much easier to simply throw people in prison.

One reason I wanted to provide the link to Boing Boing is that you can then also read the comments there. In particular, one person provides a link (see May 12 11:42 p.m. post) to Bill Hicks describing the war on drugs. Must be seen. You would do well to view the one about mushrooms as well (can be found in related videos). Explains exactly why the government doesn't want people to use shrooms. He hit the nail on the head. Fantastic.

Sad Story

2008-05-12T23:03:00.000-07:00

First of all, you need to read this article.

For Abdel-Qader Ali there is only one regret: that he did not kill his daughter at birth. 'If I had realised then what she would become, I would have killed her the instant her mother delivered her,' he said with no trace of remorse.
Two weeks after The Observer revealed the shocking story of Rand Abdel-Qader, 17, murdered because of her infatuation with a British soldier in Basra, southern Iraq, her father is defiant. Sitting in the front garden of his well-kept home in the city's Al-Fursi district, he remains a free man, despite having stamped on, suffocated and then stabbed his student daughter to death.

I'm tempted to leave it at that, let everyone come to his/her own conclusions. I personally thought about the dangers of fanaticism, whether Islam is a religion that somehow encourages fanaticism, whether the problem is all organized religion, that George W. Bush must shoulder some of the blame (I like to blame him for just about everything evil these days), from where such hate and intolerance arises, etc. Too many questions, few clear answers, and maybe no solutions.

Lithuania Flexes Its Muscles II

2008-05-11T22:52:00.000-07:00

Looks like a victory for Lithuanian foreign policy. Well deserved. I applaud the Lithuanian foreign minister.

Update

2008-05-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

Here's an update to my earlier post about the Lithuanian driver in the Shetland Islands. Justice is swift in the Shetlands. Thanks again, Phil.

And as a musical interlude...
Patience Dabany, one of my favorite artists from the world of soukous.
Ewawa
And Franco and Sam Mangwana
Cooperation, one of my favorite songs from the world of soukous.

Somebody's Dream Car

2008-05-07T06:39:00.000-07:00

I was wondering about what to write about. Maybe means I shouldn't bother writing, but darn it, I wouldn't want to let the two or three people who read my blog on a regular basis down.

Yesterday I found this article on Delfi.lt: http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/crime/article.php?id=16921302. I won't bother translating anything but the first paragraph, which contains the main idea, anyway.

Lithuania Number One in EU in Terms of Death of Children on Roads

Statistics show that it is not safe for children to go to school and back. Last year there were 1453 traffic accidents in which children were injured. Seventy of those children died. In the first three months of this year, there were 218 traffic accidents in which children were injured. Most of the people responible for these accidents were either driving carelessly or drunk.

Another number one for Lithuania--as if total number of deaths on the road and suicide weren't enough. Ah, what is it about this place? I drove up to the northeast of the country this past weekend; still surprised at the number of people speeding, expecially with the TV and radio flooded with ads about the dangers of speeding. I was driving the speed limit and was passed by dozens of cars on my way there and back.

But I think I've made my point about that already. Maybe the best thing I can do now is continue with my "Hall of Shame" for Lithuanian drivers. I heard or read a few days ago that the police were going to start printing lists of people who had been caught driving while intoxicated--and possibly those caught for other serious traffic offenses(?). But what about those who don't get caught? That can be my contribution.

While reading the article I mentioned above, I saw an ad for this car.

A beaut, eh? The ad can be found here. Not so sure about the 61,000 euro(!) price tag or the hot pink upholstery, though.

Cambodian Skies

2008-05-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

The past few days I've spent all my free time (and not-so-free time--annoyed wife, check; neglected children, check) reading Cambodian Skies Journal. The beginning of the story can be found here. I've found it really engrossing. It truly provides a lot of food for thought.

A description taken from the blog:

Cambodian Skies is a journal like no other that you will read. It shares the journeys, both physical and spiritual, of Pete Calanni, a self-proclaimed ex-hippie from western New York. Cambodian Skies details his travels, the people he meets, his goals, thoughts, fears, ups, and downs. Very real stuff, no glossy fiction here.

And to match the mood: Cambodian music performed by Dengue Fever, a US band with a Cambodian lead singer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipr7XYxjkjk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBC1rl5QTpc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loZZLWlYSkI
http://www.myspace.com/denguefevermusic

Christopher Walken

2008-05-05T02:21:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite performers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMZwZiU0kKs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6tJ_ayFZto

I'll always remember the first time I saw the The Deer Hunter.

Another Kent Video

2008-04-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

Here's another Kent video clip. (I mentioned this group in an earlier post.) This song, Kräm (Så Nära Får Ingen Gå), is off of their second album, Verkligen. I like the lyrics, which can be found in both Swedish and English.

Lägg dig ner precis
som du alltid gör när
Jag vill ha min tunga där
du är, så nära att du blir våt
men så nära får ingen gå...

Lithuanian Drivers II

2008-04-29T06:20:00.000-07:00

I see I'm not the only one blogging about this subject:
http://blog.inyourpocket.com/2008/03/lithuanian-road-rage.html
http://ltatoz.blogspot.com/2008/04/m-is-for-mainos-men-and-mortality.html.

My previous posts on this subject can be found here and here.

And with the massive emigration from Lithuania taking place, Lithuanian drivers can be found doing their thing in all parts of the European Union, even in such far-flung places as the Shetland Islands. Check this out. Thanks for that, Phil.

Lithuania Flexes Its Muscles

2008-04-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080425/wl_afp/eurussialithuania_080425174504

And why not?

Hardy Lithuanian Women

2008-04-24T05:52:00.000-07:00

File this one under news of the weird. I found the article here: http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/crime/article.php?id=16768134. The translation is mine.

Pregnant Woman Escapes from Police in Klaipeda

LNK [TV] News reported that a woman in her sixth month of pregnancy escaped from police in Klaipeda. The woman, who has been tried 12 times before, had been apprehended for petty theft. She was taken from jail to the hospital after complaining that she did not feel well. She then escaped from the hospital after jumping out of a second floor window. The officer in charge of her did not notice that she was missing until some time later, however. The fugitive was captured four hours later.

The police are investigating the circumstances and whether the officer was properly performing her duty.

New Gravel Album

2008-04-21T23:22:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting for the new Gravel album for some time now. (My previous posts about this group: 15 March and 31 March.) And then yesterday I saw an ad saying something about getting the album free from Delfi, a Lithuanian news website. I clicked on the ad and was taken to an article whose headline I had seen before but ignored. One reason I ignored it was that it appeared on April 1, and the news media here always feature some stories that shouldn't be taken seriously on that day. The other reason was that I didn't understand the Lithuanian word for download (atsisiųsti), which I don't remember having heard used before. I think most people just use a Lithuanianized version of download (daunlodinti--my spelling). For example, I quizzed my wife and she didn't know the word. But anyway, in my effort not to be fooled, I passed over this story. Regardless of whether the head of the band was serious or not, it is possible to download their new album free. Here's the link: http://whatson.delfi.lt/archive/article.php?id=16525959.

My recommendation: definitely download the album. It's worth it. If you're skeptical, first download Foreign Policy and Little Things (tracks 2 and 4)--in fact download tracks 2-4--and listen to those songs first. I think you'll end up downloading the entire album.

And here's my translation of the main part of that article:

Gravel Decides to Stop Performing and Give New Album to DELFI Readers (Download!)

Gravel is giving away its new album, Dirty Beauty, to internet users. That's not an April Fool's trick. According to Tomas Sinickis [also spelled Tomasz Sinicki since he's an ethnic Pole], the leader of the group, the decision to do this was made for the good of Lithuania. "If you try to spread certain ideas and you want to say that you're doing something for the good of Lithuania, then you shouldn't ask 30 litas [the cost of a CD] for those ideas", Sinickis, who is giving away his album on DELFI, said. The leader of Gravel said that the group's second album, Dirty Beauty, will be the group's last album. (The first--Pockets Full of Fun--was released in 2006.)

"When losers like us leave the stage, that can only be for the good of Lithuania. I don't think it's bad. We can see that it would be better for us to stop polluting the airwaves", Sinickis said.

When asked about his future plans, Sinickis said that he intends to become a politician and serve the people of Lithuania.

Names of songs in Lithuanian:
1. Where Mothers Are Looking, Where Fathers Are Looking [Sorry, maybe I'm missing something here. I can't really understand the lyrics of the song either.]
10. Oh, My Love

Nothing Can Be Done

2008-04-19T00:33:00.000-07:00

My wife just told me a story that happened yesterday when she was picking up our daughter from pre-school. I think it's a very good example of the way things work here in Lithuania.

While picking up our daughter, she saw an extremely drunk young man enter the grounds of the pre-school (right after throwing up on a car parked on the street right outside). The drunk was heading directly towards a group of children outside. Vaiva knows the teacher, who was earlier our daughter's teacher, and asked her whether she didn't think calling the police would be a good idea. The teacher replied that it wouldn't do any good. She said that teachers and adminstrators had called the police many times in the past because drunks like to hang out in the area where the kids play--there are benches and covered areas--but the police always told them that they had more important things to do. My wife decided to call the police herself, but she understood from the conversation that they wouldn't be sending anyone over to take care of the problem. (Mind you, precinct headquarters [or perhaps even the main headquarters for the city of Vilnius?] is only a couple of blocks away.) Apparently the head of the school has tried to tell them to leave, but they have told her to leave them alone or they'd start breaking the windows of the pre-school! So, nothing can be done.

What's wrong with this scenario? Uh, maybe I'm wrong but just about anywhere else in the 'civilized' world, the head of the pre-school would contact the chief of police and if that didn't get any response, go to the next higher step, in Lithuania the Ministry of the Interior. But no, she's called the police, there was no response, and 'that's the way things are in Lithuania'. 'Nothing can be done.' Excuse me, but that sounds like pure laziness and apathy on the part of the head of the school. She doesn't want to deal with the problem. So, the problem either remains or has to be taken care of by someone else. Well, I think it might be a good thing for me to look into. One battle at a time, and the war can be won. But the problem here is really threefold, isn't it? The drunks, the police, and the administration of the pre-school, the latter two acting as enablers for some odiously anti-social behavior. A society that allows such a thing to occur is really a sick society.

OK, that's my rant for today.

Return of a Lost Boy

2008-04-18T04:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice, uplifting article that I read a few days ago: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080413/ap_on_re_af/lost_boy_s_return_2. Looks like a worthy cause.

Religion vs. Science

2008-04-16T06:43:00.000-07:00

Who says that religion and science are (or have to be) at odds? For those who are interested in this topic, I found this article written by The Reverend David A. Richardson. I just stumbled upon it while looking for something else. I like the way he point-blank labels 'intelligent design' as "neither" and calls it "fraud".

Here's an excerpt from his article:

"The God that cannot stand up to rigorous examination is no God. The God that needs to be taught in schools, emblazoned in stone in a courthouse like some idol, through legislation, is no God at all. That which is Holy and Sacred does not legislate, or bomb, or terrorize, or threaten."

He makes very good arguments and provides some serious food for thought, but the chasm is wide--to the disadvantage of both sides.

For Language Lovers

2008-04-15T00:52:00.000-07:00

I have always been interested in languages, which is one reason I majored in linguistics at university. For those of you who also share this fascination, here is a website that my friend Philip turned me on to (http://www.lowlands-l.net/anniversary/contents.php).

The idea started with a folktale in a Low Saxon (Low German) dialect and the desire to translate it into various other Low Saxon dialects as a way to showcase those dialects and their orthographies. It's now expanded to include languages from all over the world. Some translations even include sound recordings so that you can here the story being told in that language.

Since Philip is from the Shetland Islands and is interested in the preservation of the dialect he speaks, he included a link to a couple of Shetlandic translations of the story.

I notice that, among other languages, there aren't any translations of the story into Lithuanian or Tamil. And there's no sound recording for Cebuano. Maybe there are people out there that could help with that? And Mike, I know this isn't exactly your neck of the woods, but what about a sound recording for this translation? I bet I could pull it off.

Suicide in Lithuania

2008-04-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

Did you know that Lithuania has the highest suicide rate in Europe? Here's a recent article about that topic: Suicides in Lithuania Show Social Pains Persist.

Stricter Traffic Laws Yielding Results?

2008-04-08T06:08:00.000-07:00

Over the past several days, I've found a couple of articles with statistics that allow me to be hopeful that the "war on the roads" [see my 3 March post] here in Lithuania is actually being won by the good guys. So here are my translations of the articles.

http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/crime/article.php?id=16565015

Almost 400 Offending Drivers Arrested in January–March

The stricter traffic laws [see comments from my 28 March post] that came into force in January have been personally experienced by 375 drivers who spent time in jail for especially serious offences. A new part of the traffic laws--automobile confiscation--was invoked for the owners of 45 automobiles in the first three months of this year.

The police are pleased since they feel that the stricter penalties for drinking and driving and for speeding are discouraging others from breaking the law. In the opinion of Stanislovas Liutkevicius, secretary at the Ministry of the Interior, this improvement in the situation on the roads of Lithuania may allow the country to halve the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents by 2010, something the European Commission has obligated Lithuania to do.

In the first quarter of this year, 1157 traffic accidents in which people were injured took place, 13.1 percent fewer accidents than took place in this period of the preceding year. In those accidents, 1400 were injured.

Compared to the first three months of 2007, the number of accidents caused by drunken drivers dropped 35.6 percent and the number caused by people who were driving without a licence went down 40 percent.

This year the police have apprehended an average of 600 drunken drivers every month. This figure stood at 2500 per month in the past year.

According the the number of people killed in traffic accidents, Lithuania continues to be the most dangerous place in the European Union, however.

http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/crime/article.php?id=16588296

Promising Statistics for Safe Traffic Day

As Safe Traffic Day [April 6] is being celebrated in Lithuania, officials have expressed pleasure with the improving situation on the country's roads. In the first three months of the year, the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents has dropped by a fourth. Antantas Cereska, deputy director of the safe traffic department of the Lithuanian Road Administration, told Lithuanian Radio that this improvement has been caused by the higher fines for traffic offences and the attention that this problem has received from politicians and the media.

"The statistics from the first months of this year show that the situation on the roads is improving. The law, the police, teaching, and the press are all working together to make things better. Beginning in October, we plan to bring back the highway patrol [which earlier existed but for some reason was done away with some time ago]", Cereska said.

Despite the improvement in the statistics, the situation on the roads remains the worst in the European Union. According to data supplied by the police, the most common cause of accidents is speeding.

Every year it is the cause of about 1200 traffic accidents, in which about 200 people are killed and about 1500 are injured.

And as an alumnus of Kansas University, I cannot let this pass.
Way to go Hawks!
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/recap?gid=200804070349
http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1146&CID=795035

Lithuania's Demographic Problem

2008-04-06T23:39:00.000-07:00

Here's an article I found on Delfi: http://www.delfi.lt/news/ringas/lit/article.php?id=16521136. It appeared on 1 April, hence the mention of an April Fool's Day joke. The translation is mine.

According to Fertility Level, Lithuania is Fifth in World. From the End.

This is not an April Fool's Day joke; according to its fertility level [or birth rate], Lithuania really stands at 218 out of 222 countries... The demographic situation in Lithuania is truly not enviable. Lithuania's demographic problem--the decrease and aging of its population--can be called the country's number one long-term problem and strategic challenge.

The survival of the Lithuanian ethnic group, including its culture and language, as well as Lithuania's economic potential and well-being, are especially dependant on demography.

The demographic problem is also quite dangerous because it is somewhat unnoticed, since in the middle term everything looks fine: the ecomony is growing, the number of workers is increasing, and real estate prices are rising. In fact, the Lithuanian economy is experiencing a demographic golden age. The largest new generation of Lithuanians, those born in 1985–90 (only the generation born in 1955–65 was larger), is now entering the labor market, and even though the population is rapidly decreasing, the number of workers is increasing.

Problems understanding the demographic situation also arise due to the difficulty separating two completely different processes: low fertility and emigration. Many think that if massive emigration were halted, the Lithuanian demographic problem would be solved. That opinion is incorrect since the country's biggest demographic problem is not the large rate of emigration but rather the low rate of fertility.

It is true that if fewer Lithuanians emigrated, the demographic situation in the country would be better, but the fertility rate--1.3 children per woman (according to which Lithuania is third from last in Europe and in the last ten in the world)--actually only considers women living in Lithuania (those that have not emigrated). In other words, even if there was no emigration, with such a rate of fertility the number of inhabitants would quite likely be three times as low by the end of this century. This can be illustrated by a simple example: given such a birth rate, 100 people (50 women) will have an average of 65 children, 42 grandchildren, 27 great grandchildren, and so on. (To keep the population from dropping, 100 people need to have 100 grandchildren and 100 great grandchildren.)

According to a forecast prepared by the United Nations, about 2.65 million people will live in Lithuania in 2050, more or less the same number as in 1950 (http://esa.un.org/unpp/). [I think the current population is around 3.4 million.] This forecast is optimistic, however, in that it assumes that fertility will constantly increase from the current rate of 1.3 to 1.7 children per woman. It is also important to realize that in 2050 the average Lithuanian will be 50 years old (the average Lithuanian is now 39). For that reason, the biggest drop in the population will actually begin in 2050. Even though the number of children and young people is dropping, until that time the number of people reaching retirement age will grow, making it at least appear someone is "still living" in Lithuania.

To point out the fertility problem, it is important to look at Lithuania's demographic situation, temporarily forgetting emigration. For such a comparison, it is suitable to look at Russia since the birth rate there is quite similar to Lithuania's, but that country does not have a problem with emigration [which was news to me]. Russia can be looked at as an example of what is waiting for Lithuania, even if the emigration problem here fades away.

Those who follow the official Russian press [I assume the author means the state-controlled press] know that the demographic problem there is discussed quite frequently and seriously. They truly understand the seriousness of the problem, and it seems to truly be the number one problem for them. Russian security agencies know quite well what is being counted (and the CIA also understands very well)--that Russia is little by little beginning to be taken off the list of possible competitors in the distant future.

Russia does not have an emigration problem. Even now there is more immigration than emigration. Since 1990, 5 million more people have immigrated than emigrated; many people have returned from Latvia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, etc. The population of Russia, however, instead of going up 5 million, has gone down 8 million. What happened to those 13 million people? The mathematical answer is quite simple. That is how much a population will drop over 18 years when each year 1.4 million are born and 2.3 million people die.

Here is the UN forecast for the population of Russia until 2050:

According to the UN, by 2050 the population of Belarus (which is not having any emigration problems) will drop from 10 to 7 million, the population of Ukraine will drop from 50 to 30 million, and that of Poland will drop from 38 to 30 million. The population of Europe will drop almost only because of the decreases in Eastern Europe.

It is especially interesting to compare Lithuania with Ireland. In 1995 both countries had roughly the same number of inhabitants--around 3.6 million. But by 2050, Ireland will have a population of 6.2 million, while the population of Lithuania will drop to 2.6 million. The main reason for this is although not long ago 50,000 children were born in each country every year this figure in Lithuania will drop from its current 30,000 to about 25,000, and in Ireland this figure is expected to stay at its current level of 60,000. While the average Lithuanian woman will have 1.4 children, the average Irish woman will have 1.9. At least according to the UN forecast, the positive rate of migration that Ireland is now experiencing will only have a minimal influence on the population there, and the main factor will be the rise in the rate of birth.

Therefore, what are Lithuanians to do if they have some sort of ambition about being a majority at least in their own country? Without a doubt, it is first of all necessary to strengthen the belief that having three or four children is normal and that one or two children is a small family. Because with the spread of the German phenomenon, in which every third woman does not have any children, the average stays at 1.3 (even if the remaining women have two children each; if they have three, the average would stand at two).

In the second position, it is necessary to create a convenient and modern free pre-school system, one which would if required care for children from very early in the morning to late in the evening, on weekends, and so on. Without a doubt, it is also necessary to transform the secondary school system to allow it to provide children the possibility to take part in after school and leisure time functions [almost none of which are available to students now--after school sports programs: ha, none exist]. It is also important that a positive view of families with children be created in society and among employers.

The most important thing, however, is to change the psychological climate in Lithuania. It is not surprising that Lithuania has the highest rate of suicide in the world, the highest rates of death in the "war on the roads" [see my 3 March post], and until 2006 (when Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union), the highest rate of emigration [I assume in the EU]. Lithuania, according to the CIA, is 218 [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_territories_by_fertility_rate]
out of 222 countries by rate of fertility. (Again, this is according to woman who reside [are expected to reside] in Lithuania and is not influenced by emigration.)

Perhaps it is only possible to be "proud" that four years ago Lithuania was in a lower position--222nd place (as if the two...two...two was noted)--but at that time there were more countries on the CIA list... This is not an April Fool's joke.

Nordic Music

2008-04-03T03:01:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, before the advent of MTV Baltic, Nordic MTV was broadcast in Lithuania. Now, those who wish may debate which is more entertaining or which plays the best music. I wish I could watch both (in measured quantities obviously). Sure, when programs in the Swedish language came on (those not showing videos), it was time to switch channels, but I did enjoy the educational part of watching Nordic MTV--learning about music from up in that neck of the woods. As an American, my knowledge about the Scandinavian music scene was pretty much limited to Björk, A-ha, and Abba.

My main discovery from Nordic MTV was Kent. They're good. No, they're great. Listen.
The song that first got me hooked:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45JojenhNao
Here are the lyrics: http://kent.awardspace.com/musik_non_stop_text.php. There's a link to the English translation as well.
Here's another song that I liked/like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uYa8gWs2rE
Lyrics: http://kent.awardspace.com/vinternoll2_text.php.
The lyrics are great.
Du är min hjälte för du vågar vara rak
Du är min hjälte för du är precis så svag som jag
Indeed.
It's a great way to learn some Swedish.
Here's another song that I like, Pärlor, though there doesn't seem to be a proper video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtbkz8jKKew
The lyrics are here: http://kent.awardspace.com/parlor_text.php
Their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/kentsweden.

Cats on Fire: a Finnish band. I don't really know much about them, but many moons ago I found their Higher Grounds mp3 on the web and downloaded it on the recommendation of some woman that has a site on which she reviews Nordic music. I'm sad to say that I lost the link to that site last fall when my computer shot craps (or crapped out?). Anyway, as I was saying, I downloaded the song and listened to it over and over. The song can be downloaded from this site: http://www.netikka.net/catsonfire/. It's also possible to listen to the song and watch a video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvuiCCuYRNI. Their MySpace page is here: http://www.myspace.com/catsonfiremusic.

And a final video. I'm not really a fan of Röyksopp, a Norwegian band, but I like this video and this version of this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBvaHZIrt0o

Anyone have any links to other good Scandinavian music?

Vilnius -- European Capital of Culture (?)

2008-04-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, was proclaimed a 2009 European capital of culture, an honor it will share with the city of Linz in Austria. At that time, I wondered how things would be organized here. Well, the problem is that Lithuanians as a whole (I know... It's not good to make generalizations) just can't seem to finish things on time or they finish them at the last second. And in this case, being a capital of culture requires an immense amount of work organizing various events to highlight the city and entertain the flood of tourists that are expected. That means that many people will have to be organized and work together to complete the necessary preparations. Another problem, however. Lithuanians can't seem to work together. Some time ago I heard the politicians in the parliament being compared to a group of quarreling children in a sandbox. I think that characterization could be expanded... And what is it about people with their hands on the dough here??? Can't anybody work honestly? Anyway, here's the article. I found it here: http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/article.php?id=16515268. The translation is mine.

"Vilnius - European Capital of Culture" Project Collapsing

The ambitious project "Vilnius - European Capital of Culture 2009" is in danger of collapsing because of the conflict between the institution set up to prepare for the event [the acronym in Lithuanian (VEKS) is strangely appropriate--I'll use it for that reason] and one of its founders, the Ministry of Culture. On 31 March, the two sides invited journalists to a press conference at which they openly argued their positions. It became clear that the ministry does not trust the employees of VEKS and that VEKS, which has not received any funding for the past three months, is not doing any work.

It was earlier reported that the Ministry of Culture stopped financing the project until an internal audit is completed. The ministry had the suspicion that the money received by VEKS was not being used responsibly and that the accounts were not being kept properly.

Events might not take place

"The work of VEKS is paralysed. We haven't been able to plan further work, make any contracts, or take care of our financial responsibilities for the past three months. We've received support from the ministry for only one project, even though we're cooperating with 125 partners, none of which we can pay", VEKS Director Elona Bajoriniene said in reaction to the criticism of the ministry.

According to Bajoriniene the debts of VEKS at the present time add up to LTL 780,000 (almost EUR 226,000).

Because of this, some projects scheduled for 2008--"Lithuanian Capital of Culture 2008", the "Childrens' Creativity Festival", "Let It Be Night", and other events--might not take place.

"We're ready to complete the preparations for these national programs, but our motivation is at an end because there's a lack of constructive work", Bajoriniene said.

List of sins will grow longer

Vice Minister of Culture Gintaras Sodeika repeated that the ministry has complaints about about the transparency of the work of VEKS.

"We aren't taking back anything we said earlier. The audit still isn't finished and the list of sins isn't complete. There will be more. We can't blindly transfer the money, even though it's getting moldy sitting here waiting for you", Sodeika said.

After being pressed by journalists to reveal exactly what problems the ministry had with the work of VEKS, the vice minister said, "Activities that couldn't be called financial crimes, but activities that are not proper for an organization that receives money from the government".

The conclusion of the ministry's audit should become clear by the middle of April.

Members of VEKS board of directors leaving

"I'm ashamed to be here. In general I regret that I brought the city of culture idea here from Stockholm. We don't know how to work together. We don't trust each other. If things continue this way, I plan to give up my position on the board of directors because I'm ashamed. It seems as if we're surrounded by fools, but this is serious work", the artist Arvydas Saltenis said after listening to the argument between representatives of VEKS and the Ministry of Culture.

"It appears that there is some kind of campaign against VEKS. Somebody is always looking over their shoulder to see whether they've stolen something", Professor Irena Veisaite, a member of the VEKS board of directors, said. She encouraged the parties to stop arguing and continue the work that has been started.

"The situation seems strange; an organization is quarreling with its founder. I suspect that the situation is actually worse than it seems now", Arturas Zuokas, chairman of the board of VEKS, said.

Zuokas, a former mayor of Vilnius and leader of the Liberal and Center Union [a political party in Lithuania], must leave his seat on the city council after being found guilty. [This article doesn't explain what he was found guilty of. I'm not entirely sure, but I think it was either pressuring or trying to bribe another member of the city council--very long story.] He said that he will likely resign from his position as chairman of the board of VEKS: "I don't think I would like to be here any longer".

Yet another audit

The city of Vilnius, which is another founder of VEKS, on 31 March announced that they planned to initiate an independent audit of that organization.

"It's to be congratulated that the Ministry of Culture is actively participating in overseeing VEKS, but we don't think that an internal audit will be enough. That's why were initiating an independent audit, which will have an unbiased conclusion", Vilnius Vice Mayor Evaldas Lementauskas said.

On March 31, the city council announced that they would be accepting bids from auditing firms interested in performing such an audit. The competition is open to all domestic and foreign firms providing such services.

The government has earmarked over LTL 100 million (29 million euros) to finance the "Vilnius - European City of Culture 2009" program.