I was asked to run a marathon. I said, "Piss off".They said "come on, it's for spastics and blind kids."Then I thought........f*ck, I could win this..........

Ya I know not so funny, but made me chuckle leeeetle leeeetle bit.
Top of the morning to ya! Remember those interesting times I spoke of in last weeks email, those interesting times ‘metamorphosised’ at a rate of knots into extremely bleak times indeed, I would have taken disappointed over this feeling anytime, but this was way beyond disappointment! iYo! iYo! iYo! If I had to tell u my bonus etc. after 16 months of service, you would all roll over and die of laughter, and u guys are my mates and I don’t wanna kill u ;-). Lets not talk about the salary increase (once again after 16 months) shall we…inflation related, now lets see, price of petrol shot up at ridiculous levels and more to come, medical aid went up more than 10%, property prices 20 odd % year on year, even went to the shop to buy my el-cheapo Pure Joy fruit juice, used to cost R5.99 this time it was R6.49 that’s up about 8 odd %, common now…but hey I can still have a chuckle at myself… we take it in our stride boys and girls, university of life, it’s a beautiful thing…moving swiftly along…

This story may be a tad disjointed, but please bear with me, its taken a good 2 weeks or so to get it together…

News making headlines 2 weeks ago that caught my eye was the passing of Slobodan Milosevic. Born in Pozarevac, Yugoslavia on the 20th August 1941 to a Deacon in the Serbian Orthodox church and a mother who was a teacher. Soon after his birth, his parents separated. In 1962 his father committed suicide and in 1974 his mother hanged (I think that’s how u say it) herself. May explain the man.

He apparently studied to be an orthodox priest but was never ordained. He attended the University of Belgrade where he studied law. He went on to become the head of the ideology committee of the Communist Party’s student branch. Whilst at university, he made friends with a gentleman called Ivan Stambolic. This relationship would prove very key in Milosevic’s rise to power. You see Ivan Stambolic’s uncle was prime minister of Serbia. His uncle took a liking to Milosevic and sponsored and guided his progress through the communist party. He left university in 1960 and he became the economic advisor to the mayor of Belgrade, post that he worked in Tehnogas, following in the footsteps of Stambolic, once again thanks to Stambolic, in 1978 Milosevic became the head of Beobanka, one of the largest banks in Yugoslavia. In 1984,once again following in the footsteps of Stambolic, he became elected as the president of the Belgrade City Committee of the League of Communisits.

The defining moment in Milosevic’s political career was in 1987 when he stood in front of an angry crowd of Serbians protesting against alleged police brutality (most of the police were Albanians) and vowed to them that no one had the right to beat them and this action would never be repeated. From this speech, his support base developed and expanded. His campaign had taken a twist he was now seen as a Serbian Nationalist, instead of a proponent of communism. From all parts of Yugoslavia, he gained Serbain support. The Serbs now felt they had a voice. In 1989, he did a Judas, and deposed Stambolic as President. Nationalism in Yugoslavia grew and the communist party collapsed. The result of this was in 1990 the Serbian Communist party changed its name to the Serbian Socialist party. What this meant was a call for new elections for a president with more powers. This election took place and Milosevic’s party won 80% of the votes. The Albanians in Kosovo boycotted these elections that meant that the opposition was not an issue in the elections. In the early 90’s communism was becoming a thing of the past in the whole of eastern Europe and nationalism in all the former Yugoslavian republics was becoming more prevalent. Slovenians elected Milan Kucan as their leader and the Croatians did the same with Franjo Tudman. 3 ethnically based parties took over the rule of Bosnia and Hertzegovina.

It was only a matter of time before the collapse of Yugoslavia. In 1991 the inevitable became a reality. Pro and anti-Milosevic camps couldn’t agree and on the 16 March 1991, Milosevic’s patience was worn. He stood up in a televised address and stated that Yugoslavia was done and that Serbia would no longer abide by any rules/decisions set by the Federal presidency. The dissolution of Yugoslavia had begun. In June 1991 Slovenia (the result of the 10 day Slovenian war) and Croatia were the first to fall, followed by Macedonia in September, then Bosnia and Herzegovina in March ’92.

Milosevic’s mind was completely set on a Serbian state, but this was sure to bring nothing but violent conflict, because the Serbs were by far the minority and they have for time in memorial lived in ethnically mixed communities. War one Croatian war, where the Serbs together with the Yugoslav Peoples Army waged war on the Croatian government. War two, 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina, their war even started before they were officially granted independence. In no time, as much as 70% of Bosnia was captured by the Bosnian Serbsm, driving out and or killing the non-Serbs.

In 1995 the Croatian war was brought to an end thanks to operation Storm. Almost all of the Serb population was driven out of Croatia, and where did they go to? Serbia and Bosnia. A mere month later Nato strikes along with a joint Croatian and Bosnian ground offensive saw the end of the Bosnian war (why it took so long for Nato to act, who knows? This led to Milosevic concluding the Dayton agreement which finally ended the Bosnian war, but this agreement gave no pardons for war crimes, hence why Milosevic had to stand trial.

Milosevic stood for 2 terms as president of Serbia, then he became president of Yugoslavia (which was now only Serbia and Montenegro) in July 1997. In 1997 a war against Serbian rule broke out in Kosovo. Hundreds died, many more were left homeless. NATO embarked on a 7-week strike which eventually led to Milosevic standing down and handing over Kosovo to the UN, through the Kumanova agreement. This was it for Milosevic. In May 1999, he was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Other than those charges laid against him in Kosovo, his charges included Genocide in Bosnia and war crimes in Croatia. His trial began in Feb 2002 and continued till his death in March 2006. His trial was prolonged due to his increasing ill health – high blood pressure and flu. This resulted in several adjournments etc.

“If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.” - Henry David Thoreau

“If you use disappointments as sort of mid-semester exams, for learning, you will learn that every disappointment you overcome makes you stronger-and wiser. The greatest success stories have been lived by those who had to grow strong and wise in that very way.” - Loretta Young

Ah well so endeth another week I guess. Hope all is well with you lent ‘sacrifices’ roughly 17 more days to go. 17 more meals to give. I cant lie to anyone, I am getting immense pleasure from getting food and giving it to another. Anyway boots and all calls. Maximum respect as always!!

Y