my vlog on Zagreb Gay Pride 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrstkBi9BYY

It was an interesting at the Astro Vlog this week. I had no idea that my video in support for the Zagreb Gay Pride Parade would be picked up by a Croatian newspaper, and blow up the way it did.

To all my friends gay and straight, from Croatia, the former YU and from the United States, I want to say THANK YOU! Thank you for your support, and watching my videos, and allowing me to support you in your fight for human and civil rights and equality. I have come to realize this is just not a local effort here in the States, but a global effort. I never imagined myself to be an activist of any kind, but here I am doing a miniscule part on YouTube, trying to talk about the subjects we are often afraid to talk about in public..sexism, racism, gender, class, and homophobia.

While I did get many supportive comments, I also got some very very ugly, homophobic, and racist comments, that I feel I need to address.

When you live in a bubble, surrounded by people who think similarly to you, you get lulled into a false sense of security. As disturbing as some of these comments were, it has jolted me into action. So I actually appreciate them. Its made me aware that there are STILL a lot of hate in the world, and still a lot of fighting that needs to be done for civil and human rights.

There was a very small, but vocal group of three youtube users spewing their hate and fear on my support video for Zagreb Pride.

http://www.youtube.com/user/deathpharaon
http://www.youtube.com/user/1991Hrvat
http://www.youtube.com/user/lchelsoi

after some google and YouTube searches, I see lchelsoi is quite active on youtube championing his anti gay views. He is obviously an internet troll, not interested in debate, yet simply starting arguments and flame wars with the most extreme points of view.

If I was a more clever man I would simply drop it, and not give into such flame bait, but I will, because I believe it’s important.
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http://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/clanak/art-2009,6,13,,166556.jl

Croatian Newspaper Jutarnji List picked up on my vlog post yesterday

The comments are mixed, some nice, some not so nice, but thats the risk of putting yourself up for the world to display!

http://dragandabic.com/

cant believe he was hiding in plain site!

wow.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7518543.stm
Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic, one of the world's most wanted men, has been arrested in Serbia after more than a decade on the run.

He has been brought before Belgrade's war crimes court, in accordance with a law on cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, the Serbian presidency said.

The Bosnian Serb wartime political leader disappeared in 1996.

He had been indicted by the UN tribunal for war crimes and genocide over the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica.

His wartime military leader, Ratko Mladic, remains at large.

Mr Karadzic's arrest was welcomed by war crimes prosecutors in The Hague as a "milestone".

"Radovan Karadzic was located and arrested tonight" by Serbian security officers, a statement by the office of President Boris Tadic said, without giving details.

"Karadzic was brought to the investigative judge of the War Crimes Court in Belgrade, in accordance with the law on cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [ICTY]."

Serbian government sources told Reuters news agency he had been under surveillance for several weeks, following a tip-off from a foreign intelligence service.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7225455.stm
"Serbia's pro-Western president, Boris Tadic, has won a second round election run-off against nationalist challenger Tomislav Nikolic, who conceded defeat."
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in lighter news
French President Sarkozy weds former Super Model!
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/02/02/france.sarkozy.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7224457.stm
Serbia votes today in their presidential election, with Kosovar Independence weighing heavily on peoples minds.

Also it appears to be a mini Cold War is brewing with another possible regional destablization (though Belgrade promises no violence)

The US and some EU states back Independence for Kosovo, while Russia, Serbia's ally is against it, as is Cyprus, Greece and Spain being highly reluctant of the situation do to their own ethnic enclaves and afraid of the precedent it might take.

Im no right wing hawk, but Russia really scares me. Putin seems to be doing everything possible to prove what a big dick he has on the world stage. And Russians seem to love him. I guess he's brought them stability, but at what price.

I guess being an American, "independence" is in the blood, so i feel pro Kosovo independence.

and for better or for worse i know ive picked up anti Serb government bias from western media and my short time living in Croatia.

Ive also been asked "What if California, or Texas or Florida wanted to break away from the USA. How would you feel"

Good riddance! Ill sign a petition for the Lone Star Republic!
Ha just kidding. Im not sure how I would feel. Im sure there would be plenty of people who would be upset(especially red state folk), just as they were during the civil war when the Union falling apart.

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Bjork Declare Independence Video...back with Michel Gondry.

Serbia to sell national auto-maker

http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=eco&article=461771&lng=1

Autoblog isnt as kind
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/12/27/wanna-buy-a-yugo-serbian-carmaker-up-for-sale/

and
The Serbian parliament has voted overwhelmingly to condemn any attempt by Kosovo to become independent.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7160945.stm

http://www.euronews.net/index.php?page=info&article=458615&lng=1

"The Kosovan government has warned it will declare independence from Serbia "much earlier" than next May. The statement came as a UN deadline for agreement on the province's future status passed with no compromise. In New York, Kosovan supporters gathered outside the UN to demand an immediate break with Serbia.

"They keep saying, oh, lets wait, lets wait another six months, lets wait another three months, and its about time for them. We hope they hear us and they are going to make independence as soon as possible," said one man wielding a banner.

The US State Department reiterated its support for supervised independence with protection for the Serb minority.

Kosovo is a Serbian province where more than 90 percent of the population is ethnic Albanian. It says it will not declare independence without US or EU approval.

But Serbian President Boris Tadic insisted only the UN has the authority to determine Kosovo's future. Experts quote Belgrade as saying it will use all peaceful means possible to prevent a break away - and believe this could be the first step of a legal campaign involving the International Court of Justice.

The UN Security Council is due to debate the issue of Kosovo next week, but Russia, Serbia's main ally on the issue, has already warned it will call for further talks."

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070803/NEWS07/708030419/1009
(he graduated from Oak Park-River Forest High School)

WASHINGTON -- Charles Simic, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Serbian-American writer, was named the 15th poet laureate of the United States by the Librarian of Congress, succeeding Donald Hall.

The laureate appointment, which can be one year or two, comes with a $35,000 annual stipend. The poet laureate program promotes poetry across the nation.

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Simic, 69, received a MacArthur Foundation genius grant of $500,000 for 1984-89. He won the 1990 Pulitzer for poetry for his collection "The World Doesn't End: Prose Poems."

Born in Belgrade, Simic came to the United States with his family in 1954, was drafted into the Army in 1961 and received a bachelor's degree from New York University in 1966. The following year he published his first full-length collection, "What the Grass Says." He has been a U.S. citizen for 36 years.

He has published more than 60 books in the United States and abroad, including 18 books of poetry. In 1973, he began teaching at the University of New Hampshire, where he is professor emeritus of creative writing and literature.

"I am especially touched and honored to be selected because I am an immigrant boy who didn't speak English until I was 15," he said.

Simic is known for short, clear poems. His poem "Stone" often appears in anthologies. It begins:

"Go inside a stone

That would be my way.

Let somebody else become a dove

Or gnash with a tiger's tooth.

I am happy to be a stone ..."

"He handles language with the skill of a master craftsman, yet his poems are easily accessible, often meditative and surprising," Librarian of Congress James Billington said.