04-19-99 pt.2

Best viewed with Courier size 10 maximized screen *********************************************************************** ALL CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THIS LETTER SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO AMUSIC *********************************************************************** In Today's Issue: eh? "Fans" and Kosovo News From Yugoslavia ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ eh? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The web page mentions new femmes "albums" due out this fall. Should I start getting my hopes up yet? joshua heyzeus -Pat. Says: Someone from the list mentioned a few months ago that there may be a live album. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Fans" and Kosovo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ << so I can be justified in making fun of the people there who only know Blister and the chorus to Add it Up >> I don't know why, but people like this really bug me. I'm not really sure why. We have to admit femmes fans are few in number, and i know if some of these BITS fans would give the band's other songs and albums a listen, they wouldn't really like them. So ....... I don't really know what I'm getting at here but..... I talked to my brother about this and he said that i should be happy that people like the one or two songs What do you guys think..am I just a freak or something (my brother is one of these "fans" he gives them BITS, Machine, and "held her in my arms" though but he doesn't like any other songs at least thats what he says i catch him singing their songs sometimes and now on to Kosovo will somebody clue me in on whats actually going on here? i know basiclly but not the details thanks Joel TeamEnos -Pat. Says: Read on to hear from Viktor. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ News From Yugoslavia ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks for thinking about us. It really means a lot! Belgrade still has electricity and water. But I'm not turning on my computer during air raids because I fear a possible black-out or electrical shock could damage it. Now, I don't know how you feel about this, but I wrote a more extensive message about the crisis in my country. If you think that it's not for the list, or that it's too long, that's O.K. I just thought everybody should be informed about the other side's view. --------------------------- > Hello all I understand the desire to keep this message board free of > politics but this horrible war must be discussed and thought about. > You know, I think you're right. The western media has been manipulating public opinion for far too long, turning Serbs into brutal killers and Albanians into innocent victims. There are things everybody in the world should know... NATO was founded after WWII to defend its member countries from the Russian (Warshaw Pact) threat. After the Warshaw Pact broke up and the 'cold war' was over, the need for NATO disappeared. We still have the United Nations which can (and do) handle world's problems. But NATO didn't want that to happen. The alliance realized that the only way to maintain its role as a 'needed' force is to create conflicts around the world and then to show up as the 'judge and jury'! This is how it came to this: today NATO is attacking Yugoslavia WITHOUT any legal background! Not only they have no permission from the UN, they are acting against its own laws, which say that force can only be applied when defending a member country from invasion. Yugolsavia didn't invade anybody (notice the difference between this and the Gulf war, where Iraq invaded Kuwait). To continue the air strikes against my country NATO needed some cause which would justify the whole action in the eyes of the public. This cause has been found in the 'humanitarian catastrophy'. I don't have to tell you what CNN and other TV stations are showing on their program. But, what the average watcher of this program probably isn't aware of is that there are (or have been) many similar 'humanitarian catastrophies' around the world which haven't been shown on TV. For instance, from 1990 to 1994 about 1.000.000 Turkish Kurds have been killed or driven out of their homeland by the Turkish army!! Nobody bothered about that, maybe because Turkey is a member of NATO. There is even a better example you can check upon in the Washington Post: [QUOTE] Serbs as Victims by Walter R. Roberts (Saturday, April 10, 1999) The pictures from the borders of Kosovo have outraged the whole world. There is no doubt that Serb elements in Kosovo were responsible for many, though by no means all, refugees. The Yugoslav authorities should stop denying Serb involvement. But where was the outrage when more than 300,000 Serbs were evicted by the Croatian government from the Krajina, a Croatian land inhabited by Serbs for centuries? Although a few news clips were shown on TV, they soon disappeared from the screens. There were hardly any statements denouncing Croatian actions. Yet the circumstances were similar to today's expulsions, except that some NATO powers quietly encouraged them because they weakened the Serb position in Bosnia. The deportations were as brutal as the ones we are now witnessing. Serbs had to leave instantaneously; houses were burned, and many Serbs were killed. The Yugoslav government, burdened by U.N. sanctions, absorbed these refugees into Serbia. There were no relief flights from NATO countries and hardly any help from U.N. or other nongovernmental relief organizations. [UNQUOTE] Passing to the public one set of news while hiding another is called MEDIA MANIPULATION! From these examples it is clear that NATO isn't concearned about saving human lives (otherwise it would act wherever it is necessary) but is looking for a poor excuse for bombing a country which is not fulfilling its demands. When I watch the daily NATO briefings and hear all the lies about how they are bombing only military targets, it makes me sick! Bombs are falling on residential areas, schools, churches, etc. One example: it was well known that the workers of the car factory in Kragujevac were protecting their working places by spending night after night in the factory halls. NATO burned the place to the ground! Wake up people, they are lying to you!! There have been reports from Macedonian and Greek sources that about 100 NATO soldiers have already been killed in action and have been secretly shipped to the States. Also, the number of downed planes is far higher that the one stealth fighter which was confirmed by NATO (it's about 20-30). They are hiding all these information because it would cause the public to ask themselves what the heck is going on and what are we fighting for?! Now public opinion is perfectly manipulated into supporting a ground offensive, without realizing what that would mean: Vietnam II in the middle of Europe. Is it worth it??? Just to show how much NATO cares about the Albanians: before NATO started its aggression the situation in Kosovo was very bad. The Serbs were offered a completely one-sided deal: either you allow NATO troops to enter Kosovo + the possibility of Kosovo secession in 3 years or face air strikes! Yugoslavia rejected. Then, NATO armed the KLA (a terrorist organization which was labeled as such by the US ambassador Robert Gelbart in 1998, but turned into "freedom fighters" afterwards) to its teeth, pulled out the OSCE verifying mission along with aid workers and started an air campaign all over the country. I don't have to tell you that all hell broke loose! Now in its attempt to weaken us as much as possible NATO is again arming KLA terrorists and pushing them over the Albanian-Yugoslav border into certain death. They are using these people as if they are bombs or missiles - fire and forget. The Albanian refugees are suffering, too. They have no idea what's going on, with nothing on their minds except their own agony. They have been instructed to tell moving stories about atrocities commited by the Serbs and in exchange for that NATO will tear Kosovo from Yugoslavia and give it to Albania. Of course, this whole thing is making me sometimes angry, sometimes sad. There is obviously no World Justice. The UN's hands are bound. They can't do anything while the law of the ones with the bigger weapons is in charge... I don't know what to say except to quote Manic Street Preachers: "If you tolerate this, then your children will be next" Maybe I should finish with a Serbian saying: "Forgive them, God, they don't know what they are doing" Peace to everyone Stop the bombs Greetings from Yugoslavia Viktor armitage P.S.: Hear the other side, visit: http://www.serbia-info.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~