Free Chechnya?

A few months ago I visited a refugee camp in Slovakia and I spoke to a few Chechen asylum seekers. They top the number of refugees in Slovakia. All of them had stories about the cruelty of Russian soldiers, one even showed me some scarce. They were very emotional but what shocked me was that no matter what I asked they kept on talking about the history of their country again and again. And they did so in a very strange way like Russion troops were over the corner and they were preparing to fight with them any given minute. They were in a country where nobody was fighting with them but they were seeing enemies everywhere.

The camp's social workers and officials found very difficult to deal with them because they simply didn't accept any opinion which differed from their own and kept on telling everybody that Chechens are proud people who love freedom.

Watching what's going on in that school in North Ossetia I have realized that indeed they love freedom, their own freedom at the cost of everybody else's. How such great warriors can fight against weak people? How can they imagine that by terrorizing children they will win the sympathy of the world for their cause? The world may criticize Russia for the way it has solved the hostage crisis but definitely will not approve of what the hostage takers have been doing.

The "great" Russian army is definitely not prepared to deal with such situations and still has the bulldog attitude in dealing with regional conflicts but there are plenty of reports of youngsters who refuse to join the army so why should somebody generalize and say that all Russians are the same? They may become the same in their hate towards terrorists because violence never generates peace but even more violence.

It's a crazy world out there.

My Mind Today

My Mind Today

Citius, Altius, Fortius

The Olympic Games are over. Some say that the Olympic spirit has reached its limits too. The evolution of humankind did, ironically, diminish its importance. It was launched more than 100 years ago and we've learned that old such institutions become obsolete one day, don't they? But 10 minutes of booing in gymnastics hall during one of the Olympic finals saved it, at least for another four years. People stood up and showed their thumbs down to protest the low marks that referee had given to an extraordinary routine performed by an extraordinary gymnast Alexei Nemov of Russia. They simply wanted to watch gymnastics not a geostrategic battle in a sport hall. And there were some commentators talking about how this edition of the Olympic Games is the first after many years when any political ideology cannot influence it in any way. That can be hardly true as long as sport will be linked to national pride.

These games were supposed to be the cleanest ever. Many argue that there is a pressure on performers to gain extraordinary results in order to attract more and more money to sport. But if dopping is the way to do it then they may not get any money at all.

The main gain of the Olympic champions is that they become heroes at leats this is what the Greek mythology says. Young people will look at them with respect because they fought and proved to be the best. Cheaters of any kind will be caught sooner or later. Why would somebody lie to herself or himself that she or he is a champion? The risk is so big. They loose the medals and the endorsement contracts with big companies because companies tend to sell positive images and role models to ordinary people. They would not like to link a controversial athlete to their positive image, would they?

Why Is This Happening To Me?

I am a journalist. Sometimes I feel I have much more to say than I can put in th stories I produce. Therefore I've decided to create this weblog. I can write here about topics in which I am interested but which cannot find some place in my work. I can have the freedom to take sides, which I can't always do in my normal work.

Journalism is wonderful when people react to your work. Sometimes this reaction does not reach journalists. Actually, I tend to believe that mostly negative reactions reach the journalists.

I do journalism because I think what I do matter to some people. Now, this weblog may help me initiate some debate on a wide range of topics and see what really matter to people.

Lately, I have felt a huge urge to reach out and meet new people in order to exchange ideas. I hope this weblog will be a place to exchange ideas.