THE VOICE OF INTERNATIONAL LITHUANIA
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Worldwide revolts
against egocentric,
greedy leaders
- but not in Lithuania
2011 has been the year when people around the world began to speak up. Leaders in many countries, be it in politics, finance or other areas, have this year been forced to realize that it no longer is possible to deceive their citizens. In some countries the protests have evolved into revolts, often bloody, in which state leaders have been forced to abandon their posts.
But people in Lithuania have not reacted like that, despite the fact that the downturn and tightening measures they have been exposed to probably have been the worst and toughest in Europe.
Here in this country the elderly people sit in their small, dark apartments and suffer themselves quietly through catastrophic difficult time after their already minimal pensions were drastically cut, while prices for heating, electricity and food continue to rise.
Nor do the young take to the streets to protest against the injustice they are exposed to. Instead, they pack their suitcases and leave their home country. Many probably forever. 350 persons per day are now leaving, I have been told.
“Before they realized what is going on and who was robbing them, the Lithuanian people got clubbed by PM Kubilius’ ambitious austerity policy and the younger ones started emigrating in catastrophic numbers, seeing no future in the country whose GDP was reduced (from a low post-Soviet level) by some 20% by the combination of the old nomenklatura rent-seeking policies and the global Great Recession. Lithuania is hollowing out, unfortunately,” wrote Dr. Val Samonis in an article here in VilNews last April, concluding that “the Greeks won, the Lithuanians lost!”
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Russia is seeing the largest show of public anger in the country since the collapse of the Soviet Union 20 years ago. The centrepiece is massive rallies in Moscow, with more than 30,000 people demonstrating. But protests take place in more than 70 other cities in the sprawling country.
Vladimir Putin,
the beginning of the end
Apart from silencing opponents and enriching personal friends, the one thing Vladimir Putin was really good at was fixing elections. In this, he had a perfect track record since March 2000—until last Sunday. The Russian parliamentary election on December 4th was neither free nor fair. Several opposition groups had been barred from the ballot; officials pressured voters to support the ruling party; the vote-count was marred by ballot-stuffing and the rigging of protocols. But even in these conditions—and even by the official figures—most Russians voted against Vladimir Putin. His party, United Russia, received 49.3 percent of the vote, losing its two-thirds supermajority in Parliament for the first time in eight years. Compared to the last poll in 2007, when it registered 64.3 percent, United Russia’s result represents a net loss of 13 million votes and 77 seats in the 450-seat Duma (down from 315 to 238).
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U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Dalia Grybauskaitė fronted the OSCE conference in Vilnius this week.
By Mark Kurosky
mark.kurosky@gmail.com
This week The Republic of Lietuva has demonstrated its prestige and accomplishment being a contemporary world player and a voice for democracy taking center stage hosting the OCSE Ministerial Conference and the ESCO "Making Women's Voices Heard" convocation. Lithuanian President, Dalia Grybauskaite, must be offered kudos for assuming a leadership helm in both of these world conferences. Witnessing President, Dalia Grybauskaite, partner with and stand side by side US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, a woman undeniably known as the spouse of one of the most powerful men in the world in contemporary history, can only be a source of tremendous pride for Lithuanians worldwide.
During an address at the "Making Women's Voices Heard" event, and as quoted on the Lithuanian Presidential website, President Dalia Grybauskaite stated, "Any discrimination impairs the well-being of our societies. Gender gaps, glass ceilings and brick walls - an environment you navigate daily. Only through personal example and greater visibility we can attract everybody's attention to this problem and encourage combating it."
The Lithuanian President further "urged participants of the discussion to be good examples in the fight against gender inequality by assuming more responsibility in decision making, showing personal initiative, efforts, and persistence. She underlined that only public and vocal messages about gender equality issues could encourage women to be more determined in the struggle for their rights". The President praised Lithuania's efforts in the protection of women's rights and claimed Lithuania's example of such "good practice".
In stark contrast to the foregoing, and under the witness of the world's center stage spot light, one must then ask how President, Dalia Grybauskaite, the members of the Lietuva Seimas, and the contemporary, educated Lithuanian society at large, can not only tolerate, but actively promote openly stated discrimination toward gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered members of Lithuanian society.
Mark Kurosky
I am a 54 year old, gay male, a Lithuanian American, second generation born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1957, and I now reside in Prescott, Arizona. My grandparents immigrated from Lietuva in 1910, from Kacergine and from Miroslavas. I grew up immersed in Lithuanian culture, I am fluent in the language, have traveled Lietuva, and have family still within the country. My dream is to return to reside, work and thrive in Lietuva, however, for me most personally as a gay man, I feel that the atmosphere there would be unsafe, inhospitable, and uncomfortable. And I find this to be a shame as I would love nothing more than to go home to my beloved motherland.
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Russian MFA defends Soviet annexation of the Baltic States
Lithuanian Foreign Ministry “regrets that some senior diplomats in Russia’s MFA continue to operate in last century’s spirit of falsification of history.”
Red Army tanks enter Riga in1940.
Photo: wikipedia.org
On December 1 and 2, respectively, Lithuania’s and Estonia’s ministries of foreign affairs (MFAs) refuted the Russian MFA’s latest claims that the three Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) had voluntarily joined the Soviet Union in 1940.
Moscow’s claims in this regard are hardly new; but are being resurrected in the context of Russian-fanned tensions with the US and NATO over European security, and are presented with some new twists to the old arguments. In a radical historical innovation, Russia’s MFA statement further claims that the present-day Republic of Moldova is a Russian land (see below).
Lithuania and Estonia chose to reply in a low key. Lithuania’s MFA handed over a note to the Russian embassy in Vilnius, expressing
Read more:
http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=38747
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Vilnius’ mayor cracks down on beggars and givers
Why are beggars despised?"A beggar, looked at realistically, is simply a |
 George Orwell |
By George Orwell
It is worth saying something about the social position of beggars, for when one has consorted with them, and found that they are ordinary human beings, one cannot help being struck by the curious attitude that society takes towards them. People seem to feel that there is some essential difference between beggars and ordinary "working" men. They are a race apart--outcasts, like criminals and prostitutes. Working men "work," beggars do not "work"; they are parasites, worthless in their very nature. It is taken for granted that a beggar does not "earn" his living, as a bricklayer or a literary critic "earns" his. He is a mere social excrescence, tolerated because we live in a humane age, but essentially despicable.
Yet if one looks closely one sees that there is no essential difference between a beggar's livelihood and that of numberless respectable people. Beggars do not work, it is said; but, then, what is work? A navvy works by swinging a pick. An accountant works by adding up figures. A beggar works by standing out of doors in all weathers and getting varicose veins, chronic bronchitis, etc. It is a trade like any other; quite useless, of course--but, then, many reputable trades are quite useless. And as a social type a beggar compares well with scores of others. He is honest compared with the sellers of most patent medicines, high-minded compared with a Sunday newspaper proprietor, amiable compared with a hire-purchase tout--in short, a parasite, but a fairly harmless parasite. He seldom extracts more than a bare living from the community, and, what should justify him according to our ethical ideas, he pays for it over and over in suffering. I do not think there is anything about a beggar that sets him in a different class from other people, or gives most modern men the right to despise him.
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The other dream team
New film about Lithuania’s 1992 basketball team
The Other Dream Team is a documentary film directed by Marius A. Markevičius (picture). The inspirational story of the 1992 Lithuania national basketball team and their incredible journey from the clutches of Communism to the Summer Olympics in Barcelona. It stars many famous basketball persons like Yao Ming, Arvydas Sabonis, David Stern, Jim Lampley, Bill Walton, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Paul Gasol and others. The film should be released in 2012.
When you hear the words "dream team" the names such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen come to your mind. That's the squad of USA national team in Barcelona Olympic Games 1992. But that wasn't the only team in Barcelona which deserves the title "dream team". The other dream team was Lithuania.
The moment of Lithuania returning to the world's basketball family and instantly winning bronze in the Olympic Games was a unique moment in the history of basketball, memories of which brings NBC Sports Broadcaster Jim Lampley to tears. The full movie features many basketball legends such as Bill Walton, Šarūnas Marčiulionis and more.
TalkBasket.net presents you the trailer of the new documentary by Marius A. Markevičius called "The other dream team". Enjoy the video.
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Numerous warning lights – but who cares?
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We mention below three very distinct warning lights that Lithuanian authorities and control bodies should have reacted to long ago. These three are just the tip of the iceberg. There are many, many more...
WARNING LIGHT 1:
THE BRITISH FINANCIAL SERVICE USED STRONG WORDS ABOUT SNORAS BANK ALREADY 2 YEARS AGO
In 2009 the now nationalised Snoras bank applied to the British Financial Services Authority (FSA) to operate in the UK. The FSA refused permission to conduct business in the UK because the bank repeatedly gave “misleading and incomplete” answers to the regulator. These included failing to mention that it had been refused permission to take retail deposits in Russia and had been fined by the Lithuanian banking regulator. The FSA also attacked the record of Bankas Snoras’ largest shareholder and chairman of its supervisory board, Vladimir Antonov, whom it accused of withholding information. “These failures are not an isolated instance but are examples of an ongoing pattern of behaviour by institutions controlled by Mr Antonov,” the FSA said. These comments must have been known by the Lithuanian Central Bank (Lietuvos bankas) already by then. Why didn’t they react? And why didn’t Ernst & Young, Snoras’ auditor, react? The audit company is now conducting an internal investigation about its previous audits at the bank, but shouldn’t such an important investigation be done by a neutral party? We do, after all, talk about a scandal that will have a very negative impact for the economy of the country and its people…
Read more:
http://bnn-news.com/antonov-jailed-10-years-lithuania-3-years-latvia-41956
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-02/lithuania-borrowing-costs-to-surge-as-snoras-boosts-debt.html
WARNING LIGHT 2:
 The new Lithuanian parliament hall. |
 Irena Degutiene |
LITHUANIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS ARE AMONG THE BEST PAID IN THE ENTIRE EUROPEAN UNION!
BALTIC TIMES had an interesting article this week, telling that the Lithuanian parliamentarians’ 2,000 euro salary per month is at the bottom of the list of European legislator pay, but with all parliamentary allowances, benefits and salaries summed up, the entitlements skyrocket, catapulting Lithuanian legislators to a level with an average salary, on par with the very top of the best paid elected officials in the entire European Union, up to 10,000 euro per month!
“To be honest, I have never been aware of such benefits, even when I stayed at the wheel of the parliament. The Labor Party, whose deputy chairman I am now, stands for cutting down the excessive parliamentary benefits. However, I do not think this Seimas will have the guts to cut the fruitful branches it sits on,” Arturas Paulauskas, the former chairman of Naujoji Sajunga (New Union) and deputy chairman of the Labor Party presently, said to The Baltic Times.
The mid-November parliamentary deliberations over the draft on Parliamentarians’ Activity Guarantees have shown that Lithuanian legislators are far from considering any constraints on their lavish parliamentary incentives – the draft has been rejected and sent for improvements.
“I am really surprised by the legislators’ decision. Frankly, I thought the bill, upon introduction, with certain amendments and improvements would be passed. To reject it the way the parliamentarians did, walking out before the crucial vote or abstaining during the vote, means withdrawal from solving the problem. I do not know whether the politicians who voted against the bill, or simply walked out before the vote, will seek a new Seimas tenure next year. If yes, it means they are willing to further traipse in the mud we have all been stomping in so long and tediously,” Irena Degutiene, chairwoman of the Lithuanian Parliament, said with unusually strong words to express her angst.
Degutiene, nevertheless, is hopeful in bringing the revised and supplemented bill for the MPs in spring 2012. “I hope that common sense will prevail and we pass the law,” she said.
Unlike in Lithuania, in the other two Baltic countries MP salaries are recalculated every year, and politicians receive parliamentary activity compensation for transport, office, representation and professional training. In that regard, Estonia has set it such that this kind of compensation cannot exceed 30 percent of the parliamentary salary, which is 3,353 euros.
Read more:
http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/30094/
WARNING LIGHT 3:
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LITHUANIA HAS NOW EU’S WIDEST WEALTH GAP AND HIGHEST POVERTY RISK
Lithuania’s austerity measures, which are similar in size to those facing Greece, boosted income inequality to the widest in the European Union.
The CHART OF THE DAY in a BLOOMBERG article this week shows how the proportion of people at risk of poverty in Lithuania surged to the highest level among the bloc’s 27 members after state spending was cut. The lower panel shows the gap between the nation’s highest and lowest earners is the EU’s widest after budget savings hurt the poor.
Lithuania implemented austerity measures equal to 12 percent of gross domestic product in 2009-2010. Pension cuts may be reversed after the economy grew 6.7 percent in the third quarter, the second-fastest pace in the EU. Greece, where GDP contracted 5.2 percent in the same period, is in the midst of budget cuts worth 16 percent of economic output, data from the International Monetary Fund show.
“The blow was very painful to the poor,” said Vilija Tauraite, an economist for SEB Bank in the capital, Vilnius. “Lithuania’s fiscal discipline has been extremely severe in the past three years and it’s now crucial to ease the burden because these people are hanging on the precipice of poverty. Their quality of life is far worse than the situation of pensioners in southern Europe.”
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A new Iron Wolf
howling over Vilnius
Vilnius’ new Iron Wolf, on top of a nicely renovated building within the Vilnius Railway Station area.
K.Slade/A.Myhre.
There is a legend that surrounds the founding of Vilnius in 1323. The legend has it that Grand Duke Gediminas went on a hunting trip in the holy woods of the Valley of Sventaragis. Tired after a successful day of hunting, the Grand Duke settled for the night near a hill at the convergence of the Neris and Vilnia rivers. He fell asleep soundly and had a dream. A huge iron wolf was standing on top of the hill and the sound of hundreds of other wolves inside it filled all the surrounding fields and woods. After the hunting trip, Gediminas went back to Trakai (the capital of Lithuania at that time) and consulted the pagan priest (oracle), Lizdeika, to reveal the secrets behind the dream. And the priest told him: “What is destined for the ruler and the state of Lithuania, let it be: The iron wolf means a formidable castle and town which will be established by the ruler on this site. The city will stand as strong as iron and its walls will protect the land from its enemies. The massive sound dwelled inside the wolf, symbolized the fame of the city shall echo beyond their borders and proclaim throughout the centuries the glory of Lithuania.” Gediminas heeded and pleased with the priest’s reveal of his dream. He begin to summon artisans and craftsmen around the country and Europe to design and construct his new strong and beautiful kingdom, which would surround this hill where he had the dream of the iron wolf. Upon the completion Gediminas moved his home, signaling the establishment of a new capital for his country: Vilnius.
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Advent 1945:
|
IN THE WORLD
“Across America, people crowd churches praying with gratitude for the peace in place, and reach out to wounded veterans, children who lost fathers, and neighbors who lost sons. Americans in big cities and small, participate in displays of the intrinsic love so indicative of the American spirit.” |
IN LITHUANIA
In 1944-45 Lithuanians were forced to realize that the bloody World War II had been replaced by a new war, the longest and bloodiest guerrilla war in modern European history, lasting from 1944 to at least 1953. |
Advent and Christmas of 1945 was over most of the world celebrated with a joy and delight almost never before seen. Young and old gathered in homes, on streets and in churches. An endless series of victory ceremonies took place in almost every corner of the world. With a deep sense of joy and gratitude all wanted each other warm, comfortable and relaxing Christmas holidays, knowing that the Nazi era was over and that the world now more than ever could look forward to a future of peace and prosperity. The war had finally released the grip, forgotten was the economic recession of the 1930s. Forgotten was also our Western World’s close friends and neighbours - the Baltic States.
On a small farm in northern Lithuania, in the outskirts of the village Šilagalis, Christmas 1945 is nearing. It is the 22nd of December, and the mother of the house feels very happy that her 21 year old son Povilas has finally come home to visit after having been away for many months.
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Advent with Pavarotti
Schubert: Mille Cherubini in Coro
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Kerry Shawn Keys
kerrykeys@yahoo.com
Kerry Shawn Keys’ roots are in the Appalachian Mountains (eastern North America). From 1998 to 2000, he taught translation theory and creative composition as a Fulbright Associate Professor at Vilnius University. He has dozens of books to his credit, including translations from Portuguese and Lithuanian, and his own poems informed by rural America and Europe, and Brazil and India (Peace Corps) where he lived for considerable time. His work ranges from theatre-dance pieces to flamenco songs to meditations on the Tao Te Ching, and is often lyrical with intense ontological concerns. Of late, he has been writing prose wonderscripts, and monologues for the stage. A children’s book, The Land of People, received a Lithuanian laureate in 2008 for artwork he co-authored. He performs with the free jazz percussionist and sound-constellation artist, Vladimir Tarasov – Prior Records released their CD in 2006. His most recent book is Transporting, a cloak of rhapsodies (2010).
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Chinese-Lithuanian
IT Innovation Centre a
step in right direction!
President Dalia Grybauskaitė with Vice Presidents Qu Wenchu and Lu Yong of the Chinese IT giant "Huawei" - to discuss cooperation and investments in the sphere of innovations. The President said the cooperation with "Huawei", is already yielding mutually beneficial results. Vilnius University, "Omnitel" and "Huawei" this week opened an information technologies research laboratory which they believe will become a centre of innovations for the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe.
Text: Aage Myhre, Editor-in-Chief
aage.myhre@VilNews.com
There has been expressed skepticism about some of the so-called foreign investments (FDIs) that have taken place in this country over the past two-three years, as they largely have been paid by Lithuania itself, meaning the country's tax payers, partly as a hollow play to the gallery with the intention of putting the government's results in this field in better light. This week's announced partnership with China appears different. More pragmatic, real and sustainable. I consider the new Chinese-Lithuanian IT Innovation Centre at Vilnius University a step in the right direction!
Lithuania should create more 'basketball business'
The cooperation with China started when Lithuania’s “Omnitel”, the leading Baltic telecommunication company, owned by Scandinavian TeliaSonera, invited Chinese “Huawei”, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, to a cooperation with the aim to extend Omnitel’s network ahead of the European basketball championship (EuroBasket 2011) that took place in Lithuania earlier this autumn. The cooperation led to the successful deployment of a commercial 1800MHz LTE network for Omnitel to serve the championship.
Omnitel had long been planning an upgrade to its existing network in order to meet increasing data demands, and in May of this year, Huawei was exclusively awarded the Omnitel contract for LTE deployment and GSM/UMTS radio access networks expansion across all of Lithuania.
At EuroBasket 2011, Huawei provided Omnitel with its world-leading Single RAN LTE solution as well as with radio access and transmission networks. As a result, the LTE network was able to achieve downlink speeds of 85Mb/s, making it the fastest mobile broadband network in Lithuania.
The excellent performance of the LTE network during EuroBasket 2011 was an important step in the commercialization process of the Baltic region’s mobile broadband network.
Basketball is known as Lithuania's second religion (after Catholicism). The collaboration between Omnitel and Huawei shows that it also can lead to business and development cooperation. This week's IT Innovation Centre is a tangible proof of that. So why not think more in this direction? There is probably much more of business and FDIs that can be created around the national sport…
The President plays well with business and science!
"Lithuania is among the leading players in the European IT and telecom market. We have not only the most advanced infrastructure but also highly qualified professionals. "Huawei" is one of the most innovative companies in the world. Cooperation with this company will serve to promote more rapid development of innovations as it will open new possibilities in the global IT market," President Dalia Grybauskaitė said at a meeting with the Chinese delegation in Vilnius this week.
The President during her visit to China in October last year participated in the Shanghai World EXPO and agreed with representatives of "Huawei" to organize the training course for Lithuanian students in this company and to establish an information technologies research centre in Lithuania.
In July, ten IT students from Kaunas University of Technology, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University and Vytautas Magnus University already underwent a training course in the Chinese company. This week Vilnius University, "Omnitel" and "Huawei" open in Vilnius a research centre of information technologies the activities of which will include the implementation of research programs, traineeships for researchers, and the development of modern technologies.
Dalia Grybauskaitė also stressed the importance of economic cooperation between Lithuania and China. The shuttle train "Saulė", which was launched last month, connecting China, Kazakhstan and Lithuania, should enhance the bilateral business relations even more, she said.
The President plays truly well with the business and the scientists in this case. That bodes well for a better and more advanced ‘Lithuania of the future’!
In May this year an initial agreement for the establishing of a joint research laboratory at Vilnius University was signed between (L/R) Antanas Zabulis, President of „Omnitel“, Professor Benediktas Juodka, Rector of Vilnius University and Ye Yong, Country Manager for the Baltics of „Huawei Technologies Co”.
To read more, go to our
SECTION 18 – EDUCATION, RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
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A future of green life and energy for Lithuania?
In the German city of Freiburg environment and economy are not antagonists. On the contrary, the environmental economy is the leading business sector in both town and region.
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The land of smiles
or tears?
 The Economist’s (London) image shows the euro as an asteroid, plummeting to earth. |
 The editor's photo was meant to illustrate that humanity has a bright future ahead. |
In the recent issue of VilNews I wrote that I do not share the pessimists gloomy predictions for the world's future, as I think the crisis is part of a necessary cleansing process. I am optimistic because I see that a whole new type of people is coming. New leaders. Many of today's children and young people.
What I see is forward-looking youngsters with good balance within themselves and their 'other dimension'; their divine origin.
I believe that ‘The land of smiles’ is under development. That new kids, a new human type, seem to have come to Earth with a special mission: to assist the Earth and its inhabitants in the transition and the 'rebirth' as a planet with higher awareness and better interpersonal understanding.
Aage Myhre
Editor-in-Chief
You are all welcome to participate in this discussion!
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Many believe that we will be entering the Age of Enlightenment within the next five years… Others believe that we have already begun to make this transition The time has come for us to move past the illusion of separateness Rather than judge one another, we teach our clients to go beneath the surface of a behavior that differed from their own to find deeper meaning. This led to under-standing and acceptance, more productive negotiations and perhaps even a shared knowing. When leaders and citizens remember to appreciate the Three Points of Connection, everything else will fall into place. We will know, from deep within, that to care for our environment is not only a privilege but natural because as we care for the earth we care for ourselves. We will know that going beyond boundaries of difference and age-old conflict enables us to make peace with our neighbors and co-create a world where children live happily and healthfully. And, when we return to source as the partner in creating our world, we will not falter in our ability to move towards a positive future that is inclusive of all sentient beings, as the great mystical traditions teach. Gather small groups in your organization and begin to listen deeply to each other. Better yet, take a walk outside and commune with Nature. Give thanks for the beauty that surrounds you and take time to smell the roses. All things will go smoother from there. Jurate Kutkus Burns, Florida. |
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You brighten up my day A very interesting article with a lot of insight regarding divinity and where we are heading, in this cosmic time of transmission to the age of Aquarius! You brighten up my day with very positive forecast. Hans Gyllenhammar, Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. |
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The next generation will have a healthier more sustainable future because of the massive restructuring and pain we will have to endure in this past generation |
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We fear that without urgent action by the ECB, the euro will crash, doing untold damage not just to Europe but to the entire world economy Denial is not just a river in Egypt! Dr. Val Samonis, |
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Welcome to readers in
20 new countries!
VilNews keeps getting new readers in ever more countries. Since October, twenty new countries have ‘signed up’. It's incredibly exciting to see that Lithuania and ‘the Lithuanian’ is becoming increasingly better known in all corners of the world. We wish all our new readers welcome!
You are all invited to send us news and other matters that are related to Lithuania in the country or region where you live!
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ANTIGUA & BARBUDA |
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MACAU |
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NAMIBIA |
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BURKINA FASO |
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC |
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GUAM (USA) |
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ZAMBIA |
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The land of smiles
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My youngest daughter, then three-year-old Cornelia, with granddad Bruno.
I think people on mother Earth has bright times to look forward to;
times when the world will be managed and developed by the
new type of people, those who are now growing up.
Photo: Aage Myhre.
By Aage Myhre
aage.myhre@VilNews.com
The economic downturn has made more and more ‘experts’ come forward with gloomy predictions for the world's future.
I do not share this pessimistic attitude. I think the crisis is part of a necessary cleansing process. In this way, we live in a very exciting time. The very ‘transition time’.
I think the world’s money power and capitalism as it has been exercised is bad and unfair in many ways. I am skeptical also about many of the other 'isms'. In my opinion, greed and desire for power have defined the various 'isms' and the world for far too long.
Many of the problems they have created have been nurtured by unhealthy egoism. Money has become our god, a deceitful god. Therefore, many countries are struggling today. Many innocent people suffer as a result thereof.
Yet I am optimistic. For I see that a whole new type of people is coming. New leaders. Many of today's children and young people. What I see is forward-looking youngsters with good balance within themselves and their 'other dimension'; their divine origin.
‘The land of smiles’ is under development. The new kids, the new human type, seem to have come to Earth with a special mission: to assist the Earth and its inhabitants in the transition and the 'rebirth' as a planet with higher awareness and better interpersonal understanding.
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
- Arthur Schopenhauer, Germantown philosopher (1788 - 1860).
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OPINIONS
Have your say. Send to:
editor@VilNews.com
Ph. D., Chicago
A wave of unity sweeps the international Lithuanian community on March 11th every year as Lithuanians celebrated the anniversary of the Lithuanian Parliament's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. However, the sense of national unity engendered by the celebration could be short-lived.
Human beings have a strong tendency to overgeneralize and succumb to stereotypical us-them distinctions that can shatter even the strongest bonds. We need only search the internet to find examples of divisive thinking at work:
- "Those who fled Lithuania during World II were cowards -- and now they come back, flaunt their wealth, and tell us 'true Lithuanians' how to live."
- "Lithuanians who work abroad have abandoned their homeland and should be deprived of their Lithuanian citizenship."
In Lithuania Christmas Eve is a family event and the New Year's Eve a great party with friends!
Lithuanian say "Kaip sutiksi naujus metus, taip juos ir praleisi" (the way you'll meet the new year is the way you will spend it). So everyone is trying to spend New Year's Eve with friend and have as much fun as possible.
Lithuanian New Year's traditions are very similar to those in other countries, and actually were similar since many years ago. Also, the traditional Lithuanian New Years Eve party was very similar to other big celebrations throughout the year.
The New Year's Eve table is quite similar to the Christmas Eve table, but without straws under the tablecloth, and now including meat dishes. A tradition that definitely hasn't changes is that everybody is trying not to fell asleep before midnight. It was said that if you oversleep the midnight point you will be lazy all the upcoming year. People were also trying to get up early on the first day of the new year, because waking up late also meant a very lazy and unfortunate year.
During the New Year celebration people were dancing, singing, playing games and doing magic to guess the future. People didn't drink much of alcohol, especially was that the case for women.
Here are some advices from elders:
- During the New Year, be very nice and listen to relatives - what you are during New Year Eve, you will be throughout the year.
- During to the New Year Eve, try not to fall, because if this happens, next year you will be unhappy.
- If in the start of the New Year, the first news are good - then the year will be successful. If not - the year will be problematic.
* If New Year's night is cold and starry - look forward to a good summer!
* If the during New Year Eve trees are covered with frost - then it will be a good year. If it is wet weather on New Year's Eve, one can expect a year where many will die and dangerous epidemics occur.
* If the first day of the new year is snowy - the upcoming year will see many young people die. If the night is snowy - mostly old people will die.
* If the New Year time is cold - then Easter will be warm.
* If during New Year there are a lot of birds in your homestead - then all year around there will be many guests and the year will be fun.
Christmas greetings
from Vilnius
and epic battle for the
future
Philosopher, political theorist, historian of
ideas, social analyst, and political
commentator
Ukraine was and continues to be perceived by the EU political class as a sort of grey zone with its immense potential and possibilities for the future, yet deeply embedded and trapped in No Man's Land with all of its troubled past, post-Soviet traumas, ambiguities, insecurities, corruption, social divisions, and despair. Why worry for what has yet to emerge as a new actor of world history in terms of nation-building, European identity, and deeper commitments to transparency and free market economy?
Right? Wrong. No matter how troubled Ukraine's economic and political reality could be, the country has already passed the point of no return. Even if Vladimir Putin retains his leverage of power to blackmail Ukraine and the West in terms of Ukraine's zero chances to accede to NATO due to the problems of territorial integrity, occupation and annexation of Crimea, and mayhem or a frozen conflict in the Donbas region, Ukraine will never return to Russia's zone of influence. It could be deprived of the chances to join NATO or the EU in the coming years or decades, yet there are no forces on earth to make present Ukraine part of the Eurasia project fostered by Putin.
want to learn about the
new, scary propaganda
war between Russia,
The West and the
Baltic States!
believe their government
is corrupt
students say no to
bribes for doctors
During Soviet times, government was administered for the people in control, not for the local population, court decisions were decreed, they were not the administration of justice, and academia was the domain of ideologues. 25 years of freedom and openness should have put those bad experiences behind Lithuania, but that is not so.
Today, it is a matter of expectation that court pronouncements will be governed by ideological dictates. Few, if any Lithuanians expect real justice to be effected. For foreign companies, doing business in Lithuania is almost impossible in a situation where business people do not expect rule of law, so, surely Government would be a refuge of competence?
Lithuanian Government has not emerged from Soviet styles. In an attempt to devolve power, Lithuania has created a myriad of fiefdoms of power, each speaking in the name of the Government, each its own centralized power base of ideology.
Chepstow, Wales
Doesn't that sound suspiciously like Lithuania? Ah, but I didn't mention the mountains of Snowdonia, which would give the game away.
I'm talking about Wales, that part of the UK which Lithuanians used to call "Valija", but later named "Velsas" (why?). Wales, the nation which has welcomed two Lithuanian heads of state to its shores - firstly Professor Vytautas Landsbergis, who has paid several visits and, more recently, President Dalia Grybauskaitė who attended the 2014 NATO summit which was held in Newport, South Wales.
ENGLISH VERSION OF THE
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF VYTAUTAS LANDSBERGIS.
Although Lithuanian activities have thinned over the decades as that postwar generation died out, the Lithuanian Martyrs' parish hall is crowded with many, many hundreds of visitors who come to the Lithuanian cemetery for All Souls' Day. Similarly, the Franciscan parish has standing room only for Christmas Eve mass.
Although I am firmly embedded in the literary culture of Canada, my themes are usually Lithuanian, and I'll be in Kaunas and Vilnius in mid-November 2015 to give talks about the Lithuanian translations of my novels and short stories, which I write in English.
If you have the Lithuanian language, come by to one of the talks listed in the links below. And if you don't, you can read more about my work at
www.anatanassileika.com
http://www.vdu.lt/lt/rasytojas-antanas-sileika-pristatys-savo-kuryba/ https://leu.lt/lt/lf/lf_naujienos/kvieciame-i-rasytojo-59hc.html
"My love and best wishes to all. As long as VilNews exists, there is hope for the future,"" she writes.
Irena Veisaite means very much for our publication, and we do hereby thank her for the support and wise commitment she always shows.
You can read our interview with her
Facing a new reality
Dear readers of VilNews,
For a number of years, the EU and Russia had assumed the existence of a strategic partnership, based on the convergence of values, economic integration and increasingly open markets and a modernisation agenda for society.
Our agenda was positive and ambitious. We looked at Russia as a country ready to converge with "European values", a country likely to embrace both the basic principles of democratic government and a liberal concept of the world order. It was believed this would bring our relations to a new level, covering the whole spectrum of the EU's strategic relationship with Russia.
The likelihood of Putin
invading Lithuania
.jpg "lithuania today")
Founding Director at Summer Literary Seminars
Are all Lithuanian energy
problems now resolved?
Lithuania as a country does not have significant energy resources. Energy consuming infrastructure after WWII was small and totally supported by energy imports from Russia.
First nuclear reactor begins power generation at Ignalina in 1983, the second reactor in 1987. Iganlina generates enough electricity to cover Lithuania's needs and about 50%.for export. As, prerequisite for membership in EU, Ignalina ceases all nuclear power generation in 2009
The Klaipėda Sea terminal begins Russia's oil export operations in 1959 and imports in 1994.
Mazeikiu Nafta (current ORLEAN Lietuva) begins operation of oil refinery in 1980.
Have Lithuanian ties across
the Baltic Sea become
stronger in recent years?
The two decades that have passed since regaining Lithuania's independence can be described as a "building boom". From the wreckage of a captive Soviet republic, a generation of Lithuanians have built a modern European state, and are now helping construct a Nordic-Baltic community replete with institutions intended to promote political coordination and foster a trans-Baltic regional identity. Indeed, a "Nordic-Baltic community" - I will explain later in my text the meaning of this catch-phrase.
Since the restoration of Lithuania's independence 25 years ago, we have continuously felt a strong support from Nordic countries. Nordics in particular were among the countries supporting Lithuania's and Baltic States' striving towards independence. Take example of Iceland, country which recognized Lithuania in February of 1991, well in advance of other countries. Yet another example - Swedish Ambassador was the first ambassador accredited to Lithuania in 1991. The other countries followed suit. When we restored our statehood, Nordic Countries became champions in promoting Baltic integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions. To large degree thanks Nordic Countries, massive transformations occurred in Lithuania since then, Lithuania became fully-fledged member of the EU and NATO, and we joined the Eurozone on 1 January 2015.
Have you heard about the
South African "Pencil Test"?
But that is exactly what happened to me when I came back from South Africa. I will tell you how.
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