Rebirth of a Nation

Yesterday the people of Montenegro voted to declare their independence from Serbia by a margin of 0.4% (according to the various press reports) over the 55% supramajoritarian level set by the European Union. This little nation of 670,000 inhabitants hopes that its independence will speed its acceptance into the EU. For the last three years it has (without authorization from the EU, to boot) used the Euro as its sole currency, not accepting the Serbian dinar.

I happen to have a liking for Macedonia, I must admit. While it has only been recognized as an independent nation between 1878 and 1918, when it was a small "tintin" monarchy ruled by one of those Eastern European dynasties with unpronounceable names that fell after WWI, Macedonia is the only area of the Balkans to have never been conquered by the Ottoman Turks. The remote forested mountains of this area (which gave the land its name--Montenegro means "black mountain" in Italian, named after the Venetians who lusted after conquering its shores for their maritime empire). The land of Montenegro is roughtly coincident with one of the earliest "Serbian" states, that of Zeta, which was first organized around 1000AD. It's not as if Montenegro is a new nation in any sense.

The loss of Montenegro spells the bitter end of Serbian hegenomy over "Greater Serbia," as it is the fifth territory to declare independence after the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1992. It follows Slovenia (the only former Yugoslav Republic to enter the EU, and another favorite little state of mine), Croatia, Bosnia, and Macedonia to declare its independence. Kossovo, a mostly Albanian territory conquered by Serbia during the First Balkan War, looks to declare its independence later this year. After 1878, Serbia looked to swallow its smaller neighbors and rule over the southern slavs as their "elder brother," a dream that turned into a nightmare in the 1990's with ugly nationalistic wars and massacres in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kossovo. Serbia's territory is now limited to "core Serbia," its territories in 1878, as well as Vojvodina, the territory it gained after WWI as a reward for fighting against Austria-Hungary.

Of course, Montenegro's reward for allying with its Serbian cousins and standing up to Austria-Hungary was losing its independence and being treated until WWII (when the little land was popular with the Communist partisans of Tito) as a province of Serbia. I am hopeful that this little mountainous coastal land (for various reasons I have an affinity for independent-minded hill people) can manage to thrive as an independent nation. It has ports (something that Serbia, now a landlocked country, lacks), and its beautiful coastline attracts tourists. Despite having only 9% of the population of what remained of Yugoslavia, its economy was responsible for (statistics say) 15% of the economy. This means that though Montenegro will be a small nation, it is a promising one economically.

The main problem I see with Montenegro is its leadership. A chameleon-like former Communist protege of Milosevic rules over Montenegro, and there are unpleasant stories of Moldovan sex slaves and cigarette (!) smuggling. That said, the future looks more promising for Montenegro as an independent nation than as an appendage of a vestigial Yugoslavia. We shall see what happens with this latest little nation, which once again joins the community of independent peoples.

Got 'Roids?

What do the following names have in common:

Barry Bonds
Marion Jones
Tim Montgomery
Zhanna Block
Regina Jacobs
Dwain Chambers
Kelli White
Kevin Toth
Michelle Collins
The entire Seattle Supersonics teams from 1992-1994
Michael Chang
Bill Romanowski
Jim Courier
Dan Marino
Bryce Paup
Ivan Lendl
Terrell Davis
Mac Wilkins
Neil Smith
Terry Kirby
Milos Sarcev
Greg Tafralis
Mike Buncic
Jim Quinn
John Hill
Mike Swain
Lynn Roethke
Kevin Asano
Will Willis
Matt Guisto
Wolfgang Schmidt
Michael Ashley
Nancy Lewis
Corrine Shigemoto
Robert Harrop
Flex Wheeler
Ronnie Coleman
Kevin Levrone
Mike Matarozzo
Chris Cormier
Gunter Schlierkamp
Roland Kickinger
Eddie Robinson
Don Long
Emeric Delczeg
Vickie Gates
Nancy Lewis
Rich Gaspari
Max Shmaya

Give up? All of these people are athletes and body builders listed on the website for Scientific Nutrition For Advanced Conditioning (SNAC for short, they were formerly called Balco and their website is http://www.snac.com) as having used the supplements from Balco during the last fifteen years.

In case you have lived under a rock for the last few years, you know that Balco is famous for steroids. Though their website only sells what appear to be rather tame, and somewhat overpriced, supplements of dubious quality, for many years (and possibily still today) their bread and butter has been selling steriods to athletes. Some of the names on that list above have been caught and punished for steriods--including Tim Montgomery, a disgraced (and now retired) track and field star, Kelli White (who had to forfeit her Olympic gold medals from Sydney after failing a steriod exam), Bill Romanowski (who is a convicted felon, from a plea deal, for trying to deal prescription drugs, if I remember correctly, besides his drug suspensions from the NFL). Some of these names are under a dark cloud of suspicion for steriod use (such as Barry Bonds and Marion Jones).

However, due to the actions of Balco and many of the athletes on this list, all of the remaining people on the list can be considered under suspicion for being steriod users, which is not only unethical, but illegal. Some of these names, such as Tommy Chang and Dan Marino, are pretty spotless thus far, but may yet be dragged into the mire by the general reputation of the other names on the list. When one deals with corrupt people, and that corruption becomes plainly obvious, the issue of reputation becomes rather difficult. Bad company, after all, corrupts good habits. Are any of the names on this list clean? We cannot know. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Nonetheless, we live in very corrupt times. It is difficult to trust anything, and all too easy to doubt everything. Where people and organizations and societies live in the shadows, it is rather uncomfortable to come into the harsh light of day. While we can safely say that anyone that does not relish accountability has something to hide, the truth is that we all (in at least some respects) do as well. Because we all wish for our own private spaces and personal lives, to do what we wish without prying and unsympathetic eyes, we all have earned the world we live in. Our cheaters and scoundrels represent us all, whether we like it or not, because they represent the uncomfortable truth often in our actions (if not in our beliefs) that wealth, security, power, and fame are what matters, and getting and holding onto it are what matters, no matter what that means.

Depressing examples of that abound, but it is sad when we cannot even go to a baseball game without wondering if that too is corrupted by our desire to get and stay ahead at any cost, and cannot even read a novel without having to wonder if that has been cheated and stolen too.

Cinco De Mayo

Today I spent lunch at Don Pablo's, sitting at the bar in a crowded Mexican restaurant eating steak fajitas and wondering what bad luck it was for the new manager of that particular location. Since I tend to eat out alone, I have little else to do during lunch than try to pay attention to those around me. Today was not a good day for the manager of the restaurant. He was understaffed, even though he had nearly twice as many servers coming as usual. He ran out of certain supplies--the blender stopped working, he was out of many draft beers (fortunately, I ordered root beer), and life was not good. Even worse, representatives from the "corporate office" were in the restaurant today, there was a wait of an hour and a half for a table (and two hours for a takeourt order). Needless to say, the situation looked rather grim. The restaurant was still packed when I finished lunch around 2PM (I started lunch rather late at 1PM). Next year, I am sure the manager will know better and will plan ahead for Cinco de Mayo, which happens to be a hugely important day in Mexican culture.

It is a rare culture that celebrates its defeats. The Serbians, for example, annually celebrate their crushing defeat at the Battle of Kossovo in 1389, where they were anhiliated by the Ottomon army, leaving Serbia an Ottomon territory for 350 years. One can understand that the Serbians will probably remember the second defeat of Kossovo in 1998 a long time as well. The Mexicans too, celebrate a day of defeat. The Battle of Pueblo was fought on May 5, 1862, during the French invasion of Mexico. The Mexicans were defeated in this invasion in the short term, as the French set up Archduke Maxmillian as the Emperor of Mexico.

The only reason the French were able to do this was because the United States was fighting the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln (and the North in general) were staunch supporters of the Mexican republican government, led by a decent and democratic Mestizo named Benito Juarez. He happened to be the only decent leader Mexico had during the 19th century, and possibly ever. Since he inherited some debts from previous leaders, the French used that as a cover to take over the country and eliminate democracy in Mexico. The South was generally sympathetic to the cause of global tyranny, and sought to be recognized by France, so they did not hinder the French invasion at all.

After the American Civil War ended, the United States sent 50,000 troops under General Philip Sheridan to the border of Mexico to let the French know of American displeasure about their imperial adventure. The French took the hint and removed their troops, and Maxmillian was executed by a firing squad. Sadly, Juarez was only able to hold office for four more years after the occupation was ended.

Perhaps the Mexicans and Serbians celebrate the days of their military defeats for reasons which only small nations can understand. Mind you, these small nations (both Mexico and Serbia) are quite capable of bullying other, smaller nations (witness the fate of Central American illegal immigrants in Mexico or the fate of Bosnian or Kossovar Muslims in the former Yugoslavia). That said, these nations are both very military, and perhaps they consider it a proud moment to fight against a bigger bully than they are, even if they lose. Perhaps some people just need to remember that they can fight, regardless of whether they win or not.

I don't know if I want to drink to that, but that's what one drinks to when one celebrates this day.