JOZEF DANGLAR GERTLI

ILLUSTRATIONS & OTHER FUNNY PICTURES

on Monday, April 5, 2004 at 7:00 p.m.

at the Koloman Sokol Gallery
Embassy of Slovakia
3523 International court, NW
Washington, DC 20008

Bussines attire

RSVP: by April 2, 2004 at Tel.: (202) 237 1054, ext. 212, 213.  Please, do
not RSVP to this email address.

Jozef ³Danglar² Gertli (1962 in Detva)
Lives and works in Bratislava

1977-1981 College of Crafts and Applied Arts, Bratislava
1985-1991 Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava

Solo exhibitions:
2003 Slovak Institute, Budapest, Hungary
2002 Gallery Michalsky dvor, Bratislava
2001 Jazz & Blues Fest, Levice
1998 Gallery City of Bratislava
1994 Comics, Theatre Gallery, Banska Bystrica
1993 Finkova kuria, Zvolen

He has illustrated dozens of books of Slovak contemporary writers. He also
collaborates with main Slovak and Czech newspapers and magazines.



Press Office, Embassy of Slovakia

The Slovaks will be electing their new president this weekend.  Although
the president can return a bill to the parliament, in which case it needs
to be passed by a larger majority, it is just a ceremonial office.  The
Slovak (and European in general) president is not the head of the
government (that is the prime minister), does not choose the cabinet, does
not run the government.  The government emerges as a result of
parliamentary elections in Europe.

Unless someone gets more than 50% in the first round (not very likely),
there will be another round with just the two candidates who got the most
votes.

Below is a roundup of what's going on from The Financial Times (London).


Martin

votruba "at" pitt "dot" edu

x x x



'Older and wiser' Meciar hopes for a comeback as Slovakia joins EU

Three-time premier and leader of the largest party is trailing in the
polls for this weekend's first round (non-executive president). His best
chance may come in the 2006 elections.

      The Financial Times (European edition), 4/1/2004


Vladimir Meciar, the former Slovak premier who was shunned by the European
Union and NATO, has two opportunities to make a comeback this weekend and
shock both organisations just as they welcome Slovakia as a new member.

On Saturday Slovaks will cast their ballots to determine who will be their
new non-executive president and whether their centre-right government
should be recalled two years early. The country's laws allow Slovaks to
call a referendum if enough signatures are gathered among the electorate.
Trade unionists, angry at benefit cuts, managed to raise close to 600,000
- more than enough to prompt a recall vote, which happened to coincides
with a presidential election.

Mr Meciar, a three-time premier and leader of Slovakia's largest party,
backs the recall referendum and is himself standing for the second time as
president. If he succeeds in either vote, he could once again be the
centre of attention after languishing in opposition for almost six years.
During his last term as premier between 1994 and 1998, Mr Meciar led
Slovakia into diplomatic isolation by trying to stifle political
opposition and whip up nationalism against neighbouring Hungary.

Mr Meciar, now 61, claims to be "older and wiser" these days, even if he
still finds it hard to apologise for past mistakes. He has adopted a more
conciliatory, even humble manner in television appearances, a
transformation the more marked because of his newly dyed hair. His HZDS
party has also had a facelift, adding the prefix "People's Party" as proof
of its intention to join the centre-right bloc in the European Parliament
in June.

After initial wobbles the HZDS is now strongly pro-EU. EU officials admit
privately that Mr Meciar's public support was vital last year in securing
the required 50 per cent turnout in the referendum on membership.

The HZDS has also supported the minority government in several key
parliamentary votes, fuelling allegations from other opposition parties
that Mr Meciar has reached a secret deal with the prime minister, Mikulas
Dzurinda, in return for the police not pursuing their investigation into
his private finances.

If Mr Meciar becomes president or simply retires, it is now likely that
the HZDS could join the current coalition after the next election, a move
that would heal the rupture his last government caused and help
restructure Slovak politics along ideological rather than personal lines.

Mr Meciar believes any lingering doubts that the EU and Nato may have
about him will be dispelled once he becomes president.

"When (Silvio) Berlusconi was sworn in as (Italian) prime minister, many
politicians did not want to shake hands with him," Mr Meciar says.

"Now they have no problem with that. After (Wolfgang) Schussel's
government was formed, Austria fell into isolation. Is there any isolation
now? All of these were just temporary."

Nevertheless, Slovak voters appear to retain enough doubts to deny Mr
Meciar the chance to rehabilitate his reputation. Though he remains
popular in mountain districts for leading the country to independence in
1993, his folksy charm does not work on urban voters. In the latest
opinion polls he trails Eduard Kukan, the foreign minister, by 27 to 24
per cent, a margin that is likely to widen in the run-off on April 17.

The recall referendum also offers Mr Meciar only an outside chance of
success. Voters are angry at the government's increases in indirect taxes
and cuts in social benefits but they remain apathetic.

Two-thirds of voters say they intend to vote, but less than the required
50 per cent are expected to turn out. The embattled four-party coalition
therefore looks likely to soldier on, particularly while the opposition
remains paralysed by the rivalry between Mr Meciar and Robert Fico, the
aggressive young populist who has overtaken him in opinion polls.

Mr Meciar's chance of making a comeback -- or at least ensuring himself a
peaceful retirement -- will probably have to wait until the 2006 general
election.

A popular bar had a new robotic bartender installed. A
fellow came in for a drink and the robot asked him,
"What's your IQ?" The man replied, "130."  So the
robot proceeded to make conversation about physics,
astronomy, investments, insurance, and so on. The man
listened intently and thought, "This is really cool."

Another gent came in for a drink and the robot asked
him, "What's your IQ?" The man responded, "100." So
the robot started talking about football, baseball,
and so on. The man thought to himself, "Wow, this is
really cool."

A third guy came in to the bar.  As with the others,
the robot asked him, "What's your IQ?"  The man
replied, "70."  The robot then asked, "So, are you
Democrats really going to nominate John Kerry?"






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I added a link in the "Links" area on the home page for "The
Slovak Spectator", but another way to get news about Slovakia is
to use "Google News Alerts" which will e-mail you with news on
subjects that you select.  Nech sa paci:

http://www.google.com/newsalerts?hl=en

Note: forwarded message attached.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Slovak World Family:

Easter baskets this year are as follows:

1) Fruit, Easter Basket, about 10 KG or 22 pounds  $25
2) Fruit, Meat, and Cheese basket, about 10 KG  $37
3) Meat & Cheese basket, about 10 KG  $42

Taxes on food were raised from 6% to 19% this year.

Dan Kisha  daniel.kisha@...
Slovak Import Company
WWW Address:  http://pages.prodigy.net/daniel.kisha
Ebay WWW Address:
http://www.ebaystores.ebay.com/slovakimportcompany
Phone number in Slovakia: 421 (0)43 428 3168
Phone number in the US: 410 273 1149






Yahoo! Groups Links

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3595853.stm

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/04/03/slovakia.poll.reut/index.html

Man, Vladimir Meciar is the Energizer Bunny of Slovak politics, it's
rather annoying. While my cousins in central Slovakia seem to like him, I
think he's trouble.  Autocratic nationalist type, but has the
support of the country-folk and pensioners. I'm wary of populists like
him.

It will be very interesting if Meciar wins the Presidency, it will be a
big embarrassment for the Dzurinda govt. The EU and NATO will be raising
their eyebrows...

-S

Many Slovaks will wake up on Sunday feeling that the second round is
coming on April 17 in more than one sense.

If the preliminary results from the Election Committee are confirmed,
the second round of the presidential elections will decide between the
former Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar, and his former close ally Ivan
Gasparovic.

52.0% - didn't vote
15.7% - Vladimir Meciar - former prime minister, HZDS party
10.7% - Ivan Gasparovic - Meciar's ex-ally, founder of a splinter party
10.6% - Eduard Kukan - Foreign Minister, current cabinet
  3.6% - Rudolf Schuster - current President
  3.1% - Frantisek Miklosko
  3.1% - Martin Butora - Slovakia's ambassador to US until 2001


When Meciar was the Prime Minister, Gasparovic was the Speaker of the
Parliament.  Both were leading members of the HZDS party shunned by the
West.  After their party was voted out in 1998, the West approved and
Slovakia has quickly caught up with the leaders among the
post-communist
nations.  Having been dropped from the list of the first wave of NATO's
post-communist enlargement, it joined NATO this past week and is
lined up to join the European Union in 3 weeks.

Gasparovic left the HZDS and founded a new party in 2002, but it failed
to win seats in the Parliament.

The result of this presidential election resembles the results of
Slovak
elections before 1998: while Slovakia has had substantially more
opponents than supporters of the HZDS, the preferences of Meciar's
opponents were dispersed, and the HZDS won by default.  On the other
hand, Meciar's and HZDS's supporters are dedicated voters.  Any
dispersion or resignation among HZDS's opponents plays to his
advantage.

The president has the right to return bills to the Parliament, but
otherwise is just a figurehead in Slovakia and most European countries,
which are run by coalition cabinets under the prime minister.

However, it is formally the highest office in the country, and the
preliminary results suggest that the West may have to deal with one, or
the other former top leader of the harshly criticized HZDS as one of
the
leaders of the expanded European Union.  The accession of Slovakia is
scheduled for May 1.

Many in Slovakia will feel that candidates like Miklosko (attracting
conservative, strongly Catholic voters) and Butora (favored by
pro-Western enthusiasts) lured away precious votes from Kukan who --
although criticized for his former Communist Party membership -- would
have been the preferred candidate for a large majority of Slovaks in a
two-candidate presidential contest with Meciar according to opinion
polls.

Others will criticize the present government for not endorsing any
candidate.  Kukan, Miklosko and Butora, and in a less straightforward
manner Schuster were all supporters of the present ruling coalition.

According to the preliminary results, the difference between Gasparovic
and Kukan was 3,644 votes.


Martin

votruba "at" pitt "dot" edu



__________________________________
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Eden Joachim" <esjoachim@...>
To: "Belarus SIG" <belarus@...>
Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 6:23 PM
Subject: [belarus] Bremen Passenger Lists Online


> Support the work of the Belarus SIG
> http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/belarus.html
> *******************************************************
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ***** NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM July 4 - 9, 2004 ****
>         24th Jewish Genealogical Conference
>         http://www.jewishgen.org/jerusalem2004
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> The Bremen Germany Chamber of Commerce has a website with passenger lists
> available for searching at
> http://db.genealogy.net/maus/gate/shiplists.cgi?lang=en
>
> The listing will cover the years 1920 through 1939, but are only partially
> indexed at this time.
>
> Eden Joachim
> Pomona, New York
> esjoachim@...
>
>
>
>
> ---
> To post to the Belarus SIG discussion group, send your message to:
> <belarus@...>
> Remember to send your message in PLAIN TEXT and sign
> with your full name and location
>
> Belarus SIG Webpage:  <http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus>
> Belarus Online Newsletter:
<http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/newsletter/bnl_index.htm>
>
> Join the Research Trip to Belarus
<http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlschleppers/>
>
> This SIG (belarus@...) is hosted by
>         JewishGen: The Home of Jewish Genealogy
>         Visit our home page at http://www.jewishgen.org
> ****************************************************
>  Thinking of visiting your ancestral shtetls?
>      Let JewishGen ShtetlSchleppers® take you there!
>        http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlschleppers/
>
> *******************************************************
> Support the work of the Belarus SIG
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> Sign up for the JGFFAlert!
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> You are currently subscribed to belarus as: [drav@...]
> To unsubscribe send email to leave-belarus-32199L@...

In a message dated 4/2/04 10:02:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
colinv@... writes:

> http://www.google.com/newsalerts?hl=en
>
>

thank you Colin.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> It will be very interesting if Meciar wins the Presidency, it will be a
> big embarrassment for the Dzurinda govt. The EU and NATO will be raising
> their eyebrows...

I agree, Scott.  It'll be interesting to see whether the present
government will adopt any particular strategy to support the candidacy of
Ivan Gasparovic.  Although Vladimir Meciar's former close ally, his name
does not have the immediate international recognition, and he parted with
Meciar a couple of years ago.

Among the candidates who may be seen as having reduced Eduard Kukan's
chances of winning, Martin Butora does not feel he should not have run.

Butora was Slovakia's ambassador to the US till 2003 (I mistyped the year
in my previous message), while Kukan was his boss -- the Foreign Minister,
well accepted by the West.

In a Sunday interview, Butora said: "As a presidential candidate, I am
pleased with my own results; as a sociologist, I am surprised by the final
result; and as a citizen, I am miffed."  He has said that he will not
advise his voters which of the two candidates -- Meciar or Gasparovic --
to vote for in the second round.

Butora got 6.5% of the valid votes (i.e., 3.1% of the adult
population/eligible voters).


Martin

votruba "at" pitt "dot" edu

I just spoke with my cousin in Slovakia, this Sunday, her son was working at the
voting place, and he said there was less than a 50% turn out for the elections.

capt.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On Sun, 4 Apr 2004, capt jack wrote:

> I just spoke with my cousin in Slovakia, this Sunday, her son was working at
the voting place, and he said there was less than a 50% turn out for the
elections.
>
> capt.

Yup, the referendum they tried to push for early parliamentary elections
failed because they only got 35% of the voters and needed 50%+1 in order
to make it valid.

I think, in general, Slovaks are really disgusted and cynical about their
politics because of the last 10 years. Hopefully it will improve in time,
but it's hard to blame them for their apathy.

-S

> her son was working at the voting place, and he said there was less than
> a 50% turn out for the elections.

That's what the numbers in my previous post showed quite clearly:

      52% didn't vote.

That means that the turnout was 48% (47.94% to be precise).

The Slovaks have been quite conscientious voters.  Slovakia's turnouts in
parliamentary elections have been 70%-85%.  This turnout appears to
reflect the Slovaks' dissatisfaction with the present government.  While a
large majority of the Slovaks reject Meciar, they don't seem to see an
obvious alternative to both him and the present government.  Gasparovic's
success must be ascribed to the endorsement he got from the major
opposition non-HZDS party "Smer."

By contrast in the US, where the president is actually the head of the
executive and matters a lot, the turnout in 2000 was 51% of the adult
population, 67% of the registered voters.


Martin

votruba "at" pitt "dot" edu

> disgusted and cynical about their politics because of the last 10 years

I agree, Scott.  Some would say that because of the last 50, 60, or even
1200 years.  The Slovak lands have not yet had a period of politics
particularly concerned specifically with their overall economic and social
development.  Not that it was all bad, but it wasn't seen as "Slovak."
"Politics" mostly meant "somewhere else" -- Vienna, Budapest, Prague,
Berlin, Moscow (even Salzburg, if we go back to the 9th century).  Now
Bratislava is beginning to appear rather alien to the rest of Slovakia.


Martin

votruba "at" pitt "dot" edu

If you are an egg artist or just someone who enjoys
the art of others, we just got a spectacular book in
today.

Pisankas of the Ukrainian Carpathians

On eBay as item 3285408627

URL:  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3285408627

Very well done. I was impressed. One the nicest egg books I have
ever run into.

Greg Kopchak
www.iarelative.com

I think the Balch Institute in Philly also has passenger lists from
various liners.
Colin

--- In Slovak-World@yahoogroups.com, "Andrea Vangor"
<drav@o...> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Eden Joachim" <esjoachim@o...>
> To: "Belarus SIG" <belarus@l...>
> Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 6:23 PM
> Subject: [belarus] Bremen Passenger Lists Online
>
>
> > Support the work of the Belarus SIG
> > http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/belarus.html
> > *******************************************************
> >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > ***** NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM July 4 - 9, 2004 ****
> >         24th Jewish Genealogical Conference
> >         http://www.jewishgen.org/jerusalem2004
> >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > The Bremen Germany Chamber of Commerce has a
website with passenger lists
> > available for searching at
> > http://db.genealogy.net/maus/gate/shiplists.cgi?lang=en
> >
> > The listing will cover the years 1920 through 1939, but are
only partially
> > indexed at this time.
> >
> > Eden Joachim
> > Pomona, New York
> > esjoachim@o...
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ---
> > To post to the Belarus SIG discussion group, send your
message to:
> > <belarus@l...>
> > Remember to send your message in PLAIN TEXT and sign
> > with your full name and location
> >
> > Belarus SIG Webpage:  <http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus>
> > Belarus Online Newsletter:
> <http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/newsletter/bnl_index.htm>
> >
> > Join the Research Trip to Belarus
> <http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlschleppers/>
> >
> > This SIG (belarus@l...) is hosted by
> >         JewishGen: The Home of Jewish Genealogy
> >         Visit our home page at http://www.jewishgen.org
> > ****************************************************
> >  Thinking of visiting your ancestral shtetls?
> >      Let JewishGen ShtetlSchleppers® take you there!
> >        http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlschleppers/
> >
> > *******************************************************
> > Support the work of the Belarus SIG
> > http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/belarus.html
> > *******************************************************
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ****************************************************
> > Sign up for the JGFFAlert!
> > http://www.jewishgen.org/jgff/jgff-faq.html#q3.7
> >
> >
> > You are currently subscribed to belarus as: [drav@o...]
> > To unsubscribe send email to leave-belarus-32199L@l...

There is a lot available on line but to date there has not been a systematic
collection of Bremen departures.

----- Original Message -----
From: "raybravo2000" <colinv@...>
To: <Slovak-World@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 8:00 PM
Subject: [Slovak-World] Re: Passenger Lists


I think the Balch Institute in Philly also has passenger lists from
various liners.
Colin

--- In Slovak-World@yahoogroups.com, "Andrea Vangor"
<drav@o...> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Eden Joachim" <esjoachim@o...>
> To: "Belarus SIG" <belarus@l...>
> Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 6:23 PM
> Subject: [belarus] Bremen Passenger Lists Online
>
>
> > Support the work of the Belarus SIG
> > http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/belarus.html
> > *******************************************************
> >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > ***** NEXT YEAR IN JERUSALEM July 4 - 9, 2004 ****
> >         24th Jewish Genealogical Conference
> >         http://www.jewishgen.org/jerusalem2004
> >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > The Bremen Germany Chamber of Commerce has a
website with passenger lists
> > available for searching at
> > http://db.genealogy.net/maus/gate/shiplists.cgi?lang=en
> >
> > The listing will cover the years 1920 through 1939, but are
only partially
> > indexed at this time.
> >
> > Eden Joachim
> > Pomona, New York
> > esjoachim@o...
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ---
> > To post to the Belarus SIG discussion group, send your
message to:
> > <belarus@l...>
> > Remember to send your message in PLAIN TEXT and sign
> > with your full name and location
> >
> > Belarus SIG Webpage:  <http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus>
> > Belarus Online Newsletter:
> <http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/newsletter/bnl_index.htm>
> >
> > Join the Research Trip to Belarus
> <http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlschleppers/>
> >
> > This SIG (belarus@l...) is hosted by
> >         JewishGen: The Home of Jewish Genealogy
> >         Visit our home page at http://www.jewishgen.org
> > ****************************************************
> >  Thinking of visiting your ancestral shtetls?
> >      Let JewishGen ShtetlSchleppers® take you there!
> >        http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlschleppers/
> >
> > *******************************************************
> > Support the work of the Belarus SIG
> > http://www.jewishgen.org/JewishGen-erosity/belarus.html
> > *******************************************************
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ****************************************************
> > Sign up for the JGFFAlert!
> > http://www.jewishgen.org/jgff/jgff-faq.html#q3.7
> >
> >
> > You are currently subscribed to belarus as: [drav@o...]
> > To unsubscribe send email to leave-belarus-32199L@l...





Yahoo! Groups Links

Dear Scott,

When listening to what the candidates were saying in their campaign I must
admit, Meciar was the one, who made the best impression and his words made the
best sense in regard to current situation here and future options.
He gives an impression to be a monolithe.
Vladimir

   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Scott T. Mikusko
   To: Slovak-World@yahoogroups.com
   Sent: Sunday, April 04, 2004 10:14 PM
   Subject: Re: [Slovak-World] Slovakia - Second round


   On Sun, 4 Apr 2004, capt jack wrote:

   > I just spoke with my cousin in Slovakia, this Sunday, her son was working at
the voting place, and he said there was less than a 50% turn out for the
elections.
   >
   > capt.

   Yup, the referendum they tried to push for early parliamentary elections
   failed because they only got 35% of the voters and needed 50%+1 in order
   to make it valid.

   I think, in general, Slovaks are really disgusted and cynical about their
   politics because of the last 10 years. Hopefully it will improve in time,
   but it's hard to blame them for their apathy.

   -S


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   Tato sprava bola preverena antivirusovym systemom NOD32.
   http://www.eset.sk


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Click here: I Pledge Allegiance -- By Red Skelton

Capt


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On Mon, 5 Apr 2004, Vladimir Bohinc wrote:

> Dear Scott,
>
> When listening to what the candidates were saying in their campaign I
> must admit, Meciar was the one, who made the best impression and his
> words made the best sense in regard to current situation here and future
> options. He gives an impression to be a monolithe. Vladimir

Yes, but does Meciar really believe that or is he just saying that to get
the votes? I find it hard to believe that he's really changed his skin.
Although he tends to run as a populist, saying what the people want to
hear, I wonder how committed he'd be to pro-market reforms, working with
NATO and the EU.

He was such a scoundrel when in power.  A lot of people liked him, even
when he was corrupt, silencing the free press, limiting rights, and
basically tending to be more like the old hardliners from the Communist
era. Well, that was the perception in the West anyways.

Then again, one could make an argument that the pro-market reformers and
pro-West centre-right crowd are just as bad!

-S

So will Slovakia be changing their currency (switching to the euro), either
in the near or distant future?

Julie Michutka
jmm@...

On Mon, 5 Apr 2004 , Scott T. Mikusko wrote>
> Yes, but does Meciar really believe that or is he just saying that
> to get
> the votes? I find it hard to believe that he's really changed his
> skin.
> Although he tends to run as a populist, saying what the people want
> to
> hear, I wonder how committed he'd be to pro-market reforms, working
> with
> NATO and the EU.
>
> He was such a scoundrel when in power.  A lot of people liked him,
> even
> when he was corrupt, silencing the free press, limiting rights, and
> basically tending to be more like the old hardliners from the
> Communist
> era. Well, that was the perception in the West anyways.
>
> Then again, one could make an argument that the pro-market reformers
> and
> pro-West centre-right crowd are just as bad!
>
> -S

This brings up two considerations:  first, the same thing applies to any
politician regardless of the country, and second, what right do we have
to meddle in the internal affairs of another country?

Bill Brna

Yahoo! Groups Links

Eventually they will, but Not in the near future.







At 10:55 AM 4/5/2004, you wrote:
>So will Slovakia be changing their currency (switching to the euro), either
>in the near or distant future?
>
>Julie Michutka
>jmm@...
>
>
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Vladimir Linder

I do Genealogical research, Ancsestral Village Videos and Ancestral Village
Photography in Slovakia.

More information on:
History of any village or town in Slovakia:
http://www.slovakheritage.org/Shopping/Books/histtrans.htm
Genealogical research:
http://www.slovakheritage.org/Shopping/Genrsrch/genealogical_research.htm
Ancestral Village Videos:
http://www.slovakheritage.org/Shopping/Videos/ancestral_videos.htm
Ancestral Village Photography:
http://www.slovakheritage.org/Shopping/Videos/ancestral_photography.htm

Slovak-English and English Slovak Translations US$35.00 per page

Next Genealogical, Ancestral Village Videos and Photography trip starts
JUNE 2004

To reach me in Slovakia please email me at: vlinder49@...
My cell in Slovakia is: 011-421-907-297-508

Email: vlinder49@...

Contact me for more details
Vladimir Linder
3804 Yale Street
Burnaby, BC, V5C 1P6, CANADA
Phone/Fax: 1-604-291-8065, Cell: 1-604-889-4616



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Right on, you don't have the right to meddle in the internal affairs of
another country!!

Howevermore people will go and vote now in the second round and will make
sure that Meciar won't become the next president as they feel it will be a
disaster. So they will vote for the lesser of the two evils Gasparovic,
also a communist.

Vladi





At 03:18 PM 4/5/2004, you wrote:

>On Mon, 5 Apr 2004 , Scott T. Mikusko wrote>
> > Yes, but does Meciar really believe that or is he just saying that
> > to get
> > the votes? I find it hard to believe that he's really changed his
> > skin.
> > Although he tends to run as a populist, saying what the people want
> > to
> > hear, I wonder how committed he'd be to pro-market reforms, working
> > with
> > NATO and the EU.
> >
> > He was such a scoundrel when in power.  A lot of people liked him,
> > even
> > when he was corrupt, silencing the free press, limiting rights, and
> > basically tending to be more like the old hardliners from the
> > Communist
> > era. Well, that was the perception in the West anyways.
> >
> > Then again, one could make an argument that the pro-market reformers
> > and
> > pro-West centre-right crowd are just as bad!
> >
> > -S
>
>This brings up two considerations:  first, the same thing applies to any
>politician regardless of the country, and second, what right do we have
>to meddle in the internal affairs of another country?
>
>Bill Brna
>
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oops
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     At Duke University, there were four sophomores
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     taking Organic Chemistry. They were doing so well
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     on all the quizzes, midterms and labs, etc., that
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     each had an A so far for the semester.
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     These four friends were so confident that the
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     weekend before finals, they decided to go up to
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     the University of Virginia and party with some friends.
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     They had a great time, but after all the hearty
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     partying, they slept all day Sunday and didn't make
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     it back to Duke until early Monday morning.
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     Rather than taking the final then, they decided to
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     find their professor after the final and explain to
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     him why they missed it.
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     They explained that they had gone to UVA for the
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     weekend with the plan to come back in time to study,
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     but, unfortunately, they had a flat tire on the way
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     back, didn't have a spare, and couldn't get help for
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     a long time. As a result, they missed the final.
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     The professor thought it over and then agreed they
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     could make up the final the following day.
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     The guys were elated and relieved. They studied that
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     night and went in the next day at the time the
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     professor had told them.
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     He placed them in separate rooms and handed each of
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     them a test booklet and told them to begin.
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     They looked at the first problem, worth five points.
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     It was something fairly straight-forward about free
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     radical formation. Cool, they each thought!
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     All at the same time, each one in his separate room,
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     thought, this is going to be easy!
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     Each finished the free radical problem and then turned
the
page.
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     On the second page was written:
   > > > >
   > > > >
   > > > >     "For 95 points: Which tire?"
   > > > >



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Note: forwarded message attached.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On Mon, 5 Apr 2004, William F Brna wrote:

> On Mon, 5 Apr 2004 , Scott T. Mikusko wrote>
>
> This brings up two considerations:  first, the same thing applies to any
> politician regardless of the country, and second, what right do we have
> to meddle in the internal affairs of another country?
>
> Bill Brna

Well, true it can apply to any country's politicians... including our own!

It's not meddling in their intenals affairs, we ought not have that
'right'... even though we do and have done so in many cases.

My point is, based on seeing the political history of Slovakia,  I
woulnd't take Meciar's apparent change of tune at face value.  If he gets
the presidency, the proof will be in his actions.

The real fight will be in stamping out corruption and cronyism in the
Slovak govt. I think the people want real leadership. Granted, it's hard
to be decisive when you are dealing with coalition govts.


-S

> will Slovakia be changing their currency

Bratislava hopes to adopt the euro in 2007.  Some Western economists
consider it unlikely, some consider it unwise.

Slovenia, Estonia, some other new EU members hope for an equally early
date.  So did Hungary, but it's beginning to put the date off.  The Czech
R. says 2009-2010.  Poland after 2010, or later.

Current Western estimates are that Slovakia may meet the EU euro criteria
by around 2009.

I wouldn't toss my crowns, yet, Julie.


Martin

votruba "at" pitt "dot" edu

> I wouldn't take Meciar's apparent change of tune at face value

I agree, Scott.

> The real fight will be in stamping out corruption and cronyism

The Slovak President has no chance to do anything about it.  He can just
talk, should anyone care to listen.

He is _not_ the head of the government, just a ceremonial figurehead, kind
of an elected constitutional king (like in those European countries that
still have royalty).

The Slovak President has no business attending the Cabinet's meetings, has
no say in the cabinet's composition, no say in its policies, in the
country's defense...  The Slovaks actually expect the President to leave
his political party when elected, and appear to be non-political,
non-partisan.

The Slovak Cabinet does not answer to the President -- it answers to the
Parliament.  The Cabinet's head, i.e., the chief of the executive is the
Prime Minister, not the president.  The Prime Minister's office is the
Slovak parallel to the office of the U.S. President.

The only political thing the Slovak President can do is return a bill
(drawn up by the Cabinet, not him, and passed by the Parliament) to the
Parliament for another vote.

But even that is much less of a deal than when the U.S. President returns
a bill to Congress (although it can prove troublesome given the
multi-party composition of Slovak Parliament).

In Slovakia, such a returned bill has to be passed by merely more than 50%
of all the Members of Parliament.  To be specific, in the 150-member
single-chamber Parliament, it has to get at least 76 votes no matter how
many legislators are present.

Otherwise, a bill is passed by just the majority of the Members of
Parliament present for the given vote, provided that more than 50% of all
the Members of Parliament are present.  That is to say that -- minimally
-- if at least 76 Members of Parliament are present of whom at least 39
vote for the bill, it is passed.


Martin

votruba "at" pitt "dot" edu