Darius Harris: This actually a very, very big story.

Amazing that no one's paying much attention to it...

Very true.

I think the reason no one is noticing this story is that so few people have a solid grasp of history.

It's not like it will start WWI or something.

This will not end well.

Nacertanije - the Serbian doom.

/You have only your self to blame.
//If you don't know whats Nacertanije then there is no point in understanding kosovo today.

Darius Harris: Amazing that no one's paying much attention to it...

The sheeple haven't had a chance to have their positions spelled out for them by the spinmeisters. Give it a few hours until the opinion pieces start getting posted online and then the fur should start flying.

/got my popcorn oil heating up

Uh gee, Serbia only tries to kill 90% of the population in Kosovo... Now they are shocked SHOCKED to learn that they want to become independant.

Darius Harris: This actually a very, very big story.

Amazing that no one's paying much attention to it...

It's the main thing on CNN right now, and was a 200 post thread on Fark yesterday, so it's getting some play.

http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=3404815

It's kind of funny that the supposedly freedom-loving conservatives in America are siding with Russia, Serbia, and others to argue that self-governance helps "terrorism."

Darius Harris: This actually a very, very big story.

Amazing that no one's paying much attention to it...

All I can do at this point is wait and find out what the UN Security Council comes up with (Russia called an emergency session. It's a convenient way of getting world military powers together in a neutral manner)

Wise man say, "Little Balkan problems have a tendency to blow up in your face."

bonehead800: Darius Harris: This actually a very, very big story.

Amazing that no one's paying much attention to it...


It's the main thing on CNN right now, and was a 200 post thread on Fark yesterday, so it's getting some play.

http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=3404815

Actually, the main story on cnn.com right now is about bees and ice cream.

Cool. This will provide some pre-season practice for the upcoming China-Taiwan Reunification Games.

Albanians took Kosovo, they are almost ready to take over Macedonia, and Montenegro is a work in progress for them. The Albanian dream of a 'Greater Albania' is coming true.

Does anyone see anything wrong with that or is it just the few surrounding countries that are suffering because of this?

Guzica: Albanians took Kosovo, they are almost ready to take over Macedonia, and Montenegro is a work in progress for them. The Albanian dream of a 'Greater Albania' is coming true.

Does anyone see anything wrong with that or is it just the few surrounding countries that are suffering because of this?

I don't give a damn as long as my tax dollars stay out of it.

That means you, Washington.

The troops will be home by christmas.

YixilTesiphon: Actually, the main story on cnn.com right now is about bees and ice cream.

Haha, that is funny. It is! Although the international edition never covers the same stuff.

shirtsbyeric: The troops will be home by christmas.

Hehe.

On CNN, Fox, MSNBC, Brittany/Anna Nicole will replace all this reality in 3 2 1. . .

Guzica: Albanians took Kosovo, they are almost ready to take over Macedonia, and Montenegro is a work in progress for them. The Albanian dream of a 'Greater Albania' is coming true.

Does anyone see anything wrong with that or is it just the few surrounding countries that are suffering because of this?

...b-b-but "Greater Serbia," in which the "Albanian problem" is wiped off the map, is okay!

This has been a long time coming. Russia wants Serbia to keep Kosovo, if only to keep their own renegade republics from doing the same thing.

muck4doo
This will not end well.

Amen. This surely will not end well.

Ignore the situation and it will go away. That's how I fix my cars and computers, and it's always wo@#*)#&%

Darius Harris
"This actually a very, very big story.

Amazing that no one's paying much attention to it..."

Except for the people in the last Fark thread about this. Then again, this deserves repeated attention. Why won't Bush see what political manovering he can do to support Kosovo?

HagarTheHorrible: sheeple

You know, there's only one person in the world that I could imagine saying that word in any context without sounding stupid.

That man, sir, is Christopher Walken, not you.

what does an indie rock band have to do with this?

jk im not a complete moron i know about arch duke ferdinand.
/the band is pretty good.

desertfool: Amen. This surely will not end well.

Freedom isn't free. "Sovereignty" merely for the sake of formalistic borders is bankrupt. I mean, why should Serbia be the way it is now? Why not return to the days of the large Yugoslavian state under Tito?

muck4doo: This will not end well.




/Agree

repeat of 1998 again?

/turns on Behind Enemy Lines

origami pizza: what does an indie rock band have to do with this?

jk im not a complete moron i know about arch duke ferdinand.
/the band is pretty good.

Damn it, I was going to post that pic! Oh well, back to the drawing board.

bonehead800: It's the main thing on CNN right now

Actually the main thing on CNN.com right now is this:

Haagen-Dazs: Vanishing bees could sting business

Haagen-Dazs is warning that disappearing bee colonies in the United States could become a big problem for the premium ice cream maker.

Guzica: Albanians took Kosovo, they are almost ready to take over Macedonia, and Montenegro is a work in progress for them. The Albanian dream of a 'Greater Albania' is coming true.

Does anyone see anything wrong with that or is it just the few surrounding countries that are suffering because of this?

YixilTesiphon
...b-b-but "Greater Serbia," in which the "Albanian problem" is wiped off the map, is okay!

----
As far as I have been taught in my home country (Bulgaria) the Albanians were not the majority in Kosovo 50-70 years ago. It was Serbian land. The Albanians went to an outside nation and ripped off a chunk of it any way they could.

I don't have a problem with either party involved, there are good people and bad people everywhere. I am just disturbed with the fact that the western media/politicians are so one sided. I think that both sides of the story should be equally reported and a solution should be made that has points that appeal to both sides.

How would Americans react if Mexicans decided that they were the vast majority on the west coast and tried to declare independence? This is quite similar to what is going on in Kosovo.

So no one will object if the Southern states secede again?
Same legal reasoning...

If someone has a minute, I was actually wondering if they could explain why this is THAT big of a deal, going as far as to scream WW3 over it.

Let me explain what I mean. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand was important not because of the significance of his one person as much as the volatile political situation of Europe at the time. Franz Ferdinand was the heir to Austria-Hungary, who was allied to Germany. The Austrians blamed the attack on Serbia, who was aligned with Russia. Russia was in turn allied with Germany's rivals, Britain and France. Hence when the Austrians attacked Serbia, they drew the rest of Europe into a World War.

Somehow I don't see this situation repeating in the modern day. Besides, Yugoslavia/Serbia already released huge chunks of their country in the past 20 years (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia), what's one more tiny, impoverished republic?

Yay! Another 3rd world craphole to send US taxpayers money to!

bitteroldman: I think the reason no one is noticing this story is that so few people have a solid grasp of history there's no oil in Kosovo.

Fixed.

Guzica: How would Americans react if Mexicans decided that they were the vast majority on the west coast and tried to declare independence? This is quite similar to what is going on in Kosovo.

That's not an analogous situation. It would be more like if a bunch of people from South Carolina moved to North Carolina, then decided to form their own state.

Keep in mind that Serbie hasn't existed for that long, either. Its "sovereignty" only came into existence after Tito died and Yugoslavia broke up into several smaller nations. Why, then, does Serbia have moral authority to exist, when their country exists only due to past secessionism?

Guzica: Does anyone see anything wrong with that or is it just the few surrounding countries that are suffering because of this?

Nothing inherently wrong with it other than previous history of the region and governments. I don't see anything wrong with the countries willfully binding together as a union of separate states under the EU.

Guzica: How would Americans react if Mexicans decided that they were the vast majority on the west coast and tried to declare independence? This is quite similar to what is going on in Kosovo.

How did Yankees react when the South declared independence?
They killed, burned, and raped to their heart's content. The South had as much right to delcare independence as Kosovo (or Croatia or SlSlovenia before).

Personally, I think Mexico should be allowed to have California, Texas, and the rest of their former territories back, if that's what the people who live there now really want.

2012, Chinatowns all across America vote for independence and receive China's backing at the UN Security council. In 2008, a precedent was set by allowing Kosovo separate from Serbia in a majority rules referendum.

Italy, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Indonesia, Cuba, and Mexico are also organizing referendums in areas across the United States based on the Kosovo precedent.

When interviewed, supporters said they had no good practical reason why they want to separate. However the leaders of the movement are clear that they will welcome the increase in their personal power and look forward to rolling back anti-corruption red tape.

Speaking of stories that aren't getting any play, Bush's trip to Africa might as well be taking place in another dimension.

It's unlikely this will escalate beyond a UN slap fight, if only because Serbia relies so heavily on the countries of the EU to keep it from economic collapse. Russia alone cannot keep Serbia economically alive.

That said, it would be naive to rule out the possibility of the situation becoming violent; because the history there tells us that it's not something either side is afraid to do if the right stimulus is added.

At this point we'll have to just keep a watchful eye over the area for the next... decade.

bigd29: HagarTheHorrible: sheeple

You know, there's only one person in the world that I could imagine saying that word in any context without sounding stupid.

That man, sir, is Christopher Walken, not you.

Well, far be it from me to sound stupid to you. Allow me then to humbly ask what you might use as a concise yet descriptive term for "people without the ability to form an opinion on a subject without having one spelled out for them by propagandists of their own political stripe".

h to the 'ojo: 2012, Chinatowns all across America vote for independence and receive China's backing at the UN Security council. In 2008, a precedent was set by allowing Kosovo separate from Serbia in a majority rules referendum.

It's a good thing that we don't support precedents that might allow people to take personal responsibility for themselves by engaging in self-rule, because that might lead to bad things happening.

LocalCynic: That's not an analogous situation. It would be more like if a bunch of people from South Carolina moved to North Carolina, then decided to form their own state.

Do you happen to have stats: how many ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo were born there, and how many were born elsewhere and immigrated?

AlphaNumericus: Do you happen to have stats: how many ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo were born there, and how many were born elsewhere and immigrated?

It's a good thing that immigrants only count as 3/5 of a person. We wouldn't want immigrants to be anything more than sub-human.

LocalCynic- are you Albanian? It sure sounds like you are.

I googled "Serbian history in Kosovo" in search on an un-biased info. I suggest that you do the same. I am not here to argue about anything. Cheers to everyone. I'm getting off the PC and going to enjoy my day off!

LocalCynic: It's a good thing that immigrants only count as 3/5 of a person. We wouldn't want immigrants to be anything more than sub-human.
You do know that the compromise "3/5" verbiage is in the US constitution because the North insisted on this and that the South wanted blacks to count as full persons, right?

AlphaNumericus: LocalCynic: It's a good thing that immigrants only count as 3/5 of a person. We wouldn't want immigrants to be anything more than sub-human.
You do know that the compromise "3/5" verbiage is in the US constitution because the North insisted on this and that the South wanted blacks to count as full persons, right?

Why are you trying to bust up his happy delusion?

Quebec in 2010.

//most of Canada will help you pack
///here's your independence, what's your hurry.