EUROPA LEAGUE 2010 - 2011 GROUP B D H J SPANISH TEAMS RESULTS

Thursday, September 30, 2010

EUROPA LEAGUE action tonight with four Spanish Clubs participating in their Groups B, D, H & J respectively. Here is a quick summary & the results of a mixed night for the Spanish teams.ATLETICO DE MADRID finished their Group B match against German team BAYERN LEVERKUSEN with a 1-1 draw result. Atletico de Madrid put in a great second half to come back & equalize but failed half a dozen chances

LIONEL MESSI RECEIVES THE GOLDEN BOOT AWARD 2009 - 2010

FC BARCELONA star Argentine LIONEL MESSI received tonight the EUROPEAN GOLDEN BOOT AWARD for his 34 goals scored last season 2009-2010. The Argentine enjoyed a ceremony packed with media & guests to take the coverted "Highest European League Goalscorer" prize. He adds this to his "Golden Ball 2009" & "FIFA World Player 2009" prizes.Here is the final Top 1o list. Take note the the first Nº are the

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM | LIST OF 20 PLAYERS ANNOUNCED FOR LITUANIA SCOTLAND

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM Selector & Coach Vicente Del Bosque has handed in his list of 20 Spanish players for the upcoming EURO 2012 Group qualifiers against Lituania & Scotland. Spain plays Lituania in the Spanish city of Salamanca on the 8th of October & then flys to Glasgow to play Scotland on the 12th of October.The news is that FC Barcelona midfielder XAVI HERNANDEZ has been left out

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2010 -2011 GROUP C D RESULTS | RUBIN KAZAN 1 FC BARCELONA 1 | VALENCIA CF 0 MANCHESTER UNITED 1

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Two Spanish Teams played their respective Group CHAMPIONS LEAGUE matches tonight with mixed results & a late sour surprise.FC BARCELONA travelled to visit RUBIN KAZAN to end up drawing 1-1 in their Group D match. The Russians put in 5 defenders, 4 midfelders & 1 forward in a clear sign to build a wall & play counter-attack Football. This makes it difficult for any team to play well, yet alone

CSIS Recommendations as regards FYROM name issue.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The key challenge for the ROM/FYROM is to resolve its name dispute with Athens, which would help unblock the country’s path toward NATO and European Union accession. Basically, there are three stark choices: indefinite stalemate and no solution, which could destabilize the ROM/FYROM; pressing Greece to accept the current constitutional name and potentially undermine the Greek government at a time of economic and social convulsion; or convincing the authorities in Skopje to qualify the country’s name. Of the three, the name qualifier is likely to be the least destabilizing both for the ROM/FYROM and for Greece, as well as the broader region. On the basis of this premise, the United States would need to pursue the following approach:

• Skopje should publicly state its readiness to accept the proposal of the UN mediator that the country’s name be qualified, whether as the Republic of North Macedonia or as Vardar Macedonia. This name should be used in all international organizations and bilateral relations. Athens in turn should respond by acknowledging the national identity and language of the majority population of its northern neighbor as Slavic Macedonian and accepting Skopje’s assurance that the use of this name does not imply any exclusivity or historical or territorial claim to the northern Greek province of Macedonia or to the Hellenic heritage of ancient Macedon.
• Given that both Athens and Skopje dispute the meaning of Macedonian identity and believe that their rivals are either denying or claiming their identity in order to pursue a hidden agenda of irredentism or destabilization, a distinction needs to be made between Slavic Macedonian and Greek Macedonian in defining language and ethnic identity. However, the “Slavic” adjective cannot be included in the country’s name, because it would potentially alienate non-Slavic Macedonian citizens, including the large Albanian population.
• The resolution of the name dispute needs to be tied to issuing a formal NATO membership invitation to Skopje at the NATO Summit in Lisbon in November 2010 or shortly thereafter. If no permanent solution is reached by November, both countries could agree that Skopje may receive a NATO invitation under the FYROM label pending a full settlement. Successful NATO integration for ROM/FYROM would help stabilize Greece’s northern border and raise Athens’ stature in the EU at a time when Greece faces its own domestic economic and social problems. NATO membership would in turn eliminate the insecurities expressed in Skopje that qualifying the country’s name would destabilize the state and eradicate its identity. On the contrary, the country’s integration in NATO would strengthen its position in all international institutions.
• To achieve these results, more high-level engagement by the Obama administration to reinforce the current UN mediation process would be helpful. It is not a question of American pressure, but of potential incentives for both parties to come to an agreement with U.S. assistance. This would also necessitate a clear message from Washington that in the absence of resolution, the Balkan region will become more insecure, to the detriment of both Skopje and Athens.

FOR FAIR USE ONLY
Source: Abstract (pages 88-89)Report of Western Balkans Policy -Review 2010, article (ROM/FYROM,pages 82-89) by Janusz Bugajski

REAL MADRID CF TEAM PHOTO | 2010 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE vs AUXERRE

Independently of the "bad" performance tonight by REAL MADRID in their 0-1 Champions League Group G victory over Auxerre , here is the REAL MADRID TEAM PHOTO starting 11 for the fans.L to R Back: Khedira, Ramos, Pepe, Benzema, Xabi & RonaldoL to R Front: Casillas, Marcelo, Lass, Higuain, Arbeloa

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2010 - 2011 | GROUP G RESULT | AUXERRE 0 REAL MADRID 1

Yes the three points are important & yes REAL MADRID won away 0 -1 AUXERRE in their Group G CHAMPIONS LEAGUE qualifier, but the image was sad. The Spanish team looked impotent most of the night & the French had their chances ( post included from a Pepe header in defence) of getting ahead.The French team put up a very organized defence that waited for their chances to counter-attack, which they

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2010 - 2011 | GROUP G PREVIEW |POSSIBLE REAL MADRID STARTING 11 AGAINST AUXERRE

REAL MADRID travel to France & visit AUXERRE in their Group G Champions League qualifier. The Spaniards arrive under lots of pressure for heir recent poor play, Coach Mourinho being as controversial as ever & a worrying dry spell in goals. The other news is that Defender Carvalho has pains in his ankle that could leave him out tonight although the decision will be taken before kick-off. Therefore

SPANISH FOOTBALL | SOCCER - SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA 2010 - 2011 | MONDAY ROUND 5 RESULT

Monday, September 27, 2010

SPANISH FOOTBALL celebrated tonight its last match of Round 5 with the Spanish League - La Liga - clash between MALAGA - VILLAREAL. Like the saying goes, they left the best until last with a 2-3 victory to Villareal that saw 90 mins of emotional & action packed excitment. The first 35 min of the match gave us all the goals, all 5 in a crazy game.Malaga scored first early via ELISEU in the 4th min

New Macedonian books available now on-line.

The Foundation for the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle and the  www.macedonian-heritage.gr/ are  pleased to make available on line two works:

the entire two volumes of the important work "Modern and Contemporay Macedonia" edited by Ioannis Koliopoulos and Ioannis Hassiotis and published in print form by Papazisis Publishers and Paratiritis Publishing House.

The volumes consist of 32 articles written by expert scholars and provide a detailed presentation of the history, economy, society and culture of Macedonia from the Turkish occupation to the present time. The work extends to more than 1000 pages and includes more than 1000 photographs.

The link is...http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/ContemporaryMacedonia/index.html


and

the one volume “The History of Macedonia” edited by I. Koliopoulos, which consists of 19 academic articles in pdf format written by professinal historians presenting the history of Macedonia from prehistoric times to the present.

The link is...http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/HistoryOfMacedonia/index.html

SPANISH FOOTBALL | SOCCER - SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA 2010 - 2011 | SUNDAY ROUND 5 RESULTS

Sunday, September 26, 2010

SPANISH FOOTBALL action with Round 5 of the SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA - with 6 matches down for this Sunday.MALLORCA are making their home ground a difficult place to visit with todays 2-0 victory over REAL SOCIEDAD. Argentine CAVENAGHI scored both goals in the 5th min & later in the 62nd min to give his team the 3ºpoints.RCD ESPANYOL did the job on OSASUNA winning 1-0 thanks to the goal scored by

SPANISH FOOTBALL | SOCCER - SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA 2010 - 2011 | SATURDAY ROUND 5 RESULTS

Saturday, September 25, 2010

SPANISH FOOTBALL celebrated three games tonight of the SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA - as part of Round 5.The above picture tells the story. Newly promoted LEVANTE managed to keep out REAL MADRID without scoring & gain a valuable 0-0 draw. It was perhaps the worst performance from Real Madrid this season with no clear game plan, lack of creative ideas & more individual performances than a real team

REAL MADRID FC BARCELONA | THE SPINAL COLUMN

Interesting article on Spanish Football magazine (online version) "Don Balon" comparing FC Barcelona & Real Madrid. The feature observes, compares & illustrates what Football Coaches call technically the "Spinal Column" of the team. That is Goalkeeper, Defender, Midfielder & Striker; the 4 important pieces of the team to which everything else is built around & the 4 "discs" that sustain the whole

FYROM's Foreign Policy Objectives and the Name issue.

The FYROM name issue is not simply a dispute over historical facts and symbols. It is a problem with regional and international dimensions, given that FYROM is exercising a policy of irredentism and territorial claims fuelled by the falsification of history and the usurpation of Greeces historical and national heritage. It is also a problem   of a «cultural genocide».

The first steps of the former Yugoslav "Socialist Republic of Macedonia" towards independent statehood bear the marks of nationalistic visions mixed with territorial expansionism.

It is not a coincidence that, as a result of the first democratic elections (December 1990), the party which won first place in popular votes and parliamentary seats was the "Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation" (VMRO). Its platform declared specifically its intention to work for the unification of all the Macedonian lands in one state: the "Republic of Macedonia".

Similarly, VMRO's electoral poster depicted a map of a united Macedonia which included the whole of Greek Macedonia, as well as the Pirin district in Bulgaria.

In November 1993, under the influence of nationalists, the Gligorov government prepared and passed through Parliament the Constitution of the "Republic of Macedonia". In its preamble, the Constution stated that the new republic rests upon "the statehood–legal traditions" of the "Republic of Krushevo" (1903) and of ASNOM (1944). Both events are considered in Stopje as the first steps toward the establishment of an independent and united Macedonian state. It is worth quoting certain paragraphs from the ASNOM documents of August 21, 1944:

"Macedonians under Bulgaria and Greece,

...The unification of the entire Macedonian people depends on your participation in the gigantic anti-fascist front. Only by fighting the vile fascist occupier will you gain your right to self-determination and unification of the entire Macedonian people within the framework of Tito's Yugoslavia, which has become a free community of emancipated and equal people. May the struggle of the Macedonian Piedmont incite you to even bolder combat against the fascist oppressors!"

And in a Proclamation to the people of Macedonia issued on August 4, 1944, it was stated:

"...In the course of three years of combat you have achieved your unity, developed your army,: and laid the basis for the federal Macedonian state. With the participation of the entire Macedonian nation in the struggle against the fascist occupiers of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Greece you will achieve unification of all parts of Macedonia, divided in 1915 and 1918 by Balkan imperialists" .

To popularise these visions, official or semi-official agencies and private enterprises in FYROM put in circulation all kinds of maps, calendars, car stickers, posters depicting the "homeland" of Skopje's "Macedonians" ;-not within the borders of FYROM but all the way to the Aegean coast, the city of Thessaloniki and Mt. Olympus! This is happening not in 1903 or 1944, but in 1992, 1993, 1994.

More ominous for the future was the publication of identical maps and texts of a similar mentality in the new school textbooks of history, published by President Gligorov's Ministry of Education in 1992-1993.

Thus, in no uncertain terms, it becomes clear that the new state was launched, from the very beginning, on a course of territorial expansionism.

At a closer look, one can observe certain striking similarities of the aims of present-day FYROM nationalists and those of the Bulgarian revolutionaries at the turn of the 19th century in Ottoman-held Macedonia; or those of the Bulgarian fascists during the Second World War; or, finally, of the Yugoslav communists during the first post-World War II years.

In all cases, the vision of terroristsguerillas-political activists was–and continues to be–identical: to unite all Macedonian lands into a unified entity, despite the different ethnological composition of these lands. Where these fighters or activists differed was their choice of the beneficiary. In the late l9th century and all the way to the Second World War, the aspiring beneficiary was nationalist or fascist Bulgaria. Later, it was Tito's communist Yugoslavia. Now, it is Gligorov's–or his successor's–"democratic" FYROM.

Under the circumstances, one could hardly blame the Greeks, particularly those of the northern Greek provinces, if they view suspiciously the nationalistic claims of a new-born state in their backyard. After all, in the span of this century, they have experienced two foreign occupations and one Civil War, supported by neighbouring countries coveting Greek Macedonia and Thrace.

Let us take a glimpse at some not too distant historical events.

During the First World War, Bulgaria attempted to annex the Macedonian regions of her neighbours, Greece and Serbia, by espousing the cause of the Central Powers and Turkey. Indeed, with the support of Kaizer's Germany it managed to occupy Greek Eastern Macedonia where ethnic cleansing-type tactics were applied against the Greek population. The defeat of Germany and Austria-Hungary terminated Bulgarian occupation. Having failed to annex the coveted territory,- Bulgaria subsequently sought to promote the idea of an autonomous Macedonian state.

Once again, during the second World War, Bulgaria, allied to nazi Germany and fascist Italy, was given in exchange the right to occupy large parts of Greek Macedonia and Thrace all the way to the Aegean coast. Bulgarian occupation authorities, benefiting by World War I experiences, reverted to their familiar policy of ethnic cleansing. The collapse of the Axis terminated the second Bulgarian occupation of Greek Macedonia (1941–1944).

It is interesting to note that this was not only the policy of the Bulgarian ruling elites of the time, but also that of the Bulgarian Communist Party. It is a fact that during the interwar period, the Soviet Union under Stalin endorsed a proposal by Bulgarian Communists for a united and independent Macedonian state in the framework of a Balkan Communist Federation.

In 1944, it was Tito's turn, who set up the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. The federal form of the state was meant to solve the problem of quarrelling nationalities and ethnic minorities within Yugoslavia. He set up the "People's Republic of Macedonia" (formerly known as the "Province of the Vardar"), and sought to annex to it the Macedonian provinces of neighbouring Greece and Bulgaria.

This brief historical expose is didactic in many respects. It brings out the fact that neighbours of Greece, irrespective of international alignments or internal political regimes, have pursued, throughout the 20th century, schemes for expansion towards Greek Macedonia and Thrace. Furthermore, it supports the thesis that no single Balkan neighbour dared to challenge Greek sovereignty over the two Greek northern provinces, unless it was in alliance with one or more external great Powers.

The succession of these great Powers is worth recording.

Certainly, Greece and the Greek people do not feel threatened today by a weak FYROM. Nevertheless, the logical assumption that comes to the minds not only of the Greeks but all those who know the history of the Balkans is a simple one: if FYROM is allowed to develop on a nationalist, expansionist and even revanchist course, then it is bound to seek its own patron who will hand over to it the "promised lands".

The case of the Gruevski regime is unique. Is a expression of political hegemony of mr. Gruevski and his intention is to change the history, the society and the aesthetics of the country , while he spoke of a ''De-Slavisation plan'' .

This is the context of the irredentist efforts that have been mounted by FYROMs political leadership to nurture in the countrys citizens via school books and propaganda the notion that they are the descendents of the ancient Macedonians, thus cultivating the concept of a United Macedonia, a portion of which is FYROM, with other parts under Greek, Bulgarian and Albanian occupation. It is clear that the irredentist doctrine of a United Macedonia opens the way to claims on occupied territories.

For Greece, the definitive settlement of the matter and the finding of a mutually acceptable solution remain the sole objective. Greeces shift from its initial negotiating position accepting the idea of a compound name that includes the term Macedonia on the condition that there is also a geographical qualifier is proof of the constructive spirit and good faith in which Greece has approached the negotiations under the UN to date.

FYROM has opted for propaganda over dialogue, mounting a well-prepared, calculated smear campaign against Greece, while also trying to insinuate various non-issues into the negotiations, attempting to turn the talks into a platform for grievances, demands and claims against Greece. FYROM has even tried to reopen World War II issues that European countries have put behind them for good; issues that have no place in our common journey towards ever closer union.

The problem is simple. The geographical area of Macedonia is since the Middle Ages a multiethnic region. It is not the homeland of one single nation. He tort of Skopje is that while as a state and an ethnicity is a Part, it portrays itself as if it is the Whole. They call their country ‘Macedonia’, their ethnicity and language ‘macedonian’, because through these names they are trying to register mortgages in all of Macedonia. The rhetoric for the great macedonian dismembered homeland is serving this view.

In the name of Peace and stability in the Balkans -not only in our times but for future generations- it is important that the new state should be helped to divest itself of the legacies of the past, i.e. of the nationalist Bulgarian and communist Yugoslav mentality. T

hus:

• the contested articles of its Constitution should be deleted or amended in order to free political leaders of binding constitutional obligations -or the temptation- to pursue expansionist designs;
• the school textbooks of history should be rewritten to put an end to the indoctrination of young children with grandiose, chimerical visions of a greater Macedonia;
• internationally binding treaties should guarantee that the new state would sincerely accept the sovereignty of neighbouring states over their respective Macedonian provinces;
• and, above all, the name "Republic of Macedonia", a perpetrator of territorial expansionism, should be abandoned with no delay.

If such initiatives are taken and such guarantees are given, Greece would be the first to extend its hand in support of the new neighbouring state to its north. Prohibition of the abuse of rights is a general principle of law found time and again in international legal practice; and it comes higher up in the hierarchy than the rules governing the exercise, by the subjects of international law, of their individualized rights. Macedonian identity is part of the identity of every single Greek citizen and we will not negotiate on that  as Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas remarked.

REAL MADRID BASKETBALL TEAM 2010 - 2011 | SERGIO RODRIGUEZ

Friday, September 24, 2010

I don’t accustom myself to place ads on this blog, however once & a while…Sergio Rodriguez is the new signing for the REAL MADRID Basketball Team & has come straight from the USA NBA competition. Real Madrid has used Sergio as the TV ad image to boost Club members & introduce Real to the new 2010 – 2011 Spanish Basketball season.I think it’s a nice ad that speaks of Sergio life changing by coming

SPANISH FOOTBALL | CRACKOVIA - REAL MADRID HUMOUR

There is a hilarious daily TV programme called “Crackovia” on Catalan TV which does Football (Sports) sketches of FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, At Madrid & any other Spanish Football related issue of the week or day.Found this on “Youtube” which takes the piss out of Mourinho, Ronaldo & Ozil. The sketch recreates in a humorous fashion the dressing moment straight after the Real Sociedad game. I

MANCHESTER UNITED EYES ATLETICO DE MADRID GOALKEEPER DAVID DE GEA

Thursday, September 23, 2010

It’s not the first time that this story has appeared in the Sporting papers. To add wood to the fire, yesterday MANCHESTER UNITED Manager Sir Alex Ferguson was in the crowd to watch the Valencia – At Madrid “Liga” Round 4 clash. One could think that the Scotsman was there to “spy” on Valencia, but what he saw was another brilliant performance from DAVID DE GEA the 19 year old ATLETICO DE MADRID

SPANISH FOOTBALL | SPANISH LEAGUE _ LA LIGA 2010 2011 | ROUND 4 WEDNESDAY NIGHT GAMES RESULTS

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

SPANISH FOOTBALL continued with 4 games tonight of Round 4 as parte of the mid-week SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA - schedule.REAL SPORTING DE GIJON visited a FC BARCELONA team without Lionel Messi but the home side won 1- 0 with a goal from the ex-Sporting star DAVID VILLA now player of Barça. The Spanish International finally scored in the 49th min after Barça dominated with the ball most of the game

REAL MADRID TEAM PHOTO SEASON 2010 - 2011 | THE VIDEO

Thanks to “Youtube” channel “LoveSergio4”, who uploaded the video I have put up here in this particular post. It is today’s VIDEO of the REAL MADRID official 2010-2011 season Team Photo session. You will notice that everyone smarted up for the occasion, even Marcelo who shaved!Hope this gives the many Real Madrid readers a buzz…

SPANISH FOOTBALL | SPANISH LEAGUE _ LA LIGA 2010 2011 | ROUND 4 TUESDAY NIGHT GAMES RESULTS

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

SPANISH FOOTBALL has mid week Round 4 action with the SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA - spread over three days with tonight giving us three top games to enjoy.REAL MADRID defeated ESPANYOL 3-0 with most of the exciting action coming in the 2ºhalf. The first 45 mins were relatively boring except for the penalty given to Real Madrid when a Ronaldo free-kick was hand-balled. It was CRISTIANO RONALDO who

SPANISH FOOTBALL | UJFALUSI TACKLE ANKLE INJURY ON MESSI | AT MADRID FC BARCELONA

Monday, September 20, 2010

The front cover of Spanish Sports daily "Marca" says it all with the title "CHILLING". The tackle from Atletico de Madrid player UJFALUSI on FC Barcelona forward LIONEL MESSI could have cracked the ankle of the player. The Czech player was obviously sent off with a Red Card & later apologized to Messi, but the debate is out on the street that this type of play needs to be seriously punished.The

SPANISH FOOTBALL | SOCCER - SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA 2010 - 2011 | SUNDAY ROUND 3 RESULTS

Sunday, September 19, 2010

SPANISH FOOTBALL continued with the Sunday Round 3 matches scheduled as part of the SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA - competition. A total of 5 games with the last game of the Round down for tomorrow night with Deportivo - Getafe up for their clash.ATLETICO DE MADRID , with Sergio Aguero in the starting 11, in the big match against FC BARCELONA lost 1-2 in a game that could have gone Barça´s way 1 - 5

SPANISH FOOTBALL | SOCCER - SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA 2010 - 2011 | SATURDAY ROUND 3 RESULTS

Saturday, September 18, 2010

SPANISH FOOTBALL celebrated four games tonight of the SPANISH LEAGUE - LA LIGA - with Round 3 action.REAL MADRID defeated REAL SOCIEDAD 1-2 in an intense & suffered match that was settled in Madrid´s favour by two individual plays. DI MARIA scored his first Liga goal in brilliant fashion in the 51st min & RONALDO scored a free-kick winner in the 74th min. The goal for Real Sociedad came via

Pr. Dennis P. Hupchick as regards the Slavmacedonian nationality and language*

An interesting historical argument arose in support of an independent (Slav) Macedonian nationality that ultimately reached its maturity only after World War II and Tito's construction of a federated Communist Yugoslavia composed of six independent "historic" republics, of which one was Macedonia. The (Slav) Macedonian nationalists quite simply stole all of the Bulgarian historical argument concerning Macedonia, substituting "Macedonian" for "Bulgarian" ethnic tags in the story. Thus Kuber formed a "Macedonian" tribal alliance in the late seventh century; Kliment and Naum were "Macedonians" and not "Bulgarians"; the medieval archbishopric-patriarchate of Ohrid, which Kliment led, was a "Macedonian," not a "Bulgarian" independent church, as shown by the persistence of Glagolitic letters in the region in the face of the Cyrillic that were spawned in Bulgaria; and the renowned Samuil led a great "Macedonian," rather than a "western Bulgarian," state against Byzantium (giving Slav Macedonia its apex in the historical sun). Under control of the revived Bulgarian state, and later under the Serb Dusan, the (Slav)Macedonians had maintained their ethnic differences from their "foreign" masters, as demonstrated by their "king" VukaSin, who had died attempting to keep an independent Macedonia free from the Ottoman Turks. When ethnic-national consciousness reawakened among the Macedonian Slavs in the nineteenth century, the cultural revivalists, such as the Miladinov brothers, were consciously "Macedonian" and not "Bulgarian," in their efforts.

The obviously plagiarized historical argument of the (Slav)Macedonian nationalists for a separate (Slav)Macedonian ethnicity could be supported only by linguistic reality, and that worked against them until the 1940s. Until a modern (Slav)Macedonian literary language was mandated by the socialist-led partisan movement from Macedonia in 1944, most outside observers and linguists agreed with the Bulgarians in considering the vernacular spoken by the Macedonian Slavs as a western dialect of Bulgarian. In the interwar period (1918-39) the official language of... 
(Slav)Macedonia had been Serbian by compulsion, with the use of Bulgarian forbidden. The World War II socialist partisans in (Yugoslav) Macedonia proceeded to establish a commission to create the new "official" (Slav)Macedonian literary language, which was presented to the world the following year (1945). From then on, it became the legal first language of the Macedonian Slavs, with Serbo-Croatian a recognized second language and Bulgarian officially proscribed.

The new (Slav) Macedonian literary language was based intentionally on a dialect spoken in the central Vardar area of the region, so as to be removed as far as geographically possible from both Bulgarian and Serbian linguistic contaminations. Moreover, a separate (Slav) Macedonian Cyrillic alphabet was devised to make the new language as unnecessarily different from Bulgarian as possible, with the inclusion of wholly new letters found nowhere else and a few Serbian characters thrown in for good measure. Since the (Slav)Macedonian vernacular was primarily primitive in its native development, most of the words used were better related to folktales and songs than to the modern age. "Bulgarianisms" were replaced by folk substitutes, and modern Bulgarian, Serbian, or Russian terminology for technical and other twentieth-century expressions were intentionally avoided in favor of Western, including American, terms. The result not only made literary (Slav) Macedonian as different as humanly possible from its brother Slav languages, but it created a veritable linguistic hodgepodge, which approached the French meaning of macedoine when referring to a mixed salad. Led by the Skopje socialist linguist Blaze Koneski, and given international recognition in 1952 by Yale-produced Harvard Slavic professor Horace Lunt, the artificially created and structured (Slav) Macedonian literary language ultimately provided the socialist-mandated ethnic validity for an independent (Slav) Macedonian nationality. Over four decades of state socialization and education of Macedonian Slav children in that concept may have succeeded in creating such a creature in actual fact.

*This text is from the book of “Conflict and chaos in Eastern Europe ” and the pages42-144. In order to segregate the Greek Macedonian cultural identity from the Slav one, I add for understating purposes the words “Slav and Yugoslav” with blue font  in the front of the English  adjective “Macedonia (n)” at the text. Also in the book you can find the original notes and bibliography that used in the specific text.

FIFA WORLD RANKING | SEPT 2010 | SPAIN Nº1

Thursday, September 16, 2010

FIFA has released the September 2010 Football Nations World Ranking with the SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM repeating the Nº1 spot. The defeat of Spain against Argentina earlier in the month at Buenos Aires has taken points away from Spain, 1883 to 1824 pts, but there is still has a sufficient lead over second placed Holland. The notable changes are Slovakia & Norway with big gains in the ranking

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2010 - 2011 | GROUP G RESULT | REAL MADRID 2 AJAX OF AMSTERDAM 0

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

REAL MADRID defeated AJAX OF AMSTERDAM 2 -0 in the first Group G match of the 2010 - 2011 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE competition. A scoreline that leaves a bitter taste in the fans mouth as it could have easyly been 6-0 or even more. The Dutch team are less effective without their Uruguayan forward Suarez but were very "weak" tonight except for a couple of chances that gave the home team a scare or two.But

Letter from Pan Macedonian Association USA to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding US Ambassador Reeker's comments

Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton
September 9, 2010
State Department United States of America

Dear Madame Secretary,

We, the representatives of the Pan Macedonian Association USA, one of the largest Greek-American organizations are writing this letter to you because we, along with the rest of the Greek community in the United States, are extremely appalled by recent comments made by US Ambassador to Skopje Mr. Reeker in an interview regarding the position of the United States on the name issue of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (the FYROM). In a TV interview (Alpha TV Skopje) the Ambassador stated that the USA government does not provide change of the constitutional name, essentially supporting a double name solution.

According to the official US website of the US Embassy in Skopje which has posted extracts from the interview promoting it as the “US position” Mr. Reeker stated "We do not believe that the solution must involve the change of the constitutional name or the Macedonian Constitution. This is your Constitution. This is your holy text. What is needed is that both sides, Greece and Macedonia, agree to an international reference that will be used in place of FYROM".

Furthermore, Ambassador Reeker calls on the public of Skopje to embrace the US position:

"What we are saying is to look at the real question. And this is not a question about the identity or the language you speak. It is about finding an arrangement that will allow you to maintain your Constitution and your country, and strengthen your state within the framework of the North Atlantic Alliance . . .".

We consider Ambassador Reeker’s comments during the interview with Alpha TV Skopje to be anti-Hellenic and clearly pro-FYROM. As such they are very detrimental to the negotiating process for resolving the name issue between the two countries. We also note that this is not the first time that we see this anti-Hellenic attitude radiating from Ambassador Reeker’s office in Skopje. Just a short while ago the US Department of State’s April 2010 issue of State Magazine, published an article titled “Skopje, Ancient Macedonia builds modern democracy” the contents of which were highly offensive and provocative to Hellenism. A disturbing sentence from the article fallaciously stated that “Today major portions of historical Macedonia lie within neighboring countries.” With such unfortunate comments and deeds, the US Department of State has legitimized Greece’s concerns in the Balkans after the fall of Yugoslavia, and it is championing the irredentist claims of Skopje.

Ambassador Reeker has demonstrated a profound lack of knowledge of the historical truth regarding Macedonia. For the perspective of the truth we would like to refer the Department and Ambassador Reeker to a letter written to President Obama by 367 renowned Classicists, Historians, Archeologists, and Researchers from the world over, deploring the ridiculous irredentist claims and antiquization campaign of historical revisionism from Skopje’s ultranationalist government. This letter can be found with supporting documentation at the following Web site: http://macedonia-evidence.org/.

Ambassador Reeker’s comment that “…this is your constitution, this is your holy text…” is also particularly disturbing. Perhaps the Ambassador feels that The FYROM constitution has a place next to Old and New Testaments, the Talmud, the Koran and other Holy texts! We are sure that Ambassador Reeker knows well that unlike the Holy texts which have existed for centuries, the constitution of The FYROM is relatively new (about 20 years old) and is the word of the people that can be (and has been) changed at the will of the people.

The very concept of a “Macedonian” ethnic identity and language is a direct aggression against the territorial integrity of Greece and the theft of the Macedonian identity (Hellenic in cultural and historical terms) by the Slavs of The FYROM. A “Macedonian Nation” by its very name claims everything that is Macedonian. We consider the inclusion of the name “Macedonia” as part of the final name of The FYROM humiliating to Hellenism and we feel that in order to promote good neighborly relations and a successful Euro-Atlantic integration of The FYROM, the word Macedonia should not identify the country, the nation or the language of the inhabitants of the FYROM.

We feel that their nationality and language should be officially recognized as the nationality or language of the inhabitants of the “Republic of…” The sizable Albanian minority as well as the Roma, Serbs, Bulgarians, Turks and Greeks living in The FYROM clearly proved in the census of 2006 that they do not identify with the so-called “Macedonian” identity. We therefore question which one of those identities and language is Ambassador Reeker referring to?

In order for the destructive concept of Macedonism to expire, it is imperative that the constitutional name and constitution of The FYROM change. The United States albeit a great and powerful country, needs allies, friends and customers in the difficult times lying ahead. It is time for the United States to act as an ally and friend to Greece and turn the page reversing the destructive decision of The FYROM recognition as the Republic of “Macedonia”. Ambassador Edward Stettinius’ comments in the Circular Airgram (868.014 / 26 Dec. 1944) that “This Government considers talk of Macedonian “nation’, Macedonian “Fatherland”, or Macedonian “national consciousness” to be unjustified demagoguery representing no ethnic nor political reality, and sees in its present revival a possible cloak for aggressive intentions against Greece,” were correct in the 1940s and they are correct now. The current State Department recognizes as “Macedonians” the children of the people that Stettinius in the 40’s clearly stated that they are not Macedonians. We fail to understand this paradox.

Sincerely,

Dr. Papadopoulos, Supreme President
Demitris Chatzis, Supreme Secretary

Cc:
Ambassador Philip Reeker
USA Congress

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Victoria University conducts offensive survey ‘in partnership’ with nationalist lobby group, the ‘United Macedonian Diaspora’

PRESS RELEASE
8 September 2010

AMAC was disappointed to discover the content of a survey conducted by the Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, a research centre of Victoria University, for people of Slav-Macedonian background: http://www.cfses.com/survey-macedonia-2010.htm. According to this link, the survey was conducted “in partnership with the Macedonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Macedonian Diaspora”.

The UMD is a nationalist, US-based lobby group with its head office in Washington DC. The UMD is well-known for their supporting territorial claims by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia against Greece and Bulgaria.

Question 1 asks for the respondent’s country of birth and gives the option “Aegean Macedonia (in Greece)”. This sort of terminology is highly inappropriate. The term “Aegean Macedonia” is a term coined by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in order to legitimise its claims on the Greek province of Macedonia and, in particular, the port of Thessaloniki.

Question 15 then asks.....
 the respondent to what extent it agrees with the 'Roadmap for Advancing Australia-Macedonia Relations'. The ‘Roadmap’ is a 14 point plan a lobbyist construction of the UMD which it announced earlier this year. One of the Roadmap’s points which the survey asks the respondent to state the extent to which they agree is “Australia should recognise Macedonia's constitutional name without delay”.

AMAC fails to see how the nationalistic formulations of a lobby group such as the UMD and offensive, racist terminology could form part of an anthropological research project which purports to examine“how people maintain links with a homeland which represents an important part of their family background, identity or cultural heritage.”

AMAC has written to Victoria University and those conducting the survey and awaits a response to our concerns.

AMAC Launches Lecture Program 2010

Friday, September 10, 2010

PRESS RELEASE 7 September, 2010

Australian Macedonian Advisory Council (AMAC) Launches Lecture Program

AMAC Organises a Series of Lectures Australia-wide for West Australian classicist professor and Chicago-based expert in Macedonian studies.

The Australian Macedonian Advisory Council (AMAC) is pleased to announce it has arranged for a series of lectures concerning Macedonian history to be given across Australia by two highly esteemed scholars.

The first of those scholars is Professor John Melville-Jones of the University of Western Australia. The professor is 1 of 7 Australian academics to have signed the Macedonia Evidence Petition (see http://macedonia-evidence.org/). The Petition has now been signed by 332 mostly non-Greek academics world-wide and was sent to President Obama, it urges the President to reverse the US’ recognition of the FYROM as the ‘Republic of Macedonia’ and to ‘help the government to Skopje to realise it cannot build a national identity at the expense of historical truth’.

Professor Melville-Jones’ lecture itinerary is as follows:

Friday October 1 – Australian Macedonian Advisory Council Annual Dinner Function (622 Nicholson St, North Fitzroy), Topic:‘The Importance of Historical Truth’, at 7pm

Monday October 2 – Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne & Victoria (Lvl 3/ 168 Lonsdale St), ‘The ‘Island’ of Kassandreia’, at 7.30pm

Tuesday October 5 – Melbourne University (Theatre 1 in the ICT Building), Topic: 'The Deplorable Life and Disgusting Death of Andronikos I', at 6:30pm


Wednesday October 6 – Monash University (Clayton Campus,
Building 13a, Theatre M2), Topic: 'The Last Days of Byzantine Macedonia' at 1.00 pm


Thursday October 7 – Latrobe University (Bundoora Campus, David Myers Building, East wing, Room E125)'The Deplorable Life and Disgusting Death of Andronikos I' at 12.05 pm

The second visiting scholar is Marcus Templar from the University of Chicago. Mr. Templar is a well-known figure in Pan-Macedonian Association USA, having served in the Military Intelligence Corps of the U.S. Army brings interesting perspective to issues related to the South Balkan Region.

Marcus Templar’s lecture itinerary is as follows:

Thursday September 30 – Melbourne
Pan-Macedonian House (470 Queens Pd, Clifton Hill), Topic: ‘The Macedonian Issue Today’ (In Greek), at 7pm

Friday October 1 – Melbourne
Australian Macedonian Advisory Council Annual Dinner Function (622 Nicholson St, North Fitzroy), Topic: ‘The History of Macedonia since 1870’, at 7pm

Sunday October 3 – Canberra
Hellenic Club of Canberra (Aegean Room), Topic: ‘The Importance of Macedonia in Christianity’, at 6pm

Tuesday October 5 – Fremantle
University of Notre Dame, Topic: ‘The Instability of Skopje and NATO’,
Time: TBA

Wednesday October 6 – Adelaide
Odyssey Festival, GOCSA (262 Franklin St, Adelaide),Topic: ‘The transformation of a Slav people to ‘Macedonians’’ at 1.00 pm

Thursday October 7 – Brisbane
Brisbane Greek Club and Convention Centre (29 Edmondstone St, South Brisbane) Topic: ‘The transformation of a Slav people to ‘Macedonians’’, at 7:30pm

Sunday October 10 – Sydney
AHEPA Hall (394 Princes Hwy, Rockdale), Topic and time TBA

AMAC would like to thank the Australian Institute for Macedonian Studies and the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria for sponsoring the visits of Prof. Melville Jones and Marcus Templar by covering some of the travel and accommodation costs. We would also like to thank all those organisations who will be hosting Marcus Templar while interstate mentioned above, and also the Australian Hellenic Council in Sydney.

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