A summer invitation from LIB

We know you're out there. We know you have opinions, ideas, and experiences. And that you wouldn't mind sharing them.

Please do!

If you would like to do some guest blogging here at Letters in Bottles this summer - even just a single post, let us know by contacting us at the e-mail addresses on the sidebar.

Tell us something interesting about your corner of the world. Or share your take on the latest development in the presidential race or world affairs. Review a book, a beer, a movie, an album, a state or national park, a concert, a blog, a new building, a restaurant. Interview someone or share a unique photo or drawing.

We'd love to hear your ideas.

Cordially yours,

LIB

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Kosovo Independence: Guest Account, Reflections

"The celebratory [ethnic Albanian] sedans are passing through the Macedonian part of town, which might be seen as provocative taunting."

Some fascinating perspective on Kosovo's independence as seen on the ground from our man in neighboring Macedonia:

"Teaching High School Enlish in Balkans is more fun when ethnocentrism and geopolitics stays out of the way...Today, Kosovo has declared its independence and the Albanians here in my Macedonian town are in turns jubilant, ecstatic, humbly proud, and smug. It makes no difference that everyone in town --Macedonian, Serbian, or Albanian -- is a Macedonian citizen; if you're an Albanian today is terrific and if you're a Slav it isn't. We're quite close to the Kosovo border, and the tension definitely spills over, as it has for years now.

"In the past 10 years, Macedonia has only narrowly avoided civil war, relying on UN soldiers to calm a 2001 conflict. Hotheads in the Macedonian majority accuse the Albanians of being mafia-prone or scheming to break away and form an oxymoronic "Greater Albania." Both sides deface the others' houses of worship. (Between all the nationalism and religion, you'd think they'd overdose on dogmatism.) Things have been better recently, but many people fear that Kosovo's independence will turn quiet prejudices into familiar violence. As Mirjana, my teaching counterpart tells me, "I don't know what to say except may God save us. I'm a bit scared, you know." Then again, Mirjana is an very jittery and diffident woman; I'd expect her to say something like that.

I'm hoping that the people in my unhappy little Macedonian town will conclude that Kosovo is not worth fighting about this time around. With an unemployment rate of ~35% and shambolic public services, this point should be obvious. There's no shortage of humane, intelligent, thoughtful people here, but the crazies of recent conflicts don't seem to have gone away, either. Albanian celebrations are planned in the town center tonight...I'm hoping that they're tasteful and reconciliatory and muted..."
















"We saw a shabby cavalcade of 9 cars, each packed with intense-looking young men, making rotations around the block, drivers shouting and honking and waving flags. (The US is likely to be one of the first to recognize Kosovo, so you see its flag, too)."

* * *

For me, talk of Kosovo brings back a number of memories. Most vivid is the arrival of Antigona M, an ethnic Albanian Kosovar refugee, in my high school biology class during sophomore year. She had long, raven black hair and a reserved, haunted demeanor - you could tell she had witnessed some unspeakable things.

I was assigned to help her as best as I could to make sense of the class, which proved immensely difficult - she knew almost no English, and we struggled daily with an Albanian/English dictionary. At points, my attempts to convey biological concepts in stumbling language and harried page flipping made both of us laugh.

She was always trying to downplay her family's Muslim faith, talking only occasionally about their trips to a mosque in the Fox Valley, which must have seemed a difficult proposition to maintain in the Christian stronghold of eastern Wisconsin - and the fact that the local Catholic church was instrumental in helping them set up a new life in small town Kiel. The irony of the religious landscape in their sanctuary must had a rather dark tinge to it coming on the heels of the family's escape.

Antigona gradually adapted to her new environment - clearly divergent customs, norms, and even clothing styles had to be bridged. But she was always smart, despite being quiet. Last I heard, she was working as a successful hair stylist in Appleton. Sadly, her younger brother recently passed away.

Her father, I can still recall, would often drive his bicycle around town after the family's arrival, a small American flag fluttering off the back of the wire basket.

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Guest Post: Obama in Eau Claire, Wisconsin

A guest post, courtesy of Tom S up in the Arctic wastes of northern Wisconsin:

By the time I got in line (about 10:30 am), there were already about 1,000 people lined up. I asked someone at the door what time people started to line up, and she said it was around 6 am. The doors opened around 11, but it wasn't until about 12:15 that I finally got inside Zorn Arena. The arena's capacity is around 3,500, and they made an announcement that some people were not able to get in and had to listen from outside. An older gentleman who was behind me in line said that the Zorn has the largest capacity in the area as far as he knew.


















The crowd was dominated by college students, though the event was open to the entire community and I saw plenty of young families as well. The crowd was fairly energized, though I wouldn't say that it was overwhelmingly made up of strong Obama supporters. I think lots of people might have come out of curiosity. The only other campaign visit in this area of the state was Chelsea Clinton earlier in the week. Overall, I would say that the campus climate regarding the campaigns has been pretty lukewarm, especially in comparison to a place like UW-Madison.

















Mr. Obama took the stage a little after 1 pm, and spoke for about 45 minutes. His speech was for the most part general campaign rhetoric, and he did not go into much detail about specific policies he would implement. Three issues that he did go into some detail about were health care, education, and energy; but for the most part it was a standard campaign speech that could have been delivered anywhere in the country.


















Some final miscellaneous notes:

-By my count, he mentioned Senator Clinton 5 times. He made no mention of the Republican candidates; however he did make several remarks about the current administration (including some funny comments on the recent revelation that he and Dick Cheney are "cousins").

-Several times he drove home the point about being an "outsider" in Washington, and how that is what the country needs. Isn't it funny how that was one of President Bush's main points back in 2000?

-I was definitely impressed by Mr. Obama's speaking abilities, though I can't say that I was "blown away." His strength today was his very easy-going and relaxed manner on stage, which produces an "everyman" effect. He scored big laughs with jokes about shy Republican supporters who whisper to him at campaign stops, and also about the Chicago Bears' disappointing season.

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Guest Post: Happy Lundi Gras!

While the rest of the Midwest fights the good fight against hypothermia, I grapple with other forces (mostly Brad) for plastic beads. They may be cheap "Made in China" beads, but these shiny trophies make the candy thrown at my hometown's Fourth of July parade look like brussel sprouts.

Plus, the southern belles down here are both beautiful and not bundled up. Thanks to a suggestion from Brad that I don't quite understand, I have been asking random girls if they have any watermelon. So far, the answer has always been, "no."

Now that I have aquired a bounty of beads, I am off to Bourbon Street to donate them to a good cause.

- Ryan S

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South Carolina GOP Primary: Guest Field Report

Hello, my name is Joe Luebke, a student at Clemson University in Clemson, SC. Right now it is primary season in South Carolina with the Republicans going to the polls Saturday and the Democrats to follow next week. Here is what I have seen so far on the Republican front:

Ron Paul: He was the first candidate to come to our corner of the state (we're in the Northwest corner of South Carolina, not far from Greenville, close to Georgia), so the Ron Paul Revolution hit the area hard. To this day there are more Ron Paul signs in Oconee and Pickens counties than any other candidate; he certainly has vocal supporters.

John McCain: He was the second Republican candidate that I had a chance to see. It was the day of the YouTube debate. I was impressed because he decided to do a town hall format and answer questions from the audience. He was able to defend his position on illegal immigration stressing that we must first secure the border before we do anything else. He also claimed he would veto pork barrel spending bills. If you saw the YouTube debate, it sounded pretty much the same.












Mike Huckabee: He had by far the biggest crowd because of his celebrity guests. However, he seemed more content at his rally to play bass guitar, tell jokes, and show off former wrestler “The Nature Boy” Rick Flair, and of course Chuck Norris. In an effort to ask him a real policy question, I got a door slammed in my face. I then tired to track him down by his bus, but I was stopped by security when I was talking to him because Chuck Norris was coming through.












Fred Thompson: He was at the Family Restaurant in Seneca, SC today. He was doing an interview and open Q&A with the local news. He seemed desperate. However, he was able to defend himself as a stronger conservative than the rest in between bashing the other candidates. He admitted himself that he must win or place well in South Carolina to stay competitive, so he has been on a bus tour throughout South Carolina for the last two weeks.

Conclusion: I did not get a chance to see Romney; he has actually been campaigning in Nevada the past few days. Huckabee has pretty much just been campaigning on his charm and theology degree in South Carolina, Fred has been the strong conservative voice, and despite all of this McCain leads in the polls. In the school newspaper, The Tiger, Ron Paul has been leading among all candidate Republican or Democrat the whole way.

My predictions go like this: McCain, Huckabee, Thompson, Paul, and Romney. However this is probably not even close to what will happen, but I have two more predictions for you; this may very well be the bitter end for Thompson, sorry “Friends of Fred.” Finally I am just going to throw a Packer’s Super Bowl Victory prediction for good measure.

[Thanks, Joe!]

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Guest Blog: Madison Mayoral Candidate Ray Allen

First off, thank you to Letters in Bottles for this opportunity to address the blogosphere about my bid to become the next Mayor of Madison. Rarely do candidates get the opportunity to address the community in such a hands on, unmediated way and I'm grateful for the chance to reach out to the readers of this blog.

I'm running for Mayor because I want Madison to be a city of hope and opportunity for all its citizens, but since this blog is a Mecca for young thinkers, I wanted to address major concerns for the under 30 crowd:

1) Voice for Students/Young People in City Government

Rather than just paying lip service to young people when asking for their vote, I will appoint a college student to my transition team so the voice of students can be heard and applied in city government.

I also would like more youthful voices in committees dealing with social and cultural aspects of the city. The youth give Madison a certain character that needs to be respected and encouraged, not whitewashed.

2) Job Creation/Economic Development

I will be a cheerleader for Madison to bring businesses to the city so there are jobs and opportunities available for young people to live and work in the city once they are finished with their education. Also, by having a strong local economy we will continue to fight poverty by having good paying jobs for all our citizens.

3) Cultural and Social Atmosphere

I want this city to embrace, not reject, its social traditions such as the Halloween celebration and the Mifflin Block party. We can put Madison on the map in a good way by throwing safe and entertaining shindigs that people want to attend.

I will work to make Madison a destination point for visitors as well as musical acts. If you run a straight line between Chicago and Minneapolis, Madison is on it so the city should be encouraging musical acts on tour to stop in Madison.

I hope this brief posting has given you a little more insight to my vision for the city. If you would like to learn more about the campaign and where I stand on the issues, please visit my website.

Thanks for your time - I hope to have your on Tuesday, April 3rd.

Ray Allen

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