Oct 13
About Me
The most urgent thing you need to know about me: Kejda is read Kayda (or [al] Qaeda, if that’s what strikes your fancy). It makes me cringe when someone actually pronounces the ‘j’ in my name.
I am an Albanian expatriate of Jewish descent, yo-yo-ing between Manhattan and Waterloo, Ontario. I had my first taste of the continent four years ago when I got stranded in Nebraska as an exchange student. Since then I moved to Canada for university, hastily deciding that the U.S just wasn’t it for me (though the Nebraska experience did have a few redeeming qualities.)
It was a big mistake. My judgment clouded by rampant redneckophobia, I somehow overly-generalized from what I found in the Midwest, over-extrapolated, and by God, way overreacted. I mean, Canada??? What was I thinking! Anyway, I graduate in August with my fancy schmancy Honors Degree in Financial Economics, so it’s all water under the bridge now.
So Who Is Kejda?
Middle Name: Got none
Gender: Female
Year of Birth: 1986
Nationality: Albanian
Likely Ethnic Makeup:
At least 25% but less than 50% Ashkenazi Jewish
The rest is Albanian
may contain traces of polish, greek, and other nuts
Favorite Cities: New York City, Rome
Favorite Sport: Boxing
Favorite Directors: Stanley Kubrick, Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch
Favorite Artist: Salvador Dali
Personal Vices: Sushi, V for Vulgarity
Religion: Agnostic (but really an Atheist for all intents and purposes)
Favorite Philosophers: John Searle, Karl Popper
Favorite Economist: Ludwig Von Mises
Favorite Novelist: Erich Maria Remarque
Favorite Statesmen/Political Philosophers: Thomas Jefferson & Benjamin Franklin
Political Beliefs:
VERY Pro-America (The U.S constitution is the most consistent embodiment of freedom today)
VERY Pro-Immigration (Actually, fuck it… I’d even be in favor of near unconditional amnesty. Anyone’s head exploding yet? Feel free to bitch me out over it!)
VERY Pro-Gold Standard (Open Banking, 100% reserve, objective store of value, means of exchange, unit of account)
VERY Pro-Israel (…proud descendant of Zion. I’m no religious Jew, and much of Israel’s economic/foreign policy aggravates me, but there is something deep, meaningful, touching and highly symbolic in the historic struggle of the Jewish people, their destiny of being hated because of their giftedness and industriousness, and their tradition of overcoming tragedies and thriving across the world)
- Pro-Negative Individual Rights (emphasis on Negative: Do whatever you want, knock yourself out, go worship gummy bears for all I care, so long as it doesn’t interfere with me; but your needs in no way constitute a valid claim on my life, property, and liberty)
- Pro-Second Amendment (the right to self-defense secures all other rights)
- Pro-Home/Private School (Education is much too important to entrust the government with it)
- Pro-NATO Bombing of Serbia (For the average North-American: Your reaction to this point is a preliminary test on whether you are a rational critic of Islamism or a hysterical Islamophobe)
- Pro-American Invasion of Iraq (though against much of the way the war was handled and especially against how the after-war was managed)
- Pro-Flat Rate Consumption Tax (in a Utopian alternate universe where people would report it. In the real world, I’d probably settle for property taxes like New Hampshire’s)
- Pro-Choice (with some restrictions of course: partial birth abortions are abominable, and so are much of them in between. If you missed your period, go get tested, it’s been at most 15 days since you got pregnant. Make up your mind fast as soon as you find out. I don’t think it’s so bad to terminate a pregnancy within the first month or so, and it should definitely not be illegal.)
- Pro-Intellectual Property Rights (socialists and other collectivists don’t like to admit it, but it’s ideas and the freedom to act upon them which make the world go round, and not so much tangible Kapital. IP laws are a political acknowledgment of this truth)
- Pro-Capital Punishment (though the prospect of innocents being wrongfully convicted and executed is almost enough to change my mind)
- Pro-WWII (by that I mean the involvement of the US in it)
- Pro-Nuclear Weapons (…in the hands of the good guys. They probably saved us from WW3 and WW4. But deterrence through mutual assured destruction only works with a semi-rational enemy. Ahem, Iran, anybody?)
- Pro-Nuclear Energy (the only feasible solution for the world’s future energy needs)
- Pro-Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (…whatever that means. I’m OK with them being applied to known terrorists when absolutely needed)
VERY Anti-Welfare (welfare is theft)
VERY Anti-Public Health Care (public health care is rubbish and theft)
VERY Anti-Federal Reserve (don’t get me started…)
VERY Anti-United Nations (an increasingly unfunny joke: the emperor has no clothes)
- Anti-Fiat Monetary System (counterfeit money: how come it’s only OK when the government does it?)
- Anti-Subsidies (to anything, including “public goods”: I thought good/profitable ventures didn’t need to be subsidized. Farming subsidies make me sick in particular.)
- Anti-Tariffs (Absolutely! No quotas, tariffs, or ban on any imports.)
- Anti-Public-Education (school-choice, vouchers and all that crap are just the pussy way out. I say down with the entire damn enterprise! No plubic education! No subsidies to private education!)
- Anti-Social Security (I have a bitter first-hand account of the results of Ponzi schemes from living in Albania in 1997. But I don’t care much for the paternalist rationale behind Social Security to begin with)
- Anti-Forced-Membership Labor Unions (Unions suck in general actually, because productive labor is almost never a commodity. But unions are free to suck in peace so long as no worker of any profession is forced to be a member or pay them dues)
- Anti-Union Favoring Legislation (paper tigers can afford to act tough only through corrupt politicians’ pull)
- Anti-Income Tax (if you tax consumption you can’t tax income. It’s effectively double-taxation. And if you tax either consumption or income, you certainly can’t tax corporations. That’s triple taxation! You tripping’!?)
- Anti-Capital-Gains Tax (discourages saving, cripples entrepreneurship, distorts the structure of time preferences, shrinks the aggregate capital base, and it just reeks of Leftist anti-Corporatism. Capital gains are overall a very fucking stupid thing to tax)
- Anti-Anarcho-Capitalism (Anarchist douche-bags suck big sweaty balls)
- Anti-Patriot Act (If the situation calls for it do declare war. The constitution provides the executive branch with temporarily expanded powers at a time of war. Legislation curtailing the privacy/freedom of private citizens in peace time is unsustainable middle ground)
- Anti-Draft (The draft is slavery. If you need to force your people to fight, your war is not worth fighting for)
- Anti-Vietnam War (it was such a half-assed debacle…)
- Anti-Ban-on-Drugs/Drug War* (such stupid use of taxpayer money! Just think of how much more resources law enforcement agencies would have at their disposal to fight actual crimes, if they did not have to serve as moral guardians to the citizenry! You know: murder, rape, assault, robbery and fraud cases would be expedited if dealing with crackheads didn’t have to get in the way.)
- Anti-Ban on Prostitution* (Oh the hypocrisy! Shouldn’t whoring oneself be a fundamental human right or something?)
- Anti-Ban on Gambling* (The government just wants a monopoly over such a lucrative enterprise. The rationale for restrictions on gambling is as lousy as it gets.)
- Anti-Affirmative Action (Immoral on so many levels; insulting to women, minorities, and every individual of every group on which it is practiced. Want to bridge the achievement gap? Start by lifting the last three aforementioned bans ***. If dealing drugs, violent pimping, and organizing dog/cock/bare-knuckle fights were not lucrative business propositions to minority youths, then said youths would take their education much more seriously as the only sustainable avenue for getting ahead in life. Crippling the unions’ pull would also do a bang-up job at weakening the mob. Crime is profitable only when the government bans goods or services in demand or sets up arbitrary monopolies or quasi-monopolies. )
- Anti-War on Poverty (it’s all bullshit. Public housing in particular sucks)
- Anti-Religion (Especially those religions with aggressive dhimmifying tendencies)
- Anti-Global Warming Hysteria (I maintain that we are just a pimple on Mother Nature’s ass. It may hurt her when she sits, but so what? Give me real evidence to the contrary and I’ll reconsider my position)
VERY ROTTEN about the US not formally declaring war in its extended military engagements since WWII
VERY ROTTEN about the new Iraqi constitution, and about the US not administering Iraq as an occupied country to be governed according to US law instead
VERY ROTTEN about the US not cultivating consistent foreign allies: example, double-crossing Lebanon during the Bush Senior administration, backing the Taliban in the 80s, etc.
VERY ROTTEN about Hiroshima and Nagasaki (I know it was probably necessary and saved more lives, even civilian lives, yet there is something monstrous about it that doesn’t lend itself easily to rationalization)
RANDOM BITS OF TRIVIA
*I don’t drive: That’s a skill I think people my age ought to have, so I feel pretty handicapped over it. I went to driving school in Albania to get my license, but I forgot everything as soon as I passed the appropriate tests and have never driven since.
*I have an Albanian accent: and I don’t care for it one bit. I started learning English too late in life, which is unfortunate. If only I’d started a few years earlier, today people wouldn’t ask me where I’m from.
*I don’t take notes: That’s a skill you’d think one would learn through four years of university, but I lack even the most basic note-taking capabilities. I wouldn’t recognize my own hand-writing/symbols, so I have built my academic career on copying others’ notes.
*I read “War and Peace” when I was eleven: I certainly wouldn’t have the willpower to go through it today! But as a little girl I was a compulsive reader of classic European literature, which made quite an impact on my development.
*I have never in my life smoked a single cigarette/cigar/joint: or tried any “forbidden” substance except for booze, if that even counts. I still drink about 5 times a year, and when I do, it’s on the feather-light side. I am an extremely cheap drunk because of the zero tolerance you can imagine, and I hate the feeling of getting drunk. I never gamble either. Jee I sound like no fun at all!
*I am the youngest woman in my family to get married since my great-grandmother: the trend has been quite the opposite lately, with women getting married in their thirties or even early forties. That’s kinda random!
*I don’t drink coffee: Tea is my coffee. Coffee is so bitter! I don’t understand how people get used to that taste. Sure it’s an acquired taste, but what would motivate anyone to even try to get over the bitterness in the first place, is beyond me.
*I hate swimming pools: They’re too confining for someone who grew up swimming in the ocean. I can’t remember where I heard that people piss in swimming pools but it didn’t sound that unlikely a proposition in Albania in the 1990s. The psychological damage is done, I will never step toe in a swimming pool.
*My original dream major was: …Mathematical Physics. No joke
*My favorite foods are: Sushi (and most other Japanese food), Mexican food (how they actually make it in Mexico), Albanian cuisine (which you can think of as the best of Italian, Greek, and Turkish food with some added bonuses), unadulterated Italian, Indian, Thai, Chinese, and whatever else strikes my fancy, probably in about that order.
More to come 
What more is there to say about me… Besides reading and obviously writing, I thoroughly enjoy watching good movies (oh, and I never fall asleep during a movie, no matter how bad it turns out to be or how late at night it is), drawing (I am actually a pretty good artist), and taking pictures (a hobby that’s been put to rest in the last couple of years since my last camera broke).
I love free enterprise and I don’t mind talking about it. I have more observations than time to possibly write about, so I usually take my sweet-ass time to brew my ideas before I pop them out for your pleasure. Writing is very cathartic for me; when I bottle up I start feeling like I’m getting an ulcer. So I predict I will keep writing this blog for years to come.
If you liked your first taste of this site and think you’ll want to visit again sometime, I invite you to dig into my past writings instead. I like to treat topics in ways that avoid rapid obsolescence when current events are no longer current.
That said, I really appreciate comments. Traffic too.
December 6th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
dear Kejda Gjermani ,….its nice to leave you a comment ………
i think Financial Economics is a very interesting study, i myself study cultivisation technology and water economics , in the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna , (Austria, Europe )….
i think you shurly wonder how i came over your site ..
i was googleling pictures of jeffrey sachs ……
i am just reading ” the end of poverty ” ( das ende der armut ) …
a very interesting book, of an even smarter man ………….
December 8th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
You had asked, and I forgotten to respond.
Ahmed Shah Massoud was the Northern Alliance leader killed by the Taliban/al Qaeda/Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
Ghost Wars - by Steve Coll. Is currently the single most informative work on the subject. See No Evil - by Robert Baer, and Bin Laden - by Yossef Bodansky both cover the subject in some detail as well.
APOLOGIES FOR
BEING LATE,
R
December 8th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Thanks Render, no problem about the late reply, I won’t get to read it until a month or so anyway. Again, thanks a lot
December 12th, 2007 at 2:49 am
What outlets of Jewish expression did you have growing up in Albania? Was there any sort of organized community permitted under Hoxha? How did post-war Albanian Jews fit into the Albanian cultural landscape?
December 13th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Hi Nick,
Jews in Albania have an unusual history. Most of them are Sephardic but there is also a small Ashkenazi contingent. The biggest wave of Jews came from Spain where they were being persecuted during the inquisition, and then more came from various parts of Europe throughout the 16th century. They settled in commercially active cities like Berat, Vlore, Elbasan, and mostly Gjirokaster.
Because Albania has historically been a very religiously diverse place (with a mix of Catholics, Muslims, and Orthodox Greeks), the country has never suffered from serious divisiveness on religious grounds. This is also mostly because fighting for national sovereignty and repelling outside invasions had been a constant priority, making inner religious strife too dear a luxury.
This is solely my opinion, but I think it is because Jews were largely left alone free to practice their religion, and were well integrated and respected in the Albanian community, that the lack of outside societal pressures (so common in most other European countries where religious sentiment and anti-Semitism were dominant) did not force them to stick together in religiously isolated communities. I think to a large degree, Jews in Europe had preserved their religion with fervor as a way of asserting their identity and reacting to outside ostracism from their host countries’ mainstream societies. It’s just a theory, but it would explain why many American Jews are assimilating or reverting to secularism today that anti-Semitism is at possibly record-low levels. In Albania, where they were free to live and practice as they wished, they got more assimilated with the general population.
The existence of Jewish communities in Berat, Vlore, and Elbasan is well-documented. Interestingly, there is a town that has been historically almost all-Jewish, -Gjirokastra- but which is not commonly known as such! Remnants of various synagogues are scattered throughout the town, and the people maintain a largely Jewish culture, almost to a stereotypical degree. Gjirokastrits are outcasts of sorts in Albania: they are notorious for marrying only among themselves sometimes even in incestuous relationships (marriage among first cousins is commonplace), a custom very alien to the rest of the country, where it is considered improper even for people of the same village to marry, let alone in the extended family. They are also anecdotally poked fun at throughout the country for being unusually stingy and commercialistic.
In some Ottoman records, it is mentioned that one Sultan was well-aware of Gjirokastra’s Jewish makeup, and calls Gjirokastrits “the fake Muslims” in reference to their Jewry, since the region had nominally converted to Islam throughout Ottoman rule.
Like I said, Jewish communal life was not very strong in Albania, although there have been Jewish settlements of considerable size. Their numbers are vastly underestimated for two reasons: birth records were not great in Albania in general, a lot of records have been lost or damaged throughout wars, and the records of Jews in particular were deliberately destroyed during World War II, curiously enough, by no less than my Jewish grandfather’s great uncle. Let me tell you the story:
Lef Nosi was a minister in Albania’s first cabinet since independence in 1912. He was a secular Jew from the Elbasan community, involved in the high ranks of government up to the time when the Italian fascists invaded Albania. When the Albanian government capitulated to the Italians in 1939, Lef Nosi had the rare insight to put an odd condition on the treaty with the fascists: that they had the right to withhold the census/birth records of Jews.
The Italians didn’t care at the time and agreed to it, but when the German Nazis took over Albania in a few years and drove the less malignant Italian Fascists away, the first thing they asked for were the birth records, and they were immediately shoved in their faces this affidavit.
Lef Nosi had destroyed the records in the meantime, and he might have done so with his own security and that of his family in mind, but today it is a relatively obscure fact even among Albanians that he himself was of Jewish descent. Only the Elbasan community is universally aware the the Nosis were Jewish.
I still think it was amazing that he could have such insight back in 1939 when it was not at all obvious that we were on the brink of the Holocaust. This is what made it easy for virtually all of Albania’s Jews to be saved. Only the very outspoken Jews were at risk, and those were few in number and their communities took good care of hiding them, with only a handful or two being turned in to the Nazis in total.
This is also the reason why if you look up official records now, only 10 Jews in total show, a number so disproportionate to Albania’s population compared to the relatively stable proportion of Jews throughout all neighboring countries, that this fact alone suggests there are big holes in the records.
Enver Hoxha was himself from Gjirokastra, the Albanian town heaviest in Jewish population, but I don’t know that he was himself of Jewish extraction. His last name means “imam”, which suggests that he was probably one of the few genuine Muslims in town.
The communist regime was not particularly oppressive to Jews, it just banned religion in general. The heaviest effect of this atheistic policy was felt in the Muslim segment of the population, where kids from the Communist Youth Organizations were encouraged to lit women hijabs’ on fire if they were spotted wearing them in public. Islam was considered the most backward of dominant religions, especially since the political elite was mostly from the more educated South and were of Greek Orthodox background, and although they professed themselves atheistic during the days of the regime, their efforts were mostly biased against the Muslims, which if you ask me, was actually a good thing. The prevalence of Muslim practices declined sharply in those 50 years: one generation of totalitarian atheism is enough time to severely hinder the passing down of religious norms in the family.
Now Albania is still internationally known to be a Muslim majority country, but the truth of that statement is based on pre WW-2 census data, and today the Muslim population is a fraction of what it was. The Jewish population is there, but it too is barely Jewish by religious metrics. Jewish culture in Albanian settlements has mostly transcended from religious expression to a secular communal life of a certain recognizable flavor: Albanian Jews are somewhat culturally different from the rest of the country, but they still consider themselves Albanian. For example, my grandparents have only told me of our family’s Jewish extraction as a random background fact; they don’t attach particular significance to it.
However, when I went to Elbasan two years ago and visited the Jewish neighborhood where my grandfather was born, I saw this place and I really had no idea what it was, but it certainly looks like a bizarre messy Jewish community center:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhussey/ElbasanAlbania/photo#5040757691470749858
So there might be a revival of Jewish religious life, but I honestly have no idea. Hardly anyone knows what goes on in Albania outside of their own cities these days anyway. Here are the rest of the pictures of the town.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhussey/ElbasanAlbania
And this is Gjirokastra. Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/mhussey/Gjirokastra
December 17th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Wow! That is quite a story! Thank you, I definitely learned something I did not know before. I certainly hope that you manage to stay in the US and become an American. For now - Happy Hanukkah (belated) and Happy New Year!
Best of luck,
Eric.
December 22nd, 2007 at 10:53 pm
I just hope you love your home contry more than any other.
December 23rd, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Artan: Nationalism is stupid. Why should I be so proud of being Albanian? What’s the meaning of that? What country we are born in is completely arbitrary.
December 27th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
whell People like you that dont kare about nationalism have sold Albania many times, like: greece, serbia and other balkans contrys
December 27th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
so i gues you can Be one of those people
December 29th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Artan, sadly you don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t care about the Serbs nor the Greeks, and I have nothing in Albania to “sell” them. Also, even if I did, there’d be nothing wrong with such transaction: voluntary trade. Your entire world-view is warped around this idiotic notion of “nationalism”, they’ve succeeded in brainwashing you with their silly stories in school that make it sound like we are in a state of constant war with our neighbors, and even with Turkey still. It’s pretty backward, get over it!
January 16th, 2008 at 9:22 am
you abviusly dont kcnow what are you talking about!
you call somthing brainwasht Loving your Contry, or is it becouse you are in love with your own ass and dont care abput anything els,If so i understand you,and feell sorry for you.
January 16th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Artan, lighten up dude
February 17th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Wondering what your take is on the Kosovo independence thing. (taps fingers, waits).
February 19th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
lucius septimus,
thanks for asking. Too bad I missed the Kosovo thread on LGF while it was still active. I nevertheless posted my reply over there, and you can direct “marwan’s daughter” or anyone else who was wondering about my opinion to these comments:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/lgf-showcomment.php?n=877&c=4888771
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/lgf-showcomment.php?n=878&c=4888776
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/lgf-showcomment.php?n=879&c=4888791
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/lgf-showcomment.php?n=880&c=4888797
They’re posted in the right order.
And here is the whole shabang, with more back and forths
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=28971_Kosovo_Declares_Independence#comments
More smart-ass commentary here
http://www.stephenbainbridge.com/index.php/punditry/comments/russias_military_options_in_kosovo/
Thanks, and please feel free to email me if you want to discuss the issue any further.
February 19th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Thanks for the posts — confirms some things I had already been thinking, and thanks for your honesty.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Happy independence day of KOSOVA everybody, whe are free finaly
P.S Savage sorry if i have goten in to your nervs but i was waiting for this day sins my birth day, so i am good now, so have the best live ever Bye Bye everybody
February 21st, 2008 at 10:48 am
Congrats Artan,
Now it’s time for Kosovars to prove themselves mature enough for their shiny brand new state, and stay above the fray with all the provocations sure to come from the Serbs and Russians. Kosova needs to set a good example in the Balkans.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Hi Kejda, wow it’s really you I have if front while reading to all this stuff. It’s really the way you talk. It’s a really nice blog, keep writing. Bye
May 15th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
hej qiko qysh po kalon?
May 17th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
eagle85,
Mire, po ti ca ben? Kush je?
June 30th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Hey there girlfriend. Kejda, It has been so long. So much has changed. I see that you are married. How wonderful. I told you that you would find someone that would fulfill your life. Congratulations. I’m really enjoying your blogs. You haven’t changed much. And I haven’t either. I still fall asleep during movies. Would still love to get back in contact with you. See what you can do. Seem to chat back and forth with your mom than you. How is your family? Your grandparents health? Take care of your self and Michael. Love you always~ Momma C (Connie Svoboda)
July 10th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Its nice to know that you really do work on supporting your point instead of using profane words to legitimize it. However, I felt great indignation upon reading your blog “Beyond Conservatism: Freedom in a Godless Future.”
I have a lot of Muslim friends because I live in Danbury, CT. I think that they have a right to wear a burqa or a headscarf since people have the right to wear as little as they want. Even if I don’t cover like them, I respect their relgion. Can you provide an article for me that states a case where a woman actually hid weapons in her garment. If you can send me your sources, I will highly consider your argument.
Peace,
Jade
July 10th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Jade,
I did not discuss the burqa at all in “Conservatism: Freedom in a Godless Future”. Did you perhaps mean to tell me you felt indignant upon reading “Dissecting the Burqa”?
In any case, just as you respect Muslims’ religion, I hope you would for the sake of consistency also respect others’ right to criticize aspects of their religion. Why should someone’s dogma, however holy it is considered by them, be beyond criticism, while ordinary citizens’ free speech exercised in critically analyzing such dogma be considered blasphemous?
As for sources, here is someone robbing a bank in a burqa: http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3745402
Here is an entire blog entry dedicated to documenting many instances of crimes being perpetrated under a burqa; a great and comprehensive summary:
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2006/11/the-niqab-and-burqa-as-security-threats.html
Please do check out the link above. It is very informative. What do you think of it?
Anyway, I think you may be missing the point here. It is conservative Muslim women wearing the hijab/burqa who are offending other women, by deeming their own radically ‘modest’ attire as the only proper standard of public morality. You respect their religion, but do you really think they respect your liberal life-style? Respect for misogyny is a one-way street. I don’t necessarily feel threatened by someone in a burqa, but I find it disgusting what it implicitly says about women and their role in society.
November 9th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
HI KEJDA , me beri shume pershtypje kur thua qe jam 60 per qind shqiptare dhe 40 izraelite, doja te thoja si e ndan ti ket perqindje , mos ke ndonjerin nga prinderit nga izraeli apo si ?se edhe po te kishe njerin nga andej nul do ishte 60 /40 .nuk e di ndoshta kam une pershtypjen po me dukesh pak anti shqiptare , me falnese kam mare wrong idea…
November 9th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
AM SORRY TO SAY THAT YOU REALLY HAVE NO IDEA OR VERY LITTLE WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT HISTORY IN ALBANIA , YOU ARE MAKING YOUR OWN FAIRITALLE STORY HERE .ALBANIA HAS IT MOST RESPECT FOR ALL RELIGION IN ALBANIA AND ONLY FEW MONTHS AGO IT WON AN INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR IT , AND YES IT IS ALSO WRONG TO SAY THAT IS NO LONGER A MUSLIM COUNTRY ,IT IS BUT WE ARE WERY EUROPIEAN MINDET VERE WE DONT FOLLOW RELIGION VERY MUCH BUT VE DEFINATELY RERSPECT OTHERS MORE THAN ANY ONE OF OUR NEIBOURS IN EUROPE.
November 9th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
HI ARTAN , how are you doing. me too have been waiting all my life to see kosova free i just hope they can do well and i really hope to live and witness the day when albania becomes what it once was , a great country whith honest and welcoming peoplle . wish you well
November 9th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Toni,
I don’t know what makes you think I am anti Albanian. My mother is of Jewish extraction from Elbasan, but I am sure even on her side there has been intermarriage with non Jews. 60/40 is just a number I pulled off the top of my head. Albania is not a Muslim country but a secular country.
November 10th, 2008 at 6:02 am
AM SORRY IF I GOT THE WRONG IMPRESION , IS JUST THAT YOU HAVE A PRESIDENT ELECT WHOS DAD CAME FROM KENYA AND HE SAYS HES AMERICAN . I DONT UNDERSTAND PEOPLLE WHEN THAY SAY MY GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER CAME FROM THERE AND AM FROM THERE TOO, I THINK IT SHOULD BE WHERE YOU ARE BORN BUT DO NOT FORGET YOUR ROOTS ASWELL SO WHEN I SAW TAH 60/40 NUMBER I DIDNT GET IT , ALL THE BEST .
November 10th, 2008 at 6:09 am
KEJDA , sa vjet ke ne amerike, kur ke jetuar per here te fundit ne shqiperi, une shkoj dy here ne vit dhe cdo here po shikoj ndryshime te medhaja, mos te harrojme se nuk mund ta krahasojme me angline apo ameriken se ne efect ne jemi si shtet nga 90 e siper dhe kto kane me shekuj.pashe qe ishe e martuar, fat te mbare ne jete …
November 10th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Toni,
Kam 5 vjet tashme: Qe ne 2003.
Ke te drejte qe nuk mund te presesh cdo gje nga Shqiperia qe ne fillim. Vendi eshte i ri dhe ka gjithe ate rruge perpara. Por ama, nuk me pelqen askap sesi trajtohet cdo promblem nen lensen e justifikimit te “periudhes se tranzicionit”. “Periudha e tranzicionit” nuk do perfundoje kurre derisa njerezia te haje pyke. Sa here qe vij per vizine (vit per vit) shoh goxha ndyrshime te siperfaqshme (ndertesa, autostrada) por ideologjia dhe mentaliteti nuk kane ndryshuar aq sac duhet, dhe aty i matet pulsi progresit te vendit.
November 11th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
HI KEJDA ,ke shume te drejte kur thua qe mentaliteti nuk ka ndryshuar shume , ky eshte nje mentalitet qe e kemi te gjith ne ballkan, une punoj me italiane greke dhe croat qe kan ngo 20 30 vjet ktu dhe akoma nuk kane ndryshuar,cfare dua te them qe eshte shume e veshtire po te jetosh ne shqiperi dhe te nderrosh mentalitet,apo me mire te behesh njeri.pasta ato politikanet tone jane te gjithe te korruptuar dhe nuk duan qe njerezit te behen njerez sepse su levedis pastaj.kejda me duhet disa ide per nje web side qe sapo e kam hapur , a mund te me japesh ndonje ide te lutem , shikoje nje here po pate kohe Albanianfood.8m.com vetem mos qesh te lutem se eshte cope cope, nuk jam shume mire me komputerin , faleminderit ,gjithe te mirat
November 26th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
wow kejda,,,,,,,,, some good comments you got there, a bit of advise do not hate Albania, as you said that you or your family came from Spain due to the war, and Albania and Albanian people saved you,
i have been in London since 1995, i don’t hate no one, but i LOVE ALBANIA is my home my country home regardless to where i leave my heart is there, so i am sorry but you sound to be intelligent girl, so stop the hate about the country you grown up, not just cos u r in a better place of the world u step down on Albania…………….good luck with whatever u do in your life
December 4th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Armando,
Where did you get the idea that I “hate Albania”?
December 6th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Thank you for the response, going through some of your comments it make me feel that you just hate us,
I am sorry if i have misread it,
i hope that you can prove me wrong,
Best wish
Armando
RROFTE SHQIPERIA dhe te GJITHE SHQIPETARET KUDO QE JAME
December 6th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
meduara , i have to say exatly the same , reading your comments , you come across as a muslim hatter and an albanian hatter bearing in mind it is the country you were bourne , am very dissapointed at some of your comments and religions ower all paticulary islam
yes ARMANDO . rrofte shqiperia dhe shqiptaret
December 6th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
oh also to remind you that albania and the albanian people are good people, and if you consider yourself an albanian then you must a a good person too, so lets all say GOD Bless Albania and all the albanians around the wourld
thank you
Armando
December 7th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Toni,
I heard you the first time, but I wish you would be so kind as to quote whatever part(s) of my writings gave you the impression that I hate Albania.
Armando, Albanian people are not “good people”. They are just people, whose “Albanianeness” is not (or at least should not) be an overriding feature. There are good people, bad people, smart people, stupid people, sensible people, crazy people, and more varieties in Albania, just like there are such people to be found across all nations.
I do think that at the margins, Albanians are impressively less insane than their neighbors (Greeks and Serbs) when it comes to issues of national myths and hyper-nationalistic ambitions. Good for them!
In general I just don’t think being Albanian (and for that matter, being of any particular nationality) is relevant to a person’s character. I am far more interested in people who share my particular ideas than in people who merely share my nationality and/or my mother language. That does not at all mean that I hate Albania or Albanians, only that I find ethnicity an irrelevant concept in our modern world: whoever fails to understand that after having the distinction patiently explained and re-explained is sad and twisted.
December 8th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
meduara
you have so much writen in here that is hard for me to exatly say which part is against albania , however is not just me who thinks that alot of albanians are writing to you about it .but you did not mention anything about being anti muslim ,which clearly you are ,you say you looking for peoplle who share your ideas and opinions , fair enough but at the same time you have to listen to other peopllesideas and opinions becouse not every one will agree whith your opinion ..
December 8th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
OK Medaura getting ridiculous, i don’t like the comment of you saying that (Albanians Are NOT GOOD people, so therefore am asking you to give me an example of why we are not good,,,,,, as i am going to treat you as a foreign person,,,,,,,,,,,,,
some where along the comments i read that because of people like you that Albania have been sold several times,
cos of people like you Traitors, Albania is the poorest country in the Europe.
but also let me tell you something sweetheart, there is a lot of Albanians out there that love, will love and die for Albania, the same as UCK that made kosovo independent, And if you hate or don’t think that albanians are not good, then you are very wrong,
Regards
Armando
ALBANIA RED&BLACK
December 8th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Tony,
I am listening. If you think I am ‘anti-Muslim’ read my pieces about Robert Spencer, and think again. I am an atheist and I have a lot to disagree and disapprove of all world religions, but I don’t HATE Muslims, Christians, Jews or Hindus because of their religion.
Unless you are interested in discussing specific things I said that make you uncomfortable, don’t even bother.
Armando, I don’t know whether you are misunderstanding me because we are communicating in English, or because you just cannot conceive of an ethnic Albanian not being an Albanian nationalist while at the same time not hating Albania/Albanians.
Albanians are NOT “good people”. Serbs are not “good people”. Americans are not “good people”. Merely belonging to a certain country or nationality does not make one good or bad. Speaking in such broad strokes is highly uninformative and counterproductive. There are good and bad people among all nations.
I don’t subscribe to your nationalistic mentality so deal with it!
December 9th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
MEDUARA
this is what hapens when people leave their country and they forget where they come from,and they become big headed, they also thing they knowit all . whatever you say ?
December 9th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Hi Kejda,
My name is Kejda too. I come from Vlore. I lived in Italy for ten years and I live in Germany from 3 years. You are the only girl i know who have my the same name as me.
We have more or less the same age and you also look like me…as i saw your photo was i bitb surprised!!
i study business law and i´m also married.
Nice to know you.
Kejda
December 10th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Well spoken Tony Well done mate i agree with you, we are ALBANIANS and that’s it,
one day we will all go back to our homes and family the same as the traitor Lenka Zogu, but instead we will go with honour,,,,,,,,,, SO good luck Tony,,,,,, and you Medaura keep it up i also wish you the very best of luck and maybe one day you will change your mind
December 10th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Hi Kejda,
I take it your husband is German, right? I actually have met a few Kejda’s in Albania, but then again I was from Tirana where it’s more likely to meet someone sharing our unique name because the population is much bigger than in any other cities.
How’s life in Germany? I studied financial economics and I’m considering going into law school.
Take care and you’re more than welcome to check back often.
December 11th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
hey ARMANDO , HOW YOU DOING? WHERE DO YOU LIVE IN ENGLAND,I LIVE IN BIRMINGHAM . TAKE CARE
December 12th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
hi tony i live in london
me cfar merresh aty?
December 13th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
hi armando, punoj ne restorant , jam head chef ,cfar thote londra .
December 15th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
hi tony, londra ka rene shume, eshte mbushur plote me bulgar, sa kohe ke ne angli?
December 19th, 2008 at 11:37 am
hey armando , hows things, u bone 11 vjet qysh nga 97ta me cfar meresh ne londor ?
December 19th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
hi tony, i run a building company, have a look at the website http://www.bfcontractors.com,
cheers
armando
December 23rd, 2008 at 8:10 pm
armando , yeah i had a look , it looks good wish luck mate i hope the downturn is not efecting your bussines, cheers. catch you later
December 26th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
No,no as yet dont know yet what 2009 will bring,,,, how is thinks with you?
Armando
December 26th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
am ok thanks , just seems to be working everyday to make ends need. it is geting hard on my job couse peoplle are not spending.lets hope this year will be better, take care .