There are two rules about squeezing blood from a stone. First: it does not work. Second: apply enough pressure and the stone will eventually crumble. Work gloves are recommended.

With the spate of price increases here and there of excises and specific taxes which was landed on our collective heads in Serbia this week - cigarettes, bus tickets, fuel, heating costs, and VAT which affects almost everything else - the government is showing us that they are fresh out of fresh ideas.

Grupa mladića i devojaka, belgijski mirovni aktivisti, pokazali su svu ranjivost skladišta sa nuklearnim oružjem. Na snimku se vidi kako su preko žičane ograde prebacili mali tepih, pa ogradu preskočili i ušli u "Kleine Brogel", gde se čuvaju nuklearne bombe američke vojske. Momci i devojke

When something happens to change the world, we do not really know about it until the world changes.

Ten years ago, on 9/11, I was in Paris. I was sorting out lots of sportswear overstock and trying to place it enticingly in front of my client's eyes. My client's eyes, however, were glued to the television. I was annoyed. I had just arrived from Rome (he from Belgrade) the night before, we had one day to make this deal, and he was watching TV. I grumbled.

"Something happened in New York," he said.

There was a time (he said, adopting an avuncular, if not grandfatherly, tone) when travelling by airplane was something of a prestigious or luxurious experience. The little tiny soaps in the bathroom were novelties. The bathrooms, while we are the subject, were kept clean. The stewardesses were lovely and smiling and charming. And the whole experience was rather pleasant...

Papir ili elektronika? Ako me pitate, ja sam za papir. Razloga je više, a meni je najproblematičnije to što nikako ne vidim kako bi kompjuterski ekran mogao da mi zameni neke dragocenosti: onaj prepoznatljivi miris papira i štamparske boje ili šum lišća na vetru koji čujem kad god neko u mojoj blizini lista novine.

Na bojazan da ću uskoro biti lišen ovih neprocenjivih

 

 ... cirrusi, cumulusi, cirrocumulusi, nimbostratusi, stratocumulisi, cumulonimbusi ... kada će već neko tim dužnosnicima u rekonstrukciji da kaže gde su ...

 

Blueberry pie. Blueberry juice. Blueberry jam. Blueberry tarts. Blueberry preserves. Fresh blueberries. Frozen blueberries. Wild blueberries. Dried blueberries. Blueberry yoghurt. Blueberry barbeque sauce. 

There are times when we accumulate so much information a subject that it must needs burst forth and splat onto the page like squashed blueberry. The following is not a public service announcement or message. It is just overspill.