"Corporate Capitalism Runs Amok With Scissors in the Theatre."

Well, it goes without saying that that's a bad thing! But as 2012 winds down it can generally be agreed that on all levels it has been a bad year for Joe lunch bucket, hasn't it? There are examples put forth in the media on a daily basis showing how relatively normal every day citizens have been reduced to being both paying schmucks and shills for the corporate elite and their political enablers who's focus long ago stopped being about providing a product or service and has degenerated to just picking our pockets and inducing some of us to help them do it.

I could pick a lot of examples of this ethos but in this post I'll stick with the great unwashed theatre going public (bread and circuses!) who have for years either watched their beloved neighborhood cinema's closed to be replaced by multi-theater cinema-plex's that have increased the cost of a movie night out in Podunkville to the premium pricing of an on Broadway production in NYC, or had that same Broadway production when visiting the relates priced way out of reach.

I have recently been out on the town here in Riga, Latvia with my wife exactly twice in the last two weeks primarily due to the Mayan Calendar end of days thingy. "Why save that two hundred bucks in the old Mayo jar honey, lets go nuts!" That's been about all we could manage in the last two years so we really expect, unrealistically perhaps, to be treated well and not like cattle and we weren't disappointed. However that doesn't seem to be the trend in the US market which should alarm everyone. 

Minnesota Theater Offers 'Tweet Seats' To Smartphone Addicts

Good news for those who can't go two hours with out checking their phone: A Minnesota theater is giving smartphone and Twitter addicts a break with the introduction of "tweet seats," where audience members are not just allowed, but encouraged to tweet about the performance as they are watching it.

Innaresting, no? You pay for a ticket and then shill for the house for free at the expense of the other paying punters because you are a self important narcissist asshole. How about this!

Man shot dead in Latvian cinema for eating popcorn too loudly

Latest incidence of cinema rage occurred during a screening of Black Swan in Riga.

A man has been shot dead at a cinema in Latvia after a fellow movie-goer objected to the volume at which he was eating his popcorn. 

OK, it was Black Swan, and popcorn, but you see!? People are inherently unstable. Even though this was sleepy Riga it is a cautionary tale, put folks under just the. right. amount. of pressure, arm them to the teeth as in America and WHAM! Even meat thermometers become weapons and how do you legislate that? Actually that was pretty funny in a cruel kind of way.

I personally think that once I have paid for a ticket to view a production I should expect that the house will provide a safe and comfortable atmosphere that is condusive to the positive viewing of that production. Anything else would detract from the experience. Advertise in advance which is your right but don't de-value the experience which I have paid for in advance.

Or they should say something on the ticket when you purchase the thing.

I see stuff like no: guns/bombs/recording/pictures/drinks/umbrellas?/flashlights/dope/dogs.

Just add phones! It's not really about selling seats after all, the house should be full if the product is quality and properly advertised. Why should we, the paying public put up with house shills ruining the evening just so the house can get free buzz?

Just say no.

Baltic and RF Placings in the 2012 Corruption Perception Index

Go here for the full interactive info-graphic(s). What is it?:

The perceived levels of public sector corruption in 176 countries/territories around the world.

Global > 90% of countries score below 50 on a scale of 100 with 43 being the average score around the world.

Eastern Europe & Central Asia > 95% score below 50

Top: Georgia

Bottom: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

Sub-Saharan Africa > 90% score below 50

Top: Botswana

Bottom: Somalia

Middle East & North Africa > 78% score below 50

Top: Quatar, United Arab Emirates

Bottom: Iraq

Asia Pacific > 68% score below 50

Top: New Zealand

Bottom: Afghanistan, Korea

Americas > 66% score below 50

Top: Canada

Bottom: Haiti, Venezuala

EU & Western Europe > 23% score below 50

Top: Denmark, Finland

Bottom: Greece

138/176

55/176

49/176

32/176

Two Languages Are Better Than One

Reasoning Is Sharper in a Foreign Language 

The language we use affects the decisions we make, according to a new study. Participants made more rational decisions when money-related choices were posed in a foreign language that they had learned in a classroom setting than when they were asked in a native tongue.

To study how language affects reasoning, University of Chicago psychologists looked at a well-known phenomenon: people are more risk-averse when an impersonal decision (such as which vaccine to administer to a population) is presented in terms of a potential gain than when it is framed as a potential loss even when the outcomes are equivalent. In the study, published online in April in Psychological Science, native English speakers who had learned Japanese, native Korean speakers who had learned English and native English speakers studying French in Paris all surrendered to the expected bias when they encountered the question in their native tongue. In their foreign language, however, the bias disappeared.

A second set of experiments tested another cognitive bias—we anticipate a personal loss will be more painful than an identical gain will be pleasant, so the benefit of winning must be disproportionately large for us to take a bet (such as gambling with our own money). Again, the foreign-language effect prevailed in two different experiments, one with native Korean speakers and one with native English speakers. The Koreans took more hypothetical bets in English than Korean, and the native English speakers took more real bets in Spanish than they did in English.

“When people use a foreign language, their decisions tend to be less biased, more analytic, more systematic, because the foreign language provides psychological distance,” lead author Boaz Keysar suggests. Cognitive biases are rooted in emotional reactions, and thinking in a foreign language helps us disconnect from these emotions and make decisions in a more economically rational way. This study did not consider, however, the instances in which emotional engagement im-proves, rather than hinders, our choices: “We have an emotional system for a good reason,” Keysar says.

Andris Bērziņš Says Latvians Must Know Russian

President urged citizens to learn Russia

Latvian President Andris Berzins said that Latvians have to know Russian, and not hope that they will manage with only the Latvian language.

"I believe that in a situation when it is associated with the transit, the Latvian , English, German, Russian should be a compulsory subject. With mandatory check of knowledge "- quoted Berzins
«Interfax».

President stressed that Lett (Latvians) could not count on a good position, including those in the public sector, if they do not know Russian.

What The What!?

My most viewed post by far, and only two comments. Can't figure it.

Closure For Tukums Regional Police?

Remember this?


Latvian Police Casino Robbery Attempt
January 28, 2011

Tuesday of this week saw an unusual casino robbery in Latvia’s city of Jekabpils.  According to reports, Five armed robbers, four of which were active police officers in uniform, stormed the “Fenikss” casino in the early hours of Tuesday morning in what ended up being a botched heist attempt.  In the ensuing car chase and shoot-out a pursuing police officer was killed and numerous people were injured.

After arrests were made it was established that two of the robbers were members of the Tukums Regional Police force and another two were part of the “Alfa” elite police response squad.  The Tukums police officers had previously been discharged for accepting bribes but had been reinstated after pressure from the police union.

Latvia’s Interior Minister Murniece called for immediate police department checks across the board stating that many people could lose their jobs.  The Minister also expressed his disgust at what he labelled “Serious problems with discipline” within the Alfa elite police force and suspended the Alfa Chief of Police Andris Zaušs, as well as the chief of police in Riga, Ints Kuzis from service.  Murniece has since come under pressure from the unions and the Council of the Home Office has been called in to deal with the situation.

Latvian Prime Minister, Valdis Dombrovskis, has given assurance that the interior minister’s job is not on the line over the incident and has pledged his support and agreement in her calls for police reform.  He reportedly stated that there had been numerous instances where the police union had forced unfit officers to be reinstated regardless of the circumstances and that this practice should come to an end.


Well, sentences have been handed down and names have been named. Sorry about the machine translation.

The raid on the "Phoenix": the bandits took a long time

December 20, 2012 15:56

Zemgale District Court issued a harsh sentence participants robbery gambling hall in Jekabpils - Arvo Žagars sentenced to life imprisonment, and his brothers Dennis and Paul Hristoforidi - for 20 and 18 years in prison. Stanislav Babelis Leonid Grooms and Edgar Parushkin received 13 years in prison

The most severe sentence was a former police Arvo Zagars, which the court sent to prison for life

Stanislav Berkul, who was accused by one incident of theft in Jurmala, received a suspended sentence of 6 months. 

All the defendants, except Berkul, also sentenced to confiscation of property and the Policing of three years. 

Robbery gambling hall "Phoenix" in Jekabpils happened January 25, 2011. During the arrest the robbers was killed by a police Andris Znotinsh. Participants in the case were also charged in several robberies and thefts committed in Tukums and Jurmala. 

Attorney Paul Sondors demanded life imprisonment for Arvo Zagars and Denis Hristoforidi. For Paul Hristoforidi he demanded 20 years in prison for Babelisa, Konyukhova and Parushkina - 14 years with confiscation of property. 

Full text of the sentence will be available on February 22, and then within 10 days, it can be appealed. The prosecutor has not yet said whether it intends to appeal, and the lawyers of the accused said that, most likely, it will appeal. 

Turns out the sister of one of the perps named above, herself a Tukums police officer was briefly a renter of a flat in one of our buildings. All accounts are that she is shocked and appalled at her brothers actions but I mention it to illustrate what a tiny little burg of intrigue the town of Tukums is where everyone knows everyone else's business. Does anyone really expect folks to believe that these criminals operated in a vacuum? Dirty cops doing B&E's in Tukums and Jurmala over a period of time would leave a hard to ignore stench. But it happened and ended badly.
I myself have to go back to deal with the Tukums police in two days over the false assault charge made against me as mentioned previously. So that will be another interesting blog post.  

The Pursuit of Justice in Latvia

Or: How To Protect Yourself in Latvia (When You Are Not a Liv (pure Latvian))

Tomorrow I travel to Tukums with my lawyer and long suffering wife. Once there I will again give statements to answer charges that I assaulted a two decade serial trespasser on my wife's land. Only because someone hired a sharp lawyer for me am I allowed to do this! Otherwise I would have never been aware of my rights under the law because in my view the system is tilted against people like my wife and I. Plus they had "roof" or krysha  and I did not. At that time. After living in Moscow for years I shouldn't have been surprised by the concept of roof but I thought Latvia was a member of the EU since 2004. Imagine my astonishment! But I guess corruption never goes away and just takes different forms in different realities.

As reported in a previous post on this blog this "assault" occurred on Sept 3 of this year. On that day I had a fight with a crazed and documented madman on my wife's private property, went to the hospital, got sewn up, had X-rays, purchased an arm sling at the nearest drug store and covered in blood so thoroughly I had to throw away my clothes, made a statement at the Tukums Region State Police station. That is where the system started to fail me, a non-citizen and mere holder of a Permanent Residence Permit and not a citizen resident of a small town with it's inbred politics and culture. 

Apparently, as my lawyer has since explained to me, you are supposed to file "two" statements, one describing the sequence of events and one outlining the compensation expected. I filed only the first statement because that is all I was told to do. This procedural transgression allowed the person who assaulted me to come back three months later and completely reverse the situation so that it was now "I" who was being charged with assault. This happened with some help from the inside, in my humble opinion. Please don't sue me very powerful Latvian Police Union. There is very little meat on my bones.

So tomorrow I get to re-start the process, supposedly. And then I will have another meeting with the Tukums Region State Police on the 27th of this month to decide whether the matter will be referred to the Prosecutors Office who will then decide whether it goes to court or not. I'm hoping for court. I'm ready to scream loud and long all the way to Brussels because it has cost us so much in blood and treasure. 

We don't live in Tukums. Every time they want a meeting we need to clear the entire day of activity and with our lawyer in tow travel to Tukums. It is expensive torture. And as I explained previously we need to have our docs translated and in hand. Because we are trying to keep everyone off balance and move swiftly my wife is picking up the latest package at the translation agency this evening after work. The day before we are scheduled to give statements as she is a witness.

The hilarious part in all of this if there can be one is that the female portion of the gruesome twosome who have assailed us as foreign trash for two decades now, well, the woman was born in Russia! And has falsely adopted the title of Baroness based on a fake history! Oh my!! The things you learn when you dig into public records. And the male member had a weapon (long rifle) and his old Militzia uniform confiscated after discharging his weapon in a residential area during a drinking binge. If that hadn't happened I suppose I could be dead now!

Stay tuned to this spot for more hilarity. You won't be disappointed.

Merry Christmas.


EDIT: I have just now received a request from my lawyer to make a spreadsheet for all our costs over the last two decades detailing the LVL >6,000 we have spent trying to protect my wife's land, for tomorrow. I'm good with XL but damn! See how this takes over your life!

Who Is More Corrupt, America or Russia?

A lot of people on the extreme far right call Matt Taibbi a polemist. I disagree. Anne Coulter is a shining  example of a bomb throwing polemist as is pretty much any contributor to Fox News which is nothing less than the propaganda wing of the GOP. But I think Taibbi's articles are very even handed. They're just difficult reading for the ruling class because hey, who wants to be publicly skewered by the truth?

I doubt that there can be any defence of the hugely destructive and hypocritical "War On Drugs" as this linked piece in Rolling Stone beautifully illustrates. The story is more about the recent DOJ ruling against HSBC which please note is not a 1.9 billion dollar fine but rather a "settlement." Nevertheless the rot and corruption taking place in America rivals much of what goes on in Russia.

That must be a hard pill to swallow since both parties are responsible for Americas current state of affairs. Follow the link and read the story.

Relevant links here, here and here.

You Never Know How You Look Through Other Peoples Eyes

It bears repeating!

And an alternate version.

So Many Problems With Tukums Police

Police officer who caused fatal weekend road accident was drunk

21 Mars 2012 - 14:35

RIGA, March 21 (LETA) - The police officer who caused a fatal road accident this past weekend in Engure Region (western Latvia) was highly intoxicated at the time, according to the State Police's Internal Affairs Department.

The accident itself took place at around 10:10 p.m. on March 17 on the Jelgava-Tukums road in Engure Region, when the off-duty officer (born 1968) from the Tukums Police Department driving a ''Honda CRV'' swerved into the opposite lane and smashed into a ''VW Golf'' automobile....

It must be beyond frustrating for the serious professional police officers to work in such a troubled division.

Do Latvians Trust Their Police?

Nope

56% of residents see no improvement in police structures

One tenth (11%) of economically active Latvian residents aged from 18 to 55 years are of opinion that within the last year there were carried out necessary reforms to improve general situation in police structures.

Among them, 1% of respondents think that there were definitely carried out necessary reforms to improve general situation in police structures, and 10% – that they were rather carried out, reveals a survey which was done in January by the market, public opinion and media research agency TNS Latvia together with television company LNT.

But slightly more that a half (56%) of respondents are of opposite opinion and think that there were not carried out necessary reforms. Among them, 41% of respondents are confident that there were rather not carried out any reforms, but 15% think that they were definitely not carried out.

Relatively large number – one third (33%) of respondents do not have a certain opinion in this issue.

A year has passed since the robbery in Jekabpils when five men, two of which were Tukums police officers and two officers of Alfa team, tried to rob the gambling hall. Analysing what had happened, several problems in internal structures were found and was carried out reorganizing of the Alfa team.

Cops and Robbers in Latvia

I probably shouldn't post this but I just have to because of the funny factor and the repetition of the first event described which defies all logic, at least from a Western perspective. Hope my lawyer doesn't read this!

I have a friend who has some local "small g" gangsters living in his building. They regularly leave company vehicles (taxi) parked in the security of the private parking of his supposedly elite building ("Private Parking" only because there is a sign stating such, no barrier or security guard to enforce it though) which then sit idle for a week or so and finally disappear. One day the vehicle is there, several days later it is gone. After a liberal application of alcohol we rightly or wrongly deduced this as a variation on a trick used in Winnipeg by an infamous deaths head biker gang on my old street in the west end to move stuff around. There they would show up with a tow truck and haul the vehicle off, presumably full of contraband. The point being that it was just an uninsured/unregistered vehicle belonging to no one in particular and therefore, "what do you mean there is 4 kilo of Bolivian marching powder in that boot officer"!? In this example here in Riga we assume out of shear laziness someone is just supposed to show up with the keys at an auspicious hour after something has been thrown in the boot and drive the thing away since I have overheard that it's easy to buy off the highway police in advance for a clear path. Or so I'm told.

But half the time it doesn't work out that way because the battery for the vehicle is frequently dead! HAH!! So it sits for an extra day or two until some local hoodie crazed on bath salts kicks in a door panel or a side window or some such which is inevitable in these parts. Then there is a torrent of high end vehicles that show up with booster cables but they can never get the sequence right, apparently. The owners manuals come out and dark clothed folks stalk about wincing in the harsh glare of the daytime Baltic gloom & smoking with cell phones glued to the ear, spitting and taking swigs from vodka bottles while even more vehicles show up with different cables and eventually the "transfer" vehicle is started and they all peel out in a wagon train of new Merc's and SUV's drawing no attention from anyone at all.

It happens every two weeks with some regularity. For a year now. Never a cop anywhere.

Hint: Positive to positive, negative to negative or to the frame of the dead vehicle if you're feeling technical.

Hilarious!

Such humorous interludes serve as a reminder as to who the real gangs are here in Latvia and that might be the police maybe? Remember my beef with the Tukums Regional Police described in previous posts? Think I'm exaggerating when I say that there are certain rotten apples who shouldn't be cops? 

Read this: Latvian Police Casino Robbery Attempt


January 28, 2011

Tuesday of this week saw an unusual casino robbery in Latvia’s city of Jekabpils.  According to reports, Five armed robbers, four of which were active police officers in uniform, stormed the “Fenikss” casino in the early hours of Tuesday morning in what ended up being a botched heist attempt.  In the ensuing car chase and shoot-out a pursuing police officer was killed and numerous people were injured.

After arrests were made it was established that two of the robbers were members of the Tukums Regional Police force and another two were part of the “Alfa” elite police response squad.  The Tukums police officers had previously been discharged for accepting bribes but had been reinstated after pressure from the police union.

Latvia’s Interior Minister Murniece called for immediate police department checks across the board stating that many people could lose their jobs.  The Minister also expressed his disgust at what he labelled “Serious problems with discipline” within the Alfa elite police force and suspended the Alfa Chief of Police Andris Zaušs, as well as the chief of police in Riga, Ints Kuzis from service.  Murniece has since come under pressure from the unions and the Council of the Home Office has been called in to deal with the situation.

Latvian Prime Minister, Valdis Dombrovskis, has given assurance that the interior minister’s job is not on the line over the incident and has pledged his support and agreement in her calls for police reform.  He reportedly stated that there had been numerous instances where the police union had forced unfit officers to be reinstated regardless of the circumstances and that this practice should come to an end.

Think that's bad? Many police when they leave the force end up in private security which is a very lucrative business here in Latvia since most small towns and municipalities had their policing sub-contracted out to these private security firms  by the government when the economy went into the toilet and the ruling 1% were forced to bow and scrape to Brussels and the IMF in order to meet the austerity measures which are a condition to continuing the EU loans which keep their private business's operating. There being no line at all between politics and business in this country which is due to join the European Union in 2014.

I have personal experience with one of these security firms, sounds something like Koblenz but I could be wrong as I'm a stupid foreigner and all, who once cost me LVL 200 and refused to pony up the money after a police investigation which surprise surprise, turned up no evidence of wrongdoing. Then there is a certain scam, again in Tukums but no doubt replicated elsewhere whereby in order to get a work permit, for electrical work for instance, you need to use one company and one company only which just happens to be owned by the local manager of the state electrical supplier. Ah, good times in Latvia. So many stories to tell. So much intrigue!

It's another week before my lawyer has the meeting with Tukums Regional Police regarding the false assault charges against me. I wonder how it will go?

Russian Should Be An Official Language In Latvia

If I was wavering on this issue before I am not anymore. Mrs. T and I have had to deal with official documents in the Latvian language only for twenty years now and generally speaking my wife and I were able to muddle through as the general meaning was something that Mrs. T could figure out on her own as languages are her thing (seriously, she speaks 5) and after years of effort and private lessons she now speaks Latvian. Pretty well by most peoples feedback but when it comes to contracts or official documents we still have to get everything translated at an agency to be sure as the stress tends to cause her to miss important things.

And since we are dealing with the police of late an absolute rock solid understanding of Latvian is of prime importance. There is never enough time to respond to a letter in the mail box in the time allowed if you have to take it to a translation service and who has the money for that nowadays anyway?

If you have read the previous post you will know that we are embroiled in a criminal investigation of myself with the Tukums police but that is just the tip of the iceberg regarding our life here. You get a letter in the mail on a Monday telling you that you need to be at the police headquarters for an interview by next Monday but that is all you can figure out and there is no time to get the letter translated. So you show up without your lawyer and discover that it is much more serious than the seemingly innocuous letter suggested. So you beg for time and get a lawyer and find out what is really going on and show up again when they have a translator available. 

When we set up our company all docs were in Lat/Russ/Eng and the same when you go to the bank plus everyone seems to speak English or Russian in normal society as that is the language of business (in Riga at least, home to 30% or more of the Latvian population). But how can the police service the 30%± of the population that does not speak adequate Latvian and all transactions are done in Latvian only? You are really at a disadvantage!

I used to think of this issue in political terms but now I understand why there are Russian enclaves here and why they will always be here. There is no other way to survive!

Right away in any type of dispute you are at a disadvantage as the whole system is bent towards the latvian speaking citizen. Not just Latvian as a second language but as a mother tongue, it is a very unforgiving situation.

Latvians should really consider taking such a large part of their population more seriously or there will never be peace and harmony here. You really need to reach out and make peace with a rather significant portion of your population.

Property Rights In Latvia And The Rule Of Law

So, I have been warning in previous posts that I had a story to tell as regards this subject and now our situation has progressed to the point where I feel compelled to begin the narrative. I fear this is just the beginning of many posts in our longstanding personal nightmare but regardless how it turns out I hope it stands as a warning to others about an unresolved situation that is still ongoing throughout the country as we speak and the result of not being fierce in ones response. All my heart and best wishes go out to all of you in similar circumstances who are not only not receiving help from officials but are in fact being victimized further by the very people who are supposed to be installing a civil society in Latvia, at the EU's expense. It's not all playgrounds for tiny tots and waste & water infrastructure you know! Drop me a line or point me to a group that will help us out with this matter. 

BACKGROUND:

My wife is a repatriate. Her mother and grandmother were born in a house in Tukums, Latvia but my wife was born in Moscow where her mother was forced to flee after she had her ancestral Tukums land and houses de-privatized by the government of the day. When the Soviet Union fell my wife had her Tukums land and houses made available for her and her relatives to reclaim but through a loophole in the law and the inability of my wife or her relatives to frequently travel back & forth from Moscow to Tukums to prevent the loss of some of this land, my wife and her relatives had a 851m2 centre portion (the house my wife's mother was born in!) taken over by a Latvian couple rendering the remaining larger property into the shape of a donut. A one hectare piece of land with fierce opportunists laying claim to 851m2 in the very centre. My wife and her relatives were compensated with 851m2 of low lying adjacent swamp land of poor quality.

One third of our property was unfenced wild swampland (especially the "compensated" land) along with an area of old orchard that the fierce opportunists in the centre 851m2 had attempted to lay claim, at first by offering to rent it from us and when rebuffed by simply using it without permission and against our directives to not trespass.

So at great expense we fenced all this land, cleared it, posted it as Private and continued to maintain it sometimes hiring local workers who were given access to our equipment but mostly by myself when I was in town. In spite of the greater security provided to the citizens residing in the centre of our property by this newly secured land at no cost to them the personal attacks continued not only on ourselves but on some of our elderly and timid renters with no relief being afforded by the Tukums Municipal Police or State Police who were actually complicit in what can only be described as state approved harassment through laziness. 

The situation eventually degenerated to the point where on September 3rd of this year I was forced to defend myself physically against the male occupant of the 851m2 plot who was flagrantly trespassing and interfering with a survey crew who we had been forced to hire to settle a longstanding and never-ending issue of property borders. They were entitled to 851m2 and any movement of one border would result in a corresponding movement of another border negating the entire process in order to maintain the original 851m2. Pure harassment. 

He attacked me when we attempted to verbally remove him from our land on which he was trespassing and interfering with our survey crew and the police were called. Ambulances were called because there was blood. And so....

I was advised by the police to go the hospital to get checked out and then to the police station to make a statement and to do it that very day. He apparently went to the hospital to get his head sewed up but declined to make a statement at the police station, or so we were told on that day. We were also told that if I wanted to make a criminal claim against this guy, which I surely wanted to do then we would both my wife and I have to stay in the country for six months. Since we were booked to fly to Italy in two days I waved my right to initiate criminal proceeding and off we went on our trip. In two weeks when we came back there was a letter from the Tukums Region State Police stating that criminal charges had been dropped since we had not pursued any action within the 10 days allowed which was pretty much what I expected. But on November 19 we received letters commanding us to return to the Tukums State Police office on November 26 as the instigator of this assault had decided to press his own criminal charges, or rather he had pressed criminal charges two days after the original assault and they were now being acted upon by the authorities, I never did get a straight answer on this. After being told that they wanted statements from both my wife and I separately we declined and told them that my lawyer would be in touch since I was a foreigner I was not comfortable with the action taking place. They were fine with that.

The inspector we have been dealing with has been a professional but someone above her is manipulating the situation where instead of me filing charges against a trespasser who assaulted me in front of witnesses I am now myself the subject of a criminal investigation. As a non-citizen I do not know what my rights are and I do not trust the Tukums Police.

update: I cleaned up the above text and edited it to resemble more closely what I told the lawyer and added the comment below to bring it all up to speed.

So today we acquired a lawyer and she seems to fit the bill. Tukums being a small town of 18,000 souls is basically one big group of relatives and she claims to know how to deal with such sleepy societies. She goes to the town tomorrow and I go to the hospital to get my records. This will move very fast so as to prevent it from moving to the prosecutors office.

What Makes Russians Happy?

Well, I found this some time ago that may answer the question.

But I haven't found anything about what makes Latvians happy! I wonder if it would be much different?

Burning The Latvian Flag

Or Trying to. Too much alcohol I suspect.

This video was in Diena.lv this morning and in the space of a few minutes I watched the comments climb from 12 to 43. Now about six hours later it has 304 views and 170 comments. If nothing else it is a pretty good example of why you shouldn't post yourself to the Internet while doing stupid things with your ugly face hanging out there for all to see.

The best comment that I came across this morning when the count was still at a manageable 43 was something to the effect that Russia would not even take these malcontents back as from a Russians perspective they are Latvians regardless what they personally think. I have first hand knowledge of ethnic Russian Latvians being put in their place when they hit Moscow.

So better get used to it little dudes and dudess's, whether you like it or not, whether you feel accepted or not, you really are Latvian and a citizen of the EU. Might just as well get used to it.

UPDATE: Portal Diena.lv sending material through the Security Police, which promises within its jurisdiction to make an initial check on this video. 

(Post updated with the last paragraph) 

Now at 38,715 views and 377 comments. It will be hard for the Security Police to ignore.

UPDATE: Of course Apollo.lv has picked up this, go here. Respect to Christine for uploading the original video. This is the last I'll post on this event but feel free to follow it yourself.

From A Tech Slave, When Will It All End?

In my house we have three computers, one smart phone and another computer in our away office. I suspect this is average or at least slightly below average for those who have kids and this gives me pause as I have of late come to hate computers in all their various forms.

I hate them mostly but not always because of the software that they run and the incessant and completely unnecessary updates that are required with such tedious regularity. It doesn't much matter what brand of hardware we are talking about. As an example we have a MacBook Pro, iMac, eMachine & a Toshiba Satellite and fortunately only one smart phone. an iPhone4. Between these pieces of hardware our life revolves mostly around keeping up with the the completely useless and annoying software updates/upgrades and 3rd party patches.

Lets take the MacBook Pro as an example. As hardware I still like it very much as it is my personal machine and I keep it well tuned and clean, but it initially cost me LVL 1,580 at Capital in Riga which was hard to justify at the time, but, solid is the description I would use as it is dented from repeated drops at airport security desks and still hasn't missed a beat except for one battery replacement. I have it partitioned to run Mountain Lion (or Snoop Lion as I call it) on one side and Win7 on the other (I WILL NOT be upgrading to Win8). I do this because it is my work machine and I drag it all around to different clients but being a late 2008 model and hard done by it will fail soon I suspect and at the end of the day I will not miss it. It is heavy and when I look at the money I have put into it, primarily it's initial purchase price because it is an Apple device, I have regret and will not be doing the Apple fanboy thing anymore. Same reason I won't be replacing my iPhone4 with the 5 or whatever it is when my current phone fails. I'm just sick of the expense, I paid CAN 850 cash unlocked so as to avoid a contract due to the fact that I don't really have a permanent residence which is kind of a ridiculous price for a phone. I've dropped that Round Cornered Rectangle® several times as well and while I managed to avoid cracking the glass something now vibrates inside when I turn the volume up. But it's a pretty over-hyped hand set anyway and I won't miss it either. I'm so tired of losing my DATA settings every time the OS updates when I sync to iTunes because it always ends up defaulting to the original factory settings. I hate smart phones, will never have another one. My wife's old Nokia 6300 is still ticking along and she likes it fine in spite of still having two working Motorola Razor's and a Nokia NSeries all with SIM cards for other countries.

I could make a rather impressive mobile with all the dead phones we have! StarTac, Nokia 3510, Nokia 6681 (my first smart phone) and a bunch of other Nokia's I can't remember the model numbers for but which are still rattling around my junk drawer slowly distorting from bloating batteries, a hardware version of a Steven King horror novel.

The Toshiba Satellite is a boat anchor around our neck. It has a defective power jack and whenever sideways stress is placed on the power cord the system shorts out and the OS is lost necessitating a clean re-install. This is cumbersome as Microsoft doesn't support the old OS's like XP SP3 (this computer came with SP2 when we purchased it at Gorbuska Market in Moscow and I have to update it to SP3 and then re-load Office from a different Microsoft account, the horror...the horror!). We don't upgrade the OS from XP because it is never online and is used only to run an office projector, printer and produce Word docs. And what a heavy piece of work it is since it's a 2005 model. This is a serious problem with these types of power jacks by the way as I had another Toshiba Satellite circa 2002 that suffered from the same problem which is not shared by Apple which uses a magnetic connector. Most satisfying thing I have ever done was to rip the HD out of my Toshiba case and throw the rest in the bin. Brilliant.

But the eMachine is great. It cost only LVL 200 last year here in Riga and while it is made of cheap plastic and lacks an optical drive it is pretty much the way these things should be. Über cheap and easily replaceable with Win7 loaded. I'm not even sure how to update the thing since it's in Russian!

Finally I have found the answer and it is ignorance. Ignorance is bliss and when this piece of cheap plastic gives me enough grief I will throw it against the wall without remorse and go buy something else, as it should be.

Latvijas Republikas proklamēšanas diena

What is it? November 18: Day of Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia. In 1918, national representatives convened in what is now the National Theatre and proclaimed the independence of the Latvian state. This is an official public holiday.

So congratulations Latvia. I'm going for a walk on Jurmala beach with a cafe' pitstop in Bulduri to celebrate. Pity about the weather but that's November for you.

Dumb Ways To Die

When I can't write I youtube. 

 Brought to you by Australian Metro. Good on ya, mates!

Attn: Team Breezy

It's old but never gets old, knowutimsayin?

Dr. Rock

Ya kill me still!!

Latvian Railroad Repair

You get used to seeing these lads around as you commute by train but rarely does one get to check out a job from start to finish.

Denver Debates

I've lost my will to blog, seriously. I'm just too busy trying to earn a dollar and eat. Latvia? Hell, as expats/repatriates Mrs. T & I live in Moscow and other places as well. Which to write about? Do I describe Russians as having a slave mentality as opposed to the Latvian indecisiveness? What's in a word? Is a yearning for a strong Tzar to lead the people the same as a Latvian desire to hand over the levers of power to just anybody not Latvian?

And what happened to Obama in the first debate in Denver? He was a wet tissue president is all I saw. A nothing. He should have killed Mittens but he didn't even come close. It was so horrible I went and washed the toilet.

I know human beings can't be so organized as to create an international cabal of bankers and servant class of politicians but how else can you explain what is happening to the most powerful nation the earth has ever seen? How can I get back on the computer and tell you about my travails in the lesser kingdoms when the US of A is such a dangerously dysfunctional mess?

I have a vision of Mrs. T & I (hereafter referred to as the I & I) spending our last days in a dystopian landscape where we harvest the batteries from our electronic devices to sell for food. And eventually the elites slaughter their pet dolphins for the weekend fish feed or to render for bio-fuel to get their helicopters airborne.

I think this blog will switch to cars, because I need to buy one. An old, well maintained one.

Mic Check!

Never let it be said that TRex has forgotten his roots. 

Now excuse me, I have a hangover that I need to work on.

How Many NGO's in Latvia?

http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/31897/

54 NGOs demand Latvian Welfare Minister’s resignation

An excerpt from the original article:

The letter emphasizes that gender roles and sex differences are natural and self-explanatory. Society needs to have girls who are aware of their femininity and beauty, who understand their function and role of a woman and a mother. Boys, on the other hand, must develop their manhood, learn to be responsible for their families and be brave enough to protect their country if need be.

If you read the full article you'll find that Natalija Magazeina doesn’t google

I found 7 NGO’s in Latvia

http://www.unodc.org/ngo/doExtendedSearch.do

I mention this because since I heard it on RadioBalkom this morning, and then read a reprint from the original LETA in the Baltic Times, I have not been able to verify this 54 number at all.

Besides, combined with all the symbolic dead babies in Old Town lately I see a very real attack on reality happening in this country. Is it originating from within, or without?

<edit> i was on a flight from Brussels to Latvia on the 17 of Sept. (BT604) that had a contingent of LGBT folks in funny hats stuffed into the back of the plane due to their bon vivant attitude who I would enjoy a comment from!

EDIT 29.12.2012: As of February 2011, there were 13,284 registered nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Latvia, almost two-thirds of which were founded after Latvia joined the European Union (EU) in 2004.
source FREEDOM HOUSE

Bauska Waffen SS War Memorial

Is the Pope a Nazi because of his membership in the Hitler Youth? Catholics would obviously say no. Were the French Resistance really freedom fighters or surrender monkeys as some would have it? I think you know the answer to that. So, are Latvians who enlisted or were pressed into service in the Waffen SS divisions during WWII to be considered Nazi's or fighters against the Soviet occupiers? Do they warrant a monument in the center of Bauska and a yearly parade to Milda in Riga every March? As always it depends on your point of view. But it is very important to understanding the national psychology.

Unsurprisingly the Russian media and it's masters in the Power Vertical take the view that the monument recently erected in Bauska to the Latvian Waffen SS Legions serving in WWII is an affront against mankind. Oddly enough a quick search of known hate sites like Stormfront (News For White People Worldwide) or National Alliance News (White Pride Worldwide) show little activity on the issue. So maybe it's more political than anything else. But it still doesn't stop pundits from expressing an opinion.

So, my opinion is this. Latvians don't seem to be very open about important conversations that will shape the country. Citizenship for ethnics, corruption, the past. All of this points to a problem with moving forward. I read in the comments section of another blog that people were expecting too much in the 21 years that have passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. But I used to have the same conversations with people when I lived in Moscow after the collapse of the USSR before Pooty Poot got a toe hold. You need several generations was the wisdom proffered, but of course the momentum was lost and that country is now firmly stuck in reverse.

How would one describe Latvia's progress I wonder. Moving forward? Or backward.

All these unresolved issues that Latvians keep kicking down the road lead me to believe that the country is in fact moving backwards.

<edit> I would just like to add, for perspective, that when I pass Tornakalns on my Riga train commute which is twice daily The Victory Memorial to the Soviet Army in Riga is visible in the distance, erected in 1985 to commemorate the Soviet Army's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. As is this. Latvians will recognize it for what it is.

<edit> for those who are waiting for the really interesting post, this isn't it. I have to really be careful with the accuracy of what will be coming down the pipe, so bear with me.

Bullet Points From The Foul Bowels of Latvia

Or, "Random Stories From The Abyss"

My wife is just back from a week of checking on our flat in Moscow (it's still there although I have some negative stories to regale you with about how Putin's Moscow is degrading, more on that in another post) and we are busy winding up the summer so a blogging format change is in order to allow for a quick post with a minimum of effort on my part. Because I don't get paid to do this you know. It's only narcissism with a dollop of masochism and 100 grams of Black Balsams that makes it possible. The famous Latvian tipple has been owned for some time by a Russian by the way.

• Since I returned to Riga mid-April I have been hearing Russian 75% of the time which surprises me since this is not a Russian enclave. In Riga at least for business it seems to be Russian first, then English, then Latvian. I can understand Latvians wanting to keep their language alive but there is no escaping the fact that Russian is more prevalent and therefore more useful to know. Plus the very obvious fact that everything in Latvia is for sale, and Russians are in a mood to buy.
• The recently implemented e-signature electronic verification format (eParaksts.lv) so far only adopted by 45% of Latvian citizens as they replaced their personal id card with the new eID card (also replacing the old visa like Permanent Resident Permit with an eID card like that which I & Mrs. TRex now have) is not surprisingly being used by government departments like Municipal Police as a way to insulate themselves from the public. A recent personal example: "We don't want your hand written hard copy complaint sir, so please go home and submit your statement to our user (un)friendly web-site using your e-signature account." Of course one needs to purchase a Smart Card Reader (most shops have sold out long ago), have access to a computer, e-bank account and the perseverance to slog through the opaque procedure of downloading exe. files to ones PC (it's not very Mac friendly) and then purchase the minimum sized service package of e-signatures in the case of a business eID card (did I mention there are three types of eID?) in order to submit one (1) doc. Yeah. Like that's going to happen with your average citizen although I certainly made the effort not being average or even a citizen. This is doubly surreal when you take into account the relatively high percentage of the population that are older citizens who live in one or two rooms with a wood stove for heat, basic electricity consisting of sixty year old rat chewed wiring feeding two light bulbs and three wall outlets and no phone line and a communal squat at the end of the hallway who along with this stark reality have to field suggestions from the teller every time they go to the bank that they use the bank computer (at 50 centimes/transaction, their bread ration for the day) or get their own computer and wifi! Whut!? 90% of the poor things can't even use an ATM! And then I heard on the Radio Baltkom this morning that the issuance of these "Smart" cards has been suspended indefinitely anyway but no one knows why! Who is in charge of this country? 
• These neon green bottle recycle containers confuse me. Every one I have seen has had the rubber receptacle vandalized by bottle pickers attempting to fish out the bottles. I mean, why didn't they just let the bottle pickers take the bottles and recycle them, putting the small profit in their pocket?  Without all the industrial bullshit! Is it an EU thing? I've seen a few of these bins burnt to the ground and I'm not really sure if it's just random property damage or something else. I have only ever seen one young guy with a huge gold chain around his neck picking bottles. Everyone else looks pretty desperate to me.
• Listen, speaking mat, driving a 20 year old Merc with Russian flags on the dash and wearing vintage Adidas's gym gear periodically puked out of a huge warehouse in Vladivostok doesn't make you a gangster. The USSR fell 20 years ago boyo, move along now. And besides, it's impossible that everyone of a certain age can be a gangster, the odds are just against it. It's just as improbable that everyone else in the country is a hugely successful business mogul or Elite real estate wizard. If you know what I mean and I think that you do.
• I can't figure out the food situation in this country. I mean, you can eat really really well, good healthy hot food, for two or three lats in literally a hundred different Kafe's around Riga but you can't purchase the food in any Rimi, Elvi or Maxima and take it home and cook it for the same price. I've tried. I'm a hell of a good cook and even if I spread my purchases out between the Riga Market and various different grocers I simply cannot make meals for less than what I can pay eating out. And I'm not talking about the Lido chain also owned by a Russian which has gotten hella expensive. It's a mystery, although a rather pleasant one I must admit. Many of these Kafe's simply disappear from one location only to re-appear somewhere else. Tax dodge? Avoiding a rent increase? I don't know but it's become a hobby of mine to try and keep track of these things.
• Hospital staff & EMT remain very professional and easy going in what must be very challenging and poorly paid professions. Back on X-mas day 2009 I suffered an attack of kidney stones while walking along Jurmala beach and barely made it back to the pharmacy in Majori where Mrs. T called a cab and got me home with me flopping all over the back seat and freaking out the driver, my plan being to just simply tough it out. I lasted about 1 hr on my bed before I was begging for an ambulance which showed up promptly. The EMT even shot me up full of dope straight away and then took me to the hospital where I was kept comfortable with more shots until I had passed three stones. Cost was three lats which I paid as I left. Contrast that with an attack I had @2:30 am in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada in 2010 that had my poor dad and Mrs. T driving me to the Emergency while | tried to not kick out the back windows of the SUV. It took forever to get processed, then I had to lay on a gurney forever while I waited for someone to show up, make an evaluation and then finally give me a small shot for the pain whereupon my gurney was placed in the hallway where I was forgotten about while I waited to pass a couple stones. Cost to me was nothing but then that's about what the level of care I received was worth. I've also received excellent care in Moscow so I chuckle when Canadians hold their bloated health care system as an example to others. Latvians should be proud of their medical sector, I sure am.

From some of the things that I write it may appear that I loath Latvia and Latvians, but I don't. I know many kind and decent, intelligent Latvians who have a vision for the future of their country. I would consider them the intelligentsia if you will. But I don't run across them every day. I run across a meaner and more venal type. |'m not a professional reporter, I just write about my day and what I experience, so it's not like I chase down a story and research it. I just present my experiences along with my opinion.

And that's why you should pay attention to my next post which will present a problem that my wife and I have had to deal with for 20 years since she was repatriated, the concept of private property in Latvia and the hypocrisy of Latvians on this issue. A story of lies, cheats and incompetent cops. And me beating the tar out of someone with impunity. So stay tuned fair reader!