Stands

For the second time during his term in office, Belgrade Mayor Nebojsa Covic has decided to move the sales stands from Bulevar Revolucije. The latest decision has to be implemented by August 31, and was announced suddenly on Tuesday evening just three days after the pompous opening of the Vukov Spomenik railway station.

Perhaps President Milosevic saw the stands and commented that he'd already seen them on TV being moved once before.

Dove

The Yugoslav Left (JUL) had its promotion in July in Valjevo, the site of the July uprising in WWII. Serbia's first lady and first JUL comrade did not show up and she missed a chance to rejoice in the slogan: "Long Live Mira".

JUL's vice presidents and some 10 directorate members showed up, including Nebojsa Maljkovic and Zoran Cicak. The comrades were met by directors with ties and pensioners without ties and the local mayor and chief councilor. Media attention was great and a local TV reporter even hosted the event. The directorate members explained convincingly they favored the SPS, a humane and rich society and civil state and added that a man who cares about himself and his career has to be a leftist "because that is intelligent, wise, honorable, honest and necessary". JUL coordinator for the Kolubara area, Predrag Savic shouted: "Long live our dove of peace, long live the Yugoslav left". Savic is a director of the Uzor clothes manufacturer. No one knows how he managed to get half of the Varteks stores for his company nor how he avoided getting drafted although he's a refugee from Zvornik.

Unlike him, the event's host had no luck with doves; one stained his shirt. Since there were no questions after the speeches, everyone headed for the hotel for cocktails. That included ham, cheese and olives and classical music (just to show that JUL is a civilizational movement) and a fashion show. When they were sure the present was rich, the comrades left, leaving Savic to sign the bill.

Score

The American rock group Filter has problems with its "Hey Man, Nice Shot" song, released after the public suicide of Pennsylvanian official Bud Dwyer.

Dwyer shot himself at a press conference in January 1987 just before he was supposed to face a federal court on corruption charges.

His family protested to the record company, the group said the song reflects their innermost feelings.

There's no corruption here, no fear of investigations, no spectacular suicides, no music inspired by suicide.

Our officials are all stable personalities; pensioners are the most frequent suicides but their activities border on discrete euthanasia.

Boulevard

On Wednesday morning, an old friend came to see VREME after being abroad for over five years. The man came in shocked, asked for a coffee and cold water and told us his adventure. "I came here down from the main post office. Something was happening on both sides of the boulevard (Revolucije). 30 or so old people said they're Dafiment bank customers, protesting in front of the national bank. On the other side of the road, in front of the Czech embassy, 30 young people waiting patiently for visas. I started towards the St. Marco church to look at stores. What was Slovenijales is now Simpo but they don't sell furniture, they sell washing machines and detergent. JAT's ticket office now houses a clothes store and a croissant shop. A sign on the wall says City Council Serbian Orthodox Church and there's lingerie in the window. The tobacconist across the street sells sun tan lotion and beach toys. I sat down in Seherezada and while I was waiting for the waitress I saw that the cult cake shop now calls itself Little Bank. I got scared to go further along the street and I came here."

The Bulevar Revolucije in Belgrade is over eight kilometers long. Our friend walked down just 300 meters of it.

Race

Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the UN special envoy for human rights in former Yugoslavia, met with a large group of representatives of non-governmental organizations from Serbia and Montenegro in the Royal Hotel in Szeged, Hungary last week.

The town was chosen because it's close to the border. Mazowiecki hasn't been given a visa to come to the FRY for two years now, despite constant requests.

A TV Novi Sad film crew spent those two days in the same hotel, filming everyone. The only exception was Dragoljub Micunovic, leader of the Serbian Democratic Center. Or rather, he escaped from them in the lobby but the crew ran after him and filmed him in the street.

Mentor

Unhappy with an unexpected increase in costs, students at the Belgrade College of International Management sued professor Milija Zecevic, their dean, who wanted an additional 7,500 Dinars for "working with mentors". The contract for the school says the college is obliged to provide students with mentors with costs included in the original tuition fees. Zecevic, i.e. the college, covered itself with an annex to the contract which allows changes in tuition fees if costs rise during studies.

That means some costs have gone up for either Zecevic or the mentors and the students have to make up the difference. Students said they feel this is blackmail and voiced hope the courts will rule in their favor. There's just one detail: the list of the college's professors is headed by Serbia's first lady Mira Markovic. But they shouldn't lose hope; Markovic is an advocate of combating the return of capitalism and primitive behavior.

Law Suit

Peaceful co-existence among TV companies was upset recently over soccer. Latin American league games appeared on BK TV while TV Palma, supported by the economic court feels it has the only screening rights for those games.

Palma owner Miodrag Vujovic said he wasn't surprised by BK's failure to respect Palma's rights but voiced surprise that they wouldn't respect the court ruling; "They literally stole our programming and initiated a law suit where we'll demand three million Dinars in damages."

BK editor in chief Aleksandar Tijanic said: "I'm very happy Palma, which is known for its respect for the law and payments for the screening of films and serials, has started respecting the law. I think that's the first step towards creating law abiding TV."