Albanian Blogger » Social Issues

Nokia UK Promotion Scam in Albania

the Albanian Blogger — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:10:07 +0000

Today I got a SMS on my cell saying:

Congratulations, your cell phone has won 500,000 paunds in the onging Nokia UK prom. For claims Email: coordinatior.nokiaprom@live.com or call +447024038551

Well, being acquainted with different scam schemes I went directly online and searched for “Nokia UK Promotion Scam” to immediately find out that this was another old trick which is now expanding in Albania as well.

It’s so sad, but sadder when you think that these schemes go on because innocent or naïve people fall for them all the time.

Some months back a friend of mine almost fell for another major amount of funds that he was supposed to receive from an investor to start businesses in Albania. Another friend got a very similar SMS on his cell that he was decided to ignore thanks to good counsel.

Thankfully there are recognized websites such as “Complaints Board” which have been operating for years now that help point these scams out to innocent recipients like myself. Scams will always be part of our human interactions, while technologies seem to only make it easier for them to reach a wider audience.

Feel welcome to share your experiences below….

Investigation: Albanian Mass Grave

the Albanian Blogger — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:13:51 +0000

If you have not heard about this story yet, then I’d encourage you to read more about it and follow it up. Original story appeared first on Balkan Insight: Investigation: Son’s Search For Father Uncovers Albanian Mass Grave – by Gjergj Erebara

Excerpt:

“Years after the collapse of the Stalinist regime, many families of Albanians executed by the communists are still desperately looking for the bodies of their relatives.

As the excavator’s bucket scraped the earth in a narrow path sandwiched between the old military barracks and the pine forest that lines the slopes of Mount Dajti, a skeleton emerged, buried in a shallow grave.

The cotton prison jacket suggested the victim had been executed in winter while his healthy teeth and strong jaw showed he died young. Goni, a small businessman who had earlier been digging for his father’s remains at another location, knew others would surely follow.”

Another excerpt:

“Albania is one of the few former Iron Curtain countries not to have opened the archives of its communist-era security services. As a result, precise data on the number of political prisoners killed by the regime is not available.”

Obviously this story has been commented much from both political sides and the media in recent days. I will not add any of my comments, but thought it of importance to highlight here.

Estimating the Costs of Living in Tirana, Albania

the Albanian Blogger — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:03:28 +0000

In the past few weeks I’ve had a couple of people write to me to ask about the costs of living in Albania. While, I am not the expert in this case I did a little bit of research to put together some information on the living costs for a single person living in Tirana. In needs to be said that Tirana is the capital and the main city in Albania to do business. About 90% of all major enterprises are based here, while over 80% of foreign companies are here as well, according to the Tirana Municipality site.

Based on several estimates this is a summary of major annual expenses in USD for a single person living in Tirana.

Rent and Utility (Gas and Electric, Water, Phone, Internet);	3600
Transportation (Car Loan, Gas, Repairs and Maintenance);	750
Medical, Dental and Life Insurance;	800
Food;	2600
Clothes and Shoes;	650
Entertainment;	300
Miscellaneous	700
Total	9400

I need to stress that these are not the most accurate estimates, since I only spend very little time putting them together, so with your input, suggestions and corrections I would like to update them.

Albanian Journalists Protest Attack on Colleague, report by BalkanInsight

the Albanian Blogger — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:03:29 +0000

I was appalled when I learned about the beating of a well known journalist in Tirana by a well known businessman with ties to the current government. The incident was condemned by all major public and international institutions in the country. For more info I’ll just post the text of the article published by BalkanInsight.

A group of Albanian journalists and civil society activists protested on Wednesday in front of the office of Prime Minister Sali Berisha against the brutal assault of Tirana publisher Mero Baze by oil magnate Rezart Taci.

Following the symbolism of the Iraqi journalist that attacked U.S. President George W. Bush with a shoe, the protesters threw shoes at the office of the prime minister, while accusing him of being responsible for the violence against the journalist.

Baze was beaten late on Monday evening in Tirana, following a series of reports in the publisher’s media accusing the businessman of tax evasion.

According to witnesses present in the Capriccio Bar in the center of Tirana’s upscale Bllok neighborhood, Rezart Taci and his bodyguards attacked the journalist, kicking and beating him for roughly four minutes, leaving him unconscious.

Present during the assault were also two other journalists; political commentator Andi Bushati and the editor-in-chief of Vizion Plus TV Arban Hasani, who later testified on the assault on the journalist.

Baze recovered in Tirana’s military hospital on Monday evening and was released in the early hours of Tuesday. He had ran a series of critical reports on his TV Show, Faktor Plus, on Vizion Plus TV accusing Rezart Taci and his company, the ARMO oil refinery of massive tax evasion.

Apart from the TV show, Baze also publishes the Tirana daily Tema, a publication that is very critical of the government.

Rezart Taci is known as one of the Tirana businessman in Prime Minister Berisha’s inner circle. His other company, Taci Oil International has spent millions of euros organising charity football matches, with the proceeds donated to a children’s charity ran by Berisha’s wife.

The businessman through a statement for the media, admitted he had been present during the assault, but denied he had participated. Police so far have arrested two of his bodyguards and issued a warrant for Taci’s detention, but have not yet arrested him.

On Tuesday a journalism organisation, offered a 10,000 euro reward for information, leading to Taci’s arrest.

Source: BalkanInsight

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this issue…

Do you notice any similarities with Albanian TV channels?

the Albanian Blogger — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:53:14 +0000

As I do every morning, even today I was roaming around the net to some of my preferred sites when I stumbled upon this post by Seth Godin, who is well known marketer. Anyway, the topic of his blog post was “the problem with cable news thinking”. In his post he goes on to give an example of what cable news channels do often, then provides a list of how such channels “amplify the worst elements of emotional reactions” in their viewers!

Here is the list:

Focus on the urgent instead of the important.

Vivid emotions and the visuals that go with them as a selector for what’s important.

Emphasis on noise over thoughtful analysis.

Unwillingness to reverse course and change one’s mind.

Xenophobic and jingoistic reactions (fear of outsiders).

Defense of the status quo encouraged by an audience self-selected to be uniform.

Things become important merely because others have decided they are important.

Top down messaging encourages an echo chamber (agree with this edict or change the channel).

Ill-informed about history and this particular issue.

Confusing opinion with the truth.

Revising facts to fit a point of view.

Unwillingness to review past mistakes in light of history and use those to do better next time.

My first reaction was to agree with him. Though I do not live abroad any more, the issues that he points out are so reflective of the pervasive reality conveyed everyday by the media in Albania. Now there are variations, and while I cannot say that no. 5 is always true, the rest the topics seem to be right on the money.

Just some food for thought!

Sorry, I can’t hear you, I’m deaf and I stink – of smoke!

the Albanian Blogger — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:36:39 +0000

Well, though that is not true for me, it can be so if you hang around Tirana’s pubs and bars, especially around the Block area at night time.

Elevated levels of music noise and smoke-filled rooms are an all-year-round problem which gets worse in the colder seasons of the year.

Meanwhile, music noise levels are a ‘thorn in the flesh’ for the inhabitants of the apartment buildings around or above such places of “zombie like” entertainment!

In the past several weeks a couple of newspapers have given special attention to this issue by voicing the concerns of the inhabitants in their daily pages. The issue has gotten to the point that now the Tirana municipality and other related authorities are intervening to remedy the situation by issuing warnings and fines to those who break the rules.

On the one side, I can sympathize with the bar owners and managers who due to increased competition have to come up with ways to attract more customers, though their methods are always the same. If it’s not some band or special singer, then it’s just the DJ blasting loud music. But even for those places that may choose to keep their volume low, the surrounding sounds of other bars tend to intrude at which point the only solution would be to raise their volume as well. In this cacophony of mind-numbing sounds everyone is left deaf or close to it. But in my judgment the source of the problem lies elsewhere.

The obvious lack of entertainment venues such as theaters, galleries, etc., makes it almost inevitable for people to resolve going to such places such where the only language spoken is loud music and smoke.

Great Presentational Video For Albania

the Albanian Blogger — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:03:34 +0000

I found this great presentational video for Albania. It is only 7:49 seconds long and it does a pretty good summary of the most important facts about anyone being introduced for the first time to Albania. However, it is also very good to have just for reference purposes.

Great Presentational Video for Albania

Who is Exploiting our Youth now?

the Albanian Blogger — Mon, 25 May 2009 09:26:16 +0000

They are almost always free, innocent, oblivious, and look good if you line them up behind you when you’re giving a speech. You can find a lot of them in schools around the country and all you have to do is tell your politically appointed teacher or school director to round them up and bring them to your meeting.

I am talking about Albanian youth and politicians who use them for their own political campaigns, thus exploiting their innocence and youthful look to decorate their political stages while they fill you with ‘hope’ about what they are going to do in order to get your vote.

That is all that matters. Who cares if they are exploiting our youth and meanwhile saying anything necessary to ensure their own political future.

The Anti-Smoking Law has Gone up in Smoke – Completely

the Albanian Blogger — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:02:49 +0000

In two months it will be a year since the anti-smoking law came into force in Albania. At that time this new legislation was welcomed by most people. However, as you look at the current situation and the developments till now, you would have to admit that the antismoking law has gone up in smoke.

The main enforcing authority is the Ministry of Health, which as reported, has close to 200 inspectors all around the country. These people are responsible to ensure that the law is respected and those who break it, are to be penalized through fines and other legal measures. However, the inspectors have failed at their task completely. Meanwhile, they are paid about 10,000 Lek extra per month, for doing nothing. Basically wasting taxpayer money.

Today, if you visit the local bars or restaurants, you cannot help but get the stench of smoke on your clothes and body from people smoking near or around you. The situation is almost worst than what it was before the law was implemented. What is worst is the fact that you can often find people in health facilities like hospitals and clinics doing just that – smoking.

Moreover, the situation is not expected to change as local and central authorities are gearing up for the parliamentary elections coming up in June, and obviously this issue is not of major concern to them.

What do you think about this issue?

Well known surgeon arrested in Tirana

the Albanian Blogger — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:33:19 +0000

Recently one of the most experienced and well known oncology surgeons in Tirana’s main hospital “Mother Teresa” was arrested on bribery charges. The surgeon’s arrest was treated as a high profile case by the media, and rightly so.

The police cuffed him in public as he was coming out of a restaurant near his job. According to the media the doctor did not object as he was presented with the charges and then escorted out. The surgeon had been under investigation for several months after former patients and people had reported him for bribery.

The 58 year old, Agrim Kraja, has distinguished himself as an oncological surgeon with some 30 years of experience. However, the growing number of bribery accusations against him could not go unheeded for long, which is what brought about the courts decision to issue an arrest warrant in his name.

The event brought about mixed reactions by both the media, public and health officials. For the media this was another case of corruption in the health sector where hospital service conditions seem to be unable to remove the mark of corruption in all levels. Meanwhile, health officials and hospital staff had mixed reactions as well. Health ministry officials condemned the way that the doctor was publicly arrested (comparable to the arrest of a criminal) as it diminishes the dignity and role of the doctor as a public health servant, whom demands respect by all. On the other side, those who spoke in his defense against the charges were few.

For the public, including myself, the event hopefully will serve to bring some much needed attention to this plague of our society in a sphere where all of us are vulnerable – our health security. Let’s hope that something good will come out of this.

Please feel free to share your opinions or health service stories here.

Albanian Blogger » Social Issues

Nokia UK Promotion Scam in Albania

Other interesting posts

Investigation: Albanian Mass Grave

Other interesting posts

Estimating the Costs of Living in Tirana, Albania

Other interesting posts

Albanian Journalists Protest Attack on Colleague, report by BalkanInsight

Other interesting posts

Do you notice any similarities with Albanian TV channels?

Other interesting posts

Sorry, I can’t hear you, I’m deaf and I stink – of smoke!

Other interesting posts

Great Presentational Video For Albania

Other interesting posts

Who is Exploiting our Youth now?

Other interesting posts

The Anti-Smoking Law has Gone up in Smoke – Completely

Other interesting posts

Well known surgeon arrested in Tirana

Other interesting posts