The Ogre Hillbillies

Air Baltic Third World Air Carrier

2010-03-07T08:54:00.004+02:00

by Brian Worley

There are a few positive things to report about Latvian people. For example Warren Buffet and myself found wonderful ladies that we eventually married hailing from the small Baltic country! Where you are from is of little significance compared to what is in your heart! Some folks have humanity and some businesses make adjustments that adapt to events that occur in real life due to their humanity, but then there is Air Baltic!

I should tell you that a 52.6% of shares (per Air Baltic website on March 7th) are owned by the Latvian state. I will proceed to tell of my experience with a company that has a disconnect with humanity and would urge anyone even considering using there services to consider avoiding Air Baltic altogether!

I had booked a flight from Latvia to the US upon Air Baltic this past January 2010. I like working with the “small guy” but have since learned my lesson and wanted to tell you how they treated me.

The day prior to my flight with the 7 AM departure, I had hired a local guy with a truck to help me move some of my belongings into a storage facility. It was a snowy day with the temperature at minus 12C. The guy with the truck was typically Latvian late by a few hours and we loaded the truck with the items to transport. What I found after we had loaded and started to drive was that his driver’s side window was broke and was only able to close it three quarters of the way. To boot, his heater wasn’t working that well. Long story short, we had nearly two hours of driving in minus 12 C with the window being open. Needless to say, I was progressively getting worse as the day wore on and concerned that if I was to fly whether I would make it. The last thing I wanted was to arrive back in the US without health insurance with the need to be hospitalized with pneumonia. I knew that it wasn’t wise to fly!

Thirteen hours before scheduled departure, my wife who spoke the native Latvian language called Air Baltic. What we discovered was that they charge you to what would amount to 72 cents a minute in US dollars just to speak with them! They make sure to place you on hold while the “meter is running”!

My wife told them of the situation at hand and asked if we could postpone the flight until we had a better understanding about my health situation. I have entitled this article with the title due to the aloof response we got. The woman upon the phone said it was impossible for her to make adjustments to the flight. She said if I wasn’t upon the flight, I would just forfeit the price of the airfare. My wife asked for clarification and was told that within 24 hours of departure the only way to avoid forfeiting the price of airfare was to appear personally at their office. She said that the airport office was open till 11 PM and that IF I DIDN’T APPEAR PERSONALLY at that office (REGUARDLESS or my physical condition) that I would just have to forfeit my ticket. Air Baltic had already been paid and now that they had the money…they were oblivious to humanity!

I couldn’t afford to pay for this airfare twice….so I got up out of my sick bed and managed to get to the airport terminal prior to their closing. When I got there, I found that they had already changed my departure (which they said upon the phone that they couldn’t do).

IF LATVIA DOESN’T WANT THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO LOOK DOWN UPON THEM AS A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY….then why not make adjustments that adapt to real life situations? If someone gets sick or for whatever reason they need to change a flight then ALLOW THEM TO DO SO with a telephone call rather than making a sick person with a very high temperature run to the airport at nighttime!

Now we just thought that this was on of those situations where the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand was doing situations…but we were wrong! After I had regained my health, I went to their offices and wrote a complaint being that even their main offices didn’t have a manager that could address this situation. It took Air Baltic Corporate TWO MONTHS to respond to this and I have never received such oblivious to the situation and such patronizing condescension in my life! Here is the patronizing response.

Dear Mr. Worley,

With reference to your application, I would like to express regrets for inconveniences you have encountered while using airBaltic services.

I truly regret to hear that you could not perform your planned flight on the route Riga-Copenhagen on January 15th, 2010.

I would like to explain that according to the Conditions of Carriage for passengers and baggage flight date change for economy class tickets is allowed any time up to 24 hours before the scheduled departure or the desired departure time, whichever is earlier. Therefore when you requested date change for your ticket by phone our authorized agents were entitled to refuse you this service. However I am glad to hear that our authorized agents at Riga airport were obliging and performed date change.

Unfortunately we cannot meet your request for compensation; however I once more express our regrets for your inconvenience and look forward to further cooperation.

Best regards,

Krista Barbare
Customer Relations Representive
AirBaltic Corporation

People like Krista and Air Baltic’s response is so typical of standard business procedure within Latvia. Since folks like these are so oblivious to what others feel, I will email Air Baltic informing them that over 80 countries a month frequent my website at that they should be aware about doing business with a disgusting outfit like Air Baltic. Plus, I will have informed all known competitors of Air Baltic about the way that they do business.

I had asked Air Baltic to adapt to a real life situation, which Krista failed to respond to in her reply. Plus, paying a taxi fare to the Riga airport at a late night hour isn’t cheap either ($45). This all would be a moot point if Air Baltic had a policy that was understanding of humanity.

Standard air carrier practice is to take these calls upon the phone (not at 72 cents per minute) at any time of the day and sometimes charge a fee since they reserved a seat…NOT MAKE A PERSON APPEAR IN PERSON. What, do they think I was lying? Air Baltic is so backwards and still doesn’t understand why this is wrong! They just don’t get it! Air Baltic’s picture belongs to appear besides Atis Slakteris. Google this guy and see his You-Tube video where he expresses…nothing special!

Since Air Baltic cannot be moved or be in touch with humanity….we will see if greed and public exposure to their dirty business practices move the greedy bastards to doing the right thing!

Brian Worley

Extortion it is, not bankruptcy!!!

2009-07-05T21:57:00.011+03:00

I am in shock! Latvian bankruptcy law is so immoral; if not illegal? I’m curious if some of the things I will discuss here are against international law?

Earlier, I stated in “Latvia: Giving Democracy a Bad Name”…

If our understanding of the law is correct, you can’t just “return the keys” to a financial institution in Latvia should one find themselves in tough times. What they do here is sell your foreclosed property to “favored ones” at bargain prices and in turn require the one whom just lost the property to make up or pay the differences between the selling price and the original amount of the loan. The result is financial death for the citizen that can last for their lifetime! Seems like the Latvian government bails out select risk taking banks and then has the nerve to sacrifice it’s own citizens upon the bank’s altar when they cannot repay!

1st Condition of bankruptcy: No job, no bankruptcy!

My wife went to a Latvian credit advisor and was informed that in Latvia you MUST have a job BEFORE you can file bankruptcy. What? That’s right if you lose your job and with it the ability to earn money, you won’t be allowed to file for bankruptcy “protection.” So if your broke and lost your job in Latvia they will REALLY go for the kill! How could anyone be so cruel and why would anyone do this?

2nd Condition of bankruptcy: Monthly extortion payments

The reason you must have a job is that they plan to extort money from you after you file. See, when you do not have a job you will be unable to make the extortion payment! You must pay this monthly payment for 5 years after you file bankruptcy. They say the money goes to an “administrator” to protect you from the creditors. Humm, I thought that was why you file to get protection…but here the “government” extorts you for an additional 5 years afterwards! WHAT A SCAM....

3rd Condition of bankruptcy: Lose your job after filing for bankruptcy and miss a payment… the deal is off!

So let’s say you came up with the original $2,000 to file for the bankruptcy and made the $250 a month extortion payment for 3 years afterwards. Then something else happens and the government fails to gets it’s extortion payment…the deal is off!

You would have paid $11,000 for bankruptcy protection so far and you are flat upon your back at the original starting point again! It seems if your human, it just doesn’t matter!

It is simply amazing how depraved humanity is here in Latvia! Since I am not employed, I cannot apply for "bankruptcy protection" here! But I could if I had a job to make the EXTORTION payment with!

The EU has allowed Latvia in the fold: doesn't Latvia have any responsibilities that come with being a democracy? I just cannot believe that this could be LAW IN A CIVILIZED COUNTRY!

Fireworks at 4AM

2009-06-23T01:20:00.000+03:00

from Brian Worley

Four in the morning is an excellent time to SLEEP! Seems that a few rednecks in Ogre are opposed to this novel usage of time! Last year, there were 2 fireworks sessions in the middle of the night; the first one this year took place June 7 about 3:40AM. The session lasted about 10 minutes.

What was the special occasion? Perhaps it was for the overwhelming political victory of the “Ogre Novadam” party led by comrade Edvins Bartkevics? There would be nothing sweeter than seeing a full-fledged legitimate corruption probe into the rotten bunch upon the hill in Ogre! They should be getting 4 years in the slammer rather than four more years to abuse the local people!

There was film footage of vote buying in the election that we watched upon TV. But knowing how these guys operate, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was just a smokescreen to divert attention away from the ruling party that wasn’t implicated by the video. The video clip was …”so convenient!”

Now, back to the fireworks! It seemed that they were launched between our home and Dome, with the blast occurring over our house! Now I wonder, has the Ogre police made any arrests? Did they notice? Do they care? Do they have any suspects? We haven’t heard anything more about this 2 weeks afterwards….business as usual in Ogre! You can see why I named the blog the Ogre Hillbillies! Can’t you?

A brief encounter with a new member of Ogres Doma

Last year when we proposed the community-building project for Ogre, we got to meet a few decent people that agreed that the community needed some changes. Well, one of the guys ran for a seat upon Ogres Doma and got elected! We were happy for him! The reason I bring this up is that as we were entering one of our favorite restaurants in Riga we got to briefly meet up with each other. We congratulated him and I wanted to seize the moment to remind him that we were counting on him to fulfill his earlier promises! In addition, that he shouldn’t let the good people of Ogre down now that he has been elected!

He briefly told us that they had already discovered that Estrade (nightclub, amphitheatre group) had paid their land taxes but not their taxes upon revenue! I think that this was great! Now lets see if we can get some justice here!

While they are looking into things: perhaps they should look at all the construction contracts within the last 4 years. Check and see what the other “losing bids” were and compare them to what was paid out in taxpayer money to the winning contractor! Do this on most any purchases that Ogres Doma has made while the party has ruled! I would be looking for “kick back money!” Be sure to carefully look into the utility, Malkalne. While they are at it, look into EVERYTHING that has happened between the Ogres Municipal Police (specifically the chief) and Ogres Doma.

Bad Neighbors Give the Ogre Community a Bad Name

2009-06-23T01:06:00.000+03:00

this is another OLD post that was translated into Latvian and placed upon the Ogrenet website in April 2008

A few weeks ago, at 2:45 AM a few drunken clubbers were lighting firecrackers and throwing them into the square’s trashcans to maximize the noise level. It didn’t matter to them that working people needed their sleep to function properly the next day. It also didn’t matter that they did this in front of the city square camera because they know that a majority of the police don’t care about most of the people of Ogre. How do I know? I called the police 3 times; I was hung up on the first two times. I called and had a conversation with the police; I asked them did they see this? They said yes and asked me again, what was wrong? Once again, I told them and the police arrived some 45 minutes later. By then the troublemakers had left! I think some major changes need to occur quickly in Ogre and I am calling for all the decent people of Ogre to join me!

I had a conversation with one of these same troublemakers. He asked me the question, “Where are you from?’ I answered, Ogre! He laughed thinking that I was being a smart aleck! Most everyone knows I am from America, but I live in Ogre, Latvia and this is now my home! Since I plan to stay, I take pride in my community in more than just mere words; I just wish that the bad neighbors that I will proceed to write about took pride in the Ogre community. It appears to me that these prefer to patronize us! If these same people take public money from the hard working taxpayer, shouldn’t they earn it by actually doing their jobs? If we allow then getting away with this, the Ogre community will continue to get what we deserve due to our apathy and lack of courage!

Bad Neighbor # 1… CITY COUNCIL

Doma has lost touch with it’s community! I think the community has been quite clear that we don’t want this proposed chemical company here! The will of the people is what should matter! If they so want to add to the tax revenue then probably we should cut their jobs to save money since they won’t listen to the voice of the people!

On August 15, a Doma member that we invited came to our property and we discussed several important issues. We are grateful that they did correct one thing. They fixed the light that is in the back corner of the square. Now for the life of me, I cannot explain why they would fail to warn the public that the little kids sand box is nothing but a toilet for those needing a place to piss. City council knows this, the police know this and yet they do not care enough or respect your children enough to warn the public! Shame on you! Some of us in this town actually love children and respect the parents right to know! City council needs to make a kids playground and fence it in with benches for parents and kids to be together. This needs to be locked at nights to keep problem makers out! It would be nice if this place also had grass so that kids could play without the dog mess (keep pets out!).

City council doesn’t get it about basic human needs. They must make it a priority to install a toilet in the centers. It is clear that their non interest in this expresses their feeling that people need to follow the example of the dogs when they need to relieve themselves, that is just drop your pants in public or just lift your leg! Civilized people and good governments build toilets, and arrest those crude people that act like dogs!

Doma also has say about Chief Premainis poor job performance. It is abundantly clear that he lacks the passion, integrity, and organizational skills to hold the trust of the public. It would be nice if the mayor also was interested in hearing what the people thought about crime problems during the April 3rd meeting. Evidently he could only make a token 5 minute appearance, does he care what the people have to say? His actions told me what I needed to know about him.

Bad Neighbor # 2… THE POLICE

I could write a well-documented book about this point. I think that there are several good policemen; too bad their superiors give the good ones a bad name! Policemen need to be out amongst the people, especially where the trouble spots are. Not sitting behind a police station desk. Or would being on the street expose them to all the drugs issues that they are deficient in preventing?

People need to be able to trust the police. Not be hung up on when they call. When you call the police, they should come to the problem quickly. I don’t want to hear the shortage problem, being a good policeman is a matter of the heart and desire. We asked for Chief Premainis’s resignation at the community meeting, because he needs to be fired! Why? First, destroying evidence is a crime. He is in charge and responsible. The emergency call tapes should not be destroyed for a period of years. It is clear why they do this…it would show how the police department (PD) is run. I have plenty of documentation to back my claim. Can Chief Premainis document the many cases that we personally have given the police department? How can anyone know? I have given him several pictures of people of committing a crime in the act! He did nothing, I will be glad to prove my point publicly!

I as an Ogre citizen would love to start a community watch program to prevent crime. It is in all of our best interest, but to do this you need to have a PD that can be trusted. Chief Premanis cannot be trusted and I wish others would step forward and ask for his resignation! Once a competent respectable leader replaces him, we will get one started.

Bad Neighbor # 3… OGRE ZINAS NEWSPAPER

Zinas has shown me that they have no respect for objectivity in the way that they operate their paper. In my case, they respect the troublemakers who are irresponsible with their dogs, not owners of private property! I have somehow avoided being bitten several times by dogs. Evidently they think that this is amusing! Someone needs to remind them that this isn’t Soviet occupied Latvia anymore and that people now own private property and these people have rights! Public communicators have responsibilities to the public. Before you go and spread hate and prejudice, you ought to ask questions first and make certain that the “editorial” is true! Editors who are unwilling to dig for facts and deny face-to-face meetings when offered have no business in the media!

Editors should know the difference between opinion and news and have the courage to do the right thing! Blackmailing foreigners and printing lies is illegal, we are still working for justice with this poor neighbor! Incidentally, I first introduced this community concept with Linda from Zinas newspaper soon after we moved here, but Zinas wasn’t interested!

Bad Neighbor # 4… PARENTS and CITIZENS

We have noticed many “red necks” who when driving feel it is a sport to try to either run over little old ladies or at least scare them. I think that it is horrible that human kindness and decency is so lacking by those driving. But once again, the police inactivity shows that they do not care! My hearts goes out to the family that lost their child due to this type of criminal behavior.

Living in the centers, I see many things. Often at night I see many teenagers without supervision in the square. Many of these teens are good kids and obey the law and respect people. Unfortunately, too often these kids get alcohol from stores who don’t check identification. These same kids can’t handle the alcohol and do what drunk kids do. Now what really is terrible is when their parents who don’t care enough to be a responsible parent calls us to justify their kids behavior. Parents should care enough to know where their kids are! They should be at home at night instead of roaming the streets where trouble seems to be!

SOLUTIONS

Yes, I know this has been negative, but it is positively the truth! I respect the people of Ogre and I feel this town deserves better. We need to organize because the leadership of this town has not listened to the people. Many people are afraid to step forward, I know many of you have the same feelings that I do about this town. I have been working on community building projects for some time now. These are very positive steps to make the city a better place to live. It doesn’t take money, but the desire of good people to step forth and say enough is enough!

This community-building plan is for those with good hearts that are willing to volunteer some time for the common good. I understand that everyone is busy, we can work with your schedule and free time. There are many contributions that elderly people can make as well as people of all ages.

Sincerely,
Brian Worley

( some personal information after this last paragraph has been edited out for privacy reasons) I am not being crude by using the word toilet rather than restroom in the article, if you were to ask for a restroom here people wouldn't understand what you mean.....thus toilet is the word!

Frequently Asked Questions About Community Building Projects

2009-06-22T22:34:00.000+03:00

this was a OLD post that was translated into the Latvian language and placed onto the Ogrenet website sometime around April 2008. This as well (as all other articles) that we submitted to the website always drew a very high number of comments upon that website! The community project never launched here because nobody supported it. When you read the comments(from Ogrenet), those in favor of the project didn't act upon it, while some of the xenophobes spewed their ugliness in order to kill a community building project! Community building projects are "new" ideas here in Latvia. Since I am an American that was basically introducing a "new" concept to my community, I faced some disgusting opposition from hateful, negative and uneducated local people. People here did not realize that what I sought to initiate was being done in many other places around the world. With this introductory note as background...here is the older article...

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Are you a government organization? Are you trying to subvert the government?

No we are NOT a government organization; we are a group of concerned citizens of a community that unite to work together for a better society. Government officials are not allowed to be in leadership positions. Since we are working together for a positive common cause, some in government might desire to work along with our projects, just like the rest of us do! We have no secret agenda to undermine the government, nor are we against “the establishment”. Good community leadership will be recognized. We seek to hold questionable leadership responsible for their performances.

2. Why do we need an organization like this?

The need for our organization becomes apparent when local government leadership loses touch with the needs and desires of its citizens. When government leadership knows that people are closely watching what they do, this accountability factor reminds them that they need to serve the people that they represent. When or if they fail, they know that our community isn’t going to sit passively as a victim and do nothing.

Children are our future. Youth needs to be nurtured, instructed, and given positive opportunities for proper development. Society pays a price if this is neglected. Our elders deserve to be respected! Often they can contribute to society, but sometimes they have needs as well! In our hustle to make a living, often people feel isolated as individuals. The community has always been there, but often they are just as busy as you are and nothing gets done this way. Now when people unite for work and play, often desirable accomplishments seem to occur!

3. What do you hope to accomplish?

To change the perception of a community from a cold, corrupt, selfish society to a place that is a warm, energetic place that is an attractive location to both live in and also to conduct business.

4. How much money will this cost?

This is almost an offensive question to ask us. Why? Because many people with good hearts desire to give back or contribute something of value in some way. Not for money, but for the personal satisfaction of knowing that you did something significant for someone else. This feeling is priceless! We are a non-profit organization that is creative in finding ways to do positive things.

There is no cost to join us because we are not a membership organization. What we do is voluntary. How much you do or the capacity in which you would desire to serve in is your decision.

5. What can you do to help us?

If you have the contributing type of heart, contact us! Every person is unique and has talents and abilities that you and someone in leadership will discuss to find where you can best exercise your unique abilities!

6. Can you give a brief summary of what you are about?

We are a group united together to address community issues. We are a “watchdog” organization that keeps an eye on local government and officials to ensure that they do what they are supposed to do. We respect and care about the elderly and desire to work with our youth. Not only are we a volunteer organization that works, we also have a playful social side that gets together for healthy community fun as a way to bring people together!

7. Please define what you mean by “community building”?

"community” is a group of two or more people who, regardless of the diversity of their backgrounds, have been able to accept and transcend their differences, enabling them to communicate openly and effectively, and to work together towards common goals, while having a sense of unusual safety with one another. Community Building workshops endeavour to create this safe place." -- M. Scott Peck, "Community Building in Brief"

8. How will this organization communicate, openly or is it something personal?

Thomas Merton once said, “No man is an island”. We will have a website and work with positive, respectable media. Due to negative people or influences that for some reason desire to destroy something so positive, planning and organizational operations will not initially be made public. Once proper leadership and structure is in place, what we are doing will become public knowledge. I don’t want to promise more than what can be delivered. The ultimate success or failure will be decided by the will of the people. If we fail, it will be due to apathy! It won’t be because someone failed to plan properly! This whole idea isn’t about me, it is about us as a community.

This isn’t a publicity stunt or a promotional agenda. This isn’t a place to attack religion or promote a church or religion. People cannot buy advertising on the website, nor can politicians promote themselves or their party. What people can do is donate their services to this community cause and be recognized as a good neighbor or a friend of the organization. Yes, I realize that some might use the organization to indirectly promote their business but if they do so the public will be the beneficiaries and thus it would be a win-win situation for everyone.

9. I might be interested in participating, but I have been influenced by negative things that I have heard about you?

Yes, I am fairly new to town. Prejudiced and hateful people have treated me horribly and because of this, I could be justified by having a bad attitude towards this community. I am still seeking justice towards those that have wronged our family. This isn’t a platform for a personal pity party, but some poor character, cruel people cannot find enough ways to express their hatred. Perhaps they need an education, a shrink or some love in their lives! I could tell you some stories about some of these people that would not only be true, it would make decent people angry. But hatred breeds hatred and this cycle needs to be broken.

I am a passionate, educated man that sees a great need in our community. I believe that many of you also share a common desire to do something good. I do not like to talk about myself because once again this isn’t about me! My part is in organizing something that doesn’t currently exist and to make certain that it is sustainable! Someone said, “Can we trust you”? There isn’t anything to trust me about, I can tell you that I am committed to making this successful! Frankly, I am tired of just talking about it, I am ready for action and to get this thing up and running!

10. I am willing to participate but due to uncertainties in my life, I am reluctant to contact you because I am afraid that I might not have the future time to be able to fulfill a commitment?

Everyone realizes that your family is your priority, as it should be. I have designed this so that many things that need to be done can be done around your schedule. When you do something, most things will be centered around you and your partners schedule. This is not something that you commit to and when something happens that you are stuck with as a burden.

11. How do I contact you? What should I say when I do?

The best way to contact me is by email brian@exminister.org . You can write in Latvian or English. If you see Everita or Brian outside, we are approachable in daylight hours. There isn’t nothing formal to say or write, I would suggest something like this: I am willing to do something, lets discuss it together! Here is my name(s), email address and/or my phone number. It is that simple! We will contact you soon thereafter.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

There are many things that we can do together once we get started. As a group we must first learn to crawl, then walk before we can think about running. There will be those who try to either openly or secretly try to destroy what we will be doing. Examples are when someone brings up America. What does America have to do with what we do in Ogre? I am wise to this and other ways or things that people will try to do in order to divide us or to make us ineffective. I promise you that this will be interesting, beneficial and be rewarding to those participating.

Sincerely,
Brian Worley

Banana Repubic Ahead for Latvia?

2009-06-22T22:29:00.000+03:00

from Brian Worley,

(click "to read the Baltic Times story!”)

Is the writing on the wall for Latvia, or is it merely a label stuck upon some bananas? If you are not familiar with the term "Banana Republic” please see the Wikipedia definition . I love Latvia, but I do not like what I am seeing emerge here.

I had recently posted “Latvia: Giving Democracy a Bad Name” upon the website. The article tells of our personal story showing how corruption, disregard for human rights and protectionism of the market gives democracy a bad name!

Sure, “things happen” in the business world, but perhaps a subliminal message was being sent via bananas? You would think that a grocery store chain that most likely has many employees whom speak Russian would have noticed this PRIOR to displaying the bananas for sale; wouldn’t you? Why would any business want to “rub” the wounds within Latvia by displaying a hammer and sickle sticker upon anything? To those unfamiliar with the history here, Russia has had an intermittent history of occupying Latvia with the latest episode ending with Latvia’s regaining it’s sovereignty in 1991.

The Maxima grocery chain should be super sensitive to these matters, especially if it cares about the Latvian public. We choose to avoid businesses which we consider to have ethical “challenges,” this being another confirmation that we were originally correct when summarizing Maxima! Reading the insulting patronization of the third paragraph where Ivars Andins states “If it is not our merchandise, it is also not our doing …” is quite telling about Maxima's smug attitude within the Latvian marketplace.

Mr. Andins, those bananas were your merchandise that Maxima received and displayed! What your really saying is that your company doesn’t carefully monitor what you put upon your shelves! Furthermore, it would be nice if responsibility were taken and that the protectionism within this marketplace was lifted so that more responsible business enterprises could cut into your “protected” percentage of the marketplace.

Maxima, I find this incident most despicable! Mistakes happen to everyone but it seems that some just can’t avoid slipping upon “banana” peels!

First Blog: Getting acquainted

2009-06-13T20:26:00.000+03:00

Thanks "for stoppin in", yes the American comedy "The Beverly Hillbillies" helped in part to inspire a new blog. Ogres Doma sets up on top of a hill overlooking the city of Ogre, Latvia. Yes, someone has really named a city Ogre. Ogres Doma would be equivocal to say a county seat of government where you live. While some of the "servants" of Doma are educated, some aren't and do their best to see to it that the English definition of an ogre fits the way they do things! The hillbillies I am referring to would include both the ineptitude and the locality of this being up upon a hill.

When local/regional government is so rotten and hope of getting justice fades, you either surrender or you fight! Reason and diplomacy were my first options, but those methods don't matter to some folks! You could read my "Latvia: Giving Democracy a Bad Name" and "Scorecard about Human Rights" on the Ex-minister website to get a better understanding of the situation here. I tell the story of what it is like to live here through our personal experiences. The "scorecard's" intention is to monitor organizations that should be interested in our story and to see if democracy and human rights is an important matter. So far, I know this is Europe and folks must first take all 28 days vacation and make up for all the coffee breaks they missed upon returning before they move a muscle, but the "scorecard" is telling me thus far that the paper that our human rights are written upon might as well be used as toilet paper!!!

I'm sure we would have enough material for another sitcom here, but it is hard to laugh when you are in the middle of things! To those of you that have braved reading the website over the years, you know that I have intentionally tried to avoid things political and avoid satire. Those days are over! It wasn't because I was uninterested or couldn't hang, no I have always wanted to focus upon the conscious and a message!

My time here in Ogre has been one of the most difficult time periods in my life as well as a tremendous learning experience. I could really tell you some interesting stories if you wanted to know. Looking back, though most things are difficult here, overall these have also been happy times for our family despite all of the grief that we have endured from some very sick people!

These times have had me to re-examine what things are important, while discarding substitutes. For example, human and civil rights have BECOME SO VERY IMPORTANT to our family. In a community that is frustrated and afraid, few people vocalize fearing retaliation in Ogre. We have done some very good things in our community here and we have a number of silent backers. Yet when a BIG event to protest in Riga (the national capital) people's fear gives way to the venting of all that pent up anger concerning corruption and etc. when in a larger crowd! But to do it here in Ogre? That is another story!

Causes that cause you to get going!

I hope that you would take a few moments to read what this new blog is about. That would be the message just underneath the title. Upon doing, I think that this should be a "million dollar idea" in unsung communities around the world! People talk of freedom and democracy, but here is a place where someone else like myself who is outnumbered and without resources has a chance and a platform to express yourself! A spark from the energy that emanates from you just might ignite and inspire others enough to attract enough light to get the wheels of justice to start turning where you live! This is what I want the blog to do! Seems like the website attracts visits from at least 70 plus countries a month, perhaps someone else gets moved from your story and might be able to assist you in ways that you previously couldn't imagine.

I hope that the blog "catches fire" with people getting excited enough to start writing and blogging. Please send me your story! Many of us would probably be interested and chime in with comments. Perhaps some one else might join you!

Time will tell where the blog goes. You the reader and writing contributor's will either keep it going or watch it fade away. I will contribute from here in Ogre, Latvia and hope to be able to say that it has done some good!

Brian

Ogre Hillbillies Comrade Edvīns BARTKEVIČS,

2009-06-13T00:51:00.000+03:00