From: pnmideast@igc.org
Newsgroups: soc.culture.yugoslavia
Subject: Why the Zagreb Diary
Date: 20 Jul 92 05:34:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1475300284:000:5359
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!pnmideast    Jul 19 22:34:00 1992


From: <pnmideast>
Subject: Why the Zagreb Diary

/* Written 10:05 pm  Jul 19, 1992 by wam@zamir-zg.comlink.apc.org in cdp:yugo.antiwar */
/* ---------- "Why the Zagreb Diary" ---------- */
## Nachricht vom 18.07.92 weitergeleitet
## Ursprung : /DIARY
## Ersteller: WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.ZER

WHY THE ZAGREB DIARIES ?

Every ones and a while I like to point out why I am writing 
this diaries and what the meaning of those diaries are.

First of all this diaries are my private activities, they 
don't reflect any political vision of a (peace) organisation, 
neither from Croatia, neither from elsewhere around the 
world. They reflects just my point of view, being a Dutch guy 
wondering around in a country at war.

Secondly I don't write this diaries as a kind of neutral 
reporter for any type of magazine, newspaper or other type of 
media (that newsletters all over the world take parts of my 
diary and print them was just their response and not mine 
intention, they are free to edited anyway they want, that is 
their responsibility, I put my originals up, the be sure that 
it is absolute know how I wrote it, cause I can explain and 
defend why I wrote something that way on that moment). I 
write what I see, what I think. 

Thirdly I am Dutch, I am NOT native English speaking, already 
years I have so my private conflict on the basically englo-
networks, networks dominated by native English speaking 
participants. I think that the most important part of 
communication is that we can communicate, not if we can write 
mistake free English. By publishing my diary in it's pure 
form, how I write it I want to show that we, not English 
speaking natives, don't have to be afraid of using the nets. 
As long as we get each others point we don't have to be 
perfect in English.

4th I finance this project myself, if I get funding for it 
and I need funding for it, I receive that thankful, but also 
in the opinion that it is for my diary, the way I write it 
and if not it should not be given.

So 4 points and I can make 50 this way. But most important is 
that I know that I am not 1005 accurate, I know that I can't 
write one sentence in English without making a grammar or 
spelling mistake, I know that I am full of prejudices, that I 
am not neutral and I many more. Still who is......

I started to write this diaries to update my friends around 
Europe (and the world), could have used other media of 
course, but E-mail is fast and normal life is fast here, days 
change from day to day. It are as it were open letters to 
friends of mine or people I consider as friends.

The most important point that I want to stress once more is 
that I am Dutch, I am part of a culture in the North West 
part of Europe. We have so our own thinking, our own way 
expressions. The English we use to communicate is our 
Eurolish, an English based Esperanto, which is a mixture of 
our own languages, phonetic writing words and dictonairies

With the people on ARK and the Centre I discussed this 
dilemma, and all of them agree that this was my private 
project, they stand behind it, but feel not responsible for 

the political content. They think I should continue and have 
no problem with what I write.

I hope that nobody out there misunderstood the meaning of 
this diaries before and took them as official reports from 
ARK, which they aren't, as said a lot of times before.

They are my unique documentation of my experiences in a war, 
a western guy. A big part of their value is that I keep on 
getting them out, not delayed by all kind of official and 
unofficial barriers. The speed is necessary for me, since I 
want to be ahead of worldnews. Preparing you, out there that 
things are happening in the near future, which will make it 
through to your television news and newspapers. But on this 
moment just in our (Croatian) news.

But I also want to call upon all those none-englo people on 
the nets, hidden in the computer networks afraid often to 
join this English conferences. Scared for there English and 
being misunderstood because of your leak of words. Your local 
orientated style. I can assure you that it is for me a lot 
easier to follow an English letter from Germany or Italy to 
read then from the States or the UK. Basic reason is that I 
know your languages, and a lot of your culture and can 
imagine your accent if you talk English, so if I write your 
messages out loudly I found out what you mean, even when your 
spellingchecker (my spellingchecker don't knew the work 
spellingchecker e.g.) got wild.

Please all people in the Scandinavia, German and Russian 
nets, try to join in, don't let you be kept away from joining 
by your English. Everybody can write and spellingcheckers are 
there to get the most ugly mistakes out, but keep your 
cultural mistakes, keep it understandable for all of us. I 
don't feel impressed by high class words and by mistakes.

In notice that in Germany on Zerberus in German also 
discussions are going on and I am sure that in their native 
languages people are discussing on the Scandinavian nets. And 
I would love to know what is happening on the French networks 
and on Camel Snooze and other Dutch nodes. It don't makes it 
to here (besides Zerberus since a week, refreshing I must 
say). Come on make it to here.....

Let's communicate.......

Love from ZA-mir-GREB

:-)WAM