They said that Radovan Karadzic lived in Belgrade under false name of Dragan David Dabic. He was disguised as an alternative medicine doctor and even worked in one private clinic in Belgrade. He also was a contributor to the Healthy Life magazine and took part in forums and lectures, gathering up to several hundred people. At the time of the arrest, Radovan Karadzic (aka Dragan Dabic) had long hair and a white beard.

Dragan Dabic had an official web site. [Editor's Note: The site later turned out to be a fake. Please see comments below, or follow these links - here and here - to read more about the hoax.] Here is what is says there (SRP):

Dr. Dragan “David” Dabic was born some 60 years ago in a small Serbian village of Kovaci, near Kraljevo. As a young boy, he liked to explore nearby forests and mountains, spending a lot of time on Kopaonik mountain, where he used to pick the omnipresent natural and potent medicinal herbs that grew there.

As a young man he moved to Belgrade, and then on to Moscow, where he graduated with a Psychiatry degree from the Moscow State University (Lomonosov). After Russia, Dr. Dabic travelled around India and Japan, after which he settled in China, where he specialized in alternative medicine, with a special emphasis on Chinese herbs. In the mid-1990s, Dr. Dabic returned to Mother Serbia for good.

Since then, Dr. Dabic has emerged as one of the most prominent experts in the field of alternative medicine, bio-energy and macrobiotic diet in the whole of the Balkans, and is a frequent guest on many forums, seminars and symposiums (Belgrade, Novi Sad, Pancevo, Sombor, Smederevo…) dedicated to these topics.

For panel invitations or private consultations, Dr. Dragan Dabic can be reached at the following contact:

healingwounds@dragandabic.com

According to B92, the editor of Dabic/Karadzic at Healthy Life, Goran Kojic, was stunned to discover that he had published articles written by a man accused of grave war crimes:

He would come and communicate with me personally, and it's really interesting that I never saw in that man… that it was the last thing on my mind, that this was Radovan Karadžić. We never discussed politics or anything of the sort either.

Bloggers have different opinions on one of the most wanted fugitives in the world - Radovan Karadzic aka Dr Dragan David Dabic.

Niko, in the his post titled “Dr. Dragan Dabic,” writes quite ironically (SRP):

The man who was sitting next to my mother at the Hotel Intercontinental.

The man who introduced himself to participants […] as a doctor speaker next month - August - in the same place.

The man common folks trusted and applauded, healthy and sick ones were giving credit to him.

The man who is a such hero and patriot that he changed his own name, who isolated his own country and who made his own people suffer, who did not want to go to the Tribunal in the Hague and tried to defend himself and in this way tried to save his own pride and the pride of his country.

The man many young people (who don't know recent history of their country) pledged allegiance to and wore t-shirts with his name written on them. His name? Dr. Dabic? All of them were idiots. They wore t-shirts with the wrong name of the wrong man. Idiots.

Their hero is a man who, unlike them, might not to introduce himself by his own name. The incarnation of patriotism for them is the man who has changed his identity in order to be unknown.

Idiots, your hero has always been Dr. Dabic. Change your t-shirts.

Burek, a blogger from Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina, believes (BOS) that the victims of the Srebrenica massacre will get some satisfaction, following the arrest of Radovan Karadzic:

[…] We've heard that Dr. Dragan Dabic alias Radovan Karadzic, an alternative medicine doctor, has lived quietly in Belgrade for the past few years. It was very difficult to identify him because he had long gray hair and a beard, said the police from Serbia. Although it is difficult to believe in that, let's ask a question why, after so many years, the killer from Durmitor was arrested only in July? It is difficult to answer exactly, but it is not necessary to waste time on that. At the moment, the most important thing is that he has been arrested. It is also important that he looks healthy and will be able to participate in the trial. […]

Finally, the victims of the most terrible massacre in Europe since World War II could get some satisfaction. […]

Danilovic is apparently disappointed because of the arrest of Radovan Karadzic. He writes (SRP):

Belgrade is not my capital more. This government is not my government. This polished man (president Tadic) is not my president. Traitors to my country are not my brothers. Traitors are not my compatriots. I am proud because I am a Serb and an Orthodox Christian. I am proud because Radovan Karadzic's horoscope sign is a Gemini, just like mine. I am proud because he has made a fool of the traitors for the past few years. I am proud because he has saved a million Serbs from being murdered. I am proud because he did not allow 1941 to happen once again. I am proud because he is Serbian […]

The process of establishing a democratic system in Serbia is a very long one and it implies a lot of international obligations. One of them was the arrest of Radovan Karadzic. In that context, Dejan Jovic concludes (SRP) in his post on B92's blog platform:

[…] The arrest of Karadzic is great news. The friends of democracy in Serbia were waiting for it very long. Now Serbia will have an opportunity to establish authority of the democratic and pro-European forces. For the first time since 1989, Serbia has got a chance to become a respectable European country. At the same time, this arrest presents a very hard challenge for nationalist forces. Democratic Serbia should not miss this chance.

On the night of July 21-22, many major world media outlets and almost all the media from Serbia immediately issued reports of the arrest.

Many bloggers from the Serbian blogosphere were surprised by the news. Below are the first reactions from some of them.

On the his blog, Co of SLIKE I DOGADJAJI wrote (SRP):

While I was prepering a report about my visit to Portland, I ran into the news that Radovan Karadzic has been arrested. I simply could not believe that it was true, but the news is published on all web sites.

[…]

Hugh Griffiths, a B92 blogger, wrote this in English:

Many of us never thought we would see this day come, that the unholy trinity of the secret police, the criminals and the priests who protected you would ensure an enduring freedom until your dying day. But luckily for us, even pessimists are wrong, at least some of the time. […]

Blogger Dynhysbys of A K U L T U R A expressed his satisfaction (SRP) with the news of Radovan Karadzic's arrest:

[…] I am glad because this government is ready and has an intention to face the problems that are still pulling Serbia into the hell of the 90's. […]

Misha of the Doctor blog criticized the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), but wrote that even though he didn't believe in its justice, he loved Serbia more than Radovan Karadzic:

[…] No matter how bad the reputation of the Tribunal in the Hague is because of the acquittals of the cutthroats such as [Ramus Haradinaji] and [Naser Oric], and no matter how innocent Radovan Karadzic was (God will help him to prove it?), Serbia is always on the first place for me. […]

In the capital city of Colombia, Bogota, journalist Víctor Solano uploads a video of the crowd walking by, with a surprise appearance of a TV character beloved by toddlers throughout the world. On his blog, other videos and images.

From Panama, uploaded by daydreamer191, a video of the excitement lived on the march, which took on the air of a parade.

In Australia, China and Holland, Colombians also celebrated, in groups and sometimes, all on their own.

Colombian bloggers wrote about their reasons for marching or deciding not to join the festivities.

Mauricio Duque Arrubla succinctly explained his reasons:

Caminando, se cura la herida…

Walking, the wound can heal…

Also, his wife took the picture which illustrates this post, titled “Flags”.

Dianacats who lives in another main city in Colombia, Medellin, views the march from the commercial perspective and is a bit befuddled by the campaign a pizza parlor sent to her email, thinking that marketing a pizza on independence and freedom marches is going a bit too far.

From the coastal city of Barranquilla in Colombia, El Gerente posts pictures of his day at the march.

Blogger Arlovich Correa Manchola writes about the ideal of Nation, and how hope for the march has overshadowed the murders of syndicalists on the hands of the state.

La patria olvidará mañana al sindicalista del Polo que se entierra hoy, detenido y desaparecido por fuerzas oficiales, según éste comunicado. Guillermo Rivera llevó a su hija a la ruta del colegio y luego desapareció, después de ser abordado en plena vía pública de Bogotá, por sujetos que a la postre lo torturaron y asesinaron.

La patria ha asesinado a 29 sindicalistas como Rivera, en lo que va corrido del año.

La patria mata 5 sindicalistas al mes.

La patria mata un sindicalista a la semana.

La PATRIA está ensangrentada, tiene las manos y la boca y el alma sedienta de sangre.

Al final del día la patria reza el rosario. Y se lava las manos.

The nation will forget tomorrow the Polo [Opposition Political Party] syndicalist who was buried today, detained and disappeared by official forces, according to this release. Guillermo Rivera took his daughter on her way to school and then disappeared after being intercepted in the middle of the public road in Bogota, by individuals who later tortured and murdered him.
The nation has murdered 29 syndicalists like Rivera just this year.
The nation kills 5 syndicalists a month.
The nation kills a syndicalist a week.
The NATION is bloodied, has their hands and mouth and soul thirsty for blood.
At the end of the day the nation prays with a rosary. And washes its hands.

(Do not by Kitestramrt, used under a Creative Commons License)

As the blog Bosnia News reports, the remains of 307 newly identified genocide victims were buried during a ceremony held at the Potočari Memorial Center near Srebrenica, next to more than 3,000 others others already buried there:

The remains of 307 genocide victims, aged between 15 and 84, were exhumed from mass graves after the end of the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia and identified by DNA analysis.

After leading mourners in prayer, Head of the Bosnian Islamic Community Reisu-l-ulema Mustafa Ef. Ceric called on the European Parliament to proclaim July 11 a day of mourning across the continent.

YakimaGulagLiteraryGazett wrote about the day on her blog:

Hasan Nuhanović was on T.V. several times. As was a neighbor of mine she lives close enough to ride the same bus regularly. She lost a son and a husband in the massacre, her son's name was Nermin. I knew the lady's face was familiar. She was shown in ‘Cry from the Grave' as well as another documentary shown last night.

Today is an official Day of Mourning for the victims of the massacre.

Several Facebook groups are devoted to remembering the Srebrenica genocide, such as Learn from History: Remember the Bosnian Genocide (with over 6,600 members) or Never Forget Srebrenica 11.07.1995 (with over 4,200 members). Yesterday, there was even an online remembrance organized on the social networking website.

The first Facebook group linked to all 11 parts of the famous 1999 BBC documentary, A cry from the grave (see part 1 here). The blog Bosna Muslim - Media recommends a follow-up film called Never Again, and also links to the videos to watch it:

This second film was commissioned as an attempt to judge what had happened since the massacre. Had any degree of reparation been made to those who had lost their families? Had it been possible to bring some of the offenders to justice? Did the world care to remember what had happened in the worst atrocity to be committed in Europe since 1945?

About a month ago the organization Mothers of Srebrenica, which represents 6,000 relatives of the victims, launched a civil suit against the Netherlands and the UN for failing to prevent Bosnian Serb forces from massacring some 8,000 Bosniaks. A day before the Srebrenica massacre anniversary, the Dutch court ruled that it has no jurisdiction to hear the case since the UN is protected by immunity - even though, as stated by Eric Gordy at East Ethnia, “the people the UN was obligated to protect were protected by nothing at all.” The hearings against the Dutch government, however, will proceed in September.

Commenting on the ruling, the blog Samaha wonders:

If an organization such as the UN cannot be held accountable for failing to yield its own conventions then what is going to ensure that they do enforce them? If member states are able to use UN immunity as a scapegoat then what is going to ensure battalions will remain unbiased in conflicts? What is going to keep another genocide from occurring when examples are being set that the UN is either hopeless or unwilling in fulfilling their mandates?

People can't wait [update: yeah, it's totally on now] to get out to those, it seems, just like Chinese hackers, having already gotten into Carrefour.com.cn, weren't willing to wait until the 19th for the planned CNN.com DDOS attack to begin, all this against the backdrop of millions of netizens finding ways to display their patriotism.

As if that weren't enough, Jack Cafferty's remarks even got the central government on the anti-CNN bandwagon.

So now Saturday is looking like Chinese anti-CNN day in a number of different places [zh] around the world [zh]

At least one related post at China.com has over 27,000 comments over nearly 500 pages. As Heike The Dark Visitor blogger points out, the April 19 protests will mostly be held in western Europe:

1. 1500-1800hrs, 19 April 2008, at the Bundestag, Platz der Republik, Berlin
2. 1300-1500hrs, 19 April 2008, two routes (from Talie – Hotel de Ville – Bastille) or (Republique – Bastille – Hotel de Ville –Bastille, Paris
3. 1100-1500hrs, 19 April 2008, Downing Street outside of Whitehall, England
4. (No time given) 19 April 2008, Amsterdam, Holland

The protests appear to be well organized, with the coordination of donations, banners, flags, T-shirts…etc. While it is of course impossible to tell how widespread the demonstrations will be, an online keyword search, using Chinese, did produce several hundred hits.

One link Heike provides emphasizes that the protesters are furious and promising demonstrations that will flood Europe in a sea of red flags:

On April 18, one of the earlier members of anti-CNN.com posted the address and fax number for CNN's office in Beijing, along with a sample letter for anyone to send:

致美国有线电视新闻网负责人：

美国东部时间4月9日晚6点，贵台主持人Jack Cafferty 在“时事观察室”节目中发表了侮辱全体中国人的种族歧视言论，令人甚感震惊。他说：“他们（中国人）基本上还是五十年来的那群恶棍和暴徒。”

全世界华人充分理解贵国一贯秉持的言论自由原则，并尊重Jack Cafferty的政治立场，但是作为一个公众人物，一个新闻从业者，Jack Cafferty所说的已经完全超越了言论自由的底线，相信任何一个有尊严的华人都不会接受这种对于华人整个族裔的谩骂。

贵台稍候在15日发表的简短声明中辩解称Jack Cafferty所说的恶棍暴徒指的是中国政府，这样避重就轻没有诚意的道歉声明更是令人难以接受。首先，在Jack Cafferty的言论中，他反复多次说到中国，中国人，丝毫没有提到中国政府的地方；再者，Jack Cafferty在说到“恶棍”与“暴徒”时，使用的是复数，其意思非常明确，他口中的“他们”指的就是整个华人族群；最后，贵台的声明把矛头转向中国政府，这样牵强的强辩实际上是对中华民族的二度伤害！难道攻击一个国家的政府就不会伤害该国人民的感情了吗？

为此我致函向CNN以及Jack Cafferty提出严正抗议和谴责！

中国向世界敞开大门只有短短20多年的时间，全世界华人都能够理解各国人民对中国这个遥远的东方国家尚存在许多的疑问及种种误解。但是这并不意味着某些人可以不负责任、口无遮拦地攻击中国以及中华民族。即使不了解中国，任何一个有良知的人也不应该对发生在自己身边的事实选择性失明。

以美国为例，华人移民多少年来都是社会中最遵纪守法和最友善的一群人。Cafferty先生是否记得， 9.11事件发生后 ，布什总统向劫机事件中表现英勇的华裔空姐邓月薇家属颁发奖状，称她是“美国的英雄”，事件中另一名中国学生曾喆在世贸大厦现场不停救人最终英勇牺牲，被追赠纽约市“社区贡献奖”的曾喆是美国历史上获此殊荣的第二人；Cafferty先生又是否知道，去年震惊美国震惊世界的弗吉尼亚理工大学枪击案中，有一名华裔女教师挺身而出带领学生顶住大门阻止了枪手进入，从而保护了全班学生。从何时起，善良、本分、为世界和平默默做出贡献的华人竟然成为了Jack Cafferty口中的恶棍和暴徒？

我相信，身为一名资深政治评论员，Jack Cafferty决非无知，他更没有失忆，促使他公开侮辱中国人的根本原因是他对我华人的种族歧视！他的言论无疑是对整个中华民族，尤其是在美华人最无耻的伤害，更造成了非常恶劣的影响，严重损伤了中美两国人民的友谊。

贵台多年来一直标榜CNN在全球树立了很强的公信度和良好的声誉，而现如今Jack Cafferty信口开河恶意攻击中国人的言论无疑是CNN甚至全美传媒界的耻辱！试问一个赤裸裸发表种族歧视言论的人有何资格站在道德高点批评他人为恶棍暴徒？

希望CNN及Jack Cafferty收起傲慢与偏见，立即向全世界华人进行公开、正式的道歉！

如果贵台及Jack Cafferty本人迟迟不愿就辱华言论事件向全世界华人做出诚恳回应，全球华人定将依法提起集体诉讼，追究CNN及Jack Cafferty的诽谤侮辱责任和相关赔偿。

期待你们的答复！

一名普通中国人：

2008年4月18日

Taiwan has a long history of diasporas and colonization. Even the so-called ‘aboriginal people’ in Taiwan drifted there several thousands years ago. About four hundreds years ago, many Han Chinese from China migrated to Taiwan and changed the aboriginal culture.

For example, Siraya, one group of the aboriginal people, has its own religion, A-Li-Tsu. The historied religious building is very simple. After sinicization, their religious buildings look more like the religious buildings for Groundskeeper God in Han’s culture.

Japan had colonized Taiwan from 1895 to the end of WWII. In 1949, the government of Republic of China lost its former territory following the Chinese civil war and moved to Taiwan. Therefore, it is not surprising that we can saw Japanese-style Buddha statue in a Han’s religious building (photo # 1), which was rebuilt after 1949.

Photo# 1 Japanese-style Buddha statue in a Han’s religious building (Photo courtesy of yueh-feng)

In the 17th century, the Spanish and Dutch ruled Taiwan shortly, and the exposure to the western culture seems to influence the decorations in traditional Han’s religious building–the sculpture in photo # 2 shows a western man wearing a suit in a Han's temple.

Photo# 2 A western-man decoration in a Han's temple (Photo courtesy of sunny)

The Spanish and Dutch also brought Christianity to Taiwan, and Christianity is one of the major religions in Taiwan. Photo # 3 shows a church with Torii, a traditional Japanese gate commonly found at the entry of to a Shinto shrine.

Photo# 3 A torii in the property of a church (Photo courtesy of little fox)

There is another flavor added to the religious buildings in Taiwan: modern. Decades ago, some fishermen picked up several damaged god statues and set up a temple for them. However, where they set up this temple became a park and the government asked them to move the temple. Because they do not have other place to set up the temple, they can only move the temple when the policemen came. At the end, the government decided to let the temple stay, but due to the possibility of flooding, the temple is designed to be able to be raised up when needed (along the four pillars around the temple).

After reading this article, do you think multi-culturalism observed in Taiwan is a salad bowl or soups?