25 Kosovar and Albanian young women in TV program at Tufts on July 28

My wife, Jane Christo will be producing this event. And there are 25 Kosovar and Albanian young women in the group!

Van Christo

***

The BBC World Service Radio, Women2Women a program of Empower Peace, and the Fletcher School at Tufts University present World Have Your Say presented by BBC Global News, LIVE from Asean Auditorium, on July 28th from 1-3 pm.

What is World Have Your Say? (description is taken from the WHYS Web site)

"World Have Your Say (WHYS) is the name we've given to the conversation between all of us at BBC Global News and all of you. It's going on 24 hours a day, through this blog, facebook, twitter and all of our programmes on BBC radio and BBC television.
We're on BBC World Service radio at 1800GMT on weekdays and on BBC World News television at 1500GMT on Fridays.

We aim to create a global conversation where the BBC provides the platform, but our contributors control the topics that we discuss and how those topics are discussed. We use all technology available to us to make the programme as open as possible. We receive phone calls, calls over the net, text messages, tweets, emails and comments on our blog."What is Women2Women? (description is taken from the W2W web site)


"Women2Women, a program of Empower Peace is an international women’s leadership program that brings together emerging young women leaders (ages 15-19) from around the globe, engages them in intensive action-oriented leadership training, and connects them to an international network of influential women leaders;"

World Have Your Say and 110 young women from Women2Women will be in the Asean Auditorium, Thursday July 28th, between 1-3pm. broadcasting a live international program.

Boston Heat Advisory

CITY OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Office of the Mayor
Thomas M. Menino
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
For More Information Contact:
Press Office, 617 635-4461

** Heat Advisory **

Mayor Menino Reminds Residents to Take Precautions in High Temperatures this Week
TOMORROW! Cooling Centers to Open and Pool Hours Extended to 9PM

With temperatures expected to top 90 degrees over the next several days, Mayor Thomas M. Menino has issued a heat advisory and reminds residents to take precautions to stay safe and healthy during this hot and potentially dangerous weather. The City’s cooling centers will be open and pools will operate with extended hours, until 9 PM, for residents who want to cool off. The Parks Department also operates 50 water spray features at parks throughout the City.
“The hot weather has now become steamy weather as higher temperatures and humidity arrive this week,” said Mayor Menino. “In these conditions, we must remember to stay cool and hydrated and continue to keep an eye on our neighbors.”

Children and the elderly are particularly susceptible to heat-related illnesses and injuries, but everyone should remember to limit their activities during very hot weather, drink plenty of fluids, and avoid beverages that contain caffeine or alcohol. When outdoors, limit strenuous activity, wear sunscreen and loose, light-colored clothing, and rest often in cool, shady areas.

Heat related illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke can be fatal if untreated and need to be taken seriously. Residents should follow heat safety precautions and pay attention to the warning signs such as nausea, dizziness, and headaches. If symptoms persist, call 9-1-1 immediately. Family, friends and neighbors are also urged to check in frequently with elderly residents who may need assistance during the hot weather.

For questions about heat-related city services, residents should call the Mayor's 24-Hour Hotline at 617-635-4500. Comprehensive heat safety tips and resources are available on the city website at www.cityofboston.gov/heat.

Seeking host families in Boston for 2 students from Mitrovice/Kosova

Milos Golubovic and Ardiana Osmani were indispensible at the Forum for Cities in Transition held in Mitrovce/Kosovska Mitrovica in May 2010 and directed by Padraig O’Malley.

The McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, headed by Dean Stephen Crosby is bringing those two young people - Milos and Ardiana - to UMass for the 2011 school year and seeks host families for these very enjoyable, hardworking students for the fall semester (September through December).
Please call or email Pat Peterson (617-287-5535 or patricia.peterson@umb.edu) for more information or go to

http://www.mccormack.umb.edu/chair/documents/MitroStudentsUMASS.pdf

E-mail Scam: Avoid Green Card Lottery Fraud

Have you or someone you know recently received an e-mail claiming you’ve won the Green Card lottery and asking you to send or wire money?

Don’t fall for it – the sender is trying to steal your money!

Fraudsters will frequently e-mail potential victims posing as State Department or other government officials with requests to wire or transfer money online as part of a “processing fee.” You should NEVER transfer money to anyone who e-mails you claiming that you have won the Diversity Visa (DV) lottery or been selected for a Green Card.

These e-mails are designed to steal money from unsuspecting victims. The senders often use phony e-mail addresses and logos designed to make them look more like official government correspondence. One easy way to tell they are a fraud is that the e-mail address does not end with a “.gov”.

One particularly common fraud email comes from an address ending in @diplomats.com or @usa.com and asks potential victims to wire $819 per applicant/family member via Western Union to an individual (the name varies) at the following address in the United Kingdom: 24 Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE. If you receive this email, do NOT respond. Report it immediately to the Internet Crime Complaint Center and the Federal Trade Commission online or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).

For more information on this type of fraud and how to avoid and report it, please see the Department of State’s fraud warning and the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer alert on the matter.

For more information about the Diversity Visa Program, see http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ and review the Department of State’s Travel.State.Gov DV Instructions webpage.

posted by USCIS Blog Team @ 5:04 PM

REMINDER: 65th AANO Convention in Washington, DC!!

65th Albanian American National Convention
Posted by: "Shpresa" sst@theodhosimichael.com shpresatheodhosi
Mon Jul 18, 2011 8:26 pm (PDT)

Massachusetts Albanians

You are cordially invited

To the

65th Albanian American National Convention

August 5, 6 and 7, 2011

Washington, DC

Lincoln Memorial US Capitol Building

Washington Monument

FDR Memorial White House World

War II Memorial

Jefferson Memorial Arlington

Cemetery FBI Building

Kennedy Center WW I Memorial

National Archives

DuPont Circle National Gallery of Art

National Cathedral

DC Waterfront Smithsonian Institute

Korean Memorial

Members $150.00 – Non Members $175.00 - Children 15 & under Adult
Meal $75.00

Child's Meal $50.00, Students $80.00

MAKE YOUR HOTEL RESEVATIONS at Westin City Center, 1400 M Street NW,

Washington, DC 20005

By calling 1-800-WESTIN 1 or visit their website posted on www.aano.org

Thursday - Tours on your own. Friday – hors d'oeuvres/Dance.

Saturday - Formal Dinner Dance

Sunday – Event forthcoming Please check www.aano.org

for complete details of the Convention.

___________________________

For more information or to use PayPal;

Visit us online: www.aano.org

Free Concert on Esplanade

Landmarks Festival at the Shell

July 20, 2011 - 7PM

Tchaikovsky Spectacular

A Tribute to Charles Ansbacher

Christopher Wilkins, Music Director and Conductor

Kevin Kim, Soaring Over the Vast Expanse (World Premiere)

Tchaikovsky, Concerto for Violin in D major, op. 35

Hyunsu Ko, Violin


Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 4 in F minor, op. 36,


Where: DCR's Hatch Shell on the Esplanade

Rain location: The Church of the Covenant

67 Newbury Street

Boston, MA 02116-3090

For weather alerts: Call 617-987-2000 or Text Landmarks to 27138



This Week's WGBH Host: Ben Roe

The Albanians of Turkey?

I've always been a bit curious about the Albanians of Turkey. Many years ago, I was given a gift subscription to a well-produced Albanian-language newspaper "Besa" published in Istanbul, but when the publisher left Turkey, the newspaper was no longer published. Thus, I was extremely interested to read the following tidbit about Turkish Albanians posted by Canadian-Albanian writer, Perparim Kapllani, so I thought I'd pass it along...

xxx

"According to a 2008 report prepared for the National Security Council of Turkey by academics of three Turkish universities in eastern Anatolia, there were approximately 1,300,000 people of Albanian descent living in Turkey.[41] A part of these people have assimilated to the culture of Turkey, and consider themselves more Turkish than Albanian. Nonetheless, more than 500,000 families of Albanian descents still recognize their ancestry like their languages, culture and traditions."

65th Albanian American National Organization Convention

August 5,6,7, 2011

Dear friends, we invite to join a wonderful three day event in
Washington DC. The United States capital has many attractions to offer
and you have a unique opportunity to have a good time with your Albanian
brethren.

Friday night - hor d'oeuvres & dance, Ermira Babaliu and her Band

Saturday night - dinner dance, Ermira Babaliu and her Band

Sunday night - 3 hr Ms. Christin cruise on the Potomac at 7 pm departing
from Alexandria, VA – food, beer, wine, soda & water, DJ

Deadline for Convention tickets July 15, 2011 – visit our site
www.aano.org to purchase

MAKE YOUR HOTEL RESERVATIONS at Westin City Center, 1400 M Street NW,
Washington, DC 20005 by calling 1-800-WESTIN or visit their website
posted on www.aano.org

The Statue of Liberty

(A personal memento by Van Christo on July 4, 2011)

Born in Albania, I lied about my age during WWII so I could join the U.S. Navy at age 16. In 1944, I served as a Petty Officer aboard a Destroyer Escort, the U.S. S. Chaffee, DE 230, underway to Bayonne, New Jersey, from Boston for outfitting prior to assignment in Pacific Ocean War Areas. As we neared our destination, our crew realized that, in a few moments, we would be passing the Statue of Liberty - an image we all knew by heart from seeing it many times in newspaper photos, school books, and newsreels. Now, it was actually about to happen! With high anticipation, crew members not on watch gathered on the starboard (right) side of the ship as the Statue came into view. We cruised by in dead silence, instinctively stood at attention, and slowly saluted. Frankly, I’m not ashamed to say there were tears in my eyes, and in the eyes of my shipmates. For looming above, was the inspirational symbol of America that our fathers and mothers had gazed at with such hope for us, their children, years before. I was not the only immigrant on my ship - there were other immigrants from Austria, Holland, Poland, France, and Puerto Rico. Passing the Statue of Liberty doubled my pride, that as an immigrant from Albania, I was in the service of my adopted country in a time of war.

Emma Lazarus, an American writer of Portuguese-Jewish ancestry, was so moved by news of Eastern European persecution of Jews, she published "The New Colossus" in 1883 - now one of the most often quoted poems in U.S. history, especially the lines inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, / The wretched refuse of your teeming shore."

The New Colossus

By Emma Lazarus, 1883

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

The Artist John Singleton Copley

Copley Square in Boston, named after the famous Boston artist John Singleton Copley, is the location of the equally famous Boston Public Library. John Singleton Copley's paintings can be seen at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Read below to learn a bit more about him.

***

On This Day...July 3rd

...in 1738, John Singleton Copley was born in Boston to recent Irish immigrants. From these humble beginnings, he became the foremost artist in colonial America. His natural talent, attention to detail, and determination made up for his lack of formal artistic training. A key ingredient in his success was his ability to paint his subjects in poses and settings borrowed from the English aristocracy they so admired. Although he and his family lived in an elegant mansion on Beacon Hill, Copley was "mortified" that his countrymen considered an artist "little better than a carpenter or shoemaker." When the coming Revolution caused most of his wealthy clients to leave Boston, he left, too. He never returned to his native land.