TURadio : Messages : 27-61 of 108

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB118765988194603675.html

Greetings all,

For those of concerned with sustainable development in Transylvania, the mining controversy in Rosia Montana/Verespatak in the mountains not far from Torda,Transylvania provides one of the more complex, publicized and controversial examples. The attached article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal and the PBS show it talks about might be of interest to you.

The WSJ Article is pasted below for those for whom the above link doesn't work.

For Boston area folks, the film mentioned in the article is listed as showing tonight, Wed Aug 22nd, on "Wide Angle" at 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm on the WGBH World station (209 for us on Comcast in Lincoln, MA). As they say - check your local listings.

This morning at 2:00 am I woke up and caught the last 10 minutes of it on NH Public TV. It showed a Hungarian Unitarian woman who sold her home to the gold company and a Romanian woman who would not. It ended in a field with men cutting grass with scythes and one of their wives bring them water - they wanted no part of the gold company's plans.

The PBS web page for the show is at

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/shows/romania/index.html

It has more information about the movie and many links about material related to the mine, including a NYT article. If you can't see the show live, hopefully it will be posted on the PBS Wide Angle site in the near future as many of their other recent programs have been.

Best wishes,

Rodger

Make Up Your Own Mine

By JOHN FUND
August 21, 2007; Page A15, The Wall Street Journal

The recent tragedy in Utah has brightened the spotlight on mining, already under assault by environmental and anti-globalization activists world-wide. These activists have produced several documentaries, and the anti-mining campaign has attracted the attention of billionaire George Soros and actress Vanessa Redgrave -- and enough charges of greed or hypocrisy to fill a mine shaft.

Tonight, PBS will air "Gold Futures," a film by Hungary's Tibor Kocsis. The film focuses on residents in Romania's Rosia Montana, a rural Transylvanian town, who are divided over the benefits of a proposed gold mine. It also features Gabriel Resources, the Canadian mining company trying to convince them to relocate so it can dig for a huge gold deposit estimated at 14.6 million ounces, worth almost $10 billion. PBS describes the film as a "David-and-Goliath story."

While the film gives time to supporters and opponents of the mine, it leaves unsaid that half of the villagers voicing opposition have now either sold their homes or will not have to move, because they live in a protected area where the village's historic structures and churches will be preserved. Viewers who see pristine shots of the Rosia valley won't realize the hills hide a huge, abandoned communist-era mine, leaking toxic heavy metals into local streams -- or that while the modern mining project will level four hills to create an open pit, it will also clean up the old mess at no cost to the Romanian treasury.

The other side to the controversy is told in a new film that will never be shown on PBS, but is nonetheless rattling the environmental community. "Mine Your Own Business" is a documentary by Irish filmmakers Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney. They conclude that the biggest threat to the people of Rosia Montana "comes from upper-class Western environmentalism that seeks to keep them poor and unable to clean up the horrific pollution caused by Ceausescu's mining."

Mr. McAleer, a former Financial Times journalist who has followed the mine battle for seven years, says he "found that everything the environmentalists were saying about the project was misleading, exaggerated or quite simply false." He produced his film on a shoestring $230,000 budget largely provided by Gabriel Resources, but says he was given complete editorial control.

The Gabriel funding caused environmental groups to label the film "propaganda" and demand the National Geographic Society cancel plans to rent its Washington, D.C. theater to the free-market Moving Picture Institute for a screening. The Institute notes opponents rarely challenge the film's facts. As for Mr. Kocsis's documentary, his Flora Film corporate Web site lists as its partners Greenpeace, the Hungarian Ministry of Environment and the George Soros-backed Energy Club of Hungary, all of which oppose the Romanian project on either environmental or nationalistic grounds (Transylvania used to be part of Hungary).

High-profile mine opponents such as Ms. Redgrave (who hasn't visited Rosia Montana), have declared undying opposition to the project: "Our planet is dying and we have no right to destroy an ecosystem." In April, Mr. Soros, the chairman of the Open Society Institute and a large funder of groups opposing Rosia Montana, wrote to Wayne Murdy, then CEO of Newmont Mining, the Denver company that owns 19% of Gabriel Resources. He urged him not to invest in "a dubious project such as Rosia Montana," citing "the social costs involved in involuntarily resettling hundreds of people" and "the potential for disastrous environmental impact." Mr. Soros did not respond to an interview request.

Opponents of the mine claim that Rosia Montana residents agree with their stance. "Local opposition to the mine is strong and organized" says a statement signed by 80 environmental groups in January. In his letter, Mr. Soros cites a recent poll organized by some members of Romania's parliament that "found 90% of respondents rejecting the project." But the poll turns out to be an unscientific Internet survey, and one of the environmental groups Mr. Soros funds urged people outside Romania to participate in it. What is clear: Two-thirds of Rosia Montana's people have accepted Gabriel's voluntary offer to buy their homes at above market rates. Most will move four miles away to a less polluted area.

On the other side, Rosia Montana Mayor Virgil Narita supports the mine because it will create 700 permanent local jobs. He was re-elected with 80% of the vote this year. And in late 2004, the Council of Europe sent Eddie O'Hara, a British Labour Party member of the European Parliament, to Rosia Montana to file an official report. Opposition to the mine, he said, was "substantial," but it was "very much fueled by outside bodies, presumably well-meaning but possibly counterproductively. It seems in part at least exaggerated." Mr. O'Hara concluded the opposition "do not take account of modern mining techniques and in fact the Rosia Montana project will help to clear up existing pollution." He also warned that not allowing the mine "would remove any chance of local development for some time."

And there's the rub. Rosia Montana needs a cleanup and development. Three-quarters of its 600 families lack indoor toilets, unemployment tops 70% and the only truly viable crop is potatoes. In "Mine Your Own Business," Andrei Jurca, the local dentist, tells Mr. McAleer "we don't need foreign advocates. We are smart enough to take our own fate in our own hands." Other villagers note that concerns about Gabriel's use of cyanide in gold mining are misplaced. Seven out of nine existing gold mines in European Union countries use cyanide and the allowable limits in Rosia Montana will be lower than all of them.

Perhaps local unemployed miner Gheorghe Lucian says it best: "People have no food to eat . . . I know what I need -- a job." Mr. Soros's Romanian Open Society Foundation is touting "alternative economic activities such as organic agriculture and eco-tourism," unrealistic at best. Stefania Simon, legal counsel for the anti-mine group Alburnus Maior, has no answer for Mr. Lucian. "Unemployment is a problem, but it will not be solved by mining," she told Britain's Guardian newspaper. Noting that Gabriel has only a 17-year lease to mine, she says, "This is a solution for the short term." But right now, even non-permanent jobs and any cleanup of the existing pollution looks like a good deal to people like Mr. Lucian.

"Mine Your Own Business" also contains interviews with leading environmentalists opposing other mining projects who display smug indifference to bettering the lives of poor people. In Madagascar, Mr. McAleer finds Mark Fenn, country director for the World Wide Fund for Nature, who argues that the poor are just as happy as the rich because they smile more and that if Madagascar locals (who now earn $100 a month) get more money "they'll buy cases of beer, invite their friends, they'll throw a party . . . three, four days the money's gone." He then shows off his new $35,000 catamaran.

Mr. McAleer tells me such encounters should wake up people "who, like myself, unquestionably believed environmentalists were a force for good in the world." He still considers himself a liberal but, "it's sad that my fellow left-wingers and environmentalists who often come from the most developed countries are now so opposed to development."

Mr. Fund is a columnist for OpinionJournal.com.

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#57

From: "Gabor Kiss" <gabor@...>
Date: Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:03 pm
Subject: No TUR tonight?

gabork1

Offline

I haven't seen any notification about TUR for tonight so I assume
there isn't any pre-recorded broadcast, though I guess I will still
check. I look forward to when live broadcasts resume.

Gabor

#56

From: Bob Tripp <tripprm@...>
Date: Mon Jul 9, 2007 1:08 pm
Subject: Re: Vedr. New file uploaded to TURadio

tripprm

Offline

Thanks, Rodger, for handling the clean up after the party crashers [what a great way to put it!]. There was another one sent while you were in Erdely - something like from "sexygirl...". Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Bob

Rodger Mattlage <rmattlage@...> wrote:

Hi all,

I just saw this and have deleted the offending "member", message and file from the TURadio group.

Unfortunately this can happen to an "open" group (Yahoo, Google, and others) where like-minded people are encouraged to join and participate. We just have to clean up after the party crashers, which has now been done in this case.

Best wishes to all!

Rodger

----- Original Message ----
From: Donna Loveland <sunset719@comcast.net>
To: knut@heidelberg.no; TURadio@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, July 9, 2007 1:00:48 AM
Subject: Re: Vedr. [TURadio] New file uploaded to TURadio

Hello Knut in Norway:

Somehow someone is 'hacking' into this group. Of course we have nothing to do with advertisement for singles interests or issues. Sorry this has happened. We'll ask a tech-savvy person to look into this.

Donna Loveland

TUR Support Group

Spend 5 seconds daily to click on www.thehungersite. com to feed hungry people, provide child health care and more at no cost to you

----- Original Message -----

From: Knut Heidelberg

To: TURadio@yahoogroups .com

Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 9:46 PM

Subject: Vedr. [TURadio] New file uploaded to TURadio

I fail to see what this has to do with TURadio? Please
explain.

Best wishes from Knut in Norway

--- TURadio@yahoogroups .com skrev:

>
> Hello,
>
> This email message is a notification to let you know
> that
> a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the
> TURadio
> group.
>
> File : /Military singles community!.html
> Uploaded by : militarynanawilliam 0
> <militarynanawilliam 0@...>
> Description : Meet hot military friends!
>
> You can access this file at the URL:
>
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/TURadio/ files/Military% 20singles% 20community% 21.html
>
>
> To learn more about file sharing for your group,
> please visit:
> http://help. yahoo.com/ help/us/groups/ files
>
> Regards,
>
> militarynanawilliam 0
> <militarynanawilliam 0@...>
>
>
>
>
>

Knut Heidelberg
http://heidelberg. no

____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Alt i �n. F� Yahoo! Mail med adressekartotek, kalender og
notisblokk. http://no.mail. yahoo.com

#55

From: Rodger Mattlage <rmattlage@...>
Date: Mon Jul 9, 2007 10:40 am
Subject: Re: Vedr. New file uploaded to TURadio

rmattlage

Offline

Hi all,

I just saw this and have deleted the offending "member", message and file from the TURadio group.

Unfortunately this can happen to an "open" group (Yahoo, Google, and others) where like-minded people are encouraged to join and participate. We just have to clean up after the party crashers, which has now been done in this case.

Best wishes to all!

Rodger

----- Original Message ----
From: Donna Loveland <sunset719@...>
To: knut@...; TURadio@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, July 9, 2007 1:00:48 AM
Subject: Re: Vedr. [TURadio] New file uploaded to TURadio

Hello Knut in Norway:

Somehow someone is 'hacking' into this group. Of course we have nothing to do with advertisement for singles interests or issues. Sorry this has happened. We'll ask a tech-savvy person to look into this.

Donna Loveland

TUR Support Group

Spend 5 seconds daily to click on www.thehungersite. com to feed hungry people, provide child health care and more at no cost to you

----- Original Message -----

From: Knut Heidelberg

To: TURadio@yahoogroups .com

Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 9:46 PM

Subject: Vedr. [TURadio] New file uploaded to TURadio

I fail to see what this has to do with TURadio? Please
explain.

Best wishes from Knut in Norway

--- TURadio@yahoogroups .com skrev:

>
> Hello,
>
> This email message is a notification to let you know
> that
> a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the
> TURadio
> group.
>
> File : /Military singles community!.html
> Uploaded by : militarynanawilliam 0
> <militarynanawilliam 0@...>
> Description : Meet hot military friends!
>
> You can access this file at the URL:
>
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/TURadio/ files/Military% 20singles% 20community% 21.html
>
>
> To learn more about file sharing for your group,
> please visit:
> http://help. yahoo.com/ help/us/groups/ files
>
> Regards,
>
> militarynanawilliam 0
> <militarynanawilliam 0@...>
>
>
>
>
>

Knut Heidelberg
http://heidelberg. no

____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Alt i �n. F� Yahoo! Mail med adressekartotek, kalender og
notisblokk. http://no.mail. yahoo.com

#54

From: "Donna Loveland" <sunset719@...>
Date: Mon Jul 9, 2007 5:00 am
Subject: Re: Vedr. New file uploaded to TURadio

loveland_donna

Offline

Hello Knut in Norway:

Donna Loveland

TUR Support Group

Spend 5 seconds daily to click on www.thehungersite.com to feed hungry people, provide child health care and more at no cost to you

----- Original Message -----

From: Knut Heidelberg

To: TURadio@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 9:46 PM

Subject: Vedr. [TURadio] New file uploaded to TURadio

I fail to see what this has to do with TURadio? Please
explain.

Best wishes from Knut in Norway

--- TURadio@yahoogroups.com skrev:

>
> Hello,
>
> This email message is a notification to let you know
> that
> a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the
> TURadio
> group.
>
> File : /Military singles community!.html
> Uploaded by : militarynanawilliam0
> <militarynanawilliam0@...>
> Description : Meet hot military friends!
>
> You can access this file at the URL:
>
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TURadio/files/Military%20singles%20community%21.html
>
>
> To learn more about file sharing for your group,
> please visit:
> http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/files
>
> Regards,
>
> militarynanawilliam0
> <militarynanawilliam0@...>
>
>
>
>
>

Knut Heidelberg
http://heidelberg.no

_________________________________________________________
Alt i �n. F� Yahoo! Mail med adressekartotek, kalender og
notisblokk. http://no.mail.yahoo.com

#53

From: Knut Heidelberg <knut_heidelberg@...>
Date: Mon Jul 9, 2007 4:46 am
Subject: Vedr. New file uploaded to TURadio

knut_heidelberg

Offline

I fail to see what this has to do with TURadio? Please
explain.

Best wishes from Knut in Norway



--- TURadio@yahoogroups.com skrev:

>
> Hello,
>
> This email message is a notification to let you know
> that
> a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the
> TURadio
> group.
>
>   File        : /Military singles community!.html
>   Uploaded by : militarynanawilliam0
> <militarynanawilliam0@...>
>   Description : Meet hot military friends!
>
> You can access this file at the URL:
>
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TURadio/files/Military%20singles%20community%21.ht\
ml
>
>
> To learn more about file sharing for your group,
> please visit:
> http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/files
>
> Regards,
>
> militarynanawilliam0
> <militarynanawilliam0@...>
>
>
>
>
>


Knut Heidelberg
http://heidelberg.no







_________________________________________________________
Alt i �n. F� Yahoo! Mail med adressekartotek, kalender og
notisblokk. http://no.mail.yahoo.com

#51

From: TURadio@yahoogroups.com
Date: Mon Jul 9, 2007 4:07 am
Subject: New file uploaded to TURadio

TURadio@yahoogroups.com

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the TURadio
group.

   File        : /Military singles community!.html
   Uploaded by : militarynanawilliam0 <militarynanawilliam0@...>
   Description : Meet hot military friends!

You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TURadio/files/Military%20singles%20community%21.ht\
ml

To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit:
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/files

Regards,

militarynanawilliam0 <militarynanawilliam0@...>

#50

From: Bob Tripp <tripprm@...>
Date: Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:11 pm
Subject: TUR is on tomorrow - and message from Zsolt Solymosi

tripprm

Offline

Howdy all,

Tomorrow, Wednesday, 27 June, TUR is scheduled to air an interview that Zsolt Solymosi did with Rodger Mattlage of the Concord, MA, UU Church, a few days ago while Rodger was in Kolozsvar. 6 pm EDT, 3 pm PDT.

Instructions for connecting to TUR web radio are below.

Also below I am again forwarding the email that Zsolt sent last Friday regarding TUR's summer hiatus.

Questions or Comments? Please contact Rodger [rmattlage@...] or me.

Thank you.

Bob

From Zsolt:

From: "solymosi zsolt" <solyomzs@...>
To: tripprm@...
Subject: TUR
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2007 17:12:32 +0300

Dear Friends of TUR

I asked the chair of the TUR support Committee, Bob Tripp, to post my message to all listeners.

First of all I would like to thank you for all those who helped this project from its first days, when i was only dreaming about a unitarian webradio during my wonderful year in Berkeley.

The dream became reality by now. There is a studio in the attic of the unitarian high school, there is a program and a team working for TUR, and we do hope that from this fall the radio will increase in audience and will spread the message of our faith all over the web.

So, the live English programs on Wednesdays will end until September, and you can listen to recorded programs from previous shows in the regular hour. Ben, my collegue, went back to US, and due to my summer program I will not be available to host live shows. Thank you again for your support and help, any suggestions, ideas, and donations are welcomed to the TUR support committee address.

P. S. Next Wednesday, you can hear a recorded show what i will record tomorrow with Rodger Mattlage and his friends, after returning to Kolozsvar from their incredible journey in Transylvania.

Dont miss it!

Isten aldjon,

Zsolt

Instructions:

To listen to TUR you need to software on your PC or Mac that can pick up and play the broadcast:

For PCs it�s the Winamp player, available for download at www.winamp.com

For Macs it�s the VLC Media Player, available for download at www.videolan.org/vlc

In either case these programs are stable and well tested.   Each has simple instructions describing how to download and install the software.

Once you have installed the software, go to the TUR home page at www.unitarianradio.ro

     and click on the icon marked LIVE at the top of the page. [To get the English language TUR home page, click on the American flag.]

Normally, this will be enough for the broadcast to start playing.

For PC users: if you have other software set up to play broadcasts, you either need to change the default player to Winamp or, follow the following procedure to get Winamp to play TUR.

1)       Make sure Winamp is running and you can see its control player window.

a.       Note: the download and install is straight-forward as Winamp has been around for ages and has been thoroughly "vetted".

      2) Right click on the "Live" "button" at the top of the Unitarian radio window and select "Copy Shortcut"

      3) Click the File menu of the Winamp player and select "Play URL"

      4) In the resulting dialog, paste (CTRL-C) the shortcut you just copied and you should see the shortcut URL

          for the Unitarian web radio

      5) Click the dialog's "Open" button.

      6) You should see the Winamp player window start playing the radio broadcast.

       Also: Make sure that your PC's speaker is not muted and the volume is turned up.

The Winamp player has a volume control, but your PC's speaker(s) must be on (i.e. not muted) and turned   up high enough.

               At the website there is a place to send emails while the show is on.

#49

From: Bob Tripp <tripprm@...>
Date: Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:22 pm
Subject: Fwd: RE: Please keep your promise...i am keeping it ritght now:)))

tripprm

Offline

solymosi zsolt <solyomzs@...> wrote:

From: "solymosi zsolt" <solyomzs@...>
To: tripprm@...
Subject: TUR
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2007 17:12:32 +0300

Dear Friends of TUR

I asked the chair of the TUR support Committee, Bob Tripp, to post my message to all listeners.

First of all I would like to thank you for all those who helped this project from its first days, when i was only dreaming about a unitarian webradio during my wonderful year in Berkeley.

The dream became reality by now. There is a studio in the attic of the unitarian high school, there is a program and a team working for TUR, and we do hope that from this fall the radio will increase in audience and will spread the message of our faith all over the web.

So, the live English programs on Wednesdays will end until September, and you can listen to recorded programs from previous shows in the regular hour. Ben, my collegue, went back to US, and due to my summer program I will not be available to host live shows. Thank you again for your support and help, any suggestions, ideas, and donations are welcomed to the TUR support committee address.

P. S. Next Wednesday, you can hear a recorded show what i will record tomorrow with Rodger Mattlage and his friends, after returning to Kolozsvar from their incredible journey in Transylvania.

Dont miss it!

Isten aldjon,

Zsolt

#47

From: "Ben Legg" <leggab@...>
Date: Wed Jun 13, 2007 3:35 pm
Subject: TUR Radio Tonight

sketchmonky

Offline

Hi everybody!

This is just a late reminder that there will be an English language broadcast of TUR this evening at 6:00 PM EDT/3:00 PM PDT. The topic will be a discussion of gay and lesbian life in Transylvania and also a discussion of the recent Transylvania International Film Festival. I will be the host, and this will be my last TUR broadcast for the summer, because I will be returning to the U.S. for the summer. Hope to hear from you!!

Ben

#46

From: "Gabor Kiss" <gabor@...>
Date: Wed Jun 6, 2007 11:04 pm
Subject: TUR Broadcast 6/6/07

gabork1

Offline

I listened to the broadcast tonight and the broadcast quality was
fortunately restored to its former excellence. I was happy to hear
from the folks in Corvallis. I hope that the program which was
scheduled last week on gay/lesbian issues will be re-scheduled.

Since the show was pre-recorded I missed the opportunity to interact
by sending messages via the website, but I understand that due to the
time difference this might sometimes be necessary, especially when you
have guests. I would encourage you to state the time during the intro
to the show. I wasn't sure for awhile whether it was in fact live or
recorded.

I was interested in the mention of Unitarian Commmunion. I'll look for
a description somewhere in a catechism as to what the significance of
communion actually is among Transylvanian Unitarians. Zsolt said a few
words about it, which I didn't write down. I understand though that it
is celebrated only 4 times a year, on 4 specific holidays. Anyway, it
might be a nice thing for American UU congregations to celebrate this
too, on the same 4 days. I imagine that there are congregations that
do that now. I'll mention it to our minister.

I look forward to next week, live or recorded.

Gabor Kiss
Morristown, NJ

#45

From: Rodger Mattlage <rmattlage@...>
Date: Thu May 31, 2007 12:29 am
Subject: Re: TUR Difficulties Tonight

rmattlage

Offline

Hi Ben,

Thanks for your valiant efforts tonight!

I'm confused by your message whether there will be an English broadcast next week or not until the week after. Can you please clarify for the PCC Chat and TURadio groups.

Many thanks!!

See you in a week and a half, I hope.

Best wishes,

Rodger

----- Original Message ----
From: Ben Legg <leggab@...>
To: Current members of the Partner Church Council <pcc-chat@...>
Cc: TUR Yahoo <TURadio@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 6:15:41 PM
Subject: [TURadio] TUR Difficulties Tonight

Hello all,
Firstly, to the people who were listening for the last 10 minutes, thank you!! It makes me feel great that we have such a dedicated audience that continues to listen to us despite the challenges that we have had in the last month or so. While I can't speak for Zsolt, your support is really what is keeping me going with this project.
Secondly, I have to mention one of these very challenges. Due to severe weather in the Kolozsvar area the last few days (major rain etc), the interent in the Brassai building is in bad shape, and this affects our broadcast severely. After hearing from several of you that the broadcast quality was poor, I have decided to postpone the broadcast until next week (actually in two weeks as next week we will be covering the Transylvania International Film Festival). I'm very sorry and once again I thank all of you for listening.
Have a great evening and we hope to be with you next week.
Ben

#44

From: "Ben Legg" <leggab@...>
Date: Wed May 30, 2007 10:15 pm
Subject: TUR Difficulties Tonight

sketchmonky

Offline

#43

From: Ruth Gibson <mregibson@...>
Date: Wed May 23, 2007 2:08 pm
Subject: Re:TUR English Tomorrow

mregibson

Offline

Hi, Zsolt! Hi, Ben! Greetings everyone!

Another question about the EU impact:

Does it make it easier for young people seeking employment to go to other countires for jobs? Is there a possibility for or interest in immigration? and if so, are Transylvanians more or less likely than other Romanians to immigrate or to wish to?

I ask because I met a teenager at an internet cafe in Kolozsvar who wondered whyever on earth an American was there. He said that if he ever had a chance he'd go to America or Europe, because he didn't think he'd ever get a good job in Romania..

ANother question--maybe not so much related:

I've noticed that--just as Americans who have never been there have our own images of Romania.-- the young Romanians I've met tend to have a rosy idea about how wonderful things are in America, how anyone willing to work can have a big house with a garden and a car --older folks are perhaps more skeptical and are the ones who ask how in the world we ever allowed George Bush the younger to get elected twice.

Is there a difference in attitude about lilfe in America or Westtern EU countries, between Transylvanians who have been involved with Partner Churches or similar exchanged, and those who have not?

Best wishes,

Ruth Gibson

#42

From: Rodger Mattlage <rmattlage@...>
Date: Wed May 23, 2007 1:01 am
Subject: Re: TUR English Tomorrow

rmattlage

Offline

Hi Ben,

Great to hear from you!!

Thanks for the advanced notice and the heads-up about the topic, one I'm VERY interested and will be listening to!!

Questions that come immediately to mind:

     - How has the impact been different for Transylvania than it is for the other parts of Romania?
     - What are the impacts on small farmers?
     - Are you seeing more good jobs coming to the more urban areas (Kolozsvar, Marosvasarhely, Sibiu, ...)?
     - How about more jobs in less urban areas?
     - Has EU accession had any impact on the ethnic tensions?

Please say hi to Zsolt and wish him well!

Minden jot!

Rodger

----- Original Message ----
From: Ben Legg <leggab@...>
To: TUR Yahoo <TURadio@yahoogroups.com>; Current members of the Partner Church Council <pcc-chat@...>
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 10:12:17 AM
Subject: [TURadio] TUR English Tomorrow

Hello all...

This is just a reminder that we will have one hour of English broadcasting tomorrow evening at 6:00 PM EDT/3:00 PM PDT on TUR. Checlk out the broadcast at www.unitarianradio. ro . The topic will be Romania's recent EU integration and the effects that this has had on Transylvania. I'll be ready for your comments. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Ben

#41

From: "Ben Legg" <leggab@...>
Date: Tue May 22, 2007 2:12 pm
Subject: TUR English Tomorrow

sketchmonky

Offline

Hello all...

This is just a reminder that we will have one hour of English broadcasting tomorrow evening at 6:00 PM EDT/3:00 PM PDT on TUR. Checlk out the broadcast at www.unitarianradio.ro . The topic will be Romania's recent EU integration and the effects that this has had on Transylvania. I'll be ready for your comments. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Ben

#40

From: "Ben Legg" <leggab@...>
Date: Wed May 16, 2007 1:43 pm
Subject: Radio Broadcast Tonight

sketchmonky

Offline

Hello all
This is just to let you know that there will be a broadcast of TUR
this evening at 6:00 PM EDT (3:00 PM PDT). Hear from you then.
Ben

#39

From: "Ben Legg" <leggab@...>
Date: Tue May 8, 2007 9:35 am
Subject: English Language Show this week!!

sketchmonky

Offline

Hi everybody,

We're very sorry for the recent problems that have faced the English language broadacasts on TUR. We will be back on the air on Wednesday, May 9, at 6 PM EDT, 3 PM PDT. We will be changing the broadcasts from two hours to one hour and Zsolt and I will be alternating weeks. There will be one monthly program that will be two hours hosted by both of us. This week's theme will be Education in Transylvania, with a particular focus on the current controversy at Babes-Bolyai University in Kolozsvar and the campaign to create a separate Hungarian language university. We hope that as all will listen as they are available. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Ben Legg

#38

From: "Rodger Mattlage" <rmattlage@...>
Date: Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:11 pm
Subject: Support for dial-up access.

rmattlage

Offline

Hi all, this message is in reply to Michael Burp's message which is included below. Please reply to TURadio@yahoogroups.com with any additional thoughts or ideas on this topic, especially if you have any additional experience with Internet radio reception over dial-up connections.

Many thanks,

Rodger

* * * * * < Reply to Michael > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hi Michael,

Thanks for this! I did not know the stats about the number of dial-up users still out there. Thanks for alerting me to this issue. I'll see what can be done about it.

In the future, for such messages which affect many, it's not only appropriate but preferable to post them directly to the TURadio group, which I see you are a member of. I'm doing just that with this one so we can see how it works out.

[Note: To start a new topic (like this one) go to the Messages page and click the "Start Topic" link over on the top right of the page.]

Minden jot!

Rodger

----- Original Message ----
From: Michael D. Burp <michael@...>
To: Rodger Mattlage <rmattlage@...>
Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2007 4:44:44 PM
Subject: Re: [TURadio] An important update from the TUR Support Committee

Dear Friends,

My fondest wish would be to actually be able to /listen/ to TUR
programming. The last statistic I read put the ratio of US internet
users with broadband access to those with slower dial-up connections at
an even 50 / 50 split. I don't know what the ratio would be for
Transylvanian or Hungarian users.

I've mentioned this in the past and lower transfer rates have been tried
briefly, but the rate now seems to be set to 48 kbps. While dial-up
services will often allow connections between 48 and 52 kbps, actual
transfer rates are generally a bit lower. The end result is that once
connected to TUR the dial-up user's player is unable to keep up with the
feed and goes into an interminable loop of playing for a second or two
and then taking several seconds to rebuffer: play 2 seconds, rebuffer 3,
play 2, rebuffer 3, and so the stream is indecipherable.

In the US at least, TUR could double its potential audience by reducing
the transfer rate to 32 kbps or below. Rates between 24 and 32 kbps
offer surprisingly good sound quality.

Minden jot,

Michael

#37

From: "Rodger Mattlage" <rmattlage@...>
Date: Sat Apr 28, 2007 7:45 pm
Subject: An important update from the TUR Support Committee

rmattlage

Offline

Greetings to you all.

Zsolt Solymosi did broadcast the English-language program on Wednesday
evening (April 25th) from 6:00 - 7:00 EDT.  In it he expressed his
deepest apologies for not providing the level of programming he had
hoped to provide.  But he did much more than that.  He acknowledged
the difficulties in starting up TUR, meeting the demanding schedules
(more on this below), providing the supporting web presence, as well
as his own personal challenges and disappointments.

We are all disappointed that we were not able to live up to our own
high expectations.

Having said that, we are only bowed, not broken!   We realize now that
we set the bar way too high.  We all underestimated the amount of
effort it would take to produce and air the programs as well as what
it would take to support those efforts.  Both Zsolt, the prime driver
behind TUR, and Ben, his helpful supporter, had to do all the
production work themselves, and do it on top of their already
overloaded schedules.  And, their web person left early on for a
"real" paying opportunity leaving them with no one to pick up the
slack.  On top of that, twice a week Zsolt and Ben had to be awake to
broadcast from 1:00 am - 3:00 am their time and still be at their
teaching stations in the morning.  They clearly bit off more than was
reasonable, with the result that they found it impossible to meet the
demanding schedules AND, they both became seriously ill trying to live
up to their commitments and their own expectations.

In hind sight, it would have made much more sense to start off slowly
and then build additional programming if and when it was clear that it
could be done reasonably.

So, we have learned a lot from the greatest teacher - first-hand, on
the ground experience.  And, we remain absolutely enthusiastic about,
and committed to, Zsolt and the notion of TUR and what we think are
amazing possibilities for supporting the work of our denomination in
the wider world.

So, we are regrouping for the next iteration of TUR's presence.

   - We are looking at what worked and what didn't.

   - We'll be coming up with new approaches which will greatly improve
the chances for success.

   - We'll develop some internal principles, guidelines and processes
to help ensure success without burning out those both on the front
lines and back stage.

   - We'll identify the resources required to meet the goals and make
sure they are available before proceeding.

   - We will develop a well defined communication program so that we
can keep you, our TUR audience, fully apprised of what you can expect
of TUR so we avoid the dashed expectations we have experienced this
first time around.

Program Note: For the time being, given Zsolt's and Ben's very busy
schedules,  the English-language programs will continue on an
individual, ad hoc basis.  Look for email from Zsolt and/or Ben
telling us when each future program will air.

It would help us immensely to get your feedback about what has worked
for you and what has not, what topics you'd like to hear about, as
well as, what you would like TUR to be for you and for any other
audiences you might have informed opinions on.  As we progress with
our work, we'll come back to you with our thoughts and give you other
chances to provide your reactions and ideas.

Many thanks to all of you for your continuing interest and support!

The TUR Support Committee:
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Dee Idnani, Oakton, VA
John Landis, Vienna, VA
Donna Loveland, Corvallis, OR
Rodger Mattlage, Concord, MA
Bob Tripp, Reston, VA
Art Ungar, Berkeley, CA

#36

From: "Gabor Kiss" <gabor@...>
Date: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:00 pm
Subject: Time issue, Podcasting/rebroadcasts

gabork1

Offline

I know that there is no ideal solution to the time issue. I'm in NJ so
for me it is almost ideal, though I tend to work until 7:00 so I
listen at work, which sometimes creates a conflict. (I would have to
leave at 5:00 to listen from home). People further west in the USA are
even more likely to be working when the show comes on. I really like
the interactive part of it, so I hate to support podcasting but I
think it would be attractive to many. Also, I have the feeling that
the message panel is unreliable. I sent multiple messages tonight
which Zsolt apparently did not get.

I see that there are rebroadcasts on the Program page. Would it be
hard to make the broadcasts downloadable?

Gabor Kiss
Morristown (actually Piscataway) NJ

#35

From: Bob Tripp <tripprm@...>
Date: Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:05 pm
Subject: TUR ENGLISH ON TONIGHT

tripprm

Offline

OK, folks, I know you have heard this before. However, just a few moments ago I had an IM exchange with Zsolt in which he said this:

solymosizs: hi Bob
solymosizs: i want to let yo know that we will have a show with Ben together
solymosizs: tonight!

So, I hope folks will take the chance and listen to TUR tonight: 6 p.m., EDT, 3 p.m., PDT. The how to is below.

Thank you all.
Bob

Go to www.unitarianradio.ro and click on the icon marked LIVE at the top of the page. [To get the English language TUR home page, click on the American flag.]

Questions? Write to Rodger Mattlage or me.

#34

From: Chris Bremer <bremer101@...>
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:10 pm
Subject: Re: Vedr. broadcast schedule

bremer101

Offline

Once (or twice) a month would be fine for me as well.
I'd like to see a re-broadcast, too, if that is not
too difficult -- at a time convenient for all US time
zones (e.g. 6 pm Eastern, 9 pm Pacific time).

Chris Bremer
Minnesota

#33

From: Knut Heidelberg <knut_heidelberg@...>
Date: Tue Apr 24, 2007 8:02 am
Subject: Vedr. broadcast schedule

knut_heidelberg

Offline

Both suggestions seems fine to me. Hopefully you will
not set up a new list. There are so many lists and we
probably subscribe to too many already :-) At least I
do.

This said, a regular broadcasting as in suggestion 1
has the advantage of regularity. That is also
important. My experience with things not regular is
that they soon become arbitrary both for the producer
and the listner.

Best wishes from Knut in Norway.


--- Arthur Ungar <art@...> skrev:

> Hi all,
>
> No broadcast again today. I have two suggestions:
>
> 1) Schedule the English language broadcast once a
> month. That is probably
> more realistic.
> If that can't be a consistent schedule:
> 2) Do the broadcasts when convenient, and send an
> announcement to this
> list in advance. In this case, we should encourage
> people to join this list. If
> people are concerned about getting too many emails
> (although there are
> very few on this list), we can set up another list
> for announcements only.
>
> Art Ungar
>
>


Knut Heidelberg
http://heidelberg.no





_________________________________________________________
Alt i �n. F� Yahoo! Mail med adressekartotek, kalender og
notisblokk. http://no.mail.yahoo.com

#32

From: "Arthur Ungar" <art@...>
Date: Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:56 pm
Subject: broadcast schedule

artjuu

Offline

Hi all,

No broadcast again today. I have two suggestions:

1) Schedule the English language broadcast once a month. That is probably
more realistic.
If that can't be a consistent schedule:
2) Do the broadcasts when convenient, and send an announcement to this
list in advance. In this case, we should encourage people to join this list. If
people are concerned about getting too many emails (although there are
very few on this list), we can set up another list for announcements only.

Art Ungar

#31

From: "Ben Legg" <leggab@...>
Date: Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:09 am
Subject: Re: Sorry about TUR

sketchmonky

Offline

Hello everybody,

This is Ben Legg. I am very sorry that TUR's English service has been so spotty for the last two weeks. Both Zsolt's and my own bouts with illness combined with the holiday and some other personal problems on both of our fronts have made this a difficult time for us to keep up with the programming as well as we should. I am very sorry for all of this and I assure you that this week I will be doing my show. I hope that you can tune in if you can and I do send my deepest apologies.

Thank you for your patience and support.

Ben Legg

On 4/17/07, Bob Tripp <tripprm@...> wrote:

Dear folks,

I am very sorry that TUR's English language broadcast did not come on. Zsolt did tell me in a phone conversation earlier today that he was going to do the show again. So, on the strength of that I sent out the email.

I do not know what happened. I tried to phone Zsolt, but only got his answering machine.

Believe me, I am as frustrated about all this as others may be.

Maybe the Wednesday show with Ben Legg will come on. I do not know.

Re: the time of the English language shows: a couple of folks have asked about this. The time of the two shows is 1 a.m. in Transylvania, which is 6 p.m. on the East Coast and 3 p.m. on the West Coast. Romania is now on daylight time also. Thus, the time difference between the North American East Coast and Romania is seven [7] hours - 7 hours ahead of the East Coast. And that makes it 10 hours ahead of the west coast [or 3 p.m.].

The program guide on the TUR website has been updated and has the correct times for the English shows. That is, has the times that had been set for these shows.

One thing Zsolt said to me on the phone is that he has received no feedback from anyone about the current times for the shows. If folks have thoughts about this - suggestions, ideas - please do write to him. His email is above. Indeed, any other feedback would be good, too.

Again, I am sorry about all this. I still hope it can all be straighened out soon and that TUR will flower and not die on the vine.

Bob Tripp

#30

From: Bob Tripp <tripprm@...>
Date: Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:34 am
Subject: Sorry about TUR

tripprm

Offline

Dear folks,

I am very sorry that TUR's English language broadcast did not come on. Zsolt did tell me in a phone conversation earlier today that he was going to do the show again. So, on the strength of that I sent out the email.

I do not know what happened. I tried to phone Zsolt, but only got his answering machine.

Believe me, I am as frustrated about all this as others may be.

Maybe the Wednesday show with Ben Legg will come on. I do not know.

Re: the time of the English language shows: a couple of folks have asked about this. The time of the two shows is 1 a.m. in Transylvania, which is 6 p.m. on the East Coast and 3 p.m. on the West Coast. Romania is now on daylight time also. Thus, the time difference between the North American East Coast and Romania is seven [7] hours - 7 hours ahead of the East Coast. And that makes it 10 hours ahead of the west coast [or 3 p.m.].

The program guide on the TUR website has been updated and has the correct times for the English shows. That is, has the times that had been set for these shows.

One thing Zsolt said to me on the phone is that he has received no feedback from anyone about the current times for the shows. If folks have thoughts about this - suggestions, ideas - please do write to him. His email is above. Indeed, any other feedback would be good, too.

Again, I am sorry about all this. I still hope it can all be straighened out soon and that TUR will flower and not die on the vine.

Bob Tripp

#29

From: Bob Tripp <tripprm@...>
Date: Mon Apr 16, 2007 7:31 pm
Subject: TUR is back on the air Tonight!

tripprm

Offline

Ho ho all,

I talked with Zsolt Solymosi earlier today. He said he will be back on the air with his English language program today - 6 p.m., EDT, 3 p.m., PDT.

There have been some difficulties but hopefully things are getting better.

Please do listen if you can.

Listening information is below.

Thanks to all,
Bob Tripp

To listen to TUR you need to software on your PC or Mac that can pick up and play the broadcast:

For PCs it�s the Winamp player, available for download at www.winamp.com

For Macs it�s the VLC Media Player, available for download at www.videolan.org/vlc

In either case these programs are stable and well tested. Each has simple instructions describing how to download and install the software.

Once you have installed the software, go to the TUR home page at www.unitarianradio.ro

and click on the icon marked LIVE at the top of the page. [To get the English language TUR home page, click on the American flag.]

Normally, this will be enough for the broadcast to start playing.

For PC users: if you other software set up to play broadcasts, you either need to change the default player to Winamp or, follow the following procedure to get Winamp to play TUR.

1) Make sure Winamp is running and you can see its control player window.

a. Note: the download and install is straight-forward as Winamp has been around for ages and has been thoroughly "vetted".

2) Right click on the "Live" "button" at the top of the Unitarian radio window and select "Copy Shortcut"

3) Click the File menu of the Winamp player and select "Play URL"

4) In the resulting dialog, paste (CTRL-C) the shortcut you just copied and you should see the shortcut URL

for the Unitarian web radio

5) Click the dialog's "Open" button.

6) You should see the Winamp player window start playing the radio broadcast.

Also: Make sure that your PC's speaker is not muted and the volume is turned up.

The Winamp player has a volume control, but your PC's speaker(s) must be on (i.e. not muted) and turned up high enough.

At the website there is a place to send emails while the show is on.

Also, you can contact Zsolt Solymosi at unitarianradio@... and Ben Legg at leggab@...

One can also contact for questions and comments: Bob Tripp at tripprm@..., or 703-742-0929 or Rodger Mattlage at rmattlage@...

And to join TURadio please visit and signup at: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/TURadio/

For more information about TURadio, please also contact Rodger.

#28

From: Rodger Mattlage <rmattlage@...>
Date: Sat Apr 7, 2007 5:57 pm
Subject: TUR is back on the air

rmattlage

Offline

Yes - it's back! Good news!

Right now it's playing a rebroadcast of the March "Udvarter" - literally "Court Square".

I think it's a gathering of the high school students, faculty and friends for an interactive variety show.
The pictures show that it is in the large main council chamber at Unitarian HQ in Kolozsvar.

In the top left picture you see Zsolt on the left with the light pants and dark jacket.

Best to all!

Rodger

#27

From: Rodger Mattlage <rmattlage@...>
Date: Sat Apr 7, 2007 12:30 pm
Subject: Where's TUR?

rmattlage

Offline

Hi everyone,

I haven't been able to pick up TUR on either my PC or Mac since Wed. I've rebooted both just to make sure They didn't get into some weird state and still no luck.

Are any of you able to hear TUR today?

Many thanks!

Rodger