Austrian Consulate in Melbourne

There is an Austrian Consulate in Melbourne.

93 Nicholson Street, Carlton VIC 3052
Postanschrift: P.O.Box 52, Fitzroy VIC 3065

Telefon

(+61/3) 9349 5999

Telefax

(+61/3) 9349 5100

 

Source: http://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/foreign-ministry/service/austrian-representations-in-german.html?dv_staat=11&cHash=b20b9fe804#Melbourne

Genetic Research for Croatia

Continuing to gather scientific research material about DNA origins of the people of the Balkans area, here are the results for Croatia. Published in magazine Nature - link.

"High frequency of haplogroup I in Croatian populations and the phylogeographic pattern in its background STR diversity over Europe make Adriatic coast one likely source of the recolonization of Europe following the Last Glacial Maximum."

This points that Adriatic coast may have been the only shelter from the last Ice Age, from which the colonization spread before the migration of nations from the East.

It is also interesting to see an interview with dr. Dragan Primorac, who participated in the study mentioned in the previous posts: http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/13956/hrvati-su-geneticki-najblizi-njemcima.

Map of Human Journey

Apart from well-known Atlas of Human Journey at National Geopraphic, here is one that is easier to follow and more graphically pleasing. From Bradshaw Foundation. See here.

More on Haplogroup "I"

Here is more information on haplogroup I, specifically I2 (link), that is the most concentrated group in the region covering today's Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia.

Here you can see an overview of all haplogroups in Europe (link).

Genetic Study, continues

Here is more information about the HapMap project, mapping the genes of the world population:
In Bosnia: http://slobodnadrina.blogspot.com/2011/03/genetsko-mapiranje-bih.html
SEE: http://slobodnadrina.blogspot.com/2011/03/haplogrupe-y-dnk-zastupljene-kod-tri.html
The most significant insight from these studies is, in my opinion (in Bosnian):

"Nedavno je objavljena najnovija studija kojom je dokazano da su nosioci grupe I zapravo autohtono evropsko stanovnistvo koje se prije oko 20.000 godina tokom posljednjeg ledenog doba bjezeci pred nadiranjem leda u sjevernoj i srednjoj Evropi, u najvecem broju povuklo u Bosnu i Hercegovinu i Dalmaciju

Podgrupa I1b sa mutacijom P37,2 zapravo predstavlja vecinu postojece grupe I. Ova grupa prisutna je u BiH sa prosjecno 52,4% prema rezultatu dobivenom tokom regionalnog istrazivanja. Slijedeci najzastupljeni nosioci ove grupe su stanivnici Hrvatske sa 32,4% i Srbije sa 29,2%. Udaljavajuci se od BiH kao epicentra izvora I1b haplotipa nalazimo ga i u Sloveniji 20%, Makedoniji 34,7%, Grckoj 8,4% i Kosovu 7,9%. Van naseg regiona druge linije grupe I takoder se u znacajnoj mjeri pojavljuju u Norveskoj, na Sardiniji i oko Crnog mora."

and

"Relativno niska zastupljenost slavenskog genotipa u BiH zapravo je najvece iznanadenje ovog istrazivanja."

Original, in English:
http://vetinari.sitesled.com/bosnia.pdf

All the posts related to DNA research on Slobodna Drina blog are gathered under the same category - here. There are excellent posts and translations from relevant sources.

Bosnian History Books

Following the idea of supporting the historical writings about the region of former Yugoslavia and, specifically, geographic area of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I have started assembling books available on the internet. Here are the links to material I have found are re-hosted so far. Books larger than 50MB have been compressed and split using free 7-zip, so you will need this program to unpack the books.
The books are located in my shared Bosnia directory.

• Povijest Bosne I, Muvekkit (part 1/2, part 2/2)
• Povijest Bosne II, Muvekkit (part 1/2, part 2/2)
• Bibliografija objavljenih izvora i literature o srednjovjekovnoj Bosni 1978-2000, Esad Kurtovic -  (link)
• Putopis, Evlija Celebi (part 1, part 2, part 3)
• Srednjovjekovna Bosna, Nada Klaic (link)

There is also the book I scanned years ago, "Povijest Bosne do propasti kraljevstva" by Klaic. More info here.

Some novels deserve to be included here as they give a historical perspective of the region.

• Na Drini cuprija, Ivo Andric (link)

A Response to a Video on Genetic Origins of Croats, on YouTube

This is a response to a video "PORIJEKLO HRVATA(najnovija genetička istraživanja) !" on YouTube. Since the reply box there does not allow as much text, I decided to write a response here.

I can't find any links to relevant studies that support what you state here. If we are to believe the genetic research from the past several years (that's what is said in the video) then why list so many books when you, yourself, have said that books are not to be trusted?
Also, why was it easier to assimilate to tens of thousands of words from Slavic vocabulary than to keep more than one thousand of those of German origin?
These things make no sense and I see no link to a relevant study that would support different point of view.
Another dubious statement is that all the I haplogroup in Bosnia comes from Herzegovinian Croats. In 1991 census, about 17% of Bosnian population were Croats. How is it possible that genetic studies (http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/22/10/1964.full) show that circa 60% of Bosnian population has I haplogroup?
I, personally, can't accept posts from public wiki where authors are "Istrazivac", "CHM8318", "Dadas", "Hu1", "Yoshamya", "Cesljugar", etc. While these people may have background knowledge, the material should have references to scientific texts, of which there is none on the linked page.
Just my $0.02 on the topic.

Competency-Based Interviews at the UN

Competency-Based Interviews at the UN - here is an article sheding some light on how to prepare for a competency-based interview at the United Nations:

http://www.unspecial.org/UNS637/t32.html

Another useful text is from WikiHow: http://www.wikihow.com/Get-a-Job-With-the-United-Nations

Or Finding a Job at the UN, or article at Career Opportunities.

For historic background information check The evolution of the UN system on Google Books.

More on Genetics - iGenea Forum

There are more studies on genetics of the people in the Balkans peninsula. Too bad I can't find the results of DNA tests on iGenea site anymore. Seems it is not available there.
However, there is a discussion at iGenea Forum - Bosnia,
and also another study - "The peopling of modern Bosnia-Herzegovina: Y-chromosome haplogroups in the three main ethnic groups" - from U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
What these results show is quite interesting. Today's nations in the Balkans region (and probably most other places on Earth) are based on religion, mostly, as well as some characteristics of societies from 19th century, like language, customs, appearance, history, etc.

Illyrian Identity

A very interesting way to look at the identity of Illyrians, below. Seems quite similar to how most nations in the Balkans area feel about themselves today.

In general, the Illyrians have tended to be recognized from a negative standpoint in that they were manifestly not Celts, Dacians or Thracians or Greek or Macedonians, their neighbours on the north, east and south respectively. (John Wilkes, The Illyrians, p3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Niw6r9LB8YU

Changing Accommodation

Couple of days ago I decided to change accommodation. I thought it would be nice to move to another part of town, have some new experiences, meet some new people and places to go out. Change of routine would be quite welcome. I felt I needed to change something to be on the edge again. So I applied for a couple of ads for accommodation in different areas of Melbourne. 

However, just as with some other things, when the opportunities came close to realization I was in position to really see whether I want that or not. And, yes, I found I really have no need to move from the place I am now, in Altona. I love the surroundings here. There's not too many places for socializing but it is really quiet and peaceful for the same reason. I started appreciating the advantages this place has over anything else.

Fortunately, just before I was supposed to go check a place that looked the closest to actually hapenning, things changed and the advertiser found someone else. Instead of being disappointed, I was quite relieved and glad I don't have to move. Not to mention packaging things, updating the address, and other things that accompany moving accommodation. I guess now I feel as happy as being here as if I moved to a new place.

Mission accomplished. 

Phylogenetic Analysis of Southeastern Europe

The results of a phylogenetic analysis from 2005 display the paternal gene flow among Balkans population. Shed interesting light on the origins and the relations between population.
"High-Resolution Phylogenetic Analysis of Southeastern Europe Traces Major Episodes of Paternal Gene Flow Among Slavic Populations"
http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/22/10/1964.full

Real vs Fake Revolutions

Here is the image that portrays a difference between real and fake (democratic) revolutions:

http://giveupinternet.com/2011/02/01/real-democratic-revolution-egypt-vs-fake-democratic-revolution-iraq-pic/

Worth keeping the link to for illustration. :)

Football Practice

Someone at work organized a football (or soccer) practice. In the announcement email it sounded too official and competitive as a league was mentioned. Plus, just the word "practice" sounded like training rather than something fun. So I did not immediately respond.

After a week or two, I found out that the practice was nothing like what I thought it would be but exactly the opposite - it was exactly something I was looking for. Usually, at the practice, there would be more than ten people so two decent teams could be organized. The practice was simply - playing football for a couple of hours at a grass field in the park. The parks are well maintained and the grass is just perfect for playing games outdoors. I loved it.

The running shoes I used to play the first game broke as they were not meant for this sort of activity. Later I found a proper football shoes and now playing is a pleasure. At the first match it was raining heavily and it felt so good as it reminded me of home. Playing in the rain would be common. Except that it is usually a bit colder than in Melbourne.

These practices are now going once a week and I really enjoy it is it seems like such a good way to get some exercise without it becoming boring. We probably run more than during an average jogging session but nobody really notices it. It only becomes obvious once a person can't even walk and has to swap positions with a goalie, to get some rest.

Now, the Summer leaving seems pretty obvious in the Southern hemisphere. Wonder what the games will be like in a couple of weeks as it gets colder. Maybe track suits would be enough. After all, it does not get too cold in Melbourne but it does get dark soon so that might be an issue rather than rain and cold temperatures.