CvetinChillimanov

After a brief hiatus, Cvetin and Jason catch up on the latest news coming out of Macedonia including the recent Europe Day (or is it Day of Europe?) and VE Day celebrations in Macedonia – but not for Macedonia because, alas, Macedonia still does not have a date to begin EU accession talks. And not just that, but it looks as though Albania will begin those talks sooner than Macedonia due to Bulgaria’s ongoing veto. It really is a hot mess though the lads do get in a Big Lebowski reference which is always good for a laugh. All of that and more in this episode! Music by: - Mizar (Pocesna strelba - Last salute) With gratitude to Mark Steyn for giving us the idea for the podcast name

Radmila Sekerinska, the minister of defense and powerful vice president of the SDSM party in Macedonia (prior to 1991, the League of Communists of Macedonia) recently announced she will not stand for reelection as vice president at the party congress next month. Cvetin and Jason suss out what that might mean for prime minister Zoran Zaev and they chat about the recent major protest against the government, and what that means for Zaev’s government. But first, they (almost) gloat about how they got former US Ambassador to Macedonia, Larry Butler, to quit the Twitters, and more. Plus their Farmers’ Pick! Farmers’ Pick: https://macedoniatimes.news/mountaineering-club-ljuboten-96-years/ Music by: - Mizar (Pocesna strelba - Last salute) With gratitude to Mark Steyn for giving us the idea for the podcast name

It’s been about two weeks since Cvetin and Jason gathered to gab and one of them has a good excuse. As they catch up, they chat about the madness that continues to engulf Macedonia (or is it a circus?) with hazmat suits in parliament, intercepted marijuana shipments that are related to the Zoran Zaev family (and the involvement of the American Drug Enforcement Agency), passports and ID cards handed out by Zaev’s Ministry of the Interior to local and regional criminals and much, much more! Plus their Farmers’ Pick! Music by: - Mizar (Pocesna strelba - Last salute) With gratitude to Mark Steyn for giving us the idea for the podcast name

As Macedonians face the grim milestone of 4,000 deaths in the coronavirus pandemic, Cvetin and Jason gather to discuss the ongoing pandemic in the country, the government’s failures in addressing it in the past (as well as the fact that finally, some vaccines are getting in the arms of Macedonians), and the new curfews in place for Ramadan and maybe for Easter. They briefly touch on the census, now postponed to September, and the recent Bulgarian elections and what that means for Macedonia. Plus their Farmers’ Pick! Music by: - Mizar (Pocesna strelba - Last salute) - Slavi Trifonov (Jovano, Jovanke) With gratitude to Mark Steyn for giving us the idea for the podcast name

…and here I am stuck in the middle with EU. Cvetin and Jason talk quite a bit about what the US Embassy in Macedonia and the State Department, have been up to in Macedonia and the possibility (one of several possibilities) that their interference (especially around the issue of the census) will, ultimately, invite two NATO members on either side of Macedonia to have a bit of Macedonia. Far fetched? Not so fast. But to start they discuss the totally, utterly embarrassing Zaev Government response to the coronas, the vaccinations available in Serbia, and end up talking about the upcoming elections in Bulgaria and more. All of that plus their Farmers’ Pick! Music by: - Mizar (Pocesna strelba - Last salute) With gratitude to Mark Steyn for giving us the idea for the podcast name

Cvetin and Jason bring you news you can use such as the news that the government of Zoran Zaev is essentially doubling its defense budget by purchasing US Stryker vehicles at a cost of $210 million – but there are no offsets leading to some pointed questions. In the meantime, while the Macedonian government is splurging on unneeded toys, the coronavirus rages across the country with no end, and no vaccines, in sight. But hey, those Stryker vehicles! They dive into the census, ethnic Albanians’ power grab, and more, plus their Farmers’ pick! Jason's Farmers' Pick: https://rumble.com/vcy29p-mountain-drone-video-ponikva-osogovo-macedonia.html Music by: - Mizar (Pocesna strelba - Last salute) With gratitude to Mark Steyn for giving us the idea for the podcast name

Cvetin and Jason begin this episode talking about butter – yes, butter. Turns out the Zaev government uncovered 4.5 tons of expired German butter and declared it a victory in the war on corruption! Sadly, there are many more real scandals in Macedonia at the moment and the lads dutifully go through the list including the arrest of businessman Orce Kamcev on questionable grounds, the ongoing vaccines scandals involving health care minister Venko Filipce, this time involving a shell company out of American Samoa and the Chinese vaccines, a Bulgarian flag appearing in Macedonia’s entry to the Eurovision Song Contest and more! Plus, a new Farmers’ Pick from Japanese singer Kazuhiro Kotetsu! Farmers’ Pick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB9HxeiY7UM Music by: - Mizar (Pocesna strelba - Last salute) - Kazihuro Kotetsu (Zemjo Makedonsko - Land of Macedonia) With gratitude to Mark Steyn for giving us the idea for the podcast name

Cvetin and Jason DO talk about Macedonia but first delve into a discussion of beloved children’s books by Dr. Seuss and cancel culture in general, thinking they might be able to make a fortune by buying all of the Dr. Seuss books in Macedonia. Then they chat about Zoran Zaev’s latest and desperate attempts to save himself and his government by proposing a government of national unity to VMRO-DPMNE (which said, in no uncertain terms, no), the fecal festival that is the vaccine distribution (or rather, lack thereof) in Macedonia, and some weightier topics like global governance and more! And a Farmer’s Pick again this week, your top five places to visit in Macedonia, just in time for the upcoming summer. Farmers’ Picks: https://ncclinked.com/2021/03/04/top-five-most-beautiful-places-to-visit-in-macedonia/ Music by: - Mizar (Pocesna strelba - Last salute) - Tose Proeski (Ako odam vo Bitola - If I go to Bitola) With gratitude to Mark Steyn for giving us the idea for the podcast name

Cvetin and Jason laugh a lot in this episode, mostly at the ineptitudes of the Zaev government. They cover a lot of ground including the sentencing of Sasho Mijalkov, vaccine distribution (what vaccine distribution?) the upcoming census and of course, Bulgarian government foolishness. They also dive into the bravery of MANU’s defense of Macedonia, chat briefly about their growing media empire on Substack, and more. That plus Farmers’ Picks this week! Farmers’ Picks: Goce Delcev comes back to life! https://twitter.com/mitkoveta/status/1366094143487901701 Krste Misirkov comes back to life! https://twitter.com/mitkoveta/status/1366098980682297355 Music by: - Mizar (Pocesna strelba - Last salute) With gratitude to Mark Steyn for giving us the idea for the podcast name

Cvetin and Jason talk about the circus that came to Macedonia this week, that of former secret police chief Sasho Mijalkov and his “escape” from the country for about 48 hours before he casually reappeared and turned himself in, and the fiasco, farce, charade, whatever you want to call it that is associated with this embarrassing moment in Zoran Zaev’s government. Cvetin gives an extensive history lesson about the Mijalkov family, Jason goes on a rant about limited government, and both try to discern what all this means for an increasingly shaky government as smaller coalition parties hint at leaving. They also chat up the new platform that this podcast will be on – Substack – and more! Music by: - Mizar (Pocesna strelba - Last salute) With gratitude to Mark Steyn for giving us the idea for the podcast name

Cvetin and Jason gather to discuss the latest attempted humiliation of Macedonia by its own prime minister – Zoran Zaev – which includes denying private entities the use of that very name, Macedonia which is a goal of the Greek Government. They have an animated chat over the new ID cards and the heightened debate in country over the use of the various adjectives – Macedonians, Albanians, Roma, and more. They talk so-called “hate speech,” wax-signs (vaccines) as Zaev calls them, and more! Music by: - Mizar (Pocesna strelba - Last salute) With gratitude to Mark Steyn for giving us the idea for the podcast name

Listen to Jason and Cvetin discuss that possibility that we could see the beginning of the end of Zoran Zaev and his “hybrid regime” Government (as The Economist calls it) with his fumbling rule over Macedonia? We examine this possibility in light of Macedonia’s recent bad rankings on various international scales, as well as new Bulgarian demands for TV airtime (what does that even mean anymore?!), the campaign promises among some Kosovo Albanians for a unification with Albania, and the latest in the (non) coronavirus vaccine rollout, and more! Music by: - Mizar (Pocesna strelba - Last salute) With gratitude to Mark Steyn for giving us the idea for the podcast name

To celebrate Episode 100 of the Macedonian Content Farmers Podcast, the lads have a new intro! Maybe they’ll get around to a proper website by Ep. 200, but in the meantime, this episode features plenty of crushing morosity with talk of Macedonia’s new milestone of now being 111th in the world (out of 180 countries) in corruption, the recent riots by Macedonia’s ethnic Albanians (and the double standards exhibited by the police and government), continued lack of a vaccine in Macedonia and more! And they actually do have an uplifting Farmers’ Pick this time! Music by: - Mizar (Pocesna strelba - Last salute) - Kazuhiro Kotetsu (Mile Pop Jordanov) With gratitude to Mark Steyn for giving us the idea for the podcast name

Scene from Seinfeld - mail control