Nakharar

Things will never turn out right for the Turks. Maybe this is what they call poetic justice. I'd start worrying if I were in their shoes. The Kurds are a tad bit large for a fifth column.

Personally I would say Italy and Spain. You shouldn't miss out on the Costa Amalfitana no matter what. If Europe isn't your thing Thailand and China come to my mind. I've never been to mainland China, but it's definitely going to be my next destination.

That's the essence of Jesus Christ's story. The problem of present day society is that there should not be any "laymen". Everyone must be educated. Socrates was perhaps one of the first thinkers to understand that in order to know, we need others. What is being referred to here is the concept of "collective intelligence" an extension of Rousseau's idea of general will and which has become a separate subject matter of sociology.

System wins MTV European Music Award System of a Down won the Best Alternative Band award yesterday at the MTV European Music Awards in Lisbon. Not bad considering that the whole event was catering to the manufactured pop niche. Serj didn't say much except for his one-liner: "Civilization is a ***ing failure". I don't know what he had in mind, but it was more meaningful than a thousand words which say nothing. Plus they closed the awards ceremony with B.Y.O.B.

Iran Removes 40 Ambassadors and Diplomats By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Wed Nov 2, 7:45 PM ET TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's government announced Wednesday that 40 ambassadors and senior diplomats, including supporters of warmer ties with the West, will be fired, continuing a purge of reformers as the regime takes an increasingly tough stance at home and abroad. The diplomatic changes are part of a government shake-up by ultraconservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that includes putting Islamic hard-liners in key posts at security agencies. Some Iranians worry the president will bring back strict social policies. Ahmadinejad has steered the Persian state into a more confrontational stance in its dealings with other nations, particularly in facing suspicions about whether Iran's nuclear program is illicitly trying to develop nuclear weapons, a charge the regime denies. The president also raised a storm of international criticism last week by calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map." Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced the diplomatic shuffle to parliament. He said that "the missions of more than 40 ambassadors and heads of Iranian diplomatic missions abroad will expire by the end of the year," which is March 20 under the Iranian calendar. Since winning election in June to succeed reformist President Mohammad Khatami, Ahmadinejad has taken a harder line in negotiations with the European Union over Iran's nuclear program. Hard-liners have criticized Khatami's government for agreeing to freeze much of Iran's nuclear activities, and Ahmadinejad has already replaced the negotiating team with hard-liners. "He wants to remove any official or diplomat with liberal thinking or anybody who backs better relations with the West," said political analyst Davoud Hermidas Bavand. Mottaki, whose announcement was reported by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, did not specify which ambassadors were being removed. IRNA, however, said they include Iran's ambassador to Britain, Mohammad Hossein Adeli, a leading member of the pragmatic foreign policy wing that supports improved contacts with Europe and other countries. Officials at the Foreign Ministry also said the ambassadors to France, Germany and Malaysia — all with links to moderates — would be fired. The officials agreed to discuss the firings only on condition of anonymity, because they are not authorized to speak to journalists. Mottaki said Iran's envoy to the United Nations, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is known for his pragmatic approach, would keep his post. Zarif, however, previously was removed from Iran's nuclear negotiating team. Iran's top security decision-making body, the Supreme National Security Council, which oversees the nuclear talks, also has been caught up in government overhaul. Among the new members is Mohammad Jafari, a former commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards. Ahmadinejad also has appointed hard-liners to senior Interior Ministry posts and replaced most of Iran's provincial governors during the past month. Tensions with Europe and the United States are high after Ahmadinejad's regime resumed the conversion of uranium into gas. That is the final step before enrichment, which produces radioactive material that is usable both as reactor fuel and for atomic bombs. Washington accuses Iran of secretly trying to develop atomic arms in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Tehran denies that, saying the nuclear program is intended only to produce electricity. The board of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, meets Nov. 24 to review Iran's cooperation on the nuclear issue. Washington and European nations want Tehran referred to the U.N. Security Council. To show it is cooperating with the IAEA, Iran let U.N. inspectors last week look for signs of a secret nuclear arms program at Parchin, a high-security military site, diplomats close to the IAEA said Wednesday. Iran also handed over documents and granted interviews with several senior officials thought linked to black market purchases of uranium enrichment technology, one diplomat said. But at the same time, the regime also takes a harsh tone about the West. On Wednesday, more than 10,000 demonstrators shouted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" in front of the former U.S. Embassy — the largest such demonstration in years. Hard-liners organize protests at the site annually to mark the anniversary of the embassy's seizure on Nov. 4, 1979, by militants who held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The United States broke relations with Tehran after the takeover, and they have not been restored. Demonstrators carried a large picture of Ahmadinejad emblazoned with his quote, "Israel must be wiped off the map." They burned U.S. and Israeli flags and effigies of President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "We have to continue our confrontation with the United States and Israel," the hard-line newspaper Jomhuri Eslami said in an editorial. ___ Associated Press writer George Jahn in Vienna, Austria, contributed to this report.

“Immoral Propaganda” or “Just Like a Grocery”?: Yerevan gets a sex shop By Suren Deheryan ArmeniaNow reporter In what some praise as liberation, while others warn of sure iniquity, a “sex shop” has opened in the center of Yerevan. “Sex and Life” is not the republic’s first “adult accessories” boutique, but it is the only. Two others had short lives in the mid 90s, but closed amid public disapproval, mostly from elderly. Now, 28-year-old sex aide entrepreneur Petros Movsesyan is hoping times have changed enough to sustain his new business, which opened at the beginning of this month near the Cascade. “The shop now serves as a museum,” says Movsesyan, laughing. “People come here as if it were a museum.They enter in a group, laugh at one or another assortment, but then they come separately to make purchases. There were women who phoned us to make sure there was no one in the shop, then entered and left quickly.” Besides “toys of pleasure” for men and women the “sex museum” also has special women’s lingerie and perfumes, as well as different sexually-oriented novelty gifts. And the queen of the shop is the inflatable doll hanging on the wall for 17,000 drams ($40). Sex toys from $10 to $70 come from the US, Germany and China. “It can be considered an experimental shop, however we already have different orders that will be imported to Armenia. And it allows us to get a little idea about the demand here,” says Movsesyan. “Only about a hundred samples are presented now, which does not make the shop look impressive, but we will double it in the near future.” In a society that largely believes men who wear earrings or goatees are gay, and that girls who wear mini-skirts are “whores” (see Short on Tradition”), merchandising sex is surely an adventurous venture. But “Sociometer” independent sociological center director Aharon Adibekyan thinks that the presence of such a shop is necessary in the republic. According to Adibekyan, the polls conducted by the center show that about 80 percent of women and men over age 40 in Armenia live an unsatisfied sexual life. “As a result, some soon become heavy, while others lose weight. On the other hand, the nervous and psychological system is disturbed, which is an occasion for family quarrels,” says Adibekyan. “However I don’t think that it will be affordable to all, as it is an expensive pleasure. There will not be queues, but the shop will have its clientele,” says the sociologist. “It is important that it should be properly offered here, as the sex life culture is not yet formed in Armenia.” Movsesyan says the idea to open a sex shop in Yerevan was very tempting, since it was to be the first with its peculiar assortment. “Though, after opening we learned that there had been something similar. They say it was closed because of the complaints of elderly people,” Movsesyan says with anxiety, and adds: “fingers crossed, it seems that during the recent period people are experiencing progress.” But not so much. {ai116902.jpg|right}The chairman of the Armenian-Aryan Union (who has vowed to rid Government of homosexuals) says he will protect Yerevan from becoming Sin City through such vice. “We are unequivocally against such behavior,” Armen Avetisyan told ArmeniaNow. “It is a way to propagandize immoral ideology, which will teach people to abandon physiology and switch to artificial actions.” And then . . . “Similarly, one can also propagandize doing that with the aid of a cucumber or cabbage, which will only lead to sexual insanity. We will do everything for this shop to be closed.” Entrance to the shop is prohibited to minors. However, it is situated in a place where open-air events are held mainly for youths almost every month. According to the shop management, the main customers are above 30. “Sex & Life” works 12 hours a day – until midnight, and movement begins during evening hours. Shop assistant Yana, 25, says she is not the least shocked by the implements, gadgets and “adult toys” of her new job. “There is a normal atmosphere here, and I get a great satisfaction out of working here,” says Yana, a designer by training. “I studied in France for several years, and sex shops are a usual phenomenon there. There were three sex shops in the street where I lived and people made purchases from those shops just like from a grocery store, without any embarrassment.” © Copyright ArmeniaNow.com 2002-2005. All rights reserved. http://www.armenianow.com/?action=viewArti...ng=eng&IID=1052

"If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand." Confucius

I think he knows exactly what he's doing. He probably has something on his mind. It's part of the strategy they are following.

Yes, I was asking that myself. Strange that these armchair pundits don't drop everything and move to Armenia. Please save us the excuses.

Those companies will be more than glad to finance the next Karabagh war.

Why should there be one "God"? Why not many? I have never heard a reasonable argument against polytheism.

Going by letters of the law, Turkey fines Kurds Advocates say demonstrators used banned characters Q, W in placards Updated: 7:40 a.m. ET Oct. 25, 2005 DIYARBAKIR, Turkey - A Turkish court has fined 20 people for using the letters Q and W on placards at a Kurdish new year celebration, under a law that bans use of characters not in the Turkish alphabet, rights campaigners said. The court in the southeastern city of Siirt fined each of the 20 people 100 new lira ($75.53) for holding up the placards, written in Kurdish, at the event last year. The letters Q and W do not exist in the Turkish alphabet. Under pressure from the European Union, Turkey has improved language and human rights for its Kurdish minority, but the EU says implementation has been patchy and loopholes remain. The 1928 Law on the Adoption and Application of Turkish Letters changed the Turkish alphabet from the Arabic script to a modified Latin script and required all signs, advertising, newspapers and official documents to only use Turkish letters. More than 30,000 people have been killed, most of them Kurds, since the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels began an armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

Unicef bombs the Smurfs in fund-raising campaign for ex-child soldiers By David Rennie in Brussels http://www.jwz.org/images/N_051004_Smurfen_v.jpg The Unicef advert, which shows the Smurfs' village being bombed The people of Belgium have been left reeling by the first adult-only episode of the Smurfs, in which the blue-skinned cartoon characters' village is annihilated by warplanes. The short but chilling film is the work of Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund, and is to be broadcast on national television next week as a campaign advertisement. The animation was approved by the family of the Smurfs' late creator, "Peyo". Belgian television viewers were given a preview of the 25-second film earlier this week, when it was shown on the main evening news. The reactions ranged from approval to shock and, in the case of small children who saw the episode by accident, wailing terror. Unicef and the family company, IMPS, which controls all rights to the Smurfs, have stipulated that it is not to be broadcast before the 9pm watershed. The short film pulls no punches. It opens with the Smurfs dancing, hand-in-hand, around a campfire and singing the Smurf song. Bluebirds flutter past and rabbits gambol around their familiar village of mushroom- shaped houses until, without warning, bombs begin to rain from the sky. Tiny Smurfs scatter and run in vain from the whistling bombs, before being felled by blast waves and fiery explosions. The final scene shows a scorched and tattered Baby Smurf sobbing inconsolably, surrounded by prone Smurfs. The final frame bears the message: "Don't let war affect the lives of children." It is intended as the keystone of a fund-raising drive by Unicef's Belgian arm, to raise £70,000 for the rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Burundi. Philippe Henon, a spokesman for Unicef Belgium, said his agency had set out to shock, after concluding that traditional images of suffering in Third World war zones had lost their power to move television viewers. "It's controversial," he said. "We have never done something like this before but we've learned over the years that the reaction to the more normal type of campaign is very limited." Belgium prides itself on being the home of some of the world's most famous cartoon characters - from Tintin to Lucky Luke and the Smurfs, known to the Dutch- speaking half of the country as "Smurfen" and as "Schtroumpfs" to Belgium's French speakers. The advertising agency behind the campaign, Publicis, decided the best way to convey the impact of war on children was to tap into the earliest, happiest memories of Belgian television viewers. They chose the Smurfs, who first appeared in a Belgian comic in 1958. Julie Lamoureux, account director at Publicis for the campaign, said the agency's original plans were toned down. "We wanted something that was real war - Smurfs losing arms, or a Smurf losing a head -but they said no." The film has won tentative approval from the official Smurf fan club. A spokesman said: "I think it will wake up some people. It is so un-Smurf-like, it might get people to think." Hendrik Coysman, managing director of IMPS, said: "That crying baby really goes to your bones." david.rennie@telegraph.co.uk

What Heritage Foundation is to the right establishment in the East coast, Reporters sans frontières is to the leftists in Europe. Both are politically motivated and we can easily see this in the list. Currently unrecognized countries such as North Cyprus and Kosovo are included as is the US administration (?) in Iraq. Other than that I think the list is fairly accurate.

"Man is lower than the lowest animal" Prabhupada

Turkey is officially a nation-state, unlike Canada or the USA. The Japanese and Koreans are a good example, but then they don't have any minorities. I think Turkey has adopted and preserved the antiquated European model of the 1920s and wants to maintain this no matter what. I guess they have never heard of the European Council resolutions not to mention the Helsinki Accords. Even the French, who devised the concept of the nation-state, make the distinction between franc and français.

I wish Europe would let Russia annihilate Turkey a little--not much, but enough to make it difficult to find the place again without a divining-rod or a diving-bell. Mark Twain - The Innocents Abroad

He has no other choice does he? ARMENIAN PATRIARCH URGES SUPPORT FOR TURKISH EU BID (AP)- The head of the Armenian church in Turkey urged European leaders to support Turkey's bid to join the European Union, saying postponing Turkish membership would undermine efforts to bring together the Muslim East and the Christian West. The letter from Patriarch Mesrob II, which was released on Friday, comes amid fears of rising nationalism in Turkey if the country's EU bid collapses and just before EU foreign ministers hold an emergency meeting Sunday aimed at overcoming objections to starting entry talks with Turkey. Armenian Christians, now numbering 70,000, are the largest non-Muslim minority in Turkey, and are the remnants of a community that was largely destroyed by deportations and massacres at the time of World War I. Minorities in Turkey have strongly supported the country's EU bid in the hopes of greater democratic reforms and freedoms. There are also concerns that if Turkey's EU bid falters, the country is likely to become more nationalistic. In his letter, Mesrob stressed that delaying Turkish membership "will be a blow not only to Turkey and Europe but to reconciliation between East and West." "The aspiration of Turkey to join the European Union is an opportunity not only for Turkey and the European Union but for world peace that must not be lost," he wrote. "Pressures in recent days from various circles to postpone Turkey's membership process cause us concern," he added. "We perceive such affairs as being far from helpful." Turkey is scheduled to begin EU accession talks on Monday, but that starting date has been put into question as Austria insists that Turkey is offered the option of a lesser partnership rather than full membership. All 25 EU nations have to agree on a negotiating mandate before talks can begin with Ankara as scheduled on Monday. Turkey has enacted sweeping changes aimed at gaining membership in the European Union, such as abolishing the death penalty, improving its democracy and expanding freedom of expression. But many Turks are now questioning whether they are prepared to make further changes and even give up some of their national sovereignty to a European Union that may not want them. Nationalists are planning a protest against EU membership on Sunday to try and capitalize on that anti-EU sentiment. "Turkey has expended great effort to implement the union criteria and has in a positive sense been steered toward real change on the democratic road," Mesrob wrote. "However, because of oppositionist and suspicious attitudes directed toward Turkey, it seems as though it is being forced to take backward steps and turn in on itself." Armenians say that 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks at the time of World War I, which Armenians and several nations around the world recognize as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies that the massacres were genocide, saying the death toll is inflated and Armenians were killed during civil unrest as the Ottoman Empire collapsed. By Louis Meixler, Associated Press Writer

I was the coward who secretly cheered from behind, remember?

French bashing alive and well in parts of America Thu Oct 6, 3:18 AM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two years after relations between the US and France soured over the Iraq war, French-bashing in America appears alive and well in light of a recent ad campaign by a fast-food chain linking France and cowardice. The ad by the Subway chain touted a cordon bleu chicken sandwich with the words "France and chicken, somehow it just goes together". A photo of a chicken dressed like Napoleon accompanied the advertisement. Subway ran the ads in about 10 US states for nearly a month and pulled them in September following an outcry by members of the French expatriate community and other customers offended by the racist undertone. Mark Bridenbaker, a spokesman for Subway, which has outlets in France, defended the campaign telling AFP it was aimed at lauding French cuisine. "The perfect match of French cuisine and the Subway chicken ... that was the intent of this advertising," he said. "But once we realized that people were taking offense, we removed everything from stores right away." Others, however, say the ads are evidence French bashing has become well-ingrained and perfectly acceptable among a segment of the American population. They say that though diplomatic relations are on the mend following the spat over Iraq, and French fries, rather than "freedom fries", are back on restaurant menus, anti-French sentiment still runs high in parts of the country. "Saying that the French are dirty or cowards is a little bit like saying the sky is blue. Nobody is going to contest it," said Denis Chazelle, a long-time French resident of the Washington area who created a web site in March to try and dispell misconceptions about his native country and who led the campaign against the Subway ads. "I think (French bashing) is worse now than it was two years ago because, although it's not as relentless as it was, it has become a lot more accepted and part of the landscape," he added. Chazelle said had Subway run an ad campagin targetting Mexicans, Israelis or Italians, it would have faced a boycott and management heads would have rolled. "But if it concerns the French, it's no big deal," he said. "People here can say they hate the French without blinking an eye or an afterthought." Marc Saint-Aubin du Cormier, another French native who created a website to monitor anti-French sentiment in the United States and Canada, agrees. "There is a kind of anti-French streak in the background of the culture of America," he told AFP. He pointed to several recent examples including comments by a talk show host for the Fox news channel who derided French aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Another Fox commentator lamented a day before the July 7 terrorist attacks in London that the International Olympic Committee had "missed a golden opportunity" because, if France had been selected to host the 2012 Olympics, terrorists would "blow up Paris, and who cares?" Chazelle and Cormier said one reason such comments largely go unnoticed is because the French expatriate community in the United States is fairly small and has no active lobby groups. They said though they were heartened by the fact their action against the Subway ads paid off, although they believe they face an uphill battle in changing negative public opinion about France. "I am not very optimistic," Chazelle said. "I think French bashing is here to stay."

Mega-economy Japan should learn from 'happy' Bhutan: conference Wed Oct 5,11:18 AM ET TOKYO (AFP) - Japan may be concerned about tepid growth in GDP but it could learn a few lessons from tiny Bhutan which ranks itself by GNH, or Gross National Happiness, a conference heard. Bhutan, a Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas, has a Gross Domestic Product of just 500 million dollars but in the 1970s adopted the unique GNH0, which purports to take account not of money but of individual happiness. "There are lots of things that Japan can learn from Bhutan," Takayoshi Kusago, an associate professor of Osaka University and former World Bank economist, told a symposium on GNH held by the Japanese foreign ministry. He said he was working on proposals of better indicators for Japan "that reflect other aspects of human happiness that are not reflected in the GDP." He said that if using instead an indicator that looked at areas such as crime and overtime work, Japan -- the world's second largest economy in GDP terms -- has seen little progress since the 1980s. Japan also has the industrialized world's highest suicide rate. Japanese economic planners routinely express concern about the rate of GDP growth, which has been stagnant or negative for much of the last decade. Self-isolated Bhutan bases GNH on four areas: sustainable and equitable socioeconomic development, environmental conservation, preservation and promotion of culture, and good governance. In its quest for its development model, Bhutan "found no model that resonated with Bhutan's values and desires," said Karma Galay, senior researcher of the Centre for Bhutan Studies in the kingdom's capital Thimphu. "Instead it saw that the world was divided between poor and rich nations," which led Bhutan to take its own approach that is manifested in GNH, he said. Shunichi Murata, an expert on Bhutan at Japan's Kansei Gakuin University, said that Bhutan had little ostensible poverty, a high level of education and strong environmental protection as it tried to boost its GNH. "Every child in Bhutan seems to be a specialist on environmental issues, which is far ahead of Japanese education in this area," said Murata.

Aren't Lithuanians those people who gleefully massacred their Jewish neighbors, before Hitler even embarked upon the "Final Solution"? And the Russians on top of that? We should add in Latvia and Estonia too. The latter got cudos from Adolf for being the only country being "Judenfrei". I wonder why. <_<

How come I never saw this before? This really made my day. "Export democracy" Did Bush tell them so?

I remember that article. I have never read a better recepie for suicide. Those who are ready to do so, go ahead. When will we ever learn...