MJ

P/R=B/S ************************** What could be more innocuous than trying to make a good impression? And yet, if you consider the consequences and ramifications you may begin to entertain second thoughts. As I see it, the first problem with thinking in terms of making a positive or favorable impression is that you automatically or perhaps even unconsciously assume everyone else is doing the same thing, that is, misrepresenting himself to some degree; and what is misrepresentation if not a form of deception? And the problem with deceivers is that they assume speaking the truth is a luxury beyond their means, perhaps even an act of aggression if not against individuals than against accepted modes of conduct. Result? A culture that swims in a sea of inflated commercial claims, propaganda, rhetoric, partisan verbiage, public-relation stunts and lies whose cumulative aim is the exploitation of the underdog by top dog; and what is exploitation if not using man not as an end but as a means to an end, a selfish aim (such as the acquisition of prestige, wealth and power) and power in the hands of a deceiver means oppression, injustice, tyranny, violations of fundamental human rights, and ultimately war and massacre. Which is why, I maintain, whenever we make an effort to make a good impression, we become actors in a human comedy with an inevitable tragic denouement. There is no merit in trying to make a good impression if deep inside we remain less than good. -------------------- ara baliozian

MORONS & OXYMORONS ***************************************** Regardless of the severity of a crime, a good lawyer will never run out of arguments in defending his client. The same applies to our partisans who confuse ideology with theology. In their view the party is never wrong; and to prove their point they assert their honesty and patriotism. They forget that an honest political party is an oxymoron, and patriotism is not a hammer with which to break skulls, especially not the skulls of fellow Armenians who may well be as "honest" and "patriotic" as they are. Speaking for myself, like most men with a minimum of common sense, I have a tendency to mistrust a charlatan’s claim of honesty, a megalomaniac’s assessment of himself, and a dupe’s claim of superior wisdom. -------------------- ara baliozian

NOTES / COMMENTS ***************************** To those who accuse me of being undiplomatic, I say: No one is paying me to lie. The smaller the brain, the bigger the mouth. You become a success when you no longer care if others see you as a failure. "You are a fool!" These are painful words to hear even when spoken by a fool; how much more so when spoken by someone with average, or even less than average, intelligence? Anyone who has any power over another will use it; and anyone who uses power will abuse it. If there are any rules without exceptions, this must surely be one of them. Like most Armenians, I have followed many controversies in our media, and I have witnessed many more, but I have at no time heard an Armenian say: "I was wrong!" or, even better, "I was dead wrong because I placed my own ego, interests, family, political party, church, or tribe above the interests of the nation." Armenians have a highly developed spirit of contradiction. They will automatically disagree with everything you say, and later, they will use your arguments (with which they disagreed) to disagree with someone else. At this point in our career as a nation we have a choice between two sets of leaders: the bloodsuckers and the charlatans. Let’s hope and pray we will make the right choice. -------------------- ara baliozian

MUMBO JUMBO **************************** When I analyze and diagnose our ills, I refuse to behave like a jungle medicine man, the kind who prepares a concoction made of elephant dung, crocodile tears and cobra venom (or so he says to give his backyard manure more class), mutters incantations, emits grunts, chants, dances, after which he tells you to go home and you have nothing to worry about. In the West, things are done differently. The doctor comes right out and says you have cancer and your chances are 50/50 (that’s what happened to my mother 28 years ago); and if your death wish is stronger than your urge to live, you succumb and die of fear. My mother is now 87 and she lives! -------------------- ara baliozian

REACTIONS ****************************** Once upon a time I cared about readers’ reactions and sought their approval by writings things that would flatter their vanity. I did not call it prostitution but that’s what it was: providing pleasure by massaging bruised egos. Not any more. Approval means nothing to me now. As for disapproval: I welcome it because it can only mean that I have been successful in exposing the prejudices of a fanatic, the lies of a charlatan, and the greed of a blood****er. Sometimes I notice that, after recognizing themselves in my writings, some of these gentlemen redouble their efforts to deceive and mislead their audience. I consider that an accomplishment of sorts too because it can only mean that I am making them work twice as hard. The image of them sweating is enough for me to say "Mission accomplished!" -------------------- ara baliozian

AN ANECDOTE ************************* "Why do you complain so much?" one of our high-ranking bureaucrats once demanded to know. "Do you think you are the only writer who has been treated badly?" "No, of course not!" I replied. "That is why I speak with the strength of many." He said nothing, but I could sense that he would have preferred if I had kept my mouth shut, dug a hole in the ground, crawled into it, and buried myself alive. Moral: No one likes to be told "You are wrong!" If you are right, you get angry. If you are wrong and didn’t know it, you get angrier. And if you were wrong and knew it, you want to kill the bastard who dared to expose you. -------------------- ara baliozian

PRESENT COMPANY SUSPECTED ************************************* Nothing comes more naturally to an Armenian than to look down at a fellow Armenian and to give him unsolicited advice; and if you were to ask, "Isn’t that what you do too?" I will say, that’s what all writers do; and if you were to ask, "Who authorized you to be a writer?" I will say, that’s the very same question that a Soviet judge once asked Joseph Brodsky, and that’s not a question but an insult ("Who the hell do you think you are?") and a threat ("If you don’t shut up we will make you!"). And sure enough, after spending a number of years in the Gulag, Brodsky was thrown out of the country and was later awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Moral: To say or imply that the social order we have created is so perfect that it has no use for critics or dissidents is a statement worthy of a philistine, a fascist, and an idiot…but I repeat myself. -------------------- ara baliozian

NOTES & COMMENTS *************************************** To Armenians who demand solutions from me and choose to ignore the solutions advanced by our historians and writers from Khorenatsi and Yeghishe in the 5th century AD to our own days, I can only say: As long as there are Armenians like you, our problems will remain insoluble. If I know my Armenians, they will never come to terms with their enemies: too much blood. Hell, they will never even come to terms with their fellow Armenians: too much bad blood! Whenever I express an anti-ARF or an anti-Anteliassagan opinion, I am thought of as a Ramgavar or an Etchmiadznagan, and vice versa, even though I have openly declared myself to be an anti-partisan atheist whose motto happens to be: "If you can loathe both sides for the same money, why settle for one?" I don’t believe in inspiration. I believe in stimulation, and nothing stimulates me more than unfair criticism. A note on capitalism and fascism: both are expressions of greed, of money and power respectively; and of the two, greed for power has proven to be far more dangerous. Only fools brag. Decent men are, as a rule, too busy trying to maintain their decency in a crooked world to have time to brag. I don’t remember to have met a single decent Armenian who bragged about his Armenianism. But I have met quite a few windbags with single-digit IQs who bragged about their moral and intellectual superiority. The very same people who raise the same phony questions again and again also accuse me of repeating myself whenever I take the trouble to answer them. Great nations need big lies; small nations need bigger lies. Fool: anyone who is easily seduced by the strength of his own arguments. People who ignore good advice have no right to say "What was bound to happen, happened!" or "It was written!" or "It was God’s will!" It is an unfortunate fact that some people tend to confuse kindness and civility with weakness. I hate rude people and I hate being rude. But what I hate even more is being intimidated or shouted down by garbage-mouth bullies. Patriotic poetry has as much appeal to me as patriotic music, patriotic art, and patriotic science. Frankly, I’d rather watch a TV commercial than read our patriotic poets: at least TV commercials seldom last more than a few seconds. There is money in flattering idiots, especially wealthy idiots. There is no money in calling them idiots. I wish I were a good actor so that I could drive my enemies nuts by pretending to love them. To be brief is an art. To be long-winded is a collection of vices ranging from arrogance and laziness to narcissism and contempt for others. To express a political view does not make one a pundit in the same way that to take an aspirin does not make one a doctor. There is common sense and there is common humbug and of the two the second is much more universally distributed. He who brags will insult and threaten. The secret ambition of every windbag is to be a fire-breathing dragon. Why is it that whenever one of our eminent authors writes an honest book he is eager to inform everyone that it will be published only posthumously? -------------------- ara baliozian P.S. Ara's original text has not been altered. Just some formatting has been performed. -MJ [ April 04, 2001: Message edited by: MJ ]

FROM MY NOTEBOOKS ****************************************** A writer’s function is to explore the human psyche (beginning with his own) and to expose its frailties. As for singing its many virtues: for everyone who dares to speak the truth, there will be hundreds willing to parrot seductive cliches in exchange of 30 pieces of silver or even copper. Every time a man speaks the truth he makes a thousand enemies; that’s because for every bitter truth there are a thousand sweet lies and as many dupes who hate to give up their illusions. An Armenian may tolerate himself more readily if he thinks of himself as a man of principle who loves God and Country, rather than as a fanatic who uses his chauvinism as a license with which to hate anyone who dares to disagree with him, which may well be half of his fellow countrymen. In the realm of ideas, if all of us were to agree, 99% of us would be redundant. People don’t speak of sweet truths and soft facts but of harsh truths and hard facts. Which may explain why some of my tender-hearted readers wish to silence, starve, and even shoot me: that’s their way of expressing a preference for sweet truths and soft facts. The U.S. and Canada are two of the most advanced democracies in the world today; and yet, accusations of demagoguery and police-state tactics are daily occurrences in their media. That’s because (a) they have a free press, and ( they can tell the difference between democracy and fascism. What we have are chauvinist pundits and party organs edited by yes-men. A good idea never dies, but a bad idea has a longer lifespan. To learn from mistakes it is necessary (a) to survive them, and ( to admit them. The trouble with us is that when we survive them, we refuse to admit them. We were talking about bosses, commissars, and skinheads, when my interlocutor (a scientist) said: "If you want to understand these characters, observe jungle animals. A single page of zoology can be more illuminating than ten volumes of psychology." Those who believe in an afterlife will never be in a position to say, "I was wrong!" From the struggle of Armenians versus the rest of the world, Armenians have emerged the losers; and from the struggle of Armenians for solidarity versus Armenians for tribalism, Armenians for tribalism have emerged the victors; and these two phenomena may be seen as cause and effect - in other words: we are losers because we are tribal. There is a type of Armenian whose spirit of contradiction is so highly developed that he will blindly contradict you even when it means uttering words worthy of a certified moron; and the only reason he will do so is that he has been successful in convincing himself that, even at his dumbest, he is smarter than anyone around. A bigot is a bigot because he speaks in the name of something bigger. A bigot will massacre in the name of the merciful and compassionate Allah and hate half of his fellow countrymen in the name of Country. A charlatan and a mediocrity will be subservient to any regime or power structure that gives him a regular salary, or a title, or a uniform, or the license to persecute better men than himself. -------------------- ara baliozian

ON THE ART OF WRITING *********************************** You can learn to write a grammatically correct sentence; you can even learn to be erudite and eloquent; but you cannot learn to write a readable line. To write such a line you must be honest and honesty is neither an art nor a craft but a moral commitment. We are all born honest, of course, but as a result of education, peer pressure, and a number of other factors, we become liars. I speak from experience. As a child I was fed such a steady diet of falsehoods that it took me many years to get my bearings. I remember once, many years ago, when a fellow Armenian spoke to me the way I write today, I buried him beneath such a verbal avalanche of chauvinist crap that he said nothing; he only smiled. I will never forget that smile and the words he never spoke. Some words don’t need to be spoken to be heard and remembered. -------------------- ara baliozian

ON ARMENIAN IDENTIFY / 2 *************************************** One reason I question our identity is that whenever I deal with some Armenians, especially those who consider themselves as representative types (bosses, bishops, benefactors and their assorted flunkies, hangers-on, partisans, panchoonies, fund-raisers, chauvinists, fanatics) I have this distinct impression that I share nothing in common with them; or perhaps (which is worse) I wish to share nothing, because the idea of sharing something, anything, even if it is as tenuous a thing as common homeland a thousand miles away a thousand years ago, is so repellent to me that I am more than willing to question and doubt my own identity; and I have every reason to suspect, the overwhelming majority of Armenians who assimilate do so because they feel as I do: in other words, they place a safe distance between themselves and their fellow countrymen because they find their company unbearable. To those who at this point are tempted to spit out the words "Good riddance!" may I suggest that until and unless we change our ways and become more tolerant and less dogmatic, authoritarian, money-oriented, greedy and corrupt, you and your kind may well end up being solitary voices in an odar wilderness. I further suggest, our fixation on the Genocide cannot be genuine and our tears must therefore be of the crocodile variety if we lament our "garmir chart" (red massacre) even as we promote "jermag chart" (white massacre or assimilation) by alienating our fellow Armenians. Because, if you think about it, in what way are we different from the Turks if we replace genocide by fire and sword with genocide by intolerance, corruption, incompetence, and sometimes even hatred - all in the name of patriotism, of course! -------------------- ara baliozian

INTERVIEW-Armenia FinMin sees start of economic recovery By Hasmik Mkrtchyan YEREVAN, April 4 (Reuters) - Armenia's economy has started to show signs of recovery for the first time since eight top officials were killed in a 1999 shooting in parliament, Finance and Economy Minister Vardan Khachatryan said. Khachatryan told Reuters in an interview late on Tuesday that industrial output rose 11.4 percent in the first two months of 2001 compared to the same period last year, while gross domestic product (GDP) climbed 10.9 percent. "We met and exceeded the targets that we had set out. Now we hope to maintain these trends," he said, adding that the government was targeting total GDP growth of six percent for 2001, equal to that seen in 2000. In October 1999, Armenian Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, parliament speaker Karen Demirchyan and six other officials were killed when five gunmen, led by a radical nationalist, burst into parliament and cut them down in a hail of bullets. The event caused widespread grief and shock in the tiny, mountainous country bordering Iran, and plunged the ex-Soviet state into a political and economic crisis it could ill afford. Khachatryan said export volumes had increased 28.0 percent in the first two months of 2001, while imports slipped 9.3 percent in comparison with the same period in 2000. "Reducing the volume of imports by developing domestic industry is a top government task," the minister said. Armenia's main exports include non-precious metals, diamonds, jewellery, textiles, electronics and mineral water. Khachatryan said the country had also created legislation designed to attract more foreign investors and promote domestic business growth. Economic experts say Armenia needs to do more to improve its business climate by untangling rules, speeding up privatisation and taking a stronger stand on corruption and Soviet-style bureaucracy. Khachatryan said positive trends could also be seen in the fiscal sphere where the government had boosted budget revenues. And he praised the government's work, but said some problems related to corruption and a "shadow economy" still needed to be resolved. Khachatryan said Armenia expected to attract more investment and get new credits from its main creditors -- the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. He said the country expected to get $90 million under the IMF's three-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility programme as well as $50 million in credits from the World Bank. Armenia, which has a population of around 3.8 million, is one of the poorest countries in the former Soviet Union with an annual per capita income of about $600.

PRESS RELEASE CONTACT: Joan Ablett Phone: (305) 294-4000 Web: April 4, 2001 US CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS ON ARMENIAN ISSUES CO-CHAIRS SEE OPPORTUNITY IN NAGORNO KARABAGH PEACE TALKS Key West, Florida - Co-Chairmen of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, Congressmen Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), said today they are that progress will be made during the current round of Nagorno Karabagh peace talks in Key West, Florida, with Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev. In a joint statement, the Congressmen said, "The peace talks taking place this week in Florida are an opportunity for the United States, under the able guidance of Secretary Colin Powell, to help narrow differences among the parties involved in the Nagorno Karabagh conflict and move the peace process forward. If the basic human rights of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabagh are protected - that is, their security and self determination - we are optimistic that long-term peace and stability in the region will be achieved." The Key West talks began April 3 and will continue through the week. During a press briefing, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the members of the Minsk Group - the United States, Russia and France - "remain prepared to support an agreement acceptable to the two presidents." The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. It is a 501©(3) tax-exempt membership organization. ### Note: The Assembly's Public Affairs Director Joan Ablett is in Key West to cover the Peace Talks and will issue daily reports. She can be reached at (Hotel) (305) 294-4000. For referrals in Washington, please contact Angel Venable at (202) 393-3434.

Key West Talks Bring About Optimism KEY WEST, FL (RFE/RL)--International mediators held out hope for an imminent peace deal on Nagorno-Artsax late Tuesday as the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan prepared for the second day of what officials described as intensive negotiations in Key West, Florida. Special Ambassador Carey Cavanaugh, the chief United States negotiator, said the opening session of the peace talks, sponsored by the OSCE's Minsk Group, proceeded in a "very calm and constructive" atmosphere despite the ensued public exchange of verbal attacks between the two leaders. "I think it was good for the atmosphere of the talks and also for helping establish a personal relationship between the presidents and leaders of the delegations," Cavanaugh told reporters. The "very good formal meeting" between Presidents Robert Kocharian of Armenia and Heydar Aliyev of Azerbaijan was followed by more relaxed sessions in former US President Harry Truman's Little White House residence, the diplomat said. The 16th Armenian-Azerbaijani summit was officially opened by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who called for "mutual compromise" to end the 13-year territorial dispute. "Peace and stability in this region, a crossroads between Europe and Asia, is in the interest of the international community and the cause of world peace," Powell said after holding separate meetings with Kocharian and Aliyev. The extent of the differences between the two conflicting parties came to light later in the day when Aliyev publicly accused Armenia of "aggression" and "ethnic cleansing" in Artsax. "During the difficult negotiations, the Armenian side has always taken a tough and unconstructive position," the Azerbaijani leader charged. Aliyev harshly criticized the American, French and Russian co-chairs of the Minsk Group for making insufficient efforts to hammer out a peaceful settlement which he said must restore Baku's sovereignty over the disputed territory. He said: "It is hard to find any other parallel situation in the world when one state has occupied other state's territories, carried out an ethnic cleansing there in a massive scale, and the world community silently observes this tragedy. Azerbaijan's justified demands to curb the aggressor is not given support." A visibly irritated Kocharian hit back with a brief statement: "I have not made these many miles of a trip to Florida to try this propaganda campaign here or to be a tutor to the co-chairs. I have come here to work constructively to seek a settlement." The acrimonious exchange was played down by Cavanaugh, who found "a remarkable degree of back-and-forth" between the two presidents. "What's clear is the process is moving forward," Reuters news agency quoted him as saying. Wednesday's negotiating session is due to include a series of discussions on ways of resolving the conflict between the mediating troika and senior Armenian and Azerbaijani diplomats. Aliyev and Kocharian will then meet face to face to discuss terms of a possible settlement. According to Cavanaugh, the talks will last until Saturday but could be extended for a few more days if necessary. US officials say Powell, who left for Washington on Tuesday, could return to the subtropical Florida island in the event of a looming breakthrough in the talks. Some diplomatic sources told RFE/RL that the Minsk Group co-chairs have worked out new peace proposals that will be presented to Aliyev and Kocharian at Key West. In his statement, Aliyev said Baku will never accept their previous proposals that involved creation of a loose common state between Azerbaijan and Artsax. He claimed that the plan, drafted in late 1998, "deprives Azerbaijan from a part of its territory and actually legitimizes Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan.” Armenia and the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Artsax Republic, which had approved the "common state" idea, said they will not agree to any major concessions beyond those envisaged by that plan. A senior US State Department official told reporters in Washington last week that the mediators could unveil new proposals on the basis of what may develop in Key West. In response to the Key West meetings, President of Nagorno-Artsax Arkady Ghoukasian said he hoped the talks in Key West would lead to a settlement allowing the enclave to be unified with Armenia or to be recognized as an independent republic. The Nagorno-Artsax president said "All other options mean that we move not toward peace but toward war." Ghoukasian, interviewed by the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday night at his residence in Stepanakert, said at present, there are several factors conducive to a peaceful settlement. He said the Azerbaijani side is inclined to take a realistic view of everything. He added that although Artsax has confidence in Kocharian, it might reject an agreement between the Armenian and Azerbaijani heads of state, if it is deemed unacceptable to Nagorno-Artsax. However, some observers believe the presence of a high-level Russian delegation in Key West might indicate the possibility of serious progress in Key West peace talks. Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov is personally supervising the talks in Key West, which might also indicate the parties are discussing a major document proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

I invite all of us to start a discussion on the subject of the assimilation of Armenians both in historic and current contexts. What do you think has the scale of assimilation been, why do you think the number of Armenians around the world has been rather stagnant throughout history? What makes people to run from their Armenian identity?

ON CLOSED SYSTEMS AND MINDS +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Mankind loves closed systems of thought (religions, ideologies) that claim to have all the answers. Which may suggest that most people don’t like thinking for themselves. Bernard Shaw once remarked that he had made an international reputation by simply taking the trouble to think once or twice a year. The average Armenian is perfectly content to be told what to think by someone who claims to know better; and every other Armenian you meet these days parades as an expert on any given subject, from abracadabra to Zoroastrianism. -------------------- ara baliozian

AIN’T THAT THE TRUTH! ******************************** A series of complex mathematical equations makes sense only to a mathematician. Life being far more complicated than the most complex mathematical equation, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that there are so many disoriented and confused dupes who look up to charlatans for guidance. -------------------- ara baliozian

quote:Originally posted by Hakob: And, MJ, many Mamigonians had married with Iranian princesses of either the Arshakuni or Sasani dynasties as well. Sorry, Hakob, had not seen your comment before. But what does your observation imply?

quote:Originally posted by Ara Baliozian: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ARMENIAN NATION ************************************* ara baliozian perfect... levonyeshilian

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ARMENIAN NATION ************************************* If it’s broken don’t fix it; if someone says he can fix it shut him up; if someone tries to fix it run him out of town; if someone fixes it break it again; and if he fixes it again break him and to make sure he doesn’t try again bury him. -------------------- ara baliozian

TURKEY'S WOMEN-PARLIAMENTARIANS EXPRESSED WILLING TO VISIT ARMENIA Noyan Tapan 3 April 2001 YEREVAN, APRIL 3. Turkey's women-parliamentarians in June of 2001 will visit Armenia. The agreement on it was achieved during the meting of the women-parliamentarians of Armenia and Turkey, which was held on March 27-30 in Ankara. The deputy of Armenian parliament Hermine Naghdalian today informed the journalists. The Turkish side tries to begin a dialogue with Armenia, Naghdalian said. Similar meetings may become a basis for beginning of political dialogue between Armenia and Turkey. The issue on Turkey's stoppage of blockade of Armenia may become one of the steps to the beginning. This issue was also touched during the meetings. The Turkish parliamentarians intend to come to Armenia by land way, passing the Marmara bridge on the Armenian-Turkish border, for to assist the relaxation of Ankara's position in this issue, she said.

Armenia enclave summit resumes By Alan McConagha THE WASHINGTON TIMES April 4, 2001 KEY WEST, Fla. — Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday began a fresh round of talks between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, saying the United States is committed to efforts to bring peace to the South Caucasus region. After brief meetings with Presidents Gaidar Aliev of Azerbaijan and Robert Kocharian of Armenia, Mr. Powell said the two former Soviet republics have made recent progress toward a settlement although important differences still exist. "The negotiations are very, very difficult," Mr. Powell told reporters. He added that it would be premature to suggest that the talks in Key West's Little White House would finally settle the decades-old conflict over the Nagorno-Artsax district. In a news conference dominated by questions on the U.S. spy-plane dispute with China, Mr. Powell said President Bush is carefully watching the Key West negotiations and would wish to meet with the two presidents whenever they achieve a settlement. The secretary of state said these talks are "just one step on a long road, not the be-all, end-all meeting to get every aspect of this negotiation completed." Other diplomatic sources confirmed that more sessions are likely to be required. One of Washington's concerns is that the situation remains volatile and that renewed fighting between the two South Caucasus nations might cause a wider war involving the neighboring countries of Iran, Russia and Turkey. "A peaceful settlement is key to the future of the South Caucasus and the greater region," Mr. Powell said yesterday. "Peace and stability in this region, a crossroads between Europe and Asia, is in the interest of the international community and the cause of world peace." Mr. Powell arrived here yesterday morning and departed for Washington in the afternoon after meetings with presidents. The summit is sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. There have been 16 meetings between the two sides. Mr. Kocharian and Mr. Aliev have met most recently Jan 26-27 and March 4-5 in Paris. The current talks are to last four days, with the possibility of a weekend extension. The dispute centers on the status of the mountainous region of Nagorno-Artsax, an enclave inside Azerbaijan populated largely by ethnic Armenians. Armenians also regard this district as their spiritual heartland. Nagorno-Artsax is now controlled by Armenia as a result of a war that ended in 1994. Despite a truce, sporadic clashes have continued and Armenia separatists have driven hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis out of the enclave. U.S. officials estimate that over a million people have been forced from their homes as a result of the conflict. Some 600,000 people are living in refugee camps, railroad cars and villages made out of mud huts. The conflict has reportedly cost the lives of 35,000 people and some 200 have been killed annually since 1994, largely due to land mines and sniper fire. Economic development of the region has also lagged because of the dispute. Key West was chosen for the summit in the hope that the community's "tranquil" subtropical character might contribute something fresh to the diplomatic effort, which is being monitored by teams from the United States, Russia and France. This is not the first time diplomats have met on business in the Little White House, the former naval quarters where former President Harry S. Truman took his cronies to play some warm-weather poker in a town closer in distance to Havana than Miami. Former President Kennedy and British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan held a summit at the Little White House in 1961 for one day of talks on the situation in Southeast Asia. The U.S.-supported Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba occurred three weeks later. NATO held a meeting in Key West a year ago. Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was host of a biannual session for leaders of the armed forces of Great Britain, France and Germany.

quote:Originally posted by Sulamita: I envy you. Really I am ready to provide weekly classes in shaping proper self-confidence. Free up to certain level.

None.

It seems like the old Art is gone, and we have a whole new phenomenon, here... P.S. I don't have a personal opinion about the meaning of life. [ April 03, 2001: Message edited by: MJ ]