Rubo

To Arpa, Thanks for taking your time for such long response. I will try to explain myself better *My name was given to me however I mainly use Argishti in most instances when the legality is not an issue. Argishti was taken so I registered Rubo instead. You may be happy to know that my six-year-old son’s (top three chess players in N E) name is Arvan. Predates Christianity. *Armenia’s adaptation of Christianity. I am not particularly religious although I feel closest to Gurdjief”s teachings hence I am not in the position to judge however I suspect Zoroastrianism was inherently locking in spirit for the lock of better word therefore there was a need to fulfill the spiritual void. ·Why the Jews? Before I answer this ,let me take the opportunity to expand why Armenians? ·Armenian national aspirations have only become active in Diaspora last two decades. Our political awareness was slow to germinate but in short time Diaspora Armenians with little founding became a considerable force in Washington in comparison to population of Armenians in US. Yes we do have many problems but not anymore then the Jews, Italians or Greeks therefore I am not going to sermonize “our problems” but rather inspire fellow Armenians to achieve even more politically. My “upset ness” is directed to none active passive almost assimilated Armenians not towards the Jews. I always notice when ever I say the above sentence, I usually get one or two mad Armenians telling me “shove it” hence the assimilation syndrome. Please guys I am not better then you, far from it! I am motivated to get none assimilated Armenians to take more active participation in our affairs. Jews have demonstrated pretty well what grass root political action can do. Jews do what is in their own interest and Armenians must do what is in our interests. If the Jews want patriarchy lands then we should collectively protest likewise AG issue as well, I know the Jews would. By ignoring our issues, we will be guaranteed further defeats unless we take part in solutions. ·PS Thank you for the warm “zgatsmucner@” hamar To Harut I can’t say I disagree with you however you did arrive to rather grimmer less hopeful conclusion. Let’s be a part of the solution instead of a passive bystander. (It does not apply to you personally) When I was growing up in Armenia as a young teenager, I poured my heart over Raffee (my favorite) Derenik Demirjian, Sevak, Nar dos, Tumanian and many others and somehow they left a deep imprint in my psyche mainly the love for Armenia and desire to serve her. It is impossible to read “Kaister” or “Samvel” by Raffee or “unlereli zangagatun@” by Sevak or “Nav@ Leran Vra” by Kostan Zarian and be indifferent. Regards to All

Dear Thoth, my article was in responce to sites like above you mentioned. It does sicken me as well. Weems of this world Human life is full of decisions, including significant choices about what to believe. Although everyone prefers to believe what is true, we often disagree with each other about what that is in particular instances. It may be that some of our most fundamental convictions in life are acquired by haphazard means rather than by the use of reason, but we all recognize that our beliefs about ourselves and the world often hang together in important ways. If I believe that whales are mammals and that all mammals are fish, then it would also make sense for me to believe that whales are fish. Even someone who (rightly!) disagreed with my understanding of biological taxonomy could appreciate the consistent, reasonable way in which I used my mistaken beliefs as the foundation upon which to establish a new one. On the other hand, if I decide to believe that Hamlet was Danish because I believe that Hamlet was a character in a play by Shaw and that some Danes are Shavian characters, then even someone who shares my belief in the result could point out that I haven't actually provided good reasons for accepting its truth. I needed to expand on some basic fundamentals of logic Fact is not a fact unless proven by logical evidence and the source of the evidence must be unbiased. For example Flat earth society members believe that the earth is flat therefore there is a definite edge when one can fall. The first proposition is highly subjective and based on believe system and devoid of any scientific argument therefore the conclusion is false. Genocide revisionists always based their propositions and “facts” on dubious sources and come to subjective conclusions. Just because a book is written by a revisionists it does not mean anything unless he or she back up with verifiable facts. Subjective arguments are not valid unless those arguments fall into category of logic. Weems arguments are laughable and have no logic. The guy is making thousand of dollars by making Turks feel good about themselves. By the way words like” facts about Armenian Genocide” which are so prevalent in Azeri and Turkish sites are meaningless scribbles without serious scholarly research. The fact is not a fact unless proven!

You may wander why am I posting this subject? What’s this got to do with Armenian? Fair question. I believe if you have a conflict issues (i.e. Israeli denial of AG, patriarchy land confiscation attempts) with a particular ethnic or country groups, it is relative and necessary to understand them. By understanding we should try to go beyond clichés and media brainwashing and to arrive to closest possible truths. Controversial Jewish Professor Takes On 'Holocaust Industry' The Holocaust Industry By Prof. Norman G. Finkelstein Published by Verso, New York and London 4-30-2 Note: One of the most controversial books in decades, 'The Holocaust Industry', continues to cause anger and consternation among readers in Europe and America. The following are a sampling of quotes from Professor Finkelstein's (City University of New York) book: "The Holocaust" is an ideological representation of the Nazi holocaust. Like most ideologies, it bears a connection, if tenuous, with reality. The Holocaust is not an arbitrary, but rather an internally coherent construct. Its central dogmas sustain significant political and class interests. Indeed, The Holocaust has proven to be an indispensable ideological weapon. Through its deployment, one of the world s most formidable military powers, with a horrendous human rights record, has cast itself as a 'victim' state, and the most successful ethnic group in the United States has likewise acquired victim status. Considerable benefits accrue to this specious victimhood - in particular, immunity to criticism, however justified. " (Finkelstein, The Holocaust Industry published by Verso, London and New York (2000) (p 3)). Some further quotes: "In an authoritative study, Leonard Dinnerstein reported: Sixty thousand Jews.. walked out of the concentration camps. Within a week more than 20,000 of them had died.". But 'As it entered into negotiations with Germany [just two years ago, in 1999], the Holocaust industry demanded compensation for 135,000 still living former (camp inmates)." On page 83 he notes that "The Israeli Prime Minister's office recently put the number of "living Holocaust survivors" at nearly a million." On page 127, he further notes "If 135,000 former Jewish slave laborers are still alive today, some 600,000 must have survived the war. That's at least a half-million more than standard estimates... If Jews only constituted 20% of the surviving camp population and, as the Holocaust industry implies, 600,000 Jewish inmates survived the war, then fully 3 million inmates in total must have survived. By the Holocaust industry's reckoning, concentration camp conditions couldn't have been that harsh at all; in fact, one must suppose a remarkably high fertility and remarkably low mortality rate... If, as the Holocaust industry suggests, many hundreds of thousands of Jews survived, the Final Solution couldn't have been so efficient after all - exactly what Holocaust deniers argue." (pp127-8)." "Both my father and my mother were survivors of the Warsaw ghetto and the Nazi concentration camps.. One of my father's lifelong friends was a former inmate with him in Auschwitz, a seemingly incorruptible left-wing idealist who on principle refused German compensation after the war. Eventually, he became a director of the Israeli Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem. Reluctantly, and with genuine disappointment, my father finally admitted that even this man had been corrupted by the Holocaust industry, tailoring his beliefs for power and profit. As the rendering of the Holocaust assumed ever more absurd forms, my mother liked to quote (with intentional irony) Henry Ford: 'History is bunk.' (ibid. p7)." "The Holocaust proved to be the perfect weapon for deflecting criticism of Israel (ibid p30)." "Much of the literature on Hitler's Final Solution is worthless as scholarship. Indeed, the field of Holocaust studies is replete with nonsense, if not sheer fraud." (p 55). "Given the nonsense that is turned out daily by the Holocaust industry, the wonder is that there are so few skeptics." (p 68). "Annual Days of Remembrance of the Holocaust are a national event. All 50 states sponsor commemorations, often in state legislative chambers.. Seven major Holocaust museums dot the American landscape. The centerpiece of this memorialization is the United States Holocaust museum in Washington.. (This) museum's annual budget is $50 million, of which $30 million is (taxpayer) federally-subsidized." (p72). (This is in spite of the fact that, as he points out on page 32, per capita Jewish income in the US is almost double that of non-Jews). "With a re-election campaign looming, Jimmy Carter initiated the (US Holocaust Museum) project to placate Jewish contributors and voters, galled by the president's recognition of the "legitimate rights" of Palestinians." (p 73). And: "The Holocaust may yet turn out to be the "greatest robbery in the history of mankind"... The Holocaust

Dear Harut, parents of Arshile Gorky were previously married and both lost their spouses in 1896 massacres and later remarried.

I wanted to share few thoughts on Arshile Gorky Let me give share a brief Bio in case you are not familiar The painter Arshile Gorky (1895-1948) was born Vostanig Adolan in eastern Turkey. Raised in a poor Armenian farming family, Gorky's childhood was reportedly shaped by two disasters: the first being the massacres of 1896, during which his mother and father both lost their first spouses; the second was the genocide of 1915, that affected the entire Armenian population, and which claimed the life of Gorky's mother. Arshile Gorky was the name the aspiring artist assumed after coming to the U.S. in 1920. He reportedly adopted it from his admiration of the Russian writer Maxim Gorky, who at times, he boasted being a nephew of. Once settled with relatives in New England he enrolled in art classes. Not long after, one of his instructors arranged for Gorky to move to New York to work as an art instructor himself. In the 1930s he achieved his first public success - producing a large abstract mural painting for Newark Airport. In his artistic endeavors, CÈzanne and Picasso became his praised models. Other influences came from the surrealist painters and poets who came to New York as exiles from the war in Europe. Surrealism's aspect of automatism, the unconscious and the erotic, sent him onto a new path in which he newly asserted himself as a draftsman. Tragically enough, the years in which his art was ascending to its greatest heights were also the darkest in his life. His marriage was disintegrating; he was operated on for colon cancer, and he lost many works in a studio fire. When he then discovered that his wife had cheated on him with another artist - the Chilean painter Matta who was an influence on his best work - the humiliation was too much to bear and he hanged himself. What I wanted to talk about is how little his work has been understood By American critics and also European ones such as Andre Breton. Americans saw him as Abstract expressionist and the Europeans saw him as a surrealist. He was both and neither. He loathed the idea of subconscious automatic ideas of surrealism. He believed great Art always comes from thorough planning which he did. Nothing was accidental. He meticulously planned his paintings and executed like a renaissance painter. His paintings are still greatly misunderstood. The real content is his experience of the Genocide and subsequent death of his mother of starvation. His paintings do convey definite agonizing forms with a poetic stroke. The part that irritates me is when all this critics never bothered to look his background thus they misunderstood him. They often saw sexual interplay of forms whereas to my Armenian eyes they are tortured souls forever suspended in paint. Regards to all Ruben S.

Dear MJ, sensing from your posts it seems you have the symptoms of a tribal mentality. Which is it? Hayastantsi verses none? Iranian Armenians verses Istambuli, Bairutsti? I am a genius verses you are beneath me? My toys are bigger then yours? Etc. Needless to say you are not that original. In Armenia classrooms were made of same students through first to tenth grade and if you had been stuck with jerks you had little choice of changing the situation since just about every class had “bullies”. I have learned very early on not to ignore the jerks since ignoring them makes things worse.

Thanks Harut!

Any more valuable insights? Yes, don’t have anything to say? Don't waste space! Some people's thought pattern lasts only as much as they are capable of understanding, in your case bare minimum since your childish rumblings resemble my six year old sons writings. You disagree with something please articulate your thoughts otherwise don’t waste my time.

Dear MJ,Since you started this thread it would be proper to have your opinion as well. So far we got news clips from you, just curious. Regards

There are types of Armenians who are totally covered in the mud of assimilation that the only difference to the rest of humanity is their “ian “ending on their last names. To these Armenians anything that seriously does concern about our affairs falls in the category of bland relativism. What annoys these particular types of Armenians the most when others point out the symptoms of their own assimilation? I do not care if one prefers games to politics or computers for that matter but what is disturbing when they try to silence and obstruct the people who do genuinely care. Can't drive? stay out of the road!

MJ Why do you bother posting copy and pastes on Karabagh,Armenia and Israeli land confiscation attempts when you do not care to read or respond to your own topics. Some Armenians in opportune moments like to brag about Armenian lobby success stories but in real life have “hands off” approach to anything meaningful that concerns Armenians. Yes! We can learn from the Jews about political and social active participation. The answers are all out there but our self-declared geniuses are more interested scoring on trivial pursuits. “Disagree with an Armenian and make an enemy for life” Ara Baliozian

Dear Arpa, I am repeating myself … We Armenians do not like to talk about the Jews because we got nothing better to do but we are compel to act politically to advance OUR CAOUSE which may include counteracting Jewish or Turkish lobbies in Washington. Simply ignoring the Jews does not solve the present land confiscation attempts in Israel or reverse the Israel denial policy. If we do nothing chances are we will loose our properties. People, who insult my heritage, greatly upset me.

Dear Arpa , scoring victories in Washington is not as simple as telling Jewish lobbies to shut up and assume they will stop their activities against Armenia. You very much sound like Hagarag! Let’s blame ourselves for Jews pursuing their national objectives and goals while we, you suggest, ignore them and the Jews succeed advancing their every cause against us. Political awareness is not easy but I suggest you visit ANCA site and educate yourself.

Arpa forgive me, you brought the cynical and comical side of me so bare with me and smile I jilt up from my sleep Jeese Jews were jabbering all around me. I reached for the Jar of jam But the damm jelly could not be found I called for my dog Jesse but he was busy Chasing jenny Poor jenny fell down and broke her little jewbone Her Jewish doctor Joseph Could not stop writing his jewrnal “Poor little Jenny I can’t fix her little jewbonie” All this would not have happened If I had my juice before my nap time Jesus Moses jolly Santa I wished we all had our joyous siesta By Rubo

Dear Arpa,it is too bad that you did not read the posts on jews since they all are related to Armenian issues as well.Jewish lobby efforts to deny the AG and And the present Armenian land confiscation attempts by Israel (there is a letter compigh going on ANCA) are very much an Armenian issues.In case you are wondering why I did not write about Japan, china or India they do not intermingle in our affairs as Jews do. Cheers Ruben

Barev tghaner u aghchikner I thought to share this with you and to have your opinions Statue of Karabagh. This issue is the most contentious part of this conflict. Total independence for Karabagh is no starter since this approach already was tried before unsuccessfully. The second stage was the common state idea, which was rejected by Azerbaijan. The only option is left is to put Karabagh under UN control or mutually agreed third party. Karabagh will become de facto independent entity but will not have an independent Army. Azerbaijan may have reasons not to trust Karabagh Armenian army either since fear works on both directions. Armenia will guarantee to support Karabagh in case of threat if the third party was not able to stop the threat. My reasoning here is that Azerbaijan must have some sort of face saving way out without feeling totally defeated, knowing well the eastern pride, honor, revenge become serious obstacles to eventual reconciliation. Lechin corridor Armenia already invested great deal in reconstructing the main Lechin road and the villages around it, hence Armenia will not give up under no circumstances ,since it is the life line connecting Armenia to Karabagh. Knowing this Azerbaijan can have free access to Naxijavan via Meghri but only access not territorial exchange. Tiny strip of land in Lechin is rather insignificant to Azerbaijan but it is very significant to Armenia likewise Meghri corridor is more significant to Azerbaijan as suppose Lechin so mutual agreement in this are is doable. I believe once this two issues are agreed upon then the rest is just hammering out the details like refugees, property damage etc. I ask for your input and also criticism Regards to all

A Well-Entrenched Factor The intimidating power of the "Jewish lobby" is not a new phenomenon, but has long been an important factor in American life. In 1941 Charles Lindbergh spoke about the danger of Jewish power in the media and government. The shy 39-year-old -- known around the world for his epic 1927 New York to Paris flight, the first solo trans-Atlantic crossing -- was addressing 7,000 people in Des Moines, Iowa, on September 11, 1941, about the dangers of US involvement in the war then raging in Europe. The three most important groups pressing America into war, he explained, were the British, the Jews, and the Roosevelt administration. Of the Jews, he said: "Their greatest danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government." Lindbergh went on: ... For reasons which are understandable from their viewpoint as they are inadvisable from ours, for reasons which are not American, [they] wish to involve us in the war. We cannot blame them for looking out for what they believe to be their own interests, but we must also look out for ours. We cannot allow the natural passions and prejudices of other peoples to lead our country to destruction. In 1978, Jewish American scholar Alfred M. Lilienthal wrote in his detailed study, The Zionist Connection:[note 10] How has the Zionist will been imposed on the American people?... It is the Jewish connection, the tribal solidarity among themselves and the amazing pull on non-Jews, that has molded this unprecedented power ... In the larger metropolitan areas, the Jewish-Zionist connection thoroughly pervades affluent financial, commercial, social, entertainment, and art circles. As a result of the Jewish grip on the media, wrote Lilienthal, news coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict in American television, newspapers and magazines is relentlessly sympathetic to Israel. This is manifest, for example, in the misleading portrayal of Palestinian "terrorism." As Lilienthal put it: "One-sided reportage on terrorism, in which cause is never related to effect, was assured because the most effective component of the Jewish connection is probably that of media control." One-Sided 'Holocaust' History The Jewish hold on cultural and academic life has had a profound impact on how Americans look at the past. Nowhere is the well entrenched Judeocentric view of history more obvious than in the "Holocaust" media campaign, which focuses on the fate of Jews in Europe during World War II. Israeli Holocaust historian Yehuda Bauer, a professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, has remarked:[note 11] Whether presented authentically or inauthentically, in accordance with the historical facts or in contradiction to them, with empathy and understanding or as monumental kitsch, the Holocaust has become a ruling symbol of our culture ... Hardly a month goes by without a new TV production, a new film, a new drama, new books, prose or poetry, dealing with the subject, and the flood is increasing rather than abating. Non-Jewish suffering simply does not merit comparable attention. Overshadowed in the focus on Jewish victimization are, for example, the tens of millions of victims of America's World War II ally, Stalinist Russia, along with the tens of millions of victims of China's Maoist regime, as well as the 12 to 14 million Germans, victims of the flight and expulsion of 1944-1949, of whom some two million lost their lives. The well-financed Holocaust media and "educational" campaign is crucially important to the interests of Israel. Paula Hyman, a professor of modern Jewish history at Yale University, has observed: "With regard to Israel, the Holocaust may be used to forestall political criticism and suppress debate; it reinforces the sense of Jews as an eternally beleaguered people who can rely for their defense only upon themselves. The invocation of the suffering endured by the Jews under the Nazis often takes the place of rational argument, and is expected to convince doubters of the legitimacy of current Israeli government policy."[note 12] Norman Finkelstein, a Jewish scholar who has taught political science at City University of New York (Hunter College), says in his book, The Holocaust Industry, that "invoking The Holocaust" is "a ploy to delegitimize all criticism of Jews."[note 13] "By conferring total blamelessness on Jews, the Holocaust dogma immunizes Israel and American Jewry from legitimate censure ... Organized Jewry has exploited the Nazi holocaust to deflect criticism of Israel's and its own morally indefensible policies." He writes of the brazen "shakedown" of Germany, Switzerland and other countries by Israel and organized Jewry "to extort billions of dollars." "The Holocaust," Finkelstein predicts, "may yet turn out to be the 'greatest robbery in the history of mankind'." Jews in Israel feel free to act brutally against Arabs, writes Israeli journalist Ari Shavit, "believing with absolute certitude that now, with the White House, the Senate and much of the American media in our hands, the lives of others do not count as much as our own."[note 14] Admiral Thomas Moorer, former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has spoken with blunt exasperation about the Jewish-Israeli hold on the United States:[note 15] I've never seen a President -- I don't care who he is -- stand up to them [the Israelis]. It just boggles the mind. They always get what they want. The Israelis know what is going on all the time. I got to the point where I wasn't writing anything down. If the American people understood what a grip those people have got on our government, they would rise up in arms. Our citizens certainly don't have any idea what goes on. Today the danger is greater than ever. Israel and Jewish organizations, in collaboration with this country's pro-Zionist "amen corner," are prodding the United States -- the world's foremost military and economic power -- into new wars against Israel's enemies. As the French ambassador in London recently acknowledged, Israel -- which he called "that shitty little country" -- is a threat to world peace. "Why should the world be in danger of World War III because of those people?," he said.[note 16] To sum up: Jews wield immense power and influence in the United States. The "Jewish lobby" is a decisive factor in US support for Israel. Jewish-Zionist interests are not identical to American interests. In fact, they often conflict. As long as the "very powerful" Jewish lobby remains entrenched, there will be no end to the systematic Jewish distortion of current affairs and history, the Jewish-Zionist domination of the U.S. political system, Zionist oppression of Palestinians, the bloody conflict between Jews and non-Jews in the Middle East, and the Israeli threat to peace.

Dear Sip, in my haste I did not notice the bithday cake.Happy birthday! jeese I feel bad now.I hope you had fun celebrating since I was not much of a cheerful person last night. Nairi jan thanks for your post. I do not have the time now to answer but will get back to this subject later.

Decline of the American empire by Ruben S. Throughout the history of humanity various empires have disintegrated and formed once again from the ashes of the former. This cycle mimics the Darwinism of natural selection and it seems American empire is also headed to abyss as well. The signs are ominous. Recent American major corporations got caught stealing millions and throwing the unaware investors to the gutters with the loss of billions of dollars to the public. Major company CEO’s have been fraudulently misrepresented the company’s earnings in the Wall Street in order to drive the stocks up and rip the benefits by dumping millions of company share options stocks. The House and the Senate have tried for last ten years to correct this problem but were defeated repeatedly by auditors and insurance lobbies including the many companies who were practicing the “cooking the books”. The present situation is grim, after Enron, Waste Management, Sunbeam and many others, you’ll expect Bush administration would pass laws to protect the interests of the public but this latest efforts are also beginning to thwart by heavy lobbing by the industry. Once again common investors are left to pay the price. Plato and Socrates had misgivings about democracy and power abuse and without active public participation democracy becomes a theocracy. Powerful corporations and small extremely wealthy segment in population dangerously control the American style of Government. Lobbyists have successfully controlled and won influence in both houses despite of public resistance or none resistance. Senators and Congressman are bought on regular bases to represent the industry. American foreign policy is definitely controlled by Jewish lobbies therefore this administration or others before can not pressure Israel or do anything contrary to lobbyist’s wishes. Colon Powel shamelessly took his time to tour the Middle East on the expense of many innocent lives lost before arriving in Jerusalem for peace talks, giving ample time for Sharon to finish the job. There are many other examples. Many Americans know that September 11 would not have happened if American foreign policy represented by the majority views instead of Jewish lobbyists. American “democracy” is on life support: As long as lobbyists can buy influence in the government your average Joe’s and Jane’s views and votes mean nothing. These are the ominous signs of American empire on the process of power abuse and continued decline and disintegration. Time waits for no empires and soon we also will step on the ashes of this one perhaps greatest empire ever existed.

Dear guys, when I mention that Jews in Washington do substantial damage to our cause, this does not mean automatically I support the Palestinians. Armenian government has been pretty neutral in Arab-Israeli conflict but Hagarag likes to blame Armenians for Zionists actions! (Oohhh I said Zionism, therefore I must be a Jew hatter! ) I am actually exhausted from this empty argument if Hagarag hates his Armenianism, there is nothing I can do but when he blames Armenians for Jewish lobby efforts just pisses me up. What an intellectually moronic argument!

Hagarag jan, your past and family past should not be a hindrance to understand Armenians and seeing them more objectively. Rape victim should not blame all men for the same crime therefore your assessment of our people is also construed. My family has experienced real racism in Armenia (we were not natives) by some ignorant native Armenians but I never blamed all natives for racism and prejudice. Our experience was extremely traumatic on my mother and father but they never complained in generalities. I turned up still loving our people and married to a Georgian Armenian and we are raising Armenian kids with pride. I am proud of being an Armenian and would not want to change anything. I genuinely advice you not to put our people down based on your family experience since that does disservice to those Armenians who genuinely want to help our communities and build stronger homeland, furthermore you invariantly play the pipes of our enemies and further create tense discourses.Please take your time and think seriously about this.

Hagarag, I will try last time to articulate the fallacy of your thought pattern. (I know it is futile) Israeli anti Armenian policies are not the result of Armenian’s actions or position in Arab-Israeli conflict but rather it is based on Israeli need to feel secure, hence the closer ties with Turkey and Azerbaijan. Israel needs Turkey as counterweight to Syria, Iraq and Arabs in general and Ankara has had long standing feuds with her neighbors therefore their partnership is natural. What you Mr. Hagarag and your types fail to understand that Israel can do those things without active denial policy of Armenian genocide and other hostile issues directed at Armenia. Israeli denial of AG goes deeper then simply pleasing the Turks moreover it serves the purpose of having the Holocaust as the sole important tragedy to propagate on international scene and use as a political weapon. You are extremely biased towards Armenians and you shamelessly blame every action against Armenians on Armenians. Your reasoning is that of a child or miscued priorities.

Sharon goes too far, again Even some Israelis share the outrage around the world over their military's missile attack on a crowded housing complex. It killed nine sleeping children and five other civilians along with the intended target, a Palestinian terrorist leader. Yet Prime Minister Ariel Sharon boasted that Tuesday's strike was "one of our biggest successes." The incident is another tragic example of Sharon's long history of violently overstepping reason in Israel's struggle with the Palestinians. And his assessment of the attack shows why progress toward a peace settlement has unraveled under his rule. Each time Sharon overreaches, his country pays a heavy price. This time, the terrorist group Hamas, which lost military commander Salah Shehadeh in the attack, has vowed to kill Israeli children and target bus stops, restaurants and other public places. Before the strike, Hamas had hinted that it might end its attacks on Israeli citizens. Sharon's record of overkill covers nearly half a century: In 1953, he avenged the murder of an Israeli woman and her two children by leading a raid on a Palestinian village that killed 69 people. Many were women and children hiding in buildings his forces blew up. In 1982, as Israel's defense minister, he earned the nickname "the butcher of Sabra and Shatila" for letting Lebanese allies massacre at least 800 Palestinian civilians in two refugee camps in Lebanon. Two years ago, he made a provocative visit to a holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims, a gesture that Palestinians say triggered the current uprising that has killed nearly 1,800 Palestinians and 600 Israelis. Sharon's defense of the latest missile attack, which even some of his senior advisers call a "mistake," raises some of the leadership concerns that President Bush has voiced about Palestinian Authority head Yasser Arafat. Bush has called on Palestinians to choose new leaders willing to achieve an independent state through peaceful dialogue, not violence. Yet Sharon believes that the only language Palestinians understand is force. Like Arafat, the Israeli prime minister has shown little interest in taking genuine steps to revive peace talks. Instead, he continues to support the expansion of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory in the West Bank, and his military forces continue to occupy most West Bank towns.

Koko jan, we might of meet in LA ten years ego.You were doing these "monster" series of paitings.Anyway his name was Koko too.I am a fellow painter, Gegham K.'s friend (this might refreash your memory. I was preparing to give a short presentation about Armenia to my son’s kindergarten class when I found this tale. At first I laughed then at closer look it became a sad social commentary. May be we are stubborn, how else to explain our infighting and the resistance to change. Advice From a Poor Man There once was and was not a farmer going to market, carrying grain on his donkey's back. Along the way he passed a thin and hungry-looking man on the side of the road. The young man stopped the farmer and said, "I couldn't help noticing the way that you have your donkey loaded down with grain. I see that you have two large sacks of grain hanging on one side of the donkey, and a large rock tied with rope on the other side of the donkey." "I always do it that way to balance the donkey," replied the farmer. "I'm sure that's so," replied the young man, "but you are weighing down the donkey unnecessarily! Why don't you divide the sacks so that you have one on each side? You can get rid of the rock and lighten the donkey's load." This made good sense to the farmer, who started to untie the rope. He said, "You're a smart young fellow, you must be rich!" "Not at all," said the young man. "I'm just a poor schoolteacher." The farmer stopped, looked the scrawny man over, and started to retie the ropes as they were before. He said, "Compared to you, I'm pretty well off, so I think I'll stick to doing things my way."

Food for thought for Turks By Taner Akçam - As long as this taboo exists, the military dictatorship in Turkey will continue. - In Turkey, the regime is in fact the puppet of the Generals, who are using their influence, according to old ottoman rules, for plundering the country, they are in fact behind any major business, industry, state monopoly...... - as always, the Turkish ruling elite, is interested in this taboo, because it gives the best guarantee, for eternal rule. - Because of the taboo, religious (alevi), ethnic (Kurds, Lazs, Arabs, Armenians, Greeks,....), cultural ( open minded, atheist, non islamist), political (socialist..), sexual (women, ...),...... will fell victim periodically to Genocidal campaigns, in a total silence...., so the modern and renewed victims are in facts citizens of Turkey, member of eny minority. - The base of the Turkish regime is the perpetual Terror spread by the state security bodies, and any citizen is condemned to perpetual oppression, fear, etc.... 2/ The recognition of the Genocide, is used as an aliby, to perpetuate the military regime, and terrorize the potential opponents, today. 3/ In the 1930's, Turkey was not interested in the recognition, since most Murders were alive, and became rich, by and thanks the Genocide. ( Taner Akçam listed most of the rich families in Istanbul, emanating from the Valis in the Genocide zones..)This is no more the case, since the plundered treasures are no more tangible, and most of the lands unsurpassed by ruling families are mine fields in Western Armenia...., so the fear of justice is no more a reason..... 4/ By admitting the Crime, few in Turkey will suffer in their every day life, since few could be accountable today, put aside the old Generals, the negationist Master Minds....., but by destroying the taboo, 99% of the population will be offered the chance to normal life.... 5/ Whatever their wish, all Turkish citizens know, that outside Turkey, they are seen as Monsters, openly or tacitly, and one day or an other, someone can insult them as Murderer, Genocider, and they could hardly counter the facts... 6/ The catastrophe is only coming, since the phenomenon will destroy Turkish society in the coming decades: - If there was a census in Turkey, you will hardly find someone, with no 'Gyavour', (known/admitted or unknown/negated) Grand mother, Grand father, or Grand-Grand mother......., regardless of their official claims. - If any Turk is going to shout, I will ask him just this: * Be kind, go and check the ID of your 4 Grand parents, and the ID of the 8 Grand-Grand parents..... * there is a huge chance, to have a lie, or silence for answer, or lack of memory....., in which case, you have your answer.... * Make sure, that your Grand mother had brothers and sisters, if not, you have your answer.... *make sure her sister was her 100% sister, and not a 'maked' sister.... ( she had the same treatment from the rest of the tribe) * Ask your father, mother honestly, if his mother was joyfull, if she did not have nightmares, from time to time, if she was not beaten by your Grand father....., if there is vague answers, if there is 'anger, violent dishonored answer', then you have your answer, and by then became my compatriot unwillingly.... * Ask yourself: How my Grandpa loves to plant trees, if he is a Turk?? or Kurd??, Why is he so attached to this land, if he is really a Turk??? for your info, before 1915, Turks and Kurds were mostly Nomads, or administrative workers, in cities, etc...., and virtually no farmers, land workers...., and none in all 7 Armenian Villayets, do not spam, go and check, with the pure Turkish part of your family, and you will see, if you could find their tombs, 3-4 generations back, their tribal life memories, the sheep love...) Ask yourself: what is or was the strange mark Grand ma did on the bread, before the Tonir??, and ask yourself if it did not remind a Cross??? Ask yourself, when totally alone, totally in the dark, when Grandpa was dead or away, why did Grand ma so silent, so silent, so silent...white tears in her eyes???? When she died, didn't she ask for a strange, unvalued piece of souvenir, with her body in the ground???? If all this is over, if you have the assurance, that on 4 generations, your 8 grand parents were Turks (Name of father, mother, sister..., birthplace, ...), come, I will give you more questions to check the facade, since you may be the fruit of much more horrific 'mixings', and in which case, you must need psychological support, when you realize the truth.... This is the future for Turks...... It is inevitable, if not in a decade, in two decades, in the tree decades, it will nevertheless be the unique future of this state..... The only change will be, the extent of the Horror, since the more the taboo will last, the more crimes will add on this....; not only the past will not be forgotten (I mean by the victim 'turks', still unaware of their past, mean family past), but only new horrors, mean personal dramas will add, as is the case for the fruit of Armenian heritage, 'turned into 'Kurds in 1895-1925, and now 'turned into Turks' since 1975.... Today it's the Kurds, tomorrow it will be the next minority, the Alevis, the Arabs, the Laz...