I've not logged in more than a couple of weeks, and primarily because I've had a mental block. Since before the elections, I could not get myself to write anything that I thought would be worthy of the readership's time, and then after the elections, I could not get myself out of a mental state where I could be rational about things and not go off on an emotional tangent. And then just as I was getting away from the negativity of the elections in Armenia, President Bush decided that it was time to make good on his promise!

As an information-a-holic, I've been glued to my TV set whenever I'm not working, and I cannot believe that in this day and age, a war for nothing can rage on without any serious backlash against the perpetrators. And quite frankly, having just read the Diaspora in Diaspora logs and responses, I find the merit of the pro-war movement waning really quickly. Just as I was walking out of the house this morning, I caught a glimpse of the CNN news ticker, which announced, Haliburton has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract to fix the burning oil wells in the south of Iraq! Haliburton is the oil services giant Dick Cheney left to become Vice President of the United States! Any more questions on why this war is being fought?!

I'm finding myself faced with a peculiar situation when working with NGO's and civil society in Armenia (that's what I do as part of my job here). When speaking about democratic norms and practices, I find myself not being able to make a strong argument, because the leaders of my country have compromised all of the principles which we are attempting to export to such degree that it is quickly losing all credibility.

March, as you know, is a crazy weather month. Just as an example, we had a snow storm this afternoon, after several hours of continuous rain.

peace!