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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Richard Nisbet who wrote (4905)	4/2/1999 2:29:00 PM
From: Rande Is	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 57584

. . . . What must it be like to be there? . . . . I Don't Want to Live Like a Refuge Can we even imagine a 5-day walk over mountains with the thunder of bombs echoing in the distance? Can we comprehend wanting so desperately to run that we allow ourselves to be packed into a train; and packed so tightly that upon arrival 3 people are crushed to death? What is it like to awaken to masked stormtroopers bursting open the door and saying we have 5 minutes to abandon our homes? And as they destroy all official documents that we have ever lived in our home country, they say, "You could stay if you want. . .but if you do, you will surely die. Which is it? You now have 4 minutes." You didn't move to Yugoslavia from Albania. . .your father didn't. His father didn't. You are perhaps a 5th or 10th or even 20th generation Albanian living there; with cattle, land and other possessions. As far as you are concerned, and legally, you have every right to be where you are. But after being forced to take to foot, and when all is said and done, you just want to go home. But where is home now? What Motivates The Serb Anger? The Serbs claim that their original Balkan / Slavic heritage, their language, their customs and even their Christian beliefs had been diluted, due to the occupation and dominance of Serbia by Muslim Albanians that settled in Kosovo. An analogy here in the U.S. might be found with a visit to Miami, parts of Texas or California. Before I left Miami, a majority of voters declared English as a second language to Spanish in public schools. . .the Spanish network television is number one and billboards and roadsigns are in Spanish. . .schools in California are holding similar votes. Another American analogy might be found in the Neo-Nazi movement that has grown in popularity here. We joked, "will the last American to leave Miami, please bring the flag." Personally, I never wanted to leave Miami. . .but one day I woke up realizing that there were songs playing on the radio there that I had produced, and I hadn't a clue what the lyrics said. It was then I realized I could not stay. I was too different. This century New Yorkers felt invaded by the Irish, the Jewish, the Italians, the Chinese and the Puerto Ricans. But all the while were able to KEEP the American heritage intact. And in worse case scenarios, those feeling such a squeeze could pick up and move elsewhere in this free country, with no fear of reprisal. But transfer that same "cultural invasion" to a tiny Eastern European country, then throw in several hundred years history of religious skirmishes and wars and you get a sense of the Serb perspective [in an overly simplified view]. But they have no other states to migrate into. . .the Kosovo-Serbs either stay in their homeland and be a minority or fight for their space. They have been doing both throughout this century. The cleansing of ethnic Albanians out of Yugoslavian provinces has been occuring regularly throught the 20th century. And every so often it escaltes to outrageous circumstances, which cause nations to run to the side of the persecuted. And of course, we should. If America began suddenly executing Mexicans, you can be sure that the world would be outraged. This simplistic perspective gives a sense of the feelings on both sides there. We sympathize with the Kosovo ethnic-Albanian refuges and pray that they are comforted in their time of crises. But our eyes are now trained on Russia. Rande Is . . <c>1999