Australian Magazine
September 4, 2004 Saturday
Phillip Adams
At times of unprecedented disaster, human societies have had to coin
new words, or apply old words to the experiences.
When the citizens of Pompeii were being suffocated by the gases
from Vesuvius, the Romans had no word for volcano. When the French
stormed the Bastille, there was no appropriate term for the scale
of the upheaval, and so for the first time the word “revolution”
was appropriated for the purpose. In the 20th century when, by some
estimates, 140 million people died in wars and genocides, the latter
term was in few lexicons. We’d had wars forever, but genocide? Yes,
there’d been attempts to wipe out this or that group, but not a
specific word to describe the carnage. Nor had “holocaust” become
The Holocaust.
A few months ago, I gave the annual Oration on the Armenian Genocide.
Though still denied by the Turks, that terrible event set the stage for
so many more attempts to wipe out groups, races and communities in the
20th century, from Europe’s Jews and gypsies to Rwanda’s Tutsis. And
what happened in the Balkans introduced another unprecedented term,
a particularly loathsome one: ethnic cleansing.
That, at the very least, is what’s been happening in Sudan and
Darfor. So I asked Foreign Minister Alexander Downer why he hadn’t
agreed with the US Senate to label that ongoing massacre of Africans by
Arabs as genocide. Downer pooh-poohed the question, saying that “words
don’t matter”. But, of course, they do. “Genocide” has powerful legal
ramifications – it kicks in an escalation clause in international law.
Correctly used, genocide doesn’t have to involve slaughter. An
orchestrated attack on people’s culture and religion can be defined
as genocidal under United Nations law. Which is why it has sometimes
been used in regard to Australia’s treatment of Aborigines. It’s
not just the massacres and the arsenic in the flour, but also the
destruction of Aboriginal languages and beliefs. The driving of
indigenous populations from their ancestral lands or the kidnapping
of Aboriginal children from their parents can be deemed genocidal.
When that word is applied in the Australian context, the conservatives
are enraged. Which is why, recently, Geoffrey Blainey lost his
crown as the Right’s favourite historian. That’s now worn by Keith
Windschuttle, impeccably connected to Paddy McGuinness and Quadrant –
where the stolen generation is regarded as a misnomer. If anything,
Aboriginal parents should be grateful – with McGuinness calling their
children the “saved generation”.
Windschuttle has gone further, insisting that what has been described
for generations as genocide in Tasmania was a fabrication of history
and of left-wing historians. He insists that the only dead Aborigine
is one with an official toe tag, listed on a documented body count.
We must ignore anecdotal evidence, particularly that provided by
Aborigines. (Apart from not inventing the wheel, they failed to
invent writing and filing cabinets, and their oral histories mean
nothing.) When one protests to Windschuttle that official body counts
had to be understated, not everyone went around demanding that their
acts of murder be notated. Even then there was a remote possibility
of punishment.
But Windschuttle’s efforts at revising history are nothing compared
with the serious work of the revisionist historians. Now, there’s
another 20th century coinage. These ultra right-wing ranters with Nazi
sympathies or neo-Nazi connections say that either the Holocaust didn’t
happen or, if it did, the death toll has been immensely exaggerated. By
whom? By Jews, of course. Britain’s David Irving and Frederick Tobin,
of the Adelaide Institute, insist that the Holocaust is a guilt
industry run by Jews manipulating sympathy and greedy for reparations.
This issue has renewed urgency for me as a consequence of a recent
column wherein I disputed a claim of British Prime Minister Tony
Blair’s, twice repeated, that 400,000 corpses had been found in mass
graves since the invasion of Iraq. As The Observer and The Guardian
both pointed out, at last count 395,000 fewer bodies had been unearthed
and Number Ten was forced to issue a retraction. But the story had
a life of its own – and was bounding and rebounding around the world
on official US Web sites.
It’s odd that the same conservatives who want the names and addresses
and fingerprints of every indigenous Australian killed since the First
Fleet have written letters to the editor, or to me, protesting that
I’m quibbling.
We were misled about Iraq. About Saddam Hussein’s personal
responsibility for 9/11. About his connections with Osama bin Laden.
About the mountains of WMDs. So if the world is to believe that
Saddam’s trial is ethical, lest it descend into a show trial, a
publicity stunt, let’s get the facts right. Let it be as forensic as
Adolf Eichmann’s trial in Israel. Simply declaring the former dictator
of Iraq as guilty as hell, and hanging him ten times, won’t convince
many in the Arab world, and will leave the door open for all sorts
of revisionist historians in the months and years ahead.

Equa-Guinea legal team in Armenia to probe links to coup plot
Agence France Presse — English
September 4, 2004 Saturday 12:58 PM GMT
MALABO Sept 4 — A legal team from Equatorial Guinea is in Armenia
to probe links between a local air transport company and an alleged
plot to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, an official said here
Saturday.
The focus of the Equato-Guinean investigators’ visit to the central
Asian country was a contract between Armenia’s Tiger Air and a German
company whose representative in Malabo, Gerhard Eugen Merz, was among
15 foreigners arrested in Equatorial Guinea in March and accused of
plotting a coup, the legal official said.
Merz died days after his arrest, officially from cerebral malaria,
but with rights groups saying he was tortured to death.
Among those arrested were the six Armenian air crew of an Antonov
cargo plane. All six have denied involvement in the alleged coup bid,
and told a court in Malabo that they had come to Equatorial Guinea to
work under contract to Merz’s company, which had leased their plane
and services.
The Antonov and its Armenian crew arrived in Equatorial Guinea in
January this year.
Between then and the discovery of the alleged coup plot in March they
made only one flight, on behalf of a company owned by South African
businessman Nick du Toit, who faces the death penalty for allegedly
leading the coup bid.

Tehran festival to stage over 20 foreign puppet shows
Tehran Times
Sept 5 2004
Tehran Times Art Desk
TEHRAN (MNA) — Over 20 foreign puppet shows are to be staged during
the 10th International Puppet Show Festival, slated for September 13
to 19 in Tehran.
According to the Public Relations Office of the Center for Dramatic
Arts, puppeteers from Germany, France, Armenia, Slovenia, Italy,
Britain, Portugal, Tajikistan, Turkey, Russia, Serbia-Montenegro,
India, Canada, Turkmenistan, China, and the Azerbaijan Republic will
be attending the festival.
“Mobarakbazi” (directed by Mohammad Asgari), “Lo’batbazi” (Iraj
Kaleh-chahi), “Stories of Qashang-o-Mashang” (Parinaz Ale-Aqa),
“Toward Avignon” (Meysam Yusefi) are some of the street shows from
Tehran province which are also scheduled to be staged during the
week-long event.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Open-Marathon man Sargsian wins another thriller
Sun 5 September, 2004 02:46
Reuters
Sept 5 2004
LONDON, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Sargis Sargsian starred in another
late-night drama at the U.S. Open on Saturday when he rallied from
two sets down to overcome Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu and move into
the fourth round.
The Florida-based Armenian ground out a 4-6 4-6 6-4 6-2 7-6 in four
hours 41 minutes on a jam-packed Grandstand Court.
On Thursday, the 31-year-old stunned Olympic gold medallist Nicolas
Massu in another five-setter that lasted five hours 9 minutes, the
second longest match in U.S. Open history.
Sargsian, who now plays close friend Andre Agassi, has been on court
more than 12 hours to reach the last 16.
“I don’t know how I did it, I just kept fighting at the end,” said
Sargsian, who saved two match points at 6-5 down in the fifth set
before winning the tiebreak 7-4.
“I felt a bit stiff before the start but I felt better than I did
against Massu.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Kerkorian is offered £2.5bn cash for MGM
By Aaron Patrick (Filed: 03/09/2004)
The Daily Telegraph, UK
Sept 2 2004
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the Hollywood studio that filmed The Wizard of
Oz, The Graduate and Lord of the Rings, has received a cash offer of
$4.5 billion (£2.5 billion) it emerged yesterday.
US media group Time Warner offered the sum to MGM controlling
shareholder Kirk Kerkorian, according to the Wall Street Journal and
the New York Times. It replaces a previous offer of shares that would
have left the 87-year-old with a large stake in Time Warner.
Analysts said the cash offer made Time Warner more competitive with
the other bidder, Sony, which owns Columbia Pictures and is reported
to have offered $4.8 billion cash. However, Sony’s bid is complicated
by the fact it relies on two junior backers, both private equity
firms.
Time Warner is said to have offered cash in part because it would be
uncomfortable with Mr Kerkorian as a major shareholder, having
watched the billionaire sue another of his major investments,
DaimlerChrysler, for $2 billion.
Issuing new shares could also be problematical for Time Warner while
it is the object of an investigation by US regulators into alleged
accounting irregularities at its America Online division.
Speculation over the deal has been intense, and MGM took the unusual
step on Wednesday of issuing a statement denying a Reuters report the
bidding was nearing $5 billion.
MGM shares fell sharply after the announcement and were yesterday
trading slightly above the estimated value of Time Warner’s offer.
MGM is attractive to Sony and Time Warner for its 4,000 movies – the
largest post-1948 film library – which generate income through
television reruns, video rentals and DVD sales.

Sargsian survives against Massu
By THE JOURNAL NEWS
The Journal News.com, NY
Sept 3 2004
It took Sargis Sargsian 5 hours and 10 minutes to beat No. 10 Nicolas
Massu 6-7 (6), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4, the second-longest match in
U.S. Open history. The first set alone lasted 83 minutes. Michael
Chang and Stefan Edberg hold the record with their 5:26 match in the
1992 Open. … In a matchup between two Grand Slam winners, 2002
Australian Open champ Thomas Johansson defeated this year’s French
Open winner, No. 9 Gaston Gaudio, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. 2004 French
Open winner Anastasia Myskina also was eliminated yesterday. …
Louis Armstrong Stadium was filled to capacity while Maria Sharapova
and Jelena Jankovic were still warming up for their second-round
match. Latecomers were turned away. Sharapova needed 2:07 to defeat
Jankovic, the same amount of time she needed to win her first-round
match. It’s probably just a coincidence. … How hard is it to
complete a calendar-year Grand Slam? Consider this: Eleven horses
have won the Triple Crown, but only five tennis players have won the
Big Four in a calendar year, including Rod Laver, who did it twice.
… American Mardy Fish lost to Michal Tabara 6-3, 3-6, 1-6, 6-3,
6-3, and failed to advance past the second round for the fifth time
in as many U.S. Open appearances. Fish, however, did hit a home run
when he took batting practice at Shea Stadium on Wednesday. Tabara
advanced to the third round despite being out-aced 54-9 in his first
two matches. … Playing in her 13th U.S. Open, Chanda Rubin advanced
to the third round with a straight-set win over Antonella Serra
Zanetti. Rubin, 28, has made it to the third round in four of her
last five U.S. Opens, but has never made it past the fourth round.
… Eight of the 15 Russian women have advanced to the third round.
… No. 5 Tim Henman turns 30 on Monday. “It doesn’t seem quite right
to me,” he said. … Gov. Olene S. Walker of Utah showed up for the
day session Wednesday. “Arrested Development” star Jason Bateman
watched the night session. … You know you’re getting old when your
third-round opponent is young enough to list you as a tennis idol.
Eighteen-year-old Vera Douchevina faces her role model, No. 8
Jennifer Capriati, in the third round today.

NALBANDIAN’S DUTCH DELIGHT
sportinglife.com, UK
Sept 2 2004
Eighth seed David Nalbandian put recent injury woes behind him to
get his US Open campaign off to a winning start.
Last year’s semi-finalist has played little this summer due to injury
but still had few problems against Dennis van Scheppingen of Holland,
winning in straight sets.
Aided by 13 double faults from his opponent, Nalbandian recorded a
6-4 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 victory.
The Argentine is likely to face a sterner test in round two when
he tackles Russian Mikhail Youzhny, a player who beat him recently
in Toronto.

Ferrero, Nalbandian Make Early Exits at US Open
Tennis-X.com
Sept 4 2004
Four seeds were bounced from the men’s draw at the US Open Friday,
including last year’s runner-up.
Headed home is 2003 runner-up and No. 7 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero,
whose dismal year continued with a five-set injury-riddled loss to
Austrian Stefan “The Poor Man’s Tommy Muster” Koubek.
“This year is going to finish soon, you know,” said Ferrero, who will
drop out of the Top 10 to No. 15 or 16. “I want to forget this year.”
Also ejected were last year’s semifinalist (8) David Nalbandian (l.
to Youzhny in five), (12) Sebastien “The Skateboard Kid” Grosjean
(l. to Haas in four), and (23) Vince “Vincenzo” Spadea (l. to Jurgen
“Tuna” Melzer in five).
Nalbandian had to be consoled after his five-set loss to Youzhny after
a disagreement between the players over the courtesy of holding up
new balls that resulted in Nalbandian repeatedly smashing his racquet
on court, then a few more in the hallway inside the stadium.
Seeded winners on the day were (2) Andy Roddick (d. Rafael “The
Prodigy” Nadal in three), (4) Lleyton Hewitt (d. Arazi), (18) Tommy
“The R.” Robredo (d. Clement in four),(28) Joachim “The Jackhammer”
Johansson (d. Gambill), (29) Guillermo Canas (d. Volandri), and (30)
Feliciano “F-Lo” Lopez (d. Kohlschreiber in five, almost blowing a
2-0 set lead).
“He’s got a crafty kind of game,” Hewitt said of Arazi. “With
the left-handed serve, it’s always going to be a little bit more
difficult.”
Winners in all-unseeded match-ups were Olympic Federer-killer Tomas
Berdych (d. Ketola), Brazil’s Richardo Mello “Yellow” (d. D.Sanchez),
Russian Nikolay Davydenko (d. Soderling in four), Slovak Karol Beck
(d. Pless), Alexander Peya (d. Enqvist in four), and Frenchman Michael
Llodra (d. Seppi in four).
On court Saturday at the US Open for the men are (1) Federer vs. (31)
Fabrice “The Magician” Santoro, (6) Agassi vs. (25) Novak, (3)
Moya vs. Olivier “The Roach” Rochus, (5) Henman vs. Tabara, (19)
Nicolas Kiefer vs. Thomas “Tommy the J.” Johansson, Sargis “Sarge”
Sargsian vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu, (16) Andrei Pavel vs. H.-T. Lee,
and (15) Paradorn “The Thai Fighter” Srichaphan vs. (22) Dominik
“The Dominator” Hrbaty.

Clarin, Argentina
4 sept 2004
Tenis: La Quinta Jornada De Flushing Meadows Arrojo Un Saldo Equilibrado Para Los Argentinos
Cañas aportó la sonrisa y Nalbandian, la bronca
El triunfo de Cañas fue ante Volandri en sets corridos. Ahora jugará
con Roddick. Nalbandian dejó pasar sus chances ante el ruso Youzhny.
Guillermo Kellmer. NUEVA YORK ENVIADO ESPECIAL
[email protected]
Mientras Guillermo Cañas, en silencio, sumó la sonrisa con su
victoria por 6-4, 7-5 y 6-1 frente al italiano Filippo Volandri que
le permitió llegar a la tercera ronda, David Nalbandian fue la
contracara y cayó en cinco sets ante el ruso Mikhail Youzhny.
Con este panorama, Cañas es el único argentino que pasó a la tercera
ronda en el cuadro masculino. Allí tendrá una durísima exigencia, ya
que deberá enfrentar a Andy Roddick. El estadounidense, segundo
preclasificado, venció al español Rafael Nadal por un cómodo 6-0, 6-3
y 6-4.
“El gran favorito es Roddick. Pero para mí lo importante es que rompí
la barrera de la segunda ronda”, señaló Willy anoche.
Cuando Nalbandian llegó a Nueva York empujado por sus ganas de jugar,
sabía íntimamente que físicamente daba ventajas. Pero la bronca del
final, con su raqueta yendo al piso una y otra vez, dejó en claro que
ayer, en la derrota ante el ruso Mikhail Youzhny en el Abierto de
Estados Unidos, su cuerpo poco tuvo que ver. Se le escapó por poco y
más que el físico le jugó en contra la cabeza. Jugó contra el rival y
contra el árbitro español Javier Moreno que, es cierto, tuvo algunos
fallos polémicos. Al cordobés su bronca contra el umpire terminó por
desconcentrarlo en momentos clave. Y permitió, más de una vez, que
Youzhny regresara al juego.
Fue 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-5, 2-6 y 6-4 para el ruso tras cuatro horas de
juego. Y nada hacía presagiar en el inicio del partido un duelo tan
largo y cambiante. Porque si bien Nalbandian arrancó 3-0 abajo tras
el quiebre de saque que el ruso consiguió en el game inicial, el
cordobés pareció entrar en calor recién entonces. Jugando con mucha
profundidad, agresivo por momentos y concentrado, levantó la
desventaja y tomó el control del set. El ruso mantuvo la paridad con
la efectividad de su saque y una notable de devolución del servicio
que más de una vez dejó parado a Nalbandian. Mano a mano llegaron al
tie break y allí se impuso el argentino. Si cuando llegó a Nueva York
le faltaba ritmo, de a poco pareció ir recuperándolo.
Sin embargo no le funcionaba su saque. El bajo porcentaje de su
primer servicio le permitía al ruso entrar en juego y seguir ganando
puntos con el revés paralelo que hizo daño toda la noche. Y llegar
tan parejo a la definición del segundo set terminó por jugarle en
contra. Porque el árbitro se equivocó cuando el perdedor sacó 4-4 y
permitió el quiebre. Y después dio bueno un saque de Youzhny que se
había ido apenas afuera. Fue set para el ruso y Nalbandian se la
agarró con el umpire. Lo mandó al oculista y a dirigir en interclubes
y le tiró con munición gruesa.
Estaba en otro partido cuando arrancó el tercer set. Ya jugaba contra
Moreno, que tras la advertencia ésta vez le descontó el punto.
Nalbandian hacía fuerza por volver moviendo al rival, que a esa
altura ya había pedido médico y le molestaba mucho pegar corriendo.
Pero Nalbandian no era el del primer set. El quiebre definitivo del
partido se dio con Nalbandian sacando 5-4. Tuvo un set point, lo
desperdició y luego perdió su servicio en el 11° game. Fue set para
Youzhny y la historia pareció sentenciada.
Pero faltaba mucho por jugar. El ruso le permitió otra vez volver y
Nalbandian se llevó el cuarto parcial con claridad.
Youzhny sólo estaba tomando aire y Nalbandian pareció confiado.
Llegaron a una definición pareja. Ya a esa altura la gente gritaba
por el ruso y tapaba a los muchísimos argentinos que había convocado
Nalbandian. La garra habitual del cordobés era toda de Youzhny, que
se jugaba la vida en cada pelota y ya le entraban todas. Otra vez
Nalbandian perdió su saque en el noveno game. Y los dos match points
que levantó en el décimo fueron sólo una brisa de ilusión.
El año pasado llegó a las semifinales y ésta vez quedó muy lejos en
un partido que lo pudo ganar, pero que no supo manejar. Algo que
justamente un Nalbandian en forma sabe hacer muy bien. Habrá que
seguir esperándolo.

ENERGY SYSTEM TENDS TO DEVELOP
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
4 Sept 04
The executive director of “Artsakhenergo” CJSC Slava Gabrielian
informed that during the past seven months (from January 1 to August
1) more energy was used then in the same period last year. Thus, the
use of electric energy in 2004 totals 96 million 500 thousand kWh
instead the 92 million 100 thousand in the same period of the past
year. By the way in 2003 the use of energy totaled 155.5 million
kWh. At the same time high rates were reported in the sphere of
realizing electric energy. In the mentioned period of the current
year 70.8 million kWh energy was realized against the 61.5 million
in 2003. All in all, the amount of the electric energy realized
in 2003 totaled 106.1 kWh. According to S. Gabrielian, due to the
measures taken by the personnel of the energy system energy loss was
reduced by 5.2 per cent. Thus, by August 1, 2004 the loss of energy
totaled 8.7 per cent against 13.9 per cent in the same period of the
previous year. According to the executive director, “Artsakhenergo”
has debts from previous years. The consumers in their turn also owe
to the company. According to the executive director, the means from
sales are first of all used for the obligations of the company to the
state budget and development of the system, including maintenance of
the substations. By the way, as S. Gabrielian mentioned, this year
the salaries of the staff were raised by about 22 per cent.
LAURA GRIGORIAN.
04-09-2004