Month: August 2008

ANOTHER BLAST TOOK PLACE ON RAILWAY BRIDGE TO TRANSPORT CARGO FROM GEORGIA TO ARMENIA

Trend News Agency
Aug 22 2008
Azerbaijan

Georgia, Tbilisi, 22 August / Trend Capital corr. N.Kirtskhalia /
A blast was attempted to commit on another railway bridge in the
Kvemo Kartli region ( East Georgia) on 22 August. This was told the
Imedi radio by David Kirkitadze, Governor in Kvemo Kartli.

"The explosive was placed on the post, which is located near the Imir
Marneuli region. However, the explosion did not damage the bridge.

Kirkitadze said that the explosion was committed to damage another
Georgian transport system. "The bridge provides cargo transport to
Armenia. Those who wanted to damage the bridge aimed to paralyze
cargo transport to Armenia," Kirkitadze said.

Transportation via the Georgian railway bridge was suspended due to
the blast that took place on the bridge near the Grakali village in
Kasp region in Georgia a week ago. The railway bridge is expected
to be put into operation on 27 August. Repairs over the bridge are
being carried out by Georgian, Azerbaijani and Armenian specialists.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

COMMENT: AFTER THE DUST SETTLES IN THE CAUCASUS
Chris Weafer of Uralsib Capital

business new europe

Aug 22 2008
Germany

Although there is still plenty of scope for an escalation of events
in the Caucasus, the most recent news does hold promise. Russia
is starting to withdraw forces from Georgia and, although slowly,
has promised to accelerate the process from this weekend. The tone
of the rhetoric between Moscow, Nato and Western countries is tough
and is likely to remain so, at least for the next several weeks,
until Russia’s military withdraw to the pre-war positions. This
will foster a very nervous backdrop for investment sentiment towards
Russia. Beyond this, the legacy of recent events is likely to lead
to a more confrontational relationship with the US and EU through to
the end of 2008 and maybe into 2009. This will keep the perception
of investment risk in Russian assets high and, therefore, form a
negative backdrop for asset valuations.

After the dust settles. Looking beyond the current headlines, when
the dust settles the possible longer lasting effects can be viewed
under a number of categories:

Geo-Politics. The heated exchange between Russia and the US was not
unexpected, nor is it expected to result in any material change in
Russia’s status in important structures such as the G8. The fact
that WTO entry and Russia’s removal from the Jackson-Vanik list will
likely be delayed is of no great consequence at the moment. The new
Administration in the US from January 2009 will be important in terms
of the tone of its relationship, but in reality the main action will
be confined to rhetoric. It is, for example, not in Russia’s interest
to be seen to cause problems in the UN and its efforts to reach a deal
with Iran over the nuclear issue, as developing a better political and
trade relationship with countries in the Middle East is an important
priority for Russia.

Opportunities delayed with the EU. The most important relationship,
in terms of the investment case, is that with the EU. Currently, that
relationship still remains pragmatically based. So long as Russia
does withdraw its forces from Georgia, even if the process drags on,
there should be no major negative impact. The core governments within
the EU, especially the French as they now have the EU presidency, are
expected to prevent any repeat of the friction caused by the smaller
Eastern European countries in early 2007. But the main consequence
might be the lost opportunity of advancing the trade and investment
relationship during the French presidency. Now this period is likely
to be taken up with diplomatic "fire-fighting" leaving the hoped for
trade and investment deals on the table during the Czech Republic’s
tenure as head of the EU from next January. Given the controversial
missile-shield issue and the history between Russia and the Czech
Republic, the six-month presidency may well be very problematic and
lead to even lengthier delays in concluding new trade and investment
deals.

Central Asia. Despite the strong show of support for Georgia offered
by western politicians, the fact is that Russia has sent a very
strong message to the rest of the world that it regards Central Asia,
covering both sides of the Caspian Sea, as its backyard and nobody
else is welcome. Moscow has been rebuilding its relationships and
influence in the region over the past few years via building political
relationships, investment spending and energy deals, and its strong
military action in the conflict with Georgia will help reinforce
rather than hinder the process.

Energy. It is by no means clear how effective Ukraine’s decision to
order a reversal of the Odessa-Brody pipeline will by, as big questions
remain over cost and availability of oil to fill the pipe. Moscow has
been much more effective in securing energy deals in Central Asia and
in agreeing pipeline routes. While the EU is again talking about the
need to by-pass Russia the reality is that there are few alternative
options available and recent events will not change that.

Arctic. Russia will likely to pursue its goals in the Arctic region and
to establish territorial rights even more aggressively than previously.

Gas-Opec. Moscow is scheduled to host the inaugural formal meeting
of the so-called Gas-Opec group this autumn. One of the consequences
of the current stand-off with the West is that Russia will try to
strengthen its position in the global energy market, by more actively
promoting Gas-Opec, especially as Russia is central player in the
emerging LNG market

Ukraine. The next major potential conflict facing Russia is a potential
conflict with Ukraine, especially if the Kiev government attempts to
block the return of the Russian navy to Sevastopol at the end of the
month. However, Ukraine is unlikely to pursue any conflict with Russia
in the face of objections from the EU. The issue of Transdniester may
also emerge as a contentious issue with Ukraine and the EU. Sharing
a border with Ukraine, Transdniester is formally part of Moldova,
although it has declared independence and also hosts Russian peace
keepers.

Investment. The main negative aspect of recent events for the
investment case in Russia is likely to be a backdrop of tougher talking
between Moscow and Western governments and frequent threats that may
arise. This will likely result in a more volatile market and generally
lower asset valuations as the perception of investment risk will remain
higher than it was during 1H08. The Georgia conflict is of course only
part of the reason for that. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s Mechel
comments, the ongoing TNK-BP dispute and the deterioration in some
macro indicators are also contributing to the negative sentiment. There
will likely be an increase in budgetary resources towards the defense
industries, as Russia will want to modernize some parts of its land
forces, previously a lower priority than the export market.

Bank of Georgia – not under our coverage – has been hammered as a
result of the conflict. But we can expect to see increased financial
aid to Georgia from both the US and the EU, partly to compensate for
the lack of military or real political assistance in this conflict.

Geopolitics: Heated exchanges

Rhetoric is likely to remain tough. Right now Moscow is engaged in
a war of words with several western countries and with NATO. Even
as we expect that the tone of comments from each side will start to
calm after the Russian military withdrawal, it will be a long time
before we return to the previous more cordial relations. Russia is
now stronger and more determined to push ahead with its political and
regional priorities, old Cold War rhetoric is likely to be an issue
in the US Presidential election campaign and the missile shields
in the Czech Rep. and Poland will be a bone of contention with the
E.U. Abkhazia, South Ossetia and perhaps Transdniester might push for
formal recognition of independence or greater autonomy, and undoubtedly
Russia will cite the example of Kosovo to support these claims.

Negative backdrop. All of this suggests that normal relations are
unlikely until well into 2009 and will provide a negative backdrop
to the investment case in the meantime.

Russia and the US. The more important issues, such as Iran and
cooperation on terrorism, are too important for both sides to
be derailed by this event. Trade between the US and Russia is
relatively small for both countries – less than 5% – but, again,
it is important for both sides. For example, Russia’s VSMPO-Avisma
is the key supplier of titanium for Boeing and that cannot be easily
sourced from elsewhere. Russia is the biggest buyer of US poultry and,
again, this cannot be easily sourced in such volumes elsewhere. So,
very little trade of this trade, while small, can be easily stopped.

Cold War rhetoric is more familiar. The conflict with Georgia, and the
return to some of the old Cold War rhetoric, is now part of the US
presidential campaign and that will prevent the issue from drifting
away. If Senator John McCain wins then we can expect to have much
cooler public relations than if Senator Barrack Obama wins. Either
way, it is unlikely that the US Administration will be in any hurry
to push for Russia’s accession to the WTO or to remove it from the
provisions of the Jackson-Vanik legislation. There will be threats
to remove Russia from the G8 but, given Russia’s energy importance,
that is not expected to amount to anything other than the content of
election speeches. The opportunity to focus on the familiar theme of
Russia and the Cold War is no doubt a relief for the candidates in the
forthcoming US election, as neither side can come up with any effective
solution to Iraq or the issue of terrorism in general. However,
Russia and the Cold War is relatively straightforward by comparison.

The EU. The Russia-EU relationship is important for both sides. Russia
supplies 40% of the EU’s imported gas (25% of the total usage) and
a significant amount of other important materials. Russian coal,
for example, fuels 15% of the UK’s electricity generation. Over 50%
of Russia’s external trade is with the EU and over 50% of consumer
and manufactured goods are bought from EU countries.

EU has not been able to secure energy elsewhere. The EU has so far
tried in vain to secure energy supplies that circumvent Russia. The
reality is that the EU will become even more reliant on Russian
sourced, or controlled, energy in the future before any significant
alternative sources can be found. The most likely alternative for
the EU would be to tap into Iran’s reserves. Meantime, Moscow has
tied up supply deals with Turkmenistan and is the process of creating
JV’s with Algeria and Libya to channel their gas into Europe (see the
Energy section below). The reality is that they need each other. The
EU needs Russian energy and more of it. It also wants its energy
companies to have a JV role with the likes of Gazprom and Rosneft,
as they now plan to develop new hydrocarbon sources. For Moscow,
access to EU markets with improved trade terms, plus the ability to
increase the two-way flow of investment, which is an important part of
the government’s plan to expand and diversify the economy. A tougher,
more belligerent relationship with the EU would slow this process
and increase dependency/vulnerability to the oil price.

Lost opportunity. It was hoped that significant progress might be
made in the process of bartering energy for trade during the French
presidency of the EU. Instead, the danger is that the six month stint
will be taken up with the aftermath of the Georgian conflict. This
would delay the previous agenda until 2009, when the Czech Republic
assumes the presidency. This would hardly be a positive backdrop given
the rhetoric we have had already over the US missile-shield and will
unlikely advance economic cooperation.

East Europe. Poland this week followed the Czech Republic and
signed a deal with the US to host a site for the so-called missile
shield. Relations between Moscow and the host countries will be
more negative as a result. Several East European leaders visited
Tbilisi to show solidarity with the Georgian government and, again,
that will not endear them to Moscow. It is expected, however, that
the core EU countries such as France and Germany, will take more of
a lead in dealing with Russia and it is unlikely that the smaller
East European countries will be allowed to have the same influence
that they had in late 2006 and the early part of 2007.

Ukraine may become a thorn in the side. The issue of Ukraine is
likely to be more problematic. The Russian navy ships are expected
back in Sevastopol by the end of the month and that could spark a row
with the Kiev government. Ukraine and Russia have to negotiate a new
gas contract this winter and that might also be problematic. There
actually is little room for dispute this time, as Gazprom will simply
look to pass on the well-publicized price deal with the Central Asian
producers. President Yushchenko’s order to reverse the Odessa-Brody
pipeline flow will be an irritant to Russia, but only a minor one
(see Energy below). For many observers, the non appearance of Prime
Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in the debate is of greater curiosity and
more of an issue for domestic Ukraine politics than the Russia-Ukraine
relationship. But, given that the she is to lead the gas negotiations
with Russia it would of course be difficult for her to be openly
critical ahead of that.

Nato. Despite the very public criticism of Russia by NATO and the
support, or indications of support, for Georgian membership, it
is unlikely that the organization will actually push forward the
timetable to admit either Georgia or Ukraine. NATO would simply not
have wanted to engage with Russia over such an issue and the Georgian
actions will make them a lot more wary of admitting either. Support for
membership will be endorsed by the McCain camp for sure, but Europe’s
member countries will be a lot more cautious for a very long time.

Middle East. While Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said
that Moscow may review its stance in the UN action against Iran,
the reality is that Moscow will likely be a lot more critical of US
motives in the region but will not actually oppose any actions to
push Iran towards a peaceful outcome. Building a stronger political
and economic relationship with countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and
the UAE is a priority for the government. Being accused of supporting
a more belligerent Iran would not suit that purpose.

WTO. Membership of the WTO is not a high priority for Russia. It is
more a "box to be ticked" rather than a critical piece of the immediate
economic program. Yes, Russia wants to be a member of the trade body,
but it is not a priority. The schedule to join was on track for later
this year or early 2009; however, it looks likely to be delayed by
six months, which is not of any great consequence.

Central Asia

Moscow has rebuilt its position in the region. Moscow began rebuilding
its influence in Central Asia during Putin’s second presidential
term and the recent military action in Georgia will actually help the
process. Moscow has sent out a very powerful message that this is its
backyard and that it is willing to defend its interests and those of
its partner countries. Western support for Georgia, on the other hand,
has amounted to little more than verbal attacks and threats against
Moscow. In Central Asia, the military message will be by far the most
important and influential.

Political ties are better. In recent years, Moscow has improved
political ties with all Central Asian states, often, as in the case of
Uzbekistan, taking advantage of western criticism of local politics to
rebuild previously damaged ties. Governments across the region find
it more comfortable to deal with an uncritical Moscow than with very
critical western governments. Russia has also increased investment
flows to the region by a much greater extent than those from the EU
or the US.

Caspian Guard Initiative. Azerbaijan’s reaction will be the most
important over the medium term, as it is the possible source of
increased energy flows to Europe via Georgia. But while the Baku
government enjoys a good relationship with the EU, its relations
with Russia have also improved markedly and during President Dmitry
Medvedev’s visit in early July both sides talked about increasing
cooperation in energy projects. The US has been pushing Azerbaijan to
agree to its Caspian Guard Initiative, which would see some US navy
craft based near Baku to help defend the oil fields against possible
attacks. Russia is very opposed to such a move, while Iran sees it
as a direct threat.

Baku has its own priorities. In the aftermath of the Georgian War,
the US will undoubtedly increase its efforts to establish a military
presence in Azerbaijan, but the government there will likely adopt an
even more cautious stance than before. President Aliyev is standing
for re-election in October and in the past he has been criticized by
both the US and the EU for slow democratic reforms. The opposition
grouping of three parties, the Azadlig, has already said that
it plans to boycott the October elections to protest the lack of
political freedoms. Azerbaijan’s priority is to regain control of
Nagornokarabakh, the territory it lost to Armenian control in the
1990’s. To achieve that, Baku will need to retain Moscow’s support
while any support by Moscow for an independent Nagorno-Karabakh would
make the process much more difficult.

US base in Kyrgzstan. We expect Moscow to cooperate with its partners
in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and to again press Kyrgyzstan
for a date when the US airbase at Karshi-Khanabad is to be closed.

Energy

Tied to deals in Central Asia. Moscow has been much more effective
in agreeing energy cooperation deals with countries in Central Asia
than has been the EU. Turkmenistan has agreed to increase its gas
flow to Russia via the expansion of an existing pipeline northwards
and is joining with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in building a new pipe
to the eastern Urals region of Russia. While these agreements are not
yet covered with signed contracts it is expected that they will go
ahead as planned. Along with agreements already in place with China,
it is most unlikely that Turkmenistan will have any significant spare
volumes of gas to sell to the EU before 2015. This year the country
plans to produce just over 80 bcm of gas from 72 bcm in 2007. But
output for the first six months was actually down year on year.

Little spare oil. Azerbaijan plans to produce 1.0 mln barrels of crude
this year and to raise that to 1.2 mln barrels next year. Most of that
oil is promised for the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline so, again, there is very
little spare oil or gas in the Caspian region to ship trough either an
increased capacity Georgian pipeline or to fill the Nabucco gas pipe.

Pipelines. The EU backed Nabucco pipeline has two main problems: the
consortium needs to agree a transit deal with Turkey and it needs
to find a source of gas. Turkey is expected to drive for improved
trade access to EU markets in return for its participation in the
Nabucco project; however, it is already known that some demands
have met with a negative response from Brussels. Turkmenistan has
a tentative agreement with the EU to supply 10 bcm of gas by 2009;
however, if it also proceeds with the deals agreed with China and
Russia, it simply will not have the gas to sell to the EU.

Odessa-Brody reversal. As regards Ukraine’s plan to reverse the
flow of oil in the Odessa-Brody pipeline later this year, it is not
at all clear how this might be done. Ukraine convened a meeting of
representatives from Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan
in Vilnius in October 2007. The result was the formation of a group
called the Sarmartin Consortium with the aim of bringing Azerbaijani
oil via an expanded pipeline across Georgia, then to Odessa via tanker
and then up to Brody. From Brody the plan is to build a new pipeline to
Plock in Poland so that the oil can feed refineries in the region. But
the plan has made no practical headway since October because there
is no agreement on the sharing of the costs and no guarantee on the
availability of enough oil to justify the project. The political will
to proceed with the project is there (perhaps less so from Azerbaijan),
but until the more practical issues of cost, etc are sorted then the
project will not be a viable alternative. The Russian oil that will
be displaced will likely feed the BTS-2, or Eastern, pipeline so the
issue is one of inconvenience.

Arctic. Russia is expected to pursue its efforts to establish
territorial rights over a large part of the Arctic with greater vigor,
in its aim to increase the size of its energy bargaining chip with
the west.

Gas-Opec formal structure expected. Moscow is already scheduled to
host a meeting of the group of gas producing countries that have,
until now, met informally as the Gas Producers Forum. At a meeting
in early June the group agreed to create a more formal structure
with a permanent Secretariat and Secretary General. The meeting to
formalize this is expected to take place in Moscow in late September
or in October. Moscow is now very likely to pursue that initiative
much more aggressively, so as to ensure it remains at the center of
the gas industry development, particularly in the area of LNG.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GEORGIA AND RUSSIA REJECT TO SIT AT THE TABLE UNDER TURKEY’S INITIATIVE

Hurriyet
Aug 22 2008
Turkey

Georgia and Russia welcomed Turkey’s proposal of forming a Caucasian
platform but rejected to sit at the same table, dealing a blow to
Ankara’s hopes to form a platform to contribute a solution to the
region’s problems. The Turkish FM telephoned Friday his Russian
counterpart regarding the proposal. (UPDATED)

Georgia’s ambassador to Turkey, in an interview with Turkish Daily
News, welcomed the Turkey-sponsored initiative to create a Caucasus
union but ruled out sitting at the negotiating table with Russia at
the current stage as they were still under occupation.

Turkey had proposed the formation of a Caucasian union to strengthen
economic ties between the countries in the region to contribute to
the peaceful solution of the problems after the conflict that erupted
between Georgia and Russia. Ankara believes a stable Caucasus is
crucial for its interests.

"We are ready to discuss with Turkey all kinds of regional initiatives
but at this stage there is no possibility that we would enter any
cooperation mechanism with Russia as long as the occupation goes on
and a single occupying soldier stays on my soil," Ambassador Grigol
Mgaloblishvili was quoted as saying by TDN on Friday.

Clashes erupted in the Caucasus on Aug. 8 when Georgian forces launched
an operation to regain control in the breakaway region of South
Ossetia. Russia’s harsh military response intensified the clashes and
the conflict spread wide into the other breakaway regions in Georgia.

Russia and Georgia had signed the peace deal and Moscow vowed to
withdraw its troops by Friday. Russia, however, says there could be
no talk of territorial integrity of Georgia.

Mgaloblishvili added Georgia would have serious discussions with
Moscow that would include discussion about the Caucasus mechanism
and the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia once the
withdrawal of Russian troops completes and peace and stability ensured.

"After occupying forces leave and all of those people who were forced
out of their houses go back, then we will start talking and discussing
future probabilities and possibilities. But again, I can assure that
the territorial integrity of Georgia will maintain," he said.

MOSCOW ALSO REJECTS Russia also ruled out the possibility of holding
talks with Georgia under the circumstances.

The conflict had proved that the political landscape in the region
would change. Turkey faces a tough task in ensuring a balanced policy
for the neighboring region between pro-West Georgia and its energy
partner Russia.

A Russian diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said earlier
Moscow had not yet given an official response and was still discussing
the proposal, TDN reported.

The same official made clear, however, that Russia would not sit at
the negotiating table with the current leadership in Georgia.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had visited Georgia, Russia
and Azerbaijan, and said all of them extended their support to the
idea. Ankara also plans to include Armenia in the platform.

Turkey said it would hold talks with Armenia, a country it does not
have diplomatic relations, an attempt welcomed by Yerevan. Besides
the problems between Georgia and Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan also
have problematic relations with Armenia.

Given the outlook of the region, Turkey’s initiative seems to be
nothing but a mission impossible.

TURKISH FM CALLS LAVROV Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan telephoned
his Russian counterpart and conveyed a set of proposals as part of
Turkey’s efforts to ease tensions in the Caucasus, a spokesman for
the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

"In a telephone call to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov,
Mr. Babacan conveyed to the Russian side our concrete proposals
about a platform for cooperation and stability in the Caucasus,"
Burak Ozuergin said.

The spokesman said Turkish and Russian diplomats would meet next week
to work on the issue, and added the two ministers had agreed to meet
again early in September.

ARTHUR ABRAHAM VS RAUL MARQUEZ, EUROPEAN BOXING ROUNDUP

EastsideBoxing.com
Aug 22 2008

HOLLYWOOD, FL, August 21 – He is the longest reigning champion in
the middleweight division today, a European superstar who now has his
sights set on conquering new land in America after a spectacular US
debut in June. On Saturday, October 4th, ‘King’ Arthur Abraham defends
his IBF 160-pound title for the eighth time as he takes on 1992 US
Olympian and former world junior middleweight champion Raul Marquez
in his first appearance on United States pay-per-view television..

Abraham-Marquez, a 12 round IBF World Middleweight Championship bout,
is presented by Sauerland Event, in association with Seminole Warriors
Boxing. The bout will be held at the Jako-Arena in the Bavarian town of
Bamberg in Germany and will air live in the United States at 3pm ET /
12pm PT on CABLE AND SATELLITE pay-per-view VIA IN DEMAND, TVN AND
DIRECTV. The suggested retail price is $24.95.

"Arthur Abraham is the type of fighter American fans love – he’s
aggressive, he has knockout power, and he has a champion’s heart," said
Leon Margules, Executive Director of Seminole Warriors Boxing. "He’s
going to be pushed to the limit by Raul Marquez though, and I believe
that when it comes to action and drama, this fight has the potential
to be one of the best bouts of 2008."

One of boxing’s longest reigning champions, ‘King’ Arthur Abraham
(27-0, 22 KOs) has ruled the middleweight division since 2005,
making seven title defenses over the likes of Edison Miranda,
Sebastien Demers, Khoren Gevor, and Elvin Ayala in the process. A
native of Yerevan, Armenia who now makes his home in Berlin, Germany,
this punishing puncher made his United States debut in June, stopping
his rival Miranda in just four rounds in Florida. It was the 28-year
old Abraham’s fifth straight win by knockout, and he is looking for
six in a row on October 4th.

Winner of 41 of his 46 pro fights, Raul ‘El Diamante’ Marquez (41-3-1,
1 NC, 29 KOs) is owner of perhaps the most inspirational story in
boxing today, one that has seen the former 1992 US Olympian and
world champion return from a two year layoff and go on to a seven
fight unbeaten streak. Since that return, he has been unstoppable,
going 6-0-1 with 5 knockouts. In his most recent bout, Marquez –
who has been in the ring with Shane Mosley, Fernando Vargas, Jermain
Taylor and Yory Boy Campas – earned a shot at the IBF crown with a
12 round decision win over Giovanni Lorenzo on June 21st.

European Boxing Roundup

By Per Ake Persson

Ukrainian supermiddle Vitaly Tyspko, IBF # 2, is awaiting the outcome
of IBF champ Lucan Bute´s defense against Libradro Andrade October
24. Tsypko will then be one of the participants in an eliminator to
determine the next mandatory challenger for the titleholder.

Slovenian welter Jan Zaveck is in full training for the upcoming
EBU titlefight October 10 against Belgian Jackson Osei Bonsu. There
are stories out that Zaveck will fight some kind of WBA eliminator
against Venezuelan Nelson Linares but no such fight is sanctioned by
the WBA and Zaveck himself knows nothing about it.

Italian fly Vincenzo Picardi who is in the semifinals in the Olympics
is the son of Antonio Picardi, Italian champ and challenger for the
EBU bantamweight title.

If all goes well – and it should – in Sweden September 5 for
heavyweight Robert Helenius (who fights Dane Ingvardt Jorgensen)
he will take on Swiss Nikola Vujasinovic October 4 in Bamberg on the
Abraham vs Marques bill.

Danish supermiddle Mads Larsen, a steady climber on the WBA ratings,
will not fight again until the end of the year.

Norwegian jr welter Geir Inge Jorgensen´s long awaited shot at
the vacant WBF title could go ahead early October in Poland on a
BoxingEurope promotion.

Serbian lightheavy Nikola Sjekloca takes on French veteran Pierre
Moreno October 18 in Budva, Montenegro.

–Boundary_(ID_1z8j99POZVaymVps9OVwYA )–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CELEBRATE ARMENIAN-STYLE
By Mike Labella, [email protected]

Eagle Tribune
Aug 22 2008
MA

HAVERHILL — The Armenian church at Hye Pointe in Ward Hill will host
an Armenian music and food festival Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. at
American Legion Farm, 1314 Main St.

The menu includes shish kebab, chicken kebab, losh kebab dinners
with pilaf and salad, kheyma with salad, hot dogs, pastries and
beverages. Music will be performed by an Armenian band. A raffle for
$1,000 and for gift certificates will be held as well. This event
also features children’s activities, such as a moonwalk and games.

A donation of $1 per person is welcome. Children enter free.

This festival is supported in part by a grant from the Lawrence
Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts
Cultural Council.

BIZARRO IMPERIALISM
by Justin Raimondo

Antiwar.com
Aug 22 2008
CA

How it works, and who profits

The US-Iraqi "status of forces" agreement has been months in the
making, and today [Thursday] we are told that it’s "almost" ready –
but not quite. So what’s the problem? Well, there are a few bones of
contention between the "liberators" and the "liberated," the first
being how long US forces will stay, and the second being the terms
under which they will essentially continue their occupation. What this
increasingly contentious issue between the Americans and the Iraqis
reveals and underscores is just how far down the road to empire the
US has traveled.

What is becoming readily apparent, even to this administration, is
that the Americans are no longer wanted by any of the Iraqi factions:
not the Sunnis, who hated us from the beginning, not the Shi’ites,
who soon learned to hate us, and not even the Kurds, formerly our
trusted compradors in the region and now sullenly resentful at having
had their anti-Turkish campaign reined in by a joint effort of US
and Iraqi forces.

President Bush has long disdained the very idea of setting a timetable
for the withdrawal of US troops, but last month had the rug pulled
out from under him – and John McCain – when Barack Obama went to Iraq
and was greeted by the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who
promptly endorsed Obama’s call for a definitive timetable. The status
of forces agreement has been demoted to the level of a "memorandum
of understanding," so as not to require a vote by the US Congress,
nevertheless it cannot avoid a vote in the Iraqi Parliament. That’s
what they mean by "exporting" democracy: It’s the Iraqis who do the
voting, while we just get to foot the bill.

That’s how American imperialism works. We’re the only empire on earth
where, as Garet Garrett put it, "everything goes out and nothing comes
in." In the olden days, you’ll recall, when Roman legionnaires went
a’ conquering, at least they came back with some loot, which they
would distribute to the populace whilst keeping some for themselves:
however, here in Bizarro Rome, it’s we who are being looted. Not
that I’m suggesting the Iraqis ought to pay the costs of their own
occupation, but only to point out the irony of our predicament.

The Iraqis reportedly want us to begin withdrawing by the end of next
June, with all forces out by 2010. The Bush administration has so far
not agreed to any of this, and is insisting on staying until 2011 –
and, even then, we’ll still retain bases in the country. This should
clear up, once and for all, the question of whether we are creating an
empire in the Middle East: Iraq is clearly being treated as a colony
of the US, or else there would be no negotiations, certainly not the
prolonged song-and-dance performed by the US and Iraqi sides – there
would only be the unilateral decision of the Iraqis to politely ask
us to leave.

This is an attempt by the White House to give its own policies a life
beyond the grave of this administration, and it’s not at all clear
how strenuously the Democrats will oppose it. Expecting a victory in
November, albeit with less certainty than before, the Obama campaign
hasn’t made this is an issue, so far, and the Democrats in Congress
are unlikely to take a bold initiative, such as nullifying the most
objectionable provisions – including the one that keeps US troops in
Iraq until 20011-or-12.

Locked in by a "treaty" obligation that was never put to a vote of
the people’s representatives, President Obama will conveniently
cite this document – which no ordinary person has yet had the
privilege of reading – and intone that the only responsible thing
to do is to abide by it. Thus the essential continuity of American
foreign policy, a theme extrapolated on in this space before, will
be maintained. Change? A Democratic administration would usher in a
change of faces, certainly, and we’d hear a rhetorical shift, to be
sure – but no real fundamental sea change in the guiding principles
and present direction of policy, which amounts to a permanent rationale
for a massive overseas projection of US military power.

The battlelines in our endless "war on terrorism" are shifting
eastward, away from Iraq – where we’re being pushed out by the Iraqis,
and their Iranian allies – and toward Pakistan and Afghanistan. Obama
wants thousands more US soldiers sent to the Afghan front, and
certainly our reverses in that theater aren’t being publicized as
widely as the alleged "success" of the surge. I’ll leave it to Michael
Scheuer to explain why the bones of so many empires are buried in
those hills: suffice to say that the Democrats’ Afghan adventurism
is bound to be just as successful – and involve just as many if not
more casualties and other costs – as the conflict in Iraq. The alleged
rationale for it is also exactly the same: we’re fighting al Qaeda,
the destroyers of the twin towers! The only answer to that is: it’s
a little late for that, now isn’t it?

Bin Laden and the leadership of his quasi-organization have long since
spread out across the globe: they are in every country, including
most likely the United States. To imagine that we can destroy Bin
Ladenism militarily is an illusion, and a dangerous one – the danger
being that the wars of "liberation" we wage will only succeed in
growing and militarizing al Qaeda’s base of support. Al Qaeda cannot
be stopped with fighter planes and advanced missile systems, and the
more we go around the world playing the regime-change game, the more
recruits the terrorists will reap.

The shift to the Afghan-Pakistani front marks a general shift in the
nature of the alleged "enemy." Every American administration must come
up with at least one foreign adversary, a credible overseas ‘threat"
to our national security interests, and there are many indications
that Russia is a favorite for the nomination. The Central Asian
‘stans are lining up on one side or the other, and the West, led by
the Americans, is bound to continue the encirclement of Russia no
matter which party wins in November.

China, too, is on the enemies list, on account of the labor unions’
Sinophobia, which has always been pronounced and unapologetic:
they are a key Democratic constituency, and, given Obama’s victory
this November, there will be considerable pressure on him to take
up the campaign for "human rights" in China. Never mind that China,
like Russia, has come a long way since the Communist era, while in
America and the West the trend is in the other direction. This "human
rights" hooey is really a protectionist crusade, dressed up in liberal
"humanitarian" garb, but just remember that old libertarian maxim:
if goods don’t cross borders, then armies soon will.

Securing the goods – in this case, oil – is what the maneuvering in
the region is all about. Oil from distant Kazakhstan, the gigantic
US-allied autocracy rivaled only by neighboring Uzbekistan for the
megalomaniacal authoritarianism of its dotty old ruler, Nursultan
Nazarbayev. The Kazakh dictator is a sclerotic leftover from the
Communist era who has reportedly transferred over one billion dollars
worth of the nation’s wealth to his personal bank account. And that’s
just one of the advantages of online banking!

One of the beneficiaries of the BTC (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan) pipeline
is Turkmenistan, another neo-Soviet Central Asian "republic" with a
one-party system and no liberty in any sphere. With a "human rights"
record far worse than the Chinese, you can bet they’ll get a free pass
no matter which party takes power in Washington: there’s too much money
involved here, and, besides that, it was the Democrats who initiated
this "Silk Road" pipeline project, and the Clinton administration
that set up a special office to see that it was realized.

And don’t forget Azerbaijan, yet another neo-Soviet dictatorship, whose
Maximum Leader, Heydar Aliyev, a former Communist party chieftain,
seized power in a coup and established a one-party state, passing on
power to his son, in the North Korean style. Azerbaijan is locked in
a struggle with Armenia, a Russian ally, over the Nagorno-Karabakh
region, which is inhabited by both Azeris and Armenians, and has been
the object of a long intramural conflict. This conflict could easily
intersect the route of the BTC pipeline, a tripwire that could lead to
a confrontation between the US and Russia, and/or their proxies. The
Georgian/Ossetian incident prefigures this coming conflict.

The worst autocracies in the region – these are "democratic"
Georgia’s economic partners and diplomatic-military allies in the
fight against Putin’s Russia. Standing behind them is the US, and
the Western powers, particularly the British, who have a lot invested
in the BTC project. The idea is to avoid Iran and Russia completely
while reaping the oil bounty to be found in Central Asia. This would
undercut Russia’s economic and geopolitical position, and complete
the encirclement of the Slavs, which has been the long-range goal
of American policy in the post-Soviet era no matter which party is
in power. The long ago promise made to Gorbachev by George Herbert
Walker Bush – that NATO would not expand to include the former Warsaw
Pact nations, never mind Ukraine and Georgia – is conveniently tossed
down the Memory Hole. Not only Georgia, but also distant Azerbaijan
is on the fast-track for NATO membership.

In the battle for the top of the world, which looks set to take place
on the steppes of Central Asia, neither expense nor lives will be
spared. It doesn’t matter which party takes the White House, because
it’s the same old game played by the same old players. We’re done
with Iraq, and it’s time to move on: there are new lands to conquer,
fresh crusades to take up, and a whole new set of beneficiaries, laptop
bombardiers, and official spokespersons to contend with. If this is
"change," then you can have it. All I know is that Antiwar.com is bound
to be busier than usual, no matter who wins in November. That’s why the
endless framing of every issue in partisan terms is so irrelevant and
just plain boring. Republicans and Democrats, red-state/blue-state,
conservative-liberal – it’s just a game show, albeit often an
entertaining one, that really decides nothing much of anything.

What decides the course of nations isn’t politics, but ideas – and
that’s where Antiwar.com comes in. We’re fighting the battle of ideas
every day, 24/7 – against a well-funded and not very well-intentioned
enemy. The War Party knows what it wants, and knows how to get it:
they’re not only wealthy beyond measure, they’re also organized:
they’ve systematically eliminated any and all voices of opposition to
our interventionist foreign policy from the councils of government, and
only now, from the grassroots, do we hear the sounds of dissent. Why
do we have to police the world – and bear the burden of empire? This
is the question we’ve been asking since our founding, in 1995, and we
have yet to find anyone who has come up with a satisfactory answer. Who
benefits from this policy of global meddling? Because it most certainly
isn’t the great bulk of the American people, who must pay the costs
of empire on top of the tremendous domestic debt we’ve already rung up.

Everything goes out and nothing comes in: that’s how Garrett, in his
1952 pamphlet Ex America, described the then newly-emerging American
empire. He was, however, a writer whose specialty was economics, and,
being quite a perceptive analyst, he would have instantly understood –
had he lived to see it – that, in the year 2008, something does come
in. While us ordinary peons pay, certain business concerns profit,
namely the investment bankers who are financing the BTC pipeline,
the governments of Georgia and the Central Asian axis of anti-Russian
autocracies, not to mention the politicians who are feeding at that
particular trough.

The beneficiaries of our foreign policy are fighting hard to stay in
the saddle, in spite of the awakening of the American people to the
racket they’ve been running. Eight years of constant warmongering has
surely taken its toll on the support the War Party can generate, but
they have new tricks up their sleeves, of that you can be sure. That’s
why it’s so important that you help us make our fundraising goal of
$70,000: as you may know, we’re in the midst of our summer drive,
and we are depending on you to come through.

The summer fundraisers are always the hardest, and I dread their
approach. This one I especially dreaded, because of the economic
hardship I know many of our readers are going through right
now. That’s why it’s so important that those who can afford to give,
this time, dig deeper than usual into their pockets to make up for the
shortfall. I apologize if I’m sounding a little desperate, here, but,
come to think of it, I am feeling pretty desperate: that fundraiser
thermometer on our front page needs to be well advanced into the green
"optimist" range before we’re out of the woods – that is, before we
can guarantee that you’ll continue to get the kind of coverage of
world affairs you’ve come to expect from Antiwar.com.

So, please, give as much as you can as soon as you can – contribute
today.

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH COMPETING FOR FOREIGN COUNTRIES?
By Geoff Calkins

Scripps News
Aug 22 2008
DC

She stood during the national anthem, stood with her hands clasped
behind her back, listening respectfully, just like the other Americans.

Except she was not like the other Americans.

They wore the red, white and blue of the United States women’s
basketball team.

She wore the red and white of Russia.

She grew up in South Dakota, but was playing for Russia.

She was raised in the shadow of Mount Rushmore, but would spend the
next 40 minutes trying to defeat the United States.

How could that have possibly felt? Surely, she had some mixed feelings.

"Absolutely not," said Becky Hammon. "This was a big game because it
was a semifinal game in the Olympics, not necessarily because of me
and the whole United States thing."

The United States thing.

Meaning, it’s her country. Hammon is by every real definition an
American.

She grew up here, she lives here, she considers it home.

"I know where my heart lies," she said, and she didn’t mean
Vladivostok.

So why did Hammon try her darndest to lead Russia to victory over
the United States Thursday?

Because, well, it paid better.

CSKA Moscow signed Hammon to a four-year contract worth $2 million. One
of the conditions of the deal is that she plays for Russia in the
Olympics.

"She made a great business decision," said Anne Donovan, the United
States coach, and Hammon is not the only one. Everywhere you look at
these Olympics, athletes who grew up in one country are suiting up
for another one.

All five members of the American table tennis team are from China. The
Swedish wrestler who was stripped of his bronze medal the other day
is from Armenia.

The Georgian beach volleyball team is from Brazil. Benjamin Boukpeti
grew up in France but won a medal for Togo.

"Unfortunately," said Boukpeti, "I’ve been to Togo only once when I
was very young."

Once?

That’s practically a lifetime these days. Haley Nemra is a runner
for the Marshall Islands who has never been to the Marshall Islands.

Rashid Ramzi won a gold medal in the 1,500 for Bahrain. Bahranians
everywhere were bursting with pride, at least until Ramzi declared that
"I am Moroccan."

Why get hung up on nationality, anyway? Why get hung up on math?

Irving Saladino grew up in Brazil, won a gold medal in the long jump
for Panama, and was asked what exactly he considers himself.

"Fifty percent Brazil, fifty percent Panama, but more Panama," he said.

At these Olympics, maybe even that makes sense. All you need is a
passport to compete for the team of your choice.

What do you want to be today? Romanian? Costa Rican? What colors go
best with your eyes? Finnish blue? Swedish yellow?

So here came Hammon, into this world of global free agency, deciding
to play for Russia. It might have worked out OK except Donovan,
the United States women’s coach, called her a traitor.

Which is preposterous, of course. Hammon is just a basketball
player. She doesn’t have the designs to our newest nuclear submarine.

And yet it just feels wrong, you know?

If nationalities don’t matter at all at the Olympics, why do they
play anthems? Why do they raise flags? Why do they keep medal counts?

Athletes are supposed to compete for themselves at world
championships. They’re supposed to compete for their countries at
the Olympics.

When we’re cheering Michael Phelps, we’re not just cheering Michael
Phelps. We’re cheering the land that produced him.

That’s why people stop and pay attention every four years. That’s
why the United States women’s team spent the better part of their
pre-game meal Thursday talking about Hammon.

"We had a debate," said Lisa Leslie.

And?

"It’s complicated," she said.

Why hold Hammon to a standard that doesn’t apply to anyone else? The
American women’s volleyball team is coached by one of the best players
in Chinese history. Herb Brooks coached the French hockey team after
he coached the United States to a gold. If Mr. Miracle on Ice can
try to defeat the Unites States, why can’t Hammon?

She can, of course. That’s one of her rights as an American. Just as
it was the right of the women on the United States team to make it
clear they wouldn’t have made the same decision.

"I couldn’t do what she did," said Kara Lawson.

Why not?

"I just couldn’t."

But what if – like Hammon – there was no guarantee you’d make the
United States team?

"I had no idea if I’d make it," said Lawson. "I was on the bubble. But
if I didn’t make it, I’d know I tried my best and I’d cheer for
my country."

She shrugged. To each their own, and all that. But it was clear
the American women had resolved they weren’t going to let Hammon
beat them. They trapped her whenever she got the ball. They didn’t
exchange pleasantries.

"She said something to me at one point but I just kept right on going,"
said Leslie. "I tell you, Becky was a Russian today."

For the longest time, the Russians hung in there, too. The game was
tied well into the third quarter.

Then the Americans did what the Americans tend to do and won easily,
67-52.

So all’s well that ends well, right?

No harm, no foul. The Americans won. The Russians lost. Hammon wished
the Americans the best in Saturday’s gold medal game.

"She told us to bring it home," said Fowles.

Wherever that is.

INTERVIEW: JOHN DOLMAYAN OF SCARS ON BROADWAY

411mania.com
Aug 22 2008
TX

411 sits down with John from Scars On Broadway to talk illegal
downloading, touring, earthquakes and the new album…

This was my first interview for 411mania. Ok, to be completely honest
this was my first interview ever. Being my first interview, I was
very nervous seeing as how I had to interview a pretty big name like
John Dolmayan from Scars on Broadway and System of a Down. I wasn’t
sure if I wanted to make this like the Esquire "What I’ve Learned"
, or an Enquirer interview but then I decided, "Fuck it, this is my
interview and I will transcribe it how I feel is understandable."

So here I go.

John and I both live in southern California and I just so happened
to interview him the day of the earthquake you all probably heard
about a few weeks ago.

So I give John a call and he tells me to hold on because his dad
called. Then when he returns I ask him if he felt the earthquake. He
replies as if he forgot about it and says, "Ya, it was no big deal,
earthquakes don’t bother me"

I thought this was funny because the interview was postponed a couple
of hours due to the earthquake "If you’re gonna die, you’re gonna
die" exactly.

When I ask him what the inspiration for the album was he explains
that that question could end up in a three hour conversation. But I
waited to hear the answer.

"Life I guess, life in general is the inspiration for the album. All
the things that you go through kinda mold you into who you are, and
the environment that you live in also has a lot to do with it. And
in the end you have the music that comes out, ya know, I don’t write
the music but I imagine that is what Daron (Malakian) goes through
channeling whatever he channels to create this stuff. Part of it has
to do with his life experiences."

Prior to the interview I talked to some die hard System of a Down
and Scars on Broadway fans because, I knew they would have some good
questions for John that they were just dying to get the answers to. One
of them was about their new self-titled album leaking out on the net
before its release date where John stated, "I don’t care. As long as
they like the album, I think that the true fans are going to go out
and buy it anyway. You know there are people that can’t afford it,
what can I say? It’s tough times. But we put a lot of work into this
and dedicated our lives to it for the last year and a half so it’d be
nice if people extended the courtesy and actually went out and bought
it and if they cant or don’t choose to, that’s ok with me. You gotta
live within your means and however you get through life is up to you."

Scars on Broadway have been touring all over Europe so I was curious
as to how the fans over there were reacting to the new material and
also if they would be touring the rest of the world.

"They’ve been pretty into it. With the advent of you tube they know a
lot of the lyrics already from the previous shows that we’ve played
which is great for them to take that kinda time and go ya know,
its pretty crappy quality recordings on you tube I was impressed by
how many of the lyrics they actually knew. I don’t know half of the
lyrics! I know very little, when I listen to music, I don’t listen
to the lyrics I listen to the music."

As for touring,

"Well we will be touring the United States, then we are going to Europe
in august. When we get back we are going to be doing the united states
, that’s what we have planned so far of course we will be doing more
than that but that takes us all the way into November and that’s as
far ahead as I want to think about right now."

Scars on Broadway has a very distinct and different sound then a
lot of music that is on the radio. Some of their songs can be quite
controversial as well with some raunchy lyrics. For example in the song
"Chemicals":

"MADNESS! I’m feeling scared/Looking around and nobody there/When I
say ‘Fuck the world!’/As we’re ready to rock/Piss on your face while
you suck on my cock."

So I asked John if they try to find a gap in the music scene by
pursuing a certain sound or if they create music that just comes
natural at a certain point of his life.

"I think that the less you think about music scene the better
off you are as a musician and an artist, we don’t really take into
consideration what might be happening in the music scene today I guess
in a lot of ways we want to be a part of the trend that is about to
come not the one that is about to go out, so its more a matter of
just playing where you are in life, playing the type of music you’re
listening to or that has inspired you or was uninspiring sometimes,
sometimes it’s the stuff that kinda irritates you that inspires you
to write something else because maybe you want something different out
there. so I don’t really know too many new bands out there to be honest
with you. I generally listen to a lot of older music occasionally if
someone suggests something I’ll listen to it but I generally find a lot
more time spent on specific music that is 25 to 30 years old. Lately
I have been listening to a lot of Mozart. I go through phases a lot,
I’m a phase type of person, I remember I listened to Pink Floyd’s
The Wall for a year straight every day when I was 18 years old I can
definitely lose myself in music. To me music is like a warm bath,
you just immerse yourself in it and forget about what’s going on."

I was curious as to what they were going to do with all the extra
songs that didn’t make the cut of their new album. I hate looking for
all the lost recordings on the internet so I was hoping there would
be a B-side compilation album in the near future.

"Some will be on B-sides for singles some will be used for soundtracks
or some will never be used at all! One or to might make the next album
but I doubt it, they usually don’t. For example, Systems (of a down)
first album we had "X" recorded so we weren’t happy with it and "X"
ended up on Toxicity and it was completely rerecorded, a new structure
for it and everything. So sometimes songs can reemerge but hopefully
they are better and better suited for the album that your gonna put
them on. But its no necessarily guaranteed. I kind of like not having
songs that aren’t anywhere."

I agreed and told him it keeps things personal. Then he agreed and
lifted the hopes of fans by hinting towards that B-side compilation
album,

"Keep it personal or maybe later on one day you’ll do like a
compilation or something and put them all together."

"They Say" is the first single off of the new Scars on Broadway album
but it was an unexpected move.

"We released ‘They Say’ not expecting it to become a single we just
wanted people to have a taste of the album and it ended up becoming a
single completely out of our mindset of what it was going to be. We
intended it to be just for the fans, something to have just to feed
them something so they wouldn’t be hungry for it..and be sorry. Then
we put ‘Chemicals’ just to give them another taste ya know I don’t
expect ‘Chemicals’ to be a radio song but we wanted them to have a
completely different example of what is on the album."

Yeah, I don’t think "Chemicals" would be able to be on the radio
either.

Then I started to go simple and ask easy questions that aren’t boring
for the readers, like what he likes to do in his free time,

"What most people do, spend time with our friends and family. I know
Daron goes to Disneyland a lot and when hockey seasons are out he goes
to hockey games and baseball season he goes to baseball games. I like
to play poker I like to read an collect and sell comic books and go
have a drink occasionally."

I got really excited when he said he was into comic books so I had
to ask what his favorite one was, and he said Fantastic Four which
I thought was pretty interesting because most people say Batman
or Superman.

I asked him if there was any place in the world that he would want
to tour that he hasn’t yet, and again to my surprise he said South
America and expects to tour there in the future. Being of Armenian
descent, John also explained that he would like to and has thought
about playing a show in Armenia.

I thank him for his time and tell him to be safe in case of an
earthquake, he tells me he will and asks if I will come save him if
he is going to get killed. I tell him I will do what I can.

Go check out the new Scars on Broadway self-titled debut album and
do not miss them on tour!

OCTOBER 19 Masquerade, Atlanta, GA 20 House of Blues, Myrtle Beach,
SC 22 TLA, Philadelphia, PA 23 Ram’s Head Live, Baltimore, MD 25 The
Fillmore, New York, NY 26 Paradise, Boston, MA 28 Le Medley, Montreal,
QC CANADA 29 Phoenix, Toronto, ONT CANADA 31 St. Andrews, Detroit, MI

NOVEMBER 1 Metro, Chicago, IL 2 The Eagles Club, Milwaukee, WI 4
First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 5 Beaumont, Kansas City, MO 7 Ogden,
Denver, CO 8 Murray Theatre, Salt Lake City, UT 11 Edmonton Events
Center, Edmonton, AB CANADA 12 MacEwan Ballroom, Calgary, AB CANADA
14 Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC CANADA 15 Showbox SODO, Seattle,
WA 16 Roseland, Portland, OR 22 Marquee, Phoenix, AZ 24 White Rabbit,
San Antonio, TX 25 Emo’s, Austin, TX 26 House of Blues, Houston, TX

U.S. ENTREPRENEUR MAKES ALIYAH SEEKING ‘NEXT BIG INVENTION’
By Haim Handwerker

Ha’aretz
Aug 23 2008
Israel

NEW YORK – Scott Tobin, a successful venture capitalist, rented his
house in the Boston suburbs, took his wife and four kids, boarded a
plane and moved to Israel last week. "We believe that the next big
invention will come from Israel," he explained before he left. "There
are not many places in the world where there is that kind of actual
innovation."

Tobin, 38, is a senior partner at Battery Ventures, which manages
investments totaling $3 billion. In 2006 Forbes Magazine ranked
him No. 47 on the Midas List of top technology deal-makers in the
world. In 2007 he had to settle for No. 50.

Venture capital funds and financial companies are not in the habit of
sending such high-ranking executives to live in Israel, much less with
their families. Israel is too far away, too dangerous. The companies
thus send personnel on work visits to Israel, or else employ former
Israelis who know their old homeland, or local workers.

Advertisement

"I’m the only Jewish member of the general partners," Tobin
explains. "Battery’s top partners visited Israel last October and were
very impressed. It was four days packed with meetings and tours. We
were in the middle of debating where we should open offices, and
finally we settled on India and Israel, because of the research and the
high level of innovation there. People used to say that if you want to
make $1 million in Israel, you have to invest $5 million. Those days
are over. Israel has the best minds and the kind of innovation you
can’t find even in the foremost technology centers, such as Silicon
Valley. It’s a matter of business logic. We mean to make real money
in Israel. The fact that I am a Zionist is just icing on the cake."

Tobin knows that some people think he is crazy to be moving to Israel,
because of the security situation. "I’m not afraid," he declares. "I
already lived through a difficult time in Israel during the first Gulf
War, when I was studying at Hebrew University. It was not pleasant,
and I was afraid. But we survived. It’s part of life in Israel. I
have four boys, ages three, five, eight and 10. If I thought it were
dangerous, I would not do it.

"We bought a house in Ra’anana and got a pre-immigration visa, so
it’s not a move for a year or two. If I have to choose between Paris,
London and Israel, I go with Israel. I see it as a cosmopolitan
place, vibrant, lots of fun. Israelis appreciate good food and
a good time. But believe me, I’m not exactly planning on a wild
nightlife. Israel is a different country. People no longer ask me to
bring them Nikes."

In late 2005 Battery opened a two-man office in Herzliya, to develop
a better understanding of the local investment scene. "We found many
venture capitalists in Israel," Tobin says, "more than rabbis. We
studied the potential."

How much money are you planning to spend in Israel?

Tobin: "I’ll be happy if we invest $50-$100 million a year. Battery
reviews 7,000 potential deals a year, and we invest in only 12-20
of them."

Central player

Tobin himself has spearheaded around 20 deals so far, including the
purchase of the London International Financial Futures and Options
Exchange. Battery bought the Exchange in 2000 for $300 million, and
sold it 13 months later for some $1 billion: "In those days the theory
was that technology would wipe out the stock exchanges, and they would
disappear. Their prices dropped dramatically. But the exact opposite
happened: The stock exchanges in the world continued to thrive."

Tobin missed out on at least one good deal, however: When Mark
Zuckerberg began tossing around the idea of Facebook, he met with
Tobin in an effort to raise money. Tobin decided to pass.

Why didn’t you invest?

"I didn’t have a good feeling about it, and we didn’t make a good
connection. In my business sometimes you win, and sometimes you
lose. For every deal you make there are dozens and hundreds that
don’t happen."

You must regret your decision.

"Some people like to remind me of it, but I don’t see it as a
mistake. We’re in this business for the long term. Sometimes it works,
sometimes the fish gets away from you."

Tobin, who speaks basic Hebrew with an American accent, grew up
in Great Neck, New York – a middle-class town with a large Jewish
population, about an hour’s drive from Manhattan. His father is in
insurance, his mother is a homemaker and is also, her son says, a
"professional volunteer." He studied Islam and Middle Eastern history
at Brandeis University. As part of his program, he spent a year in
Israel, studying Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University. One of
his brothers is a lawyer living in Beit Shemesh.

Tobin’s first big success, it might be argued, came through his Israeli
connection. During his time at Hebrew University, a friend introduced
him to Danny Lewin. When Lewin went on to study at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, they met again. Eventually Lewin founded
Akamai with one of his professors. He pitched the idea to Tobin, who
had then begun to work at Battery. Battery was Akamai’s first investor,
giving the company some $10 million. Akamai then became one of the
meteors of the Internet world, surviving even the collapse of the
high-tech bubble. Battery made a big profit from its investment – $200
million, according to Tobin, for whom the deal was a career-booster.

Danny Lewin died in the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers,
aboard the American Airlines flight to Los Angeles. In late 2000
Tobin began to work with Michael Lewin, Danny’s brother, who lives in
Israel. Lewin pitched some ideas for high-tech projects, and Tobin
came in at an early stage. He arranged meetings for Lewin and his
partners in the United States, and was involved in formulating the
concept for a data-storage security company named Kashya.

"Battery invested over $10 million in Kashya," explains Tobin. "The
company was sold two years ago to the EMC data storage corporation
for $153 million. Battery made some $65 million off the investment."

Lewin is now working with Tobin on another project, about which he
refuses to elaborate. "Scott’s move to Israel upgrades the local
venture capital field," he says. "He is very experienced and plugged
into the American venture capital world. He understands well how
a company penetrates the American and international market, and he
has a profound understanding of the Israeli side. There is no other
American venture capitalist of his stature in Israel today. When one
venture capital firm sends such a central player here, others might
do the same.

"I think Scott’s move could help us cope with one of the biggest
challenges of Israeli high-tech. We develop companies and sell them,
and the challenge is to establish mega-corporations like Teva and
Comverse."

Battery has investments in five Israeli companies: Anobit Technologies,
cVidya, Freshpoint, Neocleus, and a fifth company whose name has not
yet been revealed. The overall investment is $50 million. In the near
future the company will be hiring seven Israeli staff members. Tobin
says that Battery intends to invest in different areas, not only
in high-tech.

"You have to remember that in Israel there are large companies
with excellent international reputations, such as Ormat, Keter and
Netafim," he says. "Venture capital funds usually don’t go in these
directions. I intend to invest even in areas that are unusual for
venture capitalists. We may well invest in public companies as well,
and maybe make them private. I promise to spend many hours out of
the office doing field work."

The vision

Scott Tobin has a vision: "If you look at Israel’s human capital in
mathematics and computer science, combined with government reforms,
it seems likely that Israel will someday play a central role in the
international world of finance. The world is changing, and financial
centers will expand beyond New York, London and Hong Kong. There is
no reason why Israel will not become a center of financial trade.

"It’s been a long time since Israel produced a revolutionary
invention like ICQ. In general, there are no revolutions in technology
today. Changes are more evolutionary, but Israel shows more impressive
innovation than other high-tech areas in the world, including the
United States. Many high-tech companies copy others or miniaturize
existing inventions, but there are no huge new inventions. Companies
like Microsoft, IBM or Cisco invest funds in Israel because they
realize that they have to be active here."

Where will you be looking for ideas in Israel?

"The biggest incubator for ideas in Israel is the army, and there is
nothing like it anywhere else in the world. In Israeli academia there
are some brilliant minds, but for some reason it has not done as well
as MIT or the California Institute of Technology, even though it is
the universities’ job to promote the commercialization of ideas. We
have to find a way to increase the motivation to make their ideas
commercial. Therefore I plan to spend some time on Israeli campuses."

Some would claim that Israelis have good brains, but that it’s hard
to do business here.

"And doing business in China or India is easy? I met an Armenian
businessman who told me that it’s very hard to do business with
Armenians, because they are so tough. But everyone is tough in
business. So it’s hard to do business with Israelis, too. I think
these are stereotypes.

"When we built Kashya, everyone told us we were wrong to use a local
CEO and team. But the fact is that a giant like [software developer]
EMC was willing to pay a lot of money for the company. EMC made
a good deal, because they are now selling many products based on
Israeli knowledge. Believe me, I’m coming to Israel with my eyes open."

Aren’t you afraid that your position will be compromised if you live
far from Battery’s head offices?

"Absolutely not. Our world is becoming smaller. In the past I lived
in Boston and flew to Israel, and now I’ll be living in Israel and
coming to Boston to visit."

When we met Tobin he told us that before leaving for Israel,
he intended to take his kids to Niagra Falls and the Statue of
Liberty. "Israeli friends who come to visit the States always go there,
so I thought it was a good idea for our children to visit those places
before they go to Israel."

WHY DID PD WAIT FOR SIX MONTHS?

Sabah
Aug 23 2008
Turkey

The police department took action about the information in the file
on Osman Hayal obtained by Dink’s family after six months.

Dink’s family detected that Osman Hayal’s mobile phone gave signals
from Istanbul while going over electronic records six months ago. The
situation was communicated to the police department but the brother
of Yasin Hayal was seized only several days ago.

Dink’s family: "Why did they wait for six months?"

Dink’s family criticized the fact that the Police Department seized
Osman Hayal six months after finding out Hayal’s mobile phone signaling
from Uskudar.

Family of Hrant Dink, assassinated chief editor of Agos newspaper,
criticized the police department for seizing Osman Hayal six months
after finding out that his mobile phone gave signals from Istanbul
on the incident day. Dink’s family and their attorneys made the proof
examination themselves after the murder which took place on January,
19th, 2007. They detected that the gunman Ogun Samast was not alone
by tracking the camera footage.