Author: Andres-Papazian

WHAT IS THE INFLUENCE OF MASS MEDIA ON PUBLIC CONSCIOUSNESS?
Sona Hakobyan

“Radiolur”
03.11.2010 14:01

The book titled “The possible influence of media” was presented
to public today. Author of the book Vahram Mirakyan presented the
possible informational and psychological influence of the Internet,
TV, radio and print media on public consciousness.

The book refers also to the possible influence of media during military
actions and includes some examples of the strategy of Azerbaijan’s
informational and psychological struggle against Armenia.

The author considers that the informational-psychological struggle
provides an opportunity to reach greater results through relatively
small resources than it would be possible to reach through military
actions.

Attaching importance to the role of information, military psychologist
David Jamalyan said there is one thing that should be clear to
everyone: “The rival will use the vulnerable aspects of our country
as a means to make us weaker. Information can both strengthen and
demoralize a society.”

As for information security, Jamalyan says Armenia has advanced in
the sphere and he results will gradually become more tangible.

From: A. Papazian

AN ATTEMPT TO “GEORGIANIZE” ANOTHER ARMENIAN CHURCH
Liana Yeghiazaryan

“Radiolur”
03.11.2010 13:28

The St. Yerevman Church in Akhaltskha is the recurrent Armenian Church,
which the Georgian authorities are trying to make Georgian.

Samvel Karapetyan, chairman of Research on Armenian Architecture
NGO, expert of monuments Samvel Karapetyan declared today that the
by the beginning of the 18th century the St. Cross Church belonged
to eth Armenian Apostolic Church, after which it was transferred to
the Catholic Community of Georgia.

According to Samvel Karapetyan, today the Georgian Church is trying
to invent a story that there exists a Georgian Catholic community,
to which the church belongs. Samvel Karaetyan noted that this is more
an issue to be solved by the church rather than the authorities.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIAN WEBSITES TO PARTICIPATE IN ARMNET AWARDS 2010 COMPETITION

ArmInfo
2010-11-02 17:54:00

ArmInfo. ArmNet Awards 2010 competition of Armenian websites has
started which will sum up the results of web design development in
Armenia for 2010, are Orange Armenia, SP Marketing Solutions and
Circle.am catalogue in which about 1.5 thsd websites are registered.

The websites that were created in 2008-2010 or underwent considerable
changes in their design, content or technology can take part in the
competition. The websites are to be meant for the public of Armenia
and Diaspora or represent the culture, history, topical problems
of Armenia or Diaspora or they are to be completely developed by a
company based in Armenia. Those whishing to participate in competition
are to register their website at

The competition will be held in two stages. During the first stage to
be launched on November 10 the internet users will be able to vote for
the websites they prefer. The users can vote for an unlimited number
of websites, but only once for each website. 75 websites that obtain
votes most of all will participate in the second stage. The winners
in 8 nominations will be chosen by the international jury including
the directors of Circle.am, Armenian Project Management Association,
Helix Consulting and NeoMedia web designers Avetis Avagyan, Albert
Poghosyan, Aram Mkhitaryan and Vardan Papikyan, Microsoft Armenia
Country Manager Grigor Barseghian, blogger Samvel Martirosyan. The
foreign members of the jury will be Director of RuTube website
Vladislav Tsyplukhin, representatives of Vkontakte social network,
Opera SoftWare, producer of Fly cellular phones, Ekho Moskvy radio
company, optodesign.ca and STS Media multimedia developers.

The winners will be announced in the nominations “Design and Comfort”,
“Innovations”, “Technical Performance”, “Content”, “Progress Within
a Year”, “Choice of the People”. The special prize of Orange will
be awarded for the best mobile website, and the main prize will be
awarded to the website, which will obtain the majority of points in
all nominations.

From: A. Papazian

DEMAND FOR COPPER IN CHINA WILL MODERATE AS THE FISCAL STIMULUS IS WITHDRAWN FROM THE ECONOMY
Aram Gareginyan

ArmInfo
2010-11-03 13:59:00

Interview with Economist in charge of commodities at the IMF Research
department, Sean Roache

One cannot try to predict copper prices and stay local. Copper
concentrate is one of Armenia’s essential exports. The largest consumer
of copper still remains China. However distant that country may seem,
it is proving again that the world is rapidly shrinking. How Chinese
Government thinks and acts, may affect the revenues of Armenian budget
– and the quality of life of teachers and pensioners nationwide.

What recent trends have been most important in the copper market?

What has been most important in the last 2 – 3 years has been the
demand from China. Without any doubt, that is the biggest influence on
copper. Around 40% if global copper demand is now generated by China
alone. Among the reasons for that is that China has been investing
very heavily in infrastructure – electricity buildings, networks, etc.

The marginal growth has really come from emerging economies in general,
and China in particular, and its infrastructure investment – in part,
or actually very largely driven by the government and fiscal stimulus
we’ve seen in China for the last two years. So that’s the demand side.

What makes copper different from some other metals is real supply
side concerns. What we’ve been seeing in the last 2 – 3 years is the
reports coming from the largest copper mines in the world, that their
rates of production have been disappointing. In fact, productivity of a
lot of the largest copper mines s starting to get worse. All they are
digging out of the ground is not of as high quality as it was maybe 5
years ago. All this is leading to a tight supply – demand balance. And
that’s leading to a big decline in copper stocks, and contributing
to the rise in prices that we’ve seen in the recent months.

Would it be true to say that copper mines are globally depleting?

I wouldn’t say that they are depleting, but they find it increasingly
difficult over any period of time to extract the copper. It’s becoming
much more expensive to dig it out of the ground. I think, we’re going
to see that the marginal cost of getting the copper out of the ground
is going to go up. This means it will be very difficult to increase
the supply of copper too much upon what we have today.

Can the expectations for construction growth in emerging economies,
particularly India and China, affect copper prices?

We’ve seen Chinese demand for copper stabilize, after a very large
increase in demand in 2009, related to China’s fiscal stimulus. Going
forward, we don’t expect to see that high growth in demand for metals
from China, for two reasons. Firstly, the fiscal stimulus is starting
to unwind, so the public investment growth probably won’t be as high.

Secondly a lot of Chinese users of copper have built up some stocks
which they need some time to run down – actually they have been
doing it for a while, but they have a bit further to go. The bottom
line appearing to us is that metal prices, and copper prices in
particular, probably will continue to rise if we start to see the
global recovery on track as outlined by the latest projections of
the World Economic Outlook. That would be positive, but we shouldn’t
expect too much dramatic upside, simply because the Chinese growth
is going to moderate.

In terms of risks, right now the risks for metals, and copper again in
particular, are going to be upside too. So if the market will be taken
by surprise, it is more likely to be in terms of prices being higher
rather than lower. So there are mainly upside risks on the prices.

Do you think the worldwide automotive industry will be exiting the
slowdown of 2008-09, and at what extent it will contribute to the
rise in prices for copper?

What we would say from the macroeconomic prospective is that the
demand in advanced economies, consistent with the growth projections
of the WEO, is going to be pretty weak going forward. We’re going to
see some consumer demand coming through, but realistically in many
advanced economies, demand is going to be quite modest. If we look at
the emerging economies, much is going to depend on their ability to
rebalance demand. One of the big things today is rebalancing demand in
China and other emerging economies, away from exports towards domestic
consumption. Domestic consumption is rising in these economies,
but particularly in China it is still relatively low compared to
GDP. So there is potential for a quite robust and strong automobile
demand growth globally, but it will really depend on the extent to
which some key emerging economies can rebalance from exports towards
consumer-driven economic growth.

Is there an encouraging outlook for another important consumer –
the housing market?

Actually I think that housing demand is going to be a very important
driver. But I think more important for copper probably will be
infrastructure – with China and India building electricity generating
networks, roads, ports, airports, transport infrastructure. These
are projects that are going to support the demand for copper going
forward. I think a lot of emerging economies are going to invest
heavily in their infrastructure. So, along with the importance of
housing, I think in the next 2 – 3 years the most significant impetus
will come from infrastructure investment.

Do you think that surging prices for copper may prompt the producers
of mining equipment and chemicals to raise their prices too, once
their products are demanded?

I think the investing environment for the mining companies is a
good one, for two reasons. First is, of course, prices for metals
have recovered, and in many cases are quite high from the historical
prospective. The second is that the costs of investment are quite low.

All the mining companies have a strong cash flow, and it will
be quite easy to raise relatively cheap capital in financial
markets. Cheap financing and, of course, high unemployment makes
the cost of investment quite low for most companies. But in many
cases the challenge are not the investments themselves, but rather
the constraints on them, particularly the technology. You need new
technology now to access the most important deposits of copper. The
current technology may not be sufficient to get the copper you need
to meet the demand. And implementing new methods of extraction and
refining is going to take a little bit more time.

I think another important factor for some metals, not so much for
copper, but rather for the aluminum and lead, are environmental
concerns. In many countries we see environmental regulations
restricting the extent to which mining companies can mine and
refine the ore. In China we’ve seen a lot of aluminum and lead
refineries having their activities curtailed by the government due
to environmental concerns. These reasons may act to slow down the
investments to some extent. So we might see an unusual situation when
the companies would have to invest more, but may not bring as much
supply as ten years ago.

Do you think consumers will tend more actively to substitute copper
with cheaper materials – say, aluminium in electricity networks?

What we’ve seen in commodities during many many years, is that the
end users are always looking for the ability to substitute a high
price with a low price commodity. Wherever that is possible we will
certainly see that. You know that one of the ways to substitute it in
communication is fiber optic. But in many cases copper is irreplaceable
– it is the best material you can use.

Are copper miners likely to face higher costs of ore transportation,
regarding energy prices?

That’s very important point, because if energy prices go up, they
will have an effect across a vast number of commodities – from
metals to foods. Right now the outlook for the energy prices is
relative benign, as there is a lot of spare capacity in the crude
oil market, which could be used to prevent the prices form surging
too high. The other aspect is that in contrast with the metals, in
energy markets the advanced economies are more important consumers
than the emerging economies. And if the growth is expected to stay
relatively modest in advanced economies, demand growth for energy
should be quite restrained as well. The bottom line is that the prices
for energy probably will continue to rise modestly, but we don’t see
prices rising significantly, so overall transportation costs should
be relatively well contained for the miners.

Thank you

From: A. Papazian

DONALD WILSON BUSH: GENUINE TORCH-BEARER OF PRESIDENT WILSON’S LEGACY
By Appo Jabarian

Appo Jabarian, Column

October 28, 2010

On a warm morning in May, I had a brief telephone conversation with
Donald Wilson Bush, an eighth generation descendant of President
Woodrow Wilson’s family. We spoke privately about the latest
developments pertaining to a highly controversial award presentation
honoring the Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu. At issue
was the widespread public outcry against the corporate-controlled
Woodrow Wilson Center’s then upcoming presentation of its coveted
Woodrow Wilson Public Service Award scheduled for June 15.

A few days earlier, David Boyajian, an MA-based freelance writer had
released an article titled “An Investigative Report: The Woodrow
Wilson Center Desecrates its Namesake’s Legacy and Violates its
Congressional Mandate.”

When I asked Donald Wilson Bush about his position on WWC’s award
presentation, he categorically condemned it. When asked, if he would
be willing to share his thoughts with the readers of USA Armenian
Life Magazine, his swift answer was “absolutely!”

He wrote his first article on the issue titled “Pawn For The Wrong
President; Lee Hamilton violates his institution’s charter by aiding
the White House in appeasing Turkish leaders.” That article captured
the attention of a wanting audience and disseminated widely via both
print and electronic versions of USA Armenian Life Magazine. In a
matter of days it attracted even more attention from several other
e-publications, and as a result, was widely re-circulated like wildfire
across the Internet.

Later in June, Wilson Bush wrote a followed-up expose on WWC’s
mishandling of the issue. The article was titled “Presidential
Legacy for Sale; Woodrow Wilson Center admits to surrendering higher
principles in exchange for Turkish cash.”

In that article, he remarked: “Worse yet, has the Wilsonian ideal of
‘saving the world for democracy’ been reduced to this – a disingenuous
and skillful manipulation (dare I say “pimping?”) of the Woodrow Wilson
legacy on a global scale, in clear violation of the WWC’s mission,
to raise money from foreign rich folk without any consideration for
‘political agendas, policies, or messages expressed by any individual
honoree, their government, or their country?'”

Amazingly, Donald Wilson Bush’s statement mirrored one of the more
passionate messages proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson 98 years
earlier: “The nature of men and of organized society dictates the
maintenance in every field of action of the highest and purest
standards of justice and of right dealing.”

This matter of institutional integrity had specific relevance when
Donald Wilson Bush had earlier questioned the motive behind the WWC’s
controversial choice for this year’s award: “Is it simply a matter of
Mr. Hamilton playing his part in a ‘good-old-boy’ insider deal between
President Obama’s State Department and the WWC?” Bush asked. “That
seems plausible given the fact that as the former chairman of the
House Foreign Affairs Committee, Hamilton promoted the careers of
many staffers now writing Barack Obama’s foreign policy- namely:
Obama foreign policy advisor and deputy national security advisor
Denis McDonough, Director for the Middle East Dan Shapiro, Obama
campaign foreign policy speechwriter turned Deputy National Security
Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes, among others.” [For
more details on that see story by foreign policy reporter Laura Rozen
posted May 3, 2010 on Politico.com]

Later in early July, when Wilson Bush arrived in Los Angeles following
the success of his two articles, I proposed to him that we go on
a pilgrimage to the memorial monument of an Armenian national hero
Soghomon Tehlirian in Fresno. Having already read reports about the
famous Armenian, Bush expressed a deep desire to visit Tehlirian’s
hallowed grave. So we did.

Through his words and actions, Donald Wilson Bush has proven time
and again to be a strong advocate for justice and continues to earn
the friendship and solidarity of individuals who are empowered by his
devotion to human causes, and to bringing effective solutions to many
important issues.

A genuine torch-bearer of President Wilson’s legacy, Donald Wilson
Bush represents a refreshing source of socio-political energy breezing
through the current American – and for that matter, global – political
landscape.

What kind of future does Donald Wilson Bush have? What kind of promises
does he hold? Where is he coming from, and where is he going?

In order to help the readers to get to know Donald Wilson Bush better,
USA Armenian Life held a brief conversation with him.

When asked to comment on what made Woodrow Wilson stand out in history,
Wilson Bush had this to say, “Woodrow Wilson was probably the first
U.S. President to understand foreign policy from the foreigner’s
perspective,” Donald Wilson Bush said. “He identified with the underdog
because he himself was an underdog.”

“I want to stand up for the little guy too, just like Woodrow Wilson
did,” Bush continued. “I want to advocate for all the minor nations
with major grievances against powerful corporate and international
forces that bully them around. It’s the corporate controlled bigger
nations against all the traditional smaller nations. This global
bullying has got to stop!”

USA Armenian Life Magazine: Philosophically, where is Donald Wilson
Bush coming from, and where is he going?

Donald Wilson Bush: Philosophically, I am a combination of
two traditions- one European and the other American. I am very
much in the American philosophical tradition called Pragmatism,
but as a Protestant Presbyterian Christian like Woodrow Wilson I
was also influenced by the German school of Idealism. In this way,
I believe in applying practical solutions of moderation and balance
that can give people a firm foundation for collaborative creativity
and experimentation in an environment of responsible freedom. This
is important for inspiring people to do their best in service to
themselves and to others without sacrificing individuality.

Philosophically, I am expanding my vision to include a global
perspective for helping people. As a small town boy grown large I am
going more and more toward finding common sense local solutions that
can be applied to problems effecting people all over the world. Living
through numerous wars and three major economic recessions, I am
aware of the need for people to temper their idealism with day-to-day
practicality without losing the power to dream big dreams.

USA ALM: Professionally, where is Donald Wilson Bush coming from,
and where is he going?

DWB: Professionally, I am a pioneer in distance learning and have broad
experience consulting in education, politics, interfaith ministry,
and entertainment. With a strong sense of individual freedom and self
reliance, I have learned, over the years, to think like an entrepreneur
in each of these areas. I am currently involved with efforts to link
children’s adaptive learning styles with the production of cutting-edge
children’s television programming. In the last thirty years I have
traveled far and read widely on a variety of interests in technology,
education and the arts, concentrating my attention on improving the
lives of children.

Professionally, I have been slowly making the transition to Track II
diplomatic peace-making initiatives. Differing from Track I diplomacy
(which is defined by the official and strict guidelines imposed
upon career diplomats by a nation’s government), Track II diplomacy
is defined by the efforts of common, ordinary citizens who utilize
trusted relationships among friends in foreign nations to bring about
peaceful resolutions to international conflicts.

USA ALM: Socially, where is Donald Wilson Bush coming from, and where
is he going?

DWB: In social terms, I was raised in a conservative, small town,
Southern, Christian family with strong patriotic values and a deep
commitment to fairness, truth, and justice for everyone in the world-
especially for the disadvantaged and the underdog. I believe strongly
in respecting everyone’s culture as a first step toward building
relationships that will afford anyone the freedom to influence others
for good.

Socially, I am becoming an advocate for global justice as it relates
to the high principles of constitutional freedoms that are meant
to be applied to all people everywhere, not just to those people
fortunate enough to live in countries with the largest armies and
most vibrant economies.

USA ALM: Politically, where is Donald Wilson Bush coming from, and
where is he going?

DWB: Politically, I am a pragmatic conservative who believes that
constitutional freedoms must be available to all the people all the
time in a well-balanced, regulated free-market economic system that
clearly defines the duties and obligations citizens owe to their
government and to each other. I believe no one who’s capable should
get a free ride and I strongly advocate strengthening and supporting
the institutions of civil society (like families, houses of worship,
schools, theatres, etc.,) that inspire individual freedom and ingenuity
that creates substance and value in changing cultures.

Politically, I am leaning toward greater accountability in telling
the truth about the way big people, big companies and big countries
have been treating (and continue to treat!) smaller people and weaker
countries to the detriment of families and communities living without
the necessary means to protect themselves. I am convinced that American
history is proof that constitutional freedoms work to the benefit
of all people in any land as long as the participants are respected
and given the necessary tools and economic resources to reconstruct
their lives.

From: A. Papazian

ANC REPRESENTATIVE PREDICTS EXTRAORDINARY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

ArmInfo
2010-11-03 13:18:00

ArmInfo. Armenian National Congress (ANC) representative David
Shakhnazaryan predicted extraordinary presidential election in the
country when asked about ANC’s chances and ambitions at the upcoming
parliamentary elections, Wednesday.

“As regards the statement by Galust Sahakyan, Vice Chairman of the
Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), saying that the opposition has
little contacts with public and sings the same song, he’s better think
of the document signed by the presidents in Astrakhan and that he
represents the ruling party in the country having political prisoners
and where the incidents of March 1 2008 have not been revealed and
the murderers have not been punished. As for the Congress, it knows
its mission well and will go to the very end,” Shakhnazaryan said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Galust Sahakyan said that the ANC’s chances to
get deputy mandates is significant but the Congress should revise
its program and stop singing the same song.

From: A. Papazian

IN ASTRAKHAN ARMENIA IN FACT CONFESSED THAT IT IS AT WAR WITH AZERBAIJAN

ArmInfo
2010-11-03 13:26:00

Arminfo. In Astrakhan over the trilateral meeting of presidents of
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia Armenia in fact confessed that it is
at war with Azerbaijan. Thus, Yerevan in fact confessed absence of
the third party in the Karabakh conflict, representative of Armenian
National Congress David Shakhnazaryan told journalists today.

‘Serious threats to the Karabakh talks were hidden in the declaration
signed by presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia in Astrakhan.

In particular, it contains threat for Armenia and Artsakh from the
point of view of the political and international law. In fact, Armenia
confessed it is at war with Azerbaijan, as usually only the war sides
exchange prisoners. For this reason, in this context Azerbaijan has
already got a rather serious trump card’, – he said.

From: A. Papazian

OVER 90% OF THE CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES BACKED BY THE ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF AMERICA (ANCA) PREVAILED IN YESTERDAY’S HARD-FOUGHT MID-TERM ELECTIONS

ArmInfo
2010-11-03 13:08:00

ArmInfo. Over 90% of the Congressional candidates backed by the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) prevailed in yesterday’s
hard-fought mid-term elections.

As ANCA told ArmInfo, five out of the six Senators endorsed by the
ANCA emerged victorious, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-NV), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY),
and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD).

On the House side, ANCA endorsed 158 candidates in 31 states.

“We join with Armenian Americans from across the country in
congratulating the winners of these elections from both parties,
and look forward to working constructively with the new members and
leaders of Congress,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

To note, as CNN predicts, the Republican Party will gain majority
of seats in the lower house of US Congress based on the results of
public opinion polls.

From: A. Papazian

ELMAR MAMMADYAROV: ASTANA MEETING MAY MARK TURNING POINT IN KARABAKH PROCESS

Tert.am
17:41 03.11.10

OSCE summit in Astana may be a turning point in the process of finding
a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists in Istanbul,
according to Azerbaijani news agency Trend.

Mr Mammadyarov said that he plans to meet his Armenian counterpart
Edward Nalbandyan soon.

Foreign Ministers were instructed to continue the negotiation
process during the last tripartite meeting between the presidents of
Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia in Astrakhan.

“The meeting may be held soon,” the minister said.

Foreign Ministers will discuss the ways of preparing for the summit
in Astana, he added.

The OSCE summit will be held in Astana December 1-2.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov is visiting Turkey to
participate in the Fourth Regional Economic Cooperation Conference
on Afghanistan.

From: A. Papazian

ARKADY TER-TADEVOSYAN: MINSK GROUP GAVE AZERBAIJAN A GREEN LIGHT, HOWEVER…

Tert.am
17:34 03.11.10

Before recognizing Artsakh, it is necessary first of all to clarify its
borders, according to Major-General Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan (nicknamed
as Comandos).

“On December 10, 1991 Artsakh adopted a declaration of independence.

The ceasefire agreement was signed in May 1994. It stipulated that
all the territories which we liberated should be within the borders of
Artsakh. It’s unclear today what borders are meant and what concessions
are being discussed. Armenia and Artsakh are no longer perceived as
a single unity,” he told a news conference today.

“I am in favor of the recognition of Artsakh but I don’t understand
what we mean by saying Artsakh. I don’t know whether to accept the
1991 or 1994 clauses determining its borders. I can’t imagine Artsakh
without Kelbajar and Lachin, but the return of those territories is
not being discussed presently,” Commandos stressed.

Mr Ter-Tadevosyan also attached importance to Armenia’s recognition
of Artsakh Republic, as a step towards the country’s international
recognition.

The Major-General expressed uncertainty about the further course of the
negotiation process in view of new statements being made by Minsk Group
and the tendencies to replace “liberated territories” with “occupied
lands” and using the word “Khankendi” instead of “Stepanakert.”

“Minsk group seems to have given the green light to Azerbaijan but they
will never resume the war as they are perfectly aware of Armenians’
patriotism and their readiness to die for their homeland.

Azerbaijan will not resume the war as it is aware we are a strong
nation and have a strong army,” the speaker stressed.

With regard to the recent trilateral meeting of Armenia, Azerbaijani
and Russian presidents in Astrakhan, Russia, Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan
expressed belief that Azerbaijan will breach both agreements and
later blame everything on Armenia.

From: A. Papazian