Author: Nahapetian Samvel

Azeri party urges government to declare US envoy “persona non grata”
Turan news agency
7 Aug 05
Baku, 5 August: The People’s Front of Azerbaijan Party must be closed
and its leader Ali Karimli must be arrested, the pro-government Modern
Musavat Party demanded today. It justifies its demand by Karimli’s
cooperation with Armenians.
Moreover, the Modern Musavat Party is demanding an immediate “end to
the activities in Azerbaijan of the National Democratic Institute
[NDI], which is a spy network of the West”. At the same time, the
party is suggesting that the US ambassador [to Azerbaijan] be declared
“persona non grata”.
Otherwise, the Modern Musavat is threatening to stage “protests which
will be attended by tens of thousands of people outside the NDI office
and the US embassy”.

Azeri youth movement says leader’s arrest authorities’ provocation
MPA news agency
5 Aug 05
Baku, 5 August: The discrediting and arrest of the leader of the Yeni
Fikir [New Thought] youth movement, Ruslan Basirli, is another show
by the authorities, the deputy chairman of the organization, Fikrat
Faramazoglu, told a news conference today. The operation against
Basirli was organized jointly by Armenian intelligence agencies and
the Azerbaijani National Security Ministry and was aimed at disabling
the democratic youth movement, especially, Yeni Fikir, he said.
Faramazoglu ruled out that Basirli, who is struggling for democratic
values in Azerbaijan, could be hired by foreign intelligence services.
A committee to protect the rights of Basirli has been set up. A number
of youth movements are planning to join this committee.
Speaking at the news conference, lawyer Tofiq Quliyev stressed
that there are no elements of crime in Basirli’s case because as
the video [of Basirli’s meeting in Georgia] shows, he did not speak
about overthrowing the current authorities by force. This incident is
politically motivated, Quliyev said. As for money received by Basirli,
Quliyev said that this money had been received not from Armenians,
but from Georgian democrats.
Basirli’s lawyer, Elcin Qambarov, said that he was illegally denied
access to the detainee. A criminal case has been instituted against
Basirli under Article 278 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code, which
envisages punishment for actions aimed at forcible seizure of power,
forcible keeping of power and forcible change of constitutional order.

ARMENIAN PM MET WITH EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA
PanArmenian News Network
Aug 4 2005
04.08.2005 08:17
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan
met with Egyptian Ambassador to Armenia Abla Abd Al-Chasan Osman,
reported the Press Service of the Armenian Government. In the course
of the meeting A. Margaryan condoled with the Ambassador on the act
of terrorism in Sharm El-Shek July 23. He emphasized that terrorism
as an evil be directed against the whole of the humanity should be
censured and condemned by everyone. Speaking of Armenian-Egyptian
political relations, Andranik Margaryan noted their high level,
specifically, within the framework of international organizations. He
added Armenia many times voted in support of Egypt’s candidacy in
various UN structures in 2003-2004 and within planed UN reform
Armenia supports Egypt’s candidacy in the Security Council. The
Armenian PM qualified the bilateral commercial and economic relations
as unsatisfactory. He noted however certain steps in the field were
made lately. In his turn Egyptian Ambassador expressed hope for the
PM’s visit scheduled this autumn would promote development of economic
cooperation. Especially since the visit will be followed by the 4th
meeting of the Armenian-Egyptian Intergovernmental Commission, the
Armenian-Egyptian business forum and political consultations between
the MFAs of the two countries. In the course of the meeting the
parties discussed the program of retraining of Armenian specialists
by means of the Egyptian MFA Foundation of Technical Cooperation with
CIS countries, as well as the current cooperation and possible new
programs in health, culture, education, agriculture and others.

San Diego CityBEAT, CA
Aug 3 2005
BEATING THE SYSTEM
Despite a ‘difficult’ sound and a disregard for marketing, System of a Down sells millions
by Troy Johnson
“I have two penises. And fungus growing on both.”
“Oh, OK. Congratulations.”
“I heard scaring people cures the hiccups.”
“Thank you. I think it helped. Actually, I was just concerned for
you.”
In his soft, hiccup-impeded voice, Serj Tankian does indeed sound
genuinely concerned, even at my juvenile gaffe. You get the feeling
the vocalist for System of a Down has a rather large capacity for
concern. Whether it’s regarding the genocide of his native Armenian
people, the Wild West recklessness of the Bush administration or just
researching the ethics of, say, a beverage company that wants to
sponsor his band’s tour, he spends a good amount of his time trying
to do the right thing.
“I annoy management, and I annoy our lawyers, and I annoy our merch
company- everyone-because I’m trying to get so much information,” he
admits. “But in the end I think it’s worth it. If I can do the right
thing for us mostly and catch as much of the mistakes as possible,
then that’s good, isn’t it?”
It is good. It’s also costly. They are the perfect b(r)and for a
Fortune 500 company looking to up its hip index. Their new album,
Mezmerize, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling
430,000 copies in its first week, their best sales yet.
“We’ve turned down millions and millions of dollars-be it
sponsorships for tours or television stuff,” Tankian explains,
refusing to name specific companies they didn’t feel inclined to
partner with. “We play music, but it’s really important to pay
attention as much as we can to all aspects of our business and how
we’re doing it. Because if we’re doing it in a way that doesn’t
represent us, then that’s a problem. It’s not just because of press,
not just because of fans, but personally.”
Tankian agrees that there are positive aspects of commercial
sponsorship, especially how it allows artists to lower the price of
concert tickets for their fans. But after spending 12 years making
sure that everything surrounding them-from sponsorships to
merchandise and movies-jibes with their own ideals, the band is not
about to trade integrity for cash.
“It’s a tough call,” he acknowledges. “But if Coke wanted to sponsor
us, we can’t do it. We can’t work with a company that has no respect
of labor standards. Now, if there’s an equitable company that does
good for the world and has done good stuff, and we believe in their
standards, then there’s a possibility of us working together.”
So it’s peculiar that System of a Down recently played a promotional
concert at Best Buy, a company that gets a lot of heat for draconian
business practices that hurt independent music retailers.
Tankian explains: “We did it because they had a whole promotion
campaign. They get heat from indie stores, but if I found out that
Best Buy’s business practices or environmental practices were not so
cool, then that would be different. And sometimes you don’t know, to
be honest with you, man. It’s very hard to know everything.”
They don’t have the commercial staying power of a pop star like
Mariah Carey, whose album is still No. 2 after 15 weeks. It’s not
surprising, really. For their first “single,” SOAD released “BYOB”
(Bring Your Own Bombs), a song that takes a lyrical machete to Bush
and is rife with the f-word.
Not the greatest marketing move.
“We’re not the greatest marketing band in the world, to be honest
with you,” Tankian readily admits. “If we were, we would probably
release some sort of single from our third record. Instead, we
decided to make an anti-war video with Michael Moore before the Iraqi
war even occurred. And that wasn’t the best marketing move.”
Another reason SOAD’s massive commercial success is so surprising is
the music itself, a disjointed mix of hard rock that shifts tempos
and genres 50 times over, sometimes in the same song. It’s music that
eschews convention as sport. Any effort to find music that’s as “out
there” and still sells buckets eventually leads to a discussion of
Radiohead.
“There is a surprising element to [our success], definitely,” Tankian
admits. “But we’ve been at it for 10 years of touring and working
hard for our fans. It’s not until later [that] commercial
outlets-radio, video-actually caught on. And so, in some ways I am
and some ways I’m not surprised.”
Mezmerize itself is an example of how System of a Down worked for its
fans-by showing restraint. Though the band had completed enough songs
to issue a double-album, they decided against it because, well, they
thought such overabundance sucks for the music listener.
“We wanted to put six albums into one; they wouldn’t let us,” Tankian
laughs. “We had way too much material. We’ve always hated long
records because it takes too much-it becomes a little overwhelming. I
don’t like listening to more than 40 minutes of music at a time from
an artist, even if I love them. After 40 minutes, it’s almost like
your ear needs a break.”
Fans will hear the rest of the band’s new material this fall, when
SOAD releases the rest of it on Hypnotize, Part 2 of their recent
work. Meanwhile, their current tour with Mars Volta is underway,
Tankian is reading scripts to choose a film to score, and the band
continues its campaign to have the Armenian genocide recognized as
such, even though Tankian admits “we’re kind of tired of doing
it-it’s got to happen already.”
For the latter, Tankian will take part in a new documentary about the
genocide, part of which includes the story of his grandfather, a
survivor who may or may not be 97 years old.
“He doesn’t know his real age,” Tankian explains. “And that comes
from having lost all documents and home and family and not knowing
your complete identity…. The thing about the Armenian genocide is
that it’s got to come out. It’s going to be the best thing for
everyone involved.”
System of a Down plays with Mars Volta at the Sports Arena, 7 p.m. on
Aug. 6. $39.50-$44. 619-220-8497.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIAN FORCES BEGIN WITHDRAWAL FROM GEORGIA, DIG HEELS IN MOLDOVA
by Vladimir Socor
Eurasia Daily Monitor — The Jamestown Foundation
Monday, August 1, 2005 — Volume 2, Issue 148
Presented with flowers and Georgian champagne by demonstrators
cheering the withdrawal, Russian soldiers set out from the Batumi base
at dawn on July 30 in a convoy bound for Russia. The move marks the
beginning of Russia’s implementation of the agreement, signed May 30 by
Ministers of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and Salome Zourabichvili,
on the closure of three Russian bases and the complete withdrawal of
their garrisons from Georgia by 2008.
The convoy of nine wheeled armored vehicles crossed Georgia’s entire
territory from west to east, proceeding via Mtskheta, Tskhinvali,
and the Roki Tunnel, en route to Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia. The
decrepit vehicles moved slowly and had to pause along the way for
emergency repairs before reaching Russian territory on August 1.
On July 28, a convoy of four armored vehicles and four
anti-chemical-biological-radiological defense vehicles left Russia’s
base at Akhalkalaki in Georgia, as part of a scheduled relocation of
some of the weaponry from Akhalkalaki to the Russian base at Gyumri
in Armenia. Georgian border guards near Ninotsminda briefly stopped
that convoy when they found five unlisted machine-guns and five signal
guns during inspection of the vehicles. The episode demonstrated the
Georgian border guards’ effectiveness in carrying out the mutually
agreed inspection procedure. The incident was quickly resolved and
the convoy allowed to proceed.
During the month of August, more Russian equipment is scheduled to
be moved from the Batumi and Akhalkalaki bases, partly to Russia and
partly to Armenia. Two amphibious ships will evacuate the largest
convoy, consisting of 40 armored vehicles and including 20 battle
tanks, from Batumi to Russia.
The Russian military has asked Georgia to repair or reinforce five
bridges on the road from the Akhalkalaki base to Akhaltsikhe, so as
to make possible the movement of a planned convoy of Russian heavy
vehicles. >>From Akhaltsikhe, the convoy would travel to Batumi by
rail, then to Russia by sea.
Headed by Lt.-General Valery Yevnevich, deputy commander in chief
of Russia’s Ground Forces, an ad-hoc staff of Russian officers has
arrived at the Tbilisi headquarters of the Group of Russian Forces
in the Transcaucasus to supervise the withdrawal of equipment
and troops. Some transit issues of political and technical nature
are yet to be resolved, however, between the Georgian and Russian
governments. Talks held on July 25-26 in Moscow did not conclusively
settle these issues.
In a specially convened briefing on July 29, Zourabichvili welcomed
Russia’s political decision on withdrawal of its forces from Georgia
and the beginning of the agreement’s implementation. By signing the
agreement, Zourabichvili noted, Russia has undertaken an obligation
before Georgia and the entire international community to carry out the
withdrawal fully and on schedule (Rustavi-2 TV, Imedi TV, Interfax,
NTV Mir, Arminfo, July 28-31; see EDM, May 24, June 3).
In Moldova, however, Russia seems to be signaling that it has
no intention to withdraw its forces, despite its 1999 Istanbul
commitments to withdraw the forces from both Georgia and Moldova
unconditionally. On July 29, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei
Ivanov declared that Russian troops would not leave Moldova until
Russian arsenals there are relocated to Russia. At the same time,
Russia takes the position that the arsenals cannot be removed until
Chisinau agrees with Tiraspol on a political settlement. Charging
that the Moldovan leadership’s calls for Russian troop withdrawal
“are aimed at damaging Russian-Moldovan relations,” Ivanov scoffed,
“They can wish whatever they like. There is nothing wrong with wishing
something.” (In the same news conference, Ivanov used an identical
phrase to dismiss NATO’s proposal to extend Operation Active Endeavor
with Russian participation into the Black Sea.) (Interfax, Russian
Television Channel One, July 29).
In a July 30 statement, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs insists
that implementation of the “so-called Istanbul accords” is conditional
on a political resolution between Chisinau and Tiraspol “with the
assistance of Russia, Ukraine, and OSCE.” Moscow’s statement goes on to
criticize the Moldovan parliament’s July 22 law on the basic principles
of a settlement (see EDM, July 26) for “hampering the efforts by
mediators from Russia, Ukraine, and OSCE.” (Interfax, July 30). On
July 31, Russia’s charge d’affaires in Chisinau, Yuri Mordvintsev,
portrayed Russia’s military presence in Moldova as “responsibility
for peacekeeping” by Russia as a “guarantor country and mediator
country … ready along with Ukraine and the OSCE to continue providing
assistance at the negotiating table for mutually acceptable solutions.”
(RIA-Novosti, July 31). For its part, Moldova quit the Russian-created
“mediating” and “guaranteeing” system one year ago, and the July 22
law is designed to preclude any restoration of that system.
–Vladimir Socor

ARMENIA’S FLAG DISAPPEARS FROM TERRITORY OF CE BUILDING IN STRASBOURG
YEREVAN, AUGUST 1. ARMINFO. Armenia’s flag disappeared from the
territory of the CE building in Strasbourg Saturday evening. The
board presenting the country has been found damaged.
Armenia’s permanent representative to the CE informed the CE security
service of the incident right away and demanded that the flag be
restored as soon as possible. Director of Personal Bureau of CE
Secretary General Jean-Luis Loran was told about the incident today
morning and has apologized for it. His explained that the CE security
service is responsible for the building only and the surveillance
cameras record exclusively the entrance. It is for the French police
to control the area in front of the building. They have already been
informed of the incident.
The flag has already been restored. Armenia’s Foreign Ministry
has sent a note of protest to CE Secretariat General condemning the
stealing of the flag and demanding that the incident be investigated.
The FM expresses it protest against similar actions and demands that
CE take necessary measures to ensure the safety of and to prevent
vandalism against the national symbols of CE members states.

Aras free trade project to be launched next week
Sunday, July 31, 2005 – 2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, July 31 (IranMania) – Construction of the first phase of the giant
free trade and industrial zone in the northwestern region of the country
will begin next week, said a local official.
According to a report faxed to Iran Daily by the Public Relations Office of
Aras Free Trade and Industrial Zone, Ali Jalili, deputy managing director of
the zone, said the zone will be located on the border of Azerbaijan, Armenia
and Nakhichevan, adding that it will serve parts of Ardebil, East Azarbaijan
and West Azarbaijan provinces in northwestern Iran.
He further noted that the zone would observe environmental standards.
?Recreational centers, hotels, shopping centers, water sports facilities,
housing units and agriculture and processing industries will be created in
the zone,? he said, adding that the zone will have the potential to ensure
welfare for the inhabitants of the northwestern region.
The project was approved by the Parliament in 2003.
Experts say Aras free zone could contribute greatly to Iran?s efforts to
enter the large regional market in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
A member of the Parliament?s Economic Commission said earlier that once the
zone becomes operational, it could attract $20 bln in foreign investment.
Arsalan Fat?hi-Pour said it could help create greater trade interactions
between Iran and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), adding that
Russia could also meet its needs from Aras market.

ArmenPress
July 29 2005
MINISTER WARNS AGAINST FURTHER RISE IN LAKE SEVAN WATER TABLE

YEREVAN, JULY 29, ARMENPRESS: Armenian nature protection minister
Vartan Ayvazian warned today that further rise in the water level of
Lake Sevan, one of the largest high altitude lakes in the world,
hemmed in by dormant volcanic mountains, may result in a number of
ecological problems and called for a comprehensive study to learn all
positive and negative consequences of higher water table.
Speaking at a round table discussion today Ayvazian said a level
rise by 1.44 cm since 2002 has flooded 410 hectares of land of which
215 are forests. According to him, if the government sticks to its
previously declared goal of raising the lake’s water level by six
meters some 4,427 hectares of land would be flooded.
Last year the government released more than $100,000 for clean up
of a territory that was flooded. The lake is fed by 28 rivers and
streams, and is the source for the Hrazdan River, which connects
Sevan with the Arax River in the Ararat valley.

New Azeri movement to campaign for candidates with active stance on Karabakh
Ekspress, Baku
28 Jul 05

Text of APA report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekspress on 28 July
headlined “The Election Movement for Karabakh has been established”
The Election Movement for Karabakh (EMK) held its presentation
ceremony yesterday [27 July]. Its leader Masud Hamzayev spoke about
the purpose of the movement which had been set up by a group of young
people. He said that the movement will support candidates which it
considers acceptable and campaign for them. Hamzayev said the
preference will be given to candidates expressing people’s position on
the Karabakh issue.
“The solution of the Nagornyy Karabakh problem depends on democratic
election,” Hamzayev said.
The chairwoman of the Takamul [Evolution] public union, Vasila
Movsumova, said that not a single document had been drawn up in the
parliament so far which could have changed the international public’s
position on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. She believes that the
parliament is taking a passive stand on this issue.
The new movement’s deputy chairman, Zahid Akbarov, urged the
Azerbaijani youth to be more politically active and said efforts will
be made to unite the young people in the organization.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Opinion Editorials, VA
July 26 2005
Let’s think this through – Islamic Terrorism
Steve Rumsey
Some in the western world have been calling on Muslim leaders to
speak out more about the terrorist attacks going on around the world.
Some see this as the answer to terrorism. I would like to point out
some other facts that may put another angle on this issue. There is
much more to the terrorism problem than getting some Muslim leaders
to speak out against terrorism. Additionally, can we please get past
the point of thinking that a politician holds the answers about
Islam?
First, let’s look at the issue of violence as a means to an end.
Within my home, I often tell my kids that you may get angry about
something, which is ok, but how you deal with that anger is something
different. You can use words to tell me how you feel and discuss the
matter – That is acceptable. You may not, as a hypothetical example,
throw a chair through the window – That is unacceptable behavior.
I apply this to all of life, which includes religion. For a 21st
century Jew, if they hold to an Orthodox view of the Torah, and the
dietary laws set by Moses, they may not eat pork, for example,
whereas a more Liberal Jew may. A Christian who holds an Orthodox
view of the scriptures will share their faith with others through
proselytizing, due to the `Great Commission’ set about by Jesus,
whereas a more liberal Christian may not see that as a command. An
Orthodox Muslim may bow towards Mecca five times per day to pray,
while a more liberal or secular Muslim may not. All of these actions
are acceptable and are carried out every day around the world.
However, if a Holy Book sanctions unacceptable behavior, now we have
a problem. Terrorism is that unacceptable behavior. The problem isn’t
that hundreds of millions may participate in this behavior, but that
many tens of thousands will – and are.
The Koran says Allah’s will is for the world to be under Islamic
rule. When Ayatollah Khomeini said, `Holy War means the conquest of
all non-Muslim territories,’ he didn’t pull that out of thin air.
Notice which words he used – `conquest’ and `non-Muslim.’
Throughout it’s history, Islam was spread by military conquest. And
before anyone says, `What about the Crusades?’ please remember that
they were started after 500 years of Jihad. The Islamic Jihad, or, in
Ayatollah Khomeini’s words, `war of conquest,’ has been waged since
the 7th century, with relatively few pauses. Here is just a sampling
of Islamic Jihads and the well-known people and places involved: An
Islamic expedition raid was launched on Cyprus in 649 A.D., which, by
the way, became part of the `Barbary Coast pirates’ who terrorized
Mediterranean Europe until 1830. Ferdinand & Isabella of Spain
defeated the Muslims in 1492, in which Christopher Columbus was at
the turning over of power ceremony. A young John Smith, of Pocahontas
fame, helped fight against the Muslims in 1600. In North Africa,
Napoleon fought against Jihads in Egypt from 1798 to 1830. In 1804,
our Lt. Stephen Decatur launched a rescue of the USS Philadelphia,
which had been captured by Barbary Coast Muslims. Lawrence of Arabia
aided and advised the Arabs to attack Muslim Turkish strong points in
Arabia. When the Muslim Turks ransacked Smyrna, terrorizing its Greek
and Armenian residents, Ernest Hemingway was there, as a reporter for
the Toronto Star. In 1941, the Bosnian Muslims raised a Waffen SS
Division of 21,000 men known as the Handzar Division, named after the
fearsome scimitar weapon of former wars. During WWII, the Grand Mufti
of Jerusalem preached a holy war against the Jews and their British
allies. He later was photographed while doing the Nazi salute, while
reviewing the Handzar Division troops. One of his infamous radio
addresses on March 1, 1944 contained this memorable section, `…kill
the Jews wherever you find them…for this pleases God, history and
religion.’ See Paul Fregosi’s book on Jihad for more examples.
So, when Muslim extremist Mohammed Bouyeri, the murderer of Dutch
filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, says, `I was motivated by the law that
commands me to cut off the head of anyone who insults Allah and his
prophet,’ we don’t need a further explanation. Since there are plenty
of verses in the Koran that he and other extremists pull from, why do
we need to look further?
After the London bombings, Inayat Bungalwala of the Muslim Council of
Britain said, `The scale of disenchantment amongst Muslim youth is
very clear to see…Various factors are at play: underachievement in
education; a high rate of unemployment; discrimination in the
workplace; social exclusion, and also the government’s own policies,
especially in Iraq.’ Ironically, many minority groups all over the
world experience those same problems, but they don’t resort to
blowing up innocent people. When investigating the Iqra Learning
Centre in the UK, the shop owner, speaking about the suicide bombers
and a DVD he once viewed, said that the Muslim persecutions around
the world was probably the fuel that drove them to kill innocent
people in the UK. Interestingly enough, Christians have those same
types of DVDs showing Christian persecution in Africa, China and a
host of other places. I never hear of Christian Jihad’s in those
countries. Remember, Christians killed by lions in the Roman Empire
are called Martyrs, while Islamic extremists that blow up innocents
are also called Martyrs. Also, when the Taliban blew up ancient
Buddha statues in Afghanistan, I don’t remember reading about
Buddhist Jihads launched against the Taliban.
There is something different about the responses to persecution.
Fundamentalist Christians don’t launch Jihads and world domination
military conquests for several reasons, but two primary ones: One,
Jesus never commanded that of his followers and actually preached the
opposite. Two, the Christian Scriptures plainly state that Christians
will never be the majority in the world. Herein lies the problem: The
extremist Muslim’s view of their scared writings says the exact
opposite: One, Muslims are commanded to launch Jihads, wage military
wars of conquest, and to use violence if necessary to carry out
Allah’s will and two, it is Allah’s will that one day the whole world
be under Islamic rule.
I thank God that the vast majority of Muslims do not believe that
part of their sacred writings. Liberal or Secular Muslims are most
interested in fitting in to society, making a good life for their
families and being tolerant of other faiths. However, the Muslim
extremists are not `hijacking’ Islam nor twisting their sacred
writings to say what they want. No, they are simply taking, in
context, certain sections of their writings and putting primary focus
on them. Unfortunately, the Islamic texts that they’re focusing on
are those same texts that justify killing infidels.
The answer isn’t getting more Muslim leaders to stand up and denounce
bombings, hijackings, murders and `Muslim wars for independence’
being fought all over the world. No, the logical first step would be
for Muslim leaders to admit the violent Jihad sacred texts exist,
they are not being taken out of context by Bin Laden and others, and
that those sections of texts are to be banned or flatly repudiated by
all Muslim scholars. Can we please look at the facts and deal with
the problem on that level? Can we also commit to the idea that no
high-ranking politician is ever going to say these things? Can we
actually have scholars from both sides of the issue debate these
points in public, with radio or television coverage? Can we have
truthful, unbiased, non-politically correct coverage of these issues
by the media? After all, our lives and our family’s lives are at
stake.
Steve Rumsey, MBA is an investment advisor and resides in Southern
California.