Chart Attack, Canada
July 27 2006
LIVE: System Of A Down Save Ozzfest
Thursday July 27, 2006 @ 06:30 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
July 25, 2006
Molson Amphitheatre
Toronto, ON
by Andre Mishin
It’s too bad the Mindless Self Indulgence review already has the
headline “are for the children,” because it would have been just as
appropriate for the 11th edition of Ozzfest. While kids in the past
have flocked to the annual metal festival to see the likes of Marilyn
Manson, Disturbed and other new generation metal acts, they went home
with a new appreciation for Maiden, Priest or at least Ozzy/Sabbath.
This year, with the rigours of touring catching up to him, Ozzy is
only playing certain dates on the tour. Without any bands on the bill
with more than a 10-year career, the older crowd that would have
showed up just to see Sabbath was conspicuously absent and, in their
place, were lots of screaming girls. For a tour that has suffered
through questionable lineups and varying degrees of prosperity
through its history, the success of this year’s Ozzfest was in
serious jeopardy if no one was able to carry the headlining torch.
I arrived just as Massachusetts metalcore group Unearth were getting
into “Black Hearts Now Reign” from their recent release, The Oncoming
Storm. Metalcore is the latest heavy music sub-genre to have the shit
kicked out of it, mostly due to the ineffectual nothings that have
emerged from it. Unearth, on the other hand, were one of the earlier
metalcore bands and have managed to keep it skull-crushingly heavy,
staying true to the brutal breakdowns of hardcore and the riffage of
NWOBHM (that’s New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, for the children) era
bands. The group have, however, become a little stagnant, and it’ll
be interesting to see if Unearth can rise above the rest of the
metalcore bands with their upcoming release, III: In The Eyes Of The
Fire, which is out next month. Regardless, having seen them a couple
of times, they’re always powerful live.
The next band were one of those ineffectual nothings. I really tried
to sit through the entire Atreyu set, but adding to the torture of
listening to their annoying brand of boy band metal were a group of
young girls in front of me who were not only loving it, but thrashing
around like wounded animals. Until then, I never thought there was a
wrong way to mosh.
The crowd grew larger as Italy’s Lacuna Coil hit the stage. I saw
them open for Rob Zombie earlier in the year and, while they didn’t
blow me away, I did enjoy their set. I attributed that, though, to
the voice and beauty of Lacuna Coil singer Cristina Scabbia, and I
thought there was no way that was going to happen this time. But,
once again, I liked their show. They’re not a really heavy band, but
they never try to be. They go out and do what they do, and do it
well. This time around, I was even able to recognize the song “Our
Truth,” where before, it all sounded the same to me.
The true “veterans” of the tour were Hatebreed. Playing their third
Ozzfest, the champions of underground hardcore can’t really be the
classic band that save Ozzfest because they’re underground hardcore.
They’ll go down as legends in their sub-genre, but the hardcore sound
is too limited to make them heavy metal icons. Still, Hatebreed were
the first band on the bill to really command the crowd, eventually
getting everyone out of their seats and pumping their fists to
pulverizing anthems “I Will Be Heard” and “This Is Now.” Everybody,
that is, except for the Atreyu fans in front of me who were now
literally sitting in their chairs with their fingers in their ears.
Hatebreed are another band who always kill live. The fact that singer
Jamey Jasta has strong enough pipes to perform those songs night
after night is incredible.
Avenged Sevenfold opened with “Beast And The Harlot,” a song that
flirts with Guns N’ Roses-like greatness, but degenerates into a
slightly heavier Simple Plan. That pretty much sums up the band’s
music and performance. They can be great at times, especially lead
guitarist Synyster Gates and drummer The Rev. But if the band want
the respect they feel they deserve, singer M. Shadows needs to knock
it off with the girly singing. They score points for putting on an
entertaining set, but those points were subtracted when they covered
Pantera’s “Walk.” Phil Anselmo himself said it best on “Regular
People (Conceit):” “You ain’t got the balls, son.”
Next up were Disturbed. Singer David Draiman went into a diatribe
about the decline of heavy music and, on a separate occasion, asked
the crowd to “pray for heavy metal.” If my prayers were answered, the
lights would have collapsed on stage – not killing the band, just
rendering them unable to play music anymore. To my surprise, the
now-capacity crowd didn’t share my sentiments. Fans pumped their
fists throughout the entire set and sang every word, including those
to tracks off the band’s latest album, the appropriately titled
10,000 Fists. Why is it that somewhere in some publication, poor Fred
Durst’s name continues to be crucified while these nu-metal rejects
have a platinum album in Canada? I can understand why fans like
Atreyu or Avenged Sevenfold, but these guys? Maybe it’s the band’s
battle cry, “Ooh wa ah ah ah?”
With only one band remaining, Ozzfest seemed destined for failure
because nobody was able to fill Ozzy’s shoes. Then System Of A Down
guitarist Daron Malakian’s silhouette appeared on stage as he kicked
into the solo intro of “Soldier Side” before the rest of the band
joined him as they launched into “Attack.” As they moved on to the
infectious hit “B.Y.O.B.,” something slowly began to dawn on me. In
the mere nine years separating the band’s debut and their headlining
slot on this year’s Ozzfest, SOAD have become a classic metal band.
>From the deafening singalong of “Chop Suey!” to the sea of lighters
during “Lonely Day,” the audience reaction proved that System are the
only band that could possibly headline Ozzfest. Even during some of
the band’s sillier songs, like “Violent Pornography,” the group
exuded an air of greatness. Frontman Serj Tankian was reminiscent of
Geddy Lee at times behind his keyboards. Malakian, who used to turn
his back to the audience for entire songs in the earlier days, has
evolved into a hell of showman. Combined, the Armenian-American duo
make up the greatest one-two punch in all of current heavy music,
making them the new millennium version Page and Plant. Seriously,
their chemistry is that good.
By the time SOAD ended with new classic “Sugar,” everyone was singing
and dancing, much like they were throughout the 90-minute set. But
the guys on stage simply ended with a humble bow, even though they
single-handedly saved Sharon Osborne’s ass. With the announcement
that System Of A Down are going on hiatus after this tour, you can
bet that no matter how long they’re gone or what happens to metal
music in that time, fans will anticipate the return of the first
classic group of the Ozzfest era.

AZ Central.com, AZ
July 27, 2006
Turkish court acquits author of charges of turning people against
military service
ANKARA, Turkey – A Turkish writer was acquitted Thursday of turning
people against military service by defending a conscientious objector
in her weekly magazine column. Human rights groups hailed the
decision as a victory for freedom of expression in Turkey.
A court in Istanbul ruled that Perihan Magden’s article amounted to
“heavy criticism conveyed within the scope of freedom of expression”
and did not constitute a crime.
Turkish authorities have put a string of Turkish writers and
journalists on trial for expressing opinions, despite pressure from
the European Union – which Turkey hopes to join – to scrap repressive
laws. advertisement

Author Elif Safak, a University of Arizona assistant professor, was
recently charged with “insulting Turkishness” based on the lines
uttered by fictional Armenian characters in her novel “The Bastard of
Istanbul.”
Magden is the second defendant to be acquitted in recent months. A
court in November acquitted Internet journalist Rahmi Yildirim of
charges of insulting the military.
Magden faced up to three years in prison if convicted.
In her column, published in the weekly Yeni Aktuel magazine in
December, Magden defended conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan, who
was sentenced to a record four-year term in a military prison for
disobedience after refusing to wear his military uniform. She argued
that Turkey needed to establish a civilian service as an alternative
to compulsory military conscription.
Conscription in Turkey is obligatory for men over 20, and the country
does not recognize the right to conscientious objection. Objectors
also have been prosecuted on charges of turning people against the
military.
Rights groups praised Thursday’s verdict.
The lack of “press freedoms had become unbearable in recent months
and put Turkey in a humiliating position,” said Ahmet Abakay, the
head of the Contemporary Journalists’ Association.
“I want to congratulate the judge who made this decision. It should
be an example to other judges and prosecutors.”
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has said it has no
plans to change laws governing expression, saying that inappropriate
charges are eventually dropped and defendants are acquitted.
EU officials argue that even if the charges are dropped, the threat
of prosecution remains a deterrent to people freely expressing their
opinions.
A Turkish court dropped charges last year against Orhan Pamuk, one of
the country’s most famous novelists, who faced trial on charges of
insulting “Turkishness” for commenting on the mass killings of
Armenians by Turks around the time of World War I. The charges were
dropped for technical reasons amid intense international pressure.
Earlier this month, a high court confirmed a six-month prison
sentence imposed on Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink for
attempting to influence the judiciary after his newspaper ran
articles criticizing the law that makes it a crime to insult
Turkishness. Dink’s sentence was postponed. (AP)
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
July 27, 2006 Thursday 06:29 PM EST
Armavia denies pilot error caused Airbus A-320 to crash on May 3
by Tigran Liloyan
The Armavia Air Company has denied pilot error was the root cause
behind the Airbus A-320 crash near Sochi on May 3 and demands further
investigation.
Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said in Moscow on July 26
that human factor had caused the A-320 plane to crash. At the same
time, Tatyana Andonina, the head of the Inter-State Aviation
Committee (MAK), explained the A-320 captain failed to ensure due
control over the airliner’s altitude and rolling motion when it was
descending in difficult weather conditions.
Arshak Nalbandyan, the Armenian air company’s security chief, said
Armavia might demand an independent investigation by a third party.
“No one is denying some errors committed by the crew. However, it
cannot be claimed that they caused the accident. A mistake of the air
traffic controller, the conditions of the Sochi airport and the
meteorological situation could also be plausible reasons,” Mr.
Nalbandyan went on to say.
The A-320 Airbus plane belonging to Armenia’s Armavia air company
crashed as it was trying to land in Sochi airport on May 3, 2006. All
the 113 people on board were killed.

PRESS RELEASE
Fund for Armenian Relief
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Edina N. Bobelian
Tel: (212) 889-5150; Fax: (212) 889-4849
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
July 28, 2006
____________________
FAR’S MATHEVOSIAN SCHOLARS UNITE TO GIVE BACK
Volunteerism Alive in Armenia’s Youth
Young Armenians, who are pursuing their higher education in Yerevan’s top
universities thanks to the generosity of New York benefactor Ms. Anoosh
Mathevosian, are giving back.
These outstanding students from disadvantaged families received scholarships
that will cover the tuition costs for the full five-year term of their
curriculum through the Fund for Armenian Relief’s (FAR’s) Mathevosian
Scholarship Program.
They formed the Anoosh Mathevosian Friends Union to organize their efforts
to network within the Mathevosian Scholar family and plan volunteer
activities to help others in Armenia who are less fortunate than them.
As recipients of goodwill, they understand the impact of giving. Thanks to
Ms. Mathevosian, they have renewed hope for the future and believe in the
kindness and integrity of people.
On the gray morning of April 23, 2006, the day before the 91st Commemoration
of the Armenian Genocide, 32 members of the Friend Union set out from
Yerevan on a bus to volunteer their time and energies at another FAR
project, the Old Age Home located in Vanadzor. By the time they arrived in
the Lori Province, the sun was shining and everyone was ready to begin.
After a warm welcome from nearly 60 elderly who live at the Home, the
Mathevosian Scholars spent the day cleaning, gardening and performing
various repair works. During their breaks, they bonded with the seniors,
who shared stories of their youth in Yerevan, and organized backgammon and
chess tournaments that lasted well into the evening.
Second-year Yerevan State University student Artyom Levonyan, a journalism
major, spoke fondly of Grandma Siranoosh. `She was a well-known doctor and
her husband was a Minister. After he passed away, life changed for Grandma
Siranoosh. Her children didn’t want to care for her, took her to the
Vanadzor Old Age Home and left her,’ he said.
`The people living at the Home are not unhappy,’ he continued. `They are
well taken care of. But their eyes are constantly looking out to the
horizon in search of their children. For one day, we fulfilled the role of
their children.’
For each of the young Armenians, it was difficult to leave the seniors at
the Old Age Home with whom they established new friendships. Before the
Mathevosian Scholars returned to Yerevan, they promised to return.
The trip to Vanadzor was the Anoosh Mathevosian Friends Union’s first act of
volunteerism. The scholars were energized by the experience and have been
thinking of not only a second visit to the Home but also to other FAR
projects.
Volunteerism is alive in Armenia’s youth. FAR is helping foster the
environment to create such opportunities for its own beneficiaries to give
back to the Homeland.
ABOUT FAR
Since its founding in response to the 1988 earthquake, FAR has served
millions of people through more than 220 relief and development programs in
Armenia and Karabagh. It has channeled more than $265 million in
humanitarian assistance by implementing a wide range of projects including
emergency relief, construction, education, medical aid, and economic
development.
FAR, one of the preeminent relief and development organization operating
there, is dedicated to realizing the dream of a free, democratic,
prosperous, and culturally rich Armenia. It works towards a brighter future
by partnering with donors to make life a little better for our people. By
offering hope and more promising prospects in Armenia, Karabagh, and
Javakhk, FAR binds the Diaspora and the Armenian family together around the
globe.
For more information about FAR, to organize a visit to FAR projects, or to
send donations, contact the Fund for Armenian Relief at 630 Second Avenue,
New York, NY 10016; telephone (212) 889-5150; fax (212) 889-4849; web
; e-mail [email protected]
— 07/28/06
E-mail photos available upon request.
PHOTO CAPTION1:  Traveling from Yerevan to Vanadzor, 32 Mathevosian Scholars
volunteered at FAR’s Old Age Home, cleaning, gardening and performing
various repair works.
PHOTO CAPTION2:  From disadvantaged families, these university students want
to give back to others in Armenia less fortunate than them because they
understand the impact of giving thanks to the FAR Mathevosian Scholarship
Program.
PHOTO CAPTION3:  During their breaks, the Mathevosian Scholars bonded with
the seniors, who shared stories of their youth and asked about Yerevan
today.
PHOTO CAPTION4: They also organized backgammon and chess tournaments that
lasted well into the evening.

MANUK GASPARYAN WARNS GAGIK TSARUKYAN
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN
Lragir.am
28 July 06
Member of Parliament Manuk Gasparyan commented on the situation inside
the Armenian government July 28 at the National Press Club and
announced that there are no controversies between the president and
the minister of defense. Gasparyan thinks that everyone who thinks so
is mistaken.
`It is 99 percent that there are no controversies between them. Simply
by supporting and approving Gagik Tsarukyan’s party in the
beginning,Robert Kocharyan later started to think that people are
looking for a leader, andGagik Tsarukyan is not a bad personage, it is
possible that it becomes a big organization, but later when Robert
Kocharyan is not a president, this organization may end up badly. In
other words, he did not trust Gagik Tsarukyan, therefore he set up
this organization,’ says Manuk Gasparyan hinting at the Republican –
Serge Sargsyan alliance. Of course, in this case it is not clearwhy
the president set up Bargavach Hayastan if he was not going to trust
it. Manuk Gasparyan does not give a clear answer to this question. He
only says that Bargavach Hayastan was definitely approved by Robert
Kocharyan.
`In my opinion, I do not support Gagik Tsarukyan, but I think he is
letting down businessman Gagik Tsarukyan. Because if there is a change
of power, and Robert Kocharyan loses everything that he wants to keep,
that is the wheel, Gagik Tsarukyan may be soon punished by the
reproduced power. Gagik Tsarukyan should keep it in his mind. Maybe he
knows better than I do. I do not know,’ says Manuk Gasparyan.
According to him, Bargavach Hayastan is not the worst of trouble
because unlike the Republican Party is not a criminal alliance by 70
percent. Manuk Gasparyan thinks that Gagik Tsarukyan will give
something to people, whereas the crowd which became members of the
Republican Party with Serge Sargsyan will only take away, and will not
make anti-corruption efforts because it is the bearer of corruption.

ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN ASKS HIS GEORGIAN COUNTERPART TO HELP A GROUP OF
ARMENIAN CITIZENS TO CROSS SOUTHERN OSSETIA BORDER
Yerevan, July 28. ArmInfo. Armenian Ombudsman Armen Haroutyunyan has
asked his Georgian counterpart Sozar Subari to help a group of
Armenian citizens to cross the South OSsetian border and to come back
to Armenia.
A few days ago 80 Armenian citizens, of whom 30 are children, asked
Harotuyunyan to help them as they have been on the South Ossetian
border for already 10 days and are not allowed to cross it to go
further to Armenia.
This situation has been caused by the closure of the Upper Lars check
point.-0-

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 27, 2006
Azeri President received Executive Director of WFP

Source: Trend
Author: S.Agayeva

27.07.2006

On July 27, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received the
Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP)
James Morris, Trend reports.
Aliyev mentioned the economic development of Azerbaijan and noted
that the fact of occupation by Armenia against Azerbaijan and the
existence more than one million refugees and internally displaced
persons (IDPs) are the main problem for Azerbaijan.

The president presented to the attention of the guest the steps taken
by Azerbaijani government for upgrading the life standards of
refugees and IDPs and expressed his gratitide to the head of WFP for
providing assistance.

Aliyev voiced hid hope for the future cooperation with the
organization.
Morris mentioned the high level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and
the organization. He expressed his confidence for the future
development of the cooperation.

AssA-Irada, Azerbaijan
July 26, 2006 Wednesday
UAE BACKS AZERI FAIR CAUSE ON GARABAGH
The Caucasus Clerical Office (CCO) chairman, Sheikh Allahshukur
Pashazada met with the United Arab Emirates adviser on religious
issues Al bin as-Seyid Abdurrahman al-Hashimi on Wednesday. Pashazada
informed the adviser about the developments and progress observed in
Azerbaijan in recent years, as well as Armenias policy of occupation.
The UAE official said his country supports the steps taken by the
Azerbaijani government to settle the long-standing Upper (Nagorno)
Garabagh conflict. UAE has always been one of the countries that
recognize Azerbaijans independence and always stood by to provide
assistance. No Muslim can remain indifferent to the countrys problem
of refugees, therefore, it has always been in our focus, the Arab
official said.

ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN URGES YEREVAN MAYOR TO RECOGNIZE THE OWNERSHIP OF
RESIDENTS OF YEREVAN’S KOZERN DISTRICT TO THEIR HOUSES
Yerevan, July 28. ArmInfo. Armenian Ombudsman Armen Haroutyunyan has
sent today a letter to Yerevan Mayor Yervand Zakharyan asking him to
recognize the ownership of the residents of Yerevan’s Kozern district
to their houses and only then to start building new houses there.
Haroutyunyan has received many letters from the Kozern residents to
help them get registered in their own houses.-0-

CENTRAL DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION OF ARMENIA HAS NO CLEAR POSITION
CONCERNING IAC CONCLUSION ON A-320 CRASH REASONS
Yerevan, July 28. ArmInfo. Unfortunately, one can state that the
reason of “Armavia” A-320 liner crash was a human factor, however, it
is still unclear what had become a reason of such actions of pilots
and it is still to be clarified, Artiom Movsissyan, the Chairman of
the Central Department of the Civil Aviation of Armenia, said today at
the special called press-conference, commenting on the conclusion of
the Interstate Aviation Committee concerning the reasons of A- 320
liner crash.
“It is yet unclear what had become a reason of irregular actions of
the crew, since A-320 flight simulation in Toulouse has shown that
the liner flight was stable till the last 17 seconds. And suddenly
the crew actions become irregular for 17 seconds before the liner
fall. Possibly, the reason of this was the state of health of pilots,
which became worth under extreme conditions or a nervous state, the
crew was driven to by the flying controller or, nevertheless, losses
of space position, about which the IAC conclusion says”, Movsissyan
was puzzled. He added that decoding of A-320 audio flight recorder
has shown that the crew was extremely displeased and nervous with the
flying controller actions. He deviated from the direct answer to the
question if the CDCAA agrees with the IAC conclusion, according to
which the responsibility for the air crash lays on the crew, having
only stated that the information contained in the IAC conclusion,
meets the information of A- 320 air-borne recorders.
Concerning the IAC provision saying that the captain lost spatial
orientation, Movsissyan said that A-320 has special equipment that
clearly tells the pilot where he is. So, the captain could hardly lose
his spatial orientation.
Movsissyan said that during a phone talk Thursday he told IAC
Chairwoman Tatiana Anodina about his doubts. Anodina noted that the
actions of the second pilot were quite adequate and correct.
Concerning Armavia’s displeasure with the IAC findings, Movsissyan
said that never before have the pilots of a suffering air company been
allowed to take part in a crash investigation. Armavia enjoyed
exception. During a Thursday meeting the CDCAA proposed Armenian
pilots to give their arguments and if they are convincing the CDCAA
will support them as the IAC findings are yet preliminary and can be
changed. The findings have been sent to all concerned parties so they
can make their remarks within 60 days. For example, the CDCAA is going
to propose including a provision about deficiencies in the air
controller’s actions and improper weather conditions.
Movsissyan also spoke with Anodina about the human factor. Anodina
said that the IAC has no authority to decide who is guilty for the
crash. This is the competence of the investigators. Besides, the IAC’s
position does not reflect the official position of Russia.
The IAC could refuse to investigate the crash from the very beginning,
but the Armenian side was interested in the investigation as it has no
necessary equipment for own one. Movsissyan said that there could be
no political deal as there were 12 Armenian experts in the IAC who
would never agree to such a deal.