The Conservative Voice
Sept 15 2005
Bad Decision, Dangerous Precedent
September 14, 2005 03:30 PM EST

Gun owners and gun owner rights groups across America are rightfully
outraged at the recent decision by New Orleans law enforcement
officials to confiscate the firearms of law-abiding citizens.
According to city officials, while the crisis spawned by Katrina
exists, no one but law enforcement will have guns in New Orleans.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t there a little something in the
United States Constitution that specifically prohibits this sort of
thing?
New Orleans Police Superintendent P. Edwin Compass made the following
statement to the Washington Post:
“No one will be able to be armed. Guns will be taken. Only law
enforcement will be allowed to have guns.”
This should be sufficient to thoroughly frighten any American who
understands the Constitution and recognizes the vital role legal
firearms play in our society. Should this heinous violation of
constitutional rights be allowed to set a precedent, Americans could
truly be in danger of losing our constitutionally protected right to
keep and bear arms. Be glad, my friends, that a Republican presently
resides within the White House. Imagine the consequences of this if a
left-wing, gun-hating liberal occupied the Oval Office? We’d almost
certainly see a push for a federal law mandating that during any
“crisis” Americans could have their guns confiscated “for their own
safety.”
Let’s take a quick look at some history…
In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953,
about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were
rounded up and exterminated.
In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5
million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.
Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, 13
million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were
rounded up and exterminated.
China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million
political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up
and exterminated.
Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000
Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.
Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000
Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.
Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one
million ‘educated’ people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded
up and exterminated.
Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century
because of gun control: 56 million.
In 1996 the nation of Australia passed a gun ban. Gun owners in
Australia were forced by the new law to surrender 640,381 personal
firearms to be destroyed by their own government, a program costing
Australia taxpayers more than $500 million dollars. Here are the
results cataloged 12 months later:
Australia-wide, homicides were up 3.2 percent
Australia-wide, assaults were up 8.6 percent
Australia-wide, armed robberies were up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent!)
In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms increased by
300 percent.
While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in
armed robbery with firearms, this changed drastically upward in the
12 months following the passage of the gun ban, since the criminals
now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed.
There was also a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the
elderly. Australian politicians were at a loss to explain how and why
public safety had decreased, after such monumental effort and expense
was expended in “successfully ridding Australian society of guns.”
The Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove
conclusively that an armed populace is a safer populace.
Crooks will always have firearms regardless of what laws are passed.
It is the height of stupidity to assume that law-breakers who depend
upon firearms to ply their grisly trade would simply hand over their
guns. All Australia’s government did was make things easier for the
crooks!
The city of New Orleans has followed Australia’s example. It is only
a matter of time before innocent lives are lost due to this theft of
private property. What will city officials have to say about it when
innocent people die? Will they admit making a mistake? Will the MSM
point out that confiscating legal firearms is not only
unconstitutional, but dangerous to law-abiding citizens?
Obvious answer: No. Of course they won’t. If anything the MSM will
either ignore the loss of life or doctor the numbers so that the
policy looks like a success. Liberals will rub their hands together
in glee while they look to find a way to once again pervert the
Constitution to justify a federal law allowing any state or city to
confiscate firearms. This is a liberal dream come true. For normal
folks like you and me, it’s a potential nightmare.
If you are unarmed and an armed burglar (trust me, he’ll be armed)
breaks into your home at 3:00 AM, what will you do? Call 9-11 and
hope he doesn’t hear you making the call? Will you bravely face his
nine-millimeter semi-automatic with a baseball bat? Will you hide
under the bed while he helps himself to all your worldly possessions?
You have the right to use lethal force to defend your home and family
against criminals. You also have a moral obligation to do so. In
today’s crazy world, only the craziest believe that legal firearms
are a bad idea. Please contact your congressperson and do your part
to see that such a law can never and will never happen where you
live. It’s only a matter of time before the Socialist Left tries to
use the New Orleans incident to further their unholy agenda.
Alan Burkhart is a freelance political writer, cross-country trucker,
and proud citizen of the reddest of the Red States – Mississippi. You
can reach him via e-mail at: [email protected] or by visiting his
website:

Sydney Star Observer, Australia
Sept 15 2005
ACCLAIMED SINGER, MUSICIAN AND ACTIVIST DIAMANDA GALAS TACKLES
EVERYTHING FROM GENOCIDE TO TRAGIC LOVE SONGS.
Diamanda Galas is in the midst of a rant, and a range of expletives
fly as she airs her views on political correctness.
Just as the musician and activist is about to launch into a new
diatribe, she stops cold, then lets out a piercing shriek and
announces more urgently: `My espresso is burning on the stove! This
always fucking happens!’
Much clattering around in the kitchen of her New York home is down
the phone line. The espresso drama resolved, she charges back to the
phone and, without missing a beat, continues her tirade about how
furious liberals make her, describing them as `flaccid and
flatulent’.
Then the hilarity of the moment hits her, and with a shriek of
laughter she proclaims, `see, I am the consummate professional – I
can continue an interview while checking on the burning fucking
espresso on the stove.’
An interview with Diamanda Galas is unlike most chats with
soon-to-visit world music artists. There are no perfectly prepared
sound grabs about her approach to her material or what she hopes
Australian audiences will get from her show. Diamanda doesn’t seem to
have time for that.
She would much rather talk about a wide range of issues, like the
gentrification of New York’s artistic lower east side where she
lives, her perceived injustices of past and present Turkish
governments, her defiance in the face of threats against her, the
Bush regime and her hopes for a better future with gay and lesbian
world leaders at the fore.
It is the passionate mixture of social issues with Galas’s unique
musical talent that have made her a favourite on the world’s musical
festival circuit. Critical descriptions of her talents have included
such terms as `a vocal terrorist’ and she has been described as
singing `like a demon going to war’.
Described as `the Queen of Scream’ for her opera-trained four-octave
vocal range, hers is a voice that sears from guttural and gravelly
shrieks to searing high notes.
Born to Greek parents in San Diego, Galas, 49, is returning to
Australia for her third visit, her first since 2001.
She begins her tour at Melbourne’s Arts Centre with one performance
of Defixiones: Orders from the Dead on 7 October, and one of Songs of
Exile on 10 October.
She then tours the show Guilty, Guilty, Guilty to Brisbane and
Adelaide before playing at Sydney’s State Theatre on 21 October.
Defixiones: Orders from the Dead tells of the forgotten Armenian,
Assyrian and Greek genocides that occurred between 1914 and 1923. The
tale is based on witness accounts of the atrocities and told through
music, drama and narrative.
Songs of Exile is a song cycle that follows the flight of poets and
authors forced to live in exile and as outlaws. Sung in six
languages, the show features Galas’s original compositions set to the
worlds of poets like Vallejo (Peru), Celan (Romania) and Michaux
(Belgium).
Guilty, Guilty, Guiltyis a program of tragic love songs and death
songs, presenting an eclectic repertoire including O. V. Wright’s
Eight Men and Four Women, Edith Piaf’s Heaven Have Mercy as well as
I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry by Hank Williams.
`I think of myself as a documentary performer – I am a forensic
composer,’ she says.
`I discuss events as they take place, not in the parlour room of my
own life. I do masses, in which I take specific events, as Defixiones
with the genocides or as Plague Mass did with the AIDS crisis.
`In that sense, I am not being inventive as far as the material is
concerned. I am doing non-fiction, as the people who have written
masses for centuries have. They discuss the events they feel there
has not been enough response to.’
Creating her works of searing passion and political outrage does come
at a cost, as not everyone likes the comments Galas makes.
`Creating these things has always been very ugly, and the resistance
I have had to them has been ugly,’ she says.
`You can’t imagine the insults you get when you do this kind of work.
It scares my family because they don’t know what might happen. But I
always say to them I am living in America and here I feel relatively
safe.’
That said, she is not too thrilled about living under the continuing
reign of George W. Bush as the US President. The current political
climate hardly promotes freedom of expression, but Galas says she is
not about to turn quiet.
`I might have been scared, but it has not stopped me,’ she says.
`I believe, as an agnostic, that I only have one life and I want to
tell the truth while I am here. What can people do, really? They can
call me a fucking arsehole, they can call me all kinds of things, but
unless they kill me, there is not that much they can do.’
Then she thinks for a moment and adds, `except not to publish me (or
let me perform). That is the most terrifying form of censorship.’
One of her most famous works was Plague Mass, her response to the
AIDS crisis. A 1991 performance of the show in New York’s Cathedral
of St John the Divine saw her smeared with blood, stripped to the
waist and strung up on a cross. Her playwright brother Phillip died
of AIDS, and Diamanda has the words `we are all HIV+’ tattooed across
the knuckles of one hand.
Having survived that time, Galas has brighter hopes for the future,
with a great faith in the emergence of gay and lesbian leaders around
the world to bring together conflicted and disparate cultures into
some kind of working harmony.
`I think the people who have the greatest potential are going to be
the gay and lesbian populations,’ she says.
`They are born outlaws in every culture. The people who are the
biggest outlaws, who have nothing to lose, are the ones born to lead.
They have no other choice. If they can get out of the basements the
governments have hidden them in, then they have a chance of changing
the world.’
For more information visit the Melbourne Festival website.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 15 2005
Separatist republics’ representatives attending Moscow conference
Baku, September 14, AssA-Irada
Representatives of separatist entities from Upper Garabagh, Abkhazia,
South Ossetia and Dnestr are attending a three-day conference that
started in Moscow on the invitation of the Russian President’s
administration, reports say.
Member of the Russian Duma (parliament) Konstantin Zatulin said that
unrecognized republics possess many `state attributes’, including
armed forces and security councils. `Democratic processes in these
republics are developing more rapidly than those in other CIS
countries’, he alleged.
The conference, attended by Russian MPs, heard a report from Ruslan
Zargarian, `deputy foreign minister’ of the self-proclaimed Upper
Garabagh republic.
Zargarian claimed that Azerbaijan’s Dashkasan, Khanlar and Ganja
regions are Armenian territories.
Representatives of Abkhazia, Dnestr and South Ossetia spoke at the
event as well.
Head of the department on relations with CIS under the Russian
President, in turn, said his country considers the interests of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia as its own, `as over half of the population
there are Russian citizens’. Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict over Upper Garabagh, the Russian representative said: `A
part of Azerbaijan’s population is in military mood, which is a bad
sign.’*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 15 2005
Azeri officer killed in ceasefire breach

An Azeri warrant officer was killed after Armenian military units,
from their positions in the occupied Talish village of Terter
District, fired at the positions of the Azerbaijani troops located in
Borsunlu village of the district last Wednesday.
Casualties are reported on the Armenian side as well, the Ministry of
Defense told AssA-Irada.
Polad Aliyev, 24, who joined the Army in October 1999, was laid to
rest in his native Hindarkhy village of Aghjabadi District.

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Sept 15 2005
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN
Armenian Drafts in US Congress
Jan SOYKOK – Two drafts aiming at recognition of the Armenian
genocide allegation will be on the agenda of the US House of
Representatives on Thursday. American Turkish people launched a
message campaign over the draft expected to be presented to the
voting of the members after discussion in the International Relations
Committee.
Former National Security Adviser Ret. Gen. Brent Scowcroft called the
House Chair, Dennis Hastert, to “bring the drafts to the agenda.”
Scowcroft, also the chairman of the American Turkish Council, wrote a
letter to Hastert regarding that the drafts were against the interest
of the US as well, he warned that approval of the drafts would create
serious consequences.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian should response to the olive
branch offered by Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayip Erdogan, said
Scowcroft, as he added that historians should find answers to such
issues. Such drafts encourage those who try to keep Turkey away from
the West, he added. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had offered
to establish a common commission to discuss all historical disputes
between Turkish and Armenian peoples. However Armenians side strongly
rejected the offer. Erdogan had also invited the Armenian President
Kocharian to NATO’s Istanbul Summit. However the Armenian leader
again rejected to visit Turkey.
The House Chair, Hastert, has full authorization to bring the drafts
expected to be passed by International Relations Committee to the
general assembly.
Hastert previously prevented a similar draft from coming to the
agenda. However, the attitude that will be taken by the Bush
administration is also important at this point. The draft in question
is almost the same as the one presented five years ago.
With the intervention of the US President in term back then, Bill
Clinton, Hastert did not bring the draft to the general assembly at
the last moment.
Armenian lobby in the US argues that 1915 communal clashes and
Armenian killings should be recognized as genocide by the US, and
Turkey should be punished. Turkey has never accepted the accusations
although Turkey had not been established yet in 1915. Ankara argues
that there were communal clashes and war circumstances. More than
520.000 Turkish civilians were also massacred by the armed Armenian
groups during the First World War. About 5 million Muslim Ottoman
citizens were massacred in the Balkans, Caucasus and Anatolia during
the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Dr. Nilgun Gulcan says the US Armenians just focus on their own
interests not on the Armenia’s national interests: `There are two
Armenian interests: One is the Diaspora’s, the other is Armenia’s
one. Both conflicts. The Diaspora tries to govern Armenia as well.
Armenia needs reconciliation. Armenia needs economic integration with
the region, including Turkey and Azerbaijan. However the Diaspora
needs conflicts and disputes. The Diaspora Armenian identity is fed
by the hostility against the Turkish people and Turkey. They created
their own history and now they believe it. The only obstacle before
the peace is the Diaspora Armenians I think’ Dr. Gulcan added
Dr. Sedat Laciner also says the Armenian lobby’s efforts are not
constructive: `If the Armenians undermine Turkish interests anywhere
how both sides could make a meaningful dialogue. By attacking Turkey
and Turkish people everywhere, the Armenian lobbies make dialogue
impossible. No one wants to speak with someone who attacks always.’
Laciner added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Messenger, Georgia
Sept 15 2005
Two takes on talks with Gazprom
Georgian minister calls Gazexport’s statement of new prices
“incompetent”
By M. Alkhazashvili
On September 19 Minister of Energy and Fuel of Georgia Nika Gilauri
will again hold negotiations with the leadership of Gazprom in
Moscow. The meeting will clear up once and for all just how much
Georgia will pay to be supplied by Russian natural gas. However, even
before the agreement is reached the two sides appear to differ on
what they have agreed to agree to.
In a statement made at the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi on Wednesday,
David Morchiladze, the head of Gazprom’s daughter company in Tbilisi
Gazexport, said that the prices were already decided at USD 120 per
1,000 cubic meters.
Speaking at the Russian Embassy, the head of Gazexport ironically
stressed that the decision being made was in no way political.
Morchiladze described the agreement as an “apolitical” one “between
partner countries.”
Immediately afterwards, Georgia’s minister of energy countered that
the price had in no way been fixed and reiterated that talks are
still under way. Calling Morchiladze’s statement “incompetent,”
Gilauri said that until now Georgia has relied on yearly contracts
that had to be redrafted annually.
But now, as the minister said, the Georgian side has decided to sign
a long-term contract. “That price that was mentioned cannot be
considered final, because we are planning to conclude a three, four
or maybe five year contract. And so far neither of the sides can fix
the exact price, as it is a much longer process and there are lots of
issues connected to each other,” said the minister
He described last weeks talks as “only the first two hour meeting
with the representative of Gazprom in Russia and the negotiations
will continue.”
One unusual aspect of the situation is that Gazprom openly speaks
about an inevitable price increase on natural gas. Currently the only
natural gas supplier to Georgia is Russia. The natural gas share in
Georgia’s energy balance is approximately 24 percent. In 2004
Gazexport, Gazprom’s child company that supplies Georgia with natural
gas, imported to Georgia 1.23 billion cubic meters of natural gas. In
2005 Georgia will get approximately the same amount.
Despite the fact that Gilauri does not think that the price increase
on natural gas price has been decided yet, the Russian side has
spread information on Gazprom’s website that “From 2006 Gazprom will
supply Georgia with the natural gas at European market prices,
including the transportation cost.” Gazprom’s second demand – that
the Georgian government cover its current debts this year – seems
almost insignificant in comparison with the price increase, as
outstanding debts amount to about USD 12.
Worries for the domestic market
The looming increased cost of gas is worrying many in Georgia and
Morchiladze’s statement did nothing to allay concern. 24 Saati writes
that if the increase happens, the electricity tariff will increase (2
gas-powered turbines are being built in Georgia to overcome the
electricity crisis), living conditions will worsen, prices will grow
on Georgian products, the trade deficit will widen, and so on.
A possible counter balance is that the gas transit fee for Armenia be
paid by monetary means and help offset the increase. 24 Saati writes
that another negotiating point is the Georgian government’s reaction
to demands that it submit proposals to involve Gazprom in the
“gas-energetic projects” underway on Georgian territory. Moscow
continues to demand ownership over the natural gas pipelines and
blocs of Tbilgazi and Tbilsresi. These are strategic state energy
assets that would give serious levers to Gazprom and by extension, to
the Russian government.
The Georgian media points out that there exists a way to avoid panic
over the natural gas price increase, but the administration does not
want to speak about it. It is true that the country used to receive
natural gas from Russia at a low price – 1,000 cubic meters for USD
65, but the population paid European-sized tariffs to consume it –
USD 130 per thousand cubic meters.
As the newspaper Alia points out, “The difference is the profit that
goes to firms that perform the role of middlemen. We have had two
such firms that existed even under the Shevardnadze administration.”
If these firms are eliminated, or if they at least take a sharp
reduction in profits, homeowners can get natural gas at almost the
same price as before.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 15 2005
British delegation visits Azerbaijan’s occupied territories
Baku, September 14, AssA-Irada
A 20-member British delegation comprising Christian organizations
visited the occupied territories of Azerbaijan on Tuesday as part of
the so-called `Visit to Arstakh’ mission. The delegation is headed by
Baroness Caroline Cox, vice-speaker of the British House of Lords,
who is known for her close ties to Armenians.
Cox paid her first visit to Upper Garabagh in 1989, during the
initial stage of Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan.*

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 15 2005
US Amb. terms indication of Garabagh as Armenian territory as mistake
Baku, September 14, AssA-Irada
The presentation of Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan and Upper Garabagh
regions as Armenian territories on the website of the US embassy in
Armenia is simply a mistake, US ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish
has said.
`The talk of Nakhchivan’s affiliation to Armenia is ridiculous. This
was a consequence of a mere mistake. The United States recognizes the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and is working
hard to support dialogue aimed at settling the Garabagh conflict.’
The ambassador mentioned the efforts being taken by Washington within
the OSCE Minsk Group mediating the conflict resolution.
The Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Taghizada has
regarded the distortion of facts as unacceptable, calling for a
thorough scrutiny. Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who is
visiting the United States, will be informed of the incident
immediately upon his return to the country, he said.*

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 15 2005
President receives EU envoy
Baku, September 14, AssA-Irada
President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by the European
Union (EU) special envoy on South Caucasus Heikki Talvitie on
Wednesday.
Issues related to the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
over Upper Garabagh, Azerbaijan’s parliamentary elections due in
November and Azerbaijan-EU cooperation were discussed.*

ARKA News Agency
Sept 14 2005
VAHE GABRIELYAN APPOINTED TO THE POST OF AMBASSADOR IN IRELAND
YEREVAN, September 14. /ARKA/. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan
signed a decree on Wednesday appointing Armenian Ambassador to Great
Britain and Northern Ireland Vahe Gabrielyan also to the post of
Ambassador in Ireland (residence in London), presidential press
service told ARKA News Agency. M.V. -0—
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress