Armenian, Estonian presidents discuss bilateral relations

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
15 Nov 04

[Presenter over video of reception ceremony] Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan received Estonian President Arnold Ruutel today, who is
paying a three-day official visit to Armenia. An official reception
ceremony took place at the Armenian presidential residence. After a
tete-a tete meeting of the two countries’ leaders, extended talks were
held. The Armenian and Estonian presidents held a joint press
conference after the meeting and answered journalists’ questions.

[Robert Kocharyan, captioned, in Russian with Armenian voice-over] We
have just finished our meeting and discussed the full range of
bilateral relations, exchanged views on regional problems.

Our region, the South Caucasus, is a complicated region. We are
interested in the experience of the Baltic countries. We also
discussed economic cooperation. I am glad to inform you that an
Estonian business delegation is also in Yerevan and today we shall
hold a business forum together.

MOSNEWS, Russia
Nov 15 2004

How to Deal With a Russian Hangover

Polina Moroz

MosNews

For one reason or another, what people know about Russia is often
linked to alcohol. Experience of Russian drinking culture is the
subject of one well known joke, when a foreigner writes in his
journal: `Monday. Drank with the Russians. Tuesday. Almost died.
Wednesday. Drank with the Russians some more. Thursday. Should have
died on Tuesday.’ So it is necessary to give homage to the way Russia
deals with the after-effects of drink, both on a national and a
personal level. The misery of a hangover has not changed for
centuries, neither has the campaign against misbehaving drunks, so
the question of post-drinking blues has a long history.

People that roam the city after their drinking escapades risk ending
up in a vytrezvitel, a ‘drunk tank’, a place that has inspired fear
in generations of Russians. It was conceived as an institution in
tsarist times, the first one opening in 1902 in Tula to save local
army men from freezing to death after their squad had a bit too much.
It was reinstated in the Soviet Union in 1931 and came under the
control of the Interior Ministry in 1940.

During the prohibitionist years, the police had a daily norm of
picked-up drunks. They drove around in a special wagon nicknamed a
kopilka (piggy bank) and singled out people that threatened public
safety: quite often the victims were chosen at random, especially on
cold nights when the patrols got tired and bored.

Even though prohibition was short-lived in Russia, putting stray
drunkards into the kopilka is still in practice; moreover, it’s
profitable for the officers. When morning comes to the vytrezvitel
and you find out that half of your money was gone overnight, the
police cheerfully tell you to be more careful next time you go out to
a bar. After all, it’s not called a piggy-bank for nothing!

If you manage to get home without event, there are a few traditional
Russian hangover cures for the morning-after that have been popular
for centuries. The most popular is the brine from either pickles or
Russian sauerkraut (called rassol in Russian) as it contains the
necessary potassium and magnesium. Another handy liquid is kvass,
which is a brown malt beverage made of fermented rye bread.

Many Russians believe that it’s better to fight fire with fire and
sip warm beer from the night before, but there is the risk of getting
carried away and continuing the previous night’s debauchery and
spiralling into the vicious circle of a zapoy, or drinking binge.

For the more ambitious, there are also Russian hangover cocktails
that juggle the classic ingredients like eggs, spices and tomato
juice. For one, known as `Sick head,’ the directions are as follows:
you have to cover a glass with a thin coat of vegetable oil, break
one egg into the glass, a pinch of salt, and red and black pepper.
Pour in two tablespoons of vodka and mix well. Close your eyes and
nose, forget what is in the glass, and gulp down the contents. After
the procedure the victim should lie down and rest with a cold towel
over the forehead.

There is also traditional hangover food. The classic greasy burger
and shake never really took off in Russia, but there is one dish that
is recognized as a guaranteed hangover remedy. It is a thick stew
called haash, which actually comes from the Caucasus and is even
served in Moscow’s Armenian restaurants on January 1st to alleviate
the morning-after misery. Haash is a pain to prepare: you have to
cook tripe and beef trotters for six hours and consume the result
with radish and a lot of garlic.

Another curing `snack’ was allegedly discovered by Tsar Nicholas II,
and is called `Nikolashka’: take a slice of lemon, put a teaspoon of
sugar and a teaspoon of coffee on top, and eat in one bite.

All of these may be helpful and tested by generations of Russians,
but when that morning comes, most people can’t find the strength to
prepare a complicated recipe. Some opt for `Alka-Seltzer and sleep’,
others put instant coffee into coca-cola, and some, like my friend
Alina, choose `rassol and a guillotine’.

The Messenger, Georgia
Nov 15 2004

Unlimited electricity for Tbilisi

Deputy Minister of Energy Aleko Khetaguri stated at a press
conference on Friday that Tbilisi will receive electricity without
limitations, and that the ministry will take all measures to continue
importing electricity from Russia and Armenia.
Meanwhile, Director General of Telasi Dangiras Mikolayunas applied to
the National Energy Regulation Commission (GNERC) to return the
license to import electricity from Armenia which was stripped from
Telasi two weeks ago. Mikolayunas told GNERC at a meeting on Friday
that they should study a letter from Energy Ombudsman David Ebrelidze
to the General Prosecutor’s Office, which blames Telasi of concluding
an “unfavorable” agreement with Armenia.
Mikolyunas said the Commission must decide whether to give the
license to Telasi or not after studying this letter.

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
Nov 15 2004

Police department’s greater shades of culture

Newly hired Korean- American Police cadet overcame ethnic
expectations to pursue her dream.

By Jackson Bell, News-Press and Leader

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE – A self-described adrenaline junkie, Sharon Kim
can’t conceive following through with her parents’ wish for her to
work as a pharmacist in a safe, but unexciting, drug store.

So breaking what she calls a Korean stereotype of putting family
before career, the 18-year-old Kim has decided to take her first step
toward her eventual goal of working with the FBI or Secret Service –
the Glendale Community College student became a Glendale Police
cadet.

“Since I was born in America and I’m American, I feel women can
pursue careers, no matter what,” she said. “But my parents think this
career might overshadow [family life] because I might work long
shifts and not have extra time for family commitments.”

Both Kim and Patrol Officer Matt Hyun-Koo Prokosch – the first
Korean-American officer hired to the force – agree that Korean
parents, like many immigrants, usually push their children into
entering such high-level professional jobs such as doctors and
lawyers that allow for better work schedules and pay higher than
public safety careers.

With Kim and Prokosch, all it took was a little education and a lot
of passion to convince their families that police work was a good
choice.

“[Korean immigrants] learn quickly that government jobs in the United
States are good jobs, where back in Korea they are not well
respected,” Prokosch said.

While Glendale Police are ahead of their firefighting counterparts,
both agencies are still trying to diversity their staff to better
reflect the community in which they serve.

The police department’s most recent demographics reveal that of 368
sworn and civilian employees, 84 are Latino, 23 are Asian or Pacific
Islanders, 17 are Armenian and seven are black, according to city
auditors. The Glendale Fire Department, in contrast, hired its first
Korean-American firefighter earlier this year, and has no Armenian
firefighters.

Korean is one of the more prominent Asian ethnicities in the area,
with pockets found in Glendale north of the Ventura (134) Freeway and
in La Cañada Flintridge and La Crescenta, officials said.

“She will have the opportunity to learn about the police culture, and
hopefully we can learn about her culture through her,” said Lt. Bruce
Fox, who heads the department’s Professional Standards Bureau.

“And at the same time, we might eventually gain a police officer that
will be badly needed to serve the Korean community of Glendale.”

But Sharon Kim’s mother, Michelle Kim, plans on supporting her
daughter no matter what her career choice is.

“That is what she wants to do and is really pursuing it as a career,
and I encourage her to do whatever she likes,” Michelle Kim said.

The Globe and Mail, Canada
Nov 15 2004

Cymbal company drums up A-list clientele

Craftsmanship, epic family history keep musicians flocking to N.B.
factory

By GORDON PITTS

MEDUCTIC, N.B. — Neil Peart, iconic drummer for the Canadian rock
group Rush, set out on a pilgrimage last fall.

He flew from Los Angeles to Montreal, where he picked up his
motorcycle and headed east. Hours later, he roared up to a red metal
building on the Saint John River in rural New Brunswick.

Mr. Peart spent a day touring cymbal-maker Sabian Ltd., and the
result has been a design and marketing collaboration. Sabian now
manufactures Mr. Peart’s line of Paragon cymbals, priced from about
$300 to $500 a unit.

“It’s selling very well,” said Sabian owner Robert Zildjian,
81-year-old heir to a family craft tradition that has journeyed from
17th-century Turkey to modern New Brunswick.

Mr. Peart is among the legions of percussionists who have, over four
decades, made the trek to the sleepy village of Meductic, N.B. They
come to see Sabian’s metal-working process and thrill to its epic
history of warring brothers, family dislocation, and a cast of
characters that range from the sultan of Turkey to the sultans of
swing, jazz drummers Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich.

Sabian’s day-to-day operations are handled by Dan Barker, the
company’s 55-year-old president, but Mr. Zildjian happily admits that
he interferes. “I’m a pain in the neck at times. I like to see what
is going on because Sabian is my child.” (Mr. Zildjian and his wife,
Willie, also have three flesh-and-blood offspring, Sally, Bill and
Andy– thus the name Sa-bi-an.)

The company is bouncing back from a downbeat year in 2003, when the
SARS epidemic and U.S. nervousness over war and terrorism toned down
sales of musical instruments, leading to level revenues at Sabian
after years of double-digit growth. This year, Sabian says it is
beating out a growth rhythm again.

After the death of his father, Avedis, in 1979, Mr. Zildjian split
bitterly with his older brother, Armand, who controlled the family’s
cymbal company in Norwell, Mass.

In the split, Robert was able to take some assets from Avedis
Zildjian Co., including its small Canadian plant in Meductic, which
became Sabian. Twenty-two years later, the Sabian and Zildjian
companies are battling for the loyalty of the world’s percussionists,
with a combined 60 to 70 per cent of the quality cymbal market.

The Sabian people say they make more units, more than 900,000 a year,
but the Zildjian company generates more revenue.

“Sabian and Zildjian compete vigorously,” said former Sabian
executive David McAllister, who now runs Latin Percussion, a U.S.
distributor of musical instruments. Because the overall market has
grown, both companies have been able to prosper, he said.

Robert Zildjian, still hurt by the split with his now-deceased
brother, says his 140-employee company is more profitable than its
rival, based on annual sales of $30-million to $35-million. He has no
contact with Craigie Zildjian, Armand’s daughter, who now runs the
family firm, although he did speak to Armand before his death two
years ago.

That feud seems far removed from the peaceful village of frame houses
that Sabian now calls home.

The plant buildings are a percussionist’s paradise as the cymbals
pass through the metal-working process, based on the secret Zildjian
method for combining copper and tin.

Cymbals are hammered, often by hand, into subtle hills and valleys of
sound. For a drummer, the relationship can be intensely personal,
said Mr. Barker, himself a former bubble-gum-rock drummer from
Weymouth, Mass.

The final production area involves testing and packaging, where a
couple of workers bang away on performance sets, creating jazzy riffs
that sound more fitting for a smoky basement in Greenwich Village
than a modern factory.

The Sabian website lists an all-star lineup of professional users,
including Phil Collins, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and
musicians who support country crooner Lyle Lovett, cellist Yo-Yo Ma,
and an army of marching bands.

The Zildjian saga contains obvious parallels to the breakup of the
McCain brothers, founders of the McCain Foods Ltd. French fry empire
in nearby Florenceville, N.B. Mr. Zildjian jokes that if only
brothers Harrison and Wallace McCain had come down to see him, he
might have saved them some lawyers’ bills.

The Zildjian clash had its origins in Constantinople in 1623 when
Robert Zildjian’s Armenian ancestor, an alchemist named Avedis, was
appointed cymbal-maker to the Turkish sultan. In the early 20th
century, a later Avedis Zildjian, fleeing Turkish oppression of
Armenians and linked to a plot against the Turkish ruler, escaped to
the United States.

He brought the old family business to Massachusetts in the late
1920s, only to be greeted by the Depression. He was saved by jazz,
and relationships with drummers such as Mr. Krupa and Mr. Rich. Then,
in 1964, Beatlemania hit and cymbal crashes became part of a rock ‘n’
rollers’ repertoire.

Avedis’s death left sons Armand and Robert at odds. But Robert knew
New Brunswick, having fished and hunted in the Miramichi.

In the 1960s, he had opened the family’s Meductic plant to get around
British Commonwealth duties. The plant made money, he liked the
people, and he took it in the settlement.

Along the way, he found Mr. Barker, a former manager with the Avedis
Zildjian Co., who had been a casualty of the family split.

Mr. Barker was running a music store and import company, with limited
financial success, when Sabian took him in and moved him to Meductic
in 1985.

Today, 90 per cent of Sabian’s output is exported with 40 per cent
going to the United States. The rising value of the Canadian dollar
has hit profits and sales, at a time of big price hikes in copper and
tin.

Mr. Zildjian, now a Canadian citizen, said the first response will be
to raise U.S. prices. “It’s just a thing that has to be done,” he
said.

He does not foresee a large shift of production to the United States,
although Sabian has a distribution centre in Maine. “The only thing
we’d ever shift there is cheap beginner stuff to compete with the
Chinese and Taiwanese. That means nothing to Canada or even nothing
to Sabian.”

Mr. Zildjian has recently experienced some medical problems, and even
landed in hospital after a bad reaction to heart medication while at
his Bermuda home. (He also has residences in Meductic and Maine.)

Having gone through a harsh sibling battle, he has plotted his own
succession. Ownership will be split equally among his children, but
Andy, who runs the company’s U.S. operations, will ultimately call
the shots. “If it all boils down to a mess, Andy has the final say.”

He says Andy has the people skills, and older brother Bill, who
handles artist relations, goes along with that. Sally does not work
in the company day-to-day.

Although he regularly gets feelers to sell, Mr. Zildjian said Sabian
has a strong future going solo in the growing percussion market. Not
that he’s satisfied with his market position against the old family
company. “In five years, we have to be the No. 1 cymbal of choice,
not just with pros, but beginners.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Nov 15 2004

Immigrant parents rely on kids’ English

By Rachel Uranga, Staff Writer

Maribel Palafox was just 11 when she stood in a medical office,
translating the doctor’s news that her mother was pregnant.
At 17, Maribel was called on again to serve as a go-between for a
doctor and a parent — this time telling her father that he had
cancer.

Like tens of thousands of bilingual children in Los Angeles County,
Maribel has spent much of her life translating for
non-English-speaking relatives — a high-stress role that has put her
in delicate situations where no youngster should be.

Academics call them cultural brokers. Some policy makers call them
exploited. Parents say they are a lifeline to the English-speaking
world.

“I have been doing this ever since I can remember,” said Maribel, the
oldest of seven children born to Mexican immigrants. “I stutter when
I can’t find the words. It’s sad — but that’s the way it is.”

Publicly funded hospitals and clinics are prohibited from
discriminating against those who speak limited or no English, and
federal regulations require that translators be provided if patients
request them.

But in reality, few of these patients request translators, and they
often wait hours for care or do not understand what kind of care they
are getting. Even when medical centers provide interpreters,
advocates say services are often inadequate. The result is that
bilingual children are pressed into service.

In Los Angeles County, where more than one-third of the residents are
foreign-born and more than 90 percent of those speak a language other
than English, it has become a way of life. Children explain utility
bills to their parents or become the de facto interpreters on
parent-teacher night.

“Who else would I trust?” asked Katherine Pinchuk, a 46-year-old
Ukrainian immigrant. Pinchuk relies on her 8-year-old daughter,
Mariya, for basic translations at school, at the dermatologist and
even returning clothes at the mall.

“It’s the American way. It’s acculturation,” said Gregory Rodriguez,
a New American Fellow who studies assimilation. “It’s unfortunate,
but international migration is a cataclysmic process and sometimes
tragic.”

Maria Perez, 17, who suffers from chronic eye problems, must act as a
translator as doctors talk to her parents about her numerous
surgeries and treatments.

“Sometimes I go to the doctor and the words are so difficult I cannot
understand,” said Perez, who had to translate her doctor’s gloomy
prognosis for her condition.

“There are times I feel nervous. I don’t know if I am going to be
OK.”

Advocates say one of the biggest problems is that most immigrants do
not realize they have a right to an interpreter, or they are afraid
to speak up and ask for one.

The problem became so acute in Los Angeles County’s welfare offices
that it became the subject of a federal probe. Under a federal
agreement, similar to a consent decree, the offices were ordered to
post signs in all county-run facilities informing clients of
interpreter services and to make a greater effort to hire more
bilingual employees.

Several years ago, a similar agreement was imposed on the county
Department of Health Services, which operates five hospitals and more
than a dozen clinics.

Without more money to hire in-house translators, the department has
had to rely on staff members — most of whom have no formal cultural
or linguistic training.

“These are unfunded mandates,” said Mya Iwataki, director of
diversity programs for the agency. “It’s tough. Everyone here has to
do multitasking.”

Still, the financially strapped department has made strides and is
working to expand its third-party translating programs in its
hospitals and larger outpatient centers.

Heng Foong, director of PALS for Help — an organization that
provides free interpretation in health-care settings and was formerly
called Pacific-Asian Language Services — has heard all sorts of
horror stories.

One involved an Armenian man who sought treatment at a county
hospital for fluid in his spine. With no translator available,
doctors enlisted the help of an Armenian-speaking painter working at
the facility to explain consent forms for surgery.

It’s no wonder, experts say, that many parents rely on their children
to translate what doctors, creditors and neighbors say.

“It’s practical for both me and my daughter,” said Josefina Lopez,
31, who relies on her 9-year-old daughter, Monica Aguas, to help her
communicate with her English-speaking boss.

Monica, a bubbly and talkative fourth-grader, says she’s happy to
help.

“If I help my mom and my dad, it makes me feel special. I am happy to
show them what people are saying.”

But for others, like North Hills resident Martha Ugarte, 22, who has
translated for her mother for as long as she can remember, the work
can strain their relationship.

“To her, it’s my job. … A lot of parents … say it’s your job as a
son or daughter. I have no choice.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pravda, Russia
Nov 15 2004

Lessons on religion to become compulsory at Russian schools

Moscow authorities offended Russia’s leading confession when
substituted lessons in Orthodox culture with lessons in the history
of world religions

Disputes about religion lessons in the secular school are still
heated. It seems to be generally admitted that pupils should know the
history of religion as part of the world history. But today the scope
of the lessons in the history of religion is in the focus of the
disputes. Russia’s Minister for Education and Science Andrey Fursenko
spoke at the 2004 All-Russian Social Forum and stood up for lessons
in the history of world religions at school. He said at that the
lessons must not be optional and they are to be taught by secular
teachers. Andrey Fursenko says lessons in the fundamentals of the
world religions should be secular, and pupils must be given an option
at that. The minister thinks the lessons in the history of religion
differ from religious studies carried out by clergymen of various
confessions and religions. “In this country, the school goes
separately from the church; pupils are given secular education, that
is why religion lessons cannot be compulsory at state schools,”
Andrey Fursenko says. The Ministry for Education and Science is now
compiling textbooks and drafts of two manuals on history of
religions.

The Russian Orthodox Church supports introduction of the fundamentals
of the Orthodox Culture. Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II
says introduction of these lessons is advisable because school
children should be given education in religion. He also emphasized
the lessons are important as Orthodoxy is Russia’s major religion.
The Patriarch also says that followers of Islam, Buddhism or Judaism
may study their cultures as well. “Every civilized man must know the
history of his culture. The whole of Russia’s history is based upon
Orthodox traditions and moral principles,” Alexy II says. Generations
to come must know Russian historical figures such as Daniil of
Moscow, Dmitry Donskoy and Ivan Kalita, he adds.

Opponents to introduction of Orthodox culture fundamentals at schools
often say they would not let God’s Law be taught at schools. But the
Patriarch explains that history of Orthodox culture is not a
religious subject. These lessons would make school children
acquainted with Russia’s thousand-year culture if introduced at
schools as optional studies, he adds.

It was in 1992 that introduction of optional courses in God’s Law at
schools was touched upon for the first time. In 1993, head of the
Church education department Abbot Iohannes Ekonomtsev suggested
establishing of a dialogue between the church and the government as
concerning education issues. Soon, the Patriarch, the Moscow State
University President Viktor Sadovnichy and several academicians wrote
a letter requesting to introduce theology at higher education
institutions.

January 16, 1999 the Patriarchate and the Ministry for Education
concluded an agreement on cooperation. However, the minister for
education was still negative as concerning introduction of Orthodox
culture lessons at schools even till 2002. In August 2002, President
Vladimir Putin said fundamentals of Orthodox culture may be
introduced as optional lessons at schools.

However, Moscow authorities disagree with Putin’s opinion. Head of
the Education Department in the Moscow administration Lyubov Kezina
says “Orthodox lessons cannot be introduced at schools not to disturb
people practicing other religions”. Officials say it is important
because Moscow is the city where followers of various confessions
live. Instead of lessons in fundamentals of Orthodox culture, the
Moscow education department introduced lessons in all religions at
once; secular experts developed the course.

Secretary of the Moscow Patriarchate Public Relations department
Mikhail Dudko said in an interview to RIA Novosti that Russian
Moslems, Jews and Buddhists insist that fundamentals of any
particular religion must be taught in those parts of the country
where majority of the population practice this religion. He adds that
the situation is quite different in Moscow today. Fundamentals of
Orthodox culture are already taught in some parts of the country, but
no intensification of ethnic hatred has been registered there. On the
contrary, Mikhail Dudko says that such knowledge helps people
understand each other better. Indeed, major achievements of the
Russian culture in architecture, painting and literature are also
connected with Orthodoxy. People must know everything about the
religion that formed the history and the culture of the country.

Spokespersons for the Russian Orthodox Church say that some parts of
the textbook about fundamentals of the world religions were not
coordinated with the church. So, opinion of church experts is ignored
at that. The new course was not coordinated with clergymen of other
confessions as well.

What about religion lessons abroad?

Fundamentals of Orthodoxy have been taught at schools of Serbia,
Romania, in Central Europe and Baltic countries, Georgia and Armenia
for several years already. Many schools in Ukraine begin their
lessons with Our Father prayer. Religion is traditionally taught in
majority of state schools in Europe, which agrees with the secular
education there. Lessons in religion fundamentals are obligatory at
schools of Germany, Finland and Norway. Majority of Britain’s private
schools have chapels where pupils attend services two or three times
a week. Pupils practicing other religions may not attend these
services.

In 1962, the US Supreme Court decreed that school lessons in religion
disagreed with the Constitution; as a result, the Bible, the Koran,
the Talmud and other religion books were withdrawn from school
libraries. Today, religion lessons are optional in the USA. After
dictator Franko died in Spain, school lessons in religion became
optional there as well.

Yegor Belous

Read the original in Russian:
(Translated
by: Maria Gousseva)

Fox Sports, Australia
Sydney Morning Herald
Nov 15 2004

Fenech praises Hussein
By Adrian Warren
November 15, 2004

JEFF Fenech is confident his charge Nedal Hussein will join him this
month in becoming a super bantamweight boxing world champion.

The duo flew out of Sydney today ahead of Hussein’s title challenge
against Mexico’s World Boxing Council super bantamweight champion
Oscar Larios in Las Vegas on November 27.

Fenech was the first, and so far only, Australian to win a super
bantamweight world title.

That was back in 1987, when Fenech KO’d Thailand’s Samart Payakaroon
to win the same WBC crown coveted by Hussein.

It was the second of three world titles for Fenech, who was today
optimistic 26-year-old Nedal would follow in his footsteps.

“I’m glad I’m not fighting him (Hussein) for the title, he’s one of
the best body punchers ever,” said trainer Fenech.

“If he’s on his game, he will win.”

Larios, 28, has a record of 53 wins, three losses and one draw and
has held the WBC crown for two years, making four successful
defences.

Hussein said Larios was taller and bigger than him, but felt the
Mexican might have problems making the weight after having his last
two bouts in a higher division.

He said he wasn’t too excited yet as his first world title shot draws
near.

“To be honest, the closer the fight gets, the more confident I am
getting,” Hussein said.

“Larios is very beatable these days, because he’s struggling to make
the weight, he’s had a few fights this year when he went up in
weight.

“Jeff (Fenech) saw him at the WBC convention and said he couldn’t
believe Larios could make super bantamweight.

“He’s a busy fighter, he throws between 90 to 100 punches a round.

“He keeps going, he’s not going to sit there and let me just throw
punches, he’s a good mover.

“I’ve just got to be able to cut off the ring and keep calm.”

Hussein said he had no intention of deviating from his favoured
method which had earned him 36 wins from 37 professional bouts.

“I’ve just got to sit there and work off the jab,” Hussein said.

“If my jab starts landing then I’m able to rip and hook. I’m just
going to fight like every other fight and I’m not going to change my
style.”

Hussein said he would spar three times in Los Angeles next week
before heading to Las Vegas.

He will spar with Armenia’s Artyom Simonyan, who will challenge
International Boxing Federation super bantamweight title holder
Israel Vazquez on December 4.

Hussein said he also hoped to get some sparring with Vazquez, who is
trained by Australian Justin Fortune.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Daily Trojan, University of Southern California
Nov 15 2004

Balakian discusses genocide

Best-selling Armenian author discussed the links between United
States, the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust.

By Danielle Datu and James R. Koren

Peter Balakian, author of the best-selling book “The Burning Tigris:
The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response,” spoke about the issues
presented in the book at Doheny Memorial Library Friday.

The event, sponsored by the USC Armenian Student Association, was
just one stop for Balakian on a two-month-long tour to promote his
book, which was released last September.

Balakian spoke not only about the Armenian Genocide but also about
its historical relevance to World War I, the United States and the
first discussions of international law.

“One of the things that I’m most focused on in my tour is the issue
of education and how this history, which has been left out of the
curriculum, which has been left out of the common carillons of
education, is now a moment to be reclaimed and rediscovered and put
in where it belongs in any teaching of the 20th century,” he said.

Balakian said the Young Turk government exploited World War I for the
purpose of genocide in the same way that Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Party
did in World War II.

He said that no history of the United States is complete without a
discussion of the genocide because the American relief effort for
Armenians was the first U.S. international human rights movement.

American icons such as Mark Twain, Henry Adams and Clara Barton spoke
and took action against the massacres.

“The New York Times alone in 1915 published 145 articles on the
Armenian massacres,” Balakian said.

Giving the event a greater global context, Balakian said the Armenian
Genocide led directly to the Holocaust because of the precedent it
set and because of close ties between Germany and Turkey.

“One of Adolph Hitler’s closest friends in the early period of the
Nazi Party witnessed dozens of deportations and massacres and wrote
back about that,” he said.

The genocide of 1915, which has not been officially acknowledged by
the Turkish government or by the United States, comprised the killing
of approximately 1.5 million Armenians by the Young Turk government.

The Turkish government disputes claims of genocide.

According to the Turkish Embassy’s Web site, approximately 600,000
Armenians were killed between 1912 and 1922, and they were killed
because of “violent political aims,” not because of their race or
religion.

The Web site also states that, in the same period, about 2.5 million
Muslims died. “The years 1912-1922 constitute a horrible period for
humanity, not just for Armenians,” the site said.

In a resolution passed in 1984, the House of Representatives called
the massacre of Armenians by the Young Turk government an act of
genocide, but the U.S. Senate has taken no such action.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan used the word “genocide” to describe
the event, but no president since has done so.

Cairo ‘Barely’ Held Arafat’s Ceremony

Zaman (Turkey)
11.13.2004

Cumali Onal

CAIRO — Due to a lack of organization, Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat’s funeral ceremony ended as fiasco in Cairo yesterday.

A Finnish Representative, an Arab Foreign Minister and top levels of a
Turkish delegation including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and opposition Republican People’s Party
(CHP) leader Deniz Baykal as well as Organization of Islamic Conference
(OCI) Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Islamoglu had trouble entering the
tent set up for the ceremony. After a hustle, the dignitaries were
finally let in. Delegates from Germany, Malaysia and Armenia missed the
ceremony altogether due to heavy airport traffic.

Slovak Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan, who was visiting Turkey, was also
included in the Turkish delegation to Cairo. The Palestinian Ambassador
to Ankara, Fuat Yasin, also missed the funeral ceremony. Yasin expressed
his sorrow saying, “This is a big scandal. This is such a bitter thing.”

While Turkish top levels were lucky ones to gain entrance to the
ceremony, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fisher missed the ceremony, as
his plane was kept waiting in the air for an hour. Similarly, Armenian
delegation also missed the ceremony due to airport traffic.

The Finnish Representative, meanwhile, was not permitted to enter the
ceremony since he “did not have an identity tag”.

When the Egyptian protocol, caught unprepared by the funeral, forgot
accreditiation, protocol officials of guest delegations and their chief
bodyguards were not let into the ceremony. World leaders in the
procession who had followed Arafat’s casket for nearly 400 meters were
surprised when they were told, “the ceremony is over here.” Some leaders
waited in the cars while others chatted in groups.