Assa-Irada
Aug 13 2004

US Defense Secretary avoids question on Upper Garabagh

BAKU

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld held a press conference at the
Heydar Aliyev Airport of Baku prior to leaving Azerbaijan.
Rumsfeld said that in his meetings with President Ilham Aliyev and
Defense Minister Safar Abiyev he thanked the Azerbaijani people for
the contribution to anti-terror operations.
Touching upon the details of the talks held in Baku, the US Defense
Secretary said issues of bilateral cooperation were discussed.
He said the US cooperation with Azerbaijan in this area promotes the
tranquility in the Caspian region, fighting international terrorism,
smuggle of goods, transit of narcotics, and weapons of mass
destruction.
`The American people appreciate Azerbaijan’s efforts at fighting
terrorism globally and our military cooperation will continue’,
Rumsfeld said. He noted that he did not discuss with President Aliyev
the issue of expanding the contingent of Azerbaijani peacekeepers in
Iraq an Afghanistan.
Rumsfeld added that the USA was in talks with its allies on the
upcoming presidential election in Iraq and that he discussed the
issue with Azerbaijani government officials.
He avoided a question on whether the US could step up assistance in
settling the Upper Garabagh conflict and make changes to its policy
in this respect.
`As you know, the United States supports the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan. Washington’, Rumsfeld said and added that Washington was
involved in the Minsk Group.
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev who attended the news
conference called on the United States to demand that Armenia
withdraw from the occupied land of Azerbaijan.
Touching upon the involvement of Azerbaijani peacekeepers in Iraq,
Abiyev said this was a political issue and that he would be able to
address it after a political decision is made.
With regard to Iran’s nuclear program, Rumsfeld said it represents a
threat for the neighboring countries.
Referring to the recent visit by the Iranian President Khatami to
Baku, the US Defense Secretary said he discussed the issue with
President Ilham Aliyev.*

ARKA News Agency
Aug 13 2004

Regional semi-final of 5th international contest of young designers
`New Fashion – World Without Borders’ takes place in Yerevan

NKR authorities returned Azeri military man

CBA plans to resume traditions of conduction of Armenian Chess Cup

The newly appointed Ambassador of Poland to Armenia hands credentials
to RA President Robert Kocharian

ArmenTel CJSC to emit a new consignment of Sim and Easy-Card
beginning from August 16, 2004

CBA publishes bad borrowers list

NKR President Arkadi Ghukasyan goes on holiday

*********************************************************************

REGIONAL SEMI-FINAL OF 5TH INTERNATIONAL CONTEST OF YOUNG DESIGNERS
`NEW FASHION – WORLD WITHOUT BORDERS’ TAKES PLACE IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, August 13. /ARKA/. Regional semi-final of 5th international
contest of young designers `New Fashion – World Without Borders’ took
place in Yerevan. According to the President of Russian Siluet
Foundation, Honorary Member of Russian Arts Academy Tatiana
Mikhalkova, `the contest is an opportunity for young designers to
receive new orders and maybe even work abroad. We would like that
government and private structures supported us’, she said.
According to the Director of `Atex Fashion Center’ Karine Dnoyan, 70
applications for participation in the contest were received from
students and graduates of Armenian and NKR institutes. After 3 rounds
30 young Armenian designers will take part in the semi-final. The
winners will represent Armenia during the final in Moscow in
September.
The organizer of the contest is CJSC Atex Fashion Center. L.D. –0 –

*********************************************************************

NKR AUTHORITIES RETURNED AZERI MILITARY MAN

STEPANAKERT, August 13. /ARKA/. Today, in 14.00 local time at the
Aghdam direction of NKR and Azeri armed forces contact line, NKR
State Commission on Prisoners of War and Missing transferred the
citizen of Baku Samedov Anar Misha ogly to Azeri party.
Transmission was conducted in accordance to the decision of NKR
authorities in mediation of International Red Cross Committee in NKR,
after the Azeri party agreed to receive its military man. During his
stay in Karabakh, Samedov was attended by representatives of IRCC.
Anar Samedov was arrested by NKR Defense Army on August 6, 2004
during trespassing the line of demarcation. L.D. –0 –

*********************************************************************

CBA PLANS TO RESUME TRADITIONS OF CONDUCTION OF ARMENIAN CHESS CUP

YEREVAN, August 13. /ARKA/. CBA plans to resume traditions of
conduction of Armenian Chess Cup among bank’s staff members. Three CB
staff members became the winners of the competition that started two
months ago, they received prizes and memory gifts. First place was
taken by the lawyer of Legal Department of CB Karen Meliksetian, who
received money prize in amount of 50 thousand AMD, second place –
staff member of Department of Information Systems Khachatur
Bakhshetsian, who received 30 thousand AMD, third place – Director of
CB Cafeteria Levon Poghosian, who received 20 thousand AMD.
According to CBA Chairman Tigran Sargsian, CB plans to resume
traditions of the cup. He said that chess in Armenia have serious
traditions and the goal of the bank is to give new impulse to their
future development. `In near future we plan to conduct similar chess
tournaments in commercial banks of the country and then we will
determine the best players of RA banking system and create a team of
banking chess players’, Sargsian said. He also said that
Ardshininvestbank already expressed readiness to provide financial
support to conduction of similar tournaments.
The President and Founder of Armenian Chess Academy, International
Grand Master Smbat Lputian said that `as a chess player he is proud
that chess traditions are restored in the country’. L.D. –0 –

*********************************************************************

THE NEWLY APPOINTED AMBASSADOR OF POLAND TO ARMENIA HANDS CREDENTIALS
TO RA PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARIAN

YEREVAN, August 13. /ARKA/. The newly appointed Ambassador of Poland
to Armenia Tomash Knotkhe has handed credentials to RA President
Robert Kocharian today. According to RA President’s Press Service
Department, during the meeting Kocharian expressed his satisfaction
with the level of Armenian- Polish relations, noting that they
develop quite dynamically. He also attached importance to the
development of Armenian-Polish partnership in the context of the
European direction of the Armenian external politics. According to
Kocharian, Armenia, on its way to European integration, considers
Poland as a new partner in the frames of EU, who is represented by
Poland.
According to the press release, the parties attached key importance
to the visit of RA President to Poland planned on September 5-7 for
further development of Armenian-Polish relations. A.H. – 0 –

*********************************************************************

ARMENTEL CJSC TO EMIT A NEW CONSIGNMENT OF SIM AND EASY-CARD
BEGINNING FROM AUGUST 16, 2004

YEREVAN, August 13. /ARKA/. ArmenTel CJSC will emit a new consignment
of SIM and Easy-Card beginning from August 16, 2004. According to the
announcement published in the press, SIM cards will be given to
individuals and juridical persons by their free subscription for
them. Cards will be provided in Yerevan and regional departments of
the company.
Besides, according to the announcement, ArmenTel will also provide
Easy-Card to the individuals who subscribed for cards in Yerevan
subscribers servicing centres of the company in November-December
2003. To get an Easy-Card one should submit an application ticket and
passport. The announcement also states that other people, who have
subscribed for cards, will be additionally informed of the supply
with Easy Card.
At the end of 1997 OTE Greek company purchased 90% of ArmenTel
telecommunication company’s shares at $142.47 mln. through
international tender. The rest 10% of the shares belongs to the RA
Government. According to the agreement, signed with the RA
Government, ArmenTel received a monopoly licence on communication
system for 15 years. According to the agreement, OTE was to invest
$200 mln. into the RA telecommunication within first 5 years. A.H.
-0 –

*********************************************************************

CBA PUBLISHES BAD BORROWERS LIST

YEREVAN, August 13. /ARKA/. Central Bank of Armenia published list
containing name of bad borrowes that as of 30 June 2004 had
liabilities to the Armenian commercial banks in the sum more than USD
100 thous. and with the term of more than 180 days. According to
statement of CBA, this publication is stipulated by requirement of
paragraph 3 of Clause 6 of RA law on banking confidentiality. The bad
borrowes list contains 89 enterprises as a whole among which are such
companies as Armenergo CJSC, Intermotor Yerevan Ltd, Armenicum+ CJSC,
Neutron SIE, Nairit Plant CJSC, Sodk Golden Ore Ltd, Kapan Ore Mining
Combine. T.M. -0–

*********************************************************************

NKR PRESIDENT ARKADI GHUKASYAN GOES ON HOLIDAY

STEPANAKERT, August 13. /ARKA/. President of Nagorno Karabakh
Republic Arkadi Ghukasyan went on holiday that we would spend outside
the Republic, as NKR President General Information Service told ARKA
today. T.M. -0–

Interfax
Aug 13 2004

Industrial output in Armenia drops 5.8% in January-July

Yerevan. (Interfax) – The monetary volume of industrial output in
Armenia dropped 5.8% year-on-year to 170.7 billion dram in the
January-July 2004, the country’s Trade and Economic Development
Ministry told Interfax.

The greatest decrease – 19.5% – was posted in the gem-cutting and
polishing and jewelry industry. Enterprises in this sector turned out
product worth 71.7 billion dram.

The ministry’s figures show sales of industrial product increased
15.5% to 168.3 billion dram in January-July. Exports were up 9.8% to
143.6 billion dram.
The official exchange rate for August 13: 519.24 dram/$1.

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Aug 14 2004

About 20,000 Armenians live in Azerbaijan

The State Statistics Committee (SSC) will hold the next census in
2009, the committee chairman Arif Valiyev told a news conference on
Friday.

Valiyev said that as of July 1, 2004, the population in Azerbaijan
made up 8.300 million people. Noting that 657 officially registered
Armenians live in Azerbaijan according to the census of 1999, the SSC
chairman said that the figure is about 20,000.

Valiyev underlined that Armenians were not requested to produce
documents indicating their nationalities during the 1999 census in
accordance with the UN recommendations.

San Francisco Chronicle, CA
Aug 14 2004

Flame lights a Greek revival

John Crumpacker, Chronicle Staff Writer

Athens — To rousing cheers of “Hellas! Hellas! Hellas!” the
442-member Greek delegation marched into the Olympic Stadium on a
wave of emotion Friday night as the Opening Ceremonies of the Games
of the 28th Olympiad reached a crescendo of sound and sentiment,
silencing skeptics the world over who had doubted it could be done.

Minutes later, sailor Nikolaos Kaklamanakis lit the Olympic cauldron
to bring to a conclusion ceremonies that ran nearly 3 1/2 hours and
touched upon Greece ancient and modern and upon the nation’s unique
role in the history of the Olympic Games.

“This is the new Greece waiting for you to discover,” said Athens
2004 head Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, the woman credited with
rescuing the Olympic bid from internecine squabbles and three years
of mismanagement. “You will be revived. Greece is here tonight. We’re
ready. The Olympic Games — welcome home.”

Perhaps 2 billion people worldwide and 72,000 in person watched as
the 35-year-old Kaklamanakis, familiar to Greeks for his sailing
skills in the Mistral class, touched the Olympic flame to a
needle-like device attached to a fulcrum.

Upon being lit, the stiletto-like device was raised back into
position by a huge counterweight. At that, fireworks went off to more
cheers, and people slowly walked from beneath the stadium’s stylish
arched glass roof into a balmy summer night in this northern Athens
district of Mousassi.

“It was incredible,” said U.S. middle-distance runner Alan Webb.
“Just watching the flame being lit was well worth it. I thought that
was the highlight.” The cauldron will burn continuously for the next
16 days, until the 2004 Summer Olympics conclude on Aug. 29.

American archer Jennifer Nichols said the lighting of the cauldron
“gave me a feeling of awe, like I can’t believe I’m here.”

During the ceremonies, a piece of the pyrotechnics lodged high in the
latticework of a crane outside the stadium and remained burning as
visitors exited to an acrid aroma.

An equally familiar smell was noticeable inside the stadium, that of
fresh paint. Outside, trees had been planted mere days before to
brighten a tableau of dirt reflecting a frantic rush to complete the
facilities in time.

These are the Games that Athens had hoped to host in 1996 for the
centennial celebration of the modern Olympics, which had been
established after a hiatus of 1,500 years. But Atlanta won the bid
instead.

Greeks take almost perverse pride in their last-minute ethic in
getting things done, and indeed they got things done on the most
important day of the Olympics.

But even as all of Greece celebrated the arrival of a sporting
festival developed here in 776 B.C. as a paean to the gods and
revived in 1896 under the precepts of fair play and sportsmanship,
the potential of shame lurked: National hero Kostas Kenteris, the
defending Olympic champion in the 200 meters, faced a possible ban
for skipping two mandatory drug tests.

Kenteris and sprinter Katerina Thanou became the big story Thursday
night and early Friday morning after both missed tests and after a
motorcycle accident in which they were said to suffer minor injuries.

Their cases were being reviewed by an International Olympic Committee
panel hours before the Opening Ceremonies were to begin.

The artistic portion of the ceremony was constrained by time because
the nearly 10,000 athletes from 201 nations had to wait to walk into
the stadium. It was nevertheless classy as more than 2,400 volunteer
performers referenced Greece from antiquity to the present day in
stylized vignettes rolling by on floats.

Greek civilization was presented as an evolution of art, science and
mathematics under the heading “Clepsydra,” described as “a dreamlike
parade depicting stylized figures that look as though they have been
brought to life from Greek frescoes, mosaics, sculptures and
paintings.”

The ceremonies quickly transitioned from art to athletes. Competitors
from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe celebrated their time on the global
stage in a slow gambol before spectators and a segregated section of
dignitaries.

Among the royalty, Queen Sofia of Spain attracted the most attention
in her pale lime-green dress and her obvious bodyguards with
earpieces. There was no Fidel Castro sighting, as in Olympics past.

The parade of athletes is always a highlight for its very definition
of human diversity. Attire ranged from ghastly Ward Cleaver-like gray
suits for the men of Armenia to genuine leopard-skin loincloths for
the men of Burundi. The women of Moldova wore silky pink slacks and
pink halter tops above bare midriffs.

Bermuda, true to tradition, sent out grown men wearing black blazers
with red shorts and knee-high black socks.

The U.S. delegation was the largest, with 538 athletes, not all of
whom took part in the ceremonies because of imminent competitions
today. The Americans were casual and well-behaved in their uniforms
from Roots, a Canadian company that caused a marketing furor with
berets at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002.

Despite Greece’s relatively proximity to the continuing conflict in
Iraq, the Americans received an enthusiastic greeting when they
entered the stadium, putting them in the same league, ovation-wise,
as Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and nearby Cyprus. Israel was met
mostly with silence.

In contrast to the U.S. delegation, sauntering in six abreast, the
east African nation of Djibouti was represented by one athlete,
tennis player Abdo Abdallah, who by necessity carried his country’s
flag.

The most rambunctious country was Italy, its men specifically. A
number of them mugged for the camera, kissed the lens and tarried to
such an extent they had to be herded back to their delegation by
black-clad production people acting as sheepdogs.

The tallest flag bearer in Olympic history was someone familiar to
U.S. sports fans. Basketball player Yao Ming of China, at 7-feet-5 or
perhaps 7-6, led his country’s delegation clad in cream-colored
slacks and red jacket. During the NBA season, he plays for the
Houston Rockets.

North and South Korea marched in together, most athletes holding
hands above their heads. Earlier in the day, International Olympic
Committee president Jacques Rogge spoke of the possibility of the two
Koreas forming one country as Germany did after the fall of the
Berlin Wall.

While Armenia was noticeable for its drab suits, easily the worst
fashion statement of the evening was turned in by the athletes of
Kyrgyzstan, who wore hats that can only be described as demented
stovepipe Tyroleans, like the Swiss wear only much taller.

In any event, it was hats off to Athens and all of Greece for an
event seven years in the making, three years in the delaying and
finally brought to fruition with frantic effort.

For complete Olympic coverage — including interactive guides to
featured sports — go to sfgate.com/olympics/.

Daily Pilot, CA
LATimes.com
Aug 14 2004

Report: Newport is least multiracial

Marisa O’Neil, Daily Pilot

NEWPORT BEACH – One of the state’s priciest cities also has the
lowest percentage of residents who identify themselves as
multiracial, according to a report released Friday.

“California’s Multiracial Population,” a study by the Public Policy
Institute of California, listed Newport Beach as its “least
multiracial” city, with 1.7% of its population checking more than one
box to describe their ethnicity on the 2000 census. That year was the
first in which respondents were allowed to select more than one race,
including “some other race,” on the census.

Multiracial Californians are more likely to live below the poverty
line than are single-race residents, according to the study.
Statistically speaking, that would limit their ability to live in
places with expensive real estate, said Hans Johnson, co-author of
the report.

“Newport Beach is an expensive place to live,” Johnson said. “Because
it is the case that whites have higher incomes than other groups,
that’s a reflection of the cost of living in Newport Beach.”

The state’s multiracial population has an average age of 24, versus
34 for its single-race residents. That’s a reflection of the
increasing acceptance of intermarriage, shown by more mixed-race
children in recent years, Johnson said.

Johnson also co-wrote a 2002 report that showed Newport Beach as the
least-diverse city in California, with a 90% white population.

Average median home prices in June hovered around the $1.5 million
mark. Median household income in the city was $83,455 in 1999,
according to the 2000 census.

Because Newport Beach has so few minority residents, it stands to
reason that few people in the city would intermarry and produce
offspring, said Scott Bollens, a professor of urban planning at UC
Irvine.

“Throughout the years, [residents] would have less interaction – at
libraries, at community events, wherever – that could lead to the
development of households,” he said.

In 2000 census data, 1,220 residents out of 70,032 identified
themselves as being more than one race. Those included – from highest
percentage of occurrences to lowest – white, Asian, some other race,
black, American Indian and Pacific Islander.

Glendale, at 10.1%, was the “most multiracial,” according to the
report. The city has a large Armenian population that checked “some
other race” and wrote in “Armenian” on the census form, Johnson said.

Statewide, 5% of Californians identified themselves as multiracial on
the 2000 census, according to the report. That was more than double
any other state.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pasadena Star-News, CA
Aug 14 2004

Boy who lost foot remains critical

PASADENA — An 8- year-old boy remained in critical condition at Los
Angeles County- USC Medical Center on Friday after being thrown from
an SUV in a rollover accident and hit by a Gold Line train Thursday,
authorities said.
The boy’s mother, Lena Khodaverdian, 41, was one of three people
killed in the crash, church officials said.

The accident occurred about 10 a.m. Thursday on the eastbound
Foothill (210) Freeway, just before the Madre Street exit. The 2003
Ford Expedition was carrying seven women and the boy, on their way to
a church picnic.

CHP investigators believe the driver swerved to avoid another vehicle
and then flipped, crashing into the center wall and ejecting at least
three of its occupants, who were not wearing seat belts. The boy
landed on the Gold Line tracks, where his foot was severed by a
train.

Members of the Armenian Brotherhood Bible Church on Washington
Boulevard in Pasadena mourned the deaths and worried about the status
of the injured throughout the day Friday.

Alice Basmadjian, 82, who died in the crash, was remembered as a
woman who was always smiling, according to friends at the church. Her
funeral may be held Wednesday, church officials said.

Church secretary Azniv Ailanjian was uncertain about the condition of
the other injured women. Two of the victims remained hospitalized and
two were released Thursday from Huntington Hospital, she said.

Pregnant woman dies in crash; husband hurt

GLENDALE — A crash Thursday on the Ventura (134) Freeway claimed the
lives of a Pasadena woman and her unborn child and seriously injured
her husband, CHP officials said.

Barbara Scollard, 40, died in the accident, and her husband, Craig,
was injured, authorities said. Barbara Scollard was pronounced dead
at the scene of the accident, which happened at 1:48 p.m. Thursday in
the westbound lanes just east of the Glendale Freeway.

Unknown lumps found on Jupiter satellite

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE — Nearly a year after NASA intentionally
crashed its Galileo spacecraft into Jupiter’s atmosphere, researchers
from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and UCLA have detected irregular
lumps, which may be rock formations, beneath the frozen surface of
Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede, from data it collected more than
seven years ago.

They report their findings in the current issue of the journal
Science.

The lumps sit in the interior of the icy satellite, with no visible
features associated with them appearing on the surface. The
scientists believe this means near surface ice most be strong enough
to support the bulging masses from sinking to the bottom of the ice
for billions of years. However, the same effect could be caused by
rock piles beneath the ice, according to a written statement prepared
by JPL.

“They could also be in a layer of mixed ice and rock below the
surface with variations in the amount of rock,’ said John Anderson, a
scientist at JPL and the paper’s lead author, in the written
statement. “There are many possibilities, and we need to do more
studies.’

The scientists stumbled on the reported results when studying
measurements of Ganymede’s gravity field during Galileo’s second
flyby of the moon in 1996.

Arcadia police join anti-drinking campaign

ARCADIA — The city and its Police Department will participate in the
national “You Drink and Drive, You Lose’ campaign from Aug. 27 to
Sept. 12.

The crackdown is the first nationwide effort since all states adopted
0.08 blood alcohol level content as the standard for impaired
driving.

During this period, the Police Department will establish a checkpoint
and increase the amount of patrolling in the area.

To report impaired drivers, call the police department at (626)
574-5150.

Concert in the Parks finale set Aug. 31

PASADENA — The finale for the free Concert in the Parks series Aug.
31 will feature the Great American Swing Band at the Levitt Pavilion
in Memorial Park.

The band will perform hits from the 1940s big band era, including
music from Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman among others.

For more information, call the Pasadena Senior Center at (626)
795-4331 or visit

Orchestra to honor Lloyd Webber, Puccini

ARCADIA — The California Philharmonic will perform “Andrew Lloyd
Webber Meets Puccini’ on Aug. 31 at Festival on the Green at the Los
Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden.

The orchestra will perform music that includes Webber’s “Jesus Christ
Superstar,’ “Evita,’ “Phantom of the Opera,’ in addition to Puccini’s
“Tosca’ and “Turandot.’

The evening begins with preconcert activities at 5:30 p.m. The
concert begins at 7:30.

Tickets are free, but reservations must be made by Aug. 17 to Jerry
Rosengren at (626) 292-1400.

The arboretum is at 301 N Baldwin Ave.

Chorus to present concert and social

ARCADIA — The Verdugo Hills Showtime Chorus invites the public to
its sixth annual ice cream social, “Pick Yourself Up,’ on Aug. 22 at
the Arcadia Community Center.

The event begins at 2 p.m. and will feature regional award-winning
quartets in addition to performances by the Verdugo Hills Showtime
Chorus.

The social costs $12 per person and includes ice cream and coffee.
Group discounts are available.

For tickets or for more information, visit
or call (877) SING-OUT or Mary Dakan at
(818) 848-2467.

City of Hope plans informational luncheon

DUARTE — The City of Hope will host a luncheon and discussion on
blood, platelet and bone marrow donations Aug. 26 at the Old
Spaghetti Factory.

Kevin Collins, director of Blood and Platelet Recruitment Programs
Development, will speak about the City of Hope Cancer Center’s most
recent developments in research and treatment and the significance of
donations.

The event will also feature the testimony of a bone marrow transplant
survivor who has depended on blood and platelet donors.

Tickets cost $13.50. To make a reservation or for more information,
call (626) 256-4673, ext. 62347. The Old Spaghetti Factory is at 1431
Buena Vista Ave, Duarte.

To donate blood or platelets, please call (626) 471-7171.

NewsCentralAsia, Asia
Aug 14 2004

Silence is Complicity – Responses to the Third World and Muslim
Holocausts
Dr. Gideon Polya

[This is the last part of the 5-parts series.]

United Nations demographic data from 1950 to the present have enabled
calculation of the `excess mortality’ (avoidable mortality) for every
country over that period – `excess mortality’ being defined as the
difference between the ACTUAL deaths in a country and the deaths
EXPECTED for a decently-run, peaceful country with the same
demographics.

The results are startling and horrifying. The total post-1950 `excess
mortality’ has been 1284 million for the whole world, comprised of 54
million for European countries (Australasia, Israel, North America
and Europe) and 1230 million for the non-European countries. The
post-1950 `excess mortality’ of the Third World is estimated to be
about 1 billion and that of the Muslim world about half a billion.

The 1 billion Third World Holocaust and the half-billion Muslim
Holocaust constitute the greatest crime in human history and demand
immediate international action. Crucially required international
actions over this immense crime can be summarized simply as
Cessation, Acknowledgement, Apology, Amends and Acceptance of
non-repetition – acronym CAAAA. The acronym CAAAA is appropriately
the mournful cry of the crow, the near-universal, black scavenger of
the dead.

Cessation of global mass mortality

The total, annual, global avoidable mortality from deprivation and
malnourishment-exacerbated disease is about 20 million or 55,000
people per day. To put this into a human framework, it is as if
somewhere in the world one major soccer stadium packed with fans is
completely obliterated EVERY DAY. We have trouble dealing with large
numbers as individuals and as societies. Thus the potential fate of
one threatened hostage will horrify billions of people throughout the
world for a week – but 55,000 avoidable deaths a day is somehow
regarded as `normal’ for the Third World and Muslim adults and
children who are dying.

There is usually one compelling reason for doing anything but lots of
arguments for not doing it. The one compelling argument for trying to
stop this 55,000 a day massacre of the innocents is that every life
is sacred – if it were your life at stake in the Third World you
would certainly want the clean water, soap, mosquito netting, minimal
food, shelter, security and primary health care that can be provided
for you at a cost of several dollars a day. It will not happen
because, for example, the world (armed by the First World) has a
priority military expenditure of about US$800 billion a year or
US$40,000 dollars a year for each of the 20 million who perish
avoidably annually.

Of course immediate cessation of economic constraint, war and
military occupation would be useful, as seen in the example of Iraq.
It is estimated that the financial cost of the Iraq débacle to the US
will come to about US$200 billion. However the human cost to Iraq
(population 25 million) is an annual under-5 infant mortality of
about 100,000 – as compared to a figure of about 1000 for the
occupying Coalition nation Australia (population 20 million)
(UNICEF-based estimates). This largely unreported, massacre of the
innocents is continuing because the Coalition wrecked the water,
sewerage, electricity and other infrastructure, wrecked the economy,
does not provide security, continues to bomb and strafe cities and
funds medical services at only 4% of that required under the Geneva
Convention.

Acknowledgement of the greatest crime in history

The Germans and Austrians have acknowledged the crimes of the Nazi
era. Further, denial of the Jewish Holocaust (6 million victims) is
illegal in Germany, Austria, Israel, France and Switzerland and is
punishable by fines and imprisonment. The same moral measure should
apply to man-made, mass mortality elsewhere in the world – but
unfortunately the First World-dominated media largely ignore the 1
billion Third World Holocaust and the half-billion Muslim Holocaust.
Indeed the man-made famine in British-ruled Bengal (4 million
victims) that occurred at the same time as the Jewish Holocaust has
been largely deleted from British and world history.

>From a basic scientific perspective, failure to sensibly acknowledge
massive realities blatantly undercuts the whole scientific process
and prevents any rational solutions being developed. No solution will
be found if the problem has been rubbed out. Ethical and humane
people cannot ignore the blatant, general holocaust denial by
academics, politicians, governments and mainstream media in relation
to the Third World and the Muslim world – they must respond
positively by informing and educating the world and punitively, by
exposing, excluding and boycotting these intrinsically racist
holocaust deniers.

Of course, the holocaust deniers could argue that high mortality is
somehow `normal’ for developing countries (an assertion contradicted
by many examples of developing countries with excellent mortality
statistics). They could further argue that there is a distinction
between violent death and genocide (as in German South West Africa,
Turkish Armenia, the Jewish Holocaust, South Asian Partition and
Rwanda) and mass mortality associated with man-made famine and
avoidable, curable disease in occupied or neo-colonial countries.
However whether a person dies violently or from avoidable disease or
deprivation, the end result is the same. Further, as described in
Sven Lindquist’s important book `Exterminate All the Brutes’, the
racism of the brutal colonial and neo-colonial European occupiers of
the non-European world is ideologically directly linked with the
genocidal racism in Nazi Europe.

Apology permits healing and reconciliation

Peace can be achieved under the weight of cost-benefit analysis –
although the same analysis has instructed the US and the UK that war
in Iraq and its endless continuation globally (as in George Orwell’s
`1984′) will be immensely profitable for their respective
military-industrial complexes. On the other hand, healing and
reconciliation require simple, sincere apology as demonstrated by
post-Apartheid South Africa and current global attitudes to Germany
and Japan. Lack of reconciliation will lead back to conflict, as
illustrated by Europe in the 1930s. The Gypsies (Rom) of Europe (who
originated from India a millennium ago) have not been given the
fulsome apology offered to the Jews for the Nazi era genocide and are
still being persecuted in Europe. Of course, an apology presupposes
cessation and acknowledgement of the Third World and Muslim
Holocausts.

Amends – mandatory war crimes trials and compensation

The 1 billion Third World Holocaust and the half-billion Muslim
Holocaust cry out for Justice that cannot be denied. Justice for the
victims of the Nazi era meant war crimes trials for those responsible
and attempted compensation for the surviving victims – the Third
World deserves the same.

War crimes trials should primarily involve the First World leaders
responsible over the last half century for the Third
World-devastating impositions of militarization, debt, malignant
interference, corrupt client régimes, threat, sanctions, war,
invasion, occupation, economic distortion and economic exclusion. The
magnitude of the crimes can be glimpsed from just a few statistics:
the value of First World arms supplies to the Third World from
1991-1998 totalled US$172 billion; the current annual world military
expenditure totals US$800 billion, of which half is that of the US;
it has been estimated that the Iraq conflict alone will cost the US
US$200 billion; the post-1950 `excess mortality’ in Iraq and
Afghanistan has been 5.2 million and 16.2 million, respectively.

What can compensate the people of Sierra Leone or East Timor for whom
the post-1950 death toll means almost one avoidable death for every
person alive in those countries today? The obscenity of the
continuing, 90-year duration, First World violation of Iraq can be
seen in the under-5 infant deaths per thousand live births in
oil-rich, Muslim Iraq (133) and in modestly-endowed but peaceful and
democratic, largely Muslim Malaysia (8) (2001 UNICEF data). If the
US$800 billion annual global military expenditure were allocated to
Third World people it would give them an annual income increment of
over US$200 per head. There is plenty of `fat’ in the rich First
World for compensation by direct payment in cash or kind, debt
elimination and trade equalization.

Acceptance of no repetition, `never again’

The inner strength of Israel derives from the post-Holocaust
resolution of `never again’. Unfortunately Cold War rivalry, US
aggressiveness, Arab hostility and Israeli intransigence have meant
that the Palestinians have been the post-war victims of the Jewish
Holocaust. Nevertheless the Third World and the Muslim World must
learn from the thoroughly justified and unwavering Jewish resolution
of `never again’. The 1 billion Third World Holocaust and the
half-billion Muslim Holocaust must stop now – and must never be
repeated.

It is unfortunate that a history of colonial occupation and
neo-colonial arrangements has so distorted highly-compromised,
corrupt, client and mendicant governments in the Third World that the
appalling mass mortality reality is still not a front page issue in a
world flooded with `information’. If Third World and Muslim leaders
ignore the continuing holocaust, what hope is there for the victims?
With Third World populations still increasing and US-driven global
warming set to decrease crop productivity in much of the tropical and
sub-tropical world, a window of opportunity for humane global
reorganization is rapidly disappearing.

Many of the prosperous citizens of the aggressive First World
countries have in effect become `arm chair Nazis’ in democracies
largely oblivious to their complicity in the carnage being wrought in
the Third World. Insidious `democratic Nazism’ rapidly developed into
” totalitarian Nazism” in 1930s Germany. “Democratic Nazism” is now
returning with a rampant, imperialist, human rights-abusing US,
backed by the Anglo sycophants of the UK and Australia. One hopes
that this will be increasingly resisted by the huge reservoir of
truthful, democratic, humane decency in the US and the rest of the
English-speaking world – reflected in people such as Tariq Ali, Noam
Chomsky, George Monbiot, Michael Moore (`Fahrenheit 9/11′), John
Pilger and Arundhati Roy.

Global mass mortality will ultimately be halted by truth and reason,
by informing, education and resolute advocacy, principally in the
aggressive First World countries that are the major players in this
continuing disaster. Intellectual and political leaders in the
developing world (especially women and mothers) have a crucial role
in informing the potentially responsive First World about the
horrendous realities of the Third World and Muslim Holocausts.
Silence is complicity – inform others.

About the author: Dr Gideon Polya of Melbourne, Australia published
some 130 works in a 4-decade scientific career including the
pharmacological reference text `Biochemical Targets of Plant
Bioactive Compounds’ (Taylor & Francis/CRC Press, London & New York,
2003).

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Aug 14 2004

The Ministry of IT and Communications Stops the Armenian Broadcasting

The Ministry of Information Technologies and Communictations
constructed special transmitters to prevent the broadcasting of
Armenian TVs and radios in Azerbaijani territories, Azadinform
reported on Friday.

The transmitters are contsructed in the territories of Tartar, Oghuz
and Poylu stations. These transmitters will stop the brodcast of
Armenian TV and radios to Azerbaijani areas near the Armenian
borders.

The same problem exixsts with the Iranian broadcasters. Azerbaijani
and Iranian parties have already finished negotiations and signed
several documents to prevent the broacasting of Iranian TVs and
radios to Azeri districts situated near the Iranian border. In spite
of this Iranian side still hasn’t made any attempts to stop the
broadcatsing of Iranian programs in Azerbaijani districts.

Tulare Advance Register, CA
Aug 14 2004

Good Deeds; Good News

Often good deeds and good news go unnoticed. This column, which runs
every Saturday, provides an avenue to get those good deeds and that
good news into the paper.

Here are this week’s items:

Good deeds

Principal excited about Ag-science students

Sundale Principal Cliff Gordon is excited about the work the kids in
the school’s Ag-science classes continue to do, and a cleanup on
Friday was no exception.

“Ag-science is part of the curriculum,” Gordon said. “The kids do
different things in relation to beautification of the school. The
work they’re doing [Friday] is part of a last-minute, final cleanup
because we’re getting ready to plant grass for a new baseball and
football field.”

The students aren’t the only ones working. Sundale parent volunteers
put in an irrigation system for the 16 acres of land purchased by the
school for the recreation area. The site is just north of the school
on Lovers Lane.

No buildings will be constructed on the land. It’s reserved for
recreation like soccer, football, baseball and a little park for the
Sundale community.

In three weeks, the Ag-science students will cut Ber-muda grass from
a neighboring farmer and replant it at the school.

“They probably do a lot of our landscaping as part of their
curriculum,” Gordon said. “But, even though it’s part of the
curriculum, if a student says that’s not something they want to do we
find an alternative for them. None of them have to do it.”

Administrators said they hope to have the site ready for baseball in
spring.

FFA officer visits Washington, D.C.

Grace Berryhill, 18, of Tulare was one of more than 100 FFA officers
who gathered in Washington, D.C., last month to strengthen skills in
leadership and citizenship and discuss national FFA business as part
of the National FFA State Presidents’ Conference.

Berryhill is the daughter of Bruce and Carol Berryhill. She is the
president of the California FFA Association.

The group attended the conference to prepare for their
responsibilities as delegates and committee chairs for the 2004
National FFA Convention, to be held in Louisville, Ky., Oct. 27-30.

FFA is a national youth organization of 464,267 student members
preparing for

leadership careers in science, business and technology of
agriculture, with 7,194 chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and
the Virgin Islands. Information:

Former Tularean receives Fresno honor

Former Tularean Evelyn Michigian of Fresno was one of 40 Fresnan’s
depicted in “Fresno’s Finest Faces: Common Citizens Working for the
Common Good.”

This photographic exhibition by Jose Garza and Shari Savage was on
display at Fresno City Hall.

In addition to serving as librarian and administrative assistant to
the Fresno First Armenian Presbyterian Church Chancel and Choir,
Michigian serves as a volunteer staff member of United Way and serves
in the day surgery waiting room at Children’s Hospital Central
California.

Michigian graduated from Tulare Union High School with the class of
1943.

If you have a good deed to recognize, or good news to share, call the
Tulare Advance-Register newsroom at 688-0521.