Author: Jabejian Elizabeth

SYSTEM’S DOWN: SERJ TANKIAN
Glenn Dixon

Express from The Washington Post
/05/systems_down_serj_tankian.php
May 15 2008
DC

ASIDE FROM RAW POLITICAL FERVOR, one of the things that sets
System of a Down apart from the host of nu-metal also-rans was the
Armenian-American quartet’s defiantly non-Western sound.

But when asked to get all music-theoretical on it, the guy behind
some of the most distinctive hard-rock harmonies since Alice in Chains
shrugs it off.

"I try to get on scales that don’t make me look fat," Serj Tankian
deadpans. "I have no idea, ’cause I’ve never studied music. I really
just do whatever comes naturally to me."

Though born in Beirut, he doesn’t dwell on his songs’ Middle Eastern
vibe:

"I think it’s more in my voice than in my music, to be honest, kind of
like a deep melancholy that comes from the Old World with an optimism
that comes from the New."

The words he pens are a similar no-go. Here’s an odd bit from "The
Unthinking Majority," the second track off Tankian’s solo debut,
"Elect the Dead": "Anti-depressants / Controlling tools of your system
/ Making life more tolerable / Making life more tolerable."

There’s no mistaking the critical tone, but is he pulling a Tom Cruise?

Apparently, the antidepressants Tankian tackles needn’t come from CVS.

"I usually like leaving lyrics pretty much open to interpretation,"
he replies. "When you ask me a question in terms of what I think
about life or civilization or whatnot, I respond pretty openly. But
when it comes to lyrics, I kinda like having the listener internalize
it and live with it and decide what it means. Because over the years
I’ve realized that, just like music, lyrics don’t necessarily solely
belong to the songwriter. They come from somewhere else, from beyond
us, in terms of inspiration. And sometimes the meaning is elusive
even to the person who wrote it."

Still, many of the fans drawn to the 9:30 Club Thursday will be there
for Tankian’s sharp-tongued point of view.

He’s on record as thinking that globally we’ve reached a dead end:

"We’re so addicted to the concept of civilization that we can’t
imagine living ‘outside’ this city called civilization. What would
happen if civilization crashed? No one ever says that."

He decries the tendency to think of war, global warming, population
growth and the consumption of natural resources as separate issues.

"I always see the new world as a more local type of world," he says. "I
don’t see large cities. I see very small communes. I see naturally
produced energy. I see naturally and locally grown organic food. I
see a very beautiful, modern community that still utilizes a high
amount of technology but lives in a very plain type of way."

What’s perhaps weirdest about our conversation is that the voluble
yet somehow easygoing Tankian never comes off defeated.

Knowing he doesn’t have all the answers doesn’t keep the questions
from rocking like hell.

" 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW; 7:30 p.m. $25; 800-955-5566. (U St.-Cardozo)

KHACHATUROV OFF TO BRUSSELS

A1+
[12:17 pm] 14 May, 2008

The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic
of Armenia, First Deputy Defense Minister, Colonel-General Yuri
Khachaturov will participate in the spring sitting of the Chiefs of
General Staffs of the Armed Forces of NATO member states and partner
countries to be held at NATO headquarters in Brussels on May 14.

The sitting will feature representatives of about 60 countries from
NATO member and non-member states, from the Partnership for Peace
and the Mediterranean Dialogue, Ukraine and Russia. The meetings are
aimed at exchanging experience and forming military opinions on the
high level.

Colonel-General Yuri Khachaturov will participate also in the sitting
of the Military Committee of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
and the sitting on Kosovo behind closed doors. .

"KAROT" INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL IN MOSCOW
By Marietta Makarian

AZG Armenian Daily #092
15/05/2008

Culture

On May 13, Armenian Culture First International Festival under
heading "Karot" opened in Moscow Glinka Musical Culture Museum with
the exhibition of the Armenian artists. The festival will continue
until May 19.

Concerts, exhibitions, meetings with writers, film exhibitions and
also the Armenian kitchen contest will be held in the framework of
the festival.

On May 14, a performance based on Perch Zeytuntsian~Rs dramatical
piece will be premiered in Armen Dzigarkhanian Theatre.

The main event of the festival will be the gala concert in Kremlin
on May 15.

The same day, well-known composer Arno Babadzanian~Rs memorial plaque
will be opened in Moscow.

President of the Union of Armenians in Russia Ara Abrahamian assured
that the festival will become annual. "Similar events are uniting
the nations, and they are very important not only for the Armenians
in Russia, but also for all the Russian people".

MAIN PLANNING CONFERENCE OF "JOINT ARROW, JOINT HENCHMAN AND BRAVE TROT" TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN

ARMENPRESS
May 13, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 13, ARMENPRESS: The main planning conference of the
"Joint Arrow, Joint Henchman and Brave Trot 2008" drillings will be
held in Yerevan from May 14 to 16 within the framework of the NATO’s
Partnership for Peace program, spokesman for Armenian Defense Ministry
Seyran Shahsuvarian told Armenpress.

AIRPLANES ARE THE PRIORITY OR FOR WHOM IS "UNFREEZING" OF THE CONFLICT IN THE CAUCASUS BENEFICIAL?
by Alla Prisyazhnyuk

DEFENSE and SECURITY
May 12, 2008 Monday
Russia

The independence of Abkhazia may lead to problems with revision of
borders between the former subjects of the Soviet Union

ARE HOSTILITIES POSSIBLE ON THE TERRITORY OF ABKHAZIA?; From the
strategic standpoint neither Georgia, nor Russia nor the West are
interested in a local war in the North Caucasus. Any shot in the region
that is waiting for big money may be fatal. Russia is preparing for
the Winter Olympics of 2014 in Sochi. Americans are protecting the
strategically important oil pipeline Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and are
cherishing plans to build the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline. However,
opinions of the parties about the ways to solve the Abkhaz problem
differed. The question who pulls the strings of the Georgian-Abkhaz
conflict – Tbilisi, Moscow or Washington – remains unanswered.

>From the strategic standpoint neither Georgia, nor Russia nor the West
are interested in a local war in the North Caucasus. Any shot in the
region that is waiting for big money may be fatal. Russia is preparing
for the Winter Olympics of 2014 in Sochi. Americans are protecting
the strategically important oil pipeline Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and are
cherishing plans to build the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline.

However, opinions of the parties about the ways to solve the
Abkhaz problem differed. The question who pulls the strings of the
Georgian-Abkhaz conflict – Tbilisi, Moscow or Washington – remains
unanswered.

Russia goes too far

The "thaw" of the Georgian conflict, started four years ago, is in
full swing. In 2008, it is going on with the active participation of
Russia. At first, the Russian Defense Minister announced an increase of
the quantity of CIS peacekeepers in Abkhazia from 2,000 to 3,000 and an
arrangement of 15 additional checkpoints. Six weeks ago, Vladimir Putin
issued decrees on the development of relations with these regions.

It is also understandable why it is Abkhazia and not South Ossetia
that is in the focus of Russian-Georgian conflict. First, there is a
deposit of gravel in Abkhazia which is the closest to Sochi and gravel
is used as construction material for Olympic objects. Georgia refers to
environmental problems and protests against gravel extraction. Second,
the Abkhaz labor force is cheaper. Third, Russian passports have been
handed out actively in Abkhazia, which should substantiate actions
of Russia aimed at defending the rights of its citizens.

Pretended war

Experts offer two main versions for escalation of the conflict in the
North Caucasus. The first and the most popular version is that Mikhail
Saakashvili has dared to undertake a risky independent game hoping
to win parliamentary elections on the wave of Georgian patriotism,
to purge the sponsors of the opposition and to increase his rating.

The second version is based on the "American trace." An American
show is being played in the North Caucasus in which the conflicts
in Abkhazia and South Ossetia serve as a disguise for preparation of
the operation in Iran. Sergei Tolstov, director of the institute of
political analysis and international studies, says that "Everything
depends on whether the decision on an attack on Iran is made. If the
decision is positive, according to one of the versions, Saakashvili
simply creates a distractive maneuver."

Future of the Russian-Georgian conflict

Are hostilities possible on the territory of Abkhazia? One way or
the other, everything shows that the parties will not risk starting
a military operation. This war is not beneficial for anyone. Victor
Konstantinov, researcher of the institute for study of Russia, remarks,
"Russia raises the stakes in this game moving combat-ready troops to
Abkhazia to deprive Georgians of the temptation to get involved into
this war." According to Tolstov, the downed airplane actually became
a demonstration of military power of Abkhazia capable of preventing
flights of reconnaissance airplanes above its territory.

At any rate, it is obvious that in case of a war in Abkhazia, Tbilisi
will not be able to resist Russia without American support. For the
US the Georgian problem is far from being its first priority. In
turn, Russia is afraid that in case of at least one shot near Sochi,
the license for conduction of the Olympics may be, if not taken away,
then sanctions will be imposed for sure. Besides, in case of an armed
conflict, Moscow will face harsh pressure on the part of the US and
European Union. If the Abkhaz conflict is viewed as an attempt to
postpone joining Georgia to the NATO Membership Action Plan, it is
bound to fail.

Finally, if the matter comes to this, Russia will have to fight in
Abkhazia all alone, says Sergei Markedonov, director of the section
of problems of inter-ethnic relations of the institute of political
and military analysis. Neither Ukraine, nor Azerbaijan will support
it. Armenia having only two outlets to the outer world via Iran and
Georgia is excluded too. Kazakhstan has problems of its own.

This is just another way that the Russian party tries to present
the Abkhaz situation as a negative consequence of Kosovo’s
self-determination. The Russian expert draws a grim picture: "The
independence of Abkhazia will lead to many other problems: a revision
of post-Soviet borders between the former subjects of the Soviet
Union. This is a precedent worse than Kosovo because in relations with
the Ukraine, there are skeletons in the closet (Crimea, Donbass). There
are questions in the relations with Kazakhstan too. Besides, there
are problems in Ukrainian-Belarusian relations like Polesye, although
they are not so obvious. There are also border disputes with Estonia."

Keep right: Exclusive interview with DVP
Atom Egoyan’s new film Adoration

TheStar.com – entertainment
May 09, 2008
Peter Howell
tom Egoyan’s new film Adoration is still under wraps, awaiting its world
premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, which begins Wednesday.
But the Toronto filmmaker let slip that a certain well-known Hogtown highway
plays a significant role in it. "In this one, it’s resolutely Toronto," he
told me recently. "Not only that, one of the major characters is the Don
Valley Parkway. You’ll see."
My curiosity is revving hot. How could a highway, especially the
traffic-clogged DVP, be considered a "character"?
Is Egoyan just blowing smoke? Is he spinning his wheels?
Then I got to thinking. The DVP has many moods, just like any serious actor.
It can transport us to places we’ve never been, and also take us right back
home. It can slam us into our seats, or drive us into despair. It can
callously dump us in the ditch and leave us stranded.
There are times when the DVP is a thrill ride. Other times, it’s a nightmare
journey.
And how about the look?
It has a face like concrete, but its many wrinkles make it seem softer. And
it can be slippery.
So maybe there’s something to this. In Steve Martin’s L.A. Story, the
electronic traffic signs on the freeway act as a sort of Greek chorus,
commenting on the action and instructing Martin’s character, a lovelorn TV
weatherman.
Could our own DVP be as lively? I went for a spin on the Parkway and bagged
this exclusive interview with Toronto’s newest movie star.
Q. DVP, every Torontonian is wondering how you’ll fare on the international
stage when Adoration premieres at Cannes. Are you nervous?
A. FASTEN SEAT BELTS. THEY SAVE LIVES.
Q. So you’re saying that Adoration is a thriller? Is somebody in jeopardy?
Are your potholes out of control?
A. DVP MOVING SLOWLY TO LAWRENCE.
Q. Yes, Egoyan does like to take his time setting a story up. But what
happens at Lawrence Ave.? Or is it somebody named Lawrence? Or are you
referring to the author D. H. Lawrence? Knowing Egoyan, it’s probably
something really freaky.
A. CONGESTED FROM LAWRENCE TO YORK MILLS.
Q. So you’re saying there are multiple characters in the film, and that the
mid-section gets a little crowded? And what happens at York Mills? Throw me a
bone here, DVP.
A. ROAD WORK AHEAD. LANES NARROWING.
Q. Are you referring to the more intimate filmmaking style Egoyan says he
returned to for Adoration? Was this difficult for him? And how about you?
Is the road to hell really paved with good intentions?
A. SHARE THE ROAD. SIGNAL LANE CHANGES.
Q. I get it. So you’re saying that Egoyan is being more inclusive this time,
but that maybe he’s heading in a bold new direction?
A. HWY 401 EAST EXPRESS AND COLLECTORS MOVING WELL.
Q. That’s generous of you to mention a competing highway and to offer such
fulsome praise. Has the experience making Adoration made you want to do more
movie work?
A. WHAT I REALLY WANT TO DO IS DIRECT … TRAFFIC.
[email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected])

Vatican Radio, The Vatican
May 9 2008

Pope Speaks of Immense Task of Rebuilding Church in Armenia

(09 May 08- RV) Pope Benedict XVI met Friday with Catholicos Karekin,
Patriarch of All Armenia.

The two men met ahead of an ecumenical service, presided over by Pope
Benedict which saw the participation of members of the Armenian Church
travelling with the Patriarch.

During the ceremony held in the Clementine hall of the Apostolic
Palace, Pope Benedict XVI delivered the following discourse:

Your Holiness,
Dear Brothers in Christ,

It is with heartfelt joy that I welcome Your Holiness, and the
distinguished delegation accompanying you. I cordially greet the
prelates, priests and lay-people who represent the worldwide family of
the Catholicosate of All Armenians. We come together in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who promised his disciples that `where two or
three are gathered in my name, I am there among them’ (Mt 18:20). May
the spirit of brotherly love and service, which Jesus taught to his
disciples, enlighten our hearts and minds, as we exchange our
greetings, hold our conversations and gather in prayer.

I gratefully recall the visits of Catholicos Vasken I and Catholicos
Karekin I to the Church of Rome, and their cordial relations with my
venerable predecessors Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. Their
striving for Christian unity opened a new era in relations between
us. I recall with particular joy Your Holiness’ visit to Rome in 2000
and your meeting with Pope John Paul II. The ecumenical liturgy in the
Vatican Basilica, celebrating the gift of a relic of Saint Gregory the
Illuminator, was one of the most memorable events of the Great Jubilee
in Rome. Pope John Paul II returned that visit by travelling to
Armenia in 2001, where You graciously hosted him at Holy
Etchmiadzin. The warm welcome you gave him on that occasion further
increased his esteem and respect for the Armenian people. The
Eucharist celebrated by Pope John Paul II on the great outdoor altar,
within the enclosure of Holy Etchmiadzin, was a further sign of
growing mutual acceptance, in expectation of the day when we will be
able to celebrate together at the one table of the Lord.

Tomorrow evening, each of us, in our respective traditions, will begin
the liturgical celebration of Pentecost. Fifty days after the
Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will pray earnestly to the
Father, asking him to send his Holy Spirit, the Spirit whose task it
is to maintain us in divine love and lead us into all truth. We will
pray in a particular way for the unity of the Church. On Pentecost
day, it was the Holy Spirit who created from the many languages of the
crowds assembled in Jerusalem one single voice to profess the
faith. It is the Holy Spirit who brings about the Church’s unity. The
path towards the restoration of full and visible communion among all
Christians may seem long and arduous. Much remains to be done to heal
the deep and painful divisions that disfigure Christ’s Body. The Holy
Spirit, however, continues to guide the Church in surprising and often
unexpected ways. He can open doors that are locked, inspire words that
have been forgotten, heal relations that are broken. If our hearts and
minds are open to the Spirit of communion, God can work miracles again
in the Church, restoring the bonds of unity. Striving for Christian
unity is an act of obedient trust in the work of the Holy Spirit, who
leads the Church to the full realization of the Father’s plan, in
conformity with the will of Christ.

The recent history of the Armenian Apostolic Church has been written
in the contrasting colours of persecution and martyrdom, darkness and
hope, humiliation and spiritual re-birth. Your Holiness and the
members of your delegation have personally lived through these
contrasting experiences in your families and in your own lives. The
restoration of freedom to the Church in Armenia has been a source of
great joy for us all. An immense task of rebuilding the Church has
been laid on your shoulders. I cannot but voice my great esteem for
the remarkable pastoral results that have been achieved in such a
short time, both in Armenia and abroad, for the Christian education of
young people, for the training of new clergy, for building new
churches and community centres, for charitable assistance to those in
need, and for promoting Christian values in social and cultural
life. Thanks to your pastoral leadership, the glorious light of Christ
shines again in Armenia and the saving words of the Gospel can be
heard once more. Of course, you are still facing many challenges on
the social, cultural and spiritual levels. In this regard, I must
mention the recent difficulties suffered by the people of Armenia, and
I express the prayerful support of the Catholic Church in their search
for justice and peace and the promotion of the common good.

In our ecumenical dialogue, important progress has been made in
clarifying the doctrinal controversies that have traditionally divided
us, particularly over questions of Christology. During the last five
years, much has been achieved by the Joint Commission for Theological
Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox
Churches, of which the Catholicosate of All Armenians is a full
member. I thank Your Holiness for the support given to the work of the
Joint Commission and for the valuable contribution made by your
representatives. We pray that its activity will bring us closer to
full and visible communion, and that the day will come when our unity
in faith makes possible a common celebration of the Eucharist. Until
that day, the bonds between us are best consolidated and extended by
agreements on pastoral issues, in line with the degree of doctrinal
agreement already attained. Only when sustained by prayer and
supported by effective cooperation, can theological dialogue lead to
the unity that the Lord wishes for his disciples.

Your Holiness, dear friends: in the twelfth century, Nerses of Lambron
addressed a group of Armenian Bishops. He concluded his famous Synodal
Discourse on the restoration of Christian unity with visionary words,
that still affect us today: `You are not wrong, Venerable Fathers: it
is meritorious to weep over days past in discord. However, today is
the day that the Lord has made, a day of gladness and joy (¦) Let
us then pray in order that our Lord give tenderness, sweetness in
greater abundance still, and that He develop on earth, by the dew of
the Holy Spirit, this seed; perhaps, thanks to His power may we also
produce fruits; so that we may restore the peace of the Church of
Christ today in intention, tomorrow in fact’. This is also my
prayerful wish on the occasion of your visit. I thank you most warmly
and assure you of my deep affection in the Lord.

rticolo.asp?c4385

Armenian Lawmakers Waiting for Opinion Letter from European Experts

YEREVAN, May 8. /ARKA/. European experts will voice their opinion about
the amendments to Armenia’s law on meetings and processions before May
25.

If the opinion letter comes on May 19, the Parliament may pass the bill
in the first reading at its next four-day session, Speaker of the RA
Parliament Tigran Torosyan said.

On April 16, the Armenian side and experts of the Venice Commission and
of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutes and Human Rights (ODIHR)
reached an agreement on amendments to the law.

At his meeting with EU Special Envoy for South Caucasus Peter Semneby
Speaker Torosyan stated that the bill law was based on the memorandum
signed with European experts.

The Speaker said that after March events, the RA President set up a
group to consider the problems pointed out by international
organizations and find solutions.

The group will cooperate with international experts.

Torosyan also said that another group was set up at the RA Parliament
to study international organizations’ proposals for improving election
processes. The group is to submit proposals for improving Armenia’s
election law to the RA Parliament.

He expressed hope that all proposals will be summarized by mid-June and
ready for a joint discussion with international experts.

On March 18, the then Armenian President Robert Kocharyan signed
amendments to the law on meetings and processions to prevent the
recurrence of the March 1 events.

The amendments impose restrictions on public events if they pose a
threat to law and order in the country.-0–

Hrayr Karapetyan: We must do our best so as not to have political
prisoners in Armenia

2008-05-08 17:36:00

ArmInfo. We must do our best so as not to have political prisoners in
Armenia, the leader of the parliamentary group of ARF Dashnaktsoutyun
Hrayr Karapetyan said in an interview to ArmInfo.

At the same time, the people who committed crimes during the Mar 1
events must be punished. As a member of the working group investigating
the Mar 1 events ARFD member Armen Rustamyan will do
his best to fulfill the tasks set by the President. "Perhaps, in the
near future we will have to set up an interim parliamentary commission
to study this problem," Karapetyan said.

PRESS RELEASE
Fuller Center for Housing Armenia
Baghramyan 3rd lane, House 10 A
Yerevan, Armenia

Contact: Meri Poghosyan
Tel: 374-94-480313
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:

Fuller Center Opens Program in Armenia with 1-to-1 Match

YEREVAN, ARMENIA, MAY 8, 2008 The rapidly-growing Fuller Center for Housing
ministry is pleased to welcome The Fuller Center-Armenia to our world-wide
family. A Partnership Covenant was signed with the organizing group there on
May 2nd, and Millard Fuller has announced that the first $100,000 raised for
the Armenian program will be matched 1-to-1, so that $200,000 can be sent to
begin building immediately.

The Fuller Center for Housing Armenia will build and renovate homes in
partnership with God’s people in need so that all Armenians may have a safe,
comfortable, simple home which is affordable to own and to maintain. Fuller
Center Armenia is a nonprofit ministry which charges no interest, thereby
witnessing God’s love in action and advocating for the right to decent
shelter.

The leaders of The Fuller Center-Armenia have solid experience in building
and renovating houses for God’s people in need. They propose innovative
approaches that will serve the needs of many Armenians in an economic and
regulatory environment that makes building there more expensive than it is
in many other parts of the world. Part of their work will be with families
who own their own land and have started building a house but lack the funds
to complete it. There are many such families throughout the country,
families who need capital, not charity. The Fuller Center will provide these
families with the materials and construction expertise they need to finish
their homes.

Another focus area will be with families who own apartments that are in need
of repair. Like most former Soviet countries, Armenia is dotted with huge
apartment complexes. Since independence, many of those apartments have been
privatized, but many are in disrepair. The Fuller Center will help families
in these apartments refurbish their homes and make them safe, sound and
hygienic.

The UN estimates that 40,000 Armenian families lack permanent shelter.
Following the devastating earthquake in 1989, thousands of families were
moved into shipping containers brought in from across the Soviet Union. The
containers were intended to be temporary houses until new ones could be
built, but now, 19 years later, thousands still live in these temporary
structures, called domiks. The Fuller Center-Armenia will work to give these
families simple, decent and affordable homes as well.

There is tremendous interest in sending volunteer teams to Armenia, and a
number are planned for this building season, which runs from April through
October. Please email [email protected] for the available dates and
details.

Millard Fuller, a founder of The Fuller Center for Housing commented: "We
are delighted to welcome Armenia to the Fuller Center family and look
forward to working together to provide decent shelter for all Armenians."

For more information on The Fuller Center Armenia, please visit
.

About The Fuller Center for Housing: The Fuller Center for Housing was
founded in the spring of 2005 at Koinonia Farm in rural southwest Georgia.
After 29 years of tireless service to the poor with Habitat for Humanity,
Millard Fuller, the founder and president of Habitat, was motivated to
expand his vision of eliminating substandard housing worldwide. The Fuller
Center for Housing, faith driven and Christ centered, promotes collaborative
and innovative partnerships with individuals and organizations in an
unrelenting quest to provide adequate shelter for all people in need
worldwide. TFCH has programs in 35 U.S. communities and in 12 countries
around the world. For more information, please visit