Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

Posted on Mon, Mar. 28, 2005

Puerto Ricans are happiest people in the world, study finds

BY MATTHEW HAY BROWN
The Orlando Sentinel

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – (KRT) – Island of Enchantment, indeed: This
U.S. territory of sandy beaches and lush rain forest, close-knit
families and endless celebrations is home to the happiest people in
the world, according to a new study.

Never mind the low income or the high murder rate, the double-digit
unemployment or the troubled public schools. Puerto Ricans say
emphasis on extended family, an easy warmth among even strangers and a
readiness to celebrate anything, anywhere, at any time, all contribute
to a high quality of life here.

“There are over 500 festivals in Puerto Rico, and there are only 365
days in a year,” says Francisco Cavo, a U.S. Army medic at Fort
Buchanan, near San Juan. “That’s a lot of fun on the schedule.”

The United States ranked 15th among the 82 societies in the study by
the Stockholm, Sweden-based World Values Survey, which was based on
interviewswith 120,000 people representing 85 percent of the global
population. That put the United States ahead of Britain, Germany and
France, Japan, China and Russia, but behind Mexico, Colombia and
Venezuela, Ireland, the Netherlands and Canada.

The subjective well-being rankings are one part of the largest
social-science study ever. The World Values Survey, an ongoing
investigation by a global network of social scientists, measures
social, cultural and political change on all six populated continents.

Among its findings: As societies grow wealthier, they shift priorities
from maximizing income to maximizing well-being.

That means individuals become likelier to choose jobs based on how
interesting the work is, not simply how much it pays, said University
of Michigan political scientist Ronald Inglehart, chairman of the
survey. Communities, meanwhile, grow more likely to seek ways to
protect the environment, even if the measures they choose may slow
economic expansion.

Another key finding: As they grow wealthier, societies become more
tolerant of differences among members – and they become more insistent
on personal freedom.

“From a political scientist’s viewpoint, one of the most important
consequences is that demands for self-expression rise to the point
where democracy becomes increasingly probable, and even hard to
avoid,” said Inglehart, program director of the Center for Political
Study at Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.

The rankings are based on responses to questions about happiness and
life satisfaction. Generally, the wealthiest nations tend to be the
happiest. But Latin American societies, particularly those around the
Caribbean – Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela and the Dominican
Republic – prove an exception.

Inglehart calls it “the Latino bonus.”

“They’re not the richest people in the world,” Inglehart said. “You
seem to get a plus for being Latino.”

He says determining the reasons requires more study. But in Puerto
Rico, at least, Enrique Rodriguez said he already knows.

“We are a small island, and people are nice to each other,” said
Rodriguez, a retired government worker who lives in Old San Juan.
“Everybody gets along.

When we pass in the street, we say hello to each other.

“We have our problems like everyone, but they’re nothing like in Cuba
or the Middle East. Even those without jobs have something to eat.”

Cavo, 22, a married father of two, stresses the importance of family.

“We value friends and family a lot,” he said. “I don’t know other
countries.

But the meaning of what a family is seems to be a little bit different
here.

It’s not just your wife and kids. It’s your mom and dad, uncles,
aunts, all the cousins, everybody who’s got your last name.”

At the other end of the rankings, the former Soviet republics –
Ukraine, Russia and Georgia among them – and the formerly communist
nations of Eastern Europe, such as Romania, Bulgaria and Albania, are
disproportionately unhappy.

“That is not surprising,” Inglehart said. “It’s not that they’re the
poorest in the world, but they are societies that have gone from being
fairly well-off and fairly secure to being very disoriented – poor,
and life expectancy has fallen, and their standard of living has
fallen, and their position inthe world has fallen.”

Inglehart acknowledges the challenges of measuring happiness across
widely varying cultures. He calls the possible impact on the rankings
of interviewing different peoples in different languages, for example,
“a major concern.”

But he says language alone doesn’t explain the findings.

The Spanish-speaking societies of Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, El
Salvador and Venezuela for instance, all rated happier than most of
Western Europe, while Spain itself trailed most of the region.
Similarly, the French-, German- and Italian-speaking peoples of
Switzerland all rated significantly happier than the peoples of
France, Germany and Italy.

Culture also may color responses. In Japan, for example, which is
noted for valuing conformity – one maxim holds that the nail that
sticks out will get pounded down – respondents may be less likely to
identify themselves as very happy or very unhappy, Inglehart said.

Consequently, despite its wealth, Japan ranks 42nd of the 82
societies, last among the industrialized nations.

Puerto Rico seems less reserved about proclaiming its happiness. The
per-capita gross domestic product here is less than half that of the
U.S. mainland, while the homicide rate is more than three times as
high – factors that have helped to fuel the mass migration of
islanders to the U.S. mainland.

Still, to locals, this land of endless summer is la Isla del Encanto –
it’s on the license plate.

“The Latin temperament is to be very optimistic in many ways,” said
Lily Garcia, a radio and television-show host, newspaper columnist and
motivational speaker here. “You give Latin Americans open space and
music and a drink in our hands, and we’re happy.

“We just kind of make the best out of it, out of everything. It’s like
this laissez-faire attitude. People are like, `Yeah, whatever.’ That’s
an important part of being happy.”

—
LIFE-SATISFACTION AND HAPPINESS RANKINGS
Best
1. Puerto Rico
2. Mexico
3. Denmark
4. Ireland
5. Iceland
Worst
82. Indonesia
81. Zimbabwe
80. Ukraine
79. Armenia
78. Russia
—
© 2005, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).

Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at _http://www.orlandosentinel.com_
() . On America Online, use keyword: OSO.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

HEATING BOILERS PRODUCING IN ARMENIA ARE 50% CHEAPER THAN SIMILAR FOREIGN BOILERS

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, NOYAN TAPAN. Joint venture of South Korean Lotte
holding and Euroterm Armenian company, producing heating boilers, will
work with its whole capacity starting this May. As Edvard Ghazarian,
the President of Euroterm informed Noyan Tapan correspondent,
pilot series of boilers were produced in 2004. It was mentioned
that this year 3-4 thousand boilers are envisaged to be produced,
which will be sold both in internal market and exported to Russia
and Georgia. According to E. Ghazarian, the boilers assembled in
the joint venture, of parts imported from South Korea, are about 50%
cheaper than similar foreing boilers.

Russia to promote Karabakh conflict settlement – Putin

ITAR-TASS News Agency
March 25, 2005 Friday

YEREVAN, March 25 — Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the
situation in Nagorno Karabakh during the talks with his Armenian
counterpart Robert Kocharyan on Friday.

“We talked about the Nagorno Karabakh problem,” Putin told a news
conference.

“We will promote the settlement of this conflict,” he emphasized. “We
will hope for the soonest meeting of the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan,” Putin pointed out.

Turkish press 25 Mar 05

BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom;
Mar 25, 2005

The following is a selection of quotes from editorials and commentaries
published in 25 March editions of Turkish newspapers available to
BBC Monitoring

Kyrgyzstan

Zaman [moderate, pro-Islamic] “The civil revolutions taking place
against leaders who do not give up power through elections in
countries with a Soviet infrastructure are nearly identical to each
other… Activities start immediately after the elections [in all of
them]… The possibility of the spread of these velvet revolutions
to Central Asian states, Moldova, Belarus, Armenia and even Russia
is increasingly strengthened. Elections, which are the source of the
revolutions, should be closely watched.” (Commentary by Erhan Basyurt)

Yeni Safak [liberal, pro-Islamic] “…[Kyrgyzstan] is the only
country to have Russian and American military bases simultaneously…
The Russian-American alliance might want to enjoy a democratic (!)
victory. But I do not believe that they would risk chaos in such
a strategic country on the Chinese frontier – especially when the
dispersed and indecisive behaviour of the [Kyrgyz] opposition is so
obvious.” (Commentary by Akif Emre)

Milliyet [centrist, second largest circulation] “Will the people’s
movement that started in Georgia and Ukraine end in Kyrgyzstan? Will
not this process affect the other Central Asian regimes, especially
Uzbekistan which is in a critical position?” (Commentary by Taha Akyol)

“Although Kyrgyzstan’s political, ethnic, geographic and economic
structure is different from Georgia or Ukraine which underwent
political revolutions, we hope that the ‘soft transition’ to a better
future in Bishkek will be similar to those in Tbilisi and Kiev.”
(Commentary by Sami Kohen)

Kurdish parties

Hurriyet [centre-right, largest circulation] “`We are Turkey’s
party’. First HADEP, then DEHAP [Kurdish political parties in Turkey]
underlined this point. They tried to move away from the image that
they were only parties for Kurds, as they knew that they could
not continue as a racist political movement… and they focused on
supporting Turkish intellectuals. But they could not achieve this.
This is because they could not escape from the legacy of the PKK
[Kurdish organization].” (Commentary by Ferai Tinc)

EU/Ocalan

Tercuman [conservative] “We know that there are some in the EU who see
[former leader of the PKK, Abdullah] Ocalan as a `political figure’
and want a political amnesty for him. But this has never been the EU’s
official view. The reality is that the EU cannot make such a demand
without risking the breaking off of all ties with Turkey… Actually,
if Europe takes such a decision, this will be an indication of its
decision not to take us into the Union.” (Commentary by Gulay Gokturk)

US “pressure”

Radikal [centre-left] “What is the reason for this pressure on Turkey
regarding two of its neighbours [Syria and Iran]? Isn’t Turkey giving
advice, just like all the West is, to Iran on `nuclear issues’, and
Syria on `the withdrawal from Lebanon’? Or does the US want to exert
pressure on [Turkish] political elites on other and sensitive issues,
using Turkey’s relations with its two neighbours as an excuse?”
(Commentary by M. Ali Kislali)

Cyprus

Yeni Safak [liberal, pro-Islamic] “Rauf Denktas [president of the
self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus] is probably one
of the most experienced Turkish politicians. Certainly he is the
most experienced figure when it comes to foreign policy. While this
has been a great advantage for Turkey and Cyprus for a long time,
recently it has started to have an adverse effect. His intelligence
and experience were insufficient when it came to this great politician
keeping up with change.” (Commentary by Mustafa Karaalioglu)

PanArmenian News
March 23 2005

SERGE SARGSIAN: WEAPON DEPOTS IN ARMENIA AND KARABAKH ALWAYS KEPT
UNDER STRICT CONTROL

23.03.2005 08:08

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The accusations brought against the Armenian
citizen, who was wanted by the police, are based on the fact that he
was trying to sell arms in the US. Meanwhile the investigation showed
that no single weapon was exported from Armenia, Secretary of the
Security Council, Defense Minister Serge Sargsian stated today, IA
Regnum reports. In his words, the weapon depots in Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh were always kept under strict control. ~SNo thefts
have been ever registered~T, the Minister stated. To remind, Armenian
citizen Artur Solomonian and his brother Levon Solomonian were
detained on suspicion of arms traffic in the US. They were both
wanted by the law enforcers for avoiding the obligatory military
service. According to the investigators, the Armenian citizen headed
the gang composed of the citizens of Armenia, Georgia and the US.

NKR AUTHORITIES REPORTED TO SUPPORT SETTLERS IN SOME REGIONS
CONTROLLED BY NKR ARMY

YEREVAN, MARCH 18. ARMINFO. The OSCE Minsk Group Fact-Finding Mission
(FFM) to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan surrounding Nagorno
Karabakh (NK) says that it has found evidence of the presence of
settlers in the above territories and the NK authorities are the
primary responsible party in questions regarding support of settlement
activity.

The mission did not determine that such settlement resulted from a
deliberate policy by the Government of Armenia. There was evidence of
various degrees of support by the authorities of NK to settlers in
some regions.

The co-chairs have not assessed the degree to which there is
coordination between the NK authorities and the government of
Armenia. The NK authorities stated to the co-chairs at the outset of
the mission that they did indeed encourage settlements in Lachin, The
co-chairs note that Lachin has been treated as a separate case in
previous negotiations.

The FFM notes that it was not a census-taking team and its
observations cannot be seen as an exhaustive and statistically
accurate picture of the current situation in the occupied
territories., However the co-chairs believe that the FFM’s findings
closely reflect the situation in these areas.

The conclusions are as follows: the mission was a positive achievement
made possible by the compromise agreed by the parties to the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict.

There is little disagreement between the sides on the number of
settlers in the occupied territories and the nature of the
settlements. The FFM’s findings are broadly consistent with
information provided by the sides. The areas of disagreement between
the sides are the question of government sponsorship and the places
from which the settlers come.

The areas in question have undergone complete destruction. Therefore
all settlers arriving in these areas have had to construct basic
shelter, there being virtually no undamaged structures surviving the
conflict and its consequences.

It is apparent that any settlement allowing the return of internally
displaced persons and refugees must be preceded and accompanied by
substantial international assistance for construction of shelter and
infrastructures such as water supply and sanitation, electricity and
agricultural irrigation as well as demining in specific areas and
restoration of transportation links including the completely
dismantled railway in the south formerly connecting Baku, Nakhichevan
and Yerevan.

Armenian, Georgian ministers discuss development of ties

A1+ web site
18 Mar 05

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has received Georgian
Finance Minister Valeri Chechelashvili who is in Armenia on an
official visit. The meeting was held in a warm and friendly
atmosphere, the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry
reported.

The ministers have known each other since Chechelashvili was
secretary-general of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization.

The meeting discussed issues of Armenian-Georgian relations and
prospects for the development of the South Caucasus. They also noted
the need for joint actions in various international programmes.

NEW ACHIEVEMENT MAY OCCUR IN THE GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS, THAT IS,
ORGANIZATION OF A 155 KM LIVE CHAIN

YEREVAN, MARCH 17. ARMINFO. A new achievement may occur in the
Guinness Book of Records, that is, organization of a 155 km live
chain. In particular, on May 28 2005 160,000 Armenians from the whole
world will sing and dance in a ring at the foot of Mountain Aragats in
Armenia as a sign of unification of the nation. The round dance is
organized by the Charity Non-Governmental Organization of Countrymen
“Nig-Aparan” of Armenia.

Talking to ARMINFO, a member of the organization Ofelia Petrosyan says
that the unprecedented action to be registered by the representatives
of the Guinness Book of Records and recorded by CNN will last 15
minutes. Each person linking the alive chain is to occupy a bit less
than 1 meter territory, and by one tree “of love to Motherland” will
be planted on each meter in the foot of Aragats Mountain after the
round dance. Each participant will have an apricot cap on him hereby
symbolizing one of the colors of the Armenian flag and the color of
the sunset behind Aragats Mountain. “The round dance is timed to the
90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire, and
to the 1,600th anniversary of creation of Armenian alphabet and Bash
Aparan victory over Turkish troops in 1918,” she says. A day before
the action, the youth of Armenia will gather at the foot of the
mountain wherein festivals are expected. Fairs presenting the products
of native enterprises of food branch will be held. Petrosyan says
that representatives of the Armenian Diaspora from many states which
will not participate in the event for some reasons, will organize
similar round dances at foreign cultural and religious centers the
same day at the same time (14:00 Yerevan time).

Big businessmen, public and community organizations of the country
will secure transportation of the participants to the place without
compensation. To participate in the action, applications are received
by the headquarters on organization works in the following address: 7,
Agatangeghosi Street,Yerevan. For additional information call (374 1)
58 00 34 and (374 1) 54 00 12.

Kommersant, Russia
March 14 2005

Armenian Georgians Rebuff Russian Base Withdrawal

Rallies of many thousands were held in Georgian Akhalkalaki to
protest against the pullout of Russian military bases. The rallies
were triggered by the last week’s ultimatum of the Georgian
parliament, calling for Russia to determine by May 15 the exact dates
for withdrawal of its military bases from Akhalkalaki and Batumi.

One of the military bases to be pulled out under the parliamentary
ultimatum is located in Akhalkalaki, the Javakheti region, where the
borders of Georgia, Armenia and Turkey are meeting. It is a region
with nearly 100 percent of Armenian population. In Akhalkalaki base,
the local Armenians serve under military contracts or work as
civilian employees. Despite the continuous pledges of the Georgian
executives to make up for the loss of employment, establish new
working places and transfer the base infrastructure to the local
authorities, Akhalkalaki residents rebuff withdrawal of Russia’s
motor rifle division. Javakhk organization, which is advocating
Javakheti autonomy within Georgian, is the usual leader.

This time was not an exception. Javakheti has responded to the March
10 resolution of the Georgian parliament, in which the latter
recommended authorities to start forcing Russian troops out of
Georgia after May 15. From 5,000 to 6,000 people took part in the
rallies staged past weekend in Akhalkalaki. The protesters were
calling for the base blockade if Russia has to start withdrawal,
intending to resort to the actions taken in Pridnestrovie. `We won’t
allow withdrawal of Russian troops. We will stand in the way and
hinder pullout, even if the process starts,’ one of the Javakhk
leaders told Kommersant.

At the meetings, the protestors were saying that a Turkish base will
replace the Russian one in Akhalkalaki. Georgia denies the rumors.

The Salt Lake Tribune
FRIDAY
March 11, 2005

Huntsman Sr.’s exploits earn him ‘Giant’ award

Jon Huntsman listens to his wife Karen during an interview in his office in
Salt Lake City. (Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Jon Huntsman Sr. built the world’s largest privately held petrochemical
and plastics business with 121 locations in 44 countries. He donated
$225 million toward the establishment of the Huntsman Cancer Institute
at the University of Utah and has received Armenia’s highest award –
the Medal of Honor – after contributing to the reconstruction of
that country following a devastating 1988 earthquake. For those
accomplishments and philanthropic endeavors, Huntsman was honored
Wednesday as a “Giant in Our City” by the Salt Lake Chamber. “Jon
Huntsman is the epitome of everything the ‘Giant in our City’ award
is about,” said Chamber President Lane Beattie. “He is a giant in
his industry. He is a giant in our community – supporting countless
charitable causes. He also is a giant where it matters most – in
his family,” Beattie said. Huntsman and his wife, Karen, are the
parents of nine, including son Jon Jr., Utah’s governor. They have 52
grandchildren. A native of Blackfoot, Idaho and a former U.S. Navy
gunnery officer, Huntsman has received a dozen honorary doctorates
and is chairman of the Board of Overseers at the University of
Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, the country’s highest-rated
business school. He is on the American Red Cross board of governors
and two years ago received the “Humanitarian of the Year” award from
CNN’s Larry King. Previous “Giant in Our City” honorees include LDS
Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, Questar executives R.D. “Don”
Cash and D.N. “Nick” Rose, former Salt Lake Organizing Committee
leader Mitt Romney, banker Spence Eccles, former chamber leader Fred
Ball and retired Utah Power executive Verl Topham. – Mike Gorrell