A very interesting article by Joseph A. D'Agostino, Vice President for Communications at the Population Research Institute, titled “USAID's 'Population Stabilization' Efforts Work Too Well in Third-World Countries” is published at Human Events, the National Conservative Weekly (20 February 2006).

The article discusses America’s ridiculous involvement in shrinking the population of poor and “suicidal” (with lower or no birth rate) countries.

“Population stabilization” in developing countries is an official purpose of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), though in keeping with the zeitgeist, efforts to achieve that goal are today called family planning programs. In this time of massive deficits, American taxpayers pay over $400 million a year (conservatively estimated) to reduce the populations of Third World nations whose birthrates have already collapsed or are collapsing.

The article pirtucarly pays attention to the fact that America also invests in decreasing Armenia’s population, a small nation of less than 3 million people, where emigration is becoming a national disaster. Mr. D’Agostino writes, “It is not only mighty former enemies to which USAID ships contraception by the boatload. Tiny little Armenia, already the victim of a massive genocide by the Turks in the 20th Century, has a birthrate of 1.4 also, and is also losing people though it has only 3 million to begin with. The UN conservatively projects that the proportion of retirees (people 65 or older) in the population will double to 24% by 2050. Can Armenia afford that? Why are we contributing to this problem?”

This is an interesting issue. I am glad Americans are bringing this up, because, ironically, I was thinking today of a conversation I had four years ago with an Armenian community leader, who was very concerned with America’s involvement to reduce Armenia’s already-small population.

Today, Gurgen Margaryan would be 28-years-old.

Exactly two years ago, on 19 February 2006, Gurgen was hacked to death by an axe.

Somewhere around the morning it seemed to me that the light was switched on, as I was sleeping with my face turned to the wall. Suddenly I heard a strange muffled noise, around two or three times. Then, without thinking of something bad, I turned round; being still half asleep I opened my eyes, and only then understood what had happened. By Gugo's bedside I saw the Azerbaijani classmate with a long-handled axe in his hands. I got up from my bed and in Hungarian, no, in English, said to him: 'Stop it! What are you doing?' When I saw that my roommate was lying on his back and his head and neck were bleeding, while he was wheezing as if he was short of air (those were very low sounds) I was simply shocked. I understood that I could not help any longer, but I had to stop the further events so I went downstairs and called for help. I knew that I could not help my friend any more.
The investigator showed Safarov's photograph. I explained that it was not the person I attended the course with, but it was the person who was standing with an axe in his hand in my room and was stabbing my friend.
When I shouted at that person, he turned to me and said (or I understood it from his gesture) that he had no problems with me and even after that he made two or more blows, after what he left the room, and I left after him. He left with such an expression on his face as if he had completed something important well enough. I went to look for help, and he turned right to the corridor, while I turned left. I didn't know where he planned to go.
I did not notice any strain in the relationship between Gurgen and Azeri, Gurgen didn't mention about it either.

(from the testitmony of Gurgen’s Hungarian roommate, Kuti Balazs. Read the entire testimony at http://budapest.sumgait.info/kuti-balazs-account.htm).

Gurgen's funeral in 2004

A new poem (in Armenian) by Sona Arshunetsi in memory of Gurgen Margaryan is available at http://gevorgian.com/hakob/archives/2006/02/17/13/15/55/.

Rest in peace, Gurgen… Rest in peace…

The Sudanese government is denying the Genocide in Darfur. Are we going to deal with another Turkey or what?

via Coalition for Darfur from Reuters (18 February 2006)

Sudan's government on Saturday rejected U.S. accusations that genocide was ongoing in its Darfur region and said it was discussing allowing a robust U.N. force to take over from African peace monitors there.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday said genocide was continuing in Darfur through a widespread campaign of rape, looting and killing and urged the African Union to accept the help of U.N. peacekeepers to stop the atrocities.

"She is biased because any authentic parties who are concerned with what's going on in Darfur have confirmed that this is not genocide," said Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Jamal Ibrahim.

"This is a systematic policy of the U.S. administration … of pressuring the Khartoum government," Ibrahim said, accusing the United States of responding to internal pressures from Congress and the African American lobby.

Foreign Minister Lam Akol said he had not heard Rice's comments, but, he told Reuters: "of course there is no genocide in Darfur."

Today, University of Michigan sociology professor Fatma Gocek mentioned in a group discussion, “according to an article in the public opinion quarterly fall 2005, at least 40% of the American public still think such weapons [weapons of mass destruction] were found in Iraq.”

Ironically, my own sociology professor at a Colorado college belongs to that 40%! She bravely stated during her lecture, “Saddam Hussein used weapons of mass destruction against his own people!”

The photo above is the scan of a handout that the same professor gave to her class earlier this week. One would think that a sociology professor would try to go behind prejudiced knowledge and help students to be critical. She actually gave the handout “for our knowledge.”

Please, read the attachment above and find the error in it.

The PROBLEM with the “information” is that it calculates every Washington D.C. resident while presenting the data. But when it says that there have been 2112 deaths, it only refers to American soldiers who were killed in Iraq, thus ignoring the death of many international journalists, other army members and the 30,000 (at least) Iraqi people who got killed as a result of the invasion!

Of course I told this to my professor in loud as soon as I read the “information” piece. She did not have any counterargument and said, “other lives are important too” and continued to speak about other things without making any sense.

Well, my professor says she is “not smart enough to come up with tricky questions in tests.” Having this information, I assumed that she would not be “smart enough” to come up with the “information” she provided us.

A Google search (complied at 10:30 Eastern time, 18 February 2006) indicated that the same “information” (little different in one sentence) is posted at over 390 (mostly Republican) websites. It is even posted at Republican congressman Doolittle’s (what a self-explanatory name…) official website (http://www.house.gov/doolittle/itk-12-2-05.html)!

The thing is in the “little different in one sentence.” My sociology professor had edited the last part of the following sentence out: “That means that you are about 25 percent more likely to be shot and killed in our nation’s capital, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are as a member of the military in an active war zone in Iraq.”

The solution? She needs to become smart enough to copy passages correctly!

Hold on!!! The “information” is still incorrect in the “correct” form, since it is comparing military persons from Iraq to Washington D.C. residents.

As a response to the international criticism concerning the Azerbaijani destruction of the ancient Armenian cemetery of Old Julfa, Azerbaijanis are screaming that the same happens in Armenia to Azerbaijani/Muslim monuments. They went to the point to publish an article in the Turkish newspaper Zaman, which shamelessly declares, “Armenians Destroy Turkish-Islam Artifacts” (February 17, 2006).

Of course Armenians are not angels and of course such destructions might be possible! Very much possible! But, please, show evidence that Azerbaijani monuments are indeed being destroyed in Armenia.

There IS EVIDENCE, according to the Azerbaijanis, some of whom posted the “evidence” at the Russian-language Azerbaijani forum www.day.az!

Let’s post the Azerbaijani evidence at Blogian and see what the evidence is about!

According to the “evidence,” the photo below shows the 14th century Soltan Ahmad Palace in Soltanlar village (Lachin region, Nagorno Karabakh Republic-Armenia). Azerbaijanis say this is what Armenians left from the Palace!

Originally posted at day.az/forum by Azerbaijani user fireland

Now, let’s not pay attention to the fact that the photo above is not “Soltan Ahmad Palace,” but the Armenian palace of Kashataghk, built in the 15th century by melik Haikaz. But do pay attention to the photo below taken in 1985.

Originally posted at day.az/forum by Armenian user Arciv

Do you see difference in the two photos except for one being color and the other one not? For those who don’t know…in 1985 Lachin was still part of Soviet Azerbaijan. Therefore, the monument (let alone that it was not even Azerbaijani) has not been destroyed by Armenians, as Azerbaijanis claim.

Want another Azerbaijani “evidence?”
How about the photo below that “testifies” that Armenians destroyed this “temple from middle ages/Varazgun area?”

Originally posted at day.az/forum by Azerbaijani user Fireland

Again, forget the fact that this is the Armenian Church Varazavank (why the hell Armenians would even destroy their own cathedral!), and have a look at the photo below. This photo is from 1984 when Lachin was under Soviet Azerbaijan’s rule.

Originally posted at day.az/forum by Armenian user Arciv

Having posted the information above, I can, without feeling guilty, say that Azerbaijani nationalists are the biggest falsifiers on this planet!

via AP

BOSTON (18 Feb 2006) A federal judge has denied a request by a group of Armenian survivors and their supporters to intervene in a lawsuit over how to teach the Armenian genocide.

U-S District Judge Mark Wolf said Attorney General Tom Reilly's office is adequately defending the state and its citizens, including Armenian survivors.

The judge said the group may file a brief in the case.

The lawsuit centers on whether the killing of more than a (m) million Christian Armenians was genocide or just a horrible consequence of World War One.

It was filed against the state Department of Education last year by two high school teachers, a student and a Turkish group.

The lawsuit argues that whether the Armenian killings constitute genocide has not been firmly settled by history.

They say students should also be exposed to a "contra-genocide" version of events.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

A Californian blogger, Mr. Garrett, was filing out his California tax return form and noticed “Ottoman Turkish Empire Settlement Payments” listed in the “Additional Income” box.

Mr. Garrett writes:

As near as I can tell, these would be payments related to a class-action lawsuit against the New York Life Insurance Company. The company failed to pay life insurance benefits for policies it issued around 1875 in the Turkish Ottoman Empire to Armenians (who were subsequently killed in a wave of genocide).

So remember, everyone: If your great, great, great Armenian grandfather was slaughtered by the Ottomans, please remember to pay taxes on any settlement income derived from his genocidal passing.

Jewschool, a liberal Israeli blognetwork, writes that “The Simon Wiesenthal Center ‘Museum of Tolerance' is building on top of a Muslim cemetery in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mamila.”

The Jewish website calls on readers to protest the desecration by contacting Rabbi Marvin Hier, Director and Founder of the Wiesenthal Center.

We are pleased to announce that Blogian has joined the Coalition for Darfur. We are listed as “Hayastan Forum” under the list of “Coalition Members.”

The fight for justice in the Darfur region of Sudan continues!

This new photo of Armenia's national symbol Mount Ararat, where according to the Bible Noah's ark came to rest, is posted at ArmeniaNow.

It has been over 80 years that Ararat is under Turkish control, yet no Armenian ever doubts that Ararat belongs to Armenia.