Since how and when Ahmadinejad became America’s enemy most Americans would not tell you. But for some reason many are adamant that the Iranian president is the evil.

At least that’s how the media portrays Iran’s authoritarian president.  Of course a few would defend Ahmadinejad’s sinister denial of the Holocaust, but comparing him to Hitler and calling him “the evil” is pretty silly. What’s worse is that the media seems to be behind this evil-constructionism and there are few voices that question America’s paranoia for the authoritarian president and needless to say the millions of people he represents.

How is Ahmadinejad worse from Sudan’s president who is massacring millions of people? Why don’t we invade Sudan for committing a genocide?

I want to invite you to read a Huffington Post entry by Cenk Uygur, the main host of a radio show called “The Young Turks.”  Uygur is one of the few dissidents who asks a question America’s “liberal” media forgets or doesn’t dare to.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust. Let me ask this provocative question: so what?

Of course, I understand that people have a visceral reaction to that claim. It is grossly untrue, offensive and ignorant. But we are also told how dangerous Ahmadinejad is because he doesn’t believe in the Holocaust. I fail to see that connection.There are countless people all across the world that deny many things that are patently true — and we don’t go to war with them over it. Senator Inhofe (R-OK) denies global warming. As far as I know we are not planning on invading Oklahoma over it.But Ahmadinejad is the leader of an important country in the Middle East. Well, so is Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister of Turkey. He denies the Armenian Genocide. Should we invade Turkey? I bet I can find you at least half a dozen world leaders who deny one genocide or another. Should we suit up and restart the draft? We’ve got a lot of countries to attack.

Uygur’s reference to invading Turkey for denying the Armenian Genocide is to the point. And I type these words with hope in my heart for Turkish-Armenian reconciliation because Uygur is himself Turkish-American, and he himself has denied the Armenian Genocide in the past and has apparently overcome his nationalistic beliefs about history.  

Now it is time for us Americans to overcome our nationalistic, evil-constructionist traditions about making enemies. Condemn Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust; condemn any person, especially those in power, for denying any genocide, but think about the future of your children. Do we want another war of terror?

Photo: English holding the photograph of Hitler’s Aug 22, 1939 talk

Hitler’s famous Aug. 22, 1939 talk, in which he reportedly quoted the impunity of the annihilation of the Armenians as proof that the Nazis could easily eliminate millions of people, is documented in a photograph not known of until today.

A small newspaper in America’s east cost, iBerkshires, has published an interview with local resident Darrell K. English whose “collection of World War II artifacts numbers in the thousands.”

One of these artifacts is a

photograph [that] was taken Aug. 22, 1939 – 10 days before the invasion of Poland. Essentially, it’s the day World War II began in Europe, the day that Hitler called his commanders to his mountain retreat, the Berghof, to tell them that months of German maneuvering and mobilizing were about to unleashed on Europe.

“We know when it was taken, we know what was said during that meeting,” said English. “Now we have an actual photograph of the actual date and the actual happening.”

The story goes that this was where Hitler made his infamous remark “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” when speaking of the coming destruction of the Polish people.

Since the iBerkshires journalist goes on to wrongly state that “most historians discount [Hitler’s] remark [about the Armenian annihilation]” – referring only to a small number of historians who discount the remark in order to discount the Armenian Genocide – it is worth to note that Hitler’s Aug 22 speech is not the only time when he talks of the extermination of the Armenians.

Eight years prior to the 1939 speech, the editor of “Leipziger Neueste Nachrichter” R. Breiting had two secret interviews with Hitler. In one of the two interviews, Hitler said, “We intend to introduce a great resettlement policy; we do not whish to go on each other’s toes in Germany. In 1923 little Greece could resettle a million men. Think of the biblical deportations and the massacres of the middle Ages and remember the extermination of the Armenians.”

So while there is no available empirical proof – such as a tape – of Hitler’s 1939 speech to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hitler referred to the annihilation of the Armenians ten days before invading Poland, the 1931 interview with Breiting is an unquestionable fact that Hitler did refer to the impunity of the Armenian genocide.

The fact that a photograph from the 1939 speech exists, nevertheless, gives hope that it might have been taped as well. This reminds me what David Davidian, an Armenian activist, told an online group several months ago. In the 1980s Davidian was approached by a CIA agent who told him there was a tape of the 1939 Hitler speech in Israel which is not released by the Israeli government.

Today we have the photo of Hitler’s speech with no words, but tomorrow we may also get to listen to Hitler’s actual remarks.

At least one person I know of says they are having trouble accessing the website of the Armenian National Committee of America – www.anca.org – from the republic of Turkey. Has it been blocked?

After rereading Socrates’ “Apology”, as documented by Plato, I wonder whether he would keep a blog if he lived in the 21st century.

I guess the only answer I know is that I don’t know if I will ever know. But that questions still tempts me. What do you guys think?

So Kerkorian is #7 billionaire in the US&A, says Forbes Magazine.  So Simon has some catching up to do – I mean I am only $18.00 billion short but I still have a bit more formal education.

Net Worth $18.0 billion		Source MGM Mirage (quote: MGM), Investments, Self made

Son of Armenian immigrant fruit farmer dropped out of school in eighth grade. Trained U.S., British fighter pilots during WWII. Flew surplus Air Force planes across Atlantic after war before building charter flights company Trans International Airlines; sold for $104 million profit 1966. Acquired Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas 1967, built International Hotel 1969. Sold both properties to Hilton Hotels 1970. Went Hollywood: made billions buying and selling movie studio MGM, 3 times since 1969. Back to Vegas: nabbed Steve Wynn’s Mirage Resorts for $6.4 billion 2000, then Mandalay Bay Resorts for $7.9 billion 4 years later. Today MGM Mirage owns more than half the hotel rooms on Las Vegas Strip; shares up 140% in past 12 months. Attempted to personally buy Bellagio casino, unfinished 76-acre resort complex CityCenter from MGM Mirage this spring; pulled out after company struck deal with Kerzner International to develop 40 acres of land on Strip. In August sold half of CityCenter, 9.5% chunk of MGM to Middle East investment firm Dubai World for $5 billion. Spent 20 frustrating months fighting to reshape General Motors; believed to have sold entire stake last November.

The wipe out of medieval Armenia’s largest cemetery in 2005 by the Azeri authorities has finally brought international attention, at least in media, to the protection of both Armenian and Azeri monuments in the region.

Three articles from this week’s Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR)  issue deal with cultural protection in the South Caucasus – from another Armenian cemetery being erased by the Azeri authorities in Baku (that I wrote about in early June of this year); two mosques in Shushi being restored by Armenians to show off they are far from Azerbaijan’s official policy of cultural genocide, and a more realistic situation of Azeri graves neglected in Armenia.

One needs to applaud Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict expert Tom de Waal –  an IWPR editor – for his equal concern for Armenian and Azeri monuments.

Although rarely mentioned in these days, the unbelievable destruction of Djulfa has, perhaps, shook off people that cultural heritage protection is not a pr issue but a real concern.

The academic community seems to share the view. The world’s premier, and probably the oldest, history magazine, is interested in documenting cultural destruction. In its upcoming November issue, History Today will feature an article on the Djulfa destruction by this author.

In its second report (since the Djulfa destruction) on religous freedom in Azerbaijan, the U.S. State Department has failed again to mention the wipe out of the world’s largest Armenian Christian cemetery by the Azeri authorities in December of 2005.

Released on September 14, 2007, the International Religious Freedom Report on Azerbaijan is a copy-past of at least 6-year-old reports in regards to the condition of Armenian churches in Azerbaijan stating that “all Armenian churches, many of which were damaged in ethnic riots that took place more than a decade ago, remained closed.”

Even outside the Azeri exclave of Nakhichevan, where the Djulfa cemetery existed, the statement did not reflect actuality. A church in central Azerbaijan’s Nizh village, for instance, was reopened in early 2006 for the Udi Christian minority after a publicized restoration eliminated the Armenian letters on church walls and nearby tombstones.

What’s the purpose of the report?

The report is available at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90164.htm.

With over 42,397 views in just a day after being posted online, a YouTube video   based on a new Turkish song is praising the killing of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink.

“Even child pornography is innocent compared to this,” Gökhan Özgün, a columnist for the Turkish Radikal daily, is quoted as saying.

Today’s Zaman, a newspaper from Turkey, reports

A new song by folksinger İsmail Türüt, which covertly praises the men involved in the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, has caused anger, resentment and grief throughout much of Turkish society.

Three ministries have also taken action following news stories on the ultra-nationalist song that an anonymous fan used to make a video showing Hrant Dink and Father Andrea Santoro, an Italian priest who was killed in the Black Sea region. The Justice Ministry and the Interior Ministry have started an investigation; meanwhile Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertuğrul Günay issued a stern statement, saying he had read the news reports “in horror.” Günay said the government would do everything within its power to make access to the online video clip impossible.

“The song includes intentional cues to fan feelings of hatred and enmity within society,” Günay observed. The Human Rights Association (İHD) called for a boycott of Türüt and announced that it would be filing a criminal complaint against the singer.

“Is it possible for society to function well as long as people who are bold about praising a cowardly and abject murder are respected in various sections of society and have their own television shows?” questioned journalist Ergun Babahan.

[…]

Although the video was produced by a fan, the lyrics of Türüt’s song, written by Ozan Arif, a much-loved poet of the ultra-nationalists, are clearly praising the teenager who shot Hrant Dink on Jan. 17. Türüt denies his song has any racist implications, but references to the names of the teenager and Yasin Hayal, accused of soliciting the hit man, are present in the song — concealed in rather basic wordplay.

The song also makes a clear reference to the Santoro murder. “Stop ringing bells/stop being pro-Armenian/the people won’t swallow that/not in the Black Sea region.” A picture of Father Santoro is shown in the video when Türüt sings the line “Stop ringing bells,” and footage from Dink’s funeral is displayed, in which hundreds of thousands of mourners holding banners reading “We are all Armenian” formed a long procession on the streets of İstanbul. A photo of Dink’s dead body in front of his newspaper Agos is shown as the words of the song “If somebody sells out the motherland/they will immediately die” are being sung.

Meanwhile, Star daily reported that the fan who made the video clip to the song was a Turkish worker living in Vienna.[…]

In a country where some oligarchs spend an average of $5,000 a week on clothing, $4,800 is the annual government allocation for studying an archaeological site what is now turning out to be the city that Strabo and Plutarch called “Armenian Carthage,” the beautiful capital Artashat (Artaxarta) founded in 190 B.C. by Artashes I.

ArmeniaNow reports,

Armenian archeologists have discovered the second pagan temple in Armenia after Garni.
The temple found 5.5 meters under ground not far from the modern town of Artashat about 30 kilometers to the south-east of Yerevan was devoted to Mihr – the God of the Sun in Armenian mythology. The temple – the symbol of sun-worship was built near Artashat which maintained its status the longest among the capitals of Armenia – from the 2nd century B.C. to the 5th century A.D.

[…]

The expedition comprised of 15 workers of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia had begun the excavations of the territory of capital Artashat in the 1970s. Before that large-scale excavations in the territories bordering Turkey were prohibited by Soviet authorities.

[…]

The archeological team has also managed to find the public bath-house of Artshat with its 7 rooms 75 square meters each.

“There is a mosaic floor and a tiny brook, bases and pools with beautiful ornaments have been found. Also a toilet with sewage system with more than 2,000 years of history, something you can’t find even in modern-day villages, was found,” laughs the archeologist.

The archeological works and others like it, were interrupted by the Karabakh movement in 1988 and the crisis in the later years. The archeological life in the newly independent Armenia gained new momentum in the early 2000s.

An expedition team was formed again in 2003. However, it had only 5 members instead of the former 15 because of insufficient [financial] means to have a larger group.

“We knew from the very beginning there was a temple that was destroyed during the reign of King Tiridates in the 4th century, in times Christianity was spread. But we didn’t know where exactly it was and what was its size,” says Khachatryan.

It’s already five years the archeological team with small financial means excavates the old Artashat. The latest studies concluded: the temple devoted to god Mihr was built on a hill on the left bank of Arax River. The hill was surrounded by walls where the limestone holy place was erected. The excavations disclosed also the 23 staircases leading to the temple.

1,625,000 drams (about $4,800) were allotted by the state budget for this year studies. Khachatryan says the money will hardly suffice to excavate a mausoleum, when they must excavate a whole city.

The archeologist is proud of the work of his team, but picks on the work of community heads as a result of which lands of Artashat that bear one of the most important pages of Armenia’s history are sold today.

“They say exactly 6 hectares are sold, but what we see is a different size – about 60 hectares. Sooner or later they will build castles wrecking our past to the ground,” Khachatryan says with indignation hoping to save at least the remaining territories.

The archeologists think they may find at the end of the excavations that the temple may be reconstructed; however, they are unable to find whether it is possible to find financing for it.

source: http://www.armenianow.com/?action=viewArticle&AID=2486&lng=eng&IID=1151

It is usually thought that Armenian women and girls are trafficked to UAE (especially Dubai), Turkey and Israel. Apparently, these women and children are also exported to and exploited in Italy. As far as Armenia’s government continues not to give a fuck for the lives of its citizens, tragic news like this will continue arriving. Go talk genocide, unholy whores.

18 arrested in Italy in crackdown on trafficking foreign women for prostitution

© AP
15.09.2007 14:47:10

(live-PR.com) – ROME (AP) – Police raided Italian night clubs to break up an operation which forced hundreds of newly arrived foreign women into prostitution, arresting 18 suspects, authorities said Saturday.

Investigators told a news conference in Florence that the ring’s operators did the paperwork to legally bring into Italy hundreds of young women, mainly from Ukraine, Armenia and Kazakhstan, for what were supposed to be jobs in the performing arts, arranged for their travel and housing, then forced them into prostitution into clubs and sometimes private apartments, including in Tuscany and elsewhere in northern and central Italy.

The suspects were arrested for suspected criminal association dealing in illegal immigration and exploiting and promoting prostitution.

Prostitution itself is not illegal in Italy, but exploiting prostitutes is a crime.
Eight night clubs were shut down, police said.

source: http://www.live-pr.com/en/arrested-in-italy-in-crackdown-r1048147463.htm