In a country where everything is scripted from "reality" shows to politician’s canned speeches, Tuesday, November 4th 2008 is the rare exception. Because twenty one months ago, when a young African-American Senator from Illinois announced his candidacy for the highest office in this land, no one predicted that he would come this close. By nature, [...]

Barry Jacobs, Director of Strategic Studies at the American Jewish Committee (AJC), is retiring from his organization at the end of October. The "good news" was confirmed by an AJC official. The reason I characterize Jacobs’ departure as "good news" is that he has been at the forefront of AJC’s attempts over the years to [...]

WASHINGTON–Seeking to intimidate Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama into silence on the Armenian Genocide, Ahmet Davutoglu, the chief foreign policy advisor of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Tuesday warned the future US administration against recognizing the Armenian Genocide, saying this could hurt a recent thawing of Turkish-Armenian relations and torpedo relations with the United States.
Ahmet [...]

BEIRUT–The 85th anniversary celebration of the Armenian Evangelical College, the first Armenian high school of the post-genocide Armenian diaspora, was held on Sunday, October 19, 2008 at the UNESCO Hall under the auspices of the Armenian Evangelical Union of the Middle East, with over 650 guests in attendance.
After the singing of the Armenian and the [...]

After several weeks of pretty serious stuff, it’s time to go to a slightly lighter tone with another litany of what bugs me. Next week, it’ll be another heavy dose of elections. So please, enjoy.
How unjust do you find depriving someone of his/her vote? Now what if I added that this person was a felon, [...]

FRESNO–One of the William Saroyan centennial’s busiest celebran’s is Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, Haig & Isabel Berberian Professor of Armenian Studies, Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, who has traveled extensively marking the renowned author’s life and works.
Saroyan was born 100 years ago in Fresno and died there in 1981. In a career that included writing [...]

PASADENA, CA–Members of the Pasadena Armenian National Committee (ANC) held a productive meeting on Thursday, October 30th, with former State Assemblymember Carol Liu on the eve of her bid to be elected to the California State Senate. Liu, a longtime friend of the ANC, is the prohibitive favorite to win her race to replace the [...]

LAS VEGAS–Armenian Americans in the Silver State gathered together on October 24th for a fundraiser held in support of Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (NV-1). Last month, the Congresswoman’secured a strong endorsement from the nation’s largest and most active Armenian American political action committee, the Armenian National Committee–Political Action Committee (ANC-PAC).
"We are pleased to be supporting Shelley [...]

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–Armenia’s media and radical opposition are unnecessarily spreading panic throughout the country about the future of Nagorno-Karabakh, the deputy speaker of Armenia’s National Assembly, Hrayr Karapetyan, said on Friday.
According to Karapetyan, who is a leading member in the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s parliamentary bloc, there is no reason to panic about a resolution to [...]

ISTANBUL (DPA)–Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on Friday expressed optimism that long-running disputes between Turkey and Armenia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan can be resolved and that Turkey was determined to push forward in the interests of regional peace.
"These two tracks could move fast because there is good political will," Babacan said at a meeting of [...]

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–Construction has surpassed industry as the single largest sector of the Armenian economy after years of building boom that has been a key driving force behind the country’s double-digit economic growth.
According to the latest macroeconomic data released by the National Statistical Service (NSS) on Friday, the total monetary value of construction work carried out [...]

BOSTON–On September 30, 2008, the Armenian Bar Association held a networking reception for Armenian attorneys at Suffolk University Law School in Boston. The event was hosted by Sonya Nersessian, Chair of the Armenian Bar Association, and Christine Engustian, Secretary of the Armenian Bar Association. Special guests were the Tavitian Fellows, a group of fifteen professionals [...]

ENCINO, CA –The Armenian National Committee of the West San Fernando Valley (ANC-WSFV) and the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Sardarabad Chapter are working together to urge all registered Armenia’s to vote in the upcoming general election.
Dozens of young activists in the San Fernando Valley are working together through the ANC and AYF to contact thousands [...]

On October 23 Film Independent’s Project: Involve hosted a special screening of writer-director Eric Nazarian’s first film, "The Blue Hour" to a packed house at the Los Angeles River Center and Gardens.
The screening was attended by community members and councilman Ed Reyes who acknowledged Nazarian’s efforts to "humanize" the river. After the screening, a Q [...]