EZ

quote:Originally posted by Harut:EZ, most of the people in Armeian who are computer literate, have internet access, and have time to participate in diccussions are young people. That's not typical for Armenia Harut. It's the same everywhere. and, as is the case everywhere in the world, young people care to talk more about social life than politics/economy. I don't agree. As far as I know it's typical for young people to want to rebel etc. Usually it's the people my age, the middle aged ones , who are past that stage. So, I do believe that the mentality amongst young people in richer countries has changed compared to 25 years ago. But then, they are in a very luxurious situation these days. What basic rights should they fight for these days, for whom? Not their own, that's for sure, not in a country like for example Holland. They have all the rights they want and enough money to party. The ones here, who are most engaged still, are the same ones who went on the streets 25 ago. Look at me, I must be crazy. But the young people in Armenia are not in such a luxurious situation. So it's hard to believe that they are just not ineterested. How can this be explained? Maybe these young people who have access to internet are an elite group? [ December 19, 2002, 05:08 AM: Message edited by: EZ ]

quote:Originally posted by nairi:Elly jan, I can't speak for everyone else, but 1) internetting from Armenia can be quite an expensive endeavor; 2) not every Armenian speaks or writes fluent Armenian. I think diasporan Armenians just have more free time on their hands. Plus, wouldn't you agree that internet is not exactly the safest place to share serious opinions, let alone sensitive information? I wouldn't count on our true (political) experts to come on a public forum. Not now anyway. 1) Internet is expensive and so is owning a computer, but there are Armenian computers with internet access, and reading and typing can be done offline. When I was actively trying to learn Armenian I didn't have any problems finding Armenians from Armenia online through let's say ICQ. But maybe the question is more if people are interested in discussing politics. 2)If diasporan Armenians have problems with the Armenian language it may be a good idea to improve it. About available time, diasporan Armenians may have more online time, but Armenians from Armenia seem to have time to talk about (in my opinion) much less serious things like cars and sex, so I don't believe that lack of time is an obstacle. 3) Internet not being a safe medium is true, if you are thinking of hackers and people who don't have Armenia's best interest at heart - I hope you are not referring to the Armenian government being able to gather info on "state dangerous" individuals through internet so that they know who to eliminate as a threat. But even so, there are means and, in my opinion, where there is a will there is a way. While I was typing this posting I decided to talk to one of my old contacts in Yerevan, so I did just now and asked him "hows life in Armenia", he said "cold" then I asked if he's satisfied with the current government and he said "I don't care". I am not surprised to get this answer, I have the impression that a lot of them don't care. Actually, who DOES care except for the people on this Forum? [ December 19, 2002, 01:14 AM: Message edited by: EZ ]

As I was catching up with the recent postings I noticed a lot of speculations about what's really going on in Armenia. So I was wondering, even though it's probably not meant to be so, this Hye Forum seems more a Forum for diaspora Armenians, or am I wrong? A lot of serious discussions are going on in English. I only rarely see someone from Armenia post or participate in the more serious discussions. Wouldn't it be a good idea to try to attract more Armenian Armenian members? Maybe the active language on the Forum should be Armenian? This is internet, it seems such a great opportunity to connect all of you and maybe even unite, for the sake of the RoA.

quote:Originally posted by Azat:Harut jan, another way to say donkey is ass. Now I'm getting confused. What does "esh" mean? I looked up the english "donkey", but it doesn't exist in my EA dictionary. Which word in E Armenian should I use for "ass" and what for "donkey"?

quote:Originally posted by Harut: quote:Originally posted by EZ:My personal opinion is that the game is not going to last very long after this. is that a threat, or preparation for surrender? That will be clarified after the game.

Here's the current position at move 27, black to move. My personal opinion is that the game is not going to last very long after this. http://home.wxs.nl/~marte050/temp/Ezharut3.GIF [ December 16, 2002, 11:46 PM: Message edited by: EZ ]

Thanks to all of you for your nice responses. I will need the encouragement to overcome writers block after each part. About the next part, don't expect too much excitement.

quote:Originally posted by Harut: quote:Originally posted by EZ:working my "esh" off, smilies/lol.gif smilies/lol2.gif smilies/lol.gif "esh" means donckey. Not according to a couple of Armenians who wrote the only Eastern Armenian dictionary on the market. But wait until I start posting some self made poems in Armenian. [ December 16, 2002, 02:41 PM: Message edited by: EZ ]

So there I was, waiting for that door to please, please NOT open. But of course the inevitable happened. All of a sudden I found myself standing before this short French lady, dressed in a way that reminded me of my mom when she would be working around the house wen I was young, somewhere in the sixties. While the woman was checking me out with her eyes I was still thinking about what to say, how to explain, how to justify the crime that I was about to commit. "Bonjour", pffffff, that wasn't so hard. "Bonjour Madame, je m'appelle Elly...." (Hi madame, my name is Elly). I knew if I wouldn't hurry up with it, she would start to think "yes, and? so what?" and of course I didn't come all the way from Holland to tell her that! But I was afraid that "Hi, my name is Elly and I came from Holland to cut your flowers" would make her take out a broom and chase me off the property with it. However, I did not have much choice; my knowledge of French was poor and I would not be able to say what I felt necessary in this situation. So I went on, stuttering and in the best French I could come up with: "... and I we came from Holland to look for flowers, Hortensia's.... may we cut some of yours?". I hoped that adding "some" would be less shocking. Guess what she replied. "You are too early, come back in October and we shall see." This was my very first experience with a 'costumer' in France. So no flowers, but at least the friendly response did not cause me to immediately quit my job and hitch-hike home. There was hope still and after this first attempt many more came, even on this day alone. I didn't know then that I would be doing this for the next 3 years, every weekend from august until december. That day I learned a lot about the different aspects of this weird trade. The boss showed me how to cut the flower bushes without leaving ugly holes in it, so that I didn't have to feel so guilty while cutting them, although this unpleasant feeling never completely disappeared. And I got to practice my French and added some new words to my vocabulary. It turned out that 'we' already had some regular customers, who were sometimes even pleasantly surprised to see us, but a big part of the territory was yet to be explored and 'conquered', a lot of flowers and new costumers still to be discovered. While for us August was the beginning of 'our' Hortensia season, for the flowers it was the beginning of the end. They would slowly start to dry on the bushes, their (for my taste often too bright) summer colors fading, changing into a beautiful and more natural looking mixture of dark red, pink, purple or blue with very soft shades of green and beige. To determine if they were ready to be harvested or not, for the purpose of being sold as semi-fresh and dried flowers on the flower auction in Holland, next to judging the colors we also had to feel them. So I learned how to judge their quality and state by carefully stroking them with my hands. I was aware of the fact that this would be a strange sight for passants, but later on as I became more experienced I really got into my role as an 'expert' and I would do it with the utmost persuation, so no one would even think of laughing at the sight of it. At the end of this first day, having been on the road since 4 am and out in the open air all day working my "esh" off, naturally at 8 pm I was very happy that my boss decided to call it a day and check into a hotel. I could not imagine that 1 hour later I would be sitting in an excellent hotel-restaurant, enjoying the wonderful French haute cuisine over a bottle of delicious Pinot blanc. What a contrast!... to have started the day feeling like a beggar and ending it like a queen that just had a working-class-nightmare. I had a little trouble keeping the conversation going, as the boss and I did not really have much to talk about, except for his favorite subject: Hortensia's, so I ended up listening to his personal stories. At 10 pm I could not keep my eyes open any longer and before my head would fall into my lovely, but also extremely stinky, cheese plate, we decided to go up to the room, OUR room. Yes, well, it was cheaper that way. To be honest, it did make me feel a little uncomfortable having to sleep in the same room with a male stranger, who at the dinner table had told me about his love affair with my predecessor! May be continued. [ December 16, 2002, 05:09 AM: Message edited by: EZ ]

It's good to position your screen so that you can look out of a window or into a larger space from time to time to do eyes gymnastics through focusing on objects at different distances.

quote:Originally posted by MJ: quote:Originally posted by EZ: It is very easy to corrupt helpless people - all you do is make them believe that there is no hope for better future. I know Martin. I'm just trying to figure out what's happening over there and what should be changed to make things better. If corruption is an accepted way of life for everyone then nothing will change (any time soon), unless something happens that will wake people up. In one of your recent postings you said that with the improvement of the economic situation also corruption will become less. But that will take ages, plus it's a kind of chicken-egg situation. I think that diaspora Armenians could play a major role in 'curing' the illness as I called it. They are NOT helpless, they KNOW a different way of life and they can show how to live it. So, I'm all for starting a campaign against corruption, coming from the diaspora. I even believe that diasparoan should try to participate in RoA politics. And for the new government, I would suggest to add an anti-corruption Ministry. [ December 14, 2002, 06:24 AM: Message edited by: EZ ]

I found this (http://www.aaainc.org/armenia_week/12-06-02.htm): December 6, 2002 FOURTEEN CANDIDATES SEEK REGISTRATION TO CHALLENGE KOCHARIAN Incumbent President Robert Kocharian will face up to fourteen challengers in the upcoming election set for February 19. The deadline for submission of applications to Armenia's Central Election Commission (CEC) passed at 6:00PM local time today. In the upcoming weeks each nominee will have to collect at least 35,000 signatures for official registration as presidential candidates in the first half of January. Also this week, the CEC officially limited financing for each candidate's campaign to pre-election funds of no more than $103,000. Campaign donations are limited to roughly $350 for individuals and $860 for businesses. Financing by foreign citizens, the Armenian government and charitable or religious organizations is illegal. According to the Armenian Sociological Association (ASA) and other observers, only four nominees are capable of posing a serious challenge to the incumbent. They are: Artashes Geghamian of the National Unity Party, non-party candidate Raffi Hovannisian, Stepan Demirchian of the People's Party and Vazgen Manukian of the National Democratic Union. A recent ASA survey found that close to a third of all respondents have already decided to vote for Kocharian, with the top opposition candidates polling between five and ten percent. Close to a half of all respondents said they are undecided or inclined not to vote. Over the past two weeks, Kocharian's nomination received endorsements from the Republican, Country of Law (Orinats Yerkir) and Democratic Liberal (Ramkavar Azatakan) Parties, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun) and several organizations comprised of local self-government, business and humanitarian leaders. "Considering the disarray in opposition ranks, it is not overly optimistic to expect Kocharian to receive over 60 percent in the first round," said one pro-presidential analyst. The opposition "alliance" of 16 parties, established earlier this year around their commonly espoused goal to unseat Kocharian, has produced nine nominees. Another factor playing to Kocharian's advantage is that ex-President Levon Ter-Petrossian refused to accept the nomination of the former ruling Armenian Pan-National Movement. Below is the list of nominees and their affiliation, arranged in the order of application to the CEC: Stepan Demirchian People's Party Aram Karapetian Constitutional Rights Union Paruir Hairikian Self-Determination Union Artashes Geghamian National Unity Party Robert Kocharian Unaffiliated Raffi Hovannisian Unaffiliated Ruben Avagian United Armenians Party Vazgen Manukian National Democratic Union Garnik Margarian Socialist Armenia Union Aram Sargsian Democratic Party Aram Harutiunian National Accord Party Arshak Sadoyan Union of National Democrats Vladimir Darbinian Communist Party Aram Sargsian Party of the Republic Petros Makeyan Democratic Fatherland Party (Sources: Arminfo 12-2, 3, 5; Noyan Tapan 12-2, 5; R&I Report 12-3; RFE/RL Armenia Report 12-4, 5; Central Election Commission 12-5) [ December 14, 2002, 05:48 AM: Message edited by: EZ ]

quote:Originally posted by Harut:it seems Kocharyan is going to win this election too. even though what we hear here about him doesn't really sound nice, people in Armenia seem to be favoring him. togh Geghamyan@ ha iran jghi te "jhoghovurd@ qez chi uzum Kocharyan!!!" "even though what we hear here about him"... Are you saying that what you get to hear "here", is not what they get to hear "there"? It's been suggested/mentioned several times here that Kocharyan is corrupt and that there are (beter, more honest?) alternative candidates. Why would the people vote for Kocharyan then? I don't get this. Either democracy in Armenia is a farce or curruption has become a way of life for everyone, including the ones that don't profit from it. Sorry if I'm jumping to maybe the wrong conclusions but the way I see it, it doesn't matter whether corruption is a cause or a consequence. It's an illness, that should be cured in order to make a healthy (way of) life possible. Actually, I think this illness could very well be ennemy #1 for the Republic of Armenia.

MJan. Don't tease me please. I tend to believe everything, because I think anything is possible. I can't find proof of what you are saying. If it's not a joke, can you give me a url? Would save me time. And you can add to your pledge of loyalty list "# Everything good on this earth was invented by Armenians". [ December 13, 2002, 04:09 PM: Message edited by: EZ ]

[ December 14, 2002, 05:31 AM: Message edited by: EZ ]

quote:Originally posted by EZ:What does the Armenian political system look like? Can anyone explain how it works? Found it myself

What does the Armenian political system look like? Can anyone explain how it works?

Harut gave his bisshop because he knew he was going to win a pawn with it. You can keep track of the moves in the postings just above the first image.

Well, MJ, I don't know exactly how it works in Armenia, but it has crossed my mind that maybe the Forum could deliver a president and however this may sound stupid I'm not joking.

Hi guys, thanks for your comments. If Harut keeps on attacking, I won't get to carry out any plan at all . Have you ever considered trying Sicialian, Harut? Could be the ideal opening for you. Unconventional moves... Thanks, Toth, for assuming that I am capable of inventing a new variation. I think I'd better stick to the basic rules I learned and hope that I won't make any more mistakes. Well, I just did with my next move. He got himself another pawn. Harut, you're not Varuzhan Akobian or any of those guys, are you? We are now at move 21: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.f3 e6 6.c3 Bxe4 7.fxe4 Qh4+ 8.Kd2 Qxe4 9.Qf3 Nf6 10.Bd3 Qd5 11.Kc2 Bd6 12.Qxd5 cxd5 13.Bd2 Nc6 14.Nf3 Rc8 15.a3 O-O 16.h3 Ne4 17.g4 Nxd2 18.Kxd2 Bf4+ 19.Kc2 Be3 20.Rae1 Bxd4 21.Nxd4 * http://home.wxs.nl/~marte050/temp/Ezharut2.GIF [ December 12, 2002, 05:56 AM: Message edited by: EZ ]

My weirdest, interesting and funnest, but also (physically) hardest job was being a flower-picking-girl in France. About 10 years ago as a single mother I was always short of money, until I ran into this job opportunity to work in France in the weekends, picking Hortensia's. I had never heard of a job like that and imagined it to be very romantic. I pictured myself in the middle of huge and beautifully colored hortensia fields wearing a large summer hat under the warm French sun. Of course I realized that it could turn out to be somewhat different in reality, but even though I was scared, because I desperately needed the money (250-500 Dutch guilders per weekend, which was quite a lot for Dutch standards), I decided to bluff and I got the job! My boss thought he found himself a girl with guts, who could speak fluently French and had excellent driving skills. The truth was that I didn't know what I had gotten myself into and when the time came to go on the first trip of the season I could only take a very deep breath and hope for the best. The goal was, to bring back as many Hortensia's as possible. But there were no Hortensia fields, the flowers were growing in private as well as public gardens. The boss put me in his crew (he had several!) - a crew consisted of two people. He was going to teach me the 'business', the trade, himself. (What a relief! ). On our very first trip, when we had reached 'our' territory in France, at some point (until then I was simply enjoying the French scenery, secretly hoping that we would never reach the spot ) he suddenly stopped the van and told me to go and try to get permission from the house accross the road to cut their hortensia's. I almost got a heart attack!! Of course by then I knew a little more of what was awaiting me, but to actually be there and having to perform!... Oh my, I imagined someone knocking on my door asking for permission to cut my precious flowers, I would tell them to go and see a doctor! I felt soooooo bad. But I had to go through with it, needed the money. So I went, my knees trembling, and I rang the doorbell, hoping that no one would open. Will be continued. [ December 12, 2002, 05:05 AM: Message edited by: EZ ]

The below diagram shows positions at move 18, black (Harut) to move next. My friend, grandmaster from Qatar, explained to me something about this game. Harut decided to turn the game into Caro-Kann with his reply c6 to my 1.e4. This usually leads to positional (defensive) play and the opponent with white will have difficulties to break through. The game may last for a long time and it will often lead to a draw. If a player needs a draw he could therefor decide to play Caro-Kann. Kasparov plays Caro-Kann because he's a very solid player. Replying to 1.e4 with c5 instead of c6 leads to the Sicilian opening. Kasparov plays that because he likes to attack. I believe they call that playing "tactical" and it involves more risk. In this particular game I should have even more trouble to win because I am down a pawn. That of course was a stupid mistake, not the way Caro-Kann should be played I assume. I should analyse this game later to find out what to do at the point where Harut got me into trouble. Sofar todays comment on this game. http://home.planet.nl/~marte050/temp/EZHARUT.GIF [ December 10, 2002, 03:19 PM: Message edited by: EZ ]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 *

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 *

1.e4 c6 2.d4 *