Armen

The buildings that make Yerevan unique are the buildings designed by A. Tamanyan or the ones designed in his style afterwards. All other buildings however old and dusty they might be are not Armenian, they are poor remnants of Russian-European provincial architecture. I couldn't care less about these last ones being destroyed. I cannot find any other "Armenian" architecture except for Tamanyan's style, the opera house being its finest example.

Hmmm... interesting. In natural science there are many theories that use a similar phraze: "other things equal".

Is it worth it? Brits didin't have cuisine at all. Instead, they ruled the world.

Teachers. Fortunately, I am off their limits but there are lot of kids under their control.

Yes, it is a non-sense. That is the whole idea. You do not recognize anything that your sensors do not register. I am trying to do it. There is nothing bad in it.

You think now it is very urgent to switch back? Whatever were the real reasons behind the change it made Armenian sound not only close to Russian but also to Romance and Germanic languanges. It sounded Middle Eastern before.

It is not the freedom of speech that is realy being challenged in our days but the freedom of thought. If the latter is eliminated the former is irrelevant.

I isolated them to show you a pattern. To illustrate how modern human materialism surpasses even the amount of evil that was necessary to God for setting the whole the system into movement. Atom does not have "destructive power". It just has a lot of power, which can be made good or bad according to our preferences.

One step away from becoming a FIDE world cup winner. http://www.worldchesscup2005.com/results.asp?cat=2

16.12.2005 Levon Aronian: I still enjoy chess The fact that Armenian GM, who lives in Berlin, entered in the final cannot be called sensational. Aronian is playing great, and this, of course, influenced on his Elo rating. Besides, he belongs to the generation of 22-23 years old geniuses that should win something serious, as many people think. - Was it difficult to win Etienne Bacrot? LA: It was simpler than I expected. The first game ended quickly: in the known theoretical position I used a novelty and my opponent preferred a forced draw. Next day I managed to get playing position with advantage. Then Etienne was playing unconfidently. And it is not surprising: it is unpleasant to defend without a pawn and counterplay and at such time control. So, he lost everything. - But in the final position there could be a draw, isn’t it? LA: Maybe... I can only say that I did a lot in order to make Bacrot to blunder. - What can you say about your opponent in the final? LA: Ruslan is a great chess player with huge experience of participating in strong tournaments, including knockout ones. He is very strong in positional fight and in technical positions. Besides, he is of my age. If I’m not mistaken, I have positive balance against him, but it doesn’t mean anything. I can say that it was not by chance that he was a World Champion. - Do you feel tired before perhaps the main final in your life? LA: Not at all, because I constantly feel support of the local Diaspora. Not long ago, for example, they took me for a walk in the forest. I even had an opportunity to shoot in the shooting-range. It is nice that people come to support just you every day. It encourages. - At this tournament you had two difficult matches – against Vallejo and Sadvakasov. LA: Yes, I agree. Honestly speaking, I’m not satisfied with my performance at this tournament. We should tell this straight, I played rather bad. In general, I can say that Ponomariov and Grischuk have more stable style than I. I still have some vacancy in chess knowledge that should be filled… - It is scaring to imagine how strong you will play after learning more chess. LA: Basically, when you know a lot, it is more difficult to work well. Nobody knows what is good and what is bad. Maybe, having gained more knowledge I will play worse than at the moment. - Maybe, you are stronger psychologically? Everyone notes that you are so energetic. LA: Atmosphere of chess always inspires me. It is a great pleasure for me to be in the playing hall, to talk to my colleagues, most of them are nice people… Maybe that’s the reason why I am not nervous during games. - At one of the press conferences you called yourself “a cheap tactician”. Since that this phrase is a saying… LA: Yeah. Boris Gelfand said: what is that, you cannot win any round without playing tie-breaks! - How do you plan to spend prize money? LA: Actually, I don’t know yet. Anyway, I have a big family. - Do you have any global aim? For example, to become number 1? LA: Basically, I have never thought about that. I just play chess and enjoy my life… - It came out that the chief arbiter of this tournament is your countrymen…Does this helps you some way? LA: Yes, of course, you know, he suggests me regularly (Levon smiles). Generally, it is nice that my countryman occupies this important position. Maybe, this fact is one of the components of my successful performance (he smiles again).

This record is rapidly changing. The reasons of two world wars of the last century were based on the economic interests of an existing and rising empires that used different ideologies to achieve these interests. Economic thinking is based on natural sceince. The number of victims of two world wars together makes something like 60 mln people or more. I think the number of victims over 3 centuries of floods, volcanoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, religious wars would not make that much.

No, scienitifc know-how kills in large mass. Some part of this "know-how" is a know-how-to-eliminate-humanity as-a-type. And this was invented by "scientists" who didn't stand the temptation. Moreover, they knew exactly what they were doing. They are a much more dangerous people than a simple thief that can kill with a gun or a knife.

"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds" J. Robert Oppenheimer (quoting the Bhagavad Gita)

I can say the same about any law of physics.

This in some sense equals to saying:"If there was no gravity, things would move without effort". Evil is a universal maximum. It sets the criterion for everything. If evil was not that evil, we would not be moving forward. And moving forward is the life itself.

Ara, I do not think that they were wrong in what they said, therefore I don't have to prove them wrong. However, in the context of thoughts you expressed while quoting them, the understaing of what they didn't say is more important for me then the things they said.

I am truly humbled Sir. That wasen't necessary. Really... It feals good to be noticed in the crowd. Or ... probably - and I feal that is the case - we alone here Just me, you and the Holy Ghost. Frankly, I thought that our coversation on that subject had finished. And I thought that while putting a sign of equality between materia and idea I reached an agreement with you. But you don't make compromises with yourself. You have to eliminate my belief in the idea... OK let's go on. Voltaire, Socrates and Russell are not authorities for me. Faith already has a component of doubt in it, along with everything else.

Anahit, each one of us knows very well deep in heart which are his/her sins. I don't have to blame you or lecture you. You know your sins. The fact that you're not sincere and you hide your fears under a mask does not change anything. All of us have imperfections, faults and sins. The sin of having sex is not equal sin for eveyone. Sins have different value for each one of us. Sin is always something out of limits and not something people do for normal emotional cognition or satisfaction. You might ask what is "normal"? I say, we always know what is "normal" for us. And we always know when we have sinned.

Ara, what I am saying is that spiritual cognition of the history is as necessary as the one based on facts, dates and names. I do not want to waste time on the American church. It is all well known.

That made my day yesterday

I could say with 99% certainty that majority of US stock players are faithful believers in US dollar. So are many other investors around the world. Surely, their calculations are based on history but taking into account the numerous market failures, they are nothing but religious believers. How else could anyone explain the Asian financial crisis in 1997? An army of professional analysis and finacial gurus was caluclating and comparing historical records and forcasting growth .. but suddenly the Asian Tigers turned into Asian Cats overnight. So, investors approach market with just that, religious faith. Only very few of them are Gods. If by only making money people could solve all the problems we should leave in Haven on Earth by now. When comparing money with faith, money always wins. Sure! Who could argue with that?! We need money first and faith second. It is an iron logic. But there wouldn't peace and harmony even if today religion did not exist at all. Wouldn't Bush go into war just for money? It IS his primary reason. All the BS about Muslim fundementalism is nonsense. Westerners want the control of strategic oil reserves to insure their present lifestyle. There is no other reason. In 20th century religion has not been the primary real reason for wars. Making more money and securing maximized profits for national corporations was the real cause of wars. The last clash was between economic and social ideologies. Now that is gone as well. Currently we only have money against money.

History can never be used to understand reality. One of the best examples of this is the stock exchange. People make times series analysis with stock portfolios to find out their present standing and to predict future revenues. And it never works. Rates float freely all the time and only those who have first hand acurate information from power brokers make real money. Same with our general reality. History can never give you basis for your present or future actions and it never repeats itself. The only way to understand reality it to grasp the fundamental necessity of the moment. We must understand this fundemental necessity from historical simptoms, not the historical records (facts, dates, names). To illustrate you how misleading can historical record be I want to invite your attention to the 30 Years War. It started with religious reasons and finished by giving birth to European nationalism. Can we say that European nationalism was born from religious wars? There is no way anyone can prove it. Yet, if you open a normal history book the causes and effects of 30 years war are given just that way. So, what was the reason that in 30 years time people's minds changed drastically in Central and Western Europe? Again we should find out what was the real necessity of that time. Maybe the people were so hungry to identify themselves with something that they went after the national idea. Those who find out why they needed nationalism will give the answer to the question "What was the necessity of that time?". There are many people who talk of reality as if historians contributed to this world better than theologicians or phylosopers. Mmm.. let me name the first one that comes to my mind, Plutarc - the lier of all times and nations. If we judge the idea by its record we may end up rejecting democracy at all because the worst tirans of all times - Hitler and Stalin - were both elected by democratic vote and were loved by their people. Can it be in reality that the so called "people" are stupid? Yes, I saw it in 2004 US presidential elections. If US now is threatened by China's economy or by Europe's dependency on the Russian oil its people will vote for a tirant. No doubt about it. The Greek democracy in the West was a nice idea until there were Communist Russia and China. Now when both Russia and China are practicing free market and some personal freedoms, tough geopolitics comes back. Let's see if Greek democracy can deal with this.

Bad, bad Vava ... I neen some fresh air or I will have a heart stroke.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-11/21/xinsrc_3521102210818296110652.jpg David Nalbandian of Argentina kisses the winner's trophy after defeating world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland at the Tennis Masters Cup tournament held in Shanghai, China, November 20, 2005. (Xinhua photo) http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-11/21/xinsrc_582110221081492130461.jpg David Nalbandian of Argentina returns a shot during the finals match against world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland at the Tennis Masters Cup tournament held in Shanghai, China, November 20, 2005. Nalbandian won 6-7 (4/7), 6-7(11/13), 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).(Xinhua photo)

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200511/2...121_222799.html Nalbandian lifts year-ending title of Masters Argentina's David Nalbandian came through a thrilling five-set victory against world number one Roger Federer here on Sunday to claim his ever first year-ending title at the ATP tennis Masters Cup. The 23-year-old lay down his back on the floor of the Qi Zhong Stadium's central court after wrapping up the final 6-7 (4), 6-7(11), 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(3) in four hours and 34 minutes and coming out the first winner from Argentina in 31 years. "Of course (this is the best moment of my career). I think it's more important the way that I win," said Nalbandian at a post-match news conference. "It's really incredible, these kind of matches in the finals against the No. 1 of the world. He didn't lose many matches during the year. So it's really important." "I feel like the better guy won today. He was better, way better, in the third and fourth and fifth," commented Federer. "I always say the winner deserves it more than the loser, even though I don't feel like a loser at all, because the season was so great. The match I played today and the whole tournament I played is for me still a great satisfaction. "But He did well and deserves to win, no question about it." With the victory, Nalbandian, last qualifying for the 4.45 million US dollars event on a world rank of 12th after Andy Roddick decided to skip the tournament due to a back injury, snapped a 35-match winning streak of Federer who has taken in six titles including two grand slam titles with the straight wins since June. Limping on an injured right foot, Federer managed tie-break wins from both of the first two sets, but obviously ran out of energy before forcing a tie-break in the decisive fifth set, which the 24-year-old Swiss lost after forehanding the ball under the net. Being broken in as earlier as the first game of the best-of-five final, a very longest match during this week's season-ending event in Shanghai, Federer was pulled into tie-break as each of the players broke twice. He luckily took the first set after a serving out of bound was mistakenly ruled an ace and a returning from the superlative Swiss rolled over the net to keep live. Same tune sounded in the second set. Trailing 4-1 in the second tiebreaker, Federer held his nerve to make a 5-1 run and overtook the lead 6-5 before winning it 13-11. "Both sets was very, very close. Some important points he had a little bit of lucky sometimes. The way that he win the first set, with the net...And then the second set was almost the same, a lot of set point for both, very close," said Nalbandian, referring to the first two sets taken by Federer. "But I know that he wasn't hundred percent for the ankle, his preparation wasn't the perfect one." "I feel in the beginning of the third when he play not so good, that I had my chance in there. I had to keep going, to keep fighting, and play the most important match that I do during the year. "I left everything on court." Yes, fortune has yet accompanied the Swiss all the time. urning out his energy reserved in some breezy wins in former matches, Federer gave up the third and fourth set in ease, respectively 6-2, 6-1. Further down 4-0 in the fifth and decisive set, the top seed launched a successful fighting back from the fifth game, took four games in a row and broke his Argentine opponent thrice to force tie-break, before a better Nalbandian cost him a third Masters title in straight. "I came much closer than I ever thought. I would come to this tournament victory," said Federer. "But it was unfortunate in the end. I cannot believe myself I came back in the fifth, but somehow I did." "There's sort of also pride in there, of course, because three weeks ago I was still on crutches. No to be back playing at the best level, I'm very happy about that." Federer, losing ten games in a row with cracking nine aces and 63 winners against 8 double faults and 72 unforced errors, won 41 net points out of 62 plays, but just converted 6 out of 20 breaking points into efforts. "I don't know how many games I lost in a row at that point, but I knew I needed a good start into the fifth set or the fourth set, but I couldn't because I was just not physically good enough prepared for this event," said Federer. "Those first two sets took too long, too much out of me. I couldn't push up for my serves in the end any more. That caused me that bad start in the fifth set, too." Nalbandian won 2 aces against 6 double faults, made efforts of 11 out of 14 breaking points, and took a total of 66 winners against 57 unforced errors. If Federer went through the final as a winner, he should have tied John McEnroe's Open Era record for best match winning percentage in a season. McEnroe had a 82-3 mark in 1984, and Federer held his own on 81-3 into Sunday's final. The last second breakdown from the world No. 1 beat everything back into dust. Before Saturday's 6-0, 6-0 semifinal win over Argentina's Gaston Gaudio, the two-time defending champion Federer had kept in low as he was pulled into deciders in his Red Group opener against 12th-ranked David Nalbandian on Sunday and was even forced tiebreaker when facing the world No. 7 Ivan Ljubicic on Tuesday. But the effects of the ankle ligament injury kept hurting Federer's playing. After American veteran Andre Agassi and second seed Rafael Nadal pulled out due to injuries on Monday, Federer has been left the only top-five player in the elite field. The Shanghai tournament was the first in six weeks for the superlative Swiss, who has already clinched the world No. 1 year-end ranking for the second year in succession. He last competed in Bangkok, winning his 11th title of the season on October 2. Following is the factbox on Argentina's David Nalbandian who claimed his ever first Tennis Masters Cup title with a 6-7(4), 6-7(11), 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(3) victory over world number one Roger Federer of Switzerland on Sunday: Born: January 1, 1982 in Cordoba, Argentina Age: 23 Residence: Cordoba, Argentina Height: 180 cm Weight: 79 kg Plays: Right-handed Turned Pro: 2000 Grand slam titles: None Previous Year's Final ATP Race Position: 9 Current ATP Race Position: 11 Career High ATP Entry Ranking: 4 (July 6, 2004) Current ATP Entry Ranking: 12 Year Review: Singles Record: 44-18 Singles Titles: 2 Career Review: Singles Record: 169-87 Singles Titles: 4 Source: Xinhua