Ex-KGB spy Litvinenko has died.

BBC reports that Alexander Litvinenko, an ex-KGB spy in exile in the UK, has passed away. It is alleged that his death is a result of a poisoning by the FSB (Russian Federal Security Bureau).




Although there is no proof yet, I can understand why is the Russian government being accused. The FSB has a long history of assassinating political figures in exile. And there certainly is a motivation to do so - Litvinenko is rumored to have been investigating the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist critical of the Russian government's actions in the Caucasus and its abuses in general.




I first heard of him when he accused the Russian secret services of the terrorist act in the Armenian Parliament in 1999. A group of armed dashnaks (a pro-Russian socialist party in Armenia and diaspora) stormed the parliament in session and killed the prime minister, the speaker of the parliament and a few other ministers and parliamentarians. No ties to these services have been brought to life during the trial of the terrorists and their subsequent imprisonment. Suspiciously, one of them, an electrician by trade, was electrocuted in his cell while trying to make a cup of coffee on an electric stove.

The Republic Square big screen may be removed.

One chilly day in November during the early 90-s I was sitting in the Republic Square and looking at the empty platform where a year or so ago Lenin's statue was. The space was empty. So I thought it would be a great spot to have a large banner that would scroll advertisements.

A decade later, a large screen TV was installed at that spot that ran advertisements. (The image courtesy of Blogrel.com)

There has been some controversy about it as people felt it was inappropriate. I never felt like it. If that spot could generate money and did no harm, why not? It was not an eye sore, and if the volume could be turned off after dark not to disturb the peace, I would not have a problem with it.

Well, the good times are over. The ads have stopped generating enough revenue to justify the costs of upkeep (or so they say). There is a contest to install another statue in that location.

I disagree with that. We have already had a statue of an idol there. We do not need to do that again. Just leave the space empty. Have a green law, or another fountain with benches around it so that the people can sit and relax.

We all know that there are not many places left in Yerevan where one can sit and relax.

Signed up for Google AdSense.

I have read stories about the funny links that AdSense displays based the keywords in logs. I am curious to see what kind of links are going to be on this blog. My guess is that they will be generic since there is very little text and instead, the majority of the posts are just pictures. There may be a few Armenia related links, but I am sure there will be some that are for Turkey, Russia or Iran.

It's gonna be an interesting research project.

Photo for November 21, 2006.

TheAngrySky, originally uploaded by nazarian.

The sky got angrier and angrier.

Photo for November 20, 2006.

TreesAndRiver, originally uploaded by nazarian.

Almost clear skies. The air was cold and might have affected the sensors in the camera.

Armenia has dispatched another group of peace keepers to Kosovo.

I have finally resolved the issues I have been having with posting non-flickr blogs so I will start posting individual blogs as well as photo blogs here.



Yesterday I came across an article that discussing the Armenian peace keeping force dispatched in Iraq to help out the Americans. On November 11, they suffered their first casualty. And Armenian officer was injured in a road-side bomb attack on their convoy. His leg was severed by the bomb, and he is now in Germany for treatment. Fortunately, he is alive and is expected to recover, albeit he will need prosthetics now.



And today I read that another group of Armenian peace keepers has been sent to Kosovo to replace the ones who have completed their tour of duty there. So far they have not suffered any casualties there which is good. Link to RFERL article.



I am still unsure about our soldiers putting their lives in danger for other peoples' wars. We still remember when some American petro-businessmen hired some 1,200 Afghanis to fight against us in the early 90-s. And now we have sent our boys to protect the business interests of these same Texan oilmen in Iraq.



But then I look at the bright side - the American empire is here to stay, and Armenia is too small to isolate itself. It's better to be with the US rather than against it. It cannot stay neutral - we are surrounded by wolves and the moment Turkey or Azerbaijan think they can get away with eliminating Armenia, they'll do what they did in 1915 in a much grander scale. So we have to be friends with the big boys while being self sufficient as well.



The other positive that I see with the Armenian involvement in these peace keeping initiatives is the opportunity to learn from the modern armies in the world. While a lot depends on more effective technologies of war for a victory, the structure of the Western armies has proven to be superior to others.



The more the Armenian army learns from them, the better.

Photo for November 9, 2006.

HalfAssSign, originally uploaded by nazarian.

It's a sign next to a trail in a park. It's got a set of rules (the bureaucrats love to post rules in public places) but fortunately nobody can understand what they are. Obviously, even the authorities don't care.

Photo for November 8, 2006.

TheSunPeekingThru, originally uploaded by nazarian.

As I was walking in the woods, the sun was about to set.

Photo for November 6, 2006.

impractical_pencils, originally uploaded by nazarian.

I came across these pencils at the mail room at work. At first I thought it was a manufacturing mishap before realizing that these were supposed to be cross shaped pencils.

It's a bizarre idea but I guess it makes sense to religious folk. or maybe not since they have ended up in the mail room.

Photo for October 31, 2006.

JackOLanterns, originally uploaded by nazarian.

I came across these pumpkins while walking in the park this weekend.