AP: A senior U.S. State Department official is on his way to Armenia to encourage talks between the government and opposition protesters. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza’s trip comes after Armenian President Robert Kocharian declared the 20-day state of emergency Saturday.

A U.S. State Department spokesman, Tom Casey, says that the United States does not want to signal that it supports a crackdown, but also does not want «people to move from peaceful expressions of political opinions and engage in violence.»

Mediamax: Armenian Prime Minister and president-elect Serzh Sargsyan has assured representatives of the American administration that the government would do whatever it takes to avoid violence and restore order and stability.

The government press service said today that Sargsyan said this in a telephone conversation with Daniel Fried, an aide to the US secretary of state, and Matthew Bryza, the US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Kosovo is an independent country now, not still recognized by any country but I am sure, some will start that very soon,starting from United States to European Union. Russia opposes the move furiously,Georgia too and Azerbaijan too. Armenia may welcome that,though i am not sure since Armenia buys weapons from Serbia and that for sure will upset Serbs.
more…

The most Interesting Issue in the past weeks, regarding the Armenian genocide issue, has been how the American media behaved.
Washington post to my idea completely was against the resolution. it published an editorial which was mentioned during the committee hearing and it clearly asked the congress committee to vote against resolution. Washington post even a few days ago published another story called Armenians Who Need Help Today from Editor of Editorial page and criticized the Armenian diaspora for their effort on genocide issue.
more…

George Bush today after a phone talk with Turkish Prime Minister again opposed to the resolution in Congress to recognize 1915 killings as Genocide. The reason as usual is the strategic importance of Turkey(for possible attack and pressure on Iran?).
I don’t understand this sentence of president Bush: “the events constitute a genocide should be a matter for historical inquiry, not legislation.”

more…

Armenianow.com had an interesting article “Present and Future Power Debate: Who will be the choices in 2008?” which examines the possible scenarios of political developments, probable candidates and the effects of these decisions on the political life in the country. However, all the arguments brought to and for this or that candidate in the article are most irrelevent to see the overall picture in the country. The one and only thing that got me interested was rather this one single point made by Washington D.C./Yerevan political analyst Richard Giragosian: more…

Wednesday night we ended up watching American Idol’s L.A. auditions on the Fox network. Last night’s program finally televised an Armenian American from Southern California. I really don’t have the nerve to describe what I saw as this performance was beyond anything I have ever seen on national television. Check out Martik Manoukian’s unusual American Idol audition now posted on YouTube. Let us know what you think. Hey, good performance or bad, Martik was fresh and entertaining.

Glendale, CA: Local Armenian-Diasporian (community firebrand) morning-talk-show host Stepan Partamian ceased his long time running “Pari Louse” program today, as he will be working on other pressing endeavors.

Since 2000, the Armenian Arts organization has been a pioneer in introducing open dialogue through the airwaves. The Armenian Arts program, airing on local Armenian television in Los Angeles, is a talk show with a twist. Featuring host Stepan Partamian, the show continues to raise eyebrows by tackling difficult, often taboo topics relating to Armenian identity, culture, politics, history and religion. Not surprisingly, the show has made an enormous number of enemies – always a good sign – even if most have grown fond of the program and now count themselves among its most avid supporters, even encouraging their families to watch the program. The show has also won accolades from the get-go: thanks to its brutal honesty and genuine dedication to positive change, it has found resonance with an Armenian public thirsting for frank, no-nonsense discussion of current affairs. These programs aired live on Horizon TV

From what I comprehend, during the next couple years, Stepan will be on a self-styled “Armenian Identity” journey. He will be traveling across the United States, Europe and subsequently conclude in the Republic of Armenia in 2008, searching, exploring and confronting Armenian issues, places, and people that influence this “Armenian Identity” inquiry. I guess Stepan is going to somehow bring these identities together and present them to us. It will be very interesting journey to follow to say the least, as he is an particularly controversial media personality. Personally, I feel somewhat poignant that this show ended, as Stepan is probably the most sincere yet intellectually progressive local Armenian-Diaspora public figure out there (or at least in Sunny Southern California).

Today as I read the newspaper, Serzh Sarkisyan’s comments struck me as unbelievably short sighted and almost comical. I was reading a week old paper and in it Serzh said that he does not see Russia’s acquiring of Armenia’s utilities as dangerous. He continued to say that he does not see Russia using its economic interests, implying that Russia is not using its economic power to control Armenia. What? Serzh, are you living in the same country as I am?

more…

The following article appeared in The Washington Post today.

From Hosting Mice to People, With Help From Marriott

Monday, February 6, 2006; Page D02

In the cold, dark winter of 1993, checking into the Hotel Armenia in Yerevan, Armenia, was an exercise in fortitude. The country had barely any fuel, and word was that mice, seeking a source of heat in freezing hotel rooms, would snuggle up against the warm bodies of sleeping guests.

The squeamish contrived to share a room, figuring they had a 50-50 chance that the mice would head to the other bed. Bundled in their coats, guests found their beds by flashlight — the city had electricity only two hours a day. A daily splash of perfume took the place of a shower.

You may think this is yet another insensitive, stupid little article written by an ugly American… It’s actually a praise for the Hotel Armenia Marriott.

By 1997, the hulking Hotel Armenia was offered for sale, chock full of Soviet baggage — often resentful service, lumpy twin beds in every room, bathrooms with gaping and scary holes. (Where did they lead? What might they harbor?)

A group of Armenian Americans, called A&K Development Corp., stepped in, buying an 80 percent stake in the hotel from the government for $10 million and planning an ambitious transformation.

The Overseas Private Investment Corp., a U.S. government agency, provided an $18 million loan. The International Finance Corp., an arm of the World Bank, invested $4.9 million. And Marriott International Inc. of Bethesda took over management, training employees and supervising the renovation, which began in 2001. The name Marriott only went on the hotel in 2004, when all was complete — and the mice had found new lodgings.

An update on last week’s blog about T.J., a transgendered Armenian attending graduate school in the U.S.

An organization, Eats4Education has set up a scholarship fund for T.J. to get through the rest of the school year financially. (Ironically, this organization happened to start at my high school hang out diner, oddly enough!)

If you’re interested in making a donation to T.J.’s education, please click here. They’ve raised enough to cover T.J.’s fall semester, but he still has to finish up the winter term.

A new documentary has been broadcasted in the US covering four university students all of whom are are transgendered. (Please skim the Wikipedia article if you don’t have any background on this subject.) It is called TransGeneration. It is on the Sundance and Logo channels (available on most digital cable and sat.)

It is a really great show. There are 8 parts, each of which features all of the four students: two of whom are transitioning female to male and two are transitioning male to female. These young adults are very interesting. Their stories are extremely compelling.

One of the students is T.J., who is Armenian from Cyprus (although he was born in Beiruit.) T.J. went to Melkonian in the 1990s as Tamar and won a Fullbright Scholarship to come to the US.

[T.J.] has embraced college as a place for intellectual, political and personal self-discovery. After graduating at the top of his high school class in Cyprus, T.J. received a Fulbright scholarship to study in the U.S. At Michigan State University in East Lansing, T.J. is part of the campus’ tight-knit transgender community, and openly expresses the male identity he sensed as a very young child. Bright and politically engaged, he has chosen to continue towards a graduate degree in Student Affairs Administration at Michigan State University. But T.J.’s gender expression is irrevocably at odds with his family and community in Cyprus, where he is expected to return after completing graduate work. His mother refuses to talk to him about the subject, and it is no secret that he is expected to sublimate his personal desires to the will of his community. As T.J. plans to a visit home in May, he realizes that he will have to confront his mother and sister about his desire to transition. And T.J. knows that if he is to become the man he deeply feels himself to be, he may never be able to go home.

When T.J. calls his mom in one of the episodes, you can hear the pain in his voice telling his mom that he only wants to visit for a week in the summer. In Armenian it is more painful than the English subtitles, certainly.

If T.J. goes to Cyprus, he will be forced to live as a woman again, something that he is not comfortable with.

Armenian GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered) people have a world of issues to deal with related to their families. T.J.’s story is not unique. Watching this show highlights a number of these issues. I can’t express in words what it is like to see this pain.

(I hate to make it sounds like this show is so upsetting - there are lots of positive moments as well.)

Armenian GLBT links

More information about T.J., including an interview.
more…

I love hip-hop. I love Armenian-stuff.

But I never thought that those two worlds would collide. Until now.

Sam, one of our readers, has a new blog: Who Knew Armenians Could Rap?

She does reviews of Armenian hip-hop artists and some great commentary.

The reason why I am making this blog is because when I was listening to couple of songs by Armenian rappers it was evident that it is very tough to get information about any of them online. So now, doing my research I’ll be able to get up to date information on the rappers that most of you love to hate because “Shat en sevakani nman iranc pahum.”

I would also like to add that Sam is a female Armenian rapper! Go Sam!

Last week I showed a language map of Glendale.

Now I learned how to do language maps for all of the US - states, the entire country, by county, by zip code.

Check out the Modern Language Assocation’s website for more fun.

Family Guy is a cartoon for adults. I don’t watch it regularly, but it seems to be quite funny and popular both in the US and the UK.

Today I read on a blog that Armenia banned it. Wikipedia confirmed it.

Due to the controversies within the show many nations have banned Family Guy, including Armenia, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Iran, Thailand, Belarus, South Africa, Egypt, Philippines, Serbia and Montenegro, Vietnam, Taiwan, People’s Republic of China (PRC), Albania, and South Korea. From blog.

This is because of certain insults or jokes against the countries listed that Family Guy has made. But the show nowadays is leaked in the Philippines on cable and some viewers there loved the show even though they aren’t aware of the show’s “insults” to the country, which appears to be frequented in the series. Though the cable program there doesn’t broadcast from the Philippines, but broadcasts from Hong Kong which the area itself didn’t ban the series. A similar leakage on cable networks have been shown in Egypt, Vietnam, and Thailand. From Wikipedia.

Anyone have any more info on this? I did a google search but couldn’t find anything.

The following news release from the U.S. Embassy was released today:

Ambassador Evans met with President Kocharian on Tuesday, January 17 to discuss concerns that have arisen in Washington and elsewhere in connection with the November 27 referendum on the constitutional amendments. The Millennium Challenge Compact that was approved in December by the Board of Directors of the Millennium Challenge Corporation has yet to be signed, and the announcement of the compact’s approval was accompanied by a letter to President Kocharian from Ambassador John Danilovich, the MCC’s chief executive officer, voicing “concerns about the Government of Armenia’s commitment to good governance.” To be eligible for assistance under the Millennium Challenge Account, states must satisfy certain criteria, one of which can be summarized as “ruling justly.” The Ambassador and President Kocharian discussed possible steps that might be taken to reassure the United States that Armenia remains committed to strengthening democratic institutions and to the holding of free and fair elections in 2007 and 2008. Ambassador Evans and President Kocharian also discussed cooperation between the two countries aimed at combating the threat of avian influenza.

Advice to Amb Evans and people who share this approach: don’t haggle over the price AFTER the deal is made. Having announced the MCC compact, the U.S. really gave up the only lever they had.

I officially know Glendale well enough now to NOT use my GPS anymore.

Now, after a fun few days, off to Mexico.

Be back online next week!

This is really cool:

This is from LA City Councilman Eric Garcetti’s blog.

I spent an entire day in Glendale today - it was surreal hearing Armenian spoken in public outside of the RoA. Going into stores and speaking Armenian was wild for me!

I didn’t get to spend too much time walking around, as I was really trying to catch up with friends, but I certainly ate and picked up some pastries!

It was really fun. It was like Watertown X100! (And warmer!)

I’m going to try to swing through again later in the week to see other friends, if possible. I didn’t get a ton of photos today but hope to later on.

One of the more exciting events of my month-long stay in California is happening tomorrow - my first real trip to Glendale! (Burbank Ikea didn’t count.)

I’m going to see some good old friends from my past Armenian internet life and hopefully tool around Glendale a bit to check it out. I remember how much fun I had on my first trip to Watertown, again to visit old Armenian friends. This time though, I think it is going to be even better. Since I plan on living here for at least a few years, I feel like it’ll be right around the corner.

Actually, Watertown was about the same distance from my place in Vermont as Glendale is to Santa Barbara… now that I think about it. Oh well, somehow being in the same state makes it seem closer!

I’ll probably take some photos and post them over the weekend!