Tracking the Armenian DNA: Part 1

After watching Spencer Wells's "Human Journey" on PBS I've decided to participate in the National Genographic project. The premise is simple: there are approximately 18 major paternal lineages (also known as haplogroups) in the world today. The National Genographic will collect your DNA sample, run series of tests and determine to which of the lineages you belong. The results are accompanied by an analysis as well as the short description of the evolution of your lineage.

" The test identifies the major human paternal lineage to which you belong and the geographic regions associated with this lineage through the analysis of SNPs and bi-allelic markers on the non-recombining portion of the Y-chromosome.Your $100 DNA kit buys you a personalized genetic analysis,including an online overview of your ancestral history. The analysis reveals where and when your haplogroup originated and how they lived. "

This sounded like an interesting thing to do, so I sent my DNA kit over in April and today I got the results back. Basically they determined that I belong to a rare European ancestry and they need more time to perform additional testing. Huh ?

So far what I've known about my heritage could be summarized as:

1. I am of a Armenian heritage
2. The earliest reliable accounts of my family history indicate that my ancestors lived in the area near lake Van (historical Armenia, now Turkey)
3. Due to the series of tragic events in Armenian history (such as being massacred by turks) my family is now dispersed throughout the world.

I will post more results as they become available

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On iPod: Swamp Music 3:32 Lynyrd Skynyrd All Time Greatest Hits Rock

Tag: Armenia
Subject: Armenian DNA

HVAC on E46

It took me about 8 month of reading the manual (and watching the instruction DVD many many times) to finally figure out the A/C logic on my E46.

Basically, it is a German thing, when they say Air-Conditioning they don't mean cooling things off. (which, incedentally, is what majority of the earth population things the A/C stands for).
They literally mean "conditioning" of the air. At any given time it's a good guess whether the air
is going to be cooled off, heated or otherwise "conditioned".
To make things more interesting, there is no way to switch the "climate" control in the car in less than "4 easy steps". Actually, the number of steps varies, it's a factor of the temperature inside
the cabin.

Now, if I only could figure out how to get the passenger side mirror to function again, I will be a happier man.

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On iPod: Krasny Shaposhka 5:02 Boka 48 Tari Armenian Rabiz

First RedSox game

Gregory's first RedSox game. He did well, he rooted for the team at the top of his lungs, although that could be because he was also hungry.

Los Angeles end up winning, but only after we left; they scored 11 runs in the last 3 innings,
including a three-run homer by Garret Anderson. Coincidence ? I think not.


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on iPod: St. Louis Blues 5:23 George Thorogood And Johnny Johnson Blues Story - Vol. 10 / Concert Vol. 1 Blues

Democracy on PBS is illegal

...
Two congressional Democrats called Wednesday for an investigation into recent activities by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, suggesting that efforts by the Republican chairman of the private nonprofit to add more conservative programs onto PBS may violate federal law.

In a letter released Wednesday evening, Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., and Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Mich., asked CPB Inspector General Kenneth A. Konz to investigate the contracting, hiring and policies of the corporation, which distributes federal funds to public television stations. Both congressmen are ranking Democrats on committees that have oversight of public television.

They called recent actions taken by CPB Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson ``disturbing'' and ``extremely troubling.''

A CPB spokesman could not be reached for comment. But in a recent interview with the LOS ANGELES TIMES, Tomlinson defended his efforts to expand conservative perspectives on PBS, saying he merely wants to increase the network's audience.
...

Once again the liberals show their true colors, you can have any opinion as long as it is compliant with the official party line.

EU Constitution and Turkey

One interesting aspect of a likely French 'No' vote on EU constitution uis the fact that it will decrease Turkeys chances to EU ascension.
Why ?
Even though there are no technical reasons preventing Turkey joining the EU, the pyschological blow from the "no" vote could be very big. If a EU can not agree of a fairly straighforward issue, then a huge, controversial issue of admitting an entire country with an alien to EU history, population, religion and mindset will likely fail. As French polls indicate, the EU process has lost the credibility with the constituent population, and no matter how much the ruling elites try to repackage and sell the idea, the public is not in mood for buying.

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On iPod: The Yankee Doodle Blues 3:03 Jack Roth, Jazzbo's Carolina Serenaders, 1922 Anthology of Jazz Drumming1 Jazz

Indian idea of an IP Protection

India's statement from the UN WIPO Conference:
....

The real "development" imperative is ensuring that the interest of Intellectual Property owners is not secured at the expense of the users of IP, of consumers at large, and of public policy in general. The proposal therefore seeks to incorporate int international IP law and practice, what developing countries have been demanding since TRIPS was forced on them in 1994.

The primary rationale for Intellectual Property protection is, first and foremost, to promote societal development by encouraging technological innovation. The legal monopoly granted to IP owners is an exceptional departure from the general principle of competitive markets as the best guarantee for securing the interest of society. The rationale for the exception is not that extraction of monopoly profits by the innovator is, of and in itself, good for society and so needs to be promoted. Rather, that properly controlled, such a monopoly, by providing an incentive for innovation, might produce sufficient benefits for society to compensate for the immediate loss to consumers as a result of the existence of a monopoly market instead of a competitive market. Monopoly rights, then, granted to IP holders is a special incentive that needs to be carefully calibrated by each country, in the light of its own circumstances, taking into account the overall costs and benefits of such protection.

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Basically, we will take everything that we could get away with because of "our circumstances". People who talk about Chinese and Indian century don't understand the asian mentality

on iPod: Institut Jan 7:10 Hay Tgherk - Hay Tgherk Armenian Rabiz

Conventional Wisdom

Conventional Wisdom:

• The US dollar is going to get weaker.
  
• Asia is leading worldwide growth.
  
• Tech stocks are too expensive.
  
• The US is in the midst of a jobless recovery.
  
• The world is in the midst of synchronized economic expansion.
  
• Meddling by lawyers and regulators is the new reality and negative for growth and profits.
• Corporate balance sheet scares are over. It's back to EV/EBITDA and P/Es.
  
• The developed world is losing its competitive advantage in manufacturing and services to China and India.
• The US is the only developed country with high productivity growth.
  

Bets Against the Conventional Wisdom:

• Buy USD, sell Euro.Sell Asia exposure, esp. commodities.
• Buy expensive tech companies with good/improving fundamentals.
• Buy government bonds, sell TIPS.
• Buy staffing companies, consumer cyclicals and sell all other equities.
• Buy industries with increasingly tough regulators (financials, energy, Europe).
• Buy basic US and European industries, sell Infosys and Wipro.
• Buy lower margin Japanese and European competitors (e.g. financials, retail, and transport) as they will soon show huge productivity gains already enjoyed by US companies.Sell their US counterparts.
• Sell US and European consumer stocks, buy Asian consumer stocks; buy dividend yielding stocks and bonds, sell select pharma as elderly will demand price controls on drugs.

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on iPod: All Grown Up - 1958 1:55 Johnny Horton 1956-1960 CD2 Country/Rock

Are we there yet ?

First post, just to check out the software...
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On ipod: Pot Blessed Dinner 2:39 Wynton Marsalis Septet In This House, On This Morning Disc 2 jazz