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  • Re: elegy

    THE BOTTOM LINE
    ****************************************
    Our problems were thrust on us by others. We reject their solutions on our own.
    *
    Only the rotten succeed in a corrupt environment.
    *
    The greater the political control of schools, libraries, newspapers, community centers and churches, the greater the number of yes-men and dupes.
    *
    The challenge is to speak of serious things without taking oneself seriously; to be critical of others and even more critical of ourselves.
    *
    In a totalitarian environment to say your ambition is to succeed as a writer is like saying as a virgin it is your ambition to be a bordello madam.
    *
    When wolves are in charge, sheep will be useful only as lunch.
    #
    ORWELL SPEAKS
    ********************************
    In one of his essays
    George Orwell speaks of
    “the corrosive digestive juices
    of the British imperial leviathan.”
    You may now have a better understanding
    of the depths of our own degradation.
    *
    Elsewhere he speaks of
    “the smelly little orthodoxies
    contending for our souls.”
    #
    FROM MY NOTEBOOKS
    ******************************************
    There is an old saying:
    “When you’re down, the only way is up.”
    Like all rules this one too has its exceptions:
    Armenians.
    *
    The Greek jury that condemned Socrates to death;
    the men who crucified Christ;
    the solitary Hindu who assassinated Gandhi:
    they all shared one thing in common:
    they were brainwashed to believe
    the gods, truth, and historic necessity were on their side.
    *
    If you brainwash children to believe
    in the myth of the Holy Trinity,
    they will be inclined to believe in many other trinities
    like liberté, fraternité, egalité;
    thesis, anti-thesis, synthesis;
    Marx, Engels, Lenin…
    *
    A nation that hates together stays together.
    *
    Judge a tree by its fruit and a propaganda line
    by the number of its victims.
    *
    I quote to enhance my credibility.
    What the hell does an Armenian scribbler know?
    An odar author, that’s different.
    Prof. Hamalian on Zarian,
    after reading my translations:
    “He writes like one of my bright students.”
    *
    Academics: they all proceed from the assumption
    that they know better.
    Question: With over a thousand Armenian academics
    in America alone, why is it that our collective existence
    is in such a mess?
    #
    I COULD BE WRONG
    ***************************************
    Certainties are the source of all evil.
    But I could be wrong…
    *
    Has anyone ever said
    I could be wrong
    but let’s divide the community anyway?
    Or, I could be wrong
    but let’s go to war …
    *
    To some a belief system is nothing
    but a source of income and power.
    *
    Where there are idols
    there are idol-makers.
    Where there are dupes
    there are deceivers.
    I think it was Luther who said:
    “The God of Christians (meaning Catholics)
    is an idol.”
    *
    What is patriotism?
    In theory, love of God and Country.
    In practice, to brainwash children
    and manipulate adults.
    *
    We should teach our children to say
    “I could be wrong.”
    *
    Socrates was condemned to death
    because he spoke in defense of doubt and uncertainty.
    “Of the gods,” said he, “we know nothing!”
    #

    Comment


    • Re: elegy

      Originally posted by arabaliozian View Post
      Question: With over a thousand Armenian academics
      in America alone, why is it that our collective existence
      is in such a mess?
      with over one thousand academics and thousands of churchmen and party activists (as well as at least one think tank inside Armenia),

      why has this simple question not been analyzed and answered:

      how did certain nations with very modest beginnings (Russians, Ottomans, Americans...) end up as powerful states

      and Armenians who had a state before the above three even existed, take the road to failure?

      Comment


      • Re: elegy

        TO KNOW IS TO REMEMBER
        ******************************************
        To write also means to repeat
        what has been said and forgotten;
        to shout that which is whispered;
        and to expose that which is covered up.
        As for solutions to our problems:
        I can only say and repeat:
        solutions, like the Kingdom of God,
        are within you.
        *
        Be honest with yourself and others
        even when to be honest means
        to be outnumbered a thousand to one.
        *
        Thou shalt not deceive yourself,
        especially when the deception is disguised
        as tradition, the laws of the land,
        or the word of a king, pope, or
        some other phony representative of god on earth:
        in short, propaganda.
        *
        If belief systems don’t tell us
        not to be dupes of propaganda
        it may be because that would be like
        digging their own graves.
        But I maintain being a dupe
        is one of the most dangerous transgressions.
        Wars and massacres are perpetrated
        by dupes whose sole justification has been,
        “I was following orders,” or
        I trusted the word of god as spoken
        by a rabbi, imam, or bishop.
        #
        BIG BROTHERS,
        AMONG OTHER THINGS
        ********************************
        The Russians are our Big Brothers
        only in the sense that for 600 years
        Turks were our Big Brothers.
        So was Cain to Abel.
        *
        When you are young
        you pull up your pants
        and go wherever you want to go.
        But when you are old
        someone else pulls up your pants
        and takes you where you don’t want to go.
        I am now paraphrasing the Bible
        which may suggest it is not the Word of God
        but of men with a credibility problem.
        *
        Lies that flatter are infinitely more dangerous
        than mad dogs, venomous snakes, and mad elephants.
        #
        HOLIER-THAN-THOU
        **************************************
        There is a type of holier-than-thou reader
        who likes to point out the fact that
        my criticism of Armenians is nothing
        but a projection of my own shortcomings.
        Such a reader is convinced he knows better
        because he is better.
        His unspoken aim is not to understand reality
        but to explain it in such a way
        as to prove his moral and intellectual superiority;
        and to prove it to others
        in order to convince himself.
        #
        MEIN KAMPF
        *********************************
        All my efforts are now concentrated
        on being readable. As for saving the nation:
        I leave that to our bosses, bishops, benefactors
        and dime-a-dozen superpatriots
        with messianic ambitions.
        *
        ON SERMONIZERS AND SPEECHIFIERS
        **********************************************
        One way to define them is to say
        they are men who know what must be said
        but consistently and unanimously avoid
        doing what must be done.
        *
        RIGHT AND WRONG
        ************************************
        It is not enough to say we did nothing wrong.
        Did we do anything right?
        Even more to the point:
        Can we even tell right from wrong?
        *
        OUR SHISH-KEBAB PARTIES
        **************************************
        Members of the Tea Party in America
        are the offspring of individuals
        who in the second half of the 19th century
        fought a bloody civil war –
        some say the bloodiest in history –
        in defense of slavery.
        They remind me of our
        bosses, bishops, and benefactors
        who, to save the nation, they divide it.
        *
        WORDS OF WISDOM
        ********************************
        There is an old Armenian saying:
        “He is so smart he even knows
        where the devil sleeps.”
        The devil, my friends, sleeps where he resides
        and he resides in our hearts.
        *
        TELL ME
        ************************
        Am I saying anything
        you don’t already know?
        #

        Comment


        • Re: elegy

          ON CRACKPOTS
          ***********************************
          In a recent issue of TIME magazine
          there is an interview with Andre Agassi
          in which Armenians and massacres are not mentioned.
          *
          The best thing Saroyan ever said about the Genocide is that
          he felt sorry for the Turks.
          *
          Now you may understand why I refer to
          Genocide ghazetajis, Hai Tahd activists and fund-raisers
          as Turcocentric crackpots.
          *
          There is a baloney artist in all politicians
          and ours are no exception.
          #
          THREE MAXIMS
          ***************************
          Thinking against oneself
          is one of the cardinal virtues.
          *
          Politicians and honesty are
          mutually exclusive concepts.
          *
          To believe when you are right
          you have God and Truth on your side
          is to be a potential assassin and terrorist.
          #
          READING BETWEEN THE LINES
          ********************************************
          We all have our share of limitations
          with one difference: some of us
          are infatuated with them.
          Erasmus of Rotterdam was right when he said:
          “Everyone loves the smell of his own sh*t.”
          *
          The need to be understood
          always exceeds the need to understand.
          *
          Where lawyers and politicians enter,
          injustice and lies are sure to follow.
          *
          Never contradict a politician or a lawyer:
          remember, they are professionals.
          *
          To my anti-American friends
          from the Middle East I say:
          “I agree with you provided you also agree with me
          when I say the rest of the world is no better.”
          *
          Nobody ever said to be an honest man among crooks
          comes without a price.
          *
          I don’t always like or agree with what I say
          but once I put down 2+2=
          I have no choice but to say 4.
          #
          READERS
          *************************
          There is a type of reader
          (and I have my share of them)
          who is programmed to disagree and reject
          anything that is not recycled propaganda.
          Such a reader doesn’t even bother or begin
          to understand what’s being said.
          He just hangs a label on you
          and forever after identifies you
          as the lowest form of animal life –
          namely, an Armenian
          who doesn’t love all Armenians
          and hate all Turks.
          Such a reader is convinced
          anyone who has more power or money
          must know better.
          He is Bolshevik in his pragmatism,
          capitalist in his value system,
          and Catholic in his dogmatism.
          #



          Reply, Reply All or Forward | More















          Wine































































          ON CRACKPOTS
          ***********************************
          In a recent issue of TIME magazine
          there is an interview with Andre Agassi
          in which Armenians and massacres are not mentioned.
          *
          The best thing Saroyan ever said about the Genocide is that
          he felt sorry for the Turks.
          *
          Now you may understand why I refer to
          Genocide ghazetajis, Hai Tahd activists and fund-raisers
          as Turcocentric crackpots.
          *
          There is a baloney artist in all politicians
          and ours are no exception.
          #
          THREE MAXIMS
          ***************************
          Thinking against oneself
          is one of the cardinal virtues.
          *
          Politicians and honesty are
          mutually exclusive concepts.
          *
          To believe when you are right
          you have God and Truth on your side
          is to be a potential assassin and terrorist.
          #
          READING BETWEEN THE LINES
          ********************************************
          We all have our share of limitations
          with one difference: some of us
          are infatuated with them.
          Erasmus of Rotterdam was right when he said:
          “Everyone loves the smell of his own sh*t.”
          *
          The need to be understood
          always exceeds the need to understand.
          *
          Where lawyers and politicians enter,
          injustice and lies are sure to follow.
          *
          Never contradict a politician or a lawyer:
          remember, they are professionals.
          *
          To my anti-American friends
          from the Middle East I say:
          “I agree with you provided you also agree with me
          when I say the rest of the world is no better.”
          *
          Nobody ever said to be an honest man among crooks
          comes without a price.
          *
          I don’t always like or agree with what I say
          but once I put down 2+2=
          I have no choice but to say 4.
          #
          READERS
          *************************
          There is a type of reader
          (and I have my share of them)
          who is programmed to disagree and reject
          anything that is not recycled propaganda.
          Such a reader doesn’t even bother or begin
          to understand what’s being said.
          He just hangs a label on you
          and forever after identifies you
          as the lowest form of animal life –
          namely, an Armenian
          who doesn’t love all Armenians
          and hate all Turks.
          Such a reader is convinced
          anyone who has more power or money
          must know better.
          He is Bolshevik in his pragmatism,
          capitalist in his value system,
          and Catholic in his dogmatism.
          #

          Comment


          • Re: elegy

            Originally posted by arabaliozian View Post
            The best thing Saroyan ever said about the Genocide is that
            he felt sorry for the Turks.
            *
            #
            He went to Bitlis in 1964 where he danced with local Turks and Kurds

            After that, he met with the President of Turkey

            Comment


            • Re: elegy

              FROM MY NOTEBOOKS
              **********************************
              Loyalty or subservience to authority
              is not patriotism but fascism.
              *
              My guess is, we produce
              more speechifiers, sermonizers and pundits
              per capita than any other nation on earth.
              *
              Who speaks today in the name of the people,
              and when I say people I mean
              not the dead but the living.
              *
              The most important questions in life
              are destined to remain unanswered.
              Even belief systems that pretend
              to have all the answers
              are willing to acknowledge this fact.
              There is a well-known story about a theologian
              who on informing the Pope that he had written
              a 1000-page treatise explaining the mystery
              of the Holy Trinity was ordered to “burn it!”
              #
              LIVE AND LEARN
              **********************************
              Until very recently I wasn’t aware of the fact
              that fund-raising is a profitable enterprise
              and that some chief executive officers
              of charitable organizations
              are paid million-dollar salaries.
              *
              Wee are more civilized.
              Our charitable organizations
              don’t have chief executive officers;
              even more to the point,
              they are accountable only to God,
              which in practice, means no one.
              *
              Question: Do CEOs of charitable organizations
              contribute to charitable organizations?
              #
              SCENARIOS
              ******************************
              On the day Azeris open their borders
              we will bleed from three open wounds:
              East, West, and North.
              *
              At the present rate of exodus,
              they will not have to fight us
              to reoccupy their lands,
              they will just walk in.
              *
              I am a comfort to our enemies?
              What about our dividers?
              What is their message?
              Let me guess:
              “No need to kill us,
              we plan to commit suicide.”
              What else?
              #

              Comment


              • Re: elegy

                Originally posted by arabaliozian View Post
                FROM MY NOTEBOOKS
                **********************************
                Loyalty or subservience to authority
                is not patriotism but fascism.
                *
                #
                Armenians are extremely subservient to authority - 100 years ago it was Ottoman or Russian authority

                more recently, soviet authority

                but most don't seem to be aware of it

                extreme subservience is why 300,000 died in the "Great Patriotic War"

                Comment


                • Re: elegy

                  Originally posted by lampron View Post
                  Armenians are extremely subservient to authority - 100 years ago it was Ottoman or Russian authority

                  more recently, soviet authority

                  but most don't seem to be aware of it

                  extreme subservience is why 300,000 died in the "Great Patriotic War"
                  The only reason those casualty figures are sickening to Armenians is that it was not our war.
                  We would not gain anything whether there was victory or defeat.

                  However your statement demonstrates your lack of knowledge of history as well as any understanding of living conditions in a terror dictatorship.

                  Soviet union lost 22 million, were they more subservient.
                  The joos lost 7 million,
                  The Germans lost 7-9 million
                  and the list goes on.


                  According to your analysis and extrapolation Armenians should be regarded least subservient because their casualties was much lower than most, both in number as well as percentage.

                  .
                  Last edited by londontsi; 11-02-2013, 05:56 PM.
                  Politics is not about the pursuit of morality nor what's right or wrong
                  Its about self interest at personal and national level often at odds with the above.
                  Great politicians pursue the National interest and small politicians personal interests

                  Comment


                  • Re: elegy

                    Originally posted by londontsi View Post

                    Soviet union lost 22 million, were they more subservient.
                    The joos lost 7 million,

                    .
                    many of the soviet deaths were civilians as cities/towns in western Russia, Ukraine were fought over, lost, won again etc

                    J-ews suffered a genocide

                    Armenia was probably less than 1.5 million. 300,000 (or some say 350,000) dead is a huge loss - that is 40% of the male population

                    Armenians will be ready to sacrifice themselves when fighting inside a foreign army, as if to prove their loyalty to their masters

                    probably fewer Armenians died fighting for Armenia during the previous 700 years than during WWII

                    Comment


                    • Re: elegy

                      Originally posted by lampron View Post
                      many of the soviet deaths were civilians as cities/towns in western Russia, Ukraine were fought over, lost, won again etc

                      J-ews suffered a genocide

                      Armenia was probably less than 1.5 million. 300,000 (or some say 350,000) dead is a huge loss - that is 40% of the male population

                      Armenians will be ready to sacrifice themselves when fighting inside a foreign army, as if to prove their loyalty to their masters

                      probably fewer Armenians died fighting for Armenia during the previous 700 years than during WWII
                      I agree with those very sad statistics, however I disagree with your conclusions because

                      Originally posted by londontsi View Post

                      However your statement demonstrates your lack ........ understanding of living conditions in a terror dictatorship.
                      Politics is not about the pursuit of morality nor what's right or wrong
                      Its about self interest at personal and national level often at odds with the above.
                      Great politicians pursue the National interest and small politicians personal interests

                      Comment

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