notes and comments

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

What kind of loving Father is He that needs to be constantly reminded to “give us this day our daily bread,” after which He lets millions die of malnutrition and starvation.

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

If they have jackasses as leaders,
even the smartest people on earth
will be defeated by the dumbest.
*

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

“A journalistic terrorist
of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.”
That’s how I am identified in a recent blog
by a gentle reader who probably thinks I am dead –
no doubt a clear-cut case of wishful thinking.

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

Actions have consequences;
so do inactions.
Case in point:
600 years of inaction under the Sultans.

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

The secret aim of our political leaders
is to be better charlatans.

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

When Schopenhauer called Hegel an "arch-charlatan," his unspoken intent was to replace Hegel's philosophical system with his own; or, to propound an antithesis to Hegel's thesis. Which means, in his rejection of Hegel, he was being a Hegelian.

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

A QUESTION OF IDENTITY
*************************************
Whenever we use the word “smart,”
we should specify “smart in what?”
Case in point:
“Armenians are smart!”
“Smart in what?”
My tentative answer which, I suspect,
no one will agree with:
“Smart in selling Oriental rugs,
idiots in politics.”
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
*
Armenians come in all sizes and shapes:
Ottomanized, Levantinized, Sovietized, Americanized
and so on. I am myself the product
of two continents and three nations
(Greece, Italy, and Canada).
My view of my fellow countrymen
is bound to be somewhat tainted
by Greek, Italian, and Anglo-Saxon values.
*
Would I recognize an Armenian
of the 5th-century AD if we ever met?
I doubt it. Would he recognize me?
I don’t think so.
*
I will never forget the gentle reader from Yerevan
who once called me ”Baliozoghlu”
and described me as “a piece of xxxx
who doesn’t have Ararat in his heart.”
She may have been right,
even if her verdict was somewhat tainted
by Soviet values and Stalinist intolerance.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

All men of faith believe
of the 10,000 gods that men have created
9,999 to be phonies.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: elegy

ON OUR FAVORITE SPORT
************************************
The blame-game is a useful tool of propaganda:
it allows one to assert infallibility
as well as a superior brand of patriotism.
*
PATRIOTISM: TWO DEFINITIONS
******************************************
One: Love of homeland.
Two: Subservience to politicians.
*
DESTINY
*************************
The idea that we are in charge of our destiny
is an illusion. Hell, we can’t even control a toothache.
*
SORRY!
******************
I for one will never apologize
to the eternal snows of Mt. Ararat.
#

[lampron]

Re: elegy

Either our critics have been systematically silenced
or they have given up explaining things
to readers who refuse to understand.
*
After centuries of practice
our speechifiers and sermonizers
have mastered the art of deception
to such a degree that you feel justified
in suspecting they believe in their own lies.
*
#

Part deception, part self-deception!