notes and comments

[arabaliozian]

Tolstoy

TOLSTOY ON CHECHENS
****************************************
“It was not hatred, for they did not regard those Russian dogs
as human beings, but it was repulsion, disgust and perplexity
at the senseless cruelty of these creatures
that the desire to exterminate them –
like the desire to exterminate rats, poisonous spiders, or wolves –
was as natural an instinct as that of self-preservation.”
*
I remember to have read somewhere that
the perpetrators of the Genocide in 1915 were not Turks
but descendants of these Chechens against whom
Russians had conducted a genocidal war for four decades
in the mountains of the Caucasus.
*
For more on this subject see
Leo Tolstoy, HADJI MURAD,
Lesley Blanch, THE SABRES OF PARADISE.
*
HADJI MURAD is a short work of fiction.
THE SABRES OF PARADISE is a much more detailed work
of historiography.
It is to be noted, in both works some of the central characters
are of Armenian descent.
#

[arabaliozian]

whitman

WALT WHITMAN SPEAKS
***************************************
Some of his lines are piercing in their precision,
as when he speaks of animals:
“They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago...”
*
We need more Whitman in our lives
and fewer sermonizers and speechifiers
who rub salt in our wounds
and promise heaven which is even more inaccessible to them
than it is to the rest of us.
#

[arabaliozian]

honesty

ON HONESTY
************************
No one has ever prospered
by being honest.
*
IMMORTALITY
***************************
The easiest way to achieve immortality
is to insult someone who buys ink by the gallon
or ball-point pens by the gross.
*
HISTORY
***********************
Armenian history is not written
but invented.
*
BENEFACTORS
*********************
The only thing I know about our benefactors
is that one of them made his fortune
during World War II and the other
began his brilliant career
as a bagman for the mafia.
*
ON BEING HUMAN
***************************
After centuries of subservience to foreign swine,
the question I ask myself is:
Can we qualify as human beings?
*
REPARATIONS
***************************
If the Turks ever pay reparations
– and that’s a big “if” –
99% of it will go to the 1%
(lawyers, book-keepers, oligarchs).
*
SELF-ESTEEM
***********************
My Catholic education has done
incalculable damage to my self-esteem.
To this day I cannot enjoy a baloney sandwich
on Fridays.
*
LONGEVITY
***********************
I have tried all the inexpensive vices
like wine with the bouquet of gasoline,
but none of the expensive ones.
I owe my longevity to my income bracket.
#

[lampron]

Re: reflections

CHEERFUL REFLECTIONS
**************************************
The world cares about us
as much as we care about
Patagonians, Lithuanians, Zulus
or, for that matter,
fellow Armenians.
#

especially Armenians

In order of importance we care for Armenians last

[arabaliozian]

less

Sunday, April 26, 2015
******************************************
LESS IS MORE
****************************
If I have learned anything from life it is this:
You cannot share your wisdom with someone
who operates on the assumption
he knows better,
he is wiser,
he has a higher IQ,
he has more money,
and he stands closer to the Almighty.
*
For most of our historic existence
our identity was shaped by swine.
Our most important project today
is to reject as much of it as possible
in order to be born again as human beings.
*
Remember Michael Arlen’s words
to his half-Greek son
(I quote from memory):
“Armenians are nice folk
but you will be better off
to keep them at a safe distance.”
*
Arlen Sr. understood Armenians.
Saroyan re-created them as harmless clowns.
Armenians are not Saroyanesque!
*
As for our leadership:
Like all leaders they speak with a forked tongue.
They speak “united we stand,”
but practice “divided we fall.”
They exploit our complexes and contradictions
as opposed to exposing them.
With Armenians like these,
who needs Turks?
#

[lampron]

Re: throne of blood

The mainstream American media could publicize and re-print articles and images that appeared in the American press during 1915, but it prefers not to.
If the American media did that, then no US government would be able to continue to deny the Armenian genocide

Ara's point that in the Ottoman empire Armenian literature was alive but it has nearly died in the US and Canada (because everyone in the land of the brave and the free is encouraged to aim for a comfortable life) is a point worth reflecting

[hipeter924]

Re: throne of blood

Not true. There is a place for Armenians in America, but it is hard when the top level government officials conspire with Turkey to deny the Armenian genocide. Obama lied, Bush lied, and ironically only Reagan recognized. They take Armenian money, then lie, cheat and betray Armenian Americans. But state by state the Turkish lobby is beginning to falter.

[arabaliozian]

throne of blood

THRONE OF BLOOD
************************************
What do Ottoman tyranny and
American capitalism share in common?
One massacres indiscriminately
and the other pretends it never happened.
*
In the dying days of the Ottoman Empire
we had literary giants in Istanbul.
What do we have today
“in the land of the brave and the free?”
A thousand academics who
before writing a line ask themselves:
“Am I offending anyone
who may be a source of income
in the near or distant future?”
*
What do sultans and benefactors
share in common?
They both sit on a throne of blood.
*
In the 19th century Raffi warned
the Ottoman Empire
was no place for Armenians.
We know now,
neither is “America the Beautiful!”
#

[arabaliozian]

reflections

CHEERFUL REFLECTIONS
**************************************
99% of the time “I love you” means
“I want to penetrate your body.”
*
As you may have gathered by now,
I don’t have a very high opinion of my fellow men,
beginning with myself.
*
The 1% are swine
and 99% of what emanates from the 99%
is crap.
*
You want to improve your style?
Delete!
The closer to silence you get the better.
*
I became middle-aged in my old age
and I acquired wisdom when I became senile.
*
Nobody has ever said
“It is your duty as a member of the human race
to speak kindly of your species
even when they behave like xxxx.”
*
The world cares about us
as much as we care about
Patagonians, Lithuanians, Zulus
or, for that matter,
fellow Armenians.
#

[arabaliozian]

perseverance

ON PERSEVERANCE
******************************
It’s a good thing only
if you are on the right path.
On the wrong path it might as well be
the death of a thousand self-inflicted cuts
or a bad marriage.
*
ON THE 73 VIRGINS
**************************
What if they are old hags
with bad breath?
*
ON WASTE
**********************
If Planet Earth is the only one with life,
God must love waste.
*
POLITICS
**********************
If I live in peace with my neighbors
it’s probably because none of them is in politics.
*
ON PRIDE
*********************
As a boy I was so hungry for pride
that I even bragged about Akim Tamirof.
*
THAT WHICH WE SHARE
******************************************
Both Armenians and Turks share one thing in common:
bad management.
*
Q/A
***************
If you want to know more about the Vatican,
don’t ask the Pope and his small army of cardinals and bishops;
ask Galileo.
#