vandals

March 25, 2010
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AS I SEE IT
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Negotiating from a position of weakness might as well be synonymous with defeat.
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We cannot see the dead, but can the dead (or their immortal soul) see us? If they can see us, is it with the indifference of Reality or God? Does our misery spoil their bliss (assuming they are in heaven)?
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An ideal explanation combines truth (or a semblance of it) with consolation. Hence the popularity of religions – notwithstanding their many contradictions.
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My views of my fellow men (beginning with myself) are so unflattering that I look forward to the day when someone will prove me wrong.
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Do I write because I like to annoy the hell out of dupes, bigots, and charlatans?
Why not? Isn’t that as good a reason as any?
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Where a part-time janitor makes more money than a full-time writer, there will be an abundance of recycled crap and a total absence of ideas. When, in such an environment, they say “We need solutions,” you can be sure of one thing: that's the last thing they need.
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In all political movements, lust for power is invariably hidden beneath noble slogans: the greater the lust, the nobler the slogans.
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There are many forms of cowardice, surely one of the worst must be fear of free speech.
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It is not easy being civil to individuals who in a different time and place would have been my executioners.
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March 26, 2010
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FROM ABC TO Z
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Abovian committed suicide, Bakounts and Charents were betrayed to an alien regime and “purged,” and Zarian died with the conviction that he had been murdered. The enormity of this crime against humanity is such that it needs to be repeated again and again and as often as the other great crime committed against us at the turn of the last century. Remember that next time you speak about Armenian literature and culture.
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When top dogs fail to reach a consensus, the interests of underdogs cease to be a priority.
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Because I am against a divided, incompetent, and corrupt regime, I am treated as an enemy of the people on the assumption that the people are too alienated or dumb to recognize a friend when they see one.
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Just because the stars are not visible during the day, it doesn't mean they are not there. Likewise, just because our “betters” are unreasonable, it doesn't mean reason should be abolished.
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If you insult someone anonymously, you may expose more your cowardice and less your target's failings.
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Henri Barbusse: “The real and the supernatural are one and the same.”
So are the reasonable and the absurd.
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Baudelaire: “Life is a disease. This is a widely known secret.”
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March 27, 2010
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VANDALS
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To practice medicine, you need a diploma. To drive a car, you must have a license. But any charlatan can be a politician and proceed to dismantle the nation. This is a well-known historic fact. There are still millions of people who believe Hitler, Stalin, and Saddam were great leaders, in the same way that there are many Armenians who believe what they are told by our bosses, bishops, and benefactors, who, after vandalizing the nation's most important possession – namely, its solidarity – dare to speak in the name of patriotism and God. If that's not speaking with a forked tongue, I should like to know what is.
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At the end of his life, Arthur (DARKNESS AT NOON) Koestler was so disgusted with politicians that at the beginning of every interview he would say, “No politics.”
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When, a few days ago, I posted a short commentary titled “Metaphysical Speculations,” several readers said such speculations are a waste of time because they never lead to believable final answers. But according to Toynbee: “Comprehension sometimes consists in just a correct understanding of questions that are unanswerable.”
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