q/a

Thursday, March 17, 2011
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THE NATIVES ARE RESTLESS
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…And this is of great concern to the West
because where there are Arabs there is oil.
Where there are Armenians, however,
there are only rocks and unsettled scores.
We are less than useless to the West;
we are a nuisance.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there are pundits today
who think Turks should have done
a more thorough job on us.
I once met a born-again Armenian in his eighties
who said as much, adding
the Genocide had been God’s way of letting us know
that we don’t deserve to live.
*
And speaking of God:
The side with bigger guns in Libya is winning.
This may suggest that God doesn’t like to interfere
in human affairs.
*
We say God is great
in the hope He will be flattered and manipulated
into supporting our cause.
*
The status quo does not represent the will of God.
The reason Ben Ali and Mubarak fell
is that no regime is endless.
The regime in Yerevan will last
for as long as the regime in Moscow does
and no more.
*
We know and understand a great deal
except what is unknowable and incomprehensible
beside which what we know and understand
might as well be as nothing.
#
Friday, March 18, 2011
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CORRECT ME,
IF I AM WRONG
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After every comment I make, I would like to add:
“Correct me, if I am wrong.”
*
In a world where everyone is proud
to be a Turk, Kurd, Jew, or Armenian
I prefer to be a humble human being
if only because humility is a virtue
and pride leads to arrogance.
*
A reader writes:
“The only thing I know about Armenian history
is that we were a great nation
and God was on our side.”
*
Insults are verbal massacres.
To insult a fellow Armenian or
anyone else for that matter
is to use words as yataghans.
*
Tell me who brainwashed you
and I will tell you who you are.
*
To our superpatriots I say:
Patriotism and respect for human rights
are not mutually exclusive concepts.
Homeland is where a man is allowed to work
and express his views freely.
I have nothing but contempt for the kind of patriot
who treats free speech
as an invention of the corrupt and degenerate West.
That’s not patriotism
but Ottomanism, Sovietism, and fascism.
#
Saturday, March 19, 2011
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QUESTION / ANSWER
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Criticism is not enemy action;
dissent is not a capital offense;
human rights are not inventions of the degenerate West.
Question: Why is it that I was not taught these truths?
Answer: Because I had an Armenian education.
*
I was not brainwashed.
I was trained like a parrot.
*
Dehumanization comes naturally to a nation
that has lived under brutal regimes for a thousand years.
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