Sunday, January 26, 2014 ************************************** THE BLAME GAME… AMONG OTHER THINGS. ***************************************** If you master the rules of the blame-game you can easily represent yourself as a statesman of vision and the opposition as a cesspool of corruption, incompetence and stupidity. * When in doubt I always do that which is against my own interests. * Whatever I have done, I have done out of necessity and under duress. The choice was thrust on me the way subservience is thrust on the 99%. * Bishops, imams, rabbis: they share a common wish to be trusted and respected, but they neither trust nor respect one another. * If a single man can be wrong, so can two or two thousand or two million, especially when they speak of the Incomprehensible and the Unknowable. * The Scriptures tell us to turn the other cheek not to drop our pants... * We are midgets perched on the shoulders of lesser midgets. * We are told there are two kinds of statistics, lies and damn lies. What about belief systems? # ALPHA MALES **************************** Bosses, bishops, benefactors: alpha males whose #1 concern is #1. The rest is propaganda. * PATRIOTISM ***************************** There are Armenians – and I know some of them myself – who view intolerance, ignorance, and stupidity as authentic expressions of their patriotism and moral superiority. * DIALOGUE ******************* In dialogue there are no losers because both sides learn from each other. Which may explain why dialogue happens to be quintessentially un-Armenian. * WRITING ********************* I write. It’s an inexpensive hobby – the cheapest I know. It costs me nothing. # ON WHAT WE KNOW ************************************* Nobody knows everything about anything. Some of the worst blunders in the history of mankind were committed by very smart men (self-assessed, of course) who thought they knew all there is to know about the enemy. * We know now that even Wall Street doesn’t know everything about Wall Street. * The 99% hate the 1% -- their secret role models. * The 1% are at their best when it comes to deceiving and exploiting the 99%. * We like to pretend we know more about ourselves than anyone else until we are cornered, assaulted and defeated by our own irrational impulses. * Once upon a time we were ruled by kings. We are now ruled by moneyed morons with the charisma of apes. * There are always two schools of thought and we tend to favor the school that is more favorable to our vanity. * We say “shit happens” even when we micro-managed the catastrophe. # AS I SEE IT ****************************** Leaders: Blind men who pretend to have 20/20 vision. * There are two kinds of failures: (a) those who make less than minimum wage (Armenian writers come readily to mind) and (b) those who make a million a day (guess who). * In the eyes of the 99% the 1% might as well be Turks. * Speaking of Turks: We know what they did to us. My question is: What did we do to them? If something, what? If nothing, why not? * You tell me I simplify complexities? Am I then the only one? * More on the 1%: Two reasons they are free men: (a) They can afford a dream team, and (b) they know the judge. * A headline in my morning paper: “Neanderthal genes found in modern humans.” So what else is new? # PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS *********************************************** Justice is on the side of the more competent lawyers in the same way that victory is one the side of bigger battalions. * Turks don’t need a dream team. They have Yanks on their side. * My philosophy of writing? To be readable. * I don’t write to make you feel good. What I do is hold up a mirror and make you wish you were dead. * Some problems don’t get solved because we don’t have a clear awareness of their existence. * There are truths which we take for granted until we consider their contradiction. * The 1% are dead men who will do anything to keep their money beginning with staying alive. * Progress is possible in all branches of human endeavor except religion. * A single pope can brainwash millions of Catholics but not a single imam. # A WORTHY AMBITION ******************************** The secret ambition of every Muslim terrorist is to defeat America and to acquire a harem of Hollywood starlets. * THE TYRANNY OF RELATIVITY *************************************** Virtues like self-reliance, initiative, originality and perseverance in the wrong hands become dangerous vices. * 85% VERSUS 86% ****************************** We are told 85% of TV commercials are misleading and the law can’t put a stop to that because law-makers (i.e. politicians) mislead the people 86% of the time. * WHAT THEY SHARE ***************************** Defeats are planned as carefully as victories. #

Sunday, January 26, 2014 ************************************** THE BLAME GAME… AMONG OTHER THINGS. ***************************************** If you master the rules of the blame-game you can easily represent yourself as a statesman of vision and the opposition as a cesspool of corruption, incompetence and stupidity. * When in doubt I always do that which is against my own interests. * Whatever I have done, I have done out of necessity and under duress. The choice was thrust on me the way subservience is thrust on the 99%. * Bishops, imams, rabbis: they share a common wish to be trusted and respected, but they neither trust nor respect one another. * If a single man can be wrong, so can two or two thousand or two million, especially when they speak of the Incomprehensible and the Unknowable. * The Scriptures tell us to turn the other cheek not to drop our pants... * We are midgets perched on the shoulders of lesser midgets. * We are told there are two kinds of statistics, lies and damn lies. What about belief systems? # ALPHA MALES **************************** Bosses, bishops, benefactors: alpha males whose #1 concern is #1. The rest is propaganda. * PATRIOTISM ***************************** There are Armenians – and I know some of them myself – who view intolerance, ignorance, and stupidity as authentic expressions of their patriotism and moral superiority. * DIALOGUE ******************* In dialogue there are no losers because both sides learn from each other. Which may explain why dialogue happens to be quintessentially un-Armenian. * WRITING ********************* I write. It’s an inexpensive hobby – the cheapest I know. It costs me nothing. # ON WHAT WE KNOW ************************************* Nobody knows everything about anything. Some of the worst blunders in the history of mankind were committed by very smart men (self-assessed, of course) who thought they knew all there is to know about the enemy. * We know now that even Wall Street doesn’t know everything about Wall Street. * The 99% hate the 1% -- their secret role models. * The 1% are at their best when it comes to deceiving and exploiting the 99%. * We like to pretend we know more about ourselves than anyone else until we are cornered, assaulted and defeated by our own irrational impulses. * Once upon a time we were ruled by kings. We are now ruled by moneyed morons with the charisma of apes. * There are always two schools of thought and we tend to favor the school that is more favorable to our vanity. * We say “shit happens” even when we micro-managed the catastrophe. # AS I SEE IT ****************************** Leaders: Blind men who pretend to have 20/20 vision. * There are two kinds of failures: (a) those who make less than minimum wage (Armenian writers come readily to mind) and (b) those who make a million a day (guess who). * In the eyes of the 99% the 1% might as well be Turks. * Speaking of Turks: We know what they did to us. My question is: What did we do to them? If something, what? If nothing, why not? * You tell me I simplify complexities? Am I then the only one? * More on the 1%: Two reasons they are free men: (a) They can afford a dream team, and (b) they know the judge. * A headline in my morning paper: “Neanderthal genes found in modern humans.” So what else is new? # PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS *********************************************** Justice is on the side of the more competent lawyers in the same way that victory is one the side of bigger battalions. * Turks don’t need a dream team. They have Yanks on their side. * My philosophy of writing? To be readable. * I don’t write to make you feel good. What I do is hold up a mirror and make you wish you were dead. * Some problems don’t get solved because we don’t have a clear awareness of their existence. * There are truths which we take for granted until we consider their contradiction. * The 1% are dead men who will do anything to keep their money beginning with staying alive. * Progress is possible in all branches of human endeavor except religion. * A single pope can brainwash millions of Catholics but not a single imam. # A WORTHY AMBITION ******************************** The secret ambition of every Muslim terrorist is to defeat America and to acquire a harem of Hollywood starlets. * THE TYRANNY OF RELATIVITY *************************************** Virtues like self-reliance, initiative, originality and perseverance in the wrong hands become dangerous vices. * 85% VERSUS 86% ****************************** We are told 85% of TV commercials are misleading and the law can’t put a stop to that because law-makers (i.e. politicians) mislead the people 86% of the time. * WHAT THEY SHARE ***************************** Defeats are planned as carefully as victories. #