Sunday, August 05, 2007
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PROSPECTS AND PROJECTIONS
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We are a dysfunctional nation, make it, collection of tribes, ruled by mutually hostile gangs, who have brainwashed us to believe we are la crème de la crème, and the rest of the world the scum of the earth; and by the rest of the world I include anyone who has ever said anything remotely critical about us, from Yeghishe and Khorenatsi (5th century) to Zarian and Massikian (20th century).
Do we have a future?
I am not sure.
If we do, will it be more of the same?
Probably.
What are the chances that we will see the light?
Miracles happen.
You see no light at the end of the tunnel?
In our case, a light at the end of the tunnel would mean an oncoming train.
In other words, no future?
Not quite. I believe in Gandhi’s dictum that no one is beyond redemption.
Do you really believe that?
No, I don’t.
Why are you saying it then?
Sounds positive…and all that crap.
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Monday, August 06, 2007
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FAMOUS LAST WORDS
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“Most people are bastards, and everything is bullshit.”* These are the last words of George Black, a member of the Canadian financial elite, who is said to have committed suicide. From now on whenever I enter an Armenian discussion forum on the Internet…Strike that! Forget I made the connection. Unfair to my fellow countrymen.
Goethe’s famous last words: “More light!” What did he mean by that? Some think he wanted his servant to open the curtains of his bedroom window. Others think by “light” he meant reason or some such elevated metaphysical concept. If the second, it sounds so damn pretentious. I prefer Black’s last words. No ambivalence there. Down to earth. To the point. My style – rude, negative, nasty.
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FOOTNOTE
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Tom Bower, CONRAD & LADY BLACK: DANCING ON THE EDGE (London, 2006) page 20.
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Tuesday, August 07, 2007
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QUESTIONS / ANSWERS
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Why do you bother writing for idiots who insult you?
Smart readers don’t need my two cents’ worth. They may even be ahead of me in the sense that they keep silent because they have resigned themselves to the fact that ours is a hopeless case and no amount of reasoning will change anyone’s mind. Either that or they don’t give a damn one way or the other. But there is another and more personal reason why I persevere: I too was an idiot when I was young and pretended to know better when all I did was recycle a propaganda line. But one can’t stay young forever. Sooner or later – and I hope, with my help, sooner rather than later — our idiots will have to outgrow their present stage and confront reality.
How do you know they are not old enough?
I don’t judge people by their chronological age. I judge them by their mental age. You see, the danger in propaganda is not that it misleads people but that it makes them stupid.
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Wednesday, August 08, 2007
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CRAP AS NEWS
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We read the following in IT’S NOT NEWS, IT’S FARK: HOW MASS MEDIA TRIES TO PASS OFF CRAP AS NEWS by Drew Curtis (Gotham Books, 278 pages, 2007): “Everyone claims to want real news, but no one really does.” That may be because people prefer fiction to fact, and illusion to reality.
Our Armenian-American press today is controlled by political parties and big money, that is to say, it is thoroughly pro-establishment. Who speaks for the underdog? No one, perhaps because almost every other institution is busy collecting money for a noble cause. Every other day I get a letter printed on fancy stationery and fancier letterhead that ends with Comrade Panchoonie’s favorite punch line: “Mi kich pogh oughargetsek” (Send us a little money). My guess is, for every underdog we have two fat top dogs in the charity business.
Next time you read a headline that says so many thousand or even million dollars were collected for a good cause in the Homeland, try to find out, if you can, how much of it ended in deep pockets and how much went to charity. We collect money for myriad causes, except one: investigative reporting. And why? Because we prefer crap to news.
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