Watching the Cotton Bowl

 

The Cotton Bowl, which had been one of the traditional New Year’s Day bowls is being play today, Friday, December 29^th, in prime time.  The game features #7 Ohio State and #9 Missouri.   

Ohio State, of course, is from the Big Ten.  Pardon the double negative, but they are not used to not playing on New Year’s Day.  Their first-string quarterback, Kyle McCord, is not playing have entered the portal after the Michigan loss and has already transferred to Syracuse.  They are without their All-Everything wide receiver, Marvin Harrison Jr.  He opted out of the game presumably to enter the NFL draft.  Their solid linebacker, Tommy Eichenberg, is injured.  One of the hard driving running backs, Chip Trayanum, is also in the portal.  They started with Devin Brown at quarterback.  It was his first start.  He got hurt, ankle injury, in the first half and had to leave the game.  He was replaced by freshman Lincoln Kienholz.        

Missouri, on the other hand, has everyone on their roster wanting to play in this game.  They are a surging team under the coaching leadership of Eliah Drinkwitz.  They were picked to be second to last in the SEC.  They have came into the Cotton Bowl 10-2.  They only lost to Georgia and LSU.  They beat Florida, Kansas State, Tennessee, and Kentucky.  They are a tough running team with a very good defense.

As kick-off approached, I was actually debating if I should root for Ohio State, as they are a Big Ten team, or for Missouri simply because they are not Ohio State.  I actually did debate it and was leaning toward the Buckeyes.  I thought Ohio State would want to trounce Missouri show the world who they were… transfer portal and opting out be damned.  As soon as the broadcast started, I saw Missouri sporting their black helmets with… a very maize-like block M.  Well, that settled it. Screw it.  Go Mizzou! Pound Ohio State.

Defenses dominated, especially in the first half.  Ohio State managed to get a field goal in the first quarter.  That was all the scoring in the first half.  Period. In the Cotton Bowl.  The offensive output was dismal.  Ohio State was held to a measly 76 yards in total, 20 passing and 56 rushing.  Boy were they missing Kyle McCord.  Missouri only did a bit better with 112 total yards, 28 passings, and 84 rushing. 

There was no scoring in the third quarter.  Ohio State attempted a 48-yard field goal which banged off the left upright.

In the fourth quarter, Missouri stepped up their offense and defense.  They simply took over and won the game.  They had two long drives for TDs.  The Missouri offensive line started opening up holes for their gutty running back Cody Schrader who carried the ball 29 times for 128 yards.  It was impressive… for Missouri and, no doubt, for everyone that roots against Ohio State.

For Ohio State, I can only imagine the tone and tenor of the ranting and raving about this loss in the Buckeye Nation.  Their stats were dismal.  They were held to a field goal.  They never got in the red zone.   They had 203 total yards.  They were held to 106 yards passing and 97 yards running.  Their third down efficiency was 2 for 15.  Wow. 

They, the Ohio Statesfans and coaching staff, drove Kyle McCord into the transfer portal.  They dissed and discarded a quarterback that had 3,170 yards passing and 24 TDs who led the Buckeyes to an 11-1 record.  He lost to Michigan but he was driving his team for a tie or win on the last drive of the game.  The Michigan defense caused an errant pass and interception that ended the game.  McCord is a pretty impressive QB.

I was glad to see Ohio State lose but I cannot and will not gloat.  I remember our dismal Rich Rod and Brady Hoke eras and the gloating coming our way from the Buckeye fans.  Furthermore, we have Alabama in the Rose Bowl on January 1 that has to be our focus.

I can, however, congratulate Mizzou on a gutty hard fought win.

Next year the College Football Playoffs expands to 12 teams.  Perhaps this new format will stem the tide of premier players opting out of bowl games.  Perhaps, what I am guessing is an 11 game tournament, will make several bowl games more relevant and well attended than they were this year

 

My John Hancock

 

John Hancock (1736-1793) had an iconic signature.  It was the first and most prominent signature on the Declaration of Independence.  Hancock was President of the Second Continental Congress.  His signature on the Declaration of Independence was so much larger than everyone else’s.  That signature became a symbol of bold and defiant patriotism.  His name became and still is a colloquial synonym for one’s signature in the US e.g. “put your John Hancock on the dotted line.”  Hancock was a politician and a very successful businessman.  Beyond his role in the Continental Congress, he was the first and third governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Buildings are named for him in Boston and Chicago.  In 1862, an insurance company was founded, adopted his name for the enterprise, and, to this day, uses his famous signature as their corporate logo.  

Somewhere around the age of 11 or 12, I became fascinated with Hancock’s signature.  It was due to reading the Declaration of Independence both in a social studies class and in seeking a Citizenship in the Nation merit badge Boy Scouts.  Needless to say, Hancock’s signature stood out.  I admired penmanship to be sure.  But the part that fascinated me was the loopy artistic adornment that was below his name (is there actually a name for such an adornment?).  I thought it was sophisticated, elegant, and evoked a level of education and confidence.  I spent some time copying the ornamental doodle and practicing it until it became routine.  I then began to apply it to my own signature, not that I had very many occasions to use it.  It made me feel a grown-up and definitely a bit Hancockian.  

 

After a while, it began to feel a bit awkward, a bit contrived, and just not me. 

When it came time to sign things, my signature has evolved.  In my twenties,  I used my full first, middle, and last name.  That became my first name, middle name initial, and my last name in my thirties.  In my forties and fifties, I simply used my first and last names.  More recently, I use my first and middle name initials and my last name and I have added a swoopy graphic under the signature that feels more natural, more me.  

Over those years, I noticed that others had stylized and unique signatures.  Certainly, artists like Picasso, Rembrandt, and Matisse, politicians such as Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and many other noted writers and celebrities.  While working in Latin America, I noticed many of the executives I worked with had very elaborate signatures.  I assumed that they had put some serious creative thought into designing and considerable practice into making the signature incredibly repeatable.  I was impressed that I did spend some more time on mine.  I am happy with my signature.  It is not overly ornate nor is it always look the same.  As a statistician, I like that there is some variation in it and I love the little swoopy graphic under it.

     There are websites that will generate a signature for you.  Before the internet, notable people of means would contract specialists to design a signature for the them.  One example is the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who employed an Armenian, Hagop Vahram Çerçiyan, to do just that.  Çerçiyan was a professor of mathematics, geography, and calligraphy at Istanbul’s Robert College, now Boğaziçi University.  You can’t make these things up.

Here are a few webite of a few other famous signatures:  Quora and Tamino Autographs. 

 

 

Christmas 2023

   

   At 6:18 this Christmas morning I got a text from a dear friend, “Merry Christmas Mark!  I assume you up writing…”  I texted a Christmas greeting back and noted that I was just about to start my annual Christmas post.

I try to write a Christmas post every year.  It began in the early 2000s when I would email my work colleagues a Christmas greeting.  It was a bit selective in that I wrote the ones I really liked and valued, the people who were my indirect reports that were scattered around world, but mostly Latin America. 

This tradition migrated over to this blog in 2010.  At that time, due to the Great Recession, I was unaffiliated with any company or enterprise at the time.  The post was simply titled:  Christmas 2010.  In 2005, when This Side of Fifty was still a monthly e-letter, I wrote December 2005:  Christmas Holiday/Letters which was for the most part a parody of the letters that we receive in Christmas and holiday cards.  Since 2010, I have written a Christmas post every year except for 2017 which was a very unproductive year for this blog.  In 2020, I actually wrote two posts one on Christmas Eve and another on Christmas Day:  Christmas 2020.

I like to write my Christmas posts early on Christmas morning beginning while it is still dark, very quiet in the house, and using the “not a creature was stirring” image from the famous Christmas poem. By the time the post is crafted and sent, the day has usually dawned.  In these posts, I always note that it is Christmas morning, it is still dark, and that all is quiet and not a creature is stirring.  It has become my version of “It was a dark and stormy night…” popularized by Charles Schultz via Snoopy.  As cliched this is, and often pointed out by another dear friend, this is something magical about writing in the predawn on Christmas morning.

One of my favorite posts was a December 2004 e-letter.  I penned Peace on Earth on the last day of 2004.  It focused on Luke 2:14 which includes “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men” that is oft quoted in Christmas cards and carols.  I think about that phrase more and more with each passing year.  It is a wonderful, aspirational, image and goal.  It is also a goal, an ideal that, we have never fully achieved on any sustained level.  And this is our challenge.  We need to learn to do this on our heavily populated planet to stem both the global warming and the senseless wars that result in too much death and displacement of large numbers of people.  Peace on Earth can only begin when we collectively have Good Will Toward each other.  It is a centuries old message that we nod in agreement to but have failed to put into action.

Beyond the joys of the day, being with family and friends, in-person or through the wonders of FaceTime, this is what is on my mind this Christmas morning:  Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.

Merry Christmas to one and all.

 

 

 

 

We Still Have Dreams

 

     I was in Michigan for Thanksgiving.  I found myself in a Kroger in Plymouth, Mi picking up a few things.  Standing in line for the check-out I noticed a news and magazine stand.  I did not recall seeing the same at grocery stores in IL.  While contemplating this irrelevant observation, I noticed a Star tabloid on the rack.  John Travolta’s photo was on the front page with the headline of the lead story – John Travolta:  Starting Over at 70.  There was a starburst with a quote from the celebrity, “I still have dreams.”

I never knew Travolta was the same age as me.  I always thought he was several years younger. Why did I think he was younger?  Well, he played a high school student in a TV series, Welcome Back Kotter, that started his meteoric career.  That series first aired in 1975 when I 22 years old.  I simply assumed Travolta was 15 or 16 years old at the time.  A quick internet check verified that Travolta was born on February 18, 1954 in, no real surprise here, New Jersey.

Actually, John Travolta is still 69.  I am eight months older than him.  While we are both septuagenarians, we don’t have much in common.  He is a global celebrity and successful to the point he could fully retire into a lavish lifestyle I can barely imagine. He starred in many successful movies, but I only started admiring his movie roles in the 1990s with Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, and Broken Arrow.  He was married once, to Kelly Preston.  They were married in 1991 until her untimely passing in 2020.  For a movie star, that is impressive for sure. 

So, he wants to start over, realize some dreams he still holds, and perhaps even reinvent himself.  This I can relate to.  Many folks my age can.  I could say something cliché like 70 is the new… new what?  Forty, fifty sixty?  That sounds good when your fifty perhaps.  70 is a cusp age for sure.  Our bodies have more aches and pains to the point everyone admits we are starting to really feel our age and realize the how finite our remaining year, and remaining productive year, are.  It is a bit sobering.  It is a time for reflecting on what have done, what we have not done, and what we coulda, shoulda, mighta done.  It is a time for reflecting on what we might want yet to do.

I have often commented on colleagues and friends that have retired.  Some say they want to play golf 24/7.  Others want to pursue other pastimes such as woodworking, gardening, civic involvement.  Some of us, life a Facebook friend of mine from kindergarten, are travelling the world and posting amazing photos of her travels.  People move to warmer climes and more scenic places.  Others, sadly turn into couch potatoes.  This is an option I could easily slip or settle into if I let my guard down.  We all seem to revel in the joys of family, especially the pure joy of grandchildren.

Me?  I am doing what I always wanted to do.  I am a full-time college professor.  I am writing.  I am playing music in a variety of groups and middle eastern genres.  Unexpectedly, I have found the joys of photography.  I am thoroughly enjoying all of these activities. 

I never read the article about Travolta in Star, but I can imagine he could easily be moving in directions that intrigue him, doing projects or taking up a hobby he always had passion for but never the time.  As unique as we think we are, one thing is certain, we tend to deal with the same general stages of life.  There is a predictable sameness to that.  The uniqueness is in the personalization. 

While many of us are planning, reinventing, and doing.  Some of are dealing with health worries.  Some of us, have already passed.  I think of a few friends that have passed all the time.  The sobering part of this age that I spoke of earlier is the realization that frequency of health issues and deaths will only increase. 

Yeah, “I am talking about my generation” and invoking a saying from back in the day to “keep on truckin’.”

 

Keep On Truckin’ Poster, R. Crumb, 1967

 

Win Number 1000

 

The University of Michigan has played football since 1879.  Their first game was on May 30^th of that year.  Their first opponent was against Racine College and the game was played in Chicago at White Stocking Park.  Michigan won that first game.  Clearly, the scoring was different in that era as the score was 1-0.  In those days, it was called rugby football an early variant of today’s game.  In their first 11 seasons, where they racked up a record of 24-10-1 they didn’t even have a coach. 

On the way to play Racine for that first game, the Michigan team stopped in South Bend, Indiana and introduced the game to some students at the University of Notre Dame.  On November 23, 1887, Michigan returned to South Bend to play Notre Dame in their first official game.  Michigan won that game 8-0.   In Notre Dame’s first season, they had only three games.  All were against Michigan, which Michigan won as well.

Racine College?  Racine College closed its doors as a college eight years after Michigan’s football game with them.  Michigan continued to play football and is the win leader among all football playing universities.  Yesterday, November 19, 2023, Michigan beat Maryland 31-24 to win their 1000^th game.  The first university to do so.

Michigan fans takes great pride in the fact that we are the all-time win leader and the first to achieve 1000 victories.  We used be the leader in percentage of wins as well, but after the lackluster Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke years, Ohio State now holds that honor at 73.5%.  Michigan is tied with Alabama for second at 73.3%.

In terms of on the field performance, Michigan is riding high the past three seasons.  We were 12-2 in 2021, 13-1 in 2022, and 11-0 so far this year with The Rivalry Game against Ohio State looming next week in Ann Arbor.

The 100^th win took place in SECU Stadium in College Park.  I was planning to

attend the game and attend with my Michigan alumnus son and my nine-year-old grandson.  We had made this plan around Labor Day, well before we knew the game would be for the 1000^th win in program history.  As circumstances would have it, my son had business out of town this very weekend and we had to cancel the plans.  So, I facetimed my grandson and we watched it together.  There was a lag in our viewing.  His broadcast was about 30-40 seconds ahead of mine.  As a result, he was seeing the plays before I did.  So, I had his play-by-play setting me up for what I was about to see.  It was like we were at the game together.  It was very cool and perhaps one of the best times I have had watching any game.

Maryland was fired up and came to play.  They came to upset Michigan, deny them their 1000^th win, and basically making their season with an upset.  Michigan was favored by over 30 points.  Michigan had a few key injuries.  A starting offensive lineman who covered JJ McCarthy’s blind side and JJ’s favorite target, wide receiver Roman Wilson, were both out.  In spite of this, Michigan scored two touchdowns one by the offense and another by the defense to take a 14-3 lead in the first quarter.  Special teams almost scored another on a blocked punt in the endzone, but the alert Maryland punter kicked the ball out the back of the end zone for a safety.  Early in the second quarter Michigan had a nice 64-yard drive to up the score to 23-3.

It seemed the rout was on.  But Maryland’s passing attack kicked into gear and marched down the field for a touchdown and narrowing the score to 23-10.  Michigan drove for what appeared to be a half ending touchdown, but JJ threw an interception in the end zone.  In the third quarter Maryland drove for another touchdown.  Michigan answered but did not convert on a two-point attempt making the score 29-17.  Maryland drove 84 yards for another score to narrow the score to 29-24.  It looked like the momentum was all with Maryland.  At this point, Michigan’s defense kicked in.  Mike Sainrisitil got his second interception ending a Maryland drive.  Then the defense pressured and forced Maryland QB Tagovailoa to draw an intentional grounding from his own endzone resulting in a safety.  The score was Michigan 31 – Maryland 24.  Michigan ran out the clock to end the game.

It was not a pretty win, but it was a W.  We could have had fourteen more points if the punt block was a TD and if JJ had not thrown a TD at the end of the first half instead of an interception.

We were the first college football team to win 1000 games and I got to watch it with my grandson.

 

 

 

 

Evidence and Idiots

 

A friend and former colleague posted a graphic on Facebook with a quote from Mark Twain: “No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot.”  I commented with, “Ain’t it the truth,” and promptly shared the graphic on my own page.  There were just a few comments on the various threads of this post, and all were along the lines of mine.  The fact that there were more reshares than comments speaks louder than the comments.

Not surprisingly folks on both sides of any of the issues polarizing our populace these days love this quote and believe it applies perfectly to the “idiots” that believe what we don’t.  Pick any of the contentious topics of our current and recent times:  climate change, masks, vaccines, Israel or Palestine, the 2020 election. Ukraine, January 6^th, conservative or liberal, abortion, gay marriage, woke, white privilege, shoplifting, guns, immigration, … dang the list is endless.  If you are totally sure and committed to your view on any of these issues, this Mark Twain quote applies to those who don’t agree with you.  Pro-life?  No amount of evidence will ever persuade an “idiot” that think that it is a woman’s right to choose.  Believe that the US is in the grips of systemic racism?  No amount of evidence will ever persuade an “idiot” that thinks that it is not so.  Climate change?  How do you convince an “idiot” that thinks it is all bunk?  How do convince an “idiot” that it is, in fact, all bunk.  I could craft similar sentences for either side of all of these issues.  This is exactly what polarization is.  Whoever disagrees with us is an idiot and no amount of reasoning or evidence will ever convince them.  The evidence for the side we don’t believe is simply fake news.

Evidence?

Yes evidence.  Evidence should be indisputable.  Shouldn’t it?  Part of the problems is that “evidence” is fabricated and disseminated with great efficiency.  We believe what we want, heck, it is an inalienable right isn’t it.  We seek out sources that support and verify our beliefs that others are challenging.  Might they be right?  No way… they’re idiots who ignore any of the facts or rational arguments we offer up.

The amazing part of all this is that previous paragraph applies to whatever side of whatever issue you are passionate about.  That is both funny and sad. 

Another funny aspect of this is that when I was googling the Mark Twain quote, I ran across a link to the Australian Associated Press fact checking page that concluded that Mark Twain never made this quote.  So, the very quote that literally everyone agrees with may not be accurately attributed to the great American author.  I could use this as a perfect micro case in whatever it is I am expounding about in this post.  First, if the quote is really from Mark Twain our friends in Australia have cast doubt on its authenticity.  After all, their website, AAP Factcheck, has the subtitle:  Trusted, Accurate, Impartial.  On the other hand, if the Australians have it right is the message any less valid because it is not from Mark Twain or Samuel Clemens or whatever his name is?  Crazy isn’t it.

If not crazy, it is convoluted and confusing.  This is why it easier in some cases to simply take an extreme view held by a community we are part of or simply is a basic belief or inclination. 

Me?  My advice?  Consider both sides of an issue.  Like a High School debate class, learn enough to be able to argue both sides.  Then decide based on your best judgement.

In closing, here is another couple of quotes to put things in perspective.  One is from Mark Twain as far as I know.  The other is dubiously attributed to Abraham Lincoln.

 

 

Ohio Against the World?

 

brobible

This past Saturday, September 23, I watched the #9 Notre Dame v #4 Ohio State game.  The game took place in South Bend in prime time.  I was looking forward to a good game and was not let down.  Both teams fought hard with Ohio State taking the lead in the waning seconds of the game to win 17-14.  Football pundits often note that close hard-fought games like this, the games are decided by a few pivotal plays.  This one certainly was.

Notre Dame held Ohio State at the goal line when they went for it on fourth down.  They held them another time in the red zone Ohio State went for it again on fourth down.  Ohio State could have had a minimum of 6 to 14 points more which would have had them winning the game handily than the nail biter it was.

On the other hand, Notre Dame had the ball with a few minutes remaining in the game and a 14-10 lead.  All they had to do was make a first down or two and the game was theirs.  Ohio State’s defense did not allow them to do that.

At the end of the game, Ohio State coach, Ryan Day, was interviewed on the field.  He basically had a meltdown.  He ranted at Lou Holtz.  Lou Holtz?  I wondered why I he was attacking the 86 year old retired football coach and googled it to find out.  It turns out that Holtz was on one of those game day shows and asked to predict who would win the Notre Dame Ohio State game.  Holtz, a stellar coach at Notre Dame, is known for being enthusiastic about Notre Dame.  He predicted Notre Dame would beat Ohio State because they were tougher than Ohio State.  Holtz said, “Everybody that beats him does so because they're more physical than Ohio State.  Just tell Ohio State this: you tell them they better bring their lunch, because it's going to be a full day's work.”

To me this was just Holz being himself.  It was normal pre-game enthusiasm and hype.

That is not how Ryan Day took it.  When doing an on field interview after the game, Day said, “I'd like to know where Lou Holtz is right now.  What he said about our team, I cannot believe. This is a tough team right here.  We're proud to be from Ohio and it's always been Ohio against the world.” 

The first reaction of many was that Ryan Day was reacting to the pressure he was under with his job being on the line.  That might have been the case.  A couple of more losses to top ten teams this year or not making the playoffs could cost him his job.

But I have another interpretation.  He was just a poor winner.  The Ohio State fan base are all poor winners.  What is a poor winner?  A poor winner is a nasty, arrogant, and obnoxious fan whose team just won.  Ohio State fans are just that.  Many fans from other teams will make the pilgrimage to Columbus to see their team play the Buckeyes.  Because of the fan base and their behavior as poor winners, most never return for a second visit.  That was certainly the case for me.

Ohio against the world?  Really? 

Some say he was unhinged or made a fool of himself.  Michigan grad and current Seattle Seahawk, Mike Morris, tweeted, “Always ranked in the top 4 every year in the NCAA, always got the best receiving core, and get praised for everything yall do, and everybody against you? Delusional!”  When I first heard Day’s rant, I agreed with Morris.

But, the more I thought about, I have a theory about this phrase “Ohio against the world.”  Maybe Day wasn’t unhinged.  Maybe he was using Holtz’s comments and the win over Notre Dame as a was to galvanize his team and the fan base.  Maybe he was just giving them all a battle cry for the rest of the season.  A fellow Floyd Johnson made a hoodie for himself about ten years ago.  People in Cincinnati where he lived, liked and wanted the shirt.  He ended up starting a clothing company.  Johnson called the phrase a “battle cry for the underdog."  Day may have just become a battle cry for Ohio State Football and boost in sales for Johnson’s brand. 

Chidem Inch: Olympics and Artsakh

It is Thursday morning, August 31. Our bags are packed, and we are ready to fly to Washington, D.C. for the AYF Olympics, the annual gathering of AYF members, alumni and families to enjoy back-to-back athletic events and dances and meet friends old and new. The 90-year-old tradition with humble beginnings, held over Labor Day weekend, has grown and flourished into a celebration of being Armenian.

These long weekends have a magic and allure that keep us coming back. There will be the inevitable sadness on Labor Day, when we return home exhausted to resume our everyday lives.   

Yet while I am excited to go to Washington this year along with my whole family, I find myself departing under a cloud of sadness. We all feel constant angst regarding what is happening to our people in Artsakh. It is Day 263 of the blockade – let’s call it what it is, a siege of 120,000 Armenians. No food or medical supplies are passing through the Berdzor (Lachin) Corridor. Armenia cannot send aid and has no military options to break the blockade. There is a pall over everyone as we wonder when Azerbaijan and Turkey might use their militaries to…I can’t even type the words.

I am going to D.C. to live it up while all this is happening halfway across the world. I feel conflicted, but life must go on. Folks I know went to Armenia this summer, for weddings or vacations. I saw their photos and videos of a thriving Yerevan just a few hours’ drive from the blockade. I cannot criticize – I am going to the Olympics for the same reason. Our churches held picnics this summer with music and dancing. We have to keep our communities vibrant and financially solvent.  

Our collective sadness is amplified by the fact that we Armenians have little power to end the blockade. Diplomacy without some military or economic leverage is not helpful. As we near the one-year mark of the blockade, countries around the world are urging the opening of the corridor and a peaceful solution. What is a peaceful solution – what Azerbaijan and Turkey want? What about the Armenians in the homeland? 

We have the humanitarian and moral high ground for sure, but this is another example of us using a paper ladle to get our fair share.  

It is easy to criticize Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. I hear it all the time – people are always telling me, “I do not support Pashinyan,” or worse, “He is a traitor.”  I wonder what I or any of the rest of us would or could do in his position?  I have yet to hear anyone propose a plan that might work in our favor. It is gut-wrenching to realize our national impotence.

The “SOS Artsakh!” protest is taking place on Friday, September 1 in front of the White House. I imagine it will be well attended, as it should be.  Will it have any impact?  Will U.S. President Joe Biden notice?  Will he change course and stop aid to Turkey and Azerbaijan? Sadly, probably not. A month or so ago, Turkey agreed to let Sweden into NATO, within a day of the approval of the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. In the behind-the-scenes discussions that obviously let this exchange happen, would the U.S. have insisted the blockade be lifted? I assume not.

In a discussion with Pauline Getzoyan, editor of the Weekly, she said we have to protest. Our people in Artsakh see and appreciate it and feel fortified by the support. So, protest we will. We will do whatever we can to urge the U.S. to take a stronger stand to guarantee the territorial integrity of Armenia and the security of the Armenians in Artsakh. 

Life must go on, but it feels like one foot on a dock and one foot on the boat, and the boat is drifting…

 

This was written on August 30 and first published in the Armenian Weekly

Chidem Inch: What is the future of our homeland?

 

Like most every Armenian who reads this, I am feeling very sad and helpless. 

Armenians around the world knew it was likely this day would come, when our enemy would begin a military offensive to take Artsakh. We knew this was more likely than a favorable outcome for the Armenians. We have felt this way since the blockade of the Berdzor (Lachin) Corridor started over nine months ago. We have felt this way since Aliyev began referring to the Republic of Armenia as Western Azerbaijan.

We knew, but felt helpless to do anything about it. The government of the Republic of Armenia seemed unable to do anything either. The Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan earlier this year. Many in Armenia and the diaspora were appalled by this announcement and accused him of caving in, but no one offered any viable alternatives. 

Sadly, an alternative based on self-determination required the Armenians in Armenia or Artsakh to have a military capable of providing a military defense. The days of grabbing a rifle or pitchfork and heroically defending the homeland are well behind us. The only other option was to wait for another country to step in and make Azerbaijan and Turkey agree to terms favorable to the Armenians. Who would do this? Russia, the U.S., France or India? 

Countries rarely act on altruism. Look at the news. Our story is buried on page six, if anywhere. It is not the lead story. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressing the U.N. is a top story. The U.S. giving $24 billion in aid to Ukraine is a top story. We are an afterthought or no thought at all. The U.S. still gives aid to Azerbaijan. Yet the U.S. State Department made a statement:

The United States is deeply concerned by Azerbaijan’s military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh and calls on Azerbaijan to cease these actions immediately. These actions are worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and undermine prospects for peace.

Nice words. I can’t imagine they will have any more impact on the outcome in Artsakh than the words I am typing here. 

What is the best we hope for now? Will the U.S. and France provide evacuation and resettlement aid for the people of Artsakh? A guarantee of the sovereignty and borders of the Republic of Armenia? Who can possibly make and back-up such a guarantee? Does Armenia become a vassal state of…you tell me?

I am not a diplomat, in the leadership of any government or political party, or an expert in international affairs.

What do I know? I know that Artsakh is Armenian. We all know that to the core of our beings. Yet we seem to be the only people in the world to believe that. Borders were drawn a century ago, and everyone but us believes that land is now part of Azerbaijan. We cannot do anything to change that or what is happening in Artsakh. 

Armenians are in a very precarious position. What is the future of our homeland, our self-determination? I am not sure we even have a paper ladle these days.

 

First published in the Armenian Weekly 9-20-23 

Thoughts on the 4th of July

 

yuba.net

A year ago, my wife and I had both tested positive for Covid.  We were housebound and unable to attend the parade we would normally attend in Lake Bluff, the next town over, nor the fireworks in our town, Lake Forest.  We weren’t feeling that bad but were dutifully following the isolation protocol as to not infect others.  Rather than parades and fireworks, we were watching the classic 4^th of July fare on TCM.  

We were watching one of favorites, Yankee Doodle Dandy, the 1942 classic starring James Cagney in the story of inimitable and charismatic George M. Cohan.  We were having lunch when my mother in-law called to tell us about people that were wounded and slain by gunfire at the parade in Highland Park, another town next to ours.  Our plans changed and we ended up following the real-life drama of this event which ended in the capture of the gunman, Roberto Crimo, a mere 3 miles from our house.

I am sitting in the same chair watching another movie.  It is hardly a 4^th of July movie but it is a serious US special operations gone wrong, deep state, thriller, that is full of intrigue, gunfire, and revenge to make things right.  The movie is The Contractor (1922) starring Chris Pine. 

I love these kinds of movies.  They are exhilarating and entertaining.  But they are just that:  entertainment and for most of us a kind of escape and perhaps sublimation of what we wish could but know we would never do.  I do love these movies and novels of the same genre.  I watch them and read them, wishing I could be like the action heroes in them; superbly fit, experts in martial arts, and a dead-eye with firearms and other weapons real or makeshift.  This class of movies also have, for the most part, the heroes have an inner morale code.  They want to make things right, even more so  if they were wronged as the lead character was in the movie I watched.

Such movies and books are fantasies.  They are also great escapes.  But they are violent with lots of gunfire and high body counts.  Many people watch such movies but very few actually take up arms and kill people.  Disturbingly, the number of us in this country that take up arms to kill is increasing.  It is quite disturbing on one hand and it has happened so often that we are often not moved when another occurs.

What is wrong with our society?  Why is this number increasing.  I wonder if these kinds of movies, novels, and video games contribute to the abuse of guns and mass shootings in our culture?  I am sure this is more a job for professionals in the fields of psychology, sociology, and psychiatry. 

Certainly, the availability of guns is also factor.  If guns are really hard to get, then gun violence will probably go down.  The logic makes sense.  First, I believe that the black market for guns, and gunsmithing, will explode.  If we ban guns, and by some miracle all the guns already out there go away, I believe gun violence will be replaced by violence with other kinds of weapons.  The part of this that makes people, that feel so disenfranchised, want to kill others won’t go away.  Gun laws will have some impact on this violence but it won’t fix the flaw in our national psyche.

A Midsummer Potpourri

 

It has been a while since I last potporried (probably not even a word).

I potpourri for a few reasons.  Foremost is that I don’t really have a topic worthy of a full blog.  So, I write about observations sometimes related, though mostly all over the place.  Secondly, as in this case, I am in a writer’s slump and using the potpourri format to breakout of the slump.  So, here goes.

I watched part of a movie this morning, The House on 92^nd Street (1945).  It is a noirish World War II classic that shows the dedication and efficiency of the FBI in infiltrating and destroying the well-organized cell.  Sure, the Nazi’s were smart and had a well-crafted plan for their espionage.  They were no match for the even more dedicated FBI with righteousness on their side.  As with many of the war times films, this movie was designed to bolster the spirit and war time resolve of the people.  78 years later with all we know now about J. Edgar and the manipulative missteps we have taken since World War II, we look at a movie like The House on 92^nd Street under a different lens.  Casting ourselves as the good guys and those confronting us as the bad guys does not seem as simple as it was back in the day.

It is a gorgeous weekend in Chicagoland.  While the rest of the country is suffering from severe heat and others, like New England, deluged by crazy intense rainstorms, we had a brief drought in May and four days in the 90s last week.  Other than that, it has been a most pleasant summer.  When I first moved here, folks would rave about summer in Chicago.  Having lived elsewhere, I had never heard anyone tout the Chicago summer weather.  Now that I have lived here and experienced it, I have to agree.  For about five months, we have some pretty nice weather.  The difference this year is that our normal summer seem exceptionally good relative to the rest of the country.

It is definitely helpful for the writer’s slump to write these kinds of blogs about nothing.  Well, perhaps not actually about nothing, but more so, a little bit a few to several topics.  They are almost never popular, but for some reason there are a small number of readers mystified by these offerings.  The wonder in amazement how and why I write such “stuff.”  I try to explain.  That is why I use the Seinfeldesque “blog about nothing” explanation.  I also explain that a blog, short for weblog, is an online journal.  The subtitle of mine is, as I often note, is a “Monthly Letter of Musings and Meanderings.”  I emphasize the musing and meandering part… it has no impact on these friends and that’s OK.  For the most part, as they say, they are just busting my chops.

Speaking of weather, it is crazy out there.  Phoenix experienced 30 days of temperatures above 110 with a high of 118 on day!! Las Cruces, NM had 34 days of temperature readings above 100 from June 19 through July 22.  El Paso experienced 27 days of temperatures that warm.  It is easy to say, “But, it is a dry heat,” but we have all heard and read about the dangers of these unprecedented heat streaks.  Most reports are attributing this to climate change.  Fewer are reporting that we are experiencing climate change compounded by El Nino.

I do like to muse and meander…