The State Department has acted negligently and possibly in contempt of Congress by withholding assistance that the latter had expressly allocated to Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh) during the past 12 years.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) revealed last week that the State Department only spent about half of the amount allocated by Congress to Artsakh. From [...]

As I walked the streets of Yerevan this past month, I was reminded of how interconnected people are in Armenia, for better or worse. There are countless interactions each day, providing equally abundant potential for sheer joy and complete frustration.
Ambiguity, after all, is all around us and requires a certain level of patience and curiosity [...]

It’s the roar of the engines, the smell of leaded gas, the traffic jam at Thirteen Mile Road and Woodward Avenue at Northwood Shopping Center. It’s the two-tone cars of the 50’s, namely the turquoise, blue or red combined with white. It’s the neon purple, pink, and orange of the street rods. It’s the old [...]

How about spilling some of my beans?
I have the first swizzle stick from the drink my wife and I shared 45 years ago at our wedding reception. For some reason, I held onto it for sentiment sake.
It’s right there beside the records and cassette tapes I’ve stored over time, the old Victrola player I’ve kept [...]

In recent years, Armenian Americans have filed several lawsuits in U.S. courts against insurance companies, banks, and the Republic of Turkey, seeking compensation for losses stemming from the genocide of 1915.
For the first time, on Sept. 15, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will hold a hearing on a complaint filed by an Armenian [...]

The Turkish state recently made a simultaneously liberal and fascistic move on the same subject: the “Armenian issue.” The result was a perfect example of what makes Turkey the setting of the grotesque co-existence of liberalism and a fascistic mindset. First came the decision by the Turkish Ministry of Justice confirming that the recognition of [...]

I did a triathlon last Sunday. Are you impressed? Well, I suppose you should temper you oohs and aahs with the knowledge that I hiked, biked, and swam all in a day, but just a little of each— a triathlon only of my own making all locally in Burbank and Glendale. But hey, the hike [...]

I was sitting next to the modest man who has brainstormed many a successful community event, along with co-chair Corinne Khederian, the support of their dedicated committee, and the Knights of Vartan, saying to him, “I have quizzed several people today to see if they think this festival is now the number one attraction for [...]

The books other readers might recommend don’t always turn into my idea of a best seller. But the only way to finds out is to give it a whirl.
More often than not, the suggestion turns into a bust and I don’t have the heart to tell them the truth.
“So how did you like that book [...]

On Nobility
We, my lords, may thank Heaven that we have something better than our brains to depend on.
   …Lord Chesterfield
 
A Modern Proverb
More important than possessing knowledge is the ability to discover the knowledge one is seeking.
 
From the Trivia File
Amphion: The son of Zeus and Antiope who, according to Greek legend, built Thebes by the music [...]