Even Rambo Gets to Go Home

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

There I was, just in for a view of gratuitous violence. I admit it. I was in the mood for some serious blood-and-guts. Based on a friend’s recommendation, having read about the body counts in this flick, and completeness (I confess to having seen the previous ones in the series too), I went to see Rambo.

I was not disappointed in my lust for gore. But I got a lot more. I was actually moved to a few tears by the scene where villagers were killed off. All I could think was, “How similar this scene must be to our plight a century ago. What a good presentation of genocide at the micro level.” So the stage was set, my mind was in “Genocide” mode.  Read more. . .

Totah Confusion

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

I’ve always advocated action, participation, doing something over doing nothing, in a word, activism.

But all along, I’ve held a bias that’s now been revealed to me. I suppose I owe everyone an apology. I’d just always assumed that activists, especially any who survive into their twenties and beyond, also develop/have good judgment. At the very least, I’ve observed most organizations checking the overzealousness of some of their members/activists in the interest of not doing damage to their cause. It seems I am dead wrong on this front. Read more…

Sayonara Saccharin

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

Finally, we may be on the verge of getting rid of those disgusting tasting sweeteners.

A study conducted at Purdue University in Indiana and funded by the school and the U.S. National Institutes of Health made an interesting discovery. Rats fed saccharin-sweetened madzoon before their regular meal gained more weight after five weeks than rats fed madzoon sweetened with glucose (the simplest form of sugar, what the body actually burns for fuel). The saccharin rats consumed more calories too.   Read more. . .

Picking a Pair of Presidents

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

Super Tuesday was and wasn’t.

It wasn’t super in that we still don’t know who the Democratic Party’s nominee will be. That outcome will be a grueling battle between Clinton and Obama. As I’ve pointed out in the past, organization wins. Hillary has a better campaign organization. On the Republican side, prevailing wisdom and arithmetic both indicate that McCain will be the nominee (eight years late, after Shrub used very dirty tactics against him in the 2000 race).  Read more. . .

Putting Tiles In Place

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

Saturday January 26, 2008 marked the second Mosaic presented to the greater LA Armenian community. I missed it last year, but enjoyed it this year, enough to want to comment on it.

The program consisted of five musical groups, interspersed with comedy, quite humorous. It was well structured and presented an eclectic mix of musical styles. The overall program was a bit lengthy, perhaps each of the acts should play a shorter set. I liked the lighting theme– it looked like fragments, presumably resembling the tiles composing a mosaic. The order in which the acts performed should also have been different. It seemed to me that the groupies (generally younger) of the first two bands left after hearing their favorites, perceptibly impacting the fullness of Glendale’s Alex Theatre.  Read more. . .

Super Tuesday–Voting Makes You Valuable

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

In case you hadn’t noticed, the U.S. of A. is in the throes of its longest ever presidential election. Already, just in the duopoly parties (Democrats and Republicans), the field of contenders in the primary races has been whittled down to “only” eleven. They’ll be the obvious focus of today’s commentary, but California’s ballot measures are in the mix too. One difference this election cycle is the earlier date of many states’ primary elections, creating “Super Tuesday” on February 5. Many of these states have large Armenian populations, so our communities’ heavy turnout can help shape this election cycle. Read more. . .