Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (Dec. 13, 2014)

Object Lesson

Never lend books, for no one ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are those that other people have lent me.

…Anatole France

From the Word Lab

Humanitarians: A name that used to be given to certain Arian heretics who believed that Jesus Christ was only man. The disciples of St. Simon were so called also, because they maintained the perfectibility of human nature without the aid of grace. Nowadays the term is usually applied to philanthropists whose object is the welfare of humanity at large.

UN: Quo Vadis?

The United Nations (UN) pretends to be a democratic institution; yet, members of the Security Council, by virtue of the power of the veto, can obstruct any moves by the General Assembly. Does the UN Charter lend itself to modification or amendment, as does the U.S. Constitution? If so, why don’t the smaller member nations that are not part of the Security Council get together to press for a UN Constitutional Convention aimed at amending the UN Charter to eliminate the power of the veto, so that the will of the majority of member nations may be exercised? This is the only way in which resolutions approved by the General Assembly will be given full force and effect. Perhaps then, we may see peace restored in many war-torn lands around the world.

Deflation

The prosperous pompous businessman was staying at a small country hotel, and as he entered the breakfast room in the morning the only other visitor rose from his seat. “Sit down, sit down!” boomed the great man condescendingly. “Why?” asked the other, surprised. “Can’t I get the marmalade from the next table?”

What’s in a Name?

Dagdigian: Turkish in derivation identified as a descriptive term, dagdig is a variant of daghdik, which is defined as a steep mountain dweller.

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CK Garabed

Weekly Columnist

C.K. Garabed (a.k.a. Charles Kasbarian) has been active in the Armenian Church and Armenian community organizations all his life. As a writer and editor, he has been a keen observer of, and outspoken commentator on, political and social matters affecting Armenian Americans. He has been a regular contributor to the Armenian Reporter and the AGBU Literary Quarterly, “ARARAT.” For the last 30 years, Garabed has been a regular contributor to the Armenian Weekly. He produces a weekly column called “Uncle Garabed's Notebook,” in which he presents an assortment of tales, anecdotes, poems, riddles, and trivia; for the past 10 years, each column has contained a deconstruction of an Armenian surname. He believes his greatest accomplishment in life, and his contribution to the Armenian nation, has been the espousing of Aghavni, and the begetting of Antranig and Lucine.

Latest posts by CK Garabed (see all)

• A Reminiscence: John Najarian - February 19, 2020
• Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (Aug. 5, 2017) - August 7, 2017
• Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (July 22, 2017) - July 22, 2017