Garen Yegparian
BY GAREN YEGPARIAN
A number of items in recent weeks have made me go “Hmmmm”, so I thought I’d share them.
Let’s start with the news about former President Serzh Sarkisian’s trial commencing. It seems he and his cohorts are claiming that the trial is “politically motivated”. I have no doubt that’s absolutely true. But, regardless of the motivation, if investigations have turned up evidence of the corruption asserted, then what relevance does the “motivation” have? Let the trial proceed and if he’s found guilty, then punish him appropriately. This is the kind of approach I recommended last week regarding the judges of the Republic of Armenia’s Constitutional Court – investigate, charge, prosecute, try, and punish if found guilty. Don’t subvert the country’s constitution for “political motivations” regardless of the validity of the desired goal.
While we’re on presidents, let’s look at Donald Trump, too. In a recent op-ed piece, Cong. Adam Schiff described him as a threat to democracy and advocated enacting new legislation to prevent future abuses of power such as the ones manifested by Trump. One of the examples cited in the piece is his abuse of the presidential pardon power. It really was disgusting to see a bunch of crooks rendered “innocent”. And, if you think this is all “OK”, consider an Armenian perspective. It seems that the former General Michael Flynn may be getting reviewed and he may also get a pardon. You might recall he had become a paid hack for Turkey and in the process of lobbying for that country, broke U.S. laws,
And since we are deeply in the world of politics now, please remember to vote if you live in a jurisdiction that is holding presidential primary election on March 3 (Alabama, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Democrats Abroad, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia). If you aren’t registered to vote, in some of these locations, you can go to a polling station, register on the spot, and cast a ballot. California is one of those. Or, if you don’t have that option, please, while it’s on your mind, register to vote now so you can vote in the November General Election. I’ve already written about who I suggest voting for in “Primary Time: Parts One and Two.” The most general recommendation is in the Democratic Primary Election – vote for Tulsi Gabbard. Regardless of who you vote for, though, please DO VOTE, VOTE, VOTE.
Ending on a lighter, but VERY interesting note, let’s talk about the microbes (bacteria, fungi, and protozoa) I was reading about in January’s “National Geographic” issue. The piece was about the emerging study and science of the “gut biome” – that’s all the microbes in poop to you and me – along with bacteria in/on other parts of our body. It turns out that some 38,000,000,000,000 (that’s 38 trillion) bacteria live in the average human’s large intestine, more than 90% of the bacteria found on us. These teeny-tiny critters, it turns out, have a huge influence on us. To a certain degree, they seem to function like a “second brain” and influence all kinds of bodily functions and emotions. All this reminded of the old joke about all the parts of the human body arguing about which one of them was most important. The humble anus asserted its preeminence and all the other body parts snickered. So the anus closed up, and in short order all the body parts started apologizing and begging it to loosen up so all the waste could be emptied. It turns out our least pleasant body parts do, in reality, have a tremendous, to date unappreciated, level of importance!
Remember to vote and keep up your advocacy of our cause.