The last 24 hours have been chaotic. If not visibly so, there has been a strange sense of quiet in the streets, and I couldn't figure out if it was the quiet before or after the storm.
As I walked out of my apartment on Tuesday morning to go to work, I still had the images of the preceding few hours in my head, and walking out I felt like I was entering into a 1950's American suburb, where everything just seemed rosy, and no one even pretended that anything happened 6 hours before that.
Baghramian Ave. was open and cars were rushing up and down, much like the riot gear cops and the demonstrators were doing on foot.
During the day yesterday opposition party offices were ransacked and personalities taken into custody. Periodic reports of another person beaten, another leader arrested became mainstay during the day. For those political figures who are members of parliament, parliamentary immunity doesn't seem to have played a role. So, there are many questions that are yet unanswered.
I, and the rest of the loggers, have received tens of emails on our logs. It's encouraging to know that there is a larger prupose to these logs. Many are concerned about our safety. Speaking on my behalf, I can say that we are perhaps the safest of all--at least physically. Our spirits, and that of the Armenian nation, is a whole other issue.
The official response to the events of Monday/Tuesday has been mind boggling. Coalition party representatives have been timid. The president's office has issued no response. The national police has justified their actions by defining the opposition demonstrators as violent and unruly. Several NGO's and public organizations have come out strongly condemning the events and their aftermath.
Since I'm rushing to get to work right now, I will throw this out there and ellaborate on it more. I'm completely baffled by the local and international, diaspora news coverage of these events. In Armenia, no TV Station has properly shown or discussed the events, with the exception of Kentron TV, which has become a bit more timid than days before. My biggest disappointment is with Armenia TV--that owned partly by the Cafesjian Family Foundation--for blatantly tainting facts, and presenting not the news, but their version of reality in Armenia. I'm singling out this TV station, because my hope would be that one co-owned by a Diasporan philanthropist would show more transparent sensibilities. This hope, however, is obviously misplaced, and it has shown that this "news" outlet is no better than the vast majority of others here and abroad, completely ignoring the facts, and creating new ones.
And yes, there is much to do for everyone.
Another quote, so as not to break the tradition:
"The hottest place in the inferno, is reserved for those who in times of moral crisis choose to remain neutral."
--Dante Aligieri in Inferno
As I walked out of my apartment on Tuesday morning to go to work, I still had the images of the preceding few hours in my head, and walking out I felt like I was entering into a 1950's American suburb, where everything just seemed rosy, and no one even pretended that anything happened 6 hours before that.
Baghramian Ave. was open and cars were rushing up and down, much like the riot gear cops and the demonstrators were doing on foot.
During the day yesterday opposition party offices were ransacked and personalities taken into custody. Periodic reports of another person beaten, another leader arrested became mainstay during the day. For those political figures who are members of parliament, parliamentary immunity doesn't seem to have played a role. So, there are many questions that are yet unanswered.
I, and the rest of the loggers, have received tens of emails on our logs. It's encouraging to know that there is a larger prupose to these logs. Many are concerned about our safety. Speaking on my behalf, I can say that we are perhaps the safest of all--at least physically. Our spirits, and that of the Armenian nation, is a whole other issue.
The official response to the events of Monday/Tuesday has been mind boggling. Coalition party representatives have been timid. The president's office has issued no response. The national police has justified their actions by defining the opposition demonstrators as violent and unruly. Several NGO's and public organizations have come out strongly condemning the events and their aftermath.
Since I'm rushing to get to work right now, I will throw this out there and ellaborate on it more. I'm completely baffled by the local and international, diaspora news coverage of these events. In Armenia, no TV Station has properly shown or discussed the events, with the exception of Kentron TV, which has become a bit more timid than days before. My biggest disappointment is with Armenia TV--that owned partly by the Cafesjian Family Foundation--for blatantly tainting facts, and presenting not the news, but their version of reality in Armenia. I'm singling out this TV station, because my hope would be that one co-owned by a Diasporan philanthropist would show more transparent sensibilities. This hope, however, is obviously misplaced, and it has shown that this "news" outlet is no better than the vast majority of others here and abroad, completely ignoring the facts, and creating new ones.
And yes, there is much to do for everyone.
Another quote, so as not to break the tradition:
"The hottest place in the inferno, is reserved for those who in times of moral crisis choose to remain neutral."
--Dante Aligieri in Inferno
posted by Alex at 8:59 AM
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