I often wonder if other nations are as hard on themselves as we are. No doubt our behavior toward one another on a personal, national and global scale is enough reason to begin a critical discourse on our self-perceived lack of inspiration.

As we drove south from Yerevan toward the region of Syunik and arrived in Goris, we were greeted by spectacular rock formations jutting up toward the sky, hundreds of ancient cave dwellings, rolling hills and fields awash in a silvery winter mist, and snow-capped mountain ranges that seem to go on for an eternity.

I drive in Yerevan. This fact alone should warrant some kind of medal for anyone who has learned how to drive anywhere else. To be fair, driving in Yerevan has improved beyond measure although that always depends on whose measure we’re applying.

The Christmas tree in our capital city’s Republic Square is lit, holiday decorations are up, traffic is congested, people are buying presents, mothers are frantically preparing traditional dishes for their holiday table and children are looking forward to presents and their winter break from school.

Watching the Republican Party of Armenia’s (RPA) convention in Yerevan on December 15 was reminiscent of an era not too long ago when communist party members would hold up their membership cards en masse rubber stamping the decisions of the Politburo.

These are the sacrifices that fathers and mothers and sons in Armenia are making every day, almost twenty years after the ceasefire following the Karabakh conflict. These are the people for whom it should be an honor for all of us to stay and fight.

Hundreds of employees of the Nairit chemical plant, one of the largest industrial plants in Armenia, protested in front of the presidential palace on Baghramyan Street last week.

Anyone who lives in Armenia or who follows politics in this country understands that impunity is one of the causes of widespread disillusionment, distrust in the justice system and the prevailing cynicism.

Autumn in Yerevan this year has been gloriously warm and sunny. Just a few days ago we were sitting at an outdoor café enjoying a hot cup of coffee by Republic Square. I was trying to vacate my mind of everything going on in my life when I happened to glance over and see a big beautiful old tree a few meters away.

The crisis in Syria promises to become a protracted human tragedy. The brutality being exacted by both government and rebel forces has already resulted in a level of devastation that to rebuild neighborhoods, buildings, institutions and also lives will require years if not decades.

At the Hrayr Maroukhian Foundation we host interns from different Diaspora communities. These young Armenians come to the homeland with an abundance of optimism, eager to learn, eager to listen, and are almost always more accepting of the realities of this country than their parents’ generation.

For his daughter’s birthday, my friend Harut wished for her the following, which he wrote on his Facebook page: “Ophelia dear, my daughter, I am grateful to God that you exist.

Instead of preoccupying themselves with the security of our nation, the National Security Service has been commissioned to occupy themselves with investigating charges against Vartan Oskanian, who held the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs for a decade, for money laundering and expropriation of funds because he had the audacity to criticize the ruling regime and perhaps because he has aspirations to become a presidential candidate.

A YouTube clip began circulating on Facebook about the Gyumri Hotel Palace built by the mayor of the city, Vardan Ghukasyan, a known thug, scandal-plagued swindler, and all-time low-life.