Francis Sarguis

ABSTRACT

Francis Sarguis caught in a web of lies after he spread a rumor about Mr. Narsai David.

The following messages were copied from Various message boards.

To Francis Sarguis... [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by parhad on 22 Apr 2001 02:59:57: Reply to Francis Sarguis regarding Narsai M. David: Last week, during a conversation, Narsai David mentioned that someone had alerted him to an e-mail which had been found floating around cyber-space. The letter was sent by Francis Sarguis, TO Francis Sarguis. In the first part he trashes Sargon Dadeesho which comes under the heading of a “public service”. He mentions that the Modesto Bee ran an article a few years ago showing that "Dr." Dadeeshoo had no doctorate degree, except perhaps in bingo. He had also lied when stating he'd been accepted to the Ph.D. program at UC Davis. On checking, the paper found this not to have been true and also any mention in a "Who's Who", which he also lists, was a joke since they would print anyone's name, knowing full well the fool would buy a copy to awe people with. Whatever degree he does have was issued by some agency chased out of California and now issuing its bogus “degrees: from a motel room in Hawaii or someplace. Dadeeshoo had promptly threatened to sue and the paper went on its merry way, leaving our community to swallow the affront. Francis (HE’s married to a cousin so I get to cozy up to him) goes on to say that Dadeeshoo isn't the only" phony" (his word) in these matters. He mentions that he knew Narsai in high school back at Turlock, says HE’s a nice enough guy, successful and all that. He goes on to state that in a recent newsletter put out by the Assyrian Aid Society, of which Narsai is president, he is introduced as a "UC Berkeley product", then says he forgot the ..."actual lingo". Francis goes on to add that Narsai "implies he has a degree from UC Berk". He says he knew Narsai when he was at Berkeley, and that Narsai dropped out after his first semester and "never returned". I'll quote the next sentences in their entirety..."I spoke with someone at the Records office. Lo and behold, they VERIFIED THE FACT that he'd been there ONE SEMESTER ONLY (CAPS mine)". The next sentence is posed as a question, to himself I would imagine, as he is both sender and receiver in this case..." So I ask you, my friend When someone has already been successful in some field or other. why would he go out of his way to lie or mislead people about such stuff? Compulsive prevaricator? Acute inferiority complex? False values"? Never, ever, put something in an e-mail you don't want read to the world. He winds this message to himself up by saying, regretfully, that it is..."Shameful. Utterly. I suppose this is the timber we get to choose from in selecting our Assyrian answer to Somoza." Anyone who knows Narsai, or reads the newsletter put out by the AAS, knows he never made such a statement, such a patently false and dumb statement. I have a copy of the newsletter...it states that: “After his education at the University of California at Berkeley in the fifties...”. Whatever formal University education he received WAS received there. He has never hinted or implied that he received a degree there...it would have to be left to someone like Francis to tell the world..."Narsai dropped out of college". Why would he feel the need to do that? Why would Narsai imply something like this that isn't true? A man so much in the Public Eye survives on his reputation for probity and honesty. Especially when, as in Narsai's case, it is his "honest" opinion people seek. He told me once that his refusal to plug products for pay, has cost him a lot financially, but it has meant more to him that people could believe always that he recommended products on their own merits. You cannot "buy" Narsai, I know that, so do people who know him. Narsai was hurt and angry at this "letter" of Francis'. He wondered what could have brought such a thing about at all, and why at this time? The “facts” were wrong, he had gone to school at Berkeley for more than one semester. But what about the motive in even concocting such a letter and mailing it to himself via everyone else on the internet? What was Francis trying to achieve? He had to know that he was creating and spreading a deliberate lie, as we shall see. Why do it? Was it supposed to undermine confidence in Narsai’s leadership so that donations to our people in North Iraq would cease? Why? Does Francis not like Assyrians who are caught in Iraq? Does he not like Narsai and is he willing to hurt anyone, including Narsai, to avenge some affront? We tend to act that way as a people. I was even angrier than he was and insisted he contact the records office for a transcript record showing his attendance at UC. When his secretary called the Records office she was told that the information she requested WAS NOT in their office, but kept at a separate storage facility, as it covered incidents from so far back. There could have been NO such telephone conversation as Francis alludes to, simply because the Records office doesn't have those records on hand to give out over the phone instantly, as Francis says they did. Narsai was told to submit a formal request and it took five days to receive a reply. Unfortunately the fax is a little weak but I will submit a copy, along with other material. It turns out that Narsai attended UC Berkeley for two full years, that's FOUR semesters, beginning in 1953-54. He was forced to drop out of school in 1956 due to an operation he had to have at Cowell Hospital, where he would HAVE to have been a student to be admitted. It took him a year to fully recover and he returned to the University for the Fall semester of '58. He completed that, then attended summer school to make up what had been missed. The following semester he dropped out, after five semesters... summer school, and a lost semester due to illness. Narsai went on to pioneer in a field just developing at the time and in which he is one of the recognized few who were in on the beginning. His contemporaries would be Julia Child, Jacque Pepin, Alice Waters, and any number of luminaries in the field. It would be tiresome to list his resume here, suffice it to say he opened one of the most acclaimed restaurants of its day, is partners in two in Carmel, had really the first charcouterie, catered functions for people from the Rolling Stones to Prince Philip and other minor princes' in between. His leadership of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, beginning with his position as Founding Director (a courtyard is named after him at the theatre) as well as all the charitable work HE’s done have secured his status as certainly the best known man among Assyrians, AS an Assyrian, which our community has ever produced ...and therein I think I spy an envious fly named Francis. In his role as president of the Assyrian Aid Society of America, Narsai has worked with a dedicated number of our people in sending funds and resources to north Iraq. He was born in Gary, Indiana to parents from Auda, in Iran, and Turkey. Yet he has no problem recognizing that in North Iraq today are the last, embattled, remnants of our community in what is now the site of the very heart and soul of our ancient empire... and that if they are forced out, we will finally, after several thousand years and all manner of hardships, be driven out of the ancestral homelands of our most precious heritage, with little likelihood of ever returning. Not if he can inspire us, and not if he can help it. I've watched him work long and hard, with others, bringing together the resources, dealing with the personalities, attending to the details of paperwork and protocol...and all of it for the love of our heritage. He is a stickler for procedure, has the greatest command of the English language, in its technical usage especially, of anyone I've ever known. It is virtually impossible to get a typo or error past him...I know. He would love to get his hands on this to correct my many mistakes, and he would blanch at some of the things I’ve written, but this is ONE letter I will not run by him. His father died of cancer when Narsai was 12. As the eldest of three boys he had a lot of responsibility dumped on him and it was probably through helping his mother in the kitchen that he first discovered the knack he has for all things dealing with wine and cuisine. He went away to University at seventeen, moving into a cooperative student housing facility where he became Kitchen manager. He talked himself into a job as a soda jerk (sorry) and regularly sent money home to help his mother raise his younger brothers. At eighteen he was in charge of all seven co--op kitchens at the University. When his middle brother moved to Berkeley, they took a private apartment and when his younger brother moved in to finish High School there, Narsai was "head of household" again. For what Narsai was fated to do, completing UC Berkeley was unnecessary. The workload wasn't the problem, it was his ambition to get out in the real world and do something new, something which hadn't been invented yet and for which no university could prepare someone at the time...there are any number of "schools" and "degree programs" now, in fields he pioneered. And it was the realization of this ambition, and his wonderful and successful efforts at bringing recognition to our heritage which led me to stumble across his path. A friend of mine had his studio down the street from Narsai's restaurant in Kensington. We went over one day to get some things for lunch. I noticed a platter with the name "Assyrian Sausages" affixed to a card. Everyone in the place was as “white” as could be so I asked the lady where the sausages came from. She said it was a private recipe belonging to the owner. "The owner??? I suppose HE's Assyrian??" Turned out he was and I was up the stairs to his office in a minute. The rest is history, and was a whole lot of fun too. I've never had a friend like Narsai, and I dare say he hasn't one like me either. We worked together on several projects, we've fought and yelled, hugged and laughed. Half the time we aren't sure whether we like each other or hate each other...but no matter how angry I get at the man, I will always respect him for what he does. I have told him that his work with the Aid Society was too small a drop in too large a bucket. Turned out I was the small drop. If only one Assyrian child gets an education in North Iraq, it was worth it. Who else is there doing something on anything close to the scale the Assyrian Aid Society is? This is why the unwarranted attack, it was nothing less, on Narsai by Francis Sarguis was so repellent an act that it prompted this response. Narsai knows how I feel and that I would be writing something. I'm afraid he's not going to like everything I've revealed...but that's the beauty of our relationship...neither of us really cares to stop the other from going about his business...we just enjoy knowing what each is up to. This isn't the first time Francis has reached out to "slime" someone. When the Aid Society received its bequest from the Adam Benjamin Trust, Francis fired off a totally inappropriate and offensive letter "demanding" that Narsai give an account to HIM of what the Aid Society planned to do with the money. Ignorant people should be ignored...says so right there in the word itself. Narsai didn't bother answering. It should be pointed out that in each newsletter put out by the AAS there is listed a complete accounting of money received and funds allocated. This is probably the ONLY organization we have which does so. How else could it be from a man who has had his own business since he was seventeen, and who is intimately involved with several organizations in about as public a way as you’d want. To imply that Narsai misrepresented his University attendance, claiming to have graduated, and then state that this PROVES he must be a ..."compulsive" liar, has an "acute inferiority complex", with "false values" JUST like "Somoza and Dadeeshoo", is to commit such an act of deliberate slander, as that Francis should be grateful I'm not a lawyer as well. But I AM a sculptor, and will be adding his name to a kind of "rogues gallery" I'm collecting right now for use in a way I wont mention yet. Francis IS a lawyer, and he can sue me, and I sincerely hope I provide him with the stimulus to do so. I might add that I know things about him he would wish kept silent, and I'm willing to let it remain so IF he responds and provides some explanation for the lies he concocted and spread on the internet by posting them to "himself" and for all to read. I'll end now by reminding you all of Francis' own words about a man who..."has already been successful in some field or other, why would he go out of his way to lie or mislead people about such stuff?" Is Francis a "compulsive prevaricator"? How was it that when Francis called the Records office at" UC Berk", he was able to instantly find out that Narsai..."dropped out after one semester"...when it took Narsai several days before the University was able to retrieve the information? Did he really speak with someone there AT ALL? Was that a lie as well? How could someone have given him information they don't keep there, and why would someone, authorized to reveal such records, make such a blaring blunder as to affirm Francis' own "recollection" of Narsai having dropped out after "one" semester, when the official records show he attended for almost six semesters? This begins to look like compulsive lying, but on the part of Francis, not Narsai. Could it be that Francis suffers from an "acute inferiority complex"? What does Narsai HAVE to feel inferior about? The New York Times said he has one of the ten best wine collections in the country...he's had his own PBS specials, works in Television, is a wine and food editor on CBS radio, travels the world as an expert in his field, has published a book...the list is too long. Francis retired years ago, is known to be a tight-wad of the first water...drop, that's all you'd be able to squeeze out of him, and has done nothing for our heritage but carp and snipe at those who do, and are known for it...sounds like a pretty good example of an" acute inferiority complex". And what more can you add to the definition of a man with "false values" than what has been listed above in regards to Francis’ own values.. such as concocting lies, trashing the reputation of a known and well respected public figure both in our community and outside of it...which could only result in the ruin of an organization dedicated to, and hard at work, for some years now, in trying to enhance the meager resources and desperate condition of our poor and struggling fellow Assyrians in Iraq? Not to mention the damage done to his personal and professional reputation. And all in the guise of simply stating the “truth” as it was “told” to him, a “truth” he just had to share...with himself, for all our benefit. As is usual in these cases, Francis has been “hoisted on his own petard”...for those of you who don't know what a petard is...let's just say He reached around screwed himself. I look forward to a response here from Francis. He writes well...he just doesn't think too well. It would be too much to hope that he, or his lawyer, will be contacting me soon, but it would be nice. John Nimrod turned out to be a paper tiger, I'm afraid Francis Sarguis will be a mere spitball by comparison.
Re: To Parhad on Narsai [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by Ghassan on 24 Apr 2001 04:41:43: As an answer to: To Francis Sarguis... written by parhad on 22 Apr 2001 02:59:57: Dear Parhad, I am not aware of Mr. Francis Sargis email nor was I aware of it till I read your post. My opinion is based on your post. Hence, let me say, a statement like: " After his education at the University of California at Berkeley in the fifties... is surely a misleading statement, and based on its author's intelligence is a clear lie spelled out by Mr. Narsai and no one else. When you go to college for one semester or even 2 years you don't write your resume as such. Mr. Narsai was sure attempting to gain mileage by "indirectly" and may be intentionally MISLEADING the readers. You're correct Mr. Narsai sure has a lot of intelligence to realize clearly that writing a resume with such line is an "intentional act of misleading the readers". If you did not tell me that Mr. Narsai spent only 2 years, my first and final impressions would be that "he graduated from UC Berkeley". A lie was caught. You shouldn't be angry, Parhad. Your post indirectly publicized such a stupid act of lying that sure has done more harm to Mr. Narsai's reputation than the pathetic few pennies he would have gained from claiming graduation from UC Berkeley, which by the way, "what's the big deal about graduating from University of California, Berkeley?" It sure is a State college and any Joe Blow can attend. Remember, the majority of American high tech sector is run by foreign-born engineers who are graduates from universities in China, India, Middle East..etc. Their universities sure are no less capable of graduating smart students. Finally, if the above statement was written by Joe blow, it would hardly been news, but Mr. Narsai sure can tell the difference between "misleading bordering a lie" and "a badly written statement by an "English as a Second Language" student. What Mr. Narsai did was really silly and very stupid. Ghassan
Re: To Parhad on Narsai [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by parhad on 24 Apr 2001 07:53:15: As an answer to: Re: To Parhad on Narsai written by Ghassan on 24 Apr 2001 04:41:43: You know it's funny that out of the entire post ALL you picked up on was an ambiguity while you missed all the evidence of out and out deliberate lies. If that is really the way your brain works, if that is the extent of your insight, if that is all you can see...then who could be offended? Apparently your radar needs tweaking. It is open to interpretation whether Narsai was trying to mislead anyone. There are many many things he could have listed on that page he didn't. As you yourself say, what's the big deal to graduating from a college...you did it. It is NOT open to any doubt at all that Francis lied when he claimed to have spoken to someone at the records office, whom he says gave him information over the phone, Narsai couldn't get himself when he called. It took a letter and a five day wait. Clearly Francis spoke with no one. To further say that this "someone" confirmed his own recollection of only one semester, is an additional lie. As the records show. Further, Narsai dropped out first due to illness, and later because he didn't need to stay, pioneers don't need schooling, they SET UP schools. In your case it would be as if you dropped out of engineering school and now owned Kaiser Electronics. Do you? He has designed facillities and is a recognized expert in his field around the world. Are you? But this is all beside the point. The point is that out of petty envy Francis has, for the second time, tried to undermine confidence in the AAS and its leadership. Now why would anyone do that? You tell me. Let's say just for the sake of argument that Narsai was the biggest liar in the world, and that through his lies he had been able to send ten times as much to our people back home...would that be allright with you, or are you a stickler for details and "truth". There are many people who wish to see the Iraqi people squeezed to death. They don't seem to mind if our own get squeezed as well. Perhaps these people feel that if Saddam fell, they would somehow gain something in the homeland they think is theirs. They seem not to mind at all getting there over the dead bodies of our own people. Finally, a man who lives in the Public Eye as much as Narsai does cannot afford to misrepresent anything. All the editors, and producers, and corporations he's dealt with have had no trouble understanding exactly what his resume means...they have had no personal axe to grind. It WOULD take...AGAIN...one of our own to do this to us. Ghassan, your insight, such as it was, would have been far more credible had you mentioned the number of deliberate lies...not misrepresentations but out and out lies of Francis'...not to mention the fact that these lies were intended to hurt the excellent work the AAS has done under Narsai's leadership. Ghassan, you lack a certain subtlety. You could have smeared Narsai much better had you taken a token hit at Francis. As it stands now, one can't help but believe your motives were not worthy of you. Do I get deleted here too??
Re: To Parhad and Sargon [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by Ghassan on 24 Apr 2001 09:41:36: As an answer to: Re: To Parhad on Narsai written by parhad on 24 Apr 2001 07:53:15: Parhad, First, you don't get deleted. Second, everyone is by now very familiar with your ability to attack and bruise people personally when the issue is merely a different opinion than yours, but then that's your personality and style. You'll get friends or enemies based on that, but then I also know you've been very successful in collecting a very long list of enemies. Congratulations!! OK, apart from your many silly remarks about me "How was it that my interpretation of Narsai statement (as written by you) would be considered wrong?" By the way, I don't read minds and I also can’t tell what a person could or couldn't have said. My interpretation was that of any person who DO NOT know Mr. David personally nor what's in his mind nor what he could have said and didn't nor what he did say and didn't do. You or Sargon do know him personally, hence, could read that statement with "understanding, passion, and friendship" and could well read it differently than me. I don't know Mr. David personally, but I know that he is the Assyrian Aid Society President. That sure makes him an intelligent and caring person, but I was not writing an essay on "Who is Mr. David Narsai?" so that I will be criticized for not dwelling on his many positive traits, esteem character.. etc..etc... I was simply "analyzing" how a sentence written by him would be read by people who don't know him personally, like myself. Was I wrong in interpreting Mr. David misleading statement? NO and A BIG NO. As I said before, and say it now, Mr. Narsai David is an intelligent person and very well versed in the English language AS WELL AS Western culture and the impact of written words (and that's more important than simply putting English words together). He made a statement that surely was a misleading and bordered a lie. Sargon, I am not sure whether your remarks were meant to me or were written as a general statement, but I am sorry: I don't know Mr. David personally, and I sure don't envy him for his success. OK I am assuming here he is successful, if you and Parhad say so, for again I don't know him personally and have never met him. I am also not in the business of attacking neither successful nor unsuccessful people. I am a successful person myself, and I really don’t know how Mr. David success or lack of it could have any impact on my life, my way of thinking or anything I get involved in. I don’t know the person nor do I believe his path will cross mine. Actually, I wish him and any other successful person all the best of success and long life. He at least is sharing his success by working for our people by chairing a charity organization. Actually, I wish we had more successful people like him who would use their success to serve a noble cause. Finally, I would have wished that the discussion would not have turned into hints and remarks about my character nor intentions. Attacking the character of a person with a different opinion than oneself would hardly reflect well on neither the doer nor on the person that employing such tactic was intended to serve. Please, do defend your mutual friend Mr. Narsai David without resorting to such tactics. It sure does not serve his cause. Ghassan
Re: To Parhad and Sargon [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by parhad on 24 Apr 2001 16:45:33: As an answer to: Re: To Parhad and Sargon written by Ghassan on 24 Apr 2001 09:41:36: >Parhad, >First, you don't get deleted. Second, everyone is by now very familiar with your ability to attack and bruise people personally when the issue is merely a different opinion than yours, but then that's your personality and style. You'll get friends or enemies based on that, but then I also know you've been very successful in collecting a very long list of enemies. Congratulations!! (I'll let you off this time but watch yourself in future!) I don't remember "having friends" as being your goal in life. Who "needs" friends or "fears" enemies? I didn't realize that you were so needy or fearfull. >OK, apart from your many silly remarks about me "How was it that my interpretation of Narsai statement (as written by you) would be considered wrong?" It's okay to interpret his statement anyway you like...that was the whole point behind Francis' attack. He HOPED people like you would see it just that way. He didn't count on his accusations being answered OR his own lies exposed though. I suppose it was a bonus to him that even after that, SOME people would STILL only see that Narsai "might have bordered" on a lie, and at the same time, NOT see that Francis crossed that border and was sitting in the sunshine, at least in your eyes. >By the way, I don't read minds and I also can’t tell what a person could or couldn't have said. No one asked you to read minds, just plain English. My interpretation was that of any person who DO NOT know Mr. David personally nor what's in his mind nor what he could have said and didn't nor what he did say and didn't do. I'm assuming you don't know Francis personally either (do you?) So we would have to assume it's irrelevant whether you know either of them. I just put a paper in your hands, an engineering problem to solve, and you came back with the wings facing backward. You still only harp on the possible misinterpretation of Narsai's statement, and not a word about the palpable lies of Francis, OR...and this was the main point ,NOT defending Narsai...the damage intended towards AAS. Your motives aren't the clearest, and as you persist in this line, the cleanest either. >You or Sargon do know him personally, hence, could read that statement with "understanding, passion, and friendship" and could well read it differently than me. It takes no "passion" to know when someone lies and see what that person is trying to do. I've never "defended" Narsai anywhere and he doesn't need it now. I am upset with this worm for his petty envy, a thing I know about in our community, as well as his desire to wreck something positive to fuel his envy without any concern for the innocent people he hurts thereby. I would have thought clear thinking would have been enough to see that with. Maybe YOU need to feel passion and all that to smell a skunk with, my nose will do. I don't know Mr. David personally, but I know that he is the Assyrian Aid Society President. That sure makes him an intelligent and caring person, but I was not writing an essay on "Who is Mr. David Narsai?" so that I will be criticized for not dwelling on his many positive traits, esteem character.. etc..etc... I was simply "analyzing" how a sentence written by him would be read by people who don't know him personally, like myself. Your analysis is worse than faulty...it seems tinged with the same envy OR desire to undo the positive work being done in BetNahrain by AAS and others. You don't know Francis either, yet it seems as if you are the one blindly defending someone here. Why not a word of "analysis" about the sentences of Francis, whom I assume you do not know and therefore are not defending? >Was I wrong in interpreting Mr. David misleading statement? NO and A BIG NO. Of course you weren't wrong. That was the whole point...you were SUPPOSED to see it that way. That's why I provided you with the other information, which I'd be happy to send copies of. I thought that when presented with more information, and more compelling information than innuendo, your capable engineer's mind would have modified its original opinion. I guess not. >As I said before, and say it now, Mr. Narsai David is an intelligent person and very well versed in the English language AS WELL AS Western culture and the impact of written words (and that's more important than simply putting English words together). He made a statement that surely was a misleading and bordered a lie. You're at the "border" again. As you say, Narsai knows well what Americans think of someone who "cooks" his resume. We've seen reporters fired, and executives busted for misleading statements meant to mislead. Narsai lives on his credibillity...he is the ONLY food and wine person left who does not sell his opinion for money. Knowing how important his reputation is for the work he does, for the people he works with such as CBS radio and Macy's Department stores, as well as the various organizations he donates time to...he well knows how to present himself. Could you withstand that kind of public scrutiny? You were forced to remove the photographs of your lovely family for fear of what someone might do with the pictures. Narsai has all the fears you do, all the concerns about the privacy of his family and their and his good name. But a man who rushes into a burning building completely unaware of the dangers, is a fool, not a hero. To know fear and act anyway, to do the right thing when you know full well you will be attacked and smeared by some, to know the risks you run and run them anyway...that is the definition of courage. You have a funny way of appearing to be concise and precise, to hone in on important details, while at the same time completely missing the larger picture. It doesn't matter who knows or likes who, or who is lying or whom or is telling the truth. The point is that out and out lies were told in order to damage something positive and necessary to our people back home. ANY friend of ours would decry those lies, would at least refer to them. Any friend of ours would excuse ANY lies which served our people back home. After all, it is a host of LIES which led to their present condition and continues to justify their inhumane treatment. Do you only care about the "possible borderline lies" which HELP us, and do you overlook the OBVIOUS LIES intended to hurt us? I didn't realize you were an altar boy.
Re: To Parhad and Sargon [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by Ghassan on 25 Apr 2001 01:22:26: As an answer to: Re: To Parhad and Sargon written by parhad on 24 Apr 2001 16:45:33: Parhad, Once again you sure have a peculiar way of expressing yourself. I am hoping that you finally discharged all what you had in mind and wanted to tell me as to what you think of my personality and shortcomings. Good for you. Now you can relax and smoke a cigar. Don't expect me to respond to you in kind, for I know you just love and thrive on controversy and snipping back and forth with anyone that you disagree with his/her views. OK. Let me repeat myself. When a person like Mr. Narsai David is a high school graduate and makes a statement implying "education at UC Berkeley" as the one you quoted, his intentions must be questioned. A successful person does not need to claim "university degree" or even going to university. That was all what I wanted to say in my previous two posts. Parhad, you and Mr. David have similar backgrounds. Both of you are high school graduates with no university education, but I have not seen you advertising for your talent as a product of "education at so and so university". The whole point is "successful people must know better than acting silly and claiming or implying "university education" when they had none. More, I really can't see the link you're drawing between Mr. Narsai David, Assyrian Aid Society and Iraqi children under embargo. I believe your link is simply a cheap shot of giving your argument some credibility when it has none. If Mr. Francis Sarguis has raised the issue of Mr. David claims and did not mention the Assyrian Aid Society nor Iraqi children under embargo, then I find your linking the three together, as a really "backyard auctioning of high moral values" when the issue is simply "false academic claims of a specific individual". One more thing, your attacks against Mr. Francis Sarguis are hardly credible especially when it's coming from a person with a lot of family and personal problems with Mr. Sarguis. On the other hand, your aggressive defense of Mr. David sure amounts to "pay back" for his collecting money for your sculptures. Either case, your motives towards Mr. David and Mr. Sarguis are very much "personal". One last remark, controversial figures with sharp tongues do increase TV ratings, but their shows are mainly watched for entertainment purposes only. Ghassan
Re: To Parhad and Sargon [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by parhad on 25 Apr 2001 15:44:40: As an answer to: Re: To Parhad and Sargon written by Ghassan on 25 Apr 2001 01:22:26: >Parhad, >Once again you sure have a peculiar way of expressing yourself. >I am hoping that you finally discharged all what you had in mind and wanted to tell me as to what you think of my personality and shortcomings. Good for you. Now you can relax and smoke a cigar. >Don't expect me to respond to you in kind, for I know you just love and thrive on controversy and snipping back and forth with anyone that you disagree with his/her views. Yeah I like that fine. But I'd far prefer a discussion in which you stick to the point. You say Narsai wasn't "clear". You don't say anything, and you still don't, about the obvious lies of Francis AND, the real point, why he, or you, would want to damage the abillity of the AAS to do the excellent work it does. Everything else you say is just the nonsense you're trying hard to accuse me of. I'm a past master at both committing these tricks and seeing through them. YOU'Re the one dancing cute circles around the issue and you do it by acuusing ME of doing it. You have yet to mention one word about the obvious lies Francis spread AND his motive in doing so. I can play with the English language much better than you can, as you admit, therefore I can see what you're trying to do, so could my kid. Just once answer the point, if you can...the rest is noise YOU play out, not me. If I wanted to play ping pong with your head right now YOU'D be the last person to figure it out. Yes I'm a wise ass, clever, nik for nak, tit of tat, smear for smear and all you wish to say and imply....now how about one comment about the substance of all this which you've only danced around. By the way , the more you do it, and the more you try to show people that I'M doing it...the more you make my argument for me. I wish ALL of you could see how you've consistently proven my points and made my arguments FOR me...childs play. >OK. Let me repeat myself. When a person like Mr. Narsai David is a high school graduate and makes a statement implying "education at UC Berkeley" as the one you quoted, his intentions must be questioned. A successful person does not need to claim "university degree" or even going to university. That was all what I wanted to say in my previous two posts. Never claimed a University degree...said he got his education there...whatever "formal" schooling or education he has, was received there. All the country, all the pros, all the press he deals with...all the high powered firms who emply him, who are also as carefull as he is about making "claims", all the people who know all about "cooking" resumes know about it...and not ONE of them has ever felt as you do. Remember Francis LIED to make his point...you still don't mention the obvious while you probe and probe the ambiguous. Funny way to proceed. >Parhad, you and Mr. David have similar backgrounds. Both of you are high school graduates with no university education, but I have not seen you advertising for your talent as a product of "education at so and so university". I hesitate to speak for Narsai. But you could ask any number of my professors about my "education". You come from a country where a degreee in engineering is a big deal. I live in a country where taxi drivers have multiple degrees. You know nothing about my education, but I'll tell you what, this dummy can dance circles around your education any day. One minute your refusing to brag, the next minute you're bragging. Narsai advertised nothin...it is customary to mention highest level of education. A degree is a degree...an education is something else. I know plenty of dummies with degrees and many many brilliant people who never got one. Narsai was mentioning the highest level at which he'd received formal education. If he HAD received a degree, and was "bragging" as you seem to think, he would have mentioned his degree. The fact that he didn't is a clear signal to those who have no axe to grind that he received his education at the University...NOT a degree. It's a little silly to say..."I attended six semersters and would have continued except I had an operation and was supporting my mother and brothers and also realized that the field I would excell hadn't been invented yet so I went out and invented it." We can imagine what you would have said then. >The whole point is "successful people must know better than acting silly and claiming or implying "university education" when they had none. They are. That's why he was accurate when he said "University education"...he was educated at a University...but keep it up, your intentions shine through loud and clear. What about "successful people" like Francis Sarguis who make deliberate false statements. Isn't that silly too? Why should such a person claim or imply or SAY that he spoke with someone who backed up a lie he was hoping to spread, which he had made up, when it turns out he NEVER spoke to anyone, AND that there was far more "education" than he lied about? You still say nothing about that. It's a little hard to swallow that you are SO clearly focused and honest in your "honest" assessment of Narsai's ambiguous statement yet remain completely SILENT about a much worse series of lying statements by Francis. If it really is moral outrage on your part or anything you're claiming it is...then it doesn't make sense that you wouldn't feel at least a little of the same towards Francis whose "sin" was much greater. Doesn't wash at all, and all those reading here know that...so keep it up, you're making my point that envy and petty jealousy is behind much of what passes for "insight" and "clarity" and a quest for the "truth". The truth is that you and Francis and many others are jealous of anyone who brings honor to our name OUT THERE. >More, I really can't see the link you're drawing between Mr. Narsai David, Assyrian Aid Society and Iraqi children under embargo. I believe your link is simply a cheap shot of giving your argument some credibility when it has none. What the hell is THAT supposed to mean? Do you feel under any obligation to make sense, or have you cowed people enough to the point where you can write any old sentence you want and get away with it. I don't know about you, but I'm actually reading here expecting something sensible...if I'm mistaken, my fault. What link? What "cheap shot". What argument of mine??? Do you design product by throwing pencils onto graph papaer hoping some of them land upright and do the work for you??? What's my argument...where's the cheap shot of mine? When you can't see a cheap shot like Francis' staring you in the eye...how can you perceive ANY cheap shot anywhere, except as they originate with you? >If Mr. Francis Sarguis has raised the issue of Mr. David claims and did not mention the Assyrian Aid Society nor Iraqi children under embargo, then I find your linking the three together, as a really "backyard auctioning of high moral values" when the issue is simply "false academic claims of a specific individual". Well THAT was worthy of Amira Shmoel. Ghassan, please, you'll have to polish your soul a little if you want to really discuss things. These verbal tricks will get you nowhere. Play them with me and I'll send you reeling. Come out and say what it is that's clouding your reason. Francis LIED, who mentioned an embargo, or Iraqi children except you? These are old communist arguing skills that never worked then and they don't now. In the guise of 'clarifying" things you muddy them up..where they were clear and plain, though unwelcome, you smear and run them together to impress the weak headed, which is all we have in these forums. There were no "false claims"...you've simply ruled there were and go on as if it had been "established' and agreed upon. I tell you again, these are OLD OLD tricks. You're brand of political awareness went out of fashion long ago. People become more sophisticated in time. You've remained in a backwater of your own creating. Clarity will do wonders. >One more thing, your attacks against Mr. Francis Sarguis are hardly credible especially when it's coming from a person with a lot of family and personal problems with Mr. Sarguis. On the other hand, your aggressive defense of Mr. David sure amounts to "pay back" for his collecting money for your sculptures. There you go again...God, are you fooling anyone?? Have you?? YOU say I have a "lot" of family and personal problems. really? I give you permission to list all particulars...go ahead. But you don't have any, it's just the same cheap tactic you employed before. I said I'm not defending Narsai. You don't know me...I don't thank people for ANYTHING. He collected no money for "my" sculptures. he collected money for OUR monument. I never think about Francis, don't care to, no need to. I don't defend Narsai either, but you don't deal in facts, obviously...you have yet to mention the hard FACTS of lies by Francis. You prefer to remain in your element...you know all about the value of "innuendo" and "hints" like Francis'...and out and out lies too. You have a difficult time with honest appraisals though, as evidenced by your lop-sided approach to this issue, BOTH sides of it. I'm incensed because this cretin has tried now for the second time, that we KNOW of, to hurt the AAS...NOT Narsai...the AAS. neither Narsai nor I are at all concerned with what Francis says about us personally, or you. Your hints and accusations and innuendos amount to nothing at all three feet from your own doorstep. But it's different when you try to hurt an organization which sends medicine and builds roofs, and water projects...especially so when those who criticize do nothing themselves BUT criticize. You and others are interested in seeing Iraq suffer as much as possible. To get there you are willing to hurt our people there who are already suffering enough thanks to our inaction. Let me remind you that the very projects you're employed for... for the U.S. military, which pays your bills for you, are used against your own people. How about THAT for having a vested interest in supporting YOUR boss who collects the tax money to pay YOU for the devices used in destroying OUR homeland. Could YOU just be supporting your Uncle Sam as you accuse me supporting my "pal" Narsai??? At least he and I are trying to give life and hope to our people trapped there. Francis wants to undermine this because he is a jealous and envious little, little man. You have your own motives which will remain your own secret...but you're hardly in a position to act or speak so self-righteously when your very work and paycheck comes from the same government conducting a war for the past several years against OUR homeland and starving them slowly as well. The pilots who fly those planes use devices built by you, for which you are paid by the Boss of those pilots...to drop death and destruction from which flow a whole host of evils such as disease and theft and moral degradation. As I said...if Narsai COULD lie and thereby secure ten times as much aid as he is able to, it would be the RIGHT thing to do...while there is little to excuse a man who comes to this country to enjoy "freedom', then gets a job sending destruction to his homelands. It's that same self-loathing we all suffer from. Be careful who you tangle with. >Either case, your motives towards Mr. David and Mr. Sarguis are very much "personal". >One last remark, controversial figures with sharp tongues do increase TV ratings, but their shows are mainly watched for entertainment purposes only. >Ghassan You are pleased with yourself and smug in the extreme...with so little reason for it that I am speechless. Go your ways, you are another brilliant patriot. But wasn't that you screaming obscenities in my ear and in ears of the other diners at the restaurant? Was that "impersonal'??
Re: To Parhad and Sargon [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by Ghassan on 25 Apr 2001 21:12:51: As an answer to: Re: To Parhad and Sargon written by parhad on 25 Apr 2001 15:44:40: Parhad, As I said, having a big mouth like yours hardly is something to be proud of. Neither does having such an empty ego like yours. Being the master of turning discussions into personal insults and character attacks has sure proved one thing: you do have a crude character that's in dire need of improvement. You hardly know anything about AAS work, Iraqi children or anything else. You have never worked nor did anything for them apart from exercising your big mouth. Hiding behind that hardly makes you a hero but sure makes you a bankrupt and opportunist individual who has nothing to show but hide behind a noble cause. What a pity! As I said, I really don't need to enter with your kind into empty "ego arguments". By the way, your many remarks about yourself and bombastic ego sure made me pity you again. There is a saying "when hunting, a fox does not advertise for himself as being foxy", unless we're not dealing with a fox but a wounded soul that is hiding her shortcomings behind a barrage of crude, boorish, and pretentious remarks. Finally, I sure empathize with your needs for being recognized. On the other hand, have you ever wondered why you have not? Could it be anything to do with your ability to create enemies? Could it be that you need to work on molding your own crude character before molding your crude stones? Time to ignore you. Ghassan Ps: what a pity Parhad that you're so good in making enemies at the first opportunity of disagreement with your pathetic ego.
A few days later
A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by Ghassan on 26 Apr 2001 15:28:12: I received the following response from Mr. Francis Sarguis regarding his comments about Mr. Narsai David claims to "education at UC Berkeley" as well as the barrage of attacks against him by Parhad as posted here on this forum couple of days ago. Ghassan --------------- Dear friend, Thank you for passing along the letter dated 22 April 2001 which you spotted on the website “chaldeansonline.net” This letter is addressed “TO FRANCIS SARGUIS” and, although he seeks my response, the writer never sent me a copy. The writer pontificates: “Never, ever, put something in an e-mail you don’t want read to the world.” But I would state this differently: “If you want to send a message to the world, send it by e-mail.” Furthermore, “If you want to protect the privacy of some of the recipients, address the e-mail to yourself. Just make sure there is at least one recipient compulsive enough to transmit it further.” Most assuredly, I do not disassociate myself from the message in question, nor do I object to a public discussion of its content. This is hardly the first time I have spoken on this particular issue. I have addressed it both publicly and privately, in speech and in writing. It may be some new to the letter writer, but it is hardly new to those who have followed my essays. The writer expends a lot of energy extolling the accomplishments of Narsai David. Inasmuch as I attended Turlock high school contemporaneously with Narsai, and since from time to time I have heard about his career through mutual acquaintances, I feel I know something about this. For example, I am aware of the high level of success he has achieved in his vocation, as well as the several voluntary efforts undertaken by him for the common good. I especially appreciate his work on behalf of the Assyrian Aid Society and its worthwile programs in north Iraq. I am especially puzzled by the writer’s implied comments which seek to pit me against the Assyrian Aid Society, and (by extension) against the Assyrian Democratic Movement, and (to borrow the writer’s own words) against “the Assyrians who are caught in Iraq.” This is a case of a writer confusing individuals with causes, and message with messenger. I have never wavered in my sympathy for the Assyrians in Iraq, or for the heroic work of the ADM. My visit to North Iraq a few years ago was a high point of my lifelong travels, and I am proud to count many of the Zowaa leaders among my valued friends. If the letter writer shares the same commitment, he would have better served the Assyrian Aid Society simply by suggesting that the next issue of its newsletter, “The Tree of Life”, should specifically include a clarification, in order to set the record straight about the misunderstanding. Unfortunately, as many readers learned from my series of reports on the Adam Benjamin Trust fund, most of our organizations and their leaders are wrapped up in self-importance, and for them public accountability and transparency does not appear to be an option; it is only a P.R. position of last resort. While the letter writer listed a number of Narsai’s good deeds, he failed to mention another of Narsai’s tireless campaigns, i.e., his effort to raise substantial sums for the Assyrian Arts Foundation. In large measure, the funds raised from this effort were not so much to support Assyrian artists generally, but they went mostly to pay the letter writer for his projects. At a time when it was very difficult to interest Assyrians in donating to such a cause, to his credit Narsai raised substantial sums and eased the way for the letter writer to gain entrée to Assyrian money sources. Therefore, while I tip my hat to Narsai for all his pro bono work, I also understand where the press agentry of the letter is coming from. And what exactly is the gravamen described in the April 4, 2001 e-mail which I sent to four Assyrians? Simply, it refers to the deception practiced by people in positions of leadership who would appear to have no reason to do so. I am not referring to puffery by people of ordinary achievement. For example, what would lead someone as successful as Sargon Dadesho to indulge in a misleading statement about his academic achievements? For starters, any literate person who has read a single page of anything the fellow has written will know that he’s a “Ph.D.” in the same way that the letter writer is a master speller. But like it or not, Sargon is a leading Assyrian figure in the diaspora, he has created the only television station in our community, he has a very large and devoted following, and he participates in countless efforts to advance the cause of our people as he sees fit. Another (unnamed) person whose Curriculum Vita was brought to my attention claimed to be“the holder of an LL.B. and of a J.D.”. To the rest of us, this person is implying that he holds two advanced degrees. Yet any lawyer will know that an LL.B. is simply an old-time designation for the current J.D. Anyone who received an LL.B. some years ago was asked to send in their old certificate so it would be replaced with the superseding J.D. certificate. By the logic of the writer who has attacked me, however, this LLB-JD guy is in the clear, because “he never actually said he earned two different degrees.” To any person of average intelligence, Narsai’s statement “After his education at the University of California at Berkeley in the fifties …” implies and means that Narsai attended UC Berkeley and completed his degree there. To claim anything else is pure sophistry, and also an insult to the intelligence of those among us who read English. No amount of diversionary garbage can diminish that simple fact. The letter writer is highly accusatory about my facts, and he questions my sources. He insists that the UC Berkeley “Records Office doesn’t have records on hand to give out over the phone instantly, as Francis says they did.” He contends that it took Narsai “a letter and a five-day wait. Clearly Francis spoke with no one.” As a matter of fact, I did call the UC Berkeley alumni office, and I did have an instant phone answer (no 5-day wait). If necessary, I can go back to my phone records and provide the exact date of the conversation. For the guidance of the letter writer, the place to call is the Alumni Office (510) 642-7026 (www.alumni.berkeley.edu), instead of the Admissions Office. Further details on how that office can be reached appears regularly at the masthead (Page 2) of the “California Monthly”; this is the alumni magazine, mailed to alumni of the school. Information of this type is available about any individual regarding any University; it is not a unique service at the Cal Alumni office. Moreover, the woman in the alumni office who provided me the information stated that no person by the name of Narsai David had received any degree from the school, and when I asked for length of attendance she reported one semester. My assailant claims to have seen the actual transcript of attendance obtained by Narsai, which is a record a third party cannot obtain. I am willing to accept that Narsai attended four semester, not one. But how does this in any way change the point about misleading others regarding a degree? How does this change the basic misstatement? The unhappy rant spewing from the letter writer should not distract from the point of my e-mail. Surely I am not the only one who feels there is something out of whack when clearly successful persons gratuitously mislead us blatantly in the case of a “Ph.D.”, or more deceitfully through double entendre? Where do we look for an explanation other than in psychology? I did in fact pose the following question to a person who had studied abnormal psychology: “When someone has already been successful in some field or other, why would he go out of his way to lie or mislead about such stuff?” The answer I received back was: “… Those who falsely claim to have learning acquired academically in certain disciplines are ‘insecure’ and flaunt their ostensible education to the ignorant in order to thwart or intimidate anyone who dares to doubt their false claim to fame.” It has been noted how deplorable it is that successful Assyrians are brought down from their pedestal. It is said that the motivation for this is envy, jealousy, or plain old mischief. It is likewise said that anyone who does not support a particular Assyrian agenda must conclusively be seen as anti-Assyrian. There is a widespread intolerance among our people toward those who bring out facts which do not suit “the agenda.” There is a climate of political correctness; and an expectation that we should all march in lockstep for the sake of “unity.” But with more of our young people exposed to education and the spirit of inquiry, the ranks of those prepared to insist on a single line of thought is definitely thinning. That world is peopled only by foppish sycophants, and its disappearance can’t happen soon enough. As Woody Allen once said to his audience in a graduation speech: “More than at any time in history, you face a crossroad. One path leads to hopelessness and despair, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly … “ Francis Sarguis
Re: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by parhad on 26 Apr 2001 19:50:15: As an answer to: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks written by Ghassan on 26 Apr 2001 15:28:12: >I received the following response from Mr. Francis Sarguis regarding his comments about Mr. Narsai David claims to "education at UC Berkeley" as well as the barrage of attacks against him by Parhad as posted here on this forum couple of days ago. >Ghassan Well it's about time you acknowledged you know the man. Going by your own statements I'd have to say your were sucking up to Francis by printing this here....or you were getting paid...or you didn't get paid or were pissed. Then again you could be gay...I could feel "pity" for you and "empathize" with you as well. Instead, I'll just read and respond on the merits...after that we'll see.. >--------------- >Dear friend, > Thank you for passing along the letter dated 22 April 2001 which you spotted on the website “chaldeansonline.net” This letter is addressed “TO FRANCIS SARGUIS” and, although he seeks my response, the writer never sent me a copy. Stop right there legal beagle. He "spotted" nothing at all. I'm the chunmp who posted my own letter on three sites...no one had to "spot" anything, not from the ten thousand feet up, or with the aid of a magnifying glass. The letter WAS NOT intended for you...it was for others to read. I learned that from YOU, as you didn't bother to appraoch Narsai with your "legitimate" concerns about how his carelessness about his educational claims might hurt the work of the AAS, work which YOU so value that YOU had to send a post to YOURSELF, and just by accident I suppose have it flood the internet. You already put your foot out here Francis, don't come crying to me if it comes back with toes mising...procede. > The writer pontificates: “Never, ever, put something in an e-mail you don’t want read to the world.” But I would state this differently: “If you want to send a message to the world, send it by e-mail.” Furthermore, “If you want to protect the privacy of some of the recipients, address the e-mail to yourself. Just make sure there is at least one recipient compulsive enough to transmit it further.” Most assuredly, I do not disassociate myself from the message in question, nor do I object to a public discussion of its content. This is hardly the first time I have spoken on this particular issue. I have addressed it both publicly and privately, in speech and in writing. It may be some new to the letter writer, but it is hardly new to those who have followed my essays. Those who "follow" your essays can't help but notice that there's been a dearth of them since I started chasing you guys around. So glad you're back out here...it should be fun, of a mild sort, but fun nonetheless...for me at least. I still don't understand how you "discuss" things with yourself, which is what you claimed to do by sending a message to yourself which accidentally got out..."Heavens, how did that happen!?" Do you always talk to yourself when you don't want others to hear what yourre saying to them or about them? Then why not address all your "essays" to yourself? Stay home, lock the door and protect your privacy by just talking to yourself? Try again. > The writer expends a lot of energy extolling the accomplishments of Narsai David. That's your choice of words. If I wanted to extoll Narsai it would take too much time and I wouldn't give him the satisfaction anyway. He and I are very unusual friends...no one is harder on either of us as we are on each other. We are our own best bullshit meter readers. I was pointing out what a well spoken slime ball YOU are. I spent no time extolling his virtues. I did the whole thing because you have tried on several ocassions with these "essays to no one" to slam his work with the AAS, while all the time doing precious little yourself EXCEPT slam people. Inasmuch as I attended Turlock high school contemporaneously with Narsai, and since from time to time I have heard about his career through mutual acquaintances, I feel I know something about this. For example, I am aware of the high level of success he has achieved in his vocation, as well as the several voluntary efforts undertaken by him for the common good. I especially appreciate his work on behalf of the Assyrian Aid Society and its worthwile programs in north Iraq. You have a curious way of doing it. To speak of Narsai and Dadeeshoo in the same breath speaks for itself...to compare him to Somoza, speaks for YOU. I am especially puzzled by the writer’s implied comments which seek to pit me against the Assyrian Aid Society, and (by extension) against the Assyrian Democratic Movement, and (to borrow the writer’s own words) against “the Assyrians who are caught in Iraq.” This is a case of a writer confusing individuals with causes, and message with messenger. I have never wavered in my sympathy for the Assyrians in Iraq, Your sympathies are not at issue...feel sorry for whomever you wish, just keep your lying comments to yourself. I recall you were 'sympathetic" to our Ashurbanipal Monument also...but it was others who actually made it happen. We don't require your pity or sympathy. or for the heroic work of the ADM. My visit to North Iraq a few years ago was a high point of my lifelong travels, and I am proud to count many of the Zowaa leaders among my valued friends. If the letter writer shares the same commitment, he would have better served the Assyrian Aid Society simply by suggesting that the next issue of its newsletter, “The Tree of Life”, should specifically include a clarification, in order to set the record straight about the misunderstanding. There was absolutely no "misunderstanding" at all. You created a lie all by yourself...you calimed to have spoken by phone with someone at the records office at UC Berk, who confirmed YOUR lie about Narsai having been in that school for one semester. That was more information than Narsai was able to get from the same office when HE called asking for HIS records? How'd you manage that? Of course you didn't manage it at all. What you "managed" to do was fool the envious and lazy into believeing that you'd actually "checked" on your own lie and found official corroboration for it. Is that a slimy thing to do or isn't it??? Ghassan still can't figure it out. What about you...your're a lawyer, what do you call someone who gets caught making such a statement? Unfortunately, as many readers learned from my series of reports on the Adam Benjamin Trust fund, most of our organizations and their leaders are wrapped up in self-importance, and for them public accountability and transparency does not appear to be an option; it is only a P.R. position of last resort. Would you call lying, and smearing people "self-importance"? Your readers "learn" nothing from your writing except what YOU tell them. As in this instance your readers were expected to "learn" that Narsai has only one semester at UC Berk. After stating that as fact and providing evidence on your OWN testimony that you verified this "fact", you go on to imply, not surprisingly, that this therefore PROVES that Narsai was trying to intentionally mislead. Any babe can see that YOU were the one trying to "mislead" people into thinking NARSAI was the one "misleading" people. No wonder you guys are so nervous when you see someone capable of destroying your little games. The newsletter which AAS prints lists in each edition its budget and revenues and expenditures. It's self-important people like you who write letters DEMANDING to know what the AAS plans to do with the funds they receive...who get pissed off when their "Grandselfness" gets ignored. You want to know???...join, or wait like everyone else outside the leadership waits. It's as open as can be. >While the letter writer listed a number of Narsai’s good deeds, he failed to mention another of Narsai’s tireless campaigns, i.e., his effort to raise substantial sums for the Assyrian Arts Foundation. In large measure, the funds raised from this effort were not so much to support Assyrian artists generally, but they went mostly to pay the letter writer for his projects. Listen you dumb cluck...our first project WAS the Ashurbanipal Monument. It was our last as a foundation because Narsai had other things to do and so did I. Like his work at AAS. He raised no money. People BUY my sculpture at below its value...I CHOOSE to spend that money to build monuments. I could buy a Jag, or a suit, or invest instead....I use my own money to build the monuments. I receive NO artists fee, just the bare expenses, and you all know that. We never planned to support any Assyrian artists...that wasn't the purpose ever...it was to get ONE public monument installed after 2500 yeras of NOTHING in the arts worth the name. We have made it possible for thousands of people from around the world who DON'T follow your essays to learn about our culture and see several examples of it on ONE piece. People who never knew of us now know. When I visited the construction site recently to copy the history written on the base, the head engineer had to escort me and wait while the crate was removed from the sculpture(it's protected from all the work going on around it). I hadn't told them it was my sculpture. While we waited THIS gringo started telling ME about the Assyrians and the accomplishments of Ashurbanipal. That was the whole point to what Narsai and I did. It is the ONE thing you guys all fear the most...if we open up and tell our story to the world, where will Hanna hide his head? Where will Ghassan go when the six o'clock news comes around to interview him for national TV? What will people make of a lawyer who lies and lies and concocts his own facts all in an effort to smear the good name and work of Assyrians like Narsai? You guys DON'T WANT US KNOWN, not at all...that's the ONLY way you can continue getting away with this crap...you are "writers, and thinkers, and journalists, and political activists" ONLY in this hothouse community of ours. Narsai and I and a very few others can exist just fine OUT THERE and AS Assyrians. As Assyrians we can bring recognition and pride to our heritage whereas most of you can barely hope to gain some as lawyers or doctors, which are after all a dime a dozen...EVERYONE has those...but not EVERYONE can bring distinction to their heritage AS a heritage OUT THERE where it can make a difference for us...Francis certainly can't...that's why he does these things. At a time when it was very difficult to interest Assyrians in donating to such a cause, to his credit Narsai raised substantial sums and eased the way for the letter writer to gain entrée to Assyrian money sources. Therefore, while I tip my hat to Narsai for all his pro bono work, I also understand where the press agentry of the letter is coming from. > And what exactly is the gravamen described in the April 4, 2001 e-mail which I sent to four Assyrians? Simply, it refers to the deception practiced by people in positions of leadership who would appear to have no reason to do so. I am not referring to puffery by people of ordinary achievement. For example, what would lead someone as successful as Sargon Dadesho to indulge in a misleading statement about his academic achievements? For starters, any literate person who has read a single page of anything the fellow has written will know that he’s a “Ph.D.” in the same way that the letter writer is a master speller. But like it or not, Sargon is a leading Assyrian figure in the diaspora, he has created the only television station in our community, he has a very large and devoted following, and he participates in countless efforts to advance the cause of our people as he sees fit. That's funny. Didn't you call him a liar too? You said he was a Dr. of Bingo, said he got his bogus PHd from some outfit chased out of California, compared him to Somoza as well...are these YOUR criteria for great leadership in our community??? Sargon is a lying fink like you are...you sucking up??? >Another (unnamed) person whose Curriculum Vita was brought to my attention claimed to be“the holder of an LL.B. and of a J.D.”. To the rest of us, this person is implying that he holds two advanced degrees. Yet any lawyer will know that an LL.B. is simply an old-time designation for the current J.D. Anyone who received an LL.B. some years ago was asked to send in their old certificate so it would be replaced with the superseding J.D. certificate. By the logic of the writer who has attacked me, however, this LLB-JD guy is in the clear, because “he never actually said he earned two different degrees.” Then Narsai should have been in the "clear" acording to you because he never said, and has never said, that he holds a degree...only that he recieved his education there. >To any person of average intelligence, Narsai’s statement “After his education at the University of California at Berkeley in the fifties …” implies and means that Narsai attended UC Berkeley and completed his degree there. I always thought your intelligence was below average, just didn't know how far down it extended, kinda "brown" down around there aint it?? To claim anything else is pure sophistry, and also an insult to the intelligence of those among us who read English. No amount of diversionary garbage can diminish that simple fact. >The letter writer is highly accusatory about my facts, and he questions my sources. He insists that the UC Berkeley “Records Office doesn’t have records on hand to give out over the phone instantly, as Francis says they did.” He contends that it took Narsai “a letter and a five-day wait. Clearly Francis spoke with no one.” As a matter of fact, I did call the UC Berkeley alumni office, and I did have an instant phone answer (no 5-day wait). If necessary, I can go back to my phone records and provide the exact date of the conversation. For the guidance of the letter writer, the place to call is the Alumni Office (510) 642-7026 (www.alumni.berkeley.edu), instead of the Admissions Office. For YOUR guidance your letter to no one states that you called the RECORDS OFFICE! Any comment?? Further details on how that office can be reached appears regularly at the masthead (Page 2) of the “California Monthly”; this is the alumni magazine, mailed to alumni of the school. Information of this type is available about any individual regarding any University; it is not a unique service at the Cal Alumni office. >Moreover, the woman in the alumni office who provided me the information stated that no person by the name of Narsai David had received any degree from the school, and when I asked for length of attendance she reported one semester. My assailant claims to have seen the actual transcript of attendance obtained by Narsai, which is a record a third party cannot obtain. I am willing to accept that Narsai attended four semester, not one. But how does this in any way change the point about misleading others regarding a degree? How does this change the basic misstatement? I'll tell you how. You began with a "recollection" of your own that Narsai had only attended for "one semester". You ended by saying that anyone who misleads people is made of inferior stuff. In between those two points, YOU stated that you spoke with the RECORDS OFFICE...now you come to us with a DIFFERENT OFFICE and wonder why Narsai didn't call THERE! Now why the hell would he call anyplace BUT the place you claimed to have called? I will now ask Narsai to make the same phone call you made and see what the result will be. Remember...HE never claimed to have graduated from there. That was YOUR doing. IF you recalled that he'd only been there for ONE semester then why did you ask the Alumni Office if Narsai had ever graduated from the University? HE CANNOT BE AN ALUMNUS! Did you ask her if he'd made any touchdowns at the big game as well? You say you called to check his attendance records...now why would you call the Aumni Office for that??? He WASN'T an alumnus and you KNEW that when you called. We will see if anyone at ANY office has the information you claim to have received. >The unhappy rant spewing from the letter writer should not distract from the point of my e-mail. Surely I am not the only one who feels there is something out of whack when clearly successful persons gratuitously mislead us blatantly in the case of a “Ph.D.”, or more deceitfully through double entendre? You placed "phD" in this sentence deliberately, old trick...you introduced another guy who played games with his "degrees" and now, by a sly hint (Ghassan listen up) you attach Narsai's name to a guy YOU produced for the purpose. Look up "double entendre". Where do we look for an explanation other than in psychology? I could suggest your shorts as one place we could look to understand what motivated YOU. I did in fact pose the following question to a person who had studied abnormal psychology: “When someone has already been successful in some field or other, why would he go out of his way to lie or mislead about such stuff?” The answer I received back was: “… Those who falsely claim to have learning acquired academically in certain disciplines are ‘insecure’ and flaunt their ostensible education to the ignorant in order to thwart or intimidate anyone who dares to doubt their false claim to fame.” Man if THAT doesn't sum you up! How about lying? The definition you "received" doesn't even fit, but never mind, this is getting stale. >It has been noted how deplorable it is that successful Assyrians are brought down from their pedestal. It is said that the motivation for this is envy, jealousy, or plain old mischief. It is likewise said that anyone who does not support a particular Assyrian agenda must conclusively be seen as anti-Assyrian. There is a widespread intolerance among our people toward those who bring out facts which do not suit “the agenda.” There is a climate of political correctness; and an expectation that we should all march in lockstep for the sake of “unity.” But with more of our young people exposed to education and the spirit of inquiry, the ranks of those prepared to insist on a single line of thought is definitely thinning. That world is peopled only by foppish sycophants, and its disappearance can’t happen soon enough. As Woody Allen once said to his audience in a graduation speech: “More than at any time in history, you face a crossroad. One path leads to hopelessness and despair, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly … “ > Francis Sarguis You are shifty eyed bugger if there ever was one. We will hunt down anyone who might have given you the "one semester" you claim just forced your hand and get back to you. But the point has been made. YOU are the one who tried to pull a fast one here. You wrote the e-mail knowing full well the damamge it would do, you hoped. Narsai wanted no part of any response, hasn't seen any of these yet. I just know what kind of person you are, and will not go into specifics..I wont "call" anyone to have anything "corroborated" or "confirmed". I'll leave your ass hanging in the wind for the moment and come back and kick it for you again when we find just which "office" it was you actually spoke with. By the way, why not re-mail that letter of yours, you know, the "private" one, so people can see for themselves what you're made of when your pants drop on the internet. Get back to you real soon, love and kisses
Re: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by Ghassan on 26 Apr 2001 20:52:53: As an answer to: Re: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks written by parhad on 26 Apr 2001 19:50:15: Parhad, I have told you of my knowing of Francis personally couple of weeks ago and that was way before you started masturbating your usual self of attacking people (Francis in this case) all over the pages of this Forum. At the time you told me you didn't like Mr. Sarguis at which point I disagreed. Actually, your posting a message to Francis on this Forum was specifically meant to me to pass it along to him. Your act was very silly and I just took you for what you're and made your wish come true. Now, you can glow and tap yourself on the shoulders that Francis did respond to you. However, have you noticed that he does not mention your name anywhere in his letter? Once again, your arguments and attacks are sure very much childish, more specifically that of a high school bullies. That's why I call your character crude and in need of polishing. Your approach of dealing with people is disgusting any way a normal person looks at it. Ghassan
Re: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by parhad on 27 Apr 2001 06:48:01: As an answer to: Re: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks written by Ghassan on 26 Apr 2001 20:52:53: >You guys are funny! Now it's supposed to be significant that Francis didn't mention my name? Why is that pray tell? You aren't sucking up anywhere are you. Why masturbate when I can SCREW you BOTH! Did you happen to "misplace" an answer of mine to you??? I'm told you aren't the "banning" type. Are you the "disappearing" type? You'll notice, if you'd care to print here Francis' post, that he first mentions calling the "RECORDS OFFICE"...then comes back with the ALUMINI OFFICE...and HE says we should have called there. Narsai wouldn't call there for anything because he knows he is NOT an alumni cause he didn't graduate! Now, knowing that...as Francis admits...why on earth would Francis call them when they wouldn't have any record of a student who attended for ONE semester OR SIX, or two, or three??? Obviously Francis will say he called anywhere. It's a poor delaying tactic and we will be calling them to see if WE can get such information. But I would remind you that in his original post he said he called another office entirely, and has changed the story significantly. That's alright, we all make mistakes...look at what Mr. and Mrs Sarguis had to contend with. I'm willing to accept the fact that he didn't remember or know where he was calling. We'll get back to you on that. But can I ask you...is it supposed to be significant that my name isn't mentioned...or is, in any capacity by anyone anywhere? Is it of importance to YOU how you are referred to and thought of? I say that because it can't possibly be the case, for I don't think you'd leave home if you knew how people talk about YOU. So let's forget this silly stuff. I came on to expose Francis, and I'm going to do just that. Who knows, I may get around to you next. Nothing personal, you aren't an "enemy" of mine. People just need to know in order to decide for themselves, and they need to hear from other sources.
Re: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by Sargon Michael on 27 Apr 2001 08:06:18: As an answer to: Re: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks written by parhad on 27 Apr 2001 06:48:01: Dear Parahad, With all due respect, this is getting too far. Narsai does not need you, I or anyone else to defend his reputation. His actions as in his good deeds speak louder than words. Both, Francis & Ghassan have clarified their remarks. Both acknowledged and recognized Narsai's contributions. This should be the end of the story. There was a misunderstanding about Narsai's statement on his education at UC Berkeley. Who cares? You are a great sculptor and a free-spirited radical. Your Art is staring at a cruel humanity, telling the world of an ancient people yearning for recognition. Likewise, is Francis Sarguis, an Assyrian intellectual that makes all of us proud. Just read his articles in the Assyrian Journal of Academic Studies and appreciate the wealth of knowledge that he shares with our Assyrian people. All the activists regardless to their differences are in one way or another serving our beloved nation. As Francis so eloquently described Sargon Dadishoo as "a leading Assyrian figure in the Diaspora, he has created the only television station in our community, he has a very large and devoted following, and he participates in countless efforts to advance the cause of our people as he sees fit". Likewise, are the tireless webmasters, Ghassan Hanna, Hanna Hajjar, Raman/Peter/Firas. Their websites promoting our culture, heritage and language. Others, such as Fred Aprim, William Warda passionately educating us of their readings of our history. All the above, their views may be in contrast to one each other, but they all share a common love to our one and beloved nation. After all, the cup is half full! Sincerely, Sargon Michael
Re: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by parhad on 27 Apr 2001 15:30:07: As an answer to: Re: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks written by Sargon Michael on 27 Apr 2001 08:06:18: Dear Sargon, And with as much respect due back to you, I profoundly disagree ( I hope this does not make us "enemies", as seems to happen so often around here). It is true that Narsai needs no defending, I'm sure when he reads what I've written he's going to be quite dismayed. We'll have one of our usual knock-down drag outs and it will end with us still friends who have sharp differences. I did NOT do any of this in defense of Narsai OR because I don't care for Francis. Never cared for Francis...have ALWAYS fought with and respected Narsai...liking or hating has nothing to do with it. I am intimately aquainted with these forces in our community which keep us infantile, know them as few people have experienced tham and it is these things which prompted me to speak ouy, that and to get people like Francis off our backs. To say that a man like Dadeeshoo is a great leader sums it up pretty well. What a curiosity we are. Here we're presented with a man such as Dadeeshoo whom Francis himself addmitted has no doctorate, even though he's lied about it and been caught lying by no less than an American newspaper...and he is "great" to the both of you. Here's Narsai, who never said he had a degree, never even implied it, to any but those who leap at the slightest chance to put someone like him down...and add to that that Francis has multiplied his lies by claiming now to have called a different place entirely, and he gets away with slamming Narsai, is almost loved for it by Ghassan. It is simply not true that we have "great" people within our community, OR have a great community because WE say so. And can we please get this straight: I am NOT a "great" sculptor/artist...I am NOT "world famous"...I am NOT "reknnowed". I AM someone who fell in love with his ART before knowing it was "his"...went to great lengths to study with the masters in the field...at the museums I could get to...and I figured out a way to sell enough sculpture to our own people (THAT was genius...THAT was artistry!!) to be able to afford, barely, to finance the first Assyrian monument anywhere in the world for the last 2500 years. I am NOT an "artist"...I have no interest in them or the Art world. You can't drag me into a gallery. The one time my works were placed(by me in a mad moment)in a gallery in San Francisco, I appeared a week later, unnanounced and removed them all. We have people who are hell bent on keeping us a closed society. They do this not in order to advance us as a people, or preserve us as a heritage. They could care less. We are being pounded around the world today...and could be at any moment anywhere in the world today, because of this anonymity WE desperately crave. Even after 11 years of warfare and starvation, the world knows as little of us as it ever did. I suspect it would still come as a shock to people that we exist at all, or are anywhere present in Iraq. This "non-existence" and the vulnerabilllity of a dwindling ethnic minority such as we are, and the ease with which anyone can kick our asses for us, is the trade-off these "Great Leaders" of yours are willing to accept so long as THEY may reign supreme and unchallenged within our community. You could NOT present Dadeeshoo, or Francis, or Nimrod, or Hanna, or Ghassan..out there to the world as anything but what they are. Only in here, with the doors closed, with no competition likely, and control within their hands, can these people hope for some paltry distinction. I don't belong back in here...everyone is doing all they can to get me to leave. I can stay, If like Akbulut in Turkey, I strap a muzzle onto myself. But only then. I cannot raise issues these leaders wish to avoid. The foul language was the excuse I gave THEM. Bethsuryoyo has slammed its doors shut...AINA keeps a staff emplyed to delete ANY post of mine so they can claim to have NOT shut their doors...just singled out ONE person. And I fear that here my posts are being altered though "let stand". These are not the acts of great people. They are what fearful people do. And why all the fear? Because I can exist just fine as an Assyrian outside of this hothouse and I KNOW what these guys are up to, and they KNOW I know. We have driven away anyone who can seriously speak to us and embrace instead all those who feed into our fears and keep us grovelling at the world's feet able ONLY to die for our "cause"...NEVER live for it! I've been the subject of innuendo, the kind of sly attacks which have in the past shut people up because they decided it wasn't worth it to proceed to challenge these people. Well it IS worth it to me, because we will not grow if we don't start to challenge. Other people, good and decent people, have been so set upon, have heard such awful things said of them by these great leaders that they have recoiled in terror and shock never to come back or at least criticize again..and THAT is the point sought after time and again whenever anyone dares even ask a simple question. I think it's been well established BY ME that I am NOT a decent person at all, where these kinds of tactics are implied and then employed. It matters not at all to me that "people don't mention my name"...or that I "have enemies", or that I "have friends". It matters not at all that people say I rip us off, that I've sold sculpture and never delivered, that I'm out for money, that I'm just pissed I didn't get paid, that I'm Gay, that I screw up, that I raise my children in some awful manner...NONE of it will work. I'm impervious and immune. If someone wants to say I'm queer, I will remind him of the time he went down on his knees with me at the last convention and how he BEGGED for more! In this regard I AM SHAMELESS. I AM ashamned when I see what we've done with this heritage, with these leaders and heroes and hunger strikes and patriots and the disgusting way in which we extoll martyrs while making certain to produce a good crop for some future CRY FEST. I will work for an open community, one which can stand any attack and survive it far better than they have my "attack". I want us to learn how to swim with the big fishes for it is THEY who control our fate right now. I want us to stop allienating our youth which is EXACTLY what these leaders REALLY want. They want the ones who might challenge them to be gone...they'll take any number of hoods and punks who wear pride as a tatoo ONLY. No one, no one who is capable and able to function well in the world at large is welcome here or wants to stay long. That's just fine with these leaders and great men. We're actively chasing our most capable people OUT to accomodate our worst ones and our leaders are pulled from their ranks and they rotate the positions among themselves and will not allow real change or new blood to enter. It would be like a team chasing out the players who could play on any international team...telling them to get lost and GO out there if they think they're so hot. After years of that no decent player even bothers to sign up and FINALLY the field is clear for the collective nimnos and knock-knee'd Geeks to take the field PROUDLY, when they can find the stadium and put their jock-straps to their proper use...then we CHEER them as they trip and fall over each other and raise such a yell of victory when they run off the field in oblivious shame before the game is over, then congregate at the local bar and DEMAND the trophy cause after all they are the remnants of a once great nation and they deserve a trophy just for showing up. This has all just begun, it is not time to end it, not at all. I will get my own thingie and we shall see. I believe firmly and passionately, that there are several people out there just waiting for the chance to come and work, people who are scared off now by these sly attacks of innuendo and out and out slander. They watch me play ping pong with these guys' heads and nuts and they spy hope...they see that it it isn't so awful to be accused of anything by a Hanna Hajjar, or to fear the "intellect" or writing abillity of a Sarguis. These guys are the All-Star jerks we've been left with and they will do anything and everything to remain at the top of a heap which now reeks of mediocrity and pompous self aggrandizement (two dollar word). We've only just begun, we're gonna have some fun, then we'll get down to work, once these guys are benched.
Re: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by Brother Ashur on 27 Apr 2001 17:13:36: As an answer to: Re: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks written by parhad on 27 Apr 2001 15:30:07: Its funny the people who sit around and do nothing all day are the people who critize everyone who tries to do good. Assyrians will always be like this regardless, its in SOME of our bloods to be self centered low life skum bags who have nothing good to say about anyone but themselves. Grow up and do something instead of sitting here all freaking day critizing people who are out there trying to do something. Also dont sit there and say you are in orginizations and you do this and that because it seems like the people who critize the most are the people who post here more often then others. All talk and no action, the Great Assyrian/Chaldean Worriors....
Re: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks [ Chaldeans Discussion Forum ] Written by parhad on 27 Apr 2001 18:15:24: As an answer to: Re: A letter from Mr. Francis Sarguis on Parhad's remarks written by Brother Ashur on 27 Apr 2001 17:13:36: >Its funny the people who sit around and do nothing all day are the people who critize everyone who tries to do good. Assyrians will always be like this regardless, its in SOME of our bloods to be self centered low life skum bags who have nothing good to say about anyone but themselves. Grow up and do something instead of sitting here all freaking day critizing people who are out there trying to do something. Also dont sit there and say you are in orginizations and you do this and that because it seems like the people who critize the most are the people who post here more often then others. All talk and no action, the Great Assyrian/Chaldean Worriors.... you said it...great worriers indeed!