Tag: news
As you would imagine, my opinions are formed by the things I read and watch, and by the people I am around. Not just in person, in my life, but online, the people I follow. Out of everything I consume, reading has the most important place in my life. I’ve been an avid reader since childhood and the touch and smell of a book is still one of my favourite things. Let alone reading in silence with nothing else to do! A rare occurence… My reading time decreased since I started working in my current job, where I spend most…
1. “If you haven’t tasted what tyranny is, be prepared, because tyranny is not comfortable.” 2. “Maxwell played a critical role in helping Epstein to identify, befriend and groom minor victims for abuse.” 3. “The Saudi process was anything but justice. It was a travesty of justice.” 4. “ This Fourth of July, one of the most patriotic things you can do is wear a mask.“ 5. “ I am running for president of the United States!” 6. “The very purpose of my life is to serve as much as I can. Music can help people in a way that I can’t.”…
1. “Has the Bible ever been used in a more disingenuous and exploitative way?” 2. #blackouttuesday 3. “I want to speak directly to the young men and women of color in this country who have witnessed too much violence and too much death… I want you to know that you matter. I want you to know that your lives matter. That your dreams matter.” 4. “But mourning about Trianon can no longer be the focus of Hungarian politics, because, apart from the fact it leads nowhere, it paralyses, makes it incapable of action; it also consumes the moral and political…
Happy Sunday! I’ve been waiting to post about anything but the current situation, but somehow everything I read leads back to it, so now I am just going with the flow. It’s back to the office day in Hungary (for most of us anyway) tomorrow, that could really make me believe we’re out of the woods already, if I haven’t been following international news as well. To be honest, I could be believing a lot of things these days that are not true if I didn’t pay attention (so could you). But perhaps we will talk about this some other…
Happy 2017 everybody! I hope this finds you happy and healthy. As is now sort of my habit around the New Year, I present you with a round-up of round-ups in the first Sunday Smack of 2017. Enjoy! UN’s 2016 Year in Review: Challenges and milestones for the international community This is the UN’s video round-up of the most important issues in 2016. 2016 in Review: Another Violent Year, But With Hope of Improved Prevention This one is from the UN’s Department of Political Affairs, a bit longer and in pdf format for easy reading. After reviewing 2016, let’s see…
Iran joins talks in Vienna about the Syrian civil war IT COULD have been worse. That was more or less the read-out after talks on Syria in Vienna on October 30th between allies and foes of President Bashar al-Assad including America, Saudi Arabia, Russia and, for the first time, Iran. No one walked out, even though Iran backs Mr Assad and Saudi Arabia is one of the main backers of anti-Assad rebel groups, as well as Iran’s chief rival in the region. Click the title to read more.
The Sustainable Development Summit is underway in New York City. The summit kicked off yesterday with an historic opening address by Pope Francis, a call to action from Malala Yousafzai and performances by Shakira and Angelique Kidjo among other events. The new sustainable development goals or global goals as they are widely referred to got adopted by the General Assembly too! Now comes the hard part: acting on the newly adopted goals. For a recap of yesterday’s events, click here. To learn more about the sustainable development goals, click here. The 2015 Global Citizen Festival is now also a part of…
I do not want to create any illusions that the refugee crisis will be over any time soon. It will not. But pushing back boats from piers, setting fire to refugee camps, or turning a blind eye to poor and helpless people: that is not Europe. Europe is the baker in Kos who gives away his bread to hungry and weary souls. Europe is the students in Munich and in Passau who bring clothes for the new arrivals at the train station. Europe is the policeman in Austria who welcomes exhausted refugees upon crossing the border. This is the Europe…
I was actually planning this feature for quite some time now, I just wish I could launch it with some less difficult topic. The idea is that I take an article I read and write the first five sentences that come to mind about the issue it covers. Meaning I don’t just write about that particular article, but mainly my opinion and whatever else comes to mind. Now about this first topic, it was very hard to do just that. Because I struggled to stop at five sentences, and because just yesterday I got criticized for being silent about this…
Migrants Cross Austria Border From Hungary Thousands of migrants who have been bottled up in Hungary, demanding passage to the West, will be allowed into Austria and Germany, the Austrian chancellor said late Friday. Early Saturday, the first buses carrying them arrived at the Hungary-Austria border. Hungary is bound to apply the EU rules of registering migrants crossing the Schengen border, as long as they are not registered, they have to be considered illegals, which makes passing through thoroughly difficult. Hungarian actions in the past few days were irrational at best, it seemed like the government was keen on making…
