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Leo: We spent millions of dollars developing a pen that could write in space. Do you know what the Russians did? Josh: Used a pencil? Leo: Used a pencil.
Rwanda, Syria and the Responsibility to Protect Interesting piece on R2P. Very good too.
Today is the International Day of Human Space Flight 12 April 1961 was the date of the first human space flight, carried out by Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet citizen.
One last poem for today. This one relates to my addiction to international relations, quoted many times by Hungarian international law scholars when speaking about the function of international law. János Arany, famous Hungarian poet was much upset about the outcome of the Russo-Turkish war in 1878 when the Congress of Berlin met to reorganize the countries of the Balkans. Not many were satisfied with the unjust resettlement, many still consider these decisions as starting point eventually leading to World War I. Civilization is a short poem with much irony expressing the popular opinion of that time. I like to think…
10 Most Read Books In The World I was a little surprised by #2. Other than that, I almost liked this list.
I love this one by Robert Burns although I have to admit the language with the Scottish flavour is a little hard for me. Plus we have a beautiful translation in Hungarian by Sándor Weöres. Hungarian speakers can find it below. 🙂 ________________________________________________________ Robert Burns: Oh Wert Thou In The Cauld Blast Oh wert thou in the cauld blast, On yonder lea, on yonder lea, My plaidie to the angry airt, I’d shelter thee, I’d shelter thee; Or did misfortune’s bitter storms Around thee blaw, around thee blaw, Thy bield should be my bosom, To share it a’, to share…
Since it’s his birthday, I start with one of my favorites from Attila József. First in Hungarian, then in English, and for the Spanish speaking readers, I recently found a Spanish translation on this all about Attila József Tumblr page. ______________________________________________________ József Attila: Kopogtatás nélkül Ha megszeretlek, kopogtatás nélkül bejöhetsz hozzám, de gondold jól meg,szalmazsákomra fektetlek, porral sóhajt a zizegő szalma. A kancsóba friss vizet hozok be néked,cipődet, mielőtt elmégy, letörlöm,itt nem zavar bennünket senki,görnyedvén ruhánkat nyugodtan foltozhatod. Nagy csönd a csönd, néked is szólok,ha fáradt vagy, egyetlen székemre leültetlek,melegben levethetsz nyakkendőt, gallért,ha éhes vagy, tiszta papirt kapsz tányérul, amikor…
The date marks the birthday of one of our biggest poets Attila József. Some of my favorite poems coming along later… 🙂
