Tag: Islamic State

Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday! We are having a long weekend in Hungary due to a national holiday tomorrow, which I am trying to spend resting and catching up with family and friends at home. I hope you are having a great weekend too! Former US presidents appeared yesterday for a hurricane relief concert in Texas. Does this unique club of men ever make you feel nostalgic? Even the ones you never agreed with politically, at least they were competent. Just saying. Anyway, referring back to my #MeToo post, I have given quite a few thoughts to the issue these days, as it…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday! FINA World Championships are coming to a close today in Budapest, and I was able to witness some great moments there. Check out my Instagram for pics of the swimming competitions and waterpolo matches I attended. The cost of building and organizing the whole thing might have been high, I doubt it compares to what Hungary gained on it, but all I can say is nothing compares to the vibe of cheering your team on a world event, just ten minutes walk from your home (the serious sunburn nice tan I developed during a midday openair waterpolo match is…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday and Happy Summer! This week Britain managed to pull off yet another election where practically everybody lost an no-one knows what to come after, this seems to have become the new standard over there.  Also, political turmoil is mounting in the US, but the President still doesn’t seem to be worried. On this week’s episode of The West Wing Weekly (S03E09 Bartlet for America) there were a lot of talk about Congressional hearings and what they are all about. I happened to listen to it the morning after #ComeyDay, and again, I just love when entertainment really adds…

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Sunday Smack

Who else is tired of all those early year-in-reviews? I mean it could very well be that the best of this year is yet to come! It must come in a hurry, no doubt, but still, there is a chance. Why not wait for it? That being said, check out the Top 25 News Photos of 2016 collected by The Atlantic these photos are everything! And check out the other stories from this week too! Aleppo Will Be Synonymous with Srebrenica The situation is grave enough already without such news emerging from Aleppo.  John Kerry’s Final Job is Not to Whitewash…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday, all! This year is the 60th annivesary of a hopeful revolution that started on the streets of Budapest in the fall of 1956 but resulted in brutal repulse and more than 40 more years under Russian oppression. Around this time every year we remember the bravery of those Hungarian people who risked their lives for freedom. There were commemorations held around the world this week for the occasion. And a lot of other news, of course. Let’s see some of them. Truly Winning the Battle of Mosul The battle of Mosul was kind of the news of the week….

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday, everybody! Today, there is a referendum held in Hungary, where Hungarians are asked to answer with yes or no to the following question. “Do you want the European Union to be able to mandate the obligatory resettlement of non-Hungarian citizens into Hungary without the approval of Parliament?” Well,first of all, the EU can do that now, whether citizens of member states want it or not, simply based on the EU Treaty. So a “No” answer doesn’t make any sense. A “Yes” answer doesn’t make sense either, no-one really “wants” this, not even the EU, although the quotas are off the table…

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Sunday Smack

Happy New Year, everybody! A photo posted by Katalin Tarjan (@katalintarjan) on Jan 1, 2016 at 9:55am PST I hope you are content with how you have spent your holidays and ready to get back in the saddle for a fresh new start. For me, it was more work and less rest than planned, but in all, I have spent a pleasant one and a half weeks “holidaying”.  I know I have promised a separate look-back post which never happened, so I incorporated the half done pieces of it to this post (after I finished them, of course), you will find…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Holidays, everybody! How is it that I become too exhausted to enjoy the preparations every single year by this time?  Tons of work, studies, Christmas shopping, multiple Christmas fair + mulled wine sessions with friends, hosting family, cooking my annual Christmas cookies for colleagues, this is just how my last couple of days looked like, and again, lots of work to come for the next three days as well… Oh and did I mention the anxiety over some unarrived (I know, I just made this word up) Christmas presents? I am so much in need of some sleep time…

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Sunday Smack

Hello, Everybody! This four day week was pretty intense for me, by Friday it sure felt like any long and hard working week ever. There were also lots and lots of great posts! Seriously, this week I just wanted to put here almost everything I have read… Check out what I decided not to leave out… The Situation Concerning the Islamic State: Carte Blanche for the ICC if the Security Council Refers? Oh the beauties of law interpretation! And when international law scholars and practitioners interpret the law each in their own ways… Prospect of Peace Recedes in Mali A…

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Sunday Smack

Happy Sunday Everybody! Hope you are ready for some Sunday reading… The ISIS Guide to Holy War, or Lonely Planet: Islamic State I really doubt that ISIS would give away all their tips and tricks in such a dumb book. I am afraid they are smarter than that, so this must be something to amuse intelligent agency workers, whether it proves to be practical to would-be-jihadists or not. A UN Special Rapporteur on Privacy – Why Now? And interestingly enough the resolution got all the support it needed. Perhaps we should start by redefining privacy in this digital age of…

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