Monday, November 29, 2004

ELECTIONS IN UKRAINE, ROMANIA, HUNGARY

Lots of elections (Ukraine, Romania, Hungary) taking place in the eastern part of the world. As I said before, I am trying to find information (in English) about the recent election here in Sopron. In the meantime, have a glass of wine...

Sunday, November 28, 2004

HUNGARIAN LITERATURE IN "ANGOLOL"

I went to the local library (könyvtár) the other day. It was great to see two of Ayn Rand's books (We the Living and Anthem) on the shelf. I borrowed the following books:

Embers by Sándor Márai.
The Gladiators by Arthur Koestler.
Szép Lehetsz and Papycsban by George Mikes. I have to find someone who could translate these books for me! ;)

SUPERBEAUTY.ORG RSS FEED

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Thursday, November 25, 2004

THANKS FOR GIVING EGO SUPPORT

On this Thanksgiving day I want to thank my fellow bloggers and readers who have giving me support regarding my post, COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK. I appreciate your comments very much and I value our exchange of ideas and thoughts. The anonymous commenter thought that "laissez-faire is a little passe," but I don't get that message when I read about the latest merger between Kmart and Sears. Have you read James Politi's article, The dynamic recluse? [Hat tip to my friend Jerry Nilson who wrote about this article on HBL, 11/22/04.]

Related: My post, JAMESTOWN.

BLOGADS IN BUDAPEST

Yesterday I went to Budapest. I will publish some photos on my travelblog later on. I had the pleasure to meet the good folks from the Hungarian division of Blogads. Dóra used my camera and took this picture.


Ego, Bàlint, Miklós, Tamás

In the news:
Go Ahead and Blog It (Deutsche Welle).
Marqui Product Placement in Blogs (Internetnews.com).

Related: My posts, BLOG @DVERTISEMENT and TIME FOR A COMMERCIAL BREAK...EVEN...

Saturday, November 20, 2004

COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK

I appreciate that my readers take time to comment on my posts and give me valuable feedback, but I have a bit problem with this kind of "constructive" criticism:

Not up for a long comment, but stop echoing all the neocon clueless nutcases. If you're suggesting 9/11 can be traced to Iran, you have no clue what you're talking about. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. Think for yourself. Stop echoing these idiots.

And while I'm at it, you know laissez-faire is a little passe. You want true laissez-faire? I hope you like great depressions.


Maybe I should take a break from blogging...

Sunday, November 14, 2004

THE CHANGES OF THE STOCK EXCHANGES

It is fascinating to see how the globalization of the financial markets is evolving. Now when I am staying in Hungary for some time, I wanted to learn more about the Hungarian stock exchange. The exchange closed down after Hungary "entered" the Eastern Block region and the country became a satellite state of the Soviet Union. It opened its doors again in 1990, after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Back in the day, it was the third biggest exchange in Europe. Dragos Novac is following what is going on in Romania. He reported on May 25 [Editor's note: My birthday!] that the Vienna Stock Exchange bought a piece of the exchange in Budapest, and the Nordic OMX exchange acquired a big stake in the Lithuanian stock exchange.

Friday, November 12, 2004

DESSZERTEK

This is a quick post with a "desserts" of links. I have to get an American calendar so I could be on top of things what's happening "over there." If you know a good site with American holidays, please send me an email or post a comment. You are welcome to add links to new interesting posts. I am trying to catch up... ;) Talking about holidays, on Wednesday it was my "name day." I have a potential business idea regarding the celebration of "name days." Yesterday it was St. Martin's Day. Luckily they got rid of "Martin Luther" in the Swedish almanac, but I could assure you that his ideas are still ingrained in the Swedish society...

I am glad that I am not in Sweden at the moment... Look what "our" Prime Minister is doing:

Persson led Sweden’s tributes to the Palestinian leader, who died in a Paris hospital on Thursday. Persson said that he felt “sadness” for the passing of a “great political leader”, reported Dagens Nyheter. He was less equivocal in his praise of Arafat than many of his counterparts in other countries, and credited Arafat with creating a national identity for the Palestinian people. ...
While most other Western countries will be represented at the funeral by their foreign ministers, Persson has opted to attend the ceremony in person. This reflects Sweden’s longstanding close relationship with the Palestinian leadership. (James Savage, The Local, 11/11/04.)


This weekend I will report on an election going on in Sopron, if I get hold of a newspaper written in English.

Thursday, November 11, 2004

TRAVELBLOG.ORG

I have created a travel journal at Travelblog.org. I will catch up with new posts later on this week. Egészségére!

CULTURE SHOCK: HUNGARY

I am bit late with this book of the month, but here it is: Hungary by Zsuzsanna Ardó.

Sunday, November 7, 2004

BUSINESS IN HUNGARY

I am soon going to Sopron, Hungary, so I thought it could be interesting to do a quick check on the Hungarian business climate. Tamás S. Kiss of The Budapest Sun reports:

The National Entrepreneurs' and Employers' Association (VOSZ) and the Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Trade (MKIK) have announced their dissatisfaction with the government's current economic policy, and unfavorable tax burdens, at a joint conference. (Budapest Sun, 11/04/04.)


I am glad to hear that the public health authority has lifted the ban on several paprika products. I don't think that the nonprofit advocacy group, Truth About Trade and Technology, would agree with the following statement by John Horvath:

The paprika scare is just another example of the pitfalls of industrialised agriculture and, more importantly, the dangers of globalisation. There is little control or oversight when it comes to the production process. In this case, not only was the paprika tainted, but a type of chemical was used (probably as a pesticide) which had long been banned in the EU. If there is a silver lining to be found in this dark cloud, it's that the true meaning of globalisation may finally hit home to many Hungarians. (Paprika Panic, Heise Zeitschriften Verlag, 11/02/04.)


In the news: Hungary Gives Bush Unpleasant Reelection Present.

THE FAITH-BASED WAR OF JIHAD STARTED 25 YEARS AGO...

The Islamic terror started in Iran, 25 years ago. It is important to understand where the headquarters of terrorism is located when you are conducting the war on terror... Here is an excerpt from Amir Taheri's article, It All Started in Tehran. [Via Blog-Iran.]

In a sense the Nov. 4, 1979 attack on the US Embassy in Tehran could be regarded as the opening scene of a long drama that reached its catharsis on Sept. 11, 2001. ...

The surprising show of weakness from Washington also encouraged the mullas and the hostage-holders to come up with a fresh demand each day. (Arab News, 10/30/04.)


Go and read Dr. Rusty Shackleford's (The Jawa Report) post, Islamists Declared War on the US 25 Years Ago Today. [Via The Politburo Diktat.]

September 11th may have awakened us to the fact that we were at war, but that war had been declared long ago. It was declared 25 years ago today by the extremists in Iran. Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran is seeking nuclear technology--technology that could lead to the development of nuclear weapons--and the Europeans have taken the Carter route in dealing with the mullahs. For each concession given to them by the Europeans, the jihadis in Iran see Western weakness. They saw this weakness in the US as we gave them cash in exchange for the hostages. They saw this weakness as Reagan retreated from Lebanon. We can bear to show them weakness no more. (MyPetJawa.mu.nu, 11/04/04.)


Scott Holleran has plenty of links in his newsletter (November 4 issue) The Concord Crier. Here is a selection:


Here is an excerpt from Scott Holleran's article, U.S. Policy Towards Iran: 25 Years Of Denial.

The terms of appeasement were set in 1979, when the war was first declared and America refused to respond with military action. President Carter, who had nixed a plan to assassinate the Ayatollah Khomeini, instead negotiated with the Islamist state, releasing blocked funds. Only then did Iran return America's prisoners of war in what was widely (and wrongly) heralded as a victory for America's new president, Ronald Reagan. (Capitalism Magazine, 11/05/04.)


It's time to stop this appeasement policy, otherwise you will see more of these attacks coming in the future:

Reporters Without Borders voiced dismay today at the murder yesterday in Amsterdam of Theo Van Gogh, a controversial filmmaker, writer and columnist known for mordant and provocative views who had received death threats after a film he had made about Islam was recently shown on television. (Rsf.org, 11/03/04.)


Go to Zacht Ei for more on the situation in Holland after the murder of Theo Van Gogh. [Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan.]

Look what's happening in the blogosphere! From Hossein Derakhshan's (a.k.a Hoder) post, Worrying death threat.

U.S. election aside, hot topic of the last couple of weeks in Persian blogosphere has been a blog called "Islamic Army" in which its anonymous author has threaten a big list of Iranian blogger for their "insults" to Allah, Prophet Mohammad and other Shia Imams. (Hoder.com, 11/05/04.)


Lighting The Way


Jihâd fi sabîl Allâh is a deadly threat against the rational pursuit of happiness!

Do Not Read This

Wednesday, November 3, 2004

REFLECTIONS ON THE ELECTION

I must admit that I am glad that the Presidential race is over for this time. I want to quote Robert Tracinski and Mark Wickens in order to give my readers an inkling on how I feel about George W. Bush's victory over John F. Kerry.

I start out with describing my first reaction to the election results, by an excerpt from Robert Tracinski's article, The War Verdict. America Did Not Let Us Down.

I am enormously relieved by the results of yesterday's voting. I am relieved only partly because I believe President Bush's war policy, for all of its faults, will be significantly better than John Kerry's. At a deeper level, I am relieved because this election was more than a judgment about the relative merits of George Bush and John Kerry: it was a report on the state of the American spirit. ...

Yesterday, the American people did not let us down. They defied bin Laden and his Western allies and apologists. They voted to reassert America's fighting spirit. (TIA Daily, 11/03/04.)


I have to add a "but" and "question mark" to the forthcoming period of four more years with Bush, by giving you an excerpt from Mark's post, My mixed feelings on the election.

Now is when all the people who voted for Bush on foreign policy issues need to do an instant 180 and oppose him forcefully on every attempt to insert the Bible into US law. (Wickens.ca, 11/03/04.)


I know that many people in Europe have a problem with understanding the American system of the Electoral College, so here are some resources for my international readers:


So, what's happening now? Read Warren Meyer's post, Something Unusual Will Happen in 2008. [Via InstaPundit.] You will find my take on the issue of Republican candidates in 2008, by reading my post, THIRD PARTY CANDIDATE IS NOT AN ALTERNATIVE.

The Swedish Prime Minister, Göran Persson's comment on the re-election of Bush, sums up the Anti-Americanism in Europe:

Sweden and Europe will continue to criticize Bush the same way as earlier. But I do not believe that he will be more willing to listen to it. (ABC News / AP, 11/03/04.)


It looks like several of the players of the leftist mainstream media have a hard time to cope with the situation:


Roger L. Simon is asking the media several questions, in his post, "Blogging Machine" here.

For more comments, check out:

Monday, November 1, 2004

CARNIVAL OF THE CAPITALISTS AND TRADESPORTS

Carnival of the Capitalists is hosted this week by Will Pate. Here is his welcome message:

Thanks and welcome to my first hosting of the Carnival of the Capitalists - relatively politics free. I've made a deliberate effort to avoid posts that were mostly based on politics. It may be November 1st on an election year, but as a Canadian I want us to remember that the US isn't the center of the universe. Besides, we're better when we stick to the business at hand: business! So if your post with a political bent got left out, don't take it personally - they were all great submissions. :) (WillPate.org, 11/01/04.)


Personally, I think that the U.S. is the clear "center of the universe," and Canada is close to it due the fact it is a neighbor to America. Sweden is almost off the map, up far too north... My entry on currencies didn't make the cut. I probably sent the post too late. Andy Clarkson of Charlotte Capitalist has managed to write a post on business and trade together with politics, by including a trading graph by TradeSports and his analysis on the predicted Presidential election results. Don't miss his post of yesterday: Reason Roundup.