Among the many different signs of Spring in Budapest, beyond the trees becoming green again, the incessant chirping of birds, warmer temperatures and visible thongs, is the return of Andean bands into above ground public areas. During the winter months, they either disappear from the city or the few hardy ones go into the many underpasses that are usually tied to a metro station.

This duo at Fővám tér were rocking their pipes to a bunch of bemused tourists, which is still better than the Andean band at Blaha Lujza tér, who played primarily to people waiting for the bus, drunks and the homeless. You would think these guys have oversaturated the market in Europe, but I come across them so frequently that I guess they haven’t.

Still, I liked the guys who used to blatantly rip off the Gypsy Kings better.

I have no idea what reminded me of this, but about a year ago, MTV Europe used to run advertisements in order to warn naive women about taking jobs overseas that very well might lead them into forced prostitution. I though it was a good idea, since the number and website helped people find out if they had legitimate jobs waiting for them or not.

Come to think of it, a few years back, the Budapest airport had giant signs in place asking women if they knew all of the details surrounding their foreign jobs, and if they had any doubts, to call the number provided. Human trafficking is fortunately not that big of problem with Hungarians, and I would guess the campaign was successful, not to mention now that Hungary’s in the EU, most people who go to work abroad stay within the Union, which tends to be better about fighting human trafficking than some of the non-EU countries to the East.

But returning to my original point. If you look at the picture above that I took of my TV, doesn’t that remind you of someone?

This cover of Madonna’s “Music” has been shown quite frequently on Hungarian MTV, (as in Hungarian Music Television, not Magyar Televizió), and I was just left to wonder: did anyone out there really think that this is what was missing in the world? I’ve not really heard anything else from Roy and Ádám, so I can’t say what their other stuff is like, but it’s not like “Music” was even a good song to begin with. The words “boogie-woogie” don’t work when you’re trying to sing them soulfully.

I can’t say I’m much of a Madonna fan, since I only think Ray of Light was a good album, and maybe half of Music, but even then, I think it was one of the more annoying songs that she put out in the previous decade, or at least among those I’ve heard.

Another thing is how these days, so many “new” songs are just a dance rework of some older song that was actually good. I think one of the worst examples of this was the travesty Mark Ronson committed with his destruction of the Smith’s “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before.” Ronson renamed it “Stop Me.” Someone should have before it was released.

Keep reading »

It’s nearly Golden Week, that super special time of the year when the entire Japanese nation gets some much-valued time off. I’ll be off helping to overcrowd the trains for a week, so hang tight and I’ll be back before you can say “peak season”!

I took this picture in the French Alps near Le Corbier and La Toussuire. If you want to see what the image looks like in non-HDR for comparison, check out the standard exposure version here.

As for this week’s posts I wrote for All Hungary, here they are.

Politics.hu:

• Respected British weekly’s country of origin mystifies leaders of the right
• János Kóka admits he’s unfit to lead Free Dems

Pestiside.hu

• Quiz Show Host Admits to Rigging Results
• Quiz Show Rigging Obvious to Everyone Except the Host
• President Opens Museum in Memory of the Hungarian Language
• New Animated Film Voted Worst of All Time

Today I checked the news to see whether Hillary or Peach had won Pennsylvania and saw that Hillary pulled off a 10% victory margin. What this means, of course, is more time for the Republicans to sit back and watch the Democrats tear each other apart, spending the money they could instead use to attack John McCain, and will focus their time and energy on finding every little chink in the armor of the other. Who wins? Not the Democrats.

Barring some miracle turnaround though, I don’t see Hillary overcoming Peach’s 133 delegate lead (according to CNN) before the convention. Of course, the decision to pull out of the race should be hers and hers alone. Still, the increasingly divisive tactics she’s displayed have left me with the impression that she’s determined to win at all costs, which isn’t a good thing.

The funny thing is how I don’t know anyone among my friends on the Left who actually support her. This might have something to do with what Mark mentioned, that expat Americans favor Obama in far greater numbers than they do Clinton. The only friends I have who support Hillary are actually Republicans, who are banking on the fact that enough people in the country will be unable to bring themselves to vote for her, thereby abstaining or voting for McCain. Sure, it’s unscientific, but polling isn’t an exact science either.

Tonight’s article: 外国人犯罪, crimes by foreigners!

日本に1990年代から急増しており、都会の治安悪化の主要な原因の一つであるとして、大きな社会問題とされている。日本の外国人犯罪の主たる構成者は、以前は在日朝鮮/韓国人が最も多かった

Foreign crime in Japan has been surging upward since the 1990s, and is seen as a great social problem due to its being one of the principle causes of the deterioration of public order in large cities. The greatest contributors to foreign crime in Japan have been resident Chosun people/South Koreans.

在日外国人の犯罪率については、それを扱うことに対して否定的な見方も存在する。これは差別の助長に繋がるとの指摘や、治安対策上必要性があるのかという 指摘があるためである。実際、在日外国人の犯罪率を扱ったデータは公表されておらず「定住居住者及び在留資格不明者の刑法犯」の数値から推測するしか無 い。在日外国人（正確には「定住居住者及び在留資格不明者」）の犯罪率は日本人の約2倍となっている。

There are some viewpoints rejecting the treatment the crime rate among foreign residents of Japan itself. Given as reasons are that it is tied to the promotion of discrimination, and the question of whether it is truly necessary for the maintenance of public order. As it happens, no data regarding the crime rate among foreign residents of Japan has been officially released, leaving no option but to make estimates based on numbers from the “Crimes of Established Residents and Persons of Unknown Residency Qualifications”. Foreign residents of Japan (who are precisely “Established Residents and Persons of Unknown Residency Qualifications”) have a crime rate roughly double that of Japanese.

外国人犯罪の急増の原因も中国人犯罪者の急増にリンクしているとされているが、地域によってはブラジル人による犯罪が多い^[2]との指摘がある。外国人犯罪は、窃盗・空き巣などでも旧来の犯罪の常識からすると、大胆であり、また残忍であると指摘する論者もいる。

The sudden rise of foreign crime and the sudden rise in criminal Chinese have been pointed to be linked in a causal relationship; however, it has also been pointed out that crimes by Brazilians are more numerous, depending on region. There are also those who claim that crimes by foreigners, when considered from a perspective of traditional crimes such as theft and burglary, differ in both audacity and cruelty.

日本に駐留するアメリカ人将兵が引きこす犯罪も少なくない。中でも日本人女性を好むアメリカ兵の性的暴行が一番多いといわれ、沖縄や岩国など米軍基地が 多い地域では被害が深刻なものとなっている、特に岩国基地では隣の広島まで出向いて犯行に至ることも過去に報告されている。

Crimes perpetrated by American military personnel residing in Japan are not few in number. It is said that sexual assaults by American soldiers enamored with Japanese women are the most common, with locations of American bases such as Okinawa and Iwakuni suffering grave damage; especially in Iwakuni, where it has been reported in the past that soldiers visit neighboring Hiroshima and engage in criminal acts.

南米人による犯罪も少なくない。たとえばブラジル人によるひき逃げと殺人などでブラジルに逃亡している。その理由はブラジルの憲法の一部や日本と犯罪者引渡し条約がないことをいいことに利用している。そのため遺族は犯罪者引渡し条約を締結する著名活動を行っている。

Crimes by South Americans are also not uncommon; for example, hit-and-runs or murders by Brazilians who then escape to Brazil. This is to take advantage of some part of the Brazilian Constitution or the lack of an extradition pact between Brazil and Japan. Due to this, the families of the victims have been engaging in widely-publicized activism to bring about such a pact.

I hope none of my students ever sink so far into the world of everyday English as to start using the sentence pattern, “____ at best, ____ at worst”, whose sole purpose is to buy insurance against the equivocation and poor vocabulary of the writer.

In Budapest, most florists have a woman’s name in the store name, so that invariably most florists will have names like “Anna’s Flowers” or “Helen’s Flowers.” Well, obviously with Hungarian names, but you get the drift.

The shop above? Diana’s not selling flowers. The sign says its a weapons expert’s shop. Message: Don’t fuck with Diana.

Sometimes reading my own fevered postings from BD can make me feel nostalgic for a time I was way more confident expressing myself verbally.

I’m the one actually defending vegatarianism, starting in earnest on page 2

Seriously, is there any way I did not own that shit?