Boston 100 Word Story

 The Crossing

Route 9 on my way toward Northeastern. Sometimes it's a benign trip--paperwork. Trains, cars, ambulances jostle near Beth Israel. I accelerate past the Mission Bar. Or a red light halts me, a blessing. I see my Dad. I had stolen a wheelchair. Have you hefted a wheelchair across T-tracks through a deadly intersection with your father in your palms? He sipped water. I nursed iced-tea. After the diagnosis, he returned to Kansas with a fatal disease. Now I idle in my car; I can smile at our audacity. I can tell the story. The stark terror of his crossing.

A City is Just a City

Our family outgrew our red brick house at 3005 Cornell Drive, an address whose pleasing rhyme still delights me. By the time I was nearing kindergarten, the search commenced. My father would pile several kids in the car on Sunday afternoons to investigate properties on the outskirts of Hutchinson. I loved being part of the important work to find the right place for us. The distances felt epic. The rippling prairie grass and the stately, gnarled cottonwood trees stretched as far as I could see. We hunted for a place to have a custom-built house to suit a family of eight. It was the summer of 1978.

My father passed away in 2013 from a rare, savage disease which took him quickly. We mourned him at Holy Cross Church and buried him at Memorial Park Cemetery, a grave I don’t visit often enough. My trips home to Hutch grew infrequent and then halted during the pandemic. If I could visit his grave today, I would ask him about those drives into the countryside on sleepy Sunday afternoons. I am sure he had lists and charts with property values and construction estimates. He must have labored for hours on the plan to purchase two acres and build a home. He can’t answer now. I can imagine, however, his pleasure in the project and the stress as well. To hear his voice telling the story would be a balm.

Those Sunday drives bouncing on a backseat with my brother, a few sisters, soon ended. He secured the property. The house was built. More of a white walls kind of man, he nevertheless let the kids select colors for the bedrooms. There was a pale purple room, a cheerful pink, a blue, and a bright yellow. There was space for everyone at the dining room table, the piano bench doubling as a seat for two kids at the end. There was a living room window that faced our front acreage, partly left wild and free, filled with swaying prairie grass. The little ones glued our noses to the front window in agonized anticipation for Dad’s sedan to turn onto our dirt road, sending up clouds of dust. We cried with joy at the sight of his car, rushed to the table, and then waited to say grace. 

I am lucky to have grown up in my family, in that house, in my hometown, Hutchinson. We had a rich family life and our faith and education were deeply invested in Holy Cross Church and the Catholic schools. My father was dedicated to Hutchinson. After his retirement from Dillon’s, he worked with passion and conviction to open Sarah’s Catholic Bookstore on Main Street. He believed in community and being active to build a city into a home for all within its boundaries. A city is just a city unless you work to make it your hometown. My mother still embodies this idea with her civic work. And she still lives in that home my father built.

My mother welcomes us home, all thirty-seven of us, for our summer July 4th reunion. We bring our children and share our Hutchinson heritage: the fireworks, the parade on Main Street, a flawless donut (or two) from Daylight Donuts, a buffet feast at The Anchor Inn. We cheer for the Monarchs in Dillon Park. The grandkids love the newer additions to Hutch as well, The Alley and Salt City Splash. Dillon Nature Center is always on our list, often for a family celebration. These sites and the flavors will become their generation’s touchstones. We are building memories for them. I know that when they think of Hutchinson, they will recall our family reunion’s traditional late night drive to the pedestrian bridge over K-61 highway.

 My dad used to take us there as kids and let us walk over the highway. We were thrilled with the traffic noise, the hot sun, the metal clang of our footfalls, and the rush of trucks and cars racing beneath us. Now we take our kids to the newly constructed, exceptional pedestrian walkway. They love it. They beg to go. We go under the cover of dark and park at Union Valley School. From there we walk on the sidewalk, winding our way up the ramp with building excitement. Grandma drives her van onto the highway below us. She honks and we wave and shriek with glee. She drives a bit down the highway toward town. She puts on her hazards. She pauses. The kids shout, “No, Grandma! Don’t do it!” When the coast is clear, she brazenly drives across the grass median and returns under the bridge one last time to a chorus of cheers and delighted grandchildren. 

This July, 2022, our reunion felt almost post-pandemic, though some of us still needed to wear masks. Not all of us have had Covid. Despite Covid, the war in Ukraine, and the political divisions in our country, the summer nights were gorgeous. The late afternoon cotton showers gave way to the softer air and blazing sunsets. The fireflies flirted among the prairie grass. The cicadas sang. The hot, dry air that tastes of harvests and hope blew our hair. As I sat on the front steps only one thing marred the evening–the roar of the newly built highway, which invaded my father’s perfect homestead some years ago. My father could not have imagined that the rerouted K-61 would obstruct our Kansas vista. It made me sad to watch the kids play on the front lawn under the bombardment of highway noise instead of under the watchful gaze of their grandpa. However, my kids barely registered the traffic. They were too engaged in another round of an improvised ball game. They didn’t grow up with the deep black nights and the sounds of nature during a Kansas night. This was how they have always known Grandma’s house. A home. 

Top Ten

 Turkish delight

jasmine pearl tea

eyewear

outdoor fruit and vegetable markets

mushrooms

baking bread

being in my body

ukulele lessons 

pockets

giving books I love to people I think might love them too

Rereading The Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter after more than 35 years, a book my grandmother gave to me

deserted diners

grandma Kelley's rice casserole

Le Mans Hall

midwives

Spencer Tunick

Budapesti Közkincs Könyvtár

clowns

David Byrne’s American Utopia

democracy

church bells

Gellért Fürdő

African chicken and peanut soup from the New England Soup Factory

martini with blue cheese stuffed olives

1059 Riverside

wonderland

gesztenyepüré

Greek yogurt with honey, in Greece

Book Club

Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins

Rome

Batman underwear for grownup women

Indigo Girls

dandelions

sleep

Warren Dunes State Park

The Overstory by Richard Powers

french fries

Ted Kooser

clean pressed sheets

walking by a lilac bush in bloom

holding hands

playgrounds

Paris

NPR

hard wood floors

handmade afghans

coffee

Jeune Homme Nu Assis au Bord de la Mer, by Jean- Hippolyte Flandrin

marching bands

HONK! festival of activist street bands

my clever, funny friend

roasted chestnuts

Duchess Goldblatt 

Asian Monday

Miss Mary, my terrible dog

birdie sing in the tree, woo woo woo, wee wee wee, I love you and you love me

Henszlmann Imre utca, 5

cuckoo clocks

handwritten letters

potluck dinners

Thai massage

Amanda Palmer

marathons, watching them

hiking, with the right shoes

public schools

#metoo

neighbors

pie crust

yellow roses

vinegar spritzer

Walden Pond

Pete Buttigieg

giving away my homemade jams

kisses

ginger

running at my own pace

truth

Top Ten

Turkish delight

jasmine pearl tea

eyewear

outdoor fruit and vegetable markets

mushrooms

baking bread

being in my body

ukulele lessons 

pockets

giving books I love to people I think might love them too

Rereading The Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter after more than 35 years, a book my grandmother gave to me

deserted diners

grandma Kelley's rice casserole

Le Mans Hall

midwives

Spencer Tunick

Budapesti Közkincs Könyvtár

clowns

David Byrne’s American Utopia

democracy

church bells

Gellért Fürdő

African chicken and peanut soup from the New England Soup Factory

martini with blue cheese stuffed olives

1059 Riverside

wonderland

gesztenyepüré

Greek yogurt with honey, in Greece

Book Club

Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins

Rome

Batman underwear for grownup women

Indigo Girls

dandelions

sleep

Warren Dunes State Park

The Overstory by Richard Powers

french fries

Ted Kooser

clean pressed sheets

walking by a lilac bush in bloom

holding hands

playgrounds

NPR

hard wood floors

handmade afghans

coffee

Jeune Homme Nu Assis au Bord de la Mer, by Jean- Hippolyte Flandrin

marching bands

HONK! festival of activist street bands

my clever, funny friend

roasted chestnuts

Duchess Goldblatt 

Asian Monday

Miss Mary, my terrible dog

birdie sing in the tree, woo woo woo, wee wee wee, I love you and you love me

Henszlmann Imre utca, 5

cuckoo clocks

handwritten letters

potluck dinners

Thai massage

Amanda Palmer

marathons, watching them

hiking, with the right shoes

public schools

#metoo

neighbors

pie crust

yellow roses

Walden Pond

Pete Buttigieg

giving away my homemade jams

kisses

ginger

running at my own pace

truth

Top Ten

turkish delight

jasmine pearl tea

eyewear

outdoor fruit and vegetable markets

baking bread

being in my body

pockets

giving books I love to people I think might love them too

The Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter

diners

grandma Kelley's rice casserole

Le Mans Hall

midwives

Spencer Tunick

clowns

"Nails, Hair, Hip, Heels" by Todrick Hall

democracy

church bells

Gellért Fürdő

African chicken and peanut soup from the New England Soup Factory

martini with blue cheese stuffed olives

1059 Riverside

gesztenyepüré

Greek yogurt with honey, in Greece

watching episodes of Grey's Anatomy from the early seasons with my kids

Book Club

Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins

Rome

Indigo Girls

dandelions

sleep

Warren Dunes State Park

french fries

Ted Kooser

clean pressed sheets

walking by a lilac bush in bloom

holding hands

playgrounds

NPR

hard wood floors

handmade afghans

coffee

Jeune Homme Nu Assis au Bord de la Mer, by Jean- Hippolyte Flandrin

marching bands

HONK! festival of activist street bands

my clever, funny friend

roasted chestnuts

Miss Mary, my terrible dog

birdie sing in the tree, woo woo woo, wee wee wee, I love you and you love me

Henszlmann Imre utca, 5

cuckoo clocks

handwritten letters

potluck dinners

Thai massage

Amanda Palmer

marathons, watching them

hiking, with the right shoes

public schools

#metoo

neighbors

pie crust

yellow roses

Walden Pond

giving away my homemade jams

running at my own pace

the truth

A Necessary Fiction

Notes on reading eros: the bittersweet by anne carson

He seems to me equal to gods that man

who opposite you

sits and listens close

to your sweet speaking

and lovely laughing--oh it

puts the heart in my chest on wings

for when I look at you, a moment, then no speaking 

is left in me

no: tongue breaks, and thin

fire is racing under skin

and in eyes no sight and drumming

fills ears

and cold sweat holds me and shaking

grips me all, greener than grass

I am and dead--or almost

I seem to me.

Sappho, fragment 31

"It is a poem about the lover's mind in the act of constructing desire for itself."

"There are three points of transformation on a circuit of possible relationship, electrified by desire so that they touch not touching. Conjoined they are held apart. The third component plays a paradoxical role for it both connects and separates, marking that two are not one, irradiating the absence whose presence is demanded by eros. When the circuit-points connect, perception leaps. And something becomes visible. . . . The difference between what is and what could be is visible."

***

"A space must be maintained or desire ends."

As a sweet apple turns red on a high branch,

high on the highest branch and the applepickers

     forgot--

well, no they didn't forget--were not able to reach

. . .

Sappho, fragment 105a

"The poem is incomplete, perfectly."

". . . this poem acts out the experience of eros. . . . Sappho begins with a sweet apple and ends in infinite hunger. From her inchoate little poem we learn several thins about eros. The reach of desire is defined in action: beautiful (in its object), foiled (in its attempt), endless (in time)."

***

"Eros is an issue of boundaries. He exists because certain boundaries do. In the interval between reach and grasp, between glance and counterglance, between 'I love you' and 'I love you too,' the absent presence of desire comes alive. But the boundaries of time and glance and I love you are only aftershocks of the main, inevitable boundary that creates Eros: the boundary of flesh and self between you and me. And it is only, suddenly, at the moment when I would dissolve that boundary, I realize I never can."

***

"Words do have edges. So do you."

"There is something uniquely convincing about the perceptions that occur to you when you are in love. The seem truer than other perceptions, and more truly your own, won from reality at personal cost. . . . All at once a self never known before, which now strikes you as the true one, is coming into focus. A gust of godlikeness may pass through you and for an instant a great many things look knowable, possible and present. Then the edge asserts itself. You are not a god. You are not that enlarged self. Indeed, you are not even a whole self, as you know see.Your new knowledge of possibilities is also a knowledge of what is lacking in the actual."

"Desire changes the lover. . . . The change gives him a glimpse of a self he never knew before."

***

"In writing, beauty prefers an edge."

***

"Let us superimpose on the question 'What does the lover want from love' the questions 'What does the reader want from reading? What is the writer's desire?' Novels are the answer."

***

"To create pleasure and pain at once is the novelist's aim."

"Novels institutionalize the ruse of eros. It becomes a narrative texture of sustained incongruence, emotional and cognitive. It permits the reader to stand in triangular relation to the characters in the story and reach into the text after the objects of their desire, sharing their longing but also detached from it, seeing their view of reality but also its mistakenness. It is almost like being in love."

***

"All lovers believe they are inventing love."

"The novelists who constructs this moment of emotional and cognitive interception is making love, and you are the object of his wooing."

***

"Written letters have the presence and authority of a third person, who is witness, judge and conduit of erotic charges. Letters are the mechanism of erotic paradox, at once connective and separative, painful and sweet. Letters construct the space of desire and kindle in those contradictory emotions that keep the lover alert to his own impasse. Letters arrest and complicate an existing two-term situation by conjuring a third person who is not literally there, making suddenly visible the difference between what is. . . . and what could be. . . . From within letters, Eros acts."

***

"As you perceive the edge of yourself at the moment of desire, as you perceive the edges of words from moment to moment in reading (or writing), you are stirred to reach beyond perceptible edges--toward something else, something not yet grasped. The unplucked apple, the beloved just out of touch, the meaning not quite attained, are desirable objects of knowledge. It is the enterprise of eros to keep them so."

***

"Sokrates' central argument, as he goes on to reevaluate madness, is that you keep your mind to yourself at the cost of closing out the gods. Truly good and indeed divine things are alive and active outside you and should be let in to work their changes. Such incursions formally instruct and enrich our lives in society; no prophet or healer or poet could practice his art if he did not lose his mind, Sokrates says (244a-45). Madness is the instrument of such intelligence. More to the point, erotic mania is a valuable thing in private life. It puts wings on your soul."

"When you fall in love you feel all sorts of sensations inside you, painful and pleasant at once: it is your wings sprouting (251-52). It is the beginning of what you are meant to be."

***

"In any act of thinking, the mind must reach across this space between known and unknown, linking one to the other but also keeping visible their difference. It is an erotic space. . . . When the mind reaches out to know, the space of desire opens and a necessary fiction transpires."

Sidewalk Concert

Leo: sings "Harmony" at full volume in ascending tones
Friend: "I don't think you know what 'harmony' means."
Me, grabs air mic and announces: "Ladies, today Leo B will be playing the role of Annoying Little Brother and perform the amazing feat of singing solo harmony! #posterity The Humor Code

Notes on a Book Club Evening

From Rebecca Solnit's 2015 essay, "80 Books No Woman Should Read,"

"There are good and great books on the Esquire list, though even Moby-Dick, which I love, reminds me that a book without women is often said to be about humanity, but a book with women in the foreground is a woman's book. And that list would have you learn about women from James M. Cain and Philip Roth, who just aren't the experts you should go to, not when the great oeuvres of Doris Lessing and Louise Erdrich and Elena Ferrante exist."

which gave me the courage, together with my own reading of Erdrich in 2006, to suggest "The Master Butcher's Singing Club," by Louise Erdrich for our founding meeting.

It's an imperfect or inconsistent novel, which makes it easy to dismiss in frustration and also easy to forgive and enter into its magical moments--Eva's kitchen, in flight with Franz and Eva, beneath the earth with Marcus, standing on a street selling all your sausages with Fidelis. All of the characters revolve around Delphine. She is a fine woman from whom to learn about women. She creates herself and her story, never compromising what she sees as truth and also bearing the knowledge that at the heart of every person lives a secret, either one they hold or one that is withheld from them.

This first of book club meetings I hosted and prepared a feast. In fine form, I did not inform the guests that dinner would be served. Having eaten with their families at home, or eaten on the fly commuting to my home, they persisted to dine, nevertheless. Duck fat spread on thick, white bread with salt and red onion, and sausages (nod to the butcher, Fidelis), and ratatouille and salad (nod to Eva's garden, where I want to live forever). Chocolates and red wine, nod to our own desires.

tweet

when instead of asking, "Is that a man or woman," I said, you should have asked, "What pronouns do they prefer?" And he said, "Why are you making this difficult?" (Why are you disrupting my funny anecdote?) Snap. I felt firm in my role as a feminist killjoy thanks to @SaraNAhmed 

Top Ten

turkish delight

wide-brimmed straw hats in summer

jasmine pearl tea

eyewear

outdoor fruit and vegetable markets

tepertős pogácsa

freshly ground peanut butter

peanut butter on toast with tabasco and cucumber slices

baking bread

being in my body

whiskey, neat

pockets

Széchenyi Fürdő

my mother's dumplings

rocking chairs

scarves

giving books I love to people I think might love them too

The Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter

diners

grandma Kelley's rice casserole

Le Mans Hall

midwives

Spencer Tunick

wool socks, knee-high, with stripes in the winter

clowns

"In My Mind" by Amanda Palmer

bread and butter

cooking split-pea soup

democracy

church bells

Gellért Fürdő

African chicken and peanut soup from the New England Soup Factory

martini with blue cheese stuffed olives

1059 Riverside

gesztenyepüré

Greek yogurt with honey, in Greece

listening to my kids giggle and play after the lights are out at bedtime

bodza

Book Club

Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins

Rome

sunflowers

Indigo Girls

dandelions

sleep

Warren Dunes State Park

french fries

Ted Kooser

blue

the fact that baking bread is so simple

clean pressed sheets

One Billion Rising

walking by a lilac bush in bloom

holding hands

playgrounds

NPR

PBS

hard wood floors

handmade afghans

coffee

Jeune Homme Nu Assis au Bord de la Mer, by Jean- Hippolyte Flandrin

marching bands

HONK! festival of activist street bands

my clever, funny friend

roasted chestnuts

Rachel flodnija

birdie sing in the tree, woo woo woo, wee wee wee, I love you and you love me

Henszlmann Imre utca, 5

cuckoo clocks

handwritten letters

potluck dinners

Kelet Kávézó

Pad Thai in Budapest

tabasco sauce

massage

Amanda Palmer

marathons, watching them

hiking, with the right shoes

chocolate chip cookies, baking them

snorkling

Gloucester

public schools

#metoo

neighbors

pie crust

yellow roses

Orange Theory Fitness

the truth

Will Have Sex for Chipotle

To the woman who ran her car into my daughter's bicycle in a crosswalk, I say, accidents happen and its okay. I say this to her on my blog because what she did after my daughter was knocked to the ground was not okay. She got out and yelled at my daughter. “She said it was my fault. She yelled that I damaged her car.” Then she got in her car. And left. My daughter is 10 years old. She was alone, bleeding, and her bicycle handlebars were bent so that she couldn’t bike. Accidents happen. Being cold-hearted to child is a choice.

When I arrived by bike a few minutes later, two men from a nearby building were there. One had already brought tools to fix her bike. They were kind and helpful. One of them was wearing a white t-shirt with black letters that said, “Will have sex for Chipotle.”

I decided to get back on the bike and take Iza to computer programming day camp, as planned. Then I returned to the accident scene to thank the men. Those men did a good thing today. To the woman who had an accident and then behaved badly, here I am. If you find me, I am willing to forgive you.

Found List

I found this on Bartok Bela street. A street filled with galleries, coffee shops, and gallery-coffee shops. This is a list of highly ordinary things. Still, its good to make a list. #fundamentals #budapest

Situation: ________

I looked down and stepped over this folded up notecard (the kind you use to make notes for a research paper, old school style). When I turned back to investigate, I opened up the folds and found this life-hack map. So useful. Found on Park Street, Brookline. I return it to the universe here.

A Spekuláns Emberei / The Blacklist

(English translation below)

Figyelő

2018.04.12 - (18,19. oldal) - [9441302]

A spekuláns emberei

NÉVSOROLVASÁS Több száz Sorosnak, illetve az általa pénzelt szervezeteknek dolgozó embert tudtunk azonosítani, miután a milliárdos egykori bizalmasa kikotyogta, mekkora lehet a magyar hálózat.

Legalább kétezer ember dolgozik Magyarországon, hogy érvényre juttassa Soros György akaratát - ismerte el egy hangfelvétel tanúsága szerint Tracie Ahern, a Soros Fund Management, azaz a spekuláns amerikai hedge fundjának, pénzügyi alapjának korábbi vezetője. A Magyar Idők által közzétett dokumentum alapján azt is mondta, erre a célra Soros már több milliárd dollárt költött. Orbán Viktor miniszterelnök a "zsoldosok" kifejezést használta.

Megpróbáltunk utánajárni, pontosan kikről van szó, így átnéztük a milliárdoshoz közvetlenül vagy akár csak közvetve kötődő, jelentősebb magyarországi szervezetekben dolgozók névsorát - már ahol egyáltalán van ilyen. A teljes feltérképezés bajosan lehetséges, ahogy azt sem lehet bizonyosan megmondani valakiről, hogy tudatában van-e annak, kinek is dolgozik, vagy éppen milyen küldetést teljesít.

Egyetemes alakok

Mindazonáltal előkelő helyen szerepelhetnek a lajstromban a CEU-n oktató tanárok, így mások mellett Balázs Péter egykori külügyminiszter, Barabási Albert László, Bokros Lajos volt pénzügyminiszter, Boytha György, Csaba László, Cole Durham, Yehuda Elkana, Allen Feldman, Patrick J. Geary,

Ernest Gellner, Herbert Gintis, Hanák Péter, Donald L. Horowitz, Julius Horvath, Karády Viktor, Kis János volt SZDSZ-alapító, Kornai János közgazdász, Klaniczay Gábor, John Doyle Klier, Will Kymlicka, Michael Miller, Anton Pelinka, Perczel István, Jacek Rostowsik volt lengyel pénzügyér, Sajó András alapító, az Emberi Jogok Európai Bíróságának a balos kormányok által delegált volt tagja, Tóth István György, Ürge-Vorsatz Diána, Várady Tibor, Enyedi Zsolt, illetve mindenekelőtt Michael Ignatieff rektor. A felügyelőbizottság tiszteletbeli elnöke maga Soros, az ügyvezető elnök pedig Leon Botstein, aki vezető tisztséget tölt be a CEU "testvéregyetemében", a Bard College-ban is. A nemzetközi testület egyetlen magyar tagja Chikán Attila közgazdász, az Orbán-kormány nagy kritikusa. Bár nem szerepel semmilyen állományban, nem lehet kihagyni Demszky Gábort, az intézmény útját főpolgármesterként egyengető volt szabaddemokratát, ahogy az oktatási miniszterként besegítő, a milliárdos érdekeit ma is képviselő Magyar Bálintot.

Akárcsak egykori párttársukat, a Magyar Helsinki Bizottság alapítóját, Kőszeg Ferencet. Ez a szervezet az egyik "ékköve" a hazai hálózatnak, jelenleg Pardavi Márta és Kádár András Kristóf társelnök vezeti. Munkatársaik Alföldi András, Bakonyi Anikó, Barcza-Szabó Zita, Gál Anikó, Gruąa Matevľič, Fazekas Tamás, Győző Gábor, Gyulai Gábor, Ibos Anna, Iványi Borbála, Kirs Eszter, Kovács Petra Helga, Léderer András, Moldova Zsófia, Németh Dóra, Novoszádek Nóra, Pohárnok Barbara, Aiski Ryokas, Seregély Ágnes, Simai Anna, Somogyvári Zoltán, Sparing Stefánia, Szegő Dóra, Szekeres Zsolt, Tarnai Dóra, Tóth Balázs, Tüske Anna, Vig Dávid, Zádori Zsolt.

Fontos szerepet tölt be a jogvédő munkában az Amnesty International, amely a terrorizmusért elítélt, a magyar rendőröket a déli határon megdobáló Ahmed H. mellett aláírásgyűjtéssel is kiállt. Elnöke Fülöp Ágnes, az elnökség tagja még Sütő Péter, Le Kim Evelin, Alexy Norbert, Jósa Bálint és Lipcsei Szilárd. Munkatársaik: Iván Júlia igazgató, Demeter Áron, Mérő Vera, Horváth Noé, Landy Annamária, Sztraka Andrea, Csákány Viktória, Jeney Orsolya.

A Társaság a Szabadságjogokért (TASZ) elnökségében Bíró Ágota, Kállai Ernő volt kisebbségi ombudsman és a CEU-n is oktató Sándor Judit szerepel. Munkatársaik: Asbóth Márton, Baltay Levente, Bartakovics Balázs, Benkő Flóra, Bognár Zoltán, Bordás Róbert, Boros Ilona, Döbrentey Dániel, Dojcsák Dalma, Fernezelyi Borbála, Gyárfás Vera, Harmat Gabriella, Hegedűs Arno, Hegyi Szabolcs, Hüttl Tivadar, Jovánovics Eszter, Kapronczay Stefánia, Kardos Tamás, Kertész Anna, Milanovich Dominika, Mráz Attila, Rubi Anna, Szabó Attila, Szabó Máté Dániel, Szegi Péter, Szeles András, Torma Judit, Tóth Anita, Várkonyi Réka, Velényi Réka, Vissy Beatrix,

Zeller Judit.

A korrupcióellenességet világszinten űző Transparency International magyarországi ügyvezető igazgatója Martin József Péter, jogi igazgatója Ligeti Miklós, működési igazgatója Papp Krisztina. Munkatársaik: Nagy Gabriella, Salgó Ella, Sebestyén Diána, Mucsi Gyula és Rechnitzer Dóra.

A balos ellenzék közös államfőjelöltje, a kormányellenes tüntetések lelkes szónoka, Majtényi László vezeti a Soros által szintén jelentős támogatással dotált Eötvös Károly Intézetet. Itt dolgozik még Somody Bernadette, Miklósi Zoltán, Köves Nóra, Lázár Domokos, Pásztor Emese és Zsugyó Virág.

Az egykor az LMP-s Szél Bernadettnek is munkát adó Menedék - Migránsokat Segítő Szervezet munkatársai: Adóba Éva, Aradi Eszter, Bálint Petra, Barcza Ildikó, Berta Judit, Bisztrai Márton, Bognár Katalin, Csizovszki Dávid, Faragó Renáta, Forgách Péter, Ftaimi Ahmed, Gajdos Bea, Gervai Gábor, Hassan Anab, Hetzer Katalin, Jávor Kata, Jenei Orsolya, Katona Noémi, Kertai Brigitta, Kiss Szilárd, Kováts András igazgató, továbbá Lakatos Zsombor, László Zsuzsa, Lovig Tímea, Marosváry Barbara, Mécs János, Medjesi Anna, Nezam Ilaha, Papp Aranka, Perák Zsuzsanna, Pisák György, Ragályi Lili, Sándor Kornél, Schuller Csaba, Szabó Krisztina, Szabóné Lippényi Dóra, Szász Ildikó, Szük Borbála, V. Szabó Júlia és Zentai Lilla - közülük a legtöbben szociális munkásként tevékenykednek.

Áttételes kötődés

A már inaktív, a magyar államot több fórumon is a szegregáció vádjával perlő Esélyt a Hátrányos Helyzetű Gyermekekért Alapítvány kisebb stábbal dolgozott, ám fontos megemlíteni vezetőit, Mohácsi Erzsébetet és Ujlaky Andrást, továbbá Kegye Adél ügyvédet, aki a hasonló portfóliójú Rosa Parks Alapítvány munkájában máig részt vállal.

Kapott pénzt Sorostól a K-Monitor oknyomozó portál is, így Léderer Sándor, Barsi Orsi, Juhász Attila, Merényi M. Miklós és Vincze Orsolya. A Nyílt Társadalom Alapítványok is segítik a Direkt36 csapatát: Pethő Andrást,

Sáling Gergőt, Szabó Andrást, Vorák Anitát, Weyer Balázst, Wirth Zsuzsannát, Zöldi Blankát, Galambos Mártont, Ellen Hume-ot, Orbán Sándort.

Szintén jutott forrás a Romaversitas Alapítványnak, amelynek egykori vezetője, Daróczi Gábor egy ideig Karácsony Gergely árnyékkormányában vállalt szerepet. Ott dolgozik ma is Dinók Henriett, Paskó Ildi, Visy Katalin és Kadét Ernő, a kuratórium tagja Bogdán Mária, a volt SZDSZ-es Horváth Aladár, Józsa Márta, Kóczé Angéla és Szőke Sándor.

Bár Gulyás Márton aktivista tagadja, hogy Soros pénzelné, akárcsak a Migration Aid-es Siewert András, valamilyen formában korábban mind élvezték a milliárdos támogatását. Nem találtuk nyomát listának, de a Nyílt Társadalom Alapítványok budapesti irodájában, mivel régiós központ, állítólag százan dolgoznak, köztük hatvan magyar. Elődjét, a Magyar Soros Alapítványt egy ideig Halmai Gábor vezette, s támogatták mások mellett György Péter esztéta törekvéseit.

*Csanády András

ENGLISH

Figyelő


4.12.2018. pp.18-19.


by Andras Csanady



People Under Speculation


CALLING OUT NAMES We were able to identify hundreds of people who are working for Soros or organizations funded by him, since a trusted source of the billionaire accidentally babbled out how big the Hungarian network can be.


At least 2.000 people work in Hungary in order to make the will of George Soros come true,
acknowledged Tracie Ahern on a recording. Ahern is former financial leader of Soros Fund Management, which is the American speculator’s hedge fund. Based on a document that was published by Magyar Idok, she also said that Soros had already spent billions of dollars for this end. Prime Minister Viktor Orban used the expression "Soros mercenaries."

We tried to investigate exactly who these people are, therefore we examined the list of employees in those main Hungarian organizations that are directly or indirectly connected to the billionaire – if there is such a list, at all. It is rather difficult to make a full list, as it also cannot be said of anyone for sure, whether they are aware who they work for, or what kind of mission they are carrying out.


University people


No matter what, CEU professors take a prominent position on the list. Among others, they are former Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Balazs, Laszlo Albert-Barabasi, former Minister of Finance Lajos Bokros, Gyorgy Boytha, Laszlo Csaba, Cole Durham, Yehuda Elkana, Allen Feldman, Patrick J. Geary, Ernest Gellner, Herbert Gintis, Peter Hanak, Donald L. Horowitz, Julius Horvath, Viktor Karady, former SZDSZ founder Janos Kis, Economist Janos Kornai, Gabor Klaniczay, John Doyle Klier, Will Kymlicka, Michael Miller, Anton Pelinka, Istvan Perczel, former Polish Minister of Finance Jacek Rostowsik, the delegate of


leftist governments to the European Court of Human Rights Andras Sajo, Gyorgy Toth Istvan, Diana Urge-Vorsatz, Tibor Varady, Zsolt Enyedi, and above all President and Rector Michael Ignatieff. The honorary chair of the Board of Trustees is Soros himself, the Chair is Leon Botstein, who holds a prominent position at Bard College, the "sister-university" of CEU. The only Hungarian member of the international board is Economist Attila Chikan, who is a big critic of the Orban government. Although he does not appear on any employee list, Gabor Demszky cannot be left out. As the liberal Mayor of the City, he was the one who evened the path of the institution. Balint Magyar cannot be left out of the list either. He used to help in as Minister of Education and he still represents the interests of the billionaire.


Founder of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and former [liberal] party member Ferenc Koszeg cannot be forgotten either. This organization is one of the "crown jewels" of the Hungarian network, currently led by Marta Pardavi and Kristof Kadar Andras co-chairs. They work together with Andras Alfoldi, Aniko Bakonyi, Zita Barcza-Szabo, Aniko Gal, Gruąa Matevic, Tamas Fazekas, Gabor Gyozo, Gabor Gyulai, Anna Ibos, Borbala Ivanyi, Eszter Kirs, Petra Helga Kovacs, Andras Lederer, Zsofia Moldova, Dora Nemeth, Nora Novoszadek, Barbara Poharnok, Aiski Ryokas, Agnes Seregely, Anna Simai, Zoltan Somogyvari, Stefania Sparing, Dora Szego, Zsolt Szekeres, Dora Tarnai, Balazs Toth, Anna Tuske Anna, David Vig, Zsolt Zadori.


Amnesty International plays a central role in the human rights campaign, which has also stood by and started a petition for Ahmed H. who was sentenced for terrorism and threw rocks at policemen at the southern border. Its president is Agnes Fulop, other members of the leadership are Peter Suto, Le Kim Evelin, Norbert Alexy, Balint Josa and Szilard Lipcsei. Staff: Director Julia Ivan, Aron Demeter, Vera Mero, Noe Horvath, Annamaria Landy, Andrea Sztraka, Viktoria Csakany, Orsolya Jeney. In the chairmanship of TASZ Agota Biro, former minority ombudsman Erno Kallai and CEU Professor Judit Sandor also appears.


Fellow workers: Marton Asboth, Levente Baltay, Balazs Bartakovics, Flora Benko, Zoltan Bognar, Robert Bordas, Ilona Boros, Daniel Dobrentey, Dalma Dojcsak, Borbala Fernezelyi, Vera Gyarfas, Gabriella Harmat, Arno Hegedus, Szabolcs Hegyi, Tivadar Huttl, Eszter Jovanovics, Stefania Kapronczay, Tamas Kardos, Anna Kertesz, Dominika Milanovich, Attila Mraz, Anna Rubi, Attila Szabo, Daniel Szabo Mate, Peter Szegi, Andras Szeles, Judit Torma, Anita Toth, Reka Varkonyi, Reka Velenyi, Beatrix Vissy, Judit Zeller.



Transparency International does anticorruption on a world-class level, its executive director is Martin Jozsef Peter, its legal director is Miklos Ligeti, the Chief Operating Officer is Krisztina Papp. Their staff is Gabriella Nagy, Ella Salgo, Diana Sebestyen, Gyula Mucsi and Dora Rechnitzer.


The opposition’s candidate for president, spirited speaker of anti-government protests, Laszlo Majtenyi leads the Karoly Eotvos Institute that receives substantial funds from Soros. Bernadette Somody, Zoltan Miklosi, Nora Koves, Domokos Lazar, Emese Pasztor and Virag Zsugyo works here.


The staff of Menedek (Hungarian Association for Migrants) that has given work for Bernadett Szel (politician of Hungarian party LMP - Politics Can Be Different) is the following: Eva Adoba, Eszter Aradi, Petra Balint, Ildiko Barcza, Judit Berta, Marton Bisztrai, Katalin Bognar, David Csizovszki, Renata Farago, Peter Forgach, Ahmed Ftaimi, Bea Gajdos, Gabor Gervai, Anab Hassan, Katalin Hetzer, Kata Javor, Orsolya Jenei, Noemi Katona, Brigitta Kertai, Szilard Kiss, Director Andras Kovats, and Zsombor Lakatos,


Zsuzsa Laszlo, Timea Lovig, Barbara Marosvary, Janos Mecs, Anna Medjesi, Ilaha Nezam, Aranka Papp, Zsuzsanna Perak, Gyorgy Pisak, Lili Ragalyi, Kornel Sandor, Csaba Schuller, Krisztina Szabo, Dora Szabone Lippenyi, Ildiko Szasz, Borbala Szuk, Julia V. Szabo and Lilla Zentai – most of them work as social workers.


Secondary Connections


The now inactive Chance for Disadvantaged Children Foundation that has accused the Hungarian Government of segregation and has sued it on different fora, worked with a smaller staff, but it’s worth mentioning its leaders, who are Erzsebet Mohacsi and Andras Ujlaky, and Adel Kegye lawyer, who continues to work for the Rosa Parks Foundation, an organization with a similar profile. K-monitor, a site doing investigative journalism also got money from Soros, its staff is Sandor Lederer, Orsi Barsi, Attila Juhasz, Miklos Merenyi M. and Orsolya Vincze. The Open Society Foundations help the team of Direkt36, that is Andras Petho, Gergo Saling, Andras Szabo, Anita Vorak, Balazs Weyer, Zsuzsanna Wirth, Blanka Zoldi, Marton Galambos, Ellen Hume and Sandor Orban.


The Romaversitas Foundation, whose former leader, Gabor Daroczi was, for some time, member of Gergely Karacsony’s shadow cabinet, also benefitted. Its current employees include Henriett Dinok, Ildi Pasko, Katalin Visy and Erno Kadet, and members of its board of trustees include Maria Bogdan, Aladar Horvath (formerly of SZDSZ), Marta Jozsa, Angela Kocze and Sandor Szoke.


Although activist Marton Gulyas denies being financed by Soros, he, as well as Andras Siewert of Migration Aid, has enjoyed the billionaire’s support in one way or another. We haven’t found a list, but the Budapest office of the Open Society Foundation as a regional center allegedly employs a hundred employees, 60 of whom are Hungarian. Its predecessor, the Hungarian Soros Foundation was led by Gabor Halmai for a while, and supported, among others, the ambitions of aesthete Peter Gyorgy.

Diversity

This is posted in the entryway to my kids' elementary school in #Brookline, MA. Diversity is a value that has to be cultivated. As we age we become conservative and seek to protect our own inner circle. This is natural. However, it is conflict with reality. That is what education does. It builds on human culture. It allows us to retain our openness, evolve, accept reality as it changes in our lifetimes. #Budapest #Hungarian #Diversity

My Revolution Lives In This Body

#eveensler
#OBR
#riseinsolidarity

Men say Thank You

Men saying hank tou to the midwife who gave birth to fathers.

This short video was made in solidarity with Agnes Gereb, the imprisoned Hungarian midwife. She advocated for the presence of fathers at births in hospitals.

Please share.

https://youtu.be/qiuvKlXkyQM

The fathers are saying, “köszönöm” (thank you).

Kisfilm az apák méltóságáról, a férfiak szüléshez való viszonyáról. Hálamondás az apás szülés lehetőségéért.

#FreeGerebAgnes #budapest #riseinsolidarity#OBR #midwife #fathers

Agnes Gereb

Hungarian is the language of love. Not French. You will fall in love with a person speaking French. You learn Hungarian after you fall in love with a person when you discover their Hungarian origin. I did. And the language and the country and the man I fell in love with still leave me speechless at times. 

Today I am using my voice in solidarity with a Hungarian woman, Agnes Gereb, who was sentenced to two years in jail for charges relating to her practice as a midwife. Hungary, led by the nationalist, Viktor Orban, has passed public policy that encourages birth. For a country that knows its population (and power) are decreasing, there are seemingly only two responses: women have to give birth and refugees have to be turned away. In this country that seeks to create a culture that values family, at least procreation, it seems the ultimate irony that they simultaneously persecute a midwife. 

Yet it is far from ironic. It is cynical. It rings true for the famously pessimistic, long-suffering Hungarians. It is worse than cynical, however. It is tyrannical. It is the establishment (patriarchy, government, medicine) exercising power. It is rape. We should not limit rape to the invasion of a body. It does not do justice to the systematic abuse of power that seeks its own existence rather than serving the people. It is illiberal. Which is exactly what Orban has articulated. He seeks to create an illiberal democracy that controls its population rather than defends its citizens. 

Times up, Orban. My Hungarian friends in Budapest, where I lived with my two children for five years, see themselves as citizens first. They are outraged at Agnes’ incarceration. Their message is clear: We see Orban’s duplicity. We stand with Agnes Gereb and demand justice for her, for all of us. Hungarians need to act with their hearts, speaking the language of love, to defeat the cynicism that defines and limits them.

#midwife #Hungary #womensrights #birth #illiberal #Orban #OBR

Bitching

Hello,

I attended the Sunday 1:00 pm performance of the Wizard of Oz at the Opera House.I bought four tickets and attended with my daughter, a friend, and her daughter. The tickets were $119 and we were seated in the orchestra, row u, seats 105,106,107,108. We experienced two problems:

Handicapped seats were placed on both ends of our row. Both patrons were unable to stand once seated. This forced us to awkwardly crawl over an elderly lady to enter our seats and at intermission, even at the end of the show. Surely there must be a better solution?

Also, at intermission we went directly from our seats to the women's restroom. Nevertheless, my daughter and friend (who needed the facilities) were unable to do so in time. They missed two major musical scenes because of the long lines or lack of suitable women's restrooms. This is infuriating. After spending nearly $500 on tickets, I feel this is an unacceptable way to treat a patron. Especially a nine-year-old girl.

Many thanks for your attention,

Janet Kelley

RUSSIA i see you

I just had 141 visits to my blog yesterday. All from Russia. #yikes