No other party-affiliated German foundation puts on such a number of events for the public in Budapest as the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung).  Adenauer was the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany and the centre-right think-tank sees his principles as its guidelines, duty and obligation. It conducts education programmes which aim at promoting… Continue »

Michael Nicholson, chronicler of modern wars. The renowned British war reporter and writer Michael Nicholson (OBE) has witnessed 18 wars over the last 40 years. It is said that all’s fair in love and war: reading his books and reports strongly suggest that this is true. In his memoir Measure of Danger, Nicholson records the events that television censors did not allow onto the screen, while Natasha’s Story tells the story of the girl he rescued from Sarajevo and adopted. The 1997 film on that subject Welcome to Sarajevo shocked viewers with its original footage of events in the Balkans. During a short visit to Budapest Nicholson, spoke about his experiences at a private reception at Brody House. The Budapest Times spoke to him about about western intervention, democracy, his sense of vocation, the suffering of the innocent and the PR apparatus of war. Continue »

On Saturday, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and
60 top lawmakers, ministers, central bank chiefs and trade union leaders met in
a “national summit” to swap theories concerning the impacts of the global
financial crisis on Hungary.
As anyone can clearly see, Hungary
is facing some very significant financial issues and is being hit quite hard by
the global financial crisis. Before going further with the content of the
national summit, however, I would like to first turn back the clock to try and
understand whether or not the Hungarian government is hiding something that is
far worse. What is the risk that Hungary itself will go bankrupt? Continue »

The
Budapest Times has received a wonderful story from Mr. Bernie Webb of Gettysburg, South
Dakota. Mr. Webb is a 69 year old historian who
tragically lost his wife, Diana Webb, to a stroke back on the morning of Nov.
1, 2006. Diana Webb was a talented artist who received numerous awards for her
art work. In 1958, Diana did a pencil drawing entitled “The Agony of Hungary”,
which was her portrayal of the suffering of the Hungarian people during the
1956 revolt and it was the winner of a district art contest that year.  Continue »

There are some outrageous rumors
floating around about huge sums of money being paid for just a lunch. As it
turns out, many of them are absolutely true. Evidently, a single, tiny branch
of Burger King in London
serves up the world’s most expensive burger ($190). It is made from the finest
Wagyu beef that is sprinkled with white truffles.  Continue »

Some countries hardly have any islands to worry about and others have so
many they can’t even keep track of them. The Indonesian government claims that Indonesia has
17,508 islands. The National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (established by
the former Indonesian president Suharto) claims the real number is more like
18,306 islands. Just last year on September 21st, an earthquake
registering 8.4 actually produced 6 new islands. Since so much of Indonesia
is subject considerable seismic activity, the task of counting islands is about
as easy as tracking the number of raindrops that hit your roof during a
downpour. Continue »

While most people have heard of the massive
trade deficit between the U.S.
and China,
perhaps only a few of us of have ever seen a ship this large. If you ever
wondered how Wal-Mart could find enough goods to fill it enormous stores, then
the answer is that this process is done using the monster vessel called the
Emma Maersk.  Continue »

I first want to establish that
renewable energy involves the usage of resources that can be naturally
replenished such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat. Some of
the leading renewable energy technologies currently available include solar
panels, wind turbines, hydropower, and engines that can run on biofuels. This
leads us to microgeneration, which is either an individual or a community
employing renewable energy technologies for the purposes of both satisfying
their energy needs and minimizing their environmental impact. Continue »

According to reports, authorities in Belgium have seized
documents, financial records and computer equipment from the local
branch of the Church of Scientology and then sealed off the building. Continue »

You are
probably thinking that this question has something to do with one’s ability to
party as a function their age. Nope. For those of us who are over the age of
twenty, there is one thing that we are too old to do: hear the Mosquito.   Continue »