A few days ago the AfD in Germany had three Bundestag members give speeches about how the liberals and greens and social democrats seek a totalitarian way of rule due to the repression of opposition parties likes the AfD and the new Wagenknecht party (Which is a weird fusion of right wing and left wing populism combined with a soft pro russian stance).
Out of the gate I think these are crocodile tears, but maybe you see this differently.

Hello. I am from the Balkans. I know very little about Slovakian politics. But now with the assassination attempt everybody is talking about this.
Could you tell me what were Juraj Cintula's beliefs? I read somewhere that he had started some progressive political movements and now everybody is focusing on his alleged endorsement of some 'russian linked paramilitary group'. Which makes no sense to me since Fico was drummed to be one of the more pro Russia leaning leaders in the EU.
Can you tell me what Juraj wrote about Russia and USA? Which side was he on in the UKR war?

I get frustrated with genius annotations, especially re: Vampire Weekend's discography. While I was reading through some of the lyrics last night, it struck me how surface level many of the associations are on the lyric page for "Ice Cream Piano," which is a shame for such a thematically rich song.
That said, I decided to take a stab at dissecting the song as a whole, while tying some of the more obscure references with themes in the larger project.

Verse 1

"Fuck the world," /you/ said it quiet No one could hear you, no one but /me/ "Cynical, you can't deny it" 

Ezra seems to be describing a conversation between "himself" and "his partner" reacting to an unspecified issue. "She" reacted to something, and "he" criticizes that reaction. However, there is some ambiguity regarding who exactly is saying the last line; is it the singer himself, or is he quoting her as he did the opening line?
This ambiguity is a carried theme throughout the rest of the song, and as the lyrics continue, which side is throwing out accusations becomes less relevant. The implied goal of these first lines is to frame the rest of the song as an argument between two individuals, and to show the sneaky ways in which their conflicting viewpoints mirror each other.
I think it's important to mention here that, ahead of "Father of the Bride," Ezra spoke about wanting to move away from the more impressionistic style present in earlier Vampire Weekend records and experiment in writing lyrics where the general theme of the song can be understood in the first few lines. Furthermore, during the Zane Low release interview for "Only God Was Above Us," Ezra dove deep into the track listing process, stating he knew early on that "Ice Cream Piano" needed to be the opening track.
Knowing these two facts, these deceptively unassuming lines in fact carry a significant weight. Where the high-level reading describes a conflict between two individuals, the deeper understanding is that they each represent a conflicting philosophy or idea -- a conflict that will serve as the central thematic core for the album as a whole.

"You don't want to win this war 'cause you don't want the peace Armistice, /we/ never tried it *You're* the soldier, *I'm* police Listen, baby, we can't deny it You don't want to win this war 'cause you don't want the peace" 

As this section of the song is accompanied by a second vocal track, we can assume these lines as sung to each other, implying that their only point of agreement is the recognition of the other's uncompromising nature.
Armistice, simply stopping conflict, is so beyond an option because they're hypocrites -- criticizing the other based on one's subjective position. In her eyes, he's the soldier; in his, police. In this metaphor, one serves as the agitator and the other as defender.

Verse 2

The word was weaponized as soon as it had passed your lips 

The "word" here seems to be either war or peace. But with either it's a loaded offer because, as implied earlier, they're not engaging with the other's viewpoint in good faith and, as such, their criticisms are unfounded. His distaste towards cynicism and her more myopically aligned viewpoint sit diametrically opposed. Their definition of peace is incompatible. As the music builds, it seems to come in conflict with Ezra's vocals; he's nearly shouting as they climb and create a barrage of competing sounds.

I am a gentleman, I refuse to show my gentleness Fuck around and find out, the angry child recites this every day The universe will pry out, the truth which is you've got nothin' to say 

What's interesting about this verse is that, on first reading, the beginning of each statement seems to support the last -- as if said by the same person. However, on closer inspection it seems as though the following mocks the prior; "I am a gentleman, I refuse to show my gentleness" is clearly self contradictory -- as are the other two when read as single statements.
When split at their conflicting point as "I am a gentleman," and separately, "I refuse to show my gentleness," it continues to follow the theme set in Verse 1 of a conversation between two individuals. So, the verse can be read as:

I am a gentleman, I refuse to show my gentleness Fuck around and find out, the angry child recites this every day The universe will pry out, the truth which is you've got nothin' to say 

When one side says something, the other interrupts and mocks that statement. This pattern can be observed in the following two lines. However, by choosing to frame both the initial statement and its contradiction in the first person, Ezra is able to explore the narcissism present in the respective ideologies of the two individuals. They cannot see past their own egos to agree with the other, because the criticisms levied by one are exactly those which the other is accusing them of. As the verse continues, this rising tension and anger becomes more pointed and prevents either side from finishing a complete statement, the screams of one silence the other; and as they are both screaming, neither is able to say anything of import.

Fuck around and find out, the angry child recites this every day 

Following this, the second line is a slightly more direct accusation, presumably in the third person.

The universe will pry out, the truth which is you've got nothin' to say 

The final line is a direct accusation, and the only of the three in second person.
It becomes clear here that Ezra seems to be less interested in the specific opposing ideas and more in the conflict between the two, and the dissonance between that conflict and each of the participant's apparent similarities. The words each one says are weaponized before they are even uttered, demolishing any chance for good faith discussion.

Chorus

In dreams, I scream piano, I softly reach the high note The world don't recognize a singer who won't sing 

There are a couple bits of wordplay happening here, outside of the dream imagery.
The first, and most obvious, is the phrasing of "Ice Cream Piano" in the title and "I Scream Piano" in the verse; pointing back to the song's overarching metaphor, "Ice Cream Piano" and "I Scream Piano" are simple homophones, which is to say they are two different phrases spoken the same way -- here, two ideas saying the same thing.
The second bit of wordplay is the actual usage of "I scream piano." Ezra is purposefully employing the Italian-rooted musical usage of "piano" which, when present in a composition, means to play that section quietly. The second half of the line turns yet another self-contradictory observation into a double-entendre; the "screaming" piano is softened by the instruction of "piano."
The first line of the chorus, when coupled with the second, paints a picture of someone who desperately wants to express their beliefs but, whether it be because the screams are quiet or because screams themselves are not songs, the "singer" and their "song" are rejected by the world at large.
Framing this whole verse as a dream connects these ideas to the larger themes of the song, as being unable to run or scream in a dream is a fairly common experience for people, it seems as though Ezra is using the chorus here to highlight the end of the second verse, "the truth which is you've got nothing to say."
Another equally valid analysis is to literalize the quiet screaming; the anger and animosity between the couple motivates them only to scream, and never to sing. Their unending fighting reduces any opportunity for growth through debate to rubble; at this point, they just don't fucking like each other.

Verse 3

You talk of Serbians, whisper Kosovar Albanians The boy's Romanian, third generation Transylvanian I see the vampires walkin', don't be gripped by fear, you aren't next We're all the sons and daughters of vampires who drained the old world's necks 

Russian iconography is further mentioned throughout "Only God Was Above Us," and serves as one of the more important throughlines of the album -- connecting Ezra's familial history in Eastern Europe, their ties with Russia, and its relationship to modern issues. This, as the first reference in the album to Russia at large, works as a bit of place setting.
Here, the specific namedrops highlight the same conflict described earlier in the song; the Serbians and Kosovo were once a united country as Yugoslavia, but were split by civil war as a result of fundamental ideological differences at the end of the last millennium. Moreover, the usage of "talk" versus "whisper" implies open discussion about the first (Serbia) and the need to sweep the more complicated history of the second (The Kosovar Albanians, the Kosovo War) under the rug.
The conflict between Romania, Kosovo, and Serbia is a deeply complicated and delicate situation that spans generations of ideological and political conflict. The mention of the Romanian's history surrounded by the context of Serbia and Kosovo, and the subsequent criticism of that observation, again highlights the nature of the conflict between the two individuals in the song: where one recognizes the material legacy of these terrible "vampires," the other points out that the new generation is not the old, and are not necessarily beholden to their crimes or traditions.

Chorus 2

In dreams, I scream piano, I softly reach the high note The world don't recognize a singer who won't sing 

Outro / Chorus 3

In dreams, I scream piano, I softly reach the high note The world don't recognize a singer who won't sing 

The repetition of the choruses at the end of the song, combined with the strong call-and-response of the instrumentation between and after the chorus and outro sections, points towards an unending conflict. By the end of the song's narrative, neither side has arrived at a compromise. In reference to the album, "Ice Cream Piano" serves as a massive "YOU ARE HERE" marker on a larger map of western and American political culture. There's a pretty clear line to draw from the struggle between the two characters described in this song and the ouroboric nature of modern-day political discourse, as we witness two parties cannibalize each other in an attempt to garner support from a majority of peoples. But to say that's the entire message of the song feels reductive to the incredible songwriting here. Even that conclusion lends to the broader observation of two ideas that exist only to oppose the other.
Fuckin Ezra, man

Hi.
I took the Greek A2 language test yesterday at the University of Cyprus. I am trying to get long term residency since I want GESY and since in a few years my drivers license will expire and the USA will not give its citizens a drivers license unless they live there.
If you live in any EU country you can get long term residency permit after 5 years, with some countries requiring a language certificate. Cyprus requires that you pass the tests at the A2 level.
Probably 95% of the people there were Russians, Ukrainians, and Belorussians.
Anyway, as with all things in this country, the people who administer the test are not very helpful. They are actually in Greece, but the local test is handle by the Cyprus government Υρογργειο παιδείας αθλητισμογ και βεολαιαδ (Minister of Education, Sports, and Culture.)
The Greek office is not very helpful either but they do answer the phone. For example it's difficult to find out when you can register for the test. When you open the registration web page and registration is closed the web page just gives an error. No information.
Anyway, I thought it would be useful to write up everything I learned about the test format, how well you need to know Greek, how to sign up, how to get old tests, what to study, etc., since I had to figure this out the hard way (by myself). Hope this helps you.
https://www.facebook.com/cyprusexplained/posts/pfbid027MBB88PyopLobo3ojSiSMfaFtziGQxVRJyvfV7wdcB3aBJnvhQFnumm2kupymDt6l

So I have been following Israeli politics for some time now (especially after October 7th), but there are some things that I do not fully understand. The sources I have are usually heavily biased towards either Israel or Palestine, so I cannot get the correct picture easily.
And the one thing that kinda interested me is the Israeli protests (which, as I understand, began in early 2023, were set on pause due to the war, and then started again recently). Originally, IIRC, they focused primarily on internal politics, such as attempts by Netanyahu's government to forego the constitutional court, but are now also about the war, or at least how the war is waged.
What I do not understand is how much these protests are about the war. Suppose the protests lead for Netanyahu's resignation and the formation of a new government. How much is Israel's policy in Gaza, and Palestine in general, bound to change? Would we expect negotiations to begin right away, or would the new government probably still continue the invasion? How much are protesters motivated by the war?
The reason I am asking here is that the normal sources I rely on are, as I said, biased towards one side or the other, and I found that such biases prevent a correct reading of the situation inside the country. For instance, regarding Russian society and the Russo-Ukrainian War. I have heard claims that "all Russians are imperialists who support Putin and the war", "the people who oppose Putin simply want the war to be done more efficiently", "no Russian will accept the return of Crimea", etc.. But as a person who lives inside Russia, I know that this isn't true, because there are lots of people here who hate Putin, hate the war, and would even be willing to leave Crimea if that would mean peace. So I know that these accusations are baseless and biased.
Now, regarding Israel, I have heard similar claims - that all Israelis hate Palestinians, that all protesters are asking is for even more brutal war, that even without Netanyahu the invasion would continue, etc.. And I wonder if these claims are also baseless, made by people with an anti-Israeli bias. Of course Israel and Russia are very different countries and the wars they wage are also very different, hence why I am asking here.

Hi everyone,I hope you are all well.
It's been months and weeks since I read {heated rivalry by Racheal Reid} (chef's kiss) ,,that book is perfect. I love everything about Ilya and Shane Hollander. Now for a while I have been craving a book with a Russian mc,maybe be sports,gang/mafia who is not familiar with the English language. I want the MC to have trouble expressing himself in English, just like Ilya,when he speaks broken English and sometimes expresses himself in the Russian language without knowing. It's just so cute and I can stop loving that.
One of the book I have interacted with is {Winging it by Ashlyn Kane} though in this book,the Russian mc was a side character.
I just love the way Russian speak English, here's an example form Swinging it by Ashlynn Kane. “Please. I know I’m not deserve—but I fuck up, with Gabe. I think, I’m apologize—except how?” This is Kitty speaking and I think it's cute.
Please share a recommendation,,,and lemme know if Kitty has his own book.
Thank you good people 😊

Hi, since i'm rather an older grappler, i am always looking for some knowledge in order to have more clarity in the standing position (i didn't wrestle when i was younger). I have managed to have a "game" consisting on underhook, russian tie, snap downs and single leg attacks. I just saw there is a new Danaher's dvd and one chapter says: "When Foot to Foot Positioning is Impossible, Play the Positional Game - When the Feet are Back: Snaps and Drags. When the Feet are Forward: Ducks and Throw-bys. Too Much Resistance? Back to Single Leg", which seems like a good general cue to me. However, i started to think about Duck unders and throw-bys: i know they work very well when my opponent is resisting the snap down and trying to pop up his head, but i think another great chance is when my opponent is leaning into me, which for me also means that their feet are back. Would you agree with this or has anyone of you watched the dvd and could explain me what he means by that? Thank you and sorry for the long post.

A bit of a personal story on the topic. People really do feel younger by not having kids.
My family took me and immigrated to Bali Indonesia ten years ago from Russia for two years while my father still had work in Russia before the occupation of Crimea fucked our economy and made that lifestyle simply completely unaffordable. There I picked up surfing.
Bali has a “huge” Russian immigrant population, (I would estimate at least 100 000 on the island minimum at any given point.). When we moved there a lot of them moved there when they were in their 20s after uni and stayed. There was a certain subset of these Russians that picked up surfing and started opening surf schools for Russians kinda scamming them (no reason a russian who started surfing in their mid 20s should be charging 100$ an hour for a surf lesson when the Indonesians who surfed their whole life charge 4$ down the road).
Now on to the relevant thing, these people genuinely felt incredibly lost in their life. It felt like they almost froze in time with their age. No kids, no long term relationship, just living in a cycle of tourists come, you “scam” them, you live to see another day. It seems ok because the lifestyle is genuinely enjoyable, surf, sun with your buddies year in year out, but it left them with genuinely no other purpose in life other than to just cruise for the rest of their lives.
When we moved there and we kinda got to know some of them a little bit more, these people genuinely felt more friendly and more comfortable having me as their friend (a 13yo boy) than my parents (in their mid 30s at that point) because their lifestyle was genuinely more reminiscent of a 13yo who cares about nothing over people their age who have a family and responsibility (most of them were in the 30-35 range). It felt like they were completely uncomfortable talking to somebody like my parents who came to bali to give their sons an incredible life experience instead of just cruising and fucking around. They felt like my parents were twenty years older than them when they were the same age. They viewed me as their equal. Just how Hasan views his chat(plus the immense superiority) vs destiny I believe.
I see Hasán just how I see those people. Completely lost, frozen in time, doing the easiest possible thing they’re comfortable with like a child would. I’m sure he gets a quick twitch in his leg when he wakes up and remembers he is 32 with no progress in his perception of the world or any real responsibilities.

HDRezka APK app is a new official online cinema to watch movies and TV series with authorization system using your username and password. When you first downloaded the application you had to enter a working mirror yourself or receive it by writing an email to mirror@hdrezka.ag and in return you will receive a response with an up-to-date personal mirror. What will happen. Now you don’t need to do this. The mirror updates automatically upon startup. And you will be able to download it easily. The application currently has only Russian interface and also requires Android version of at least 6.0 Marshmallow to install on the device.
Full support for Android TV and remote control without ads. An official player from the Rezka website is built into the HDRezka APK application. So, all its functionalities for example skipping 5 seconds on pressing left right is also available. But if you want, you can use any external player. The HDRezka APK application has a built-in official player from the Rezka site. So all its functionalities, for example, skipping 5 seconds when pressing left/right, are also available. But if you want, you can use any external player. We want to tell you a lot more about this in further information. Which you will have to read very carefully so that you can know well about all its features.
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Title says it :) but are they worth it? I've only had nails down like two times just basic acrylics. I saw a nail salon near me does russian manicures and they had a 3hr appt time for it? and Nail extensions with no art is 90? does that seem about right?
Just wanted opinions on it before i book! <3 thanks in advance

I had a nasty cough around late FEB. It persisted for about six days. Lots of discharge. Seemed reminiscent of acute bronchitis (that I get once a year, in general). The residuals lasted a few weeks after (coughing with no production) which leads me to think it was pneumonia. Maybe.
Fast forward to the beginning of May and the nasty cough re-surfaced. Greatly elevated levels of discharge and fever the first couple of nights. Bad to the point of getting zero sleep over the first few days. Mid-week, I went in for an X-Ray and the docs said it might be TB which I have since learned is quite prevalent in this country. Did a follow-up CT scan a couple of days later and after the analysis came back, they said it could be either TB or pnuemonia.
The symptoms seem to have dimnished insofar as discharge is minimal (a few times a day, very light in color, practically clea sometimes bubbly) and I sleep more or less without issue. I took a week of broad-spectrum antibiotics after the effects were already diminshing (as directed). My wife now has a dry cough with nasal congestion, something I read is common for female TB-afflicted - this is after enjoying similar symptoms as desrcibed above.
I tried to track the "symptom progression stages" on google but had little luck outiside of "since the early 1700s" etc. For my part, I have not experienced loss of weight, appetite, or any more fevers or night-sweats (the latter in general being somewhat difficult to gauge as I've always been a fan of "sweat it out" - wearing a hoodie and winter pajamas under layers of blankets to nuke my body). I now sleep in my underwear without any current feve night sweat issues.
I'm a 38yr old human male, 173cm, 68kg. 10% body fat. Avid gym-goer (3-5 times a week). 95%+ of my food is healthy home-cooked stuff. I in general don't take any medicine for anything. Very much an "of my own flesh and will" kind of person. Also a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan with 2nd Ranger Battalion (exposed to burn barrels in '06 and millenia-old corpse/ fecal dust in Afghani sandstorms in '13). I've had a chronic light cough since...'13, though the VA docs have checked me and given me the all-clear numerous times since then. My wife, by comparison, takes ALL the meds in every circumstance.
When I DO get sick, it's 7 times out of 10 a lung-issue. Oh! When I was a baby I didn't get no tiddy milk. My wife (Russian) says that's why my immune system is shit. I tell her that tiddy milk laden with crack and meth wouldn't have done me any favors anyhow.

While parts of Legacy TNO content such as DSR auto-genocide is definitely bad storytelling, it's not implausible that TNO could be a good quality, largely unrealistic alt history. Not as outlandish as Man in The High Castle, but with a conventional 3-way cold war, alongside secret Burgundian influence and grimdark horror in Ostafrika/Burgundy.
That being said, that's not what the "core" development of TNO wishes, and it's good since a genuine alt-history fanbase should not be wasted revolving around a game mod that would inevitably be memed & replaced by people who just care about gameplay/thrill, and not the significance behind a world with NAZI GERMANY ITSELF surviving.
It's not hard to understand why TNO dev team is orienting towards realism. They do all this research on how the world will work, from original post-war Nazi politics to completely rewriting cold war in Indochina/LatAm since USSR doesn't exist. They're making all this theoretical alt-history and it's be such a shame if people are instead interested in "SS SECRET WORLD CONTROL" and "RUSSIANS LARP AS NAZI GERMANY, LITERALLY". It's kind of like a slap in the face that "funny" is more interesting.
If TNO nostalgics really care about Legacy TNO, it's their responsibility to create a "TNO Redux" themselves. The thing is, currently successful TNO submods are either grounded like TRO & Heldenvolk, or gameplay-focused like Goering Expanded & 2WRW.
Unfortunately, these same people are unable to properly organize as their passion for "AXIS WON WORLD" is not as genuine as the first group above. The few "TNO redux" groups on discord are all controversial, low quality and most but one are dead due to issues like drama & over ambition (such as the "best", Roter Morgen which died after Demo).
However, just because they can't manage to create a redux as successful as Kaiserredux, that doesn't make them entitled to complain in teasers/info posts about "Seoul of TNO" when it's their own fault they're crying, especially if they're entitled to believe people who actually enjoy alt-history should make TNO into what they want.

Hello everyone,
I need advice for what to do in regards to starting a career in my industry which is international relations or getting into academia whether as a professor or into administration. For context, I am 27 and earned my Bachelor's degree in 2019 in the US then I decided to pursue my Master's degree in St Petersburg, Russia due to spending my sophomore year (2016-2017) studying abroad in Russia. I started my program in 2021 and then graduated last summer with my Master's being in Russian Regional Studies. I wanted to work with international companies who were possibly interested in expanding into the Russian market, but due to the current political situation that plan went out the window. During my time abroad I hosted and taught English at Conversational Language Clubs and later an English school. My Russian is also at a B1 level but I love the Russian language so I still practice it and desire to eventually reach fluency.
I've currently been back living with my parents since September 2023 and have tried looking for jobs to start my career. I'm interested in administrative work/teaching in academia. In terms of industry jobs, I'm interested in project management and regional development jobs and also considering the possibility of working in the energy sector as my master's thesis was about Russia's Energy Market and Trade Prospects in Asia. I would really however, love to live and work abroad if possible as well so locating internationally is something I have a strong desire for as well. My lack of a car is an issue as well so my focus has been on cities that have strong public transportation systems.
In terms of my resume, the only work experience I have is the English teaching and conversational club host experience I listed above. In terms of skills, my Russian is a B1 level, I have strong research and analysis skills, managing large groups of up to 20 people thanks to running a conversational English club, some lesson and topic planning experience and organizational skills in hosting and teaching whether that be creating a orderly structure for each meeting or ensuring everyone was engaged in the discussions.
I wouldn't trade the experiences I've had for anything because the friends I've made have been some of the most incredible people that I have ever met. At the same time, I know my lack of relevant work experience in industry is an issue. I have talked to my university and they helped me with my LinkedIn profile as well as my resume and have been using major sites like LinkedIn, Indeed and Handshake to look for job postings but so far no luck.
Do you have any advice for where I should look next? I feel lost and spend several hours a day looking for an entry level job that will get my foot in the door and jump start my career. If anyone who has been in a similar position as me, how did you break into the industry or academia? Or did you do something completely different?

Here is the audio, video, and transcript. Here is the episode summary:
Benjamin Moser is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer celebrated for his in-depth studies of literary and cultural figures such as Susan Sontag and Clarice Lispector. His latest book, which details a twenty-year love affair with the Dutch masters, is one of Tyler’s favorite books on art criticism ever.
Benjamin joined Tyler to discuss why Vermeer was almost forgotten, how Rembrandt was so productive, what auctions of the old masters reveals about current approaches to painting, why Dutch art hangs best in houses, what makes the Kunstmuseum in the Hague so special, why Dutch students won’t read older books, Benjamin’s favorite Dutch movie, the tensions within Dutch social tolerance, the joys of living in Utrecht, why Latin Americans make for harder interview subjects, whether Brasilia works as a city, why modernism persisted in Brazil, how to appreciate Clarice Lispector, Susan Sontag’s (waning) influence, V.S. Naipaul’s mentorship, Houston’s intellectual culture, what he’s learning next, and more.
Excerpt:
COWEN: You once wrote about Susan Sontag, and I quote, “So much of Sontag’s best work concerns the ways we try, and fail, to see.” Please explain.
MOSER: This is what On Photography is about. This is what Against Interpretation is about in Sontag’s work. Of course, in my new book, The Upside-Down World, I talk about how I’m not really great at seeing, particularly. I’m not that visual. I’m a reader. I’m a bookworm. Often, when I’ve looked at paintings, I’ve realized how little I actually see. Sometimes I do feel embarrassed by it. You’ll read the label and it’ll be three sentences, and it’ll say like, A Man with a Dog. You’re like, “Oh, I didn’t even see the dog.” You know what I mean?
On these very basic levels, I just think, “Oh, if someone doesn’t point it out to me, I really don’t see.” I think that that was one of the fascinating things about Sontag, that she was not really able to see. She was actually quite terrible at seeing, and this was especially true in her relationships. She was very bad at seeing what other people were thinking and feeling.
I think because she was aware of that, she tried very hard to remedy it, but it’s just not something you can force. You can’t force yourself to like certain music or to like certain tastes that you might not actually like.
COWEN: What was Sontag most right about or most insightful about?
MOSER: I think this question of images — what images do — and photography and how representations, metaphors can pervert things. She had a very deep repulsion to photography. She really hated photography, and this is why a lot of photographers hated _her_ because they felt this, even though she didn’t really say it. She really didn’t trust it. She really thought it was wicked. At the same time, for somebody who had a deficit, I guess you could say, in seeing, she really relied on it to understand the world.
I think that tension is very instructive for us, because now, she already says 50 years ago, “There are all these images. We don’t know what to do with them. We don’t know how to process them.” Forget AI, forget Russian trolls on Twitter. She uses this word I really like, hygiene, a lot. She talks about mental hygiene and how you can clean the rusty pipes in your brain. That’s why I think reading her helped me at least to understand a lot of what I’m seeing in the world.
COWEN: Do you think she will simply end up forgotten?
Again, I am happy to recommend Benjamin’s latest book The Upside-Down World: Meetings with Dutch Masters.
The post My excellent Conversation with Benjamin Moser appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

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So kind of need opinions on if I should continue. I (31f) lost my GrandPa when I was 6 but he had so many books he wrote, from war anthologies to historical biographies to poetry and radio broadcasts (he worked as a radio jockey during the Hungarian Revolution for Radio Free Europe and instigated a little too much violence 😅). Anyways, he was pulled out of college during the war for writing something anti nazi and ended up on the Russian front as an artillery spotter. I only give this background as it colors the poem a bit as they would often get shot out of trees. These two poems were written in Hungarian but are after he had Immigrated to NYC.
Translation is really hard. Please understand I am trying to keep his words and intent as close to his original thoughts as possible and so it may not be perfect or read as well in English. Still, looking for thoughts on if translating a series of his poems might be worth it.
So is this work engaging to any of you?
Two Selected Poems by Karoly Szakmary 1970

My name is Emily. I'm from the United States and I wanted to end my 20's with a bang, and I'm happy to say that I ended my 20's in Korea.Actually, Korea was not a country that I had much to do with.Originally, I was a person who was immersed in Japanese culture since college.Japanese anime became my friend. There's a lot of interesting things about Japanese anime, like the fact that they depict real places in Japan, and they depict real food, and so I fell in love with Japan, and I even traveled to Japan a couple times, and I thought that Japan was the sum of everything that I longed for.
But then, in my late 20s, I met a friend who would change my life. It was a simple meeting with a long-lost college classmate, Sarah, who had gone on to work at a large firm in New York City, and whom I had shared anime and Japanese food with in my dorm room in college. She told me honestly that she had recently traveled to Korea and was seriously thinking about moving there. Unfortunately, the large company she worked for in New York had recently gone through a business crisis, and she was laid off.
She said that she was confused by the sudden betrayal of a well-known company, and to clear her mind, she went to the airport with the intention of leaving anywhere. She thought she would go to Japan, but when she arrived at the airport, she changed her mind. When she thought back to the places and restaurants she frequented most often while working at the company in New York, she remembered that she often went to Korean streets and Korean supermarkets in New York, and she thought that going to Korea on an impromptu trip was a really good idea, so she chose to go to Korea rather than Japan, which she already knew.
And buying a plane ticket on the spot at the airport was more than twice as expensive as booking a ticket in advance, but Sarah said that she didn't care, because she was depressed after being fired from her job, and she went to the airport to leave, but the curiosity about Korea that came over her made her want to leave right away, even if she had to pay for the expensive plane ticket.
He expressed that although he went to the airport courageously, he knew that the plane ticket would be too expensive, and he thought that maybe he should just go back home again, but his curiosity about Korea came from somewhere deep inside him, and it exploded like a bomb, and he was naturally drawn to it.
Sarah, who likes emotional things like essays and poems in college and enjoys such poetic expressions, but even so, I wondered if it was a little overdone, but when she said that she had been to Korea, I became more focused on her story.
However, I was able to understand why she expressed herself in such an over-the-top way after listening to her Korean stories.
"Korea is an amazing place, the people are so kind and warm, and most of all, the employment system is very well organized. There are many programs and support for job seekers, which is very helpful for people who are in a difficult situation like me."
When Sarah started with this story, I realized that she was really traumatized by being laid off.Now, she had been through a big ordeal and was in the process of recovering from it through Korea, so I decided to focus more on her story."You said you traveled to Korea, so what else did you do?" I asked."For example, what kind of programs were there?" I asked her.
"I happened to visit a job fair in Korea," she said, "where job seekers can get free career counseling and get the training they need." "I got a lot of help there, and it gave me the strength to get back on my feet, and maybe even get a job in Korea." "And most of all, the work culture in Korea is really family-like," she said, "I was impressed by how much my coworkers cared about each other and supported each other."
Sarah said that she was curious about what Korea was like, so she visited a large convention center in Korea and participated in various fairs, one of which was a job fair, and she interviewed with several Korean companies, and the Korean companies were ready to accept her as a colleague if she applied as an American. I also learned that Korea has many companies with global reach, and they are open to foreigners with various experiences, but in Korea, unless it is a large company, people don't prefer them, so if it is a small company, they want foreigners, but there is a sad reality that no one applies.
Unlike in the U.S., where you have to report your performance every week, and if you fall short, you are threatened with termination, Korean companies are definitely not more performance-oriented than in the U.S. They value their employees and do everything together to grow together, not threaten them with termination. In the past, I knew that corporate culture in Asian countries such as Korea was more collectivistic than individualistic, and as a student, I thought that such a collectivistic culture was a bad culture with a high level of disease in Asia, but after experiencing social life in the United States, I heard that the tendency of companies to be extremely individualistic, talking about job insecurity, and treating people ruthlessly, caused me to be fired from a good job overnight, and the future plans I had planned in advance became uncertain, and I even talked about envying the Korean culture that does not have such disadvantages.
Sarah, who has never worked in Korea, but was always afraid of being fired, said that she learned a lot about Korean corporate culture by interviewing many Korean company officials.
She said that she even considered settling down and living in Korea because, besides the culture, there were so many other conveniences and benefits.
She talked about her experience of working in New York, being left alone in the office to get things done because of her performance, having to leave late at night and being afraid to go home, sleeping in the hotel next door, and having to live with the exorbitant rent in Manhattan and the two-hour round-trip commute to work, and how she realized that unlike in the U.S., where it is difficult to see a doctor, she would not have to worry about these things in Korea.
Sarah's story made me even more curious about Korea.The warmth, systematic system, and various charms that she experienced in Korea couldn't help but have a great impact on me.I've been experiencing a lot of stress every day due to the pressure of performance and the threat of being fired, and I've recently been undergoing expensive psychotherapy.I decided to learn more about Korea, and eventually decided to travel to Korea.
Of course, I didn't travel to Korea with the intention of moving to Korea or settling down in Korea, but rather to spend my last 20s in a new country, Korea, and to see a different world than the familiar Japan.
I made my preparations and headed to Korea sooner than I expected, arriving ten days before my birthday and extending my itinerary beyond what I had originally planned, staying in Korea until after my birthday and then flying back to the United States.
The first day I finally arrived in Korea, I started walking around the streets of Seoul.The first thing that greeted me was the warm spring weather in Korea.The sky was clear and the air was crisp.I was told that it is common for Asia to have very bad air quality in the spring due to the influence of China, but I didn't have to deal with that during my trip.
The streets of Korea are very different from the United States, and everything was new to me.There were many beautiful flowers in bloom, and the well-maintained trees were really beautiful.It has been a long time since the common people's neighborhoods in the United States have such beautiful landscaping because of people who destroy these trees and flowers for no reason, or secretly take them and sell them.But this was not the case in Korea.The streets were like a beautiful flower garden.
I was walking down a beautiful street lined with flowers, and I was looking at them, looking at the big big map that was displayed on the screen at the bus stop.I was just curious to see what my neighborhood looked like, so I was looking at the map and taking my time, and a middle-aged woman came up to me and said, "Where are you looking for?" She didn't speak fluent English, but I was so grateful that she was trying to help. I was too embarrassed to tell her that I was just looking at the map, so I told her one of the destinations I was planning to go to, and she gave me direct directions to the place I was looking for, and I was able to get there without any difficulty.This unexpected kindness opened my eyes to the Korean people and warmed my heart at the same time.
I was ready to accept everything in Korea with an open mind.The first impression was very good, I was touched by the kindness of the people.I couldn't ask for anything more from Korea.The food was so fresh and amazing to me.I visited Gwangjang Market, a famous traditional market in Korea.
Unlike a regular restaurant, it was a place where you could sit down and try a variety of food. As a traditional market, it was full of Korean food. There were no pizza, pasta, or burger joints, but I liked it better that way. It was a place where you could see the traditional look and feel curious about everything.
I also tasted foods such as tteokbokki sundae and hotteok.Everything else was fine, but I was a little worried when I first tried sundae because it looked so strange and a little gross, but I decided to give it a try and the moment I put it in my mouth, the rich flavor filled my mouth.Korean food often seems difficult to eat, but when you try it, you can see why it is so popular in Korea.
I stayed at Gwangjang Market for a long time and tried a lot of different foods, especially kimchi and pajeon, which I still remember because of their crispy texture and spicy flavor. I would recommend them to everyone.Experiencing the deep flavors of Korean food firsthand made me fall in love with Korean food.
And then there was a shocking thing that happened to me in Korea.I was having a lot of fun traveling around Korea and everything was interesting, because Korea is really the best place to be, you know, you're running around, you're busy, you're going from place to place, and I had the misfortune of losing my passport, which was really stupid.
I was traveling in Korea, and I got an international call. Someone was calling me from Korea, and when I saw the international call indicator on my phone and realized that the call was from Korea, I had a million questions.
I thought I shouldn't answer the call, but then I realized that it was an international call, and I thought maybe they were calling me because they had some business to take care of. I answered the call, and I was told a really crazy story, because I heard a calm English voice asking if it was Emily, and she introduced herself as a police officer and asked if I could come to the nearest police station.
I thought I had done something terribly wrong, because I had just eaten delicious tteokbokki and sundae, kimchi and pajeon, and I was so happy to eat them, and afterward I was just walking around the streets of Korea, smelling the flowers and seeing the pretty trees.
I started to check my belongings one by one and realized that my small pouch containing my passport and some of the money I had exchanged was missing.
I quickly headed to the police station, which was where I was told to go, and from the front gate, I was controlled as to what I was visiting.
The great thing about Korea is that even for someone like me who doesn't speak Korean, it's not difficult to navigate these government offices. Not all Koreans speak English, but at least the ones I've met have been able to communicate with me in a simple way. Even if they don't speak perfect sentences, they understand most of the words, so I was able to communicate the reason for my visit to the police station.
I had never been to a police station before, even in the U.S., but here I was in Korea, and I was greeted by friendly people.The pouch with my passport in it had my contact information written on the inside, and they said they would contact me with that.The bag was found in a marketplace, and the first person to report it was the stall owner of the place where I had my first sundae.It also had all of my clean, new Korean money in it, which I had exchanged separately.
I was so impressed with how conscientious Koreans are and how good they are that I was able to find the pouch, sign the paperwork, and walk out of the police station.
I went back to Gwangjang Market, and when I got there, the owner recognized me and looked like he was about to say something. I held out the bag and showed it to him, and he smiled and liked it.
I thanked the Korean boss, and we ate another snack on the spot. It was an experience that made me realize how heavenly Korea is.
And like Sarah said, I didn't just want to see how clean and pretty Korea is, I wanted to see what an American working in Korea could do and what life would be like.Through the Reddit community, I was able to get in touch with Americans working in Korea and even met some of them in person.
David, the American I met, works for a company that is not a large Korean company, but rather a small or medium-sized company. As Sarah said, Korea is a country where products are produced for the global market, and many things are actually exported overseas.
However, in Korea, unless it is a large company, every company is experiencing a job shortage, and because of the atmosphere in Korea, where foreigners are not welcome at all, it is not difficult to get a job in a company that specializes in exporting overseas, even if you are in the United States.
And David told me that he put all his passion into the first company he worked for in the U.S., and even made a lot of money for the company, but when he didn't perform, the company fired him without mercy, and he said that he was so shocked, not to mention the feeling of betrayal, that he took depression medication at that time, and it was so hard that he took depression medication, and then he found Korea by chance and settled in Korea, and now he is so happy. He told me that he was fired from his job because of the unrelenting treatment in the U.S., that he found a second chance in Korea, and that he is happy with his life here.
I'm not sure I have the courage to move to Korea right now, but I learned that there are a lot of people like Sarah and David who have been hurt so badly that they end up leaving the country. I'm scared that this could be my future, but I also learned that Korea is an option for me if it happens to me.My trip ended like this: experiencing the culture, food, and hospitality of Korea, and getting to meet and talk to Americans living in Korea, made my trip much more rewarding than my trip to Japan, which could have been an anime trip.
Korea has given me new perspectives and experiences, shattered my notion that Japan is only good, broadened my horizons, and opened my eyes to another gem that is Korea.
I now like to say to my friends, "Go to Korea, you'll see how good it is." Korea has taught me so much, and I will cherish my experience in Korea, which now holds a special place in my heart.
If Sarah goes to Korea and settles down, I will be there to congratulate her and support her in her new relationship in Korea.