Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2009 (21. évfolyam, 1-50. szám)
2009-03-20 / 11. szám
Hungarian Minister of Defense Visits the U.S. Hungarian Defense Minister Imre Szekeres was on a five-day official visit in the United States. In Washington, D.C. he met with Secretary of Defense Gates and Peter Pace, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon, and Deputy Secretary Negroponte in the State Department. Among other issues, Minister Szekeres (left) discussed Hungary’s contribution to the reconstruction of Afghanistan’s Baghlan province. The issue of energy security was also discussed during his meetings. On Wednesday Mr. Szekeres met with United States National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones who represented the White House. Szekeres objected to a sentence President Obama said during his meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. It goes like this: “There are a common set of principles, in terms of how we’re approaching banking, so that problems that exist in emerging markets like Hungary or the Ukraine don’t have these enormous ripple effects that wash back onto our shores.” Mr. Obama’s words evoke a negative effect in Hungary, public opinion finds it preposterous, to compare to countries of such different situation. Mr. Szekeres reiterated that Hungarian economy stands on strong foundations. San Francisco Area Cultural Events “Troupe 814”, a fascinating documentary about the history of Hungarian scouting, from its inception in 1912 till today, was shown at the Woodside Priory near San Francisco last Sunday, as part of the 2009 Hungarian Cultural Year in the United States. Filmmaker George Paul Csicsery, President & CEO of Zalafilms, took 20 years to make this film. Prior to the screening, guest enjoyed an exhibition of Hungarian artists from Northern and Southern California. L to R: Fr. Maurusz Nemeth, OSB, Artists Edit Dittert, Ferenc Besze, Marta Szoboszlay, Dr. Eva Voisin, Hon. Consul General of Hungary, San Francisco, Artist Ilona Finta, Anita Jasinka and Dr. Gabor Kaleta, Consul, Consulate of Hungary , Los Angeles Márai Monodrama at Consulate Clubhouse in Los Angeles Structural Engineer Peter Erdélyi, Consul General Balázs Bokor and Hirlap Publisher Julius Jancso Robert Győri and wife Maria with the actress On March 5th before a select audience at the Clubhouse of the Consulate General in Los Angeles, Hungarian actress Judit Havas performed a monodrama by the late and great author Sándor Márai, who has been the subject of much celebration and commemoration on occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Dear Tennis Friends This is just a friendly reminder for the upcoming tennis picnic at the Griffith Park, Sunday on April 19, 2009. We’ll start at 12 o’clock noon on four courts #9, 10, 11 and 12. Please bring balls and chairs with you, everything else will be provided. Great food and drinks will wait for you. Actually we’ll play tennis too! If you know friends who are interested you can invite them too! Sincerely Peter Erdélyi 310-553-9339 ext.12 fax: 310-284-7927 e-mail: Peter@erdelyi.com web: www.erdelyi.com Driver Caught In Car Pool Lane With Unbuckled Dummy Fri Mar 13, BELLEVUE, Wash. - You forgot to buckle up, dummy! A commuter who put a homemade dummy in the passenger seat to sneak into the car pool lane was caught Wednesday near Seattle. But it wasn’t because a cop realized the passenger was fake. Instead, the State Patrol trooper noticed the dangling belt buckle on the passenger side and suspected a seat belt violation. Patrol spokeswoman Christina Martin told The Herald of Everett that the driver acknowledged trying to beat traffic by using the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane. He created his passenger by draping a rain jacket over plastic piping, topping it off with a Halloween mask of Gandalf, the “Lord of the Rings” wizard, a beard and a baseball cap. The trooper issued a $124 ticket and confiscated the dummy. Ryanair May Charge for Lavatory Use Ryanair is considering charging passengers LI ($1.40) to use the lavatory on its flights, according to chief executive Michael O’Leary. In an interview on BBC television, Mr O’Leary said that the lowcost airline was looking at the possibility of installing a coin slot on the lavatory door so that “people might actually have to spend a pound to spend a penny.” Ironically, in a light-hearted survey conducted by Telegraph Travel last November, we asked readers which service they thought no-frills airlines might start charging for in the future. 56 per cent of readers said that a charge for „using the loo,, would be the most likely, while 31 per cent chose “reclining seats” and 11 per cent opted for „sick bags„. Rochelle Turner, head of research at Which Holiday, condemned the proposal. “It seems Ryanair is prepared to plumb any depth to make a fast buck and, once again, is putting profit before the comfort of its customers,« she said. „Charging people to go to the toilet might result in fewer people buying overpriced drinks on board, though - that would serve Ryanair right.” Mr O’Leary said that Ryanair was determined to make air travel easier and more affordable. Gill Holmby writes about Europe’s best known budget ariline:- All in all, it was another good day’s work, Ryanair style: bash the customer, get a free namecheck, be a bit crude, have a good laugh. It is such a lark, running a multi-million-pound customerdependent business. In case it is a serious proposition, though, let’s examine it. O’Leary’s argument was that not everyone on a flight uses the lavatory, and charging would keep wider costs down. His spokesman points out that you do have to pay to use the conveniences at train and bus stations. Yes, but not on the train. And as for the costs, let us count the other ways in which Ryanair have tried to keep them down: with a charge to use a credit card, to check in, to take a bag, for food and drink, even, and a decent place in the queue. Coming soon is a L30 surcharge if you can’t squeeze your duty-free into your hand luggage. And then, once you’re on, you might have to pay to pee. What is the collective noun for money-saving initiatives? A rip-off? Iwuz Doesn't Work Here Anymore A friend of mine, a manager at a large media agency, told me he recently announced the firing of one of his most popular and powerful employees, a fellow named Iwuz. Apparently, Iwuz had been causing quite a bit of trouble around his workplace. “Whenever something went wrong at the office,” my friend said, “I’d hear the name Iwuz. I’d say ‘Why did this happen?’ and someone would say ‘Iwuz told to plan it this way’ or ‘Iwuz told not to worry about that.’” So my friend made an executive announcement: “Iwuz doesn’t work here anymore. From now on, whatever happens in this office is because of the choices you made or the choices your manager made. And you will be held accountable.” This would be prudent and conventional leadership in any other era, but at the opening salvo of 2009, it sounds almost radical. Is it me, or does it not feel as if the people who were supposed to be managing our government and our business community basically borrowed the keys to our car, backed it into the Middle East, then drove forward and rammed it into our manufacturing base, then tried to back out and hit our banking industry, and then just sort of left the car there and went upstairs and pretended to be asleep? Do you not feel as if business leaders coming to us for bailouts are like teenagers who have burned through their allowance and don’t have enough money left to buy lunch? And don’t you sometimes wonder, Where the hell are all the adults? The key word here is responsibility. If we don’t want to wake up one day with the car totaled in the driveway and a teenager upstairs claiming it wasn’t his fault, we must not only teach the next generation what accountability really means, but also demonstrate it. And we need to send a clear message to our families and friends, to our political and business leaders, and most important of all, to ourselves: Iwuz doesn’t work here anymore. By Stephen Perrine AMERICAN Hungarian Journal DUNA Travel 8530 Holloway Dr. #102 W. Hollywood, CA 90069 Spa, Hotel foglalások, Kocsi bérlés Kedvezményes repülőjegy árak LAX-BUD-LAX $429.-toi +Tax +Fee november 1-től Információért hívják ZSUZSÁT TEL: (310) 652-5294 FAX: (310) 652-5287 1-888-532-0168 Március 20, 2009
