Good news sites on hungary (politics) in foreign languages ?

Although not regular, The Economist has from time to time a good summary article:

http://www.economist.com/topics/hungary

The latest article was spot on when it said:

Laws are sloppily drafted, laden-down with last minute amendments then rushed through Parliament as private members' bills, rather than government business, to prevent proper scrutiny.

And also read the user supplied comments at the end of the article, as they supply some interesting extensions to topics.

There is also the business site that drifts into politics : http://www.realdeal.hu/

fireroller wrote:

Dear fellow expat-forum members,

I have always struggled to find good articles to explain the political situation to my friends not in hungary (I am Hungarian, but lived abroad until recently).
If you know about papers/sites which you consider to offer good writing about such topics, I would be really interested to know.

You could try:

Portfolio HU

It covered the Matolcsy (Minister of Economy) Japanese red spot on the bum fiasco in a relatively objective way.

If other expats had not heard about this one, you would do well to tell others, because that sort of "quality" comment is what ordinary Hungarians are faced with from their leaders in the political classes.

fluffy2560 wrote:

that sort of "quality" comment is what ordinary Hungarians are faced with from their leaders in the political classes.

I would even replace "Hungarians" with "people" regardless of nation. I have to limit my daily dose of "quality" comments from my own American politicians to keep my eyes rolling so far back into my head as to make me blind. If I added too much local commentary, my eyes would not stop spinning.

Even so, it can not be ignored. As Pericles said:

We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.

klsallee wrote:

....I would even replace "Hungarians" with "people" regardless of nation. I have to limit my daily dose of "quality" comments from my own American politicians to keep my eyes rolling so far back into my head as to make me blind. If I added too much local commentary, my eyes would not stop spinning.

Indeed, it's true. I don't know if you're an elephant or a donkey fancier. I was going to originally say that I doubted if "professional" politicians with good advice would make such faux pas in sophisticated countries. But then I thought about Romney's need to read up a bit more on why windows don't open on planes. And then it reminds me of the laughable statements of President Thabo Mbeki and the former health minister, Dr Tshabalala-Msimang in South Africa on the HIV crisis. Probably the moral is if in politics, don't try to ad-lib....

klsallee wrote:

.... As Pericles said: ...we say that he has no business here at all.

I am all in favour of quoting Greek philosophers wherever possible and I'm going to quote back to you, that modern British English philosopher, Testicles, who almost certainly would have said (in relation to many politicians)......

"Better to be thought a fool than open one's mouth and confirm it (by talking bollocks)"

Thanks for the sites!
I didnt know those (except of economics, of course)

fluffy2560 wrote:

I was going to originally say that I doubted if "professional" politicians with good advice would make such faux pas in sophisticated countries would say such ludicrous things.
...

I am not sure what you mean by "sophisticated countries"...
Anyway, I personally think, that this government does an excellent job in trying to outcompete many of its predecessors in limiting the IQ level of public statements by highest level officials. (Judging the intelligence of certain introduced measures is harder though... mostly).
At least in the last few years I spent in Germany, I didn't caught   government level politicians talking about how Germans should be proud of the relationship to whichever race as proven by pseudo-scientific stuff 'as japanese scientists told me' [Placeholder for obvious historical reference]. Also, I believe they are yet to go a long way to even come close to the charm of a minister of economy proudly displaying (acting?) his ignorance of basic rules of global market economy (currency and government bonds). Meh, they are  boring, good thing our politicians are not, soon we will laugh our assets off. (To be fair, I assume that Poland's Kaczyński Brothers and Slovakia's Mečiar did not perform much behind hungary in this respect).

fireroller wrote:

I am not sure what you mean by "sophisticated countries"...Anyway, I personally think, that this government does an excellent job in trying to outcompete many of its predecessors in limiting the IQ level of public statements by highest level officials. (Judging the intelligence of certain introduced measures is harder though... mostly).

Yes, it was a bit of an editing mistake (now corrected). I meant by sophisticated countries, countries - including Hungary - which meet the norms of say, the EU or the G25 etc. I did not mean countries like say, Bangladesh. Sophisticated countries was a poor choice of phrase - I should have said developed countries (with presumably sophisticated PR machinery).

The idea of politicians or anyone rising to their level of incompetence is an old one - used to be called The Peter Principle. (see Peter Principle).

In the end, everyone rises to their level of incompetence. The bar with politicians seems to have been set low these days.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I doubted if "professional" politicians with good advice would make such faux pas

Actually, I expect it. But maybe that is because I worry that democracies rarely or never elect the best leaders.

But again (and this time to quote a famous UK historical figure  -- the name of whom I know goes without saying) :

Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.