Oh Hungary, you so cuh-rayzay

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As police pushed the crowd of around 1,000 away from the square outside parliament, protesters seized a T-34 World War Two tank used as an exhibit to commemorate the Hungarian uprising and drove it toward police lines, MTI said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061023/ts_nm/hungary_uprising1_dc_8

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 23 October 2006 17:28 (nineteen years ago)

Sexy time.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 23 October 2006 17:32 (nineteen years ago)

I just love that a) there was a fully operational tank on display in public and b) there were protestors around who knew how to drive it. And also that this was done in the spirit of both fighting corruption and commemorating one of the bloodiest, most depressing episodes in the nation's history.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 23 October 2006 17:35 (nineteen years ago)

whoa

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 23 October 2006 17:36 (nineteen years ago)

there are so many great details in that photo (cop running after the tank to the right - only his shield is visible), something is on fire in that store in the background, other people just standing around, guy yelling into the hatch (is he shouting instructions or trying to get in...?), all-black-clad protestor keeping pace with the tank, etc.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 23 October 2006 17:40 (nineteen years ago)

Life imitates Grand Theft Auto.

― milo z (mlp), Monday, 23 October 2006 17:40 (nineteen years ago)

I'm also guessing from that shot that the tank is in motion, as everyone is running, but its kinda hard to tell.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 23 October 2006 17:41 (nineteen years ago)

wow them t-34s are hard shit

― geoff (gcannon), Monday, 23 October 2006 17:41 (nineteen years ago)

(for the record i'm a little uneasy about democracy struggles everywhere between the danube and the caucasus turning into a lol borat wtf kind of thing)

― geoff (gcannon), Monday, 23 October 2006 17:46 (nineteen years ago)

I've got Hungarian family, I ain't lol'ing at all. this is pretty badass/amazing!

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 23 October 2006 17:47 (nineteen years ago)

bit from the wiki:

The T-34 was still in service with twenty-seven countries as late as 1996.

― kingfish prætor (kingfish 2.0), Monday, 23 October 2006 17:52 (nineteen years ago)

it's the 50th anniversary of the hungarian uprising -- what a way to commemorate that event!

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 23 October 2006 19:11 (nineteen years ago)

I just returned from three months in Hungary (learning Hungarian), two of 'em in Budapest. I checked out the earlier anti-Gyurcsany riots covertly 'sponsored' by Fidesz, the big conservative party known for its leaders making statements about how Hungary's problems stem from "foreigners and Jews." It was a little disturbing to see people - generally from poor villages and outlying, industrial areas of Budapest - stream into 'downtown' Pest to protest, wearing highly nationalistic badges and clothing and discussing things such as the dream of the return to Hungary of 'Hungarian' lands in neighboring countries such as Romania - all the while drunkenly throwing rocks and bricks. (People set up tables around the protests and sell beer and other alcohol, candy, hot pretzels and warm meals, which is apparently legal to do in Hungary without any sort of license. And if it is illegal, it's completely tolerated.) Fortunately, these people are a very small minority in Hungary, and even most Fidesz's supporters don't support them enthusiastically, if at all.

There's a lot of hysteria over the 50th anniversary of the revolution which would have existed anyway. But it got an early build-up when a tape was leaked in which Gyurcsany admitted lying to the Hungarians about his government's attempts to corral the off-kilter Hungarian economy. Fidesz called for Gyurcsany to step down; he refused. Protests ensued, but slowly dwindled when Gyurcsany won a vote of confidence in Parliament by a comfortable margin. The '56 anniversary is kind of a last gasp of this push by the conservatives and their mostly young, male and under-educated followers. Despite the incredible images, most of Budapest would have no idea this was happening if it weren't for what is shown on television. It's all occurred within a very small part of Pest, aside from a couple of McDonald's in heavy-traffic areas like the Oktagon, who saw their windows get smashed out late at night.

― Dee Xtrovert (dee dee), Monday, 23 October 2006 21:43 (nineteen years ago)

yeah the political subtext is weird, thx for the clarifications.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 23 October 2006 21:51 (nineteen years ago)

People set up tables around the protests and sell beer and other alcohol, candy, hot pretzels and warm meals

sweet! i want more hot pretzels at political events!

― kingfish prætor (kingfish 2.0), Monday, 23 October 2006 21:53 (nineteen years ago)

The funniest thing (I left out the detail as it seemed sort of irrelevant) is that there were really entrepreneurial folks who set out *huge* candy stalls, with scales and everything. At least 300 kinds of candy available by the kilo or by the piece - licorice ropes in about 50 flavors, candy fish, everything made by Haribo including 'classic' Gummi Bears and many flavor variations. Stand beside one for a bit, and you'd see toothless quasi-neo-Nazis in jack boots and leather jackets quake with indecision . . . the mango licorice ropes or the Swedish fish?

After the first day of protests near Parliament, similar burgeoning capitalists set up "beer tables" with a choice of four to six of Hungary's most consumed beers. They were put out of business the next day by cutthroat competition from vendors who, correctly assuming the protests might last for a few weeks, invested in kegs and the works necessary for draft beer available for far fewer forints!

The police shut none of this done - I chuckled at the thought that back in America, there'd be no tolerance for folks drinking alcohol at any sort of demonstration (even a peaceful one), let alone for unlicensed citizens to sell it without license. The only thing the police shut down the whole time (vendor-wise) was a food stall without adequate heating capability under EU guidelines.

The hot pretzels were warm and soft, weighed at least half a pound and were topped with a very nice baked-in cheese. Delicious with a cold draft Dreher or Stella Artois.

― Dee Xtrovert (dee dee), Monday, 23 October 2006 22:14 (nineteen years ago)

My Dad was telling me the other day how fucked up 56 felt to him, as a football fan, as somebody who idolised the Puskas team. On the other hand, he's not a big Wikipedia reader.

― James Herbert Dip (noodle vague), Tuesday, 24 October 2006 01:13 (nineteen years ago)

I went for a short foreign holiday, and it was a wise decision, I don't think I can stand tear gas.

― zeus (zeus), Tuesday, 24 October 2006 22:33 (nineteen years ago)

> b) there were protestors around who knew how to drive it.

Story I heard was the protesters pre-planned it and hired an old tanker to drive it.

― wostyntje (wostyntje), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 00:49 (nineteen years ago)

Looks like I'll be in Budapest in March.

― M. White (Miguelito), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 01:37 (nineteen years ago)

sweet. tell us how the pretzels are.

― kingfish prætor (kingfish 2.0), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 01:47 (nineteen years ago)

Dee, your explanation is really helpful here - it was the kind of insider voice I'd otherwise been unable to find. Thanks!

― paulhw (paulhw), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 04:49 (nineteen years ago)

Apropos, Dee, what did you do here?

― zeus (zeus), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 08:21 (nineteen years ago)

Zeus, I take it you're in Hungary? I was learning Hungarian, which I really love.
Where are you in the country?

― Dee Xtrovert (dee dee), Thursday, 26 October 2006 08:58 (nineteen years ago)

Yes, I'm Hungarian and live in Budapest.

― zeus (zeus), Thursday, 26 October 2006 09:42 (nineteen years ago)

Forgot to ask: why did you learn Hungarian? It should've been extremely difficult, wasn't it?

― zeus (zeus), Thursday, 26 October 2006 10:39 (nineteen years ago)

I've been to hungary

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 26 October 2006 10:52 (nineteen years ago)

Hungarian is in the running for the title of 'most difficult language on the planet'

― Daniel Giraffe (Daniel Giraffe), Thursday, 26 October 2006 11:06 (nineteen years ago)

26 cases if I'm not mistaken

― Daniel Giraffe (Daniel Giraffe), Thursday, 26 October 2006 11:06 (nineteen years ago)

(People set up tables around the protests and sell beer and other alcohol, candy, hot pretzels and warm meals, which is apparently legal to do in Hungary without any sort of license. And if it is illegal, it's completely tolerated.)

now you know!

― benrique (Enrique), Thursday, 26 October 2006 11:12 (nineteen years ago)

I'm curious to know if there was any marketing behind the snacks considering the circumstances - "Get you anti-establishment pretzels. full of all the essential brick throwing nutrients."

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 26 October 2006 14:21 (nineteen years ago)

Hungarian's not easy, but it's pretty logical in terms of grammar, so once you've got that down, you can concentrate on the mind-bending amounts of vocabulary, word order strangeness, idioms and that sort of thing. A challenge, but I liked it - and the language is really beautiful and expressive. The case thing sounds intimidating, but it's pretty easy when you get the hang of it.

As far as the snacks go . . . it was just a way for enterpreneurial Hungarians to make some money with a captive audience, in an area where it's difficult to find food in the evening (government offices and businesses, everything shuts down pretty early.) Pretzels are easy, cheap and relatively filling for the price. No marketing - people just set up tables and sold what they had to sell.

― Dee Xtrovert (dee dee), Friday, 27 October 2006 05:06 (nineteen years ago)

I have been to Hungary a couple of times and all I can remember is "koszonom", which I probably say wrong anyway...

― Mark Co (Markco), Friday, 27 October 2006 07:43 (nineteen years ago)

seven years pass...

shiiiit

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-28/orban-says-he-seeks-to-end-liberal-democracy-in-hungary.html

― goole, Monday, 28 July 2014 22:00 (eleven years ago)

you know what the world is really pining for is more cryptofascism

― Οὖτις, Monday, 28 July 2014 22:10 (eleven years ago)

yeah well

― goole, Tuesday, 29 July 2014 13:47 (eleven years ago)

five years pass...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/26/hungary-prepares-to-end-legal-recognition-of-trans-people

― pomenitul, Sunday, 26 April 2020 16:27 (six years ago)

you know what the world is really pining for is more cryptofascism

― Οὖτις, Monday, July 28, 2014 3:10 PM (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink

― fatuous salad (symsymsym), Tuesday, 28 April 2020 04:39 (six years ago)

one year passes...

On what seems like the last throw of the dice for Hungary

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2021/07/viktor-orban-autocracy-hungary-election/619351/

― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 7 July 2021 10:30 (four years ago)

two years pass...

Sorry 😅 pic.twitter.com/efx9kfEryt
— Mariia Kramarenko (@KramarenkoMari3) October 17, 2023

Orban relaxing

― anvil, Wednesday, 18 October 2023 03:06 (two years ago)

I don't know where that music came from, it wasn't there before. I must have linked the wrong one

― anvil, Wednesday, 18 October 2023 03:08 (two years ago)

works well

― nashwan, Wednesday, 18 October 2023 08:54 (two years ago)

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