Monthly Archives: August 2015

Drei Gedichte von Vladimir Levchev

Милано

Мустафа гълта огън
с каменно лице
под синята сянка на пламтящата готика.
Катедралата
е скрила залеза.

Тълпата аплодира Мустафа
на площада.
Зелената змийска реклама съска срещу катедралата.
Нощта със звезди и вятър
атакува залеза.

Луната е червена и бавна.
Сградите са вече тъмни.  
Мустафа е италианец.

                                                  1987

Mailand

 
Mustafa schluckt Feuer
mit versteinertem Gesicht
unter dem blauen Schatten der flammenden Gotik.
Der Dom verbirgt
den Sonnenuntergang.
 
Das Publikum spendet Mustafa
Beifall auf dem Platz.
Die grüne Werbeschlange zischt Richtung Dom.
Die Nacht, mit Sternen und Wind,
greift den Sonnenuntergang an.
 
Der Mond ist rot und langsam.
Die Gebäude sind schon dunkel.
Mustafa ist Italiener.
 
                                                  1987

————————————————–

Мост

                              На Исмаил Кадаре

Хилядолетия спориме,
хилядолетия градихме и разграждахме  
Нашия мост
(на Дрина,
на Дунав,
или Моста с трите арки
в Албания).

Хилядолетия се питахме:
Къде е Златният Град – на Изток
или на Запад?
Къде е Пророкът?
И каква ще бъде нашата звездна стока
по този мост между изгрев и залез?

С ножове между зъбите
се питахме:
Наистина ли живи хора – наши хора
са били вграждани,
за да стане моста
между Изток и Запад
по-здрав?

Хилядолетия спориме, воювахме,
убивахме, загивахме,
градихме и разграждахме.

Най-накрая изобретиха самолета.
И днес
никой пътник не вижда дори
нашия древен мост.

                                                   2000

Brücke                         

                              Für Ismail Kadare
 
Jahrtausende stritten wir,
errichteten wir und rissen ab
Unsere Brücke
(über die Drina,
die Donau
oder die Brücke mit den drei Bögen
in Albanien).
 
Jahrtausende fragten wir uns:
Wo ist die Goldene Stadt – im Osten
oder im Westen?
Wo ist der Prophet?
Und was werden die Sterne uns bringen
an dieser Brücke zwischen Sonnenauf- und -untergang?
 
Mit Messern zwischen den Zähnen
fragten wir uns:
Sind wirklich lebende Menschen – unsere Menschen
eingemauert worden,
auf dass die Brücke
zwischen Ost und West
stabiler wird?
 
Jahrtausende stritten, kämpften,
töteten, starben,
errichteten wir und rissen ab.
 
Schließlich erfand man das Flugzeug.
Und heute
sieht schon kein Reisender mehr
unsere uralte Brücke.
 
                                                  2000

————————————————–

Балкански Танц

Ние сме самуиловите войници
ослепени от императора Василий.
Ние сме петнайсет хиляди
и само един на всеки сто
е намигнал с едното око.
Държим се за ръце, вървим и се препъваме
в светлината и мрака на залеза.
Ние играем народно хоро
от хоризонт до хоризонт.
Хора!

Бяхме тръгнали да се връщаме
при нашия цар Самуил.
Той ни видя.
И умря от сърдечен удар.
Но ние не го видяхме
и не умряхме.

И още продължаваме хорото си
босоноги в диви гори,
ситним по жаравата на лагерни огньове,
пързаляме се по леда на езера
под ледените съзвездия.
Танцуваме към новото хилядолетие.

И всичко,
което виждаме в бъдещето
е нашето минало.

Balkantanz

Wir sind Samuils Soldaten
geblendet von Kaiser Basileios
Wir sind fünfzehntausend
und nur einer von hundert
behielt ein Auge.
Hand in Hand gehen und stolpern wir
in Licht und Zwielicht.
Wir spielen zum Volkstanz auf
von Horizont zu Horizont.
Leute!
 
Wir brachen auf um zu
unserem Zar Samuil zu gehen.
Er sah uns.
Und starb an einer Herzattacke.
Wir aber sahen nichts
und starben nicht.
 
Und doch fuhren wir fort unseren Horo zu tanzen
barfuß in wilden Wäldern,
trippeln an die Glut der Lagerfeuer,
Schlittschuh laufend auf dem Eis der Seen
unter eisigen Konstellationen.
Wir tanzen ins neue Jahrtausend.
 
Und alles,
was wir in der Zukunft sehen
ist unsere Vergangenheit.

Vladimir Levchev

Владимир Левчев: Любов на площада (Vladimir Levchev: Ljubov na ploshtada), Scalino, Sofia 2014

Aus dem Bulgarischen von Thomas Hübner

© Vladimir Levchev and Scalino, 2014.
© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Vier Gedichte von Ivan Christov

Лари

Всичко това се случи
на брега на едно езеро
в щата Уисконсин,
когато Лари ми предостави
своята къща за гости.
Малка къща
с фотоси по стените,
с баня, кухня и тоалетна,
с пиано, пишеща машина
и хол.
Лари тогава не знаеше,
че преди това бях живял
в семейство Василеви,
които много се страхуваха
да не стана алкохолик,
макар че синът им беше
алкохолик и една нощ
ми открадна телевизора.
После бях живял в Крум.
Когато влязох в неговата баня
съседката се разкрещя,
че има вода в коридора
(Мисля, че Крум не се беше
къпал от десет години.).
Лари не знаеше още,
че бях живял в Симон,
на улица Раковски.
Стаята беше хубава,
но нямаше прозорци.
Купих една малка лампа,
която включвах нощем,
за да не се събуждам
като в ковчег.
Бях живял дори в едно мазе,
в казармата,
с Гонзо – кръгъл сирак,
който всяка сутрин
отваряше очи
и запалваше цигара.
Приятелю, Лари,
колко неща не знаеш!
Благодаря ти,
че ми предостави
твоята къща за гости.
Благословен бъди,
че пиша сега тези стихове
на твоята пишеща машина!

Larry

All das geschah
am Ufer eines Sees
im Staate Wisconsin
als Larry mir sein
Gästehaus überließ.
Ein kleines Haus
mit Fotos an den Wänden,
mit einer Dusche, Küche und Toilette,
mit einem Klavier, einer Schreibmaschine
und einem Wohnzimmer.
Larry wusste damals nicht,
dass ich bei den Vassilevs
gelebt hatte,
die sehr fürchteten,
dass ich Alkoholiker werden würde,
obwohl ihr Sohn
Alkoholiker war und eines Nachts
meinen Fernseher stahl.
Dann wohnte ich bei Krum.
Als ich sein Bad benutzte
kreischte die Nachbarin unter uns, 
dass ihr Flur überflutet sei.
(Ich glaube nicht dass Krum
in zehn Jahren ein Bad genommen hatte.)
Larry wusste auch nicht,
dass ich bei Simon gewohnt hatte,
in der Rakovski-Strasse.
Es war ein schönes Zimmer,
hatte aber keine Fenster.
Ich kaufte eine kleine Lampe,
die ich nachts einschaltete
so dass ich nicht
wie in einem Sarg aufwachen würde.
Ich lebte sogar in einem Keller,
in der Kaserne
mit Gonzo – einem rundlichen Waisen,
der jeden Morgen
seine Augen öffnete
und eine Zigarette ansteckte.
Larry, mein Freund,
es gibt so vieles was du nicht weißt!
Danke,
dass du mir
dein Gästehaus überlässt.
Gesegnet seist du,
dass ich jetzt diese Verse
auf deiner Schreibmaschine schreibe!

————————————————–

Chevrolet

Бял „Шевролет“,
модел 1990!
Хвърли ми ключовете
и „Опитай“ ми каза.
Много се зачудих,
защото това не беше
старата кола на баща ми,
който за всяка грешка
ме удряше отзад, зад врата.
Четири скорости?
P – паркиране
R – заден ход
N – „Неутрална“ ми каза
„като Швейцария“
D – напред
Само газ и спирачка!
Когато завъртах ключа
и светлините светваха нощем.
С тази кола обикалях
езерата на Уисконсин.
Езерото „Мокасина“,
„Бурното езеро“,
„Залезното езеро“.
Понякога спирах да снимам
стада елени.
Друг път зареждах.
Натисках педала до дупка
и така откривах Америка.
Бял „Шевролет“,
модел 1990.
Моята първа кола,
макар че всъщност
беше на Дъглас,
баща на жена ми.

Chevrolet

Ein weißer „Chevrolet”,
Baujahr 1990!
Er warf mir die Schlüssel zu
und sagte „Probier ihn aus”.
Ich war sehr erstaunt,
weil das nicht
das alte Auto meines Vaters war,
der mich hinter verschlossener Tür
für jeden Fehler verdrosch.
Vier Gänge?
P – Parken
R – Rückwärts
N – „Neutral” sagte er,
„wie die Schweiz”,
D – Dauerbetrieb.
Nur Gas und Bremsen!
Als ich den Schlüssel drehte
erleuchteten die Scheinwerfer die Nacht.
Mit jenem Auto
fuhr ich die Seen von Wisconsin ab.
Moccasin Lake,
Storm Lake,
Sunset Lake.
Manchmal hielt ich an, um Fotos
von Wildrudeln zu machen.
Dann wieder füllte ich den Tank auf.
Ich trat das Pedal durch
und entdeckte Amerika.
Ein weißer „Chevrolet”,
Baujahr 1990.
Mein erstes Auto,
obwohl es tatsächlich
Douglas gehörte,
dem Vater meiner Frau.

————————————————–

Poetry Room

книжарница City Lights
Сан Франциско
                                 На Силвия Чолева

всички ние
стоим
във тази мрачна
и леко задушна
poetry room
стая за поезия
мълчим
и чакаме
кога ли
някой от нас
ще излезе

Poetry Room

Buchhandlung City Lights
San Francisco
                           Für Silvia Choleva

wir alle
bleiben
in diesem finstern
und etwas stickigen
poetry room
raum für dichtkunst
schweigen
und warten
wann
jemand von uns
hinausgehen wird

————————————————–

Snickers

Срещнах Сникърс
пред една врата
в щата Минесота.
(Всъщност,
всички кучета в Америка
се казват Сникърс,
така че ще ви бъде трудно
да си го представите,
но не това сега
е най-важното.)
Огрян от оскъдното зимно слънце
той ми подаваше
малка гумена топка.
Хвърлих топката
и Сникърс я донесе.
После пак, и пак, и пак…
По-далеч…
Изведнъж забелязах,
че някъде там, в далечината
кучето спира
и отказва да донесе топката.
От Дъглас разбрах,
че това е електрическа нишка,
която пази Сникърс
от близката магистрала.
Почувствах го близък
този приятел
в неговия невидим затвор.

Snickers

Ich traf Snickers
vor einer Tür
im Staate Minnesota.
(Übrigens
heissen alle Hunde in Amerika Snickers,
deshalb wird es schwer für euch
ihn sich vorzustellen,
aber das ist nicht
das wichtigste jetzt.)
Gewärmt von der schwachen Wintersonne
brachte er mir
einen kleinen Gummiball.
Ich warf den Ball
und Snickers brachte ihn zurück.
Immer und immer und immer wieder…
Immer weiter weg…
Plötzlich bemerkte ich,
dass irgendwo dort in der Entfernung
der Hund innehielt
und sich weigerte, den Ball zu bringen.
Douglas erklärte mir,
dass dort ein elektrischer Zaun sei
um Snickers
vor der nahen Autobahn zu schützen.
Ich fühlte mich ihm nahe,
jenem Freund,
in seinem unsichtbaren Gefängnis.

Иван Христов: Американски поеми / Ivan Hristov: American Poems, Bulgarian-English, English translation by Angela Rodel, DA, Sofia 2013

Aus dem Bulgarischen von Thomas Hübner

© Ivan Hristov and DA Publishers, 2013.
© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Vier Gedichte von Petar Tchouhov

Малки Дни

Във входа все по-рядко виждам
лица
и все по-често
снимки

графинята от третия етаж
остана в пощата
а лудият замина
с Христос да отпразнува Коледа

близначките
потънаха в небето
да търсят годеници

от леглото
съседката с изкуствения крак
се хвърля към екрана

там краят на века минава
по Sunset Boulevard

Kurze Tage

Am eingang sehe ich immer seltener
personen
und immer häufiger
fotos*

die gräfin vom dritten stock
blieb in der post
und der verrückte ging
mit Christus Weihnachten feiern

die zwillinge
versanken im himmel
auf der suche nach verlobten

vom bett aus
schleppt sich die nachbarin
mit dem künstlichen bein zum bildschirm

dort vergeht das ende des jahrhunderts
auf dem Sunset Boulevard

 

*Anspielung auf den bulgarischen Brauch, Todesanzeigen mit Fotos der Verstorbenen an Hauseingängen aufzuhängen.

————————————————–

Теория на познанието

Адам позна Ева,
Аврам позна Сара,
Исак позна Ребека…и т.н.

После се появи Сократ, философат
с ужасна жена и каза:
– Познай себе си!

Erkenntnistheorie

Adam erkannte Eva,
Abraham erkannte Sara,
Isaak erkannte Rebekka…usw.

Danach kam Sokrates, der philosoph
mit der schrecklichen frau und sagte:
– Erkenne dich selbst!

————————————————–

Oмир

Платил
последния обол
той стъпва
в лодката на Харон

и тя потъва

Homer

Bezahlt
den letzten obolus
er tritt
in Charons boot

und es versinkt

————————————————–

Трудов стаж

Този младеж
е на 20 и е доста объркан –
като топче за пинг-понг след несръчен удар.

Току-що се е припознал –
за миг му се стори, че вижда приятеля,
в чиито очи е събирал лицето си,
чиито ръце са държали чашата,
помагаща на неговата да оживее
и чието дишане
често е било единственото
лекарство срещу безветрие.

Този объркан младеж, израсъл в семейство,
на което смъртта е далечен роднина,
си е мислел за нея като за непознат братовчед,
беден студент,
какъвто е всъщност и той, самият,
но днес, уви, е за пръв ден на работа
в градската морга.  

Arbeitserfahrung

Dieser junge mann
ist 20 und sehr verwirrt –
wie ein pingpongball nach einem plumpen angriff.

Er hatte gerade eine erscheinung –
für einen moment glaubte er den freund zu sehen,
in dessen augen sich sein gesicht spiegelte,
dessen hände das glas hielten,
das ihm zu überleben half
und dessen atem
oft das einzige heilmittel
gegen die stille war.

Dieser verwirrte junge mann, aufgewachsen in einer familie,
in der der tod ein entfernter verwandter ist,
stellte er ihn sich wie einen unbekannten vetter,
einen armen studenten,
so wie er es selbst ist, vor,
doch heute, ach, ist sein erster arbeitstag
in der städtischen leichenhalle.

big-petar-chuhov

Petar Tchouhov: Malki dni (Малки Дни), Janet45, Plovdiv 2002

Aus dem Bulgarischen von Thomas Hübner

© Petar Tchouhov and Janet45 Publishers, 2002.
© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

TTIP – The Free Trade Lie

Do you know what TTIP stands for? It is the abbreviation of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the planned Free Trade Agreement between the USA and the European Union. (A similar agreement between Canada and the EU is also being negotiated.) It stands for an agreement whose consequences will affect each and everyone of us, even when he or she doesn’t live in the area which will be directly influenced by this treaty. It is therefore important to be able to form an opinion of your own on this topic.

Before I start my review of Thilo Bode’s highly interesting book Die Freihandelslüge (The Free Trade Lie), I should maybe mention that I am in principle an advocate of free trade. Free trade can – if properly applied – increase the welfare of all, it enhances the international division of labor and the optimal use of scarce resources when each country is producing those things in which it is best and has comparative advantages – but frequently those who talk about free trade have something else in mind.

Bode, a development and trade economist by profession (so am I) gives an interesting example. In his first job as a development economist, he worked in a project in Tunisia, a country with scarce water resources. Tunisia is a very suitable place for producing and exporting olive oil, and importing wheat, a cereal that needs a lot of water to grow. This kind of division of labor makes sense: why should a country like Tunisia produce its own wheat and use the little water they have for something that can be much more efficiently grown abroad?

Unfortunately, the EU was and is subsidizing the olive oil production in the EU to an extent that made it for a long time almost impossible for Tunisia to export to the EU – its olive oil was not competitive with the highly subsidized olive oil from the EU. On the other hand, development projects financed by the EU stimulated the growing of wheat in Tunisia, sheer madness! – I could easily add similar examples from my own professional experience in various countries.

This example is typical. “Free” trade means practically in many cases that potential exporters from outside the EU are prevented from entering the market – this situation will be even worse with TTIP since this new agreement will for sure increase the bilateral trade between the two partners at the expense of third countries, particularly the developing countries.

When we listen to those lobbyists that try to convince the public that TTIP is a good thing, the first they usually tell us is that TTIP will increase the GDP, the employment and the wealth of us all. Great – but is it also true? Bode has some convincing facts here that makes us see these claims in a very different light.

The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in London that was hired by the EU to make a study on the probable positive effects of TTIP on growth and employment calculates the positive effect for the GDP in the EU until 2027 to be between 0.39 and 0.48% – not per year, but for the whole period. A very meagre result – and this is of all the studies the one with the highest estimated growth! An additional working day per year or the introduction of the metric system in the US would have in one year a much bigger growth effect than TTIP in together fifteen years! If we consider additionally that the study suggests somehow very inconsistently that people who lose their jobs as a result of the increased competition will find immediately and without additional training costs a new job (in the real world these training costs are considerable and are paid by the society, i.e. they have to be deducted from the calculated growth), we begin to understand that TTIP will be under no circumstances the big job and wealth machine as which the pro TTIP faction is trying to sell it to the public.

The negotiations of TTIP are top secret. Even most elected representatives in both the American Parliament Houses and the European Parliament have no access to information regarding the concrete situation of the negotiations. Only a handful of EP members have access to at least some basic documents which they can access only as if they are in a high security tract, not in an institution that represents the European people. For an international treaty that affects not only trade, but also consumer rights, health, industrial and intellectual property rights, the rights of trade unions, and many other sectors, this is for my understanding a big scandal. Access to information is denied to us and our elected representatives, but lobbyists of the big business have free access to the negotiations and are even part of it! It doesn’t come as a surprise that the meeting agendas of those who are a part of the negotiation teams consist almost exclusively of representatives of the big industrial corporations and multinationals.

Bode gives in his book an overview that is really shocking. Many of his examples concern the food sector. But TTIP will not only in all probability decrease the quality standard in the food sector, it will affect all of us also in other areas. I want to give just two more examples: the production of and trade with chemicals, and the impact of the introduction of arbitrage courts for foreign investment protection.

Many chemicals have the potential to damage the health. The US and the EU have two diametrically opposed approaches to handle this potential danger. The EU regulation REACH that defines the conditions under which chemicals may be brought in use and circulation in the European Union is based on the precautionary principle. This approach to risk management states that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action or policy is not harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking an action, i.e. in this case the producers of these chemicals – and not the consumers or persons that may be harmed.

In the United States, the approach regarding risk management is diametrically opposed. Here the producers don’t need to take precautionary measures, and the burden of proof that a certain substance is harmful falls on those who claim to be harmed by the chemical. In practice this means that a person who has developed cancer from a chemical substance has to go to court and sue the producer – a procedure that is extremely costly and risky, and usually the harmed part will not live to see the result of the law suit.

As a result, many substances that are considered as carcinogenic in Europe and the rest of the world, are still sold and used in the United States, such as asbestos. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) commented the fact that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that is supervising a list of about 85,000 different chemicals that are in industrial use, only very rarely orders scientifically supported tests of chemicals. The risk analysis of trichloroethylene, a high risk chemical, took decades to take place. After a long battle, EPA undertook finally a risk analysis – which was sarcastically commented by the EDF chief scientist with the words: “Now it remains us only the missing risk analysis of the other 84,999 chemicals on the Toxic Substances Control Act list.” 

TTIP will lead to a situation where both sides will agree on the principle of mutual recognition, which means in practical terms that products that have been brought in circulation in one country of the signatories of TTIP, for example the United States, can circulate freely within the TTIP area. That means that a lot of chemicals will enter the EU that contradict the minimum safety and health standards in the EU. Additionally it means that the chemical factories in Europe will have a competitive disadvantage because they produce at higher costs as a result of the additional costly test series that are a result of REACH. That will reduce also employment in the chemical industry in Europe, and many producers will probably close their productions in Europe. 

The most bizarre part of the planned TTIP is the implementation of a separate jurisdiction outside the regular jurisdiction for companies. In the future there will be the regular courts that deal with law suits between companies and governmental institutions in cases when there is a legal conflict; these regular courts will deal with the cases of the local companies or companies from outside the TTIP area. American companies in Europe or European companies in the United States will not need to go to a regular court when thy think that a decision of a government is affecting their business interest. They can go to an arbitration court – in practical terms this is a group of three (usually American) lawyers that is meeting behind closed doors and is deciding the case without ever making the court proceeding or the verdict publically available. And the amount in controversy can be many billions.

The concept of arbitration courts is old. The idea behind it was that countries, particularly countries which have a reputation of lacking transparency or with a history of high corruption want to make it more attractive for foreign investors to come to their countries. When foreign investors know that in case of a conflict they have not to wait ages for a decision of a possibly corrupt court in the country in which they invested their assets, they will feel much more comfortable in their investment decision. Arbitration courts are thus potentially a foreign investment incentive – at least in theory. (Recent studies have shown that they are practically irrelevant as an FDI promotion instrument.)

But neither the United States nor the European Union are developing economies; the legal systems are in principle well established and transparent; there is absolutely no reason to have arbitration courts that create double standards and a law outside the law. (By the way, all arbitration court members worldwide come from a tiny group of Law Firms which are earning outrageous sums for this kind of premodernist “courts” that resemble more the clandestine meetings of cosa nostra padrones than courts in democratic and modern societies.)

What does this system of arbitration courts mean in practical terms for us taxpayers? One example, the case Philip Morris vs. Australia. Australia introduced in 2012 a law that requires that all cigarettes have to be sold in a standardized packaging, the so-called “plain packaging”. All packages are dark brown, are warning in bold letters and with very drastic photos what consequences smoking can have. The packaging can have the name of the producer and the product but no more logo on it. Philip Morris was suing the Australian government but lost finally after a long battle at the highest Australian court.

Nevertheless, Philip Morris may receive billions of Dollars from the Australian taxpayer. Since Philip Morris has a branch in Hong Kong, and the bilateral trade agreement between Hong Kong and Australia gives the foreign investor access to arbitration courts, Philip Morris used its branch in Hong Kong to sue Australia again, this time at the arbitration court. The ban of the logo on the packaging had damaged the interest of Philip Morris in Australia, so the company argues. The case is pending but Philip Morris has good chances to get several billion USD from the Australian taxpayer, although the decision in Australia was legally correct and the highest Australian court had already closed the case. Similar cases have been or are being pursued in Uruguay and the EU (again Philip Morris). New Zealand and several other countries in Africa and Latin America changed their draft laws because they are afraid of the billions they would possibly have to pay the multinationals that produce cigarettes. And the tobacco industry is just one very small example.

While I am writing these lines I just read that the European Parliament again exacerbates its information security regarding the TTIP negotiations. The access to documents related to the negotiations is now almost completely blocked even for EP members. In parallel, interest groups of small and medium-sized companies voice more and more concerns about TTIP – the clear majority of SMEs in Europe and the United States is against this TTIP that will so obviously serve the interest of a few multinationals but will be a huge step backwards for the rest of us.

It is late, but maybe not too late to stop TTIP. We need free trade, but not at all costs. An agreement that exposes consumers to higher health risks, makes exports almost impossible for developing countries and that creates double standards for foreign investors is definitely not something from which anyone of those will profit that is not a major shareholder of a multinational company.

The book of Bode is a wake-up call for all of us and I can recommend it without hesitation to everyone who wants to get to know all the dirty details of this clever but rather outrageous agreement. An English translation would be great!

Bode

 

Thilo Bode: Die Freihandelslüge, DVA, München 2015

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 


A case of revisionism – second update

An adapted version of my recent blog post on the role of Boris III in the context of the Bulgarian participation in the Holocaust in Vardar Macedonia and Thrace was published in Bulgarian on the website Marginalia.

The team of Marginalia is nominated this year for the renowned Human Rights Tulip award of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs for curageous individuals or organisations that promote human rights worldwide in innovative ways.

Thanks to Svetla Encheva and Marta Metodieva from the Marginalia team.

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Gespräch

Meine Übersetzung des Gedichts Gespräch von Ivanka Mogilska wurde auf der deutschen Website von Public Republic veröffentlicht.

Dank an Natalia Nikolaeva und Tsvetelina Mareva.

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 


Women in Translation month upcoming

Following the good example of some blogger friends and in anticipation of this year’s Women in Translation month, I post a list of books by women which I reviewed or from which I published translation samples here, covering the period September 2014 until now:

Deborah Rohan: The Olive Grove
Herta Müller: The Passport
Marjana Gaponenko: Who Is Martha?
Elif Batuman: The Possessed
Neli Dobrinova: Malki mazhki igri
Virginia Zaharieva: Nine Rabbits
Ivanka Mogilska: DNA
Tanja Nikolova: Tolkoz
Isidora Sekulic: Balkan

More to come!

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The feces of revisionism

They promise to stage “Götterdämmerung“ – but their abilities are even not sufficient for “Hänschen klein“.

 

(with a friendly nod in the direction of Gottfried Benn)

 

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

An apology

Just read the second article of Manol Glishev on Boris III.

Now I have to send out an apology to a lot of people. I called Glishev initially a “poet and intellectual“. To all poets and intellectuals – I am really sorry for that.

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Retardistan

Manol Glishev is “rather amused“ – by what? By the death of 11,363 Jews who were sent to Treblinka by his idol and the blog post I wrote about it.

Manol Glishev is also inspired – he promised to write a poem/poems about this amusing topic. – “My funny Holocaust Haikus“ is the working title as I have heard.

And judging from his fine sense of humor, I am sure not to expect in vain a sitcom featuring Macedonian Jews cracking jokes in the gas chamber…soooo amusing – at least for a person with the character of a Manol Glishev.

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-5. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.