Psychotropic Micro-Weapons
So we just got back from Strasbourg a few days ago. We heard the president of the EU Commission speak at the European Parliament, and then ventured over to the European Court of Human Rights. There, we took a little tour and had a crash course on the Court, but our lesson actually came to life the next day when an old Ukrainian man approached us on the street.
He heard us speaking English and wanted to know if one of us would proofread his human rights violation claim. You can submit it in Russian, but he said the whole process would be easier if he wrote it in English. We had three hours to kill until our train left, and we were intrigued. So a few of us obliged and started going through the seven-page document.
At first it was actually kind of interesting, as he explained how he was beaten up unfairly by police, but then it quickly devolved into a paranoid account of how Soviet spies are after him. Apparently they’re intimidated by his intellectual poetry, so they attacked him with “psychotropic micro-weapons.” I don’t even know. We kept going though, because a) it would have been awkward to leave in the middle of it and b) it was pretty amusing.
His laptop’s battert died by the 4th page, he gave us his business cards, and we made our way to the train station. Then I washed my hands, as I realized I really probably shouldn’t have been touching a crazy, random stranger’s keyboard.
Oh, but he’s not really a stranger. If you’re curious, his name is Leonid Tysyachnyy, and his website is http://sg.geocities.com/leonidtysyachnyy/resume.html Wish him luck with the Court!
