I must admit that I find almost all graffiti to be terribly ugly. Usually its presence defaces whatever building or wall it is written on too. Nonetheless, I take great stock in the graffiti that I see in my daily journeys around the city because it serves as a kind of people’s bulletin board, an “offline internet” where controversial messages can be displayed. I also … Continue reading Namaste, Bitch!
Many years ago I was eating dinner in a restaurant in Bucharest when my companions began pointing and whispering excitedly. It turned out that Gheorghe Hagi was eating at a nearby table. I not only didn’t recognize him by sight but I had literally never heard of him despite the fact that he is widely considered to be this country’s greatest football (USA: soccer) player … Continue reading The Grandmaster
I think just about everyone knows the general outline of the events (in Europe) of World War 2. A strident Adolf Hitler leads Nazi Germany to expand into Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia and then invades Poland in 1939. This triggers Britain and France to enter the war. The Nazis and their allies in Italy sweep over the entirety of the European continent before attacking … Continue reading The Secret History of the CIA in Romania
As I mentioned in my piece Why is Romania so poor? and other articles, there is a curious piece of the puzzle missing when understanding how historical forces led to modern Romania being such an impoverished, ill-governed country suffocating under onerous amounts of red tape and a surprising lack of economic performance. I’m close to finalizing my research so you’ll have to wait a bit … Continue reading Further Questions
This weekend I was out at the Unicorn City Airport to pick up the SMG from another one of her endless training-uri when I saw that they were building a new gas (petrol) station alongside the main east-west street here in Cluj-Napoca. The bulldozers were still on site and most of the asphalt has yet to be poured but strangely the large sign with illuminated … Continue reading A poem for David Ciceo
All Things Romania 