Over the weekend I’ve watched with growing dismay as the propaganda war over Transnistria has been heating up. As Hiram Johnson once (allegedly) said, “The first casualty of war is the truth” and during this latest buildup of tensions between Russia and “the West” that’s certainly been the case so I figured I’d do my humble part to set the record straight. Background For centuries … Continue reading The Battle of Tiraspol
I’ve long been critical of Ponta and his political allies and more supportive of President Basescu but I’m afraid the old man is off his medication. Either that or he’s fallen victim to Yanukovich Fever, that awful disease that strikes powerful politicians who were once popular but now see their time in the spotlight coming to an end (Basescu’s 10-year reign ends this November) and … Continue reading Gabba Gabba Huh?
Ever since I read The Brass Check on my first e-reader about 10 years ago (yep), I’ve been fascinated by which news stories that people who are hyper-aware of the media know about and which stories seem to drift into the general population’s consciousness, as if my magic osmosis. Last night I was doing yet another interview (nothing new or original was discussed) and the … Continue reading Akum noi toti govarim pa romaneste
It’s snowing beautifully here in Unicorn City as I write this and I can see that all the news channels are busy pumping the one bit of good news that they have, that the Republic of Moldova has signed a free trade agreement with the European Union at the summit in Vilnius (overshadowed globally by the fact that Ukraine was scheduled to also sign it … Continue reading Forever Put Asunder
If you’re like me then there’s nothing more fun than browsing through lengthy European Union documents on taxation on a Sunday morning. But yes, that’s what I was doing, all because of a report in Gandul (link in Romanian) about how this country’s excise taxes are spent. In short, Romania collects about 1.5 billion lei (or about 350 million Euros) per year on excise taxes … Continue reading Rotten to the Core
