Another day in the funhouse world that is Romania. First, the European Court of Human Rights has – yet again – ruled against Romania, this time for torturing people. From the ECHR: Romania committed several rights violations due to its complicity in CIA secret detainee programme. In today’s Chamber judgment, in the case the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been … Continue reading The Hollow Men
Well, well, what do you know? The AP is up to its usual shitty job of reporting about Romania: The CIA paid Romania “millions of dollars” to host secret prisons, a rights lawyer said Wednesday as the European Court of Human Rights heard accusations that Romania allowed the agency to torture terrorism suspects in a secret renditions program under President George W. Bush. . Amrit … Continue reading Implausible Deniability Part 2
You know, sometimes things in Romania are so absurd that when you hear about yet another tragedy, you almost have to laugh. Almost. First up, Justice Minister Raluca “I Need A Billion Euros to Spy On You” Pruna agreed with the recent Constitutional Court (Supreme Court) ruling that ignorance of the law is an excuse. At issue is whether a government official is committing the … Continue reading Ignorantia Juris Semper Excusat
Word Count: 1984 For years, I’ve been writing about the numerous failings great and small of government agencies and political leaders in Romania. Certainly no country is perfect and some mistakes and missteps are to be expected. But the subject of this article encapsulates exactly what is wrong with the country and why no amount of “progress” and European Union money will ever do more … Continue reading The Fail Whale Checklist
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
All Things Romania 