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Though it may be unfair to extend the failure of the Romanian National Press Agency (Agerpres) and the Romanian External Affairs Ministry to an entire nation, let us not forget that part of their job is to represent the country. The recent faux-pas, confusing the French contours with the German one in a one-print commemorative brochure is, unfortunately, indicative of the dilettantism that has taken over the Romanian government.

While writing about Jihadi Jay Abdo, I had started writing about foreigners who study in Romania and half-way through I realized that this deserves a separate article. I had previously assumed (nature) that the Romanian prime-minister’s (Ponta) many scandals, some centered around his plagiarizing of his doctoral thesis will taint Romanian education and significantly decrease its appeal. Further investigation revealed that many are still interested, although it is hard to determine to what extent the scandals have caused the Romanian tuition fees to be the lowest in Europe, or that is due to other market forces. As usual, the links are listed at the end.

@JihadAbdo is an L.A.-based actor with more than 43 films, tons of TV series and lots of plays in four languages. One of those languages is Romanian.

The current culture clash about some Norwegian child welfare agency having seized a Romanian couple’s children over physical discipline and the ensuing protests coming mostly from religious groups has a recognizable background: it’s a rehashing of the century-old conservative vs liberal quarrel. I have respect and admiration for Norway and their altruistic, enlightened and generous foreign policy and foreign aid, but this case may be more than just that.

Cand generalul de securitate Ion Pacepa a cerut azil politic in US, Ceausescu a avut un microinfarct iar Andries a scris celebrul sau blues. De-atunci, ghinaralul nostru a scris cateva carti care insa nu au prea fost luate in serios. Dupa introducerea si Stronach, il luam pe Pacepa in colimator (“unde e tipografia?”)

Recently, a friend asked me to provide Romanian lessons. I directed her to Duolingo (invite) and, as I occasionally listen to Romanian eTeatru (or “teatru radiofonic”), it occurred to me that this is something worth sharing with the rest of the world.

Incepusem sa discut in partea I datoria externa a Romaniei, starnit de o afirmatie facuta de Gheorghe Funar cum ca aceasta ar fi ajuns la 140 de miliarde de euro. Desi ar trebui sa reiasa din episodul anterior, aici ajungem la o oarecare concluzie in aceasta privinta.

I suspect there is a 'TestVote' application for each member country of the EU. I decided to follow my own recommendation from Romanian MEP elections in Toronto and go through this, just before voting. Since there is very likely an English one in existence, and the English vote has already concluded, this article has the questions left in original, in Romanian.

This could very well be a paid post, but it's not (unless you consider a free concert and a couple of Pepsi bottles as 'payment'). I was just passing by their tent and the music caught my ear; I enjoyed it while watching a cover of Talking Heads (Psycho Killer). All in all, a great opportunity to reminisce on what Pepsi meant in my childhood.

I recently read a longer article on Bloomberg about Romania and its lagging infrastructure - more specifically, roads and highways. Much to my surprise, all that I was reading on other blogs (or hearing from my relatives) was described and explained as facts. (blmbrg-cows) 

I have to admit, I don't quite keep up with Romanian music. My favourite groups are rather old, and I only hear about Romanian stars when they are too big and of dubious quality (e.g., Inna).

I really don’t have the time for this, but yet again, someone on the internets is wrong.

Quickly, I just learned about a new Romanian Immigrant who had won the Visa Lottery..

Sriracha is a 'sauce piquante', SRI is the Romanian Secret Service, fall is autumn, and in Romanian "picant" could also be derived from 'to fall' which is 'a pica.' We look at the consecutive declarations of Romania’s president, an allied journalist and finally, the candidacies of other president-hopefuls, from the head of the Romanian Secret Service, Melescanu and to the former Justice Minister, Macovei. But most of all, the title is a tip of the hat to Vlad Petreanu and his excellent expose, with a title that translates roughly as “The [secret] Services Autumn.”

Intre candidatele competitiei Miss Univers Canada ‘09 se afla si doua romance. Madalina, bruneta, e din Bucuresti via Toronto iar Livia, satena, e din Craiova via Montreal (St Lambert).

Noam Chomsky este cel mai cunoscut dissident American. Spre deosebire de dizidenti in alte state, este viu, nevatamat, scrie carti, da interviuri, preda la facultate, calatoreste si viata nu i-a fost niciodata in pericol. M-am gandit c-ar fi instructiv sa ne uitam la cateva citate care pot – sau nu – sa fie relevante la situatia actuala a Romaniei.

Imi vine greu sa urmaresc ce se-ntampla in Moldova, intre altele fiindca neputinta ma-nfurie. Mai mult, logica sau bunul simt par sa fi fost interzise si proscrise, odata cu diseminarea propagandei referitoare la implicarea Romaniei in “Revolutia Twitter”.

As previously announced, I am presenting here the questions to ask euro candidates. I don’t know when I’ll have a chance to pose the questions, which is why I am posting them here, in the hope that someone else might help asking them and returning the answers.

I happened to be in the area so I decided to pay the consulate a visit, not expecting to be able to vote, but hoping to learn more info about my programmed visit for my passport renewal. I didn't waste a lot of time, but in typical Romanian fashion, someone managed to use my time with info that is likely useless.

Articolul initial, in care incepusem sa dezbat gandirea d-lui Nastase iesise mult prea lung. L-am spart in doua, precum Sgt John din marina britanica Titanicul.