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There was a time when I was a virgin (well, I still am, but on my blog I like to pretend otherwise, maybe I’ll hook up with one of the supermodels with adventurous lives who read it). I thought I tell you some stories from those times - but I have to warn you: you might end up wishing you didn’t read it. I shall call this series “Intimations from the Age of Innocence.”

Un fost "coleg de casa" din vremea studentiei m-a contactat cu cateva zile in urma sa-mi spuna ca va fi pentru cateva zile in Toronto. Si-am inceput sa-mi amintesc.. in engleza.
We were students and life was good. We served as an inspiration for Daft Punk (non)image, though we were never adequately compensated. These French people, always taking stuff from us, hard working beer lovers

I’m not a nationalist and though I wish my Romanian friends “La Multi Ani” for our national holiday, a small part of me is uneasy, because nationalism means association with people who share your ethnic background, some good, some bad, but in our case (and, of course, excepting those I know personally), mostly bad.

One contest I thought about is superscrieri (superwritings). That got me thinking of other contests, such as fiction in Canada or the US Visa Lottery.

After introducing the reader to a Tutea-like blogger (but without the mandibular shaking, and as a blogger, he writes rather than talks), today I was going to continue the cycle of Alexic Danopathy, as promised. Recently, National Geographic has written at length about Trajan’s Column (research first covered a few months ago), and surprisingly, Alexic Danopathy “scholarship” and research is nowhere to be found there. There’s more to be said, but I got sidetracked by his conversation with someone he calls Tartina Lol (caba-tl). 

There are two subjects that seem to dominate the Romanian public sphere (I would say blogo.ro-oaie, but that's defunct): the religion choice in schools and the New York Times Op-Ed on corruption in Romania. I’m very tempted to make a nice hot stew out of both, but I’ll try to keep each to its own article.

My reservations notwithstanding, I suspect most of the people who voted for Iohannis do not really know who he is, apart from the fact that he is not Ponta. I'm trying to bring a bit more color and background to his wooden personality.

I have a ton of things to do so that I can leave. However, part of the preparation is to look through local stuff and one such thing is this. The theft of a tablet in a small town, used subsequently to publish photos of the new owner, is a good opportunity to explore questions about policing, bias, antiziganism / racism and herd mentality.

Azi e ziua patriei, dar cum ii spuneam lui Krossfire intr-un comentariu, prefer o zi rationala uneia nationale. Oricum, el explica tare bine cam tot ce-i de explicat, iar eu n-as putea decat sa repet urarea veche. Continui aici discutia emotie vs. logica, inceputa in prima parte cu Colbert si Adeveria.

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.

About a week ago I watched a number of TV series and movies worth discussing. One of them was about the Brits and the war, and it is somehow connected, in my mind, to UKIP and Farage.

In prima parte am inceput mai general, cu citate din Nietzsche si o lista iutub. Aici-sa zicem cu detalii si carti existentialiste si general-introductive.

A relatively recent tragic murder and Munchausen by proxy case is a pretext to look at how Romani / Gypsy / Roma people are perceived, the guilt of their children and mob mentality.

A while back, I was having an argument (well, it’s more like I was trying to have a conversation with my designated troll, banned since) about the downside of population decline (PD). He demanded to know why is it bad (which is what I was trying to say) and I thought I provided some studies, but while searching, I was unsatisfied with the quality of the studies I had found. (The title term refers mostly to economy (i.e., population drops below the level required to carry the economy or more specifically old age pensions) whereas PD refers to demographics.) Since then, I’ve found a bit more so here it is.

I have in the past voted for the (former) President Basescu and even raised to his defence (more or less) when he was accused of slapping an impertinent child. Yet his latest display of inconsistency is more than I can bear.

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.

Based on my mistaken belief that there may be people reading this, I go ahead with my recommendations, after the intro and Asia. PISA is not just a set of tests, it comes with suggestions and recommendations.

Though inordinate, this childhood memory was quite far from being an extraordinary event, and as such, I wasn't going to write about it. But a recent, excellent article but this quasi-famous disciple of an even more famous philosopher caused me to reconsider and share this story with you.

Povesteam nu demult despre criza sistemului de sanatate din Canada si in special din Ontario. Lipsa acuta de medici de familie se traduce in cozi la salile de urgenta. Si iata ca recent, un nene, suparat pe sistem a intrat intr-o statie de metrou si-a incercat sa omoare doi adolescenti.

This is another one of the stories I’ve postponed telling because it’s not easy and I had yet to feel “inspired”; then again, this blog is getting old and I’ve given myself yet another deadline to tell the stories that are important, inspired or not.