Showing posts with label etica. Show all posts

There was a recent showdown in Oscars documentaries between Colectiv and My Octopus Teacher. I rooted for Collective and it reminded me of a long running Italian TV series from my childhood, La Piovra. Caracatita a castigat si traducerea in romana pe FataCarte.

The reason why I always felt “at home” with computers is my first homecomputer, a “CIP”. Which was my first, back in the late 80s.

#atatsaputut: As busy as one gets, occasionally there is the old "something wrong on the internets" feeling, and that was triggered by this Deutsche Welle free documentary about Romanian Roma kids begging on the streets of Paris as well as in the Parisian Metro (subway / tube) and how the French and Romanian authorities are dealing with it. Ca de obicei, versiunea in romana a acestui articol pe FataCarte.

It's not a lot, but “atat s-a putut”.

A few weeks ago we celebrated 30 years (10x3 years, man!). A lot of documentaries and retrospectives and I hardly kept up with them. But I did watch a few and learned (or refreshed my memory with) facts I either did not know or had forgotten. I will first list, and then, time-permitting, summarize them.

Although I already said I’m not voting, due to atrocious bureaucratic hurdles at a time when it was supposed to be as easy to vote as possible in the most expensive election so far, I’m having second thoughts. Voting is an opportunity to give some unknown hopeful a chance, so I will have a quick look at the lesser known candidates who are worthy of a second look (apart from frontrunners).

Our favorite former SF author, CTP, is back with another seemingly antiziganist or racist controversy, again on former PM and current PSD candidate for president, Dancila. He made fun of her family name etymology (likely Romani or Gypsy) and an anti-discrimination group / person entered the fray.

I probably won’t be voting this year. I’m telling you about my failed attempt to register for “vote by correspondence” or “votul prin corespondenta” as well as my passport application.

Recently, a new candidate for Romanian presidency, Alexandru Cumpanasu, has finally undergone more media scrutiny after having had to make some candidacy-related disclosures. We look into some of the claims made by this individual (whom we strongly dislike) and track down the most likely “university” he is attending, linked below in sources.

A few worrisome events shed a sick light on press freedom and “deontology”, as journos like to call the ethics of their profession. In short, those in power do not respect or understand press freedom, while quite a few “journalists” and self-described bloggers do not get their role.

A former CNSS (Sf Sava National College / High School) classmate sent me a link to an article about Horia Constantinescu (curi-interlop), asking me if I remember this guy being in our class. In Romanian, “interlop” is used to mean shady/criminal while in English it means “unwanted, persona non grata”.

A Paris-dwelling potential (?) USR member posts something about a supposed transgression of a USR MEP in a USR private forum, the screenshots are leaked to the media, and the tabloids are milking it for all that it’s worth. The complainant tries to have it both ways, claiming some kind of allegiance to the party and desire to keep the story private, while maintaining the right to “privacy”.

In a recent post on his Facebook page, Raed Arafat, the Romanian EMS SMURDfather, complains that SMURD teams on the beach should not be expected to save people from drowning. As a Canadian-trained (RLSSC) lifeguard (salvamar), that strikes me as odd.

In a recently published article on Euronews (en-roadfat), Alice Tidey asks the question where in Europe are roads deadliest; the answer is posted even before the question: Romania. We decipher a recent “ProTV News” news segment (spt-victime) where Titi Aur, a “defensive driving instructor”, reveals a deeply seated murderous misunderstanding in terms of the rules of the road, a misunderstanding that he shares.

I have recently read an opinion by some “journo” in a tabloid on how anonymous SIM cards should be sold no more (i.e., make them available only to those producing ID). I argue that the writing privileges of this person should be suspended.

I’ve recently noticed a tweet that seems to indicate the Romanians are 3rd among EU countries least happy with free movement in Europe. That’s remarkable. Why would that be?

I pity the politicians who want to do something good. They can’t clickbait their laws. For instance, the measure to tax sugary stuff can and should be called an anti-aging tax or, in Romanian, “contributia pentru o tinerete fara batranete si-o veatza fara de moarte”.

In a significant development, the full transcript of the 112 calls by the last victim, Alexandra Măceșanu, has been published. It is unclear to me if these are the official transcripts or rather what some of those who have listened may have remembered or clandestinely recorded. I do not expect that the official transcripts are any different and I am publishing them along with the censured victim-blaming comments made in 2010 by Tudorel Butoi, who continues to provide his “expert opinion” in TV shows.

I keep reading about Romanian Police incompetence and I can tell you that I’ve seen far worse here in Toronto. I learned about former cop and current “forensic psychologist” Butoi telling us why a living girl’s carbonized remains ended up in a barrel (cf Romanian “butoi”). And beyond all these facts, inadequacies and incompetence, the question we want to answer even though we know we can’t is why?

Whereas in English "Caracal" refers to a “medium-sized wild cat”, in Romania it’s a small town, possibly named after the long disappeared animal. Recently, what may very well be a serial killer has been arrested after some agonizing, train-wreck of a police investigation. This would be the first such criminal there in a long time.

Soros and at least one Koch started holding hands for a common purpose: they call it something else, but it’s really about ending America’s “world cop” legacy role. Far more important to Romanians, on the foremost blog in the SE Of europe (ran out of capitals), a guest author makes almost as many language mistakes as the owner but has more consistently enlightened viewpoints.