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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.

One thing about population in Romania that we can all agree on is that it is in free fall. A recent article has revealed to me that, supposedly, the number of Romanians moving out of the city and into the country side is greater than the number of Romanians moving into the city.

Whenever I talk to Romanians who want to come to Canada and I answer questions, I always end up being a bit upset. I find that people ask me too many simple questions they could answer themselves with Google and too few of the “important” questions. Maybe there’s a guru hiding inside of me, and here’s where I set him free.

It happened a week ago, but I needed some time to sort out my feelings. It’s complicated, because Alexandra Dulgheru is Romanian (i.e., from my native country) and Eugenie Bouchard is Canadian (i.e., from my adoptive country). Alex is nicer and a winner, Genie is a blonde, confirming the stereotypes that come with that categorization.

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.

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) 

One of the stories I wanted to tell is the story of the “repetenti” or “corijenti” in our primary school. Each class had a few of them, more or less equally distributed among the “good classes” and we were all supposed to do our best to “pass” them – i.e., help them graduate, in what today seems like Finland educational equalitarianism.

The previous article got published before I had a chance to finish it. We shall do this here and now.

Aflu ca (re)animatoarea (cheerleadera) sefa a dispus o noua runda de bani aruncati in strainatate pentru promovarea turismului romanesc.

Ma preocupa soarta transportului romanesc, printre altele si pentru ca daca merg prin Ro am nevoie sa ma plimb prin tara in timp scurt. Din pacate, stirile-s proaste.

Incepusem sa-ti pove despre Rosia Montana si apropierea de succes a celor ce se impotrivesc exploatarii aurifere. Si cum nimeni n-o zice p-aia dreapta, voi face eu asta.

Standardul in fake news a fost stabilit de mult timp de Onion News Network, Jon Stewart's Daily Show si, mai recent, Stephen Colbert. Pe acelasi model, in Romania au aparut Trombon si Cronica Carcotasilor. Ieri sau alaltaieri insa ne-am trezit cu un nou concurent: Arhi – cel care l-a reclamat pe [Badea cu o prostie.

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.

Intrerup desfasurarea discutiei interviului halucinant cu un comunicat important pentru tara. Ca sa-mi exprim stupefactia in legatura cu reactia unui blog mirobolant. Care chiar imi placea.

Ce, credeai ca obtinerea unui pasaport romanesc in Canada poate fi povestita intr-un singur articol (primul despre pasaportul romanesc)? Nici pomeneala! Aici afli ce s-a intamplat mai pi larg.

M-am invrednicit – in sfarsit – sa coafez un filmulet facut prin 2004, si l-am postat. Este cu masaj, soare, rusa, germana, ING Direct, criza financiara si derivative. Prilej de-a arunca o privire in urma…

In articolul despre MaraTOROn, am mentionat Kiva.org, proiectul bazat pe ideea de microfinantare pentru care fondatorul (Yunus) a primit premiul Nobel. Astazi am facut primul imprumut caritabil unei doamne din Republica Moldova si alteia din Liban si sunt grozav de multumit.

Iar am ramas in urma cu ce se-ntampla in Ro. Ultimele ecouri pe care le-am prins despre Romania din presa au de-a face cu case din noroi, studenti straini intr-un sat amarat, nemtzii ofticati pe Nokia si Romania la festivalul de film din Venezia. Multe s-or intamplatara de-atunci, si ca sa nu uit, le trec in raboj.