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(Photo source) sorin oprescu, Bucharest's grotesquely corrupt and incompetent mayor, ploughs on in his frenzied, hell-bent determination to destroy the city's patrimony where Ceausescu left off. Those who care and grieve these losses at his hands are a tragic, shameful minority seen as nutty eccentrics standing against progress and modernity. Doubtless, if there were to be an election tomorrow, oprescu and all those others intent on eradicating the Bucharest we know and love would win again. And again. And again and again and again.... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) Oprescu's 'pasaj rutier' destined for Piata Presei Libere has been deemed useless by the OAB in an open letter, and rightly so. It does not take the traffic coming from the Bucharest-Ploiesti motorway into any consideration whatsoever, and, apart from that rather erroneous oversight, it will destroy the beautiful zone of Kiseleff itself - one of the very few left in the capital today. It is nothing more than another example of megalomanic emperor oprescu's hell-bent determination to mutilate and slaughter what remains... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) Over? Finished? You're kidding. We truly believed this had been put to bed, and that Florentina would be left alone to put her life back together again after it was destroyed by the tragedy which took the lives of six babies, injured five, and left her the scapegoat and whipping boy of a disaster that was neither her fault nor her responsibility. But no.  Today, Florentina was condemned to two years and two months in jail. The technical service chief, Gigel Oprea, was sentenced to two years (is that ALL?!?) and... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) Today sees the 66th anniversary (and a nice Google doodle) of the Roswell Affair.  Roswell, New Mexico sprang to international fame on July 8th, 1947, when local news reported the capture of a flying saucer by government officials in the town. Since the discovery, conspiracy theorists continue to insist that the debris found came from an alien spacecraft and that the fact was covered up by the military. The persistent belief of alien activity around Roswell triggered the Air Force to launch an investigation into... [Lire la suite]

This afternoon, I received this very moving and superbly written note on FB by my friend, journalist Roxana Dascalu, in response to my post HERE yesterday (which, I'm ashamed to say, reads like a cold list of distant events rather than something emotional by comparison). She has given me permission to share her text with you here and so I beg you to read it and then circulate it far and wide. It should be published in the Romanian national press for these are memories that make blood run cold and hair stand on end - and it is REAL,... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) Today is the twenty-third anniversary of the 13-15 June 1990 coal miners' massacre ('mineriada') when an estimated 10,000 miners from the Jiu Valley invaded Bucharest at the behest of Ion Iliescu (to help 'suppress' student protests) and rampaged their way through the capital indiscriminately killing, maiming, beating up innocent people, vandalising both the Liberal Party and the National Peasant Party HQs, newspaper offices and private houses as they went. Carnage. Pure and gratuitous carnage. Only a few weeks after... [Lire la suite]

(Image source) Today, June 11th, marks the anniversary of an appallingly tragic stain on the page of Romania's history. In short, it was the decapitation of Romanian industry in order to ultimately liquidate the bourgeoisie. It was the day of nationalisation, 1948 - a page that brought with it 65 years of suffrance, loss, pain and grief for hundreds of thousands of Romanians. Wikipedia explains: "The early years of Communist rule in Romania were marked by repeated changes of course and by numerous arrests and imprisonments as... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) "Have you ever heard of Nicolae Kirculescu?" a friend asked me this weekend. "Um... no. Who is he?" Who is he indeed. Shame on me. My friend promptly sent me a youtube link for a beautiful piece unknown to me but familiar, certainly, to all Romanians for it is the theme tune for "TeleEnciclopedia", an educational TV programme that has been running every Saturday evening on TVR1 at 18h45 since 1965. 'Moment muzical' is a lovely, rich piece for piano and orchestra, part of 'Four studies for piano and orchestra' and... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) How lovely it is to have some good news to report for a change. Some months ago, I wrote a post HERE on the appalling neglect and frighteningly imminent destruction of George Enescu's mother's house in Mihaileni, Moldova where he spent time during childhood, youth and adulthood (and later owned). Pianist and President of the International George Enescu Society in Vienna, Raluca Stirbat, made it her hell-bent raison d'être to see the house saved and registered on the list of Romania's Historic Monuments, and, after... [Lire la suite]

Romania celebrates International Children's Day today - a special event to honour and protect children around the world, but particularly at home. The International Day for the Protection of Children has been observed in many countries as Children’s Day since 1950. It was established by the Women’s International Democratic Federation during a congress in Moscow. The day also has its origins at the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva dating back to 1925. It was established universally in 1954 to protect children... [Lire la suite]