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(Photo: Sarah In Romania)   Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! and a little festive ode just for you. Any likeness to that of Pastorel is pure figment of your imagination. Sarah's lil Ode to Sarmale Normal 0 21 There’s something ‘bout sarmale That turns my legs to gel, I’m sure that all my readers Know this feeling very well  * The prep is ceremonious And it can’t be done alone – For that accentuates the ‘dor’ And longingness for home.  * Ingredients loved and fashioned Into each, a... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) Dr. Sanda Golopenția PhD, Professor Emerita at Brown University, RI (US), sent me this text yesterday, and has given me kind permission to share it with you here. In this one article, she sums things up in a nutshell defining what is planned for MTR, Antipa and the Village Museum as 'a serious act of cultural aggression': Many thanks, Professor Golopenția!   Normal 0 21 Trei muzee prestigioase deturnate de la munca și misiunea lor   Sanda Golopenția, Prof.Em. Brown University   ... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) Yet another vicious beating from Romanian authorities, this time aimed at the Romanian Peasant Museum (Muzeul Ţăranului Român - MTR)... PM Victor Pontaur is all for an absurd draft resolution dreamed up by the Sinister of the Environment PSD-ist Rovana Plumb (all those out in the streets protesting against the RMGC project and fracking know her only too well) to move the nearby Grigore Antipa Museum of Natural History there, thus destroying MTR and its grounds as we know it. Actually, it destroys two museums in one... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source: Vlad Petri) Another night of protests in Bucharest - and yet more scenes of intimidation and police violence... Around 2,000 people are reported to have demonstrated against USL and the Ponta government for trying to subvert justice through their amendments to the Penal Code adopted last Tuesday. The event, entitled "Protest against crooks in Parliament", was scheduled for 16h at Piata Universitatii by the symbolic fountain which has borne witness to so many other protests in Romania's modern history, and is deeply... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) This'll be fairly short as there's not much to be said, frankly. The probable new minister of culture formally proposed by PNL is Gigel Sorinel Ştirbu (no - not Ştirbei), currently head of the committee for culture, arts and media in the Chamber of Deputies. Him? Seriously? Aoleu... Culture, Arts, Mass media in the Chamber of Deputies. Citeste mai mult: adev.ro/mxpl5. Seriously? Him? Aoleu. From a rotten apple to a rotten pear. Andrei Pleşu said this morning that he had never heard of Ştirbu. "What was the name... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) The revolving door is spinning again, and no one will weep. The sinister minister of culture Daniel Barbu has resigned - the best news of the week since the mining law was rejected by parliament on Monday. All other news has so far been groaznic so we could do with another cause for cheer. Barbu's recent outrageous statement on Sunday (following an event at Teatrul National in Craiova) in which he said he would have preferred money used to fund HIV-AIDS patients to be spent on cultural events instead was "likely to... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) And so... it's happened at last! After the long and heated debates within the closed doors of parliament and three months of widespread protests throughout the country and abroad, the amended mining law which would have enabled Gabriel Resources to proceed with plans to build Europe's largest open-cast gold mine was rejected this morning by the Romanian parliament with 160 votes in favour, 105 against and 22 abstaining. Under Romanian law, in order for it to have been adopted it would have needed at least half plus one... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) Fifty Greenpeace activists from ten countries (including Romania) armed with picks and shovels were arrested in Bucharest today after taking to the front lawn of the Casa Nebunului, setting up a 'mining area' and 'digging for gold' in symbolic opposition to the Rosia Montana gold-mining project. Banners displayed the messages "Gold Mining Operations" and "Gold mining area". What a fantastic initiative!! BRAVO!! A shame they didn't have a couple of tons of cyanide to throw in, too! See video HERE and more photos HERE. ... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source: AFP Photo / Daniel Mihailescu) Protests turned violent once again in Pungesti yesterday when clashes broke out between armed police and demonstrators. Journalist Lucy Kafanov reporting for RT in Moscow (?!!) was there on site and reported that protesters broke down perimetre fences and briefly entered the Chevron area. Riot police arrived and the violence that has become so familiar to us lately then ensued. The conflict has been ever-increasing this past week after the government imposed a military-style blockade... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) You may remember back in October when Chevron suspended plans to drill an exploration well for shale gas in the north-eastern town of Pungesti after thousands demonstrated against the project both there and in Bucharest. Finally, Chevron was seen to back off, at least for a while. Some naïve souls hoped that would be an end to it - that Chevron would give up and go home. The majority, however, knew that wouldn't be the case. Well, six weeks later, Chevron have returned.... At around 4am on Monday morning, Romanian riot... [Lire la suite]