Romania

[noddy]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... -not-alive

Constantin Reliu, 63, fails to overturn 2003 death certificate because he appealed too late

[YMix]

The dead walk the Earth.

[Simple Minded]

The dead walk the Earth.

We in SimpleMindedStan have long known that Romania is the modern post modern Transylvania.

AI Bots, the Walking Dead, Vampires, Romanians. What the difference?

[YMix]

We in SimpleMindedStan have long known that Romania is the modern post modern Transylvania.

AI Bots, the Walking Dead, Vampires, Romanians. What the difference?

We are the future. Join us.

(Even made it into a good game: https://invisibleinc.gamepedia.com/Draco)

[YMix]

Our Science Fiction Prototype begins in the year 2027. Romania and Moldova have united, crossing a red line for Russia. Tensions are high as both NATO and Russia conduct training missions on each side of the border. When both forces’ front-line autonomous forces deviate from their submitted plans... the robots engage...triggering a full conflict.

http://cyber.army.mil/Portals/3/Documen ... gh-res.pdf

[Typhoon]

The dead walk the Earth.

+1

[Typhoon]

Our Science Fiction Prototype begins in the year 2027. Romania and Moldova have united, crossing a red line for Russia. Tensions are high as both NATO and Russia conduct training missions on each side of the border. When both forces’ front-line autonomous forces deviate from their submitted plans... the robots engage...triggering a full conflict.

http://cyber.army.mil/Portals/3/Documen ... gh-res.pdf

Reuters | More than 10,000 people rally to unify Romania and Moldova

The country that is now Moldova was part of Tsarist Russia during the 19th century and known as Bessarabia. After World War One it joined what was known as Greater Romania but it was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, it became independent under the name Moldova.

It is now split between a Romanian-speaking majority and the breakaway region Transdniestria, which is propped up by Russia in one of a series of “frozen conflicts” that have kept separatist regions in several former Soviet republics under Moscow’s wing.

[Typhoon]

BBC | Romania protests: Thousands hold fresh rallies after clashes

Thousands of Romanians are again taking part in an anti-government rally in the capital Bucharest, a day after clashes left more than 400 people injured.

On Friday, more than 50,000 people took to the streets against what they described as entrenched corruption and low wages.

Many of the demonstrators are Romanian expats who have returned from across Europe to voice their anger at the government.

[noddy]

amusingly, its only forums and public chatter sites Im getting any news on this massive ongoing protest.

the news is delightfully blank.

ditto bangladesh btw.

[noddy]

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2019/02 ... ciary.html

the government appears to have settled upon a revolutionary way to lower corruption .

[YMix]

Dragnea and the entire corrupt political establishment behind him wanted (and still wants) an amnesty and pardon bill, an act that would simply erase all their thefts, including those we don't know about yet. In theory, this is the Parliament's job. The Cabinet cannot issue this type of law. But Dragnea could push it through the Parliament and he would much rather keep his own hands clean. So he demanded a Cabinet decree, but couldn't find anyone stupid enough to sign it. Which is why we went through three prime ministers in two years. The Minister of Justice is a disgusting lackey, but even he wouldn't sign the decree. So they went with Plan B: dismantle the judiciary, bring the prosecutors and judges to heel. They set up a separate department, tasked with investigating magistrates, in order to intimidate and coerce. Today, the Minister of Justice announced he wants to replace the Attorney General because Augustin Lazar refuses to do what Dragnea wants him to.

[noddy]

https://www.euractiv.com/section/politi ... -immunity/

The relations between Bucharest and Brussels hit an all-time low on Thursday (21 February) as the Romanian press reported that the Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans and Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová are under investigation for “falsification” of the last Cooperation and Verification report (CVM).

Last November, the Romanian governing coalition, led by the Social Democrats, announced plans to take the European Commission to court over the CVM report, which assesses Romania’s progress in the rule of law and fight against crime and corruption.

hehe. this lavender would be gold if it was a political comedy.

[YMix]

It's the cheekiest sh*t I've seen in my life.

Also, it's not "falsification". More like "providing false information" or "making false claims".

[Typhoon]

Reuters | Thousands of Romanians protest against judicial changes

[YMix]

Yesterday, the European Parliament election was a PSD rout. The party went from 45% in 2016 to slightly more than 22% this year, barely edging out the USR, a party with no mayors to get out the vote, no state officials to influence the count, no patronage network to provide money.

Today, the court upheld the previous sentence and Liviu Dragnea is going to prison for 3.5 years. He cannot run for elected office again.

I'll be in Victoriei Square this evening. I'll probably get drunk. Will write more when sober.

[Typhoon]

Yesterday, the European Parliament election was a PSD rout. The party went from 45% in 2016 to slightly more than 22% this year, barely edging out the USR, a party with no mayors to get out the vote, no state officials to influence the count, no patronage network to provide money.

Today, the court upheld the previous sentence and Liviu Dragnea is going to prison for 3.5 years. He cannot run for elected office again.

I'll be in Victoriei Square this evening. I'll probably get drunk. Will write more when sober.

Congratulations. Well done, Romania.

[Simple Minded]

Yesterday, the European Parliament election was a PSD rout. The party went from 45% in 2016 to slightly more than 22% this year, barely edging out the USR, a party with no mayors to get out the vote, no state officials to influence the count, no patronage network to provide money.

Today, the court upheld the previous sentence and Liviu Dragnea is going to prison for 3.5 years. He cannot run for elected office again.

I'll be in Victoriei Square this evening. I'll probably get drunk. Will write more when sober.

Congratulations. Well done, Romania.

Seconded! Amen! The winds are change are in the air!

YMix, get drunk in public and grab some pussy!

[YMix]

So...

We had an election and a referendum, at the same time. That was a smart move on the party of the president. Last year, we had an annoying referendum when a bunch of loons wanted to put the traditional family in the Constitution, an idea that very obviously came from the US. That referendum was defeated by a massive boycott. This year, the referendum on anti-corruption issues was held at the same time as the European Parliament election and it rode the wave of anti-PSD feeling. The turnout was good, almost 50%, the highest in many years. The PSD was outmaneuvered: it could not tell its voters to boycott the referendum for fear that they wouldn't go to the polls at all. In the end, the National Liberals (PNL) won with 27% of the vote, while the PSD barely got the second place, beating the upstart USR by less than 20,000 votes. It was major voter suppression in the diaspora that helped the PSD. By all rights, they should have dropped to third place.

Then Dragnea went to prison and the PSD is now gripped by a major power struggle. Three factions are fighting to control the party:
- a group of barons who support PM Viorica Dancila (a woman with delusions of adequacy) because they think she's dumb. Moreover, Dancila was plucked from obscurity by Dragnea and appointed prime minister. She doesn't actually have a power base within the party and that makes her vulnerable to the rugged charms of people like Marian Oprisan, the Vrancea baron;
- a second group of barons, those pushed aside by Dragnea, who want to take their power back and get revenge on Dragnea's minions. Their more-or-less-leader, Paul Stanescu, got himself appointed interim party president and tried to organize a party congress in the fall, thinking he would spend the summer talking to the barons and building a coalition. He was outvoted and resigned. The congress will be held this month, so Stanescu has to hustle. Then again, Stanescu issued vague threats that he could support an inevitable motion of censure against Dancila. This group includes Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea, another woman with delusions of adequacy. She wants to be president, but I kinda doubt that's going to happen. Having to tell the locals that the City Hall budget is gone and the city is basically broke tends to make people not vote for you. Also, she saw fit to tell the nation that a one-inch piece of wire was found in her colon. I have no idea why her colon needed to be a public issue;
- a third group of barons, the Dragnea minions. Many of them were promptly sacked by Dancila and Stanescu, but they still hope they can beat back the opposition and regain control of the party. It remains to be seen whether they can actually muster a defense without Dragnea leading and protecting them.

It was interesting to see that Moldova seems to be slipping from the PSD's grasp. PNL actually beat the PSD by a slim margin in the region, while the big cities went to the USR, the urban party.

On the other side, the race is now on between the opposition parties. The National Liberals might have won the election, but they know they could have easily lost. Many people have not forgotten the PNL's past association with the PSD. The party's lack of ideas and people was very obvious: they had to recruit a TV anchor from the anti-PSD "Realitatea TV" as their leading candidate. The party should kiss the guy's a$$ because he stumped for them like a champ and got them a lot of votes. And their main platform was "we must get rid of the PSD". All well and good, but what happens after we get rid of the PSD? Nobody knows. Also, the PNL knows that the main threat is not the PSD, but the USR, which is competing for many of the same voters. About two weeks before the election, the leader of PNL's youth organization in Cluj was caught distributing fake USR flyers designed to make the USR look bad. There's no love lost between the main opposition parties. After the election, PNL leader Ludovic Orban came out and said IT workers should no longer be exempt from paying the income tax. That was an obvious dig at the young, urban, IT-oriented crowd voting USR, as well as an attempt to woo some disgruntled PSD voters.

The USR was the biggest winner. They went from zero to almost second place in one election. However, they also ran on an anti-PSD platform and took full advantage of ambiguity, being different things to different people. I voted for them and I fully expect them to disappoint me. The USR is now becoming the equivalent of the US Democratic Party: right wing on economic issues, left wing on soft social issues, like minority rights. It's the party of managers, consultants, experts, corporate drones of all types. It represents the urban middle class range, from "aspiring" to "upper". I expect them to be stubborn enough to try and win an election without making any concessions on economic issues. Since they will disappoint me, I am ready to disappoint them by voting for someone else in the future.

[noddy]

enquiring minds need to know, how did she get an inch of metal up her arse ?

The USR was the biggest winner. They went from zero to almost second place in one election. However, they also ran on an anti-PSD platform and took full advantage of ambiguity, being different things to different people. I voted for them and I fully expect them to disappoint me. The USR is now becoming the equivalent of the US Democratic Party: right wing on economic issues, left wing on soft social issues, like minority rights. It's the party of managers, consultants, experts, corporate drones of all types. It represents the urban middle class range, from "aspiring" to "upper". I expect them to be stubborn enough to try and win an election without making any concessions on economic issues. Since they will disappoint me, I am ready to disappoint them by voting for someone else in the future.

its good to share the disappointment.

[YMix]

enquiring minds need to know, how did she get an inch of metal up her arse ?

The news that launched a thousand jokes. As a former TV anchor, Firea should know you don't tell the nation you have metal in your ass, unless you want to become the butt of all jokes. Even worse, it was hinted that Dragnea may have tried to slip her some metal in order to prevent her from running for president. It's all incredibly stupid.

[Simple Minded]

enquiring minds need to know, how did she get an inch of metal up her arse ?

The USR was the biggest winner. They went from zero to almost second place in one election. However, they also ran on an anti-PSD platform and took full advantage of ambiguity, being different things to different people. I voted for them and I fully expect them to disappoint me. The USR is now becoming the equivalent of the US Democratic Party: right wing on economic issues, left wing on soft social issues, like minority rights. It's the party of managers, consultants, experts, corporate drones of all types. It represents the urban middle class range, from "aspiring" to "upper". I expect them to be stubborn enough to try and win an election without making any concessions on economic issues. Since they will disappoint me, I am ready to disappoint them by voting for someone else in the future.

its good to share the disappointment.

I'm guessing that since Romania is a backward nation (probably loaded with deplorables and clingers) that doesn't spend hundreds of millions on govt sponsored abortion, it was probably one of those back alley, coat hanger abortions gone horribly wrong. If Viorica this right, she'll make millions crying in front of DNC rallies during the 2020 POTUS campaign.

Sounds like there are yuge openings for the formation of the "Disappointed Party" (tm) in multiple countries right now.

[YMix]

After more than a week of frantic backroom maneuvers and wrangling, the Parliament voted on the motion of censure and it passed. The Cabinet is dead and Viorica was unceremoniously sacked.

The PSD crushed the opposition in 2016, taking 46% of the vote. In less than three years, they managed to lose almost everything.

[Simple Minded]

After more than a week of frantic backroom maneuvers and wrangling, the Parliament voted on the motion of censure and it passed. The Cabinet is dead and Viorica was unceremoniously sacked.

The PSD crushed the opposition in 2016, taking 46% of the vote. In less than three years, they managed to lose almost everything.

good to know change is possible.

[YMix]

We have a new cabinet, headed by Ludovic Orban, leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL). The presidential election is on Sunday and Iohannis (also PNL) is expected to win, although not necessarily in the first round.

Viorica Dancila showed her class by not handing over the office to her successor. Instead, she held a speech calling the Parliament's support of the new cabinet "illegitimate" and referring to the president as a dictator who illegally took control of the executive. Then again, she told a Vrancea county audience: "I don't fight against a man [Iohannis], but against a country where every Romanian can belong". Dancila has a tenuous relationship with speaking proper and correct Romanian in public.

Now that the country is run by a German and a Magyar, I expect the PSD to go full nationalism in next year's parliament and local election campaigns.

[noddy]

"I don't fight against a man [Iohannis], but against a country where every Romanian can belong".