Romania to host parts of the American anti-missile shield

The Romanian president Traian Băsescu announced this week Romania will host on its territory missile interceptors, as part of the anti-missile shield the USA wants to base in Eastern Europe.

The first to come up with a plan for a Ballistic Missile Defence System (BMDS) on the continent was former president George W. Bush. He intended to install a radar in the Czech Republic and 10 missile interceptors in Poland in order to respond to possible Iranian missiles launched towards Europe.

However, soon after becoming president, Barack Obama, asked for a re-evaluation of the system and made major changes in September last year. Apparently, he gave up on the idea of installing parts of the shield in Poland and turned his eye towards a far more Eastern European country, Romania.

Ellen Tauscher, under secretary of state for arms control and international security, was the one who told Băsescu that US wants Romania to be part of the BMDS. The next day, the Romanian president organised an urgent meeting of the Superior Council for National Protection (SCNP).

And after a short discussion with the members of SCNP, he announced that Romania will host parts of the anti-missile shield on its territory.

What BMDS refers to

The Missile Defence System is divided in different phases which will be implemented by the year 2020.

At first, until 2011, US will deploy interceptors, land and sea-based elements and a radar in Eastern Europe. In the following four years, that is until 2015, more testing will be done and more capable versions of the elements will be based.

By 2018, after tests and developments have finished, US will deploy better SM-3 (Standard Missile-3) interceptors for short, medium and intermediate-range missiles.

But Europe isn’t the only part of the world to host the American missile defence system, as part of the American efforts to respond to possible threats represented by Iran and North Korea. Washington has already deployed radars in Alaska and California in the US, and in Fylingdales in the UK, while another radar will be set in Greenland.

On top of that, 40 anti-missile interceptors are already based in Alaska and anpother four in California. Poland was supposed to host 10 interceptors, but as this country is excluded from Barack Obama’s plan, its place might be taken by Romania.

 

Helping the people of Haiti

Emil Boc, the Romanian prime minister and president of the ruling party, announced this week Romania might build a residential neighbourhood, a church and a school in Haiti.

He added that the money to do that might be raised by organising an event in a partnership with the Romanian public service television. The announcement was made after the ruling politicians were laughed at for sending just 50.000 Euros to Haiti, that’s half the price of a minister’s car in Boc’s government.

There is a nice Romanian proverb that says: I am sorry for you, but it breaks my heart when I think of me.

I know, Haiti was devastated by the earthquake, thousands of people are dead and the country needs help to be rebuilt. But I find it the climax of hypocrisy to ignore the tragedy in front of us.

The entire international community has reached to help the island sending food, money, doctors, rescue teams. And although I care about other people’s troubles and believe in nations helping each other, I would rather take that money and instead of building houses in Haiti, I would build some in Romania.

And instead of building a school on the island, I would repair one in my country, as there are many with no roofs or heating. Where children still go, despite freezing, because they appreciate education.

Romanians are very generous people. They are easily impressed by disasters and sad life stories. They like helping others and helping each other, making donations.

But what about organising an event where Romanians can raise money for themselves, make a common fund to help each other. We are just as much in need of help as Haiti is. And we don’t need an earthquake to prove that, but a quick look at my country and its poor people.

But then, other countries wouldn’t know about our existence. So we prefer turning into the poor high school girl who can’t afford a pair of shoes, but does anything to have it, for the sake of others noticing that.

I know, I am senseless and rude for not thinking of the good of the world, but I am not that hypocrite as not to see the tragedy around me.

 

Whom should we kill now?

In 1989, Romanians were fed up with the difficult living conditions, which made their hate against the dictator, Nicolae Caușescu, grow bigger and bigger.

Electricity and hot water were stopped every day and no goods were available in shops as they would all be exported. This was the solution the Communist regime had decided upon in order to pay back the huge external debt Romania had.

And after years of restrictions, Ceaușescu succeeded in paying all that money back, but with the cost of his life.

By December 1989, Romanians had had enough of not finding goods in stores, of the rationalization of food, of the daily hours in which electricity was cut off and hot water too, in order to save money. So they made the biggest decision in their existence: to kill the bad dictator who had ruined their lives.

They accused him of genocide and shot at him dozens of times, to make sure he would never come back again to make the people suffer so much misery and poverty. Still, he did something good. We were no longer the prisoners of debts.

But the history always repeats itself. Today, Romanians live a miserable life, in a poverty far more extended and evident than in the 1980s.

They have goods in stores, but no money to buy them. They have electricity and hot water, but turn the lights off and wash themselves with cold water to save money. They have heating but prefer to wear more layers of clothes, as they can’t afford to pay the enormous bills.

At the same time, Romania will have in 2010 a debt totalizing 43 billion Euros. And it is just a temporary sum, expected to grow bigger in time.

But the tragedy of this all is that the misery Romanians have to endure is not an effort to save money and pay back the debts. The state hasn’t even started to put money aside to give it back to the International Monetary Fund or other foreign organization that helped us.

All to the contrary. The country is still borrowing money, more and more money, that probably generations won’t be able to pay back.

The harsh living conditions aren’t a sacrifice we have to make for a brighter and freer future. It’s a state Romanians have to adapt and get used to, as it will follow them through in the next decades.

We killed our dictator for making our lives miserable, but for a good purpose: to set the country free and pay back the debts. What do we do now? Whom do we kill next? Maybe ourselves. Until history books will mention that once, in a heavenly beautiful area, there was a country called Romania. That no longer is.

 

Romanians drink more beer than water

I found this very interesting story that says Romanians drank more beer than water in 2008 and that 73% of the alcohol consumed is, once more, beer.

And it made think about a quirky type of Romanian human species – the poor man. Who has a miserable life and boring life and a wife whom he slaps from time to time.

So, with so much unhappiness in his life, he needs a ray of sunshine. And that is the two-litre plastic bottle we call PET, full of beer. Once he buys one, he’s happy. All the troubles are gone and, just to prevent the new ones from taking hold of him too soon, he doesn’t stop until he finishes it.

Personally, I hate beer. It smells bad and tastes bad. And when a woman is drinking beer, is like losing her gentility and femininity.

But Romanians have had a preference for alcohol for thousands of years. Still, in the past, they would choose something more refined like wine.

For instance, sometime during the first century B.C., the famous Burebista, leader of our Dacian ancestors, set all the vineyards on fire, because its people used to drink too much.

But luckily now we live in a free and democratic world, with far more intelligent people, who know how to adapt to difficult financial times. Anything to still be able to enjoy their vices. Like a certain Romanian called Dan Leahu, who makes beer in his kitchen with ingredients brought from Belgium.

Indeed, we might be poor, but how we are inventive!

 

Promoting Romania (part 2)

Today, we’ll continue our journey through Romania with the Bucegi Mountains. But before we start, I would like you all, if you have any photos of Romania, to leave a comment with your email address, so that I could contact you. This way, we’ll make the journey longer.

The Bucegi Mountains are located in the Southern Carpathians. On the East, they are surrounded by the valley of Prahova river. Along it there are the most important mountain resorts, such as: Sinaia, Bușteni, Predeal and the very uselessly expensive Poiana Brașov (translated Brașov Glade).  

The Northern border is the Country of Bârsa, a depression in the mountains where the city of Brașov is situated. To the West of the mountains, there is the Rucăr-Bran corridor, with the famous Bran mountain resort. Here is the castle where the legendary Dracula lived.

The wildlife is very rich in the Bucegi Mountains and include the brown bear, wolf, chamois, red deer, roe deer, wild boar, red fox, squirrel. Also, there are many protected plants, among which the very beautiful “Edelweiss” or “Leontopodium Alpinum”, a flower specific to the European mountains. It seems its German name comes from the words “edel”, which means noble, and “weiss”, translated white, while the latin name, “Leontopodium”, means “lian’s paw”. In Romanian, we call it Floare de colț, translated in English the Corner flower.

Today, I will show you some photos of the Bucegi Mountains, taken by my friend Alex Teodorescu. And just to keep you connected to this blog, I will leave for next week the Bucegi plateau, where the wind and weather have carved in the rock various beautiful formations.

Also next week, we will visit the cross on Caraiman Peak, which is a monument dedicated to the heroes of the First World War. And in two weeks’ time, the real story of Bran castle and Dracula. By then, I ask you all to send me photos of this area.

Until then, enjoy the photos and thank you, Alex, once more.

Bucegi Mountains. Courtesy of Alex Teodorescu

Bucegi Mountains. Courtesy of Alex Teodorescu

Bucegi Mountains. Courtesy of Alex Teodorescu

Bucegi Mountains. Courtesy of Alex Teodorescu

Bucegi Mountains. Courtesy of Alex Teodorescu

Bucegi Mountains. Courtesy of Alex Teodorescu

Hornu Mare in Bucegi Mountains. Courtesy of Alex Teodorescu

Malaiesti valley in Bucegi Mountains. Courtesy of Alex Teodorescu

Busteni resort seen from the top of the mountain. Courtesy of Alex Teodorescu

 

He said and Joan Baez

“True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power. Mankind’s true moral test, its fundamental test (which is deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals.” (Milan Kundera)

February will be the month of Joan Baez, the famous American folk singer, songwriter and activist for human rights. Throughout the 50 year career, she recorded 30 albums, but is also known for covering the songs of many bands and artists, among these The Beatles, Paul Simon and Bob Dylon, with whom she had had a tumultuous relationship.

This song is called Diamonds and Rust and is one of those thought to have been dedicated to Bob Dylan.

 

Saving Veronica

She is a very dear friend. Quiet, she always listens to what I have to say or the music I play for her and the other two girls; but doesn’t say anything.

I talk to her sometimes, more often now, because she isn’t well. But she still sits in her pot, giving me oxygen, so I felt it’s my turn to do something for her.

I took out all the soil around her, cleaned the dozens of small balls of mould and left her bare roots to breathe a little. Then rushed outside to destroy the garden surrounding the hall.

Armed with a knife and a plastic bag, I went over the hill and started digging for some fresh soil. Quite a difficult job, bearing in mind the land was a bit frozen. And so that nobody notices my terrible deed, I dug various hole, preventing any from becoming too deep.

With my bare hands, I tried to take out as much soil as possible and that’s when I  realized the disadvantage of having long nails. I filled the plastic bag and put on top of the soil some fertilizer stolen from the trees in front of my window.

And I instantly ran to my room, to try and save Veronica. Her leaves had almost dried out by the time I got back. So I put the soil around her roots and watered her constantly, put her near the window to enjoy the light and played some Joan Baez.

Today she’s greener and the leaves are up again. Now I’m going to encourage her.

 

Do all sportsmen really cheat?

It is quite sad that when they hear about Romania, people’s first thought doesn’t go to Ionesco, Cioran or Brâncuși, worldwide renowned artists and writers. But to Adrian Mutu, the controversial football player.

So today I will comply with the demands of the audience and write about him, as he is again in the middle of a doping scandal.

It seems he was found positive at a doping test after a match in which he scored one goal. Now, he risks a one to four year suspension, which might mean the end of his career.

The substance found in his body is sibutramine, contained in a medicine his was taking, trying to lose weight. Now, the international committees don’t care about the ways in which Mutu got sibutramine in his blood. To them, he broke the rules of fairness. But did he really cheat?

This reminded me of other two examples in the sports world. The first was the Romanian gymnast Andreea Răducan, who won the golden medal in the individual competition at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. It was a dream podium, occupied by three Romanian girls.

But the medal was taken away from her the same day, as she was tested positive at a doping test immediately after the competition. The substance found in her blood, pseudoephedrine, was at that time banned by the Olympic committee.

Nobody cared, however, how she got it: she had caught a cold and the doctor gave her a medicine the night before the competition. She didn’t cheat, she only wanted to prevent the cold from affecting her performance.

And then, there is Romario, the football player who was also tested positive, because a substance contained by a hair loss treatment was absorbed into his body. Although he was banned from playing, he went to court and won the case.

In all these three examples, the sportsmen didn’t cheat; the substances didn’t make them play better, run faster or jump higher, but were intended to make them feel better, as the mental status has indeed a great influence on a player’s performance.

So now I wonder whether the international committees should bear in mind the reasons why sportsmen take medicine, without knowing they contain banned substances, before making decisions that could destroy their careers.

 

Helping

I was walking in a shop yesterday, waiting for time to go by, completely annoyed by the Valentine’s Day’s symbols everywhere.

When a man entered the shop saying out loud that he needs help. I instantly though, by the quite aggressive tone in his voice, that maybe he was one of those beggars we have in my country who enter a  building and simply refuse to leave it before they are given some money.

But the shop assistant told him very nicely to wait for a little while, then she’ll take care of him. He was blind and holding a stick in his hands. He wanted to buy a card for a one year old girl, so he wanted someone to be his eyes for a couple of minutes.

The blond girl took him by his arm and led him to the shelf with pink cards. She picked a very pretty one and read out loud what was written on it. And then another one and another one.

But the man couldn’t decide and asked for the girl’s help. He then took out of his pocket some coins and gave them to her, so that she could choose the amount of money he owed.

He got his change back and walked out of the store, helped by the same young girl. Outside, he cried again for help and two old ladies offered to take him to the bus station he needed to get to.

I felt good after seeing that and it came in a very appropriate moment. Because I was wondering yesterday what it means to help someone and why we don’t do it anymore.

Opening a door for a mother with a pram, helping an old lady cross the street. Or even giving a piece of advice to your friend when he/she needs it most.

I felt a strange satisfaction after seeing this girl helping the man, that same kind I usually feel when helping someone. I was happy to see there is still humanity, hidden somewhere, and that people still have that primary instinct of helping the others.

But I guess this was just an exception, as the smarter, more important and busier we get, the less we think about helping the others.

 

Mea culpa

I have a very dear friend who’s also incredibly smart when it comes to computers that showed me how wrong I was to express my happiness so freely.

According to him, I searched my name on Google UK and I am indeed the first. But that is probably because there are just two Denisas in this country.

So searching on Google .com/nrc, that means no country redirected, I found myself again behind that manele singer and the hotel in Prague. Oh God, my confidence is shattered, my image destroyed and my hopes of conquering the online world have seriously diminished.

So all you readers out there, I’m sorry to have disappointed you. Now I am going to suffer in peace and focus on face-to-face communication.