The Slaughter [Măcelul]

Many months after Christmas, there were still many traces of a massive slaughter that had taken place in Bucharest around what is essentially a celebration of life – Christ’s birth.

Undoubtedly, the same happened in other capitals of the ‘civilised world’, although I bet they are better at covering up such crime scenes.

Every one or two little streets or every 400-500 meters on a large boulevard, there was such a tree corpse to be found, lying obscenely near garbage bins.

The images are just saddneing, not shocking. There was no blood, no stench of death, and surely no mourners around them. Nobody cared.

And how should anyone care, in a city immune to caring about the cohorts of beggars, stray dogs, lousy political leaders and so on?

Generally speaking, we’re not used to caring about anything else, but our senseless worries and hedonist aspirations in Bucharest. Maybe it’s the same everywhere else.

There’s no way that I could claim to be better than others for having decorated a plastic made-in-China Christmas tree…

What I feel the urge to confess is that the photoholic I simply couldn’t pass by these slain trees and not take pics of them.

Far from being a hysteric ecologist, I can’t help feeling the noose of progress tightening around my neck as I watch them.

Like any slaughters of such scale (including the industrial killing animals for human consumption) this is another token of the progressive world we live in.

I wonder if for people living some 100-150 years ago – before this tradition became a worldwide commercial success – it made any sense to cut so many trees.

Just for fun. Just for the sake of making Christmas more enjoyable. It’s but a sacrifice on the altar of a ‘Christmas spirit’ which has nothing to do with Christ.

Like almost everything else during the contemporary consumerist Winter Holidays Season that hasn’t got anything to do with Him.

Well, I’d rather refrain from invoking religious reasons for taking action against the killling of trees for Christmas.

Sadly enough, they are present in many Othodox churches, along other so-called churches, shopping malls, public institutions, big and small firms, and homes.

It’s just that – be it from an ecological or just ethical perspective – I dislike this waste of tree life. Why should so many trees be chopped?

Who can correctly anticipate the volume of sales and guaranteee that there won’t be millions of trees cut worlwide, but remain unsold for Christmas?

Is there any environmentally friendly and economically sound solution for disposing of these trees and possibly turning them into something useful?

Indeed, big trees from city squares can be turned into something useful. But what about the countless little ones like those noticed by me throughout Bucharest?

They aren’t good for furniture, probably not for fuel either, nor for making paper. So what could be done with them?

As long as we were forced to use ecological light bulbs, why shouldn’t sellers and buyers be compelled to trade exclusively trees grown in Christmas tree farms?

I’d make cutting Christmas trees from forests (irrespective of who owns the forest), selling and buying them a serious crime, punishable by severe fines and/or imprisonment.

If the price of farmed Christmas trees skyrocketed, would that be a problem? More tree farms would mean more competition.

Such a restriction will be a boost for those manufacturing ecological Christmas trees, as I’d also forbdid unrecyclable plastic trees. Would anyone agree with me?

[For all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] Political promises / [RO] Promisiuni politice

[EN] Two pics from clean cities like Edinburgh and London. [RO] Două poze din oraşe curate precum Edinburgh şi Londra.

[EN] Is there anyone as naive as to disagree with the words added to the images? [RO] Există cineva atât de naiv, încât să nu fie de acord cu vorbele adăugate pe imagini?

[EN] Is there anything that could change our opinion? [RO] Există ceva care ne-ar schimba părerea?

[EN] I don’t believe in revolutions making politicians swallow their words. [RO] Nu cred în revoluţii care să-i facă pe politicieni să-şi înghită cuvintele.

[EN] Nor do I advise trusting any political saviour.  What did Obamania achieve? [RO] Nici nu sfătuiesc a crede în vreun mântuitor politic. Ce a realizat Obamania?

[EN] I just want to say that, though painful, nothing is as liberating as telling the truth. [RO] Vreau doar să zic că, deşi dureros, nimic nu este mai eliberator decât a spune adevărul.

[EN] To the secular, I give a quote attibuted to George Orwell: [RO] Celor seculari, le dau un citat atribuit lui George Orwell:

[EN] “In times of universal deceit telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act” [RO] “În vremuri de amăgire universală a spune adevărul devine un act revoluționar”  

[EN] To the believers, I remind Lord Jesus Christ’s words: [EN] Celor credincioşi le reamintesc cuvintele Domnului Iisus Hristos:

[EN] “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” [EN] “Veţi cunoaşte adevărul, iar adevărul vă va face liberi”

[For all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

SUVs don’t guarantee happiness, do they? [SUV-urile nu garantează fericirea, nu-i aşa?]

What I’m about to say surely isn’t noticeable exclusively in poor countries like Romania and Bulgaria or in Africa.

On the contrary, I assume that in most other parts of the world (could Denmark be an exception?), driving a SUV is the sign of an enviable social status.

The bigger the car is, the clearer the mark of prosperity, of a successful and carefree life – this is how most of us see these car owners, don’t we?

It’s silly to have any prejudice either against such vehicles or their drivers. Nevertheless, I can’t help wondering…

Why are so many of these motorists (including women) apparently unhappy, displeased with the world around and therefore driving aggressively?

Why do they very often seem unhappy about the speed of car queues, about the weather or about fellow traffic participants driving not-so-fancy cars?

I bet that they often happen to be unhappy even about the phone conversations that they have while behind the wheel.

It may be politically incorrect (sexist) to presume it, but here I say it: is because they are talking to the lewd fat guy who bought them their SUV? :-)

[For all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] Punished smokers / [RO] Fumători pedepsiţi

[EN] I admit that sinful I sometimes can’t help enjoying when I watch the sad view of some ‘punished smokers’. [RO] Admit că păcătosul de mine uneori nu mă pot abţine a mă bucura când urmăresc trista de privelişte a unor ‘fumători pedepsiţi’.

[EN] I remember the long hours when I breathed in the sickening smoke... at school, at work, on the street, in pubs, sometimes even on beaches or in parks. [RO] Îmi amintesc lungile ore când am inspirat scârbosul fum… la şcoală, la serviciu, pe stradă, în localuri, uneori chiar şi pe plaje sau în parcuri.

[EN] Nevertheless, there’s nothing funny – neither I, nor anyone else should laugh at these enslaved people. [RO] Cu toate acestea, nu este nimic amuzant – nici eu, nici altcineva nu ar trebui să râdă de aceşti oameni înrobiţi.

[EN] None of us would look better if our power of will were diminished by nicotine and the tyranny of hedonism. [RO] Niciunul dintre noi nu ar arăta mai bine dacă puterea voinţei ne-ar fi diminuată de nicotină sau de tirania hedonismului.

[EN] This is how those once ‘cool’ smokers (like these teens drinkers) look when they grow up… pretty ‘un-cool’, I’d say… [RO] Aşa arată acei cândva ‘cool’ fumători (precum aceşti băutori adolescenţi) când cresc mari... destul de ‘ne-cool’ aş zice eu...

[EN] Sidelined: taken out of their daily routine, out of their work environment or even out of buildings. [RO] Marginalizaţi: scoşi din rutina zilnică, afară din mediu de lucru sau chiar afară din clădiri.

[EN] Smoking is no longer a comfortable experience in most of EU countries and the USA. It still is in China and Russia. [RO] Fumatul nu mai este o experienţă confortabilă în cele mai multe state UE şi în SUA. Este încă în China şi Rusia.

[EN] Lighting a cigarette has become something that must always be done outside… And not only outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels (pic 1). [RO] Aprinderea unei ţigări a devenit ceva care trebuie făcut întotdeauna afară… Şi nu doar în afara sediului Comisiei Europene din Bruxelles (poza 1).

[EN] Smokers are compelled to go out in front of little stores in Brighton (2) or to descend 30-40-50 floors in New York City. [RO] Fumătorii sunt forţaţi să iasă afară în faţa unor mici prăvălii din Brighton ori să coboare 30-40-50 de etaje în New York City.

[EN] And that may not be the worst. They could be crammed into glass cubes like in the Airport of Munich (3)… [RO] Şi aceasta s-ar putea să nu fie cel mai rău. Ar putea fi înghesuiţi în cuburi de sticlă precum în Aeroportul din Munchen (3)...

[EN] Is it good? Is it bad? Is it discriminatory? Is it politically correct? What about the efficiency of these constraints? [RO] Este bine? Este rău? Este discriminatoriu? Este politic corect? Ce putem zice de eficienţa acestor constrângeri?

[EN] Maybe some good results will be observed over the decades, when other cause of death would seem insurmountable… [RO] Poate că unele rezultate bune vor fi observate peste decenii, când alte cauze ale morţii vor părea insurmontabile…

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

UK’s motor vanity fair (25) [Bâlciul deşertăciunilor cu motor din UK]

A strange looking car photographed by my reader C.L., I-don’t-know-where in the UK, inside what seemed to be (from other pictures) a sort of exclusive little scrapyard, as it is known in British English.

Or, if any one is more familiarised with the name in American English – a junkyard. A place where a bunch of former fancy cars – spyders (or roadsters by their American name) – had been put to rest (or to rust :-).

This carmine (do I correctly identify the colour, girls?!) car appears to me as one that has once been some mighty ‘king of the roads’, maybe in the 1960s or 1970s. But I’ve got no idea about the brand.

To any reader from anywhere in the world ever landing on this blog page (and being better informed about this car that I am, of course) I can only say: please, share your knowledge with us!

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

About public transport in the UK (22) [Despre transportul în comun în UK]

It would be reasonable to expect that in a country like Great Britain, where locomotives were invented some two centuries ago, trains would the best in the world in our times, wouldn’t it?

Well, that would be reasonable… But what’s reasonable these days in the world we live in? There’s no secret that – although faring well compared to what happens in Romania – the British rail transport lags behind those of France, Germany and other EU countries.

And it is certainly lightyears away from the Japanese rail system, where passengers can receive a ‘delay certificate’ if a train is only five minutes late!

As of 1994, trains in the UK have been operated by private firms, nevertheless, Britons haven’t seen any of the improvements in service quality that they had been promised ever since Margaret Thatcher, in the 1980s.

By all accounts, it was a botched privatisation. Britons ended up paying 40% more for a train ticket in their own country than they would pay in the Netherlands, Sweden or France.

To this day, France’s (SNCF) and Germany’s (Deutsche Ban) rail companies are state-owned and their performance is often acclaimed. On the other hand, since 1987, Japan’s complex rail system has been in the hands of some 16 private firms – and trains run even better.

It’s not the aim of this blog post to go into ideological speculations about privatisation. If it’s carried out, it should be done properly – the Japanese way, not the British way (read about this big failure: here, here, here, here, here, here, here or here).

Why do I fear that when the Romanian state-owned rail company (CFR) is eventually privatised, the result will look more like what happened in Britain than how privatisation was done in Japan?

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

God’s place in a humanist society (21) [Locul lui Dumnezeu într-o societate umanistă]

It wouldn’t be fair not to admit that followers of any religion who are teaching or studying at the University of Sussex can use a specially designated building (in the picture) for services, prayers or meetings of whatever kind.

From this point of view, the university is 100% politically correct, although not immune to a certain degree of pro-Islamic bias specific to some contemporary British institutions like the BBC.

Anyway, the university – which will be half a century old in 2012 – boasts itself with being completely secular, while also tolerant to all religious beliefs.

From another perspective, it’s strange – if not ridiculous – how such a humanist university uses as a motto a truncated verse from Psalm 46.

The moto says “Be still and know”, instead of “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Couldn’t have the humanist founders of the university found any other motto not reminding of this ‘mythical character’ (according to their views) Whose existence they deny?!

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] No comment / [RO] Fără comentarii (21) – Fish & chips / Fish & chips

[EN] Three mouth watering versions of fish and chips: [RO] Trei versiuni care îţi lasă gura apă de fish and chips:

[EN] British (pic 1 – Brighton), Belgian (2 – Brussels), and Romanian (3 – Bucharest). [RO] Britanică (poza 1 – Brighton), belgiană (2 – Bruxelles) şi românească (3 – Bucureşti).

[EN] Could anyone guess which I found tastier? [RO] Ar putea cineva să ghicească pe care am găsit-o mai gustoasă?

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

About public transport in the UK (21) [Despre transportul în comun în UK]

Keeping in mind that “grumbling about trains being late is almost a national hobby” in Britain, I noticed this kind of ‘worries’ reflected more and more often in the online editions of British newspapers…

…and not that they would have serious topics to discuss or gossip about :-) Thus, I find myself wondering (and simultaneously asking my readers): how serious is this issue?

Last June, a BBC report noted that “the proportion of passengers satisfied with train punctuality had gone down,” compared to the spring of 2010.

Three months later, in September, The Daily Telegraph issued a stark warning, claiming that “UK train puctuality worsens”.

And let us not forget that all these ‘worries’ have been expressed long before another Big Freeze which – to the great dismay of Global Warming hysterics – could befall Britain (again, and for the fourth consecutive year) any day now!

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

Femeile în UK (23) [Women in the UK]

Dacă aş spune că nu este decent, mi se poate arunca în faţă un “bigotule”, cu toată furia feministă contra care cuiva care atentează la sacralizatul adevăr secular al vremurilor noastre – “fac-ce-vreau”, în speţă “mă-îmbrac-cum-vreau”.

De aş zice că nu este estetic, mi s-ar putea reproşa că-s un “pervers neruşinat”, care vrea să sugereze că ar putea exista şi o variantă estetică a ipostazelor surprinse de cele două imagini.

Adaug însă şi precizarea că era într-un 4 aprilie, respectiv 7 martie, aşadar cât de caldă putea să fie vremea în UK, aşa încât să simţi nevoia de răcorire?

Aş mai putea zice şi că nu este sănătos (pentru muşchii spatelui, rinichi, vezica urinară, ovare etc), caz în care prevăd că aş fi înfruntat cu replica “da’ ce te roade grija?” sau cu acuzaţia că nu pricep eu cum stă treaba cu moda, că doar “aşa se poartă”.

Poate fi o consolare faptul că doar din întâmplare am făcut pozele în UK, dar putea fi oriunde altundeva în lumea noastră aşa-zis ‘civilizată’?

E drept, n-o fi ceva demn de interdicţii severe, precum fumatul, dar nu-i o supidă modă care să îngrijoreze orice Stat dădacă?

[Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la/For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] A few wonders from the UK / [RO] Câteva minunăţii din UK (23)

[EN] Almost everywhere in Scotland, anyone must have noticed these bushes. I truly liked them very much.  [RO] Aproape oriunde în Scoţia, oricine trebuie să fi observat aceşte tufşuri. Cu adevărat mi-au plăcut foarte mult.

[EN] To me – one who saw many places in the world and more than a bit of Scotland – they seem typically Scottish. [RO] Pentru mine – unul care a văzut multe locuri din lume şi mai mult de un pic din Scoţia – ele par tipic scoţiene.

[EN] I haven’t seen anywhere else. The problem is that I don’t know how to call them; I didn’t ask when I could :-( [RO] Nu le-am văzut nicăieri altundeva. Problema că nu ştiu cum să le numesc; n-am întrebat când puteam :-(

[EN] Is there any English-speaking reader of MunteanUK who could post a comment with their names? [RO] Există vreun vorbitor de engleză, cititor de MunteanUK, care ar putea să posteze un comentariu cu numele lor?

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

Witty bits from what I learned in the UK (19) [Vorbe de duh din ce am învăţat în UK]

I may have been surprised by the number of French people living in London, although not by their presence; I knew they were ‘supposed to be there’ at least since the time of the Huguenots, if not since… William the Conqueror, that is the year 1066 :-)

That was what I equally believed about Arabs, Jamaicans, Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, (as former subjects of the British Crown), Chinese & Italians (who are usually everywhere in the world)… and, of course, Greek Cypriots.

What I had completely ignored was the possibility to meet as many Turks as I did, who actually form an entire… Turkish London – a community made up of some 70,000 people (oficially) or up to 400,000 (unoficially).

Many still contest the Turks’ commitment to democratic values in the Western world acception, however, one could hardly have anything to say against their entrepreneurial spirit which is perfectly compatible with the ‘free economy’ professed by the UK.

Just like Ernst Hemingway said that “in every port in the world, at least two Estonians can be found,” there probably is a small Turkish business in any British city, although the bulk of the Turkish Community lives in London.

Another surprise was to realize how many foreigners are working for think-tanks and other NGOs dealing with European Affairs. Out of those we met as Chevening Fellows, one was French, one German, one Italian, and one we didn’t get to meet was… Swedish.

Does this mean that ‘purebred Britons’ are uninterested in the EU? It’s hard to tell… But I couldn’t hide the fact that I sometimes I got this impression, in spite of also meeting some staunch British supporters of the EU, both in London and Edinburgh. One was a former Tory MEP.

I don’t know how effective Turkish Lobbyists are in Britain (+ at the EU level), compared to the well-established Turkish Lobby in the USA.

It is nonetheless very interesting that all Her Majesty’s (successive) Governments supported and keep supporting Turkey’s Accession to the EU, a stance that puts Britain at odds with Germany, France, Austria & other European countries.

This state of facts makes me wonder and ask my readers – if any of them could be familiar with such issues – the following:

Of all the ethnic groups living in London, which is the most influential? Has any of these communities succeeded in influencing British politics?

Apart from the lovely English language, around 300 other tongues are spoken in this Modern Babylon. Is any of these heard louder than others at Downing Street 10?

Do immigrant communities count in London like, say, in New York? Because as much as New York seems so different from the rest of the USA, so does London ‘feel’ (not necessarily look) differently from the rest of the UK.

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]