Citizen leaders reminded the media that Wednesday’s embarrassing overreaction by the government was a manufactured crisis when none existed, using a handful of masked provocateurs — possibly planted — as a weak excused to attack thousands of peaceful Bulgarians exercising their constitutional rights, injuring an unknown number of persons, and imprisoning nearly 200.

By noon on Thursday, 15 Jan 2009, a crowd of more than 1,500 citizens gathered with people shouting demands for the resignation of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet. And all reports indicated the demonstration was growing larger.

Protesters remain peaceful and, so far, there have been no outbreaks of violence by police. Government public relations spinsters claim their anti-riot guards will be restrained today, but continue to blame the people of Bulgaria for yesterday’s beatings.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian parliament ignored the public redress for grievances and instead opted to focus on critical issues such as nationally banning children from being out in public after 8pm without a parent. Sorry, Detlev, you can’t play outside this summer. Teenagers are now banned from being out in public after 10pm without a parent. Sorry, Ana, no more dance clubs for you.

By 1pm, media reports currently indicate the protest is over 3,000 and growing, Apparently, some opposition politicians have walked out of parliament and into the streets to join the demonstrations to lend it further support (and no doubt get themselves on camera).

UPDATE: The 3,000-strong protest was carried out successfully and has ended. Participants waved flags and banners, demanded changes in government, and read the Bulgarian Constitution out loud as reaffirmation of their rights as citizens.

Thankfully, there were no further incidents of police violence today. Organizers intend to stage a third and final day of political demonstrations on Friday.

Note: Special thanks to my friend, Виктор Анонимен, who has attended the protest and helped me gather additional information sources.

Today, in Bulgaria — right now — the expected protest in Sofia has suddenly turned bloody as the Bulgarian government apparently manufactured a bomb threat to generate pretense for an attack on students and farmers.

UPDATE: The Bulgarian government is pretending the bomb threat came “from the internet” which is the thinnest of all possible veils. (Frankly, it’s an unmitigated crock of shit to be treated with the utmost skepticism and disdain. An evident lie.)

Using this alleged threat as an excuse to quash political demonstrations, the government ordered riot police to assault Bulgarian citizens in broad day light. Chemical tear gas mortars, nightstick batons as clubs, people slathered in red blood.

UPDATE 2: Demanding changes to the government and justice for the people ignored by parliament thousands of demonstrators resisted brutal, pre-emptive clashes by police for hours. And other protestors fought back, attacking police barricades and riot squads in retaliation.

Even after 70 arrests, hundreds of people maintained their presence on the parliamentary steps, despite the government crackdown, while large groups cut-off from the main area took their protest to the streets.

By evening, police continued to disrupt major streets and intersections, such as Tsarigradsko Shosse or Levski as the protest continued. After dark, reports indicate protesters have completed their demonstration and are voluntarily returning home.

Source: Angel-G.TV

UPDATE 3: With the protest completed, Bulgarian officials have fired up the spin machine to twist the perception of worldwide media. Mihail Mikov, the Interior Minister, spouts euphemisms of “moderate force” to describe the police beatings. He then goes on to blame students, farmers, and environmentalists as responsible for everything.

A classic script from the playbook of former-Communist parties: abject disregard for the rights of citizens, take any actions necessary to cling to power.

FINAL UPDATE: A second protest has been scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, 15 January 2009, until all imprisoned political demonstrators are released from detention by authorities.

A student was murdered in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. After a lack of action to protect the University area from such crimes, students previously protested the government but were essentially ignored by the government who dismissed the demonstrations as child’s play.

Farmers in Bulgaria have been pushing the government to obtain special EU funding, which collapsed under the weight of corruption within the government. As the Bulgarian farmers gathered from around the country into Sofia to protest government failure, the parliament simply recessed and fled the capital so as not to confront those farmers.

That same day, another political rally was held to protect Bulgarian forests from expanded construction work and deforestation. However, those seeking a change in environmental policy were equally ignored by the Parliament who left Sofia rather than be present for the protests, further fueling dissatisfaction.

The gas crisis and other local political factors led to a coalition of citizens groups all wanting to protest their government today, January 14th. Before the protest, police already warned of harsh reprocussions at the command of the government.

And now authorities are using an unconfirmed bomb threat as reason to beat Bulgarian citizens into submission for daring to criticize the powers that be.

Protest is a constitutional right in Bulgaria. Supposedly.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party is the reincarnation of the Soviet-era Communist party and has maintained virtual control over Bulgaria ever since the supposed democratization of the 1990s.

BSP is the equivalent of Romania’s PSD, the Social Democrat Party which is the euphemism of the Soviet-era Communist party in Romania (PCR) that has controlled most of the time since the 1989 revolution.

Is Romania watching our southern neighbors with any interest?

I believe Romanians should be contacting their politicians and demanding Bucureşti place pressure on Sofia to stop the violence against its people. The situation is too close to home, in a period where the situation could be reversed a year from now.

RIA Novosti reports

Russian gas supplies through Ukraine to Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, and Turkey have been halted… Gas deliveries to the Czech Republic have fallen by 75%…

Puţin has been responsible for advocating a policy of holding Europe hostage during the winter.  His current Russian puppet president is pulled by the same strings, lacking the testicular fortitude to act in the manner he is legally entitled to and thereby demonstrating to the world-at-large that Puţin remains Russia’s communist dictator.

Portfolio notes two more victims.

Gas deliveries from Ukraine to Hungary have stopped… Slovakia is prepared to declare a state of emergency…

Apparently, the Russian government believes itself clever. They’ll send out a slew of junior varsity spokespeople to tell various media outlets that, of course, Russia will honor its contractual obligations to provide gas to Europe and would never purposefully seek to kill Europeans in winter so European governments might bow down to Russia’s whimsical ego.

BBC discovered

The move [to cut gas to Europe] came after Mr Putin held talks with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller.

Twitterbrains who watch TV shows like 24 or, say, Lombarzilor 8 might believe the talking heads who regurgitate press statements as fact.  Those of us who engage in a little critical thinking or favor investigative journalism might not have ever been fooled in the first place. Or so our egos allow us to muse.

Opening our eyes, you can see China View added another to the list of impacted countries.

Russian gas supplies to Croatia were completely cut off Tuesday… The underground storage and the gas produced by the INA cannot make up for the shortfall…

Contracts and obligations mean nothing to Puţin.  He runs roughshod over the Russian Constitution more disastrously than George Bush over the American Constitution, which defies imagination.  Puţin is throwing a temper tantrum over the lack of respect he commands from Europe by cutting off gas supplies that flow through Ukraine to Europe.

Reuters points out Russia is

…threatening disruption as far west as Italy and Germany…

Why?  Simple.

Russia still owns Belarus by the short hairs, but they lost control of Ukraine in 2004.  It was the Orange Revolution which brought some measure of real freedom to Ukraine.  That victory is equally important for Romania as well.

The political party formerly known as Communist now goes by the PSD — “Social Democrats” is their destept euphemism — and has had a corrupt choke-hold on Romania ever since they themselves deposed Ceausescu in order to propel themselves to power.

It so happens that in 2004 the legitimate winner of the Romanian presidential election was being railroaded into accepting a fictitious loss, but the protests in Ukraine brought unprecedented media coverage to the region.  Some of that spilled over into Romania.  Just barely enough international attention that Basescu was able to brush aside the hoţi and claim his rightful victory.

That brought huge changes to Romania.  In the past 4 years, the lives of average citizens all over the nation has changed dramatically for the better.

Russia is unlikely to control Romania again any time soon, but they do scare the world into letting Moldova remain prisoner.  Russia would very much like Ukraine back into its pocket and is quite upset that freedom continues in Ukraine despite the on-going internal political upheavals there.

The current tactic is to cut off gas supplies flowing through Ukraine, the major pipeline for natural gas delivered to Europe.  Puţin’s intent is for Europeans to suffer and die in the cold winter, so they’ll demand their government “do something” about the problem.

…the EU is reluctant to get involved in what it describes as a commercial dispute – reflecting Europe’s own deep divisions on how to respond to Russia.

Naturally, the Russian communists want Europe to become frustrated with Ukraine, to be disillusioned with Ukraine, to break faith with Ukraine, and to abandon Ukraine to stand alone in the cold, dark twilight of this early uncertain century.  They want Ukraine to collapse and return to horrors of soviet life.

The impact here in Bucureşti today?  No hot water as the nation tried to conserve gas for use that the centrala.  It’s the centrala which pumps hot water to residential radiators to keep them warm in the winter.  It appears other hot water uses are considered optional in the hierarchy of priorities.

A wise choice, if one has to make it.  However, Romania seems ill equipped to deal with the shortage.

Politicians need to ensure city administrators have proper plans and procedures in place to swiftly redirect energy supplies from well-established gas reserves when an event like this occurs.  It’s not as though this were completely unexpected.  Russia has been mumbling for quite some time, if anyone will listen.

In order for politicians to react, the people must not tolerate a loss of hot water.  It may be a typical side effect of life in an emerging nation such as Romania, but that does not mean we must suffer in silence.  Elected officials generally understand the need to serve the masses, so it is incumbent on the people to make rational voices heard loudly in demand for proper municipal governance.

One doesn’t want to ignorantly scream “do something” when that something could be just what Puţin hopes for.   Instead, complain about the lack of city energy planning and demand politicians properly direct their administrators to adequately establish reserve distribution procedures if they want your vote next election.

Constructive criticism will get positive results.  Romanians, you deserve better.

Tonight, for now, the hot water has been restored.  At least in the central part of Bucureşti.  I can only imagine half the city is scrambling to take a shower in case the water is out again tomorrow.

“Imports of Russian gas are now reduced by around 75 percent,” Transgaz director Ioan Rusu told Reuters by telephone. “But we can overcome this winter without problems.”

The economy ministry said in a statement that measures had been taken earlier in the day to ensure constant gas supplies to all Romanian consumers.

I’ll take this opportunity to explain to corporate shill Ioan Rusu, the fascist ministrul economiei şi finanţelor Varujan Vosganian, and their shady gaggle of pro-Russian cohorts who suddenly reverse their roles and undermine Romanian policy — no doubt in anticipation of making a large profit from the arrangement — how exactly it is that one determines whether there is a gas problem.

Hop into your tub or shower one Bucharest morning and crank on the hot water; if you suddenly feel as though you can relate to these Romans, well then you know the score, bubba.

Adica, daca esti un criminal legal… deci…

Truth is, I think it’s great in the sense of freedom. Despite the ubiquituous signs indicating alcohol will not be sold to persons under 18, no one is really bothering to enforce it.

Seems that most Romanians are pleasantly self-regulating in this social context. You don’t see kids out drinking illegally, but parents and older siblings feel comfortable asking a teen to responsibly pick up adult products.

In the sense that people outside Bucureşti seem to tend to trust each other, it’s a healthy sign.

It’s no small endeavor, to say the least.

While the Republic Party has chosen its supreme leader some time ago, the Democratic Party has been plagued by a person unable to let go of the prize they felt they (somehow) deserved. For some months, a large percentage of civically-minded individuals have been caught up in the media pingpong of “who’s going to win” celebrity nonsense. In reality, the outcome was decided quite a while ago: it’s just that one person could not stop themselves from a selfish desire to pretend they might win when all realists knew they could not.

Just the other day, it became official. Any experienced person knew the nomination had already been locked, but the media kept selling advertisements by convincing the public a viable contest was underway. Ah, ratings. In this case, even the candidate in question mistakenly believed there was a chance. What, with all the hype.

Nonetheless, I think Hillary finally heard the message which has been ensconced in the experienced political observer’s mind these past couple dozen weeks. It was always there, but she refused to listen. At long last, the spoilt child has been spanked and the arrow found it’s mark.

While I think many of you might laugh along with me at the crude representation of the message, I do trust the more gullible of you will make an effort to refrain from misunderstanding the general sentiment. And, if I erringly ascribe to you respect you’re too immature to wield, then I’ll be amused should you opt to quioxtically attack the messenger.

The message? Quite old.

It is easily the best museum in all of Romania, on any topic, with an enormous body of materials, remnants, photos, letters, raw original documents, and detailed historiography of the events before and during those years.

It would be difficult to think of any other museum throughout all of central and eastern Europe which matches the depth and quality of this facility. You owe yourself a visit.

Don’t worry about getting upset. You’ll find others inside the museum who are unable to stop the tears from streaming down their cheeks as they come face-to-face with the harsh reality and the real people.

Just before the witching hour, the irony of the heavens played its’ final card and lifted inclimate sanctions. Beneath the nimbostratus patchwork, Romanians were beginning to assemble to express their call for full acceptance of homosexuality.

Temporary fencing had been erected in a bid to keep things orderly as well as act as a barrier to any early antics by playerhaters. Perhaps a statement of solidarity, the Romanian Jandarmeria had stationed a large number of attractive men in uniform alongside the gay paraders.

Due to Romania’s recent shameful displays of violent intolerance and 1940s-like hatred, the anti-riot brigade of law enforcement professionals were not only armed to the teeth but had a massive caravan of paddy wagons on hand to deal with most any size crowd of hooligans.

The rain had delayed a number of participants from joining up in a timely fashion, so event organizers waited a little longer than advisable to get things underway. To pass the time, all one had to do was check out the cops to play Spot the Closetcase.

There was an ecclectic collection of gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals, bi-curious, straight well-wishers, people in denial, men in drag, and black-hooded “anarchists” replete with cliché Alternative Tentacles garb. All in all, it was a diverse bunch of fairly reasonable size given the bad weather and expectation of violence.

It’s the zany headwear like rainbow feathered punk wigs that attracted a plethora of low-brow journalists whose sole objective was to advance their leeching careers by the salient chronicling of exclusive shockjock highlights for the talking heads on your boob tube. And, believe me, the shallow whores of media were everywhere, eagerly constructing sensationalism for the ad revenue.

Yes, the Prince of the Parade was in attendance.

As were the fashion confused and afro-Elvis type gonzo revelers.

Nope, it wasn’t only men in the march who worked on maintaining a smooth complexion and precision goatee trimjob set below some George Michael eyes.

Not that his jock comrades took notice. Most of them weren’t the questionable sort. And all of them, irrespective of my speculative pandering, played the part of consummate professionals once the parade got underway. Although, at this point, it looks as if Mr. Bean had a touch of narcolepsy.

Some churchly folk came by to represent the invisible man in the sky.

Then, we got under way.

It was the hip thing to do: call your scared friends at home, “Oh my god, you should so totally be here. Everything’s fine and we’re having a blast. There’s some great music for dance marching and we’ve got beefcake bodyguards. I told you to come out, sweetie. Watch for me on TV, mmmkay? Ciao.”

In the midst of all the parading, the television crews were especially interested in the new spokesgay for Rothman’s cigarettes since they’ve introduced an innovative line of designer smokables for the queer in you.

Happily, anti-fascist representatives pointed out the monstrosity of Gigi Becali.

Someone needs a new stylist.

This tall drink of water was one of the better sights to see. Charming, fun, and very friendly, this gentleman was a master of eye liner and had the kind of plush eyelashes both gays and women dream of. Plus his sidekick was a cutie, too.

Some people tried to remain anonymous…

…while others were proud to be seen.

Jokes and laughter abounded.

This little, masked dance machine had a motor in his trunk that just wouldn’t quit. His back bumper was a non-stop hypnotic party incessantly swishing and swirling to the beat. “When the rumba rhythm starts to play…”

As hundreds of dedicated police officers carried out their duty of protecting the parade, the flotilla of paddy wagons rumbled past as they moved from the starting point to the march destination where they would wait to pick up any malcontents. Each truck spewed forth noxious clouds of dark fumes into the lungs of GayFest participants.

Radios came abuzz with urgent warnings. Commanders rapidly barked orders at the well-disciplined troops. And our line of protection began the ominous process of donning their riot gear en route.

A mobile crowd control unit armed with a water cannon was strategically placed toward the end of the march trail.

K-9 units rushed past growing crowds along side the road who watched us march. They were headed farther ahead of the parade to where trouble was looming. A little tension began to build.

The further we went the thicker the clusters of disapproving onlookers got. Glaring and frowning or jeering and taunting, you could see a deeply burning hatred in the eyes of a large number of people claiming to be followers of Christ’s philosophy of animosity toward your fellow man.

None of this stopped the dancing, of course.

Equestrian police from the anti-riot crowd control units trotted past at a fast clip toward the problem areas just ahead of us. And the tension built just a little higher.

The police seemed to become increasingly wary of the stream of onlookers who followed us down the last street, but I personally thought it quite obvious that most of these pretty boy teenagers must have been curious about if not attracted to gay men. The waifs hardly left our side, just keeping pace while gawking and smiling from ear to ear.

In an interesting twist on symbolic historicism, these two guys were calling for cultural comparisons to classical Rome. Is it wrong to admit I just loved the sandals?

Frankly, not all the drag queens deserved to rank very high on the royalty-o-meter, but there were at least one or two transvestites who rather fetching. Just behind this blond bombshell, the guy in the sunglasses was hiding his powder blue eyes that looked right out of a Hollywood set.

Is it really that much of a stretch to say I feel some kind of David Gahan vibe happening here?

Not everyone loves a shutterbug. Just ask this disgruntled photography subject.

An anxious police force sprung into action immediately upon arrival at our destination. They ushered people into awaiting vans and taxis in an effort to make sure everyone got out safely before the troubles got out of hand. Our little band of merrymakers made a mad dash for the exits on foot.

On the way out, public safety officials yelled instructions at us to hide rainbow flags, banners, or any other evidence that we had been part of the march because the golani were surely on the prowl to bash a few gays. I became visibly excited by the prospects of such an encounter.

Sadistically longing even.

I suppose it might be a form of sickness to actually look forward to a confrontation, but I’d been planning on it for days on end. Just to imagine some nutjob in a sports jersey making the error of swinging a fist in the direction of anyone in my crew… well, it’s a guilty pleasure of mine to think about neonazi’s getting a little bonk on the bean.

Sadly, I’ll cut to the chase here because there wasn’t any action. The riot police did a great job of instilling respect into the would-be attackers. Our posse safely landed in a nearby cafe to grab a drink to celebrate our successful completion of a human rights march.

There was plenty of chocolate and laughter to go around.

On big, flat-screen television, we watched a bit of the live news coverage as ignorant cavemen stupidly attacked trained riot police even though the parade had already dissipated into the pulsating capillaries of Bucureşti.

There was a brief reprise when a platoon of jandarmeria scrambled by the large glass windows of our cafe. Not wanting to miss any throwdown, I snatched my camera bag and slipped out the door to follow them down the block. Shocked and nervous Romanian pedestrians were lined up against the buildings unwilling to move until some authority declared the hostilities over.

Not I.

I zipped around the corner and tumbled myself right into the thick of the action, nearly earning myself a little rough treatment from the highly aggressive police force. Surrounded on all sides, I thought I might get my clock cleaned but apparently my holding a camera seemed to clue them into the idea I wasn’t an accomplice of the golani they were tossing around like ragdolls.

While it was a beautiful thing to witness, I’ll admit I flubbed up the chance to snag photos. My first reaction was to avoid getting beat by nightsticks, but a few second later I snapped away some shots. They turned out blurry and worthless. Sorry.

After five or six little snots had been hauled off by the men in black, things calmed down a little. Law enforcement stuck around a wee bit longer to make sure the attackers had been found. I couldn’t help but notice they had a Boba Fett thing going on.

After that, I returned to the cafe where my adoptive friends welcomed me back to the cold lemonade, chocolate, and surprising television coverage of out-of-control Becali followers who continued to attack police despite the fact that there were no gay people around.

And that’s how it went down, y’all. We marched. Tensions rose, but the police handled the whackos. The teargas, flying rocks, mass arrests, and bits of rioting stuff on TV was mostly just some fools attacking law enforcement officers after GayFest was well over.

Imi pare bine to mischievous Dezordinea Ordonata, civilized Adevaratul Mitzy, gentle Ştefan, suave Jorge, and charming Andressa.

Thanks to lively Bunissima.  Extra special thanks (with whip cream and nuts) to the irrepressible Top Dog.

For example, if you happened to stand really close to a gay person, you might notice their sexual preference is not contagious. Or, if you were forced to talk to one, you just won’t get coodies.

In the course of scientific observation, many lucid people have famously recorded that gay men generally trend toward non-violent social habits. They’re not particularly dangerous and do not customarily attack small children unprovoked.

A great majority tend to be capable of rational thought when engaged in human dialogue with heterosexuals. And quite a few of them demonstrate a proclivity toward fashionable attire, in a deliberate effort to not offend the sensibilities of their straight counterparts.

Other than that, the learned mind reaches the inescapable and bluntly obvious conclusion that gay people are pretty much the same as the rest of the population. They laugh, they cry, they work, and, yeah, they try to bust the occasional nut.

Unfortunately, there still remains a small percentage of uneducated cretins on this planet who cling to the irrational fear that gay men represent a conspiratorial threat against the ability of straight men to get laid because queers fiendishly commiserate in a plot to steal all the hot chicks away from breeders.

Not only that, my brothers, but keep in mind the Uninea Poponari is bent on seducing, corrupting, and raping our wives and daughters. Or was it our fathers and sons? You never know because gays are mysterious and shifty!

When a noble gentlemen and intellectual giant of the stature and wisdom of Gigi Becali proclaims homosexuals are immoral, then we should harken unto his warning. Afterall, everyone knows Becali has read the Bible and repairs his own car.

Any good Christian who has even vague familiarity with the very book they claim to believe in knows the Scriptures are unequivocal about Jesus’ sermons on homosexuality. Christ himself is famously very specific on the subject of gay orientation.

Actually, if you claim to be a Romanian Orthodox Christian but are not explicitly familiar with what your Lord and Saviour has expounded upon with respect to men who have sex with other men, then improve your chances for eternal life: go read the exact Biblical passages that reveal what Jesus Christ had to say about homosexuality.

Your very soul hangs in the balance by a thread in the eye of a needle…

Of course, if you don’t take your religion seriously or couldn’t care less what the Son of God said, then by all means continue in your complacency.

Leave issues of moral turpitude to your betters such as the flamingly effeminate Patriarhia Teoctist and his ensemble of unmarried, co-habitating men who wear dresses and pretty little hats. Trust in theologians who accessorize.

As for myself, I am sadly burdened by time wasted in university on a predilection for intellectualism which is to say I’m fairly imbued with a halcyon outlook on homosexuality. In fact, I even go so far as to view gays as equal.

Shocking, I know.

As a big fan of sodomy myself, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to join up with the recent gay pride civil rights march in Romania in hopes of seeing a nice ass or two. In my continuing service to you, dear reader, I’m thrilled to report I was wildly successful in doing precisely that.

Stay tuned. Details to follow shortly…