Distraction is the name of this game.

With PNL now successfully on a leash, it would seem that Mircea Geoana and his communist PSD friends are very pleased with how the Romanian media salivated over the dubious accusation that Basescu beats kids at his support rallies.

If PSD can get the idiots all riled up by belaboring some 5-second video clip to death, pounding on the podium, and screaming about pedophile rape, then they’re increasing the odds for a return to communist rule simply by distracting the populace from issues of substance.

And they’d love nothing more than to increase the noise and drown out the signal.

Viewing you like a 3-week old puppy, they want to jingle-jangle squeak toys in your face to get you chasing your own tail. To that end, they’re apparently hiring video editors to work on additional bullshit clips to handfeed to their paid-off friends in the press to spread the electoral virus.

Don’t be fooled.

Bribing a journalist wouldn’t take much money. And it only take a handful to begin infecting others, particularly if the few happen to be the chain-smoking cynical bunch in the editorial room whose lives have been filled with so much disillusionment that they don’t give a whit about yours.

One should be able to measure the journalistic integrity of various media venues based on how much bullshit they like to sling. If your newspaper (or magazine or tv channel or radio station) of choice endlessly splashes this non-issue in your face, then it is clear those so-called journalists have disdain for your intellectual capacity.

In fact, shamefully, they aren’t journalists at all, but merely burned-out, hack writers seeking to coarsen the national dialogue in the chase for easy ad dollars because they don’t believe Romania can ever do better.

Here’s the deal, folks: You are actually in control.

1. Stop buying that non-journalistic newspaper or magazine. And send a politely worded email explaining why. (You may safely ignore whatever watered down response they might fling back at you.)

2. Change the tv channel or radio station. Knock those metrics down.

3. In polite conversation with friends, when a gossiping pal puts on the mask of a sly grin and says, “Deci, did you see that YouTube video of Politician X where she wore white shoes after Labor Day?” or some equally trumped up and inconsequential nonsense — such as “Adica, have you seen the Vimeo clip of Basescu punching a two year old in the crotch at the ambassadorial dinner party, deci?” — then, I recommend you issue the curt reply of “Cui îi pasă?” and follow it with some poignant comment on a political issue which really matters, to redirect the conversation.

4. Do not vote for Geoana.

Strap on a pair and demand sanity. Flat-out refuse to get dragged into the downward spiral.

Of course, if you haven’t got the chops, then you can always be a lapdog consumer. Take whatever they give you. Accept the communist return. Just strap on your helmet and occasionally wipe the drool from your chin.

What’s going on, people?

I turn a blind eye for a short while and the whole world seems to fall apart…

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Internet. Possibly even the Web. Fairly common these days, I’d say.

Politicians rely on rapid and on-message agitprop to be delivered to the target audience(s) in a reliable fashion such that the (mis)information takes root or engenders a desired effect.

It’s probably a good guess to say no one reads this blog any more. Rightly so; there hasn’t been anything to read here for blog-eons. And I’d wager that even if there are a few last holdouts, they may not have read my previous discussion about the systemic ignorance of Romanian Web server administrators.

A while back, I opined with incredulity about the pervasive Romanian failure to properly configure something as mind-numbingly simple yet as mission-critical as a Web server. And now it’s come into the spotlight by embarrassing Preşedintele României Traian Băsescu on the international stage.

As trumpted by JurnalismOnline, it seems the Web site for the Romanian Presidency is run by an ignorant admin who clearly is unable to comprehend how to perform his or her job.

Unless it’s a PSD operative trying to subvert PD-L objectives… heh.

This is the moment where I burst forth into involuntary cackling, upsetting all around me into believing I’ve gone mad. But I haven’t. The insane asylum is connect by PRI to Cotroceni.

The fools!

(Hat tip to Monsoux for bringing this gem of hilarity to my attention.)

I walked around it a few times, noting its’ detail and pinpointing flaws while three meters away a short little man well into his seventies cast his eagle eyes upon the behavioral details and my unusual pause.

Only after I felt I was being I watched did I really take note of him. Before that moment, he had been merely an anonymous shape in the unfocused landscape. Leaning back against a metal fence and whiling away the time with not a single task to attend to. One seemingly unconsequential blur from a myriad of cinematic extras populating the şoseaua that served as set.

I looked up and our eyes met. His were twinkling with an amusement over my curiosity.

“Ti-place maşina asta?”

“Da. Cred ca e rar.”

And our sudden conservation began with him sharing the details of when he had first purchased the car…

There’s been a few readers from amandoua of those beautiful places which I’ve missed foarte much. Deci, if any of you folks there wanted to meet up, then shoot me o mesaj and we’ll put ceva together.

brasov09@romerican.com or sibiu09@romerican.com

Merci mult de tot.

But tonight, while making tocaniţa for dinner, I can report I’ve found love in a potato.

And it winked at me.

I met several wonderful people and had interesting conversations. It was my pleasure to explain to very entertaining staff of Interbelic how one makes a proper Harvey Wallbanger, which ultimately turned out fantastic.

And, of course, prietenii mei, we lived like rockstars in a porn flick.

Here’s a brief 4 minute glimpse into the depravity and debauchery which raged for over six hours.

About the Video Quality: It was dark. I was being pushed. Alcohol was raining down on me. I had already been drinking for several hours when this particular incident took place. And the video was captured using Cycorder on my iPhone.

Mulţumesc pentru invitaţie şi la mulţi ani, Tic!

I may begin to spin new regionalist theories on anthropomorphism as relates to modern Romanian culture, because the east central area of Bucureşti appears to be represented by the famous Christmas bear.

Apparently, in his early 20s, Jesus hired a few singing bears to lead the sideshow component of his magic performances.  Later, these pets turned into ticket salesmen then alms collectors.   Hence, their relevancy.