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	<title>vali petcu blog &#187; politics</title>
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	<link>http://www.valipetcu.com</link>
	<description>notes of a traveler of both time and space</description>
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		<title>Riots in Romania &#8211; January 2012</title>
		<link>http://www.valipetcu.com/2012/riots-in-romania-january-2012.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.valipetcu.com/2012/riots-in-romania-january-2012.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>vali petcu</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[random]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[protests]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.valipetcu.com/2012/riots-in-romania-january-2012.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last night, in Bucharest it was hell. Young people fought with the police, threw stones, torched a car and broke windows. This is unusual for Romania, but it’s usual for the people doing it, because there are two types of people protesting: the football hooligans and the normal people. Unfortunately, the protest aimed at overthrowing [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Last night, in Bucharest <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16565123">it was hell</a>. Young people fought with the police, threw stones, torched a car and broke windows. </p>
<p>This is unusual for Romania, but it’s usual for the people doing it, because there are two types of people protesting: the football hooligans and the normal people. Unfortunately, the protest aimed at overthrowing president Băsescu got detoured into street fights with the police. </p>
<p>The situation in Romania is mixed. Half the people are living paycheck to paycheck, other 40% are living ok and 10% are living very well. The poor half is composed of a mix of doctors, firemen, teachers and people used with the state benefits (the famous “să ni se dea” &#8211; which translates into “we are waiting for the state to take care of us”). The people living decently are working people, almost 3 million out of a population of 20, that have jobs in the private sector, pay taxes and try to stay ahead. For them is hard due to high taxation, corruption, bureaucracy and being looked at as losers for not trying to cheat the system. The 10% are politicians and their friends, ass kissers, corrupt businessmen, who are protected by the politicians and the law (the notorious case of mr. Dinu Patriciu, the wealthiest man in Romania, who sold a business received as a gift from his political friends, and whose businesses are collapsing now due to his management and skills). </p>
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		<item>
		<title>why are the people rebelling?</title>
		<link>http://www.valipetcu.com/2011/why-are-the-people-rebelling.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.valipetcu.com/2011/why-are-the-people-rebelling.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Jan 2011 19:21:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>vali petcu</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[random]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hunger crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[world]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.valipetcu.com/2011/01/why-are-the-people-rebelling.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For a few days now Egypt has had a revolution going. People took the street to protest against the government and the president, who has been in that chair since 1981. Basically, we have the beginning of a world hunger crisis. The people would be happy to have food and would not care if the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.valipetcu.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/cop.png"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="cop" border="0" alt="cop" src="http://www.valipetcu.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/cop_thumb.jpg" width="154" height="102" /></a></p>
<p>For a few days now Egypt has had a revolution going. People took the street to protest against the government and the president, who has been in that chair since 1981. </p>
<p>Basically, we have the beginning of a world hunger crisis. The people would be happy to have food and would not care if the president is stealing billions behind their back. But when people are hungry and the leaders have golden mansions things tend to not be so peaceful. Hence the revolutions in Tunis and Egypt. </p>
<p>China and India will follow at some point. Can’t keep 2 billion people in poverty while they produce 600€ laptops and 50€ shirts while they are being paid 2 € per day.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Downhill for Romania</title>
		<link>http://www.valipetcu.com/2010/downhill-for-romania.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.valipetcu.com/2010/downhill-for-romania.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:34:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>vali petcu</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[random]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.valipetcu.com/2010/06/downhill-for-romania.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Instead of action, we get a lot of talk and a lot of putting away measures that could save the country from recession. And we are on our way of becoming worse than Greece. Just because we can.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Instead of action, we get a lot of talk and a lot of putting away measures that could save the country from recession. And we are on our way of becoming worse than Greece. Just because we can.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Traian Basescu, president of Romania</title>
		<link>http://www.valipetcu.com/2009/traian-basescu-president-of-romania.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.valipetcu.com/2009/traian-basescu-president-of-romania.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:45:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>vali petcu</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[random]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[personal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[romania]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.valipetcu.com/2009/12/traian-basescu-president-of-romania.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[He granted me a 30-minute interview (in Romanian). He is not that much into social media, but he won the 2004 elections being very cool and loose, as opposed to an uptight Adrian Năstase, his opponent. I am not the first blogger to interview him, but i am the first that got to him by [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>He granted me a 30-minute interview (<a href="http://www.zoso.ro/2009/12/ultimul-interviu-de-campanie-al-lui-basescu.html">in Romanian</a>). He is not that much into social media, but he won the 2004 elections being very cool and loose, as opposed to an uptight Adrian Năstase, his opponent.</p>
<p>I am not the first blogger to interview him, but i am the first that got to him by being just a blogger. He was tired (it was his last campaign interview) and had a cold. But a man with “the weight of the world on his shoulders”.</p>
<p><a href="http://zoso.ro/uploads/zoso/basescu.si.zoso.jpg"><strong><img title="basescu.si.zoso" style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" height="300" alt="basescu.si.zoso" src="http://zoso.ro/uploads/zoso/image/450/basescu.si.zoso.jpg" width="450" /></strong></a></p>
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		<title>wrong moves</title>
		<link>http://www.valipetcu.com/2009/wrong-moves.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.valipetcu.com/2009/wrong-moves.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Nov 2009 22:08:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>vali petcu</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[random]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.valipetcu.com/2009/11/wrong-moves.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The political campaign for Romanian Presidency has turned ugly. A 2004 recording in which the president Băsescu is hitting a child has been made public. It’s wrong.It does not matter if it’s true or not. It’s wrong to keep it hidden for 5 years and float it now, like it just happened. And yes, i [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The political campaign for Romanian Presidency has turned ugly. A 2004 recording in which the president Băsescu is hitting a child has been made public. It’s wrong.It does not matter if it’s true or not. It’s wrong to keep it hidden for 5 years and float it now, like it just happened.</p>
<p>And yes, i am thinking about becoming a consultant. And teach them how to do it right.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
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