Piese din presa

• CNPASA: Excelent articol recent al lui Liviu Giosan in Cotidianul. Singura deficienta e creditul acordat lui Basescu: normal, s-a trezit si dom' presedinte sa vada ca suntem in plop... in ultimul ceas. Dupa ce a tacut malc pe chestiune in timpul alegerilor. Let's be serious. Anyways, ad majora!
• Cazul Antohi II: ar trebui probabil sa fie cel mai mare scandal in lumea academica de la noi- inca nu este. Vezi si articolul lui Gallagher despre Cazul Antohi I, singurul articol inteligent pe tema respectiva, cel putin pana acum. Antohi I, II, pentru mine: o enorma dezamagire.
• Patapievici despre America, Toqueville, Nordul Europei, modele socio-economice, sex s.a.m.d...talmes-balmes... Eu zic ca exceleaza aici: "Cand invidiem Nordul pentru prosperitatea lui nu trebuie sa ignoram doua lucruri: in primul rand ca asta se face pe baza unor mutilari sufletesti semnificative (catastrofala relatie dintre sexe ca urmare a fricii protestante fata de sexualitate)" Nici Grundtvig, nici Kierkegaard nu au tras concluzia asta, dar iata ca a facut-o Pata: vikingilor le e frica de sexualitate! No, neaparat trebuie sa le informez pe blondele din Aarhus ca a ajuns veste despre frigiditatea lor pana in barlogul lui Patapievici din Bucuresti...

YouTube on Ceausescu

In my opinion Google made an amazing deal by buying YouTube with only $ 1.65 bn ( now come to think of Mark Cuban, who claimed that "only a moron would buy YouTube"; btw, my feeling is that YouTube will have a completely different fate than Napster, although some accuse it already of infringement on copyright laws- and this was "the shadow of death" for Napster...). The best part of the deal for YouTube fans is that YouTube will continue to operate independently, with no change in practice, despite becoming formally part of Google. Which is excellent! Why is that? Because the resources within YouTube seem to be truly unlimited and- causing that- the free access both in terms of uploads and downloads seems to be the best policy to implement.

Speaking of interesting video footage on YouTube, today I'll give you an overview of some materials with great documentary value, about the former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. And I hope there'll be many more uploaded in the near future.

• The fast execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu in late December 1989, with the following, equally fast, burial. Just as showed on TV in those times. Probably the only time when I saw this entirely was back in '89 when I was 10 years old and pretty much sensed only the "movie" part of it. Thanks to the YouTube user who put this up on YouTube (only a couple of days ago). I wonder whether all the people in this videoclip (including some of the voices) have been since identified (for instance as potential witnesses, given the many things left unclear concerning details of the execution etc).
• The first part of the (in)famous last (attempt to a) speech by Nicolae Ceausescu. Haven't seen this for a while. I wonder whether somebody could put up also the second part of this speech. Couldn't trace it yet on YouTube. One idea would be to translate everything (also in the other clips) in English (I am not aware of anybody having done this before)- perhaps with another occasion..
• Something I have never seen before: a short videoclip summarizing the visit of US President Nixon to Romania, from August 1969. Saving comments for some other time, one single remark for now now: Nixon's pronunciation of the few Romanian words in this clip is a total disaster. Since I assume he really wanted to say this in Romanian, he could have used some preparation in advance (or alternatively choose something easier and shorter).
• Nicolae Ceausescu's swearing-in ceremony as President of the Socialist Republic of Romania, from 1974 (this was when the function of the "President" of the republic was de facto created; Ceausescu had been already in full control of the political power since 1969, as state council president and supreme military commander, and in partial control already since 1965, when, as the Communist Party's first secretary, he had become one of the members of the triumvirate succeding Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej)