Dateline: BUCHAREST

18 April 2008, Bucharest, Fabrika, Asian Dub Foundation (sort of), hundreds of teenagers (some older types, wearing Bob Marley-like gear) dancing frantically, getting into the rhythm, while two big screens project images of the Bucharest Parliament, riot police, and messages like ‘ the only good system is a sound system.’

I getflashbacks of places like Expirat et al., with the same kids going nuts to this same music. Wtf? Are the Romanian youth getting into the alter-mondialiste discourse, going all post-modern and fighting racial and social injustice? Is Adrian Nastase the new Ghandi? Is Marean Vanghelie the new Martin Luther King Jr.? Is Cristian Diaconescu the new Kennedy?

Weird, weird, weird. I remember I got the full discography of ADF back in 2004, listened to it, was not really that impressed, but then really enjoyed as part of the soundtrack for Need for Speed Underground. Clearly ADF live is better then ADF recorded - but the beats get old after like 20 minutes, and I find it hard to keep up the pace having had only alcohol hehe.

Anyway, I guess the question here is: why do Romanian youth listen to dub? What kindof niche are we talking about here? Is dub (still) cool? Are we becoming socially aware?

I had little time to follow international events this week. Partly because of post-Belgium depression, partly because of actual work. But here are two things that caught my attention:

1. Berlusconi, aka ‘Il Cavaliere’, wins a handsome victory in the last Italian elections, defying reason, common-sense and any sense of rationality. I seriously think Italy is un-governable, that it should either go for a neo-medieval confederation of city-states model, or totally outsource its government to Germany (or Switzerland).

I also think Italians are totally irrational. And not just because they elected Berlusconi. Let me explain. With 61 governments since Mussolini (that makes for a rough average of one government/year), 158 parties contesting the last elections, 0,3% economic growth forecast for 2008, 80% participation rate at the last poll, an underground economy estimated to be at about 50% of GDP (compare with 30% for Romania), Italy is by far the most blatant case of bad governance to have ever beset any country West of Vienna.

And yet Italians go to the polls, elect the same Berlusconi that did absolutely nothing to reform the economy although was afforded ample time to do so. Italy stands on a pile of garbage that needs to be cleaned (and I am not only talking about Naples here).

As a funny and, of course, fanciful sidenote, The Economist points out that, if current economic trends persist, Romania should be able to surpass Italy in terms of GDP/capita, in just 20 years. Here is the story.

2. Russia grows serious balls and starts to gobble up Abkhazia. Putin signs a decree establishing ‘official’ cooperation b/w Moscow and Abkhazia, allowing Russia to interact at a quasi-official level with de facto authorities there. The act also provides for Moscow’s recognition of legal acts passed by the authorities in Sukhumi. Here is a good analysis from Eurasianet. And here a great piece of Russian propaganda from Russia Today.

Coming in the wake of the NATO Summit here in Bucharest, Russia’s move is an annexation all but in name. If you have any doubts about it, just watch the clip from Russia Today. What this means for Georgia is that, if it ever joins NATO, it will be without Abkhazia.