The US Forest Service knows what it is doing and has worked with private logging companies for a long time.

There are ways of treating forests that reduce their trend toward wildfires. The kind of trees and the way they form a canopy make all the difference in the world to a moist and safer forest floor.

The management of the country's forests has always been excellent and that management is no excuse to ignore the USA's responsibility in mitigating the Climate Crisis. Management will only take the USA so far without proper mitigation of greenhouse gases.

This plan didn't spring up overnight either. Public comment frequently is taken before these plans are decided.

November 18, 2018

The Rogue River and Siskiyou National Forests with the majority of the forest in Oregon but a bit overlaps the border into northern California.



November 18, 2018

Medford, Oregon — The U.S. Forest Service (click here) plans to propose measures for southern Oregon aimed at reducing the size and intensity of wildfires and creating healthier forests better able to withstand the hotter, drier conditions brought by climate change.

The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest plan would include a mix of commercial logging and brush removal on 22,000 acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands, the Mail Tribune reported Sunday.

It would include nearly 5,000 acres of prescribed fire and using fire to maintain up to 13,000 acres of previously burned areas.

Research shows the forest will better adapt to hotter, drier climates if the density of its tree stands is reduced and the growth of more fire-resistant trees is promoted. Growing more oak and pine trees instead of Douglas fir will also help the forests adapt.

"The objective is to make the watershed more resilient to disturbances like fire, insects and climate change," said Don Boucher, the forest's district ecologist and main architect of the plan....

Without change in climate outcomes the risk to investment is not a bright outlook.

1 December, 2017

London - Europeans need to prepare for an increasingly risky century (click here) because of the growing impact of climate change on vulnerable infrastructure, scientists say.

The risks they see ahead are not those usually associated directly with rising temperatures. What they are concerned about is the fragility of the physical structures and systems that keep industrial societies running – the infrastructure of roads and railways, power plants, industry, water supplies, schools and hospitals – in the teeth of the increasing ferocity of extreme weather.

Over the past three decades, most natural disasters (90%) have been caused by climate-related events, they say, and extreme climatic events are likely to become more frequent because of global warming.

Much of the harm these events cause in Europe comes from physical damage to its industrial life support system, as the global average temperature continues to rise as a consequence of warming driven by ever higher greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, in response to the profligate global consumption of fossil fuels....

...expect economic losses to be highest for energy and transport, rising from today’s €0.5bn for the energy sector to €8.2bn by the 2080s. For transport, the current annual expected damage of €0.8bn is likely, on present trends, to reach €11.9bn by the end of the century....

...For Europe as a whole, the damage caused by climate hazards to infrastructure rises progressively, from 0.12% of the current gross net investment in fixed capital assets to 1.37% by the end of this century. For northern Europe the expected damage corresponds to less than 1% of annual investments, but in southern European countries it is far higher, with Greece reaching 4.43% and Croatia 5.21%....

20 counties reducing their CO2 emissions while increasing GDP

Romania is one of them.

Since the year 2000 Romania reduced it's CO2 emissions by 22 percent. At the very same time it increased it's GDP by 65 percent.

The next generation of lifestyle is not a myth, it is real and diving in to find it results in immediate returns on investment.

April 5, 2016
By Nate Aden

As countries embark on the transition (click here) to a new climate economy, there’s a debate about whether growth can drive, or even coexist with, climate stabilization. On the other side of the coin, it’s also a discussion of whether climate stabilization can drive growth. The debates on growth and resources are complex, fractious and centuries old, and while they won’t be resolved in the immediate future, recent developments show that global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions stayed flat in 2014 and 2015 while GDP continued to grow. This emerging trend is supported by 21 countries that have managed to reduce GHG emissions while growing GDP.

Listen to four podcasts from "The New Yorker" about 2008 and the Climate Crisis and failing politics.

November 9, 2018

With David Remnick

Ten years after the financial crash of 2008, (click here) the economy is humming along, with steady growth and rising employment. Yet that crisis continues to shape our world, particularly with the rise of right-wing populism and the ever-worsening climate crisis. Jill Lepore, Adam Davidson, and George Packer talk with David Remnick about how we got here. Two Florida real-estate experts explain why short-term thinking rules the day, Eliza Griswold dives into the fuzzy math of fracking, and the former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson explains why he embraced a carbon tax....

...Paulson, the former Treasury Secretary under President George W. Bush, explains how he became an advocate for sustainable growth....

...The 2008 financial crisis hit Florida hard, but climate change will hit some waterfront areas even harder....

...The Obama Administration’s stimulus bill was supposed to fuel a green-energy sector. Instead, Eliza Griswold explains, it led to a boom in the highly controversial industry of fracking....

...Three New Yorker writers discuss why the climate crisis is so hard for our democracy to address.

Romania is a sweet little country that embraces

The current population of Romania is 19,542,445 as of Sunday, November 18, 2018, based on the latest United Nations estimates. The height of the Romanian population was in 1990 with 23,489,373 citizens.

Romania population is equivalent to 0.26% of the total world population.

Romania ranks number 60 in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population.

The population density in Romania is 85 per Km2 (220 people per mi2).

The total land area is 230,170 Km2 (88,869 sq. miles)

60.2 % of the population is urban (11,791,947 people in 2018)

The median age in Romania is 41.6 years.

GDP per capita can be a little tricky when realizing the population of a country is dropping by 0.25 to 0.50 percent per year.

4 June 2018

Romania’s GDP per capita reached USD 26,500 this year, (click here) up by some USD 6,000 compared to 2015, according to a World Bank report.

In the last three years, the GDP per capita rose on average by some USD 2,000 as Romania had one of the fastest economic growth rates in Europe.

World Bank forecasts show that in 2020, Romania’s GDP per capita should reach USD 29.820, which is less than Switzerland’s GDP per capita in 1989, local Ziarul Financiar reported. By 2023, the indicator should rise to USD 35,120. Romania started from a GDP per capita of USD 7,490 in 1989.

The highest GDP per capita levels in Europe are recorded in Luxembourg (USD 110,870), Ireland (USD 79,920) and Norway (USD 74,070). Meanwhile, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia and Russia have some of the lowest levels, of under USD 30,000....

Romania is a sweet country with more than it's fair share of climate problems. The quality of life of the people are enhanced by a government health care system. It still has sluggish and rigid government infrastructure left over from Russia, but, a new generation is working on it.

July 18, 2018

By Alexander Von Stauffenberg

It depends on region and the city. (click here) Currently, I live in Cluj-Napoca (the capital of Transylvania) and the second biggest city after Bucharest. I lived in Bucharest, Constanta, and Braila.

In this city life is pretty good. Despite the fact the housing market is skyrocketing, there are a lot of students and businesses most of them in the IT industry. Cluj has a good nightlife and medium prices for everything. If you have 1000–1500 EUR monthly income you have no problem.

Bucharest which is the capital, is a nice city, if you stay in center, at night. It is a city of contrasts which is a more coherent image of Romania because this country used to be (somehow it still is) a country of contrasts. Here is a great division both financially and culturally between rich people and middle class or poor, between young people and old, between the public sector and private. So, a lot of conflicts....

RESTORATION of forests and biotic lands will end one third of mitigating measures.

6 November 2018

By Jennifer Morgan

A view is seen from the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) in Sao Sebastiao do Uatuma in the middle of the Amazon forest in Amazonas state, Brazil

The warning from the world's top climate scientists (click here) that carbon dioxide (CO2) will need to be removed from the atmosphere to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is both a due and dire recognition of the great task in front of us. What must not be forgotten, however, is the hope that our forests provide.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said limiting global warming to 1.5C is not only achievable but also critical, given the previously underestimated accelerating risks for every degree of warming beyond that target.

It has also suggested that the amount of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) that will be needed can be limited by significant and rapid cuts in emissions, but, also reduced energy and land demand to a few hundred gigatones without relying on Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS).

This means forests and land use can and must play a key role in efforts to achieve 1.5 degrees, but governments and industry too often overlook why improved forest protection, as well as forest restoration, are crucial alternative solutions to risky CDR technologies such as BECCS.

While greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and the destruction of forests and peatlands contribute heavily to climate change, the growth and restoration of forests can contribute significantly to reducing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere.

The IPCC has estimated that between 100 and 1,000 gigatonnes of CO2 will need to be removed from the atmosphere to meet the Paris goals. It has been broadly agreed that the most important natural "carbon sinks" are the world's forests. To limit climate change, we must urgently adopt a holistic approach to forest and peatland protection.

Recent research suggests that forest protection and restorataion, together with other "natural climate solutions," cn provide over one-third of the climate mitigation needed between now and 2030....

The idea poorer countries are seeking a handout from wealthier countries is not the case at all. Romania is a good example.

"From Uneven Growth to Inclusive Development, Romania's Path to Shared Prosperity" (click here)

July 23, 2017

Ringing in at a 25.4 percent poverty rate (click here), Romania is one of the six countries off the coast of the Black Sea in South East Europe that has seen its fair share of poverty and struggle in the last century. Taking part in both World Wars and being under Soviet occupation has severely weakened the economy as well as the morale of natives, and resulted in escalating poverty in Romania.

After reaching a point of good economic growth and being the second largest producer of oil in Europe after World War I, Romania was pulled into the crossfires of World War II by an ultimatum from the USSR. This led to Soviet occupation and, ultimately, the decline of Romania. Not only did the Soviets exploit Romanian natural resources, but they also they implemented a mass genocide targeting the Jews and Roma communities....

November 16, 2019

The World Bank’s (click here) recently completed Systematic Country Diagnostic highlights Romania’s vulnerability to natural disasters. Over the years, floods, droughts and earthquakes have cost the country thousands of casualties and billions of euros in damages to physical infrastructure. They have hurt the economy’s productive capacity and disproportionately affected the poor.

A vulnerable country

Countries around the world are already seeing evidence of the damaging impact of climate change, which is making past growth patterns unsustainable and reversing progress made on poverty reduction and shared prosperity.

Romania is no exception. Climate and natural disasters risks, including increasing incidences of severe inland flooding and more intense and frequent droughts, are becoming a “new normal” – the kind that comes with a high price tag.

Since 1990, 77 severe disaster events were recorded across the country, resulting in more than $3.5 billion in direct damages (in current dollar terms), or 3.5 percent of average GDP over the same period - a significant drag on the economy.

The story does not end here. Romania’s climate is predicted to change considerably over the next 50-100 years, and the estimates of the overall impact of climate-related hazards indicate that expected annual damage to infrastructure alone would double by 2020 and could be six times higher by 2080....

All too often political speech of Republicans in the USA state, the climate legislation, and participation of the USA in climate summits and agreements is to provide handouts to poorer countries.

One has to accept the idea that the USA has had a rather successful growth over the country's history. One has to also accept the idea that the USA has been looked to as a beacon of freedom and prosperity. The USA has entered into leadership positions in the world over the past one hundred years and there is a responsibility to the countries that reached for freedom and democracy and relationships with the USA.

A strategic relationship between Romania and the USA has existed for over 40 years. In that is an understanding that Romania's stability, economy and properity is important to the USA and Americans. Being a part of any climate initative is vital to these countries and their continued stability.

Romania has always been burdened with earthquakes (click here), but, adding to that the Climate Crisis is an increasing burden to a loyal ally.

...The most dangerous seismogenic zone (click here) in Romania is located in the subcrustal lithosphere at the bending of the Eastern Carpathians – Vrancea region....

Romania's poverty level has been 25 percent and as an ally within NATO that is not acceptable. Additionally, the climate is causing more and more problems and not less. Romania is concerned about it's poor and the future the children that have a new promise as a NATO member. Freedom and prosperity is important to Romania, but, with the additional burden the Climate Crisis adds, the ability to raise the poor out of their circumstances becomes extended on the timeline. As a NATO ally that cannot be acceptable to Americans.

The USA isn't an unwitting chump within any climate summit or agreement as the USA Republicans want to portray. The USA is a great country and it's prosperity is known and admired. The USA has a responsibility to it's allies if it is going to value it's national security. Every country that comes to the USA as an ally adds to the national security of the USA by virtue of still yet more land secure from other countries that are not allies.

It is the USA's responsibility to mitigate and end it's OWN greenhouse gas emissions. When the USA makes strides to end it's own greenhouse gas emissions that will alleviate the burdens of allies such as Romania. When allies are freed up from a burden of the climate crisis, the people can move forward to improve their quality of life, the prosperit of the country and improvement of the future of their children. It is high time the USA do it's part without question.

On 13 September 2011 (click here) American and Romanian Ministers of Foreign Affairs Hillary Clinton and Theodor Baconschi concluded an agreement on the deployment of ballistic missile defence systems to Romania. US President Barack Obama had a half an hour discussion with his Romanian counterpart Traian Băsescu and congratulated him on the document titled “Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century Between the United States of America and Romania” which was also signed during the event. The agreement on the deployment of missile defence systems was welcomed by the Secretary General of NATO, the Russian partner moderately voiced its concerns over the development, while the Romanian media presented it as a momentous security policy event and as a clear evidence of Romania’s growing geopolitical importance. The background of the missile defence treaty and Romanian diplomatic thought as well as various elements of the changing political latitude of Romanian foreign policy are elaborated on in the following....

How Swimming Affects Polar Bears (click here for more information - thank you)

Romania (click here) is committed to fighting climate change and pursuing low carbon development. Therefore, the Government of Romania, through the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MECC), has requested the World Bank to provide advisory services to help meet this commitment.

Integration of both mitigation and adaptation actions into Romania’s national strategies, policies, and programs will be a critical step in shifting its development path towards a climate resilient, low carbon and green economy.

The Program implemented jointly by the World Bank and MECC aims to enable Romania to advance towards attaining the “Europe 2020 Strategy” objective which provides EU Member States a framework and means for moving towards a greener and more competitive low carbon economy that makes efficient use of resources and is resilient to climate risk.

Program Objectives

• Develop and operationalize a comprehensive national climate change and low carbon development strategy and action plan;
• Identify and integrate climate-related actions into the 2014-2020 EU-funded Operational Programs;
• Build a solid analytical and knowledge base for impact assessment and climate-related decision making; and
• Enhance implementation capacity through identifying carbon trading opportunities and developing a system for progress monitoring and verification.

Program Components

• Component A: National climate change and low carbon green growth strategy and action plan
• Component B: Identification and integration of climate-related actions in the Operational Programs for EU funds in 2014-2020
• Component C: Development of an analytical and knowledge base for policy simulations and decision making
• Component D: Implementation capacity building

Program Outputs & Outcomes

• Professional network and e-discussion group on climate change in Romania.
• Component B: Synthesis Report and Six Sector Rapid Assessment Reports
• Events (workshops and conferences)

This is the crime of the circumstances other countries face with the lack of involvement by the USA.

Romania has been preparing for the Climate Crisis since at least 1999. That means it has been taking serious all the impacts predicted by scientists for decades. It not only studied the impacts, it was measuring events within the country to decide what exactly was occurring. 

These small countries have limited national wealth. They invested in the fact that the Climate Crisis would cause serious harm to Earth and the nation's people. They have been preparing, changing paradigms for decades and today the USA is not even a member of the Paris Climate Accord and is one of the biggest greenhouse gas polluters in the world.

There is no decency in the USA by allowing the rest of the world to take this danger seriously while it continued to contribute to the problem they were already dealing with. 

Vasile Cuculeanu1, Adriana Marica1, Catalin Simota (1999). Climate change impact on agricultural crops and adaptation options in Romania. (click here)
  Climate Research. Vol. 5, 153-160

ABSTRACT: The aim of this paper is to assess the potential effects of climate change on development, grain yield, and water balance for the main agricultural crops at 5 typical sites located in one of the most vulnerable zones of Romania. In addition, the paper evaluates possible adaptation measures of crop management to future climate changes. The vulnerability assessments focused on winter wheat and maize crops due to the particular importance of these crops in the cultivated areas and the difference in the genetic type of these crops reflected in their distinct physiological responses to CO2 concentration level (winter wheat is a C3 crop, while maize is a C4 crop). Outputs from 2 equilibrium 2 × CO2 general circulation models were used to develop climate change scenarios. CERES simulation models, linked with a seasonal analysis program included in the dedicated software DSSAT v3.0, were run for 30 yr with baseline climate and climate change scenarios. The results of crop simulations under climate change scenarios indicated that winter wheat benefits from the interaction of double CO2 concentrations and higher temperatures, while irrigated maize in southern Romania shows negative responses to climate change. The adverse impact of climate change on the maize crop can be lessened by using a longer maturing hybrid, sowing in the last week of April, applying a plant density of 5 plants m–2, and increasing fertilization levels.

Rent, don't own in Oklahoma.

November 13, 2018
By Kailey Garcia

In 2014, (click here) 15 percent of Oklahoma homeowners had earthquake insurance. That seems remarkable for a state that, from 1973 to 2008, had a mere 21 magnitude-3 earthquakes. But it makes sense considering that, since then, the state has become a hotbed of induced seismicity — which is really just a fancy term for man-made earthquakes. In 2016, Oklahoma experienced 500 magnitude-3 earthquakes.

So the state’s residents, forced to adapt to these new, unnatural disasters, began to purchase earthquake insurance.

“There is a higher take-up rate in earthquake insurance given the last few years, [because of] the increased seismicity our state has seen,” John Doak, Oklahoma’s insurance commissioner, told WhoWhatWhy.

The waste products of hydraulic oil fracking, otherwise known as toxic wastewater, cause these earthquakes. The wastewater gets pumped to the surface and injected back into the earth at various depths.

“Wastewater injection can induce small earthquakes to occur, leading to larger ones, in a cascading effect,” said Jacob Walter, the Oklahoma Geological Survey’s lead seismologist. He noted that the area in which the wastewater is injected has no clear correlation to where the earthquake will occur, because of the countless earthquakes triggering each other in unpredictable patterns....

...To make matters worse for the citizens of Oklahoma, insurance companies know how vulnerable unreinforced masonry is....

...The cheapest insurance costs between $30 and $50 annually. However, when it covers unreinforced masonry, it can range from $300 to $400 a year. This spike in price can accumulate over the years into a punishingly large amount of money, especially when earthquake insurance is such a necessity.

In addition, earthquake insurance is typically subject to large deductibles. And, even though they are not the ones who induced the tremors, regular people end up holding the bag because, as of now, the oil companies causing the quakes refuse to pay for any of the costs, insurance or otherwise.

That doesn’t sit well with Oklahomans who are experiencing this new strain on their wallets.

“I think the oil and gas industry should pay for the damage they caused,” Sharon Wilson, a senior organizer for Earthworks and a former oil and gas worker, told WhoWhatWhy.“Homes built in Texas and Oklahoma were built to withstand wind, not earthquakes.”...

...The money and power that the oil and natural gas corporations wield — and spend on influencing politicians and hiring the best lawyers — gives rise to a perception that they can continue their operations without being called to account for Oklahoma’s induced earthquakes.

Now the citizens of the Pawnee Nation are using tribal law to push back against having to pay for earthquakes caused by fracking.

On September 3, 2016, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Pawnee Nation. It damaged every historical building at the Pawnee headquarters — all made of unreinforced masonry and many over one hundred years old. That includes buildings in the national register of historic places.

“The stone cracked, and plaster walls cracked and ceilings collapsed and those kinds of things,” Andrew Knife Chief, executive director of the Pawnee Nation told WhoWhatWhy. “It shut us down for a little bit, we were closed as a nation for four days, which makes it very difficult for our citizens because we provide services to our tribal members and then we weren’t able to do that and then construction was happening, and it took about a year.”...

28 June 2018

By Richard Davies

Flood and heavy rain warnings (click here) were issued in Romania, prompting the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) to mobilize emergency teams across the country, including 12,000 police and gendarme officers, 3,200 firefighters and over 6,600 technical staff.

Flooding was reported in north eastern areas, in particular in the counties of Iași and Bacău. MIA reports that between 28 and 29 June around 400 homes have been flooded and around 15 roads and bridges damaged or closed. Local media said that 20 households in Trifesti, Iași County, were evacuated by military firefighters.

The Prime Minister has called for damage assessments to be carried out as soon as the severe weather has passed so the Government can put in place concrete measures to help the population and affected communities.

23 April 2014

By Richard Davies

At least four people (click here) have died in flooding incidents across southern Romania over the last few days.

In a similar situation to other Balkan countries, in particular Serbia and Bulgaria, heavy rainfall that began a few days ago, combined with melting snow, has led to increased river levels and flooding. Flood alerts for several rivers still remain in place.

Reports claim that around 235 people had to be evacuated form their homes. Around 10 counties in the south of the country have been affected by the flooding. Agriculture in the region has also been badly hit, with over 10,000 hectares of crops and pasture damaged by the floodwater.

Minister of Interior, Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea, confirmed on Monday 21 April 2014, that 4 people have been found dead after drowning in the flooding. He also confirmed that the flood situation seems to be improving and that the number of villages or localities affected by the floods has decreased from 86 to 35.

In his statement, the Minister also said that “The number of search and rescue missions of people in danger reached up to 576, while the number of operations to evacuate people from their homes exceeded 730”.

It is Sunday Night

Romanian prosecutors have detained the countries former Romanian tourism minister and presidential candidate on charges of money laundering and influence peddling.

Once regarded as one of the most influential politicians in the country and at the same time winning praise for her good looks and fresh approach to politics, she is now in disgrace after being held by prosecutors for 24 hours and a request already made to keep the detained for up to a month. A court will decide today (Wednesday) whether to arrest her for 30 days.

A lawyer confirmed that center-right politician Elena Udrea, who finished fourth in November’s presidential election, was detained for 24 hours late Tuesday after she entered the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office to answer charges.

Prosecutors said she is charged with influence peddling in the illegal licensing of software in schools and money laundering. She is also accused of asking EUR 500,000 (GBP 370,000) to give preferential contracts while organizing the ‘Gala Bute’ event as a minister of tourism, an event to promote the Romanian boxing champion Lucian Bute.

Lawmakers voted to approve her arrest Monday on three charges. Udrea, who founded the Popular Movement Party last year, denies wrongdoing.

The 41-year-old gained notoriety due to her close relationship with Traian Basescu, Romania’s president from 2004 to 2014. She participated in several controversial pictorials and is known for wearing expensive clothes and buying international designers purses.

The investigation is part of a case involving nine ex-ministers and several businessmen accused of facilitating contracts for preferred companies that sold Microsoft software licenses to the state.

The total value of the contract was GBP 35.5 M, out of which the defendants allegedly claimed GBP 13.1 M as a bribe. Elena Udrea’s ex-husband, businessman Dorin Cocos, has also been arrested.

The Minister however has vowed to fight the charges, saying: “They can handcuff Elena Udrea, but they cannot handcuff the truth.”

She accused General Florian Coldea, ad-interim president of the Romanian Internal Intelligence, of orchestrating her arrest because he is involved in major corruption cases himself and wants to reduce her to silence. A parliamentary commission organized a hearing for General Coldea, but did not find any proof that Mrs Udrea’s statements are true.

Elena Udrea was the minister of tourism between 2008 and 2009 and also the minister of regional development and tourism between 2009 and 2012. In her last position, she administered a yearly budget of 2.37 billion GBP.  

Desteapta-et Romane

Republic of Romania Anthem

Deșteaptă-te, române, din somnul cel de moarte,

În care te-adânciră barbarii de tirani,

Acum ori niciodată croiește-ți altă soarte,

La care să se-nchine și cruzii tăi dușmani.

Awaken thee, Romanian, shake off thy deadly slumber

The scourge of inauspicious barbarian tyrannies

And now or never to a bright horizon clamber

That shall to shame put all your enemies.

Acum ori niciodată să dăm dovezi în lume

Că-n aste mâni mai curge un sânge de roman,

Și că-n a noastre piepturi păstrăm cu fală-un nume

Triumfător în lupte, un nume de Traian

It's now or never to the world we readily proclaim

In our veins throbs Roman blood

And in our hearts for ever we glorify a name

Resounding of battle, the name of gallant Trajan.

Priviți, mărețe umbre, Mihai, Ștefan, Corvine,

Româna națiune, ai voștri strănepoți,

Cu brațele armate, cu focul vostru-n vine,

„Viață-n libertate ori moarte” strigă toți.

Raise your broad forehead and look around you

Like fir trees, hundreds of thousands of heroes are standing firm;

A voice they still wait to jump like wolves among the sheep,

Elders, men, youths, boys, from mountains to the plains.

Preoți cu crucea-n frunte, căci oastea e creștină,

Deviza-i libertate și scopul ei preasfânt.

Murim mai bine-n luptă, cu glorie deplină,

Decât să fim sclavi iarăși în vechiul nost' pământ

Do look, imperial shadows, Michael, Stephen, Corvinus

At the Romanian nation, your mighty progeny

With arms like steel and hearts of fire impetuous

It's either free or dead, that's what they all decree

Italian citizen senators for life are granted "for outstanding patriotic merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field".

19 January 2018

Liliana Segre Life Senator and 87-year-old Holocaust survivor.

Rome - Italian President (click here) Sergio Mattarella named 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre Life Senator on Friday.

Segre, an Auschwitz survivor, has written books and taken part in films about the Holocaust.

Segre told ANSA being named a Life Senator had been a "bolt from the blue" and that she was "just an emblem" for Holocaust remembrance. "I can't claim more importance than being an emblem, a person telling what she was witness to," said Segre, 87.

"It was a bolt from the blue: I feel like any other woman, a grandmother, and I never thought of all of this.

"Knowing that I'm among the Life Senators is an honour and a great responsibility".

The president of the Italian Union of Jewish Communities (UCEI), Noemi Di Segni, welcomed the decision. "I express our deep emotion at President Mattarella's decision in the name of all of Italy's Jewish communities," said Di Segni. "It precisely responds to the need to ensure that the institution called on to legislate has a memory of what happened in the past"....

Hate is NOT free speech. This can be applied to any permit for a march that benefits from hate.

November 18, 2018

Andrew Anglin, wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat on January 16, 2016

A federal judge’s decision (click here) to allow a lawsuit to proceed against the publisher of a neo-Nazi website is “dangerous for free speech,” the publisher’s attorney said Thursday.

Attorney Marc Randazza said he believes U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen made a legally flawed decision Wednesday in ruling the First Amendment does not shield Daily Stormer publisher Andrew Anglin from being sued for his followers’ anti-Semitic harassment of a Jewish woman and her family in Montana.

Randazza said he can “see the allure of not wanting to rule in favor of the Nazi,” but expressed concern that the decision could be used to curtail free speech in many other forums.

"The rule needs to be the same no matter what your view is,” he said.

Christensen’s decision allows Tanya Gersh to proceed with her claims that Anglin invaded her privacy, inflicted emotional distress on her and her family and violated Montana’s anti-intimidation law by calling on his followers to unleash a “troll storm” on her, her husband and her 12-year-old son.

The judge wrote in his decision that Anglin’s “morally and factually indefensible worldview” does not disqualify him from free-speech protections — but his anti-Semitism also doesn’t give him special rights, either.

“It hardly makes sense to conclude — as Anglin contends — that Anglin’ s posts and sponsored troll storm are entitled to additional protection because of their anti-Semitic content,” Christensen wrote.

David Dinielli, the deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is representing Gersh, said Christensen’s decision upholds a recommendation by a magistrate judge.

“Today’s ruling underscores what both we and our client have said from the beginning of this case —that online campaigns of hate, threats, and intimidation have no place in a civil society, and enjoy no protection under our Constitution,” Dinielli said in a statement Wednesday.