Cartoon of the day

Special mention

 

Cartoon of the day

Special mention

 

Feuding in Romania

Romania has been the site of two major feuds in recent times—they’re remarkably similar to a third.

The first was the History Channel’s disappointing mini-series, Hatfields & McCoys, which was shot in Romania. As a friend explained to me, “They were cutting trees that looked like twigs compared to what the original forest in WV [West Virginia] would have looked like at the time.”

The second is the current feud over the Rosia Montana gold mine, which pits Canada’s Gabriel Resources, along with “2,800 locals, the mayor and county administration and President Traian Basescu,” against those who oppose the project, “a handful of residents, several church, environmental and human rights groups, the Soros Foundation and neighbor Hungary, which fears the consequences of any environmental damage.”

The current battle in Romania is remarkably similar both to the Hatfields and McCoys and to the feud taking place today concerning mountaintop removal in Appalachia. All three are examples, from different points in history, of a contest for social and economic control between local people and outside industrial capitalists.

Who let the nuts out?

The Wall Street Journal, that’s who.