[War_ooc] Romania 2014 (just found this)

[Patrick B]

OOC note I found this and couldn't find it on the list.  Thought we 
would need a backup.

Leader: President Antanasia Danesti
Country: Romania
Ruling Party/Coalition: Romania Mare (mostly traditionalistic but
working towards being more progressive)

Political Landscape: Still adapting to this rather spiffy democracy
deal, but for the most part moving along pretty well.  Still feeling
the echoes of the Communist era, there is a push to experimentalism to
see what works best.  Basic order is still the same, the President is
elected who in turn appoints the Prime Minister who ends up picking
the Parliamentary cabinet.  Due to the high population of Gypsies,
there is an appointed Representative to the Cabinet to speak for their
interests.

Economy:  Fair to middlin'.  Overall still a bit iffy about this
European Union deal until changes are made more amenable even though
it is biting things in the ass as far as the cost of Leu goes on the
market.  There has been a strong push since the 1980s to make Romania
the place for overseas filming as it's still cheaper there than going
to Canada, as well as a push for being a positive locale for overseas
call centres as 'we're not India'.  Dell and Gateway have opened up
facilities near Bucharest that have been steadily trouncing the
performance stats reported in the Mumbai locations, and there have
been discussions about Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard opening up
locations there as well.  Unemployment fluctuates pending a
large film shoot, and the American studio of Full Moon/Dark Castle has
established a production facility in Budapest that's been steadily
dominating the B-movie screens as well as the direct to DVD market.
Tourism is another strong point (focussing on Dracula and Countess
Bathory histories to grab the well funded Goth dollar) which is only
fair considering the country's location, and to boost it's appeal for
economic transport, the railways are on par for the standards required
for the Trans-European transport network.

Defence:  Military is still steady, with a mandatory service term for
all.  Rather than following this vestige of the Communist era of
militarism, it's more a reflection on evening the scales of education
since rural areas are still pretty backwater.  Focus is on the Army
(small unit tactics/counter terrorism focus) primarily with Navy
(glorified coast guard patrolling against smuggling and transport
protection) a close tie in with Air Force.



Foreign Relations:  Pretty low key, though there is some fondness for
the United States for it's assistance in past days for helping revamp
the education system, and there is some remaining pissiness towards
Russia for the depredations of the Ceaucescu and the Communists.
Parliament is wanting to take steps to lead the country out of being
the little fish in the global waters to move to be a noted power.



Social Issues:  Still improving towards modernism, but Romania still
has the lead in the bizzaro news articles such as Man severs Penis
while investigating attack on his chickens.  Education is still a work
in progress to hold on par with Western Europe, but computers are
widespread with open access to the Internet.  Cities are more
cosmopolitan than at the turn of the century due to the influx of
foreign coin and the improved status of education overall.  There has
been some discord between the 'old guard' who still remember the
Ceaucescu days and just after and the Nova Romani who see themselves
stepping out to be equal among the long established world powers, but
as the 'old guard' ages out, the protests over Romania losing it's
distinctiveness slowly ebb out.

There has been a renaissance in rhythm and blues style music
throughout the nation with Budapest and Constanta being considered
focal points.

Crime overall is low, but petty crimes such as pickpocketing and
confidence scams are high.  Romania is slowly catching up to Nigeria
on the scale of '419 scams'.


Health: Alcoholism is still a bit of an issue, but not as bad as it
was previous.  Vigorous anti-drug campaigns have had success with
reducing incidents of the harder drugs such as meth and heroin, but
there is a very laid back attitude towards marijuana and there has
been some proposals towards legalization under certain circumstances.
Nutritionwise, due to the heavy creams and butters in traditional
Romanian cuisine, heart related ailments are still a leading cause of
death despite a rather healthy attitude towards exercise that does
mirror the basic bootcamp motif.



Religious Affairs: The Orthodox Catholic Church is still very
predominant, but not the staunch overlord of previous times, though
there is an undercurrent of alternative religions
of paganism that are tolerated as long as they're not too obnoxious,
and given official sanction once they meet the criteria of having at
least 20,000 adherants.  Scientology has been ruled a cult and is not
welcome to the point of arrests.  The Church is
allowed some input to Governmental decisions as far as giving advice
but does not have a vote per se with creation of laws.

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