27 years ago today, the Genius of the Carpathians returned to room temperature.

Here's one I haven't seen -- until now.

According to the IMDb, The King of Communism: The Pomp & Pageantry of Nicolae Ceausescu won the Grierson Award 2002 as Best Historical Documentary. The choreography didn't end well; shall we say, mourning was subdued after the fall.

25 (27) years since Ceausescu downfall: Communist leader gone in blood (RT)

A string of downfalls of communist governments in Eastern Europe in late 1980s was branded ‘velvet revolutions’ for being peaceful. But in Romania the transition was horrendously bloody, both for the country and its dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

On Christmas Day, Romania commemorates the 25th anniversary of the revolution that claimed over 1,000 lives in street gun battles, and included a lightning-swift trial and execution of Ceausescu and his wife.

Two years ago, I watched a blockbuster documentary about Ceausescu.

The documentary is called The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaușescu, and it is simply astounding. Unlike most other documentaries, there is no narration. One must know the basic story of Communist Romania's dramatic ups and downs during the Ceaușescu era (1965-1989), so as to contrast it with the story as told here.

Three hours of film culled from more than 1,000 hours of footage, frames shot originally to document the dictator's cult of personality and a country as he imagined it, tell the story precisely by showing what life in Romania was not.

Nixon in Bucharest, 1969; photo credit

You can view the film in its entirety here at The Daily Motion. It has a tendency to appear and reappear, so be aware.

Following is a sampling of articles about the Ceausescu era appearing over the years at NAC.

Ceausescu and his cult of personality: Genius, torch bearer and demigod.

ON THE AVENUES: Wichita, or maybe Targu Mures.

Film: “Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days.”

Film: "The Death of Mr Lazarescu."

Film: "The Way I Spent the End of the World."

Your Saturday Radical 1: "A 'perfect storm' of homophobia, racism and criminal justice."

HIV is back in the news locally, with a heroin epidemic few of us want to consider. Here is another angle.

The Reckless Prosecution of ‘Tiger Mandingo’, by Rod McCullom (The Nation)

It took just over two hours for a suburban St. Louis, Missouri, jury to recommend Michael L. Johnson serve more than 60 years in prison on May 15.* If Johnson serves that full time, it could become a life sentence for the 23-year-old former student and star wrestler at Lindenwood University in St. Charles. Johnson was convicted of “recklessly infecting” one male sexual partner with HIV and exposing four others to the virus.

Johnson has been HIV positive since at least early 2013 and possibly as early as 2011, according to documentation disclosed at the trial, and prosecutors say he did not reveal his serostatus to sexual partners. That meant Johnson was liable for prosecution under Missouri’s draconian HIV criminalization statute, which essentially categorizes each new infection in the state as attempted murder. “What we have here is a perfect storm of malice,” Assistant Prosecutor Phil Groenweghe told the jurors in closing arguments.

Not exactly. A more nuanced analysis of Johnson’s case reveals instead the “perfect storm” of homophobia, racism and criminal justice that shapes the health of so many black gay men.

25 years ago today, the Genius of the Carpathians returned to room temperature.

Shall we say, the mourning was subdued.

25 years since Ceausescu downfall: Communist leader gone in blood (RT)

A string of downfalls of communist governments in Eastern Europe in late 1980s was branded ‘velvet revolutions’ for being peaceful. But in Romania the transition was horrendously bloody, both for the country and its dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

On Christmas Day, Romania commemorates the 25th anniversary of the revolution that claimed over 1,000 lives in street gun battles, and included a lightning-swift trial and execution of Ceausescu and his wife.

Just about this time last year, I watched a documentary about Ceausescu.

The documentary is called The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaușescu, and it is simply astounding. Unlike most other documentaries, there is no narration. One must know the basic story of Communist Romania's dramatic decline during the Ceaușescu era (1965-1989), so as to contrast it with the story as told here, wherein three hours of film culled from more than 1,000 hours of footage, frames shot primarily to document the dictator's cult of personality and a country as he imagined it, tell the story precisely by showing what life in Romania was not.

Nixon in Bucharest, 1969; photo credit

You can view the film in its entirety on YouTube, or see it right here:

Following is a sampling of articles about the Ceausescu era appearing over the years at NAC.

ON THE AVENUES: Wichita, or maybe Targu Mures.

Film: “Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days.”

"The Death of Mr Lazarescu."

Film: "The Way I Spent the End of the World."

Bankers on trial in Ireland, so why not in America?

We haven't looked in on Charlie Pierce in a while. He's still truth-telling at Esquire, this time previewing a forthcoming trial at which bankers responsible for the crash won't be getting bonuses and promotions, but quality time in a court of law. Let's hope they burn -- figuratively, of course.

Ireland Gets It Right

Again, the Irish seem willing to do their homework.

This is taken as an unmistakeable sign that since the crash many voters continue to hold much of the political and financial establishment in low regard. Such sentiment has been if anything sharpened in recent times by a series of revelations which have led many to complain that the pain of austerity has not been shared equally throughout society. There has been anger at disclosures that some in the higher reaches of public life, including official bodies, have been receiving very substantial salaries, pensions and benefits. There has been particular public indignation that some such money was apparently originally intended for charity.

Newspaper reports plea deal in accident that killed Hammersmith.

Perhaps this constitutes the only semblance of "closure" we might expect to achieve, but it remains a tough pill to swallow. I report it here for the record. It feels heavier than all that.

Plea deal reached in fatal New Albany crash; Man under the influence in wreck that killed Kevin Hammersmith, by Chris Morris (N and T)

NEW ALBANY — Wesley S. Bradshaw will spend the next 12 years in state prison for driving under the influence and causing the automobile accident that killed Kevin Hammersmith on Nov. 19, 2011, on Ind. 111, just south of Budd Road in New Albany.

Previously at NAC:

ON THE AVENUES: Rest in peace, Kevin.

One year later, Indiana 111 is no less dangerous than before.

Kevin Hammersmith's richly deserved amphitheater plaque.

ORBP status: CART seeks a trial, and that's a good thing.

As Jeff wrote at Facebook:

Win or lose, a trial in this situation could be a turning point for civil rights in the metro area; precisely the sort of unavoidable public dialogue that's been avoided for 45 years. Local leaders should support it moving forward.

He was referring to this.

Bridges opponent seeks trial in suit, by Marcus Green (Courier-Journal)

A public transportation advocacy group is asking for a trial in a lawsuit over the Ohio River Bridges Project.

The Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation made the motion in federal court Monday, days after two other plaintiffs agreed to drop their portions of the suit.

In a news release issued Monday, the coalition took issue with comments in news stories during the weekend indicating that the settlement removed serious obstacles to the project. The coalition’s statement said there are serious “issues still remaining to be litigated.”

Concurrently, bridges skeptic Curt Morrison gives a detailed overview of bridges boondoggle "progress" at the present time.

What’s REALLY going on with the Ohio River Bridges Project, by Curtis Morrison (Insider Louisville)

Is a new bridge really coming to a river near you?

As Insider Louisville reported, the construction of the Ohio River Bridges Project overcame a hurdle late Friday.

What you didn’t hear about Friday is there are hitches still inherent in completing the project even though Kentucky Transportation Cabinet appears to be ignoring them, presenting construction as fait accompli ...

... “The legal complaint against Louisville Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project is Far From Settled,” reads the headline for a statement we received last night from David Coyte, CART President.

C-J: "Floyd Prosecutor says Camm will be tried again."

Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson said Thursday the state will retry David Camm.

We don't know how much it will cost, but we do know that a third trial will lead to another book, and maybe expanded television coverage.

Nonetheless, it had to be a tough, tough call for the elected prosecutor who insists that justice has nothing to do with politics. This time around, can he perhaps see to it that the trial has nothing to do with inadmissable evidence?

No cynicism here. Just fatigue.

Get it right, or let him go.

David Camm's murder verdict was overturned today, and there will be a third murder trial.

Read the Indiana Supreme Court opinion.

I find it regrettable that so many opinions about this decision will be proffered within the parameters of what a third trial will cost.

Yes, it will be an awful lot.

Yes, I'd rather spend the money on other things.

Yes, it's frustrating.

But that isn't really the point of justice, is it? Even the most cursory consideration of American history should lead most fair-minded people to concur with this assessment, as written at another local blog:

How many times do we have to convict this guy? The answer is, one time - fairly.

Conversely, if the evidence is valid or admissable, acquit him and be done with it. Either way, do it fairly.

It's always fashionable to bash lawyers and decry the expense of justice in cases like this. There are valid reasons for both these points of view, and I'm not the one to outline the case for how the situation might be improved, although from where I'm sitting, two successive prosecutions have been botched. Where's the rage against the lawyers responsible for the mishandlings, and hence the reversals?

There should be a large element of conscience to all this. Who among us is willing to dispense with the sort of legal safeguards against abuses and errors that were exercised today by the Indiana Supreme Court's ruling? Things like this prove the viability of the legal syystem. At the same time, calculations of justice in the context of Steve Price's nickels and dimes proves just how shallow we can be at times.

Get it right, or let him go.

But feel free to disagree.