$200 Knee Surgery Takes Yanukovych to Spain on Private Jet Worth $7,000-12,000 per Hour
Having sustained a tennis trauma that reportedly costs about $200 to repair locally, Yanukovych instead opted for royal treatment sponsored by his friends, writes Obkom, the Ukrainian blog. Not bad for a country with a GDP per capita of about 8K (PPP)? To carry the point further, he and his wife live on a per capita monthly income of $700. Well, that’s what his personal income statement says. (You’re not buying any of this, are you?)
Señor Yanukovych’s passion for Spanish surgical craftsmanship adds yet another episode to his burgeoning catalog of splashy, Paris Hilton-like appearances, which includes
- a voyage to Athens on a luxurious cruise liner as head of the Ukrainian delegation to the 2004 Olympics
- a pair of designer shoes worth $1,285 in which he extravagantly set foot on the floor the Council of Europe
So what’s the difference? Paris Hilton ends up with a few weeks jail time for DUI and our man remains on the loose. He’s unstoppable and untouchable.
15 comments:
I personally thought Yanuk went on his jaunt to avoid more mtgs. about setting an election day. It was horrific that at the same time as his surgery and recuperation, three miners died in Donetsk in yet another catastrophe. I wonder what sort of income their families will now have to live on.
Luida
elmer here.
"He’s unstoppable and untouchable."
--- until the elections.
Luida, thank you for the insightfulness of your contribution!
It perfectly contrasts the unholy glory of the Dons of Donbas with the doomed destiny of its denizens. Obviously, the bereft families don’t get to go to Spain on their summer vacation.
Besides, I wouldn’t discount the possibility that the Dons of Donbass might use the identities of the deceased miners to throw a few ballots in Yanukovych’s box office, a trick they played on us back in 2004.
Elmer, I pray it’s a prophecy, not a fantasy.
We know that the Orange ones are short of a certificate of innocence in that department, just as we know that the Blue ones hold a solid lead. Both need a fix, and early elections, while not a cure-all, certainly help shake things up.
I’m still waiting for updates on the Stanik Affair. If subornation is indeed the case, then the last thing we need is for her to walk free. We can’t afford a repeat of the amnesty program applied to Kuchma as part of the deal he made with Yushchenko.
Elmer here.
You know, I've been thinking about this for quite some time.
While all of the oligarchs play tug of war with each other, like spoiled brats in a sandbox, where is the social responsibility, where is the civic duty?
Mine safety is not on the list.
If the thugs in "Sila Donbass" will not address mine safety on their own, then laws ought to be passed, making them do it. Including mine inspectors.
This is not the first mine disaster in Ukraine, or for that matter, in any of the former sovok republics/satellites.
Yet, Judas Iscariot Moroz worries about his own butt, as does Yanuk and the rest of those thugs.
The Orange side is most certainly not squeaky clean.
But at least they seem to have some sense of civic responsibility.
I just don't think that people ought to have to get up everyday, every single day for over 15 years now, and fight to have a decent, fair, open and honest government.
Or find a way to get around it, either by leaving, or by keeping their head down.
Apparently, the thugs from Donbass think that you do.
It's sick - really, really sick.
Too bad the sovok union created such miserable creeps, who rely only on propaganda, who lie, who have no conscience or morality.
Now they even resurrect Kuchma-the-thug.
Yanuk and the rest of those thugs ought to be ashamed of themselves - but, of course, they have no sense of shame.
Great thoughts, Elmer.
The miners put their lives on the line, but their lives have little value except during the honeymoon of an election campaign. Otherwise, they’re pretty much expendable.
There will be no end to their misery as long as they sheepishly and sovokishly support a leader who puts a very different price on his own life.
You know Taras, you could do worse than Elmer for a blog-partner...
(I write this at most Ukraine political blogs...)
dlw
What is it so special about me:)?
As far as I'm concerned, Elmer is always two posts ahead of me. I find it hard to keep up with him:)
exactamundo, dude!
If you let him post, he'll just do the job for you!!!
dlw
No way!:) I'm too possessive for job sharing, but remain receptive to any comments my audience may have:)
Right now we’re holding our breath for the final act in this soap opera that will set the election date on mutually agreed terms.
Dude, many of the best blogs have multiple posters!!!
If you're on hiatus, you can lose an audience, but if you have a coblogger keeping the torch burning then that can sustain it.
Blogs are not haphazard things. I've found that top-bloggers can afford to take hiatuses away, but the rest of us need to be more committed like LEvko to blogging regularly to sustain a readership.
dlw
ps, I hear there is a "revival" going on in Ukraine. http://www.risu.org.ua/eng/news/article;15827/ This strikes me a little bit like political posturing as it was followed by a remark meant to assuage the registered churches that they would not be persecuted. IOW, they don't want them leading a charge in the upcoming elections.
politics and religion have mixed a good deal in the US, as there have long been some strong correlations between religious persuasion and party affiliation. Religion was one of those intermediary institutions that held parties/candidates accountable for their election reform promises...
dlw
If you are holding your breath, Taras, I would be surprised if you have not gone unconscious - waiting for the final act on this thing. It is way longer than a Wagnerian opera :) and more convoluted than a Spanish soap opera ;) with more plot twists than a thriller and way longer than War and Peace but by no means as much fun reading. Esp. not with headlines like the following - "AIDS may kill 140 people daily in Ukraine by 2014, World Bank says"
http://www.ukrainianjournal.com/index.php?w=other_new&id=2635
Luida
The really pathetic aspect about the AIDS charity mentioned that did the presentation is that it is run by Olena Franchuk who is the daughter of Kuchma (the guy who was Pres. under whose leadership there was such corruption that the UN suspended giving 4 for AIDs in Ukraine) and the wife of Pinchuk (who made $ by shortchanging the UA govt and people by purchasing state enterprises for less than market value.) So what now? Help create a problem (social support systems: hospitals, clinics, orphanages, drug treatment programs are a mess in Ukraine) and make $ in the process of creating the problem and then make $ while helping to clean it up? Talk about making money both coming and going.
Luida
David, I guess I'm a lone ranger on blogging:) In addition to that, I don’t want anyone to blog their life away:)
In fact, there’s not much to blog about these days. Basically, it’s business as usual. No major developments. As for the article you quoted, I see neither persecution nor a revival. (Save for a few extra bucks worth of blessings for Yanukovych that the Russian Orthodox Church will make in the campaign.)
Luida, you hit the right spot!:) Viktor Pinchuk and Olena Franchuk are so full of it. They come across as a filthy rich couple whose image consciousness drives them to impress the Western elite with the noblesse oblige they practice in their home sweet home.
Now that the people of Ukraine have fulfilled these celebs’ financial ambitions, the happy celebs are willing to spend a fraction of their fortune to buy themselves a Western outlook.
What’s really missing at those charitable events is any mention of how daddy Kuchma’s policies helped Ukraine become a leader in the AIDS epidemic on the continent. Give daddy some respect, will ya?
Therefore, a more suitable name for their foundation would be “Kuchma giveth, Kuchma taketh away,” or “Right hand robs, left hand gives.”
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