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Thursday, September 06, 2007



Kyiv in Colors


I was a J
ohnny-come-lately for the Sunday BYuT rally. On my way from Podil to Maidan, I ran into a downhill exodus of BYuT fans. They were “falling back to base,” that is, to the caravans of buses that brought them to Kyiv from all over Ukraine.


NUNS, which campaigns to lift parliamentary immunity, has dressed the Ukrainian House in orange, displaying a maxim that reads
Zakon odyn dlya vsikh. (One law for all.)


At Maidan one could marvel at rookie police officers who guarded PRU tent kiosks, populated by blue-clad teenagers who reportedly make $5 per hour by sitting there and waving banners outside. Exceptions to this recruiting policy can hardly be found in political Ukraine, just as one stands little chance of contesting the PRU’s leadership in it.


Recently, Mayor Chernovetsky ordered the removal of all political paraphernalia from the streets, ostensibly to prevent disorderly conduct. (Yanukovych’s "instability" fetish must be highly contagious.) Amid an acute absence of any signs of civil unrest, municipal authorities have not enforced the ban yet.

If you’re looking for unrest, watch the debates, surf the Web, or, if you’re out on the street, look at the walls. The streets of Kyiv have become a political battleground in a war of words and symbols.



Tymoshenko’s “little red book,” titled Ukrayinsky Proryv (The Ukrainian Breakthrough), has spawned an anonymous spoof slogan, Ukrayinsky Naryv, which can be poetically translated as The Ukrainian Brainscrew. The spoof slogan makes a mockery of the BYuT logo, a red heart-shaped check mark, by turning it upside down. That’s the Regional McCoy, isn’t it?

Short of that, my reality check of the "crisis" craze keeps bouncing all the time. When it comes to ordinary Ukrainians, I see nothing but peaceful coexistence. So if you’re a sucker for stability, welco
me to Ukraine.

T-shirt caption: ВірЮ в Україну, or I believe in Yukraine (as in Yulia). Well, some people believe in Yanukraine, but again, no civil unrest whatsoever.

14 comments:

Bravecat said...

The political melodrama is wasted on me here, but it was nice to see the corner of my street again ;-)

Taras said...

Forget the melodrama. Come take a walk on your street! Come see for yourself:)!

Anonymous said...

Great pictures. Very interesting.

One thing that always jumps out at me - Ukraine has some BABES - big time!


Did they stop all the traffic, given all the people in the street? Seems like Ukraine has a HUGE problem with traffic deaths, and people ignoring traffic laws.

Taras said...

Good to see you again, Elmer!:)

Too bad our babes are toiling their lives away in brothels from Moscow to Milan:(

Speaking of traffic, a drunk cop kills two kids and gets 9 years, of which he will probably serve 5.

http://5tv.com.ua/news/0/14607

Shouldn’t our President, father of three young children, take legislative initiative to enact stricter rules and stiffer penalties? Shouldn’t there be social responsibility and justice in this country?

Anonymous said...

Who needs a President?

"Moroz Rids Yushchenko of Signing Authority"
The Verkhovna Rada registered a draft law according to which all constitutional amendments adopted by Parliament will not need the President’s approval.

Speaker of the fifth Verkhovna Rada, Oleksandr Moroz, stated this on Friday.

”We have registered a draft law which stipulates that the President is not authorized to sign or veto any laws regarding amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution.”

Mr. Moroz stresses that such amendments are expected.
http://www2.pravda.com.ua/en/news/2007/9/7/8796.htm

Luida

Bravecat said...

Loads of "our babes" in brothels and dingy flats of the same nature here in UAE and everywhere else in the Gulf.

They are reportedly the best and much in demand.

Ugh.

Anonymous said...

Well, it's not all up to the president, it's up to the people as well.

Second, I think the president is indeed taking initiative in this regard.

Shouldn't there be social responsibility and justice in Ukraine? Well, that's almost a rhetorical question, Taras, isn't it. That, too, is up to the people, isn't it.

You do great work, Taras. Держись, друже!

Taras said...

Luida,

Moroz’s job security has seen better days, hasn’t it;)? The Golden Rule is about to boomerang on him. Betrayed by his boss, he feels powerless before the President.

As the head winds of his well-deserved retirement blow ever more strongly, we should expect more of his nauseating antics and poison pill tactics.

Taras said...

Qatar Cat,

East or West, Ukrainian ladies are best. In this context, we say it bitterly.

Taras said...

Elmer,

That’s right:) We the people must put the pressure on our President, whom we elected to safeguard our constitutional rights, to do more in that direction.

If our President truly believes in one law for all, he must commit himself to speed limits. By doing so, he will set himself apart from the Proffessor posse, and will set a “good citizen” example for others to follow.

http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/9/6/63614.htm

Дякую! Заходь ще:) Завжди радий тебе бачити:)!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I saw that article, too.

What is worse is when guys like Firtash's stepson kill people when they are speeding in town, on streets crowded with pedestrians.

You are, of course, correct - the President himself should set an example by keeping to the speed limit.

Ukrainian Pravda did a great job of documenting all of the lawbreakers.

Anonymous said...

10 вересня о 15:30 під стінами Київської міської державної адміністрації відбудеться мистецька акція протесту «Украдена пісня» проти приватизації медійних активів міста Києва та зміни формату «Радіо Київ» на користь російського шансону.

В акції візьмуть участь Олег Скрипка, Микола Жулинський, брати Капранови, Олесь Доній, Сергій Архипчук, Олександр Євтушенко, Едуард Драч, Сашко Лірник, гурти «Моторролла», «Рутенія», «Вій», «Оркестр Янки Козир», «Тінь сонця», «Борщ», «Божичі», «Щастя», «Тенета», хор «Гомін» та інші.

Taras said...

Elmer,

Aside from killing his girlfriend, that F1rtash kiddo took the life of a father of two children.

And guess what? They didn’t event book him! As you know, they caught him at the airport when he was about to leave the country. Maybe he didn’t pay enough for his stabilnist?

Taras said...

Luida,

Chernovetsky once compared himself to Christ ridding the Temple of moneychangers. I say, for Christ’s sake, we need to rid the Temple of Chernovetsky.

More on the issue:

http://uamuzik.blogspot.com/2007/08/chernovetskys-new-campaign-against.html