Ukraine Among Bottom 5 Countries on 2007 Worldwide Pay Survey by Mercer

Stabilnist i dobrobut! Stability and prosperity! Don't you just love that Yanukovych slogan?

Be my guest. Ukrayinska Pravda (Ukr), acting on a tip from Deutsche Welle (Ukr), proudly presents another report on Ukraine’s economic outlook, in a not-so-surprising sequel to the previous reports done by MB Research International and GfK (Eng).

Today’s report comes from Mercer, the global leader for trusted HR and related financial advice, products and services.

Mercer’s 2007 Worldwide Pay Survey says the following about Ukraine:

Puerto Rico, Argentina and Ukraine rank lowest, with projected pay increases forecast at 4.5%, 3.2% and 2.3% below inflation respectively.

Oops! Does anybody know what happened to Yanukovych’s stellar 7 percent GDP growth? Where did the cabbage go, Mr. Azarov?

In contrast, under Tymoshenko, who turns 47 today, but doesn’t look a day over 40, the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent, and yet real incomes grew 20 percent. So much for “stability and prosperity.”

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/27/67424.htm
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/function/0,2145,63957_cid_2973614,00.html
http://www.mercer.com/pressrelease/details.jhtml/dynamic/idContent/1242100

Vogue! Yanuk Dispels Small Town Blues With Waterproof Shoes

Not all shoes are worn equal.

An hour prior to meeting with his Russian counterpart, the Prime Minister checked on how the water was being pumped from the flooded streets of Berdyansk. Locals studied with curiosity how Yanukovych was walking through puddles in classic footwear. In contrast to his Cabinet colleagues — chief of transport Rudkovsky and head of emergency management Shufrych — the Premier did not put on resin boots.

Reporter, speaking in Russian: Viktor Fiodorovich, you’re wearing shoes. How does it feel?
Yanukovych: Good shoes, buddy. If you're interested, I’ll show you what shoes I’ve got on.

He probably referred to a pair of these.




A little too rich for a coal miner's blood, isn't it? In fact, the price tag equals three months of labor in a mine like Zasyadka.

After watching this, I found myself singing Madonna’s “Vogue” in my own way:

They had style, they had grace
Leonid Kuchma gave good face
Lauren, Katherine, Hanna too
Yanukovych, we love you

MPs with an attitude
Premiers that were in the mood
Don't just stand there, let's get to it
Strike a pose, there's nothing to it

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/67939.html

Learning About the Holodomor on YouTube

This compilation of videos provides you with the facts and figures of the Holodomor. (H/t to Cybercossack.)

Some of these videos contain minor audiovisual inconsistencies with the timeline of events. But overall, they give an accurate picture and do a good job of raising awareness.

As the synopsis of the first video, a high school project, goes, “America learns slow...but so does the world.”
















Oksana Bilozir
"Svicha" ("The Candle")


Mandry
"Ne Spy Moya Ridna Zemlya" ("Do Not Fall Asleep, Native Land")


Public service announcement on Ukrainian state television

Ukraine Remembers the Holodomor

Today, Ukraine remembers the victims of the Holodomor, Stalin's genocidal famine that collectivized the breadbasket of Europe into the graveyard of 7 to 10 million Ukrainians in 1932-33.

The "Light a Candle" remembrance ceremony held at the Holodomor Memorial on Mykhailvska Ploshcha (Square) was attended by thousands of Ukrainians. In memory of the victims, they lighted 33 thousand candles.

Having skipped the official part of the ceremony, I made my way to Mykhailvska Ploshcha.


The funicular had a busy day


The EU-aspiring Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs overlooks Mykhailvska Ploshcha


Mykhailvska Ploshcha












Dressed in black are cadets of the Ivan Bohun Military Lyceum








Ukraine remembers! The Holodomor of 1932-33 was the genocide of the Ukrainian people.
At the background is Mykhailivsky Zlatoverkhy Monastyr, or St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral


Light a candle in the window!










A cross of candles




The Monument to Princess Olha










Candles line up Mykhalivska Ploshcha

On my walk back home, I checked the windows in my neighborhood and counted more than twenty candlelights. Last year, I counted less than ten.

Slowly but surely Ukrainians gain awareness of their past. Slowly but surely the windows of their souls open to Soviet crimes against humanity, crimes that must be remembered and not repeated.

The ‘NUNS on the Run’ List

The following NUNS MPs refuse to sign the Orange Coalition agreement:

Stanislav Dovhy
Yuriy Yekhanurov
Ihor Kril
Mykola Onishchuk
Ihor Palytsya
Vasyl Petyovka
Ivan Plyushch
Viktor Topolov

According to Ukrayinska Pravda sources, this diverse group of conscientious objectors has reservations about the agreement. Why doesn’t this G8 hold a summit and tell their voters more about it?

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/23/67301.htm

Chernomyrdin, Luzhkov on the Holodomor

The first is the Russian ambassador to Ukraine. The second is the Mayor of Moscow. Ideologically, they come from the same school of thought.

Chernomyrdin:

There was the Soviet Union, there was the famine, a great famine. And yes, Ukrainians suffered, and Russian and other nationalities, including all those who lived in Ukraine.

There are so many emotions here. We don’t understand it. I don’t know who stands to gain from this and why all the emotional outbursts.

So the famine in Leningrad was caused by crop failure and food supply shortages, right?

Luzhkov:

The conduct of the youths who spoiled all the showcases, having drenched them with Coca-Cola, should be called complete incivility and vandalism.

At the same time, should we speak about the political aspects of this exhibit, we could say that it had the purpose of disuniting and alienating the citizens of Russia and Ukraine.

Certain political forces wanted to link the Holodomor to the actions of Russian authorities, but they forget that the Holodomor occurred not just in Ukraine, but also in the Povolzhye region and in Kazakhstan.

What, should we blame the Holodomor in the Povolzhye region on Ukraine?

It seems to me that this exhibit had one purpose: to disunite and alienate the Russian and Ukrainian peoples. But nothing will come out of their efforts; no government can alienate us.

Do they keep those Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Treblinka museums just to incite hatred between Jews and Germans?

Solar radiation from the Sun and nuclear radiation from Chernobyl are natural phenomena. True or false? If true, then how about someone pisses on your head and tells you it’s raining? How would that logic grab you?

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/21/67185.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/22/67232.htm
http://www.interfax.com.ua
Images uploaded from:
http://pix.lenta.ru/news/2007/09/12/answer/picture.jpg
http://img2.nnm.ru/imagez/gallery/5/f/9/f/f/5f9ff4f8fbff8bf322a59ed41c3c3d8e_full.jpg

Sixth Verkhovna Rada Opens

The first session of the sixth Verkhovna Rada opened today in Kyiv amid persistent rumors of an impending grand coalition, or shyrka, between the PRU and NUNS. As agreed, the opening session is presided over by MP Raisa Bohatyryova, PRU.

Image uploaded from: http://www.nbuv.gov.ua/gallery/rada.html

Maidan: Three Years After

When my friend and I came to Maidan on the morning of Monday, Nov. 22, 2004 — the day after the rigged presidential election — we saw but a few hundred people. “Damn, we’re not gonna make it,” I thought.

By the time evening arrived, people had flooded Kyiv’s main square, bringing a spark of hope to our hearts. Outside, it was getting cold. Inside, it was getting warm. A few weeks later, we made it. Well, not exactly...


On My Way to Maidan
Khreshchatyk Station


The Temple of Stabilnist
This ghost edifice on Instytutska St. greets everyone who emerges from the upper entrance to Khreshchatyk Station. It has been standing there uncompleted and uninhabited for almost two decades.


The Orange Sunset


Descending on Maidan


Blue, But Not PRU
In fact, these activists represent the European Party of Ukraine headed by Mykola Katerynchuk


A Down-to-Earth Perspective


Maidan Forever!
Yanukovych blows kisses against the background of a hill from which I nearly fell on Yushchenko's Inauguration Day.



Welcome to Maidan!




Look Who's Here!
PRU shacks on standby, copycat style. The Blue brothers maintain a couple of ground support units in case shyrka doesn't happen.


Lawyers of the Orange Revolution
My trophy — a book by Mykola Katerynchuk about the court battle that culminated in the Dec. 26 election rerun. (Katerynchuk was in charge of Yushchenko's legal panel.)


Like A Comet Blazing 'Cross The Evening Sky...Gone Too Soon


I Believe I Can Fly


Street Cleaners Wear Orange, Too


Anybody Home?
(Ukraine's White House)


Orange Blues


Orange Poetry


Orange Prose


Plach Yeremiji
"Lenta za Lentoyu"

Yushchenko on the Orange Revolution

Ukrayinska Pravda offers Yushchenko's reflections from his interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

With every year, my feelings will get stronger and stronger in their substance, ideology, and morality.

Gone are illusions, gone is naivete, gone are declarations, for there is being formed a more pragmatic vein of values — one for which I, for one, came to politics.

The Revolution showed that our nation has a colossal opportunity. The Revolution does not do all the work. The Revolution gives an opportunity. Our country, our nation, is using all these opportunities.

Speaking of Ukraine’s post-revolutionary progress, the President stated:

I’m not ashamed to speak from any rostrum of the world, based on our budget deficit, debt, currency reserves, economic growth, and prices.

What about our purchasing power? What about our average life expectancy? What about the AIDS epidemic? What about the casualty rate in the mining industry? What about human trafficking? As always, not a shred of self-criticism.

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/21/67139.htm
http://www.interfax.kiev.ua/
Image uploaded from: http://www.ic-gallery.com/albums/userpics/10783/normal_emo-oranges~0.jpg

Zvyahilsky Statement Wishful Thinking!

November 21, the day of the rigged 2004 presidential election, marks the third anniversary of the Orange Revolution, officially celebrated on Nov. 22. Still, with miners dying by the dozen and with the smell of shyrka in the air, few fell like celebrating. Ukraine’s circle of life hasn’t changed much.

Donbas, which overwhelmingly supported Yanukovych, made no peace with the Orange Revolution. Now that the Yanukovych’s Party of Regions has been in power for a while and will probably remain so, will Donbasians make peace with coal mines that send them to death?

Ukrayinska Pravda quotes a Delo report in which Yukhym Zvyahilsky, the man who controls the Zasyadka Mine, denies expressing willingness to close the mine. In fact, Zvyahilsky issued a full denial at a funeral ceremony yesterday.

Delo traces the previous statement to Anatoliy Akimochkin, leader of an independent labor union, who, in his own words, overheard it during Zvyahilsky’s conversation with head of the Secretariat Baloha and national security chief Plyushch.

The Zasyadka Mine produces 4 million tons of coal annually, but has a casualty rate 7 times above the industry average.

The poster caption reads:
“Life’s gotten better, comrades. Life’s gotten more fun. And when life is fun, work gets done.”

— Joseph Stalin

Stakhanovtsy, expand the ranks of the Stakhanov movement!
(Note: From 1924 to 1961, Donetsk bore the name of Stalino.)


Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/21/67123.htm http://delo.ua/news/economic/theme/info-60173.html
Image uploaded from: http://sovmusic.ru/p_view.php?id=415

Newspaper Archives ‘Disappeared’ at Ukrainian Library in Moscow

The Ukrainians of Moscow, a diaspora organization, deplores the disappearance of a unique collection of Ukrainian press mostly dating from 1988 to 2006, Ukrayinska Pravda reports.

According to the UM, early on Monday, library director Natalia Sharina and her deputy loaded the archives on a truck. The archives included Holos Ukrayiny, Demokratychna Ukrayina, Uryadovy Kuryer, 2000, Den, Dzerkalo Tyzhnya, Literaturna Ukrayina, Kultura i Zhyttya, and even some rare 19th-century papers.

The entire collection was then whisked off, destination unknown. This occurred without proper procedure, and before library staff came to work. No explanation was given.

Earlier, the Ukrainians of Moscow had appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to prevent local authorities from closing the library. Following the Monday episode, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko wrote a letter of his own.

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/20/67071.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/21/67143.htm
Image uploaded from: http://www.belt-wrestling.org/en/images/news/Kremlin_russia.jpg

Holodomor Exhibit in Moscow Vandalized by ESM Extremists

These days, Ukraine mourns the victims of the tragedy at the Zasyadka Mine and remembers the victims of the Holodomor.

More mayhem from the ESM came on Nov. 17, when ESM extremists vandalized the Holodomor exhibit at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Moscow. Three vandals received 10-day sentences. Others managed to escape. Watch the “Last Tour of the Holodomor” video from the ESM website.


Before the extremists set about their business, one of them made the following statement:

The Holodomor is a speculation by the fascist Orange regime of Yushchenko, exploited for the purpose of disuniting the peoples of Russia and Ukraine. Everything that comes from Yushchenko is deceit and provocation. Russia and Ukraine in the Empire!

Below is a translated excerpt from another ESM press release:

Yushchenko blames the communist regime, but communists is what our Russian and Ukrainian grandfathers and great-grandfathers were. They defeated fascism and built an unparalleled Red Empire. To blame them as the masterminds of the Holodomor is to spit in our common past. We will not allow anyone to do that, least of all this son of a bitch Viktor Yushchenko — the murderer of the Ukrainian people (at the rate of one million per year).

The Eurasian Youth Union reserves the right to turn to the Russian God, so that, for insulting our ancestors, he will punish all the enemies of our great country: from Yushchenko and Tymoshenko to Judge Rodionova and other malfeasants squatting in the crevice of the resurgent Russia.

This neo-imperialist borscht of euphoric proclamations and esoteric invocations, especially the last one, clearly merits a psychiatric evaluation. After all, rebranding the ESM to DSM would do that organization justice.

Zvyahilsky Offers to Close Mine

Just listen to this open-minded guy:

I can’t provide any explanation for the accident that happened. If so many people die, and nobody knows the cause, maybe we really should close this mine.

Proactive, isn’t he?

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/20/67065.htm

More on Yukhym Zvyahilsky

Want to know more about the man who controls the Zasyadka Mine and who called in sick yesterday? Here’s a quote from "The Theft of the Truth," a 2001 article by Julian Evans published in New Statesman:

Zvyahilsky is an old political colleague of President Kuchma's, having briefly been prime minister in the mid-Nineties. When his political career ran off the road after he was said to have diverted somewhere between $40m and $250m of state funds into his own pocket, he avoided the hue and cry by emigrating to Israel for two years. The case against him was dropped for "lack of evidence", and he returned to Ukraine, where he became the mine chairman.

Some of the miners I spoke to said Zvyahilsky had agreed to pay back some of the allegedly stolen money, and that Kuchma forgave him. Other versions say that it was Kuchma himself who told him to leave the country for a few years, to allow things to settle down. It is said that he has acquired 60,000 hectares of prime Ukrainian farmland since his return. An informant who works in the agricultural sector has proof that Zvyahilsky owes 400,000 hryvna (£51,000) for seeds purchased for use on his farm.

There is no doubt that Zvyahilsky is a powerful man. At the offices of a Donetsk newspaper, I spoke to a journalist, who preferred not to be named. "Put it this way," he said, "in this region there are two clans. Mr Zvyahilsky is the head of one of them." He, too, was nervous of saying more. Would his newspaper publish anything negative about Zvyahilsky if it had proof? "No."

Zvyahilsky is indeed a powerful man. You can see his power here, here, and here. So how many more people have to die before we stop stabilnist?

Sources:

http://www.newstatesman.com/200111050020
http://photo.unian.net/eng/keywords/5113
http://wap.president.gov.ua/en/news/data/1_8627.html
http://blog.kievukraine.info/2005/07/yushchenko-visits-hostile-donetsk.html

Methane Blast Kills 100 in Donetsk Mine (Updated)

A massive explosion at the Zasyadka Mine — some 1,078 m (3,537 ft) underground — at 3:11 a.m. Kyiv time on Sunday took the lives of 100 miners in what has already become Ukraine's deadliest mine accident.

As of 3:09 p.m. Tuesday, the bodies of 10 more miners have yet to be recovered. 32 miners have been hospitalized; 53 bodies have been identified; 28 were buried today. Body recovery efforts are hampered by the fire that still rages on deep inside the mine shaft.

Tuesday will be a day of mourning in Ukraine. (Read the CNN report. View UNIAN photo reports here and here.)

According to experts, the casualty rate in the local mining industry puts Ukraine second only to China. Here's a quote from the CNN report:

Since the 1991 Soviet collapse, more than 4,700 miners in Ukraine have been killed. For every 1 million tons of coal brought to the surface in Ukraine, three miners lose their lives, according to official data.

The Zasyadka Mine is rented by Yukhym Zvyahilsky, a member of the Party of Regions.

Listed below is the death toll from major mine accidents in Ukraine during the last sixteen years:

Jun. 1991 Pivdenno-Donbaska Mine, Vugledar, Donetsk Oblast: 31
Sept. 1994 Slovyanoserbsk, Luhansk Oblast: 30
Apr. 1998 Skochynsky Mine, Donetsk: 63
May 1999 Zasyadka Mine, Donetsk: 50
Mar. 2000 Barakova Mine, Luhansk: 80
Aug. 2001 Zasyadka, Donetsk: 55
Jul. 2002 Ukraine Mine, Ukrayinsk, Donetsk Oblast: 35
Jul. 2004 Krasny Lyman, Donetsk Oblast: 37
Sept. 2006 Zasyadka Mine, Donetsk: 13
Oct. 2007 Krasnodonvugillya Mine, Luhansk Oblast: 4



Sources:

http://unian.net/ukr/news/news-222612.html
http://unian.net/ukr/news/news-222523.html
http://unian.net/ukr/news/news-222495.html
http://unian.net/ukr/news/news-222322.html
http://unian.net/ukr/news/news-222296.html
http://photo.unian.net/ukr/themes/5485
http://photo.unian.net/ukr/themes/5510
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/18/67002.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/18/66999.htm
http://www.gpu.ua/index.php?&id=131178&eid=212
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11/19/ukraine.mining.ap/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11/18/ukraine.mining.ap/index.html

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/68480.html
Photo courtesy of: AP

Ukraine First Only to Moldova in Purchasing Power, German Study of European Countries Says

More on cabbage. Ukrayinska Pravda cites a Deutsche Welle report on a study of European purchasing power by MB Research International, the Nuremberg-based consultancy.

As expected, Ukraine lags behind most of Europe, and quite significantly so. Ukraine’s per capita disposable income stands at €1,487. It appears that this year’s study is either available in German only or on a subscription basis. However, there’s an English quote from last year’s study that sheds more light on Ukraine’s standing:

MB-Research’s newly released survey of over 1,500 European regions shows that Switzerland’s tax haven Zug and the country’s business and financial center Zurich, as well as London’s preferred residential quarter Inner London-West, are first in per capita terms with over EUR 30,000 annually. The average disposable daily income of these exceeds the monthly income in most of Ukraine, the most impoverished regions of southeast Turkey, southern Russia, Albania, in Kosovo and in Moldavia.

Western tourists who drool at the sight of all the Maybachs, Bentleys, and Jaguars cruising the streets of Kyiv will be puzzled by this report. Well, that’s the soul of stabilnist in terms of social stratification. Thanks to stabilnist, most Ukrainians are indeed “cabbage creatures,” big time.

The GfK Group, another German-based market research organization, released its GfK Purchasing Power Europe study on Nov. 13.

Interestingly enough, GfK gives the same figure — €1,487 — for Ukraine’s per capita disposable income. (Perhaps the Ukrayinska Pravda/Deutsche Welle report combined both MB Research International and GfK data.) Here's what GfK says about Ukraine in an overview of its survey:

For example, since last year purchasing power in the Ukraine [sic] has increased by approximately 26%, more than in any other country. In 2007, Ukrainians have around 300 euros more disposable income than in 2006.

Well, that’s music to Azarov’s ears, but hardly a quantum leap in Ukrainians’ pockets.

Same Voiceover, Same Product Placement, Slightly Better Visuals

Slightly less surrealistic, if you will.

To raise the salaries of public employees by 58 percent.
The social initiatives of President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko.

To raise merit-based pensions by 35 percent.
The social initiatives of President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko.

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/68072.html

Social Advertising Gone Bad

To double the compensation of military personnel.
The social initiatives of President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko.

15,000 hryvnias ($3,000) on the birth of a second child.
The social initiatives of President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko.

Consider these post-parliamentary election ads as harbingers of the 2009 presidential campaign climate. They aim to make the best case for President Yushchenko’s policies, and — conceivably — to put the best face on his grand coalition designs involving the Party of Regions.

In case the political climate gets that hot, as some scenarios indicate, the presidential election may shift to 2008. Therefore, all players should be prepared.

These sociopolitical slice-of-life ads target specific voter segments. As Yushchenko wrestles with his arch-rival Tymoshenko, he makes amends for torpedoing her key campaign promise: to abolish the draft as early as 2008.

Unfortunately, the biggest reform in the Ukrainian army so far has been the recent phase out of puttees and the introduction of socks, as romanticized in the first ad. The second ad tries to pull the rug from under the Party of Regions’ welfare teasers.

Still, there’s hardly an aspirant to the Ukrainian Dream to whom this campaign does not look and sound like a public relations Chornobyl.

First, the voiceover can be identified as the voice of the corrupt official in a creative NUNS ad.

Second, a young serviceman who makes $400 a month instead of $200 still won’t make much "romance" out of this much "finance."

Third, $3,000 can buy 1 square meter of middle-class housing in Kyiv.

As President of Ukraine and as a former banker, Viktor Yushchenko should employ communications that build credibility and reflect the cost of living. Otherwise, he will subject himself to self-sabotage and will further erode his brand equity.

Videos uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/67866.html

Yanukovych to Battle Acts of God

As Ukraine struggles with one of the worst environmental disasters in her waters, PM Yanukovych spills yet another toxic Yanukism:

It’s very important that we take into account the consequences of this natural disaster and work out — together with our neighbors, with Russia — ways to prevent natural disasters.

Why are you laughing? In fact, many Ukrainians would pretty much agree that this Yanukism best describes our government's approach to emergency management.

So, in the spirit of Yanukovych’s Mt. Athos and shaman pilgrimages, and in the Olympic spirit, let us equip our man with a quick guide to who’s who in "natural disaster management," from the perspective of Greek mythology:

Zeus, god of the gods
Poseidon, god of the sea
Athena, goddess of wisdom
Demeter, goddess of grain and fertility

A few more useful entries:
Aphrodite, goddess of love, lust, and beauty
Eros, god of lust, love, and intercourse
Dionysus, god of wine

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/67849.html

Azarov, Tymoshenko Split on Cabbage

Enjoy this terrific "cabbage test" of Ukraine’s caste system.

Azarov: Here’s a case in point. None of you wrote, none of you said that, it turns out, cabbage prices in October fell 25 percent. Funny? Well, I don’t think so. Cabbage in our citizenry’s diet occupies a very prominent position. This decrease has indeed taken place.

Tymoshenko: Everybody knows who’s a sucker for cabbage, right? We know who always finds cabbage out in the field — it’s Azarov. That’s why I think that — hahaha — that the cabbage for the Party of Regions’ will soon run out — and, specifically, for Azarov. They’ll be out of a job. Our people does not belong to a category of species that live by cabbage alone.

This cabbage thing rang a bell in my head. It reminded me of a funny atheist song called “The Preacher and the Slave.” (Click here to download.) Consistent with the spirit of these remarks, the cast of characters in our role play would be as follows:

Azarov:

You will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray, live on hay,
You'll get pie in the sky when you die

Tymoshenko:

You will eat, bye and bye,
When you've learned how to cook and how to fry;
Chop some wood, 'twill do you good
Then you'll eat in the sweet bye and bye

Despite being heavily exploited by U.S. Communists, the song is right on the money when applied to Ukraine. Of course, veganism has its moral and health merits. But hypocrisy does not. (Ditto elitism and kleptocracy.) Mr. Azarov clearly expects Ukrainians to stick to a vegetarian diet while the real “cabbage” ends up on the Party of Regions’ table.

Eating the crumbs off the Party of Regions’ table is not the kind of lifestyle that most Ukrainians want. Mr. Azarov, please don’t put this crap in our mouths while putting that cash in your pockets.

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/67513.html

October Revolution Celebrations in Kyiv

November 7 marked the 90th anniversary of the event that tossed Ukraine into the meat grinder of the Soviet experiment.

Red babushka: I just stand here with this flag for a while, and I can do without Validol. And I don’t need any medication. I feel better, and the heart starts pounding [as in the lyrics to “I Vnov Prodolzhayetsya Boi” (“Again the Battle Continues”), the background song].

Twin babushkas: How can we miss it? It’s our Khreshchatyk.

Activist masquerading as a Red sailor: A past of solidarity? You mean that past when they gave people free apartments, free education, free health care — that, basically, is a good past. I wish we had a future like that. The worse we live, the more popular our ideas.

Activist wearing a budenovka: There’s only one guide — the Communist Party. A wrathful people’s rebellion awaits the oligarchy. Glory to the Great October Socialist Revolution! Hurrah, comrades!

Background music: The Internationale (Russian Version)

Red babushka: I sing everyday. There’s nothing left for me to do but to sing. Now there are all kinds of nasty songs being written, “Come on, come on, give it to me, give it to me."

A group of people singing “Smelo My V Boi Poidem” (“Bravely We’ll Go to Battle”):

Za vlast Sovetov (For the Soviets’ power)
I vse my kak odin umryom (And all of us will die like one)
V borbe za eto (In our struggle)

Hurrah!

“The worse we live, the more popular our ideas.” So, maybe the commies and oligarchs need each other more than they can tell us?

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/67373.html

Click here for a photo report.

Tymoshenko Courts Lytvyn

Poland held parliamentary elections on Oct. 21 and has already set about forming a new Cabinet. Ukraine held elections on Sept. 31 and is just warming up.

Regardless of whether the Party of Regions and the Communists will be [on board], regardless of whether they will continue obstructing the proceedings of the working group, our three political forces — the Bloc that I head, Nasha Ukrayina-Narodna Samooborona, and the Lytvyn Bloc — at 2 p.m. on Monday are holding a meeting of the working group.

MP Bribery? Hahaha!

Joking away the issue of MP bribery can be an interesting mind game:

Oh, who would want to buy me? I’d then forget about everything! Hahaha! It’s all a hollow fiction with a single purpose: to explain why the Orange coalition is not being formed. And to that end, they employ all kinds of nonsense, all kinds of deception, all kinds of hearsay. What really will happen is going to be completely different from what everybody expects.

— MP Vadym Kolesnichenko, PRU

I just can’t dig this guy’s logic. If the Orange coalition “is not being formed” and the coalition is “going to be completely different from what everybody expects,” then whose “buying team” should take credit for it?

Black Oil Spill in Kerch Strait (Last Updated Nov. 18)

In the early hours of Sunday, the Russian tanker Volgoneft-139, carrying 4,000 tons of black oil, fell apart due to storm damage, releasing up to 1,300 tons of black oil into the Kerch Strait. (Read the full story.)

Crew members remain on board, waiting to be rescued by helicopters. Despite efforts to contain the spill, there are concerns that the contamination will continue. Black oil from the tanker has already reached the Ukrainian shore. (More coverage in Ukrainian from Ukrayinska Pravda.)

Ukrainian and Russian authorities are working jointly to combat one of the worst environmental disasters in the area.

According to latest reports, the length of the black oil spill has reached 12 km (7.46 miles) long.

Another vessel has spilled some 6,800 tons of sulfur into the Kerch Strait. Large-scale wildlife losses are reported. One report puts the toll at 30,000 sea birds. It is estimated that as many are suffering.

A total of four vessels have sunk due to stormy weather. Two more vessels carrying 8,000 tons of oil have run aground. 14 people are dead and 10 more are missing.

FRIDAY, NOV. 16 — Having just flipped on the Svoboda Slova talk show, I have the following update:

Ukrainian Transport Minister Mykola Rudkovsky says that, in the wake of the storm, the Kerch Port Authority had requested that all vessels exit the Kerch Strait immediately. The vessels on the Russian side of the Kerch Strait, controlled by the Kavkaz Port Authority, disregarded that request and remained in the danger zone.

Plans are under consideration to build a protective dam to prevent black oil from escaping into the Sea of Azov. The dam's workings, however, may result in the repeat flooding of Tuzla Island, which belongs to Ukraine.

For a better idea of what happened in the Kerch Strait, visit UNIAN.

SATURDAY, NOV 17. — Ukrainian investigators believe that smuggling may have played a role in the unusually high concentration of ships in the Kerch Strait. Sergey Boiko, a member of the Russian investigative panel, has spoken of an error of judgment on the part of the Kavkaz and Rostov Port Authorities and the sunk ships' captains.

So far, Moscow has refused to accept blame for the spill. Russian experts consider Ukraine's chances of winning cleanup compensation unlikely.

SUNDAY, NOV. 18 — 20 people are still missing. A total of five vessels sank during the storm; eight more ran aground.

The contaminated area on Tuzla Island stretches along the coastline for 6 km (3.73 miles), and extends 300 m (328 yrd) into the island.

Sources:

http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/18/67001.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/17/66984.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/17/66993.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/11/66672.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/12/66718.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/11/66674.htm
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5izATsI8GvQxMdOFfWPuavqWK3PDA

Photos courtesy of AFP, Reuters

ProFFessor Gets Another F!
The Best of Ukrainian Political Collage

Welcome to a gallery of political funnies compiled from Censor.net.ua and Eggs.net.ua. Enjoy!


A side-splitting take on Fiodor Reshetnikov's Opyat Dvoika (Another F)


Grand Coalition in the Making: Madam Is Resting and Is Asking You to Come in
A sexually suggestive collage that mixes Rembrandt's Danaë with a wordplay on a memorable quote from the Soviet comedy Going After Two Rabbits. (One way to translate the pun would be to say cum in.)


Terminator 4: Rise of the Regions


The Teachings of Freud
Another provocative yet insightful masterpiece


Back to the Coalition


The Power of Matriarchate


The Unequal Marriage
A fresh look at the Orange coalition's unequal bargaining power through the prism of Vasili Pukirev's Neravny Brak (The Unequal Marriage)


Yulia Combats Utility Price Hikes
A collage based on the Soviet WW II equivalent of Uncle Sam Wants You for the U.S. Army!


The BYuTy With the Torch


GazYulya


The Gazfather


Leonid Chernovetsky: The New Face of Ukrainian Aeronautics
A collage dedicated to Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky (aka "Kosmos")

950 Riot Police Clash With 50 Tatar Squatters, Demolish Illegal Settlements

An unprecedented squatter crackdown took place in Crimea on Tuesday. The below Novy Kanal report strikingly — and surprisingly — resembles the scripts used by Russian state television in its Chechen War coverage.

Voiceover: Another showdown in Crimea. Armed-to-the-teeth Berkut SWAT teams stormed Mt. Ai-Petri. They demolished from the sanctuary plateau the illegal settlements of Crimean Tatars. The operation was so secret that the task force leaders didn’t even tell their personnel where they were going. As a result, the Tatars had no time to pull their main forces to Mt. Ai-Petri. Currently, all roads leading to the mountains are sealed.

Bailiff: Based on the court ruling of November 6, 2007, in the absence of voluntary compliance, forcible execution has been mandated.

Voiceover: Early in the morning today, a bailiff read out to all of the present 50 Tatars the decision to demolish their ethnic eateries in Yalta Sanctuary at Mt. Ai-Petri. It would have been naive to hope that the real estate owners would obey the law. Instead, they kept at the ready Molotov cocktails and propane gas tanks.

Tatars: This is robbery! We will stand until death! We won’t quit, we mean it!

Voiceover: They didn’t have to stand for too long — heavy gear went into action.

Tatars: You will be responsibly for murder!

Voiceover: After a brief staff meeting, special police forces and internal troops are ordered to provide ground support for the bailiffs and for the bulldozer.

Voiceover: Five minutes later, the sanctuary plateau at Mt. Ai-Petri was quiet. Everyone was doing their job. Law enforcement was packing the offenders to police trucks; the machinery was leveling the illegal real estate.

Anatoliy Mohyliov, head of the Crimean Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior: Any resistance to law enforcement officers will be forcefully thwarted. That’s what police is for — to uphold decisions made under the law. Any counteraction to the execution of this lawful court decision will naturally be thwarted.

Voiceover: Who occupied the sanctuary? During today’s events he was in the first line and obstructed the bailiffs. His name is Akhtem Chyigoz; he is the head of the Bakhchysarai Majlis. On the occupied land, on behalf of the Majlis, they started a business. They collected rent from their fellow believers for the right to open an eatery here.

Forest Ranger: People came from the Bakhchysarais Majlis and said that all paperwork has been completed. Only a few signoffs were left to be obtained from the [Crimean] Cabinet of Ministers. They showed me the flagged plots, a total 18 plots, I guess. They named the price each had to pay to build a house there and to open a business.

Voiceover: Now, in place of the businesses, Mt. Ai-Petri is again a sanctuary. Police and bulldozers won’t be sitting idly for too long, local law enforcement says. As the head of Crimean police, Anatoliy Mohyliov, promised, by the end of the week Crimeans will witness yet another series of court decisions being carried out. Oleh Kryuchkov, Oleksandr Solovyenko, Novy Kanal.

Notice the lack of balance, the gung-ho attitude, and the racist overtones. It looks more like a public relations material from Myanmar’s Ministry of the Interior.

According to earlier reports at Ukrayinska Pravda, the bailiffs’ writ of execution concerned only one building. Later in the day, however, that figure rose to seven. A total of 28 Tatars were detained. Three were hospitalized with major injuries.

All of which raises grave questions:

What doesn’t Novy Kanal ever mention those recreation centers and vast tracts of land grabitized by non-Tatars for a nickel or a dime? See no evil, hear no evil?

Why is it that some have to bear the full brunt of the law while others stay above the law?

Why is it that some have to play by the rules while others play with the rules?

“To my friends, everything; to my enemies, the law.” Is that the house rule?

Unless the "untouchables" give these questions some thought, they may very well be subscribing to a nightmare that will put First Blood on a Sri Lankan scale.

With the Tatars playing as the Tamil Tigers, this “action movie” will render the "untouchables’" villas uninhabitable for a long time.

Video uploaded from: http://video.novy.tv/reporter/reporter_2007_11_06-1.wmv


P.S. Just one more footage of the event:

Henadiy Holub, head of the Yalta State Bailiff Service Department: I believe that this is…uh…the beginning…the beginning of these teardowns that take place in Crimea, say, the teardowns of illegal real estate.

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/67257.html

Russian March in Crimea

Crimea’s pro-Russian radicals on Sunday celebrated National Unity Day. The local Russian March failed to generate mass attendance, following injunctions by Simferopol and Sevastopol courts banning the scheduled rallies in the downtown area. No violence was reported.



Kaleidoscopic coverage:

…why did we — when they messed with our history, our human life (slogan reads: “No to whitewashing the OUN-UPA! Bandera and Shukhevych to the dustbin of history!”)…

…there’s only one question — the Russian question (slogan reads: “Make Russian an official language!”)…

….a thousand people are here, but a hundred, two hundred thousand more (banner reads: Russian Bloc Party)…

…[we are] one people, that we should be here together…the President of Ukraine banned this holiday (slogan reads: “Fourth of November — National Unity Day!”)…

…we are a mighty, formidable power! (slogan reads: “For the motherland! For Putin!”)…

…we can’t turn a blind eye to the fact that on the eve of the Russian national action, the Russian Marches (slogan reads: “Russian people, remember! Tsekov and Grach sold out the Constitution of Crimea and the Russian language. A Russian Duma for Crimea!”)…

…that is, to prohibit parades and rallies in the Simferopol city center in the very last minute (slogan reads: “Yushchenko and Yanukovych, where are our savings? Who stole our pension?”)…

…in unity is Russians’ power! In unity is Russians’ power! And that’s the main slogan of the Russian Bloc Party of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, in honor of National Unity Day! Hurrah! (slogan reads: “One law for all!”)...

How dare they rip off NUNS’ campaign slogan?

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/67031.html

Land Conflict Deepens Crimea’s Ethnic Fault Lines

The legacy of Stalin’s forcible deportation of Crimean Tatars comes back to haunt the peninsula. Tatar repatriates, whom local authorities often refuse to compensate for the land their parents and grandparents lost, often resort to squatting.

Against a background of widespread corruption and land grabs by the well-connected elites, squatting becomes the only remedy available to Tatar repatriates. This festering problem once again came to the fore Thursday, when a Simferopol firm tried to regain control of a land plot occupied by Tatar squatters.



Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes! Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes! (The rallying call of Ukrainian nationalists. Apparently a group of them came to show support for the Tatars.)
Tatars: How about coming out in the open? Just you wait! We’ll hold each of you accountable.
Police officer: In the event of unforeseeable circumstances that will lead to aggravated consequences, all of you will be prosecuted in accordance with the criminal code.
The firm’s “security forces”: What now, huh? Come over here if you’re so tough. Come on, come on, come on! Get them all here!
Tatars: Don’t think we’ll let you get away with it. No way. No way! Just some 100-200 hryvnias, and you’re dead! If you don’t convert to Islam, you’ll die. Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar!

(Situation spins out of control. Shots fired in the air. Police fire tear gas.)

The longstanding mistreatment of the Tatar minority lays the ground for extremism, a time bomb that may explode at any time. Tatars steadily vote for NUNS, as a counterweight against Russian dominance and separatist ferment, fueled by the presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and its blatant disregard for Ukrainian law.

Still, “one law for all,” NUNS’ campaign slogan, has yet to materialize in Crimea and in the rest of Ukraine. Thankfully, the confrontation did not result in large-scale violence. Several people sustained minor injuries.

The Thursday episode must serve as a wake up call to the Party of Regions, which holds a solid majority in local government. Unless the Party of Regions rethinks its land policies, the situation may escalate from bad to worse.

Once the genie is out of the bottle, the splendid villas of Kyiv, Donetsk, and Moscow moguls will be washed away into the Black Sea in a bloodbath that will rival Bosnia and the Gaza Strip. It’s not too late to work out a win-win land policy. This policy will rescue Crimea from a future of a world-class flash point, and instead will reprogram it to a future of a world-class resort.

Sources: http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/11/2/66243.htm
Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/66865.html

The Power of Shyrkgestion

The dialogue involves certain compromises, finding a certain golden mean around which, you know, will be boiling the thing we call shyroka koalitsiya [grand coalition]. I call it Obyednana [Ukr. united] Koalitisiya — I like that OK acronym very much. So…but at the center of that golden mean will be Yanukovych. All...uh-eh-uh-eh-uh…the remaining issues — lots of controversial issues, issues that perhaps should be put on the back burner for a while, issues that perhaps need to be talked over with the people, issues that…uh… perhaps should be viewed or visualized on common grounds for the future — we here are ready to talk about it, and I say the only thing that our electorate, our people, would not forgive us is if we betrayed our leader. For if we discard that name, we will lose a whole lot.

— MP Hanna Herman, PRU, former spokeswoman for Yanukovych

Unbeknownst to herself, with that shyroka koalitisiya “thing,” Herman unleashes the power of suggestion — or should we say, shyrkgestion.

By a Freudian slip of the tongue, she conjures up images of a shyrka scene: a needle, a spoonful of heroin, and a lighter. (More on shyrka.)

So how many Ukrainians are "OK" with that toolkit?

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/66540.html