Sec. Kerry Calls Ukraine 'the Ukraine' (Soviet-Era Usage)

When will State get over Tymoshenko and get it right?



As if "Kyrzakhstan" wasn't enough...



Could you guys lead us by example? By releasing Bradley Manning maybe? Or, at the very least, by letting Pavlo Lazarenko go home? Home, sweet home. He would've been the opposition candidate in Ukraine's '99 presidential election...had you not jailed him, right?

Isn't that what Tymoshenko told you — loud and clear — in '03?

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2013/05/11/6989627/

FEMEN v. Putin, Merkel

Catch them if you can!





Hit the gym, boys.

Sources:
http://femen.org

Ruling PoR MPs Pelted With Snowballs At Opposition Rally

What good is democracy without 360 degree feedback?




 




It takes balls to play snowballs with the state, considering how it can always play nightsticks with you.

Maybe that little opposition rally did get its point across after all?

While some not-so-opposition MPs sucked it up, Tymoshenko strongly opposes such non-violent snowball protests. In a country where MPs, officials and cops beat, mutilate and kill people on a regular basis, isn't it a bit too much to ask? 

Obviously, not for the Tymoshenko part of the establishment. Wait, wasn't it Tymoshenko's top brass and then-Interior Minister Lutsenko that defended — and even wanted to award — MP Lozynsky? Until it became clear that, contrary to earlier reports, this guy — one of their guys — had hunted and killed an innocent villager?

Maybe they all like democracy? But not if democracy doesn't like them back?
 
Sources:
http://censor.net.ua/video_news/237759/regionaly_tushki_i_lyashko_serezno_postradali_ot_snejnoyi_ataki_pod_radoyi_video
http://censor.net.ua/video_news/237731/regionalov_pod_vr_vstretili_krikami_ganba_i_zabrosali_snejkami_video
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2013/04/2/6987114/
http://5.ua

Snowcracy Descends on Kyiv

Welcome to the snowpocalypse!










You never know what spring can bring.

Is This US/EU Ukraine Policy in Motion?

Earth to Washington! Earth to Brussels!




No matter how much they oppose each other, no matter how much they pay their lobbyists, the truth is out there. Over-reliance on oligarchs and elites that lack grassroots support only takes you so far.

 

















Happy Women's Day!

Sources:
http://censor.net.ua/video_news/235204/damba_nevezeniya_v_rossii_est_naglyadnoe_posobie_po_unichtojeniyu_spetstehniki_video

Ukrainian ‘Call Girl’/ ‘Mistress’ Linked to Sen. Menendez (Who Supports Tymoshenko)?

 Small world, huh?

 
















According to this report, Svitlana Buchyk, 26, hails from Kolomyia, Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, Ukraine. At age 15, she and her family moved to Spain. She then went on to become an actress in New York.

So...could U.S.-Ukraine relations be warmer than we thought? 

Or is this whole HookerGate thing part of Yanukovych’s smear campaign against Tymoshenko?

 
 
















Whatever it is, at least we’re getting all the democracy support we need. 

Hope he doesn't end up in one of those politically motivated U.S. jails.



Unlike most of their Ukrainian counterparts, U.S. electeds who select a trifling $60K from friends may fall victim to selective justice, right? Is that fair?

Sources:
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/04/photos-meet-one-of-bob-menendezs-alleged-call-girls-slideshow/
http://theothermccain.com/2013/02/04/svitlana-buchyk-mystery-woman-in-menendez-hookergate-scandal/
http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/svitlana-buchyk-bob-menendez-mistress-revealed/
http://vikna.if.ua/news/category/all/2013/02/06/11903/view
http://world.maidanua.org/2011/us-senator-robert-menendez-about-the-arrest-of-yulia-tymoshenko
http://www.menendez.senate.gov/newsroom/press/menendez-slams-unfair-imprisonment-of-former-ukrainian-prime-minister-yulia-tymoshenko

Ukraine’s Officials, Opposition Flock to Luxury Ski Resort

Lib€rt€, €galit€, frat€rnit€!



Bienvenue à Courchevel! €4K champagne, €10K skis, €25M chalets. Step aside Eurotrash! Here come the guys with cash!
 
Klitschko, Berezhna, Kilchytska, Firtash... Some of these guys might be "opposing" each other back home. But here? Here it’s nothing but e pluribus unum! And they keep coming back for more. It’s just like Davos. Except you can save all the lofty rhetoric for your kids.
 
Now how about the ultimate down-to-earth opposition skiing experience?


 
Sources:
http://censor.net.ua/video_news/229527/40_otdyhayuschih_vipov_v_kurshevele_ukraintsy_berejnaya_i_kilchitskaya_sbegayuschie_ot_jurnalistov_i
http://tsn.ua

Pressed by Putin, Is This How Yanukovych Feels Right Now?

When the West left on their Christmas vacation, they forgot one small thing.




Problem is, he won't last long, will he?

In case he won’t, here's a requiem for U.S. foreign policy. To its noble cause of “containing Russia” and its attempts to "re-Sovietize the region." After the “reset button” and the “lowly enriched iranium” deal, that is. Did I miss something? Oh yeah...and after all those Clinton-friendly borscht parties organized by one of our oligarchs (whose well-being largely depends on doing business with...Eurasia.)
 
Ladies and gentlemen, “Goodbye America” by the Russian/Soviet band Nautilus Pompilius!



 
Its deeply philosophical, if not prophetic, lyrics defy translation. 

Ironically, it came out in 1985, at the dawn of perestroika. At that time, the American Way of Life was seeping through the cracks of a stagnant sausage-starved society.
 
Soon, it would start driving the Soviet psyche crazy. In just five years, the Cold War would be over. A year later, the Soviet Union itself would end up in the dustbin of history.
 
In the West, you guys relished in the “end of history.” Here in the post-Soviet world, it was more like the beginning of hell. Economically and psychologically.  

No wonder pro-Western sentiment cooled considerably, after a decade of klepto-capitalism. (Which wasn’t exactly the super-sexy consumer paradise that the average Ivan had envisaged in 1988.) So in 2000, when the back-to-Mother Russia-themed Brother 2 blockbuster hit the screen, “Goodbye America” reincarnated as something of a de-Westoxication anthem.



 
And now it kind of echoes the West's failure to fully engage “one small thing” called Ukraine.

Hope I’m wrong on this. That would save me the trouble of doing a blog entry entitled How the Clintons Denuclearized Ukraine Back Into the USSR.

Sex Tourist Tied Up, Dumped on Highway, Vigilantes’ Video Claims

Did FEMEN outsource their cause to these guys?



Now how about we trade smalltime sex tourists for some equally fun-loving high-net-worth cons? I mean, for real, not like this. 



More like this. More like Uncle Sam in former PM Lazarenko's case: We put him in our jail, we let him keep his money. Ukraine's money, that is.

So maybe we should put a PM exchange program of sorts in place? To help address our seniors’ healthcare needs, for example. (Unless they can afford German doctors, of course.) Maybe that program would stop our €-impaired seniors from feeling like bombing our government out of its luxury misery.

Elderly woman: They’re all poor. You look at them and you say, could someone take this place where they all are and drop some f**king bomb on them and blow them up to f**king kingdom come?

2:14-2:23

All talk and no action, aren't they? Think again.




Sources:
http://censor.net.ua/video_news/225491/v_kieve_inostrannogo_seksturista_izbili_svyazali_povesili_plakat_na_sheyu_i_vyvezli_na_okrujnuyu_video
http://od-news.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33291&Itemid=2

Opposition Leader Yatsenyuk Slams U.S. Fed ‘Pyramid’

Are you guys sophisticated enough to hear this?

Opposition leader/former foreign minister Yatsenyuk: Same story with the United States, by the way. Although I enjoy talking with them very much, with all of them — they’re very sophisticated people, quite incredibly so, knowledgeable — to build such a financial pyramid, starting with Bretton Woods — only geniuses can do such a thing. Only geniuses. I mean, to get the whole world hooked on one shot, which is the U.S. dollar, and to print this dollar and to stock up on everything for nothing but paper — that's awesome. I have to admit, I don’t know how things will go from here, now that they’ve printed some 14 trillion.

Hope our guy doesn’t get his U.S. visa revoked. Because it looks like he and Lukashenka (who likes Obama, by the way) are on the same page on this dollar pyramid thing. (24:31-48:37)


 
No wonder some democracy folks already prefer the quid to the greenback. Will the Yanukovych folks “liaising” with Western reporters follow suit?
 
Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/user/YatsenyukLeaks

Pastor Adelaja Purged Demons from Tymoshenko, His Aide Says

Everybody has them. But not all demons come in king/queen-size. 

One size, one church.
 

Reporter: You’ve never seen Tymoshenko at the Embassy of God?

Former aide to Adelaja: Never seen? Why, she did come. Let me recall...December...uh...2000.
 
Adelaja: I know...uh...Yulia Volodymyrivna personally and I respect her very much and I think she’s good and one of the gifted politicians of Ukraine.
 
Former aide to Adelaja: She came just like ordinary folks do, didn’t have a braid, had straight hair, said “I’m Tymosh-Tymoshenko-enko.” “There’s evil out there,” so she kept saying. “There’s evil in parliament and so on, and this evil needs to be done away with.” He [Adelaja] stood by. He started handling her, right with his hands. He’d take her by the hand and then he’d swing her like this, and I’m watching him and I am thinking...I mean, he had never acted like that to anyone. 

12:50-13:46

Former Kyiv mayors/rivals Omelchenko and Chernovetsky. Former PMs/partners Lazarenko and Tymoshenko. A friend of the Yushchenko family. A Yanukovych appointee. Plus, assorted celebs. The list goes on and on.
 
With such a diverse portfolio of parishioners and allegiances, Adelaja looks like a walking WikiLeaks-in-waiting.

In the meantime, let the West stay in the dark on how close Ukraine's ruling and not-so-ruling (drooling) elites can be.



Sources:
http://tabloid.pravda.com.ua/focus/50a39fb0e69d9/
http://www.1plus1.ua/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/default.stm

Police Brutality Reminiscent of Pre-Orange Revolution Days

Except that the opposition doesn’t have that much support. At least, not yet.

2004








2012








Not until we have a major devaluation.
 
Sources:
http://5.ua

Clinton Calls Ukraine Election 'A Step Backward'

Wasn't that part of the “lowly enriched iranium” deal?



Or uranium takers can still be democracy choosers?


Anyway, you have to admit: It’s not as bad as in Russia and Belarus. We have some fresh blood. 

 
Isn't that what democracy is all about?
 
Sources:
http://censor.net.ua/video_news/222430/gossekretar_ssha_eti_vybory_shag_nazad_narod_ukrainy_zaslujivaet_luchsheyi_uchasti_video 
http://ukrainian.voanews.com/content/clinton-on-ua/1536119.html
http://durdom.in.ua/uk/main/photo/photo_id/32481/person_id/2.phtml
http://durdom.in.ua/uk/main/photo/photo_id/35081/person_id/2.phtml

Tymoshenko Working Out, Prison ‘Montage’ Video Shows

No pain, no gain.



So if you ever experience severe back pain, try high heels or dumbbells. If that doesn’t help, try the U.S. Senate. Or comic relief.


 

Yanukovych: We get governors' reports on a regular basis here in Kyiv, but when you see it with your own hands, as they say, touch it with your own eyes, according to an old Ukrainian tradition, it's totally different.

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2012/10/16/6974784/
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2012/10/16/6974803/

What Elections Look Like to Many Ukrainians

It’s not just the vote fraud issue. It’s what the whole thing looks like.


That’s why the “against all” option won’t be available in this election.

Now watch how the government and opposition camps can't tell their rivals’ platform from their own.



Whether it’s wages or water supply, they go yes, yes, yes. Like the Tymoshenko camp lady who says she would honor Lenin’s historical legacy. Or like the Yanukovych camp guy who says he would ensure access to KGB archives.

They’ll agree with any shit they think you want to hear.

How many pranked:  5 pro-Tymoshenko, 5 pro-Yanukovych
How many smelled something fishy: 2 pro-Tymoshenko, 2 pro-Yanukovych
 
They like to trade. They give you their bread and circuses…


 
…you give them your brains.
 
Does this sound too harsh? Well, here’s how they deal with it in the West.


 


Sources:
http://censor.net.ua/video_news/219528/kandidaty_v_deputaty_zaputalis_v_programmah_svoih_partiyi_regionaly_gotovy_otkryt_arhivy_kgb_a_oppozitsionery
http://censor.net.ua/video_news/219412/jitomirskiyi_gubernatorregional_prazdnoval_shabat_pil_vodku_i_igral_na_russkoyi_balalayike_video
http://tvi.ua

Tymoshenko Banging on Door With High Heels (Prison Video)

If she can barely walk, why wear those?

Tymoshenko [in Russian]: I will not stop.
0:00-0:09

Oops! Why get so camera-shy? Why assume the walker position and switch from Russian to Ukrainian? Do all walkers come with fancy footwear these days?

It's either another fake video or the Geiger counter shoes. (To counter the threat of Yanukovych’s Obama-friendly "lowly enriched Iranium.")



Anyway, here's how she sums up the whole situation.

 

Tymoshenko: Every person in Ukraine today, essentially, is living in a criminal country that Yanukovych has built. Every person is experiencing firsthand how the law is being trampled, how people are absolutely destitute. And it's here that I'm experiencing all of this, in my own destiny, in my own life.
0:00-0:24

If only every destitute person out there had shoes like that. Maybe they’d storm Yanukovych's luxury-packed residence and sang-bang him into submission.



Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2012/09/29/6973700/
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2012/09/28/6973673/
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2012/09/29/6973690/ 
http://5.ua

106 Yanukovych, 90 Tymoshenko Candidates Red-Flagged by Election Watchdog

Only 2 of our 449 MPs meet the Honesty Movement's criteria.


 
What's that? And how many bad guys do we have?
 
Violated human rights, 97
Jumped ship, flip-flopped, breached voters' trust, 76
Engaged in acts of corruption, 272
Filed piss-poor tax returns despite lavish lifestyles, 350
Voted for the other guy, or "played the piano," 424
Found solace in habitual absenteeism, 230

Quite a deck of cards, huh?


Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2012/09/19/6973037/
http://www.chesno.org/

Rice Takes Watch Off, Recalls Arab Spring, Ceausescu

Feeling nervous lecturing our man, huh?



Hope it was nothing special. Not that special.

"We Will Stop Them!" the opposition says.



You do the math. 

Sources:
http://yes-ukraine.org/ua/photo-and-video/video/9-ta-yaltinska-shchorichna-zustrich/shchodenniki-9-yi-yaltinskoyi-shchorichnoyi-zustrichi-den-1-sesiya-3
http://tabloid.pravda.com.ua/brand/5052d94540220/
http://tabloid.pravda.com.ua/lounge/5055c18515504/

'We Will Stop Them!' Opposition Ad Targets Unemployed Youth

It’s Yanukovych’s pot of gold v. Tymoshenko’s prison bidet.

Placement agency: There's no work for you.

Jobseeker: New proFFessors? [a dig at Yanukovych (aka 'ProFFessor') and his luxury-packed Mezhyhirya residence] Knowledge still not in demand around here? Connections and bribes work better, huh? It's not honest work that's valued, but one's ability to steal and cheat. They don't need educated people. They dream of us becoming a herd of slaves. We can't live like that anymore. They must be stopped.

Voiceover: We will stop them! United opposition. Fatherland [Tymoshenko's party].

Nice try, guys! I almost felt like buying this. But then I thought again. And again. And now I have some questions for you.

Can you practice what you preach? Can the guy in the ad make it to the opposition ticket without “connections” and “bribes,” so to speak?

What about this opposition lady? What kind of “knowledge” did it take for her daughter to get such a nice government job?

Sources:
http://censor.net.ua/video_news/216398/batkivschina_snyala_rolik_o_zolotom_unitaze_professora_video

Madonna Talks Tymoshenko to Fans at Kyiv Show

Guys are corrupt, girls are cool.

Why is she in jail?



Because the girl loved the boy, but the boy dumped the girl. 

He realized he had the better shot at being the material girl in this country.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVzYV_1_WqI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adG5O3yJocI