Blogging the democratic revolution
Andy has also posted his weekly Russia news update. I love things like this. But I find it interesting how authoritarian governments handle welfare. He is giving out 20% pay increases to troops and adding to pensions because of the recent protests. How is this even economically feasible for Russia? I guess he’s just delaying his own gravedigging.
Andy just posted some really good commentary about the European Union’s desire to promote stability in Russia over democracy. Here is part of it: The EU fears this day because, unlike revolutions in Ukraine or Georgia, the instability that comes with any regime transition may not be so easily contained in Russia. Russia is simply too large. The EU also knows that those currently in the Kremlin have no powerful outsiders to back them up in a crisis. Leonid Kuchma, the outgoing Ukrainian President, at least has the security of knowing that his powerful protectors in Russia will (probably) not…
Discoshaman has posted his Ukraine update for 01/29. Looks like Yulia has good odds of being confirmed!
Neeka totally dessimates this article by the Financial Times about Ukraine and weariness for investment.
David McDuff has an awesome series of posts called Going Back: 1, 2, 3, 4. It is incredibly interesting… he details his family’s experience, and his own, with the Soviet Union. It’s like reading a good book, check it out.
The school hijack that took place this past September in Beslan was helped out by government officials! Alexander Torshin, the head of the commission investigating the fatal hostage taking, told Russian media that two accomplices already have been detained, three are being sought and authorities are preparing the legal work to detain two more. Torshin said the suspects included officials ranking “higher than major.” Another Senator who is a member of the commission, Vladimir Kulakov, added that the people who aided the terrorists are not only in Beslan but “at the federal level” and “these people are still at their…
Dan McMinn has posted an article that has Tymoshenko detailing her agenda as prime minister.
Straight from Discoshama the Ukraine update for 01/27.
Aussiegirl has posted a very moving post talking about her family’s trials with totalitarianism in Russie and Germany, and her feelings with the Orange Revolution. It’s a really good read. So when I heard and watched these events unfold in Ukraine, and I realized that Ukrainians had finally gotten up off their knees and reclaimed their rightful heritage as a free and democratic and cultural people, I wept with joy — because it felt like a liberation to me as well, that my own Ukrainian song which had been planted in me by my parents, and which I had cherished…
Andy from Siberian Light is discussing the recent legal proposals in Russia to outlaw Jewish groups as “extremist.”
Check this out. It’s an interview with ZUBR, and can give you a basic overview of what it’s all sbout.
I like to get the updates from the blogs in Ukraine so that we can see their commentary. But with the inauguration, there has been so much that I simply can’t keep up. So I’ll be putting it all here. Discoshama has a lot: –01/26 update along with 01/25 update. –More nonsense from the Euro Left on Ukraine. –Note to Western Journos – — Ukraine is not a Russian Province. –Another reason to love Yushchenko. Meanwhile, Neeka blogs like a madwoman as well: –PIces of conversation between Yushchenko and Putin. –Another criticism of an NYT article on Ukraine and a…
Scott Clark has several articles up at the moment about how Russia’s hostile business environment is further crippling the country. Judging from the articles, I don’t think Putin cares. He just wants to hit the big companies for as much as he can in taxes. The government taking and redistributing a la communism, however, is simply not economically sustainable. He is finding himself in a bigger mess the more he attacks business and the more allies he loses to the west of him. And what is the answer? Free markets and civil liberties? No, couldn’t be!
Blog de Connard has a rather… strange picture of some Russian pension protesters dancing in the metrograd.
Abdymok has some great photos from Yushchenko’s inauguration. And comparatively, there are quite a few of Yulia Tymoshenko. Hey ladies! (Who is that on the left? Anyone?) Beautiful. That’s just a sampling. Check it out.
David McDuff has more news about the pension protests going on in Russia. But what I found even more interesting was his reflective thoughts on his Russian studies and his own thoughts on totalitarianism while the Soviets were in power. Since for someone from a Western democracy it’s almost impossible to understand cognitively the reality of the fabric of life in a totalitarian state, a Westerner????????s memories of contact with that fabric are almost always bound to be selective, personal and subjective to an extent that may make them irrelevant in terms of historical truth. Yet I believe that since…
Dan McMinn over at Orange Ukraine has got his inauguration photos up in two different galleries. The first gallery, obviously, are the inauguration photos! But with this an era does come to an end. Even though the work of the Orange Revolution will go on, here are pictures of the tent city before it eventually comes down. On another note, he does have a write-up of the recent announcement of Tymoshenko as PM and Yushchenko’s trip to Russia. And a history of the two in the Kuchma government, with many sources to back it up. Best of luck to all…
David McDuff has dug up some more criticism of C.J. Chivers’ recent Ukraine article. From no other than an actual Ukraine historian, Taras Kuzio. David also has some thoughts about Ukraine over the past several years.
Check out Bloggledygook, he’s got the scoop on some more spy novel writing going on in major newspapers regarding the events in Ukraine.
Via TulipGirl, it seems as if Yushchenko has chosen Yulia Tymoshenko for prime minister. Not that there was any doubt! From the Kyiv Post: (AP) – President Viktor Yushchenko on Jan. 24 tapped top ally Yulia Tymoshenko to be Ukraine’s prime minister in an appointment that pays tribute to her key role in Yushchenko’s torturous election victory but also will likely vex his opponents at home and in Russia. Yushchenko’s office announced the decision while the president was in Moscow on his first foreign trip following his inauguration a day earlier. The visit was intended to smooth relations with Russia,…
Here is the roundup by Discoshama for 01/24. Lots of good news. – The Telegraph has some highlights from Yushchenko’s speech. This struck me: “This was a victory of freedom over tyranny. A victory of law over lawlessness. We have a single aim – a democratic and prosperous Ukraine. . . Ukraine will not be a buffer zone or a testing ground for anyone else.” Amen.
There is a new article posted over at abdymok, an interview with Cabinet of Ministers veteran Viktor Skarshevsky. He’s telling the Kyiv Post what the government needs to do next, and why Yushchenko’s pick for Prime Minister is so important. KP: What should be the new government????????s first steps? VS: Overhauling the nation????????s moribund judiciary system, defending businessmen and foreign investors from arbitrary harassment by state law enforcement, and the like. I would start by introducing legislative change or repealing laws granting certain enterprises privileges and preferences, including tax breaks. For example, the country????????s two dozen or so ???????free economic…
I don’t think I need to tell you all what I feel about the inauguration of rightful President Yushchenko… because I think it can all be summed up better and more expansively by everyone else. So for your reading pleasure, here are the reactions around the blogosphere! Here are the people that were there and have write-ups: Orange Ukraine Äpictures by tomorrow!Å, Le Sabot Post-moderne Äpictures!Å, Blog de Connard Äpictures!Å, Little Miss Reformed, Neeka’s Backlog Äliveblogged, w/ picturesÅ, Siberian Light. Also, here are some reactions from blogs outside of Ukraine. Captain’s Quarters, Sounding the Trumpet, Bloggledygook. There were lots of…