According to some sources there are 50,000 orange supporters and 30,000 Yanukovich supporters on the Maidan.
Apparently Tymoshenko, Lutsenko and Kyrylenko are jointly leading the orange demonstration.
Webcam shots here. Great still shot here.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
More on current unrest in Ukraine
Vasyl, who runs the UAmuzik blog, has been working on a film in Kyiv ... he's done editing the script and now needs to consult with a filmmaker. But, as he writes on his latest post, political unrest is getting in the way of their work:
As I walked from my apartment [Thursday] morning down Liuteranska Street near the Presidential Administration I experienced an extremely high presence of police and Berkut, special tactical forces, along Liuteranska in three buses on the street itself and a number of other buses parked in the courtyards behind the houses that line the street.
I felt like I had just returned to the time leading up to the Orange (R)evolution. I met the film maker and we introduced ourselves to one another. I told him a little about our company ... He explained his situation, gave me a synopsis ... and a promotional DVD of the film. ... I told him that my partner and I would take a look at it and see how would could help in finishing the film and how we would market it.
This morning [while having coffee at a friend's apartment] my mobile [phone] rang. It was the film maker, with a air of anxiousness in his voice."So what's your decision regarding my film?" I explained to him that I had only spoken to my partner and would only know today when he would return from L'viv and Ivano-Frankivsk.
"I guess I will see you out on the barricades today at 17:00," he said. As I watched the Nasha Ukraina meeting live on Channel 5 and read the ticker at the bottom of the screen "20 buses of Party of Regions supporters have gathered by the river port" I thought to myself. /Yes, it's going to be a tense day! /
Then I thought about what my room mate Myroslav Levytsky had said as I headed out of the apartment. "Stay out of the way of the cops! These guys are under different orders, and from different people!"
He was right. We are possibly on the brink of a different (r)evolution. ...
Full report posted here.
As I walked from my apartment [Thursday] morning down Liuteranska Street near the Presidential Administration I experienced an extremely high presence of police and Berkut, special tactical forces, along Liuteranska in three buses on the street itself and a number of other buses parked in the courtyards behind the houses that line the street.
I felt like I had just returned to the time leading up to the Orange (R)evolution. I met the film maker and we introduced ourselves to one another. I told him a little about our company ... He explained his situation, gave me a synopsis ... and a promotional DVD of the film. ... I told him that my partner and I would take a look at it and see how would could help in finishing the film and how we would market it.
This morning [while having coffee at a friend's apartment] my mobile [phone] rang. It was the film maker, with a air of anxiousness in his voice."So what's your decision regarding my film?" I explained to him that I had only spoken to my partner and would only know today when he would return from L'viv and Ivano-Frankivsk.
"I guess I will see you out on the barricades today at 17:00," he said. As I watched the Nasha Ukraina meeting live on Channel 5 and read the ticker at the bottom of the screen "20 buses of Party of Regions supporters have gathered by the river port" I thought to myself. /Yes, it's going to be a tense day! /
Then I thought about what my room mate Myroslav Levytsky had said as I headed out of the apartment. "Stay out of the way of the cops! These guys are under different orders, and from different people!"
He was right. We are possibly on the brink of a different (r)evolution. ...
Full report posted here.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Orange Revolution - Part 2?
Rumour has it we may soon see the sequel to the 2004 Orange Revolution.
Unless it’s just another hoax, a number of telltale signs suggest that mass mobilization has begun.
... Yushchenko stated his willingness to take appropriate action to defend Ukrainians’ constitutional rights. A draft directive to dissolve parliament arrived at the Vice Speaker’s desk during an emergency session of the Anticrisis Coalition.
Reports began to emerge of train and busloads of Donetskites being shipped to Kyiv. Rounded up at their workplaces, they will provide ground support for the PRU ’s Friday forum ... This event is designed as a counterweight to the first meeting of the National Rescue Committee ... The opposition rally will be held on Saturday...
Is this the real thing ... ? Stay tuned and you’ll find out. Read more here.
Unless it’s just another hoax, a number of telltale signs suggest that mass mobilization has begun.
... Yushchenko stated his willingness to take appropriate action to defend Ukrainians’ constitutional rights. A draft directive to dissolve parliament arrived at the Vice Speaker’s desk during an emergency session of the Anticrisis Coalition.
Reports began to emerge of train and busloads of Donetskites being shipped to Kyiv. Rounded up at their workplaces, they will provide ground support for the PRU ’s Friday forum ... This event is designed as a counterweight to the first meeting of the National Rescue Committee ... The opposition rally will be held on Saturday...
Is this the real thing ... ? Stay tuned and you’ll find out. Read more here.
New film: Crossroads – Ukraine and the Triumph of Democracy
Just released and now available on DVD. Looks like a fabulous film!
Through the eyes of six Ukrainians,"CROSSROADS" examines the history and current events of Ukraine as context for exploring the even deeper question of democracy and what it means to be – or to become – an autonomous, free, and self-governing people.
... [This one-hour documentary is] about Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution, contextualizing the struggle for democracy within a history of outside encroachment and juxtaposing candid profiles of revolution participants with poetic footage taken by Ukrainian filmmaker Aleksandr Dovzhenko.
... The film has screened in Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles and London. It was an official selection at the 2006 Philadelphia Documentary and Fiction Festival and the 2006 Asheville Film Festival.
A 3-minute trailer and more info here.
Through the eyes of six Ukrainians,"CROSSROADS" examines the history and current events of Ukraine as context for exploring the even deeper question of democracy and what it means to be – or to become – an autonomous, free, and self-governing people.
... [This one-hour documentary is] about Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution, contextualizing the struggle for democracy within a history of outside encroachment and juxtaposing candid profiles of revolution participants with poetic footage taken by Ukrainian filmmaker Aleksandr Dovzhenko.
... The film has screened in Washington DC, New York, Los Angeles and London. It was an official selection at the 2006 Philadelphia Documentary and Fiction Festival and the 2006 Asheville Film Festival.
A 3-minute trailer and more info here.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Moscow closing its only Ukrainian library
While Russians in Ukraine complain about their language rights, it certainly appears that Ukrainians in Moscow have just a wee bit more to complain about, since local authorities are planning to close...
... the one and only Ukrainian library in a city with an estimated one million people of Ukrainian descent. (This is not to mention that Moscow was founded by Yuriy Dolgorukiy, Prince of Kyiv, in 1147.) The library opened a year ago. ...
Full article here.
H/T to Ukrainiana blog.
... the one and only Ukrainian library in a city with an estimated one million people of Ukrainian descent. (This is not to mention that Moscow was founded by Yuriy Dolgorukiy, Prince of Kyiv, in 1147.) The library opened a year ago. ...
Full article here.
H/T to Ukrainiana blog.
MSM still sugar-coating Stalin's crimes
It appears the ruling elite in eastern Ukraine is stepping back in time ... and that some in the mainstream media are also pining for the "good old days" of the Soviet era.
A story has appreared in several media outlets about an energy company operating in Donetsk that has summoned up the spectre of Stalin in an attempt to intimidate the working poor.
Prices have risen so high so rapidly that many residents have been refusing to pay. So the company put up posters of the old Soviet dictator with a caption saying that those who don't pay up will be punished.
Apparently, bills are being paid again.
Well, hey, intimidation and fear worked in the past, why not cash in on a tried and true method?
Good story. But it has a distinctly anti-Ukrainian element.
For example, in this BBC article, there's a photo of Stalin with a caption reads:
Stalin accused of creating the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine.
Similarly, a story in Business Week refers to Stalin as "a man whom many Ukrainians blame for killing one-third of the country's population during the famine in the 1930s."
Huh? Would these same people write that Hitler is merely accused of creating the Nazi death camps then? That Jewish survivors of the Holocaust merely blame Hitler for trying to wipe them off the face of the earth, and that other survivors merely blame him for killing how many millions of their people?
Not bloody likely.
I find it utterly appalling that while a few members of the media have the balls to acknowledge that Stalin mass murdered three times as many people as Hitler did, most are still in denial and unwilling to hold "Uncle Joe" fully responsible for his crimes. To the latter, the loss of millions of Ukrainian lives appears to be merely academic... just like the definition of genocide.
Both holocausts are documented well enough that it's quite safe to go beyond mere accusation and blame, and state outright that both tyrants did in fact create their respective instruments of mass murder.
So it makes me wonder what exactly these MSM deniers are afraid of.
The truth, maybe?
A story has appreared in several media outlets about an energy company operating in Donetsk that has summoned up the spectre of Stalin in an attempt to intimidate the working poor.
Prices have risen so high so rapidly that many residents have been refusing to pay. So the company put up posters of the old Soviet dictator with a caption saying that those who don't pay up will be punished.
Apparently, bills are being paid again.
Well, hey, intimidation and fear worked in the past, why not cash in on a tried and true method?
Good story. But it has a distinctly anti-Ukrainian element.
For example, in this BBC article, there's a photo of Stalin with a caption reads:
Stalin accused of creating the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine.
Similarly, a story in Business Week refers to Stalin as "a man whom many Ukrainians blame for killing one-third of the country's population during the famine in the 1930s."
Huh? Would these same people write that Hitler is merely accused of creating the Nazi death camps then? That Jewish survivors of the Holocaust merely blame Hitler for trying to wipe them off the face of the earth, and that other survivors merely blame him for killing how many millions of their people?
Not bloody likely.
I find it utterly appalling that while a few members of the media have the balls to acknowledge that Stalin mass murdered three times as many people as Hitler did, most are still in denial and unwilling to hold "Uncle Joe" fully responsible for his crimes. To the latter, the loss of millions of Ukrainian lives appears to be merely academic... just like the definition of genocide.
Both holocausts are documented well enough that it's quite safe to go beyond mere accusation and blame, and state outright that both tyrants did in fact create their respective instruments of mass murder.
So it makes me wonder what exactly these MSM deniers are afraid of.
The truth, maybe?
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Helping the poor (RIAA) ...
[A radio station in] Chicago has announced it will no longer give away any free music. This new policy stems from the recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board, which greatly increases the rates that music streamers will have to pay to the collection arm of the RIAA known as Sound Exchange.
“When I read that the RIAA needed money so badly that they were going to start to price gouge independent web streamers and radio stations who stream online, I knew we had to do our part,” said Matt DuBiel, PD at 9-FM.
“In the face of the RIAA’s struggles,” DuBiel continued, “it just doesn’t seem fair for us to be giving away free CDs to music fans who are fully capable of paying for the music themselves. That’s why we’re inviting everyone who has won a CD from 9-FM or any other radio station in Chicago this year, to return it to us and we’ll exchange it for a 9-FM T-shirt and give the CDs back to the RIAA. Perhaps with all of those CD’s back, the RIAA will have enough money so radio stations like 9-FM and other independent music sites can continue to affordably stream online.”
Newsweb Radio Company’s 9-FM trimulcasts on 92.5 FM (WDEK), 92.7 FM (WKIE), 99.9 FM (WRZA) and streams online at WePlayAnything.com, they say, “for now.”
Full article here.
There's more information at WePlayAnything.com (here), including a petition that U.S. citizens can sign to try and persuade their legislators to come to their senses and repeal that despicable law.
In a way, this seems like a contemporary re-telling of the story of David and Goliath, adapted for broadcast and internet radio of course. It will be interesting to see how it all ends. (And how many CDs the station collects!)
“When I read that the RIAA needed money so badly that they were going to start to price gouge independent web streamers and radio stations who stream online, I knew we had to do our part,” said Matt DuBiel, PD at 9-FM.
“In the face of the RIAA’s struggles,” DuBiel continued, “it just doesn’t seem fair for us to be giving away free CDs to music fans who are fully capable of paying for the music themselves. That’s why we’re inviting everyone who has won a CD from 9-FM or any other radio station in Chicago this year, to return it to us and we’ll exchange it for a 9-FM T-shirt and give the CDs back to the RIAA. Perhaps with all of those CD’s back, the RIAA will have enough money so radio stations like 9-FM and other independent music sites can continue to affordably stream online.”
Newsweb Radio Company’s 9-FM trimulcasts on 92.5 FM (WDEK), 92.7 FM (WKIE), 99.9 FM (WRZA) and streams online at WePlayAnything.com, they say, “for now.”
Full article here.
There's more information at WePlayAnything.com (here), including a petition that U.S. citizens can sign to try and persuade their legislators to come to their senses and repeal that despicable law.
In a way, this seems like a contemporary re-telling of the story of David and Goliath, adapted for broadcast and internet radio of course. It will be interesting to see how it all ends. (And how many CDs the station collects!)
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus concert tours
The all-male Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus (UBC), under Artistic Director and Conductor Oleh Mahlay, announces its 2007 concert series Bandura – The Soul of Ukraine.
The concerts begin in late March and culminate in June. They will take place in Windsor and St. Catharines, ON; Syracuse, NY; Pittsburgh, PA; New York City; and Chicago.
In October, the UBC will embark on 10-day tour of the eastern United States and Canada.
Bandura – The Soul of Ukraine will tell a many-centuries story about cultural identity, survival and mystery. Because its development closely reflects the history of the Ukrainian nation, the bandura is more than a national musical instrument: It is the voice of Ukraine.
This inspiration has been a guiding force for the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus since its inception in Kyiv, Ukraine in 1918.
For more information on the concert series, please visit their website here or call UBC President Anatoli Murha at 734.658.6452. Check your local newspapers for concert advertisements and announcements.
The concerts begin in late March and culminate in June. They will take place in Windsor and St. Catharines, ON; Syracuse, NY; Pittsburgh, PA; New York City; and Chicago.
In October, the UBC will embark on 10-day tour of the eastern United States and Canada.
Bandura – The Soul of Ukraine will tell a many-centuries story about cultural identity, survival and mystery. Because its development closely reflects the history of the Ukrainian nation, the bandura is more than a national musical instrument: It is the voice of Ukraine.
This inspiration has been a guiding force for the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus since its inception in Kyiv, Ukraine in 1918.
For more information on the concert series, please visit their website here or call UBC President Anatoli Murha at 734.658.6452. Check your local newspapers for concert advertisements and announcements.
Play on human sex trafficking
Monday, March 19, 2007
New Ukraine current affairs blog
Ukrainian Canadian woman seeking federal Conservative nomination
Another Ukrainian Canadian woman is entering the political arena.
Raya Shadursky is seeking nomination in the federal Conservative party in the riding of Mississauga South.
We need people with integrity and strength of character in the political arena to rid ourselves of the old corrupt cronies that have had too easy a ride in the past.
Best of luck, Raya!
Raya Shadursky is seeking nomination in the federal Conservative party in the riding of Mississauga South.
We need people with integrity and strength of character in the political arena to rid ourselves of the old corrupt cronies that have had too easy a ride in the past.
Best of luck, Raya!
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