Hello everyone — all three of you.

For those who don’t know me, I am incredibly witty, attractive, and funny. For those who do, shut up and don’t tell them otherwise.

This will be a blog about the worldwide democratic revolution. I figure there are enough socialists spreading their dogma around that there needed to be someone to blog how people are resisting tyranny in their homelands.

Please, at all times, feel free to email me with suggestions, comments, news stories, personal insight, and penis enlargement advertisements. All of which I dearly need.

Let’s get blogging!

Hossein Derakhshan has gotten breeze of more political censorship on the media in Iran, a big hit to the over 60,000 registered bloggers over there.

Friends in Iran, journalists and technicians, are saying that judiciary officials have ordered all major ISP to filter all blogging services including PersianBlog, BlogSpot, Blogger, BlogSky, and even BlogRolling.

I don’t think this will be the end of blogging and the attempt to voice free opinion in Iran. If we remember back to October, the BBC wrote an article about protests over censorship in Iran. Recognize Hossein in there? This guy deserves a lot of credit for what he’s doing not just in his blog, but publicly as well.

With the pressure being put on them day by day, the Iranian people are like a volcano ready to explode. The more the mullahs try to put a lid over the pot, the more the steam will build up, and eventually it will boil over.

After the long overdue death of Yasser Arafat, the Palestinians are finally going to the polls.

Mahmoud Abbas, a close adviser to Arafat, seems to be the frontrunner. As the news article suggests, he is promising to end the violence; however, he wants to do it through a cease fire without denouncing military groups like Hamas.

This is the most troubling part about electing a leader so closely related to a regime that only had talk up its sleeve. You get more of the same: just talk. It seems likely that he will be elected, but for whoever eventually is, it will be best to judge them by their actions and not their words. Remember the last time Israel and the Palestinians spoke? It ended in Arafat rejecting outrightly the entire plan and collapsing several years of talks with several years of suicide bombs.

Will the new leader be the same? I hope not, though I wouldn’t put a penny on it. In the very least, we can say that the Palestinians are being given the ability to vote. Now we just have to work on that whole “biased media” and “political violence” problem.

For those of you who don’t know the inscrutable Discoshaman, he is the owner of the blog Le Sabot Post-Moderne. For the past two months, he has become a daily read for me without hesitation. This is a man who is in Kiev and truly blogging the revolution. He is joined by his lovely wife TulipGirl and Orange Ukraine with stirring up all kinds of revolutionary trouble in Ukraine.

On January 7, the Supreme Court of Ukraine threw out the last of Yanukovich’s claims to election fraud against Yuschenko. Isn’t that ironic? Now, according to Maidan, the Central Election Commission will certify the results of the election on January 9. Fantastic, the sooner the better for Ukraine.

For anyone interested in Yulia Tymoshenko, top choice for Prime Minister in Ukraine, here is her official website photo gallery. Now there’s a government official that doubles as eye candy.

The Orange Revolution caused quite a stir among the international crowd these past few months. Supporters and election observers from all of the world flew in to participate and watch. I know I was watching.

Most importantly, however, as these revolutions are carried out, lessons are being learned by those who have not yet been able to have one of their own. Students from the Belarus civil resistance group ZUBR have been watching and learning in Kiev.

Now, ZUBR has been one of the weaker movements when compared to OTPOR, which ousted Slobodan Milosevic, Georgian KMARA of the Rose Revolution, and PORA of the Orange Revolution. Well, obviously, since they haven’t achieved their revolution yet.

It seems, however, that they have the right idea. As the democracy current builds in the region, it will throw its support behind movements that have not yet achieved success.

Russia, like with its backing of Kuchma and Yanukovich in Ukraine, will continue to try to make itself a problem. But who is Putin kidding? Russia just doesn’t have the power it once did, and the best he can do it make totalitarianism a sore thorn in the foot of the West.

“Ukraine has had a great impact on Belarus,” says Irina Krasovskaya, leader of the human rights group We Remember, who recently has been shuttling between Minsk and Washington. “It gives us hope for our victory, because we realized that Russia is not so powerful as they want to seem.”

No, not even Russia, in its sick state of decline, can stop the inevitable spread of freedom.

Luckily, the U.S. has already stepped up its efforts to help the people of Belarus. On Oct. 20, three days after the fraudulent referendum to let President Lukashenko run for another term, President Bush signed into law the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004. It’s not very long, and includes a summary at the top. Worth a read for the foreign policy junkies.

Boycotting the government is a good idea, and supporting free media and the people is an even better one. This is a good step, as they need to know they have our support. On my predictions list for 2005, I’ll be betting on a Revolution of some unknown color in Belarus.

Update: I just ran across this article that quotes Belarus Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov as saying of the country:

“Many ask the question whether Belarus will be next (after) Ukraine. I can answer with certainty – it will not be. These are different countries, different nations and different leaders.”

Because we all know that what a dictator says, goes. What do we expect them to say? That they support a free, democratic society? Give me a break. The government might feel that way, but I bet the people of Belarus don’t.

He further states:

“The economy is developing at a fast pace. People’s incomes are growing quickly. Everything taken together is not giving any ground for events similar to the Ukrainian ones.”

With those EU diplomatic travel bans and US sanction on lending to the government, I can’t imagine they’ll have many avenues to bargain from.

And let’s take a look at the economic breakdown. According to the Lukashenko’s own website, the living standard has actually decreased over the past few years. This is strange, considering inflation is low, GDP is up sharply, and unemployment is only around 3.1%.

Can someone give the Belarusian population a PSA that their government is stealing their money?

-Discoshaman has your January 9th update here, complete with pictures. And to think we have to wait 24 hours for each update!
-Terry Rogers has a roundup of articles about the reaction in Russia to Yanukovich’s defeat.
-And before I forget, don’t you forget to buy your Orange Revolution gear.

Word out of there is that the main opposition leader just got wrongfully denied ballot candidacy.

Zamira Sydykova, editor in chief of the Kyrgyz opposition daily “Res Publica,” had this to say about the move by the administration:

“I don’t understand this hysteria,” said Sydykova of “Res Publica.” “I don’t understand why [the authorities] decided to throw out Otunbaeva from a competition with Bermet, because Bermet already has a huge administrative resource. As they say, ’the eyes of fear see danger everywhere.’ I think, through this case, the authorities gave themselves away completely.”

This mud is more visible on their faces than Hitler’s moustache. In another bold move of fright, President Akayev is worried about the possiblity of the Tulip Revolution, saying a revolution would not, “answer to the core interests of Kyrgyzstan.”

This sounds reminiscient of the same things being said by the government in Belarus. I guess totalitarianism is the same everywhere.

Government opposition to democratic forces are taking a much harsher turn following the Rose and Orange Revolutions. They’re making sure to hit at the media too, calling opposition newspapers “instruments for destabilization.” I guess they have to ramp it up. I’d be scared too if I knew my time was coming up soon.

According to Eurasianet, the opposition is too fragmented That’s sad to hear, but I’d like to remain a little more optimistic than that. Let’s wait for election day.

Here’s the CNN article

I don’t think any candidate could solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without intense struggle. So on that note, Mahmoud Abbas is probably the best choice they have at the moment. If we remember correctly, Abbas once served as Prime Minister under Arafat, but quit because Arafat would not hand over the reins of power to him.

That seems to give the hint to me that he’s a man willing to cause some change. Now that he’s at the head, let’s see what he can do.

He won by a pretty clear margin. Exit polls indicate by about 66% on a 65% turnout, a clear victory for him. But most importantly…

Palestinian leaders called the election, which took place at 1,077 polling sites, the most transparent in modern Arab history.

Despite worries about potential violence among Palestinian factions or problems with Israeli roadblocks, Palestinians, Israelis, and international observers said the election went relatively smoothly.

Hopefully we will see that same kind of transparency and lack of violence in the upcoming Iraqi elections.

There are conflicting reports shown in this article about whether or not Israel disrupted the elections at all. Palestinian Cabinet Minister notes:

“The polling booths went extremely well and very strict in terms of procedures, very transparent and lots of observers.”

And Sha’ath said Israel “never intervened near the polling booths or tried to coerce people to vote in a certain way or not to vote.”

That’s good to hear from a cabinet minister in the Palestinian government. The Central Election Commission, and Jimmy Carter, seem to think otherwise.

The CEC said Israel obstructed the media from entering Jerusalem and stopped a translator working for the commission at gunpoint as he tried to vote.

Given that Israel extended the vote time in East Jerusalem, I’d bet a penny there are both some real and bogus claims going down by both sides. It’s nice to see them both so optimistic though.

After voting, Abbas said: “The democratic process is taking place, and is in good shape. If this proves anything, it proves that the Palestinians are up to participating in a democracy.”

Indeed. And if not, Israel is going to have to take the initiative, withdraw, and close its borders without negotation.

Added: CNN has another article about Abbas. Who is Mahmoud Abbas?

Norman Geras has found a report from Women for Women International that is an extensive public opinion poll of 1,000 women in Iraq.

Now, the fact that there is now a country in the Middle East where a poll performed on women can be performed is incredible enough, but hear these responses…

> 94% of women surveyed want to secure legal rights for women.
> 84% of women want the right to vote on the final constitution.
> Nearly 80% of women believe that their participation in local and national councils should not be limited.

Due to the Interim Constitution signed on March 8, women will have equal civil and political rights to men. This is especially important, especially after many attempts by extremists to limit female influence in the political stratosphere. In the January before the signing of the Interim Constitution, the Iraqi Governing Council proposed Resolution 137, which would have turned the tables of civil law over to Islamic law.

And we all know how democratic and free that can be.

Women all over Baghdad took to the streets and defended their natural rights. On that note, Bremer shot the resolution down. Good.

These numbers are just proof that with such a grand opportunity for advancement, women cannot afford to be put on the backburner again. And that, actually, goes for all Iraqis. This election will be the most important event of their lives, and everyone needs a chance to be a part of it. And they really want to. They can’t wait to have control over their government. So I have a big gut feeling that if some militants decide to blow stuff up all over the country to disrupt the election, there is going to be some popular vigilantism against known trouble-makers.

Maidan broke this story today with a quote by Yuschenko’s press office:

“Withdrawing Ukraine’s peacekeeping contingent from Iraq remains one of Yushchenko’s priorities once he takes the office,” a statement released by his press office January 10 says.

For Ukraine, I hope this doesn’t hurt diplomatic relations with the U.S. I think after all their country has been through in these past couple of months that withdrawing from Iraq and concentrating on their internal affairs are much more important.

While they might no longer be able to contribute to the success of democracy in Iraq, at the very least, they should make sure to succeed in their own quest for freedom. It would be a shame if the new government became destabilized over this highly controversial issue and put into jeopordy the democratic reform.

It looks like Taiwan’s trade to China took up 36% of its exports. As the article suggests, this is a 28% increase in trade volume from 2003, making China as Taiwan’s biggest market. It will be hard for Taiwan to achieve its national identity apart of China if it becomes too dependant.

China is willing to use military force, by all means necessary, to keep Taiwan as part of the greater nation. Given the governmen’t high regards for human rights, I wouldn’t be surprised if they just cut off all trade with Taiwan if they tried to secede. It would certainly destroy the Taiwanese economy and force them into submission.

It seems also that China is drafting anti-secession legislation. The article makes a good note that the law is aimed only at Taiwan, instead of other all two-system areas like Hong Kong and Macau. This forces a direct pressure on the country, and an indirect pressure on the U.S. to take a position.

Right now, that one is relatively neutral (though we’re selling some arms). The U.S. doesn’t want Taiwan to make any drastic moves that would test China’s will to carry out military operations, as that could turn the indirect conflict into a direct one between China and America.

I honestly don’t think it will come down to that though. This is more like a Cold War chess game than an actual war, but if anything did happen, the U.S. would need to defend Taiwan. If it didn’t, then democracy would be dead there, and they wouldn’t even have the “one country, two systems” mantra anymore.

Parliamentary elections for Afghanistan have been given the go ahead for early spring.

Violence was low-key during the presidential election due to stepped up security. Afghanistan may not have that benefit this time. This time around, we’re going to see an increased degree of violence from radical Islamist groups such as the old Taliban supporters, but also we’re going to see a lot of groups vying for power in the legislature. Whereas the position of presidency is only held by one person, a person generally very popular and well-known in the country, parliament seats can be acquired through all matter of coercion and corruption.

I don’t have any problem with people from groups I disagree with running and winning, but when they intentionally intimidate voters in order to win, democracy doesn’t achieve what it’s supposed to. This election will be much easier for these forces to disrupt.

Afghanistan is facing three major problems that it needs to clamp down on for this election:
1. Violence by Eastern renegade warlords and ex-Tabilan/Al-Quaeda insurgents in the south. Security needs to go up big time, everywhere, to ensure that there is as little voter intimidation as possible.
2. Voting transparency and legitimacy. Remember the ink problem? They can’t let something like that happen, especially when it comes down to such minute numbers in these provinces. A few votes can throw an election to a radical warlord.
3. More international observers, though not necessarily from the UN. The UN is the one that messed up with the ink last time, and there are plenty of NGOs that have performed highly efficiently in other elections around the world. The more international observers, the better they can document everything that goes on so that we know what to do better next time.

As seen in the World Tribune.

The proposal was made to delay the elections about a month and would not be rescheduled after that. In order for this to go into effect, all sides would need to agree upon it. This may be a good idea, but it really shows a vote of no confidence by the government in its own abilities to conduct its operations.

They are apparently very worried about insurgency attacks:

Officials said Alawi and other senior ministers have assessed that the rise in insurgency attacks in Baghdad and the Sunni Triangle would dissuade most Sunni voters from traveling to the polling stations.

This would not have been a worry if the U.S. had just revved up the number of troops and operations it conducted to get rid of the militarists in the first place. For the election, the Pentagon is sending 1500 more troops and extending the tours of over 10,000. This will bring the total up to 150,000. I don’t think that’s enough though. This is so incredibly important that I just don’t think the U.S. can afford to have underestimated what could happen.

On the other hand, I think the Interim Government is underestimating the determination of its own people.

According to a recently conducted poll by the Al Sabaah newspaper, Sunni Iraqis are very anxious to get their election groove on. Here is the excerpt:

The poll was of 4974 Iraqis living in and around Baghdad.

The following is the translation of the poll and the results:

Will the security problems cause you to?
Not come out and vote the day of elections = 18.3%
Come out and vote the day of elections = 78.3%
No opinion = 3.4%

Do you support the Iraqi Government having its own official newspaper?
Yes = 67.7%
No = 30.9%
Do Not know = 1.4%?

Do you support military action against the terrorists?
Yes = 87.7 %
No = 11.1%
Don’t Know = 1.2%

Remember, these are people in and around Baghdad, mostly Sunnis, and they are going to vote despite everything. They know their future rests on this, so just imagine how high the turnout is going to be in the less violent areas of the country.

While the lack of security is both a concern of mine and the people of Iraq, I am glad they are taking heed to the great importance of the situation. They are literally putting their lives on the line for the sake of their freedom. It’s that kind of bravery that forms the strong institutions of a democratic society.

The protests in Kyrgyzstan have actually entered day three now, with more opposition groups joining in.

The Argus has the news and some commentary.

According to the most recent government response:

There are no conditions for ‘velvet revolutions’ to take place in Kyrgyzstan during the parliamentary and presidential elections, due to be held here in 2005, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Askar Aitmatov said here on Monday.
…
He urged the opposition not to use various forms of exerting pressure on the authorities, and to refrain from appeals to civil disobedience actions.

This is like code for saying “we will stay in power no matter what.” The only thing a velvet revolution means is that a party unrelated to the current regime’s leaders and policies wins power. By saying that there will be no velvet revolution, the government is saying that there is no way that any opposition will be winning the reins of power, because they are going to rig the election tight enough to squeeze out any possible threat.

The list from the Heritage Foundation is here, and the story can be found here.

The United States has dropped for the first time from the top 10 nations in an annual “index of economic freedom” issued jointly by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal.

I know I am talking about this rather late, but as I was pondering it a bit more, I figured if I had something to say, I better say it while it is at least semi-timely. I think the way this news was shaped is very sad. The story should not be “how the U.S. dropped from the top ten,” because the top ten is just a number, and one or two places in between doesn’t make a difference.

The question we need to ask is, “Why isn’t the U.S. number one?”

The information provided by the report, and posted on Free Republic, shows that the biggest problem is with taxes.

I agree. The best way to provide economic prosperity to a the citizens of a country is not to redistribute income, but to lower taxes and deregulate small business to a proper degree. Economic and political freedom go hand in hand, as Reagan said in September of 1981,

Only when the human spirit is allowed to invent and create, only when individuals are given a personal stake in deciding economic policies and benefitting from their success — only then can societies remain economically alive, dynamic, progressive, and free. Trust the people.

For additional interesting reading, the Pacific Research Institute has compiled data on the most economically free states in the U.S. Given that taxes are the major problem, maybe the reform would be easier to start on the state level.

On a final note though, I am glad to see that Chile has moved quickly up the list to number 11 (even ahead of the U.S.). They have a value-added tax of only 17%, compared to nearly double that on corporate earnings in the U.S. Even better, they add the tax into the price of the goods before purchase, so you don’t have to scramble for a few pesos when you reach the counter!

But maybe I’m biased since I lived there for several years.

-Scott Clark at Foreign Notes has some commentary about Kuchma in reference to a Financial Times article calling Kuchma a statesman.
-Discoshaman has his daily Ukraine roundup (and sometimes juicy gossip!) available at Le Sabot Post-Moderne.
-Dan McMinn of Orange Ukraine has a long post about how Yushchenko needs a sidekick.
-Central Election Commission declares Yushchenko the victor of the presidential election. In other news, Yanukovich plans an appeal to the European Court. This after the Ukraine Supreme Court refused to see his last four complains. Maybe that’s because they were unsubstantiated.
-The U.S. is praising Ukraine for having commited troops in Iraq, whether they withdraw them in the future or not.

UPDATE: Discoshaman now has his January 11 news roundup posted. I keep forgetting about this whole “time zone” thing!

Blog-Iran over at Activist Chat posted some commentary regarding an article by Saul Singer:

Singer had this to say about Bush’s policy toward Iran:

“Branding Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as the “axis of evil” was the right thing to do. But saying that and then not having a policy, much less implementing it, toward Iran is worse than not having said it in the first place. Since then it seems that Bush has learned not to set such bold markers. That’s the wrong lesson; we need more markers and more follow-up.”

I agree with the first part of Singer’s statement and disagree with the latter. Describing the three countries as an “Axis of Evil” was, by far, the boldest statement of U.S. foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. Acting on it, however powerful a symbolic act it may be, is not as easy. Immediate action would not be the best strategic route to take with Iran at this time.

You all know how much I want the spread of free, open societies and how I want them to spread like wildfire. But with the current war in Iraq, it simply is not possible. Iran is a much more sophisticated country compared to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and is resident to almost three times as many people (a little over 69 million).

Currently, the Bush administration is already pursuing one of the Axis countries: Iraq. This country will be integral to the political and military pressure placed on Iran in the future, but that cannot be accomplished until Iraq is stable and developed. I know Blog-Iran and Activist Chat mean well; they are updated brilliantly with exclusive news out of Iran, but in effect it is an interest group that wants its pet project worked on first. My suggestion: it will take time. Be patient. The big picture has to come together in order to follow through to the next step. Iran will come soon enough.

Just about everything else in Singer’s article relating to how to deal with Iran I agree with.

Yet invasion or bust is not America’s real choice. Bush has plenty of underutilized and underestimated levers. Imagine if the US started talking about democracy in Saudi Arabia. Or if Bush held a press conference with Iranian dissidents. Or if the US proposed sanctions against Iran and Syria in the UN Security Council.

Agreed, but 2004 was definitely not a year of lying low. It was a year of consolidation for the next move. This war cannot be looked at a perspective of year by year, but accomplishment by accomplishment and opportunity by opportunity. Both taken or wasted.

Funny, that being in the Jerusalem Post, Singer does not mention Israel’s probably role in the bringing down of the Iranian regime. With the U.S. in Iraq and its staunch ally of Israel so close by (and so well funded), Israel could easily launch a major military offensive in conjunction with the United States. In fact, I have no doubt in my mind that is what will happen when the time comes.

It all started with Georgia, followed soon after by the larger Orange Revolution in Ukraine. Since then, a domino effect has literally begun toppling the entire region toward the west, as the people of these countries have realized that Russia is no longer in power over them. The real fight is now between them and their own governments; a much easier battle.

I’ve talked a bit about recent events in Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, but it seems Armenia is joining the list of unsettled citizens.

There are several reasons for Armenia’s distaste for Russia now. It was criticized heavily by Armenia after the closing of its trade lines for an entire two months during the Chechen school hostage crisis. Although it was simply supposed to prevent terrorists from entering the country, it put a huge dent into Armenia’s economy. That would piss anyone off.

Russia has, for its entire history, possessed rulers obsessed with the centralization of power and control. Upon losing the Soviety Union, it has obviously tried to maintain control of these satellite states through economic and political intimidation. Now that it has been shown that Russia cannot make or break the country, Armenia is looking to a much more no strings attached alliance.

NATO would come in times of military aid. The big fear of many of these countries has been security after the collapse of the Soviety Union, and they continued to look to Moscow to defend them. But the Russian military simply cannot stand up to the west, and NATO would provide much greater protection. Then the EU would guarantee Armenia trade through alternate, and probably more profitable means.

According to Safarian, the analyst, Russia’s hasty endorsement of a rigged presidential ballot in Ukraine and its ensuing humiliation is one of those reasons. “There is a growing number of events testifying to Russia’s weakness, and the Armenian public does not fail to notice them,” he says.

The public is taking notice. An ANCIS poll of 2000 Armenians, mentioned in the article, reveals that over two thirds of the population wishes to join the EU as soon as possible. It was nearly 100% of all political parties, and most also wanted to join NATO.

Hopefully the opposition will get its act together. Up until now, the opposition of many of the Eastern European countries has been divided into several parties with varying interests. Apparently, the leader of the most radical opposition group is in talks with two others in order to form a pro-western alliance that could be strong enough to challenge incumbent President Robert Kocharian. That is a good idea, and they are learning the lessons that have been taught by Georgia and Ukraine. The opposition needs a broad view of liberty, democracy, and free-market economy instead of being fixated on individual petty details. They can worry about that after the revolution.

I’ve only posted twice today; for good reason. My sleep is completely lacking. I’m going to get to bed early tonight, and I have some essays to write. Consider this a half-night off.

In the meantime, anyone who is visiting the site currently, please let me know in the comments section of this post any particular issue you would like me to write about.

Just another before I go to sleep. Blogging is so addictive.

I’m leaving this one up to The Argus. He’s got the lowdown on the shutdown of democracy in Kazakhstan.

Fantastic commentary on the sad state of support and the disorganization of the opposition.

John Burgess over at Crossroads Arabia left a great comment on my recent post Invading Iran not the right idea — for now.

It regards a mention in Singer’s article about the lack of U.S. pressure on Saudi Arabia to commit to open elections.

Contra the article, the US has been preaching democracy in Saudi Arabia. And even more startling, the Saudis have been listening.

Saudi Arabia is conducting the first stage of its first-ever, country-wide elections this month. The elections are for half of the seats on municipal councils. This month, the elections will take place in the central region, with the western and eastern regions coming later.

Read the rest, it’s very informed. And check out the blog.

The Financial Times is reporting that after several phone calls between Bush and Allawi, they have decided to not put off elections in Iraq by a month.

This comes amid increased violence in the region, when about 4 mostly Sunni provinces are considered not safe enough to vote in. But let’s refer back to my last post about Iraq with statistics saying 78.3% of Iraqis will turn out to vote because of security concerns. For every action, there is a reaction, and the large majority of the Iraqi population is fighting back with the vote.

I seriously applaud the decision to keep the elections on track. It’s a vote of confidence in the interim government and definitely one for the Iraqi people. I just hope the military will come down hard on the militants in the coming days before going to the polls. Every vote matters.

Discoshaman posted regarding keeping his bias out of his Ukraine commentary. This was interesting to me, because I had been pondering a similar question earlier. Should I really be taking news out of countries where I have little expertise, and making analyses of what is happening there?

Hmm. Definitely not. I will post analysis commentary in regards to America as well as other subjects I am much more refined in. This way, I will be able to contribute more actively and differently to the blogosphere.

This does not mean that I will be posting less. In fact, it will be a lot more. By not analyzing every piece I find news (and time) worthy, I will be able to link to many more blogs who offer truly keen insights. I want PubliusPundit to now be a networker. A place where people can come to find links to anything they could possibly need regarding democracy movements all over the world. Let’s see how it goes.

On another note: I just finished applying to college. Hmm. Maybe I should make an “About” page.

Update: Font size is smaller and so are post titles, which have been moved to a post-”filed under” position. Let me know if there is any problem with this.

Discoshaman has your Ukraine news roundup for both the fourteenth and the fifteenth. And just in case you’re wondering what music he listens to. The brief about Yushchenko being pushed as a potential Nobel peace prize winner is interesting. I hope it will not be rushed and be based upon the merit of his presidency, and not simply the revolution in itself.

The first shipments of Orange Ukraine stuff is in the mail!

The EU Parliament voted to recognize Ukraine for the possibility of a “clear European perspective, possibly leading to EU membership.” A better article can be found at Financial Times. Some analysis of the benefits here.

Scott Clark from Foreign Notes points out some problems of analysis in a Mirror Weekly article discussing Yushchenko’s upcoming challenges.

Terry Rogers at Notes from Kiev has found a study by the International Centre for Policy Studies in Kiev which shows a highly positive report out of Ukraine. In terms of democracy, freedom, and all that good stuff anyway. Also, Ukraine retail is doing well. They must be; Armani Jeans sure doesn’t exist where I live!

Veronica Khokhlova at Neeka’s Backlog has an interesting anecdote about an exchange she had regarding the culture of Ukraine and its ability to reform toward democracy.

David McDuff from A Step At A Time reminds us how nervous the Russians are getting.

The Toronto Star reports Kuchma is recalling troops from Iraq. We knew that already, but shouldn’t Kuchma leave that to the new president? With so few days left in office, it would be more fitting to be busy cleaning out his desk. Or maybe he has some last minute money to embezzle. You never know with corrupt politicians.