The "Euromaidan," Democracy and Political Values in Ukraine (click here)
By Ivan Katchanovski
University of Ottawa
Ivan Katchanovski (click here) teaches at the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. He was Visiting Scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, Visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of Politics at the State University of New York at Potsdam, Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, and Kluge Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress. He received his Ph.D. from the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs at George Mason University....
This chapter examines (click here) the political system, attitudes towards democracy, and their determinants in Ukraine before, during and after the “Euromaidan.” The research question is as follows: What type of political system has emerged in Ukraine since the “Euromaidan?” The related research question is to what extent political values in Ukraine are supportive of democracy. This study is based on theories of democratic, semi-democratic, and authoritarian political systems, democratization, and political culture. This chapter compares political systems in Ukraine before, during and after the “Euromaidan.” It uses data from different waves of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems surveys, the Pew Global Attitudes surveys, and the World Values Surveys to examine attitudes towards democracy in Ukraine before and after the “Euromaidan” and to compare democratic preferences in Ukraine with those in Poland and Russia. This study also implements multiple regression analysis of the determinants of attitudes towards democracy. It discusses implications of its findings for the prospects for liberal democracy in Ukraine and for the international conflict over Ukraine....
Monday, December 11, 2017
Tears are shed for the brave.
10 December 2017
by Louis Kolumbia
Dar es Salaam — Tanzania People's Defence Forces (TPDF) (click here) has said the bodies of 14 soldiers killed during an attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will arrive either on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, December 10, the TPDF chief of staff, Lt-Gen James Mwakibolwa, said the government and the United Nations were collaborating to return the bodies of the fallen soldiers.
"TPDF has communicated with the families of the slain soldiers. The government will take appropriate measures, including investigating the incident at the scene," he said, noting that the names of slain soldiers would be disclosed later.
Describing the incident that claimed 14 lives of TPDF peacekeepers, wounding 44 with two still missing, Lt-Gen Mwakibolwa said the fallen soldiers were killed during an attack by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)....
Unfortunately, when peacekeepers do their jobs well, this occurs. They stood their ground. They are very honorable people.
Reason for listing:
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) was listed on30 June 2014 pursuant to the criteria set out in paragraph 4 of resolution 2078 (2012).
Additional information:
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) was created in 1995 and is located in the mountainous DRC-Uganda border area. According to the United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (“GoE”) 2013 final report, citing Ugandan officials and UN sources, in 2013 the ADF had an estimated strength of 1,200 to 1,500 armed fighters located in north-east Beni Territory of North Kivu province, close to the border with Uganda. These same sources estimate ADF’s total membership — including women and children — to be between 1,600 and 2,500. Due to offensive military operations by the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) and the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) conducted in 2013 and 2014, ADF dispersed its fighters to numerous smaller bases, and moved women and children to areas west of Beni, and along the Ituri-North Kivu border. The ADF’s military commander is Hood Lukwago and its supreme leader is the sanctioned individual Jamil Mukulu.
The ADF has committed serious violations of international law and UNSCR 2078 (2012), including as detailed below.
The ADF has recruited and used child soldiers in violation of applicable international law (UNSCR paragraph 4 (d))....
Heather Young's MILK will screen at Canada's Top Ten Film Festival in January
By Emma Smith
Halifax-based filmmaker (click here) Heather Young is booking herself another ticket to Toronto as her success at one of the world's largest international film festivals continues.
The 35-year-old NSCAD University grad will screen her short film MILK in the new year at an event organized by the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Canada's Top Ten Film Festival runs from Jan. 12-21 and features short and full-length films, as well as work by students.
While Young is the only Nova Scotian filmmaker selected this time around, the province has been well represented at TIFF thanks to filmmakers like Corey Bowles, who directed Black Cop, and Cape Breton's Ashley McKenzie, who directed Werewolf....
Zero tolerance is not a political strategy. It is to end the abuse of women and girls.
Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, is pathetic in response to Roy Moore. He stated, "The people of Alabama will decide." Really? They won't decide to their best interest if the airwaves of polluted with permission to vote for the unthinkable.
That is not leadership, that is a surrender to the plutocrats. Who owns the US Senate? I think the tax bill speaks that truth out loud.
December 7, 2017
Senator Bernie Sanders (click here) said Thursday that President Donald Trump should consider resigning because of the infamous tape on which he was heard bragging about committing sexual assault. Sanders, one of Trump’s sharpest critics, was speaking after calling on Democratic Senator Al Franken to step down amid a series of allegations of sexual misconduct.
Appearing on CBS This Morning, Sanders was asked why there is growing pressure on Franken to resign while Republican Roy Moore has not been forced to pull out of the U.S. Senate race in Alabama. In his response, Sanders took the conversation a step further—to the man sitting in the Oval Office.
“We have a president of the United States who acknowledged on a tape, widely seen all over the United States, that he assaulted women, so I would hope that maybe the president of the United States might pay attention to what’s going on and also think about resigning. But if your point is that it’s not just Al Franken, then you’re absolutely right.”...
That is not leadership, that is a surrender to the plutocrats. Who owns the US Senate? I think the tax bill speaks that truth out loud.
December 7, 2017
Senator Bernie Sanders (click here) said Thursday that President Donald Trump should consider resigning because of the infamous tape on which he was heard bragging about committing sexual assault. Sanders, one of Trump’s sharpest critics, was speaking after calling on Democratic Senator Al Franken to step down amid a series of allegations of sexual misconduct.
Appearing on CBS This Morning, Sanders was asked why there is growing pressure on Franken to resign while Republican Roy Moore has not been forced to pull out of the U.S. Senate race in Alabama. In his response, Sanders took the conversation a step further—to the man sitting in the Oval Office.
“We have a president of the United States who acknowledged on a tape, widely seen all over the United States, that he assaulted women, so I would hope that maybe the president of the United States might pay attention to what’s going on and also think about resigning. But if your point is that it’s not just Al Franken, then you’re absolutely right.”...
There are rumors Vladimir Putin is running for President of Russia again.
11 December 2017
Russian President Vladimir Putin (click here) visited a Russian military air base in Syria on Monday and announced a partial pullout of Russian forces from the country.
Putin made a stopover at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia while en route to Egypt.
The base, in the heartland of Syrian President Bashar Assad's Alawite minority, has served as the main foothold for the Russian military campaign in Syria.
Speaking to the Russian troops at the base, Putin said that he had ordered the military to withdraw a "significant part" of the Russian contingent in Syria. He added in remarks carried by Russian news agencies that "if the terrorists again raise their heads, we will deal such blows to them they have never seen."...
3 March 2014
The trouble in Ukraine (click here) has left New Zealand in a critical position as it vies for selection to the United Nations Security Council, University of Otago politics professor Robert Patman says.
He said the heightened prospect of civil war in Ukraine, from Russia's incursion into Crimea, was ''the most challenging crisis for the world since the Syria situation''.
Foreign Minister Murray McCully had to move quickly to publicise New Zealand's stance on the issue, for favourable consideration in respect of Security Council selection in October, Prof Patman said....
Europe and NATO need to carry out their own investigation and bring about a resolve for the people of Ukraine.
December 11, 2017
An anti-corruption agency (click here) established in Ukraine two years ago was expected to be the driving force that would uproot the endemic graft that depleted the nation's resources and worried its Western allies.
But the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine instead has come under fire from allies of President Petro Poroshenko who are trying to curtail its operations and authority.
NABU chief Artem Sytnik told The Associated Press in a weekend interview that fear is behind the recent attempts by political and business elites to weaken the agency that was supposed to be a visible symbol of reform in Ukraine.
"The old and new elites are quite scared" after realizing "there are no untouchables anymore," Sytnik said....
Putin will take the wiff of corruption in Ukraine and turn it into a nationalist battle cry. To be frank, disarming Ukraine's national military and setting up oligarch militias under Yanukovych is about as corrupt as it gets. That is complete intimidation of citizens. The freedom Ukraine wanted was removed under Yanukovych's Ukraine dominated by oligarchs and oppressors.
July 25, 2017
By Steven Pifer
Following the visit to Kyiv by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (click here) earlier this month, President Petro Poroshenko said Ukraine would seek to meet the alliance’s membership criteria by 2020. On July 17, he stated that Ukraine would pursue a membership action plan....
...To be clear, Ukraine as a sovereign state has a right to choose its orientation and to join alliances. All member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe—including Russia—accepted that in the 1975 Helsinki Final Act.
But NATO also has a say in who joins the alliance. It is difficult to see NATO saying yes to Ukraine in the foreseeable future.....
NATO is correct; Ukraine has yet to achieve a standard strong enough to be an ally of other countries already member states. NATO has to decide to investigate the corruption or abandon Ukraine as a failed state under it's current leadership. There maybe uncommon ground if President Petro Poroshenko is willing to move into agreements to purge the country of corruption while instilling a government worth consideration by The West.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (click here) visited a Russian military air base in Syria on Monday and announced a partial pullout of Russian forces from the country.
Putin made a stopover at the Hemeimeem air base in Syria's coastal province of Latakia while en route to Egypt.
The base, in the heartland of Syrian President Bashar Assad's Alawite minority, has served as the main foothold for the Russian military campaign in Syria.
Speaking to the Russian troops at the base, Putin said that he had ordered the military to withdraw a "significant part" of the Russian contingent in Syria. He added in remarks carried by Russian news agencies that "if the terrorists again raise their heads, we will deal such blows to them they have never seen."...
The trouble in Ukraine (click here) has left New Zealand in a critical position as it vies for selection to the United Nations Security Council, University of Otago politics professor Robert Patman says.
He said the heightened prospect of civil war in Ukraine, from Russia's incursion into Crimea, was ''the most challenging crisis for the world since the Syria situation''.
Foreign Minister Murray McCully had to move quickly to publicise New Zealand's stance on the issue, for favourable consideration in respect of Security Council selection in October, Prof Patman said....
Europe and NATO need to carry out their own investigation and bring about a resolve for the people of Ukraine.
December 11, 2017
An anti-corruption agency (click here) established in Ukraine two years ago was expected to be the driving force that would uproot the endemic graft that depleted the nation's resources and worried its Western allies.
But the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine instead has come under fire from allies of President Petro Poroshenko who are trying to curtail its operations and authority.
NABU chief Artem Sytnik told The Associated Press in a weekend interview that fear is behind the recent attempts by political and business elites to weaken the agency that was supposed to be a visible symbol of reform in Ukraine.
"The old and new elites are quite scared" after realizing "there are no untouchables anymore," Sytnik said....
Putin will take the wiff of corruption in Ukraine and turn it into a nationalist battle cry. To be frank, disarming Ukraine's national military and setting up oligarch militias under Yanukovych is about as corrupt as it gets. That is complete intimidation of citizens. The freedom Ukraine wanted was removed under Yanukovych's Ukraine dominated by oligarchs and oppressors.
July 25, 2017
By Steven Pifer
Following the visit to Kyiv by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (click here) earlier this month, President Petro Poroshenko said Ukraine would seek to meet the alliance’s membership criteria by 2020. On July 17, he stated that Ukraine would pursue a membership action plan....
...To be clear, Ukraine as a sovereign state has a right to choose its orientation and to join alliances. All member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe—including Russia—accepted that in the 1975 Helsinki Final Act.
But NATO also has a say in who joins the alliance. It is difficult to see NATO saying yes to Ukraine in the foreseeable future.....
NATO is correct; Ukraine has yet to achieve a standard strong enough to be an ally of other countries already member states. NATO has to decide to investigate the corruption or abandon Ukraine as a failed state under it's current leadership. There maybe uncommon ground if President Petro Poroshenko is willing to move into agreements to purge the country of corruption while instilling a government worth consideration by The West.
China is a major power in the world and now everyone knows it.
I have to laugh at Plutocrats. They treat China as a market place and not a country. Wealth hungry plutocrats will rush to China to bring in cash flow so a CEO can actually say he is turning a profit for the company.
China is a major country that has been adding more and more military hardware to it's arsenal. It was a bit crippled about two decades ago, then it found scientists within it's ranks that has created an impressive navy, aircraft and space missions. China is more than a market place where plutocrats seek unfair profits, it is a country, a communist country and it is a powerful.
The best way for plutocrats to keep their immoral profits, is to beg for peace.
7 December 2017
Things are getting crowded (click here) in the airspace about North Korea, Taiwan, Okinawa and the South China Sea.
Beijing's been surging its combat aircraft into contested areas in a major demonstration of its strength - and as a warning to the United States and its Asian allies.
Beijing is being coy about exactly when and where it staged its demonstrations, choosing to reveal it had sent warplanes through "routes and areas it has never flown before" on the same day the US and South Korea launched large scale mock airstrikes involving 230 aircraft.
North Korea criticised the show of force, stating US President Donald Trump was "begging for nuclear war"....
China is a major country that has been adding more and more military hardware to it's arsenal. It was a bit crippled about two decades ago, then it found scientists within it's ranks that has created an impressive navy, aircraft and space missions. China is more than a market place where plutocrats seek unfair profits, it is a country, a communist country and it is a powerful.
The best way for plutocrats to keep their immoral profits, is to beg for peace.
7 December 2017
Things are getting crowded (click here) in the airspace about North Korea, Taiwan, Okinawa and the South China Sea.
Beijing's been surging its combat aircraft into contested areas in a major demonstration of its strength - and as a warning to the United States and its Asian allies.
Beijing is being coy about exactly when and where it staged its demonstrations, choosing to reveal it had sent warplanes through "routes and areas it has never flown before" on the same day the US and South Korea launched large scale mock airstrikes involving 230 aircraft.
North Korea criticised the show of force, stating US President Donald Trump was "begging for nuclear war"....
The Polar Bear video has made it's rounds on the internet (click here for article). Because the bear is alone people assume this is a male. I think it has a female face.
The Rooster
"Okeydoke?!?!?"
"Good Night, Moon"
22.8 days old
43.1 percent lit
Last quarter moon (click here) will come on December 10, 2017 at 07:51 UTC; translate to your time zone. A last quarter moon always rises in the middle of the night, appears at its highest in the sky around dawn, and sets around midday.
A last quarter moon provides a great opportunity to think of yourself on a three-dimensional world in space. For example, it’s fun to see this moon just after moonrise, shortly after midnight. Then the lighted portion points downward, to the sun below your feet. Think of the last quarter moon as a mirror to the world you’re standing on. Think of yourself standing in the middle of Earth’s nightside, on the midnight portion of Earth.
Also, a last quarter moon can be used as a guidepost to Earth’s direction of motion in orbit around the sun.
Should have posted this last week:
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