Archive for
April 7th, 2007


Stories

“What's Going On in Ukraine?” 

a small portrait of this author Veronica Khokhlova · 19:17

LJ user dibrov_s (Sergei Dibrov of Odesa, Ukraine) explains how the current crisis in Ukraine came to be and why he thinks the new election (and then some more) is absolutely necessary. This lengthy post (RUS) has received 366 comments so far and made it into the top 30 at Yandex Blogs portal:

[…]

Friends, what's happened was supposed to happen sooner or later: a bomb placed underneath the Verkhovna Rada [the Parliament] during the Orange Revolution has exploded.

At that time, on December 8, 2004, two laws were adopted by a package vote. One was about introducing changes to electoral law. The other was about introducing changes to the Constitution.

In other words, a deal was made: we're giving you the relatively fair election, without mass falsification that the Supreme Court discovered, and you're giving us the changes to the Constitution (”political reform”), which would deprive the newly-elected President of power and pass it on together with the paliament as a pay-off to political parties.

All in all, the political reform consists of two elements:

- the transfer of the Cabinet of Ministers (and the whole executive branch) under parliamentary control;
- MPs elected only by the party lists.

Political reform became a king's present to our, excuse me for the term, political parties. Excuse me for using this term because the word “politician” in our country is a synonym of the word “businessman,” and what we call “parties” are indeed lobby groups and business projects. And there's only one way into politics for all those eager to enter it: through the party's cashier's office. The thickness of the wallet, not some moral qualities or political convictions, play a decisive role during the casting of potential MPs. According to the media, an electable place on the biggest parties' lists now costs up to tens of millions of dollars. People were looking for cheaper options and this sometimes led to funny episodes: often, the candidates' lists included those who espoused views radically different from the views of “their” party or bloc. But no one cared about it: money doesn't smell.

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17 comments · »»

China: Inner-city toxics plant protested 

a small portrait of this author John Kennedy · 08:46

In November last year, construction began on a chemical plant in Haicang district, located on Xiamen island in the capital of Southwestern China's Fujian province, slated to produce the solvent toluene, terephthalic acid, benzene and, for example, an expected annual output of 800,000 tons of the toxic para-xylene which, according to its Wikipedia entry:

“…affects the brain. High levels from exposure for short periods (14 days or less) or long periods (more than 1 year) can cause headaches, lack of muscle coordination, dizziness, confusion, and changes in one's sense of balance. Exposure of people to high levels of xylene for short periods can also cause irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, and throat; difficulty in breathing; problems with the lungs; delayed reaction time; memory difficulties; stomach discomfort; and possibly changes in the liver and kidneys. It can cause unconsciousness and even death at very high levels (see inhalants).”
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82 comments · »»

Bahrain: Polygamy as a national duty 

a small portrait of this author Ayesha Saldanha · 00:17
lingua → fr

We start this week with politics, or rather politicians, and the comments of one particular politician that have riled some of Bahrain's bloggers. An Islamist representative urged Bahraini men (some say in jest) to take four wives (three Bahraini and one foreign) to reduce the number of spinsters in the country, and encouraged his colleagues in the Council of Representatives to set an example. Mahmood wondered if the man meant to include his sole female colleague with this recommendation, but thought probably not. And he commented:

Thank you sir. Now go back to your cave. And take with you all of those morons who voted for you as well.

Soul Search also had something to say on the subject:

Women don't need men like you to live a dignified life, women are more resilient, more determined, more empowered to live an independent way of life, and don't need cavemen like you to marry them.

Go back to Riffa (his constituency) and see the misery that people there live in, the sewers are overflowing, the roads have huge craters in them, many houses are ready to collapse on the people living there, parking is a nightmare, the smell is unbearable, and the list can go on forever.

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1 comment · »»
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