Democratic Forces win in Ukraine

Having learned nothing from early prognostications in Florida in 2000, I will boldly congratulate Yulia Tymoshenko's BYuT / Our Ukraine Coalition for their victory over the forces of Yanukovych. While I am sure that there will be bribery attempts and whatnot from the blue team, at the end of the day the Orange guys took over 45% of the vote.

Here is what Canadian Press has on the wire:

Yanukovych's party ahead but Orange allies could win majority in parliament
1 hour ago
KYIV, Ukraine - The Orange Revolution allies made a strong combined showing in early parliamentary elections Sunday and could win a majority that would allow them to unseat their longtime foe, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, according to an independent exit poll.
The exit poll indicated Yanukovych's bloc had won 35.5 per cent of the vote, while Yulia Tymoshenko, the fiery Orange Revolution heroine, was following closely with 31.5 per cent. President Viktor Yushchenko's party was trailing a distant third with 13.4 per cent.
Yushchenko and Tymoshenko struck a last-minute alliance to form a coalition in parliament. If they follow up on their pledge and the president names Tymoshenko the prime minister, that would mend a rift that has split the Orange Revolution forces and thrown the nation into political turmoil.
A new Orange coalition could be expected to steer Ukraine more firmly onto a pro-Western course, while Yanukovych, who relies on support from Russian-speaking eastern regions, is seen as more Russia-friendly.
More infighting, however, could lie ahead as Yanukovych signaled that he would not bow out easily.
At the same time, powerful business clans behind the feuding leaders could play a stabilizing role; observers believe they have already divided spheres of influence and would try to avoid new tensions.
The exit poll showed the Communists, who said they would form a coalition with Yanukovych's party, got 5.1 per cent of the vote, while a party led by former parliament speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, who has been vague about his future affiliation, got 3.7 per cent, just above the 3 per cent threshold for parties to get into parliament.
Even if Yanukovych's party merged with both smaller parties, it would still fall behind an alliance of Yushchenko and Tymoshenko, which together appear to have secured a simple majority of at least 226 votes in the 450-seat parliament if the exit poll's findings are confirmed.
The poll, conducted by a team of Ukraine's three leading polling agencies, had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
Other exit polls had similar results.
About 60 per cent of the 37.5 million eligible voters cast ballots, according to the Central Election Commission.
Some 3,000 international observers - including Canadians - were monitoring the vote, and one member of the Canadian delegation said a number of irregularities were witnessed during the balloting.
Liberal party strategist Gerard Kennedy said from the capital that local officials also continued to harass his group of 128 observers, several of whom were briefly detained.
"We had some other incidents, some low-level bribes that we saw taking place," Kennedy said. "I think all of that stuff will have to come out in the context of how is the election is being done."
Still, Kennedy added, the election in the former Soviet republic was "quite the impressive exercise in democracy, albeit with some not-insignificant flaws."
Tymoshenko, smiling triumphantly after the exit polls were announced, said she would meet with Yushchenko on Monday to quickly formalize their new alliance. "In one or two days we will announce the coalition," she told reporters.
Yuriy Lutsenko, the leader of Yushchenko's party, said it was ready to back Tymoshenko as prime minister after the coalition is formed.
Tymoshenko, clad in immaculate white, pledged that the new government would push strongly for Ukraine to integrate more closely into Europe and quickly join the World Trade Organization.
At the same time, she said Ukraine would seek to develop good relations with Russia and hold talks shortly on imports of Russian gas and its transit to Europe. "We will guarantee a balanced, harmonious relationship with Russia," she said.
While Tymoshenko's headquarters celebrated the results with champagne, a gloomy silence hung over Yanukovych's campaign office.
A somber-looking Yanukovych made a brief statement in which he tried to present the results as his party's victory, saying it would now start talks with potential coalition partners. "We consider the election results as a carte blanche for our party to form a new government," he said. He took no questions and left.
As he walked out of the hall, a woman rushed up to him and asked with compassion: "Viktor Fyodorovich, why do you look so bad? Why is your face so distressed?"
"Look at yourself," he snapped.
Yushchenko has voiced hopes that the vote - the fourth national election in three years - would boost Ukraine's efforts to integrate more closely into Europe and leave behind the political infighting that has paralyzed the government.
Casting his ballot at a Kyiv polling station, he described the vote as a choice between the future and the past.
"The choice is between two alternatives: false stability and change," Yushchenko said. "I'm convinced that today, the nation will opt for change. I think that the elections will bring Ukraine mutual understanding and tolerance between political forces, stability and economic growth."
Ukraine's political fortunes had seemed firmly determined after hundreds of thousands of protesters paved the way for Yushchenko's victory in the Orange Revolution protests against Yanukovych's fraud-tinged win in the 2004 presidential vote.
But the Orange camp plunged into acrimonious infighting shortly after the victory, with Yushchenko firing Tymoshenko as prime minister in September 2005 after only seven months on the job.
Yanukovych, a 57-year-old former metal worker, made a stunning comeback in the March 2006 parliamentary elections when his party won the most votes, propelling him back into the premiership. Yanukovych sought to change his image, casting himself as a democrat and preaching compromise and stability. He also eased his affiliation with Russia and underlined his push for Ukraine's integration into Europe.
Unlike the 2004 vote when the Kremlin staunchly backed Yanukovych, Russia has stayed away from the parliamentary election.
Yanukovych fiercely resisted Yushchenko's April decision to dissolve parliament and call new elections after the president accused him of seeking to usurp power. He has accused Yushchenko's and Tymoshenko's parties of preparing widespread falsifications and warned he could organize protests similar to those during the Orange Revolution.
In the Orange camp, Yushchenko, 53, has struggled with voter disillusionment and a loss of support among many voters now backing Tymoshenko, known here simply as Yulia.
Tymoshenko, proud of her strong showing, openly declared her presidential ambitions. "Today's elections serve as a prologue for the presidential elections" in 2009, she said.
Tymoshenko, 46, who wears a flaxen braid wrapped on her head, had parted ways with Yushchenko after he fired her in 2005. Their two parties then lost a chance to form a coalition following last year's parliamentary elections, sowing even further disillusionment among liberal voters.
"I'm sure that Yushchenko and Yulia won't repeat their mistakes. I want to live in Europe, and only the Orange forces can take us there," said businessman Oleg Kileiko, 46, who voted for the president's bloc.
While Yushchenko's position has weakened, Tymoshenko has won over many of his supporters. Her bloc's showing Sunday far exceeded its performance in last year's parliamentary elections, when it won 22 per cent of the vote.

Gerard Kennedy's damning comments on Yanukovych Vote tampering

On CBC AS it Happens there was a report tonight on the first serious allegation of vote tampering in the Ukrainian election.

Kennedy reported on As it Happens that there has already been at least one incident of vote-tampering in the Ukrainian election. Monitors from Canada are in the country overseeing the distribution of ballots to polling stations today.

At one city in the eastern part of the country, a Canadian delegation was threatened with arrest while they were doing their work. Former Liberal Party leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy was part of the group sent by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress to observe the vote. He was reached in Maripol. The interview is available under part 2 here. It starts at about the 10 minute mark. H/T to Willard.

A thug by any other name...

Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, leader of the Party of Regions, told an election meeting in Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, on September 25 that opponents of his party are bribing voters ahead of the September 30 polls, Interfax-Ukraine reported. "I want to warn the people [who accept such bribes] that they are being bought jointly with their children and their future. They are selling their souls to the devil," Yanukovych noted.

Meanwhile, Deputy Interior Minister Vasyl Fatkhutdinov told journalists in Kyiv the same day that his ministry has not officially documented any cases of bribing voters by participants in the election campaign.

Some good sleuthing

Pawlina at Nash holos has two great posts on Ukrainian UFOs and Kovbasa respectively.

Ukrainians unhappy with mixed PR system being proposed in Ontario

Ukrainians consider majority system to be the best parliamentary election system – poll
Ukrainians consider the majority system to be the best ever system of the Verkhovna Rada election.
These are the results of a sociological poll, carried out by the sociological service of Razumkov Center from 1 to 10 of September of 2007. Director of the sociological service of Razumkov Center Andriy Bychenko publicized these results at a news conference today. The majority system (when all parliament members are elected in electoral districts – one deputy per every district) is supported by some 33.2% of those polled, proportional (when parliament is elected only by parties lists) is supported by some 15.4%, mixed system (when a part of parliament members is elected by the party’s lists and another part by electoral districts) is supported by some 26.9% of those polled.
2004 respondents were polled and an error margin does not exceed some 2,3%.

Sometimes I still agree with Johnny Rotten

Punk legend John Lydon has lashed out at Sting - calling The Police frontman a "soggy old dead carcass". The former Sex Pistol poured scorn on the recent Police comeback.

Lydon, 51, was speaking as the Sex Pistols prepare for a one-off gig to mark the 30th anniversary of their album Never Mind The B*****ks. The former punk rebel dismissed Sting as "Stink", saying: "That really is a reformation isn't it? But honestly that's like soggy old dead carcasses.

"You know listening to Stink try to squeak through Roxanne one more time, that's not fun."

"This is a poor woman in a pitiful state"

So Jean Pelletier has won all his court cases againt the crown and was fired for making comments about this poor woman in a pitiful state who keeps losing her court cases. There is something called poetic justice...

I guess now that we know about all of her conspiracy theories and the power of her husband to convince Canada's former PM to keep Canada out of the war in Iraq, we know that all is well in the world.

Unofficial word on the street is that so as not to be outdone by Lord Vader, Jean Chretien's new biography will dedicate several chapters to Bedard, her husband and JoJo's psychic alliance.

NEWSFLASH: PMO runs roughshod over ministers

Interesting story in this morning's Globe. And here, Murray Campbell blasts the proposed change to the electoral system being put to Ontario voters.

Bush's voodoo math

There is a terrific new ad at http://MoveOn.org here.

Pumpernickel Recipe # 20 - Eggplant and Walnut dip

Eggplant And Walnut Dip Recipe
Ingredients
2 small eggplants, cut in half lengthwise (about 3/4 lb each)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1 c sliced, toasted walnuts, divided in half
2 tbsps half-and-half
1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 loaf round pumpernickel - hollow out centre and cut into cubes.

Garnishes 10-15 toasted walnuts and fresh chives

Instructions:
Place eggplant, cut sides down, in a well-greased 13" x 9" pyrex pan. Bake at 400° for 30 mins or until very tender. Let cool 15 minutes. Peel & coarsely chop eggplant.

Place eggplant in a food processor or blender and pulse 3 seconds. Add 1/2 c walnuts, salt, five-spice, half and half & yogurt. Process until smooth. Spoon eggplant mixture into hollowed Pumpernickel loaf & stir in the remaining 1/2 c walnuts.
Garnish with chives and toasted walnuts.

Serve with pumpernickel bread cubed from loaf.

Mr. Bush's new Big Lie

President Bush contended on last night that his plan to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq is somehow based on a principle he called “return on success,” saying that due to progress made so far troop withdrawls could be made, but that deeper troop reductions would squander the success to date.

Never forget that this guy used to be a coke head when he was a frat boy and sometimes his judgement and sense of reality gets a little clouded.

Similarly, Bush planned to deploy any returning troops to Vietnam to ensure that any successes achieved against thered menace to date are also not squandered.

Are these the top 20 comic book to movie transformations?

The Timesonline has reviewed the biggest players in the superhero movie franchise business and scored them on their longevity both in comics and on film, and concocted a box-office score based on movie appearances by the character to date.
Thay have also added a costume category focused as much on the potential of the outfit to transfer from the printed page to the silver screen.

Maybe I'm a traditionalist, but come on...Batman at #6 and Superman 12...insanity

Scandal rocks cheating Pats

Maybe the Patriots weren't that good all those years, maybe they just cheated. For the second time in 2 seasons the New England Patriots have been caught cheating, in this case using video tape to steal coaching signals being sent in...They'll really need Randy Moss to step up now that they've lost their home (and away) field advantage.

They are the bad guys

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko told journalists in Dnipropetrovsk yesterday that he will reveal the role of "many politicians" in his 2004 dioxin poisoning after the official investigation is complete. "I think you'll be astonished to learn about the role and mission of many politicians, including Ukrainian ones, in my poisoning," Yushchenko said.

In an interview published by the The Times of London, Yushchenko accused Russia of hampering the investigation into his poisoning, and suggested that Moscow may be sheltering suspects involved in it.

Is this a strange mid-campaign Hail Mary pass or some new shocking revelation?

Parliamentary Probe launched into Tory Scam Ads

Canadian Press is reporting that the Conservative government's questionable and possibly illegal "scam ad" scheme will be reviewed before an all-party committee of the House of Commons. This follows upon allegations about the propriety of the scheme by Canada's chief electoral officer.

Steve's downward spiral begins

This shows pathetically poor judgement on the part of PM Steve, siding with Lord Vader in his scurrilous attack on Pierre Trudeau.

Canada's contribution to Global Security

The Americans will now say that Canada appears to have been a safe haven for al-quada after all.

Brian Mulroney is still a coward

So lyin Brian Mulroney (seen above with his fraudster buddy Karlheinz Schreiber) has decided to go after one of Canada's truly great statesmen Pierre Elliott Trudeau nearly a decade after he's passed away. Despicable. No wonder the Tories were in the political wilderness for a dozen years.

Keep talking Brian and they'll be once again reduced to two seats just like when you were done with fixin' the country. $42 billion deficits, high unemployment, bring it on bitch! I and many other Canadians were beginning to forget why we despised you so.

He looks better lately...

I recently had a conversation with someone who saw Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko in person.

I innocently asked how he looks.

The response was "he looks better lately."

After seeing the above untouched-up photo this week, it begs the question, "than what?"