DYKUN of Mozhlyvivka

www.hutsul-project.com website up and running

2009-02-24T12:42:00.004-06:00

This is a belated announcement; our Hutsul Project site has been up and running for sometime. Please visit: www.hutsul-project.com

Hutsul Project Travel Diary COMING SOON

2008-09-07T11:40:00.002-05:00

Mykhajlo Mykolajevych Tafijchuk Hutsul instrument maker and musician in the village of Bukovets, approximately half way between Verkhovyna and Kosiv.

American "democracy promotion" and the OR

2008-07-25T06:15:00.011-05:00

This excerpt is from an article on openDemocracy site; full article here. * * * Jonah Gindin: Is the promotion of democracy inherently imperialist? William I Robinson: The promotion of democracy is inherently not imperialist; on the contrary, it is inherently revolutionary, progressive and wonderful! But the people who are promoting democracy are social movements in the global north and

Drunk on Power and Wealth: The Cult of Deregulation Capitalists

2008-06-17T06:01:00.001-05:00

Obama and the Fall Into Tyranny (link to original) By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS As articles by John Pilger, Alexander Cockburn, and Uri Avnery make clear, by groveling before the Israel Lobby Obama has dispelled any hope that his presidency would make a difference. Obama told the Lobby that in order to protect Israel he would use all the powers of the presidency to prevent

NEXT WEEKEND: Come and see a great show!

2008-04-13T14:08:00.003-05:00

I am dancing in this one:

You Tube Vids: Il'inskaja Pjatnytsa and Someone Else does очи чёрные

2008-03-24T23:18:00.004-05:00

First, I posted this recently to my You Tube site:This is the text I wrote to go along with the video:WELCOME TO SPRING, 2008!I filmed this one year ago on March 25, 2007, which was Easter Sunday. A number of folk ensembles performed in the Old City of Riga (Latvian: Vecriga) and on top of "Bastion Hill ( Bastejs Kalns)" just outside of the old town. (Bastion Hill is what remains of the

BABA MARIJKA: Vichnaja Pamjat. . .

2008-02-09T14:38:00.001-06:00

My paternal grandmother, Marija Iwaskewycz has passed away this past Th evening at 5:45 PM, US central time.My brother Mark and I were in the room with Baba at the very moment that she passed away. She was in the process of dying from old age and advanced dementia for the past few months.The following is the obituary that will appear in tomorrow's paper. It is the product of many minds--I typed

What Should've Happened in 2005, Among the Gizzillions of Other Missed Opportunities

2007-12-14T00:05:00.000-06:00

From RFE/RL newsline:The December 11 "events in the Verkhovna Rada revealed the obvious lack of viability of a [BYUT/NUNS] coalition of 227 lawmakers," Yanukovych said. "Society should receive an answer to the question of whether a coalition of 227 is capable of taking responsibility for the country," he continued. "Either they take responsibility and realize their promises to voters...or

Reminder: Former UPA still without Veteran Status

2007-09-10T17:49:00.000-05:00

From RFE/RL newsline:LAST COMMANDER OF UKRAINIAN INSURGENT ARMY DIES. Vasyl Kuk died on September 9 at the age of 94, Ukrainian media reported. Kuk was the last commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) in 1950-54. The UPA was a combat force created by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in western Ukraine during World War II to pursue the ideal of an independent Ukraine. It fought

A Victory against Ukrainian Chauvinism: Rusyns of Transcarpathia get Minority Recognition At Last!

2007-06-07T00:04:00.001-05:00

though ukrainain politics in general is beyond the realm of the asburdly ridiculous, the article below (from arel's ukraine list) is about a very positive event; but first, a few comments of my own:i have long been very interested in the rusyn question, for a variety of reasons, but most importantly: it is important for ukrainians to think twice about insisting on the national identity of another

The Second Majdan of Viktor Yushchenko?

2007-04-16T14:26:00.000-05:00

"Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce."cf. this text(even still, i favored the disbanding of parliament)

Concert of Authentic Ukrainian and Russian Folk Music in Riga

2007-03-21T13:43:00.001-05:00

Click to Play wedding songs and rituals: i was surprised to find out that one of the best folklore ensembles from ukraine was coming to riga to do a concert! the bozhychi folklore ensemble from kyiv joined up with an excellent russian ensemble here in riga (excellent because they, like bozhychi, are uncomprimisingly dedicated to village-based authenticity) called

history hasn't ended

2007-02-18T12:23:00.000-06:00

here's another response to an anonymous commentor to my last post. the commentator at some point asked why i had not become an anti-left turncoat after the failure of the ussr (which s/he seemed to interpret, as so many others, as the overall failure of leftism) and the arrival of the supposed end of history, and thus why i had not adopted the free-market dogma that is the faith of the

Orange Revolution: Spirit and Struggle

2007-01-30T08:46:00.000-06:00

Spirit and the Struggle:The most basic principle of materialist philosophy in all its variants is the notion that things do not happen in the world because of spirit. History and events do not take place as part of a process of spirit realizing itself; it is through things happening that some thing we might call "spirit" is constituted and that some process we might call "progress" happens (

Latvia: Commemorating in 2007 the Barricades of 1991

2007-01-22T16:09:00.001-06:00

Click to Play This is footage of members of the folk choir Skandinieki singing this past weekend at a rock that marks one of the spots in Riga where 5 people were killed during a Soviet crackdown on January 20, 1991.In the course of its terminal year segments within the Soviet government made two bungled attempts to keep things from falling apart. The second of these is

Warsaw Workshop on Post Socialism and the EU

2007-01-08T10:19:00.000-06:00

I will be at a workshop in Warsaw this weekend; a selection of the most relevant posts on my site to the subject matter of the conference:On the Road to a Documentary, Part II: Neglect (text and photos)On the Road to Documentary, Part III: Tradition (text and photos)On the Road to a Documentary, Part IV: Decay, Ruin, Neglect, Immiseration (text and photos)Fall Harvest in Western Ukraine, Part I

New Year's Eve 2005 in Kyiv, Ukraine

2007-01-02T08:19:00.001-06:00

Click to Play Z NOVYM ROKOM! this is a long, 20 minute clip from new year's eve 2005 in kyiv. the orange revolution demonstrations and the third round of elections (that yushchenko won) had just concluded. on this day, people were anxiously awaiting the inauguration of yushchenko and the start of a truly new year.i post this as reminder of the optimism about the

Latvian Winter Solstice 2005

2006-12-31T04:20:00.001-06:00

Click to Play This was filmed on a relatively crappy digital camera at Dievseta, a retreat center run by Dievturi in Wisconsin, USA. Dievturi refers to an organization of people who follow pre-Christian Latvian customs in a contemporary context that is active both in Latvia and the Latvian diaspora.The Dievturi have a kind of formalized path for following these traditions,

Winter Solstice 2005 -- Happy Holidays 2006

2006-12-23T03:07:00.000-06:00

Bolivarian Potential

2006-12-12T12:53:00.000-06:00

Venezuela and the Bolivarian Dream article from counterpunch.By TARIQ ALI In the Muslim world religious groups that are militarily effective, but politically limited dominate resistance to the American Empire. Asia is infatuated with capital. Europe lies buried deep in neo-liberal torpor, and the Left and social movements in the EU (Italy is the most

very interesting

2006-12-09T10:22:00.000-06:00

record of military service among us politicians and pundits:DEMOCRATS: John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, Purple Hearts.Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72.Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71.Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army journalist in 20th Engineer BrigadeBill Clinton: Did not serve. Student

more professionalism or more pillaging?

2006-12-07T12:33:00.000-06:00

hi. haven't been in the ukrainosphere for a while, and this isn't really a break in that abscence, but. . .from RFE newsline:UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS 2007 BUDGET... The Verkhovna Rada onDecember 6 adopted a budget bill for 2007, Ukrainian media reported.The bill envisages government spending at 161 billion hryvnyas ($32billion) and revenues at 147 billion hryvnyas, thus setting a

Ukraine: A Hutsul Wedding, Part III

2006-11-19T17:01:00.001-06:00

Click to Play Here is the third and final installment to the Hutsul wedding video. Parts I and II were posted earlier. Part I had footage of the rituals that take place in the morning just before the actual wedding ceremony at the church.Part II had footage of the wedding ceremony and the rituals that precede the start of the wedding reception. It also has footage of the

Notes of Caution on the US Elections; Comparing Elections USA 2006 to Ukraine 2004

2006-11-13T11:31:00.001-06:00

compiled below are some short, excellent cautionary notes addressing the significance of the US elections, all from counterpunch.the main points these articles convey are as follows (and these points are also relevant for a discussion concerning the failure of the OR to ignite a process of real, progressive change in ukraine):1) voters in the US have called for sweeping changes, or rather,

What Dems Must Do to Matter

2006-11-09T22:38:00.000-06:00

This is from here; copied below is most of the article that matters. . .Will the Demcrats Become Part of the Problem?After the years of illegal war and the overnight destruction of civil liberties that were 800 years in their creation, the United States stands at a watershed. If the legislation that has been put on the books permitting spying on Americans without a

Hurrah!

2006-11-09T16:56:00.000-06:00

and now they can shut up about their silent majority. however, i do not mean to suggest that the silent majority is liberal to left leaning instead. the silent majority is a myth. my breakdown of the american electorate/population would go something like this: 30% commited liberal to left30% commited conservative to fascist40% commited to fickleness and trend-apingand now let's see if the dems

A Hutsul Wedding, Part II

2006-11-02T16:05:00.000-06:00

Watch the videoHere is the second installment to the Hutsul wedding video. Part I was posted earlier, click here. There will also be a Part III. Part I had footage of the rituals that take place in the morning just before the actual wedding ceremony at the church.Part II has footage of the wedding ceremony and the rituals that precede the start of the wedding reception. It also has footage of

On the 6 Year Experiment with Republican One-Party Rule

2006-10-28T03:32:00.000-05:00

not about ukraine, but i had to post it. . .what follows below aspires to good, old-fashioned, muckraking political journalism. no, it is not an h. l. mencken piece, but it is great. of course, its detractors will focus on the insulting descriptive language and namecalling--on the rhetoric--and will pigheadedly, or cleverly/cynically, ignore the issues raised in the article--just as they

Ukraine: Wedding Procession in Pidhajtsi, Ternopil State

2006-10-22T05:50:00.000-05:00

Watch the videothis is footage from august, 2005.in many parts of ukraine, as in many other parts of the world, it is traditional that on the day of a wedding, the family and friends of the groom will gather at the groom's house for a small ceremony, after which they will proceed through the village to the home of the bride. at the head of the procession usually is a band playing a wedding march.

our ukraine in opposition

2006-10-21T15:19:00.000-05:00

is our ukraine attempting a pathetic takeover of the opposition from BJuT? are they still that arrogant and intent on being counterproductive/mucking things up? realizing how almost hopeless the situation of their party has become, are their egos driving them toward an attempted takeover of the opposition as a last-ditch effort to save their own asses?i sure hope not.but i fear that a future

Bolivarian Revolution and the Orange Revolution?

2006-10-19T13:37:00.000-05:00

i am working on a post about comparing venezuela and chavez with ukraine and the miserable failure that both the orange revolution and yushchenko are turning out to be. i guess my mistake was to have believed in the or in the first place!for now, reproduced below is a portion of an interview with writer/activist/filmaker tariq ali about the situation in venezuela from the democracy now! website.

Who killed her?

2006-10-09T13:35:00.000-05:00

I saw Myroslava Gongadze on the tv last night talking about Politkovskaja. She didn't say anything too terribly original, but she of course is one to be saying something about the matter.Here' are links to two articles about Politkovskaja's murder and to her books: From RFE:According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists,Politkovskaya is the 42nd journalist killed in Russia

thought for the day

2006-10-04T05:30:00.000-05:00

been catching up on some reading about current events in ukraine: yu i ljubi druzi really prefered to work with ya and deal with all the crap that he and his ljubi druzi would inevitably pull--and that they are now predictably pulling--than find a way to work with tymoshenko?idioty.

remembering harvest season in ukraine

2006-09-30T18:34:00.000-05:00

i have been in the u.s. for the past three weeks, doing some contract jobs. yesterday i was driving along one of those shopping-mall-strip-mall-fast-food-starbucks-coffee-shop-novelty- store oases that dot the american landscape when i caught a whiff of something that took me back to fall harvest in pidhajtsi. i have spent most or all of september and october the last two years in pidhajtsi,

Babyn Yar

2006-09-29T16:13:00.000-05:00

now that i have broken my month-long leave from the ukrainian blogosphere with the clip of my daugher below, i feel like continuing. . .but first: the left-hand shift-key was recently ripped from my laptop by one curious little girl and i haven't yet fixed it; it is not my regular style to write without capitalization. . . at the end of september, 1941 began the massacre at babyn yar, which

Dyki Tantsi Juliji--Julija's Wild Dances

2006-09-29T14:55:00.000-05:00

Watch the videoMy daughter Julija is becoming evermore agile on her feet and is well into the start of her career as a folklorist! She is 15 months in this short clip that was recently filmed by her vecmama (Latvian for "grandmother;" Julka also has a baba) and assembled by her mama, Zinta, who is also in the clip, playing the accordion.Enjoy!

Fotos of Chornovil Monument

2006-09-03T06:55:00.000-05:00

Go here to see the rest of the fotos from the opening of the new memorial in Kyiv to Vyacheslav Chornovil that took place on Aug. 23, 2006. Read the post below for info about it, if you haven't already. . .

New Monument in Kyiv: For Vyacheslav Chornovil

2006-08-23T14:27:00.000-05:00

Well, I was going to post some pictures, but the battery on my camera just died. I am writing from an internet club in Kyiv.I arrived today, and will be heading tomorrow to Lviv and then to Kolomyja, locale of this year's annual Festival of Hutsul Music and Dance.Earlier today I was strolling downhill from the Arsenalna metro station toward European Square, past the Rada and Marijinskyj and

From an Email on Moroz, the Left, Lutsenko, Ty and Ljubi Druzi

2006-08-13T04:41:00.000-05:00

Trust me that I understand 100% the predicament of a disaffected Leftist--plenty about the Left in the US and the West in general is far from satisfactory, and the history of Western European social democrats (stooges of colonialism) and communists (stooges of the USSR) leaves much to be desired. The only respectable ones have been fringes of the fringe, such as the autonomia in Italy, etc.

Good, Old-Fashioned Democracy?

2006-08-09T22:28:00.000-05:00

from Kyiv Post Many analysts have reacted positively to the confirmation of the new Yanukovich government, welcoming the end of over four months of political turmoil. But, when looking past the short-term goal of so-called “political stability” to Ukraine’s long-term development, the formation of the government causes a number of concerns. On

RFE's Maksymiuk Says Ya's New Cabinet Favorably Distinguished from Those of Yekhanorov and Tymoshenko

2006-08-08T14:26:00.000-05:00

Jan Maksymiuk comments. . .from RFE here.WHO IS IN NEW CABINET? Ukraine's tortuous, four-month-longprocess of forming a new government ended on August 4 withthe confirmation of Party of Regions leader Yanukovych asnew prime minister.The Ukrainian parliament also endorsed a new Cabinet ofMinisters, in which the Party of Regions will control somemajor portfolios concerning the country's economy.

New (to me) Ukraineblog

2006-08-07T16:20:00.000-05:00

I just discovered and am enjoying this Ukraineblog.Here is a sample: Where does the government-opposition fault line lie? Is it in terms of issues, in terms of the election results, or in terms of fear of losing power? If NSNU’s joining the “anticrisis” coalition is about national unity, then why does it split the Orange Revolution — the very engine that brought NSNU to power? Two steps forward,

Looks Like The Good Ol' Boys are Back

2006-08-04T14:37:00.000-05:00

Remember when Interior Minister Bilokon boasted before the 2004 elections that the militsija would celebrate Ya's presidential victory with three days of drinking? Well, the good ol' boys are back; got this from abdymok: asked by reporters on aug. 4 how yanukovych planned to celebrate his re-appointment as prime minister, party of regions spokesmen replied, “по-мужски” (in a manly way). asked

Yu Finally Takes A Stand?

2006-08-03T13:24:00.000-05:00

From my perspective, whether this is the beginning of the beginning or the beginning of the end of a budding Ukrainian democracy (I have no answer myself on this question), it need not have gone this way, and Ya need not have to have the chance to become PM again. Yu i joho ljubi druzi have been a colossal disappointment.I talked with Oksana today in Pidhajtsi and she spoke of tremendous

Baltica 2006

2006-07-30T06:18:00.000-05:00

This is footage from Day 3 of this year's Baltica Festival in Latvia. The Baltica Festival takes place each summer in one of the Baltic States, so every third year it is in Latvia, as it was this year. The Baltica Festivals, I believe, started in 1986 and were a major part of the movement that led to the Baltic States' independence from the Soviet Union. The festival always takes place in a

Dream, er, Nightmare. . .

2006-07-27T10:02:00.001-05:00

Had the following dream two nights ago (reproduced here with just a tiny bit of embellishment):BjuT continues to boycott parliament which Yu finally chooses to disband, but the rump parliamentarians refuse the order to dissolve (as promised). So the 1993 Yeltsin v. Parliament incident repeats itself in Ukraine, but in Ukraine things are more complicated. It turns out that Yu i joho ljubi druzi

More on Riga's Gay Pride and Latvia's Shame

2006-07-24T13:25:00.000-05:00

Note: For those of you who may notice--this is a reposting of this post. I started to write this a couple of hours ago and then had to deal with getting the little one to bed, and must have accidentally hit "Publish Post" instead of "Save as Draft". . .though this is not a finely edited piece, the more drafty draft is gone. . .what's the blogger etiquette on this, I wonder, but only to wonder. .

Riga's Gay Pride and Latvia's Shame, Part II

2006-07-22T15:09:00.000-05:00

As the world is going to hell--i.e., Israeli fundamentalists bomb Lebanon and warn of a ground invasion in a world in which far too many people foolishly view war as a means of lasting peace; and Ukrainian politicians continue to fuck over the people of Ukraine due to their meakness (Yushchenko), their tactical stupidity (Our Ukaine), their stubbornness (Yushchenko, Our Ukraine), their lack of

2006-07-18T12:24:00.000-05:00

A Hutsul WeddingTake a break from Ukrainian politics: Watch the video This is part I (go to part II here) of three short (8-10 min) pieces I will post of footage I took at a wedding in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine in August 2004. The wedding was that of a cousin of a friend, Anna. Much of Anna's heritage is Hutsul. Hutsuls and their descedents have lived in their part of the Carpathians

Still Photos from Video of a Hutsul Wedding II

2006-07-12T05:24:00.000-05:00

Coming Soon. . .New Video

2006-07-11T12:04:00.000-05:00

This is a still from footage of a contemporary Hutsul wedding I went to in August, 2004. I am almost done editing a short video (15? maybe 20 minute) of the day. I finally have a computer again with which I can get back to work using Adobe Premier; the last month has been full of nothing but lap-top troubles, computer help centers, and costing $. . .****************Pro bozhevilnu sytuatsiju v

As Bob says, Ultra-Competitive Uki Politics

2006-07-07T12:08:00.000-05:00

Frickin' Ukrainian politics. . .I have been dumbfounded, flabbergasted for the past few hours, and now have come up with this:Our Ukraine should suck it up and accept Moroz as a Speaker and the Orange coalition should continue to hold and Tymoshenko get the PM seat. The three parties of the pro-democracy coalition getting the three more or less top jobs in descending order: Yushchenko/Our

Good Analysis of the Coalition Deal

2006-06-24T12:56:00.000-05:00

RFE's Jan Maksymiuk did a helpful piece explaining the basics of the coalition agreement here. In the second, more analytical part of the piece, he sounded one warning I completely agree with: Our Ukraine's proposal that Petro Poroshenko, Tymoshenko's fiercest enemy in the 2005 feud within the then-Orange coalition, take the post of parliamentary speaker seems to be an ill-advised "parliamentary

2 Articles

2006-06-20T10:57:00.001-05:00

I am back from my little Central to Eastern Europe adventure--Riga to Vienna to Budapest to Kyiv to Riga--and will have something to write about it, maybe, in the future. For now, two good Kyiv Post op-eds worth reading if you have not: How to understand Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenkoby Taras Kuzio, rather (correctly) scazing about the man once thought to be contemporary Ukraine's

Excellent Commentary: Lessons of Germany's Grand Coalition for Ukrainian Process

2006-05-31T04:52:00.000-05:00

If you get it, the most recent e-poshta (for May 31, 2006; you can join by writing to myroslava_e-poshta-canadaus@yahoogroups.com)this week has an excellent commentary on the lessons that the recent Grand Coalition building process in Germany has for Ukraine. Many commentators, including from Our Ukraine and Yushchenko, have been making this comparison. The major points of the commentary were

2006-05-30T03:28:00.000-05:00

Video: The Mill and the Peasants Watch the video This is more footage from the town of Pidhajtsi in Western Ukraine, shot in August, 2005.If a peasantry is a population bound to and dependent for survival upon the land through various means that grossly benefit local or not-so-local lords while keeping the individual farmer more or less locked in his/her place--such as via

Officially-Unofficial Talks Soon to End and Officially-Official Talks Soon to Begin

2006-05-24T12:15:00.000-05:00

The officially-unofficial talks on a parliamentary coalition will officially end with the start of the next parliament, after which officially-official talks will begin with a presumably unofficially-official clean slate; or that is so according to this blurb from RFE newsline:UKRAINIAN PREMIER SAYS 'OFFICIAL' COALITION TALKS TO START AFTER PARLIAMENT'S INAUGURATION. Prime Minister Yuriy

2006-05-22T13:07:00.000-05:00

Video: Fall Harvest in Western Ukraine I Watch the video This is footage taken in late September, 2005 in the town of Pidhajtsi (pop approx. 4,000) in the state of Ternopil in western Ukraine. These people are gathering the remaining corn stalks in their fields after having had completed the fall harvest. They will use the stalks as windbreaks, i.e., as protection against the

2006-05-22T11:12:00.000-05:00

Video: A Baba Feeds the Fowl in Western Ukraine I now have a vlog (video blog) site through which I can cross-post footage to this, my Ukraineblog. This is the first entry on that site; the text and foto below appear here according to vlogger's cross-posting format that uses a still-foto I selected from and text I wrote about the footage.Many more entries are soon to come to that site, which you

Tired of Our Ukraine Shenanigans

2006-05-17T08:57:00.000-05:00

Why is this putz still in a position to make any suchcomments at all? From RFE newsline: OUR UKRAINE REPORTEDLY SUSPENDS COALITION TALKS WITHORANGE-REVOLUTION ALLIES. Roman Zvarych of Our Ukrainetold journalists in Kyiv on May 16 that his bloc hassuspended talks on the creation of a ruling coalitionwith the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party,Ukrainian media reported. Zvarych

I've Reappeared In. . .

2006-05-16T05:57:00.000-05:00

Riga Train Station Propaganda(More on the way. . .) Skandinieki-Mother of Latvian Folk Choirs(Zinta, Julija's mama, is the one on the far left) At the WWII Memorial a couple of days ago VE Day in Latvia is celebrated primarily by ethnic Russians. Most Latvians look at May 9 as commemorating those

Mykhailo Chovhan--Rendered Victim of Chornobyl by Soviet System

2006-04-22T01:21:00.000-05:00

Mykhajlo Chovhan was a truck driver in the county of Pidhajtsi in 1986. He was back in his home village, having had completed military service--I do not remember where he was stationed, though I vaguely recall him saying something about Afghanistan. But my memory fails me on this point; I might be just making this detail up. Sometime in May he was called up and told that he would be sent to work

Our Ukraine: Aloof and Stalling

2006-04-15T11:40:00.000-05:00

I wrote to Oksana Kolodnytska, who's been featured a number of times on this blog, just after the elections to ask why she thought her home state carried Tymoshenko and why she thought that Ty did so well in the elections in general. She wrote (in English. . .these are her words):"So, I think she had the image of a victim who was fighting against oligarchs, was betrayed, and as my dad said, many

Chauvinists

2006-04-15T11:26:00.000-05:00

From RFE newsline:AMBASSADOR SAYS RUSSIA WILL 'NEVER GIVE UP' INTERESTS INTRANSDNIESTER. Russian Ambassador to Moldova Nikolai Ryabov said onApril 12 that Moscow "will never give up its interests" in thebreakaway Transdniester region, "where it has been present for morethan a century," Interfax reported the same day. Ryabov said inTransdniester's capital Tiraspol that Russians "rest in

Photos of Immigrant Rights Rally; Another Blog

2006-04-14T18:38:00.000-05:00

Nothing about Ukraine in this post: I have posted photos of last Sunday's Immigrant Rights Rally in St. Paul (capital of MN) at my foto pages here. I have been writing another blog on culture and society from an anti-war and left perspective you can check out here.

Whose Revolution Was It?

2006-04-03T21:31:00.000-05:00

I am not given permission to name names, so I will not. Nor can I give the background information on either of these fellows, so you will just have to take my word for it that these are the words of credible characters that had something to do with the pre-OR, OR and post-OR politics. They are words that came up in the course of conversations last fall in Ukraine about the role of people's

Ukraine Appears in NPR Program Speaking of Faith

2006-04-03T01:20:00.000-05:00

This week on NPR's Speaking of Faith program is a conversation with Adrian Ivakhiv, a professor of environmental studies who is Ukrainian-Canadian that you can listen to here. Though the program is focused on a discussion about the persistence and spread of paganism and neopaganism in the world today in general, he talks a bit about Ukraine and its pagan heritage. From the site's description: An

More Promotion: Mila Vocal Ensemble CD Release Party

2006-03-31T17:59:00.000-06:00

The Mila Vocal Ensemble will celebrate the release of their most recent CD, V Gradinata, a recording of all Bulgarian songs, tomorrow evening, April, 1 at the Cowles Conservatory/Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis, from 5-9 pm. Come and soak up the arrival of Spring with music from the CD and Mila's extensive, 30-nation repertoire. Mila Vocal Ensemble strives for a delicate

A Do-able Plan?

2006-03-31T00:15:00.000-06:00

From Ukrajinska Pravda (English translation by Nikolai Bilaniuk for UkraineList, original article here in Ukrainian): The leader of the Socialist Party of Ukraine, Oleksandr Moroz, has come out in favour of a coalition including the Tymoshenko Bloc, "Our Ukraine" and the SPU.He spoke about this to journalists next to the Presidential Secretariat, after a meeting with President Victor Yushchenko.

Gas Deal and Tieing Up Some Loose Ends

2006-03-30T19:56:00.000-06:00

Via abdymok I got this excellent piece from the NYTimes on the January gas deal (NYTimes version here):The official residence of the managing director of a company now set to control Ukraine's supply of natural gas is a one-story, clapboard house in a tumbledown village bordering a defunct collective farm outside Moscow. A dirty rug covers the floor, a bare light bulb hangs from the ceiling and

Why Yulia Tymoshenko Deserves a Second Chance as PM

2006-03-28T18:08:00.000-06:00

[Update: "Deserves" is not the right word in the title above: "Should Get" should have been the phrase in the title. I don't think many of the current political big-wigs in Ukraine "deserve" the post . .]Just quick a note run off the top of my head (I'm workin' on a web design that I can't concentrate on until I get these thoughts out from jiggling 'round my head): Tymoshenko deserves

Media Inaccuracies about the Elections

2006-03-27T20:51:00.000-06:00

Thankfully, not all of the media are saying such things, but I heard on the BBC yesterday a report saying that Ukraine was heading back into Russia's orbit and that Yanukovych has made a big comeback. Um, excuse me, but the man (Yanukovych or Ya for short) has not yet become PM again and it is no surprise to anyone who knows anything about Ukraine and these elections that he performed as he did.

Ukraine's Elections Thus Far, My 2 Cents Worth

2006-03-26T20:39:00.000-06:00

Hryts Kolodnytskyj in the Tymoshenko HQ in PidhajtsiAgain I don't have all that much to add to what is being said in the Ukrainian blogosphere about the elections in general, so check out the links for more of the details, such as vote counts, etc.Things went off smoothly, though it seems like it was a really, really busy day at voting centers all over Ukraine.I talked with Oksana in Pidhajtsi,

Belated Promotion of Friends and Real Folk Style

2006-03-23T23:41:00.000-06:00

Go to this link for a fun and entertaining interview with and a live performance of 3 tunes from the members of OBI, or Orkestar Bez Ime (from the Bulgarian). It aired last week on M(innesota)PR (the link to the interview is on the upper right hand corner of the page).I usually mention concerts if they involve beloved friends or something really worth seeing. Well, I forgot to post about OBI's

Elections in Belarus' III

2006-03-21T10:36:00.001-06:00

For a down-to-earth view of things in Belarus read this blog in general, and this and this post in particular; the writer, a Belarusian fellow living in the US, explains why he feels that things most likely will not go the route of the OR in Ukraine, but also why this show of opposition is still a good and hopeful thing even if, or when, Lukashenka survives.Then also, I did not include this in

Gas Explosions Common in Ukraine?

2006-03-20T20:46:00.000-06:00

I got the following from the Kyiv Post: Gas explosion partially destroys western Ukrainian home, injuring three people Mar 20 2006, 12:15 (AP) A gas explosion partially destroyed a western Ukraine home on Monday, injuring three people, emergency officials said. The explosion struck the four-story home around 9 a.m. (0700 GMT), the Emergency

The Elections in Belarus II

2006-03-20T15:03:00.000-06:00

Reports are that 5 tents have appeared on the central square in Minsk. Here are some photos I got via links on Neeka's Backlog and some of the other sites listed in the post below; for more photos, go to this flikr page associated with the Belarus Election 2006 site, and also Radio Freedom (Belarusian service) both for more pictures and for commentary in Belarusian--it's fascinating, good

The Elections in Belarus'

2006-03-19T16:58:00.000-06:00

About the elections in Belarus', I have nothing original to add to what in general is already being said in the blogosphere, so here's a round up of sites covering the elections to check out: Neeka's Backlog, Taking Aim, Belarus Elections 2006, and then Publius Pundit (go to the bottom of this post to read my qualification for including a link to this particular site).As for what I do have to say

Photos of My Favorite City in Ukraine

2006-03-15T00:12:00.000-06:00

I just looked and realized that I have been posting mostly photos since Feb. 22. That's pretty darn bad blogging ethic, according to the Blogging for Dummies book (first edition, end of last year or just out this year) that I recently found myself stuck in during a visit to one of the few remaining independent bookstores in Minneapolis. The book didn't say anything that one can't figure out on

Carpathian Adventures at Foto Dykun

2006-03-08T01:46:00.000-06:00

Updated today: I have posted three sets of photos of trips to the Carpathians at my fotopage here. There are photos and three brief travel essays over there with info that some folks wanting to travel in the region may find valuable. Also, there are some brief comments about real folk music and dance versus what I call--following the lead of my teacher, folk dance ethnologist and director of EDT

Julija pics at my fotopages (of my daughter, no nude Tymoshenko)

2006-03-05T14:23:00.000-06:00

See 'em here. Life has been zainy. I truly admire those bloggers who can manage to post very regularly. I blog in spurts--flurries of activity that can last some weeks, then a week or two with narely a peep but for here and there. Wish I had the time for more regular posting. But then I would not have time for other things, such as lately getting back to work on the OR doc project and expanding

Article: more bad news on Gas front

2006-02-28T18:17:00.000-06:00

Another EDM article here: "The cycle now seen -- with Ashgabat seeking debt payment, Plachkov and Ivchenko stonewalling, and Yushchenko promising to act while inviting Niyazov to visit -- became a familiar pattern during 2005 and seems to persist. Incoherence, conflicting messages, lack of transparency, and undue influence of group and personal interests continue to characterize Kyiv's response

One More Thing Before Finally Going to Bed: Lullabies

2006-02-22T02:06:00.000-06:00

Listen here to one of my favorite lullabies with which to sing Julija to sleep. It is a beautiful Romanian lullaby that we learned while in Ethnic Dance Theatre. This version is a recording by the Orkestar Bez Ime, whose members also originally learned it as part of EDT.

I'm Back with More on Baba Omaha

2006-02-22T01:29:00.000-06:00

Lida Tkachenka, Baba Omaha's Sister in PoltavaThe last time I was wandering the blogosphere, I wrote that I never heard any of the members of Baba Omaha’s family in the city of Poltava saying “spasybi;” this of course does not mean that spasybi has gone out of use in the Poltavan dialect and has been replaced by Russian “spasiba.” Nor is spasybi merely a Ukrainianized version of spasiba as many

RFE Crime and Corruption Editor Comes Out Against Gas Deal; Interesting Report on Role of Ukraine's Media in OR

2006-02-13T11:15:00.000-06:00

Read here what Roman Kupchinsky (who writes for RFE/RL and who is editor of RFE's special report on Crime and Corruption) had to say about the gas deal in a piece published in the Kyiv Post.A report I just found on the net about the role of Ukraine's media in the OR from the International Federation of Journalists here. The overall tale was nothing new for someone already familiar with the

PBS Frontline piece on Sex Slave Trade

2006-02-13T00:30:00.000-06:00

Here is the site for an investigative piece that first aired last week on PBS Frontline; the site includes a short clip from the program. I have not seen the entire program, but a friend called me up last week to tell me that he was watching it, that it was well done, that it dealt with Ukraine, and that it was quite unnerving.

PRABaba Omaha i Julija

2006-02-13T00:25:00.000-06:00

Biography of Baba Omaha

2006-02-11T13:28:00.000-06:00

In my family, we call my maternal grandmother "Baba Omaha," because of where she has ended up living out the majority of her life in the US. Her current last name is Nakovska, adopted from her second husband, who was a Czech immigrant and who died over 20 years ago. Her first husband was Pidvirnij, so my mama's maiden name was Pidvirna. Baba Omaha's maiden name was Chetveryla. She was born in a

Reflections on the Current Uprising in the Muslim World

2006-02-08T01:45:00.000-06:00

These are not demonstrations against free speech. They are the expression of a rage over what is percieved as Western attitudes toward Islam and the Muslim world in particular, and in general toward the entire nonWestern world.The demonstrations are indicative of the extent to which we are living in an integrated, singular global society. To grasp what I mean by this, see the books Empire and

Link to Interesting Ukrainian-American Filmmaker

2006-02-07T13:25:00.000-06:00

Check out this site by Ukrainian-American filmmaker Andrea Odezynska here, especially the film excerpts section. I was especially intrigued by the excerpt to the Winter Solstice piece. Hope I can find a way to see more from here in Minneapolis, where we are too isolated from the greater centers of Ukrainian life and culture in North America. . .

Yanukovych Says Single Economic Space Solution to Gas Crisis; Other Stuff

2006-02-07T12:50:00.000-06:00

1) In case you were wondering, as I was, how the Party of Regions would tie resolution of the gas crisis to its (pro-)Moscow stance I put the "pro" in parantheses above because this is a stance beyond "pro-Moscow;" it is a stance for the "Belarusynization" of Ukraine, to put it in a term Kuzio used some years ago when Kuchma took his decisive turn toward greater authoritarianism and reliance on

Round Up of EDM Articles (Socor and Kuzio) that I Find Important

2006-02-01T14:13:00.000-06:00

CRISIS OF UKRAINE'S STATE INSTITUTIONS here."The signing of the January 4 gas agreement with Russia illustrated the dangers stemming from the growing weakness of Ukraine's state institutions. Basically, just two individuals, Fuel and Energy Minister Ivan Plachkov and Naftohaz Ukrainy chairman Oleksiy Ivchenko, negotiated and signed a dubious agreement in complete secrecy in Moscow, without the

Offer for an Election-based Orange Coalition from Our Ukraine

2006-02-01T13:05:00.000-06:00

I am slowly getting caught up on a lot of reading and writing, so I have been posting things today and yesterday that are a few days old. Working full time and having an infant around takes up a lot of time; but hanging with the little one is the most rewarding of life experiences. . .This is from the January 25 RFE/RL newsline on Eastern and Southeastern Europe: 'OUR UKRAINE' OFFERS COALITION

Today's Agreements and Disagreements with Politics and Pundits in Ukraine and the US

2006-01-31T23:09:00.000-06:00

+/-- An interesting British television report on the gas crisis (via abdymok, thanx!) that makes some of the points that I have made about the gas deal, but in a way that I would not have here.The reports is a bit too harsh on Yushchenko; much too trusting of Tymoshenko (I may agree with her points, but she has now become a person of ambition, not principle, in my eyes, and so listening to her, I

A Deal Far from Done; Ukrainian Orthodox-Moscow Patriarchate Jumps in Bed with CPU

2006-01-30T10:30:00.000-06:00

GAZPROM CONTINUES TO ACCUSE UKRAINE OF STEALING GAS. Gazprom said in a statement on 26 January that Ukraine siphoned off 326 million cubic meters of Russian transit gas from 19-25 January, Ukrainian and international news agencies reported. "The cold snap has shown thatUkraine is the only transit state that flagrantly violates international gas business conventions," the statement reads. "It

Kuzio Makes Strong Case Against Referendum on Polit Reform; Some Still Fotos

2006-01-26T12:45:00.000-06:00

Read it here. Some random stills from videofootage of last fall, 2005, in Pidhajtsi: Fieldwork: Taras Kolodnytskyj Last Fall: It Gets Cold in Ukraine, or, Bringing Corn Stalks from Fields for Home InsulationAll Too Typical Road The PreModern and Modern, or Ukraine's PostModernity Or, as Oskana Kolodnytska once said, "Ukraine's national mode of transportation for centuries that still hasn't died.

Happy One Year Anniversary, Mr. President!

2006-01-23T16:31:00.000-06:00

Musicians playing and people dancing on Khreshchatyk one year ago, in celebration of Yushchenko's inauguration and the victory of the OR. See more photos here (scroll down to post entitled Inauguration Photos).

Photos: One Year Ago, Overnight Trip to Kyiv for the Big Inauguration

2006-01-22T23:44:00.000-06:00

I was just reminded that a year ago tonight I was on a marshrutka (that normally ran to and fro Pidhajtsi and Ternopil) for an overnight trip to Kyiv for Yushchenko's inauguration. Just about as many if not more people flocked to the capital for the inauguration as did during the 17 days of mass demos that paved the way for Yushchenko's presidency. I won't get into making any statements of the

Vodokhreshchennja v Pidhajtsakh (Feast of the Epiphany in Pidhajtsi)

2006-01-21T21:37:00.000-06:00

Since the Ukrainian blogosphere was a bit active in commenting about the Epiphany celebrations in Ukraine this past week, I thought I'd post some of my photos from last year's Epiphany ceremony in Pidhajtsi here.

Another Great Article from Alexander Motyl

2006-01-21T13:58:00.000-06:00

"It should now be clear that Russia is authoritarian at home and hegemonic abroad. It should be equally clear that Ukraine is democratic at home and pro-western abroad. Critics of the United States invasion of Iraq questioned the legitimacy of trading blood for oil. Observers of European policy may wonder about the legitimacy of trading democracy for gas." See full article here.While the