The next Winter Olympics is shaping up as a Cold War-style battle between Canada and Russia after a blistering editorial in Pravda labeled us as a nation of cowardly, incompetent war criminals.
The editorial, entitled Vancouver: Mutton Dressed as Lamb, goes straight for the eyes from the outset. “Vancouver is not fit to hold the Winter Olympics,†it declares in the opening paragraph.
And that was before Canada whipped Russia in the hockey quarter finals. Today, the site was less expansive.
“The Red Machine Runs into a Maple Tree,†was Pravda’s headline. Other newspaper banners across Russia included “Nightmare in Vancouver†and “Down and Out.â€
Reading back on Pravda’s screed, the schadenfreude will be thick for Canadian supporters. The website’s main athletic complaint is about a short-notice drug test issued to Russian skier Natalya Korosteleva. It neglects to mention that VANOC organizers have no input into the drug-testing regime of any particular sporting body.
It also impugns us for the decision to give the gold medal in men’s figure skating to American Evan Lysacek over Russian Evgeni Plushenko – as if we had some say in that, either.
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“Even more diligent critics of Vancouver 2010 have been astonished by the editorial,†the Times of Londonwrote today.
Last night, Russian hockey stars were being … well … Russian about their loss.
Supporters of a Ukrainian museum in Edmonton say they desperately need a new and bigger building, and they want answers from Ottawa about whether it will help cover expenses.
The province, the city and individuals have all chipped in after a 10-year fundraising campaign by the Ukrainian Canadian Archives Museum of Alberta. But the museum is still waiting for final approval and cash from Ottawa.
“People maybe get a little bit disappointed about the lack of progress so it’s hard to get people enthusiastic about something that’s stagnated,” said museum board member Paul Teterenko
Museum officials say they never thought it would take this long, and neither did Conservative MP Peter Goldring, a long-time supporter of the project.
“(We were) just about ready to see ink on paper. What happened? I don’t know. I really don’t know,” he said.
Museum officials hope recently-appointed Minister of Public Works Rona Ambrose, an Edmonton MP, will help push the project along.
Teterenko says a bigger museum will bring in Ukrainian artifacts from Europe.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Saturday dropped her legal challenge to her rival’s presidential election victory, saying she had lost faith in the country’s courts.
Her dramatic backdown after a pledge just the day before to fight till the end was the latest twist in Tymoshenko’s tortuous struggle to hold on to power and sent rivals and observers guessing what her next move will be.
“It has become obvious that it is not a court and it is not justice,” said the flamboyant premier, wearing a grey dress, her trademark golden braid wrapped around her head.
“We are withdrawing our suit,” Tymoshenko told the court as it reconvened to hear her case.
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The premier had called for the court proceedings to be televised, a request the authorities denied.
On Friday she wore a funereal black dress in the court as she appealed for justice in an emotional hour-long speech.
Judges withdrew Saturday to deliberate following her suit withdrawal, but after some two hours waiting for a decision Tymoshenko left the courtroom.
Andriy Kozhemyakin, a top official with Tymoshenko’s party, said the party would soon convene to decide on her next move but said she was unlikely to turn to the courts again.
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In parliament, Yanukovych’s party has launched an official motion to throw out Tymoshenko and her government.
A few worth while responses have been posted in the same publication that broke the story on ‘Irvington students ditch communist theme’. In the article, a student who’s grandparents survived the Holodomor appealed to his classmates not to use a communist-themed t-shirt and they agreed to scrap the idea. Some very positive feedback resulted:
Can you imagine this happening with swastikas? I doubt it. That is because our educational system has done an excellent job in teaching about the horrors of Nazism. It has, however, failed to teach about the atrocities suffered under communist regimes.
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There are currently two bills in the Legislature that would amend the New York State Education Law to include other genocides: Bill S3356 in the Senate and Bill A6690 in the Assembly. Unfortunately, Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer, D-Mamaroneck, chair of the Education Committee in the Senate, is blocking their passage. The incident in Irvington is a glaring example of precisely why the passage of these bills is so important. Our government representatives and our school officials need to be held accountable in making sure that our children learn about the true nature of communism. Contact your representatives at www.nysenate.gov and www.assembly.state.ny.us and urge them to support passage of these bills.
The principal of Irvington High School is to be commended for not allowing students to use a pro-communist slogan and picture of a hammer and sickle for their Color Wars competition. In all likelihood the students had no intention of offending anyone and cannot be blamed. However, simply telling the students to change the theme is completely insufficient. It is our educational system that must be held accountable for teaching about the reality of communism.
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I call upon the Board of Regents, superintendents of school districts as well as our government officials to ensure that our students learn about the devastating role communism has played in the lives of so many people. It is only through education that we can work to erase the indifference that allowed the atrocities of communism, such as the Ukrainian Genocide-Holodomor of 1932-1933, to occur.
A Ukranian (sic) court on Wednesday put on hold the results of presidential elections that declared Viktor Yanukovych winner pending an appeal from his rival, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Tymoshenko lodged an appeal with Ukraine’s Higher Administrative Court to contest the official results of the February 10 run-off. The court partially granted her appeal and stopped the Central Election Commission’s decision on the outcome of the vote.
Tymoshenko had fought a close race with former prime minister Yanukovich. He was due to be inaugurated February 25, the Ukrainian parliament said this week.
The next Winter Olympics is shaping up as a Cold War-style battle between Canada and Russia after a blistering editorial in Pravda labeled us as a nation of cowardly, incompetent war criminals.
Supporters of a Ukrainian museum in Edmonton say they desperately need a new and bigger building, and they want answers from Ottawa about whether it will help cover expenses.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Saturday dropped her legal challenge to her rival’s presidential election victory, saying she had lost faith in the country’s courts.
Judges withdrew Saturday to deliberate following her suit withdrawal, but after some two hours waiting for a decision Tymoshenko left the courtroom.