text:
January 12,
This Date's Issues: 4028 4029
Johnson's Russia List
12 January 2000
[Note from David Johnson:
1. Reuters: Russians poorer in 1999, official figures show.
2. Reuters: Martin Nesirky, Putin wants powerful Russia.
3. Novaya Gazeta: WILL PUTIN OR WILL HIS RATING WIN AT THE PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS Interview with Lilya SHEVTSOVA, professor of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and leading researcher at the Carnegie
4. Jamestown Foundation Monitor: PUTIN SAYS MOSCOW APARTMENT BOMBERS WERE
5. Reuters: Peter Graff, Russia has no answer to old Chechen trick.
6. THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN UKRAINE: MIRROR OF A SOCIETY IN TRANSITION by Antonina Kolodii
(Lviv) with the assistance of Stephen D. Shenfield.]
Russians poorer in 1999, official figures show
MOSCOW, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Russians became at least 15 percent poorer last
year despite the country's much publicised economic stabilisation after being
hit by a 1998 financial crisis, official data obtained by Reuters showed on
But some analysts suggested that the registered decline in incomes could be a
result of growing tax evasion rather than of a further fall in living
According to the annual review of key social and economic indicators issued
by the Economy Ministry, the number of Russians living below the poverty line
grew by 10 million last year to 50 million in a total population of about 147
The government says that for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet
Union it has managed to stick to austere targets set in the 1999 budget and
that it expected growth of about 1.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)
for that year.
Analysts suggested the contrast between figures showing economic
stabilisation on the one hand and decline in living standards on the other
showed that many Russians do not report their incomes.
Most Russians receive wages and carry out money transactions in cash, which
makes it difficult for fiscal authorities to trace tax dodgers.
``There are two conclusions one can draw from the official figures,''
respected business daily Vedomosti said.
``One is that we live in an impoverished country, and the second is that in
this impoverished country there is a considerable amount of income which is
not reflected in official statistics.''
All post-Soviet Russian governments have waged largely fruitless wars against
tax dodgers, both individuals and companies.
But the current government of Vladimir Putin has said at least part of its
economic achievements last year should be credited to improved tax
Putin wants powerful Russia
By Martin Nesirky
MOSCOW, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Acting President Vladimir Putin flexed his muscles
on Tuesday, saying Russia needed to rebuild its military might and patch up
its rickety economy to help the world's largest country regain superpower
The ex-KGB spy became acting head of state on New Year's Eve when Boris
Yeltsin resigned. He also remains premier, at least until the March 26
presidential election he is favourite to win, despite setbacks in the
Chechnya military campaign he launched.
Signs emerged on Tuesday Putin's run at the presidency could be simplified.
Mikhail Lapshin, head of the left-wing Agrarian Party and a friend of Yevgeny
Primakov, told Interfax news agency the ex-premier may soon withdraw as a
"It's clear that soon his position will be made public, but we are proceeding
from the stance that the surname Primakov will most likely not be on the
list," Lapshin was quoted as saying.
On Monday, Putin rolled out a safety net by putting Finance Minister Mikhail
Kasyanov in effective charge of the government while he is an acting
president running a country and campaign.
On Tuesday, he said he favoured seeing a woman made speaker of the State Duma
lower house of parliament. There are just 31 women in the new 450-seat Duma
that convenes on January 18.
Turning to a favourite theme, the 47-year-old judo expert said Russia -- in a
geopolitical and financial bind since the collapse of communism and a 1998
economic crisis -- deserved to restore its pride but needed the funds to do
"Our country Russia was a great, powerful, strong state," Putin said in
televised remarks after meeting his new minister for federal and national
affairs, Alexander Blokhin.
"It is clear this is not possible if we do not have strong armed forces,
powerful armed forces," Putin said. "We will not achieve this if we do not
solve a range of problems in the economic and social spheres."
There are certainly difficulties. The rouble hit a new low. The central
bank's rate for Wednesday was set at 28.44 to the dollar compared with 27.73.
This was coupled with statistics showing Russians became some 15 percent
poorer last year, although this could reflect tax evasion, itself unwelcome
It was not clear whether Blokhin's hitherto backwater ministry was going to
be given more mainstream responsibilities. But such a move would fit with
Putin's stated aims of fixing the economy, keeping Russia intact and boosting
the role of the intelligence and security forces he long served.
"The problems your ministry deals with concern every family, every community,
every town and every state body," he told Blokhin. The Russian Federation is
the world's largest country, a multi-ethnic state with 89 regions across 11
time zones from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean.
But since the Soviet Union imploded and the economy crumbled, Moscow's
once-mighty armed forces have been cut in size and are now demoralised and
underfunded, although they still have the world's second largest nuclear
Additionally, the military has recently hit difficulties in its campaign
against Islamic militants in the breakaway region of Chechnya and Moscow has
said it made mistakes in the nearly four-month campaign to restore control
over the region.
Putin, whose tough stance against Chechnya has helped make him Russia's most
popular politician, knows mounting reversals in the relatively successful
campaign could eat into his lead.
Primakov, who said in December he would run, had been seen as a leading rival
for Putin. If he pulls out that would leave Communist Party leader Gennady
Zyuganov and liberal Yabloko party chief Grigory Yavlinsky as the main
challengers, with a handful of other outsiders.
In the convoluted world of Russian politics, attention has temporarily
switched to who is going be voted speaker of the Duma when it meets for the
first time since the December 19 election in which Putin backers did notably
"I think there are too few women in the leadership of the country, and if we
examine the question from this perspective, as I understand it, one of the
candidates from the Unity bloc is a woman," he said, referring to Lyubov
Sliska, a 46-year-old former regional parliamentarian from the Volga city of
Sliska is in fact the only declared candidate from the pro-Putin Unity bloc
for the post, an influential position which usually goes to the grouping with
the largest number of seats.
Gennady Seleznyov, the outgoing speaker who just lost an election for the
post of Moscow region governor, will be the Communists' candidate. They have
the largest number of seats.
Other candidates include former premier Sergei Stepashin for Yabloko and
flamboyant ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Primakov could be a
compromise candidate.
Novaya Gazeta
No. 49
[translation from RIA Novosti for personal use only]
Lilya SHEVTSOVA, D. Sc., professor of the Moscow State
Institute of International Relations and leading
researcher at the Carnegie Centre, is interviewed by
Novaya Gazeta's Yelena AFANASYEVA.
Question: What has surprised you about the results of the
State Duma elections?
Answer: There have been several surprises. I did not think
that Yabloko would have garnered less than seven percent of the
national vote. I thought that Unity would have taken away part of
Vladimir Zhirinovsky's electorate. However, some of his
traditional supporters voted for the Union of Right Forces (SPS).
I did not think that the inflation of Unity would have led to
such results. I probably underestimated the turn towards the
unity of both our society and the overwhelming part of its ruling
class on the basis of the striving for "the dictatorship of
order", which occurred in such a short span of time. This
explains support for Vladimir Putin and his "bloc of power." The
change of political orientations has been astonishingly fast. In
the beginning of the year society approved of one leader and at
the end of the year - a leader with an absolutely different
political style and actually different form of rule.
Question: Do you mean support for Yevgeny Primakov in the
beginning of 1999 and for Putin in the end of the same year?
Answer: Yes, of course. Even after his dismissal Primakov's
rating was 68 percent - a big part of society supported the
moderate leader of a consensus type.
Yes, liberals and democrats criticize and continue to
criticize Primakov. However, he has made a breakthrough from a
quasi-monarchical system of power by dismembering it and turning
the premier into an independent entity by introducing for the
first time the practice of reliance on parliament. As a matter of
fact, Primakov put an end to super-Presidency. He also made
communists go against their nature and approve of the most
liberal budget in the history, which was even more liberal than
in Anatoly Chubais's times. However, as a result of the known
August-September events society turned to a different formula of
power - the "strong arm."
Question: Russians began longing for what they had used to
during Boris Yeltsin's Presidency?
Answer: Yeltsin has not been a cruel leader. He was the
elected monarch who stood above all and retained his "omnipotent
power" by sharing some part of it on a piecemeal basis with some
or others. Putin became the "heir apparent" in the very first
three months of his premiership - Yeltsin allowed the Premier to
do the clean-up work for him.
Putin was made responsible for Chechnya. But, in fact
Chechnya was the means thanks to which he was to become the
embodiment, the symbol of "the dictatorship of order".
Putin became the answer to the fear which suddenly gripped
ordinary Russians and the society's elite alike. Ordinary
Russians were frightened by bomb explosions and the loss of the
feeling of security. International financial and other scandals,
which made the West turn away from Russia, caused confusion among
those at the top who lost all confidence that they could at any
moment fly to a safe place somewhere at Malibu.
By the way, I, just as many others, am very disturbed by the
cause-and-effect connection of the scandals-Dagestan-explosions-
Chechnya link, especially as all this happened in the run-up to
the parliamentary elections.
But it would be a mistake to presume that Putin owes his
rating only to Chechnya. Obscurity became his trump card because
it allowed many to think in the beginning that he at least was
far from the Kremlin.
Question: Now that society has so radically changed its
sentiment twice in one year, does the present state of affairs
mean that "Putin is our president"?
Answer: Quite a few traps are waiting for Putin, and
Chechnya may not be the most dangerous of them. Anyway, there are
ways to create the semblance of victory and keep Putin's
popularity rating at the level of 20% even in the event of a
negative course of developments in Chechnya, thereby ensuring his
participation in the runoff with Gennady Zyuganov.
Putin no more an enigma. He has to specify his position. His
attempt to put accents in the economic sphere has already
displeased the left and the right alike.
Question: Last July the rejection of the regime by the
public seemed to be absolute, and we all ridiculed the Kremlin's
plans, wondering if its spin doctors regarded us as idiots,
thinking that with the help of huge money they would once again
make us vote for anyone. Half a year later, we did exactly that.
Does it mean that they are right?
Answer: There has not been any "brilliant" campaign by the
Kremlin's spin doctors. The matter is that the bomb explosions
resulted in a high demand for a "strong arm," and it was just a
matter of technique to satisfy it. The public relations campaign
which followed surprisingly lacked finesse and a good intrigue.
It was incredibly unsophisticated and clumsy. It was built on
four pillars: to discredit real presidential candidates -
Primakov and Luzhkov, to preserve a suitable rival - the KPRF, to
create the official successor - Putin and his party in the form
of a new "bloc of power" Unity and the Union of Right Forces). We
must admit that the main characters in that spectacle were chosen
successfully - Putin and Sergei Shoigu with their character and
political "texture." Sergei Stepashin does not have such a
Question: Do you think that Stepashin was out because of the
lack of the "texture" and not because of guaranteed loyalty?
Answer: I think Stepashin was loyal to the Kremlin, He
proved it more than once. However, psychologically he was not
suitable for the role of the macho man. He is known in the
political circles as a kind man who is "everyone's friend." Even
his appearance disagrees with the role of the "tough arm." Putin
with his cool and ascetic face looked more suitable for the role.
The "selectionists" had to have guarantees that he would not
abandon them later. They should have the possibility to influence
him, to know his weak spots, his past, etc.
A natural question arises: is it possible to step into the
same waters three times, i.e., is it possible, after the
manipulations with the 1996 presidential elections and the 1999
Duma elections, to "organise" the 2000 presidential elections in
the same way? The answer to this question will depend on the
quality of the public demand, rather than the mastery of spin
Question: Does the present support for the pro-Kremlin blocs
show that the rejection by the public of the ruling regime and
all that stands behind it was not as final and as absolute as it
seemed last summer?
Answer: The public is irritated and disenchanted. It is sick
and tired of the senile regime. At the same time, the majority of
Russians do not have the desire to topple it. There is no
revolutionary situation in the country. There is the desire not
to crush the "furniture" but to change it. The latest voting
re-affirmed that the masses do not wish new shocks.
The voting also showed a very interesting thing: protest
sentiments were reflected not only in voting against all and
support for the opposition - the left forces, Fatherland-All
Russia (OVR) and Yabloko. The paradox is that the Kremlin managed
to turn public discontent into a hope for renewal. Putin, Shoigu,
Chubais - all of them together and each separately played on the
contrast to feeble Yeltsin by offering society young, aggressive
and dynamic leaders as the alternative. In fact, they offered
society to close the chapter called "Yeltsin" peacefully and
without much ado. The future will show the degree to which this
manoeuvre was a success. This will become clear as soon as
Chechnya, which made any form of protest against the regime
non-patriotic, is moved to the background.
Question: What have been the miscalculations of those who
are publicly called the failures of the Duma elections - the OVR
and Yabloko?
Answer: The OVR can be seen as a failure only if the initial
expectations are regarded as the criterion of success. The
problem is that they are used to playing in greenhouse conditions
and were not ready for the Kremlin's tough pressure and the
appearance of Unity. The teams headed by Luzhkov and Primakov -
Fatherland and All Russia - poorly coordinated their actions,
which resulted in internal differences. Anyway, the leaders of
the alternative party of power failed to overcome the impression
that they were just a displeased echelon of the same party and
the main slogan of this echelon is "Get down and let us drive!"
Yeltsin's trap into which Primakov fell also had a role to
play. By his image of a feeble ruler Yeltsin created the fear in
society that Primakov was no better.
The most important thing is that the regime's structural
trap also proved to be a success. It turned out that the power
does not withstand a dual centre. It rejects any attempts to form
a strong oppositional vector. The Kremlin begins pressing along
the entire front. Under these circumstances the political class
and the passively submissible part of society takes the side of
the official regime.
But the very fact that the OVR, nonetheless, survived in
such a situation can be regarded as an achievement.
Question: Don't you think that ex-Premier Stepashin has
played the same role for Yabloko as Yastrzhembsky or Karaganov
has played for the OVR?
Answer: Opinion polls show that Stepashin has neither
reduced nor increased the number of votes for Yabloko. Almost all
of his electorate turned to Unity and the right forces.
Nonetheless, Stepashin has made a very important thing for
Yabloko. He proved that Yabloko is open to alliances and that it
is not an isolationist party.
Yabloko's election results are the consequence of the
typical weakness of a party of intellectuals - the inability to
organise, in addition to vacillations and even the lack of
clarity with regard to its stand on Chechnya, its attitude to
Putin and Luzhkov and the possibility of political alliances.
It was too late when these positions were clarified and this
disoriented the electorate.
There was one problem which Yabloko was simply unable to
cope with. It is the wave of universal consolidation on the basis
of Chechnya, or, to be more precisely, the power solution of the
Chechnya problem. The fact that Yabloko did not support this
consolidation cost it the loss of part of its traditional
electorate. Till that time few even suspected that part of
Yabloko's supporters are advocates of a strong Russian state and
not liberals. As a matter of fact, Yabloko suffered because it
tried to preserve liberalism. Today, it is the only democratic,
liberal opposition on our political scene. Hence its special
responsibility. Whatever this party is doing today is sooner for
the future, not for the present. But in all victories and defeats
the price is of incredible importance.
Question: The present results have not been paid for but
taken on credit, haven't they?
Answer: This is obvious. Take Putin, for one. To preserve
his patchwork "bloc of power" till the presidential election he
has to create his own system of patrons and clients. Will he be
able to avoid falling into the stifling embrace of his new
Of even greater interest is the price communists will have
to pay for the favoured treatment regime which they have
received. The role of the Kremlin's "sparring partner" has been
prepared for them in the future presidential elections which the
communist party is to lose. So, the price of the communists'
present - albeit, partial - victory in the Duma elections is to
be their defeat in the presidential elections. Will the communist
party reconcile itself to the role of a sacrificial lamb or will
it take Zyuganov out of the race and support Primakov, thereby
becoming part of the anti-Kremlin front?
The right forces, as represented by the SPS, are already
paying their price. The core of the matter is more than their
humiliating breakthrough into the new Duma in the wake of Putin's
popularity the tail of which they managed to catch. In the final
count, it is politics in which all kinds of temporary alliances
are possible. The thing is that in the name of victory the right
have betrayed liberalism and its fundamental idea of support for
the order in the name of the interests of the individual.
Jamestown Foundation Monitor
11 January 2000
IN URUS-MARTAN. Acting President Vladimir Putin said yesterday
that he is certain that those responsible for blowing up apartment buildings
in Moscow, Volgodonsk and Buinaksk last fall had received instruction
at a terrorist training camp in Urus-Martan, Chechnya. Putin's
comments were clearly a reaction to a report last week in the
British newspaper The Independent that it had obtained a video,
taken in December by a Turkish journalist, in which a Russian
military intelligence officer who was captured by the Chechen
rebels "confesses" that the bombings in Volgodonsk and Moscow were
carried out by Russia's Federal Security Service in cooperation
with the GRU, Russia's military intelligence service. Some 300
people died in four apartment buildings in Russia this past fall,
and the attacks, coming on the heels of an invasion by Chechnya-
based Islamic militants on neighboring Dagestan, sparked the
latest Chechen war. On January 6, Nikolai Koshman, the Russian
government's representative in Chechnya, said that a training base
for "saboteurs" had recently been found in Urus-Martan, along with
explosives identical to those used in the apartment building
explosions. Koshman added that Chechen field commander Khattab had
"admitted that the explosions in Moscow were his work." It is not
clear when Khattab is alleged to have made this admission. Koshman
also said it was "impossible" that the Russian authorities were
behind the blast (Russian agencies, January 6).
Some observers, including State Duma Deputy Konstantin Borovoi,
have suggested that Russia's special services engineered the
apartment bombing blasts as a pretext for the war and, presumably,
to boost the prospects of a Putin presidency. Last fall, Borovoi
said that a GRU officer had warned him that such terrorist attacks
would take place. Borovoi, who maintained close contacts with
Djohar Dudaev, Chechnya's first president, prior to Dudaev's death
in 1996, also said that Russia's special services may have used
Chechens to carry out the bombings. The Chechen rebels themselves
have charged that the Russian authorities were behind the
explosions, and the newspaper Moskovsky komsomolets suggested last
year that the tycoon and Kremlin insider Boris Berezovsky had
given money to Chechen field commander Shamil Basaev shortly
before he led the raid against Dagestan. In a recent interview
with a London-based Arabic newspaper, Chechen Mufti Akhmed-Khadzhi
Kadyrov, who is seen as supporting the Russian side in the current
war, said that he had heard Basaev admit that Berezovsky had given
him US$1 million. Kadyrov accused the Russian authorities of
looking the other way while money and mercenaries, largely from
the Middle East, entered Chechnya. Kadyrov also charged that
former Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin had sent arms to Islamic
militants in Dagestan during his tenure as head of government (Al-
Sharq al-Awsat, January 7).
The Russian government's charges that the Chechen fighters were
receiving aid from international terrorist groups were bolstered
over the weekend by a Western newspaper report that Chechen
guerrillas had been trained in Chechnya by instructors from the
militant Shia Islamic group Hezbollah (Sunday Telegraph, January
Meanwhile Putin met yesterday with Vladimir Ustinov, Russia's
acting prosecutor general, to discuss his investigation into
alleged genocide against ethnic Russians living in Chechnya
(Russian agencies, January 10).
ANALYSIS-Russia has no answer to old Chechen trick
By Peter Graff
MOSCOW, Jan 11 (Reuters) - When Chechen guerrillas, on the retreat for three
and a half months, returned to their favourite tactic of lightning raids on
Russian-held towns, the only people who seemed surprised were Moscow's
Simultaneous rebel attacks on several key Russian-held towns in Chechnya's
lowlands forced Moscow to acknowledge the worst losses of its campaign so
Details of the latest fighting are still sketchy, but the picture emerging
has already wrecked a myth that Russian forces were headed for certain
"The Russian army has suffered a serious setback. It is not yet a defeat, but
a serious wake-up call," said Dmitry Trenin, defence analyst at the Moscow
office of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"Victory was supposed to have been inescapable, but there is no certainty of
victory at all. The Russian army can control territory, but only in very
dangerous, hostile surroundings."
Military experts have been predicting for weeks that the Chechens would
attempt such raids, as they did in 1994-96.
Ariel Cohen, a research analyst and Russia expert at the Heritage Foundation
in Washington, said the Russian army, beaten in the last war, should have
known what was coming.
"It's deja vu all over again," he said. "They stepped on the same rake again
in Chechnya."
Back in August, 1995, Russia occupied nearly all of Chechnya. Peace talks
were under way in the capital Grozny, patrols roamed the streets of nearly
every town and village and roadblocks loomed over every highway.
But none of those measures could stop about 60 fighters from seizing a
building in Argun, a suburb across the river to the east of Grozny, in the
early hours of a Monday morning.
Russian forces surrounded and pulverised the town. Generals later boasted
that they had killed between 60 and 80 fighters.
But in the morning, as they swooped through the wreckage, the troops found
that the rebels had vanished into the hills.
Over the next year, Chechen fighters would repeat the trick in Gudermes, in
Pervomaiskoye -- a village across the border in Dagestan province -- and
twice in Grozny itself.
The Russian army never found a way to deal with these attacks, and when
rebels seized Grozny a second time in August, 1996, Russia finally gave up
and withdrew its troops in defeat.
After the latest setback Russia's press, which has vigorously supported the
war, has already begun calling for a new course.
So far, Acting President Vladimir Putin has kept his poker face, saying there
have been no changes in the situation on the ground. He still faces little
challenge in an election in March.
But a war that had been the main source of his enormous popularity could yet
become his greatest liability.
For the first time, Putin's supremely self-confident generals have been
"We had a serious discussion today and the appropriate conclusions have been
drawn," Viktor Kazantsev, the top commander in Chechnya, said on Monday.
He said no such mistakes would be made in the future. But others were less
"If the political leadership does not make serious strategic changes in its
North Caucasus policy, then we can expect more serious casualties and
defeats," said the newspaper Izvestia.
"Everyone knew of the possibility of a counterattack, especially in Argun and
Gudermes, and nothing was done...The period of triumphant victories and
beautiful words has ended."
The raids were a sudden reminder of the lesson Russia should have learned in
the 1994-96 war in the rebel region -- occupying all of Chechnya's territory
is not enough to win control of it.
Chechen guerrillas cannot hold territory forever in the face of Russia's war
machine. But as soon as Russian forces "liberate" a town, it becomes a target
for Chechen raids.
If Chechen guerrillas can still organise surprise attacks on Chechen towns
under Russian control, it may only be a matter of time before they attack
other parts of Russia, Cohen said.
"The next thing I'm waiting for is in-depth raids, lightning raids, showing a
very spectacular flair for public impact."
Such an attack would provide a more serious test for Putin than any he has
yet faced so far. Even if he is all but certain to win the March presidential
election, a catastrophe at the outset or a prolonged armed conflict could
haunt his whole term.
"Russian public opinion and the popularity of Russian politicians is a very
fickle thing. It is not something that can be taken for granted, even by such
a political superstar as Putin," Cohen said.
"The main question is: what would be the cost in blood of Russian soldiers to
occupy and hold Chechnya? Is it a cost that Putin will be willing to pay,
especially at the start of his glorious presidency?"
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2000
From: Stephen Shenfield <email@example.com> >)
Subject: Ukraine's political future
Dear David
Here is an analysis of the significance of the recent Ukrainian presidential
election and Ukraine's political prospects. It is based on a text written
during a visit to Canada by my colleague Antonina Kolodii, a political
scientist at Lviv Polytechnical University, Ukraine: e-mail
<firstname.lastname@example.com>. I edited the text for style. Perhaps it will give
JRL readers a change from Russia's presidential politics.
Antonina Kolodii (Lviv) with the assistance of Stephen D. Shenfield
Ukraine has remained politically stable in spite of continuous
economic decline and widespread impoverishment. The various branches
of the political elite have been prepared to compromise and halt political
clashes before they reached crisis point.
President Leonid Kuchma has played a major role in preserving
stability. He has shown himself to be if not a convinced democrat, then at
least a moderate, sober-minded, and flexible politician. His main
achievements as an architect of compromise have been the Constitutional
Agreement of 1995 and the adoption of the new constitution in 1996.
It was also in 1996 that the national currency (gryvna) was introduced.
The mid-1990s saw the rise of economic 'clans' and 'oligarchs'
in Ukraine, who have undermined the real power and influence of the new
political parties. The victory that the clans won over the parties in this
invisible struggle was reflected in the results of the 1998 and 1999
What we see on the surface in 1999 is that Kuchma won the
'great battle' against the 'red menace' -- a menace that he and his team had
created themselves, both intentionally (through the mass media) and
unintentionally (by aggravating the economic situation and impoverishing
the people). This victory was not unexpected, especially after the failure
of the four left-center candidates to unite behind a single candidate who
might have mounted an effective challenge to both Kuchma and the
All the same, many people, especially abroad, wonder how it
can be that a majority of Ukrainians have again supported Kuchma --
the man whose promises to launch vigorous reforms and combat organized
crime have been exposed as mere words. By voting for him, Ukrainians
have doomed themselves to another five years of leadership that 'The
Times' has described as 'the worst in Europe.'�
Why did Kuchma win? What does his victory mean for Ukraine?
To what extent does it confirm or contradict commonly accepted ideas about
the socio-political situation in Ukraine, such as regional differences and�
authoritarian tendencies? What problems did it reveal and how can they be
The candidates
Sixteen candidates stood for president of Ukraine this year.
It is convenient to divide them into four groups:
First of all, the three frontrunners:
-- Leonid Kuchma, the incumbent president of Ukraine.
-- Petro Symonenko, leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
-- Natalia Vitrenko, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party.
Secondly, the left-center politicians known as the 'Kaniv four':
-- Olexander Tkachenko, the current chairman of the parliament.
-- Olexander Moroz, the former chairman of the parliament and a leader
of the Socialist Party of Ukraine.
-- Yevhen Marchuk, the first head of the Security Service of Ukraine,
a former prime minister of Ukraine, and a parliamentary deputy elected
from the Socialist Democratic Party (United).
-- Volodymyr Oliynyk, a little-known local official from the central
agrarian Cherkasy Province, of uncertain ideological orientation.
Two more candidates came from Rukh, the right-centrist
'national democratic' movement that played an important role in winning
-- Henadiy Udovenko, a former minister of foreign affairs who headed
the more conservative part of Rukh, concerned mainly with statehood
and cultural concerns.
-- Yuriy Kostenko, leader of the younger and more pragmatic part of Rukh.
Finally, there were seven minor figures standing, none of whom won
more than 0.5% of the votes.
The candidates' assets
Kuchma was supported by over two dozen political parties
and civic organizations. Some of these represented wealthy new oligarchs
or powerful local officials, while others backed Kuchma because they
knew they had no political future without governmental support. Kuchma
had the support of part of the former 'party of power,' the People's
Democratic Party, which split on the eve of the election, and of the
Socialist Democratic Party (United), headed by Victor Medvedchuk,
deputy chairman of the parliament and one of the richest people in Ukraine.
Symonenko could hope to retain the support of the 25% of the
electorate, including a majority of pensioners and the unemployed, who
had voted for the Communist Party in the 1998 parliamentary election.
Vitrenko had attracted much attention as a demagogue. In some
unreliable polls she came second or even first in popularity.
The 'Kaniv Four' had agreed to cooperate and choose one of
their number as a common candidate. Such a candidate would have posed
a real challenge to Kuchma, who according to the polls could have been
defeated only by a centrist politician. But the plan failed, because the
'Kaniv four' were too ambitious to stand down in one another's favor and
also had� different ideological orientations: Tkachenko resembles Belorussian
President Lukashenka; Moroz calls himself a left centrist, but has never
refused to stand under a red flag alongside Symonenko; and Marchuk,
while ostensibly a social democrat, is in fact an establishment politician
like� Kuchma. (After his defeat in the first round, he accepted Kuchma's
offer of the position of Secretary of the Defense Council.)
The election results
The results of the first round of the election on October 31 were
as follows:
Candidate Votes "FOR" % of votes "FOR"
Kuchma 9,598,672 36.5
Symonenko 5,849,077 22.2
Moroz 2,969,896 11.3
Vitrenko 2,886,972 11.0
Marchuk 2,138,356 � 8.1
Kostenko �� 570,623 � 2.2
Udovenko �� 319,778 � 1.2
Minor figures���288,396�������������� 1.5
Against all candidates��477,019 � 1.8
Why Kuchma and Symonenko?
Thus Kuchma came first, with the Communist Party candidate
Symonenko his leading rival. Why did the electors choose these two
The first and simplest explanation, of course, may be that Ukrainians
are conservative and submissive people. They just do not evaluate the
situation critically and do not want reforms at all. But this assertion is
rather superficial and does not correspond to the findings of sociological
surveys. These show that during the first term of Kuchma's presidency
people were very critical of him. The proportion of respondents who
thought that 'things are going in the right direction in this country' was
13% in December 1994, 14% in December 1996, and a mere 6% in
December 1998 (SOCIS-GALLUP). And when asked on the eve of the
electoral campaign 'Who in your view is able to lead the country out of
the crisis?', only 6% named Kuchma.
True, the public trusted the other branches of state power even less.
If the level of trust in the president fell from 33% to 17% between 1995
and 1997, that in the government fell in the same period from 15% to 9%,
and that in the parliament from 9% to 7%. Trust in public institutions in
Ukraine (as in other post-communist countries) is very low. About 35%
of the public do not approve of the multiparty system, and do not believe
that any existing party or politician is able to lead the country out of the
crisis or govern it effectively.
It is striking that in 1997 there were 45% who agreed, and only 16%
who disagreed, with the statement that 'a few powerful rulers may do
more for the country than all laws and� discussions.' Some analysts saw
these figures as a sign of the authoritarian inclinations of the Ukrainian
people. But comparing this survey with others (including my own survey
in Lviv and Kharkiv), I came to the conclusion that people only seek a
strong and charismatic figure able to lead the country out of the pit into
which it has fallen. They want 'delegative democracy' rather than an
authoritarian regime. The main characteristic of this underdeveloped kind
of democracy is that people want to transfer responsibility for the successes
and failures of government in the transitional period from themselves to the
president,� who is expected to govern as he sees fit.
As for the Constitution with its� hybrid parliamentary-presidential form
of government, multiparty system, and other checks and balances, it was
devised by a political elite over the heads of the people, who were just
trying to survive. Of all the new political institutions, only the presidency
is really understood and valued highly by ordinary people. When asked in
1997 what powers the president should have, 60% of respondents chose
the answer: 'The president should be the head of the government, fully
responsible for domestic and foreign policy.' Only 7% chose an answer
corresponding to the existing mixed form of government; 7% thought it
sufficient for the president to act as head of state and be the 'symbol' of
the nation; and 5% said there was no need for a president. This helps
explain why so many people turned out for the presidential election and
voted for Kuchma, in spite of their disappointment with the results of his
first term.
There were, of course, other reasons for Kuchma's success. As
international observers confirmed, the mass media were not allowed to
provide non-partisan and objective coverage of electoral campaign. Kuchma
shamelessly promoted himself on state television, while agitation against
him was discouraged by the authorities at all levels. Local officials were
mobilized in support of Kuchma's campaign. Many other procedural
violations were noted by OSCE observers.
Media bias worked especially to the detriment of those candidates who
were less well known to the public. It did less harm to Symonenko, the
communist candidate, who was able to rely on his party's extensive
network of propaganda outlets and personal contacts. The main hope of
the communists, of course, was that people would vote for their party
because they were tired of living in poverty. But almost all experts agreed
that Symonenko had no chance of winning against Kuchma.�
Permanent economic crisis naturally strengthens left-wing critics of
the 'anti-people's regime.' Voters' preferences have moved leftward
during the last five years. It is no coincidence that all three of the
candidates who came next after Kuchma in the first round were
representatives of leftist parties. So there is a tendency for the 'red
electorate' to expand, but it has its limits. But in general, as one reader
of the Ukrainian weekly 'The Day' concluded, 'the commonsense of the
majority of electors overweighed their desire to protest, and of the two
evils offered them the electors chose the lesser.' Kuchma was also right
when he remarked after his victory that in those regions where Symonenko
gained a majority people voted against their poor life, not for the
It came as a surprise to many observers that the leftist parties did
in central-western Vinnitsa Province than in the industrial east� (with the
exception of Luhansk Province). In Ukraine as in Russia, the main territorial
stronghold of the communists is now not in the industrial areas, but in some
of the less economically developed, predominantly agricultural regions.
Parties, clans, and oligarchs
Another common explanation of the election results focuses on the
inadequacies of the Ukrainian political elite: the weakness of the parties,
especially on the right side of the political spectrum; the shortage of
leaders free of communist-bureaucratic stereotypes in their thinking and
behavior; and the domination of real politics by the 'oligarchs' (in the
that it is they who are accumulating real as distinct from formal power).�
The present state of the multiparty system is indeed dull. In 1996-98
it was hoped that the mixed (half proportional representation) electoral
system would strengthen the party system and structure the parliament
politically. Those hopes have been dashed. There are 75 parties in Ukraine
now, but they have little impact on real politics. There is no explicit
party or bloc, and no explicit opposition either. The eight party fractions
and the non-party deputy groups are continually being reorganized. In
1998, the left parties managed to make a temporary coalition with the
centrist Party 'Hromada' and elected a left-wing chair and deputy chair
of the parliament, but they did not have a stable majority. The party system
reminds one of a bird with a body (the 'party of power') and one wing
(leftist forces).
The communists remain the only effective opposition to the 'party of
power.' It is a dangerous situation, for it gives the ideologically neutral
'party of power' a pretext to introduce dictatorial rule. The forces in power
have a deliberate policy of impeding the rise of strong new opposition
parties. During the 1998 electoral campaign, they created pocket parties
in order to divert or deceive the electors, and the same practice was
repeated, with individual pocket candidates, in the presidential race.
Long before the presidential campaign a series of steps were taken to get
rid of any serious right-wing claimant for the presidency and to destroy
organized forces that could have given him support. But if rightist
politicians and parties were strong enough (in terms of program, strategy,
and popular appeal) it would be impossible for the ruling elite to damage
them so badly.
The internal crisis of Rukh and other right parties has made it easy to
destroy them. Especially important for the 'party of power' and painful
for the opposition was the breakdown of the most active and influential
party -- Rukh (Peoples Movement of Ukraine). One part of it -- romantics
and idealists who followed the former minister of foreign affairs Udovenko
-- were regarded by the broad public as a satellite of the presidential
The other part, led by Yuriy Kostenko, has little influence because it was
blamed for the schism.
There is an urgent need to unite reform-oriented political forces into
or at most two, political parties. Only then can rightist parties countervail
the power of the communist bloc and of the rising Ukrainian 'oligarchy' of
rich men, who try to combine in their hands economic and political power.
The regional factor
Let us now look at the results of the second round of the election
(November 14) in regional breakdown. Ukraine's provinces fall into
four groups:
-- Seven western provinces in which Kuchma won an overwhelming
majority of votes: Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Lviv, Transcarpathia,
Volyn, Chernivtsi, and Rivne.
-- Seven southern, eastern, and central provinces, in which Kuchma
won rather convincingly: Kyiv-city, Kyiv-province, Khmelnytskiy,
Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, and Sevastopol.
-- Nine provinces in which the communists won: Vinnitsa, Chernihiv,
Poltava, Cherkasy, Kirovograd, Kherson, Luhansk, and the
Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
-- Five provinces in which no candidate captured 50% of the votes:
Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv.
Many commentators have argued that Kuchma won because the voters
in western Ukraine gave a lower priority to economic concerns than to the
preservation of state independence, threatened by the communists'
intentions to integrate Ukraine with Russia. The reality is a little more
complicated. First of all, western Ukraine accounts for only about 20%
of the country's population, and is therefore unlikely to play a decisive
Secondly, Kuchma did very well in many provinces outside western Ukraine.
Thirdly, while regionalism is a significant factor in Ukrainian politics,
it is
all-important. Thus numerous public opinion surveys conducted in recent
years show many similarities as well as differences between eastern and
western Ukraine. And lastly, to understand fully regional differences, one
must make finer distinctions than a crude division into east and west.
In 1991, west Ukrainian electors supported a Rukh candidate, but failed
to bring him to power. Kravchuk was elected president thanks to the support
of voters in southern and eastern Ukraine. But the west Ukrainians found
Kravchuk to be sufficiently pro-independence, and in 1994 they supported
him against Kuchma, who also won on south and east Ukrainian votes.
Kuchma also, against expectations, did nothing to threaten Ukraine's
independence (if one leaves economic stagnation out of account), and this
year the west Ukrainians gave him their support. There is a joke in Ukraine:
easterners elect presidents for the country, and westerners love them.
In western Ukraine, the communists are regarded as socially and
nationally alien, an occupation force. Unlike in the rest of the country,
people are still alive who remember the suffering associated with absorption
into the USSR. This makes anticommunist aspirations firm and definite.
So it is no surprise that in Galicia, the most nationally conscious province
of the western region, the communist candidate won only 4-5% of votes,
while in the other four western provinces he won no more than 20%.�
People throughout the country saw no real alternative to Kuchma on the
one hand and the communists on the other, and they preferred Kuchma.
And they were quite right. It was not their fault that they were offered
such a miserable choice. It was the fault of the Ukrainian political elite,
especially of the rightist and left-centrist politicians. Their ineptitude
inability to combine forces behind a single candidate was so obvious that
it was natural for the electors not to rely on them.
The 1994 presidential election split Ukraine into eastern (left-bank)
western (right-bank) halves, separated by the Dniper River. This year's
election, by contrast, did NOT polarize the electorate between west and
east, unless one defines 'west' as consisting of Galicia alone. The most
salient division in 1999 was that between agrarian areas, oriented toward
the communists, and urban areas, which on the whole supported Kuchma.
Provinces with an anti-Kuchma majority were situated on both sides of
the Dniper, reflecting not so much cultural as economic factors, above all
the desperate situation in Ukrainian villages. If in the cities people have
not been paid their wages for months, in some villages they have seen no
money for years. They feel: 'We don't care if the communists return to
power. We lived somehow under the communists. We just want to be paid
our wages. Symonenko promised to do that. Why not give him a try? It
cannot be worse than it is already.'
The 'red belt' extends across the country from the Belorussian border
near Chernobyl in the north to Mykolayiv and Kherson on the Black Sea
coast. The Ukrainian peasantry is as conservative as that of any other
country. In post-communist countries, 'conservative' means pro-communist.
In industrial regions of both east and west, where workers constitute
the majority of voters, concerns were also predominantly economic, rather
than nationalistic or political. Nevertheless, workers seem to be more
politically sophisticated than peasants. Many of them were aware that
if the communists returned to power they might stop progress altogether,
leading to even worse poverty and misfortune.
Public opinion surveys conduced in Lviv (west) and Donetsk
(east) provinces in 1991 and 1998 show differences on such issues as
revival of the Ukrainian nation and language, and also ecology, but close
similarity on economic issues. It is these commonalities that make the
consolidation of the Ukrainian state feasible. In 1994, the two main
candidates for president, Kravchuk and Kuchma, happened to differ
only on those issues that divide east from west. In 1999, that was
definitely not the case.
After the election
There are two visions of Ukraine's future in Kuchma's second
term: a� moderately optimistic one and a totally pessimistic one.
The optimists anticipate a consolidation of power in the hands
of the president, who will then try to restart reforms and diminish the
influence of oligarchs and criminals (who are often the same people).
But does everything now depend on the president's will?� If so,
what motives might induce him to do these things? One answer is: honor,
the desire to leave a good imprint on Ukrainian history. But honor is not
enough. Kuchma would need sufficient strength to resist the pressures
of the oligarchs, and for that he would need to be able to count on the
support of strong organized political forces. Unfortunately, there are no
such forces. First a new political bloc would have to be built, capable of
safeguarding market reform and democracy.
The pessimists expect the further deterioration of
socio-economic conditions and a shift toward a more authoritarian
regime. The oligarchs who stand behind the re-elected president are not
interested in democracy, though they may not be interested in establishing
a� dictatorship either. So we may expect the growing hidden (under the
carpet, as we say in our country) domination of economically powerful
people and clans, who will exterminate any real opposition. At its extreme,
this scenario leads to the direct seizure of power by the Mafia, with the
removal of Kuchma ahead of time by means of impeachment or otherwise.
In my view, the optimists underestimate and the pessimists overestimate
the strength and political activity of latent pressure groups. Actually, the
oligarchs are not so powerful in Ukraine at present that no political force
can curb their appetites. All depends on the ability of political
really interested in defending public interests to mobilize public support,
as well as on the intentions of President Kuchma himself.�
Web page for CDI Russia Weekly:


text:
Finally, Steve had a good day. He walked around the yard and decided to water the almost dead grass. All day long the sprinkler was going and I don't care how much water was wasted on a very dry yard, he was happy.
I touched base with family and was able to give good news. I know he would like to make these calls himself but he can't get his voice loud enough since the bronchoscopy damaged his vocal cords.
He actually had an appetite today. I went snack shopping and got gourmet nuts, chocolates, chips, crackers, cheese and fruit. Easy to grab items. I think he is at 125 lbs. I never thought I'd weigh more than him but I do now.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
A well deserved good day
1 comment:
- Sue JonesJuly 23, 2012 at 8:17 PM
I hope that I am able to see the good in the days to come when Jonsey is in his treatment. So much stress with new program at work to learn and all this cancer crap in the back of my mind. Keeping the smile on my face as the inside of me is dying. I love reading your post Denise, they bring joy to me. I am praying constantly that the Lord does a miracle for you and Steve. God Bless you both.ReplyDelete
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Judit Polgar - Expert commentator at the Official webcast
Judit Polgar is the greatest female chess player of all time.
Judit Polgar from Hungary is considered the best female chess player in history, two-time Olympic champion. At the age 15 she broke Bobby Fischer's record by becoming the youngest Grandmaster. She has been ranked the world number one female chess player for over 25 years, and on the occasion of this exceptional achievement she was awarded a Guinness Record in 2014.
Ranked in top 10 in the Open (Men's) World Rating list and participated at the World Championship tournament in 2005. During her career Judit has defeated several world champions, including Kasparov, Karpov, Anand and Carlsen.
Silver medallist member of the Hungarian Olympic "Men" National Team, first in 2002 and repeated the success in 2014. After winning the silver medal at the Chess Olympiad the second time, she announced her retirement from competitive chess. In 2015 at the European Championship she led the Hungarian men to winning the bronze medal as team captain.
Established the Judit Polgar Chess Foundation in 2012 and is the main organizer of the annual Global Chess Festival. Judit's passion is to promote the game, inspire younger generations and to make a difference in education. Judit Polgar is the author of prize-winning books for professional chess players and children alike.
Judit and her team have developed the award-winning Chess Palace and the Chess Playground programs for children age 4-11. These educational programs use chess as an exceptional learning tool to facilitate children's development and to enable deploying their talent through chess. The motto of the Judit Polgar educational programs: Play your way to creative thinking.
Judit is also making efforts to make steps for gender equality as a "Planet 50-50 Champion" which was given to her by UN Women in 2016.
Given the James Joyce Award by the University College Dublin, in 2017.
Official commentator of the World Championship Final Match in 2016 and 2018.
From the end of 2018 Judit Polgar is the Honorary Vice President of the international World Chess Federation (FIDE)


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Although I spend the winter dreaming of "summertime, when the living is easy", the summer months are the busy season of my "day job" – months full of days like today when there is little time for more than skimming the surface of what would otherwise be a series of posts.
For example, the conviction of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman will not be among the "avalanche of legal challenges" expected to follow the recent USSC ruling on "honest services". The Court made certain of that:
In a one-sentence order, the Supreme Court instructed the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to review the convictions of Richard Scrushy, the former CEO of HealthSouth, and former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman…
Scrushy and Siegelman were convicted on bribery and corruption charges brought by the U.S. Attorney's office in the Middle District of Alabama in 2006. The government alleged Siegleman had improperly appointed Scrushy to a hospital regulatory board in exchange for Scrushy donating $50o,000 to a campaign for a state lottery that Seigelman supported…
Siegelman and Scrushy have maintained their innocence. Their attorneys have argued that donations the health care business executive made to the then-governor's lottery fund and Scrushy's later appointment to the Alabama health board wasn't criminal, just ordinary politics.
Speaking of honesty, Mississippi-born Jimmy Buffett recently told Anderson Cooper that he knows "liars when I hear them":
"You're not human if anger isn't your first emotion," Buffett tells Cooper while walking along a Gulf beach where he spent many of his younger days. Jimmy expresses his frustration with "people in the extraction business", as protection of the Gulf is clearly not their primary concern. When Cooper asks Buffett how he feels about the sight of tarballs littering the beaches he grew up on, he exclaims, "It's depressing as hell!"
True enough, tarballs littering the beaches are "depressing as hell" – and so is the news that Mississippi was more than a day late but not a dollar short! Mary Perez reports Mississippi now has own skimmers for battle with oil for the Sun Herald:
The state has leased eight skimmer boats to fight the oil before it lands on South Mississippi beaches…
Fisher said these are different from the 19 skimmers Gov. Haley Barbour ordered built for the state after he realized there were only 20 skimmer boats protecting the coastline from Louisiana to Florida.
Those are belt skimmers and are being built by two Coast contractors — Trinity Yachts in Gulfport and Overing Yachts in Ocean Springs.
Trudy Fisher, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality…toured Trinity Yachts on Monday and saw people working on the skimmers during the holiday.
She said Overing should begin delivery this week and the contractors should deliver about three a week.
Trinity also is building a 249-foot oil storage barge to download the oil from the skimmers.
The skimmers can operate in shallow or deep water and be used in Mississippi waters from the barrier islands north to the shoreline.
"They're state owned so they're state controlled," she said.
Inquiring minds suspect that one looking below the surface on this story will find "friends I've met while yachting".


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Kurt Cardinal (General Manager)
Mr. Cardinal has been with Askiy Apoy Hauling LP since December 2014. His 15+ years in the oilfield includes experience in oilfield trucking (Rig Moving, Heavy Hauling, Crude Oil, Long Haul), Field and Plant Operation with a 4th Class Power Engineer certification, Directional Drilling and Management (building/operation Manager in the Abu Dhabi, U.A.E). Mr. Cardinal's technical experience brings added value to the Askiy Apoy Hauling LP team.
Brian Fugard (Shop Manager)
Mr. Fugard has over 30 years experience in the mechanics discipline and currently holds a degree in Structural Engineering, a Red Seal in Heavy Duty Mechanics and is a ticketed Millwright. Prior to Askiy Apoy Hauling LP, he worked for many respected companies including One Earth Farms, Crestline Coach, Sterling Trucks and Freightliner Truck Manufacturing. Mr. Fugard's vast amount of experience and attention to detail ensures that all of Askiy Apoy Hauling LP operational equipment is at all times in textbook condition.
Wilma Dillon-Wolfe (Office Manager)
Mrs. Dillon-Wolfe has been with Askiy Apoy Hauling LP since October 2009 as a data entry clerk. Via her commitment and work ethic, has since been promoted to Office Manager. Mrs. Dillon-Wolfe graduated from Lakeland College in 2006 with a Professional Accounting diploma and has over 10 years experience in finance and office procedures. Mrs. Dillon-Wolfe has proven to be an asset to the Askiy Apoy Hauling LP team.
Winston Pahtayken (HSE Manager)
Mr. Pahtayken has been with Askiy Apoy Hauling LP in his position, since 2013. Mr. Pahtayken was previously employed as a Driver Operator hauling B-Train, Tri-Axle and Body Jobs with Larson's Management, Three Larson's and Socar Transport, this is complimented with extensive experience in the long haul trucking industry. Mr. Pahtayken's 14 years of trucking experience and formal HSE education allows for the assessment and training of all Askiy Apoy Hauling LP fleet drivers, all the while developing and maintaining the current company HSE programs.
Tony Dillon (Logistics Team Lead)
Mr. Dillon has been with Askiy Apoy Hauling LP since April, 2011 in his role. Mr. Dillon is currently overseeing a logistical team of four personal and monitoring of 26 Lease Operators. Coupled with formal education in Business Management and Motor Vehicle Appraisal and Assessment, Mr. Dillon has become an important facet of Askiy Apoy Hauling LP operations.


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Karin Elise Fajersson, Oslo University
College, Sharam Alghasi, University of
This network focuses on issues concerning the
impact of ethnicity in various aspects of
childhood. We welcome proposals for thematic
sessions and workshops, as well as papers from
individual participants for the overall network,
as well as for the specific areas focused below.
Group 1; Multiple
identities in multicultural societies
Group coordinator: Nora Stene Preston
The process of global
migration has led to the establishment of
multicultural societies. In these societies many
children grow up relating themselves to a variety of
different settings. Earlier research sometimes
described these children as between two cultures or
the half-way-generation. Today's child-research
often emphasizes the possibility of children's
multicultural competence and their plural identities.
The group aims to address issues dealing with
questions of ethnicity, ethnic relations and/or
multicultural challenges in children's lives.
Contributions may approach the question of
multicultural identities in different ways, using
the empirical data of their own research, or
bringing together earlier work in new and more
comprehensive discussions.
Group 2) Ethnic diversity in childhood education
Group coordinator: Camilla Eline Andersen
Childhoods are lived
in many arenas, and for many educational settings
are parts of their every day life. Educational
settings are also changing because of globalization
and migration. This is a matter that should be
continuously addressed. The Thematic network Group
Immigration and Ethnic Relations therefore want to
focus on what happens concerning multiple identities
in educational institutions for children aged 0-18.
We welcome proposals that address topics that
explore ethnic diversity in contemporary childhood
education from many angles and positions, and that
expands children's, practitioner's and researcher's
boundaries and challenges some of the discourses
possibly related to ethnic diversity and multiple
identities in childhood education all over the
Group 3) Continuity and Change: Linguistic Diversity
Group coordinator: Emel Türker
One of the areas that
should be considered in relation to immigration and
globalisation is language. Children with immigrant
background go through several processes regarding
multiple relations to family, minority immigrant
communities and majority community where there can
be relatively different socio-cultural and
linguistic patterns. The choices and uses of
different languages are important for children's
communication within these communities.
Proposals that cover sociolinguistic studies on
migration and bilingual/multilingual communities are
welcome. Some keywords are; children and their
social networks and language choice; their attitudes
towards languages; language maintenance/change
through generations; a comparative approach to
language choice and use concerning the linguistic
diversity among immigrant groups in different


text:
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text:
Migos drops visual for "Walk It Talk It" featuring Drake.
The trio of Migos returns with new material as they team up with Drake for the official visual for their track called "Walk It Talk It". Jamie Foxx also makes a cameo in the video. The song appeared on Migos' latest project 'CULTURE II'. Watch it below.


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100% life from concentrate
You can scroll the shelf using ← and → keys
You can scroll the shelf using ← and → keys
here are my favorite songs from the dying year. something about these tracks makes me treat them like niggas in paris. fill the comments up with your 2011 favorites.
Frank Ocean – "American Wedding"
J. Cole – "Nothing Lasts Forever"
Adele – "Set Fire to the Rain"
Wale – "That Way" f/ Jeremih & Rick Ross
T-Pain – "5 O'Clock" f/ Wiz Khalifa & Lily Allen AWOLNATION – "Sail"
Dr. Dre – "I Need A Doctor" f/ Eminem & Skylar Grey
Jay-Z & Kanye West – "Murder to Excellence"
Drake – "Crew Love" f/ The Weeknd
Musiq Soulchild – "Silver and Gold"
Common – "Blue Sky"
Coldplay – "Up with the Birds"
update: you can stream the songs together right here.
previously: life rewind: a 2010 soundtrack


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Though the collection was less than Akshay Kumar's last movie Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (13.10 crores), it might show a positive trend from today giving its positive word of mouth.
The main reason behind producing the movie was to show people the struggle that females in our country are going through. And we can say that it does an awesome job at it while remaining super entertaining.
The list of Bollywood movies which have been banned in Pakistan is quite long, including the recent Tiger Zinda Hai (2017). The filmmaker has an extremely innovative style of telling a story and knows how to bring out the best out of his actors. This is also the first time that Twinkle Khanna is producing a film and we feel that the message behind it was the main reason for her to do it as well. "I think it's hats off to the women who are in it, who are appreciating it and who inspired us to make this film". The film has released with a screen count of whopping 3350 screens.
Balki believes that the decision to not release Pad Man has nothing to do with politics.
Meanwhile, PadMan is doing well at the domestic box-office as R Balki film has crossed 23.94 crores in two days of its release.
Starring Kumar, Radhika Apte and Sonam Kapoor in leading roles, the film opened on February 9.
The movie opened by collecting 10.26 crores on its 1st day setting the base for a stable weekend.
Akshay Kumar's Padman, based on the life of social activist Arunachalam Muruganantham who introduced low-priced sanitary pads, has been banned in Pakistan. Now according to the early reports, the film has already crossed 35 crores mark at the box office in its opening weekend.


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What the Internet's obsession with teeth cleaning means for your mouth
- Posted on: Dec 19 2017
From epics bouts of bottle flipping and "planking" to food challenges and pimple popping, there are some pretty strange videos posted for viewing on the Internet, but even the most peculiar uploads seem to have some sort of audience. Take for instance the latest trend of watching people get their teeth cleaned. Some viewers explain that watching this type of video is cathartic. They think it is relaxing and invigorating to see a set of teeth go from plaque-filled to sparkly clean. There are a couple of scientific and psychological explanations behind this trend. One is that they provide "a jolt of raw emotion," similar to scary movies or amusement park rides. Another theory is that our fascination with "disgusting" videos is connected to the primal sense of protecting ourselves and others by learning more about threats like disease.
There are no doubt thousands of New Yorkers who can count themselves as fans of this type a video series. You might be one of them. If you are, it's not enough to just sit idly by and watch other individuals receive dental treatments. To ensure a good bill of health, be sure to ask yourself if you are also receiving proper dental care with a regular cleanings and checkups in a professional office.
There are many benefits to getting a professional cleaning twice a year. First and foremost, you'll walk away with a healthier-looking smile. Regular cleanings keep your teeth as naturally white as possible, especially if you also avoid stain-producing beverages, like coffee, tea, wine, and soda. Having a smile that you feel confident showing off can make changes in the way you live your life, whether that means providing a boost of confidence at an important meeting or making you feel more relaxed on a first date.
Of course, cleanings are good for more than just aesthetic value. Regular professional treatments can delay the onset of cavities and prevent problems like severe decay, root canals, crowns, extractions, and bridges. Cleanings also fight off other concerns like gingivitis, and this is particularly important if you are worried about your heart health (as you should be) or if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant.
I still see some patients who get anxious about the idea of having a cleaning. Sometimes they note that the sounds or sensations that accompany dental work bother them. Although I completely understand, I hope these reasons are not enough to keep them from getting the dental treatments that they need. Today, there are many approaches to helping you feel at ease while receiving a cleaning.This includes listening to peaceful music, or simply having an opportunity to discuss the things that make you worried.
Whether you find them gross or entertaining, dental cleanings are important, and you should not put yours off. If you need to get one scheduled, don't hesitate to reach out. We would love to help you get a smile that you are proud to show off. We can be reached at 800.583.9285 or by filling out the contact form on our website.
Posted in: Teeth Cleaning


text: What would it be like if there is a major shift of weather pattern. What would happen if global temperature falls dramatically after rising to an all time high in human history? Will cities be abandoned altogether as once fertile land fed by large rivers gradually dries up, leaving only cracked and barren landscape? Or what would happen if major cities are contaminated with invisible nuclear radiation?


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My Sky Dive For Charity Tacco- The Results
Following on from my post My Sky Dive For Charity Tacco I am delighted to tell you that not only did I survive the Sky Dive but as a result of the donations made by some wonderful people we have been able to make a difference!! With the money raised from the Sky Dive the The … Read more
My Sky Dive For Charity TACCO
I've decided to tempt fate and jump out of a plane, free-falling through the sky at speeds of 120mph and leaving my life in the hands of an instructor to pull my parachute and guide me to a safe landing. True Story. "Wa bo dam?!" (Translated:You've gone mad?!) I hear you say. Hmm maybe you're right, but it's for a … Read more


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Welcome to New Hampshire Appalachian Mountain Club Paddling.
Paddling on rivers, lakes, ponds, estuaries, and coasts throughout New England,
we offer organized trips, courses, instruction, and great fun for canoeists and
kayakers of all experience levels. Come paddle with us!
Bring your boat or rent ours. Most trips are Free and Open to all!
All Upcoming Trips - MeetUp Group
About Us
Join Us
About Our Trips
Upcoming Trips And Events
Members' Section
Schools and Instruction
Useful Links (in older web format)
Rental Equipment
Leader Forms and Info
Upcoming Trips AMC website
Paddle with us!
Join or renew your free membership in the
NHAMC Paddlers today!
NHAMC Paddlers is the paddling committee of the AMC New Hampshire Chapter
Save Our Rivers!
Learn about protecting
New Hampshire's
rivers, lakes, and ponds
from invasive species like didymo.
It's up to you!
Paddling Committee Report for 2008
The Paddling Committee of the New Hampshire Appalachian Mountain Club posted over 100 trips and events in 2008, including touring trips on flat and moving water; whitewater river trips; sea kayaking trips; and recreational evening paddles. Most of our trips were single day trips, and we also ran a number of overnight and multi-day trips (wilderness excursions as well as base camp paddles).
In 2007, we had begun to move towards using the On-Line Trip Listing system (OLTL) on the AMC website as the central entry point for all paddling committee trips. It was our goal that the trip schedule would flow from that single point of entry to the AMC Outdoors magazine, to our paddling website, and to the weekly email which keeps us in touch with our members. As this paddling season comes to a close, we have realized that goal. At first, every 2008 trip was initially entered via OLTL and also on our paddling website. Ultimately, we revised our website to capture and display OLTL trip data directly from the listings on trips.outdoors.org, eliminating inconsistencies and redundant data entry. The same listings are captured and sent out in our emailed weekly notices.
We now enter each new trip directly into the OLTL system as soon as it is scheduled. Our trip leaders are becoming more familiar with the system, and with increasing frequency they are entering their own trip details. When entered, new trips are automatically routed to trip approvers for final processing – this is a tremendous time saver, and allows trip leaders to post additional trips throughout the season to take advantage of favorable water and weather conditions as they arise.
Twice a year, we host meetings (fall and spring) for our General Membership to conduct committee business, hear sub-committee reports, schedule upcoming trips, and socialize over potluck dinner. This year we also held a third General Meeting in the summertime, at which we incorporated paddling and picnicking as well as conducting business and committee reports.
In addition to our 2008 paddling trips and General Meetings, we offered educational courses in safety and rescue, leadership, and whitewater skills.
Thirty-one students and more than 50 dedicated volunteers came together for our annual Spring Class II Whitewater School. Most of those students have returned to paddle with the club on many subsequent trips, and have become regular whitewater paddlers with the AMC.
Several new leaders completed our training program and began leading and co-leading trips this season, joining the amazing group of active trip leaders who give so freely of themselves to bring their valuable experience and wonderful enthusiasm to the benefit of our members and participants.
We also continued our very successful Wednesday Evening Recreational Paddle series. These trips provided terrific opportunities for new members to join up with more experienced paddlers to try out paddling and demo a variety of boats. Many of our regular paddlers started out as newcomers on Wednesday nights.
Paddling on rivers, lakes, and ponds throughout New England, we offer organized trips, courses,
instruction, and great fun for canoeists and kayakers of all experience levels.
Respectfully submitted,


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1. The balance beam.
2. The cargo net.
3. Struggling to do ONE push-up while watching the athletic kids do dozens without breaking a sweat.
4. Constantly being picked last no matter what sport the teams are for.
5. When the gym teacher measures your body fat percentage.
6. The rope climb.
7. Having to strip down to your underwear in front of a whole locker room of angsty, cruel, judgmental teenagers.
8. Dodgeball. Everything about dodgeball.
9. That one kid who's better at every sport than anyone else—and knows it.
10. Getting your fingers crushed by one of these things.
11. When you get to high school and gym teachers still insist on using floor scooters even though you're too big for them. Pushing classmates on them also brings your hands too close to a person's butt for comfort.
12. The mile run.
13. Seriously though, the mile run. It's so bad it has to be on here twice.
14. The locker room that has the cringe-inducing stench of Axe and body odor.
15. The kids who take gym class SUPER SERIOUSLY.
16. Going through the physical fitness test (and always doing poorly).
17. Those times in the spring and summer when you're playing an outdoor sport but one day it rains, and you think that you wont have to do anything on account of the rain...
and you're super excited...
but the teacher just has you play an indoor sport like basketball or something.
18. These.
19. Gym teachers expecting you to be able to do the high jump.
20. Square dancing.
21. Having to wear a bathing suit in front of the entire class.
22. Being assigned a WRITTEN TEST at the end of every unit about the sport's rules and history. The nerve!
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English Games
Academic Words
Spelling Game
Play Spellin Game
More Words to look
English words and Examples of Usage
Example Sentences for "absurd"
It's absurd to suggest that tax cuts for the rich will somehow benefit the poorThe idea that we can prevent war by preparing for war seems
to me.
to suggest that tax cuts for the rich will somehow benefit the poor.
Housing prices in this city are getting
high! No one can afford to buy a house anymore.
I think it's
that your boss expected you to work overtime for free.
It is
for students to think that they can choose their own level in their second language program.
People expect to pay
low prices for their food, so farmers have a hard time making a reasonable profit.
The student gave an
excuse to his instructor for missing his exam, saying that he had to go out to the pub with his buddies to celebrate a friend's birthday.
The government's plan to pay farmers not to grow wheat to reduce production and protect prices is simply
of the situation made her burst out laughing.
Oliver Goldsmith once suggested that every
has a champion to defend it.
Georges Duhamel once said, I have too much respect for the idea of God to make it responsible for such an
A French proverb notes that what makes us discontented with our condition is the
exaggerated idea we have of the happiness of others.
Voltaire once remarked that doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is
Ellen Glasgow once said, Though it sounds
, it is true to say I felt younger at sixty than I felt at twenty.
Elizabeth Goudge once noted that most of the basic truths of life sound
at first hearing.
I think it's
to spank one child as punishment for hitting another child.
Bob Geldof has noted that to die of want in a world of surplus is not only intellectually
, but is also morally repulsive.
Academic English Words List and Example Sentences
Example sentences with the absurd, a sentence example for absurd, and how to make absurd in sample sentence, how do I use the word absurd in a sentence? How do you spell absurd in a sentence? spelling of absurd
Search Example Sentences for any English Word here ....
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The Manila selfie museum encouraging visitors to take pictures with art
Have you ever liked a piece of art so much you feel like you're part of it? Well, a museum in the Philippines is helping people do just that. Art in Island, a museum in Manila, created by a group of Korean artists, features over a hundred unique three dimensional paintings that encourage people to pose in front of them. Each artwork is created in such a way that when...
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Nazi hideout in Argentina
Was this a hideout for German Nazi officers? Deep in Argentina's northern jungle, archaeologists have discovered the ruins of what may have originally been a Nazi hiding place. "It's a defendable site, a protected site, an inaccessible site, where you can live peacefully in hiding. We believe we've found a refuge for the Nazi hierarchy."Researchers from the University of Buenos Aires...
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Family lives with lions
When most people tell you they have a couple of cats at home, these probably aren't the type of cat you'd expect, but for one family in Gaza, these lion cubs are their household pets. Lioness Mona and Alex, who's a male, were born in the battle-torn Gaza Strip to parents that were smuggled through a ...
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Window cleaners have an accident
A terrifying ordeal for two window cleaners in China, as the platform they were working on began swinging violently and smashing into the building. The incident, which took place outside the 91st floor of the Shanghai World Financial Centre, lasted for 15 minutes with their cradle slamming into a wall at one point, sending glass flying into the building and down to the ground.
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Two hundred years after the Battle of Waterloo
The hat which French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte wore during the Battle of Waterloo is on its way back to the battlefield which saw his demise. The two-cornered, or bicorne hat, is normally kept in a museum in Sens in east of Paris. It was the one Napoleon wore on June 18th, 1815 when ...
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Fixed/Broken - Melbourne Bright Club
Fixed/Broken - Melbourne Bright Club
Melbourne Bright Club
WHAT: Hosted by Catherine Deveny, 6 of Melbourne's brightest biomedical scientists explore the theme Fixed | Broken during a night of riotous scientific comedy.
Table seating is limited so make sure you arrive early!
Dinner is available downstairs in the pub ($15 steak night) for those arriving early and the bar is open during the show.
Tickets are $20 through trybooking or $25 on the door on the night.
Check out the BrightClub website, and follow BrightClub on twitter to stay up with the latest news!
191 Grattan St
Carlton, Victoria 3053
This event is currently closed and no contact details are available


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Hey, did you hear the one about Mahatma Gandhi and Aimee Semple McPherson? All right, maybe they aren't names that crop up regularly in Letterman and Leno monologues. Maybe your 13-year-old niece doesn't have a clue as to who they are. Still, when these long-dead spiritual leaders of India and the United States meet in the Drama Dept.'s refreshing revival of ''As Thousands Cheer,'' the Moss Hart and Irving Berlin revue from 1933, you should have no trouble getting the joke.
''Say, can you do anything besides starve?'' asks McPherson, described here as America's ''foursquare gospel lady'' and embodied by a gimlet-eyed Mary Beth Peil. Gandhi, represented by B. D. Wong, has been grinning his way through a hunger strike for photographers, but he still has the energy to demonstrate a two-step to ''Shuffle Off to Buffalo.'' McPherson joins in, and it's suddenly clear that this could be the beginning of a beautiful road show.
When the original version of ''As Thousands Cheer'' opened at the Music Box Theater for a run of 304 performances, the critic Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times interrupted his ode of praise to observe that one shouldn't take its skewering of contemporary headline makers too seriously, that Broadway likes ''to find Broadway motives in every person it satirizes.''
Sixty-five subsequent years, however, have demonstrated that ''Broadway motives'' and show-business spin have everything to do with making the world go round. Religion as hard-sell entertainment? Martyrdom as a photo op? Only the names, and the technology used to promote them, have changed.
Topical satire, especially the kind found in musical revues, tends to age about as well as sushi. The surprise of this winningly modest presentation of a vintage hit, which opened last night at the Greenwich House Theater under Christopher Ashley's direction, is that it shows no sign at all of spoilage. The comic bite in Hart's lines and in Berlin's lyrics still clicks crisply, and the work's portrait of the pandering ways of celebrities and the journalists who cover them remains spot-on. Yes, cynicism was peppier in those days, but peppy cynicism is more fun on a stage than the wearier, end-of-the-century variety.Continue reading the main story
The two-year-old Drama Dept. has already established itself as a vital force in the New York theater and, in its bold reworkings of ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' and Tennessee Williams's ''Kingdom of Earth,'' an agile practitioner of the much-abused art of deconstruction. With ''As Thousands Cheer,'' however, there has been no attempt to look for subtext or to make hindsight part of the scenery.
Instead, Mr. Ashley and his eminently likable six-member ensemble provide a limpid performance that lets the enduring merits of Hart's sketches and Berlin's splendid songs sparkle without undue interpretive interference. Each of the actors here sings and clowns with skill, but without show-stopping aggression or descents into camp. It's a smart, soft-pedaled approach, remarkable for letting you feel that you have rediscovered Hart (sans Kaufman) and Berlin on your own.
The original ''As Thousands Cheer,'' which did much to restore Berlin's reputation as America's foremost popular songwriter, was a much grander affair, with at least a dozen featured performers (including Clifton Webb and Marilyn Miller) and a full dance ensemble. This version is pared down to an intermissionless 17 sketches. It has jettisoned, among other things, the ''Easter Parade'' number that was the show's big eye-popper and interpolated (with considerable wit) ''Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee'' from the earlier Hart-Berlin collaboration, ''Face the Music.''
The production remains charmingly faithful, however, to the work's central conceit of events springing to life from newspapers. Allen Moyer's set makes ingenious use of silver word-studded walls that evoke the hot type once used to set hot copy. Kirk Bookman's lighting, Jonathan Bixby and Gregory A. Gale's costumes and Wendall K. Harrington's projections conspire expertly to summon a world of smoke-filled newsrooms and black-and-white imagery.
Hart and Berlin well understood that those who purveyed the news were as essential to shaping the American sensibility as those who made it, and that the lines between the two often blurred. Accordingly, a Walter Winchell-like columnist (the appealing Howard McGillin) slinks through shadows to sing of life framed ''Through the Keyhole.'' A young woman (the dulcet-voice Judy Kuhn, in a gossamer rendition) sends an abject musical prayer to a lonely-hearts columnist. A prim weather reporter (Ms. Peil) literally lets her hair down, as her hips sway, to report the arrival of a tropical front, and ''Heat Wave,'' first performed by the great Ethel Waters, finds new ways working up a fever, with a dancing chorus of newsmen and wily choreography by Kathleen Marshall.
The cast is rounded out by Mr. Wong, who is terrific doing an antic confession of love for the funny pages; Kevin Chamberlin, the evening's true natural comic, and Paula Newsome, who drolly captures the cultural two-sidedness of Josephine Baker in the wonderful ''Harlem on My Mind.''
Other inflated public images that get punctured include those of Barbara Hutton, Joan Crawford, the Herbert Hoovers and, most deliciously, Noel Coward, whose languid, metaphor-strewn grandeur is captured by the staff of a hotel on whom he has made quite an impression.
With David Evans (the show's musical director) on the piano and Lou Bruno playing bass, the production numbers testify to the astonishing (and often forgotten) scope of Berlin as a composer. This is a man, after all, capable of both the blithe knowingness of ''Not for All the Rice in China'' and the haunting indirection of ''Supper Time,'' a ballad about a lynching.
Not every sketch flies. And none of the actors (unlike, one gathers, the original cast members) even try to impersonate their famous subjects. This may be a mercy, and it's of a piece with performances that never aspire to individual grandstanding. Like all of the Drama Dept.'s productions, the first priority of this one is to illuminate the original work that inspired it. For a show about the American appetite for adulation, it is also remarkably generous.
Sketches by Moss Hart; music and lyrics by Irving Berlin; musical staging by Kathleen Marshall; directed by Christopher Ashley; sets by Allen Moyer; costumes by Jonathan Bixby and Gregory A. Gale; lighting by Kirk Bookman; production design by Wendall K. Harrington; production supervision by Harris Productions Services; stage manager, John Handy; musical director/arranger, David Evans; producer, Ira Weitzman. Presented by the Drama Dept. At the Greenwich House, 27 Barrow Street, Greenwich Village.
WITH: Kevin Chamberlin, Judy Kuhn, Howard McGillin, Paula Newsome, Mary Beth Peil, B. D. Wong.Continue reading the main story


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New to "With the Band?" Go to the beginning of the current story arc here. You can also use the handy guitars at the bottom of the page to navigate to First, Previous, Next, or Last tracks, or go directly to the Marshall Stack Archive! We update every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Elie Wiesel's book, Night, is probably more responsible for informing people about the Holocaust than any other work of mass media. He was an amazing man, whose legacy was, in fact, to teach us the passive evil of neutrality: "We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
Wiesel's legacy was not, as Donald Trump tweeted, the triumph of good over evil. Donald Trump is an idiot.
If you enjoy "With the Band", please consider supporting our Patreon. Producing a strip like this three times a week requires a LOT of work and a little bit of expense. So please help me keep this going and support us. We'll give you some awesome pictures of squirrels in return!
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Please check out the Groupie Squirrel Store above and below. If you like the comic, and you like one (or more) of the shirts, then please help us keep the comic going by buying an awesome t-shirt! And I just finished the design for a new shirt that's going to be the best of the bunch! And here it is!


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Forgiveness is Good For Your Health
The days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur hold the expectation for us to change our lives for the better. Forgiving others, and forgiving ourselves, is a major trend in the transformative process of the Days of Awe. The Rambam in "Shemoneh Perakim" very clearly illustrates that changes in our physical health would be obvious to the rational person, and that we could continuously commit ourselves to those changes as long as our intentions were pure. Having pure intentions for our physical health should be rooted in G-d's moral prerogative, he continues, a cornerstone to piety and a paramount achievement.
Medical studies have actually pointed out that our ability to forgive translates into better health in our own lives. Forgiving others has been shown to reduce high blood pressure, stress, and angry flare-ups. Holding on to the bitterness sends signals into the body that generate hormones like cortisol that almost compel you to deal with a difficult conflict. Moving past the issue and forgiving the other person won't fire up the heart rate and signal the brain to fire up the body's energy systems.
Another benefit of learning to forgive, especially forgiving ourselves, is in reducing chronic pain or weight gain. The longer one keeps up angry, negative thoughts, the more difficult it is for the body to deal with the effects, namely all of the tight muscles preparing the body for a perceived fight. The thought that we are in peril tightens the muscles, and extended time under contraction can cause spasm and long-term pain, especially low back pain. Eating is another response to anger because it helps lower the cortisol levels in the blood. Chronic anger could equal chronic over-eating to reduce tension in the body.
One final point about forgiveness and our health: Forgiveness allows us to better connect to other people and to our environment. Less stress means being able to better appreciate the things and people in our lives, and helps us better adapt for change. It curbs the anxious feeling that we're somehow at this on our own, when we really are surrounded by like-minded friends who want us to succeed, and they succeed with us.
The Rambam offers the rational recipe for success in achieving change. The better we understand how holding onto negativity adversely affects us, the more likely we are to forgive in order to make good health choices for ourselves. The better we feel, the more connected we will feel. The feeling of belonging and connection should help us through this year's Days of Awe.
By Justin Walls
Justin Walls is an American College of Sports Medicine-certified personal trainer with several specializations. He also has expertise in lifestyle/health management and meal planning, and a background in psychology. Learn more at justinwallsfitness.com.


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The following description comes from the Google Play Store description of the app:Autodesk® SketchBook® is an intuitive painting and drawing application designed for people of all skill levels, who love to draw. We reimagined the paint engine, so SketchBook delivers more fluid pencils and natural painting than ever before, all while keeping the interface clean and simple. With SketchBook, capture everything from your smallest doodles to your biggest ideas, all in one place, no matter where you are.
|Full network access
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|Modify or delete the contents of your usb storage
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Renting A Car VS Buying A Car
People at some point in their lives will require the use of a car to get to and from their destination. how can they get a car? What are the options available to them? They can either choose car hire in Victoria Park, or they may go ahead and buy a car. There are certain … [Read more…]


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Nicely, in case you ask me Oh, wait, I simply realized you addressed your query to comrade socialists, so never mind. Does it matter what non secular faith you are? First, we should point out that ALL religions are mutually unique. They have core beliefs that set them other than other spiritual views and people core beliefs can not all be true. On condition that fact it's a cheap conclusion that it does matter as a result of every could have a different view on how a person is to reside their life and what happens to you upon demise. It then would make sense to analyze the truth claims of the religions of the world. If you happen to were to begin your investigation with Christian truth claims you may find that you would be able to dismiss all the other claims as a result of a fundamental fact declare of Christianity is that Jesus Christ was the only way to attain God, the father. If those claims are true then all different claims on the contrary are false.
Agricultural bio-tech corporations have undue affect on government institutions which might be supposed to manage them to protect public health. Many former Monsanto executives are now within the FDA and USDA. Michael Taylor, former VP and attorney for the largest GMO company, Monsanto, is now the Deputy Commissioner on the FDA. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is a former Monsanto lawyer. Agritech corporations give beneficiant marketing campaign contributions and use heavy lobbying to politicians. The FDA has chosen to disregard robust warnings of its own scientists and allowed GMOs in our food supply with none health research and even labeling.
After all, one of the problems we teachers take care of is that, besides with the very smartest and most motivated college students, we're no longer allowed to coach. We should teach a Take a look at. Until our college students cross their state-generated exams, they do not graduate and the college loses essential funding. Healthcare professionals are required to have a current BLS card, as well as the ability to read and perceive EKG rhythms and have no less than a fundamental understanding of pharmacology. Ideally, the scholar can have some clinical or field expertise or be about to graduate nursing or paramedic school.
There are hundreds of thousands of articles out there on the advantages of breastfeeding. The rationale for that is that it actually is probably the most fantastic and rewarding strategy to feed your baby. Are there circumstances where a mom is unable to…sure. As mothers, we should always respect and honor the alternatives we make and embrace our variations. I hold true to a non judgemental and accepting view of all moms, as there is no such thing as a harder job than that of a mom.
That is like saying France's navy is the perfect in the world when the US actually IS the French military. Since the US provides 80% of the world's medical innovation we allow these little programs across the globe to hide their true horrors. No kool-aid right here – Provide and demand by no means fails, and Europe's declining inhabitants is evidence enough that demand of what's free has outstripped provide.