July 1st, 2009
Current Mood:  giddy
Al Franken had won the 2008 Senatorial Election in November. But you wouldn't really know it because only yesterday he was finally allowed to be announced as a winner and a Senator-Elect. Only yesterday did the Republican incumbent, Norm Coleman, concede the Election. Al Franken will now be sworn in and introduced in US Senate, so he can now work there to represent the people of his state. Republican Perty had fought tooth and nail to keep Al Franken out of US Senate. You see, Franken is the 60th vote Democratic caucas needs (they now have 58 democrats and two liberal independents) to defeat filibuster. Republicans wouldn't have it and they let Coleman continue to fight through the court system for nearly 8 months while Minnesota remained under-represented. I am happy this issue is finally resolved. Al needs to get to work in the Senate for Minnesota and for the rest of the country.
June 29th, 2009
Current Mood:  angry
As we already know, Honduran president Jose Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a relatively bloodless coup Sunday. The worst thing to democracy in any country happened - Armed forces took power from a democratically elected president. But this, in my opinion, is not the worst thing yet. The worst thing is that this coup, in some quarters, is being presented as happening in support of democracy. I do not get it. The very moment troops get involved, democracy dies. Democracy in Honduras died the moment a democratically elected president was removed from power that AN ELECTION gave him. I am disgusted by these slimy Little Havana types.
June 8th, 2009
Current Mood:  happy
New Hampshire Governor John Lynch on Thursday signed into law legislation that makes New Hampshire the sixth state in which same-sex couples now enjoy legal marriage equality. It seems that equality and non-descrimination are enjoying a powerful momentum. Cali? New York? What's the hold up?
June 6th, 2009
Current Mood: hopeful
President Obama in his weekly speech addressed the crisis in HealthcareHe said: ""Fixing what’s wrong with our health care system is no longer a luxury we hope to achieve – it’s a necessity we cannot postpone any longer". He is right, it is a necessity. So, let's stop with the half-ass measures. Let's go all-out and do what most industrialized nations already do - offer some sort of public health system, which covers everyone and anyone in our country. Let's stop offering the for-profit health care. Because as soon as a person, from who the current system can not squeeze out any profit, attempts to enter it for service he/she will get none. That's how it is right now. You either can afford it (personally or through the employer) or are left without it. And what do you think millions of people should do who are left without work and/or COBRA coverage? Where do they go? What do they do? A few things we need to think about right now, in regards to our for-profit health care system: 1. The Jobless Rate has reached the highest level since September 1983. Even though it is not an all-encompassing measure, which does not report ALL the jobless or underemployed people, it is still very indicative that more and more people are losing their employer-provided health care benefits and/or COBRA. People, however, do not get any healthier. They just can't afford to see their doctors. 2. The number of people without any access to Medical Care was 47 Million prior to the Crisis. In conjunction with the unemployment rising and employers starting to drop their health benefits, this number is surely to rise. And I am not even talking about those "undercovered", meaning that they have no access to the particular doctors or services addressing their more pressing needs. I am sure, those terminally ill with cancer will extract no benefit from Podiatrist or Orthopedic access they do have. 3. The Health-Care costs in United States have risen dramatically over the last few years. Our health care costs were already the highest in the world. They have been getting bigger, slowly becoming inaccessible to millions upon millions of previously well covered people. "Americans paid $6,719 a person for doctors, medicines and hospital visits in 2006, up from $4,570 in 2000, according to a report released today by the World Health Organization in Geneva." The U.S. has “the least efficient health care system in the world,” said Kevin Schulman, director of the health management program at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. “These costs keep growing despite the recession, and health care is going to shoot up as a percentage of our GDP even more. It’s just spooky.”In closing, it is my personal opinion that health care providers' first and foremost responsibility must be the health of their patients, not profit. It is very sad that our health providers must spend energy, time, and resources ascertaining whether a patient can pay for the services, has coverage, and what services that coverage offers. They need to provide the health care service, instead. And the only way we can make sure of that is if every patients health care is paid for by the government. Countries accross the globe have realized it. Hopefully, so will we. Even if it takes a Crisis.
June 2nd, 2009
Current Mood: angry
This was surely expected and we pretty much knew this. But to hear this from the horse's mouth (so to say) is certainly newsworthy: Cheney admits he knows of no link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11! Whoa! Say it ain't so! So, what were we doing bombing the fuck out of that country? And why were we selling that link as the main reason to attack Iraq?
May 31st, 2009
So, the long 2008/2009 season is finally in the books. Dynamo have won their 13th Ukrainian Premier league title and reached the UEFA Cup semifinals for the first time ever. it is bittersweet that they were knocked out of the competition by their fiercest rivals and eventual UEFA Cup champions, Shakhtar Donetsk. Shakhtar Donetsk also claimed the Ukrainian SuperCup at the expense of Dynamo and had knocked Dynamo out of the Ukrainian Cup semifinals as well. Shakhtar did not, however, cleanly sweep the cup honors this season. They were shocked in Ukrainian Cup Final by Vorskla Poltava for who this season was also quite magical.  Shakhtar finished a distant second to Dynamo in the league and Metalist Kharkiv finished their normal third...
Additionally, it was sad that Y.P. Syomin, the coach who had seemed to put Dynamo back on the path of success, domestic and continental, has left at the end of the season. One has to hope, his replacement, V.G. Gazzaev, will be more than up to snuff.
Dynamo's 2008/2009 Results
Date |
Match |
Opponent |
Venue |
Score |
07/15/2008 |
SC |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
N |
1:1, 3:5pk |
07/19/2008 |
UPL1 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
H |
2:0 |
07/25/2008 |
UPL2 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
A |
3:1 |
07/29/2008 |
CL2Q1L |
Drogheda United (IRL) |
A |
2:1 |
08/02/2008 |
UPL3 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
H |
1:2 |
08/06/2008 |
CL2Q2L |
Drogheda United (IRL) |
H |
2:2 |
08/09/2008 |
UPL4 |
Vorskla Poltava |
A |
2:2 |
08/13/2008 |
CL3Q1L |
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) |
A |
4:1 |
08/16/2008 |
UPL5 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
H |
2:0 |
08/23/2008 |
UPL6 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
A |
2:0 |
08/27/2008 |
CL3Q2L |
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) |
H |
4:1 |
08/30/2008 |
UPL7 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
H |
1:0 |
09/13/2008 |
UC3 |
OLKOM Melitopol |
A |
5:0 |
09/17/2008 |
CLGS1 |
Arsenal FC London (ENG) |
H |
1:1 |
09/20/2008 |
UPL8 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
A |
3:0 |
09/27/2008 |
UPL9 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
H |
3:0 |
09/30/2008 |
CLGS2 |
Fenerbahçe Istanbul (TUR) |
A |
0:0 |
10/04/2008 |
UPL10 |
FK Kharkiv |
A |
4:0 |
10/18/2008 |
UPL11 |
Zorya Luhansk |
H |
5:0 |
10/21/2008 |
CLGS3 |
FC Porto Oporto (POR) |
A |
1:0 |
10/25/2008 |
UPL12 |
Tavriya Symferopol |
A |
3:1 |
10/29/2008 |
UC4 |
Zorya Luhansk |
H |
2:0 |
11/01/2008 |
UPL13 |
Karpaty Lviv |
H |
4:0 |
11/05/2008 |
CLGS4 |
FC Porto Oporto (POR) |
H |
1:2 |
11/08/2008 |
UPL14 |
FK Lviv |
H |
1:0 |
11/12/2008 |
UCQF |
Stal Alchevsk |
A |
4:1 |
11/15/2008 |
UPL15 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
0:1 |
11/25/2008 |
CLGS5 |
Arsenal FC London (ENG) |
A |
0:1 |
11/29/2008 |
UPL17 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
H |
2:1 |
12/05/2008 |
UPL16 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
A |
4:3 |
12/10/2008 |
CLGS6 |
Fenerbahçe Istanbul (TUR) |
H |
1:0 |
02/18/2009 |
UC31L |
Valencia CF (ESP) |
H |
1:1 |
02/26/2009 |
UC32L |
Valencia CF (ESP) |
A |
2:2 |
03/04/2009 |
UPL18 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
A |
2:0 |
03/08/2009 |
UPL19 |
Vorskla Poltava |
H |
4:1 |
03/12/2009 |
UC31L |
Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) |
H |
1:0 |
03/15/2009 |
UPL20 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
A |
3:1 |
03/19/2009 |
UC32L |
Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) |
A |
2:3 |
03/21/2009 |
UPL21 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
H |
3:0 |
04/04/2009 |
UPL22 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
A |
2:0 |
04/09/2009 |
UCQF1L |
Paris Saint Germain FC (FRA) |
A |
0:0 |
04/12/2009 |
UPL23 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
H |
3:1 |
04/16/2009 |
UCQF2L |
Paris Saint Germain FC (FRA) |
H |
3:0 |
04/18/2009 |
UPL24 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
A |
1:2 |
04/25/2009 |
UPL25 |
FK Kharkiv |
H |
1:0 |
04/30/2009 |
UCSF1L |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
H |
1:1 |
05/02/2009 |
UPL26 |
Zorya Luhansk |
A |
1:0 |
05/07/2009 |
UCSF2L |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
1:2 |
05/09/2009 |
UPL27 |
Tavriya Symferopol |
H |
3:2 |
05/13/2009 |
UCSF |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
0:1 |
05/16/2009 |
UPL28 |
Karpaty Lviv |
A |
4:1 |
05/23/2009 |
UPL29 |
FK Lviv |
A |
1:0 |
05/30/2009 |
UPL30 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
H |
1:0 | Final Standings of 18th Ukrainian National League Championship
| # |
PR |
Team |
GP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
PT |
| 1 |
1 |
Dynamo Kyiv |
30 |
26 |
1 |
3 |
71 |
19 |
79 |
| 2 |
2 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
30 |
19 |
7 |
4 |
47 |
16 |
64 |
| 3 |
3 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
30 |
17 |
8 |
5 |
44 |
25 |
59 |
| 4 |
4 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
30 |
14 |
7 |
9 |
36 |
27 |
49 |
| 5 |
6 |
Vorskla-Naftohaz Poltava |
30 |
14 |
7 |
9 |
32 |
26 |
49 |
| 6 |
5 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
30 |
13 |
9 |
8 |
34 |
25 |
48 |
| 7 |
7 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
30 |
12 |
9 |
9 |
29 |
30 |
45 |
| 8 |
8 |
Tavriya Simferopil |
30 |
10 |
7 |
13 |
41 |
45 |
37 |
| 9 |
10 |
Karpaty Lviv |
30 |
8 |
10 |
12 |
33 |
39 |
34 |
| 10 |
11 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
30 |
12 |
2 |
16 |
34 |
42 |
321 |
| 11 |
12 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
30 |
8 |
8 |
14 |
26 |
33 |
32 |
| 12 |
9 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
30 |
8 |
8 |
14 |
21 |
36 |
32 |
| 13 |
13 |
Zorya Luhansk |
30 |
8 |
7 |
15 |
29 |
45 |
31 |
| 14 |
15 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
30 |
7 |
5 |
18 |
31 |
54 |
26 |
| 15 |
14 |
FK Lviv |
30 |
6 |
8 |
16 |
24 |
39 |
26 |
| 16 |
16 |
FK Kharkiv |
30 |
2 |
9 |
19 |
19 |
50 |
122 |
May 23rd, 2009
Current Mood: satisfied
How much has changed in barely 4 months... New President, an intellectual, a tolerant human being, a doubter, a progressive. We went from a christian crusader of the previous Administration who had tried to push religion into our public and private lives any and each way to the one who acknowledges that there are those of us who have no faith. This is exactly what Obama had said at the Notre Dame commencement speech past Sunday, May 17th: For if there is one law that we can be most certain of, it is the law that binds people of all faiths and no faith together. It's no coincidence that it exists in Christianity and Judaism; in Islam and Hinduism; in Buddhism and humanism. It is, of course, the Golden Rule--the call to treat one another as we wish to be treated. The call to love. To serve. To do what we can to make a difference in the lives of those with whom we share the same brief moment on this Earth.We, the godless heathens, the sinful atheists do exist. Obama, certainly, reserves the right to agree or disagree with us, but he acknowledges our existence, our place at the common table, our voice. What a refreshing change it makes from the Bush I who had once famously said, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.This refreshing change reminds me why I am proud of my country, it recalls all those values that countless real patriots, regardless of their religion, dies for.
May 21st, 2009
Current Mood: angry
It appears now, that if you are a good ("safe") borrower, you will be slammed with various fees by the credit card banks. Seeing that their incomes from various fees against the bad borrowers had been reduced by the U.S. Congress, the banks decided to extract income from the good borrowers, especially those who pay their credit card bill on time and in full. I do not see this as fair. Banks already make money by charging the vendors on every transactions. So, we, the good borrowers, stand to lose in one or more of the following ways:
- Rewards, such as pay backs and miles (which I care very little about)
- Annual fees may be charged
- The interest on customer's transactions may be charged immediately, instead the grace period
In any case, we stand to lose.
Credit Card Industry Aims to Profit From Sterling PayersPublished: May 18, 2009Credit cards have long been a very good deal for people who pay their bills on time and in full. Even as card companies imposed punitive fees and penalties on those late with their payments, the best customers racked up cash-back rewards, frequent-flier miles and other perks in recent years.
Now Congress is moving to limit the penalties on riskier borrowers, who have become a prime source of billions of dollars in fee revenue for the industry. And to make up for lost income, the card companies are going after those people with sterling credit.
Banks are expected to look at reviving annual fees, curtailing cash-back and other rewards programs and charging interest immediately on a purchase instead of allowing a grace period of weeks, according to bank officials and trade groups.
( Continue )
May 20th, 2009
Current Mood: cheerful
Yesterday was one of the greatest days in the history of Ukrainian football and Ukrainian Premier league.  For the first time in the independent Ukraine's history, a Ukrainian club had won an UEFA club competition, the UEFA Cup. This club was Shakhtar Donetsk. I know, I know, Shakhtar employ a bunch of foreigners. I know, I know, only three Ukrainians and five Brazilians had started in that match (5 Ukrainians and 3 Brazilians ended it). Nevertheless, this victory is a great victory for the whole of Ukrainian football, for all Donetsk and Ukrainian fans. This victory will surely raise the profile of entire Ukrainian football. And, since this was the last UEFA Cup competition ever, as it is being replaced by the Europa League, Shakhtar had written its name (and, by association, Ukrainian football's name) into the immortality of the football history books. This victory is celebrated now and will continue to be celebrated for a while
May 18th, 2009
Current Mood:  contemplative
It's tough... Dynamo had fought hard but suffered two disppointing losses to their biggest rivals, Shakhtar Donetsk. First they were eliminated from the UEFA Cup contention by losing the second leg of the UEFA Cup semifinal, 2-1, with a late goal, which has become so symbolic of Dynamo's season. Secondly, they lost the Ukrainian Cup semifinal, 1-0, again to Shakhtar and again in Donetsk. I do not even know what's harder to swallow, that they lost both matches and were eliminated from both tournaments, or that Shakhtar, their toughest rivals had done it to them? These disappointments had outweighed Dynamo's 13th Ukrainian title, which was clinched with three games to go in the hard-fought match against Tavriya (3:2) and Guilherme's sensational first start as a Dynamo player, who scored three goals in Dynamo's last match at Karpaty Lviv.  So, Dynamo still have two matches to play this season but they may as well concentrate on the Summer transfer season and the Ukrainian National Team's qualifier at Croatia. Dynamo have won the league but have been eliminated from the two Cup competitions they were in the running for. Dynamo's 2008/2009 Results
Date |
Match |
Opponent |
Venue |
Score |
07/15/2008 |
SC |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
N |
1:1, 3:5pk |
07/19/2008 |
UPL1 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
H |
2:0 |
07/25/2008 |
UPL2 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
A |
3:1 |
07/29/2008 |
CL2Q1L |
Drogheda United (IRL) |
A |
2:1 |
08/02/2008 |
UPL3 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
H |
1:2 |
08/06/2008 |
CL2Q2L |
Drogheda United (IRL) |
H |
2:2 |
08/09/2008 |
UPL4 |
Vorskla Poltava |
A |
2:2 |
08/13/2008 |
CL3Q1L |
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) |
A |
4:1 |
08/16/2008 |
UPL5 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
H |
2:0 |
08/23/2008 |
UPL6 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
A |
2:0 |
08/27/2008 |
CL3Q2L |
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) |
H |
4:1 |
08/30/2008 |
UPL7 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
H |
1:0 |
09/13/2008 |
UC3 |
OLKOM Melitopol |
A |
5:0 |
09/17/2008 |
CLGS1 |
Arsenal FC London (ENG) |
H |
1:1 |
09/20/2008 |
UPL8 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
A |
3:0 |
09/27/2008 |
UPL9 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
H |
3:0 |
09/30/2008 |
CLGS2 |
Fenerbahçe Istanbul (TUR) |
A |
0:0 |
10/04/2008 |
UPL10 |
FK Kharkiv |
A |
4:0 |
10/18/2008 |
UPL11 |
Zorya Luhansk |
H |
5:0 |
10/21/2008 |
CLGS3 |
FC Porto Oporto (POR) |
A |
1:0 |
10/25/2008 |
UPL12 |
Tavriya Symferopol |
A |
3:1 |
10/29/2008 |
UC4 |
Zorya Luhansk |
H |
2:0 |
11/01/2008 |
UPL13 |
Karpaty Lviv |
H |
4:0 |
11/05/2008 |
CLGS4 |
FC Porto Oporto (POR) |
H |
1:2 |
11/08/2008 |
UPL14 |
FK Lviv |
H |
1:0 |
11/12/2008 |
UCQF |
Stal Alchevsk |
A |
4:1 |
11/15/2008 |
UPL15 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
0:1 |
11/25/2008 |
CLGS5 |
Arsenal FC London (ENG) |
A |
0:1 |
11/29/2008 |
UPL17 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
H |
2:1 |
12/05/2008 |
UPL16 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
A |
4:3 |
12/10/2008 |
CLGS6 |
Fenerbahçe Istanbul (TUR) |
H |
1:0 |
02/18/2009 |
UC31L |
Valencia CF (ESP) |
H |
1:1 |
02/26/2009 |
UC32L |
Valencia CF (ESP) |
A |
2:2 |
03/04/2009 |
UPL18 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
A |
2:0 |
03/08/2009 |
UPL19 |
Vorskla Poltava |
H |
4:1 |
03/12/2009 |
UC31L |
Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) |
H |
1:0 |
03/15/2009 |
UPL20 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
A |
3:1 |
03/19/2009 |
UC32L |
Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) |
A |
2:3 |
03/21/2009 |
UPL21 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
H |
3:0 |
04/04/2009 |
UPL22 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
A |
2:0 |
04/09/2009 |
UCQF1L |
Paris Saint Germain FC (FRA) |
A |
0:0 |
04/12/2009 |
UPL23 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
H |
3:1 |
04/16/2009 |
UCQF2L |
Paris Saint Germain FC (FRA) |
H |
3:0 |
04/18/2009 |
UPL24 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
A |
1:2 |
04/25/2009 |
UPL25 |
FK Kharkiv |
H |
1:0 |
04/30/2009 |
UCSF1L |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
H |
1:1 |
05/02/2009 |
UPL26 |
Zorya Luhansk |
A |
1:0 |
05/07/2009 |
UCSF2L |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
1:2 |
05/09/2009 |
UPL27 |
Tavriya Symferopol |
H |
3:2 |
05/13/2009 |
UCSF |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
0:1 |
05/16/2009 |
UPL28 |
Karpaty Lviv |
A |
4:1 |
05/23/2009 |
UPL29 |
FK Lviv |
A |
|
05/30/2009 |
UPL30 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
H |
| Current Standings of 18th Ukrainian National League Championship
| # |
PR |
Team |
GP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
PT |
| 1 |
1 |
Dynamo Kyiv |
28 |
24 |
1 |
3 |
69 |
19 |
70 |
| 2 |
2 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
28 |
18 |
7 |
3 |
45 |
15 |
61 |
| 3 |
3 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
28 |
15 |
8 |
5 |
41 |
24 |
53 |
| 4 |
4 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
28 |
14 |
6 |
8 |
35 |
25 |
48 |
| 5 |
6 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
28 |
12 |
9 |
7 |
30 |
22 |
45 |
| 6 |
5 |
Vorskla-Naftohaz Poltava |
28 |
12 |
7 |
9 |
28 |
25 |
43 |
| 7 |
7 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
28 |
11 |
9 |
8 |
26 |
27 |
42 |
| 8 |
8 |
Tavriya Simferopil |
28 |
9 |
7 |
12 |
38 |
41 |
34 |
| 9 |
9 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
28 |
8 |
8 |
12 |
21 |
33 |
32 |
| 10 |
10 |
Karpaty Lviv |
28 |
7 |
10 |
11 |
31 |
34 |
31 |
| 11 |
12 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
28 |
11 |
2 |
15 |
31 |
39 |
291 |
| 12 |
14 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
28 |
7 |
7 |
14 |
22 |
33 |
28 |
| 13 |
11 |
Zorya Luhansk |
28 |
7 |
7 |
14 |
27 |
44 |
28 |
| 14 |
13 |
FK Lviv |
28 |
6 |
8 |
14 |
23 |
36 |
26 |
| 15 |
15 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
28 |
6 |
5 |
17 |
28 |
51 |
23 |
| 16 |
16 |
FK Kharkiv |
28 |
2 |
9 |
17 |
17 |
44 |
122 |
May 4th, 2009
Current Mood: satisfied
A lot of football had been played in the last two weeks. Dynamo have pretty much cemented their 13th Ukrainian title (and 26th overall). It's been tough going, the mediocre bottom table teams have been fighting Dynamo tooth and nail. Wins are hard to come by. Shakhtar is also finding its form very uncertain. A few minimal victories over non-descrete opposition suggest that Shakhtar are also struggling. Against this backdrop, the two teams met last Thursday in the first leg of the UEFA Cup semifinal, a huge feat for ukrainian football. Dynamo were very close to taking a minimal victory into the return leg. But, Shakhtar managed to tie the score midway through the second half. battle in Donetsk will be hard. Let's hope Dynamo prevail. It's sure nice to receive some recognition, though, Dynamo are currently ranked 7th club in the world according to IFFHSDynamo's 2008/2009 Results
Date |
Match |
Opponent |
Venue |
Score |
07/15/2008 |
SC |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
N |
1:1, 3:5pk |
07/19/2008 |
UPL1 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
H |
2:0 |
07/25/2008 |
UPL2 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
A |
3:1 |
07/29/2008 |
CL2Q1L |
Drogheda United (IRL) |
A |
2:1 |
08/02/2008 |
UPL3 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
H |
1:2 |
08/06/2008 |
CL2Q2L |
Drogheda United (IRL) |
H |
2:2 |
08/09/2008 |
UPL4 |
Vorskla Poltava |
A |
2:2 |
08/13/2008 |
CL3Q1L |
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) |
A |
4:1 |
08/16/2008 |
UPL5 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
H |
2:0 |
08/23/2008 |
UPL6 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
A |
2:0 |
08/27/2008 |
CL3Q2L |
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) |
H |
4:1 |
08/30/2008 |
UPL7 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
H |
1:0 |
09/13/2008 |
UC3 |
OLKOM Melitopol |
A |
5:0 |
09/17/2008 |
CLGS1 |
Arsenal FC London (ENG) |
H |
1:1 |
09/20/2008 |
UPL8 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
A |
3:0 |
09/27/2008 |
UPL9 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
H |
3:0 |
09/30/2008 |
CLGS2 |
Fenerbahçe Istanbul (TUR) |
A |
0:0 |
10/04/2008 |
UPL10 |
FK Kharkiv |
A |
4:0 |
10/18/2008 |
UPL11 |
Zorya Luhansk |
H |
5:0 |
10/21/2008 |
CLGS3 |
FC Porto Oporto (POR) |
A |
1:0 |
10/25/2008 |
UPL12 |
Tavriya Symferopol |
A |
3:1 |
10/29/2008 |
UC4 |
Zorya Luhansk |
H |
2:0 |
11/01/2008 |
UPL13 |
Karpaty Lviv |
H |
4:0 |
11/05/2008 |
CLGS4 |
FC Porto Oporto (POR) |
H |
1:2 |
11/08/2008 |
UPL14 |
FK Lviv |
H |
1:0 |
11/12/2008 |
UCQF |
Stal Alchevsk |
A |
4:1 |
11/15/2008 |
UPL15 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
0:1 |
11/25/2008 |
CLGS5 |
Arsenal FC London (ENG) |
A |
0:1 |
11/29/2008 |
UPL17 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
H |
2:1 |
12/05/2008 |
UPL16 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
A |
4:3 |
12/10/2008 |
CLGS6 |
Fenerbahçe Istanbul (TUR) |
H |
1:0 |
02/18/2009 |
UC31L |
Valencia CF (ESP) |
H |
1:1 |
02/26/2009 |
UC32L |
Valencia CF (ESP) |
A |
2:2 |
03/04/2009 |
UPL18 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
A |
2:0 |
03/08/2009 |
UPL19 |
Vorskla Poltava |
H |
4:1 |
03/12/2009 |
UC31L |
Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) |
H |
1:0 |
03/15/2009 |
UPL20 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
A |
3:1 |
03/19/2009 |
UC32L |
Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) |
A |
2:3 |
03/21/2009 |
UPL21 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
H |
3:0 |
04/04/2009 |
UPL22 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
A |
2:0 |
04/09/2009 |
UCQF1L |
Paris Saint Germain FC (FRA) |
A |
0:0 |
04/12/2009 |
UPL23 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
H |
3:1 |
04/16/2009 |
UCQF2L |
Paris Saint Germain FC (FRA) |
H |
3:0 |
04/18/2009 |
UPL24 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
A |
1:2 |
04/25/2009 |
UPL25 |
FK Kharkiv |
H |
1:0 |
04/30/2009 |
UCSF1L |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
H |
1:1 |
05/02/2009 |
UPL26 |
Zorya Luhansk |
A |
1:0 |
05/07/2009 |
UCSF2L |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
|
05/09/2009 |
UPL27 |
Tavriya Symferopol |
H |
|
05/13/2009 |
UCSF |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
|
05/16/2009 |
UPL28 |
Karpaty Lviv |
A |
|
05/23/2009 |
UPL29 |
FK Lviv |
A |
|
05/30/2009 |
UPL30 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
H |
| Current Standings of 18th Ukrainian National League Championship
| # |
PR |
Team |
GP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
PT |
| 1 |
1 |
Dynamo Kyiv |
26 |
22 |
1 |
3 |
62 |
16 |
67 |
| 2 |
2 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
26 |
16 |
7 |
3 |
39 |
15 |
55 |
| 3 |
3 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
26 |
15 |
7 |
4 |
40 |
22 |
52 |
| 4 |
4 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
26 |
13 |
5 |
8 |
32 |
23 |
44 |
| 5 |
6 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
26 |
11 |
8 |
7 |
26 |
25 |
41 |
| 6 |
5 |
Vorskla-Naftohaz Poltava |
26 |
11 |
7 |
8 |
26 |
23 |
40 |
| 7 |
7 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
26 |
10 |
9 |
7 |
25 |
21 |
39 |
| 8 |
11 |
Tavriya Simferopil |
26 |
9 |
6 |
11 |
34 |
36 |
33 |
| 9 |
8 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
26 |
8 |
8 |
10 |
21 |
30 |
32 |
| 10 |
9 |
Karpaty Lviv |
26 |
7 |
9 |
10 |
30 |
30 |
30 |
| 11 |
10 |
Zorya Luhansk |
26 |
7 |
7 |
12 |
26 |
38 |
28 |
| 12 |
13 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
26 |
10 |
2 |
14 |
29 |
35 |
261 |
| 13 |
12 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
26 |
6 |
7 |
13 |
20 |
32 |
25 |
| 14 |
15 |
FK Lviv |
26 |
5 |
7 |
14 |
18 |
33 |
22 |
| 15 |
14 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
26 |
4 |
5 |
17 |
24 |
50 |
17 |
| 16 |
16 |
FK Kharkiv |
26 |
2 |
9 |
15 |
16 |
39 |
15 |
April 29th, 2009
Current Mood: accomplished
 This is momentous, I think. Democrats are within grasp of controlling US Senate. Until yesterday, they had 58 seats with 1 seat still contested (where a democrat, Al Franken, should soon prevail in court). But, one huge piece of political news certainly transformed the political landscape in Washington - Arlene Specter, US Senator from Pennsylvania has switched his party identification from Republican to Democrat!!! Now, pending Franken being finally seated in Senate, the Democrats will be able to get over the Republican filibuster in US Senate. Given that Democrats also control the House of Representatives, we will be able to largely avoid the legislative deadlock that had plagued our legislature for years. Republicans unhappy of being marginalized? Tough. You, lot, have had it your way largely since 1994. No more. A new epoch started in 2006 and now it has generated steam. An era of liberal legislature. And not a moment to soon. When the country needs to fix the mess created by more than a dozen years of conservative majority in US Congress, we need to be free of Republican stonewalling and foot dragging. Now we can get to work. P.S. I totally understand that Arlene Spector's decision may have less than noble motivations - he has absolutely no chance of winning PA Republican primary against a very conservative opponent now that most Pennsylvanian moderate Republicans have moved on to the Democratic Party. But, in any case, Arlene Specter was never a conservative Republican. He was a moderate and even, once, a Democrat. He just followed his key constituency from the Right to the Left. I dig that.
April 27th, 2009
Current Mood: angry
As Joe Conason writes, most in the intelligence community and CIA, in particular, do not believe that torture works. And that the torture did not work post-9/11 eaither. In particular, the following facts are very telling: Nothing we have learned so far about the individual cases when interrogators employed various kinds of torture -- including a number when detainees were in fact killed -- inspires confidence in the program’s efficacy, let alone its morality or legality. Former CIA agent John Kiriakou admitted publicly in December 2007 that he had first-hand knowledge about the waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah, allegedly a high-ranking lieutenant to Osama bin Laden. According to Kiriakou, Zubaydah had resisted questioning until he underwent simulated drowning for 35 seconds. “It was like flipping a switch,” said the former officer in a widely quoted interview with ABC News. "The next day, he told his interrogator that Allah had visited him in his cell during the night and told him to cooperate. From that day on, he answered every question," Kiriakou said. "The threat information he provided disrupted a number of attacks, maybe dozens of attacks."
Except that today we know that turning Zubaydah wasn’t like flipping a switch, because he was actually subjected to waterboarding not once but more than 80 times –- and at least one of those sessions seems to have been demanded by CIA headquarters against the advice of the agents conducting the interrogation.
Moreover, as Ron Suskind reported in "The One Percent Doctrine," his 2007 book on counter-terrorism, Zubaydah was neither a top operational aide to bin Laden, as Bush and other officials claimed, nor a source of useful intelligence. He was instead a mid-level functionary, afflicted with bouts of mental illness, and unable to provide real information on any impending plots. Whatever useful information Zubayda could divulge, he had revealed before the waterboarding began under questioning by Ali Soufan, a top FBI counterterrorism agent fluent in Arabic, who persuaded the prisoner to reveal useful information about Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, the alleged mastermind of 9/11, and Jose Padilla, the Chicago-born al-Qaida footsoldier later accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb in the United States. “There was no actionable intelligence gained from using enhanced interrogation techniques on Abu Zubaydah that wasn’t, or couldn’t have been, gained from regular tactics,” wrote Soufan in a blistering New York Times op-ed article published last Wednesday.Here, all the good work accomplished by the normal investigative and interrogation methods was simply undone by torture. Torture was not just useless, it was harmful to the investigation. The same dismal pattern can be traced in the case of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, an al-Qaida operative also known as the Libyan, who told CIA interrogators in 2002 –- after several interludes of threatened and actual torture –- that Saddam’s Iraq had trained two of his fellow jihadis in the use of chemical and biological weapons. After still more abuse, he recalled that three more al-Qaida men had visited Iraq to learn about nuclear weapons. It was all nonsense, invented by the Libyan to fend off the torturers and later recanted by him, but not before his claims tainted several intelligence reports, including the crucial National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq of November 2002.
As an aside, however, an important observation must be made. WE SHOULD NOT GET INVOLVED IN THE DEBATE OF THE TORTURE'S USEFULNESSES. Torture is illegal. period. And, as such, the perpetrators of it should be prosecuted. Both the hands-on inquisitors and their entire command chains. Let's see them try to defend themselves (if even possible) by using an argument that torture works. It should work no better than a car thief's argument that he planned to hand the stolen car over to charity.
April 25th, 2009
Current Mood: angry
Over the last week and a half I had been subjected to security searches three times. Twice in an airport, which I would grudgingly accept and at a Miami Civic Center/Courthouse. I am angry. Why are we being treated as criminals? Why do I find myself holding my pants with one hand while stuffing my keys, loose change, my belt, and my shoes through the x-ray machine? Why does the courthouse merit such stringent security measures, but not supermarkets, movie theatres, buses? Who are we trying to detect coming through the doors in the courthouse (but not in other places I've listed)? Terrorists? Why would they waste their time doing this? Courthouses, staffed with dozens of the security personnel and other low-value targets? Would they not be more successful going after movie theatres or supermarkets? And that is the whole point. We want to feel safer by telling ourselves that we have taken measures, however laughable or misguided. The same goes about torture. Dick Cheney suggests that torture works and he fully supports it, despite a wealth of documented evidence and intelligence opinions to the contrary ( Travis Hall, Alberto Mora, Jack Cloonan, etc) On the other hand, so many high profile republicans agree with Dick ( 1, 2, 3). What is it about republicans? Have they become irrelevant? Childish? Republican opinions have become laughably and patently untenable in the whole world. Which party believes that there is no man-made global warming, that torture is legitimate and/or producing results, that people in vegetable state must be kept alive, etc? Republicans, that's who. But, nevermind that. I saw Bill Maher's show on HBO last night. On that show, Bill was interviewing a CIA interrogation specialist, Robert Baer, who bluntly stated that torture is not productive and, in fact, the intelligence community almost ovewhelmingly shares that opinion. He states that torture, in fact, may set back the investigation. Torture produces the answers WE WANT TO HEAR, not the truth that we're trying to determine. He gave an example of Israel, who used to torture Arab terrorists to gain insight into their activities. They, according to Baer, no longer torture. They have learned that torture provides no aid in their work. Israelis arrest Arab terrorists based on good old fashioned POLICE WORK. heh? How about that? When will we learn that? Instead of providing millions of security personnel to airport and government offices search facilities, perhaps we should try that. How 'bout that? One thing we do know, good ole police work would have prevented 9/11.
April 21st, 2009
Current Mood:  anxious
Dynamo Kyiv achieved the best ever advance for a Ukrainian club in the UEFA Cup - they, together with their rivals, Shakhtar Donetsk, reached the demifinals of the last edition of the UEFA Cup (which will be renamed starting next year). Unfortunately, the two Ukrainian clubs will meet in the semifinals. Before the end of May they will also meet in the Ukrainian Cup semifinal and in the last game of the UPL season. They will see each other quite a bit. Meanwhile, since the beginning of the month, Dynamo had declassed metalurh Donetsk and Chornomorets Odesa in the UPL and had achieved a 3-0 aggregate victory over PSG in the UEFA Cup quarterfinals (0:0 and 3:0) before an unexpected letdown against Kryvbas, 1:2. I suppose, this is a product of playing too many games lately. In any case, the advantage over the closest UPL rivals, Shakhtar Donetsk, is 12 points with 6 games to go. Not only that, Shakhtar also have to fend off a strong challenge from Metalist Kharkiv who are only one point behind in the competition for the second place. Dynamo's 2008/2009 Results
Date |
Match |
Opponent |
Venue |
Score |
07/15/2008 |
SC |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
N |
1:1, 3:5pk |
07/19/2008 |
UPL1 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
H |
2:0 |
07/25/2008 |
UPL2 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
A |
3:1 |
07/29/2008 |
CL2Q1L |
Drogheda United (IRL) |
A |
2:1 |
08/02/2008 |
UPL3 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
H |
1:2 |
08/06/2008 |
CL2Q2L |
Drogheda United (IRL) |
H |
2:2 |
08/09/2008 |
UPL4 |
Vorskla Poltava |
A |
2:2 |
08/13/2008 |
CL3Q1L |
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) |
A |
4:1 |
08/16/2008 |
UPL5 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
H |
2:0 |
08/23/2008 |
UPL6 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
A |
2:0 |
08/27/2008 |
CL3Q2L |
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) |
H |
4:1 |
08/30/2008 |
UPL7 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
H |
1:0 |
09/13/2008 |
UC3 |
OLKOM Melitopol |
A |
5:0 |
09/17/2008 |
CLGS1 |
Arsenal FC London (ENG) |
H |
1:1 |
09/20/2008 |
UPL8 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
A |
3:0 |
09/27/2008 |
UPL9 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
H |
3:0 |
09/30/2008 |
CLGS2 |
Fenerbahçe Istanbul (TUR) |
A |
0:0 |
10/04/2008 |
UPL10 |
FK Kharkiv |
A |
4:0 |
10/18/2008 |
UPL11 |
Zorya Luhansk |
H |
5:0 |
10/21/2008 |
CLGS3 |
FC Porto Oporto (POR) |
A |
1:0 |
10/25/2008 |
UPL12 |
Tavriya Symferopol |
A |
3:1 |
10/29/2008 |
UC4 |
Zorya Luhansk |
H |
2:0 |
11/01/2008 |
UPL13 |
Karpaty Lviv |
H |
4:0 |
11/05/2008 |
CLGS4 |
FC Porto Oporto (POR) |
H |
1:2 |
11/08/2008 |
UPL14 |
FK Lviv |
H |
1:0 |
11/12/2008 |
UCQF |
Stal Alchevsk |
A |
4:1 |
11/15/2008 |
UPL15 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
0:1 |
11/25/2008 |
CLGS5 |
Arsenal FC London (ENG) |
A |
0:1 |
11/29/2008 |
UPL17 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
H |
2:1 |
12/05/2008 |
UPL16 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
A |
4:3 |
12/10/2008 |
CLGS6 |
Fenerbahçe Istanbul (TUR) |
H |
1:0 |
02/18/2009 |
UC31L |
Valencia CF (ESP) |
H |
1:1 |
02/26/2009 |
UC32L |
Valencia CF (ESP) |
A |
2:2 |
03/04/2009 |
UPL18 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
A |
2:0 |
03/08/2009 |
UPL19 |
Vorskla Poltava |
H |
4:1 |
03/12/2009 |
UC31L |
Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) |
H |
1:0 |
03/15/2009 |
UPL20 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
A |
3:1 |
03/19/2009 |
UC32L |
Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) |
A |
2:3 |
03/21/2009 |
UPL21 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
H |
3:0 |
04/04/2009 |
UPL22 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
A |
2:0 |
04/09/2009 |
UCQF1L |
Paris Saint Germain FC (FRA) |
A |
0:0 |
04/12/2009 |
UPL23 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
H |
3:1 |
04/16/2009 |
UCQF2L |
Paris Saint Germain FC (FRA) |
H |
3:0 |
04/18/2009 |
UPL24 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
A |
1:2 |
04/25/2009 |
UPL25 |
FK Kharkiv |
H |
|
04/30/2009 |
UCSF1L |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
H |
|
05/02/2009 |
UPL26 |
Zorya Luhansk |
A |
|
05/07/2009 |
UCSF2L |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
|
05/09/2009 |
UPL27 |
Tavriya Symferopol |
H |
|
05/13/2009 |
UCSF |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
|
05/16/2009 |
UPL28 |
Karpaty Lviv |
A |
|
05/23/2009 |
UPL29 |
FK Lviv |
A |
|
05/30/2009 |
UPL30 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
H |
| Current Standings of 18th Ukrainian National League Championship
| # |
PR |
Team |
GP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
PT |
| 1 |
1 |
Dynamo Kyiv |
24 |
20 |
1 |
3 |
60 |
16 |
61 |
| 2 |
3 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
24 |
14 |
7 |
3 |
37 |
15 |
49 |
| 3 |
2 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
24 |
14 |
6 |
4 |
37 |
21 |
48 |
| 4 |
4 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
24 |
12 |
4 |
8 |
30 |
22 |
40 |
| 5 |
5 |
Vorskla-Naftohaz Poltava |
24 |
10 |
7 |
7 |
24 |
21 |
37 |
| 6 |
6 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
24 |
10 |
7 |
7 |
24 |
24 |
37 |
| 7 |
7 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
24 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
22 |
19 |
35 |
| 8 |
9 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
24 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
21 |
28 |
32 |
| 9 |
8 |
Karpaty Lviv |
24 |
7 |
9 |
8 |
29 |
27 |
30 |
| 10 |
10 |
Zorya Luhansk |
24 |
7 |
7 |
10 |
25 |
35 |
28 |
| 11 |
11 |
Tavriya Simferopil |
23 |
7 |
5 |
11 |
30 |
34 |
26 |
| 12 |
12 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
23 |
6 |
6 |
11 |
18 |
27 |
24 |
| 13 |
13 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
24 |
9 |
2 |
13 |
26 |
32 |
231 |
| 14 |
14 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
24 |
4 |
5 |
15 |
22 |
46 |
17 |
| 15 |
15 |
FK Lviv |
24 |
3 |
7 |
14 |
14 |
31 |
16 |
| 16 |
16 |
FK Kharkiv |
24 |
2 |
9 |
13 |
14 |
35 |
15 |
April 8th, 2009
Current Mood: cheerful
So, Vermont State legislature has allowed GAY MARRIAGE! I think this is an unmistakable move forward towards removing last vestiges of legal inequality. In words of Mason from Seattle: For the first time the anti-gay marriage crowd can't whine about so-called "judicial tyranny" on this issue. Vermont's duly-elected legislators, representing the wishes of the states' residents, saw fit to extend marriage rights to all. Bravo. (And boo to you, Governor Douglas. Way to cement your reputation on the wrong side of history.)Thank You Mason. I couldn't have said it better myself.
There is now 4 states in our nation, where marriage is not limited to the heterosexual couples only - Massachussetts, Connecticut, Iowa (!!!), and, now, Vermont. 4 (and counting) down, 46 to go.
March 26th, 2009
Current Mood: angry
Usually, I have no reason to agree with John Stossel. He's a "Free Market" libertarian, anti-union, anti-labor. However, his attitude towards social issues is a different story. Well, read it yourself:  The War on Drugs Is Idiotic"They say, 'Search warrant! Open the door, or we're gonna tear it down!" Lynch told me for my ABC special "Bailouts and Bull".
"I opened the door, and about 10 to 15 agents with shields, bulletproof vests, guns, masks. [They] threw me on the ground and ... had a gun to the back of my head."
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized 30 pounds of marijuana. Sheriff Pat Hedges said the facts were clear, "Charlie Lynch was making a profit off of selling marijuana."
It wasn't hard for the authorities to locate Lynch's marijuana operation. They were probably tipped off by the public ribbon-cutting ceremony Lynch held -- the one that the mayor of his town attended, along with city councilmen and the president of the Chamber of Commerce. The police were invited, too.
You see, Lynch sold medical marijuana, which has been declared legal by California and 12 other states. California says if a doctor recommends that you use the drug, it's perfectly legal. ( continue )
Current Mood: angry
I love it how many pundits on the right find it convenient to blame Obama (in office for all of two months this far) for the stumbling economy and stock market in free fall. These same guys blamed Clinton for 9/11 (8 months into Bush's term) and Carter for the 1981/82 recession (a year and a half into Regan's term). The truth is, Obama had inherited this mess from Bush's Administration and Bush-allied Congress (including the stonewalling Republican minority of the 2007/8 US Senate). Obama's plans may be criticized by many. Even I find things not to my liking, such as refusal to nationalize the failing banks, fixing them and selling them back off into the private sector all cleaned up and profitable. But let this plan work. Let's see what economy looks like a year or two from now. Here's an interesting little piece of wisdom from Joe Conason:  As Barack Obama's economic advisers confront choices that vary from bad to worse in their mission to revive the financial sector and the broader economy, it is worth remembering that those choices were in essence inherited by the president, who is still new to his office. Listening to his critics, especially on the right, it would be easy to believe that the president is personally responsible for ballooning deficits, gigantic bailouts, ridiculous bonuses, nationalized institutions and careening markets. It would be easy to believe but entirely false -- and merely the latest episode in an old political con game that is all too typical of Washington.
Ever since Election Day 2008, the usual suspects have been hard at work, deflecting responsibility from the Bush administration (and the Republicans in Congress) for the catastrophic effects of conservative policy enacted during the past eight years. Within days after Mr. Obama's victory, as stock prices fell, radio host and ideological commissar Rush Limbaugh exclaimed that we were already in the "Obama recession."
In fact, the economy had been shrinking for nearly a year by then, and the market was responding to bad economic news rather than the election result.
But facts are inconvenient for propaganda -- especially when politicians and pundits are seeking to escape blame for policies that have failed.
Among the boldest perpetrators of this con game over the past few decades is Mr. Limbaugh, who shares with his fellow Republicans a peculiar method of timing the blame for economic woe. When he was flacking for the first President Bush back in 1992, he wrote: "The worst economic period in the last 50 years was under Jimmy Carter, which led to the 1981-82 recession, a recession more punishing than the current one." But of course the president during the 1982 recession was not named Carter; that president was the sainted Ronald Reagan.
In January 1981, Reagan took the oath, and within his first three months had rammed through a budget that contained his historic "supply-side" tax cuts. Reagan budget director David Stockman had created computer simulations supposedly showing that those tax cuts would result in 5 percent growth in gross domestic product during the following year. Years later, when simulation failed to materialize as reality, Mr. Stockman referred cynically to that prediction as the "rosy scenario" -- and admitted that it was essentially a fraud. Contrary to the rosy scenario, 1982 was the worst year since the Great Depression, with negative growth of 2.2 percent.
According to conservative theory, the mere announcement of massive tax cuts for the rich by a Republican president ought to have stimulated euphoria in the markets and rapid growth. And according to that same theory, as explicated by Mr. Limbaugh, the prospect of a Democratic president with a progressive agenda was what drove the markets down last autumn.
But there is a double standard at work here. When a Democrat is elected president, he is responsible for economic contraction even if he has yet to be inaugurated for three months. When a Republican is actually president, he need not be held responsible, even well after he takes office.
If that strikes you as inconsistent, then you are beginning to notice how blatant deception passes for conservative ideology. But the deception is even worse than it appears at first glance.
The same Republicans in Congress and on the radio who lionize the late Reagan now complain bitterly about the tax increases on the wealthy in President Obama's budget. What they never mention is that their conservative idol, faced with the recession that they blamed on his predecessor, likewise raised taxes during an economic slump.
Terrified by the looming deficits that resulted from the supply-side tax cuts, the Reagan administration rolled back many of the cuts just a year after they had passed -- instituting what then amounted to the largest tax increase in American history. Those tax hikes took back about a third of the cuts legislated in 1981. But that historic tax increase is never mentioned when Republican legislators invoke Reagan -- and they still love to blame Mr. Carter for their hero's recession.
So even as critics roast President Obama and his Treasury secretary, honesty requires that they acknowledge that the problems faced by President Obama and Mr. Geithner are not of their making. He has held office since Jan. 20 -- and if held to the Reagan standard, he deserves at least a year to begin correcting the Bush recession.
March 24th, 2009
Dynamo destroyed, as expected, lowly Arsenal Kyiv in a local low-key intra-city rivalry, which is not really a rivalry (and never was). Shakhtar struggled to get by a very decent Vorskla squad. The status quo had been upheld as Dynamo continue to lead by 12, with 9 games to go. In UEFA Cup, Dynamo had to overcome gutsy performance by Metalist Kharkiv and advance to the UEFA Cup quarterfinals on away goals rule despite losing 3-2. Dynamo will face Paris Saint Germain FC (FRA), in the qurterfinals. A very beatable opponent, in my opinion. interestingly, two Ukrainian clubs are still in the competition - Shakhtar Donetsk is the other. They also face French opponent - Olympique de Marseille. For now, the attention shifts back to the national teams as, on April 1st, Ukrainian National Team faces its biggest test of the WC2010 Qualification, England. Dynamo's 2008/2009 Results
Date |
Match |
Opponent |
Venue |
Score |
07/15/2008 |
SC |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
N |
1:1, 3:5pk |
07/19/2008 |
UPL1 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
H |
2:0 |
07/25/2008 |
UPL2 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
A |
3:1 |
07/29/2008 |
CL2Q1L |
Drogheda United (IRL) |
A |
2:1 |
08/02/2008 |
UPL3 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
H |
1:2 |
08/06/2008 |
CL2Q2L |
Drogheda United (IRL) |
H |
2:2 |
08/09/2008 |
UPL4 |
Vorskla Poltava |
A |
2:2 |
08/13/2008 |
CL3Q1L |
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) |
A |
4:1 |
08/16/2008 |
UPL5 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
H |
2:0 |
08/23/2008 |
UPL6 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
A |
2:0 |
08/27/2008 |
CL3Q2L |
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS) |
H |
4:1 |
08/30/2008 |
UPL7 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
H |
1:0 |
09/13/2008 |
UC3 |
OLKOM Melitopol |
A |
5:0 |
09/17/2008 |
CLGS1 |
Arsenal FC London (ENG) |
H |
1:1 |
09/20/2008 |
UPL8 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
A |
3:0 |
09/27/2008 |
UPL9 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
H |
3:0 |
09/30/2008 |
CLGS2 |
Fenerbahçe Istanbul (TUR) |
A |
0:0 |
10/04/2008 |
UPL10 |
FK Kharkiv |
A |
4:0 |
10/18/2008 |
UPL11 |
Zorya Luhansk |
H |
5:0 |
10/21/2008 |
CLGS3 |
FC Porto Oporto (POR) |
A |
1:0 |
10/25/2008 |
UPL12 |
Tavriya Symferopol |
A |
3:1 |
10/29/2008 |
UC4 |
Zorya Luhansk |
H |
2:0 |
11/01/2008 |
UPL13 |
Karpaty Lviv |
H |
4:0 |
11/05/2008 |
CLGS4 |
FC Porto Oporto (POR) |
H |
1:2 |
11/08/2008 |
UPL14 |
FK Lviv |
H |
1:0 |
11/12/2008 |
UCQF |
Stal Alchevsk |
A |
4:1 |
11/15/2008 |
UPL15 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
0:1 |
11/25/2008 |
CLGS5 |
Arsenal FC London (ENG) |
A |
0:1 |
11/29/2008 |
UPL17 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
H |
2:1 |
12/05/2008 |
UPL16 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
A |
4:3 |
12/10/2008 |
CLGS6 |
Fenerbahçe Istanbul (TUR) |
H |
1:0 |
02/18/2009 |
UC31L |
Valencia CF (ESP) |
H |
1:1 |
02/26/2009 |
UC32L |
Valencia CF (ESP) |
A |
2:2 |
03/04/2009 |
UPL18 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
A |
2:0 |
03/08/2009 |
UPL19 |
Vorskla Poltava |
H |
4:1 |
03/12/2009 |
UC31L |
Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) |
H |
1:0 |
03/15/2009 |
UPL20 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
A |
3:1 |
03/19/2009 |
UC32L |
Metalist Kharkiv (UKR) |
A |
2:3 |
03/21/2009 |
UPL21 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
H |
3:0 |
04/04/2009 |
UPL22 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
A |
|
04/09/2009 |
UCQF1L |
Paris Saint Germain FC (FRA) |
A |
|
04/12/2009 |
UPL23 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
H |
|
04/16/2009 |
UCQF2L |
Paris Saint Germain FC (FRA) |
H |
|
04/18/2009 |
UPL24 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
A |
|
04/22/2009 |
UCSF |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
A |
|
04/25/2009 |
UPL25 |
FK Kharkiv |
H |
|
05/02/2009 |
UPL26 |
Zorya Luhansk |
A |
|
05/09/2009 |
UPL27 |
Tavriya Symferopol |
H |
|
05/16/2009 |
UPL28 |
Karpaty Lviv |
A |
|
05/23/2009 |
UPL29 |
FK Lviv |
A |
|
05/30/2009 |
UPL30 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
H |
| Current Standings of 18th Ukrainian National League Championship
| # |
PR |
Team |
GP |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
PT |
| 1 |
1 |
Dynamo Kyiv |
21 |
18 |
1 |
2 |
54 |
13 |
55 |
| 2 |
2 |
Shakhtar Donetsk |
21 |
12 |
7 |
2 |
32 |
13 |
43 |
| 3 |
3 |
Metalist Kharkiv |
20 |
11 |
5 |
4 |
30 |
18 |
38 |
| 4 |
4 |
Metalurh Donetsk |
21 |
11 |
4 |
6 |
28 |
18 |
37 |
| 5 |
5 |
Vorskla-Naftohaz Poltava |
21 |
10 |
7 |
4 |
21 |
15 |
37 |
| 6 |
6 |
Metalurh Zaporizhzhya |
21 |
9 |
6 |
6 |
22 |
22 |
33 |
| 7 |
8 |
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk |
21 |
7 |
8 |
6 |
17 |
15 |
29 |
| 8 |
7 |
Karpaty Lviv |
21 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
27 |
23 |
28 |
| 9 |
9 |
Zorya Luhansk |
21 |
6 |
6 |
9 |
21 |
32 |
24 |
| 10 |
12 |
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih |
21 |
5 |
8 |
8 |
16 |
26 |
23 |
| 11 |
10 |
Chornomorets Odesa |
21 |
8 |
2 |
11 |
24 |
27 |
201 |
| 12 |
13 |
Tavriya Simferopil |
20 |
5 |
5 |
10 |
25 |
33 |
20 |
| 13 |
11 |
Arsenal Kyiv |
20 |
5 |
5 |
10 |
14 |
24 |
20 |
| 14 |
14 |
FK Lviv |
21 |
3 |
6 |
12 |
14 |
29 |
15 |
| 15 |
15 |
Illichivets Mariupol |
20 |
3 |
4 |
13 |
18 |
37 |
13 |
| 16 |
16 |
FK Kharkiv |
21 |
1 |
9 |
11 |
12 |
30 |
12 |
March 19th, 2009
Current Mood: rejuvenated
The conservatives near and far are screaming that it is the Democrats and not the Republican who are at fault for the current recession. They blame democrats for Fannie Mae and for the legislative gridlocks and inaction. Not so, states, in his very strong and adamant defense, the Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank (D-MA)  ( article here )
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