September 2009 Archives
After a lengthy layoff, today seems like a good time to return to discussions about Ukrainian politics. Ukraine's next presidential election is scheduled for January 17, 2010. If a second round ballot is necessary, it is expected to occur in February 2010.
According to an August 20, 2009 poll of 3,011 respondents by Kyiv-based Research & Branding Group, the Party of Regions' Viktor Yanukovych will become Ukraine's next president. Incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko has little chance of being a factor in the election. The poll results were:
Technically, with the exception of less internal bickering, it may be difficult to see any changes in government, but it could very well be a throwback to the Leonid Kuchma era. Remember, Yanukovych was Kuchma's handpicked successor, but still lost to Yushchenko in the 2004 election, due in part to the Orange Revolution.
Don't expect a repeat of the Orange Revolution this time. Yushchenko and Tymoshenko completely blew their chance to effect real change in Ukraine. After all the nonsense of the last five years, all the people want now is a stable political situation and to reverse the course of the country's economic downturn.
According to an August 20, 2009 poll of 3,011 respondents by Kyiv-based Research & Branding Group, the Party of Regions' Viktor Yanukovych will become Ukraine's next president. Incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko has little chance of being a factor in the election. The poll results were:
- Viktor Yanukovych - 26%
- Yulia Tymoshenko - 16.5%
- Arseniy Yatseniuk - 12.6%
- Petro Simonenko - 4.5%
- Vladimir Lytvyn - 4.2%
- Viktor Yushchenko - 2%
- Others - 7.3%
- Against all candidates - 9.9%
- Viktor Yanukovych - 39.6%
- Yulia Tymoshenko - 28%
- Against all candidates - 19%
- Will not vote - 6.8%
- Difficult to answer - 6.6%
- Party of Regions - 27.9%
- Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc - 16%
- Arseniy Yatseniuk Bloc - 9.2%
- Vladimir Lytvyn Bloc - 4.8%
- Communist Party - 4.4%
- Others - 9.4%
- Against all parties - 9.6%
- Will not vote - 7.1%
- Difficult to answer - 11.6%
Technically, with the exception of less internal bickering, it may be difficult to see any changes in government, but it could very well be a throwback to the Leonid Kuchma era. Remember, Yanukovych was Kuchma's handpicked successor, but still lost to Yushchenko in the 2004 election, due in part to the Orange Revolution.
Don't expect a repeat of the Orange Revolution this time. Yushchenko and Tymoshenko completely blew their chance to effect real change in Ukraine. After all the nonsense of the last five years, all the people want now is a stable political situation and to reverse the course of the country's economic downturn.
The U.K. Food Standards Agency recently published three 2008 monitoring reports about sheep on farms across England, Scotland and Wales that remain under post-Chernobyl restrictions. According to these new reports, none of the affected farms were considered suitable to have their restrictions lifted.As a result of the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, large quantities of radioactivity was released into the atmosphere. Some of this radioactive contamination fell on upland areas of the United Kingdom where sheep are farmed.
To protect consumers, restrictions were placed upon the movement and sale of sheep from U.K. areas where contamination levels in sheep meat is over 1,000 Becquerels per kilogram (the safety limit set in 1986). Live sheep are currently monitored using hand-held radiation monitors that provide a count rate relating to radioactive contamination.
In 1986, almost 9,000 farms fell under these restrictions. Today, only 369 farms are still under restriction, 95% of which are located in northern Wales.
The Food Standards Agency will continue to survey the sheep to ensure that farms can be released from their restrictions as soon as possible, once the contamination levels in the sheep fall within safety limits.
Image: Welsh Sheep - Photo: Ian Wilson
Destination Truth is a weekly television series on cable's SyFy channel that follows paranormal researcher Josh Gates around the world as he investigates claims of the supernatural. The next episode, scheduled to air on Wednesday, September 30, includes a ghost hunting investigation into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The Ghosts of Chernobyl segment will include a quick review of the evidence with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson from the popular SyFy series Ghost Hunters.
When viewing the episode's promo video (see below), it looks like they received permission to spend the night in Pripyat. This is confirmed when watching the minute and a half sneak peak clip (see below) on the Destination Truth website. I don't know how they managed to get that permission - it must be the power of television ... and the power of money. I'm sure they paid a hefty fee for the privilege.
So, what can we expect to see? In the sneak peak video, Gates says they are investigating claims of Pripyat being haunted. I've heard some people report feelings of being watched when walking past the city's hospital complex, but that's about it. If there really are ghosts or anything paranormal in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, I think they would most likely be around the Chernobyl Plant instead of in Pripyat.
Having watched some previous Destination Truth episodes, I think it's a safe bet that we'll see Gates and his crew overreact to something they find or encounter during their investigation. In the sneak peak video, you can see Gates getting into a panic about their geiger counter reading being too high within a room and having to immediately leave. I'm sure it's nothing more than an attempt to make viewers think they are in a truly dangerous situation. In reality, I doubt they encountered extremely high radiation levels. There's no way the Zone Administration would allow them to spend any length of time in a truly dangerous area.
After watching the sneak peak video, I'm wondering how much misinformation is going to be included in the Ghosts of Chernobyl episode. In the sneak peak, Gates refers to Pripyat as the home of the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor, specifically saying the Chernobyl Reactor is inside Pripyat. As most of us know, Pripyat used to be home to the Chernobyl Plant workers, not the plant itself, which is located approximately 3 km south of the city limits. I'll admit it's a small detail, but still a basic fact.
As worrisome as it sounds, this episode may be worth watching for no other reason than to see video footage of Pripyat at night (they use infrared cameras). This is the first time anyone has been allowed to film in Pripyat at night, so it could be interesting. When watching the episode, don't believe for a minute they were left alone in Pripyat without having a guide with them. The guide may not be seen on camera, but there's no way they were allowed to spend a full night in Pripyat completely unsupervised.
I'll write more next week after watching the complete episode.
My commentary on the Ghosts of Chernobyl episode is now online
Promo Video
Here is the episode sneak peak:
When viewing the episode's promo video (see below), it looks like they received permission to spend the night in Pripyat. This is confirmed when watching the minute and a half sneak peak clip (see below) on the Destination Truth website. I don't know how they managed to get that permission - it must be the power of television ... and the power of money. I'm sure they paid a hefty fee for the privilege.
So, what can we expect to see? In the sneak peak video, Gates says they are investigating claims of Pripyat being haunted. I've heard some people report feelings of being watched when walking past the city's hospital complex, but that's about it. If there really are ghosts or anything paranormal in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, I think they would most likely be around the Chernobyl Plant instead of in Pripyat.
Having watched some previous Destination Truth episodes, I think it's a safe bet that we'll see Gates and his crew overreact to something they find or encounter during their investigation. In the sneak peak video, you can see Gates getting into a panic about their geiger counter reading being too high within a room and having to immediately leave. I'm sure it's nothing more than an attempt to make viewers think they are in a truly dangerous situation. In reality, I doubt they encountered extremely high radiation levels. There's no way the Zone Administration would allow them to spend any length of time in a truly dangerous area.
After watching the sneak peak video, I'm wondering how much misinformation is going to be included in the Ghosts of Chernobyl episode. In the sneak peak, Gates refers to Pripyat as the home of the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor, specifically saying the Chernobyl Reactor is inside Pripyat. As most of us know, Pripyat used to be home to the Chernobyl Plant workers, not the plant itself, which is located approximately 3 km south of the city limits. I'll admit it's a small detail, but still a basic fact.
As worrisome as it sounds, this episode may be worth watching for no other reason than to see video footage of Pripyat at night (they use infrared cameras). This is the first time anyone has been allowed to film in Pripyat at night, so it could be interesting. When watching the episode, don't believe for a minute they were left alone in Pripyat without having a guide with them. The guide may not be seen on camera, but there's no way they were allowed to spend a full night in Pripyat completely unsupervised.
I'll write more next week after watching the complete episode.
My commentary on the Ghosts of Chernobyl episode is now online
Promo Video
Here is the episode sneak peak:
In late August, an electric train crashed in Slavutych, Ukraine. The train was used to transport workers back and forth to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. While no official reason for the accident has been released, it appears the driver was drunk and driving the train at a very high rate of speed. No injuries were reported.
Here are 2 photos from the scene:
Here are 2 photos from the scene:
