December 11, 2004

• The previous, non poisoning, explanation for Yushchenko's rather sudden transformation from good looking bloke to The Thing From The Swamp, was that it was stress related acne. riiiiiight
• Better comparison photos in this cnn article...
• This, my monkey chums, is a proper election. Why? I happen to think this is terrible.
• This gives a lot more credence to the story about the poisoned Russian journalist. That is just fucked.
• Sooooz, the poisoning is, of course, terrible. But to me the whole situation says something about the power of democracy. In a year where most people able to vote in the US election didn't, and where next year the same thing will undoubtedly happen in the UK, it is uplifting to see people treating an election so seriously. Whether it's barricading the government buildings to demand a recount - with the chestnut revolution masses - or actually (allegedly) trying to murder your opponent, it shows a level of commitment to the process that you just don't get in the supposedly more democratic countries. Ask yourself, how many politicians in your country would carry on campaigning after such an attack. You have to respect that.
• Right then, Everyone head to Ohio. Time to fix our own mess.
• Good point, Danger. Woot!
• it shows a level of commitment to the process that you just don't get in the supposedly more democratic countries Supposedly more democratic??? Sorry but we are just a bit more democratic than Ukraine. Yeah we are complacent, cause our system works so well no matter who is president. Ukraine now is where we were c. 1790 or so. When you are fighting for the very existence of democracy in your country, as our founding fathers were, of course you will be passionate.
• An interesting, largely overlooked, comparison with the Ukraine situation - Abkhazia.
• "stress related acne" Nobody is that stressed! Jesus H. This guy is amazing...and really worried about his family as he pushes on.
• I can't help thinking that from an entirely superficial standpoint his enemies actually did him a favour. Before Yushchenko was handsome, but he looked like a bit of a lightweight pretty-boy. Now he looks like the prototypical Eastern European strongman who'd watch impassively as his enemies were dragged away to be tortured and shot. Now, wouldn't you be nervous if you were the guy who tried to poison him and failed.
• Ok, so someone explain this to me, because something about this story doesn't make sense. The World Health Organization says, Short-term exposure of human to high levels of dioxins may result in skin lesions, such as chloracne and patchy darkening of the skin, and altered liver function. Long-term exposure is linked to impairment of the immune system, the developing nervous system, the endocrine system and reproductive functions. The WHO has also a link to a more detailed PDF mentioning the risk of heart problems. But it seems to me that if you wanted to cause immediate liver or heart failure, you'd just pick a different poison. I'm not a toxicologist, but my impression is that whoever poisoned this person either wanted to make him ugly (Nal may be on to something) or wanted to kill him not today, not tomorrow, but at some undefined point in the future. If you wanted to kill someone, why would you use a chemical which is most famous for its carcinogenic and development disruption properties?
• I read that the US has contributed sixty-five million dollars to the Ukraine political process over the past five years. Foreign countries trying to influence other countries' elections is absolutely detestable -- unless the US is that foreign country.
• Yeah we are complacent, cause our system works so well no matter who is president. That's exactly the attitude that lets Bush's ilk get away with what they do: "We're much more civilized, there's no way anyone in our country could be that ambitious." arabella: The toxin is something that has been showing up in nearly every human body since the Industrial Revolution. It's not something doctors usually look for or would think to look for. The symptoms don't start until a while after its been administered so its hard to tell what the original cause was.
• It also has a signifigantly corrosive effect on a person's health. Yushchenko was campaigning with a morphine drip in his spine, at one point. His death would arrouse suspitions, but less people would ask any questions if he had to bow out because of his health.
• Maybe when the culprit got his opportunity, he only had access to dioxin. Maybe it was the best choice of poison based Yush's eating preferences and habits. Maybe they wanted to hurt, and not to kill.
• I hope he gets better.
• That song is a banga, ya'll!