I get a lot of requests from friends who ask how they can become informed and follow the current protests in Kiev and the rest of Ukraine. Accordingly, I put together this list of sites that may help you get started if you want to know more, watch and support the brave people of Ukraine as they try to unseat their parasitical, incredibly corrupt President Yanukovych, who has stolen billions (yes, BILLIONS) of dollars from Ukraine's treasury and destroyed the nation's economy since he took office in 2010.
Payback time for Yanukovych family - where the graft money goes:
http://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime/?p=4162#.UquabhBCJLA.facebook
Yanukovych financial holdings exposed:
http://yanukovich.info/
Good essay describing why Ukraine matters:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2013/12/01/why-ukraine-matters/
Fine article explains why Ukrainians protest in freezing weather:
http://www.care2.com/causes/7-reasons-ukrainians-are-protesting-in-9-degree-weather-in-kiev.html#ixzz2nF5Eqcto
Ukrainian journalist publishes addresses of overseas homes and businesses owned by government officials:
http://maidan.in.ua/journalist_published_european_adresses_of_ukrainian_politicians_and_businessmen/
Excellent News site in Ukrainian with live streamed news, often translated into English:
http://hromadske.tv
Best English language web site covering Ukraine developments:
http://www.kyivpost.com/
Radio Free Europe, corporate site formerly run by CIA but now widely regarded as independent and credible news source:
http://www.rferl.org/
Here's a site that is a sort of social media aggregator focused on Euromaidan events:
https://www.rebelmouse.com/euromaidan/
This site has recordings of actual Berkut riot police radio broadcasts during 11/30 unprovoked attacks on demonstrators and press:
https://soundcloud.com/berkutsays
Very moving takeoff on musical Les Miserables by Ukraine
Canal5 TV, made to honor Ukrainian protests; you don't need to
understand the words to comprehend and be moved by the images:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oji6ZUpoa30&feature=youtu.be
Collection of aerial views of Maidan protests:
http://euromaidan.eu/#/posts
Amazing HD views (with sound) of Maidan protest as seen from small helicopter drone:
http://www.airpano.ru/files/Ukraine-EuroMaidan/2-2
Live streams worth following but not always on air:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/euromajdan/theater
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/spilno-tv/theater
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-action-spilno-tv/theater
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/aronets/theater
Another live stream to check out:
http://espreso.tv/stream
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Thursday, June 24, 2010
How I came to be Persona Non Grata at the age of six
I was born in the Free Territory of Trieste, a city East of Venice, Italy. After World War II, the city was contested by both Italy and Yugoslavia. It was occupied by US and UK troops pending a plebiscite (popular vote) that would determine which country the city would join.
My mother was an Italian citizen who met and married an American GI who was in Trieste as part of TRUST (Trieste United States Troops).
In 1953, my parents and I left for the United States. About the same time, Trieste voted to become a part of Italy.
In 1954, my parents filed papers to have my mother and I become permanent US residents. My mother's application was accepted. Mine was not, because the US Immigration authorities determined that I was a "stateless person" because the place I was born in (The Free Territory of Trieste) no longer existed. Despite the desperate appeals of my parents, who were permitted to remain in the USA, at the age of 6 I was declared by the United States to be "Persona Non Grata" and ordered deported (by myself) to Italy, where I would doubtless be placed in an orphanage.
Needless to say, this was unacceptable to my parents. My father finally determined that a position was available for him at a US Army post in Italy, if he submitted to a voluntary reduction in rank from Sergeant First Class to Sergeant, a step backwards in his career. To preserve his family, he did so and the three of us returned to Italy.
My father's military career never recovered from this setback, however his subsequent efforts to enlist the assistance of US Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri did eventually result in the latter's passing a bill in the US Senate by which I was declared a "war orphan" and permitted to return to the US and reside there permanently on that basis. It is an irony of political necessity that I was neither born during the war, nor was I an orphan, but one cannot look a gift horse in the mouth, as they say.
The lesson I learned from this encounter was that the US Immigration system and its courts are deeply flawed in the sense that they seem incapable of regarding any issues other than the letter of the law. Humanitarian concerns (such as separating a child from his parents) are irrelevant to them. I find this philosophy to be alien to the spirit of the United States that I came to know in the following years. Now a citizen, I find the hairs on the back of my head standing on end when I read similar stories of ordinary people caught up and mercilessly spit out by the findings of the US Immigration Service and its Courts.
I therefore devote this blog to those who have gotten short shrift in the great American Immigration Game and I welcome their stories and the support of others who may sympathize.
I in no way encourage illegal immigration or violation of US laws or the Constitution. However, I do think that in a society where much is made of "human rights," we could afford to maintain a bit of humility and flexibility when it comes to the actions of our own bureaucrats and public servants.
My mother was an Italian citizen who met and married an American GI who was in Trieste as part of TRUST (Trieste United States Troops).
In 1953, my parents and I left for the United States. About the same time, Trieste voted to become a part of Italy.
In 1954, my parents filed papers to have my mother and I become permanent US residents. My mother's application was accepted. Mine was not, because the US Immigration authorities determined that I was a "stateless person" because the place I was born in (The Free Territory of Trieste) no longer existed. Despite the desperate appeals of my parents, who were permitted to remain in the USA, at the age of 6 I was declared by the United States to be "Persona Non Grata" and ordered deported (by myself) to Italy, where I would doubtless be placed in an orphanage.
Needless to say, this was unacceptable to my parents. My father finally determined that a position was available for him at a US Army post in Italy, if he submitted to a voluntary reduction in rank from Sergeant First Class to Sergeant, a step backwards in his career. To preserve his family, he did so and the three of us returned to Italy.
My father's military career never recovered from this setback, however his subsequent efforts to enlist the assistance of US Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri did eventually result in the latter's passing a bill in the US Senate by which I was declared a "war orphan" and permitted to return to the US and reside there permanently on that basis. It is an irony of political necessity that I was neither born during the war, nor was I an orphan, but one cannot look a gift horse in the mouth, as they say.
The lesson I learned from this encounter was that the US Immigration system and its courts are deeply flawed in the sense that they seem incapable of regarding any issues other than the letter of the law. Humanitarian concerns (such as separating a child from his parents) are irrelevant to them. I find this philosophy to be alien to the spirit of the United States that I came to know in the following years. Now a citizen, I find the hairs on the back of my head standing on end when I read similar stories of ordinary people caught up and mercilessly spit out by the findings of the US Immigration Service and its Courts.
I therefore devote this blog to those who have gotten short shrift in the great American Immigration Game and I welcome their stories and the support of others who may sympathize.
I in no way encourage illegal immigration or violation of US laws or the Constitution. However, I do think that in a society where much is made of "human rights," we could afford to maintain a bit of humility and flexibility when it comes to the actions of our own bureaucrats and public servants.
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