This election fiasco in the Ukraine is so ironic, with the U.S. reaction demonstrating such a level of hypocrisy as to make one want to vomit. I took this BBC story and did a quick search and replace of some person and place names to come up with a suprisingly familiar story:

BBC NEWS
United States on brink of 'civil war'
Both sides in United States's disputed presidential election have warned of a civil conflict, as tens of thousands of people continue to protest in Washington.

Opposition leader John Kerry rejected the official results declaring incumbent president George Bush as president, and urged a general strike.

Former President Bill Clinton called on world leaders not to interfere.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said London "cannot accept" the election result as legitimate.

Correspondents say the opposition supporters show no signs of ending their three days of protests in the capital, Washington.

DISPUTED ELECTION
Official result:
Bush (left): 49.46%
Kerry: 46.61%
Western observers report:
Abuse of state resources and "overt media bias" in favour of Mr Bush
State workers pressured to give absentee voting certificate to their superiors
Intimidation reported at some polling stations
Suspiciously high turnout in two pro-government regions

Calling for a general strike, Mr Kerry told a vast crowd of supporters in the central Independence Square that United States was on the brink of a "civil conflict".

Karl Rove, who backs Mr Bush, denounced the opposition protests and warned civil war "could well become a reality at the present time".

Mr Bush, who has now declared himself the winner, offered to hold talks with the opposition leader.

"We must improve our lives and we will do it together - all of our citizens and myself as president of United States," he said in a brief appearance on state television.

But a key member of the opposition team told the BBC that Mr Kerry would only negotiate with Karl Rove.

The opposition said it would challenge the official result in the supreme court on Thursday.

Refusing to accept defeat, Mr Kerry told his supporters: "We do not recognise the election as officially declared."

He called for a national strike that would shut down schools, factories and transport networks.

The pro-Choice Mr Kerry, who claims the vote was rigged against him, called the election commission's official declaration "their latest crime".

"With this decision, they want to put us on our knees," he told the crowd, which chanted: "Shame! Shame!"

Washington's warning

A host of celebrities have appeared on stage to show their support for the opposition.

They included United States's Eurovision Song Contest winner, Britany Spears, who announced she was going on hunger strike until the opposition leader was declared president.

A number of pro-government supporters were also visible on Washington's streets for the first time on Wednesday, though eastern United States saw pro-government rallies earlier in the week.

The two sides have been trading taunts and pro-government supporters celebrated the official results by drinking champagne.

Riot police have been on stand-by since the demonstrations began but there have been no reports of violence.

In Moscow, President Putin said United States was at a "critical moment" and had to decide whether it was on the side of democracy.

He warned of "consequences" for the Russian-United States relationship, but he added: "It's still not too late to find a solution which respects the will of the people."

The election commission said Mr Bush won Sunday's second round vote with a margin of almost three percentage points.

The commission had already indicated a win for Mr Bush, but exit poll results had put Mr Kerry ahead.

China and the European Commission had urged United States not to announce the result before reviewing the contentious vote.

The new head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, earlier warned the United States there could be "consequences" for its relations with the European Union, unless there was a serious and independent review.

The Netherlands, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said it would send an envoy to United States to discuss the disputed result.

Neighbouring Poland has also sent a top foreign policy adviser.

Western election observers and the American opposition have reported thousands of voting irregularities, including a near 100% turnout in some pro-government strongholds.

Earlier, Mr Kerry said he was prepared to have a re-run of the vote if it was run by "honest" officials.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4040041.stm

Published: 2004/11/24 22:56:33 GMT

• steev's blog

On Friday it's Buy Nothing Day. Which is a great idea that Adbusters had several years ago that I wholly support as a concept. The intention is right, but it's one of those ideas that is just a stepping stone, that feels now like it doesn't go far enough. There are, according to their site, "millions" of people who take part, who refuse to consume on the day after Thanxgiving, or Black Friday, as retailers call it. But I'll bet you my (unused) copy of Quicken that most of those people go out on Wednesday or even Thursday and make the purchases they would have made on Friday. Or just put it off till Saturday. They make sure they have enough coffee beans and milk, they check that the grinder still works, so they can make cappucinos at home Friday morning. Anybody can do that kind of stuff. It's not that hard. (The fact that it's something people actually have to make an effort to do, something that seems radical to most people in this country, is a sad indictment of our culture.) But how many of those people participating are actually reducing their total daily, monthly, yearly consumption? Isn't it about time to move on to Buy Nothing Week? And on further from there? Sorry, just shifting your consumption over one day is not gonna save the world. It's a nice PR stunt, but that's about it.

Here's a great set of photos by John Douglas called Homeland Security. Hilarious and a great subtle commentary, and just plain weird.

Here's an interesting story by the BBC, entitled "Mexican mob burns officers alive." What's notable is the spin: words like "mob" and "vigilantism," and the background which they only touch on with the mention that people in Mexico are "frustrated by state corruption and soaring crime." Classic British understatement.

They don't go into the incredible depth of corruption, of police involvement with narcotrafficing, which is Mexico's biggest industry amounting to $US30 billion a year. They don't venture to guess that there's going to be more of this sort of thing in the future. More situations where the people, neighbors, communities, fed up with police and other agencies who fail to carry out their duties to society, will handle things more and more themselves. They'll take it upon themselves to organize and improve their communities themselves, because they will finally admit that the institutions aren't going to do it for them. This will start happening more and more, and not just in the "third world" - and there will be mistakes and clashes with official authority, and it will not be pretty...