Day Off, Kind of. . .

Not much time to write today. I'm back in Riga, spending time with my daughter. Today we went out to an outdoor sculpture garden in Kurzeme (the Courish province, as it was once widely known in English, on the sea that was once famous in Europe for the quality of its shipbuilders). We have now stopped at home in Riga to pick up some things before heading off for "pirts" at the house of some friends in the Riga suburbs. "Pirts" is Latvian word for sauna or banja.

But, have a read of the following that was sent to me as a comment. I have a response to it written in my head, but no time to write until tomorrow. It is thought-provoking, or at least was for me, in the sense of in-between moments of laughing and playing today, I have obsessed with a response to it. . .

Anonymous said...

"populist (i.e., NOT socialist but Keynesian/FDR/New Deal) reform"

But how do you explain NPF? ending up in PrivatBank control?
This is not Keynesian/FDR/New Deal) reform but straight up cronyism and nepotism.
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Keynesianism.htm

"From the very first months of work, the members of both teams started to accuse each other of corruption. The main battle happened in this past June, when the government took upon the fate of Nikopol Plant of Ferrosmelting (NPF).

Before the "orange revolution," this plant belonged to the structures associated with Viktor Pinchuk -- son-in-law of former President Leonid Kuchma. Pinchuk bought the plant some time ago, while outbidding Dnipropetrovs’k group "Privat." However, then Pinchuk decided to sell his share in NPF to Russian oligarchs -Alexander Abramov and Viktor Vekselberg. Two groups inside of Ukrainian leadership took the opposite sides of the conflict. Timoshenko was lobbying the Privat, and Poroshenko --Russian oligarchs. The fight was accompanied by the powerful wave of mutual accusations, black PR and compromising materials.

The court, which ended last Friday, gave victory to Timoshenko’s team. The privatization of NPF by Pinchuk was recognized as illegal and the control share of the enterprise was returned to state coffers. The meeting of the shareholders elected new management and the plant went under control of Privat group. The plant's employees went on strike. And on Monday the ownership argument transformed into the full-blown power crisis when Alexander Zinchenko resigned."
http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=607278

This is in direct contrast to what was supposed to happen with NPF - a return to the state and then a public sale. Tymoshenko has supported Privat Bank - "In September Yushchenko warned Tymoshenko about supporting one oligarch group (Pryvat) over another (Interpipe) in a re-privatization dispute." http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2370197
Privat BTW has been on a spending spree with also attempting to gain control of 1+1.

Squabbling with another command because they are impeding your ability to enrich your own command.

The worst part is that she let down the UA people and her supporters by her actions. She was dismissed, rightly so, and perhaps she will more effective as an opposition leader than she was as PM.
"First six month of Tymoshenko government"
http://www2.pravda.com.ua/en/news/2005/8/7/802.ht

Nu, do zavtra (well, then, 'til tomorrow). . .

PS--today is 9/11. Condolences to those who lost, applause for those who cry out, "Ņot in my name!"' against the war in response, and I think that the lessons of 9/11 were largely lost on those who support war in response. Is the world any safer? And don't blame just the "terrorists". . .one-sided blame always is a failure to see one's own complicity.