Vitali's political stance

interesting conversation going on... in response to the orginial poster: i believe vitali is justified in using the media exposure to promote support and most importantly, make people aware of the major and crucial period of time in ukraine. granted i have not read everything in this thread, i would just like to bring up some points. -while some may say ukraine is run by a democratic state, this is a far cry from the democracy experienced in the united states -government backed media often brainwash the people with one sided information. reporters and journalists often time find themselves threatened and beaten, if not worse murdered for their voices of truth. -channel 5, providing the only honorable news coverage, often times finds itself under fire from the government and has multiple times been tried to shut down operation. not uncommon for the channel to experience "technical difficulties" of no sound or picture or at times completely off air. -the elections have indeed been rigged, as decided so by the supreme court. keep in mind that the 1st round of elections was rigged as well... -candidate yushchenko has undoubtadely become a victim of poisoning -Yushchenko was offered the post of rival candidate yanukovich as prime minister as a "settlement" this is just a preview of the level of unimaginable corruption going on.. i can go on writing all the reasons for which i applaud the klitschkos involvement but its impossible to translate the feelings for your country when its in such a sad state, trying to finally rise from corruption only to be pulled back down by these selfish crooks willing to sell out every one of their fellow citizens. one would have to occupy the atmosphere to get a feel for why this country needs to previal. klitschkos bout strengthens the believers... there is a parallel in klitschkos fight for championship and the peoples fight for democracy.

I believe, that Vitali has made a right choice. He supports democracy in the country. like any decent person would do; the problem is that half of people in Ukraine supprot one guy and hald the other; and all of them think they support democracy

I believe, that Vitali has made a right choice. He supports democracy in the country.

it's a play off an old joke.. like "orange" in place of "aren't you"

orange you glad to see it? :( i know, real bad..

wow, i did not know that.. i always knew somehow that he was sponsored or supported by them.. :)

they had been sporting orange TONS up to the day of the fight... not sure why he didn't during...

From what I've heard, Vitali supports Yushenko the pro-west candidate whose supporters display orange clothing,flags,and other visual objects. So I was surprised to see Vitali not sporting any orange just his usual black trunks.Was his corner sporting any orange?

Whos the candidate they tried to kill with poisoning, and it fucked up his skin? They should make a movie about that shit! Some bad guys also beheaded a pro-Yushenko journalist in some woods. That would make this movie rated R , though.

......Normaly I would agree with you about actors and athletes speaking out. However, in the grand scheme of things this situation(in the Ukraine) is larger than life and the consequences will have a profound effect on the everyday life of all of the people of the Ukraine. Move forward with democracy and freedom or go backwards to the old soviet ways with no real freedom and a life of fear. It doesn't get any bigger than that and I applaud Vit on this one and I back his stance. Life of fear? Ya rite! It is fun living in Ukraine and don't let any old history teacher tell you otherwise, what can be more fun then robbing a kiosque that sells candy bars with an AK47? That's right. Nothing.

I've only been as far east as Romania :) but travelling the world is what my life will consist of God willing :)

My dream Eastern/Southern European vacation: Moscow - St. Petersburg - Finland - Estonia - Latvia - Lithuania - Poland - Czech Republic (already been there, but it's amazing) - Bulgaria - Romania - Croatia - Greece - Istanbul. Been through the West and Centre on a similar trip. Hopefully I'll get to do this some day. I might do the same in a couple of years.

My dream Eastern/Southern European vacation: Moscow - St. Petersburg - Finland - Estonia - Latvia - Lithuania - Poland - Czech Republic (already been there, but it's amazing) - Bulgaria - Romania - Croatia - Greece - Istanbul. Been through the West and Centre on a similar trip. Hopefully I'll get to do this some day.

I agree. Good luck achieving what you want :cool: . btw, Nautilus has a cool avatar too. It is a painting St. Isaac cathedral in St. Perersburg by a great Russian painter Aivazovskiy. The surrounding of the place looks diferent now than when Aivazovskiy painted it. I have never been there, but I dream of going there.

yeah, that's some nice art!!! I'll have to get me one some day.. don't know much about them, so i'm not bothering right this sec :)

I admire someone who sticks up for what they believe, and who won't back down I hope that one day I'll be in a position like VK, helping where I can and using my talents to do so... it's what I aspire to do in life :) so you can understand why I'm passionate about it :D but on the other hand, I hope to never end up like the superficial bunch described ... :p oh, and nice avitar dude I agree. Good luck achieving what you're after :cool: . Don't think you'll have to worry about turning into another Madonna. btw, Nautilus has a cool avatar too.

I admire someone who sticks up for what they believe, and who won't back down I hope that one day I'll be in a position like VK, helping where I can and using my talents to do so... it's what I aspire to do in life :) so you can understand why I'm passionate about it :D but on the other hand, I hope to never end up like the superficial bunch described ... :p oh, and nice avitar dude

I find it hard to respect your opinion because you can't show me how you can support a group that has manipulated elections and poisoned their political enemy. You didn't say anything about the law that is needed for fair elections and that is blocked by these people either. And there really shouldn't be an argument about wether Kiew is the most important center and city in the Ukraine. It definitly is. I've heard different stories about Odessa but that's just the western media, right? Anyway, I respect you but I just can't understand your opinion. I didn't really want to change it I just wanted to hear your side of the story. Whatever, let's leave it here and move on. 1. That's simply unfair. Each group has done its share of manipulation. I stated why I support Easterners in my very first post. 2. Yes Kiev is the largest city, the capital of Ukraine. That's clear. There are other major centers of education, culture, and industry in Ukraine, and Kiev does NOT and should NOT decide for the whole country. Here are the voting numbers for major areas in Ukraine (I can provide more if you want): I. L'viv (western ukraine, 92% pro-Yushenko) II. Kyiv (center, 75% pro-Yushenko) III. Kharkiv (eastern, former capital of Ukraine, 70% pro-Yanukovich) IV. Odessa (southern, former intellectual and humor capital of Ukraine, 67% pro-Yanukovich ) V. Donetsk (eastern, center of the coal-mining industry, 96% pro-Yanukovich) 3. It is fine. It may be hard to accept that people may have different opinions and that about 45% of Ukrainians, let it be a minority (!), did vote for Yanukovich. Do you think they voted thinking "let's vote for this evil, undemocratic guy," Dr. Evil so to speak? Just think about this. 4. The whole business of ``Dr. Democracy vs. Dr. Evil" is a bad cliche ascribed to these elections (by some of the western media). The reality is far more complicated. OK. Peace now.

I guess you didn't notice the last bit of my post... :confused: I didn't know if that was what you meant for sure. Don't mind me, I'm just a big fan of debating when the right issues comes up :cool: . I agree with you that if people in positions of influence genuinely tried to improve the world, than we would all be better off. I do believe Vitali's intentions were genuine and that he may be in the right position where speaking his mind is a good thing, given his status in his home country and the sincerity of his convictions. Just wanted to get other people's opinions.

This is what I feel you're talking about.. the fakes galavanting around, I think the example you give is Madonna.. I would never include those whom you speak of in the same category as VK... that's what I'm trying to say. :)