NEW POPE..........NO CHANGE!!!
It only took five ballots to get Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires elected Pope. He will be known as Pope Francis. He is a social conservative with a sympathetic attitude toward the poor. Even as a cardinal, Bergoglio had a strong presence among the poor of the city. I was in Buenos Aires last year and was shocked by the huge population of poor people. The number of people living on the streets is truly disheartening. However, I do not think Bergoglio's past work in the poor sections of Buenos Aires will send any message of optimism to the Catholics outside of South America, particularly those in Europe and North America.
The European & North American Catholics are more concerned about his theology. They will be disappointed to learn of his 19th century conservative views. This is not a man who will tolerate contemporary social values influencing Church dogma. He views homosexuality as unnatural and sinful, is opposed to same sex marriage, will not permit the ordination of women and has outdated views when it comes to human sexuality. Most of the western world's Catholics have long left the Church, but those remaining tend to be progressive when it comes to church policy so they will find little to cheer about with this new appointment.
To be honest, I do not know what other outcome one could expect given the process. Let's face it; locking up over a hundred unmarried senior men in a chapel to select a leader in complete secrecy is no prescription for selecting someone suited to the modern world.
About Me
- Dr. Larry McConnell
- The author of the awarding winning book Cardiac Champs; a book that teaches people with heart disease, particularly heart attack survivors, how to live a healthy, vigorous, happy life while effectively managing the emotional turmoil that so often accompanies heart disease. Latest book.... A Primer For Old Guys: Eat Smart, Exercise and Be Happy is scheduled for publication in the Spring of 2014
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Friday, 8 March 2013
It Has Been Awhile!!!
I have been working on a new book so no time for posting. Due for publication in December.
There has been a lot of talk in the news about the over consumption of salt. A genuine problem. It is a good time to start monitoring the amount of salt you consume. You may get a surprise!
Just about everyone eats too much sodium because it is present in all kinds of salt and most people like the taste of salt. It is a bummer, but you will notice that all the good tasting sauces are very high in sodium. Indeed, it is an additive in a lot of our food. Yet, your body only needs a small amount of sodium. At our ages, the upper daily sodium limit recommended by Health Canada is 2,300 mg, but a daily intake of 1,200 to 1,300 mg is deemed adequate.[1] You should know that you can get the required amount by eating healthy foods since many naturally contain small amounts of sodium. Indeed, it is advisable to stay away from sea salt and refined salt as much as possible. Don't add salt when cooking, avoid deli meats and packaged snacks, and don't use table salt.
A good way to avoid over consumption is to stay away from packaged foods. Take the time to cook.
The men in red are about to elect a new Pope. I am for the Canadian!!
I have been working on a new book so no time for posting. Due for publication in December.
There has been a lot of talk in the news about the over consumption of salt. A genuine problem. It is a good time to start monitoring the amount of salt you consume. You may get a surprise!
Just about everyone eats too much sodium because it is present in all kinds of salt and most people like the taste of salt. It is a bummer, but you will notice that all the good tasting sauces are very high in sodium. Indeed, it is an additive in a lot of our food. Yet, your body only needs a small amount of sodium. At our ages, the upper daily sodium limit recommended by Health Canada is 2,300 mg, but a daily intake of 1,200 to 1,300 mg is deemed adequate.[1] You should know that you can get the required amount by eating healthy foods since many naturally contain small amounts of sodium. Indeed, it is advisable to stay away from sea salt and refined salt as much as possible. Don't add salt when cooking, avoid deli meats and packaged snacks, and don't use table salt.
A good way to avoid over consumption is to stay away from packaged foods. Take the time to cook.
The men in red are about to elect a new Pope. I am for the Canadian!!
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Calgary Herald
March 4th, 2012Fisher: 'Surprise', it's Putin, but opponents vow campaign of protests
Members of the local electoral commission count ballots at a polling station after voting day in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol, March 4, 2012.
Photograph by: GLEB GARANICH , Reuters
MOSCOW — As Russians expected, Vladimir Putin was the projected winner with a whopping first round victory in Sunday’s presidential elections, apparently moving the usually impassive strongman to tears.
With half of ballots counted, Putin had an unassailable lead with 64 per cent of the vote according to election officials, confirming the exit polls and putting him far ahead of four other candidates for the presidency, including Communist Gennady Zyuganov, who had less than 20 per cent of the vote. Vote counting was taking place at a furious pace compared to previous presidential elections and may mostly be completed within hours.
Putin appeared outside the red brick walls of the Kremlin late Sunday with tears in his eyes to thank thousands of supporters.
“We have won. We have gained a clean victory,” he said in an obvious reference to opposition claims of vote fraud that had been made earlier Sunday and in the days before the ballot. “We won. Glory to Russia.”
Standing above an underground shopping centre and not far from where many Soviet cosmonauts are buried, Putin described the elections as a test of Russia’s maturity that voters had passed.
But Sunday’s balloting appeared to confirm deep political fissures in the country that could spell grave trouble for the former president, current prime minister and future president.
Hundreds of thousands of well-educated middle class Muscovites as well as many residents of St. Petersburg strongly repudiated Putin on Sunday while an even larger majority of Russians living in the Urals, Siberia and the Caucasus have handed the former KGB agent who since 2000 has led Russia as president and prime minister another six years in power.
Pointing to the heaviest police presence in many years on the streets of Moscow on Sunday, as well as alleged irregularities at many polls, increasingly confident opponents of Putin condemned Sunday’s ballot as a farce. They vowed to keep up the pressure on Putin beginning on Monday by launching the first of what they claim will be many protests along the main thoroughfare leading to Red Square. The nationalist anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny said he was organizing an unauthorized march on the Kremlin on Monday. To try to force change, he also advocated a permanent tent presence of protesters similar to those of the Occupy movement in Europe and North America.
Backers of Putin have promised counter-demonstrations. But if recent experience is anything to go on, compared to opposition gatherings Putin’s rallies have largely been devoid of passion and have the look and the feel of staged events.
Competing demonstrations set up the potential for conflict. That possibility was underscored by the presence Sunday of several dozen buses and trucks loaded with police parked on just one street in the centre of Moscow. Similar groups of security forces were reported to be waiting in several other nearby places.
One of the problems for the opposition is that while it is unified in its opposition to Putin, it agrees on little else. Another is that whatever voting irregularities there may have been, Putin clearly continues to have huge backing outside Moscow, so the election is an expression of the democratic will of the people.
Among Putin’s challenges is that the capital’s political and cultural elite have it in for him. These voters have long had a disproportionate say in the running of Russia and the Soviet Union. They also live where most of the country’s immense wealth is concentrated.
Sunday’s ballot presents a number of ironies. Muscovites have unquestionably benefited the most from Russia’s oil and gas-soaked economy during Putin’s tenure, yet they are the ones who have loudly condemned the president-elect and his inner circle for grabbing a large share of the country’s economy for themselves and for not having completed meaningful economic and legal reforms to prevent what they have not been shy about calling thievery and banditism.
On the other hand, the hinterlands, which produce all of Russia’s energy wealth, have only received a tiny share of the lucre generated by almost record high prices for oil and gas. Yet voters in these distant regions still clearly admire and respect Putin.
“There are two Russias. Moscow and St. Petersburg think different than all the other regions in the country,” said Elena Istomina, who served in the regional parliament in the 1990s and was at Moscow Polling Station 174 Sunday as an observer for Mikhail Prokhorov, a billionaire who was runner-up to Putin in the capital but fared poorly elsewhere. “Those who voted for Putin are not thinking scientifically. They are uneducated. They have a Byzantine mentality. They do not think of tomorrow.”
Pensioner Marina Prostyakova, who taught Russian literature for 57 years and retained vivid memories of the extreme privations during what Russians call the Great War, took great exception to such comments as well as the behaviour of those who opposed Putin.
“The majority of the population will vote for Putin,” she said with confidence. “He is trusted. He did a lot of useful things. There is stability. We have good relations with other countries. As a teacher, I can say that he did a lot for the development of education.
“I am not supporting people who protest. One cannot please everybody and there will be always reasons to protest. But it is not easy to have responsibility for such a huge country. It is a burden. Even to establish order in a classroom is sometimes really difficult, let alone a country like Russia. I wish Putin good health and self-control.”
“A lot of our people are especially afraid of repeating the period of the early 1990s when there was hyper-inflation and no bread or milk,” said Andrei Rayskiy, a law student who described himself as a political activist. “They say they vote for Putin because they want stability, but they are really voting for stagnation. There is no connection between Putin and Moscow’s prosperity. He has not been blamed for the corruption but it has been the KGB-FSB that has gained power. It has not been a democratic regime at all.”
Putin is far too set in his ways to affect meaningful change now, despite a strong new mandate, Dmitri Tokoun said after voting for Prokhorov.
“Making reforms is not in his nature. You cannot expect that he will jump four miles,” said Tokoun, who has two doctorates and speaks French and English well.
Despite the current anger of the protesters, Tokoun said the best approach would be for the opposition to use Putin’s new six-year term to prepare "other perspectives" to convince voters elsewhere to join those in Moscow in rejecting the status quo.
“If life doesn’t change, and it will not change, we must do a better job of explaining the options,” he said.
With half of ballots counted, Putin had an unassailable lead with 64 per cent of the vote according to election officials, confirming the exit polls and putting him far ahead of four other candidates for the presidency, including Communist Gennady Zyuganov, who had less than 20 per cent of the vote. Vote counting was taking place at a furious pace compared to previous presidential elections and may mostly be completed within hours.
Putin appeared outside the red brick walls of the Kremlin late Sunday with tears in his eyes to thank thousands of supporters.
“We have won. We have gained a clean victory,” he said in an obvious reference to opposition claims of vote fraud that had been made earlier Sunday and in the days before the ballot. “We won. Glory to Russia.”
Standing above an underground shopping centre and not far from where many Soviet cosmonauts are buried, Putin described the elections as a test of Russia’s maturity that voters had passed.
But Sunday’s balloting appeared to confirm deep political fissures in the country that could spell grave trouble for the former president, current prime minister and future president.
Hundreds of thousands of well-educated middle class Muscovites as well as many residents of St. Petersburg strongly repudiated Putin on Sunday while an even larger majority of Russians living in the Urals, Siberia and the Caucasus have handed the former KGB agent who since 2000 has led Russia as president and prime minister another six years in power.
Pointing to the heaviest police presence in many years on the streets of Moscow on Sunday, as well as alleged irregularities at many polls, increasingly confident opponents of Putin condemned Sunday’s ballot as a farce. They vowed to keep up the pressure on Putin beginning on Monday by launching the first of what they claim will be many protests along the main thoroughfare leading to Red Square. The nationalist anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny said he was organizing an unauthorized march on the Kremlin on Monday. To try to force change, he also advocated a permanent tent presence of protesters similar to those of the Occupy movement in Europe and North America.
Backers of Putin have promised counter-demonstrations. But if recent experience is anything to go on, compared to opposition gatherings Putin’s rallies have largely been devoid of passion and have the look and the feel of staged events.
Competing demonstrations set up the potential for conflict. That possibility was underscored by the presence Sunday of several dozen buses and trucks loaded with police parked on just one street in the centre of Moscow. Similar groups of security forces were reported to be waiting in several other nearby places.
One of the problems for the opposition is that while it is unified in its opposition to Putin, it agrees on little else. Another is that whatever voting irregularities there may have been, Putin clearly continues to have huge backing outside Moscow, so the election is an expression of the democratic will of the people.
Among Putin’s challenges is that the capital’s political and cultural elite have it in for him. These voters have long had a disproportionate say in the running of Russia and the Soviet Union. They also live where most of the country’s immense wealth is concentrated.
Sunday’s ballot presents a number of ironies. Muscovites have unquestionably benefited the most from Russia’s oil and gas-soaked economy during Putin’s tenure, yet they are the ones who have loudly condemned the president-elect and his inner circle for grabbing a large share of the country’s economy for themselves and for not having completed meaningful economic and legal reforms to prevent what they have not been shy about calling thievery and banditism.
On the other hand, the hinterlands, which produce all of Russia’s energy wealth, have only received a tiny share of the lucre generated by almost record high prices for oil and gas. Yet voters in these distant regions still clearly admire and respect Putin.
“There are two Russias. Moscow and St. Petersburg think different than all the other regions in the country,” said Elena Istomina, who served in the regional parliament in the 1990s and was at Moscow Polling Station 174 Sunday as an observer for Mikhail Prokhorov, a billionaire who was runner-up to Putin in the capital but fared poorly elsewhere. “Those who voted for Putin are not thinking scientifically. They are uneducated. They have a Byzantine mentality. They do not think of tomorrow.”
Pensioner Marina Prostyakova, who taught Russian literature for 57 years and retained vivid memories of the extreme privations during what Russians call the Great War, took great exception to such comments as well as the behaviour of those who opposed Putin.
“The majority of the population will vote for Putin,” she said with confidence. “He is trusted. He did a lot of useful things. There is stability. We have good relations with other countries. As a teacher, I can say that he did a lot for the development of education.
“I am not supporting people who protest. One cannot please everybody and there will be always reasons to protest. But it is not easy to have responsibility for such a huge country. It is a burden. Even to establish order in a classroom is sometimes really difficult, let alone a country like Russia. I wish Putin good health and self-control.”
“A lot of our people are especially afraid of repeating the period of the early 1990s when there was hyper-inflation and no bread or milk,” said Andrei Rayskiy, a law student who described himself as a political activist. “They say they vote for Putin because they want stability, but they are really voting for stagnation. There is no connection between Putin and Moscow’s prosperity. He has not been blamed for the corruption but it has been the KGB-FSB that has gained power. It has not been a democratic regime at all.”
Putin is far too set in his ways to affect meaningful change now, despite a strong new mandate, Dmitri Tokoun said after voting for Prokhorov.
“Making reforms is not in his nature. You cannot expect that he will jump four miles,” said Tokoun, who has two doctorates and speaks French and English well.
Despite the current anger of the protesters, Tokoun said the best approach would be for the opposition to use Putin’s new six-year term to prepare "other perspectives" to convince voters elsewhere to join those in Moscow in rejecting the status quo.
“If life doesn’t change, and it will not change, we must do a better job of explaining the options,” he said.
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News
Thursday, 9 February 2012
EUObserver.com
06.02.12 @ 17:36
Merkel to support Sarkozy 'no matter what'
06.02.12 @ 17:36
Merkel to support Sarkozy 'no matter what'
By Honor Mahony
BRUSSELS - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has promised unfettered political support for her French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy if he runs in the April presidential elections, remarks likely to further increase the spotlight on the continent's foremost political duo.
The two leaders, whose relationship has inspired almost as much interest as the eurozone crisis that feeds it, met in Paris on Monday (6 February) for one of their frequent bilateral summits to underline the strength of Franco-German ties even as the single currency's woes deepen.
Speaking after their meeting, Merkel, who hails from the same centre-right political family as Sarkozy, said she would support the putative candidate "in anyway I can ... no matter what he does."
Her comment, which she immediately qualified by limiting to his actions as a presidential candidate, follow earlier commitments that she would make campaign appearances alongside Sarkozy.
For his part, Sarkozy, who is trailing behind Socialist contender Francois Hollande in the polls, has tied his political colours to Berlin's mast.
"This is work of historic importance. Europe has never made such rapid structural decisions," he said.
The treaty has been critcised in other quarters - including by Hollande - as being irrelevant to the problems at hand and likely to make worse the eurozone's stagnant economic growth.
The relations between the two leaders - dubbed Merkozy - has evolved with the two-year long eurozone crisis. What started off ostensibly as a politically balanced set-up has altered to become a relationship dominated by the economically-stronger Germany.
But the idea of a Franco-German engine running Europe helps both leaders. Sarkozy is lent more gravitas on the domestic front while the perception that Merkel is directing Europe is blunted if Paris is on board.
Political commentators suggest that for the moment Merkel is popular in France but this could change, with French newspapers beginning to paint the Chancellor in an unflattering light.
"Germany has become too much of an issue in the French presidential elections," Frank Baasner, head of the Franco-German Institute, told Germany's ZDF.
Noting that she has always had a "good image" in France, Baasner added: "It has to be seen with a question mark whether one can win an election in France standing alongside Merkel."
Merkel, for her part, appeared to downplay her campaigning offer by pointing out that there are precedents for leaders from both countries helping one another out.
Sarkozy noted that he would be talking to Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev about Syria "on behalf of both of us [France and Germany]" on Monday, with France over the weekend calling for an EU-Arab action group on Syria whose government has been conducting a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
This division of power between Paris and Berlin was alluded to recently by Alain Minc, an advisor and friend to Sarkozy.
"There are two negotiating tables in Europe: The first one is for economic issues, while military, strategic and diplomatic questions are discussed at the second one. Germany is the senior partner at the first table, but it doesn't even want to be present at the second one, as [the case of] Libya has shown. I think that results in a balanced relationship," he told Der Spiegel magasine.
He also had some pointed to the change in the nature of the relationship between the calm scientist Merkel and hyperactive lawyer Sarkozy.
"I think he has learned to like her. At the beginning, you couldn't have imagined two more disparate people.
"He's learning to control himself. I think both of them have come a long way: from necessity to complicity, and from there to, as Nicolas Sarkozy tells me, real affection. You know, there are only three women in Sarkozy's life: Carla Bruni, his daughter and Angela Merkel."
The two leaders, whose relationship has inspired almost as much interest as the eurozone crisis that feeds it, met in Paris on Monday (6 February) for one of their frequent bilateral summits to underline the strength of Franco-German ties even as the single currency's woes deepen.
Speaking after their meeting, Merkel, who hails from the same centre-right political family as Sarkozy, said she would support the putative candidate "in anyway I can ... no matter what he does."
Her comment, which she immediately qualified by limiting to his actions as a presidential candidate, follow earlier commitments that she would make campaign appearances alongside Sarkozy.
For his part, Sarkozy, who is trailing behind Socialist contender Francois Hollande in the polls, has tied his political colours to Berlin's mast.
Political risk
His fulsome praise for "Madame Merkel" and how "well" she is running Germany comes on top of his outright support for the fiscal discipline treaty, a document agreed by an EU summit last week enshrining Berlin's belt-tightening economic doctrine into national law."This is work of historic importance. Europe has never made such rapid structural decisions," he said.
The treaty has been critcised in other quarters - including by Hollande - as being irrelevant to the problems at hand and likely to make worse the eurozone's stagnant economic growth.
The relations between the two leaders - dubbed Merkozy - has evolved with the two-year long eurozone crisis. What started off ostensibly as a politically balanced set-up has altered to become a relationship dominated by the economically-stronger Germany.
But the idea of a Franco-German engine running Europe helps both leaders. Sarkozy is lent more gravitas on the domestic front while the perception that Merkel is directing Europe is blunted if Paris is on board.
Political commentators suggest that for the moment Merkel is popular in France but this could change, with French newspapers beginning to paint the Chancellor in an unflattering light.
"Germany has become too much of an issue in the French presidential elections," Frank Baasner, head of the Franco-German Institute, told Germany's ZDF.
Noting that she has always had a "good image" in France, Baasner added: "It has to be seen with a question mark whether one can win an election in France standing alongside Merkel."
Merkel, for her part, appeared to downplay her campaigning offer by pointing out that there are precedents for leaders from both countries helping one another out.
France leads on foreign policy
While Germany, with the eurozone's deepest pockets, is the undisputed leader when it comes to questions of economy, it continues to be France that takes the lead on major foreign policy issues.Sarkozy noted that he would be talking to Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev about Syria "on behalf of both of us [France and Germany]" on Monday, with France over the weekend calling for an EU-Arab action group on Syria whose government has been conducting a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
This division of power between Paris and Berlin was alluded to recently by Alain Minc, an advisor and friend to Sarkozy.
"There are two negotiating tables in Europe: The first one is for economic issues, while military, strategic and diplomatic questions are discussed at the second one. Germany is the senior partner at the first table, but it doesn't even want to be present at the second one, as [the case of] Libya has shown. I think that results in a balanced relationship," he told Der Spiegel magasine.
He also had some pointed to the change in the nature of the relationship between the calm scientist Merkel and hyperactive lawyer Sarkozy.
"I think he has learned to like her. At the beginning, you couldn't have imagined two more disparate people.
"He's learning to control himself. I think both of them have come a long way: from necessity to complicity, and from there to, as Nicolas Sarkozy tells me, real affection. You know, there are only three women in Sarkozy's life: Carla Bruni, his daughter and Angela Merkel."
Monday, 6 February 2012
Calgary Herald
Man says Diefenbaker's brain could prove paternity
By Derek Abma, Postmedia News February 6, 2012
Photograph by: Aaron Lynett,
George Dryden National Post is shown in a January 2011 file photo.
Dryden, who was raised by a prominent Liberal, believes he is the son of former Conservative prime minister John Diefenbaker.
The man who says he could be John Diefenbaker's son says he has some new leads that might prove his case, including a tip that the former prime minister's brain is preserved somewhere.
Man says Diefenbaker's brain could prove paternity
By Derek Abma, Postmedia News February 6, 2012
Photograph by: Aaron Lynett,
George Dryden National Post is shown in a January 2011 file photo.
Dryden, who was raised by a prominent Liberal, believes he is the son of former Conservative prime minister John Diefenbaker.
The man who says he could be John Diefenbaker's son says he has some new leads that might prove his case, including a tip that the former prime minister's brain is preserved somewhere.
John George Dryden, a 43-year-old Toronto legal consultant, recently hit a road block in efforts to determine who his father is when the Diefenbaker Canada Centre in Saskatoon was unable to retrieve a reliable sample of the former prime minister's DNA from some of the objects he once possessed, such as a pipe, hats and watch strap.
However, Dryden said he received a call from a man in Western Canada who has a relative who was a medical professional participating in an autopsy that saw Diefenbaker's brain removed and stored.
"We checked him out," Dryden said of the person who called. "The guy's for real, a professional person, not a nutcase by any means."
Dryden's focus on Diefenbaker as his possible father started after learning last June that the person he thought was his father, Gordon Dryden, was not. He says his mother, Mary Lou Dryden, had an affair with Diefenbaker about four decades ago. The Toronto man's appearance has also been likened to Diefenbaker, who was the Conservative prime minister from 1957 to 1963 and died in 1979.
As well, Dryden said he heard from a woman who claims to be the illegitimate daughter of Diefenbaker. The woman, he said, also happens to be a professional in the adoption sector and was approached in 1977 by an RCMP officer worried about the potential of news getting out that Diefenbaker was father to a nine-year-old boy.
"I was the nine-year-old boy because I had just met Diefenbaker in '77 up on the Hill with my mom when I was nine," he said. "Among the few things he said was, 'you were named for me.' So I guess he took a look at me and got kind of concerned."
Dryden also said he's been called by a Utah-based company that claims to develop advanced technology for collecting DNA, which he says could prove to be more successful in retrieving a match between him and Canada's 13th prime minister.
The Toronto man said he's not looking for any money in his pursuit, only the truth.
"I'm just looking to find out who my father is, period."
dabma@postmedia.com
However, Dryden said he received a call from a man in Western Canada who has a relative who was a medical professional participating in an autopsy that saw Diefenbaker's brain removed and stored.
"We checked him out," Dryden said of the person who called. "The guy's for real, a professional person, not a nutcase by any means."
Dryden's focus on Diefenbaker as his possible father started after learning last June that the person he thought was his father, Gordon Dryden, was not. He says his mother, Mary Lou Dryden, had an affair with Diefenbaker about four decades ago. The Toronto man's appearance has also been likened to Diefenbaker, who was the Conservative prime minister from 1957 to 1963 and died in 1979.
As well, Dryden said he heard from a woman who claims to be the illegitimate daughter of Diefenbaker. The woman, he said, also happens to be a professional in the adoption sector and was approached in 1977 by an RCMP officer worried about the potential of news getting out that Diefenbaker was father to a nine-year-old boy.
"I was the nine-year-old boy because I had just met Diefenbaker in '77 up on the Hill with my mom when I was nine," he said. "Among the few things he said was, 'you were named for me.' So I guess he took a look at me and got kind of concerned."
Dryden also said he's been called by a Utah-based company that claims to develop advanced technology for collecting DNA, which he says could prove to be more successful in retrieving a match between him and Canada's 13th prime minister.
The Toronto man said he's not looking for any money in his pursuit, only the truth.
"I'm just looking to find out who my father is, period."
dabma@postmedia.com
Saturday, 4 February 2012
Tens of thousands rally for a Russia without Putin
CTVNews.ca Staff
Sat Feb 04, 11:39 AM
Demonstrators braving a bitter frost march during a massive protest against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's rule in Moscow, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. (AP / Ivan Sekretarev)
Where did the picture go? Hackers at work?
Tens of thousands of Russian protesters braved bone-chilling temperatures on Saturday as they swept into Moscow, rallying against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's rule.
"So many of us have come that they can't arrest all of us," said 56-year-old demonstrator Alexander Zelensky as he marched with his wife.
Organizers estimate 120,000 protesters attended the rally intended to be a show of force against the prospect of Putin further extending his 12 years in office.
Many pollsters anticipate the Russian PM will win the nation's March 4th election, in spite of Putin himself acknowledging last week that he could face a runoff.
Still, those who flooded into Moscow on Saturday wearing ribbons and holdings placards reading "Russia Without Putin!" assert that six more years under his rule would be six years too many.
Zelensky's wife Alyona Karimova said she hopes the mounting opposition against Putin is a sign that Russia is edging towards a different style of governance.
"This is going to be a gradual process, but we believe it will eventually lead to democracy and free elections," she said.
Even with its large numbers, the rally remained peaceful and represented a fairly wide swath of the Russian public, noted The New York Times' Moscow Bureau reporter Michael Schwirtz.
"There was a huge column of communists, a huge column of nationalists, people representing various Liberal parties, gay and lesbian groups," he told CTV News Channel on Saturday, adding that many of the attendees were well-to-do Muscovites.
Officials did agree to authorize Saturday's protest, which comes on the heels of two similar rallies which are believed to be the biggest in Russia since protests 20 years ago that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"Certainly they got their message heard," said Schwirtz.
He added that government-run media have broadcast previous protests with a "pretty objective view."
December's protests occurred after allegations of election fraud in favour of Putin's party plagued that month's parliamentary election.
For his part, Putin has ignored requests for a do-over.
Anti-Putin sentiment was also strong in St. Petersburg on Saturday, the site of a smaller protest which drew a smaller crowd of about 5,000. Dozens of cities across Russia held similar events.
"There are more protests planned," Schwirtz said in a telephone interview from Moscow. "As far as we know the next major protest is planned for March 5th."
Back in Russia's capital, many demonstrators bundled up in fur on Saturday as the temperature dipped as low as - 20 C.
Across town, Putin's backers gathered for a rally of their own, which drew about 15,000 people. Several of the supporters including union activists and teachers said they showed up willingly while others admitted they had been asked to attend.
Putin is squaring off against three other competitors in the presidential race. All but one of his opponents have run against him in the past.
Election newcomer Mikhail Prokhorov is the billionaire owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team. He joined Saturday's protest but didn't make any speeches.
With files from The Associated Press
CTVNews.ca Staff
Sat Feb 04, 11:39 AM
Demonstrators braving a bitter frost march during a massive protest against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's rule in Moscow, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. (AP / Ivan Sekretarev)
Where did the picture go? Hackers at work?
Tens of thousands of Russian protesters braved bone-chilling temperatures on Saturday as they swept into Moscow, rallying against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's rule.
"So many of us have come that they can't arrest all of us," said 56-year-old demonstrator Alexander Zelensky as he marched with his wife.
Organizers estimate 120,000 protesters attended the rally intended to be a show of force against the prospect of Putin further extending his 12 years in office.
Many pollsters anticipate the Russian PM will win the nation's March 4th election, in spite of Putin himself acknowledging last week that he could face a runoff.
Still, those who flooded into Moscow on Saturday wearing ribbons and holdings placards reading "Russia Without Putin!" assert that six more years under his rule would be six years too many.
Zelensky's wife Alyona Karimova said she hopes the mounting opposition against Putin is a sign that Russia is edging towards a different style of governance.
"This is going to be a gradual process, but we believe it will eventually lead to democracy and free elections," she said.
Even with its large numbers, the rally remained peaceful and represented a fairly wide swath of the Russian public, noted The New York Times' Moscow Bureau reporter Michael Schwirtz.
"There was a huge column of communists, a huge column of nationalists, people representing various Liberal parties, gay and lesbian groups," he told CTV News Channel on Saturday, adding that many of the attendees were well-to-do Muscovites.
Officials did agree to authorize Saturday's protest, which comes on the heels of two similar rallies which are believed to be the biggest in Russia since protests 20 years ago that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"Certainly they got their message heard," said Schwirtz.
He added that government-run media have broadcast previous protests with a "pretty objective view."
December's protests occurred after allegations of election fraud in favour of Putin's party plagued that month's parliamentary election.
For his part, Putin has ignored requests for a do-over.
Anti-Putin sentiment was also strong in St. Petersburg on Saturday, the site of a smaller protest which drew a smaller crowd of about 5,000. Dozens of cities across Russia held similar events.
"There are more protests planned," Schwirtz said in a telephone interview from Moscow. "As far as we know the next major protest is planned for March 5th."
Back in Russia's capital, many demonstrators bundled up in fur on Saturday as the temperature dipped as low as - 20 C.
Across town, Putin's backers gathered for a rally of their own, which drew about 15,000 people. Several of the supporters including union activists and teachers said they showed up willingly while others admitted they had been asked to attend.
Putin is squaring off against three other competitors in the presidential race. All but one of his opponents have run against him in the past.
Election newcomer Mikhail Prokhorov is the billionaire owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team. He joined Saturday's protest but didn't make any speeches.
With files from The Associated Press
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