All posts by Andrew

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documentary, video

Movie review: The English Surgeon

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Earlier this Spring I was lucky enough to catch this great documentary called The English Surgeon at HotDocs, an intimate portrait of a brain surgeon working in an ill-equipped Ukrainian hospital and dealing with the moral and ethical issues that often exist between doctor and patient relationships.

It was an amazing movie to see, and it ended up winning the HotDocs festival.  When the movie was released on DVD it was only available in England but I was lucky enough to have some friends bring it over and it has been a pleasure to watch again.  Here is a trailer of the movie and some screenshots (click on them for a larger image):


Edit: I’m happy to report that now the DVD is available to all on their official site and finally comes in NTSC format which can be played on North American DVD players.  It’s about 16 pounds to purchase, but with the pound coming down recently now is a great to come to buy it!

Edit #2: While the entire movie can now be found on YouTube, it would be great to support the author and buy the DVD.

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Ukraine’s president dissolves parliament, calls election

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From CBC:

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko abandoned the search for a functioning governing coalition on Wednesday, dissolved parliament and called the third election since his “Orange” revolution swept to power in the 2004 vote.

“I hereby declare the activities of … parliament to be suspended and call an early parliamentary election,” Yushchenko said in a recorded television address.

“The vote will take place in democratic and lawful fashion.”

canada, news

Prime Minister turncoat?

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From Reuters:

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin has struck a tactical alliance with its former foe Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko designed to help her become the next president and help Russia rein in Ukraine’s drive to embrace the West.

Tymoshenko and the Kremlin have put aside years of mutual suspicion to unite against Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, the driving force behind Kiev’s ambitions to join NATO and Tymoshenko’s rival in a bitter struggle for power.

Is this for real?  Not a lot of news has been generated, but this is definitely something to look out for.

canada, holodomor

Remembering the Great Famine

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From Bonnyville Nouvelle (Alberta):

From 1932 to 1933, in the very heart of Eastern Europe’s breadbasket, the Soviet regime suppressed Ukrainians’ threats of uprising against communism. As a result, history’s only man-made famine nearly decimated a country.
Josef Stalin’s genocide policy included confiscation of grain and all other food in the rural districts, often down to a farmer’s last seed. Even whatever was in the families’ homes was taken.
An exact number of those who succumbed to the Holodomor will never be known, but best estimates say around 10 million people were victims of the genocide committed by the Soviet regime.

Read more…