Pryvit!

On the way home from work picked up a young militia guy in uniform and his girlfriend and drove them into the center. His name was Vitaly and he said that he was in his fourth year of Ministry of Internal Affairs, militia school. Hence the militia uniform. He comes from a line of militia in the family and spoke matter of factly about how now militia would ever harm the 'narod' and that's why kuchma brought vitiaz (Russian police). The russkies will listen to him.

We started our maydan Day 15 experience by entering Yushchenko's office building (prof spilky bldg) and searched for the place to hand in the 'anketa' he asked everyone to fill out yesterday. Inside the first two floors were divided into regional desks for submitting anketas. There was also a 'hospodarcha pryjmalna' where one can meet with a Yushch. Representative and leave any kind of 'zayavka' one wishes. Long line here. Endless signs on the walls.

Second floor: mobile phone recharging station. Sign in your phone, come back later. In the back, a medical complex with multiple first aid stations. Finally we found kyivska oblast and submitted our forms to the lady behind the table. She looked at me and sarcastically said "You state here that you are a college graduate, yet you didn't read line one …. How to fill out your name". I told her that we don't have "po-batkovy" names in the USA. This confused her. A wrench in the works. The neighboring lady said "just ask him what his father's name is". I now have 'Romanovych' on my form. Pick your battles.

In the back corner of maydan near the conservatory, a letter was being written to Mr. Putin from the people of Ukraine. It was a big roll of orange cloth being rolled from reel to reel. In the photo a woman from Luhansk was expressing her…um…sentiments.

Checked out Bankova and lower part of Pres. Admin. Only the hard core now keeping a presence, very few "regular" demonstrators. Also on maydan in front of the stage a noticeable drop in attendance. Still a good quantity, just not the big crowds that were standard to date. On the screens videos of gangs attacking yushchenko staff bldgs in the east. Also shown were videos of vote falsification. And to top it off… a real crowd pleaser: a video of Kuchma taking the oath of office on a bible. Hanba! Hanba! Spoke with an older gentlemen from Ternopil. He was thrilled with the USA flag on my hat and actually asked me for it (not the first time). When I politely declined he asked for a USA pin. Sorry bro 'fraid no pins on me.

The tent city is still the heart of the demonstration and remains packed with people and tents. Bonfires in steel containers are now prevalent around the perimeter of the camp. Guitars and boomboxes provide the soundtrack. Bumped into one young man with a sign saying he's looking for a fiancé (photo attached). And also found a little display making fun of Tiotia Yanukovich's speech about oranges injected with narcotics and boots provided by the USA…

Yush didn't end up speaking due to the roundtable discussion going late and the need for an internal meeting following the roundtable to decide a pathforward, which will be introduced on maydan at 09:00 am tomorrow. Govt. pushing for political reform to accompany voting reform. Political reform by definition limits the president's powers, so why Yush would entertain it, given his current powerful position (I don't think he even anticipated the supreme court vote in his favor) is beyond me, but then politics is not my day job…

Petro out.