<font color='black' size='2' face='arial'>When did we start thinking it was our job to countermand local elections?
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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Spencer Graves <spencer.graves@prodsyse.com><br>
To: John Thielking <pagesincolor@yahoo.com>; Greens Discussion List <sosfbay-discuss@cagreens.org>; Donna Wallach <palestineis@dslextreme.com><br>
Sent: Sun, Mar 16, 2014 8:48 pm<br>
Subject: Re: [GPSCC-chat] Crimea (was: Updated Part 2: Full BOS Vote Violated Brown Act? Please Vote Down Bottled Water Ban)<br>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix"> What would Obama do if Texas were
80% Spanish Speakers and voted to succeed from the US and rejoin
Mexico -- AND Mexico had a few thousand nuclear weapons and troops
in Texas? <br>
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<br>
According to Al Jazeera, 83 percent of the eligible voters
cast ballots. Thus, at least 79 % (0.83 * 0.95) of the Crimean
population voted to join Russia. <br>
<br>
<br>
This is not a surprise, as the Ukrainian Parliament voted 3
weeks ago to tell their Russian-speaking minority they could not
use Russian in government offices. Acting <br>
President Turchynov vetoed the measure, but the message was heard
very clearly by Putin and the Russian speakers in the Crimea. In
fact, the Crimea and the Eastern Ukraine were transferred to the
Ukraine from Russia in 1954 after having been a part of Russia for
the previous 160 years. They had not previously been part of the
Ukraine. <br>
<br>
<br>
This is the exact opposite of what Canada did 45 years ago:
In 1969 with a popular separatist movement in Quebec, the Canadian
Parliament gave French co-equal status with English. The English
Canadians told the Quebecois they were part of Canada. <br>
<br>
<br>
There are several recent precedents for this: <br>
<br>
<br>
* In the 1990s, Bosnia and Kosovo became independent
of Serbia after very bloody wars. <br>
<br>
<br>
* In 1992-3 Czechoslovakia split peacefully into the
Czech Republic and Slovakia. <br>
<br>
<br>
* In 1919 plebiscites were held in Schleswig to
determine the border between German and Denmark. The Danish king
was offered Schleswig and Holstein as part of the Treaty of
Versailles. Schleswig and Holstein had been part of Denmark in
1860 and had fought wars of independence in 1864-6. To avoid a
repeat of this, the Danish king organized these plebiscites.
Northern Schleswig voted to stay with Denmark. Southern Schleswig
voted to stay with Germany. <br>
<br>
<br>
Putin moved to both protect both the Russian minority in the
Crimea and Russian military facilities there. <br>
<br>
<br>
Spencer <br>
<br>
<br>
On 3/16/2014 6:09 PM, John Thielking wrote:<br>
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<div><span>See more below. I hope this is the last e-mail about
this from me for awhile. We need to focus on Ukraine right
now. Crimea just today voted to join Russia by a 95% Yes
vote. Hopefully RT America stays on cable tv even after the
likely sanctions against Russian investors.<br>
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<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 24px; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span>John Thielking<br>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Spencer Graves, PE, PhD
President and Chief Technology Officer
Structure Inspection and Monitoring, Inc.
751 Emerson Ct.
San José, CA 95126
ph: 408-655-4567
web: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" target="_blank" href="http://www.structuremonitoring.com">www.structuremonitoring.com</a>
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