For the last nine years, the government of the United National Movement was in a rush. Immediately after Shevardnadze's resignation, we were told that time was limited and that we must act quickly. Later on, the rushing became a habit. Deadlines were adopted - sometimes an election, sometimes a state visit - and things happened quickly. Remember Rezo Nebieridze? He was the man from Zovreti near Zestaponi killed on 17 June by a wall that fell on him while building the new parliament building in Kutaisi.

Sky blue painting Untitled, 1969 by Vasudeo S. Gaitonde was sold for close to a million dollars at a Christie’s Auction House earlier in September. For a non-scholar, for a layman, it is a beautiful and calm blue and brown color palette, with serene and slightly somber feel. 

Two different narratives about the election have arrived and they are both wrong. Periodically, before the elections, The National Democratic Institute based in Washington came out with a poll that indicated a much larger portion of the likely voters supported the United National Movement than Georigan Dream. Many in the UNM still believe that the NDI poll was correct at the time it was done, that the UNM was in the lead. They are making the same mistake NDI did which is ignoring the 46% of respondents who refused to answer and thereby assuming that those with no answer would vote for the UNM and Georgian Dream in similar proportions to those who were comfortable answering.

The two things that ended the National Movement's monopoly on state power started very early on: the punishment of those in Shevardnadze's government and the amendment of the constitution on 6 February 2004.

In the latest Saga that is Apple vs. Samsung, two giants of technology, Apple sued Samsung yet again. This time Apple was suing Samsung for $707 million for “wilfully diluted its trade dress, taking billions in sales in the fast- growing U.S. smartphone market at a key moment in the transition between feature phones and smartphones.

The ruling party has insisted that the results as judged by credible international observers must be respected. This seems like a reasonable request. Credible international observers can be defined as those whose funding is clear for all to see.

By now, we've all seen the videos. As I write they are new and people are on the streets. A few words about prisons in Georgia. The fact that people are being tortured in Georgian prisons is not new information for the authorities. NGOs and the Public Defender have been saying it, with evidence in reports and statements for years. The authorities didn't care and did nothing. The attitude was always that NGOs were paid to write these reports and so they would write them.

In a speech in the House of Commons on 11 November 1947, Winston Churchill said: No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time. Churchill forgot to add that democracy is also by far the most entertaining form of government. In the last two weeks in the US we have been treated to dazzling (some more dazzling than others) political performances.

There is plenty of building going on around Tbilisi and through out the country. Some of it has been going on for a long time, some has been sitting half finished for a long time, some of it seems to be in a rush. What it shares in common is that there is almost never a sign out front that says what is being built, who is building it, the plan, or any other information about it. It is the same in other cities. This is illegal and also a bad thing for Georgia. Even more frustrating is that often these construction projects are being done by the government itself or by companies closely connected to government officials.