While following developments in Ukraine and its counter spaces in geopolitics and geoeconomics your author was unable to find the energy to commit to the few inspirations for articles which had occurred. The underlying problem soon became an existential problem. The body which supports the thoughts and typing required to construct articles was itself suffering and emergency professional medical assistance was required.
Now released from the tender care of this nations national health service, and mostly recovered, with the additional nourishment of a good dose of understanding obtained in emergency and specialist care wards from both professionals and my co-patients, I am ready to interleave my story with reflections on the greater Ukrainian situation from the wide array of sources I've been following. Apologies in advance, this will need to be a long article.
Internal Problems
In the end it came of involuntary vomiting. Waking up from a 2 hour nap and vomiting bile until one's stomach is empty of even that is incapacitating. Then I would attempt to drink water and maybe a little tea and eat some trivial food like porridge and stewed apple, to then return to rest in the hope that enough of that would move beyond where it could be vomited up again. I was not winning this battle and had eaten little (successfully) in days, and had not only constant stomach but also head aches. My efforts to heal myself had failed.
At 2am I called the Emergency Medical Help line and following a discussion of actions and symptoms was told in no uncertain terms to admit myself to the local regional head hospital's Emergency department immediately.
I knew this would be the result of the conversation. I knew what I needed in a basic sense: do not die. Following a couple of preparation phases, with rests in between, I managed to self admit to the emergency ward, as instructed, at around 4am.
Blood samples were taken and I was immediately put on a saline intravenous (IV) drip. 3 hours later that drip was augmented to now include Sodium and most importantly Potassium, and a B vitamin supplement. The blood samples had been processed and a doctor arrived to interview me and explain why the treatment course had been chosen. He wanted to confirm and add new data to that which existed from the phone discussion with the Emergency Help line I'd called. My status was unchanged for me; horrible stomach ache and constant headache, but I had allied my goal (do not die) with an institution which has that at its core. The medical profession go beyond the Hippocratic Oath; they are downright curious as to the causes of conditions and I wanted their best efforts. Thus, at the outset of the discussion with this doctor I admitted to my alcoholism. One could call it a "Damascus moment". I put my cards on the table, and the doctor informed me of what had been learned from the samples, explained the current treatment methodology, and also explained what further tests would be designed to explore. The core emergency was electrolyte imbalance, particularly a lack of Potassium which is essential for all muscular activity, and the heart is a muscle. My levels were dangerously low, and mission one was fixing this to prevent damage to my heart. Other treatments like saline were for dehydration and the B vitamins to assist the electrolyte rebalancing.
Counterpoint
Lets examine the USA/NATO/Ukrainian response to the civil war in Ukraine up to the declaration by Russia to recognize the independence of the two Donbas "break away" republics, with that recognition also coming with the signing of mutual defense treaties. In Ukraine civil disobedience in numerous areas followed the new government installed after the 2014 coup. Ukraine's new government responded with a series of crackdowns and soon thereafter an official Ukrainian military campaign against its own citizens in these two oblasts (regions). An alarming early event was the burning alive of civilian protesters in the Trade Union building in Odessa. It is reportedly well known who were involved in this, but no charges have been brought. Indiscriminate shelling of Lugansk and Donetsk by government forces lead to no recrimination in western media. 8 years of civilian battle across the "line of contact" established in the first of the two Minsk Accords continued throughout. All efforts to further the Minsk process were undermined by Ukraine with the west's implicit support. Western media would begin any narrative on Ukraine with the "Russian annexation" of Crimea.
When looked upon through an historical lens and an understanding in the changing power alliances in Ukraine, Crimea's rejection of local Ukrainian forces by informing them to down arms and leave, and its following vote to rejoin Russia, makes much sense. While technically it looks like an annexation, this was the desire of the local population. It was a bloodless rejection of the Ukrainian security forces. What Western Media would not talk about is the indiscriminate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions by the Ukrainian military, or the coup which occurred a few months before this began.
At the arrival of the Russian recognition of independence this "issue" had moved beyond one of pussyfooting around in geopolitical brinkmanship to "a war is about to break out -- decisive actions are required not tomorrow, but now". The West's choice was to continue on course and to deploy the media into war propaganda. This is the creation of the conditions for a war.
As I was approaching my "moment of truth", I did at least acknowledge how my actions had contributed toward the predicament in which I found myself. Cigarette consumption over the 3 days before admittance to hospital; down from 20 per day to 1. Alcohol? Down from too much to 0. At the critical point when decisive action is required, I admit my failings and act. USA/NATO/Ukraine, not only do nothing, but elevate attacks on Lugansk and Donetsk to WORSEN THE SITUATION.
The struggling writer in me has a partnership with my body; an essential partnership. Actions needed to be taken to enable more writing, though they were not towards helping the writer but the essential partner. As is so often the case in life, from the unexpected if one has the humility and calm to observe, come some of the greatest lessons and insights.
The actions taken, or deliberately not taken, by the West demonstrate that it did not see Ukraine as an essential partner. More a damaged digit which could be sacrificed. As we shall see, their continued behaviour shows this analysis was callous and horribly short sighted.
The Smallest of Moments becomes Thematic
Just after my discussion with the doctor concludes, one of the staff who distributes the hospital food came in with a full trolley and asked me what I would like. At this point I understood the treatment plan and knew that the doctors and nurses (I've much more to say about nurses) were executing that simple but important plan. As noted I'm still as physically impacted as I had been 5 hours earlier when talking with Emergency Medical help, but I knew I needed to drink and eat, come what may. Truth be told that was all I’d be trying, and failing, to do for days.
I've lived in this country for 20 odd years and developed a basic understanding of the national language, but not developed my spoken skills to much beyond rudimentary. My interactions with this person and all of the nurses and doctors are a rather lovely dance in language with many a discussion occurring with them speaking in their native language and me mine (English) with enough playfulness for cross linguistic uncertainty to be conquered.
For this interaction it was simple, yes the "standard" breakfast please. Then the young woman indicates that she has some tubs of yogurt. Would I like one?
One's body speaks to one in times of need or crisis. Thus, my reduction in smoking and elimination of alcohol days before I self-admitted. My body SCREAMED at me to get the yogurt. Actually, it didn't care about anything else. "Yes, please", I replied in their native language. I will never forget the sheer joy of the next 15 minutes as I eat that yogurt, at about 20mL per spoon. In my list of personal reflections and actions written just post hospital release, point 2 of 5 enshrines the consumption of that exact yogurt with fresh fruit for breakfast. Why? Its a memory gateway back to that moment, still feeling the pain but sensing hope and viscerally feeling my body's utter exuberance in consuming that morsel.
It was the first food that I was able to consume for days which my body did not almost immediately reject.
Counterpoint
Lets examine the few days leading to the Russian invasion and the first day of Russia's "Special Military Operation" (or "intervention" or "war", call it what you wish). The attacks on the Donetsk and Lugansk regions escalated even further. Then in the first day of Russia's military attack the following goals are achieved:
destruction of much of the donated-by-the-west military hardware
destruction of much of Ukraine's anti-air military capability
destruction of much of Ukraine's airforce
destruction of most of Ukraine's military command and communication's infrastructure
advance into Ukraine by Russian ground forces on 6 fronts
from the north down towards Kiev
from the north east towards Kiev on two fronts
from the east into Lugansk and Donetsk
from the south east into neighbouring regions from Crimea on two fronts
Any emergency question of "how can we avoid war" is over; its now "how can this war be brought to a close as fast as possible". The west's answer is no diplomatic response toward that end, but rather "economic sanctions" which is just one of the multi-faceted domains in hybrid-warfare. That choice of response when what is known is that Ukraine's forces are now without any effective air force and whose units are without any effective command and control and are thus isolated can only be seen as to entrench the war. As Tony Kevin so plainly and succinctly says "Wars generate their own atrocities" which makes them harder to stop the longer they continue. Thus, if all of the preceding 8 years of ignoring atrocities by Ukrainian forces, the Ukraine's undermining of political dialogue and the last minute continuation of all of the above by the West were not enough to declare that everything they had done to date was designed to provoke a war, what you see here can only be seen as what it takes to prolong a war.
I'm savoring a little tub of yogurt, they were building a war.
The Plot Thickens
Late morning I am relocated from the Emergency department to the specialist heart department. I'd mentioned to the doctor a few hours ago that if the treatment plan is the balancing of electrolytes they should move me to another location as places in Emergency must be valuable. He would have none of it "you'll be staying here for now". As my stay progressed I learned to read between the lines of doctors and nurses. The subtext here was “you’re on deaths door and can hardly think, just leave this choice to me”. But, now I was relocated and two very important discussions occurred.
The first was with the doctor in the heart department who was taking my case. She reaffirmed the treatment plan and echoed a challenge mentioned earlier by the first doctor which is that raising the levels of these core minerals/ions with Potassium being the critical one is a little fraught with danger. It must be done carefully over time. Thus my drips of saline (general hydration) and a few other things could continue, but a halt was needed after round one of the core Potassium drip was completed. She moved on to that "getting to the bottom of things" which doctors are all about and mentioned my metabolism which had gone stir crazy. In response to asking her to put it on a scale she said "very elevated" or "hyper active". Aaaah, so here is another treatment focus, to get that under control. She explained that the metabolic rate is controlled a relationship between the Pituitary gland in the skull and the Thyroid at the brain stem or thereabouts. The Pituitary sends instructions to the Thyroid which produces T3 and T4 hormones and which it senses changes of in their levels in the blood stream and scales back as hormone levels increase. More messaging from the Pituitary can cause this dampening feedback to fail and thus even more of these hormones are produced sending the metabolic rate into "stir crazy" levels. This was what had been observed in the extended analysis of more recent blood samples. The heart team had thus contacted the endocrinologist group and asked them to get involved in the case.
By this point I'd eaten a meal and drunk many small amounts of water and had yet to vomit, though I was still nauseous. The headache was reducing. I felt like things were improving. And, being a curious person I was quite interested in the hyperactive metabolism theory. The repeated vomiting ticked all of the simple boxes for causes of malnutrition, dehydration and lack of Potassium. How did an out of control metabolism factor in, and what triggered it?
Puzzled though I was, my efforts were dedicated to eating and drinking water in small amounts and resting. I had begun studying background hospital soundscapes in the Emergency department. That continued here in a much more raucous environment with every patient and their dog seeming to have visitors to talk about all and sundry the whole time. I wanted to scream out "when will you lot let us sick people rest!"
It was the interactions with the nurses which I found most insightful. Not in medical analysis, that's not their job, but in how they do their job. There was a change in treatment focus and its their job to implement it, so changes in drips, more blood samples to come, and a change in oral drugs. By now you may have guessed that given a chance to ask questions about a subject in which I am interested with intelligent people I will take every chance, and the blessed nurses did their best to honor their profession by fulfilling what I now see to be an unwritten law of nursing: no patient shall be forced to take a course of medical action without the ability to ask about it, situation permitting. I was obviously not dying. Blood tests showed improvements in hydration and the all important Potassium levels. So ask I did and explain they did too.
Along with confessing to alcoholism, the counterpart to the stance was to ensure that the doctors had every sample I could give them. I had needed to vomit (the usual bile only misery) before that savior yogurt arrived. It had gone into a sort of plastic bag, which I'd placed at the edge of my bed. It was unable to be used for some reason. But, when I was transferred up to the heart department I had with me a sample jar for a urine sample. Luckily I was able to use that fairly soon after I arrived there. I staggered to the toilet to create it. This had also been analyzed by the time I spoke with the doctor and yes, a urinary tract infection had been identified. Although these can be quite dangerous, especially if untreated for some time and it hits the kidney, this was a "secondary issue" for my case at that time. But, it too would require a change in treatment. Additionally there was the constipation which I'd experienced from 4 to 2 days earlier, which I'd mentioned to the first doctor. That also required some treatment.
So, all told, at the heart department as the drip based treatments for Potassium, vitamin B and hydration were being shuffled a little to avoid too much Potassium too quickly, 3 other treatments were about to be applied: anti-UTI antibiotics, anti-constipation and pro-stomach, and hyper-metabolic dampeners. The process of querying the nursing staff about the new drugs and how they related to the treatment plan, and when required asking a few more questions, was delightful. It reassured me that the nursing staff understood how the individual drugs (or drip changes) related to the treatment plan. I felt a capable team around me working together. I would ask about each new drug and with the level of calmness and patience displayed by the nurses I felt that they believed it was my right to know what the purpose of a drug was, before I took it. These were those playful interactions as we did hit the odd language barrier, but worked with them to find an understanding. At each stage I received more and more reason to trust this medical team. I was improving, slowly, and I was treated like a person, a human, someone who mattered and was not just something that needed to be worked with to achieve some goal. The same is true of the doctors; I was always informed of the treatment plan and given the chance to ask questions. But it was more evident in the nursing staff who had more time to offer explanation. I am deeply thankful to both groups, and have reflected upon this on several levels.
Only more recently in my reflections on this have I seen the same in what I term "good teaching". (I’m quite interested in teaching which has been a part of all of my professional life, and started with me helping kids through high school maths. See this article if you want a taste of my approach.) Imagine you are the teacher. You NEED to gain the trust of your class, else all teaching/learning is impossible. How to do this? Simply, take every question offered seriously. If a question seems left of field or simplistic it means that YOU do not understand the question. There is almost always a deep question or more likely expression of a misunderstanding behind these questions. Finding these deeper aspects or fundamental misunderstandings is YOUR JOB as a teacher. Then the skill of explaining the misunderstanding or expanding to topic to embrace the deeper aspect of the "unusual" question is to be brought to bear. This can be difficult and requires tact. One may "lose" half a class on such a question. But know this, on almost every occasion you are answering a question which is hidden amongst half the class. These questions are the GIFTS from which trust can be built. These nurses seemed to understand this better than many a university lecturer.
About 6 hours into my time at the hospital I was slowly recovering and felt confident that the medical team around me understood the core issue of "not die" and were working on looking at deeper causes. I'd managed to eat and drink and not vomit. Unsurprisingly, my geoanalytic brain started to compare the experience I was undergoing to the greater Ukraine issue. The secure humanity of the nursing staff in informing me of treatments I was undergoing inspired me to think about the Western media's role in "explaining" the Ukraine crisis. This was, of course, my first reflection, before I got to the teaching comparison.
Counterpoint
I remain informed of "Western Media" (largely USA based) by commentary from the analysts I pay attention to rather than consuming their product. Responses to "this is rather complicated and one needs to minimally encompass events in Ukraine from the Maidan coup in 2014 to the present" seemed in either of two camps: ignore it, or label those asking for nuance and history to be a part of current analysis as "Putin apologists". When looking at recent events from the beginning of the SMO/intervention/war (call it what you will), the media are all "Putin is the aggressor" to "Putin is committing war crimes". Both cases show a lack of desire for a wider or balanced analysis and more interestingly the labeling of Russia's leadership as "Putin". This last point, in and of itself, leaves the analysis bereft of any understanding of the wielding of political and economic power in Russia. I refuse to be as stupid as to think that Putin acts without considering both his political and national support, and the support of those who hold great economic influence in Russia. So, please drop this "Putin did X" rubbish and acknowledge the greater influences in Russia. When you've got to that point, then look at the wider picture and consider why it is that Russian leadership has taken the courses of action it has over the last 8 years.
One could equally apply the same analysis to the USA's foreign policy over that period, and again disregard "Biden did this" or "Trump did that". Its bullshit analysis, especially when one sees the consistency of policy between these administrations of theoretically different parties. Arming Saudi Arabia? Biden says "only non-offensive stuff". This means, we'll keep doing maintenance and intelligence and targeting, but please talk to the UK for the bombs. Meanwhile both have banned all imports of Russian energy and to make up the difference the UK is talking to the Saudi's to whom she is selling the weapons to kill civilians in Yemen. Oh, why were they banning Russian energy? Killing civilians in Ukraine. Can nobody in the "establishment" media see the problem with this line of narrative? The answer is yes they can. But they don’t mention it. They, unlike the way my nurses are treating me, are treating you as an idiot.
The bigger issue is that of media control, or narrative control, to use the well pursued phrase of Caitlin Johnstone. The EU decides to ban RT, rather ineffectively as I have shown. The USA causes RT America to shut down completely depriving us of very interesting programs like "On Contact" with Chris Hedges. At the same time in the USA pressure from various sectors cause its social media giants to downlist or blacklist not only content from Russian media outlets but also those by USA citizens who previously worked for the now defunct RT America. Additionally, any content not well aligned with the narratives generated within the USA's corporate media are also suppressed. The end result in the USA has a media sphere which is largely an echo chamber of approved narrative, and a narrative that is largely devoid of any sense of reality or nuance, with a complete absence of historical context.
As I am being so impressed by the level of humanity shown to me in my distress by the medical staff and seeing how their treatment of me as a person is helping me gain trust in their work, out there in western media land I am seeing the diametric opposite. Their simplification of narrative and downranking or shadow banning of more complex analysis treats their audience as imbeciles. I have long lost any interest in these media and hope that my readership can better understand why I have taken this position in light of these medias' recent actions.
Learning from One's Environment
Later on day 1 I was again relocated, this time to a nearby smaller hospital which also had a heart department which worked collaboratively with the "head office" at the main hospital. Transport was in a minivan customized for transporting the infirm. After movement to an empty ward I moved from my bed to the upper portion of a trolley device. The handover of my details and the retention of my long term data storage device were done and off I was taken to the vehicle. The top section of the trolley on which I lay was auto-mechanically winched into the back of the van while the "bogey" was retained. The two person team was a driver and assistant who joined me in the back. Following a brief and pleasant journey I was delivered to a waiting bed in the new hospital's heart department. I was immediately issued my new “data storage device” and hooked up to the ECG machine. This data, with that retained at the main hospital, with the results of god knows how many blood sample analyses, will form the basis for my continued treatment, as I find out later, by the endocrinologists. Who knows how many gigabytes of data they have of everything happening to my heart and in my blood over the 24 hour period of observation. Like any research scientist, the doctors care about the data.
Two other patients were already in the capacity 4 room and I introduced myself by name and declared my limited national language capability and English as my native tongue (in the national language). We all quietly went about the routines of ward life interacting with staff as required and engaging dinner when it arrived with reverence.
Just after dinner, I got up. The 70 odd year old patient uttered his first words to me, apart from giving me his name when we all introduced ourselves earlier. He wanted to show me something. He had guessed that I was about to use the toilet. He showed me where the light switch was, and the switch for the electric lock to secure the door. I'd not seen one of these before, or only a few times, and in my weary state would have no doubt struggled with it, perhaps even calling for help. He had anticipated all of this. He had alleviated any potential embarrassment I may have felt, reduced work for the nursing staff and gifted me a way to have secure access to one of the very few private spaces in a public hospital. It was a brief demonstration, and I thanked him. It took me quite some time to recognize just how thoughtful his action was.
Not long after, I learnt from the nurse that my last Potassium drip was to begin. It was a 5 hour treatment, and it was 7pm, so midnight went into my head as "end of treatment". However, first the IV base point on my right hand showed pain as the treatment began. I informed the nurse. We tried the older IV point on my left hand. It hurt even more. A deeper vein was needed, and a nurse who specialized in anesthetics came to create a new location. The first effort was more painful than I'd previously experienced, but it was "shot through" and unusable. The second effort hurt even more but was fine for use. Now with 4 IV base points and one failed, and multiple blood sample points in on the inside of both elbows my arms were looking a little worst for wear, but the last important point for the last Potassium drip was established. It was now 8pm, so I updated my mental note: end of treatment 1am. Soon enough I turned in for some sleep as the rest of the room went into "night mode".
[Image: small wounds incurred in helping my essential partner, my body]
The earlier "chattering" back in the other hospital's heart department was nothing compared to the snoring of one of my co-patients here. His snoring was ridiculously loud. I am now ashamed to admit that I pointed this out to a nurse who came in to check up on the treatment. "I'll speak to my colleagues", she said. I suppose it was the standard diplomatic response which incorporated "I know", "we have limited bed capacity" and thus "there's really not much that can be done". Maybe it was something about the elder gentleman's earlier help. I let the annoyance wash over me and began listening to the snorer's breathing. It was beyond alarming. It spoke of someone who is really suffering. I swallowed my pride and let the balm of compassion help me to sleep.
The next morning the room began its daily routine with the motorized blinds being elevated to let in the new light of the day. Some fresh air? Mmm. Why not? The door is clamped ajar letting in the cold and refreshing morning air. I comment to my friends, for friends I now considered them, that "many things can be learned in a hospital". I had entered the first hospital at the fully expected demand of the Emergency Health assistant. At that phase all I wanted was to be able to eat and not vomit, a totally self obsessed goal. Now, after my latest blood samples had been sent in and my planned treatment at end, I expected an update from the doctors about diagnoses and future treatment. I also expected to be discharged. I was now not looking upon my situation through self focused eyes, but through those of my friends who via some errors in their past and some misfortune were in a far worse state. By developing compassion for them I saw them as examples of my own future if I did not heed the advice I was about to receive. The preservation of the compassion I had developed was to be an essential fuel for the journey to come.
Counterpoint
What were the West's responses to the Ukraine crisis? Before Russia even declared its view of the independence of the two Donbass republics, the West, lead by the USA, had been threatening sanctions. At the declaration they went into full media mode on "Most Widespread Sanctions of All Time". It is worth considering what this would mean for major European economies like those of Germany and France.
[Image: Russia’s commodity exports as a percentage of global trade in those commodities]
Germany is in a very difficult position because it's energy consumption relies on Russian gas exports for between 40 to 50% depending on who you ask, and the general EU gas storage and networks are designed for gas, not LNG. Changing to LNG is a long project involving new shipping terminals and changes in storage and network capabilities. It cannot be done in 8 months before next winter arrives. This explains why gas is excluded from sanctions applied. But, that is just the beginning. German and other European economies are integrated into the modern globalized system and this means that for every loss of Russian supply an alternate supply will be more expensive because of natural market changes (less supply with same demand == increase in demand == increase in price) and that shipping will be from further afield. As one can see there are instant issues with industrial diamonds, palladium, wheat, barley and rye, and aluminium. Industrial diamonds and palladium are essential for printing integrated circuits, the grains key food sources, and aluminium is essential for airplane and luxury car manufacture. Thus businesses like Siemens who produce factory automation solutions based on programmable logic controllers which became all the rage back in the Stuxnet days, are going to suffer. The same with airplane and car manufacturers. And everyone's pasta and beer costs are going to rise to the chagrin of good food lovers worldwide and those who enjoy a pint after work. In summary this will have a massive impact on the European economies with the hits to energy prices only to be followed on by big reductions in industrial businesses with flow on losses in tax revenue and a concomitant reduction in government services.
And that is just the trade sanctions. The financial sanctions took a while to get "coordinated" with the USA having to do some arm twisting because of their radical nature.
The first to be rolled out were the political “financial” sanctions, political in that they were meant to solve the "we need to be seen as doing something" disease which fixates many western political leaders. Financial restrictions are applied to "Russian Oligarchs" and I dunno the President and Foreign Minister of Russia. These are irrelevant. We just wont be seeing Lavrov at the UN for a while, but this effects nothing. Russia has a very informed and effective Foreign service.
Then the commodity blockades emerge. The US had forced a vote on a non-binding general resolution of the UN General Assembly which many voted for, with a few abstaining and a few against. This is the basis of the "most of the world agrees with our sanctions" narrative, which is completely misleading. Its a non-binding item. Its a political statement, not a financial one. When one looks at who joins the commodity blockade its the USA and allied nations like those in Europe and others like Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. The vast majority of the world wanted nothing of it, and for good reason. They could see how much their own industries would be impacted by the pursuant changes in global commodity markets.
There are opportunities in turmoil like this. Why not invest in Australian grain production or its gas (LNG) energy industries? They should do well. The problem is that their trading partners are in south east Asia and most of them have no truck with the stupidity of the commodity blockade which may then reduce Australia's markets.
The most difficult financial sanctions to secure between the USA and EU, their "financial nuclear option”, were those imposed on Russia's Central Bank. To understand this lets rewind the clock to the recent financial attacks on Venezuela's government under President Maduro and then to those applied to the Afghan Central Bank.
The USA and EU decided to declare this character, Juan Guiado, who at the time held the position of the rotating role of President of the Legislature, as the "interim president". The gentleman was largely unknown to Venezuela's population (8% recognition) and had never once stood for the role of President. (Remember: 3 parts of a government, legislative, executive and judicial which are distinct). This mattered not one whit for the policy narrative operatives, and one of the financial sanctions applied to Venezuela was the impounding of 2 billion USD of gold reserves (of its Central Bank) held in the Bank of England. This could be described as theft, but is probably better characterized as denial of access. Nonetheless, its a pretty big thing for one central bank to deny another access to its own funds.
Case in point number two is the first impounding and then actual spending of 9 billion USD held in USA banks for the Afghan Central Bank. This denied these funds to the new Taliban dominated government to purchase essential items like fuel and food for the impending winter. The previous governments had been living off the hog of donations by the USA and other parties to the ongoing occupation of the country. The difference with the Venezuelan gold is that the USA then spent these funds on paying out compensation to victims of the 9/11 crimes and gifting the rest of funds to charity organizations chosen by the USA. This is outright theft of 9 billion USD. Arguments that these funds were given to the Afghan Central Bank by the USA or others are moot. You GAVE them the money. Its THEIRS. Then you, USA, spent it. Theft, pure and simple.
These could be seen as "trial balloons" to test how the leaders of the western central banks felt about purloining the funds of other nations' central banks. The "big deal" was left for Russia whose central bank would lose 40 to 50% of its external reserves amounting to hundreds of millions of USD in value.
To understand what this means one needs place oneself in the position of a board of a central bank in a not terribly important and not really allied nation. How do they feel in Sri Lanka? In Indonesia? In Argentina? In Vietnam? If I were in their shoes I would immediately want to shift my reserves into nations outside of the western orbit, else you might lose some vast amount because you got caught up in the geopolitical machinations of nations larger than you. Governments need central banks, especially if they control their own currency. The central bank can issue bonds to raise funds. They can raise interest rates to curb inflation. They can establish accounts between their country and others to facilitate trade deals. They also can build national reserves to withstand speculative attacks on their currency. Like it or not, central banks are very important.
The thoughts occurring to the leaders of central banks will also be occurring to the industrial leaders in these countries. The end result of this is going to be a fracturing of and then new alignment in international trade blocks, which is going to refactor geopolitics for decades to come. To get a feel for where this goes I suggest paying close attention to India. She fiercely defends her independence, and has excellent financial and foreign service bureaucracies to advise her. The USA and by extension many European nations have played an "all in" bet on this hand and they do not have the cards.
Why? Because the USA's economy is entirely based on the USD as the global reserve currency. It was already pegged back in 2016 (or thereabouts) by a readjustment of the currencies in the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) which is the international currency for central banks. If following this move more and more trade in international commodities is done in native currencies the USD slips even further in its role in international trade. The USA's problem is that it is up to its eyeballs in debt and currently has inflation at an acknowledged rate of 8% but which professors in economics, like Richard Wolff or Michael Hudson place at a more likely figure of 15 to 20%. The standard solution to this inflation problem is to raise interest rates, but if the USA does that her debt repayments also increase. The USA's economy has little room to move, and she has put herself in this position, which is why the US Federal Reserve have distanced themselves from this policy choice claiming that they "were not consulted". They know how bad this is.
Some Calm Medical Advice and a Mystery Solved
The breakfast round arrived a little before 8am as I was reading my copy of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which I'd packed for the hospital stay. I followed my "tested as working" method of eating slowly; I had not vomited since 24 hours earlier.
Soon a new patient arrived in the ward. Before long the nurse measured his blood sugar levels at 2 point something, which was dramatically low. The younger of the two patients I’d met when I arrived commented upon how to raise those levels quickly as the nurse was somewhat uncertain how to best address the situation. I listened intently to the exchange in the native language and saw my co-patient actually begin to physically intervene providing the new patient with something to eat and finishing with "and then eat the banana". A while after the exchange had concluded, I asked my friend if it was about blood sugar levels. "Yes", he replied and then went on to inform me that the nurse's dithering and lack of direct knowledge of what to do risked the gentleman blacking out, which happens around the 2.0 level. It had happened to him, and its horrible. He had provided a fructose based "sweet" which begins being absorbed immediately in the mouth. "Are you a diabetic?", I asked. "Yes, type I". I added to my lessons learned “Never argue with a type I diabetic about blood sugar levels unless you are a doctor”.
With that little moment of excitement concluded, I put my breakfast aside, intending to continue it later, and fell asleep.
I was awoken around an hour later by the nurse who had mostly attended to me, with a gentleman beside her. She asked how I was and I replied "waking up" as I looked around me to see that my breakfast had been whisked away during my sleep. Feeling a little energetic and perhaps a little too provocative I declared to the nurse "Where is my breakfast? Your only job is to stop them taking my food!"
The gentleman was a doctor from the main hospital's heart department. The earlier blood samples had been processed and my treatment was at an end. I would be released. He updated me on all aspects of the treatment from the Urinary Tract Infection (minor/irrelevant) to the battle happening in my metabolism (the key issue). I would be contacted by the main hospital's endocrinology department who had been brought in early on the case and who had issued an Emergency Case (meaning I would see them in a week or two, not months) and they would take things from here. I was informed of all of the medications which had been prescribed and their purpose.
There were two items on the list of medications which were for vitamin B supplements, and not the kind that one can find in the vitamin supplement section of a supermarket. One is "B1-vitamin extra strong" and the other a combination of B1, B2 and B6 with two chemicals to aid uptake and processing. The doctor informed me that he was unsure if these had any government subsidy for their costs. He implied that they were also optional. He then informed me diplomatically that if I did not address my alcoholism he would be seeing me again before he wished to, continuing by describing the damage to the heart and to the brain which these prescriptions would mitigate for a time.
I have reflected on what he said and how he said it many times since. It had all of the unspoken elements of "you'll stay here for now" and "I'll talk to my colleagues" that I'd become aware of earlier. It also held a compassion and a tinge of sadness in it. It was not a lecture or a moralistic high ground speech. It was an acknowledgment of a curse on society with which the medical profession must deal on a daily basis. The nurse by his side stood in calm solidarity, with perhaps a little note of positivity in her demeanour. This was the most understated of beseeching. The doctor was saying to me "I have laid out the dangers, and hope you while within the walls of these hospitals have seen your futures. I know you will go home and drink. I am offering you a window of opportunity to act. I am offering you my best advice and hope you find the strength to heed it."
I indicated to the doctor, and thus nurse too, that I understood what he was saying. This was the apex of "many things can be learned in a hospital". I understood that I had been charged to act, and not on anyone elses account, but on my own account. For me. For my children. For society. It was going to be a challenge, I knew that. But, just as this unexpected journey had led to so many little discoveries and wisdoms, would not this new journey too?
The doctor and nurse left.
Seeing as I was to soon depart it made sense to gather my things. I identified all of the items bar one and amalgamated them in collected piles or packed in my backpack.
Where were my reading glasses?
A hospital cleaner was in the room doing her daily round as a nurse was delivering the next course of treatment for the my diabetic friend. I noted to the room that I could not find my glasses and look high or low they could not be found. Assistance from even the "wise to all places" cleaner yielded no result. With all other things identified and collected, I sat up in my bed and commented to my friends that they were cheap reading glasses and there could be no point stealing them.
They immediately derived the implication of this statement, that they had been mistakenly withdrawn from the room. "Were they on your breakfast tray?" My two co-patients had become the Sherlock Holmes' of the moment. As my main nurse returned, this hypothesis was put to her, and she vowed to follow up. We discussed what needed to be done to complete preparations for my departure. "I'll get the reports and drugs ready, you plan your travel" she said. Deal.
The national public transport service provides a pretty reliable web service wherein one enters one's location and desired end point and it lists all versions of transport with interconnections and total travel time. The options were (hh:mm) 1:20, 1:40 or 2:10 depending which combination of services I chose. Obviously I wanted the shortest. Now in a determined "lets get home before sunset" mode I'd chosen the closest achievable 1:20 version and the key start point was a bus stop 1 Km from the hospital at 12:04 pm, in a little over an hour from then. I took a screenshot of the travel plan, copied it to my phone, verified how to easily display it, and then finished my packing. Ready.
The nurse soon returned with the documentation and the drugs available to her within the hospital. I begged her for two sandwiches and some water to take with me. Although no yet “old”, I was still weak and knew that I needed to plan my energy levels for the trip which would likely take over 2 hours because I'd need to do some shopping, minimally to a chemist to get the prescriptions advised on my discharge sheet. She also informed us that the kitchen staff had been asked to look for the glasses.
I called for the nurse some 15 minutes later, ready to depart. The time to be at that bus stop was approaching. I said my goodbyes to my friends in the ward.
We were walking to the exit of the heart department when we saw emerging from a lift a trolley cart from the kitchen, likely containing lunch. The nurse signaled to the staff member moving the trolley and as it approached we saw my glasses sitting atop. I reached for the glasses and said to the nurse "just a moment". I returned to the ward room, glasses aloft and congratulated my friends on their detective skills. I turned, waved and strode back to join the nurse to follow her through the internal byways of the hospital to its main entrance. There, with 20 odd minutes before the key bus was to arrive at the stop, the nurse helped me to ask the receptionist to order a cab. She turned to begin the rest of her day, and I thanked her profusely for her efforts and those of her colleagues. I also sent a little mental thanks to my friends in the ward and all of the doctors.
A tender 8 odd minutes elapsed before I saw the cab arrive, and quickly instructed him of where I wished to be taken, armed with the image on my phone. He like the cab driver who had so reliably delivered me to the main hospital's Emergency department 32 hours earlier, delivered me to the stop pointing out that the stop I wanted was on the other side of the road. Really? I checked the map image. Yes, correct. Thank you, driver! Out I stepped into the cool air in midday of an early spring day, still grey skied and a little miserable, but dry.
Upon crossing the road the bus stop informed me that I had a 20 minute wait for the bus, which seemed wrong. Okay, it just meant that the web service had put the time 4 minutes earlier than the actual arrival time, but this mattered little as the time to exchange at the railway station in the same city where the main hospital was located included plenty of leeway. I broke out a sandwich, nibbled and waited.
The sky immediately began to break up. Patches of blue turned into a clear sky with sunshine by the time the bus arrived. I sat with one other passenger on the bus as it headed along its just under half an hour route to the railway station. As my children will tell you, whenever we travel in spring I always look at the fields through the eyes of a farmer. Now under a bright sun I gazed at the fields, seeing some which had been threshed and would regrow their grass or hay for animal consumption. Others had been tilled, and planted and their crops were showing as a green tinge on the dark soil. The farmers had been at their work in long days starting in the dark to prepare their fields for the spring which would soon to be in full bloom. It reminded me of the rise in food prices which would come because of stupid politicians limiting supply. But the farmers here were doing what they always do, making food for animal husbandry and us. The change to the train just lead to more of the same as the little "regional train" passed through more farmland.
My eyes saw the seasonal efforts of the farmers, and I gave thanks to them, as is my way in spring.
Epilogue
Having arrived home with my pharmaceutical supplies I forbade myself any action until I had written down my list of understandings and "new year" resolutions.
It was a new year, agriculturally speaking, and the resolutions I penned were born in a new community of understanding for me. Seeds had been planted by doctors, nurses and co-patients. I wanted to remember key moments in the hospitals, and I had a journey ahead of me for which I needed to place some key initial markers.
I am on a new journey, and from what I can see of the geopolitical picture, so is much of the world too, though for different reasons and with differing objectives.
I have since that moment only a few hours ago re-energised some relationships with family and friends which I had denied myself during the darker months previous. I know I will face my challenges with their support. I am scared, but I am not alone.
I hope that you, as you are effected by the global realignment which has been forced upon you, also have the support of your communities in adjusting to the changes that will come.
(I would normally link directly to the Kremlin’s website, but its under constant DDoS attack at the moment, and natyliesbalwin does provide useful general commentary on affairs Russian.)
If you would like a daily report on changes in the battles going on in Ukraine, I recommend Defence Poltics Asia. Its a single Singaporean who is transcribing the two daily bulletins from the Russian Ministry of Defence, and the Ukrainian general staff and some other telegram based Russian and Ukrainian sources onto a map and describing what battles are happening. I think he’s doing a great job. Judge for yourself. Here’s his most recent daily summary:
[ Ukraine SITREP ] Day 24 Summary - Ukraine counteroffensive in Mykolaiv-Kherson region, Defense Politics Asia, 2022-03-20
<More ‘Recommended Reading’ to come, video sources next …>
Culture
Cold Chisel - When The War Is Over [LIVE], Cold Chisel, their youtube channel, uploaded 2010-02-15
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Heartland: Journeys Personal and Geopolitical
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[Image: one of the author’s hands]
Publication date: 2022-03-18
Updte 2022-03-19: updates to Recommended Reading
While following developments in Ukraine and its counter spaces in geopolitics and geoeconomics your author was unable to find the energy to commit to the few inspirations for articles which had occurred. The underlying problem soon became an existential problem. The body which supports the thoughts and typing required to construct articles was itself suffering and emergency professional medical assistance was required.
Now released from the tender care of this nations national health service, and mostly recovered, with the additional nourishment of a good dose of understanding obtained in emergency and specialist care wards from both professionals and my co-patients, I am ready to interleave my story with reflections on the greater Ukrainian situation from the wide array of sources I've been following. Apologies in advance, this will need to be a long article.
Internal Problems
In the end it came of involuntary vomiting. Waking up from a 2 hour nap and vomiting bile until one's stomach is empty of even that is incapacitating. Then I would attempt to drink water and maybe a little tea and eat some trivial food like porridge and stewed apple, to then return to rest in the hope that enough of that would move beyond where it could be vomited up again. I was not winning this battle and had eaten little (successfully) in days, and had not only constant stomach but also head aches. My efforts to heal myself had failed.
At 2am I called the Emergency Medical Help line and following a discussion of actions and symptoms was told in no uncertain terms to admit myself to the local regional head hospital's Emergency department immediately.
I knew this would be the result of the conversation. I knew what I needed in a basic sense: do not die. Following a couple of preparation phases, with rests in between, I managed to self admit to the emergency ward, as instructed, at around 4am.
Blood samples were taken and I was immediately put on a saline intravenous (IV) drip. 3 hours later that drip was augmented to now include Sodium and most importantly Potassium, and a B vitamin supplement. The blood samples had been processed and a doctor arrived to interview me and explain why the treatment course had been chosen. He wanted to confirm and add new data to that which existed from the phone discussion with the Emergency Help line I'd called. My status was unchanged for me; horrible stomach ache and constant headache, but I had allied my goal (do not die) with an institution which has that at its core. The medical profession go beyond the Hippocratic Oath; they are downright curious as to the causes of conditions and I wanted their best efforts. Thus, at the outset of the discussion with this doctor I admitted to my alcoholism. One could call it a "Damascus moment". I put my cards on the table, and the doctor informed me of what had been learned from the samples, explained the current treatment methodology, and also explained what further tests would be designed to explore. The core emergency was electrolyte imbalance, particularly a lack of Potassium which is essential for all muscular activity, and the heart is a muscle. My levels were dangerously low, and mission one was fixing this to prevent damage to my heart. Other treatments like saline were for dehydration and the B vitamins to assist the electrolyte rebalancing.
Counterpoint
Lets examine the USA/NATO/Ukrainian response to the civil war in Ukraine up to the declaration by Russia to recognize the independence of the two Donbas "break away" republics, with that recognition also coming with the signing of mutual defense treaties. In Ukraine civil disobedience in numerous areas followed the new government installed after the 2014 coup. Ukraine's new government responded with a series of crackdowns and soon thereafter an official Ukrainian military campaign against its own citizens in these two oblasts (regions). An alarming early event was the burning alive of civilian protesters in the Trade Union building in Odessa. It is reportedly well known who were involved in this, but no charges have been brought. Indiscriminate shelling of Lugansk and Donetsk by government forces lead to no recrimination in western media. 8 years of civilian battle across the "line of contact" established in the first of the two Minsk Accords continued throughout. All efforts to further the Minsk process were undermined by Ukraine with the west's implicit support. Western media would begin any narrative on Ukraine with the "Russian annexation" of Crimea.
When looked upon through an historical lens and an understanding in the changing power alliances in Ukraine, Crimea's rejection of local Ukrainian forces by informing them to down arms and leave, and its following vote to rejoin Russia, makes much sense. While technically it looks like an annexation, this was the desire of the local population. It was a bloodless rejection of the Ukrainian security forces. What Western Media would not talk about is the indiscriminate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions by the Ukrainian military, or the coup which occurred a few months before this began.
At the arrival of the Russian recognition of independence this "issue" had moved beyond one of pussyfooting around in geopolitical brinkmanship to "a war is about to break out -- decisive actions are required not tomorrow, but now". The West's choice was to continue on course and to deploy the media into war propaganda. This is the creation of the conditions for a war.
As I was approaching my "moment of truth", I did at least acknowledge how my actions had contributed toward the predicament in which I found myself. Cigarette consumption over the 3 days before admittance to hospital; down from 20 per day to 1. Alcohol? Down from too much to 0. At the critical point when decisive action is required, I admit my failings and act. USA/NATO/Ukraine, not only do nothing, but elevate attacks on Lugansk and Donetsk to WORSEN THE SITUATION.
The struggling writer in me has a partnership with my body; an essential partnership. Actions needed to be taken to enable more writing, though they were not towards helping the writer but the essential partner. As is so often the case in life, from the unexpected if one has the humility and calm to observe, come some of the greatest lessons and insights.
The actions taken, or deliberately not taken, by the West demonstrate that it did not see Ukraine as an essential partner. More a damaged digit which could be sacrificed. As we shall see, their continued behaviour shows this analysis was callous and horribly short sighted.
The Smallest of Moments becomes Thematic
Just after my discussion with the doctor concludes, one of the staff who distributes the hospital food came in with a full trolley and asked me what I would like. At this point I understood the treatment plan and knew that the doctors and nurses (I've much more to say about nurses) were executing that simple but important plan. As noted I'm still as physically impacted as I had been 5 hours earlier when talking with Emergency Medical help, but I knew I needed to drink and eat, come what may. Truth be told that was all I’d be trying, and failing, to do for days.
I've lived in this country for 20 odd years and developed a basic understanding of the national language, but not developed my spoken skills to much beyond rudimentary. My interactions with this person and all of the nurses and doctors are a rather lovely dance in language with many a discussion occurring with them speaking in their native language and me mine (English) with enough playfulness for cross linguistic uncertainty to be conquered.
For this interaction it was simple, yes the "standard" breakfast please. Then the young woman indicates that she has some tubs of yogurt. Would I like one?
One's body speaks to one in times of need or crisis. Thus, my reduction in smoking and elimination of alcohol days before I self-admitted. My body SCREAMED at me to get the yogurt. Actually, it didn't care about anything else. "Yes, please", I replied in their native language. I will never forget the sheer joy of the next 15 minutes as I eat that yogurt, at about 20mL per spoon. In my list of personal reflections and actions written just post hospital release, point 2 of 5 enshrines the consumption of that exact yogurt with fresh fruit for breakfast. Why? Its a memory gateway back to that moment, still feeling the pain but sensing hope and viscerally feeling my body's utter exuberance in consuming that morsel.
It was the first food that I was able to consume for days which my body did not almost immediately reject.
Counterpoint
Lets examine the few days leading to the Russian invasion and the first day of Russia's "Special Military Operation" (or "intervention" or "war", call it what you wish). The attacks on the Donetsk and Lugansk regions escalated even further. Then in the first day of Russia's military attack the following goals are achieved:
destruction of much of the donated-by-the-west military hardware
destruction of much of Ukraine's anti-air military capability
destruction of much of Ukraine's airforce
destruction of most of Ukraine's military command and communication's infrastructure
advance into Ukraine by Russian ground forces on 6 fronts
from the north down towards Kiev
from the north east towards Kiev on two fronts
from the east into Lugansk and Donetsk
from the south east into neighbouring regions from Crimea on two fronts
Any emergency question of "how can we avoid war" is over; its now "how can this war be brought to a close as fast as possible". The west's answer is no diplomatic response toward that end, but rather "economic sanctions" which is just one of the multi-faceted domains in hybrid-warfare. That choice of response when what is known is that Ukraine's forces are now without any effective air force and whose units are without any effective command and control and are thus isolated can only be seen as to entrench the war. As Tony Kevin so plainly and succinctly says "Wars generate their own atrocities" which makes them harder to stop the longer they continue. Thus, if all of the preceding 8 years of ignoring atrocities by Ukrainian forces, the Ukraine's undermining of political dialogue and the last minute continuation of all of the above by the West were not enough to declare that everything they had done to date was designed to provoke a war, what you see here can only be seen as what it takes to prolong a war.
I'm savoring a little tub of yogurt, they were building a war.
The Plot Thickens
Late morning I am relocated from the Emergency department to the specialist heart department. I'd mentioned to the doctor a few hours ago that if the treatment plan is the balancing of electrolytes they should move me to another location as places in Emergency must be valuable. He would have none of it "you'll be staying here for now". As my stay progressed I learned to read between the lines of doctors and nurses. The subtext here was “you’re on deaths door and can hardly think, just leave this choice to me”. But, now I was relocated and two very important discussions occurred.
The first was with the doctor in the heart department who was taking my case. She reaffirmed the treatment plan and echoed a challenge mentioned earlier by the first doctor which is that raising the levels of these core minerals/ions with Potassium being the critical one is a little fraught with danger. It must be done carefully over time. Thus my drips of saline (general hydration) and a few other things could continue, but a halt was needed after round one of the core Potassium drip was completed. She moved on to that "getting to the bottom of things" which doctors are all about and mentioned my metabolism which had gone stir crazy. In response to asking her to put it on a scale she said "very elevated" or "hyper active". Aaaah, so here is another treatment focus, to get that under control. She explained that the metabolic rate is controlled a relationship between the Pituitary gland in the skull and the Thyroid at the brain stem or thereabouts. The Pituitary sends instructions to the Thyroid which produces T3 and T4 hormones and which it senses changes of in their levels in the blood stream and scales back as hormone levels increase. More messaging from the Pituitary can cause this dampening feedback to fail and thus even more of these hormones are produced sending the metabolic rate into "stir crazy" levels. This was what had been observed in the extended analysis of more recent blood samples. The heart team had thus contacted the endocrinologist group and asked them to get involved in the case.
By this point I'd eaten a meal and drunk many small amounts of water and had yet to vomit, though I was still nauseous. The headache was reducing. I felt like things were improving. And, being a curious person I was quite interested in the hyperactive metabolism theory. The repeated vomiting ticked all of the simple boxes for causes of malnutrition, dehydration and lack of Potassium. How did an out of control metabolism factor in, and what triggered it?
Puzzled though I was, my efforts were dedicated to eating and drinking water in small amounts and resting. I had begun studying background hospital soundscapes in the Emergency department. That continued here in a much more raucous environment with every patient and their dog seeming to have visitors to talk about all and sundry the whole time. I wanted to scream out "when will you lot let us sick people rest!"
It was the interactions with the nurses which I found most insightful. Not in medical analysis, that's not their job, but in how they do their job. There was a change in treatment focus and its their job to implement it, so changes in drips, more blood samples to come, and a change in oral drugs. By now you may have guessed that given a chance to ask questions about a subject in which I am interested with intelligent people I will take every chance, and the blessed nurses did their best to honor their profession by fulfilling what I now see to be an unwritten law of nursing: no patient shall be forced to take a course of medical action without the ability to ask about it, situation permitting. I was obviously not dying. Blood tests showed improvements in hydration and the all important Potassium levels. So ask I did and explain they did too.
Along with confessing to alcoholism, the counterpart to the stance was to ensure that the doctors had every sample I could give them. I had needed to vomit (the usual bile only misery) before that savior yogurt arrived. It had gone into a sort of plastic bag, which I'd placed at the edge of my bed. It was unable to be used for some reason. But, when I was transferred up to the heart department I had with me a sample jar for a urine sample. Luckily I was able to use that fairly soon after I arrived there. I staggered to the toilet to create it. This had also been analyzed by the time I spoke with the doctor and yes, a urinary tract infection had been identified. Although these can be quite dangerous, especially if untreated for some time and it hits the kidney, this was a "secondary issue" for my case at that time. But, it too would require a change in treatment. Additionally there was the constipation which I'd experienced from 4 to 2 days earlier, which I'd mentioned to the first doctor. That also required some treatment.
So, all told, at the heart department as the drip based treatments for Potassium, vitamin B and hydration were being shuffled a little to avoid too much Potassium too quickly, 3 other treatments were about to be applied: anti-UTI antibiotics, anti-constipation and pro-stomach, and hyper-metabolic dampeners. The process of querying the nursing staff about the new drugs and how they related to the treatment plan, and when required asking a few more questions, was delightful. It reassured me that the nursing staff understood how the individual drugs (or drip changes) related to the treatment plan. I felt a capable team around me working together. I would ask about each new drug and with the level of calmness and patience displayed by the nurses I felt that they believed it was my right to know what the purpose of a drug was, before I took it. These were those playful interactions as we did hit the odd language barrier, but worked with them to find an understanding. At each stage I received more and more reason to trust this medical team. I was improving, slowly, and I was treated like a person, a human, someone who mattered and was not just something that needed to be worked with to achieve some goal. The same is true of the doctors; I was always informed of the treatment plan and given the chance to ask questions. But it was more evident in the nursing staff who had more time to offer explanation. I am deeply thankful to both groups, and have reflected upon this on several levels.
Only more recently in my reflections on this have I seen the same in what I term "good teaching". (I’m quite interested in teaching which has been a part of all of my professional life, and started with me helping kids through high school maths. See this article if you want a taste of my approach.) Imagine you are the teacher. You NEED to gain the trust of your class, else all teaching/learning is impossible. How to do this? Simply, take every question offered seriously. If a question seems left of field or simplistic it means that YOU do not understand the question. There is almost always a deep question or more likely expression of a misunderstanding behind these questions. Finding these deeper aspects or fundamental misunderstandings is YOUR JOB as a teacher. Then the skill of explaining the misunderstanding or expanding to topic to embrace the deeper aspect of the "unusual" question is to be brought to bear. This can be difficult and requires tact. One may "lose" half a class on such a question. But know this, on almost every occasion you are answering a question which is hidden amongst half the class. These questions are the GIFTS from which trust can be built. These nurses seemed to understand this better than many a university lecturer.
About 6 hours into my time at the hospital I was slowly recovering and felt confident that the medical team around me understood the core issue of "not die" and were working on looking at deeper causes. I'd managed to eat and drink and not vomit. Unsurprisingly, my geoanalytic brain started to compare the experience I was undergoing to the greater Ukraine issue. The secure humanity of the nursing staff in informing me of treatments I was undergoing inspired me to think about the Western media's role in "explaining" the Ukraine crisis. This was, of course, my first reflection, before I got to the teaching comparison.
Counterpoint
I remain informed of "Western Media" (largely USA based) by commentary from the analysts I pay attention to rather than consuming their product. Responses to "this is rather complicated and one needs to minimally encompass events in Ukraine from the Maidan coup in 2014 to the present" seemed in either of two camps: ignore it, or label those asking for nuance and history to be a part of current analysis as "Putin apologists". When looking at recent events from the beginning of the SMO/intervention/war (call it what you will), the media are all "Putin is the aggressor" to "Putin is committing war crimes". Both cases show a lack of desire for a wider or balanced analysis and more interestingly the labeling of Russia's leadership as "Putin". This last point, in and of itself, leaves the analysis bereft of any understanding of the wielding of political and economic power in Russia. I refuse to be as stupid as to think that Putin acts without considering both his political and national support, and the support of those who hold great economic influence in Russia. So, please drop this "Putin did X" rubbish and acknowledge the greater influences in Russia. When you've got to that point, then look at the wider picture and consider why it is that Russian leadership has taken the courses of action it has over the last 8 years.
One could equally apply the same analysis to the USA's foreign policy over that period, and again disregard "Biden did this" or "Trump did that". Its bullshit analysis, especially when one sees the consistency of policy between these administrations of theoretically different parties. Arming Saudi Arabia? Biden says "only non-offensive stuff". This means, we'll keep doing maintenance and intelligence and targeting, but please talk to the UK for the bombs. Meanwhile both have banned all imports of Russian energy and to make up the difference the UK is talking to the Saudi's to whom she is selling the weapons to kill civilians in Yemen. Oh, why were they banning Russian energy? Killing civilians in Ukraine. Can nobody in the "establishment" media see the problem with this line of narrative? The answer is yes they can. But they don’t mention it. They, unlike the way my nurses are treating me, are treating you as an idiot.
The bigger issue is that of media control, or narrative control, to use the well pursued phrase of Caitlin Johnstone. The EU decides to ban RT, rather ineffectively as I have shown. The USA causes RT America to shut down completely depriving us of very interesting programs like "On Contact" with Chris Hedges. At the same time in the USA pressure from various sectors cause its social media giants to downlist or blacklist not only content from Russian media outlets but also those by USA citizens who previously worked for the now defunct RT America. Additionally, any content not well aligned with the narratives generated within the USA's corporate media are also suppressed. The end result in the USA has a media sphere which is largely an echo chamber of approved narrative, and a narrative that is largely devoid of any sense of reality or nuance, with a complete absence of historical context.
As I am being so impressed by the level of humanity shown to me in my distress by the medical staff and seeing how their treatment of me as a person is helping me gain trust in their work, out there in western media land I am seeing the diametric opposite. Their simplification of narrative and downranking or shadow banning of more complex analysis treats their audience as imbeciles. I have long lost any interest in these media and hope that my readership can better understand why I have taken this position in light of these medias' recent actions.
Learning from One's Environment
Later on day 1 I was again relocated, this time to a nearby smaller hospital which also had a heart department which worked collaboratively with the "head office" at the main hospital. Transport was in a minivan customized for transporting the infirm. After movement to an empty ward I moved from my bed to the upper portion of a trolley device. The handover of my details and the retention of my long term data storage device were done and off I was taken to the vehicle. The top section of the trolley on which I lay was auto-mechanically winched into the back of the van while the "bogey" was retained. The two person team was a driver and assistant who joined me in the back. Following a brief and pleasant journey I was delivered to a waiting bed in the new hospital's heart department. I was immediately issued my new “data storage device” and hooked up to the ECG machine. This data, with that retained at the main hospital, with the results of god knows how many blood sample analyses, will form the basis for my continued treatment, as I find out later, by the endocrinologists. Who knows how many gigabytes of data they have of everything happening to my heart and in my blood over the 24 hour period of observation. Like any research scientist, the doctors care about the data.
Two other patients were already in the capacity 4 room and I introduced myself by name and declared my limited national language capability and English as my native tongue (in the national language). We all quietly went about the routines of ward life interacting with staff as required and engaging dinner when it arrived with reverence.
Just after dinner, I got up. The 70 odd year old patient uttered his first words to me, apart from giving me his name when we all introduced ourselves earlier. He wanted to show me something. He had guessed that I was about to use the toilet. He showed me where the light switch was, and the switch for the electric lock to secure the door. I'd not seen one of these before, or only a few times, and in my weary state would have no doubt struggled with it, perhaps even calling for help. He had anticipated all of this. He had alleviated any potential embarrassment I may have felt, reduced work for the nursing staff and gifted me a way to have secure access to one of the very few private spaces in a public hospital. It was a brief demonstration, and I thanked him. It took me quite some time to recognize just how thoughtful his action was.
Not long after, I learnt from the nurse that my last Potassium drip was to begin. It was a 5 hour treatment, and it was 7pm, so midnight went into my head as "end of treatment". However, first the IV base point on my right hand showed pain as the treatment began. I informed the nurse. We tried the older IV point on my left hand. It hurt even more. A deeper vein was needed, and a nurse who specialized in anesthetics came to create a new location. The first effort was more painful than I'd previously experienced, but it was "shot through" and unusable. The second effort hurt even more but was fine for use. Now with 4 IV base points and one failed, and multiple blood sample points in on the inside of both elbows my arms were looking a little worst for wear, but the last important point for the last Potassium drip was established. It was now 8pm, so I updated my mental note: end of treatment 1am. Soon enough I turned in for some sleep as the rest of the room went into "night mode".
[Image: small wounds incurred in helping my essential partner, my body]
The earlier "chattering" back in the other hospital's heart department was nothing compared to the snoring of one of my co-patients here. His snoring was ridiculously loud. I am now ashamed to admit that I pointed this out to a nurse who came in to check up on the treatment. "I'll speak to my colleagues", she said. I suppose it was the standard diplomatic response which incorporated "I know", "we have limited bed capacity" and thus "there's really not much that can be done". Maybe it was something about the elder gentleman's earlier help. I let the annoyance wash over me and began listening to the snorer's breathing. It was beyond alarming. It spoke of someone who is really suffering. I swallowed my pride and let the balm of compassion help me to sleep.
The next morning the room began its daily routine with the motorized blinds being elevated to let in the new light of the day. Some fresh air? Mmm. Why not? The door is clamped ajar letting in the cold and refreshing morning air. I comment to my friends, for friends I now considered them, that "many things can be learned in a hospital". I had entered the first hospital at the fully expected demand of the Emergency Health assistant. At that phase all I wanted was to be able to eat and not vomit, a totally self obsessed goal. Now, after my latest blood samples had been sent in and my planned treatment at end, I expected an update from the doctors about diagnoses and future treatment. I also expected to be discharged. I was now not looking upon my situation through self focused eyes, but through those of my friends who via some errors in their past and some misfortune were in a far worse state. By developing compassion for them I saw them as examples of my own future if I did not heed the advice I was about to receive. The preservation of the compassion I had developed was to be an essential fuel for the journey to come.
Counterpoint
What were the West's responses to the Ukraine crisis? Before Russia even declared its view of the independence of the two Donbass republics, the West, lead by the USA, had been threatening sanctions. At the declaration they went into full media mode on "Most Widespread Sanctions of All Time". It is worth considering what this would mean for major European economies like those of Germany and France.
[Image: Russia’s commodity exports as a percentage of global trade in those commodities]
Germany is in a very difficult position because it's energy consumption relies on Russian gas exports for between 40 to 50% depending on who you ask, and the general EU gas storage and networks are designed for gas, not LNG. Changing to LNG is a long project involving new shipping terminals and changes in storage and network capabilities. It cannot be done in 8 months before next winter arrives. This explains why gas is excluded from sanctions applied. But, that is just the beginning. German and other European economies are integrated into the modern globalized system and this means that for every loss of Russian supply an alternate supply will be more expensive because of natural market changes (less supply with same demand == increase in demand == increase in price) and that shipping will be from further afield. As one can see there are instant issues with industrial diamonds, palladium, wheat, barley and rye, and aluminium. Industrial diamonds and palladium are essential for printing integrated circuits, the grains key food sources, and aluminium is essential for airplane and luxury car manufacture. Thus businesses like Siemens who produce factory automation solutions based on programmable logic controllers which became all the rage back in the Stuxnet days, are going to suffer. The same with airplane and car manufacturers. And everyone's pasta and beer costs are going to rise to the chagrin of good food lovers worldwide and those who enjoy a pint after work. In summary this will have a massive impact on the European economies with the hits to energy prices only to be followed on by big reductions in industrial businesses with flow on losses in tax revenue and a concomitant reduction in government services.
And that is just the trade sanctions. The financial sanctions took a while to get "coordinated" with the USA having to do some arm twisting because of their radical nature.
The first to be rolled out were the political “financial” sanctions, political in that they were meant to solve the "we need to be seen as doing something" disease which fixates many western political leaders. Financial restrictions are applied to "Russian Oligarchs" and I dunno the President and Foreign Minister of Russia. These are irrelevant. We just wont be seeing Lavrov at the UN for a while, but this effects nothing. Russia has a very informed and effective Foreign service.
Then the commodity blockades emerge. The US had forced a vote on a non-binding general resolution of the UN General Assembly which many voted for, with a few abstaining and a few against. This is the basis of the "most of the world agrees with our sanctions" narrative, which is completely misleading. Its a non-binding item. Its a political statement, not a financial one. When one looks at who joins the commodity blockade its the USA and allied nations like those in Europe and others like Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. The vast majority of the world wanted nothing of it, and for good reason. They could see how much their own industries would be impacted by the pursuant changes in global commodity markets.
There are opportunities in turmoil like this. Why not invest in Australian grain production or its gas (LNG) energy industries? They should do well. The problem is that their trading partners are in south east Asia and most of them have no truck with the stupidity of the commodity blockade which may then reduce Australia's markets.
The most difficult financial sanctions to secure between the USA and EU, their "financial nuclear option”, were those imposed on Russia's Central Bank. To understand this lets rewind the clock to the recent financial attacks on Venezuela's government under President Maduro and then to those applied to the Afghan Central Bank.
The USA and EU decided to declare this character, Juan Guiado, who at the time held the position of the rotating role of President of the Legislature, as the "interim president". The gentleman was largely unknown to Venezuela's population (8% recognition) and had never once stood for the role of President. (Remember: 3 parts of a government, legislative, executive and judicial which are distinct). This mattered not one whit for the policy narrative operatives, and one of the financial sanctions applied to Venezuela was the impounding of 2 billion USD of gold reserves (of its Central Bank) held in the Bank of England. This could be described as theft, but is probably better characterized as denial of access. Nonetheless, its a pretty big thing for one central bank to deny another access to its own funds.
Case in point number two is the first impounding and then actual spending of 9 billion USD held in USA banks for the Afghan Central Bank. This denied these funds to the new Taliban dominated government to purchase essential items like fuel and food for the impending winter. The previous governments had been living off the hog of donations by the USA and other parties to the ongoing occupation of the country. The difference with the Venezuelan gold is that the USA then spent these funds on paying out compensation to victims of the 9/11 crimes and gifting the rest of funds to charity organizations chosen by the USA. This is outright theft of 9 billion USD. Arguments that these funds were given to the Afghan Central Bank by the USA or others are moot. You GAVE them the money. Its THEIRS. Then you, USA, spent it. Theft, pure and simple.
These could be seen as "trial balloons" to test how the leaders of the western central banks felt about purloining the funds of other nations' central banks. The "big deal" was left for Russia whose central bank would lose 40 to 50% of its external reserves amounting to hundreds of millions of USD in value.
To understand what this means one needs place oneself in the position of a board of a central bank in a not terribly important and not really allied nation. How do they feel in Sri Lanka? In Indonesia? In Argentina? In Vietnam? If I were in their shoes I would immediately want to shift my reserves into nations outside of the western orbit, else you might lose some vast amount because you got caught up in the geopolitical machinations of nations larger than you. Governments need central banks, especially if they control their own currency. The central bank can issue bonds to raise funds. They can raise interest rates to curb inflation. They can establish accounts between their country and others to facilitate trade deals. They also can build national reserves to withstand speculative attacks on their currency. Like it or not, central banks are very important.
The thoughts occurring to the leaders of central banks will also be occurring to the industrial leaders in these countries. The end result of this is going to be a fracturing of and then new alignment in international trade blocks, which is going to refactor geopolitics for decades to come. To get a feel for where this goes I suggest paying close attention to India. She fiercely defends her independence, and has excellent financial and foreign service bureaucracies to advise her. The USA and by extension many European nations have played an "all in" bet on this hand and they do not have the cards.
Why? Because the USA's economy is entirely based on the USD as the global reserve currency. It was already pegged back in 2016 (or thereabouts) by a readjustment of the currencies in the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) which is the international currency for central banks. If following this move more and more trade in international commodities is done in native currencies the USD slips even further in its role in international trade. The USA's problem is that it is up to its eyeballs in debt and currently has inflation at an acknowledged rate of 8% but which professors in economics, like Richard Wolff or Michael Hudson place at a more likely figure of 15 to 20%. The standard solution to this inflation problem is to raise interest rates, but if the USA does that her debt repayments also increase. The USA's economy has little room to move, and she has put herself in this position, which is why the US Federal Reserve have distanced themselves from this policy choice claiming that they "were not consulted". They know how bad this is.
Some Calm Medical Advice and a Mystery Solved
The breakfast round arrived a little before 8am as I was reading my copy of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which I'd packed for the hospital stay. I followed my "tested as working" method of eating slowly; I had not vomited since 24 hours earlier.
Soon a new patient arrived in the ward. Before long the nurse measured his blood sugar levels at 2 point something, which was dramatically low. The younger of the two patients I’d met when I arrived commented upon how to raise those levels quickly as the nurse was somewhat uncertain how to best address the situation. I listened intently to the exchange in the native language and saw my co-patient actually begin to physically intervene providing the new patient with something to eat and finishing with "and then eat the banana". A while after the exchange had concluded, I asked my friend if it was about blood sugar levels. "Yes", he replied and then went on to inform me that the nurse's dithering and lack of direct knowledge of what to do risked the gentleman blacking out, which happens around the 2.0 level. It had happened to him, and its horrible. He had provided a fructose based "sweet" which begins being absorbed immediately in the mouth. "Are you a diabetic?", I asked. "Yes, type I". I added to my lessons learned “Never argue with a type I diabetic about blood sugar levels unless you are a doctor”.
With that little moment of excitement concluded, I put my breakfast aside, intending to continue it later, and fell asleep.
I was awoken around an hour later by the nurse who had mostly attended to me, with a gentleman beside her. She asked how I was and I replied "waking up" as I looked around me to see that my breakfast had been whisked away during my sleep. Feeling a little energetic and perhaps a little too provocative I declared to the nurse "Where is my breakfast? Your only job is to stop them taking my food!"
The gentleman was a doctor from the main hospital's heart department. The earlier blood samples had been processed and my treatment was at an end. I would be released. He updated me on all aspects of the treatment from the Urinary Tract Infection (minor/irrelevant) to the battle happening in my metabolism (the key issue). I would be contacted by the main hospital's endocrinology department who had been brought in early on the case and who had issued an Emergency Case (meaning I would see them in a week or two, not months) and they would take things from here. I was informed of all of the medications which had been prescribed and their purpose.
There were two items on the list of medications which were for vitamin B supplements, and not the kind that one can find in the vitamin supplement section of a supermarket. One is "B1-vitamin extra strong" and the other a combination of B1, B2 and B6 with two chemicals to aid uptake and processing. The doctor informed me that he was unsure if these had any government subsidy for their costs. He implied that they were also optional. He then informed me diplomatically that if I did not address my alcoholism he would be seeing me again before he wished to, continuing by describing the damage to the heart and to the brain which these prescriptions would mitigate for a time.
I have reflected on what he said and how he said it many times since. It had all of the unspoken elements of "you'll stay here for now" and "I'll talk to my colleagues" that I'd become aware of earlier. It also held a compassion and a tinge of sadness in it. It was not a lecture or a moralistic high ground speech. It was an acknowledgment of a curse on society with which the medical profession must deal on a daily basis. The nurse by his side stood in calm solidarity, with perhaps a little note of positivity in her demeanour. This was the most understated of beseeching. The doctor was saying to me "I have laid out the dangers, and hope you while within the walls of these hospitals have seen your futures. I know you will go home and drink. I am offering you a window of opportunity to act. I am offering you my best advice and hope you find the strength to heed it."
I indicated to the doctor, and thus nurse too, that I understood what he was saying. This was the apex of "many things can be learned in a hospital". I understood that I had been charged to act, and not on anyone elses account, but on my own account. For me. For my children. For society. It was going to be a challenge, I knew that. But, just as this unexpected journey had led to so many little discoveries and wisdoms, would not this new journey too?
The doctor and nurse left.
Seeing as I was to soon depart it made sense to gather my things. I identified all of the items bar one and amalgamated them in collected piles or packed in my backpack.
Where were my reading glasses?
A hospital cleaner was in the room doing her daily round as a nurse was delivering the next course of treatment for the my diabetic friend. I noted to the room that I could not find my glasses and look high or low they could not be found. Assistance from even the "wise to all places" cleaner yielded no result. With all other things identified and collected, I sat up in my bed and commented to my friends that they were cheap reading glasses and there could be no point stealing them.
They immediately derived the implication of this statement, that they had been mistakenly withdrawn from the room. "Were they on your breakfast tray?" My two co-patients had become the Sherlock Holmes' of the moment. As my main nurse returned, this hypothesis was put to her, and she vowed to follow up. We discussed what needed to be done to complete preparations for my departure. "I'll get the reports and drugs ready, you plan your travel" she said. Deal.
The national public transport service provides a pretty reliable web service wherein one enters one's location and desired end point and it lists all versions of transport with interconnections and total travel time. The options were (hh:mm) 1:20, 1:40 or 2:10 depending which combination of services I chose. Obviously I wanted the shortest. Now in a determined "lets get home before sunset" mode I'd chosen the closest achievable 1:20 version and the key start point was a bus stop 1 Km from the hospital at 12:04 pm, in a little over an hour from then. I took a screenshot of the travel plan, copied it to my phone, verified how to easily display it, and then finished my packing. Ready.
The nurse soon returned with the documentation and the drugs available to her within the hospital. I begged her for two sandwiches and some water to take with me. Although no yet “old”, I was still weak and knew that I needed to plan my energy levels for the trip which would likely take over 2 hours because I'd need to do some shopping, minimally to a chemist to get the prescriptions advised on my discharge sheet. She also informed us that the kitchen staff had been asked to look for the glasses.
I called for the nurse some 15 minutes later, ready to depart. The time to be at that bus stop was approaching. I said my goodbyes to my friends in the ward.
We were walking to the exit of the heart department when we saw emerging from a lift a trolley cart from the kitchen, likely containing lunch. The nurse signaled to the staff member moving the trolley and as it approached we saw my glasses sitting atop. I reached for the glasses and said to the nurse "just a moment". I returned to the ward room, glasses aloft and congratulated my friends on their detective skills. I turned, waved and strode back to join the nurse to follow her through the internal byways of the hospital to its main entrance. There, with 20 odd minutes before the key bus was to arrive at the stop, the nurse helped me to ask the receptionist to order a cab. She turned to begin the rest of her day, and I thanked her profusely for her efforts and those of her colleagues. I also sent a little mental thanks to my friends in the ward and all of the doctors.
A tender 8 odd minutes elapsed before I saw the cab arrive, and quickly instructed him of where I wished to be taken, armed with the image on my phone. He like the cab driver who had so reliably delivered me to the main hospital's Emergency department 32 hours earlier, delivered me to the stop pointing out that the stop I wanted was on the other side of the road. Really? I checked the map image. Yes, correct. Thank you, driver! Out I stepped into the cool air in midday of an early spring day, still grey skied and a little miserable, but dry.
Upon crossing the road the bus stop informed me that I had a 20 minute wait for the bus, which seemed wrong. Okay, it just meant that the web service had put the time 4 minutes earlier than the actual arrival time, but this mattered little as the time to exchange at the railway station in the same city where the main hospital was located included plenty of leeway. I broke out a sandwich, nibbled and waited.
The sky immediately began to break up. Patches of blue turned into a clear sky with sunshine by the time the bus arrived. I sat with one other passenger on the bus as it headed along its just under half an hour route to the railway station. As my children will tell you, whenever we travel in spring I always look at the fields through the eyes of a farmer. Now under a bright sun I gazed at the fields, seeing some which had been threshed and would regrow their grass or hay for animal consumption. Others had been tilled, and planted and their crops were showing as a green tinge on the dark soil. The farmers had been at their work in long days starting in the dark to prepare their fields for the spring which would soon to be in full bloom. It reminded me of the rise in food prices which would come because of stupid politicians limiting supply. But the farmers here were doing what they always do, making food for animal husbandry and us. The change to the train just lead to more of the same as the little "regional train" passed through more farmland.
My eyes saw the seasonal efforts of the farmers, and I gave thanks to them, as is my way in spring.
Epilogue
Having arrived home with my pharmaceutical supplies I forbade myself any action until I had written down my list of understandings and "new year" resolutions.
It was a new year, agriculturally speaking, and the resolutions I penned were born in a new community of understanding for me. Seeds had been planted by doctors, nurses and co-patients. I wanted to remember key moments in the hospitals, and I had a journey ahead of me for which I needed to place some key initial markers.
I am on a new journey, and from what I can see of the geopolitical picture, so is much of the world too, though for different reasons and with differing objectives.
I have since that moment only a few hours ago re-energised some relationships with family and friends which I had denied myself during the darker months previous. I know I will face my challenges with their support. I am scared, but I am not alone.
I hope that you, as you are effected by the global realignment which has been forced upon you, also have the support of your communities in adjusting to the changes that will come.
Recommended Reading
The American Empire Self-Destructs, Michael Hudson, Unz Review, 2022-03-07
(if you only follow one suggestion, choose that by Michael Hudson above)
The Geopolitics of the Ukraine War, Alfred McCoy, Tom Dispatch, 2022-03-10
Central Asia Struggles With the Consequences of Russia’s War, Vijay Prasad, CounterPoint, 2022-03-17
Caitlin Johnstone, her newsletter, date per article:
People Overestimate The US War Machine And Underestimate The US Propaganda Machine, 2022-03-20
International Law Is A Meaningless Concept When It Only Applies To US Enemies, 2022-03-17
The US Chose This Conflict: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix, 2022-03-09
Defending Freedom And Democracy Sure Requires An Awful Lot Of Censorship, 2022-03-02
Pepe Escobar, Unz Review, date per article:
All That Glitters Is Not Necessarily Russian Gold, 2022-03-17
Say Hello to Russian Gold and Chinese Petroyuan, 2022-03-15
Russian Judo Tears the West Apart, 2022-03-08
Report: 8-Year Secret CIA Training Program in Eastern Ukraine Helped Prepare for Russian Invasion, Dave DeCamp, Antiwar, 2022-03-17
Al Mayadeen English, Author and Date per article:
Canceling Russian reserves boomerangs to a new international monetary system, Alastair Crooke, 2022-03-20
Washington rushes to hide its ‘octopus’ NED funding in Ukraine, Tim Anderson, 2022-03-15
Full Transcript of Putin’s Remarks During 3/16/22 Meeting Regarding Socioeconomic Support to Regions (Includes Comment re “Traitors” and “Fifth Columnists”), natyliesbaldwin.com, 2022-03-16
(I would normally link directly to the Kremlin’s website, but its under constant DDoS attack at the moment, and natyliesbalwin does provide useful general commentary on affairs Russian.)
U.S. escalates sanctions with a freeze on Russian central bank assets., Alan Rappeport, New York Times, 2022-02-28
For “Best Headline of the Week”: McDonald's introduces no fry zone, RT, 2022-03-08
U.S. Nailed to the Wall on Illicit Biological Weapons Labs in Ukraine, Gilbert Doctrow, his website, 2022-03-09
The Grayzone, Author and Date per article:
US and NATO allies arm neo-Nazi units in Ukraine as foreign policy elites yearn for Afghan-style insurgency, Alexander Rubinstein, 2022-03-20
Was bombing of Mariupol theater staged by Ukrainian Azov extremists to trigger NATO intervention?, Max Blumenthal, 2022-03-18 (The above is an extension of the initial work by b. at MoonOfAlabama.)
Starving a People, Committing a Genocide: Biden’s Sanctions on Afghanistan, Eve Ottenberg, Counter Punch, 2022-03-18
Scott Ritter: Russian Military Strategy - Mercenaries - The End Game, Regis Tremblay interview’s Scott Ritter, Global Conversations, 2022-03-15
(download with: youtube-dl https://rumble.com/embed/vutu27/?pub=4 )
Sanctions war against Russia is failing. China and India harden their stance, Alex Christoforour and Alexander Mercouris, The Duran, 2022-03-20
(download with: youtube-dl https://rumble.com/embed/vvby43/?pub=4)
If you would like a daily report on changes in the battles going on in Ukraine, I recommend Defence Poltics Asia. Its a single Singaporean who is transcribing the two daily bulletins from the Russian Ministry of Defence, and the Ukrainian general staff and some other telegram based Russian and Ukrainian sources onto a map and describing what battles are happening. I think he’s doing a great job. Judge for yourself. Here’s his most recent daily summary:
[ Ukraine SITREP ] Day 24 Summary - Ukraine counteroffensive in Mykolaiv-Kherson region, Defense Politics Asia, 2022-03-20
<More ‘Recommended Reading’ to come, video sources next …>
Culture
Cold Chisel - When The War Is Over [LIVE], Cold Chisel, their youtube channel, uploaded 2010-02-15
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