The Beautiful Ukraine !

Indeed, congratulations to the new President of Ukraine, I remember him as a person who can ask a basic question, and pause for a moment, to construct a formulaic thought that's funny. I'd hope that I get a second and third opportunity to meet him, to have some chance to return the favor of his humorous thought about me, to make some funny statement about his Presidency,  "So you like the shape and feel of that Bulawa (The Presidential Ceremonial Mace) in your hand ? The most serious issue of the day, is clearly about the continued reformation of civil society, and resolving the conflict in the East. There are many leverage generating tools available for Ukraine , and he appears to understand their overall nature, such as increasing sanctions, improving defense related technology.

 I did sense back then, that this interesting man I met at the bottom of the steps (future President to be Zelinskiy)  was a truly and thoughtful person. I try to think of myself as a true and thoughtful Patriot of the USA, you know I'm living in the USA, and I can claim roots going back to the American Revolution , and what's up with Brexit, why can't all the British get along with each other ?
   His benefactor , that garrulous, sometimes crude and irreverent man Mister Kolomoisky is a funny guy, and he's a real operator too.  I do admire him for his outgoing qualities, a bit  like me.  He's certainly made his squabble with Mister Putin quite personal. Yet what Russia did to the banks, real estate, security climate of Crimea is tantamount to a Bank Robbery , with hostage taking. Safe Deposit boxes emptied out. If somebody robbed my bank, I'd get personal about it as well. On a television program, President Putin told people who had car loans with Ukraine's banks, simply not to pay the car loans at all. It's that kind of chaos.

Pardon my analogy to a Tale of Two Cities, but perhaps there's some relevance. Dnipro and Donetsk simply have shared a rivalry, and there was jealousy and extreme innuendo about the rise of the Yanukovych clan from Donetsk , for as they stole more money, their power grew greater and greater, like some medieval potentate . Donetsk before the war was a weirdly hybridized city, rife with corruption, yet prosperous enough despite that. It was a city inhabited by hyper elites, people several rungs above the ordinary, people connected to power and wealth, as was Dnipro, yet the cycles fell about 12 years apart for some reason, perhaps largely due to infusion of Russian Money from Oil and gas profits.

I think to keep my messaging short, is this simple thought based upon my experience. Everything that you read in the media about Right Wing extremists in Ukraine, Nazis, etc. While it's true that they are there in some number, most of the hard core Right Sector people I know, they are not extreme. They don't exudes the same heavy duty vibe that such people like that in USA give off.

Gays, Lesbians , Leftists, artists, creatives, people of color, they don't fear being open about it in Ukraine.  Neither do Muslims, Catholics, Buddhist people,  Hari Krishna people, none of them fear the extremes, who may yet disparage them. Most Right wing people I know in Ukraine, they don't make lists about those they hate, they are trying to make a living and move forward a step ahead at a time. They don't plan on feeding their family with hate. And the left leaners, they are there too, just being more quiet. I am the one trying to connect the far left with the far right, and find some centrist oriented people to support that idea, that we can all get along somehow, that we share a common ideal. We are all constantly challenged to hide our identify who we are, where we sit, why is any of that so important?

Most people that I know in Ukraine,  they are quite moderate, they don't hate Russian people. Most foreign people I know who go to Ukraine are moderate minded, normal people. People hate/ dislike  what Russian Government  has done in Ukraine, it's a bad scene man, really uncool.
It really pushes against the narrative that "oh we can move on and forget about it" Ukraine won't forget about this for many generations, unless the tide turns totally against them and everything becomes a weirdly inverted Pulp Fiction version of some Gulag Style reality.

I am not and have never been interested in War, It's a sad thing and I feel awful about the people hurt, killed  in the conflict. I am largely  a history tourist. The History,  and the context of the situation in Ukraine is fascinating. Who would have guessed 10 years ago that the pathway to the White House of the United States of America would be inextricably linked with a 4th or 5th tier economy like Ukraine?

 Clearly Joe Biden,  has hitched his historical credentials with Ukraine. At this time, I have no information about wether his son is a hero or a zero. Paul Manafort , Trump's campaign advisor clearly just copy pasted his anti- Yulia Tymoshenko election campaign rhetoric that brought the beast of Victor Yanukovych into power to elect President Trump "Lock her Up" was an obviously recycled slogan. In Ukraine,  that was acted upon, and ultimately led to Yanukovych's undoing (along with his gross thievery of state treasure) Ukraine was a place where it was all Okay unless you stole way too much, and many did. And now the new President understands his power, this comic has the potential to be a king maker in a funny way, yet it's serious business, and the details of it perhaps"You don't want to Know"

And thank you President Poroshenko for your service to the Nation , thanks for passing the baton with such grace, thanks for not stealing any money (that I know of) and taking the Nation to a better place than where it was when you took hold of the reins of power.
There is a kind and human quality that Petro Poroshenko has, even on a bad day , one can recognize it. \ yes, It was a difficult, arduous 5 years for you, please get some rest, enjoy the sunshine, summer, return to the workings of your business, and rest easy.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/17/bolton-pompeo-trump-iran-1329833

Well the Iran Nuclear deal having gone by the wayside, makes for somewhat interesting USA politics readings. Ukraine is no longer limited by some intermediate/ long range missile treaty, even if just deploying conventional warheads, yet that does not promise any safe return of Eastern Ukraine's territory in Luhansk and Donetsk, and it will cost a Trillion $'s to fix the basics of the damages from the war. One can minimize the damages in the hundreds of billions, yet the reality is hard to equate. What is the value repatriation of the Human costs fo the war? And do Russian Oil Fields in Siberia matter all that much beyond a certain technology horizon?

And the North Korea situation hangs ineffably as a counterweight to the Geopolitical intrigues of the day. Essentially, USA has hugely threatened  economic interests with it's allies in Western Europe, The Middle East and Southeast Asia. The Devil is all about meddling in the Heaven's details of conflict resolution. When you look at economic development in the Middle East and contrast that with the lack of development in Ukraine, casting the conflict issues to the side, the economic value add is obvious.