Ukraine Starting Over

The good, the Bad and the Beautiful ? The Rich, the young, and the Poor ? The banal, the serious and the sensual ? the workers, the slackers and the artists ? the mood in the metro last night, there was a funny moment: a big guy was sitting next to a skinny guy, at the seats on the end suited for 3 people. and then this really big guy sat down, the guy in the end was really squeezed, but they were all friends and another guy who was a friend, he started to laugh and joke about it, the normal (not big guy got up and then tried to sit in the middle between the two big guys , they were all laughing and jolly : despite this strange news of Right sector Cigarette wars (which seems to be strangely simplified and  compressed in Western media) Life goes on. http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-nationalists-standoff-security-forces-two-killed-183349593.html;_ylt=AwrC1C7wgaNVWQIAxzrQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByNXM5bzY5BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMzBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg-- but the last time I checked, if it is a co...

Or is it the other way around ? A fox in the hen house ........ I can only think that the mood on the metro in Kiev, the mood of the working people, it has to be dour. with the recent corruption bust of the Ukraine  Volodymyr Shapakinhas  deputy prosecutor in the headlines, accused of holding  hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribe money, it would appear the old system kept rolling. What sense of trust in the central and regional governments that was building up, has been torn apart. no doubt about that . And a hyper paranoid atmosphere about corruption in  all matters will also impede the business climate. No one wins here, we all lose. Of course , it's not Napoleanic justice, he has a chance to prove his case in court, somehow or another.... it seems impossible, human nature is hard to change. Upon separation of emotions from government, current affairs , comes this lackadaisical attitude in most matters of society : it is hard to sense people are motivat...

 yesterday, after a J-4 peek at the (my ) US Government's Disney style PR event in Kiev, and all other small things, thoughts noted, I had to reopen my blog and convey a less Diplomatic, San Francisco style post, I hope it's not too hard to follow. At least the Ukrainian youths appeared to be having fun ) ****** the mood on the Kiev Metro appears to shift in subtle fashion, week by week, from cautious, guarded optimism one week, to pensive, inward focused retrospection the next week. It seems certain that the elites have largely left on summer vacations, business trips. Cafes sit mostly or entirely empty, few shops have customers who buy much of anything, it is simply now, a place as I see it, of the real people, those who have few options other to get to their work every day, take their days off in the park and not spend too much. The well off folks aren't entirely gone, you can still see plenty of nice late model Range Rovers, Mercedes, Lexus and other luxury brand cars...

the mood on the Kiev Metro is ever changing,:  last night, I came in later on the shift 23:00 going across the river, it was alive with conversation, nobody was talking above the din (as we Americans do) all were sharing the buzz of the packed but not stuffed metro cars. the way the tail ends of the cars seem to bounce along, as opposed to the leading edge of the car you are in, it's slightly comical and maybe misleading, as you may be moving up and down more than you think. Early in the day as some people got on and some older gals found their place in the train, when the driver hit his buttons or switches and it lurched into motion, some nice older lady literally grabbed onto my waist belt to maintain her balance, like as if she was yanking my pants down, it was pretty funny, and they were laughing, as I was, it was funny. THe older Metro trains are totally analog, with staged switching of the power and speeds, if you ride in the very front car, you can hear the driver flipping h...

Rumors continue to swirl around the news of a rocket attack that partially collapsed a basement in Debaltseve / It  has revealed a possible 5th century BC Scythian Burial hoard of a priceless nature, including gold , jewels , stone caskets / a possible Kurhan or  King's tomb, the problem being that both the Ukrainian defenders and the advancing rebel forces already appear to know about it, some of it has been extracted and some remains, a small group of fighters has clung to the area and the location. Furthermore, there was a seismic event nobody noticed due to the shelling, coupled with the removal of a cap stone in one of the deeper burial shafts, one man who lowered into the shaft sent a sms photo of a King's sword set with ruby and Emerald, before the shaft collapsed, and he was trapped inside during the earthquake.    A notorious black market ancient art collector has gone into the area to try to buy or capture what can be bought, yet she's matched up aga...

It remains to be seen about this new cease fire agreement, it sounds like they made sausage, as was to be expected. Was there nuance and brilliance in the negotiations ? What will be the start point in the repair of harm ? Was this for the IMF and Russian financial interests, more than about Peace ? Or something 50%/50% ? I am sure it is an interesting white board, when will they truly show it ? What did the United States of America agree to in this ? If anything ? I will not impose any opinion, only to say that Sigourney Weaver is ready to step into a career highlight role as she plays the senior European Negotiator, very few people realize that there was a secret relay of the talks via the International Space Station, and recent comet flybys masked an Intergalactic Interest in the Ukraine Peace talks (non- attributed source, in other words, I am just kidding )

What sounds farcical and absurd to people in America within our comfortably insulated lives and economy, may not be so far from the truth in Eastern Ukraine. Few people know what is really going on, where things will be in 2 years time.....Little has been mentioned in the press, that Belarus is making serious preparations for war, maybe hosting the Minsk talks, they know more than anyone? Since out of date, antiquated military gear has openly been used in Eastern Ukraine, things that can be bought on the arms market Internationally, what about those items disused, unwanted since they are out of date, but not on the open market? For instance R-12 (SS-4) and R-14 (SS--5) Intermediate range ballistic missiles from the former Soviet Arsenal?      For instance, can old missiles be broken down into components, shipped inside "aid convoys" and reassembled in Lugansk and Donetsk? It might be labelled as "water purification" or "energy generators" It seems ent...