Dateline Kyiv: Report From the Scene of the Crime

Published Jan. 23, 2020 | Link to original

Dear Friend and Reader:

I’m here in Kyiv, hot on the trail of Rudy Giuliani, Paul Manafort and the cafe where Gordon Sondland had champagne and caviar ravioli while chatting loudly with Donald Trump about making a deal with Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy to announce a phony investigation into the Bidens.

They must be here somewhere. I have my Hardy Boys fingerprint dusting kit, my common words and phrases booklet, and my tarot cards to guide me. Every time I walk into a restaurant, I think I’m gonna see Rudy; I have questions for him. But so far, no luck.

However, I am getting a sense of place. This is Eastern Europe, east of Poland even. It’s easy to make a city look romantic and cosmopolitan at night. If you travel around during the day, the landscape is a little like Warsaw blended with East Berlin from 1995, with a touch of Brussels or maybe a little hint of Paris.

There are some very nice old parts of town, and a few remnants of the distant past.

Reminders of the USSR are everywhere. Most people live in apartment blocks built during the Soviet era (the Nazis pretty much flattened the place during World War II). You can tell these buildings from the lovely color and because all Soviet citizens got a little porch. (However, as I roam around, I am hearing that many of these are retrofitted. When I get to the bottom of the mystery I will let you know.)

This is a modest country, where people aspire to a Western lifestyle. It’s easier to get gluten-free food here than where I live in New York; the restaurants actually care. The young women I have met express active curiosity and engage in whole conversations about topics of mutual interest to us both. In my long experience with Ukraine, confirmed by this visit to the extent possible, it is a country where the people want to do better and aspire to greater things.

Many have known profound hardship, poverty and struggle (think: Chernobyl).

Luxury high-rise towers are popping up. This week, I’m renting an apartment in one for about $90 a night. The building is 27 floors, and sometimes it seems like nobody else lives here.

I’m staying with Anatoly Ryzhenko, the person who builds our websites and codes many of these letters. He has helped me build Planet Waves with his own hands, heart and soul since when I lived in Paris in 2004. He is not from Kyiv; we’ll soon head to his hometown, which is about an eight-hour train ride to the south. (I’m planning to take that opportunity to write the February monthly horoscope.)

Like Pripyat, home of Chernobyl, Anatoly lives in a city built to provide housing for employees of a nuclear power plant — the biggest one in Europe. Every few years, all of the vegetation turns brown overnight, and the residents know there has been a radiation release. I started taking iodine a few days before leaving.

Messing With the Nascent Government

Ukraine keeps getting conquered. The Mongols came through, and various empires through the Dim Ages and the Middle Ages and the Tween Ages and then the czars and the Nazis and the USSR. Now the Russians are at it again, waging a war in the eastern side of the country that everyone is aware of, ongoing. This is a serious situation, and 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers have lost their lives.

This week in Kyiv there was a memorial service for 101 soldiers killed in a battle to defend the Donetsk International Airport, built in 2012. The battle lasted 242 days, through most of 2014 and into 2015. As you can see from the photo, it was destroyed and is now nonoperational.

The Kremlin officially denies that it is a party to the war and describes the events in the Donbas as “an internal Ukrainian conflict.” Russian soldiers who are doing the killing wear uniforms without insignia, but everyone knows who they are.

There have also been various attempts at independence. You may remember the Orange Revolution of 2004-2005, which was Ukraine’s first attempt at a representative government.

There have been many failed uprisings and overthrows since. From a distance you might wonder how the society holds together, though it seems to do just fine despite the problems and the instability.

In 2019, a new president took office — Volodymyr Zelenskyy. After successfully running on an anticorruption platform, he won the election and inherited the war. He also inherited a relationship with Donald Trump, whose minions have used Ukraine as a business playground more or less forever.

The Ark of the Covenant

Zelenskyy dearly needed Trump’s support in its war against Russia. Trump put Zelenskyy in a squeeze: he asked him to announce a phony investigation into Joe Biden and his son, in exchange for which he would release $400 million in U.S. aid to his country. Trump did not want an actual investigation, only the announcement of one.

Trump also wanted Zelenskyy to claim to be looking for the server that was (according to a humorous conspiracy theory) supposedly used to hack the 2016 election, and was a kind of mythical Ark of the Covenant that was allegedly being hidden somewhere in Ukraine. (This “Ukraine, not Russia, did the 2016 hacking” is vintage Russian intelligence disinfo.)

Zelenskyy had just taken office on a platform of righting this kind of scam, and while he agreed to the deal, he did not make the required announcement. His punishment was that Mike Pence, the U.S. vice president, was not sent to the inauguration. Additionally, Zelenskyy would not get to visit the White House.

And, finally, as we now know, the congressionally-approved (i.e., legally mandated) American military aid was held up, and if we are to believe Lev Parnas, an operative of Trump’s shadow envoy Rudy Giuliani, all U.S. aid was blocked.

It was at this point that a CIA officer filed the federal whistleblower complaint that exposed this dirty deal, leading to the impeachment we are now witnessing.

After openly begging for Russian hackers to dig into the DNC (which they did), and getting away with that, Trump then solicited election interference from another foreign government — this time, one desperate for his help. And he got caught. From a purely moral standpoint, I wonder how this is OK with anyone. As for the claim that this advanced some official policy of the United States, don’t we have more important things to do, and aren’t there better ways to do them? Is anyone else sick of people who are already disadvantaged being used and manipulated? How is this “making America great”?

The Republicans’ Central Case Against Removal of Trump

When you get through all the tangles of Trump’s defense, it seems to come down to one thing: Trump was allegedly fighting Ukrainian corruption and had a right to withhold the aid to that country. This is what supposedly makes his actions legitimate.

This leaves me wondering a few things, though. If the Bidens (way back in 2014) were somehow profiting from their involvement here, how is that Ukrainian corruption? It sounds like American corruption. The appropriate thing to do would be to alert American authorities rather than cutting a “drug deal” with the president of Ukraine. (That is how John Bolton, then the national security advisor, described it to a colleague.)

If, as Trump says, it’s true that Ukraine “is a corrupt country full of terrible people,” how is it that the one target of his international crime fighting just happened to be the Democratic frontrunner? And that truth and justice would come in the form, not of an investigation or an arrest, but rather an announcement on CNN? I.e., sling a little mud for daddy and you’ll get what you want.

Zelenskyy is a comedian. No wonder he didn’t fall for it. The whole thing needed a rewrite. This plot sounds too stupid to be possible or even meekly believable, but that is what Team Trump and his apologists are claiming was perfectly normal foreign policy.

In case you missed this episode, here’s the quote from Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, from his Oct. 17, 2019, press briefing:

“MR. MULVANEY: It’s quid pro — those are the terms that you use. I mean, go look at what Gordon Sondland said today in his testimony — was that I think, in his opening statement, he said something along the lines of they were trying to get the deliverable. And the deliverable was a statement by the Ukraine about how they were going to deal with corruption. Okay?  Go read his testimony if you haven’t already.

“And what he says is — and he’s right — that’s absolutely ordinary course of business. This is — this is what you do when you have someone come to the White House, when you either arrange a visit for the President, you have a phone call with the President, a lot of times we use that as the opportunity to get them to make a statement of their policy or to announce something that they’re going to do. It’s one of the reasons we then — you can sort of announce that at the — on the phone call or at the meeting.  This is the ordinary course of foreign policy.”

Yes, this was stated from the press briefing room podium by the chief of staff. I can’t even believe I’m writing this.

Where Bottom Has Fallen Out

A lot of people are buying this line, however. You know, the one about the impeachment charges not amounting to a hill of black-eyed peas, as someone told The New York Times recently. Or how people hate the president. 

It may seem like the dirty dealing and soliciting interference and the “quid pro quo” is the real story. I don’t think so. It’s the tolerance of the crime and the coverup that is the true issue.

This hideous dancing skeleton of the naked power grab, exposed for what it is, is the distraction. The lies are the diversion from what is happening. The question is what’s making it all possible.

Bill Moyers, in a recent CNN interview, got it right: he said he “fears for the country for the first time in his long life, because a society, a democracy, can die of too many lies. And we’re getting close to that terminal moment unless we reverse the obsession with lies that are being fed around the country.”

He starts by saying that a democracy can die of too many lies, but he finishes by saying that we must reverse the obsession with lies. We need to keep asking what is making this possible, now, on such a massive scale. As I’ve offered many times, my take is that consciousness shifts associated with digital have disoriented and destabilized us.

It is true that there is an overwhelming torrent of information flying by, which seems confusing and contradictory. However, I think that people walking around holding their brain in their hands is the really confusing part.

Trump’s trial brief falsely claims, “No other President in history has been subjected to a comparable barrage of investigations, subpoenas, and lawsuits, all in service of an insatiable partisan desire to find some way to remove him from office.”

Uh, no, that would be Bill Clinton.

The trial brief also claims, “House Democrats resorted to these unprecedented procedures because the goal was never to get to the truth. The goal was to impeach the President, no matter the facts.”

And for a great many people, this is the only thing happening.

‘Always Bring a Towel’

After five minutes this starts to sound like an argument with Towlie, a South Park character. He’s this hapless blue towel who likes to smoke pot. He is also an ongoing public service announcement for why you should bring a towel everywhere, in case you need it.

When he says something stupid, which is usually, someone will inevitably remind him that he’s a towel.

To which he always replies, “You’re a towel!”

This is the level of the national conversation. I wish it was a joke. A lot is at stake. We’ve always had a country where leaders knew they could possibly get away with breaking important laws. We might get one where they are certain they can because nothing can stop them.

Fortunately, there is an impeachment process, and it is in motion. You may think that it will be painful to listen to endless hours of Republican gasbags accusing us of being a blue towel who likes to get high.

I assure you that the real punishment for these Republican senators is that they have to listen to the facts spelled out in convincing, plain terms, which I thought Rep. Adam Schiff and others did impeccably on Wednesday in their opening arguments.

Schiff knows he has to make his case on the retail level. His job is not to convince the Senate’s Republican majority of anything, but to remind them of what the public knows. For a senator obsessed only with keeping his or her job, the right and moral and ethical thing to do is what will keep them in office, so they get respect at the cocktail party.

This does not come down to their votes, but rather to ours.

With love from Kyiv,

— Additional Research: Nastya Zuy

PPS — Here is a new Planet Waves TV. It covers some of the material I will get to in Planet Waves FM, which will be posted to its tab on Friday afternoon. This will be my first program recorded and produced from outside the United States.

Be Aware, Lots of Squares: Daily Astrology, Friday through Monday

The astrology of the next few days is impressive, between the New Moon and then an unusual pattern involving the Moon, Venus, Mars and Neptune. It is one of those “take nothing for granted” kinds of patterns, with Neptune and Pisces so involved with the personal, intimate planets Venus and Mars.

Also note that we’re now experiencing a Saturn-Eris square for the first time since the discovery of Eris in 2005 (that was exact Jan. 16), and Pluto square Eris as well, exact Jan. 26. The last major Pluto-Eris 90-degree type aspect was way back in 1978, with the Pluto-Eris opposition.

In honor of this, I’m running the Daily Astrology feature so you can get a look ahead. This runs daily on the new Planet Waves website. I’ve covered Pluto-Eris in a short video. I’m planning to have Planet Waves FM for you on Friday this week, to accommodate my travel schedule. Please check for an email, check my Facebook, or best yet, check the front page of Planet Waves.

Friday, Jan. 24, 2020

Today is the Aquarius New Moon, exact at 4:42 pm EST and 9:42 pm GMT (8:42 am in Sydney, where it’s Jan. 25 today). This is the natural “new beginnings” aspect, and any that occur in your life may be spontaneous, as the Sun and Moon are square Uranus, the planet of surprises.

Aquarius is about group experiences, and you may find yourself amidst a new circle of friends. Meeting people is a positive thing, as long as you don’t make up your mind about them before you have an opportunity to observe how they treat you.

There are a number of cautions against moving too quickly when it comes to making commitments. This is not about clinging to the past, but rather slowing down a little and contemplating your situation, both inner and outer. This is especially true where one-to-one sexual and romantic connections are concerned.

The pattern involves Venus, Mars and Neptune in a kind of tangle, which is making it both necessary and difficult for all parties involved to be honest with themselves. It may lead to some potential self-destructive decisions.

Therefore, as the next few days unfold, stay sober for all discussions about sex and relationships, and dial back the energy a little. With Neptune in the picture, that might not be possible. Still, pay attention and maybe write a few notes down, so you have an answer if you ask yourself, “What was I thinking?”

Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020

Yesterday’s New Moon is a reminder that if you’re in “new beginnings” territory, take things one step at a time. That means don’t rush, and pay attention both to how you feel, and to your surroundings.

We are in a “reality check” zone. With Venus conjunct Neptune, and Mars square both Venus and Neptune, there’s lots of room for confusion and miscommunication. This is one of those situations where the truth will come out in layers, if it comes out at all. I suggest taking the layered approach.

You cannot control other people, though you can observe what they do. You can notice how they react under stress. And you can observe yourself, and get a feeling for how you are handling whatever pressure you may be under. The one thing you don’t want to do is commit to anything before you’re ready — and you may not notice that fact.

The Moon remains in easygoing Aquarius, granting more objectivity than you may be used to. Take your space, take your time, and please don’t mix mind-altering substances and important decisions. Remember that sex can have consequences, so pay attention to that potential. Take care, and if you choose to dive into an encounter, be kind.

Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020

Today’s aspect is Venus square Mars. This is one of the most misunderstood aspects in astrology, and also one of the most challenging on the emotional level. The crucial element is kindness.

That also may be one of the most difficult to muster up. Though if you cannot, you might not want to say or do much in the way of sexual activity if your situation is emotionally complicated.

The challenging element is Neptune, which is sitting right behind Venus, and which is taking a square from Mars. It would be a stretch to describe astrology more emotionally challenging, or potentially representative of a honey trap.

So make your decisions count, and make them deliberately. However, I strongly suggest delaying important choices and actions at least for a few days, until you can peel back a few layers of what is happening. You need to figure out how you feel, and then maybe how other people feel — and you’re likely to confuse the two.

Therefore, listen to yourself. Don’t assume you know everything you think you know. I am not encouraging insecurity so much as curiosity, and the willingness to challenge your own opinions. That can take courage, and it can also save you a heck of a lot of trouble.

Monday, Jan. 27, 2020

There is still a thick fog hanging out over emotional subject matter. Do your best to stay on point and focused, if you’re heading into the workweek today.

It may be difficult to understand what you’re feeling, and much less why you’re feeling it. This is a time to make some peace with uncertainty. That’s not the only way to address uncertainty, though it is a useful first step: admitting what you don’t know for sure.

This will help you as you focus on matters of a higher priority. It can take discipline to do this, and today, maintaining emotional boundaries is essential. The Moon passing through the Venus-Mars-Neptune configuration over the next 24 hours may make that challenging. That is a lot of water.

Yet other factors reveal there are islands you can climb up onto. There is still quite a lot of Capricorn in the sky, urging you to do a good job for its own sake. And both Mercury and the Sun in Aquarius allow for some mental detachment.

While the complexity of the moment may make it seem difficult to set emotional matters aside, think of it as going onto a different frequency. The challenge will be stabilizing there. Focus on your most important tasks and that will be easier.

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Aries (March 20-April 19) — As your ruler Mars approaches a double square with Venus and Neptune, take special care not to lose your anchor among the swirling tides of digital-age reactivity. That basically means: get clear on your own ideas and everything that underlies them; adopt a policy of scrupulous honesty, both online and elsewhere; and pause before you respond. In addition, what will probably be really useful is if you actively seek to heal any rifts you encounter. Much of the internet environment rather serves to widen breaches, and right now humanity needs people willing to buck that particular trend. Holding the world together starts with holding yourself together, so check in often with your physical and mental state. — By Amy Elliott

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — A New Moon in the 10th house generally describes some sort of development or new cycle beginning in one’s career or professional field. While Friday’s event in Aquarius may indeed signify this, I reckon there’s also something more fundamental taking place. This has to do with you integrating all the parts of your psyche into one whole, potent being. There’s a sense that previously you may have needed to compartmentalize, or set aside something important to you, which can easily feel like being disoriented or lost. You are now free to reverse that process and gently come back to yourself. Not only is doing this likely to gain you a measure of added autonomy; you could also have rather more fun. — By Amy Elliott

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You’ve likely come through a somewhat challenging time, during which you had to make important choices. Now you’re looking at a fresh start, with energy to burn and an open path ahead, as far as you can see. Regardless of what you actually decide to do now, the crucial point is to make sure you are acting on your own behalf. Don’t allow anyone to lead for you. You can listen to advice, and adopt it if it seems good; you can let in messages from higher realms through synchronicity. What you need to avoid is giving away your power, which includes committing to a course because you think someone will approve. It’s not their life: it’s yours, and ultimately you answer only to yourself. — By Amy Elliott

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — There is a difference between escapism as an answer to a tricky problem, and drawing back strategically to get a little distance. When one is in the center of a maelstrom, or at least a bracing wind, it can be hard to think clearly. Getting away from the action can be a great way to gain some perspective and connect with your internal compass. If you do so, notice any changes in how you feel. You might be surprised by how much suddenly becomes self-evident. What does this tell you about the situation you’ve come from? Listen carefully to your instincts, and write down what you discover. This could be a substantially cathartic experience for you. — By Amy Elliott

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Tomorrow’s New Moon in your opposite sign describes at least one opening for your diplomatic skills to shine. You are likely to be extra sensitive to other people’s underlying feelings, and the things they are not saying. This is a useful capacity when dealing with a dispute, or judging what is right, fair and compassionate. Your sense of humor will almost certainly come in handy here, also. Laughter is a precious gift in these times, and it can really help defuse tension as well as reaffirming common ground. Remember, though, that you are not responsible for solving everyone’s arguments. Look after yourself first, and walk away if you become stressed or overwhelmed. — By Amy Elliott

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Questions relating to your wellbeing start with how you are feeling physically. This is easy to overlook in our disembodied age, and many of us need to relearn how to attend to our most primal sensations. The dichotomy between body and mind is at the heart of the Virgo journey: you have a way of forgetting you’re an earth sign, and wanting to be composed of pure spirit. Remember that there is nothing inherently “sinful” about our physiology, though considerable work has been done to persuade us otherwise. Allow yourself to be flesh and blood, with all your needs, pleasures, twinges and odd sounds. Your frame is a finely crafted, sensitive and beautiful system; through it, you know you are alive. — By Amy Elliott

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Astrologically, the major action is gradually shifting into your 5th house of creativity and fun. The process will pretty much take all year to complete, culminating in the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in December. This suggests you have an unusual opportunity to find your feet, and to grab a firm hold of your dharma. At first, that will probably require taking a leap, or several leaps, of faith — including committing your energy to a long journey of effort and rigorous practice. By the end of 2020, you will have changed substantially. All this is part of a broader shift in which you’re shedding the last vestiges of past restrictions on your movement, and breaking free into a new situation where you alone control your destiny. — By Amy Elliott

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Friday’s New Moon takes place in your 4th house, which among other attributes contains the collective knowledge of your ancestors. When you read the word “ancestors,” what springs to mind? What do your various family traditions and stories mean to you? Understanding your background, both recent and distant, is a helpful aid to understanding at least part of who you are. People are apt either to cling stubbornly to an idealized past, which may or may not be an accurate picture of reality, or to write off entire eras as a bad job. Yet every generation has some positive and negative qualities, as well as some useful learned wisdom. Look beyond simplistic interpretations to find the truth. — By Amy Elliott

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Mars in your sign is currently in contact with Venus and Neptune. On the one hand, this could help you express and meet certain desires bubbling away under the surface of your psyche. On the other, this is also a moment of emotional volatility, and confusion as to what is real. Give yourself a lot of space to process new information, and to analyze your feelings while doing so. Practice pausing before offering a response: your impulsive side is likely to be enhanced while this transit is happening. You may be chafing at the thought of any kind of restraint, especially when you’re provoked and burning up inside. Yet slow the pace as much as you can, and wield patience as you would a valued tool. — By Amy Elliott

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Though some members of the big dance party in Capricorn have now moved on to the next bar, you’re undoubtedly still feeling the reverberations. These will take time to settle, though tomorrow’s New Moon marks a change in focus to some degree. Working out the major questions relating to next steps will take time; you’re making progress, so go easy on yourself. Current astrology is helping you to lay a foundation for the approaching phase of your life, beginning with sorting out your values. Consider the precepts you have learned to hold sacred over the years. Some you will need to replace with something more practical. Others will have stood the test of the recent earthquake, proving their importance. Hold tight to those. — By Amy Elliott

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Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Friday’s New Moon in your sign is a reminder that you deserve to be the central focus of your own life. You have plenty of resources at your command, though you seem to be hesitating in reaching out. At present, however, that’s the only thing getting between you and certain opportunities. Work up the necessary courage gradually, and be kind to yourself as you do so; you’ve been through quite a bumpy ride, and need time to feel more decidedly on stable ground. As that happens, you’ll begin to realize just how much strength you’ve taken from your recent adventures, and slowly become able to use that energy for other purposes. Eventually you’ll emerge from all this as a force of nature. — By Amy Elliott

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — I can imagine that at times, being a Pisces is like having a crush on the entire human species. One moment you’re divinely inspired and rocking the agape; the next, you’re exhausted and wondering why the hell you bother. As Venus, Mars and Neptune approach their meeting early next week, you’d do well to keep in mind that you’re a human too. Patrol your boundaries, and make sure they’re intact. Don’t try to take on the whole planet’s problems. It’s okay to be finite, and to have needs and flaws. Remember it’s the cracked pot, not the whole one, that waters the ground and brings the flowers to life. You’re producing whole fields of ravishing blooms, thanks to your delightful uniqueness. You may safely take pride in that. — By Amy Elliott