the russian attack on ukraine is unquestionably brutal, and has exposed immense incompetence in the russian leadership, but it is not without justification in terms of russian self-defence and it does not come close to the loss of life that the americans inflicted on iraq, under far less justified pretenses. 

canada's decision to provide immense financial, logistical and military support to eastern europe for unjustifiable reasons has made us less safe by bleeding us of resources with absolutely no chance of reciprocal aid. 

yet, we are increasing aid to eastern europe today, even as the americans threaten us with veiled statements of violence, by warning us they won't tolerate retaliation in a trade war they started. the incompetence at the highest levels of our military is startling and staggering, but consistent with the general march towards incompetence canada has seen over the last several decades.

the entire concept of the "middle power" during the cold war was based on the idea of non-alignment. it wasn't some naive projection of an american empire without the americans overseeing it. that is why canada built independent relationships with non-aligned actors like india, brazil, iran (at the time), china, egypt and south africa and had a different relationship with the soviet union than the united states did. canadian leadership understood that it may get stuck in the middle of a hot war - hence the term middle power. it didn't mean middle in strength, which is what it seems to mean now. it meant in between the polarizations of the cold war, in the middle of the united states and the soviet union, which we physically and ideologically are.

canada's position as a middle power was consequently similar to the nordic countries, sweden and finland. canada, like norway, did join nato. however, it had similar concerns to sweden, in terms of realizing it wasn't actually entirely clear what side of a hot war it might actually end up on. the swedes leaned towards nato, but they were a non-aligned middle power, meaning they were in the middle of the two polarizations, geographically and ideologically. 

neither canada nor sweden are "middle powers" in terms of strength. we'd get wiped out if we tried to fight a war with either power, unless we had the support of the other. there's nothing middle about us in terms of strength. it's not what the term meant.

orwell is cackling somewhere.

the complete alignment of canada with the united states that took place under mulroney, and which chretien tried to break from but got thrown out of office for resisting, was warned against by the architects of the middle power strategy that were still alive, most prominently the elder trudeau and, in later years, most notably maude barlow. they warned against a "monstrous swindle" that would destroy our sovereignty, make us reliant on and subservient to the united states and prepare us for annexation. 

well, they were right.

and here we are.

if we want to seriously return to a middle power strategy, it means having strong relationships with the russians, the chinese and most importantly the indians. our political leadership would have to completely turn over for that to happen, and we'd have to make up for 40 years of lost time, and undo 40 years of bad policy. it's a tall order, and it can't happen before midnight est.

i've been arguing for years that it is in canada's self-interest to stop being aggressive with russia and instead try and build a positive relationship with them. our proximity to the united states is obvious, and our history is in the french and british empires, but there is no country on the planet more similar to canada in terms of the issues it faces in the future than russia. there is a strong basis for collaboration and common ground with the russians.

this week, years worth of foolish foreign and domestic policies are converging into what might be a self-imposed catastrophe in canada that may trip us over the line into true failed state status. for the first time in decades, the threat of physical attack by the united states is not hyperbolic. and who is going to stand up for canada?

not europe. not china. not mexico.

the bridge to russia, which we have so thoroughly burned, would be our only hope to defend ourselves.

the americans are over-extended, and trump is an overwhelmingly stupid person that can be expected to make substantive tactical mistakes. we could not defend ourselves and would need to prepare for an occupation, but that victory may be pyrrhic for washington in the long run.

i'm changing directions on the essential nutrients. it may be temporary.

everything i've read tells me to try to get your vitamins from food, including fortified food. supplements are often absorbed poorly, and i have absorption issues on top of it. they are often too high dosage and mostly end up just killing your kidneys.

the only supplements i currently take are

- vitamin d at 1000 iu/day (because i need it)

- vitamin c, at 250 mg (a 1 g pill cut in 4) every six hours, to superdose

- calcium in tums

that's it.

however,  i get my b12 and b1, b2, b3, b6 and b9 from fortified nutritional yeast, soy and (usually) pasta. there's some a in the soy and the margarine, but not enough. the soy is fortified with minerals.

i should get enough minerals certainly (except maybe iron) and vitamins probably from my diet, which was designed to meet a high nutrient requirement. but i haven't been following it lately and may not follow it closely for a while. it may have too many calories for my current lifestyle, which has been forced to change to adjust to the need to shelter in place while these stalkers keep harassing me. if i'm exercising less, i'm burning less calories and need to eat less in response. that means i'm less able to get the required nutrients from my diet, and this is decreasing with the decision to remove nutrients from food and make it less healthy.i may see little value in buying some foods in my diet at all. without high levels of fortification, they become empty calories that should not be purchased at all but should rather be removed from my diet altogether. these items would include things like yogurt, bread and maybe even soy milk, which is just needless calories, without the high fortification. it means i would want to shift my diet to an almost entirely fresh produce diet - fruits, vegetables, spices, cheese, eggs - and only buy the minimal sauces needed on the basis of taste.

i want to avoid potent pills, and have found a series of vitamin pills (in addition to the c and d) tht include:

1) vitamin a - 5000 iu, which i would take every third day. this is still too much but it's better than 10000 iu.

2) a b complex with:

b1 - 30 mg

b2 - 30 mg

b3 - 25 mg

b5 - 25 mg

b6 - 25 mg 

b7 - 50 mcg

b9 - 500 mcg

b12 - 250 mg

choline  (may be a future b vitamin, like b16) - 25 mg

inositol (pseudo-b8) - 25 mg

inositol was once listed as b8 but your body can make it. it acts like a vitamin. 

choline is now considered a vitamin by some,  but your body does make it, sort of.

this is more complete than the yeast and is on the brink of being too much. it is way too much b1, b2, b6, b12 and less b9 than in the yeast i currently take. but i can't find yeast with enough b9, and my diet is low in b5. taking one of these a day would make sure i get enough of everything and make questions around insufficient fortification irrelevant, allowing me to drastically reduce the amount of calories i'm consuming, and to cut a lot of excess protein from my diet. 

if i go back to exercising more, i may stop taking these and start eating more. but if i'm exercising less, i should take more vitamins and eat less food.

3) same c

4) same d)

5) vitamin e - 100 iu, which i would take every third day, and always the day after the a. this is still too much but it's better than 400 iu.

6) vitamin k1 - 100 mcg & vitamin k2 50 mcg, which i would take every third day and always the day after the e.

7) i'm going to hold off on heme iron because i'm using a cast iron skillet to make bacon and  get a lot n my spices. i want to test it first. i could end up taking heme iron.

i don't expect i would have any deficiencies in things like potassium or magnesium. i would want to test.

so, that's ready to go for next cycle.