Negotiations, Again

So suppose that Trump and Putin manage to negotiate and end to the Russian-Ukrainian war on some set of terms, and impose this unsatisfactory peace on Ukraine. One obvious problem is that Putin is utterly untrustworthy, and, whatever he says, would be likely to invade what would remain of Ukraine as soon as he saw an advantage in doing so. He might launch another full-scale invasion; he might have his forces fire a few shells, conduct a few drone strikes, or fail to carry out measures which Russia had pledged to undertake.

What then? Would Trump’s America come to Ukraine’s defense, or even resume sanctions against Russia? Does Trump so much as understand that Putin is utterly perfidious? What would be the consequences for Ukraine, and for whatever remains of American honor? Would Trump raise the issue at the negotiating table, and demand that Putin address it, before agreeing to any supposed peace treaty?

I find it hard to be cheerful about the prospects.

The Red Queen’s Race

This week, I finished and posted an Office Action on my Expedited case, so there’s nothing on my Expedited docket, and three amendments on my Amended docket.

I have also made some progress on my oldest Special New case, now my only Special New case.

Forced Electroshock Therapy

I will admit that I don’t have good or complete answers to the various dilemmas which arise in treating the more or less insane. Should people be forcibly medicated with drugs that can have seriously distressing side effects? Should they be free to refuse medication even if they become raving mad without it, and are minimally sane and able to function with it, or at least quiescent and harmless? Should refusal to take prescribed drugs be treated as proof of paranoid delusions, or do some sane people have good reasons not to take medications which they in fact do not need? Are psychiatrists at least mostly wise, and sincerely trying to help, or are they appallingly arrogant and abusive in some cases?

There is a Reason article on the campaign to save a man from court-ordered shock therapy. It may not be without bias, and I don’t have the mental hospital’s side of the story, but there seem to be genuine issues of a patient’s difficulty in getting a fair hearing before a judge, as well as of the harmful effects of electroshock treatment — and yes, I know that electroshock can be truly helpful to some people with severe depression or other problems.

There is also mention of mental hospitals encouraging their staff to label patients as “combative”, and to avoid using words like “calm”, so as to generate a record to justify keeping the so-called patients imprisoned in the hospital until their insurance is exhausted. I remember a scandal in the 1990s over one chain of mental hospitals doing this kind of thing, and basically kidnapping sane people to fleece their insurers. If this kind of fraud can be proven, making the hospitals disgorge their ill-gotten gains should be the start of it; there is also something to be said for having the responsible doctors and hospital administrators flogged in the public square.

Good News, Bad News

Friday morning, I saw my optometrist, who dilated my left eye, examined newly taken images of both eyes, and looked directly into my eye. Despite my eye floater, there is no sign that my retina is in danger of detaching, so that’s good.

I have gotten a lot of sleep Saturday, and noticed congestion, sneezing, and a slightly raspy throat. I have taken a pseudoephedrine hydrochloride tablet, sucked on a zinc gluconate lozenge, and drunk some peppermint tea. I’m not deathly ill, but I lack energy and appetite. Maybe all the sleeping I did today shows that my body is focusing its efforts on fighting back against the virus.