sympathy for Samuel

I know 3.2 million Ukrainians have had to flee 
I know Covid may have killed 18 million people
I know we're hitting the point of no return with climate change

But spare some sympathy for Samuel

His favorite person in the whole world 
has left him 
all alone 
(with Karen) 
for an entire day
and then did it again
and will do it once more tomorrow

I avoided people for the first part of the day by going to the Ronald Reagan Building and getting business cards that were printed for me and my bosses. The building is very difficult to navigate but all of the guards were incredibly sweet to me. It is the first time I've gone into the building and not had to go through the security process because now I'm an employee with a badge and everything. 

I think about 10% of the people at the conference wore masks. Thank goodness N95s provide protection to the wearer. I don't think I could have made it through the day otherwise. 

Two of my coworkers expressed grave concerns about our being there and doing this. They were wearing K95s. One told the other that their masks provided 75% of the protection of mine. Karen had given me extras to share if need be so I hopped up and gave them masks and they felt much more comfortable the rest of the day. 

Tomorrow morning I sit on a panel. I don't have to prepare a speech, I just have to not say anything stupid. And get there on time. 

Just in case you were wondering, I don't work on Eastern European issues. Everything I share I've gotten through publicly available sources. 

Putin has arrested two of his top intelligence officials. (I think it was Bloomberg)

Ukrainian athletes won more medals at the 2022 Winter Paralympics than they ever have before and second only to China. Remember Russia wasn't allowed to compete this year. (don't remember)

Boston doctors have been making YouTube videos, in Ukrainian, to teach civilians how to stop bleeding. (Washington Post)

The satellites Musk has provided to Ukraine are providing broadband internet and its associated app was the most downloaded app in Ukraine on Sunday. (WSJ)

Since Ms. Ovsyannikova's on-air protest, at least four top journalists of state-run tv channels have resigned. (WSJ)

When Russia invaded, Ms. Ovsyannikova wanted to join the street protests but her son thought she'd get arrested and hid her car keys. (WSJ)