Thanks for asking, nonnie. That’s very kind of you. If you or anyone else has some spare change and wants to give, here are a few ideas:
United24 is the official fundraising platform established by President Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian governmental members and directs money to all areas of the country.
The Olena Zelenska Foundation is primarily focused on medical, humanitarian, and educational aid across the country and was founded by the First Lady.
Stand for Ukraine gives you a range of charity options, depending on whether you want to donate directly to the military, or you would prefer to fund non-lethal or humanitarian aid, etc.
Come Back Alive is the main fundraising platform for the Ukrainian military. You can choose to donate to air defense, heavy weapons, demining, medical aid, overall combat equipment, etc.
Donate to Ukraine’s Defenders also offers various (carefully vetted) links and options to donate to rebuilding projects, private medical assistance programs, initiatives for democracy, and others.
So as you may have heard, the odious orange turdweasel has ordered a “pause” (read: indefinite cancellation but trying to slip it under the radar) of all US military aid to Ukraine, to make sure that it’s “contributing to a solution,” while Russia of course loves it. Translation, Trump is once more doing exactly what Putin told him to, and his laughable pretext for it was that Zelenskyy /checks notes/ dared to state the obvious truth that peace in Ukraine may be a long way away and the process is complicated. Zomgz. What a horrible anti-Trump statement!!!!1
At this point, it is worth remembering that Zelenskyy is Public Enemy Number One for both Trump and Putin due to how he just won’t back down to their enraged dictator bullying, and aside from their general coziness in the project of Making Russia Great Again, they are desperate to get rid of him somehow. Putin sent kill squads into the streets of Kyiv in the first weeks of the 2022 invasion with specific orders to assassinate Zelenskyy; these didn’t work. Then Putin and Trump pushed the “there must be elections in Ukraine first before we can have a ceasefire,” under the actual goal of dividing Ukrainian society, removing Zelenskyy, and ideally installing a leader who would be more amenable to having his arm twisted by Russia and the US (although really, good luck with that). When that didn’t work, not least since elections are legally prohibited from being held in Ukraine during martial law and nobody wanted them for the exact fear that they would end up in the above scenario, Putin and Trump manufactured the Friday Oval Office imbroglio. There are reports that Russian state TV knew about the whole thing in advance, which along with the presence of a TASS (Russian state TV) reporter on hand to stream it live…. yeah. It was a deliberate trap.
Afterward, Trump’s lackeys got hard to work pushing the rehearsed “Zelenskyy needs to resign!” and “Zelenskyy daring to want all of Ukraine’s land back is a troublemaker position!” lines. Now mind you, Zelenskyy has a lot of experience telling paranoid autocratic fascist dictators, wannabe and otherwise, to get fucked, but he can’t do that openly to Trump and co., no matter how much he doubtless wants to, because of the hard fact where if the US is conspiring with Russia against you, you’re gonna be in a bad bad place. I seriously, seriously doubt he would do anything that the MAGAGOP Treason Caucus bullied him into, but this sudden “pause of military aid” is another thing we saw coming and yet is incredibly enraging.
That is why if you’re American, and even if you’re not, it’s incredibly important to donate a few bucks – it doesn’t have to be much! – to United24 and especially Come Back Alive today. I will be giving them said few bucks, as it is all that I, as a broke academic, can currently afford. But if a lot of people do it, that sends a message and makes a difference. Trump is once more blackmailing and extorting Ukraine, and trying to force it into meekly lying down and surrendering to massacre, just to please his Daddy Dom and their combined efforts to empower Russia’s anti-democratic global influence, especially against America. (See: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, the latest rapist elevated to a high position in Trump’s cabinet, ordering a halt to all cyber-defense work and offensive operations against Russia. Cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool!)
As such, donating to Ukraine is a stand against Comrade Trumpov and his blatant treason, a stand against Putin and his imperialist war machine, and a stand for the people of Ukraine, America, Europe, Mexico, Canada, China, and literally anywhere and everywhere else in the world that doesn’t bow down and kiss the Trump-Putin Axis of Evil ring. They really, really need it, and it will send a message that this is not being done in your name and you do not and will not support it.
I love using “by the way” as a segue into topics that are completely unrelated to the matters at hand. it isn’t remotely by the way, quite a ways out of the way in fact. a little adventure
This little blue hippopotamus, known affectionately as William, has been a fan favorite at The Metropolitan Museum of Art for over a century. Dating back to Egypt’s Middle Kingdom (c. 1961–1878 BCE), William was likely placed in tombs to offer protection in the afterlife.
His bright faience glaze and lotus decorations connect him to the Nile’s waters—but don’t let his charm fool you! Ancient Egyptians knew that hippos were both revered and feared, making William a powerful symbol. He epitomizes the Egyptian craftsmanship of the era.
If your goals basically amount to “after The Revolution everything will be great because people will all have the Good Ethics and work together in my Perfect System and the Evil People with Bad Morals and Bad Behaviour who are making this world bad will be gone (killed/imprisoned/exiled/all converted to agree with us when they see our Perfect System)” then that’s just fascism. I hate to say it but you’ve put a gay socialist hat on fascism.
The MAGA people are still gonna be around in your Perfect System and a very large proportion of them are still gonna be Like That. We can discourage antisocial behaviour through laws and education and changing cultural norms, but if plans for future society involve [group I’m opposed to] magically not being part of it so the Good People can Do Things Right, well.
✨No Bad Guys Here✨ – how do you want to enforce that.
Honestly, I think this concept of The Revolution is to some leftists what Armageddon is to some Christians: an easy excuse to not try and grapple with difficult problems like hunger or poverty or injustice or climate, because any day now the Great Reckoning will come and wipe the slate clean.
Arguing that there’s nuance to rape is basically arguing that given the right set of circumstances, you could imagine raping someone and anyone making that argument can stay the entire fuck away from me forever.
This is one of those rare times when it really is that black and white – there is never a justification.
ALT
amhrancas 