Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

When I was faster i was always behind.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

I really should read my own blog.

You are here: Home / War in Ukraine / Acts Of Kindness: Thinking of Ukraine

Acts Of Kindness: Thinking of Ukraine

by | 86 Comments

This post is in: ,

I think I’ve found my mission. While all the world goes to hell, finding the goodness is making it bearable for me.

There are many, many good people working hard to help Ukraine, I’m going to highlight two I ran across today.

 

Lyrics in English:

In the meadow, there a red kalyna (Viburnum), has bent down low,
For some reason, our glorious Ukraine, has been worried so.
And we’ll take that red kalyna and we will raise it up,
And we, our glorious Ukraine, shall, hey – hey, rise up – and rejoice!

#StandWithUkraine Link to all streaming platforms here: https://bit.ly/KiffKalyna

Spotify link: https://spoti.fi/3pALa5x

Buy on Bandcamp (minimum $1, but pay more if you want): https://bit.ly/OyULuzi

Andriy Khlyvnyuk, the frontman of top Ukrainian band Boombox (Бумбокс) dropped his tour of the US to defend his country. He was kind enough to let me remix this recent video of him singing a Ukranian folk song, й у лузі червона калина (Oy u luzi chervona kalyna).

Acts Of Kinde 1

Thank you to the whole @familyboombox team & Adnriy Khlyvnyuk for making this video possible. I sincerely hope that you stay safe during this time. Special thanks to Manja and her mother Lada for their support.

My love & thoughts are with the people of Ukraine & with all the people in Russia who are against this senseless war waged on the people of Ukraine by President Putin.

I hope this video helps in some small way. With love from South Africa ?? ❤️ ?? As promised, we agreed that all royalty earnings from this video will be donated to humanitarian aid for the Ukrainian armed forces.

UPDATE:

Pinned by The Kiffness

The Kiffness

8 hours ago (edited)

The response to this song has been incredible! In just one day the song has accrued over $7000 in royalties from Facebook, Bandcamp & Youtube. It gives me great pleasure to give all of that back to Ukraine’s aid. It’s now available on all streaming platforms: https://bit.ly/KiffKalyna

 

Trip Advisor is matching donations for WCK

Hopefully, you’ll use the comments to add any hopeful stories you’ve found. For any donation sites, please make sure they are vetted when you do.

ukraine-sunflower-fields-laura-zerebeski
Ukraine-Sunflower-Fields
Laura Zerebeski

Reader Interactions

86Comments

  2. 2.

    JMG

    There’s a woman in my neighborhood whom I don’t know, but she’s Danish and belongs to a town-oriented chat group my wife is in. The woman’s mom and aunt still live in Denmark. They have been driving their cars crammed as full of food, medicine, clothing, diapers, etc. as they can manage to the Polish-Ukrainian border where refugees are clustered. They give out the supplies, then fill the cars with as many refugees as can fit and drive back to Denmark. Just some nice old ladies. We made a donation through our neighbor. Sadly, will probably be donating for some time if they can keep it up.

  3. 3.

    bookdragon01

    Hamantashen for Ukraine – Home
    “Hamantashen are a symbolic cookie for the holiday of Purim – a time of reflection about destructive megalomaniacs and triumph of good over evil. Ukrainians are, in real time, facing a modern-day Haman in Vladimir Putin. Let’s do what we can to help.”

    Profits of sales are donated directly by participating bakers to the Polish Humanitarian Action (http://www.pah.org.pl/en/) to help them assist Ukrainian refugees at the Polish border escaping the violence.  You can bake and sell to raise donations or (if like me you are not much of a baker) buy from participating bakeries/groups.

    A searchable list is here:

    Where to Find Hamantashen! – Hamantashen for Ukraine

  4. 4.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @JMG: this is wonderful thank hear and thank you for giving me hope about ordinary people stepping up

  7. 7.

    The Dangerman

    @bookdragon01: ROAD TRIP!

    I think the easiest for me to get to is in LA on Hollywood Blvd; extra credit for the address being 5150 (police call and Van Halen album) and, when Google Mapping them, it says Home Made Ice Cream. Don’t have to ask me twice regarding anything Ice Cream.

    ETA: Looks to be about 4 blocks from a Subway station. Done! I won’t see anything too weird on Hollywood Blvd, right?

  10. 10.

    Ruckus

    @The Dangerman:

    I won’t see anything too weird on Hollywood Blvd, right?

    One never knows….. and if they are smart they won’t say…

    And 5150 is an appropriate code for the possibilities – radio code for possible mental hold.

  12. 12.

    FelonyGovt

    A friend of mine booked an AirBnb in Ukraine for $20/night. Not to go there, just to get some money to the locals.

    And I just dropped off a bunch of unexpired prescription meds prescribed for my late mother-in-law to a local pharmacist from Ukraine who is sending meds over there.

  13. 13.

    Lyrebird

    Thanks so much TaMara , you are helping lift me up too!

    And we’re gonna go shopping here…  Turns out the local Ukr. Catholic church is going to send a container or a lot of boxes or something.  Everything from toothpaste to tourniquets.

    @WaterGirl:

    That’s awesome!

    Me I might send some through TripAdvisor first if I can get in on the match.  But huge props for all you’ve been doing!

  16. 16.

    brendancalling

    While searching for Ukrainian news, I found this great cut of folk music recorded in the 1920s: Dowbush Kozak. Those of you who enjoy old time or bluegrass may recognize the melody as similar to “Flop Eared Mule.”

    I’ve also enjoyed the many, many versions of “Putin Khuylo”, which translates into “Putin is a Dickhead.” Here’s a Mexican mariachi band doing their version of this lovely song, which started as a football chant.

  17. 17.

    Mike in NC

    Those pictures showing Putin seated at one end of a 30-foot table and a few of his henchmen way down at the other end must embarrass the crap out of him. Surprised they were made public.

  18. 18.

    HeleninEire

    @FelonyGovt: The AirBnb thing is brilliant. And a boatload of people are doing it. When AirBnb realized what was happening they immediately waived all fees for Ukraine.

  19. 19.

    Starfish

    The song is good. Thank you for doing something uplifting and fun. Are you caucusing today?

  20. 20.

    Almost Retired

    @The Dangerman:  The restaurant Sqirl (which is excellent) in Hollywood is also participating – and as a bonus is a block away from the Cathedral of St. Vladimir on Melrose, which I believe is the largest Ukrainian Orthodox cathedral in Los Angeles.

  21. 21.

    Calouste

    @Mike in NC:  He probably thinks that being embarrassed is better than being assassinated. You never know who is going to show up with a spray bottle of Novichock.

  23. 23.

    Gin & Tonic

    Minor quibble on the translation of the song: to me, the last word of the refrain is not “rise up and rejoice” as an exhortation, the word rozveselymo is an active verb – we will make you happy, we will cause you to rejoice. Say someone is at home grieving the loss of a loved one, you say to your friends khodim, rozveselymo – i.e. let’s go there and cheer them up, cause them to smile. But a very apt song for the time, thanks.

  24. 24.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL:

    He is Canadian. We used to work with him when I was with the Consulate (maybe they still do; I’m out of touch).  He’s a good guy. I’m glad to know he’s working with Chef José and WCK.

  25. 25.

    satby

    @WaterGirl: WG, and everyone, just heard from Mary G:

    It has been a long and harrowing week and somewhere in this phone is a long and garbled post to the jackals, which is the best I can do right now. Just have to find it, but short story straight found out by serendipity that I was in congestive heart failure one day despite great vital signs. Drugs didn’t do enough but a TEEC 1600 procedure last night, where they knocked me out then sent a miniature camera and shock paddles down my gullet and restored the rhythm. Probably off to cardiac rehab facility today or tomorrow if a bed can be found. Thanks to all the jackals for the support after my panic attack as well as now.

  27. 27.

    West of the Rockies

    @satby:

    Excellent news!  Thank you

    (Excellent that Mary is being treated and seems to be in good hands.)

  28. 28.

    zhena gogolia

    @Gin & Tonic: Did somebody here say the Ukrainians got the power plant back? I thought I saw it, but I can’t find it in a regular news source.

  32. 32.

    RSA

    @FelonyGovt:

    A friend of mine booked an AirBnb in Ukraine for $20/night. Not to go there, just to get some money to the locals.

    One of my friends did this as well.  The funny thing, of course, was that he mentioned it online, playing it perfectly straight: “My wife and I have booked an AirBnB for the entire month of April in Kyiv.”  I was like ?.  In comments he explained.

  36. 36.

    debbie

    @satby:

    Thanks, and good to know she’s under care. Too many times “anxiety attack” is a misdiagnosis for something else that could be more serious.

  37. 37.

    debbie

    ?

    Why are these GOP Senators BLOCKING U.S. AID TO UKRAINE?

    Marsha Blackburn

    Mike Braun

    Ted Cruz

    Steve Daines

    Ron Johnson

    Mike Lee

    Cynthia Lummis

    Roger Marshall

    Rand Paul

    Rick Scott

    — BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) March 5, 2022

    I thought there would be more overlap, but only Ron Johnson also visited Putin on 7/4/18.

  39. 39.

    The Dangerman

    @Almost Retired: Outstanding, thank you. I’m gonna do a combo drive and Metrolink thing tomorrow (as Sundays are a flat $10 and I’m not a big fan of driving in LA anymore, plus I’m cheap). I looked up Squirll but didn’t know the Church was near; that might swing it).

  40. 40.

    cckids

    I found out that my employer for job #1 (who will match our donations up to 5K per year) is now DOUBLING their match for any Ukraine donations. So I donated through them, because it’s too good to pass up. Anyone else with employer matching should also check!

  45. 45.

    Martin

    Israeli PM just met with Putin. Israel and the US both telling all US/Israeli citizens to leave Russia immediately.

    Apparently that meeting didn’t go well.

  48. 48.

    Regine Touchon

    Colonel Vindman is raising funds through @VetVoiceFound to bring medical aid to civilians in Ukraine.  You can donate at actblue.  God I love Vindman and of course Jose Andres.

  49. 49.

    Salty Sam

    @Almost Retired: The restaurant Sqirl (which is excellent) in Hollywood is also participating

    Small world- my son just started working at Sqirl this week.  One of the reasons he took the job there was that he says “they’re really good people there…”.  Sounds like he’s right!

  50. 50.

    Martin

    Just so people know, there is a downside to the strength of the US sanctions.

    US currency has been the reserve currency of choice for pretty much every country. That’s because it’s historically the most stable currency in the world due to our size and having few major internal or external conflicts that impact the economy. It’s the currency that a lot of oil is traded in, etc.

    But historically the US wouldn’t freeze reserve currencies except in extreme cases, and the US being VERY quick to freeze Russias reserves means that a lot of countries are going to second guess that a bit. Demand for US dollars is also stabilizing for US exchange rates and interest rates – lots of demand.  That might suffer a bit going forward. Exchange rates could worsen, and there may be fewer buyers of US treasuries affecting interest rates.

    Morally it’s the right thing to do, but it may come with something of a cost for regular folks.

  54. 54.

    Geminid

    @Martin: Bennett is an observant Orthodox Jew, so traveling on the Sabbath was exceptional for him. Israel has no leverage over Russia, though, so it’s not surprising that Bennett could not get Putin to budge. Putin has not given up hope of military success and until he does there can be no diplomatic solution to this war.

    It’s probably a good  thing Bennet make the trip, just like it’s a good thing that French President Macron talks to Putin most every day.

  55. 55.

    Martin

    @debbie: It’s fine. You need someone that Russia trusts who doesn’t have a vested interest here – so someone outside of NATO.

    Finding someone that both the US and Russia trusts basically means finding someone that neither of us really trust.

  56. 56.

    Anyway

    @debbie:

    Israel, Turkey, Russia (and KSA?) have an alliance based on countering US moves. It’s not exactly “anti”-US/NATO but from what I read they have good channels of communication between them. Probably the best people to speak sense to Putie-poot.

  57. 57.

    Martin

    @Geminid: I’m reading that Putin asked for the meeting. So it wasn’t about Bennett trying to budge Putin, but Putin trying to communicate something.

    I fear that Putin in planning to escalate based on the economic sanctions.

  61. 61.

    Geminid

    @Anyway: Israel and Turkey used to have an informal military alliance, but their relations have been very cool since the Israelis killed 8(?) Turkish citizens on the Gaza relief convoy ten(?) years ago. Lately Turkish President Erdogon has been trying to mend fences in the region, and has OK’d a visit by Israeli President Herzog later this month (although the date has not yet been set). Herzog’s role in the Israeli political system is largely symbolic and the stated plan is for Herzog and Erdogan to talk about combating climate change.

    Turkish-Saudi relations have been problematic the last few years. When Saudia Arabia and other Arab states launched their attempted blockade of Qatar in 2017, one of their demands was that Qatar expel Turkish troops in that country. But the Qataris took the blockade in stride and the blockading countries finally threw in the towel last year, and settled the matter. Now the prickly  President Erdogon is patching up his country’s relations with the various neighbors he’s pissed off.

    All three of these Middle Eastern countries have relations with Russia and each other (except for Israel and Saudi Arabia), but they are all more like “frenemies” than friends

    Turkey would be a logical mediator since it is a regional Black Sea power with limited authority under the Montreux  treaty. Putin would have to look past Turkey’s resupply of Ukraine with TB-2 drones.

  64. 64.

    persistentillusion

    @WaterGirl:  I donated $100 to WCK last night, because Chef Jose made me cry. So proud of what his group, among many others, has managed to do to help.

  66. 66.

    Kelly

    A crew marked burnt trees with blue paint and orange FEMA tags for removal from our road this week. Last of the Beachie fire cleanup. Thinking about our brief, rather luxurious Beachie Fire refugee experience in 2020. For us safety was minutes away. Friends had scary drives with fire along the road but made it out OK.  Three people were trapped and died. A couple bad days wondering when it’s gonna stop. A couple weeks waiting for the all clear after dangerous wreckage was taken care of. The rusty wreckage of buildings was cleaned up this summer. Driving past that and the burnt trees was depressing last winter. I’m slowly making my peace with the beautiful places in our forests that burned. The forest have always burned. They grow back.

    It wasn’t 1% of what Ukrainians are going through. I got a little weepy again.

  68. 68.

    Calouste

    @Martin: With both Visa and Mastercard stopping services in Russia, as well as Aeroflot stopping international flights in a few days, the practicalities of leaving the country are going to be very complicated. Not sure how many non-Russian airlines are going to accept cash payments in rubles.

  71. 71.

    Geminid

    @Martin: It could be Putin exerting dominance over Bennett. With Russia’s advanced anti-aircraft missiles based in northwest Syria since 2015,  Putin has Israel over a barrel. That’s largely why Netanyahu visited Moscow three times during the last few years of his tenure.

    Bennett’s first visit to Moscow last year was extended when the Russians said they had more matters to discuss. It was coming up on the Sabbath, but Bennett was not in a position to say no, so instead of flying home he observed the  Sabbath at Israel’s embassy.

  72. 72.

    JPL

    @debbie: The want a wall on the southern border.   I’m not sure if they want Biden to make Mexico pay for it or not.

  74. 74.

    JMG

    I don’t think anybody has Israel over a barrel. They could overrun Syria and depose Assad in a week tops if it came to that, and Russia right now is in no position to do anything but Ukraine. My guess is their chat was about safely extricating Israeli citizens from Russia and Ukraine and not much on the mediation front.

  75. 75.

    FlyingToaster

    @Martin: Specifically, airlines flagged from countries that have banned Russian overflights: all of the EU + Sweden, Finland & Switzerland; UK, Canada, USA, and a few others.

    I went and looked at today’s departures from Sheremeteyvo; the only non-former-USSR flights were an Air India flight to Delhi and a Air Serbia flight to Belgrade.

    I couldn’t get Domededovo’s site to come up. I know AirEgypt and El Al both fly into there.

    Vnukovo had Turkish, Emirates, and FlyDubai flights.  There were a fuckton of Azur Air (charter) flights running, to places off in the beyond (Punta Cana? Cancun?), which if they’re not flying over Europe should be able to continue and is probaby the way out for people not forced to walk to Estonia.

  78. 78.

    Jay

    @JMG:

    while Israel has demonstrated an ability to successfully target some limited targets in Syria, despite Russian SAM systems in Syria, they are major ops,

    and it’s unclear if the Russian air defences are there to just protect Russian assets, or defend Syrian Airspace.

    The Armenian-Azerbaijani War would suggest that when skillfully countered, (ELINT, drones, loitering munitions, decoys) Russian air defences arn’t that good. Past performance would suggest they are still a threat to aircraft.

    A ground war is something quite different.

    Israel lost to Hezbollah in 2006.

  79. 79.

    japa21

    Pertaining to absolutely nothing, today was example 1,023 why I have a love-hate relationship with March in the Chicago area.  It reached 68 and I was able to do a lot of yard and garden cleanup.  That’s the love part.  Monday forecast is for 2-4 inches of snow.  That’s the hate part.

  80. 80.

    Geminid

    @JMG: Israel would have bombed an Iranian airbase to smithereens within 24 hours. But Russia is a nation that can hurt Israel much worse than Israel can hurt it. So Israel has been very careful  to observe “deconfliction” protocols with Russia when it bombs Iranian convoys of missiles headed for Lebanon. There have been over a hundred such attacks since the Russians showed up, but neither Israel or Iran talk about them much.

    Last month the Syrian Air Force flew a mission passing right next to the Golan Heights. That hasn’t happened in years. Israel had to grin and bear it, though, because Russian jets were flying alongside the Syrians.

    Even if the Russians weren’t present Israel could never conquer Syria. They have a proficient military, but it’s too small. and Syria is too big. Israel could take Damascus because it is close by, but what would they do with it?

  85. 85.

    oatler

    “Deli haiku” I saw today on the JoeMyGod site:
    Onion on my chair.
    Don’t they ever clean this place?
    Martha, get your coat.

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