We begin tonight with President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier this evening. The transcript is after the jump (emphasis mine).
War for Ukraine Update 67: 100 People Were Evacuated From Mariupol TodayPost + Comments (46)
by Adam L Silverman| 46 Comments
This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Military, Open Threads, Russia, Silverman on Security, War, War in Ukraine
We begin tonight with President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier this evening. The transcript is after the jump (emphasis mine).
War for Ukraine Update 67: 100 People Were Evacuated From Mariupol TodayPost + Comments (46)
This post is in: Excellent Links, War in Ukraine
TIME magazine’s new cover. pic.twitter.com/JiwBVFsu1E
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) April 28, 2022
"As night fell February 24th, Guards brought bulletproof vests and assault rifles for Zelensky and aides, only a few knew how to handle. Russian troops made two attempts to storm the compound. Zelensky later told me his wife and children were still there."https://t.co/AbkUFK9zg2
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) April 28, 2022
When the ‘special military incursion’ was still just a talking point, a Russian expat on twitter (probably Slava Malamud) talked about how ‘The Moth’ Putin was regarded by his countrymen as a nasty little mid-level bureaucrat. An aging grey functionary whose natural metier would have been gleefully denying office equipment upgrades and meddling with his subordinates’ leave schedules got unexpectedly lucky when the kleptocrat he served as bagman won the murder lottery during the looting of the collapsing Soviet Union.
If that’s anywhere near the truth, the emergence of President Zelenskyy — a Jewish comedian! — as a national icon and a global celebrity has got to be giving him ulcers:
The nights are the hardest, when he lies there on his cot, the whine of the air-raid sirens in his ears and his phone still buzzing beside him. Its screen makes his face look like a ghost in the dark, his eyes scanning messages he didn’t have a chance to read during the day. Some from his wife and kids, many from his advisers, a few from his troops, surrounded in their bunkers, asking him again and again for more weapons to break the Russian siege.
Inside his own bunker, the President has a habit of staring at his daily agenda even when the day is over. He lies awake and wonders whether he missed something, forgot someone. “It’s pointless,” Volodymyr Zelensky told me at the presidential compound in Kyiv, just outside the office where he sometimes sleeps. “It’s the same agenda. I see it’s over for today. But I look at it several times and sense that something is wrong.” It’s not anxiety that keeps his eyes from closing. “It’s my conscience bothering me.”…
Outside Ukraine, Zelensky told me, “People see this war on Instagram, on social media. When they get sick of it, they will scroll away.” It’s human nature. Horrors have a way of making us close our eyes. “It’s a lot of blood,” he explains. “It’s a lot of emotion.” Zelensky senses the world’s attention flagging, and it troubles him nearly as much as the Russian bombs. Most nights, when he scans his agenda, his list of tasks has less to do with the war itself than with the way it is perceived. His mission is to make the free world experience this war the way Ukraine does: as a matter of its own survival…
Excellent Read: <em>‘How Zelenskyy Leads’</em>Post + Comments (37)
by WaterGirl| 29 Comments
This post is in: Authors In Our Midst
Our author today for Authors in Our Midst is Bud Gundy, whose book was just released today. Let’s give a warm welcome to Bud!
If you are an Author or an Artist who is interested in having your work featured, just let me know.
“Gundy’s writing has a you-are-there vividness that perfectly complements his bigger than life characters and the sweeping story he tells.” – Felice Picano, author, editor, and co-founder of The Violet Quill.
If you live in Northern California and you recognize my name, right about now you’re reaching to turn off the radio or TV. Yes, I’m that Bud Gundy who asks you to support KQED public radio and TV during the pledge drives!
I’m also a writer and I’m thrilled to announce my novel, Inherit the Lightning, has been released by Bold Strokes Books as of this morning, and is available on their website until May 13 when it goes on sale everywhere.
The story follows Darcy O’Brien, who is searching for a mysterious person claiming ownership of a long-rumored, immense family fortune he and his sisters are about to inherit. A gay man in his mid-30’s, desperate for cash, and with a dead-end career, Darcy is determined to do whatever is needed to secure the inheritance for his family.
The search takes amazing turns as Darcy learns the truth about Cooper Tiller, his great grandfather who amassed the newly revealed fortune. Although Coop died decades before Darcy was born, his astonishing example proves far more valuable than money. It reveals a family secret hidden for 70 years, a much older truth about Coop himself, and it transforms Darcy’s life.
When I started writing this story more than two years ago, I had a much different trajectory in mind until a friend, taken with the description of the family mansion Cooper Tiller commissioned in 1920, insisted I tell the backstory of the house. I tried every imaginable angle, even the people who float by on a variety of boats over the decades (the house overlooks Lake Erie just outside of Cleveland).
None of it worked, and in desperation I wrote a character sketch of Cooper Tiller, who was never supposed to appear in the story beyond old family photos. I made it difficult on myself by deciding Coop was born into a poor farm family in 1880 and he became extremely wealthy as the owner of a coal mine (and yes, I deal with the toxic effects of coal). But how does a penniless farm boy from central Ohio come to live in coal country and own land? How do you find coal and build a mine?
Coop’s story swept me away, and I knew I had to make him a central character.
Coop and Darcy connect in a myriad of ways, including their understanding of animals, an abiding sense of their own unworthiness when it comes to love, as well as a startling resemblance. And in the end, a piece of advice handed down from Coop himself provides the final push Darcy needs to take a chance on love with a man he’s had his eye on for years.
I had an enormous amount of fun researching and writing this family saga, and I carefully calibrated the mystery to match the revelation. I even stumbled into a connection to a screen legend from Hollywood’s golden age, and I couldn’t resist a brief scene when Coop meets a toddler whose name you are certain to recognize!
My previous works published by Bold Strokes Books include Somewhere Over Lorain Road, a family story and murder mystery that was shortlisted for a 2019 Lambda Literary Award. Another, Accidental Prophet, is a sort of sequel to my self-published novel Elf Gift, and while it appears to be supernatural, it is actually a science fiction story, with the secret revealed in the as-yet unwritten third and final installment.
Bold Strokes Books is one of the world’s largest independent LGBTQ+ publishing companies, producing a diverse collection of LGBTQ+ general and genre fiction, including romance, mystery/intrigue, crime, erotica, speculative fiction (science fiction/fantasy/horror), general fiction, and, through the Soliloquy imprint, young adult fiction. Since its inception in 2004, the company’s mission has remained unchanged: to bring quality queer fiction to readers worldwide and to support an international group of authors in developing their craft and reaching an ever-growing community of readers via print, digital, and audio formats.
I love hearing from readers through my website at www.budgundy.com.
by TaMara| 159 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Poor Scout:
Looks like we need an open thread. This would be it.
This post is in: Media, NANCY SMASH!, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, War in Ukraine
She and her posse went to meet President Zelenskyy, instead:
??????? ?? ???????? ?????? ????????????? ???????? ??? @SpeakerPelosi ? ?????. ????????? ????? ? ??????? ???????? ????????? ??????? ? ???????? ? ???????? ??. ???????, ?? ??????????? ???????? ??????????? ? ????????????? ?????????? ????? ???????! pic.twitter.com/QXSBPFoGQh
— ????????? ?????????? (@ZelenskyyUa) May 1, 2022
Per the Washington Post:
… “Our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done,” Pelosi told Zelensky in a meeting that took place Saturday evening local time.
In a video posted by Zelensky on Sunday, Pelosi was seen walking the streets of Ukraine’s capital with other House Democratic lawmakers, including Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory W. Meeks (N.Y.), Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (Mass.) and Rep. Jason Crow (Colo.). Pelosi’s office said Reps. Barbara Lee (Calif.) and William R. Keating (Mass.) were also part of the delegation…
Pelosi’s delegation subsequently left Ukraine for Poland for meetings with Polish President Andrzej Duda and senior officials, according to a statement from Pelosi’s office.
The trip had not been announced before Zelensky shared visuals on Sunday, with a caption praising the United States for being a leader in support of Ukraine…
I believe this is what the young people call ‘a flex’. Also this:
Sunday Morning Open Thread: <em>Nancy Skipped #NerdProm!… </em>Post + Comments (195)
This post is in: Garden Chats
California Sierra commentor Scout211:
The cactus plants are blooming in our little cactus garden. It’s always fun to see bright spots of color each year in the typically drab cactus garden.
I wish I could identify all these cactus plants but I don’t know the names of any of them. Maybe the garden chat jackals could help identify them?
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Went to our favorite local garden center yesterday to pick up paks of annual dianthus, lobelia, scented stock, and a flat of white allysum to tuck into every empty space. Couldn’t resist a single ‘Lunch Box‘ mini sweet pepper, mostly because the plant will grow into such a cute, compact little flower-bearer. The pansies we brought back from our last expedition are flourishing in their new planters, and (praise Murphy) the tomato plants from Laurel’s Heirlooms survived this week’s windy, cool weather, so it’s time to buckle down and expend some serious effort!
What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?
Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Prickly Plants, Gorgeous FlowersPost + Comments (51)
This post is in: COVID-19 Coronavirus, Foreign Affairs
“For real, people, what are we doing here?… I mean Dr. Fauci dropped out. That should’ve been a pretty big sign!… Pete Davidson thinks it’s ok.“@Trevornoah ???? at #whcd pic.twitter.com/yzbkj6PPqf
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) May 1, 2022
COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates, Saturday / Sunday, April 30 – May 1Post + Comments (15)