About me?

Слава Україні!

The situation in Ukraine is changing constantly; if not every day, then every week. The fog of war doesn't just shroud the battlefield; it obscures the political and domestic plans of Ukrainian leaders, NATO allies and the lives of the average Ukrainian.

Since the beginning of the year I have been wanting to go to Ukraine. The reasons why I want to go have changed as much as the situation in Ukraine. Being a nerd, I initially wanted to visit the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (I use the Ukrainian spelling, not the Russian spelling). It was a selfish nuclear tourism impulse that led me down the path that I am on today.

Being the neurodivergent freakazoid I am, I wanted to find out more about Ukraine than the shallow Rude American. The idea of going in as a nuclear tourist led me to find out more about the war and the human cost involved. Even during the initial phase of wanting to go to Ukraine, I wanted to do something to try to lessen the suffering by volunteering.

The calling to help has grown into a moral and ethical calling. It started as a desire but has become a calling since February or March. Writing a check can help but not as much as being a pair of boots on the ground filling the much-needed missing manpower that Ukraine needs.

As much as the religious nutters think praying is an answer. All of us know that hands clasped in prayer can't perform any actions; it's mental masturbation. It contributes nothing to the situation, but it allows a person to delude themselves into thinking they are doing something more meaningful than mumbling into their hands. In all of human history, magic has never been an answer.

My contributing to Ukraine's plight in Putin's War isn't to get brownie points to earn me passage into an imaginary afterlife or karma. It's because it's the right thing to do, especially since my government has reneged on its promise (yet another broken treaty) to help defend Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine's surrender of her nuclear weapons.

There are many people in my country who have bought into the Russian propaganda; they could care less about a bunch of foreigners dying in Eastern Europe. The American media, including big names like the New York Times, have run articles written by the Kremlin's ministry of misinformation. They use the same tactics that the KGB used during the Cold War. The Russian Federation has been using the same kind of misinformation campaigns in the last three elections that the Russian assent was running in.

That disinformation is part of the reason why I created this website. The other part is to spread information on some of the relief groups who do need your monetary help. I'm linking to their sites because I don't want the hassle and temptation of handling donations to charity groups. However, if you feel like helping me with my traveling and living expenses associated with going to Ukraine, I'll provide a separate link for that.

I've been studying Ukrainian for about a month. It's been a strange experience watching President Zelenskyy speaking in English with Ukrainian subtitles and recognizing some of the words. As of now (middle of September), I'm going to need to expand my vocabulary a little bit more to be able to read whatever the Ukrainian version of Dick & Jane or other children’s books. I'm not there yet, but that is my next major goal with learning the language.

It might take me a year to get there I need to raise the money for living expenses, but that time allows me to get a better grasp of the language.