2022 February 28: The Conflict in Ukraine

Hi, this is Jim Cranston from 7EveryMinute and 7EveryMinute.com, the podcast and website by, for, and about Baby Boomers Tonight is completely different. I’ve just been thinking about the Ukraine situation and the Russian invasion. So this is just to provide you some ways you can directly support the Ukrainian people and military in their fight for their lives from the invading Russian army and Putin.

 First some caveats. This is a personal decision on the part of everybody. I get that. Some of the sites linked below could have legal ramifications, only because they’re directly supporting the military. So, depending where you’re listening to this from, look at your own country’s laws.

There’s also a number of sites that are humanitarian. Those are pretty much good to go, no matter where you are, but the other sites, if you want to be more proactive, I’ll try and call them out, at least they’ll be in the descriptions. All of these are linked mostly from an English language news called the Kiev Independent. They obviously have a vested interest in the outcome here. So you’ve been told that, you’ve been warned, use your judgment, but I have no reason to doubt the links or their sincerity but I haven’t sat and personally investigated the background of all these links. 

It’s like the Bank of Ukraine, probably a pretty reputable place, and a couple other places that have a history of providing direct aid to the people. The first one, when you go to the list and take a look, is actually from GoFundMe. What they have done is they vetted a bunch of people doing charity work to support the Ukraine people, humanitarian work, and so those are pretty known reliable links as well. So, I created a webpage at the website at 7EveryMinute.com/ukraine-aid-links. I don’t have a link to it from the main page. We may put one up, but it’s there. I’ve also linked in English language translations to the donation sites, and so those are there and they’re called out as such (so thank you, Google, for your help with that). 

Again, I can’t emphasize too much that this isn’t some small regional conflict. This is a power-hungry known killer attacking a free and democratic country, directly threatening two more nearby Scandinavian countries, and now directly threatening the entire world by putting its nuclear and military arsenal on high alert. 

Just as important, as soon as Russia invaded Ukraine, China resumed their purposeful military flights well into Taiwan’s airspace. The cowardly will never miss an opportunity to try and take advantage of a bad situation. So the world and Ukraine needs help from everybody right now and they need it now. 

Frankly, you know, who cares about things and microaggressions and other little First World problems. I mean, let’s get real. You want to see aggression, look in the Ukraine. They’re bombing apartment buildings. It’s just amazing. So look at the Ukraine, but really notice how unbelievably brave and resolute the entire population is, and what a real leader looks like. These are people who deserve worldwide admiration and worldwide support. 

To put the Russian invasion in a little bit more perspective: In very round numbers, imagine that fully one half of the United States got together and attacked Texas. That’s roughly the proportions that are going on right now Ukraine is 90 percent the size of Texas and they have a little less than two times the population of Texas but 1¾  times the population So imagine that for a fight right?

So with that in mind, I understand if you don’t have any extra money right now to donate, that’s certainly understandable, but you probably have a couple minutes. You can write to your Congresspeople and tell them to really start supporting democracy in the entire world. Freedom isn’t free in any way. A free country doesn’t stand by and let other people fail. 

Now is also a good time to remind all those same Congresspeople to consider, not just to consider but to support, Ukraine’s admission to NATO. The world is not a peaceful place, and working together generally works out a lot better for everyone. They’ve certainly shown that they’re very serious, both about not being an ally to Russia, and also being an ally to Europe. 

So, they already have a number of supporters, and I would encourage you to do both those things. Actually three things. Donate if you can, and whether or not you can donate, write your congress people and say Look, you gotta support the Ukraine more than sitting back and saying Good job guys!. Give him  heck! and then also encourage them to encourage the president and the country to support their mission and NATO. 

So please, no matter what, don't listen to this and then just kind of put it out of your head and go back to whatever you’re doing, playing some game or something. What you see going on over there can be here really fast, and already has ramifications here. There’s direct ramifications and indirect ramifications. A couple car companies have already shut down production. They produce a large amount of the wheat of the world, a large amount of aluminum. So don’t just say Oh it's some little regional thing. I don’t care. 

This is really setting the tone for democracy, and I want my grandkids to live in a world that’s free from this foolishness. Now is the time to act and to support everyone. Please keep everyone involved in your prayers and in your thoughts, because this has worldwide implications. Now is the time we really have to support our fellow citizens worldwide. They really need us to. 

Thank you for stopping by, and see you tomorrow night in the regular broadcast on 7EveryMinute and 7EveryMinute.com. Thanks again, and please click through the link. Again, it’s 7EveryMinute.com/ukraine-aid-links. You’ll find a number of links there, including the link to GoFundMe, and then links to the KF Independent, then links to other places that have direct aid. So again, thank you very much, and talk to you tomorrow night. Please keep everyone in your prayers.