(click on images to enlarge)
(Jack Ohman, Tribune Content Agency)
(Tim Campbell, Counterpoint)
(Randall Enos, caglecartoons.com)
(Jeff Stahler, gocomics.com)
(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
(Guy Parsons, caglecartoons.com)
(Clay Jones, claytoonz.com)
(Alan Moir, Morning Herald, Sydney)
(Asher Perlman, @asherperlman)
Three years ago, the Malignant Loser makes a call... --
Three years ago today
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) January 3, 2024
The phone call: "All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state."
Speaking the truth; what a concept --
President Biden will cast former President Trump as a threat to democracy Saturday in a speech set to be delivered on the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, the Biden campaign said this week. https://t.co/deyjRtkOSX
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 3, 2024
A plurality of MAGAts are plain ol' fascists, pass it on --
My latest for The New Republic. The truth of the matter is that a little less than half of the Republican base absolutely, explicitly, wants fascism. Our political system was not meant to handle this. https://t.co/jivrY9Y20V
— Brynn Tannehill (@BrynnTannehill) January 3, 2024
The MAGA mob is bullying elected officials into line with threats of violence. City councilors, school board members - they literally fear for their lives.
— David Roberts (@drvolts) January 3, 2024
It won't stop escalating. https://t.co/j1w4yhhb1P
Meanwhile, most of America won't forget --
A majority of Americans say the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot was an “attack on democracy that should never be forgotten."
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) January 3, 2024
We agree. https://t.co/YZgZNGDs1B
"Feels" vs. "is," cont. --
Oh look crime down, economy up pic.twitter.com/xQYmw0rqJw
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) January 3, 2024
More of war criminal Putin's evildoing --
Funeral today of 11 year old pianist killed in Friday's Russian missile barrage on Kherson. pic.twitter.com/SQsNFQIAPI
— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) January 3, 2024
What's that Musk-y smell? Genius at work! --
X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is now worth an estimated 71.5% less than it was when Elon Musk purchased the platform in Oct. 2022, according to a Fidelity securities filing dated Dec. 30, 2023.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 2, 2024
https://t.co/UxWGgzy7aq
Pay up, bigot --
Sometimes, love triumphs over hate.
— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) January 3, 2024
In a ruling that can be called karma, a federal judge mandated that the former Kentucky clerk, Kim Davis, pay an additional $260,104 to David Ermold and David Moore, a gay couple she denied a marriage license in 2015.
Davis, citing religious… pic.twitter.com/Gyj9NhLrZE
We hear you --
— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) January 3, 2024
The great jazz pianist and vocalist Les McCann passed away last week at the age of 88, and left a lifetime legacy of music: an innovator who blended jazz with soul and world rhythms, and released over 60 albums over his 60-plus year career. His song "Compared To What," protesting the war in Vietnam, reached the top of the charts in mid-1960s. His influence was so wide that his work has been sampled by such musicians as Cypress Hill, Mary J. Blige, Dr. Dre and dozens more. Our choice today is a live recording from 1967 at the Village Vanguard in New York City, McCann's instrumental interpretation of Cole Porter's "I Am In Love."
"More
than 60 countries, with some 4 billion people, are set to stage
national elections in 2024. That means roughly half the planet could go
to the polls in what could be the greatest rolling spectacle of
democracy in human history. [snip]
"In society after society, illiberal values and politicians who embrace them are gaining ground. Numerous elected governments seem bent on undermining core tenets of the democratic project, from the freedom of the press to the independence of institutions such as the judiciary to the ability of opposition parties to fairly compete against the ruling establishment. [snip]
"The news this year could be more drastic still. The outcomes of pivotal
elections in the United States — the world’s oldest democracy — and
India — the world’s largest — may underscore a deepening public appetite
for norm-bending strongman rule. In their shadow, elections from Mexico
to the European Union to Bangladesh may each offer their own showcase
of the growing traction of nationalist, authoritarian politics. 'We’re
electing illiberal leaders democratically,” Maria Ressa, a prominent
journalist and Nobel laureate from the Philippines, said during an address to the National Press Club in Washington in September. 'We will know whether democracy lives or dies by the end of 2024.'”... -- Ishaan Tharoor, in the Washington Post, prefacing a quick look at global democracy on the ballot in 2024. In addition to the existential battle between the Malignant Loser's fascist MAGA movement and American democracy, Tharoor looks at upcoming elections in India, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Bangladesh, South Africa, Taiwan, Venezuela, and elsewhere where democracy is on the ballot (and not always in a strong position).
Florida's Republican Chairman and adulterous party boy Christian Ziegler may have thought his scandalous behavior with his Christofascist book banning wife Bridget and another female would go away if he rode it out. It appears now that in addition to he and his wife violating their supposed religious beliefs, he may have broken the law when he secretly videotaped his encounter with the female who says he raped her. Sarasota, FL, authorities are investigating:
"Sarasota authorities are expanding their investigation into Florida Republican Chair Christian Ziegler to probe whether he broke any laws when he allegedly recorded a sexual encounter with a woman accusing him of rape, according to a search warrant affidavit. [snip]
The new revelation adds to the mounting problems for Ziegler, who has insisted that the Oct. 2 sexual encounter was consensual and has refused to step down from his role with the GOP despite Gov. Ron DeSantis and other top Florida Republicans urging him to resign. The party’s executive board members stripped Ziegler of his power and salary during a meeting in Orlando on Dec. 17.
Ziegler’s wife Bridget Ziegler, who co-founded the conservative parents group Moms for Liberty, has also faced accusations of hypocrisy in part because she told police during the probe that she had a consensual sexual encounter with the victim and her husband about a year ago. Bridget Ziegler has pushed traditional family values and was an outspoken supporter of Florida’s law that bans teachers from instructing students on sexual orientation and gender identity, known by opponents as 'Don’t Say Gay.'” (our emphasis)
The videotape should corroborate the victim's story about Ziegler forcing himself on her. He's quite the misogynist thug, and a moron at that for taping his alleged crime. He'll go far in Republican politics.
(click on images to enlarge)
We're starting with a cartoon from Steve Brodner, Washington Post, capturing 117 of the 147 Republican coup caucus House members who tried to subvert democracy on January 6, 2021, and who are now running for re-election (the others either have left office or are not running). The key to the seditionists in the cartoon is here.
(Steve Brodner, Washington Post)
(Monte Wolverton, caglecartoons.com)
(Ben Zaehringer, @benzaehringer)
(Dave Whamond, caglecartoons.com)
(Michael de Adder, Washington Post)
(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)
(Mike Smith, Las Vegas Sun)
(Bill Day, caglecartoons.com)
(Clay Jones, claytoonz.com)
(Colin Tom, The New Yorker)
We'd like to use "guilty" much more this coming year.... --
What is a word you would like to use more often in 2024?
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) January 1, 2024
We might try to really lean into ‘edifice.’
The MAGA movement is one big psychiatric ward .... --
“Donald Trump is president right now…He’s in charge of the military.”
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) January 2, 2024
I’m starting to think we’re not dealing with rational people… pic.twitter.com/9dVeqFzQF0
.... and propagandists at Fox helped put them there. --
"About 3 in 10 people who get most of their information from Fox News think Biden won legitimately in 2020."
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) January 2, 2024
This is why I say Fox isn't bad journalism — it's anti-journalism. The more you watch, the less you know. https://t.co/mUJVKOmzmQ
Trump is tripling down on his Hitler references. Anyone surprised? --
1. Trump is using Hitlerian rhetoric in his stump speech, claiming migrants are "poisoning the blood" of America
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) January 2, 2024
Trump defended himself by saying he has never read Mein Kampf and knows "nothing about Hitler"
This is Trump's standard response to deflect charges of racism
🧵
MAGA suckers need to get scammed by the Trump Rebate Banking System. --
Let’s see. If there’s one born every minute, that’s 60 every hour, 1,440 a day….https://t.co/sF1mSqqPzn
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) January 2, 2024
Blue states taking action on gun control on first day of new year --
New gun laws going into effect TODAY:
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 1, 2024
• Californians will be barred from carrying guns in most public places
• Washington State is expanding its 10-day waiting period to purchases of all guns
• Illinois is banning high-powered semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity…
Congrats to the Michigan and Washington football teams, politically speaking of course. --
2024 begins with two blue states beating two red states. (I’m sorry. But this a year in which I’ll take any positive omens I can find.)
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) January 2, 2024
Keeping track of the war crimes of Putin's Russia. --
⚡️Update: Russian attack injures 52 in Kharkiv, including 6 children.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) January 2, 2024
The number of injured in the Russian Jan. 2 large-scale missile attack has risen to 52 civilians in Kharkiv, including six children, as of 3 p.m., Ukraine’s National Police reported.https://t.co/1vMwHyJ7d7
Has anyone checked the site next to Ivana's grave at Bedminster? 👻 --
I swear to you guys, I truly do NOT care about Melania trump, but seriously, where TF is she?
— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) January 2, 2024
Has anyone checked Bedminster? 👀😬
But they saved on shipping costs. --
— CCTV IDIOTS (@cctvidiots) January 2, 2024
In USA Today, this editorial from Ken Block:
In November 2020, former President Donald Trump asserted that voter fraud had altered the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. The day after the election, his campaign hired an expert in voter data to attempt to prove Trump’s allegations and put him back in the White House.
I am the expert who was hired by the Trump campaign.
The findings of my company’s in-depth analysis are detailed in the depositions taken by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. The transcripts show that the campaign found no evidence of voter fraud sufficient to change the outcome of any election. That message was communicated directly to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Our findings have also been subpoenaed by special counsel Jack Smith’s federal investigation and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation in Georgia. Those emails and documents show that the voter data available to the campaign contained no evidence of large-scale voter fraud based on data mining and fraud analytics.
More important, claims of voter fraud made by others were verified as false, including proof of why those claims were disproven... (our emphasis)
Block's op/ ed comes as the Malignant Loser once again is promoting a "report" (including a Rumble video!) compiled by some sycophants claiming to show he won swing states by hundreds of thousands of votes. The Big Lie is the Malignant Loser's comfort animal keeping his damaged and fragile ego from facing the shattering truth about the 2020 election. Unfortunately, it's also poisoning the body politic of the country, most notably MAGAts who already feel the Malignant Loser's victimhood as their own (see below). The truth will never pierce that bubble; the only antidote is keeping the poison at bay by making sure MAGAts never gain power in this country again.
Psychologist and psychoanalyst Michael Bader, writing in this morning's Salon.com about the right-wing's manufactured victimhood and grievance, highlights the narrative that the far-right has adopted, and which also provides the Malignant Loser fuel for his fascistic MAGA movement. An excerpt:
"The Oxford English Dictionary defines a victim as someone who is 'injured, damaged, or killed by something.' Experiences and stories of victimization run the gamut from the personal to the political. As a psychoanalyst, I often hear reports from my patients of feelings of victimization. I try both to empathize with my patients’ suffering and understand its unconscious meanings.
But victimhood, real or imagined, has also come to assume a central role in social, political, and cultural discourse in the U.S. A victim sensibility seems clearly to be on the rise across the political spectrum, especially on the right. But while real people are victimized in the real world all the time, not all victimization stories are the same. Some are counterfeit.
For example, talking heads at Fox News tell their viewers every night that they are victims of ruthless, power-hungry and uncaring liberal elites. They present to their audience some version of 'They want to replace you with immigrants and people of color. They don’t care about you.'
While it may be true that conservatives suffer genuine victimization by virtue of jobs moving overseas, wages stagnating, communities fragmenting, health care becoming unaffordable, a perceived increase in crime and growing wealth inequality, it is also transparently false that these sources of legitimate suffering reflect a plot by liberal elites to 'replace' them." (our emphasis)
The right-wing's victimization narrative that they push to their malleable audience provides a justification for them taking illegal actions (i.e. January 6, voter intimidation, threats against public officials) since they're justified by the false "patriotic" ends in their confused minds (a white Christian nation, gun obsessed, intolerant and isolated in the world). It's a way of co-opting the actual victims of an unjust system, and cloaking themselves with righteous anger and revenge. Bader observes:
"Broadly speaking, progressives have identified with victims and fought to defend and care for them. Modern conservatives like Trump and [Tucker] Carlson, however, are basically propagandizing when they position themselves and their audiences as injured parties in order to justify anti-democratic and xenophobic measures aimed at seizing, holding and expanding their power. Their aim isn’t to defend victims, but to stir up a mob that they hope will get rid of the democratic norms that currently provide some restraint against their political aims." (our emphasis)
We'll keep hearing lines from the Malignant Loser like "I am your retribution" and other pretensions of being injured unfairly during the 2024 elections and beyond. His audience eats it up, having been conditioned by years, decades, of being told by the right-wing media they're the actual victims of society, not the poor family living on food stamps and dwindling hope.
Bibi's efforts to neuter Israel's judiciary gets smacked down (for now):
Israel’s high court on Monday struck down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s polarizing law that sought to limit the court’s power over government decisions, putting the country on the brink of a constitutional crisis just three months after Israelis united behind the war effort in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul the judiciary sparked nearly a year of widespread social unrest before the Israel-Gaza war. The unprecedented standoff drew international condemnation and extraordinary opposition from military and senior security officials. [snip]
Monday’s ruling concerned one part of the package, an amendment to Israel’s Basic Law — which serves in place of a constitution — that was pushed through and passed by Netanyahu’s far-right government in July. The altered law removed the right of the Israeli Supreme Court to block decisions made by government ministers that the judges deem “unreasonable.”
In striking down the law 8-7 on Monday, the top court’s ruling calls for the legislation to be removed. If Netanyahu’s government refuses to honor the ruling, the wartime country could face a constitutional crisis...
It's already been suggested that Netanyahu's prolongation of the war against Hamas is designed to keep him in power (and out of jail). The judicial "reforms" that Netanyahu wanted to implement would also help with the latter. We'll see if he'll abide by the decision, or if his personal survival instincts will cause him to deepen the crisis in Israel over the legitimacy of the government and the origins and prosecution of it's war against Hamas by ignoring the court's decision.
(Photo: Ronen Zvulun / AFP via Getty Images)
From Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman in today's New York Times op ed:
"You may have heard about the good economic news. Labor force participation — the share of adults in today’s work force — is actually slightly higher than the Congressional Budget Office predicted before the pandemic. Measures of underlying inflation have fallen more or less back to the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target even though unemployment is near a 50-year low. Adjusted for inflation, most workers’ wages have gone up.
For some reason I’ve heard less about the crime news, but it’s also remarkably good. F.B.I. data shows that violent crime has subsided: It’s already back to 2019 levels and appears to be falling further. Homicides probably aren’t quite back to 2019 levels, but they’re plummeting. [snip]
The big question, of course, is whether grim narratives will prevail over relatively sunny reality in the 2024 election. There are hints in survey data that the good economic news is starting to break through, but I don’t know of any comparable hints on crime.
In any case, what you need to know is that America responded remarkably well to the economic and social challenges of a deadly pandemic. By most measures, we’re a nation on the mend. Let’s hope we don’t lose our democracy before people realize that." (our emphasis)
We can't expect our cynical, horse race-obsessed Beltway media to fight for us, and for democracy, against the Malignant Loser's promised authoritarian revenge regime. We hope that, as Krugman writes, some of this good economic news is "starting to break through," but we're aware that the right-wing MAGA media machine is invested in ignoring it or lying about it in order to boost their cult leader's election chances.
"Feels" vs. "is": the corporate media's on- going sabotage --
Happy 2024. Since we're still pretzeling ourselves to explain why folks think the economy is bad despite all the data, here's the latest update of media coverage of inflation/recession vs unemployment/recovery, thru 12/31/23. The truly astounding imbalances persist even in Q423. pic.twitter.com/WPr4L04qkB
— Mark Copelovitch (@mcopelov) January 1, 2024
On #PandemicSociologoy https://t.co/2eoD5QTxNs & #EpochEnd in 2022. Now? "Whatever Americans may say to pollsters, they’re behaving as if they live in a prosperous, fairly safe country — the country portrayed by official stats, tho not by opinion polls." https://t.co/yb4JPG7RUf
— Michael D. Kennedy (@Prof_Kennedy) January 1, 2024
Nikki Haley: "What do you want me to say about slavery? And rebellion? What rebellion?" --
RIGHT NOW in 1863, President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation takes effect. "All persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a state in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." pic.twitter.com/bSzfWmGBzs
— Military History Now (@MilHistNow) January 1, 2024
Sentencing the insurrectionists: max him out! --
Justice Dept asks court to increase planned prison sentence in Jan 6 case of Chris Worrell, arguing he fled before prior sentencing hearing
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) December 31, 2023
They say "Worrell cut off his GPS ankle monitor in a Walmart parking lot & fled his residence" in August, faked drug overdose when captured pic.twitter.com/rjtlFsXtcH
Reminder --
New Year’s Reminder:
— Angry Staffer 🌻 (@Angry_Staffer) January 1, 2024
Voting is like driving — select “D” to go forward; select “R” to go backwards
Endless war has one beneficiary --
I'm beginning to believe Netanyahu doesn't want this to end because he knows when it does he will lose power. His own constituents are not happy with him and they were not before this started. https://t.co/NRUaZl2ml3
— Tim McBride (@mcbridetd on Bluesky) (@mcbridetd) December 31, 2023
New Year's Malignant Loser with wife #4 right behind him --
At least he has his attorney there last night since his wife couldn’t make it again. pic.twitter.com/jBqQBvHjHj
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 1, 2024
New Year's Green Day --
I’M NOT A PART OF A MAGA AGENDA!!! In front of an ACTUALLY MASSIVE Crowd in Time Square (not a high school gym like the smelly guy) Green Day updated their hit song "American Idiot" taking aim at MAGA and the CROWD WENT WILD!!https://t.co/WnnAu3CSwj
— Ben Meiselas (@meiselasb) January 1, 2024
Is Rooskie New Year! Please to make laughing, but stay away from windows and suspicious drinks! --
Take a peek at the grotesquely jolly way Russia welcomed the New Year, while it's genocidal invasion of Ukraine is in full swing. Of course, the main New Year's eve show in the country featured the Kremlin's favorite propagandists and various stooges.https://t.co/uufBVbdUhM
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) January 1, 2024
Cheers! Zzzzzzzz --
Cheers to health, happiness, and many park visits in 2024!#NewYearsEve pic.twitter.com/kaAoYGz6b9
— National Park Service (@NatlParkService) December 31, 2023
Record heat and catastrophic climate events marked 2023, and according to climate scientists across the world, 2024 will probably exceed those dangerous records. The New York Times' Raymond Zhong reports:
"Earth is finishing up its warmest year in the past 174 years, and very likely the past 125,000.
Unyielding heat waves broiled Phoenix and Argentina. Wildfires raged across Canada. Flooding in Libya killed thousands. Wintertime ice cover in the dark seas around Antarctica was at unprecedented lows.
This year’s global temperatures did not just beat prior records. They left them in the dust. From June through November, the mercury spent month after month soaring off the charts. December’s temperatures have largely remained above normal: Much of the Northeastern United States is expecting springlike conditions this week.
That is why scientists are already sifting through evidence — from oceans, volcanic eruptions, even pollution from cargo ships — to see whether this year might reveal something new about the climate and what we are doing to it.
One hypothesis, perhaps the most troubling, is that the planet’s warming is accelerating, that the effects of climate change are barreling our way more quickly than before. 'What we’re looking for, really, is a bunch of corroborating evidence that all points in the same direction,' said Chris Smith, a climate scientist at the University of Leeds. 'Then we’re looking for causality. And that will be really interesting.'” (our emphasis)
Scientists are looking at El Niño impacts to help gauge how much acceleration in warming there will be in 2024, and also at the distribution of extreme heat across the globe to measure human causality. In any event, no one is expecting the advent of a new ice age, with the impact of burning fossil fuels continuing to shroud the Earth in greenhouse gases. We may have already passed the point of no return in terms of curbing the warming climate, but we have to keep pushing for the reduction in carbon emissions and for the adoption of clean energy alternatives and energy conservation to level off these annual spikes in temperature.
Happy 2024!
As we usher in a new year, nearly two years after war criminal Putin brutally invaded Ukraine, most of us can only imagine the horror being experienced every day by the brave people of that country. Now, with winter upon them, and Russian bombs falling on their cities every day, we need to continue to focus our efforts on helping the suffering people of Ukraine as much as we can, to help them and democracy survive and thrive. Via The Philadelphia Inquirer, this is a (partial) list of verified charities that are helping the people of Ukraine. Please consider giving:
World Central Kitchen
What they do: They have served millions of meals and have teams active in hundreds of cities and towns in Ukraine. They have also built a logistics network of delivery vans, trucks, trains, and warehouses throughout the country, delivering millions of pounds of food to families—sometimes in areas completely cut off due to fighting and near the Russian border.
How you can help: There are many ways to donate to WCK; see their website. This is a registered nonprofit, so donations are tax deductible.
🌐 wck.org
Project HOPE
What they do: Founded in 1958,
Project HOPE responds to humanitarian emergencies and disasters.
Currently, according to the group’s website, the group is aiding those
in Ukraine by mobilizing its emergency teams and “sending medical
supplies and standing by to provide health screening and care for
refugees.”
How you can help: Donate on the group’s website. This group is U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.
🌐 projecthope.org
GlobalGiving
What they do:
GlobalGiving uses its funding to support local nonprofits working in
affected areas. Currently, “GlobalGiving’s local partners in Ukraine are
bringing relief to displaced families and people in high-risk areas.”
According to the group, your donation will support refugees with food,
shelter, and clean water, as well as providing health and psychological
support.
How you can help: Donate to the group’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund online. This group is U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.
🌐 globalgiving.org
UNICEF USA
What they do: Over 510,000 children have been affected by the conflict so far, and the UNICEF
emergency response is working to address their needs by preparing
health, hygiene, and emergency education supplies, as well as
distributing safe water to affected areas, providing children with
psychosocial care, and helping kids separated from their families. At
the moment, UNICEF is trying to raise $66.4 million to be able to
continue their programs and offer immunization, healthcare, child
protection, and cash assistance.
How you can help: Donate on the UNICEF website. UNICEF USA is U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.
🌐 unicefusa.org
International Medical Corps
What they do: International Medical Corps helped Ukrainians during conflict in 1999-2000 by delivering medicine and training more than 500 local doctors and medical staff. In 2014, they partnered with the Ukraine Ministry of Health to support mobile health services and train medical professionals on preventing and controlling infections. As the crisis develops, the International Medical Corps has added mental health counseling to the services available for the community.
How you can help: Donate on the group’s website. Donations to this organization are tax deductible.
🌐 give.internationalmedicalcorps.org
What they do: United Help Ukraine receives and distributes food donations and medical supplies to people in Ukraine. The group’s current priorities: Aiding Ukrainian soldiers and their families, helping displaced people from Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, and raising awareness of the current situation.
How you can help: Donate via PayPal, or by check payable to United Help Ukraine, Box 83426, Gaithersburg, Md., 20883. This is a registered nonprofit so all donations are tax deductible.
🌐 facebook.com/UnitedHelpUkraine.org
Revived Soldiers Ukraine
What they do: This nonprofit provides medical aid for people affected by military conflict. The group buys medication and medical supplies, helps support army hospitals, and works to improve the living standards for soldiers and their families.
How you can help: Donate directly through the group’s website, through PayPal or Patreon, or make it your preferred Amazon nonprofit, which donates 0.5% of the amount of your Amazon purchases to the group. This group is U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.
Sunflower of Peace
What they do: Sunflower for Peace
offers medical assistance to Ukrainian orphans, people displaced by
war, and people heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the
country. In February 2022, the group started asking for donations to
prepare first aid medical tactical backpacks for paramedics and doctors
on the front lines. These kinds of backpacks — usually handled by
Marines, special military forces, and military groups — are used to save
lives in areas without access to hospitals or emergency care.
How you can help: Donate on Facebook. This group is U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.
🌐 facebook.com/sunflowerofpeace
The KYIV Independent
What they do: The KYIV Independent
is an independent media outlet reporting in English. The organization
has been covering the Russia-Ukraine conflict, doing fact checking, and
reporting on human rights. Since the group is not affiliated with any
government and reports in English, it is becoming an important window
into what’s happening in Ukraine right now.
How you can help: Since its creation in 2021, The KYIV Independent runs mainly on donations. Donate through GoFundMe or Patreon.
🌐 kyivindependent.com
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews
What they do: This group runs an emergency program with $1 million in funding that helps the approximately 300,000 Jewish people in Ukraine. The fellowship
has staff and volunteers on the ground in Ukraine, and also funds the
country’s Jewish organizations to give Ukrainian Jews the chance to move
to Israel. Funds are also used to provide the Ukrainian Jewish
community with food, medicine, and heat. This group is U.S. registered,
so your donation is tax deductible.
How you can help: Donate online.
🌐 help.ifcj.org
Voices of Children
What they do: Voices of Children
provides psychological and psychosocial support to children affected by
war. Their main focus is on the front lines in the regions of Donetsk
and Luhansk. Donations help finance art therapy and mobile
psychologists, and help families in need.
How you can help: Donate directly on their website.
🌐 voices.org.ua
Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe (CARE)
What they do:
Created in 1945 to help people overcome the devastation of WWII, CARE’s
works to end poverty, and achieve equity and social justice worldwide.
In Ukraine, the group is working on providing girls, women, and elderly
people with water, food, and hygiene kits. They currently have a Ukraine
Crisis Fund specially focused on continuing their work in the country,
and providing psychological support, recovery, and cash assistance.
How you can help: Donate using a credit card or through PayPal on their website.
🌐 care.org
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
What they do:
The Red Cross’s International Committee provides shelter, food,
first-aid training, and humanitarian aid around the world. The group has
been supporting people in Ukraine for almost a decade and as the crisis
continues, they are adding to their help comfort kits for individuals
and families in need.
How you can help: Donate to the ICRC on its website.
🌐 icrc.org
American Red Cross
What they do:
In Ukraine, the American Red Cross is currently helping U.S. military
people and families deployed in the region. So far, they have sent 30
staff members to Europe to help U.S. military members in Ukraine connect
with their families back home, and are delivering hygiene items and
resources to service members and U.S. State Department staff abroad.
They can not help Ukraine with blood directly, because it can’t be sent
without special request from the U.S Department of State, the United
Nation, or other affected Red Cross networks.
How you can help: Donate on their website. They are U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.
🌐 redcross.org
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)
What they do:
The JDC has been helping the Jewish community around the world since
1914; for the last 30 years they have focused on helping Ukraine’s
Jewish population. They aid elderly Jewish people, children, and
families by providing food, medicine, and utilities. At the moment, JDC
is preparing to send psychosocial support to Ukraine as mass
displacements increase, as well as delivering food packages, and
providing online support.
How you can help: Donate on their website. They are U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.
🌐 jdc.org
____________________
If you are at all concerned about giving to these or any other charities, you can verify their authenticity by going to Charity Navigator, which evaluates charitable organizations. Thank you!
(click to enlarge)
Gun violence continues to curse America as we leave 2023 behind. With gun laws being loosened by right-wing State legislatures and local governments, and with the NRA-wired Republican / Shooters party blocking any meaningful legislation (ban on sale of assault weapons, magazine limitations, etc.), 2024 looks to be a replay of years past.
(cartoon: Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times-Free Press)
