Thread by @JBelcourt73

So we are now 172 days into a #GenocideOfUkrainians What keeps you going and dedicated, what do you do to recharge, what spirit animates you? What is something on your bucket list? Four really complex questions I will try to answer about myself. First, I made a promise to use my

ability to write to tag my leaders @JohnBoozman @SenTomCotton @RepFrenchHill every day to let them know I want them to support Ukraine. It is my biggest gift to Ukraine. At this point I think I have written more articles on the war than any journalist outside of Ukraine. It is

an admittedly weird record I never saw myself achieving. At this point though it's pretty self-sustaining. I spend time on twitter listening to different voices, often listening on @MriyaReport to find inspiration for the next day's essay. Which brings up question number

two how do I recharge? As will be seen later in the essay, I get a lot of energy from family, we are about to go to an aquarium to see sharks and penguins etc. I also really enjoy some me time playing #Battletech. I play table top (TT) and computer versions of the game. Question

three what spirit animates me? I am a geek at heart, I've often been told I should compete on Jeopardy but my knowledge is kind of focused. Though one area where I am admittedly a "loremaster" is #BattleTech a game I have been playing since 1985. It has the most richly developed

canon of any sci-fi franchise. Want to talk about the return of Kerensky's Children, the fall of the Star league that led Kerensky to flee the Inner Sphere in the first place? Oh yeah, I am your man. One day I hope to become a published #writer and achieve two things. First,

write my own sci-fi novel and second, get at least one piece published into the #Battletech canon and go from loremaster to loremaker. That would, frankly, be effing awesome. Not just because I love the game, but because I have inspired the same in my son. Here we are playing TT

Not the kind of urban combat the @JaysonGeroux and @SpencerGuard talk about but who knows maybe in the year 3028 there will be future versions of them pushing militaries to adopt the right skill sets for urban combat in an age of war where big stompy walking tanks are battling it

out. Question four is what is on my bucket list? As I have said before I want to stand in the shade of Yad Vashem and feel that the ghosts there recognize me as someone who would have been a fellow traveler with them had I been there. But even more important than that is figuring

out how to be a dad and getting it close enough to right that my son will leave bigger footprints than me. I enjoy the memory makers and doing things with him no one ever did with me. Here he is in front of an M60 tank. It's an earlier model of the tank I started in and it was

neat to let him see something that he could relate to his dad's past. October is right around the corner and #RendevousintheOzarks is coming up. We will spend several days at a massive #overland rally trail riding, going to classes/presentations, visiting vendors, camping under

the stars and generally having a grand ol' time. This will be the sixth year in a row we have gone. If he makes it into adulthood knowing his dad loves him, I will count that as a win. Now it's your turn. You don't need to answer me, but think about the questions. Think about the

Ukrainians who have to think about the questions and the ones who will never get to answer them. If you can spare some time, consider joining #NAFO and donating to the @georgian_legion it's a two-fer that both combats Russian dis-info and helps support a group that is actively

combats Russians. If you want to help more Ukrainians get to the point where they can think about and answer the questions donate to @MriyaAid or another reputable Ukrainian centered charity. You all have gifts, use them to make the world a better place, which I guess is another

spirit that animates me. I made my land into an actual nature preserve. I am sure development will overrun it at some point... but until it does the wild has a home where I do. Even as a conservative the #environment is important to me. I can only imagine the damage being done

to Ukraine's environment alongside what is being done to her people. Anyone have any good follows for Ukrainian voices on the environment? please tag me with them so I can follow. Thank you. Speaking of the environment, as if 2022 could not get any worse I learned a scary fact!

The Rhine has hunger stones put into the river hundreds of years ago to mark droughts that lead to famines. I had no idea such a thing existed. Well apparently, one surfaced that says, "if you see me then cry". Pray for rain to refill the rivers. Which BTW will help Ukraine sell

its grain to feed the world and ward off famine. We are all connected and so until Ukraine wins on Ukraine's terms, Slava Ukraini!
#novisasforRussia #russiaisaterrorisstate #Arkansas #Ukraine #Ukrainewillwin @mfa_russia <--- still losing and soon with no European vacations.

@threadreaderapp unroll please