BLESS HIS HEART. #DonTheCon does HOLY Week?????

This morning RantWoman woke up humming great musical masterpieces vaguely connected with her one experience of Baptist church camp.

"Many sons had Father Abraham..."

"Little Bunny Foo Foo hopping through the forest, picking up the field mice and bopping them on their heads. (Look, I KNOW, but if Quakers can do the Cows with guns song at community night, Baptists get head bopping bunnies Foo Foo.)

one where floating down a creek for God has been written into something RantWoman does not remember the actual title too.

Anyway, the PERFECT mood for interacting with current news streams about #DonPoorleone hawking customized versions of the Bible JUST IN TIME FOR HOLY WEEK.

TYT Biden Campaign Ad on the Jesus thing

TYT reports on Make America Pray Again

Ken Harbow Against all Enemies

Praise JAY-SUS. It's available in Large Print. I don't even want to know if there is an audio book version.

Stephen Colbert

Holy Week prayers for one simultaneously hiding under Constitutional protections and trying to tear up the Constitution

RantWoman, It's Holy Week. MUSTYOU?

Uh, #DonPoorleone was out in public comparing all his legal travails to the sufferings of Christ. Is that enough reason? 

Besides, what about if there is a prayer included? Seriously, hating that EX President guy takes too much energy. Hopefully there are at least a few people, maybe family members who truly love the EX President, but that is probably way too much for most of us. At LEAST we can pray for him.

This past weekend brough blizzard of social media chatter and YouTube videos about the possibility of NY Attorney General Letitia James seizing some of Defendant T's assets, mixed in with heartwarming pleas from son of the defendant to spare $5 or $10 or even $25. Even more touching was a plea from SC Senator Lindsey Graham to pray for the defendant and also for the country.

Ok, SOLD. Stealing inspiration from Fiddler on the roof:

"May the Lord bless and keep ... far away from the White House, top secret information, and everyone and everything most of us care about. May the Lord bring him in-depth psychological evaluation. May he be provided a winsome young woman who has taken a purity pledge--and karate classes--to read him daily passages assuring him that God loves him even if the liberal media, the deep state, and LOTS of people across the political spectrum definitely do not. May the Lord provide him, as soon as possible, retirment" circumstances befitting...

And furthermore, if at all possible, may everyone involved with Dude's legal matters, drink deeply from the suggestions here:

RantWoman suggests Extraordinary Relief

PS For Readers with even more energy to wade further into commentary, RantWoman offers samples from RantWoman's social media streams.

MSNBC Panel on events of the day

Glenn Kirschner on #DonPoorleone Monday in Court

RantWoman comments:

I am not a lawyer, a real estate finance wizard or a spycraft expert but I am not completely chagrined. Here is how I see today's action in the Civil Fraud case.

1. Reducing the bond to file an appeal is not the same thing as reducing the total fines and penalties.

2. Last week Judge Engoron (?) barred #TFG and sons from serving as officers in their company and placed all Trump businesses in NY under supervision by a retired Judge. That probably. That probably made it EXTREMELY difficult for Defendant T to do ANYTHING that would have helped him come up with bond in whole or in part. Today's action stayed the previous total ban on doing business in NY but left in place the supervision by the other judge. This probably means that T now has more options to arrange a way to pay the bond without for instance getting himself even more indebted to foreign interests than he may be now. It ALSO probably cuts down on his ability to siphon campaign funds to pay his legal bills and makes him have to draw on resources he supposedly has.

3. 10 more days of legal stuff will HOPEFULLY cut the level of campaign blather at least a little. Disinformation is gushing out all over the place but the RNC is broke. I have the impression that small donors are not charmed by pleas for even small contributions supposedly for his campaign but likely to go toward his bond and / or penalties for..cheating on his taxes.

4. #DonPoorleone is still leveraged out his ears and for good reason no one wants to do business with him, but at least now, if he loses on appeal, apparently he can forfeit his bond and the state of NY will get at least some of what they are owed.

Closing out,

Jon Stewart in highly unQuakerly vernacular

Various links about the Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow

#Russia #CrocusCityHall

RantWoman is just going to dump videos about the Crocus City Hall attack.

RantWoman may or may not get the links well organized with commentary.

Operator Starsky and Roman, Youtubers linked elsewhere on this blog are VERY clear for a number of reasons that there was at least Kremlin complicity. Huge difference from usual about security onsite, fire extinguishers, over an hour for response despite police station nearby.

Warning: descriptions of suspected torture by arrested suspects

Roman pretty fresh account

William Spaniel start with NAVAL issues

Democracy Now

TYT on the Crocus City Hall attack

France 24 in Enclish

DW Suspects in Custody after UNSC vote info

DW Whi us ISIS K

One of several sources that says NO known link between ISIS K and Ukraine

Campus Discernment 2.0

Invitation in March 2024 | Gleamings (Newsletter)

Campus Discernment Committee Wants to Talk With You

 

Cutting to the chase

 

In 2017, University Friends Meeting convened its first ad hoc committee for discernment about the future of our campus. That group identified four main options, which Friends considered in a retreat on September 16, 2017:

1. Sell our property and relocate.

2. Stay and retain the Meetinghouse, Quaker House, and parking lots as is.

3. Stay on our property and redevelop it entirely.

4. Stay on our property and redevelop part of it.

There are many non- and for-profit institutions that UFM could partner with for options 3 and 4.

Before we offer any possibilities other than the status quo, the current Discernment Committee wants to hear the ideas of every member of the UFM community. We will begin making phone calls to you in the next few weeks, once we have the most recently updated Meeting directory. We anticipate conversations of 15-25 minutes, so we'll make appointments to talk if necessary. Please do not contact the committee by email; we want to talk with Friends.

 

Here are the questions we would like to discuss with you:

1. What role do you think our campus should play in supporting the root work and purpose of University Friends Meeting?

2. What are your thoughts about any or all of the four options? Is there anything you're particularly concerned or excited about?

3. As UFM discerns what to do with its property, and when to do it, what do you think is important for us to keep in mind and pay attention to?

We look forward to hearing how everyone in our community feels about the future of our campus.

Campus Discernment Committee

The Committee Gratitude and hope.

RantWoman has omitted names because she does not feel like printing names without asking permission and does not feel like asking for permission to use names

RantWoman is also cautiously grateful about Friends willing to serve on this committee, with a couple observations.

RantWoman does not know whether to be relieved or chagrined to see that this round of discernment includes none of the people involved in the previous round of discernment. The majority of the previous committee was well under 60 at the time. The previous committee was clerked by a daring mom who thought that clerking 3 committees would definitely be doable on top of raising 3 young kids and a schedule that always to RantWoman seemed so entangled with Seattle traffic that RantWoman just found it impossible even to figure out mutually feasible timeline for communications.

RantWoman is happy to acknowledge challenge on her part, although RantWoman also notes that RantWoman speaking of her transportation realities generated what RantWoman interpreted as a blank stare from a member of the vaunted Care and Accountability Committee.

 

RantWoman has come to understand that, although the previous small  committee produced some very useful research, RantWoman is not the only person who felt excluded, disrespected. RantWoman would have started out what was certain to be a multi-year process differently and bitten into scope and range of topics to be considered differently.

RantWoman is particularly hot about the previous discernment not even touching major changes in public transportation in the area, both in terms of opportunities and very real concerns about physical safety and relation to transportation issues RantWoman sincerely hopes that the new process will take steps to engender more trust and to engage about transportation issues for a worship community.

RantWoman also noted a Friend on the previous committee whose name appeared in many places on the Meeting roster and probably continues both to be very good at gatekeeping and oblivious to how exhausting and silencing that can be. If that Friend recognizes their behavior, and is interested in talking further, RantWoman STRONGLY urges that Friend to see whether we can come to a mutually agreement about a clearness process for appropriate assistance.

RantWoman does note that all but one of the names on the current committee are Friends well past 60. RantWoman hopes that people new to the community will have more of a sense thant RantWoman had last time that their concerns and insights are at the very least heard, and preferably taken seriously and valued.

RantWoman notes the passing of several much older weighty Friends since the previous discernment. RantWoman feels no call to hide frustration with younger greener Friends attached to previous discernment. RantWoman also sincerely hopes for a much better sense of mutual learning!

 

Invitation accepted!

RantWoman received this invitation through one of the communications channels she is permitted to interact with. So RantWoman is going to interact!

Readers may already y have noticed, RantWoman has A LOT to say. RantWoman may or may not say it all in one blog post.

IN PARTICULAR, RantWoman will be VERY happy to interact with one or more of the current committee members named in the communication RantWoman received.

While RantWoman contact information has probably been erased from as many resources as possible, RantWoman is quite sure that people know how to reach her. In the absence of outreach, Readers are to expect continued commentary in this blog. RantWoman will TRY to work with followup phone calls, with the following additional comments.

Processwise, RantWoman cannot deal with the request above to handle everything with phone calls. RantWoman WELL understands that email can be problematic. RantWoman’s experience with oral communications is that she frequently feels unheard and like very important insights are simply blured out of oral conversations, particularly one on one, and particularly if the point of contact has a strong tendency toward gatekeeping or is simply at sea with unfamiliar concepts. RantWoman sometimes finds one on one interactions exhausting and really appreciates moments where shared wisdom lead to something greater than any individual brings alone..

Further jumping up and down about matters of disability, first, RantWoman needs to speak in practical terms, not just in floods of intellectualized rhetoric. RantWoman reminds readers that there are many reasons besides need for shared discernment why written communication can be FAR preferable to phone. So, SORRY not to respond as requested but also wanting to make VERY clear the fact of this response.

 

Responding to the questions:

1. What role do you think our campus should play in supporting the root work and purpose of University Friends Meeting?

2. What are your thoughts about any or all of the four options? Is there anything you're particularly concerned or excited about?

3. As UFM discerns what to do with its property, and when to do it, what do you think is important for us to keep in mind and pay attention to?

 

RantWoman considers a Quaker worshipping community is a valuable presence in the University District, both for the value of worship and as a voice of conscience amid many economic pressures and societal upheavals.

 

RantWoman is VERY excited that UFM is ready again to take up questions of property stewardship which have been kicked down the road several times over past decades.

 

RantWoman is concerned that discernment recognize the need for professional resources, including financial management, urban planning, and administration of whatever results.

 

Regarding option 1, Sell and move: Work done previously suggests this decision could have large dollar signs attached to it, with need to discern about how to steward the resources. RantWoman thinks a Quaker presence in the University District is really important. RantWoman thinks an interesting question might be what if some of the community calved off and went elsewhere? RantWoman has no clear leading to discern about that but is open at least to listening to others’ opinions.

 

Regarding Option2: speaking plainly, a DUMB idea, at least without taking a serious look at financial projections. Lots of old building issues. Need for greater accessibility. RantWoman is intrigued to know that after many bumps with previous tenants and then pandemic, the Friends meeting now has a long-term rental sharing space with a Buddhist congregation. RantWoman wonders how that would figure in any financial analysis.

 

Options 3 and 4: Honestly, if UFM is going to endure all the clamor that would come with any redevelopment, RantWoman would prefer to do all of the following: design in a worship space, perhaps on the top floor, redevelop the whole property, with a strong emphasis on housing, green building standards, and gardening or green space, and finally as one person previously suggested, get a variance to allow even more usable space than current zoning does. RantWoman would at least like to hear more about why the suggested variance would not work or would be a long shot.

 

Composting old HURTS

RantWoman DOES NOT APOLOGIZE for interacting in a way that composts A LOT of old hurts and DOES hope that her observations will be beneficial to the whole process.

RantWoman REPEATS her LONGSTANDING  concern that it is just GHOULISH to someone who has gone through a life-changing medical event in midlife that in the future the only thing in a community that she will be permitted to interact with is memorials. RantWoman in fact, can easily become INFURIATED that this stance is considered a KINDNESS. There have been quite a few memorials. RantWoman misses several Friends who have passed away. RantWoman does not know how to say kindly, though, that RantWoman is not going to miss a sense from some beloved figures that if they could not deal with a topic themselves, it does not need to be dealt with.

RantWoman also gratefully notes that some concerns have been handled just in the course of technological evolution and community adoption of new technologies. Still, RantWoman persists in her call to create an environment that MIGHT be more able both to welcome the gifts and contributions of others like her and to adapt to changing realities in the future.

RantWoman gets that for the sight-dependent, interacting with someone who just CANNOT DO all the things that sight dependent people take for granted is challenging Further, in the realm of a single standard of Truth, while modern workplaces come with strong expectations that people will at least BE WILLING TO LEARN how to work constructively with many different disabilities and life circumstances, no one is born knowing how to deal with such challenges. Sometimes RantWoman can be forgiving. Sometimes RantWoman is simply persistent. Add philosophical about concerns that afflict many parts of her life and for better or worse are not unique to Friends.

 

RantWoman thanks readers who have the fortitude to make it all the way through these thoughts and offers sincere good wishes for a productive process.

 

In Light and faithfulness

 

RantWoman

 

 

Redecorating Sen. Britt's kitchen.

    #SOTU #SOTU2024 #SOTUResponse

#WomensHistoryMonth

True Confession: RantWoman still has not watched President Biden's State of the Union address. RantWoman has seen enough clips at enough magnification to take note of Speaker Johnson's numerous facial contortions, even without any form of audible eyerolling. That said, RantWoman is still muddling around both Sen. Katie Britt's response and much commentary about her speech.

RantWoman is even indulging in a temptation to play political strategist.

For a reminder:

CBS Reporting and speech

RantWoman WILL have more to say below.

First, for a lot of RantWoman's complaints, see The Suburban Woman project

Some other comments

Against All Enemies: REpublicans screw themselves in one key voter segment

David Pakman: Katie Britt blames everyone but herself for disastrous speech

Commenting on a fundraising letter.

Blame the "Liberal left Media?"

--Uh, the speech was scorned all across the political spectrum.

They attacked my faith, my identity as a mother and a wife.

--Regarding faith, yup, a lot of the rest of the country views faith differently from the way it's seen in the Bible belt. One's faith, though, is very personal and should not depend on the slings and arrows of others. That said, if RantWoman were dressing Scarlett Johansen for an SNL parody bit, RantWoman would have considered giving her an even bigger cross than Sen. Britt wore. 

     On the other hand, if RantWoman were addressing hopes and fears of many different women in the US, RantWoman might use several different women explicitly of other faiths or of no faith BECAUSE many different women have hopes and fears in common. RantWoman is equal opportunity strategist because RantWoman can imagine both parties using the motif for their talking points.

--RantWoman does indeed hope that Sen. Britt's children go to schools where people do not make fun of their names but RantWoman would pin a different point: Sen. Britt presumes to speak for all parents and all children all over the US.Maybe start in AL.

--RantWoman has heard NO commentary about the wife identity. There is the matter of the kitchen setting about which more later.

"...country has descended into a dystopian nightmare..." RantWoman expects to hear more of this theme over the campaign. Who brought it on? What will fix it? Both questions open to discussion!

From Ted Crus's podcast, "attacked because I am a woman..a young Republican womman." 

--Katie, Katie, welcome to the female gender. Sorry.

--PS You know who else has campaigned as a mother? Sen. Patty Murray. Rep. Cathy mc Morris Rogers. Katie Porter. and probably several other members of Congress. As for how that has translated into policy, RantWoman is not prepared to say.

Ted Cruz: "They view you as an enormous threat..." 

--REALLY Ted, please DO NOT include me in your "they." DO NOT speak for me, EVER.

"The Liberal Media wants to bury the truth about Joe Biden and his border crisis,"

ROFLMAO. Just great, coming from one of the people who, after DECADES of the GOP dragging its feet about immigration legislation, negotiated a bill and then voted against it at the request of EX-President Gropesaurus. Immigration is no laughing matter; the comments here invite more SNL sketches.

RantWoman says WHAT?" 

The kitchen

People across the political spectrum are shocked, shocked, shocked and HORRIFIED that the speech is by a Senator and in a Kitchen. Come on people. Kitchens are power zones. Kitchens are places people talk about both what is good and what terrifies them. In keeping with the strength in diversity moment, though, as long as RantWoman were working with different women, RantWoman would also feature a range of kitchens including decor, other people and pets present...

A sampling of things people might be afraid of

--separating babies from their mothers

--people with families in different countries who can now visit because Pres. Biden undid that other guy's Muslim ban.

--Sure, there are some people who belong locked up anywhere but most just want wordauthorization and speedy resolution of asylum claims,

Health care

Infrastructure

guns and fentanyl

CNN Segment on AL and Sen. Britt

Listen to think about AL on many dimensions.

Brief moments of levity with Sens. Britt and Cruz before The Damage report excoriates Sen. Britt

Admittedly these comments are pretty sketchy but taking on all the topics in Sen. Britt's speech might be more important in some states than in others. If anyone wants to chat further, leave a comment....

Just here for the soap opera

RantWoman is once again sharing verbal hiccups from her current YouTube habit.

Forget all the legal mumbo jumbo. I am just here for the soap opera.

Seriously, MAYBE voters will be able to get everyone out of this mess. We absolutely have to try, but #DonTheCon is busy simultaneously hiding under the protections of the Constitution and doing everything he can to tear it up. He's not even promising to respect the will of the voters. In fact he has ALREADY lost the popular vote twice so maybe the third time's the charm and we will finally be able to send him into retirement.

Is the word "bloodbath" and all the other lies and accusations he is spewing in his speeches enough to get his bond revoked????

Alternatively, should someone file a petition to have him detained on mental health grounds. He can't stop confessing. Hecannot or will not comply with court orders. His civil case penalties make him extremely vulnerable to financial scams with national security implications. He is a clear danger to himself and others. Since he is not in any hurry to have trials anyway, can someone just file a petition for a long and thorough mental health evaluation in some secure location? If he is not available to campaign, oops well, the #GOP would have plenty of time before their convention to figure out options for another candidate.

I am neither a lawyer nor a qualified mental health professional so take my advice for what it's worth.

"Bloodbath?" Oh, really?

RantWoman is taking a little bit of a break from relentless ministry about matters of disability and inclusion. RantWoman has acquired a serious YouTube habit, and RantWoman sees no reason why readers of this blog should be deprived of RantWoman's insights just because they get splattered all over other venues.

(There are abundant videos about why US commentators are all hot about the word "bloodbath." RantWoman recalls all the Twitter trash talk early in #DonTheCon reign of error about nuclear weapons and fortunately no one got nuked. HOWEVER, RantWoman is still inclined, on top of all the lies and garbage EX PResident Gropesaurus has been spewing, to take the word seriously. Plus, the problem is not only #DonTheCon but also his Felon Choir.)

Enjoy?

The commentariat needs to get over their Trump Inevitability syndrome and start imagining and asking about other scenarios. What can / must voters do to ensure that Trump loses? How busy will his court calendar be when he does?

The #GOP needs to start loudly and publicly saying they WILL find another candidate. Hard to do if Trumplings have taken over the RNC, but surely lawyers and mental health professionals can find a way. This MUST come from the GOP. Can they or ordinary citizens petition Judge Chutkan? Can she revoke his release while the immunity case is pending? I assume there is no point in petitioning Judge Cannon, and I think it's too much to ask of Judge McAfee even though the scope of the cases before him would suggest it. Or should people just petition all the judges?

#DonThe Con is a danger to himself and to others. He is a danger to himself because he keeps blowing through lawyers and blowing lots of defenses. He is a danger to others because of death threats and swatting. Some of the time he appears to know right from wrong, but he is incapable of assisting in his own defense. Would a mental health hold sit better with MAGA than flat out pretrial detention? Worth trying.

How many hundreds of surveillance warrants and social media monitors would be needed to quash anything that might come up?

Another set of videos. Another one woman perspective shameless rant

#SOTU #SOTU2024 #SOTUResponse

#WomensHistoryMonth

#NancyMace #EJeanCarroll

content warming: rap survivors

First, RantWoman appreciates these two videos from Joy Ann Reid 

Joy Ann Reid: conservative women slam SOTU response

RantWoman is still just fine with Sen. Britt doing her #GOP #SOTUResponse segment from her kitchen, if the kitchen looked like an actual kitchen. RantWoman means to redecorate the kitchen theme in a separate post. 

Sen. Britt is somehow trying to speak about family issues; that is important even for modern two-career families. She totally LOST IT, though, as far as real policy rather than fear mongering. And her nauseating segment overflowing with lies and misrepresentation about sex trafficking completely blew away the credibility of anything she might have been trying to say.

Another thing: right toward the end, not shown in this segment, Sen. Britt went all in on "the blood of patriots."  RantWoman just about threw something at the screen, Yeah, and displaced indigenous people, and enslaved people. Like Nikki Haley, Sen. Brit tis trying WAY too hard to make all happy about historical struggles, struggles we all need to draw strength from, not just whitewash or sweep under the rug.

And then there is Nancy Mace and George Stephanopolous.

The whole- George Stephanopolous interview is weird and cringey. Given the history of accusations against Bill Clinton, George Stephanopolous is about the LAST person RantWoman would assign to do interviews about E Jean Carroll Of COURSE the large legal judgment make Carroll a sexy interview topic. In general it's very nice that Carroll has the money to hire lawyers and the resources to stand up to the public onslaught she is enduring. NO one should minimize her experience but at a certain point the public immersion in her story makes one want to scream "You are NOT the only rape survivor on the planet." #DonTheCon is not going to stop defaming, denigrating, promoting further abuse of women and that is only one reason he belongs NOWHERE near any position of authorityLarge financial settlement or no, RantWoman also does not think it was appropriate for Nancy Mace to minimize Carroll's experience, but here we are.

EVERY supporter of #DonTheCon, not just outspoken rape survivors should be asked how they feel about the presumptive GOP nominee being a serial sex predator. That should not fall all on either Nancy Mace or E Jean Carroll.

The timing of this interview right after Sen. Britt's #SOTUResponse to me makes a perfect storm of ways to illustrate every #GOP weakness imaginable regarding women. But stay tuned. We are definitely not done with sexism and gender dynamics.

Sen. Britt SOTU Response Speech scorned from all sides.

#WomensHistoryMonth #WomensHistoryMonth2024

#SOTU #SOTU2024 #SOTUREsponse

Trigger warning:: #Rape. explicit mention of sex trafficking #Xenophobia

Editing warning: this post is even more raggedy than many RantWoman posts. RantWoman has decided to go ahead and post the raw material while she tries to comb several strands of thought into their own pieces.

Enjoy?

Urk. Update

Gabe Sanchez on the Jonathan Katz story about LIES

JOrdan Klepper reports

Reps. Lee and Crockett

The Journalist who fact checked Sen. Britt

MSNBC and Charlie Kirk: Sen. Britt should stop doubling down on the wrong thing to do

Okay, okay, RantWoman has finally realized she should watch the whole entire Sen. Katie Britt #SOTU response before going off based only on almost universal scorn from commentators across the political spectrum. 

RantWoman is going to do the best she can to slide into the easy points and to salvage what themes she and hopefully others will pay attention to and not sink further into a disgusting swamp that makes RantWoman's head explode.

First the kitchen setting:RantWoman bucks the trend.

1. MANY comments focus on "tradwife" imagery and wonder why a US Senator offers a speech from a kitchen and even worse from a kitchen that looks like no one has ever cooked anything, spilled anything, or eaten anything in it. RantWoman is on the side of DO NOT devalue all the work that gets done in kitchens even if it is "traditional women's work" RantWoman took grave issue with the Hillary Clinton "well I could have stayed home and baked cookies" comment in 2008 when she and Laura Bush were exchanging chocolate chip cookie recipes There is NOTHING wrong with Senators being in the kitchen,especially when everyone knows full well that Senators are all kinds of places besides the kitchen

2. As long as everyone is complaining about the decor, RantWoman would: 

--add a potted plant

--add a pet wandering in in solidarity with all the pets people met on virtual meetings during the #pandemic

--Add a husband in the background DRYING DISHES. Real men CAN do household tasks. Sharing what makes a household work is one way LOTS of families cope with current economic stresses.

The speech does nothing to squelch RantWoman's fear that everyone everywhere who is concerned about women's bodily autonomy should run away from the #GOP as fast as possible.

With that as an intro: here is the full video and then links from the commentariat..

RantWoman notes: the pink theme of the CBS panel, note that Sen. Britt did not mention #DonTheCon even once.

Also NOT A WORD about gun violence

or strength in diversity.

Or, thankfully, #DragQueenStoryHour

Readers who prefer to avoid disgusting treatment of sexual violence should consider all of the commentaries linked below.

Joy Ann Reid panel pans the speech

John Flugelsang "Cynical attempt to appeal to women and younger people they have no interest in."

John Flugelsang: "this will generate a lot of votes for the Democratic party."

Katie Britt is 100% anti-abortion so she would require a victim of sex trafficking to have her rapist's baby

observations about @SpeakerJohnson facial expressions, something RantWoman w0ould not even have looked for if someone had not pointed out the visuals.

Brian Tyler Cohen and Tim Miller

Hyperbole "Career Goes down in Flames?"

breathy delivery and creepy camera work

Why the response is hard to do.

(Biden on shrinkflation and credit card fees have their limits as an economic strategy.)

They set her up for failure.

We don;t need America's mom. 

Be a Girl Boss

IVF vs abortion. Says she is for but 125 members of the house have signed onto a bill to ban it.

[Contrast with Tommy Tuberville?]

#GOP still not sure how to deal with women.

Swing voters vs MAGA base.

CNN Panel

The View

Cenk Uygur

Hilarious

Morning Joe

A chilling reminder...I cannot believe that is what most Americans want,

Rachel Maddow Background on the border bill

Gabe Sanchez on Katie Britt SOTU response

Roland Martin collects parody bits

More modest remembrance of Asia Bennett than this weeks farewells to Alexei Navalny

#WomensHistoryMonth #WomensHistoryMonth2024

This bus stop near Meeting was in remarkably good condition today,
especially compared to many past visits
documented in passing in this blog.
RantWomanblames cellphone oopses
for lack of a more topical photo

Today was Asia Bennett's memorial. 

Asia Bennett Seattle Times Obituary

Asia Bennett Seattle Times Obituary

Thematic comments:

1. For a faith tradition founded on the equality of Women, (see Margaret Fell) and credited historically with important connections to suffrage movements, only in the 20th century was Asia credited with being "the first woman to..." for a number of different Quaker organizations. Asia spent the early part of her career working in childcare. Her family's bio reported that she at some point noted how much dealing with toddlers--and their parents--prepared her for the many different leadership and personnel roles she took on within various Quaker organizations.

[RantWoman sometimes carries around in her head thoughts such as "a woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle." When RantWoman observes long-lasting marriages where deep love is obvious, though, RantWoman also firmly believes in supporting the partnership behind leaders so special Light and appreciation for Lee, Asia's husband of almost 77 years.] 

2. LOTS of people talked about Asia's capacity to listen. RantWoman meant particularly to note Vanessa Julye's comment about Asia's role in supporting Vanessa's early steps in the work of addressing racism within the Society of Friends. These thoughts did not make it out of RantWoman's mouth as a message in worship. They WILL be part of thoughts in another post only hinted at here.

3. LOTS of people commented about how Asia asking a question helped direct them toward or away from different forms of witness: aiming for revolution vs getting married, accepting AFSC staff vote to unionize consideration that the organization had a decades-long commitment to supporting unions, engagement about diversity with out LGBT Friends.

4. RantWoman admits to a little bit of frustration about mention of issues in days of yore with scant thought that some of those same issues are very much still throbbing, sometimes in new, highly mutated forms in the life of the world. One of Asia's gifts to the world is to plant seeds for helping new generations find paths among these challenging realities.

5. Inclosing,possibly weird advice to young people new to Friends: GO TO MEMORIALS. Even if you barely know the deceased and are afraid of not knowing a soul from your own generation, GO TO MEMORIALS. Learn. Okay, Asia famously told someone awed by Quaker weddings "oh wait until you see the memorials."

Techie notes.

1. RantWoman has special tirades related to memorials and visits UFM intermittently. Today aside from the bus shelter in LOVELY condition, . the visit revealed QR codes???? RantWoman loves the pblishers of Truth in whatever is the medium of the day. RantWoman is just not sure about QR codes on info sheets on a bulletin . board.RantWoman hopes the QR codes do what is intended. She also hopes the bar codes do not scare away people annoyed by bar codes or by the implication that one must be fluent in particular technologies to be a good Quaker.

2. Even at in-person events, RantWoman LOVES, LOVES, Loves signing into Zoom on her phone with audio disconnected in order not to interfere with room sound. RantWoman just LOVES knowing who all is on the Zoom. (RantWoman kind of means to experiment about these issues on other video conferencing platforms. 

3. RantWoman definitely appreciates evolution and continuing revelation about the world of movable mics and Room amplification in the world of hybrid / blended Zoom meetings. RantWoman also tartly remembers the first incarnation of a UFM committee on disabilities: there was a survey. There were minimal requests of the surveyors in Meeting for Business from anyone, alas including RantWoman. But great success was noted because of the next iteration of efforts to ensure that people, such as Asia, with hearing loss, could hear better. RantWoman has no desire to minimize these efforts. However, RantWoman CONTINUES TO TAKE SERIOUS ISSUE with the limitations of that as an approach to addressing matters of disability.