#Ukraine #Russia #GrainMarket
Grain not moving out of Russia. Silos are full and there are no ships willing to pick it up.
Hits continue on Russian oil production, Wildberries consumer goods warehouses.
Russia losing 20-30 long haul vehicles per day.
This is what a war of attrition looks like.
Stuff on missile requests starts about minute 19:40
#NavalDeployment #Logistics
In case anyone needs some "do not build this" pointers
#Russia #Ukraine #shipping
#USSAbrahamLincoln #SecDef #AirForceOne
Dude speaks RantWoman's mind, though RantWoman would not be nearly as salty-tongued about it.
lexicography digression: "salty" used to mean basically foul-mouthed. Now "salty" often just means angry, PO'ed... RantWoman mainly has in mind the older usage.
RantWoman is not going to hold back on the other side.
#Ukraine #Russia #PatriotMissiles #Boeing
Sooo, are all the assaults on the global oil and gas trade enough to re-energize moves away from dependence on fossil fuels and toward decarbonization????
Are US defense contractors afraid of Ukraine making Patriot missiles more cheaply than the US does?
#SCpol
Tomorrow is the SC #GOP Senate Primary.
First, a debate video.
Adventures of RantWoman: Spectator in Someone Else's Election: the SC GOP Senate primary
RantWoman's instinct is "vote for the woman." RantWoman would SO prefer that Darline Grham had focused more on her experience working in state government in SC than on national GOP talking points.
HOWEVER, here is how Annie Andrews, the Democratic candidate describes the rest of the SC primary field in a fundraising email entitled "Quite the Lineup"
Someone endorsed by Trump, and utterly unqualified.
Dr. Andrews is referring to Darline Graham, younger sister of the late Lindsay Graham.
RantWoman's reaction: "Oh HELL NO." You do not get to proclaim someone with decades of leadership experience in state government unqualified either because of her pedigree or because of her gender. Oh HELL NO!
Someone who lied about being on the Appalachian Trail, while he was actually having an extramarital affair.
Someone with a career of votes against the healthcare, food assistance, and public schools South Carolina families count on.
Quite the lineup, right?
Here's a wild idea: a Senator who's spent her career caring for the communities she’s running to represent, who’s honest, and who will vote to protect your family.
I'm a pediatrician and a mom of three. I've spent decades taking care of kids in this state, I don't take a dime of corporate PAC money, and I'm not running to be another rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s chaos — I'm running for you.
But here's the reality: Whomever Republicans pick out of that mess tomorrow walks away with a multi-million war chest, Trump's machine, and super PACs behind them. The only way we'll be ready to meet that is if our grassroots movement builds up strength — right now.
RantWoman votes in WA, not in SC
RantWoman still thinks it would be just fine if there were two women on the SC Senate ballot.
In the meantime, RantWoman is not sending anyone any money in this race!
#Iran #Israel #Oman #negotiations
From Belle
Let's talk about Iran giving Trump new demands….
From Cenk Uygur
BREAKING: More DISASTROUS News About the War! No Way Out?!
#Iran #StraitOfHormuz #commodities #Houthis
In case anyone is tempted to take US Secretary of the Treasury seriously about world trade.
OR is Secretary Bessent trying to deflect attention to some ship movement, some or all of which may be covert, eg sailing "dark."
#Ukraine #Russia #WildBerries #OilProduction #PersianGulf #Iran #NorthKorea #BallisticeMissiles #Europe
RantWoman is posting two videos with divergent themes in one post for convenience.
Terminology note: WildBerries is described as the Russian version of Amazon. Its CEO is a Russian guy who lives in China
RantWoman should probably find a less snarky way to suggest that there have to be better ways out of fossil fuel dependence than the current war(s)
How do President #StableGenius and fam want to make money in Ukraine
#Iran #Oman #MoU #InternationalLaw #WarRiskInsurance
NO military solution but will President #StableGenius find the off ramp???
#Russia #Kazakhstan #Ukraine #China
Serious counterpoints to Russian propaganda point
What? No Blue Angels on Saturday?
Blue Angels air show canceled Saturday at Seafair due to wind | The Seattle Times
Wind gusts of up to 15 mph?
Neither RantWoman nor Little Sister has EVER heard of the Blue Angels being cancelled because of wind.
Was it REALLY wind?
Not grumpy citizen chatter about noise or surface to air missiles?
Not hacking by the IRGC?
Not a sudden urge to cut back on things like fancy air shows so that the #DoD really truly can afford all the latest war?
Not reticence about whether we even need fighter planes if everyone is busy hitting each other with better and fancier drones?
Shush RantWoman. Settle down and enjoy the peace and quite.
But Wait, videos for people who really LIKE air shows.
This must have been the Friday show.
Blue Angels July 2026 Seattle SeaFair
For anyone who might actually think a ride-along is FUN
KOMO's Molly Shen takes flight with the Blue Angels over Seattle
A few seconds here and there that might evoke motion sickness.
Listening to some of the details of the different maneuvers, RantWoman will NOT comment about the 15mph wind cancellation
Seattle Seafair Blue Angels Airshow 2026
But wait! Couldn't we put some of that flying talent to work fighting wildfires? Just wondering.
#Ukraine #Russia #Oil #EnergyEconomy #Crimea
Ukraine attacks on Russian oil production facilities and energy market
#LindsayGraham
Lindsey Graham Gets Eulogized, the DNC Gets Scammed & the War in Iran Gets Reheated | The Daily Show
Spoiler alert: get started wth Jordan Klepper.
"Lindsay never met a war he didn't like."
Chair of the Finance Committee with a big hand in the Big Bad Bonkers Budget Busting Billionaire Bailout Boondoggle
RantWoman is trying to locate a Lindsay Graham memorial clip talking about all the money the late Senator Graham was able to bring home to SC: Lord help us. The words come from PResident #StableGenius or at least one of his speechwriters.
Being in sync with local SC needs--and federal tax dollars--is probably one of Darline Graham's greatest strengths. Unfortunately, is this orientation going to get her tarred in a primary campaign that now features a total of SIXTEEN candidates all probably vying to prove how anti-tax and eager to cut spending they are?
WATCH LIVE: Lindsey Graham funeral service held in South Carolina
Please at least appreciate this for the cultural phenomenon of a Southern Megachurch.
Pretty rocked up rendition of Amazing Grace
FULL: Lindsey Graham funeral service at Washington National Cathedral
"Lindsay Graham never met a war he didn't like." ???
1. The SENSE OF THE MEETING at NPYM's annual session is clearly to go forward in steps to affiliate with Friends General Conference. This was not by a long shot only RantWoman's doing, but RantWoman is clear in her Light two years ago to listen to a Friend from Missoula and Friends were well-led in two years of discernment over a topic that first arose 20 years ago.
2. It does NOT seem to RantWoman that the room was at unity since one Friend spoke unambiguously about not being in unity with the movement but also not wanted to be recorded as a separate voice. RantWoman is going to risk mishearing this Friend's concern based on what RantWoman knows of this Friend's Light: the specific concern expressed was about Friends getting drawn too much into themselves.
One Friend noted that FGC does have space for dialogue among the many strands of Quakers. RantWoman is not clear how that point might speak to the Friend who spoke and who has strong ministry beyond the bounds of Quakers but RantWoman did not jump up and down about nuances not expressed in the room when minutes were edited.
RantWoman somewhat shares this Friend's concerns since RantWoman is also called to be a Quaker presence in many spaces where that is challenging. It is not always clear to RantWoman whether another Quaker project is where she is most called to spend energy. RantWoman is also VERY grateful to Friends in a writing workshop through FGC who just held the space one time when RantWoman just needed to sob about very visual metaphors.
3. Friend have spoken with great respect about FGC anti-racism work and youth resources
4. To RantWoman's ear one thing which helped the room find unity was clear statements from two Friends about how FLGBTQC and in particular Friends' space for transgender concerns supported them in important conversations with loved ones about life experience and transgender realities.
5. RantWoman very much appreciates voices from FGC present in person and on Zoom to up hold the Clerk. RantWoman also appreciates many FGC resources.
6. One of these days, RantWoman is going to summon "Dial-a-Tirade" about Quaker books with no audio book options. Quakers have to get in line, though. The blind author of a book about non-drivers also had to do extra steps and the audio version of a book aimed at lots of people with disabilities appeared months after the print edition of the book appeared. And if Quakers have to wait in line about this particular sample of RantWoman "good trouble," OH WELL. RantWoman will though start with steps to figure out whether any of Mateo Hansen's books are available in alternate formats.
7. Friends should all celebrate: Quaker capacity for public word-smithing is alive and well and the questions of unity, unity with spirit, sense of the meeting, and consensus thrive as a zone where Quakers are very good at the local version of angels dancing on the head of a pin. RantWoman as a former Recording Clerk also always holds in the Light the person brave enough for public editing.
#Ukraine #Iran #Russia #Israel #CaspianSea
RantWoman posts these two items just to note one of many events in sequence.
#SimpleMeal #AI
Dear Readers
RantWoman has plenty of tirades available. First though, RantWoman invites readers interested in very down-to-earth projects supported by a Quaker organization to go straight to
Right Sharing of World Resources | Equity & Community Development
sign up for the email list and find the link to donate.
From now on, RantWoman is probably going to repeat this exhortation every year when NPYM Annual Session invites Friends to a "simple meal" of beans, rice, and this year greens.
RantWoman eats beans and rice all the time. RantWoman eats beans and rice enthusiastically, with lots of variation. RantWoman just cannot get into the idea of making a special effort to eat beans and rice. Bon Appetit to all Friends drawn to this exercise.
The main subject of RantWoman's tirade: CoPilot. The Microsoft AI powered search engine. Other perpetrators of AI do the same thing. Somewhere down a couple paragraphs, if one is lucky and persistent, one can find the actual link one precisely asked for. BUT FIRST, please enjoy at least two paragraphs of slop to WASTE ONE'S TIME. And for this we are supposed to want to assign all our land and water and ... to big tech companies to build more data centers? Absolutely Freaking NOT!
#Kazakhstan #Ukraine #Russia #Tokayev
RantWoman's attention has somewhat been elsewhere, but the carnage, corruption, and intrigue continue. Kazakhstan's President Tokayev telling Putin off is something notable.
#ICE #Minneapolis
Posted with admiration and the admonishment about need to inspire more resistance everywhere and among everyone of good will.
For the record:
1. RantWoman is a judgmental WITCH about any event where a law enforcement officer gets hit in or near the eye because a protestor throws a rock. Doesn't matter the protest. Doesn't matter if the protest is about odious and despicable official behavior. RantWoman as a legally blind / blind / low vision (choose a label) person is just a judgmental WITCH.
2. RantWoman is also a judgmental witch about everything to do with ICE. RantWoman is happy to pray that all will immediately repent, re-evaluate their lives, and work for real justice.
3. RantWoman has gone to jail more than once for actions related to protesting. Every single time, RantWoman winds up reflecting on her own privilege, By privilege, RantWoman means not only big differences between her life and the lives of others around her but also the number of potentially awkward moments when RantWoman hears "Good for you." See also the history of early Quakers going to prison for practicing their faith and turning into giant prison reformers. What will that bode, for Jacob and for everyone following his case.
With that as intro:
from the Daily Bulletin at Annual Session
Dear NPYM Friends,
We dropped our son Jacob Hoopes off at prison in Sheridan, Oregon, this afternoon. Our hearts are heavy, but our spirits are buoyed up by the tremendous love and Light that has been pouring in from all corners of the Earth. Thank you, more than words can say.
We have updated the https://www.900daysoflight.com/ webpage (copy and paste the url) with a brief video of Jacob, which he filmed before surrendering himself. As we said our farewells, Jacob showed his extraordinary courage, present-mindedness, and mettle. I believe in him. And thanks to so much love from so many supporters, he believes in himself, too.
Onward, with love overflowing,
Tom Hoopes
Robert Jacob Hoopes
#98782-511
P.O. Box 6000 – Camp
Sheridan, OR 97378
Spoiler alert: apparently many Friends were wondering whether a certain Friend had perhaps fallen ill. Conflict is a Gift of God Friend was attending a family wedding and did show up in the closing Zoom.
But wait, there's MORE.
Bless your heart to the Friend whose message of hope and reminiscence of events 20+ years ago also, probably unintentionally, summoned Conflict is a Gift of God Friend to RantWoman's mind. The memory: very lumpy ground. Conflict is a Gift Of God Friend dragging RantWoman and newly adopted white cane across lumpy ground instead of respecting RantWoman's preference for reasonable concrete on the sidewalk.
This was only the first of several Grab the Blind Person and Bless Them moments before RantWoman decided just not ever to try to go walking with Conflict is a Gift of God Friend.
#Economy #SNAP #Affordability
A fresh new crop of lies to bust through.
The base that voted for President #StableGenius is going to take a heavy hit from all the health care medicare cuts and jumps in gas prices, food.
#Iran #Ukraine #russia #NorthKorea
#StraitOfHormuz #BabElMandab #BlackSea #PanamaCanal #ArcticRoute #EuropeanRiverSystem #ClimateChange #Russia #Ukraine
#SCpol #DisabilityPrideMonth #SenatorGraham
RantWoman would LOVE to see an all-women Senate Race in SC.
But RantWoman, aren't you being sexist or WOKE or #DEI?
1. People decide all-men races are just fine all the time. It's women's turn. Plus, I dunno, maybe women's insight can help wring justice and accountability out of endless Epstein sludge. But first, get through the primary OF COURSE
2. Woke?
Yep. During the #DonSnoreleone administration, candidates who can stay awake are already ahead of the game.
3. #DEI?
Dignity Enthusiasm Integrity?
Dedication Excellence Influence?
Diligence Equality Investment?
Disability Eagerness Initiative.
What's not to like?
Judging by the interview here, newly appointed Senator Graham already sounds like an astute politician, so much so that RantWoman is going to have to work to contain her reflex desire for anyone endorsed by President #StableGenius to LOSE.
No, that also is not automatically an endorsement. RantWoman has resolved not to give money to partizan campaigns but will definitely be supporting projects to get people registered, fight vote suppression, and stay on top of any efforts to subvert the election process.
RantWoman will also be treading carefully about hopes for voices that undo many of the worst most inhuman policies of the current administration.
Watch the Darline Graham interview. Skip the Mitch McConnell death watch.
#SCpol #GOP #Senate
from elsewhere on Planet RantWoman
Adventures of RantWoman: The President endorses Lindsay Graham's sister in the SC GOP Primary.
True confession: RantWoman is usually THRILLED when a candidate who President #StableGenius has endorsed goes down in flames. In this case RantWoman would be thrilled to see a #GOP woman face off against a Democratic woman. But RantWoman's BS detector kicked in hard once, though. Speaking plainly, a CLUELESS Democratic pol ran for Secretary of State against a #GOP candidate who not only ran elections impeccably but also was well informed about the Talking Book and Braille library, under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of State.
RantWoman has no opinion about what it would take for Senator Graham to win a primary or how to stay competitive in a general election, but yeah two women on the ballot would be COOL!
#Iran #Jordan #Kuwait #SaudiArabia #Desalinzation #MemorandumOfMisunderstanding #EnergyEconomy #WarCrimes
Congress DO SOMETHING. President #StableGenius is going to keep doing this get awar with as much as possible without having to go to Congress.
"Neither side wants total war but neither side is able to extract itself."
#Russia #Ukraine
A new mobilization?
Proposal to (revive the Soviet tradition and) reintroduce exit visas
"Baby born. Doing fine." Oh Wait, the anniversary of the first test of a nuclear bomb.
No. Not the dawn of the nuclear age. A birthday RantWoman remembers because it is close to her own and a celebration of the wonderful opportunity to read memorial minutes online with the tools RantWoman needs instead of in tiny and sometimes faint print on a wall or in a notebook at annual session. Put a pin in that point when RantWoman gets to other points below. Put a pin also in points where people are actually DOING THINGS RIGHT so that when RantWoman points out a PROBLEM the world does not melt down. RantWoman is speaking to her own experience. Other people do not get a vote about RantWoman's experience, but if asked nicely, SOMETIMES RantWoman will titrate how much experience she generously shares with others.
(RantWoman followed the last few weeks of Ann's life on CaringBridge. At a certain point, although the medical details were different from RantMom's departure to other realms, RantWoman noticed that things were not headed in a good direction and just held in the Light.)
With that, the actual minute.
Ann Stever memorial minute draft.docx - Google Docs
No. RantWoman. No. Remember what happened last time you went to a giant memorial for a very weighty Friend?
RantWoman and the RSOF: Agnes Schmoe
Okay for comparison:
People noticed RantWoman arrived with white cane and offered her seating close to the entrance because the room was already packed.
Check and check, with the added detail of someone handy to put out more chairs.
Sound quality and audio issues.
For Friend Ann's memorial, RantWoman made it through the whole event without standing up and yelling a request for everyone to use the mic.
Is RantWoman reformed about need to correct people about this? Not exactly. People offering ministry had a microphone. People offering ministry in the room still did not manage to be as audible as the voices from Zoom fed into the PA system. But now there are Zoom captions. One can log into the Zoom meeting, disconnect audio in order not to generate feedback, and let captions fill one's whole phone screen, which if RantWoman holds the phone close enough to her face can be read. The captions are still Zoom captions, but Zoom actually picks things up even if voices do not come through well. Mostly also, there was just so much love in the room that RantWoman decided getting every single word did not matter.
RantWoman mostly has words of things that stuck in her mind from the time of Ann's passing and Ann's memorial
Two musical offerings stick in RantWoman's mind. Early in the memorial.
John Denver - Annie's Song (from The Wildlife Concert)
Annie's Song - Lifein3D (John Denver cover)
The song spoke so elegantly to how RantWoman has felt in early stages of grieving.
Most of the ministry fluttered through RantWoman's mind without sticking.
One moment made RantWoman smile: one of Ann's step son, RantWoman is not sure which, spoke of the time when pairings were getting rearranged, something like "I already have two moms. I am not sure about a third one." RantWoman also remembers Dorsey in the past sharing how much Ann enriched her stepsons' lives.
Many Friends spoke about Ann's attention to detail, focus in organizing, and a feeling that each person in a conversation is important.
There were also MANY messages about Ann's gift for nonverbal communications. Here is where RantWoman had a fabulous after the party emotional eruption. Oh COURSE. RantWoman is acutely aware both of the importance of nonverbal communications and the fact that, while probably never very good at nonverbal communications, after certain medical events, RantWoman was definitely a LOT worse about them.
Does anyone besides RantWoman see two problems:
One: the missed communications channel
Two: everyone's inability to see this might be a problem, a tendency to declare the problem off topic and ...
There. Eruption over, at least in Ann's direction.
It's fun to think of Ann's enthusiasm for sports.
Mention of Smith college has made RantWoman think more than fits into this meditation about women of different generations, what was / is expected of them, and what they expect(ed) of themselves.
And the other musical note that rings so true about Ann.
PS Deviled Eggs are a perfect item for a memorial reception and RantWoman blesses everyone who had a hand in the abundance.
The following bout of RantWoman Unfiltered (more unfiltered than usual) brought to you by ...
BLINDNESS. Literal physical blindness and low vision. Journalistic blindness when too many media voices are ready to skip journalistic norms and hop on the lattest horse running around
Adventures of RantWoman: Contacts Matter. So does competence
RantWoman's points:
Perhaps the late Senator Graham respected his sister's work and listened when she and a few dozen blindness advocate friends came knocking.
RantWoman can't decide whether even to care about half the male sex workers in the District of Columbia talking about "Lady G" and his thing for red undergarments. But then RantWoman is from Seattle and has been known to go to events involving blind people from many parts of the US and announce "I am (RantWoman) and I am going to tell you about my pronouns whether you think you want to know or not.
Will the newly appointed Senator Graham deviate from her brother's foreign policy fixations? Will having a bigger forum help keep the needs of #PWD in the public's eyes?
STAY TUNED.
#MEpol #AbolishICE #ICETrailOfDeath #CathOfTheDay
I love Lawrence O'donnell.
All day RantWoman has simply said "May God rest the soul of Lindsay Graham."
RantWoman wishes to congratulate herself for finding some words that seem more centered than dancing on someone's grave or hoping that their soul is dragged into hell.
But wait. Could it be a conspiracy? Senator Graham reportedly died of sudden cardiac arrest. RantWoman's febrile mind leapt to LOTS of Russian oligarch's falling out of windows and dying of "sudden cardiac arrest." Did this kind of death bug bite Senator Graham. What WILL the tox screen say?
But along comes this video: Faux Snooze has to interrupt their tribute to Sen. Graham to announce...more bombing in Iran.
Perfect. Just Perfect. More bombing to remember a glib warmonger. Just perfect.
#Ukraine #Russia
More indication that the war is going badly for Russia.
#Senate #KYpol #McConnell
Speedy recovery?
The whole internet is full of people with medical credentials saying various versions of "Not Bloody likely."
The norm in modern hospitals is to kick people out as quickly as possible for many many conditions. If the good Senator were a regular person, most likely he would already have been kicked out to Skilled Nursing or dumped into the lap of family ordered to find an appropriate placement. But no.
Instead, we have multiple voices asserting that they had 20-minute conversations? Was it REALLY the Senator and not AI? Was it 20 minutes of raise one finger for a yes vote and two fingers for a no vote.
Is it gauche just to say
"May God rest Mitch McConnell's soul and may he not be forced endlessly to suffer in the hospital"?
The internet of course is also full of various versions of "May he be dragged immediately to hell to burn forever."
But what if the #GOP, instead of demanding proof of life, just started singing his praises, lauding every outrageous thing that Mitch has pulled off. Play recordings about this in his hospital room daily. Convince him that he has done, cough, so much for the US already and there are others who can carry on the fight.
RantWoman is not proud that it would be fine with her if the good Senator remains on life support and cannot vote anymore BUT KY voters absolutely deserve full competent representation.
#Israel #Counterintelligence #Spycraft
More on the theme of Israel is NOT a friend of the US and there is NO WAY the US should be merging military with a country with such a horrible human rights record.
Greatest hit conspiracy theories: 9/11 October 7 with details to back up the conspiracy themes.
RantWoman definitely remembers the atmosphere of 2001 as a civilian contractor at a certain large aircraft company. LOTS of people clearly knew something was up.
It would be nice if a certain Congressional campaign featured constructive discussion about the issues raised here.
#StraitOfHormuz #BlackSea #Caribbean #RedSea #NarcoTrafficking #EnergyEconomy
#Iran #Shia #Israel
12 million people in the streets of Tehran. As TYT puts it, probably the largest funeral ever in the history of humanity.
What? The Iranian people don't like being bombed and foreigners bombing the country generated a Rally Around the flag effect? Imagine that.
RantWoman does not dispute the body counts and issues raised by Cenk about Israel but also finds it unsatisfying to completely ignore everything to do with global oil / energy markets.
#StraitOfHormuz #Iran #China #Russia #India #JonesAct #Japan
Description text captures key summary points
#CadetBoneSpurs
Malcolm Nance goes off from a very historic vantage point.
Malcolm Nance declares independence from this traitorous regime
As the US stumbles into the 251st year since the signing of the declaration of independence, RantWoman offers the following half-formed reflections:
1. Whatever one thinks of the whole text and circumstances of the Declaration of Independence--and there is a lot to think--it matters to take at least one day a year to reflect on where the country has been, where it is, where it is going. We are not required to LIKE the reflections but it matters to do them.
2. RantWoman is a grownup and is perfectly capable of using a search engine to round up some videos of celebrations in the small communities of this country, the kind of celebration where the volunteer of the year rides in a convertible ahead of the portable toilet company and the elementary schoolkids pedaling their kid bikes along the route, where there is a high school marching band and assorted kind of homely floats. RantWoman definitely thinks this would be a valuable addition to notes of a fireworks setting the Brooklyn bridge on fire, a plane flying into Chicago complaining about fireworks interference, and arrests of 400 people in LA.
3. Sleep is resistance. RantWoman woke up too late to make it to the worship outside the federal building. RantWoman does not, unfortunately, foresee a shortage of reasons to need to stand in silent witness and is glad to hear glowing reports of Saturday's event.
4. Friends generally are not down with the concept of divine smiting, but Mother Nature definitely does not approve of this year's celebration. It's summer. Thunderstorms happen and so do heat waves. But ping pong sized hail just in time for the President to visit Mt. Rushmore: that is just ...timing. L
ikewise the horrific heat dome and last-minute thunderstorm blessing the President's Fourth of July speech and fireworks. The nation is, perhaps, supposed to be grateful that the thunderstorm probably cooled things off enough to save #DementiaDon from cooking himself with his determination to give his speech no matter what.
After all is said and done, RantWoman is permitting herself a measure of snark: RantWoman's favorite social media swamp prominently features voices talking about how God spared the President and the whole weather thing is the result of "geoengineering" by antifa all suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, TDS. That idea, to RantWoman, is giving the nonexistent antifa organization WAY too much credit. If anyone is "geoengineering" the perpetuation and increasing severity of summer weather patterns, could it POSSIBLY be the President's petroleum-guzzling cronies and bizarro efforts to undo all the measures people are taking to address #ClimateChange?
Just wondering.
Anyway, please "enjoy" the following videos and any videos YouTube may lead readers to besides the ones featured here.
The 1963 March on Washington where MLK gave his "I have a dream" speech did not have people falling out and fainting from the heat--despite the fact that people came in their good clothes. The sartorial standards in 1983 for the 20th anniversary were, um, looser. The planning was also a lot more realistic.
AfterParty The SemiQuincentennial a day later.
The Short Version:
Happy 250th Birthday USA
It's the Party after the Party!
Please join RantWoman and friends for an After the party Zoom open house
Sunday July 5,
5 pm-9 pm Pacific.
Zoom info by request: please leave a comment.
Has it really been 50 years since the bicentennial?
(Will there be guests who were not alive in 1976? Please come.
Can we stare down our nation's current mess and possibly contemplate a few more centuries?
YES dang it.
The RantFamily observance of the bicentennial involved a lot of schlepping things around for a Billings Symphony concert in the park, a certain amount of helium balloon sales, and a thoroughly satisfying family picnic the next day.
In that tradition, time for a Zoom party!
Also, family circumstances got in the way of my customary holiday procrastination-themed Zoom open house so family time as needed.
Put on your best patriotic gear, irreverent or ironic T-Shirt or at least come dressed appropriately for Zoom.
Come meet characters from many parts of RantWoman's life
Bring a recipe or at least a vivid description of a favorite picnic food.
Bring something tat makes you laugh.
Bring a reason to be hopeful, outraged, or just perplexed.
Bring a story of a memorable Fourth of July.
Come as you are for as long as you like.
There will also be a couple breakout rooms if people find something they want to chat about in a smaller group.
Readers who would like to attend and have not received an email invite, please leave a comment and Zoom info will arrive.
Love As Action July 4 2026
Announcement:
Please join a group of Quakers on Saturday, July 4, 2026 in one-hour of silent worship at the Federal Office Building at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Madison Street, Seattle Washington at 11 am to bear witness to the disruption and dehumanization that authoritarian actions are inflicting in our communities. This shared witness reflects core Quaker principles: peace, equality, integrity, and community and it is a visible commitment to justice and compassion. By standing together in quiet waiting worship, we affirm that every person has worth, that fear and violence must give way to love and fairness, and that our communities thrive when all are welcomed. Our hope is that our presence will give heart to all who see us - including through media and online - and remind everyone of our moral obligations to one another. This event is sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee and the Peace and Social Concerns Committees of North Pacific Yearly Meeting and University Friends Meeting.We will join together in one hour of silent witness and invite all to bring water, weather appropriate clothes, a portable chair (if needed) and anything else you need to be safe and comfortable. Bring signs showing the signs of authoritarianism you see in your community and messages of love and support for communities that are suffering.Please let us know that you are coming by registering at: https://www.mobilize.us/afscfriendsengagement/event/ 969643/ If you have any questions feel free to reach out to your local organizer Jonathan Betz-Zall jbetzzall@gmail.com or LoveasAction@afsc.org. Find updates at https://afsc.org/love-action
#14Amendment #BirthrightCitizenship
It's always bad policy to start a war.
It's even worse policy to start a war after firing all the most competent, experienced, strategically oriented military officers.
Putin SHOULD have learned that from Stalin.
Whether one approves of a given war or not, it is infuriating and monstrously unfair to the people being sent to war for the Secretary of #WarCrimes and President #StableGenius to be careening full-speed down the same path.
#Seafarers
A report issued every 5 years about who staffs global shipping and need for different categories of workers.
Sal's Recommendation about the US: there is a federal merchant marine academy. Some states have their own academies. There are other academies that produce people who may or may not get relevant licenses. Sal recommends taking a more holistic look at the pipeline. Sal also outlines a bunch of reasons that recruiting young people may be a hard sell.
questions about deaths in custody, medical care
#Iran #Oman #PersianGulf #InternationalMaritimeOrganization
President #StableGenius keeps claiming the #StraitOfHormuz is open. It clearly is not. RantWoman sees no reason that more missiles will help.
This video provides lots of details that may not make it into other reporting.
The commercial ship that was hit by Iran was not following the procedure set up by the International Maritime Organization.
On Day of the Seafarer, remember the 1.5 million seafarers who help move billions of tons of cargo every year.
#Iran #WarPowersResolution #Senate #Decorum
#Iran #StraitOfHormuz #UNHumanitarianMission.
This one gets its own post. Reality is definitely other than as President #StableGenius presents it.
#Ukraine #Russia #Crimea
Lately events in Iran and the Middle East have overshadowed the war in Ukraine in US headlines.
Having real estate goons Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner out of the picture, not trying to push Ukraine into idiotic territorial concessions is, in RantWoman's view, unquestionably a very GOOD thing.
Also Ukraine keeps scoring military gains, attacking Russian oil refineries and fuel depots. Russia's economy is trembling. International sanctions force Russia to sell oil to China at a steep discount. Putin is facing another, increasingly unpopular mobilization. It would be awesome if there were some honest mediators in the picture.
Now to some details RantWoman is behind posting about.
Anyone remember Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War of the 1850's? Sorry, RantWoman does not actually remember a whole lot except the point that Russia has had a troubled relationship with attempts at empire for a LONG time before Putin seized it from post-Soviet Ukraine in 2014.
Now in 2026, Ukraine is on the verge of driving Russia out of Crimea with blatant proclamations that Russia should leave and sooner rather than later while the Kerch bridge Putin built after the 2014 invasion is still standing.
Let's start with Belle.
lesson for the US: modern renewable energy investment helps lessen pain associated with price fluctuation on the global energy market.
#Belarus #Ukraine #Russia #Remilitarization
Belarus? Who? What now? Definitely important commentary about an unpopular dictator and shifting realities with respect to Ukraine and Russia.
The people of Belarus do not like either Lukashenko or the war in Ukraine. Putin trying hard to draw Belarus into the war with Ukraine
If Putin is in trouble, Lukashenko cannot count on Russian support to stay in power.
Is Belarus reaching out to the US?
#Iran #Israel
RantWoman has a complicated reaction to Douglas Macgregor. RantWoman often wishes that military figures would feel freer to share their insights in ways that might make more difference, help shift consensus, for example about what the US does or does not need to fund.
SO RantWoman posts this without further comment.
#GROK #Iran #AI #MSpol #TNpol
Ai ai ai. The events described here are just GROSS on so many levels.
Let's see: the US government admits in a court filing in the NAACP case against a Musk data center in MS that the grok.gov ai model is absolutely necessary for national security including the drone swarm that, among other things, bombed the girls' school??
RantWoman is inclined to double check the court filing and other sources before absolutely pinning the bombing on AI alone, but the suggestion sounds really plausible.
And OF COURSE the people of MS are entitled to a clean environment.
So please help RantWoman out: HOW exactly is untrammeled dumping of pollutants in racially biased patterns #AmericaFirst?
#Iran #Israel #RulesOfEngagement #WarriorCulture #WarCrime
#NTSB #Russia #Ukraine #DarkFleet #LNG #Vladivostok #Venezuela #CarbonFree #GreenCorridor #ShippingRates
Top 5 maritime stories of the week
Worth the listen for lots of background
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