Strategic points about the Iranian hits in Jordan

 #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."

IRAN WAR: Massive blow to Trump; US confirms casualties, 1 soldier missing | Janta Ka Reporter

Watermelon and taking a bullet for democracy

This post dedicated to:

--everyone in the US whose lives are upended by endless gun violence in the US, especially when politicians up to their ears in NRA contributions send only #ThoughtsAndPrayers and not meaningful efforts to cut down the carnage.

--All the Gold Star families whose losses, frequently because of "taking a bullet for democracy," have been dissed by #DonTheCon

--All the disabled veterans who have been mocked by the same former reality TV host in spite of the same reality as people who did not survive.

--An independent journalist in RantWoman's socials who, while covering #GeorgeFloyd protests in MN took a sniper's bullet directly to her left eye and who has a list of 34 other people from around the country with similar stories

--and of course to #DementiaDon the current #GOP candidate for the Presidency.

RantWoman! A shooting video???? WTAF???

GUided: a WY hunting guide on watermelon and who really shot...

Warning: in addition to sterile commentary about the logistics of hitting a target at various distances, there is also demonstration using a watermelon. The basic point relevant to this post: sharpshooters practice. It seems ENTIRELY possible that sharpshooters might practice on the eyes of independent journalists and that details of such practice is, if survivors are lucky, buried in confidential settlements and MAYBE highly classified Congressional briefings.

RantWoman is precisely the sort of nerd who, exactly two weeks out from the assassination attempt  at the campaign rally in western PA, hangs out with very smart groupies chewing over events in the life of the country.

Consensus tonight:

--We have no problem using the term "assassination attempt." The shooter failed to kill the candidate but killed one local hero attending the event and injured two other people. Tonight's conversation also featured mention of Secret service agents hit by shrapnel.

--We are VERY glad the candidate survived, because basic human decency requires that sentiment.

--Whatever hit the candidate, whether a bullet or shrapnel hit hard enough to come with high risk of Traumatic Brain Injury, #TBI. A former critical care nurse spoke of a typical protocol of intensive monitoring and encouragement to rest for a period after any kind of similar event.

Also in the picture:

--A candidate with a history of not paying bills to indoor venues, as well as the optics of crowd size at outdoor events compared to places with a fixed number of seats. File here multiple YouTube reports of people getting bored and befuddled at the candidate's rallies and just leaving early.

--A Secret Service protectee who demanded he be allowed to stand and wave his fist before being hustled away is definitely a deviation from practice with previous assassination attempts. Not being willing to get out of the way of possible fire also put the Secret Service agents at risk.

--A Secret Service protectee who is probably harder than average to protect because of a tendency to ignore security recommendations and thus, dare RantWoman say, has SOME responsibility for his situation.

--Multiple communications and procedural screwups among the various layers of law enforcement involved in security for the rally.

The candidate is apparently complaining all over his socials that the assassination attempt is not getting enough attention. Aside from multiple possible strands of conspiracy theory, RantWoman would say "careful what you ask for."

And for another perspective

Meidas Touch with various news clips

Occupy Democrates on FBI testimony and also hyperventilating about records even this candidate has a right to keep private

From a few days after the shooting

Law&Crime Network: 7 bizarre details of ...shooting

Warning: gunshots and photo of injured candidate

The Behavioral Arts: military body language expert analyzes one woman's movements

Really detailed audio description of a few minutes of reaction from two people in crowd. Analysis based a lot on visual cues. This is a one-hour video of a few seconds of the events before and after the shooting. That alone should generate caution about off the cuff reactions. Interesting comments about social media and validation.

Support Indian American Community Services petition regarding police accountability and the death of Jaahnavi Kandula

#JaahnaviKandula #JusticeForJaahanavi

The following is a invitation from the Indian American Community Services both to sign on to their statement regarding the police killing of Jaahnavi Kandula and to sign a petition at Change.org 

To RantWoman listening to the voice of the Indian American community and respecting their formulation of concerns is NO BRAINER ally anti-racism, especially also considering the statement  on their website about #BlackLivesMatter.

IACS initiates petition for police accountability regarding "people of limited value"

The link to the Change.org petition is within this statement.

Key asks

 the IACS and its partners seek the following from the City of Seattle and Seattle Police Department:

1. Creation of an independent body to investigate Jaahnavi Kandula’s and other civilian deaths involving SPD officers, and report results back to the community in a timely manner.
2. Identification and disclosure all details of the fatal accident to the public including the high speed at which Officer Kevin Dave was driving. Provide clarity on what basis Officer Auderer had already determined that it was not reckless driving that fatally killed Ms. Kandula.
3. Release all of investigative reports from the Office of Police Accountability regarding this case to the public, providing full transparency.
4. Accountability for the three officers involved in the death of Ms. Kandula and subsequent events:
   1. Officer Kevin Dave who struck Ms. Kandula, resulting in her death. 
   2. Officer Daniel Auderer,  vice president of SPOG, who laughed about the deadly crash, dismissed any implication of responsibility or criminality, and demeaned Ms. Kandula’s life to be of  “limited value.”
   3. Officer Mike Solan, president of SPOG, who callously engaged in this horrific conversation with Officer Daniel Auderer.

Organizations supporting this petition include:

• Indian American Community Services (IACS)
• Asian Counseling Referral Service (ACRS) 
• Asia Pacific Islander Coalition (APIC) Seattle
• Asia Pacific Islander Coalition (APIC) East King County 
• Eastside For All 
• Indo-American Friendship Forum (IAFF)
• Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) 
• Pacific Islander Health Board of WA State
• Asia Pacific Islander Coalition (APIC) South Puget Sound  
• Town Hall Seattle 
• AWU 
• Asia Pacific Islander Coalition (APIC) Snohomish County 
• Refugee & Immigrant Services Northwest 
• Muslim Community Network Association MCNA
• Asian Pacific American Advocates of Greater Seattle 
• Indian American Friendship Forum (IAFF) 
• WA State Commission of Asian Pacific American Affairs (CAPAA)
• Tasveer 
• Coalition of Seattle Indian Americans CSIA  
• Khalsa Gurmat
• Asia Pacific Islander Coalition (APIC) Pierce County 
• 4 Tomorrow
• Africans on the Eastside
• Indian American Muslim Council IAMC – Seattle Chapter
• Humanize Homelessness and Dignity First
• Ambedkar International center, USA
• Ambedkar King Study Circle
• Asian Pacific Islander Coalition of Yakima
• Periyar Ambedkar study circle

A couple additional RantWoman comments.

--Jaahnavi Kandula's death is one of far too many car vs. pedestrian accidents in Seattle. Car vs Pedestrian accidents are increasing nationwide. Some of the factors common to many of them include:

     Poor pedestrian infrastructure

     High speed

     SUV's are more deadly than other vehicles and large vehicles are an increasing percentage of all road traffic. 

--RantWoman hopes that Jaahnavi's family has connected with an appropriate lawyer for the situation

--Initially, one of the pain points for the public was the delay in announcing that the person struck by the police vehicle had died. NO ONE anywhere on the planet wants to find out a loved one has died from the internet. RantWoman hopes the police handled notifications sensitively.

--RantWoman is seasoning a whole separate rant about black humor. RantWoman does find it hard to swallow the police department's claim that they were joking about how lawyers present cases because, drum roll please, the Seattle Police Officers Guild has spent decades getting help from lawyers to avoid transparency and accountability.

--The other point about black humor has to do with job stress, community stress, and more that needs to be said but not necessarily here.

One of the better videos RantWoman has seen

One of the most concise and focused articulations RantWoman has seen of circumstances related to the January incident where a police SUV driving at a very high rate of speed mowed down a pedestrian crosswalk. Also comments that speak to RantWoman about police reform.

So sure, talk about brain injury, and meetings, and reasonable accommodations.

Once upon a time or more than one time or even dozens of times, RantWoman realized that in-person meetings were not going well for her, and in fact not going well differently after vision loss than before vision loss.

Nothing like quakerdom where meetings are a sacrament to collide with things that do not work.

No Visual feedback: RantWoman can't read anything written all over other people's faces.

People making decisions by nodding and grunting.

People sending things like minutes and statements to be discussed by email after RantWoman had already gotten on a bus to go to meetings.

Blaming RantWoman for all the problems. (RantWoman thanks one Friend for acknowledging that some pieces were tough for everyone, not just RantWoman.)

RantWoman, optimistic that illustrating the problem in other contexts than Meeting offered Friends MULTIPLE invitations to come to different meetings where most people were blind. FINALLY, after literally YEARS of such invitations, RantWoman enticed two members of the community to come to different blind person events.

Both came back with extremely topical observations.

One Friend completely blew their own insight out of the water, though. 

How? 

"Yes, I see... AND I DON'T SEE (pun NOT intended) how this has anything to do with Meeting for Business.

RantWoman's excessively plain English to Quakerese badly short circuited into stunned silence.

Now RantWoman can manage to say, "Friend, have you considered that YOU NOT SEEING .. and therefore not being willing to try might be part of the problem????

Zoom has changed the dynamics of many meetings.

It's HIGH time to revisit the RantWoman in meetings issue and RantWoman means to take initiative AHEAD of one upcoming event.

Enter the world of Twitter and sort of kind of hidden disability in the realms of brain injury, stroke.

Saturday Night Live better not even waste time trying to parody this.

It’s far beyond anything that anyone could ever come up with.
pic.twitter.com/rnQmVo4bbQ

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) June 17, 2023

Speaking of brain injury, RantWoman has not tweeted back that, well, it's obvious to RantWoman that the two people Rep. Boebert was tweeting about knew better what they meant to say than a certain former White House occupant and flagrant disseminator of word salad.

Luckily, Divine Mercy has spared RantWoman any need ever to be in meetings with Ex President and Groper in Chief Word Salad Master. (For anyone interested, #DisabilityTwitter has pretty piquant things to say about Ex President Word Salad Master on multiple grounds. That is a topic for another day.)

RantWoman has however been in many meetings with people who may or may not announce that they have brain injury. One person says people read her as drunk sometimes. Another makes different mistakes in English than other native speakers of his mother tongue. Bells are ringing in RantWoman's head about not one but TWO additional situations.

Here we come to more conceptual minefields lurking in community conversations.

Once upon a time, RantWoman, still not forgetting lapses in a recent survey about disability wishes to bring up the term "reasonable accommodations."

"Reasonable accommodations" is language highly relevant in many situations where people need to speak both of their own disability and of adjustments about process, practices, facilities to allow people to fully participate. Cue the question "What reasonable accommodations are helpful...?"

"Reasonable accommodations" is language from the Americans with Disability Act. In many situations it yields more practical and actionable steps than lots of mushy rhetoric about "disability justice."

There is a problem. Probably more than one problem: even if people need the same accommodations at work where maybe they are swirling in trendy DEI JEDI, choose your favorite acronym for "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" and at school and at faith communities where people aspire to live by a "single standard of truth," faith communities cleverly got themselves exempted from the ADA.

But WAIT. The Americans with Disabilities Act is not the only legislation relevant to the conversation. Many states, including WA have their own further non-discrimination civil rights statutes. One important aspect of the WA non-discrimination statute, RCW 49.60 is that, unlike the ADA, religious organizations are also defined as public accommodations, where anti-discrimination efforts are on point.

RantWoman is clear to hammer on this point in terms of continuing revelation, not allowing misapprehensions to persist. (The actual legal venue to hash this out would be the WA Civil Rights Commission. RantWoman, for a number of reasons is clear that the Civil Rights commission would be less helpful than asking  Friends to start where we are.)

In RantWoman's corner of the Quaker universe, this mental gap extends even further. A Care and Accountability Committee FOR A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY asserted that their task had nothing to do with disability.

And then a whole survey got done and although RantWoman was permitted input into the survey, RantWoman was also RELEASED FROM MEMBERSHIP before the survey was implemented.

And although disability  or matters of physical accessibility still crept into some community conversations, RantWoman still has a sense of worshipping silence!

And Quarterly Meeting Ministry and Counsel decided OVER AND OVER that somehow RantWoman was out of their purview. One Friend basically said "we don't want to take up the issue..." Not WANT TO is not the point! Probably no one WANTS to take up mid-life vision loss or ... or...When Quarterly Meeting finallygot around to creating a committee on disabilities, they decided it should be a committee ONLY about matters of disability AT Quarterly Meeting.

RantWoman is muddling all of this as she registers to attend NPYM annual session virtually. RantWoman was able to register fine, partly because she is technologically versatile. But on the way RantWoman hit so many emotional minefields, she decided she HAS OPINIONS and asked for a member of Ministry and Counsel to please reach out.

In the meantime, RantWoman will go back to the joys and pains of wordsmithing under Roberts Rules of Order with a bunch of very motivated blind people who are all clear a certain national organization needs not only to invite itself to a party but to demand that the organization throwing the party invite a bunch of other people too.

Yes, RantWoman used the word "party' seasoned by snark: the party is about creating a credential requested by one category of medical provider who know they have a problem. RantWoman is clear that organizations inviting themselves to the party is a much better idea than just demanding a full stop.

And when RantWoman unwinds from that, there is also fretting about Putin shelling anothe city with a nuclear power plant and live stream about whatever Action is breaking out. RantWoman is PRAYING for sense to take over but so far...

Scary things

Readers, on top of everything else, find the #NDEAM content.

Please enjoy all this glorious
and according to some
ungodly pagan symbolism

 

God has a weird sense of humor.

WA Council of the Blind convention.

RantWoman successfully traveled back and forth on public transit, across enormous boulevards, and through poorly lit parking lots 3 days in a row for something called Convention. Oh boy did we hit some "Thank God I do not feel alone" moments. One was about gender inclusive language from someone whose former state agency employer does an amazing job about such. This was counterposed by someone saying basically "I don't see any problem," that utterance of course being the first problem, never mind whether anyone who is metaphor-challenged gets upset about the wording.

Mention of Jesus is controversial when the desire was for a non-denominational inclusive invocation that might speak to Jews, muslims, and atheists as well as whoever else might be present. RantWoman is going to need to try again with one of the blind prayer warriors about all those times in the Gospels where Jesus does the same ministry on one page among Jews and on another page among people who are not Jews. 

Jehovah's Witnesses DO NOT do Halloween.

RantWoman was asked and cajoled MS Word and the printer into delivering a printout from a website about such. RantWoman was not persuaded but considered it appropriate and doable to accomplish the request.

Viral--and blunt--candidate endorsement

The Denver Post endorses Lauren Boebert

Takeaways: does the reading public need a more specific enumeration of some of  Rep. Boebert's more outrageous escapades? Is the understated version more than sufficient? 

What will be the task of speaking about climate change and resource management after the election? 

This race is one of several this year where RantWoman desperately hopes voters will save us all from having to invoke the 14th amendment against representatives who had unmistakable roles when a certain flock of "tourists" visited the nation's capital on January 6, 2021.

WA Senate race is allegedly a tossup or at least one pollster wants it to be so

RantWoman made it through the Entire Town Hall conversation between Sen. Patty Murray and soft MAGA Republican challenger Tiffany Smiley. By soft-MAGA, RantWoman means quite a bit of the most outspoken MAGA content was scrubbed from Mrs. Smiley's campaign website between the primary and the fall campaign season. 

The town hall was still a bit of a trial. The two candidates were each asked a series of questions generated when KRO TV solicited suggestions from viewers and from a really interesting set of community groups. Questions hit: who won the 2020 election, climate change, inflation and gas prices,  saving Medicare, funding for the war in Ukraine, abortion. RantWoman in general found Mrs. Smiley's answers vague; RantWoman is not even inspired to go look them up on Mrs. Mrs. Smiley's website. Sen. Murray presented 30 years of accomplishments to counter Smiley's claims that Sen. Murray has not fixed all the problems there are to fix over 30 years in office.

Mrs. Smiley is trained as a pediatric nurse. One of RantWoman's neighbors said "There's a nursing shortage. Why doesn't she go back to what she is trained to do.?" Curiously, despite Mrs. Smiley's 100% prolife position and promises of maternal support no other Republican ever mentions for mothers of infants and child care, nothing came up about working conditions and why nurses are fleeing the profession. 

Instead, at EVERY campaign event Mrs. Smiley must tell her story about her husband being blinded by a car bomb while serving in Iraq and all her fights with the VA to get him real rehab so that he even returned to Active duty teaching at the Army War College. At the campaign's sole debate, this got mentioned in response to at least half the questions. In tonight's town hall, it got mentioned only twice, once at the beginning and once at the end. RantWoman is happy to acknowledge she is not necessarily doing well about sounding respectful: car bombs suck. Heroism is heroism.  Rehabilitation is a tough road. And somehow the need to repeat the story rings to RantWoman a little like playing on the general public's fear of blindness.

Ironically, RantWoman knows a longtime nurse who also had to fight her organization to find a position after she experienced sudden vision loss. RantWoman also, this very weekend heard 3 speakers who experienced sudden traumatic vision loss. They all have spouses; none of their spouses felt any need to run for Senate because of the experience.

RantWoman is most able to say anything coherent about two exchanges, one about funding for the war in Ukraine, and one about student debt cancellation. Both candidates agree that funding for the war should not be cut. Sen. Murray spoke about wanting to review funding requests carefully and about working with allies. Mrs. Smiley had some very muddled comment about how things should never have been allowed to get as bad as they are. She repeated Trumpish talking points about alleged military weakness and the disastrous pullout from Afghanistan. She also said the US should stand with the women of Iran and get rid of the "nucular" deal. two minutes per side of course is not long enough to do anything but have one's head explode about military action and whether or not it defends women's rights. Also even though the prospects and achievable goals for diplomacy look pretty hopeless right now, the only thing that sticks in RantWoman's mind is maintenance of current funding levels for military aid.

Divergence of opinion about student debt cancellation was sort of predictable. Sen. Murry is all for it and wants Congress to work on ways to incentivize states to change funding and tuition practices to reduce the financial burden on students. Mrs. Smiley griped about plumbers and farmers and tradespeople having to help pay the costs of people going to college, which is not of course what the debt cancellation does. In particular while Mrs. Smile yammers about components of inflation that are global and that cannot be easily or quickly solved, student debt cancellation immediately push money in the hands of young people who are going to use it for all kinds of beneficial economic activity.

RantWoman does agree with Mrs. Smiley that people should also have lower barriers to getting non-college training in trades. 

RantWoman does NOT, however, buy Mrs. Smiley's suggestion that military service is a great way to finance education. First there's that part about risk of getting blinded in  a car bomb, poisoned by burn pit smoke,  crippled by physical injury, or disabled by TBI and PTSD. Next there is the part about people with disabilities not getting to enlist even if they want to. RantWoman would STRONGLY prefer a wide range of inclusive and accessible safe work opportunities that do not rely on a poverty draft. In other words, Mrs. Smiley has not earned RantWoman's vote but RantWoman also has beefs with the whole situation no matter who is Senator.

And finally, a dare

The algorithmic gods of Twitter served up this Get out and VOTE sermon delivered by one of the founders of The Pursuit Church lately unfolding and famous for, among other things, Continuing to hold church in spite of COVID restrictions

But never mind all that. RantWoman challenges readers to listen to the WHOLE sermon. Can you find at least 5 things that resemble Quakers? Understand, there is also MUCH content that may make readers' heads explode. But just try it.

White Cane Safety day DANCE PARTY, but first....

Readers who are really, really REALLY impatient to visit Ambassador Thwack's options for #WhiteCaneDay dance parties. just scroll down. Readers game for more visits to Planet RantWoman, please keep reading.

First, the newest QuakerSpeak video.
Understanding Quaker Faith Through the Journal of George Fox


Yeah, yeah, there are the parts about submission to a power greater than oneself, a really useful concept sometimes, and seeking and guidance. The thing RantWoman is most in awe of though: GLASSES GLARE. RantWoman deals all the time with photographers and videographers who want to wipe out the issue. Glasses are just as much a part of RantWoman's picture as Ambassador Thwack or as a wheelchair is for many people RantWoman knows.

On the road between sidewalks and  #ClimateChange

ODOT Observes Pedestrian Safety Month with a White Cane Safety Day Podcast

.

White Cane Basics from Vision Australia

Perkins School info about White Canes, via the hadley School Twitter

@VisionAustralia is hosting a dance party. RantWoman failed to collect info about catching it on  video.

CCLVI Low Vision Coffee Hour: 11am ET, 8am PT, 5am HT

It's White Cane Safety Day! The white cane is a symbol of independence to many. What does it mean to you? Come and learn about the first ever National White Cane Safety Day. How can we use this day to educate the public about this helpful and useful tool? Be sure to attend and share your favorite cane story.

Sponsored by Council of Citizens with Low Vision International https://cclvi.info

Join the call:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82950768948?pwd=WThWSU91QzFGc05abUdsMUh6SHlLZz09

One tap mobile: +13126266799,,82950768948#,,,,*225843#

Phone: +13126266799

Meeting ID: 829 5076 8948

Passcode: 225843

And finally the dance party

ACB Get Up & Get Moving Dance Party: 2pm-8pm ET, 11am-5pm PT, 8am-2pm HT

Join us in Zoom or on ACB Media 4 (Café) for the Get up and Get Moving Dance Party to celebrate White Cane Day. We will be playing chart toppers to inspire you to dance, starting with the 1960s, moving a decade each hour until we reach today's hits. Great music, fun facts, trivia and prizes, and special entertainment will all be part of this six hour event. Help us celebrate ACB's 60th year and the importance of White Cane Day the ACB way!

2pm ET: The 60s with facilitators: Dan Dillon and Tony Stephens, DJ: Darrow Loucks, and host: Sheila Young;

3pm ET: The 70s with facilitator: Dan Spoone, DJ: Darrow Loucks, and host: Cindy Hollis;

4pm ET: The 70s with facilitator: Leslie Spoone, DJ: Darrow Loucks, and host: Monica Svopa;

5pm ET: The 90s with facilitators: Tom Tobin and Sheila Styron, DJ: Larry Gassman, and host: Belinda Collins;

6pm ET: The 2000s with facilitator: Terry Suarez, DJ: Larry Gassman, and host: Kolby Garrison;

7pm ET: The 2010s with the Get Up and Get Moving Committee, DJ: Darrow Loucks, and hosts: Cindy Hollis and Kolby Garrison.

Sponsored by ACB Get Up & Get Moving www.acb.org/GUGM<http://www.acb.org/GUGM>

Listen on ACB Media 5: www.acbmedia.org/5<http://www.acbmedia.org/5>

Say to your Amazon device, "ask ACB Media to play 5."

Join the call:

https://acb-org.zoom.us/j/84812059141?pwd=SjJwWjdoVTY1UU1nNk5IMjlheFBlZz09

One tap mobile: +13126266799,,84812059141#

Phone: +13126266799

Meeting ID: 848 1205 9141

Passcode: 909704

If you catch it in time, 6 hours of American Council of the Blind White Cane day Dance Party

Yikes yet again, the crash of the month club

Yikes. It's the Crash of the Month, er Crash of the week club! 

RantWoman never quite knows what to do with the word "psychic." RantWoman thought several times of calling Curmudgeon to check on recovery progress. What happenstance made RantWoman call just a few minutes after Curmudgeon and WingNut heard the clunk and screeching tires of yet another crash, this time car vs car at the same corner as their experience of #TrafficViolence. Wing Nut had just gone outside to take pictures and see what happened. Curmudgeon's voice was very soft when she picked up the phone and timidly told RantWoman what had just happened.

The Christmas Lamp
for holding things in the Light 

All there was to say to both of them: I am so sorry you had to relive that again. Curmudgeon was noticeably calmer and better centered by the end of the call. Wing Nut texted later and said she is shell-shocked too. One of the women told RantWoman they had been talking to neighbors for awhile about one crash a month and the need to talk to the city. WingNut told RantWoman there was another crash on the Wednesday between theirs on Friday and the one tonight. That is more than one crash a week. 

RantWoman will save thoughts of centered advocacy for other venues. Right now, RantWoman is just saying prayers for two people hurting and all the help flowing their way in spite of the pandemic.

Yikes, the previous edition

Car vs. Ped for starters

Yikes, non-traffic related. 

RantWoman is including this article as data that might feed several conversations.

Article referring to Curmudgeon's roomie at the Hospital

Yikes?

 RantWoman has two friends close to her age, Wing Nut and Curmudgeon. Wing Nut and Curmudgeon long ago qui the blogosphere and fled to Facebookistan, but they get to have noms de blog for this post. 

This has been, um, a WEEK for the two of them. Friday was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Well, they were darned lucky it was not worse, but there was definitely bad physics involved. Wing Nut, Curmudgeon and their wonderful German shepherd Calla were returning home from a walk, crossing a street with the light. No thanks to a hit-and-run SUV driver Wing Nut is alive and well and "only" dealing with flashbacks, getting a neighbor to help her bury the dog, and ...  

The scene of the Hit and Run crime

There apparently were many witnesses and witnesses willing to give statements to the police.

Curmudgeon got scooped up into an ambulance, but the ambulance just drove highway speeds until the freeway exit where the driver turned on the lights and siren.

Tonight Curmudgeon is alive and turning all sorts of colors, missing a few teeth, needing to work on breathing with one of those make the ball float devices. Curmudgeon is learning to get around with a walker because she is not supposed to put any weigh on a leg with a bunch of new plates and screws involved for several weeks. Curmudgeon is also having to inject herself with an anticoagulant twice a day. Curmudgeon HATES needles but dealing with injections is one of the reasons CURMUDGEON CAME HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL TONIGHT!

Wait. Back up a couple nights, the day after Curmudgeon had surgery to put her tibia back together. RantWoman called Curmudgeon in the hospital and had a fine conversation, not counting background noise. Curmudgeon said on the phone that she had a new roommate. As soon as RantWoman hung up from the conversation, Curmudgeon texted RantWoman: the reason roommate was in the hospital made RantWoman suck in her breath, mutter "Oh EHLL NO," and text back YIKES!

Yikes! Was RantWoman just being a typical hyperventilating clueless white person? White person, check. Hyperventilating? Probably a little. Clueless? not entirely or maybe too many clues? How about worried about Curmudgeon having to overhear details, discussion of possible bad decisions and cycles of violence. RantWoman would definitely not want to be overhearing such things while trying to focus on her own healing! One problem with unsolicited details: then one has to decide what to do with the details RantWoman elicited by text. 

At a certain point, RantWoman just lost it and included Wing Nut in the text conversation. By this time Curmudgeon had time not only to overhear things on would probably prefer not to know but also to have some conversation with roommate. Roommate sounds like she needs help, help to stay away from bad decisions and to work on some hopes and dreams. At least that is the most optimistic interpretation of Roommate's spin. After the text exchange Curmudgeon decided things would probably be okay. Roommate has not come up further n conversation.. Curmudgeon is now home safe with kitties and non-slip socks for the wood floor in her house. 

RantWoman for her part is still in the middle of a nice "Oh Hell No" fit bout about the miscreant SUV driver and about Curmudgeon's roommate. Please hold in the Light.

Bystander Intervention Training: DISABILITY???

The announcement in original form

 AFSC BYSTANDER INTERVENTION TRAINING SEPT 24, 2020

Tacoma Friends Meeting has made arrangements with American Friends Service Committee for bystander intervention training on Sept. 24, 3:30-5 pm, via Zoom. This event is open to everyone and there is no fee for the training, but participants must Register Here  to receive a Zoom invitation two days prior to the session. Space is limited, so early sign-up is encouraged. Now more than ever it is important that we not just be bystanders, but that we be prepared to witness and assist if needed. In bystander intervention training, we learn how to intervene in public instances of racist, sexist, and other forms of interpersonal violence and harassment -- learning both what to do and what not to do. The training session will be led by Lucy Duncan, AFSC's Director for Friends Relations and an experienced trainer & online course instructor. This opportunity has been arranged by Tacoma Friends and is co-sponsored by Associated Ministries, an interfaith nonprofit organization in Tacoma. Questions? Contact Chris Ferguson (Tacoma Friends) at cdf@plu.edu or Sandy Windley (Associated Ministries) at sandyw@associatedministries.org

This is a great training. RantWoman had a chance to attend it at the 2019 NPYM Annual Session. RantWoman is also really excited for the opportunity to participate with members of other faith communities. And RantWoman is seasoning matters to do with disability.

RantWoman humbly acknowledges both her own capacity to be a serious problem child and a need to work also with disability and ableism.

The first thing RantWoman would do:

Now more than ever it is important that we not just be bystanders, but that we be prepared to witness and assist if needed. In bystander intervention training, we learn how to intervene in public instances of racist, sexist,  ABLEIST and other forms of interpersonal violence and harassment -- learning both what to do and what not to do. The training session will be led by Lucy Duncan, ...

[RantWoman mentions ableism specifically because RantWoman knows other blind people who have been subjected to creepy disability-related harassment on the street and worse than average.]

The next thing RantWoman would do: explicitly invite participants to make any access needs known. Some people will be comfortable contacting event organizers. Some will not. 

RantWoman ALWAYS has to think about accessibility for events. In this case RantWoman's main issues will be  some meeting process / visual cues points and the inaccessibility to screen reader users of things shared in Zoom chat and the practices RantWoman finds most helpful. In this case, Bystander Intervention Materials

provide plenty of resources. Others attending might also find it helpful to post links in the chat.

Next RantWoman will humbly note that when RantWoman attended this workshop previously, RantWoman spent a chunk of time after almost every topic raised by the presenter mumbling to herself something like "...or a person with a disability..." or "Could be a person with a disability." 

RantWoman realizes this behavior is obnoxious. One of the more steadfast disability and housign justice advocates in RantWoman's life outside Meeting has to be discouraged all the time from doing exactly what RantWoman was doing. (Advocate's capacity for doing this arises in part from an astounding list of medical issues and in part from missteps by her family's childhood Services for the Blind case manager, who happened to be a Quaker ) Anyway, RantWoman mid workshop realized she probably just needed to STOP IT.

In the workshop, an interesting thing happened: a volunteer was needed to play the role of someone just bothering people on the street. RantWoman does not remember the exact scenario. RantWoman does remember that the person who volunteered to be the harasser immediately began behaviors that for RantWoman registered as indicators of some kind of cognitive or mental health disability. The person who volunteered to intervene was successful about whatever the task was whether ending the behavior or just getting past the situation on the sidewalk, This volunteer also accomplished what was needed without a hint of ableism that RantWoman could detect. After the roleplay, at least one person commenting did pick up the disability issue. After the workshop, the person who volunteered to play the role of the harasser sheepishly said they would have no idea how to be a real harasser, but RantWoman thought the Friend was perfect as they played the part. 

RantWoman realizes it would be good just to take her questions and comments to the event organizers. However, RantWoman gets tired of needing to say the same things over and over and hopes to be able to recycle a good bit of what is here.

But now, on your mark, get set, Zoom

Please consider with prayers

Hi Friends

Apologies for what will be a long email and close to Meeting for
Business. I am humble about the thought that probably getting to this
earlier and trying to have some phone conversations would be good, but
let's please just do the best we can with the time and energy we have.

Basic outline:

Thank you's
Many I am tired gripes.just to hold in the Light.

Celebrate 10 year's since one Friend was hit by acar and her amazing recovery but
also hold in the light some topics I will blog about.

Some concrete suggestions about a schedule to address people's concerns.

A request that SOMEONE consider a call to refuse to proceed with the
items with my name on them without my presence.

Thank you to several of you for conversations and holding in the
Light. These thoughts rise from the combination of conversations and
personal prayer. Thank you all for help over a LONG time crafting
better seasoned email. I am VERY humble about when I can generate a
rough read and the realities of why that still sometimes happens.

Please feel free to share this. I know there are several people who
want to be the only recipient of emails. I think it important that
other Friends have the opportunity to read this but that is beyond my
capacity right now.

Thank you especially to Friends who are travelling.

two motifs have come to me for conversation:

--path to redemption

--resilience after disast or int eh face of oncogoing clalamity.

Those thoughts are motifs, not year concrete ideas but I hope Friends
will find hope in the items below.

I hope to write a clear one-page letter to hand out at Business
Meeting but what I have to say is more than one page.so I hope Friends
can read thoroughly and consider.


--I am tired of cringing in pain and embarrassment on UFM's behalf
sometimes when I am out in the community right now.

--I am tired of being on the business meeting agenda every month. I
think 3.5 hours at the called Meeting to craft minute rules trying to
contain God instead of answering a call to create a committee and talk
about what works and has not worked is embarrassing. I note in minutes
comments about all the time monitoring my presence and NO mention of
anything to do with reasonable accommodations.

I note in minutes reference to praying inside Meeting for business adn
to distress that I remain outside. Has it occured to anyone such as
maybe a somewhat self-righteous easily upset Young Friend (I am happy
to tell that Friend I use that characterization adn then to talk about
my own insufferable youth) that I ALSOam praying and in fact that public praying is a well-developed tactic
of non-violent protest?

I think a banish RantWoman minute that assumes that the only thing that
matters to me about life specifically at UFM is Death, memorials is
just weird. If a memorials only provision with no thoughts about Life
makes someone feel safer, they need professional help and please
excuse me if I cannot as the guidelines proclaim "accept eldering from
whichever members of pastoral care committees helped dream that up.

I am tired of Friends who claim that I do not season things with the
community if I do not season thins with any particular person.

I note minutes about more pleasant business meetings without me. I
definitely am not distressed by the thought of more pleasant business
meetings, but I am distressed that important topics are not coming up
or coming up in well-informed ways. I am also distressed that the
guidelines claim Quakers have been atthis meeting thing for 300 years
but there is no room to talk about many technologies  have evolved and
how Meeting might try different approaches.

--I am tired of arguing with one new member about boundaries in ways that
show she has NO understanding of the responsibilities of officers of
an organization.

--I am tired of Friends' non responses to phone, email, texts. Even a
simple thing like an inquiry to Facilities committee about closing up
preferences on Sundays after worshiop took THREE tries over more than
a month to generate a response.

--I am tired of spending months and months trying to get the minute to
creat teh Ad-hoc committee on disabilities created only to be
interrupted over and over, most recently by request to release my
membership and to address someone's fit of  what I read as one part of a text from taht Friend as "it's her or me" pique. If
I am expected to endure this much Quaker process, my understanding of
the testimony on equality would offer the same measure of seasoning.

--At the moment my light is deliberate and probably accidental
misunderstanding of several issues. I think the time has come for a
strong statement to take releasing me from membership OFF the table
and to renew work together.

One Friend asked me what I would be willign to do to help Friends feel
more comfortable.

I need to be present so that any agreement can reflect realities such
as my schedule and transportation issues.

I would be happy for say six months to alternate 9:30 and 11:00
worship so people can avoid me if they must.

This comes contingent ALSO on alternating months at Business Meeting
and specific attention to process for meetings involving blind people.

There should be no limitations on my aibility to participate in public
events at Meeting such as Scrabble club particularly since I am
responsible for their long tenure ans tenants.

Is there anyone who would be willing to address my suggestion about
proceding by requesting to include me?

Thank you all for reading this outline and rfor responding as you are able.

In light and faithfulness.

RantWoman

Topography with a side of ableism

Jesus Bleeping Christ Almighty on a Pizza Crust with a Russian all-female punk band in neon colored hand-knit balaklavas on the side!!!

RantWoman, CHILL! Breathe! Breathe! TRY to stay somewhere in the vicinity of your main thread.

Okay, main threads:
--meeting campus topography
--referrals to services provided by tenants
--Visions of projects that MIGHT come.

So help RantWoman, if she gets asked / told by one more apparently able-bodied person not to trouble her pretty little (loudmouthed, highly opinionated) head about accessibility for a new tenant, Ambassador Thwack, the Anger Management Consultant and Sidekick the service python are BOTH going to get deployed.

(RantWoman makes exception for Friend who ASKED RantWoman about signage, even though RantWoman could easily make room for twitchiness about time sequence. Stay tuned in a different post)

NewMeetinghouse tenant will be having homeless people drop by during the day to pick up items of need. RantWoman does not really understand the program super well, but is clear to opine about accessibility anyway.

One path to services involves a lot of stairs and possibly a walk uphill from a bus stop with a segment probably too steep for a manual wheelchair user to  attempt alone. Between the stairs and the steep grade, this walking segment would get near 0 probability in a hypothetical tricked out wayfinding app that wheelchair users will even want to see the routing.

Luckily there is another physical / communications route. It involves being able to phone ahead and either meet someone or finding the wheelchair accessible path partway to the office.

RantWoman observations:

Typically at least 20-25% of the people staying at Meeting through SHARE used some kind of cane or mobility device or had limbs in casts, RantWoman expects those served by new tenant will percentage wise include a similar proportion of people with visible disabilities, never mind the invisible ones that can also limit mobility.

RantWoman remembers a moment actually before Ambassador Thwack came into her life. RantWoman had an arm in a cast and was standing in a food bank line. Someone came out and asked RantWoman whether she wanted to cut ahead. Um no, but RantWoman wanted to make sure the young woman on crutches with two kids in two DID get to cut. RantWoman does not remember the visible disability breakdown of the rest of the line but she things it was way above the percentage above.

In other words, Meeting topography could be a barrier to a considerably percentage of those seeking services from New Tenant. People who need something usually are pretty determined to overcome barriers, but that does not mean their day gets easier having to do so.

Enter RantWoman. When RantWoman is not geeking out about transportation, RantWoman spends a good bit of time making referrals. Look RantWoman is not your fairy godmother and Agency X or Program Y  will get you to help that works much faster than talking to RantWoman. And yeah, sometimes the Ask a Human algorithm is way more helpful than Trip Planners and yes, RantWoman CAN give additional pointers sometimes for that last 50 / 100/ 1000 feet of a trip, like for instance all the wayfinding minutia above. So RantWoman MEANS to read up a little better and probably put new tenant into the brainspace where RantWoman stores good referrals.

Okay, RantWoman, but the ongoing operations right now are not really your circus and not really your monkeys.

Um, stay tuned for the time sequence meditation. Aside from the time sequence issue,  RantWoman will feel adequately present in the conversation if Friends just put out there in the ether the POSSIBILITY   that at some point more conversations about possible modifications to enhance accessibility might be quite on point.

(Yes, RantWoman is aware she may be asking for the sun moon and stars. Cope! RantWoman also gets to cope with a clump of Friends trying to cut down the angry frustrated email from RantWoman. So far said clump means well, but they are also doing just as well as everyone else about supplying RantWoman reasons to be....)

Submission Deadline March 13 for summer 2016 RADCare conference.

Posted here because RantWoman is intrigued! This does not automatically mean RantWoman will get around to more than posting this.

***CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: DEADLINE MARCH 13TH!!! PLEASE SHARE WIDELY!!!
.
Calling all multiracial folks, sex workers, (IDU) drug users, QTPOC, and mad/sick/disabled QTs! We are looking for workshop leaders that bring us into allyship with your communities and share collective knowledge as politicized bodies. RAD Care (Radical, Accessible, Decolonizing Community Care) is seeking content for our Track at the Allied Media Conference in Detroit this summer, in the form of movement, writing, zines, film, coding, self care space, rituals, skillshares, workshops, meetups, panels, and any other ways that people engage in radical care in their lives. RAD Care track organizers will be fundraising for travel expenses, housing, etc. for RAD Care track speakers.
.
We will address what self-care and community care look like in practice--how communal and ancestral knowledge can inform an anti-colonial and anti-capitalist approach to wellness. RAD Care is about centering marginalized people, people who don't see themselves represented in movement building, and gathering to share group knowledge and teach how to be in allyship with one another. The RAD Care Beyond Social Justice Track will collectively envision new ideas of accessibility and wellness through self-determination and mutual care. We will practice challenging ableism, surviving trauma, internalizing self-care, and working at the roots of oppression through equitable, mutual community care. Participants will walk away with practical skills to engage in radical care practices in their day-to-day lives with a critical analysis of inclusivity.
.
Topics and themes may include:
.
**Making care accessible**
Economies of care
Equitability in care
Participatory research and research justice
Hacking access
Empowering community care
Social media and accessibility
Spirituality and healing
Learning modalities and neurodivergence
Supporting suicidal community members
Care methodologies and best practices
.
**Self care**
Defining and practicing self care
Mindfulness in activism
Recovery from oppression
Personal narratives
Trauma and loss
Harm reduction
Practicing accountability
Ancestral healing practices
Somatics
.
**New visions for access and wellness**
Decolonizing madness
Indigenous restorative justice
Intergenerational/epigenetic trauma
Organizing for healing and community care
Disability inclusivity for events/producers/performers
Accessibility in direct actions
Centering disability
Reimagining public health
Resisting and rejecting paternalism
Queer interpersonal violence
Self-publishing
Indigenous, multiracial, QTPOC, and/or disabled movement and dance
Burlesque and positive sexuality for marginalized identities
.
Please contact qtpocradcare@gmail.com with any questions about the track or your proposal. Submission instructions available at https://www.alliedmedia.org/…/rad-care-beyond-social-justic….
.
Fb.com/qtpocradcare
Radcare.tumblr.com
Image description: Drawing of a hand holding a human heart. The hand and the heart are inside a star shape which is inside a circle.

RAD Care Beyond Social Justice Track

Self and community care in practice What does self and community care look like in practice? How can communal and ancestral knowledge inform an anti-colonial and anti-capitalist approach to wellness?

alliedmedia.org

Mormon war on Native Americans (Black Hawk War between Natives and Mormons)

RantWoman has been trying to massage a tangle of thoughts about the #OregonStandoff #BundyMilitia #Malheur events into something coherent enough at least for RantWoman's standards and has not gotten there. In the meantime, this powerful video showed up via one of the above hashtags on Twitter.

If the Queen of Spades were in charge of pastoral care.

The Queen of Spades is, um, not always the most gracious creature on the planet. Sometimes when RantWoman is fussy and upset, the Queen of Spades offers to "help"--by biting RantWoman's toes, scratching various parts of RantWoman's body and hissing when disciplined. And then there was this afternoon.


The Queen of Spades

RantWoman imagines her this afternoon: MOmmm, you're giving away my supper.

RantWoman: 1. it's not suppertime yet.  2. We have enough to share and it's been a rotten couple weeks at that other kitty's house.

Rotten couple weeks as in:

--Circumstances requiring multiple visits by about 6 cops to someone else's apartment; that someone has now been removed to more, um secure lodging and RantWoman assumes that said former neighbor is unlikely to return.

--A conversation with another neighbor of the form "Thank you so much for telling me. I am SO sorry. Owwwwwww!"

--A conversation with the other kitty's human about changing locks and a RantWoman offer just to sit with if needed. Other kitty's human goes on RantWoman's Hold in the Light list and watch for fluctuations from that neighbor's usual sunny presence.

--On RantWoman's way out this afternoon, other kitty was howling in the hall near his house. RantWoman is glad the kitty's human opened the door. RantWoman learned some cat food would help. Enough for today.

Dang it! Dang it! Dang It! RantWoman does not even want to use this neighbor's nom de blog for reasons of confidentiality. Hold in the Light. Dang it! Dang it! Dang It!

The best thing anyone did on earth this week.

Clip from a few weeks ago, with further remembrance of Cecil the Lion:

To quote John Oliver Three Chechen teenage girl scamming ISIS is "the best thing anyone did on Earth this week. It's the exact opposite of shooting a lion with a bow and arrow."

John Oliver on Chechen Girls "catfishing" ISIS

(RantWoman does not feel called at the moment to troubleshoot the technological pieces of presenting the link above without visual cues.)

Memorial because what else does one do?

RantWoman has little to add to the torrents of words already written about 9/11 and instead grabs some images in prayer.

A budweiser ad?
Uh-huh.
RantWoman does not buy the beer but does appreciate the ad.





WARNING: powerful, stunning, some will find upsetting!
A stunning reflection about all the people who jumped out of the burning towers.

http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0903-SEP_FALLINGMAN



And for a window into the spooky world of people trained and accustomed to thinking about what bad things might happen, a peculiar contribution to NationalPreparedness Month, #NPM2013, a History Channel item about RickRiscola, the Director of Security atn Dean Witter / Morgan Stanley and all of his drill practices.

http://youtu.be/w9jUEp_l7cE

Believe

RantWoman is out of the loop about whatever incident with Nigella Lawson inspired this video but it goes in the blog as filing cabint column:

Oops. Whatever link Rantwoman was tyring to grab got lost. So here are a couple more
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/video/2013/jun/20/nick-clegg-saatchi-lawson-video

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/20/nigella-lawson-charles-saatchi-readers-respond

Crossings

RantWoman had one of her dragged to her feet, called to ministry, message miraculously trimmed into coherence moments one recent First Day.
The cauldron of themes seething over RantWoman's inner blowtorch precipitated a message that was coherent, hopefully shorn of excess detail. After the message RantWoman resumed her seat. Silence held for several minutes eventhough the children had already entered and RantWoman had a spell of feeling warm, on the threshold of something. The message was well-received enough to draw multiple comments besides a request from Call Me Up and I Will Figure It Out For You Friend to try to reconstruct.
Here, first, is the reconstruction:

Thank you so much for speaking up about the hearing issue. I will keep trying to do the best I can in Meeting for Worship. I usually also have to pray that only the most essential elements come out but that all the elements I need are there. I feel blessed about the latter in this case but I also feel blessed to be able to reconstruct and tweak here.



Here is a little more or less is the message that came to me Sunday.

Please feel free to share it with other people as led. It is part of a whole long chain of thinking about which I expect more may flow. What is here is a little more in places than I got said in Meeting for Worship, but enough landed that I heard from multiple people that something spoke to them related to different thresholds in their life.



[Previous message, Ojibway legend, wolves called love and fear who fight incessantly and love always triumphing over fear. Messages in this vein sometimes severely annoy RantWoman because they seem to imply there is never anything to be afraid of. ]

I think a lot of things can be explained with love and respect for physics. For example I am very glad Jana is with us today. Three years ago this week, Jana was badly injured when a car hit her while she was crossing a street near her home. The physics of car vs mere human are not favorable to the person but Jana had amazing medical care, a huge network of people who love and support her, and phenomenal resilience.
I am very glad Jana is with us today and doing so well. But I thank her also for sharing with me lingering effects of her accident like being twitchy about crossing streets. Because of my vision and other things I also am twitchy about crossing streets. There is a big piece about just respecting physics and being as careful as one can, but there are also hard things one just has to live with. If one has to have something difficult like that in one's life, it's good to have someone to share it with, and I am very grateful to Jana for talking about all the parts of her reality about crossing streets.


I am thinking about crossing streets today for another reason. It's the first week of school, and I think lots of people, not only schoolkids are crossing new thresholds this time of year.
When I started kindergarten, one of the things I had to do was to learn how to cross a busy street. It's about respecting physics, being careful, a good stoplight. Let us all offer a special blessing to people crossing new thresholds, maybe facing hard things for love and care and dealing with hard things.


Query: what thresholds full of fear and trepidation do I have to overcome every day? How do I know when I have made it where I need to be?

But wait! That was the message in Meeting for worship.Lately, RantWoman's inner blowtorch has also wandered toward complaints from some quarters, some people find it exhausting to be around RantWoman. Perhaps RantWoman is getting repetitive but Count your Blessings. Be glad you only have to visit. Be glad you have only your own problems.



Or, if you are feeling hardy enough for another ride at the RantWoman relativistic spiritual amusement park, consider blindness tourism with someone I know named G.



TRIGGER WARNING: frank discussion of blindness minutia; mention of facts of warfare!



G was a new blind customer at the Friendly Neighborhood Center for extreme Computing. RantWoman is not sure whether he came the first time on paratransit or whether RantWoman got him directions from the bus. Most other regulars at the Friendly Neighborhood Center cannot give directions over the phone that work for someone who is totally blind. RantWoman has been around enough such that it comes easily.
RantWoman talked with G for a good while and he asked for directions to the men's room. When he came back he asked RantWoman to help him explore the lobby at the Friendly Neighborhood Center. RantWoman could see from how G organized his instructions that he has excellent mobility skills, that is he travels easily with a white cane. He soon asked to go outside and RantWoman showed him routes between two bus stops and the Friendly Neighborhood Center and talked him toward a third more distant.
Here RantWoman had to stop. One stop would require G to cross a street at an intersection with 5 different streams of traffic on 4 traffic signals. Fully sighted people get headaches. Half the employees at the nearby Lighthouse for the Blind won't cross there except when a sighted staffperson meets a clump of crossers at the beginning or end of their various shifts. RantWoman STRONGLY implored G to get help from a professional. Translation: RantWoman does not feel she has either the background or the nerve to try to teach G herself and does not want to be responsible for him getting himself killed.

Lo and Behold: the next time G came to the Friendly Neighborhood Center....he had...crossed at that very street and done fine. SILLY RantWoman. G lost his sight in a mine explosion in Somalia. A wimpy little urban traffic tangle is NOTHING.

Grace Stomps in: Sudden Traumatic Death

First of all, if you have ANY reason in your life that that phrase "sudden traumatic death," say of someone near and dear or of child-themed hopes and dreams, makes your stomach do bellyflops, please accept RantWoman's offer of a prayer on your behalf. RantWoman will not be able to tell from a silent face whether your stomach is doing bellyflops. Please forgive RantWoman for just making assumptions willy-nilly, perhaps based on her own belly-flopping stomach.

RantWoman expects if the phrase "sudden traumatic death" or any of a number of subtopics makes your stomach do belly flops, you will need such a prayer at least once a day, more likely dozens of times a day. If reading the rest of this makes your stomach do more bellyflops, please return to the top and consider the rereading an offer for another prayer, and still another, and another, and another if you need it-- because, although RantWoman will not be able to tell based on anything on your face whether you are in distress, RantWoman DOES NOT KNOW WHEN TO QUIT.

And if  talk of this sort of prayer makes your skin crawl, RantWoman is happy to offer...itch-inducing conversations about  bedbugs as a distraction.

RantWoman has been blessed in recent weeks with far too many repetitions of the phrase "do not when to quit," and every single one of them has something to do with disability, with someone having considerably less than complete information and fading away before they even think to acquire it.  RantWoman is TRYING still to take to heart the bit from the quotes for the Pacific Northwest Quaker Women's Theology Conference about generous distributors of God's manifold grace." The "do not know when to quit" bit: those around RantWoman seem not to be experiencing this as God's grace. Pray for them, somebody, please.

But let us try to avoid straying from cheerful topics such as Sudden Traumatic Death.
RantWoman is partly bringing her brain back slowly from the Pacific Northwest Quaker Women's Theology Conference. To do that, RantWoman is clear in a leading to talk about...sudden traumatic death, among other gnarly topics where Crace, however badly needed, sometimes stomps into situations from unexpected directions. In this case one Friend's "timid newcomer" experience stiffened RantWoman's spine and "don't know when to quit" reflex, astounding Russian novel leaps of free association and tenuous connection style, about a "timid newcomer" note on top of the Sudden Traumatic Death meditations RantWoman has selectively been inflicting on email correspondents.

Death #1. A couple weeks ago RantWoman attended this year's iteration of Accessibility Camp. This year's event was not nearly as geek-filled as last year's, but RantWoman again made some great connections. One connection occurred because during introductions RantWoman heard someone mention topics she wanted to know more of. When it was RantWoman's turn, RantWoman introduced herself and asked the person with the other interesting intro to please find RantWoman and to introduce himself in person because RantWoman darn sure was not going to be able easily to find him.

This happened over lunch in a conversation with a subtext currently common in RantWoman's experience: "what's a nice articulate person like you doing hanging out with these other crips?" RantWoman seriously DOES NOT KNOW WHEN TO QUIT about conversations where disability somehow or another always seem to pop up. RantWoman is especially aware of this thread in conversations involving people who acquire disabilities later in life but have more expectations about normalcy than some people who have grown up with their disabilities.

Maybe RantWoman exaggerates. Well, maybe but RantWoman is conscious of making the same assumptions and presumptions present in the question. Urk. During the conversation though it emerged that new contact had a sudden traumatic death story involving the murder of a relative and raising a niece because of the murder. RantWoman is pretty sure that new conversation partner probably thinks about the topic a zillion times a day so having room for it in conversation, likely is huge. Once the topic emerged though, it filled the space as with smoke rings for a moment before hearts settled, breathing returned to normal, and the rest of the conversation held the topic almost imperceptibly, never far away but calmly, not thrashing around with energy pent up in off-topic chatter.

The second sudden traumatic death on RantWoman's mind is actually several deaths, in multiple locations probably attributable, as a public health nurse RantWoman knows put it, to "a schizophrenic off his meds" in the presence of a handgun Thanks to modern news media, miracles of modern Quakers,, this sort of sudden traumatic death tends to show up over and over for awhile. RantWoman felt able to pray without needing to know very many details.

Little Sister, vby phone, over lunch, needed to supply details. The organist at Little Sister's church stopped, left her car running and various personal items inside to try to help one of the victims on a street. When it became clear the victim would die anyway, the church organist stayed with her so she would not die alone!

The Church Organist was sitting in spirit with RantWoman the next First Day, but Mass mayhem showed up again in Meeting for Worship, in a Message from A Lot of That Friend but RantWoman Has Trouble Hearing God Friend. RantWoman has Trouble Hearing God Friend offered a prayerful moment from the site of several of the shootings. RanttWoman could almost hear God, or at least prayer. Mass Mayhem showed up again at the Women's Theology Conference with prayers needed after RantWoman asked someone about her daughter who lived close to the scene of several deaths and knew several people affected.
Finally an item from a semi-private conversation with Seriously Weighty Friend who survived a terrible accident. Seriously Weighty Friend was one of the plenary speakers at the Quaker Women's Theology Conference. She spoke of saying yes to God,  yes to love, yes to leadings without knowing where that might lead. She spoke of several moments in her family and political life. As she ran out of time, her words flowed in a river toward a terrible accident that killed her husband and critically injured her. The whole room was transfixed, especially since she also was scrupulous about staying within her allotted time, finishing with "We have to end but I have not even begun."

RantWoman was given happenstance and words to ask more later and was transfixed by what she heard. Seriously Weighty Friend told RantWoman that she had nearly not gone with her husband that day. She had other commitments but her husband was persuasive. Then Seriously Weighty Friend said she was glad she had gone with him, glad she had gone through everything her husband had gone through and glad she was near even though critically injured herself when he died. Now that is  grace, saying Yes to Love, no matter how much it hurts.

A Quaker with Parkinson's

Another book on RantWoman's list of: would like to get read / might not get read / is really interested in hearing about if others get read:

http://blog.patientslikeme.com/2012/04/04/interview-with-jim-atwell-author-of-%E2%80%9Cwobbling-home-a-spiritual-walk-with-parkinson%E2%80%99s%E2%80%9D/


Aside from the might like to read list, RantWoman dedicates this post to Kindest Editor Ever Friend and to Mrs. Also Very Weighty Friend. Kindest Editor Ever Friend strugggles with tremors and probably numerous other effects of Parkinsonism invisible to RantWoman. Presently Kindest Editor Ever Friend is also recovering from a broken femur. Mr. and Mrs. Very Weighty Friend retired across the water on the penninsula, so RantWoman gets to hold them in the Light from a distance. RantWoman also hopes they got the set of Rocky Mountain wildflower postcards which surfed to the top of one of RantWoman's mystery drawers just as news of the broken bone arrived.

Kindest Editor Ever Friend earned his title because he was Clerk during RantWoman's first spell as Recording Clerk. Kindest Editor Ever Friend has the gentlest eagle eye RantWoman has ever encountered for matters of punctuation. He also had the gift of untangling RantWoman's graduate school style into much simpler sentences. As a mentor after the fact put it, Kindest Editor Ever Friend did not necessarily always have a perfect ear for noting whether decisions and specific actions had been clearly recorded but between God and the labors of Friends, the world did not grind to a halt over this challenge.

RantWoman is fondly, fondly holding Mr. and Mrs. Weighty Friend in the Light