Unity? Sense of the Meeting? Consensus?

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.

Jacob Hoopes surrenders to begin serving 900 days in prison

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:

Hoopes Begins 30-Month Prison Sentence at Minimum-Security Camp in Oregon [Updated] - Friends Journal

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

RantWoman quite likes the "Adopt-a-Day" concept mentioned on the website. RantWoman notes that the earliest available free day is in October. RantWoman would love a way to know what activities will come with every adopted day. RantWoman will continue to spend some part of every day fighting the horrible attitudes among many in the US who have gotten the country and ICE to the outrageous mess where the US currently finds ourselves.

And one venue for this fight: plenty of people in RantWoman's circles who think the country is already full and there are not enough resources that blind people need now so we can't afford to let anyone else in. NO sense at all that defending people's civil rights means defending everyone's civil rights.

The #SecDef, er Secretary of #WarCrimes is having a terrible week.

RantWoman means to find a different vid. This one is full of "leopards eating faces" comments about Senator Mike Lee and disappointment that Sen. Tom Tillis still wants to keep his party winning. But afte minutes of commentary, this video does a decent job of explaining the military's proposed new coding of religions.

Spoiler alert: Bless the Mormons' hearts. the Department of DEFENSE job is to defend FREEDOM OF RELIGION for EVERYONE. More expansive commentary after we consider other great moments of the week

Oh Dear,.

1.The Secretary of #WarCrimes has been having just a banger of a week. A virulently xenophobic and disgusting white supremacist speech at a #DDay anniversary commemoration. A speech so vile that, apparently, he is persona non grata in Normandy and was disinvited to a different commemoration. 

🚨Hegseth BANNED and KICKED OUT OF COUNTRY after STUNT!!

Retired Army Commander slams Hegseth’s D-Day speech

Speak General Hertling

Iran first and then the #SecDef

'I was embarrassed': John Kirby calls Hegseth's D-Day speech a 'slap in the face'

2. The #Secdef is trying to block promotions of some more highly decorated women and Black officers. Tiresome. Idiotic. Well spoken about by people who have way more military cred than RantWoman.

3. Best of all, he done gone and picked a fight with the Church of Jesus CHRIST of Latter day Saints over who is or is not a Christian. The task: reduce the number of 2-letter codes from 200 or so to about 30 with one catchall category called "other." The revised list explicitly added the word Christian to a bunch of different recognizable Christian denominations, INCLUDING QUAKERS, but not Mormons. 

Aside from typing out the full name "Church of Jesus CHRIST of Latter Day Saints, RantWoman devoted a lot of social media time to witnessing about the fact that not all Quakers are Christians.  RantWoman would just drop the word Christian entirely even though she can imagine yhowls of concern that Christians are being silenced. And the Mormons are still separated in the list from other Christians.

RantWoman is also jumping up and down about the point that the Secretary of DEFENSE job is to protect people of all faiths, not just virtue signalling and certainly not trying to resolve theological disputes by fiat.

As for social media, lots of people pointed out Sen. Lee's history of promoting certain kinds of discrimination. A few people mentioned that "next they'll be coming for the Catholics (because some evangelical Christians regard Catholics as idol worshippers.)" A few other commenters also get the point about religious liberty in general. A few. Still not the Secretary of #WarCrimes , crusades, and deer in the headlights twitches when certain questions get asked.

MAGA Senators Are Furious After Hegseth's Pentagon Said Their Religion Doesn't Count

The Christian Nationalist Loyalty Test Is Already Here | Unholy Ground

MORMONS ARE MAD #petehegseth #mormon #mormons #exmo #christian #christianity #mikelee #evangelicals 

And otherwise

Military Expert Has Had ENOUGH Of Pete Hegseth

But from the past...

The Video Pete Hegseth Doesn’t Want You to See (w/ Andrew Kaczynski) - YouTube

When conversation might be too much, try Mr. GOOGLE. Further memorial.

 Remember RantWoman and the RSOF: Memorial with a side of fisheries management.

RantWoman has decided to acknowledge that she is both P***ed offand horrified.

RantWoman finally just used Mr. Google and Mr. YouTube. Anyone who already knows the name of the deceased can do the same. One reason to do so would be to recognize MANY reasons to hold Mrs. D in the Light without expecting one way or another about whether key details need to be spilled in conversation. For now, RantWoman will try to make her points while respecting privacy and not forcing D's wife to relive horrible moments.

RantWoman has a sort of electronic scrapbook of media items in her drafts folder. RantWoman is unclear whether to post the whole list. The media items include reasons particularly to hold D's wife in the Light. The media items also include graphic details from the suspect's initial court appearance.

Everything RantWoman knows about D and his wife and their rental property management points to very responsible up-front local landlords, not some far off management company that had to fly lawyers up from FL because of a tenant speaking truth to power about a bus stop. Sorry, RantWoman had to get that digression off her chest 

Many of the media accounts talk about D helping tenants in many ways and giving people second chances and renting to people that other landlords might not touch because of criminal records and / or court supervision. One tenant spoke of D renting to him while he was trying to get a massage (?) practice off the ground and offering him side work helping with what sound like many repair projects associated with rental properties.

The suspect, now in jail on $2million bond has a serious criminal record. Media accounts say he did not work but lived with his mother. The suspect's mother reported that household items matching what D's body waws wrapped in were missing from their household.

RantWoman is not a lawyer and certainly not a prosecutor, but some details make RantWoman wonder whether premeditation was involved.

The next court date is sometime in January. Hold D's wife and loved ones and community in the Light.

And anyone who can manage it, hold the suspect in the Light as well. It sounds like he deserves the full weight of the criminal justice system even if that of God within him many be hard to imagine right now.

DDay Remembrances?

RantWoman wants to offer the following #DDayRemembrance and #HappyBirthday greeting for #Secdef Pete Hegseth.

RantWoman means absolutely no disrespect to the #DDayAnniversary. RantWoman is even interested to learn that you did PT with US troops on one of the #DDay beaches. RantWoman absolutely considers that a more respectful gesture than past performances by the current #CommandInThief. 

That said, RantWoman is calling you, Secretary Hegseth, for only some of the reasons you deserve both prayers and severe eldering. Pardon the Quakerese. Eldering is Quakerese for stern admonishment.

RantWoman posted something like the following on X / Twitter / Elon's sandbox.

Dear Mr. #SecDef.

Warm #DDay2025 greetings and #HappyBirthday.

Could you please help me out, sir? 

When you get done deciding that heroes like Harriet Tubman, harvey Milk, all the highly rated transgender troops, and all the people you are trying to purge from US Military Academy libraries, DOD websites, and dozens of other resources, I am a little stuck about a question.

Your Wikipedia page, Pete Hegseth - Wikipedia says you were admitted to West Point, the US military academy but that you chose Princeton, also as it happens RantWoman's alma mater, over West Point because you wanted to play basketball. But look. Wikipedia says that West Point also has an NCAA division 1basketball team.  What exactly was wrong with the Black Knights? Army Black Knights men's basketball - Wikipedia

Please understand, considering all of your media pronouncements, a story major media has not really picked up from the Daily Princetonian about what can be charitably described as some poorly referenced citations from your senior thesis, RantWoman has a pretty strong "inquiring minds want to know" reflex? Were you really admitted to the US Military academy or was that an effort to puff up your resume?

I understand you are quite busy what with wanting to send Marines to Los Angeles and helping prepare for #CadetBoneSpurs efforts to hog the limelight on the 250th anniversary of the US Army, so no need to rush.

Sincerely,

RantWoman, Princeton Class of 1985

Thought crime: Arrests at Westminster Quaker Meeting House for planning resistance????

HOLY SHIT. 

Is there some kind of global epidemic of police doing high drama smash and grabs????

Some other news links "on the other side" as some media voices are wont to say.

First some background.

RantWoman has a new fave Quaker Channel., Quaker It Up.

"It's in British" to quote a weighty friend decades ago.

RantWoman has not yet dipped her toes into BlueSky partly because RantWoman spends a certain amount of online time defending principles such as freedom of religion and religious pluralism in a certain billionaire's electronic sandbox.

In any case, the news as it's understood tonight.

RantWoman is intrigued by a video that makes a lot of points in Quakerese and says NOTHING about why police raided a Quaker meetinghouse.

Links, in order of what RantWoman considers most responsible media outlets

Met raids Quaker meeting house and arrests six women at Youth Demand talk | UK news | The Guardian

(PS if you have a few dollars to help keep the Guardian afloat, reliable info is extremely valuable.

Quakers condemn police raid on Westminster Meeting House | Quakers in Britain

RantWoman might have posted more links but at this point, the computer she regularly uses did one of its periodic Microsoft Edge hiccups and RantWoman had to retrace her steps. So onward!

Free speech standards and laws are different in the UK. This commentary mentions a recently enacted "anti-protest legislation."

‘Utterly inappropriate’ arrests made on six women in Quaker meeting house

How to get hooked on Quaker theology? Barclay's Apology: A Deep Dive

The Quakerism of the 17th century: not the quakerism of the 21st century

"The first book of Quaker theology I reand...and I'm still here."

Quakers and Christian Nationalism: a minute and....

RantWoman is doing her usual mental and physical sorting in preparation for NPYM Annual Session. In parallel, RantWoman is, remotely, participating in many activities of the American Council of the Blind. 

Some of the time, these events have considerations in common. 

One example: spending a lot of time crafting some statement or other, figuring out how to shepherd the words through the process of coming to agreement, and then deciding what the heck to do with the statement and / or has the body done anything based on previous such statements.

Another is sharing the light of one community shaped by their circumstances with others, growing the circles of community, solidarity, commitment.

In Quakerese, these statements are called minutes. Sometimes among North Pacific Yearly Meeting friends, these minutes get circulated among monthly meetings and worship groups before Annual Session. Sometimes they get referred to Peace and Social Concerns committee. Quakers are known for wanting to spend a long time wordsmithing. At the same time, some Friends are moved by the march of events to want more perspicacity about when is "good enough" and done in a timely if imperfect way.

The minute below about Quakers and Christian Nationalism from South Mountain Friends Meeting is the current issue at hand. The issue is certainly timely in the social media streams where RantWoman slogs. This fact suggests paths in the "what to do with this statement" vein that might not be standard issue wirte some elected officials but more something like "How can these words guide and strengthen Friends' witness in our various circumstances.

Here is a recent  reflection from Johan Maurer with language that might be useful when actually TALKING TO one's friendly neighborhood or Twitter feed Christian nationalist

And some references from Radical Discipleship – Collective. Convictional. Constructive. Concrete. on RantWoman's mean-to-read list  

Radical Discipleship is edited and curated by Tommy Airey (he/him), a post-evangelical pastor at Kardia Kaiomene and the author of Descending Like a Dove: Adventures in Decolonizing Evangelical Christianity  (2018). Send an email to tommyairey@gmail.com if you have questions, comments, concerns or submissions!

With that as a prelude, here is a current DRAFT and update from a version posted at npym.org

Minute on Christian Nationalism

South Mountain Friends Meeting

 

As Quakers, we believe that everyone possesses the light of the Spirit, which is how we express what Jews and Christians traditionally meant by asserting that everyone is created in God’s image. We also believe that everyone possesses some portion of the truth and that no one possesses total understanding. Still, if a widely held opinion that we regard as mostly erroneous threatens grave harm, we feel called upon to address and oppose it. Such is the case of a cluster of opinions that go under the common name Christian nationalism.

Christian nationalism seeks to merge Christian and American identities. It asserts that the United States was founded as a specifically Christian nation; that it is necessary to be a Christian to be a true American; and that Christianity should be favored and actively supported by the state. A frequent corollary of this ideology is that the United States has been chosen to impose its will on other nations in God’s name. Additionally, it often overlaps with, and provides cover for, white supremacy and racial subjugation at home as well as abroad.

We reject all these tenets and implications of Christian nationalism. It distorts both the spirit of our country and of Christianity itself. To be an American does not require adherence to any one religion or to any religion at all. And to adhere to Christianity or any other world religion does not require residence in any one country. People are bound to their countries by their citizenship and to their religions by their faith.

In alignment with our testimony of peace, we focus our actions of dismantling such oppressive, aggressive, and authoritarian systems as Christian nationalism. At the same time, our testimony of equality guides us to not condemn individual Christian nationalists. 

We commit to educating members of local faith communities and the public at large about the inherent false narratives and extreme threat to democracy posed by Christian nationalism.  We call upon ourselves to provide teach-ins, show relevant films, and hold conversation geared toward raising awareness.  We recommend that fellow Quakers educate themselves through books and videos and then alert their communities to the reality that Christian nationalism is a political movement based in power that masquerades as a religion that is known for mercy and compassion.

 

 

Talking "Tramp"

 RantWoman was recently in a conversation where the phrase "We don't talk like that" came up.

RantWoman had to demure: Quakers come from and live in many different strands of language and say all kinds of things. Plus, if we are trying to create brave space, we are pretty much guaranteed that individuals will probably get uncomfortable at least some of the time.

RantWoman's confession though: RantWoman is struggling to find ways to refer to The Former President without the ego gratification for him of saying his name. RantWoman realizes that this is probably grossly unfair to whatever of God can be found somewhere in the vicinity of his desperate attention-seeking and endlessly SAD outlook.

However, in Bad Friend mode, please assist RantWoman in discernment about which commonly used hashtags seem most Quakerly, by which one may mean either upfront Quaker plain speaking or most deeply reaching for that of God or otherwise blasphemous

EEK. RantWoman forgot one:

#DonTheCon

#TFG The Former Guy

#MangoMussolini

#SweetPotatoHitler

#OrangeJesus

#ApricotAntichrist

RantWoman was shamelessly using #OrangeJesus for awhile except that sometimes gets abbreviated OJ and RantWoman REALLY does not want to summon any legal outcome in any way similar to the trial of O J Simpson.

Forget hashtags though: one of RantWoman's most delicious linguistic devices has to do with the transliteration of the spelling in Russian of the former president's name: "Tramp." 

Need RantWoman say more? 

Yes actually! It's IMPORTANT when someone first offers the Russian speling and then speaks of a "savior."

Good Lord. Democracy is hard sometimes.

There are no content warnings for life! 2023 edition

The short version of this post: RantWoman probably is going to change the title of an old blog post, add some headings to improve blind person navigability, and cite thie post to add context acknowledging that the older post could be problematic in a number of ways for different readers. RantWoman is disinclined to edit history, even though the older post like much on this blog could stand some editing. RantWoman INTENDS both this post and the older post as part of many conversations about child safety and individual life journeys.

In fine Quakerly way, RantWoman has seasoned this with two trusted members of the community. Neither of them interacted in depth with RantWoman's willingness to consider whether anything in the post might run afoul of Blogger guidelines. More below.

The slightly longer version: 

1. Recently RantWoman received email from Blogger informing her that a years old blog post has been "unpublished," rendered unfit for human consumption. The email comes with links to terms of service and content policy with an invitation to appeal and suggestions about options to address the concerns identified. 

Blogger Content Guidelines

     Why was your blog post unpublished?

     Your content has violated our Malware and Viruses policy. Please visit

our Community Guidelines page linked in this email to learn more.

Malware?

The technological elements of the post are no different than many other posts, plain text and a couple links either to blogger or to other sites. If the malware issue is another site, RantWoman is happy to hear suggestions about who and how to troubleshoot that.

So that leaves the community guidelines, which RantWoman step by step tackles here.

2. This post contains a lot of Quaker jargon. Non-Quaker readers are invited either to use your own search engines or to leave comments asking RantWoman to explain further. RantWoman only posts comments with the author's permission.

3. The original post was written before RantWoman began her practice of posting really blunt advisories about sensitive content at the beginning of many posts. RantWoman, honestly, also had not thought about content guidelines. RantWoman recognizes that the content of the old post is challenging but believes it needs to remain available in the interest of paths to continued discussion of things that affect many families.

4. RantWoman will leave the original frank title in the text of the post. The title is meant to acknowledge that people may for many reasons have sex offender issues on their minds a lot of the time and there are things that come of that. Despite the title, the old post is NOT an endorsement of sex offenders, an accusation that came RantWoman's way in a recent Twitter conversation about a messy family situation in the news. It is, however, part of one Quaker meeting's walk with questions about community safety, supporting a low-level sex offender, and intending also to walk alongside the complex experiences of individuals impacted personally by related issues. It is a long story. A lot about RantWoman's perspective can be found under the label Safest though that label also contains some other content related to general principles RantWoman considers relevant.

Events all started with a long ago conversation during coffee hour.

The post also contains a link about a Meeting for Business at another Quaker meeting where similar subjects are talked about.

5. The post was written at a time when people with titles implying they were prepared to help members of the community season different aspect of the situation were, for RantWoman, less than astute and less than helpful and also obtuse about another change occuring in RantWoman's life. (speaking VERY plainly, in connection with midlife vision loss, RantWoman was dealing both with a lot of generalized ableism and with physical and emotional abuse from one specific member of the community. This walk continues to evolve. Except for the point that any kind of disability can make people particularly vulnerable, RantWoman wants here to stick to questions of how to talk about experiences related to sex offenders) RantWoman very much appreciates currently having a sense of people she can ask to look at such things. 

One of RantWoman's advisors mentioned above just said "there are no content warnings for life."

The other said basically the same thing and suggested that people can just absent themselves from triggering material. Um, in RantWoman's experience, that is not necessarily possible. Sometimes job responsibilities require one to walk over the rocky territory of something from the past in order to do better going forward about keeping people and communities safe. In one case, RantWoman was able to add one appropriate line to an insurance policy. Doing more, like topical staff training was beyond RantWoman's light. RantWoman later gratefully ceded many topics to a non-profit much better equipped than RantWoman was, notwithstanding all the experiences connected with questions of worshipping with sex offenders and evolution of awareness about realities in RantWoman's family.

6. In the US national cultural war Zeitgeist both terminology and discussion of hot button issues are all over the place and definitely not in centered, well-seasoned form. RantWoman tries to offer thoughtful prayerful interventions but not to get sucked too far down rabbit holes or electronic time sinks. Some of the time RantWoman succeeds.

With all that in mind, readers who are not prepared to think about the day to day realities experienced by many survivors of sexual abuse and their loved ones, please either know what you are getting into by reading on or feel free to click away to something else.

In Light and Faithfulness

RantWoman

Thee Quaker: New Podcast drops weekly starting today May 24

 What do 8 random strangers know about Quakerism? We asked them.

What do 8 strangers have to say about Quakerism? Equipped with our microphones and Georgia's friendly determination, we set out in Philadelphia's Love Park to ask that question. You can find the answer in our newly released podcast trailer:

Listen

...and stay tuned! Weekly episodes coming your way, beginning May 24th. Click here to make sure you're subscribed!

Ladies and Germs

RantWoman wants to thank everyone who interacted with her invitation to come to an online graduation event for the Third Cohort of the AFB Blind Leadership Development Program. RantWoman asked for a formal agenda and got a Word document with the "run of show." 

RantWoman's initial reaction: "ugh. I thought the participants were going to be a bigger part of the presentation." Some of the presentation even made RantWoman grumpy. So RantWoman is really glad to know some of the entourage she invited found all that other talking very meaningful.

RantWoman is deeply amused: she herself got interrupted during both segments of the program where participants graduation videos played and literally no one RantWoman knows can tell RantWoman whether her own video was included. (Ugh. RantWoman should have checked before submitting. There are good technical reasons RantWoman expects better of herself.)

In any case, RantWoman thinks there will be a link to a video soon. Many other participants spoke eloquently to what the program meant to themselves and also RantWoman. RantWoman is either going to re-record her graduation video or just post the text as part of a series of reflections. 

In the meantime, RantWoman needs to talk about Ladies and Germs Guy, pronoun wars and what to say when RantWoman's brain does not need any help wandering down all sorts of mental rabbit holes from the outset of an event.

This BLDP cohort all gathered in person in Louisville KY in August. We got started working our way through a program called The Leadership Challenge. We got to know one another. RantWoman was the only one who mentioned pronouns and "non-binary" would have been a completely alien concept. RantWoman does not remember precisely where Ladies and Germs Guy is from. This is probably just as well. Over the program he proved himself insightful, outspoken and willing to take initiative. And in Louisville, almost every time he spoke he addressed the room as "Ladies and Germs."

RantWoman notes that none of the other guys in the room took offense at this out loud. RantWoman also decided to tend to matters with her fellow and others on her table team. Then everyone returned home, continued various strands of work. The first time Ladies and Germs Guy posted in our electronic classroom, he also opened with "Ladies and Germs." At this point, RantWoman posted something about not knowing whether any of the guys were offended but that RantWoman herself does not need any help about her mind wandering off all sorts of directions. 

Other people in the group emailed and thanked RantWoman. Ladies and Germs guy shifted to a less distracting greeting, for most of the program. But on graduation day he again addressed us as Ladies and Germs when posting a thank you.

At this point, RantWoman offered the following comments.

"Hi (Ladies and Germs Guy)

"You do you.

"People say that to me when they wonder about me persisting in some of my quirks. The interesting thing about 'germs,' in an age where I let one of my twitter feeds fill with pronoun wars, is that in this context it may or may not be gender specific.

"Anyway, thanks for the update about a work issue. I have so many situations where I basically get to build the next step on a ladder or across a bridge. Interesting that ChatGPT was helpful.

"(in response to another part of the comment) Lyft is definitely not the only tech co where layoffs are being done REALLY crudely with those who remain overworked and demoralized. 

"Meanwhile, I also wish I would stop hearing about Lyft drivers who try to get out of picking up passengers with guide dogs. The most recent case involved a federal appellate court judge in Washington DC. And we won't even talk about travelers with wheelchairs, walkers, strollers..

"Anyway, I hope we will all stay in touch and keep growing..." (English to Quakerese translation would perhaps mention continuing revelation."

Homework with 🔥DONNA LEE and 5 BASSOONS!

Readers who do not need a tune to settle or who click play and wonder how on earth this calms rantWoman down, feel free to skip the video, but trust RantWoman on this: it might help more than you realize, especially the contrabassoon.

PS Readers worried that too much business terminology will make them faint, please listen to the music and then TRY with the rest of this.

RantWoman is doing homework:

RantWoman has a Zoom meeting at 9 am PST with the great blind professional RantWoman is "mentoring," ie learning as much as the fellow for a  program called the Blind Leadership Development Program organized by the American Foundation for the Blind 

Announcement about Third BLDP Cohort that specifically mentions rantWoman

(*Accessibility nerd observation: not even this awesome blindness organization does accessibility perfectly. There is a button that the screen reader reads as"Dismiss Cookie Message" even though the text on the screen says something else. This seemingly small flaw is HELL when one is trying to tell a sighted person what to look for. Has RantWoman maybe already covered this topic? If so, too bad. Thinking Continuing revelation. Think continual renewal. Think ... Never mind. Don't think too much. Clearly rantWoman is still RantWoman.)

Announcement about the Third BLDP Cohort

And what homework is RantWoman doing: part of the homework is pick one pair of articles from a list. Read. Compare and contrast. 

What can companies learn from the Harley Davidson Brand Philosophy

Us vs them... from Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Extra Quakerese credit: 

1. Testimonies on Equality and Community? Do they translate here? Why or why not?

2. (HORRORS?) In what way is Quaker culture similar to or different from the sense of community developed marketing "Hogs?"

Oh Hell, RantWoman is going to go all overachiever on the situation and link videos from another suggested pairing.

TEDx Asking for Help is a strength not a Weakness

Absolute vs Comparative Advantage

Rocking Out AMAZING GRACE

Amazing Grace. First a glorious rocked out version of the tune.

Next the concept as realized while RantWoman has been entrusted with a role in more than one State of Society report and so far has restrained herself from full Tell WAY TOO MUCH OF THE TRUTH as recognized on Planet RantWoman.

Mainly for now, Amazing grace has been discovered somewhere on the interwebs in connection with the North Pacific Yearly Meeting ,Faith and Practice ACCESSIBLE online version

RantWoman honestly had kind of given up hope about having Faith and Practice in any other form than PRINT (no, not sorry; RantWoman still HAS FEELINGS about the topic) or big gloppy hard to navigate hard to search PDF. RantWoman has been quite irritated that the Friend who had a leading to have Friends read different chapters in our own voices got disgusted and resigned his membership. RantWoman also DOES NOT APOLOGIZE for exclaiming LOUDLY in multiple venues while not realizing that work was going on to make the above accessible version. RantWoman DOES wholeheartedly and enthusiastically receive and share the results.

Just in time for the FLGBTQC online Midwinter gathering, RantWoman specifically wants to link a number of sections that may resonate for Friends. However, since it is past RantWoman's witching hour RantWoman invites readers to browse for themselves. RantWoman hopes to come back and link the sections she thinks are relevant but invites others to skim as you are able.

Register Now: FLGBTQC Midwinter Gathering, ALL VIRTUAL, February 17-20 2023

 Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns Mid-winter Gathering 2023

Twice a year, Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns ( FLGBTQC ) gather to worship, conduct business, pray, and play. In July, we are a visible and valued presence at the Friends General Conference Gathering. We are a community within a community there, worshiping together daily but dispersing throughout the Gathering at the rise of Meeting.

Each February, we meet for a long weekend dedicated to FLGBTQC work and play. We retreat together to attend to old relationships and deepen new ones.

This year’s Mid-winter Gathering will be held virtually over Zoom, from Friday, February 17th, to Monday, February 20th.

Mid-winter Gathering is open to everyone: you do not need to identify asQueer, or Quaker, to attend.

The theme for Midwinter Gathering 2023 is:

*Our Queer Hearts: Relationships, Non/monogamy, and More*

Please register, even if you're not sure you can make it! There is no cost to attend.

Link to begin registration

Thank you! We look forward to worshiping, playing, learning, and being in community with you. 

(For insight about buzzwords used here, please check out the Friends General Conference and FLGBTQC links above.)

Job Opening UFM Office Manager: First Applicant Screening January 13.

 Job Opportunity: as edited and annotated by RantWoman

Heroic live human office manager who answered the phone when RantWoman first went looking via the Yellow Pages (the PRINT version; it was last century and RantWoman could still officially see) is retiring after many years of service to the meeting! 

Bookkeeping and payroll will now be outsourced, and UFM is hiring a part-time office manager (12-16 hours/week). This position is the coordination point for communication within the Meeting. The office manager responds to inquiries and requests, schedules room rentals, prepares and disseminates written material, pays bills, makes bank deposits and posts income and expenses. Experience with office management, Microsoft Office, Google docs, QuickBooks. Self-directed, flexible. $24-26/hour, plus some benefits. Job description at Office Manager Job Posting

RantWoman definitely recommends reading the full job description.

RantWoman absolutely is not prepared to attest that ANYONE in the hiring process can wrap their minds around the term "reasonable accommodations," but is happy to speak both to what about the place STILL matters to RantWoman and considerations about when in an employment process to disclose one's disability.

No "Driver's License Required" YAY! Cien puntos as Little Sister would say.

Non-discrimination on the basis of disability. Ummmmm

Job site may present challenges for people with some mobility issues but RantWoman will NOT make assumptions about what would or would not work for any individual..

Apparently a previous staffer in the role had a severe vision impairment. RantWoman has NO strategies for fulfilling what she knows of vision intensive essential job functions and other parts of the role are not where RantWoman's gifts lie.

RantWoman also promises not to refer:

--one of the Blind Prayer warriors who is very friendly in a welcoming Southern way and needs to talk about Jesus all the time, but more because the technical skills needed are more of a lift than RantWoman would want to encourage her to reach for.

--A vehemently Catholic visually impaired former teacher from a Latin American country whose capacity to have a 30-minute argument in Spanish with another native Spanish speaker about alphabetization rules in an English-speaking office hopefully spared her the need ever to try to function in any office not adapted for people who are visually impaired.

--A person on the autism spectrum who REALLY LIKES TO FILE. That might be an asset for this job, but this person is even more sports-challenged than RantWoman and might not be able to accomplish socially lubricating conversation about professional sports.

That probably leaves plenty of people with disabilities who would have a lot to offer in this role.

In closing and probably NOT especially germane to this job posting, RantWoman has an earworm this week. The earworm is about turning all kinds of history and unpleasantness into a big dance party:

Boney M Rasputin, Budapest Park, 2022

Hanukkah Night 3 Affiliation

Drawing behaving oddly as I edit

RantWoman how would you like your affiliation in the .... directory?

The first iteration of RantWoman's response

What happens if you just leave meeting affiliation blank?

How many conniptions will it cause in the data if you do that?

RantWoman appreciates attending and getting acquainted with Meeting A and Meeting . Both of them

are fine but different meetings. RantWoman is unclear whether to claim both of

them and not capable of further civil thought about the question

tonight. Please ask tomorrow.

[RantWoman, MUST YOU argue with every dang data table anyone tries to fit you into?]

As it happens, Yes! 

There is an alphabetical lookup but omitting any affiliation will result in RantWoman not appearing at all.

Okay then In Quaker zoom spaces RantWoman simply identifies as Seattle or NPYM or ... depending

How about add Meeting A, Meeting B, PNQM, Quaker Voice, the Pacific NW

Quaker Women's Theology Group, FLGBTQC, and The Association of

Bad Friends but absolutely not not not...

[There WILL be more conversation.]
Okay then,
PS Thank you for asking about accessibility in a software realm where RantWoman wanders all the time even if it's a different Quaker realm 

 

God can handle it!

RantWoman is certain her readers need a travelogue from today's excursion to Planet RantWoman. RantWoman is certain readers need this at least as much as:

--multiple stomach churning meanderings through the electoral landscape.

--meditations about whether it is unseemly to root for Russian bombers getting blown up on Ukrainian tarmac just as one would root for one's fave team at a football game

--waves and waves of Twitterverse fireworks generated by the new #ChiefTwit

Round 1, not counting international Meeting for Worship related to Ukraine.

The queries:

1. What image of the divine/God/light/spirit most resonates with you?

2. When do you call on or use your image of the divine?

3. What are you learning or what would you like to learn about the divine?

Video that was supposed to seed worship: Images of God video from Godly Play Series

RantWoman needs to channel the beloved Sybil Bayles here. The sound is REALLY Crappy and Zoom auto-captioning is entertaining as long as RantWoman has no interest in whether the auto captions correspond to what is being said and as long as RantWoman can make it big enough both to read and to cover up visual content that RantWoman, even with bad eyes that theoretically might like simplicity just finds insipid! In other words, this video would NOT make RantWoman feel included and likely would NOT kindly dispose her toward Quakerism.

RantWoman said most of that out loud. RantWoman also said part of her image of the Divine is that "God can handle that."

RantWoman also resonated with comments about energy, boundlessness, connection, witchy leanings, and religious trauma right next to the wells of divine.

RantWoman did not say that the video evoked a number of less than spiritually inspiring, just BORING and socially unpleasant,  threads from Sunday school of her youth. 

Next round of queries, on silence

         How does Silence Harm ?

         How does Silence Minister ?

Words which emerged either out loud or ... : harm of self, harm of others, silencing, worship of silence as opposed to silent worship and expectant waiting.

Further reading RantWoman looks forward to more fully digesting. The Goddess called silence

Later in not silence: a leading about spiritual / religious diversity among Quakers.

No one told me not to say "Jesus."

--Can one craft an invocation that is inclusive of Christians, Jews, Muslims?

--If the person finding someone to do an invocation goes straight to Jesus language and the person asked to provide an invocation cannot fathom an invocation, should anyone be surprised if Jesus shows up? And what if Jesus shows up from all those times in the Gospels where Jesus one day works among Jews and another day does the same work among non-Jews?

--Should there even be an invocation at all?

--Ummm, should we call up the Chair of the national Multicultural Affairs Committee for thoughts about religious pluralism?

STAY TUNED. God can handle it!

And finally

because a lot of RantWoman's experience of the divine is about music, being surrounded by music, being enthralled whether or not one finds all the words congenial. Almost any form of music though well-rehearsed is even better.

Compline on the Feast of all saints. Do not bring up the fact that Reformation Sunday, Halloween, Samhain, All Saints Day, Day of the dead have already trundled by on the calendar

Clean link for Carl Magruder's address at NPYM 2022--with brief content warning.

RantWoman invites readers to appreciate Friend in Residence Carl Magruder's address at the 2022 hybrid annual session with a clean link and opportunity to hold the whole address in a time of "crumbles.".

Western Friend Call Magruder

Small content warning: near the beginning of the address there is a brief invitation, for anyone considering suicide to please reach out.  The exact terms of the invitation made RantWoman's head explode for reasons RantWoman is happy to hyperventilate about in a separate post.

The short version, if the invitation in the speech doesn't sit right for any reason, take the advice twitter offered when RantWoman was checking hashtags: call 988.

Interest Group Evaluation "Punishment is not Accountability."

RantWoman deeply appreciates transparency. RantWoman also likes it when data gets reviewed by more than one set of eyes. RantWoman writes of a Friend who personally has a mixed record in RantWoman's experience about the more than one set of eyes and about many questions here. RantWoman writes holding this Friend an multiple others present in an NPYM Interest Group in the Light. RantWoman also writes from a perspective of "these are RantWoman's thoughts now and are subject to further discernment.

Feedback on Mackenzie's abolition workshop "Punishment is not Accountability"

Thank you Friends, for helping me reflect on and improve this workshop! Your responses below are anonymous and no identifying details will be shared, though I might use short quotes from them to let University Friends Meeting know what Friends who attended my workshop thought, when I am asking them for a travel minute.

RantWoman is often deeply allergic to others speaking on her behalf or taking something out of context. So RantWoman is proud to speak for herself and happy to own whatever may result. Valuable discussion occurred. RantWoman offers a number of points for further discernment.

RantWoman is a language geek. She can ALWAYS start a conversation asking to define terms. Readers are asked, PLEASE do the best you can not to take this personally and to attend to RantWoman's need to be faithful to her Light.

Travel Minute? Would there be any plans for a support and accountability committee? For formal recognition of an elder to help hold space at events? Oh, wait: RantWoman in "teach a person to fish" mode is not going to comment here about existence of any shared understanding of such Quaker pastoral support concepts. RantWoman would be WAY too happy to comment about people trying to wear too many hats and cultivating such practices takes attention. Those are topics for another day.

Punishment?

Accountability?

In RantWoman's estimation there was interesting discussion of several points which could have maybe gone further. However the Interest Group never wandered very near definitions of either term.

RantWoman notes this without comment about whether that is a catastrophe. RantWoman appreciates information in the interest group description to a shortened version of a 6-hour workshop. In RantWoman's experience the arc for an interest group of 1.5 hours is very different from on for 6 hours.

There is a formatting issue for the rest of this post. RantWoman is having trouble dealing with in the rest of the survey. RantWoman interacts with Google forms all the time without accessibility issues. The difference is that RantWoman wants to share both questions and her responses. RantWoman hopes Readers can bear with jumping back and forth

Did RantWoman feel safe...dignity and humanity respected?

Mackenzie has done and continues to do MANY things that make RantWoman feel shoved aside, ignored, and like serious concepts important to RantWoman do not matter at all. None of this makes RantWoman feel like her dignity and humanity are respected. On the contrary, Mackenzie's actions like those of many others make it abundantly clear to RantWoman that she needs to continue to be faithful to her Light.

Mackenzie is not alone. RantWoman wanted to see how the interest group evolved and is clear about ongoing issues but VERY unclear about paths for better discussions. Apparently, one of RantWoman's ONGOING access needs is for time and paths to discussion events and circumstances after the fact. RantWoman would VERY much appreciate BEING ASKED--and NOT JUST BY MACKENZIE-- what "do better next time" might look to RantWoman. RantWoman also reminds one Friend who had her characteristically superficial reaction to RantWoman's inquiry that she probably has in her email multiple suggestions about how to "pick one thing" to do next.

RantWoman felt "safe enough" for several reasons:

--There were many people RantWoman considers wise Friends and / or wants to uphold in their various forms of witness.

--"abolition" was probably not the sense of the whole room.

--RantWoman managed not to blurt out everything that came to mind when an article in the Atlantic about gun violence came up. RantWoman figured she should at least read the article because her "whoa!" was not going to make it out of her mouth kindly during the interest group.

--RantWoman had the option of attending by Zoom. This cuts way down on options for "grab the blind person and bless them" or "RantWoman is saying something we object to so let's give RantWoman a hug never mind whether it makes RantWoman feel smothered." Speaking of bodily autonomy and why, besides recent Supreme Court rulings, this remains a hot button bring it up over and over topic for RantWoman, ...

How comfortable....?

See answer above: Also, whether or not RantWoman feels comfortable may or may not have anything to do with a clear sense of call to be present! RantWoman considers it bad form to dump out everything in her bag of OUCHES in another person's interest group. RantWoman generally considers it ableist to assume that just because one has good intentions and does SOME things right that there cannot be other forms of ableism going on. Somehow, this topic probably belongs with further work around oops Ouch Whoa.

Did you feel heard and valued...?

RantWoman has NO idea how to judge that. Partly that is visual cues. Partly it is realities of Zoom including everyone staying muted so non-verbal reactions can't be heard.

RantWoman cannot remember whether there was a separate Zoom host. RantWoman STRONGLY believes that a person conducting an interest group should have a co-host. At best, this can help hold space if something comes up that flusters or upsets the presenter.

Somewhere in this Interest Group it dawned on RantWoman that it would be good to have a set of accessibility tips to send to presenters in future years.

Did you feel Spirit moving?

RantWoman can't decide whether just to leave it at "Yeah, I guess" or to have a rant about how this question seems very theologically superficial to RantWoman. Since RantWoman was asked...

Honestly, RantWoman feels like she has TRIED to have conversations about this very topic. Just because email may not be the best venue does not mean there are not conversations to have.

And just like that, RantWoman looked away from typing and two related links popped out.

From Radical Discipleship: Contagion

because frankly, the words "Discipleship" and Contagion BOTH matter.

The article referenced in the above extract

Yes Magazine :Murmurations Love looks like Accountability

Several Multiple Choice questions:

RantWoman is going to admit she has no brain cells even to interact but would VERY much appreciate some kind of compilation of how others responded. Given certain ISSUES, some kind of public compilation is what RantWoman is asking for.

Any other advice?

This whole blog post is full of advice and suggestions. RantWoman is happy to talk further about any of them. NO ONE should try to carry the weight of all of them. RantWoman hopes these comments offer points for Mackenzie and others to work with.

RantWoman generally appreciates boldness and initiative.

RantWoman can cite a long list of "Do Better Next Time." Some of the time RantWoman can relate to the advices something like " you have to tell people something seven times..." Some of the time RantWoman feels a little like Charlie Brown and the football. Why RantWoman feels like that is for another post.

Any other advice....?

 

 

How safe did you feel during this workshop? Did Mackenzie do anything to make you feel more or less safe? In this context, safety might look like having your humanity and dignity respected.

RantWoman felt "safe enough" in this interest group because of the presence of other Friends. Mackenzie remains completely unable to have conversations which should not be hers alone about some specific ableism issues

How comfortable did you feel during this workshop? Did Mackenzie do anything to make you feel more or less comfortable? Did you feel comfortable enough to speak up?

Your answer

Did you feel heard and valued during the workshop?

Your answer

Did you feel Spirit moving in this workshop?

Your answer

Since taking the workshop, do you feel like you now know more about police and prison abolition?

Yes, I learned a lot!

Yes, I learned a few things.

Maybe I learned something?

No, I didn't learn much.

Since taking the workshop, do you feel more enthusiastic to continue learning about police / prison abolition and non-penal ideas for how to engage with harm and accountability?

Yes, very!

Yes, a little.

Not really, but that's because I already was very enthusiastic and I still am!

I don't know.

No, I feel like I have learned enough for now.

Other:

Since taking the workshop, do you feel more enthusiastic to talk further about harm and accountability with people around you?

Yes, very!

Yes, a little.

Not really, but that's because I already was very enthusiastic and I still am!

I don't know.

No, I feel like I have had enough discussion for a while.

Other:

Since taking the workshop, do you feel more enthusiastic to talk further about police and prison abolition with people around you?

Yes, very!

Yes, a little.

Not really, but that's because I already was very enthusiastic and I still am!

I don't know.

No, I feel like I have had enough discussion for a while.

Other:

Do you have any ideas or advice for Mackenzie as zie tries to follow hir leading to "do more with Quakers and abolition"?

Your answer

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