Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Conscientious Objection?

 Pacific Yearly Meeting notes:


Our government does not grant conscientious objector status when a draft is not active. The only way to achieve it is to petition your draft board. The US has used a draft five times to force men to die in war. With Congress showing it has no real power to resist the president dragging our country into war, it’s a very dangerous time.

If you are age 18-25, you can build your case for conscientious objector status. Become a member to your local meeting. If you are spiritually opposed to war, then write that in your membership request letter.


RantWoman notes in a "Mean to research" light:

1. There is some activity, (pending legislation or executive order?) in the direction of making draft registration automatic.

2. RantWoman is unclear whether automatic draft registration applies to both men and women.

3.RantWoman has the impression that a conscientious objection claim can refer to a specific war even if one can imagine circumstances they would be willing to bear arms for.

4. There are periodic conversations about universal public service.

ALL of these points merit further research, by both people articulating conscientious objector beliefs and by anyone seeking to pull the US out of its current militarization trend.


Monday, May 18, 2026

250 years since the signing of the Declaration of independence

#Rededicate250 #ChristianNationalism  #SemiQuincentennial

Update.

The President is a robot with a crowd size problem. Oh, and God needs a ballroom?



The Terrifying Reality of Christian Nationalism and the MAGA Church [WHO RAISED Y'ALL?]

Presenting Republican Jesus



What did not make it to posted yesterday, along with wondering, foreshadowing, what all historical excursions the US will be treated to between now and the Fourth of July: 


RantWoman could be home scrubbing her floor.


RantWoman could be responsibly adulting and looking at her schedule for tomorrow.


RantWoman could be holding forth about AI in academia and the world of computing for seniors losing vision.


Instead, RantWoman is going to let morbid curiosity loose on todays #Rededicate250 experience in Washington DC. This is supposed to be the opening of a months long series of events, history lessons, boasts about the hand of God, the greatest nation on earth and HOPEFULLY some actual reflection on the occasion of the "semiquincentennial" of where the country has gone and where it will yet go. HOPEFULLY there will be room for people of many faiths or no faith. Hopefully.


May 17, 1776: the day of fasting and prayer

Rededicate 250: Washington, DC


Lucky Secretary Rubio gets to be the first face seen here, with on video to frame the event before we link to speeches.


FULL SPEECH: Pastors Lou Engle & Dutch Sheets on Foundational Covenant of Old Testament - 05/17/26

"On this day of jubilee, release your slaves."




FULL SPEECH: Pete Hegseth Speaks at Massive Prayer Gathering on National Mall for Freedom 250 | AC1E


Sen. Tim Scott delivers impassioned speech at Rededicate 250 National Prayer Jubilee

Irony: quote Martin Luther King and Frederick Douglas, and refer to the Civil rights movement

Could we have equal time for, say, Sen. Raphael Warnock?


House Speaker Mike Johnson prays with attendees at Rededicate 250 National Prayer Jubilee

Bless us oh lord and spare us the reflex to barf on someone's shoes about the gap between inspirational verbiage and actual reality.





Framing by multiple voices

"One Nation under God": US President Trump joins national prayer rally • FRANCE 24 English


And an alternate intro

America’s 250th birthday just got hijacked by the Christian right

No, young men are actually not more religious—here’s what’s happening instead. #culturewars




5+ hours from C-SPAN

America 250: "Rededicate 250" Celebrating USA's Religious Heritage


5+ hours from USA today

Live: The National Jubilee of Prayer takes place in Washington, DC ahead of Freedom 250 celebration


7+ hours from Fox

LIVE: Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving

Entire 8 hour stream which is likely to get clipped and snipped

LIVE Rededicate 250 on May 17: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving

Sunday, May 17, 2026

Week 11 of the Strait of Hormuz blockage

 #Iran #StraitOfHormuz #China #India #Japan #Pakistan


Possible international force to help open strait.
watch oil supply, demand, refining capacity
lots of demand for Panama canal, but concern about low water in the summer
Iran making deals with individual countries.
US trying to block movement of Iranian oil


And a couple more videos, just because


More battleships? Yes? No?
The Trump Class battleship: the USS Defiant
Check out the NetAssessment podcast
RantWoman means to watch later


And Secretary Hegseth goes to Congress
"Future energy dominance by the US?"
National security advisor should be coordinating but Rubio has too much to do.
maintain pressure on Iran...regime change
Sen. Coons question about tactical vs strategic victory
"If the US controls the Strait of Hormuz how do we reopen the strait to commercial shipping?
Not a military solution to reopen the Strait but must do a political solution 
Senator Murphy: "lots of evidence from military history that countries under attack will put up with a lot of misery to preserve national pride"
Who breaks first the US or Iran?
US military effort would be extremely costly.
Every day the strait is closed will take a week to recover.



Who hit the UAE nuclear power plant?

 #NuclearPowerPlant #CleanPower #NuclearSafety


Posted for background about pressures from many directions about the cease fire and the more general regional conflicts.


Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Lifting Sanctions against Russia. Multiple Trump Family ties to Sanctioned Russian Former SU Oligarchs + CHINA

#TrumpCrimeFamily 

Trump properties have drawn LOTS of people with ties to Russian oligarchs / mob figures who paid cash for their units.


The proposed Trump Tower Tbilisi flies in the faces of people who have been going out to the streets of Tbilisi every night for 2+ years protesting against Russian involvement in Georgian elections.


This video cites credible numbers about how much Russia is making being able to sell oil with the easing of sanctions. Oil earnings are funding support of Iran but are not enough to salvage the war on Ukraine. Such nasty tradeoffs and RantWoman suspects that crypto and sovreign wealth funds hide even more objectionable matters. 


Such nasty tradeoffs




Oh, and Russia, China: a starving lack of wolves...out of desperation
and  RTV mouthpiece Vladimir Solovyov complaining about how dependent Russia is on China
Interesting comment about internal repression occurs when a county is in a state of weakness.
Chian debt
China buying oil from Russia but demanding massive discounts
China helps with a LNG pipeline and demands product at same prices as Russians pay.
China feeds Russia a drip feed of backing for war. Every month Russia stays in weakens Russia. China purchasing Russian gold at discounted price and paying in YUAN which can only be used for Chinese goods at inflated prices.
Road signs in Siberia in Chinese
"persecuted citizens" in others' territory.

Ask an Iranian Advisor about affecting the entire global economy with a single decision

#Iran #StraitOfHormuz #NuclearWeapons


First Things First: Force Open Hormuz Strait


Let's talk about Trump rejecting Iran’s peace deal… and Iran not seeming to care....


Robert Kagan on why he believes U.S. faces likely defeat in Iran


And from a few days ago

Trump's War on Iran & Strait of Hormuz Crisis Reveal "Limits of American Imperial Power"

Monday, May 11, 2026

Project Freedom ?

#Iran #SaudiArabia #UAE #StraitOfHormuz


RantWoman is collecting links that seem related hopefully for more in-depth analysis.








"If Iran had wanted a nuclear weapon, it would have gotten one a long time ago."
enriched uranium: a bargaining chip?