In Lieu of doom scrolling about Russia / Ukraine

RantWoman humbly offers two topics

Blunt realism about matters diplomatic

This is a blog and RantWoman's analyses are subject to change, elaboration, revision to improve reasonableness. That said,

--RantWoman has been thinking for awhile that the US just got out of a stupid war in Afghanistan and sending US troops to Ukraine seems at least equally dumb.

--RantWoman is looking at the list of countries willing to chip in US-made military equipment. RantWoman would find it easy to go straight to "oh, good, a way for US military contractors to sell more US weapons to replace the ones being donated to Ukraine.

--Making the conversation about US vs Russia runs the risk of completely walking over Ukrainian sovereignty. Zelenskiy ousted a pro-Russian presidential candidate in an election widely regarded as free and fair. RantWoman wishes she were in position to comment in more depth, but RantWoman is thinking that the Ukrainian people are capable of figuring out what resistance is most feasible for themselves.

RantWoman is heartened today FINALLY to hear NPR talking about details of diplomacy rather than just joining the crowds of voices dithering about will there won't there be a hot war?

And then there is Belarus. President Lukashenko has demonstrated multiple times both compliance with Kremlin wishes and capacity brutally to suppress pro democracy protests. Not a nice neighbor even before he imported a whole bunch of African migrants and sent them off on foot in extreme cold to Poland. RantWoman would be a better commentator if she went to look up the status of those refugees right now. Suffice it to say, what measures MIGHT have some chance of also firmly motivating Belarus to be better neighbors.

Then there are the Irish fishermen



Score one for nonviolent resistance

Another slice from the Irish fishermen

Putin's fingerprints in Brexit and Brexit-related fishing issues are not directly entangled with the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, but they are part of many political dances in Europe 

"Joyful, hard work (in support of Indigenous People) is happening in North Pacific Yearly Meeting"

 RantWoman, never mind the gushy cloyingly exuberant billing. FIRST post the link to the DRAFT NPYM Minute in Support of Indigenous People (PDF) and let Friends read it for themselves.

Joyful?

You mean like talking about, oh, I dunno, RACISM or ABLEISM?

RantWoman, credit for good intentions? 

Yes, OF COURSE support of indigenous people is important. No, of COURSE this minutes is not just about more virtue signalling not really rooted in....Wait A MINUTE! 

"Doctrine of Discovery:" Can we start with maybe a 25-100 word definition of what we are supposed to be repudiating?

Indian Boarding Schools? Have there been any, Quaker or not, in any of WA, OR, ID, MT (WY), the states encompassed by North Pacific Yearly Meeting? 

Do NPYM Friends get a pass on thinking about Quaker boarding schools just because European colonization was in effect full steam long before there were Quakers in the lands of NPYM?

What if we start not just with ideas from far away and the founding of the republic. What if we start with some topics and names closer to home? A sampling on RantWoman's mind:

missing and exploited indigenous women

the Lummi canoe journey

the Duwamish longhouse

casinos

fishing rights on Hood Canal

salmon recovery

federal recognition or lack thereof

"Idaho's Forgotten War."

The Custer Battle

forced conversion

Mark Trahant and his Indian Country blog

Sherman Alexie

Seattle CM Deborah Juarez

the Homestead Act

Natural resource management including minerals, timber, water

Ok, ok, RantWoman, what do you want to happen to the minute? 

Hold everyone in the Light while we figure it out.

Okay Okay Okay Fourth Saturday Worship Invitation FRIGHTFULLY Late

Bus shelter mural joy
19th and John

 "Because you are alive, everything is possible."

"Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet."

"To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is."

"We have to continue to learn..."

---Thich Nhat Hanh

Cut to the Chase.

Join Zoom meeting

Meeting ID: 859 4336 5336

Passcode: 665344

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Dial by your location

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Meeting ID: 859 4336 5336

Passcode: 665344

Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kd2q1KBvKK

All day RantWoman has been vacillating between "Lay Down Fourth Saturday Worship" and "rock on" because there is some need twitching nearby.

Actually, twitching about Fourth Saturday worship is not all RantWoman has been doing.

Also:

conspiring with other blind people and able med students about multilingual and accessible prescription label options. STAY Tuned

Buying cat food

Celebrating the life of Thich Nhat Hahn.

Among other things.

So bring yourselves, your twitches, your still unordered calendars, your faltering new year's resolutions and Light looking forward.

It's another FOURTH Saturday Worship.

Commentary from Sam Bee

Register now for FLGBTQC VIrtual Midwinter Gathering Feb. 18-21

Join Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns [FLGBTQC] for 2022 Mid-Winter Gathering(No cost to attend)


Friday, 18 February to Monday, 21 February on Zoom (no fee)


We hope that offering a playful, open virtual space to connect with each other can be a source of joy in challenging times. Our gathering will take place via Zoom with welcoming events beginning 5 pm EST/ 2 pm PST on Friday,18 February 2022 and wrapping up by 3 pm EST / 12 pm PST on Monday,21 February 2022,


Schedule details at http://bit.ly/m-w-schedule-2022


 We invite you to REGISTER at CORRECTED registration link encourage others who are interested in joining us to do so as well.


* Keynote event with Wendy Sanford, contributor to Our Bodies Ourselves, and Cai Quirk, young Quaker artist, in dialogue, telling our stories of authenticity


* Meeting for Worship on Sunday


* Meeting for Worship with attention to Business Saturday and Sunday


* Worship sharing Saturday, Sunday, and Monday


* Registration: https://bit.ly/m-w-reg-2022


* Website: https://bit.ly/mwg2022

We're so excited to meet you! There is no cost to attend. We welcome contributions, which can be sent via Venmo (https://venmo.com/)to @FLGBTQC, or via check made out to FLGBTQC and mailed to this address: FLGBTQC c/o Port Townsend Friends Meeting Attn: Caroline Wildflower 1841 Sheridan St. Port Townsend, WA 98368. 

The Misappropriation of MLK (feat. Dr. Ibram X. Kendi) – Beyond the Scen...

Let God be the alarm clock?

Is a plant known for
being able to grow
in toxic waste dumps
REALLY the best way to think
of all the intertwined good 
that MIGHT come
from this year's legislative session?

 Query —Are we ready to live in the Spirit that heals estrangements that may arise from resentment, nagging fears, and alienation from others?  What would that look like?  (based on Faith and Practice, 4th edition, 2013, Southeastern Yearly Meeting)

"it's okay to make mistakes. It's how we learn."

"Yes, and thank you for what RantWoman is interpreting as a level of trust."

RantWoman, can you just come out and say what's on your mind?

NO! There are too many themes intertangled from different bills and if RantWoman is going to fry the same "include those most affected" fish on a bigger griddle anyway, does RantWoman need practice or should she wing it for now?

NO! There is too much evidence of one Friend's head exploding in email. RantWoman groks the "other people's heads might also explode" angle  All that is doing is make RantWoman repeat the point that RantWoman is more often than she would prefer called to be places where she either implicitly or explicitly get messages that she is not wanted. So how can Friends avoid making each other's heads explode?

RantWoman's head could also explode but so far, THANK YOU TEAMWORK and many measures being heard in committees that remind RantWoman why she is proud to live in WA, RantWoman has managed to avoid the head will explode option.

Summoning metaphors from the Quaker Bible study romp through Mark and dabbling in the topic of parables for one thing because that may be a better route to progress than drinking from the unseasoned firehose of early session legislative hearings.:

--That Jesus healing blind men by rubbing mud in their eyes thing: DO NOT TRY THIS unless youare Jesus!

--Think mustard seed falling on rocky ground and growing up to shield birds (and fight climate change and ...and do the birds just need to fly free?)

Summoning old conversations about squashes and cherry tomatoes and RantWoman's not so secret desire for world domination in the form of lots of compact AFFORDABLE housing with balconies and rooftop gardens as reflected here Full disclosure: three different people discuss growing cherry tomato plants. All of the three need to be glad they do not depend on their lone cultivation efforts to sustain themselves for the winter. It's early in the year. What are the cherry tomatoes, the leaves of kale, the root vegetables still waiting to be harvested?

Summon old conversations of the form "I will be faithful to my Light and I cannot predict what that Light will be."

RantWoman, you know Friends will find that comment irritating?

Yeah. Hopefully nowhere near as irritating as climate change, the pandemic, racism and the carceral state. Should RantWoman go on? 

RantWoman is still stuck about how figuring out life, continuing revelation, no matter how bumpy the figuring out, is closer to her Light than ghoulishly thinking problems will just die off and go away.

RantWoman, what if everyone just gets up and walks away? 

That would be tedious and repetitive.

Come on people. Let's grow some sunflowers.

RantWoman, you appear to have been heard in email as far as what you are most worried about. Why the alarm clock?

Just let God handle that.

Insurrection Anniversary Irony: "Capitol Rioters RUINED Our Plan To Overturn Election"

On arguing with Amanda Gorman

 RantWoman LOVES Amanda Gorman, the young poet laureate who brought a poem of hope and presence and energy to President Biden's inauguration. Readers can go find videos of Amanda reading her poem "The Hill We Climb" all over the place.

Much as RantWoman admires Amanda Gorman, RantWoman is also going to have an authentic RantWoman fit.

Let's start 2022 by helping as much as we can. Gift "Peace with Health and Love" complete and free of charge at https://t.co/guEwQSQEkX You can download, print, copy and sell. Your utility. https://t.co/CA21zvEh0z

— Pablo Hernandez (@takeconscience) January 1, 2022

Text in photo:

"There is always Light if only we are brave enough to see it.

There is always Light if only we are brave enough to be it."

Can anyone gues which fit RantWoman is going to throw about each piece?

Never mind. RantWoman is going to save guessing.

1. Unless one is ready to go all metaphorical, and perhaps Biblical about "eyes to see and ears to hear," NO Amount of BRAVERY is going to make a literal physical difference about whether some people see light or not.

2. As for being brave enough to BE the Light, can anyone say exhausting, thankless, and sometimes not well-received.

But it's a fresh new year and if problems are NOT GOING AWAY let's just go for persistence to start with.

Holiday Open House Take 2

Happy New Year to all.

RantWoman invites readers to Zoom Holiday Open House 2.0, 

Sunday January 2, 2022

1:00-3:45 pm Pacific

The previous invite, not entirely out of date

Yes, this is short notice:

Do you still need to honor the life of Desmond Tutu?

Do you need to blow off steam and strive to summon hope, the voice of God, moments of holy insight about catastrophes local, national, and international?

Do you yearn for free-lowing discussion of the phrase "The Greatest Geopolitical Calamity of the 20th Century," who said it and what it has to do with anything else?

Would you just like a low-stress opportunity to play around with the features of Zoom?

Come visit Open House 2.0

RantWoman has received reports of people for various reasons not connecting with RantWoman's not quite New Year's Eve event. RantWoman feels very well blessed by those who came. RantWoman also does not expect to feel like going anywhere for a few more days until snow melts off sidewalks.

RantWoman is however feeling sociable and interested in conversations.

Finally, RantWoman is happy to offer opinions about Zoom and let people mess around with different features of Zoom. Warning: one of the risks of socializing in virtual space: RantWoman has a time or two caused Zoom to crash with some of her technological experiments. In the unlikely event that occurs, please wait a few minutes and try again to connect.

RantWoman has plenty more on her mind with a couple snippets in links below the Zoom info, but let's start with the Zoom coordinates and see where we can get.

(RantWoman) is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: open house take 2
Time: Jan 2, 2022 01:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85143571886?pwd=aVFQY0JORkxZMzhHL2NSK21Pd0ZwUT09

Meeting ID: 851 4357 1886
Passcode: 434210
One tap mobile
+12532158782,,85143571886#,,,,*434210# US (Tacoma)
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Sunflowers Toxic Waste dumps and incomplete Advent calendars

Small tirade in appreciation of Amanda Gorman