Respectfully, Gen. McCaffrey

As long as RantWoman is sinking a ton of time into the matters related to the incoming administration, why should readers of this blog miss the opportunity to share in some of RantWoman's opinions?

#Petehegseth #SecDef

Merely being a Princeton grad does not make one qualified to be #SecDef. I for instance am also a Princeton grad and not even interested in being Secretary of Defense. THANK YOU for calling out the President Elect's bent toward military action. No one asked questions about times when the point is NOT to use military force. I am troubled also by repeated comments about using the military INSIDE the US as well. Why should Joni Ernst be the only point person about women in the military? Shouldn't EVERYONE on the Armed Services committee be concerned about Mr. Hegseth's attitudes and behavior toward women? IN PARTICULAR, concern about attitudes toward women needs to last longer than any one Senator's concerns about re-election. I did not hear a single question about Christian Nationalism. To me there are concerns about separation of church and state. Also the Department of Defense is supposed to serve everyone in the US, not just Christians or in particular Christians with drinking problems. I am very troubled that so far there are no reports of the FBI even talking to women who have raised concerns about Hegseth's past behavior. Honestly, if the FBI will just try to sweep everything under the rug LIKE THEY DID WITH JUSTICE KAVANAGH, who is willing to go for Congressional subpoenas? I absolutely do not consider repeated mumblings about "anonymous smear campaigns" appropriately responsive to legitimate questions. Even if the President Elect is an adjudicated rapist and unabashed sexual predator, WE DO NOT NEED MORE RAPISTS in high office.

I am very interested in knowing more about the WHO of any team Mr. Hegseth proposes to assemble.

No one is well-served by ramming this nomination through. If the Senate needs to move on to other nominees and come back to Mr. Hegseth, that is what should happen.

Pete Hegseth struggles to answer Sen. Duckworth’s ASEAN question

Lawrence on Hegseth hearing: Trump has lowered the standards every day of his political life

Pete Hegseth Grilled on Cheating, Corruption, & Women in Combat in Senate Hearing | The Daily Show

Hegseth Gets Hammered During Confirmation Hearing, Trump’s Inauguration Plans & Fire Misinformation

'Voilà': Ernst's flip on Hegseth reveals GOP's loyalty to (and fear of) Trump

WHY should Joni Ernst be the only person concerned about sexual assault in the military. #GOP MEN should have the balls / spine/ choose your body part to stand up for all the women in their lives. We do NOT need more rapists or lifelong financial fraudsters in high office. As for Jesus, the lefty commentariat goes all "who, what, Christo fascism?" the minute anything religious comes up. HOWEVER, I think it's more important to speak of separation of church and state an of the point that the DoD serves everyone in the US regardless of how they do or don't pray.

Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart on the Los Angeles Wildfires

Another evening of blog as electronic scrapbook.

California, America Is With You | Stealing Greenland | A Medal For Pope Francis | Tennis Drama

Jon Stewart Calls Out GOP Hypocrisy with L.A. Wildfire Disaster Relief | The Daily Show

Dear #GOP, if you are not going to help please SHUT UP and get out of the way of people working very hard to cope

#LAWildfires

"This is not a time to make political points. It's time for people to come together and help.

RantWoman knows almost nothing about LA geography. RantWoman is listening to the numbers of people  being evacuated and has realized that, overwhelming and horrifying as the fires and smoke are, on some level the news is only a notch or two above the image the world gets fed when a few blocks of Seattle are taken over by an extended protest.

LA is going to have a tough road to recovery. President Elect Gropesaurus can be expected to be at best worse than useless. So far, he has not shown up to toss paper towels at the problem, but he is trying to promise retribution: refusing to send federal disaster aid, endless chatter in Elon's sandbox about how CA officials should all resign.

#FelonDon will be taking office having scored a whisker less than 50% of the popular vote. Never mind the electoral college: more people want someone else than want him. He probably cannot find an ounce of humility anywhere. It would not distress RantWoman if the barrage of #GOP and #MAGA lies wound up washing the new administration of any shred of legitimacy or popularity. But enough. Find ways to contribute. This really is a disaster and NO ONE should be making things worse.

King 5 Procession for fallen Metro bus driver Shawn Yim in Seattle

RantWoman emphatically does not want to detract from the solemnity of tdays remembrances for murdered Metro bus driver Shawn Yim.

TL:DR Bus drivers sees is a continuing and worseniing public safety problem; redesigning buses would help a lot.

RantWoman has absolutely no problem with Metro alerts that reported that at times only 85 % of the network or even 80% of the network routes.

RantWoman found this 3-hour video and may or may not look for clips from all the extremely moving remembrances and calls to action she heard when she tuned in.

Instead, below the video, RantWoman is going to make some feeble attempts at audio description script and comment about one other #accessibility issue.

Task one:

attempts at meaningful audio description

(Please note: RantWoman knows at least one blind transit nerd who can probably identify by sound many of the vehicle models on the road. RantWoman is not that sonically adept.)

LOTS of visuals of buses either in motion, along the procession route or parked en masse all over the Lumen Center Parking lot and for blocks around the area.

Many of the participating buses had set their reader boards especially for the occasion: Shawn Ym and his radio call number 21882, Central Base, Atlantic Base, Ryerson Base, Pierce Transit, Community Transit, Vancouver Metro, TriMet, BC Transit.... Some just said "To Terminal"

Also present: paratransit vehicles, Bus-sized tow trucks and other vehicles RantWoman could not identify.

Actual indoor observance starts about 1:50: Bagpipes, large white floral arrangement, big smiling face of Shawn Yim on a screen with an even bigger ATU logo behind hiem

International ATU president: John Costa: "Who moves this city. We move this city."

LOTS of people in transit uniforms, hi vis safety gear, police...and just regular rain gear.

Task two: yell about #ASL interpretation.

WHY the ... was there no ASL interpretation of the main speakers? RantWoman has no idea whether there was ASL interpretation in the room but RantWoman always considers it really on point to do camera work so that the ASL interpretation can be seen in frame with the speaker. RantWoman is not a camera operator. RantWoman does not hesitate just to say "Make it so."

Please note: maybe there is expectation that autotext will be sufficient. RantWoman never makes that assumption. In fact, beyond noting the lack of visible #ASL interpretation in the streams RantWoman saw, RantWoman is reluctant to speak on behalf of #deaf and hearing-impaired transit riders

Rwmember Mark McLaughlin too.

Maybe RantWoman will be able to say more soon.

Memorial for murdered Metro Driver January 10 2025 PLAN AHEAD about travel needs.

 Dear transit riding public

If you need to travel on the morning of Friday January 10, please plan either to get where you are going before the beginning of the memorial or to arrange schedule for after the funeral.

RantWoman has a Zoom call or she would probably go to the memorial.

Here are more articles.

Metro Plans Reduced Service as Staff Hold Shawn Yim Memorial Friday

Author: Doug Trumm
Date: Jan 09, 2025 02:21 pm 

To allow staff to participate in a memorial for slain bus driver Shawn Yim, King County Metro has announced plans for reduced service Friday. Amalgamated Transit Union 587 is honoring Yim with a 10am funeral procession through Downtown Seattle and a memorial service at Lumen Field Event Center.

The post Metro Plans Reduced Service as Staff Hold Shawn Yim Memorial Friday first appeared on 

Thank GOD, SOMETHING: Supreme Court REJECTS Trump's Desperate Attempt to stop his NY sentencing

1. I wish my reaction could be something besides "Oh THANK GOD. Finally, SOMETHING." 2. To your point about the country sinking so low, that is not all #DonTheCon but God has he done a lot to undermine the rule of law. If finally being able to say a hard NO to #DonTHeCon 's lifelong career of tax and business fraud, at least it is a TINY exhortation to his admirers: DON'T DO THAT. 3. I love the idea of the prosecution asking for say 10 years of unsupervised probation and a substantial fine in the interest of deterring others from his behavior. The prosecution can ask and the judge can do what he is going to do. Would the unsupervised probation be any kind of impediment to more "not official acts" criming? I don't know but send a message. As for the requesting a fine, Judge Merchan just stopped imposing fines for contempt, and one point of asking for a fine would be to underscore the contempt issue. 4. #FelonDon is fond of saying he thinks he could shoot someone on 5th avenue and not lose any votes. I don't buy that. He did not even crack 50% of the popular vote. In other words more than 50% o voters wanted someone else to be president and we won't even discuss the 30% of eligible voters who did not vote at all. #DonTheCon likes to claim a mandate, a point I am happy to vigorously dispute but not here. In any case, I think it's important to say yes a candidate's conduct matters! 5. I am not a lawyer but I can imagine 4 women being willing to draw lines about President Elect Gropesaurus lifelong issues with deplorable treatment of women and unabashed sex predator behavior that justices (Thomas and Kavanagh) who themselves have been accused of sexual harassment or assault might not be willing to draw. In any case, the ruling is a SMALL glimmer of hope that we do not tolerate in presidents behavior we don't tolerate for others.

Next America Walks Webinar: Planning for Walkability is Planning for health Jan 15, 11 am PST

 

NEW WEBINAR: Learn some of the latest research on how walkability affects health. Join leading health and walkability researcher Dr. Lawrence Frank, Professor at UC San Diego and President of Urban Design 4 Health (UD4H) on the elements of land use and street design that lead to people walking more, and what that means for addressing chronic disease. Dr. Frank will show new results from the application of the National Public Health Assessment Model in a few regions of the nation with both transportation and health based users. He will be joined by planners who have used research on health impacts to influence regional and local transportation planning and within public health. Next steps for these tools and their application will be discussed. Recent advancements have included the incorporation of “complete-street” pedestrian design features captured through AI driven tools using digital images. Webinar learning objectives for registrants:  Latest research on how walkability affects health  A “re-conceptualization” of what walkability means and what factors it includes Relative roles of land use, transportation, and street design factors in defining walkability State of the practice including pedestrian scale street design features and predicting health outcomes. Tools you can use to analyze walkability and predict downstream economic impacts in your community. Insights from regional planners on how to integrate health outcomes in transportation planning processes. RSVP Watch Our Previous Webinar! Join the Movement Your donation is tax-deductible and supports nationwide efforts in creating walkable, equitable, and inclusive communities and public spaces. Thank you! Donate 💌

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