LaRoeBoat

@johnlaroe.bsky.social

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dogs' dogsbody (he/him)

Photo: three multi-kazillion dollar bucks yachts birthed at Puerto de Palma, Spain. (L-to-R) some very large power yacht owned by some rich-as-fuck person; a huge-as-fuck, three-masted dyna-rigged, solar power powered yacht (possibly the Black Pearl, owned by the family of the late Russian oligarch Oleg Burlakov); some almost as big three-masted, fore-and-aft rigged sailing ship (possibly the Eos, which belonged at one time to movie and media billionaire Barry Diller, aka Diane von Fürstenberg's husband).
Photo/Meme: Northbound traffic begins to stack up near the 50th Street on-ramp to I-435 prior to a World Cup match. The south side of the Sni-a-Bar Road viaduct is lined with local protesters, a large US flag, and banners reading: "86 47" "JUSTICIA PARA TODOS" "NO ICE IN THE CUP" (where the "O" in "NO" is a soccer ball). In the foreground, there are a lot of vehicles headed to the game. Most prominent is a white van sporting an Ecuador flag, topped with a giant half-a-soccer-ball and pulling a trailer carrying a colorful clown car. The black SUV behind it also sports an Ecuador flag. License plate numbers in the photo have been obscured, post-production, with pro-democracy messaging to interfere with license-plate reading technology. Also for the entertainment of the photographer. Text added to photo: Indivisible KC Bridge Brigadiers Welcome World Cup Players and Fans Ecuador 0 | Curaçao 0 Kansas City Stadium 20 June 2026
Photo: Looking upward onto the stern of a large white sailing ship, bearing the name "Sea Cloud" with a port of registration, "Valletta." She is a four-masted barque, Maltese-flagged. Her mizzen mast (fore-and-aft rigged, with its sail furled) and one additional mast (the next one forward, square-rigged and showing slack sails) rise above her stern. Her mizzen boom and a white flag pole extend over her stern. The sun flares in the upper left corner of the image. The sky is cloudless and blue. The shaded hull of the ship appears bluer (yep, that's a word, just checked) than the sky, with silvery wrinkles of sunlight reflecting upward along the edges. Western Mediterranean 23 April 2023 OM-1: ƒ/9, 1/640, 12mm, ISO400
Photo: (left-to-right) Crissy, Jackie, Pam, Karen, and Tim II face away from the camera on the opposite side of a bridge. They look down through a chain-link fence on an Interstate highway (435) and wave at the oncoming traffic that will pass beneath them. All five are waving. On the fence in front of them, multiple signs and U.S. flags are temporarily affixed to the fence with bungee cords. All but one of these signs face the traffic and their messages cannot be captured by the camera. The one that can be read: "Power 2 the People." OM-1 MarkII: ƒ/9, 1/320, 12mm, ISO200
Photo: Michael wears a safety-yellow vest over a bright blue shirt and sun hat. He stands on the south walkway of the bridge, waving with his left hand while using his right to show a double-sided, hand-lettered poster for the northbound traffic passing beneath the bridge. His distorted shadow is cast on the white backside of a banner hanging next to him. The side of the sign facing the camera reads, "NONE OF THESE ASSHOLES HAS EVER KNOWN THE LOVE OF A DOG." The poster has a dog paw print in its lower right-hand corner. The message displayed to the traffic at this time is shown in the other photograph attached to this post. Michael had an app on his phone that could count the cars passing under the overpass. In the course of the two-hour event, he took six one minute samples, counting an average of 113 vehicles across the six lanes of traffic per minute, suggesting that as many of 13,560 drivers (and their passengers) may have seen the messages displayed on one side of the bridge or the other.
Photo: Joe stands on the north walkway, facing the southbound traffic through chain-link fencing that casts thin shadows that outline bright diamonds of sunlight on his white t-shirt, blue bush hat and face. The fencing itself, seen from an oblique angle, forms a silvery chain mail wall lined with placards aligned like so many shields. Tim I, behind Joe, walks away, wearing a bright orange t-shirt and black ball cap. A small blue banner, attached to the fence only along its top edge, flaps wildly in a rare gust of wind from the north.
Photo: Looking south from the opposite side of the bridge: Karen, Tim II, Kurt, and Michael stand on the southern walkway of the overpass, waving at traffic and tending banners, placards and a pole-sized U.S. flag that are attached to the fencing lining the southern edge of the bridge. A short "Jersey barrier" topped by a steel railing protecting the walkway from the bridge roadway.
Photo: A view of the north-facing side of the overpass, with the banners highlighted in colors approximating the originals, and everything else in halftones. A large red banner with white lettering reads "JUSTICE." White letters on black placards spell out the message "RED CARD FOR FIFA PEACE PRIZE" (with the "O" in "FOR" replaced by a soccer ball). Crissy and Tim I can be seen behind the "R" & "D" placards in "RED." Joe lifts an arm and a hand from behind the first "F" in "FIFA" to flash a peace sign. A few vehicles in the background can be seen approaching the overpass from the south on I-435.
Photo: A medium shot of a man standing on a bridge by a guardrail. He wears black-framed glasses, a black t-shirt touting various KC attractions (Union Station, the giant Art Deco hair curlers, etc.), a black ball cap, and khaki shorts. He holds a torso-sized printed sign (of his own manufacture) which depicts a goose lifting its head to make goose noises. Text below the goose reads, "HONK for DEMOCRACY." His head is canted slightly to one side and his facial expression seems to ask, "Remember this?" Over his right shoulder (on our left), three more demonstrators on the opposite (south) side of the bridge standing waving at northbound traffic (not shown, out of frame beneath the bridge). Me: "That a new sign?" Tim I: "Nah. I made it a while ago." Tim I: [a look suggesting this was something I might remember] Tim I: "I brought it to 'NO KINGs' down on the Plaza." Tim has been to multiple demonstrations across the city over the past year or so of national bedlam and he has brought a stack of signs of his own manufacture to each demonstration, each sign having a different featured graphic and message.
Photo: A view, west to east, down a concrete walkway across a bridge. It is bordered on the right by a chain-link fence that curves near its top over the walkway and, on the left, by a concrete barrier topped with a steel rail that protects the walkway from the bridge traffic. Also visible: a similar barrier, walkway, and fence, on the far left, the opposite (north) side of the bridge. A large U.S. flag is attached at its corners to the fencing near the center of the image. The flag's center,animated by a light wind out of the south, bulges in-board towards the walkway. Just beyond that flag, Tim II in black track shorts and white sleeveless top and red, white, and blue ball cap, leans forward to wave at the on-coming traffic (not shown, beyond the frame on the right). Beyond Tim, Karen in a white top and jean shorts and visor, also waves. Other demonstrators are partially visible. They hold and wave smaller flags over their heads.
Photo: (left-to-right) Crissy, Jackie, Pam, Karen, and Tim II face away from the camera on the opposite side of a bridge. They look down through a chain-link fence on an Interstate highway (435) and wave at the oncoming traffic that will pass beneath them. All five are waving. On the fence in front of them, multiple signs and U.S. flags are temporarily affixed to the fence with bungee cords. All but one of these signs face the traffic and away from the camera. The one that faces the camera reads, "Power 2 the People."
Photo with its colors manipulated post production: The photo depicts a highway overpass. Chain-link fencing along the side of the overpass has a large U.S. flag and a couple of signs attached to it that are facing the camera. Vehicles approach and pass under the bridge. With their back sides to the camera. The signs read: "FUTBOL UNITES ICE DIVIDES" (with the O in futbol replaced by a soccer ball) "Sni-A-Bar Road" (this is an Interstate road sign) "LOVE [soccer ball image] HATE ICE" There are two colorful posters on the fence. One depicts the Statue of Liberty delivering a solid left jab to Trump's jar. The other shows Trump and Epstein hugging under a headline reading "BESTIES." Manipulations: All the color has been removed from the sky, leaving only blackness and texture suggested by white shapes behind. The colors in the signs have been altered to make them more readable through the fencing. Foliage in the photo, the bridge itself, and the traffic passing under it, have been desaturated into halftones ("black & white"), with the exception of the two vehicles closest to the camera, which remain in their original colors. All but one of the vehicle license plates in the image have been blurred. The plate not blurred has had its numbers replaced with the words "NO ICE." (This is the only "text" in the photograph that has been altered. No "AI" was used to edit this photograph.
Cellphoto: a bright orange diamond shaped sign on the back of a lawn equipment trailer reading, "Landscapers Ahead." The trailers lights are functioning (and two of them are flashing yellow). A nearby light pole has a no parking sign on it.
Photo: Northbound traffic begins to stack up near the 50th Street on-ramp to I-435 prior to a World Cup match. The south side of the Sni-a-Bar Road viaduct is lined with local protesters, a large US flag, and banners reading: "86 47" "JUSTICIA PARA TODOS" "NO ICE IN THE CUP" (where the "O" in "NO" is a soccer ball). In the foreground, there are a lot of vehicles headed to the game. Most prominent is a white van sporting an Ecuador flag, topped with a giant half-a-soccer-ball and pulling a trailer carrying a colorful clown car. The black SUV behind it also sports an Ecuador flag. License plate numbers in the photo have been obscured, post-production, with pro-democracy messaging to interfere with license-plate reading technology. Also for the entertainment of the photographer. Indivisible KC Bridge Brigade 20 June 2026 Sni-a-Bar Road / I-435 Overpass Kansas City, Missouri
Assorted Lambchop[tm] stuffies sprawl on rocks on a brick wall. Left-to-right: Big Lambie, Tiny Lambie, Mid Lambie, Party Lambie, Blue Lambie
Cellphoto: Lucy (on the right) takes a nap with her new best friend and fellow party animal Lambchop (on left with party paws and hat). [Lambchop is a stuffed plush dog toy modeled on the puppet of the same name. Lucy is a plain old white golden retriever. They lie forehead to forehead, Lucy with her eyes closed in sleep. Lampchop's eyes are, well, she's a plush toy, so ... no telling.]
Photo: Wayne, the Indivisible safety coordinator for this event, wears a safety yellow vest; wide-brimmed, dark khaki hat with a red bandana band; mirrored sunglasses; a peace sign; an Indivisible ID tag; and a body camera. He also holds an plastic bin filled with cookies with pink icing and sprinkles. Some of the cookies have googly eyes. He stands by the concrete and steel barrier that protects the sidewalk on the bridge's north side, offering the cookies to the camera. Tim, off-camera to the left, casts a shadow on the sidewalk as he begins to disasemble a banner on that side of the sidewalk. The photographer casts a shadow on the cookies. "There's a lady," Wayne says, "who can't come, for whatever reason. But she wants to do something; so she bakes cookies; and I pick 'em up and bring them." "Everybody does their thing," he adds. Beyond Wayne, Teresa and Joe pack away another sign. The chain link fence on the left winds towards the east end of the overpass.
Photo: Joe, photographed from below, stands in silhouette (except you can make out that he's wearing blue jeans and a white T) on the bridge's north side looking down toward the freeway, partially behind and between two sets of white-on-black lettered bridge signs. He holds high a U.S. flag. The signs, shown only in part here, read, in full: "[HOW ABOUT THOSE TRUMP/EPSTEIN] FILES" and "HONK = NO IC[E] (NO) WA[R]" Note: letters [in brackets] are the ones not shown in this photo.
Photo: Jackie stands on the south side of the bridge facing south looking through its chain link fence at the traffic below, waving with her right hand and holding a U.S. flag in her left hand. Behind her is the concrete and steel barrier that separates the walkway where she's standing from the bridge deck's roadway. Interstate-facing signage is strapped with elastic cord to the fencing on either side of her, its messages hidden from the camera (see earlier photo in thread), but roadway-facing signs have been inserted behind the cordage that is visible on the bridge. It reads: "Defend the Constitution" "WAKE UP and SMELL the CORRUPTION" "BBB*S | BOMB | BRIBE | BLAME" "WAR DIVIDES | HOPE UNITES"
Photo: Fred, in khaki shorts and hat, stands facing southward on the south side of the viaduct, his back to the camera, getting ready to hang some flags. A double-sided orange banner already is attached to the chain link fence between him and the interstate along the south edge of the bridge. The banner reads, "TrumpMustGo.org."
Photo: A U.S. flag and a flag celebrating the World Cup stretch across the sky together, lifted by a warm breeze from the south. The photo looks at it from below. The flags fly straight out over the camera. The U.S. flag is your regular U.S. flag. The World Cup flag is dark blue with lettering decorated with soccer-themed images. It reads, "2026 WELCOME" and has the flags of the three host nations along its bottom side: Canada, the United States, Mexico. The flags are attached to the chainlink fence on the south side the bridge with a bungee cord stretched across the fence just beneath the horizontal bar where the fence stops rising directly vertical and begins to curve (northward) over the bridge sidewalk (to keep people from climbing the fence and jumping to their deaths, this being a thing we have to do with bridges).
Photo: Banners hang on the chain-link fence along the south edge of an Interstate overpass. The banners face the Interstate's northbound traffic and the camera, which has captured the image from behind the traffic (at a point just south of a merging lane for the freeway). The traffic for this match is just getting started. The banners read: "TrumpMustGo.org" "ONE WORLD | ONE GOAL" (with a soccer ball replacing the "O" in "goal") "JUSTICE" "ONE RACE: HUMAN" "LOVE TRUMPS HATE" "LOVE [ice emoji] HATE I.C.E." A highway sign on the bridge reads "Sni-A-Bar Road" The license plates of all but one of the vehicles approaching the viaduct have been blurred to frustrate data scrappers. The unblurred plate has been digitally modified to read: "NO ICE."
Cellphone Photo: a compound with a blue & white pre-fab utility building surrounded by a gravel drive & parking area. There are 3 very tall flag poles flying 2 U.S. flags, 2 Trump flags, 1 "Christian" flag, 1 half-n-half U.S./secessionist flag. The front half a pick-up truck is visible, w/a secessionist flag painted across its hood. A sign in the drive reads Young's Crossing. Rusty milk cans are distributed here & there, possibly with a decorative intent. A yard sign promotes someone named "Webb" for an unspecified office, with the slogan "Restrict Governments | Not People." There is an orange and white traffic cone — State Route 2 near Freeman, Missouri 17 July 2020
Photo: Looking down from the side of a steep hill, a white stone bridge crosses a narrow stream on three arches. The trees on this side of the stream are bare. The grass on the hillside between the camera and the stream and in the narrow valley on the other side of the stream. The trees on the far side still have their leaves, but they are mostly dead and red. The sky beyond is blue with wispy white clouds. "Burnside Bridge" Antietam National Battlefield Sharpsburg, Maryland November 2024 OM-1: ƒ/10, 1/800, 17mm, ISO400
Photo: A cemetery view. The foremost gravestone is engraved: GEO. STERNER / CO. B. / 38 OHIO INF. "The 38th Ohio Infantry Regiment was organized in Defiance, Ohio and mustered in for three years service on September 1, 1861, under the command of Colonel Edwin D. Bradley." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/38th_Ohio_Infantry_Regiment Union Cemetery Kansas City, Missouri 25 May 2014 D40X: ƒ/5.6, 1/125, 42mm, ISO200
Photo: A large orange and white St. Bernard/Bernese Mountain mix dog (Suzi Q (2009-2022)) sits amid the light green sage on a Wyoming plain looking back over her shoulder at a jagged and rocky, snow-dappled mountain range in the not-too distant distance behind her. On a plain in front of the Cathedral Group peak cluster in the Grand Teton National Park near Jackson, Wyoming August 2011 – D40X: ƒ/4.2, 1/60, 62mm, ISO1000
Photo: In the immediate foreground, an iron bell hangs from a porch ceiling joist of a building in the New Mexico desert. Beyond the bell there is a green field with a few trees, some rail fencing and a couple of outbuildings. Yonder, beyond that field, rise the multi-colored walls of the Chalma canyon: a rusty red dotted with green foliage across their bottom two thirds, the bottom half of that scree and the top half sheer; a thin layer of white stone separates the red from a deep yellow top. Monastery of Christ in the Desert Abiuqi, New Mexico September 2021 D5600: ƒ/11, 1/500, 18mm, ISO200 More information about the Benedictine monastery here: https://christdesert.org/
Photo: Several gravestones in a "pioneer cemetery" in the deep green woods of eastern Ohio. Three of them dominate the foreground, their texts barely discernible, transcribed here per the Find-a-Grave website, left-to-right: An ornate yellow stone marker that appears to lean against a tree (it does not) with a cluster of flowers at its base, engraved: "Here Lies the body of Anna, wife of James Alberry & relic[t] of Peter Myer who departed this life Aug 31 AD 1824 in the 65 year of her Age." ('relict' is an archaic word for widow) A tall grey/white stone, engraved: "Elizabeth, 2nd wife of Anthony Pitzer, died Dec. 1, 1850. Aged 73 yrs. 2m. & 23ds." Another tall grey/white stone, broken, but repaired with iron braces, engraved: "John Green; died June 24, 1830. Aged 25Y, (lost data)." "Behold my friends as you pass by, as you are now so once was I, as I am now so you must be, prepare to die and follow me. Beard-Green Cemetery Dawes Arboretum Newark, Ohio October 2005 NIKON E8800: ƒ/3.2, 1/60, 15mm, ISO67 Sources: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20800629/anna-myer-alberry https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/relict https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20822639/elizabeth-b-pitzer https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20818749/john-green
Photo: Joe -- wearing a navy blue, mesh-sided sun hat, a white t-shirt, and dark glasses -- suppresses a smile. He's standing on the viaduct's north side walkway. Beyond him, affixed to the chain link fence on the viaduct's south edge, is a sign pointed toward the bridge's roadway: "86 47."
Photo: Tim II (no relation to another Tim working the other side of the bridge at this event (see next post)) wears red, white, and blue, including a 1776 flag trucker hat, star-spangled sunglasses, and a star-spangled wrist band. He waves left-handed at the traffic below. His t-shirt is white. He stands near the steel-rail and concrete barrier separating the roadway from the viaduct's southside walkway. Behind him, Karen, in jean shorts, a white T, and a navy blue visor, stands next to the very tall chain link fence that lines the viaduct's souther edge. She, too, waves. Further up the walkway are Chrissy, Jackie (barely visible), Keiran, and Walter, along with a cardboard box and a black net wagon used to transport the team's signage and the hooked bungee cords used to hang it. Along the inside of the fence several units of signage are held in place by hooked bungee cords attached to the fence's chain links.
Photo: Looking across the bridgedeck from the viaduct's northside walkway to its southside walkway, where five of the bridge brigadiers face an interstate's northbound pre-match traffic through a chain-link fence, with their backs to the camera. They are (left to right) Keiran, Jackie, Chrissy, Walter, and Karen. Chrissy is just barely visible. She's in the red top. Their banners, like themselves, face the interstate traffic below; but other smaller signs affixed to the fencing face the bridge deck, because there's traffic there, too. Two of these signs read: "Defend the Constitution" "WAKE UP and SMELL the CORRUPTION" "USE YOUR VOTE" Another depicts a convicted felon (who also happens to be the sitting president of the United States) in an orange jumpsuit (his favorite color!) being led away in handcuffs by a police officer. It is captioned, "I have a dream." Another depicts that same felon with a red rubber nose and in white face. It is captioned, "CLOWN."
Photo: Northbound traffic begins to stack up near the 50th Street on-ramp to I-435 prior to a World Cup match. The south side of the Sni-a-Bar Road viaduct is lined with local protesters, a large US flag, and banners reading: "86 47" "JUSTICIA PARA TODOS" "NO ICE IN THE CUP" (where the "O" in "NO" is a soccer ball). In the foreground, there are a lot of vehicles headed to the game. Most prominent is a white van sporting an Ecuador flag, topped with a giant half-a-soccer-ball and pulling a trailer carrying a colorful clown car. The black SUV behind it also sports an Ecuador flag. License plate numbers in the photo have been obscured, post-production, with pro-democracy messaging to interfere with license-plate reading technology. Also for the entertainment of the photographer. Indivisible KC Bridge Brigade 20 June 2026 Sni-a-Bar Road / I-435 Overpass Kansas City, Missouri
Photo: A gnome (presumably added after the fact by the tree's owners, or their children) holds open a door carved into the stump of an old tree. OM-1 MarkII: ƒ/4, 1/60, 27mm, ISO200
Photo: Two souvenir-store, plaster figurines of old sailors stand on a plastic deck, one a likely first mate in dark blue officer's cap and blue sweater, and holding a pipe. The other a more likely captain in a white officer's cap and pea coat. Text boxes have been added to provide insight to their conversation: The first mate's reads, "So, if it resembles wood, or has the qualities or nature of wood, but it isn't wood, according to Merriam-Webster, ... ?" The captain's reads, "Yep. Still xyloid." The plaster figurines have been cast to resemble carved figures. The deck is composed of multiple layers of recycled plastic in varied colors, wrapped around a bamboo core and carved so that the various plastic layers, together, resemble richly grained wood. – OM-1 MarkII: ƒ/5.6, 1/125, 21mm, ISO200
Assorted Lambchop[tm] stuffies sprawl on rocks on a brick wall. Left-to-right: Big Lambie, Tiny Lambie, Mid Lambie, Party Lambie, Blue Lambie.
Cellphone Photo: Flock of five Lampchop[tm] plush toys, in various sizes, recruited by my dog Lucy, gathered on a rocky ledge (on a brick wall (on a screened in porch (in a Midwestern city (in the U.S.)))). One wears a party hat. Another is sky blue (no relation to the app with a similar name). There is nothing abnormal about this. According to Lucy.
Photo: the bow of a canoe (with a yellow interior and black gunnels) points towards a beach, where there are numerous dogs, none of which are Lucy, who didn't get to go. She's not mad. She's just disappointed. The water is greenish brown. Beyond the beach, a hill rises steeply. There are trees. The hill and trees and beyond the trees, the sky are reflected on the water. In the canoe, a cheap paddle stretches along the center line toward the bow. It's there mostly for fending and navigating in the shallows. LaRoe uses a kayak paddle on the open water. Shawnee Mission Park Dog Beach 12 June 2026 ----- TG-6: ƒ/2.8, 1/800, 4.5mm, ISO100
Photo: Early of a summer morning,a trio of schooners ride at anchor with a host of other (mostly sailing) small craft, all of them reflected on the mirror smooth water of the harbor. Coniferous forest covers the surrounding coast. In each of the lower corners, bits of the boat from which the photograph is being taken are visible. The boat is the schooner Mistress. Buck's Harbor, Maine July 2007 D40X: ƒ/10, 1/400, 18mm, ISO400
Photo: On a nearly calm sea, gentle waves near us reflect an orange sunset on their far side and the coming night on their near side. In the middle range, the waves reflect almost nothing but sunset, except near the center. There, two dolphins have just come up for air. One has gone back under the water, but the ripple of its wake reflects an extra stripe of the darkening sky. The other is still on the surface, about to plunge, the curve of its back and its fin barely visible. The horizon is defined by mountains on the Spanish coast, and above the mountains: a fiery orange sunset fading to blue. Photographed from the stern of the barque Sea Cloud, sailing the Mediterranean in the … Gulf of Almeria (Spain) April 2023 OM-1: ƒ/2.8, 1/30, 75mm, ISO400
Photo: a longish, monochrome exposure of water flowing over stones in a fairly shallow creek; in the abstract, to my eye, it resembles multiple tumbles of lovely long white hair blown by the wind as they try to escape a fast-moving convertible. D5600: ƒ/22, 1/15, 250mm, ISO320
Photo: Michele sports a black ball cap with rainbow striping and the words "Proud Ally," also a black T with the words (in a gothic font suggesting biblical truth) "Fucketh Around and Findeth Out. – Mood 24:7." Behind Michele black railing can be seen separating the walkway from the road surface on the bridge deck.
Photo: Fairly tight shot of a highway overpass and its underside: concrete and steel girders resting on concrete piers, topped with a deck supporting a walkway protected by a black chain-link fence, with two large banners: The smaller of the two bears black letters against a white background, reading simply "Visibility Brigade." Below it, the larger one, about twice its size, bears much larger white letters: "HONK 4 FREE SPEECH," with two gold stars at each end. Four members of the Indivisible Johnson County Visibility Brigade stand behind the fence and signs. Two of them are waving at the traffic (not shown) below.
Photo: Two adults and a child, perched on a curb, lean into the frame to smile for a photo. One of the adults flashes a peace sign. Behind them, some rides for the carnival associated with Old Shawnee Days are visible.
Photo: Beyond the fourth line, other members of the contingency followed with a canvas sided wagon pulled by Suzanne (probably the closest thing the parade had to a Conestoga wagon) filled with candy which was freely distributed to (mostly) children (and maybe a few adults, including maybe some police officers). At pauses along the route, Suzanne also led the contingent in call-and-response chants, including "Show me what community looks like!" / "This is what community looks like!"
Photo: Paula, smiling, carries a rainbow background sign with a mix of black, glitter, and white lettering, reading, "Grab 'em by the Mid Terms!" There's a U.S. flag right behind her head. (Paula was the first to show up at the marshaling point.)
Photo: A marcher (John) wearing a tri-corner hat and a blue T and carrying a U.S. flag in his left hand and holding the top bar of a banner in his right hand, as seen from behind. A burst of bubbles (from Celia's bubble gun) rise against the background of his shirt. The bare pavement of Nieman Road is before him. On his right, up ahead a building is decorated with a three-story mural of a U.S. flag waving in a breeze. (Thank you, Celia, for the assist in making this photo possible.) This was not the only bubble gun deployed by the resistance on this day.
Photo: 1st thru 4th lines of the Indivisible Johnson County contingency in the Old Shawnee Days Parade. 1st line: Ted: (in light green button-front shirt (w/an "8647" pin)) and John (in a blue T accented in red & white at the sleeves (wearing a tri-corner hat)) form the first line, each holding a large U.S. flag (skewed outboard), carrying between them a banner reading, "Defend Freedom | Preserve Democracy | Protect the Rule of Law | Defeat Trump Republicans." 2nd line (l-to-r): what they wear; what they carry: Mary: a UMKC Roos T; a flag and a sign reading "Protect Our Votes." Celia: Navy T with the word "FREEDOM;" bubble gun and a sign reading "Equality Hurts No One." Frankie (behind a flag, only the top of her sign shows): grey T; a sign reading: "Kindness, Peace, Equality, Love, Inclusion, Hope, Diversity." 3rd line: Danny: blue T w/a picture of Dr. Strangelove captioned "I Have a Plan;" a U.S. flag. Gary: grey T w/the words "Government of the People, by the People, for the People, Shall Not Perish from the Earth;" a U.S. flag. Barbara: white T; a sign reading "We the People" and depicting judicial scales and a diverse collection of people. Paula: White top; a sign reading, against a rainbow background, reading "Grab 'em by the Mid Terms!" 4th line (celebrating the Kansas City area hosting the 2026 World Cup): Marie: Purple T w/the words "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Huddled Masses Yearning To Breathe Free;" a German flag. Rick: Green button-front shirt; a Dutch flag and a sign w/a soccer ball drawn on it & text reading, "Kickin' in Kansas and taking names in the Name of DEMOCRACY." There are six U.S. flags in this photo, five are carried by the Indivisible contingent. The sixth, just about in the middle of the photo, about a block back of the front line, is a huge one dangling from a crane over the middle of the street. [note: next in the parade: a pick-up truck touting the Trump Republican candidate for Kansas Governor]
Photo: A demonstrator holds a megaphone to lead her fellow protesters in a series of call-and-response chants at a pop-up protest north of the river in Kansas City. The call: "When they [any one of the items in the seemingly endless array of anti-democratic acts perpetrated by the MAGA regime]? What do we do?" The response: "STAND UP! FIGHT BACK!" She wears a spaghetti strap top and a white ball cap with her pony tail pulled through the size adjustment of the cap. Her bare shoulders are tan. In the background: a chorus of honking car horns and shouts of agreement from vehicles in the busy intersection at … Brighton & Vivion Roads Kansas City, Missouri 15 July 2025 – OM-1: ƒ/6.3, 1/1000, 38mm, ISO200
Photo: A protester leads fellow demonstrators down a sidewalk through a persistent drizzle in a small midwestern town. He wears a yellow rain shell, and blue jeans; and he carries a red & white megaphone in one hand and a sign in the other that reads, in all caps, "DOGE isn't a meme. It's a fucking nightmare" (though the word "meme" is not visible in the photo). Signs carried by the protesters behind him read: "Without due process, no-one is safe." and "Authoritarianism doesn't always wear jackboots. Sometimes it drives a Tesla." Two- and three-story, brick and limestone buildings line both sides of the street. A street sign directly behind the leading protester directs traffic towards Selby Stadium, a City Park, City Hall and Ohio Wesleyan University. – Defending Democracy Delaware, Ohio 19 April 2025 TG-6: ƒ/3.2, 1/500, 5.4mm, ISO100
Photo: A speaker at a rally in defense of women's access to healthcare following the "leak" of a "draft" opinion wherein it was disclosed that the Supreme Court's MAGAjority intended to overturn Roe v Wade. She wears a black zippered jacket and turns her face towards the camera as she speaks into the microphone of a red & white megaphone. Behind her, beyond the photograph's depth of field, stands another protester holding a pink sign. "Fight Back" Abortion Rights Rally Jackson County Courthouse Kansas City, Missouri 3 May 2022 D5600: ƒ/5.3, 1/1000, 210mm, ISO800
Photo: a dog smiles encouragingly at you. her tongue is out, but she's not slobbering or anything; so you're probably okay
Cellphone photo: a church sign, a set of six doors, a pole with two flags, a steepled church in the New England Congregational style. The sign identifies the church as the Kansas City United Church of Christ and a welcoming congregation. The doors are painted in the colors of the pride flag. The pole has a U.S. flag flying above a pride flag. The church has narrow wooden pillars across its front and a belfrey in the steeple above is entrance. There is a star atop the steeple.
Photo: A speaker at a protest against police brutality occasioned by the murder of George Floyd, holds a megaphone, wears a black baseball cap (bill to the back), and a turquoise sleeveless t. Black Lives Matter Brigade Brookside, Kansas City, Missouri 2 August 2020 NIKON D5600: ƒ/6.3, 1/500, 300mm, ISO250
Photo: A protester peeks over the top of a sign that he's holding: a black on white block-letter printouts taped to brown cardboard, with extra cellophane to protect it from the day's persistent drizzle. The sign reads "Freedom of Speech / Use It or Lose It." Defending Democracy Delaware, Ohio 19 April 2025 TG-6: ƒ/4.5, 1/400, 9.01mm, ISO100
Photo: A unit of U.S. Army artillery reenactors in Civil War era uniforms stand on a green with their artillery piece in front of several white campaign tents with some trees in autumn foliage beyond them. A few onlookers can be seen back among the tents. 27 October 2018 Lexington, Missouri
Photo: Three members of the KC Handmaid Army join the event. The one in the middle holds a sign with text reading, "We're With Her" and an arrow pointing to a drawing of the Statue of Liberty. In her other hand, she holds a U.S. flag mounted upside-down on its staff.
Photo: Susan Schmalzbauer, Executive Director, Missouri Faith Voices (MFV), and pastor at Yeakley United Methodist Church (Springfield, Missouri) MFV describes itself as "a multi-faith, multi racial, statewide, non partisan organization that is committed to empowering and transforming the lives of ordinary citizens who have been targeted by unfair policies and practices and oppressed by racial and economic injustice. We create the hope, produce the power and equip those who are impacted with the knowledge and political will needed to create a just society for all Missourians." ( https://faithinaction.org/federation/missouri-faith-voices/ )
Photo: Sophie Kunin, Advocacy and Organizing Manager, Missouri Voter Protection Coalition (MVPC), was the lead off speaker at the event. MVPC describes itself as "a non-partisan statewide network of advocates who collaborate to advance free, fair, and accessible elections in Missouri and build a pro-democracy movement rooted in civil rights movement building." ( https://www.movpc.org/movpc-mission-and-vision ) The group's Facebook page described the event as one of two "actions in St. Louis and Kansas City Saturday as part of All Roads Lead to the South’s National Voting Rights Day of Action flagship event in Montgomery, Alabama. We gathered in numbers, heard from speakers on the recent changes in voting rights, and made our voices heard!" Their post there also offered "[s]pecial thanks to organizing partner organizations Missouri Faith Voices and Indivisible!" ( https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1JFLg3Htbo/ )
Photo: Barbara puts the final touches on a sign she's making at a support table at the Voting Rights Day of Action. 16 May 2026 Mill Creek Park Kansas City, Missouri
Photo: An umbrella in the LGBQT+ palette, hand-lettered by its bearer (Macy) with black capital text reading: "Peasants Revolt." The umbrella is lit from underneath by lights in the office building that Macy (not seen in the photo) faces. Other demonstrators stand around her. From the "Stop ICE Terror" rally in downtown Kansas City on the evening of 8 January.