MEETING NOTES FOR PEOPLE FOR PEACE, JUSTICE, AND HEALING

SPECIAL NOTE: Next Saturday's meeting will be at the Stadium District Tully's (in the reserved balcony area); see agenda item #1 below.

People for Peace, Justice and Healing met on Sat., Jan. 22, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. at Tully's in the Stadium district. Present for check-in: Terry, Sallie, Nancy, Mark, Rob.

AGENDA

1. FUTURE MEETING PLACE (All)
I was commissioned to reserve the meeting room at Tully's at 764 Broadway if available, if not the Tully's at 24 N. Tacoma Ave. [NOTE: Later in the day I tried to reserve the room at 764 Broadway for Jan. 29, but it was already booked. On Sunday I booked the meeting space at Tully's in the Stadium District (24 N. Tacoma Ave., Tacoma WA, 98403 -- corner of N. Tacoma Ave. & 1st Ave. N.; 253-627-4477) for Sat., Jan 29, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.

2. INTERFAITH CAMP (Sallie)
Sallie conferred with Brit Olson Director of Family and Youth Ministries at Agnus Dei Lutheran Church in Gig Harbor, about this year's camp. Decision: Will send an email to parents of the approximately 100 alumni campers asking for their child's email address. These will then be asked if they would like to participate in a three-day alumni group accomplishing a service project this summer, and also if they'd like to be involved in planning it.

3. 'DEATH OF THE LIBERAL CLASS' BY CHRIS HEDGES (Mark)
Mark briefly described Chris Hedges's new book, Death of the Liberal Class (Nation Books, October 2010), discussed last week at Digging Deeper. Synopsis available here.

4. 'THE DECISION TO USE THE ATOMIC BOMB' (Mark)
Mark briefly described the conclusions of The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth by Gar Alperovitz (Knopf, 1995). The 848-page book, which argues that not military necessity but geopolitical ambition (promoted especially by Sec. of State James F. Byrnes) was behind the decison to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, will be discussed at Digging Deeper at 7:00 p.m. on two successive Monday evenings at the Mandolin Cafe (3923 S. 12th St., Tacoma), on Jan. 24 & 31.

INFORMED COMMENT

1. Sallie described her visit to Hebron, site of the Feb. 25, 1994, massacre carried out by settler Baruch Goldstein, the Brooklyn-born physician who killed 29 and wounded 125 Muslims at prayer inside the Ibrahim Mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs.

2. Terry discussed the views of Israel Finkelstein, Jacom M. Alkow Professor of the Archaeology of Israel in the Bronze Age and Iron Ages at Tel Aviv Unviersity. To quote Wikipedia, Finkelstein "argues that much of the Bible was written from the seventh through the fifth century BCE" and is well-known for his "dismissal of the literal approach to Biblical history."

3. Rob is looking forward to hearing Texas-born singer, guitarist, and songwriter Nanci Griffith on Sat., Jan. 29, 2011, at the Pantages. Griffith is perhaps best known for her 1985 recording of Julie Gold's song "From a Distance," which she has said she would like to be this generation's anthem and which affirms that "From a distance/We are instruments/Marching in a common band/Playing songs of hope/Playing songs of peace/They're the song of every man/God is watching us/From a distance." Griffith can be viewed singing the song on YouTube. Bette Midler's 1990 version is also well-known, which made it the 1991 "Song of the Year."

ANNOUNCEMENT

1. Northwest Detention Center (Nancy)
Every third Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. there is a vigil at the Northwest Detention Center; the next one will be on Feb. 20, 2011. Please call Nancy Farrell (952-0571) for more information.

Respectfully submitted,
Mark