Saturday, April 23, 2005

Meeting Notes for People for Peace, Justice, and Healing

People for Peace, Justice and Healing met Saturday, April 23, 2005, at Associated Ministries. Present were Karen K, Karen H., Colleen, Laura and Sallie. There was no check-in. Topics of general interest: ACLU at UPS and the Drug War; activities of Counter Recruitment; Personalism and the Catholic Worker; Earth Charter; Bill Moyers and Noam Chomsky in Seattle; digital projectors. Sallie asked Karen and Karen to write a limerick for the Associated Ministries auction held Saturday night. The limerick was to help auction off an offer by Garrison Keillor to write a limerick for winner of auction.

AGENDA:

CONVERSATION CAFE:
What do you feel is your personal responsibility for the actions of your government. Referred to Mark.

COUNTER RECRUITMENT: Sallie
Counter Recruitment is working to get into the Tacoma schools before the end of the school year. Sallie reported a successful table presence at Puyallup High School.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Tom Karlin will report on his recent trip to El Salvador at Tuesday night Liturgy at Guadalupe House, 1417 South G Street, 5:30 p.m. April 26.

Charlie King, folk singer and social activist will be in Tacoma on May 7th. Place to be announced.

LECTURE BY FAREED ZAKARIA. Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International and author of The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, will speek on "The Future of Freedom" in Schneebeck Concert Hall on the campus of the Univ. of Puget Sound on Mon., Apr. 25, 8:00 p.m. Complimentary tickets for UPS students, faculty, staff; $8 general public. Tickets available at Wheelock Information Center. Reception and book signing following lecture. For more information on Fareed Zakaria, see www.fareedzakaria.com/about.html and www.fareedzakaria.com/articles/articles.html.

TOM RAWSON APPEARANCE: Tom Rawson, folksinger and storyteller ("He has a banjo and he's not afraid to use it!"), will be participating at the 1:00 p.m. service of Hillside Community Church on Mothers' Day, Sunday, May 8, will be held at the Center for Spiritual Living (206 North "J" St).

ALL-DAY CONFERENCE ON PEAK OIL. Featuring Michael T. Klare, the author of Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum (Metropolitan Books, 2004) and sponsored by Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, the "Beyond Oil: Challenges and Opportunities for Peace, Jobs, Justice, and Sustainability" conference will be held at Seattle Unity Church (200 Eighth Ave. N., Seattle) on Saturday, May 14, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. From the WPSR web site: "Beyond Oil: Challenges and Opportunities for Peace, Jobs, Justice and Sustainability. Saturday, May 14, 10 AM to 4 PM. Seattle Unity Church, 200 Eighth Ave N. An all-day conference, with keynoter Michael Klare. With 5% of the world's population, the United States consumes about 25% of all the oil produced worldwide. This unquenchable thirst for oil is out of step with the realities of the new millennium, and yet growing economies such as India and China are beginning to mimic US consumption patterns. The competition over resources is getting fierce, and Americans are witnessing every day how our dependence on Middle East oil has become a real security liability. Meanwhile, burning fossil fuels is worsening global climate change. Clearly it is in everyone's best interest to build a sustainable economy and move beyond oil peacefully, with social justice and respect for the earth. With a goal of bringing labor, environmental, and peace and justice groups together to work on this crosscutting issue, the May 14 "Beyond Oil" conference is a first step toward exploring common ground to forge solutions. The conference will be 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at Seattle Unity Church, 200 Eighth Ave. North, in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood. The agenda includes Michael Klare's keynote and substantial discussion time in the morning, and two sets of interactive workshops in the afternoon, focusing on action and solutions -- from individual lifestyles to political advocacy to building alliances. -- Michael T. Klare is the Five College Professor of Peace and World Security Studies (a joint appointment at Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst). Klare is author of Resource Wars and Blood and Oil, and defense correspondent for The Nation. -- The cost of the conference is $17.00 at pre-registration, $20 at the door, which includes morning coffee/tea and lunch. No one will be turned away. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged, and will be available on this page after April 14th. For more information, or to receive the registration form in the mail, please contact: Ellen Finkelstein, WWFOR, 206 789-5565 or wwfor@connectexpress.com, or Martin Fleck, WPSR, 206 547-2630 or wpsr@wpsr.org. Sponsors of the conference include: American Friends Service Committee; Labor Education and Research Center of the Evergreen State College; Rainforest Action Network; Sound Nonviolent Opponents of War (SNOW); Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility; and Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Respectfully, Karen