MEETING NOTES FOR PEOPLE FOR PEACE, JUSTICE, AND HEALING

People for Peace, Justice, and Healing
August 8, 2009

People for Peace, Justice and healing met August 8, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. at Associated Ministries.  Present for check-in were:  Sallie, Nancy, Colleen, Sheila, Susan, Mark, Rob, Vivi, and Karen K.  

AGENDA/DISCUSSION

1. Discussion of ethical issues involved in the transplantation of human organs.

2. Referendum 71 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referendum_71_%282009%29) (Colleen).
The validation of signatures for this proposed ballot referendum, which asks Washington voters to approve the expansion of Domestic Partnership rights and obligations in Washington's originally limited domestic partnership legislation, is underway and promises to be very tight. The number of valid signatures needed to qualify the referendum is 120,577.

3. Colleen will monitor the ACLU table at the statewide Khmer conference at Tacoma's La Quinta on Aug. 15.

4. A "Pilgrimage to the Tacoma Detention Center" has been underway since Aug. 1, traveling from Catholic church to Catholic church, and using the Urban Trail, avoiding freeways as often as possible. Pilgrims for any part of the walk are welcome. For more information see here. On Aug. 7, the Chicago Tribune reported that "Pledging more oversight and accountability, the Obama administration will overhaul the nation's Immigration detention system and transform it from one reliant on scattered local jails and private prisons to a centralized one specifically for civil detainees, officials announced Thursday. -- The reforms are aimed at greater control over a system that houses 33,000 detainees a day and has been criticized for inhumane conditions and for failing to provide health care that may have prevented many of the 90 deaths that have occurred since 2003."

5. Arlington NW, "A Memorial to the Fallen," will be held again on the Ruston Way Tacoma waterfront on Sat., Sept. 5 and Sun., Sept. 6., in Marine/Cummins Park. This labor of love is sponsored by Veterans for Peace, Tacoma Chapter #134. Volunteers are especially needed to help set up markers from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on Sat., Sept. 5.

Respectfully submitted,
Mark