MEETING NOTES FOR PEOPLE FOR PEACE, JUSTICE, AND HEALING

People for Peace, Justice, and Healing
September 13, 2008

People for Peace, Justice and Healing met on September 6, 2008, at 10 a.m. at Associated Ministries in Tacoma, WA. Present for check-in: Colleen, Sallie, Sheila, Terry, and Mark.

AGENDA

1. OPT-OUT (Sallie)
Report on the week's activities.

2. MILLION DOORS (Sallie)
The Million Doors for Peace campaign plans to organize 25,000 volunteers from all fifty states to contact one million people on Sat., Sept. 20, to ask them to sign a petition urging the next Congress to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq within one year. It is anticipated that Million Doors for Peace will be the year's largest anti-war mobilization. It is different from previous anti-war mobilizations because volunteers will be talking to people where they live instead of gathering in one place -- such as the National Mall in Washington, D.C. -- for a traditional protest. Groups participating in Million Doors for Peace include Catholics United, Cities for Peace, CodePink, Democracy for America, MoveOn.org, Pax Christi USA, Peace Action, Progressive Accountability, Progressive Democrats of America, Organic Consumers Association, United for Peace & Justice, USAction Education Fund & TrueMajority.org, Voters for Peace, Win Without War. To participate, volunteers visit the web site and download contact information. They may then walk neighborhood precincts and canvass people by themselves or in groups, or they may call individual households. Between calls and direct door-knocking, at least one million people will be contacted and asked to sign the petition. These names will be used to expand the existing database of war opponents. Million Doors for Peace is entirely volunteer-initiated and will not rely upon professional canvassers. A blog on the web site of the Nation called Million Doors for Peace "an exciting mobilization . . . energizing the peace movement."

3. FACT-CHECKING (All)
General fact-checking sites about electoral matters: -- 1) Politico.com is a web site devoted to "journalism that insists on the primacy of facts over ideology." -- 2) Factcheck.org is "a nonpartisan, nonprofit, 'consumer advocate' for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding. -- The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels. -- The APPC accepts NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation." -- 3) The St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly maintain a "Truth-o-meter" at the web site Politifact.com; see also their "Flip-o-meter." -- 4) Michael Dobbs at the Washington Post maintains a web site calle "The Fact Checker."

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. PEACE BRIGADES INTERNATIONAL (Colleen).
Colleen reportS a PBI event in Seattle on Oct. 2, but a web search turns up only this: "SAT & SUN OCT 4 - 5, in San Francisco; volunteer orientation session for PEACE BRIGADES INTERNATIONAL featuring Tiffany Easthom, Director of PBI Indonesia. Find out about nonviolent accompaniment in trouble spots around the world. info theresa@pbiusa.org or 202-232-0142 or http://www.pbiusa.org." -- BACKGROUND: Peace Brigades International (PBI) is an international NGO that has been promoting nonviolence and protecting human rights since 1981. Its work is international accompaniment, pioneered by PBI to protect human rights defenders threatened with violence. Since 1981 the lives of hundreds of activists in nine countries have been protected. In addition to protective accompaniment, PBI also works with local partner organisations on Peace Education programs. PBI builds relationships of trust with the organizations it accompanies.

2. DIGGING DEEPER LVII (Mark)
On Mon., Sept. 15, at 7:00 p.m., at the Mandolin Cafe (3923 S. 12th St., Tacoma), Digging Deeper, the Monday evening book discussion group of United for Peace of Pierce County will discuss Jane Mayer's The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals (Doubleday, July 2008).

Respectfully submitted,
Mark