Meeting notes for People for Peace, Justice, and Healing

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Present for check-in: Karen K., Mark, Dave, Sol, Sharon, Denise, Sheila, Kyle, Linda, and Susan.

AGENDA

1. BBC radio report on George W. Bush's psychology (Karen K.)

A recent forum examined the psychological sources of George W. Bush's inadequacies as a person and a leader. Discussion.

2. Circles for Change (Sol)

From 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 25, at the Center for Spiritual Living, 206 N. "J" St., Tacoma, Bill Aaal and Margo Adair, co-directors of the Tools for Change Institute, make a presentation on Circles for Change, a process that forms groups to develop support, strategies, and courage to take effective action on their values at home, at work, and in the world at large. (Margo Adair suggested some of the essential elements of the Conversation Cafe process.)

3. Conversation Cafe (Karen K.)

Last week's discussion of the significance of the fall season was most interesting and touched on a surprisingly wide range of subjects. Question for Tuesday evening, Sept. 20, at 7:00 p.m.: "What do you love about America?" Karen K. will be at the Mandolin Cafe, 3923 S. 12th St., Tacoma, to assure facilitation. Sol committed herself to be at there on Sept. 27 for discussion of the question "How can so much be going wrong when there are so many good people around?" Karen K. will begin organizing responsiblity for facilitation for the months of October and November by scheduling.

4. Randy Gordon for Congress (Sharon)

Randy Gordon is running for Congress (WA-8) and Sharon passed around an e-mail about his candidacy.

5. October visit of refuseniks (Linda)

In late October Breaking the Silence will be bringing two IDF veterans who are refusing to serve in the occupied territories; they will report on their experiences there. Mark invited Linda to come after the meeting to a lunch at a PLU Students for Peace retreat a couple blocks away at Guadalupe House to present the idea of having an event (two soldiers speaking of their experiences with accompanying photographs) on the PLU campus in the early evening of Fri., Oct. 28. To be continued.

6. Next week (Mark)

Although there is a major antiwar rally and march scheduled in Seattle on Sat., Sept. 24, at noon in Westlake Plaza (see announcements), there will nevertheless be a PPJH meeting next Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at Associated Ministries.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. "The Power of Nightmares" (Mark). Part II ("The Phantom Victory") and Part III ("The Shadows in the Cave") of Adam Curtis's three-part three-hour documentary film tracing the history from 1949 to the present of American neoconservatives and Islamist radicals, entitled "The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear." The showing will be in the Philip Nordquist Lecture Hall, Xavier 201, on the campus of Pacific Lutheran University. Part II will be shown at 6:00 p.m. and Part III will be shown at 7:00 p.m.

2. Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace's Olympia-to-Fort Lewis peace march on Fri., Sept. 23 (for more information, e-mail Nikki Miller) will culminate in a rally to be held at Iafrati Park off Exit 119 of I-5. OMPJ says: "If you can't join us on the peace march, meet us at the rally! Volunteers are needed to drive marchers home." See the OMJP web site for more information.

3. Antiwar rally and march (Mark). The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition is holding a STOP THE WAR! rally and march at noon on Sat., Sept. 24, at Westlake Plaza in Seattle. TRANSPORTATION DETAILS: Ride the Sound Transit Seattle-Tacoma Express 594 to the demonstration, get off bus at 4th and Union and walk to 4th and Pine. For weekend Seattle Express schedule, visit here.

4. Also on Sat., Sept. 24, an Iraq peace event is planned at Olympia's Capitol Theatre: Antonia Juhasz, an anti-war activist from San Francisco, a policy analyst and author from the International Forum on Globalization, will speak on the economic aspects of the U.S. corporate invasion of Iraq. Info: Dan Leahy 402-0441 leahyd@evergreen.edu

Respectfully,
Mark