Meeting notes for People for Peace, Justice, and Healing
November 5, 2005
People for Peace, Justice, and Healing met at 10:00 a.m. at Associated Ministries, 1224 South "I" St., Tacoma, on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005. Present for check-in: Catherine, Sara, Rob, Mark, Sallie S., Sheila, Kyle, Laura, Nancy, and Gracie.
AGENDA
1. 13th Annual Northwest Regional International Day of Solidarity with Leonard Peltier.
(Mark, Sheila, Laura)
First United Methodist has confirmed the availability of the
church kitchen and basement for PPJH's dinner for marchers. Sheila agreed to help
organize volunteers for the dinner. On Jan. 7, 2006, following the regular PPJH
meeting, Laura confirmed that there will be a pre-march event at Guadalupe House will
feature a showing of a film (either "Incident at Ogala," "Lakota Woman," or "Broken
Rainbow") and a potluck lunch. More information available from Arthur
Miller (bayou@blarg.net)
2. Tom Rawson concert tonight. (Sallie S.)
Last-minute planning. Recruiting of help to clean up afterwards. Review of ticket
sales. Sallie solicited and received some input for "the pitch," which she will give.
3. Time. (Mark)
Mark summarized an op-ed piece
in the Nov. 5, 2005, New York Times, in which author, filmmaker, and journalist
Michael Benson called attention to a momentous decision to be made next week: "whether
we as a civilization, for the first time in history, decide to uncouple our time-keeping
from the rotation of the Earth." The earth's rotation is slowing down "about two
milliseconds per day per century." At present "astronomical time" (based on the earth's
rotation, and defining a second as 1/86,400th of a day) is regularly synchronized with
International Atomic Time (defining a second as "9,192,631,770 periods of the
radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground
state of the cesium 133 atom") by adding a leap second every year or two, usually as
"the 61st second of the last minute of June or December," Benson reports. Now the
Bush administration would like to abandon the leap second, because, it says, "the
prospect of future catastrophic errors" may be caused by the leap second. Modern
technologies, including commercial transportation systems, rely on American global
position system (G.P.S.) satellites, which use International Atomic Time."
Nevertheless, Benson believes abandoning the leap second, and thus the link between
astronomical time and International Atomic Time, would be a mistake. There are
practical reasons to retain leap seconds, but for Benson the deepest reason is symbolic:
he believes "that our corporeal selves are tied to the Earth."
4. Conversation Café (Mark)
Review and revision of the following statement, which will be posted on the web site:
"Since August 2004, the Conversation Cafe has been held every Tuesday evening at 7:00
p.m. at the Mandolin Cafe (3923 South 12th St., Tacoma). -- Questions to be discussed
on the following Tuesday are chosen at the weekly Saturday morning meeting of People
for Peace, Justice, and Healing, at Associated Ministries (1224 South "I" St., Tacoma).
In this way, the questions discussed are themselves a product of community. Fostering
community is one of the goals of the Conversation Cafe, and valuable insights about
subjects and about the phrasing of questions have emerged from these Saturday
deliberations. We believe the Tuesday evening discussions have benefited from
these insights. All who are interested are most welcome to attend Saturday meeetings
and participate in the process! -- Once adopted, questions are posted on the web site
of People for Peace, Justice, and Healing; a
mechanism is now being developed to make it possible to post them on the web site of
the Mandolin Cafe as
well." -- Selection and honing of question for Tuesday, Nov. 8: "Do nationalism,
patriotism, and loving your country mean the same thing?" Susan Boone is scheduled to
facilitate Tues., Nov. 8.
5. Spring event (Sallie S.)
Sallie advocates a prominent speaker, preferably one with a military background. Laura
urges that the event include some participatory component. Discussion to be continued
next week.
6. Participation in Nov. 18-19 Peace Marathon (Sallie S.)
Luke Smiraldo is organizing a 27-hour Marathon for Peace to be held from 6:00 p.m.
on Friday, November 18, to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 19. PPJH has received the
Saturday 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. block of time. Discussion of M.C. and program content.
Probably: Steve & Kristi Nebel, music; Louisa Beal, performance; Al Kammerzell,
poetry; Karen Konrad, poetry; Mark Jensen (satire by Jack Kus); Roy Sutherland,
adaptation from Dickens's "A Christmas Carol"; modeling of a Conversation Café.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Tonight: Tom Rawson's benefit concert (Antique Sandwich Company, 5102 N. Pearl St., Tacoma, WA 98407, 253-752-4069) for the Summer 2006 interfaith peace camp. Tickets available at the door for $10. From the flyer: "Join Tom for some humorous stories, user-friendly songs, and acoustic folk philosophy that's guaranteed to leave you smiling. Armed with a long-necked banjo and other weapons of mass delight, Tom will have you singing along in no time. Tune up your vocal chords -- you'll need 'em!" (Sallie S.)
2. At 9:45 a.m. on Sun., Nov. 13, Mark Jensen will make a brief presentation to the Agnus Dei Adult Forum Series entitled "A Perspective from the Peace Movement," to be followed by discussion. This is the seventh in an eight-part weekly series called "Your Will Be Done: Christians Look at the Iraq War," organized by Ed Knudsen and held at the Agnus Dei Lutheran Church at 10511 Peacock Hill Ave. in Gig Harbor. (The presentation on Sun., Nov. 6, 9:45 a.m., will by by Ronald J. Young, Co-Coordinator, National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East, on "War in Iraq and Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Is There a Connection?") (Mark)
3. On Mon., Nov. 7 and Mon., Nov. 14, at 7:00 p.m., United for Peace of Pierce County will continue and conclude Digging Deeper XI: The Road to Abu Ghraib, a study circle, at the Mandolin Café, 3923 S. 12th St., Tacoma, WA. Books being read and discussed are: Mark Danner, Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror (New York Review Books, 2004); Seymour Hersh, Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib (HarperCollins, 2004; paper, HarperPerennial, 2005); Karen Greenberg & Joshua Dratel, eds., The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib (Cambridge University Press, 2005); books are available for borrowing or purchase. Goal: to address the question, "How are we to understand the willingness of the United States Government to embrace the use of torture?" Books available for borrowing or purchase. Call Mark Jensen at 253-756-7519. (Mark) (NOTE: On Nov. 1, a delegation from UFPPC met with staff from the office of U.S. Representatives Adam Smith and Norm Dicks to press for support for the McCain Amendment and stronger action against torture.
Respectfully,
Mark