MEETING NOTES FOR PEOPLE FOR PEACE, JUSTICE, AND HEALING

People for Peace, Justice, and Healing
July 19, 2008

People for Peace, Justice, and Healing met at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 19, 2008, at Associated Ministries. Present for check-in: Vivi, Karen H., Nancy, Jan, Sol, Mark, Susan, Terry, and Sheila.

AGENDA

1. SYBIL EDMONDS (Terry).
Terry has obtained "Kill the Messenger," a film about Sibel Edmonds, the 38-year-old former FBI translator who since 2002 has been trying to bring to the attention of authorities, and then to the public, illicit activity of which she became aware. -- UFPPC will show the documentary publicly at an upcoming meeting.

2. ETHNIC FEST (Group)
Next weekend in Wright Park, beginning at noon on Sat., Jul. 26, continuing on Sun., Jul. 27. Saturday's meeting is cancelled to facilitate tabling. Call Sallie (383-3056 ext. 105) to volunteer to fill a tabling time slot for this fun activity!

3. DEBRIEF ON JULY 17 EVENT ON REPORTER'S PRIVILEGE (Terry and Mark)
On Thurs., Jul. 17, at 7:00 p.m., Tacoma *News Tribune* executive editor Dave Zeeck and attorney Eric Stahl of David Wright Tremaine in Seattle engaged in a public discussion of the First Amendment protection of reporters at Tacoma's King's Books. Stahl distributed three backgrounders: -- 1) "The Reporter's Privilege: A Historical Overview," prepared with the support of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, describing the history of the development of the issue: the first known example of an American reporter protecting a confidential source was in 1735 (John Peter Zenger, publisher of the New York Weekly Journal; a jury acquitted him); the first reported case in U.S. courts in which a journalist sought to shield the identity of a source was in 1848; the first state 'shield law' was passed in Maryland in 1896; the issue of evidentiary privilege was first framed as such at common law in 1936; journalist's privilege was first framed as a First Amendment issue in 1958; the only case in which the Supreme Court directly confronted the issue of reporter's privilege was Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665 (1972), which recognized the existence of a qualified privliege for reporters; but from the late 1990s on, "[t]ears in the patchwork of protection on which journalists had come to rely are becoming increasingly apparent." -- 2) A list of 26 "Stories That Would Have Gone Unreported without Confidential Sources," supported by a grant from the McCormick Trust Foundation; -- 3) Slides from a PowerPoint presentation on "The Reporter's Privilege: Protecting the Sources of Our News," also supported by a grant from the McCormick Trust Foundation. -- Zeeck and Stahl engaged in a wide-ranging discussion with attendees regarding the U.S. media system.

4. BILL MOYERS (Jan)
On Jul. 18, the Bill Moyers interviewed author William Greider (transcript available here). Greider has written many books on the U.S. economy and is now working on a book entitled Come Home, America.

5. NEW MINISTER AT TUUC (Jan)
Beginnning in mid-August, Heather Lynn Hanson will be assuming the duties of interim minister at Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation (TUUC) on S. 56th St., for a term of one to two years. Hanson has just finished a stint as minister in Ashland, OR. She was "born and raised in Oregon, grew up in a family of educators and music lovers. She discovered Unitarian Universalism as a young adult, and eagerly participated in creation of worship services and other leadership roles in the small fellowship she joined. She worked in educational video production and in adult training and education as she continued volunteering in UU church life and leadership. Once her two sons were grown, she returned to her childhood dream to become a minister. After graduating from seminary in Berkeley, CA, she served as associate minister for three years in Houston, Texas. She then returned to the Pacific Northwest to serve the Eugene UU Fellowship as an interim minister, and found that she liked that form of ministry. She received special training to become an Accredited Interim Minister with the UUA. Rev. Hanson has assisted six other UU congregations through their ministerial transitions before coming to Ashland."

6. THE MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC (Susan)
Discussion of the media's contribution to incivility.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. UFPPC'S BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP ON DAVID RAY GRIFFIN'S CHALLENGE TO 9/11 ORTHODOXY ON JULY 21 & JULY 28 (Mark J.)
On Jul. 21 & 28, UFPPC's Monday night book discussion group, Digging Deeper, will discuss David Ray Griffin's two most recent volumes: 9/11 Contradictions: An Open Letter to Congress and the Press (Olive Branch Press, March 2008) and Debunking 9/11 Debunking: An Answer to 'Popular Mechanics' and Other Defenders of the Official Conspiracy Theory (Olive Branch Press, March 2007).[1] -- Digging Deeper meets Mondays from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Mandolin Café (3923 S. 12th St., Tacoma).

2. CELEBRATION OF TACOMA FOOD CO-OP IN PEOPLE'S PARK (Sol)
A celebration of the Tacoma Food Co-op from 4:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. on Sat., Jul. 19, at People's Park, South 9th & Martin Luther King Jr. Way, was an opportunity to learn more about cohousing in Tacoma.

Respectfully submitted,
Mark