[Peace-discuss] AWARE meeting minutes, April 22, 2007

[Karen Medina]

[Sorry these are so late. -karen medina]
AWARE Minutes
2007 April 22
Durl Kruse facilitated 
Karen Medina took notes
21 present (19 at beginning of meeting, 2 came much later)

I.  News of the Week (10 minutes)
Carl's Top 12 of the week [Quick summary] 
1. 
2. suicide bombings increase
3. willfull negligence Habbada
4. money for troops, will Bush sign?
5. Gonzales
6. Code Pink at Senator McCain's office
7. Israel killed 9 Palestinians, buzzing Lebanon, medical services
8. elections worldwide - France
9. inequality in wealth; black child mortality
10. young people support the war
11. Pew research knowledgeability - Daily Show and Colbert Report
12. Sudan … Somalia

News of the Week comments:
Mort: statistics and damn statistics - the youth during Viet Nam
- Ethiopia
- Venezuela closed 
- French election - difference between two candidates (she is Clinton-esc, not Socialist)
Barbara: Daily Show is not perfect, planning a show on a local issue [that I will not print the subject of the show, but you can ask Barbara if you are interested -kem].
Linda Webber: taking away power from Iraqi troops - Carl: no longer training. Change since Patraeus, but it is not - put a lid on what they were trying to do; 12-foot wall; training the troops - was giving guns to one side; classic counter-insurgency tactics;
Dave: Infant mortality – [Dave had not heard Carl mention this as item 9]
Bob (Grandpa): UIUC alliance with Triple Canopy; Barbara: police training institute; new contract with Triple Canopy (Blackwater competitor). UIUC is the only university which houses a police training institute. Triple Canopy's number 1 client is Iraq. The Blackwater Working Group will be brining more information (Conrad is out of town because of a family illness)

II.  Working Groups:
1. Financial : Jan
income $31.71 (from the "Endless(this) War" bumper stickers)

2. Main Event : May 5 (two weeks from now)
theme? Mother's Day, Julia Powell [?]

3. Media Working Group: Durl
Dave Enstrom - not here this week, but would like to suggest an AWARE bumper sticker. 
WG meeting - Wed, May 2, 7pm at his house; by West Side Park

4. AWARE Presents: Jamie Storm
a. Recently had a meeting

b. Jamal Nassar - St. Mary Catholic Church, before he moves to California
17 or 24 of May
Repeat for the community the excellent talk that he gave a few weeks ago 
Why the US thinks about Israel the way it does
His book: "Terrorism and Globalization"
Father Royer (of St. Mary) has been in Jerusalem (Carl says he frequently goes)
Stuart: did you check both city council chambers? It would be nice to videotape this.
Jamie: Champaign doesn't tape events like this.
Karen: UPTV does rent video cameras so people can tape events themselves.
Jamie: Will ask Jerusalem restaurant to host a pre-event dinner.
Someone: Pay for mileage and (next week on the questions)

c. Barbara
Film "Road to Guantanamo" tomorrow night. Movie about 3 prisoners who were released from GTMO.
7pm at the Mennonite Church (corner of Springfield and Lincoln)
(about 10 people will be coming from AWARE)
Gary Isaacs gave us former letters to restore habeus corpus
"very light version of what happened there"
PAR, Amnesty International 

d. Jan Kruse:
Jonathan Cooke, will be in Chicago for the WILL interview, not here in town. Focus 580, 11am, Wednesday, May 2nd

e. Durl Kruse:
Closer relationship with groups on campus
Do a community event as well 
email Durl with contact of groups, individuals


5. Anti-racism Working Group – nothing
[Patrick Thompson, retrial in the news]
6. counter-recruitment Working Group
7. student groups
8. Iran working group: Dave Harley
We can table at May Day event, Saturday April 28, 3-8pm 
Barbara: Someone made a poster for the postcards campaign. Anyone know who to thank for this? Carl: Truth fairy?.

9. Town Hall 
Durl called Mark Shelton about instant runoff election binding referendum
He said there might be a potential problem with referendum; It may not fit on the ballot (with the number of primary candidates), cost 10s of thousands of dollars to make the machines work for a different sized page.
Carl: 2-page ballot?
technical grounds for not accepting the referendum


III. Old business
Farmer's Market -- May 12 (first day), $182.25 (with 10% discount, $7.50 each Saturday, 6 x 10). City of Urbana
(passed)

Supplies for the table ($300) - approved

Literature on referenda - would anyone want to put something together?
list referenda
(perhaps the media group?) 
Dave, Conrad, Durl, ..


IV. New Ideas 
1. Barbara:  department of peace. The Quakers would like to know if there are AWARE members interested.
Jan Kruse: a woman brought buttons, we did not pursue it at that point.
Stuart: Karen Johnson is the state coordinator of the Peace Alliance. She was one of the ones here last year.
Linda Webber: She gets their emails
- republicans would say "we already have a department of peace by waging war"
Mort: nebulous concept right now; how would it fit in? seems like spinning wheels
- what intrigues me is that there is an underlying assumption that bombing is doing something helpful, a group that would be explaining to people who are not getting it.
Mort: who would assign the minister?; 
Stuart: cabinet level position; 
Various people talking:
- Paul Wolfowitz would be the minister of peace, if Bush had one
Stuart: budget, domestic issues, conflict resolution, domestic violence, 
Durl: violence
- a think tank
Barabara will keep us informed.

2. Tabling May Day event: AWARE 
IMC, April 28, next Saturday, 3-8pm
barbacue out in the alley, party, singing
one table for postcards and for AWARE
table would be inside
send an email to list, sign-up

3. Stuart: Hindu Temple
Thursday the 26th, zoning, 5 acre site, 
Champaign County Zoning Board
conflict with Channing-Murray  


V. Past events
ACLU brunch

Religion and violence, panel, 9-1, school of religious studies,
Jan Kruse
very dark, just war theory
theologian, made a case for torture-like, 
(Larry Cox was completely the opposite)

Amnesty international
Mort
made the case that torture was terrible
propogate this type of behavior
did not mention Iraq, so Mort got up and asked a question
AI decided not to get involved with the war in Iraq
Jamie: he spoke about shame. we elected them, turn them out
Shara: culture of violence (at the Arts Festival, poetry reading, upstairs, prison)
Jamie: boot training for the Marines (is torture)
 
Ricky
Tomato pickers
McDonalds avoided a boycott - everybody thought it would take for years.
a lot of others out there, Burger King, Walmart
other fruits and vegetables
potatoes and cabbages, NC, family business, African American men recruited from homeless shelters, kept there by chemical dependencies, US citizens, 
Mort: 
$.01 more, increase of salaries by 70% but is 
0 tolerance level for slavery
Taco Bell did not, but McDonalds did - consortium, 3rd party monitoring, independent body, in the supply line and the industry in general

Human Rights and Dignity for Immigrants
2nd Annual March,
Tuesday May 1st
Immigrant Community
1000 people last year, from Neil to campus
La Collectiva Latina is the organizer, with the Immigrants Rights Group

VI. New ideas:
Bob Wahlfeldt: wagon for 4th of July?

Dave Harley: sent out an announcement about in case there is an attack on Iran,
Mort: good statement, send it further
(see Dave's flyer at http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace/attachments/20070402/f37ec0ca/Full_pageflyer_General_final-0001.pdf )

Barbara (from Conrad): Jeremy Scahill, author of "Blackwater: the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army"
Northwestern at Evanston
May 16 (Wednesday)
Come down here, go up there?
Democracy Now website?
Barbara going, if anyone else wants to go along
Carl: heard that Scahill was not very good on the Daily Show with some basic questions. Barbara: basic questions, hard to do well on these

Bob Wahlfeldt: 25 is lobby day, IEA lobbying for better funding for education.
"Join higher education union members from across the state Wednesday April 25th for IEA Higher Education Lobby Day"

AWARE Presents: a quick meeting right now (April 22, 6:45pm)

VII. Events of the Last Week
People are still talking about Captain James "Yusuf" Yee's talk of April 15th.
Yee, a former US Army Muslim Chaplain at Guantanamo Bay Prison, spoke about his experiences at the prison in a lecture entitled "Tortured Mind, Body, and Soul: Surviving Guantanamo.". Captain Yee is also the author of "For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire." 
For more about Yee, see http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/06/1316240

Potluck at the Kruse's. Was Saturday 4/21. Great time.

ACLU speaker: Gary Isaac, lawyer active in Guantanamo detainee litigation. Was Sun 4/22.

Annette: thanks to everyone for helping with the election campaign in Champaign. The other side is gloating. Tuesday night – study session?, Linda Abernathy, 7pm, study group for one of the townships funding (general assistance). We are not going away. Annette said she will check and post an announcement. [Stuart Levy found out that there is a study session scheduled for Tuesday evening]
Bob Illyes: perhaps Annette should send something to the Peace Discuss list 

[On April 24, 2007, Judge Harry Clem handed down a decision to grant a new trial to black activist Patrick Thompson. This could result in a third trial. - kem]



VIII. Upcoming events

Durl will be gone for the next few Sundays.

April 20-30, 2007
"While the World Passes By: Poverty is closer than you think" photo exhibit on poverty in Champaign County
(Illinois has the highest child poverty rate in the Midwest)
Habitat for Humanity ReStore (119 E. University, Champaign)
http://www.prairienet.org/habitat/WhiletheWorldPassesByApril2007.html
Tuesdays - Saturdays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sundays 1 - 5 p.m.

April 23, 2007 (Monday)
Political Science Department events on government deception.
"Trust and the Presidency: Can the Ethics of Democracy Abide Deceit and Deception?" 
Dennis Thompson, Political Philosophy, Harvard University
Rm 314A Illini Union; 1401 west green street; urbana, il 61801
3pm

April 23, 2007 (Monday)
Political Science Department events on government deception.
"Campaign Ethics: The Vices of Misinformation and Manipulation"
Dennis Thompson, Political Philosophy, Harvard University
Beckman Institute Auditorium; Beckman is at 405 North Mathews Avenue; Urbana, IL 61801
7:30pm

April 23
"Road to Guantanamo" showing of the film -- a first-hand account of three men who were held at Guantánamo Bay detainment camp for two years
Where: at the First Mennonite Church, NW corner of Lincoln and Springfield Avenues in Urbana 
7pm

April 24
Champaign City Council study session on the General Assistance fund for the township: "Join Township/City Presentation of the Township Budget Analysis"
7:00pm, Champaign City Council Chambers

April 25, 2007 (Wednesday)
Lobby for better funding for education.
"Join higher education union members from across the state Wednesday April 25th for IEA Higher Education Lobby Day"
Illinois Education Association (IEA) Association of Academic Professionals (AAP) is taking a bus to lobby. For more information see: http://www.ieanea.org/local/aap/content.asp?active_page_id=160 

April 25th, 2007
Bill Moyers' "Record of Iraq War Lies", on PBS Channel 12:
9:00 to 10:30 PM 

April 26, 2007 (Thursday)
Hindu Temple siting application to be (further) considered
Champaign County Board - Zoning Board of Appeals cmte meets
Brookens Administrative Center, Urbana (Washington & Lierman -- use north/rear entrance)
7pm    

April 26, 2007 (Thursday)
Channing-Murray Social Justice Program
Jason Mierek will be discussing “Onward Christian Soldiers? Christianists, Dominionists, and the
Separation of Church and State”
7:15pm

April 28, 2007 (Saturday)
"The Recent Resurgence of Socialism and Populism: What is happening in Latin America?"
Speakers: Martin Sanchez, Consul of the Government of Venezuela in Chicago; 
Maria Silva, Urbana resident from Ecuador who has recently returned from that country; 
Rev. Mike Mulberry, Urbana resident, on the struggles in Oaxaca, Mexico
1-3pm, Illinois Disciples Foundation (the IDF is on the corner of Springfield & Wright, Champaign)  

April 28, 2007 (Saturday)
May Day Weekend Solidarity Celebration at the IMC
"Solidarity Forever! A May Day Workers' Memorial Day Celebration Party"
Music and food.
3-8pm, U-C IMC (the Independent Media Center is at 2002 S. Broadway – the corner of Broadway & Elm, Urbana)

April 29, 2007 (Sunday)
AWARE meeting (weekly). 
5-7pm, Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (IMC), 202 S. Broadway Ave., Urbana

April 30, 2007 (Monday) 
Grandpa is moving to Urbana. Any able body is welcome to help load and unload the rented U-Haul.
1715 A Valley Road at the Hessel on the Park Apartment across from Hessel Park (Kirby Street)
8:30am 

May 1, 2007 (Tuesday)
Human Rights and Dignity for Immigrants, Stop the Raids March and Rally.
2nd Annual March, Immigrant Community, 1000 people last year, from Neil to campus
Join in solidarity with people across the nation to stop the raids and demand social justice and stop the raids which separate families.
La Collectiva Latina is the organizer, with the Immigrants Rights Group
11am – The march will begin at the Mini Park II on Green and Neil.
Noon -- Rally on the Quad.

May 2, 2007
"Blood and Religion: The Unmasking Of The Jewish Democratic State"
Jonathan Cook will be on Focus 580, WILL AM 580, with David Inge interviewing.
Cook writes about the Middle East, especially the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. See Cook's web site: http://www.jkcook.net/
Cook will be on the phone from Chicago.
11am 

May 2, 2007
Japan House will host a talk about the need for peace in this world and within ourselves, while folding cranes for peace (people from around the world have long sent origami cranes to Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan as a symbol and wish for peace). On May 21st Professor Gunji will deliver the cranes to Peace Memorial Park in Japan.
5:00 pm to 6:30 pm, Japan House, 2000 South Lincoln Avenue, Urbana

May 3, 2007
AWARE Presents meeting at the Kruse's house on George Huff
7pm

May 5, 2007 (Saturday)
Red Herring Vegetarian Restaurant will have an anniversary benefit on Saturday May 5th
4pm, 8pm and beyond, Channing-Murray Foundation (corner of Oregon and Mathews) 
http://www.prairienet.org/channing-murray/herring30th.pdf

May 6, 2007 (Sunday)
AWARE meeting (weekly). 
5-7pm, Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (IMC), 202 S. Broadway Ave., Urbana

May 13, 2007 (Sunday)
AWARE meeting (weekly). 
5-7pm, Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (IMC), 202 S. Broadway Ave., Urbana

May 16, 2007 (Wednesday)
Jeremy Scahill, author of "Blackwater: the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" and a regular contributor to Democracy Now!
Northwestern at Evanston University at Harris Hall, Room 108. The time is tentatively scheduled for 7:00 pm.
Go up there? Barbara going, if anyone else wants to go along
For details, see http://www.ilcpj.org/actions/details/?id=232

May 17, 2007 (Thursday)
"The Middle East and the United States" Talk and Discussion
by Professor Jamal Nassar
7:00 pm, St. Mary Catholic Church Parish Hall (612 E. Park Avenue, Champaign)