[Peace] minutes of weekly AWARE meeting 2008-11-09

[Randall Cotton]

Apologies again for the late minutes. I hope to be back in my usual groove
next week (and a reminder, I encourage others to get involved with or take
over producing these minutes - I'm happy to facilitate this). Thanks to
Stuart, Karen, Barbara and others who have kept this list apprised of
upcoming events despite the lack of timely minutes.

Minutes of 11/09/08 AWARE meeting are below, but first, AWARE Volunteer
Opportunities and the Upcoming Events Calendar:

AWARE Volunteer Opportunities
-----------------------------------
(various ways to volunteer in AWARE's work)

Nov 13 (Thursday) 10-11AM and 4-5PM Volunteers needed for setup/teardown
of the "Eyes Wide Open Illinois" exhibit. Contact Karen medina at
kmedina at illinois.edu or (217) 766-3341.
For more details see:
http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace/2008-November/021785.html

AWARE is helping search for locations to set up a portable electronic LED
display that reports (in a loop) various statistics on the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan (casualties, financial cost, etc.). Here's a video of the
sign going through a typical loop:
http://dart.ncsa.uiuc.edu/stuffed/slevy/costofwar-sign.mp4
Dimensions of the sign are: 50.3" L x 6.3" H x 1.7" W and it weighs 12
pounds. Full specifications are at:
http://www.bigbrite.com/product.aspx?id=78
The display could be set up anywhere indoors - home, business, event -
where it will be seen by many, for as long or as little as you like. If
you can volunteer to display the sign somewhere or have any ideas where it
could be set up, contact Barbara Kessel, barkes at gmail.com, 365-9473 or
Randall Cotton, recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470.

AWARE is looking for an attorney or law student who would be interested in
volunteering to help craft Illinois legislation to regulate military
contractors such as Blackwater within the state as part of the AWARE
Blackwater Working Group. This would be in conjunction with a statewide
effort involving Clearwater (see www.noprivatearmies.org) and would be a
continuation of last year's effort (HB 5700) to pass legislation. See:
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=5700&GAID=9&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=37316&SessionID=51&GA=95 .
Contact Barbara Kessel, barkes at gmail.com,  365-9473 or Randall Cotton,
recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470.

Help is needed with content creation and maintenance for AWARE's website,
anti-war.net. Technical experience (UNIX/HTML/CSS) required for
maintenance work (but not content creation) Contact: Stuart Levy,
slevy at ncsa.uiuc.edu, 351-9264/244-1543 or Randall Cotton,
recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470.

Meeting minutes: Someone is needed to share or take over meeting minutes
duty (preparing these notes each week). Help will be provided (as much as
necessary). Contact: Randall Cotton, recotton at earthlink.net,
351-8644/722-8470

AWARE publicity: Someone is needed to maintain and arrange for copies, as
needed, of AWARE publicity materials (our business card, intro sheet for
new meeting attendees, general information sheet for tabling events). All
reproduction costs reimbursed, Help provided as needed. Contact:
recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470

Upcoming Events Calendar
----------------------------
Nov 10 (PAST EVENT, Monday) 1PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S. Vine
St.
Taping of this week's "AWARE on the Air" for UPTV. Taping is on Monday
because of the Veteran's day holiday on Tuesday, when Aware on the Air is
usually taped.

Nov 11 (PAST EVENT, Tuesday) 7PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of AWARE's event with Dan Kenney from Clearwater:  "Outsourcing
of our Sovereignty: Privatization of War, Emergencies and Everyday Life",
which took place at the Urbana City Council Chambers on October 10, 2008.

Nov 11 (PAST EVENT, Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped the day before (see above)

Nov 12 (PAST EVENT, Wednesday) 7:15PM, Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W.
Oregon St.
Life and Work in Palestine: Rev. John Setterlund. Pastor Setterlund served
at St. Andrew's Church on campus 1991-2006.  He has recently returned from
two years as a volunteer at a Lutheran congregation in Palestine. This
event is co-sponsored by AWARE.

Nov 13 (Thursday) 11AM - 4PM, UofI campus quad, northwest corner, near the
English building.
"Eyes Wide Open Illinois" exhibit. AFSC (Quakers) "boots" exhibit.
Background at:
http://www.afsc.org/eyes/ht/d/sp/i/38782
Details on the local event at:
http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace/2008-November/021785.html
*** VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR SETUP/TEARDOWN ***
*** SEE ABOVE IN AWARE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES ***

Nov 13 (Thursday) noon, UofI campus quad
Anti-War rally w/Iraq Veterans Against the War, a Winter Soldier event

Nov 13 (Thursday) 6-8:30PM, 103 Mumford Hall on campus, 1301 West Gregory
Drive, Urbana
Winter Soldier: Champaign/Urbana
Testimony by Iraq veterans from throughout the Great Lakes region. Also
scheduled to speak: Camilo Mejia, who spent nine months in jail for
refusing to redeploy to Iraq.  This event is co-sponsored by AWARE
6:00-6:45pm The Legacy of GI Resistance
  Joe Allen, author of Vietnam: The (Last) War the U.S. Lost
   Joe Miller, UIUC lecturer, Vietnam Veterans Against the War
  Richard Stacewicz, historian, author of Winter Soldiers: An Oral History
of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War
7:00-8:30pm Testimony by Iraqis and Veterans of the Global War on Terror
  Camilo Mejia, US Army, served in Iraq from April through October 2003;
first
soldier to be jailed for publicly refusing to return to Iraq
  Patty McCann, Illinois Army National Guard, served in Iraq from May
2003-2004
  Jacob Crawford, US Navy, Central Illinois Iraq Veterans Against the War
Chapter President
  Mike Mlekowski, US Marines, participated in the initial invasion of Iraq
in 2003
   Duane Linton, US Army, served in Iraq for ten months from 2007 to 2008
  Tanya R. Austin, US Army, former Arabic Linguist, Military Intelligence
   Jason Wallace, Illinois Air National Guard, deployed to Kuwait in
support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005
  Raad Ismail and Raed Jarrar will share the perspective of Iraqis

Nov 13 (Thursday) 7PM, 269 Everitt Laboratory on campus, 1406 W. Green
St., Urbana
Documentary Screening: "Control Room". Jehane Noujaim's timely documentary
explores the nature of truth and ethics  in the popular media, with
particular focus on the primary satellite news  network to the Arab world,
Al-Jazeera. Open discussion following the screening, with Professor
Althaus  from the Department of Communication.

Nov 14 (Friday) 7PM, 407 Illini Union on campus, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana
Short Movies from the Arab World. "Driving an Arab Street" follows
Egyptian taxi drivers as they navigate the streets of Cairo and share
their diverse perspectives. "Forces of Change: Artists of the Arab World"
introduces the viewer to the contemporary art  movements of the Arab world
through interviews with twenty artists who discuss their work. "Lebanon
through Dabke" shows different aspects of Lebanese culture, depicting the
folkloric Lebanese dance "dabke".

Nov 15 (Saturday) 8:30PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of AWARE's event with Dan Kenney from Clearwater:  "Outsourcing
of our Sovereignty: Privatization of War, Emergencies and Everyday Life",
which took place at the Urbana City Council Chambers on October 10, 2008.

Nov 16 (Sunday) 4PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of AWARE's event with Dan Kenney from Clearwater:  "Outsourcing
of our Sovereignty: Privatization of War, Emergencies and Everyday Life",
which took place at the Urbana City Council Chambers on October 10, 2008.

Nov 18 (Tuesday) 1PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S. Vine St.
Taping of "AWARE on the Air" for UPTV to be broadcast later the same day
(see below)

Nov 18 (Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

Nov 30 (Sunday) 5-10PM Urbana Civic Center, 108 E Water St.
The People's Potluck Thanksgiving - a food-sharing communal gathering to
be thankful for all of the good, caring, and active people and
organizations in our community, and an occasion to discuss the launching
of a Central Illinois Social Forum next Spring (in the vein of the World
Social Forum and U.S. Social Forum). All are welcome, but are asked to
RSVP (to hworthen at illinois.edu or a-fields at uiuc.edu) and to bring a dish
to share.

Dec 1 (Monday) 7PM, mail lounge, Allen Hall on campus, 1005 W. Gregory
Dr, Urbana
Screening of Naomi Wolf's "The End of America" by AWARE Library Resources
Working Group. See: http://www.endofamericamovie.com .

Dec 6 (Saturday) 2-4PM Main St. & Neil St., Champaign
The Main Event - AWARE's monthly (first Saturday of each month) street
demonstration event. Largely focuses on opposing U.S. occupations of Iraq
and Afghanistan, but is open for anyone to join us either using one of our
signs or one of their own. We try to have a topical flyer to distribute to
motorists and passers-by each month.

*****
Minutes of 11/09/08 AWARE meeting:

About 20 in attendance

News of the week was postponed until after working group reports to ensure
AWARE business could be completed before folks had to leave for the Prince
Myshkins event at Allen Hall.

Finance Report: Balance is $2201. No income from Farmer's Market - cold
weather cancellation.

Working group reports:
*****************
Main Event:
========
(AWARE's monthly street protest held at the intersection of Main & Neil
2-4PM on the first Saturday of each month).

The next Main Event is December 6 (see details above in Upcoming Events
Calendar)

Mention made of discussion last week regarding the possibility of calling
Champaign to discover the busiest intersections. David H. volunteers
to call both Champaign and Urbana to discover busiest intersections.

Library Resources:
=============
(Compilation of valuable reference materials w/strategies to make them
available in the community through various channels including local
libraries).

Current planned event: A showing of Naomi Wolf's "The End of America",
based on her 2007 book. Monday, December 1st at Allen Hall  (details above
in the Upcoming Events Calendar).

AWARE Presents:
=============
(Organization of AWARE-sponsored events in the community)

Current AWARE Presents event lineup:

1. Jeremy Scahill event still being pursued (he is on a book tour this
Fall). Contact made, currently in a "wait and see" pattern.

2. Proposal under development: Invite Juan Cole to speak (University
of Michigan Professor of History, middle-east expert, author of Informed
Comment blog, see: www.juancole.com ). Initial contacts to promote
interest in this at UIUC: Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern
Studies and Center for Global Studies.

Anti-Racism:
=========
(AWARE's efforts to keep apprised of and provide support for
anti-racism/anti-discrimination efforts, including efforts of CUCPJ -
Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice)

CUCPJ co-founder Carol Ammons elected to Champaign County Board district 5
(as top vote-getter) along with Democratic running-mate Lloyd Carter.

City of Champaign Township poverty referendum failed 67% no to 33% yes.
Randall reports he has all but concluded that such a referendum (property
tax increase) is essentially impossible to pass primarily due to the legal
restriction that forbids explaining the purpose of the tax increase in the
wording of the referendum. Multiple reports from AWARE members of efforts
by election officials to suppress flyering that was conducted at polling
places. The suppression is apparently against state law. New working group
formed to follow up on referendum wording and flyering suppression with
County Clerk.

Holiday Market
============
(AWARE's presence at the indoor version of Urbana's "Market on the Square"
each Saturday from 8AM to noon where we offer progressive and anti-war
materials, generally at or below cost).

Next Saturday will be the first indoor event. We should have more space
overall, so more literature could be made available.

Sign-up sheet passed around for staffing the table.

AWARE on the Air:
==============
(AWARE's weekly television show on public access cable channel 6 - UPTV,
Urbana Public Television)

Taping typically occurs each Tuesday at 1PM and is broadcast later the
same day at 10PM. AWARE members (and friends) invited to participate - the
more the merrier (see details above in upcoming events calendar). Program
quality is always better with more participants.

Taping is 1PM Monday this week (THIS HAS ALREADY PASSED) instead of
Tuesday due to the Veteran's Day holiday.

Carl will not be in town next week, so someone is needed to convene and
host the show that will be taped/broadcast on Nov 18th.

There is always room for more participation in AWARE on the Air - prepared
statements OK. Arriving late/leaving early is OK.

Blackwater
========
(Activism regarding notorious domestic policing and international
mercenary contractor Blackwater, including coordination with
Illinois-based activist group Clearwater: see:
http://www.noprivatearmies.org )

New county board member in Carroll County may be sympathetic to
Clearwater's cause. Carroll County is just south of Jo Daviess county
(where Blackwater has their facility).

Barbara headed to Evanston to meet with others (including state rep Julie
Hamos) on November 10. Clearwater will renew legislative efforts this
year.

Dan Kenney event being rebroadcast on UPTV (see details in upcoming events
calendar).

Student Groups
===========
(AWARE's efforts to keep apprised of and provide support for local
chapters of student-affiliated anti-war groups such as Campus Anti-Network
and Iraq Veterans Against the War).

AWARE requested for support with Nov. 13 IVAW Winter Soldier event:

1. Cosponsorship
2. Veteran support - gathering mental health professionals to assist
testifying veterans as needed.
3. Housing for out-of-town vets coming to participate
4. Water bottle supply for all speakers - donation already received for
this.

Mention made of the Media Matters interview with Aaron Glantz on the
occasion of his new book, "The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle against
America's Veterans". Audio of the interview is archived at:
http://www.will.illinois.edu/mediamatters/

Old Business
**********
(new developments on ongoing issues)

Electronic anti-war billboard is set to be installed as an art exhibit in
the IMC front lobby near the Post Office.

Events of the past week
******************
(comments/reviews of recent events since the last AWARE meeting)

Mention made of Howard Zehr appearances regarding "restorative justice"
and the performances of "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail".

Upcoming Events
*************
(events of note which aren't listed in the upcoming events calendar above)

Nov 12 (PAST EVENT, Wednesday)
National Religious Coalition Against Torture - A National Day of Witness
for a Presidential Order to Ban Torture
A coordinated event - people from all different faiths will visit
congressmen and white house about torture. Barbara is committed to visit
Tim Johnson for the Quakers. See
http://www.nrcat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=229&Itemid=173

Dec 12-14 (Friday-Sunday) United for Peace and Justice 4th National
Assembly
Wyndham O'Hare Hotel - near Chicago O'Hare Airport
6810 North Mannheim Road
Rosemont, IL   60018