[Peace] minutes of weekly AWARE meeting 2008-09--07

[Randall Cotton]

Minutes of 9/7/08 AWARE meeting are below, but first, the Upcoming
Events Calendar:

Sep 9 (TODAY, Tuesday) 1PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S. Vine St.
Taping of this week's "AWARE on the Air" for UPTV.

Sep 9 (TODAY, Tuesday) 7PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S. Vine St.
"Political Forum on the Environment", sponsored by Sierra club.
Candidates/officials expected include:
U.S. Congress 15th district
 Phil Bloomer (representing Tim Johnson)
 Steve Cox (D)
IL House 103rd district:
 Naomi Jakobsson (D)
 Frank Calabrese (R)
IL House 104th district (Danville):
 Bill Black (R)
IL Senate 52nd district:
 Mike Frerichs (D, not up for re-election)
For more information, see:
http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/private/peace/2008-September/021570.html

Sep 9 (TODAY, Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6) Broadcast of "AWARE on
the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

Sep 10 (Wednesday) 4PM, Levis Faculty Center (2nd floor, main area), 919
W. Illinois St, Urbana
"Iran Under Ahmadinejad", Ali Ansari from the St. Andrew's University in
Scotland. For more information see:
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~iranian/Committee.html

September 11 (Thursday) 7PM, home of Jamie and Gary Storm, 304 E. George
Huff Dr, Urbana
AWARE Presents working group meeting.

September 12 (Friday) noon - 1:30PM, Latzer Hall at University YMCA, 1001
South Wright Street, Champaign
"Friday Forum" presentation: Luis Alberto Urrea, author of "The Devil's
Highway: A True Story", about an incident in 2001 of 26 men attempting to
cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona, through the
deadliest region of the continent. Only 12 men emerged. Luis Alberto
Urrea, is from Tijuana but now lives outside Chicago. Lunch may be
purchased for $6.00 ($3.00 for students with a valid ID.). Join a book
club that is reading the book by contacting Patricia Syoen
psyoen35 at sbglobal.net. Study guide available. See related event
immediately below.

September 12 (Friday) 5PM-7PM, Pages for All Ages bookstore, 1201 Savoy
Plaza Lane, Savoy
Luis Alberto Urrea book signing event with a reading, food, activities.
See related event immediately above.

September 14 (Sunday) 1:30-3PM Blackwater demonstration in front of the
Art Institute in Chicago, in observance of the one-year point since the
Nisour Square Massacre of 17 civilians by Blackwater personnel in Baghdad
on September 16, 2007. Day trip is being planned for a car pool. Contact
barkes at gmail.com for information.

September 15 (Monday) 6PM, WEFT 90.1FM audio broadcast of Luis Alberto
Urrea "Friday Forum" presentation (see related events immediately above).

Sep 16 (Tuesday) 1PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S. Vine St.
Taping of next week's "AWARE on the Air" for UPTV.

Sep 16 (Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

September 18 (Thursday) 6:30PM, Urbana Civic Center, 108 E. Water St.,
Urbana
"Interfaith Breaking of Bread", a feast at sundown catered with a variety
of Middle Eastern Hallal foods. Fasting from dawn to dusk encouraged  (as
done by practicing Muslims at this time during the month of Ramadan,
though this is an interfaith event), but fasting is not at all required.
Sponsored by Champaign-Urbana Interfaith Alliance, Muslim Women's
Outreach, and the Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center. Reservations
required by Monday, September 15, $13 donation suggested. Contact: Sadia
Bekal - sbekal at uiuc.edu .

October 4 (Saturday) 11AM, Corner of Randolph and Green Streets,
Champaign.
Unity March - an annual event uniting many groups and communities
throughout Champaign/Urbana that focuses on issues and injustices faced by
minorities and/or the poor. This year's theme will focus on supporting the
November ballot referendum asking for a small property tax increase (2
cents per $100 assessed value) to help fund a partial restoration of
Champaign Township "General Assistance" financial support for the city's
poorest residents. This year's Unity March will begin at the Champaign
Township Supervisor's office (where the "General Assistance" service is
administered) and will wind up at Douglass Park. More information to come
(as it becomes available). AWARE is a co-sponsor of this event.

October 4 (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.

October 10 (Friday) English Building on campus (time, room TBA)
Dan Kenney of Clearwater, brown bag lunch sponsored by History Dept.

October 10 (Friday) 7PM-9PM Urbana City Council Chambers (400 S. Vine St.,
Urbana)
Dan Kenney of Clearwater: "Outsourcing our Sovereignty - Blackwater and
the privatization of War". To be recorded for broadcast on UPTV.

October 29 (Wednesday) 7:30PM, Auditorium, Smith Memorial Hall, 805 South
Mathews Ave., Urbana
Naomi Klein: "Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism in Latin
America"
(hosted by the UofI Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies as
part of the CAS/MillerComm Lecture Series).
See: http://www.cas.uiuc.edu/casmillercomm.php#oct29

*****
Minutes of 9/7/08 AWARE meeting:

About 20 in attendance

News of the week was heard courtesy of Carl Estabrook

Some discussion regarding the format of the "News of the week" portion of
the meeting with encouragement of other points of view. Discussion to be
continued as "Old Business" at the next meeting.

Report provided by attendees and protestors at the Republican National
Convention in St. Paul:
There was some violence from some supposed demonstrators. There were
police from all over the country. It felt like a police state. Permitted
protest was fairly free of police interference, but nearby there was a
hair-trigger police response. Police aggression seemed to increase during
the week.  Hundreds arrested. U.S. Government had a high degree of control
over policing. Wayne had credentials, but security getting in was
comparable to that of an airport with the addition of objectionable
printed materials being seized. A variety of viewpoints could be found if
you talked to individuals, but the event itself was pre-ordained and
theatrical. Heavy and intimidating security was pervasive. Note made of
Adam Kokesh's banner demonstration during McCain's speech. See:
http://kokesh.blogspot.com . Street demonstrations were many blocks away
and did not penetrate the convention center other than via skewed media
representations.

Finance Report:  Balance is $1523.75

Note: Jan and Durl will be out of town the next two meetings, so
volunteers will be necessary to pass the contribution jar around at the
next two meetings.

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).

This month's Main Event was this past Saturday.

About 310 flyers passed out. Flyer was a publicity sheet for the AWARE
Presents PTSD panel event on one side, and Afghanistan material from Carl
on the other side. Also a good number of Blackwater flyers passed out on
the current Jo Daviess County issue (accommodation of Blackwater regarding
permit for new training facility - more details below under Blackwater
Working Group).

The next Main Event is October 4th.

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

(no new info this week)

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

PTSD Panel co-sponsored by IVAW (and just concluded prior to the meeting)
was universally appreciated as an outstanding success. Video was recorded
and at least one video product will air on UPTV. A more produced version
may be assembled later, also for airing on UPTV and possibly Youtube.

Mention made that the Quakers may fund PTSD treatments for local veterans
as a result of the panel event.

Barbara plans to send thank-you note to IMC folks that provided and ran
the sound system.

Mention made of AP article (passed around) on possible record suicide
rates within the army. See:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/military_suicides

Next AWARE Presents working group is scheduled for Sep. 11 (see upcoming
events calendar above).

Current AWARE Presents event lineup:

1. Dan Kenney of Clearwater on the privatization of war, including
Blackwater, in an event for the community (to be recorded as well) on
October 10 (see above in upcoming events calendar for date/venue details).

Public Square spot is planned for publicity

Other Dan Kenney events may be arranged in town.

2. Jeremy Scahill event still being pursued (he is on a book tour this
Fall).

Tentative date of October 28th still possible. This would be the day
before Naomi Klein's appearance on campus.

3. 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)

Unity March planning in progress (see details so far above in upcoming
events calendar).

There was consensus without objection to co-sponsoring this year's Unity
March.

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

More buttons and bumper stickers ordered.

Jan and Durl will be out of town the next two weeks, so volunteers will be
needed to hold on to proceeds for the next two Farmer's Markets. Also, a
volunteer is needed to ensure there's sufficient change (say, $20 worth in
bills and coins) at the start of our September 20th Farmer's Market
presence.

A volunteer is also needed to set up for our Sep. 20 presence.

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

Taping 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.

August 12th edition of AOTA is available on newsfromneptune.com, will be
moved to AWARE website (anti-war.net) along with later editions.

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 )

Barbara passed out the flyer distributed during Saturday's Main Event
including material from Dan Kenney illustrating how Blackwater is
attempting to smooth-talk their way into the good graces of the Jo Daviess
County Board to gain a permit for a "shoot house". Folks are encouraged to
contact JoDaviess County Board members to describe to them how supporting
and hosting Blackwater brings infamy to JoDaviess County and stands to
affect their tourist industry. For more information, see:

http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace-discuss/2008-September/018130.html

This is time-sensitive - contact must be made TODAY, Tuesday.

Also, there is a Blackwater demonstration planned in Chicago on Sunday,
September 14 from 1:30-3PM at the Art Institute, partly in observance the
Nisour Square massacre (where Blackwater personnel killed 17 civilians),
which occurred one year ago (September 16, 2007 - see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_Baghdad_shootings ).

Old Business
**********
AWARE introduction sheet (a short welcoming half-sheet introduction to
AWARE for new faces attending our meeting.):  New improved draft posted to
peace-discuss and will be made available in AWARE's meeting room starting
next Sunday (without objection). Randall plans to create a revision for
distribution at Farmer's Market.

Bill Walton (issue of long-time local homeless man banned from Lincoln
Square Mall, City Building and Library):
(no new information this week)

New Ideas
********
Possible future presentation from Chris regarding his travels through the
Middle East this summer. To be discussed at AWARE Presents meeting (see
meeting details above in upcoming events calendar).

Planning session sponsored by CAN being set up for September 23rd at
Lincoln Hall, 7PM for a November 13th Winter Soldier all-day presentation.
AWARE may be contacted for support. More details as they become available.