[Peace] minutes of weekly AWARE meeting 2009-06-21

[Randall Cotton]

Minutes of 06/21/2009 AWARE meeting are below, but first, AWARE Volunteer
Opportunities and the Upcoming Events Calendar:

*************** NOTE - IMPORTANT *******************
AWARE's monthly "Main Event" demonstration will be postponed for July
by one week due to conflict with July 4th holiday and parade and will thus
take place July 11th at the usual time and place (see Upcoming Events
Calendar below for details.
*****************************************************

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

AWARE is considering moving our monthly demonstration venue from Main &
Neil in Champaign to a higher-traffic site. It would be helpful for us to
discover which intersections in Champaign/Urbana have the most traffic to
help us in that decision. A volunteer is needed to contact the appropriate
city department/official in both Champaign and Urbana to obtain a list of
and available statistics on, say, the 10 busiest intersections in each
city. It's probably a fair assumption that this is tracked by both cities
and that it's public information. For assistance, contact Randall Cotton,
recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470.

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. As of March 2009, the
sign is installed in the lobby of the Urbana/Champaign Independent Media
Center, right next to the Post Office there in the building (202 S.
Broadway, Urbana).

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 AWARE publicity documents
(and arrange for copies, as needed). This includes our business card,
intro sheet for new meeting attendees and our 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
----------------------------
Jun 23 (TODAY, 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)

Jun 23 (TODAY, Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

Jun 27 (Saturday) 8AM-noon, AWARE's weekly presence at Farmer's Market
(Urbana Market at the Square), providing literature, expression (bumper
stickers, buttons, etc) and conversation to further AWARE's mission.

Jun 30 (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)

Jun 30 (Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

Jul 11 (Saturday) 2-4PM Main St & Neil St, Champaign
The Main Event - AWARE's monthly 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 06/21/09 AWARE meeting:

About 10 in attendance

News of the week was reviewed jointly

**NEW** Most of the meeting was devoted to news from Iran graciously
provided by local Iranian students. They relate that due to the increasing
repression of street demonstrations, strategies are changing. During the
Monday drive-home rush, headlights could be turned on in protest. Tuesday
plans for a general strike were forming. Calls from the rooftops, such as
Allahu Akbar (God is Great) have become common (as they were during the
'79 revolution, ironically). A tactics change is being undertaken to avoid
violence.

Sunday demonstrations were subdued by strong police and Basij
(paramilitary) presence, who isolated groups of protesters, preventing
them from coalescing. Many stayed home as the movement changes tactics to
adapt.

Mention made of ex-President Mohammad Khatami's recent statement
condemning
the repression.

Point stressed that the Guardian Council, in charge of investigation
election irregularities, is hardly a disinterested party, each member
having been directly or indirectly selected by the Supreme Leader Khameini
(and Khameini has unabashedly professed his support of Ahmadenijad).

Mention made of overwhelming clampdown on the press - clearly they want to
prevent the truth from being known.

Opinion expressed that the demonstrations were born more from astonishment
that the vote was so unbelievable than from support for a particular
candidate.

Much detail related the overwhelming conflicts of interest in the election
system.

Doubt cast on the credibility of the "Terror-Free Tomorrow" poll (see
http://www.terrorfreetomorrow.org/articlenav.php?id=71 ), highlighting
that the poll was taken too early to properly reflect the electorate,
given the flux that occurred in the weeks leading up to the election and
that 1/2 of those surveyed didn't express a preference for a candidate or
refused to answer. Mention made also of the repressive atmosphere in Iran
possibly discouraging expression of a preference for a candidate other
than Ahmadinejad or even inducing people to answer that they favor
Ahmadinijad, though they didn't actually prefer him.

Many details relayed that together strongly indicated massive rigged
election fraud.

The students asked AWARE for suggestions on how they can inform the public
and publicize their views. AWARE suggestions included:

AWARE on the Air (10PM weekly program on cable channel 6, UPTV)
Public Square spots on WILL (3-minute public expression spots on WILL
AM-580)
Saturday morning radio presence on WEFT (David Green/Paul Mueth)
News from Neptune (another UPTV program)
Focus 580 w/David Inge
Letters to the editor, both to local and national papers

-----------------
Finance  Report:
estimated balance: $389.35 after commitments
Storage closet quarterly rent recently paid

AWARE funds are substantially lower than in the past ($2000 has been
typical for years, we're now in the few hundreds).

Contribution jar passed around

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).

**REMINDER** Main Event postponed by consensus without objection to July
11th due to conflict with the holiday & parade.

**NEW** Suggested flyer topic - a quick outline of Iranian history esp.
regarding US involvement from, say, 1952 onward. David volunteers to work
on this.

No new information yet on Champaign/Urbana's busiest intersections.
Volunteer opportunity posted for this.

Weekly Action
==========
(nothing this week)

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

An AWARE Presents meeting may not be imminent, but is still in the offing.

**NEW** Mention made that AWARE could organize an event to educate about
the elections in Iran

Ideas under consideration for the future:

- Invitation to Stephen Kinzer to appear again.

- Invitation to William Blum

- Jeremy Scahill event: previously contacted, currently in a "wait and
see" pattern.

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)

**NEW** CUCPJ members continue studying the Toto Kaiyewu investigation
report from the Illinois State Police. Questions being addressed: Was Toto
profiled? (some say yes). If police conduct was appropriate, as claimed,
does that not make it acceptable for police to kill other mentally ill
people they pursue without cause?

**NEW** efforts ongoing regarding opposition to tasers - refinements
continue to documentation stating case against acquisition of tasers by
Champaign police.

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

Discussion on who can make it this week. Some volunteered, more always
welcome.

**NEW** Plans forming to incorporate a weekly discussion of recent news in
much the same form as occurs at each AWARE meeting.

Some "Aware on the Air" recordings are now available on-line. See the
AWARE home page at anti-war.net.

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.

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

Farmer's Market
===========
(AWARE's weekly seasonal presence at the Urbana "Market at the Square" AKA
"Farmer's Market")

**NEW** Weather was nice, but not much activity.

**NEW** Question raised about whether we should maintain our presence on
July 4th, when the parade may overshadow the market (unclear whether that
will be the case. Decision postponed to a later meeting.

**NEW** signup sheet passed around.

A recent visitor to the table mentioned a relative who currently works
for an NGO in Afghanistan and who also has done so in Pakistan and Iran.
We may be able to arrange a talk with him. Stuart and Randall have contact
info and will follow up.

Outstanding proposal: spend $100 for various sizes of the following
T-shirt
to be sold at Farmer's Market for slightly more than cost:
http://syracuseculturalworkers.com/sites/default/files/images/5261no-justice.jpg
This proposal to be ratified at a future AWARE meeting as per standing
rule.

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

Court date is set for June 24th regarding charges arising from
civil disobedience by Catholic Workers and others at the Stockton
anti-Blackwater event earlier this year. Some folks from the area are
planning to attend.

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

(nothing new this week)

Monthly Message
============
(Efforts to propagate the content of the Main Event monthly flyer through
various media channels)

(nothing new this week)

AWARE Films:
===========
(Organization of film and video showings in the community)

Possible future showings:

1. "On White Privilege" (see
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=137 )

2. Another showing of Naomi Wolf's "The End of America".

**NEW INFO APPENDED** 3. "Pray the Devil back to Hell  - the gripping
account of a group of brave and visionary women who demanded peace for
Liberia, a nation torn to shreds by a decades old civil war. Combining
contemporary interviews, archival images, and scenes of present-day
Liberia the film recounts the experiences and memories of the women who
stood up to their country's tyrannical leader and brutal warlords, in
order to bring peace to their tormented country" [from imdb.com]. **NEW
INFO** Rights to show this could be as much as $300, but we could charge
admission and provide copies for checkout to Libraries.

Talk has arisen regarding a possible film festival focused on
"Peacemakers".

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

Anti-Recruitment - Meeting still being pursued with
administration at Centennial High School, where it was reported that
apparently, military recruiters were given free access to students in the
hallways recently. AWARE has met with Centennial in the past regarding
this issue, but there's been a change of principal since then. Folks
interested in pursuing this: Mort, Linda, Dave H, Durl. **NEW INFO** After
repeated attempts to contact and set up a meeting, finally there is
agreement for a meeting in July, which will be finalized when Mort returns
from France.

**NEW** July 4th parade - Entry form has been submitted. July 4th working
group should meet soon.

Pursuit of meeting with Senator Durbin regarding his letter in support of
Israel during Gaza attack: Follow up attempts are planned to contact
Durbin after initial non-response. 3/1/09 update: Written response
received from Durbin, but making no reference to the meeting request.

Sweet Corn Festival application has been received. Some folks wonder
whether early submission will help us get a choice booth.

Concern regarding dwindling AWARE attendance. Idea was proposed to survey
past AWARE participants to discover why they have lost interest. Anonymity
deemed important. A survey could be constructed online to assure
convenience and anonymity using a service such as surveymonkey.com.
Randall has volunteered to construct list of folks to survey. Wayne has
volunteered to draft questions. Initially, however, questions may be
solicited via AWARE's mailing lists. Bob Illyes survey from 2004 may
inform question construction.

Participation in the US Campaign to End the Occupation's campaign to
oppose military aid to Israel. See:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=2143 .
Carol has volunteered to order their organizing packet (see #4 on the
webpage cited above).

Idea proposed for publicity/awareness efforts: a scavenger/treasure
hunt, perhaps at Farmer's Market, focused on raising awareness of peace
issues.

New Ideas
*********
(never before discussed ideas brought up during this meeting)

**NEW** Carol proposes AWARE sign on in support of a statement opposing
military Aid to Israel in 2010 budget, as being circulated by US Campaign
to End the Occupation. See:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/modinput4.php?modin=156 . Consensus
present with no objection, authorizing Carol to represent AWARE in signing
on.

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

(nothing this week)

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

Plans may be forming for a July 4th "Tea Party" in town (in the
vein of the April 15 "tax day" Tea Party) - some AWARE members attended
the prior Tea Party to gawk and disseminate information. Neocons would
probably be present. Also Constitutionalists (who are opposed to the
current wars for their own reasons).

Jul 18-20, Chicago
Socialism 2009
Speakers include Jeremy Scahill, Phyllis Bennis, David Roediger (U of I
connection). Jeffrey St.Clair (editor, Counterpunch) attended last year
and visited here in town as a consequence.

Plans in formation for a "Midwest Liberty Festival", perhaps in the fall,
possibly at Du Quoin in southern Illinois. Possible speakers mentioned so
far: Naomi Wolf, Ron Paul with Rand Paul, Cindy Sheehan

Mennonites may offer a presentation this summer from a couple who live in
Tehran.