From Vmbra at aol.com  Tue Sep  3 20:25:30 2002
From: Vmbra at aol.com (Vmbra at aol.com)
Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2002 20:25:30 EDT
Subject: [saymaListserv] WV and SE Ohio Friends Gathering Sept. 28-29
Message-ID: <167.1349e3f6.2aa6acfa@aol.com>

Monongalia Friends Meeting (Morgantown, WV) is organizing this year's WV and 
SE Ohio Friends Gathering, at Camp Hervida, northwest of Marietta Ohio.  The 
gathering includes workshops on racism and the Middle East, the latter 
presented by Dick Whitham and Carlie Numi, who have recently returned from a 
Christian Peace Teams visit to the region.  There will also be worship, 
singing, nature walks, and a chance for isolated (and not so isolated) 
Friends to renew acquaintanceship.

Registration information from:
Catherine Lozier
Monongalia Friends Meeting
428 Van Gilder
Morgantown, WV  26505
(304) 599-8233
clozier at labs.net
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://kitenet.net/pipermail/sayma/attachments/20020903/dc8d3253/attachment.html>

From hblack at twlakes.net  Wed Sep  4 17:36:09 2002
From: hblack at twlakes.net (hector black)
Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 14:36:09 -0700
Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: sheesh....even Quakers are targeted....
Message-ID: <007601c25460$44fb2ae0$62b390cf@oemcomputer>

I thought the following would be of interest to you all.     Peace,
Hector

----- Original Message -----
From: rblack <rblack at tntech.edu>
To: <hblack at twlakes.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 7:54 AM
Subject: FWD: sheesh....even Quakers are targeted....


> >===== Original Message From Dyana Bagby
<dyana.bagby at gwinnettdailypost.com>
> =====
> Denver police open 'spy files' on peaceful groups, but some files will
> remain secret
> By JUDITH KOHLER
> Associated Press Writer
> DENVER (AP) - The Police Department opened 3,200 ''spy files'' on
> religious, peace and other groups on Tuesday, and activists lined up to
see
> if their names were included.
> City officials conceded that police went too far in collecting information
> in some cases.
> News that religious and peace groups were among those placed under
> surveillance since about 1999, when the files were computerized, drew
> charges of police misconduct, an investigation by a three-judge panel and
> the decision to let some people see their files before the reports are
> purged.
> Mayor Wellington Webb, himself the subject of police surveillance when he
> was a young activist, has condemned the keeping of files on peaceful
> protesters and said it violated city policy.
> Records of people not suspected of crimes will be released to those named
> in them, then purged after Nov. 1. However, the city attorney's office
will
> keep copies of all files, including those eliminated by police.
> The names of people or groups considered legitimate targets of
> surveillance, as determined by an outside auditor, will remain in the
files
> and won't be released.
> Officials haven't indicated whether any files from before 1999 will be
> retained.
> The partial release concerned some activists waiting in line.
> ''They're not being totally upfront, which makes you think they're not
> telling you everything,'' said Wendy Hawthorne of the Denver Justice and
> Peace Committee.
> Department of Safety spokeswoman C.L. Harmer said she was as horrified as
> the department's critics when she learned that Nobel Peace Prize winners
> Amnesty International and the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker
> organization, had been monitored.
> Police had classified the Quaker committee as a criminal extremist group,
> according to files obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union. Police
> told the ACLU the department had no written guidelines for making such
> classifications.
> ''I'm a former member of the American Friends Service Committee,'' Harmer
> said. ''My late husband was a Quaker.''
> Mark Silverstein, legal director of the Colorado chapter of the ACLU, said
> his group never disputed the need for legitimate criminal intelligence
> operations.
> ''But legitimate criminal intelligence operations is not writing down
> license numbers of everybody who attends an Amnesty International rally,''
> he said.
> The ACLU is suing the city on behalf of the Denver Justice and Peace
> Committee, which claims a police search of its office in 2000 was illegal.
> A separate lawsuit challenges the police department's surveillance of
> peaceful protest groups.
>
> Dyana Bagby
> staff writer
> The Gwinnett Daily Post
> 770-963-9205 ext. 1303
>



From Evdavwes at aol.com  Sun Sep  8 09:07:48 2002
From: Evdavwes at aol.com (Evdavwes at aol.com)
Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 09:07:48 EDT
Subject: [saymaListserv] Asheville Meeting Retreat on John Woolman
Message-ID: <183.dfc807e.2aaca5a4@aol.com>

Dear Friends,

Asheville (NC) Friends Meeting announces a retreat October 4 and 5:  "John 
Woolman: Mysticism and Activism," led by Michael Birkel of the Earlham 
College Religion Department.  This is open to anyone, whether Friends or not. 
 Please let your Meetings know of this event.  Those from out of town are 
invited to request housing from Asheville Meeting friends.  A flyer in 
Microsoft Word Format is available on request from David Clements 
(evdavwes at aol.com).  Payment of $25 or a request for a scholarship is 
required to hold a place.  A registration form is below.  Note that Michael 
will be leading a forum on the reading of Scripture on First Day following 
the retreat (October 6).  The forum will be without charge and open to all.


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


John Woolman: Mysticism and Activism

John Woolman is attractive to both contemplatives and activists.  He holds 
together what often gets divided among Friends. We will look at him as a 
model for the integrated spiritual life, and explore both the depths of his 
mystical experience and the commitments he made to a more just and peaceful 
society.

*      *      *

Schedule for the Retreat:
October 4, 6-8:30 pm: Potluck and introductory session at the Meeting House
October 5, 9:30 to 12 and 2 to 5: retreat location to be announced on October 
4.  
   Optional dinner with Michael Birkel at a local restaurant after the 
retreat. 
October 6: Michael will lead an after-Meeting forum on the worshipful reading 
of Scripture.


*    Attendance is limited to 40.  We must receive your payment or a request 
for a scholarship in order to hold your place.
*    The fee for the retreat is $25, with scholarship assistance available.
* Scholarships are also available for dinner with Michael Birkel on October 
5.  
*    Childcare will be provided if requested by September 20.
*    For childcare requests or other questions, call David Clements at (828) 
285-0601.

*      *      *      *      *

Michael Birkel has taught in the Religion Department at Earlham College for 
the last sixteen years.  His interests range from Biblical studies to 
Quakerism to comparative mysticism.  He has just completed a book on John 
Woolman.  He has been a speaker and retreat leader among Friends for over 
twenty years, ministering at various Yearly Meetings as well as Pendle Hill, 
the School of the Spirit, and Friends General Conference.  He is an active 
member of Clear Creek Monthly Meeting of Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting.  He and 
his wife, Gwen Halsted, a physician, enjoy music, hiking, and cooking 
together.  They have two children.  Anna Margaret, 15, loves fiction and 
playing the piano and the violin.  Jonathan, 8, loves maps and dinosaurs.


         Reply form below: Please print out and return with payment
******************************************************************************

***************

Registration for the Asheville Friends Meeting retreat on October 4-5, 2002.
Mail to David Clements, 79 Cumberland Avenue, Asheville, NC  28801
Call David Clements at (828) 285-0601 by September 20 with requests for 
childcare.
Fees paid are not refundable unless cancellation is received by September 20.

Name(s):______________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________

Tel: __________________________  Email: _____________________________

**************************************************************************

               Number attending ___________ times $25 fee equals??. 
$_________

              Plus contribution for future programs and scholarships??    
_________

                               Less scholarship requested???.                
     _________

   Total enclosed (checks payable to Asheville Friends Meeting)??
...$_________

Please check ____ I/we would like scholarship assistance for dinner with 
Michael Birkel on October 5







Blessings and Peace,

David Clements, for the Spiritual Enrichment Committee:

Norma Buckingham, norma724 at charter.net, 296-0980
Margaret Farmer, farmers1066 at charter.net and sporos27 at yahoo.com, 298-5961
Margaret Normile, margaretnormile at peoplepc.com, 658-3307
Virginia Redfield (away until late September),  vredfield at charter.net, 
253-6726
David Clements, evdavwes at aol.com, 285-0601

Please let David Clements know if you desire not to receive emails regarding 
Asheville Friends Meeting events.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://kitenet.net/pipermail/sayma/attachments/20020908/74f5ef72/attachment.html>

From Evdavwes at aol.com  Sun Sep  8 16:04:33 2002
From: Evdavwes at aol.com (Evdavwes at aol.com)
Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 16:04:33 EDT
Subject: [saymaListserv] Asheville Meeting Retreat on John Woolman
Message-ID: <184.e02263c.2aad0751@aol.com>

Dear Friends,

Asheville (NC) Friends Meeting announces a retreat October 4 and 5:  "John 
Woolman: Mysticism and Activism," led by Michael Birkel of the Earlham 
College Religion Department.  This is open to anyone, whether Friends or not. 
 Please let your Meetings know of this event.  Those from out of town are 
invited to request housing from Asheville Meeting friends.  A flyer in 
Microsoft Word Format is available on request from David Clements 
(evdavwes at aol.com).  Payment of $25 or a request for a scholarship is 
required to hold a place.  A registration form is below.  Note that Michael 
will be leading a forum on the reading of Scripture on First Day following 
the retreat (October 6).  The forum will be without charge and open to all.


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%


John Woolman: Mysticism and Activism

John Woolman is attractive to both contemplatives and activists.  He holds 
together what often gets divided among Friends. We will look at him as a 
model for the integrated spiritual life, and explore both the depths of his 
mystical experience and the commitments he made to a more just and peaceful 
society.

*      *      *

Schedule for the Retreat:
October 4, 6-8:30 pm: Potluck and introductory session at the Meeting House
October 5, 9:30 to 12 and 2 to 5: retreat location to be announced on October 
4.  
   Optional dinner with Michael Birkel at a local restaurant after the 
retreat. 
October 6: Michael will lead an after-Meeting forum on the worshipful reading 
of Scripture.


*    Attendance is limited to 40.  We must receive your payment or a request 
for a scholarship in order to hold your place.
*    The fee for the retreat is $25, with scholarship assistance available.
* Scholarships are also available for dinner with Michael Birkel on October 
5.  
*    Childcare will be provided if requested by September 20.
*    For childcare requests or other questions, call David Clements at (828) 
285-0601.

*      *      *      *      *

Michael Birkel has taught in the Religion Department at Earlham College for 
the last sixteen years.  His interests range from Biblical studies to 
Quakerism to comparative mysticism.  He has just completed a book on John 
Woolman.  He has been a speaker and retreat leader among Friends for over 
twenty years, ministering at various Yearly Meetings as well as Pendle Hill, 
the School of the Spirit, and Friends General Conference.  He is an active 
member of Clear Creek Monthly Meeting of Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting.  He and 
his wife, Gwen Halsted, a physician, enjoy music, hiking, and cooking 
together.  They have two children.  Anna Margaret, 15, loves fiction and 
playing the piano and the violin.  Jonathan, 8, loves maps and dinosaurs.


         Reply form below: Please print out and return with payment
******************************************************************************

***************

Registration for the Asheville Friends Meeting retreat on October 4-5, 2002.
Mail to David Clements, 79 Cumberland Avenue, Asheville, NC  28801
Call David Clements at (828) 285-0601 by September 20 with requests for 
childcare.
Fees paid are not refundable unless cancellation is received by September 20.

Name(s):______________________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________________

Tel: __________________________  Email: _____________________________

**************************************************************************

               Number attending ___________ times $25 fee equals??. 
$_________

              Plus contribution for future programs and scholarships??    
_________

                               Less scholarship requested???.                
     _________

   Total enclosed (checks payable to Asheville Friends Meeting)??
...$_________

Please check ____ I/we would like scholarship assistance for dinner with 
Michael Birkel on October 5







Blessings and Peace,

David Clements, for the Spiritual Enrichment Committee:

Norma Buckingham, norma724 at charter.net, 296-0980
Margaret Farmer, farmers1066 at charter.net and sporos27 at yahoo.com, 298-5961
Margaret Normile, margaretnormile at peoplepc.com, 658-3307
Virginia Redfield (away until late September),  vredfield at charter.net, 
253-6726
David Clements, evdavwes at aol.com, 285-0601

Please let David Clements know if you desire not to receive emails regarding 
Asheville Friends Meeting events.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://kitenet.net/pipermail/sayma/attachments/20020908/b129e922/attachment.html>

From bright_crow at mindspring.com  Tue Sep 10 22:45:25 2002
From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Michael Austin Shell)
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 22:45:25 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv] Fwd: Voting Crisis in Miami-Dade
Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20020910224508.009f8ac0@pop.mindspring.com>

>Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 03:53:20 -0600
>To: whitlock at bigsky.net
>From: Kay Whitlock <whitlock at bigsky.net>
>Subject: Voting Crisis in Miami-Dade
>
>Friends, please take a moment to read this.  This is extremely 
>serious.  AFSC has actively participated in this historic gay rights 
>ballot contest, working closely with other partner organizations of the 
>National Religious Leadership Roundtable, Save Dade, and the National Gay 
>and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF).  We prepared sermon talking points for 
>clergy in the Miami-Dade area, several AFSC representatives recently 
>participated in a faith rally and door-to-door canvassing effort in Miami, 
>and we met with Miami Friends on this matter.  Several Friends joined in 
>the canvassing effort and attended the rally.  Miami Friends Meeting has 
>posted updated information regularly on their website and sent electronic 
>bulletins to members.
>
>I note that I was present in 1977 at the first Miami-Dade ballot 
>initiative launched by the Christian right; I was chair of the national 
>lesbian rights task force for NOW and did public speaking and telephone 
>canvassing.  Most of the speaking I did was in Jewish synagogues.  In 
>1977, our greatest, in fact, our only clear "wins" were in precincts that 
>were heavily Jewish. As you know, we lost that vote.  The stakes are very 
>high this time.
>
>I note that there is much more to be said about all of this.
>
>Stay tuned.  AFSC may be speaking out on this soon.
>
>Kay Whitlock
>
>Tuesday, September 10, 2002
>
>Ballot Debacle Again in Florida Election: NGLTF Demands Investigation into 
>Apparent Voter Fraud
>
>MEDIA CONTACT:
>NGLTF Communications Department
>ngltf at ngltf.org
>202-332-6483
>Pager: 800-757-6476
>
>MIAMI, FLORIDA - In today's Miami-Dade election that featured a historic 
>gay rights ballot measure, registered voters have once again been denied 
>the right to cast votes. Rampant breakdowns in new touch screen voting 
>machines, failure to open polling places in a timely manner, untrained 
>personnel, and refusal by election officials to provide paper 
>"provisional" ballots when voting machines have malfunctioned have left 
>voters and observers alike stunned and angered.
>
>Worst of all, numerous complaints have been registered by voters who went 
>to the polls to vote NO on the anti-gay ballot measure, but were prevented 
>from doing so. In some precincts, there was no ability to vote on any 
>initiatives. In others, voters have complained that when they voted NO on 
>the anti-gay ballot measure, YES votes appear to have registered instead. 
>Many polling places were not operative until after 1:00 pm, more than 5 
>hours later than the scheduled 7:00 am.
>
>"In 2000, African Americans in southern Florida were denied the right to 
>vote and to have their votes counted. In 2002, the gay and Jewish 
>communities are facing the same inexcusable fate," said Lorri L. Jean, 
>Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
>
>While irregularities have been reported in precincts countywide, Miami's 
>Jewish and gay communities have been disproportionately hit by voter 
>machine malfunction and other irregularities. These communities represent 
>some of the strongest opposition to a measure on the ballot that, if 
>passed, would remove discrimination protections based on sexual 
>orientation from the County's human rights ordinance.
>
>"How many times must historically oppressed communities be denied the 
>right to participate in elections under the watch of Jeb and George W. 
>Bush?" demanded Jean. "Hundreds and potentially thousands of people in 
>Miami-Dade have been unable to vote today because of malfunctioning 
>machines and then have been provided no alternative means of voting. This 
>is not a partisan failure, this is a leadership failure."
>
>"After the last Florida voting fiasco, Jeb and George Bush promised the 
>American public that they would make every vote count," Jean continued. 
>"They have had two years to create a system that guaranteed full 
>participation in the democratic process to all people and, as we now know, 
>they have failed to deliver on their promise."
>
>Therefore, NGLTF is demanding that the Governor employ all available 
>communication devices and personnel at the state's disposal to let voters 
>know that voting hours have now been extended until 9:00 pm and to 
>encourage them to return to the polls.
>
>"Further, we are demanding full and immediate investigations by the 
>Governor's office and the U.S. Department of Justice into the failures of 
>the Florida election system so that the gay community and indeed all 
>Floridians will never again be denied that opportunity to vote and have 
>those votes counted," Jean concluded.
>
>-30-
>
>
>The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has worked to eliminate prejudice, 
>violence and injustice against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender 
>people at the local, state and national level since its inception in 1973. 
>As part of a broader social justice movement for freedom, justice and 
>equality, NGLTF is creating a world that respects and celebrates the 
>diversity of human expression and identity where all people may fully 
>participate in society.




From moriah at preferred.com  Fri Sep 13 15:08:49 2002
From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun)
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 15:08:49 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv] "standing up for dissent"
Message-ID: <001301c25b59$236a9640$0500a8c0@oem>

Dear f/Friends,

The population of American dissenters has been remarked upon as slow to
be heard from since 9-11-01.  Also to be still laboring with sorting out
opinions, or willingness to be conspicuous, in the aftermath of attack
and a "war of self-defense."  Here's some encouragement.

^o^
\_/
Mary Calhoun
Foxfire Friends Meeting of the Holston Valley
SAYMA
-------------------------
"Art, not arms."
--------------------------------

 Printed from http://www.thenation.com
© 2002 The Nation Company, L.P.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

FEATURE STORY | September 23, 2002

Standing Up for Dissent
by JOHN NICHOLS

Every year Greensboro, North Carolina, holds a Fourth of July parade in
which local organizations form the units. This year members of the
Greensboro Peace Coalition decided--"after some hesitation," admits
chairman Ed Whitfield--to join the line of march. They bought an ad in
the local paper, printed leaflets and developed their own variation on
this year's theme of "American Heroes": large posters of Americans,
including Mark Twain, Albert Einstein and the Rev. Martin Luther King
Jr., who have spoken out against the folly of war.

Though members had been participating in vigils since last October, when
the bombing of Afghanistan began, many expressed qualms about marching
into the thick of their hometown's annual patriotic celebration. But
fifty activists showed up on the Fourth and got the surprise of their
political lives. Along the mile-and-a-half parade route through downtown
Greensboro, they were greeted mostly with applause, and, at the end of
their march, they were honored by parade organizers for "Best
Interpretation of the Theme."

Says Whitfield, "There is a real lesson in this. If you scratch the
surface of the poll numbers about Bush and Ashcroft's overwhelming
support, you get down to a lot of people with a lot of questions. Some
of them are afraid that they are alone in what they are thinking. What
it takes to get them excited and to get them involved is for them to see
someone standing up so that they will know they are not alone."

The post-September 11 experiences of the Greensboro Peace Coalition,
Berea College's Patriots for Peace, the Arkansas Coalition for Peace and
Justice, and dozens of other grassroots groups serve as a reminder that
while dissenters have not always spoken in a single voice, they have had
in common not just their unease with the bipartisan Washington consensus
but the often inspiring experience that there are many Americans who
share their discomfort. Take Jennifer Ellis of Peace Action Maine, who
recalls how overwhelmed Down East activists felt after September 11.
"But then we started to get calls from people saying, 'I don't know what
your organization is, but it has the word "peace" in the title. What can
I do?'" Some callers were already holding vigils, and her group started
sending out weekly e-mails listing them. "We linked people up with local
efforts to fight discrimination against Muslims, and we told people how
to write members of Congress about civil liberties issues," she says.
"Before long, all these people, in all these towns across Maine, were
working together."

As with anti-World War I activists who looked to Wisconsin Senator Bob
La Follette, critics of McCarthyism who celebrated Maine's Margaret
Chase Smith's statement of conscience or foes of the Vietnam War who
were inspired by the anti-Gulf of Tonkin resolution votes of Oregon's
Wayne Morse and Alaska's Ernest Gruening, post-September 11 dissenters
found solace in the fact that at least a few members of Congress shared
their qualms. Three days after the attacks on the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon, Representative Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, cast
the only vote against the resolution authorizing the use of force to
respond. Lee's vote earned her death threats and pundit predictions that
she was finished politically, but she won her March Democratic primary
race with 85 percent of the vote. And the "Barbara Lee Speaks for Me"
movement that started in her Oakland-based district has spread; in July
several thousand people packed a Santa Cruz, California, movie theater
to celebrate "Barbara Lee Day." Said Santa Cruz Mayor Christopher Krohn:
"She's become a national moral leader in awakening the movement for
justice, peace and a thorough re-examination of US foreign policy."
Responded Lee: "It must not be unpatriotic to question a course of
action. It must not be unpatriotic to raise doubts. I suggest to you it
is just the opposite."

Senator Russ Feingold, the Wisconsin Democrat who cast the only Senate
vote against the USA Patriot Act's assault on civil liberties, still
marvels at the standing ovations he receives when his vote is mentioned.
"I thought this would be a difficult vote," says Feingold, who recently
earned the best home-state approval ratings of his career. "What I
didn't realize was that a lot of people are concerned about free speech
and repression of liberties, even in a time of war. I didn't realize
until I cast my vote that there was so much concern about whether it was
appropriate, whether it was allowed, to dissent after September 11. I
think that for a lot of people, my vote told them it was still
appropriate to dissent."

Some members who have challenged the Bush Administration have suffered
politically--notably Georgia Representative Cynthia McKinney, who lost
an August Democratic primary. But most are secure in their seats, and
one is even being boomed as a potential Democratic presidential
contender. Representative Dennis Kucinich's February speech condemning
the bombing of Afghan civilians and the repression of American civil
liberties drew an overwhelmingly positive response that Kucinich, an
Ohio Democrat, says is evidence of broad uncertainty about militarism
abroad and economic and constitutional costs at home.

Democratic Representative Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin led several House
members in writing a letter in December questioning White House policies
that emphasize bullets and badgering as opposed to diplomacy and
development; and John Conyers of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the
House Judiciary Committee, has kept the heat on the Justice Department
regarding civil liberties--often with the support of Judiciary Committee
chair James Sensenbrenner, a conservative Republican. Still, says
Kucinich, "our constituents are perhaps more prepared than Congress for
the debate that should be going on."

Bill Keys, a school board member in Madison, Wisconsin, shares that
view. Keys's October 2001 refusal to require the recitation of the
Pledge of Allegiance in city schools earned three days of broadcast
rebukes from radio personality Rush Limbaugh, physical threats and a
movement to recall him from office. The recall drive fizzled before
winter and, this spring, Keys was elected president of the board. "The
strange thing is that once I became identified as this awful radical,
people started coming up to me and saying, 'Don't you let them shut you
up,'" recalls Keys. "If the last year taught us anything, it's this:
Yes, of course, if you step out of the mainstream you will get called
names and threatened. But you will also discover that a lot of Americans
still recognize that dissenters are the real defenders of freedom."

...................................

John Nichols, The Nation's Washington correspondent, has covered
progressive politics and activism in the United States and abroad for
more than a decade. Formerly a writer and editor for The Toledo Blade
and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspapers, he is now editorial page editor
for The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin. He has, as well, covered
electoral politics for The Progressive for a number of years. His
articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and
dozens of other newspapers. Nichols has covered four presidential
elections in the United States, along with elections and political
activism in Britain, Ireland, Israel, India, Palestine, El Salvador,
Jamaica and South Africa. He has interviewed Bill Clinton, Al Gore,
George Bush, Bill Bradley, John McCain and Patti Smith. His editorials
on corporate responsibility have been honored by the Inland Press
Association as the best in the country and his columns on presidential
politics have been acclaimed by Women in Communications International as
the best appearing in a daily newspaper. He is the author, with Bob
McChesney, of It's the Media, Stupid (Seven Stories), which features
introductions by Ralph Nader, Barbara Ehrenreich and Paul Wellstone, and
Jews for Buchanan, on the 2000 presidential election, published in
November 2001 by New Press.
---------------------------------------






From moriah at preferred.com  Fri Sep 13 16:01:09 2002
From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun)
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 16:01:09 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv] flag after 9-11
Message-ID: <011601c25b60$541efc20$0500a8c0@oem>

Dear f/Friends,

Ever since 9-11-01 I've been thinking about a flag design that I could
"unite with;" a design finally made it into a graphics file in April '02
after the Oak Ridge Y-12 demonstration.  My commemorative activity of
9-11-02 was constructing a pennant to the design.  If by any chance the
occasion comes along to use it or pass it on, feel free.  (A .bmp file
is a "bitmap" and can be opened by MSPaint, or a similar program.)

Mary Calhoun
Foxfire Friends Meeting of the Holston Valley
SAYMA
------------------
"Art, not arms."
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 9-11flag.bmp
Type: image/bmp
Size: 756270 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://kitenet.net/pipermail/sayma/attachments/20020913/4558308b/attachment.bin>

From nmwhitt at samford.edu  Sat Sep 14 10:17:06 2002
From: nmwhitt at samford.edu (Nancy M. Whitt)
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 09:17:06 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
Subject: [saymaListserv] Whittier Poem
Message-ID: <SIMEON.10209140906.E@proxy.samford.edu>

AYMA Friends: A music professor at Samford is trying to 
find the source of the following hymn by John Greenleaf 
Whittier.  Any ideas?  Thanks. Nancy Whitt

from Poledom
Toward a New World

Lord, for the things we see 
we trust the things to be; 
and present gratitude 
insures the future's good. 
So in the paths untrod 
and the long days of God 
our feet shall still be led, 
our hearts be comforted.

Others shall sing the song, 
others shall right the wrong–
finish what we begin, 
and all we fail of, win. 
What matter, we or they? 
ours or another's day, 
so the right word be said 
and life the sweeter made?

Hail to the coming singers! 
Hail to the brave light-bringers! 
forward we reach and share 
all that they sing or dare. 
The airs of heaven blow o'er us, 
a glory shines before us 
of what mankind shall be–
pure, generous, brave, and free.

The love of God and neighbor, 
an equal band at labor,
the richer life where beauty 
walks hand in hand with duty. 
We feel the earth move sunward, 
we join the great march onward, 
and take by faith, while living 
our freehold of thanksgiving!

John Greenleaf Whittier


-----------------------------------------
Nancy M. Whitt
Professor of English
Chair, Department of English    
Samford University
Birmingham, AL 35229
Phone: 205-726-2458 Fax: 205-726-2112 E-mail: nmwhitt at samford.edu

"Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)"

      Walt Whitman



From bright_crow at mindspring.com  Thu Sep 19 21:27:14 2002
From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Michael Austin Shell)
Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2002 21:27:14 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv] FWD: "War with Iraq," by Peter Sederberg
Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20020919212642.009ef4f0@pop.mindspring.com>

Dear Friends,

Peter Sederberg is a member of Columbia (SC) Monthly Meeting (Quakers) and 
a professor at the University of South Carolina.

Please read and share this essay.

Blessed Be,
Michael.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>
From: Peter Sederberg <sederberg at schc.sc.edu>
Sent: Sep 16, 2002 0511 PM
Subject: War with Iraq

             If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, then the 
road to war with Iraq is paved with myth. Myths, to be sure, often reflect 
deeply felt experiences, fears, and hopes, and, in this way, they express a 
kind of truth. We would do well, however, not to mistake the mask of myth, 
no matter how dramatic, for the face of reality.

             Right now a variety of myths infuse the rhetoric of war with 
Iraq and obscure our understanding and distort our decision making.

             Myth 1: A strike against Iraq would be a preemptive war. What 
the administration advocates is a preventive, not a preemptive, war. A 
preemptive strike is based on strong, indeed incontrovertible, evidence 
that your adversary is about to attack so you throw the first punch. No 
such evidence exists that Iraq is preparing to attack the United States or 
any of its neighbors. Such evidence did exist prior to Iraq¹s invasion of 
Iran in the 1980s and Kuwait in 1990. A preventive war, in contrast, is 
based on the hypothetical that since you face a hostile adversary, war is 
inevitable at some future time, so you make war now before your presumed 
enemy grows any stronger.

             Preemptive war is problematic enough on military, political, 
and moral terms; preventive war approaches insanity and immorality. War is, 
at best, a lesser evil. Initiating war when it might be avoided is 
militarily wasteful and ethically challenged. The more hypothetical the 
future possibility of war, the less justifiable it becomes to start one in 
the present. The Soviet Union represented a far greater threat to our 
survival than Iraq ever will, and some military and civilian leaders called 
for preventive war in the 1950s and a preemptive strike in the 1960s. Those 
advocating preventive war now might consider how following their 
predecessors' recommendation back then, in a far more serious situation 
than we currently confront, would have improved matters today.

             Myth 2: America has never been more vulnerable. Certainly the 
attack of 9/11 reminded Americans of their vulnerability. The proponents of 
preventive war play on these understandable anxieties to trumpet their 
cause and promote war against Iraq as the next step on the path to renewed 
security. They exploit our collective Alzheimer's. We were at our most 
vulnerable during the cold war, peaking with the Cuban Missile Crisis, when 
both the Soviet Union and the United States gazed at the gates of hell but 
drew back from the threshold.

             Myth 3: Containment and deterrence won't work. Historical 
experience certainly teaches us not to expect perfection from any human 
stratagem. Containment and deterrence are no exceptions; indeed, critics of 
both the left and right raised important criticisms about them during the 
Cold War. Nevertheless, we muddled through. Only a fool thinks we would 
have muddled through a preventive or preemptive nuclear exchange with the 
Soviet Union.

             If you think containment is unpredictable and risky, check out 
the unintended, uncontrollable consequences of war. Indeed, the 
administration's willingness to risk a preventive war reflects their 
judgment that Saddam is not much of a risk. Bolstered by their short-term 
success in Afghanistan, they confidently enter upon this adventure. 
Ironically, their confidence that the consequences of this war will be 
easily borne, undermine their assertions of the seriousness of the threat.

             Myth 4: Saddam is a madman with nuclear weapons who must be 
stopped now. Saddam Hussein is not a madman. He is a rather rational risk 
taker, who sometimes, but not always, miscalculates. He has been deterred 
in the past, and we can expect he can be in the future. He has consistently 
pursued expanding his military capabilities including weapons of mass 
destruction. Such capabilities, though, do not in themselves constitute a 
threat. Capability must be matched by intention. If possession of weapons 
of mass destruction were the criterion for preventive war, then France, 
always a irritant to America, should rank higher on Bush's hit list, as 
they already possess hundreds of nuclear weapons and the capability of 
striking our country.
             Of course, administration hawks repeatedly point to compelling 
incidents of Saddam's ruthlessness. Closer inspection reveals that they 
undercut, rather than support, the administration's case. Saddam used 
poison gas in two different situations‹against attacking Iranian forces 
threatening his survival and against rebellious districts in his own 
country. Both of these, incidentally, were countenanced by the Republican 
administration at the time, because Iraq was a de facto ally opposed to 
what was deemed the greater threat from Iran.

These war crimes share an important similarity: The victims could not 
effectively retaliate. Where his targets could retaliate, he proved much 
more cautious during the Gulf War. For example, he could have lobbed 
chemical weapons at Israel but did not, knowing such an attack would end 
Israeli restraint.

	Myth 5: The situation confronted is like that faced with Hitler in 1938. 
President Bush and others beating the drums of war summon up images of 
Europe in 1938, when a weak-kneed Neville Chamberlain and the hapless 
League of Nations failed to respond vigorously to Hitler's mounting 
aggressions. This historical comparison is ludicrous. Forgetting the 
obvious lack of similarity between Bush and Churchill or, for that matter, 
Hitler and Hussein, several substantive differences are compelling. Germany 
in 1938 was arguably the strongest country in Europe; the United States 
possesses overwhelming military superiority over every nation in the world. 
Germany was clearly a power on the rise; Iraq is a defeated country hemmed 
in by sanctions and military "no-fly" zones. Its government possesses 
little or no control over the south and the north of its nominal territory. 
Germany was building a true axis of evil, that was soon to include, albeit 
temporarily, Stalinist Russia; Bush's axis of evil has only a rhetorical 
existence.

Politicians like Bush enjoy invoking the hackneyed aphorism about those who 
fail to remember history. More dangerous are those who remember history 
poorly or, for that matter, manipulate it cynically. We would do well to 
remember the other World War, where the contestants swaggered off to wage 
quick war and ended up in a mutual bloodletting that left all parties in a 
far worse position than when they began.

             Myth 6: The United States can easily win this war. This myth 
of victory appears literally true; our absolute military superiority could, 
in the phrase of some enthusiasts, turn Iraq into glass. The pivotal 
question involves whether we can win the war at an acceptable cost, in 
terms of military resources and/or moral standing in the world. We could 
have "won" in Vietnam; we just couldn't win with three-quarters of a 
million military personnel invested in the Southeast Asian theater. The 
deteriorating base of support for the war made it impossible for either the 
Johnson of the Nixon administration to invest more. Ultimately, both 
administrations reluctantly concluded the war could not be won at a cost 
Americans were prepared to pay.

Curiously, hawkish predictions of how dominos would topple with the 
American retreat came true in a backward way. They toppled, all right, but 
in the opposite direction. Communist Vietnam invaded communist Cambodia and 
was, in turn, invaded by communist China. One communist state after another 
crumbled by 1990.

             The cavalier assumptions of an easy battle with few 
consequences in the wider world would be amusingly fatuous were they not 
taken seriously by the Bush's civilian warriors. We might ask whether the 
military command is quite so optimistic, but like the loyal soldiers they 
are trained to be, they will acquiesce to the civilian leadership and make 
the best of the situation. General Powell has reason to remember the 
consequences for the military of a similar situation in Vietnam.

             Thomas Friedman reminded us recently that no one seems to be 
discussing Saddam's war plans. The administration also remains vague about 
the situation we will face the day after our presumed victory. Rather we 
are entertained with briefings by the Administration's spokesperson, Rosie 
Scenario: Saddam's forces will collapse or go into open rebellion. No 
biological weapons will be hurled at our troops, against Saudi oil fields 
and terminals, or Israel. No serious outbreaks of anti-American violence 
will spread across the Islamic world. Terrorism against American will not 
significantly increase, and America's "war on terror" will not be hampered. 
We will quickly construct Islamic democracy in this bitterly divided 
country. America can neatly manage "nation-building" in both Iraq and 
Afghanistan. And, by the way, on to Teheran!

	Myth 7: We must act now, if not sooner. Iraq, we are repeatedly told, 
represents an immediate threat to its neighbors and to us. Congress and the 
UN must respond immediately. Of course, following the marketing advice of 
White House advisor, Andrew Card, the Administration waited until August 
was over before launching its "new product"‹war with Iraq. In justifying 
the urgency of the campaign, Bush repeats a litany of Saddam's outrages 
stretching back fifteen years.

Bush repeatedly asks, "If not now, when?"  How about after the election? 
Bush undermines the credibility of his argument for urgency by threatening 
recalcitrant Democrats with reprisals in the fall campaign if they delay 
deliberation on the war resolution. I would like to believe that the 
President has not sunk so low as to frivolously risk American and Iraqi 
lives merely to gain electoral advantage. I cannot believe otherwise, 
however, unless he requests, given the seriousness of the potential 
consequences of the decision, that Congress delay deliberation until after 
the election.  Alternatively, he needs to present clear evidence that six 
weeks makes a difference.

	Myth 8: Congressional endorsement will legitimize the war. If the Bush 
administration gains Congressional approval for this adventure, then we, 
American citizens, become morally complicit in the actions that our 
government commits in our name as endorsed through our elected 
representatives.

The Iraqi subjects, in ironic contrast, are victims of an oppressive 
tyranny. Indeed the Bush administration uses precisely this 
characterization as one of their justifications for war. The people of Iraq 
are, therefore, are not responsible for the actions of their government. If 
we indiscriminately kill them in our effort to oust Saddam, they are truly 
innocent victims. And we, the American citizens, will be complicit in their 
deaths through the actions of our elected representatives. We will not be 
able to claim the high moral ground when the anger of the Islamic world is 
directed against us.

Therefore, all American have a great stake in this decision. We all need to 
be confident of the rightness of the actions of our government. We need to 
be assured that we are being told the truth; that we are not being 
manipulated into war; that the threat is immanent and serious; that all 
possible means short of war have been exhausted; that the true costs and 
presumed benefits have been honestly calculated. For when this war is 
waged, we will most certainly bear the costs of its failures and not only 
reap the benefits of its presumed success.



Peter C. Sederberg, Professor
Department of Government and International Studies
University of South Carolina




From listener at bellsouth.net  Wed Sep 25 00:23:37 2002
From: listener at bellsouth.net (Kit Potter)
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 23:23:37 -0500
Subject: [saymaListserv] old wisdom for a new day: two wolves
Message-ID: <002d01c2644b$5220c7c0$6501a8c0@potters>

An old Cherokee told his grandson about a fight that's going on inside him.  He said it's between two wolves. 

One is evil: anger, fear, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.... 

The other is good: joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith... 

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,  "Which wolf wins?" 

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one I feed." 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://kitenet.net/pipermail/sayma/attachments/20020924/2392b6b0/attachment.html>

From moriah at preferred.com  Wed Sep 25 16:57:44 2002
From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun)
Date: Wed, 25 Sep 2002 16:57:44 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv] Message to Iraqi Nat'l Assembly
Message-ID: <009801c26502$15ad15c0$0500a8c0@oem>

Dear Representative Rahall,

Thank you! -- thank you for your action in going to Iraq, and for the
words you said there.  I most earnestly hope that what you're attempting
to start will bear fruit.  I have taken the liberty of appending below
your message to the Iraqi National Assembly, so that it can be read by
other Friends (Quakers) on our list-server.

^o^
\_/

Mary Calhoun
member, Foxfire Friends Meeting of the Holston Valley (Johnson City, TN)
    SAYMA (Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association,
    an affiliation of Friends meetings in Tennessee, Kentucky,
    West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
    and Mississippi)

-----------------------------

Message to the Iraqi National Assembly
by REP. NICK RAHALL

September 15, 2002

[Congressman Nick Rahall is a thirteen-term representative for West
Virginia's Third District.  He took  the trip to Iraq in the company of
former South Dakota Senator James Abourezk, as part of a delegation
organized by the Institute for Public Accuracy.]

http://www.thenation.com/thebeat/index.mhtml?bid=1&pid=103
Copyright © 2002 The Nation

I want to thank you for the traditional Iraqi hospitality that our
delegation has received since coming to Baghdad.

We are all aware of the grave crisis presently facing our two countries,
the United States and Iraq. I am concerned about the effects that a new
war would have on both our countries. For that reason I come as an
advocate of peace through dialogue.

Ours is a humanitarian mission. I come, not as the Secretary of State,
and not as a weapons inspector, but as a member of Congress concerned
with peace. Basically, I want America and Iraq to give peace a chance.

A few days ago, the former head of the United Nations oil-for-food
program, Denis Halliday, commented on the independent American
delegation of which I am a part. Mr. Halliday is a former UN Assistant
Secretary General. On September 12, he said: "Any dialogue between the
US and Iraq is good and, with current and former lawmakers, it is even
better." Mr. Halliday added: "Open-minded dialogue would prove war to be
unnecessary."

Instead of assuming that war must come, let us find ways to discover how
to prove that war is unnecessary.

A key to this terrible box that we're now locked in--is dialogue.

I would also like to quote Edward Peck, an American diplomat who is a
former chief of mission to Iraq. Mr. Peck pointed out: "You lose nothing
when you talk, but the failure to do so in this case may cost us
dear[ly]."

Mr. Peck encouraged this delegation from the United States, which
includes: former United States Senator James Abourezk; James Jennings,
president of Conscience International; and Norman Solomon, executive
director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.

We are here to try and help open doors. Doors to genuine dialogue.

It is time and, in my opinion, far past time that American and Iraqi
officials talk to each other without threats.

We want to open doors to possibilities that will protect life instead of
maiming and killing.

Doors that will give peace a chance.

We've had far too much heated rhetoric between our two countries.
Another war in this region would be greatly damaging. Any new war would
be a war against public health, and also against the environment.

Iraq is the cradle of civilization. We do not wish to see civilization
strangled in its cradle.

Iraq was once the Garden of Eden. Humanity must not turn the Garden of
Eden into Hell.

The evidence from the last war is quite compelling:
§ degradation of the infrastructure;
§ a wrecked economy;
§ shocking escalation of infant mortality and communicable disease, and
many other negative health indicators for the entire population.

We do not wish to see this devastation repeated.

In this context, I am reminded of what Dwight Eisenhower, the great US
general and President, once said: "Every gun and rocket that is fired,
every warship launched, signifies, in a final sense, a theft from those
who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The
world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of
its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."

Our delegation does not want to see a new war in Iraq. We do not
subscribe to the "Clash of Civilizations" thesis which foresees nothing
but war between the predominantly Islamic countries and the West.

I hope that my colleagues in the United States Congress will perceive
that peaceful dialogue is a more fruitful avenue than the awful road of
perpetual warfare.

I must say, however, that I believe the first step to restoring a
relationship of mutual friendship and respect must be for Iraq to fully
comply with United Nations mandates by allowing the return of weapons
inspectors. That step would at least give pause to the crisis that
threatens to engulf us.

Then, over the next weeks and months, the participation of the
international community may have an opportunity to succeed in defusing
the crisis altogether. Perhaps this could be done by finding a
combination of specific nations not directly involved in the dispute to
serve as "honest brokers." Perhaps, for instance, Canada and South
Africa.

But time is now terribly short to reverse the momentum toward war. To
make that reversal possible, Iraq must cooperate by giving UN weapons
inspectors unfettered access. And in that process, "honest brokers" and
the UN as an institution must proceed differently than UNSCOM did, so
that next time there will be no abuses, and there will be no misuse of
UN inspectors for espionage (as belatedly admitted by US officials
themselves and authoritatively reported by the New York Times and other
media outlets in early January of 1999). If this work proceeds properly,
Iraq will be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Then the sanctions, which have done so much damage to your economy,
infrastructure, and health can once and for all be lifted.

The Middle East, and Iraq in particular, is a place of enduring cultural
richness. It is the home of the world's oldest civilizations. Iraq has
bequeathed to the world three great religious traditions Judaism,
Christianity and Islam. This is our heritage, and the world's heritage.

The Christian scriptures say "Blessed are the peacemakers." They do not
say "Blessed are the warmongers." I happen to believe that the vast
majority of the American people do not want to wage war, but would
rather wage peace.

Our delegation is here on behalf of peace. We believe that a new war is
not only unnecessary, but wrong.

I must again emphasize, however, that in my view and in the view of many
of my colleagues, the way to avoid war and to secure peace is to allow
UN inspectors into Iraq. The matter is urgent, and I therefore urge your
government to implement all relevant Security Council resolutions
without delay.

Speaking personally, I will encourage my colleagues in the Congress to
enter into dialogue with the Iraq National Assembly for the future
benefit of both our nations.

----------------------






From bright_crow at mindspring.com  Thu Sep 26 07:55:33 2002
From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Michael Austin Shell)
Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 07:55:33 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv] Fwd: Action on Iraq
Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20020926075330.009fc5f0@pop.mindspring.com>

Dear Friends,

This is forwarded from Mary Ellen McNish, the Executive Directory of 
AFSC.  Please read it and consider acting upon it.

Blessed Be,
Michael.


> >  -----Original Message-----
> > From:         Mary Ellen McNish
> > Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 7:22 PM
> > To:xxx
> > Subject:      Update on Iraq
> >
> > Dear Friends,
> >
> > We have news today that Congress has scheduled a vote on authorizing
> > military action against Iraq for next Friday, September 27, 2002.  We are
> > concentrating action on the Senate since the House of Representatives will
> > be harder to effect results.  We need to be prepared for a possibility
> > that the vote in the Senate will be 100 for and 0 against.
> >
> > This letter will give you short term activities, medium term activities
> > and long term activates that have emerged over the past 3 days.  We ask
> > that you spread as widely as possible the action steps we are
> > recommending.
> >
> > Short Term---This is what we are asking you to do.
> >
> > Over the next week
> >
> > *     Organize a personal visit to the district office of your state's two
> > senators.  Try to bring along other people like religious leaders or
> > business leaders or just neighbors and friends.  If you can't get a
> > meeting at least call their office to register your position.  You can get
> > their district address and phone number from the fcnl.org website.
> > *     Call Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office in Washington D. C.
> > to register your position as well.  His Washington Office number is
> > 202-224-2321.
> >
> > Your message should be:
> >
> > You oppose the use of military force against Iraq.  You support the
> > diplomatic work in the United Nations to resolve the crisis and congress
> > should too.  You think weapons inspectors should be given a fair chance.
> > Military force is not the solution---it will only make things worse in the
> > United States, Iraq and the whole region that encompasses the Middle East.
> >
> > Other things happening next week.
> >
> > *     Paul's letter to President Bush is written and will be sent
> > tomorrow.  I had a glitch in my computer so I can't seem to attach it.  I
> > will ask Francine Cheeks to send it to you tomorrow.
> > *     Paul's letters to Saddam Hussein, Kofi Annan and Tony Blair are in
> > draft form and are being worked on.
> > *     We will have an AFSC Statement, talking points and sample letters
> > completed by Monday...Tuesday at the very latest.  You can access them on
> > the afsc.org website.  We will send the statement to the English language
> > press in the Middle East and Europe.
> > *     I am meeting at 4 P. M. Monday with some of the heads of Quaker
> > organizations to try to draft a joint statement.  FWCC will only sign on
> > if FUM does.  We are working on it.
> > *     Jim Matlack is trying to get a place for me to testify at the
> > hearings next week.  Even if we can't get on the docket, I will go and try
> > to meet with Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum, PA's two senators.
> > *     US Regional Directors have committed to getting personal visits to
> > Senators in their district offices in at least 27 states. They have also
> > committed to trying to place over 50 op-ed's based on the talking points
> > and statements that will be available Monday. Commitments for more are
> > still coming in.
> > *     This is an organizational mobilization so International Directors
> > and other Department Directors are also trying to mobilize their
> > constituencies as well as friends and family.
> > *     We will be dropping an emergency appeal on Tuesday to 77,000 donors,
> > segmented by Senate District, asking each person to call their Senator
> > with a similar message to the one above.  The correct Washington phone
> > number for their senator will be in the letter.  Of course, we will also
> > be asking them to give generously to this emergency appeal.
> >
> > Medium Term
> >
> > *     Meetings are being held tomorrow to finalize the college newspaper
> > ads.  They will be place in three college newspapers in 5 regions.
> > Regional Directors have committed to having staff/volunteers in place to
> > host tables at these colleges to capture the students interested in
> > getting involved.
> > *     We now have 15,000 signers of the peace pledge.  The signers seem to
> > be doubling each week.  We have made an organizational commitment to get
> > 100,000 signers by year end.
> >
> > Long Term
> >
> > *     We had the first meeting of the Emergency Response Team planning the
> > logistics for humanitarian assistance should we need to gear up quickly.
> > The focus will be on providing hygiene kits which will be able to engage
> > schools easily and can be used in other parts of the world if need be.
> > This will possibly be in cooperation with Mennonite Central Committee.
> > *     We are preparing grant proposals for some foundations and possibly
> > for Board funds as the specifics of these activities roll out over the
> > next several months.
> >
> > Finally, over the next 10 days we will do everything we can.  We have to
> > be ready to face the fact that we will probably lose.  We know this is
> > only the first stage.  Then we have to be prepared to move into the next
> > stage---mobilization to oppose the war and preparation to bring
> > humanitarian assistance to Iraq.  Thank you for the wisdom and support you
> > offered at the Board Meeting this week-end.  It is knowing that we reach
> > into the spritual depths of the Quaker values of peace and justice that
> > gives us the courage to do this work yet again.
> >
> > Sincerely,     Mary Ellen