From listener at bellsouth.net Sun Apr 6 15:11:17 2003
From: listener at bellsouth.net (Kit Potter)
Date: Sun, 6 Apr 2003 14:11:17 -0500
Subject: [saymaListserv] Words from Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Message-ID: <01C2FC46.646FBD30.listener@bellsouth.net>
Words from Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Mis estimados: Do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have
heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They
are concerned about the state of affairs in our world right now... Ours is
a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the
latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.
You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired
to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday
people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge
you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing
these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly
because, the fact is we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have
been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on
this exact plain of engagement...
I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see
one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able crafts in
the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully
provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history
of humankind... Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of
righteous souls on the waters with you. Even though your veneers may shiver
from every wave in this stormy roil, I assure you that the long timbers
composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That
long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold
its own, and to advance, regardless.
We have been in training for a dark time such as this, since the day we
assented to come to Earth. For many decades, worldwide, souls just like us
have been felled and left for dead in so many ways over and over brought
down by naivete, by lack of love, by being ambushed and assaulted by
various cultural and personal shocks in the extreme. We have a history of
being gutted, and yet remember this especially; we have also, of necessity,
perfected the knack of resurrection. Over and over again we have been the
living proof that that which has been exiled, lost, or foundered can be
restored to life again.
In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much
is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. There is a
tendency too to fall into being weakened by perseverating on what is
outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is
spending the wind without raising the sails. We are needed, that is all we
can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls
who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they
appear. Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to
listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember
that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?...
Understand the paradox: If you study the physics of a waterspout, you will
see that the outer vortex whirls far more quickly than the inner one. To
calm the storm means to quiet the outer layer, to cause it to swirl much
less, to more evenly match the velocity of the inner core till whatever has
been lifted into such a vicious funnel falls back to Earth, lays down, is
peaceable again. One of the most important steps you can take to help calm
the storm is to not allow yourself to be taken in a flurry of overwrought
emotion or desperation thereby accidentally contributing to the swale and
the swirl.
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of
stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any
small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some
portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given
to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip
toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an
accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know
that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace, but
only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first,
second, or hundredth gale.
One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a
stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like
gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up
flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To
display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these, to be fierce and
to show mercy toward others, both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest
necessity.
Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing
to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the
strongest things you can do.
There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt
despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not
entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate. The reason is this:
In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be
no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who
sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours:
They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that
spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in
harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what
great ships are built for.
This comes with much love and prayer that you remember who you came from,
and why you came to this beautiful, needful Earth.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D
FYI: "Dr. Estes is a senior Jungian analyst who has practiced and taught
for well over twenty years. She is the former executive director of the
C.G. Jung Center in Denver and has a doctorate in multicultural studies and
clinical psychology from the Union Institute." She has written many books,
including the well-known Women Who Run With The Wolves. - Kit
From bright_crow at mindspring.com Mon Apr 7 11:08:01 2003
From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (bright_crow at mindspring.com)
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2003 11:08:01 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [saymaListserv]
Fw: [afsc-cj] [PRISONACT] New Publication -- the Prison Index
Message-ID: <8151834.1049728082233.JavaMail.nobody@wamui02.slb.atl.earthlink.net>
Friends,
Here is a very valuable new online resource for those concerned about the impact of the so-called criminal justice system.
Blessed Be,
Michael.
---- Original Message ------
From: Kathleen Pequeño Western Prison Project and the
Prison Policy Initiative are pleased to
announce our new joint publication, the
Prison Index.
For years the debate over prisons has raged. Now, for the first time, an
accessible compilation of facts and statistics on the crime control
industry is available in an easy to read, index style.
The Prison Index: Taking
the Pulse of the Crime Control Industry is the first index of statistics
about our nation’s criminal justice system ever published. Containing 611
facts and 17 graphs and charts, this 48-page volume presents, in
black-and-white, the state of crime control in America.
The Prison Index is
organized in four sections, each targeting a different aspect of our
justice system. Crime & Punishment features information regarding public
perception of crime, crime rates for various offenses, juvenile justice,
and the death penalty. Incarceration & Its Consequences tackles
incarceration rates, prison conditions, the makeup of our prison
population, and the disenfranchisement of the convicted. The third
section, The Prison Economy, focuses on budgeting, prison industry,
privatization and related economic topics. The final section, Global
Comparisons, puts the American experiment with prisons and crime into an
international context. Statistics reflect historical data, the present
picture, and projections about the frightening consequences should the
American approach to criminal justice remain consistent in the years
ahead.
Examples from the Prison
Index:
* Amount, in dollars, spent nationally in 1997 on corrections: $43.5
billion
* Average percent increase in state spending on corrections,
1985-2000:
175%
* Average percent increase in state spending on higher education,
1985-2000: 29%
* First year that 50 states combined spent more on building prisons
than colleges: 1995
* Incarceration rate per 100,000 Black adult men in South Africa under
apartheid (1993): 851
* Incarceration rate per 100,000 African-American men in the United
States under George W. Bush (2001): 7,226
The Prison Index is
authored by Peter Wagner, assistant director of the Prison Policy
Initiative, creator of the popular crime-control Internet portal site
Prisonsucks.com, and author of the groundbreaking study, “Importing
Constituents: Prisoners and Political Clout in New York.” In this volume,
Wagner continues his unflinching efforts to expose the truth about the
crime control industry by presenting readers, not with a political
viewpoint, but fact after alarming fact.
This book is for everyone who has gone through the frustrating experience
of trying to locate that one, elusive crime-control statistic only to be
met with a daylong search yielding untrustworthy sources and stale
data. Whether you are an attorney, a student, an activist, a journalist,
a
policy maker, or a citizen concerned about the state of crime control in
America, this concise and affordable volume puts valuable and time-saving
research at your fingertips.
The Prison Index is
published by Western Prison Project and the Prison Policy Initiative.
You can purchase the
Prison Index on the web
at: http://www.westernprisonproject.org/PrisonIndex using a secure link
through PayPal, or send payment to the Western Prison Project at the
address below.
1-9 $10 per volume plus $2 shipping & handling
10-24 $8 per volume plus $3.50 shipping & handling
25+ $7 per volume plus $5 shipping & handling
Prisoner rate (single copies) $8 (includes shipping & handling)
If you have any questions, please get in touch with us
at
info at westernprisonproject.org.
Kathleen Pequeño
Western Prison Project
PO Box 40085 Portland, OR 97240
(503) 335-8449 fax (503)
232-1922
kathleen at westernprisonproject.org
/// www.westernprisonproject.org
Kathleen Pequeño
Western Prison Project
PO Box 40085 Portland, OR 97240
(503) 335-8449 fax (503)
232-1922
kathleen at westernprisonproject.org
/// www.westernprisonproject.org
--
_______________________________________________
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a
prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only.
_______________________________________________
prisonact-list mailing list
prisonact-list at prisonactivist.org
http://prisonactivist.org/mailman/listinfo/prisonact-list
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From bright_crow at mindspring.com Tue Apr 8 23:20:13 2003
From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Michael Austin Shell)
Date: Tue, 08 Apr 2003 23:20:13 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv] Death Penalty Opposition
Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20030408231725.009e5240@pop.mindspring.com>
Dear Friends,
As part of the AFSC's anti-death penalty work, its criminal justice staff
are collecting individual statements. Here is mine.
Blessed Be,
Michael.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><>
My opposition to the death penalty, like my opposition to war and other
"violence by policy," is grounded in maturing moral awareness which
predates by decades my Quaker convincement.
The instinct to fight back in defense is a natural animal instinct. The
urge to hurt back in revenge seems to be a natural human outgrowth of that
instinct. As a child I hit back almost in reflex if my brother or sister
hit me. As an adult, despite my religious convictions, I suspect I might
fight furiously (if ineffectively) in response to physical attack or in
vengeful rage at the injury of loved ones. Even so, I believe that the
human capacity to resist and transcend violent instincts carries with it a
moral responsibility to do so.
The long historical process of the state's assuming sole authority for
punishment was in part a process of reining in the excesses of clan and
communal vengeance. "An eye for an eye" was a rule of thumb for reducing
to some sort of parity far more extreme, emotionally driven acts of
retribution. If the concept of "justice" applies at all to
state-authorized violence, it rests in the principle that the penalty
should not exceed the crime, not in our common yet absurd notion that in
punishment the offender is somehow "paying for" the hurt done. No amount
of vengeance returns what was lost.
Now, though, regardless of the crime or its circumstances, the modern state
usurps from survivors almost all authority to determine the consequences
for offenders. This means also almost all opportunity to transcend hurt
and vengefulness, to heal and forgive, or to open to and nurture the
possibility of repentance and its fruits. Instead of allowing the person
to person work of the soul for which human consciousness and conscience
were created, the state sets aside the personhood of all parties and
imposes arbitrary and still vengeful retributions. And when the penalty
imposed is death, the state almost certainly denies to survivors and
offenders alike the chance to fulfill their moral responsibilities.
But why do I personally believe I must not return death for death--even
when instinct and emotion may demand it? Because I cannot create life or
give it back once it has been taken. Because I believe there is no
deadline for repentance and healing. And--more intimately--because, as a
prison counselor, I lived for twelve years with violent criminals and
murderers who continued, day by day, to be people capable of change and
worthy of love. How can I justify taking from any of them the chance to
receive the gifts of grace which are given me?
Michael Austin Shell
Member, Columbia (SC) Monthly Meeting
Attender, Jacksonville (FL) Monthly Meeting
Clerk, Criminal Justice Task Force of AFSC
From jewen at micronetsystems.net Thu Apr 10 11:25:36 2003
From: jewen at micronetsystems.net (Julia Ewen)
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2003 11:25:36 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv]
Fw: Re: Universalist and the Christo-centric Friends
Message-ID: <00c501c2ff75$6ff52af0$72e9d2d0@amd1gig>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Julia Ewen"
To: "Quakers (Britain Yearly Meeting) online meeting place"
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 3:54 PM
Subject: Re: Re: Universalist and the Christo-centric Friends
> Thanks to Maichael Staynes for a statement that certainly speaks to my
> concerns. May I pass it on to our MM and Yearly Meeting?
> Julia Parker Ewen
> Atlanta Friends Meeting
> Atlanta GA USA (SAYMA)
>
> ---- Original Message -----
> From: "T. Michael Staynes"
> To:
> Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2003 4:30 PM
> Subject: Re: Universalist and the Christo-centric Friends
>
>
> > "Chris Roberts wrote:
> > > A week ago Philadelphia Yearly Meeting passed a Minute of Concern on
> Iraq
> > > which included the clause "... war is contrary to the Spirit of God
and
> > the
> > > teachings of Jesus".
> > >
> > > The phrase "the Spirit of God and the teachings of Jesus" was debated
> with
> > > a lot of passion and it was apparent that there is a divergence within
> PYM
> > > between Universalist and the Christo-centric Friends. How are things
in
> > > BYM and other Yearly Meetings around our planet?
> >
> > Britain YM had its problems, but in 1994 Alastair Heron, Ralph
> Hetherington
> > and Joseph Pickvance - who might have been expected to mutually
opposed -
> > met together and subsequently wrote:
> >
> > "We have acquired a much greater understanding of non-Christian
religions
> > from newcomers who have settled in this country since the end of World
War
> > II and this has increased the sympathy and respect of many Friends for
> these
> > faiths. This broader approach to religion has led to an affirmation by
> > 'universalist' Friends that no one faith can claim to be a final
> revelation
> > or to have a monopoly of the truth and to the rejection of any exclusive
> > religious fundamentalism whether based in Christianity or any other
> > religion.
> > The ferment of thought in this post-war period has produced a wide
variety
> > of beliefs in our Religious Society today and not a little
> misunderstanding
> > on all sides. Intolerance has reared its head. Some Friends have voiced
> > objections to the use of Christian language in meetings for worship and
> for
> > business; others have been told that there is no place for them in our
> > Religious Society if they cannot regard themselves as Christians. It has
> > become quite customary to distinguish between `Christians' and
> > `universalists' as if one category excluded the other.
> > This situation has led many Friends to suppose that universalist Friends
> are
> > in some way set over against Christocentric Friends. This is certainly
not
> > the case. Universalism is by definition inclusivist, and its adherents
> > accept the right to free expression of all points of view,
Christocentric
> or
> > any other. Indeed, in London Yearly Meeting there are many universalists
> > whose spiritual imagery and belief are thoroughly Christocentric.
> > From the beginning the Quaker Christian faith has had a universal
> dimension.
> > George Fox saw the Light `shine through all' and he identified it with
the
> > divine Light of Christ that `enlightens every man that comes into the
> world'
> > (John 1:9). He pointed out, as did William Penn in greater detail, that
> > individuals who had lived before the Christian era or outside
Christendom
> > and had no knowledge of the Bible story, had responded to a divine
> principle
> > within them. In these terms, all Quaker Christians are universalists.
> > Obedience to the Light within, however that may be described, is the
real
> > test of faithful living."
> >
> > This mutual acceptance (synthesis?) of each other's viewpoints seems to
> have
> > seeped into Friends' conciousness. There are still some Friends on both
> > sides who occasionally snipe at each other, sometimes in the pages of
the
> > Friend, but in East Kent at least there is little obvious tension.
> >
> > Your Friend
> > T. Michael Staynes
> > Broadstairs PM
> > East Kent MM
> >
>
From jewen at micronetsystems.net Thu Apr 10 11:25:36 2003
From: jewen at micronetsystems.net (Julia Ewen)
Date: Thu, 10 Apr 2003 11:25:36 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv]
Fw: Re: Universalist and the Christo-centric Friends
Message-ID: <00c501c2ff75$6ff52af0$72e9d2d0@amd1gig>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Julia Ewen"
To: "Quakers (Britain Yearly Meeting) online meeting place"
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 3:54 PM
Subject: Re: Re: Universalist and the Christo-centric Friends
> Thanks to Maichael Staynes for a statement that certainly speaks to my
> concerns. May I pass it on to our MM and Yearly Meeting?
> Julia Parker Ewen
> Atlanta Friends Meeting
> Atlanta GA USA (SAYMA)
>
> ---- Original Message -----
> From: "T. Michael Staynes"
> To:
> Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2003 4:30 PM
> Subject: Re: Universalist and the Christo-centric Friends
>
>
> > "Chris Roberts wrote:
> > > A week ago Philadelphia Yearly Meeting passed a Minute of Concern on
> Iraq
> > > which included the clause "... war is contrary to the Spirit of God
and
> > the
> > > teachings of Jesus".
> > >
> > > The phrase "the Spirit of God and the teachings of Jesus" was debated
> with
> > > a lot of passion and it was apparent that there is a divergence within
> PYM
> > > between Universalist and the Christo-centric Friends. How are things
in
> > > BYM and other Yearly Meetings around our planet?
> >
> > Britain YM had its problems, but in 1994 Alastair Heron, Ralph
> Hetherington
> > and Joseph Pickvance - who might have been expected to mutually
opposed -
> > met together and subsequently wrote:
> >
> > "We have acquired a much greater understanding of non-Christian
religions
> > from newcomers who have settled in this country since the end of World
War
> > II and this has increased the sympathy and respect of many Friends for
> these
> > faiths. This broader approach to religion has led to an affirmation by
> > 'universalist' Friends that no one faith can claim to be a final
> revelation
> > or to have a monopoly of the truth and to the rejection of any exclusive
> > religious fundamentalism whether based in Christianity or any other
> > religion.
> > The ferment of thought in this post-war period has produced a wide
variety
> > of beliefs in our Religious Society today and not a little
> misunderstanding
> > on all sides. Intolerance has reared its head. Some Friends have voiced
> > objections to the use of Christian language in meetings for worship and
> for
> > business; others have been told that there is no place for them in our
> > Religious Society if they cannot regard themselves as Christians. It has
> > become quite customary to distinguish between `Christians' and
> > `universalists' as if one category excluded the other.
> > This situation has led many Friends to suppose that universalist Friends
> are
> > in some way set over against Christocentric Friends. This is certainly
not
> > the case. Universalism is by definition inclusivist, and its adherents
> > accept the right to free expression of all points of view,
Christocentric
> or
> > any other. Indeed, in London Yearly Meeting there are many universalists
> > whose spiritual imagery and belief are thoroughly Christocentric.
> > From the beginning the Quaker Christian faith has had a universal
> dimension.
> > George Fox saw the Light `shine through all' and he identified it with
the
> > divine Light of Christ that `enlightens every man that comes into the
> world'
> > (John 1:9). He pointed out, as did William Penn in greater detail, that
> > individuals who had lived before the Christian era or outside
Christendom
> > and had no knowledge of the Bible story, had responded to a divine
> principle
> > within them. In these terms, all Quaker Christians are universalists.
> > Obedience to the Light within, however that may be described, is the
real
> > test of faithful living."
> >
> > This mutual acceptance (synthesis?) of each other's viewpoints seems to
> have
> > seeped into Friends' conciousness. There are still some Friends on both
> > sides who occasionally snipe at each other, sometimes in the pages of
the
> > Friend, but in East Kent at least there is little obvious tension.
> >
> > Your Friend
> > T. Michael Staynes
> > Broadstairs PM
> > East Kent MM
> >
>
From earthsteward at urisp.net Sat Apr 12 12:11:06 2003
From: earthsteward at urisp.net (Daryl Bergquist)
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 11:11:06 -0500
Subject: [saymaListserv] UAB Hydrogen Studies
Message-ID: <3E983A9A.4050605@urisp.net>
I found this on the Rocky Mountain Institute website where I keep track
of trends in energy efficiency and technology advances for automobiles.
http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid388.php
RMI promoted the technology that is used in our hybrid gas/electric
Toyota Prius car (which I highly recommend). Hydrogen fuel cell
technology is the next level of this development. Fuel cell vehicles are
silent, with increased fuel efficiency, and zero pollution at the point
of use. They use hydrogen, combined with oxygen in the air to yield
electricity, heat and water. Hydrogen can be produced from petroleum,
or by using electricity to decompose water. The electricity can be
produced using photovoltaic arrays (solar electric panels) or wind
generators which generate no pollution other than the relatively small
amount produced during the manufacture, installation and maintenance of
these devices.
Kudos to the farsighted folks at UAB for initiating this work and to the
federal government for sponsoring it.
Daryl
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA BEGINS HYDROGEN STUDIES
Univ of Alabama The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of
Engineering was awarded a $3 million grant to study the use of hydrogen
as an alternative energy source for automobiles. A southeast consortium
will also be formed to help design an infrastructure that could one day
make hydrogen easily accessible. UAB officials hope the study will help
lessen the United States' reliance on foreign oil.
The Federal Transit Authority gave the school's department of civil and
environmental engineering a $2 million grant to study fuel cell
technology for mass-transit buses. A $1 million U.S. Department of
Energy grant will allow UAB researchers to study the use of hydrogen in
automobiles and the use of hydrogen fuel cells for portable equipment,
such as appliances.
A portion of the DOE grant will go toward establishing the Southeastern
Hydrogen Technology Consortium, which will consist of energy experts,
automobile manufacturers, transit authorities, fuel cell manufacturers,
national laboratories and academic researchers.
Source: Birmingham Business Journal, 26 March 2003.
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From timinathens at yahoo.com Sat Apr 12 13:13:23 2003
From: timinathens at yahoo.com (Tim Johnson)
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 10:13:23 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [saymaListserv] UAB Hydrogen Studies
In-Reply-To: <3E983A9A.4050605@urisp.net>
Message-ID: <20030412171323.9836.qmail@web41503.mail.yahoo.com>
Thanks, Daryl. RMI is a wonderful organization doing great work. Their web pages have lots of great information, including the automobile page you cite. Another example is Individual Opportunities to Reduce Global Warming: http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid331.php.
Daryl Bergquist wrote:
I found this on the Rocky Mountain Institute website where I keep track
of trends in energy efficiency and technology advances for automobiles.
http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid388.php
RMI promoted the technology that is used in our hybrid gas/electric
Toyota Prius car (which I highly recommend). Hydrogen fuel cell
technology is the next level of this development. Fuel cell vehicles are
silent, with increased fuel efficiency, and zero pollution at the point
of use. They use hydrogen, combined with oxygen in the air to yield
electricity, heat and water. Hydrogen can be produced from petroleum,
or by using electricity to decompose water. The electricity can be
produced using photovoltaic arrays (solar electric panels) or wind
generators which generate no pollution other than the relatively small
amount produced during the manufacture, installation and maintenance of
these devices.
Kudos to the farsighted folks at UAB for initiating this work and to the
federal government for sponsoring it.
Daryl
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA BEGINS HYDROGEN STUDIES
Univ of Alabama The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of
Engineering was awarded a $3 million grant to study the use of hydrogen
as an alternative energy source for automobiles. A southeast consortium
will also be formed to help design an infrastructure that could one day
make hydrogen easily accessible. UAB officials hope the study will help
lessen the United States' reliance on foreign oil.
The Federal Transit Authority gave the school's department of civil and
environmental engineering a $2 million grant to study fuel cell
technology for mass-transit buses. A $1 million U.S. Department of
Energy grant will allow UAB researchers to study the use of hydrogen in
automobiles and the use of hydrogen fuel cells for portable equipment,
such as appliances.
A portion of the DOE grant will go toward establishing the Southeastern
Hydrogen Technology Consortium, which will consist of energy experts,
automobile manufacturers, transit authorities, fuel cell manufacturers,
national laboratories and academic researchers.
Source: Birmingham Business Journal, 26 March 2003.
_______________________________________________
Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association mailing list
sayma at kitenet.net
http://kitenet.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sayma
Love & truth, agape & satyagraha, Tim
Tim Johnson, e-mail: timinathens at yahoo.com
"Love is a verb." -- Stephen Covey
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From listener at bellsouth.net Tue Apr 15 23:18:17 2003
From: listener at bellsouth.net (Kit Potter)
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2003 22:18:17 -0500
Subject: [saymaListserv] worth reading = encouragement
Message-ID: <01C3039C.EB1B6B10.listener@bellsouth.net>
My Oscar "Backlash": "Stupid White Men" Back At #1, "Bowling" Breaks New
Records
by Michael Moore
Published on Wednesday, April 9, 2003 by www.michaelmoore.com
Dear friends,
It appears that the Bush administration will have succeeded in colonizing
Iraq sometime in the next few days. This is a blunder of such magnitude-and
we will pay for it for years to come. It was not worth the life of one
single American kid in uniform, let alone the thousands of Iraqis who have
died, and my condolences and prayers go out to all of them.
So, where are all those weapons of mass destruction that were the pretense
for this war? Ha! There is so much to say about all this, but I will save
it for later.
What I am most concerned about right now is that all of you-the majority of
Americans who did not support this war in the first place-not go silent or
be intimidated by what will be touted as some great military victory. Now,
more than ever, the voices of peace and truth must be heard. I have rece
ived a lot of mail from people who are feeling a profound sense of despair
and believe that their voices have been drowned out by the drums and bombs
of false patriotism. Some are afraid of retaliation at work or at school or
in their neighborhoods because they have been vocal proponents of peace.
They have been told over and over that it is not "appropriate" to protest
once the country is at war, and that your only duty now is to "support the
troops."
Can I share with you what it's been like for me since I used my time on the
Oscar stage two weeks ago to speak out against Bush and this war? I hope
that, in reading what I'm about to tell you, you'll feel a bit more
emboldened to make your voice heard in whatever way or forum that is open
to you.
When "Bowling for Columbine" was announced as the Oscar winner for Best
Documentary at the Academy Awards, the audience rose to its feet. It was a
great moment, one that I will always cherish. They were standing and
cheering for a film that says we Americans are a uniquely violent people,
using our massive stash of guns to kill each other and to use them against
many countries around the world. They were applauding a film that shows
George W. Bush using fictitious fears to frighten the public into giving
him whatever he wants. And they were honoring a film that states the
following: The first Gulf War was an attempt to reinstall the dictator of
Kuwait; Saddam Hussein was armed with weapons from the United States; and
the American government is responsible for the deaths of a half-million
children in Iraq over the past decade through its sanctions and bombing.
That was the movie they were cheering, that was the movie they voted for,
and so I decided that is what I should acknowledge in my speech.
And, thus, I said the following from the Oscar stage:
"On behalf of our producers Kathleen Glynn and Michael Donovan (from
Canada), I would like to thank the Academy for this award. I have invited
the other Documentary nominees on stage with me. They are here in
solidarity because we like non-fiction. We like non-fiction because we live
in fictitious times. We live in a time where fictitious election results
give us a fictitious president. We are now fighting a war for fictitious
reasons. Whether it's the fiction of duct tape or the fictitious 'Orange
Alerts,' we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame
on you. And, whenever you've got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you,
your time is up."
Halfway through my remarks, some in the audience started to cheer. That
immediately set off a group of people in the balcony who started to boo.
Then those supporting my remarks started to shout down the booers. The L.
A. Times reported that the director of the show started screaming at the
orchestra "Music! Music!" in order to cut me off, so the band dutifully
struck up a tune and my time was up. (For more on why I said what I said,
you can read the op-ed I wrote for the L.A. Times, plus other reaction from
around the country at my website)
The next day-and in the two weeks since-the right-wing pundits and radio
shock jocks have been calling for my head. So, has all this ruckus hurt me?
Have they succeeded in "silencing" me?
Well, take a look at my Oscar "backlash":
* On the day after I criticized Bush and the war at the Academy Awards,
attendance at "Bowling for Columbine" in theaters around the country went
up 110% (source: Daily Variety/BoxOfficeMojo.com). The following weekend,
the box office gross was up a whopping 73% (Variety). It is now the
longest-running consecutive commercial release in America, 26 weeks in a
row and still thriving. The number of theaters showing the film since the
Oscars has INCREASED, and it has now bested the previous box office record
for a documentary by nearly 300%.
* Yesterday (April 6), "Stupid White Men" shot back to #1 on the New York
Times bestseller list. This is my book's 50th week on the list, 8 of them
at number one, and this marks its fourth return to the top position,
something that virtually never happens.
* In the week after the Oscars, my website was getting 10-20 million hits A
DAY (one day we even got more hits than the White House!). The mail has
been overwhelmingly positive and supportive (and the hate mail has been
hilarious!).
* In the two days following the Oscars, more people pre-ordered the video
for "Bowling for Columbine" on Amazon.com than the video for the Oscar
winner for Best Picture, "Chicago."
* In the past week, I have obtained funding for my next documentary, and I
have been offered a slot back on television to do an updated version of "TV
Nation"/ "The Awful Truth."
I tell you all of this because I want to counteract a message that is told
to us all the time-that, if you take a chance to speak out politically, you
will live to regret it. It will hurt you in some way, usually financially.
You could lose your job. Others may not hire you. You will lose friends.
And on and on and on.
Take the Dixie Chicks. I'm sure you've all heard by now that, because their
lead singer mentioned how she was ashamed that Bush was from her home state
of Texas, their record sales have "plummeted" and country stations are
boycotting their music. The truth is that their sales are NOT down. This
week, after all the attacks, their album is still at #1 on the Billboard
country charts and, according to Entertainment Weekly, on the pop charts
during all the brouhaha, they ROSE from #6 to #4. In the New York Times,
Frank Rich reports that he tried to find a ticket to ANY of the Dixie
Chicks' upcoming concerts but he couldn't because they were all sold out.
(To read Rich's column from yesterday's Times, "Bowling for Kennebunkport,"
go here. He does a pretty good job of laying it all out and talks about my
next film and the impact it could potentially have.) Their song, "Travelin'
Soldier" (a beautiful anti-war ballad) was the most requested song on the
internet last week. They have not been hurt at all-but that
is not what the media would have you believe. Why is that? Because there is
nothing more important now than to keep the voices of dissent-and those who
would dare to ask a question-SILENT. And what better way than to try and
take a few well-known entertainers down with a pack of lies so that the
average Joe or Jane gets the message loud and clear: "Wow, if they would do
that to the Dixie Chicks or Michael Moore, what would they do to little ol'
me?" In other words, shut the f--- up.
And that, my friends, is the real point of this film that I just got an
Oscar for-how those in charge use FEAR to manipulate the public into doing
whatever they are told.
Well, the good news-if there can be any good news this week-is that not
only have neither I nor others been silenced, we have been joined by
millions of Americans who think the same way we do. Don't let the false
patriots intimidate you by setting the agenda or the terms of the debate.
Don't be defeated by polls that show 70% of the public in favor of the war.
Remember that these Americans being polled are the same Americans whose
kids (or neighbor's kids) have been sent over to Iraq. They are scared for
the troops and they are being cowed into supporting a war they did not
want-and they want even less to see their friends, family, and neighbors
come home dead. Everyone supports the troops returning home alive and all
of us need to reach out and let their families know that.
Unfortunately, Bush and Co. are not through yet. This invasion and conquest
will encourage them to do it again elsewhere. The real purpose of this war
was to say to the rest of the world, "Don't Mess with Texas - If You Got
What We Want, We're Coming to Get It!" This is not the time for the
majority of us who believe in a peaceful America to be quiet. Make your
voices heard. Despite what they have pulled off, it is still our country.
Yours,
Michael Moore
From bonnipeg at charter.net Wed Apr 16 00:37:24 2003
From: bonnipeg at charter.net (Peggy Bonnington)
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2003 23:37:24 -0500
Subject: [saymaListserv] RE: worth reading = encouragement
In-Reply-To: <69440490-1463792382-1050463217@boing.topica.com>
Message-ID:
Meanwhile, up here in the land of the 101st, we took my mother and brother
to a new restaurant in town prior to a Gary Snyder reading at the university
~ and the special was Freedom Onion Soup...
-----Original Message-----
From: Kit Potter [mailto:listener at bellsouth.net]
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 10:18 PM
To: NFM Topica (E-mail); SAYMA Listserve (E-mail)
Subject: worth reading = encouragement
My Oscar "Backlash": "Stupid White Men" Back At #1, "Bowling" Breaks New
Records
by Michael Moore
Published on Wednesday, April 9, 2003 by www.michaelmoore.com
Dear friends,
It appears that the Bush administration will have succeeded in colonizing
Iraq sometime in the next few days. This is a blunder of such magnitude-and
we will pay for it for years to come. It was not worth the life of one
single American kid in uniform, let alone the thousands of Iraqis who have
died, and my condolences and prayers go out to all of them.
So, where are all those weapons of mass destruction that were the pretense
for this war? Ha! There is so much to say about all this, but I will save
it for later.
What I am most concerned about right now is that all of you-the majority of
Americans who did not support this war in the first place-not go silent or
be intimidated by what will be touted as some great military victory. Now,
more than ever, the voices of peace and truth must be heard. I have rece
ived a lot of mail from people who are feeling a profound sense of despair
and believe that their voices have been drowned out by the drums and bombs
of false patriotism. Some are afraid of retaliation at work or at school or
in their neighborhoods because they have been vocal proponents of peace.
They have been told over and over that it is not "appropriate" to protest
once the country is at war, and that your only duty now is to "support the
troops."
Can I share with you what it's been like for me since I used my time on the
Oscar stage two weeks ago to speak out against Bush and this war? I hope
that, in reading what I'm about to tell you, you'll feel a bit more
emboldened to make your voice heard in whatever way or forum that is open
to you.
When "Bowling for Columbine" was announced as the Oscar winner for Best
Documentary at the Academy Awards, the audience rose to its feet. It was a
great moment, one that I will always cherish. They were standing and
cheering for a film that says we Americans are a uniquely violent people,
using our massive stash of guns to kill each other and to use them against
many countries around the world. They were applauding a film that shows
George W. Bush using fictitious fears to frighten the public into giving
him whatever he wants. And they were honoring a film that states the
following: The first Gulf War was an attempt to reinstall the dictator of
Kuwait; Saddam Hussein was armed with weapons from the United States; and
the American government is responsible for the deaths of a half-million
children in Iraq over the past decade through its sanctions and bombing.
That was the movie they were cheering, that was the movie they voted for,
and so I decided that is what I should acknowledge in my speech.
And, thus, I said the following from the Oscar stage:
"On behalf of our producers Kathleen Glynn and Michael Donovan (from
Canada), I would like to thank the Academy for this award. I have invited
the other Documentary nominees on stage with me. They are here in
solidarity because we like non-fiction. We like non-fiction because we live
in fictitious times. We live in a time where fictitious election results
give us a fictitious president. We are now fighting a war for fictitious
reasons. Whether it's the fiction of duct tape or the fictitious 'Orange
Alerts,' we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush, shame
on you. And, whenever you've got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you,
your time is up."
Halfway through my remarks, some in the audience started to cheer. That
immediately set off a group of people in the balcony who started to boo.
Then those supporting my remarks started to shout down the booers. The L.
A. Times reported that the director of the show started screaming at the
orchestra "Music! Music!" in order to cut me off, so the band dutifully
struck up a tune and my time was up. (For more on why I said what I said,
you can read the op-ed I wrote for the L.A. Times, plus other reaction from
around the country at my website)
The next day-and in the two weeks since-the right-wing pundits and radio
shock jocks have been calling for my head. So, has all this ruckus hurt me?
Have they succeeded in "silencing" me?
Well, take a look at my Oscar "backlash":
* On the day after I criticized Bush and the war at the Academy Awards,
attendance at "Bowling for Columbine" in theaters around the country went
up 110% (source: Daily Variety/BoxOfficeMojo.com). The following weekend,
the box office gross was up a whopping 73% (Variety). It is now the
longest-running consecutive commercial release in America, 26 weeks in a
row and still thriving. The number of theaters showing the film since the
Oscars has INCREASED, and it has now bested the previous box office record
for a documentary by nearly 300%.
* Yesterday (April 6), "Stupid White Men" shot back to #1 on the New York
Times bestseller list. This is my book's 50th week on the list, 8 of them
at number one, and this marks its fourth return to the top position,
something that virtually never happens.
* In the week after the Oscars, my website was getting 10-20 million hits A
DAY (one day we even got more hits than the White House!). The mail has
been overwhelmingly positive and supportive (and the hate mail has been
hilarious!).
* In the two days following the Oscars, more people pre-ordered the video
for "Bowling for Columbine" on Amazon.com than the video for the Oscar
winner for Best Picture, "Chicago."
* In the past week, I have obtained funding for my next documentary, and I
have been offered a slot back on television to do an updated version of "TV
Nation"/ "The Awful Truth."
I tell you all of this because I want to counteract a message that is told
to us all the time-that, if you take a chance to speak out politically, you
will live to regret it. It will hurt you in some way, usually financially.
You could lose your job. Others may not hire you. You will lose friends.
And on and on and on.
Take the Dixie Chicks. I'm sure you've all heard by now that, because their
lead singer mentioned how she was ashamed that Bush was from her home state
of Texas, their record sales have "plummeted" and country stations are
boycotting their music. The truth is that their sales are NOT down. This
week, after all the attacks, their album is still at #1 on the Billboard
country charts and, according to Entertainment Weekly, on the pop charts
during all the brouhaha, they ROSE from #6 to #4. In the New York Times,
Frank Rich reports that he tried to find a ticket to ANY of the Dixie
Chicks' upcoming concerts but he couldn't because they were all sold out.
(To read Rich's column from yesterday's Times, "Bowling for Kennebunkport,"
go here. He does a pretty good job of laying it all out and talks about my
next film and the impact it could potentially have.) Their song, "Travelin'
Soldier" (a beautiful anti-war ballad) was the most requested song on the
internet last week. They have not been hurt at all-but that
is not what the media would have you believe. Why is that? Because there is
nothing more important now than to keep the voices of dissent-and those who
would dare to ask a question-SILENT. And what better way than to try and
take a few well-known entertainers down with a pack of lies so that the
average Joe or Jane gets the message loud and clear: "Wow, if they would do
that to the Dixie Chicks or Michael Moore, what would they do to little ol'
me?" In other words, shut the f--- up.
And that, my friends, is the real point of this film that I just got an
Oscar for-how those in charge use FEAR to manipulate the public into doing
whatever they are told.
Well, the good news-if there can be any good news this week-is that not
only have neither I nor others been silenced, we have been joined by
millions of Americans who think the same way we do. Don't let the false
patriots intimidate you by setting the agenda or the terms of the debate.
Don't be defeated by polls that show 70% of the public in favor of the war.
Remember that these Americans being polled are the same Americans whose
kids (or neighbor's kids) have been sent over to Iraq. They are scared for
the troops and they are being cowed into supporting a war they did not
want-and they want even less to see their friends, family, and neighbors
come home dead. Everyone supports the troops returning home alive and all
of us need to reach out and let their families know that.
Unfortunately, Bush and Co. are not through yet. This invasion and conquest
will encourage them to do it again elsewhere. The real purpose of this war
was to say to the rest of the world, "Don't Mess with Texas - If You Got
What We Want, We're Coming to Get It!" This is not the time for the
majority of us who believe in a peaceful America to be quiet. Make your
voices heard. Despite what they have pulled off, it is still our country.
Yours,
Michael Moore
==^================================================================
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From jewen at micronetsystems.net Wed Apr 16 09:06:09 2003
From: jewen at micronetsystems.net (Julia Ewen)
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 09:06:09 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv]
Fw: Re: Universalist and the Christo-centric Friends
Message-ID: <003a01c30418$f35e8510$74e9d2d0@amd1gig>
Subject: Re: Re: Universalist and the Christo-centric Friends
> Thanks to Maichael Staynes for a statement that certainly speaks to my
> concerns. May I pass it on to our MM and Yearly Meeting?
> Julia Parker Ewen
> Atlanta Friends Meeting
> Atlanta GA USA (SAYMA)
>
> ---- Original Message -----
> From: "T. Michael Staynes"
> To:
> Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2003 4:30 PM
> Subject: Re: Universalist and the Christo-centric Friends
>
>
> > "Chris Roberts wrote:
> > > A week ago Philadelphia Yearly Meeting passed a Minute of Concern on
> Iraq
> > > which included the clause "... war is contrary to the Spirit of God
and
> > the
> > > teachings of Jesus".
> > >
> > > The phrase "the Spirit of God and the teachings of Jesus" was debated
> with
> > > a lot of passion and it was apparent that there is a divergence within
> PYM
> > > between Universalist and the Christo-centric Friends. How are things
in
> > > BYM and other Yearly Meetings around our planet?
> >
> > Britain YM had its problems, but in 1994 Alastair Heron, Ralph
> Hetherington
> > and Joseph Pickvance - who might have been expected to mutually
opposed -
> > met together and subsequently wrote:
> >
> > "We have acquired a much greater understanding of non-Christian
religions
> > from newcomers who have settled in this country since the end of World
War
> > II and this has increased the sympathy and respect of many Friends for
> these
> > faiths. This broader approach to religion has led to an affirmation by
> > 'universalist' Friends that no one faith can claim to be a final
> revelation
> > or to have a monopoly of the truth and to the rejection of any exclusive
> > religious fundamentalism whether based in Christianity or any other
> > religion.
> > The ferment of thought in this post-war period has produced a wide
variety
> > of beliefs in our Religious Society today and not a little
> misunderstanding
> > on all sides. Intolerance has reared its head. Some Friends have voiced
> > objections to the use of Christian language in meetings for worship and
> for
> > business; others have been told that there is no place for them in our
> > Religious Society if they cannot regard themselves as Christians. It has
> > become quite customary to distinguish between `Christians' and
> > `universalists' as if one category excluded the other.
> > This situation has led many Friends to suppose that universalist Friends
> are
> > in some way set over against Christocentric Friends. This is certainly
not
> > the case. Universalism is by definition inclusivist, and its adherents
> > accept the right to free expression of all points of view,
Christocentric
> or
> > any other. Indeed, in London Yearly Meeting there are many universalists
> > whose spiritual imagery and belief are thoroughly Christocentric.
> > From the beginning the Quaker Christian faith has had a universal
> dimension.
> > George Fox saw the Light `shine through all' and he identified it with
the
> > divine Light of Christ that `enlightens every man that comes into the
> world'
> > (John 1:9). He pointed out, as did William Penn in greater detail, that
> > individuals who had lived before the Christian era or outside
Christendom
> > and had no knowledge of the Bible story, had responded to a divine
> principle
> > within them. In these terms, all Quaker Christians are universalists.
> > Obedience to the Light within, however that may be described, is the
real
> > test of faithful living."
> >
> > This mutual acceptance (synthesis?) of each other's viewpoints seems to
> have
> > seeped into Friends' conciousness. There are still some Friends on both
> > sides who occasionally snipe at each other, sometimes in the pages of
the
> > Friend, but in East Kent at least there is little obvious tension.
> >
> > Your Friend
> > T. Michael Staynes
> > Broadstairs PM
> > East Kent MM
> >
>
From jhminshall at attbi.com Tue Apr 22 12:40:58 2003
From: jhminshall at attbi.com (Janet Minshall)
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2003 12:40:58 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv] Fwd: Ask Bechtel what war is good for
Message-ID:
Dear SAYMA Friends, This forward is from Tom Coyner of Seoul Monthly
Meeting in Korea. In the past I have written on this list about
economics and the difficulty many Friends have in accepting the
positives as well as criticizing the negatives regarding US
multinational corporations. I really do, however, pay attention and
object strongly to secret political manipulations on behalf of US
corporations, so consider this an effort at bringing balance to the
discussion. Any response is welcome. Janet
>Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2003 09:32:08 +0900
>To: coyner at netsgo.com
>From: Tom Coyner
>Subject: Ask Bechtel what war is good for
>
>Ask Bechtel what war is good for
> <>Bob Herbert
>New York Times/International Herald Tribune
>Tuesday, April 22, 2003
>
>
>A license to make money
>
><>NEW YORK<> Somewhere George Shultz is smiling.
>.
>Shultz, whose photo could appropriately appear next to any
>definition of the military-industrial complex, was secretary of
>state under President Ronald Reagan and has been a perennial
>heavyweight with the powerful Bechtel Group of San Francisco, where
>he previously reigned as president and is now a board member and
>senior counselor.
>.
>Unlike the anti-war soul singer Edwin Starr - who, in an ironic bit
>of timing, went to his eternal reward this month just as U.S. ground
>forces were sweeping toward Baghdad - Shultz knows what war is good
>for.
>.
>And he wanted this war with Iraq. Oh, how he wanted this war. Shultz
>was chairman of the fiercely pro-war Committee for the Liberation of
>Iraq, which was committed to moving beyond the political liberation
>of the oil-rich country to the conveniently profitable
>"reconstruction of its economy."
>.
>Under the headline "Act Now; The Danger Is Immediate," Shultz, in an
>op-ed article in The Washington Post last September, wrote: "A
>strong foundation exists for immediate military action against
>Hussein and for a multilateral effort to rebuild Iraq after he is
>gone."
>.
>Gee, I wonder which company he thought might lead that effort.
>.
>Last week Shultz's Bechtel Group was able to demonstrate exactly
>what wars are good for. The Bush administration gave it the first
>big Iraqi reconstruction contract, a prized $680 million deal over
>18 months that puts Bechtel in the driver's seat for the long-term
>reconstruction of the country, which could cost $100 billion or more.
>.
>Bechtel essentially was given a license to make money. And that
>license was granted in a closed-door process that was restricted to
>a handful of politically connected U.S. companies.
>.
>When the George Bushes and the George Shultzes were banging the
>drums for war with Iraq, we didn't hear one word from them about the
>benefits that would be accruing to corporate behemoths like Bechtel.
>And we didn't pay much attention to the grotesque conflict of
>interest engaged in by corporate titans and their government cronies
>who were pushing young American men and women into the flames of a
>war that ultimately would pour billions of dollars into a very
>select group of corporate coffers.
>.
>Now the corporations (and not just Bechtel, by any means) have a
>lock on Iraq, and U.S. taxpayers are obliged to pay the bill.
>.
>Among those in Congress who are beginning to challenge this
>loathsome process is Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, who is
>one of the lead sponsors of a bipartisan bill that would require a
>public explanation of any decision to award Iraqi reconstruction
>contracts without a "fully open, competitive bidding process."
>.
>In an interview, he said, "You look at this process, which is
>secret, limited or closed bidding, and you have to ask yourself: Why
>are these companies being picked? How's this process taking place,
>and is this the best use of scarce taxpayer money at a time when
>seniors can't afford medicine, kids are having trouble getting
>access to a quality education and local communities are just getting
>pounded? The administration has been keeping the taxpayers in the
>dark with respect to how this money is being used."
>.
>The blatant warmongering followed immediately by profiteering
>inevitably raise questions about the real reasons American men and
>women have been fighting and dying in Iraq. President George W. Bush
>told Americans the war was about weapons of mass destruction and the
>need to get rid of the degenerate Saddam. There was also talk about
>democracy taking root in Iraq and spreading like spring flowers
>throughout the Arab world.
>.
>The two things that were never openly discussed, that never became
>part of the national conversation, were oil and money. Those crucial
>topics were left to the major behind-the-scenes operators, many of
>whom are now cashing in.
>.
>The favoritism, the secretive method by which the contracts are
>being awarded and the arrogant and unconscionable exclusion of the
>United Nations and even close U.S. allies from significant roles in
>the administration and reconstruction of Iraq all contribute to the
>most cynical interpretation of American motives.
>.
>Those who fought bravely in Iraq, for reasons they felt were noble
>and unassailable, deserve better.
>.
>E-mail: bobherb at nytimes.com
>
>
--
Janet's new e mail address is : jhminshall at attbi.com
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From kcarlyle at main.nc.us Wed Apr 23 21:21:57 2003
From: kcarlyle at main.nc.us (Kim Carlyle)
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 21:21:57 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv] Southern Appalachian Friend
Message-ID: <002c01c309ff$e6c0a080$946dc0d1@qew>
Dear Friends,
Your yearly meeting newsletter was sent today to a meeting near you. Be sure
to pick it up on First-day.
You may also receive electronic home (or office) delivery by sending a
request to SAFeditor at sayma.org
Avoid the rush. Submit articles and news for the next issue. Due date:
07/01/2003.
EarthPeace,
SAF editors, Susan & Kim Carlyle
From tlamm at chpl.net Fri Apr 25 10:10:35 2003
From: tlamm at chpl.net (Tim Lamm)
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 10:10:35 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv] SAYMA Web Site Updated
Message-ID: <011d01c30b34$cf582090$3da8a8c0@TimLamm>
Dear Friends,
I have temporarily taken over the job of updating the SAYMA web site
(www.sayma.org). The Yearly Meeting 2003 registration materials are now
available to print or download. I plan to update the Documents page soon to
include the minutes of last yearly meeting and recent representative
meetings.
Please check the listing for your monthly meeting or worship group. If you
have any updates, please send them to me and I will act on them as time
allows.
---Tim Lamm, clerk
YM 2003 Planning Committee
From bonnipeg at charter.net Sun Apr 27 15:04:57 2003
From: bonnipeg at charter.net (Peggy Bonnington)
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 2003 14:04:57 -0500
Subject: [saymaListserv] RE: sayma website update
In-Reply-To: <20030426120004.2F7CEAA583@kitenet.net>
Message-ID:
Hi Tim ~
Thanks for your efforts.
I checked out Clarksville and learned that there is an email address that
goes nowhere (or certainly not to us). My own test message to "ourselves"
bounced from an entirely obscure place that wasn't even the address I
entered. Using my email address would be best, since I'm the main contact
person. Also our address is the only address (doesn't vary), and meetings
are always at our house on the FOURTH rather than third First Day of each
month. Our home address is 1451 Zinc Plant Road, Clarksville TN 37040.
All mailings to the worship group come here. An alternate email address
would be Stuart's: bonningtons at apsu.edu.
Thanks,
Peggy Bonnington
-----Original Message-----
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 10:10:35 -0400
From: "Tim Lamm"
Subject: [saymaListserv] SAYMA Web Site Updated
Dear Friends,
I have temporarily taken over the job of updating the SAYMA web site
(www.sayma.org). The Yearly Meeting 2003 registration materials are now
available to print or download. I plan to update the Documents page soon to
include the minutes of last yearly meeting and recent representative
meetings.
Please check the listing for your monthly meeting or worship group. If you
have any updates, please send them to me and I will act on them as time
allows.
---Tim Lamm, clerk
YM 2003 Planning Committee
------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association mailing list
sayma at kitenet.net
http://kitenet.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sayma
End of sayma Digest, Vol 3, Issue 11
************************************
From bright_crow at mindspring.com Wed Apr 30 21:28:41 2003
From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Michael Austin Shell)
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 21:28:41 -0400
Subject: [saymaListserv] Thomas Friedman Op/Ed piece on Iraq
Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20030430212752.009e81f0@pop.mindspring.com>
Dear Friends,
This is a very important Op/Ed piece from the 4/30/03 NY TIMES by Thomas
Friedman. It addresses concerns about the future of the Iraqi people and
their self-governance which all of us should attend to. In particular,
Friedman's Point 3 gives a good summary explanation of crucial facts about
historical Shiism which most Americans do not know or understand.
Traditional Shiism going back centuries has taught that religion and the
state should be separate. The blurring of the two in modern Iran is one
version of what has happened often in the history of Islam: in reaction to
an abusive, secular government, religious leaders decide that they should
be the government. Iraqi Shiites tend toward the more traditional ethic of
separation, but the influence of the movement lead by conservatives in
Egypt and Iran is great.
I encourage you to read and share this piece, and to seek further information.
A good additional source is Karen Armstrong's short, articulate book,
ISLAM: A SHORT HISTORY (NY: Modern Library, 2000).
Blessed Be,
Michael.
<><><><><><><>
This article is reproduced from the NEW YORK TIMES
Dear President Bush
April 30, 2003
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Memo to: President Bush, the White House
From: Saddam Hussein, in a Baghdad basement
Well, you sure ruined my birthday. . . . O.K., you won, and your prize is
Iraq. Are you ready for it? I don't think so. Truth is, I hope you fail.
But because my people have suffered enough, I'll give you a few tips on how
to run this place, before you make a total mess:
(1) Yes, Iraq was the way it was, in part, because I was the way I was -
and I was a bad boy. But what you're seeing now is that I was the way I
was, in part, because Iraq was what it is - a very difficult place to rule
without an iron fist. You see, I know the Iraqi people didn't want me. And
you will soon discover they don't want you. The big question here has
always been: Do they want each other? Can Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis find a
way to live together without an iron fist holding them together? Maybe, but
they're not going to find it on their own. They are going to need a firm
hand guiding them. You need to have a very clear idea of where you want to
take this place, because, trust me, if you don't, others will.
(2) If you want to build a self-governing authority here, you had better
understand that "shock and awe" is not just for war-making. It's an
everyday tool for running this place. Why did it take you two weeks to
throw out that bozo who declared himself mayor of Baghdad? What about all
the others? You now have armed gangs or Shiite clerics grabbing control all
over the country. You thought that you were just going to decapitate my
army and then rely on it to run the place for you. But the whole army
collapsed instead, and you don't have enough troops here to fill the
security vacuum. So when a few of your guys come under fire, they panic and
start shooting up the place. I ran Iraq with an iron fist. You're trying to
run it on the cheap with an iron finger. No way. This ain't Norway here,
pal. Your powerlessness will scare people here much more than your power.
(3) When you broke my army, you broke the most important secular
institution in the country, and the clerics are rushing to fill the void.
Some are O.K., and some are bad news. Since the Shiites make up 60 percent
of Iraq, if you're going to let the people here rule, that means the most
important question for you is: Who dominates the Iraqi Shiite community?
Not only is the future of Iraq at stake in the answer, but also, to some
extent, the future of Iran.
How so? Remember, the real academic and spiritual center of Shiism is
the Iraqi town of Najaf, not the Iranian city of Qom. Qom is a backwater
that became religiously important only because I crushed my Shiites, while
Khomeini created a Shiite theocracy in Iran.
Most Iraqi Shiite spiritual leaders in Najaf have long opposed
Khomeini's notion that Shiite clerics should be in power. They think this
has corrupted the clergy in Iran, angered the people and driven young
Shiites away from their religion. You've now set off a fight for control of
Najaf, between those Iraqi Shiite leaders who believe in the separation
between mosque and state, and the pro-Iranian clerics who want to run Iraq
Khomeini-style. That's why the Iranians are so concerned about what's
happening here. They know if Najaf re-emerges as the center of Shiism - and
if it's dominated by Iraqi ayatollahs who don't believe that the clergy
should be in politics - the claim of the Iranian clergy to remain in power
will be weakened.
This is the most important power struggle in the Middle East today. For
now, the Iraqi Shiite clergy in Najaf are weak. They don't have many senior
clerics. I kept it that way. But you can't just install your own Iraqi
Shiite leaders. They will have to emerge on their own. You need to create
the conditions in Najaf whereby students can come back and the natural
Iraqi-Arab Shiite traditions can flower again to counter the Iranians.
(4) Always remember: This is an Arab country. Iraqis want to be
first-class Arabs, not second-class Americans. If you want to build a
legitimate, moderate political center here, you need to enlist some help,
and some cover, from Arab states and the U.N. Iraqis will eventually want
their parties and leaders legitimized by the Arab world and media. They
won't want to be seen as U.S. stooges. They don't watch Fox News here.
Mr. Bush, I know you're wondering why I did not do more to avoid this
war, which ended my political life. What in the world was I thinking? Who
was I listening to? The answer isI was listening only to myself. Don't make
my mistake.
http//www.nytimes.com/2003/04/30/opinion/30FRIE.html?ex=1052714332&ei=1&en=4ad671d9c64f1b36
For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help at nytimes.com.
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
From earthsteward at urisp.net Sat Apr 12 11:56:24 2003
From: earthsteward at urisp.net (Daryl Bergquist)
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2003 15:56:24 -0000
Subject: [saymaListserv] UAB Hydrogen Studies
References:
Message-ID: <3E983675.3080903@urisp.net>
I found this on the Rocky Mountain Institute website where I keep track
of trends in energy efficiency and technology advances for automobiles.
http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid388.php
RMI promoted the technology that is used in our hybrid gas/electric
Toyota Prius car (which I highly recommend). Hydrogen fuel cell
technology is the next level of this development. Fuel cell vehicles are
silent, with increased fuel efficiency, and zero pollution at the point
of use. They use hydrogen, combined with oxygen in the air to yield
electricity, heat and water. Hydrogen can be produced from petroleum,
or by using electricity to decompose water. The electricity can be
produced using photovoltaic arrays (solar electric panels) or wind
generators which generate no pollution other than that produced during
the manufacture of these devices.
Kudos to the farsighted folks at UAB for initiating this work and to the
federal government for sponsoring it.
Daryl
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA BEGINS HYDROGEN STUDIES
Univ of Alabama The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of
Engineering was awarded a $3 million grant to study the use of hydrogen
as an alternative energy source for automobiles. A southeast consortium
will also be formed to help design an infrastructure that could one day
make hydrogen easily accessible. UAB officials hope the study will help
lessen the United States' reliance on foreign oil.
The Federal Transit Authority gave the school's department of civil and
environmental engineering a $2 million grant to study fuel cell
technology for mass-transit buses. A $1 million U.S. Department of
Energy grant will allow UAB researchers to study the use of hydrogen in
automobiles and the use of hydrogen fuel cells for portable equipment,
such as appliances.
A portion of the DOE grant will go toward establishing the Southeastern
Hydrogen Technology Consortium, which will consist of energy experts,
automobile manufacturers, transit authorities, fuel cell manufacturers,
national laboratories and academic researchers.
Source: Birmingham Business Journal, 26 March 2003.
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From moriah at preferred.com Wed Apr 2 02:35:41 2003
From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun)
Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2003 06:35:41 -0000
Subject: [saymaListserv] support the ... troops' VA benefits
Message-ID: <000d01c2f8e2$32c40640$0500a8c0@oem>
Dear Friends,
I worked for nearly 10 years with a women whose Vietnam vet husband
didn't get proper VA benefits, and whose child was genetically affected
by agent orange. What's written about below sounds very familiar.
^o^
Mary
-------------------------
"Art, not arms."
Published on Friday, March 28, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
Support the Warrior Not the War: Give Them Their Benefits!
by Ashley L Decker (a student at the University of Pittsburgh at
Johnstown)
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0328-11.htm
the 2004 budget will cut funding for veteran's health care and benefit
programs by nearly $25 billion over the next ten years. It narrowly
passed by a vote of 215 to 212, and came just a day after Congress
passed a resolution to "Support Our Troops."
The Veteran's Administration, plagued by recent budget cuts, has had to
resort to charging new veterans entering into its system a yearly fee of
$250 in order for them to receive treatment.
28 million veterans are currently using VA benefits. Another 70 million
Americans are potential candidates for such programs. This amounts to a
quarter of the country's population.
The Bush Administration recently ordered V.A. medical centers to stop
publicizing available benefits to veterans seeking assistance. This
follows discontinued enrollments of some eligible veterans for
healthcare benefits as of January, 2003.
Bush Administration funding cuts will also prevent veterans from
receiving their disability pensions.
Nearly a third of Gulf War veterans have submitted claims to to the VA
for disability.
The backlog of unprocessed claims has reached the astronomical count of
489,297
There are also currently 500,000 Compensation and Pension cases still
pending.
forty percent of Vietnam Veterans are homeless.
=======================