From losborne at cn.edu Fri Nov 4 09:42:34 2005 From: losborne at cn.edu (Larry Osborne) Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 08:42:34 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] What good is a peace march? Message-ID: What good is a peace march? It seems Friends have different opinions about taking part in public events such as mass peace marches. Although passionately committed to peace, some Friends favor this means of citizen action while others are put off by the aggressive spirit that sometimes animates such events. I recently had the chance to participate in the March for Peace and Liberty in London, England. Over 10,000 people marched for peace, including at least one Quaker meeting I recognized by their banner. For those interested, I have attached a paper I am writing on the experience in which I reflect on the value and limitations of peace marches. I propose a distinction between an anit-war march and a pro-peace march in terms of the spirit of the event and likely potential outcomes. I would be most interested in hearing the perspectives of other Friends involved in the peace movement, past and present, and any other comments Friends might have, including any critical analysis you might want to offer. My paper might lend itself to worship sharing. Here are some tentative queries I have developed for such occasion: Queries 1. What good is a peace march? What are its outcomes, including unintended outcomes? 2. What determines whether a peace march is effective in accomplishing anything worthwhile or is counterproductive? 3. Should Friends participate in peace marches or find other ways to work for peace? Peace like a river, Larry Osborne West Knoxville Friends Meeting -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: winmail.dat Type: application/ms-tnef Size: 51165 bytes Desc: not available URL: From bright_crow at mindspring.com Fri Nov 4 09:58:32 2005 From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Mike Shell) Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 08:58:32 -0500 (GMT-05:00) Subject: [saymaListserv] FCNL: Anti-torture Action Alert Message-ID: <4235934.1131112713245.JavaMail.root@mswamui-blood.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Friends, Please visit these two important FCNL web page: Issues: Enemy Combatants, Guantanamo Bay Prison, Torture http://www.fcnl.org/issues/issue.php?issue_id=70 Action Alert: Torture: Your Messages Are Working, Keep It Up http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=8197461&type=CO Thank you, Michael From pennywright at earthlink.net Thu Nov 10 13:41:11 2005 From: pennywright at earthlink.net (Penelope Wright) Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 11:41:11 -0600 Subject: [saymaListserv] Current news from New Orleans from a Quaker perspective Message-ID: <009b01c5e61d$f1664a60$8ba2d942@user2ih5nie4yp> Dear Friends, Below please find a communication form Dorian Hastings, former member of Nashville MM and clerk of New Orleans MM (if it still exists). Before Katrina, Dorian was employed by the city of New Orleans in their neighborhood development department (I think that is correct). She and her son received sanctuary in Nashville. She has since been re-hired by the city of New Orleans and it is from this perspective that she gives the following report. Her son remains in Nashville in order to finish out his senior year of high school. AFSC has a large initiative directed toward relief in New Orleans. Check out their web site to learn of ways you can be of assistance in this effort. In Peace, Penelope Wright "Friends, Things are going as well as can be expected here in New Orleans. I hope people do realize the extent of the disaster. The devastation to the city is more along the lines of post-World War II cities such as Dresden, Berlin, and Hiroshima: 80 percent of the city flooded, and probably around 60 percent of homes are uninhabitable. There are not spots here and there of devastation, as with an earthquake or tornado or wartime bombing, but utter and consistent devastation throughout most of the city. Only the areas along the riverfront and Metairie and Gentilly ridges were spared, and many homes and other buildings suffered wind and rain damage. (I happen to live close enough to the river--about 2 ft of water was in my yard and killed my magnolia tree, but did not get into the house, which is built on 2ft 6 in piers!) National Guardsmen stationed here who have served in Baghdad say that New Orleans is much worse. One can drive for miles and see only dead vegetation, empty houses, heavily damaged schools and businesses--no people, no piles of sheetrock and insulation, no duct-taped fridges. Only a few sturdy souls have returned to these areas to even attempt to strip their homes in preparation for rebuilding. The safety of the levees, patched or whole, is very much in question; the electricity infrastructure was completely wiped out and must be rebuilt almost from scratch. The federal government does not seem to fathom the extent of the damage. The energy provider, Entergy, has been refused additional funds for rebuilding. Whether or not to rebuild a levee and floodgate system that can protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane continues to be debated. The state, which receives about a third of its income from New Orleans, is also in a terrible bind and has just been billed $3.7 BILLION by FEMA (25% of the overall costs that FEMA has paid out). Sixty percent of the businesses here are threatened with failure and the Small Business Admin. doesn't seem to be able to process critical funds quickly enough. The government's failure during the storm and its immediate aftermath are not its only shortcomings --it is failing to respond even now. PLEASE contact your own legislators and impress on them the unprecedented enormity of the disaster. Congress must act to restore and preserve this region so vital to the nation: a vital and international port, gas, oil, and chemical production, shipyards, vast fisheries supply and support the rest of the nation. Massive defaults and failure to recover can bring us all down. Dorian Hastings d_hastings at juno.com " -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jhminshall at comcast.net Wed Nov 16 15:50:39 2005 From: jhminshall at comcast.net (Janet Minshall) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 14:50:39 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] A Gloom and Doom Scenario : How Can Friends Best Respond? Message-ID: Dear Friends, The August '05 issue of Friends Journal published a letter from me sent in response to one from Errol Hess (Foxfire Meeting - SAYMA) in May '05. Errol's letter was about the issue of growth and how he felt that "the notion of growth" was the cause of serious problems in the environment, in the economy and in the quality of our lives. I responded that "it isn't the notion of growth that is a problem. Actually, our economy is based on a history of more than 700 years of growth that has served as the basis of our modern civilization. Growth from clans to city states moved us to develop the rule of law, property ownership, improved transportation and improved communications. The growth of city states to nation states and then to a world economy resulted from the ascendance of reason, science and technology and the innovations they have produced." I then wrote about the looming problem of population moving toward balance and then going into actual decline. A serious issue which is now evident in Western Europe and is forecast for the rest of the world in the Revised Report for 2004 of the UN Population Council. This balance of births to deaths , followed by a long and painful population decline, is expected to begin within the next 35 to 55 years -- within the lifetimes of our children. I continued, "While, ultimately, the potential changes brought on by population decline would be beneficial to the environment and to the animals and plants with whom we share this planet, those changes could also make the lives of human beings far less comfortable and more like the miserably hard lives of our ancestors who struggled upward from caves, mud huts and outhouses to the comfort we live in now." Several Friends wrote to me after my letter appeared in Friends Journal. The primary question they asked was "Why are you so pessimistic about the future?". The article below is from USA Today, written by Richard Wolf who can see the warning signs in the deficits and the demographics we face. This issue has been discussed for a while in economics journals, but this is the first article I've seen in wider distribution in the popular press. Janet Minshall (Sorry this is so long, but the subject is important enough that you might wish to read it any way.) Posted 11/14/2005 11:11 PM E-mail: Select one: HTML Text Breaking News E-Mail Alerts * Get breaking news in your inbox as it happens A 'fiscal hurricane' on the horizon By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY WASHINGTON - The comptroller general of the United States is explaining over eggs how the nation's finances are going to hell. "We face a demographic tsunami" that "will never recede," David Walker tells a group of reporters. He runs through a long list of fiscal challenges, led by the imminent retirement of the baby boomers, whose promised Medicare and Social Security benefits will swamp the federal budget in coming decades. The breakfast conversation remains somber for most of an hour. Then one reporter smiles and asks, "Aren't you depressed in the morning?" Sadly, it's no laughing matter. To hear Walker, the nation's top auditor, tell it, the United States can be likened to Rome before the fall of the empire. Its financial condition is "worse than advertised," he says. It has a "broken business model." It faces deficits in its budget, its balance of payments, its savings - and its leadership. Walker's not the only one saying it. As Congress and the White House struggle to trim up to $50 billion from the federal budget over five years - just 3% of the $1.6 trillion in deficits projected for that period - budget experts say the nation soon could face its worst fiscal crisis since at least 1983, when Social Security bordered on bankruptcy. Without major spending cuts, tax increases or both, the national debt will grow more than $3 trillion through 2010, to $11.2 trillion - nearly $38,000 for every man, woman and child. The interest alone would cost $561 billion in 2010, the same as the Pentagon. From the political left and right, budget watchdogs are warning of fiscal trouble: * Douglas Holtz-Eakin, director of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, dispassionately arms 535 members of Congress with his agency's stark projections. Barring action, he admits to being "terrified" about the budget deficit in coming decades. That's when an aging population, health care inflation and advanced medical technology will create a perfect storm of spiraling costs. * Maya MacGuineas, president of the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, sees a future of unfunded promises, trade imbalances, too few workers and too many retirees. She envisions a stock market dive, lost assets and a lower standard of living. * Kent Conrad, a Democratic senator from North Dakota, points to the nation's $7.9 trillion debt, rising by about $600 billion a year. That, he notes, is before the baby boom retires. "We're not preparing for what we all know is to come," he says. "We're all sleepwalking through this period." * Stuart Butler of the conservative Heritage Foundation projects a period from now until 2050 in which tax revenue stays stable as a share of the economy but Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security spending soars. To avoid big tax increases, he says the government has to "renegotiate" the social contracts it made with its citizens. * Alice Rivlin and Isabel Sawhill of the centrist Brookings Institution put their pessimism into a book titled Restoring Fiscal Sanity. Rivlin, who became the first director of the Congressional Budget Office in 1974, says it will take an "economic scare" such as the 1987 stock market crash to spur action. Sawhill likens the growing gulf between what the government spends and takes in to a "Category 6 fiscal hurricane." 'The Fiscal Wake-Up Tour' They are the preachers of doom and gloom. Liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, they are trying to be heard above the ka-ching of the cash register as it tallies the cost of government benefits and tax cuts, Iraq and Hurricane Katrina. To raise their profile in recent months, several have traveled together to places such as Richmond, Va., and Minneapolis for what they call a "Fiscal Wake-Up Tour." Leon Panetta, former White House budget director and chief of staff to President Clinton, calls them "disciples of balanced budgets. ... And at some point, they'll be proven right." The White House and Congress are trying to address the nation's short-term budget deficits, but their response pales against the size of the long-term problem. President Bush proposed nearly $90 billion in savings over five years in his 2006 budget. He also tried to trim future Social Security benefits for wealthier recipients. The Senate this month approved $35 billion in savings over five years. House Republicans tried to save more than $50 billion last week, but objections from moderates stalled action. Either way, the savings could be wiped out by $70 billion in proposed tax cuts. The budget-cutting effort is being led by conservatives, who recoiled when Congress quickly voted to spend $62 billion after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. "Katrina served as a wake-up call," Walker says. In prior years, facing a less imminent demographic explosion, Congress cut in politically agonizing increments of $500 billion over five years. Bush's father gave up his "no new taxes" campaign pledge in 1990. After Ross Perot focused attention on the deficit in his 1992 presidential campaign, Clinton and the Democratic-run Congress raised taxes even more in 1993. Clinton and the Republican-run Congress forced two government shutdowns before agreeing on a deficit-reduction package in 1997. In each case, cutting the deficit backfired at the polls. The elder Bush lost re-election, the Democrats lost Congress, and Republicans' obstinacy helped Clinton win a second term. "The choices you have to make are almost exactly the opposite of what wins political elections," Panetta says. The problem is also easy for Congress to postpone because the day of reckoning is years away. This year's deficit was $319 billion, down $94 billion from the year before. That's 2.6% of the nation's economy, an amount easily borrowed from foreign investors. From 'Grenada' to 'Vietnam' But there is every reason to act - and soon. Budget watchdogs cite these looming problems: * Prescription-drug coverage under Medicare takes effect Jan. 1. Its projected cost, advertised at $400 billion over 10 years when it passed in 2003, has risen to at least $720 billion. "We couldn't afford" it, Walker says of the new law. * The leading edge of the baby boom hits age 62 in 2008 and can take early retirement. The number of people covered by Social Security is expected to grow from 47 million today to 69 million in 2020. By 2030, the Congressional Budget Office projects, Social Security spending as a share of the U.S. economy will rise by 40%. * The bulk of Bush's 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax-cut program is set to expire at the end of 2010. But Congress is moving to make the reductions permanent. That would keep tax revenue at roughly 18% of the economy, where it's been for the past half-century - too low to support even current spending levels. "We can't afford to make all the tax cuts permanent," Walker says. * Baby boomers begin to reach age 65 in 2011 and go on Medicare. Of all the nation's fiscal problems, this is by far the biggest. If it grows 1% faster than the economy - a conservative estimate - Medicare would cost $2.6 trillion in 2050, after adjusting for inflation. That's the size of the entire federal budget today. "Social Security is Grenada," Holtz-Eakin says. "Medicare is Vietnam." Inaction could have these consequences, experts say: Higher interest rates. Lower wages. Shrinking pensions. Slower economic growth. A lesser standard of living. Higher taxes in the future for today's younger generation. Less savings. More consumption. Plunging stock and bond prices. Recession. Some veterans of the deficit-cutting wars are pessimistic about avoiding disaster. "In the end, CBO and others are no more than speed bumps on the highway of fiscal irresponsibility," says Robert Reischauer, former Congressional Budget Office director and now president of the non-partisan Urban Institute. 'Where's Ross Perot?' The gloom-and-doom crowd hopes to avoid that fate. Increasingly in recent months, they are traveling the country, writing and speaking out about the need to cut spending, raise taxes - or both. The most outspoken is Walker, an impeccably dressed CPA whose 15-year term as head of the Government Accountability Office runs through 2013. He was a conservative Democrat, then a moderate Republican, and is now an independent. He's also a student of history, a Son of the American Revolution who lives on Virginia property once owned by George Washington. Walker's agency churns out reports with titles such as "Human Capital: Selected Agencies Have Opportunities to Enhance Existing Succession Planning and Management Efforts." But he knows he must try to humanize the numbers, and his rhetoric on the nation's fiscal course has become more acerbic. "Anybody who says you're going to grow your way out of this problem," Walker says, "would probably not pass math." Holtz-Eakin, a soft-spoken economist who said Monday he will leave CBO at the end of the year, takes a different approach. Less prone to giving speeches, he sees his role as a consultant and truth-sayer to Congress. "Numbers are the currency of the realm in Washington," he says, and most agree his agency has the best in town. But he concedes, "Sometimes it falls to the consultant to tell the client the bad news." Holtz-Eakin's father was in steel, a cyclical business rocked by strikes and shutdowns. "I thought, 'This is nuts. No one should live like this,' " he says. That explains why he wants the government to prepare for new demands on its New Deal and Great Society benefit programs. "The baby boom has been getting older one year at a time with a striking regularity," he says. MacGuineas is the outside agitator. An independent, she worked for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign in 2000. She respects politicians who deliver bad news, as presidential candidate Walter Mondale did in 1984 when he said tax increases were inevitable - and then was defeated in 49 states. "I want to see a presidential election where the candidates are talking about what taxes they'll raise and what spending they'll cut," she says. "It's not always a winning campaign slogan." Conrad ran for the Senate in 1986 promising to reduce the budget deficit or quit after six years. By 1992, the deficit had hit an all-time high, and he said he would not seek re-election. Only the death of North Dakota's other senator kept him in Congress. The former state tax commissioner has been doing this longer than other congressional budget officials - and he has the most charts. He's so numbers-oriented that at baseball games, he can instantly compute a hitter's average after each at-bat. "Numbers speak to me in a way that they don't speak to others," he says. "I guess it's the way my brain is wired." Sawhill and Butler, from opposite ends of the political spectrum, lead a group of about 15 budget experts at Washington think tanks who gather periodically to discuss their dour crusade. Aided by Walker and the non-partisan Concord Coalition, a fiscal watchdog group, they have taken their show on the road. Butler, a native of Britain, witnessed there in the 1960s and '70s the effects of slow growth and high unemployment, driven partly by generous government benefits. "We have a responsibility" to start the debate, he says, "because we don't have to get re-elected." But Sawhill says it's "an indictment of our political leadership that it is being left to outside groups such as ours to put these issues on the agenda." After three decades in the business, Rivlin is frustrated by lawmakers' inaction and blames balanced-budget advocates for not better articulating the problem. "There may be better ways to talk about it," she says. "I sometimes think, 'Where's Ross Perot when we need him?' " -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From susan at read-the-bible.org Wed Nov 16 16:54:27 2005 From: susan at read-the-bible.org (susan at read-the-bible.org) Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 13:54:27 -0700 Subject: [saymaListserv] A Gloom and Doom Scenario : How Can Friends Best Respond? Message-ID: <20051116135427.9a78120ed0902f357bfe37061ba83d20.9416f58634.wbe@email.email.secureserver.net> Help me out here, Janet. Are you saying that economic growth requires population growth? And that the only way humanity can make progress toward more and better material conditions, is for the population to continue growing? I can certainly see that having a larger proportion of older people would make life tough -- but surely there's some kind of sustainable balance possible, with enough people of working age to keep everybody equipped for a good life? Economic growth means more goods and services... population growth means more people... seems like, unless we're getting less smart and less capable, that we should be getting more goods and services (economic growth) with fewer people (increased productivity). As for how Friends should respond, it seems like our testimony of simplicity ought to play some part. Like, maybe retirement planning could have more to do with making sure your house has a good roof and insulation and you've been composting for years so the veggie garden is productive, and less with amassing gazillions of dollars in IRAs that will only pay off if the stock market is robust. I have a hard time separating macroeconomic issues like national or global economic growth and demographic shifts, from the felt needs and expectations of the actual individuals who make up the demographics -- baby boomers facing retirement, and contemplating our golden years spent in a pricey full-service Friends retirement village, vs a low-income seniors high-rise, vs moving in with our kids, vs... being homeless I guess. Sorry for rambling... interesting article! and thanks for sharing what you wrote in Friends Journal! Susan Jeffers From moriah at preferred.com Tue Nov 22 11:45:35 2005 From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun) Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 10:45:35 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: New Quaker Organization Message-ID: <02c401c5ef7f$4ba33780$6464a2c6@abc> ^o^ \_/ Mary AdminAsst at sayma.org 276-628-5852 POB 2191, Abingdon VA 24212-2191 ----- Original Message ----- From: Tim Lamm To: SAYMA ListServ Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 9:00 AM Subject: Fw: New Quaker Organization This will be of interest to Meetings contemplating the acquisition of a Meetinghouse and others interested in supporting such development. ----- Original Message ----- From: HOWARD BROD To: WebMaster at sayma.org Sent: Sunday, November 20, 2005 8:51 PM Subject: New Quaker Organization Dear Friend, Please make your members and attenders aware of a new Quaker organization dedicated to supporting local meetings as they attempt to fund meetinghouse projects. Please check out our web site at www.QuakerFacilitiesFoundation.org. The 'About Us' section explains in detail who we are and what is our purpose. Thank you for your help. Howard Brod Board Member -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jewen at bellsouth.net Sat Nov 12 14:02:37 2005 From: jewen at bellsouth.net (Julia Ewen) Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 13:02:37 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: [Quaker-L] re: charities - FDS Message-ID: <004101c5e7b3$43c5b5c0$6101a8c0@amd1gig> I just received this from one of the Quaker newsgroups. For those of us who are underwhelmed about AFSC's presence (or lack thereof) in recent humanitarian relief needs, Friends Disaster Service sounds like a very attractive alternative. Can we discuss this in our various Monthly Meetings, with the possibility of bringing it forward to Yearly Meeting? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gwen Giffen" To: Sent: Friday, November 11, 2005 8:30 PM Subject: [Quaker-L] re: charities - FDS > > > Julia, > > You are in Atlanta? Do you go to Atlanta Friends Meeting? I have some good > friends who moved down there a year ago this month from Pittsburgh, and I > think they've been to meeting in Atlanta once or twice. > > Friends Disaster Service (FDS) is a mission of Evangelical Friends, but they > have welcomed help from ALL groups of Friends. I have never been to a work > crew site with them, but most of the men, and some of the women in > Stillwater Meeting who are active members have been along helping numerous > times. Vic Peacock, my painting and shop teacher at Olney, has helped after > many disasters, and used to tell us stories about tornados he'd helped clean > up after, during painting class when I was a student there. > > My parents grew up knowing Dean Johnson, one of the main backbones who > helped start the whole thing. Sam Clark is someone I know well who has done > quite a lot of work with FDS. He and I were engaged a few years ago, but > have long since broken up and gone our seperate ways. He went to Honduras > after ...was it Hurricane Mitch? ...and helped rebuild a bridge that was > necessary for a community there to function. He helped dig mud out of homes > for months along the Mississippi when it flooded. I'm sure he is still > helping FDS. After a disastrous flash flood locally where several people > lost their lives in Shadyside, OH, (they call it "The Flood of Tears" here), > my oldest brother, Larry Giffen, worked with FDS rebuilding someone's house > that had basically washed away. > > They welcome laborer volunteers both to go in and clean up the mess, working > with the Red Cross, and they go back after the mess is cleaned up and help > rebuild. The money donated by churches and individuals I believe is spent on > the materials and travel. All the laborers' work for free (and meals). Many > take sleeping bags and stay in local homes, churches, and sometimes cheap > hotels. They also help people within their own communities. They once sent > me some of their surplus canned food after my divorce when the kids were > small. > > FDS sets up kitchens in churches. People donate lots of food, and they feed > a lot of the people in a community in which a disaster has hit immediately > post-disaster. The people working don't do a lot of preaching in my > experience. Their ministry is their service. That they have all branches of > Friends working together is amazing in itself. I heard a rumor that they > were going to help with the recent tornadoes in Indiana and Kentucky, but it > hasn't been confirmed. They often list their most recent projects on their > website: > > http://www.friendsdisasterservice.org/ > > I know for a fact that the projects listed here are not all-inclusive, > because I think I remember a few that aren't on it. They also have addresses > on there of who to send money to; and I believe that of all organizations > I've known of, theirs is well-spent. > > > Gwen Giffen > Black Walnut Springs Farm > ggiffen at 1st.net > > _______________________________________________ > Quaker-L mailing list > Quaker-L at quakerlists.org > http://quakerlists.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/quaker-l > From jewen at bellsouth.net Fri Nov 11 19:54:37 2005 From: jewen at bellsouth.net (Julia Ewen) Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 18:54:37 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: [Quaker-L] Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists -- Call for Papers Message-ID: <008901c5e71b$481b0230$6101a8c0@amd1gig> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Densmore" To: Sent: Friday, November 11, 2005 8:52 AM Subject: [Quaker-L] Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists -- Call for Papers > > > > Call for Papers > > The Conference of Quaker Historians and Archivists will hold its sixteenth > biennial conference at Guilford College in North Carolina on June 23-25, > 2006. The conference invites proposals for papers on any aspect of Quaker > history. Send a one-page abstract and vita (both electronically and in > paper if possible) to: > > Christopher Densmore > Cdensmo1 at swarthmore.edu > Friends Historical Library > 500 College Avenue > Swarthmore College > Swarthmore, PA 19081-1399 > 610-328-8499 > > The deadline for proposals is January 15, 2006 > > > Christopher Densmore, Curator > Friends Historical Library > Swarthmore College > 500 College Avenue > Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081-1399 > > 610-328-8499 (phone) > 610-690-5728 (fax) > cdensmo1 at swarthmore.edu > > http://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/friends > > _______________________________________________ > Quaker-L mailing list > Quaker-L at quakerlists.org > http://quakerlists.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/quaker-l > From moriah at preferred.com Fri Nov 25 11:11:17 2005 From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun) Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 10:11:17 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] IMP^o^ 195 Rep Mtg ...mailbox near you! Message-ID: <022f01c5f1d3$929d4120$6464a2c6@abc> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IMP ^o^ Bulletin 195 Coming to a mailbox near you! Rep Meeting registration packets for -- .................................................................................. -- December 3, 2005, hosted by Atlanta (GA) FM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With apology that these didn't get to you sooner -- the Administrative Assistant has been "under the weather" and changing medications. Also for any duplication of the messages -- they have been addressed to appointees as well as to the SAYMA listserv. <|> Registration packets are going to the f/Friends listed below for the December 3 Winter Rep Meeting at Atlanta FM. (Main session: 10:00 am; Worship: 9:30 am) <|> Please register as soon as possible; you may register by mail, phone, or email. The person to register with is: <|> Carol Gray 404-288-8749 chezgray at mindspring.com 58 Wiltshire Dr, Avondale Estates GA 30002 <|> Please see IMP^o^196 to find out what information to supply by email or phone in order to register. <|> You'll need to see a packet even if you register electronically (it contains directions, map, agenda, and other important information). If you aren't on the list below, please contact -- -- one of the people listed -- the SAYMA office AdminAsst at sayma.org 276-628-5852 or visit www.sayma.org <|> If you could use help to arrange "green" travel (car-pooling) to Rep Mtg, please contact Bill Reynolds, cisland at aol.com. <|> If you should have been among the names below, and aren't, please let the SAYMA office know. Packets have been sent to f/Friends listed in the office as -- -- clerks/contacts for their meetings/worship groups -- SAYMA representatives from meetings & worship groups -- clerks & members of SAYMA committees -- SAYMA Clerks and Treasurer -- SAYMA's representatives to wider Quaker organizations -- SAYMA archivist & web manager, & SAF editors -- SAYF Admin Asst <|> If you're named below and don't need to be, please let the office know that too! <|> Mailed to, in meeting order... Free Polazzo . . . . . . . Anneewakee Gary Briggs . . . . . . . Asheville Barbara Esther . . . . . . . Asheville Joy Gosset . . . . . . . Asheville Adrienne Labotka . . . . . . . Asheville Steve Livingston . . . . . . . Asheville J Pulliam C Watkins . . . . . . . Athens Susan Cozzens . . . . . . . Atlanta Chris Duke . . . . . . . Atlanta Beth Ensign . . . . . . . Atlanta Carol Gray . . . . . . . Atlanta Karen Morris . . . . . . . Atlanta Ronald Nuse . . . . . . . Atlanta Martha Tate . . . . . . . Atlanta Perry Treadwell . . . . . . . Atlanta Ceal Wutka . . . . . . . Atlanta Mark Wutka . . . . . . . Atlanta Tom Brawner . . . . . . . Auburn Therese Hildebrand . . . . . . . Berea Carol Lamm . . . . . . . Berea Tim Lamm . . . . . . . Berea Beth Myers . . . . . . . Berea Connie LaMonte . . . . . . . Birmingham Judy Prince . . . . . . . Birmingham Kay Smith . . . . . . . Birmingham Nancy Whitt . . . . . . . Birmingham Gail Fannon . . . . . . . Boone John Geary . . . . . . . Boone Melissa Meyer . . . . . . . Boone Bob French . . . . . . . Brevard Joan Williams . . . . . . . Brevard Roy Taylor III . . . . . . . Canton Gib Barrus . . . . . . . Celo Jane Goldthwait . . . . . . . Celo Joyce Johnson . . . . . . . Celo Bob McGahey . . . . . . . Celo Geeta McGahey . . . . . . . Celo Marmon Thompson . . . . . . . Celo Ray Lewis . . . . . . . Charleston Charles Schade . . . . . . . Charleston Susan Wellons . . . . . . . Charleston Becky Ingle . . . . . . . Chattanooga Larry Ingle . . . . . . . Chattanooga Ellen Johnson . . . . . . . Chattanooga Chuck Jones . . . . . . . Chattanooga Bill Reynolds . . . . . . . Chattanooga Peggy Bonnington . . . . . . . Clarksville Nancy Winfrey . . . . . . . Clemson Sallie Prugh . . . . . . . Columbia Harry Rogers . . . . . . . Columbia Julia Sibley-Jones . . . . . . . Columbia Annie Black . . . . . . . Cookeville Hazel Hall . . . . . . . Cookeville Deanna Nipp . . . . . . . Cookeville Gladys Draudt . . . . . . . Crossville Dennis Gregg . . . . . . . Crossville Tom Beeson . . . . . . . Foxfire Errol Hess . . . . . . . Foxfire Bob Keiter . . . . . . . Foxfire Edie Patrick . . . . . . . Foxfire Christopher Berg . . . . . . . Greenville Scott Henderson . . . . . . . Greenville Scott King . . . . . . . Gwinnett Judy Guerry . . . . . . . Huntsville Susan Phelan . . . . . . . Huntsville David Ciscel . . . . . . . Memphis Kristi Estes . . . . . . . Memphis Larry Jordan . . . . . . . Memphis Ron McDonald . . . . . . . Memphis Robert Pugh . . . . . . . Memphis Bonnie Tinsley . . . . . . . Murfreesboro Dick Houghton . . . . . . . Nashville Jim McKeever . . . . . . . Nashville John Potter . . . . . . . Nashville Geoffrey Pratt . . . . . . . Nashville Joyce Rouse . . . . . . . Nashville Christina Van Regenmorter . . . . . . . Nashville Penelope Wright . . . . . . . Nashville Kim Carlyle . . . . . . . New Moon Susan Carlyle . . . . . . . New Moon Ginny Baumann . . . . . . . Oxford Nan Johnson . . . . . . . Oxford Sara Rose . . . . . . . Royal Douglas Price . . . . . . . Sevier County Lyn Hutchinson . . . . . . . Sewanee Tony Bing . . . . . . . Swannanoa Susan Carlyle . . . . . . . Swannanoa Bob Welsh . . . . . . . Swannanoa Bettina Wolff . . . . . . . Swannanoa Sharon Annis . . . . . . . W Knoxville Jim Hamill . . . . . . . W Knoxville Missy Ivie . . . . . . . W Knoxville Ernest Lee . . . . . . . W Knoxville Turtle MacDermott . . . . . . . W Knoxville Kathleen Mavournin . . . . . . . W Knoxville Carol Nickle . . . . . . . W Knoxville Sharon Phelps . . . . . . . W Knoxville Morgan Phillips-Spotts . . . . . . . YAF Nicole Rennie . . . . . . . YAF Elaine Ruscetta . . . . . . . YAF ~~~~ end ^o^ ~~~~ postdate 112405 ~~~~ _____________________________ IMP ^o^ ... "Information Made Present" is a bulletin service of the SAYMA office to provide practical details to our geographically-challenged Yearly Meeting via our list-server: semi-official information, bulletins that you can print, post, announce, publish, or pass around. Please address questions, corrections, and additions to AdminAsst at sayma.org, or 276-628-5852 (machine; in-person Tu/Th 5-7:30p). Thank you! ^o^ ----------------------------------------------------- To receive IMP^o^bulletins, subscribe to the list server, sayma at kitenet.net. You can subscribe on the web at http://kitenet.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sayma. ------------------------------------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moriah at preferred.com Fri Nov 25 11:13:50 2005 From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun) Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 10:13:50 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] IMP^o^ 196 Rep Meeting "e-registration" Message-ID: <023a01c5f1d3$a580c3c0$6464a2c6@abc> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IMP ^o^ Bulletin 196 Information needed to register electronically for Winter Rep Meeting ... ................................................................... but you still need to see a registration packet! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <|> You can register by email or phone for the Winter Rep Meeting scheduled for December 3 in Decatur, GA (Main session -- 10 :00 am Eastern time, worship at 9:30 am) <|> Please register as soon as possible. Everyone needs to be registered in advance, to help the lunch-planners. The person to register with is: <|> Carol Gray 404-288-8749 chezgray at mindspring.com 58 Wiltshire Dr, Avondale Estates GA 30002 <|> You will need to see a registration packet even if you register by email or phone. It contains maps, directions, agenda, and other important information. <|> If you don't have a packet, please -- -- check IMP^o^ 195, to see if one was mailed to you, or ... -- contact a person who was listed in IMP^ o^ 195, or ... -- contact your meeting clerk, or ... -- visit www.sayma.org to download and print the materials, or ... -- contact the SAYMA office at 276-628-5852, AdminAsst at sayma.org <|> Meanwhile, IMP^o^ bulletin 195 will give you partial information. <|> Info needed for Rep Meeting registration: 1. If you need childcare please notify Loretta Miller (404-320-6351) right away. Childcare is very limited. 2. First & last names, gender (M/F), and address. 3. Purpose for attending: (a) Rep Meeting, M&N, Yearly Mtg Planning, other (b) child; please give name(s), age(s) and special needs of child(ren) requiring care. 4. Meeting or Worship Group name 5. Your contact info: area code + phone number (& e-mail address if you have one). If giving both, please indicate the preferred means of communication. 6. Hospitality needed (place to sleep & light breakfast provided by local f/Friend): (a) Please indicate people who can share a room... (b) ...& those who can share a bed. (c) Friday night for (#) ____ people. Expected time of arrival: ______ (d) Saturday night for (#) ____ people. Expected time of arrival: ____ (e) Please say who is arriving when, if the folks above are not traveling together. (f) Any special needs? (Vegetarian, vegan, special diet, house without stairs, hills, wood smoke, pets, or a child-proof house, etc. ...?) 7. If you ask for hospitality, and later need reassurance that it's being arranged, you can contact Carol Gray (404-288-8749, chezgray at mindspring.com). 8. Cancellation: after registering, if you are unable to attend for any reason, please notify Carol Gray as soon as possible at 404-288-8749, chezgray at mindspring.com. ~~~~ end ^o^ ~~~~ postdate 112405 ~~~~ ________________________________ IMP ^o^ ... "Information Made Present" is a bulletin service of the SAYMA office to provide practical details to our geographically-challenged Yearly Meeting via our list-server: semi-official information, bulletins that you can print, post, announce, publish, or pass around. Please address questions, corrections and additions to AdminAsst at sayma.org, or 276-628-5852 (machine; in-person Tu/Th 5-7:30p). Thank you! ^o^ ----------------------------------------------------- To receive IMP^o^ bulletins, subscribe to the list server, sayma at kitenet.net. You can subscribe on the web at http://kitenet.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sayma. ------------------------------------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moriah at preferred.com Fri Nov 25 11:16:44 2005 From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun) Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 10:16:44 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] IMP^o^ 197 "green" travel to Rep Mtg Message-ID: <024601c5f1d3$b3735240$6464a2c6@abc> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IMP ^o^ Bulletin 197 For help with Earth-Friendly travel to... ...Winter Rep Meeting in Decatur, GA ----------------------------------------------- contact Bill Reynolds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (a standing offer from Bill Reynolds, Chattanooga FM, member of SAYMA Ecological Concerns Network ) <|> For f/Friends who don't already have a ride-share organized, and could use a hand finding one, Bill Reynolds has volunteered to help organize car-pooling to the December 3 Rep Meeting at Atlanta FM. <|> If you're looking for riders, please let him know -- a) how many spaces are available in the vehicle b) where it will be leaving from c) when it will be departing d) general route planned e) when it will arrive at Rep Meeting f) when it will be returning <|> If you're seeking to 'hitch a ride,' please let him know -- a) how many you are b) where you will be leaving from c) when you need to depart d) where you could meet a ride e) when you need to arrive at Rep Meeting f) when you need to return home <|> Bill Reynolds' contact info -- cisland at aol.com, 423-624-6821, 3529 Dell Trail, Chattanooga TN 37411 ~~~~ end ^o^ ~~~~ postdate 112405 ~~~~ _______________________________________ IMP ^o^ ... "Information Made Present" is a bulletin service of the SAYMA office to provide practical details to our geographically-challenged Yearly Meeting via our list-server: semi-official information, bulletins that you can print, post, announce, publish, or pass around. Please address questions, corrections and additions to AdminAsst at sayma.org, 276-628-5852 (machine), or SAYMA Admin. Asst., PO Box 2191, Abingdon, VA 24212-2191. Thank you! ^o^ ----------------------------------------------------- To receive IMP^o^ bulletins, subscribe to the list server, sayma at kitenet.net. You can subscribe on the web at http://kitenet.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sayma. ------------------------------------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From freepolazzo at comcast.net Mon Nov 28 07:24:20 2005 From: freepolazzo at comcast.net (free polazzo) Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 06:24:20 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] Iraqis want timetable for the US military to leave Iraq Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20051128062241.033d5270@mail.comcast.net> Dear Peace Lover, Good news! The folks running for office in the elections in Iraq that are scheduled for December 15th, are now asking the US for a pullout timetable. See article below from today's NY Times on line. Polls done by the British Government have said that 82% of all Iraqis want the coalition forces to leave their country. For more statistics see: http://telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/23/wirq23.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/10/23/ixportaltop.html . I hope and pray that this is not just an election tactic. We have seen those used by politicians in this country, where candidates say one thing to get elected and then do another. Let's use the fact that this call for a pullout is real, now, and spread the word to your family and friends. If the US is fighting in Iraq to institute a democracy and eliminate a "dictator" (the current manifestation of why we went to war), surely the Administration and our Representatives and Senators in Washington need to listen to what the people of Iraq, through their political leaders, are saying. Do we want the USA to become the new Iraqi "dictator"? Not me! I urge all of you to get active in whichever of our political parties you are attracted to, so that ALL candidates running for office this fall are urging the US pull out of Iraq, regardless of what President Bush and his advisers think. That way the men and women in uniform will be the big winners in the US's elections next November, as will the people of Iraq, who deserve to determine their own future, unimpeded by our own often changing agendas. Blessings, Free Polazzo "Only the truth will keep us free". > >The New York Times > > >November 28, 2005 > > > >As Calls for an Iraq Pullout Rise, 2 Political Calendars Loom Large > > > > > >By SANGER&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=DAVID E. >SANGER&inline=nyt-per>DAVID E. SANGER and >SHANKER&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=THOM >SHANKER&inline=nyt-per>THOM SHANKER > >WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 - In public, President Bush has firmly dismissed >the mounting calls to set a deadline to begin a withdrawal from >Iraq, >declaring eight days ago that there was only one test for when the >time is right. "When our commanders on the ground tell me that Iraqi >forces can defend their freedom," he told American forces at Osan >Air Base in South Korea, "our troops will come home with the honor >they have earned." > >But in private conversations, American officials are beginning to >acknowledge that a judgment about when withdrawals can begin is >driven by two political calendars - one in Iraq and one here - as >much as by those military assessments. The final decision, they >said, could well hinge on whether the new Iraqi government, >scheduled to be elected in less than three weeks, issues its own >call for an American withdrawal. Last week, for the first time, >Iraq's political factions, represented by about 100 Sunni, Shiite >and Kurdish leaders, collectively called for a timetable for withdrawal. > >As Mr. Bush ends his Thanksgiving holiday in Texas on Monday, both >his own aides and American commanders say, he will begin confronting >these sometimes conflicting military and political issues, including >the midterm Congressional elections in this country, part of a >delicate balancing action about how and when to begin extracting >American troops from Iraq. > >Mr. Bush is scheduled to give a speech in Annapolis, Md., on >Wednesday assessing progress both in Iraq and in what he calls the >broader war on terrorism, and several officials said he was expected >to contend that the Iraqi forces have made great progress. But as it >has been for the past two and a half years, it is unclear exactly >what measuring sticks he is using, and whether they present the full picture. > >White House aides insist that Mr. Bush is as determined as he sounds >not to withdraw troops prematurely. They say he will begin examining >the timing of a draw-down after he sees the outcome of the Dec. 15 >election in Iraq. > >But it is also clear that Mr. Bush is under new pressure to begin >showing that troop reductions are under way before the midterm >Congressional elections next year. > >Suddenly a White House that was seemingly impervious to open >questioning of its strategy feels the need to respond to criticisms >- and to do so quickly. This weekend, The Washington Post published >an op-ed article in which Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., Democrat of >Delaware, called for a three-step process in Iraq to create a >political settlement, deliver basic services and accelerate the >training of troops. The White House responded immediately with a >long press release, in a series called "Setting the Record >Straight," suggesting that Mr. Biden had endorsed Mr. Bush's >strategy - which is certainly not how Mr. Biden saw it. > >Current and former White House officials acknowledge that they were >surprised at how quickly calls for deadlines for the draw-down of >troops, which mounted as Mr. Bush was away in Asia, had changed the >tenor of the debate. They pointed out that the statement by >Secretary of State >Condoleezza >Rice after Mr. Bush's return from Asia that Iraqi forces would be >able to defend the country "fairly soon" appeared to presage a new tone. > >"We've moved from 'if' to 'how fast,' " said one former aide with >close ties to the National Security Council. He said officials in >the Bush White House were already actively reviewing possible plans >under which 40,000 to 50,000 troops or more could be recalled next >year if "a plausible case could be made" that a significant number >of Iraqi battalions could hold their own. > >That effort may be aided by the fact that troop numbers in Iraq have >climbed back to 160,000 in advance of the December vote. Senior >Pentagon civilians and military officials are already discussing a >move soon after the election to return to 138,000 troops, the status >quo over much of the past year. But after that point, the American >military expects to face two competing sets of pressures. > >On one hand, senior officers are painfully aware that sustaining the >current high level of troop deployments in Iraq risks undermining >morale of those now in uniform - and already has poisoned the >efforts of Army recruiters seeking to woo young Americans into >military service. > >At the same time, senior officers hear the bruising debate over Iraq >policy back in Washington and have taken to counseling "strategic >patience," arguing that 2006 will be a critical year in which a new >government in Baghdad and local security forces should be able to >take more of a lead in stabilizing their nation. > >Officers fear that a hasty retreat driven by American domestic >politics - and not conditions on the ground in Iraq - could invite >greater violence or even civil war and that the American military >would carry the blame for losing Iraq. > >Senior Pentagon civilians and officers say the military is following >standard practice and has drafted a number of plans with a range of >options for Iraq. > >Anthony H. Cordesman, a military expert at the Center for Strategic >and International Studies in Washington, warned that a hasty >withdrawal before Iraqi security forces are given a chance during >2006 to "achieve enough critical mass" and stand more on their own >"will end in snatching defeat from the jaws of uncertainty." The top >American commander in the Middle East has, since at least July, >outlined a plan that would gradually reduce American forces in Iraq >toward 100,000 by next spring, Pentagon and military officials said. > >The commander, Gen. John P. Abizaid, has not discussed that plan in >public - and also has carefully avoided comment on the vitriolic >debate that erupted between the White House and Congress. While the >focus of the options that the Pentagon is drafting has been on >dropping below 100,000 troops by the end of next year, contingency >plans also deal with a possible demand by the new Iraqi government >for a speedier American withdrawal and, at the other extreme, for >requests to sustain troop levels, or even for another temporary >increase, should Iraq risk falling into increased violence and anarchy. > >Senior commanders see no short-term change in American military >capacity on the ground in Iraq with the anticipated return to >138,000 troops after the election. Fresh assessments on altering the >troop numbers - and the mix of capacities, from infantry to training >units to civil affairs - are anticipated not long after the vote. > >"Recommendations will be made here based on conditions on the >ground," said Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, commander of day-to-day >military operations in Iraq. "Those conditions are the capabilities >of the Iraqi security forces, the capability of the government to >support those forces in the field, the state of the insurgency, and >a whole range of conditions." > >General Vines also acknowledged the political realities influencing >troop reductions, saying, "The ultimate decision, of course, will be >made as a policy level decision in Washington and other capitals." > >The senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator >Carl Levin of Michigan, on Sunday advocated setting a deadline for >withdrawing American forces from Iraq, saying such a firm statement >would force political compromise within the emerging leadership in Baghdad. > >An open-ended American commitment "takes pressure off them to make >the compromises that are necessary to make those changes in the >Constitution," he said on "Fox News Sunday." "That's what we need to >do. Put some pressure on them to make the political decisions that >are so essential to becoming a nation." > >On the NBC News program "Meet the Press," Senator John W. Warner, >the Virginia Republican who is chairman of the Armed Services >Committee, argued against setting a timetable, but did urge >President Bush to speak more often and directly to the American >people about the mission. > >"It would bring him closer to the people, dispel some of this >concern that understandably our people have about the loss of life >and limb, the enormous cost of this war to the American public, and >we've got to stay firm for the next six months," Senator Warner >said. "It is a critical period." > > * > Copyright > 2005 The New York Times Company -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 25aa690.jpg Type: application/octet-stream Size: 7430 bytes Desc: not available URL: From nmwhitt at samford.edu Tue Nov 29 09:42:52 2005 From: nmwhitt at samford.edu (Nancy Whitt) Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 07:42:52 -0600 Subject: [saymaListserv] Salisbury Meeting House Message-ID: <438C067C020000F500008BF0@gw3.samford.edu> Salisbury Friends Meeting has an international appeal for help funding a new Meeting House. Please go to: www.salisbury-quakers.co.uk to see how U.S. & Canadian Quakers can donate. This appeal comes from Winifred Bolt, one of my good friends from my Woodbrooke stay. She's a British Allie Walton--passionately engaged for social justice-- Nancy (Tim: This is the e-mail address your mother wanted in order to reach me.) From Quakerkristi at aol.com Wed Nov 30 19:06:02 2005 From: Quakerkristi at aol.com (Quakerkristi at aol.com) Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 18:06:02 EST Subject: [saymaListserv] Christian Peacemakers Message-ID: <195.4ca69462.30bf8a5a@aol.com> As I was reading the news about the peacemakers captured in Iraq, I learned that one (Tom Fox) is a Quaker from Virginia. Information about the team can be found at www.cpt.org I'm especially holding Tom, along with the others in the Light during this terrible time. Peace, Kristi Estes -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: