From bright_crow at mindspring.com Thu Sep 1 07:33:46 2005 From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Mike Shell) Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2005 07:33:46 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [saymaListserv] "Thought for Ninth Month" - SEYMpeace.org Message-ID: <16968068.1125574426635.JavaMail.root@mswamui-valley.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Friends, Please visit the peace and social concerns website of Southeastern Yearly Meeting http://seympeace.org to read and share our "Thought for Ninth Month," which we found in the July/August 2005 issue of TIKKUN: http://www.tikkun.org/magazine/tik0507/article.2005-06-13.9366949909 Thanks, Mike From Quakerkristi at aol.com Thu Sep 1 15:07:48 2005 From: Quakerkristi at aol.com (Quakerkristi at aol.com) Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2005 15:07:48 EDT Subject: [saymaListserv] relief? Message-ID: <29.7a88fdbe.3048ab84@aol.com> I just got a call from FGC as well as one earlier today from a quarterly meeting in Philadelphia YM asking if we knew of particular relief efforts they could assist with. Things are building up here in Memphis as people are being brought in by bus from New Orleans, but I am not involved or know of particular efforts other than the Red Cross. A few huge churches will serve as temporary shelters. Let me know if you have information that you would like me to share with the "wider Quaker community" and I'll pass it on. If you know of particular local efforts where we could lend a hand, that would also be good for the Meetings to know about. Peace, Kristi Estes -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jewen at bellsouth.net Thu Sep 1 19:19:54 2005 From: jewen at bellsouth.net (Julia Ewen) Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2005 19:19:54 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: [FT] FW: EFCSW and relief aid Message-ID: <002e01c5af4b$a91d87e0$6101a8c0@amd1gig> ----- Original Message ----- From: Julia Ewen To: Austin Wattles Cc: Bert Skellie Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 7:19 PM Subject: Fw: [FT] FW: EFCSW and relief aid Did you know that there was a Friends Disaster Service? Note that this Friends organization not only is getting involved with immediate relief effort in New Orleans, they will be organizing volunteers to go to New Orleans later to help refugees and with cleanup. This might be an opportunity for our college age and high school members. Julia Ewen ----- Original Message ----- From: Joe Ginder To: 'Friends Theological Discussion' ; friends-church at quakerchristian.net Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 2:44 PM Subject: [FT] FW: EFCSW and relief aid Friends, Below is a message I received from Stan Leach via Larry Kinser regarding the EFCSW effort to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. I thought you might be interested in this information. Stan is superintendent of EFCSW and Larry the assistant superintendent. --Joe Ginder -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: distributionlist-owner at efcsw.org [mailto:distributionlist-owner at efcsw.org] On Behalf Of Larry Kinser Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 11:04 AM To: distributionlist at efcsw.org Subject: EFCSW and relief aid We apologize to those of you receiving this through multiple sources. We have several lists, not all with the same names-but some overlap between them. Send this where you can, make announcements, organize prayer, giving and work teams. All of our contribution will be coordinated through Friends Disaster Service in Ohio. FDS is known throughout the deep south and especially Florida (where EFC-ER does have some churches) as one of the leading first and second response teams. They have official standing with all related disaster effort coordinating organizations in the area. September 1, 2005 Friends, This is a moment when the sorrow of watching others suffer mixes with the privilege of responding to their needs. We honor the Lord Jesus Christ when we do so. I am encouraging the people and churches of Evangelical Friends Church Southwest (EFCSW) to respond generously and boldly to these needs. We are coordinating our efforts with other Evangelical Friends Churches in the U.S.A through Friends Disaster Service (FDS) - an organization whose purpose is to respond to tragedies just like this one. They have expertise in providing relief and reconstruction during times like these as well as contacts that allow them to cooperate with the many other organizations that will be responding to this tragedy.* Presently, through contacts with Salvation Army's and Baptists' mass feeding units being activated in the disaster area, FDS has engaged trucks and purchased large amounts of #10 cans of heat and eat food in case lots. The first truck load is scheduled to leave for Gulfport, Mississippi, on Thursday, Sept. 1. Thursday of the following week, a semi load of water and relief supplies will leave from the Salem, Ohio area. They will continue to make immediate contributions to the feeding of the homeless, as funds and resources are available. Obviously, the more resources, the greater the response Friends Disaster Service can make. As we respond, then, more people will be served. This not only brings relief to their physical condition, but because this food and water is being distributed in Jesus' name, it glorifies the Lord. This is our deepest desire. We can make a difference. Donations can be sent to EFCSW at P.O. Box 1607, Whittier, CA, 90609-1907. We will forward on the contributions. Also donations are being received directly by Friends Disaster Service at Friends Disaster Service, 241 Keenan Road, Peninsula, Ohio 44264. Of course, these donations are all tax deductible. We are also preparing for a second phase of service to the Gulf Coast tragedy. It will include volunteer construction teams. We are also exploring the possibility of sending teams to minister to the displaced victims. We will keep you informed on these plans as well. Finally, pray that God's people would be very effective at demonstrating God's love during this time to the victims. It is an awesome privilege to be the Lord's hands, feet and voice during this tragedy. Because of Christ, Stan *They do this through the 38 member organizations of National Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Friends-Theology mailing list Friends-Theology at quakerchristian.net http://quakerchristian.net/mailman/listinfo/friends-theology_quakerchristian.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From freepolazzo at comcast.net Thu Sep 1 21:45:43 2005 From: freepolazzo at comcast.net (free polazzo) Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 21:45:43 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] fwd: A New Orleans Ordeal as told by an MD in a hotel down there on Tues Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20050901214401.0321c060@mail.comcast.net> Dear Friends in SAYMA, AFM and the ACFWG and family, I received this from Stanley Zarowin a F/friend I know through the Jewish Friends List which we both belonged to for many years. I pass it on to you. Holding all those souls in the Healing Light, Free >A member of my Quaker meeting (North Meadow Circle of Friends) received this >from a physician friend in Arkansas who received it from a physician friend >in New Orleans. It's from Greg Henderson, a doctor with Johns Hopkins (I >took the liberty of fixing some of the language a bit for clarity): > >Thanks to all of you who have sent your notes of concern and your prayers. >I am writing this note on Tuesday at 2 PM . I wanted to update all of you >as to the situation here. I don't know how much information you are getting >but I am certain it is more than we are getting. Be advised that almost >everything I am telling you is from direct observation or rumor from >reasonable sources. They are allowing limited internet access, so I hope to >send this dispatch today. > >Personally, my family and I are fine. My family is safe in Jackson, MS, and >I am now a temporary resident of the Ritz Carleton Hotel in New Orleans. I >figured if it was my time to go, I wanted to go in a place with a good wine >list. In addition, this hotel is in a very old building on Canal Street >that could and did sustain little damage. Many of the other hotels >sustained significant loss of windows, and we expect that many of the guests >may be evacuated here. > >Things were obviously bad yesterday, but they are much worse today. >Overnight the water arrived. Now Canal Street (true to its origins) is >indeed a canal. The first floor of all downtown buildings is underwater. I >have heard that Charity Hospital and Tulane are limited in their ability to >care for patients because of water. Ochsner is the only hospital that >remains fully functional. However, I spoke with them today and they too are >on generator and losing food and water fast. The city now has no clean >water, no sewerage system, no electricity, and no real communications. >Bodies are still being recovered floating in the floods. We are worried >about a cholera epidemic. Even the police are without effective >communications. We have a group of armed police here with us at the hotel >that are admirably trying to exert some local law enforcement. This is >tough because looting is now rampant. Most of it is not malicious looting. >These are poor and desperate people with no housing and no medical care and >no food or water trying to take care of themselves and their families. >Unfortunately, the people are armed and dangerous. We hear gunshots >frequently. Most of Canal street is occupied by armed looters who have a >low threshold for discharging their weapons. We hear gunshots frequently. >The looters are using makeshift boats made of pieces of Styrofoam to >access. We are still waiting for a significant national guard presence. > >The health care situation here has dramatically worsened overnight. Many >people in the hotel are elderly and small children. Many other guests have >unusual diseases. They are unfortunately . 'We have better medical >letter. There are ID physicians in at this hotel attending an HiV >confection. We have commandeered the world famous French Quarter Bar to >turn into an makeshift clinic. There is a team of about 7 doctors and PA >and pharmacists. We anticipate that this will be the major medical facility >in the central business district and French Quarter. > >Our biggest adventure today was raiding the Walgreens on Canal under police >escort. The pharmacy was dark and fool of water. We basically scooped the >entire drug sets into gargace bags and removed them. All under police >escort. The looters had to be held back at gun point. After a dose of >prophylactic Cipro I hope to be fine. > >In all we are faring well. We have set up a hospital in the French Quarter >bar in the hotel, and will start admitting patients today. Many with be from >the hotel, but many with not. We are anticipating to dealing with multiple >medical problems, medications and acute injuries. Infection and perhaps >even cholera are anticipated major problems. Food and water shortages are >imminent. > >The biggest question to all of us is where is the national guard? We hear >jet fighters and helicopters, but no real armed presence, and hence the >rampant looting. There is no Red Cross and no salvation army. > >In a sort of cliché way, this is an edifying experience. Once is rapidly >focused away from the transient and material to the bare necessities of >life. It has been challenging to me to learn how to be a primary care >phyisican. We are under martial law so return to our homes is impossible. >I don't know how long it will be and this is my greatest fear. Despite it >all, this is a soul edify experience. The greatest pain is to think about >the loss. And how long the rebuild will. And the horror of so many dead >people . > >PLEASE SEND THIS DISPATCH TO ALL YOU THING MAY BE INTERESTED IN A DISPATCH > From the front. I will send more according to your interest. Hopefully >their collective prayers will be answered. By the way suture packs, sterile >gloves and stethoscopes will be needed as the Ritz turns into a MASH > >Greg Henderson From moriah at preferred.com Thu Sep 1 21:39:53 2005 From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun) Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2005 21:39:53 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: Somebody gets to say . . . Message-ID: <000901c5af8f$fc35de20$6464a2c6@abc> ----- Original Message ----- From: Tim Lally Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 3:01 PM Subject: Somebody gets to say . . . I told you so. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: New Orleans Is Sinking.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 54671 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: NewOrleans2001.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 93074 bytes Desc: not available URL: From freepolazzo at comcast.net Fri Sep 2 11:12:37 2005 From: freepolazzo at comcast.net (free polazzo) Date: Fri, 02 Sep 2005 11:12:37 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fwd: Re: TQE 130 on Hurricane Katrina Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20050902110821.03260a38@mail.comcast.net> Dear Friends, Good News from Friends in Loisiana. Free >Just rec'd this from the Clerk of the Baton Rouge Meeting. Thought >Friends may want to see it.... > >-Craig >Friendship MM >Greensboro, NC > >"Walk as children of light." > >-----Original Message----- >From: NMCF at yahoogroups.com [mailto:NMCF at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of >Pat Zarowin >Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 7:08 PM >To: meeting >Subject: [NMCF] Reply from Baton Rouge meeting today. > > >Message >From: timefactory at att.net >Subject: Re: Disaster >To: Pat Zarowin > >Hello Pat Zarowin. >I am Pam Daigle Arnold, clerk of Baton Rouge Friends Meeting. For >now, I seem to be the Friendly conduit of info and inquiries about >Katrina and offers of assistance for Louisiana Quakers. I have been >on the phone and email for over >three hours today (my first opportunity to get online since we were >without electricity from before 7 AM Monday until 11:30 PM Wednesday night. >Everyone in Baton Rouge Meeting is okay. No flooding. No injuries. >No serious structural damage. Lots of tree debris. Widespread >electrical outages but that should all be up and running here by >Saturday, according to our electric >companies. We have not heard yet from any of the people in New >Orleans Meeting. I am feeling relatively certain that they are >physically safe. For the most part, they are the kind of folks who >heed official orders to evacuate an area before >a storm and they have resources to have been able to leave the >city. I am trying today to reach someone via email now that I am >online again. We will just have to wait and see. >Friendly response today has been overwhelming. I've heard from >Quakers in England, Philadelphia, Illinois, Hickory NC, >Winston-Salem and Greensboro NC,Brooklyn, Long Island, Dover New >Hampshire, New Mexico, Houston TX, Hope AR, and now you in >Indianapolis. My heart is filled with a warm glow from all of your >love and concern for us. I am creating an email loop with all of >your names and will let you know more as soon as I know more. I'm >waiting to hear from some of the New Orleans folks so I'll know >better what to tell all of you wonderful, caring Friends. > >Thank you so much, Pat, for being there for us. >In the Light, >Pam From glennreinhart at aol.com Sat Sep 3 13:04:31 2005 From: glennreinhart at aol.com (glennreinhart at aol.com) Date: Sat, 03 Sep 2005 13:04:31 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Hurricane Katrina Message-ID: <8C77EC0AF93C207-610-5978@FWM-D35.sysops.aol.com> Hello Friends, I've been helping the Red Cross here in NYC at the call in center (one of four or five in the US) where victims or their families can call in to get help. If you know of anyone who needs help in your area (and I spoke to various people who had their homes destroyed and are now staying in northern Alabama and in Georgia) and who might have no money lost all their bank records, etc, ask them to go to their nearest Red Cross Chapter. You might also go to your nearest Red Cross chapter to volunteer. Phone number is 800 GET HELP Glenn Manhattan Meeting NYC -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jewen at bellsouth.net Fri Sep 2 12:07:56 2005 From: jewen at bellsouth.net (Julia Ewen) Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 12:07:56 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: Global Warming, thy name is Katrina---Boston Globe Message-ID: <002d01c5afd8$7b9b01c0$6101a8c0@amd1gig> I just received this from a friend who is a leader in the Georgia Sierra Club's water issues committee. Food for thought. Julia ----- Original Message ----- From: JojonesAtlanta at aol.com To: JojonesAtlanta at aol.com Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 11:18 AM Subject: Global Warming, thy name is Katrina---Boston Globe Katrina's Real Name The Boston Globe Op-Ed By Ross Gelbspan, August 30, 2005 THE HURRICANE that struck Louisiana yesterday was nicknamed Katrina by the National Weather Service. Its real name is global warming. When the year began with a two-foot snowfall in Los Angeles, the cause was global warming. When 124-mile-an-hour winds shut down nuclear plants in Scandinavia and cut power to hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland and the United Kingdom, the driver was global warming. When a severe drought in the Midwest dropped water levels in the Missouri River to their lowest on record earlier this summer, the reason was global warming. In July, when the worst drought on record triggered wildfires in Spain and Portugal and left water levels in France at their lowest in 30 years, the explanation was global warming. When a lethal heat wave in Arizona kept temperatures above 110 degrees and killed more than 20 people in one week, the culprit was global warming. And when the Indian city of Bombay (Mumbai) received 37 inches of rain in one day -- killing 1,000 people and disrupting the lives of 20 million others -- the villain was global warming. As the atmosphere warms, it generates longer droughts, more-intense downpours, more-frequent heat waves, and more-severe storms. Although Katrina began as a relatively small hurricane that glanced off south Florida, it was supercharged with extraordinary intensity by the relatively blistering sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico. The consequences are as heartbreaking as they are terrifying. Unfortunately, very few people in America know the real name of Hurricane Katrina because the coal and oil industries have spent millions of dollars to keep the public in doubt about the issue. The reason is simple: To allow the climate to stabilize requires humanity to cut its use of coal and oil by 70 percent. That, of course, threatens the survival of one of the largest commercial enterprises in history. In 1995, public utility hearings in Minnesota found that the coal industry had paid more than $1 million to four scientists who were public dissenters on global warming. And ExxonMobil has spent more than $13 million since 1998 on an anti-global warming public relations and lobbying campaign. In 2000, big oil and big coal scored their biggest electoral victory yet when President George W. Bush was elected president -- and subsequently took suggestions from the industry for his climate and energy policies. As the pace of climate change accelerates, many researchers fear we have already entered a period of irreversible runaway climate change. Against this background, the ignorance of the American public about global warming stands out as an indictment of the US media. When the US press has bothered to cover the subject of global warming, it has focused almost exclusively on its political and diplomatic aspects and not on what the warming is doing to our agriculture, water supplies, plant and animal life, public health, and weather. For years, the fossil fuel industry has lobbied the media to accord the same weight to a handful of global warming skeptics that it accords the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- more than 2,000 scientists from 100 countries reporting to the United Nations. Today, with the science having become even more robust -- and the impacts as visible as the megastorm that covered much of the Gulf of Mexico -- the press bears a share of the guilt for our self-induced destruction with the oil and coal industries. As a Bostonian, I am afraid that the coming winter will -- like last winter -- be unusually short and devastatingly severe. At the beginning of 2005, a deadly ice storm knocked out power to thousands of people in New England and dropped a record-setting 42.2 inches of snow on Boston. The conventional name of the month was January. Its real name is global warming. Ross Gelbspan is author of 'The Heat Is On" and 'Boiling Point." About The Author Ross Gelbspan retired several years ago after a 31-year career in journalism as a reporter. As special projects editor of The Boston Globe, he conceived, directed and edited a series of articles that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1984. In 1995, he co-authored an article on climate change and the spread of infectious disease which appeared in the Outlook Section of The Washington Post. His article on climate change, which appeared on the cover of the December, 1995 issue of Harper's Magazine, was a finalist for a National Magazine Award. In 1997, he published a book on the global climate crisis titled: The Heat Is On: The High Stakes Battle Over Earth's Threatened Climate (Perseus Books). The book has also been published in German, Italian and Portuguese. (An updated U.S. paperback edition was published in 1998 (Perseus Books), as: The Heat Is On: the Climate Crisis, the Cover-Up, the Prescription). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jewen at bellsouth.net Fri Sep 2 12:52:55 2005 From: jewen at bellsouth.net (Julia Ewen) Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 12:52:55 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: NYTimes.com: The Storm After the Storm Message-ID: <006001c5afde$c4266be0$6101a8c0@amd1gig> E-Mail ThisPlease take time to read this very thoughtful perspective on the Gulf Coast/New Orleans tragedy. Just before I received this a related thought had occurred to me: We are seeing what we are seeing in New Orleans in terms of lawless violence and looting because "normal" society has largely abandoned it prior to the storm hitting. I don't mean that New Orleans or the people suddenly turned into something they were not. The people , irrespective of color or monetary class, who are engaging in the violence were obscured from our daily perception by the daily ordinary life of working people and middle class people going about taking care of business, family and community. When those people left, we got to see what those "outside" are aware of all the time: that underneath our great American Dream-come-true, there is always this dark underside. My awareness was triggered by the news that signficant numbers (20-40 percent) of New Orleans police had deserted as of Wednesday, taking off their uniforms and melting into the general population, presumably taking their arms with them. The N O police department is notorious for officers playing both sides of the street, taking pay or even taking part with criminals in illegal enterprises. What happened yesterday was that the "protective cover" had vanished, and I saw what I was never meant to see and frankly do not want to see. Lest we have the illusion that OUR city would be different, let us not kid ourselves. I am keenly aware that my pacifist witness is very easy among others of like mind and like means to exercise it. I am asking myself, how would my faith and principles stand up when isolated in such a "society" as was left behind in New Orleans. It also makes me think about how painful it would be if my entire country were in this state--for that is what war does to some countries--particularly small ones. This kind of devastation prevails and nobody has the means to relieve each other, even where the loving intention to do so remains alive...It is more than I can bear to look at New Orleans, so like my own home, suffering so. I have to turn away from the news after 10 minutes or so. I need to acquire some humility in how I express a witness to people involved in disasters, natural or caused by human conflict. It is daunting to consider that at this moment the good news is that people in New Orleans are doing their best, and the bad news is that people in New Orleans are doing their best. And that this might be as good as it ever gets in a certain lightless strata in all our cities...There was a sign displayed in New Orleans just before the storm hit, saying "Pray for New Orleans". I did and am doing so. I now realise that in praying for New Orleans, we pray for ourselves. New Orleans has shown us what we need to see about our own communities, and do not or will not. Julia ----- Original Message ----- From: jewen at micronetsystems.net To: jewen at micronetsystems.net Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 12:24 PM Subject: NYTimes.com: The Storm After the Storm This page was sent to you by: jewen at micronetsystems.net OPINION | September 1, 2005 Op-Ed Columnist: The Storm After the Storm By DAVID BROOKS Floods wash away the surface of society and expose the underlying power structures and injustices. 1. Editorial: Waiting for a Leader 2. Op-Ed Columnist: A Can't-Do Government 3. Op-Ed Columnist: The Storm After the Storm 4. Basics: How to Make Phone Calls Without a Telephone 5. The Victims: From Margins of Society to Center of the Tragedy » Go to Complete List Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jewen at bellsouth.net Fri Sep 2 12:54:18 2005 From: jewen at bellsouth.net (Julia Ewen) Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 12:54:18 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: NYTimes.com: A Can't-Do Government Message-ID: <006a01c5afde$f5669b30$6101a8c0@amd1gig> E-Mail ThisLink to NYTimes columnist Krugman on the Bush Administration's literally selling N O down the river to divert money to Iraq. ----- Original Message ----- From: jewen at micronetsystems.net To: jewen at micronetsystems.net Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 12:20 PM Subject: NYTimes.com: A Can't-Do Government This page was sent to you by: jewen at micronetsystems.net OPINION | September 2, 2005 Op-Ed Columnist: A Can't-Do Government By PAUL KRUGMAN America, once famous for its can-do attitude, now has a can't-do government that makes excuses instead of doing its job. 1. Editorial: Waiting for a Leader 2. Op-Ed Columnist: A Can't-Do Government 3. Op-Ed Columnist: The Storm After the Storm 4. Basics: How to Make Phone Calls Without a Telephone 5. The Victims: From Margins of Society to Center of the Tragedy » Go to Complete List Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jewen at bellsouth.net Fri Sep 2 12:55:16 2005 From: jewen at bellsouth.net (Julia Ewen) Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 12:55:16 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: NYTimes.com: From Margins of Society to Center of the Tragedy Message-ID: <007401c5afdf$1803fed0$6101a8c0@amd1gig> E-Mail ThisThe demographics of disaster: ----- Original Message ----- From: jewen at micronetsystems.net To: jewen at micronetsystems.net Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 12:25 PM Subject: NYTimes.com: From Margins of Society to Center of the Tragedy This page was sent to you by: jewen at micronetsystems.net NATIONAL / NATIONAL SPECIAL | September 2, 2005 The Victims: From Margins of Society to Center of the Tragedy By DAVID GONZALEZ Many African-American leaders note that many of those still stuck at the center of the tragedy are largely black and poor. 1. Editorial: Waiting for a Leader 2. Op-Ed Columnist: A Can't-Do Government 3. Op-Ed Columnist: The Storm After the Storm 4. Basics: How to Make Phone Calls Without a Telephone 5. The Victims: From Margins of Society to Center of the Tragedy » Go to Complete List Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moriah at preferred.com Sat Sep 3 17:18:49 2005 From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun) Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 17:18:49 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: [cfm] New Orleans Relief Message-ID: <043801c5b0dd$5d716260$6464a2c6@abc> Friends -- a little more information about the Louisiana meetings in Free Polazzo's message. ^o^ \_/ Mary Calhoun Foxfire FM ----- Original Message ----- To: cfm at palmettofriends.org Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 3:39 PM Subject: [cfm] New Orleans Relief The contact information for the New Orleans meeting is: Sunday meeting for worship: Time of worship: 921 S Carrollton Ave New Orleans, LA, 70118-1143 (504)885-1223 fmno.quaker.org If they are underwater, the next nearest meeting is: BATON ROUGE FRIENDS MEETING Baton Rouge, LA Sunday meeting for worship: Time of worship: 2303 Government St The Red Shoes Baton Rouge, LA, 70806 http://www.batonrougefriends.net/ 11:30 a.m. 69.0 mi (111 km) away -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Cfm mailing list Cfm at palmettofriends.org http://palmettofriends.org/mailman/listinfo/cfm_palmettofriends.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moriah at preferred.com Sat Sep 3 19:13:05 2005 From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun) Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 19:13:05 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] IMP^o^ 194 list-serve archives Message-ID: <043b01c5b0dd$5f2ef0e0$6464a2c6@abc> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IMP ^o^ Bulletin 194 Reading SAYMA list-server messages... ....without being subscribed ......................................................................... http://kitenet.net/pipermail/sayma/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (from the Administrative Assistant) <|> A f/Friend has asked if it's possible to read past postings to SAYMA's list-serve at a site on the internet. <|> It is. The list-serve has an archive at http://kitenet.net/pipermail/sayma/ <|> There is also an archives link at the list-serve's public information page (where one goes to subscribe) http://kitenet.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sayma <|> Any questions, please contact -- Mary Calhoun, List Administrator AdminAsst at sayma.org, 276/ 628-5852 POB 2191, Abingdon VA 24212-2191 ~~~~~~ end ^o^ ~~~~~~ 1stpost 090305 ~~~~~ _______________________________________ IMP ^o^ ... "Information Made Present" is a bulletin service of the SAYMA office to provide practical details to our geographically-challenged Yearly Meeting via our list-server: semi-official information, bulletins that you can print, post, announce, publish, or pass around. Please address questions, corrections and additions to AdminAsst at sayma.org, 276-628-5852 (machine; in-person Tu/Th 5-7:30p), or SAYMA Admin Asst, PO Box 2191, Abingdon, VA 24212-2191. Thank you! ^o^ ----------------------------------------------------- To receive IMP^o^ bulletins, subscribe to the list server, sayma at kitenet.net. You can subscribe on the web at http://kitenet.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sayma. ------------------------------------------------------ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moriah at preferred.com Sat Sep 3 19:36:29 2005 From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun) Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 19:36:29 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: [cfm] New Orleans Relief Message-ID: <054a01c5b0e7$b9c29c00$6464a2c6@abc> One Friend's idea about how to help... Mary Calhoun Foxfire FM ----- Original Message ----- From: James Hebert To: cfm at palmettofriends.org Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2005 8:01 AM Subject: Re: [cfm] New Orleans Relief Friends: Many people are displaced. The major medical school and schools of public health in Louisiana will not be fully operational for 6 months or more. Many of those people, who have chosen to devote their lives to improving the publics' health, are now faced with careers that are in dire risk (e.g., things like -80oC freezers losing power for days and with it years, indeed decades, of painstaking work going literally to waste). Adversity, in particular the kinds of hardship that any mortal can suffer (irrespective of politicians role in creating, or not responding appropriately to, the disaster), can give people the fire to really make a difference. I do not know if living in desperate situations and getting hepatitis, malaria, dengue fever, etc., etc., in the process has given me extra fortitude. I suspect so, though. As a real, tangible way to help folks who share most of our values, I have offered to provide space and a good, collaborative research environment for to up to 3 faculty and 5 students from Tulane/ LSU. I do not know if anyone will take me up on this offer - but if they do, we will need housing for these people. Please consider helping out. I will keep you posted. Sincerely, James NOTE THAT THE CONTACT INFORMATION HAS CHANGED ************************************************************* James R. Hebert, MSPH, ScD, Professor Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina Director, Statewide Cancer Prevention & Control Program Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of SC, Charleston Contact: Cancer Prevention and Control Program 2221 Devine Street Columbia, SC 29208 Telephone: (803) 734-4489 Fax: (803) 734-5259 e-mail: jhebert at sc.edu ************************************************************* "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron." --- Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 - 1969). >From a speech before the American Society of Newspaper Editors 16 April 1963 ________________________________________ Cfm mailing list Cfm at palmettofriends.org http://palmettofriends.org/mailman/listinfo/cfm_palmettofriends.org ________________________________________ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bright_crow at mindspring.com Sat Sep 3 22:23:06 2005 From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Mike Shell) Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 22:23:06 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: Quaker service organization commits $1m in aid to Katrina survivors Message-ID: <11988348.1125800586597.JavaMail.root@mswamui-valley.atl.sa.earthlink.net> AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE COMMITS ONE MILLION DOLLARS IN IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE FOR SURVIVORS OF HURRICANE KATRINA Philadelphia, PA – September 2 — The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker humanitarian relief organization, today earmarked a million dollars in immediate assistance for survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Anticipating what may be one of the largest U.S. relief operations in its history, AFSC has activated its emergency response team to assess critical needs in the region and to determine the most effective and efficient methods of service delivery. Staff in the southeastern region will coordinate with Friends organizations and other groups in the area and national outreach to key Quaker organizations has begun. AFSC general secretary Mary Ellen McNish expressed particular concern about vulnerable populations – the poor, elderly, and immigrant communities – who may have borne the brunt of the hurricane's wrath. Earlier this week, the Service Committee also designated proceeds from its Crisis Fund to assist the thousands of homeless and displaced people affected by the disaster. “Families who were struggling prior to the disaster have been dealt a knockout blow,” McNish states. “Thousands have been left homeless and without food, water and other critical necessities.” “Natural disasters, like Hurricane Katrina, tend to intensify inequalities that existed prior to their occurrence,” McNish adds. “The sheer scale of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation is magnified by its catastrophic impact on the poor, the elderly – people who were forced to remain in harms way because they have no place to go or were without financial means to leave the area.” Backed by an 87-year history of humanitarian work, the American Friends Service Committee has provided crucial, life-saving assistance to people struggling for survival whether caught in the crossfire of war or suffering the horrors of earthquake or famine. The Service Committee is a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, accepting on behalf of Quakers worldwide for humanitarian relief efforts. AFSC helps those who are suffering without regard to their religious, ethnic, or political affiliation. Funds raised in recent AFSC relief efforts helped in the following ways: Tsunami relief for devastated areas of Indonesia, including setting up health stations — complete with medical personnel, equipment and supplies —humanitarian teams and transit posts in the Aceh Province; Drilling emergency wells, setting up water treatment equipment and portable water tanks in devastated areas of Iraq, Sending medical supplies to aid victims of last year’s train explosion in North Korea. Aid to immigrant farm and nursery workers, and decent housing for low-income residents in South Florida after Hurricane Andrew Long-term recovery and development projects for flood disaster victims and rural farmers in Iowa “Working collaboratively to relieve pain and suffering has been a major focus of the Service Committee’s highly regarded international affairs work,” McNish explains. “The key is to identify approaches that the people who have been most affected feel are vitally needed and will strengthen the community as a whole.” Donations to the AFSC Crisis Fund should be made payable and be sent to AFSC Development, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102. To contribute via Visa or MasterCard, call 1-888-588-2372, ext. 1, or through the AFSC website at http://www.afsc.org # # # The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice. ------------------------->X<---------------------------------- From bright_crow at mindspring.com Sat Sep 3 23:16:04 2005 From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Mike Shell) Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 23:16:04 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [saymaListserv] FWD: "United States of Shame," by Maureen Dowd Message-ID: <22764830.1125803765205.JavaMail.root@mswamui-valley.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Friends, Firm in my Quaker convincement, I am committed to the truth that God's work in the world transcends the work of politics and of governments. However, I need to speak what follows, and to ask for prayerful responses from other Friends. I have been conscientiously opposed to the Bush Administration since the 2000 campaign began; more so since I watched the Bush campaign steal the Florida vote; and more so still since I heard President Bush's first words of warmongering on September 11, 2001. I believe this Administration is guilty of war crimes and terrorism abroad, of wilfully subverting the Constitution at home. Today, in the NEW YORK TIMES http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/03/opinion/03dowd.html , Maureen Dowd summarizes her research on the Bush Administration's negligent undermining of the safety of lives and property in New Oreleans before Hurrican Katrina, and it's continued negligence since the hurricane. Her piece, which echos the one published by Molly Ivins in the CHICAGO TRIBUNE on September 1st http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0901-26.htm , is the strongest indictment I have seen yet against this Administration. I will not be able to attend the march on Washington on September 24th, but I urge Friends to support that effort with rallies and vigils throughout the country. I believe Americans have a moral obligation to undo this government--both parties, if necessary--and to find leaders who will act on behalf of human life instead of capital. Blessed Be, Michael <><><><><><><><><><><><><> NEW YORK TIMES September 3, 2005 United States of Shame By MAUREEN DOWD Stuff happens. And when you combine limited government with incompetent government, lethal stuff happens. America is once more plunged into a snake pit of anarchy, death, looting, raping, marauding thugs, suffering innocents, a shattered infrastructure, a gutted police force, insufficient troop levels and criminally negligent government planning. But this time it's happening in America. W. drove his budget-cutting Chevy to the levee, and it wasn't dry. Bye, bye, American lives. "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," he told Diane Sawyer. Shirt-sleeves rolled up, W. finally landed in Hell yesterday and chuckled about his wild boozing days in "the great city" of N'Awlins. He was clearly moved. "You know, I'm going to fly out of here in a minute," he said on the runway at the New Orleans International Airport, "but I want you to know that I'm not going to forget what I've seen." Out of the cameras' range, and avoided by W., was a convoy of thousands of sick and dying people, some sprawled on the floor or dumped on baggage carousels at a makeshift M*A*S*H unit inside the terminal. Why does this self-styled "can do" president always lapse into such lame "who could have known?" excuses. Who on earth could have known that Osama bin Laden wanted to attack us by flying planes into buildings? Any official who bothered to read the trellis of pre-9/11 intelligence briefs. Who on earth could have known that an American invasion of Iraq would spawn a brutal insurgency, terrorist recruiting boom and possible civil war? Any official who bothered to read the C.I.A.'s prewar reports. Who on earth could have known that New Orleans's sinking levees were at risk from a strong hurricane? Anybody who bothered to read the endless warnings over the years about the Big Easy's uneasy fishbowl. In June 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, fretted to The Times-Picayune in New Orleans: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us." Not only was the money depleted by the Bush folly in Iraq; 30 percent of the National Guard and about half its equipment are in Iraq. Ron Fournier of The Associated Press reported that the Army Corps of Engineers asked for $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans last year. The White House carved it to about $40 million. But President Bush and Congress agreed to a $286.4 billion pork-filled highway bill with 6,000 pet projects, including a $231 million bridge for a small, uninhabited Alaskan island. Just last year, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials practiced how they would respond to a fake hurricane that caused floods and stranded New Orleans residents. Imagine the feeble FEMA's response to Katrina if they had not prepared. Michael Brown, the blithering idiot in charge of FEMA - a job he trained for by running something called the International Arabian Horse Association - admitted he didn't know until Thursday that there were 15,000 desperate, dehydrated, hungry, angry, dying victims of Katrina in the New Orleans Convention Center. Was he sacked instantly? No, our tone-deaf president hailed him in Mobile, Ala., yesterday: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." It would be one thing if President Bush and his inner circle - Dick Cheney was vacationing in Wyoming; Condi Rice was shoe shopping at Ferragamo's on Fifth Avenue and attended "Spamalot" before bloggers chased her back to Washington; and Andy Card was off in Maine - lacked empathy but could get the job done. But it is a chilling lack of empathy combined with a stunning lack of efficiency that could make this administration implode. When the president and vice president rashly shook off our allies and our respect for international law to pursue a war built on lies, when they sanctioned torture, they shook the faith of the world in American ideals. When they were deaf for so long to the horrific misery and cries for help of the victims in New Orleans - most of them poor and black, like those stuck at the back of the evacuation line yesterday while 700 guests and employees of the Hyatt Hotel were bused out first - they shook the faith of all Americans in American ideals. And made us ashamed. Who are we if we can't take care of our own? E-mail: liberties at nytimes.com Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company From bright_crow at mindspring.com Mon Sep 5 10:06:42 2005 From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Mike Shell) Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 10:06:42 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: Timeline of Bush decisions that led to the New Oreleans disaster Message-ID: <22475184.1125929202935.JavaMail.root@mswamui-andean.atl.sa.earthlink.net> -----Forwarded Message----- From: Saralee Hamilton Sent: Sep 4, 2005 2:09 PM To: Joyce Miller , Michael Austin Shell Subject: Timeline of Bush decisions that led to this FYI, Mike -----Original Message----- CHRONOLOGY.... Here's a timeline that outlines the fate of both FEMA and flood control projects in New Orleans under the Bush administration: January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from Texas, as head of FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous experience in disaster management. April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush administration's goal of privatizing much of FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be downsized: "Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program...." he said. "Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level." 2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country." December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who, like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management. March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of terrorism. 2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA's preparation and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery. Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would think we would get maximum consideration....This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified for it." June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay." June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes. August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues with his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden. A crony with no relevant experience was installed as head of FEMA. Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were slashed even though it was known to be one of the top three risks in the country. FEMA was deliberately downsized as part of the Bush administration's conservative agenda to reduce the role of government. After DHS was created, FEMA's preparation and planning functions were taken away. Actions have consequences. No one could predict that a hurricane the size of Katrina would hit this year, but the slow federal response when it did happen was no accident. It was the result of four years of deliberate Republican policy and budget choices that favor ideology and partisan loyalty at the expense of operational competence. It's the Bush administration in a nutshell. -- Henry Breitrose Professor of Communication Department of Communication Stanford University From pennywright at earthlink.net Mon Sep 5 11:19:52 2005 From: pennywright at earthlink.net (Penelope Wright) Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 10:19:52 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: [cfm] New Orleans Relief References: <043801c5b0dd$5d716260$6464a2c6@abc> Message-ID: <005001c5b22d$44596970$bb7ed942@user2ih5nie4yp> The clerk of New Orleans Meeting, Dorian Hastings and her son Demitri were members of Nashville Meeting before going to New Orleans. They have return to Nashville and will be here until way opens for the next part of their lives. Dorian says that as far as she knows the rest of NO meeting members are safe but out of NO. I understand that Baton Rouge Friends are in good condition and working on relief for those less fortunate. Penelope Wright Nashville MM ----- Original Message ----- From: Mary Calhoun To: sayma Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2005 4:18 PM Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: [cfm] New Orleans Relief Friends -- a little more information about the Louisiana meetings in Free Polazzo's message. ^o^ \_/ Mary Calhoun Foxfire FM ----- Original Message ----- To: cfm at palmettofriends.org Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 3:39 PM Subject: [cfm] New Orleans Relief The contact information for the New Orleans meeting is: Sunday meeting for worship: Time of worship: 921 S Carrollton Ave New Orleans, LA, 70118-1143 (504)885-1223 fmno.quaker.org If they are underwater, the next nearest meeting is: BATON ROUGE FRIENDS MEETING Baton Rouge, LA Sunday meeting for worship: Time of worship: 2303 Government St The Red Shoes Baton Rouge, LA, 70806 http://www.batonrougefriends.net/ 11:30 a.m. 69.0 mi (111 km) away ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Cfm mailing list Cfm at palmettofriends.org http://palmettofriends.org/mailman/listinfo/cfm_palmettofriends.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association mailing list posting address: sayma at kitenet.net subscribe/unsubscribe: http://kitenet.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sayma -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jhminshall at comcast.net Mon Sep 5 15:08:53 2005 From: jhminshall at comcast.net (Janet Minshall) Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 15:08:53 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fwd: The Quaker Economist, Letter No. 131 Message-ID: Dear SAYMA and Atlanta Meeting Friends, Below is a letter from Loren Cobb whose job is and has been training in disaster relief. He is also the current editor of The Quaker Economist, a publication founded by Friend Jack Powelson of Boulder, Colorado Meeting. I am sending this out because it relates to every testimony Friends hold and to the central teachings of Jesus, the prophets, and the apostles. Janet Minshall Note: This letter also appears on the web, with pictures, links, and better formatting. http://tqe.quaker.org/2005/TQE131-EN-Disasters.html PREPARING FOR DISASTER The Use of Exercises in the Aftermath of Katrina Dear Friends, How does a nation prepare for possible disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes? I have some experience in this, which I would like to share. DISASTER RELIEF EXERCISES Between 1997 and 2002, I had the pleasure of participating in four international civil/military exercises in disaster relief. They occurred in El Salvador, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and Honduras. Each was attended by delegations from up to 20 nations of the Caribbean and Central America. The small island nations of the region sent only teams of civilian disaster response personnel, the larger countries sent much larger contingents, including battalion-level military commands as well as high-level disaster response leaders. Some of the larger aid agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also attended, including the Red Cross, OFDA, Salvation Army, and an NGO umbrella group known as InterAction. Their role was vital, of course, but they were there for another reason: a key purpose of these exercises was to test civil-military communications during a major disaster. My role in these exercises was to run a computer simulation model [1] every evening, to determine the social and economic effects, positive and negative, of all actions taken by the civilian and military decision-makers in their responses to the events in the scenario. Every morning we would inform the players of the new situation, based on the effects of their actions and new events in the scenario, and play would commence again. The typical scenario included both a Category 5 hurricane and a Richter 7 earthquake, striking nearly simultaneously on opposite sides of the Caribbean. The expected responses included standing up one or more Joint Task Forces, and then coordinating the actions of all civilian, local, provincial, national, international, and military players. Needless to say, the coordination part was by far the most difficult. To fulfill my role in these exercises, I had to speak several times a day with every single team, listening to their ideas and frustrations, asking a lot of detailed questions, and taking notes on all their actions and inactions. It is quite possible that I was in fact the only person who spoke with every team, every day. LESSONS LEARNED Exercises are not successful unless some valuable lessons are learned and remembered. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, there had been FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) exercises from which lessons should have been learned. In 2004, for example, there was a FEMA exercise in which a slow-moving Category 3 hurricane named Pam hit New Orleans. Levees overflowed, the city of New Orleans flooded, and 100,000 "low-mobility" people did not or could not evacuate. Upwards of 25,000 "died" in the exercise, providing a spookily prescient glimpse into the dark realities of Hurricane Katrina. The Lessons of Hurricane Pam were not learned by the right people. Why? The following is from an interview conducted by Lisa Myers of NBC News, with Ivor van Heerdon, the Louisiana State University hurricane researcher who directed the exercise: ------------------------------ Van Heerden says the federal government didn't take it seriously. "FEMA officials wouldn't listen to me," he says. "Those Corps of Engineers people giggled in the back of the room when we tried to present information." One recommendation from the exercise: Tent cities should be prepared for the homeless. "Their response to me was: 'Americans don't live in tents,' and that was about it," recalls Van Heerden. ------------------------------ It is certainly true that few government agencies, apart from the military, use exercises to test policies and plans. Corporations and NGOs are similarly unaccustomed to this practice. In contrast, the US military seems to make a religion of exercises. The typical military exercise is preceded by months of detailed preparation. During the game each participant takes his or her role seriously, seldom or never stepping out of character to question the scenario or conduct of the exercise. All questions and problems are saved for the all-important final meeting, known as the "after-action review" (AAR). Meanwhile an independent AAR team has been laboring in the background, observing every aspect of the exercise and making detailed notes on what they think went right and wrong. The final AAR meeting is a no-holds-barred examination of the entire exercise, attended by all participants. Afterwards, the AAR team writes up a Lessons Learned document, which is the means for transmitting the experiences gained in the exercise to people who may, in the future, need to know what happened. In a word, the Lessons Learned document becomes the institutional memory of the exercise. That is how it should work, in theory. In practice, based on the 15 major peacekeeping and disaster relief exercises that I have attended, exercises frequently fall short of the mark. For example: * the design of the exercise often fails to include breakdowns in communications, * the after-action review is seldom as bluntly honest as it needs to be for lessons to emerge, * the Lessons Learned document is not circulated to the offices and agencies who need it most, and * even when circulated, the Lessons Learned are not read by the people who most need to understand the issues. Despite all of these problems, the technology of anticipatory exercises is still our best means for preparing for future disasters. We need more exercises, we need to design and execute them with great care, and above all our institutions need to learn their lessons. QUESTIONS OF SCALE In one five-nation peacekeeping exercise I attended, the scenario specified an event in which several large bombs totally destroyed the water purification system of a city of half a million people, the size of New Orleans. I grabbed the role player for the mayor, and we set off to inform the battalion commander in charge of the region of what had happened. Battalion headquarters was a picture of intense military efficiency. An officer was updating the huge situation map on the wall, the command staff was meeting in hushed tones around a table, messengers were dashing in and out. The executive officer greeted us. The mayor handed him the scripted description of the event and, speaking through an interpreter, asked him for help. The commanding officer was summoned, and we sat down. "Your primary need is for clean water?" asked the commander. "Yes. The river is polluted, there is cholera upstream from us, and we have no other source of potable water," explained the mayor. "Right. I have four water trucks. We will start trucking in clean water beginning tomorrow morning. I need the city to establish a delivery point and a way to distribute the water that we bring in." As a response to an emergency situation, this commander's concept was quite typical. He looked at what he could offer, and did his best with the resources on hand. From his point of view, he had no more resources to offer. He had done his absolute best. He reported both the event and his response up the chain of command, to the brigade of which his unit was a part, and that was that. There are several things wrong with this all-too-common way of responding. The first and most important is a question of scale. Four 1000-gallon trucks to supply a city of 500,000 with potable water? Obviously this was going to be grossly insufficient. The commander had not correctly compared the of scale of need to the scale of his resources, and had not been able to visualize the horror and magnitude of the cholera epidemic lurking in his future. The second error is that he never contemplated civilian solutions. The correct response would have been to signal an emergency situation to the Humanitarian Operations Center, so that the civilian NGOs responsible for public water and health could respond on the scale necessary, with backup from larger military units. A light infantry battalion cannot overcome a combined water and health emergency in a city of that size [2]. Similar failures to cope with questions of scale and coordination pervaded the US response to the possibility of a large Category 5 hurricane. As it happened, the swath of Katrina's destruction encompassed 90,000 square miles of territory, including millions of people and a major port city. The planned scale of FEMA response was wholly inadequate to the task posed by Katrina, even though the scale was clearly evident in the Hurricane Pam exercise of last year. Confronted with problems on a scale for which they had no plans, FEMA delayed for days while additional resources were found and mobilized. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Seeing into the future is difficult at best, and when we are concerned with the future possibilities of rare but catastrophic events it becomes harder still. Yet we do have a tool which has proven its worth: detailed anticipatory exercises. At the risk of appearing to promote my own specialty, I strongly recommend the following: * that we run even more exercises, at every level of government and within civilian NGOs, * that we take these exercises very seriously, for what they have to say, * that we take care to distribute the lessons learned very widely, * that we insist that our public officials address the shortcomings revealed by these exercises. As others have pointed out, how can the USA expect to cope with the next city-wide or regional emergency, whether terrorist or natural, if we cannot cope with a Category 5 hurricane hitting a large city? There is simply no excuse for the feeble and tardy response of FEMA, after four long years of thought and preparation for terrorist attacks. Sincerely your friend, Loren Cobb Notes: [1] The simulation is known as DEXES, written by me in 1995 for use in exercises for UN peacekeeping, disaster relief operations, and complex humanitarian emergencies. It is a dynamic simulation of refugee flows, public health, public opinion, the economy, and ethnic relations in post-civil war societies. DEXES is now considered obsolescent, having been superseded by better technology. [2] If the light infantry battalion in question were from the US, then it would not have had even one water truck. In the US Army, water, food, fuel, medical stations, and repair services are supplied by a forward support battalion, working at the brigade level. Even a forward support battalion would have found it very difficult to meet the needs of the entire city in addition to its own troops. On the other hand, Oxfam, a well-respected NGO that specializes in water supply and systems repair, could have met the need. To obtain Oxfam's help in a complex humanitarian disaster, military requests should be channeled through a Humanitarian Operations Center (also known as a CMOC). By whatever name, this center is the vital nexus for civil-military liaison and coordination in peacekeeping and disaster relief operations. =================================================== READERS' COMMENTS ON TQE 130, on Hurricane Katrina (Please send comments on this or any TQE, at any time. Selected comments will be appended to the appropriate letter as they are received. Please indicate in the subject line the number of the Letter to which you refer! Our email address is tqe-comment at quaker.org. All published letters will be edited for spelling, grammar, clarity, and brevity. Please mention your home meeting, church, synagogue (or ...), and where you live.) ------------------------------ There are 11,000 members of the Louisiana National Guard. Approximately 3,000 of them are in Iraq. The idea that the war in Iraq is affecting the ability of the guard in Louisiana to deal with this catastrophe, while popular on left wing web sites, is, to put it bluntly, crap. -- Peter Bonis. Reply: It seems that you did not read the premise of my remark about the need to recall troops from Iraq. It was written on Sunday, based on the worst-case scenario, not the present situation we see today. I specifically stated those assumptions, in the sentence immediately prior to the point that attracted your ire. They were: "... tens of thousands dead in New Orleans, the city flooded and reduced to an alligator-infested swamp, the Port of Louisiana wrecked, the Mississippi River diverted into the Atchafalaya basin, and the economy of the entire Midwestern section of the USA choked for lack of passage to the Gulf of Mexico." In the present circumstance, the Mississippi River did not jump its banks, commerce will not be choked, and the mortality rate is ten to twenty times lower than the worst-case scenario. This is quite different from the specific situation that I was discussing. I would agree that Louisiana National Guard units in Iraq are unlikely to be recalled under the present circumstances. The need is being met by guard units from other states. [Reference] -- Loren ------------------------------ Has anyone heard the status of Friends in New Orleans? Please let us know if you hear. [If you write to tqe-comment at quaker.org then this news will be published on this site. -- editor] --Craig, Greensboro (NC) Friendship Monthly Meeting. ------------------------------ The Manilow Fund and Barry Manilow are matching donations for Hurricane Katrina victims, $2 for every $1 donated. -- Ted Goertzel, Camden, NJ. ------------------------------ I note that the Manilow fund is not listed with the organization Give.org, which means that they do not provide information to the alliance on how their money is spent. They are also not listed on any currently existing lists of organizations that have officially pledged to give money or offer assistance for victims. This does not mean that your money wouldn't be tripled, and that it wouldn't reach the victims, but rather that you have no assurances you are not falling victim to a typical Internet scam. The Manilow fund has chosen not to publish information about how they spend their money, so you will never know what happened to your money. Why take a risk when there are so many legitimate organizations? -- Kenneth Leonard. ------------------------------ Louise asks how we can help. I checked the NPR site, which referred me to FEMA, which listed various organizations including Church World Service (of which Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and Friends United Meeting are both members). AFSC is also accepting financial contributions, but I suggest we work with a primary agency such as CWS rather than everyone sending help and money to different places. Go to the contribution page of Church World Service, or use this USPS address: Church World Service, Hurricane Katrina Response, PO Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515. -- Gene Hillman ------------------------------ There are many agencies needing financial support also, such as the American Red Cross, which has a wonderful history of providing support in times of need. I don't think we should limit where financial assistance should go. Each agency has its needs and its own area of expertise for providing that assistance. Just a thought. -- Mary Anne Crowley. ------------------------------ I'm writing to convey some information and thoughts to Friends who are concerned with developing an appropriate and useful response to Katrina, and to sharing information on Friends in the affected area. Keeping tabs on Friends in the area: I just got off the phone with Cora Jordan of the Oxford, MS, meeting who seems to know every Quaker in three states, and she reports that many but not all Friends in the area are accounted for. Somewhere in the conversation, I think I agreed to act as a central contact. Please, if you know of people or meetings in the area, send me names, phone numbers, e-mails, whatever else and I'll get to work on a roll call. Many people are inquiring about how to help. Appropriately, I believe, there is a widespread recognition that Friends in the area -- so far was we know -- are not in acute need and that our efforts should be directed toward those who are less fortunate. People are making it down to the Mississippi coast carrying supplies (non-perishable food, water, gas, toiletries, etc.) and ferrying people in need of shelter back north. Whether it's safe or advisable to go down, I can't say. But several locally-organized trucks of supplies have gone down and returned without any problem. The locally-apparent problem is the ever-growing community of refugees [they are displaced people, not refugees -- ed.] from the coast and New Orleans. Some colleagues and I are trying to get a handle on numbers and I'll pass that information on once it's clearer, we hope next week. It's clear now, however, that we will face a considerable challenge housing and providing for these people over a period of several weeks to several months, possibly longer. I would recommend that if people are looking to target their efforts (if you're not in a position to drive a load of supplies to the coast), then may well be the best use of resources. In discussions with a couple of disaster relief experts here at the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University, one clear message has come through: Recovery is going to take a long, long time. Gear up for a marathon, not a sprint. -- Humphrey Costello, Starkville (MS) Friends Meeting. =================================================== ABOUT TQE RSVP: Write to "tqe-comment at quaker.org" to comment on this or any TQE Letter. Use as Subject the number of the Letter to which you refer. Permission to publish your comment is presumed unless you say otherwise. Please keep it short, preferably under 100 words. All published letters will be edited for spelling, grammar, clarity, and brevity. Please mention your home meeting, church, synagogue (or ...), and where you live. To subscribe or unsubscribe, at no cost, visit our home page. Each letter of The Quaker Economist is copyright by its author. However, you have permission to forward it to your friends (Quaker or no) as you wish and invite them to subscribe at no cost. Please mention The Quaker Economist as you do so, and tell your recipient how to find us on the web. The Quaker Economist is not designed to persuade anyone of anything (although viewpoints are expressed). Its purpose is to stimulate discussions, both electronically and within Meetings. PUBLISHER AND EDITORIAL BOARD Publisher: Russ Nelson, St. Lawrence Valley (NY) Friends Meeting Editorial Board Loren Cobb, Boulder (CO) Friends Meeting, Editor. Chuck Fager, Director, Quaker House, Fayetteville, NC. Virginia Flagg, San Diego (CA) Friends Meeting. Valerie Ireland, Boulder (CO) Friends Meeting. Jack Powelson, Boulder (CO) Meeting of Friends. Norval Reece, Newtown (PA) Friends Meeting. J.D. von Pischke, a Friend from Reston, VA. John Spears, Princeton (NJ) Friends Meeting. Geoffrey Williams, Attender at New York Fifteenth Street Meeting. Members of the Editorial Board receive Letters several days in advance for their criticisms, but they do not necessarily endorse the contents of any of them. Copyright © 2005 by Loren Cobb. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for non-commercial reproduction. From freepolazzo at comcast.net Mon Sep 5 15:13:23 2005 From: freepolazzo at comcast.net (free polazzo) Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 15:13:23 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Peace Calendar on line Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20050905150741.0324cae8@mail.comcast.net> Hi Friends, I am following up on Chuck Faeger's admonition during his workshop at YM that we need to learn more about peacemakers and remember them. There is a "Peace Calendar" that I recommend to you that comes via email every week on First Day. This weeks is reproduced below. I learn from it every week. This week I found out that Leo Tolstoy was a "convinced" pacifist. Blessings, Free ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ September 4 - September 10 September 6 [] Jane Addams born in Cedarville, Illinois, 1860 In 1889, Addams started Hull House in Chicago – a settlement house that eventually grew to cover two city blocks. She shared the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize. ---------- September 9 [] Leo Tolstoy born in Russia, 1828 Tolstoy was born to aristocratic parents. His own experiences in war caused him to become an outspoken pacifist. ---------- September 10 Jean Vanier born in Geneva, Switzerland, 1928 Vanier, a Canadian, established L’Arche Community, where people care for and learn from the disabled. Originally in France, it is now a worldwide movement. ---------- [] Like what you read today? Share it with a friend. Send them this link: http://www.peacemakersguide.org/peace/calendar/index.htm -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: f559d75.jpg Type: application/octet-stream Size: 2383 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: f559da4.jpg Type: application/octet-stream Size: 3088 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: f559db3.jpg Type: application/octet-stream Size: 5567 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Leo Tolstoy biography, picture and quote.htm Type: application/octet-stream Size: 19941 bytes Desc: not available URL: From nc_stereoman at charter.net Mon Sep 5 15:42:11 2005 From: nc_stereoman at charter.net (steve livingston) Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 15:42:11 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Peace Calendar on line In-Reply-To: <6.2.3.4.2.20050905150741.0324cae8@mail.comcast.net> References: <6.2.3.4.2.20050905150741.0324cae8@mail.comcast.net> Message-ID: <431C9F93.80201@charter.net> Ah, Bruderhof. good one! Thanks Free, I have it bookmarked now. Steve free polazzo wrote: > Hi Friends, > > I am following up on Chuck Faeger's admonition From moriah at preferred.com Mon Sep 5 20:43:58 2005 From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun) Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 20:43:58 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: [AFM Friends] From Baton Rouge Friends re Katrina Message-ID: <050801c5b27c$5fcd3520$6464a2c6@abc> f/Friends -- forwarded from Asheville FM list. Mary Calhoun Foxfire FM ----- Original Message ----- From: Evdavwes at aol.com To: friends at ashevillefriends.org Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2005 8:31 AM Subject: [AFM Friends] From Baton Rouge Friends re Katrina Dear Friends, I sent a message to the email address listed in for Baton Rouge and New Orleans Friends meetings, and got this reply. David &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& In a message dated 9/4/2005 1:20:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time, timefactory at att.net writes: Thank you, David, for your note of care and concern. The response from Friends far and wide has been amazing and I feel so connected to the larger Quaker family. Each note creates another warm glow and I just keep on basking in them! At this time, our primary concern is to simply account for everyone from New Orleans Meeting. We have heard from about half of the regular folks so far. We feel relatively certain that they are all safe, we just don't know where their safe is right now. Once we know more about where everyone is, we will begin to assess the specific needs of the Meeting's individuals. Baton Rouge is okay. Our biggest problems were electrical outages and tree debris everywhere. Some folks also did not have running water for a few days. We all seem to be okay now. Looking forward to visitors at worship tomorrow as four households from New Orleans Meeting are here in BR. An after-the-fact problem has become the huge increase in our population with all the refugees. Grocery stores like WalMart are packed with folks restocking their refrigerators and pantries now that the electricity is on again or church groups buying quantities of food to cook and serve in the shelters. Row after row of shelves are completely empty! The gas lines are long with so many people on the move and also with so many people using gas powered generators. It seems almost surreal...but is, in fact, more real than one can imagine. I will add your email to my list and keep you posted as more develops here. Again, we are wanting to care for our own Meeting folks first but then hope to be able to share some of the offers of support from Friends with the general public. Thanks again for being there for us. In the Light, Pam -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: Evdavwes at aol.com > Dear Friends, > > I know this may not get to you in any timely way, but... > > We in Asheville are praying for you and the people of your area. We haven't > actually discussed hosting some of those who have lost their homes, but I > think friends here would be very happy to share our meeting house as a place to > live for a time. > > Let us know. > > Yours in the light, > > David Clements > > %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% > > David Clements, Evan Richardson, Wesley Clements, Lila Richardson > 43 Vermont Court, #G24 > Asheville, NC 28806 > 828-285-0601 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ friends mailing list friends at ashevillefriends.org http://lists.ashevillefriends.org/mailman/listinfo/friends -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bright_crow at mindspring.com Wed Sep 7 08:02:36 2005 From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Mike Shell) Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 08:02:36 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [saymaListserv] FWD: Times-Picayune, 9/4./05, "FEMA knew storm's potential...." Message-ID: <13548991.1126094557006.JavaMail.root@mswamui-billy.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Friends, This adds to the distress. Michael <><><><><><><><><><><><><> Times-Picayune Sunday, 9/0/05 http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09_04.html 19th article on webpage: FEMA knew storm's potential, Mayfield says Sunday, 4:44 p.m. By Mark Schleifstein Staff writer Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, said Sunday that officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA Director Mike Brown and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, listened in on electronic briefings given by his staff in advance of Hurricane Katrina slamming Louisiana and Mississippi and were advised of the storm's potential deadly effects. Mayfield said the strength of the storm and the potential disaster it could bring were made clear during both the briefings and in formal advisories, which warned of a storm surge capable of overtopping levees in New Orleans and winds strong enough to blow out windows of high-rise buildings. He said the briefings included information on expected wind speed, storm surge, rainfall and the potential for tornados to accompany the storm as it came ashore. "We were briefing them way before landfall," Mayfield said. "It's not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped. "I keep looking back to see if there was anything else we could have done, and I just don't know what it would be," he said. Chertoff told reporters Saturday that government officials had not expected the damaging combination of a powerful hurricane levee breaches that flooded New Orleans. Brown, Mayfield said, is a dedicated public servant. "The question is why he couldn't shake loose the resources that were needed,'' he said. Brown and Chertoff could not be reached for comment on Sunday afternoon. In the days before Katrina hit, Mayfield said, his staff also briefed FEMA, which under the Department of Homeland Security, at FEMA's headquarters in Washington, D.C., its Region 6 office in Dallas and the Region 4 office in Atlanta about the potential effects of the storm. He said all of those briefings were logged in the hurricane center's records. And Mayfield said his staff also participated in the five-day "Hurricane Pam" exercise sponsored by FEMA and the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in July 2004 that assumed a similar storm would hit the city. FEMA's own July 23, 2004, news release announcing the end of that exercise summed up the assumptions they used, which were eerily close to what Katrina delivered: "Hurricane Pam brought sustained winds of 120 mph, up to 20 inches of rain in parts of southeast Louisiana and storm surge that topped levees in the New Orleans area. More than one million residents evacuated and Hurricane Pam destroyed 500,000-600,000 buildings. Emergency officials from 50 parish, state, federal and volunteer organizations faced this scenario during a five-day exercise held this week at the State Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge. "The exercise used realistic weather and damage information developed by the National Weather Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the LSU Hurricane Center and other state and federal agencies to help officials develop joint response plans for a catastrophic hurricane in Louisiana." That plan assumed such a hurricane would result in the opening of 1,000 evacuee shelters that would have to be staffed for 100 days, and a search and rescue operation using 800 people. The storm would create 30 million tons of debris, including 237,000 cubic yards of household hazardous waste. Mayfield said his concern now is that another named storm could hit either New Orleans or the Mississippi Gulf coast, as September is the most active month of the annual hurricane season. "This is like the fourth inning in a nine-inning ballgame," he said. "We know that another one would cause extreme stress on the people who have been hurt by Katrina." Mark Schleifstein can be reached at mersmia at cox.net. From sjpsprout at comcast.net Thu Sep 8 23:16:56 2005 From: sjpsprout at comcast.net (Susan Phelan) Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 22:16:56 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] Katrina Relief Supplies Message-ID: <305a3054a2253f64b3a98fa9c9f86a6c@comcast.net> Greetings, FN/Friends: I saw this on another posting and wanted to pass the information along. Peace, Susan Huntsville Area Friends Meeting FYI~ when you donate hygiene products to Katrina survivors, please make an effort to give items that are specifically made for African-American hair and skin. a friend working at a shelter in Phoenix  told me that this is becoming a an issue  nobody seems to be addressing. the following products are some suitable for black hair and skin. i thought i'd offer up a list of brands/products to make it easier for non African-American angels to help. you can refer to Sally Beauty Supply to see most of the products i'm talking about. i didn't link to everything because it would take too long. you can poke around just to see what the products look like. Hair Brands: Creme of Nature, Motions, At One With Nature, African Pride, Elasta QP, Soft & Beautiful, Luster's, Infusium 23, Organic Root Stimulator, Nexxus, Proclaim, Doo Gro, Ultra Sheen, TCB, All Ways Natural, Dark and Lovely. as a general rule of thumb, shampoos for black hair should have a pearly sheen to them. look for the word "moisturizing" in the name of the product, or somewhere on the bottle for both shampoo and conditioner. i would assume that the majority of folks have either relaxed or pressed (straightened with a hotcomb) hair, so oil is a necessity. i'm pretty sure that it's illegal to mail aerosol cans, so i'd suggest the big mama of hair moisturizer: Luster's Pink Oil Moisturizer. if you buy a big bottle and some of those empty travel sized bottles, it can be rationed out. other hair dressings that are inexpensive and can be shared are: Blue Magic Hair and Scalp Conditioner, VO5, Ultra Sheen Conditioner and Hairdress. also, there will be some people who need curl activator. Right On and Care Free Curl are the brands most drug stores carry. people with braids need braid sheen spray. African Pride and African Royale are two good ones. people with natural hair (like mine) can use the suggested hairdresses, but i personally like using shea butter on my hair (it makes it MUCH easier to comb). i'd also recommend anything with carrot oil or olive oil for natural hair. people with locs need wax. look for products with "lock and twist" in the name, or dread shampoo, like Knotty Boy or DreadHead dread shampoo. combs, brushes, afropicks, barrettes, ponytail holders like these, and black rubber bands and doo rags are critical, too. get wide toothed combs. African-American hair is more fragile than Asian or Caucasian, especially if it's chemically relaxed. The Cricket Ultra Clean is by far the best comb i have ever used on my thick, dense hair. it detangles in minutes and is seamless, so it doesn't cause split ends. and if hair is matted, it's perfect. if you're just shopping at the local drug store, look for those wide toothed combs that are triple dipped on the ends, like this one. Ace hard rubber combs are good for relaxed/pressed hair. get durable afro picks like this one, as little plastic ones will snap easily. look for bristle brushes. vented brushes are no good for our hair. Skin Brands: Triple Lanolin, Black Opal, Ambi, Neutrogena, Nivea, Keri. generally speaking, black skin needs moisture regardless of the skin type (oily, dry, combination, normal). Nivea and Keri are popular because they both have oil in them, which prevents extreme dryness. but i'm thinking that you don't want to get anything too heavy, seeing as showers are probably a rare commodity. i would recommend anything with aloe vera, cocoa butter, olive oil or shea butter. essentially, we can use anything you use. one thing, though. African-American men get razor bumps, which are essentially ingrown hairs. Magic Shaving Powder helps prevent razor bumps, so i would include a can along with shaving cream. Cosmetics Brands: Posner, Black Opal, Milani, Iman, Flori Roberts. there are others particularly formulated for African-American skin tones, but again, generally speaking, we can wear what you wear. just use your discretion. pale pink lipstick probably isn't going to look good on dark skin. stick with plums, browns, reds, and bronzes. eyeshadows can be bright or muted, but again, stay away from pale pallettes. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text/enriched Size: 4451 bytes Desc: not available URL: From bright_crow at mindspring.com Fri Sep 9 07:52:32 2005 From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Mike Shell) Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 07:52:32 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [saymaListserv] Fw: Hurricane Katrina: A Compelling Call "To Do Justice, Love Kindness, and to Walk Humbly" (Micah 6:8) - FCNL Message-ID: <23250774.1126266753252.JavaMail.root@mswamui-billy.atl.sa.earthlink.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From freepolazzo at comcast.net Sat Sep 10 13:33:02 2005 From: freepolazzo at comcast.net (free polazzo) Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 13:33:02 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fwd: NYTimes.com: Some Ways to Prepare for the Absolute Worst Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20050910133131.03336258@mail.comcast.net> Hi Friends, One of the most productive articles to come out of the Katerina mess. Blessings, Free >[] > > >The New York Times > >E-mail This > >This page was sent to you by: freepolazzo at comcast.net > >Message from sender: >Best article to come out of this criss. > >BUSINESS | September 10, 2005 >Your >Money: Some Ways to Prepare for the Absolute Worst >By DAMON DARLIN >Getting ready for the next disaster doesn't seem >so crazy anymore, and survivalist outfitters >have advice on how to be prepared. >[] > >[] > > >Most E-mailed > >1. >The >Former First Lady: Barbara Bush Calls Evacuees Better Off >2. >Op-Ed >Columnist: Neigh to Cronies >3. >Your >Money: Some Ways to Prepare for the Absolute Worst >4. >Op-Ed >Columnist: Point Those Fingers >5. >Op-Ed >Columnist: Osama and Katrina > >» Go to Complete List > > >Do you love NY? Get the insider’s guide to where >to stay, what to do and where to eat. Go to >www.nytimes.com/travel for your NYC Guide now. >Click >here. > > >Copyright >2005 The New York Times >Company | >Privacy Policy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 144d34cd.jpg Type: application/octet-stream Size: 652 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 144d34dd.jpg Type: application/octet-stream Size: 3990 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 144d34ec.jpg Type: application/octet-stream Size: 5979 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 144d34fc.jpg Type: application/octet-stream Size: 3942 bytes Desc: not available URL: From timinathens at yahoo.com Sun Sep 11 14:09:14 2005 From: timinathens at yahoo.com (Tim Johnson) Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 11:09:14 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [saymaListserv] programs for poor face more federal cuts Message-ID: <20050911180914.47077.qmail@web40509.mail.yahoo.com> --------------------------------- September 10, 2005 Republicans Still Plan to Cut SpendingBy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 12:42 a.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans are going ahead with long-standing plans to trim Medicaid, food stamps and other benefits, even though party moderates are balking at cutting programs that aid the poor while hundreds of thousands are homeless from Hurricane Katrina. The amount of savings -- no more than $35 billion spread over five years -- is modest at best, but it is the first time in eight years that Congress has shown any seriousness about reining in the automatic growth of such benefit programs. Republican leaders have decided to delay the budget-cutting effort for at least a few weeks following widespread complaints that the government reacted too slowly in coming to the aid of Katrina's victims. When the effort resumes next month, there's less likelihood it will succeed because of Katrina's affect on the political landscape. The proposed cuts pale when compared to the unprecedented price tag of the Katrina relief and recovery. In the past week alone Congress has appropriated $62 billion to deal with the worst natural disaster in the nation's history. The government is spending more than a $1 billion a day on the relief effort. For the GOP's fiscal conservatives, however, it's as important as ever for lawmakers to take whatever opportunity they can to cut spending. Recent acts by Congress, including a huge highway bill larded with hometown projects, have reinforced Congress' reputation with the GOP base for playing loose with taxpayers' money. ''The reform of government needs to continue,'' said House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa. Cuts are planned for the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled, student loan subsidies for banks, farm subsidies and food stamps, among others. Katrina has helped solidify opposition to them among moderates in both parties. ''At a time when millions are displaced and seeking federal and state assistance, we believe it is inappropriate to move forward on ... a legislative package that would cut funding for Medicaid, food stamps ... housing and education,'' Sens. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., wrote in a letter this week to the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Smith and Snowe's votes are needed if $10 billion in Medicaid cuts are to advance over unified Democratic opposition, and their hesitance puts those cuts in doubt. Democratic leaders say it is folly to cut the very programs that help hurricane and flood victims. ''It makes no sense to consider such a bill at a time when the massive needs of those affected by Hurricane Katrina are still being assessed,'' Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California wrote in a letter to GOP leaders. GOP spending hawks counter that entitlement programs are spiraling out of control and that the pending effort would, according to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg, R-N.H., ''reduce the rate of growth of Medicaid over the next five years from 41 percent to 40 percent -- 1 percent.'' Democrats contend Congress would be better off doing nothing, since a companion plan to extend expiring tax cuts would pad the deficit by $70 billion. The tax cuts include extending cuts on capital gains and dividends taxes, which generally help wealthier taxpayers. Senate Republicans, however, have shelved indefinitely plans for a vote to repeal the estate tax, which would benefit the heirs of multimillionaires. Cutting spending is supposed to be what Republicans like to do best. When the GOP class of 1994 stormed Washington a decade ago, its top priority was to balance the budget by reining in federal spending on government benefit plans like Medicaid and the Medicare program for the elderly. Congress last took on the growth in entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid in 1997. The return of big budget deficits from Bush's tax cuts, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan prompted this year's effort to try again. The proposed $35 billion in cuts is barely a dent, just 3/10ths of 1 percent of a budget predicted to total $14 trillion over the next five years. There's little stomach for stronger action, but conservatives say the precedent is urgently needed for when the Baby Boom generation retires and drastically inflated Medicare and Social Security costs force more cuts. ''It's an important experience for lawmakers to get used to,'' said Heritage Foundation budget analyst Brian Reidl. Not all of the deficit reduction package would come from spending cuts. The Senate Energy Committee, for example, is poised to approve a hotly contested plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. The move would generate $2.4 billion in leasing revenues. Separately, the Commerce panel is poised to raise $4.8 billion or more by authorizing the auction to wireless companies of analog airwaves that TV stations will relinquish when they switch to digital technology. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press Love & truth, agape & satyagraha, Tim Tim Johnson, e-mail: timinathens at yahoo.com "Love is a verb." -- Stephen Covey --------------------------------- Yahoo! for Good Watch the Hurricane Katrina Shelter From The Storm concert -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nc_stereoman at charter.net Sun Sep 11 16:31:01 2005 From: nc_stereoman at charter.net (steve livingston) Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 16:31:01 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] programs for poor face more federal cuts In-Reply-To: <20050911180914.47077.qmail@web40509.mail.yahoo.com> References: <20050911180914.47077.qmail@web40509.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <43249405.6050101@charter.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timinathens at yahoo.com Sun Sep 11 18:22:06 2005 From: timinathens at yahoo.com (Tim Johnson) Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 15:22:06 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [saymaListserv] 9/11 & The Sport of God (Bill Moyers speech) Message-ID: <20050911222206.49273.qmail@web40525.mail.yahoo.com> Published on Friday, September 9, 2005 by CommonDreams.org 9/11 And The Sport of God by Bill Moyers This article is adapted from Bill Moyer's address this week at Union Theological Seminary in New York, where Judith and Bill Moyers received the seminary's highest award, the Union Medal, for their contributions to faith and reason in America. At the Central Baptist Church in Marshall, Texas, where I was baptized in the faith, we believed in a free church in a free state. I still do. My spiritual forbears did not take kindly to living under theocrats who embraced religious liberty for themselves but denied it to others. "Forced worship stinks in God's nostrils," thundered the dissenter Roger Williams as he was banished from Massachusetts for denying Puritan authority over his conscience. Baptists there were a "pitiful negligible minority" but they were agitators for freedom and therefore denounced as "incendiaries of the commonwealth" for holding to their belief in that great democracy of faith - the priesthood of all believers. For refusing to pay tribute to the state religion they were fined, flogged, and exiled. In 1651 the Baptist Obadiah Holmes was given 30 stripes with a three-corded whip after he violated the law and took forbidden communion with another Baptist in Lynn, Massachusetts. His friends offered to pay his fine for his release but he refused. They offered him strong drink to anesthetize the pain of the flogging. Again he refused. It is the love of liberty, he said, "that must free the soul." Such revolutionary ideas made the new nation with its Constitution and Bill of Rights "a haven for the cause of conscience." No longer could magistrates order citizens to support churches they did not attend and recite creeds that they did not believe. No longer would "the loathsome combination of church and state" - as Thomas Jefferson described it - be the settled order. Unlike the Old World that had been wracked with religious wars and persecution, the government of America would take no sides in the religious free-for-all that liberty would make possible and politics would make inevitable. The First Amendment neither inculcates religion nor inoculates against it. Americans could be loyal to the Constitution without being hostile to God, or they could pay no heed to God without fear of being mugged by an official God Squad. It has been a remarkable arrangement that guaranteed "soul freedom." It is at risk now, and the fourth observance of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 is an appropriate time to think about it. Four years ago this week, the poet's prophetic metaphor became real again and "the great dark birds of history" plunged into our lives. They came in the name of God. They came bent on murder and martyrdom. It was as if they rode to earth on the fierce breath of Allah himself, for the sacred scriptures that had nurtured these murderous young men are steeped in images of a violent and vengeful God who wills life for the faithful and horrific torment for unbelievers. Yes, the Koran speaks of mercy and compassion and calls for ethical living. But such passages are no match for the ferocity of instruction found there for waging war for God's sake. The scholar Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer carefully traces this trail of holy violence in his important book, Is Religion Killing Us? [Trinity Press International. 2003]. He highlights many of the verses in the Koran that the Islamic terrorists could have had in their hearts and on their lips four years ago as they moved toward their gruesome rendezvous. As I read some of them, close your eyes and recall the scenes of that bright September morning which began in the bright sun under a blue sky: "Those who believe Fight in the cause of Allah, and Those who reject Faith Fight in the cause of Evil."(4:76) "So We sent against them A furious Wind through days of disaster, that We might Give them a taste of a Penalty of humiliation In this Life; but The Penalty of the Hereafter will be More Humiliating still: And they Will find No help." (41:16) "Then watch thou For the Day That the sky will Bring forth a kind Of smoke (or mist) Plainly visible, Enveloping the people: This will be a Penalty Grievous." (44:10-11) "Did the people of the towns Feel Secure against the coming Of Our Wrath by night While they were asleep? Or else did they feel Secure against its coming in Broad daylight while they Played About (carefree)? Did they then feel secure Against the Plan of Allah? - But no one can feel Secure from the Plan of Allah, except those (Doomed) to ruin." (7:97-99) So the holy warriors came - an airborne death cult, their sights on God's enemies: regular folks, starting the day's routine. One minute they're pulling off their jackets, shaking Sweet n' Low into their coffee, adjusting the height of their chair or a picture of a child or sweetheart or spouse in a frame on their desk, booting up their computer - and in the next, they are engulfed by a horrendous cataclysm. God's will. Poof! But it is never only the number of dead by which terrorists measure their work. It is also the number of the living - the survivors - taken hostage to fear. Their mission was to invade our psyche; get inside our heads - deprive us of trust, faith, and peace of mind: keep us from ever again believing in a safe, just, and peaceful world, and from working to bring that world to pass. The writer Terry Tempest Williams has said "the human heart is the first home of democracy." Fill that heart with fear and people will give up the risks of democracy for the assurances of security; fill that heart with fear and you can shake the house to its foundations. In the days leading up to 9/11 our daughter and husband adopted their first baby. On the morning of September 11th our son-in-law passed through the shadow of the World Trade Center toward his office a few blocks up the street. He arrived as the horrors erupted. He saw the flames, the falling bodies, the devastation. His building was evacuated and for long awful moments he couldn't reach his wife, our daughter, to say he was okay. Even after they connected it wasn't until the next morning that he was able to make it home. Throughout that fearful night our daughter was alone with their new baby. Later she told us that for weeks thereafter she would lie awake at night, wondering where and when it might happen again, going to the computer at three in the morning to check out what she could about bioterrorism, germ warfare, anthrax and the vulnerability of children. The terrorists had violated a mother's deepest space. Who was not vulnerable? That morning Judith and I made it to our office at Channel Thirteen on West 33rd Street just after the second plane struck. Our building was evacuated although the two of us remained with other colleagues to do what we could to keep the station on the air. The next day it was evacuated again because of a bomb scare at the Empire State Building nearby. We had just ended a live broadcast for PBS when security officers swept through and ordered everyone out. This time we left. As we were making our way down the stairs I took Judith's arm and was struck by the thought: Is this the last time I'll touch her? Could what we had begun together a half century ago end here on this dim, bare staircase? I forced the thought from my mind, willed it away, but in the early hours of morning, as I sat at the window of our apartment looking out at the sky, the sinister intruder crept back. Terrorists plant time bombs in our heads, hoping to turn each and every imagination into a private hell governed by our fear of them. They win only if we let them, only if we become like them: vengeful, imperious, intolerant, paranoid. Having lost faith in all else, zealots have nothing left but a holy cause to please a warrior God. They win if we become holy warriors, too; if we kill the innocent as they do; strike first at those who had not struck us; allow our leaders to use the fear of terrorism to make us afraid of the truth; cease to think and reason together, allowing others to tell what's in God's mind. Yes, we are vulnerable to terrorists, but only a shaken faith in ourselves can do us in. So over the past four years I have kept reminding myself of not only the horror but the humanity that was revealed that day four years ago, when through the smoke and fire we glimpsed the heroism, compassion, and sacrifice of people who did the best of things in the worst of times. I keep telling myself that this beauty in us is real, that it makes life worthwhile and democracy work and that no terrorist can take it from us. But I am not so sure. As a Christian realist I honor my inner skeptic. And as a journalist I always know the other side of the story. The historian Edward Gibbon once wrote of historians what could be said of journalists. He wrote: "The theologians may indulge the pleasing task of describing religion as she descended from Heaven, arrayed in her native purity. A more melancholy duty is imposed on the historian [read: journalist] He must discover the inevitable mixture of error and corruption which she contracted in a long residence upon earth, among a weak and degenerate race of beings." The other side of the story: Muslims have no monopoly on holy violence. As Jack Nelson-Pallmayer points out, God's violence in the sacred texts of both faiths reflect a deep and troubling pathology "so pervasive, vindictive, and destructive" that it contradicts and subverts the collective weight of other passages that exhort ethical behavior or testify to a loving God. For days now we have watched those heart-breaking scenes on the Gulf Coast: the steaming, stinking, sweltering wreckage of cities and suburbs; the fleeing refugees; the floating corpses, hungry babies, and old people huddled together in death, the dogs gnawing at their feet; stranded children standing in water reeking of feces and garbage; families scattered; a mother holding her small child and an empty water jug, pleading for someone to fill it; a wife, pushing the body of her dead husband on a wooden plank down a flooded street; desperate people struggling desperately to survive. Now transport those current scenes from our newspapers and television back to the first Book of the Bible - the Book of Genesis. They bring to life what we rarely imagine so graphically when we read of the great flood that devastated the known world. If you read the Bible as literally true, as fundamentalists do, this flood was ordered by God. "And God said to Noah, 'I have determined to make an end of all flesh... behold, I will destroy them with the earth." (6:5-13). "I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall die." (6:17-19) Noah and his family are the only humans spared - they were, after all, God's chosen. But for everyone else: "... the waters prevailed so mightily... that all the high mountains....were covered....And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, birds, cattle, beasts...and every man; everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life, died...." (7:17-23). The flood is merely Act One. Read on: This God first "hardens the heart of Pharaoh" to make sure the Egyptian ruler will not be moved by the plea of Moses to let his people go. Then because Pharaoh's heart is hardened, God turns the Nile into blood so people cannot drink its water and will suffer from thirst. Not satisfied with the results, God sends swarms of locusts and flies to torture them; rains hail and fire and thunder on them destroys the trees and plants of the field until nothing green remains; orders every first-born child to be slaughtered, from the first-born of Pharaoh right on down to "the first-born of the maidservant behind the mill." An equal-murderous God, you might say. The massacre continues until "there is not a house where one was not dead." While the Egyptian families mourn their dead, God orders Moses to loot from their houses all their gold and silver and clothing. Finally, God's thirst for blood is satisfied, God pauses to rest - and boasts: "I have made sport of the Egyptians." Violence: the sport of God. God, the progenitor of shock and awe. And that's just Act II. As the story unfolds women and children are hacked to death on God's order; unborn infants are ripped from their mother's wombs; cities are leveled - their women killed if they have had sex, the virgins taken at God's command for the pleasure of his holy warriors. When his holy warriors spare the lives of 50,000 captives God is furious and sends Moses back to rebuke them and tell them to finish the job. One tribe after another falls to God-ordered genocide: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites - names so ancient they have disappeared into the mists as fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters, grandparents and grandchildren, infants in arms, shepherds, threshers, carpenters, merchants, housewives - living human beings, flesh and blood: "And when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them; then you must utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, and show no mercy to them...(and) your eyes shall not pity them." So it is written - in the Holy Bible. Yes, I know: the early church fathers, trying to cover up the blood-soaked trail of God's sport, decreed that anything that disagrees with Christian dogma about the perfection of God is to be interpreted spiritually. Yes, I know: Edward Gibbon himself acknowledged that the literal Biblical sense of God "is repugnant to every principle of faith as well as reason" and that we must therefore read the scriptures through a veil of allegory. Yes, I know: we can go through the Bible and construct a God more pleasing to the better angels of our nature (as I have done.) Yes, I know: Christians claim the Old Testament God of wrath was supplanted by the Gospel's God of love [See The God of Evil , Allan Hawkins, Exlibris.] I know these things; all of us know these things. But we also know that the "violence-of-God" tradition remains embedded deep in the DNA of monotheistic faith. We also know that fundamentalists the world over and at home consider the "sacred texts" to be literally God's word on all matters. Inside that logic you cannot read part of the Bible allegorically and the rest of it literally; if you believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, his crucifixion and resurrection, and the depiction of the Great Judgment at the end times you must also believe that God is sadistic, brutal, vengeful, callow, cruel and savage - that God slaughters. Millions believe it. Let's go back to 9/11 four years ago. The ruins were still smoldering when the reverends Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell went on television to proclaim that the terrorist attacks were God's punishment of a corrupted America. They said the government had adopted the agenda "of the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians" not to mention the ACLU and People for the American Way (The God of the Bible apparently holds liberals in the same low esteem as Hittites and Gergushites and Jebusites and all the other pagans of holy writ.) Just as God had sent the Great Flood to wipe out a corrupted world, now - disgusted with a decadent America - "God almighty is lifting his protection from us." Critics said such comments were deranged. But millions of Christian fundamentalists and conservatives didn't think so. They thought Robertson and Falwell were being perfectly consistent with the logic of the Bible as they read it: God withdraws favor from sinful nations - the terrorists were meant to be God's wake-up call: better get right with God. Not many people at the time seemed to notice that Osama bin Laden had also been reading his sacred book closely and literally, and had called on Muslims to resist what he described as a "fierce Judeo-Christian campaign" against Islam, praying to Allah for guidance "to exalt the people who obey Him and humiliate those who disobey Him." Suddenly we were immersed in the pathology of a "holy war" as defined by fundamentalists on both sides. You could see this pathology play out in General William Boykin. A professional soldier, General Boykin had taken up with a small group called the Faith Force Multiplier whose members apply military principles to evangelism with a manifesto summoning warriors "to the spiritual warfare for souls." After Boykin had led Americans in a battle against a Somalian warlord he announced: "I know my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his God was an idol." Now Boykin was going about evangelical revivals preaching that America was in a holy war as "a Christian nation" battling Satan and that America's Muslim adversaries will be defeated "only if we come against them in the name of Jesus." For such an hour, America surely needed a godly leader. So General Boykin explained how it was that the candidate who had lost the election in 2000 nonetheless wound up in the White House. President Bush, he said, "was not elected by a majority of the voters - he was appointed by God." Not surprising, instead of being reprimanded for evangelizing while in uniform, General Boykin is now the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. (Just as it isn't surprising that despite his public call for the assassination of a foreign head of state, Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing was one of the first groups to receive taxpayer funds from the President's Faith-Based Initiative for "relief work" on the Gulf Coast.) We can't wiggle out of this, people. Alvin Hawkins states it frankly: "This is a problem we can't walk away from." We're talking about a powerful religious constituency that claims the right to tell us what's on God's mind and to decide the laws of the land according to their interpretation of biblical revelation and to enforce those laws on the nation as a whole. For the Bible is not just the foundational text of their faith; it has become the foundational text for a political movement. True, people of faith have always tried to bring their interpretation of the Bible to bear on American laws and morals - this very seminary is part of that tradition; it's the American way, encouraged and protected by the First Amendment. But what is unique today is that the radical religious right has succeeded in taking over one of America's great political parties - the country is not yet a theocracy but the Republican Party is - and they are driving American politics, using God as a a battering ram on almost every issue: crime and punishment, foreign policy, health care, taxation, energy, regulation, social services and so on. What's also unique is the intensity, organization, and anger they have brought to the public square. Listen to their preachers, evangelists, and homegrown ayatollahs: Their viral intolerance - their loathing of other people's beliefs, of America's secular and liberal values, of an independent press, of the courts, of reason, science and the search for objective knowledge - has become an unprecedented sectarian crusade for state power. They use the language of faith to demonize political opponents, mislead and misinform voters, censor writers and artists, ostracize dissenters, and marginalize the poor. These are the foot soldiers in a political holy war financed by wealthy economic interests and guided by savvy partisan operatives who know that couching political ambition in religious rhetoric can ignite the passion of followers as ferociously as when Constantine painted the Sign of Christ (the "Christograph") on the shields of his soldiers and on the banners of his legions and routed his rivals in Rome. Never mind that the Emperor himself was never baptized into the faith; it served him well enough to make the God worshipped by Christians his most important ally and turn the Sign of Christ into the one imperial symbol most widely recognized and feared from east to west. Let's take a brief detour to Ohio and I'll show you what I am talking about. In recent weeks a movement called the Ohio Restoration Project has been launched to identify and train thousands of "Patriot Pastors" to get out the conservative religious vote next year. According to press reports, the leader of the movement - the senior pastor of a large church in suburban Columbus - casts the 2006 elections as an apocalyptic clash between "the forces of righteousness and the hordes of hell." The fear and loathing in his message is palpable: He denounces public schools that won't teach creationism, require teachers to read the Bible in class, or allow children to pray. He rails against the "secular jihadists" who have "hijacked" America and prevent school kids from learning that Hitler was "an avid evolutionist." He links abortion to children who murder their parents. He blasts the "pagan left" for trying to redefine marriage. He declares that "homosexual rights" will bring "a flood of demonic oppression." On his church website you read that "Reclaiming the teaching of our Christian heritage among America's youth is paramount to a sense of national destiny that God has invested into this nation." One of the prominent allies of the Ohio Restoration Project is a popular televangelist in Columbus who heads a $40 million-a-year ministry that is accessible worldwide via 1,400 TV stations and cable affiliates. Although he describes himself as neither Republican nor Democrat but a "Christocrat" - a gladiator for God marching against "the very hordes of hell in our society" - he nonetheless has been spotted with so many Republican politicians in Washington and elsewhere that he has been publicly described as a"spiritual advisor" to the party. The journalist Marley Greiner has been following his ministry for the organization, FreePress. She writes that because he considers the separation of church and state to be "a lie perpetrated on Americans - especially believers in Jesus Christ" - he identifies himself as a "wall builder" and "wall buster." As a wall builder he will "restore Godly presence in government and culture; as a wall buster he will tear down the church-state wall." He sees the Christian church as a sleeping giant that has the ability and the anointing from God to transform America. The giant is stirring. At a rally in July he proclaimed to a packed house: "Let the Revolution begin!" And the congregation roared back: "Let the Revolution begin!" (The Revolution's first goal, by the way, is to elect as governor next year the current Republican secretary of state who oversaw the election process in 2004 year when a surge in Christian voters narrowly carried George Bush to victory. As General Boykin suggested of President Bush's anointment, this fellow has acknowledged that "God wanted him as secretary of state during 2004" because it was such a critical election. Now he is criss-crossing Ohio meeting with Patriot Pastors and their congregations proclaiming that "America is at its best when God is at its center.") [For the complete stories from which this information has been extracted, see: "An evening with Rod Parsley, by Marley Greiner, FreePress, July 20, 2005; Patriot Pastors," Marilyn Warfield, Cleveland Jewish News, July 29, 2005; "Ohio televangelist has plenty of influence, but he wants more", Ted Wendling, Religion News Service, Chicago Tribune, July 1, 2005; "Shaping Politics from the pulpits," Susan Page, USA Today , Aug. 3, 2005; "Religion and Politics Should Be Mixed Says Ohio Secretary of State," WTOL-TV Toledo, October 29, 2004]. The Ohio Restoration Project is spreading. In one month alone last year in the president's home state of Texas, a single Baptist preacher added 2000 "Patriot Pastors" to the rolls. On his website he now encourages pastors to "speak out on the great moral issues of our day...to restore and reclaim America for Christ." Alas, these "great moral issues" do not include building a moral economy. The Christian Right trumpets charity (as in Faith Based Initiatives) but is silent on social and economic justice. Inequality in America has reached scandalous proportions: a few weeks ago the government acknowledged that while incomes are growing smartly for the first time in years, the primary winners are the top earners - people who receive stocks, bonuses, and other income in addition to wages. The nearly 80 percent of Americans who rely mostly on hourly wages barely maintained their purchasing power. Even as Hurricane Katrina was hitting the Gulf Coast, giving us a stark reminder of how poverty can shove poor people into the abyss, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that last year one million people were added to 36 million already living in poverty. And since l999 the income of the poorest one fifth of Americans has dropped almost nine percent. None of these harsh realities of ordinary life seem to bother the radical religious right. To the contrary, in the pursuit of political power they have cut a deal with America's richest class and their partisan allies in a law-of-the-jungle strategy to "starve" the government of resources needed for vital social services that benefit everyone while championing more and more spending rich corporations and larger tax cuts for the rich. How else to explain the vacuum in their "great moral issues" of the plight of millions of Americans without adequate health care? Of the gross corruption of politics by campaign contributions that skew government policies toward the wealthy at the expense of ordinary taxpayers? (On the very day that oil and gas prices reached a record high the president signed off on huge taxpayer subsidies for energy conglomerates already bloated with windfall profits plucked from the pockets of average Americans filling up at gas tanks across the country; yet the next Sunday you could pass a hundred church signboards with no mention of a sermon on crony capitalism.) This silence on economic and political morality is deafening but revealing. The radicals on the Christian right are now the dominant force in America's governing party. Without them the government would not be in the hands of people who don't believe in government. They are culpable in upholding a system of class and race in which, as we saw last week, the rich escape and the poor are left behind. And they are on they are crusading for a government "of, by, and for the people" in favor of one based on Biblical authority. This is the crux of the matter: To these fundamentalist radicals there is only one legitimate religion and only one particular brand of that religion that is right; all others who call on God are immoral or wrong. They believe the Bible to be literally true and that they alone know what it means. Behind their malicious attacks on the courts ("vermin in black robes," as one of their talk show allies recently put it,) is a fierce longing to hold judges accountable for interpreting the Constitution according to standards of biblical revelation as fundamentalists define it. To get those judges they needed a party beholden to them. So the Grand Old Party - the GOP - has become God's Own Party, its ranks made up of God's Own People "marching as to war." Go now to the website of an organization called America 21 (http://www.america21.us/Home.cfm ). There, on a red, white, and blue home page, you find praise for President Bush's agenda - including his effort to phase out Social Security and protect corporations from law suits by aggrieved citizens. On the same home page is a reminder that "There are 7,177 hours until our next National Election....ENLIST NOW." Now click again and you will read a summons calling Christian pastors "to lead God's people in the turning that can save America from our enemies." Under the headline "Remember - Repent - Return" language reminiscent of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell reminds you that "one of the unmistakable lessons [of 9/11] is that America has lost the full measure of God's hedge of protection. When we ask ourselves why, the scriptures remind us that ancient Israel was invaded by its foreign enemy, Babylon, in 586 B.C. ....(and) Jerusalem was destroyed by another invading foreign power in 70 A.D. .... Psalm 106:37 says that these judgments of God ...were because of Israel's idolatry. Israel, the apple of God's eye, was destroyed ... because the people failed... to repent." If America is to avoid a similar fate, the warning continues, we must "remember the legacy of our heritage under God and our covenant with Him and, in the words of II Chronicles 7:14: 'Turn from our wicked ways.'" Just what does this have to do with the president's political agenda praised on the home page? Well, squint and look at the fine print at the bottom of the site. It reads: America21 is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to educate, engage and mobilize Christians to influence national policy at every level. Founded in 1989 by a multi-denominational group of pastors and businessmen, it is dedicated to being a catalyst for revival and reform of the culture and the government ." (emphasis added). The corporate, political and religious right converge here, led by a president who, in his own disdain for science, reason and knowledge, is the most powerful fundamentalist in American history. What are the stakes? In his last book, the late Marvin Harris, a prominent anthropologist of the time, wrote that "the attack against reason and objectivity is fast reaching the proportions of a crusade." To save the American Dream, "we desperately need to reaffirm the principle that it is possible to carry out an analysis of social life which rational human beings will recognize as being true, regardless of whether they happen to be women or men, whites or black, straights or gays, employers or employees, Jews or born-again Christians. The alternative is to stand by helplessly as special interest groups tear the United States apart in the name of their "separate realities' or to wait until one of them grows strong enough to force its irrational and subjective brand of reality on all the rest." That was written 25 years ago, just as the radical Christian right was setting out on their long march to political supremacy. The forces he warned against have gained strength ever since and now control much of the United States government and are on the verge of having it all. It has to be said that their success has come in no small part because of our acquiescence and timidity. Our democratic values are imperiled because too many people of reason are willing to appease irrational people just because they are pious. Republican moderates tried appeasement and survive today only in gulags set aside for them by the Karl Roves, Bill Frists and Tom DeLays. Democrats are divided and paralyzed, afraid that if they take on the organized radical right they will lose what little power they have. Trying to learn to talk about God as Republicans do, they're talking gobbledygook, compromising the strongest thing going for them - the case for a moral economy and the moral argument for the secular checks and balances that have made America "a safe haven for the cause of conscience." As I look back on the conflicts and clamor of our boisterous past, one lesson about democracy stands above all others: Bullies - political bullies, economic bullies and religious bullies - cannot be appeased; they have to be opposed with a stubbornness to match their own. This is never easy; these guys don't fight fair; "Robert's Rules of Order" is not one of their holy texts. But freedom on any front - and especially freedom of conscience - never comes to those who rock and wait, hoping someone else will do the heavy lifting. Christian realism requires us to see the world as it is, without illusions, and then take it on. Christian realism also requires love. But not a sentimental, dreamy love. Reinhold Niebuhr, who taught at Union Theological Seminary and wrestled constantly with applying Christian ethics to political life, put it this way: "When we talk about love we have to become mature or we will become sentimental. Basically love means...being responsible, responsibility to our family, toward our civilization, and now by the pressures of history, toward the universe of humankind." Christian realists aren't afraid to love. But just as the Irishman who came upon a brawl in the street and asked, "Is this a private fight or can anyone get in it?" we have to take that love where the action is. Or the world will remain a theatre of war between fundamentalists. Bill Moyers is a broadcast journalist and former host the PBS program NOW With Bill Moyers. Moyers also serves as president of the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy. ### Love & truth, agape & satyagraha, Tim Tim Johnson, e-mail: timinathens at yahoo.com "Love is a verb." -- Stephen Covey --------------------------------- Yahoo! for Good Watch the Hurricane Katrina Shelter From The Storm concert -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From listener at bellsouth.net Mon Sep 12 00:42:41 2005 From: listener at bellsouth.net (Kathryn Potter) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 04:42:41 -0000 Subject: [saymaListserv] FW: an account of medical assistance to New Orleans survivors Message-ID: <20050912033815.QJWB660.ibm65aec.bellsouth.net@heyoka> I checked this out - it appears thoroughly genuine. The major links remain. It is clearly impossible for the news people to do the situation justice, or they are just not doing so. It traveled step by step to the west coast and back - a first-hand, uncensored account. There's another doctor's report on Snopes.com where I checked this one; that one is cited 'true' and is similar. This one is particularly poignant when followed by the quote, I think. So many decisions led to this situation over the years... Kit Potter > ----- Forwarded by David M Miller/GD/USGS/DOI on 09/08/2005 06:10 PM ----- > > Marith > Reheis/GD/USGS/DO > I To > 09/08/2005 01:07 , > PM > > > > > > This account is about 4th hand but through a trusted chain of people, all > government employees except the author of the letter. You will be > stunned. > > Marith Reheis > U.S. Geological Survey, MS-980 > Federal Center, Box 25046 > Denver, CO 80225 > > ----- Forwarded by Marith Reheis/GD/USGS/DOI on 09/08/2005 02:03 PM ----- > > Shirley A > Oscarson/GD/USGS/ > DOI To > GS-G-CR ESP Federal Employees, > 09/08/2005 01:37 GS-G-CR ESP Emeritus > PM cc > > Subject > Fw: an account of medical > assistance to New Orleans survivors > > > > > > > > > > > ----- Forwarded by Shirley A Oscarson/GD/USGS/DOI on 09/08/2005 01:30 PM > ----- > > Robert B > Scott/GD/EMERITUS > /USGS/DOI > > 09/08/2005 12:28 > PM > > > > > Robert B. Scott > U.S. Geological Survey > MS 980 > Denver Federal Center > Denver, CO 80225 > Ph: 303-236-1230 > Fax: 303-236-0214 > email: rbscott at usgs.gov > > > ----- Forwarded by Robert B Scott/GD/EMERITUS/USGS/DOI on 09/08/2005 12:24 > PM ----- > > Betty_L_Alex at nps.gov > 09/07/2005 10:25 AM > > > Bet > > "In our every deliberation, we must consider > the impacts of our decisions > on the next seven generations." > the Great Law of Haudenosaunee (Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy) > > Betty Alex > GIS Specialist > P.O. Box 129 > Big Bend National Park, Texas 79834 > > PH: 432-477-1146 FAX: 432-477-1153 > EMAIL: betty_l_alex at nps.gov > > -----Forwarded by Betty L Alex/BIBE/NPS on 09/07/2005 11:23AM ----- > > > Subject: an account of medical assistance to New Orleans survivors > > All, > The following is an email from a Doctor who volunteers in Big Bend from > time-to-time. He was in New Orleans, one of the first teams to arrive (I > think on Tuesday, Aug 30). He sent the message to one of our Park Rangers > who works with him when he is here, so I know this is a for-real email > from someone who was THERE at the beginning (or maybe the end....) in New > Orleans. I am sending it to as many people as I can, and please feel free > to forward. It is the reality we have to confront now. > I have attached the same message as a WORD document. > Read it and weap...... for us all..... > ---***--- > Date: Tue, 06 Sep 2005 11:32:55 -0600 > > greetings from the new orleans airport > > for those of you who dont know i am a member of the texas-4 disaster > medical assistence team (DMAT). we are a part of FEMA. i joined a couple > of months ago and my team was activated 11 days ago. for the past 8 days > i have been living and working at the new orleans airport delivering > medical care to the katrina hurricane survirors. > > let me start by saying that i am safe and after a very rough first week am > now better rested and fed > > out team was the first to arrive at the airport and set up our field > hospital. we watched our population grow from 30 dmat personal taking > care of 6 patients and 2 security guards well to around 10,000 people in > the first 15 hours. these people had had no food or water or security for > several days and were tired, furstrated, sick, wet, and heart broken. > people were brought in by trucks, busses, ambulances, school busses, cars, > and helicopters > > we recieved patients from hospitals, schools, homes, the entire remaining > population of new orleans funneled through our doors. our little civilian > team along with a couple of other dmat teams set up and ran THE biggest > evacuation this country has ever seen > > the numbers are absolutely staggering > > site its seems silly that a bunch of civilian yahoo's came in and took > over the airport and had it up and running exceeding its normal operating > load of passengers with an untrained skeleton crew and generator partial > power. but we did what we had to do and i think we did it well > > our team has been working the flight line off loading helo's. overnight we > turned new orleans airport into the busiest helicopter base in the entire > world. at any given time there were at least 8-10 helo's off loading on > the tarmac, filled with 10-40 survivors at a time, with 10 circling to > land, it was a non-stop never ending process 24 hour a day operation. the > cnn footage does not even begin to do it justice. the roar of rotar > blades, the smell of jet A and the thousands of eyes looking at us for > answers, for hope. our busiest day we off loaded just under 15,000 > patients by air and ground. at that time we had about 30 medical providers > and 100 ancillary staff. ALL we could do was provide the barest ammount > of comfort care. we watched many, many people die. we practiced medical > traige at its most basic, black tagging the sickest people and culling > them from the masses so that they could die in a separate area. i can not > even begin to describe to transformation in my own sensibilities from my > normal practice of medicine to the reality of the operation here. we were > SO short on wheel chairs and litters we had to stack patients in airport > chairs and lay them on the floor. they reamined there for hours too tired > to be frigthened, too weak to be care about their urine and stool soaked > clothing, to desperate to even ask what was going to happend next. imaging > trading your single patient use latex gloves for a pair of thick leather > work gloves that never came off your hands and you can begin to imagin > what it was like. > > we did not practice medicine > > there was nothing sexy or glamerous or routine about what we did we moved > hundreds of patients an hour, thousands of patients a day off the flight > line and into the terminal and baggage area patients were loaded onto > baggage carts and trucked to the baggage area, like, well, baggage. and > there was no time to talk, no time to cry, no time to think, because they > kept on comming. our only salvation was when the beurocratic washington > machine was able to ramp up and stream line the exodus of patients out of > here > > our team work a couple of shifts in the medcal tent as well. imagine > people so despeate, so sick, so like the 5-10 "true" emergencies you may > get on a shift comming through the door non stop that is all that you take > care of. no imagine having not beds, no O2, no nothing except some nitro, > aspirin and all the good intentions in the world. we did everything from > delivering babies to simply providing morphine and a blanket to septic and > critical patients and allowing them to die. > > during the days that it took for that exodue to occur, we filled the > airport to its bursting point. there was a time when there were 16,000 > angry, tired, frustrated people here, there were stabbings, rapes, and > people on the verge of mobbing. the flight line, lined with 2 parallel > rows of dauphins, sea kings, hueys, chinooks and every other kind of > helocopter imanigable, was a dangerous place. but we were much more > frightened when ever we entered the sea of displaced humanity that had > filled every nook and cranny of the airport. only now that the thousands > of survivors had been evacuated, and the floors soaked in bleach, the > putrid air allowed to exchange for fresh, the number or soldiers allowed > to outnumber the patients, that we feel safe > > i have meet so many people while down here. people who were at ground > zero at 9-11, people who have done tusanmi relief, tours in iraq and every > one of them has said this is the worst thing they have ever seen. its > unaminous and these are some battle worn veterans of every kind of > disaster you can imagine. > > watching the new reports trickle back to us has been frustrating and heart > braking. there is NOTHING anyone could have done to prepare for this. it > was TOO huge, even now its so big its almost impossible to comprehend. the > leaders needed to see first hand the damage but did not because their > safety could be guarenteed. its a war zone in new orleans. it is covered > in raw sewage with no infrastructure. every engineer i have spoken with > believes that most of the city will have to be plowed into fields and that > rebuilding what is left will take decades. it will NEVER be the same. > never. ever. > > for those of you who want to help the next step is to help those who > arrive in your local area. the only real medcial care these survivors > will recieve is once they land in safe, clean area far from here. for the > 50,000 people we ran through this airport over the last couple of days, if > they were able to survive and make it somewhere else, their care will > begin only when providers in dallas and houston and chicago and baton > rouge (etc) volunteer at the shelters and provide care. and yes there are > many, many more on their way > > many of the sickest simply died while here at the airport, many have been > stressed beyond measure and will die shortly even though they were > evacuated. if you are not medcial then go the shelters, hold hands, give > hugs and prayers. if nothing else it will remind you how much you have > and how grateful we all should be. these people have nothing. not only > have they lost their material posessions and homes, many have lost their > children, spouses, parents, arms, legs, vision, everything that is > important. > > talk to these survivors, hear their stories and what they have been > through, look into their eyes > > you will never think of america the same way > you will never look at your family the same way > you will never look at your home the same way and i promise it will > forever change the way you practice medicine > > many, many stories to tell when i get back looking forward to seeing you > all again > > we are VERY safe down here (now thank god) and we shall be home soon > > hemant vankawala > > Hemant H. Vankawala, M.D. > > Bet > > "In our every deliberation, we must consider > the impacts of our decisions > on the next seven generations." > the Great Law of Haudenosaunee (Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy) > > Betty Alex > GIS Specialist > P.O. Box 129 > Big Bend National Park, Texas 79834 > > PH: 432-477-1146 FAX: 432-477-1153 > EMAIL: betty_l_alex at nps.gov > (See attached file: dr.hemantVankawala.doc) ------ End of Forwarded Message -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: dr.hemantVankawala.doc Type: application/octet-stream Size: 34304 bytes Desc: not available URL: From jhminshall at comcast.net Mon Sep 12 13:57:40 2005 From: jhminshall at comcast.net (Janet Minshall) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 13:57:40 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fwd:The Truth about FEMA and Flood Control Projects in New Orleans Message-ID: Dear Friends, I have sent out a couple of messages about New Orleans in the wake of the hurricane. More and more is now getting out from those who were involved with emergency planning and are distraught over the misinformation being spread as coverup on all of the networks. Here is a chronology of the misguided planning and the fatal neglect and inaction on the part of the federal government which produced the tragedy we have all been watching for the past twelve days. Janet Minshall Subject: FEMA and flood control projects in New Orleans Henry Breitrose Professor of Communication Department of Communication Stanford University CHRONOLOGY.... Here's a timeline that outlines the fate of both FEMA and flood control projects in New Orleans under the Bush administration. Read it and weep: January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from Texas, as head of FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous experience in disaster management. April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush administration's goal of privatizing much of FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be downsized: "Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program...." he said. "Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level." 2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country." December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who, like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management. March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of terrorism. 2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA's preparation and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery. Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would think we would get maximum consideration....This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified for it." June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay." June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes. August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues with his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden. A crony with no relevant experience was installed as head of FEMA. Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were slashed even though it was known to be one of the top three risks in the country. FEMA was deliberately downsized as part of the Bush administration's conservative agenda to reduce the role of government. After DHS was created, FEMA's preparation and planning functions were taken away. Actions have consequences. No one could predict that a hurricane the size of Katrina would hit this year, but the slow federal response when it did happen was no accident. It was the result of four years of deliberate Republican policy and budget choices that favor ideology and partisan loyalty at the expense of operational competence. It's the Bush administration in a nutshell. ---------------------------------------------------------------- From jhminshall at comcast.net Mon Sep 12 14:49:48 2005 From: jhminshall at comcast.net (Janet Minshall) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 14:49:48 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fwd:The Truth about FEMA and Flood Control Projects in New Orleans Message-ID: Dear Friends, I have sent out a couple of messages about New Orleans in the wake of the hurricane. More and more is now getting out from those who were involved with emergency planning and are distraught over the misinformation being spread as coverup on all of the networks. Here is a chronology of the misguided planning and the fatal neglect and inaction on the part of the federal government which produced the tragedy we have all been watching for the past twelve days. Janet Minshall Subject: FEMA and flood control projects in New Orleans Henry Breitrose Professor of Communication Department of Communication Stanford University CHRONOLOGY.... Here's a timeline that outlines the fate of both FEMA and flood control projects in New Orleans under the Bush administration. Read it and weep: January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from Texas, as head of FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous experience in disaster management. April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush administration's goal of privatizing much of FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be downsized: "Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program...." he said. "Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level." 2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country." December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who, like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management. March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of terrorism. 2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA's preparation and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery. Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would think we would get maximum consideration....This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified for it." June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay." June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes. August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues with his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden. A crony with no relevant experience was installed as head of FEMA. Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were slashed even though it was known to be one of the top three risks in the country. FEMA was deliberately downsized as part of the Bush administration's conservative agenda to reduce the role of government. After DHS was created, FEMA's preparation and planning functions were taken away. Actions have consequences. No one could predict that a hurricane the size of Katrina would hit this year, but the slow federal response when it did happen was no accident. It was the result of four years of deliberate Republican policy and budget choices that favor ideology and partisan loyalty at the expense of operational competence. It's the Bush administration in a nutshell. ---------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association mailing list posting address: sayma at kitenet.net subscribe/unsubscribe: http://kitenet.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sayma From nc_stereoman at charter.net Mon Sep 12 15:07:05 2005 From: nc_stereoman at charter.net (steve livingston) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 15:07:05 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fwd:The Truth about FEMA and Flood Control Projects in New Orleans In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4325D1D9.7080904@charter.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Quakerkristi at aol.com Mon Sep 12 14:55:42 2005 From: Quakerkristi at aol.com (Quakerkristi at aol.com) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 14:55:42 EDT Subject: [saymaListserv] Fwd: Friends, or friends who need housing and have a pet (hurricane relief) Message-ID: -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: bonnie peregoy Subject: Friends, or friends who need housing and have a pet (hurricane relief) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 10:53:57 -0700 (PDT) Size: 2897 URL: From freepolazzo at comcast.net Mon Sep 12 15:16:29 2005 From: freepolazzo at comcast.net (free polazzo) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 15:16:29 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] another piece of the puzzle? In-Reply-To: <4325D1D9.7080904@charter.net> References: <4325D1D9.7080904@charter.net> Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20050912150928.03371030@mail.comcast.net> Hi Steve, Another interesting piece of information that needs to be investigated: The White House's state of emergency declaration only covered upstate LA: >President Bush issued a state of emergency on that same day that >Governer of LA did. > >http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html > >But there's one major catch: This plan only covered certain >Louisiana parishes. > >http://whatreallyhappened.com/IMAGES/bushincompetencemap.jpg Free : From nc_stereoman at charter.net Mon Sep 12 17:55:37 2005 From: nc_stereoman at charter.net (steve livingston) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 17:55:37 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] another piece of the puzzle? In-Reply-To: <6.2.3.4.2.20050912150928.03371030@mail.comcast.net> References: <4325D1D9.7080904@charter.net> <6.2.3.4.2.20050912150928.03371030@mail.comcast.net> Message-ID: <4325F959.2080706@charter.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bright_crow at mindspring.com Thu Sep 15 15:10:41 2005 From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Mike Shell) Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 15:10:41 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [saymaListserv] FWD: Baghdad Burning: "September 11, 2005..." Message-ID: <17665265.1126811441496.JavaMail.root@mswamui-chipeau.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Friends, I've referred you before to this weblog posted by "Riverbend," and Iraqi woman writing from Baghdad. I encourage you to visit http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com and read her comments on the third anniversary of the NY/DC attacks. You need not, of course, agree with her bitter analysis, but it is important for Americans to hear it. Blessed Be, Michael From Quakerkristi at aol.com Sat Sep 17 20:31:40 2005 From: Quakerkristi at aol.com (Quakerkristi at aol.com) Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 20:31:40 EDT Subject: [saymaListserv] Fwd: [Memphis Friends] FYI: Bike ride for Katrina relief Message-ID: <204.a541fbb.305e0f6c@aol.com> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: "Susan Penn" Subject: [Memphis Friends] FYI: Bike ride for Katrina relief Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 18:50:39 -0500 Size: 5081 URL: From freepolazzo at comcast.net Mon Sep 19 14:33:37 2005 From: freepolazzo at comcast.net (free polazzo) Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 14:33:37 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] F & P revisions being considered by YM Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20050913093001.0330d410@mail.comcast.net> Ninth Month, 19th Day, 2005 Dear SAYMA Friends, SAYMA's Faith and Practice Committee has already sent to each monthly meeting, preparative meeting and worship group, the revisions we agreed needed to be made to your Yearly Meetings Guide to Our Faith and Practice. This year we have added a link to the SAYMA website so that you can download the changes that your SAYMA Representative and Meeting Clerk should have already received. Thank you Tim Lamm for including it at: http://www.sayma.org/online_documents.htm#F&P as file: "Proposed Revisions to Parts 2,3,4 (to be considered at YM 2006)" There is much to review. The entire section on our testimonies has been included in this round of revisions. Some are minor changes, some are not. The section on Sexuality especially needs your meeting's input as so much has come to consciousness about this topic in 20 years since we approved that section. Some new additions also will be of interest: Integrity and Earth Care Witness. Please attend your meetings discussions so we can have your Light added to this document that tries to state our collective Faith and Practice. The committee looks forward to receiving your business meeting's minuted responses. Blesssings, Free Polazzo, Clerk on behalf of the SAYMA Faith and Practice Revision Committee -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From freepolazzo at comcast.net Mon Sep 19 15:14:36 2005 From: freepolazzo at comcast.net (free polazzo) Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 15:14:36 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Fwd: World Gathering of Young Friends 2005 Epistle Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20050919151324.032e5300@mail.comcast.net> Hi Friends, An Epistle from the World Gathering of Young Friends. > You can find further information about this at http://www.wgyf.org/ . > > To All Friends Everywhere >To all Friends everywhere, >Greetings from the World Gathering of Young Friends 2005. 226 >Friends gathered together in Lancaster University, United Kingdom, >from 16th - 24th August 2005. Our theme was 'I am the vine, you are >the branches. Now, what fruit shall we bear?' taken from John 15; >and William Penn's challenge 'Let us then try what love will do'. >Among us, 58 Yearly Meetings and 9 monthly meetings and regional >groups were represented, with speakers of more than twenty different >languages. We were called to be gathered together at the place where >our Quaker movement first bore fruit, the heart of 1652 country. We >returned to our shared roots, to the birthplace of our collective >spiritual identities. Through climbing Pendle Hill as a community, >to live out George Fox's vision of a great people gathered together, >we found a unity with the place and one another, among the bright >green hills, surrounded by grazing sheep. >We felt great joy in being together and many Friends gave thanks for >being here. However, our hearts were filled with sadness too. In the >hall where we met there were many empty chairs, and we were always >aware of those Friends who could not join us here in Lancaster. Many >were absent because they were denied visas, others because they >found when the time came that they could not join us after all. >Their loss is our loss as well, for without their presence we could >not feel their truth reflected in their words, their experiences, >their faces and their smiles. However we could feel their presence >in our hearts. We have selected 2 representatives from each region >to go to a post-WGYF gathering in Kenya to share with these brothers >and sisters the Love and Spirit that we felt in this gathering. >Twenty years have passed since the last World Gathering of Young >Friends, held in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA. To what purpose >were we summoned once more? >Here we tried each others' forms of worship, silent and programmed, >songs in many different languages, scriptural readings, hand >holding. We were open, amazed, stretched and blessed. We learned >that the great presence in our lives can be called by many names, >Jesus, Christ, God, Inner light, Spirit, Love or many others. >Ultimately, through listening to the Spirit that moved us, not the >words in which we expressed our movement, we strived to become one >organism, one body made up of many different parts (1 Corinthians >12:13). We were united not so much in the expression of our faith as >in our common desire to be unified and by the power of the Spirit >amongst us during these 9 days. We were challenged to put aside the >labels we hide behind, programmed, unprogrammed, liberal, >evangelical, and come together as Friends of the Truth, seeking >together for the common truth behind our language. We have not >finished this process. We are only at the beginning of a long path, >but the love and joy we have felt in being in this place together >have allowed us to come this far, and we pray that they will lead us >further yet. >The time here has been a chance to reflect on our lives. We have >been challenged to recognize ourselves as God's children, and >respond in willing devotion. The love we have found here is not for >us to own but to share. We desire to show our love by doing good and >avoiding harm to all people and to all the Earth. We must let others >see this love and know its source so that they may come to share it. >The Spirit present in our gathering summoned us to be a gathered >people, and spoke through the many different people and cultures >here to remind us of its glory, power and purpose. The Spirit is at >work in all of us, and it is calling us not to judge one another's >forms of worship but to examine our own hearts, find our own >calling. We are called to take what we have experienced here and >give it back to our communities. >Far away meetings now have faces, stories and friendships that make >them real to us. Bridges have been built at our Gathering which we >call on Friends everywhere to nurture and support. We will keep this >contact alive through exchanges, more frequent gatherings and >opportunities to work together. Through this contact we will give >strength to each other and share our gifts. We must face the future >challenges of the Religious Society of Friends together. >Where we explored the theme of the vine and the branches we found >that its fruits are born from love. We have experienced what Love >can do in this Gathering, now let us try what it can do in the world. > > WGYF Epistle From jonahpmcd at teacher.com Mon Sep 19 15:51:48 2005 From: jonahpmcd at teacher.com (Jonah McDonald) Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 14:51:48 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] Jonah's Bicycle Pilgrimage for Katrina Victims Message-ID: <20050919195149.273F48401C@ws1-5.us4.outblaze.com> Hi! Jonah McDonald from Atlanta here, writing to tell you about an adventure I'm going on. Some of you have already heard about this, but I want to make sure I tell as many Friends as possible. Please share this with your Monthly Meetings and with any other F/friends! In about a week, I am going to bicycle the Natchez Trace Parkway as a fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Katrina. I will be doing this 450-mile ride from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi, in seven days, from September 26 - October 2. What makes this fundraiser special? • 100% of all money raised will go to LONG-TERM recovery work of the American Friends Service Committee. • You can keep up with my ride via daily emails and, at the conclusion of the ride, through my photos. I will also invite you to a presentation when I return. • One of the ways our lifestyles have been affected by Katrina has been the skyrocketing gasoline prices. My bicycle trip is symbolic of this shift demanded of Americans as a result of Katrina. How can you help? • Go to my website to pledge a donation per mile I ride. All of the details on how to donate are on the website. 5 cents per mile = $22.50 10 cents per mile = $45.00 25 cents per mile = $112.50, etc. If you would like to donate a specific amount prior to the ride, any amount is welcome! • On the website you can also sign up to receive updates during my ride. Where does the money go? I am funding the ride myself, so 100% of your donations go directly to helping hurricane victims. The AFSC is (1) sending in a team of 15 assessors to meet with victims along the Gulf Coast and (2) setting up long-term programs in two communities based on what the victims identify as their needs. The AFSC does not tell people what they need nor does it do the work for them. Community empowerment over the long term is the basis of the AFSC's work. Long after the Red Cross has ceased feeding the hungry, the AFSC will still be working with the victims, helping rebuild their lives. For specifics about the AFSC hurricane response, visit my website or . Perhaps this can provide an avenue for you to help with the long term reconstruction of people's communities and lives. Give me a call at 404-373-8036, email me, or go to http://www.friendlypilgrim.com/katrina to join me in this fundraiser. In the Light, Jonah -- ___________________________________________________________ Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm From bright_crow at mindspring.com Thu Sep 22 08:23:28 2005 From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Mike Shell) Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 08:23:28 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [saymaListserv] Talking about Jesus Message-ID: <10063435.1127391808900.JavaMail.root@mswamui-backed.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Friends, I was talking with Wendy Geiger last night about the dilemma I'm sure I share with a number of other Quakers: Jesus is a very real and essential presence, moment by moment, in my personal life, yet I hesitate to speak about him, because I don't know how to lead people past their preconceived notions of Christianity (especially of Christianity as an ideology) to the core, experiential reality I live by. Not by coincidence (I brought up the topic with Wendy because of my reading), the March 2005 FRIENDS JOURNAL features articles on Jesus. Two of them, in very different ways, speak to my condition. In "Shake before Opening" (pp.14-17), Chip Thomas writes the following: "The Christocentric approach has been a tremendous asset to my spiritual life.... It is not unreasonable to think that others could profit from the inward Christ as I have. I feel led to do what I can to make the way easy for these Friends. But I fear that I will be misunderstood in the process. I fear that the message I have been given to share will be confused with any number of Protestant views of Christianity. "Like George Fox, my understanding of Christ is one I have come to experientially. It stands in stark contrast to the theological representations of Jesus held by organized religions. More importantly I am not called to share my understanding of Christ. Rather, I feel called to remind Friends to sweep away preconceived notions before seeking. We should lay aside both the notions of who God is and notions of who God is not. It is true that we should plunge into the spiritual depths without carrying any words with us. But we should not fear any words that are given us in those depths." In "Jesus and Quakerism" (pp.18-19), an article originally published in FJ on August 10, 1957, Dorothy Hutchinson wrote: "We are held together by our belief that the historical Jesus was a unique revelation to men of God's nature and will and that there is a spiritual element in men which corresponds to this nature and will and which, therefore, responds to the spirit of Jesus by growing.... "[A]cceptance of the miraculous recorded facts about Jesus, while permissible or perhaps even desirable, is not of paramount importance. The basis of our Christianity is not these facts but the spirit revealed in Jesus' acts and teachings. And the essential power of Jesus is not to be sought in the physical miracles but in his transforming power in lives with which he comes into contact. This we test and testify to by our own experience. "Jesus' spirit is self-giving love. This love is not to be understood as affection.... Nor is this love a vaporous good will.... Self-giving love can be felt for those toward whom one feels no natural affection and leads toward beneficial action because its essence is IMAGINATIVE IDENTIFICATION with all men--that I love my neighbor AS IF HE WERE MYSELF and that I do unto others as I would have them do to me, IF I WERE THEY with all their past experiences, individual tastes, and needs. "What does all this add up to in terms of such basic Christian concepts as those of salvation and forgiveness of sin? "Quakers have tended to regard Jesus as savior in a sense quite different from that preached by many other branches of the Christian Church. We regard salvation not as abolishing the price of our sins but as giving us the desire to pay it; not as saving us from the consequence of our sins but from the sins themselves." Hutchinson then retells briefly the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, the "grasping, cheating" tax collector who, once transformed by Jesus, pledges to give half his goods to poor and to repay what he had defrauded fourfold. "[It] is not recorded that Jesus told him not to bother paying for his sins, since Jesus by his life and death would cancel the debts. It is, on the contrary, recorded that Jesus exclaimed, 'Today salvation has come to this house....' And this is Jesus' only use of the word 'salvation' recorded in the Scriptures! "The spirit of Jesus transformed Zacchaeus into a man who wanted to do the will of God. The spirit of Jesus still gives men this desire. And the promise of forgiveness of sin gives them the power to throw off their slavery to sin. Is not forgiveness of sin misinterpreted by many Christians as a promise to blot out all the consequences of our sins? Jesus did not promise the adultress any such thing. But when he said to her, 'Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again," he gave her the essentials of divine forgiveness--freedom from the paralyzing sense of guilt which binds us to our past, and the assurance that we have the power to make a fresh beginning and 'sin no more.' This power is surely as great and mysterious as any promise of orthodox Christianity." These two Friends speak my mind. Blessed Be, Michael From nmwhitt at samford.edu Tue Sep 20 10:24:37 2005 From: nmwhitt at samford.edu (Nancy Whitt) Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 09:24:37 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] Call for Responses among Friends & others Message-ID: Friends: See attachment and the following message; both are self-explanatory. Pam Lunn is Senior Tutor at Woodbrooke College, the Quaker college in Birmingham, England. She is a sociologist, social critic, pacifist, feminist, a theologian, and good friend. She is also of the Boomer generation of which she writes and is beginning to assemble an international panel. Please dissiminate the attachment widely and send responses to: pam at woodbrooke.org.uk from Pam: Hi, Nancy - thanks for this response! I'm happy to have that paper circulated - I'm looking for feedback, responses, ideas, etc. Here's what a colleage (born 1946) wrote back - really interesting: In my recollection one of the most significant factors for those of us brought up in Britain was the influence of thinking that began in the war years about world order and social order (Temple and Bell were on our bookshelves, and I go back to them still today), and on the nature of authority (the Tavistock Institute, the Grubb Institute, Orwell and Forster's Two Cheers for Democracy ) . The international dimension was important. 'We the People' was on our shelves too and as a child I was proud of being born at the time of the United Nations . We had school events organised by the Council for Education in World Citizenship, and we participated in the European Schools Day Essay competition before the UK was a member of the EEC. (I won a prize and went to Brussels and Strasbourg ....) The Cold War and East West relations were a constant - and with an admired teacher who had been refused a visa to the US because she was a CP member, the politics of socialism was part of both home and school debate. In my student years I went on IVS and Quaker workcamps including an FSC/AFSC/FDJ initiative which involved working on a collective farm in Mecklenburg and having evening study and exchange sessions. China, of course, was still an inspiration. Those were the days when Val Ferguson called herself a Marxist! Yes, in the household in which I was raised the 1944 education act, the post war Attlee government and the NHS were benchmarks of the good society. But not in the sense of Macmillan's 'You've never had it so good' . My father interpreted that slogan as materialist in the wrong sense of the word, and was profoundly shocked by it. As for the wind of change, we were good liitle anti-imperialists...... Grants for higher education made class and gender barriers more permeable. I was the first in my extended family to go on to university at a time when relatives still said it was money wasted on a girl. And maybe that is something the article you have sent us doesn't completely capture - the struggle. How much was 'given' ? (yes, free milk and university places do count) but there was much still to be fought for. These struggles continue and the 'fronts' have not changed that much. Class and gender are still contested areas, in employment and in pensions, education and arts and, and... As for our responsibility to posterity, it would be interesting to look at the profiles of those concerned with these issues today (Silent Spring was on our bookshelves too!) Changing the face of politics - I think we need to look at where politics resides these days, and those sites of struggle . Jeremy Seabrooke once said that he did not think there was any such thing as a secular society but that faith took up its abode in some strange places. Maybe we can say the same about politics. The bedfellows of commerce and politics is not new but as pernicious as ever it was in the days of the old imperialism and slave trade. When the Eastern block fell, it was said that a critique of capitalism would grow more strongly from within and that it would have to be taken more seriously because the authors could not be dismissed as fellow travellers. Where is this happening and who is doing it? I am worried about conventional contemporary politics in this country for all sorts of reasons, and we won't even mention the war . The things that are happening to asylum seekers and migrants, the approach to difficult members of society (exclude, exclude). Where the Tories made an idol of capital New Labour has turned labour/work into a god. All the activities which create community and build society are squeezed as men and women have less time in their working lives. They are not valued. Parenting is made difficult and then 'bad' parents are penalised. So retirement brings responsibilities and opportunities. But is it right that virtually every voluntary endeavour, Quaker committee etc is carried out primarily by those of at least 60 plus. There is I think, a need to look beyond, to what would be the good society of the future. ......... Love Pam -------------------------------------- Pam Lunn On-Site Taught Programmes Co-ordinator Direct dial: 0121 415 6778 Email: pam at woodbrooke.org.uk Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre 1046 Bristol Road Birmingham B29 6LJ Tel (general office): 0121 472 5171 Web www.woodbrooke.org.uk Reg. Charity no. 313816 -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Pam Lunn What next for the post.doc Type: application/msword Size: 27136 bytes Desc: not available URL: From nmwhitt at samford.edu Tue Sep 20 10:39:37 2005 From: nmwhitt at samford.edu (Nancy Whitt) Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 09:39:37 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] Pam Lunn's Paper Message-ID: for those of you unable to open Pam Lunn's paper & call for a conference, here it is; again, please dissimiinate widely among Friends and others: What next for the post-war baby-boom generation? Pam Lunn Baby-boomers are variously defined: often, those born between 1946 and 1964; some include the babies born before the war ended, conceived while fathers were home on leave - say 1943 onwards; marketing analysts speak of 'leading edge' boomers as a sales target - born between 1946 and 1955. Demographic analysis shows the birthrate rising before 1946 and declining after 1957 - so let's say those of us born between 1943 and 1960, a group that has been shown to have recognisably common political and cultural patterns. In the industrialised west we have been a very particular group, and intensely studied. Our tastes, habits, spiritualities, sexualities and politics have been charted and analysed. Wade Clark Roof (US sociologist of religion) called us 'a generation of seekers'. As our swollen numbers have progressed through the life stages we have forced public policy and public expenditure to bend to our needs - and the projected costs of our pensions is now causing alarm. In this country we grew up in the wake of the Aldermaston marches and then gave our allegiance and our subscriptions to CND, the Anti-Apartheid Movement, the National Council for Civil Liberties, Amnesty International, Third World First, the Anti-Nazi League, the women's movement, the Gay Liberation Front, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace . . . But we were also the 'me generation' - encounter groups, therapy, drugs, dropping out . . . A combination of great idealism with great narcissism, as Ken Wilber points out in his book Boomeritis, about the baby-boomers in the USA. We have occupied a very particular place in modern times: we had antibiotics and we didn't have drug-resistant bacteria; we had the Pill and we didn't have Aids; we had postwar economic reconstruction and economic expansion and we didn't at the time know the true cost of that; we had the welfare state, the NHS, the 1944 Education Act. Our numbers pushed a schools building programme, an increase in teacher training, and the Robbins Report gave us the new universities ('plate glass') to add to the ancient and redbrick establishments. Many of us were the first in our families ever to go to university. We had student grants, plentiful vacation jobs, and employers eager to take us on when we graduated. In Britain, our generation has not had to fight a war. We "never had it so good" as Harold Macmillan said in 1957. And, as a recent article in Guardian Society pointed out, we may now bring about major change in the care of the elderly, as this generation starts to spy the Grim Reaper on the horizon. As we stand at perhaps the summit of our working lives, we stand simultaneously at the summit of industrialised society as we have known it. We benefited hugely from the massive industrial expansion that characterised the second half of the twentieth century - and as we now approach 'retirement' we all now know what that has cost the planet. Even if we escape the worst effects ourselves (and it's a big 'if'), in the lifetimes of our children, and certainly of our grandchildren, the world will have to face the end of the oil economy, the consequences of climate change, habitat and species loss, increased pollution, water and food shortages . . . events for which no-one is well-prepared. Baby-boomers are currently in positions of leadership and influence in many of the media - so it is not surprising that articles and broadcasts have been appearing that raise questions about the next stage of our lives. 'From those to whom much is given, much is expected' (Luke 12:48). So - what are we going to do with our active retirement years? Do we have a responsibility to act from the position in which we find ourselves? There are a lot of us, we changed the face of politics when we were young - we could do so again. Pam Lunn is starting to plan a conference at Woodbrooke on these and related issues. Anyone who is interested, in any way, please contact her at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, 1046 Bristol Road, Birmingham B29 6LJ; pam at woodbrooke.org.uk. From mcgahey at yancey.main.nc.us Sat Sep 24 13:50:32 2005 From: mcgahey at yancey.main.nc.us (Geeta Jyothi Mcgahey) Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 13:50:32 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] Re: Talking about Jesus (Mike Shell) Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20050924133622.03e37e10@yancey.main.nc.us> Thank-you Mike. I am a non-Christocentric Friend and I sent this out to our whole meeting. We must learn to hear about and feel comfortable with the different ways that we as Friends have experienced the "Transforming Power". The strength of our meetings rests in the ability to hear in each others' language that which speaks to all of us in our Faith Community. In the Light, Geeta Jyoti >Today's Topics: > > 1. Talking about Jesus (Mike Shell) > >--------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Message: 1 >Date: Thu, 22 >-Sep 2005 08:23:28 -0400 (GMT-04:00) >From: Mike Shell >Subject: [saymaListserv] Talking about Jesus > >Jesus is a very real and essential presence, moment by moment, in my >personal life, yet I hesitate to speak about him, because I don't know how >to lead people past their preconceived notions of Christianity (especially >of Christianity as an ideology) to the core, experiential reality I live by. > >Not by coincidence (I brought up the topic with Wendy because of my >reading), the March 2005 FRIENDS JOURNAL features articles on Jesus. Two >of them, in very different ways, speak to my condition. > >I > >Blessed Be, >Michael > > > > > >------------------------------ > >_______________________________________________ >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 31, Issue 20 >************************************* "If you really want to do something for freedom and justice, then it is best if we do this without rage or hostility. With inner tranquility and an honest readiness, we can work hard for thirty, forty years" - The Dalai Lama XV Geeta Jyothi McGahey 300 Dharma Way Burnsville, NC 28714 828-675-5535 mcgahey at yancey.main.nc.us From freepolazzo at comcast.net Sun Sep 25 17:07:11 2005 From: freepolazzo at comcast.net (free polazzo) Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 17:07:11 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] t r u t h o u t - Hundreds of Thousands March against the War Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20050925165330.03348410@mail.comcast.net> Hi, My longtime F/friend Bert Skellie and I travelled to Washington DC to participate in the Anti War Rally in Washington DC, yesterday. Below is a link to a good story about the protest. Even mentions Quakers. There was also people with the Isreali flag (Shalom) and members of the Chicago based group: "Not in my Name" hosted a breakfast and marched. ( www.nimn.org ) Labor, Bhuddists, Veterans against the War, Socialists, Progressive Democrats, Women in Black, NYC Transit Workers Union, College Students against the war. It was interesting that most of the people marching seemed to be over 50 years old. There were some pro war protestors and they were all under 25! Quite the reverse of the protests I attended against the Vietnam war. I saw Cindy Sheehaw walk by our GA Peace Coalition Banner towards the end of the march. (we were at the back). She thanked us for coming to support bringing US Troops home now. She still had lots of energy at the end of the long day. What an amazing woman. A real leader. We walked and walked and walked. (sat, too) The energy on the parade route was wonderful. Lots of anger and sadness about the deaths and the cost of the war to our country and Iraq, too. Tons of interesting signs. My favorite sign, and maybe the most accurate was: "Real Men know when to Pull Out"~ :) Lots of people who think that the war and Big Bucks is why we are there and won't leave. Add your voice to the call to "Bring our troops home now!" Blessings, Free http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/092505Z.shtml From nc_stereoman at charter.net Sun Sep 25 21:45:57 2005 From: nc_stereoman at charter.net (steve livingston) Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 21:45:57 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] t r u t h o u t - Hundreds of Thousands March against the War In-Reply-To: <6.2.3.4.2.20050925165330.03348410@mail.comcast.net> References: <6.2.3.4.2.20050925165330.03348410@mail.comcast.net> Message-ID: <433752D5.90109@charter.net> Thanks Free and Bert, thanks for being there, for all of us. My thoughts were with you, and our community paused to hold you in the Light at worship this morning. Friends Susan O and Lena F, and her mom Bena S, an occasional attender, were there from Asheville. My sister Susan, who has supported my anti-war efforts through the years, was one of many Americans who participated for the first time. In the past year, she has gone from being essentially politically unaware to become a well-informed Department of Peace activist. I read that the anti-Peace organizers were "hoping" for 20,000 at their "Support the Troops [not enough have died yet] Rally", but drew only "hundreds". That certainly bodes well for the future. For those who follow the Iraq War closely, you know that Middle East expert Juan Cole has long stood staunchly opposed to immediate withdrawal of the Occupying Forces. Today, he changed his mind. If you are not familiar with him, it's still a very worthwhile read. If you are a Professor Cole fan, as I am, this is a watershed event. Check him out at juancole dot com. Steve free polazzo wrote: > Hi, > > My longtime F/friend Bert Skellie and I travelled to Washington DC to > participate in the Anti War Rally in Washington DC, yesterday. From nc_stereoman at charter.net Sun Sep 25 22:59:25 2005 From: nc_stereoman at charter.net (steve livingston) Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 22:59:25 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] t r u t h o u t - Hundreds of Thousands March against the War In-Reply-To: <6.2.3.4.2.20050925165330.03348410@mail.comcast.net> References: <6.2.3.4.2.20050925165330.03348410@mail.comcast.net> Message-ID: <4337640D.9090004@charter.net> I just came across a great write-up in Tom Dispatch. put www dot in front of this: "tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=24319" Many interviews, lots of photos. Excerpt: =============== ". . . the march will be a Katrina, a cacophony, of handmade signs, waves and waves of them, expressing every bit of upset and pent-up frustration that the polls tell us a majority of Americans feel . . ." " . . . From Virginia, he's the assistant controller at a dairy ('an accountant basically'). Like a lot of people at this demonstration, he speaks calmly, even quietly, but with a deep-seated disgust. 'I'm just sick of it . . . " ". . . As we circle back toward the Mall, we pass a mother and son standing on the sidewalk. She's holding what, for me, is the most striking sign of the day: 'No Iraqis left me on a roof to die.' Her twelve year-old son, Muata Hunter, holds a sign too. It's simple and eloquent. 'No war.'" =============== Good read. Look at the pictures. They are our fellow citizens, ordinary Americans, all different, and all ready to hear what Peace can do. Steve From bright_crow at mindspring.com Mon Sep 26 08:09:15 2005 From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Mike Shell) Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 08:09:15 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [saymaListserv] Re: Juan Cole Message-ID: <19380661.1127736556345.JavaMail.root@mswamui-thinleaf.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Thanks for the reference to Juan Cole, Steve. I have added this http://www.juancole.com/2005/09/why-we-have-to-get-troops-out-of-iraq.html and several other new links to the Southeastern Yearly Meeting's peace and social concerns webpage: http://seympeace.org Mike -----Original Message----- From: steve livingston Sent: Sep 25, 2005 9:45 PM To: free polazzo Cc: sayma at kitenet.net Subject: Re: [saymaListserv] t r u t h o u t - Hundreds of Thousands March against the War ...For those who follow the Iraq War closely, you know that Middle East expert Juan Cole has long stood staunchly opposed to immediate withdrawal of the Occupying Forces. Today, he changed his mind. If you are not familiar with him, it's still a very worthwhile read. If you are a Professor Cole fan, as I am, this is a watershed event. Check him out at juancole dot com. Steve From pennywright at earthlink.net Thu Sep 29 19:20:25 2005 From: pennywright at earthlink.net (Penelope Wright) Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 18:20:25 -0500 Subject: [saymaListserv] Registration info for Nashville MM fall Retreat Message-ID: <001b01c5c54c$6c085940$ce431342@user2ih5nie4yp> 2005 NASHVILLE FRIENDS FELLOWSHIP RETREAT October 22-23, 2005 AT BETHANY HILLS CAMP TIME: Saturday morning arrive by 9:30 a.m. (come as early as you wish) to Sunday afternoon after clean up. PLACE: Bethany Hills Camp, 1080 Bethany Hills Road, Kingston Springs, TN 37082 Phone: 615-952-9184. They are close to Bell Town on U. S. Highway 70 South, past Pegram but before White Bluff (Maps and additional instructions will be at Meeting House) (on Highway 70S, turn off to left at sign, approximately 14 miles from the Bellevue/Highway 70 exit off of Interstate 40 West.) Food Service is provided, although we will need to set tables for meals and clear tables afterward. COST: FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE - Apply to Ministry and Counsel Committee Adult Child 4-10 (under 4 - free) lodging for night in cabins $23.00 $6.00 day use only(not overnight) $4.00 $3.00 meals - breakfast $3.50 $3.50 lunch $4.50 $4.50 supper $5.50 $5.50 Both days without overnight $28.00 $24.00 Whole weekend (Sat. lunch thru Sun. lunch) $41.00 $24.00 BRING: Twin bed sheets, pillows and pillowcases, blankets, sleeping bags, clothing suitable for cold and warm weather and rain gear, if such weather is predicted. Towels, flashlights, toys, games, musical instruments, sports equipment, fishing gear, baked goods and other snacks to share. The group camp has a large heated lodge (sleeps 60) with electric lights and plugs with single bunk beds and mattresses and bathrooms in each room for 6. PROGRAM: Put some S.P.I.C.E. in your life! We will be playing with, worship sharing on, and learning about the five Quaker Testimonies: Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, and Equality. We will also be having singing, music-making, game-playing, hiking, and worship together throughout the weekend. Directions to Bethany Hills >From Nashville via Interstate 40 West: Take I-40 West towards Memphis. Take Exit 196, Bellevue US 70 South. >From Exit 196, turn right on Highway 70 South. After approximately one mile, Highway 70 South merges with Highway 70. Turn left, in a westerly direction, away from the city. Camp is approximately 14 miles from Exit 196. The Belltown Church of Christ, a white concrete block building, will be on the left side of Highway 70. Take the first blacktop road to the left after the church. This is Craggie Hope Road. Within a hundred yards after turning south off Highway 70, bear right onto the Bethany Hills Road (there is a camp sign there) - follow the road down into the camp. 2005 Friends Meeting Retreat Registration Form Names: Adults______________________________________________________________________ Children (with ages)___________________________________________________________ Please indicate how many and A for adult and C for children 4 - 10 Lodging (Overnight): Saturday (A $23, C $6) _______ Day Attendance (A$4, C$3): Saturday_______Sunday_______ Meals: Saturday L ($4.50)_______D($5.50)________ Sunday B($3.50)________ L ($4.50)________ Total: $_____________ Return to: Nashville Friends Meeting, 530 - 26th Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37209 or fax to: Dot Dobbins at (615) 383-7514, or email information to Dot at dobven at aol.com Questions? Call Dot at 615-321-5659 (work) or 615-292-7876 (home) Need information on numbers for meals by October 21, 2905 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: NMM 2005 Retreat Registration.doc Type: application/msword Size: 34304 bytes Desc: not available URL: From jhminshall at comcast.net Fri Sep 30 12:45:56 2005 From: jhminshall at comcast.net (Janet Minshall) Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 12:45:56 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] The Testimony on Truth and the Debts of Poor Countries Message-ID: I have seen and heard much innacurate info from Friends about The World Bank (WB) and The International Monetary Fund (IMF). This article, from the most recent issue of The Economist, addresses how the two organizations will make it possible for wealthier donor countries to pay the debts previously contracted by poor countries. Some of these debts were the result of corruption and innacurate information provided to the lenders, and other debts were the result of countries' being actually unable to follow through on well-intentioned commitments made. Donor countries will , apart from the WB and the IMF, continue to provide economic development assistance to poor countries primarily in the form of grants which do not have to be repaid, while the financial assistance provided to service the poor countries' debts by the WB and the IMF will be discontinued. I wrote in Friendly Woman , Winter 2001 Issue, called "Women,Money, and Economic Power" that this would be the outcome. It really is not consistent with Friends' testimony on Truth to demonize groups about which one has little actual information. Janet Minshall FINANCE & ECONOMICS The IMF and World Bank meetings Bad loans made good Sep 29th 2005 From The Economist print edition Donors not debtors will repay the World Bank's bad loans ALL the routes to the headquarters of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, were blocked on September 24th and 25th by dozens of identical dumper trucks, the kind normally used to spread salted gravel on unpassable winter roads. Inside this heavy security cordon, the ministers and officials gathered for the Bank's and the Fund's annual meetings were busy clearing a path of their own. Agreement was needed on a proposal to cancel the debts owed by the world's poorest countries to the Bretton Woods twins and the African Development Bank (AfDB). The proposal already had the backing of the G8 group of rich nations. Last weekend, according to Trevor Manuel, South Africa's finance minister and chairman of one of the key committees at the meetings, the G8 agreement "emerged as the G184 agreement", supported by the entire membership of the Fund and the Bank. There are now 38 countries that the twins deem poor and indebted enough to warrant forgiveness. Between them, these countries owe $42.5 billion to the World Bank's soft-loan arm, $10 billion to the AfDB and $5 billion to the IMF. Eighteen of these countries have already jumped through the hoops designed to test their commitment to sound policies. Their slates may be clean by the end of the year. Their debts, said Gordon Brown, Britain's chancellor of the exchequer and chairman of the IMF's ministerial committee, are unpayable. In fact, these countries are servicing their obligations, but only because the multilaterals offer them new grants and loans to help them repay their old ones. This recycling of funds keeps up appearances on the balance sheets of the Bank and the Fund, making bad loans look better than they really are. But it is also complicated and inefficient, consuming the time and energy of creditors and debtors alike. The G8 proposal will end this elaborate charade. The Bank, Fund and AfDB will stop collecting debts and cut the flow of new money to these countries by the same amount. This much is an exercise in bookkeeping, not altruism. As Adam Lerrick, an economist at Carnegie Mellon University wrote recently, "All that debt forgiveness really needs is an eraser." But there is more. Backed by the British, the Dutch and the Nordic countries, the World Bank has successfully convinced its donors to compensate it for writing off loans it could not have collected in full. This compensation is supposed to come on top of the regular contributions donor countries make to the Bank, such as the $18 billion already pledged for the years 2006 to 2008. Beyond 2008, however, it is impossible to know how much donors would have coughed up in the absence of debt relief. Therefore it is hard to gauge whether the money they offer will be in addition to, or instead of, money they would otherwise have given. In effect, the Bank has swapped the risk that poor countries will not repay their loans for the risk that rich countries will not redeem their promises. To allay these fears, the G8 finance ministers all signed a letter to Paul Wolfowitz, the World Bank's new president, promising to compensate the Bank "dollar for dollar". A "baseline" will be agreed, which is meant to define the counterfactual, showing what donor countries would have given had debt relief never happened. It is not yet clear how this line will be drawn. Nonetheless, Mr Wolfowitz was happy to declare that "the path to complete debt relief now has been cleared." Almost ten years after the multilaterals first consented to the partial forgiveness of their loans, the snow has finally melted. Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2005. All rights reserved. Advertising info | Legal disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Help -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bright_crow at mindspring.com Fri Sep 30 13:26:38 2005 From: bright_crow at mindspring.com (Mike Shell) Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 13:26:38 -0400 (GMT-04:00) Subject: [saymaListserv] SEYMpeace.org: Thought for Tenth Month Message-ID: <26854108.1128101199160.JavaMail.root@mswamui-valley.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Friends, A day early, I have posted the "Thought for Tenth Month" on the peace and social concern website of Southeastern Yearly Meeting (SEYM): http://seympeace.org/index.html#THOUGHT Please note that I have also added the weekly update for the St. Pete for Peace efforts: http://seympeace.org/StPete.htm I've added a link to this update to the list of Links on the left sidebar of the main pages. Thanks, Mike From Quakerkristi at aol.com Fri Sep 30 14:08:34 2005 From: Quakerkristi at aol.com (Quakerkristi at aol.com) Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 14:08:34 EDT Subject: [saymaListserv] AFSC grants Message-ID: <15a.5a131fb5.306ed922@aol.com> AFSC grants available to Friends working with Katrina From: Ruth Seeley Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 16:14:25 -0400 Subject: Announcement: AFSC grants available to Friends working with Katrina evacuees Please share this letter from Mary Ellen McNish broadly among Friends Meeting and Churches. Thank you, Ruth Seeley AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 September 28, 2005 To Friends Everywhere: The AFSC is not ordinarily a first responder to disasters in the US. However, we found ourselves deeply moved by the suffering of the people left behind to fend for themselves as Hurricane Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast. The aftermath of the storm revealed the most shocking and poorly handled disaster in US history, with government failures on every level. It showed clearly what many of us already knew: US economic policy has completely eviscerated the social safety net needed for the poor. The politics of race have been thrown into sharp relief. AFSC sent immediate financial aid through Board member Dick Steele to the Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston to provide food for the 27,000 people evacuated to the Astrodome. We are now conducting an assessment of where our support and help will be most needed, after which we will plan our future activities. During the initial days of the tragedy it was inspiring to receive hundreds of messages from Friends, Friends Meetings and Churches in the US and around the world who wanted to help. AFSC has set up a special fund to provide financial support to Friends Meetings, Churches and organizations who want to reach out to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Attached is a one page description of how your Friends Meeting, Church or Friends group can apply for a grant from these funds. We are glad to be able to support Friends¹ initiatives in this way, as you help the people who continue to suffer through these traumatic events. Friend Rubye Braye from Wilmington, North Carolina, will be coordinating the effort for AFSC. If you have any questions, please call her at (910) 681-0670. Sincerely, Mary Ellen McNish General Secretary Attachment American Friends Service Committee Criteria for Supporting Friends Efforts to Help in Hurricane Katrina A special fund will be set-up by AFSC to assist Quaker organizations who: 1. Provide service to evacuees locally 2. Engage in relief/rebuilding efforts through Quaker or Non Quaker qualified organizations (e.g. Mennonite Disaster Service, Historically Black Churches). Grants will be from $2,000 to $10,000. There is some possibility for somewhat higher grants, depending on project(s). Request for support must come from a Friends meeting, Friends church or Friends organization. Individuals must work through their meetings, churches or organizations. Projects must focus on helping the underserved (e.g. poor, Native Americans, undocumented immigrants and other underserved groups). Requests should be one page and consist of: 1. Project Description i. Who are you helping? ii. What do you intend to do? 1. Amount of volunteer time committed 2. Financial support requested from AFSC 3. Timeframe - work to begin and end by what date? 4. Other financial support secured? 5. What outcome do you expect? 6. Letter from Friends meeting, Church, Organization supporting this work. A memorandum of understanding will be signed at the beginning of the project by AFSC and the entity. It will require a detailed program and financial report at the end of six months. Awards will solely be at the discretion of AFSC. Please send your requests to RBraye at afsc.org by October 31, 2005. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From moriah at preferred.com Tue Sep 27 11:54:53 2005 From: moriah at preferred.com (Mary Calhoun) Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 11:54:53 -0400 Subject: [saymaListserv] t r u t h o u t - Hundreds of Thousands Marchagainst the War References: <6.2.3.4.2.20050925165330.03348410@mail.comcast.net> Message-ID: <005001c5c751$27415a80$6464a2c6@abc> Dear Free and Friends -- I didn't get to go to Washington, but a bit of the march came to me...while I was taking a break Sunday in an Arby's parking lot on the drive home from meeting. I guess he saw my bumperstickers, and came to ask if I was traveling back from Washington too. He was from Chattanooga, and concerned that the real numbers of people marching wouldn't be reported by the media. It started me thinking -- right now, bumperstickers for Fresh Air, Pacifica's Democracy Now, Indy Media, Truthout, and other such voices might be as important as our usual message-stickers. ~L~ = Mary Calhoun Mary ----- Original Message ----- From: free polazzo To: Atlanta Friends Meeting ; sayma at kitenet.net Sent: Sunday, September 25, 2005 5:07 PM Subject: [saymaListserv] t r u t h o u t - Hundreds of Thousands Marchagainst the War Hi, My longtime F/friend Bert Skellie and I travelled to Washington DC to participate in the Anti War Rally in Washington DC, yesterday. Below is a link to a good story about the protest. Even mentions Quakers. There was also people with the Isreali flag (Shalom) and members of the Chicago based group: "Not in my Name" hosted a breakfast and marched. ( www.nimn.org ) Labor, Bhuddists, Veterans against the War, Socialists, Progressive Democrats, Women in Black, NYC Transit Workers Union, College Students against the war. It was interesting that most of the people marching seemed to be over 50 years old. There were some pro war protestors and they were all under 25! Quite the reverse of the protests I attended against the Vietnam war. I saw Cindy Sheehaw walk by our GA Peace Coalition Banner towards the end of the march. (we were at the back). She thanked us for coming to support bringing US Troops home now. She still had lots of energy at the end of the long day. What an amazing woman. A real leader. We walked and walked and walked. (sat, too) The energy on the parade route was wonderful. Lots of anger and sadness about the deaths and the cost of the war to our country and Iraq, too. Tons of interesting signs. My favorite sign, and maybe the most accurate was: "Real Men know when to Pull Out"~ :) Lots of people who think that the war and Big Bucks is why we are there and won't leave. Add your voice to the call to "Bring our troops home now!" Blessings, Free http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/092505Z.shtml _______________________________________________ Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association mailing list posting address: sayma at kitenet.net subscribe/unsubscribe: http://kitenet.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sayma -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: