|
|
Palouse Peace Coalition meeting, Sunday, March 30, 2003
Next meeting will be at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Sunday, April 6 at 7:00 pm.
We were very lucky to have Liz Brandt, from the UI Law School speak to us re. the Patriot
Act and some of its domestic ramifications. I'll try to do justice to her remarks here, but
I would urge those of you who missed this meeting to try to catch up with her at a later
date. The Peace Coalition plans to present an evening panel discussion - probably later
this month - dealing with this most important issue. Will keep you informed....Also, check
out the ACLU website (www.aclu.org) and click on the "safe and free" button for more information.
Anyway, she touched on 3 categories of concern. One is that the 4th amendment (search and
seizure) is being undermined by a lowering of the standards by which the government can get a
wiretapping warrant; Patriot II would extend this authority. Two, the act keeps government
activity secret in a number of different ways (sneak and peak warrants). Among other things, it
permits the government to track you on the web, and can do so without a warrant. And, three,
it makes it very easy for government agencies to share information with each other and to collect
all this information in a collectible/searchable format.
Patriot II has not been enacted yet, but is sneaking in via the Homeland Security Act, and the
Total Information Awareness Act. It's not too late to stop some of this from being adopted.
(actually, our own Butch Otter is working to curtail this!). We were also reminded that the most
at risk are non-American citizens, and to encourage non-American students in particular to be
very careful - perhaps to be observers, rather than active participants in anti-war activities.
(Did I get the gist of it, Liz?)
Carl Mickelsen read an excerpt from an article in the April "The Progressive" titled, "The Boy
King and his War". Here's the URL for the complete text
Progressive
and links to some other excellent articles in this month's issue by Barbara Ehrenreich, Ruth Coniff (an interview with the candidate who gives me the most hope - Dennis Kucinich), and Robert
McChesney and John Nichols talking about the FCC - among others.
In other news:
1. Don't forget Anna Bachmann's talk Friday night at the Smith Center for Undergraduate Education, room 203 - April 4 at 7:00 pm. Anna spent four weeks in Iraq recently as part of the citizen peace team hosted by Voices in the Wilderness. The program is free; bring friends and family. This should be excellent and very timely!
There will be a potluck (and a chance to meet Anna personally!) prior to the presentation. This will be at the Sacred Heart Church, NE 440 Ash Street, Pullman from 4:30 - 6:00 pm. Coffee, tea,
juice bread and all utensils will be provided. Please bring a dish to pass.
2. Rally at Friendship Square next Saturday April 5. Chris has applied for a permit, but has not yet heard back. Also, we anticipate that Anna will be willing to speak, but need to get her permission first. She has been contacted re this.
3. We plan to repeat the Palouse Mall intersection rally in two weeks - on Saturday April 12.
4. Kenton Bird requested that someone take on the task of writing and sending out press
releases. He will work with you and teach you how to do this - here's a chance to learn from
the master! If you're interested, contact him at Kenton
5. The Whitman County Democrats are meeting April 2, at 5:30 at Denny's in Pullman. They
requested a speaker(s) from this group to meet with them. Jim and Bertie Weddell's names came
up, and they will be contacted to see if they are interested.
6. And our Latah County representative to the Idaho legislature, Shirley Ringo, was one of 5 to
vote against the pro-war support resolution down in Boise. Please contact her to express your appreciation.Rep. Ringo
|
|