Minutes for MPJC Meeting of November 20, 2017

Present: Peter, Ellyn, Glenda Rae, Rey, Lois

Old business

    1.  Approval of Minutes for October 16: The minutes were approved as corrected.

    2. Progress Reports:

        a. Topic of the Month: Why we oppose nuclear weapons. We have done nothing re this topic except watch the film "Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives." See below.

       b. SURJ meeting report: the meeting was cancelled.

        c. Book of the Month report: Glenda Rae obtained the book, "White Rage," but has not read it yet.

       d. Immigration Coalition Report: There was a vigil at Rep. Walorski's office at7:30am on October 25. It was well attended and folks signed the guest register at the office after gathering outside to listen to speeches. There was also a program on immigration at St. Adalbert's church on Saturday, October 21st, 2:30-4pm. It was well organized. Several representatives from the state legislature and county council spoke. Unfortunately, there is little likelihood that these democratic legislators will be able to get anything passed in Indiana because the state districts are so gerrymandered. There was an immigration meeting at Temple Bethel on November 11. The theme was "Welcoming the Stranger." There were a series of speakers from different faiths as well as DACA students telling their stories.

        e. Veterans/Armistice Day vigil: This was attended by the usual suspects. We had signs about reclaiming Armistice Day End War, Military Spending Creates Jobs? Not!, the Veterans for Peace banner, etc. We had hoped that more SURJ members would show up, but they are communicating mostly by facebook these days. It turns out that SURJ pushed the November 20th Monday Vigil on Facebook as a Thanksgiving vigil which we were not aware of. Two SURJ members attended that vigil. We have to get more coordinated.

3. Treasurer's Report: $158.72 with a $2.61 in petty cash. There was a $20 payment to the library to reserve the room for the Scarred Lands showing and a $20 contribution from Lois. We will get the $20 back from the library at the end of the year.

New Business

    1. What do we (can we) do next? We incorporated this topic into other discussion

    2. Topic of the Month: Why we oppose nuclear weapons. Peter will check the website to see if we have a statement about this issue already in our issues section, and will write a preliminary draft if not. He did check after the meeting and we did have a statement on Nuclear Disarmament and Nuclear Power which is listed below. We discussed the hair trigger for launch of nuclear missiles and how untrustworthy Trump is to be in control of the launch command. Such a launch would cause the end of civilization and the annihilation of humankind. There was a general who said he would refuse to launch if he thought Trump's order was illegal but others were skeptical that this would be effective. We recalled Senator Lugar's efforts to secure the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons after it dissolved. We worried that the U.S. is now experiencing the conditions that led Germany into Naziism. The Alt Right is arming and ready to wage war. Lois reminded us that as bad as things seem there is always hope. We also need to make signs vs nuclear weapons for the Monday vigils.

    3. MLK Day Table: We have received applications for tables. Glenda Rae will write the check for the MPJC table. She or Peter will fill out the form and turn it in. Ellyn will set up the table in the morning of MLK day. She is rethinking what to emphasize this year. Lois will use Veterans for Peace materials at her table.

    4. Scarred Lands and Ruined Lives film: Two folks outside our group showed up to watch the film in spite of all of Rey's efforts to publicize it. Even though we ordered the DVD in plenty of time it had not arrived by the time the showing took place. We had to stream it into a library computer which kept timing out during the showing. We had to get a technician to get it started each time. However we did some discussion about the film during the breaks to go get the technician, so the time was well used. Both the original and the replacement DVDs arrived a week after the showing. We can show the film in people's homes or in the library in the future. It was a very powerful film and worth watching.

    5. Human Rights Day: The program will be at the library auditorium on Saturday, December 9th, 1-2:30pm.

    6. Little Taste of Peace: There is a facilitator refresher training at the Jewish center on Jan 4 at 6pm. Everyone, including facilitators, have to register this year as no more than 150 participants will be admitted. Folks holding reservations need to arrive by 6pm on January 13th. At 6:15, those on the standby list will be admitted. The push this year will be to get people to sign up for the study circles which start soon after the LToP.

    6. Other Topics and Issues: None were mentioned.

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    7. Next meeting: Monday, January 8th, at 2:30pm at Lois' assisted living center. We will send the directions in the meeting announcement.