Billings UU Fellowship News

Service Auction Items to sell

2008-05-21T20:06:00.003-06:00

BUUF Service Auction LIVE AUCTION

Set of 4 CD's on stress 1) the original book on CD; 2) 2 relaxation methods; 3) 2 fantasy walks (forest and ocean); 4) mental rehearsal and the subliminal process. In addition Jerry will spent one hour at the purchasers home or at BUUF to help learn how to use the CD's.
Jerry Nordstrom
Cookbook stand
Karen Peterson
A cheesecake, the pan and the recipe ($25 value)
Karen Peterson
Michael Dowd's book ($25) lightly browsed
Karen Peterson
A paperback book holder, with book, tea and chocolate
Karen Peterson
Jerry will re-upholster a chair or your choice or something comparable. Starting bid should be $250.00 and THAT'S A BARGAIN !!!!
Jerry Weitz

BUUF Service Auction SILENT AUCTION

Improv party dinner
How to get out of yourselves!! It will be your task to pick a nursery character, such as Old King Cole, Jack and Jill, Little Bo Beep, etc. and introduce them as a close friend to the guests.
Food:New York style deli. Pastrami sandwich with cole slaw and liver pate. $25.00
Katherine Jabs
Sustainable Planet Cooking Lesson 1 - Learning to cook with grains other than rice: Quinoa, Teff, Amaranth, Couscous. These are just some of the names of grains that people have questions about. What is it? Where is it grown? Where can I get it? Why do I want to eat it (health benefits, lower calories, high or low in a specific nutrient)? And most of all, how do I cook it, and how can I make tasty dishes with it?All of these questions will be answered in a 2 - 2 1/2 hour cooking lesson at the Fellowship. Date to be after October 1, 2008 on a Saturday to be coordinated with the winner(s). Limit 8 participants. $15.00 each
Heidi Pfosch

Service Auction

2008-05-16T14:13:00.003-06:00

Heads up – It’s the Billings UU Annual Service Auction:

The theme is Spring time in the Rockies
Let’s make this auction rock
Saturday, June 7, 2008 - 6:00 – 9:30
It’s the best party of year!! And you won’t want to miss it!!

We’ll have food to sell for dinner. This will give you time to look over the auction items and bid on the silent ones. Throughout the night, there will be activities and entertainment.

BUT FOR NOW:

WE NEED ITEMS TO SELL

This is the time when members offer up SERVICES TO SELL. It could be a hike, a offering of music, a boat ride, and offer of work, an offer to build something, an educational outing, a dinner, a dance, a white elephant that has some value – you can be creative and it’s only limited by your imagination

You can send in your offer in three different ways.

Call Katherine Jabs
Write an e-mail to Katherine
Sign up on the Billings UU Blog. Just click on Comments at the bottom of the post. Put your auction item in the box provided, choose an identity and click on Publish Your Comment. It will go to Sue and she will okay it and then it will appear on the blog later.

At any rate, if you send it to me I will put in on the blog and then you can all check the blog from time to time to see what items are being offered.. Thank you Sue for making this available!! This will help us all get our technology skills working.

Last year we had 162 items!!! PLEASE SEND IN YOUR LIST OF ITEMS BY JUNE 1.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO PARTICIPATE BY COMING, CONTRIBUTING AND BUYING. THIS IS OUR BIGGEST FUNDRAISER OF THE YEAR.

Elizabeth Gilbert videos

2008-04-21T21:37:00.002-06:00

If you'd like to hear Elizabeth Gilbert talk about the book we're discussing this month, "Eat, Pray, Love," here are a couple of resources. The first is a half hour talk @Google Talks:

The second is from Borders Book Club

For Love of Water

2008-03-21T16:42:00.001-06:00

Here's a clip from a new documentary, For Love of Water:

Michael Pollan on "In Defense of Food"

2008-03-11T14:40:00.003-06:00

The UU Billings book group meets on Tuesday to discuss Michael Pollan's book "In Defense of Food." You might be interested in watching a talk on this subject at Google from earlier this month

It's almost an hour long

debate on global climate change

2008-01-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

Thom Hartmann discusses global climate change with Marc Marano.

UWTV lecture on science and religion

2008-01-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

February's theme is the fourth UU principle:

A free and responsible search for truth and meaning

Along that line, I ran across a lecture from University of Washington TV by a Jesuit scientist, George Coyne, S.J., director of the Vatican Observatory. He has found a way to integrate both science and religion into his life.

The lecture is available for on-demand viewing in both Windows Media and Quick Time formats:
http://www.uwtv.org/programs/displayevent.aspx?rID=2144&fID=373

It probably helps if you have a broadband internet connection.

Even if you don't agree that science and religion should be mentioned in the same breath, much less the same life, his extensive overview of the history of the universe is in itself worth the viewing time.

fun holiday music

2007-12-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

For those of you who easily tire of the pop versions of Christmas carols throughout the season, here's a fun take on some classics

Unitarian Universalist Videos on YouTube

2007-10-14T15:28:00.000-06:00

The UUA has put out some promotional videos.

Check out Voices of a Liberal Faith - Unitarian Universalist on YouTube:

The Bottled Water Lie

2007-09-18T16:36:00.000-06:00

There was a very interesting program on Democracy Now! last month on the bottled water lie. Pepsi admitted that the water in its brand Aquafina was actually tap water. Not only are people being scammed by paying outrageous prices for bottled tap water but 20 million gallons of oil are finding their way into landfills as people discard the bottles.

You can read transcripts from the program or watch or listen to recorded versions from the Democracy Now! website:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/01/1435240&mode=thread&tid=25

Read The Bottled Water Lie by Michael Blanding on AlterNet:
http://www.alternet.org/stories/43480/

There are a couple of good alternatives to bottled water out there.

One is water filters. You can put a filter on your tap or use a filtered pitcher and improve the taste of your water for a lot less money.

If you do have problems with your local water supply, consider buying your water in larger quantities in refillable containers.

If you feel you really must buy bottled water, please recycle the bottles. We can even collect them at the fellowship.

Music from August 5 service

2007-08-05T14:42:00.000-06:00

You can watch and listen to Justin Roth play Fatima's Waltz on YouTube:

You can listen to Shine and several more songs on his MySpace page.

You can order CDs from his webpage http://www.justinroth.com/.

You can also download songs from iTunes

The song Probably Not is from Susan Werner's CD Gospel Truth.

Her website http://www.susanwerner.com/music/index.html lists several places you can order the CD. You can hear samples of some more of the songs Gospel Truth there.

Individual songs are also available from iTunes

Jihadists Reading List

2007-07-07T15:55:00.000-06:00

What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat - Louise Richardson, 2006
An overview of the motives of terrorists, with examples from worldwide terrorist groups illustrating the common elements. Also included are the implications for a more effective policy to contain terrorism.

Future Jihad: Terrorist strategies against the West - Walid Phares, 2005
An overview of the complex history and theology of jihadism, its main players and their motivations. The author is a Senior Fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a neo-conservative think tank in Washington, DC.

The True Believer - Eric Hoffer, 1951
Hoffer was among the first to recognize that the motivations of people joining mass movements were the lack of personal self-esteem and a passionate obsession to compensate for a lack of meaning in their own lives. Hoffer furthermore suggested that it is possible to head off an undesirable mass movement by substituting a benign mass movement which will give those prone to joining movements an outlet for their insecurities.

Buy from Powells.com and support the fellowship. You'll find them listed on our bookshelf.

Available online:

A Battle for Global Values - Tony Blair, from Foreign Affairs, January/February 2007.
Summary: the war on terrorism is not just about security or military tactics. It is a battle of values, and one that can only be won by the triumph of tolerance and liberty. Afghanistan and Iraq have been the necessary starting points of this battle. Success there, however, must be coupled with a bolder, more consistent and more thorough application of global values, with Washington leading the way. Tony Blair is the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Knowing the Enemy - Mary Habeck. Essay published in Foreign Policy Research Institute E-Notes on November 17, 2006
Habeck does an outstanding job of condensing arcane and diverse Jihadists theology into a brief readable version. On the the faculty of Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Hitze School of Advanced International Studies, her most recent book is of this title.

NOW with Bill Moyers special Islam v. Islam 7/12/2002
A conversation with Bill Moyers and Muslim intellectuals debating the political vs. religious motivations of Jihadists, the degree of blame that the U.S. bears for support of authoritarian regimes, etc.

The following articles are available online via Parmly Billings Library. You'll need your library card number to log in.

Declaring victory: the United States is succeeding in its struggle against terrorism. The time has come to declare the war on terror over, so that an even more effective military and diplomatic campaign can begin. James Fallows.
The Atlantic Monthly 298.2 (Sept 2006): p60(11). From InfoTrac OneFile.
A more effective counter-terrorism attitude for the United States would be simply to declare "victory" in the "war on terrorism." We have made enormous progress in reducing the ease and likelihood of future attacks, but we will never eliminate them. Don't give in to fear -- and the consequent satisfactions of terrorists in watching our society go into major spasms of fear and upheaval in response to their efforts: don't let the terrorists see us as driven by fear. Don't help them make good on their boasts that they are utterly disrupting American and western society.

Knowing the Enemy. George Packer.
The New Yorker 82.42 (Dec 18, 2006): p60. From InfoTrac OneFile.
Based on an extensive interview with Lt. col. David Kilcullen of the Australian Army, on assignment as a counter-intelligence specialist first with the Pentagon and now with the U.S. State Department. Emphasizes that the war on terror is as much or more an informational, psychological and social development war as it is a military one -- and that "war" is the wrong language and concept for countering terrorism.

Azzam the American. Raffi Khatchadourian.
The New Yorker 82.46 (Jan 22, 2007): p50. From InfoTrac OneFile.
The biography describing the gradual radicalizing of a young American from a goat farm in southern California, following him from a local Islamic group to his present position as a senior al Qaeda operative/spokesman.

Just don't mention the war on terrorism; Essay.(Opinion). Joseph S. Nye Jr.
International Herald Tribune (Feb 9, 2007): p6.
Nye's comparison of the British government's ban on the term "war on terror" and the continued American usage of the term, pointing out that it is the language of war and battle that gives terrorists a cult-like sense of status and larger meaning to their efforts.

Mother's Day

2007-05-12T18:09:00.000-06:00

I heard about this video celebrating Mother's Day for Peace on Democracy Now!

If you have a dial-up connection and don't want to wait for a video to download, try this audio version:
http://gobnf.org/i/mdfp/mothersday_m.mp3

This is particularly meaningful for UUs since it's based on work done by Julia Ward Howe, a Unitarian.

For more information about Julia Ward Howe's life and work:

Her Mother's Day proclamation:

Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Btw, she also wrote the Battle Hymn of the Republic...

Name Days

2007-04-20T11:02:00.000-06:00

If you visit the UU Billings home page, you'll notice that our events calendar has on some days a person's name. Some have asked what that means. It's that person's name day. Here's a brief explanation of name days from Wikipedia:

Name days are a tradition of attaching personal names to each day of the year, and celebrating the association of particular days with those for whom that day is named. It is common in large parts of Europe. The tradition originates from the Christian church calendar and the tradition to name children after saints, although in many countries it has no connection to the church anymore.

I decided to offer name days as an alternative celebration for our UU Billings family at the beginning of this year. One reason was that one of our members was undergoing a number of trials right around her birthday. It just didn't seem like the right time to celebrate. Another was that for some people a birthday is a private occasion that they may not want to share. Yet another was that all birthdays were not being observed equally. If you didn't have a family member or close friend in the fellowship who knew when your birthday was, it was up to you to offer it. Some people were just too shy to do this and their birthdays were ignored while others were publicly celebrated. It just didn't seem fair.

So Name Days give us a reason to celebrate each person's unique contribution to our lives and community without some of the issues attached to birthdays.

The Name Days on our calendar were taken from the website mynameday.com. I looked up names from an old directory so there will need to be some updates.

If you like it, let me know, and we will in the future figure out some way to make it more of a celebration. Ideas and suggestions are always welcome. Feel free to use the comments section of the blog.

Cinco de Mayo Service Auction

2007-04-16T23:56:00.000-06:00

Plan to join us for the annual
UU Billings Service Auction
Saturday, May 5, 2007
6:30 – 9:30 PM

We hope to have a variety of items available for your bids in both silent and live auctions. Since it's Cinco de Mayo, the celebrations will have a Latin flavor with entertainment and a variety of activities.

Post your auction item by clicking on comments below. Click on comments to view what others are contributing as well.

Yes, you too can become a blogger!

World music sources

2007-01-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

People occasionally want to know where they can get music from our services.

I buy most of my CDs from Borders.

For music downloads, I like Calabash Music. You can listen to samples of other songs by Tinariwen here.

Labor Day

2006-09-02T20:12:00.000-06:00

I found some interesting web sites while I was researching the state of labor in America today:

Workplacefairness.org has a report "The Good, the Bad, and Wal-Mart"
AFL-CIO has a new organization for non-union workers interested in working place issues: Working America
American Rights at Work - they also have a radio program Workin' It on Air America Radio. You can listen to it online or download archived programs or subscribe to the podcast.

Remembering Sally Noe

2006-07-26T09:51:00.000-06:00

Thank you Joyce for this great photo of Sally and Dave from last year's Halloween party.

There are a couple of articles about Sally Noe in the Billings Gazette.

Lightning survivor: "It came so fast."

And

Friends remember Noe for volunteering, traveling

Obituary from Billings Gazette

I thought this might be a good place to share some of our favorite memories of Sally. Feel free to add your comments.

Here's another nice photo from Annette of Sally with Dave, Annette, Garth and Lucas at Laforet.

I've put these and some other photos Annette sent up on my Flickr page.

An Inconvenient Truth

2006-07-13T21:00:00.000-06:00

An Inconvenient Truth is still playing at the Wynnsong. Here's a trailer for the film:

There's also a very good interview with Al Gore by Charlie Rose.

Charlie Rose - Al Gore

Description:
An hour with former Vice President Al Gore. He discusses his new film, "An Inconvenient Truth" and the science and politics surrounding global warming.

ClimateCrisis.net

Walkin' through New Orleans

2006-07-07T17:29:00.000-06:00

Presentation

You can see some of the photos from Sunday's presentation on Flickr.

More information on the UUA-UUSC response to Hurricane Katrina.

Lyrics to Louisiana 1927 and more information about the Great Mississippi flood of 1927 that inspired the song - Wikipedia article

Background

Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans - Wikipedia article

BBC News has some excellent material on Rebuilding New Orleans

NYTimes online has on-going coverage of the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

The Times-Picayune has animated graphics showing how New Orleans flooded.

Democracy Now! has been having on-going coverage of the post-Katrina situation in New Orleans.

Global AIDS Week of Action

2006-05-24T17:50:00.000-06:00

Want to have a say in how AIDS in your community will be shaped over the next five years?

Global AIDS Week of Action (20-26 May 2006) One week. One voice

Join the UU-UNO to demand a stronger response, more accountability and more resources in the fight against HIV/AIDS worldwide before decision-makers walk into the halls of the UN for the 2006 High-Level Meeting on AIDS in New York.

Five years after the adoption of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS) Declaration of Commitment (DoC), governments are being called to report on their progress toward implementing these promises. Between May 31st and June 2nd, 2006, every member country will be sending a delegation to New York to participate in this review meeting.

Five years later, there are still 15 million AIDS deaths, and 25 million new HIV infections. There are myriad stories from people who are not able to access treatment; HIV Positive women, children and orphans are being neglected, marginalized, and stigmatized around the world.

Let's mobilize and gather stories from people and communities affected by the epidemic in order to hold governments accountable for the promises they made at UNGASS 2001. Send out a unified message to decision-makers before they decide on new priorities and promises. IT'S TIME FOR ACTION.

What can be done at your congregations:

Expose what AIDS promises have NOT been kept by reviewing the Declaration of Commitment along with your country report (available at UNAIDS.org and UNGASSHIV.org, or contact UU-UNO now)
Make a noise about what you think are priority AIDS issues in your community through press conference, rocal radio announcement etc.
Organize candle light event to raise awareness within your community
Involve young people! Request a free copy of the "Keep the Promise" teacher's resource
Ensure that the US and Canadian government delegation understand the needs of people living with HIV, and know who the marginalized affected groups are. Contact your government representatives now!

See examples of actions in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Malawi, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, The Gambia, The United Kingdom, and elsewhere.

Are you ready to take the initiative in your congregation and community?
Contact office@uu-uno.org for shadow reports (US, Canada and elsewhere) and position papers now!

Special Congregational Meeting - May 7

2006-04-28T14:58:00.000-06:00

There is a lot of enthusiasm for the Building Improvement/Renovations Committee proposal to improve and enhance our Fellowship home. But please don't skip the meeting because you think the matter is a done deal. Even if everyone is for the proposed changes we can't vote to approve the Committee's proposal if we don't have a quorum. Please show up for the meeting and add your important presence to the quorum.

The meeting will be held immediately after the service. Hopefully, the meeting will be short and sweet, so we're figuring we'll be out in plenty of time for people to head out for an enjoyable lunch!

See you on May 7!

Save Darfur

2006-04-26T12:09:00.000-06:00

Take action now!

Come to one of the many rallies this Sunday to stop the genocide in Darfur. If you can’t make it to a rally, visit our website to send an urgent message to your U.S. senators and representative to support the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act (HR3127) and a supplemental appropriation of at least $173 million for the African Union Mission in Darfur. And you can still sign a postcard or order a supply to distribute for the Million Voices for Darfur campaign.

If you are in Washington, D.C. or San Francisco, join UUSC President Charlie Clements and UUA President Bill Sinkford as they stand on opposite coasts in one of the largest protests against genocide that the world has ever seen!

Actor George Clooney will also participate in the Washington rally.

Make your voice heard!
Join the UU "Rally Before the Rally" in Washington, D.C. to hear words from a Darfuri speaker, UUSC staff, and other featured speakers! Bring family and friends to enjoy live music at the Taft Memorial at noon. Young percussionists will lead a UU procession to the main rally on the National Mall at 1:15 p.m. Take a stand against genocide. Help save the people of Darfur.

On the West Coast, Clements will speak at the Day of Conscience for Darfur in San Francisco. Other Save Darfur rallies are being held in many cities around the country.

Read about UUSC's Save Darfur Campaign for more information, or call Bev Hoffman at 202-296-4672, ext 12.