This Week at Gaia House

THE FIRST LIBRARY PARTY is scheduled from 2 to 5 p.m. TODAY, Tuesday, Oct 27. Any and all volunteers are invited to come and help us get our Colombo Library into an online database. Individuals who have access to a laptop computer are encouraged to bring it with them. Contact: Dan Raino

THEOLOGY ON TAP, Engage questions you can hardly ask in church about life, love, and why care anyway. How can you take the Bible seriously? Does Christianity make sense anymore? Come to the Underground Pub & Grill TODAY, Tuesday, Oct 27 at 5 p.m. Located at the corner of University and Mill on the Island. BYOB (Buy your own beer.)

HELP PLAN THE VEGETARIAN THANKSGIVING DINNER, Come to the Gaia House RSO meeting on Wednesday, Oct 28, at 5:30 p.m., at Gaia House-Interfaith Center. Contact: Julie Grey (Dinner is Nov 19.)

FACULTY FORUM Meet to help organize interactive faculty sessions on transformative teaching at SIUC; at Melange, Thursday, October 29, 3 PM.

THURSDAY'S INTERVEG FORUM features Wayne Wiseman from our local Dayempur Farm, sharing his knowledge about permaculture in Southern Illinois. Thursday, Oct 29. The Forum starts at 7:30 in the Library of Gaia House-Interfaith Center -- preceded by the INTERVEG POTLUCK: food prep begins at 4 p.m., dinner at 6. Come for the Dinner, the Forum, or both.

FRIDAY'S RICE AND SPICE International Slow Food Dinner features Anil, Prati, and Altaf cooking Indian! Friday, Oct 30, 6-9 p.m. at Gaia House Interfaith Center. All welcome.

ANOTHER WORK MORNING! This Saturday from 9:30 to Noon; help shape up the grounds of Gaia House-Interfaith Center. Join Will Major and happy volnteers for a good, down and dirty old time. Rain cancels.

IMMINENT WARNING: On Saturday, Oct 31, all good boos and ghouls are invited to gather at Gaia House-Interfaith Center for an All Hollows Eve Birthday Celebration for Gavin Betzelberger starting at 8:30 p.m. Prizes will be given for the best Gavin look-a-like costume and the best Gavin inner child costume. Potluck snacks and beverages welcome as gifts.

SUNDAY SIMPLE MEAL, Nov 1. All welcome to join a small friendly group to plan ways to demonstrate that both compassionate action for social justice for all--and growth in the Spirit are central to Christianity. 6 p.m. at Gaia House-Interfaith Center.

NEW NEWSLETTER FORMAT! We here at the Gaia House-Interfaith Center are excited to be presenting our newsletter in HTML! Like all things, it will take some time to get perfect, so please feel free to email the office if you see incorrect links or have any other suggestions. Thank you for reading!

Community Events

JANE ADDAMS AND JOHN DEWEY lecture on their sympathetic intercommunication by Charleen Haddock Seigfried; sponsored by the Dewey Center in celebration of Dewey's 150th birthday; Thursday, October 29, 4:30 PM, Guyon Auditorium, Morris Library.

HOMELESSNESS & EXTREME POVERTY SYMPOSIUM---Thursday, Oct 29, 6 PM, at First Christian Church in Carbondale, hosted by the Carbondale Interfaith Council. Presenting at the event: agencies in Jackson and Williamson Counties that work with the homeless and extremely poor. A dinner will be included, provided by Bethel AME Church's Feed My Sheep Community Kitchen. An optional donation may be given to Feed My Sheep at the dinner.

CRITICAL MASS GROUP BIKE RIDE Critical Mass is a monthly ride to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists' right to the road. Join them in front of the SIU Student Center this Friday, October 30, at 5PM.

FRIDAY BIG MUDDY FILM October 30: Save Our Food! The World According to Monsanto by French filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin. How much outrage can a single multinational corporation inspire? How much damage can they inflict? The breathtaking new film features a company that sets the new standard. From Iowa to Paraguay, from England to India, Monsanto is uprooting our food supply and replacing it with their patented genetically engineered creations. And along the way, farmers, communities, and nature become collateral damage.

IDGY VAUGHN Idgy is edgy and puts on a very good show! She's an up and coming New Folk Winner from the Kerrville Folk Festival and will be entertaining for all ages. Cousin Andy's Coffee House located in the Fellowship Hall of the Church of the Good Shepherd on the corner of Orchard and Schwartz Streets. This Friday, Oct 30, doors open at 7, music starts at 7:30.

TOWN SQUARE MARKET 3RD ANNIVERSARY This Saturday, Oct 31, from 1:00-3:00 PM, help Town Square Market celebrate their third anniversary with an assortment of their famous local foods, fresh-baked goodies, and live music by Curt Wilson

COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE Hollow Pumpkin CSA Gathering and Potluck this Sunday, Nov 1, starting a 12 Noon. Enjoy a meal of farm-fresh food, a tour of the farm, and a talk about this and next season's CSA. All who are interested in Community Supported Agriculture are welcome, and feel free to cook up your own veggie recipes as well. 3075 Nash RD, Anna, IL 62906. Contact Steve at (618)614-2233

WOMEN OF CHOICE -- A PLAY IN MONOLOGUES Help The Women's Center celebrate their 37th anniversary. Friday, Nov 6, 7:30PM at the Varsity Arts Center. Limited seating. Call (618)303-5974 to reserve tickets.

Our Greater Community

United Against Afghanistan Escalation: Take Action!

Now is the time to stop an escalation of the war in Afghanistan.

The decision on what to do regarding Afghanistan hangs in the balance. As people of faith and conscience, we must do everything we can to encourage Congress and the Obama administration that we will not tolerate more death, more destruction and a deepening quagmire in Afghanistan.

A coalition of nine peace groups has launched a new project and website dedicated to opposing any military escalation in Afghanistan.

We can make a difference. Here's how: At the joint website, http://www.noescalation.org, we're posting the phone numbers of every Congressional office and what is known so far about where they stand on the proposal to send 40,000 more U.S. troops. We're joining with our partners to ask our membership, our friends and allies to call Congressional offices and search the media for information on where each Member of Congress stands. And we're asking for that information to be reported back to the website noescalation.org.

We're asking you to contact you Members of Congress immediately. There are three key ways for Members of the House to affect President Obama's decision:

* Speak out publicly against a troop increase

* Co-sponsor Rep. Lee's bill HR 3699 prohibiting an increase in troops

* Co-sponsor Rep. McGovern's bill HR 2404 calling for an exit strategy from our military occupation of Afghanistan.

There are two key ways for Senators to affect President Obama's decision:

* To speak out publicly against a troop increase

* to introduce legislation in opposition to a troop increase and in favor of an exit strategy from our military occupation of Afghanistan or in favor of a timetable for military withdrawal.

All the information for contacting your Members of Congress, including scripts and phone numbers, are available on the new site.