World and National Affairs Discussion Group

Meetings are led by a moderator responsible for recognizing all who wish to speak, keeping discussion on topic, facilitating the selection of the next meeting's agenda at the end of each meeting, and finalizing a revised meeting agenda at the start of each meeting based on participant preferences and current events. Sources used to empower our discussions are rich and diverse. They include the Foreign Policy Association's "Great Decisions" publication and its companion DVD, credible newspapers (such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post), other Media (for example PBS News and BBC News for objectivity, and for different slants CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, WBAI, and possibly even the forthcoming, supposedly more objective, English language version of Aljazeera), Websites (Common Dreams and Just Foreign Policy have been suggested), Pertinent Literature, and Research by our members. We look to develop and discuss complete, fact-based information by evaluating sources ranging from those with the highest reputations for objectivity to those with diverse, partisan, and even controversial, points of view. We seek more websites falling into these categories to benefit from the real time nature of the internet. Of necessity our interaction emphasizes openness to discussing diverse ideas and opinions, treating one another in a respectful, supportive, and non-judgmental manner. Recently discussed topics include diverse current events, Syria and The 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King's March on Washington, PBS discussion of "This Town" about Washington DC, Bill Moyers' interview of Economist Richard Wolf, and from the "Great Decisions" publication, NATO, Humanitarian Intervention, Iran and Threat Assessment. Planned Discussion Topics for the remainder of the year include College Costs and other Education Issues, Privacy and National Security, Marijuana Legalization, Rationalizing Prison Populations, the remaining Great Decisions articles (Future of the Euro, Egypt, Myanmar, and China in Africa) and 2 think pieces: An American Airlines Pilot's defense of profiling middle easterners and Ben Stein on Religion and Traditional American Values. Just about every meeting will include some current events discussion.