Thursday, July 31, 2008

Wednesday nights are pot luck dinner at the house and this place draws and impressive crowd. Pinkers invite anyone curious about the organization, neighbors and anyone sharing in a quest for peace. The food is always good and the company is harmonious and interesting.

This is Start. He's the coolest guy on the planet. Dropped out of the workaday corporate world to come here everyday and protest the illegal invasion of Iraq. He's plugged in and turned on. A gentle soul, he is.


We sat in on two hearings. The first was the D. O. J. oversight. As soon as the CodePinkers down, Conyers came over to give us a fair warning. Either we behave or we'll be invited to leave ;-)

Later we sat in on a hearing of the progress in Iraq. There were several witnesses but the key witness was former Iraqi Prime Minster Allawi.






This was the most engaging conversation. David, who works for congressman Bobby Scott supported our strong concerns about these two resolutions, shared his thoughts about them and agreed to share the contents of our visit and the printable material with the congressman. Liz is making a good point in her fabulous pink camo hat.

Days 2 &3
We spent a good portion of the days visiting congress men and women and senators to lobby against h. con r. 362 and s.r. 580. Most of the interactions were cordial and some were quite positive.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

7/21 day one

started the day with an activist organizing training camp held by SDS. It was encouraging to meet so many young people concerned about the environment and aware of current issues.



future organizers


James, aka Jamesipedia-the information archeologist

Later that day, John Hagee's Christians United for Israel was holding a convention. James and I attemtped to crash it and we got further than we anticipated without an official membership card and the nominal fee required for entry. It was quite eerie and, as James so eloquently described it, felt like the bowels of the fourth reich. We didn't get into the grand auditorium but we did learn how we could invest in Zion Oil, a company drilling in Israel. They haven't exactly found the oil, yet, but there's a money back guarantee if they never find it and oddly enough the stock of this publicly traded company is trading at 6+. Not bad for an oil company with no oil. I thought, surely, the salesman would open his jacket lapel and show us a selection of lovely watches we might be interested in purchasing.
This was my first protest, ever, so I was excited.