Linda, Hillary (not clinton) and I (Devon) spent a couple of hours in Coral Gables, FL listening to Pelosi yammer away about her new book explaining her rise to power. Oh, she went on and on about breaking the (200 year old) marble ceiling, being the first women speaker of the house (an admirable feat, no doubt) and how every woman in the room should "know thy power". What she failed to mention was that having it and executing it are apparently mutually exclusive. I'm not sure she even realizes the irony in her speech about the importance of creating a disturbance. She more or less likened herself to some of the greatest creators of disturbance, ie: Martin Luther King, Alice Paul, Susan B. Anthony, etc as if just getting the job was the full accomplishment. She was also really good about condemning the Bush administration for everything under the sun as if the complicity of the spineless democratic congress (with Ms. Pelosi as the C1 vertabrae) in no way contributed to our current straits. Really remarkable. There were many Pelosi non-fans in the audience but all were respectful and held their tongues, which was difficult at times. At the grand finale, while some adoring fans stood clapping others of us stood and took our positions. Hillary was very thoughtful to bring along an extra spine as apparently dear Ms. Pelosi has misplaced hers. Mitchell of Books and Books, the facilitator of the event told us that Nancy and her daughter did, in fact, see the spine and commented to him about it. What those comments were, I don't know. Quite possibly, she has never seen one.
Peace, y'all

Give Ann Wilcox BDAY Hugs 08.06.08

Ann Wilcox stopped by the house with a fancy cake
& celebrated her birthday. James made some dinner.

HUGS to our steady green activist/legal defense expert Ann Wilcox!

Moveon GIVE PEACE A VOTE in 2009

CODEPINKERS supported the MOVE_ON
efforts at a Capitol Reflecting Pool rally yesterday exposing the need to Separate
OIL & State while promoting environmental needs over greed!
We connect the dots: Campaigns financed with OIL $$$$$$-
Corporate Greed -Endless Wars for OIL -Weak Energy Policy!
Congress has failed the people with WEAK 19th Century Energy policies thus
keeps US addicted to OIL ...... instead of incentives for renewable sources,alternative energy,conservation,more efficient automobile manufacturing.
Oil Wars that destroy our environment provoke
terrorism and exacerbate Global Climate Change!
(My)Congressman John Shadegg is in the Capitol complaining that Pelosi turned the lights out
and refuses to deal with the Off Shore Drilling issue.These minority protesting Do Nothing Members of Congress have had 8 Years at most 2 years at least to establish a stronger energy bill. 8 YEARS OF 2 OILMEN IN THE WhiteHouse =+$4GALLON !!

Be Strategic Use Oil Reserves!
Support HR 6251

War & Climate Change are interconnected!
WE WANT A PEACE PRESIDENT -We want to GIVE PEACE A VOTE!
byLiz

Hiroshima & Nagasaki Commeroration Week 2008

08.04.08 Slow Monday in DC --( DC=ghost town in August)
Today the Washington Peace Center hosted a Welcoming Reception for the Hibakusha at the Mott House our guests survivors Ms.Yasuko Ota Nagasaki & Mr.Akihora Hara Hiroshima.This was the opening ceremony with a week of events to coincide.The Hiroshima/Nagasaki Peace Community has been working for 25 years for Nuclear Disarmament & awareness of the grave problems of the nuclear weapons power complexes through the direct education by way of survivors of the atomic bombs.We were so fortunate to have the speakers & translators share the stories so we can never forget the harmful effects of nuclear weapons!!

Gandhi Peace Brigade / Leslie's Week in Washington, DC

Dear Friends,

Leslie has just returned from Washington, DC. We're currently staying in a friend's lovely San Francisco flat overlooking the Castro. As you may know, when we returned from Iran last year, we left our home behind and traveled to Washington, DC to become full time activists/lobbyists for diplomacy with Iran. There are times when we miss having a "normal" life, but we also understand how important it is for us to be out there talking about the positive experiences we had in Iran.

Nancy Pelosi is currently on a book signing tour and spoke in DC. She had appeared on The View earlier in the week and suggested impeachment is off the table because "there is no evidence President Bush has committed any criminal acts." CodePink came to the book signing and Gael Murphy handed her pages of impeachable criminal acts.

Leslie shook her hand and introduced herself as a constituent. Gael interjected,"She's been fasting because she's so concerned about H.Con.Res. 362." Pelosi looked a little puzzled, and as Gael began to explain, she realized it was about the proposed naval blockade of Iran. She responded by saying, "If there's a vote to go to war with Iran, I'll vote no." Leslie asked, "Then why did you vote for $400 million for covert activities [in Iran]?" Pelosi was taken aback by the direct question and waved her hand to suggest that Leslie should go away. Security moved in and ushered CodePink out the door.

The next day Leslie spoke with Congressman Ackerman in his office, after a two day sit-in and four days of fasting. He agreed to talk with her, saying,"This isn't a pre-condition, but if I meet with you, you have to eat something." When they got together, they "broke bread" and Leslie ended her fast.

Leslie talked about her wonderful experiences in Iran and Ackerman agreed,"Yes, the Iranians are beautiful people... I don't want war." "No, I don't think you do," said Leslie, "but I'm very concerned about your resolution, H. Con.Res. 362." She asked him to hold hearings on whether or not sanctions work and he asked "Why would I do that?" Leslie explained that the sanctions didn't work in Iraq, but were responsible for the deaths of half a million children.

They talked about Ahmadinejad and his re-election in March. "He's very unpopular, so he won't win unless we attack them. Iran is a very ancient, sophisticated culture; they can take care of themselves. We just need to leave them alone."

Ackerman expressed his concern that "Iran is enriching uranium to develop a nuclear weapon." He believes they aren't allowing the IAEA to conduct their inspections, but Leslie disagreed. "Iran is in compliance with the IAEA and both the NIE and the IAEA have said there is no evidence that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon." They argued back and forth until Ackerman offered to go on a hunger strike if Leslie could show him evidence that Iran is allowing the IAEA to do its inspections. "You don't need to do that, just withdraw your resolution," Leslie insisted.

"OK," he said, "If you can show me evidence that Iran is allowing the IAEA to do its inspection, I will withdraw my resolution."

If you have any "evidence", please reply to this newsletter ...

Peace and Freedom,

Jes & Leslie


Leslie in DC for Peace with Iran and Impeachment Slideshow
http://www.flickr.com/photos/codepinkalert/sets/72157606544033824/show/

Join us for a FREEZE to STOP A WAR WITH IRAN this Wednesday, August 6 (Hiroshima Day) at 5:00 pm, Powell and Market in San Francisco. http://www.sfbaycantwait.org/

No More Body of War an Eddie Vedder YouTube
http://www.vh1.com/video/play.jhtml?artist=1202543&vid=216316

To Provoke War, Cheney Considered Proposal to Dress Up Navy Seals As Iranians and Shoot at Them
http://www.truthout.org/article/hersh-cheney-plan-creating-false-flag-attack

Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At Border,
No Suspicion Required Under DHS Policies
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/01/10747/



Jes & Leslie ... A Journey for Peace and Freedom: http://www.jfpf.org/

If you would like to be added to The Gandhi Peace Brigade Group List,
please let me know: jes_richardson@yahoo.com Thank you. Jes

08.02.08 IVAW Karaoke FUNdraiser

If you missed IVAW's fundraiser Karaoke night too bad! It was something to laugh about!
$20 donations gave the Vets an opportunity to sing Karaoke ---it was a blast listening to the guys try to sing!!!!!!!!!!!Ann Wilcox looked so happy on that stage glowing as she was singing!!
This Fundraiser will provide gas $$$$ for the Vets on the drive to the Conventions where they will set up a MASH UNIT to help homeless VETS.
SO TRY IF YOU CAN TO ASK FRIENDS TO MAKE A NEEDED DONATION
www.ivaw.org

08.01.08 HELP raise $$$ for Peace activists DNC/RNC

Alicia Sarah Allison Natalie Chris Chloe Michael Mara as well as so many others created an exciting event at Madam's Organ to raise funds for our trip later this month
to enable peace activists to get to the DNC/RNC Conventions.
THANKS TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS for making our August FUNdraiser happen.
This event took alot of energy to put together and we thank all the organizers, friends,donors, companies for delivering on the clothing needs, and of course Kelly Tsai (poet) Son Of None
as well Madams Organ!

www.codepinkaction.org
JOIN US with our message WE WANT A PEACE CANDIDATE!