Brian
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Post by Brian on Nov 16, 2010 0:00:26 GMT -8
Roberta has led about half a dozen stalwarts since March in gathering across the street from Rep. Adam Schiff's office on the third Wednesday of each month to call attention to the wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq and other issues. The Progressive Democrats of America launched the idea of the Brown Bag Lunch Vigils to establish a regular presence with our members of Congress and to appeal to their constituents populating the sidewalks at lunchtime to speak up. I finally cleared some time off work so I can join them for the first time on Nov. 17 for the full hour, noon to 1 p.m. Schiff's office is at 87 N. Raymond Ave., between Holly and Union Streets, in Pasadena. PDA always mentions Roberta on a fresh Calendar of Events page on its website -- here's the latest: www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/personalopt1.asp?formid=meet&c=3486834
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Roberta
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Post by Roberta on Nov 16, 2010 8:15:38 GMT -8
I finally cleared some time off work so I can join them for the first time on Nov. 17 for the full hour, noon to 1 p.m. Schiff's office is at 87 N. Raymond Ave., between Holly and Union Streets, in Pasadena. Great! See you tomorrow on the NE corner of Holly and Raymond at noon.
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Roberta
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Post by Roberta on Nov 17, 2010 21:25:55 GMT -8
A doubly nice surprise, not just Brian on lunch hour, but also Anni, joined the "Anything (well almost) NOT Warfare" vigil today.
I read all the polls showing that a majority and more oppose the Afghan war now, but somehow it feels discouraging, maybe because of almost total lack of MS news coverage of such dissent.
But in Pasadena today the positive reception to our protest was palpable -- honks, smiles, thanks, accepting leaflets and asking for the more extensive literature one of our regulars brought. Hope they follow-up by calling in to Schiff's office or otherwise express that staying in Afghanistan til anything like 2014 is just plain dumb!
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Nov 18, 2010 0:10:57 GMT -8
Thank you, Roberta! The pedestrian and vehicle traffic was comparable to an average Friday evening in Montrose, but the lunch hour passersby in Pasadena were far more simpatico to ending these wars and much more willing to speak up and get involved somehow, just as you mentioned.
Anni and I enjoyed meeting Ed, Fran, Anne and Kathy, who walks to the Brown Bag Lunch Vigils at the intersection of Holly and Raymond from her job at Kaiser every month. They're long-time protesters and activists affiliated with the American Friends Service Committee. For part of the hour, the seven of us held signs -- and conversations -- on three out of the four corners.
Ed's big, highly readable sign referring to "Obama's wars" got the greatest reactions. Some people objected, saying that the sign was wrong, that Afghanistan and Iraq were Bush's wars. I usually replied that they were our wars until we ended them. And I had to wonder how differently the few counter-protesters who still show up across the street from us in Montrose most weeks would handle Ed's sign.
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Jan 12, 2011 0:00:31 GMT -8
Roberta has led about half a dozen stalwarts since March in gathering near Rep. Adam Schiff's district office on the third Wednesday of each month (at the northeast corner of Raymond and Holly in Pasadena) to call attention to the wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq and other issues. The Progressive Democrats of America launched the idea of the Brown Bag Lunch Vigils to establish a regular presence with our members of Congress and to appeal to their constituents populating the sidewalks at lunchtime to speak up. As I wrote later in this thread, I went to the November Brown Bag Lunch Vigil. Then PDA sent an e-mail announcing that they were taking December off. Roberta and five or six other protesters ignored that and showed up in Pasadena anyway. Now PDA says the vigils will take place every other month instead -- will the 29th District squad come back in February and make it 12 months in a row? Meanwhile, the PDA has a page with a registration form for next Wednesday, Jan. 19, from noon to 1 p.m.: www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/personalopt1.asp?formid=meet&c=5264483
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Roberta
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Post by Roberta on Jan 12, 2011 21:08:36 GMT -8
oh yeah we are staying monthly -- 3d Wednesday at noon!!!!
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Brian
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Post by Brian on Jan 18, 2011 0:05:30 GMT -8
The 11th monthly Brown Bag Lunch Vigil near Congressman Adam Schiff's district office happens this Wednesday, Jan. 19, from noon to 1 p.m. at the northeast corner of Holly and Raymond in Pasadena. The Progressive Democrats of America information and registration page features Montrose Peace Vigil's Roberta as the group's facilitator: www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/personalopt1.asp?formid=meet&c=5264483I signed up because I'll be there too. Since Christmas, I've been trying to find a day to take off work, but I settled for a three-hour vacation so I can drive to Pasadena and demonstrate with the good folks I met last November at my first Brown Bag Lunch Vigil -- knowing I won't be able to get back until May.
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Post by Brian on Jan 20, 2011 0:00:25 GMT -8
My three-hour vacation on Wednesday -- actually, two vacation hours combined with the lunch hour -- was refreshing. I've had conversations at the Brown Bag Lunch Vigils across from Representative Adam Schiff's office in Pasadena that I never imagined in all my years standing at the Montrose Peace Vigil.
At noon, a woman out for a stroll during the lunch break of a seminar she was attending at the Marriott saw us and said, "I crossed the street just to thank you for being here protesting the wars." She was at the Century City rally in 2003 before the invasion in Iraq, where she confronted a police officer who was watching and doing nothing while a counter-protester was threatening a peacenik. So the cop was compelled to do his job and separate the factions. She hasn't taken any action against the wars since then. But just look, I told her, how well you did speaking up that time!
An hour later, an artist and documentary filmmaker who rents a space nearby stopped to tell us about Afghanistan and Pakistan -- he said he had been going to both countries since 1978 and thought we were misguided in our opposition to U.S. military presence there. He knew the land and the people, who lived in terror of the Taliban, and he seemed to be expecting an argument from me, if not really looking for one. I had to get back to my job, so we parted in agreement that military solutions do not work.
Anyway, ten people participated in the 11th monthly Brown Bag Lunch Vigil for the 29th Congressional District of California. Roberta left at 1 p.m. to deliver to Rep. Schiff's office an excellent letter written by the Progressive Democrats of America, which was signed by all of us and many passersby.
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Roberta
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Post by Roberta on Jan 20, 2011 7:25:50 GMT -8
Spending your limited vacation time with our pdamerica.org/ vigil is quite a gift Brian, many thanks. And Anni's presence another treat! Well said, it was a good hour for sidewalk talk. There were several other brief but supportive conversations, and after 1:00 as I was bringing a stray sign back to the car, another lady stopped me. She said she sees us every month and asked "What group are you with?", a common question. I answered as usual about PDA's organizing monthly healthcare/jobs/schools/etc. NOT war vigils, and that other participants, like me, are actually freelance peace activists, showing up on street corners all over. This really made her smile, and who knows, may have inspired another public presence for peace. And re the MLK thread, I have made a mental note NOT to be out of town that weekend in 2012 so as to be in the parade with my Montrose buddies. The peace coalition seems to have a continuing plan www.mlkcoalitionforjobsjusticeandpeace.org/ and in any case, where there is a will, there is a way. Plus, let's think and talk among ourselves about fun we can cook up along with the March 19th ANSWER anti-war march in Hollywood.
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Post by anni on Jan 23, 2011 15:02:35 GMT -8
On the two occasions I've enjoyed lunchtime with fellow peaceniks of the Pasadena persuasion, I've noticed one interesting difference. Maybe it's because of the unique sign suggesting we end 'Obama's wars'. Or the idea that people (foot and auto) are reading our signs and agree...the only objections we get are saying they are Bush's wars. I like these objections 'cause then I can answer I'm opposed to all war, at this time. And Bush is no longer in charge of anything.
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