[Sosfbay-discuss] [Fwd: Silicon Valley Department of Peace Campaign meeting: Monday 4/2/07 in Palo Alto]

[Gerry Gras]

JamBoi wrote:

> Could you give a summary of things learned?  


A lot was said, but most I have forgotten already.

Let's see:
- The most memorable thing for me is that they claim
   to already have a lot of information about how to
   reduce violence at both the local and international
   levels.

- Apparently there are about 60 cosponsors of the
   house bill (H.R. 808).  For more info:

     http://thomas.loc.gov

- They claim that many of the cosponsors chose to be
   cosponsors due to persistent lobbying efforts,
   (responding over time "No .. No .. No .. Maybe ..
   Maybe .. Yes").

- Someone said that Anna Eshoo prefers to be bipartisan,
   which means she prefers to work on something that
   has some Republican support.

At the meeting was the local organizer, the Northern
California orgnaizer, two people from the national
staff (D.C.), and about a half dozen others.  The
organizers believe that this is a national movement.
Most attendees seemed pretty enthusiastic.
NOTE: They are trying to have at least one organizer
in every Congressional District.
NOTE: The local organization has "Silicon Valley" in
its name, and covers the districts for Anna Eshoo,
Zoe Lofgren, and Mike Honda.

The current project is Mother's Day actions.  One idea
has to do with the original Mother's Day proclamation,
well worth reading:

     http://www.quaker.org/chestnuthill/motherdy.htm
     http://www.codepink4peace.org/article.php?id=217
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_Proclamation

> Is there some sort of
> coalitional effort being formed that we can join in?


The Peace Alliance considers themselves an umbrella
organization.
     http://www.thepeacealliance.org

For more info, check out the above website.


Gerry