RAGING GRANNIES JOIN IN ANTI-WAR HUNGER STRIKE

WOMEN ACROSS U.S. AND CANADA JOIN "TROOPS HOME" FAST

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Rochester, N.Y. -- Members of the Raging Grannies from throughout the United States and Canada have joined with thousands of others in a hunger strike to demand that our troops be brought home from Iraq fast! Begun on the 4th of July in Washington, DC, the "Troops Home Fast" is now in its 18th day.

The Troops Home Fast, initiated by CodePink and Gold Star Families for Peace, is part of a world-wide campaign asking that the U.S. Congress establish by Sept. 21 a concrete plan for peace in Iraq, including a prompt timetable for withdrawal of our troops and closure of our military bases there; a peace process for security, reconstruction, and reconciliation; and the shift of funding from war to the meeting of human needs.

Rochester's Raging Grannies participating in the fast include Lauren Johnson, Ramya Kane, Roxanne Klein, Vicki Ryder, Deanna Tiefenthal, and Diana Voellinger.

Participants will take turns abstaining from all food for one day or more until Sept. 21.

Among those also fasting are Ed Asner, Daniel Ellsberg, Danny Glover, Dick Gregory, Dolores Huerta, Willie Nelson, Sean Penn, Bonnie Raitt, Susan Sarandon, Cindy Sheehan, and Alice Walker.

Also participating are Raging Grannies from Albuquerque (NM), Boston (MA), Ottawa (ON), Palm Beach County (FL), Palo Alto (CA), Port Townsend (WA), Seattle, (WA), and Vancouver (BC).

For more information about the Troops Home Fast, see www.codepinkalert.org