Washington protester who outlasts presidents (28 years. Every day, twenty-four hours a day.)

[Kadie]

Washington protester who outlasts presidents
by Michael Mathes – Sun Mar 15, 3:08 am ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – She is President Barack Obama's closest neighbor, but don't expect her to be invited over for tea any time soon -- not while carrying on the longest continuous act of political protest in the United States.

Each morning like she has for the past 28 years, Concepcion Picciotto pulls back the plastic flap of her makeshift shelter in Lafayette Park and stares across the street at the White House, but the protester-in-residence voices little hope that the new president will make a difference on issues that dominate her life: ending US interventionist wars and banning nuclear weapons.

"No, they're all the same," Picciotto laments about the commanders-in-chief she has literally watched come and go since 1981, when she and fellow activist William "Doubting" Thomas began their 24-hour White House peace vigil.

snip...
Some Americans dismiss the Spanish-born Picciotto, who declines to give her age but is said to be 64, as a little old lady with a bone to pick.

For many tourists, she is a colorful character who recites greetings in several languages and paints peace messages on rocks -- a harmless flake who has spent most of her adult years living under the sun and stars, enjoying the best view in Washington.

But others see her as someone far more vital: a rabid defender of free speech, a global peace activist who serves as the unheralded conscience of a nation grappling with its warrior/peacemaker past and present.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090315/en_afp/uspoliticsprotestpeople_20090315071353

Concepcion Picciotto's hut and signs are seen across the street from the White House, on March 4, in Washington, DC. Picciotto has lived in Lafayette Square on the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue (across from the White House), since August 1, 1981, in protest of nuclear arms.
(AFP/File/Tim Sloan)


Concepcion Picciotto is seen across the street from the White House, on March 4, in Washington, DC. Picciotto has lived in Lafayette Square on the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue (across from the White House), since August 1, 1981 in protest of nuclear arms.
(AFP/File/Tim Sloan)

[coffeenap]

1. She says she wants to write a book--now would be the

perfect time for a publisher to do this. I wonder if we could get that done for her???