LETTER FROM BOB WEIR

Dear Friend:


I'm writing to ask you to help support an important organization, the Global Security Institute, in its efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons. http://www.gsinstitute.org/ Also, I'm inviting you to share in an exciting evening:the theatrical premiere of the movie FESTIVAL EXPRESS in San Francisco on July 12th. http://www.festivalexpress.com/


I have two beautiful daughters and I look into the pools of wonder in their eyes and don't want them to ever witness a mushroom cloud. But, the danger still hangs over our heads.


Nuclear weapons are a history of stupidity: over $5 Trillion dollars already spent, over $100 Million spent now per day, missile defenses no better than duck and cover but much more expensive. Can you imagine that there are thousands of pounds of inadequately safeguarded nuclear materials in the US and Russia, that we still have thousands of weapons on hair trigger alert poised to rocket us all into oblivion, just like the Cold War never ended. The idea that several nations, less than ten, can have them, threaten to use them and then tell everyone else they cannot have nuclear weapons, is a global apartheid that is unsustainable. The public denial and silence regarding this extraordinary threat looks like a sleep walk into Armageddon. We must work together to get rid of them all.


Can you imagine that Bush had the "nuclear football" with him when he met the Pope recently? http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=523524§ion=news


We can help. The Global Security Institute (GSI) is serious and effective in working toward to the elimination of this ultimate evil, nuclear weapons. And, indeed, under current policies we are in a race against time. I strongly support their efforts and urge you to do so as well. Their web site, http://www.gsinstitute.org/ is filled with useful, relevant and inspiring information.


FESTIVAL EXPRESS is a rousing record of a little-known but monumental moment in rock n' roll history, starring such music legends as Janis Joplin, The Band, and the Grateful Dead. Set in 1970 - and consisting largely of footage that hasn't been seen anywhere since - it chronicles the eponymous event, which followed on the heels of Woodstock. 


The premiere is being held for an exclusive audience, and will be followed by an after party at the Great American Music Hall, with a live perfomance by the Waybacks. We've been given 50 tickets for the event and we decided to help GSI and its work. So, we're offering them to friends who purchase them on eBay where the minimum price is $150. Oh yes, a substantial portion of the cost is a tax deductible donation. The proceeds will go to GSI to help get rid of nukes. 


If you cannot attend but want to help GSI, please go to http://www.gsinstitute.org/gsi/donate.html
We must save our forests, we must save our hearts, we must save our country, but, if nukes go off, there will be nothing left to save. So, I am encouraging your help.


Sincerely,
Bob Weir


P.S. FESTIVAL EXPRESS will be in theaters starting July 23rd. Check http://www.festivalexpress.com/ for local theaters.