Author Archives: Brad Geyer

Eken Park Resists the Military Industrial Complex

Eken Park Resistance Group Letter

If you’d like to learn more,or sign on in support… please be in touch with Eken Park Resistance at
Dear Community Leaders,In April, our neighborhood learned that we face a bleak future––one that will disproportionately impact those of us who are people of color, low income, and children, and leave our homes “incompatible for residential use.”

F-35 Joint Strike Fighters will soon rip through the place we live and love: Eken Park.

We know from personal experience that there is reason to be very afraid. When the current F-16s takeoff or maneuver overhead, our children cover their ears and scream. The aircraft are dangerously loud. Everyone agrees, even the Air Force, that the F-35s will be worse.

It isn’t our small homes, backyards, swing sets, neighbors, or kids that are incompatible for residential use. We do have a corrosive force in our community––but it isn’t us.

The Air National Guard violates nearly every value our progressive community claims to uphold. It is everything we strive to overcome.

It has polluted––perhaps permanently––our lakes and drinking water with PFAS “forever” chemicals. The DNR has found it in violation of spill and environmental remediation laws.

With at least six instances of sexual assault and harrasment against female members of the 115th Fighter Wing’s Security Forces Squadron, the Air National Guard is a hive of violence against women. When someone tried to stop it, they were met with retaliation and reprisal.

And now, the result of a disgracefully undemocratic process, Madison may be subjected to a squadron of immoral machines, monuments to mass violence and corporate power. At this moment of pandemic and economic collapse, each of us knows the F-35s are a tragic misuse of resources. We need that money for the health of our families, community, and planet.

Neighbors: let’s stand together to stop this blight. The F-35s are not inevitable.

Community leaders: this is a test of your progressive values. Do everything you can. Creatively and vigorously use our collective power and resources––legal, financial, and otherwise––to protect us.

The Air National Guard is incompatible for residential use. It’s time we tell them to leave.

Eken Park Resistance Group Letter 

The US does not need a war in Venezuela – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  | Editorial

Reprinted in WI State Journal  |  27 April 2020

 

Link to editorial printed in WI State Journal

“The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust the United States into crisis, and its citizenry is in desperate need of medical, economic and moral support. What the people do not need, or want, is another war.

 

Yet, over the past several weeks, the [US] federal government has been amassing a significant military force in the Caribbean — the largest U.S. military operations in the region in 30 years — intensifying its pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. War, it seems, could be on the horizon.

 

The Trump administration has made no secret about its desire to oust Maduro, who has been characterized by President Donald Trump as a dictator. Trump has continued and expanded economic sanctions initiated during the George W. Bush administration, in addition to adding his own. His administration also supported the claims of Venezuelan politician Juan Guaido to the presidency in 2019. And, just last month, the U.S. Justice Department charged Maduro with drug trafficking and narcoterrorism.

 

Despite all this, Maduro remains in charge of Venezuela. But with Venezuela’s economy collapsed after years of sanction pressure, leaving the country vulnerable to a public health crisis, the Trump administration seems to be considering giving regime change another go.

The United States has built up a tremendous force in the waters north of the country. “We’re deploying additional Navy destroyers, combat ships, aircraft and helicopters; Coast Guard cutters; and Air Force surveillance aircraft, doubling our capabilities in the region,” Trump announced abruptly during an April 1 coronavirus briefing at the White House.

 

Cancellation: Memorial Mile and Memorial Day Peace Rally 2020

Due to the virus and surrounding precautions, Veterans for Peace-Madison has collectively decided to cancel our annual events for Memorial Day.


Music provided by Sean Michael Dargan

 

Memorial Day Peace Rally 

Gates of Heaven Synagogue

James Madison Park, Madison


 

 

Memorial Mile

Thousands of markers signifying the US military lives lost since 2001

 

The Mile – Video

 


 

Madison is a Nuclear Free Zone

In 1983, the Madison City Council passed an ordinance declaring the city a nuclear free zone”.

 

Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) Wisconsin and Veterans for Peace-Madison are asking our City Council members (Alders) to pass a Back from the Brink Resolution which builds on this ordinance and commits the city to nuclear weapons free contracts and investments. Our City already has a socially responsible investment policy in place; it no longer invests in fossil fuel companies. We are asking the City do the same regarding nuclear weapons production.

Back from the Brink Background