Tag Archives: Madison

Ban Nuclear Weapons ~ Madison Alder Contact ~ #BackFromTheBrink

Contact city alders and be sure they have all of the following information and links.

Dear Alder:

We/I write to ask you to support a City of Madison Back from the Brink (BftB) Resolution. It calls on the federal government to honor the Nonproliferation Treaty of 1970 (NPT), embrace the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) of 2021 and take the following steps to reduce the risk of nuclear war:

Madison, Wisconsin declared itself a nuclear free zone in a 1983 ordinance and passed a proclamation in 2019 commemorating August 6th as Hiroshima Day and August 9th as Nagasaki Day. The 2019 proclamation also called on the US to live up to its obligations under the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty and cancel the nuclear weapons modernization program.

We are asking for the City to make a financial commitment that aligns with its history of advocacy for nuclear disarmament. The Madison Back from the Brink Resolution includes a pledge by the City to end investments in and contracts with companies involved in nuclear weapons production such as those listed in the 2022 Don’t Bank on the Bomb “Hall of Shame”.  We look forward to developing a workable plan with City of Madison staff.

Over sixty-five US cities have passed the Back from the Brink Resolution.

Fifteen US cities have so far passed resolutions committing themselves to nuclear weapon free investments and/or contracts.

 

For additional information, see links below:

-12/2022 Background on Back from the Brink.

– Summary of Divestment Information

 – PSR Wisconsin Back from the Brink web page

 

We are eagerly awaiting your support of this Resolution.

 

Sincerely,

 

Back from the Brink resolution Co-sponsors:

  • 350 Madison,
  • Dane County Chapter of United Nations Association,
  • First Unitarian Society Social Justice Ministry,
  • Four Lakes Green Party, 
  • Friends Meeting of Madison,
  • Interfaith Peace Working Group
  • Madison Mennonite Church,
  • Physicians for Social Responsibility – Wisconsin,
  • Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society Social Action Committee,
  • Progressive Dane,
  • Raging Grannies of Madison/Dane County, 
  • Reverend Franz Rigert, Conference Minister of General Synod of United Church of Christ (UCC passed the resolution at the General Synod in June 2019),
  • Veterans for Peace – Chapter 25,
  • Wisconsin Network for Peace & Justice
  • Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and
  • World BEYOND War  

 

Public & Press Release: Nonviolent Resisters Block Shift Change at Truax Military Base Monday Morning

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Madison, WI, 3/27/2023

Nonviolent Resisters Successfully Blocked Shift Change at Truax Air National Guard Base this Morning to Oppose F-35 Fighter Jets & War

—–

Contacts:

Janet Parker, Madison for a World BEYOND War, 608-228-9096 [email protected]

Joy First, Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars, 608-239-4327

Live this morning on Channel 27: https://www.wkow.com/news/demonstrators-gather-at-truax-field-to-oppose-arrival-of-f-35-fighter-jets/article_a526c44c-cc8f-11ed-9c13-6b59db1b26b4.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

A nonviolent resistance action successfully blocked the shift change this morning at Truax ANG Base this morning, March 27, 2023.   More than 40 activists, including Iowa County parish priest Father Jim Murphy, took part in protesting the F-35 fighter jets, which are scheduled to come to Truax Field in Madison this spring.  These jets were opposed by the MMSD School Board and the Madison City Council.  Activists are calling on the Governor to change the mission of Truax ANG base to a peaceful one.  Today in Burlington, VT, the other F-35 base, activists are also demonstrating.

“Help us say no to war, environmental pollution, militarism, and F-35’s in Madison or anywhere else.”              – Andrea Novotney, Great Turning Catholic Worker Farm, Madison

 “We call for grounding the F-35 fighter jets, gun control at the Pentagon, and war abolition: an end to the organized mass murder called war.”

– Janet Parker, Madison for a World BEYOND War.

“We want the Governor to meet with a delegation of Safe Skies representatives in order to discuss the F-35 project and to propose a solution that will meet the needs and concerns of Madison residents and our local public official allies.  We want the Governor to negotiate with the Air Force to create a new mission for the Air National Guard at Truax Field.”

– Safe Skies organizer Tom Boswell

Statement: 

F-35 FIGHTER BRINGS THE WAR HOME TO WISCONSIN!

WE SAY NO!

We come here today, March 27, 2023 to say: ground the F-35 fighter jet and abolish war! The F-35 fighter jet is a threat to the planet. It should not be based in Madison or anywhere.

Under state law, the Air National Guard provides protection of life and property and preserves peace, order and public safety, but the ANG at Truax violates that mandate. ANG bases in several states provide emergency relief during floods, earthquakes and forest fires; search and rescue operations; medical missions. Fighter jets can’t “preserve peace, order and public safety.” They are worthless in a natural disaster.  They are not effective for search and rescue. They can’t help maintain vital public services. The F-35 is only an instrument of war and more than ever before, the ANG at Truax will threaten the lives of civilians abroad and degrade the quality of life in Madison.

The F-35, wherever it is deployed, will degrade the environment, intensify climate chaos, intensify the horrors of present wars and precipitate new ones. Due to the expansion of NATO and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the threat of nuclear annihilation has never been so grave as now. Placing the F-35 at Truax will make Madison a target in any nuclear confrontation with Russia.  But in reality, nowhere on earth will be safe.

We urgently call on the governor of Wisconsin, on the Adjutant General of the Wisconsin National Guard, on the commander of Truax Field, on the state’s legislature and congressional delegation to change the mission of Truax. We call upon world leaders to disarm and abolish war and on the world’s people to join us in this demand.







This weekend, Madison hosted the 20th Catholic Worker Midwest Faith and Resistance Gathering this past weekend, to prepare for nonviolent resistance actions in Madison on Monday, March 27 to oppose war and F-35 fighter jets.

Madison Veterans for Peace, Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin, Madison for a World BEYOND War are local hosts.  Madison activists are joined by Catholic Workers who converged from Missouri, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Maryland and Wisconsin.  CODEPINK: Women for Peace are partners in the action also.

More details:

https://www.safeskiescleanwaterwi.org/save-the-date-march-24-27-catholic-worker-faith-resistance-gathering-no-f-35s/

Catholic Worker was formed in the depths of the Great Depression, 1933, when Dorothy Day and a few others hawked The Catholic Worker in New York’s Union Square. Today there are 187 Catholic Worker communities committed to non-violence, voluntary poverty, prayer and hospitality. They continue to protest injustice, war, racism, and violence of all forms.

All Posts – Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin

Feb 22 Updates Peace, Justice and War

If you find worthwhile posts, articles or videos please share.
– For Peace and Justice
Brad Geyer, Chapter Contact

Our Peace Book Club VFP Madison

Defuse Nuclear War – War Abolition Walk Feb 24 at 2:30 – Madison – Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin

Meet with Mark Pocan’s staff Dane Varese, Visit Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s office and War Abolition Walk at 4pm.  Join us for as much or little as you want.

Fund Communities, Not War – CODEPINK – Women for Peace Feb 22, 2023

“After the People Over Pentagon Act was re-introduced by Representatives Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.), CODEPINK and other allies dropped a banner inside the House of Representatives Cannon Building rotunda that reads, FUND COMMUNITIES, NOT WAR.”

The bill introduced would cut $100 billion from the well-over three-quarters-of-a-trillion dollar Pentagon budget, reducing waste and redirecting this funding to other priorities. The agency’s budget in Fiscal Year 2023 is a whopping $858 billion. Despite never passing an audit, the Pentagon often receives tens of billions of additional dollars from Congress in each budget cycle…”

March 24-27 Catholic Worker Faith & Resistance Gathering – No F-35s! – Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin

Veterans for Peace is welcome.  We will be showing the documentary Theaters of War on Friday evening.  More to come,

Speakers & a Panel discussion “Why we should Ground the F-35 and Abolish War” 

  • Vicki Berenson & Steven Klafka, Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin
  • Danaka Katovich, National Co-Director, CODEPINK Women for Peace and Ground the F-35s Program Coordinator
  • Brian Terrell, Strangers & Guests Catholic Worker, Maloy, Iowa & Nevada Desert Experience
  • and more

 

Ukraine, One Year Later, Code Pink and Friends Video discussion

The world cannot risk any further escalation of this war! We need diplomacy and a negotiated peace.

 

 

Madison Action Alert from Physicians for Social Responsibility:

3 easy steps to contact your Alder (Madison residents) on abolishing nuclear weapons and #BackFromtheBrink Campaign;

1.    Find your City Alder and their contact information by clicking here.

2.    Customize this linked letter to send to your alder by mail or email.

3.    You can also use this letter to help you make a call to your alder.

 

If you like, let PSR WI [email protected] know which Alder you reached and their response. This helps PSR track Alders contacted along with their stance. If you are not in Madison, please consider letting your legislators know your thoughts on abolishing nuclear weapons. 

Back from the Brink Background – PSR Wisconsin  

VFP Madison endorses the Cease Fire Campaign calling for calling for the immediate implementation of safer alternatives to open air burning, detonation and incineration/combustion of military munitions.
About the Campaign | CSWAB

The New START Treaty’s Effect on Nuclear Warhead Deployment

Infographic: The New START Treaty's Effect on Nuclear Warhead Deployment | Statista

 

 

Status of World Nuclear Forces – Federation Of American Scientists (fas.org)

 

Veteran for Peace Danny Sjursen, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, taught at West Point. The video is an interview from 2021.  Danny Discusses his book “A True History of the US, ” which in some ways takes off from Howard Zinn left off but focused on the US military machine. I would love to have him come to Madison as a guest sometime.

 

Event Calendar

Events | wnpj

WBW News & Action: Peace in Ukraine Right Now – World BEYOND War

“The Future in Our Pockets: Making Money Work for the Common Good” – Join this Zoom Webinar on Thursday, February 23 | WILPF (wilpfus.org)

Sat Feb 25, 12 noon – 1 pm  Peace Action Weekly Stand for Peace. Meet at 92nd and North, Wauwatosa. Each week, a different vigil site in the Milwaukee area. Bring your signs for peace! Questions? Contact Peace Action WI – [email protected] or see https://www.peaceactionwi.org/

 

 

The Price of Oil

Mapping the world’s oil and gas pipelines | Infographic News | Al Jazeera