VFP and World Beyond War are again working on a rotation of letters to the editor. We are beginning with the topic of militarism. If you are interested in learning more or volunteering to do a letter, contact Janet & Stefania at [email protected]
The Veterans for Peace Madison book club will be meeting in September. There are also discussions ongoing about having regular movie showings. Hopefully, there will soon be more organizing for peace on the UW campus too, thanks to Janet and Stefania and others.
“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, 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.
“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…”
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.
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
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.
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/
War is never the answer. We walk weekly to call for a ceasefire and diplomatic negotiations to end the war.
Peace Walks for Ukraine and the World
Special guest Peng Her this Friday
Friday July 15, at 7:00 pm – We are delighted to welcome Peng Her, CEO of the Hmong Institute and candidate for Lt Governor. He will speak about war and nonviolence from his personal experience and commitments.
Place: Yahara Place Park, where the Yahara meets Lake Monona. Map. We’ll gather on the grass. Bring a chair or a blanket if you would like.
We’ll start with a moment of silence and then a song. Peng will speak and take questions. Then we will walk our usual route north along the Yahara River, into the sunset. We’ll stop at E Washington Avenue with signs and banners to greet drivers, walkers and bikers from about 8:00 – 8:15. Then on to Tenney Park, for a closing circle there near the Locks at about 8:30. Sunset will be at 8:35.
In the midst of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, peace and social justice forces are concerned about how best to pursue peace in the region. The U.S. media has been hopelessly one-sided and does not contribute to our understanding of the history or current situation in Ukraine. To help us form a basis of common understanding on how to bring peace to this troubled region, we are hosting a forum of knowledgeable activists, experts in the region.
Featured speakers:
Zoltán Grossman, who is a longtime observer and writer on Eastern Europe, and is a Member of the Faculty in Geography and Indigenous Studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and an activist/ scholar working on issues of ethnic nationhood, militarism, and natural resources.
Phyllis Bennis, who is a Program Director, at the Institute for Policy Studies, with a focus on U.S. Foreign Policy.
Moderator: Norman Stockwell, publisher of The Progressive magazine.
“In the question of Ukraine, in my view, there is no question that this was a provoked war. The US [govt] has been provoking Russia for many years, through NATO and on its own.
[Provoking] in terms of expanding NATO, in terms of bringing weapons right up to the Russian border… and it’s also true that Russia’s response, its militarized response of invasion and occupation of Ukraine was absolutely not inevitable; and in my view, absolutely illegal (as to international law and a whole host of ways.)
Saying that [the attack] was provoked does not mean that it is legitimate.
