Wisconsin Network for Peace, Justice & Sustainability

The Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice has been here to augment your work over the past years through our calendar listings, action alerts, initiatives, tabling, lobbying, resource sharing and connections. Now it's time to celebrate what we've done, and chart a course for the future!

Although Juneau County is rich in drones, it is one of the poorest in Wisconsin.  We are asking you to support food for the hungry in Juneau County not killer drones.

In the service of social justice we are calling on all people of goodwill who can do so to join us in a “Support Food not Killer Drones” campaign to contribute money to help the hungry people of Juneau County.  We will be sending checks to the Juneau County Peace Committee (address below), and they will distribute the money to Juneau County food pantries. 

Find the Dec 2020 Newsletter here

In this issue:

Please write the Wisconsin Supreme Court today and tell them that you oppose this upcoming Rule 20-03 relating to legal challenges to redistricting - Action Alert from the WI Democracy Campaign. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is taking public comments on a proposed rule that would pre-rig the process for the drawing of legislative and congressional district maps and would likely lead to another gerrymander in Wisconsin.

You only have until the end of November to scoop up these fantastic products from all over the world, including MRSCP's beautiful hand-crafted  "tatreez" embroidery, kuffiyehs, jewelry, ceramics and wood products.

As the statewide canvass comes to a close, we are launching our “Thank an Election Hero” social media campaign building on Governor Evers’s proclaimed “Election Hero Day” from November 2nd. Together, we are vocally supporting local election clerks, election staff, poll workers and postal service workers for their diligence, integrity and courage in making this pandemic election the most secure in our history. Here are some ideas for organizations and individuals looking to thank an Election Hero:

Please write to your elected representatives and ask them to urge Secretary of State Pompeo to release humanitarian assistance funding to UNRWA as well as the other humanitarian aid Congress approved last year.

Press release Nov. 2020. MADISON, WI – Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI) led a letter of 40 Democrats to Secretary of State Mark Pompeo demanding condemnation of the Israeli government’s demolition of 76 structures in Palestinian Bedouin community of Homsa al-Baquia (Khierbet Humsah)—displacing 73 people including 41 children—and to secure a commitment from the Israeli government to end any further displacements immediately.

In America’s indigenous communities, the Thanksgiving holiday is a reminder of loss. HuffPost visited Plymouth, Mass., to speak with the United American Indians of New England as the group plans their annual National Day of Mourning.

Oppose hawkish Flournoy’s nomination because she wants to increase arms sales to Saudi Arabia to police the Middle East while the US pivots to Asia to escalate troop deployments for more “war games” in the South China Sea. After leaving the Obama White House, Flournoy joined the Boston Consulting Group as a senior advisor, overseeing the development of $32 million in military contracts.[7][8] In 2018, she joined the board of Booz Allen Hamilton, a publicly traded consulting firm with military contracts and cyber security expertise.

It’s been less than a week since the presidential results were confirmed, but already the fossil fuel lobby in Canada is devising a plan to pressure Joe Biden into completing the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The worst part is, they’re feeling optimistic. Not only are tar sands companies banking on Keystone XL, they’re also hard at work trying to push through another tar sands pipeline: the Line 3 pipeline in northern Minnesota. Our movement is up against massive fossil fuel corporations with unlimited sums of money to lobby the United States and Canadian governments.

Joe Biden made the centerpiece of his campaign a battle for the "soul of the nation," making the election about character instead of running on the issues. The results showed that this was a flawed approach. Supporters of Medicare for All and the Green New Deal were nearly all returned to office, even in competitive districts. The corporate wing of the Democratic Party will continue to resist broadly popular initiatives to cater to their donors, representatives of the big banks, health insurance industry, drug companies, and arms manufacturers.

The Wisconsin Council of Churches and Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice are committed to work that educates and informs voters, protects democracy and promotes nonviolent action against voter suppression which particularly targets BIPOC communities. We lift up a vision of an inclusive, multiracial democracy.

The presidential race has just been called: Joe Biden will be our next President. Voters turned out in record numbers and polls show that climate action was a major issue. Now we must get to work holding the next administration accountable to bold and urgent climate action: Our job between now and Inauguration Day is clear: Put as much pressure on Biden to use the full power of the Presidency in his first 100 days to combat the climate crisis. Our climate can’t wait, so neither will we. Sign on to our list of 10 Executive Actions we need the Biden Administration to take on day one!

People need rental assistance, increased SNAP (food stamps) benefits, unemployment insurance, and access to free testing and COVID health care, and they need it now!  According to the Wisconsin Budget Project:

*116,000 Wisconsin parents cannot provide enough food for their children to eat

*165,000 Wisconsin renters do not think they will be able to pay next month's rent

*2 million Wisconsin residents are having trouble paying their usual household expenses

Your survey responses will be compiled and shared with you, the public, and officials from Madison, Dane County Board, County Airport and Truax Field. We hope the survey will have a high participation rate so that we can conclusively show to our community leaders, the Air Force and the Air National Guard that existing fighter jet noise is already undesirable and disruptive.

Support local businesses and front-line workers!

UPDATED OFTEN:  Times that are potentially scary require us to better support one another. In the same way that we bring casseroles to grieving families and baby clothes to celebrate newborns, we can come together as a community to help each other through this difficult time as well. An essential part of stopping the spread of coronavirus from overwhelming our hospital systems is voluntary self-isolation. However, isolation can be difficult without the support of your neighbors. This information will help us provide support to each other!

by Kathy Kelly
November 24, 2020

Late last week, I learned from young Afghan Peace Volunteer friends in Kabul that an insurgent group firing rockets into the city center hit the home of one volunteer’s relatives. Everyone inside was killed. Today, word arrived of two bomb blasts in the marketplace city of Bamiyan, in central Afghanistan, killing at least fourteen people and wounding forty-five.

Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger is pleased to report that state health officials have recommended new groundwater quality standards for 18 PFAS chemicals that are currently unregulated in Wisconsin. With these new health-based guidelines in hand, it now falls to the state legislature to secure resources for long-overdue testing of Wisconsin’s public drinking water systems. With few exceptions, public water utilities across the state have resisted voluntary testing for PFAS primarily due to the added cost.

The Board of WNPJS has named Vincent C. Kavaloski as its Peacemaker of the Year. Vince changed our lives and continues to change our lives and many others toward possibilities for peace. His contributions to peace went far beyond his fostering peace and justice through WNPJS.

We know. Even though many of us are acting as though all is well and there is no need to worry. If you are reading this, you likely know, there is plenty to worry about.

We are at the beginning of massive social and environmental collapse which greatly increases the chances of global war – the last straw for humanity. It is all happening faster than most of us can imagine.

WNPJ's Membership Benefits Brochure is designed to help WNPJ member groups and individual members make better use of the services we offer, including: statewide lobby days, event publicity, weekly action alerts, WNPJ work groups, meetings and awards and website features like In the News and Success Stories. Printed copies of the WNPJ Membership Benefits Brochure are free to member groups and individual members, or read it online here...

WNPJ members make their voices heard. Please click on Authors to read the entire letters.

Al Gedicks, Can Brazilian tailings dam disaster happen here?, La Crosse Tribune, February 8, 2019, Al Gedicks is executive secretary of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council in La Crosse.