WNPJ Annual Membership Meeting

Saturday, Oct. 3rd.  Thanks to all who participated in the Fall Assembly for the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice. Guy Wolf of LaCrosse moderated a panel in the morning on "connecting the dots"....between our issues of environment, prison justice, immigrant rights, and ending the wars.

Business meeting: Cick here for approved BOARD members for 2010....Click here for approved BUDGET for 2010....Click here for the 2010 By-laws changes. 

Report from the Anti-war/Anti-militarism work group: The question: "Has the peace movement hit a wall?" was the conversation-starter, and most agreed that it is harder these days to get people to engage in antiwar activities. Questions were raised about our traditional methods of protest - has the time of rallies and vigils passed us by? Can we directly impact the conduct of the war without relying on Congress, which has proven itself unwilling to take any action against the wars? Some encouraged more work at the local level, especially work in the schools to teach peace and counter military recruiters; some pointed to state-level initiatives, like "Bring the Guard Home - It's the Law!" which is now active in more than 20 states and seeks to raise a legal challenge to the use of our National Guard troops for Iraq and Afghanistan; while others held that there's still a reason for mass marches, and encouraged support for the national march on Washington on March 20, 2010. Read more...

Report from the Environment work group: The focus was on building opposition to legislation, recently introduced in the State Assembly, to relax the requirements on any proposed new nuclear plants in Wisconsin. Current law requires any company wanting to build a new nuke plant in Wisconsin to certify that they have a location to store the highly radioactive waste generated by the plant, a requirement that the nuclear industry has not been able to meet. Supporters of nuclear power are hoping to reduce public opposition by portraying nukes as a solution to the problem of climate change. Wisconsin's "Carbon Free, Nuclear Free" campaign is promoting non-nuclear alternatives to fossil fuels, like solar and wind. “Carbon Free, Nuclear Free” is building a statewide grassroots campaign with a speakers tour, lobby days, and many other ways for you to get involved. Read more...