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Double your contribution for peace and justice! Thanks to a generous donor, new WNPJ memberships in 2013 will be matched, up to $2,000. Not yet a member? Please join and help us build a stronger statewide network! Already a member? Why not get a gift membership for a friend who shares your commitment to peace and justice? |
"Drones are Terrorism" on the signs, as members of the “Creech 14” protest outside the Regional Justice Center Thursday, Jan. 27. A Las Vegas judge..handed down a decision that got a mixed reaction from protesters of drone warfare who were arrested for trespassing nearly two years ago at Creech Air Force Base in Southern Nevada.Judge William Jansen, in a 20-page decision, ruled that the protesters were guilty of the crime of trespassing.But decided that the defendants would be given credit for the time they served in jail and would be free to go. WNPJ member, Kathy Kelly of VCNV can be seen in photos of this event here.
Wisconsin's protests for worker rights have inspired people all over the world, including this young man in Egypt's Tahrir Square. Expressions of international solidarity have included a flood of orders into local pizza shop Ian's, which has received offers to buy pizza for Wisconsin protesters from as far away as Egypt and Turkey. A large chart placed inside the State Street Ian's reports on where donations for pizza are coming from, and now records donations from every state in the union.
Ann, a history teacher at Northland Pines High School, is a veteran presenter at the Many Ways of Peace center in Eagle River. You’re invited to join us as she evaluates the history behind unions and workers rights and talks about how lifting up workers is a much deeper issue than simply raising wages. This is the topic we’re all talking about and concerned about. Ann’s presentations on Gompers and LaFollette and Perkins will help us understand the background of today’s controversy as it is playing out not only in Wisconsin but throughout the country. "Read More" below - to see the schedule and topics...
The Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice (WNPJ), a coalition of 173 member organizations from across the state, conducted its first-ever candidate survey this year. WNPJ is a non-partisan, non-profit organization and does not endorse candidates.
The survey questions -- which reflect WNPJ member groups' state policy priorities -- asked candidates whether they support maintaining restrictions on new nuclear reactors, requiring background checks for all gun sales, issuing drivers’ cards regardless of immigration status, restoring voting rights to felons after incarceration, and requiring the Governor to ensure that any federal orders to deploy the Wisconsin National Guard are lawful.
The table below lists all candidates for state office who responded, and their responses.
The Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice (WNPJ), a coalition of 173 member organizations from across the state, conducted its first-ever candidate survey this year. The survey's five questions reflect WNPJ member groups' state policy priorities. WNPJ is a non-partisan, non-profit organization and does not endorse candidates.
A statewide coalition organized by Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger, is calling for a comprehensive ban or other significant action to protect expectant mothers and infants from exposure to the herbicide atrazine in groundwater.
“The current approach consistently remands action only after an exposure to unsafe levels of atrazine in residential well water has occurred,” the groups wrote in public comments to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) .....
A bill recently introduced by Rep. Don Pridemore would allow law enforcement officials to detain someone for up to 48 hours, if officials have a "reasonable suspicion" that the person is in the United States without authorization. To avoid detention, the person must immediately show proof of her or his immigration status.
WNPJ rejects such measures as racist diversions from the real problems facing Wisconsin. These proposals would harm our state because:
A sample of letters written by members of WNPJ and our member groups to their local papers in March:
Bonnie Beverstock: Laws sometimes challenge conscience
Daniel J. Guilfoil: If religious groups lobby, they should be taxed
Steve Books: How about using campaign money as stipends for volunteers?
Mitzi Duxbury: Why did Cap Times publish Stepp’s partisan gobbledygook?
Susan De Vos: We can cut greenhouse gases with more local foods, fewer highways, more mass transit
Carl Sack: Mine support survey obfuscated the issue
Al Gedicks: Sulfide mining rules should be applied here
Dave Steffenson: Secretary of state should again oversee lobbyists
A sample of letters written by WNPJ members in the local media. Please click on titles to see the entire stories.
Nancy Giffey: What next after nuns' sanctions? The Capital Times, 12/26/12
Mitzi L. Duxbury: Tax guns annually, just like vehicles. The Capital Times, 1/7/13
Kevin Corrado: Natural burials are another choice. Wisconsin State Journal. 1/21/13. Kevin Corrado is with the Farley Center for Peace, Justice & Sustainability, a WNPJ member group.
Al Gedicks and Dave Blouin: Mining dangers. Isthmus, 1/24/13. Al Gedicks is the executive secretary of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, a WNPJ member group.
Dr. Ann T. Behrmann and Dr. Robert Block: Include health effects in mining bill. Wisconsin State Journal, 2/22/13. Dr. Behrmann and Dr. Block are with the Physicians for Social Responsibility - Wisconsin, a WNPJ member group.
Patricia Hammel: Jobs from mine will be limited, if it is even built. Wisconsin State Journal, 2/23/13. Patricia Hummel is with National Lawyers Guild - Madison Chapter, a WNPJ member group.
Thanks to these WNPJ members for educating their communities and raising important issues through letters to the editor. Click the titles below to read their messages in full.
Gene Farley: Abusing the planet threatens us all - "We all need jobs — jobs that pay a living wage and don’t misuse the planet."
Vincent Kavloski: Rebuked nuns are defenders of common good, dignity - "They are experienced practitioners of interfaith inquiry and dialogue — something our fractured world needs more than ever to avert fanaticism and violence"
Peggy Wireman: Sporting heritage Bill a threat to many park users - "If a hunter shoots and misses, some bullets can keep on going for up to a mile. So if you want to see spring flowers, kayak when the rivers are high in April or enjoy the late fall leaves, you risk being shot..."
Peggy Wireman: As guns kill kids, we cut resources - "We grieve for the 20 children killed last week but ignore the fact that on an average day 11 children and youth are slain using firearms."
608-250-9240, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, 122 State Street, Suite 405A, Madison, WI 53703, Send an email to the office diane@wnpj.org.
WNPJ is a member of the Community Shares of Wisconsin.
