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While some antinuclear organizations are raising questions about the film "Countdown to Zero" and a national campaign tied to the film that claims as a goal the total abolition of nuclear weapons, one WNPJ board member has embarked on a campaign of his own, speaking to grassroots groups about the growing global movement for nuclear abolition, with a scheduled appearance in Fon du Lac on August 5. Chuck Baynton, a retired physician from Whitefish Bay, attended the UN Conference on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty held in New York in May, and has returned with some pointed criticisms of the U.S. and other nuclear-armed states. Speaking of the 121 Non-governmental organizations (NGO's) that participated in the Conference, Baynton says, “They are virtually unanimous in their belief that the nuclear armed countries are not living up to their treaty obligation to negotiate their own disarmament.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 8, 2011 Contact: Joy First 608 239-4327 joyfirst5@gmail.com
WASHINGTON, DC – Phil Runkel, Milwaukee, and Joy First, Mt. Horeb, are joining other activists from across the country in an action of nonviolent civil resistance in Washington, DC on Monday. The action is being organized by the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (NCNR) during the inauguration, calling attention to the hypocrisy of President Obama taking an oath to uphold the constitution while he continues to ignore its most basic principles through his extra-judicial killing of innocent children, women, and men, including US citizens, through drone warfare.
Of the candidates appearing on ballots across Wisconsin, who is willing to call out runaway war and weapons spending?
To find out, the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice (WNPJ), a coalition of 166 member organizations from across the state, conducted a one-question survey of state candidates. WNPJ is a non-partisan, non-profit organization and does not endorse candidates.
Please see below for the responses we received from candidates running for U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, State Senate and State Assembly, to our "war dollars home" survey question.
Rethink Afghanistan has developed a handy "Cost of War Calculator" that can tell you how much of your federal taxes this year went to pay for the Afghanistan war and other military spending. Calculations are based on a budget analysis by the National Priorities Project. Rethink Afghanistan also offers an option to send an "IOU" certificate to your Congressional representative. Click on the image to launch the Cost of War Calculator.
WNPJ member Cassandra Dixon sends greetings and this report from Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills:
The past week has brought both rebuilding and new destruction of homes in the South Hebron Hills. In the village of Amnyir Palestinians were joined by internationals and Israeli peace activists as they built tents to replace the five homes destroyed by the Israeli army days before. (They are pictured erecting a tent)
Bonnie Urfer, left, a 25-year staff member of Nukewatch, a WNPJ member group, spent eight months in Federal prison for a trespass conviction stemming from a July 5, 2010 protest at the Y12 nuclear weapons complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Her release date was January 6th. You can mail Bonnie at: NUKEWATCH, 740 "A" Round Lake Rd, Luck, WI 54853, 715-472-4185 or nukewatch1@lakeland.ws. Bonnie's statement to the court is a powerful indictment, not only of our nuclear weapons complex, but also of our nation's prison-industrial complex. Read and comment at the WNPJ blog, here...
Jason Moon, a Milwaukee veteran of the Iraq war who was honored by WNPJ with a Peacemaker of the Year award in 2009, is featured in a national Associated Press story reprinted by the Washington Post, the latest installment in a series taking a closer look at this latest generation of war veterans as they return to civilian life, and the effect this is having on them, their families and American society.
Moon is the founder of Warrior Songs, a non-profit organization using music to help veterans heal.
Read the AP story here.
A delegation of the Vietnamese Embassy in the US, led by Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Cuong, paid tribute to the late Dr. Judith Ladinsky (pictured) in Madison on Sunday. Dr. Ladinsky, a WNPJ Peacemaker of the Year in 2011, died in January at age 73. Ambassador Cuong expressed his condolences to Ladinsky’s family and thanked for her enduring support for the Vietnamese people, especially when Vietnam was under the US embargo. As Chair of the US Committee for Medical Cooperation with Vietnam since 1980, Ladinsky brought scientists from both countries together, which laid the foundation for bilateral cooperation in health care, agriculture, education and social sciences.| Vets for Peace members received an enthusiastic reception at the 4th of July parade in the Rock County town of Milton. |
The VFP contingent included members from around southeast Wisconsin, a "Peace is Patriotic" parade float, and "No More War" signs. Video by VFP member Norman Aulabaugh.
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.
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