February Moratorium events

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Ashland: Chequamegon Coalition for Peace and Justice, Peace demonstration, 2/20/09,3:30-5:00, Ashland Post Office. Bring a sign if you want to, some signs will be provided. Dress warmly, bring a cup, hot tea will be provided. Check out last month's crowd. The conditions are likely to be much more hospitable than they were then.

Dodgeville: Grassroots Citizens for Peace Monthly Vigil. Third Friday of each month, 4 p.m. in front of the Iowa County Courthouse. Join us for our monthly vigil. Witness for peace with others who hold steadfast to "a vision of a world made new." (Eleanor Roosevelt) The vigil is followed by our monthly planning meeting in which we organize public education programs, music and poetry nights and family events. Become part of the growing movement for a more just and peaceful world!

Eau Claire: Voices for Peace Institute. Stand for an end to the Iraq Occupation. Some signs will be provided but feel free to bring your own! On Fri., Feb. 20, we will be standing on the corner of Bracket Avenue and Business US Hwy 53 (right next to Jimmy Woo's) on the third Friday each month from 4 to 6 PM. Please come and stand with us when you can, between 4pm and 6pm, for as long as you can. If at all possible, bring a sign (small or large). Show Eau Claire that we want to bring an end to this war. Hope to see you there! E-mail.

Hayward: Peace North will sponsor an Iraq Moratorium vigil for peace on Friday, Feb. 20, from 4-6 pm on the corner of Highway 27 & 63 in downtown Hayward. Bring a sign and a friend and some warm clothes! Good parking. Great people.

Janesville: (Updated!) Rock Valley Fellowship of Reconciliation continues to hold an Iraq Moratorium vigil which is held on the Third Friday of every month. Meet at 4 p.m. on the corner of Blackbridge Rd. and Milton Ave. in Janesville with signs, including "Honk for Peace" signs. Email us for more info.

LaCrosse: Iraq Moratorium Vigil-- 3rd Friday of every month. Veterans for Peace, & other concerned patriots that support the US Constitution. Cass Street bridge, 5 to 6 p.m. Contact Duane Teschler or Cathy. Bring signs. Wear a Black armband, if you can. This is a day to hit 'em in the pocketbook. BUY NOTHING! SKIP WORK & SCHOOL! Let your feelings be known.

Madison: Saturday, Feb. 21, 11 am - noon. Monthly Peace Rally at the Mall, sponsored by Madison Area Peace Coalition.. This is an informational picket - held the third Saturday of each month - that calls for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. Bring signs or borrow the ones provided. This is an exciting and empowering event that is appropriate for all ages. Help us count the “Honks for Peace!” West Towne Mall this month, East Towne in March. Email Helena White at hspw@att.net

Manitowoc: Peace Vigil. Lakeshore Peacemakers hold a weekly vigil for peace, and on the Third Friday for the Iraq Moratorium, 4:30-5 p.m. , 8th Street & Maritime Drive. Contact: huntel@comcast.net

Menomonie: Uppity Wisconsin, February Menomonie Moratorium, 2/20/2009, 4 PM, Veterans Memorial at the Menomonie Market Coop - 521 2nd St., Menomonie, WI. Join us for the Iraq Moratorium event in Menomonie,WI. The event will run from 4 PM until 5 PM in the Veterans Memorial in front of the Menomonie Market Co-op. Please bring signs.

Milwaukee: Friday, Feb. 20: Blackwater Worldwide, in Illinois and Beyond: The Dangers of Outsourcing Our Security. Dan Kenney of the Clearwater Project, organized in Illinois to oppose the privatization of war and law enforcement, will speak at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20, in Room 001, Cudahy Hall, 1313 W Wisconsin Ave., on the Marquette University campus. Sponsored by Veterans for Peace, Iraq Moratorium, Peace Action-Wisconsin, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Progressive Students of Milwaukee and the Marquette Center for Peacemaking. The event is free and open to the public. More information, contact Peace Action, 964-5158, or Email Iraq Moratorium-Wisconsin.

Milwaukee: Peace Action-Wisconsin and Milwaukee Coalition for a Just Peace sponsor a rush hour vigil in the heart of downtown, from 5 to 6 p.m. on the Third Friday of every month at Water Street and Wisconsin Avenue. There are signs, flags, banners, music, pets for peace, leafleting, and interaction with drivers and pedestrians. Join us. We can provide signs. Peace Action 414/964-5158 or email IraqMoratorium@wi.rr.com

Minocqua: Northwoods Peace Coalition, Saturday, February 21, 10:50 a.m. until noon, in Minocqua, at the junction of highways 51 and 70. It is the day after the third Friday, Wisconsin’s declared day of the month to demonstrate for peace as part of the national Iraq Moratorium.

Rice Lake: The People for Peace will be standing at the corner of Knapp and Main St's on the north end of downtown Rice Lake on Friday, Jan. 16, from 4-6 pm. This is our seventh Iraq Moratorium event. Please make a small, or large, sign if you can, and BRING SOMEONE ELSE WITH YOU! Join us! E-mail.

Ripon: Peace Vigil every Third Friday of the month on the square. 4:30-5:30pm. Bring yourself! We have signs. E-mail.>

Superior: Grandmothers for Peace, Iraq Moratorium stand for peace, 2-20-09, 4-5 pm, Corner of Hammond and Broadway. Across from the Red Mug, The Grandmothers for Peace will be standing for peace at the corner of Broadway and Hammond avenues in observance of Iraq Moratorium Day. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Viroqua: Friday, Feb. 20, 12 noon weekly peace vigil at the Post Office on Jefferson St. Come for all or part of the hour, standing witness to the human and economic costs of the War. Info :amz1357@frontiernet.net

Waupaca: Monthly vigil for peace. Downtown, on the town square. 3rd Friday of each month, in support of the Iraq Moratorium., 5-6 p.m. All welcome. For more information, contact People for Peace at bonni@waupacaonline.net or see http://wpfpmeetings.blogspot.com/

Woodruff: 12 noon - 1 pm . Silent Prayer Vigil for Peace, Holy Family Church, in the small chapel. Contact: Sr. Ann Wittman at crossings@holycrosssisters.org . All are welcome to join in this weekly witness for peace.

Reports from the Field: January actions

Your event not listed? Please send us the details. Include photos or video if available.

Minocqua

With the thermometer at -4 and the wind chill at -20, eight Northwoods Peaceniks stood on the corner of highways 51 and 70 in Minocqua for our monthly vigil on Jan. 24. Assuming a handicap of -2.5 for every wind chill degree below zero we score this as the people equivalent of 20. Hope to actually see more and more of you next month when we have been promised above zero temperatures but will be competing against the Birkebeiner. Let me know if this date (Feb. 21) is bad for you. It corresponds to the third Friday, Wisconsin’s declared day of the month to demonstrate for peace. Apparently our stand impressed a number of drivers as we got a lot of favorable acknowledgements and the usual number of young soldier aged men out of uniform signaling strong disapproval. We can only hope they won’t end up in Afghanistan.

Eau Claire

Like everywhere in the country, it was a cold night in Eau Claire. We experienced wind chills around 20 to 30 degrees below zero. This limited the normal number of attendees, but we were able to get ten very committed peace activists out. We had a couple of war veterans and one man whose daughter is currently serving her second tour of duty in Baghdad. Our presence on the corner of a very busy intersection was quite a sight for passers-by. They knew we "meant business!" I'm looking forward to warmer temperatures in February and a larger showing of people who know that we have to keep up the pressure to end these immoral and costly wars.

De Kalb, IL

January 16, 2009: Local citizens brave the cold to send a positive message of hope and change for 2009. Members of the DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace and Justice stood on the corner of 1st and Lincoln highway, as they do every Friday, with a special vigil to mark the beginning of a new administration, an administration they hope will bring positive change for the country and the world. Lolly Voss, one of the organizers of the event said, "We hope that this new administration works to end the war and invest in the needs of people here at home."

Superior

" Oh, the weather outside is frightful!" Neither rain, nor snow, nor wind chills cold enough to freeze your backside could keep a half a dozen hearty souls from standing for peace in Superior WI on Iraq Moratorium Day. While usually the twin port cities of Duluth,MN and Superior, WI hold separate Iraq Moratorium pickets, due to a week of weather which rarely rose to get to be zero degrees, we thought we'd consolidate our forces for the sake of warmth! Participants convened afterwards at the Red Mug coffeehouse just across the street to plan for next months event, so wash those long underwear, make yourself a sign or two, call a friend or family member, and be on the corner of Hammond and broadway on Friday, February 20th. See you there!

Milwaukee:

About 20 hardy souls braved sub-zero temperature and winds for Milwaukee's abbreviated January Iraq Moratorium vigil. Several of us adjourned afterward to a nearby coffee shop to discuss plans for February.

Milwaukee:

I cannot attend today's Iraq Moratorium vigil because of a schedule conflict, but I changed both my facebook and myspace pages in honor of the Moratorium: facebook myspace

Sheboygan:

Sheboygan poet and Vets for Peace member Gerald W. Bertsch has committed to writing a poem for peace every day until the war ends. Here's today's poem in observance of the Moratorium:

Iraq Disappointment

There weren’t any bombs.
Surprised? Hard to believe.
Disappointed? Certainly.
But not deterred.

We really wanted to find bombs.
We surmised they were there.
Finding them wasn’t necessary.
We’d did the war anyway.

Sorry we didn’t discover bombs.
Sorry so many died.
Can’t let it get to you.
Compromised? Nah.

Madison: I sent this to President-elect Obama at change.gov:

I worked nearly full time and contributed more than my heirs think I should have to elect Senator Obama. I was motivated by many things but Iraq was near the top of the list. While viewed by many as a liberal, I can't stand the waste of precious resources. The Iraq war is a waste of $1.4 trillion, our prestige, lives, bodies, and minds. Please end it as quickly as possible and rethink your views on Afghanistan. Thank you. -- Tom Krajewski.

Sheboygan:

I was out in the cold/wind/ice/frost in Sheboygan for our weekly peace vigil after reading a book about Shackleton the past week. Then on to Milwaukee for a fundraiser to help with travel expenses for George Martin, UFPJ co-chair,then two house concerts wearing a black arm band for conversation starter.

Madison:

Peace activists, Wis. Network for Peace and Justice staff (pictured: Todd Dennis and Steve Burns) and Iraq Veterans Against the War colleagues attended an event at the Veterans Affairs office today, as a way to honor the Iraq Moratorium. The event was called: A Day of Recognition of Gulf War Illness – put on by the WI Dept. of Veterans Affairs. Presenters there report that FINALLY there is recognition that there is a real “syndrome” of illness for one-fourth of those who served in Kuwait and the Gulf War in 1991 – affecting up to 200,000 veterans. Long-term effects of exposure in 1991 to depleted uranium (DU) and untested vaccines are still unknown. This group is advocating for more research and cures for these illnesses. As this information spreads out to the public through the VFW clubs, VA hospitals, and Veterans Affairs events and press, recruiters will have a more difficult time getting people to join up – countering the appeal of glory and adventure, with potential sentence of a life-time of illness. (Note: we went indoors today for our IM event – with below-zero temperatures.)