OMNI CENTER FOR PEACE, JUSTICE, AND ECOLOGY
Corner of Maple and Storer in Fayetteville in Presbyterian and Disciples Student Center
OMNI contact Dick Bennett jbennet@uark.edu 442-4600)(website: www.omnicenter.org)
Changing Society for a Culture of Peace. Since peace is not the absence of war, but is the active presence of justice and compassion, a Culture of Peace is created by countering the War System in all of its manifestations. U. S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121.

PROTEST AGAINST WALMART June 4-6 http://againstthewal.org
WAL-MART MARCH
March through Fayetteville will begin at Wilson Park in Fayetteville at 11am and walk to Bud Walton Arena. There will be a legal rally there with a stage and speakers and other actions. The Against The Wal Coalition
againstthewal@gofairtrade.net

JUNE 6, OPEN MIC COFFEE SHOP for PEACE, 7p.m.

The June 6th Omni Open Mic for Peace is more of a concert this month and a special one at that. First, we will celebrate the release of Duane Carr's new CD, "This is Our Time," 10 wonderful new peace songs inspired by the Omni Open Mic series. Duane was a contributor to the Omni Songbook. The new CD was recorded by Kelly Mulhollan. And if that’s not enough!, we will also hear a special concert of new songs by Leslie Oelsner and 5 members of HARMONIA. That's this Sunday, June 6th at 7:00 PM at the Campus Ministries Bldg. (NW corner of Maple and Storer).

JUNE 11 OMNI Friday Night Video Underground (VU) presentation, 6:30

"The Militarization of the Police" will be shown at the OMNI Center, 902 W. Maple, corner of Storer, United Campus Ministry Bldg., Fayetteville 6:30pm. This video explains how America's policeare becoming more like an occupying military in our communities and why this transformation is detrimental to our freedoms and democracy. Run time: 80 min. Films begin at 6:30pm and are being shown the second and fourth Fridays of each month. No admission fee, suggested donation is $2. Healthy refreshments are available. For more info. or a listing of other
upcoming VU programs visit our website http://www.northwest_ark.com/vu/ .

IRAQ AND FUTURE IRAQS

FREE SPEECH TV, JUNE 11, "To Invade, or Not Invade"

Afghanistan, Iraq, etc., U. S. Imperialism and Preemptive Invasions
A patriotic citizen asks people in positions of leadership when the U.S. should invade other countries. The times this show will be playing on June 11th are 2 a.m., 6 a.m., 2 p.m., and 8 p.m. Here is the web address for FSTV schedule.

http://www.freespeech.org/fsitv/fscm2/genx.php?name=fstv_schedule

GENEVA CONVENTIONS

"Finally, the horrors of war are being shown as the world views pictures of American soldiers violating Geneva Conventions. Why this gets so much more attention than our leaders violating these same conventions, as well as our own laws and the United Nations Charter, when they attacked Iraq, is beyond me." Joan Collins. Clearly the ignorance of the U.S. populace is immense regarding the U. S. Constitution, the U. N. Charter, and invading other countries. Action: help organize OMNI Forums this Fall to educate the public; write letters to newspapers and our congressional representatives; visit with our representatives.

ADOPT A DETAINEE

The Christian Peacemaker Teams org. offers the opportunity for groups here to connect with individual Iraqi citizens imprisoned by U. S. forces in 2003. To help organize this for OMNI contact Rick Polhamus: tel: 937-313-4458; jrp@cpt.org and Dick 442-4600.

FREEDOM MYTH

The invasion of Iraq was enabled partly by the success of the government’s propaganda so evident during Memorial Day. Over and over citizens were quoted as saying our soldiers fought and died to defend U.S. freedom. Informed people know this is not true (I think it is true for WWII but not for our some 40 other wars since 1950). Begin with the books by William Blum and Noam Chomsky. Begin with General Colin Powell, under whose 4-year chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff the U. S. intervened abroad 28 times. The wars for U. S. freedom myth now pervades and is a foundation of U. S. grassroots militarism. But this need not be. We can dissolve the myth—by confronting it in all of its manifestation as part of the U. S. war system. Become active in OMNI’s programs for Creating a Culture of Peace.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

As we are all very aware, the mainstream media became cheerleaders for the invasion of Iraq. The good news is that some of these media are openly and genuinely questioning their disgraceful credulity regarding Iraqi WMD and their flag (rather than constitutional) patriotism. The New York Times published an official self-examination and apology. But this newspaper also has an ombudsman, called "The Public Editor." On May 30, 2004, Daniel Okrent in "Weapons of Mass Destruction? Or Mass Distraction?" thoroughly exposes the failures of the newspaper’s pre-invasion coverage and attributes them not so much to individual reporters and editors but to the institution itself. Okrent should inspire us to make the same critique of Arkansas reporting of the invasion, creating an OMNI Media Watch. Were the MN, NAT, ADG also credulous and jingoistic? Take action. Anyone can make such a study and empower us all.

ECOLOGY: CLIMATE CHANGE

From Art Hobson: "I recommend the recent big article by Robert Kennedy Jr (he appeared on this campus a couple of months ago): "Crimes Against Nature," in Rolling Stone, 11 Dec 2003. You'll find it at http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1120-01.htm . It's comprehensive, excellent, and appropriately political. He talks about global warming, science, and 'most everything else that's important for the environment."

The New York Times Book Review Sunday May 30 has a vital review of 5 new books on global warming. I used it for my Short Take over CAT to be shown next week.


BOOZMAN WATCH

Our congressman votes consistently against the environment: against clean air, against clean water, against our Arctic Refuge, for Bush’s Energy Plan. To help OMNI arrange its next visit with him contact Dick It’s easy to call his office to arrange an appointment when he next comes to Fayetteville. In the meantime, write and call him about his Bushvotes against the earth and species. OMNI can do much more for its ecological mission.

OCTOBER 22-24 PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) NATIONAL CONFERENCE, Salt Lake City, Utah, www.pflag.org