OMNI NEWSLETTER: EVENTS, ACTIONS, COMMENT NOVEMBER 26, 2004 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. WHO IS OMNI STEVEN SKATTEBO Steven is a member of OMNI’s Steering Committee and OMNI’s Treasurer. In addition to these large jobs, he has organized our 4th of July and our Autumn Fest booths, and he regularly attends our events to handle contributions. He is a bilingual educator who has lived a total of three years in South America. He moved to Fayetteville two years ago. Like all of our Newsletters, this one suggests many actions for change. If you want to be more committed to peace, justice, and the environment, OMNI offers numerous opportunities. Forward our Newsletter to a friend and invite her or him also to receive it. Join OMNI. NOVEMBER 27 Fayetteville Dances of Universal Peace is this Saturday evening, Nov. 27, at 7pm at Unity of Fayetteville, 4880 Wedington Dr. NOVEMBER 28, SUNDAY, JAMES MCCOLLUM ON SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: James McCollum will speak this Sunday at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 11a.m. in support of church-state separation. Mr. McCollum is president of the Arkansas Chapter of the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and like the UUA stands against extremist fundamentalist religion and all efforts to extend theocratic control over our government, education, and private lives. NOVEMBER 30, ARKANSAS COALITION TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY : Annual meeting of ACADP Nov. 30 in Little Rock, reception at 6p.m. and dinner at 7. Contact Rhonda Pritts, 501-664-0340. Robert Meerpol, son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, will speak. The Coalition named Sr. Joan Pytlik Abolitionist of the Year. DECEMBER 5, SUNDAY, OPEN MIC COFFEE HOUSE: Hosts: Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mulhollan DECEMBER 4 AND 5, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, WORKSHOP "EXPLORING THE PRINCIPLES OF NONVIOLENT COMMUNICATION." Ike Laseter presenting the Marshall Rosenberg Technique. $75 for 2 days payable to OMNI. Information: 973-9049 or 587-0262, and gladystiffany@yahoo.com, www.omnicenter.org DECEMBER 6 and 7 (and every Mon. and Tues.), SHORT TAKES AT CAT. Speakers and readers, here’s an opportunity to advocate peace, justice, and the environment. Contact Dick. DECEMBER 10, HUMAN RIGHTS DAY DECEMBER 10, FRIDAY, 8PM, HOSPICE BENEFIT CONCERT: Donna and Kelly of Still on the Hill will be hosting their annual Holiday Concert at Goodfolk 229 N. Block St. in Fayetteville on Friday Dec. 10th at 8:00pm. This duo was asked to be on a National compilation CD called BEFORE THEIR TIME. It is a 4-cd production including songwriters such as Joan Baez, Connie Dover and others. The project is a fundraiser for National Hospice. The cd will be available for sale at the concert. The cover is $10 and 1/3 goes to Home Health and Hospice and 1/3 goes to Goodfolk and 1/3 for the concert itself. Call Mike Shirkey at 521-1812 to hold your seat. DECEMBER 11, SATURDAY, HUMAN RIGHTS LECTURE, GIFFELS, 7PM, ANN FAGAN GINGER, DIRECTOR OF THE MEIKLEJOHN CIVIL LIBERTIES INSTITUTE, BERKELEY, CA "New Paths for Action in This Time of Crisis" about the eleven basic rights of all people under U. S. jurisdiction and the government’s nineteen duties to the people. Contact: Melanie Dietzel or Dick. OMNI’S VIDEO LIBRARY: Pippin Lowe gave OMNI her video documentaries library, and they are available for checkout. I have just viewed "Hijacking Catastrophe," a powerful account of the Bush’s administration’s exploitation of the 9/11 disaster for empire abroad and repression at home. See this film and make sure others see it. RIGHT WING MEDIA: RADIO: A local station gives Bill O’Reilly’s "No Spin" program access to attack and lie about progressives and progressive institutions. 11-17 he spent 10 to 15 minutes attacking AI, Human Rights Watch, and ACLU. OMNI should have a Right Wing Watch Committee, with one member to watch R-W radio. Will you volunteer? WHAT IS A PROGRESSIVE? The Rosenberg Fund for Children defines progressive beliefs as 1) All people have equal worth; 2) People are more important than profits; 3) World peace is a necessity; and 4) Society must function within ecologically sustainable limits. What would you change or add? Will you collect the replies and report back? PROGRESSIVE MEDIA: Free Speech TV: Some recent programs: "The Killing Zone" on Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza; point by point refutation of Bush’s speeches, from Take Back America, www.somethingaboutw.org. "Childhood Lost" about child soldiers (Sierra Leone, efforts to rehabilitate child killers, 300,000 around the world), child labor (Philippines, making dangerous fireworks at bare subsistence wage), child prostitutes (Canada, worldwide with pornography a $5 billion/year business). NOW on Fridays 9p.m. Example: growing rich-poor gap and class war with emphasis upon Tyson’s and Wal-Mart. See: Michael Zweig, What’s Class Got to Do with It? OMNI’S MEDIA WATCH OMNI sponsors or supports several media programs: FSTV over CAT, Youth Video Group/OMNI Media Assoc., Bob Billig’s News Digests, Rapid Response Writers. Will you be OMNI’s media coordinator to help relate these activities and to initiate additional WATCH activities—e.g., media monopoly? Will you? OMNI’S FOREIGN POLICY WATCH During Sept.-Dec. 2004 OMNI sponsored 6 forums/lectures on U. S. foreign policy (water, Iraq, war on terror and draft, UN, humanitarian intervention, and human rights) and several special actions (9-11 remembrance, day of peace, and more), and several VU videos. We could be more effective by coordinating and publicizing the connections of these events. Will you volunteer? HEROES OF PEACE, JUSTICE, and ECOLOGY: Our society glorifies warriors and celebrities. Dr. Martin Kaplan, renowned humanitarian, died 10-16. Dr. Kaplan spent his early career researching the spread of viral deseases and his later career working to stop the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. We salute this noble veterinarian, the UN’s World Health Organization which he served, and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, which seek disarmament and which Kaplan supported. LGBT AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: AI’s OUTfront Program asserts LBGT human rights by seeking to mobilize a global network of grasroots membership Contact: Ariel Herrera, outfront@aiusa.org Bring to OMNI. TAKE BACK CHRISTMAS FOR PEACE, JUSTICE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT: Part of OMNI’s creation of a Culture of Peace is offering critiques of the way holidays are presently celebrated in the U. S. and offering alternatives. We have not yet engaged Christmas. Will you form a committee to do this? Here are some materials to help. For over 30 years Alternatives has been showing North Americans that simpler living, not the gospel of prosperity, is the way of Jesus. RON SIDER, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger A Gift for the Christ Child: A Christmas Folktale, Linda Schlafer; Anne Wilson, illus. This South American folktale offers a heartwarming message about the importance of giving. Two young boys journey far from their modest home in the mountains to the big church in town to make the family Christmas offering. Along the way, they are challenged to be brave, resourceful, and unselfish when they meet an older woman in need. This story offers a vivid lesson about true generosity -- giving even in hard times. And it shows that God knows when we give from the heart. $16 (cloth) GCC Visit http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas.html#AGiftfortheChristChild Or scroll down a bit when visiting http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas.html "What Does JESUS Want for Christmas?" The 55+ minute CD, a pageant based on "Carols with Justice," is $15 (including the carols booklet and the pageant script). The CD includes 15 carols and the scenes from the pageant blended into an inspiring program. Alternatives' "CHRISTMAS AUDIO TRILOGY" 1) "The Celebration Revolution of Alexander Scrooge," a modern "Christmas Carol" (with apologies to Charles Dickens). 2) "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" b 3) "Let's Get Off the Christmas Roller Coaster" is a new play inspired by the classic book "Unplug the Christmas Machine." The 65 minute CD is only $10 (including shipping). Visit http://www.simpleliving.org/catalog/Alternatives.html#ChristmasTrilogy Or scroll down a bit when visiting http://www.simpleliving.org/catalog/Alternatives.html If a web address does not appear as a hot link, please copy and paste it into your browser. Order from the web site or call toll free 800/821-6153. To read the current and past editions of "Whose Birthday," visit http://SimpleLiving.org/Archives/XB/XBindex.html DEPARTMENT OF PEACE: "The Vision of a Department of Peace Dennis Kucinich and others have held for us a vision of a cabinet level Department of Peace that would institutionalize peace and nonviolence as the organizing principles of our society. I believe the time is right to galvanize different sectors of our society toward this common, and concrete, goal. We know that for a culture of peace to prevail, we must build the structures in our government – as well as in our hearts and minds – to support our beliefs. I have written A Personal Guide to the Department of Peace (click here to read and download it), as a way of helping us make that bridge from the individual to the institutional. I am grateful for all who are working on this project, and for the momentum that is building for its success." Louise Diamond Will you lead a committee to support Kucinich? STUDENT PEACE CONFERENCE AT NOTRE DAME: 2005 Annual Student Peace Conference, "Crossing Boundaries in the Name of Peace", April 1-2, 2005. Call for Papers: The two-day conference will feature a variety of seminars, lectures, artistic performances, exhibits, and a keynote speaker. We welcome undergraduate and graduate peace visionaries of all majors to submit proposals for presentations. We encourage presentations of peace in all forms and from all disciplines and perspectives. Contact Joseph Tan (peacecon@nd.edu).