OMNI NEWSLETTER: EVENTS, ACTIONS, COMMENT

OMNI NEWSLETTER: EVENTS, ACTIONS, COMMENT
FEBRUARY 1, 2005


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 (479) 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.


OMNI FEBRUARY 2005 FORUMS AND OTHER EVENTS



BLACK HISTORY MONTH



FEBRUARY, DISPLAY OF CHILDREN’S SOCIAL AWARENESS ART, OMNI/UNITED CAMPUS MINISTRIES. Judith Paz, Instructor.



FEBRUARY 3 RAPID RESPONSE WRITERS LUNCHEON AT SMOKEHOUSE



FEBRUARY 3, CRITICAL THINKING COMMITTEE POTLUCK, 6, AT DICK BENNETT’S HOME. An initiative to encourage more teaching of critical thinking in the public schools. OMNI will give awards for existing or proposed programs. Our first step will be to write a brochure to publicize the awards. Please join us. Call Dick 442-4600.



FEBRUARY 6, OPEN MIC PEACE COFFEE HOUSE, 7PM, OMNI

Every first Sunday in The Deep End, United Campus Ministries



FEBRUARY 9 MIDDLE EAST FORUM, 7 pm, OMNI/United Campus Ministry

Panel of foreign students and U. S. citizens who have recently traveled in the M. E. Moderated by Adelaide Adamson.



FEBRUARY 10, UNITED CAMPUS MINISTRY, 1:30 A.M.

Recemption for Judith Paz and student artists.



FEBRUARY 13 UNDERGROUND VIDEO, 7 PM, OMN/UCM

2ND AND 4TH SUNDAYS



FEBRUARY 13-14, REMEMBERING DRESDEN BOMBINGS



FEBRUARY 14, VALENTINE’S DAY



FEBRUARY 15, TUESDAY, PATRIOTISM FORUM, PUBLIC LIBRARY 6:00.

Lecture by Prof. Steve Smith. Sixty years after the United States Supreme Court declared that requiring
students to pledge allegiance and salute the flag was an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment, the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 1333 of 2003, mandating that the "State Board of Education shall adopt a policy to
require that public school students in grades kindergarten through twelve (K-12) participate in a daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance during the first class of each school day." It is not particularly surprising that
state legislators would support such a measure. Promoting patriotism is usually good politics, more so than is defending dissent or the core principles of the First Amendment, and many no doubt believe that compelling
school children to begin each day by saluting the flag and pledging their allegiance will serve some appropriate and worthwhile public purpose. Professor Smith's lecture examines the past experiences and consequences of
enforced patriotic rituals in Washington County and the enduring conflicts between public patriotism and individual liberty today.
Library contact: Kathy Stephens, 4406.

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."
--Mark Twain
Parenti, Michael. Superpatriotism. City Lights Books, 2004. Rev. Z Magazine (Nov. 2004). “…a crowning achievement in demystification” about those who would have us “follow national leaders unquestioningly.”



FEBRUARY 15, DAISY BATES DAY



FEBRUARY 16, PLANNING MEMBERSHIP MEETING AT OMNI/DEEP END



FEBRUARY 17 OMNI STEERING COMMITTEE

Monthly Meeting, Potluck 5:30, Business 6:00 At OMNI/Deep End. All are welcome who want to work for peace, justice, and ecology



FEBRUARY 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed order to intern Japanese-Americans and Japanese nationals.



FEBRUARY 20, OMNI’S FIRST ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

6:00 AT United Campus Ministry/OMNI. Potluck. Get acquainted with other advocates of peace, justice, and ecology.



FEBRUARY 22, TUESDAY, BUSH ADMINISTRATION VS. SCIENCE FORUM

Moderated by Prof. Bill Harter, Physics Dept. Darrell Henschell, Doug Krueger, Prof. Art Hobson, Physics.



February 24, 1920, the fledgling German political party, which became known as the Nazi Party, held its first meeting of important in Munich.



FEBRUARY 27, VIDEO UNDERGROUND, 7PM, OMNI



FEBRUARY 27, ANTI-SLAVERY DAY (bonded slaves world-wide)

FEBRUARY 27, The Supreme Court affirmed the 19th Amendment to the Constitution which guaranteed the right of women to vote.



FEBRUARY 28, MEDIA WATCH MEETING, 6pm, at Dick’s
Potluck at 6 then meeting. This new committee complements OMNI’s several other media activities (Rapid Response Writers, Critical Thinking Awards, Bill Moyers IRE Travel Fund, I. F. Stone Investigative Reporting Awards, IRE Regional Travel Awards [Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma]). As the corporate state controls information, it controls the public. OMNI is responding.
FEBRUARY 1, TSUNAMI BENEFIT
A benefit to raise money for the suffering tsunami victims.
Date: Tuesday, February 1st
Place: The Big Room at Five Squirrels (where Ron's used to be) 523 W. Poplar
Time: 9 p.m to 1 a.m.
Entertainment: Still on the Hill, Wildwood, and Unknwn
Soljahz, slam poetry, and a raffle with donations from many businesses.
Donation Suggestion: $10.

FEBRUARY 3, THURSDAY, RAPID RESPONSE WRITERS LUNCHEON, 12:00 NOON

At Ozark Mt. Smokehouse on Dickson.



FEBRUARY 3, THURSDAY, 6PM, POTLUCK CRITICAL THINKING COMMITTEE

At Dick’s 2582 Jimmie.



FEBRUARY 6, SUNDAY, OPEN MIC PEACE COFFEE HOUSE, 7PM

Our Omni, Open Mic For Peace (Sun, Feb. 6th) will be hosted by the Wednesday night "Shop Top Jam Circle" These folks gather every week at the Brown Farm on Hwy 45 and have accumulated many peace songs, both covers and originals, never before heard at our open mic. The event starts at 7:00 at the Omni Center (the United Campus Ministry building on the N.W. corner of Maple and Storer). Bring a song or a poem or just come and enjoy! Contact Kelly Mulhollan and Donna Stjerna.



Sunday, February 6th 1:00p.m. Legislature Update Session II

OHG Sierra Club Office, 110 W. Meadow, Fayetteville. Stay informed with the 2005 General Assembly

Sponsored by Arkansas First Congress.



FEBRUARY 9, WEDNESDAY, 7PM, MIDDLE EAST FORUM

At OMNI/United Campus Ministry Large Chapel.

“Third Ways: Possibilities for Peaceful Coexistence in the Middle East.” Moderated by Dr. Adelaide Adamson.



FEBRUARY 10, THURSDAY, OMNI/UNITED CAMPUS MINISTRY, 10:30 AM

Reception for Judith Paz and her art students. Her students’ art about peace and justice are so striking that already someone is talking about printing them as a booklet.



FEBRUARY 13, VIDEO UNDERGROUND

February 13, 2005, 7:00pm Video Underground Presents: "Orwell Rolls in His Grave"
Showing at the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology. 1984 is No Longer a Date in the Future.

Director Robert Kane Pappas' ORWELL ROLLS IN HIS GRAVE is the consummate critical examination of the Fourth Estate, once the bastion of American democracy. Asking whether America has entered an Orwellian world of doublespeak where outright lies can pass for the truth, Pappas explores what the media doesn't like to talk about: itself. Meticulously tracing the process by which media has distorted and often dismissed actual news events, Pappas presents a riveting and eloquent mix of media professionals and leading intellectual voices on the media. Show Time: 103 Minutes
Video Underground shows political, fictional, and current event videos every second and fourth Sunday of the month at 7:00pm. These videos are shown at the OMNI CENTER FOR PEACE, JUSTICE, AND ECOLOGY located at 902 W. Maple in Fayetteville, in the basement of the Presbyterian and Disciples
Student Center. To see a listing of upcoming shows, please visit our website: www.northwest-ark.com/vu.





Diwan Baghdad - New Forum on Middle East Affairs - a weekly informal gathering, open to all, to discuss current affairs in the Middle East and related issues. Hosts: Professors Ted Swedenburg (Anthropology), Najib Ghadbian (Political Science) Joel Gordon (History). Time: Most Wednesdays throughout the Spring semester from 12:30-1:30. February 9, February 23, March 9, March 30, April 13, April 20, April 27, May 4.
Place: Arkansas Union 308 (Food Court SW Meeting Room)
(diwan [dee-waan]: A gathering place/salon for literary or political discussion. Baghdad: Seat of the Abbasid Caliphate c. 750-1258 AD. Capital of modern Iraq and cosmopolitan cultural center for much of 20th Century.)



PEACEWRITING MANUSCRIPTS FOR READING

Dick seeks a reader to evaluate this and other unpublished books:

“Under Fire,” accounts of their wartime experiences by girls and young women in the Soviet Army during WWII.



WEB SITE

Send good materials to Marc Quigley: omni@westwindstudios.net/ Tell Marc where you think the item should go. If you wish to be on the Web Site committee, contact Gladys Tiffany.



PEACE AND JUSTICE HEROES AWARDS

Contact your friends around the state for the names and addresses of outstanding peace, justice, and environment activists and send names to Gladys Tiffany.



GI RESISTANCE GROWING

Despite very limited mainstream media coverage, our soldiers’ resistance is increasing. Magazines: The Progressive (Dec. 04), Mother Jones (Nov./Dec. 04), and Nuclear Resister every issue. Online: www.tomjones.org; http://resisters.ca/ Organizations: Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Aagainst the War, Military Families Speak Out, Bring Them Home Now! (http://bringthemhomenow.org), Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, American Friends Service Committee



NEW BOOK FOR OMNI’S LIBRARY

Ann Fagan Ginger’s How to Use “New” Civil Rights Laws after 9-11is now in OMNI’s library for loan, a gift from John Rule.



BOOZMAN WATCH

Rep. Boozman was named to the House International Relations Committee. This Committee monitors U. S. foreign policy, foreign loans, terrorism, narcotics, and commerce with other countries. In response Rep. Boozman said the post “would allow him to attract foreign business to Arkansas companies.” Rep. Boozman will keep his assignments on the Veterans’ Affairs and Transporation and Infrastructure committees, and his membership on the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. That is, our Rep. has important congressional positions, and we should be exerting all the influence with him we can. Will you lead the charge?

Representative John Boozman
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121; Congressional websites and e-mail addresses: www.house.gov
Current status of bills: 202-225-1772; http://thomas.loc.gov

FREE SPEECH TV AT CAT 3AM TO 8AM

Recent programs: “Greetings from Missile Street”: effections of sanctions and bombings on people of Iraq; “Another World Is Possible: The 2001 World Social Forum in Brazil, versus corporate globalization, IMF, WTO, World Bank, etc. Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now” is at 7AM each weekday.



VETERANS AGAINST THE IRAQ WAR

In addition to Veterans for Peace, these 2 new organizations oppose the war and occupation: Operation Truth and Iraq Vetans Against the War. Operation Truth focuses on the day-to-day issues affecting troops and veterans. Iraq Veterans seeks a quick withdrawal from Iraq. Both orgs. focus too on post-traumatic stress syndrome.



STUDENT PEACE CONFERENCE

The University of Notre Dame's annual Student Peace Conference will take place on April 1-2, 2005. The conference is officially sponsored by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and is planned and directed
entirely by undergraduate students of the University. Submissions and/or questions may be made via email to Joseph Tan (peacecon@nd.edu)



TEN WORST CORPORATIONS

The Multinational Monitor has published its latest annual “The Ten Worst Corporations of 2004,” which includes Hardee’s and Wal-Mart. www.multinationalmonitor.org If you want to read back issues of this excellent on-going critique of corporate power and crime, contact Dick.



GAYS AS ADOPTIVE PARENTS
“In the interest of human justice, please join me in writing a brief letter to your state representative to urge him/her to OPPOSE HB 1119 banning gays from the adoption process. Thanks. Linda Farrell”