OMNI NEWSLETTER: EVENTS, ACTIONS, COMMENT
JULY 9, 2005


OMNI works on local levels, and we urge you to contact your city and county government officials concerning issues discussed in these newsletters. Ultimately, our aim is also to make an impact on national policy. One opportunity for affecting national policy is through our congressional representatives. Many to most of the items in these newsletters could lead to a letter, phone call, or personal meeting with Senators Lincoln and Pryor and House member Boozman, or (and perhaps as important) with their aides, whether or not the entry is labled Congress Watch.




JULY 10, SUNDAY, ANTI-WAR PROTESTS EVERY SUNDAY IN FAYETTEVILLE
Please join the OMNI Center & others to protest & ask those passing by to question our wars.

July 10: 12:30 pm to 1:30pm at the northwest corner of Garland & Highway 112/North St in Fayetteville, meet In the Arvest Bank parking lot.
July 17 and following Sundays: 10 am to 11 am at the southwest corner of College and Dickson (near 4 churches) . Please note that if you can not make it to that corner from 10 am to 11 am, e-mail Chris at omniprotest@yahoo.com because we may also set up a second protest at 12:00 noon if there is enough interest.

What to Bring:
Peaceful Protest Signs (OMNI will bring some signs but bring your own if you can), sunblock, hats, cameras and drinks for the thirsty. Costumes are optional but can be fun & attract attention.

Volunteers Needed: We Need People To Post & Distribute Flyers at schools, churches & elsewhere
To download protest flyers, go to http://www.geocities.com/omniprotest/flyers/

Discussion: what messages for placards and flyers will reach the general public effectively when they fear terrorists?

For More Info, e-mail Chris at omniprotest@yahoo.com

Sponsored by The OMNI Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology http://www.omnicenter.org



JULY 10, SUNDAY, 7PM, VIDEO UNDERGROUND, “AMERICAN JOBS”

Filmmaker Greg Spotts exposes the carnage left behind by companies who choose to outsource their jobs. Moved to action after hearing that 3 million jobs ceased to exist in America between 2000 and 2003, Spotts set out to make this documentary by visiting 19 hard-hit cities across the nation and meeting the men and women who have suffered the after-effects of mass layoffs. The result is a heartbreaking study of the global economy. Show Time: 62 Minutes



JULY 11, MONDAY, 6:15PM, BICYCLE COALITION OF THE OZARKS

WHAT: Community Group Ride, the two-wheeled solution.
WHERE: Fayetteville Square to Ira & Mariah's House
DIRECTIONS: Hwy 16 (Huntsville) east. Watch for intersection with Happy Hollow near old Mexican Original plant. Take next right on Ray Ave. Turn left on Helen Street. Look for 1934 Helen, north side of street.
WHY: BCO Board of Director's Meeting. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. We will be appointing officers from the newly elected board Thank you for your support. Laura Kelly http://www.uark.edu/ALADDIN/bco/



JULY 13, Wednesday, 6p.m., REDISCOVERED WOODPECKER

There will be a meeting concerning the discovery of the Ivory Billed Woodpecker.

At the Chapel at the Jones Center. Admission is free.



JULY 22 The Omni Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology will host the second annual Peace and Justice Heroes Award Banquet Friday, July 22, 6:00p.m. in the Terrace Room of the Clarion Inn, Shiloh Dr., Fayetteville. Four Arkansans will be honored for their significant contributions toward a culture of peace and justice. Entertainment will be provided by the great Papa Rap (Al Lopez).
Reservations are $16.00 and can be made by contacting Rachel Townsend-Moore (521-4706). Deadline for making reservations is Sunday, July 17. Call soon.



AUGUST 4-7, RADIO CONFERENCE

Prometheus Radio Project (http://www.prometheusradio.org) is non-profit based in Philadelphia, PA which advocates for media reform. In order to promote non-corporate community radio, Prometheus, along with volunteers from everywhere, helps local communities build and put on the air Low Power FM (LPFM) community radio stations and holds many workshops to educate people about non-corporate community radio. The last 'Prometheus Barnraising' was in Nashville, TN in April and the next 'Grassroots Radio Conference and Barnraising' will be held in Northampton (Florence), MA over 4 - 7 August 2005. These events are educational and fun ! If anyone would like to attend the next one in Massachusetts or knows someone local there who might give us homestay for that weekend, please contact Carl Barnwell at cbarnw "AT character" centurytel.net .



SEPTEMBER FORUM ON WAR MADE EASY: How presidents and pundits keep spinning us to death, by Norman Solomon. Book is now available for order. Watch for announcement of date, place, time.



UNA-USA NATIONAL ESSAY CONTEST FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS 2005-06.

The Ark. Chapter awards cash prizes. Contact Mark Mullenbach markmullenbach@aol.com



DEPARTMENT OF PEACE

From The Peace Alliance: We are pleased to announce that as of Monday July 4th, we have congressional district leaders in over half the districts in the U.S. If you have not done so already, please visit our website at http://www.thepeacealliance.org/organize to find out how you can either get involved in a local group, or become a team leader in a district that does not have one. We need your help to reach every district in the country.

As the bill is re-introduced, we want to be able to tell members of congress that citizens in every corner of America are getting active to support this landmark legislation, and taking a stand for the cultivation of a real and lasting peace. Visit www.thepeacealliance.org/organize and get active now.



MEDIA WATCH

Columbia Journalism Rev.(July/Aug. 2005) has articles on how the press helps push prescription drugs, sometimes with deadly consequences; how the Venezuelan’ press struggles to regain its bearings after serving as a tool of the anti-Chavez movement; etc.



E C O L O G Y

SUPPORTING LOCAL ECOLOGICAL MOVEMENT (see: Bicycle Coalition above)

Sierra Club, http://www.arkansas.sierraclub.org/ozark_headwaters/ Our meetings are always
the 4th Wednesday of each month, 7pm at the Powerhouse Seafood Restaurant.

ECOLOGY: LAND-USE PLANNING SESSIONS

Accord. to TMN 7-6 only 3 members of the public attended the “listening” session 7-5 of Washinton County’s Preserving Agricultural and Rural Areas Task Force. H. L. Goodwin Jr. was mentioned in the article as co-chair of the Task Force. Apparently two more will follow though not clear when. It is stated that the Task Force meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.

ECOLOGY: GRAND PRAIRIE OPPOSITION

Help Protect the White River. Water tables in the Grand Prairie have been depleted from unwise overuse. Now the Corps of Engineers proposes to divert water from the White River system to replenish the aquifiers in Eastern Arkansas to benefit 900 farmers. Below are the info. links and addresses you will need to respond. To send a free email directly to Governor Huckabee and your state lawmakers, go to:

http://action.nwf.org/campaign/greeningcorps20050609 Or you can mail the Governor a personal letter at the following address: The Honorable Mike Huckabee, Governor's Office

State Capitol Room 250, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 (I failed to record who sent this item).

ECOLOGY AND RELIGION

As OMNI expands its attention to the environment, we should include appraisal of religions which actively contribute to or passively permit the destruction of earth and species, and religions which seek to preserve them. A “Christian Environmental Quarterly,” Creation Care Magazine is part of the latter. CCM is published by the Evangelical Environmental Network c/o Riverside Baptist Church, Washington, DC, www.creationcare.org OMNI will try to hold a Forum on the subject this Fall or Spring, interested volunteers contact Dick. Contact me if interested.

NWA ECOLOGY ISSUES Reported in one day in TMN (7-7)

“Second Taxiway Mulled” for NWA Regional Airport at Highfill: $198,040 spent for cost analysis. Question: how much will air and water pollution increase with the increased traffic? Do they think construction is the only cost of transportation? A full cost analysis should include the hidden costs to species and the earth, yes?

“Public Input Wanted for 2006 Budget.” The first meeting on the Springdale 2006 budget was sparsely attended and only one person offered a suggestion. The ecology movement ought to be telling Springdale what their priorities should include, right?

“Task Force to Tackle Growth Questions.” The Agricultural and rural Areas Task Force has formed subcommittees already, and they are asking broad questions about the future of growth in Washing ton County. The enviro. Groups should be asking the questions/creating the agenda and responding with answers?

“Water Conservation Tough in Summer.” Rogers is short of water. Are they asking the right questions, pursuing the right solutions, perceiving the needed future, for the earth, humans, and other species?



SECRECY

Headline in New York Times (7-3): “Since 2001, Sharp Increase in the Number of Documents Classified by the Government” (by the Bush Administration), by Scott Shane. What are Lincoln, Pryor, and Boozman doing about this aspect of Pres. Bush’s assault on democracy?



MORE RICH PAYING NO TAXES

Another headline in NYT: “In 2002, More Wealthy People Paid No Tax,” by David Johnston. “The number of affluent individuals and married couples who paid no federal income taxes jumped more than 15 percent in 2002.” Again, what are our congressional representatives doing about this inequity?

WAR AND VIOLENCE INEVITABLE, GENETIC?

Read the UN’s Seville Statement. And read about new genetic study of aggression and peaceful genes in rats (TMN 7-7-05, P. 4b). Good subject for a Forum.



REMEMBERING OUR RESISTANCE TO THE WAR

“Remember the forum in Kimpel Hall only a few days before the invasion of Iraq. Dozens of us couldn't find seats, the auditorium was so filled. Several people spoke passionately on the evils of war, a law professor spoke acutely about procedures and Constitutional requirements that were being violated, and I spoke on what I thought would be deleterious effects of an invasion on our military preparedness to meet potential real emergencies. Professor Sheppard's legal points are being taken more seriously by Congress, media and voters than they were at the time he presented them, and they may yet produce litigation, possibly impeachment. This is far from gloat but every point to which I spoke has come true, and more. First and foremost, just as in the Viet Nam situation in which I participated, I predicted that the official jabber from Washington that we had to go in right now, and get the job done so we could get out before the weather got hot that summer, was nothing but pipedream. This is the third summer and in his speech the other night the president said---quietly, of course---that now the earliest potential date to think about starting to stand down is September 2006.” Ron Rockwell (Several other of Ron’s prophecies that came true had to be excised for space. Dick)



CORPORATE V. SMALL FARMING

Some of you heard Dr. James Horne’s talk at ONF on Earth Day (part of OMNI’s annual program). He urged us to support local farming vigorously—especially Farmer’s Markets and by encouraging our grocery store or co-op to buy from local farms. Remember his argument: U. S. farm subsidies mainly benefit U. S. corporate farms. More than 78% of U. S. subsidies ($20 billion of our tax money) go to 8% of the U. S. producers. Because of these subsidies, corporate farms can sell at lower prices, which is a main reason why 400,000 U. S. families have lost their farms in the last 30 years. Read Horne and Maura McDermott’s The Next Green Revolution and see: www.oxfamamerica.org/agriculture



CONGRESS WATCH (much of the above)

Cong. BOOZMAN WATCH

Cong. Boozman voted against loosening restrictions on gun ownership in DC along with Rep. Marion Berry. He voted to blunt the Supreme Court ruling forcing homeowners to sell their property to make room for commercial development. And he voted to lift the embargo against Cuba. These and earlier votes indicate that our Cong. is no clone of the president, and is a person we should be writing, phoning, and visiting when he is in town (and visiting his aides when he is not).

SENATORS WATCH

Senators Lincoln and Pryor voted for the CAFTA agreement and against human testing of pesticides.
(This info. came from TMN I7-3).