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OMNI NEWSLETTER: EVENTS, ACTIONS, COMMENT
SEPTEMBER 26, 2005, BUILDING A CULTURE OF PEACE
OMNI CENTER FOR PEACE, JUSTICE, AND ECOLOGY is located in the United Campus Ministry Building corner of Maple and Storer in Fayetteville. Call Dick Bennett, 442-4600.
UPCOMING EVENTS
FREE SPEECH TV 3 TO 9A.M.
OMNI ON CAT
MONDAY Sept 26
8 am Democracy NOW
6 pm War Made Easy--panel disc.
TUES Sept 27
noon Open Mic--Labor Songs
4 pm War Made Easy--panel disc.
9pm Open Mic--Labor Songs
WED Sept 28
8 am Democracy NOW
4 pm War Made Easy--panel disc.
THUR Sept 29
2 pm Open Mic. Labor Songs
10 pm War Made Easy--panel disc.
FRI Sept 30
8 am Democracy NOW
3:15 Open Mic--Labor Songs
SAT Oct 1
11am War Made Easy--panel disc.
September 26 5:30 and 27 12 noon
Film Short Takes at CAT
See ST M-Sat 11:15, 6:15, 11:15
SEPTEMBER 28, Wednesday, OMNI Critical Thinking Committee
To visit FHS Assist. Principal Randy Willison to present OMNI’s Awards brochure, 11:30 a.m. Call Dick if you wish to accompany us. His office is in the Main Hall of FHS.
SEPTEMBER 28, WEDNESDAY, 7PM, CELEBRATE FREEDOM TO READ
On Wednesday, September 28, 7p.m., at the United Campus Ministry/OMNI local citizens will Celebrate the Freedom to Read by reading from books that have been banned in the United States. Dr. Janet Titus will speak before the readings. MC Ann Heffernan. Contact Ann if you wish to read heffernanann@aol.com
Music by Clark Ogden. Drinks and snacks provided free.
September 28, Wednesday, 7:15, Tom Navin speaks at St. Joseph’s Church, 1722 N. Starr Drive. Mr. Navin is the new Director of Social Action and Prison Ministry in the Catholic Diocese. (Dick: I hope some of you can attend, for we need to develop relationships with churches for peace and justice coalitions and for our Religious Peace Traditions roundtables. Please tell me about the lecture and event.)
OCTOBER 2, SUNDAY, 7PM, PEACE COFFEEHOUSE OPEN MIC
Contact Kelly Mulhollan and Donna Stjerna
October 5, 12:30, Diwan Baghdad: 3 professors discuss the Middle East.
Student Union. Contact Prof. Ted Swedenburg.
OCTOBER 8, 11:30 AM, RAPID RESPONSE WRITERS
Ozark Smokehouse on Dickson. Contact Larry Woodall.
OCTOBER 8-9, AUTUMN FEST
Visit OMNI’s booth. Contact Steven Skattebo.
OCTOBER 9, SUNDAY, 7PM, VIDEO UNDERGROUND
OMNI/UNITED CAMPUS MINISTRY. Snacks provided.
OCTOBER 10, MONDAY, 11:00, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY
Servery at UA, Room 312 (NW). Prof. Luis Fernando Restrepo will discuss “Unsettled Accounts: Columbus and Indigenous America.” Following the presentation, a panel of Spanish graduate students will discuss the impact and legacies of European colonialism from Columbus to the present. Professor Restrepo specializes in Colonial Latin America, and he is currently working on a book on contemporary indigenous movements in Latin America and the limits of multicultralism.
UA Bookstore has copies of Howard Zinn’s A Peoples’ History of the United States, the first chapter of which describes the catastrophic consequences of Columbus’ “discovery” of America. Co-sponsored by OMNI and UA’s Indigenous Peoples of the Americas Committee (Frank Scheide).
OCTOBER 14, 15, 16
Introduction to Waking Down in Mutuality with Sandra Glickman. Contact Leslie and Geoff Oelsner 521-2395. Sandra Glickman, MFT, has been a psychotherapist since 1987 and a Waking Down teacher since 1997.
OCTOBER 26, CONDOS ON BEAVER LAKE
The organization trying to stop the building of three 25 story condos on the shores of Beaver Lake believes this development is the beginning of the death of the Lake because of water quality issues, etc. and will end up with pollution problems just like Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri with continual building of condos (highest of the 40 there so far is 10 stories). The group has a website where people can sign the public opinion petition against it ( it is not a legal document ). The website is www.stopnwacondos.com . More importantly, they need as many people to attend the public hearing on October 26 where the group will make a formal presentation before the Planning Board at 5:30 p.m. at Washington Junior High in Bentonville. Jim Gately
November 16, NWA Light Rail Transit System Public Forum
O-line registration now available: www.nwa-irts.org. $45 fee to participate.
FAYETTEVILLE, NWA, ARKANSAS
HURRICANE FUNDRAISER THE 19TH A GREAT SUCCESS
Rachel reports we raised “close to $9,000”!! And the event was wonderful, with excellent drumming and dancing, drinks and food, and auctions.
OMNI’S BANNER AND EXTENSION POLE LOST
Please search your home and car. The banner 10 ft. by 3 ft., all white background with OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology printed on it.
CONGRESS WATCH
Congressman Boozman, Senators Lincoln and Pryor
--Before the invasion of Iraq, a group of us visited the office of Rep. Boozman to say NO to an illegal, preemptive strike on Iraq. Tens of thousands of deaths and wounded later, we must visit him again (and the office of Sen. Lincoln now in Fayetteville) to declare END THE WAR. The killing and hemorrhaging must stop. Please join us; contact Dick. It's accountability time for our Republican/Democratic War Party. Dick
Democrats
--See letter by John Gray, “Country Needs Real Democrats,” TMN (9-26).
--TMN gives us Wesley Brown’s business columns (Brown is Business Editor for the Ark. News Bureau in LR, wbrown@arkansasnews.com). Of the new federal bankruptcy rules, Brown writes, they are “possibly the worst piece of legislation passed by Congress in the past decade,” deeply injurious to working people and consumers. (“Odious Bankruptcy Bill Looms”). Senator Lincoln joined the Republicans in voting for the legislation, and Brown shows how shabby is her defense of her vote. Brown: “What we do know about this bill is that it will create a new cash cow for credit card companies, bankruptcy lawyers, aggressive bill collectors, credit counselors, and e-mail and junk mail marketers.”
IRAQI WATCH: GETTING OUT
--“In an AP-Ipsos poll this month, only 37 percent approved or leaned toward approval of how Bush has handled the situation in Iraq; strong disapproval outweighed strong approval by 2-1, 46 percent to 22 percent.” (TMN 9-26).
--One person attending the pro-troops rally 9-25in DC following the anti-war mass rally 9-24: "No matter what your ideals are, our sons and daughters are fighting for our freedom." (TMN 9-26). A reminder of one more reason why we are building a Culture of Peace: the present militarized culture messes up minds (Iraq never a threat to US national or individual freedom), and a reminder too of the importance of OMNI’s new Critical Thinking committee. --Discussion: One reason wars continue after commencement is that the leaders and their followers believe the troops must be supported no matter how illegal and immoral the cause. Should the peace movement speak up more forcefully to support the troops by bringing them home? (You have heard Nick Masullo’s “Support the Troops, Bring Them Home”?)
CAT, FSTV, AND OMNI
From Sky Blalock, Manager of CAT, regarding the City Council Meeting, which was followed by a hostile article on page one of the Northwest Arkansas Times. “In the last week an old foe (Joey Dutton) [of CAT] resurfaced and sent a defamatory letter to the Council describing programming on Free Speech TV as obscene. Most of the Council know about this particular person's efforts to pull the funding from CAT, but Councilman Reynolds was very vocal about the City not providing "one more cent" to support this type of programming, particularly since it was satellite fed and not particularly serving the community due to its origin.
Is there any way that you all could assist in an effort to educate the council as to the nature of this programming request and assure them that this programming is requested by local citizens of Fayetteville and does indeed serve the community?
Like I mentioned before, 99% of the Council seemed very aware of the issue and the source of the complaint. But, reassurement from the Omni Center and viewers who represent a number of Fayetteville residents might help to clear up the confusion. Please let me know if you all think you might be able to help. Here is my list of Council if you dont't have your's handy:
Mayor: Dan Coody
1418 E. Rodgers Drive
Fayetteville, AR 72701
H: 443-6758
dcoody@ci.fayetteville.ar.us
Position 1 Position 2
Robert Reynolds Brenda Thiel
P.O. Box 1625 72702 172 E. Willoughby Drive 72701
H: 442-3799 W: 442-9792 H: 442-3095
ward1_pos1@ci.fayetteville.ar.us ward1_pos2@ci.fayetteville.ar.us
Position 1 Position 2
Kyle B. Cook Don Marr
1335 Vanderventer 72703 P.O. Box 3561 72702
H: 521-7632 H&W: 444-7671
Ward2_pos1@ci.fayetteville.ar.us ward2_pos2@ci.fayetteville.ar.us
Position 1 Position 2
Robert K. Rhoads BobbyFerrell
3168 Skillern Road 72703 442-3535
973-5202
ward3_pos1@ci.fayetteville.ar.us ward3_pos2@ci.fayetteville.ar.us
Position 1 Position 2
Shirley Lucas Lioneld Jordan
2139 Ora Drive 72701 1600 Arrowhead 72701
H: 442-4612 H: 442-5415
Ward4_pos1@ci.fayetteville.ar.us ward4_pos2@ci.fayetteville.ar.us
POMBO ANTI-SPECIES BILL SUPPORTED BY DEMOCRATS.
The Endangered Species Act is in jeopardy right now, today. HR 3824 has been introduced that will seriously weaken and later eliminate this important law completely. HR 3824 has been introduced in Congress, co-
sponsored by Representatives Mike Ross and Marion Berry from Arkansas. Senator Blanche Lincoln has announced that she will help introduce the Senate counterpart to this. The language being used is more of the doublespeak that we're now used to - claims that this will "fix" or "improve" the existing law. The fact is that if this passes more habitat will be lost and more species will be extinct. I've copied some information below from Sierra Club and PIRG, another good resource for information is www.stopextinction.org
Contact information:
Senator Blanche Lincoln
202-224-4843
fax 202-228-1371
Senator Mark Pryor
202-224-2353
fax 202-228-0908
Rep. John Boozman (3rd dist)
202-225-4301
fax 202-225-5713
Sierra Club's statement:
POMBO BILL WILL RAZE THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT Legislation Would Turn
Back 30 Years of Successful Stewardship etc.
MILITARISM USA: The conditioning starts early.
NAT 8-30 reported (accompanied by a large photo) the award by the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL, of “the prestigious Top Gun Award” to a local boy of 12. He was the best in “dogfight competition using actual F/A-18 Super Hornet flight simulators.”
MEDIA WATCH: BRADLEY GITZ
ADG (8-25): “But the anti-war movement today has no program, no plan for Iraq, and no even remotely credible ideological vision; it is simply a know-nothing movement dominated by anti-Americanism, ritualistic Bush-bashing and cheap emotional symbolism, of which Sheehan is perhaps the most striking example.” Our Rapid Response Writers are tackling Gitz, but more responders are needed, since the ADG gives him column-length access each week for his malicious disinformation. For those of you who read this newsletter, and receive also OMNI’s monthly calendars and bibliographies, you know how thoroughly false is this statement by Gitz, and you have plenty of information to prove him wrong.
USA AND THE WORLD
SEPTEMBER ANTI-WAR RALLY IN DC: Carl and Rose Ann represented OMNI
Lots of photos at these links:
http://dc.indymedia.org/media/index.php
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/wl/102602iraqprotests;_ylt=AiG0B6m2b7BvSIqsiH6q029paP0E;_ylu=X3oDMTA4OHR0b3NtBHNlYwNpeG12
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2005/09/24/GA2005092400802_index_frames.htm?startat=1
http://truthout.org/campcaseydc.shtml weblog with posts from Cindy Sheehan, William Rivers Pitt and others
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4247 - Antiwar Fervor Fills the Streets-Demonstration Is Largest in Capital Since U.S. Military Invaded Iraq, By Petula Dvorak / Washington Post
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4246 - Antiwar Rallies Staged in Washington and Other Cities By Michael Janofsky / The New York Times
ANIMAL PROTECTION and VEGETARIAN/VEGAN DIETS
For free vegetarian starter kit, call 1-888-VEG-FOOD. See: www.GoVeg.com; www.peta2.com
We need a coalition of all who would protect animals and the vegetarian/vegan advocates.
MORE CONSEQUENCES OF US RESPONSE TO 9-11
Prior to 9-11 ME oil exporting countries plowing $25 billion into US investments, 9-11, U.S. hostility toward Arabs, invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, anger in Middle East at U. S. ME policies, fear by Arabs their assets would be frozen by U.S. anti-terrorism hysteria, Arabs divesting tens of billions of dollars from U. S. and reinvesting at home, near tripling of oil prices, spectacular rise of economies (stock markets up 400%) in the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia), , oil revenues to reach almost $300 billion. This information comes from AP writer Jim Krane, “Persian Gulf Prosperity, 9/11 Linked,” ADG (sorry I forgot to note the date). Will someone make an annotated list of all of the consequences?
FREE SPEECH TV (brought to you by OMNI), 3 to 9 am M-Sat (Day’s Inn has FSTV and all of CAT)
See: www.freespeech.org for Free Speech On-Line Network. Dish Network Channel 9415.
Examples: --I think the title is “Remnants of War,” the consequences of wars on civilians, e.g. the Bosnian War and esp. the siege of Sarajevo. A film sure to make any viewer adjust her priorities to give more time to peace.
--US government’s prosecution and persecution of the “St. Patrick’s 4,” who poured blood on a recruiting station to protest the war.
--“The Arm of Repression,” “Blacked-Out Media: G9 Summit,” Arundhati Roy speaking.
--“Crapshoot: The Gamble with Our Wastes,” a history of sewage, where it goes, and what it does to humans (and other species, though not mentioned).
--“The Gerson Miracle” denouncing the toxic poising of our earth and food and claiming nutrition can cure some cancers.
--“The Long Walk to Freedom” about young people in the 1950s-60s Civil Rights Movement: Cecil Williams, Wazir Peacock, Robert Allen, Philip Hutchings, Janet Clinger, Carlos Munoz (Chicano movement), Matt Herron, Frances Beal, et al.
RIGHT WING WATCH
FSTV documentary on the rise of Right Wing USA (I did not see the title) since 1970 by gaining control of the symbols of patriotism via endowed U. chairs [you saw the new one in C. of Ed. Chaired by Prof. Greene?], buying media companies, creating think tanks, etc., all costing perhaps a billion dollars. This right-wing takeover of our language and institutions is the very point of our counter-building a Culture of Peace.
WAL-MART WATCH
--Dear Friend, Wal-Mart is trying to open a bank. "So what" you ask? Because just imagine Wal-Mart taking over the banking industry like it has almost every other industry in America. Add it to the list of products and services that Wal-Mart is #1 at - groceries, clothing, DVDs, music, books, jewelery, tires, what's next?
They're trying to open a bank in Utah. They've been turned town by Oklahoma, California and Toronto, but this time looks good for them.
Will you join me in urging the FDIC to stand against Wal-Mart? The deadline is rapidly approaching. We've already gotten the FDIC to extend their review process by over a month. Let's not stop...!
http://walmartwatch.bluestatedigital.com/page/petition/bankofwalmart/kvabg From Denise Thomas
--Also see TMN (9-22), where a W-M official is quoted as saying opponents are “special interests.”
--ADG (8-26): Labor leaders from around the world are calling on unions, working people, and the general public to divest themselves of W-M stock and invest in socially responsible companies.
MILITARISM USA: THE COST OF WARS
TMN (9-23), Jack Moseley reported that every household will pay $11,300 (in addition to what we have already paid: $250 billion) for the Afghan and Iraqi wars, ultimately amounting “to well over a trillion dollars.” For example: “The cost of replacing military hardware is running $20 billion a year.” This is an article worth distributing. Will the public, will the Democratic Party, say NO to this awful waste? Are we all working as hard and as shrewdly as we might? Join OMNI and help.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT
Molly Ivins in TMN (9-25) urges us to contact our congressional delegation to support reauthorization of the Act, which expires on Oct. 1 and must be reauthorized before then. OMNI has a petition circulating, but you may wish to circulate your own in addition to writing and calling individually. (Please return OMNI’s petition this week.)
--Senator Blanche Lincoln: Web Site: www.lincoln.senate.gov
Washington Office:355 Dirksen Senate Office BuildingWashington, D.C. 20510-0404
Phone: (202) 224-4843 Fax: (202) 228-1371. Fayetteville office: 251-1380;.
--Senator Mark Pryor: Web Site: pryor.senate.gov
Washington Office:217 Russell Senate Office BuildingWashington, D.C. 20510-0403
Phone: (202) 224-2353 Fax: (202) 228-0908
Main District Office:700 W. Capitol, Rm. 2527 Little Rock, AR 72201
Phone: (501) 324-6336 Fax: (501) 324-5320
--Congressman John Boozman, District 3, 12 counties from Benton to Washington
Fayetteville office: 442-5258; 207 W. Center, 72701.
Ft. Smith office: 479-782-7787; 30 Soutt 6th St. Rm 240, Ft. Smith 72901.
Harrison office: 870-741-6900; 402 N. Walnut, Suite 210, Harrison 72601.
DC address: 1708 Longworth House Office Bldng., Washington, DC 20515; 202-225-4301.
PETITIONS: OMNI is trying to have at least one petition circulating on various issues at each of our events. Let Dick know for publicity and other assistance, if you plan to create and organize a petition. Petitions now being circulated for Getting Out of Iraq, Against Violence Toward Women, Opposing U. S. Torture. Send your gathered signatures to Dick, 2582 Jimmie, Fay 72703, or put them in the OMNI mailbox at United Campus Ministry.
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