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OMNI NEWSLETTER: EVENTS, ACTIONS, COMMENT
NOVEMBER 12 , 2005, BUILDING A CULTURE OF PEACE http://www.omnicenter.org
You can sign up for Congress.org's Megavote legislative updates for our district at the following address.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/megavote/
This newsletter is the record of our efforts to provide a Culture of Peace to replace the existing Warfare State. The public and the nation’s leaders say they want peace, but the leaders choose war when it should be the very last option, and the public cheers or remains complicitly silent. Urge your friends to speak and act up, be a part of the building for peace.
UPCOMING EVENTS
NOVEMBER 13, SUNDAY Benefit for Seven Hills Homeless Center
Leslie and Geoff Oelsner at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Soup served 12:15-1:30 p.m.
We'll start playing at 1 p.m. Effron White will play a set starting at 2 p.m. There'll also be an art auction.
Tickets will be $15 at the door.
NOVEMBER 13, SUNDAY, 7PM,VIDEO UNDERGROUND, WORLD PREMIERE
One of the World Premiere locations for the new Robert Greenwald film WalMart: The High Cost of Low Price.
NOVEMBER 14, MONDAY, FILM, Latin American Studies Event.
Documentary film about exiled Colombian writer Fernando Vallejo. Q & A session with the film's director, Luis Ospina. 4 pm Giffels.
NOVEMBER 14, 6:30 PATRIOT ACT COMMITTEE
At OMNI/UCM.
NOVEMBER 14-18 ART AND WAR
David Early’s “Army Immanente” at UA Fine Arts Center Gallery. www.armyimmanente.org Includes humanizing portraits of people commonly considered “enemies of America” (Hirohito, Crazy Horse, Bin Laden, et al.) See TMN 11-11, P. 6E ). Gallery hours M-F 9a.m. to 5:30p.m. Let’s attend and support this show and the one by Whisenhunt (described below).
NOVEMBER 17, THURSDAY, Native American Symposium, “THE SILENT ENEMY”
A 1930 silent film re-enactment of Ojibway culture prior to white contact will feature a live premiere musical arrangement with the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchresta, in Giffels at 8:00 PM.
NOVEMBER 17, OMNI STEERING COMMITTEE
5:30 POTLUCK, 6:00 BUSINESS
November 18-20, School of Americas Watch Vigil at Fort Benning GA.
November 19, Stop the War Fall Conference in Los Angeles. lauslaw1@aol.com
NOVEMBER 21-DECEMBER 16, ART AND WAR
Joseph Whisenhunt’s “Marching Orders,” at UA Fine Arts Gallery. Examines “’the ironic and peculiar rationale behind the push for “the necessary war: by a self-proclaimed Christian culture,’” including “subservience, nationalism, dehumanization, xenophobia, myopia, morality and indoctrination.” Includes a 40-foot installation of 1,000 toy plastic army men. See TMN (11-11, p. 6E).
November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women
November 25, International Buy Nothing Day, www.adbusters.org
NOVEMBER 26, FAYETTEVILLE FREETHINKERS
NOVEMBER 27, SUNDAY, VIDEO UNDERGROUND
NOVEMBER 28, 8PM, WALTON ARTS CENTER, SEYMOUR HERSH
Will speak on “Chain of Command: How We Got from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib.” Hersh , one of our country’s greatest investigative journalists, won the Pulitzer prize for his NYT articles on the My Lai massacre and other awards for his work the CIA’;s bombing of Cambodia, Henry Kissinger’s wirtapping, and the CIA;s participation in overthrowing the elected president of Chile. The talk is free, sponsored by UA’s Distinguished Lectures committee. Tickets are available for the general public Nov. 16 at the Walton Arts Center’s box office and the Arkansas Union’s 4th floor information desk.
NOVEMBER 28, Eric Nance is to be put to death Nov. 28 for the 1993 killing of Julie Heath, 18, of Malvern.
November 29, International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
DECEMBER 4 OMNI FUND RAISER
A NEW TWIST FOR DECEMBER OPEN MIC! December 4, 7:00 pm, Deep End at United Campus
Ministries, Omni Center's Monthly Open Mic for Peace will be hosted by our own beloved Still On The Hill (aka Donna and Kelly) on December 4, but we're also doing something different. That same evening Omni is
hosting A Peace and Justice Community Gathering, Potluck, and Silent Auction Fun(d) Raiser!
The proceeds from the Silent Auction will be used to support Omni's work in the community.
To make this special evening a big success we're going to need lots of cool auction items...this is
where you come in. If you personally have goods and/or services you can contribute to the auction, we need to hear from you right away. We need to have lots of neat auction items lined up and ready to go by December 2. To donate an item or a service, or get more information, please contact Karen Kimrey via email at karenkimrey@cox.net or by phone at 200-0361
HELPING THE FUNDRAISER
wow! the response to the silent auction fundraiser has been terrific so far..thanks so much to all of you who have donated goods or services. for those of you who are waiting to do so, now is the time! the more donated
stuff we have, the more money we'll raise to use in service of our community. we are also still in need of a few folks to help out with set up and clean up during and after the event on december 4. if you feel
you'd like to contribute in this very important way, please contact karen kimrey at karenkimrey@cox.net to let her know. she'll be thrilled to hear from you. please take a few minutes to do this now.
I am establishing a calling chain to reach those on the omni membership list and other interested parties in the peace and justice community about Omni's upcoming open mic for peace/community potluck/silent auction fundraiser. If you could take time to call at least 5 others to speak to them about attending and donating goods and/or services to the auction it would help immensely. Iit's so amazing and heartwarming to see what folks
are willing to give just for the asking...there are so many nice people out there!
if you can serve in this way please email me and i will send you back by email some names and phone numbers of omni members (we'll start with those). To make this super simple, I'll put together a suggested list of things you'll want to mention while you have them on the line. Once we have contacted our membership it would be great if we could each call several more friends with the same request. Your assistance is greatly appreciated!
karen kimrey karenkimrey@cox.net
OMNI’S ONGOING PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE WAR AND OCCUPATION
OMNI will be continuing with both Saturday and Sunday protests. Here's Chris’s new flyer with a protesting mom. http://www.geocities.com/omniprotest/flyers/full_page_demo-mom.pdf Please join Chris with an appropriate sign or select from our collection. First Saturday of each month at Joyce and Mall at McDonald’s 10:30-12:00. Every Sunday at College and Dickson, 10:00-11:30. Chris: “Why Protest the US-led War in Iraq & Afghanistan? We believe that our government has broken its sacred trust with our soldiers, as they are sent to fight an illegal war, now escalating out of control. Now our soldiers & the rest of the Iraqi & Afghan people need us to protest in public and demand an end to this war in which many thousands of innocent civilians have died. (See http://www.iraqbodycount.net/ for latest estimates.)” (For those who plan to attend the Rapid Response Writers
Saturday Lunch at 11:30, please feel free to join us and then leave early for the meeting.) What to Bring: Peaceful Protest Signs (we will bring some signs but bring your own if you can) & cameras if you like.
Volunteers Needed To Post & Distribute Flyers at schools, churches, farmers' markets, etc. Flyers are available at
http://geocities.com/omniprotest/flyers.htm
Coming Soon: Planning for event in March 2006 to mark the 3rd anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq.
Go to http://nwa-activism.blogspot.com/ to add to your comments to the weblog for protest events.
JARHEAD NOW SHOWING AT RAZORBACK THEATER.
the full review is available at
What sets “Jarhead” apart is that it’s a war story about soldiers who never get to fight. It’s a movie about the anticipation of war, about waiting to kill, about stewing in your hormonal aggressive juices. Swofford was trained as a sniper, but in this peculiar and abrupt encounter in the Middle East, the grunts on the ground weren’t really needed. (Their first assignment is guarding the Saudi oil.) The firepower came from above. We see the after-effects of these bombing raids—the famous “highway of death,” charred bodies and twisted cars that stretch across the desert.
“Jarhead” shows us the dehumanizing aspects of the military life, the sadism, the camaraderie—none of which is going to strike anyone as news, but the vehemence and despair of Swofford’s book have been toned down.
And yet they want to convey the sense that war, experienced from the inside, is like being in a state of temporary insanity, and that the kid/warriors in the midst of this madness are frustrated, sex-obsessed, gun-worshipping boys bedeviled by the idea that their girlfriends back home are boffing behind their backs and driven half mad when, having been turned into killing machines, they are denied the opportunity to kill. © 2005 Newsweek, Inc. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9916380/site/newsweek/
HELP TO N.O.
Deliver Supplies to New Orleans: Omni members are going to New Orleans and you can help to send a van of cleaning supplies with them. The last day to donate supplies and money is December 10th. To view a list of needed items, how to donate money and for drop off locations visit, www.blockstreetandbuilding.com/regionalrelief
or contact Rachel Townsend-Moore at rachelandgregmoore@yahoo.com or call at 200-0642.
FAYETTEVILLE, NWA, ARKANSAS
GRASSROOTS MILITARISM
Some area schools will “host Veterans’ Day assemblies this week”—with “choir, band, cheerleader performances” (TMN 11-7). The many activities are listed by TMN (11-9): Exchange Club’s “Freedom Shrine” at ROTC; VA Medical Center flag ceremony and wreath; Wall of Honor in BV with Rep. Borhauer; NWACC “memorial service honring all veterans,” with UA’s Air Force ROTC Color Guard; college’s Chamber Singers; Arvest Bank reception; etc. When might we say our peace movement is successful in building a Culture of Peace? When we have at least an equal number and quality of events to celebrate peacemakers. Will you help us? Contact Dick.
VETERANS DAY INDOCTRINATION IN THE SCHOOLS
TMN (11-11), letter from Mrs. Melody Key’s second grade class celebrated Veterans Day and Pres. Bush placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, and thanked the vets for keeping our country safe. [OMNI has started a Critical Thinking Award for Fayetteville schools. Geoff visits FHS to bring info. about alternatives to military recruitment. What might be our next steps to counter conditioning for the National Security State?]
TMN 11-11 EDITORIAL EXTOLS WWI
The editor seemed completely unaward that the necessity of US entrance into WWI is highly questionable. The education in the country assumes all of these wars arejustified, when the over 20 after WWII are all illegal invasions by the US. We have a large educational job, which is why we exist.
MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX IN NWA
LaBarge Inc. in Huntsville just received a $2.2 million contract to produce a part for the Bradley A3 Combat vehicle. LaBarge provides electronics for the war industry. (TMN 11-9). It follows that most of the people in that area and Arkansas congressional delegation support LaBarge. Not by accident has the Pentagon distributed its contracts/jobs widely around the U. S.
MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX IN JACKSONVILLE
The Little Rock Air Force Base, long the headquarters for the C-130 cargo plane, is testing its newest version, the C130J, for combat effectiveness. The base has 73 130s and employs about 5,700 people (TMN 11-9), a treasured source of employment for the people of central Arkansas. The 130 is essential to US interventions and invasions abroad.
PROTEST AGAINST WAR AND OCCUPATION
From Chris: Please announce my weblog for discussing the planning of antiwar protests (such as the one to mark the 3rd anniversary of our invasion of Iraq) in the OMNI newsletter. The weblog can be found at http://nwa-activism.blogspot.com/ .
SEE THIS MOVIE:
From the AFSC: We have updated our three-minute web movie about the human costs of war in Iraq. Many people have written in to tell us how moving the movie is. So far, almost a quarter of a million people have watched it. See the movie at the link below.
http://www.afsc.org/iraq/
A NATION OF VETERANS
At our forum on the Department of Peace, of the five men participating 4 were veterans. We are a nation of vets. See TMN 11-11, p. 2B stats. on estimated number of war vets outside war zones in civilian life as of 9-30: 8.1 million from the Vietnam War alone.
ECOLOGY
“Roads Named Priority: Survey Says people Willing to Pay for Improvements” by Sarah Terry (TMN 11-9).But did the questions include all the major needs of Arkansas in addition to roads, transportation, and utilities?
WATER AND SPRAWL
“Building the [new water] line will accommodate future growth” for Bentonville and Rogers. $15.1 million for the line; $2.6 million for a new water tank (TMN 11-9). That water expansion is an agent of sprawl is a perplexing problem for those of us who wish to constrain developers and their drive to consume land (and therefore destroy species).
SOCIAL JUSTICE: TYSON
The Supreme Court rulled that companies must pay plant workers for the time it takes to put on protective clothing and walk to their work stations. The decision involves a Washington state plant owned by Tyson Foods. (TMN 11-9)
USA, WORLD
JUNE 23-8, 2006 WORLD PEACE FORUM
Vancouver, BC, www.worldpeaceforum.ca
2006 JANUARY-FEBRUARY, CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKER TEAMS
To Iraq, Middle East, Colombia: www.cpt.org
STOP U.S. PERMANENT WAR, GET OUT OF IRAQ
From the AFSC: We have updated our three-minute web movie about the human costs of war in Iraq. Many people have written in to tell us how moving the movie is. So far, almost a quarter of a million people have watched it. See the movie at this link:
http://www.afsc.org/iraq/
COST OF THE WAR
Here's some recent US-led military casalty info which I don't believe includes casalties from the Iraqi national guard, according to http://icasualties.org. According to http://www.iraqbodycount.net/, the number of Civilians reported killed by military intervention in Iraq to be between 26931 & 30318 as of 11-11-05.
UK &
Period US Other Total Avg Days
Nov-05 31 1 32 2.91 11
Oct-05 96 3 99 3.19 31
Oct/Nov 127 4 131 3.12 42
Sep-05 49 3 52 1.73 30
$$ COST OF THE WAR on Iraq and terrorism.
2004 is the most fiscally reckless year in U. S. history, according to the Comptroller General
Projected cost of disability payments to Iraq war veterans by 2050, based on rates for Gulf War veterans: $285,000,000,000 (yes, that’s billions).
The VA budgeted for 23,553 veterans of the global war on terrorism in 2005. They have already increased the estimate to 103,000.
MORAL COST OF THE WAR: US TORTURE
Even Rep. Sen. Chuck Hagel says “the Bush administration is making ‘a terrible mistake’ in opposing a congressional ban on torture” (TMN 11-7). Actually it’s the Senate’s ban in its version of the war spending bill (the House version does not include the ban: another question for BOOZMAN).
Veterans for Common Sense held a Press Conference calling for an Independent Commission on Torture on November 11, 2005; 10 AM (Veterans Day), in Washington, DC.
Documentary Shows Chemical Warfare in Fallujah
A documentary which aired Tuesday on satellite TV alleges that US troops used white phosphorous indiscriminately on the Fallujah people: The documentary: 'Fallujah - the hidden massacre' shows that the US did not use the substance for its legitimate purpose - as an aid to highlight the position of the enemy but dropped it indiscriminately in large amounts. [ Ask Cong. Boozman about it. Study up on history of U. S. use of chemical weapons of mass destruction—e.g. in Vietnam War: napalm, B-52 bombing, Agent Orange.]
WAR ON TERROR, TORTURE, AND CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT
After 4 years of imprisonment without being charged with a crime, 5 suspects are headed for a military trial. But the constitutionality of such trials are at last being considered by the Supreme Court. (TMN 11-9).
DEFEND HABEAS CORPUS, FOUNDATION OF JUSTICE
When the Graham amendment passed in the U.S. Senate yesterday, the clock began ticking on human rights in U.S. detention facilities. If we do not act now, non-citizens held by the Bush Administration in Guantánamo will
lose the fundamental right to challenge their detention and know what they are charged with, and America will no longer be a country where everyone is equal before the law. The Graham amendment jeopardizes the rights of
non-citizens everywhere in the world.
Join CCR in calling and writing your senators today and this weekend to tell them to support the Bingaman amendment - a critical amendment to the Graham amendment that may be introduced Monday. THIS IS A REAL EMERGENCY. STOP THIS ASSAULT ON THE RULE OF LAW, CALL YOUR SENATORS AND WRITE THEM BY COPYING AND PASTING THIS INTO YOUR BROWSER. http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ccr/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1500
FOREIGN AID
The House approved $209.9 billion for foreign aid. Aid. One quarter of that money goes to helping the recipients buy U.S.-produced weapons and military equipment or services.
DRUG WAR
U. S. spent $780,000,000 on poppy eradication and other anti-drug efforts in Afghanistan last year. Amount it would have cost to purchase the country’s entire 2004 poppy crop: $600,000,000.
WAR INSTEAD OF COMPASSION AND AID
Minutes that NBC and CBS spent covering the Darfur genocide last year: 8.
WAR ON TERROR: PHILIPPINES
Article in Fellowship, “Do We Look Like Terrorists?” on the civil war between the P. government and the Moro Muslims of Mindanao: “…human rights violations in the Philippines are being recorded in the hundreds of thousands….the P. ranked as the second most deadly country for journalists, next only to Iraq….over 100,000 people have been killed in Mindanao since 1970, largely due to the fight over the island’s resources and stragegic location.”
CRITICAL THINKING
Right wing fundamentalists gaining power: The Kansas Board of Education again approved science standards that cast doubt on the theory of evolution and affirm the notion of intelligent design. (TMN 11-9). A group of UA scientists have been discussing these issues for several years. I think you can be added to their mailing list. Contact Profs. Walt Manger, Art Hobson, Michael Plavcan, William Etges, et al.
HOMOPHOBIA LEGALIZED BY TEXAS BUT REPUDIATED BY MAINE
Texas voters “overwhelmingly approved a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, making their state the 19th.” But a proposal in Maine to repeal a new gay-rights law failed. (TMN 11-9).
ECOLOGY
Environmental groups are suing the government for failing to adequately protect 283 species facing extinction. Some 24 species have become extinct waiting to be added to the list for proection under the Endangered Species Act. (TMN 11-9).
JUDGE ALITO
NOW announced its opposition to Alito the same day George W. Bush nominated the federal appeals court judge to fill Sandra Day O'Connor's seat on the Supreme Court. "NOW is strongly opposed to the elevation of Judge Alito and will activate our members in communities nationwide to defeat his nomination to the High Court," said NOW President Kim Gandy. Read More | Take Action
DEATH PENALTY
--"The dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil."
Pope John Paul II
-- Gallup Poll Reports Lowest Death Penalty Support in 27 Years
An October 2005 Gallup Poll found that only 64% of Americans favored the death penalty for those convicted of murder. The last time the poll found a lower support was in 1978 when 62% favored the death penalty. The high point for public endorsement of the death penalty came in 1994 when 80% supported capital punishment. This most recent poll result is consistent with Gallup Polls taken in October 2004 and 2003, both registering a 64% support of the death penalty. (See Gallup Poll Document, posted Oct. 26, 2005; subscription required). See Public Opinion.
-- DECEMBER 13, DEATH PENALTY Action Alert from The Fellowship of Reconciliation Save Stan Tookie Williams, Support Clemency Plea to Gov. Schwarzenegger
Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and nonviolence activist scheduled to die Dec. 13, 2005. No physical evidence ever pointed to his involvement. While on death row at San Quentin State Prison, Tookie Williams has written nine highly-acclaimed children's books that educate young people about avoiding gangs, crime and incarceration. His Tookie Protocol For Peace has helped reduce gang violence. His children's books and memoir, Blue Rage, Black Redemption, have received multiple nominations for the Nobel Peace and Literature prizes. Call (916) 445-2841 e-mail governor@governor.ca.gov or fax (916) 445-4633. See a sample letter
-- CONTACT: Brenda Bowser Soder (202) 289-2275,
Public Opinion, Executions, Death Sentences Drop as Public Skepticism Rises Before the end of this year, the U.S. is likely to conduct the 1000th execution since capital punishment was reinstated in
1976. However, this impending milestone occurs at a time when the country is sharply moving away from the use of the death penalty. The number of death sentences, the size of death row, the number of executions, and public support have all declined in recent years.
As noted in DPIC’s latest report, Blind Justice: Juries Deciding Life and Death With Only Half the Truth, jurors in capital cases have become skeptical about the fairness and accuracy of the death penalty. More than 120 innocent people have been freed from death row during the past three decades, and the systemic problems revealed through their wrongful convictions have played a role in a turn toward more life sentences. [Arkansas’ greatest single opponent of the death penalty is Betsey Wright, who lives in Rogers. Arkansas also has an organization opposing the death penalty, administered by the ACLU.]
TAKE ACTION
CONTACTING OUR POLITICAL LEADERS
Check out http://www.congress.org . Congress.org is a service of Capitol Advantage, a private, non-partisan company facilitating civic participation. Congress.org allows users to:
-Identify and contact leaders in Congress, the White House, and state legislatures.- Post letters online in Letters to Leaders and read what other Americans are saying to elected officials.- Create and post Soapbox action alerts to enlist others on your issue.- Have letters printed and hand-delivered to Congress.- Find and contact local and national media by ZIP code or by state with Media Guide.- Have your representative's votes sent to you weekly via e-mail with MegaVote.- Search alerts and take action in the Issues and Action area Go to http://www.capitoladvantage.com/capwiz/contact.html to get your organization's alerts on Congress.org, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL and more sites). (thanks to Chris D)
--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 South 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.
OMNI SEEKS A WORLD FREE OF WAR AND THE THREAT OF WAR, A SOCIETY WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, A COMMUNITY WHERE EVERY PERSON’S POTENTIAL MAY BE FULFILLED, AN EARTH RESTORED. WORLD PEACE, HUMAN RIGHTS, SOCIAL and ECONOMIC JUSTICE, ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP PROTECTING SPECIES AND THE EARTH.
If you’d prefer to have you name removed from this mailing list, let me know. No offense will be taken.
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