|
OMNI NEWSLETTER: EVENTS, ACTIONS, COMMENT
MARCH 17 2006, CREATING A CULTURE OF PEACE
UPCOMING EVENTS
MARCH 12-18, SECOND ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF SUNSHINE WEEK
To insist that government not keep citizens in the dark. (Let’s add corporations.) FFW March 9-15, p. 6, “Hail the Good of Open Government.”
--“Secrecy Surge Spreads: Voters Can Stop the Madness” by Brenda Blagg TMN (3-15). “The Bush Administration is right now busily reclassifying thousands of documents that were previously made public, some of them dating back to World War II.” The Ark. legislature also sought to keep the public out of the way…. Good article. Contact your representatives, and keep it up.
MAY 18, SATURDAY, Reception for John Rankine photographs in Eureka Springs.
For a week see Rankine’s 18 photographs entitled “This Is What Democracy Looks Like” of a 2005 march in Washington, D.C. Reception 4 to 8 at Main Stage on N. Main in E. S.
MARCH 18, 11 to PLANT SALE
There will be an organizational meeting for the First Annual OMNI Plant Sale at the home of Pippin Lowe, 4111 Cambray Dr., in Fay etteville at 11 a.m. At 12 p.m., noon, we will plant garden seeds. Bring soil, plant containers (paper milk cartons, yogurt containers, etc.) and boxes to easily carry the plants back home. To donate perennials or other plants, please call Pippin at 571-3253. If you have any other questions you can either call or email me at piplo@sbcglobal.net.
MARCH 19, SUNDAY, 6:30, HOWL! Women's Open Mic It's time to HOWL!
We'll have lots to share since we were snowed out last month--bring your poems, prose, songs, ears and hearts. Bring a friend who hasn't howled yet. (Guest hosting by Leigh since Mendy is out of town.)
HOWL happens the 3rd Sunday of every month at 6:30pm. Women read their own poetry (or very short prose) or that of another woman author. Men and women are warmly invited to attend and listen to this celebration of women's words. Where: OMNI CENTER FOR PEACE, JUSTICE, AND ECOLOGY located at 902 W. Maple in Fayetteville (corner of Maple and Storer), lower level of the Presbyterian Student Center. Doors open at 6pm and we welcome volunteers to help set up, make coffee, bring light sweets/snacks to share. Produced by Herwords Outloud as part of Omni's Women's Voices Series. Want to be on our email list for future readings and writing prompts?Email howl@herwords.org PARKING: Behind OMNI/United Campus Ministry, on Storer and Maple Streets., north in UA Lot 36 on Douglass.
MARCH 19, The Fort Smith ecumenical peace group, Justpeace, is planning a
candlelight peace vigil for Sunday, March 19, 6-7 p.m. at Creekmore Park in Fort Smith. All are welcome.
The theme is "Support the Troops--Bring Them Home". For more information, call Carla Reames, 479-484-1913. To the Park: Exit off I-540 onto Rogers Ave.( going west) and stay on Rogers until 34th St.
Make a left on 34th and a right on M St. Park in the parking lot and then go to the gazebo.
MARCH 20, Monday, discussion of death of Mr. Hamley.
Betsey Wright, Mark Swaney, and others will consider what steps local citizens might take. At OMNI, the Sanctuary of United Campus Ministry, 6:30.
MARCH 26, SUNDAY, VIDEO UNDERGROUND, Out of the Past
In 1995, Kelli Peterson started a gay and straight club at her Salt Lake City high school. The story of her ensuing battle with school authorities is interspersed with looks back at the diary of Michael Wigglesworth, a 17th-century Puritan cleric, at the 30-year love affair of Sarah Orne Jewett and Annie Adams Fields, at Henry Gerber's attempt after World War I to establish a gay-rights organization, at Bayard Rustin's role in the civil rights movement, and at Barbara Gittings' taking on of the American Psychiatric Association's position that homosexuality is illness. One person comments, "To create a place for ourselves in the present, we have to find ourselves in the past." Show Time: 70 Minutes. PARKING: Behind OMNI/United Campus Ministry, on Storer and Maple Streets., north in UA Lot 36 on Douglass.
MARCH 27, Monday, Women’s History Banquet, Clarion Inn, 6:30pm.
Contact Mary Bess Mulhollan 442-7333.
MARCH 28, 3PM, TUESDAY
OMNI at the University of Arkansas for Peace, Justice & Ecology is hosting director Robbie Leppzer on Tuesday, March 28, with 2 films. Leppzer will screen his film, “Columbus Didn’t Discover Us: Native People’s Perspectives on the Columbus Legacy” in Giffels Auditorium at 3 pm. Giffels is on the 2nd floor of Old Main on the UA campus. “Columbus Didn’t Discover Us” has aired on PBS and Free Speech TV.
At 6 pm in the Union Ballroom, the same day, Tuesday, March 28th, Leppzer will show his most recent documentary, “The Peace Patriots“ a feature documentary film about dissent in a time of war, specifically the current war in Iraq. Howard Zinn, author of “A People’s History of the United States,” said, “This film gives us hope and inspiration. I hope it will be seen widely.”
MARCH 28, 6PM, TUESDAY, “THE PEACE PATRIOTS” DIRECTED BY ROBBIE LEPPZER 78 minutes, UA UNION BALLROOM, 6PM
On March 20, 2003, the United States launched a military invasion of Iraq. A month before, over 15 million people around the world demonstrated against this impending war in an unprecedented day of global protest. In the U.S., grassroots opposition to this war grew at a larger and faster rate than during the Vietnam anti-war movement of the 1960s.
Filmmaker Robbie Leppzer chronicles the story of people living in one area of New England—the Connecticut River Valley in western Massachusetts—who oppose the U.S. invasion and military occupation of Iraq.
Narrated by actress and Air America Radio host, Janeane Garofalo, this feature-length documentary film follows a diverse group of individuals, ranging in age from 13 to 74, including middle and high school students, college students, teachers, clergy, and war veterans from Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf, as they take part in vigils, marches, theater performances, and civil disobedience sit-ins to protest the war.
THE PEACE PATRIOTS is an intimate portrait of American dissenters reflecting on their personal participation as engaged citizens in a time of war.
The film features contemporary music by 2005 Grammy Award winner Steve Earle, Pete Seeger, Ani DiFranco, Billy Bragg, Jonatha Brooke, Stephan Smith, Saul Williams, DJ Spooky, and original music by John Sheldon.
Parking: UA Parking Garage adjacent to Student Union. Both events are free and open to the public. Contact: Stephen Coger 479-495-1316.
MARCH 29, WEDNESDAY, 7p.m., STRUGGLE AGAINST EXXONMOBIL IN COLOMBIA, at OMNI, Jose Julio Perez will talk at the UCM Sanctuary about US corporate and military involvement in the Colombian coal industry. Colombia exports the majority of coal entering the United States and is home to El Cerrejon, the largest open pit coal mine in the world. The mine was initiated as a joint venture between the Colombian government and the Exxon corporation (later ExxonMobil). In the summer of 2000 Jose Julio Perez was attacked by armed mine security officials as he tried to film the conditions surrounding his village. In August 2001, he was one of the leaders of the community as members tried to peacefully stop the police, army, and bulldozers that came to raze their town, dragging people out of their homes and destroying all of their possessions. We will see a short video of the village’s demolition, followed by a talk by Jose Julio Perez, the elected President of the Community Council of the town of Tabaco, a small Afro-Colombian village located on the periphery of the coal mine in the Guajira province of northern Colombia. The village was displaced in August 2001, and its residents have since then been struggling to be relocated as a community.
PARKING: Behind OMNI/United Campus Ministry, on Storer and Maple Streets., north in UA Lot 36 on Douglass.
MARCH 30, Thursday, James Carville and Mary Matalin will lecture at the UofA, 8p.m, at Barnhill Arena. Admission free, tickets not required. TMN (3-15).
MARCH 31, Deadline for reservations to the ACLU’s Annual Spring Dinner Fundraiser on April 6, Clarion Inn, 6pm social, 7pm dinner. Senator Dale Bumpers Speaker. Contact Frank Head 521-1508 or fhaed@aol.com
March 31, Friday, 7pm, “Birds in Paradise” Birdhouse Auction
At UA Hembree Alumni House, for Richardson Center. 872-1800.
APRIL 1, SATURDAY, 10:30 –12:00 PROTEST THE WAR
Mall and Joyce, at MacDonald’s just east of W-M. Chris Delacruz.
KEEP THE MARCH 11 RALLY GOING every first Saturday.
APRIL 1, 11:30, RAPID RESPONSE WRITERS Every First Saturday.
Ozark Mountain Smokehouse on Dickson. Contact Larry Froelich.
APRIL 2, SUNDAY, 7PM, OMNI’S PEACE COFFEEHOUSE OPEN MIC
Contact Kelly Mulhollan and Donna Stjerna.
MAY 20, SATURDAY, PEACE GARDENS NETWORK PERIPATETIC PARTY
From 10 to 4 visit gardens of our network. More information coming soon. Contact Dick.
AUGUST 10-13, “Sow Justice, Reap Peace -- Strategies for Moving Beyond War"
2006 Veterans For Peace Annual Convention, August 10-13, Seattle, WA, http://vfpnationalconvention.org/
OCTOBER 5-8, The Peace and Justice Studies Association will hold its 4th annual conference at Manhattan College, in the Bronx, New York City. We invite proposals for paper presentations, organized panels, roundtable discussions, workshops and other creative contributions on these and related questions. As our mission statement says, "We are dedicated to bringing together academics, K-12 teachers and grassroots activists to explore alternatives to violence and share visions and strategies for peacebuilding, social justice, and social change." Please send an abstract (no more than 200 words), to Margaret Groarke, Peace Studies, Manhattan College, Bronx NY 10471 or to pjsa2006@manhattan.edu. Please clearly state the preferred format of your proposal (paper, panel, workshop, roundtable discussion, etc.), and please include a brief biographical sketch. The deadline for proposal submission is May 1, 2006. (PJSA has some travel money for students.)
FAYETTEVILLE, NWA, ARKANSAS
FAYETTEVILLE
NEW BOOKS AT OMNI LIBRARY
Fry, Douglas. The Human Potential for Peace. Oxford UP, 2006.
Levine, Adeline. Love Canal: Science, Politics, and People. Pub. in 1982 but still very relevant because the problems of toxic waste disposal have not been solved.
White, Richard, Jr. Rude Awakenings: What the Homeless Crisis Tells Us. 1992
School of Metaphysics
Seeking a new building to rent. March 18 yard sale fund raiser. www.som.org, 527-6804.
NWA
FOLLOW UP MARCH 11 DEMONSTRATION
Flyer Download Page for the Weekly/Monthly Protests
http://bringhometroops.org/flyers.html
Dr. Ted Swedenburg's Photo Gallery
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawg/tags/antiwar/
Chris’s Photo Gallery
http://www.flickr.com/photos/omniprotest/tags/m11/
Arkansas Indymedia's Gallery (includes high-resolution photos)
http://arkansas.indymedia.org/media/index.php
Springdale Morning News Article
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2006/03/12/front/02protest.txt
Links to 2 Arkansas Democrat Gazette Articles
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/148399/
http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/38359/
(thanks to Chris D for these links)
DIRECTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY PEACE PLACES
I have most of the materials collected for the preparation of a Directory of Washington County Peace Places. Will you help me finish it and turn into a booklet? jbennet@uark.edu; 442-4600
PEACE STORIES, PEACE HISTORY
“History comes from the real people, regular folks, and not just the official experts.” (A TMN statement repeated day after day to introduce its call for stories by soldiers and veterans and their families.) True, but history is not the exclusive domain of warriors and their families. Let’s write stories about peace heroes. The are not just as real as warriors but more so. Send to Dick for OMNI’s Stories By and About Peace Heroes, 2 to 3 pp. (500 to 700 words).
GRASSROOTS MILITARISM
--Whoever controls language controls the people? Euphemisms are one device of control by softening reality Our media have only one word to describe the killed soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of who are horribly maimed or even blown to bits. That word is “fallen.” On page one of TMN 3-5) the headline: “Family, Friends Honor Fallen Soldier.” “Fallen” means having dropped down from a higher place or level. But this solder was killed by an exploding bomb. The word not only allows but insists that we evade and avoid looking at the reality. War is not so bad after all.
--I have been berating TMN for its militarism, and recently for its series glorifying war veterans by inviting them to tell their heroic stories. But on March 6 a different story was told. TMN gave access to a Korean War vet from Eureka Springs, Richard Seifried, who told some rarely recounted, horrible truths about combat: “Combat Wounds All Soldiers.”
ECOLOGY
Big setback for prudent land use in Benton County has just occurred: “County Zoning on Back Burner: Companion Land-Use Plan Could Take Years to Finish” (TMN 3-12)
ARKANSAS
ARKANSAS’ NEEDS AND PRIORITIES
--The campaign for the new road to the Regional Airport rushes on without public debate in the context of the numerous urgent, more important needs in Arkansas. And for the good of our air, water, and climate change, we should be trying to reduce travel to XNA (and flights), not increase it. TMN (3-16), “Talks Progress on Airport Road: Expert Says 2009 Possible.”
“Research: Health Care Poor for All in U.S.” TMN (3-16). We’re not #1? Canada’s and Britain’s and France’s and Sweden’s are better? Zounds.
--Some good news. One of Ark.’s greatest needs has been health insurance for the working uninsured. The Arkansas Safety Net Benefits Program will enroll up to 25,000 people at the end of this year, and perhaps 80,000 next year. Even then the program will not cover everything for all needing it.
--Homeless Students
Emily Williams article in NAT (3-14) on Fay school district efforts to help homeless students, using the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, but “…it is often easy to overlook or ignore the needs of families” and “the many inequities that exist in America and in America’s schools.”
--Heating Costs: “Poor to See Heating Costs Rise, No Aid Increase,” ADG (10-28-05
MINIMUM WAGE RAISE
State Progress on the Web (from Lindsley S)
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=307248
http://www2.americanprogress.org/dia/organizations/americanprogress/content.jsp?content_KEY=1094
SUNSHINE WEEK
The federal Freedom of Information Act, a bastion against secrecy and for government accountability, was adopted 40 years ago. The Arkansas version came a year later. Since then efforts have been continual to week these defenses of open government. Read the excellent essay by Steve Barnes, “Sunshine Challenges Passion for Secrecy,” TMN 3-17.
USA, WORLD
USA
VIOLENCE: BULLYING
United States Department of Education (USDE) Course on Bullying Prevention -
http://www.k12coordinator.org/events_online.cfm
BUSH
Click here: MoveOn.org Political Action: President Bush Must be Censured for Breaking the Law (Censuring is far from what he deserves.)
Since yesterday afternoon, when we launched the petition, over 200,000 of us signed up to support Senator Russ Feingold's call to censure President Bush for his illegal wiretapping. Now, Republicans are on the attack—Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) even accused Feingold of "siding with the terrorists,"1 and the Republican National Committee is mounting a petition against him.
We've got to work quickly to show other senators and the media that hundreds of thousands of us support Senator Feingold and the rule of law. So, we're increasing our goal: we want to get 350,000 signers by the end of the week. Can you sign our petition asking Congress to censure President Bush for his illegal wiretapping?
http://political.moveon.org/censure?id=7043-6731716-ekBSaUxju6EO40c1OXm_vQ&t=1
And can you pass this on to friends and family and ask them to sign, too?
IMPEACHMENT PROCESS
Demand that the representative from your district support H.Res.635 calling for a Congressional inquiry to investigate the grounds for impeachment. There are now 27 members of the House of Representatives, including John Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee who are supporting a bill, H. Res 635, calling for "a select committee to investigate the Administration's intent to go to war before Congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, retaliating against critics, and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment." Tell your representative today that you want him or her to co-sponsor this important measure. (from Linda F)
1) Click here, send a message directly to your representative insisting they support H.Res.635.
2) Tell your friends and family and urge them to also send a message to Congress. You can forward this e-mail simply by clicking the email-this-page button above.
3) Donate to help the impeachment campaign and to place the next major impeachment newspaper ad by clicking here.
IMPEACH BUSH FOR LYING TO START A WAR
This important article shows the huge disconnect between the U.S. populace and the elites who run the show and dominate the media, a small group that Jeff Faux calls “the governing class.” This article shows that Clinton was impeached despite a large majority hostile to the idea; Bush is free from impeachment and even any significant discussion of the subject in the mainstream media, although a majority would favor impeachment if he lied us into a war. The rightwing and business class can “get” a Clinton who they disfavor; and they can protect a Bush who serves their spiritual and business needs, in the face of both popular sentiment and massive law violations and criminal behavior. Ed Herman
“Wall Street Journal Uses I Word: Graphic Tells the Story” http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030606N.shtml
Impeachment advocates are undaunted. "Just because you can't win a political battle doesn't mean certain battles shouldn't be fought," says Bob Fertik, a founder of the ImpeachPAC effort. "If we don't hold a president accountable for lying to start a war, we might as well throw out the Constitution of the United States."
-- New movie America: From Freedom to Fascism. Aaron Russo writer and director.
Send your friends the URL to the movie’s trailers at: http://www.freedomtofascism.com/ For additional screening locations please visit us at: http://www.freedomtofascism.com/schedule.html
--
BUSH FOR MAKING TORTURE US POLICY
"20TH HIJACKER" CLAIMS THAT TORTURE MADE HIM LIE
Mohammad al-Qahtani, held in Guantanamo and touted by the U.S. as a major informant, is taking it all back, his lawyer says. Read his secret, 84-page record of his interrogation as exclusively published by Time magazine.
By Adam Zagorin, Time http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/3573
PENTAGON RELEASES GITMO INMATE IDENTITIES
Captured in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Guantanamo Bay detainees are identified for the first time in transcripts the Pentagon delivered to The Associated Press. Their stories suggest how difficult it is, four years after the Sept. 11 attacks, to determine who is a terrorist, and who was simply swept up in the fog of war.
By Andrew Selsky, Associated Press http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/3574
ABUSE OF PRISONERS STILL SEEN IN IRAQ, REPORT SAYS
Detainees in Iraq are still being tortured, receiving electric shocks and beatings with plastic cables, a report by Amnesty International said today. Associated Press http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/3559
GITMO: THE WORST OF THE WORST?
A report, based entirely on Defense Department documents, exposes the truth about Guantánamo
By Nat Hentoff, Village Voice: http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/3577 Contact our congressional delegation.
CENSURE BUSH FOR VIOLATING OUR CONSTITUTION
INDIVIDUAL PRIVACY VS. THE US SURVEILLANCE STATE
--Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) has proposed “censuring Pres. Bush for authorizing domestic eavesdropping, saying the White House misled Americans about its legality. ‘The president has broken the law and, in some way, he must be held accountable….’” TMN, “Censure Bush, Feingold Urges” (3-13, 3B). Excellent article also giving the GOP response. Ask senators Lincoln and Pryor to support Feingold’s resolution.
--FSTV, Liberty News gave an excellent program on the increasing surveillance of everybody by government and corporations, followed by the The Quinn Report, “Privacy: Nothing to Lose?” www.editor.libertynewstv.com Sponsored by Olive Films.
--CENSURE BUSH FOR HIS WORLD THREATENING NUCLEAR POLICIES
TERRIBLE NUCLEAR DEAL WITH INDIA
See below under World.
TERRIBLE BUNKER BUSTER
The Bush Admin. continues to seek a new nuclear weapon designed to destroy underground facilities despite a study from the National Academy of Sciences estimating that a small b-b used in an urban area “could cause more than a million deaths.” But the really atrocious aspect of this weapon is “the administration’s shift away from nuclear deterrence toward possible use of nuclear weapons in war.” Excellent essay by Sanford Gottlieb (The Baltimore Sun), “U. S. on Nukes: Do As I Say, Not As I Do,” TMN 3-18.
FUNDAMENTLIST RIGHT-WING RELIGION
FSTV, Liberty News, “Christianity: The Rise of the Right,” on the great power of the small number of right-wing fundamentalists (only 15% of the population at most). They have turned Jesus in a corporate CEO or military general full of punishment and Armaggedon. Most Christians believe in Jesus as Prince of Peace, but they have allowed the “Christian” warriors to take command. Ref.: Charles Kimball, When Religion Became Evil.
US IMPERIALISM TO CONTROL ENERGY RESOURCES
“The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror” (www.theoilfactor.com) US “war on terror,” invasions, wars, and world –wide military bases designed to control oil especially in the Middle East. FSTV, Free-Will Productions.
IRAQ WAR
--“Global Economic Hegemony: A New Kind of Warfare?” By Kaleem Hussain
In the year 2000, Iraq had decided that it was no longer going to accept dollars for oil being sold under the UN's Oil For-Food Program and decided to switch to the Euro as Iraq's oil export currency. The result was a military strike by the U.S. and it's allies and subsequently in ample time the dollar was restored as Iraq's oil export currency.
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12346.htm
-- On MSNBC this morning (Mar 15) it was reported that total cost had nearly reached $400 Billion in Iraq, and it was currently costing the US $5.9 Billion per month in Iraq and $1 Billion per month in Afghanistan.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1140177451149430.xml&coll=2 (from Mike T)
---“DEPLETED” URANIUM, NUCLEAR WARMAKING
In response to that lady's letter to the editor about US and British forces "...spreading toxic, radioactive material over Iraq via their depleted uranium ammunition..", a search on Google and/or Google News will produce thousands of credible articles. But I find none better than the one linked below (from Mike Tramill, thank you Mike)
”Radioactive Tank No. 9 comes limping home”
http://www.sfbayview.com/110905/radioactivetank110905.shtml "...the officers said, 'We're wrapping them in Saran Wrap.' " It says everything you need to know, and puts it in a perspective that everyone should be able to understand. Iraqis are not the only victims from DU.
Also persuasive: “Depleted uranium: Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets”
A death sentence here and abroad. http://www.sfbayview.com/081804/Depleteduranium081804.shtml
And: Depleted Uranium [DU] http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/du.htm
Iraq: Use Of Depleted Uranium Ammunition Again Raises Concerns
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/2003/09/iraq-030904-04092003185213.htm
How harmful is depleted uranium?
http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030525-depleted-uranium01.htm
Depleted Uranium
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/du.htm
Poison Dust
http://www.iacenter.org/depleted/du.htm
Depleted uranium
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/europe/2001/depleted_uranium/default.stm
---FSTV (I missed title): doc. on drastic increase of radiological contamination of Iraq caused by the invasion (DU, looting).
VICTIMS
Each of the Iraqi children killed by the United States was our child. Each of the prisoners tortured in Abu Ghraib was our comrade. Each of their screams was ours. When they were humiliated, we were humiliated. The U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq - mostly volunteers in a poverty draft from small towns and poor urban neighborhoods - are victims just as much as the Iraqis of the same horrendous process, which asks them to die for a victory that will never be theirs: Arundhati Roy, "Tide? Or Ivory Snow? Public Power in the Age of Empire," http://www.democracynow.org/static/Arundhati_Trans.shtml
--CIVILIANS KILLED
--www.IraqBodyCount.org was giving around 30,000 in 2005, but only those civilian deaths reported by the media. The British medical journal Lancet suggested a median estimateof 98,000 back in 2004 (10-24-04). What might it be now? From Extra!Update (Feb. 06), “Counting the Iraqi Cost.”
---Iraq: U.S. military kills five children, two men and four women:
Major Ali Ahmed of the Ishaqi police said U.S. forces had landed on the roof of the house in the early hours and shot the 11 occupants, including the five children
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article12341.htm
--U.S. military airstrikes significantly increased in Iraq:
American forces have dramatically increased airstrikes in Iraq during the past five months, a change of tactics that may foreshadow how the United States plans to battle a still-strong insurgency while reducing the number of U.S. ground troops serving here.
http://tinyurl.com/hvpwf
--18 dead in Iraqi violence :
Up to 18 people have been killed in violence in the central Iraqi cities of Balad, Baquba and Baghdad
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4809160.stm
--More journalists killed: TMN (3-12, 2B). Amjad Hameed, journalist for Iraqiya TV (run by Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government) was shot in head and chest; his driver was also killed. Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said Hameed was the 11th Iraqiya journalist killed since the channel opened shortly after Saddam Hussein was ousted. Munsuf Abdallah al-Khaldi, anchorman for the Sunni-affiliated Baghdad TV, was murdered while driving from Baghdad to Mosul to interview poets. Al-Arabiya journalist Atwar Bahjat, a Sunni, and two colleagues were kidnapped and their bodies later found riddled with bullets in Samarra.
--“Shocking and Awful” by Deep Dish TV www.deepdish.org The terrible toll on civilians by the US invasion, occupation, and siege (and in Fallujah destroying the city to save it), protests in the US, and police suppression.
--WAR PROFITEERING
The US government invited five engineering companies on March 10, 2003 "to submit bids for a contract to do reconstruction work in Iraq." Among the groups invited to bid is a profiteering firm called Dick Cheney, also known as Halliburton. Asked about the secrecy surrounding the narrow selection of invited firms, a US official explains "These are not companies which are new to this type of work." Right. The deal is simple: after the US military destroys Iraq's health institutions, ports, airports, and schools, the company that wins the reconstruction tender will get $900 million "to repair Iraqi health services, ports and airports, and schools and other educational institutions." Not the end of the story. Much of the reconstruction money was diverted to the war; i.e. to fighting the Iraqis who don’t want us there because the US government via its military had destroyed Iraq’s health institutions, ports, airports, schools, cultural institutions, businesses, and homes.
---REPORTING THE IRAQ WAR
TAKE ACTION: DEMAND BETTER IRAQ WAR COVERAGE
Join United For Peace & Justice, MediaChannel.org and tens of thousands of Americans in calling on U.S. mainstream media outlets to do a better job of reporting on the war in Iraq and the anti-war movement protests against it. www.MediaChannel.org
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/mediachannel/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=2931&t=IraqMedia.dwt From PNO
--2 VIDEOS ON MEDIA AND THE IRAQ WAR
“Reality News: Independent Media in a Time of War” and “The Man Who Sold the Iraq War: John Rendon, Bush's General in the Propaganda War”
-- Three articles in Extra!: on reporting the use of white phosphorous in Fallujah, four in mainstream media who reported the truth about the Iraq war, and a reviews of Borjesson, Kristina. Feet to the Fire: The Media After 9/11. Prometheus Books, 2005. Extra! (March-April 2006).
---What can you do? Recognize yourself as part of the problem. Examine and shift your priorities to work more for peace.
IRAQ WAR: LET A REFERENDUM DECIDE
Abigail Fuller and Neil Wollman, “Let the Iraqi People Decide,” NAT (3-6), supports a referendum, and reveals that one poll found that “71 percent of Iraqis ‘oppose the presence of Coalition Forces in Iraq,’” and another that “82 percent of Sunni Arabs and 69 percent of Shiite Arbas favor the withdrawal of U.S. troops either immediately or after an elected government is in place.”
DEFEND INDEPENDENT MEDIA AND INFORMATION
---www.action.freespeech.org The half-dozen huge media monopolies now want to control community tv, the internet, independent video-makers. Resist.
---Jonathan Williams, TMN’s computer and online guru, alerted readers to “a proposal that would require Web site operators to pay protection money to your Internet service provider for you to reach those sites quick….It would destroy the open, neutral Internet….The proposal was made by some of the largest providers of broadband Internet access, who see the Web as just one large pie waiting to be divvied up between them.” But some good news appears: Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has intro. The Internet Non-Discriminaton Act of 2006 to “prohibit any ISP from discriminating against Web sites for profit.” Williams urges us to contact our senators to support this bill (email, phone, USPS, info. avail. at end of all OMNI newsletters).
---FSTV: “Media and the Public Interest”: “Responsibility of the Press in a Democractic Society,” panel including John Nichols, author of Tragedy and Farce, and Robt. McChesney, It’s the Media Stupid.
---WASHINGTON CRACKDOWN ON LEAKS HITS NEW LEVEL
The Bush administration, seeking to limit leaks of classified information, has launched initiatives--some not widely revealed until now--targeting journalists and their possible government sources, Dan Eggen reveals in a front-page
article in Sunday's Washington Post. http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/3566
MAINSTREAM JOURNALISTS AND EDITORS AND THE INVASIONS
-- Borjesson, Kristina. Feet to the Fire: The Media After 9/11. Prometheus Books, 2005. Rev. Extra! (March-April 2006).
--THE WAR ON JOURNALISTS
Fasten your seat belts. George Bush is starting another war. As part of the war on terror, he's declared a war on reporters. According to the Washington Post, the Bush White House has dusted off an old 1917 law to haul into court any journalist who publishes a story based on classified information received through a leak.
By Bill Press, Huffington Post http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/3581
---INTERNET FREEDOMS COME OF AGE
As government entities around the world discuss what limits to put on the internet, it's time to call freedom of information what it is: a basic human right. By Becky Hogge, openDemocracy.net (via AlterNet)
http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/3562
--SEND YOUR VIDEO TO SOURCECODE
If you have a story or argument on video, see www.courcecode.freespeech.org
ECOLOGY (the large political contexts for our local work)
--Good News: “States Win Clear Air Lawsuit,” TMN (3-18). A federal appeals court 3-17 blocked the EPA from easing clean air rules on aging power plants, refineries, and factories sought by the Bush Admin.
--ExxonMobil is suing Greenpeace for having told truths about the company. See: www.greenpeace.org Invite a Greenpeace spokesperson here?
--FSTV: Video doc. on Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters Forests’ struggle against Pacific Lumber Co. In the 1980s the family-owned co. was purchased by a man named (it sounded like) Hurwitz, who changed policy from selecting to clear cutting. His golden rule was: He who has the gold rules.
---FSTV, Sourcecode doc. on CA Cong. Richard Pombo, public enemy, head of House Natural Resources Committee, who is spearheading GOP plan to reverse 40 years of protections for the land and species by moving public into private lands, gutting the Endangered Species Act, and numerous other attacks.
--The World That We Want by Kim Michelle Toft, co-author and illustrator of One Less Fish. This cumulative story for grades 1-5 shows the interconnectedness of Earth's air, rain forest, rivers, mangroves, beaches, tide pools, reefs, atolls, and oceans. It warns of the dangers that threaten these fragile environments and the animals that make them their home, encouraging us to preserve the world that we want. $7.
---AIR QUALITY.
The Bush administration recently disregarded the recommendations of its own science advisors and proposed making just a token change to air quality standards for soot pollution.
Please urge EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to set air quality standards that protect our health. Please also ask your friends and family to help by forwarding them this e-mail.
Click below or paste the link into your browser to contact Administrator Johnson:
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=223&id4=ES (from Stephen C)
--DEFENDING THE OCEANS AND FISH
FSTV: Sourcecode (www.sourcecode.org): Michael Robbins’ article in Mother Jones; ocean dead zones increasing (www.fisheriesubc.com); (Activist Nation), Paul Watson, cofounder of Greenpeace, now head of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, trying to stop whaling (www.seashepherd.org); preventing over-fishing by pirate fisheries (www.ejfoundation.org). Root problem underlying all of these problems: overpopulation, consumerism, unregulated (or unenforced) fishing, too many people eating fish.
SOCIAL JUSTICE: PRISONS
---“Breaking the Chains” series on the dark underbelly of the prison industry. “Attica: Roots of Resistance” (FSTV 3-5). The prisoners at Attica demanded to be treated as human beings with rights, and revolted. Results: a full-scale military assault; numerous prisoners and some guards killed; construction of new super-max prisons.
---“Borderline: Eunice M. Baker” (Breaking the Chains series on FSTV): mentally deficient Eunice Baker was convicted of murder but then acquitted on appeal. 4% of incarcerated people are retarded. LogTV.
---“System Failure” by “Books Not Bars” on abuses and violence in the California Youth Authority prisons (FSTV).
---FSTV, Corrections Documentation Projects 2002: “New Orleans Jazz Funeral.” The mock funeral urged the elimination of the Talulah Juvenile Prison in Louisiana and a complete overhaul of juvenile “justice” in Louisiana, where incarcerated children are neglected and mistreated.
VIOLENCE USA
“More than 1,000 studies have established a connection between violent entertainment and youthful aggression” (other factors: family violence, peer influence). “…we do know that exposure to violent content does cause more aggressive behavior overall….” From an article in TMN (3-14, 6E) on Stanford U research and a successful experiment in a Mich. school district in which reducing tv reduced aggression.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA
FSTV: “Regarding Medical Marijuana” from Americans for Safe Access.
FREE AND JOYFUL LIFE
FSTV: “Rubber Tramps” by Just Passing Through Production, about artists and craftspeople who live out of a bus, affirming consciousness and acceptance as opposed to bombing and restrictive rules. Ken Keysey and the Merry Pranksters are at the center of the story.
WORLD
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
--FSTV, “Helen’s War: Portrait of a Dissident,” Dr. Helen Caldicott’s continued campaign to abolish nuclear arms. She has moved to the US to fight Bush, the military contractors, and right-wing think tanks. CaldicottFounded Physicians for Nuclear Responsibility and was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize. She authord Missile Envy in 1980 and The New Nuclear Danger in 2002. She says Neville Shute’s On the Beach woke her up and changed her life.
--Bob Herbert, “Nuclear Madness,” NYTimes Op-Ed (3-6-06) A21. Indicts Pres. Bush for turning his back on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and moving the world a step closer to an accelerated nuclear arms race. (See above on impeachment and cesure.)
WOMEN: HYSTERECTOMIES
“Sex, Lies, and Secrecy: Dissecting Hysterectomy” (FSTV). Decries unnecessary hysterectomies.
WOMEN: INTERSEX
FSTV: doc. on the limitless individuality of gender, the limitless shades and degrees of sexuality, including 1 in every 2000 are intersexual. Wonderdog prod.
GENOCIDE IN DARFUR
The mass killings, torture, village torchings, theft and destruction of crops and cattle continue. Over 200,000 have been killed; over 2.5 million have been driven from their homes. Urge Rep. Boozman to approve all funding for an international mission ti Darfur. 202-225-4301. And call his staff members (see below). He will rationalize, citing the (pitiful) actions he as taken, so insist.
"Bring Home The Troops" demo, Fayetteville, AR,...
( 0 Comments )
This photo is publicThis photo is public.
Uploaded on Mar 11, 2006
Slam Poetry
Slam poet Russ Ritter, finalist in the National Poetry Slam...
( 0 Comments )
This photo is publicThis photo is public.
Uploaded on Mar 11, 2006
Saboteur
Joe & Josh at the "Bring Home The Troops"...
( 0 Comments )
This photo is publicThis photo is public.
Uploaded on Mar 11, 2006
No Más Guerra
Luis at the "Bring Home The Troops" demo,...
( 0 Comments )
This photo is publicThis photo is public.
Uploaded on Mar 11, 2006
Bush Lies
"Bring Home The Troops" demo, Fayetteville, AR,...
( 0 Comments )
This photo is publicThis photo is public.
Uploaded on Mar 11, 2006
Tie-dyed kid
"Bring Home The Troops" demo, Fayetteville, AR,...
( 0 Comments )
CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES
--Senator Blanche Lincoln: Web Site (they have contact links): www.lincoln.senate.gov; http://www.lincoln.senate.gov/index.cfm; http://www.lincoln.senate.gov/webform.html
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 (see contact link): www.pryor.senate.gov ; http://pryor.senate.gov/contact/
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
Lowell office: 479-725-0400. 213 W. Monroe, Suite K, 72745. Steve Gray, coodinator of office. Web site (with contact link): http://www.boozman.house.gov/ Heath Hasenbeck, intern (one of them). Boozman's new office in Lowell is located at 213 West Monroe in Lowell between I 540 and Business 71. To reach that office take Exit 78 off I - 540 and go east. You will be on Hwy 264 which is also West Monroe. The office is in the Puppy Creek Plaza, past the McDonald's on the right. His suite is in the back of the complex to the left.
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. Leslie Parker, appointments secretary: 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. GRASSROOTS NONVIOLENCE, WORLD PEACE, HUMAN RIGHTS, SOCIAL and ECONOMIC JUSTICE, ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP PROTECTING SPECIES AND THE EARTH.
|