OMNI NEWSLETTER: EVENTS, ACTIONS, COMMENT
JUNE 23, 2006, CREATING A CULTURE OF PEACE
Editor: Dick Bennett
OMNI is located in the United Campus Ministry (Presbyterian Student Center) 902 W. Maple, corner of Maple and Storer, just north of UA?s Old Main. The main entrance is on the west side. Parking in back. Look for OMNI?s portable outdoor signs.
Contents:
Past Events
Current Events
Fayetteville
NWA
Arkansas
USA (Bush, Iraq)
World
Past Events
WORKER?S RIGHTS
Worker's Rights were discussed on "On the Air with Richard S. Drake" on Community Access TV/Ch 18. Watch for future showings of the program. In the midst of what many believe to be a robust economy, millions of workers are still struggling in the United States. The NWA Workers' Justice Center is organized with the principle of educating workers about their rights, and advocating for worker justice. rsdrake@nwark.com
Current Events
JUNE 24, SATURDAY, WORLD PEACE WETLAND PRAIRIE
hello all. Tommrow at 8:00 am we are planning to to transplant the native wildflowers and grasses from Ruth Park to the world Peace Wetland Praire. Ruth Park is at the intersection of Crossover and Old Wire Road and is the spot for a new fire station. Please bring digging tools and pots if you have them. thanks Jennifer Creel
June 24, Saturday, Freethinkers Meeting.
Where: The Fayetteville Library. 401 W. Mountain St. (two blocks west of the town square). The library phone number is 571-2222.
Time: Precisely 2:00pm.
Room: The Boardroom. Walk in the front door, through the lobby and go to your LEFT. Just to the left of the audio/video section is the Board Room. We'll be in there. We are allowed to bring a snack or coffee from Arsaga's coffee shop in the lobby.
June 24, Zen Master Soeng Hyang will give a public Dharma talk at the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship in Fayetteville at 2:00. Click on the following link for a map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=901+West+Cleveland+Street,+Fayetteville,+Arkansas&ll=36.074381,-94.171168&spn=0.012423,0.019814&hl=en. Yours in the Dharma, Barbara
JUNE 25, SUNDAY, 7PM, VIDEO UNDERGROUND
?Good Night and Good Luck.? OMNI AT UCM. In the early 1950's, the threat of Communism created an air of paranoia in the United States, and exploiting those fears was Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. However, CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow and his producer Fred W. Friendly decided to take a stand and challenge McCarthy and expose him for the fear monger he was. [I thought this film was outstanding and very relevant for today. D]
June 25,
Sunday, Interweave's 3rd Annual PRIDE PICNIC
Fayetteville, Arkansas Agri Park
1:00-5:00pm
OOD: 1:00pm Fire up the grills!
Burgers, Boca, Hot Dogs, Chips, Soda, and Water will be sold.
Bring your favorite side dish to
share.
FUN: Horseshoes, croquet.... GAMES FOR ALL
AGES! Lets Play Ball!
2:00-3:00pm VolleyBall! Kickball! Softball!
3:00-400 Karaoke!
Come sing or just watch!
There will
be live music, live DJ, guest speakers, informational booths, raffles and
prizes, coloring contest for the kids, games and social time!
ANIMAL CRUELTY
Washington County Democratic Women will meet for their regular monthly dinner meeting on Tuesday, June 27th at 5:30 at Western Sizzlin. Eva Madison, president of the Humane Society of the Ozarks, and Lib Horn, treasurer of the Humane Society, will discuss the possibility of making "cruelty to animals" a felony in Arkansas. It is currently a misdemeanor. Please reply with reservations by Sunday evening, June 25th. [Ride up with Dick.]
JUNE 28, WEDNESDAY, 6PM, PLANNING JULY 14- 15 DEMONSTRATION
WE NEED YOUR HELP, come to the planning.
Our Demo against the war July 14-15 at
the Democratic Women?s Convention
will have three actions: a suite in Embassy Suites
JULY 14-15, a table same days in lobby,
and a sidewalk placarding Saturday 11 to 2.
We?ll need about a dozen people for the
suite and table, and at least a hundred for the outside demo.
Senator Hillary Clinton will speak
at the Saturday luncheon 12:30.
To
join attend the Convention
or just
the luncheon contact Barbara McCoy rdmccoy@cox.net
Our theme: DEMOCRATS UNITE AGAINST THE
WAR.
OMNI contacts:
June 28, Wednesday, Sierra Monthly Meeting
7pm at Powerhouse. Joyce Hale will show footage of Robert Kennedy Jr. s speech on campus last year.
JULY 1, SATURDAY, OPPOSE THE WAR, TRANSFER THE KILLING MONEY TO HUMAN AND ANIMAL CARING
DEMONSTRATION JOYCE
AND MALL, 10:30 to noon, once a monhth, every first Saturday.
Contact
PETITIONS: FAYETTEVILLE SQUARE, FARMER?S MARKET 7a.m. to noon.
Contact Barbara Jaquish jaquish@uark.edu At least 2 people each hour needed.
JULY 1, RAPID RESPONSE WRITERS, 11:30 Ozark Mt. Smokehouse on Dickson
Contact Larry Froelich, Larry Woodall, Henry Griffith, Coralie Koonce.
JULY 5, WEDNESDAY, EXECUTION OF DON DAVIS SCHEDULED
Vigil planned by OMNI?s Human Rights Committee.
JULY 5 AND 9, PLANNING
FOR JULY 15 EVENTS FOR A UNITED DEMOCRATIC PARTY AGAINST THE WAR, please join us
to help complete plans for the ongoing reception in our Suite and tabling in the
lobby JULY 14-15, and for the sidewalk demonstration July 15 11a.m.-2p.m.
We need many of you to step up, be
committed and active, against this war,
if these events are to be successful in urging Sen. Clinton and
Democratic Women to stand with Kerry and Murtha.
Contact Susan Idlet sidlet@dixiemgmt.com , Gladys Tiffany,
JULY 8, SATURDAY, 7a.m. to noon, PETITIONS TO LEAVE IRAQ
JULY 9, VIDEO UNDERGROUND
JULY 15, Saturday, Senator Hillary Clinton will speak at the luncheon at the Democratic Women?s state convention, which is being held at the Embassy Suites in Rogers. The deadline for sending in a reservation with $80 (covers the convention including breakfast, lunch & banquet) is June 30th. Non-members can attend the luncheon for $100. Barbara McCoy rdmccoy@cox.net
JANUARY 12-14, 2007
The third " Free Press National Media Reform Convention" in Memphis, TN
All the leading progressive media journalists and celebrities will be there along with FCC Commissioners Michael Kopp and Jonathan Adelstein, members of the U.S. Congress, and grassroots medi-reform organizations. There will be a registration fee (last year it was $130 or so for those who could afford it and about $80 for others). I urge everyone to attend this important and informative mass meeting. So long as Corporate-America governs what we see and hear in media and frames the debates and questions, the public will never get the facts and information necessary to support a democracy. This is why I always say that " media reform is everything" (society reflects the state of the media and press). Check this site. ?Carl http://freepress.net/conference
Fayetteville
ECOLOGY: GORE?S FILM ARRIVES
?An Inconvenient Truth? opens this weekend at Regal Fiesta Square in Fayetteville. 100 minutes. Everything points to global warming and the destruction of the environment by the present rate of emissions, particularly CO2.
Dear CAT Constituents,
You are already aware of the bill before Congress that will squelch your Freedom of Speech and limit your Access to the Airwaves. A resolution was passed by the Fayetteville City Council telling Congress to uphold the rights of their local citizens. Our Council cannot be commended enough for being aware of the issues and taking action accordingly. When you see your Fayetteville Representative, thank them for doing a great job in educating Congress as to the best interests of our Community. Thanks again for all of your efforts to keep CAT "alive & kicking". Sky Blaylock,CAT Manager [See the City?s web site for the text of the resolution.]
NWA
TREE PLANTER, PEACEMAKER
Charles Harvey of Rogers plants redbud trees, including recently an ?international tree of love? on the grounds of NWACC. The presentation certificate will say ?From the Children of Arkansas to the Children of the World.? Info. from TMN (6-18) Letter to Ed. By Glenna Yeager of Lowell. OMNI could do much more for tree-planting. For example, all over NWA are large yards where trees could be planted, canopy enlarged, the property cooled, the lawn diminished. Look at those estates on Carley Road between Johnson and Springdale. We just need someone to lead the way. OMNI functions through individual initiative of people serious about peace, justice, and ecology.
JOB OPPORTUNITY The Northwest Arkansas Workers Justice Center seeks a full-time Director. We look for someone with a history in progressive politics and organizing who has experience in fundraising, grant writing, community outreach, and organizing. Director must work effectively with Spanish-speaking immigrants, religious groups, and other members of our community. Starting salary $30,000. Please send cover letter, resume, and names/addresses/emails of three references to: NW Arkansas Workers Justice Center, 902 West Maple, Fayetteville, AR. 72701. Call 479-750-8015 if you have any questions. Review of applications will begin July 10st, 2006.
GRASSROOTS
MILITARISM
--President Bush would not be in office today were it not for the
militaristic mentality of at least half of the public.
For example,
TMN?s recent editorial: ?It?s Not Just
?A Number? For Most? (6-16) began by reproving White House spokesman Tony
Snow
for playing down the US death
toll in Iraq when it reached 2,500.
?Another American serviceman has died in Iraq.
That?s not a number.
It?s the end of one life and the
dislocation and devastation of countless others.
An American man or woman died in the
service of this country.
Their life
has ended and the lives of their family and friends will never be the
same.?
This is laudable caring, but
pervading the statement is the egregious patriotic nationalism that perpetuates
our aggressions.
Until
TMN thinks and says the following we
will have war after war:
?Another
human being has died in Iraq.
That?s not a number.
It?s
the end of one life and the dislocation and devastation of countless
others.
A man or woman, a boy or
girl, or infant died as a victim of war.
Their life has ended and the lives of their family and friends will never
be the same.?
Until we cease
honoring and grieving for our killed only, the wars will continue.
Expose and denounce this powerful ?only
Americans matter? reinforcement of militarism every opportunity you
have.
--Mayor Coody parachuted from an Army plane with a member of the Army?s
Golden Knights at the recent Airfest.
Thus, as in countless says, the war system creeps into the minds and
lives of local leaders and is made to seem natural.
--
TMN?s ?Front Lines: War Stories?
continue week after week twice: the adverts. and the stories.
We cannot prevent but we can balance
them.
Send Dick your Peace Story,
about yourself of another.
This
project would gain strength by having its own well-motivated
coordinator.
--3-Star General James Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps,
flew to Fayetteville to speak to promote the Iraqi war.
Read
J. William Fulbright?s
The Pentagon Propaganda Machine, Stephen
Kinzer?s
Overthrow: America?s Century of
Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq,
and James Carroll?s
House of War.
Also see Dick?s letters to
FFW, NAT, and TMN.
His visit was sponsored by a
division of the UA, so you might want to remind VC Richard Hudson and C White of
your displeasure.
--TMN (6-19)
photo with caption entitled ?Supporting the Troops? showing a National Guard
soldier with baby (in foreground) and wife at picnic for local Ark. Army
National Guard unit soon to be deployed to Iraq.
--
ADG (6-15), photo of members of Legion
Post 314 preparing the ceremonial burning of a delapidated US Flag.
[Raises a lot of questions for me.
Did these flag patriots support the
invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq (and Panama, Grenada, Nicaragua, etc.), like
the Patriot Act and other restrictions of our freedom, know what the Bill of
Rights means?]
--NWACC will offer an associate?s degree in the Homeland
Security.
Not in peace- or
justice-making, but in fear, suspicion of foreigners, finding and killing
terrorists (but of course they won?t say that).
And HS is also an emphasis on terrorism
in a new degree.
The war values
expand, and will continue to until we stop it.
--Senators Lincoln and Pryor
voted for the $66 billion additional money for military operations overseas, in
the $94.5 billion emergency spending bill (how many have we had?); the vote was
98-1.
?Bush praised Congress.?
(
TMN 6-16).
--?Security Tightened at
County Courthouse? (
NAT 6-10): 2
officers and a walk-through metal detector attest to how the controlling
terrorist
paranoia (US foreign
policy) pervades grassroots.
BOOZMAN WATCH
Our
Congressman should be questioned on many of the subjects in this
newsletter.
For starters he?s a
militarist/ imperialist, but to allow him some extenuation, so are many in
Congress.
He voted last week for
the resolution endorsing President Bush?s war policy in Iraq and rejecting a
timetable for withdrawing U.,S. troops, which passed the House 256-153 (all of
Arkansas? congressmen
voted for
it).
And he voted for yet another
funding bill for the war, $70.4 billion more.
And again so did our delegation (351-67
in the House) and our Senators Lincoln and Pryor (in the Senate 98-1).
At the moment a daunting assertion of
Congressional warfare aggression, but we must continue to speak up, or they will
think they enjoy public agreement, when they do not.
OIL AND
BOOZMAN
Until Congress stops taking money from the oil industry, it'll be hard to
make progress on a clean energy future.
Sign on to a letter asking Rep. Boozman to stop taking oil money.
Sign the Letter
EXXON OIL AND OUR SENATORS
You probably know that the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, which dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound, was one of the worst environmental tragedies in our nation's history. It killed hundreds of thousands of animals and birds, oiled nearly 1,400 miles of beaches in Alaska, and ruined the livelihood of tens of thousands of people. Despite all this, the victims of this spill who actually won their lawsuit against ExxonMobil in 1994 have been waiting twelve years to see their judgment satisfied. Now, Senators from Alaska and Washington, the two states most affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, are taking action to see that justice is finally done. Click here to urge your Senators to join them!
Arkansas
"The Arkansas Thousand for the West Memphis 3."
The idea behind this "public" petition is to collect the names/signatures of 1000 Arkansas residents with the intent of taking out a full page ad of those who signed in public support of the WM3. If you are in Arkansas, please sign. Here is the link. http://www.PetitionOnline.com/ARforWM3/petition.html
Amanda Lamb http://www.arwar.org
ARKANSAS NEEDS: PARKS
?U.S. Parks in Cash Squeeze: >From Peace Ridge to Arkansas Post, Money?s Tight? ( ADG 5-22), while the 2.7 trillion budget calls for increases in ?defense? and ?security? but ?freezes or cuts?domestic programs.?
USA
GOPUSA Perhaps some of you would want to see what the Republicans are thinking, saying, and doing. To get on their mailing list: gopusafriends@gopusa.com
TRUTHTELLING
Annual Ron Ridenhour Awards fostering the spirit of courage and truth. The awards memorialize the spirit of fearless truth-telling of Ridenhour. www.ridenhour.org
ACT FOR LOW-POWER RADIO
Use this website to find and contact your Senator now.
http://www.freepress.net/washington/
Want 100 watts, VS 100 MILLIWATTS? Call and get support for SB 2686. Maybe there will be a LPFM station in Arkansas we can all be proud of. And when the staffer picks up, say something like: "Hi, my name is _____, and I'm your consituent, Senator. I support, and my community supports, the language in Senate Bill 2686 that would expand low power FM across our state and across this country. In an era of natural disasters, and few opportunities for churches, schools, and community groups to make their voices heard, we need more local radio stations in our cities and towns. Please support low power FM in Senate Bill 2686." From Jim Hale
GOOD NEWS FOR CPB/PBS/NPR
Pryor Nominated for Public
Broadcasting Board of Directors
By Gwen
Moritz
6/20/2006 1:44:48
PM
Former U.S. Sen. David Pryor said Tuesday that he has
been nominated by President Bush to fill a vacant seat on the board of directors
of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the primary funding entity for the
Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR).
Assuming he is approved by the Senate,
Pryor would fill a term set to expire in 2008. The vacancy on the eight-member
board is one that is designated for a Democrat. During his hears as a Senator,
Pryor somtimes opposed the Pentagon and its
militarism.
IMPEACH BUSH
http://www.impeachbush.org/site/DocServer/impeachment_petition.pdf?docID=101
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_to_impeach_George_W._Bush
Citizens for Democratic Change started a website at
http://www.impeachcentral.com/
that
includeS what looks like a very good PDF file which I attached to this email and
can be found at http://elandslide.org/elandslide/images/impeachcentralkit.pdf
which
includes the following topics.
Impeachment Talking Points
Lobbying Overview
Know Your Rights
How to
Lobby
Sample Letter to
Congressperson
Letters to the
Editor
Op-Eds
Visit With
the Congressperson
Articles
of Impeachment
?America Should Impeach Bush? by Jesse Barr, Winslow, NAT (5-7).
?Banned BBC Documentary - 9/11? - Alex Jones, David Icke,Michael Moore
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3000314890948643831&pr=goog-sl
Description: A banned BBC Documentary showing how 20,000 were barred from voting in Florida state during the elections that George W. Bush won after greater opposition. George Bushs brother was behind it. If you like this search video.google.com for '911 Plane Site', '911 Loose Change' and 'Stephen Colbert roasts Bush'.
DESPOTISM
?This
extremism is neither conservative nor liberal by nature, but is instead driven
by theories of unlimited presidential power that are antithetical to the values
that have governed this country since its founding.? ? Glenn Greenwald,
How Would a
Patriot Act?
The Bush
administration is breaking laws as we speak. And Glenn Greenwald, author of the
New York
Times
best-selling book,
How Would a Patriot
Act?
has something to say about it.
To remain true
to America?s founding principles, we cannot stand by President Bush?s claims of
unlimited and unchecked power. ?There?s nothing in our Constitution that says
the president gets to break the laws,? says Greenwald.
Because when you answer to
no one, you?re not a president. You?re a despot.
If you?re concerned about the direction of this country, here?s
something you can do. Read
this book.
You can also take action to
censure the president for flouting the Constitution by snooping on American
citizens without a warrant. Take
action now.
To
learn more or to order, click
here.
LANGUAGE AND THE US SECURITY STATE
The peace movement should lead the way to change the language that perpetuates the war system.
Security? Not by armed force but by global friendship.
Fallen soldiers? This euphemism covers up killed, maimed, dismembered victims and glorifies an unjust war.
Defense Department? The name change in 1948 from War Department not only did not change the nature of the beast but deceitfully strengthened and enlarged it.
America? Let?s accurately say United States. All the 40 Latin American states are American.
Terrorism? The real terrorism is state terrorism (air war against dozens of countries to begin with).
US DEBT
?The Time Bomb? film on America?s Debt Crisis discloses that many people in the US do not know that the US is more deeply in debt than we have ever been--over $8 Trillion Dollars in Debt. The size of this debt is the equivalent of $75,000 for each US family. This debt is not sustainable
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/TIME-BOMBFiscalResponsibility/
Once again the media plays a role here by not discussing nor mentioning the debt crisIs.
SECRECY
"In a seven-year-old secret program at the National Archives, intelligence agencies have been removing from public access thousands of historical documents that were available for years." Since 1999, more than 50,000 once-declassified pages have been reclassified as secret. Intelligence historian Matthew Aid said some of the decades-old documents are "mundane, and some of it is outright ridiculous." The New York Times reports, "While some of the choices made by the security reviewers ... are baffling, others seem ... to cover up embarrassments, even if they occurred a half-century ago." The program, which has cost millions, is "shrouded in secrecy -- governed by a still-classified memorandum." An anonymous source told the Times that "the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency were major participants." Though there has been "a marked trend toward greater secrecy under the Bush administration," the reclassification program is reportedly driven by federal spy agencies. A coalition of historians has expressed concern about the program. TMN (6-9, 1B), ?Amateur Sleuth Exposes Nationbal Archives Scandal.? (The amateur makes an extremely important point: not only investigative journalists and whistleblowers, but ordinary citizens going about their ordinary business can be on the front line of resistance. We can and must do peace and justice work at our employment.)
KIDNAPPING AND TORTURE
Our
Government is Kidnapping People and Flying Them to Foreign Torture Cells: Stop
Them!
(from the ACLU):
Did you know our own federal government is secretly targeting people
while changing planes in American airports, walking along streets in Italian
cities, and going about their daily lives in other corners of the world?
They target people, sometimes on the basis of mistaken identity, kidnap them
without ever making an arrest or seeking charges in any court, and
ship them off to places like Syria and Uzbekistan, where they are tortured
and abused.
The Bush
administration claims that this practice ? called rendition to torture ? is
perfectly legal, despite the fact that it clearly violates U.S. federal law. You can help stop
it.
Senator Dick Durbin
of Illinois has offered an amendment to the Defense Department authorization
bill that will put a stop to this illegal and fundamentally un-American
practice. You can support him in his fight right now at: http://action.aclu.org/torture
THREE SUICIDES AT GUANTANAMO
A search on the Yemen Times Online web site using *Gitmo detainees* produced the following articles.
Families say Saudi Guantanamo deaths not suicides http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13254363/
Family, MPs and Lawyers Refute Gitmo Suicide Story
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33708
Yemen Times Online
http://yementimes.com/index.shtml
Yemeni Gitmo detainee's body emptied prior to repatriation Al-Salimi's Gitmo suicide denied Volume 14 , From 19 June 2006 to 22 June 2006
http://www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=956&p=front&a=3
Yemenis seek international investigation into alleged Gitmo suicide Volume 14 , From 15 June 2006 to 18 June 2006
http://www.yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=955&p=front&a=5
Yemenis seek international investigation into alleged Gitmo suicide (print page)
http://www.yementimes.com/print_article.shtml?i=955&p=front&a=5
( MPs, lawyers demand neutral inspection over Gitmo victim
19/06/2006 (Updated: 4:33 p.m, June 22,2006)
http://www.newsyemen.net/en/view_news.asp?sub_no=3_2006_06_19_6157
FACTBOX-U.S. servicemen suspected of murder
http://today.reuters.com/News/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=N22325939
And Mike found this related article: Why jihadists target the West http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0728/p01s01-usfp.html
Whatever happened, Guantanamo inspires terrorist enemies throughout the world?
TERRORISM
Scheuer, Michael. Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror. Rev. Bradley Gitz in ADG, his choice for the worst book of 2005. ??the latest evidence of the apparently irresistible urge that some of our citizens feel to bow and scrape when attacked by savages.?
IRAQ
COST OF THE WAR, WHAT WE MIGHT HAVE DONE WITH THE MONEY
There is an interesting website at
<http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182>
The
counter continues to run?but as of now----
The War in Iraq Financial
Cost is $$290,020,519,105
This is what could have been done with that
money
-- the U.S. could have paid for 38,412,781 children to
attend a year of Head Start.
-- the US could have insured
173,662,686 children for one year.
-- the US could have hired
5,026,027 additional public school teachers for one year.
-- the US
could have provided 14,059,381 students four-year scholarships at
public universities.
-- the U.S. could have built 2,611,364
additional housing units.
-- the U.S could have fully funded global
anti-hunger efforts for 12 years.
-- the U.S. could have fully funded
world-wide AIDS programs for 29 years.
--the U.S. could have ensured
that every child in the world was given basic immunizations for 96
years.
Source <http://costofwar.com/numbers.html>
In April, 2003 Niko Matsakis of
Boston, MA and Elias Vlanton of Takoma Park, MD created costofwar.com. After
maintaining it on their own for the first year, they gave it to the National
Priorities Project.
(from Prof. San Juan 6-21)
CODEPINK <codepink@mail.democracyinaction.org> wrote:
Subject: Iraqi Leaders Call
for Troops Out!
June 22, 2006
You
might have seen polls showing that the majority of Iraqis and Americans want to
see a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S.
troops from Iraq. But did you know that when Bush visited Iraq on
June 13, Iraq's President and Vice President
asked him to set a timeline? And in a startling op-ed piece in
Tuesday's Washington Post, Iraq's National Security Adviser Mowaffik Al-Rubaie
admitted that Iraqis now see foreign troops as
occupiers rather than the liberators, and said that their removal
will strengthen the fledgling government by legitimizing it in the eyes of the
Iraqi people.
Yet the
Bush administration and the Republican-controlled Congress refuse to set a
timeline for withdrawal, saying U.S. troops need to stay to protect Iraqis until
there is stability. But when the Iraqi people were asked who they trust to
protect their personal safety, only 1 percent said the
coalition forces!
And did you know
that when we in the peace movement were successful in convincing the House and
Senate to approve amendments to the emergency supplemental spending bill calling
for no permanent bases in Iraq, the Republican leaders in the joint conference
committee simply eliminated the provision from the
final bill. Little wonder that 80 percent of
Iraqis
fear that the U.S. plans to have permanent bases in their country.
The rulers of our
nation refuse to set a date for withdrawal and renounce permanent bases because
they plan to be in Iraq not for one or two more years, but for decades to come.
Their
goal is not democracy in Iraq, but control of Middle Eastern oil.
The choice is
clear:
Are we going to allow our soldiers and the Iraqi people to keep dying so that
U.S. corporations can try to control Iraq's oil? Or are we going to do
everything within our power to end this war?
LT. WATADA: FIRST OFFICER TO REFUSE TO DEPLOY
Below are the first news
link about Lt. Watada since he refused his order.
(From
Lt. Ehren Watada Refuses to Deploy to Iraq http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/06/07/18274611.php.
Lt. Ehren Watada Refuses to Deploy to Iraq
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/06/07/18274611.php?show_comments=1#18280225
(excellent interview in this one)
E-Mailers Come To Defense Of Lt. Watada
http://www.komotv.com/kenschram/story.asp?ID=43962
And The Inaugural 'Schrammie' Goes To...
http://www.komotv.com/stories/43923.htm
Pentagon Retaliates Against War Resister Lt.Watada
http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=134&contentid=3614
The Courage to Face the Consequences By Ray McGovern
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060906R.shtml
Is the US Army Trying to Silence Lt. Watada? By Sarah Olson
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061406R.shtml
ORGANIZATIONS
See: www.militaryfamiliesspeakout.org ; www.bringthemhomenow.org
THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION's
latest 58 page Iraq Index report tracks "Variables of Reconstruction &
Security in Post-Saddam Iraq" and is available in PDF form at the following
address.
http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf
There is also a website for the index at http://www.brookings.edu/iraqindex
IRAQ WAR, CANT, AND CRITICAL THINKING
Gamin Davis in TMN 6-12 LtoEd. Wrote: ?most rational people are anti-war, but vary in degree and willingness to make exceptions. I myself am known to be anti-Bush on certain issues other than Iraq. It?s being openly, in front of national media anti-war with a war already going on that makes one look and sound unpatriotic?.? Translation? I am rational and oppose war, but one must not oppose war because it will seem unpatriotic. Never mind that U.S. administrations have intervened illegally in some 43 countries since 1945, a dozen by armed invasion (see William Blum and Noam Chomsky?s books, and James Carroll), or that the Iraq war is illegal, irrational, and deceitful.
CONGRESS VS. WAR
The Senate is
beginning to debate the "Defense Authorization" bill.
(It's really the War Re-authorization
bill.)
Two amendments are being
put forward and will be voted on VERY SOON that would require American troops to
be brought safely home from Iraq by the end of 2006, and one other that would
recommend (as non-binding sense of the Senate) withdrawal during the next 18
months. I am URGENTLY
PLEADING with you, our readers, to write your Senators urging them to support
these amendments.
These are the three major amendments:
Sen. Russell Feingold
(D-WI): amendment No. 4192 that requires the redeployment of U.S. forces
from Iraq by December 31, 2006, maintaining only a minimal force sufficient for
engaging directly in targeted counter-terrorism activities, training Iraqi
security forces, and protecting U.S. infrastructure and personnel.
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA):
amendment No. 4293 mandating withdrawal of United States combat troops from Iraq
by December 31, 2006, leaving only forces that are critical to completing the
mission of standing up Iraqi security forces.
Sen. Diane Feinstein
(D-CA): amendment No. 4207, a sense of Congress that the United States should
begin to downsize the US Armed Forces in Iraq with the goal of ending the
presence of US Armed Forces in Iraq within 18 months from the date of the
enactment of this Act, except for logistical and training personnel.
You might mention which amendment(s) you favor, and you might explain
your own life-situation and value-system that is behind your writing.
Kucinich On House Iraq War Debate
Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH), who has led opposition within the Congress to the Iraq war from the beginning, gave the following floor speech on Thursday.
"The President will not bring an end to this war. He says it will be a decision for the next president. But he is building permanent bases in Iraq; and he is determined to keep a force of at least 50,000 in Iraq into the distant future
"This Congress may not bring an end to this war. Because the real power to end the war is in a cut off of funds. Congress keeps appropriating funds in the name of the troops and the troops will stay in Iraq instead of coming home.
"Only the American people can bring an end to this war as they brought an end to the war in Vietnam.
For the rest of this speech go to: on our forum .
VOTING FOR WAR
Arkansas? entire House delegation voted for a resolution endorsing Bush?s war policy in Iraq and rejecting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops.
COST OF THE WAR: Our entire Sen. And House delegation voted again to fund thewar--$70.4 billion more for Iraq and Afghanistan. TMN (6-18). By the end of 2005 the Iraq war had cost militarily $244,700,000,000 or $2,250 perhousehold, and $18,000,000,000 for reconstruction (much of which was used for military purposes), or $165 per household. www.afsc.org
Lincoln?s and Pryor?s vote opposes the ?New Direction for America? Democratic Patry agenda announced by Cong. Pelosi, which includes ?significant transition? in Iraq in 2006, ?time for a new direction in Iraq.?
WARMONGERING WAR
?Bunkum
from Benador,? THE NATION,July 3, 2006 issue
LARRY COHLER-ESSES
The
neoconservative campaign to equate Iran with Nazi Germany received a setback in
May. Bloggers and a few journalists quickly exposed as wholly concocted a story
about a new law that would require Iranian Jews to wear yellow insignia?.
despite the debunking, the story's
powerful visual imagery was likely lasting for casual readers. Over headlines
blaring Iran, some papers ran photos of Jews from the Nazi era wearing the
yellow stars that separated them from their fellow citizens before their
slaughter.
Nevertheless, the debunking exposed the moving parts of a media
machine intent on priming the public for war with Iran--as it did earlier with
stories about Iraq's nonexistent WMD. Ubiquitous in this campaign, as it was
with Iraq, is the PR firm Benador Associates. Its president, Eleana Benador,
told me it was her agency that placed the article with the National Post. Its
stable of writers and activists, a Who's Who of the neocon movement, includes
Richard Perle, Michael Ledeen, Frank Gaffney, Charles Krauthammer, Victor Davis
Hanson and Iranian exile journalist Amir Taheri--the author of the bogus piece.
Even among a crowd notable for wrongheaded analyses, Taheri stands out, with a
rap sheet that leaves one amazed that he continues to be published. It is here
that the role of Benador is key; the firm gives Taheri a political stamp of
approval that provides entree to hawkish media venues, where journalistic
criteria are secondary?.?
For the full article go
to:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060703/cohleresses
DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND
IRAQ
Dan Thomasson in
ADG 6-14
cited a Zogby poll writes:
??90 percent of [Democrats] questioned who view the war as their No. 1
issue aare opposed to it and?the failure of most Democrats to speak out has left
thEse voters uncertain about them.? Democrats speak up for getting out!
Every Democrat should view Robert
Greenwald?s powerful film about the lying and deceit that got us into the war by
the scoundrels in the White House who have blackened US greatness in the eyes of
the world.
FLAG AND FREE SPEECH
?I write today to urge
you to take action on a matter near and dear to my heart -- free speech. The
ACLU urgently needs the help of everyone across America who values our
Constitution and the fundamental freedoms it protects.
Here is the situation -- the Senate is
poised to vote on a constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to
prohibit desecration of the flag. This amendment would restrict certain freedoms
in the Bill of Rights for the first time in our history, setting a dangerous
precedent that puts all of our liberties at risk.
With your help, the Senate has
blocked the flag amendment in past years. This year, the vote is closer than
ever. Election-year political posturing has taken over in the Senate and we are
now within just one vote of losing this fight.
It
is critical that you take action right now at http://action.aclu.org/flag
. Urge your senators to protect
free expression and vote "no" on the flag amendment.
the Flag, Protect the Bill of Rights
This Flag Day, instead of celebrating the
liberty guaranteed by our Constitution and symbolized by our flag, Congress is
precariously close to restricting that liberty by amending the Bill of Rights
for the first time in American history.
As the Senate stands poised to
cast its closest vote ever on a constitutional amendment banning ?flag
desecration? in the next few weeks, let us remember that:
1. the main purpose of the
amendment is election year politicking ? the Republican leadership has
moved this bill forward to create an opportunity to question the patriotism
of its opponents; and
2. the amendment undermines American values,
restricting free expression guaranteed by the First Amendment.
We must not coerce patriotism in America or surrender the very freedoms that make us a beacon of liberty for the rest of the world. The passage or failure of this amendment will likely be decided by one vote in the Senate. Please e-mail your senators now and urge them to oppose the ?Flag Desecration Amendment.? http://www.pfaw.org/go/FlagAction Proponents of the flag amendment would have you believe that its passage would be a way to honor our veterans, but many prominent veterans have spoken out against constitutional flag amendments, acknowledging that what they fought for wasn?t the flag itself, but the ideals and freedom behind it, the very things that would be undermined by the ?Flag Desecration Amendment.? A Marine Corps General once wrote: "There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes, and the other is the Bill of Rights." And you can hear why Vietnam veteran and former POW Jim Warner opposes the amendment by visiting our flag amendment resource page and watching the ad. Amending the Bill of Rights to limit speech and expression would set a dangerous precedent. Tell your senators not to compromise the First Amendment. Tell them to vote NO on the ?Flag Desecration Amendment.?
DEATH PUNISHMENT
?The Failed
Experiment?
Last year only four
countries accounted for nearly all executions worldwide: China, Iran, Saudi
Arabia and the United States.
By Anna Quindlen,
Newsweek
June 26, 2006 issue -
You brush up against a lot of weird stuff in the course of child rearing, but
one phenomenon that always had me scratching my head was the parents who hit
their kids to teach them that hitting was a bad thing.
In their defense, they had a civic
model for that kind of bizarre circular reasoning. Americans still live in one
of the few countries that kill people to make clear what a terrible thing
killing people is.
Hardly any
other civilized place does this anymore. In the past three decades, the number
of nations that have abolished the death penalty has risen from 16 to 86. Last
year four countries accounted for nearly all executions worldwide: China, Iran,
Saudi Arabia and the United States.
JESUS COMMODIFIED
Our fresh, young adult-friendly edition of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" 2006 is now in stock. Let's start now to challenge Christmas consumerism. This full color, 32 page magazine for Advent and Christmas is available at generous discounts. Visit our eStore at www.SimpleLiving.org , click Christmas category on the left, or key "birthday" in the Quick Find. What can I do to develop spiritual resistance to the messages of a consumer Christmas that will start this summer? Willl you lead an OMNI campaign?
ECOLOGY: BOTTLED WATER
Did you see TMN today 6-18 about the per capita bottled-water consumption in the US in 2005 (26 gals.), creating a $10 billion bottled-water market in the US alone in 2005? And the water is no better than public water, and is sometimes worse because poorly regulated, is an added cost to the consumer, wastes all that plastic and the fossil fuels used to manufacture the bottles, and contributes to oil wars. We should be speaking up more don?t you think?
World
MEDIA: FSTV
Invest in media committed to peace, justice, and sustainability. www.freespeech.org 303-442-8445; POB 6060, Boulder, CO 80306.
ECOLOGY: GLOBAL WARMING
-From Wanda S: ?I saw An Inconvenient Truth, with Al Gore showing pictures, graphs and computer projections and talking about global warming, in St. Louis this weekend. It is powerful, well-made, entertaining, clear and convincing. I don't see how anyone except flat-earthers could doubt that global warming is a problem that must be handled now. Be sure to see it as soon as possible. In the meantime, visit www.climatechange.net to see some things you can do.? [D: And participate in our local environmental movement: Sierra, Audubon, Nature Conservancy, OMNI?s Ecology Committee: Contact Steven Skattebo.]
--Read The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth by Tim Flannery. Atlantic Monthly P. www.tim-flannery.com This book is very straightforward and clear about the global catastrophe being caused by carbon dioxide, and the particularly urgent need for each of us to reduce our production of CO2, since our leaders are failing.
--Two local scientists
understand well what Gore and Flannery say?that warming
is a certainty, is caused by humans, and is rushing toward us much faster
that we had thought even 10 years ago.
You have perhaps read Art Hobson?s many warnings in
NAT.
Now
TMN (6-18, 5D) has pub. R.R. ?Ron?
Goforth?s excellent essay, ?Technology to Earth?s Rescue??
Art has been saying that climate change
is our greatest problem, and Goforth suggests it too, as do Gore and
Flannery.
--?Earth Warmest It?s Been in 2,000 Years, Study Says? (
TMN 6-23), and ??human activities are
responsible for much of the recent warming.??
The ?sharp spikes in carbon dioxide and methane,? creating the greenhouse
gases trapping heat in the atmosphere,
created by humans are to blame.
-- We may soon have a
chance to help lower gas prices, decrease our dependence on oil and fight global
warming by raising fuel economy standards. Representatives
Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Edward Markey (D-MA) will be proposing an amendment
that would require an increase in the fuel economy of both cars and light trucks
to 33 miles per gallon by 2016. Click here to urge your
member of Congress to vote for the Boehlert-Markey fuel economy
amendment.
PALESTINE
New studies on the apartheid wall's displacement of Palestinians "The most comprehensive study - by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics -estimates that nearly 14,500 persons had been displaced in the 145 localities through which the Wall had already passed by May 2005. B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation, has estimated that the Wall threatens to displace some 90,000 Palestinians. Displacement is ongoing, and substantial displacements may be expected in the coming years."
http://www.reliefweb.int/library/documents/2006/idmc-opt-21Jun.pdf
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.
--Senator
Mark Pryor: Web Site (see contact link):
www.pryor.senate.gov ;
http://pryor.senate.gov/contact/
Phone: (202) 224-2353 Fax: (202)
228-0908
Main District Office:700 W. Capitol, Rm. 2527
Phone: (501) 324-6336 Fax: (501)
324-5320
--Congressman John Boozman, District 3, 12 counties from
Harrison office: 870-741-6900; 402 N. Walnut,
DC
address: 1708 Longworth House Office Bldng.,