OMNI Blog

Changes in a Good Direction

 in Current Events

Changes in a Good DirectionIntroducing Alex and Rachel Alex Tripodi has been a member of Omni Board of Directors for over two years now. Maybe you remember the story of how his workplace closed down when covid started and he founded MayDay Community Kitchen for his own sanity and to feed others who were struggling. At the time, Alex told us “Peace will look different in the world my generation is facing. We need to think about how we do our work differently because if my generation is going to be part of this, they’ll want to see practical results.” […]

Birthing Omni 20 Years Ago – some of the people who did it

 in Current Events

The story’s been told before about how Dick Bennett and his friend Dana Copp retired in 1999 and wondered what they should do next with their passion for peace.  Around somebody’s kitchen table they pondered the idea of a peace center like the old Peace Center on Dickson Street that organized protests about the Vietnam War and subsequent social issues. Dick started an email newsletter and scheduled public talks and Dana went to visit the United Campus Ministries chaplain on Maple street and convinced him to allow them office space in their big basement. He also scrounged office furniture and an already-ancient […]

OMNI CLIMATE MEMO MONDAYS #235, JUNE 16, 2025

 in Climate Memo Mondays

Compiled by Dick Bennett  https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2025/06/omni-climate-memo-mondays-235-june-16.html Diana B. Henriques.   The Old Guard, the New Deal, and FDR’s Fight to Regulate American Capitalism. Richardson.  Democracy Awakening.ACLU.What Did You Do? Diana B. Henriques.   Taming the Street: The Old Guard, the New Deal, and FDR’s Fight to Regulate American Capitalism.  Random House, 2023.   464.  Publisher’s description: WINNER OF THE SABEW BEST IN BUSINESS BOOK AWARD • A BLOOMBERG BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR.With deep reporting and vivid storytelling, Diana B. Henriques takes readers back to a time when America’s financial landscape was a jungle ruled by the titans of vast wealth, largely unrestrained by government. Taming the […]

FATHER’S DAY FOR PEACE ANTHOLOGY JUNE 15, 2025 (3RD SUNDAY IN JUNE)

 in Dick's Newsletter 2025

Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2025/06/omni-fathers-day-for-peace-anthology.html (#1 June 19, 2008; #2 June 20, 2010; #3 June 19, 2011; #4 6-17-12); #5 June 16, 2013).  Inspired by Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day for PEACE.      I published 5 newsletters on Father’s Day USA during 2008-2013, but skipped 2014 -2024 because the celebration was seldom examined by anybody, at least as far as google knew.  I finally tried again in 2025, but still the same Father’s Day full of gift suggestions, all for profit.  I next searched Father’s Day and turned up International Father’s Day, […]

ISRAEL AND IRAN ANTHOLOGY #1 June 15, 2025

 in Dick's Newsletter 2025

COMPILED BY DICK BENNETT FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE, JUSTICE, AND ECOLOGY https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2025/06/omni-israel-and-iran-anthology-1-june.html What’s at Stake:  Stopping attacks by Israel, retaliations by Iran, US arming Israel, and US strengthening its naval and air forces in the Middle East. CONTENTS2024Liebermann.  US Naval and Air Reinforcements to Middle East.Larry Johnson.  “TED POSTOL’S ANALYSIS OF IRAN’S MISSILE ATTACK ON ISRAEL.” by Larry Johnson.Marjorie Cohn.  “Iran’s Attack Was A Legal Response To Israel’s Illegal Attack.”“Israel tries to provoke Iran.”Robert Inlakesh,  “Revealed: Israel’s Hidden History Of Attacks On Iran.”   SCOTT RITTER.  “Checkmate.”“Iran Launches Retaliatory Strikes.”Ben Norton.  “Iran Had Legal Right To Counter-Attack Israel…”James North.  “Netanyahu Killed […]

OMNI WAR WATCH WEDNESDAYS, #233, JUNE 11, 2025

 in WAR WATCH WEDNESDAYS

Compiled by Dick Bennett.    https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2025/06/omni-war-watch-wednesdays-233-june-11.html   “Why Socialism?AdbustersThe New Republic (May 2025). Robert Sepansic.  “Returning to the Dark Ages.” Albert Einstein’s “Why Socialism?”: The Enduring Legacy of His Classic Essay, edited and with an Introduction by by John Bellamy Foster.  Monthly Review P, 2025. First published more than seventy-five years ago in the inaugural issue of Monthly Review: An Independent Socialism Magazine, Albert Einstein’s “Why Socialism?” is an unheralded classic. Written during the McCarthyite witch-hunt in the United States, it constituted an act of defiance, making a case for socialism unrivaled in its time or ours. Yet, its very existence has been an embarrassment […]

UN WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY, JUNE 5

 in Dick's Newsletter 2025

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2025/06/omni-un-world-environment-day-june-5.html Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology, June 5, 2025 What’s at Stake:  In 1974, the UN urged the world to celebrate World Environment Day with the slogan “Only One Earth”; in 2021 the theme was “Ecosystem Restoration.”   These are the large contexts within which the UN seeks to preserve our planet and its civilizations. CONTENTS UN World Environment Day June 5, 2025, Slogan, “Beat Plastic Pollution.” The Shalom Report.  “From Sap Rising Up, To People Rising Up.” George Monbiot.  “ Protection Racket.”  TEXTS World Environment Day 2025 is […]

OMNI WAR WATCH WEDNESDAYS, #232, JUNE 4 , 2025

 in WAR WATCH WEDNESDAYS

Compiled by Dick Bennett   https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2025/06/omni-war-watch-wednesdays-232-june-4.html US Right Wing Militarism Post WWIIScientists Call for Ban on Nuclear Weapons Testing. Jacqueline E. Sharkey.  Under Fire: U.S. Military Restrictions on the Media from Grenada to the Persian Gulf.Peace&Planet News.  Veterans for Peace.  [VfP recognizes three existential threats: wars, warming, fascism.Laleh Khalili.   Silicon Valley knows that war is good for business.Jimmy Tobias.  “The Nuclear Age, Reborn.”  June 3, 1957.   Linus Pauling and 2,000 other scientists join call for ban on nuclear weapons testing.  Eisenhower rejects plea.  Source: Peace Calendar 2025, Syracuse Cultural Workers. Jacqueline E. Sharkey.  Under Fire: U.S.Military Restrictions on the Media from […]

Beautiful Pride Activities about to Explode All Around Us

 in Pride

Pride Parade June 28 – 5:00 pm step-off Ride with Omni in our Pride Truck. Email omni@omnicenter.org to volunteer or get more info. If you have a really pretty truck you’d like to drive in the parade please let us know. This parade is ALWAYS so much fun. If you’ve never participated before this is the time to experience it. The LGBTQIA community is under so much attack it’s a good time to stand behind them by showing up for Pride. Support Pride & Community – Sponsor Our Raffle for NWA Equality! Patrick Mahoney Hey there! My name is Patrick Mahoney, […]