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, #187, JULY 15, 2024

 in Climate Memo Mondays

Compiled by Dick Bennett.  https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2024/07/omni-climate-memo-mondays-187-july-15.html Our corporate gov won’t do it, create your own insurgency.Stop methane: check out our landfill. More to be done.Learn about public transportation around the world.  Think big here. CREATING YOUR OWN INSURGENCYWhat’s stopping USA from reversing rising temperature, or at least from slowing it down (the chief subject of CMM)?The US Culture of Doom:US Capitalism, profit, growth, Fossil Fuel Industry, CO2.Politics of War, “Cold” and Hot, the propaganda-system-information control-nuclear-security-military-imperial-corporate-congressional-presidential-judicial/SC-fundamentalist religious-educational-agri-transportation Complex.Overpopulation and still growing. What should each of us do to become an insurgency? (“Insurgency” definition enlarged to encompass not only the government but the […]

The Climate Moment

 in Climate

Stories from this unique moment on Earth …. What’s happening with the climate?! Global Warming Is Particularly Bad for Women-Led Families  A new report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization with data from 24 low- and middle-income countries, finds that women-led families suffer more from extreme heat than other families. While heat stress is costly for all rural households, it is significantly more costly for households headed by a woman. Female-headed households lose 8 percent more of their annual income compared to other households. While many women are farmers, fewer women own the land they farm. Women-headed households […]

Grant’s Pass CaseSupreme Court decides to criminalize homelessness

 in homeless

Where will unhoused people go now? We’ll see how much cruelty there may be in this nation. This article has excellent an backgrounder on the case, and homelessness in America. We can’t allow Northwest Arkansas to follow this trend, wherever it might lead.  “Designed to be Cruel”: How Grants Pass Will Ramp Up the Policing of Homelessness The Supreme Court blessed bans on sleeping outdoors. In a Bolts roundtable, three experts explain that this may encourage aggressive policing over long-term housing solutions.

Peace Day Concert 

 in Current Events

Tickets are now available!!!!!!!  ***LIMITED SEATING!*** Peace Day Concert  for International Day of Peace Music by Emily Kaitz & Dennis Collins Dana Louise * Reading by Ginny Masullo Saturday September 21 Sequoyah Hall Mount Sequoyah Center 150 N Skyline Drive * Door: 6:00 pm (eating drinking, visiting) Show: 7:00 pm Light hors d’oeuvres provided Donation bar for adult beverages $20.00  Proceeds to benefit  Children’s Safety Center of Washington County ****************************************************** For tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/international-day-of-peace-event-tickets-936551198847?aff=oddtdtcreator For more information  Contact Helen: hk123@sbcglobal.net *************************************** PLEASE FEEL FREE TO FORWARD TO LIKE-MINDED FOLKS!

Friends of Palestine Gaza Protests Continue!

 in Current Events

July Protests https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555082533749&mibextid=LQQJ4d Friends of Palestine continue their Friday Protests. Friday July 19 in Bentonville – Memorial Park by the Skatepark – 6:30-7:30 Friday July 26 in Fayetteville – Washington County Courthouse – 6:00-7:00

Omni Center Climate Change Endowment AwardPeter S. Ungar, PhD

 in Climate

Distinguished Professor of AnthropologyDirector of Environmental Dynamics, University of Arkansas UAF, FULBRIGHT COLLEGE RESEARCH CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE ARCTICJune 27, 2024. CONGRATULATIONS Dr. Ungar! From Omni Founder Dick Bennett:UAF’s Dr. Peter S. Ungar, recently awarded Omni Center’s climate change fellowship, sent me an illustrated comic strip narrative of his and related research for K-12 kids. Here is the link, you’ll enjoy it. Among the hundred facts of the research I learned the word “ Fennoscandia” and gained a stronger identification with fellow herbivores– reindeer and lemmings et al.! Penny’s Adventures in the New Arctic

CELEBRATION of LIFE

 in Current Events

Kimberly Brasher July 30th 6:00 pm Millar Lodge-Mount Sequoyah Kim has been an Omni member for many years. Her children sang at Open Mic for Peace when they were tiny. They aren’t tiny anymore. If you know her you’ll remember boundless energy and joy. Among the many other things Kim did, she was an Omni’s Student Life Coordinator working on campus before covid, giving students opportunities for engagement and activism. The program languished while everything was shut down, but there was planning to re-start it on her return from a 2-year stint teaching in Austin. If you’re not aware, Kim died […]

7th ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNTPNW, JULY 7, 2024

 in Dick's Newsletter 2024

JULY 7 WAS THE 7th ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNTPNW, THE UNITED NATIONS TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS, for which ICAN won the Nobel Peace Prize. David   World Beyond War.  Webinar and Book. There’s a webinar coming up on July 9, 2024 about nuclear deterrence.   [Sorry, I just now learned of the webinar.  –D]   I imagine it will be excellent. I’ve also just been reading a fantastic book on the topic called Threats: Intimidation and Its Discontents by David P. Barash. There’s an online book club with the author and free copy of the book coming up for that. Barash’s central thesis is that the […]