OMNI Blog

Homeless Solutions: Patching the Cracks in the broken system

December 10, 2023 in homeless

Homelessness is a complex system of needs and greeds that can’t be fixed with a few patches. But that’s were we are right now. We do what we can and learn from the experience. A group of concerned Omni folks and friends are holding meetings about solutions to this very wicked problem bubbling up over our area, and a newsletter about their work will be launching in January. If you’d like to receive the Homeless Solutions Post to find out what solutions are emerging, please drop a note to omni@omnicenter.org and say “put me on the “Solutions” list. More inspiration: […]

OMNI WAR WATCH WEDNESDAYS, #155, DECEMBER 6, 2023

December 7, 2023 in WAR WATCH WEDNESDAYS

https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2023/12/omni-war-watch-wednesdays-155-december.html Gaza Decimation: New Book by Finkelstein Usaid Siddiqui. “Book Review: Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom.” The New Arab. 28 Feb., 2018. Norman Finkelstein’s work is an incisive guide to Gaza’s destruction, offering crucial analysis rarely found in the western media, writes Usaid Siddiqui. A July 2017 Amnesty International report raised the alarm over Gaza, calling attention to the deteriorating conditions in the besieged territory, which was witnessing the rapid collapse of its health system, and what it described as “crisis point”. In unambiguous terms, the report singled out Israel’s “brutal land, sea and air blockade” responsible for the mass suffering of […]

We Must Be Relentless in Humanizing Palestinians -from Yes Magazine

December 2, 2023 in Current Events

The fragile ceasefire could end at any moment. Most of the world sees that the bombing campaign is not a real solution to peace in the Middle East, but some parts of the Israeli government cling to violence as the only way. The humanity of both sides is lost in the firefight. “… A decade ago, analyst Norman Solomon pointed out … how Time Magazine defined “collateral damage” as “a term meaning dead or wounded civilians who should have picked a safer neighborhood.” That descriptor can easily be applied today to Gaza, a minuscule and densely populated strip of land […]

COP 28 Opens in Dubai

December 2, 2023 in Climate

The Climate Moment …. What’s happening around the world about climate? Selected moments from the collection of Reevaluation Counseling leader Russ Vernon-Jones and shared by local Omni member Dorothy Marcy With great fanfare and angst on all sides the new COP – the Conference of Parties on climate change – gather this week. The clock is ticking on the enormity of the task and the potential for real action. There is great concern that this crucial meeting will be marred because the fossil fuel industry has forced itself into a leadership role in the organization of the COPs. This years […]

OMNI CLIMATE MEMO MONDAYS, #155, NOVEMBER 27, 2023

November 30, 2023 in Climate Memo Mondays

Compiled by Dick Bennett. https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2023/11/omni-climate-memo-mondays-155-november_30.html Continued: What’s stopping USA from reversing rising temperature, or at least from slowing it down? People who whitewash and delay consensus and public education of the UN IPCC Reports by recommending additional study of the Assessments. Example: Steven Koonin. Unsettled? What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters. BenBella, 2021. IPCC Assessments report the conclusions of thousands of scientists in peer reviewed publications; these conclusions are then reviewed by governments and corporations, which can alter the Assessment reports in “Summaries.” Koonin admits that “the IPCC’s ‘Summaries for Policymakers’ are heavily influenced, […]

OMNI CLIMATE MEMO MONDAYS, #155, NOVEMBER 27, 2023

November 29, 2023 in Climate Memo Mondays

https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2023/11/omni-climate-memo-mondays-155-november.html What’s stopping USA from reversing rising temperature, or at least from slowing it down? (A frequent subject in CMM.) Fossil Fuel IndustryPolitics of War, “Cold” and Hot.Religion: US Evangelicals.Overpopulation and still growing. What should each of us do to become an insurgency? Fossil Fuel IndustryJeremy Brecher. Against Doom: A Climate Insurgency Manual. “…lays out key elements of a far-reaching global-scaled, pragmatic, people-powered strategy to topple the power of the fossil fuel industry and the institutions behind it.” David Solnit. Politics of National Rivalry, Russophobia, War.Loveday Morris and Vanessa Guinan-Bank. “Germany Seeing Return to Coal.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (8-7-22). [ It’s politics]: […]