PEACE WEEK AT UN-O . . . The BackBone Campaign will be at UN-O Monday, September 14, 2009, as part of Peace Week activities. The group will use Guerilla Theater to promote the Single Payer health care option. Click here to watch a video of their Procession for the Future. The Omaha performace will begin at noon in the Free Speech area mid-campus, weather permitting.

LUNCH AND LEARN ON IMMIGRATION . . . Reservations are needed by noon Monday, September 14, 2009, for the September 17th League of Women Voters Lunch and Learn on federal immigration reform at the 20th floor of US Bank, 13th & M Streets, Lincoln. The event is open to the public. For reservations, phone 475.1411, or e-mail lwv-ne [at] inebraska [dot] com.

BEREUTER ENCOUNTERING CHINA . . . Monday, September 14, 2009, 7:00pm, Doug Bereuter will present the EN Thompson Forum on World Issues at Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 North 12 Street, Lincoln. Click here to watch a video preview.

MISSION TO PROMOTE PEACE . . . “Three Cups of Tea” co-author Greg Mortenson will speak in Lincoln on Tuesday, September 22, 2009, at College View Seventh-day Adventist Church, 4801 Prescott Avenue. Doors open at 6:00pm. Program starts at 7:00pm. Promoting peace through building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Mortenson was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in January of this year. There is a fee for his Lincoln appearance. For questions or tickets via phone, call 402.486.2973 and leave a message. For group rate information, call Caryl Guisinger at 308.357.1000, or e-mail caryl [at] designinsight [dot] net before Tuesday, September 15.

ETHICS LECTURE AT LIED . . . Tuesday, September 15, 2009, Harry Markopolos will present the UN-L College of Business Administration’s Annual Ethics Lecture “Blowing the Whistle on Bernie Madoff: Gift Wrapping and Delivering the Truth about the Largest Ponzi Scheme Ever,” at The Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 North 12th Street, Lincoln. The 3:30pm lecture by the man who fingered Madoff is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION SERIES . . . Tuesday, September 15, 2009, “Black-White Dialogues” will begin a series of six Conversations meant to increase mutual understanding and respect between Black and White members of the OMAHA community. The six Dialogues are from 7:00 to 9:00pm, at First Central Congregational Church, 421 South 36th Street. Dr. Zebulon Miletsky will present “Confronting America’s Racial Past: A Historical Primer” on September 15. For more information, and to register, click here.

NWU VISIONS & VENTURES SYMPOSIUM . . . The 2009 Nebraska Wesleyan Visions & Ventures Symposium will be held at O’Donnell Auditorium in the Rogers Center for Fine Arts, 50th Street and Huntington Avenue, Lincoln, Wednesday, September 16 and Thursday, September 17. The symposium is free and open to the public. Annie Leonard, author and host of The Story of Stuff, and Naomi Klein, author of international bestseller The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, both Bioneers, will be featured. The schedule of events is as follows: Wednesday, September 16, 7:00pm, Naomi Klein; Thursday, September 17, 10:00am, Annie Leonard; 1:00pm, Panel discussion, “Economics and the Constitution;” 7:00pm, Stephen Moore, writer of “The Road Back to Prosperity.” Click here for more information.

LINCOLN PEACE VIGILS . . . Lincoln peace vigils continue at the Federal Building, 15th and O streets, every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. Contact Mark at 402-499-6672 or e-mail mark [at] weddleton [dot] com for more information.

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Omaha peacemakers vigil every Wednesday, 4:30-5:30pm, at StratCom/UN-O, 6801 Pine Street, east of the Scott Technology Center on the Un-O campus. Free parking is available at the NE Corner of 67th Street and Pine in a student lot. For more information, phone Jerry Ebner, 402.502.5887. Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is an Anti-War and Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068.

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday evening, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. The event is always free and open to the public. This week’s film is Inlaws and Outlaws.  Food and drink is available. A lively discussion follows each showing. For more information, click here.  The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

WORLD DAY ON THE MALL . . . Thursday, September 17, 2009 is World Day on the Mall, “The World in a Day.” The one-day celebration, 10:00am to 2:30pm, at Centennial Mall South,15th & M Streets, Lincoln, is an opportunity to share, experience, and value other cultures through ethnic food, music, entertainment, and information, increasing awareness, understanding, and cultural appreciation. Click here for a schedule of events and presentations.

TREE DEDICATION . . . Thursday, September 17, 2009, 5:00pm, the League of Women Voters will dedicate an oak tree in honor of former Lincoln Mayor Helen Boosalis on the Boosalis Bike Trail just north of Highway 2. Parking is available in the vicinity of 38th and LaSalle Streets. Speakers include Mayor Chris Beutler and former County Commissioner Jan Gauger, the first female to run for Lancaster County Board.

NADP ANNUAL DINNER . . . Friday, September 18, 2009, Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty and the Nebraska Innocence Project will co-host the 2009 Annual Dinner and Art Auction at the Georgetowne Club, 2440 South 141st Circle, OMAHA. Social Hour & Silent Auction begin at 6:30; Dinner & Program at 7:30pm. Keynote Speaker Randy Steidl spent more than 17 years wrongfully imprisoned, 12 of which were on death row. E-mail jill [at] nadp [dot] net to make reservations.

FALL MIGRATION AT FONTENELLE FOREST . . . A guided tour of the Missouri River flyway at Omaha’s Fontenelle Forest will begin Saturday, September 19, 2009, 8:30am, led by premier birder Justin Rink. Meet in the parking lot by Fontenelle’s Wetlands Learning Center, next to Gifford Farm. To caravan or carpool from Lincoln, meet at 7:15am in the Oak Lake parking lot by West Charleston Street and Sun Valley Boulevard. For more information, or directions to Fontenelle, phone John Carlini, 402.475.7275.

TALLGRASS BIO-BLITZ . . . Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center will hold its first annual BioBlitz, Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20,2009. BioBlitz is a public biological survey to collect data establishing baseline information on plant and animal species at the Center. Spring Creek Prairie is located 20 minutes southwest of Lincoln: Follow SW 98th Street south out of Denton for three miles. Contact Deb Hauswald for more information and to register, by phone at 797.2301, or e-mail dhauswald [at] audubon [dot] org.

2009 GREEN HOMES TOUR . . . The Green Omaha Coalition and U.S. Green Building Council, Flatwater Chapter, will host a Green Homes Tour of four West Omaha homes at Village Pointe, Saturday, September 19, 2009, 9:00am to Noon. Each home will feature a different theme. All are undergoing a series of green home improvement projects. For more information contact Ron Duce, Kiewit Building Group Inc., 402.977.4500, or e-mail ron [dot] duce [at] kiewit [dot] com. There is a fee for the tours.

BUY FRESH. BUY LOCAL . . . . Join the local food revolution by shopping farmer’s markets and eating fresh foods grown in or very near your own community. Eating locally grows family farming, grows the local economy, and is thousands of miles fresher. Click here for Nebraska Buy Fresh. Buy Local. information. Lincoln’s current Markets are as follows:

Old Cheney Farmers Market, 55th Street and Old Cheney Road, 10:00am to 2:00pm, Sundays through November 1.
Historic Haymarket Farmers Market, North Seventh between P and Q streets, 8:00am to noon, Saturdays through October 10. During peak season, mid-June through mid-August, there are about 215 vendors.
Havelock Farmers Market, north parking lot behind businesses between 62nd and 63rd streets and Havelock Avenue, 3:00 to 6:30pm, Wednesdays through October 28.
Piedmont Farmers Market, 1265 South Cotner Blvd., parking lot of Piedmont Shopping Center, 8:00am to noon, Saturdays through September/October.
Community CROPS Farmers Market, Pentzer Park, North 27th & Potter Streets, 4:30 to 7:30pm, Thursdays, June through September. Click here for a map of local Community CROPS gardens.
Centennial Mall Garden Market, 14th & M Streets, noon to 4:00pm, Wednesdays, July 1 through September 30.

We are no longer the alternative; we are the imperative. –Rosa Clemente