ENERGY EFFICIENCY 101 . . . An introductory overview of energy efficiency, “Energy Efficiency 101: Using efficiency to retire coal,” will be Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 6:00pm CST. Click here for more details, and to register.
OCCUPY THE COURTS . . . Friday, January 20, 2012, Move to Amend Occupies the Courts! Inspired by Occupy Wall Street and Dr. Cornel West, Move To Amend is planning a national day of protest to mark the second anniversary of Citizens United v. FEC. Occupy the Courts will be a one day occupation of Federal courthouses across the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Watch former Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb, now a Move to Amend spokesperson,in a 2:26 minute video explaining Occupy the Courts. End Corporate Rule, Legalize Democracy.
HELP GREENS GATHER SIGNATURES . . . The Green Party is now qualified for ballot status this election cycle in all of the four biggest states: New York, California, Florida, and Texas. Nebraska Green Party is gathering signatures so that voters here will also have the choice of voting for the Green Party presidential slate.
In Lincoln, petitions are available at Meadowlark Coffee and Espresso, 1624 South Street. Registered Nebraska voters are invited to stop by for coffee, visit with Adam Hintz from 6:00am to 2:00pm daily, sign a petition, or pick up one to circulate. In Omaha, look for Charles Ostdiek at McFoster’s, 38th and Harney, to sign and pick up petitions.
You must be a registered voter to circulate petitions. Fill out a voter registration application online here.[pdf] If you can help us identify a public place in CD 3 where petitions could be available, if you would like us to mail you petitions to circulate, or to participate in the ballot access process in any way, please let us know by e-mailing mjberry [at] inebraska [dot] com. Let’s take Our democracy back from Wall Street!
SAVING AMERICAN DEMOCRACY CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT . . . “There’s no question that the political tide is turning thanks to Occupy Wall Street–because there’s actually a political push to ensure that corporations are NOT people, to overturn the “free speech rights” given to corporations by the Supreme Court’s troubling Citizens United decision.” Add your voice. Sign the petition. In the House, Representative Ted Deutch’s H.J. Res 90, The OCCUPIED Amendment, also says that corporations are not people and they do not belong in our elections. Sign the OCCUPIED petition. Spread the word.
XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Page down for this week’s action alert, and then PLEASE CONTACT PRESIDENT OBAMA.
Lincoln area: Congressional District 1
VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. In winter, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. Read the January Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty Newsletter here. A recent Omaha World-Herald Editorial, “State looks bad over execution esthetic,” by Robert Nelson begins “In the past 12 months, Nebraska officials twice have tried to buy the increasingly hard-to-find drug sodium thiopental for use in executions by lethal injection. Both times, the state has acquired the drug more in a manner you would expect from a desperate drug addict than a state government.” Details of the “embarrassment” are explained in the op-ed. And the January 15th Lincoln Journal Star editorialized “It’a time for Nebraska to abolish the death penalty.” — number two on the “Agenda for 2012.” Details of Nebraska’s ritualized premeditated protocol for state killing are listed in “State prepares for Ryan’s execution,” also published by LJS on January 15th. Meanwhile, Omaha Senator Brenda Council and Lincoln Senator Danielle Conrad have introduced LB LB 276, to “Change a penalty from death to life imprisonment without possibility of parole and change other penalties as prescribed.” Letters to editors of local papers statewide are needed in response to the March 6, 2012 execution date the state has set for Ryan. Contact information for state senators and other actions are here. For more information about NADP, click here. “It is the deed that teaches, not the name we give it. Murder and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another, but similars that breed their kind.” –George Bernard Shaw
MARY PIPHER LECTURE AT UN-L . . . The annual Chancellor’s Program Keynote Lecture in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day takes place Monday, January 16, 2012, 2:00pm, in the City Union Auditorium, 15 & R Streets, Lincoln. This year features world-renowned author, psychologist and human rights advocate, Dr. Mary Pipher, best-known nationally for her 1994 book, Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. In 2003, Pipher published Middle of Everywhere: Helping Refugees Enter the American Community, which looked at diversity through the lens of Lincoln’s refugee communities. Dr. Pipher’s address is titled “Human Rights and ‘the Middle of Everywhere.’”
OCCUPY EDUCATION . . . Occupy Lincoln’s Occupy Education committee is promoting the idea of a free and open university with talks/discussions that starated the second week of January, and run through February 13, 2012. The teach-in workshop schedule is Mondays, 7:00 to 8:00pm at Indigo Bridge Books, 701 P Street; and Tuesdays, 7:00pm at Meadowlark Coffee, 1624 South Street. The Monday ECON 99 Course, “Economics the 1% Doesn’t Want You to Know,” consists of informal lectures to present basic ideas on the subject of that week, followed by an open discussion. BOLD Monday, January 16th, ECON 99, Part 1: “What Goes Around, Comes Around” – The Economy as a Circular Flow. Tuesday, January 17th, 7:00pm, “Feral Fermentation” With J.C. natsoray [at] yahoo [dot] com; and “Acquiring Land without Requiring Loans from Big Banks” With Tobias tobiasalexander [dot] busque [at] gmail [dot] com. UNBOLD “Occupy Lincoln hosts first of educational series,” a Daily Nebraskan article, reported on the January 9th workshop. For more information, e-mail Hendrik van den Berg, hvan-den-berg1 [at] unl [dot] edu. Be there to learn and discuss. Knowledge is liberating.
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.
2012 WINTER LECTURE SERIES . . . Northern Africa from Morocco to Egypt is the topic of this year’s Winter Lecture Series at Lincoln’s Unitarian Church, 6300 A Street. Each two-hour session starts at 7:00pm. The first hour features a presentation, followed by refreshment break and a half hour of questions and dialogue. On the seventh and final evening, the series will end with a 6:00 dinner and a panel discussion at 7:00pm. The lectures are free and open to the public. Sunday, January 22, 2012: “The Invention of the Maghreb,” by Professor Majid Hannoum, University of Kansas, will focus on how the colonial history has shaped current political and cultural dynamics of the region.
NO MORE PLASTIC BAGS AT OPEN HARVEST . . . Open Harvest Co-Op Grocery, 1618 South Steet in Lincoln, has eliminated plastic bags at the check out registers beginning January 1, 2012. From the LJS article, “It is a positive change for the Co-op and hopefully other businesses in Lincoln will consider keeping plastic bags out of their store and out of our landfills.”
OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . The Occupy Lincoln camp site is located on Centennial Mall north of the state capitol. There is now a General Assembly three times per week: Sunday, 1:30pm; Wednesday, 6:00pm; and Friday, 6:00 to 9:00pm. The Facebook page is here. The Twitter feed is @OccupyLincoln. For more information, e-mail occupylincoln [at] gmail [dot] com or phone 402.585.5865. Corporate Greed is Revolution’s Seed!
ROCK CREEK WINTER HIKE . . . Rock Creek comprises several hundred acres of virgin and restored tallgrass prairie near Fairbury, about 67 miles southwest of Lincoln. Sunday, January 22, 2012, 10:30am, meet at the Wachiska Audubon office parking lot, 4547 Calvert Street, to caravan or carpool for a winter hike of the historic trails. The public is welcome. For more information, phone John Carlini at 402.475.7275.
RECYCLE TREES UNTIL JANUARY 30 . . . Due to continuing demand, holiday trees may be recycled until January 30 at Hofeling Enterprises, 2200 South Folsom Court, 7:00am to 6:00pm, Monday through Friday. For more information, phone the City Recycling Hotline at 402.441.8215.
Omaha area: Congressional District 2
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 a Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store parking lot. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068 for more information about Saturday vigils.
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. Wednesday, January 18, 2012, the film will be “Impaler,” a film about Jonathon “The Impaler” Sharkey, a satanic vampire who runs for governor of Minnesota. The weekly event is always free and open to the public. A discussion will follow the film. For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.
PUBLIC MEETING WITH NRC STAFF THRUSDAY . . . US Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with Omaha Public Power District officials in Omaha on Thursday, January 19, 2012, to discuss its oversight of the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant. The public meeting will begin at 6:00pm at the Doubletree Hotel, 1616 Dodge Street. The Fort Calhoun Plant has been placed on regulatory hold for significant performance issues. NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public after the business portion of the meeting.
PIPE DREAMS . . . There will be a free showing of Academy Award and Emmy-nominated director Leslie Iwerks’ documentary, Pipe Dreams, Saturday, January 21, 2012, 7:00 to 10:00pm, at House of Loom, 1012 South 10th Street, Omaha. Pipe Dreams is the story of the greatest environmental battle in the U.S. today- The Keystone XL Pipeline. The FaceBook page is here. Discussion and music will follow the film.
OCCUPY OMAHA . . . The current Occupy Omaha location is in transition. The official Occupy Omaha website is here. The FaceBook page is here. The Twitter feed is #occupyomaha
ENGAGE OMAHA . . . One of the nation’s first city-wide, virtual town hall websites, EngageOmaha, is now online. Omaha residents may weigh in on issues for the city to consider. Pick a topic, and join the mix here.
Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3
KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . The president has until February 20, 2012 to approve or deny the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline. It is believed he will announce his decision before the end of January. Handwritten letters to the president (on 8-1/2 x 11″ paper) are the number one requested opposition action at this point. Address them to President Barack Obama, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500.
Send the White House an online message here, and spread the word on Facebook and Twitter. CALL THE WHITE HOUSE at the Switchboard number: 202.456.1414. Sign a Credo petition to the president here. The clock is ticking on this environmentally disastrous tar sands project.
Tell the president to “Please reject this attempt to ram through approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by rejecting the project’s permit application.” Sign a Save BioGems NRDC petition here.
Urge the president to do the right thing and reject the pipeline by filling out a 350.org petition here. Send a “Thanks in Advance” message to the President here.
Add your voice to the “Protect Our Water, Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline!” petition urging denial of the construction permit here. And sign The Other 98% petition to Obama, “End Lobbyist Influence, STOP THE PIPELINE,” here.
Comprehensive coverage of international, national and local opposition to the XL pipeline since May 30, 2010 is archived in the Green Notes tab above. At the Index, scroll from the bottom up for links to each week’s Update.
STOP FRACKING NOW . . . From “Officials Say Fracking Caused Ohio Earthquake,” in Reader Supported News, January 2, 2012: “Officials said Saturday they believe the latest earthquake activity in northeast Ohio is related to the injection of wastewater into the ground near a fault line, creating enough pressure to cause seismic activity. The brine wastewater comes from drilling operations that use the so-called fracking process to extract gas from underground shale.”
“Ohio earthquake was not a natural event, expert says,” by Kim Palmer for Reuters in the Chicago Tribune, January 3rd, reports “A 4.0 magnitude earthquake in Ohio on New Year’s Eve did not occur naturally and may have been caused by high-pressure liquid injection related to oil and gas exploration and production, an expert hired by the state of Ohio said on Tuesday.”
Petition Congress: “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.”
PETITION THE EPA . . . Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee populations. Learn more about clothianidin and sign the petition here.
TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO CAVE TO MONSANTO AND THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY . . . The Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve three biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa, Roundup Ready genetically modified sugar beets and a new industrial biotech corn for ethanol production. These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Please tell the President it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject GMO crops.
BUY FRESH. BUY LOCAL . . . . Farmers, gardeners, and craftspeople meet through The Nebraska Food Cooperative, an on-line, year-round farmers’ market and local food distribution service offering the best in local freshness. For ordering and pickup schedules, refer to the calendar here. Click here for products and prices from North Star Neighbors, a Cooperative member that doesn’t therapeutically medicate or unduly confine animals. Click here for Tomato Tomäto, Omaha’s year-round indoor Farmer’s Market at 156th & West Center. Shop for fresh foods grown in or very near your own community at Open Harvest, Lincoln’s member-owned natural foods retail cooperative at 1618 South Street. Buying local grows family farming, grows the local economy, and is thousands of miles fresher.
HELP NEBRASKA GREENS WITH GOODSEARCH . . . Each time you search the Internet (or shop online at a participating store), a donation can be made to Nebraska Green Party at no cost to you! To help NGP in this way, enter Nebraska Green Party where it asks you to name your cause here. Bookmark the GoodSearch Homepage, or make it your own Home Page. Enter the url you want in the GoodSearch search box. Each time you do, one penny will be donated to Nebraska Greens. THANK YOU for your support!
Remember, every man-made by-product of the petroleum industry could be replaced by hemp. “Help Save the Earth, Time to Substitute Hemp for oil.“