NEBRASKA RAINBOW GATHERING . . . Nebraska’s 2012 Memorial Day Weekend Rainbow Gathering will be from Wednesday to Wednesday, May 23 to May 30th. No money. No alcohol. No aggression. No amplified music. Camping and Celebration of Nature. Find Common Unity to Build Community. Hike and camp along a wide sandy river channel on public land near Genoa, Nebraska. For directions, and more information, phone William at 402.304.2751.
GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL UPDATE . . . After winning Green Party primaries in Maryland and Delaware, Dr. Jill Stein has crossed the 50% threshold to winning the Green Party’s 2012 presidential nomination. With 200.5 delegates required, and 105.5 delegates in hand, Dr. Stein is now the prospective nominee. She is 18 for 18 in the Green Party state primaries, conventions and caucuses. The campaign has launched the first step in a search for a vice presidential running mate, asking for people’s guidance at the website.
A 1:42:42 minute video of the May 12, 2012 Green Party Presidential Forum streamed live with Stein and Roseanne Barr is here. If you ever dreamed of a new paradigm for electoral politics in this country, please watch this model of extraordinary cooperation and agreement between candidates, in stark contrast to the competitive status quo. Watch video of Stein’s 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial debate with Mitt Romney here.
To help secure ballot status in Nebraska so that Stein can be on the November ballot, e-mail mjberry [at] inebraska [dot] com. Notarized petitions must be submitted to the Nebraska Secretary of State by July 31st. The National Green Party convention is in Baltimore, July 12, 2012.
FARMERS MARKETS OPEN . . . There are more than 90 local Farmers Markets in Nebraska this year. For a partial schedule of current Buy Fresh Buy Local Markets, click here.
Lincoln area: Congressional District 1
BEES . . . Sunday with a Scientist May 20, 2012, 1:30 to 4:30pm, at the University of Nebraska State Museum, Morrill Hall, just south of 14th and Vine Streets in Lincoln will feature Professor Marion Ellis, Department of Entomology at UN-L, highlighting the work of scientists on BEES. Discuss getting started in beekeeping with experienced beekeepers, participate in a honey tasting quiz to recognize the floral source of honey samples, and learn about native bees, beekeeping, and pollination at the “ask a beekeeper” booth. Collections of native bees will be on display to help visitors learn to identify common Nebraska bees.
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. When weather is bad, 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. Save the Date: June 2, 2012 Training Sessions in Lincoln and Omaha. “10 Tough Questions About the Death Penalty” will present the most effective ways to discuss the death penalty–over the water cooler, or presenting to your book club, Bible study, or social studies class. The Lincoln training will be from 9:00 to 11:00am, at the Unitarian Church of Lincoln, 6300 A Street, Lincoln. Identical Omaha traning will be from 1:00 to 3:00pm, at the Second Unitarian Church, 3012 South 119th Street, Omaha. A suggested $5 donation would cover the cost of materials, but it is not a requirement. 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
OCCUPY EDUCATION . . . The Monday Occupy Education Series continues with PLANET IN PERIL: HOW BUSINESS AS USUAL WILL TAKE US OVER THE CLIFF, weekly, 7:00 to 8:00pm, through May 21, 2012, at Indigo Bridge Books, 701 P Street #102. May 21st, “Part 4: Group Discussion about Alternative Energy” will be presented by Dennis Keim. Keim has a 30 year career instructing on renewable energy.
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.
HERBS FOR HEALTH AND JUSTICE . . . Led by Alex Svoboda, this Occupy Education Series is organized with the intention of fostering community and sharing knowledge about herbal healing and health justice. Saturday, May 26th, Alex will present “Cold and flu Support: Remedies for basic ailments–Food as medicine.” Each Saturday class through June 2nd is from 2:00 to 4:00pm, at the 4th floor auditorium, Bennett Martin Library, 136 South 14th Street, in downtown Lincoln.
SATURDAY FARMERS MARKET . . . The Haymarket Farmers Market, on 8th Street in Lincoln’s Historic Haymarket District, is now open every Saturday, 8:00am to noon, through October 13, 2012. More than 100 vendors bring farm-fresh produce, flowers, baked goods and handmade items to the local gathering place that also features a “Performance Showcase” for Nebraska folk, jazz, blues, classical, and dance talent, plus educational demonstrations and informational booths. Buy Fresh. Shop Local.
SUNDAY FARMERS MARKET . . . The Old Cheney Road Farmers Market offers local produce, baked goods and natural meats every Sunday, 10:00am to 2:00pm, at 55th Street and Old Cheney Road.
OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . There is a calendar of Occupy Lincoln events here. 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!
MOVE TO AMEND/END CORPORATE PERSONHOOD . . . Nebraska Move to Amend is gathering signatures on a petition to End Corporate Personhood by a Resolution to be presented to the Lincoln City Council. To get involved with the local campaign, e-mail Carol Smith, smithcarol [dot] 49 [at] gmail [dot] com
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, May 23, 2012, the film will be “Dirt! The Movie.” Narrated by Jaime Lee Curtis, Dirt! uses animation, vignettes, personal accounts and story telling to examine our relationship with the soil. Watch a 2:01 minute trailer here. For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.
PETITION TO REVERSE DECISION CLOSING POLLING STATIONS IN DOUGLAS COUNTY . . . Open and accessible polls are essential to a representative democracy. Commissioner Phipp’s decision to close half of the county’s polls resulted in disproportionately closing more polling locations in low income areas of Omaha where citizens do not have their own personal transportation. Find more information here and here. Election Commissioner Phipp’s CAN reverse this course of action. His decision was made without ANY public input or notice until he stated it was “too late.” Demand Election Commissioner Phipps make our elections accessible by calling 402.444.8683, and sign the petition here.
OMAHA FARMERS MARKETS . . . click here for an Omaha Market schedule.
OCCUPY OMAHA . . . 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 . . . There have been large crowds at Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality information sessions along the proposed KXL pipeline corridor. More than 160 people attended the Wednesday meeting in Albion.
TransCanada propaganda, a Lincoln Journal Star May 20, 2012 letter to the editor by Stu Luttich, remindeds readers that “… All TransCanada has to do is create an organization with attractive catch-phrases and logos, promote its intentions with large-scale advertisements and lace the advertisements with what the people want to read and hear, and the people will be seduced into following like mice following the Pied Piper. The oil and oil pipeline companies do not become rich by increasing jobs and selling cheap oil.”
In The Politics of the Pipeline, for Esquire Magazine, sourced to Reader Supported News, Charles Pierce speculates on political strategy around KXL. “As always, it’s necessary to point out that the pipeline will carry the most poisonous fossil fuel in the history of man right down through the center of our country, through rich farmlands and the Oglalla aquifer, to refineries in Texas, whereupon it will be refined and sold on the open market to anybody who wants to buy it. Energy independence, my eye. Lower gas prices, my other eye.”
How The Keystone XL Pipeline Could Raise Gas Prices, by Mose Buchele, May 17th, begins “The debate over TransCanada’s proposed oil pipeline from the oil sands of Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast has mostly focused on the environmental and economic impacts. People in favor say it will bring jobs and energy security. Opponents say the pipeline, and the crude it will carry, will harm the earth. But the project might have another consequence that’s been largely overlooked. Some analysts say it could actually raise gas prices for many American consumers.” Here’s how.
May 18th, The Hill reported on Friday’s House vote to insist that lawmakers negotiating a bicameral transportation programs funding bill include approval of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline. The bill was approved 261-152. Average Yea voters took 6.5 times more money from oil interests in the current Congress than the average Nay voter. In total, oil money Yea voters took over 11 times more. The Yea voters have received nearly $6 million during the current Congress while Nay voters received just over half a million. Read The Hill article here.
According to Bill McKibben, “We’re coming to think that it’s at least as important to tackle the fossil fuel industry directly as they try to tackle our win on the Keystone pipeline. Last Thursday, Bernie Sanders introduced a bill that would strip $113 billion in subsidies from coal, gas, and oil companies over the next decade. That’s enough money to weatherize more than half the single family and mobile homes in America.” Click here to learn how you can help.
TransCanada has secretly submitted its permit application for the Southern portion of the Keystone XL Pipeline to the Army Corps of Engineers. To evade a meaningful review, TransCanada applied for an expedited, insufficient permit. And the Army Corps, which has an abysmal environmental track record, could approve the project in 45 days – or sooner – unless the EPA steps in. Learn more and add your name to a petition telling EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson not to allow TransCanada’s project to get rubber stamped at the CredoAction petition here. A similar Friends of the Earth Petition is here. Please sign them both.
An Esquire article about Nebraska’s XKL opposition hero Randy Thompson, sourced to Reader Supported News, is here. RSN also sourced “Game Over for the Climate,” by James Hansen, from the New York Times. It begins “Global warming isn’t a prediction. It is happening. That is why I was so troubled to read a recent interview with President Obama in Rolling Stone in which he said that Canada would exploit the oil in its vast tar sands reserves ‘regardless of what we do.’ If Canada proceeds, and we do nothing, it will be game over for the climate.” Read the Hansen article here. Read Bill McKibben’s response to Hansen’s article here.
Sign a Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert telling Congress to reject all attempts to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by attaching it to any unrelated legislation. The Keystone XL will deliver billions in profits to Big Oil while the people get stuck with poisoned water, contaminated land and an overheated planet.
“The Keystone pipeline will spew a massive amount of carbon pollution into our fragile atmosphere. It should be stopped. ” –Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party Presidential candidate.
STOP FRACKING NOW . . . Quoting Bill McKibben in “Why Not Frack?” “The planet is running short of the easy stuff, where you stick a drill in the ground and crude comes bubbling to the surface. The great oil fields of Saudi Arabia and Mexico have begun to dwindle; one result has been a rising price for energy. We could, as a civilization, have taken that dwindling supply and rising price as a signal to convert to sun, wind, and other noncarbon forms of energy-it would have made eminent sense, most of all because it would have aided in the fight against global warming, the most difficult challenge the planet faces. Instead, we’ve taken it as a signal to scour the world for more hydrocarbons. And it turns out that they’re there-vast quantities of coal and oil and gas, buried deep or trapped in tight rock formations or mixed with other minerals. Getting at them requires ripping apart the earth: for instance, by heating up the ground so that the oil in the tar sands formation of Canada can flow to the surface. Or by tearing holes in the crust a mile beneath the surface of the sea, as BP was doing in the Gulf of Mexico when the Deepwater Horizon well exploded. Or by literally removing mountaintops to get at coal, as has become commonplace across the southern Appalachians.”
“Confirmed: Fracking Caused Ohio Earthquakes,” by Brad Johnson, ThinkProgress, in Reader Supported News reports “A dozen earthquakes in northeastern Ohio were almost certainly induced by injection of gas-drilling wastewater into the earth, Ohio oil and gas regulators said Friday as they announced a series of tough new regulations for drillers.”
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.
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.“