GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL UPDATE . . . Thirty-three states now have a ballot line for Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala, and they will appear as write-ins in three other states. In Nebraska, we are collecting signatures for ballot access with a non-partisan line in November. Next week’s Green Notes will announce the results of our Nebraska campaign. For more information on ballot access, see http://www.jillstein.org/ballot.
Petition the Commission on Presidential Debates to allow Jill to participate in all of the presidential debates this year.  “The Republican and Democratic Parties control the presidential debates and exclude third party candidates. This is anti-thetical to democracy. We petition the Commission on Presidential Debates to allow Jill Stein to participate in all of the presidential debates this year.”
Major polling organizations are also ignoring independent party candidates. The CPD requires 15% support among five public opinion polls in order for a candidate to be included in the debates. But, they don’t name which polls or even when they’ll gather such evidence.
Gallup Organization is the only official advisor on polling to the CPD. So, let’s make some noise and tell Gallup to take 3 important actions: 1) Include Jill Stein in ALL Gallup polling. 2) Encourage other polling organizations to include Jill Stein. 3) Advise the CPD to only consider polls that have included all legitimate candidates. (The Stein campaign made history and secured Federal matching funds! Doesn’t that demonstrate significant public support?)
Write an old-fashioned letter or postcard and mail to: The Gallup Organization, 502 Carnegie Center, Suite 300, Princeton , NJ 08450
Contact: Alyssa Brown at 1.202.715.3104, alyssa_brown [at] gallup [dot] com
Contact: Zach Bikus at 1.202.715.3100, zach_bikus [at] gallup [dot] com
Post on their Facebook wall: https://www.facebook.com/gallup
Tweet: Hey @gallupnews! Don’t be so biased! Include @JillStein2012 in your #Election2012 polling!
Thanks for helping fight the media blackout!  Another U.S. is Possible — Another Party is Necessary.

NEBRASKA RAINBOW GATHERING . . . Nebraska’s 2012 Labor Day Weekend Rainbow Gathering started Wednesday, August 29th and continues through Wednesday, September 5th. 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.

FARMERS MARKETS . . . 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.

“Say no to the politics of fear!” -Jill Stein

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. 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.  Mark your calendar now for NADP’s Annual Reception and Silent Auction, Thursday, October 11, 2012, 7:00 to 8:30pm.  “It’s barbaric. It’s outlawed in all but a few extremely repressive countries like Iran, China, and not many others. It’s shameful that it continues to be performed. It’s well established that mistakes are made–yet half of our states practice pre-meditated state-sponsored murder. It’s also known that it’s not effective. So why is it done? Revenge & retribution? That’s not what our justice system is supposed to be about. It’s not an effective deterrent.” –Jill Stein, GP Presidential Nominee.

PUBLIC HEARINGS ON HEALTH CARE EXCHANGES . . . There will be two Public Hearings on Health Care Exchanges at Lincoln’s Downtown Holiday Inn, 141 North 9th Street: Tuesday, September 4th, 9:00am, for consumer advocacy groups, and Tuesday, September 4th, 1:00pm, for providers. Thursday, September 6th, 1:00pm, the open public hearing will be for insurers. Other meetings will be held around the state.
In addition, the Department of Insurance will hold a series of informal public meetings throughout Nebraska to get input on the creation of the new health insurance exchange. The remaining meetings are Monday, September 10th, Omaha Ramada Plaza, 3321 S 72nd Street, 6:00 to 9:00pm, and Wednesday, September 12th, in South Sioux City at the Marina Inn Conference Center, 385 East 4th Street, 6:00 to 9:00pm.

TUESDAY FARMERS MARKET . . . Tuesdays, 4:30-7:30pm, there is a Farmers Market at St. Paul United Church of Christ, 13th & F Streets, in Lincoln.

RAIN GARDEN WORKSHOP . . . Register by Wednesday, for Saturday’s September 8, 2012 hands-on Rain Garden Workshop, 9:00 to 11:00am, at the Prairie Building in Pioneers Park Nature Center, 3201 South Coddington. The workshop is free, by pre-registration is required. Call Ellen Wright, 402.441.7075, or e-mail ewright [at] lincoln [dot] ne [dot] gov.

WEDNESDAY FARMERS MARKETS . . . The Downtown Garden Market, M Street between 16th & Centennial, continues every Wednesday, 12:00 noon to 4:00pm. The University Place Community Market, 48th Street & Madison Avenue, is every Wednesday from 3:00 to 7:00pm.

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.

CLEAN OUT YOUR GARAGE DAY . . . Saturday, September 8, 2012, is National Clean Out Your Garage Day.  Find tips for how to start at http://journalstar.com/lifestyles/home-and-garden/give-you-car-a-break-clean-out-your-garage/article_234b2e86-1371-518f-a917-767a9b6edcf0.html.

SATURDAY FARMERS MARKET . . . The Haymarket Farmers Market, on 8th Street in Lincoln’s Historic Haymarket District, is 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.

PLAY IN THE STREETS . . . Sunday, September 9, 2012, 12:30 to 5:30pm, people of all ages are encouraged to Play in the Streets at the second annual Streets Alive! health and wellness festival, a free afternoon of fun and activities along a 3.3 mile route from Trago Park near 21st and & Streets, southeast along the Antelope Valley Trail and east to Woods Park at 33rd and O, in Lincoln. The route will be closed to vehicle traffic. For more information, visit http://www.facebook.com/StreetsAliveLincoln.

LINCOLN AIDS WALK . . . Sunday, September 9, 2012, 2:00pm, join the Lincoln AIDS Walk to raise awareness about HIV in our local community. The two mile solidarity march will be pass in front of the State Capitol, go through downtown Lincoln, and up O street. Individuals can walk independently or with a team. Registration will begin at 1:30pm, at the Panic, 200 South 18th Street.  Download the registration form at http://stage.nap.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/2012-AIDS-Walk-Brochure-Lincoln-Revision.pdf.

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 EDUCATION . . . Everyone is a teacher! Each week, a different member of the Lincoln community will host a short class on a topic of their choosing, Sundays, 7:00 – 8:00pm, September 9 through October 7, 2012, at Meadowlark Café, 1624 South Street. September 9th, Barb van den Berg will feature “Introduction to the Repair Café/Mending Clothes/Planning Session for September 23rd.

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!

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

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, September 5, 2012, the film will be “Can We Do Better than Capitalism?,” a look at Capitalism and how it really works. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

GREEN TEAM ROUNDTABLE . . . Pre-registration and payment are required by Friday, September 7th, for the Omaha Green Team Roundtable Meeting Wednesday, September 12, 2012, featuring “Green Event Planning,” Wellnist’s Sustainability Program at their headquarters, 13801 FNB Parkway, Suite 101. A zero waste lunch is included. Green Team Roundtables are peer-to-peer networking meetings facilitated by WasteCap Nebraska staff and open to business owners, managers, green team members and individuals. For information on hosting opportunities, upcoming Roundtable locations and topics go to call Julie Diegel at 402.434.7376. Pre-register for September 12th at http://www.wastecapne.org/calendar/event-registration/?regevent_action=register&event_id=79&name_of_event=SeptemberOmahaGreenTeamRountable.

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at the northwest corner of 72nd and Dodge Streets in Omaha. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store lot. Contact Steve Horn, 402.426.9068, for more information about Saturday vigils.

OMAHA FARMERS MARKETS . . . Click here for an Omaha Market schedule.

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 at http://www.engageomaha.com/.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Another pipeline spill has leaked hundreds of thousands of chemicals in central Alberta.  Watch a 2:10 minute video from aptn news on August 28, 2012, “Alberta pipeline leaks 300,000 litres of tar sands-tainted water,” by Noemi LoPinto at http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2012/08/28/alberta-pipeline-leaks-300000-litres-of-tar-sands-tainted-water/.
“Why We’re Putting Ourselves on the (Pipe)Line With the Tea Party,” by Will Wooten, Candice Bernd, Ron Seifert, YES! Magazine, sourced to Reader Supported News, August 28th begins “Occupiers, Tea Partiers, landowners, and environmentalists are challenging construction of the Keystone XL pipeline’s Gulf Coast segment – together.”
From “7 arrested in Polk Co. pipeline protest,” by Alexis Spears, ktre news, August 28th: “Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested two women and five men who illegally trespassed on private property in protest of the Keystone XL pipeline Tuesday morning. …Thousands of acres of private land are being taken by this corporation,” Seifert said. “I mean, these are people’s homes that are being taken, that are being expropriated, that are being stolen from them.” View 2:11 minute news coverage at http://www.ktre.com/story/19400667/7-arrested-in-polk-co-pipeline-protest.
Visit http://www.nacstop.org/BlockadeEdition.html for a series of photos from the Blockade in action at Livingston, Texas on August 28, 2012, courtesy of Steve Da Silva. The message: Stay tuned….this is only the beginning.
From York News Times, “Priest making plans to walk pipeline route,” by Rachael Ruybalid, August 30th: “Shodo Spring, a Buddhist priest, has been an environmentalist for a long time. It started seven years ago for her after her third grandchild had been born when she went to hear a speaker talk about peak oil. “I had known there were issues with fossil fuels and I had some knowledge of issues about climate change,” she said. “I had been hoping it was wrong but there I thought to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s 10 times worse than I thought.’”
…Last summer, Spring went to Washington D.C. to protest the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline. She sat in front of the White House and was arrested on the protest’s religious day while wearing her Buddhist robes.
…She has been traveling around the route in Nebraska this summer, talking to landowners along the route about her walk and also the different reasons they’re opposed to the pipeline.
“…The purpose is to change consciousness or to activate people who are environmentalists who are saying ‘we can’t do anything about this,’” Spring said.
…When Spring does walk the route next summer, when she comes through Nebraska and York County, the York News-Times hopes to bring the readers a regular update on her progress.” Read entire article at http://www.yorknewstimes.com/news/priest-making-plans-to-walk-pipeline-route/article_33879b3c-f328-11e1-9ecf-0019bb2963f4.html.
Last week’s Greg Awtry YNT Editorial, “Put safety of citizens and natural resources above all else,” is an Open letter to Nebraska Gov. Heineman and Nebraska’s Washington delegation Representatives Smith, Fortenberry and Terry, Senators Nelson and Johanns, Senate candidates Fisher and Kerrey, and Speaker Flood. Quoting, “…I urge our political leaders to put the safety of our citizens and the preservation of our natural resources above all else and join them in their fight. I urge our readers to let the politicians know how you feel, pro, con or otherwise. This is a lasting decision which will have major consequences to all Nebraskans as well as set precedent for the future. Let your voices be heard. It is the Nebraska way.”
In response to the Awtry Editorial, here are three things everyone can ask any candidate in this election cycle,
1) “Repeal the Fischer Loophole” that allows oil pipelines to take Nebraskans land. We must put property rights, a fundamental American value, first. Pipelines should have to prove they are a “common carrier” and they should have to prove the oil is 100% for America.
2) Pass “Right to Know Laws” so citizens, first responders and health officials know what exactly is in a pipeline that crosses their community, if they are in an evacuation zone when a spill happens and what the chain of command for clean-up is on the ground.
3) “Reroute Pipelines” away from the Sandhills and the Ogallala Aquifer. We should have Energy Corridors in our state that companies who want to cross our land and water know they can suggest a pipeline be built. This way, citizens, landowners, first responders and health officials can be prepared. At Bold, we think Nebraska should tarsands free, for that matter we think America should be tarsands free and rely on our home-grown, American-made energy sources.
“Texas judge rules TransCanada can seize pasture for Keystone XL,” by Saul Elbein, was published in the New York Times, August 23rd: “The Canadian energy company TransCanada can take over land owned by a Texas farmer to build its Keystone XL pipeline, says a county judge. In a 15-word ruling sent from his iPhone, Judge Bill Harris upheld TransCanada’s condemnation of a 50-foot strip of land across Julia Trigg Crawford’s pasture here.”
See current photos of KXL construction happening now courtesy of Kathy and Steve DaSilva.
Tell the Obama Administration: Reject Keystone XL. Again. The following message accompanies a new petition from Credo Action: In the same week that record June heat blanketed the southeast, Minnesota tried to recover from record flooding, and the biggest fire in Colorado’s history continued to burn out of control — President Obama doubled down in his support for the energy that is causing this deepening climate change spiral approving the first portion of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, giving away 720 million tons of publicly owned coal to a coal company for virtually nothing, and promising to lease more arctic offshore areas for oil drilling. Now, the Canada to Oklahoma portion of the Keystone XL pipeline – which would turn up the spigot on deadly, “game over for the climate” tar sands production – is back before the State Department after being rejected by President Obama earlier this year when Republicans tried to force his decision.
Without the pressures of the election, President Obama could conceivably cave when a decision is made in 2013 – if he is re-elected. This public comment period is our opportunity to go on the record, before the election, with our fierce opposition. Please urge President Obama to reject the Keystone XL Pipeline.  (Note: Credo Action petitions do generate e-mail from other petitions.)
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 Nominee.

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . At the First-Ever National Mobilization Against Fracking on July 28th, celebrities, community groups, and more than 100 organizations joined forces for “Stop the Frack Attack” in Washington, DC, where they made three demands of Congress: 1. Stop dangerous fracking; 2. Close 7 legal loopholes that exempt the oil and gas industry from parts of the Safe Drinking Water, Clean Air, and Clean Water Acts; and 3. Implement a pathway towards 100% clean renewable energy. Learn more about the event here.  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 EPA: Stop stalling. Save the Bees!  Submit a public comment urging the EPA to stop stalling, and take action to protect bees from the harmful pesticide clothianidin.
Last month, for the second time, the EPA refused to intervene to stop the use of the pesticide clothianidin, which scientists believe is at least partially to blame for the alarming rise in bee colony collapse — the sudden bee die-off which has claimed about 30% of the U.S. honey bee population each year since 2006. If we don’t convince the EPA to reconsider, it will not review clothianidin again until 2018. By then it could be too late for the bees, and the one third of our food crops that bees play a crucial role in pollinating.
The EPA is currently accepting public comments on its latest decision not to declare bee die-offs an emergency situation and suspend the use of clothianidin. Now is a crucial moment to make our voices heard for the bees. Submit a public comment to the EPA now.
Astonishingly, clothianidin was approved by the EPA based on virtually no scientific study. Yet the EPA continues to allow its use. Now, a group of senators have joined the call, writing a letter urging the EPA that waiting until 2018 to again review clothianidin and other neonicotinoids will be too late. There is no time to waste. Please submit a comment now urging the EPA to immediately suspend approval of clothianidin to protect honey bees and our food system.

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.“