EARTH CIRCLE . . . On the first day of every month, people around the world stop everything for five minutes, joining with thousands of others to visualize peace and focus on new levels of kindness, understanding, and compassion necessary for collectively facing the challenges of the 21st century. New Dimensions invites peacemakers everywhere to join at 4:00pm Greenwich Mean Time, 10:00am in Lincoln and Omaha, 9:00am in District 3 where Mountain Time begins, Wednesday, February 1, 2012, with the intention of deep healing for the Planet and all its people. Click here for more information about Earth Circle.
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. At this time, 15 states have ballot status in November. Nebraska Green Party is gathering signatures so 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.
FRESH, a feature-length movie about the good food movement, is now available free online through Wednesday, February 1, 2012. To access the movie, click here.
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. 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.” Details of Nebraska’s ritualized premeditated protocol for state killing are listed in “State prepares for Ryan’s execution,” also published on January 15th.
Debate on LB 276,[pdf] to “Change a penalty from death to life imprisonment without possibility of parole,” introduced by Omaha Senator Brenda Council and Lincoln Senator Danielle Conrad, began Thursday, January 26, and continued Friday morning. Then, Council “requested that debate on her bill to abolish the death penalty be stopped so she can try to get answers about how the state purchased a lethal-injection drug.”
Letters to editors of local papers statewide are needed in response to the March 6, 2012 execution date for Michael 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
OCCUPY EDUCATION . . . Occupy Lincoln’s Occupy Education committee is offering a free and open university with weekly talks/discussions 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. January 30th, ECON 99, Part 3: “The Culture of Economics–A Sociological Analysis” with Pierre Bourdieu on Neoliberalism. Tuesday, January 31st, 7:00pm: “Rhetorical English” presented by Alex. For more information, e-mail Hendrik van den Berg, hvan-den-berg1 [at] unl [dot] edu Education is a Basic Human Right.
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.
HELP WACHISKA AUDUBON . . . Wachiska Audubon will co-sponsor a family event in conjunction with the annual Great Backyard Bird Count on February 18, 2012. There will be kid’s activity stations, and Wachiska is asking members and supporters to help collect 600 empty toilet paper tubes, and 400 pine cones, for the children’s crafts projects. Bring the tubes and cones to the General Meeting Thursday, February 9, 7:00pm, where “Sustainability of Water Resources in Nebraska” will be presented by Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District at the Dick Administration Building, Union College, 3800 South 48th Street, Lincoln; or drop them off at the Wachiska office, 4547 Calvert Street, Stuite 10. For more details, phone Chuck Francis, 402.483.6727.
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. There will be no lecture on February 5th because of the Super Bowl.
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. 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.” An update on customer response is in a Cindy Lange-Kubick article, “Kicking a (plastic) bag habit” published January 22, 2012.
OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . The Occupy Lincoln camp site is located on Centennial Mall north of the state capitol. The camp has been notified of a March 1, 2012 eviction date. There is a General Assembly three times per week: Sunday, 1:30pm; Wednesday, 6:30pm at Indigo Bridge Books; and Friday, 6:00 to 9:00pm. The Facebook page is here. The Twitter feed is @OccupyLincoln.
A letter was delivered to the City Attorney and Mayor’s office following GA approval on Wednesday (copies are available at camp) giving Occupy’s reasons for not leaving the mall on March 1st. Both the Mayor’s office and the City Council have asked for calls of support from Lincoln residents so they can legitimately tell those opposed to the camp that many of their constituents are supportive and they are respecting their voice. Contact information for the Mayor’s office is here. Contact the City Council using information here. unbold They represent us, and we need to be involved by direct communications to let them know what we want.
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 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, February 1, 2012, the film will be “The Conscientious Objector,” a documentary about Medal of Honor recipient Desmond Doss. 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.
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 DENIED . . . The TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline permit has been DENIED. The White House Statement is here. The Department of State announcement is here. “This is a victory for our environment and for future generations that will look upon this decision as an important step toward reducing our addiction to oil and moving America and the world toward a cleaner, safer and healthier future with tremendous job-creating opportunities in the creation of renewable energy systems and public transportation for all.” –Steve Larrick, Nebraska Green Party elected official, Lower Platte South Natural Resource District.
In a Democracy Now! video interview, “Robert Redford Praises Rejection of Keystone Pipeline: We Can’t Afford to Be at the Mercy of Big Oil,” Redford speaks about the significance of the XL pipeline denial decision.
“State: ‘Serious’ questions on GOP pipeline bill,” by Matthew Daly, AP, published in the Lincoln Journal Star on January 25th reports on “A Republican bill that would strip President Barack Obama of his authority to decide on a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline [that] raises “serious” legal questions… Assistant Secretary of State Kerri-Ann Jones told Congress that the bill “imposes narrow time constraints and creates automatic mandates that prevent an informed decision” on the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., would transfer authority over the 1,700-mile pipeline to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.”
From “State officials uncertain of next pipeline move,” by Art Hovey, LJS, also on January 25th: “…Mike Linder, director of the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, and Kerri-Ann Jones of the U.S. State Department were two of the three people scheduled to testify before Rep. Lee Terry, R-2nd District, and his fellow members of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power. But Linder learned Tuesday, while en route to Washington, that the House panel was “unable to accommodate his testimony,” according to DEQ spokesman Brian McManus. …Bold Nebraska leader and pipeline critic Jane Kleeb says there’s not a federally approved project on the table, so there’s nothing for the state to consider. “The only mystery, from my perspective,” she said, “is that DEQ thinks they should be analyzing these routes still.”
Speaker John Boehner’s website announced he hosted “Keystone Job Creators in the House Gallery for last week’s State of the Union.” The website continues, “Boehner is welcoming these leaders as part of Republicans’ commitment to keep pushing for the Keystone project, and the 20,000 shovel-ready jobs that go with it.” Included in the group of four was Nebraska state senator Chris Langemeier, Chair of the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee. “Senator Langemeier is a strong supporter of the Keystone XL pipeline and was the author of compromise legislation that paved the way for a new pipeline route in the state.” Quoting Nebraska Farmers Union President John Hanson, “It is extremely poor judgment on Sen. Langemeier’s part to get used in this partisan way.”
As to the continuing lie about jobs creation, the Columbia Journalism Review published “Keystone XL Jobs Bewilder Media,” by Curtis Brainard, on January 24th. “President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline last week incited a new wave of coverage and speculation about how many jobs the line would create. Unfortunately, many outlets are still citing inflated and unreliable industry figures in the tens to hundreds of thousands while ignoring more modest and trustworthy approximations from academia and government, which place the total anywhere from 2,500 to 6,000.” Page 1 of 2 about the wildly inflated numbers is here. Quoting John F. Kennedy, “No matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as the truth.”
Further on the subject of jobs, “TransCanada: No More Than 6,000 Pipeline Workers on the Job “on Any Given Day,” by Lisa Song was published in InsideClimateNews and Truthout January 22nd. “Twenty thousand jobs is the number used by TransCanada, the Alberta-based company that wants to build the pipeline…. Opponents of the pipeline say TransCanada has inflated the number of construction jobs by ignoring two facts: That most of the jobs would be temporary, and that there’s a big difference between hiring people for varying periods of time and creating jobs.”
A Media Matters analysis from January 26th reports that as a whole, news coverage of the Keystone XL pipeline between August 1 and December 31 favored pipeline proponents. Although the project would create few long-term employment opportunities, the pipeline was primarily portrayed as a jobs issue. Pro-pipeline voices were quoted more frequently than those opposed, and dubious industry estimates of job creation were uncritically repeated 5 times more often than they were questioned. Meanwhile, concerns about the State Department’s review process and potential environmental consequences were often overlooked, particularly by television outlets.”
The core message in “Keystone: The Next Round,” also from Media Matters,is “With Keystone, Big Oil gets the profits, foreign countries get the oil, and Americans get all the risks.”
“Why GOP’s Keystone XL Gambit Could Backfire in 2012,” by Elizabeth McGowan, InsideClimateNews, and AlterNet, January 25th, speculates on political fallout: “Now that President Obama has at least temporarily quashed the Keystone XL pipeline, TransCanada executives have to be wondering if they really need enemies when their supposed friends, the House Republicans, have placed them in such a financial and strategic bind.”
Neil Harrison shared his letter to the Senator after Mike Johanns’ politically motivated response to the President’s State of the Union speech: “As an elected representative of the people of Nebraska, your continued support of the Keystone XL pipeline and its suspect promises of U.S. access to Canadian oil and “thousands” of jobs evidences both blind optimism and extreme ignorance. Even if such jobs were forthcoming, even if those toxic tar-sands oils were meant for consumption here in the U.S. instead of being pumped to the Gulf for export to the highest international bidder, the Keystone XL pipeline is an environmental disaster simply awaiting U.S. governmental approval to flow out of Canada into the United States.
…Republican or Democrat, any senator from any state in the U.S. who takes an honest look at the massive toxic cesspool TransCanada has created in a once-pristine boreal forest in Alberta, could not with clear conscience support such a pipeline. If you continue to support Keystone XL, it will be a crystal-clear indication to me that you approve of that environmental disaster in Alberta, and welcome the possibility of such a toxic nightmare in my home state, Nebraska. I sincerely hope you will do some research into the immense pools of highly toxic waste left at the tar-sands site in Alberta, and reconsider your position on the Keystone XL pipeline with due haste.”
View a photo of the Alberta environmental disaster published with “Feds list First Nations, green groups as ‘adversaries’ in oil sands PR strategy” by the Montreal Gazette January 26th. The article begins “The federal government is distancing itself from its own lobbying and public relations campaign to polish the image of Alberta’s oil sands, following revelations that an internal strategy document labelled First Nations and environmentalists as “adversaries” while describing the National Energy Board as an “ally.”
Find Nebraska landowner Randy Thompson’s Response to the State of the Union address here. “As an ordinary citizen I find it distressing that so many of our elected officials are inclined to cater to the needs of their corporate sponsors instead of the people they are supposed to represent.”
New letters to the LJS editor last week were from Stu Luttich, “A third error does not correct two earlier errors,” and Roxanne Smith, “Stop fuel addiction.” Quoting Smith, “North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said “It’s hard to imagine a project that is more in the national interest and the interest of the American people.” I can’t imagine a project that is less in the national interest. It has never been in the interest of the American people, or any people, to have a transportation system based on the automobile. Humans need to walk to be healthy. Humans need community to be healthy. Humans need the natural world to be healthy. The automobile diminishes public health. Fueling the automobile is not a project that is in the national interest if public health is in the national interest.”
From “Competitor plans Keystone XL alternative,” by Phillip O’Connor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and LJS, January 28th, “…Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. hopes to link its existing Canadian oil pipelines from where they currently end near Chicago with another pipeline that runs from Cushing, Okla., to Houston and Port Arthur, Texas. To do that, the company wants to build a $1.9 billion pipeline adjacent to an existing Enbridge line that cuts diagonally across northern Missouri before entering southeast Kansas. Together, the two Enbridge pipelines would be able to carry almost 700,000 barrels a day between Illinois and Oklahoma. “In the energy industry, and oil in particular, there’s always been a history of fierce competition,” said Paul Blackburn, an environmental attorney and pipeline consultant. “One has to anticipate that if one of the players stumbles, another is going to try to capitalize on that.”
“Buffett’s railroad among winners from Keystone denial,” by Jim Efstathiou, Jr., Bloomberg and LJS, January 29th, “Warren Buffett’s Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC is among U.S. and Canadian railroads that stand to benefit from the Obama administration’s decision to reject TransCanada’s Keystone XL oil pipeline permit. With modest expansion, railroads can handle all new oil produced in western Canada through 2030, according to an analysis of the Keystone proposal by the U.S. State Department.”
“Neb. lawmaker explains why he joined the Keystone XL fight” by Lisa Song, January 25th, profiles Legislative District 21 Senator Ken Haar. Asked “What would you say to the Nebraskans who worked so hard to reroute the pipeline?” Haar’s advice is “Be vigilant. Stay involved as citizens. This isn’t over. You’ve got to stick with this forever. That’s what citizenship means.”
STOP FRACKING NOW . . . “Shale-Shocked: Fracking Gets Its Own Occupy Movement,” by Ellen Cantarow, TomDispatch and Truthout, January 23rd, begins “This is a story about water, the land surrounding it, and the lives it sustains. Clean water should be a right: there is no life without it…. But for once, this story isn’t about tragedy. It’s about a resistance movement that has arisen to challenge some of the most powerful corporations in history.”
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.”