City Attorney RE Occupy Lincoln – Double Standard, Double Talk

Earlier this week, Julie Schmit-Albin, Linda and myself spoke with reporter Kay Kemmet from the Omaha World-Herald about the City’s handling of different groups and their use of public spaces, and specifically, of course, their handling of the Occupy Lincoln group. Her story was published on Friday; click the image to read it in full.… more

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NU Domestic Partner Benefits: Trying To Keep Up With The (Immoral) Joneses

753px-Gustave_Doré_-_Dante_Alighieri_-_Inferno_-_Plate_22_Canto_VII_-_Hoarders_and_WastersThanks to Nancy Carr and Reverend Shannon Chestnut for bringing this issue to my attention. I have been a little pre-Occupy-ed lately. Nebraska’s Board of Regents is apparently poised to approve a provision that would extend the University systems’ employee benefits to same sex and unmarried cohabiting partners. Reportedly, the rationale for extending those benefits is to ensure that Nebraska’s “institutions of higher learning” —– YES I use that term VERY loosely —– remain competitive with peers in the ivory towers of the upper crust elites known as universities and colleges. The pressure to be competitive, I now read, has increased since Nebraska became a member of the Big Ten. Geez. Making football the center of a state’s universe actually has consequences, huh? Source post to continue reading >>>

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Occupy Lincoln Tipi Smokes and City Ordinances Burn, Officials Fiddle

Following the issuance of a press release, Linda and I, as representatives of GiN, were invited on Coby Mach’s Drive Time Lincoln radio show. That press release and our discussion echoed and expanded upon the concerns of Nebraska Right to Life about City of Lincoln officials’ treatment of the Occupy Lincoln group as compared to… more

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Nebraska Right To Life Not Alone In Concerns About City Of Lincoln’s Handling Of Occupy Group

I hope all of our visitors had a blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving holiday. I took an extended (and unannounced) holiday break myself and very much enjoyed time with family. I even enjoyed chasing dust bunnies and scrubbing word work in preparation for our usual Thanksgiving visitors. My computer was off and if a TV was…

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The New National Past Time: Pipeline Hot Potato

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No! Wait… Is that a football? No, but it is brown. And it is oblong. Hey, it’s smoking! Wait! It’s a hot potato! It’s America’s new national past time and no, sorry, Husker fans, it is not football. It’s called Pipeline Hot Potato. So, let’s play! Let’s meet our… more

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The More The Plans Fail – A NATIONAL Alert System Test At 2pm CST Nov. 9

This is a post – a really short post – do not be alarmed – there will not be that much reading to do  – do not pass go…do not collect $200 (I think that’s like, $20,000 adjusted for inflation, right?) Anyway… If this had been an actual article, it would actually include important and… more

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So We Had A Resolution, Huh? Hmm. How IS That State Sovereignty Thing Workin’ Out For Us?

Nebraska was one of only fourteen states to see the successful passage of a State Sovereignty Resolution in the two year period 2009 – 2010, while well over thirty states had resolutions. In other words, the passage of the Nebraska resolution on April 13, 20101 , was no small thing. It took an organized effort… more

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For A Grassroots, Spontaneous Movement – Occupy Groups Are A Lot Alike

As I mentioned in our last article about the Occupy movement, I’m aware that a lot of people observing it, especially locally, dismiss those involved, labeling all the participants as “a bunch of dumb kids” who are incoherent and “don’t even know why they are protesting”. Even people who think the occupation of public property… more

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Is President Obama Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?

I’ve received some feedback on the most recent article published here “TransCanada Trojan Horse: Keystone XL Pipeline Will Increase Gas Prices“. That feedback confirms my earlier concerns about the use of environmentalist rhetoric in the pipeline project debate. That feedback also confirms that anyone else interested in running for Miss Popularity in the state need… more

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TransCanada Trojan Horse: Keystone XL Pipeline Will Increase Gas Prices

As we’ve noted here, more than once, our primary interest in the Keystone XL pipeline project was the conduct of Nebraska’s elected officials at both the state and federal levels, and serious concerns about property rights. We did not have an overall position on the project and we did not recommend any particular action. Our… more

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