You can Stand Tall with Julia Trigg by sharing this video, donating to her legal fund, going to her Stand Tall concert on April 20th or writing a letter to President Obama (links below for all these actions).

Fighting a multi-billion foreign pipeline is not easy. There are days when our odds look slim. The difference between us and them is we stand tall, we stand together. We are pipeline fighters and we will never give up on protecting our land and water so a foreign tarsands company can make a bunch of money on the backs of our families.

Leaders from the Republican Party visited with President Obama and of course the Keystone XL pipeline came up in conversation.

Various reports of what the President said or did not say started to hit blogs and newspapers and twitter.

Rep. Paul Ryan unveiled his budget, which forces approval of the Keystone XL pipeline by ignoring the basic fact that this is an export pipeline, headed to a refinery owned by Saudi Arabia, that will create only 35 permanent jobs.

"On the one hand we want to send Rep. Ryan a big box of tarsands-free steaks from Nebraska thanking him since these types of politically-motivated moves helped get the pipeline denied last time around," said Jane Kleeb, Bold Nebraska Director. "On the other hand, we are deeply concerned Ryan is citing false job numbers from the oil industry that have even been refuted by TransCanada."

The extreme-right American Legislative Exchange Council copy-cat bill (meaning not written by or for our state) on Voter-ID is getting its public hearing today at the Unicam.

Sen. Janssen, who is also running for Governor, brought this bill up last year and it got killed because there is no proof of Voter-ID fraud in our state. Even Sen. Janssen and the NE Sec. of State office said we have no voter-id fraud problem in our state.

Really, the biggest voter fraud (not voter-id fraud) we have seen came from Gov. Heineman's appointee in Omaha who closed and changed polling locations in black communities.

You can watch the hearing online or come in person to room 1507 in the State Capitol.

The bill number is LB 381 and is last on the Government Affairs committee agenda, so it probably won't start until after 2pm.

Watch live (around 2pm): http://www.netnebraska.org

ACTION
Share graphics on your FB page to help spread the word about Nebraskans at-risk of losing their right to vote with this type of bill. They are the faces of the unintended consequences if this bill gets written into law.

Email and call Sen. Scheer. He is a fair-minded state senator on the committee that needs to hear from Nebraskans.
Phone: (402) 471-2929, Email: jscheer@leg.ne.gov

We describe the State Department process and our reaction, click here.

The area of the Sandhills the State Department is using in their most recent study comes from a shrunken map formally submitted by the Nebraska DEQ through the MOU they have with the State Department. You see, its Nebraska's role to define the route, and they did...all to benefit TransCanada (who paid $5 million for the DEQ report and used a contractor HDR they are working with on other projects as well, yes this is a conflict).

The State Department released the next step in the review process today, a report called the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). They are giving citizens 45 days to review and comment. The State Department will then issue a Final EIS. The State Department also must conduct what is called a National Interest Determination report and give other federal agencies 90 days to review that report. So, we are looking at a possible final decision in June or July, possibly later if hearings and proper review times is given to citizens.

Bold Nebraska will update this page as our team, citizens and landowners can review the SEIS. Our initial reactions are below.

In a resolution passed this week, the AFL-CIO Executive Council endorsed US pipelines, but not the Keystone XL, a risky export pipeline widely criticized by many union allies and ranchers and farmers along the proposed route.

America's Building Trades Unions has since misrepresented the AFL-CIO's resolution saying the AFL-CIO has endorsed the controversial tar sands pipeline, which they did not.

Eating disorders ravage individuals and families every day. They are the deadliest mental illnesses taking up to 25% of those affected.

Recovery also happens. During this week of education and awareness of eating disorders, the Renfrew Center asks us all on 2/24/13 to take a picture of ourselves with no make-up. To love who we are in our raw beauty.


picture of me sans make-up, photo credit: my awesome 11 year old

I still remember my mothers and sisters faces when I came to after my heart stopped. I looked up and their eyes held as much hurt as I did inside. Anorexia captured every ounce of my being. I knew nothing else but to starve and keep people away from knowing me.

My family tried everything. Patience, love, anger, out patient therapists, nutritionists, support groups, hospital floors of others obsessed with food.

It wasn’t until Renfrew that I found enough courage and hope to really get on a path to recovery. No doubt everyone from the kitchen staff, to the daytime nurses, to the art therapists, to my individual therapists, nutritionists and most important other women who knew how painful it was to carry a disease that seems so hopeless to try and beat—they all helped me and thousands of women and families start to recover.

Renfrew gives women a chance at fighting back. Wearing no make-up and tweeting a pic is simple. Fighting for women and men to have a chance to fight for their lives means everything.

During this week of eating disorders awareness help the millions of men and women find the courage to eat, the courage to let others in and the courage to fully recover.