December 16, 2011

The amazing inefficiency of Amtrak

There’s a gorgeous sunrise going off over central Nebraska but it’s hard to enjoy because I’ve pretty much been up all night waiting for an Amtrak train that was supposed to leave Lincoln at midnight but didn’t get out of town until 4:45.

Evidently, passenger trains are given short shrift when there is freight that needs to be moved.

“Welcome to train travel,” said a fellow passenger on her way to Boulder, Colorado.

It’s pretty much a uniquely American concept, putting commerce before people. And it’s certainly the reason that Occupiers have taken to the streets all across the country…

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December 16, 2011

Occupy Lincoln is starting a school

In an effort to model the kind of change it wants to see in society, Occupy Lincoln is starting its own school.

“We would like to make education equally available to everyone,” said Occupier and University of Nebraska economics professor Hendrik van den Berg. “How do you have a successful democracy without that?”

Van den Berg was one of 12 occupy activists at a local coffee shop in Lincoln planning and imagining how the school would operate. They are considering calling it either the Free school or Occupy Education. Anyone could teach a class, or take a class, and classes…

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December 16, 2011

Why Occupy: Lincoln

The home of the University of Nebraska and the state capital doesn’t boast a big occupation, but it does have a group of very committed activists who have legally held a public park since October 15, and is working on several initiatives from lobbying for a resolution against corporate personhood to starting a free school in the city. Here’s what some of the activists at Occupy Lincoln told me when I asked them why they are occupying…

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December 15, 2011

Local police pay early-morning visit to Occupy Lincoln

As cold temperatures set in, local police have been making routine checks of Occupy Lincoln’s encampment in Centennial Park even though the activists have a legal right to camp in the park.

In fact, they came last night at about 3:30 am to check on campers, though they didn’t wake me up.

“We have some safety concerns,” Captain Bob Kawamoto told me, noting that officers have been stopping in every other night or so for a week since it snowed last week and temperatures have been dipping down into the 20′s at night. “It’s nothing we don’t do for anyone…

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December 15, 2011

A late night welcome to Occupy Lincoln

Last night was perhaps the most precarious leg of my cross-country occutour. I had taken a 10-hour train trip from Chicago to Lincoln, Nebraska and when I arrived, a little after 1:00 am central time, I threw my 50-pound pack on my back and began walking down the cold, lonely streets of this midwestern college town/state capital in search of the local occupation.

Occupy Lincoln’s website indicated they were still camping in Centennial Park, the green space in front of the state capitol building, but you may not be surprised to learn that occupy websites aren’t always up-to-date and…

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