There are always more issues to watch than there is time to watch them. However, if we step back and look at the bigger picture, certain themes emerge:

• Lack of ethics, principles
• Lack of inquiry, skepticism, critical thinking
• Wrapping political agendas with emotion
• Cults of personality, fascination with pop culture

On the GiN main website, we’ll be spending time, in depth on such philosophical subjects, as well as their practical consequences. For the moment, some of the above is laid out in my recent article, Why Good People (or those who are trying to be) Are So Hard to Find in Politics.

Meanwhile, we can see some of above phenomenon manifesting themselves in current issues that we’re watching and researching. Note that for any of the following subjects, if we’ve as of yet to publish an article, we will be soon. If we have an article on the topic, it’s linked.

Goin’ Green…

Government’s embrace, at the federal, state, and local levels of an agenda that puts concerns about “the environment” and “sustainability” over the rights of people and property has resulted in the emergence of the following issues…

Missouri River Valley Flooding

Many people are questioning how such a disastrous flood could occur, considering the myriad flood control measures that were implemented six decades ago. The answers are not reassuring.

FEMA Flood Plain expansion

As FEMA “modernizes” it’s flood plain maps, many Americans are finding out that their property has been designated as existing in a flood plain, requiring the purchase of costly flood insurance. A look into the issue raises a many questions including those concerning property rights, government competence, adequacy of notification mechanisms to citizens, state sovereignty, and more.

SMART Grid and Meters

Utility companies are moving towards the very high-tech, but the question is, are these measures designed to save costs or are they another avenue for governments to increase control, capture data about citizens, and use back door avenues to implement larger agendas?

We’ve only just begun to gather data on this, but did alert Lincoln residents to LES surveying of selected customers on the topic; see “SMART Meters: A Dumb Idea LES is Considering for Lincoln“.

Nebraska’s US Senate Race

There have been many interesting developments in Nebraska’s GOP primary race for the US Senate seat currently held by Ben Nelson (aka Mr. Cornhusker Kickback). We’ve only just begun to dive in. As of this writing, there are five candidates who have declared they are in the race.

Be sure to read GiN’s policy on primary elections, by clicking HERE.

What Did They Accomplish this Session at the Nebraska Legislature?

According to the prevailing wisdom, the Unicameral session resulted in a balanced budget without tax increases, a nifty compromise that improved the State’s public employee collective bargaining statutes, and so much more. So what really happened? We’re still looking into it, but, we can preliminary report that truth really is stranger, and unfortunately, more depressing than such fiction.

Pot…Meet Kettle

We’ve not written anything on this topic yet, but there is a certain Nebraska activist whose pleas of ignorance regarding Nebraska’s campaign finance laws that rings really hollow for some. The title of this little section has a potential for triple meaning, if we put into the mix the responses from ( I use the following term very loosely) the activist’s opponents, and the imposed penalties from the State agency whose duty it is to oversee filings.