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The Teenage American Voice

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 04/21/2026 - 12:00am

To be American… does it mean that you “have” freedom? You own it? Is it a thing you can grasp with your hands? Or does it mean that others may not grasp you – and that is your ‘freedom’? Freedom is freedom, I would think, when it applies to everyone. If you were in Iran or Pakistan and wanted to listen to your favorite music but were not allowed to due to some religious law, but someone else is allowed to listen to their favorite music, then that is not freedom.

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Nebraska Supreme Court Sides With Pillen Order On Remote Work, State Bargaining

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 04/21/2026 - 12:00am

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pilen talks with reporters during a visit with U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon to Hamlow Elementary School in Waverly, Nebraska on April 9, 2026.
(Zach Wendling / Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Supreme Court sided with state officials Friday in saying they had the right to refuse to bargain with a state employees union over a 2023 executive order seeking to limit remote work.

Justice Jonathan Papik of Omaha, in a unanimous 22-page decision, wrote that the state clearly had the “right to increase, reduce, change, modify and alter the composition and site of the workforce,” as specified in a collective bargaining agreement with state employees.

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As Renaissance Fairs Become Big Business, Can They Retain Their Counterculture Roots?

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 04/21/2026 - 12:00am

Closeup of stones, crystals, wands and other goods for sale at the Lady of the Lakes Renaissanxe Faire.
(Sunshower Shots / Shutterstock)

Within moments of entering the Newport Renaissance Faire, you are ushered to a group of fairies. They pass you a scroll and say, “You must seek out the Bone Man for the first hurdle in your quest.” As you navigate the fair, you find many men dressed in bones, both vendors and fellow attendees. When you find the correct Bone Man – an actor wearing what appears to be a mask made of human skull along with a crown constructed from deer antlers – he stamps your scroll. He then sends you to your next target: the Drunk Viking.

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The Dorothy State: The Rollicking History Of The Neon-Orange Dressing That Tastes Like Home

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 04/14/2026 - 12:00am

Dorothy Lynch, made by a real human named Dorothy Lynch, was first tasted in a small Nebraska town in 1952. Today, it endures as the dressing that Nebraskans put on their salads –and sometimes their burgers, fries, nachos, pizzas, sandwiches and virtually every other food you can imagine.
(Photo by Alexander Smith / Flatwater Free Press. Illustration by Quentin Lueninghoener of Hanscom Park Studio)

Of the tens of thousands of impoverished Scandinavians who fled crop failures and religious oppression for a fertile and free Nebraska in the late 19th century, probably only two are connected to something in Nebraskans’ kitchen today.

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Why Americans Are Buying $22 Smoothies Despite Feeling Terrible About The Economy

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 04/14/2026 - 12:00am

Americans are skipping restaurant dinners, delaying car purchases and scouring for grocery deals. Amid tariff anxiety and broader stress over affordability, consumer confidence has dropped to levels not seen in over a decade, according to The Conference Board, a business think tank. At this point, it’s wealthier consumers who are powering the bulk of spending in the U.S. economy.

So what explains the success of Erewhon’s US$22 smoothie?

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From 'BuddhaBot' To $1.99 Chats With AI Jesus, The Faith-Based Tech Boom Is Here

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 04/14/2026 - 12:00am

In this image from video provided by Just Like Me in April 2026, the company's co-founder and investor Jeff Tinsley (bottom righ) interacts with an AI-generated Jesus.
(Just Like Me via AP)

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — For some evangelical Christians, faith is about having a personal relationship with Jesus. At $1.99 per minute, the tech company Just Like Me is taking that concept to a new level.

Users of the platform can join video calls with an avatar of Jesus generated by artificial intelligence. Like other religious AI tools on the market, it offers words of prayer and encouragement in various languages. With the occasional glitch, it remembers previous conversations and speaks through not-quite-synced lips.

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Why One Las Vegas Newspaper Just Stopped Printing Its Rival

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 04/07/2026 - 12:00am

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Las Vegas Review-Journal announced Friday that it will no longer print its rival the Las Vegas Sun for the first time in decades, sharpening a legal dispute over the nation’s last joint operating agreement stemming from a 1970 law designed to preserve newspapers.

Readers “will not find a printed Las Vegas Sun insert inside,” the Review-Journal said in an editorial, noting the Sun maintains a website, has a few hundred thousand followers across social media platforms, and is free to produce its own newspaper.

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Heroes Of Gyros: Lincoln’s Long Battle For Gyro Supremacy Now Pits Old Against New, And One Family Versus Itself

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 04/07/2026 - 12:00am

The gyro sandwich at Pita & Naan includes freshly shaved gyro meat, sliced red onion and tomatoes, feta cheese and a drizzle of the house favorite cucumber tzatziki sauce. Diners can choose to add a side of fries.
(Naomi Delkamiller / Flatwater Free Press)

If you ask the owners of the four gyro shops in downtown Lincoln how they got started, the story will have two things in common. Gyros, of course. Also, family.

For decades now, a mostly friendly but sometimes contentious gyro war has been waged at the corner of 14th and O streets between the two original shops: George’s Gourmet Grill and Ali Baba’s.

Now, the gyro fight has grown into the next generation with two more shops, Pita & Naan and The Sultan’s Kite. Both are run by nephews of the longtime owner of Ali Baba’s.

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Pilot Program Seeks Undergrad Standouts To Build Better Nebraska

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 03/31/2026 - 12:00am

OMAHA — An effort described as an anti-brain drain program “on steroids” has been launched to identify and nurture cream-of-the-crop college talent in hopes they won’t flee Nebraska.

Called the Nebraska Leaders Program, it brings together the University of Nebraska system, Omaha-based Creighton University and a group of well-known employers.

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Why Problems Probably Persist: “Focus”

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 03/31/2026 - 12:00am

Recently I had written an article about what I coined as the “Corruption of Lawfulness,” (I do not know if this is termed something else in some philosophical school-of-thought, made up prior by someone else quicker than I). This idea asserts (in brief) that: “smart criminals who have found ways to abuse the system of laws and not get caught, will want to upkeep the same system of laws as the wealthy elite.