Early May events - Celebrate May 1st!

May Day, originally an ancient European religious day and now International Workers' Day, the true labor day, started in the late 19th century in Chicago when workers were fighting for a limited workday, is Thursday.  

 

May Day evening, at 7:30, the Triangle Socialist Forum is hosting a discussion of national, State, and local Triangle candidates in the May 6th primary election.  Who, if anyone, is really progressive?  What do people think about voting in general?  The meeting will be in the downstairs conference room at the Chapel Hill Public Library. 

 

The next meeting will be on class and the water supply. 

 

May 2nd in the afternoon Libertarian Ron Paul will be speaking at UNC (I think from 3:30 to 4:30 in Carroll 111) and Duke.  His economics are wrong in my view, but he has better positions on Iraq and some other issues.  I think there is also something going on with Clinton, Obama, and NC Democratic Party bigwigs at the Dorton Arena in the evening also.   

 

May 3rd several things are happening.  In the early morning until 11 there is an annual spring flea market in Parkwood in Durham.  The Piedmont Wildlife Center, working with several other organizations, is hosting the Festival for Wildlife from 11am to 7 at Leigh Farm Park in Durham (on Leigh Farm Rd., off Highway 54 between New Hope Creek (west of 751 by Jordan High School) and I-40 near Chapel Hill).  Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for teens over 12.  

 

I noticed that in the last Independent Weekly's Act Now calendar has an item about a rally for marijuana at noon at the State Capitol (1 East Edenton Street).  The website is www.worldwidemarijuanamarch.org, and the phone number is 733-4994, but that could be the Capitol's number.  

 

There is also an item about petitioning to give the Socialist Party's presidential ticket write-in status.  NC is the 3rd worst state in ballot access discrimination, and this hurts all of us, and all third parties.  I don't think the SPUSA even claims to be Marxist and it is social-democratic (more so than the Democrats) rather than communist, but I would sign a petition for them.  

 

NC Stop Torture Now and other groups are hosting a conference on rendition and torture at Duke this Saturday.  If I'm not mistaken, STN's website is www.ncstoptorturenow.net, or it has a different ending.