Some November events and anniversaries

This calendar lists mostly local events of general left interest and cultural events, along with historical anniversaries.  More items will be added later in November. 

November is American Indian Heritage Month in North Carolina, and the theme this year is "Sacred Places:  Gifts of Our Land," encouraging everyone to learn about the places in North Carolina that are important to native groups and support the preservation of native heritage and traditions ( Governor Cooper's proclamation is online at:  files.nc.gov/governor/documents/files/American%20Indian%20Heritage%20Month.pdf ).  According to the proclamation, NC recognizes 8 tribes, and there are four urban Indian organizations on the NC Commission of Indian Affairs.  North Carolina has the 8th largest native population in the US and the largest population east of the Mississippi (over 122,000 people identify as American Indian). 

November is National American Indian or Native American Heritage Month in many places, or sometimes there is only a Heritage Day, November 23rd, after Thanksgiving or National Day of Mourning (or Buy Nothing Day).  The modern US Thanksgiving national holiday was declared during the Civil War, in 1863. 

Solar Panel Leasing in North Carolina

Last year House Bill 589 Competitive Energy Solutions for North Carolina was passed, allowing the leasing of solar panels and making some Duke Energy customers (residential, commercial, and non-profit) eligible for NC Solar Rebates through 2022.  October 15th Eagle Solar and Light became the first company licensed by the NC Utilities Commission to do solar leasing in the State.   

Cool Congregations Challenge

December 15th is the deadline for religious groups to join Interfaith Power and Light's annual Cool Congregations Challenge, a chance for religious groups doing work on climate change or sustainability to get recognition and a $1000 dollar prize ( www.coolcongregations.org/ ). 

UNC seeks input on what to do with Silent Sam

Send ideas to uncmonument at unc period edu (with the caution that the emails received will be classified as public records, though I'm not sure how easy it would be for the media, etc. to access them).  UNC - Chapel Hill's leadership has to offer a proposal to UNC President Margaret Spellings and the Board of Governors by November 15th [I think there has been a request for an extension]( www.unc.edu/posts/2018/09/24/message-from-chancellor-folt-and-the-board-of-trustees-on-the-confederate-monument/ ). 

The Durham City - County Committee on Confederate Monuments and Memorials will also release its recommendations this month. 

Library booksales

The last Friends of the Durham Library book sale of the year will be December 1 - 2 (10am - 12pm is members only on the 1st, and 12 - 4pm is open to all; the 2nd is a bag sale, from 1 - 4pm) at the usual Northgate Mall location ( durhamcountylibrary.org/friends/ ). 

The Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library will have a sale December 7 - 9th.  December 7th is 3 - 5:30pm and for members only (I think people can join at the door, as they can at the FODL sales above), December 8th is 10am - 5:30pm, and the bag sale December 9th is 11am - 3pm.  There will also be a Holiday Sip and Shop event, free for members and guests, December 7th 7 - 9pm with wine, appetizers, and dessert.  Next year there will be sales April 5 - 7, September 13 - 15, and December 6 -8 ( friendschpl.org/FCHPLevents ). 

The Wake County Public Libraries' Annual Book Sale for 2019 will be at the State Fairgrounds around May. 

Studio tours

The 2018 Orange County Studio Tour will be November 3 - 4 and 10 - 11:  ocagnc.org/tour/

The 5th Durham Pottery Tour will be November 10 (10am - 5pm) and November 11 (12 - 5pm):  www.durhamcountypotterytour.com/

77th annual NC Gourd Arts and Crafts Festival will be at the State Fairgrounds November 3 - 4 ( www.ncgourdsociety.org/festival.html ). 

Native Plants Week 2018 in North Carolina is October 28 - November 3.  The proclamation by Governor Roy Cooper is online at:  files.nc.gov/governor/documents/files/Native%20Plants%20Week_0.pdf , and notes NC's very diverse flora (over 3900 native plant species, 26 of them Federally threatened or endangered), supporting, among other animals, over 350 bird species, a number of them harmed by human activity and climate change.  Speaking of birds and climate change, a few days ago there was a report on the BBC that several bird species found around a mountain in Peru 30 years ago aren't there now.  It wasn't entirely clear if they meant that the birds are presumed completely extinct, or just locally extinct around one mountain.  If an animal lives around a mountain, it might depend on a local climate and habitat, which will move up the mountain as the climate warms, and eventually it might reach a point where the conditions a species needs no longer exist on that mountain, and it goes extinct.  Many plants, birds, and other species typical of the northern US and Canada can live this far south, high in the Appalachians, and there are salamanders found around particular mountains that could go extinct because they can only migrate up as the climate changes.  It probably isn't exactly the same situation, but this could relate to the extinction of the golden toad in Costa Rica's mountain cloud forests, none being found since May 15, 1989.

Craig Tract logging in Orange County

A gravel road was constructed preliminary to clearcutting the old Craig Tract/Forest, a privately-held but publicly accessible forested area along Bolin Creek in the Chapel Hill - Carrboro area, October 31st.  For more information see bolincreek.org/blog/ and their Facebook page.  Durham could use more interest in preserving forest and urban treecover, though Chapel Hill has been cutting large street trees lately as well. 

There Will Be Blood showing

There Will Be Blood, based on the novel Oil, Upton Sinclair, will be shown at The Ecolounge (formerly Recyclique, 2811 Hillsborough Road, Durham; communecos.org/ ) Friday, November 2nd at 6:30pm.  There is a suggested donation of $5 dollars, but it isn't required. 

Syndicalist writer Georges Sorel was born November 3, 1847 in Cherbourg, France.  His most influential work is probably Reflections on Violence, published in 1908. 

Stream Cleanup at Apollo Heights Park

Raleigh's Stormwater Management Division is organizing a cleanup November 3rd 9- 11am at Apollo Heights Park (756 Lunar Drive).  For more information / signup, see: www.raleighnc.gov/home/news/content/CorNews/Articles/StreamCleanUp.html

Daylight Saving Time in the US ends early November 4th.  If you raise objections to DST with Congressman David Price, he will probably refer you to the NC General Assembly, but I imagine they would say talk to Congress.  The Federal government seems to control time standards, but local governments can opt out, though few do so, despite regular complaints.   

Jenny Elder Fitch Memorial Lecture

Brie Arthur, a horticulturist who has worked at local plant nurseries and is a correspondent on PBS' Growing a Greener World, will talk about foodscaping, landscaping with edible as well as ornamental plants, and her upcoming book Gardening with Grains, in this annual lecture at the NC Botanical Garden.  It will be Sunday, November 4th 2:30 - 3:30 and is free, but registration is requested (it also counts for continuing education credits).  For more information and registration, see:  ncbg.unc.edu/2018-events/

Somewhat related, there will also be a free tour of UNC's new Edible Campus program November 7th 11am - 12pm.  For information and registration, see:  ncbg.unc.edu/calendar/

Eugene V Debs, a founder of the Industrial Workers of the World and presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America, was born November 5, 1855.  He was imprisoned for advocating draft resistance during WWI, and sentenced to a decade in prison and loss of suffrage November 18, 1918, but ran for president again in 1920, from a Federal prison in Atlanta.  President Harding commuted his sentence in 1921 and he died in 1926.   

North Carolina in the First World War

Lauren Menges, Head of the Durham County Library's NC Collection, will talk about Durham and North Carolina's experiences during World War I, using the Library's collections.  This event will be at the Durham's Stanford L Warren Branch Library (1201 Fayetteville Street) Saturday, November 5th 7 - 9pm.  For more information, see:  events.durhamcountylibrary.org/event/982681

General election

Candidates for local, State, and Federal will be on ballots in the general election Tuesday, November 6th, 6:30am - 7:30pm.  According to a mailing from the State Board of Elections ( www.ncsbe.gov/index.html ), the deadline to register to vote (and probably to change your information) is October 12th at 5pm, but early voting is October 17 - November 3, and allows same - day registration.  The regular deadline to request an absentee ballot was October 30th at 5pm.  Some dates were changed in some areas due to damage from the hurricanes.  Sample ballots are available at BOE and sometimes newspaper websites; for example, see the Durham County Board of Elections website at:   www.dconc.gov/government/departments-a-e/board-of-elections .       

The NC Green Party, which gained ballot access only this spring, is already fielding four candidates, two running for local office in Mecklenburg and Forsyth counties, one for the NC House of Representatives (in District 66), and one for the US House (in District 13), and is seeking donations and volunteers (see: ncgreenparty.nationbuilder.com/ ).  As always, people can join the NC Green Party, and it is now possible to officially register as a Green with the Board of Elections, but unlike with the Democratic and Republican parties, this is not the same as joining the Green Party. 

Some of what I wrote about the 2016 general election is relevant to this election ( durhamspark.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-election-conundrum.html ).  It would be good to have the deplorable Democratic Party do well in the elections, as a check on Trump or to cause deadlock in Washington, and as a symbolic rejection of Trump's policies.  On the other hand, there is a general bipartisan consensus on many issues, such as giving Israel almost everything it asks for and undermining left populism in Latin America, and many Republican bills and nominees get support from Democrats, so in many ways rejecting Trump by voting for Democrats is symbolic only, assuming the media gets the message.  Talk of impeaching Trump is used to energize the base on both sides, but there won't be any action (just like in 2006 - 2007 when the Democratic Party rejected principled calls to impeach Bush, and the result was that no one at a high level was held accountable for lying to the public for war, torture, etc. and so it can happen again now).  If they actually do impeach Trump in a few years, it probably won't be for progressive reasons.  On some issues the Democrats are becoming the more dangerous party, for example by vilifying and warmongering against Russia (while needing Russia's help just to get astronauts into space and negotiate in Syria) and undermining the recent talks with the DPRK.  If I'm not mistaken, US aid in the Saudi coalition's attack on Yemen began under Obama.   

According to a letter to the editor in the Independent Weekly October 24th in the House of Representatives, David Price voted against the Glass - Steagall Act, leading to the Great Recession, and GK Butterfield voted to give ICE more money (I assume under Trump, but I haven't verified this) and supported Obama's 2011 attack on Libya, bringing chaos and fundamentalist Islamist warlords to yet another economically relatively well-off and secular country in the Middle East.

There are endorsements and some candidate questionnaires online at:

www.indyweek.com
www.peoplesalliancepac.org/
aflcionc.org/nc-labor-2018-voter-guide/
www.seanc.org/voterguide

The 101st anniversary of the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution in the former Russian Empire is November 7 - 8.

Russian Marxist Leon Trotsky was also born November 7th, in 1879, and had an important role in the pivotal events almost 40 years later, but also attacked the Bolsheviks/CPSU before and after the October Socialist Revolution. 

The Communist Party of Albania (later renamed the Party of Labor of Albania) was founded November 8, 1941 through a merger of earlier groups.  At the time Albania was occupied by fascist Italy.   

Soviet revolutionary and statesman Vyacheslav Molotov died November 8, 1986.

What's on Your Roadside?  History, Character, and Conservation of Piedmont Prairie Remnants

The eastern US is often thought of as having been continuous forest in Precolumbian times, so a squirrel could go from the Atlantic to the Mississippi without ever having to leave the treetops, but there were actually many savannas and open areas.  Many of the plants that grew in these sunny areas are now rare to endangered, and are threatened by urbanization of their last refuges.  In this free talk, part of the Garden's Lunchbox Talks series, UNC Herbarium Director Alan Weakley and ecologist Julie Tuttle will talk about these plants, how these prairielike habitats came to be, and how to conserve them Thursday, November 8th 12 - 1pm (I'm surprised they used the term Piedmont prairie, though, since the NCBG's staff seems to prefer to call the remnants around Penny's Bend on the Eno in Durham savannas).  For more information and registration, see: ncbg.unc.edu/calendar/

The Han-Ma-Dang Raleigh Korean Festival will be November 10th 10am - 8pm ( www.rkfest.com ).

[Durham's] First Tree Planting of the Season!

Join Keep Durham Beautiful in its first tree planting event of the season, Saturday, November 10th 10 - 11am at 403 East Main Street (parking is available at the St Philips Episcopal Church).  Fifty trees will be planted along Liberty Street,  between Dillard and Elizabeth streets.  For more information and registration see:  keepdurhambeautiful.org/events/

November 11 is Armistice Day, marking the truce that (more or less) ended World War I 100 years ago in 1918.  In the USA Armistice Day has became the more pro-war Veterans Day.

There will be events November 9 - 11 in Washington, DC to reclaim Armistice Day, including a vigil on the Mall, Veterans Occupy Washington, a Peace Congress:  End US Wars at Home and Abroad, and a March to Reclaim Armistice Day, Concert for Peace and Justice, etc., and events in other countries( notrumpmilitaryparade.us/ , www.facebook.com/events/132064824153363/ ). 

Novelist Kurt Vonnegut was born November 11, 1922 in Indianapolis.

Sun Yat-sen, a founder of the Republic of China, created by the Revolution of 1911, was born November 12, 1866.

The German air force bombed the city of Coventry, England, UK multiple times during WWII, but the largest and most damaging air raid was the night of November 14 - 15th in 1940.  515 Luftwaffe bombers, using both explosive and incendiary bombs, virtually destroyed the downtown area and its medieval buildings, destroyed thousands of homes, and damaged 2/3rds of the city's buildings, as well as killing about 568 people and wounding many more.  Some have suggested that the UK knew the attack was coming but didn't give a warning so that the German military wouldn't find out that its encryption had been broken.  Coventry had military value because of its industries, but it also might have been targeted for its cultural value, as revenge for the bombing of Munich a few days earlier.  The British used the attack as a pretext to start indiscriminately bombing or firebombing German cities, and later the US Air Force developed these techniques further, resulting in attacks such as the firebombing of Tokyo in March 1945 and the annihilation of entire cities with a single nuclear weapon. 

Faculty Lecture for the [UNC] Institute for the Study of the Americas

UNC professor Stephanie Elizondo Griest will talk about her new book, All the Agents and Saints:  Dispatches from the U.S. Borderlands ( stephanieelizondogriest.com/portfolio/all-the-agents-and-saints/ ), based on her work on the impact of borders and international migration in her native Texas, Wednesday, November 14th at 5:30pm at UNC's FedEx Global Education Center, Room 1005 ( isa.unc.edu ).

Enemies of Peace:  Preventing the Next War in the Middle East

This documentary will be shown at the next meeting of Balance and Accuracy in Journalism, November 14th at 7:30pm at the Community Church of Chapel Hill (106 Purefoy Road, south of UNC Hospital).  The trailer is online at:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyEwaKJEaM8

November 15th is America Recycles Day ( americarecyclesday.org )

Emerging Issues in Conservation

Misty Buchanan, Director of the NC Natural Heritage Program, will discuss conservation of ecosystems, because traditional conservation methods aren't adequate to preserve species such as red wolves and Venus flytraps.  This is a free Lunchbox Talk at the NC Botanical Garden, Thursday, November 15 12 - 1pm; for more information and registration, see:  ncbg.unc.edu/calendar/

VUSE Boycott Rally in Durham

In support of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee's boycott campaign against Reynolds American Inc, and its VUSE e-cigarette, Triangle Friends of Farmworkers is organizing a picket at the Circle K at 3301 Guess Road (near its intersection with Carver Street) in Durham Thursday, November 15th, 5 - 5:45pm.  There will be calls to Circle K's main office after picketing locally and giving the manager a letter, the same procedure as FLOC's successful Mount Olive Pickle boycott several years ago. 

Alternative Gift Market and Concert

The United Church of Chapel Hill is organizing an alternative gift market to benefit the Church World Service's Safe School Zones in East Kenya.  The Alternative Gift Market will be Friday, November 16th  5 - 8pm and the Chapel Hill Carrboro Peacmaking Concert will start at 7:30.  The Market will continue November 17th 9am - 3pm.  The events will be at the UCCH, 1321 Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard, Chapel Hill.

There will be a Conference Against US/NATO Military Bases November 16-18th in Dublin, Ireland ( nousnatobases.org/ ).

The School of the Americas Watch Border Encuentro 2018 will be the same weekend in Nogales, Arizona and across the border in Nogales, Sonora ( www.soaw.org/border/border-encuentro/ ). 

23rd Annual American Indian Heritage Celebration

There will be events 11am - 4pm at the North Carolina Museum of History in downtown Raleigh (5 East Edenton Street, admission is free) Saturday, November 17th.  There will also be a canned goods collection from 10am - 4pm for the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, and people can get a $20 dollar coupon from the North Carolina Symphony for donating.  For more information, see: www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/aihc-2018  There is an Education Day for school groups Friday, November 16th, but at this point anyone who isn't registered can only watch the livestream:  www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/aihc-2018/education-day

Plogging Run/Litter Cleanup

Join The House That Running Built, a Habitat for Humanity house building project in Durham funded by a running group, in cleaning up litter around 123 Chestnut Street.  People can run or walk and pick up litter and recyclables as they go, helping the environment and health.  The cleanup will be November 17th 11:30 - 12:30; to register see:  keepdurhambeautiful.org/plogginglitter-cleanup-registration

Inaugural Black Farmers' Market

This event, organized by Black August in the Park, will be Sunday, November 18th 12 - 5pm at Mutual Plaza (411 West Chapel Hill Street, Durham).  For more information see:  www.facebook.com/events/187834582113416/ 

Russian revolutionary Mikhail Kalinin was born November 19, 1875 and was head of state of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later of the entire USSR and a member of the CPSU's Politburo.  The Baltic port city of Kӧnigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad after his death June 3, 1946.  The city and its surrounding territory was formerly East Prussia, seized from Germany after WWII, and is now a Russian enclave cut off by NATO and EU states. 

November 20th is Mexico's Revolution Day (Día de la Revolución), a national holiday marking the beginning of the Mexican Revolution in 1910.   

VUSE Boycott Rally in Chapel Hill

Triangle Friends of Farmworkers is also organizing a picket at the Circle K at the corner of Fordham Boulevard (15-501) and Estes Drive in Chapel Hill (I think right next to University Mall) Tuesday, October 20th 5 - 5:45pm.    

Asheville Transgender Day of Remembrance

Marking the 20th International Transgender Day of Remembrance, there will be an event in Asheville Tuesday, November 20th 7 5 - 7:30pm; there will be a march from the Civic Center at 5pm to Pritchard Park, where there will be a candlelight vigil and reading of names of victims of transphobia this year.  This event is being organized by Tranzmission.  For more information see:  www.facebook.com/events/481875835658573/

Fast for Yemen / #NoTHANKSgiving

Pam Bennett fasted for 26 days in solidarity with the people of Yemen, and Cindy Sheehan has been fasting since November 4th, to call attention to the US-abetted and Saudi-led war on Yemen (under both Obama and Trump) that is causing mass starvation, in addition to the number of civilians, such as children on a school bus, killed by weapons often supplied by the US, delivered by planes refueled by the US, and even targeted with US input ( marchonpentagon.com/yemen-fast/ ).  There is also a petition, online at:  marchonpentagon.com/yemen-petition/

Demonstration against ICE deportation - #FreeSamuel

There was a rally 7 - 8pm Tuesday, November 27th at ICE's Cary office (119 Centrewest Ct, Cary, 27513) against the deportation of Samuel Oliver-Bruno, who left a church sanctuary after ICE assured Congressmen Price and Butterfield that it would not arrest and deport him.  There is also a campaign to call the secretary of Homeland Security (202 282 8000 or 202 282 8495), ICE's Atlanta Field Office (404 893 1206) and the Stewart Detention Center (229 838 5000), demanding he receive treatment for his diabetes while detained and that he not be deported while Butterfield and Price are calling for an investigation.  He supports his wife and son and is likely to be murdered if deported ( www.facebook.com/events/2221720868109054/ ).

Marxist philosopher and writer Friedrich Engels was born November 28, 1820 in what is now Wuppertal, Germany. 

Albania has two national days, November 28, 1912, when Albania gained independence from the Ottoman Empire, and November 29, 1944, when Albanian partisans drove out the German occupiers.  Subsequently the Albanians were unique in liberating their own country and then helping to liberate neighboring Yugoslavia. 

Wetlands Matter - A Networking and Information Sharing Event

Network, hear an update on the Waters of the US policy from guest speaker Derb Carter of the Southern Environmental Law Center, and learn about the Carolina Wetlands Association at this meeting Wednesday, November 28th 5:30 - 7:30pm at the Thomas Crowder Woodland Center at Lake Johnson in south Raleigh (5611 Jaguar Park Drive).  For more information, see:  carolinawetlands.org/index.php/event/wetlands-matter-2018/

Rendition Revisted and NCCIT

Part one of the Al Jazeera documentary Rendition Revisited, covering North Carolina's role in the extraordinary rendition and torture programs and the NC Commission of Inquiry on Torture (www.nccit.org), will be broadcast November 28th and streamed online at: www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/  

The NCCIT will brief members of Congress and their staff in Washington December 5 - 6th, and will present a former military interrogator and a doctor who treated survivors of the CIA torture program, and could use donations.  This is the Commission's last official event. 

Russian Marxist Georgi Plekhanov was born November 29, 1856 and was upheld as a founder of the Russian Marxist movement, but was an opponent of the Bolsheviks. 

In the Sand Creek Massacre, starting November 29, 1864, Federal soldiers attacked peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho villagers camped along Big Sandy Creek in what is now Colorado (where they had asked them to gather, displaying a US flag and a white flag), killing about 230 Indians, predominantly women, children, and elders, as well as committing torture and mutilation, before leaving the area December 1st.  Some soldiers refused to attack the village, but the perpetrators received little punishment and no criminal prosecution (from Wikipedia as well as www.nps.gov/sand/learn/historyculture/index.htm ).

Mark Twain (Samuel L Clemens), acclaimed author as well as vice president of the American Anti-Imperialist League, was born November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri.

Rendition and torture discussed on The State of Things

WUNC 91.5FM's program The State of Things ( www.wunc.org/programs/state-things#stream/0 )will look at the US government's recent torture program Friday, November 30th (12 - 1pm Friday and broadcast again Saturday, December 1st at 6am, otherwise it would be re-aired the same day at 8pm).  Guests will include Joe Margulies, a defense attorney, and Dr Kate Porterfield, who treated survivors, some with connections to the NC component of the program. 

Toxins in the Kitchen:  A Practical Guide to Safer Food

Rob Coffin and Elizabeth Miller will talk about toxins that get into the food supply, especially Roundup (or glyphosate, a common herbicide invented by Monsanto, to which GMO crops are immune) and BPA (Bisphenol A, a common endocrine disrupting chemical used in cans, receipts, and many other everyday items and spread into recycled materials), and show an excerpt from Bill Moyers' documentary Trade Secrets Friday, November 30th at 6:30 at the Ecolounge in Durham (2811 Hillsborough Road; communecos.org/recyclique-shop/ ).  There will be light refreshments and there is a suggested donation of $5 dollars, but it is not required to attend. 

December 1st is World AIDS Day, the first global health day ( www.worldaidsday.org/about/ )

Waste Not :  Living the Low Carbon Life

Learn about the connections between greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the soil, food waste, and how to have a positive impact at this conference Saturday, December 1st 9am - 2pm at the Church of the Good Shepherd in downtown Raleigh (125 Hillsborough Street).  For more information and registration, see:  www.zerowastechurch.org/2018/11/21/save-the-date/ and www.eventbrite.com/e/waste-not-living-the-low-carbon-life-tickets-47025647979?aff=efbeventtix

Durham Tree Giveaway 2018!

Keep Durham Beautiful will give 250 free tree seedlings to residents of Durham, one per person, December 1st 1:30 - 4:30pm.  People can reserve their tree, but it is also first come, first served ( keepdurhambeautiful.org/events/ ).  Several businesses will offer specials to people who have a receipt from KDB and a selfie with their planted tree.  The event will be in East Durham Children's Initiative's parking lot (2101Angier Avenue). 

Peace With Iran Summit 2018

Discuss the situation and how to oppose the Trump Administrations sanctions and push for a major war with Iran Saturday, December 1st 9am - 5pm at the First Congregational United Church of Christ (945 G Street NW in Washington, DC.  Registration is on a sliding scale, $100 to $10 dollars.  Organized by CODEPINK, with many cosponsors.  For more information, see www.codepink.org/iransummit or www.facebook.com/events/390712754800268/

Help pull English ivy in Greensboro

The Triad Chapter of the NC Native Plant Society and the Pearson chapter of the NC Audubon Society are organizing a cleanup of invasive English ivy in a bog garden in Greensboro (along the Nell Lewis Trail) Saturday, December 1st 9:30am - 12pm, meeting at the Starmount Farms Drive entrance.  The site is a slope and participants might want to bring food, water, work gloves, and a shovel.  For more information, email annwf7 at gmail period com. 

Remembering Bolin Forest

Friends of Bolin Creek is organizing a memorial for the 40 acres of Bolin Forest being clear-cut in Orange County on Sunday, December 2nd 4 - 5pm in Smith Middle School's auditorium (9201 Seawell School Road, Chapel Hill) for people to share their memories, followed by a candlelight/flashlight walk and silent vigil in the woods.  For more information see:  bolincreek.org/blog/join-us-at-the-vigil/ 

For whatever reason Bolin Creek at 15-501 was very brown and opaque November 26th, more like the turbid state of many creeks in Durham.  The silt was probably coming from somewhere upstream, and there are several large construction projects going on in the basin, but there is surprisingly little forested buffer between the Creek and new construction on 15-501. 

24 Hours of Reality

This streamed documentary on the impact of climate change on human health around the world will start with the USA December 3rd at 9pm, gets to Europe at 9am on the 4th, and will look at this country again on the 4th at 7 - 9pm.  It is online at:  www.24hoursofreality.org

Monthly Earth Justice Potluck and film

This event will be December 4th, with a potluck meal at 6pm and a showing of the documentary HOPE [Healing Of Planet Earth] What You Eat Matters, which looks at the food system in Europe, India, and the USA, from 6:30 - 8pm.  Apparently there are potentially disturbing descriptions and video of the way animals are treated in industrial agriculture.  This will be at the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship's fellowship hall (4907 Garrett Road, Durham); for more information contact jonsheline at gmail period com. 

Consider This ... Artificial Intelligence

There will be a panel discussion on economic, legal, and ethical aspects of artificial intelligence and machined learning Tuesday, December 4th 6:30 - 8pm at the Friday Conference Center (100 Friday Center Drive, left/south off of NC 54 going into Chapel Hill from Durham).  There might not be a working class perspective, but if advances in computing and robotics occur as predicted, especially under capitalist economic relations, artificial intelligence will be a major problem for the working class and all of humanity in the 21st century.  This is a public and free event organized by the UNC General Alumni Association.  For more information or registration, see:  alumni.unc.edu/events/consider-this-artificial-intelligence/

Imprisoned Japanese anti-imperialist Tsutomu Shirosaki was born December 5, 1947 in Toyoma, Japan.  A few years ago he was released from US custody, but is now finishing a previous prison sentence somewhere in Japan.  It might be possible to write to prisoners in Japan, but I haven't come across any information about where he is being held.  For background, see a previous post ( durhamspark.blogspot.com/2015/01/tsutomu-shirosaki-japanese-anti.html ) and denverabc.wordpress.com/prisoners-dabc-supports/political-prisoners-database/tsutomu-shirosaki/ .  If there is any news, it would probably be posted at: throwoutyourbooks.wordpress.com/tag/tsutomu-shirosaki/

Monthly tours of the South Wake Landfill and Sonoco Recycling Facility

There will be free one hour tours of these facilities near Apex once a month from December through May on Wednesdays or Saturdays (and private tours for groups with 5 to 14 people can be arranged).  The December tour will be Wednesday, the 5th at 9:30am.  For more information and registration see:  www.wakegov.com/recycling/outreach/Pages/tours.aspx     

Conserving North Carolina's Imperiled Plants

Lesley Starke, Plant Biologist of the NC Plant Conservation Program, will talk about what this program is doing to conserve rare or threatened plants and their habitats, in this free Lunchbox Talk Thursday, December 6th 12 - 1pm at the NC Botanical Garden.  For more information and registration, see:  ncbg.unc.edu/calendar/

Durham's annual Holiday Parade will be Saturday, December 8th, and includes contingents from Keep Durham Beautiful and other organizations. 

Saxapahaw Holiday Market

This event at the Haw River Ballroom (1711 Saxapahaw-Bethlehem Church Road, Saxapahaw, in [Alamance County on the Haw River, west of Carrboro]) December 8 - 9th will offer local art and handicrafts and there will be food and live music.  It will be 9am - 6pm on the 8th and 10am - 5pm on the 9th. 

NC Green Party 2018 Statewide Fall/Winter Gathering and Celebration

The NC Green Party's annual meeting will be December 7 - 9 at The Seedbed (6602 Nicks Road, Mebane, just inside Alamance County from Orange County).  The meeting is free and open to all supporters, though voting is limited to people who have paid dues and donations are welcome.  The Seedbed has some space for people to stay overnight Friday and Saturday.  There will a celebration and music December 7th starting at 7pm and there will be meetings (plus meals) December 8th 9am - 5pm and December 9th 10am - 3pm.  For more information or to RSVP, see:  ncgreenparty.nationbuilder.com/2018_fall_gathering

Winter Seed Share and Social

The Southern Piedmont Chapter of the NC Native Plant Society's Winter Seed Share and Social will be Sunday, December 9th at 2pm at the Reedy Creek Nature Center (2900 Rocky River Road, Charlotte), and is free and open to the public.  Participants are asked to "bring a sweet or savory snack to share."  For the seed share, bring clean seeds of plants native to the Southeast, with labelled their common and scientific names.  Coin envelopes will be offered, up to 10 per person, and each can contain about 1 teaspoon.  People can receive seeds even if they don't have any to share. 

Donations to NCNPS on Giving Tuesday next week and during the last few weeks of the year will go to grants and scholarships ( ncwildflower.org/about/grants_and_scholarships ). 

Secrecy and the Slaughterhouse talk

UNC Religious Studies PhD candidate Joanna Smith will discuss the connections between animal sacrifice in religion and the practices in modern meat production Friday, December 14th at 6:30 at the Ecolounge in Durham (2811 Hillsborough Road; communecos.org/recyclique-shop/ ).  There is a suggested donation of $5 dollars, but it is not required to attend. 

Georgian revolutionary and Soviet statesman Joseph Stalin was born December 21, 1879 or 1878 in Gori, Republic of Georgia, then part of the Russian Empire. 

Thomas Sankara, born December 21, 1949, was President of Burkina Faso from 1983 until he was assassinated October 15, 1987, and is known as Africa's Che Guevara. 

December 21st is the winter solstice. 

Sen Katayama, co-founder of the Japanese Communist Party and an official in the Comintern, was born December 26, 1859.  He was also one of the first members of the CPUSA and is buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. 

Chinese revolutionary and statesman Mao Zedong (or Tsetung) was born December 26, 1893 in Hunan Province. 

The annual HKonJ (Historic Thousands on Jones Street) march in downtown Raleigh will be February 9, 2019 ( www.hkonj.com/ ). 

Support Palestine in DC 2019 will be March 24th in Washington ( www.facebook.com/events/322305558560731/ ). 

Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference April 18 - 25 (register by February 10th; this is an international conference and Americans and others are welcome to attend):  www.korea-dpr.com/dprk-blockchain-conference-2019.html