Marxism-Leninism Today
Hari Kumar, primary instigator of the groups Alliance Marxist-Leninist and International Struggle Marxist-Leninist, has set up a new blog focusing on Marxist-Leninist history and analysis of current news: ml-today.com/
Ten years after the US-supported Honduran coup
School of the Americas Watch is urging support for HR1945, the Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act, to end "security aid:" www.soaw.org/take-action-on-the-10th-anniversary-of-the-military-coup-in-honduras/ There are currently 61 co-sponsors, but none representing North Carolina. Demonstrations and deadly repression is going on in Honduras now, though it is not often mentioned by the mainstream media.
For more information see: www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/28/honduras-at-ten-years-after-the-coup-a-critical-assessment/
Also: www.counterpunch.org/2019/07/11/the-honduran-coup-one-decade-later/
The continuing "Western" campaign for a coup in Venezuela
Also: www.counterpunch.org/2019/07/11/the-honduran-coup-one-decade-later/
The continuing "Western" campaign for a coup in Venezuela
RSN article: "Why is NPR Carrying Water for Trump on Venezuela?"
readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/57038-rsn-why-is-npr-carrying-water-for-trump-on-Venezuela
NPR station WUNC 91.5 FM's FCC license is coming up for renewal after 8 years this December, and comments can be made (until November) about whether it is serving the public interest, such as in its coverage of the plot against Venezuela, attempts to cool down relations with the DPRK, and attempts to inflame relations with Iran. [I think the renewal application will be around August 1st and comments can be made until November 1st, and information can be found at WUNC's office at the Friday Center or at the FCC, but I will have to check the details.]
Support the Venezuela Embassy Protectors
The Embassy Protectors, who occupied Venezuela's embassy in Washington with the permission of the legitimate government, to prevent its seizure by the US government and coup supporters, were removed and now face trials on various charges, and some could be imprisoned for up to a year and fined $100,000 dollars. They are seeking tax-deductible donations to pay $50,000 in legal fees and solidarity messages and actions by other groups. For more information see: defendembassyprotectors.org/
NPR and the Democratic presidential primary
As always there is the question of how much a candidate's popularity is influenced by the mainstream media. NPR has been covering some of the candidates for a few months. I might have missed more extensive reporting about Tulsi Gabbard ( www.tulsi2020.com/ ), but it is hard to recall any mention of her candidacy until a few days ago, maybe on July 10th's Morning Edition, when a woman reporter called Gabbard an isolationist, a negative term like "populist" for NPR, the BBC, PBS, etc., rather than using a term like non-interventionist, anti-imperialist, anti-war, or foreign relations "dove." A warmongering "hawk" who supported the Iraq War or advocates war with Iran now is respectable, but an "isolationist" is suspect, though diplomacy is engagement with the world. The very brief mention was reporting Gabbard's support for Trump's recent meeting with Kim Jong Un, but also mentioned her own meeting with something like "the dictator of Syria" (no name was given). On foreign policy Gabbard seems to be left of Bernie Sanders ( berniesanders.com ). Some on the left have criticized her record and positions, but she seems to be generally on the left of the Democratic Party, and I appreciate her condemnation of the plot against Venezuela, rare among national Democrats, and support for peaceful relations. Mike Gravel ( www.mikegravel.org/ ; his campaign store is at secure.actblue.com/donate/gravelmerch and has ""Compost the Rich" stickers, "Send Dick Cheney to the Hague" hats, etc.) might be most progressive of all, but is apparently getting fewer donations. During a national election in Japan a few years ago an English-language news show from the NHK (Japan's public media) carried on NC's PBS station reported on candidates from something like 10 or 15 parties, including the social democratic Communist Party of Japan. On the other hand US media says very little about what a candidate proposes to do or has done when in office and talks mostly about a few candidates. The left candidates are generally ignored or talked about in ways that let you know where the big media and Democratic Party establishment stand. Maybe there are studies of media coverage of Sanders in the 2016 election to demonstrate this rigorously. 20-something major Democratic candidates is a lot, but NPR has enough time to give them all extensive coverage and it would be a public service (for more information see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries and there is a linked page about policy, but information on Wikipedia should be taken with a grain of salt). Once the primaries end, the media mostly ignores third parties (less so the Libertarians), except to blame them for taking votes 'owned' by a Democrat or Republican. I can't recall hearing any major mention of the Green Party's Jill Stein in mainstream media before November 2016, but I have after the election, even about a week or two ago. Howie Hawkins seeks to be the Green Party's 2020 candidate, but I don't know if anyone else is running. The Socialist Party and others should also field candidates, but then there is the issue of whether votes for them will count, due to oppressive ballot access laws in various states. In 2016 some third parties nominated candidates who were constitutionally ineligible to serve, and they lacked ballot access. Greens (as well as Libertarians and the Constitution Party) will appear on North Carolina's ballot and votes for them should be counted under the law.
Library booksales
The Friends of the Durham Library will have booksales August 3 - 4, October 5 - 6, and December 7 - 8, and the hours for all of these sales will be 10am - 12pm members only and 12 - 4pm open to all on Saturdays and 1 - 4pm $10 paper grocery bag sales open to all on Sundays. The sales are at a space inside Northgate Mall, next to the former location of Sears (with Sears closed, people will probably have to enter through a side entrance and the FODL store's back service door won't be open). There are small satellite sales inside the library branches daily ( durhamcountylibrary.org/friends/ ).
The Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library will have book sales September 13 - 15 and December 6 -8 ( friendschpl.org/FCHPLevents ).
Friends of the Lee County Library has a continuous book sale: library.leecountync.gov/friends
Three cosmonauts on Soyuz 11 were killed in space June 30, 1971 due to depressurization through a damaged valve as they prepared to leave orbit after being the first (and only) crew on Salyut 1, humanity's first space station. Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev are the first humans to have been killed in space.
International Asteroid Day is June 30th. That day in 1908 there was a massive explosion over Siberia, leveling about 830 square miles of forest in a sparsely inhabited region. The night sky was unusually bright in parts of Europe and Asia for several days after the event. More recently an asteroid exploded high above the city of Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains of Russia February 15, 2013 with the force of 440 kilotons of TNT, far more powerful than the atomic bomb used on Hiroshima, and caused many injuries and damage ( www.un.org/en/events/asteroidday/ ).
Around June 30th or between July 1st and 4th, 1520 Spanish conquistadores under Hernando Cortés and a much larger force of native allies were driven out of the Aztec/Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan with heavy losses (what the Spanish called La Noche Triste). They also lost much of their stolen gold, heavy weapons, and horses. The retreating invaders were constantly harassed, but won the Battle of Otumba in July and were able to escape from the Valley of Mexico to friendly Tlaxcala. Shortly before La Noche Triste Mexican ruler Moctezuma II (also known as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin) was killed.
Around June 30th or between July 1st and 4th, 1520 Spanish conquistadores under Hernando Cortés and a much larger force of native allies were driven out of the Aztec/Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan with heavy losses (what the Spanish called La Noche Triste). They also lost much of their stolen gold, heavy weapons, and horses. The retreating invaders were constantly harassed, but won the Battle of Otumba in July and were able to escape from the Valley of Mexico to friendly Tlaxcala. Shortly before La Noche Triste Mexican ruler Moctezuma II (also known as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin) was killed.
The Battle of Gettysburg was July 1 - 3, 1863 in Pennsylvania, and was the Civil War battle with the most casualties, missing, wounded, or killed. Together with the Federal capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 4th July 1863 is seen as a turning point in the War.
Canada Day is July 1st, marking the Constitution Act, 1867.
Hong Kong reverted to Chinese control July 1, 1997 and the "One Country, Two Systems" policy is supposed to continue until 2047 in Hong Kong. Protests have been going on in Hong Kong, often mentioned by the BBC.
World UFO Day is marked July 2nd or June 24th. Something crashed near Roswell, New Mexico in July 1947 and Kenneth Arnold's famous sighting in Washington state, which resulted in the coining of the term "flying saucer," was June 24, 1947.
Canada Day is July 1st, marking the Constitution Act, 1867.
Hong Kong reverted to Chinese control July 1, 1997 and the "One Country, Two Systems" policy is supposed to continue until 2047 in Hong Kong. Protests have been going on in Hong Kong, often mentioned by the BBC.
World UFO Day is marked July 2nd or June 24th. Something crashed near Roswell, New Mexico in July 1947 and Kenneth Arnold's famous sighting in Washington state, which resulted in the coining of the term "flying saucer," was June 24, 1947.
July 3, 1988 the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 in Iranian airspace while the cruiser was in Iranian territorial waters in the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War. Everyone onboard was killed, a total of 290 civilians (66 children), mostly from Iran, but including people from the UAE, India, Pakistan, Yugoslavia, and Italy. Allegedly the climbing Airbus A300 airliner was mistaken for an F-14 fighter descending for an attack. The US government expressed regret and paid restitution in 1996, but refused to apologize and the captain and crew of the Vincennes later received various awards.
March 10, 1989 the captain's minivan, driven by his wife, was set on fire by a pipebomb in San Diego and who set the bomb remains unknown.
See also: www.counterpunch.org/2019/06/17/remember-the-vincennes-the-uss-long-history-of-provoking-iran/
The Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, passed the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776.
Trident Nein
Two years after the Plowshares Number Two protest, on July 4, 1982 nine peace activists entered the General Dynamics Electric Boat facility in Groton, Connecticut to declare independence from the Trident program and nuclear weapons (thus nein, no in German). Four canoed over to the USS Florida submarine, hammered at its missile hatches, spread blood, and spraypainted "U.S.S. Auschwitz" on the side in about 30 minutes before being arrested. The other group of five went to the south storage yard to hammer and pour blood on two Trident sonar spheres and were arrested three hours later. Their jury trial lasted two weeks, but they weren't allowed to make a justification defense or have expert witnesses testify about the risks or legality of Trident. The nine were sentenced to imprisonment for up to a year and had to pay $1386.67 to the Navy for criminal, mischief, conspiracy, and criminal trespass. This description is from the book Swords Into Plowshares: Nonviolent Direct Action for Disarmament, edited by Arthur J Laffin and Anne Montgomery, published in 1987.
The Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, passed the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776.
Trident Nein
Two years after the Plowshares Number Two protest, on July 4, 1982 nine peace activists entered the General Dynamics Electric Boat facility in Groton, Connecticut to declare independence from the Trident program and nuclear weapons (thus nein, no in German). Four canoed over to the USS Florida submarine, hammered at its missile hatches, spread blood, and spraypainted "U.S.S. Auschwitz" on the side in about 30 minutes before being arrested. The other group of five went to the south storage yard to hammer and pour blood on two Trident sonar spheres and were arrested three hours later. Their jury trial lasted two weeks, but they weren't allowed to make a justification defense or have expert witnesses testify about the risks or legality of Trident. The nine were sentenced to imprisonment for up to a year and had to pay $1386.67 to the Navy for criminal, mischief, conspiracy, and criminal trespass. This description is from the book Swords Into Plowshares: Nonviolent Direct Action for Disarmament, edited by Arthur J Laffin and Anne Montgomery, published in 1987.
Fourth of July festivities
There will be readings, tabling, etc. at Carrboro Town Hall Wednesday, July 4th 11am - 4pm: www.facebook.com/events/198813814360336/
Chapel Hill will have a fireworks show July 4th in Southern Village 6 - 10pm: www.facebook.com/events/351184608922912/
Pittsboro Summer Fest will be Sunday, July 7th 4:30 - 9:30pm: www.facebook.com/events/251396195738237/
The annual Festival for the Eno [the 40th] will be July 4th and 6th: www.enoriver.org
International Co-operative Day is July 6th (the first Saturday in July).
The next Carrboro Really, Really Free Market will be Saturday, July 6th 2 - 4pm at the Carrboro Town Hall Commons: www.facebook.com/events/430848741090732/ and it is Tomato Day 2019! at the Carrboro Farmers' Market 8:30 - 11:30am: www.facebook.com/events/432525447571058/
The Second Sino-Japanese War began with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, near Beijing, July 7, 1937 (and ended in 1945). The First Sino-Japanese War began July 25, 1894 and ended in April 1895.
Charles Emil Ruthenberg, a founder and executive secretary of what is now called the Communist Party USA was born July 9, 1882 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was jailed more than once for anti-war, labor, and just left political organizing. He died in March 1927 in Chicago, but his ashes are interred in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.
BAJ: A GOOD AMERICAN + Special Guest Ray McGovern ["95% certain" he will be able to attend]
7:30 PM Wednesday July 10, at the
Community Church of Chapel Hill, 106 Purefoy Road
Balance [and] Accuracy in Journalism
presents
A stunning documentary on
NSA mathematician Bill Binney
and his terrorism tracking software
ThinThread
Friedrich Moser and Oliver Stone's
A GOOD AMERICAN
A post 9/11 test of ThinThread on pre 9/11 data
found the highjackers’ activities and more.
But Binney's cutting edge system that preserved
U.S. citizens’ privacy had been shut down in an act of
reckless privatization. Higher budget, outsourced software
that unconstitutionally invades the privacy of us all, had
failed to see 9/11 coming. Soon Binney and his team
were raided by the FBI to seize all records of ThinThread’s
effectiveness and to cover up the greatest NSA failure
in its history.
Trailer: http://agoodamerican.org/trailer
BAJ programs routinely feature principled examples
of service to others. This documentary exemplifies
why Ray McGovern, Bill Binney and others created
Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).
The project is comprised of former US intel officers
with decades of experience in the CIA, FBI, NSA
and other agencies. We have heard before from Ray
McGovern. He described for us the meeting of Tom Drake,
one of the ThinThread team targeted by false charges,
with Edward Snowden when the Sam Adams Integrity
in Intelligence award was presented to Snowden in Moscow
by VIPS. “At least our suffering was not wasted” was
in Drake’s expression, as Snowden personally met
the people whose experience had forewarned him
what his internal whistleblower experience would
have been.
The most recent VIPS memo to the White House is on Iran: https://consortiumnews.com/2019/06/21/vips-memo-to-the-president-is-pompeos-agenda-the-same-as-yours/
Full list of prior memos:https://consortiumnews.com/vips-memos/
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What happens when the UN Special Rapporteur on torture
Prof. Nils Melzer offers an opinion piece on the treatment
of Julian Assange to major publications?
Melzer is the Human Rights Chair of the Geneva Academy
of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and
Professor of International Law at the University of Glasgow.
Read about it at the Irish Indymedia site:
Or down the page at https://raymcgovern.com/
It begins,
On the occasion of the International Day in Support of Torture Victims, 26 June 2019
I know, you may think I am deluded. How could life in an Embassy
with a cat and a skateboard ever amount to torture? That’s exactly
what I thought, too, when Assange first appealed to my office for protection.
Like most of the public, I had been subconsciously poisoned by
the relentless smear campaign, which had been disseminated
over the years. So it took a second knock on my door to get
my reluctant attention. But once I looked into the facts of this case,
what I found filled me with revulsion and disbelief.
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DIRECTIONS TO BAJ MEETING SITE
106 Purefoy Road, Chapel Hill
Community Church, Unitarian Universalist
FROM EITHER DIRECTION ON THE CHAPEL HILL BYPASS:
take 15-501 [or 54] to the 15-501 Pittsboro exit
As you exit, TURN at the traffic light toward Chapel Hill.
Almost immediately TURN RIGHT just short of the convenience store.
That's PUREFOY ROAD, and you take it almost half a mile,
passing two stop signs as it curves left up the hill
until you can - just - see the third stop sign ahead of you.
At that point, there is a driveway on the left
with a subtle, tan sign for the church.
That driveway takes you to the parking lot and the Community Church.
~~~~~~~~
106 Purefoy Road, Chapel Hill
Community Church, Unitarian Universalist
FROM EITHER DIRECTION ON THE CHAPEL HILL BYPASS:
take 15-501 [or 54] to the 15-501 Pittsboro exit
As you exit, TURN at the traffic light toward Chapel Hill.
Almost immediately TURN RIGHT just short of the convenience store.
That's PUREFOY ROAD, and you take it almost half a mile,
passing two stop signs as it curves left up the hill
until you can - just - see the third stop sign ahead of you.
At that point, there is a driveway on the left
with a subtle, tan sign for the church.
That driveway takes you to the parking lot and the Community Church.
~~~~~~~~
Mexico's National Tree Day (arbor day) is July 11th (the second Thursday in July).
VUSE Boycott actions
Join twenty Student Action with Farmworkers ( www.saf-unite.org/ ) 2019 interns in picketing a Circle K in Raleigh (4100 Western Boulevard, park at the nearby Food Lion) Thursday, July 11th 3:30 - 4:15pm.
Triangle Friends of Farmworkers is giving Circle K stores low ratings on review sites and plans to meet Wednesday, July 17th, probably at Duke's Center for Documentary Studies, to write more, details TBA.
Here is an example:
Circle-K REVIEW: Location: 5009 Fayetteville Road, Garner/Raleigh, NC July 7, 2019
“This Circle K always has a wide variety of snacks, and a gal can’t live without her favorite snacks and a sturdy cup of coffee. Add to that the convenient location, chit-chatty workers and my loyalty is hooked. It is a source of frustration to me, however, that Circle K continues to stock VUSE e-cigarettes in defiance of a nationwide boycott supporting FLOC, the farm workers union, which means, by extension, that Circle K also supports the inhumane treatment those workers endure from Reynolds Tobacco. Since I, a stubborn Missouri Mule in Garner, refuse to support cruelty in any form, this means I can no longer stop here even if I am craving a Little Debbie Oatmeal Crème cookie. So instead of the high grade I would like to give this business, I must give a "one" until such time as the corporate values of Circle K align with my personal values regarding the way farm workers are treated. Please pressure your management to support this move for justice. Please hurry - ease your conscience and my withdrawal symptoms. Thank you for your consideration”.
The Storming of the Bastille fortress in Paris was July 14, 1789 during the French Revolution and July 14th is the French National Day.
Apollo 11 lifted off July 16, 1969 and lunar module Eagle touched down on the Moon July 20th. On July 21st Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on another celestial body. Later they rejoined Michael Collins in the orbiting command module and returned to Earth July 24th, landing in the Pacific Ocean. Apparently Michael Collins lived in North Carolina recently, in Avon, a town on the Outer Banks north of Cape Hatteras.
Pantex Disarmament Action
July 16, 1985 Richard Miller of Des Moines, Iowa working alone for seven hours removed 39 feet of rails from a spur connecting the Department of Energy's Pantex Nuclear Weapons Assembly Plant to the main Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. Precautions were taken to prevent a crash or injury. At that time if not today the assembly of all US nuclear weapons was finished at this plant in Amarillo, Texas. Miller also displayed a banner saying "Pantex=Auschwitz . Stop the Trains." He is quoted as saying "At Auschwitz the trains carried the people to the crematoria; at Pantex, the trains carry the crematoria to the people." He received a Federal jury trial on the charges of wrecking trains and destroying national defense materials and was sentenced November 8, 1985 to two concurrent four-year prison sentences and did not appeal. This information comes from the Swords Into Plowshares book referred to above.
According to Wikipedia, the Japanese city of Numazu was firebombed July 17, 1945, the largest raid on that city during WWII. 130 B-29s dropped 1,039 tons of incendiaries at night, creating a firestorm, thought to have destroyed 9523 houses and killed about 274 civilians. In all Numazu was bombed eight times during the War, in all killing 322 people, seriously injuring 634, destroying 11, 883 houses, and demolishing almost 90% of the city. The city wasn't very large (www.ditext.com/japan/napalm.html says Numazu was comparable to Waco, Texas), but included industrial and transportation targets and was used as an alternative target for bombers using nearby Mount Fuji for navigation. Large parts of many cities in Japan were burned, requiring many bombers, but by August 1945 the US military would be able to destroy cities with just one airplane and one bomb, and the USA and UK contemplated launching a nuclear attack against their Soviet ally. Numazu is in Shizuoka Prefecture, on the coast relatively close southwest of Tokyo. Modern-day Numazu has become more famous in Japan and the US as the setting for the TV anime Love Live! Sunshine!!, which has nothing to do with war and peace, but does relate to problems caused by Japan's ageing and decreasing population.
The Nicaraguan Revolution overthrew the Somoza government July 19, 1979. The main revolutionary organization, the FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front), was founded July 19, 1961. The US supported the rightist Contras, including with the Iran-Contra deal, eventually leading to the electoral defeat of the FSLN.
NC Green Party Summer Gathering
The NC Green Party ( www.ncgreenparty.org/ ) will have a statewide summer meeting July 20 - 21 at the Seedbed in Mebane (6602 Nicks Road on the east side of Alamance County). I think non-members are welcome to attend Saturday, July 20th, which will include a presentation on building independent political power, skills building sessions, sessions to establish several issue-based working groups, a dinner, etc. July 21st will be about strategy. There are some rudimentary accommodations at the Seedbed and nearby motels/hotels.
National Moth Week is July 20 – 28 ( www.nationalmothweek.org/ ). There will be events at the NC Botanical Garden and other parks.
The Downing Street Memo records a meeting off high level British officials July 23, 2002 about US plans to attack Iraq. These minutes and other documents were part of the case for impeaching President GW Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes relating mostly to the Iraq War, but that campaign didn't get as far as the effort to impeach Trump over alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, etc. Powerful Democrats in Congress were against impeaching Bush and Cheney and the result is that few were punished for what happened during the "War on Terror" and now some of the same people have national power again under Trump and might be engineering an even bigger war with Iran. Crimes against peace aren't treated as an impeachable offense in the USA.
July 24th marks 10 years since the minimum wage was last increased, though if it was tied to inflation it would be far higher than $15/hour now.
The Annual National Meeting of the Green Party US will be July 25 - 28 in Salem, Massachusetts and the registration cost will increase July 1st: salem.gp.org
Apollo 15 launched July 26th and returned August 7, 1971, and was the 4th human landing on the Moon, the 9th crewed Apollo launch, the first mission to drive a Lunar Roving Vehicle, demonstrated that a hammer and a feather fall together in the absence of air resistance, collected the Genesis Rock, etc., though Apollo 15 was also tarnished by controversies, such as the selling of postage stamps carried on the mission.
Apollo 17 at the end of 1972 was the last mission, though more had been planned and some hardware was leftover. Apollo components were used in the Skylab space station and the joint Apollo-Soyuz Test Program with the USSR and there was an idea for a human flyby of Venus. Despite frequently talking about it, decades later no country has launched a human mission to Mars, a near-Earth asteroid, back to the Moon, or anywhere else (and the US has to rely on much reviled Russia to get astronauts to the ISS, though maybe soon the government will pay a private corporation to get its astronauts into space). It seems like a crewed successor to Apollo could have been done by now or in the near future if a government, not necessarily the USA, had committed to a plan and funded it. On the other hand many discoveries have been made by the fleet of robotic spacecraft launched by several countries over the decades.
Balance and Accuracy in Journalism meeting in Durham: Media Bias on Palestine
"August-in-July Balance & Accuracy in Journalism program
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Balance & Accuracy in Journalism
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SAF End of Summer Celebration
This fundraiser for Student Action with Farmworkers will be Sunday, August 11th 1 - 4pm at the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh. Meet the community of SAF supporters and enjoy food, music, and art, and the announcement says something about the opening of NCSU's corn maize: www.saf-unite.org/content/saf-end-summer-celebration
Triangle Friends of Farmworkers late summer activities
TFF will cook for the FLOC Black-Brown Unity Tour bus coming to North Carolina from Toledo, Ohio August 27th. To help, come to 130 Hunt Street in Durham anytime 1 - 6pm August 26th, possibly also August 27th, and the morning of August 29th members will go to the FLOC office in Dudley to set up a lunch.
The next anti-VUSE picket at a Circle K, in Chapel Hill or Carrboro, is tentatively scheduled for September 3rd, details TBA.
The campaign to give Circle K one-star reviews on Google and Yelp continues. If you do it at home, let them know your name, the store's address, the date, and optionally your review. Just on July 17th members left about 60 reviews.
TFF's next business meeting will be September 23rd at 7pm at 130 Hunt Street in Durham.
The 62nd Annual Convention of the NC AFL-CIO will be September 19 - 20 in Charlotte.
The Global Climate Strike will be September 20.
The NC Museum of Natural History's BugFest will be September 21st and this year's theme is beetles (almost 1/4th of all known animal species are beetles).
Demand an End to War: Rage Against the War Machine
This sequel to the March on the Pentagon last fall ( durhamspark.blogspot.com/2018/10/reportback-from-womens-march-on.html ) will be Friday, October 11th in front of the White House and the Anti-Imperialist Revolution Summit will be Saturday, October 12th ( marchonpentagon.com/demand-an-end-to-war-rage-against-the-war-machine/ ).
Close the School of the Americas
School of the Americas Watch is organizing a demonstration outside Fort Benning, Georgia (near Columbus and the border with Alabama) November 15 - 17. November 16th is the 30th anniversary of a massacre at the Central American University in San Salvador, El Salvador in 1989.
The Downing Street Memo records a meeting off high level British officials July 23, 2002 about US plans to attack Iraq. These minutes and other documents were part of the case for impeaching President GW Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes relating mostly to the Iraq War, but that campaign didn't get as far as the effort to impeach Trump over alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, etc. Powerful Democrats in Congress were against impeaching Bush and Cheney and the result is that few were punished for what happened during the "War on Terror" and now some of the same people have national power again under Trump and might be engineering an even bigger war with Iran. Crimes against peace aren't treated as an impeachable offense in the USA.
July 24th marks 10 years since the minimum wage was last increased, though if it was tied to inflation it would be far higher than $15/hour now.
The Annual National Meeting of the Green Party US will be July 25 - 28 in Salem, Massachusetts and the registration cost will increase July 1st: salem.gp.org
Apollo 15 launched July 26th and returned August 7, 1971, and was the 4th human landing on the Moon, the 9th crewed Apollo launch, the first mission to drive a Lunar Roving Vehicle, demonstrated that a hammer and a feather fall together in the absence of air resistance, collected the Genesis Rock, etc., though Apollo 15 was also tarnished by controversies, such as the selling of postage stamps carried on the mission.
Apollo 17 at the end of 1972 was the last mission, though more had been planned and some hardware was leftover. Apollo components were used in the Skylab space station and the joint Apollo-Soyuz Test Program with the USSR and there was an idea for a human flyby of Venus. Despite frequently talking about it, decades later no country has launched a human mission to Mars, a near-Earth asteroid, back to the Moon, or anywhere else (and the US has to rely on much reviled Russia to get astronauts to the ISS, though maybe soon the government will pay a private corporation to get its astronauts into space). It seems like a crewed successor to Apollo could have been done by now or in the near future if a government, not necessarily the USA, had committed to a plan and funded it. On the other hand many discoveries have been made by the fleet of robotic spacecraft launched by several countries over the decades.
Balance and Accuracy in Journalism meeting in Durham: Media Bias on Palestine
"August-in-July Balance & Accuracy in Journalism program
6-7:30 THIS TUESDAY July 30th IN DURHAM
at the Stanford L. Warren branch of the Durham County Library
1201 Fayetteville Street, Durham
Speaking to BAJ audiences at important junctures, Dr. Rania Masri
has shared her research with us on US and Mideast policies.
Her analysis has been durable, even predictive, and on the side
of humane outcomes. Does justice or peace have a chance
in severely rigged media dynamics? How can struggles for fair dealings
be supported by readers, listeners and viewers?
What does the Palestine issue have in common with our
fight for clean air, democracy, demilitarized community policing
and climate stability?
BAJ joins the Demilitarize Durham 2 Palestine Coalition in presenting this program:
Palestinians usually make it into mainstream coverage only
when they are protesting or physically confronting Israeli aggression.
How does media bias seep into the way they are covered and
how does this effect the global perception of Israeli occupation?
Come join us Tuesday, July 30th from 6 to 7:30 PM at the
Stanford L. Warren branch of the Durham County Library (1201 Fayetteville St.)
for an interactive media bias workshop, led by Dr. Rania Masri,
a political ecologist and activist scholar. Dr. Masri has presented
at hundreds of speaking engagements around the world and has
more than 20 years of experience speaking to the press across
various platforms. People of all levels of knowledge and
awareness on Palestine are welcome.
And there will be free food & refreshments!
This event is brought to you by the Demilitarize from Durham2Palestine coalition,
Muslims for Social Justice, Balance and Accuracy in Journalism,
Migrant Roots Media, Duke Students for Justice in Palestine, and
the Jewish Voice for Peace Triangle NC chapter.
Please RSVP and share the event on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/events/2104985739611605/?notif_t=plan_user_invited¬if_id=1563395853577436
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Balance & Accuracy in Journalism
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I plan to bring related disks and info for sharing.
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DIRECTIONS TO BAJ MEETING SITE
This special 6-7:30PM program is at the Stanford L. Warren branch of the Durham County Library (1201 Fayetteville St.)
This special 6-7:30PM program is at the Stanford L. Warren branch of the Durham County Library (1201 Fayetteville St.)
The library is a few blocks north of NC Central University, on Fayetteville Street, and a few blocks south of the Durham expressway.
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SAF End of Summer Celebration
This fundraiser for Student Action with Farmworkers will be Sunday, August 11th 1 - 4pm at the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh. Meet the community of SAF supporters and enjoy food, music, and art, and the announcement says something about the opening of NCSU's corn maize: www.saf-unite.org/content/saf-end-summer-celebration
Triangle Friends of Farmworkers late summer activities
TFF will cook for the FLOC Black-Brown Unity Tour bus coming to North Carolina from Toledo, Ohio August 27th. To help, come to 130 Hunt Street in Durham anytime 1 - 6pm August 26th, possibly also August 27th, and the morning of August 29th members will go to the FLOC office in Dudley to set up a lunch.
The next anti-VUSE picket at a Circle K, in Chapel Hill or Carrboro, is tentatively scheduled for September 3rd, details TBA.
The campaign to give Circle K one-star reviews on Google and Yelp continues. If you do it at home, let them know your name, the store's address, the date, and optionally your review. Just on July 17th members left about 60 reviews.
TFF's next business meeting will be September 23rd at 7pm at 130 Hunt Street in Durham.
The 62nd Annual Convention of the NC AFL-CIO will be September 19 - 20 in Charlotte.
The Global Climate Strike will be September 20.
The NC Museum of Natural History's BugFest will be September 21st and this year's theme is beetles (almost 1/4th of all known animal species are beetles).
Demand an End to War: Rage Against the War Machine
This sequel to the March on the Pentagon last fall ( durhamspark.blogspot.com/2018/10/reportback-from-womens-march-on.html ) will be Friday, October 11th in front of the White House and the Anti-Imperialist Revolution Summit will be Saturday, October 12th ( marchonpentagon.com/demand-an-end-to-war-rage-against-the-war-machine/ ).
Close the School of the Americas
School of the Americas Watch is organizing a demonstration outside Fort Benning, Georgia (near Columbus and the border with Alabama) November 15 - 17. November 16th is the 30th anniversary of a massacre at the Central American University in San Salvador, El Salvador in 1989.
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