More items will be posted in coming weeks.
informationclearinghouse.blog/2023/11/19/what-really-happened-on-october-7/
informationclearinghouse.blog/2023/11/20/israels-war-on-american-student-activists/
Green Jill Stein was mentioned by name on NPR's Sunday ATC November 12th, unusually [2024 presidential candidacy announcement November 9th: twitter.com/DrJillStein/status/1722656370854355132 ]. Still no mention of Howie Hawkins [not running] on NPR, ever, and no more on RFK, Jr.
In early November Durham DA Satana Deberry announced that she will run for NC AG in 2024. Around the same time or earlier Hezbollah first deployed suicide (?) drones against the Israeli military.
Still warmongering, but strange coverage choices on NPR, and on TV channel 50-1 to a lesser degree, regarding Gaza, 2024, etc. NPR's The World had a segment reminiscent of the 80's, or the Vietnam War, on November 15th or 16th – arm and train the Christian indigenous Taiwanese up in the mountains to fight the ~ "Chinese communists;" the rest of Taiwan is too soft. November 17th – the State Department (?) will work to ~ "free" the downtrodden Uighurs and Kazakhs in China, and later, on ATC, 2002 al Qaida "propaganda" against Israel on TikTok – the youth haven't absorbed enough US government propaganda narrative and government "media literacy," and information the government doesn't want to have around vanishes from the Guardian website; Biden is courting electoral danger regarding Palestine; while Israel carries out what sound like blatant war crimes, with Biden's support, scary Trump is copying Nazism; on 1A – in NH, which doesn't matter, Marianne Williamson – who?; xyz Nicolas Maduro; xyz China, the State Department (?) will free Ukrainian children allegedly being held in Belarus; what else?? [~November 16th Marketplace – The lesser evil Democratic Party not only embraces Netanyahu but also Milton Friedman.] If people felt compelled to vote for Biden-Harris in 2020, versus a horrible Republican ticket, why do they say they will be free in 2024?
newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/wild-city?pc=1558
mronline.org/2023/11/17/everyone-is-hitler-when-it-suits-just-not-western-leaders/?
mronline.org/2023/11/11/republicans-and-democrats-unite-to-push-for-assanges-freedom/
Palestine solidarity protests in the Triangle:
"Hundreds" rallied and blocked 147 around 5pm November 2nd and Valerie Foushee and "anti-democratic" AIPAC: indyweek.com/news/durham/durham-protesters-block-traffic-during-demonstration-in-support-of-palestine/
I'm amazed, but according to the November-December issue of Wildlife in North Carolina magazine (Meet Your New Neighbor) nine-banded armadillos were reported 2-5 times in Durham County, once in Orange and Chatham counties, 11-30 times in Wake County and in the Charlotte area, and 31-134 times up in the mountainous southwestern corner of the State, of all places, while being rare in the seemingly congenial Coastal Plain, 2007-2022, and are established residents in TN and SC. I don't think I realize that they were even present in NC. Wikipedia claims that armadillos have reached southern Colorado, Nebraska, and Indiana, and could live as far north as Ohio and Connecticut, and in November 2009 NC considered creating a hunting season for armadillos. Their range includes most of Latin America.
The Durham City Council will meet at 7pm on November 6th and hold rezoning hearings on the proposed Hopson Road Multifamily – at the intersection west of the railroad tracks and Miami Boulevard/Highway 54, east of RTP, one of the last patches of green in that area, around a pre-existing house, maybe a pre-RTP farm; Cortez Drive Townhouses – on Angier Avenue; Millhouse Townes – on Chalk Level Road; Durham Summit – on Duke Street, and Perry Farm – on Kemp Road: cityordinances.durhamnc.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=610&doctype=1 City Council candidate Nate Baker recently forwarded Sound Rivers' post against Perry Farm, which includes an NC Natural Heritage Program inventory site, and would contribute to the existing excessive silt runoff problems caused by rampant construction around Falls Lake in recent years: soundrivers.org/durham-city-council-must-vote-against-the-perry-farms-proposal/
The general election for Durham mayor and 3 city council members (out of 6 + the mayor) is Tuesday, November 7th 6:30am-7:30pm [see: www.ncsbe.gov/results-data/election-results ]. I'm debating whether to vote; I'm dissatisfied with the current City government over the Highway 55-Hopson Road business park rezoning, next to another NC NHP inventory site, in February 2022; the support for the US proxy war in Ukraine in the Kostroma vote in August 2022; and the other issues I've brought up here, but are the alternatives much better? Nate Baker might be good, but he was endorsed by the Triangle DSA, and what side are they on, given the goings-on in Orange County? Baker endorsed incumbent Monique Holsey-Hyman, who was appointed in 2022, in time to vote against Kostroma. Mayoral candidate Leonardo Williams is currently on the City Council, but, if memory serves, opponent Mike Woodard voted for NC's "ag-gag" law in the General Assembly, though I have probably voted for him before, when he was a member of the City Council around 10-15 years ago. Election mailings and websites are vague and in some cases sound like the 'Clintonist' national Democratic Party, leaving news coverage and their vote and social media records as evidence of where they actually stand. For more election information, see below and: www.dcovotes.com/ , www.ncsbe.gov/ , and www.durhamnc.gov/1396/City-Council-Members
[Some candidate websites for November 7th : www.natefordurham.com/ (currently on the Durham City-County Planning Commission: www.durhamnc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7988/Durham-Planning-Commission-Roster-PDF?bidId= ), candidatedrmoniqueholseyhyman.com/ (incumbent, appointed after Charlie Reece left March 7th, 2022) , carlfordurham.com/en , khalilahfordurham.com/ , javierafordurham.com/ (incumbent), leofordurham.com (currently on the City Council and running for mayor, mikewoodard.com/ (NC State Senate), www.ncleg.gov/Members/Biography/S/379 , www.durhamnc.gov/1396/City-Council-Members , check for their social media accounts, candidate questionnaires, etc ]
About 300,000 people are supposed to have demonstrated in Washington, DC, which must be one of the largest anti-war demonstrations in DC in recent decades, and there were others on the West Coast ad abroad. Maybe I missed previous coverage, but NPR not only mentioned the demonstrations all day, but played a clip from DC at one point in the hourly news briefs [and had brief coverage Monday, November 6th in the morning. They don't cover domestic grassroots opposition to the proxy war in Ukraine, period, and I don't recall any coverage of the anti-war movement during the "War on Terror." Here, there are "isolationists," cast as right or far-right, while there is supposedly a Russian "anti-war" movement and even an armed struggle (with any ties to the US and EU?). Non-pacifism and conspiracy theories are usually condemned here, and in occupied Palestine, but are great in Russia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, etc. Going forward: Thursday, November 9th – www.shutitdown4palestine.org/
November 4th photos from around the world: cpcml.ca/Tmlm2023/MS5318.HTM
newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/imperial-designs?pc=1553
newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/humans-and-trees
There have been claims that Israel had detected signs that the unprecedented land, sea, and air attack was coming, but had discounted the Palestinians. The Israeli government was also supposed to have been warned by neighboring Arab countries. Supposedly the deal with Saudi Arabia might not be derailed. There have been charges that the Israeli government allowed October 7th to happen or that Hamas works with Israel, which would reduce the agency of the Palestinians if true, but the struggle is bigger than one or a few organizations now. There have been allegations that many of the Israeli casualties were caused by Israel's own counterattacks, under the 1986 Hannibal Directive, possibly superseded, and that Israel faked war crimes. For example:
kurtnimmo.substack.com/p/the-zionist-project-is-headed-for
kurtnimmo.substack.com/p/netanyahu-bragged-about-zionist-support
kurtnimmo.substack.com/p/did-hamas-attack-civilians-or-fanatical
www.cpbml.org.uk/news/1217-charter-forest
A Christian woman leader of the PLO (born October 8, 1946 in Nablus, now in the West Bank) – Hanan Daoud Mikhael Ashrawi: informationclearinghouse.blog/2023/10/30/this-was-an-act-of-resistance-against-the-occupation-army-hanan-ashrawi/
I heard a BBC report on a Russia-hating theatre in France in exile from ~Siberian ~Komsomolsky [the time must be off because the UK just went back to standard time]; some exiles, such as theatre critic Maria Zardzyniewa, hope someday to return to Russia, but the ~director representing her culture and people to Western Europe says that she really "hates Russia ["I hate Russia"];" I wasn't listening very carefully to the British/NATOland narrative, on again, and don't want to, but I don't think the origin of her apparent Russophobia was really explained; maybe the segment is here: ia-petabox.archive.org/details/BBC_World_Service_20231026_200000 Many Russians might believe in "Russian propaganda," or not – how many people in Imperial Japan truly believed that they should die for the divine emperor, create an empire inAsia, etc.? See Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms – and many Americans believed or passively accepted that we should invade Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, have a torture program, attack Iran, etc and believe that there isn't any contradiction in all of the talk about human rights, freedom, democracy, respect for national sovereignty, "responsibility to protect," "never again," the shining city on a hill, etc and the government's complete support for what Israel does in and around Palestine and the plan for at best a Palestinian non-state delegated to keep its people subservient and available as a workforce for Israel, living on a fraction of their former land; the US spheres of influence; etc. Russian exiles and other immigrants have to forget the "Russian propaganda" and absorb the US and NATO propaganda, especially if they want to avoid government repression and have certain careers.
Might be interesting, on reintroducing or rewilding glowworms in the UK: www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67240450
November 4-18th: www.durhamnc.gov/5155/Pumpkin-Drop-Off-Options
Claim of an election misinformation campaign in Chapel Hill, for what interests? – terribuckner.substack.com/p/we-can-all-be-fooled? Local general elections are coming up November 7th, but it can be hard to judge the interests behind the candidates. Is talk of "sustainability," "green," etc in Durham and elsewhere the "progressive" Democrat equivalent of 'pave everything over,' in the absence of a viable local Republican Party?]
kurtnimmo.substack.com/p/the-zionist-project-is-headed-for?
Simon Sebag Montefiore does Palestine; from The Atlantic: www.rsn.org/001/the-decolonization-narrative-is-dangerous-and-false.html
www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/solidarity-with-palestine-free-resources-and-further-reading?
Why was US B-52 strategic bomber flying over "international waters" off China October 24th where a Chinese Shengyang J-11 fighter could allegedly come within l0 feet of it? – mailchi.mp/law/cns-morning-brief-783565?e=4c4597208e
Global Day of Anti-Colonial Action October 29th: handsoffuhuru.org/palestine/
National March on Washington for Palestine November 4th logistics: www.answercoalition.org/logistics?
Buses and other transportation from Charlotte, Raleigh, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Miami, NYC, Boston, Portland, Chicago, Indianapolis, Kentucky, Texas, New Mexico, etc: www.answercoalition.org/nov4_bus
General David Petraeus sounds like a voice of reason on the war in Palestine compared to the bloodthirsty current and former diplomats Anthony Blinken, David Hale, and Aaron David Miller.
Supposed former US "peace negotiator" David Hale was on NPR at 8am October 22nd advocating that Israel invade and demilitarize Gaza and saying that Hamas and Iran use their people as shields. The peace of the grave seems to be the US "peace" plan for the Middle East.
I didn't hear any coverage of the protest, called another "insurrection," in DC around October 18th, or the arrest of former UK ambassador Craig Murray for speech on X [Twitter] counterinformation.wordpress.com/2023/10/17/ex-uk-diplomat-craig-murray-detained-after-declaring-support-for-the-people-of-palestine/ , but there was coverage of high dissent in Blinken's State Department, and in Hollywood; and other UK investigations of speech and protest signs. Note the Australian threats, I think in the in the Rights and Dissent post [SkyNews link at: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2023/10/defending-rights-and-dissent-israel.html ].
ANSWER announced a November 4th demonstration in DC at 2pm at Freedom Plaza [on Pennsylvania Avenue between 13th and 14th streets]
rootsaction.org/cosponsor-ceasefire-resolution
Harvard open letter seeking co-signers: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqQ58vp2g9TvZk1GN6mefZ7M5x_QLw2uROIwOYU21zKkFVzg/viewform?pli=1
www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/take-action/
CPUSA statement: www.cpusa.org/article/stop-the-war-end-the-occupation-free-palestine/
GPUS statement: www.gp.org/green_party_condemns_attacks_on_civilians
PFLP: www.struggle-la-lucha.org/2023/10/20/the-popular-front-for-liberation-of-palestines-appeal-to-the-world/ and www.struggle-la-lucha.org/2023/10/19/pflp-disinformation-on-hospital-bombing-is-another-crime-against-victims/
Several species were removed from the endangered species list, due to extinction; delisting the Bachman's warbler, etc was proposed a year or two ago.
newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/impending-genocide
newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/border-lines
Is there a political reason that NPR's On Point had a program on Hamas at 12pm on Monday, October 16th, but instead of the usual rebroadcast at 9pm there is a program about juvenile court wrongdoing [with the author of Injustice, Inc. How right-wing is WUNC?]? [Or risk-averse. WUNC's "Due South" premiered Monday, October 30th at 10am, with the head of the Southern Studies organization at UNC [Blair LM Kelley, author of Black Folk, became director of the Center for the Study of the American South in July 2023: college.unc.edu/2022/06/kelley-csas/ ], etc. but now 1A is on until 1pm – is On Point going to be on at 1 or 9pm? It is on at 1pm. On Point might be more friendly to "Sandernistaism" than Clintonist-Bidenist NPR in general.]
An almost bizarre week on NPR after October 7th, compared with almost two years of Ukraine information war and the Trump years.
Watch for reptiles on the roads while it is still relatively warm this fall [and salamanders, some of which cross roads at night to breed in fall and winter, for example at the NCBG] and "leave the leaves," for wildlife: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2023/09/watch-for-copperheads-on-roads-in-fall.html The Audubon Society recommends leaving outside lights off September 10 – November 30 and March 15 –May 30 for night migrating birds, though moths and other nocturnal animals would benefit from darker skies over much of the year.
[The Orionid meteor shower, pieces of Halley's Comet, will be visible September 26 – November 22, peaking October 20 – 21. The weaker Southern Taurids September 28 – December 2, peaking November 4 – 5 and the Northern Taurids October 13 – December 2, peaking November 11 – 12; the Leonids November 3 – December 2, peaking November 17 – 18, maybe with a storm in 2099; the Geminids November 19 – December 24, peaking December 13 – 14; the Ursids December 13 – 24, peaking December 21 – 22; and the Quadrantids December 26 – January 16, peaking January 3 – 4: amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/ ]
In February 2022 Charlie Reece, no longer on the Durham City Council, and DeDreana Freeman, on the Durham City Council and now running for mayor, seem to have been the only opposition of any kind to the approval of 55-Hopson and included road expansion: cityordinances.durhamnc.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=507&doctype=1 , but I wasn't there and haven't seen the video yet, if it is still online. Protect an Ellerbe Creek rookery closer to downtown, but who cares about nesting herons, nightjars, etc on the fringes. On the other hand in August 2022 the DCC unanimously suspended sister city ties with Kostroma, etc: www.dukechronicle.com/article/2022/09/durham-north-carolina-kostroma-russia-sister-city-ukraine-war after not doing anything regarding the US invasion of Iraq, enabled by Biden. [The vote was August 15, 2022, 6 to 0: cityordinances.durhamnc.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=541&doctype=1 Jillian Johnson was absent then and isn't running in 2023, and voted to approve 55-Hopson.] Also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeDreana_Freeman , born September 30, 1977 in Trenton, New Jersey. I thought someone on the City Council had open ties to the CIA, but I might have be mistaken.
An eye-opening four part series on Durham politics:
indyweek.com/news/durham/the-running-of-the-bulls/
Woodcroft Parkway Extension west open house, etc in early October; the eastern extension endangered at least one pink ladyslipper orchid in the former young pinewoods [around September 1999?], and there might be a population at the school on Scott King: durham.mysocialpinpoint.com/woodcroft-parkway-extension-project
www.counterpunch.org/author/peter-bolton/
Town of Carrboro Planning, Zoning & Inspections Department (PZI) outreach events September
16th and 20th and October 2nd and 7th: www.carrboronc.gov/civicalerts.aspx?AID=2525
Lights Out North Carolina is September 10 – November 30 and March 15 –May 30, for night migrating birds: nc.audubon.org/conservation/lights-out-north-carolina?utm_source=chapters&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=lights_out_nc On a related issue, I've been wondering if I can see the increase in light pollution this summer.
re-publication Amended Waters of the US/WOTUS: www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-08/Pre-publication%20Version%20of%20the%20Final%20Rule%20-%20Amendments%20to%20the%20Revised%20Definition%20of%20Waters%20of%20the%20United%20States.pdf
worldbeyondwar.org/we-object-to-the-illegal-search-and-seizure-at-apartment-of-yurii-sheliazhenko-in-kyiv/ On trial in mid-September: worldbeyondwar.org/act-now-to-save-ukrainian-peace-activist-from-prosecution/?
PSL's 2024 presidential ticket: votesocialist2024.com/
Durham Revolutionary Study Group – a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist group; see Instagram; I saw flyers for this group and the next two at libraries.
Triangle Stop Cop City – online somewhere – Instagram?
stoporangegrovedump.com – west of Carrboro
Anti-Nicaragua propaganda I too heard on NPR recently, by someone whose parents left Nicaragua in the 80's; NPR prefers to have its attacks on the Palestinian resistance and Middle Eastern countries presented by people of Arab descent; attacks on Latin American countries presented by Latinos, etc.: fair.org/home/npr-falsely-claims-its-reporter-is-the-only-one-to-visit-nicaragua/
[NPR also recently reported that the Russian reporter who denounced the war on air has been sentenced to something like a draconian 8 years imprisonment in absentia; she escaped alone to France and says that her mother is zombified for Putin and has her child. And there are many people blindly following NATO, Israeli, and White House narratives in the "West." Of course she could be covering for her mother by saying that she has been ostracized.]
[The UK is being forced to try soldiers in October for alleged war crimes committed about 10 years ago in Afghanistan.]
CIA torture, with assistance or complicity from many other US institutions and organizations: www.counterpunch.org/2023/10/06/the-mind-breakers-the-case-of-ramzi-bin-al-shibh/
kurtnimmo.substack.com/p/did-hamas-attack-civilians-or-fanatical?
The previous calendar is at durhamspark.blogspot.com/2023/08/some-events-and-anniversaries-in-late.html and there are some notices and upcoming events posted at durhamspark.blogspot.com/2023/09/watch-for-copperheads-on-roads-in-fall.html [October 4, 2022: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2022/10/some-events-and-anniversaries-at-end-of.html ] The week when this was posted is a UNAC and World Beyond War week of action, prior to the anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, and October is the month of action against AFRICOM, and NC has Big Sweep trash and litter cleanups in October. October is also Community Planning Month. There will be local elections October 10th and in November. I would like to vote against those who approved the 55-Hopson business park and implicit road expansion, apparently without voicing any consideration for the welfare of the adjacent parkland, inventoried by the NC Natural Heritage Program as an important natural area, and nearby communities, and the whitewashing of US and EU imperialism through the Ukraine War if possible. ShotSpotter might be another issue; these sensors join the relatively common and possibly illegal private cameras pointed at streets. There are differences among the politicians, possibly even leading to violence in the DCC recently, but all of the candidates seem to be Democrats and there might not be much choice on land use decisions, etc. The DCC has taken actions on what I think was an Israeli security company, civil liberties during the "War on Terror," etc. in the past. There are a number of Albanian, Chinese, Russian and other historical anniversaries to add in October, November, and December.
McCarthyist David Corn: www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/09/as-a-presidential-candidate-cornel-west-aligns-himself-with-far-left-radicals/ [10/22: Very reminiscent of the red-baiting attacks on the WWP, attempting to split and weaken the anti-Iraq War movement about 20 years ago.]
fair.org/home/us-sanctions-missing-from-coverage-of-russias-cuban-soldiers/
Two articles on Haiti: cpcml.ca/WF2023/WO1056.HTM#2
chasfreeman.net/the-many-lessons-of-the-ukraine-war/
McCarthyist raids October 3rd in India, even reaching into the home of the secretary general of the powerful CPIM, said to have been targeting someone else living there; the raids were seemingly triggered by anti-China allegations in the New York Times: peoplesdispatch.org/2023/10/03/50-detained-over-100-homes-raided-in-sweeping-crackdown-on-press-freedom-in-india/
The Biden administration against free speech on social media: wemeantwell.com/blog/2023/09/30/court-moves-to-end-govt-censorship-by-proxy-in-social-media/ and a post on the use of the 14th Amendment against Trump and others, apparently including at least one candidate in North Carolina: wemeantwell.com/blog/2023/10/04/trump-and-the-14th-amendment/
Stephen Kotkin on going for the jugular against Russia as NATO loses, with David Remnick, who helped the government sell the Iraq War [Supposedly threatening to overthrow the Russian government will force President Putin to negotiate.]: www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/olivia-rodrigo-the-voice-of-generation-z-plus-stephen-kotkin-on-ending-the-war-in-ukraine and a transcript is at: www.rsn.org/001/should-the-west-threaten-the-putin-regime-over-ukraine.html Kotkin apparently had only practical reasons to oppose the Iraq War.
www.globalresearch.ca/us-democrats-commit-suicide-ouster-house-speaker-kevin-mccarthy/5834857
Noted earlier:
newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/western-pravdas
Cluster munitions hypocrisy; also, rightist commenters on FAIR now: fair.org/home/for-nyt-cluster-munitions-are-completely-wrong-when-russians-use-them/
Torture charges don't 'stick' when the USA and company are at fault: www.npr.org/2023/09/26/1201683052/it-appears-abuse-by-americans-at-iraqs-abu-ghraib-prison-is-largely-forgotten
NATO and the disaster in Derna, Libya: ingaza.wordpress.com/2023/09/25/nato-brings-death-to-libya-a-decade-after-its-barbaric-intervention/
Expropriating the Moon: www.wbur.org/onpoint/2023/09/25/moon-planets-space-travel-united-states-race
moderndiplomacy.eu/2023/06/25/the-belgrade-declaration-a-peace-proposal-for-ukraine/
September 22nd in Canada: forward.com/fast-forward/561927/zelenskyy-joins-canadian-parliaments-ovation-to-98-year-old-veteran-who-fought-with-nazis/ and informationclearinghouse.blog/2023/09/25/canadian-parliament-honors-man-who-fought-for-nazis-speaker-regrets-decision/
The animosity in Chapel Hill and Carrboro:
triangleblogblog.com/2022/10/12/why-you-should-care-about-the-booker-creek-working-group/
triangleblogblog.com/2023/01/03/chapel-hills-woodstock-but-for-population-control/
With the Triangle DSA: triangleblogblog.com/2023/09/28/end-the-gridlock-complete-carrboros-bolin-creek-greenway/
unac.notowar.net/let-us-know-about-your-action-september-30-october-7-to-end-the-war-in-ukraine/
October Against AFRICOM: blackallianceforpeace.com/africom2023
From NC STN:
VIGIL TO PROTEST GUANTANAMO
WHAT: Vigil to Demand that the Biden Administration CLOSE GUANTANAMO PRISON!
WHERE: US Federal Building, New Bern Ave & N. Person Street, Raleigh
WHEN: Thursday, October 5, 2023, 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm
WHY: It is shameful that the Biden Administration refuses to take steps to close the Guantanamo Prison. Of the 30 prisoners still there, 16 have been cleared to leave, some for as long as a decade. And three are to be held indefinitely without charges – “forever prisoners.”
For 5 prisoners there who were charged with crimes, plea deals were negotiated but then rejected by President Biden. Trials for these 5 defendants were recently blocked by a military commission judge, Col. Lanny Acosta. He refused to allow prosecutors to use statements made to a “clean team” of interrogators because of the brutal torture practiced earlier at CIA black sites, where the same prisoners had to say what interrogators wanted to hear to prevent further torture.
Meanwhile, one of the five defendants, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, was declared unfit to stand trial due to psychological damage. The plea deal would have included mental health care. President Biden has refused to accept conditions requested by the five men, including independent physical and mental health care and a promise that, if they plead guilty, they will not be held in solitary confinement.
All the 700+ Guantanamo prisoners have been Muslim men.
SPONSOR: NC Stop Torture Now
For more information, visit www.ncstn.org or email contact [at ncstn period].
[Photo from the international day of action: www.andyworthington.co.uk/2023/10/07/photos-and-report-the-coordinated-global-vigils-for-the-closure-of-guantanamo-on-october-4-2023/ A protest in London, UK was delayed until October 11th due to a railroad strike, something that isn't allowed in the US. There will be another day of action around Wednesday, November 1st and apparently every month.
Stormwater Awareness Week September 25 – 29: raleighnc.gov/stormwater/news/stormwater-awareness-week
The Annual Midwest Archaeological Conference will be October 12 – 14 in Bowling Green: midwestarchaeology.org/annual-meeting/upcoming
[UNC's University Day is October 12th and the Tar Heel Service Days will be October 12th – November 12th: alumni.unc.edu/events/tar-heel-service-days/ ]
UNC's 3rd annual Africa Fest will be October 8th 12-2pm at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro: africafest.unc.edu/
NC's coastal Bodie Island Lighthouse will be open for stair climbing until October 9th this year, and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse further south on the OBX, which I have been up, might not be open, but there is a virtual tour: www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/lighthouseclimbs.htm and www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/bils.htm
National Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15th to October 15.
[The 3rd week in October is North Carolina's annual Native Plants Week: www.dncr.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2023/10/13/first-lady-kristin-cooper-audubon-join-nc-state-parks-celebrate-new-native-plants-policy ]
[The Chestnut Carnival was October 15th 2-7pm in Pittsboro, with a showing of Clear Day Thunder, seedlings for sale by Rachel's Native Plants, a landscape design charette with Preston Montague of Durham etc. Are these GMO American chestnuts, being released into the wild? It can't be undone. Are these the GMO trees mentioned as being worked on at NCSU a few years ago?: www.theplantnc.com/event-details/chestnut-carnival-1 ]
[Probably anti-Soviet, but the Kaplan Brauer Lecture: The Soviet Jewish Bookshelf: Its Authors and Readers by Marat Grinberg will be Monday, October 16th 5:30pm at UNC-Chapel Hill's Stone Center, northwest of Kenan Stadium; free and open to the public: Jewish Studies jewishstudies.unc.edu/2023/09/6167/ , UNC Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies: cseees.unc.edu/event/lecture-in-jewish-studies-with-marat-grinberg-soviet-jewish-bookshelf/ Grinberg emigrated here from Ukraine in 1993 and is a professor of Russian and humanities at Portland, Oregon's Reed College.]
[The Bentonville Fall Festival will be Saturday, October 28th 10am-4pm in Four Oaks and there will be an open house December 2nd 4-8pm: historicsites.nc.gov/upcoming-events/bentonville-battlefield ]
[November 1st, World Vegan Day, to November 11th: triangleveganrestaurantweek.com/ ]
[NLG webinar "Palestine and the Right the Right to Resist" November 1st at 10am: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eYeouxJCRFe2ZDjs1_eSig#/registration ]
[November 2nd 12-1pm: ncbg.unc.edu/event/hybrid-lunchbox-talk-indigenous-foodways-reclaiming-native-cuisine-and-culture/ ][For more events see: ncbg.unc.edu/learn/adult-programs/ ]
[The morning TV news announced a protest for Palestine in Durham's CCB Plaza on Corcoran Street downtown November 2nd? at 4pm, organized by Jews for a Just Peace?[JVP]][Hundreds blocked 147 and Valerie Foushee and "anti-democratic" AIPAC: indyweek.com/news/durham/durham-protesters-block-traffic-during-demonstration-in-support-of-palestine/ ]
Annual NC Gourd Festival November 3-5 at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh [the 81st].
[8th Annual Death Faire November 3 – 5 in Pittsboro: www.theplantnc.com/post/8th-annual-death-faire ]
November 4th [from 11am on the 4th, with][events November 3-5] 15th annual Black People's March on the White House: blackpeoplesmarch.com/ [Apparently ANSWER and the Black People's March are not cooperating on the 4th: blackpeoplesmarch.com/why-is-the-white-led-interventionist-answer-coalition-trying-to-stand-between-the-black-liberation-movement-and-the-palestinian-people/ ]
[National March on Washington for Palestine November 4th logistics: www.answercoalition.org/logistics? ]
[NC Comicon November 4-5 at the Durham Convention Center: www.nccomicon.com/ ]
[The 29th annual Orange County Artists Guild Open Studio Tour, featuring 106 artists, will be November 4-5 and 11-12: www.ocagnc.org/ ]
November 5th 5:30-6:30pm: ncbg.unc.edu/event/annual-jenny-elder-fitch-memorial-lecture-a-world-of-discovery-how-science-and-heart-can-make-you-a-more-ecological-gardener/
[Nagasaki bombing survivors will speak at Raleigh's Highland UMC November 8th, in-person and online.]
[JCRA Moonlight in the Garden November 9-11 and 16-18 tickets: securelb.imodules.com/s/1209/events/plain.aspx?sid=1209&gid=214&pgid=9270&cid=14438&bledit=1&dids=997 ]
[There will be another Republican debate on November 8, no doubt not to be carried on NPR, etc., though I probably wouldn't want to tune in anyway.]
[Thursday, November 9th – www.shutitdown4palestine.org/ ]
[The annual Durham Pottery Tour will be November 11-12: durhampotterytour.com/ and the Orange County OCAG [November 4-5 and 11-12: www.ocagnc.org/ ] and Chatham County artist tours [December 2-3 and 9-10: chathamartistsguild.org/studio-tour/ ] are coming up. I think there was an event in Alamance County around October 28th.]
[US Peace Council webinar November 12th at 11am – "The Rise of the New McCarthyism in the United States:" us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_F9T-p2s7QlaP_vNGMfhcIA#/registration ]
[2023 Duke Forest Annual Gathering November 16th -8:30pm at the Forest History Society building on Academy Road in Durham; guest Brena Jones from the WRC on freshwater shellfish in the region: dukeforest.duke.edu/events/annual-gathering/ ]
Anime NYC will be November 17 – 19: animenyc.com/
Carrboro Film Fest November 17 – 19: www.carrborofilm.org/
[The 28th Annual American Indian Heritage Celebration will be November 18th in Raleigh: www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/events-and-programs/festivals/annual-american-indian-heritage-celebration ]
[November 18 – 19: durhamarts.org/art-walk/ ]
[Hope Valley Preston Woods Art Walk November 18th 10am-3pm from 103 Monticello Avenue: triangleonthecheap.com/preston-woods-art-walk/ ]
[16th annual Celebration of Seagrove Potters Fall Festival and Tour November 18th – 19th: discoverseagrove.com/events/2023-celebration-of-seagrove-potters-fall-festival-and-tour/ ]
[SOA Watch Virtual Vigil for Peace November 19th at 4pm EST on Zoom]
[Venus and the star Spica in Virgo will appear fewer than 4 1/2 degrees apart in the east the morning of November 29th and will remain close into December.]
COP28 November 30 – December 12 in Dubai, run by an oil industry official : www.counterpunch.org/2023/09/15/global-warming-did-the-unthinkable/
[The NCBG's 35th annual Sculpture in the Garden ends December 3rd: ncbg.unc.edu/event/sig-2023/]
[The 31st annual Chatham Artists Guild Studio Tour, featuring 56 artists, will be December 2-3 and 9-10: chathamartistsguild.org/studio-tour/ ]
[The 31st annual Boylan Heights ArtWalk will be December 3rd 12-5pm in Raleigh: www.boylanheights.org/art-walk ]
[Ichibancon 14 will be January 4 – 7 and 11 – 14 in Concord, NC: ichibancon.com/ ]
[Democratic Party presidential primaries January 23rd in NH, February 3rd in SC, February 6th in NV, February 27th in MI; March 5th Super Tuesday includes NC and many others, and the process ends June 8th: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries ]
[The Republican Party presidential primaries are somewhat different: January 15th Iowa caucus, January 23rd NH primary, February 8th NV and Virgin Islands caucuses, February 24th SC, February 27th MI primary, March 2-4, etc; March 5th Super Tuesday includes NC, and the process ends June 4th: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Republican_Party_presidential_primaries ]
Kami-Con will be February 9 – 11 in Birmingham, Alabama: www.kamicon.net/star
[Katsucon 2024 February 16 – 18 in National Harbor, Maryland, near Washington, DC: www.katsucon.org/ ]
[Banzaicon will be March 8 – 10 in Columbia, South Carolina]
[The annual Triad Anime Con will be March 29 – 31 in Winston-Salem, NC]
Signs of the Times protest exhibit at the NC Museum of History until March 31st: www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/exhibits/signs-times
LIBRARY BOOKSALES:
The Friends of the Durham Library's Books Among Friends has a new location, in the Shoppes of Hope Valley, 3825 South Roxboro Road, #131, zipcode 27713. There are satellite sales at each library. For more information and the Friends membership form, see: fodlnc.org/book-sales/ Their online store is at: shopfodlnc.org There is an in-person sale December 1-2 [and November 18th 11am-3pm at Durham's Main Library, the old location; surprised to hear about it on the morning local TV news around November 16th].
The Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library has an online store at: friendschpl.org/online-book-store and there will be in-person sales December 1 – 3 and April 12 – 14, August 23 – 25, and December 6 – 8 in 2024: friendschpl.org/FCHPLevents
The Friends of the Chatham County Library will have an in-person sale April 11 – 13 in 2024: www.friendsccl.org/ and they now have an online store, at: friendsccl.org/Store
The Friends of the Lee County Libraries has sales at open libraries: library.leecountync.gov/friends
There is supposed to be a sale every Monday 2-4pm at the Warren County Memorial Library: www.wcmlibrary.org/friends-of-the-library-book-sale/
Granville County: granville.lib.nc.us/friends-of-the-library/ and www.facebook.com/FriendsOfTheGranvillePublicLibrarySystem/
Person County: www.personcountync.gov/departments-services/departments-i-z/library/friends-of-the-library-1603
Vance: www.facebook.com/friendsperrymemoriallibrary/
Moore County: www.facebook.com/moorecountylibrary/
Caswell: www.caswellcountync.gov/blog/categories/library-programs
Alamance County: www.facebook.com/AlamanceLibraries , www.alamance-nc.com/library
The Friends of the High Point Library: www.highpointnc.gov/927/Friends and www.facebook.com/HighPointPublicLibrary/
Forsyth: www.facebook.com/groups/105298719513537 , www.forsyth.cc/library/ www.facebook.com/FCPublicLibrary , www.facebook.com/GSOLibrary , library.greensboro-nc.gov
See also Book Sale Finder: www.booksalefinder.com/NC.html
PLANT SALES:
NC Botanical Garden: September 29 – 30; also, Twilight Thursdays resume August 17th – September 28th; the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont, NC also has this. The NCBG's 35th annual Sculpture in the Garden and interesting classes are coming up this fall.
JC Raulston Arboretum: September 7 – 12 and the annual Plant Giveaway October 7th; there is also a Moonlight in the Garden event, classes, etc.
UNC Charlotte Botanical Garden: October 5 – 7
CALENDAR
[The Durham City Council vote to suspend our sister city relations with Kostroma, Russia was August 15, 2022, 6 to 0, with Jillian Johnson absent: cityordinances.durhamnc.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=541&doctype=1 and www.dukechronicle.com/article/2022/09/durham-north-carolina-kostroma-russia-sister-city-ukraine-war Some cities haven't joined this bandwagon, and what are the people of Kostroma supposed to do about their government, when Americans can't stop "our democracy" from starting a war of aggression every few years?]
Regarding the parliamentary elections September 30th in Slovakia, over the weekend NPR described one party as "progressive," apparently based on its name in translation, Progressive Slovakia, probably to make it sound appealing to listeners. Parties on the right in Canada and elsewhere have used "progressive" in their names. Progressive Slovakia was also called pro-US and EU. On the BBC it was described as something like "center liberal," which sounds like a party on the right, perhaps libertarian, in US terms. The supposedly "pro-Russian" and I think "populist" winning party, almost always referred to by an untranslated name or acronym, Smer, meaning Direction – Social Democracy, was described as "social democratic" on the BBC, which sounds like a party on the left. Just about anything the US government and the major parties don't like can be called "pro-Russian" or tied to Russia, and they can always blame China or Iran or Venezuela/Nicaragua/Cuba or DPR Korea for variety. I don't know the details, but it sounds like NPR was intentionally or unintentionally misrepresenting Slovak politics. The BBC also claimed that regarding support for the Ukrainian government, just east of Slovakia, it is an issue of solidarity rather than material support, because Slovakia has already donated all of its Soviet MiG-29 fighter jets and other weapons and has little left to give for the cause. Allegedly Direction – Social Democracy wants to or could take Slovakia along the route of the country's southern neighbor Hungary. After the weekend there was little talk of Slovakia, though in the USA Congress is also hindering Biden's war effort in Ukraine and there have been demonstrations in Germany. How Wikipedia describes the situation in Slovakia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Slovak_parliamentary_election , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direction_%E2%80%93_Social_Democracy , and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Slovakia
By the way, the website Russia Beyond has an article on the etymology of the names of a few Russian cities, and claims that the name of the Moscow River, for which the capital was named, might be related to Slovak, Lithuanian, or Baltic words for bodies of water/wetlands or the verb to rinse: www.rbth.com/history/336662-what-do-names-of-russian-cities-mean? There is also a new article on the decline in food prices under Stalin's leadership, which apparently ended under Khrushchev. It could be taken as pro- or anti-Soviet; Americans in the media and elsewhere often think Putin and the Russian elite have Soviet nostalgia, when they preside over a capitalist country and so can't be heard praising the socialist USSR too much: www.rbth.com/business/336676-how-food-prices-decreased-under-stalin-ussr
Toughie, the last known Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog, died September 26, 2016 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. The species had been scientifically discovered in 2005 in a small area of cloud forest on the Pacific side of Panama: counterinformation.wordpress.com/2023/10/06/world-animal-day-these-iconic-endlings-remind-us-of-all-the-species-that-still-need-saving/
The border between Colombia and Venezuela was reopened September 26, 2022 after having been closed due to the US and Colombian attempts to start a coup in Venezuela during the Trump years, not that the Biden administration doesn't want to overthrow the "communist" Bolivarian social-democrats. Even Bernie Sanders on the left of the Democratic Party called Hugo Chavez a "communist dictator." NPR previously blamed all of the border problems on Venezuelan 'authoritarianism,' rather than foreign powers led by the USA trying to impose a rightist puppet government on Venezuela, as Trump and Obama attempted with varying degrees of success in Cuba, Bolivia, and Honduras.
NASA attempted to move an asteroid, slightly, to test a method of "planetary defense" September 26th. On the one hand, a large asteroid hitting the Earth would probably cause a mass extinction, but humans are currently causing a mass extinction and not very interested in stopping it. Humanity probably could not have evolved without the extraterrestrial impact about 65 million years ago, or whatever caused the mass extinction that ended the age of the dinosaurs, an extraterrestrial impact seeming to be the 'American,' Space Age theory. What if we were unlucky and something much larger was hurtling towards the Earth? I also recently read that if an alien civilization, perhaps upset by an intentional human signal, could fire off a weapon the size of a car, traveling near the speed of light, the force of the impact would devastate the Earth. I'm not sure if the claim was that the Earth would be destroyed or just damaged. There are natural forces that might send out rocky debris at high speed, though not near the speed of light. At some point China or some other new superpower might claim to be Earth's defender from cosmic dangers and humanity's representative; there is already a Chinese science fiction genre.
Mohammad Najibullah, of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, was abducted from the UN compound in Kabul, tortured, and killed by the Taliban September 27, 1996.
September 28th is also World Maritime Day and International Day for Universal Access to Information: www.un.org/en/observances/maritime-day and www.un.org/en/observances/information-access-day
Japanese leftist Fusako Shigenobu, recently released from prison, was born September 28, 1945 in Setagaya, Tokyo: thefunambulist.net/magazine/decentering-the-us/fusako-shigenobu-an-open-ended-revolution See also throwoutyourbooks.wordpress.com/2022/06/17/reflecting-legacy-fusako-shigenobu/
The Libyan Great Man-Made River has several anniversaries on or around August 28th and September 28th; for example Muammar Qaddafi placed a foundation stone August 28, 1984, one of the two plants making the pipes was inaugurated by Qaddafi August 28, 1986 in Brega, and water first reached Gharyan in northwest Libya September 28, 2007. The Brega plant was bombed by NATO July 22, 2011.
Michaelmas is September 29th, a British quarter day, or November 8th in the East.
The Italo-Turkish War was September 29, 1911-October 18, 1912.
[The Nez Perce War in [Idaho and Montana] was May 14th to October 1st in 1877.]
Mao proclaimed the PRC October 1, 1949 in Tiananmen.
October 1, 1984 five people went into the General Dynamics Electric Boat Quonset Point factory in North Kingston, Rhode Island and damaged six Trident II nuclear missile tubes. They also put blood and a Call to Conscience declaration on the tubes, put up a banner saying "Harvest of Hope - Swords into Plowshares, and left a pumpkin. They were arrested after less than half an hour and originally charged with possession of burglary tools (a felony with up to 10 years imprisonment), malicious damage, and criminal trespass. Their expert witnesses were qualified with the jury present, but their testimony was dismissed by the judge and a justification defense denied. The five viewed pleading guilty to the malicious damage charge as consistent with nonviolence, so the prosecution dropped the possession of tools charge. The trespass charge was dismissed. October 18, 1985 they were given a year in jail and a fine of $500 dollars. Four were freed after 6 months, while one protester was given an extra two months for refusing to tell the judge who drove them to Quonset Point. The first plowshares action was September 9, 1980. This account comes from Swords into Plowshares: Nonviolent Direct Action for Disarmament, published in 1987.
The most recent referendum on Catalonian independence from Spain was October 1, 2017, and has been followed by Spanish government and rightist repression against Catalonian self-determination.
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey October 2, 2018. Among other roles, he was a columnist for the Washington Post. The Khashoggi assassination motivated parts of the US government and establishment to denounce and attempt to punish the government of Saudi Arabia, while they say little about the brutal Saudi-led war in neighboring and poverty-stricken Yemen. The US has materially aided the Saudi coalition's war under both Obama and Trump and Biden and denounces alleged Iranian involvement, rather than the attacks by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and others on the people of Yemen. There have been proposals in Congress to end US-support for the war, but the Democrats, right and left, aren't really interested in this: www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/26/every-single-member-of-congress-is-willing-to-let-yemeni-children-die/ I think it was Gates during the Obama administration who said something about the Saudis wanting the US to fight to the last man against their rival Iran, and other countries want a US-Iran war. The Biden administration hasn't restored the JCPOA and might be involved in the demonstrations in Iran, hoping to carry out a coup. More about Saudi instability, adventurism, and attacks on neighboring countries: www.counterpunch.org/2019/10/04/a-year-after-khashoggis-murder-saudi-arabia-is-lurching-toward-chaos/
The German Democratic Republic was absorbed by the Federal Republic October 3, 1990, and continuing economic and political marginalization of the former East Germany has led to electoral support for the "far right" AfD. The previous "center right" prime minister and grew up in the GDR.
The US repeatedly attacked a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan early on October 3, 2015, killing 12 staff, 10 patients (3 children), and wounding 37. The US, NATO, and Afghanistan were all informed where the hospital was and the NATO command was called when the attack started: progressive.org/dispatches/u.s.-airstrike-doctors-without-borders-hospital-war-crime/ Eleven days after the attack a US tank forcibly entered the hospital compound. The media loudly accuses disfavored countries of deliberately attacking hospitals and medical personnel, but this story quickly dropped out of the news. In general when a government the US is hostile to allegedly commits a war crime, the media trumpets it as a planned atrocity that definitely happened, but when the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Israel, Saudi Arabia, etc. do something it is an understandable accident due to the fog of war and is swept under the rug. Israel just attacked a hospital in Gaza in early October 2023, but only Russia gets blamed for sort of thing, at least in the mainstream media.
World Space Week is October 4th - 10th: www.un.org/en/observances/world-space-week
Party Foundation Day is October 10th in the DPRK, commemorating the 1945 founding of a predecessor to today's Workers' Party of Korea: www.naenara.com.kp/en/event/?part=20151010/
According to Wikipedia, October 10th is also Vietnam's Capital Liberation Day and Cuban Independence Day, commemorating the Grito de Yara at the beginning of the Ten Years' War in 1868. It took two more wars before Spanish rule was successfully overthrown in 1898, followed by a few years of direct occupation and decades of subservience to the USA.
The Outer Space Treaty, banning the placement of nuclear weapons in space, military activities on the Moon, claims of sovereignty over celestial bodies, etc., came into effect October 10, 1967. The US is now trying to create alleged rules or norms to cover US and other "Western" economic exploitation, expropriation, privatization, and seizure of bodies such as the Moon, competing with China and Russia, among the other peoples of the world with an interest in what goes on in space.
The first Crimean War began October 16, 1853.
The Million Worker March was October 17, 2004 in Washington, DC. Thousands participated (and there were one or more buses from the Triangle and elsewhere in North Carolina) and while there were not actually one million people there, according to the Wikipedia article the endorsing unions represented about 3.5 million workers. There is now a book by an organizer.
National Opossum Day is apparently also October 17th, celebrating and raising awareness of the USA's last marsupial, a possibly misunderstood beneficial animal frequently hit on roads during the winter. Being a marsupial, a female possum could have young in her pouch or riding on her back, and even if the mother is killed, the babies might be able to be saved by a wildlife rehabilitator. Various people who should know have informed me that opossums either can't get rabies or are very unlikely to (this? On the other hand, I think I read that rabies can take years to manifest in humans), so a good Samaritan is unlikely to get infected helping injured opossums, though it would still be best to wear gloves, wash thoroughly afterward, etc. Unfortunately a few species are barred by law from rehabilitation in North Carolina because of the danger of rabies, but opossums are not on that list and I have handled injured opossums. I'm surprised that none used their teeth and claws. In mid-October I have been seeing opossums going to a nearby persimmon tree most nights [and at least once in October 2023 and deer; many species gather in or under fruiting persimmons, day and night, myself included].
Samora Machel, president of Mozambique, was killed in a suspicious plane crash October 19, 1986, resulting in the country turning away from socialist construction.
Niche Gardens, a pioneering native plant nursery a few miles southwest of Carrboro went out of business October 18, 2019. Besides the retail nursery there were display gardens. NCSU graduate Kim Hawks founded Niche Gardens on Dawson Road in 1986, when gardening with native plants was a more unusual concept. The nursery was also a pioneer in selling plants online.
[Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont flew his airship Number 6 over a short course in Paris in 29 minutes, 30 seconds October 19, 1901. Airships and Zeppelins existed by that time. CDB Bryan compares this event to the reported performance of 19th and early 20th century "mystery airships" in his Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind. See also Wikipedia.]
Christopher Columbus first encountered the New World early on October 21, 1492 [under the modern Gregorian calendar]; apparently October 12th is the date under the old Julian calendar.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators (maybe 50,000) participated in the March on the Pentagon October 21st, 1967, protesting the Vietnam War. There was a much smaller March on the Pentagon in 2018.
International Observe the Moon Night is October 21: moon.nasa.gov/observe-the-moon-night/ [It apparently began in 2009 or 2010 with NASA and astronomy groups: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Observe_the_Moon_Night ]
National Reptile Awareness Day is October 21st: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_environmental_dates ?
American journalist and revolutionary John Reed was born October 22, 1887 in Portland, Oregon. He wrote Ten Days That Shook the World, a first-hand account of the Great October Socialist Revolution, and he is one of three Americans honored with burial in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.
Disarmament Week is October 24th - 30th: www.un.org/en/observances/disarmament-week It begins with United Nations Day, when the UN was founded: www.un.org/en/observances/un-day October 24th is also World Development Information Day: www.un.org/en/observances/development-information-day
The Great Comet of 1577 reached perihelion round October 27th and was noted 5 days later in Peru. It was noted in the native Mexican Codex Aubin Wednesday, November 6th. It was seen around the world, but it isn't expected to ever return.
[The Pinckney's Treaty was October 27, 1795.]
The Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, with Tashkent as its capital, was created within the RSFSR April 30, 1918. The name varied. It was abolished October 27, 1924 and ultimately divided into the Central Asian republics of the USSR, today independent countries.
[100 Federal and other forces attacked the Pit River Indians occupying the Lassen National Forest in Burney, California October 27, 1970. Ishi, a Yahi, had lived in this area of northern California.]
The last known Labrador duck was a male killed in the fall of 1875 off Long Island, now preserved in Washington, DC. Another specimen was supposed to have been killed December 2, 1878 in Elmira, New York, but the remains have since been lost: web.archive.org/web/20150215071011/http://www.petermaas.nl/extinct/speciesinfo/labradorduck.htm
[The Taliban offered to surrender very early in the Afghanistan War, according to an article I saw at the end of the war. Unfortunately I don't remember where the article was; here is a New York Times article discussing a surrender offer as early as November 2001: www.nytimes.com/2021/08/23/world/middleeast/afghanistan-taliban-deal-united-states.html Also: www.consortiumnews.com/2011/020811b.html Whether there really was a genuine offer of full surrender, the Taliban faced armed opposition and did not control all of Afghanistan at the beginning of October 2001, but now they are the national government, well-armed, and apparently have at least some support among non-Pashtuns and even among the Hazara ethnic group, who they formerly and are apparently still persecuting. The US and other countries are withholding aid, after destroying Afghanistan's economy and making it dependent on foreign aid over 40 years of war, hammering the Afghan population for leverage against the Taliban, like the hammering of the populations of Gaza, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Yemen, and 90's Iraq.]
A supernova in Cassiopeia in our galaxy was seen from about November 2, 1572 into 1574 and peaked around November 16th; it is sometimes called Tycho's Supernova.
Syndicalist French writer Georges Sorel was born November 3, 1847 in Cherbourg, France [corrected: November 2, 1847 – August 29, 1922 in Boulogne-sur-Seine, according to Wikipedia, etc.]. His most influential work is probably Reflections on Violence, published in 1908.
November 3rd is Culture Day ( 文化の日 , Bunka no Hi) in Japan, celebrating the arts, culture, and scholarship; the Apollo 11 astronauts are among the recipients of the Order of Culture presented on this day. The post-war Japanese constitution, which the ruling rightist Liberal Democratic Party wants to amend, was announced November 3, 1946. November 3rd had already been a holiday, commemorating the birth of Emperor Meiji, who ruled 1867-1912, during the Meiji Revolution or Restoration that created modern capitalist/imperialist Japan.
The USSR launched Sputnik 2 November 3, 1957.
The Greensboro Massacre was November 3, 1979. KKK and American Nazi Party members fired on a "Death to the Klan" demonstration organized by the now disbanded Communist Workers' Party, killing 5 people and wounding others. Some police were present and the local police and Federal agencies had infiltrated the KKK and neo-Nazi groups. For more information see: www.greensboromassacrelessonstoday.org/
[British working class democratic reformer Thomas Hardy (not the famous author) was acquitted of High Treason on Guy Fawkes Day (November 5th) 1794, but at a high personal cost. Subsequently the other arrested radicals were also acquitted or prosecution was dropped. Who could vote or otherwise participate in British bourgeois democracy was very restricted until well into the 20th century. For more information see an article in Monthly Review: monthlyreview.org/2019/11/01/the-trial-of-thomas-hardy/ and Thomas Hardy's Wikipedia entry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy_(political_reformer)
Travis Walton is supposed to have been abducted by a UFO November 5, 1975 near Snowflake, Arizona, and was missing for a few days.
[The Battle of Tippecanoe was November 7, 1811 in Indiana.]
Business interests and the local American Legion attacked an IWW hall in Centralia, Washington November 11, 1919, using an Armistice Day parade as cover, resulting in several deaths on each side. Wesley Everest, a logger and International Workers of the World member, was taken from jail and lynched later that day. Only the IWW and supporters were prosecuted and convicted of crimes. Other attacks preceded the events of Armistice Day, including an attack on an IWW hall during a Red Cross parade April 30, 1918. For a more detailed account see: www.counterpunch.org/2019/11/11/class-war-violence-centralia-1919/ The US left was heavily repressed, by legal and illegal means, at the time, for example see: www.counterpunch.org/2022/10/07/what-you-dont-have-and-why/ , though organizing continued and the CPUSA was powerful in the 30's, and the anti-war and other popular movements were influential during the Cold War.
American novelist Kurt Vonnegut was born November 11, 1922 in Indianapolis. See for example: thedailyvonnegut.com/ and blogs.cofc.edu/vonnegut/vonneguts-life/
Sun Yat-sen, a founder of the Republic of China, created by the Revolution of 1911, was born November 12, 1866.]
November 12, 1984 four people entered a Minuteman II ICBM silo operated out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Noster, Missouri. Using a jackhammer and air compressor, they damaged the silo's lid, offered Eucharist and left Christian and Native American condemnations of the US government and mainstream Christianity over nuclear war. An hour later they were arrested by military security authorized to kill and were held in preventive detention without bail. In a Federal jury trial they were convicted of destruction of government property, conspiracy, intent to damage the national defense, and trespass. They were sentenced to 8 to 18 years in jail, 3 to 5 years of probation, and each had to pay the government $2932.80. A few months later the 18 year sentence was reduced to 12 years, but when the others appealed they were denied.
Plowshares Number Four
November 14, 1982 seven people entered the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Connecticut. Three hammered and put blood on several of the USS Georgia submarine's ICBM hatches. Four others hammered and put blood on parts in the south storage yard. They were soon placed under arrest. In a jury trial they were not able to make a justification defense and were convicted of criminal mischief, conspiracy, and criminal trespass, and sentenced to two months to a year in prison.
The Arecibo Message was beamed towards globular star cluster M13, about 125,000 light years away, on November 16, 1974. A reciprocal crop circle was found at the south end of the UK in August 2001.
[November 18, 2023 is supposed to be something like Missile Industry Day in DPR Korea, according to NPR around November 4th or 5th.]
[The Jay's Treaty was November 19, 1794.]
The Indians of All Tribes occupied Alcatraz Island November 20, 1969 to June 11, 1971.
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated November 22, 1963 in Dallas.]
[The Modoc Indian War in Oregon and California was November 22, 1872 to October 3, 1873.]
[Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet politician Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky was born November 23 or 24 in what is now Poltava, Ukraine. He was appointed as the USSR's ambassador to Spain but passed away December 26, 1933 in France. In 1932 he represented the USSR at the League of Nations.]
November 24, 1983 (Thanksgiving Day) seven people entered Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York and proceeded to hammer and put blood on a B-52 bomber modified to carry cruise missiles and on some B-52 engines. They left a statement condemning Griffiss and the US government for nuclear war preparation and condemned the violation of constitutional rights and punishment of acts of conscience under what they called the state religion of "nuclearism." No one came to arrest them for hours, so they searched for the guards themselves. This was the first Federal trial of Plowshares activists. A justification defense and expert testimony were barred. The jury found them innocent of sabotage but convicted them of conspiracy and destruction of government property, with prison sentences of two to three years and an appeal was denied. This account and the others in this post come from Swords Into Plowshares: Nonviolent Direct Action for Disarmament, edited by Arthur J Laffin and Anne Montgomery, and published in 1987. There have been more recent actions.
Fidel Castro, retired at the time, passed away November 25, 2016, having outlasted the many US administrations that tried to assassinate him or overturn the Cuban revolution. [The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) posted a tribute for the 5th anniversary: cpcml.ca/211124-fidel-will-always-be-a-shining-example-of-humanity/ ]
[The Battle of the Washita against the Cheyenne was November 27, 1868.]
Artist and music collector Harry Everett Smith, known for compiling the Anthology of American Folk Music, released August 9, 1952, passed away November 27, 1991 in New York City: americanroutes.wwno.org/archives/show/1341/Who-was-Harry-Smith-The-Great-Delineator-and-his-Anthology-of-American-Folk-Music and folkways.si.edu/anthology-of-american-folk-music/african-american-music-blues-old-time/music/album/smithsonian
Albania has two national days, November 28, 1912, whcken 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. For a British account of the Albanian independence days as marked in 2021 in Gjirokaster, in southern Albania, Enver Hoxha's hometown, see: michaelharrison.org.uk/2021/12/independence-day-29th-november-2021-in-gjirokaster/
[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. For more information see marxists.org, etc.]
[In the Sand Creek Massacre, starting November 29, 1864, Federal soldiers attacked peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians camped along Big Sandy Creek in what is now Colorado (where the government had requested that they 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 ).]
[November 29th is also International Jaguar Day ( www.internationaljaguarday.org/ ); long ago these big cats might have included the Appalachian mountains in their vast range while today a border wall along an arbitrary boundary slashing across the continent could finish the job of exterminating the USA's few remaining jaguars, a well as other species ( www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/jaguar/ ; www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2019/jaguar-04-24-2019.php ; biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/trump-bulldozes-new-wall-through-wildlife-refuge-jaguar-country-2019-10-31/ ).]
[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.]
[The Winter War between the USSR and Finland began November 30, 1939.]
[The People's Republic of Southern Yemen (South Yemen) gained independence from the UK November 30, 1967. North Yemen had been independent since the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire after WWI.]
The Myrotvorets website, alleged to be a Ukrainian SBU and CIA operation, was created December 15, 2014, according to Wikipedia.
[The Treaty of Ghent was December 24, 1814.]
[Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet politician Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky was born November 23 or 24 in what is now Poltava, Ukraine. He was appointed as the USSR's ambassador to Spain but passed away December 26, 1933 in France. In 1932 he represented the USSR at the League of Nations.]
[American entomologist E.O. Wilson, known for his work on ants, sociobiology, island biogeography, biodiversity, and the online Encyclopedia of Life, though he was also condemned by the PLP, died December 26, 2021. He was born June 10, 1929 in Birmingham, Alabama.]
[The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan was founded at a small unity meeting January 1, 1965 but was strong enough by 1978 to carry out a revolution, though the uprising began due to government repression.]
[The asteroid Ceres was discovered January 1, 1801 by Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi, working in Sicily, and at the time on Ceres was in the constellation Triangulum, the (Northern) Triangle, between Aries and Andromeda, and sometimes seen as a celestial Nile River delta or island of Sicily. 1 Ceres is the first and largest asteroid yet found by astronomers, the largest member of the Asteroid Belt, and the closest dwarf planet. It is even geologically active and potentially could support life or once did. Perhaps an outpost will be established there some day.]
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment