Something from USMLO and a few other New Year messages and articles I came across. I hope to post a few delayed articles in January-February.
"New Year’s Message of CPC(M-L) – In 2025 Empower the People! Make Way for Renewal!" – cpcml.ca/cpcmlarticle2501011210/
From the Workers Party, USA in Chicago – "The Real Terrorists Claim Victory in Syria" – workersparty.org/index.html
One of a few January-February editorials from the CPBML: www.cpbml.org.uk/news/peace-land-and-bread-britain-2025
www.cpbml.org.uk/news/growing-threat-war-what-can-workers-do
www.cpbml.org.uk/news/threat-war-campaign-lakenheath
www.cpbml.org.uk/news/not-left-or-right-british-workers
From the CPGB-ML – by Harpal Brar – thecommunists.org/2025/01/01/news/sad-downfall-syrian-government-bashar-al-assad/
FRSO: fightbacknews.org/articles/new-year-new-level-of-struggle-join-the-fight-in-2025
"Communists do not give up! Better death than dishonor!" – www.workers.org/2024/12/82775/
"How the U.S. and its allies destroyed a sovereign state" – www.workers.org/2024/12/82881/
"Refugees, foreign goods flood Syria as prices rise" – www.workers.org/2025/01/82955/
"Washington escalates regime change conspiracies against Venezuela" – www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/01/02/igun-j02.html
theworker.news/2025/01/01/new-year-resolutions-for-revolutionaries/
[ theworker.news/2025/01/09/biden-blocks-sale-of-u-s-steel/ ]
[ theworker.news/2025/01/10/mpp-en-celebracion-del-natalicio-del-presidente-gonzalo-y-dia-del-epl/ ]
[ theworker.news/2025/01/18/farewell-genocide-joe/ ]
[ flagrednews.wordpress.com/2025/01/01/red-flag-news-celebrates-its-one-year-anniversary/ ]
[ flagrednews.wordpress.com/2024/01/29/against-defeatism-for-palestine/ ]
From APL: redphoenixnews.com/2025/01/01/a-new-years-message-from-the-heart/
UK satire: www.normalisland.co.uk/p/there-will-never-be-another-year as brilliant as 2024...
Also from the UK: www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/happy-new-year-almost-seems-like an inappropriate thing to say...
sonar21.com/a-note-of-gratitude/
sonar21.com/taking-stock-of-2024-is-there-hope-for-a-happy-2025/
simplicius76.substack.com/p/onward-ho-end-of-year-wrap-up-and a look ahead to 2025
[Google translation: "More than half of the Spanish mercenaries in Ukraine have fallen" -- diario-octubre.com/2025/01/10/han-caido-mas-de-la-mitad-de-los-mercenarios-espanoles-en-ucrania/ ]
eventsinukraine.substack.com/p/desertion-and-incineration
karlof1.substack.com/p/putins-new-year-message-to-russians-74c and Russophiles
RT: www.rt.com/russia/610245-putin-traditional-new-year-address/
[ socialistchina.org/2025/01/01/full-text-of-president-xi-jinpings-2025-new-year-message/ ]
[ diario-octubre.com/2025/01/01/cuba-celebra-el-66-aniversario-del-triunfo-de-la-revolucion-cubana/ ]
banderalobby.substack.com/p/which-way-ukrainian-hooligan
scottritter.substack.com/p/happy-new-year
New posts at: throwoutyourbooks.wordpress.com/ , a blog on Japanese left topics
Tradition – “'Kagami Mochi:' Japan’s New Year Rice Cakes" and more – www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h02245/
[A year of the snake (wood) [(Chinese: 蛇 or Japanese: 巳)] begins with the East Asian lunar new year on January 29th, though Japan goes with the Western new year, January 1st; some images and graphics [年賀状/nengajou postcard type images] marking the occasion collected by ANN: www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2025-01-03/happy-new-year-from-around-the-anime-world-snakes-on-a-plane-part-xii/.219696 [ and www.spoon-tamago.com/japanese-designer-new-years-cards-of-2025/ ] See also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_(zodiac) 2024 was a year of the dragon (wood) [(龍, 龙, or 辰)], beginning February 10, 2024: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_(zodiac) [A year of the horse (fire) (馬, 马 , or 午 ) begins February 17, 2026.] [ www.nippon.com/en/features/jg00110/ , www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h02174/ , www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/b09806/ , www.nippon.com/en/guide-to-japan/gu900291/ , "Japan in 2025: Key Events in the Year Ahead:" www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h02241/ ]
ohiobarbarian.substack.com/p/aaron-bushnells-sacrifice-and-the
On the Pueblo Revolt against Spain: ohiobarbarian.substack.com/p/the-first-american-revolution-the
[ edberg.substack.com/p/acceleration-afterthoughts/ ]
[ mronline.org/2025/01/06/is-u-s-democracy-a-sham-biden-gave-us-the-answer-were-you-listening/ ]
[ consortiumnews.com/2025/01/08/craig-murray-twisting-the-terrorism-narrative/ ]
[ consortiumnews.com/2025/01/08/nyt-rejects-quakers-ad-calling-gaza-a-genocide/ ]
[ www.versobooks.com/collections/the-verso-palestine-pamphlets ]
[ husseini.substack.com/p/the-human-shields-con ]
[ chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-zionists-kill-doctors-in-gaza and Silence Them Here (with Rupa Marya)]
[ mronline.org/2025/01/08/wikileaks-has-just-put-all-its-files-online-its-all-there/ ]
[ mronline.org/2025/01/06/marco-rubio-from-perfect-little-puppet-to-most-dangerous-man-alive/ ]
[ mronline.org/2025/01/07/the-case-against-western-marxism/ ]
[ mronline.org/2025/01/03/luigi-mangione-and-the-morality-of-killing/ ]
[ www.kitklarenberg.com/p/its-official-british-army-facing ]
[ popularresistance.org/asheville-blade-journalists-sue-over-illegal-arrests/ ]
[Before dawn on January 9th WUNC, the local NPR station, announced that [Dr.] Lavonia Allison, a former leader of the influential Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People PAC, has passed away, with a statement already out from Governor Josh Stein, installed the week before.] [There was going to be another gubernatorial inauguration event on the 10th (? at the NCMA??), but it has been cancelled due to forecasted snow or other winter precipitation the afternoon of the 10th into the 11th, forecast to melt quickly on the 11th, if it does fall. It would be our first substantial snow this winter, and I think the first in two winters in the area, according to the NWS (?). Central North Carolina gets snow and ice, at one time enough for cross-country skiing, I've read, but there hasn't been much in recent years, perhaps a sign of a changed climate. Did it snow a little around Christmas Day in 2022 or January 2023??]
[NPR's Morning Edition discussed Meta/Facebook's new position on "fact checking" in a Steve Inskeep soft interview with Steven Brill of somehow for-profit NewsGuard (Russia, China, and Iran are just overrunning the Internet, Brill says) January 8th. They don't censor people, Brill claimed, but NPR didn't like it very much when Twitter labelled NPR as something like state media, which they might as well be. That term is generally reserved for RT, etc. on NPR; not even Voice of America is called state media. I turned on the news on the 9th and the BBC reported that the Australian government is likewise upset about Meta. I've heard that Facebook, Twitter, and many universities heavily limit "pro-Palestinian" speech and activism, something little reported to unreported on NPR. Also on the 7th or 8th Morning Edition replayed a Inskeep interview with Jimmy Carter from 2007 on the "edgy" issue of Israel's "apartheid" – I couldn't tell if the interview was about NPR helping a Democratic politician, by giving Carter air time to defend his comments, or singling Carter out for going too far left on Israel. Biden's CIA director will get a no doubt likewise soft interview, with Mary Louise Kelly, on All Things Considered the afternoon of the 9th. On NewsGuard: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NewsGuard I heard on the 8th that a school system in Canada (Ontario?) wanted to purge all books from before 2008 over a lawsuit (?) and the Durham County Library might have had a purge not long ago. On NPR, the truck attack in New Orleans and Palestinian actions are "terrorism," but the explosion in Nevada (due to PTSD, someone said) and attacks by western Ukraine and Israel on journalists, etc. are not.]
[Carter and Israeli "apartheid:" www.mtracey.net/p/jimmy-carters-jewish-problem ]
["Fact checking" on Facebook was done without bias or censorship of free speech and NPR reports the truth: steveinskeep.substack.com/p/npr-still-checks-facts ]
[They broadcast the President Carter funeral events live, but I've wondered how they will cover the funerals of other recent presidents. On Morning Edition on the 9th they asked their correspondent Tamara Keith how history will remember Carter, as if that is a question that can be answered now, and different people will have different views. Carter, being a more or less mainstream Democrat, isn't going to be condemned for much on NPR. They might even soften on Donald Trump over time, as George W Bush, the Cheneys, Alberto Gonzales, etc. are now honored members of the anti-Trump "Resistance," and NPR invites Liz Cheney, John Bolton, and Condoleezza Rice in for interviews on current events.]
[Only Trump (and Putin) are expansionist in the 21st century, they say. They rebroadcast the How to Hide an Empire author interview on NPR's On the Media a week or two ago – what about the US occupation of oil-rich eastern Syria, under the Democratic Party, etc.? On the other hand, if Greenland is facing a serious threat of annexation by the USA under Trump, why is the government of Greenland pushing for independence from Denmark and more cooperation with the US at this dangerous time? I imagine that Denmark and the EU can offer much more military deterrence than Greenland, though Western Europeans claim to fear imminent Russian invasion. Can Greenland wage guerilla war if invaded? Morning Edition had to push a member of Greenland's , , legislature for a clear rejection of annexation around January 7th. [The US occupied Greenland from about April 8, 1941 to May 5, 1945: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_in_World_War_II and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland ; the US and UK also occupied Iceland during WWII, beginning with a UK invasion May 10, 1940: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland_in_World_War_II ] Would it hurt the future the electoral chances of Republicans if Canadians were voting US citizens, in several states? Canada is very far from being a peace-loving country, though. I don't think much of their current government. There has long been concern in Canada about invasion and annexation by their southern neighbor, and there were invasions before our Civil War. The US has also of course invaded Mexico, and Trump brought up the seizure of the Panama Canal right around the anniversaries of Panama regaining control of its territory (December 31, 1999: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal ) and George HW Bush's invasion of Panama.]
[Commemorating January 9, 1964: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs%27_Day_(Panama) ]
[Continued at: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2025/01/samidoun-free-ahmad-saadat-and-all.html , etc.]
[ www.rt.com/news/611064-greenland-pm-trump-acquisition-proposal/ ]
[There will be a real "January 6th" coup attempt in Venezuela January 9-10th?]
[I think NPR or the BBC claimed afterward that literally no media were allowed at the inauguration: www.struggle-la-lucha.org/2025/01/11/venezuela-an-anti-fascist-presidential-inauguration/
[Nicaragua and Venezuela: diario-octubre.com/2025/01/11/un-rio-de-aguas-divinas-una-inmensa-mayoria-de-jovenes/ ]
[ mpr21.info/estados-unidos-asume-el-gobierno-de-libano-de-facto/ ]
[ mpr21.info/israel-debe-prepararse-para-una-guerra-directa-con-turquia/ ]
[ diario-octubre.com/2025/01/10/qasem-un-legado-de-lucha-antiterrorista/ ]
[ mpr21.info/yemen-ha-sufrido-un-cuarto-de-millon-de-ataques-aereos-contra-su-poblacion/ ]
[ diario-octubre.com/2025/01/10/75-ninos-fueron-asesinados-en-gaza-en-la-primera-semana-del-ano/ ]
[At 12pm EST (live every week) on YouTube, Facebook, Rumble, X/Twitter, Twitch, and Instagram: "The end of UNRWA?" with Chris Gunness, a former UNRWA spokesperson; Nora Barrows-Friedman; Jon Elmer; Ali Abunimah; Tamara Nassar; and Asa Winstanley – electronicintifada.net ]
[From HASTRO on January 9th:
"This evening observers in Europe, West Arica, North America, Central America and the northern parts of South America can view an occultation of one or more stars in the Pleiades by the waxing gibbous Moon:
Alcyone (eta Tau): https://ssp.imcce.fr/forms/occultations/HIP-17573/301/2025-01-09G [has maps and times]
Electra: https://ssp.imcce.fr/forms/occultations/HIP-17499/301/2025-01-09G
Maia: https://ssp.imcce.fr/forms/occultations/HIP-17573/301/2025-01-09G
Atlas: https://ssp.imcce.fr/forms/occultations/HIP-17847/301/2025-01-10G
A few days later, observers in the southern hemisphere can view an occultation of a bright star which in olden days was shared between Auriga and Taurus:
Elnath (beta Tau): https://ssp.imcce.fr/forms/occultations/HIP-25428/301/2025-01-11G "
[Ichibancon 2025 was January 9-12th in Concord, NC: ichibancon.com ] 2.
[Johann George Adam Forster or Georg Forster (November 27, 1754 – January 10, 1794): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Forster ]
From the National Lawyers Guild:
|
|
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp was created January 11, 2002, an example and excuse for Israel today, not that Israel just began torturing and killing its prisoners, POWs, and hostages in 2023: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp
[@judicarydems on X (?) called for closure and then deleted the post?]
From the Close Guantanamo Coalition:
"Join us for a powerful online event marking 23 years since the opening of Guantánamo Bay – a call to action against injustice, torture, and indefinite detention.
🔊 Hear firsthand testimonies from Guantánamo survivors as they share their stories of resistance, courage, and the ongoing fight for accountability.
Event Highlights:
- The case of Abu Zubaydah, the forgotten prisoner from Gaza, tortured and detained without charge.
- Calls for the immediate closure of Guantánamo Bay and an end to systemic torture and indefinite detention.
- Exposing the U.S. government's use of authoritarian tactics and its global legacy of injustice.
- A reminder of the enduring fight for freedom and human dignity – dismantling systems of oppression together.
🗓️ Date: January 11, 2025
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM [in the UK, 1pm EST?]
🌐 Location: Online
🔗 Register Now: www.cage.ngo/events/guantanamo-survivors-speak
Together, let’s stand against injustice and advocate for human dignity.
Best regards," ]
[The Trump Administration put Cuba on the "State Sponsors of Terrorism List" January 11, 2021, and the Florida Democratic Party, which just declared Biden their 2024 candidate, without bothering to hold primary, has condemned the de-listing of Cuba under Biden? And the Biden Administration wants to name aircraft carriers for George W Bush and Bill Clinton? – www.counterpunch.org/2025/01/17/cease-fires-walk-with-me/ ]
[Jordan Lake State Recreation Area's first annual, free EagleFest was supposed to be January 11th 7am-12pm at the US ACE's Jordan Lake Tailrace, at 2060 Jordan Dam Road, Moncure, NC 27559 in Chatham County (DATE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DUE TO WEATHER). The Lake has at least 25 breeding pairs of bald eagles, joined by migrants in the winter (golden eagles can be found in North Carolina, but might not breed here; I've never seen one, but bald eagles can be common sights in parts of Durham, etc.) – from Panoramic Orange.]
[NHBA: EagleFest was moved to Saturday, January 25, 2025, 7am-12pm.]
[From The Cradle: popularresistance.org/outgoing-cia-director-says-no-sign-iran-developing-nuclear-weapons/
[NPR's debate program at 6pm on the 12th had a headline like 'nuclear Iran or bomb Iran,' with the usual implicit assumptions that Iran has a nuclear weapons program, that it wants nuclear weapons (and doesn't already have them), that the US can prevent a 'nuclear Iran,' that this is an issue of concern for the US, etc. I heard the beginning and they did go into some of this. I think the debaters were a woman from the Wilson Center and a man from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies or whatever (is he an dual national?). I doubt that they considered Iran's public statements or point of view, though the JCPOA, and its abrogation by Trump, were mentioned.
Several weeks ago I was surprised to hear NPR news briefs about something like a new FDA ban on the well-known native hallucinogenic mushroom Amanita muscaria as a food additive [ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_muscaria ]. I'm not necessarily against the use of hallucinogens or other "drugs," but they are suddenly so mainstream and risk-free? "Microdosing?" What happened to all of the media concern about "cultural appropriation" and respect? I thought that there were some high risks in using Amanita, etc., including accidentally consuming a misidentified dangerous species, or just having a "bad trip" or doing something self-harming while impaired. They haven't talked about peyote, yet. In theory even some common plants and food products sold at grocery stores, or growing wild nearby, are hallucinogenic or psychoactive.
NPR seems very interested in "dry January" (but not New Year's resolutions) and condemning the use of alcohol, tobacco, "raw milk," etc., while being soft or even encouraging on hallucinogenic mushrooms, marijuana, caffeine, sexual promiscuity (under and over 18), high body weight, etc. The BBC joins NPR in some of this, such as on alcohol and tobacco. How dare RFK Jr. condemn fluorination, they say. I'm not necessarily against all of this, I use fluoride and sometimes other things, but NPR, etc. seem to be pushing agendas. A dentist in a report focused on fluoride, even though they themselves brought up the issue of poverty and lack of dental care in New York City. They didn't consider whether dental care could be made more accessible, regardless of income, making fluorination less important. Another report (on Science Friday?) said that Chinese studies on the effects of fluorination are somehow low quality and don't apply to the amount of fluoride in US tapwater. They didn't bring up an obvious solution -- doing new studies in the US to settle any issues. Another recent report praised the role of the neoliberal ACA or Obamacare (the term varied for the intended audience??) in increasing the number of people with health insurance. Do they get 'good' insurance and care, for what they pay?]
[New Year Resolutions to help often overlooked invertebrates: xerces.org/blog/new-years-resolutions-that-will-benefit-nature-wildlife-and-invertebrates
[ brevity.wordpress.com/2025/01/21/decluttering-damages-my-writing/ ]
[On (Celtic) Imbolc and Candlemas, in February, and Carnival – jothompson.substack.com/p/dont-let-january-get-you-down-i-have ]
[On Red Note or the Little Red Book, etc.; I had the sense that both NPR and the BBC encouraged people to leave Twitter/X, but I first heard about Xiaohongshu on the Internet and local WRAL (suddenly, and bizarrely, around the evening of January 16th or the 15th, they had a headline about the Biden Administration, along with Trump, trying to save TikTok; so who pushed for it to be banned to begin with, as a "CCP" plot to gather our personal data, like Facebook and X, and push Chinese, instead of US, propaganda [allegedly]): kathleenlwallace.substack.com/p/the-red-note-white-and-blue They aren't saying much about the "TikTok refugees," leaving for other Chinese-owned social media or SNS? Loving "fact checking," it's not censorship, with a relevant new NPR reporter or US propagandist and another NPR reporter after 4pm on January 18th. They don't want to talk about rules regarding support for Palestine on Facebook and X, and on NPR, CNN, etc. versus on Tiktok, let alone if one speaks out in public in the great "democratic" UK, Federal Republic of Germany, Canada, Netherlands, etc. Red Note?]
On Red Note/Xiaohongshu (XHS; simplified Chinese: 小红书; traditional Chinese: 小紅書; pinyin: Xiǎohóngshū): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaohongshu ]
[ www.rt.com/news/611124-tiktok-go-dark-us/ ]
[February 8th: Suddenly TikTok has dropped from the news? NPR portrayed Trump's actions to 'save' TikTok as possibly illegal.]
[Around 8:05pm on the 15th an unidentified man in his 60's (50's?) set himself on fire near the CIO (Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials) headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, near Seoul, ROK. Earlier he had come to the attention of police over a fire that started around 12:11am on the 15th (?) near the Korean DP headquarters in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul. Presumably he was supporting Yoon. He passed away around 2:34pm on the 20th –
www.cbsnews.com/news/impeached-south-korean-president-yoon-suk-yeol-detained/
m-en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20250115013251315 Yonhap News Agency
[Israeli lies about October 7, 2023 and their new operations (with settler mobs) in "Judea and Samara" were aired in a BBC interview early on the 22nd. Israel accuses others of doing what its military and rightists have been doing.]
[Before the Israelis went in? – peoplesdispatch.org/2025/01/18/palestinian-authority-accepts-truce-with-resistance-in-jenin/ ]
[Anti-Mapuche government in Argentina – peoplesdispatch.org/2025/01/21/argentine-governor-blames-chubut-fires-on-indigenous-community/ ]
[January 20th – Not much reported?? Leonard Peltier to be released – peoplesdispatch.org/2025/01/20/leonard-peltier-its-finally-over-im-going-home/ ]
[Is there a danger in Greenpeace's nitrification lawsuitin in the Netherlands, though humans have disrupted both the carbon and nitrogen cycles (and more) globally?]
[NPR's Julia Simon January 22nd: There is no evidence that wind power surveying harms whales. Really? What about the construction? Birds? A 'Big Wind' lobby?]
Anti-Inauguration events around the country in January:
January 13-20 days of action – unac.notowar.net/all-out-for-the-anti-inaugural-actions-in-local-areas-and-washington-dc-january-13-20/
wefightback2025.org/action-listings
action.womensmarch.com/local – events January 5th and 18th in Raleigh, NC, etc. [WRAL – 200 (?) people marched in Raleigh on the 20th (organized by PSL?), one of something like 80+ demonstrations across the country.]
[From another poster on the HASTRO listserve January 9th; slightly edited:
"Continuing its journey eastward, on Jan. 13/14 the full moon will occult Mars -- itself close to opposition -- for observers in parts of North America and West Africa.
https://ssp.imcce.fr/forms/occultations/499/301/2025-01-14G
A detailed news item is here:
Live Science, 1/8/25:
"The moon is about to 'swallow' Mars for 4 hours — and you can watch
it from the US"
https://www.livescience.com/space/mars/the-moon-is-about-to-swallow-mars-for-4-hours-and-you-can-watch-it-from-the-us
Bonus: Castor and Pollux join the show nearby."
[...]
[Thursday, February 6th (instead of the 3rd) Steve Inskeep of NPR's Morning Edition had a very friendly interview with allegedly "progressive" Marc J Dunkelman on why nothing works; they didn't say "YIMBY," but that is what it was; who needs the Republicans when you can have the new Bush-Cheney (or Tennyson) Democrats? NPR goes on and on about "gentrification," but then condemns community influence over land use, and what about other regulations? Kill some whales and other wildlife for "green" energy, EVs, smartphones, and more metal ores? NPR has yet to balance this out -- www.npr.org/2025/02/06/nx-s1-5245230/progressives-administrative-state-weakened-marc-j-dunkelman and steveinskeep.substack.com/p/did-progressives-stop-government ]
[In the afternoon on February 6th the deceased hawk was again moved somewhat and another hawk came. Again I heard a yellow-bellied sapsucker, a few Canada geese, two owls, towhee(s), etc. Baseball last week?? Not that warm. The clouds parted for Venus, but have returned overnight. A chance of thunder tonight, and I heard some about a week go?] [Some right now, early February 7th.] [And then heavy rain about 27 minutes later.]
[Early February 6th on the BBC -- correspondent Rayhan Dimitri (sic), covering a no doubt pro-EU arrested journalist from Batumi (?) on hunger strike -- Dimitri is herself from Batumi, in Adjara, in the Republic of Georgia? Dimitri reports from a region south of and bordering Russia, mainly from Georgia. Different from a Steve Rosenberg [or a Vitaly Chevchinko (sic?)]??]
[Warmer February 7th, heard two hawks in the afternoon, another grackle (?) later on, the 'first' frog chorus of the year shortly after 6pm, after dark. Buds are already swelling after the cold in January? A nearby elm, the red maple, Forsythias, etc.? The various elms here usually start blooming in February, followed by red and then sugar maples. According to that NCBG blog post [above], Hepatica, usually light violet to blue, is already blooming along the Haw. I'm missing any nearby...]
[Before dawn on February 8th -- a bright yellow spot is again reflected in the clouds over RTP; colder in the morning, though still mild...]
[Including the Moon, a first: www.rt.com/news/611028-moon-endangered-sites-list/ ]
[The Great Trading Path in central North Carolina: www.wmf.org/monuments/the-great-trading-path-united-states ]
[Durham is seeking resident input on a new rail trail to Roxboro [26 miles? There will be meetings February 4-5th (at the Main Library on the 4th??)]; I think Raleigh and Chapel Hill are also currently seeking resident input on infrastructure plans. Carrboro's new library opens soon?]
[On a Chapel Hill/Carrboro proposed rail trail project, but isn't UNC, etc. still using the RR line? -- terribuckner.substack.com/p/is-this-the-right-time-to-invest ]
[A man, 29, from Durham was arrested at RDU December 4th for allegedly planning to fly to Paris and then on to Morocco, to join IS, and the indictment was revealed January 14th?]
The next Balance and Accuracy in Journalism meeting – "Free Speech vs. the New McCarthyism," with sociology professor emeritus Michael Schwalbe of NCSU, Lily Roth of UNC Students for Justice in Palestine, and Toby Posel of TransparUNCy – will be January 14th at 7:30pm at the Community Church of Chapel Hill. More to come. [For more information see: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2025/01/baj-january-14th-free-speech-versus-new.html ]
[Week of action for Palestinian prisoners January 15-22: samidoun.net/2025/01/free-ahmad-saadat-and-all-palestinian-prisoners-week-of-action-january-15-22-2025/ and durhamspark.blogspot.com/2025/01/samidoun-free-ahmad-saadat-and-all.html ]
[There will be events at Fort Fisher in Kure Beach 10am-4pm January 18th for the 160th anniversary of the second and final Federal attempt to take the Fort, defending the mouth of the Cape Fear River, approaching the then vital port of Wilmington, in mid-January 1865: historicsites.nc.gov/news/events/fort-fishers-160th-anniversary-event and www.facebook.com/events/605100232089388 Some other upcoming events – the "Maya Freelon: Whippersnappers at Historic Stagville" installation in Durham began November 16th and ends January 25th; there will be stargazing at the Town Creek Indian Mound State Historic Site in Mount Gilead 6-9pm January 25th; there will be events for the 160th anniversary of the fall of Fort Anderson, near Wilmington and Fort Fisher, February 15th 10am-3pm and 6-7pm; "The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass" at the President James K Polk State Historic Site in Pineville will be February 22nd 11am-12pm; an 18th-century linen "Wallet Workshop" will be at the Alamance Battleground State Historic Site in Burlington February 22nd 10am-3pm; "Family Night at the CSS Neuse Museum" in Kinston will be February 22nd-23rd; there will be a reenactment of a March 5, 1781 Revolutionary War skirmish at the Alamance Battleground March 1st; there will be another reenactment March 1st, commemorating a February 27, 1760 Cherokee attack on Fort Dobbs, in Statesville; etc. – historicsites.nc.gov/events ]
[The traditional Aquarius period is around January 20th to February 18th, but today the Sun is 'in' Aquarius around February 17th to March 13th. According to Chartrand's 1982 Skyguide, the Sun is now in Sagittarius December 19th-January 19th (and then in Capricornus).] [Sagittarius is a symbol of Isfahan, Iran: www.dailyartmagazine.com/symbol-of-sagittarius-isfahan/ Find historic images of Capricorn and other signs at: iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/ ] [The South Asian Makar/Makara Sankrānti (Sanskrit: मकरसङ्क्रान्ति, romanized: Makarasaṅkrānti, meaning Capricorn Festival), Uttarāyana, Makara, or Sankrānti is around January 14th: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makar_Sankranti ]
[From Keep Durham Beautiful:
- January 15 - Plant & Seed Swap at Honeygirl Meadery
- January 15 - Microplastics Within Us: Are We Becoming Plastic People?
- January 16 - Durham Bike+Walk Plan Community Meeting
- January 18 - The Power of Native Plants in Garden Design
- January 20 - MLK Day of Service with KDB
- January 21 - Durham Garden Forum
- January 22 - Exploring Plant Cycles with iNaturalist
- January 23 - NCBG Hybrid Lunchbox Talk
- January 23 - Invasive Removal at Rocky Branch with ERA
- January 25 - Durham County Library Garden Club
- January 25 - HRA Trash Trap Cleanouts
- January 25 - Invasive Removal at Hillside Park Day 1
- January 26 - Invasive Removal at Hillside Park Day 2
- January 26 - Birds of North Carolina Opening Reception
- January 27 - Bike Durham January Community Meeting
- January 28 - Durham City-County MLK Jr. Observance Program
- February 1 - 22nd Annual NC MLK Black History Month Parade
On the 20th:
"ATT Mile 1 Trail Cleanup (1/17, 11AM-12:30PM)
Hebron Road Cleanup (1/19, 12-2PM)
Ellis Road Cleanup (1/19, 10-11:30AM) [east of 147??]
Ellerbe Creek Cleanup at Edison Johnson (1/20, 10AM-1PM)
Walltown Community Cleanup (1/20, 10AM-12PM)
Merrick-Moore Community Garden (1/20, 10AM-12PM)
Native Prairie Workday (1/20, 10AM-12PM)
Southside Community Cleanup (1/20, 10:30AM-12:30PM)
KDB Adopt-a-Highway Cleanup (1/20, 12-2PM)
Angier Ave Cleanup at Alston and Goley (1/25,10-11:30AM)"
[Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet statesman Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Ulyanov) (Владимир Ленин) [Владимир Ильич Ульянов] April 22, 1870 – January 21, 1924: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin ]
[January 22 or 23 in 2025 – the Chinese Little New Year ( 小年) or the Festival of the Kitchen God: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_New_Year ]
[January 22nd – National Library Shelfie Day – the Days of the Year website]
[Warren J "Andrew" Wimmer, Jr, May 3, 1955-Monday, January 22, 2024: www.schrader.com/obituary/warren-j-andrew-wimmer-jr ]
[The Aymara Alasitas/Alacita,/Alacitas,/Alasita fair, or Feria de las Alasitas, is January 24th in La Paz, Bolivia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alasitas ]
[A shooting at a food truck on Highway 55 in Durham January 24th?]
[Trump visited WNC to see the post-Helene cleanup and recovery efforts on the 24th.]
[The 19th Annual Carrboro Film Fest is January 24-26th: www.carrborofilm.org/ ]
[EagleFest was moved to Saturday, January 25, 2025, 7am-12pm.]
[The 2025 NC TACAS Chinese New Year Festival will be January 25th 10am-5pm at Dorton Arena, in the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. There are probably many Lunar New Year events in the area.] [See: triangleonthecheap.com ]
[The 24th Annual African American Cultural Celebration January 25th 10:30am-4:30pm at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh: www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/events-and-programs/festivals-and-concerts/24th-annual-african-american-cultural-celebration or nc-aacc.com/ ]
["European Nukes – Time to Go" webinar on January 25th at 1pm EST: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cXYxq0RhSmaM0TBey5BGnA#/registration ]
From the Chatham County Government:
Chatham Community Library to Host Family Cultural Festival
[From BAJ:
"Returning to the Triangle
“It's a Crime to Tell the Truth"
Singer-songwriter Tom Neilson and Lynn Waldron
Live performance 7PM in Raleigh January 24
3313 Wade Ave. Raleigh (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh)
sponsored by Chapter 157 Triangle Veterans For Peace
Donation $15-25"
[Charles Curtis (January 25, 1860 – February 8, 1936), a Kaw (or Kanza/Kansa) US Senator and vice president, from Kansas: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Curtis and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaw_people ]
[January 25th – Seed Swap Day, etc.? – the National Day Calendar website.]
[The opening reception of the NCBG's Birds of North Carolina: A Community Photo Exhibit is now Sunday, January 26th, 2-4pm.]
["Why is China a target of Trump?" Sunday, January 26th at 4PM EST: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qUZDZApsSRKfXek7IQE1mg#/registration ]
[January 27th anniversary: consortiumnews.com/2025/01/27/remembering-robert-parry-who-died-7-yrs-ago-today/ ]
["Fascism! What It Is and How to Fight It" Monday, January 27th at 5:30pm Pacific, 7:30pm Central, 8:30pm East Coast; organized by Socialist Action: us06web.zoom.us/j/87372714280?pwd=ZmnmbLzq5Ne6nDXZ5h9KfRXdpRZO65.1#success ]
[FINAL REMINDER FOR OUR ZOOM MEETING - TUESDAY, JANUARY 28 AT 5:30 PM [From the NSS' Iowa Chapter, so CST?]. MAKE SURE TO SHARE WITH ANY METEORITE ENTHUSIASTS YOU KNOW!
Tuesday, January 28, 2025. 5:30 pm. “In Search of Falling Stars”, a presentation by Jim Banks, grandson of iconic meteorite expert H. H. Nininger. Banks recently edited an expanded update of Nininger’s authoritative work, “Find a Falling Star”. Banks will discuss various aspects of meteorites – rocks from space!NSS Iowa Zoom meeting:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://DMACC.zoom.us/j/98353191222
Meeting ID: 983 5319 1222]
[From Hands Off Uhuru! – EDUCATOR TRAINING on Student/Community Self Defense from ICE Raids / Led by THE ASSOCIATION OF RAZA EDUCATORS LOS ANGELES [and] UNION DEL BARRIO January 28th at 10pm EST/ 7pm PST: us02web.zoom.us/j/89837670035#success ]
[Explore Scientific’s 165th Global Star Party online, from 6pm Central (7pm Eastern) January 28th, with David Levy, David Eicher, Adrian Bradley, etc.; Br. Guy Consolmagno – 8:30-9pm CST (9:30-10 ET) (?): www.vaticanobservatory.org/sacred-space-astronomy/br-guy-to-speak-at-the-global-star-party-online-tonight/and www.explorescientific.com/de/pages/beyond-the-horizon-165th-global-star-party-explore-alliance 2.]
[On NPR January 29th – Corn Chip Day, Puzzle Day – the National Day Calendar website.]
[January 29th – RDUAA board meeting 5-7pm, related to Lake Crabtree: umsteadcoalition.org/event-6045161 and NPR.]
[From the HRA January 24th:
A step back in our fight against the Southeastern Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP) Pipeline:
FERC staff on Tuesday issued a notice that it will prepare a comparatively less rigorous environmental assessment — rather than an environmental impact statement — for the Southeast Supply Enhancement project, a gas infrastructure expansion opposed by environmental groups.
The project will include over 54 miles of new pipeline across North Carolina and Virginia, additional compressor units and upgrades to existing infrastructure. If completed, the project would add an additional 1,596,900 dekatherms per day of fuel capacity in the Southeast. Staff wrote that all substantive comments related to the project, including concerns about fossil fuel expansion, climate change and impacts on low-income communities and communities of color already burdened by pollution, will be addressed in the EA.
The Sierra Club blasted the decision to undergo a “truncated review of the project” in a statement released Wednesday. "This massive methane gas project cuts a dangerous swath across state lines, seriously impacting communities and our environment,” said Caroline Hansley, a campaign organizing strategist at the environmental group said in a statement. There are three upcoming community organizing meetings to fight this project:
The Guilford County Commissioners are meeting Thursday February 6, from 5:30-7pm. Click HERE to RSVP and learn more. You can also sign this Sierra Club petition. Here at the NoSSEP site, you can find many petitions as well. Write to a letter to the editor for the Greensboro News and Record. Follow the No SSEP Facebook page here! |
Thursday, February 6th: State of the Haw Presentation, 6-7pm, 1420 Price Park Dr, Greensboro, NC 27410
🌊 Join us at Kathleen Clay Edwards Library in Greensboro for a State of The Haw Presentation. We will address sediment issues to industrial contaminants and how they affect YOU! We will provide you with action items to help keep our river clean and healthy. This report and these presentations are meant to allow community members to learn about water quality and pollution issues. We also provide an open forum for the public to ask questions about issues of most concern. Please email events[at hawriver org] for more information! Please RSVP using this link!
*The next presentation will be February 20 in Graham! ]
[January 26th on WRAL: Someone from Chapel Hill is to be released from captivity in Gaza Saturday, February 1st, his wife was released after 51 days?]
[Also on WRAL: US income tax 'season' is January 27-April 15th this year, longer in North Carolina, due to Helene damage?]
[Agnes Sampson, or the "Wise Wife of Keith," of Nether Keith, Scotland, was executed January 28, 1591 during the North Berwick witch trials; King James VI of Scotland or British James I met with her: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_Sampson ]
[Imbolc, Groundhog Day, Candlemas, Setsubun, Risshun, Izcalli, Valentine's Day, the Pisces period, [Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras,] the spring equinox, etc. are coming up after Lunar New Year 2025.] [Ramadan will start at the beginning of March in 2025 [or at the end of February]??]
[In 2025: the Lunar New Year is January 29; Imbolc [or Christian St Brigid's Day] is February 1st; Groundhog Day, Candlemas, Setsubun [(節分)] are February 2nd; Lichun/Ipchun/Risshun [and lập xuân] (立春).is February 3rd.]
[The Virgen de Copacabana in Copacabana, Bolivia has feast days February 2nd and August 5th: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgen_de_Copacabana ]
[Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Tuesday/Pancake Day/Mardi Gras is March 4th in 2025: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrove_Tuesday ] [Ash Wednesday is March 5th.]
[January 29th – Kansas Day ]
[A few recent passenger aircraft disasters and anniversaries – 67 people were killed January 29th in a collision along the Potomac River in Washington, DC; focused attention; 20 people on a Beechcraft 1900 were killed January 29th in Unity State, South Sudan; one person survived; 7 people on a Learjet 55 were killed January 31st in Philadelphia; 9 people on a Boeing 747-122 were killed February 24, 1989 over the Pacific Ocean near Honolulu: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_811 ]
[The Anti-War Action Network Founding Conference is coming up in Saint Paul, Minnesota in February: www.eventbrite.com/e/anti-war-action-network-founding-conference-tickets-1126416474999?aff=oddtdtcreator ] More?
[An NCGP Triangle Area meeting: Saturday, February 1st, 4-6 pm at Bowstring Pizza and Brewyard (1290 Wake Forest Road Raleigh, NC 27608).
[Mary Docherty (April 27, 1908 in Cowdenbeath, Scotland – February 2, 2000 in Auchtertool, Scotland) of the CPGB: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Docherty ]
At the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh: The Venice and Ottoman empires exhibition ended at the beginning of January, but "Samurai: The Making of a Warrior" will last until February 2nd, with some side events: ncartmuseum.org/three-empires/ ] [The other current exhibitions: ncartmuseum.org/events-and-exhibitions/exhibitions/exhibitions-current/ ]
[The afternoon of February 2nd Grand Trees of Chatham will lead a free hike at the TLC's White Pines Nature Preserve, at the cool confluence of the Rocky and Deep rivers, south of Pittsboro on 15-501; register at grandtreesofchatham[atgmailcom]. I feel like I heard about another upcoming hike at WPNP, and the TLC organizes regular events there.]
[A complaint to the DCC from the NHBA for February 3rd:
The Durham City Council will vote on two rezoning requests on February 3 that could significantly impact local wildlife and the environment. One proposal seeks to rezone land along Pickett Road for a large apartment complex, which could harm Sandy Creek Park's ecosystems, increase runoff, disrupt bird habitats, and pose risks to migrating birds. While NHBA does not oppose development, it must be the right size and in the right location.
The other proposal aims to annex and rezone rural land in Orange County (Mt. Moriah Ridge) to build up to 1,000 townhomes, threatening the wildlife corridor along New Hope Creek. Both developments are opposed by NHBA, which urges the City Council to reject the re-zonings, as they conflict with the city’s environmental goals and could negatively affect local wildlife and the community's quality of life.
Action: We urge you to:
1) Write to Durham City Council members at citycouncilonly@durhamnc.gov before January 31 to urge them to reject these rezoning petitions as harmful to birds and wildlife and the wrong type of development for their locations.
2) Please consider attending the Durham City Council meeting in person on February 3 at 7:00 p.m. at City Hall, to support NHBA board members who will be speaking in person at the meeting and demonstrate citizen concern.
Below is a template you may use to reach out to Durham City Council members:
Subject line for Pickett Rd Apartments project: Please reject rezoning request for Pickett Rd Apartments, Z2400001
As a bird watcher and someone who cares about the environment, I am concerned about the request being made to annex the Pickett Rd. Property into Durham for the following reasons:
Rezoning to permit 140 apartments on property that is zoned for 13 homes threatens an important environmental resource in the City of Durham: Sandy Creek Park.
The park is used by a diverse group of citizens for birding, nature studies, citizen science projects, and peaceful recreation. The park has wheelchair-accessible paths used by bird watchers and nature enthusiasts who are disabled.
Sandy Creek Park is low-lying has wetlands and water retention features protecting downstream properties and the water quality of New Hope Creek and Jordan Lake.
The park already floods during the now-more-frequent heavy rain events. The proposed buildings and pavement will divert more run-off into Sandy Creek, its wetlands, and the park, affecting water quality and destroying habitat, as well as making the paved paths inaccessible.
The park is a birding hotspot used by many birders who have seen 90 species at the park. It also contains pollinator gardens, wildlife-viewing blinds, and a newly-installed Purple Martin nesting tower. School groups use the park for educational purposes.
Several bird species on the Audubon’s priority list currently nest in Sandy Creek Park, including Prothonotary warbler and Wood thrush, which both nest close to the ground.
The lights and noise from 140 apartments next to the park will disrupt bird habitat, nesting, foraging, and migration. A 4-5 story building next to the park increases the chance of migrating birds colliding with windows and being killed. Each year over a billion birds are killed in window collisions across North America.
Pickett Rd Apartments, without public transportation nearby and next to an important natural resource, is neither the right size nor the right location.
Subject line for Mt. Moriah Rd project: Please reject rezoning and annexation request for Moriah Ridge Property, BDG2300033 and Z2300051
As a bird watcher and someone who cares about the environment, I am concerned about the request being made to annex the Mt Moriah Ridge Property into Durham for the following reasons:
Durham’s development priorities should be to develop within the current urban core and not spread into what is considered rural and agricultural lands.
Much of the property is of high habitat value. It would be more appropriate to protect this land as the Dry Creek/Mount Moriah Bottomland Natural Heritage Natural Area. The land is important for maintaining and protecting wildlife including birds.
Annexation of what is considered rural Orange County into Durham for development purposes is a bad precedent for Durham to be setting. Durham should respect other counties’ development zones especially rural/agricultural zoning. Annexation could lead to other developers only purchasing a few acres in Durham and then wanting to annex large tracts of rural land adjacent to Durham.
Annexation of this property for development will require Durham residents to pay for the extension of water and sewer infrastructure into Orange County. Durham already has economic issues trying to maintain the current infrastructure for its citizens within the urban boundary.
The Planning Commission found that the ordinance request is not consistent with the adopted Comprehensive Plan.
[Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal had passed around the African Cape of Good Hope by February 4, 1488: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolomeu_Dias ]
[Constance Georgine Markievicz (born Gore-Booth) February 4, 1868 – July 15, 1927): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Markievicz ]
[A February 4, 1999 oil spill near Coos Bay, Oregon: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Carissa ]
[February 4th is World Cancer Day.]
[February 4th is Thank A Mail Carrier Day/Thank a Mailman Day, Hemp Day, [Homemade Soup Day,] etc.?]
[Michalina Anna Wisłocka (born Braun), author of Sztuka kochania (The Art of Loving or A Practical Guide to Marital Bliss, 1978), a first (?); July 1, 1921 in Łódź, Poland – February 5, 2005 in Warsaw: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michalina_Wisłocka ] [And: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sztuka_kochania ]
[On WRAL: A (leaderless?) "50501 movement" demonstration at the old governor's mansion and the State Capitol in downtown Raleigh the afternoon of February 5th.]
[February 6th is Sámi National Day (1917) and New Zealand's Waitangi Day?]
[And National Weatherperson’s Day] [February 5th]
[From the Woman's Club of Raleigh, on their 2025 Great Decisions series; registration: pcwitt43 [at gmail]
"WHEN: Thursday morning 10:00 am to N00N
March 30 The Future of NATO and European Security"]
[From UNAC:
"What is regime change, and how has the US used it to target nations like Libya, Iraq, and Syria that resist Western dominance? This event will explore how sanctions, propaganda, and military intervention are wielded as tools of imperialism, plunging nations into chaos under the guise of "human rights" rhetoric.
Join us to analyze the devastating consequences of US-led interventions and corporate media propaganda.
Questions? Email us at thenewschoolsjp[at gmail]"
The US’ Role in Regime Change
UNAC is a co-sponsor of this online and in-person event
Thursday, February 6, 7 PM
At the New School in New York City and online
Click here to register for the online event
Click here to register for the in-person event
[February 7, 1865 -- Seattle, Washington incorporated and expelled Native Americans?]
[February 7th -- Grenada's independence day, 1974.]
[The Happisburgh footprints in Norfolk, England, UK were announced February 7, 2014.]
[February 7th -- Periodic Table Day?]
[Kami-Con 2025 will be February 7-9th in Birmingham, Alabama: www.kamicon.net 2.]
[February 8th -- Military Foundation Day in DPR Korea?]
[The Orangeburg Massacre in South Carolina was February 8, 1968.]
[February 8th -- Kite Flying Day.]
[McCarthyism began in early February?]
[February 9th -- Read in the Bathtub Day -- Days of the Year website.]
[ICSS with Charlotte Kates of Samidoun: February 9th at 10:30am Pacific Time: icssmarx.org/palestine-now-gaza-ceasefire-prisoner-exchanges-and-regional-and-global-developments-charlotte-kates-february-9-2025-1030-am-pacific-time/ ]
[Pro-immigrant days of action February 7-9; I think the Durham event is February 9th at 4pm downtown: wefightback2025.org/action-listings ]
[An NC CodePink meeting online February 10th at 7pm: www.codepink.org/nc210 ]
[February 11th (660 BCE) is National Foundation Day in Japan?]
[Scottish author Anna "Nan" Shepherd (February 11, 1893 – February 27, 1981): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nan_Shepherd ]
[The Annual Symposium of the NC Invasive Plant Council and the SC Invasive Pest Council will be held February 11-13th in Wilmington, NC: nc-ipc.weebly.com/2025-annual-symposium.html ]
[Charles Robert Darwin (February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire – April 19, 1882 at Down House, Down, Kent, England): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin ; Darwin Day at the NCBG, etc. is February 12th?]
[China's Lantern Festival is February 12th.]
The Carolina Center for Jewish Studies' Margolis Lecture: Antisemitism and Free Speech in Modern America will be February 13th at 5:30pm at UNC's Stone Center; organized with the Department of Religious Studies -- jewishstudies.unc.edu/event/loeffler/ The announcement says "In 1949 a five-day pogrom rocked Chicago and led to a revolutionary First Amendment ruling by the US Supreme Court." These could be right-dominated academic departments.
I hadn't heard about this; the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies claims that students, presumably Jewish, said (not alleged) that they had been harassed at a Muslim Students Association meeting at UNC's Frank Porter Graham Student Union on January 29th, and the statement refers to "intimidation based on religious identity." I don't know how credible this allegation is: jewishstudies.unc.edu/2025/01/statement-january-31-2025 ]
[An online talk by the author of The Light Eaters February 13th at 7pm CST (8pm EST?); organized by the Aldo Leopold center: www.crowdcast.io/c/the-light-eaters0213
[From the OGS ( organicgrowersschool.org ?; note that their 2025 Spring Conference will be Friday, March 14th-Sunday, March 16th, with the theme: "Resilience, Recovery, and Renewal"):
Plants for Everyone Sale at Smith Mill Works
Affordable Bare-Root Edible & Ornamental Plant Sale in Asheville, NC
After Hurricane Helene, our region needs stream bank stabilization in a big way! Smith Mill Works donates native plants suited for stream banks and erosion control to the community.
Sunday, February 16, noon PRE-ORDER DEADLINE
Thursday, February 27 (12pm – 6pm) Pre-order pickup
Friday, February 28 (12pm – 6pm) Pre-order pickup
Saturday, Mar 1 (12pm – 6pm) General Plant Sale ]
[Katsucon 2025 will be February 14-16th in National Harbor, Maryland, near Washington, DC: www.katsucon.org 2.]
[Red Books Day is February 21st.]
[The grand opening of Carrboro's new Drakeford Library Complex (the 203 Project; at 203 S. Greensboro Street) will be Friday, February 21st at 11am "and will feature speakers, a ribbon cutting and light refreshments. Tours will be offered following the event throughout the day until 6 p.m." For more information see: www.carrboronc.gov/1151/Drakeford-Library-Complex-formerly-The-2 ]
[National Invasive Species Awareness Week 2025 will be February 24-28th: naisma.org/programs/nisaw/ ]
[Angelo Secchi S.J. (June 28, 1818 – February 26, 1878): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_Secchi ]
[There will be an in-person Friends of the Durham Library book sale at Books Among Friends March 7-8th: fodlnc.org/events/ ]
[From 7DirectionsofService.com – The Southeastern Indigenous Coalition Environmental Conference 2025 will be March 7-8th on Occaneechi Saponi territory in North Carolina (in or near Mebane?): app.swapcard.com/login/event/southeastern-indigenous-coalition-environmental-conference-2025/registration
[The US National Cherry Blossom Festival, in Washington, DC, will be March 20-April 13th in 2025: nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/ ]
[Noted in a recent IF DDR newsletter ( ifddr.org ; they also have an internship program in Germany): Hans Reichelt (March 30, 1925 – January 14, 2025); a minister of agriculture and forestry, etc. in the GDR; a member of the Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany (DBD): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Reichenbach and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Farmers%27_Party_of_Germany ]
[An art exhibition, The Art of Manga, with works by 8 manga authors/artists (or mangaka), a first for the US (?), will open at San Francisco's de Young Museum in late September; the exhibition was put together by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in California and will include work by Hirohiko Araki, Eiichiro Oda, Rumiko Takahashi,...: (note that this anime, etc. news website is NSFW and is likely to have offensive pornographic and rightist content, etc.) news.sankakucomplex.com/2025/01/29/art-of-manga-exhibition-to-debut-in-san-francisco-in-september-2025/ ] [And: www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2025-02-05/san-francisco-fine-arts-museum-to-open-1st-major-manga-exhibit-in-u.s-in-september/.220559 ]
[? -- www.nknews.org/pro/kim-jong-un-meets-young-korean-students-from-japan-in-bid-to-win-their-loyalty/ ]
[? -- www.nknews.org/2025/01/north-koreas-official-2025-calendar-offers-sneak-peak-of-whats-to-come/ ]
[On graduate student unionization, etc., rather than anti-war protest being silenced by university administrators: portside.org/2025-01-08/universities-and-coming-storm ]
www.dropsitenews.com/p/south-korea-martial-law-biden-trump-kim-jong-un-nuclear-yoon ]
www.dropsitenews.com/p/rahmani-sanctions-journalist-silencing critical press coverage
[ www.dropsitenews.com/p/palestinian-authority-west-bank-jenin-assault ]
[ deepdivewithleeslusher.substack.com/p/the-state-of-western-warcraft ]
[ deepdivewithleeslusher.substack.com/p/rubble-and-rhetoric ]
[ deepdivewithleeslusher.substack.com/p/the-uss-gettysburg ]
[ deepdivewithleeslusher.substack.com/p/western-leadership-and-other-myths ]
[A reunion of personnel from the Kagnew Station US military listening post, 1943-1974, (now in Eritrea): thebaffler.com/salvos/listening-devices-neumann ]
[ jackrasmus.com/2025/01/24/bidens-pernicious-presidential-legacies-print/ ]
[ www.stephensemler.com/p/how-the-most-unpopular-us-president ]
[ aurelien2022.substack.com/p/the-curse-of-zhou-bai-den ]
[ fair.org/home/media-credit-trump-for-gaza-truce-sidelining-palestinian-resistance-and-solidarity/ ]
[ www.kitklarenberg.com/p/i-felt-like-a-nazi-zionists-admit ]
[Jourrnalist Max Blumenthal versus Antony Blinken: decensorednews.substack.com/p/max-blumenthal-antony-blinken-state-dept Jourrnalist Sam Husseini was arrested around then.]
[ decensorednews.substack.com/p/sam-husseini-antony-blinken-reporter-video ]
[ www.rt.com/news/611033-grayzone-blinken-gaza-genocide/ ]
[ www.dropsitenews.com/p/yemen-houthi-gaza-israel-palestine-ceasefire ]
[Hamas, etc. on the ceasefire: cpcml.ca/ITN2025/TI5501.HTM#1 ]
[ merylnass.substack.com/p/israel-gaza-deal-what-it-looks-like ]
[ roburie.substack.com/p/note-the-problem-with-the-israel ]
[ tlavagabond.substack.com/p/the-gaza-ceasefire-a-us-israel-defeat ]
[ www.counterpunch.org/2025/01/17/cease-fires-walk-with-me/ ]
[On the ceasefire and Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat: open.substack.com/pub/dropsitenews/p/israel-refusing-to-release-marwan-barghouti-ahmad-saadat ]
[ www.dropsitenews.com/p/five-journalists-in-gaza-reflect ]
[ thepolemicist.substack.com/p/ceasefire-prospects-and-trump-pressure ]
[ chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-ceasefire-charade ]
[ theworker.news/2025/01/18/on-the-doha-ceasefire-agreement-vnd-peru/ ]
[ theintercept.com/2025/01/15/israel-hamas-ceasefire-biden-netanyahu-deaths/ ]
[A statement: liberationroad.substack.com/p/the-ceasefire-in-gaza-relief-fear ]
For more information, here is the Wikipedia page; human fatalities? – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_wasting_disease ]
["This week in history: January 13-19" – www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/01/12/erlb-j12.html ]
[ portside.org/2025-01-13/week-peoples-history-jan-15-17 ]
[In with fluoride in 1945 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, etc. – portside.org/2025-01-20/week-peoples-history-jan-22-28 and portside.org/2025-01-12/open-letter-cnn-regarding-your-fluoride-coverage ]
[ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoride ; I think hydrofluoric acid ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrofluoric_acid ) was poured down a drain and blew up a chemistry lab at UNC once ; I've heard that not that long ago the sinks dumped into nearby Meeting of the Waters Creek.]
["American Historical Association condemns Gaza genocide" – www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/01/13/ywio-j13.html ]
[Vetoed by the AHA – www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/01/20/vizz-j20.html ]
["Australia’s Socialist Alternative sends correspondent to Syria: The pseudo-left in alliance with al-Qaeda and the CIA" – www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/01/20/epzb-j20.html ]
[ mpr21.info/el-terrorismo-en-tiempos-de-la-guerra-fria-aginter-press/ ]
[An interview with Mazin Qumsiyeh of the Palestine Museum of Natural History (PMNH) and the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS); in Durham at Duke 1993-1999: sonar21.com/palestinians-will-not-surrender-a-conversaton-with-mazin-qumsiyeh/ ]
[ fair.org/home/media-downplay-israeli-violations-of-hezbollah-ceasefire/ ]
[ fair.org/home/syria-is-free-say-media-but-that-shouldnt-mean-free-of-us-occupation/ ]
[ fair.org/home/20-years-after-his-death-gary-webbs-truth-is-still-dangerous/ ]
[By Gary Webb: fair.org/extra/taking-a-dive-on-contra-crack/ ]
[ fair.org/home/why-the-right-calls-mangione-the-ivy-league-killer/ ]
[ fair.org/home/nyt-panics-over-outrage-at-insurance-companies/ ]
[Health insurance anger monitored: www.kenklippenstein.com/p/government-monitoring-those-with ]
[On Greenland and Denmark: mpr21.info/dinamarca-no-esta-en-condiciones-de-defender-groenlandia/ ]
[Related to the issue of Greenland: fair.org/home/remember-when-howard-dean-yelling-made-him-unfit-to-be-president/]
[ www.rt.com/russia/611145-danish-f16-instructor-killed/ ]
[Attacks on the Turkstream pipelines: www.rt.com/news/610985-turkstream-future-test-trumpism/ ]
[ simplicius76.substack.com/p/sitrep-11725-russia-irans-landmark ]
[ fair.org/extra/for-u-s-media-rape-culture-is-there-not-here/ ]
[ fair.org/home/fairs-critique-of-washington-post-makes-washington-post/ ]
[ www.rt.com/news/611073-pakistani-imran-knan-jailed/ ]
[ fair.org/home/as-pakistan-murders-protesters-leading-papers-play-down-washingtons-role/ ]
[ www.globalresearch.ca/regime-change-iran-coming-soon/5875124 ]
[Claim that Ba'athist Syria disappeared and killed Hamas members: www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250106-assad-regime-executed-dozens-of-hamas-members-without-trial-report-reveals/ ]
[Claim of a DPR Korea Fukushima plot: www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3294559/spies-protests-and-fukushima-inside-north-koreas-plot-sow-south-korea-japan-discord ]
[Skepticism that the US is behind the overthrow the Syrian government: www.counterpunch.org/2025/01/12/the-uses-and-misuses-of-ideology-in-analyzing-the-syrian-overthrow/ ]
[One view of the DRA period: ifddr.org/en/afghanistan-cannot-be-allowed-to-set-a-precedent/ ]
[Referring to possible assassination attempts by pro-Russian Ukrainians? – www.rt.com/news/611132-biden-radical-ukrainians-kiev-visit/ ]
[The US media will welcome it? – www.rt.com/news/611133-two-justices-assassinated-iran/ ]
[ www.rt.com/news/611144-russia-iran-partnership-agreement/ ]
[ www.rt.com/news/611142-us-treasury-debt-ceiling/ ]
[?? -- tlavagabond.substack.com/p/a-century-of-ufo-psyops-exposed-part-0eb Part 3]
[Russian interest in the occult condemned by Russian Orthodox archpriest: www.rt.com/russia/611130-russia-riddled-with-sorcerers/
[ www.rt.com/news/610996-openai-whistleblower-mother-carlson/ ]
[Created by "AI," a topic on NPR's The World January 17th, without mention of this? – www.rt.com/news/611016-washington-post-cartoonist-arrested-child-porn/ ]
[ www.rt.com/news/611046-fbi-closes-diversity-dei-office/ ]
[ www.racket.news/p/goodbye-to-joe-biden-and-whoever ]
[ diario-octubre.com/2025/01/24/trump-promete-contactar-con-kim-jong-un/ ]
[A waving Chinese flag for the Moon? -- diario-octubre.com/2025/01/24/china-colocara-la-primera-bandera-ondeante-en-la-luna/ ]
[The Monitor versus Virginia battle of the Ukraine War? -- diario-octubre.com/2025/01/28/perro-robot-y-dron-protagonizan-un-espectacular-combate-con-fuegos-artificiales/ ]
[ consortiumnews.com/2025/01/27/craig-murray-israeli-atrocities-continue-in-lebanon/]
[ consortiumnews.com/2025/01/27/outcry-at-2-day-detention-deportation-of-journalist-in-zurich/ ]
[ consortiumnews.com/2025/01/27/how-the-israel-lobby-tries-to-silence-criticism-of-israel/
[ www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/ali-abunimah-has-been-freed-by-swiss ]
[ www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/you-cant-criticise-israel-in-the ]
[ www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/gaza-double-standards-show-everything ]
[ jalalayn.substack.com/p/is-trump-going-to-be-any-better ]
[ theworker.news/2025/01/28/two-judges-killed-in-tehran/ ]
[ blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/welcome-home-leonard-peltier ]
[ thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2025/01/28/ai-going-deepseek/ ]
[So they say (paywalled): www.nknews.org/pro/in-changing-world-north-korea-has-little-to-gain-from-pro-regime-sympathizers/ ]
[ indi.ca/trump-admits-israels-failure-2/ ]
[An "antidote" – a short video (~1 minute?) of very familiar cheetahs (young?): x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1876641393193734283 ]
[NSOTA's Statement on the war in Gaza, etc.: www.nsota.org/statement (NSOTA is a new university-type institution, operating in-person in the UK and online.)
On Jamaal Bowman and the DSA, etc.: tempestmag.org/2025/01/dsa-never-recovered-from-bowman/
Chinese Trotskyism: tempestmag.org/2025/01/leftist-studies-in-china-and-the-united-states/ The author of a new novel about Trotsky's time in New York before the 1917 Revolution was interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition February 1st; the author, with a very strong New York accent, but currently in Morocco, is anti-Trotsky and even more so anti-Stalin. [A book on 'over-regulation' in housing, etc. was to be discussed on the 3rd? Who needs the old pre-Trump Republican Party when you have the new Democratic Party? In the current NYRB a discussion of how deeply pro-"Western," pro-Yeltsin, pro-Pinochet 'Russian liberals' disdain if not hate the people of Russia and don't really value "democracy," so they lost to also pro-capitalist Putin, etc.]
tempestmag.org/2021/11/expel-jamaal-bowman/
Tempest Collective statement of solidarity with Ali Abunimah: tempestmag.org/2025/01/solidarity-with-ali-abunimah/
There was a webinar on the "Syrian Revolution" February 2nd: tempestmag.org/2025/01/whats-next-for-the-syrian-revolution/
[Also from the pro-NATO left: liberationroad.substack.com/p/read-ukrainian-leftists ]
On the current global economic order, "Capital's fairytales:" newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/fire-and-spark
"Trump and tech:" newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/fragile-leviathan
On the cancellation of the Romanian election (rescheduled to May 4th?): newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/fractured-romania
Cuba and the US government's "SSTL:" newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/abject-gesture
On David Lynch: newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/women-in-trouble
On Trudeau: newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/trudeaus-fall
France in Africa: newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/the-franc-zone
On TJ Clark's Bruegel: newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/world-upside-down
The environment and capitalism; "Technology and waste:" newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/exponential-abyss
On the current global economic order; "On Joseph Stiglitz:" newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/supply-sider ]
[ simplicius76.substack.com/p/trump-announces-levantine-riviera
On Gaza: cpcml.ca/ITN2025/TI5514.HTM#1
jonathancook.substack.com/p/the-gaza-war-was-a-lie-as-is-the ceasefire
consortiumnews.com/2025/02/05/us-officials-backtrack-on-trumps-illegal-gaza-gambit/
www.counterpunch.org/2025/02/01/pick-up-the-pieces/
On Estonia's Russophobic 21st century leadership; recently on the BBC; also a recent post on West Bank aid to Gaza: robertjprince.net/2025/02/06/31648/
On avian influenza in animals: merylnass.substack.com/p/which-arbitrary-path-should-be-followed ]
[ diario-octubre.com/2025/01/10/arteka-el-modelo-socialdemocrata/ ]
[ diario-octubre.com/2025/01/10/trump-y-obama-charlan-y-se-rien-en-el-funeral-de-jimmy-carter/ ]
[On Carter's early January UFO sighting in Georgia, questions about disclosure, etc. on NPR's Saturday Morning Edition January 11th.]
[On the mystery drones reported in the Northeast etc.: www.mtracey.net/p/drones-and-mass-hysteria-an-inquest ]
[They say: sonar21.com/trump-white-house-confirms-that-drones-over-new-jersey-were-approved-by-faa/
[? -- On the Committee to Protect Health Care versus RFK Jr's DHHS nomination, new in January: merylnass.substack.com/p/the-blue-blob-act-blue-creates-yet another astroturf organization to try and tank Bobby Kennedy's nomination
[ blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/2025/1/9/los-angeles-fires-santa-ana-blowback ]
[ libya360.wordpress.com/2024/12/18/compatible-left-joins-imperialism-in-celebrating-defeat-of-syria/ ]
[Google translation – "The cyclical shift from demonization to sanctification of Stalin does not represent progress; Bitácora Team (ML), 2025" – diario-octubre.com/2025/01/28/pasar-ciclicamente-de-la-demonizacion-a-la-santificacion-de-stalin-no-supone-un-avance-equipo-de-bitacora-m-l-2025/ ]
[Grover Furr responds to a critic of his recent book: msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/research/gfgreenecrit0125.html or msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/research/gfgreenecrit0125.pdf ]
"HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025! From the November 8th Publishing House" – A New Year's toast given by Stalin, then 22, at a working class home in Batumi in 1902 (up through the night?) [Batumi, Adjara, Republic of Georgia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batumi ] – "There's the dawn! Soon the sun will rise. The time will come when this sun will shine or us!" as it did.
[A CPC(M-L) YouTube series: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiZWYhHlHKs&feature=youtu.be ]
["What to Expect with Inauguration of Donald Trump to U.S. Presidency" – cpcml.ca/Tmlm2025/TS5501.HTM#3 ]
This message, by Kathleen Chandler, was sent from an official USMLO email account late in the morning on Thursday, January 2nd:
Happy New Year, One and All!
[Photo: A red banner – Biden, Trudeau, Netanyahu: We Are the Red Line – and Palestinian flags at the front of a march on a city street]
As we greet the New Year, despite all the horrors the peoples of the world have experience, we can take pride in the fact that 2024 also showed for the entire world to see that it is the peoples of the world and their Resistance Movements that are the makers of history -- not the U.S., not Israel, not the Bidens and Trumps of this world or the totally paralyzed international system incapable of stopping the genocide in Gaza.
We can take pride in the contribution the people of the U.S. made by making sure the U.S./Zionist forces could not get away with impunity, that they are held to account. Their declaration that they can be both democrats and support genocide will not fly.
The resistance is scoring successes, while the U.S./Zionist forces are desperate, resorting to extreme violence, failing to even keep the resistance forces in check, let alone under their command. Far from the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria being a major blow to the resistance, it is the U.S. and Israel which are weakened because they cannot force the peoples to abide by their wishes, imposed with bombs, using disinformation about what is going on, presenting terrorists as moderates and similar tales. The U.S. intelligence agencies have openly put terrorists in charge in Syria which means any attempts to claim the U.S. champions a "war on terror" or to paint our compatriots in this country and abroad as being terrorists have absolutely no credence.
The youth, students and freedom fighters from one end of the U.S. to the other can be proud of the bold fight they have waged this past year. It shows the entire world what the people of the U.S. are made of, settling scores with media attempts to paint them with the racist, terrorist brush that applies to U.S. presidents and their administrations.
U.S. claims to stand for human rights, democracy, or fair elections are done. All the presidency has left is extreme violence and the impunity of its police powers. Congress is more divided than ever and anarchy prevails. All the governing factions across the country are armed to the teeth. Everything is done to justify the attacks on immigrants, migrants, workers and those who are poor or vulnerable to the attacks of the virulent mafia forces who have usurped the decision-making powers of the state and its police forces.
Thanks to the bold actions of the Resistance forces, the red line of the peoples’ of the world against genocide stands steadfast, resilient and defiant. The Resistance Movements in Palestine, Yemen, Lebanon as well as Iraq have shown they are self-reliant, courageous and determined. Iran too stands firmly with the resistance as do the peoples of all the surrounding countries whose governments or leaders are vacillating, or conciliating, pushing their own agendas. Despite the increase of the use of extreme violence and the plots which are being hatched to sow doubt in peoples’ minds about the prospects for 2025, 2024 showed that by giving uncategorical support to the Resistance Movements, and uniting people in action, progress can be made.
The defiant resistance in Palestine shows the way for all. It is not Trump that decides how we organize and fight in 2025. That is up to us. Let 2025 be a time of taking initiatives to build on successes and lend a hand to the many struggles taking place, like those of Amazon and postal workers, dock workers, healthcare workers, teachers and immigrant communities everywhere, as well as of those upholding the rights of refugees, undocumented workers who are integral to the U.S. working class and the rights of LGBTQ2S+, prisoners and all those fighting against police impunity and to make sure Black Lives Matter.
Speaking in our own name, opposing politicians and the likes of Elon Musk who run rough shod over the peoples’ interests, building our independent organizations and mass media all are critical.
Let us further strengthen our organized defiance against genocide, the terrorist police powers being unleashed against us and all attacks on rights! Unity in action to advance our interests advances our fight for empowerment and our internationalist spirit defending the rights of all at home and abroad.
Best Wishes for Success in All Your Activities!
Kathleen Chandler, organizer for U.S. Marxist-Leninist Organization, Peoples' Senate and Women United Against Genocide
For More Information on developments in Syria and Palestine see:
• U.S. Global War on Terror Bites the Dust in Syria – Pauline Easton
• Oppose All Attempts to Deprive Palestinian Resistance of Its Initiative – Kathleen Chandler
Heroism of Palestinian Resistance Knows No Bounds
• "Hunting Snakes" in Beit Lahia – Resistance Roundup
Outstanding Contribution of Yemen
• Resolute Support for Palestinian Resistance Intensifies
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