I received these statements this week; they are posted on Facebook. The four images might not appear below. Slightly edited:
1
[This is the 899th post on DS.]
This is a personal political blog looking mostly at local and state news and issues, but also national and global events.
I received these statements this week; they are posted on Facebook. The four images might not appear below. Slightly edited:
1
[This is the 899th post on DS.]
Michael Dublin Opposes H.R. 8070
For Immediate Release:
June 20, 2024
Garner, NC (June 20, 2024) - Michael Dublin, NCGP Candidate for US House of Representatives for NC Congressional District 2, strongly opposes the recent House passage of legislation to automatically register all males ages 18-26 for potential military conscription through the Selective Service System. This is truly a nightmare!
The Democratic Amendment to H.R. 8070, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Section 531. Selective Service System: Automatic Registration. SEC. 3. (a)(1) states, “Except as otherwise provided in this title, every male citizen of the United States, and every other male person residing in the United States, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six, shall be automatically registered under this Act by the Director of the Selective Service System.” Honestly, Is it 2024 or 1964?
Y’all, this kind of nightmarish nonsense is the reason I’m running for office in the first place. Why would I leave the classroom after over two decades of helping young people grow up? So that I don’t have to see more of them becoming fodder for the US Imperial War Machine! Please donate your time and money to help me stand against this openly wanton agenda of the two corporate war parties that do not give a damn about our children or our future! Trust me: A vote for me is a vote for peace!
Donate / Volunteer
Michael Dublin 4 Congress
Originally posted at: www.gp.org/green_party_condemns_reinstatement_of_draft
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 19, 2024) - The U.S. Green Party condemns the recent House passage of legislation to automatically register all males ages 18-26 for potential military conscription through the Selective Service System.
The Democratic Amendment to H.R. 8070, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Section 531. Selective Service System: Automatic Registration. SEC. 3. (a)(1) states, “Except as otherwise provided in this title, every male citizen of the United States, and every other male person residing in the United States, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six, shall be automatically registered under this Act by the Director of the Selective Service System.”
Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org
For Immediate Release:
June 19, 2024
Contact:
Gregg Jocoy, Co-chair, Media Committee, media [at gp period org], 202-804-2758
Gloria Mattera, Co-chair, Media Committee, media[at ], 202-804-2758
“The U.S. has been in a continuous 'State of Emergency' since the passage of the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in 2001, which provides a president with over 100 powers he would not ordinarily have,” said Margaret Elisabeth, member of the Green Party of Washington State, a Co-chair of the Green Party of the U.S., and a veteran of the U.S. military. “ In passing the AUMF, Congress abdicated its exclusive authority under the Constitution to declare war, and betrayed its responsibility to the American people by delegating to the president – one person – virtually dictatorial power to commit acts of war whenever he or she chooses. Greens demand repeal of the AUMF and oppose any other measure purporting to 'authorize' preemptive or illegal military action.”
“Our platform alternatively calls for new opportunities for citizens to serve their communities through non-military community service” said Craig Cayetano, member of the Green Party of New Jersey, and a Co-chair of the Green party of the U.S. “Alternative community service to the military should be encouraged.”
The Green Party calls on the U.S. Senate to reject this unconscionable draft registration scheme. Peaceful conflict resolution through diplomacy and adherence to human rights must be our nation's security priorities.
Green Party Platform: Alternative Community Service
Green Party Platform: Repeal Authorization for Use of Military Force
Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org
202-804-2758
Newsroom | Twitter: @GreenPartyUS
Green Party Platform
Green New Deal
Green candidate database and campaign information
Ballot Access
Facebook page
YouTube<
Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
Green Papers
From the Peoples Dispatch: peoplesdispatch.org/2024/07/31/israel-assassinates-hamas-political-bureau-chief-ismail-haniyeh-in-tehran/
[From the CPGB-ML: thecommunists.org/2024/10/04/news/ismail-haniyeh-another-resistance-leader-assassinated-by-israel/ ]
Pro-war US and Co. imperialists' statement praising the assassination in Tehran: www.counterextremism.com/press/cep-statement-killing-hamas-leader-haniyeh
www.dropsitenews.com/p/israel-hezbollah-lebanon-war
consortiumnews.com/2024/07/31/netanyahu-risking-regional-war-with-assassination/
diario-octubre.com/2024/07/31/siria-repudia-flagrante-agresion-de-israel-contra-beirut/
diario-octubre.com/2024/07/31/ataque-israeli-asesina-a-tres-civiles-incluido-dos-ninos-en-libano/
mpr21.info/israel-asesina-en-teheran-al-maximo-dirigente-de-hamas/
thecradle.co/articles/iran-holds-us-responsible-for-tehran-strike-as-washington-denies-involvement
thecradle.co/articles/lebanon-to-file-complaint-against-israel-at-unsc-after-deadly-beirut-strike
thecradle.co/articles/entire-resistance-axis-will-respond-to-haniyeh-assassination-irgc
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Haniyeh
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Ismail_Haniyeh
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuad_Shukr
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Haret_Hreik_airstrike
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majdal_Shams_attack
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majdal_Shams
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golan_Heights
A few hours earlier, at 7:40pm in Lebanon, Israel killed Hezbollah official Fuad Shukr, along with two children and a woman, and about 70 people were injured in Haret Hreik, a Shia Muslim and Maronite Christian area in the Al-Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon. Israel calls this retaliation for the rocket that killed several Druze children and other youths at a soccer field in the majority Druze town of Majdal Shams, a major town in the occupied Golan Heights, south of Mount Harmon, on July 27th. Apparently none of the victims were Israeli citizens. Hezbollah denies having carried out that attack. I read an article, which I can't find now, claiming that Hezbollah has admitted responsibility in past cases in which civilians were accidentally killed, indicating, if true, that they aren't just trying to evade responsibility in this case. The assassination was apparently condemned by Iran, Russia, and Syria, and defended by Kamala Harris, supposedly not as anti-Arab national liberation as Joe Biden, while in Atlanta, Georgia (Harris' State campaign committee is chaired by Natalie Murdock of the NC Senate, I just heard).
The of assassination of Ismail Haniyeh was condemned or criticized by Mahmoud Abbas of the PA, PIJ, Iraq, Oman, Afghanistan, Qatar, Jordan, China, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, etc., according to the Wikipedia article. Egypt said that Israel is demonstrating that it doesn't desire a ceasefire, having killed a key negotiator on the Palestinian side, as they kill police (and then there are US or other complaints about the break down of order in Gaza and foreign aid being stolen), medics, doctors, academics, foreign and local relief workers, etc. The assassination was praised by rightists such as Geert Wilders of the Netherlands, while Israel backer Germany urged "restraint." Israel is very unrestrained, though US-based rabid Zionists such as the Tablet (July 31st -- "an unmistakable message to the leaders of the Axis of Resistance: We can hit you wherever you are, and neither the Iranians nor the Americans can protect you.") seem to think the US was protecting Haniyeh, indicating that they think Israel is fighting the USA, yet Israel is given a free hand under Biden and his predecessors to spy and carry out covert operations and election meddling in this country. The USA has yet to attribute the attack in Tehran to Israel.
Also, I'm trying to post a substantial calendar shortly, this week.
Originally posted July 31st at: cpcml.ca/cpcmlarticle2407311223/ Slightly edited.
CPC(M-L) Statement - Heinous Criminal Act Will Not Deter Palestinian Resistance
Ismail Haniyeh
1962/63 – July 31, 2024
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) condemns the assassination of [Islamic Resistance Movement (Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya)] political leader Ismail Haniyeh [around 2am, after the Iranian inauguration,] on Wednesday, July 31 [at a house for veterans in the north of Tehran] as a criminal act of Zionist cowardice. This day will go down as one more day of Zionist infamy. CPC(M-L) also condemns to eternal shame the U.S., Britain and countries such as Canada that are putting their state power behind Israel’s futile attempt to commit genocide of the Palestinian people and make sure Israel realizes its criminal aims.
CPC(M-L) expresses its deepest sympathies to all [Islamic Resistance Movement] members, Ismail Haniyeh’s remaining family and the entire Palestinian people and their heroic Resistance Movement. On the occasion of this great loss, CPC(M-L) reiterates its categorical support for the Palestinian Resistance and conviction that it will prevail over the heinous crimes of genocide the Israeli Zionists are carrying out with the full support of the United States, Britain, Canada and a handful of other mostly European countries.
Ismail Haniyeh devoted his life to the patriotic cause of his people, always upholding the unity of the Resistance under all conditions and circumstances. Today, in the face of the deadly Israeli genocide and this latest heinous cowardly act, we reiterate: We are all Palestinians, we stand as one humanity the world over to make sure justice will prevail.
CPC(M-L) calls on Canadians and Quebeckers to go all out to step up their expressions of support for the Palestinian Resistance and condemn Canada’s appeasement of genocide. Take up the conviction of the Palestinian people as expressed by Ismail Haniyeh’s son, Abdul Salam Haniyeh, who, on hearing of his father’s martyrdom, said of his father: “He was very keen to establish national unity and strived for the unity of all Palestinian factions and we affirm that this assassination will not deter the resistance, which will fight until freedom is achieved.”
This is the profound conviction which imbues the resistance and its martyrs. It is the strongest response to attempts by the apologists of the Zionist criminals who are claiming that Israel has succeeded in expanding the war to involve Iran, Lebanon and other countries so as to draw the U.S. and its fellow partners in crime into achieving Israeli aims. It is the necessary response to defeat attempts to declare that because Haniyeh was conducting the ceasefire talks and prisoner exchange arrangements with great ability, and was instrumental in the talks for a national unity government, the Palestinian Resistance will not be able to overcome this set-back. It is the response required to shame the claims of the Zionists and apologists for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that, by carrying out this assassination in Tehran itself, the criminal Israeli intelligence organization Mossad has now vindicated itself for its intelligence failure on October 7, 2023 and now Israel will achieve its goal of wiping out Hamas. Celebrations in Israel of the assassination reveal the need to stick to the path of the Resistance which is what serves to condemn attempts to promote and join Zionist barbarism.
This is not the first time the Palestinian Resistance has defied the lies spread by the Zionists and their apologists and their heinous crimes and acts of cowardice.
We Are All Palestinians!
We Stand as One Humanity the World Over to Make Sure Justice Will Prevail!
Hamas Confirms Assassination of Political Leader Ismail Haniyeh
On Wednesday, July 31, Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement [the Islamic Resistance Movement] was assassinated in Tehran, Iran. Haniyeh, who carried out his work in exile in Qatar, had been in Iran to attend the swearing-in of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian the day before.
On July 31, Hamas said of Haniyeh’s killing, “The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas mourns to our great Palestinian people, to the Arab and Islamic nation, and to all the free people of the world: brother, leader, martyr, Mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, was killed in a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement: “Early this morning, the residence of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was struck, resulting in his and one of his bodyguards’ martyrdom. The cause is under investigation and will be announced soon.”
Senior Hamas Official Sami Abu Zuhri said: “This assassination by the Israeli occupation of Brother Haniyeh is a grave escalation that aims to break the will of Hamas and the will of our people and achieve fake goals. We confirm that this escalation will fail to achieve its objectives.
“Hamas is a concept and an institution and not persons. Hamas will continue on this path regardless of the sacrifices and we are confident of victory.”
A statement subsequently issued by Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said:
“This terrorist act is not only a flagrant violation of the principles and rules of international law and the United Nations Charter, but also a serious threat to regional and international peace and security.”
“The new aggressive and terrorist act of this regime in the assassination of Martyr Haniyeh is part of the Palestinian genocide plan, especially in the past 10 months, and aimed at increasing insecurity in the West Asia region.
“As a supporter and accomplice of the Zionist regime in the continuation of the occupation and genocide of Palestinians, the US government is responsible in committing this heinous act of terrorism.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the aggressive act of the Zionist regime in the assassination of the tireless Mujahid Sheikh Ismail Haniyeh and considers it its inherent right to respond appropriately to this aggressive act against its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“Haniyeh’s martyrdom in Tehran will strengthen the deep and unbreakable bond between Tehran, Palestine, and the resistance,” Kanaani also said.
In Tehran, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the prayers over the body of Ismail Haniyeh at Tehran University to start his funeral procession, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported.
After prayers at 8:30 am local time, the procession went to Azadi (Freedom) Square. Following the Iranian people’s expression of grief and rage, Haniyeh’s body will be flown to Doha, Qatar for his funeral on August 2.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins the entire Palestinian national movement in condemning the assassination, mourning the martyrdom and saluting the life of the leader, Ismail Haniyeh, Abu al-Abed, the chair of the Political Bureau of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, in Tehran, Iran.
Haniyeh was in Iran to attend the inauguration of newly elected Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian and also met with Imam Khamenei today, alongside Ziyad Nakhaleh of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, and was assassinated along with his bodyguard and companion, the martyr Wassim Abu Shaaban, in the residence where he was staying by a “treacherous Zionist raid,” as Hamas stated in the movement’s first statement on the assassination.
The assassination policy of the Zionist regime has attempted to erase the leadership of the Palestinian people for over 76 years now. The names of the martyrs of assassination are great, shining figures of history. Ismail Haniyeh. Saleh al-Arouri. Abu Ali Mustafa. Fathi Shiqaqi. Ghassan Kanafani. Kamal Nasser. Abdel-Aziz Rantisi. Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Abu Jihad. Mohammed al-Najjar. Basil al-Kubaisi. Tareq Izzedine. Samir Kuntar. Kamal Udwan. Imad Mughniyyeh. Sheikh Khader Adnan. Ibrahim al-Rai: A parade of martyrs on the road to the liberation of Palestine.
Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated as part of a comprehensive policy of the Zionist regime that aims to eliminate the leaders, spokespeople and revolutionary voices of the Palestinian liberation movement.
This aggression was also an act of war against Iran, and came on the same day as the attempted assassination of a leader of Hezbollah, the Lebanese resistance movement, through the Zionist bombing of the southern suburbs of Beirut, and on a day that the US bombed Iraq, targeting the Iraqi resistance, assassinating three members of the resistance forces. It is also clear that this is not a Zionist crime alone, but a crime bought and paid for by the United States and its imperialist partners.
These assassinations have not undermined the strength, solidarity, commitment and firmness of the alliance of resistance forces in the region. From Iran to Lebanon, Yemen to Iraq to Syria, and of course, to Palestine, where the people and the Resistance daily confront the genocidal Zionist regime, the people have the right and the determination to resist, to respond and to confront the assassins and genocidaires. Further, this crime does not demonstrate the “strength” of the Zionist entity but rather its desperation and decline. These assassinations and international aggressions come as the Zionist regime is rent with internal contradictions and riots as settlers and soldiers demand the right to rape imprisoned Palestinians, reflecting the death throes of a wounded colonial monster.
Ismail Haniyeh, 61, a husband, father and grandfather, was born a Palestinian refugee in al-Shati camp and struggled all his life for the liberation of the Palestinian people. From his days as a student, a football player, and a leader in the Islamic Bloc at the Islamic University of Gaza, he was dedicated to the Hamas movement and to Palestine. In 1989, amid the great popular Intifada and shortly after the founding of the movement, Haniyeh was abducted and imprisoned by the Zionist regime for three years, before he was among 415 Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders and members forcibly deported to Marj al-Zuhour in southern Lebanon on 17 December 1992, alongside Dr. Abdelaziz al-Rantisi, Sheikh Youssef Sarkji, Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri, Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahhar, and, among many others, Mustafa Abu Ora, the martyr of the prisoners’ movement just five days ago.
[A photo of Ismail Haniyeh with Mustafa Abu Ora?]
He headed the office of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Gaza and was elected the leader of Hamas in Gaza in 2004, following the assassination of Abdel-Aziz al-Rantisi. In 2017 Haniyeh was elected by the Hamas movement to lead its Political Bureau and was reelected to this position in 2021.
Haniyeh was the chief negotiator mandated by the Hamas movement and all of the organizations of the Palestinian Resistance, and this assassination aims to prevent him from seeing and directly welcoming the prisoners freed by the Resistance and once again underlines that the Zionist regime is only interested in continued genocide.
Over 60 of his family members have been martyred, killed by the Zionist regime in the past 10 months, including three of his children and five of his grandchildren. “The blood of my children is not more valuable than the blood of the people of Palestine and all the martyrs in Gaza are my children,” he said, cherishing all of the martyrs of Palestine.
“There is no difference between the martyrs, and they have all been chosen by the Most Merciful to pave our way to victory and freedom,” he said. “The blood of the martyrs demands that we do not compromise, do not relent, do not change or alter, do not weaken, and do not despair, but continue our path with determination.”
The martyr Tareq Izzedine, of the Islamic Jihad movement, gave his last statement before his assassination on the martyrdom of Sheikh Khader Adnan, himself assassinated through deliberate refusal of medical care in the Zionist prisons. His words remain resonant today (video by Resistance News Network): “Whenever a leader ascends, ten will emerge to replace them. When a martyr ascends, 100 martyrs will emerge to replace them. The march continues, and it does not stop until the defeat of the occupation.”
Just today, Ismail Haniyeh said, in his meeting with Imam Khamenei, “Yesterday marked the 300th day of the Gaza War, and we have now reached a critical and historic stage in which the Palestinian people and the Resistance Forces must sustain their heroism and victory.”
His last major statement was for the prisoners, and for popular mobilization, urging people everywhere to participate in the August 3 call to action for Gaza and the Prisoners. “Freedom is near for our dignified prisoners and honorable female prisoners, and victory is coming for our people and our valiant resistance.”
“We call for active and massive participation on this national and global day in defense of our prisoners and our people in the Gaza Strip, to expose the brutal crimes of the occupation against them, and to support their rights and just cause….We look forward to making the 3 of August a pivotal day in all parts of Palestine, in the refugee camps and the diaspora, in our Arab and Islamic world, & among all the free people of the world, to support our people in Gaza and our free prisoners in the occupation’s prisons.”
We must all mobilize, on August 3 and beyond. We must all act. We must all continue the struggle, to confront Zionism and imperialism everywhere and to hold them accountable for their crimes.
From Beirut to Tehran to Gaza to Haifa, to all of our communities, this is the time for action and confrontation. They have never killed the resistance and will not succeed in doing so today.
Ismail Haniyeh and all of the martyrs live on, and their legacy of commitment, sacrifice and love for the people is an inspiration to generations to come. The defeat of Zionism is forthcoming, as is the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. Every one of the honourable martyrs have sacrificed everything in order to make that vision a material reality that is closer every day.
Glory to the martyr Ismail Haniyeh and all the martyrs of Palestine and the Resistance. Return, liberation and victory to Palestine, all of Palestine, from the river to the sea.
More to come.
Catawba Rhododendrons were blooming purple along Morgan Creek behind the NC Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill about three weeks ago (not around June?). An American columbo began blooming around May 2nd, was nearing full bloom May 7th, and will bloom for about a week, blooming only once in a decades long life: ncbg.unc.edu/2024/04/17/american-columbo-to-bloom/ Some trillium leaves were still up in late April and yellow stargrass (in the Amaryllis family, or is it in its own family now?), blue-eyed grass (in the iris family), hot pink and yellow Oxalises, faded bluets, green-and-gold, star chickweed, hawkweed, maple-leaved viburnum, pawpaws, tuliptrees, American fringetrees, black locusts, the last of the dogwoods, gill-over-the-ground/ground ivy (?), blackberries, buttercups, a pale yellow species of cinquefoil, blue lyre-leaved sage, maybe a spiderwort, etc. were blooming there. A yellow 'indigo'-type plant was about to bloom? Chinese fringetrees (?) and the last few downy arrowwoods (Viburnums) were blooming at Durham's Southwest Regional Library.
spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2024/05/northern-lights-seen-in-pittsburgh.html (and even in Puerto Rico this May)
Google searches will begin incorporating AI this week, and the only option is accepting it or boycotting, in favor of DuckDuckGo, etc.?
Unlike Trump and many other Republicans, even the Taliban apparently believes that human-induced climate change is happening, regarding recent floods.
The US demands, or commands, that the president of the Republic of Georgia, near Ukraine and Iran, veto the new foreign agents law. Is the Biden administration fomenting a "Euro Maidan" II, a "Euro-Atlantic" color coup to put a US government proxy in control? The EU seems to be an organization ranking below NATO now. How many proxy wars can the "West" run at one time? For example: diario-octubre.com/2024/05/15/georgia-los-imperialistas-tiran-la-piedra-y-esconden-la-mano/
www.normalisland.co.uk/p/un-worker-dies-from-unknown-causes
Jewish Israeli high school teacher Meir Baruchin of Petah Tivkah was arrested, held in isolation at the "Russian Compound" for four days (the only Jewish prisoner), mistreated, and fired, over two posts to Facebook regarding the war: portside.org/2024-02-11/how-israel-turned-teacher-traitor
48,000 graduate student workers represented by UAW are voting on a University of California systemwide strike over the violent repression of campus anti-war protest: www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/05/14/pers-m14.html
US reiterates "ironclad" support for Israel... – www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/05/14/ljdt-m14.html All on May 13th? – the first killing of "a foreign UN staffer in Gaza" during the current attack; a group of youths with adults present were free (no police stopped them; stonethrowing is apparently only a big deal when Palestinians or people south of the border do it) to attack an UNRWA facility in East Jerusalem, not for the first time, and there were two fires along the periphery at the same time (one near a fuel tank), which the staff extinguished; a video came out of Israelis destroying food aid near Rafah without the police on the scene interfering; Netanyahu said the war will continue; there were attacks on Rafah, Jabalia, Zeitoun, etc.; over 35,000 have been killed in Gaza; and Jake Sullivan said that the alleged US Rafah redline has not been crossed. Billions more in weapons are to go to Israel?
Australian PM incites attacks on pro-Gaza student encampments: www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/05/14/otdl-m14.html
www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/14/the-battle-of-ucla-inside-the-class-struggle/
Noted by DRAD: There is a "faculty-led" encampment at New York City's New School: www.democracynow.org/2024/5/10/new_school_faculty
In Amsterdam, Netherlands, but not only: mronline.org/2024/05/14/forget-securitisation-of-the-academy-we-are-now-fully-militarized/
truthout.org/articles/university-leaders-are-in-the-wrong-students-and-faculty-wont-back-down/
consortiumnews.com/2024/05/08/listen-to-the-students/
www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/13/what-are-greek-students-waiting-for/
Army Major Harrison Mann, working at the Pentagon, resigned over the war and Hala Rharrit at the State Department resigned in April, among others: truthout.org/articles/army-major-and-pentagon-officer-resigns-over-us-support-of-gaza-genocide/
consortiumnews.com/2024/05/13/the-secret-history-of-israels-role-in-genocide-in-colombia/
diario-octubre.com/2024/05/14/firmeza-de-los-palestinos-obligo-al-mundo-a-hablar-de-estado-libre/
diario-octubre.com/2024/05/12/planean-estados-unidos-y-la-otan-neutralizar-a-kaliningrado/
www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/14/a-clubbable-admission-palestines-case-for-un-membership/
www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/15/anything-goes-the-new-normal/
portside.org/2024-05-14/us-plan-outsource-its-imperialism-haiti-kenya
An Australian who revealed war crimes committed in Afghanistan will be punished: consortiumnews.com/2024/05/13/whistleblower-mcbride-sentenced-to-5-yrs-8-mos/
consortiumnews.com/2024/05/13/us-china-rivalry-riles-tiny-solomon-islands/
consortiumnews.com/2024/05/15/patrick-lawrence-dien-bien-phu-at-70/
www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/15/us-labor-must-weigh-in-on-cuba/
diario-octubre.com/2024/05/15/la-dictadura-mundial-de-un-sistema-denunciada-por-jose-marti-i/
www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/15/big-brown-in-the-philippines-ups-joins-the-pivot-to-asia/
? – peacediplomacy.org/2024/05/09/the-folly-of-a-new-containment/
? – responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/03/09/ukraine-war-unleashed-similar-west-russia-divide-in-georgia/
? – responsiblestatecraft.org/georgia-protests/
portside.org/2024-05-13/when-bad-cops-become-private-security-guards
portside.org/2024-05-12/supreme-court-rules-cops-can-steal-your-stuff-they-always-have
Video from the This Art Belongs to the Artists symposium at UNC: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTl8c2qXlZQ&ab_channel=UNCSchoolofLaw
www.audible.com/pd/Letters-from-Guantanamo-Audiobook/B0D33W5PLG
June is Torture Awareness Month?
May 16th National VIRTUAL Day of Action to End Solitary: www.nrcat.org
"A View from the Ground: The Impact of Solitary Confinement in ICE Detention" May 16th at 12pm: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcld-6srz0tGdIu0JV3-lIAMLwWSSgAMI1p#/registration
Contact your members of Congress to support the End Solitary Confinement Act: nrcat.salsalabs.org/esca-cosponsorship/index.html
Migratory Bird Day is May 15th?
May 15th there will be a Ride of Silence from CCB Plaza in Durham May 15th (annually on the third Wednesday in May), organized by Bike Durham; gathering at 5:30, an address by Durham City Council member Javiera Caballero at 5:45, and the bike ride will begin around 6pm, travelling 4.2 miles, memorializing the 42 cyclists killed in North Carolina last year: actionnetwork.org/events/ros-2024
National Bike to Work Day is May 17th
May is Bike Month in Carrboro: Take delight in every ride!
CARRBORO, NC -- Mayor Barbara Foushee has declared May to be Bike Month in Carrboro, encouraging residents to add biking to their transportation routines; to become advocates for biking, bicycle infrastructure, and bicycle-friendly laws and policies; and to take delight in every ride.
Biking is an easy way for people to reduce their carbon footprint and advance the Town’s climate action goals by avoiding the use of single-occupancy vehicles and reducing reliance on non-renewable resources for transportation.
National Bike Month is also an opportunity to experience the joys and health benefits of biking, to get outside during the spring season, and to see and experience the community at a different scale and pace.
Did you know? Carrboro became the first community in North Carolina to be designated a Silver Level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists.
Read the Mayor's Bike Month Proclamation at https://www.carrboronc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/14573/Bike-Month-2024 ;
Check out all the events planned for Bike Month, including:
May 18th 3pm ET – there will be a Hands off Uhuru Coalition webinar: "COINTELPRO Exposed! Defeating the FBI's war on African and Indigenous Liberation" – us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3iJFThAMT2uRbHuOqFlwlA#/registration Including Ward Churchill, Uhuru Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Mike Kuzma, Jenipher Jones, and a representative from Union del Barrio.
Chairman Omali Yeshitela will be speaking live on YouTube May 15th at 3pm ET – "Address to the African Nation: A Dying Colonialism Lashes Out, at Home and Abroad" and there is a video on YouTube of his appearance on Tucker Carlson Uncensored.
There will be a memorial to Missouri peace and anti-war activist Warren J "Andrew" Wimmer, Jr (May 3, 1955-January 22, 2024 – www.schrader.com/obituary/warren-j-andrew-wimmer-jr ) in Saint Louis Sunday, May 19th. He had a major role in the campaign against the CIA "torture taxi" based at the Johnston County Airport, not far east of here in North Carolina: ncstn.org/content/ and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_Contractors_(United_States) Apparently Johnston County was founded June 28, 1746 and Smithfield, a large town near the airport, was founded May 9, 1777.
May 28th 7pm ET – Tempest Collective Virtual Forum "Campus Encampments and Beyond: Lessons from the Frontlines of Palestine Solidarity" –us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMuduChqDgvEtcTFUNWHEs6D5x1RbTf1z_U#/registration
June 5th 7:30 ET "Conflict with China: Marching to Disaster" Green Party (GPAX) Webinar – us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rgvPQ98sSumJ7qTuu1aLYA#/registration and gateway-greens.org
The Great Lakewood Make-Off will be June 8th afternoon and evening at the Scrap Exchange in Durham: www.scrapexchange.org/make-off The Scrap Exchange is having a Customer Appreciation Week May 14-19th. Exhibit April 27th-June 1st: The Fabulously Furry History of Durham's Beaver Queen Pageant Beaver Tails 20 Dam Years of Peace, Love, and Beaver for Ellerbe Creek Watershed The Scrap Exchange is at 2050 Chapel Hill in Durham (in the Lakewood Shopping Center area?): www.scrapexchange.org
The Indigenous-organized, public, hybrid format Yesah Tribunal: The Mountain Valley Pipeline and the Rights of Rivers will be June 1st at Haw River State Park in Browns Summit, Guilford County, NC: 7directionsofservice.com/rights-of-nature
Rights of Nature Weekend: May 30-June 2
5/9 – 7directionsofservice.com/blog/f/the-rights-of-the-dan-river-ecosystem-act-introduced-in-ncga
7 Directions of Service: The Rights of the Dan River Ecosystem Act introduced in NCGA
On Tues April 30th, Rep. Pricey Harrison introduced HB923, The Rights of the Dan River Ecosystem Act, in the North Carolina General Assembly’s House of Representatives to grant legal rights to the Dan River. HB923 would be one of the first state-level Rights of Nature laws in the U.S., and would elevate the status of the Dan River from “property” to a rights-bearing entity, like a person. Representatives Marcia Cervania and John Autry are primary sponsors of the bill. Other sponsors include Rep. Cynthia Ball, Rep. Kanika Brown, Rep. Allen Buansi, Rep. Deb Butler, Rep. Zack Hawkins, Rep. Maria Morey and Rep. James Robertson.
Rights of Nature is a rapidly spreading legal framework, rooted in Indigenous values, that has been adopted in 12 countries and counting, including over three dozen cities, towns, counties and tribal nations in the U.S. HB932 recognizes the Dan River Ecosystem and surrounding communities as having the legally enforceable rights to exist, regenerate, flourish and be free from pollution.
“Since time immemorial, our Indigenous communities have treated the natural world as kin. For us, animals and rivers are our relatives. We strive to treat them accordingly. When we steward and protect the waterways we depend on, like the Dan, the health of our communities improves. HB923 applies such life-honoring values to North Carolina state law, and lays a path forward for vulnerable ecosystems across the state,” said Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, co-founder of 7 Directions of Service, Citizen of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation.
Destructive development and catastrophes such as the 2014 Duke coal ash spill have led to the Dan River’s dire health, which is threatened to be compromised further by proposed methane fracked gas infrastructure expansions in Rockingham and Caswell Counties, including Duke and Dominion’s T-15 Reliability Project, Williams Transco’s Southeast Supply Enhancement Project and the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate Extension.
“Granting rights to the Dan River (and others) would help to provide more holistic protections for the river, rather than making decisions about the environmental impacts of various permitting and development requests in a piecemeal fashion, with no long-term plan. While I know that there is very little chance it will move forward in this current legislative session, I believe it’s important to continue to educate the public about this issue, with the hopes that public sentiment will shift and action can be taken in future legislative sessions”, said Representative Pricey Harrison.
Indigenous advocates at 7 Directions of Service who are leading the campaign have put forth a long-term vision that starts with education, bipartisan outreach and relationship-building across differences in order to advance state and municipal Rights of Nature laws and policies from the bottom up in NC.
On June 1, 2024, 7 Directions of Service will host a historic Indigenous-led Rights of Nature Tribunal at the Haw River State Park. Members of the public are welcome to attend or stream online, and can register at 7directionsofservice.com/rights-of-nature.
Please contact them today, and say thank you:
Introduced by:
REPRESENTATIVE PRICEY HARRISON (DEM) [note]
919-733-5771
Pricey.Harrison@ncleg.gov
Primary sponsors:
REPRESENTATIVE MARIA CERVANIA (DEM)
919-733-5602
Maria.Cervania@ncleg.gov
REPRESENTATIVE JOHN AUTRY (DEM)
919-715-0706
John.Autry@ncleg.gov
Other sponsors:
REPRESENTATIVE CYNTHIA BALL (DEM)
919-733-5860
Cynthia.Ball@ncleg.gov
REPRESENTATIVE KANIKA BROWN (DEM)
919-733-5777
Kanika.Brown@ncleg.gov
REPRESENTATIVE ALLEN BUANSI (DEM)
919-733-7208
Allen.Buansi@ncleg.gov
REPRESENTATIVE DEB BUTLER (DEM)
919-733-5754
Deb.Butler@ncleg.gov
REPRESENTATIVE ZACK HAWKINS (DEM)
919-715-2528
Zack.Hawkins@ncleg.gov
REPRESENTATIVE MARCIA MOREY (DEM)
919-733-7663
Marcia.Morey@ncleg.gov [note]
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES ROBERSON (DEM)
919-733-5974
James.Roberson@ncleg.gov
From Keep Durham Beautiful:
International Compost Awareness Week was May -10th