BAP on the Los Angeles fires and the killing of four Afro-Ecuadorian children (the Guayaquil Four)

 1.  Originally posted January 9th at:  blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/2025/1/9/los-angeles-fires-santa-ana-blowback 

Los Angeles Fires: The Santa Ana Blowback of Capitalist Climate Change Neglect 

The incendiary cataclysms in Los Angeles, California remind us that the root cause of the climate crisis exacerbating the fires spreading throughout that city and surrounding areas is fossil fuel production emblematic of runaway capitalism fueled by white “supremacy” ideology, patriarchy, and colonization. And while it’s easy to focus solely on the fires, it’s important to note that the associated smoke will be the main culprit in the loss of life due to environmental racism that has assaulted the public health of Black, Brown, Indigenous and all poor and working class people in Los Angeles and throughout the country. As revealed during the height of the Covid pandemic, Black and Indigenous peoples suffered a higher morbidity rate due to decades of exposure to poisoned air and the intentional siting of pollutive industries and operations in our communities from Los Angeles, to the Bronx, and Cancer Alley in Louisiana. These communities remain at high risk because what’s happening in Los Angeles, won’t stay in Los Angeles - the smoke generated from these fires will traverse our communities as it travels eastward, and exacerbates existing public health emergencies that are consistently overlooked and ignored by lawmakers representing both the corporate Democrat and Republican political parties and their wealthy acolytes. 

To this end, while we sympathize with those who have lost their homes in affluent communities like the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and the Hollywood Hills, we empathize with communities that will suffer long term public health impacts, including, but not limited to, respiratory and other illnesses due to years of being treated as energy and economic sacrifice zones. This pattern was most recently exemplified by the environmental travesty of New York City’s congestion pricing program, which will divert high volumes of traffic to poor, Black and Brown communities in the Bronx and Staten Island, thereby sacrificing them to accommodate affluent communities in Manhattan.  

Will President Biden, the incoming Trump administration,  and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), an agency whose racism, classism and contempt for the poor is well documented, consider environmental justice communities across the country being choked out by smoke they had no hand in creating while billions of dollars are doled out to primarily accommodate wealthy people? It should be noted that many of these wealthy people  benefit from and advocate for the capitalist system that fuels and maintains these crises.  These are the kinds of questions BAP must perpetually ask as a principled and radical Black formation; and that we must ask as a people who understand confronting and dismantling the climate crisis requires confronting and dismantling racialized and classist capitalism - hence why we refer to climate change as the racial/class capitalocene. 

Finally, it is not lost upon BAP that, very recently, many of the people enlisted to fight California wildfires were incarcerated people, some of whose prison sentences were extended by soon to be former Vice President, Kamala Harris when she served as Attorney General of California. This was an effort to generate cheap labor from lives she and far too many others deem expendable and disposable. There is an axiomatic nexus between how these inmates/political prisoners are treated and how Black, Brown, Indigenous and poor communities are treated in the context of the climate crisis. This nexus extends to the treatment of Palestinian people who continue to be dehumanized and exterminated while also being displaced from their homelands due to an inferno of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and militarism. Such is the pathology of settler colonialism, which too many still refuse to connect with environmental degradation and the climate crisis in the United States.

We must and will continue making these requisite connections and intersections as we develop a multi racial/multi ethnic poor and working class response to this latest episode of the racial/class capitalocene’s atlas of destruction. 

No Compromise! 

No Retreat!

Banner photo: Homes on fire and palm trees blowing in wind during LA fire, courtesy bbc.com/weather.

2.  See:  blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/latin-america-violence-on-black-youth

The Unrelenting Violence Against Black Youth in Latin America: a Focus on Ecuador

By Janvieve Williams Comrie,  January 8, 2025

3.  Originally posted December 30th at:  blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/ecuador-children-disappear

The Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Ecuadorian Authorities for the Disappearance of Four Black Children Between the Ages of 11 and 15

This Case Highlights the Complete Absence of Human Rights for Afro Ecuadorians

For Immediate Release

Media Contact

press[at blackallianceforpeace com]

(202) 643-1136

December 30, 2024 - The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP)  is concerned and outraged that four Afro-Ecuadorian children, between the ages of 11 and 15, can go missing for almost two weeks after coming into contact with members of the armed forces without any concerns or official statements provided  by government officials. The children (the “Guayaquil Four”) are from the Las Malvinas neighborhood, a largely Black and impoverished community, in Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil.

BAP supports the demands of AfroEcuadorian and human rights organizations for the safe return of these boys and a transparent investigation. Ivana Delgado Aguilar, spokesperson for Movimiento Afrodescendiente Nacional Ecuatoriano / National AfroDescendent Ecuadorian Movement (MANE), says this incident of the Guayaquil Four, demonstrates an institutionalized criminal structure. “There are many missing persons and this must come to light. This (case) shows that those who fight against organized crime, drug trafficking, drug addiction and institutionalized violence have always been society, neighborhoods and families, not the State, which is only a social instrument but is now organized against its people,” stated Aguilar.  

BAP is concerned that the fundamental human rights of Afro-Ecuadorians are being consistently and systematically violated, as the Ecuadoran state engages in its  “war on drugs” campaign, declaring “internal armed conflict” as it battles criminal gangs in the country. Moreover, the Ecuadorian government has been all too willing to fight its war on drugs in Afro-Ecuadorian territories and communities, imposing horrific state repression and violence, as it surrenders its sovereignty to US military (and geopolitical) interests.

Under the guise of the “War on Drugs” and one of SOUTHCOM’s stated commander’s priorities of combating transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), President Noboa unleashed  Plan Fenix to counter armed violence in the country. This has meant the militarization of society and strengthening the repressive apparatus of the state in a way that aligns with US foreign policy objectives. With the recent concession of the Galapagos Island to the US military by the Noboa government, Ecuadorian sovereignty is being sold along with Afro-Ecuadorian human rights. 

Despite the Noboa government having forcefully come out against this apparent kidnapping recently, initially he gave cover to the military until criticisms emerged from Black organizations and other members of civil society on this case and other cases of violence by the police and military authorities. 

In fact, according to Ajamu Baraka, director of BAP’s new North-South Project for People(s)-Centered Human rights: 

“This case is indicative of a long history of abuse suffered by the people of Ecuador but particularly by Afro-Ecuadorians. The Ecuadorian state has rarely recognized let alone protected the fundamental human rights of Afro-Ecuadorians. But this case represents a line in the sand for the Black peoples of that nation. BAP’s North-South People(s)-Centered Human Rights project is working with a process in the country that recognizes that the only way that Afro-Ecuadorian human rights will be protected is when the people are organized and able to protect their rights -themselves.”

The case of the Guayaquil Four provides a clear example for the necessity of expelling the forces of the US/EU/NATO Axis of Domination and the need for demilitarization, not just in Ecuador but in the region as a whole. The failed Monroe Doctrine has been used for the past 2 centuries to keep “the Americas for the Americans” to violently maintain western hegemony. For BAP, only organized communities can guarantee communal and self defense and only a collectively constructed Zone of Peace, not just in Ecuador, but Nuestra América can successfully expel the nefarious forces that deny and violate human rights and militarize society at the behest of its US/Western leaders.

———- Español ———-

La Alianza Negra por la Paz condena a las autoridades ecuatorianas por la desaparición de cuatro niños negros de entre 11 y 15 años.

Este caso pone de manifiesto la completa ausencia de derechos humanos para los afroecuatorianos

Para Publicación Inmediata
Contacto de Prensa

press[at blackallianceforpeace com]

(202) 643-1136

30 de diciembre de 2024 - La Alianza Negra por la Paz (BAP) expresa su preocupación e indignación por la desaparición de cuatro niños afroecuatorianos, de entre 11 y 15 años, que llevan casi dos semanas desaparecidos tras haber tenido contacto con miembros de las fuerzas armadas, sin que las autoridades gubernamentales hayan emitido declaraciones oficiales o mostrado preocupación alguna. Los niños (conocidos como los “Cuatro de Guayaquil”) son del barrio Las Malvinas, una comunidad mayoritariamente negra y empobrecida en Guayaquil, la ciudad más grande de Ecuador.

BAP respalda las demandas de las organizaciones afroecuatorianas y de derechos humanos por el regreso seguro de estos niños y una investigación transparente. Ivana Delgado Aguilar, portavoz del Movimiento Afrodescendiente Nacional Ecuatoriano (MANE), afirma que este incidente de los Cuatro de Guayaquil demuestra una estructura criminal institucionalizada. “Son muchos los desaparecidos que tienen que salir a la luz. Esto demuestra que quienes luchan contra la criminalidad organizada, el narcotráfico, la drogadicción y la violencia institucionalizada siempre ha sido la sociedad, los barrios, las familias, no el estado que únicamente es un instrumento social pero que hoy se encuentra organizado contra su pueblo,” declaró Aguilar.

BAP expresa su preocupación porque los derechos humanos fundamentales de los afroecuatorianos están siendo violados de manera consistente y sistemática, mientras el estado ecuatoriano lleva a cabo su campaña de "guerra contra las drogas", declarando un "conflicto armado interno" en su lucha contra las bandas criminales en el país. Además, el gobierno ecuatoriano ha demostrado estar demasiado dispuesto a librar su guerra contra las drogas en territorios y comunidades afroecuatorianas, imponiendo una horrenda represión y violencia estatal, al tiempo que entrega su soberanía a los intereses militares (y geopolíticos) de Estados Unidos.

Bajo el pretexto de la “Guerra contra las Drogas” y una de las prioridades declaradas por el comandante del Comando Sur de combatir las organizaciones criminales transnacionales (TCOs), el presidente Noboa lanzó el Plan Fénix para contrarrestar la violencia armada en el país. Esto ha significado la militarización de la sociedad y el fortalecimiento del aparato represivo del estado, de una manera alineada con los objetivos de la política exterior de Estados Unidos. Con la reciente concesión de las Islas Galápagos al ejército estadounidense por parte del gobierno de Noboa, la soberanía ecuatoriana está siendo vendida junto con los derechos humanos de los afroecuatorianos.

A pesar de que el gobierno de Noboa se pronunció enérgicamente contra este aparente secuestro recientemente, inicialmente brindó respaldo a los militares hasta que surgieron críticas de organizaciones negras y otros sectores de la sociedad civil sobre este caso y otros casos de violencia por parte de las autoridades policiales y militares.

De hecho, según Ajamu Baraka, director del nuevo Proyecto Norte-Sur para los Derechos Humanos Centrados en los Pueblos de BAP:

"Este caso es indicativo de una larga historia de abusos sufridos por el pueblo de Ecuador, pero especialmente por los afroecuatorianos. El estado ecuatoriano rara vez ha reconocido, y mucho menos protegido, los derechos humanos fundamentales de los afroecuatorianos. Sin embargo, este caso representa una línea divisoria para los pueblos negros de esa nación. El Proyecto Norte-Sur para los Derechos Humanos Centrados en los Pueblos de BAP está trabajando con un proceso en el país que reconoce que la única manera en que los derechos humanos de los afroecuatorianos serán protegidos es cuando el pueblo esté organizado y sea capaz de proteger sus derechos por sí mismo."

El caso de los Cuatro de Guayaquil ofrece un claro ejemplo de la necesidad de expulsar las fuerzas del eje de dominación EE.UU./UE/OTAN y de avanzar hacia la desmilitarización, no solo en Ecuador, sino en toda la región. La fracasada Doctrina Monroe ha sido utilizada durante los últimos dos siglos para mantener “las Américas para los americanos” y así preservar violentamente la hegemonía occidental. Para BAP, solo las comunidades organizadas pueden garantizar la defensa comunitaria y propia, y solo una Zona de Paz construida colectivamente, no solo en Ecuador, sino en Nuestra América, puede expulsar con éxito las fuerzas nefastas que niegan y violan los derechos humanos y militarizan la sociedad al servicio de los líderes estadounidenses y occidentales.

###

Banner photo: Holding up flier about Disappear Ecuador Children (courtesy abcnews.go.com)

4.  See:  blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/trump-panama-canal-threats

www.afroresistance.org/post/analysis-the-importance-of-race-class-and-territorial-sovereignty-in-panama-amid-trump-s-canal-th

Analysis: The Importance of Race, Class, and Territorial Sovereignty in Panama Amid Trump’s Canal Threats  

by Chevy Solís Acevedo and Janvieve Williams Comrie, December 26th

PCMLE: May 1 Manifesto – United, let us continue the struggle against the enemies of the workers and the people

En Marcha #2091 from April 24 to May 7, 2024 [ pcmle.org/EM/spip.php?article13101 , occasionally articles are posted in English; The PCMLE website has been re-done?  Slightly edited.] 

Central Organ of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador

MAY 1 MANIFESTO

United, let us continue the struggle against the enemies of the workers and the people

[photo]

Workers

The streets and plazas will once again be covered with the voices of indignation and the demands of millions of workers around the world on May 1st. There are sufficient reasons for this: we live in a society in which those who work for exhausting daily hours live badly, while the owners of capital increase their wealth by the minute. Workers all over the world stand up and exclaim that the struggle for social emancipation is present and growing!

In our country, the commemoration of this exemplary day takes place in very particular circumstances. Due to the very nature of the prevailing capitalist system and the action (or inaction) of the different governments in power, Ecuador is immersed in a serious crisis of bourgeois institutions: corruption and organized crime; the drug trafficking mafias have penetrated all state institutions; they are in the Executive, the Legislature, the Justice System; they are present in the leadership of the Police and the Army, in the political parties of the right. The activity of these groups has been promoted and covered up at the highest levels, and legal frameworks have been created to prevent their punishment and guarantee them impunity.

But that is not all. Day by day, unemployment, underemployment, poverty, forced migration, school dropouts and many other serious social problems are increasing. Daniel Noboa's government has not been able to solve these problems, simply because it is not interested in doing so. He is in Carondelet [translator:  the president’s residence] to benefit his class: the big business people, the owners of capital. Didn't he forgive them about two billion dollars of debts they owed to the state, of which 80 million dollars went to the companies of his father, Álvaro Noboa? For the rich, forgiveness of their debts and tax exemptions; for the poor, an increase in the VAT, an increase in the price of gas, a reduction in the budget for health and education, minimal investment in public works!

Noboa is a president who lies and does not fulfill his campaign promises. The people have identified him as such, which is why in the referendum of April 21 he had a hard defeat where it hurts the most: on the questions that sought greater levels of exploitation of the workers and protection of international capital.

The political maneuver of the bourgeoisie and its government was to mark questions D and E in their favor in the midst of a discourse that put at the center – almost as the only element – the issue of the fight against insecurity and criminal violence. However, the people have an important capacity for discernment and did not fall into the trap; they understood that the struggle for security is one thing and it is quite another thing to allow anti-popular policies and attacks on the sovereignty of the country to be applied.

Noboa and the big business owners were defeated in the referendum, and he was defeated by the trade unions, students, teachers, merchants, youth and women's organizations, the left-wing parties and movements, and all those who voted and called for a NO vote on questions D and E.

New fights are coming, this time in the streets. The government has in its plans the increase in the price of fuel, the privatization of state companies, the increase in electricity rates, among other anti-popular measures; it is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund in exchange for receiving new loans that will be used to pay outstanding debts to international creditors, not to meet the needs of the people. The government's interest is also to economically strangle the IESS [Ecuadorian Social Security Institute], it wants to bankrupt it in order to privatize the social security system. We must prevent this.

The new struggles demand the strengthening of the unity of the workers, of all popular sectors, the left-wing political organizations that have demonstrated political consistency with the interests of the people; unity of action in a political-social front that, while raising popular demands, proposes and fights for an economic-political program that takes the country out of the crisis, without affecting the interests of the people; that has as its banner that the crisis be paid for by the rich, who are responsible for it.

Workers

The world is going through difficult times. The interests of the big international monopolies, the inter-imperialist struggles are the cause of the armed conflicts that threaten to become widespread in Europe and the Middle East. Israeli Zionism is responsible for the genocide against the Palestinian people, and has the support of imperialist powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and reactionary governments such as Javier Milei of Argentina or Daniel Noboa of Ecuador; We condemn this genocide, as well as all those who support it; We also reject the imperialist war that has Ukraine as their field of operations. The peoples of the world want peace; The imperialist powers promote war because it is also a source of conquest and accumulation of wealth for the monopolies!

Our Party salutes the struggle of the working class, of the workers of the city and countryside, the youth and women of the popular sectors who are confronting the anti-popular policies of their governments, all those who rise up against the exploitation and domination of capital and fight for revolutionary transformations. That is the meaning of the commemoration of May 1, the day of struggle of the proletariat and peoples of the world.

The PCMLE, a member of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations, raises its banners together with these struggles; it is the millions of exploited and oppressed, with their unity and struggle, who will sink capitalism-imperialism and build the society of the future, socialism-communism.

Long live the International Day of the Working Class!

Long live the struggle of the workers and peoples of Ecuador for their emancipation!

Long live the international solidarity of the peoples!

With Marxism-Leninism, for revolution and socialism

Central Committee of the PCMLE

Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador

Proletarskaya Gazeta: The intrigues of US imperialism against the European economy in connection with the conflict in Ukraine and the retaliatory measures of German capital + news 2

I'm not sure where this article was originally posted; a search for Proletarskaya Gazeta turned up the following, possibly old, website and there are a few articles on the Revolutionary Democracy and ML Translations websites:  red-kommuna.narod.ru/pgazeta/ru/index.htm  ?  This newspaper was founded around February 5, 1999.  Among other things in the article there is alleged evidence that the US elite desired the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022 before it happened, to create a situation in which the US could separate the EU, especially Germany, from Russia's natural resources, to benefit the weak US economy and curb the influence of the major powers in the EU.  

Also, January 19th regarding Palestine, etc. – Israel was just accused of destroying cemeteries in northern Gaza (videos on social media show "extensive damage," "broken" gravestones, "open graves," "bulldozer tracks") and the excuse seems to be that they are looking for the bodies of captives, and will return any Palestinian bodies they remove; Israeli soldiers cheered the demolition of a UN school in Gaza (the BBC played a recording and NPR has not, so far), one of the many educational institutions destroyed, intentionally or not, though an Israeli official said that Hamas is the only party destroying Gaza; January 19th in the morning NPR played a recording of Biden outright saying that he is a "Zionist," though many Americans apparently don't know what that means, and Biden went to Israel as a supporter during an Intifada; NPR also interviewed Dennis Ross (?), but I forget the noteworthy comment, maybe regarding Yemen or Iran, or maybe it was that Trump tried to impose a 'Muslim  ban,'  etc., so supporters of Palestine have no choice but to vote for Biden; the captives in Gaza are to get medicine (I would check it for tracking devices) in return for Gazans getting medicines for cancer, etc. – implying that Israel is withholding medicine from civilians as a war tactic; hospitals – including Jordanian field hospitals – are being fired upon; a few days ago NPR said that the US Navy sank a probably wooden sailing vessel off Yemen that was allegedly transporting weapons to Yemen for Iran, but they didn't say anything about what the Navy did with the ship's large crew (14?); the Israeli military allegedly killed civilians standing in slippers by a roadside fire in the West Bank and telecom employees in a van in Gaza; telecommunications have been off for days in Gaza – 'lucky' artillery fire?; and Israel basically bans anti-war protests and the police beat protesters, though a march was held, after the organizers went to court; at the march an Israeli woman haltingly said that "from the River to the Sea, we should all be free" and a bystander woman claimed be too enraged to be interviewed; just now someone from the "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace" claimed that Iran wants to "replace Israel with Palestine [without prosperity or security for the Palestinians, he added]," destroy that 'rules-based international order,' and maybe the other thing was push the US out of the region; and is NPR claiming that Netanyahu's far right cabinet is forcing him to go against Biden?  They also had someone from the US Peace whatever, which doesn't sound very peace-promoting either when brought up.

Regarding the Republican presidential primary, why is the media suddenly focusing so much on Nikki Haley?  Is she representing George W Bush Republicans?  I haven't been following her campaign closely and I forget the offensive positions she voiced as our UN ambassador.  Trump is a warmonger (along with Biden and other leading Democrats) and carried out acts of war against Syria and Iran (in Iraq) and raised tensions with Russia and China, but recently his campaign emails have even condemned "warmongers and globalists" (January 16th ) and I think there was something about preserving Medicare, along with his usual rhetoric against leftists and Marxists.  Trump is probably even more 'pro-Israel' than Biden, but Israel still gets what it wants from the Democrats – though Congressional Republicans might have delayed military aid for their own reasons – and Biden isn't very far from the George W Bush wing of Republicans.  He helped them invade Iraq and despite anti-war protests he was rewarded with continued time in Congress and then promotion to vice president and president.  Ross might have said that US elections aren't determined by foreign policy.  Reward the Biden administration for what it is doing in the Middle East, Europe (very little about Ukraine recently, but maybe Taiwan is going to start making demands – I heard a young Taiwanese comedian on a BBC panel, maybe The Real Story...  An interview with a Zelensky aide is coming up next week and just now something about the civil war in Myanmar), "the Indo-Pacific," in the "Cyber" theatre of militarism, etc., because "fascist" Trump, or DeSantis, is worse?  And because Haley didn't aver that the Civil War was about slavery and that the US is racist, and not because of what she did at the UN and wants to do if elected?  In 2023 Arab-American and other protesters said that they wouldn't ever vote for Biden again, but the media has months to further hammer the public about the "insurrection," Trump corruption, "our democracy," gerrymandering and other anti-democratic activities (but only if Republicans do them), "slow civil war," etc. and how great the Inflation Reduction Act is for the climate and economy, how pro-"middle class," and 'pro-union' Biden is, etc.  Trump is supposed to represent an unprecedented threat to the majority of Americans and the world (worse than the Bush-Cheney administration?), and the solution offered by the Left, even apart from the Democrats, seems to be to give Biden a second term and then carry on with business as usual, such as demonstrations that the media generally ignores, even very large and widespread demonstrations, with the result that the general public doesn't know about them unless they are nearby or are in the 'far left' themselves (I just saw a Democratic Party rightist formulation from the "Liberal Patriot" – "isolationist" Republicans and the "indecent left").  The media also covers up the history of US anti-war activity.  Even in very "blue" states voters are not to discuss or vote for left third parties and third parties are to be prevented from forming where possible, as in North Carolina.  So far it isn't even possible to vote against Biden in the Democratic primary in NC, except maybe with a write-in.  Communists would also seem to be in danger of persecution for advocating insurrectionism or whatever, as in the 20th century, if not just repressed through extra-legal measures.  I don't know what the answer is, but the business as usual strategy that resulted in or did not prevent the current domestic, international, and economic 'crises' is what I hear being recommended in so many words, and then the media and the Durham City Council blame the Russian people for not being more successful anti-war and democratic activists than Americans have been over many decades.  I haven't been as active regarding Ukraine and Palestine as I was regarding Iraq, though there was also more going on to participate in back then.  Some of it was like what Russians are doing now, apart from the armed struggle the BBC claims is going on in Russia.  At best the US anti-war movement might have only somewhat delayed or shortened the war and the weakened pro-war Republicans were replaced by pro-war Democrats and the movement was mostly laid to rest, so that now "endless wars" refers to what Democrats have done and they are discredited.  And Bush and Co have been rehabilitated against Trump.  The media ignores Trump's foreign policy plans (!) and doesn't say what Haley is proposing at home or abroad, concentrating on her chances against Trump and off the cuff comments.  It isn't like she doesn't have a long record in politics to consider.  

Trump probably wants to destroy Gaza too, but Gaza is being destroyed even with a president who professes to believe in a "two state solution" and Gaza was impoverished before that, as Senator Chuck Schumer desired, and Trump and Biden both seem interested in WWIII, violation of our civil liberties, and increasing presidential power against the rest of the government.  The combined civilian and military death toll in Gaza, mostly civilian, is now nearing or around 25,000, which doesn't count those lost under the rubble.  Trump and Biden might differ over Ukraine, but Trump didn't establish peace in Eastern Europe (or Korea) when he held the presidency.  The Trump administration might have been more negative in Latin America (regarding Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, etc) than Biden's, so far, but Biden hasn't been much better, and might be too distracted to the east for much adventurism down south.  Biden doesn't seem to want a new direct war, but what if someone gets 'lucky' and there is a direct hit on a US Navy ship, or a large airplane is downed, or something unexpected happens in Ukraine?

In more positive news, Japan successful carried out a soft landing on the Moon, and the first precision landing by any country (Japan hasn't determined where it is yet?) today, after recent failed attempts by Russia and a private US effort.  

I could see relatively bright Naos [zeta Puppis] and pi Puppis [Wikipedia claims that this star is also known as Ahadi] and maybe even Suhail down in Vela through the bare trees to the south this week, without having to go to a more open location.  I'm still working on Canopus, further south, in Carina, and there is Eridanus, starting relatively high in the southern sky, at Orion's foot, but meandering too far south to follow to the end from this latitude.  Later in the spring part of Centaurus and other stars south of Hydra and Virgo, up in the morning now, should be visible.  I haven't looked enough at Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius and south to Lupus, Ara, etc. – but I have to go to a different location for a good view that low when the trees are green.  Cancer, by long Hydra's head and Gemini, is further north and up longer now but is dim and gets missed.  The traditional Aquarius period is January 20th to February 18th, though it apparently should be February 17th to March 13th, if based on the Sun's actual position against the stars.  People differ on when that famous Age of Aquarius should begin,  but it is likely very far off.  

Upcoming star parties and astronomy month/day events in Jamestown, NC; French Camp, MS, Scout Key, Florida, Aquilla, TX, more than one in Pennsylvania, London, UK and across the world are listed at is.gd/star_parties  The Northern Hemisphere's spring equinox will be March 19th at 11:06pm EDT (off because of DT?:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox )

[Crime and social policy in Ecuador:  newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/chaos-in-ecuador  Baluchistan, Iran, and Pakistan:  newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/the-baluchistan-imbroglio  WEB Du Bois as a Jeffersonian:  newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/marx-or-jefferson

[A Hindu rightist mob destroyed the Babri Masjid mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India December 6, 1992, triggering inter-communal violence; the Ram Mandir temple to Rama, under  construction, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the BJP January 22, 2024.]  

[French painter and member of the Paris Commune Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet (June 10, 1819 – December 31, 1877), blamed for the May 16, 1871 destruction of Paris' Vendôme Column:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Courbet and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Vend%C3%B4me ]

[The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance or Comecon was founded at a conference of Eastern European countries held in Moscow January 5-8, 1949; Comecon eventually involved countries around the world; for example Mongolia, Cuba, and Vietnam were full members and Finland, Iraq, Mexico, Nicaragua, Ethiopia and South Yemen were observers.] 

[The Khmer Rouge declared their state of Democratic Kampuchea with the proclamation of a new constitution January 5, 1976.]

[The anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica was first broadcast January 6 or 7 to April 21 in 2011.  I thought it was originally broadcast as Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, and it is in the mahou shoujo, or magical girl, genre.  It was airing when the Great East Japan/Tōhoku/ Sendai Earthquake happened  March 11th and I think someone was quoted in an ANN article, joking or not, about being able to go face death working in the Fukushima cleanup after having seen the end, or maybe they regretted not having seen the end first:  www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=12120 and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puella_Magi_Madoka_Magica ]

[Oil was struck at the Spindletop oil field, near Beaumont, Texas, at the very southeast corner of the state, January 10, 1901, setting off a gusher that spewed oil for 9 days.  The find broke the semi-monopoly of Standard Oil – apparently Texas had anti-trust laws and populist sentiment back then – and the find made oil a common fuel in the USA, one of top oil-producing countries, and led to our "oil addiction" today.] [This wasn't the beginning of the oil industry in the state.  Canada's first gusher was the Shaw Gusher January 16, 1862 in Oil Springs, Ontario:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spindletop and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowout_(well_drilling) ]

[The Mechelen Incident, in which German war plans were captured by the Belgians, began January 10, 1940:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechelen_incident ]

[The most recent war in Mali began January 16, 2012:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali_War ]

[Japan's Great Hanshin Earthquake was January 17, 1995 near the city of Kobe, in Hyōgo Prefecture.]

[Novelist and writer Patricia Highsmith was born January 19, 1921 in Fort Worth, Texas and passed away February 4, 1995 in Locarno, Switzerland.  She is also noted for her personal diaries or journals.]

[January 15th it was reported that Geoffry Patterson was removed from command of the nuclear-powered guided missile submarine USS Georgia, one of four, carrying up to 154 Tomahawk missiles and used in special operations, without explanation, other than "loss of confidence in his ability to command:  www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12966403/Navy-fires-nuclear-submarine-captain-loss-confidence-ability-command-investigation-launched.html ]

[The first known case of the novel coronavirus in the USA was detected January 20, 2020, it was known to be passing from person to person in the US by the 30th and people were dying in the US by that February.  A US public health emergency was declared January 31st and WHO had issued an international warning the day before.]

[Iran launched its Soraya or Sorayya satellite January 20th; I think this was supposed to be a record high launch, or maybe that was a different satellite.] [ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaem_100 rocket]

[French king Louis XVI (citizen Louis Capet), was executed by guillotine January 21, 1793.]

[Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet statesman Vladimir Ilyich Lenin passed away 100 years ago, January 21, 1924.] 

[A unit of DPRK special forces attempted to storm the ROK's Blue House and assassinate authoritarian president Park Chung-hee January 21, 1968.  About a decade later the director of the ROK's Korean Central Intelligence Agency assassinated Park, October 26, 1979.]

[The Vietnam War Battle of Khe Sanh began January 21, 1968 and lasted until July 9th; the great Tet Offensive began January 31st.]

[The DPRK seized the spy ship USS Pueblo in or near its coastal waters January 21, 1968.]

[The Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision was handed by the Supreme Court down January 21, 2010; for example see:  www.counterpunch.org/2020/01/21/another-date-that-will-live-in-infamy-10-years-after-citizens-united/ ]

[Crimean amateur astronomer Gennadiy Vladimirovich Borisov, discoverer of the first known interstellar comet, discovered the small asteroid 2023 BU January 21, 2023, just days before it passed by the Earth at an altitude below that of geosynchronous satellites, on January 27th.  It is thought that it would have broken up 30 km in the air, if it had hit the Earth, but the small asteroid that jolted Chelyabinsk, Russia February 15, 2013 exploded at that height.]

[Italian communist leader Antonio Gramsci was born January 22, 1891.  He was a leader of the Communist Party of Italy, founded January 21, 1921 and is well-known for works such as the Prison Notebooks, written while he was imprisoned by Italy's Fascist government.  Prison conditions resulted in his death April 7, 1937.  Some of his works are online at:  www.marxists.org/archive/gramsci/index.htm , dtc. ]

[A peasant uprising began in western El Salvador January 22, 1932 but it was quickly defeated.  Afterward the government killed tens of thousands of alleged communists and Indians.]

[The first Boeing 747 jetliner went into regular service with Pan Am (Pan American World Airlines) January 22, 1970, flying between New York and London.  This iconic humpbacked passenger jet was the original "jumbo jet" and the first wide-body airliner.  It is (?) still being produced or was until recently, but the cost of initial development almost destroyed Boeing.  A prototype first flew February 9, 1969.  Apparently at the time it was thought that supersonic airliners would soon make the 747 obsolete, except as a cargo carrier.]    

[Evo Morales became president of Bolivia January 22, 2006 and was elected to two more terms, until he was toppled by a violent US-backed coup and received asylum in Mexico, November 12, 2019.  An unelected rightist and anti-Indian government temporarily ruled Bolivia.  The security forces refused to protect the elected government, but violently repressed and killed Morales supporters.  Morales' party returned to power in the next election.]

[There was a protest for Palestine Sunday, January 21 at 3pm in Raleigh's Moore Square, and it is probably likely that there will be one the afternoon of January 28th and/or February 4th, but I don't know have definite information.] [International Coalition to Stop Genocide in Palestine (ICSGP):  January 31 Condemn the Complicit! such as the German imperialist government]

[Around January 21st the Ukrainian military shelled a market in the seceded eastern city of Donetsk, killing and wounding many civilians, according to Russian media, which our mainstream media wants people to reflexively ignore.]

[An exceptionally large NATO exercise targeting "Russia and the terror groups" began in Europe in late January and will continue into May?]

[French painter Alexandre Cabanel (September 28, 1823 – January 23, 1889)] 

[Former Durham County Commissioner Becky Heron, in office December 6, 1982 – August 1, 2011, passed away January 23, 2014 (born in 1927):  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-moment-of-silence-for-becky-heron.html and www.northeastcreek.org/wordpress/remembering-becky-heron-1927-2014/ ]

Some upcoming events at the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies that might be of interest, though probably rightist where political; Jews and the Pig:  A History on Monday, January 22nd at 5:30pm and war-related events January 23rd and February 21st:  jewishstudies.unc.edu/events/upcomingevents/

[The first Apple Macintosh PC, renamed the Macintosh 128K, came out January 24, 1984, following the "1984" Super Bowl XVIII ad January 22nd, but it wasn't the first personal computer:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_128K and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer ]

[January 24th it was announced that a wastewater treatment plant in Burlington had detected a 545 micrograms per liter/release of 1,4 dioxane, ultimately thought to be from Apollo Chemical, through the plant and into the Haw River.  According to the HRA "the water quality standard is 0.35ug/L.  People in Pittsboro were told not to drink the town's tapwater and were offered an alternative water supply at the Chatham Marketplace.] [A sedimentation violation was reported by the HRA at a Triangle Brick Company site – a current site or at their former claypit in Durham, now the 55-Hopson construction site, which I might be audible for miles when the wind is right?  I need to go see what they've done in a year, and I'm sure there has been a great deal of silt runoff.]

[The United Mine Workers of America was founded January 25, 1890:  marion-polk-yamhillsolidarity.blogspot.com/2024/01/today-in-union-history-founding-of.html and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Mine_Workers_of_America ]

[A man claiming to be Satoshi Kirishima was arrested at a hospital in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture January 25th, according to NPR and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asia_Anti-Japan_Armed_Front ; check the Throw Out Your Books blog on the Japanese left and radicals.]

[The Full Moon was January 25th, briefly visible in the evening through the clouds here; it was very cold and dry the week before and then warm, overcast, and sprinkling this week, with some fog at night; few animals came out out of dormancy though; I haven't heard any frogs calling yet, though some salamanders and other amphibians might breed now in North Carolina.  The next New Moon for unhindered stargazing will be February 9th.] [A flock of red-winged blackbirds, not the first this winter, was nearby on the 25th, and a thrush and robin that came by might have been them.  Sapsuckers have been around for months but only started taping a nearby red maple in recent days, and myrtle warblers, kinglets, titmice, etc. sometimes try to join in.  Doves are appearing again and what might be a pair of downy woodpeckers.  Juncos appeared maybe a week or two ago, but are rarely around now, maybe due to climate change.  Unfamiliar sparrows were with the common white-throated sparrows earlier in January.  The cattail seeds have mostly drifted away.]

[The Ingenuity helicopter on Mars was deployed April 3, 2021, operated between April 19th of that year and January 18th this year, and the mission was ended January 25th:   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingenuity_(helicopter) ]

[Astronauts Day, January 26th in 2024, commemorates deaths in the US space program, many of which happened in late January and early February, and is on the last Friday of January each year.  According to Wikipedia, one way to commemorate is by placing a lit candle in your window and thinking of those who died for the space program and re-committing to achieve a personal goal.]

[January 26th RFK Jr is taking up the defense of Julian Assange.]

Bengali rebel Titumir / Syed Mir Nisar Ali (January 27, 1782 – November 19, 1831) 

[The Siege of Leningrad by German and allied Finnish forces during WW2 lasted from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944, killing well over a million Soviet citizens, civilians and military personnel.][ consortiumnews.com/2024/01/26/an-anniversary-the-west-would-rather-forget/ ]

[The Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the USSR January 27, 1945 and January 27th is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.] [It is being used to support Israel's war this year.]

[There were UFO reports in Durham January 25 and 27 (?) in 1954, according to Durham journalist and history writer Jim Wise, in his book Durham Tales:  the morris street maple, the plastic cow, the durham day that was and more.]

[The Vietnam War ended January 27, 1973, from the US point of view, with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords between the US, the Republic of Vietnam, what was then called the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and the Provisional Revolutionary Government, but fighting continued in divided Vietnam.] 

[Elected Nigerien president Mahamane Ousmane (born January 19, 1950, in the city of Zinder) was overthown in a coup January 27, 1996.]

[Xiomara Castro was sworn in as president of Honduras January 27, 2022, with the US vice president and other international representatives in attendance, and even a reporter from NPR.  There as little mention on NPR of relevant issues such as the 2009 coup against Castro's husband, Manuel Zelaya which led to the government whose corruption and poor record was later openly criticized on NPR.  The Obama administration's support for the coup is rarely if ever mentioned.  There is talk of mending fences to address the "root causes" of the mass migration from Central America, with no mention of even the possibility of working with Nicaragua, and whether Honduras will continue to diplomatically recognize Taiwan, in the continuing US campaign against China.  The US government's friendliness seemed very surprising.]

[The Outer Space Treaty was created January 27, 1967 and came into effect October 10th that year.]

José Martí, one of the leaders of the movement for Cuban independence from Spain and the USA, was born January 28, 1853 and died in the Battle of Dos Ríos against the Spanish military, May 19, 1895.  The US later entered what became Spanish-American War and gained control of Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico.  This is often seen as the beginning of US imperialism, though the  seizure of Hawaii, idea of Manifest Destiny, and the Monroe Doctrine predate the War.]  

   

[Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed and the seven crewmembers killed, on live TV, January 28, 1986 shortly after liftoff, due to the failure of an O-ring on one of the solid rocket boosters.]  

[International Zebra Day is also supposed to be in late January.]

[The 23rd Annual African-American Cultural Celebration will be January 27th 10:30am-4:30pm in Raleigh:  www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/events-and-programs/festivals/23rd-annual-african-american-cultural-celebration ]

[There will be a livestreamed PSL 2024 presidential campaign event January 28th at 2pm ET:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgWWGm8U1Nw ]

[There will be an HRA State of the Haw presentations at the Kathleen Clay Library in Greensboro February 1st 6-7pm and at the Chapel Hill Public Library February 21st 6-7pm; RSVP at:  docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfM9XlIlRvM0AZonEKRlzWuXt6J_nZ4DIr5akPTzWve4-aHFQ/viewform  There will be a stream restoration in Durham February 17th 10am-12pm:  docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSePFv0Q4BNSHoRWAFL6uLr-jL3SH7PNi1OKz-Pl76lxdn7JtQ/viewform ]

[Author Michael Craig Ruppert (February 3, 1951 – April 13, 2014, allegedly by suicide):  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Ruppert ]

[There will be a Unified Development Ordinance Open House February 8th 11:30am-1:30pm at 2000 South Alston:  engagedurham.com/211/Get-Involved ]

[The Iranian Space Agency was created February 28, 2004.]

The current calendar and I was planning to post more soon:  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2024/01/some-events-and-anniversaries-around.html

From Proletarskaya Gazeta #46,
December 2023 

THE INTRIGUES OF U.S. IMPERIALISM AGAINST THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY IN CONNECTION WITH THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE AND THE RETALIATORY MEASURES OF GERMAN CAPITAL 

The Swedish newspaper "Nya Dagebladet" ("New Daily Newspaper") published a secret document dated January 2022, prepared by the American corporation "RAND", closely associated with the Pentagon and the US military-industrial complex. The document refers to the plans of the US imperialist tycoons to completely destroy the European economy "through Russia's attack on Ukraine,” in which the main role is assigned to the German government. This internal document of the RAND Corporation contains a detailed analysis of the imminent collapse of the European economy as a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine, provoked by the US imperialists.  

The authors of the document outlined the "RAND" strategy in the following points: 

 

1. Weaken Germany and strengthen the United States, which is now unable to survive the developing economic crisis without external support. The uncontrolled issuance of money, which began in the United States in 2020, led to a significant increase in public debt, an overabundance of money in the economy, and high inflation. The only available source of resources for the U.S. economy is the economy of European countries, bound by obligations in NATO and the EU. However, Germany's growing independence, which is further strengthened as U.S. capital withdraws from Western Europe, could lead to a political agreement between Germany and France, followed by Italy and other Western European countries. If this scenario materializes, the countries of Western Europe would become a dangerous competitor for the United States in Eastern Europe.  

2. The economies of Germany and Western Europe are very vulnerable. Having provoked an economic crisis in Germany, the United States is counting on the flow of resources from the European economy to the US economy. The pace of economic development of the European countries largely depends on the economy of the Federal Republic of Germany, which plays a leading role in the EU and depends on access to cheap minerals from Russia and to cheap electricity from France. The suspension of Russian supplies will lead to the collapse of the German economy and, as a result, to the collapse of the EU economy.  

3. Controlled crisis. The United States stopped the operation of Nord Stream 2 in order to completely cut off Germany from Russian energy supplies and thus involve Germany in a military confrontation with the Russian Federation in Ukraine. As the facts show, the actions of the United States in Ukraine have already led to the invasion of Ukraine by the armed forces of the Russian Federation, and a pre-arranged package of sanctions automatically cut off Germany from access to Russian raw materials.

  

4. Expected consequences.The suspension of Russian supplies will inevitably lead to the collapse of the German economy in its key areas – petrochemistry, metallurgy, and mechanical engineering. These industries will inevitably suffer significant losses, which, in turn, will lead to the complete collapse of European industry, an increase in unemployment, and, as the tycoons of the US business are counting, the mass emigration of educated Europeans to the United States, which again, according to the same calculations, will help the US economy to receive a large additional income.  

The U.S. imperialists hope that in the medium term this will enable the U.S. economy to derive significant profits from the realization of the above-mentioned points and thus overcome the catastrophic crisis that is approaching their capital. For its part, the German government is now considering the possibility of nationalizing the energy concern Uniper and other major gas consumers to prevent the collapse of the country's energy complex. In addition to Uniper, it is planned to take state control of the companies Verbundes Gaz (VBG) and SEFE (Securing Energy for Europe), formerly known as Gazprom Germania. The German government is also considering the possibility of acquiring a controlling stake in Fortum, which owns 78% of Uniper's shares, at a nominal price, in order to further "invest billions of euros in the company through capital increases" and further increase its profits. Thus, it is obvious that the economy of the Federal Republic of Germany is becoming more and more merged with the German state and is becoming less and less "market-oriented".  

Some commentators regard the measures taken by the German government to nationalize the economy as almost socialist. This, of course, is utterly absurd. Of course, these measures create the prerequisites for the transition to socialism in the future, but in themselves they are only a consolidation of the state-monopoly character of German capitalism. Indeed, the capitalist nationalisation of key sectors of the British economy during the Second World War was not a socialist measure. Even if we imagine the complete nationalization of the entire economy of the country without the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, this would not be socialism. According to Lenin's definition ("The Impending Catastrophe and How to Combat It"), "... socialism is merely state-capitalist monopoly which is made to serve the interests of the whole people and has to that extent ceased to be capitalist monopoly.” As has already been pointed out in previous issues of Proletarskaya Gazeta, socialism is state-capitalist monopoly [?] plus the dictatorship of the proletariat.