Some November and December events

Jill Stein didn't get the > 5% of the national vote for president that the Greens were hoping for.  I saw North Carolina's results listed somewhere, and the total seems very small, but I don't know what the results were in previous elections, so maybe the Greens' share of the vote is increasing.  People who voted for her here should check Board of Elections results to make sure that at least one vote was counted for her at their polling place.  There have probably been election protests in central North Carolina, but I haven't seen any announcements.   

NC Stop Torture Now

NC Stop Torture Now's last trash clean up as part of the State's Adopt a Highway program, near the hangar of a reported CIA front company linked to "extraordinary rendition" for torture, was supposed to be this coming Saturday, but actually the last one was in September.  STN is lobbying organizations and governments to pass resolutions in support of an NC Commission of Inquiry into the State's role in "extraordinary rendition" and torture.  Interested people are welcome to join STN's next meeting, December 11th at 2:30pm in Raleigh, I think at the Unitarian Universalist church.     

Upcoming pipeline protests (from a WILPF email):

"November 14th. 10:00a.m. Chatham County Justice Center in Pittsboro to hear what the judge decides about the case involving EnvironmentaLee and Chatham County Citizens Against Coal Ash.

November 15th, Standing Rock: National Day of Solidarity Actions

Greensboro: 3pm. More information here.  https://www.facebook.com/ events/1608668676105291/? notif_t=plan_user_joined& notif_id=1479001018542975 

RALEIGH: 4:00-5:30, 150 Fayetteville St. in front of Wells Fargo Bank. .go to NODAPL# for   more information or https://www.facebook.com/ events/1608668676105291/? notif_t=plan_user_joined& notif_id=1479001018542975
Wilmington: 2pm. More information on Facebook page previously given

November 16th, 11:30 NC Policy Watch luncheon ($10) in Raleigh at the Education Building on Salisbury St.(across from the auditorium)

November 17th 3:00 National call with Climate Reality re: pipelines  641-715-3650 code 615986#

November 19, 2016 [contact WILPF for carpooling]

WALK TO PROTECT OUR PEOPLE AND THE PLACES WE LIVE:

STOP THE PIPELINE

NOVEMBER 19 ROBESON COUNTY PRAYER WALK
Sponsored by Eco-Robeson

1:30 PM; Meet at the Pembroke Town Park, 413 West Third Street in Pembroke across from UNC Pembroke. 2 mile walk. Rally and prayer circle at corner of Prospect Rd and Hwy 72 near the Methane Transfer Station. Snacks & water will be available.

For more information contact Rev. Mac Legerton, 910-736-5573, mac_cca at bellsouth period net or Alisha Locklear 910-827-2528. lockleara at Hotmail period com

NOVEMBER 19 CUMBERLAND COUNTY WALK
Sponsored by Cumberland County Caring Voices

9:30 AM: Meet in front of Cape Fear Regional Theater in Fayetteville. 1209 Hay St, Fayetteville, NC 28305. March 1 mile down Hay Street to Rally at Market House for rally and speak out. Ending about noon.  Snacks & water will be available.

For more information contact Denise Bruce, 910-726 5745 greenaction at sustainablesandhills period org
Mary Walker, 910-584-4343 walkerm0185 at yahoo period com

NOVEMBER 19 NASH COUNTY WALK
Sponsored by Nash Stop the Pipeline

10:00 AM: Meet at Ennis Recreation Park in Red Oak, on Hwy 43. (Take exit 141 east from I-95; go 3 miles turn right into Park at 1st stop light.).

Walk is 9 miles and will end at Nash County Court House about 3 pm in Nashville, NC with rally and speak out. Shuttles available to return participants to Red Oak.
Snacks & water will be available.

For information contact Marvin Winstead, 252-478-5442 marwinstead at gmail period com
For more information about housing and the organizing contact: Connie Leeper of NC WARN connie at ncwarn period org 704-731-6762
Steven Norris earthsun2 at gmail period com 828-777-7816  Walk for the Protection of the People and the Places we Live, Stop the Pipeline! Flier here.

Nash County: 10 am. Meet at Ennis Recreation Center, 4605 N. Old Carriage Rd, Rocky Mount (close to town of Red Oak).

Robeson County: 1:30 pm. Meet at Pembroke Town Park, 413 W. 3rd St, Pembroke.

Cumberland County: 9:30 am. Meet at Cape Fear Regional Theater, 1209 Hay St., Fayetteville.

STATEWIDE MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT
Friday, November 11, 2016

On Tuesday, November 15th, a Press Conference will be held in Fayetteville, N.C. to announce the first simultaneous events to educate the public of North Carolina regarding the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). The Press Conference will be held at 12:45 PM at the East Regional Library at 4809 Clinton Rd, in Fayetteville, NC 28312. The Press Conference is sponsored by a growing partnership of local, statewide, and national organizations committed to responsible economic, educational, environmental, energy, and equitable development of local communities, cities, and counties in North Carolina.

On Saturday, November 19, 2016, three events to inform and educate the public of North Carolina regarding the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) will take place in Eastern North Carolina Counties: Nash County, Cumberland County, and Robeson County. Entitled: “Walk for the Protection of People and the Places Where We Live: Stop the Pipeline” the walks will include a 9 mile walk in Nash County, a 1 mile walk in Cumberland County, and a 2 mile walk in Robeson County. The walks will conclude with gatherings and presentations on the negative impacts of the pipeline and the positive impacts of moving our State’s economy toward a more profitable present and future based on clean, renewable energy. In Nash and Robeson Counties, the walks will occur near the proposed route of the pipeline. In Pembroke, the walk will end across the street from the proposed end of the three-state, 550 mile pipeline.

The two major goals of the walks are: (1) to educate the public of North Carolina about the proposed methane gas pipeline, its negative impact on the people, economy, and environment of our state; and (2) to advocate for the present and future economic development of NC to be based on a full and immediate commitment to the expansion of clean, renewable energy. These walks will be followed by a two-week walk in early March 2017 along the entire 165 miles of the proposed route through Eastern N.C., ending in beginning on the Virginia border with N.C. and ending in Pembroke, N.C.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (USEIA), the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline is the third longest pipeline being planned in the nation (550 miles) and the second most costly ever proposed in the U.S. at a price of $5 billion. The proposed pipeline is planned to start in West Virginia, cross Virginia, and continue down through Eastern North Carolina. While the public in W. Virginia and Virginia have become very engaged in the pipeline debate and opposition, there has been little public discussion or media coverage of this major proposal in North Carolina. For example, 175 registrants will gather tomorrow – on Saturday, November 12 – in Natural Bridge, Va. for the Pipeline Summit, sponsored by the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance.

The Press Conference next Tuesday in Fayetteville will include an overview of the planned walks, the negative impacts of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, its proposed route through Eastern N.C., its route through Native American, African American, and low-income communities and counties, its unnecessary high costs to landowners and consumers, and its irresponsible and negligent approach to economic development, The proposed ACP and expansion of natural gas production will also be compared to both public and corporate understanding, commitment, profitability and cost-saving measures for consumers and the environment in moving directly to a full commitment and development of clean energy.

There has been no widespread public education or debate in North Carolina regarding the shift from coal to natural gas to renewable energy as the basis for present and future economic development. The present controversies regarding coal ash and fracking have created some public discussion and major opposition, but considerable examination of the negative impacts of further natural gas production and its full costs, including to consumers, local governments, businesses, and the environment have neither been deliberated nor calculated. Most economic development planners, states and nations that are not swayed by political pressure alone know that the future is here now and that clean energy is the cornerstone of proactive, economic development. Clean energy presents a marriage between economic profitability, consumer and environmental protection, and the promotion of expanding jobs, businesses, diversified renewable energy sources, electric transmission lines, and new technologies in the energy marketplace.

Cities like San Diego, CA and Burlington, VT, states such as California and Connecticut, and nations such as Costa Rica, Germany, Portugal, Austria, and Scotland have all made commitments to moving to abundant, renewable energy sources as soon as possible. The expansion of natural gas production and use is the greatest disincentive, the most expensive, and the most environmentally harmful alternative to clean energy expansion, production, and exploration.

It is the civic role of media to not only cover and inform the public of known plans, decisions, and events, but also to educate the public concerning their options and consequences. For example, because of methane’s ability to trap infrared radiation more effectively than CO2, the effect of natural gas on climate change is 84 times greater than that of coal over a 20-year basis. The majority of the public perceives natural gas to be safer, cheaper, and greener than coal. This is certainly not the case when all of the risks, costs, and impact of natural gas are taken into consideration.

Please join us at the Press Conference next Tuesday and come to listen and learn, dialog, and deliberate, and prepare responsible stories on the full scope, scale, financial and non-financial costs, and impact of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline on North Carolina.

For more information, contact:

Nash County Walk sponsored by Nash Stop the Pipeline:
Marvin Winstead, 252-478-5442

Cumberland County Walk, Sponsored by Cumberland County Caring Voices
Denise Bruce, 910-726 5745 and Mary Walker, 910-584-4343

Robeson County Walk sponsored by Eco-Robeson
Rev. Mac Legerton, 910-736-5573 and Alisha Locklear, 910-827-2528

Statewide Partners:

Connie Leeper of NC WARN, 704-731-6762 Hope Taylor and Ericka Faircloth of Clean Water for North Carolina, 919-401-9600

National Partner:

Steven Norris of Beyond Extreme Energy, 828-777-7816
December 2, 11:30 am- 4:30 pm, Washington D.C., The Peoples' Hearing, National Press Club, 529 14th St NW. Join us for a Peoples' Hearing to expose the abuses of FERC! If you would like to attend/testify, you must sign up here, deadline November 11. More info.

Dec. 5,  Water is Life, 7-9 pm, at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Finlator Hall in Raleigh. Speakers will connect water, climate, pipelines and more, in solidarity with Standing Rock. A panel discussion will feature John Wagner, who traveled to Standing Rock in September, NC State hydrology professor Ryan Emanuel, and 350 Triangle member Tom Fletcher, who is attending the climate summit right now in Morocco."

Arbor Day in Chapel Hill:

Announcement from Chapel Hill Parks & Recreation:  "The Town of Chapel Hill’s annual Arbor Day celebration will be held at 10:15 a.m. Friday, Nov. 18, at Southern Community Park, 100 Sumac Road.

 

Sarada Dudley Brown and Shelby White’s second grade class from Scroggs Elementary School will participate and help plant an ‘Happidaze’ Fruitless Sweetgum.

 

Mayor Pam Hemminger will read the Arbor Day Proclamation and accept the 2015 Tree City USA Award from a the County Assistant Forest Ranger of the North Carolina Forest Service’s Orange County Office. 2015 was Chapel Hill’s 17th consecutive year as a Tree City.

 

To be named a Tree City, a town or city must meet four core standards set by the National Arbor Day Foundation: maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry and celebrating Arbor Day.

 

The first Arbor Day in the United States took place in April 1872 in Nebraska where it is said that an estimated one million trees were planted. Each state now chooses its own date on which to observe the holiday. North Carolina celebrates on the first Friday following March 15, but Chapel Hill doesn’t follow the rest of the state.

 

Arbor Day was set by the Chapel Hill Town Council in 2000 as the first Friday after Nov. 15. Each year the Town celebrates trees at its Arbor Day ceremony by planting one or more trees at a Town-owned facility such as a park or entryway. Last year a Red Maple tree was planted next to the Town’s Housing Department offices where Tanyard Branch Trail crosses Caldwell Street.

 

Chapel Hill contains a diversity and abundance of trees. Its residents have had a long love affair with trees dating back to 1889, when cutting down a tree in town was punishable as a misdemeanor and carried a $20 fine [I wonder if this only applied to streetside trees planted by the Town government]."

From an activist calendar in Chapel Hill: 

"SUPPORT FOR BOWE BERGDAHL AT HEARING NOVEMBER 15 Parents of US Army soldier held prisoner by Taliban-aligned Haqqani network in Afghanistan and Pakistan 2009 to 2014  would be grateful for witnesses at his hearing where he is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.  See:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wik i/Bowe_Bergdahl. Join Quaker House and members of NC Stop Torture Now at 9 AM, Tuesday, November 15, Fort Bragg  Courthouse, Normandy Drive, off All American Highway, Fayetteville.  Carpooling/directions: lynewsom at gmail period com, 919-403-2712.

THE HALF LIFE OF A FREE RADICAL: GROWING UP CATHOLIC IN JIM CROW MEMPHIS  Author Clare Hanrahan, “able to look back on the poverty, racism, consumerism, militarism, sexism, and Catholicism of her youth with passion and perspective,” discusses her memoir. 7 p.m., Tuesday, November 15, Highland United Methodist Church, 1901 Ridge Road, Raleigh; 7 p.m., Thursday, November 17, Durham County Library, 300 North Roxboro Street, Durham;  7 p.m., Friday, November 18, Church of Reconciliation, 110 North Elliott Road, Chapel Hill. 865-789-8912. [Also being interviewed on WILPF's Wake-Up Call program on 103.5 FM in Orange County, Wednesday, November 16th at 5pm and a TV version will be broadcast on The Peoples Channel at 10 am on a Thursday in the near future)

THE WAY TO THE SPRING: LIFE AND DEATH IN PALESTINE Journalist Ben Ehrenreich, who has lived on and off in West Bank since 2011, speaks about his reasons for writing his award-winning book and lives of Palestinians residing there. 5:30 - 6:30 p. m., Wednesday, November 16, UNC's FedEx Global Education Center, Pittsboro and McCauley Streets; 7:30 p. m., Wednesday, November 16, Community Church of Chapel Hill Unitarian Universalist Jones Building, 106 Purefoy Road, corner of Mason Farm Road; and 7 [BAJ says 7:30] p. m. [sponsored by Balance and Accuracy in Journalism with the Coalition for Peace with Justice, Charles M Jones Peace & Justice Committee, Carolina Seminar on Re-thinking Israel/Palestine, and Students for Justice in Palestine, UNC-CH], Thursday, November 17, NCSU’s Withers Hall Room 232B, 101 Lampe Drive. Sponsored by Coalition for Peace with Justice and 5 co-sponsors.. 919-914-9881"

Balance & Accuracy in Journalism December meeting: 

"On December 14 our BAJ program will feature John Wagner on the Dakota Pipeline standoff by 200 indigenous groups defending water, life, and treaty rights.  

 

John has been active with the fight over fracking, climate destabilization, and energy policy.  He spent several days with the native people at the site, and will relate the significance of the struggle and the issues it illuminates."

 

The Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library has its winter booksale that week.  See: 

 

chapelhillpubliclibrary.org/eventscalendar/big-book-sale/

 

If you will be in New York Saturday, US Friends of the Soviet People is meeting November 19th:

 

"Celebrate the 99th anniversary of the Socialist Revolution in Russia

While the mass media keeps telling us that socialism has failed, and Bernie Sanders tells us to vote for the warmonger Clinton, we are celebrating the success of the socialist revolution in Russia on November 7, 1917.

Immediately after the revolution, Russia pulled out of World War I, a war in which millions died, including hundreds of thousands from the U.S.

The revolution brought the economically backward peoples of Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus into a modern society, eliminating illiteracy and establishing a socialist economy planned for the interests of the people and not for the interest of the 1%.

Saturday, November 19, 2 PM
LGBT Center, Room #310
208 W. 13th St,
Betw. 7th & 8th Ave. in Manhattan
#1, 2, 3, A, C or E train to 14th St.

Committee to Celebrate the 99th Anniversary of the Russian Socialist Revolution
718-979-6563

Join Speakers:
- Prof. Grover Furr
- USFSP NY/NJ branch
- Communist Party of Labor of the Dominican Republic
- Labor Youth Turkey
- ML Communist Party of Ecuador
- Party of Communists USA, NY/NJ Metro Club.

The US government is driving us into endless wars, and even preparing for a possible third world war against Russia. The economy is going from one crisis to another; people are suffering in low-wage jobs, if they have any jobs at all.  Police brutality is rampant, especially against Blacks and Latinos but against all working people.  Come to a meeting to discuss the socialist revolution in Russia and what we can learn from it today."

The election conundrum

I was planning to write something more substantial about the election, but I ran out of time, so this has to be just a note and I will write about lesser evilism in the future.  It is possible I'll change my mind before voting, but I will probably mostly follow endorsements by the Independent Weekly (www.indyweek.com), the Durham People's Alliance (www.durhampa.org), and SEANC, with some exceptions. 

I considered arguments for voting for Hillary Clinton, but she seems very dangerous, and people seem to be exaggerating the danger posed by Trump and his chances of winning in order to make voting for Clinton more palatable.  After the last debate the media spent a lot of time saying how shocking it was for Trump to say he might not accept the results of the election (something that Gore should have done in 2000 and that has happened in many countries, such as Mexico), but what I find shocking is how Clinton was allowed to dodge a question about Syria and what would happen if a Russian jet enters an illegal US-imposed no-fly zone.  A no-fly zone seems to mean directly attacking the government of Syria (to destroy its air defenses) and possibly Russia as well, so a vote for Clinton is a vote for war, maybe in just a few months.  In the last debate, Clinton had a chance to explain why a no-fly zone wouldn't lead to war, and she said something not believable about negotiating with the countries she has vilified for years.  Trump isn't anti-war, but he might not be as eager to go to war with Syria and he seems more likely to negotiate with Russia than a Democratic administration that blames its electoral and foreign policy problems on Russia.  Probably neither the US nor Russia wants a third world war, but a world war probably wasn't planned in 1914 either, and both sides spent decades trying to avoid a hot war between nuclear armed superpowers.  A NATO country has already shot down a Russian plane over Syria and the confrontation seems likely to escalate if the US starts dictating who can fly over a sovereign country without even the figleaf of a UN Security Council resolution, and European countries would probably only join a war against Syria if there is UN approval.  On NPR's The Diane Rehm Show recently a probably influential think tank official said Putin is willing to die over Syria, and we should be too, and there was no push back at that chilling and irrational statement.  I think it was a journalist talking with Charlie Rose on PBS who claimed it is too late to attack Syria and overthrow the government with US proxy forces, but even if Clinton can't attack Syria, she is "hawkish" (the media's term for a hardcore warmonger) and is likely to find other unnecessary wars to add to the ones the US is already engaged in.

Unless something big happens, I'm planning to vote for the Green Party's Jill Stein for President (www.jill2016.com/).  The media tries to ignore third parties and most voters go for the same old bipartisan system, so Stein is unlikely to win, but I'm not so afraid of Trump that I want to vote for Clinton, and it seems likely that Clinton will win anyway.  Write in "Jill Stein" on paper ballots in North Carolina, and the vote should count (see ncgreenparty.nationbuilder.com/how_to_write_in_jill_stein_for_president_in_north_carolina for instructions for electronic voting), and if she gets 2% of the vote, the NC Green Party will appear on ballots officially in the future, as the Libertarians do this year.  I think getting 5% of the vote nationally will also give the national Green Party access to public campaign funding.  According to Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2016#Other_third_parties_and_independents) Jill Stein is the only left candidate whose votes will actually be counted in North Carolina.  Lamont Lilly of Durham is the Workers World Party's vice presidential candidate (vote4socialism.org), but a write-in vote for Monica Moorehead and Lamont Lilly won't be counted.  There is a long article on Lilly in the current issue of the Independent (I notice that they also have an article against the Libertarian candidate, but avoid mentioning the left alternative, Jill Stein, unless they profiled her in a previous issue).  The Party for Socialism and Liberation, Socialist Equality Party, Socialist Party USA, and the Socialist Workers Party are running presidential candidates, but according to Wikipedia any votes they receive in NC will not be counted, nor will write-in votes for Bernie Sanders, while a vote for Jill Stein would help build the Green Party as a left electoral alternative to the Democrats.  I have an open mind, but I find it surprising that some Marxist parties have actually endorsed Clinton.  The Progressive Labor Party advocates boycotting elections.        

Since we have been hearing about the presidential candidates for so long and they are familiar figures, it might be easy to decide who to vote for, but state and local candidates can be more slippery.  For example, State Senator Mike Woodard (in District 22) seems progressive and is endorsed by the People's Alliance (but not by the Independent this year), but voters might be surprised if they look into how their state legislators have voted (it is very easy at www.ncleg.net).  Woodard and other Democrats voted for the Iran Divestment Act (Senate Bill 455), while even the Obama administration is working to reduce tensions over a non-existent nuclear weapons program.  He voted for the Property Protection Act (House Bill 405), which seems like an ag-gag law that punishes whistleblowers, rather than those guilty of crimes such as animal abuse and violating environmental laws, though he claimed in The Durham News last month that it does not do this (the text is online and voters can judge for themselves).  Even rightist Governor McCrory was against the bill, but Democrats and Republicans voted to override his veto.  HB 553 prevents counties or cities from regulating the standards of care for farm animals, though possibly there are rigorous State laws already.  There is also the questionable HB 574, excluding opossums from the protection of State wildlife laws around New Year's Eve, for one town's annual possum drop (the wild possum isn't killed, but it may still be a bad practice).  This is just from a brief look through voting records, and I didn't follow the General Assembly closely this year, so there could be other questionable votes by Senator Woodard and other incumbent Democrats.  I would like to see the Democrats control the General Assembly, Council of State, and Executive branch again, but it would be better if there were more progressive alternatives, such as Green candidates.  I will have to think further about the District 22 election and other General Assembly elections.     

US Representative David Price is also up for election and probably won't try to stop Clinton from attacking Syria or other countries, given his record on Iraq and Palestine.  If Trump wins, it would be good to have Congress controlled by the Democrats, but if Clinton wins, maybe it would be better to have Republican control, though most Republicans would probably follow Clinton into a war and they wouldn't support the progressive domestic promises that Clinton actually tries to implement.  I'm against pro-war and pro-torture US Senator Burr, but Deborah Ross supports Clinton on Syria.     

The Durham Board of County Commissioners was basically selected in the primary election, but I am also conflicted about voting for incumbents who helped approve the rezoning for 751 South, a dense development planned for a rural area adjacent to parkland around New Hope Creek and Jordan Lake, though it does not seem to have been built yet.  As usual voters have to hunt for information about the Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor race, but there is a lot of information about the judicial candidates.        

Whatever happens, a person's vote belongs to them and in the solitude of the voting booth (if they can get one), they will have to decide who they want to support or can vote for in good conscience versus the odds of other candidates winning.  A large percentage of people who are eligible to vote won't, but if they did, maybe the election would turn out differently.  If Gore had energized more people, maybe there would never have been an opportunity for the Supreme Court to steal the election for Bush and the Democrats wouldn't have to scapegoat Nader for winning a few votes the Democrats think they own.              

Islamophobia protest in Chapel Hill tomorrow and other upcoming events

Fight for $15 Community Meeting:

The campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 is holding a community meeting tonight (October 17th) at 6:30 at the Raise Up office (2220 North Roxboro Street in Durham). 

Protesting Islamophobia in Chapel Hill:

A coalition of groups is planning a protest October 18th, 6-8pm outside of Extraordinary Adventures (200 South Elliot Road), where ICON (Issues Confronting Our Nation) is hosting a speech by Diana West.  According to MERI (Movement to End Racism and Islamophobia) both Diana West and ICON vilify Muslims and immigrants, and groups asked the venue, Extraordinary Ventures, to disallow the 7pm speech.  For more information, see:  merinc.org/news/diana-west-to-speak-in-chapel-hill/

NC Environmental Justice Summit 2016:

The North Carolina Environmental Justice Network is holding its 18th annual conference October 21-22nd at the Historic Franklinton Center at Bricks (281 Southbend Lane) in Whitakers (in Edgecombe County).  For more information see:  ncejn.org/ and there are videos at merinc.org/event/north-carolina-environmental-justice-summit/

Durham People's Alliance 40th Anniversary & Taste of Living Wage Durham Party:

The event will honor activists for progress and discuss the PA's vision for Durham at this meeting, with food from local living wage businesses Saturday, October 22nd, 5-8pm at SEEDS (706 Gilbert Street, Durham).  For tickets, see:  eventbrite.com/e/peoples-alliance-40th-anniversary-taste-of-durham-living-wage-party-tickets-27379829808

Second Linking Liberation Struggles forum:

For more information, see aimeproject.org (they also have a calendar of events organized by various groups) and merinc.org/event/linking-liberation-struggles/
This is AIME's press release:

"On Monday October 24, 6-8:30 p.m. at North Carolina Central University, the Abrahamic Initiative on the Middle East will present a second conference called Linking Liberation Struggles:  Pursuing Global Awareness and CivicEngagement.  Speakers are Native American activist Tennyson Welbourne; African American Durham City Council member Jillian Johnson; and Palestinian organizer Zaina Alsous. 

 

Respondents, including Latino, Jewish, and immigrant community members, will explore the relationships among these historic and current movements. Moderators Rev. Paul McAllister Founder Global Leaders in Unity and Evolvement and Dr. Omid Safi, Director Duke Islamic Studies Center, will lead the dialogue among panelists, NCCU students and faculty, and community members. 

 

Co-sponsors:  American Friends Service Committee, Balance and Accuracy in Jounalism, Black Workers for Justice, Coalition for Peace with Justice, Eisenhower Chapter of Veterans for Peace, Faculty Forward NC, Ignite NC, Jewish Voice for Peace, Movement to End Racism & Islamophobia, Muslim American Public Affairs Council, Muslims for Social Justice, NC Council of Churches, NC Peace Action, NC Women United St. Cyprians’s Episcoopal Church/Oxford, Salaam Shalom Committee of Church of Reconciliation, Students for Justice in Palestine UNC-CH, Women’s League for Peace & Freedom. 

 

For background material and more information about speakers, panelists, and sponsors, see www.aimeproject.org

 

Miller Morgan (Health) Building
North Carolina Central University
528 Nelson Street
Parking nearby
Approach from Fayetteville Street" 

 

Triangle Friends of Farmworkers Benefit Dinner for FLOC:

 

TFF is hosting a dinner to raise money for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Sunday, October 29th 6-8pm at the Durham Center Park Cohousing Community (130 Hunt Street in Durham).  Justin Flores, FLOC vice president and head of organizing efforts in the state, a rank and file leader, and a youth leader from Dudley, NC will speak and there will be music by Sue Gilbertson, Charlie Thompson, and others, and home-made Mexican food.  To reserve a seat call or text local co-chair Miriam Thompson at 917 825 0884 or email TFF Coordinator Dave Austin at daustin at mindspring dot com.      

 

Contributions can also be made by sending a check made out to the Center for Migrant Worker Justice (a 501(c)(3) working with FLOC) to Dave Austin at 130 Hunt Street Apartment 407 Durham, North Carolina 27701 or go through their website, secure.donationpay.org/cmwj/  Donations can be sent directly to FLOC at 1221 Broadway Street, Toledo Ohio 43609, but are not tax-deductible.   

 

Book Sales:

 

According to booksalefinder.com/NC.html, the Chapel Hill Public Library is holding a sale December 2-4.  Some other upcoming library book sales in the state are in Asheville and Columbus October 20-22, Marshal October 22-29, Washington, NC January 20-22, Greenville February 3-5, and Jacksonville, NC February 17-18.  Other sales are monthly or ongoing, including in Durham libraries.  I assume the big Wake County sale at the State Fair grounds will be in December, but a date hasn't been announced on their website yet.   

Update and Anniversary of Attack on Afghanistan

Because of the hurricane, the Durham Monarch Festival scheduled for tomorrow is being cancelled, and no rain date was set, so the next one will be October 14, 2017.  It looks like the Friends of the Durham Library Fall Book Sale will go ahead as scheduled over the next three days (the sale this evening is for FODL members only, but people can join at the door).  Below is an event at Recyclique in Durham tonight, and later I will post details about the Linking Liberation Struggles forum at NCCU October 24th, upcoming Cary and Wake County book sales, etc.  

"This Fri. Oct. 7, 6:30 pm – Durham’s "Goldleaf” Worker Co-op: Growing a Caring Economy,

by Ruth Backstrom. A behind-the-scenes look at the building of an exciting new worker-owned commercial cleaning co-op in Durham, inspired by the Cleveland Evergreen and Mondragon models. What can co-ops contribute to the shifts we need to make to support the needs of everyone in our communities? What are their promises and their limitations? Join us for an exploration of these questions led by Ruth, who is part of the team building Goldleaf. Refreshments served. At Recyclique, 2811 Hillsborough Rd., Durham 27705.  Suggested donations of $5, no one turned away.  Park in rear or next door in the Food Lion lot.  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Next week they will be showing "Devil's Advocate," about the relationship between morality and law]

 

Interested in joining a multi-party yard sale in our front yard (2811 Hillsborough Rd.) Sat. Oct. 15th? If so, email yikes dot contact at gmail dot com by Mon. If there is enough interest we’ll hold it and run a newspaper ad."

From A World To Win News Service:

This AWTWNS news packet for the week of 3 October 2016 contains two articles. They may be reproduced or used in any way, in whole or in part, as long as they are credited.

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Syrian children: A question that answers itself
US-led occupation of Afghanistan: 15 years of hell for the people with no end in sight

Syrian children: a question that answers itself

3 October 2016. A World to Win News Service. The US, UK and France have turned the horrible attacks on civilians in eastern Aleppo into an occasion to score a propaganda victory against their Russian rivals and Syria's Bashar Asad regime. The bombings of civilians certainly is a war crime, as they claim, and even if this area is a stronghold of Islamic fundamentalist fighters, as Russia claims, such atrocities reveal that both sides are atrocious murderers. But for all the West's talk about the children of Aleppo – with pictures of wounded and dismayed little children that should break anyone's heart – what happens when these same children or others like them, in Syria or other countries where the suffering of children has reached massive proportions, try to flee to safety?

Does the West show concern for their treatment in abysmal refugee camps in Turkey and Greece, where refugees feel they are deliberately being made to suffer as punishment for leaving Syria, and to dissuade others from joing them?

Why do the Nato powers refuse to use their naval resources to conduct search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean? Why have they abandoned such operations, with the exception of the Italian Coast Guard, and a Greek Coast Guard that has been stripped of its efficacy by EU-imposed cutbacks, so that lives depend on the efforts of fishermen and NGO volunteers?

What about the estimated one thousand unaccompanied children – children who have lost or become separated from their parents – trying to stay alive in Calais, France, in a camp the world's barbarian authorities like to call "the jungle," even though its inhabitants help each other out remarkably given the circumstances? So far the French authorities have refused to help even these children, let alone all the children and adults who desperately need it, in a flagrant violation of French and international law. The British government has washed its hands of their fate, even though many of these children have family in the UK and are therefore legally entitled to asylum there. For the US, it's Europe's problem.

Is the West's fake "concern" for children anything but another weapon to be wielded in its clash with rival reactionaries?
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US-led occupation of Afghanistan: 15 years of hell for the people with no end in sight

3 October 2016. A World to Win News Service. The occupation of Afghanistan by a coalition of Western powers headed by the US will have lasted fifteen full years as of 7 October.

Instead of any sign of an end to this war, there are new plans for it to continue. US President Barack Obama, speaking on 6 July this year, outlined his plan to keep 8,400 US soldiers in Afghanistan after his presidential term comes to an end in January 2017, along with more than 6,000 Nato and other so-called coalition forces.

This is contrary to the promise Obama made during his campaign for the presidency eight years ago. After several gyrations during his term, beginning with a drastic increase in 2009 in the number of troops from the level set by his predecessor President George W. Bush in a futile attempt to win quick victory, and then large-scale troop reductions, in the end he has opted to continue the occupation.

It has been proven over and over again that making war is a permanent job of any president in order to fulfill US imperialist interests, and Obama could not be an exception. Despite his efforts to pretend he is not a warmonger, the US has been at war throughout his entire presidency. It has troops fighting in Afghanistan, and now again in Iraq (where Obama just sent additional troops to bring the number of US forces to more than 5,000), as well as in Syria and Libya. American bombs and missiles are also killing people in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.

In his statement announcing the prolongation of the war in Afghanistan, Obama tried to downplay the importance of this decision.

"Compared to their previous mission – helping to lead the fight – our forces are now focused on two narrow missions: training and advising Afghan forces, and supporting counter-terrorist operations against the remnants of al-Qaeda as well as other terrorist groups, including ISIL [the Islamic State or Daesh]... Every day, nearly 320,000 Afghan soldiers and police are serving and fighting, and many are giving their lives to defend their country." (This and subsequent quotations from that speech are from the transcript released by the White House on 6 July 2016.)

In order to cover up the real intention of the war and the real cost to the Afghan people, Obama referred to gains he claimed have been due to this war.

"With our support, Afghanistan is a better place than it once was. Millions of Afghan children – boys and girls – are in school. Dramatic improvements in public health have saved the lives of mothers and children. Afghans have cast their ballots in democratic elections and seen the first democratic transfer of power in their country's history. That government is a strong partner with us in combating terrorism. That's the progress we've helped make possible."

After 15 years of occupation and imposing a brutal war on the people that has caused tremendous suffering, all that Obama could point to is a number of boys and girls going back to school and unsatisfactory improvements in public health that he falsely calls "dramatic". Neither the number of children in school nor public health have regained the levels reached before the Western imperialist intervention to support certain jihadis, the brand of Islamic fundamentalist friendly to the US and Pakistan at that time, in a war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1979-89 [Note that the US government began using fundamentalists to destabilize revolutionary and secular Afghanistan before Soviet forces entered the country and that US support for fundamentalists created al Qaida and the situation today.  On the other hand, the USSR entered the US trap by intervening to empower the less radical faction of the governing People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, though the government was able to fight on for a while even after the USSR was destroyed].

Obama's reference to ballots and "democratic elections" is especially hypocritical, since the winners of the elections arranged by the US have been Hamid Karzai and then Ashraf Ghani, leaders of one of the world's most corrupt regimes, even according to US officials and media. Even with support from the occupiers, still both of them had to rig the elections in order to win. Obama's statement is not much different from what he said about Iraq on 14 December 2011:
"We're leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government that was elected by its people." (CNSNews.com, 29 December 2014)

A "sovereign country" where the US appointed the regime, in cooperation with reactionary forces in the region such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, a place where foreign interference has made political life a sideshow for most Iraqis. A "stable" country where competition between these powers has constantly roiled conflicts, and Daesh has been able to advance up to within a few miles of the capital Baghdad. Obama made no reference to Abu Ghraib and other prisons where the US forces tortured and murdered people, mainly ordinary people, enabling the conversion of these prisoners into Daesh supporters. He made no reference to the bloody sectarian war that the US triggered and fuelled, resulting in the murder of tens of thousands of people and the displacement of millions. He made no reference to the Islamisation of Iraq under the US-led occupation that dramatically changed the life of Iraqi people and especially women, and finally gave birth to horrible forces such as Daesh. He made no reference to other horrific consequences this has inflicted on the people of Iraq and Middle East.

Similarly, in his statement on Afghanistan, Obama made no reference to what the people of Afghanistan have gone through due to an unjust and brutal war waged by the Western imperialists. He didn't refer to tens of thousands of innocents who lost their lives due to bombardment and the war. He made no reference to the terrorised children who woke up in the middle of night to see their parents held at gunpoint by US troops. He did not mention the people who were repeatedly stopped and searched by the occupier forces. For the last fifteen years, the US has launched bomb and missile attacks on many village gatherings. In the latest, a US drone strike hit a village celebration in Nangarhar province on 28 September, killing at least 15 civilians and injuring another 13, according to the UN. (Guardian, 30 September)

Obama boasts about the "dramatic" improvements in public health, but doesn't mention the hospitals bombarded. In one of the most notorious incidents, a US gunship destroyed a Medecins Sans Frontiers hospital in Kunduz in September 2015, murdering at least 42 patients and medical personnel and injuring another 30.

In talking about the corrupt regime the US had "democratically" elected, Obama doesn't mention the rights of the many thousands who were insulted, imprisoned and horrifically tortured at Bagram and other US and Nato-controlled military bases in Afghanistan, people who were arrested and falsely accused of connections with al-Qaeda or the Taliban, and who, after they were released, became determined to join the Taliban. He doesn't mention those tortured to death even without the formality of a trial.

Obama referred to combating terrorists groups, but he made no reference to the fact that Islamic fundamentalists are stronger than ever in Afghanistan, thanks to the occupation. Once hated by the majority of the people in Afghanistan, now due to the occupiers and their appointed regime and its atrocities the Taliban have managed to gain support in many parts of the country, even places where they never had much before, such as Badakhshan, in the northern part of the country. He did not say that Daesh is gaining ground in Afghanistan too. The US-led occupation has been a huge factor in the fundamentalists' growing strength.

The occupation has brought nothing like liberation to Afghanistan's women. In fact they have been the worst victims of this occupation and war. Their most basic rights have been put on sale explicitly and implicitly to keep US-favoured jihadis happy and draw the Taliban to the negotiating table. This has resulted in some of the most scandalous cases such as the amendment of family laws, the rape and kidnapping of young women with impunity, and the climate that led to crimes like the notorious murder of Farkhunda and the stoning of Rakhshana.

What about the reconstruction of the economy and the nation-building initially promised by the occupiers? Obama prefers to say nothing about that, either. We can see for ourselves the features of an economy that has been "reconstructed" by the US and other imperialist occupiers. The Afghan economy is mainly built on growing poppy for opium production and export. Afghanistan currently supplies about 90 percent of the world opium market. Millions of people are employed or involved in some way in the drug trade. Both the US occupiers and the Taliban encourage this.

Another pillar of the Afghan economy is the "aid" provided by the occupiers and other donor countries. The US government has injected $115 billion into the Afghan economy, supposedly for the country's reconstruction. (New York Times, 17 September 2016) As a result, the economy became addicted to money provided by the occupiers. Further, this produced enormous corruption, especially among jihadist warlords and other government bureaucrats. The overall situation has left millions no choice but to either leave the country or live on the money family members abroad send back home. Not only have decades of war forced millions to seek refuge in neighbouring and other countries, but now the current economic situation is also pushing the more well-off section of people and especially the younger generation to leave the country and look elsewhere for a home.

The US imperialists have spent more than a trillion dollars in a war that has directly caused the deaths of more than 150,000 civilians and soldiers and wounded many more. The war has also indirectly caused the death of hundreds of thousands of others and the suffering of millions of people. This has certainly not been done to bring some boys and girls back to school, but in pursuit of the US's global interest and regional interests.

Reducing troops to continue the occupation

Boasting about his efforts to deflate US involvement, Obama cited the reduction of US troops from 100,000 to fewer than 10,000 and the alleged change in their mission, from fighting to training and advising Afghan forces and supporting counter-terrorist operations. But he immediately referred to 320,000 Afghan soldiers and police the US is trying to organize to fight its battles in Afghanistan.

First of all, reducing the numbers doesn’t change the nature of the mission. The nearly 15,000 troops from the US and its "coalition" are many more than enough to make them invaders and occupiers. Consider that the US and its allies started their occupation with 30,000 troops. Secondly, regardless of their numbers, these forces are pursuing the same goal that has guided them since the 2001 invasion, to dominate Afghanistan and control a strategically important region, and serve the regional and global interests of US imperialism. Keeping 100,000 US soldiers in Afghanistan was unsustainable for the US. The draw-down did not change the nature of the war or represent anything like an end to the war. It was a change in tactics by Obama and his administration and its military leaders to make that war sustainable at the cost of Afghan lives. The Afghan national army lost nearly 3,000 officers and soldiers in 2013, and since then its losses have at least doubled.

The US has also been trying to "legalise" its military and political presence for the indefinite future by arranging a bilateral strategic treaty with the Afghan government. This treaty, signed by president Ghani, discloses the US's real intention, which is to continue the occupation as long as it can. It gives the US continued access to nine major land and air bases, including Bagram, Jalalabad and Kandhar. It allows the US to keep its aircraft and many Special Forces and "advisers" in the country at least until the end of 2024, with the option of renewing the treaty at that time. This agreement also gives immunity to US troops from any Afghani law. No US soldier can be arrested or put on trial by Afghans.

The war with Taliban

The Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan was followed by several years of bloody infighting among the jihadi warlords who had led the war against them. Cvilians were slaughtered. Much of Kabul was destroyed. This led many people to support the Taliban takeover in the 1990s, organized by Pakistan, with support from Saudi Arabia and Qatar and the implicit agreement of the US. After the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon, the US decided it had to intervene directly in Afghanistan. But the people that the US and its allies put in power in place of the Taliban were not much different ideologically. The difference was that they were more friendly to the US and the West, or opportunistically appeared that way, or did not care who dominated the country as long as they had a share in the power. After the US-led invasion, the Taliban took advantage of the discontent among Afghans about the occupation and the atrocities committed by the occupiers and their appointed regime, which became more widespread as the war continued.

The US is aware of the extreme corruption of the regime and the atrocities committed by its armed forces because they are trained to do so, but they are simply incapable of doing without all this. The US is also well aware that after 15 years the war is deadlocked.

The Taliban faces serious limitations. They no longer enjoy the US support or neutrality that enabled them to come to power two decades ago. They are a reactionary and fundamentalist force. When in power, they are brutal and oppressive to women, non-Pashtun nationalities, and other religions, and so they will have a hard time uniting many provinces and peoples. The contradiction between their Pashtun chauvinism and other nationalities such as the Tajik , Hazara and Uzbeks is very acute. Despite their advance in some areas, they have not been able to seize power countrywide or in major cities. For instance, they recently grabbed parts of the northern city of Kanduz for the second time, but had to quickly retreat.

Yet the US and its coalition may have reached the conclusion that they will not be able to defeat the Taliban. The US could not put an end to the ambitions of the Taliban and their backers when it had more than 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, and now the Taliban are again making military advances. US frustration was clear from a comment by a "senior administration official on the condition of anonymity". He refers to Afghan forces, but could well also mean the US forces who are leading them:

"It does not appear that the Afghan forces in the near future will be able to defeat the Taliban… Nor is it clear that the Taliban will make any significant strategic gains or be able to take and hold on to strategic terrain. It is a very ugly, very costly stalemate." (New York Times, 17 September 2016)

This prospect, however, will not stop the US from seeking to preserve its interests by other means. Its solution is to include the Taliban in a power-sharing deal. That would consequently increase the influence of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Afghanistan. As Obama put it in explaining US efforts to draw the Taliban to the negotiating table, "The only way to end this conflict and to achieve a full draw-down of foreign forces from Afghanistan is through a lasting political settlement between the Afghan government and the Taliban. That's the only way. And that is why the United States will continue to strongly support an Afghan-led reconciliation process."

So all the talk about liberating women and peace and prosperity has evaporated into thin air. The promises about democracy have produced nothing but a puppet, corrupt regime. Instead of eliminating fundamentalist terrorism, the war has ended up being a war to force the Taliban to the negotiating table.

The US and its appointed regime are trying to achieve that, but it seems it has not been working so far. In order to convince the Taliban to negotiate, the US also has to convince Pakistan, now deeply involved in contention with India over regional influence, and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states in their contention with Iran. Other countries are also involved.

The solution of the imperialists is continued occupation, at least given the present world situation. Considering this situation, the particular limitations of the imperialists and the present balance of forces, they don't really have other options. From the US point of view, no increase or decrease of forces, and no amount of support or further training by US advisers for the so-called Afghan national army, can solve this problem.

As for their opponents, the Islamic fundamentalist forces such as the Taliban, Daesh and Al-Qaeda who are opposing the present Afghan regime, despite their conflicts based on mutual religious and national differences, they are all oppressors, too, and like the regime are aligned with reactionary regimes abroad. To say the least, they are also part of the problem and can never be part of the solution.

The forces on both sides of the conflict are trying to hang on until they find an opportunity. The US and Taliban or Pakistan or any other player in the conflict may not prefer the present situation, but they can also take advantage of it and help continue the war in Afghanistan, even if at a lower intensity. Pakistan can prevent the proposed peace agreements and keep Afghanistan unstable, and the US also has a “good” excuse both at home and internationally to continue its occupation at a more sustainable cost, at least until a more settled situation in the world is achieved, which might not be any time soon.

The people of Afghanistan, whose interests should be paramount in this complex situation, are not considered important by the reactionaries. A revolutionary force that can rely on the people and has a clear and unambiguous position against both the imperialist occupiers and the reactionary fundamentalist forces could resolve the problem in the interests of the masses. What is needed is a revolutionary party whose goal is to end all exploitation and oppression and lead the masses to liberate themselves from the mess that the imperialists and the reactionary fundamentalists and their backers have created in Afghanistan – and around the world.
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Torture protest at Aero, book and plant sales, tree contest, and other upcoming events

Local friends of the library book sales:

The three-day Chatham County book sale was last week ( www.chathamnc.org/index.aspx?page=126 ), but the Lee County Library has theirs September 22-24 in Sanford (the first day is for Friends of the Library members; see leecountync.libguides.com/home ).  The Friends of the Durham Library sale is October 7-9th at the Main Library ( durhamcountylibrary.org/friends/ ).

NC AFL-CIO Convention: 

The 59th annual NC AFL-CIO State Convention is being held September 22-23 at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown ( http://aflcionc.org/nc-state-afl-cio-convention-returns-to-raleigh-sept-22-23/ ). 

[Community-Supported Hemp for Solar Energy:

This is the write up from Recyclique ( communecos.org/recyclique-shop/ ) :  "This Fri. Sept. 23, 6:30 pm come learn about prospects for Community-Supported Hemp for Solar Energy!  by Paul Tedesco.  New research shows that low-cost waste from hemp farms can be converted into a material that outperforms graphene as a nano-conductor used for solar panels, batteries and other electronics. And the timing is right: North Carolina’s new hemp commission is finally funded to design the rules for agricultural hemp in our state [amazingly, while marijuana is still illegal in conservative NC, the related industrial hemp plant, used to make textiles and numerous other products, was legalized in the last year or two]. Paul will draw on internet visuals to explain the new developments and make the case for hemp farming for solar as the future of community-supported energy.  At Recyclique, 2811 Hillsborough Rd., Durham 27705.  Suggested donations of $5, no one turned away.  Park in rear or next door in the Food Lion lot."   

Fall plant sales:

The NC Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill is holding a native plant sale and festival September 23-24th.  Over 100 native species, sustainable propagated at the Botanical Garden, will be on offer.  The event Friday, with live music and refreshments, is from 5-7:30pm, and is for members only (it is possible to join on the spot or online at ncbg.unc.edu and members get a 10% discount on plants and other benefits throughout the year) while the Saturday event from 9am-12 is public. 

The NC Native Plant Society will table on Saturday, and they will be at the Durham Monarch Festival and have a demonstration native plant garden at the State Fair, October 14-23rd. 

The Botanical Garden has many events throughout the year, such as the annual Jenny Elder Fitch Lecture on Sunday, November 6th, this year delivered by landscape architect Thomas Rainer and titled "Planting Design in a Post-Wild World."  It will be 2-4pm at the Botanical Garden and is free, but it is necessary to pre-register.         

Duke Gardens' Fall Plant Sale is open to all and has free parking (as does the NCBG), September 24th from 8am-12.  Members get a 10% discount and it is possible to join on the 24th.  Bring any used pots you want to recycle and the staff and Durham Master Gardeners will be at hand to answer questions.  For more information, see:  gardens.duke.edu/events/plant-sales .

NCSU's JC Raulston Arboretum gives away plants to members of their friends organization on October 1st starting at 9am (but come at least 15 minutes early to register).]     

MACFest:

The Durham County Library's first annual MACFest:  Multicultural Arts and Crafts Festival will be Sunday, September 24th 2-6:30pm at the Durham Central Park (in case of rain, it will be at the Main Library).  See: durhamcountylibrary.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails?EventId=143483 .

Carrboro Music Festival:

The annual Carrboro Music Festival will be held at locations throughout Carrboro, September 24-25th; see carrboromusicfestival.com/311/Carrboro-Music-Festival for more information. 

[UNC forum on Islamophobia:

UNC's Parr Center for Ethics and co-sponsors are hosting a discussion of Islamophobia Tuesday, September 27th at 6pm in Hyde Hall's University Room (Hyde Hall is across from the post office on Franklin Street and at the end of a row of buildings).  The panelists from various departments are Juliane Hammer (Religious Studies), Charles Kurzman (Sociology), Timothy Marr (American Studies), Melody Moezzi (author and attorney), and Joseph Kennedy (Law School).  For more information see:  parrcenter.unc.edu . 

The Parr Center is also marking First Amendment Day earlier on the 27th.]

Big Sweep:

NC Big Sweep is an annual campaign for volunteers throughout the state to cleanup trash along waterways, and events are planned throughout the day October 1st in Durham (but cleanups held anytime in September and October count).  See durhambigsweep.org . 

Durham's Finest Trees Contest:

The Durham City/County Sustainability Office (Greener Durham) is holding the Durham's Finest Trees contest again this year.  Trees can win for exceptional size, historical significance, or other exceptional qualities, and several winners will be announced at the Arbor Day festival in March.  Nominations are due by October 1st, by mail or email (the form is online at nc-durham.civicplus.com/1580/Durhams-Finest-Trees ). 

I just noticed that there is an article about one of the winners from last year, a very large white ash on parkland in southern Durham.  The tree survived many years of natural dangers and the construction of the Parkwood community around it, but now it is endangered by the non-native emerald ash borer, which is already in Durham, Orange, and Wake counties, and may have begun to enter the south end of Durham this summer.   

Parkwood Fall Flea Market:

There is a large flea market twice a year in front of the old Parkwood Shopping Center/ Jamaat Ibad Ar-Rahman mosque at the corner of Revere and Seaton roads in southern Durham and the fall sale will be October 1st, 8am-12pm (rain date October 8th).  The items sold are typically what you might find in yard sales, but sometimes non-profits have tables.  For more information, see:  parkwoodnews.blogspot.com/2016/09/fall-flea-market-october-1st-8am-noon.html .

The South Durham Farmers Market is held nearby at the corner of NC 55 and Sedwick Road ever Saturday morning.

Festifall:

Chapel Hill's annual Festifall street fair will be Sunday, October 2nd 12-6pm along West Franklin Street.  In past years Stop Torture Now had a table and while you're in the area, there is a large ash at the corner of Franklin and Columbia in the center of Chapel Hill, and some other large ones at that end of the UNC Campus (a smaller one sporting a few mistletoes was cut earlier this year, but maybe UNC will do something to protect the others from the ash borer). 

Durham Monarch Festival:

Durham's 2nd annual Monarch Festival will be Saturday, October 8th, 10am-4pm at Sandy Creek Park.  Monarchs have probably been around all summer, but they seem to be most abundant when tickseed flowers turn fields and powerline corridors gleaming yellow, which should happen once this rainy weather ends.  For details see  keepdurhambeautiful.org/event/2nd-annual-monarch-festival/  and there are several other upcoming events from Keep Durham Beautiful, such as rain garden planting at the George Watts Montessori School and a trash cleanup at the Geer Cemetery.   

[Pittsboro pollinator garden tour:

Wednesday, October 12th at 5pm and Saturday, October 15th at 2pm there will be tours of Chatham County Cooperative Extension's Pollinator Paradise Demonstration Garden at Chatham Mills in Pittsboro (480 Hillsboro Street).  The tours will be led by Agriculture Extension Agent Debbie Roos, who created the Garden, growing over 180 plant species, 85% native to North Carolina.  Participants should meet on the front lawn of the Chatham Marketplace.  For more information about the site, see:  growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu/growingsmallfarms-pollinatorgarden/ .

Friends of Plant Conservation Annual Fall Gathering:

The group will meet at the NC Botanical Garden October 21st, 3-8pm, and on the 22nd there will be a field trip to some sites in Durham where igneous rocks have weathered to produce unusually alkaline soil, supporting many rare or endangered plants.  I'm not sure if the meeting is always held at the Botanical Garden.  To join, see:  www.ncplantfriends.org .] 

Stop Torture Now's last trash cleanup outside "torture taxi" airline:

For four years NC Stop Torture Now has picked up trash quarterly along Swift Creek Road, in front of Aero Contractors' hangar in Johnston County, but that is coming to an end.  There was a cleanup September 17th and the last will be Saturday, November 19th, starting with a 10am press conference at the Johnston County Airport followed by about an hour of cleaning.  People are also needed to hold signs near the hangar and a public dump site with a lot of visibility.  People who are going to pick up trash will need to see the DOT safety information and video at:  www.ncdot.gov/programs/aah/  . 

National Events

Elections:

Important dates for registration, early voting, etc. for Durham County are online at:  dconc.gov/government/departments-a-e/board-of-elections .  The voter ID law has been overturned, so an ID is not required to vote and there have been other changes, though early voting rules in various counties are still being contested.  Election Day is Tuesday, November 8th, from 6:30am to 7:30pm, and judging by the lines in the primary election and the heat in the presidential contest, thee lines will be long.  For statewide information, see:   www.ncsbe.gov/ .

It will be possible to vote for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and have your vote counted, I think as a write-in candidate (more details later), though punitive electoral policies prevent the NC Green Party from appearing on the ballot.  I hope to write about some candidates later in the fall.   

SOA Watch Encuentro at the Border:

School of the Americas Watch, originally started to protest a program at Fort Benning, Georgia that trains soldiers from Latin America, who often go on to stage anti-democratic coups and violate human rights in their home countries, is holding a bi-national demonstration at the border, in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, October 7-10th.  The demonstration will condemn the US interventions south of the border that force people to migrate and racism, xenophobia, and militarization in the US and internationally.  See their website at:  www.soaw.org/border/  .


From a Chapel Hill activist calendar:

Some Triangle Peace and Justice Events September 21 to October 6, 2016

 (Events listed in chronological order except for recurring events posted at end)

SCARRED LANDS & WOUNDED LIVES "Powerful documentary on the ecological consequences of warfare...which traces how military forces have intentionally destroyed ecosystems as a means to win battles." 6:15 p.m., Wednesday, September 21, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Finlator Hall , 1801 Hillsborough St., Raleigh. Part of Campaign Nonviolence NC Week in Raleigh (www.paceebene.org/event/cnv- actions-raleigh-areanc-peace- week/).
 

NC PEACE ACTION PEACEMAKER AWARD DINNER  Honoring Lynn and Steve Newsom, directors of Quaker House in Fayetteville. Tickets: $30.  Reservations: www.ncpeaceaction.org/ or 919-787-2254). 6:30 p.m., Friday, September 23, Highland United Methodist Church, 1901 Ridge Road, Raleigh. Part of Campaign Nonviolence NC Week in Raleigh (www.paceebene.org/event/cnv- actions-raleigh-areanc-peace- week/).
 

CAMPAIGN NONVIOLENCE NC FESTIVAL Workshops and peace & justice exhibitors. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, September 24, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh, Clara Barton Room, 3313 Wade Avenue, Raleigh. Part of Campaign Nonviolence NC Week in Raleigh (www.paceebene.org/event/cnv-a ctions-raleigh-areanc-peace-we ek/). Flier posted in Commons.
 

VOLUNTEER DRIVERS NEEDED FOR FARMWORKERS    Dave Austin, Eno River UU Fellowship, requests drivers for two farmworkers’ events: 1-6 p. m., Sunday, September 25, FLOC Piedmont Regional Membership Meeting; and 6 a. m., and/or 8 p.m., Wednesday. September 28, Mediation Session in court, Raleigh. Speaking Spanish not necessary. Drivers take workers from labor camp to session and same or another driver takes workers back to home labor camp. Details: Justin Flores (jflores at floc dot com). daustin@mindspring.com, 919-433-6718.

A CONVERSATION WITH DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE Public presentation featuring James R. Clapper, who has served as Director of National Intelligence since August 9, 2010, leads the Intelligence Community, serving as the principal intelligence advisor to the President. 6 – 7 p.m., Tuesday, September 27, UNC’s McColl Building, Koury Auditorium, Kenan Flagler Business School, Skipper Bowles Drive; parking in Kenan-Flagler Parking Deck. Details:  [ events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ed0j6ho870e6bcc6&llr=6qfh5neab ].  Sponsored by Triangle Institute for Security Studies. 919-619-0547.

POISONOUS POLITICS: FAITH, FEAR AND DEMOCRACY Join community leaders for discussion about racism and rise of Islamophobia in US and elsewhere. Panelists include Shafeah M'Balia, Black Workers for Justice and Muslims for Social Justice; Imam AbuTaleb, Islamic Association of Raleigh; Gene Nichol, UNC Law School. http://merinc.org/event/forum- on-islamophobia-in-politics/. Small-group discussion following. 7-8:30 p.m., Thursday, October 6, McKimmon Center, 1101 Gorman Street, Raleigh. Contact:  Rev. Nancy Petty, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church. 919-828-0897.

ONGOING VIGILS FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE: Raleigh: Stop the Arms Race and Build a Culture of Peace Vigil, 1st Wednesday of every month, Noon to 1 PM, Century Post Office on Fayetteville St (919-782-0667); Raleigh: End the death penalty (PFADP, AI-USA, NC-ACLU), 5 - 6 PM, Mondays, Central Prison, corner of Hunt Dr and Western Blvd (919-779-1912); Chapel Hill: 5-6 PM EDT [4:30 - 5:30 PM EST], Fridays, corner of Elliott Rd and East Franklin St; bring your sign(s) to show your concern or take one from collection (919-942-2535). 

Stand in Solidarity with Standing Rock vigil Tuesday

There will be a vigil Tuesday, September 13th, 5:30-7:30 at the corner of Wade Avenue and Dixie Trail (814 Dixie Trail) in Raleigh in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and others fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline.  The vigil was organized by 350 Triangle; see actionnetwork.org/events/stand-in-solidarity-with-standing-rock-nodapl?referrer=karen-bearden&source=direct_link for more information and there is a petition at http://act.350.org/sign/stop-dakota-access-pipeline/?akid=16189.92.USnZ5S&rd=1&t=1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=actionkit .  September 13th is a national day of action against the pipeline.  The social media tag is #NoDAPL.  The Raging Grannies organized a solidarity vigil last Friday in Carrboro. 

Hiroshima Day Candlelight Vigil

This Saturday, August 6th, is the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and there will be a candlelight vigil at Chapel Hill's Peace & Justice Plaza (in front of the old Post Office at 179 East Franklin Street, across from UNC), 8-9pm.  There will be some speeches and music, but it will mostly be a silent vigil with candles and signs (some will be provided, or bring one).  The vigil is sponsored by Eisenhower Chapter 157 of Veterans for Peace (veteransforpeace.org) .  The organizers recommend parking in the deck at 100 East Rosemary, but most of the parking nearby at UNC should be free on a weekend.

The flyer condemns the Obama Administration's plans to upgrade the US nuclear arsenal (I think I've heard that it would cost $1 trillion dollars, for weapons that could cause human extinction and a mass extinction of other species, and would kill huge numbers of people, and probably not just in the targeted countries, if they are used again) and calls for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.  There is a petition signed by more than 5 million people at nuclearzero.org .   

It is too often left unmentioned that a second atomic bomb with a different design was used on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, and much more powerful nuclear weapons are common today.  The USSR joined the war against Japan at about the same time and Japan surrendered a few days later.