The starry sky stolen and estranged (and some notices)

A crescent Moon and a planet, probably Venus, seen from Lowes Grove after sunset in April 2018; a former Citgo gas station is on the left and a BP is on the right. ©

Despite light pollution being covered in Durham's UDO (Unified Development Ordinance dsc.durhamnc.gov/175/Development-regulations ) it remains abundant and must be increasing. In parts of Durham a clear winter night sky is black and sparkles with some of the brightest and most well-known constellations and on summer nights the Milky Way is just barely perceptible overhead, marked by the three avian constellations forming the Summer Triangle, high in the sky, but far fewer stars are visible than in rural parts of North Carolina, and few if any places in the state are truly dark. Unnecessary and wasted light can harm other species and human health and safety, besides ruining the night sky and wasting electricity, largely generated by polluting or otherwise damaging sources of energy.

When there are low clouds the problem in Durham becomes more visible. One night several years ago, around maybe 10 or 11pm, low clouds over southern Durham were intensely orange, as seen from the edge of Chapel Hill, and I heard that people called 911 thinking there was a fire. Circles of white light can sometimes be seen reflected above Research Triangle Park and commercial areas and when it is clear all of those photons still go up into the sky, where they bounce off air pollution, dust, and water vapor, making the sky brighter than it would be naturally, washing out the stars. From fall through spring low clouds turn bright orange for part of the night in one area. The source seems to be brightly lit greenhouses at the Park Research Center (104 TW Alexander Drive, apparently housing several companies, with the entire complex owned by an entity in New York City), across the road from RTP proper. The greenhouses are visible, an amber glow through the bare trees, across South Alston Road and the Burdens Creek valley from what is now called Falls Pointe at the Park (100 Cascade Falls Lane off of South Alston, www.fallspointeattheparkapartments.com see a previous post: www.durhamspark.blogspot.com/2018/12/burdens-creek-bluff-and-surrounding.html ). The light pollution is bright enough that branches are clear in photos taken with a plain digital camera miles away. At the Stonesthrow Apartments, right next to the greenhouses, the reflected light is so bright that it is possible to read a book by it. Surely this has biological effects and pollutes the common night sky for everyone over a large part of south Durham. Durham officials measured the light levels, but as I recall the light is considered indoors and therefore not covered by the UDO, despite the walls and ceilings being clear glass, so the situation has continued for probably more than 10 years. There are other large greenhouses in RTP, such as at agribusiness company Syngenta on Davis Drive just north of Highway 54 and I-40.

The orange glow seen from a few miles away February 11, 2013. ©

The Moon and an orange cloud (and a light) seen from a CVS on Highway 55, closer than the location above. ©

At UNC, the Biology Department had a small greenhouse behind Coker Hall, but it was replaced by a larger one on top of the newer Genomics building, like a lighthouse at night. The brilliant white floodlights over the sports fields along South Road are intense, and are often left on when the fields are not in use. Indoor lights are left on, despite older buildings having signs on the switches, perhaps a response to the oil crisis of the 70's (stemming from US and other “Western” imperialist backing of Israel around the 1973 Arab-Israeli War), saying to turn lights off when not in use. In at least some classrooms the lights automatically turn off towards midnight, many hours after classes usually end. In addition, large windows without screens are frequently left open, such as at Hamilton Hall, even during the winter so insects and other animals come in (and then traps are used, the subject of a future post) and the heated or cooled air goes out. Some windows and doors aren't well-sealed to begin with even in newer buildings. UNC is supposed to be reducing its carbon footprint, but I think it originally promised student groups that it would close its coal-burning co-generation plant by now.

There is the bright orange light over RTP and a less glaringly obvious bluish-white glow over Southpoint Mall and the surrounding strip malls, car dealerships, and offices. A recent study in Tucson, Arizona, which has centrally controlled LED streetlights with full cut-off shielding (preventing light from going upward), found that less than 20% of the light measured from orbit was from streetlights (see a brief article in the March 2021 issue of Sky and Telescope magazine). Sometimes sweeping beams of light can be seen when it is clear, but they might not be permanent features. The fact that cloudy skies are so bright (called sky glow) is probably another example of light pollution, in this case non-point pollution coming from thousands of small to large sources. Next time snow or ice causes widespread power outages, consider how bright it is at night. Why does the landscape look so well-lit, when no sources of light are visible? Our eyes do slowly adapt to the dark, but it still seems much brighter than it should be when lights are off over a large area and the Moon and stars are hidden. I notice this most when there is snow, but it might also apply after a hurricane. There is ground level light pollution include glare and visual clutter from sources such as area lights (UNC is full of examples, as are gas stations) and LED signs (such as at the corner of 54 and Blue Ridge Road at the State Fairgrounds and one near the corner of Highway 54 and Barbee Road in Durham, which replaced a plain sign removed during the construction of Pulte's neighboring 54 Station, but it might be less noticeable now with the new LED streetlights; see the linked post), and light trespass into yards and windows. Excessive outdoor lighting or light profligacy could make people more rather than less vulnerable to crime and wastes electricity.

Light pollution from human activity in space is a new problem. Currently there is a lot of concern about the launch of many new communications satellites, eventually to number in the tens of thousands, by US SpaceX, British OneWeb, and possibly by Amazon and others, to provide high-speed broadband Internet access in places not served by terrestrial infrastructure. These relatively small satellites, currently being launched, are going into low-Earth orbit and therefore more visible than much larger communication satellites in higher geosynchronous orbits, though possibly the new satellites are not very noticeable in urban and suburban skies. The number of satellites and their ability to autonomously maneuver makes it difficult for astronomers to avoid imaging them with telescopes. The satellites can be made darker and it is possible to reduce the impact on radio telescopes, but these measures are up to the companies and might not solve the problems. A US law banning “obtrusive space advertising” is the only regulation covering light pollution from space, according to an article in Sky and Telescope magazine (March 2020). There is a higher risk of collision and malfunctions with so many new satellites, leading to more space debris, which is an increasing problem, because even tiny objects traveling around the Earth at tremendous speeds can disable satellites and threaten astronauts. Recently the crew of the International Space Station had to prepare to flee as a piece of space debris approached and satellites have collided (Wikipedia says the first high-speed collision was February 10, 2009, destroying an active Iridium communications satellite, a leftover from a similar project to provide connectivity from low Earth orbit).

SpaceX has claimed that its space-based Internet service will pay for a corporate human mission to Mars. An article in the November 2020 issue of Air and Space/Smithsonian magazine ( www.airspacemag.com/ ) discusses speculation that rather than just connecting the billions of people worldwide who lack Internet access SpaceX will instead serve the US military and that this is an area of US soft power competition with China (specifically with the Huawei company). According to Wikipedia the SpaceX project is already receiving Federal subsidies to provide domestic civilian Internet access in rural areas and has been successfully tested with US weapon systems. The British government invested in OneWeb for its own soft power projection. On the other hand, previous attempts to provide Internet access from space have failed, so these new satellite megaconstellation projects might not be completed.

For more information, see an article in the March 2020 issue of Sky and Telescope magazine ( skyandtelescope.org/ ), covering the problems posed for optical and radio astronomy. There have also been shorter updates and a related article on observing geosynchronous satellites in the October 2020 issue. The article in Air and Space focuses on the business aspect, with little mention of pollution.

A few decades ago there were ambitious proposals to generate solar power in space and manufacture in orbit, potentially reducing pollution on the ground and solving some of the drawbacks of using solar energy on a large scale. On the other hand I think the 1972 book Limits to Growth by the Club of Rome projected that collapse would come even with access to extra resources from space. Perhaps this could be called offshoring industry to space, instead of where it actually went. In the 90's Russia experimented with reflecting sunlight from space to light up cropland at night. Several years ago orbiting solar powerstations was discussed in the Raleigh News and Observer and one letter to the editor talked about probably nonsensical 'death rays' from space. In the original proposal energy would have been beamed to collector stations on Earth as apparently weak and mostly harmless microwaves, similar to radio waves.

Light pollution can have an impact on the plants. Day length controls the seasonal life cycles of many plants, and influences leaf form and root growth. Plants judge day length by sensing red wavelengths, at intensities much less than that required for photosynthesis, or for reading a book, and a short period with light is enough to confuse them. Various plants respond to day length differently, for example many houseplants ignore daylength, because daylength does not vary much over the year in their native tropical habitat, but confusion caused by indoor lighting makes it difficult to grow some vegetables and flowers that come from higher lattitudes indoors. Plants outdoors exposed to artificial light could grow in the fall instead of preparing to go dormant, especially vigorously growing plants or branches, and plants exposed to constant light more readily suffer damage from air pollution or drought. Trees can be seen producing new leaves in the fall after a severe drought, though it is unclear to what extent this is due to light pollution. I have seen tuliptree branches surrounding a streetlight still with foliage in December, while red maples and Japanese maples not so close lights produced new leaves in fall following severe droughts, such as in 2019. There are nearby silver maples that often retain some foliage into winter, though silver maples generally seem to lose their leaves early, but again it is not clear how much this is due to streetlights not far from the trees. Occasionally trees try to grow in the winter for other reasons, such as after severe injury and/or drought, and some deciduous species are somewhat evergreen when young.

This young tuliptree next to a streetlight in Durham still had a lot of green foliage December 11, 2016. ©

Different species have different light sensitivities. According to a forestry bulletin from Purdue University trees such as boxelders (a species of maple), many birches, hornbeams, dogwoods, American beech, tuliptrees, sycamores, cottonwoods, black locusts, hemlocks, and American and Siberian elms are among the most sensitive trees. High-pressure sodium lights most impact plants, along with incandescent bulbs, unless they are low intensity. Purdue recommends mercury vapor, metal halide, and fluorescent lights, in order of increasing risk. Unfortunately these blue-rich lights are very attractive for insects.

Many insects are attracted to light, especially blue light, though not all insects or moths are attracted to light. Low-pressure sodium attracts few insects, but instead it can cause insects to rest as if it were daytime. Once insects or other animals are drawn to lights, they waste energy needed for survival and are more exposed to predation. Treefrogs often hunt around porchlights and spiders spin their webs nearby, while bats circle around streetlights. Some moths can hear bats and avoid them, but mercury vapor lights somehow interfere with this defense.

A light left on overnight at the entrance to Jordan Lake State Recreation Area's Seaforth day-use area attracted many moths, including a rosy maple moth, dagger moths, and what seems to be an oakworm moth of some kind. ©

A large imperial moth and an unidentified underwing moth found outside a building at UNC; there was also a green June beetle. © 

Moth wings, mostly from luna moths, discarded by predators at Falls Lake State Recreation Area; the predators were probably aided by the park's lights. © 

A few years ago it was discovered that a dung beetle navigates by the Milky Way, which probably has not been possible over vast areas of the world for a long time, unless the beetles have a way to see the Galaxy that humans lack. The Milky Way seems to be an almost imperceptible glimmer in the Triangle during the summer, at best. The Milky Way is in the sky all year, but if I have seen it at all, it is only when the Summer Triangle asterism, which includes a segment of the Milky Way, is high on summer nights, and our galaxy might be visible as a barely brighter strip of sky. Reportedly after an earthquake knocked out the power in Los Angeles people were frightened when they looked up and saw the arc of the Milky Way, though it was a familiar milky-looking glimmer in the night sky throughout the existence of humanity, until several decades ago.

The media airs satellite images showing the mostly dark, heavily sanctioned DPR Korea contrasting with the brilliant glow radiating out of the ROK and northeastern China, but while capitalist East Asian cities are spectacles to see (apparently Hong Kong has been called the most light polluted city on Earth), all that light represents wasted energy, probably generated by burning fossil fuels or dams, and climate change is becoming more and more obvious around the world and could ultimately burn us all.

Predators can benefit from artificial lighting, but this upsets the ecological balance. In Switzerland when streetlights were installed in some valleys, a bat that did not hunt at streetlights went locally extinct while a similar species that could make use of the lights made inroads, though light was probably not the only factor. Large toads enter streets to hunt under neighborhood streetlights on summer nights here, where they frequently get run over. Apparently amphibian eyes can take hours to recover after exposure to bright light, so they may be left blinded by passing cars. It is probably well-known that coastal light pollution confuses endangered sea turtle hatchlings, as well as disrupting the vertical migrations of zooplankton, tinkering with the base of the marine food chain. Commercial fishing actually introduces a lot of light pollution far out in the ocean in some places, visible from space. Many aquatic animals are attracted to light at night and marine organisms use light to lure prey or startle predators.

Birds migrating at night, especially in storms, are attracted to lights and crash to the ground after collisions or exhaustion. Thousands of birds can die at once when flocks of waterfowl mistake parking lots for water and try to land as if on water. The Fatal Light Awareness Program (www.flap.org) estimated that one to ten birds die per building per year, due to collisions with glass or light pollution, and 100 million to one billion migrating birds die each year in North America (this might refer only to the USA and Canada). People sometimes complain about depredations by cats, but might be ignoring losses due to buildings, windows, habitat loss, insecticides, climate change, airplanes, and the increasingly powerful wind energy lobby. If birds and other wildlife are killed by proposed wind turbines beyond the horizon off the Outer Banks, how will we know? It also seems like marine life would be disturbed by offshore construction, as it would be by oil exploration. Like a full Moon, artificial light prompts birds like mockingbirds to sing at night, with unknown impacts (see the link to an upcoming webinar on new research below). Mammals generally avoid lit-up areas, so lights could drive them away from habitats they could otherwise inhabit (this might include bobcats, which are still sometimes seen in the Triangle).

There have been few studies of light pollution's affects on us, but artificial light at night may cause cancer and could damage eyesight and is supposed to contribute to sleep problems. Working at night is supposed to increase the risk of various diseases. There are conflicting studies regarding crime, but criminal activity is more visible with motion sensitive lighting than continuous lighting. It would not be surprising if all the glare at UNC increases crime and it detracts from the beauty of the campus.

The night sky is a commons everyone had access to just by looking up, until air pollution and light pollution became abundant, another example of business dumping its externalities and abusing or expropriating the commons for private use, though in the case of light pollution we also do it to ourselves on a smaller scale. The starlit sky was important in human development, though things are much more abstract now, so religious ritual is conducted indoors, abstracted and estranged from our natural environment; astronomers don't have to observe at night; and the heavens are now a destination for tourism, neoliberalism, and warfare. Despoiling a lifeless celestial body like the Moon might not be the same as despoiling the Earth's living biosphere, but damage to the environment, our common cultural heritage, and Space Age historic sites on other worlds is still likely. US space policy under Trump, Obama, Bush, etc. seeks a cosmos under neoliberalism and imperialism. At state parks in rural eastern North Carolina, such as Jones Lake, there is little light pollution and the sky is so full of stars that it can be hard to recognize the constellations, but these are still not primordially dark skies. Amateur astronomy groups from the Triangle have to travel to places such as Medoc Mountain State Park to find relatively dark skies. Jordan Lake has darker skies than Durham, but the Milky Way is still obscured.

Fortunately there are low-hanging fruit on the path to restoring the night sky. Lights should be shielded so they only shine downward and turned off or dimmed when not in use, though a large percent of light still reflects off the ground and into the sky, such as at the vast and empty after hours parking lots around Southpoint Mall and neighboring strip malls. Outdoor lights should be checked regularly to make sure they stay correctly aimed. It is helpful to organize residential outdoor lights in separately controlled zones. Designers recommend beginning with less illumination than you think you need, to avoiding putting in too much. If a transformer is necessary, factor in how many lights you might connect to it when deciding on wattage. Lights might be placed around pools for safety, but fish are not immune to light pollution and can sense electromagnetic fields. Use high-quality fittings, especially for more exposed low-voltage systems. The International Dark Sky Association ( www.darksky.org ) has recommendations on design and specific fixtures.

Exterior lights require much less intense wattage than interior lights, and soft lighting usually looks best. Low pressure sodium bulbs minimize light pollution, but they produce monochromatic yellow light. An increasing problem is blue-rich white light (BRWL), produced by otherwise environmentally-friendly LEDs. Our eyes are especially sensitive to blue light, so we perceive more intense pollution from them (consider how blinding oncoming blueish-white car headlights are), though this light transmits a shorter distance through the air than redder light. BRWL lengthens the time necessary for our eyes to adapt to darkness and is less visible to the elderly. Warm white LEDs (less than 3000K) are a better choice.

At the start of the pandemic last spring the City of Durham was still able to send teams to install about 21,000 LED bulbs, apparently energy-efficient but producing glaring, probably blue-rich, white light, on existing and new streetlights, and the number of streetlights alone (mandated by the UDO in new construction) was already a problem in some neighborhoods. These LED bulbs could be the reason why it seemed like more cicadas than usual were being attracted into the street at night and often killed last summer.  Recently I noticed that the new traffic circle at the intersection of Herndon and Barbee roads seemed to be tinged blue or even violet, though the effect might have been heightened by yellower lights leading up to the intersection.  

Durham's streetlights might have become more energy efficient over the decades, but it has also gotten ever harder to see the stars without traveling some distance, and then there is the chance that people will be suspicious or even call the police. Neighborhood parkland where I watched meteor showers and saw the bright comets Hale-Bopp and/or Hyakutake has since been marred with a streetlight, though the area is supposed to be closed at night. I have suggested, without result, to the representatives of “developers” and officials that they could create dedicated places for people to stargaze, such as where there are ridges or lakes offering good views of the entire sky. Some public lands in the Triangle are open 24 hours a day, but they are often somewhat distant and there still might be dangers in going there to see the night sky.

Reportedly people can request extra shielding on treetlights in the City of Durham by contacting transportation specialists Terry Thompson or Denise Warren at 919 560 4366 ext 36407 or terry period thompson at durhamnc period gov or denise period warren at durhamnc period gov durham and they will send the request on to Duke Energy. People can request the removal of offensive streetlights, but the Durham Police Department gets a veto.

A few years ago Trump brought up some of the obvious problems with new forms of lighting, but advocated going backwards to inefficient, and therefore polluting, incandescent bulbs instead of looking for new ways to combine efficiency and aesthetics. Red light is supposed to be less harmful to human nocturnal vision. Perhaps lights could be designed to be less visible to wildlife, smart enough to activate only when needed, and more efficient.

Virtual LUNCHBOX Talk: Analyzing the Effects of Urban Noise and Light Pollution on Avian Communities

NCSU Master of Science student Lauren Pharr will talk about the impact of anthropogenic noise and light pollution on area birds in a webinar February 25^th 12 – 1pm, organized by the NC Botanical Garden and the New Hope Audubon Society. The Botanical Garden offers a Lunchbox Talk on conservation topics every month. For more information and registration see: ncbg.unc.edu/learn/

Proposed rezonings in southern Durham County and the City of Durham

Also related to the post linked at the beginning, there was a community consultation meeting via Zoom Tuesday, January 26^th 6 – 8pm about the hundreds of acres owned by the Triangle Brick Company west and south of the intersection of Highway 55 and Hopson Road. “Development” interests, typically represented by lawyers and/or engineers at these legally mandated meetings, want to have this vast area (I think the figure was 241 acres and it is probably roughly a mile or even more from east to west) around the abandoned claypit, extending from both sides of 55 to within view of Grandale Road on a ridge, much of it already clearcut several years ago, rezoned to be all Light Industrial (some of it is currently Rural Residential) and annexed by the City. The proposal is a business park, ultimately with 5 to 6 short office or industrial buildings, similar to those at the corner of Hopson and 54, with staged construction beginning in the spring of 2022. Of course if a site is rezoned without a development plan, something else could be built, if consistent with the zoning. Another large chuck of land west of this “assemblage” was clearcut a few years ago, and it seems like it is only a matter of time before it will be sold and built on. These are some of the last large tracts of undeveloped, rural private land surrounding the Wildlife Resources-managed gamelands around Jordan Lake at the very south end of Durham County. This Federal land as well as some owned by Durham County covers bottomland that can be inundated when the Lake is used for flood control, and doesn't protect much of the higher ground. Some species need both lowland and upland habitats, such as many salamanders, and others might live in bottomlands only because the uplands have been made inhospitable for them by sprawl. Not far south of the countyline there have been vast changes as residential sprawl around rapidly growing Cary in Wake County spread into northeastern Chatham County, formerly remarkably 'empty,' except for a few houses and older subdivisions (maybe these would be called exurbs), with vast expanses of relatively young forest, some of it held as private hunting reserves, inhabited by flocks of turkeys, possibly bobcats, etc. Rarely seen bobcats might be one of the mammals that can be driven away by artificial lighting. Today the area is almost unrecognizable, with old roads renamed or rerouted, two lane roads have become wide enough for many lanes, and much of the forest and old houses were scraped away, creating a lunar or martian landscape during construction. For years there have been yard signs nearby saying 'no' to Cary.

Looking roughly southeast from the powerline at the northwest corner of the site in 2012; this is only part of the "assemblage" and is now a young pine forest. ©

The intersection of Hopson Road and NC 55 at the east end of the site, which includes the wooded land in the background and some on this side of 55, to the left. ©

Looking east from the northwest corner in 2018; most of the land on the left is owned by the US government and Durham County; NC 55 is out of sight behind a ridge far down the powerline and the old claypit is behind the forest in the center. ©

There will be a meeting Thursday, February 18^th 6-8pm about the 40 acres of Durham County-owned land at 451 TW Alexander, 6001 NC 55, and 6026 Experiment Drive/Avenue. This is where a large hill was blasted away several years ago for a failed commercial or residential project, the earth being used as fill for North Carolina's first toll road, part of the ring of 540 around Raleigh (construction which could harm the endangered dwarf wedgemussel in southern Wake County). Apparently excess material from the hill was dumped in the claypit. Nearby roads were re-routed and a new road built, near the colony of pinxterflower azaleas, as well as deep red, five-petalled fire pinks and other common to very rare wildflowers around a former farm. The area is probably unusual because of the presence of igneous rock formations, unlike the typical sedimentary bedrock in the Triassic Basin of southern Durham. I last heard that the County wanted to build something like a sludge-drying facility for the nearby Triangle Wastewater Treatment Plant, but the neighborhood meeting is about rezoning to Office and Industrial (parts of the site are currently zoned for residential, commercial, and office use) for “a new Durham County Public Works Administration Building.”

The site in 2010; there was a wooded hill with a house here and this is about where the driveway was; the Triangle WWTP is lower out of view on the left and there is now a residential development on the right, across TW Alexander Drive. © 

Community consultation meeting information and other planning-related announcements are sent out every Friday through the Planning Public Notification Service of the Durham City-County Planning Department ( sign up at durhamnc.gov/411/Planning-Public-Notification-Service ). Those owning land within a certain distance of a proposed rezoning receive legally mandated notifications by mail. There is a link to join the meeting via computer or phone, but it is not working:  dtwarchitectsandplanners.my.webex.com/dtwarchitectsandplanners.my/j.php?MTID=m687db88b818ca d7daefa13e28c13a1bf  To join by phone, call 415-655-0001, meeting ID 142 953 5347.

There will be meeting 5 – 7pm February 18^th about rezoning 2102 So Hi Drive from Rural Residential to Science Research Park, to build two office buildings. This is a large piece of land at the corner of So Hi and Northeast Creek Parkway, bordering RTP. The site is on the south (RTP) side of the intersection, extending from the Triangle Curling Club on the east to about an equal distance west, on Northeast Creek Parkway. The owning entity is Parmer Woodlands 3 LLC, with an address in Carlsbad, California, and similarly named companies with the same address own large parcels adjoining 2102 So Hi and on the west side of the intersection, making up most of the north end of RTP. Northeast Creek flows through 2102 So Hi, and is joined by a small stream flowing from the north that crosses So Hi in a narrow valley by a church. Beavers have been very active in the area and this might be where there is or was a very large, though shallow, beaver pond, between a ubiquitous sewer easement and a high-tension powerline. Fish probably include pickerel and bowfin and would be hunted by belted kingfishers. Other ponds can be seen from Northeast Creek Parkway. Durham's Interactive Maps ( durhamnc.gov/1455/Interactive-Maps) shows a large body of water there, though maps are often inaccurate regarding waterways. Fire pinks, pinxterflower wild azaleas, evergreen Catawba rhododendrons, more than one species of dogwood, umbrellatrees (a deciduous magnolia, blooming around May 1^st here; fire pinks might also bloom in May, while pinxterflowers bloom in April), spicebushes, milkweed, burdocks, Hepatica, star chickweed, toothworts, liverworts, and horsetails are some locally uncommon to rare plants growing in the general area. Nearby areas are carpeted with spring ephemerals and some, such as lavender Hepaticas, could be blooming already and can start around January if it is a 'warm' winter. Hawks are common, phoebes nest along the Creek, and upstream hummingbirds fight over summer beds of orange jewelweed. The usual procedure is for the rezoning or annexation applicant to have one or more informal community meetings, followed by a formal hearing before the Planning Commission, and then a hearing during a regular City Council or Board of County Commissioners meeting.

To join via Zoom, go to zoom.us/join, meeting ID 884 8173 7483, passcode 450403, or call 646-558-8656 and enter the same ID and passcode.

Looking north on Northeast Creek Parkway; Northeast Creek parallels the road on the right. ©

A Hepatica off of Grandale Road in late March. ©

Hepatica with fresh new leaves, trout lilies, spring beauties, Christmas ferns, and probably some star chickweeds in early April off of So Hi Drive. ©

Third party ballot access in North Carolina after 2020

The NC Green Party lost its hard won ballot access with the 2020 general election, with campaigning and petitioning hobbled by the pandemic. Without ballot access Greens running for office will have to get on the ballot individually or run as write-in candidates and will not be listed as Greens and voters will not be able to register as Greens. The NCGP is asking Governor Roy Cooper to maintain the Party's official status and/or to maintain the status of registered Green voters for 18 months; waive petition requirements for all parties that had ballot access as of 2020 (the Constitution Party apparently also lost its ballot access last year); and to lower the required number of signatures to establish or re-establish a party by at least 75% and to allow electronic signatures. The pandemic severely limited campaigning last year and makes petitioning hazardous, and there aren't gatherings where people could be asked to sign in-person. Greens plan to run in several local elections in 2021. For more information, a sample letter, and to sign up to send a letter or email, go to: www.ncgreenparty.org/ask_cooper_for_covid_relief

RDU Quarry Town Hall with NC Senator Wiley Nickel

There will be a town hall meeting about the proposed rock quarry at the RDU Airport, adjacent to Umstead State Park, Wednesday, February 10^th 6 – 8pm with Wiley Nickel of the NC Senate and Dr Jean Spooner of the Umstead Coalition ( umsteadcoalition.org , www.facebook.com/umsteadcoalition/ . To sign up and submit questions see:  forms.gle/78F8oVdBE7e9hrKy6

Octubre: The 1943 Famine in India and the Role of Winston Churchill

Below is a translation followed by the original article from the January 2019 issue of Octubre, newspaper of the Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninist) (PCE m-l, pceml.info/actual/index.php/2014-09-05-18-40-32/octubre ):

The 1943 Famine in India and the Role of Winston Churchill

Marcial Tardón

If we do not investigate history strictly, we could speculate that Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain in two periods (1940-45 and 1951-55), was a jovial man, a great leader and a man of much charisma.  However, history tells us that behind this bright facade lies an obscure truth: Churchill carried out an economic and military strategy in Bengal, India, during the Second World War, which caused a famine that ended up killing millions of people. This theme is not taken up in the history books, nor is it remembered as a controversial fact. However, it is worth examining it to make known one of the cruelest and most deplorable events in world history.

Very few people today know about the genocide in Bengal, let alone how Churchill planned it. Churchill's hatred of the Indian people led several million people to die during the Bengal "famine" of 1943. "I hate Indians. They are a bestial people with a bestial religion," he said.

The 1943 famine in Bengal was one of several famines in Bengal, an administrative division of British India that was under the British Crown. It is estimated that around 2 million people died of malnutrition in that period. Much of the consequences were due to the decisions of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, as he feared that the Japanese would advance through Burma and attack the eastern border of Bengal. As a preventive measure, a scorched earth initiative was launched in two parts, eastern and coastal Bengal. The impact of the policies on the development of the famine was decisive. At the end of March 1942, Governor Herbert, acting under the direct orders of Winston Churchill, issued a directive requiring that surplus stocks of rice and other food be removed or destroyed throughout Bengal.

That year Bengal had a better than normal harvest, despite the state of war that extended to the Asian colony. The British army took millions of tons of rice from the hungry people to send to the Middle East, where it was not even needed. When the hungry people of Bengal asked for food, Churchill said that the "famine" was caused by the Bengalis “multiplying like rabbits." The viceroy of India declared that "Churchill's attitude toward India and the famine as negligent, hostile and contemptuous." Even the right-wing imperialist Leo Amery, who was the British Secretary of State in India, said he "did not see much difference between his [Churchill's] and Hitler's outlook." Churchill rejected all offers of aid to send rice to Bengal; Canada offered 10,000 tons. Meanwhile, several million men, women and children died of hunger in Bengal.

The British tried to limit the dramatic situation by attributing it to the bad times that India had had in that period. However, as noted by economist and Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen, there was no overall shortage of rice in Bengal in 1943: its availability was somewhat greater than in 1941, when there was no hunger. In part, this was what led to the slow official response to the disaster, as there had been no crop loss and, therefore, hunger was unexpected. One of its root causes, says Sen, was the rumors of the shortage that caused hoarding and price inflation. This was caused by the rapid demand in wartime that made rice consignments an excellent investment (prices had already doubled over the previous year). In Sen’s interpretation, while the peasants owners of the land where the rice grew and the workers in industries in urban areas and on the docks saw their salaries rise, it led to a disastrous change in the situation of groups such as landless peasants, fisherfolk, barbers, hullers of rice and other groups who found that the real value of their salaries had been cut by two-thirds since 1940. Churchill prevented the alleviation of the burden on India, and on the contrary increased it. The Indian industries were converted to help in the manufacture of weapons and uniforms for the troops in Africa and those near Japan. This left the large Indian cities without industries for basic necessities that, together with an increase in grain shipments, caused the collapse. When the factories were occupied with arms manufacture, goods such as agricultural and livestock tools were in short supply. This led to a decrease in agricultural production and an inability to deliver the amount of grain that the British required to be produced; Indian landowners delivered the grain to local food warehouses. Having less grain available for trade, the price doubled while with the war effort salaries were frozen for 5 years. This led to 2 million people dying in 1943 in the worst famine in India in the 20th century. In short, although there was enough rice and other grain in Bengal to feed people, they did not have enough money to buy it.

As stated above, more than 2 million people died in Bengal due to this terrible situation. It is one of the most terrible and dishonest crimes against humanity that is known."

La hambruna de la India (1943) y el papel de Winston Churchill

Marcial Tardón

Si no indagamos de forma estricta en la historia, podríamos llegar a especular que el primer ministro de Gran Bretaña Winston Churchill en dos periodos (1940-45 y 1951- 55), era un hombre jovial, un gran líder y un hombre de mucho carisma. Sin embargo, la historia nos dice que detrás de esta fachada luminosa se encuentra una oscura verdad: Churchill llevó a cabo una estrategia económica y militar en Bengala, India, durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, que provocó una hambruna que terminó matando a millones de personas. Este tema no es recurrente en los libros de historia, ni es recordado como un hecho controvertido. Sin embargo, vale la pena hacer una revisión del mismo para dar a conocer uno de los hechos más crueles y lamentables de la historia mundial. 

Muy pocas personas conocen a día de hoy el genocidio en Bengala, y mucho menos cómo lo diseñó Churchill. El odio de Churchill hacia los indios llevó a varios millones de personas a morir durante la “hambruna” de Bengala de 1943. “Odio a los indios. Son un pueblo de bestias con una religión de bestias“, dijo.

La hambruna en Bengala de 1943 fue una de las varias hambrunas ocurridas en Bengala, una división administrativa de la India Británica que se encontraba bajo el mandato de la Corona británica. Se estima que alrededor de 2 millones de personas fallecieron de desnutrición en ese periodo. Gran parte de las consecuencias fueron debidas a las decisiones del primer ministro británico Winston Churchill, ya que temía que los japoneses avanzaran a través de Birmania y atacaran la frontera oriental de Bengala. Como medida preventiva se lanzó una iniciativa de tierra arrasada en dos partes, Bengala oriental y costera. El impacto de las políticas sobre el desarrollo de la hambruna fue decisivo. A finales de marzo de 1942, el Gobernador Herbert, actuando bajo las órdenes directas de Winston Churchill, emitió una directiva que exigía que las existencias excedentarias de arroz y otros alimentos fuesen retirados o destruidos en toda Bengala. 

Aquel año Bengala tuvo una cosecha mejor de lo normal a pesar del estado de guerra que se extendía a la colonia asiática. El ejército británico cogió millones de toneladas de arroz del pueblo hambriento para enviarlas a Oriente Medio, donde ni siquiera era necesario. Cuando el pueblo hambriento de Bengala pidió comida, Churchill dijo que la “hambruna” era causada “por criar como conejos“. El virrey de la India declaró que “la actitud de Churchill hacia la India y la hambruna es negligente, hostil y despectiva“. Incluso el imperialista derechista Leo Amery, que era el Secretario de Estado británico en la India, dijo que “no veía mucha diferencia entre su perspectiva [la de Churchill] y la de Hitler“. Churchill rechazó todas las ayudas que le ofrecieron para enviar arroz a Bengala, Canadá llegó a ofrecer 10.000 toneladas. Mientras, varios millones de hombres, mujeres y niños morían de hambre en Bengala. 

Los británicos intentaron matizar la dramática situación atribuyendo la situación a las malas cosechas que había tenido la India en dicho periodo. Sin embargo, como ha señalado el economista y Premio Nobel Amartya Sen, se considera que no había escasez global de arroz en Bengala en 1943: la disponibilidad era algo mayor que en 1941, cuando no había hambre. En parte fue esto lo que condicionó la lenta respuesta oficial al desastre, ya que no había habido pérdidas de cosechas y, por lo tanto, el hambre era inesperada. Una de sus causas fundamentales, sostiene Sen, estaba en los rumores de la escasez que provocaron el acaparamiento y la inflación de los precios causada por la rápida demanda en tiempo de guerra que hizo que las partidas de arroz fueran una excelente inversión (los precios ya se habían duplicado respecto al año anterior). En la interpretación de Sen, mientras que los campesinos propietarios de tierras en donde creció el arroz y los que trabajaban en las industrias de las zonas urbanas y en los muelles vieron cómo sus salarios se elevaban, se condujo a un cambio desastroso en los derechos de intercambio de grupos como los campesinos sin tierra, pescadores, barberos, descascarilladores de arroz y otros grupos que encuentran que el valor real de sus salarios había sido recortado por dos tercios desde 1940. Churchill impidió aliviar la carga a la India, y por el contrario la aumentó. Las industrias indias fueron reconvertidas para ayudar en la manufactura de armas y uniformes a las tropas en África y la frontera con Japón. Esto dejó sin industrias de primera necesidad a las grandes ciudades Indias, lo que sumado a un aumento en los envíos de granos, provocó el colapso. Al estar las fábricas ocupadas en armamentos, bienes como herramientas agrícolas y ganaderas estaban en escasez. Esto contrajo la producción agrícola y al no poder entregar la cantidad de grano que los Británicos pedían producir, los terratenientes indios entregaron los almacenes de comida locales. Al haber menos grano disponible en los comercios, el precio se duplicó mientras los sueldos con el esfuerzo de guerra se congelaron por 5 años. Esto causó que en 1943 murieran 2 millones de personas en la peor hambruna de la india del siglo XX. En pocas palabras, a pesar de que en Bengala había suficiente arroz y otros granos para alimentarse, la gente no tenía suficiente dinero para comprar. 

Como queda dicho unas líneas más arriba más de 2 millones de personas murieron en Bengala, debido a esta terrible situación. Se trata de uno de los crímenes contra la humanidad más terrible y deshonesto que de que se tenga noticia. 

Towards Marxist-Leninist Unity Vol. 2, No. 4 published

A new issue of Towards Marxist Leninist Unity is out, though not yet available at redstarpublishers.org/TMLU.htm (the previous issues have been posted, through Vol. 2, No. 3, out in late October).  The next issue should come out in February.  Articles in this issue:

We are in Great Depression Two

A Great Technical Achievement

Biden Represents Imperialism as Usual

Why the Military Establishment Backed Biden

Jail Killer Cops for Life!

Humor and Stupidity Section

Merry Xmas

Over 250 million workers and farmers rise up against India’s right-wing government

Bolivia: October 18: Popular Victory over the Pro-Coup and Fascist Oligarchy

Peru: For the Call for a Sovereign and Popular Constituent Assembly!

Artículos en español  

Bolivia: 18 de Octubre: Victoria Popular sobre la Oligarquía Golpista y Fascista

Perú: ¡Por la convocatoria a una asamblea constituyente soberana y popular!

The Grand Conjunction, US Dept of Labor responds on H2A labor contractor abuses, and some red anniversaries

A response from the US Department of Labor to the Farm Labor Organizing Committee's letterwriting campaign regarding abuses of workers' rights by agricultural guestworker labor contractors (see durhamspark.blogspot.com/2020/11/floc-songs-for-justice-concert-124-and.html ) is below.

The FLOC fundraising concert advertised in that post was delayed a day, but is online at: youtu.be/a87gbLcYfTU (1 hour 12 minutes).

FLOC December benefit concert program, from Facebook.

December 21^st is the winter solstice, when night is longest and the Sun rises and sets far south on the horizon and is relatively low in the sky all day. Many or maybe all cultures have winter solstice traditions or festivals, such as Iran's Yalda Night or Chelleh Night ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yald%C4%81_Night and highlighted yesterday on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday www.npr.org/2020/12/20/948315562/yalda-night ).

Adding to the significance of the day, there will also be an unusually close conjuction of Jupiter and Saturn shortly after sunset. A conjuction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs every 20 years, but this is the closest such conjuction visible at night in centuries (the last close Jupiter-Saturn conjunction that was easily seen might have been one in 1226, according to this month's Sky and Telescope magazine, skyandtelescope.org/ ), and I think the next one will be on a morning in March 2080, the month of the Northern Hemisphere's spring equinox, when day an night are about equally long and the Sun rises due east and sets due west. These two bright planets have been visible in the southern sky for months, but now appear very close together, peaking early this evening in the faint zodiacal constellation Capricornus, in the southwest. I looked for Jupiter and Saturn a few days ago, but they must have been very low behind trees or had already set by then. These gas giants are among the brightest objects in the sky (visible even through urban light pollution, the subject of a future post), and unlike stars, planets don't really twinkle. With a telescope or maybe with binoculars some of their moons and rings are visible, and from the continental USA Ganymede can be seen passing across Jupiter tonight. It was misty and overcast here this morning, but is now completely clear, and the planets will probably remain close together in the sky for a while after the 21^st.

Later tonight (about 4am) the Ursid meteor shower peaks (Ursids can be seen from about the 17^th to 26^th every December), though it is a weak shower, with 5 to 10 or 15 meteors an hour. There are meteor showers with varying numbers of meteors per hour and other characteristics throughout the year, as well as random meteors not associated with a known shower. Earlier in December the Geminid shower peaked with up to 50 to 150 meteors an hour, and is predicted to reach 200 by 2080, according to an article in this month's issue of Sky and Telescope.

Other conjuctions happen periodically during a year, and can involve more than two objects. It might not have been a conjunction, but several planets were lined up in the sky, I think in the southwest after sunset, at one point in the 90's. Brilliant Venus is currently a “Morning Star,” while reddish Mars (orange-colored to me) is in the southeast in the evening (it was brighter months ago); Neptune, Uranus, and the asteriod Ceres are also currently in view (see Astronomy magazine, astronomy.com ), but probably only with binoculars or a telescope. Mercury was faintly visible in the morning in November and maybe into December, but will be up in the evening later in the winter.

Some useful stargazing websites:

spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2020/12/mon-winter-begins-great-conjunction.html

heavens-above.com/main.aspx

www.spaceweather.com/

International Meteor Organization: www.imo.net/

December 21^st is also the birth anniversary of Georgian Bolshevik Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (Djugashvili) and Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, known as Africa's Che Guevara. Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong (or Tse-tung) was born December 26^th in China's Hunan province.

There is a post today about Stalin's continuing significance, denied by revisionists, “democratic socialists,” etc. at michaelharrison.org.uk/

FLOC Facebook post about workers' rights violations by H2A labor contractors.

The US DOL's December 15^th letter (by email):

The U.S. Department of Labor (Department) received your letter expressing concerns regarding the Department's H-2A visa program and request for a moratorium on the approval of H-2A applications filed by H-2A labor contractors (H-2ALCs). Your correspondence was forwarded to the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) for response.

You allege certain H-2ALCs are violators of federal law. The Department takes very seriously employer compliance with the Department's H-2A program regulations, which include provisions for worker protections and impose employer requirements concerning wages and working conditions [footnote: See 20 CFR Part 655, subpart B; and 29 CFR Psart 501.]. However, these regulations do not allow the Department to impose a moratorium or cessation on the review of properly filed applications that meet H-2A regulatory requirements.

The Department's regulations at 20 CFR Part 655, subpart B, permit H-2ALCs to file H-2A applications with the Department and to receive a certification where the application meets the requirements of 20 CFR 655.161. The Department's regulations define H-2ALCs in 20 CFR 655.103 as “any person who meets the definition of employer under [subpart B] and is not a fixed-site employer, an agricltural association, or an employee of a fixed-site employer or agricultural association...who recruits, solicits, hires, employs, furnishes, houses, or transports any worker....” H-2ALCs must meet the same program requirements as other H-2A employers, including assurances and guarantees, and are subject to additional requirements for participation in the H-2A prigram. For example, to receive H-2A certification, an H-2ALC must also provide the Department with the following: an original surety bond demonstrating the H-2ALC's ability to meet payroll and financial obligations to workers; pertinent details related to each fixed-site employer they will service, with expected start and end dates of work and descriptions of the crops and activities for each location; copies of fully executed work contracts with each fixed-site employer; a copy of a valid Farm Labor Contractor certificate of registration and Farm Labor Contractor Employee certificates of registration, if applicable; and proof that housing and transportation for workers meets all applicable standards and regulations, if provided by the fized-site employer. See 20 CFR Part 655.132. The Department will continue to receive and evaluate each application on its merits for compliance with H-2A program regulations and determine whether each application meets the requirements for certification.

While your letter alleges violations of a general nature, you may report a specific suspected violation of H-2A's provisions by contacting the Department's Wage and Hour Division for direct assistance at (866) 487-9243 or https://www.dol.org/agencies/whd/. Please know the Department remains in frequent contact with our federal and state partners and the stakeholder community to ensure employer compliance with H-2A program requirements. If you have any additional questions, please contact ETA's Office of Foreign Labor Certification at (202) 513-7350.

Sincerely,

[Signed by an administrator at the Office of Foreign Labor Certification]

Six years since the last of the Cuban Five political prisoners were released; Gerardo Hernández elected to Cuba's Council of State

The Cuban Five - Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero, René González, and Ramón Labañino

The last three of the Cuban Five political prisoners, imprisoned by the USA after monitoring US-based terrorist groups, were released December 17, 2014.  Among them was Gerardo Hernández, who was elected to Cuba's Council of State and is the national coordinator of Cuba's Committees in Defense of the Revolution.  He was once mentioned by the BBC as a likely candidate for a high position in the Cuban state.  Improving relations with Cuba was a positive foreign policy of the Obama-Biden administration, as was negotiating with Iran, though overthrowing the Cuban Revolution and again dominating Cuba politically and economically was and is the US objective.  Restoring normal diplomatic relations and trade with Cuba would probably be economically beneficial for North Carolina and the US as a whole.  Below is an email sent out yesterday by the Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee (formerly the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, www.freethefive.org/ , which organized demonstrations, prison solidarity with the Five, forums, carried out legal research, etc.), www.cuba-venezuela.org/index.php/en/ :

Gerardo Hernández elected to Cuba's Council of State

Six years to the day after Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero and Ramon Labañino joined their previously released comrades Fernando González and René González in returning home to Cuba, Gerardo was elected to the prestigious Cuban Council of State. It is a post of great honor and great responsibility, for which Gerardo is both fully deserving and fully capable. Even before conducting their dangerous mission in the United States, preventing acts of terrorism against Cuba, the Cuban Five Heroes dedicated their lives to serving and defending the people of Cuba and the Cuban Revolution. Gerardo was also recently named the national coordinator of the Committees in Defense of the Revolution, a critical task in the face of the ever-escalating U.S. aggression against Cuba.

Recalling the work of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five

The predecessor of the Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee, the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, was formed just days after the unjust conviction of the Cuban Five on June 8, 2001. We worked tirelessly from that day until the day all five returned to Cuba on December 17, 2014, fulfilling the promise made by Fidel Castro — Volveran!

A complete timeline of the key events during that period can be found on our old website, which is still accessible. The website also contains invaluable resources in studying the history of the struggle to free the Five, including legal documents, audio and video files, and lots more. You can see the first national march on Washington for the Five, held on Sept. 23, 2006, the unveiling of billboards for the Five in Los Angeles and San Francisco, speakers at many antiwar marches spreading the word about the case of the Five, and lots more.

Here's one of the many speeches on the site, with committee coordinator Gloria La Riva speaking at a march for political prisoners held at the Democratic Convention in Denver in August, 2008 (please excuse the lower resolution; technology has advanced since 2008!).

March on Washington to free the Cuban Five, September 23, 2006.

17 de diciembre de 2020: sexto aniversario del regreso de los Cinco Héroes cubanos

Hoy, seis años después del día en que Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero y Ramón Labañino se unieron a sus compañeros previamente liberados Fernando González y René González al regresar a Cuba, Gerardo fue elegido miembro del prestigioso Consejo de Estado de Cuba. Es un cargo de gran honor y gran responsabilidad, del que Gerardo es plenamente merecedor y plenamente capaz. Incluso antes de realizar su peligrosa misión en los Estados Unidos, previniendo actos de terrorismo contra Cuba, los Cinco Héroes cubanos dedicaron su vida a servir y defender al pueblo de Cuba y la Revolución Cubana. Gerardo también fue nombrado recientemente coordinador nacional de los Comités de Defensa de la Revolución, una tarea crítica ante la creciente agresión de Estados Unidos contra Cuba.

Recordando el labor del Comité por la Libertad de los Cinco Cubanos

El antecesor del Comité de Solidaridad Cuba y Venezuela, el Comité Nacional por la Libertad de los Cinco Cubanos, se formó pocos días después de la injusta condena de los Cinco Cubanos el 8 de junio de 2001. Trabajamos incansablemente a partir de ese día hasta el día en que los Cinco regresaron a Cuba el 17 de diciembre de 2014, cumpliendo la promesa hecha por Fidel Castro - ¡Volverán!

Se puede encontrar una cronología completa de los eventos clave durante ese período en nuestro antiguo sitio web, que aún está disponible. El sitio web también contiene recursos invaluables para estudiar la historia de la lucha por liberar a los Cinco, incluso documentos legales, archivos de audio y video, y mucho más. Puede ver la primera marcha nacional en Washington para los Cinco, celebrada el 23 de septiembre de 2006, la inauguración de vallas publicitarias para los Cinco en Los Ángeles y San Francisco, oradores en muchas marchas contra la guerra que difunden la noticia sobre el caso de los Cinco, y mucho mas.

Este es uno de los muchos discursos en el sitio, con la coordinadora del comité Gloria La Riva hablando en una marcha por los presos políticos celebrada frente a la Convención Demócrata en Denver en agosto de 2008 (disculpe la resolución más baja; ¡la tecnología ha avanzado desde 2008!).

Commemoration of the October Socialist Revolution repressed; RCWP seeking international solidarity

The Russian Communist Workers' Party of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is seeking international statements of solidarity after a demonstration commemorating the Great October Socialist Revolution was repressed November 7th in Tyumen (a city in southwestern Siberia, near the Ural Mountains and Kazakhstan).  Local RCWP leader and journalist Alexandr Kipriyanovich Cherepanov is being charged with assault on the police, with the possibility of five years imprisonment.  The RCWP sent out the article below (I changed a few typos).  Organizations can send letters in solidarity to ak_rkrp /at/ mail period ru.  Letters have already been received from groups in Greece, Hungary, Italy, France, Belgium, and elsewhere.  The RCWP-CPSU's website in Russian and English is:    rkrp-rpk.ru/

Alexandr Kipriyanovich Cherepanov

Alexandr Kipriyanovich Cherepanov was born on January 21, 1950 in a working class family.

From 1991 to the present day  he is a communist of the Russian Communist Workers' Party. He is the first secretary of the Tyumen regional committee and secretary of the Central Committee for organizational and party work. He graduated from the Oil and Gas University and the Leningrad Academy of Civil Aviation. For 24 years he worked in civil aviation as an engineer, deputy head of the Roshchino airport. Was elected a deputy of the Tyumen City Council and a deputy of the Tyumen Regional Duma of 1-3 convocations. He is editor-in-chief of the newspaper Trudovaya Tyumen. He is a staunch Leninist-Stalinist, known as an implacable fighter against the arbitrariness of officials and for his active support of the Donbass people’s struggle.

Marital status: Married, has two adult sons, a granddaughter and 5 grandsons.

_____________________________

From Russia:

We accuse the authorities of fascism!

 

On November 7, the day of the 103rd anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the city and regional authorities  of Tyumen got their test to pass. Constantly assuring us that they honour the history of the country and strongly oppose its rewriting, they simply deceive the people. And the events of November 7 very well confirmed this. Speculating on the dangers of the coronavirus, the authorities are completely brazen. Since the end of March this year, by relentlessly prohibiting the Communists of the RCWP-CPSU celebrating the memorable dates of the Soviet era, they are actually trying to erase the Soviet period and its great achievements from the memory of the peoples of Russia. They themselves rewrite the history of the country. Who gave them the right to do this?

 

The coronavirus somehow does not prevent them from holding trade fairs (as many as four at once in one day! And all on November 7!), opening hot springs, theaters, holding concerts in the Philharmonic hall and various mass events. It's not dangerous. But the Communists should be completely banned, which they were. Apparently, the well-known plan of A. Dulles is the inspiration for our authorities. Yes, the same Dulles, who planned to gradually, step by step, shake the foundations of Soviet society, destroy, and then erase the Soviet era from the memory of the peoples. To divide the nations forever into masters and slaves. Today, the Tyumen authorities are actually implementing the Dulles plan.

 

In fact, Tyumen banned Communists from all events and banned Communists in General. And the ban on Communists equals fascism. The Tyumen authorities inculcate the ideology of fascism. When they were eager for power, they "chattered" about multiparty, tolerance, and the diversity of forms of ownership. Where is it? They took power by deception and usurped it. They even managed to steal the Victory Day from the people!

 

On November 7, a mass of police officers, young and healthy, staged outrages at the Technocenter, where the Communists of the RCWP-CPSU gathered to march to the Central square of the city in honour of the 103 anniversary of the Great October. There were many elderly people among the Communists. But this did not bother the police in the least. They grabbed the first Secretary of the regional Committee A. K. Cherepanov and dragged him to the car. They threw him into the car on the floor, and a young "policeman" grabbed his hands from behind and did not let him get to his feet. I then found his photo on the Internet at night, this young, real "policeman". What was he thinking at that moment? I repeatedly demanded that he release Cherepanov's hands and let him get into the car normally. But he didn't listen. The desire to curry favour overshadowed his mind. Apparently, this new gendarme did not know that he was holding in his "claws" a Communist figure well-known not only in Tyumen, but also a well-known active figure in the international Communist movement. Alexander Kiprianovich is very well known abroad, and we will make every effort to make the outrages of the Tyumen police done with the blessing of the Tyumen authorities, known to the international community.

 

"Gendarme", apparently, does not know that Alexander Kiprianovich is far from a young man, a former Deputy of the Tyumen regional Duma of three (!) convocations. He is well known not only in the Tyumen region, but also in both Northern districts. People trust him. As a Deputy, he helped hundreds of thousands of people, without refusing to help anyone. Perhaps Alexander Kipriyanovich, helped the mother or father of this "policeman" to survive in the 1990s. The head is actually given to a person in order to think, and not just to stare. So, think "policeman", think.

 

Four police officers pushed me away from the car with A. K. Cherepanov. At this time, by some miracle, Cherepanov's wife T. N. Cherepanova managed to get into the car with Cherepanov. She firmly told the police that Cherepanov was ill, and she would not leave him, but would go with him. As it became known, a Protocol was drawn up for her under article 19.3 of the administrative Code of the Russian Federation "Insubordination to police officers". I immediately remembered the recent story of N. F. Trapsh, a woman, a veteran of the oil and gas industry, who was accused by the former Deputy head of Tyumen, M. Afanasyev, of attempted murder. This is an 82-year-old woman! So Tatiana Nikolaevna, this little woman, how could she cope with the police who tried to push her out of the minibus?

 

By banning us from holding demonstrations and rallies, the administration of Tyumen, Mr. Kuharuk and Malygin violated the decisions Of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. They are violators of the law, not Cherepanov and the Communists. And they are the ones who should be on trial, if the truth to be told.

 

None of this could have happened if the Tyumen authorities respected the people and agreed to give permission to the Communists of the RCWP-CPSU who have declared their intention to hold this event three times (!). Since this is a Holy holiday for every worker, it is simply impossible not to celebrate it. But the Tyumen authorities despise the people! And all the Soviet and red flags just infuriate them. The plans of Hitler and Dulles are much more closer to their heart. They forgot that after a new war with the people there will be a new Nuremberg trial. And that they will have to answer for all the atrocities!

 

 

In the Tyumen region, we have a  fascist dictatorship

 

November 7 is a day that is revered all over the world as the day on which the Great October Socialist Revolution took place, the day when the whole world changed and went along the path of confrontation with the power of capital to build socialism. All over the world, this holiday is revered and respected, but not in the homeland of the Great October. The bourgeois government, which seeks to silence the achievements of the socialist revolution by all possible means, removed the status of a holiday from November 7, replacing it with an incomprehensible "Day of Unity". And this year the administration of Tyumen in general committed an unprecedented act- it banned a demonstration and rally of workers on November 7. All under the pretext of fighting the pandemic. That is, it is normal to hold festivities on November 4  (the "Unity Day") or mass parties in honour of Halloween, or trade fairs with thousands oof people in Tyumen on November 7. But if people take to the streets on November 7, mass infection will immediately begin. This is the logic of power.

 

Representatives of the Communist party of the Russian Federation immediately agreed with the proposal of the Tyumen administration that laying flowers at the monument to V. I. Lenin would be enough for them on this day, but the Communists of the RCWP-CPSU understand all the significance and revolutionary essence of this day and therefore, until the very last moment, they proved to the Tyumen administration that they would hold a demonstration and rally on this day. But the city administration and law enforcement agencies really did not want such a demonstration to take place. That's why they were threatening with reprisals, forced to sign warnings and warned in every possible way not to hold a demonstration.

 

On November 7, 2020, the Tyumen authorities "distinguished themselves" throughout whole Russia by banning the demonstration of Communists of the RCWP-CPSU in honour of the Great October Socialist revolution. Even with the arrests of the Communists. Even in Moscow, where the coronavirus is rampant (according to official data), much stronger than anywhere else in Russia, and even more so than in the Tyumen region, where there are at most 150 cases a day – there the Communist party calmly held all the festive events, including a demonstration.

 

Why is this happening? Because in the Tyumen region and in the city of Tyumen, the most real fascists are entrenched, followers of Vlasov and Bandera, who fiercely hate the Communists, the red flag, Victory Day on May 9 and the October revolution. So don't be surprised, comrades. Hitler and Mussolini did the same, forbidding Communist marches, demonstrations, and rallies. They also threw Communists behind bars.

 

Tyumen's  Vlasov followers  in power did not invent anything new. A. K. Cherepanov (first Secretary of the Tyumen regional Committee of the RCWP-CPSU) writes directly to them in his letters: "Are Moore and Kuharuk ideological followers of Hitler and Mussolini?" And according to their deeds, it turns out that they are – they are ideological followers of Hitler and Mussolini.

 

As they, apparently, rejoice in the coronavirus – now they can create any lawlessness, break all the laws and nothing will happen to them. Because the coronavirus is rampant. Everything can be blamed on it- the refusal of medical care, and forcing everyone wear masks around the clock, and it gives an excuse to destroy the Communist movement by nipping it in the bud. In general, to eradicate any opposition, any dissent -this is their dream.

 

But at least one Communist party in Tyumen is still alive–  we will continue to fight for Soviet power, for socialism and against fascism, no matter how high in the government offices they hide.

 

Therefore, in Tyumen on November 7, despite the fact that the police blocked a demonstration of Communists of the RCWP-CPSU and detained three people, the March still took place, as well as a meeting with the laying of flowers.

 

On November 7, 2020, residents of Tyumen came to the traditional gathering place of the demonstration-the Tyumen Technopark. There were already a fair number of police here, and they looked as if they would not allow the demonstration to take place. Moreover, they declared several times that the demonstration was illegal and demanded to disperse. But the Tyumen residents who took to the streets that day were ready to go to the end.

When it was time to start the March, the demonstrators tried to cross the road to start moving along the sidewalk of Republic street to the monument to Lenin, but the exit was blocked by traffic police cars. The police seized A. K. Cherepanov, dragged him to the car, and threw him into the minibus. He had only been released from the hospital a couple of days ago, where he was suffering from pneumonia, with 64% lung damage. He has a bad heart, but no one was going to give him any help, they were even not going to allow him to get his pills.

 

Then the Chairman of the Tyumen regional Committee of Soviet women T. R. Tselykh and T. N. Cherepanova ran up to the car and tried to help A. K. Cherepanov, to give him medicine, but the police used brute force on them. They started pushing them out of the van. Cherepanov's wife was able to stay in the van’s doors, and the police, led by the Deputy chief of police of the Tyumen region, Lieutenant Colonel V. S. Volkovitsky, threw her out of the minibus. Other members of the RCWP-CPSU tried to block the exit to prevent the car from leaving the square. The police immediately attacked them, knocking several pensioners to the ground, and detained the Secretary of the Tyumen regional Committee of the RKRP-CPSU S. M. Tselykh.

 

As we learned already at the meeting, which took place on the Central square near the monument to V. I. Lenin, all three were going to be detained for 2 days for allegedly “attacking police officersQ. But neither A. K. Cherepanov nor his wife attacked the police. Nor did S. M. Tselykh. On the contrary, they were subjected to violence by the police. The whole process of police brutality and fascist lawlessness on the part of the authorities is captured on video and photographed. Anyone can view it on the Internet.

 

Let's go back to the procession and the meeting. The police were clearly going to escalate the conflict and intimidated people that if they did not disperse, they would all be detained. The people began to sing in unison: "Boldly we will go into battle." And we decided to go to the Central square. Then the police tried to forbid us going with flags and banners. To which they received the answer that fascism was defeated under these flags, and to carry these flags is a tribute to the memory of the real Communists who died. Some participants asked the police the question: what flag should be carried – the American flag or maybe the flag of Nazi Germany? Or shall we raise the Vlasov tricolor? To please all sorts of fascists, Vlasovites, traitors to the Soviet Motherland?!

After negotiations with the police, which were very stormy, the March along the sidewalk of Republic street began.

 

People went anyway. And they went with the banner of the party, the red flags of the USSR, the RCWP, the Rot Front, the Left front, with banners and songs. No matter what. And we reached the Central square, where the largest monument to V. I. Lenin in Russia stands. The column went along Republic street – the Central street of the city. People cheered and joined the column. Already at the entrance to the Central square, police officers tried to detain the Secretary of the Tyumen regional Committee of the RCWP-CPSU, M. A. Savelkov, allegedly for organizing a march down the street. But thanks to the activity of the marchers, it was repulsed.

 

The city administration "graciously" agreed to lay flowers for a small number of participants, after which the participants, according to the Tyumen administration, immediately had to disperse. But the Communists of the RCWP-CPSU held a full-fledged solemn meeting in honour of the 103rd anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, at which there were many bright speeches.

 

The meeting was opened by the Secretary of the Tyumen city Committee of the RKRP-CPSU V. N. Minina. After the election of M. A. Savelkov as the Chairman of the Assembly, the USSR Anthem with a Stalinist version of the text was played. After that, he gave the floor to A. K. Cherepanov, who was in the police Department No. 5. Alexander Kiprianovich congratulated everyone by phone, from the name of the Central Committee of the RCWP-CPSU and the Central Committee of the CPSU. But as soon as he started talking about the achievements of V. I. Lenin and the Soviet government, the police began to take away his phone, which he tried use to speak  for the meeting, and disrupted his speech.

 

Member of the Tyumen regional committee of RCWP-CPSU V. I. Belendir with a thunderous voice first congratulated everyone on the occasion of the Great October Socialist Revolution, and then asked, what right have the authorities of the city of Tyumen and the police to encroach on the red flag that saved the world from fascism. Our ancestors went into battle under the Red Banner, marched on Red square on November 7, 1941 to defend Moscow and the country. And now, if the authorities and the police think it shouldn’t be carried on the streets,  is it an outlaw?!!

 

Professor of the Tyumen Industrial University, doctor of technical Sciences M. Kh. Uteshev said that the revolution is beginning in the United States and is spreading to other countries of the world. And we will have a new socialist revolution in Russia. It will definitely happen.

 

Candidate of Historical Sciences L. A. Pashkova in her speech said that November 7 should be the day of national unity, if you refer to historical documents. It was on November 7 that the Kremlin was liberated from the Polish invaders (in the early 17th century) and not on November 4, as the bourgeois, anti-people government had invented. And today we need the unity of the people to expel this bourgeois power.

 

The Chairman of the Tyumen regional Committee of Soviet women, T. R. Tselykh, reported that in Tyumen, the authorities and the bourgeoisie are tightening repression against the people, introducing a ban on communism as the criminal Boris Yeltsin did. Since November 8, hot springs have been opened, so in fact the coronavirus is not as dangerous as officials write in letters in response to Communist requests. At the end of the speech, T. R. Tselykh read poems by Marina Strukova about heroes and those who stay at home:

   There are few who will get out of line

   Sleep, cowards, you will be saved by heroes -

   Three People for the whole country.

   It's easy for you – your way is to the window from the door

   And someone’s way is from fire to fire.

   Somewhere in the open field, animals howl,

   And Peresvet (Russian hero of 1380 Kulikovo Field Battle) approaches the horse.

   Sleep, cowards. On this dark night

   Candles light up in the distance.

   Your banner is torn to shreds,

   Someone picks it up out of the dust.

   There's a war going on for your tomorrow,

   There's someone who cares about faith.

   It is clear – someone protects from the enemy

   The truth that you have betrayed.

   In the muddy mud of a well-fed rest

   You're frozen forever anyway.

   Sleep, cowards, you will be saved by heroes!

   Freedom to the freedom loving ones and the bottom of shame to those who were saved.

 

This is just about those ordinary people who sit like mice in holes, huddled in their cosy apartments.

 

Chairman of the meeting, Secretary of the regional Committee of the RCWP-CPSU for youth policy M. A. Savelkov read out the draft resolution of the meeting participants. Among other requirements, it contained the demand of prosecution of the Chairman of the Committee on Inter-Ethnic Relations of Tyumen, R. V. Malygin, for illegally obstructing the Communists of the RCWP-CPSU in holding public events. Malygin, by the way, was present on the square, and the participants of the meeting together shouted to him several times " Shame!".

 

Shame on Malygin and the rest of the city and regional government officials who finally descended to fascism. However, what else to expect from those who sit in offices under the Vlasov flag. If they are sitting under such flag, then they share the ideas that the traitor General Vlasov preached, while faithfully serving the Nazis headed by Hitler. And the current Tyumen bourgeois authorities inherited this brutal hatred of the Communists and the red flag to the full extent. They jump even ahead of Moscow and its mayor Sobyanin. Hitler would have applauded them.

 

The participants of the meeting unanimously voted for the Resolution with strict requirements for the authorities to improve the social and political situation in the country and the requirement to take real measures to improve the medical situation in the region. The Resolution also included a requirement to release all detained participants of the March and not to bring them to criminal or administrative responsibility.

 

At the end, to the tune of the eternal song "And the battle continues again...", flowers were laid at the monument to V. I. Lenin. This would have been a fitting end to the day on November 7 in any other case. But not in 2020. Even during the meeting, the participants learned that the detainees A. K. Cherepanov, T. N. Cherepanova and S. M. Tselykh were threatened to be locked up in the police station for 2 days, allegedly for attacking police officers. Then many demonstrators moved to the police station to demand the release of the detainees. We managed to achieve our goal, and all three were released on the same day, at about 19 o'clock in the evening.