February 2026 issue of Towards ML Unity published

Volume 7, number 5 of Towards Marxist-Leninist Unity:  A Journal of Discussion and Debate was published by the morning of Saturday, February 21st and will be posted at:  mltranslations.net  Contributions and criticisms are welcome, they say, especially comments on the article "For a United Front against Fascism and War."  The next issue should come out in April and materials will need to be sent in by mid-March.

Some upcoming events are listed at:  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2026/02/an-update-for-week-8-of-2026-history-of.html 

Contents:

For a United Front against Fascism and War

Lenin, Trump and the Insurrection Act

Climate Hawks Vote

Twin Cities general strike, coordinated actions demonstrate resolve of the people

The Minneapolis General Strike: Lessons for the next round

Struggle for Socialism Party stands with Cuba: end the U.S. blockade!

Unemployment surge signals deeper cracks in U.S. labor market

This is deeper than Trump

Trump Raping Children!

NYP nurses hold the line: 78% reject deal without enforceable staffing ratios

Dockworkers in Mediterranean ports announce coordinated action against war

Six Palestine Action Activists Cleared of Burglary

United States Secures its National Security Interests in Congo Peace Deal

TECCS repudiates the nationwide military exercises

The United States, Israel and the threat of a world war against Iran

Lenin and the Revolutionary Development of Marxism

Sección en español

Estados Unidos, Israel y la amenaza de una guerra mundial contra Irán

Lenin y el desarrollo revolucionario del marxismo

Revising Durham's UDO/LDC/LUP; Planning Commission hearing tonight cancelled

A Northern or yellow-shafted flicker (Colaptes auratus)  in late afternoon on November 24, 2025; not a mature male. ©

[For more photos from late November 2025 see:  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2026/02/some-astronomical-events-fall-2025.html ]

I thought I heard upland chorus frogs or spring peepers very faintly calling in the distance southeast early on about February 18th and 20th (?), but it was hard to tell.  The weather was relatively mild but not very wet.  I heard angry-sounding raccoons or opossums (?) in a wooded area similarly early in the morning or in the evening two or three times recently and one or two ducks were flying over in the dark one night in February.  I might have heard gunshots nearby at night a few times recently (not a first if so), but there have been few or none of the pandemic-era unsanctioned car meetups at night (I think a youth was shot by an officer at one at Woodcroft Shopping Center in 2025).  On sunny or warmer days woodpecker 'drumming' rattles from nearby woods (as far as I know, the drumming is not produced by flickers, which seem to be uncommon here) and I have probably been hearing smaller Picoides woodpeckers calling nearby.  Large pileated woodpeckers were here in summer 2025, which was unusual, but they live in larger bottomland forests nearby and might not be uncommon there.  Cardinals have been singing a lot (if I did hear frogs recently, they would have been drowned out by the singing cardinals and other birds and traffic noise around dawn), along with mourning doves, chickadees, towhees, etc.  Barred owls have been calling more often, day and night, but not very nearby.  I've heard red-shouldered hawks a few times so far this spring.  Many of the migratory birds might have left.  Myrtle warblers are still here and I haven't seen many of the rarer migratory sparrows so far this season.  The small red maple was briefly bleeding sap, which often happens around now, maybe due to a yellow-bellied sapsucker migrating though.  Sapsuckers are here for months, but they often seem to leave the red maple alone until now, or maybe a lot of sap rises now.  The flowing sap attracted a Baeolophus bicolor.  Earlier in the season sapsuckers sometimes peck at fruit remaining on the persimmon below.  Despite the unusually cold weather in January daffodils sheltered by trees have been coming up fast and one already has a yellow flower bud this week.  Usually winged elms would probably be flowering by now or maybe even about done.  Other elm species might flower more in March.  Some Christmas lights are still on.  There can still be significant snow accumulation here even in March.     

Dry fruit remaining at the very top of the relatively large American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana; in the ebony family) nearby (surrounded by the hickory, left, and oaks) around mid-morning on November 22, 2025. ©

From the New Hope Bird Alliance – A petition near Sandy Creek Park in western Durham (Sandy Creek is a tributary of New Hope Creek/River):  www.change.org/p/petition-to-city-council-to-revoke-rezoning-adjacent-to-sandy-creek-park 

Durham Creek Week 2026 will be March 14th-March 22nd, and there will probably be creek weeks around then in Orange, Chatham, and Wake counties, etc.; others are usually held in the summer or fall.

From American Rivers ? –  

Demand a smarter future for the Colorado River:  act.americanrivers.org/page/94467/action/1

Tell Congress to Support the Floodplain Enhancement and Recovery Act:  act.americanrivers.org/page/94332/action/1 

In Durham:  indyweek.com/news/durham-planning-commissioner-resigns-in-protest/

indyweek.com/news/affordable-housing-excluded-in-southpoint-redevelopment-plans/

indyweek.com/news/business/housing/durham-parking-garage-redevelopment-council/

In Chatham County, near Pittsboro:  www.wunc.org/economy/2026-02-11/chatham-park-asteria-explainer

In Orange County:  indyweek.com/newsletter/trapped-at-the-mall-during-chapel-hills-flash-flood/ 

There were a few articles on the 2025 (?) tropical storm flooding along Booker Creek by 15-501 and Village Plaza in eastern Chapel Hill. 

Along Bolin Creek in Carrboro (Booker Creek is a tributary; part of Little Creek in Durham): indyweek.com/news/carrboro-town-council-approves-creekside-greenway-alignment-for-bolin-forest/

On CHALT (not very recent):  indyweek.com/news/is-chalt-dead/

In Wake County:  indyweek.com/news/one-mans-trash-is-another-gulls-treasure/ 

indyweek.com/news/culture/art/dave-cook/

Both notices were sent out the afternoon of February 20th:

PUBLIC NOTICE: CANCELLATION OF FEBRUARY 24 PLANNING COMMISSION HEARING

The special meeting and public hearing of the Durham Planning Commission scheduled for Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. to consider the rewrite of Durham’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), also called the Land Development Code (LDC), has been canceled by the Durham City Council and the Durham County Board of Commissioners.

Why is this happening? 

Durham has been working since late-2023 to rewrite its development rules so they align with the community’s vision in the Comprehensive Plan adopted in October 2023. State law actually requires local governments to have a comprehensive plan and to align zoning with that plan. That’s what Durham has been trying to do.

In December 2024, the General Assembly added a significant zoning provision to a 132-page disaster relief bill originally intended to assist communities impacted by Hurricane Helene. This provision prohibits local governments from making certain zoning changes—known as “down-zoning”—without obtaining written consent from every affected property owner. These restrictions make it extremely difficult for communities across North Carolina to update their development regulations. At the same time, other state laws require zoning regulations to be consistent with an adopted comprehensive plan. This creates a direct conflict in state policy: local governments are required to update zoning but are effectively prevented from doing so, resulting in uncertainty and challenges for sound governance statewide.

To avoid this conflict, the draft LDC included a carve-out: any property that would be “down-zoned” would be excluded and would continue to follow the existing UDO. Unfortunately, property owners have challenged this carve-out approach and threatened litigation within the past week. Given the legal challenges raised just days before the hearing, the adoption process for the LDC has been paused to allow time to evaluate these issues and determine the best path forward.

What’s next?

While the formal public hearing will not proceed, staff from the Durham Planning & Development Department will be present and available at the originally scheduled time—Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.—to answer questions and provide information to any members of the public who choose to attend. This will be an informal opportunity for residents to learn more about the current draft of the LDC, to ask questions, and to share feedback about their specific properties.

Durham remains committed to transparency and to ensuring that the new LDC reflects the goals and values of our community. We will continue to keep the public informed as we navigate this challenge.

From the New Hope Bird Alliance –

ACTION ALERT: Durham UDO Public Hearing Canceled

The public hearing previously scheduled for 2/24 to discuss the draft of the new Unified Development Ordinance (UDO)--now also known as Land Use Policy--has been canceled. Durham Planning Commission staff will still be available at the same time and location (5:30 PM at 101 City Hall Plaza) for an informal Q&A and to hear feedback about the draft code. Please review the map and UDO and prepare to share your questions and thoughts with the Planning Commission. Almost every part of Durham will be affected, as this map shows. The full draft is here. The adoption process is described in more detail here.  While the goals of increasing affordable housing, containing sprawl, and creating walkable neighborhoods are admirable, the UDO will result in more intense development within the Urban Growth Boundary. Long-term public and economic health and conservation of birds and other wildlife, require including preserving urban open space and wildlife corridors; retaining and using native plants; moderating lights; using bird-friendly design principles; increasing the urban tree canopy in heat islands; and widening riparian boundaries for flood control in the face of climate change.  Stay tuned for more details on this ongoing issue!

Machine-censored posts 2

Is it Blogger/Google's 'aggressive' way of saying TL;DR/too many links?  They don't give me something like a word count or file size beforehand, or a clear explanation of the alleged problem or how their censorship works, and I don't know if there is a way to appeal the 2025-2026 censorship.  Did a policy change?  I don't know what triggers their automated system or who can see the hidden posts. 

The first version is at:  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2026/02/machine-censored-posts-news-provided.html 

The machine-censored posts (so far):

February 23, 2026:  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2026/02/some-2025-2026-astronomical-events.html 

January 31, 2026 (post no. 950):  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2026/01/an-update-around-end-of-2025new-year.html

February 15, 2025:  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2025/02/events-and-anniversaries-around-lunar.html

A post from 2008 was temporarily unpublished in 2022, probably also by machine, but in this case I could appeal and the damage was partially undone (comments were lost?):

February 5, 2008 (actually re-posted December 21, 2022?), but it was originally posted February 6th:  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2008/02/may-6th-2008-primary-choices-re-posted.html

When the unpublishing was undone, this February 6, 2008 post was republished as a November 25, 2022 post:  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2008/02/may-6th-primary-choices.html

November 25, 2022:  durhamspark.blogspot.com/2022/11/repression-online-tmlu-november-issue.html

CPC(M-L)'s nice looking 2026 New Year's greeting:

Some astronomical events March – April 2026

The Moon will again appear to be very close to the star Regulus March 2nd, closer and closer going west, with an occultation in Hawaii, Japan, Korea, etc.  They will be close together again the evening of March 29th.

There will be a total lunar eclipse the morning of March 3rd (visible from North and South America, the Pacific, and East Asia).  Woodcock activity and the Moon?  North Carolina might miss the finish?  The next total lunar eclipse visible from the Americas after this will be June 26, 2029 (?).

There will be a conjunction of Venus and Saturn the evening of March 7th.  Saturn will soon be hidden by the Sun for about two months.

DST will return March 8th (in the USA).

The Moon will be near and under the bright, reddish star Antares, in Scorpius, the morning of March 8th.

The Moon will occult the star tau Sagittarii again (see above) on the morning of March 13th (seen from the eastern US and Canada, Cuba, etc.), it will occult the star delta Capricorni or Deneb Algedi March 16th, and the Moon will occult the star kappa Geminorum (by the bright star Pollux and Jupiter was next to it in January, if not in March:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_Geminorum ) March 26-27th, seen from the US and throughout Canada and the Caribbean:  is.gd/occultations   The Moon will be close to the star beta Tauri or El Nath March 24th.  It will be an occultation from the eastern Caribbean and northern South America (in beleaguered Venezuela?). 

Jupiter will be furthest north in the sky on March 13th.

Ramadan is February 18th-March 19th this year:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan

Northern Hemisphere's spring equinox will be March 20th (at 10:46am EDT) this year.  The traditional Aries period begins around March 21st (March 20th in 2026??).  R.H. Allen on the constellation Aries:   penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Topics/astronomy/_Texts/secondary/ALLSTA/Aries*.html

The 2026 National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC will be March 20th to April 12th:  nationalcherryblossomfestival.org

The asteroid 20 Massalia will reach opposition March 21st (at 11am EDT).  It was discovered, observing from Naples, September 19, 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis (November 9, 1819 in Bugnara, Abruzzo, in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies – March 21, 1892 in Naples, Campania, Kingdom of Italy) and its name refers to Marseille, France, where astronomer Jean Chacornac (June 21, 1823 in Lyon – September 6, 1873 in Saint-Jean-en-Royans) observed it September 20th.  Massalia was the first asteroid or minor planet not given a name from myth and not given an "iconic symbol," as in the 'male' symbol for Mars, the 'female' symbol for Venus, etc.?  Water in some form was apparently discovered on 7 Iris (see above) and Massalia in February 2026.  De Gasparis discovered asteroid 16 Psyche March 17, 1852 and others. – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_Massalia , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annibale_de_Gasparis , and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Chacornac

There will be an apparition of the planet Mercury March 27th, but it won't be very high up; greatest elongation will be April 3rd.

The Moon will be near the relatively bright star Spica in Virgo the evening of April 2nd and again on April 29th, after a sidereal month of 27.3 days. 

The Moon will occlude the triple star pi Scorpii or Fang early April 6th from the Eastern US, Central America, and northern South America, but at the northern end only the re-emergence of the three the triple stars (one by one?  50" and 0.0003"of separation is too close to see??) will be visible.  From Savannah, Georgia the occultation will be begin at 12:06am EST and end at 1:05am.  See the programs Stellarium.org , SkySafariAstronomy.com , or lunar-occultations.com/iota/occult4.htm ?

The waning crescent Moon (a mere 6 degrees high and higher than the other objects), Mercury, and Mars might be visible the morning of April 15th, while Saturn and Neptune will definitely be invisible? 

A waxing crescent Moon and the planet Venus will appear to be close together the evening of April 18th.  The Moon can be a marker to find very bright Venus even during daytime.

Comet PanSTARRS (C/2025 R3) was discovered September 8, 20252 from Hawaii and will reach perihelion and be hidden by the Sun April 19th, but it could brighten to magnitude 7 before then.  It will be going east (did they mean to say west??) through the south center side of Pegasus (or the Great Square of Pegasus) before (well before?) dawn by late March.

The Lyrid meteor shower will peak around 4am on April 22nd, but will be visible before and after that date.  See amsmeteors.org for dates.

The Moon will be near Jupiter in Gemini in the evening on April 22nd and Jupiter will appear to be close to the star Wasat (see above) on the 30th, not to be repeated before 2037.

Venus will appear to be close to the Pleiades and Uranus the evening of April 23rd.  

The Moon will be close to the Beehive, Manger, or Praesepe star cluster (M44) early on April 24th and from the West Coast and Alaska (the best view will be west and north) it will be an occultation.  From San Francisco the occultation will begin around 2am and end around 2:30am.  rly l

The Moon will appear to be close to the relatively bright star Regulus in Leo the evening of April 25th from the Western US, much of México, etc.  It will be an occultation from the Caribbean, the Eastern US, Central America, and northeastern South America (in Venezuela?).  From Miami, Florida the occultation will begin around 8:34pm and end around 9:59pm.  See is.gd/RegulusApril2026 for the timings in 660 places.

– From recent issues of Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazines and see:  planetary.org/night-sky  I don't really know the Winter Hexagon asterism, though it is bright, but there is a chart on page 22 of the February issue Sky and Telescope.  The relatively bright Summer Triangle is up in the east near dawn now.   Looking through R.H. Allen's (early spring?) 1899 book Star Names recently I found out that there is or was a Diamond of Virgo asterism (composed of Spica, Arcturus in Bootes, Denebola in Leo, and Cor Caroli in the relatively dim northern polar constellation Canes Venatici).  

NPR often hypes so-called "supermoons,"