The machine-censored posts (so far):
January 31, 2026 (post no. 950): durhamspark.blogspot.com/2026/01/an-update-around-end-of-2025new-year.html
February 15, 2025 (post ): 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A post from 2008 was temporarily unpublished in 2022, probably also by machine, but in this case I could appeal and the damage was partially undone (comments were lost?):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
I'm trying to deal with this, but if necessary I might have turn to WordPress, Twitter, etc., which I have used before. Blogger/Google didn't like that I used the common name in English of the common songbird Baeolophus bicolor a few times (what do users in the UK do, where several birds have common names similar to that name? ; for example, see: tootlepedal.wordpress.com just about every day)? Because I defined the Japanese word shikan? Because I mentioned the former career of the British founder of Bellingcat (stated on the BBC at the end of January)? Or as I said before, is this just Google's way of saying that the post is too long for them (though I'm sure they can feed it into their "AI" for profit). So much, on Venezuela, Iran, the 2025 European mystery drone flaps/scares, astronomy up in the sky now and the history of astronomy in the German Democratic Republic/DDR, local nature, etc., was censored, and maybe this post, which was originally meant to be quick, will be censored too.
Revolutionary Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron or Chesimard (?), July 16, 1947 New York City – September 25, 2025 in Havana, Cuba), a member of the Black Panther Party and then Black Liberation Army; the BLA and the May 19th Communist Organization helped her escaped from a prison in New Jersey. By 1984 she was in Cuba, later working at Radio Havana: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assata_Shakur More?
Actress Diane Keaton Hall (January 5, 1946 – October 11, 2025 both in Los Angeles, California); among other roles she played Louise Bryant (December 5, 1885 – January 6, 1936) in the 1981 film Reds: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Keaton , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reds_(film) , and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Bryant
Palestinian citizen journalist and social media influencer Saleh al-Jafarawi (صالح الجعفراوي, Ṣāliḥ al-Jaʻfarāwī; November 22, 1997 in Gaza City, Gaza – shot by the "Doghmush clan," allegedly during fighting between the Doghmush and Hamas, October 12, 2025 in Sabra, Gaza City, Palestine) Instagram (he had 4.5 million followers) and even the Internet Wayback Machine immediately buried his memory (because the Israeli government told them something? Was he actually assassinated?): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saleh_al-Jafarawi And
Retired NPR journalist Susan Stamberg (born Levitt, September 7, 1938 in Newark, New Jersey – October 16, 2025) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Stamberg See also: www.npr.org/2025/10/16/1184880448/susan-stamberg-obituary
Kim Yong-nam (김영남; February 4, 1928 in Pyongyang, under Japanese control – November 3, 2025 in Pyongyang, DPRK); he was the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of DPR Korea 1998-2019: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Yong-nam
Richard Bruce Cheney (January 30, 1941 in Lincoln, Nebraska – November 3, 2025 in Virginia); whitewashing on NPR: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney There are a few more links at the censored: durhamspark.blogspot.com/2026/01/an-update-around-end-of-2025new-year.html
On Dick Cheney: mpr21.info/el-legado-polititico-de-dick-cheney-una-carniceria-espantosa/
James Dewey Watson (April 6, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois – November 6, 2025 in East Northport, New York). Apparently he was or became a rightist (together with the rise of neo-liberalism??): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watson
See also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin
A Swedish woman, "Annie Borjesson, 30, was found dead on Prestwick Beach, near Glasgow Prestwick Airport" December 4, 2005. The investigation into her death took a year and the incident was attributed to "suicide by drowning." Her mother, Guje Borjesson, wasn't shown post-mortem photos and "was 'troubled' by Sweden's secrecy" – documents from the investigation were released around 2020, but were classified and "heavily redacted" by Sweden's ministry of foreign affairs. Annie Borjesson had gone to Edinburgh, Scotland in 2004 to study English. US "War on Terror" extraordinary rendition flights were stopping at Glasgow Prestwick Airport at the time. – page 8-9 of the July 2020 issue of Fortean Times FT394, from dailymail.co.uk March 6, 2020 More for February...
D.G. Martin, the retired host of PBS NC's N.C. Bookwatch passed away recently? An episode of Bookwatch related to NC's Lumbee Indians (? ; the Lumbee of Robeson County, NC were recently granted Federal recognition) was on on the morning of December 13th.
David Grier Martin Jr (born in Atlanta, Georgia May 24, 1940 – December 9, 2025); childhood in Davidson, North Carolina; Davidson College; the Airborne School; United States Army Special Forces; Yale Law School – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._G._Martin and WRAL?
Anthropologist Ross Hassig (December 13, 1945-March 2, 2025) – He went to Vanderbilt University and Stanford and authored books such as Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control (1988) and Polygamy and the Rise and Demise of the Aztec Empire (2016!). – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Hassig
US dissident in the GDR Victor Grossman (born Stephen Wechsler; March 11, 1928 in New York City – Wednesday, December 17, 2025 in Berlin, Germany); his regular Berlin Bulletin was on the Monthly Review website, CounterPunch, and a blog (I was a reader; victorgrossmansberlinbulletin.wordpress.com/ ); his memoir, A Socialist Defector: From Harvard to Karl-Marx-Allee, was published by Monthly Review Press in 2019. Buried in the Dorotheenstadt Cemetery in Berlin. A translated December 19th obituary from the German daily left newspaper Junge Welt: mronline.org/2025/12/24/in-his-case-it-was-true-on-the-death-of-victor-grossman-1928-2025/ , theleftberlin.com/a-life-worth-living/ , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Grossman , and victorgrossmansberlinbulletin.wordpress.com/2026/01/02/victor-grossman-1928-2025/
Former North Carolina governor James Baxter Hunt Jr (May 16, 1937 in Greensboro, North Carolina – December 18, 2025 in Lucama, North Carolina). Rumor has it that he was hostile to an endangered species, but I haven't gotten a quote on record yet. He was considered for the post of US Secretary of Education more than once. Probably in with Bill Clinton? – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Hunt Very pro-Hunt: zeteo.com/p/jim-hunts-timeless-lessons-can-revitalize and the N.C. Bookwatch rerun January 30th.
An elderly (?) male African elephant at the NC Zoo, C'sar, passed away December 19, 2025, at about age 51 –
An orphan from Kenya, he arrived in to NC July 25, 1978, at about age four, "the 27th animal resident to join the Zoo, and its first elephant," no offspring, he did yoga, firsts – "successful cataract surgery and later became the first to receive custom-fitted contact lenses" – "North Carolina Zoo Mourns Death of Oldest African Bull Elephant in the U.S." (December 22, 2025) – www.nczoo.org/news/north-carolina-zoo-mourns-death-oldest-african-bull-elephant-us , a report on WRAL , and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_Zoo
See also: www.nczoo.org/legacy-csar
The C'sar Legacy Fund: www.nczoo.com/forms/store/csar-legacy/
Renfrew Leslie Christie (September 11, 1949 in Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa – December 21, 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renfrew_Christie and portside.org/2026-01-17/renfrew-christie-dies-76-sabotaged-racist-regimes-nuclear-program
Clyde Jones, “The Critter Man,” December [2?]9th on NPR?
chathamnc.com/2025/12/25/clyde-jones-bynums-beloved-folk-artist-and-creator-of-the-critters-dies-at-87/ April 1st in 1937, 1938, or 1939 in Chatham County ~ December 24, 2025 www.donaldsonfunerals.com/obituary/Clyde-Jones January 4, 2026 funeral chathamjournal.com/2025/12/25/clyde-jones-bynums-beloved-folk-artist-and-creator-of-the-critters-dies-at-87/
Michael John Parenti (September 30, 1933 in New York Cy – January 24, 2026 in Berkeley) – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Parenti and redphoenixnews.com/2026/01/25/in-praise-of-michael-parenti-1933-2026/
Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi ( سيف الإسلام معمر القذافي ; June 25, 1972 in Tripoli, Libya – assassinated February 3, 2026 in Zintan, Libya): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saif_al-Islam_Gaddafi and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Saif_al-Islam_Gaddafi
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammed al-Sadr ( محمّد الصد ; March 23, 1943 in al-Kazimiya, Baghdad in the Kingdom of Iraq – assassinated February 19, 1999 in Najaf, Republic of Iraq): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_al-Sadr
I added to this post during fall 2025-winter 2026 – durhamspark.blogspot.com/2025/05/some-attempted-assassinations-killings.html
World Wetlands Day was Monday, February 2nd, commemorating a UN meeting held in Ramsar, Iran in 1971. – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wetlands_Day
National Day Calendar website – National Hemp Day was February 4th. Days of the Year might have been hit by the ice and snow?
Gerard Kitchen O'Neill (February 6, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York – April 27, 1992 in Redwood City, California): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_K._O%27Neill
An aggrieved (bull?) shark apparently took vengeance for its kind and for the Maduros in Trinidad and Tobago recently. The (British?) man's injury was treated with a shark product. They don't talk about the giant wels catfish attacks in Europe, and left out the global overfishing for sharks. Sharks have been around for longer than the dinosaurs, but at least some of them might not survive us (and the shark fin industry and Australia's anti-shark nets seem very barbaric and wasteful). I read in a recent issue of Fortean Times about another, probably worse attack in the Caribbean, I think after a (British?) woman got too close to or otherwise bothered a (bull?) shark in shallow water at a beach. People say that killer whales and sea otters have begun rebelling against humanity, so why not say it of sharks?
Maybe the small, dark green bird that has been coming to the suet feeder here is a ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula) after all, not a winter-drab warbler of some kind. The birds have been much fewer and much more skittish since the snowstorm, though it is still unusually cold and the last two or three weeks of snow and ice hasn't all melted away yet. A little more was predicted to fall last night? More birds came on the 4-5th. It is strange that even the gray squirrels have been scarce this winter, though I'm running low on bird food and the squirrels would probably eat a lot.
During the snowstorm I put more expensive bird food on the ground. The night of the 31st (?) I saw what was probably a rabbit track in the snow and as it got dark on the 1st (?) a large rabbit seemed to be eating some of the bird food. I heard barred owls at dusk, and they might have benefitted from the snow and the bright night sky. The morning of the 2nd two deer came, their fur seemingly standing up and/or much thicker and some snow or ice was on them. One seemed to be darker and could have been the mother of the lighter one. The darker one came close to the window and seemed to be eating the bird food. At least one Carolina/green anole died in the cold or was killed in January. A previous year I found one dead in an unheated building during the winter.
I think 1.5 to 19.5" of snow ( 雪 or yuki in Japanese) fell in North Carolina during the weekend; it started much later than expected here, basically only on January 24th, and the Triangle didn't get that much and it was 'dry,' not decorating the branches much, and being just snow, it has mostly melted away even with very cold temperatures. We escaped mass power outages in January. Unusually, the heaviest snow (with heavier bands) was predicted to be near the coast, with high winds and coastal flooding. Only on the 4th was NC 12 on the Outer Banks reopened completely and high (?) artificial dunes protecting it on Pea Island were razed by the storm, a now common event. One or more expensive beach houses were also lost, another now (?) common event, even apart from hurricanes, on the Outer Banks. As a young child I was once in a smaller (?) beach house near the shore as waves were washing underneath it at night, not even during a hurricane, and was probably scared (I don't remember the event very well; the car must have survived).
Blizzard-like conditions had been forecast, but I don't know if we really experienced a blizzard. Blizzard or snowstorm in Japanese is 吹雪 or fubuki, but again I don't know if our storm was severe enough to count; I think there are a few ways to say snowstorm in Japanese. I have gone out in a 'snowstorm' with very cold, gusty winds here, but so far I have missed those this winter. Yukigumo or snow clouds? – 雪曇 , such as on the evening of Friday, January 30th, when I could see the Moon clearly in the clouds, bluish above the bright orange light pollution from greenhouses (?), but not Jupiter or Gemini. I thought that the storm was supposed to begin that evening and run through the weekend, but snow fell on the 31st only (?).
Many great blizzards have occurred in February: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard
More birds came out the morning of February 5th – three reddish to brown finches (?) and two doves (?) were by the door and another dove was nearby; the male downy woodpecker came for suet (I saw a pair this week, around the 3rd and maybe once a week or two ago; pre-dawn a male cardinal was out, etc. I saw a brown thrasher out in the open, briefly, around the 3rd. A small early carpet beetle was out on the 4th.
I had a nice view of rising Scorpius and Libra the morning of February 2nd, and might have been able to see a relatively bright star in Centaurus south of Libra. Lyra (marked by the bright star Vega) is high in the east before dawn now, and Cygnus (marked by the relatively bright star Deneb) is also visible in the east now (by the 2nd); Aquila, also part of the Summer Triangle, must be visible by now, but I haven't seen its brightest star Altair rising above the trees sort of southeast yet. I think there was a halo above the setting Moon the morning of the 3rd, and it became overcast, but then it cleared up some. I missed the closest part of the February 2nd-3rd conjunction of the Moon and the relatively bright star Regulus in Leo.
It is bizarre that there was illegal (aggregate?) mining post-hurricane in Mitchell County (?) in WNC; the out-of-state company (Horizon 30 ?) was finally made to desist, but now there is a 70' bar of eroded soil in the nearby Nolichucky River (?) and acidic runoff contaminated with heavy metals?
Monsanto is being sued over the toxic materials used to build NCSU's Poe Hall. There have been other lawsuits.
Paraquat and other pesticides, used on golf courses, etc. and Parkinson's disease? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraquat ; And maneb, ziram, benomyl, some organophosphate pesticides, such as diazinon and chlorpyrifos), rotenone, glyphosate (!), permethrin, and trifluralin (and the degreasing agent trichloroethylene) – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_disease#Environmental and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate
Roundup herbicide and cancer? – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundup_(herbicide)
I think I posted a surprising link on golf courses and human disease maybe 2-3 years ago, from NPR?
Rob Urie on the use of herbicides as crop desiccants – roburie.substack.com/p/back-to-the-future and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_desiccation
RT January 17th – www.rt.com/news/631083-us-supreme-court-bayer-lawsuit-roundup/
The New START treaty was just allowed to expire.
The Carter Center and the "disease" of Guinea worm again February 5th (it is a parasitic worm, and marijuana is a plant).
Why NPR does hype so-called "supermoons??"
February 6th Day of International Action – In Solidarity with the International Dockworkers – Call From Italy, Greece, Euskadi, Turkey and Morocco – Do Not Work for the War
Registration for the February 6th 2pm EST Online Rally / No Work for War: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_b0GzUbXYQ02UglfAWdylcQ#/'
Endorse February 6th: bit.ly/feb6solidarity
From UNAC:
A Venezuela anti-imperialist rally: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijrj-Mjw0zg
The Maduros' son addresses an anti-war rally: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfHNsfJ1gV8&feature=youtu.be
Mumia Abu-Jamal addresses an anti-war rally: www.youtube.com/shorts/kw7_8ItPtns
There will be a Museum of Durham History event on the early history of RTP February 5th at 6pm: modh.org or www.museumofdurhamhistory.org/join-us-feb-5-for-the-early-history-of-rtp-a-fireside-chat
In downtown Raleigh, NC, postponed to February 7-8th: naturalsciences.org/calendar/astronomy-days/ The 2026 theme is "Passport to the Moon."
Kami-Con 17 will be February 6-8th at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex in Birmingham, Alabama: www.kamicon.net/
The 2026 Winter Olympics (Olimpiadi invernali del 2026, often called Milano Cortina 2026) the XXV Winter Olympic Games will be February 6th-22nd in Lombardy and Northeast Italy: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Winter_Olympics
Ichibancon 16 will be February 13-15th at the Embassy Suites Hotel Concord in Concord, NC: ichibancon.com/
In downtown Raleigh, NC, the next event will be February 20th, 6:30-10pm: naturalsciences.org/calendar/event/adult-nights-anime/
A few other links (there are many more in the censored post) –
More of the suddenly relatively common liberal tarring of JV Stalin (and Mao, and even in China) by comparison to a Trump or a Hitler, even claiming that Stalin had more people killed than Hitler. I went into this more in the other, censored post. It has become kind of common on NPR, even though the similarly Russophobic BBC is more focused on Europe, international news, and anti-communism; British-made programming on PBS has been implying that Trump and "populists" are like Hitler and Julius Caesar (they are even denigrating the ancient Caesar now, by implying that he was like Trump, though I never heard them openly name Trump).
By Melvin A Goodman: www.counterpunch.org/2026/02/02/acts-of-revisionism-hitler-stalin-and-trump/
Timothy Snyder tars Nicolas Maduro, a victim of US imperialism, with the current head of US imperialism: www.rsn.org/001/maduro-in-minneapolis-murderous-lies.html
I recently noticed that The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq (published in 2005), on the Iraq War, by pro-war liberal George Packer ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Packer ), a former New Yorker writer, says the anti-war movement, which he hardly mentioned, "embraced called the full spectrum of opposition from the banners of extremist groups that proclaimed 'No blood for oil' to the moderate calls for weapons inspections and international law of the far larger Internet-based organization Moveon.org" (on page 83-84) (!), though he did interview someone from MoveOn and asked someone from UFPJ (?) a 'leading' or 'trapping' question (on page 85). The demand "Stop the war" "erased" "All the difficult questions raised by the prospect of a war in Iraq." On page 84 he seems to call the NATO wars in Bosnia and Kosova "the antifascist wars of our own time" and brings up Thoreau, John Brown, and the Berrigans on page 85; referring to anti-war protesters, "these moralists don't take much interest in the details or the consequences" beyond the question of conscience, similar to warmongering liberal arguments today. "One doesn't get one's choice of wars" he says on page 87 about a complete war of choice. Salon called this "the definitive book about the Iraq War."
Very reactionary, abhorrent NPR pushes Bad Bunny, implies that Trump is a very dangerous "fascist," etc., but they clearly support his campaign to overthrow the governments of Venezuela and Iran, they just want a complete overthrow and the installation of Machado as the US viceroy there (and the BBC wants a shah, an Iranian Machado, to rule Iran). Trump is a warmongering reactionary, but look at what the 'other side' wants and what they did when Obama and Biden were in power. Maybe a world war has already begun (as with WWII), and the extremist Russophobic, Sinophobic, imperialist, and anti-democratic Democratic Party started it, with the help of the likewise extremist, imperialist, and anti-democratic Republicans, or they can start it sometime after 2028 (or George W Bush and Dick Cheney started it, and the Democratic Party has continued and even deepened it). They hope to put the blame for everything on Trump and the Republicans so they can scare/trick the people and bring back the "Genocide Joe" years, with full control of Congress, by 2029 (to what end?).
Why are NPR's Scott Tong and a professor (author of a book on "memory" and Cuba?) from the University of Miami willing to attribute some of Cuba's economic suffering to the US sanctions/blockade, rather than just blaming "economic mismanagement" February 5th? By "economic mismanagement," do they mean not going far enough with the "liberalization" recommended to the Cuban government by Russia and China? NPR and the BBC rarely acknowledge that Venezuela, Iran, DPR Korea, etc. are suffering under "Western" economic warfare; instead it is attributed to "mismanagement," "corruption," etc. Russia and China are large economies and so can probably weather "Western" economic warfare much more easily than relatively small economies like Cuba and Venezuela.
On NPR February 5th – Decrying that the CIA will no longer produce its country guides.
Actions for Palestine:
jewsdemandaction.org/
actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/boycott-tmobile-pledge-signature-gathering-actions
actionnetwork.org/letters/demand-canadian-universities-divest-from-wsp
ADC's new IHRA Legislative Tracker: legislation.adc.org/
koreapeacenow.org/en.endthekoreanwar.net/
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/
julianmacfarlane.substack.com/p/are-you-normal
Steve Woolford of the Fayetteville, NC Quaker House (an acquaintance) was on on NPR December 13th regarding soldiers allegedly seeking legal advice? Early on December 27th Jefferson Morley was on on the BBC on regarding the assassination of JFK.
On the BBC's Outlook program around late December (?) – the 1939 Soviet cookbook Tasty and Healthy Recipes, with basic to exceedingly extravagant recipes.
On Soviet toys' rising popularity? – www.rt.com/russia/630011-grandmas-toys-are-cool-again/
The Soviet cartoon Gena the Crocodile (do Russians have a thing about crocodilians??), featuring furry, big eared Cheburashka, Gena, and Old Lady Shapoklyak first aired December 31, 1969. It is based on a book by Eduard Uspensky ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_Uspensk ) and the animation was made by Soyuzmultfilm ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuzmultfilm ). Sequels in 1971, 1974, and 1983. Shown in Sweden, etc. There is a 2009-2010 Japanese version, Cheburashka Arere? and the 2010 Cheburashka. Post-Soviet Russian films came out June 5, 2014, and January 1, 2023. Eaten in the 1990 satire Grey Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood (!). – www.rt.com/pop-culture/631093-cute-ears-that-captured-world/ , en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheburashka Russia Beyond? In the ANN anime encyclopedia (on www.animenewsnetwork.com/ or see above).
woodsmokeblog.wordpress.com/category/albania/
In Venezuela, a member of the CIPOML –
x.com/pcmlv/
pcmlv.blogspot.com
palestinewillbefree.substack.com/p/palestinian-detainee-torture-rape-abuse-israeli-prisons
palestinewillbefree.substack.com/p/israel-kills-palestinian-fishermen-gaza-blockade
palestinewillbefree.substack.com/p/al-haq-report-displaced-mother-crushed-tank-gaza
From Palestine Will Be Free – Hamas on the War: palestinewillbefree.substack.com/p/our-narrative-hamas-october-7-manifesto-motivations
versus –
Anti-Hamas Amira Hass in HAARETZ – portside.org/2025-12-29/hamas-proud-its-achievements-hasnt-convinced-gazans-who-pay-price
The former Stalinist List on the former Yahoo Groups is back this week, after a hiatus of a few or several years, on Google Groups?
www.counterpunch.org/2026/02/03/the-governments-long-war-on-free-speech/
www.counterpunch.org/2026/02/03/todays-hobos/
thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2026/01/31/kevin-warsh-wall-streets-man/
www.counterpunch.org/2026/01/27/a-first-hand-account-of-israels-illegal-occupation-of-southern-syria/
? – www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zelensky-names-canadas-chrystia-freeland-anti-russia-hawk-top-advisor
In Canada – diario-octubre.com/2025/12/22/las-victimas-del-comunismo-fueron-los-nazis/
? – www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/12/17/canada-monument-victims-communism-no-names-nazi-controversy
november8ph.ca/2025/08/a-black-ribbon-of-shame-and-national-betrayal/
november8ph.ca/2025/08/tribute-to-liberty-turns-its-attention-to-albania/
cpcml.ca/Tmlm2025/TS5529.HTM#4
www.historicly.net/p/debunking-the-myth-communism-killed
? – www.davidvine.net/costsofwar.html
diario-octubre.com/2025/12/24/10-razones-por-las-que-stalin-esta-en-el-centro-de-la-propaganda-anticomunista/
diario-octubre.com/2019/09/18/rbc-todas-las-obras-de-stalin/
mltheory.wordpress.com/2022/05/28/soviet-environmentalism-in-the-stalin-era/
mltheory.wordpress.com/2016/12/20/stalin-the-myth-of-the-old-bolsheviks/
mltheory.wordpress.com/2026/01/19/soviet-yugoslav-split-ep-1-titoist-revisionism/
The anti-communist and even hostile to the 'soft' or "pink" left anarchists or "egalitarians" say – theanarchistlibrary.org/library/larry-gambone-saint-che-the-truth-behind-the-legend-of-the-heroic-guerilla-ernesto-che-guevara-re- , johnspritzler.substack.com/p/egalitarians-say-explicitly-what , johnspritzler.substack.com/p/what-killed-the-spanish-revolution , www.pdrboston.org/communism-no-socialism-no , johnspritzler.substack.com/p/egalitarian-thoughts-re-trumps-kidnapping , and johnspritzler.substack.com/p/an-interview-with-professor-antony ; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antony_C._Sutton
In post-socialist Bulgaria: thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/what-socialism-got-right/
kristenghodsee.com
kristenghodsee.substack.com/p/musings-from-a-wretched-hive
"Q: What did Bulgarians light their homes with before they used candles?
A: Electricity.
Q: What was the worst thing about communism?
A: The thing that came after it."
From the former Yugoslavia – www.counterpunch.org/2026/01/23/from-instinct-to-theory-a-left-in-search-of-itself/
"Pink" Chile's experimental Cybersyn – thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/project-cybersyn-chiles-radical-experiment-in-cybernetic-socialism/
? – thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/five-moments-in-the-history-of-chinese-cybernetics/
? – thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-golden-age-of-protest-is-now/
www.kitklarenberg.com/p/how-mi6-built-syrias-extremist-police
On hyperloops – thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-hyperloop-a-200-year-history-of-hype-and-failure/
A "space ethicist" – thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-thorny-ethics-of-planetary-engineering/
Space colonization under US rightists – nss.org/reviewed-non-fiction-books-alphabetically-by-title/
But – nss.org/book-review-energiya-buran-the-soviet-space-shuttle/
sonar21.com/putting-venezuela-into-perspective-a-massive-challenge-compared-to-iraq-while-russian-offensive-picks-up-steam/
The Venezuelan and Iranian Machados meet: the307.substack.com/p/how-the-us-and-israel-prop-up-puppets
www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/regime-change-liberals-are-every
Anti-Iran leftists (UK?): theleftlane2024.substack.com/p/iran-neither-turban-nor-crown-but
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-year-when-pregnancy-was-a-fashion-statement/
When German imperialism, etc. gave Eastern and Western Europe a "housing crisis" – mltheory.wordpress.com/2025/10/28/history-of-soviet-architecture-and-city-planning-part-10-revisionist-era/
portside.org/2025-11-22/what-we-forgot-about-socialism-lessons-red-riviera
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/what-socialism-got-right/
kristenghodsee.substack.com/p/musings-from-a-wretched-hive
kristenghodsee.substack.com
portside.org/2026-01-25/strange-story-famed-anti-fascist-lament-first-they-came
ohiobarbarian.substack.com/p/the-barbarians-dictionary-american
www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-real-tyrannical-regime –
"Gotta wash my hair, if it gets any more oily I’ll have Delta Force breaking down my door to steal it."
"Democrats spent more than a decade saying Trump is an evil fascist and then when he invades a sovereign country and abducts its leader all they’ve got to say is oh gosh I wish he’d been more polite about it, he shoulda asked Congress first. They’re just Trump with a rainbow flag."
www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-us-empire-needs-men-like-trump
On Bernie Sanders and Venezuela (with the warmongers): cindysheehan.substack.com/p/bernedout-panders-strikes-again
Live page – michaelharrison.org.uk/venezuela-and-imperialist-aggression-2026-updated-05-january/
MLRG on January 3rd – mlrg.online/current-events/the-capture-of-nicolas-maduro-and-the-current-strategy-of-usa-imperialism/
www.normalisland.co.uk/p/tony-blair-appointed-to-gaza-board
www.normalisland.co.uk/p/americans-beg-iran-to-intervene-as
www.normalisland.co.uk/p/brave-iranian-feminists-scrawl-trump
www.normalisland.co.uk/p/trump-abducts-elderly-venezuelan
theworker.news/2026/01/17/police-make-19th-arrest-in-connection-with-prairieland-anti-ice-action/
www.rt.com/russia/631466-quiet-siege-of-gagauzia/
www.rt.com/news/631284-sheep-that-bites-finland-russia/
www.rt.com/pop-culture/631373-russian-embassy-violinist-concert-cancellation-germany/
www.rt.com/russia/631493-ukrainian-violent-mobilization-video/
www.rt.com/russia/631345-ukrainian-elites-blackout-tensions/
In Venezuela: kollibri.substack.com/p/meet-venezuelas-national-tree
And a newer post there on Iran's national tree, Persian cat, etc.
In Chapel Hill: terribuckner.substack.com/p/should-local-governments-review-site
The final Durham City Council hearing on the new zoning map will be February 24th.
Veronika, a tool-using Austrian cow: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronika_(cow)
A Far Out cartoon: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_tools
On Jane Harrison: akennedysmith.substack.com/p/the-ghost-of-jane-harrison
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/how-greek-temples-bridged-earth-and-cosmos/
In ancient Peru: www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/indigenous-accounting-and-exchange-at-monte-sierpe-band-of-holes-in-the-pisco-valley-peru/41D83389D230D99CFF18194CF274A9A3
skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/maya-260-day-calendar-provides-key-to-solar-eclipse-predictions/
On the Mayan bat deity (?) Camazotz ("take" + "bat" or "snatch-bat" – Dennis Tedlock, 1985) or Zotzilha Chimalman? (Zotzilaha Chimalman?)), of the House of Bats in Xibalba in the Popol Vuh (seemingly chthonic entity or entities, but related to astronomical matters?) – www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-antiquity/article/abs/bats-and-the-camazotz-correcting-a-century-of-mistaken-identity/A7EA76CA036831A04D75B2318F2B9BC6
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camazotz
On the Tzotzil Maya – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzotzil
Mexico wants codices held by France returned; one will be returned temporarily; a town in the state of Hidalgo wants the Aztec Codex Borbonicus ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Borbonicus ), for divination (?)?
Wikipedia claims that the Aztec goddess Itzpapalotl ("obsidian (knife) butterfly") was associated with the Orizaba silkmoth (Rothschildia orizaba): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%AAtzp%C4%81p%C4%81l%C5%8Dtl See also: www.azteccalendar.com/god/Itzpapalotl.html Mentioned on the US/UK NPR program The World one day in late summer 2025? The World might have called it the 'four mirrors moth,' and the Rothschildia moths have distinctive clear, triangular 'windows' in each wing, rather than eyespots. I couldn't find the segment on their website afterward.
For photos; the Orizaba silkmoth has a strange looking and colorful caterpillar? – www.silkmoths.bizland.com/SouthAmericansats/tdorizabatriloba.htm
Rothschildia orizaba: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschildia_orizaba
The Spanish Wikipedia entry: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschildia
On BugGuide: bugguide.net/node/view/805473Rothschildia_orizaba
The Forbes' silkmoth, apparently very similar to the Orizaba in appearance, range, seasonality, and ecology, has four large transparent spots, one per wing, and ranges north to the very southern tip of Texas. There are three broods, February-April, June-July, and September? With a wingspan of up to 15cm, the Orizaba silkmoth is the largest of the three Rothschildia species found in the US (the Orizaba, Jorulla, and Forbes' silkmoths), the same size as a large polyphemus silkmoth, a silkmoth found in North Carolina. Forbes' silkmoth caterpillars naturally eat ash, lime, prickly ash, and willows, but in captivity can eat privet, citrus, a native cherry, etc. (is this correct?). David L Wagner's caterpillar guide adds peach, which would fit with cherries, etc., and gives the broods as April-June and fall-early winter, but says that the moths and/or caterpillars can be found all year. He calls Forbes' silkmoth R. lebeau forbesi, rather than just R. forbesi. If Itzpapalotl really was associated with the Orizaba silkmoth, was it really distinguished from other Rothschildia and other giant silkmoth species? "Butterfly" is listed (in the George C Valliant book mentioned in part one of these split up posts) as one of the "birds" associated with the god Xochipilli ("Flower Prince;" the same deity as Macuilxochitl or "Five Flower?" See also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xōchipilli and www.azteccalendar.com/god/Xochipili.html ) in calendrics. It would probably have been hard to observe the moths at night by fire, Moon, or star light. – Peterson Field Guide Series A Field Guide to the Moths of Eastern North America by Charles V Covell Jr, 1984 and Caterpillars of Eastern North America by David L Wagner, 2005, published by Princeton University Press.
On the city of Orizaba, in the Mexican State of Veracruz: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orizaba
triangleland.org/blog/drawn-to-the-light-exploring-moths-at-brumley-nature-preserve
www.backyardbutterflies.org
www.ncmothproject.org/about-the-project/
ncbg.unc.edu/2026/01/08/2026-nc-wildflower-of-the-year/
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/what-if-every-roadkill-had-a-memorial/
naturalsciences.org/calendar/news/nanotyrannus-confirmed/
Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS), discovered January 13, 2026: theconversation.com/a-new-comet-was-just-discovered-will-it-be-visible-in-broad-daylight-274533
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/sky-gazing-on-mars/
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-myths-and-lore-of-the-milky-way/
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-thorny-ethics-of-planetary-engineering/
www.leaflimb.com/project-pando-native-seed-drive/
"Leave the leaves" ( xerces.org/blog/leave-the-leaves and www.keepdurhambeautiful.org/leaveyourleaves ), "lights out" at night for the migrating birds went to November 30th ( raleighnc.gov/climate-action-and-sustainability/news/raleigh-joins-lights-out-bird-migration and www.audubon.org/our-work/cities-and-towns/lights-out ) and begins again soon, on... Watch out for Ambystoma salamanders crossing roads (late now? earlier in the winter? frogs and toads next...).
The aquatic axolotl ("water dog," as in an English name for similar salamanders?) of the Mexico City area is Ambystoma mexicanum: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl There is also the god (partnered with Quetzalcoatl) and historical if not current Nahua name Xolotl.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xolotl
www.azteccalendar.com/god/Xolotl.html
? – museodelaxolote.org.mx/en/the-axolotl-in-pre-hispanic-mythology/
I forgot that it is not an Ambystoma sp. – durhamspark.blogspot.com/2007/04/ncs-new-state-amphibian-is.html
The Internet Wayback Machine archived this blog twice on May 16, 2025, for the first time since 2023 (?).
This the 952nd post on DS.
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