More to come.
Catawba Rhododendrons were blooming purple along Morgan Creek behind the NC Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill about three weeks ago (not around June?). An American columbo began blooming around May 2nd, was nearing full bloom May 7th, and will bloom for about a week, blooming only once in a decades long life: ncbg.unc.edu/2024/04/17/american-columbo-to-bloom/ Some trillium leaves were still up in late April and yellow stargrass (in the Amaryllis family, or is it in its own family now?), blue-eyed grass (in the iris family), hot pink and yellow Oxalises, faded bluets, green-and-gold, star chickweed, hawkweed, maple-leaved viburnum, pawpaws, tuliptrees, American fringetrees, black locusts, the last of the dogwoods, gill-over-the-ground/ground ivy (?), blackberries, buttercups, a pale yellow species of cinquefoil, blue lyre-leaved sage, maybe a spiderwort, etc. were blooming there. A yellow 'indigo'-type plant was about to bloom? Chinese fringetrees (?) and the last few downy arrowwoods (Viburnums) were blooming at Durham's Southwest Regional Library.
spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2024/05/northern-lights-seen-in-pittsburgh.html (and even in Puerto Rico this May)
Google searches will begin incorporating AI this week, and the only option is accepting it or boycotting, in favor of DuckDuckGo, etc.?
Unlike Trump and many other Republicans, even the Taliban apparently believes that human-induced climate change is happening, regarding recent floods.
The US demands, or commands, that the president of the Republic of Georgia, near Ukraine and Iran, veto the new foreign agents law. Is the Biden administration fomenting a "Euro Maidan" II, a "Euro-Atlantic" color coup to put a US government proxy in control? The EU seems to be an organization ranking below NATO now. How many proxy wars can the "West" run at one time? For example: diario-octubre.com/2024/05/15/georgia-los-imperialistas-tiran-la-piedra-y-esconden-la-mano/
www.normalisland.co.uk/p/un-worker-dies-from-unknown-causes
Jewish Israeli high school teacher Meir Baruchin of Petah Tivkah was arrested, held in isolation at the "Russian Compound" for four days (the only Jewish prisoner), mistreated, and fired, over two posts to Facebook regarding the war: portside.org/2024-02-11/how-israel-turned-teacher-traitor
48,000 graduate student workers represented by UAW are voting on a University of California systemwide strike over the violent repression of campus anti-war protest: www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/05/14/pers-m14.html
US reiterates "ironclad" support for Israel... – www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/05/14/ljdt-m14.html All on May 13th? – the first killing of "a foreign UN staffer in Gaza" during the current attack; a group of youths with adults present were free (no police stopped them; stonethrowing is apparently only a big deal when Palestinians or people south of the border do it) to attack an UNRWA facility in East Jerusalem, not for the first time, and there were two fires along the periphery at the same time (one near a fuel tank), which the staff extinguished; a video came out of Israelis destroying food aid near Rafah without the police on the scene interfering; Netanyahu said the war will continue; there were attacks on Rafah, Jabalia, Zeitoun, etc.; over 35,000 have been killed in Gaza; and Jake Sullivan said that the alleged US Rafah redline has not been crossed. Billions more in weapons are to go to Israel?
Australian PM incites attacks on pro-Gaza student encampments: www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/05/14/otdl-m14.html
www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/14/the-battle-of-ucla-inside-the-class-struggle/
Noted by DRAD: There is a "faculty-led" encampment at New York City's New School: www.democracynow.org/2024/5/10/new_school_faculty
In Amsterdam, Netherlands, but not only: mronline.org/2024/05/14/forget-securitisation-of-the-academy-we-are-now-fully-militarized/
truthout.org/articles/university-leaders-are-in-the-wrong-students-and-faculty-wont-back-down/
consortiumnews.com/2024/05/08/listen-to-the-students/
www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/13/what-are-greek-students-waiting-for/
Army Major Harrison Mann, working at the Pentagon, resigned over the war and Hala Rharrit at the State Department resigned in April, among others: truthout.org/articles/army-major-and-pentagon-officer-resigns-over-us-support-of-gaza-genocide/
consortiumnews.com/2024/05/13/the-secret-history-of-israels-role-in-genocide-in-colombia/
diario-octubre.com/2024/05/14/firmeza-de-los-palestinos-obligo-al-mundo-a-hablar-de-estado-libre/
diario-octubre.com/2024/05/12/planean-estados-unidos-y-la-otan-neutralizar-a-kaliningrado/
www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/14/a-clubbable-admission-palestines-case-for-un-membership/
www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/15/anything-goes-the-new-normal/
portside.org/2024-05-14/us-plan-outsource-its-imperialism-haiti-kenya
An Australian who revealed war crimes committed in Afghanistan will be punished: consortiumnews.com/2024/05/13/whistleblower-mcbride-sentenced-to-5-yrs-8-mos/
consortiumnews.com/2024/05/13/us-china-rivalry-riles-tiny-solomon-islands/
consortiumnews.com/2024/05/15/patrick-lawrence-dien-bien-phu-at-70/
www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/15/us-labor-must-weigh-in-on-cuba/
diario-octubre.com/2024/05/15/la-dictadura-mundial-de-un-sistema-denunciada-por-jose-marti-i/
www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/15/big-brown-in-the-philippines-ups-joins-the-pivot-to-asia/
? – peacediplomacy.org/2024/05/09/the-folly-of-a-new-containment/
? – responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/03/09/ukraine-war-unleashed-similar-west-russia-divide-in-georgia/
? – responsiblestatecraft.org/georgia-protests/
portside.org/2024-05-13/when-bad-cops-become-private-security-guards
portside.org/2024-05-12/supreme-court-rules-cops-can-steal-your-stuff-they-always-have
Video from the This Art Belongs to the Artists symposium at UNC: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTl8c2qXlZQ&ab_channel=UNCSchoolofLaw
www.audible.com/pd/Letters-from-Guantanamo-Audiobook/B0D33W5PLG
June is Torture Awareness Month?
May 16th National VIRTUAL Day of Action to End Solitary: www.nrcat.org
"A View from the Ground: The Impact of Solitary Confinement in ICE Detention" May 16th at 12pm: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcld-6srz0tGdIu0JV3-lIAMLwWSSgAMI1p#/registration
Contact your members of Congress to support the End Solitary Confinement Act: nrcat.salsalabs.org/esca-cosponsorship/index.html
Migratory Bird Day is May 15th?
May 15th there will be a Ride of Silence from CCB Plaza in Durham May 15th (annually on the third Wednesday in May), organized by Bike Durham; gathering at 5:30, an address by Durham City Council member Javiera Caballero at 5:45, and the bike ride will begin around 6pm, travelling 4.2 miles, memorializing the 42 cyclists killed in North Carolina last year: actionnetwork.org/events/ros-2024
National Bike to Work Day is May 17th
May is Bike Month in Carrboro: Take delight in every ride!
CARRBORO, NC -- Mayor Barbara Foushee has declared May to be Bike Month in Carrboro, encouraging residents to add biking to their transportation routines; to become advocates for biking, bicycle infrastructure, and bicycle-friendly laws and policies; and to take delight in every ride.
Biking is an easy way for people to reduce their carbon footprint and advance the Town’s climate action goals by avoiding the use of single-occupancy vehicles and reducing reliance on non-renewable resources for transportation.
National Bike Month is also an opportunity to experience the joys and health benefits of biking, to get outside during the spring season, and to see and experience the community at a different scale and pace.
Did you know? Carrboro became the first community in North Carolina to be designated a Silver Level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists.
Read the Mayor's Bike Month Proclamation at https://www.carrboronc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/14573/Bike-Month-2024 ;
Check out all the events planned for Bike Month, including:
- Bike & Roll to School Day - Wednesday, May 8, before and after school
- Bike on Bus Workshop at the Carrboro Farmers' Market – Saturday, May 11 from 9 a.m. to noon at Carrboro Town Commons, 301 W. Main St.
- Carrboro Bike Breakfast – Tuesday, May 21 from 7 to 10 a.m. at Libba Cotten Bikeway
- Community Bike Ride with Mayor Foushee starting at 8 a.m. Friday, May 17 from Carrboro Town Hall, 301 W. Main St.
- Find more events at https://www.carrboronc.gov/721/Biking
May 18th 3pm ET – there will be a Hands off Uhuru Coalition webinar: "COINTELPRO Exposed! Defeating the FBI's war on African and Indigenous Liberation" – us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3iJFThAMT2uRbHuOqFlwlA#/registration Including Ward Churchill, Uhuru Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Mike Kuzma, Jenipher Jones, and a representative from Union del Barrio.
Chairman Omali Yeshitela will be speaking live on YouTube May 15th at 3pm ET – "Address to the African Nation: A Dying Colonialism Lashes Out, at Home and Abroad" and there is a video on YouTube of his appearance on Tucker Carlson Uncensored.
There will be a memorial to Missouri peace and anti-war activist Warren J "Andrew" Wimmer, Jr (May 3, 1955-January 22, 2024 – www.schrader.com/obituary/warren-j-andrew-wimmer-jr ) in Saint Louis Sunday, May 19th. He had a major role in the campaign against the CIA "torture taxi" based at the Johnston County Airport, not far east of here in North Carolina: ncstn.org/content/ and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_Contractors_(United_States) Apparently Johnston County was founded June 28, 1746 and Smithfield, a large town near the airport, was founded May 9, 1777.
May 28th 7pm ET – Tempest Collective Virtual Forum "Campus Encampments and Beyond: Lessons from the Frontlines of Palestine Solidarity" –us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMuduChqDgvEtcTFUNWHEs6D5x1RbTf1z_U#/registration
June 5th 7:30 ET "Conflict with China: Marching to Disaster" Green Party (GPAX) Webinar – us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rgvPQ98sSumJ7qTuu1aLYA#/registration and gateway-greens.org
The Great Lakewood Make-Off will be June 8th afternoon and evening at the Scrap Exchange in Durham: www.scrapexchange.org/make-off The Scrap Exchange is having a Customer Appreciation Week May 14-19th. Exhibit April 27th-June 1st: The Fabulously Furry History of Durham's Beaver Queen Pageant Beaver Tails 20 Dam Years of Peace, Love, and Beaver for Ellerbe Creek Watershed The Scrap Exchange is at 2050 Chapel Hill in Durham (in the Lakewood Shopping Center area?): www.scrapexchange.org
The Indigenous-organized, public, hybrid format Yesah Tribunal: The Mountain Valley Pipeline and the Rights of Rivers will be June 1st at Haw River State Park in Browns Summit, Guilford County, NC: 7directionsofservice.com/rights-of-nature
Rights of Nature Weekend: May 30-June 2
5/9 – 7directionsofservice.com/blog/f/the-rights-of-the-dan-river-ecosystem-act-introduced-in-ncga
7 Directions of Service: The Rights of the Dan River Ecosystem Act introduced in NCGA
On Tues April 30th, Rep. Pricey Harrison introduced HB923, The Rights of the Dan River Ecosystem Act, in the North Carolina General Assembly’s House of Representatives to grant legal rights to the Dan River. HB923 would be one of the first state-level Rights of Nature laws in the U.S., and would elevate the status of the Dan River from “property” to a rights-bearing entity, like a person. Representatives Marcia Cervania and John Autry are primary sponsors of the bill. Other sponsors include Rep. Cynthia Ball, Rep. Kanika Brown, Rep. Allen Buansi, Rep. Deb Butler, Rep. Zack Hawkins, Rep. Maria Morey and Rep. James Robertson.
Rights of Nature is a rapidly spreading legal framework, rooted in Indigenous values, that has been adopted in 12 countries and counting, including over three dozen cities, towns, counties and tribal nations in the U.S. HB932 recognizes the Dan River Ecosystem and surrounding communities as having the legally enforceable rights to exist, regenerate, flourish and be free from pollution.
“Since time immemorial, our Indigenous communities have treated the natural world as kin. For us, animals and rivers are our relatives. We strive to treat them accordingly. When we steward and protect the waterways we depend on, like the Dan, the health of our communities improves. HB923 applies such life-honoring values to North Carolina state law, and lays a path forward for vulnerable ecosystems across the state,” said Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, co-founder of 7 Directions of Service, Citizen of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation.
Destructive development and catastrophes such as the 2014 Duke coal ash spill have led to the Dan River’s dire health, which is threatened to be compromised further by proposed methane fracked gas infrastructure expansions in Rockingham and Caswell Counties, including Duke and Dominion’s T-15 Reliability Project, Williams Transco’s Southeast Supply Enhancement Project and the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate Extension.
“Granting rights to the Dan River (and others) would help to provide more holistic protections for the river, rather than making decisions about the environmental impacts of various permitting and development requests in a piecemeal fashion, with no long-term plan. While I know that there is very little chance it will move forward in this current legislative session, I believe it’s important to continue to educate the public about this issue, with the hopes that public sentiment will shift and action can be taken in future legislative sessions”, said Representative Pricey Harrison.
Indigenous advocates at 7 Directions of Service who are leading the campaign have put forth a long-term vision that starts with education, bipartisan outreach and relationship-building across differences in order to advance state and municipal Rights of Nature laws and policies from the bottom up in NC.
On June 1, 2024, 7 Directions of Service will host a historic Indigenous-led Rights of Nature Tribunal at the Haw River State Park. Members of the public are welcome to attend or stream online, and can register at 7directionsofservice.com/rights-of-nature.
Help us thank and encourage the bold NC General Assembly members who sponsored HB923!
Please contact them today, and say thank you:
Introduced by:
REPRESENTATIVE PRICEY HARRISON (DEM) [note]
919-733-5771
Pricey.Harrison@ncleg.gov
Primary sponsors:
REPRESENTATIVE MARIA CERVANIA (DEM)
919-733-5602
Maria.Cervania@ncleg.gov
REPRESENTATIVE JOHN AUTRY (DEM)
919-715-0706
John.Autry@ncleg.gov
Other sponsors:
REPRESENTATIVE CYNTHIA BALL (DEM)
919-733-5860
Cynthia.Ball@ncleg.gov
REPRESENTATIVE KANIKA BROWN (DEM)
919-733-5777
Kanika.Brown@ncleg.gov
REPRESENTATIVE ALLEN BUANSI (DEM)
919-733-7208
Allen.Buansi@ncleg.gov
REPRESENTATIVE DEB BUTLER (DEM)
919-733-5754
Deb.Butler@ncleg.gov
REPRESENTATIVE ZACK HAWKINS (DEM)
919-715-2528
Zack.Hawkins@ncleg.gov
REPRESENTATIVE MARCIA MOREY (DEM)
919-733-7663
Marcia.Morey@ncleg.gov [note]
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES ROBERSON (DEM)
919-733-5974
James.Roberson@ncleg.gov
From Keep Durham Beautiful:
International Compost Awareness Week was May -10th
- May 2nd - Food Shuttle Garden Build
- May 2nd - New Hope Audubon Monthly Meeting
- May 3rd - Maureen Joy Charter Garden Build
- May 3rd - Durham Garden Tour Preview Party
- May 3rd - Exploring Intersectionality: Birding & Identity
- May 4th - Durham Garden Tour
- May 4th - Bird Bonanza at MLS
- May 5th - Bike Month Kick-Off
- May 11th - Durham Repair Café
- May 11th - Bull City Food Swap
- May 15th - Bike Durham Ride of Silence
- May 16th - Circular Triangle Lunch & Learn
- May 16th - Bike to Work Day
- May 18th - Bimbé Cultural Arts Festival
- May 19th - Día de las Madres Kermes
- May 21st - Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden
- May 22nd - Biking While Black Film Screening
- May 25th - Party for the Planet at MLS
- May 26th - Circular Triangle Clothing Swap
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