I was 14 when the US invaded Iraq. I can’t overstate how dumb 14 year olds are in general, but it still was clear that the stated reasons were fake and the whole thing would be a disaster. I was confused why so many people were ignoring the obvious. Anyway, shoutout to the 14 year olds of today.

I fear we are going to have to say this a lot again: Int law prohibits bombing countries for the sake of democracy. FOR VERY GOOD REASON. It tends not to work. Attacking a country because its leader lacks legitimacy - whether as pretext or sincerely held rationale - is still just an aggression.

Katie Wilson didn't say the word "urbanism" today, nor did the speakers that paved the way for her swearing-in. But the vision she laid out was an explicitly urbanist one, a vision of a city that makes room for everyone.

“It’s about being full human beings and not just means to an end. I want to live in a city that honors what you’re doing when you’re not making money: time spent on the playground with a kid or visiting a sick friend…we need bread, but we need roses too.” -Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson

The housing shortage is a central driver of inequality, displacement, and economic insecurity in Wake County. I’m proud to have championed zoning reform in Raleigh. It’s great to see Mayor Zohran adopt an abundance and reform agenda. It’s not progressive to oppose new housing.

In 2026 I want all of the decent people to remember one thing. You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics. That is all.

Ok but this one was basically right

NEW: This is very interesting — Seattle City Council has allowed 8-unit buildings up to 3 storeys, or 10 apartments up to 4 storeys (they call them “stacked flats”) if they add green features (like bioswales or green roofs) or preserve trees, in all residential zones across the entire city!

"We will replace the fragility of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism" ... love this line even more.

"Cities are like coral reefs; they are in a constant state of becoming and they are either living or dying, never static. This means growth is an undeniable aspect of a healthy city, and like a coral reef, healthy places are a mix of old and new things."

Spoiler: They used the money just as wisely as anyone else would, and it's so frustrating that this still isn't a common sense assumption to make.

The Town of Carrboro announces the Poets Party from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10. at the Drakeford Library Complex, 203 S. Greensboro St. Join us for a farewell to the current Carrboro Poet Laureate, Liza Wolff-Francis, and to welcome our new Poet Laureate, Dr. Amanda Bennett.

Anyone who thinks the trans panic is about protecting women hasn't been paying attention.

What folks don’t want to admit is that what we’re experiencing is a pretty deliberate campaign to disqualify anyone left of center as “unserious” with frankly terrible results for what’s running up on four years now at least.

“Then they shouldn’t have voted for this!” Bitch, Asheville is a blue college town and the county has gone blue for decades. I am so sick of this “if I pretend disasters only happen to red areas, it means I’m safe because I’m properly on the left!” No. You’re not safe. That’s why we save everybody.

You're right to be worried about the future. But you have reason to be very hopeful, too. Happy holidays, everyone. 🌟

US coal generation has collapsed from about 50% of electricity in 2005 to just 14% today. It’s one of the fastest energy transitions in modern history. Operating a coal plant now costs more than building new wind and solar in every state. buff.ly/lhSKS7D #ShareGoodNewsToo

Orange County Public Transportation will be piloting a one-year, fare-free model for its fixed-route transit services beginning Jan. 2, 2026. Here are the details:

The movie Cycling Cities showcases Europe’s top cycling capitals. @ingwarpero.bsky.social rode to Freiburg, Paris, Ghent, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Groningen, Hamburg & Copenhagen to see what makes cities bike-friendly and drives sustainable urban mobility. www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5jQ...

Once again a reminder: We can have trans rights, bodily autonomy, gender nonconformity, and freedom of expression, or we can have none of these things. There’s no third option.

I am an old man, @mozilla.org, and I was happy to sit in my rocking chair and use Firefox until sunset. But if you insist on choking this browser with GenAI bloat, I will face God and walk backwards into Linux.

Good info for #ncpol too

"Cookie cutter" housing is good. It's good when cities pre-approve designs, making it easier to add more housing. www.berkeleyside.org/2025/12/09/t...

“What I see as a labor economist is we have starved everything to feed one mouth,” says Ron Hetrick, Principal Economist at Lightcast. “These are now three years that we have foregone development in so many industries as we shove food into a mouth that’s already so full.”

Op-Ed: "UDO Rewrite Is Not the End of Land Use Regulations in Durham" by Carl Rist.

Like I've said before, if you have any doubts about climate change, just go to a super-boring insurance conference and listen to the super-boring panels where they dryly talk about the growing threat of disasters so catastrophic and unpredictable in scope they simply cannot be insured at any price.

Multiple sources have confirmed that ICE/Border Patrol is headed back to the Raleigh and Durham areas for undefined deportation actions. We've heard 50 ICE agents, charter flights and hotels booked for all of them in the Raleigh area. Let us know what you hear.

The biggest technological revolution of our lifetime is underway and it's not AI:

malicious denial of service attack on an adhd person by scheduling something to happen at some point in the afternoon

A good story on an awful situation. Thank you to Chief Potter for working tirelessly with residents, county and OWASA to keep people safe. Thank you to Habitat for Humanity for helping keep people in their homes! The General Assembly must act to regulate wholesaling and other predatory practices.

Howard and Lillian Lee and Braxton Foushee, three groundbreaking Black local leaders, saw their years of service awarded by being inducted into the Order of The Long Leaf Pine, a prestigious society of influential North Carolinians. Read more here:

Okay Carrboro locals and appreciators: I have an opportunity next spring to do a letterpress broadside project, and I want to make it as Carrboro as possible. Please share your recommendations for extremely Carrboro literature, topics, and iconic phrases. #feelfree

this is basically the most effective thing you as an individual can do to fuck with ICE and good on this dude for dedicating his retirement to fucking with them

“it is bonkers, frankly, when you see [what is happening in Charlotte] yourself.”

NEW: As immigration enforcement continues across North Carolina, communities are mobilizing--inside and outside formal organizing networks--to protect their neighbors:

Representatives from the Chapel Hill Carrboro City School system shared their support for immigrant families as Immigration and Customs Enforcement ramped up federal enforcement in the Triangle Tuesday.

For the rest of this week, volunteers will welcome students at school and act as lookouts should immigration agents show up. Many parents are keeping their children home out of precaution. www.wunc.org/term/news/20...

I went home to Southeast L.A. to cover the immigration raids there. And this week I've covered the raids in my adopted home of NC. Nothing--and I mean NOTHING--will give you hope like speaking to immigrant organizers and locals fighting back.

Tonight, as the sun set in Durham, while hundreds more joined patrols in Charlotte, courageous local officials, people of faith, and community leaders gathered to say: Enough is enough.

I hope folks are paying attention. Y'all are not going to believe the amazing way that Durham is showing out to protect our neighbors. Organizers pulled today's response together with about 12 hours notice. Tomorrow we are going to send CBP home crying. www.theassemblync.com/news/politic... #NCpol

Buenos Días. defendandrecruit.org/raleigh/

We can confirm reports that Customs and Border Patrol will be expanding their operation to the Raleigh area as early as tomorrow, Tuesday, November 18th. Today is day three of CBP's operations in our state.

Today marked Day One of Customs and Border Patrol’s Charlotte Operation. And as we’ve come to expect from these operations, federal agents targeted workers throughout Charlotte and the surrounding areas.

The genuine biggest thing about Amsterdam is that the road type you live on, be it a side street or arterial, isn't a determinant of whether you deserve to have protected bike lanes

This is really good advice (I mean, the piece in full!). I try to do a fair amount of this already - not always successfully by any means of course, but that's ok.

www.siembranc.org could use your support.

"[T]hat kind of experience makes some people want to preserve their cities in amber and makes others into fierce defenders of the ability of cities to absorb and protect other people who also need to remake themselves. They’ll all need someplace to live." This is how I feel about Carrboro.

As always, if you see something that you suspect could be an immigration enforcement action in progress, call our hotline at (336) 543-0353 or the hotline number in the About tab so we can verify and provide support.

OJO Obrero (ojonc.org) is now available. This website features information about confirmed ICE operations in our state to help parents and workers get to school and work safely. OJO Obrero only features sightings that we can confirm involve federal agents, rather than crowdsourced reports

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.