ludkmr

Moonrise over the winter forest

Chapel Hill rn

So war is peace? Huh

Can’t take that level of fun anymore. Godspeed TNG

The newspaper was in the blue building. Window on the right was my office

NC Early Accepted Ballots continue record-setting pace

Through 2-24: 419,714.

Overall, ahead of 2022’s same day total by 30% & 9% of 2024’s.

Dem Primary Ballots 52% ahead of 2022’s same day totals & 38% ahead of 2024’s.

Rep Primary is 8% ahead of 2022 but down 16% from 2024.

#ncpol

Calling All Monsters, by Solidagos track by Solidagos

Trying out the new Bandcamp embed. solidagos.bandcamp.com/track/callin...

Grayson’s right, btw

Good morning from the Piedmont where temps are going to rise 30 degrees between now and noon

Center-left Socialist candidate wins over populist in Portugal's presidential runoff Center-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro recorded a thumping victory over hard-right populist André Ventura in Portugal's runoff presidential election Sunday, according to official results.

Center-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro recorded a thumping victory over hard-right populist André Ventura in Portugal's runoff presidential election Sunday, according to official results. n.pr/4rIP76a

The only one I can recall was one he wrote for the losing candidate in NC's 2008 GOP primary for governor. It was not great

Owner of Franklin Street ice cream shop hits winning shot in basketball game

The Flytrap Feminist cultural criticism against the algorithm

As always, if you like what you read and you can afford a subscription to The Flytrap, please sign up and help us keep making this kind of content!

Sat alongside the pilot on the horseshoe shaped run from Hatteras once. Steering along that little ditch in a 280 ton boat took mad skills

I covered the ferry system in my coastal reporter days and the needle threading it takes to get anywhere in our sounds is astounding

Damn

The verdict is in: Transit service will not operate today, February 1. Road conditions are unsafe.

Thanks for your understanding!

"Major" flooding predicted for coastal North Carolina and Virginia during the Sunday morning high tide. Duck, NC, is predicted hit 7.2', 3rd-highest water level since 1999:

1. 7.82 ft on 09-18-2003
2. 7.55 ft on 11-22-2006
3. 7.20 ft on 09-06-2019
4. 7.15 ft on 01-03-2022
5. 7.04 ft on 08-21-2025

A rock show poster for a show at The Cave in Chapel Hill NC on Feb 7 with the bands Lud, It’s Snakes and Knockout Artist

Hey now

As good as gone

All of these right wing twitter dipshits are screaming about insurgency are ideologically incapable of understanding that they're not fighting guerillas who move through the people like fish through the sea, they're fighting the fucking sea

Moreover, ICE must be destroyed

*Governors — anyhoo item A-4 in the University Governance Committee section www.northcarolina.edu/apps/bog/ind...

proposed changes to UNC policy manual that reads: 6) The Parameters of Academic Freedom Do Not Include: a. Teaching content clearly unrelated to the course description or unrelated to the Page 3 of 16 discipline or subject matter. b. Using university resources for political or ideological advocacy in violation of university policy. (1)c. Refusing to comply with institutional policies or accreditation standards to which the university is subject. (7) The University and its constituent institutions shall not penalize or discipline members of its faculties because of the exercise of academic freedom in the lawful pursuit of their respective areas of scholarly and professional interest and responsibility. (8) Academic freedom is distinct from, but consistent with, the separate freedoms of expression and association protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution benefitting all members of the University community when acting in their personal capacities

A section of proposed changes to UNC's policy manual that reads: Academic freedom is not absolute. Faculty have the responsibility to exercise academic freedom within the parameters established by academic disciplines, professions, and in compliance with institutional policies, regulations, and rules. Administrators and faculty have the shared right and responsibility to implement the University’s mission as defined in G.S. 116-1, to discover, create, transmit, and apply knowledge to address the needs of individuals and society. This includes: a. Ensuring Alignment with Institutional Mission: Ensure that faculty activities support the university's mission and meet accreditation standards. b. Upholding Professional and Ethical Standards: Intervene when faculty conduct violates professional norms, creates a hostile learning environment as defined by policy and law, or undermines the institution's educational objectives. c. Protecting Management Responsibilities: Management is responsible for resource allocation and program viability, including the authority to set broad curricular frameworks, approve or eliminate programs, and ensure compliance with UNC policy and legal and regulatory requirements. (5) The parameters of academic freedom include: a. Teaching and researching controversial or unpopular ideas related to the discipline or subject matter. b. Expressing scholarly opinions and presenting diverse perspectives related to the discipline or subject matter. c. Assessing student performance based on academic criteria. d. Engaging in shared governance related to such fundamental areas as curriculum, subject matter and methods of instruction, research, faculty status, and those aspects of student life which relate to the educational process.

tried to take my mind off things by reading through the UNC Board of Governor's agenda packet and this proposal to define academic freedom certainly did the trick

Now if we can get the rest of OC. looking forward to getting hyper local

Town of Chapel Hill (@chapelhillgov.bsky.social) This is the official Town of Chapel Hill Bluesky account. Visit us at chapelhillnc.gov

Welcome to whatever this is @chapelhillgov.bsky.social

NC is voting btw

Block block block.

distracted boyfriend meme, with "exhausted political cartoonist," "relentlessly bad news," and "literally any other topic" on the three characters

I have been sitting on this cartoon for awhile, particularly happy to finally release this panel into the wild.

Senate Democrats absolutely have to shut the govt down to stop this ICE insanity in the Twin Cities. This is not sustainable & cannot be normalized. Any Democratic vote to provide money to the thugs who are brutalizing this community is a grave betrayal to the people here. Accountability can't wait.

chart header reads: Fields Under Fire. Some research fields have been heavily affected by grant terminations implemented by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) under President Donald Trump. More than half of the active, NIH-funded projects about gender and sexual minorities (LGBT+) have been cancelled. chart #1 shows that 50.6% of grants containing the terms "LGBT/LGBTQ/LGBTQ+" in the title or abstract were terminated. chart #2 shows that 45.8% of grants containing the term "transgender" in the title or abstract were terminated. chart #3 shows that 45.5% of grants containing the term "vaccine hesitancy" in the title or abstract were terminated. chart #4 shows that 3.4% of grants containing the terms "HIV" or "AIDS" in the title or abstract were terminated.

since it's behind a paywall now, I wanted to share this graph from "How Trump 2.0 is slashing NIH-backed research — in charts" (Nature, April 2025). Say it with me: the anti-trans/LGBTQ+ movement is an anti-science movement:
[article sans figs can be read here: web.archive.org/web/20250501... ]

Concerned by a #NCStateAuditor req. to investigate voter registration addresses in general & student add in particular. Serious implications for voter access. #ncpol #vote #voterregistration #voteraddress #studentvoters #votersuppression #CumberlandCountyNC #CCBOE #BoardofElections #NCSBE #HBCU #FSU