JFB

Y'all, it's doing the same thing in Durham/Cary that it did in Chapel Hill a few weeks back - this rain has stalled out overhead. The 24-hour rain gauge down the street is showing 3 inches as of midnight. Hope everyone along the Eno, Ellerbee Creek and Hope Creek has notifications turned on.

two babies in cheap halloween witch hats eating at a small table in front of a window

two wizards eating blueberries

Don’t look away from the implicit eugenics of “living with COVID" By lifting public health restrictions we are essentially subjecting immuno-compromised people to market eugenics.

If you're refusing to acknowledge the ongoing Covid pandemic and you're pushing Covid denialism by referring to the pandemic in the past tense, you have zero ground to stand on when it comes to spouting off about what is and is not eugenics.

Thanks for saying it out loud. Felt like he was experimenting with pacing, so much that dragged and yet my wife filled me in on exposition that seemed to have happened at double speed. I almost fell asleep from the nonstop whiplash of plot points.

AI and Fraternity, Abeba Birhane, AI Accountability Lab I envision a future where human dignity, justice, peace, kindness, care, respect, accountability, and rights and freedoms serve as the north stars that guide AI development and use. Realising these ideals can’t happen without intentional tireless work, dialogues, and confrontations of ugly realities – even if they are uncomfortable to deal with. This starts with deciphering hype from reality. Pervasive narratives portray AI as a magical, fully autonomous entity approaching a God-like omnipotence and omniscience. In reality, audits of AI systems reveal a consistent failure to deliver on grandiose promises and suffer from all kinds of shortcomings, issues often swept under the rug. AI in general, and GenAI in particular, encodes and exacerbates historical stereotypes, entrenches harmful societal norms, and amplifies injustice. A robust body of evidence demonstrates that — from hiring, welfare allocation, medical care allocation to anything in between — deployment of AI is widening inequity, disproportionately impacting people at the margins of society and concentrating power and influence in the hands of few. Major actors—including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and OpenAI—have willingly aligned with authoritarian regimes and proactively abandoned their pledges to fact-check, prevent misinformation, respect diversity and equity, refrain from using AI for weapons development, while retaliating against critique. The aforementioned vision can’t and won’t happen without confrontation of these uncomfortable facts. This is precisely why we need active resistance and refusal of unreliable and harmful AI systems; clearly laid out regulation and enforcement; and shepherding of the AI industry towards transparency and accountability of responsible bodies. "Machine agency" must be in service of human agency and empowerment, a coexistence that isn't a continuation of modern tech corporations’ inequality-widening,

so I am one of the 12 people (including the “god-fathers of AI”) that will be at the Vatican this September for a two full-day working group on the Future of AI

here is my Vatican approved short provocation on 'AI and Fraternity' for the working group

When it's Sunday night and I'm about to tell my husband I just found a free trampoline.

David Byrne came to my band’s show at a gay bar in Bed-Stuy and sang This Must Be The Place with us and I still haven’t processed it

*approaching 100%

Yeah, I don't understand the point of an app if you're not providing*something approaching* real time info.

The point you highlight about route start is an interesting one. At what point does the transit system assign/confirm the next bus is "a go," and how is that communicated to the network?

Canned: Conversations about Getting Fired It's time to think differently about getting fired.

if you're hanging out doing chores today, the first three episodes in the new season of canned are a whole THING, one goes hard on mental heath, one's DOGE, and one's a woman in a male dominated field.

When does the next bus come? GoTriangle reduces wait time on its busiest routes The regional agency joins GoDurham and GoRaleigh in offering bus service at 15-minute intervals between Durham and Chapel Hill.

Raleigh increased bus service from every 30 min to every 15 min on its route serving Glenwood Ave. Ridership then doubled in the year that followed.

Over last year, city’s high-frequency routes have had 89% ridership growth.

People will ride when you give them service that they can rely on!

WOWEE she took it to another level! 🙌

August 2, 1985 for upcoming Real Genius sneak preview.

Sneak preview tomorrow at an August 3, 1985 movie theater near you.

Sluggo’s “No” Sluggo has no problem shirking, but for the rest of us, Ramona Creel's 20 Ways to Say No might be helpful. I am not taking on any new respo...

they modified the strip. it says "no" mleddy.blogspot.com/2008/07/no.h...

every like will get an additional skeet on how the Mevlevi sufi tariqat (whirling dervishes) is a response to ancient gatherings of ADHD sufferers.

YouTube video by Black Sabbath - Topic Supernaut (2020 Remaster)

I appreciated your low-key professionalism guiding the BPAC Zoom sessions the couple of times I sat in. good luck and safe travels! youtu.be/nUb0QaDjP78?...

It's always the fun fact I share when people ask about living in Seattle. 30-50% more yearly rainfall in Durham, NC than in Seattle.

The Young Ones

Amorphophallus titanum (Titan Arum) Live Corpse Flower Bloom 2025 - Juniper Level Botanic Garden YouTube video by Plant Delights Nursery, Inc.

NC friends! Have you ever wanted to see an infamous corpse flower in person? Plant Delights has one in bloom right now! It should last all day tomorrow & hopefully into Saturday. Live stream & visiting info here: www.youtube.com/live/-Gadtwm...

I'm heavy on the transpo advocacy side Kyle. Biking as much as possible and trying to keep up with the latest Duke/Enbridge shenanigans whenever I can. NW Durham, but usually end up in the Golden Belt/OND for fun times.

$200 million is enough to provide a year of Housing Choice Vouchers to about 13,000 low-income American families, enabling them to pay their rent & preventing homelessness.

President Trump's 2026 budget proposes slashing housing assistance programs by 44%.

"Head over Heels" is THE most perfect afternoon biking song. Especially on this perfect PNW weather day.

Happy 1 year anniversary, @djeviestokes.bsky.social! I love me some Kevin Cole but I still get his action.

P.S. I shouted NO when song was interrupted by my phone switching wifi to service.

Hey #ChapelHillNC #CarrboroNC #DurhamNC #HillsboroughNC
🔍

#Chantal #Disasters #Flooding

For people who want to know more about segregated Carnegie libraries

"The Roots of Community: Segregated Carnegie Libraries as Spaces for Learning and Community-Making in Pre-Civil Rights America, 1900-65"

one of the many things IMLS funding has helped bring to life.

aquila.usm.edu/rocoverview/

What the @% Is a ‘Grawlix'? You’ll be amazed by the answer, we swear.

TIL that the replacement of swear words with $#%@ing punctuation is called "grawlix"

www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/gra...

My grandfather used to dress up as a ghost and chase Pac-Mans until his job was made redundant by AI.

Is there a field biologist in the Portland, Oregon, area who wouldn't mind being in a bear suit for an hour in the woods on August 4. For science. DM me.

hello it looks like north carolina might be in the news i really enjoy getting my nc news from @nclocal.bsky.social @theassemblync.bsky.social @indyweek.bsky.social @triangleblogblog.bsky.social and @enlacelatinonc.bsky.social

Being earnest is NOT cringe. SINCERITY IS A VIRTUE!