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C. Fray

@cfrayforcarrboro.bsky.social

Town of Carrboro councilmember, land use nerd, plant dork, fandom lurker, non-binary (they/them)

327 Posts580 Follower410 Folgt
Courtney Milan@courtneymilan.com · last wk.

I love when people call me a Luddite. MRNA vaccines? Inject that content into my muscles. Solid state batteries? Fuck yeah let's scale that shit and get it out there. Agrivoltaic breakthroughs marrying plants and technology? LET'S GO, power + plants is specifically my jam.

Melissa & Chris Bruntlett@modacitylife.com · last wk.

This transformation reveals what was most courageous about Plante’s leadership: she was willing to act before a consensus existed, and let people experience the alternative for themselves. In a political culture where reallocating road space is always intensely polarising, that takes a lot of nerve.

People of all ages and abilities walk, sit, and dine along a pedestrianised street in Montreal. It is lined with trees, planter boxes, terraces, and benches.People of all ages and abilities walk, sit, and dine along a pedestrianised street in Montreal. It is lined with trees, planter boxes, terraces, and benches.People of all ages and abilities walk, sit, and dine along a pedestrianised street in Montreal. It is lined with trees, planter boxes, terraces, and benches.
Melissa & Chris Bruntlett@modacitylife.com · last wk.

In Montréal, what started as an emergency pandemic response has evolved into the continent’s most ambitious car-free scheme. Across 9.3 kilometres of 11 commercial arteries in seven boroughs, entire corridors have been handed back to pedestrians, helping some 2,100 businesses thrive in the process.🧵

People of all ages and abilities walk, sit, and dine along a pedestrianised street in Montreal. It is lined with trees, planter boxes, terraces, and benches. People of all ages and abilities walk, sit, and dine along a pedestrianised street in Montreal. It is lined with trees, planter boxes, terraces, and benches. People of all ages and abilities walk, sit, and dine along a pedestrianised street in Montreal. It is lined with trees, planter boxes, terraces, and benches.
John Scalzi@scalzi.com · 2w ago

"AI" has existed in its current form for barely four years and the fact that it's jammed up the cognitive development of an entire generation that fast (and that there's a specific overclass of techofascists who are deeply thrilled about this) is a big damn red flag. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/17/u...

What Do Students Lose When They Stop Writing? (Gift Article)

Educators are worried that many students can no longer write essays without A.I. And it’s costing more than just grammar skills.

nytimes.com

Alisa Bokulich@alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2w ago

Sharing this helpful article "Identifying White Mediocrity and Know-Your-Place Aggression: A Form of Self-Care" from my wonderful BU colleague Koritha Mitchell (with her links to additional resources below): muse.jhu.edu/article/715439

This article offers a primer on identifying what the author calls "know-your-place aggression" as well as the violence of white mediocrity being treated as merit. The author argues that gaining clarity about these hostile tendencies is a form of self- care. Examples include experiences with racism, (hetero)sexism, trans antagonism, ableism, and Islamophobia. Understanding know-your-place aggression and white mediocrity can prevent marginalized communities from wasting energy by worrying about the opinions of people who use objective standards to judge everyone but themselves. The author encourages this form of self-care because she believes it can empower members of marginalized groups to save their energy for what matters most, the quality of their lives and their contributions to research.
ProfKori@profkori.bsky.social · 2w ago

This summer, Black scholars in THE NEW YORK TIMES and THE ATLANTIC have become spectacles. Meanwhile, white mediocrity remains OUT of the spotlight. Notice that and save your sanity! www.korithamitchell.com/seeing-black...

Costa Samaras@costasamaras.com · 2w ago

we need more housing and more clean electricity and more clean transportation infrastructure than most people realize and we should go big and make enough for everyone.

Septima P. Snark@drsubini.blacksky.app · 3w ago

🔥🔥🔥🔥 “All of the speculation and hype around A.I. is hiding the fact that the technology isn’t just large language models or agents or data centers. It is the backbone of a superstructure that merges regressive politics with unchecked economic power in the guise of technological innovation.”

Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 4w ago

Anyway, I made a reading list in public. I try to avoid doing that. The Twitter “syllabus” wars scarred me. It’s gonna be a touchy few days.

nora "the tea kobold" rude (they/them ze/hir)@nora.zone · 6mo ago

If you do not fight at the barricade of trans healthcare you will fight at the barricade of the most stigmatized medication you are on and you will do it with fewer experienced allies because you left trans people to die.

Gillian Branstetter@gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 6mo ago

They won't start with banning birth control. First they'll lie about it. Then dictate who can prescribe it, use it, fund it, in what forms, and for how long. Suddenly, your doctor won't call you back. I know this is what they'll do because it's what they're doing to transgender healthcare right now.

AAUP–Penn@aaup-penn.bsky.social · last mo.

“This victory shows that universities should not capitulate to unjust and unconstitutional demands from the Trump administration,” said Lorena Grundy, vice president of @aaup-penn.bsky.social. “AAUP-Penn will continue to defend the rights of all communities at Penn.” When we fight, we win.

Trump administration drops its subpoena seeking names of Jewish people at Penn

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also agreed not to seek the information in the subpoena in alternative ways.

inquirer.com

Anna Kornbluh@annakornbluh.bsky.social · last mo.

the best day for the presidents of every R1 to hold a press conference screaming that higher ed is our second largest export and destroying it is economic sabotage and soft power detonation was Jan 21st 2025. the next best day is tomorrow.

Anna Kornbluh@annakornbluh.bsky.social · last mo.

a bad thing is running a phd program with brilliant international students who must reckon with a volatile xenophobic saboteur government in fresh ways every day, no thank you, 0/10

Oxfords not Brogues 🇺🇦 🌻 🚜 🏁👻@tancred1098.bsky.social · last mo.

Article from 2023, but facts are facts. Pedestrian corridors in cities HELP businesses, even the one that opposed them in the first place.

Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Heard this one? The City of Barcelona traded 3 lanes of vehicle traffic for an exceptional 4.7 km green pedestrian corridor in the heart of the Eixample grid. Businesses sued, & eventually won in court. Then they admitted that they actually like the change. Streets for people are good for business.

97.9 The Hill WCHL & Chapelboro.com@wchlchapelboro.bsky.social · 2mo ago

“The Public Works Department is often the unsung hero of the community,” said Carrboro Fire Chief Will Potter. “You don’t think about what they do unless they’re not doing it. They lost all of their trash trucks during the storm.”

Local Governments Facing 'Years-Long' Recovery from Chantal's Floods, But Progress is Being Made - Chapelboro.com

One year after Tropical Storm Chantal’s major flooding, the local governments are still adjusting to its physical and financial impacts.

chapelboro.com

97.9 The Hill WCHL & Chapelboro.com@wchlchapelboro.bsky.social · last mo.

COLUMN: “I was unaware of Carrboro’s Tomato Day, until I was brought there to volunteer with fellow students attending for the first time.” Cullen Schulteis writes on his experience at the annual event, sharing what he learned while celebrating tomatoes:

Bigger than Tomatoes: A Perspective From the Carrboro Farmers’ Market’s Tomato Day - Chapelboro.com

This weekend, I was able to witness the power that a simple tomato holds at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market’s Tomato Day.

chapelboro.com

Deva Woodly@devawo.bsky.social · last mo.

It is very important to state things plainly & directly & repeatedly. Euphemism provides places for your opponents to hide & too much rhetorical architecture for false credulity and/or misunderstanding.

Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · last mo.

Ossoff: In my view, he's obsessed with Georgia because he can't get over the fact that it was black voters and black political power who were instrumental to his defeat in Georgia and in a number of crucial battleground states.

Jake Grumbach@jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This keeps happening, the conflation of people disapproving of Dems being too weak and unprincipled with disapproving of Dems for being too leftwing. This is part of how a lot of Gen Z distrust for Dems gets recast into Gen Z being rightwing

Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they)@doctorvive.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Insofar as US swing voters think the Democrats are "out of step" with them on climate change, the vast majority say that is because Democrats are "not fighting hard enough/need to do more." Yes, really. 5/n

What concerns or disagreements do you have with Democrats' approach to the issue of climate change? In what ways are Democrats out of step with your views on this issue?* RANKED BY HIGHEST PERCENTAGE Not fighting hard enough/need to do more.... Like Democrats/do a good jo............................. Democrats don't focus on real/important issues 20 12 Climate change is exaggerated/isn't rea....................... Only interested in themselves/trying to enrich themselves Disagree with their approach to Republicans/Trump administration. Approach is too aggressive/they over-regulate issues. Disagree with the push for electric cars................... Out of step on everything.. Their approach will lead to higher costs/energy costs.. Disagree with eliminating fossil fuels Nothing 3 12 Other approach comments ... Other miscellaneous comments. Other initiatives comments.. Don't know 5 6
Melissa & Chris Bruntlett@modacitylife.com · 2mo ago

One of the most pernicious myths about Dutch cities is they have always been designed for people, and are somehow finished with that process. In reality, places like Den Bosch spent decades accommodating growing volumes of motor traffic, often at the expense of public space, safety and liveability.🧵

People walk, cycle, and sit in the low-car streets of ‘s-Hertogenbosch lined with trees, terraces, benches, planter boxes, and bike parking.People walk, cycle, and sit in the low-car streets of ‘s-Hertogenbosch lined with trees, terraces, benches, planter boxes, and bike parking.People walk, cycle, and sit in the low-car streets of ‘s-Hertogenbosch lined with trees, terraces, benches, planter boxes, and bike parking.People walk, cycle, and sit in the low-car streets of ‘s-Hertogenbosch lined with trees, terraces, benches, planter boxes, and bike parking.
George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This point needs to be made over and again: The main purpose of wealth taxes should not be to raise revenue. That's a small and secondary benefit. The main purpose should be to *reduce the fortunes of the ultrarich*. Why? Because those fortunes present a massive threat to democracy and public life.