Citizens aren’t geese and, for most, the golden eggs they pay in taxes don’t come easy.
While I’ve been critical of both the county’s and town’s 2006-2007 budgets, it’s Chapel Hill’s efforts that have disappointed me the most.
Why? The advertised “balance” was based on reductions in fiscal responsibility, a “lucky” sales tax windfall and [...]

I’ve been reading UNC Law School’s Eric Muller’s ‘blog IsThatLegal for several years.
He has an incredible knack ferreting out information and reporting on one of the low points for American democracy - World War Two’s mass detention of citizens of Japanese origin (covered in his book Free to Die for Their Country).
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[UPDATE: More (via Paul Jone's) from The Carrboro News]
One of my concerns about Chapel Hill’s impending Lot #2 and Lot #5 developments is the restriction of public access to what was once public property.
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Also, from our July 19 column: we regret the insinuation that Mr. Alex Trebek is a robot, and has been since 2004. Mr. Trebek’s robotic frame does still contain some organic parts, many harvested from patriotic Canadian schoolchildren, so this technically makes him a “cyborg,” not a “robot.” Ken-Jennings.com regrets the error.
Version 2.0 suggestions.

Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K., he knew he had done nothing wrong but, one morning, he was arrested.
“The Trial”, Kafka
Stumbled upon this troubling account from Denver’s ABC 7:
You could be on a secret government database or watch list for simply taking a picture on an airplane. Some federal air marshals [...]

From the Boston Globe
The federal government has inflated the “No Fly List” to 200,000 names. But the list has nabbed more members of Congress than it has terrorists. US Senator Edward M. Kennedy and US Representative John Lewis have been inconvenienced by it, and anyone named David Nelson is likely to face a major interrogation [...]

Bush’s Presidency should go down as the worst in our Republic’s short history. In the rush to create a new American Imperialism, Emperor Bush’s profligate Constitutional trespasses - the calculated, unchallenged scope and breadth of abuse of his Executive powers - have set a new standard of political authoritarianism.
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An interesting mix of groggy and chipper Barcamper’s this morning. Fred quickly shook out the details of an “unconference” - a set of sessions were pitched (I’m doing a citizen technology session) and off we went.
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“First comes love, then comes marriage“, then comes what in that Web 2.0 carriage?
Two of our strongest local blogging activists, Ruby and Brian are tying the knot today (forever memorable because it’s also my wifes b’day).
Congratulations and fondest good luck on what promises to be a sweltering July 22nd.

Saturday, July 22nd’s RDU Barcamp should be a yearly highpoint for the Triangle tech community.
A “who’s who” of producers and consumers on ‘net-related tech will gather (@ 8 am as ibiblio’s Paul Jones notes) to thrash through some of today’s trendier tech topics.
As local social justice activist (and newly minted groom) BrianR, over at Yesh.com, [...]

Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett died July 7th (as announced today). Syd’s influence on Brit rock was comparable to the Beach Boys’ Wilson’s (whose Pet Sounds often appears neck-n-neck with “Madcap Laughs” in lists of influential albums) on the US scene.
My copy of “Madcap” is sorted into a special sub-section of my album collection along [...]

Fireworks [map]

If you get a chance next Sunday (July 16th), take a listen to DJ TJ (that’s Dance Jam Tucker Jones) from 2-4pm on Carrboro’s local low-power FM WCOM. I caught a snippet of his show a couple weeks ago - interesting, eclectic stuff.
Can’t get WCOM? No worries, they stream.