Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • SWABbing Together

    [UPDATE] Valerie said she was “appalled” not “ashamed”. Turns out so is the Chapel Hill News. Tomorrow night Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt will petition his colleagues to appoint a representative to participate in discussions with the County’s Solid Waste Advisory Board (SWAB) on the future of the Interlocal Agreement on Solid Waste Management. That agreement, coordinating […]

  • Charterwood Proposal: A Forest without Trees

    This Monday (Apr. 11th,2011), the Council will have the first of two hearings on the Charterwood development. This proposed development supposedly aligns with the goals set forth in both the Town’s aged Comprehensive Plan and the problematic Northern Area Plan. I’ve read well over a hundred of planning proposals the last decade and have seen […]

  • Orange County Dems: Thanks for the Consideration…

    Among the many other activities going on today was the Orange County Democratic Party all-precinct convention. Quite a turnout with many familiar faces. Local heavyweights US Rep. David Price, former State House Speaker Joe Hackney and House colleague Verla Insko along with State Senator Ellie Kinnaird (who changed a tire on the way to the […]

  • Think Blue: Baldwin Park Bolin Creek Restoration Commemoration

    Though the day was grey, this morning’s formal commemoration of the end of the current phase of Baldwin Park’s stream restoration project was well attended by local pols: Carrboro Alderman Randee Haven-O’Donnel, Lydia Lavelle, Sammy Slade, Chapel Hill’s Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt and Council member Donna Bell (who lives a few steps away from the park) […]

  • Think Blue: Four Toes in the Creek

    Local environmentalist and incredible photographer Mary Sonis has made a stunning discovery in her backyard. Below is a rare 4 toed salamander, “a species of special concern in North Carolina” (to quote her excited announcement). Mary contacted an expert at the North Carolina Museum of Life and Sciences who said he had never seen one […]

  • Think Blue: Earth Action Day Apr. 9th, 2011

    Bolin Creek Restoration Project from Town of Chapel Hill, NC Our community spends a lot of time talking “green”. We’ve encouraged developers and policy makers alike to commit, with some success, to an environmentally sustainable future. Most of the effort has been put into conserving energy, lowering the impact of development, preserving green-space and securing […]

  • Trash Talk: The Neverending Story…Ends?

    [UPDATE:] WCHL’s Elizabeth Friend has a great summation here. Over a decade ago, just as I was beginning to get involved in local issues, I heard then local NAACP President Fred Black and Roger Road resident Rev. Robert Campbell brief Council on the fairly extensive list of negative impacts our landfill was having on the […]

  • No Green For Greenbridge

    Looks like the rumors I’ve been hearing for the last few months are true, the much touted Greenbridge project is in deep financial trouble. The high-density development (which has saved Downtown according to the local Chamber of Commerce director Aaron Nelson) hasn’t been able to sell units and pay its construction bills according to today’s […]

  • High Speed Internet: We’re on Our Own…

    Google has chosen Kansas City, Kansas as their partner in deploying 1 gigabyte/second network services to the community. Chapel Hill applied with some gusto several years ago for the “honor”. At the time I argued that while it would be nice to have the financial backing of Google, Google’s reticence in discussing privacy, security and […]

  • OWASA: Penalizing Conservation

    The Carrboro Citizen has another report on Carrboro’s BOA’s decision not to amend the inter-local agreement governing access to Lake Jordan water. I was bothered by this passage: Board member Joal Hall Broun said the issue was not the lake water, but freeing up OWASA in the event of emergencies and allowing the utility to […]

  • Carrboro: 100 Hundred Years Young

    Our neighbors across the tracks are celebrating their 100th birthday today. Carrboro, “the little community that could”, has still managed to keep itself, as local radio icon Ron Stutts likes to say, “one degree cooler than Chapel Hill”. Celebrations start this evening around 7:30pm at the Century Center across from Weaver St. Market. More information […]

  • Lift up your hearts, all will come right

    “…lift up your hearts, all will come right. Out of depths of sorrow and sacrifice will be born again the glory of mankind…” PRIME MINISTER WINSTON CHURCHILL’S SPEECH TO THE ALLIED DELEGATES St. James’s Place, London, June 12, 1941 I’ve been thinking about my Libyan friend Ish’s family the last couple weeks. Finally, a promise […]

  • Water, Water, Everywhere? Carrboro Holds The Line

    [UPDATE] WCHL’s newest reporter Freda Kahen-Kashi has the story – Mayor Mark Chilton Finds Faults With OWASA Plan. [UPDATE 2] Further information on the meeting from the Daily Tar Heel. They quote Gordon Merklein, OWASA Chair and UNC’s Director of Real Estate as saying “Jordan Lake is essential because the other water supplies cannot meet […]

  • Water, Water, Everywhere…

    After a very long day and a very long evening. I finally got a chance to ask Council to take a more measured approach to approving OWASA’s proposed modifications to the agreement controlling access Lake Jordan’s water. The proposal might have appeared technical in nature but, at the heart of it, had policy ramifications impacting […]

  • Zoned Out

    Spent a tad more than 5 hours discussing zoning and zoning related issues today. Had an incredible work session with UNC’s Counter-Cartographies Collective (www.countercartographies.org), who “seek to create collaborations for engaged research and cartography — transforming the conditions of how we think, write and map and the conditions about which we think, write and map.” […]

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