Not surprising, unfortunately.
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Lewisville Blockbuster Closing
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
If You’re in a Drought You Should Call Me
If you live in an area that’s experiencing a drought you really should
consider hiring me to take a business trip to your area. I truly have
a gift for bringing wet weather with me. Today I’m bringing the
remnants of a hurricane with me to Atlanta. In November. In June I
brought a flash flood with me. To Vegas.
Put it this way: if I was an astronaut they’d find water if they sent
me to the moon or Mars.
links for 2009-11-06
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I'm telling you if they don't stop doing medical research we're not going to have anything left to do that can't somehow kill you or at least bring you serious harm:
"For decades, doctors described cases of a rare neurological condition that usually occurred in patients over age 50. Neurologists noted that patients knew their identities, but couldn't retain recent memory, where they were and how they got there. They showed no other symptoms.
Sex is one of the major triggers for the baffling medical condition called transient global amnesia in which patients lose their ability to retain immediate memory."
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Keith Barber pens an article that looks at the intersection of faith and politics in Winston-Salem.
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In this Reed Construction Data survey of 25 cities Winston-Salem had the lowest construction costs per square foot in four categories (hospitals 2-3 stories, hospitals 4-8 stories, nursing homes, apartments 8-24 stories). Honestly I'm trying to figure out where the apartment buildings over 8 stories are in the city.
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For three years Fred Wilson has done a great job of raising money through the Donor's Choose Bloggers challenge. In this post he shared data on how much money was raised each year and from how many people. What I find interesting is that the amount of money is relatively flat from year to year ($18,538 in 2007, $17,029 in 2008, and $18,824 this year), but the number of donors increased dramatically this year (92 in 2007, 80 in 2008, and 205 this year). While it would be great to see the amount-per-donor at the same level as 2007 with the higher number of donors in 2009 I think that's unrealistic in this economy. In the long run I think that having the higher number of donors will be a positive because when next year rolls around there will probably be more donors coming back and if times are better then the dollars-per-donor average will go up and it's a long-term win for Donor's Choose. I'm wondering if the same trend is happening with other non-profits?
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I'm in general agreement with Fred Wilson:
"It is not a positive to be an incumbent right now. And that's a good thing because the track record of our government sucks. I hope the anti incumbent mood continues to be honest. We could use a good house cleaning throughout our government."
links for 2009-11-05
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I'm telling you if they don't stop doing medical research we're not going to have anything left to do that can't somehow kill you or at least bring you serious harm:
"For decades, doctors described cases of a rare neurological condition that usually occurred in patients over age 50. Neurologists noted that patients knew their identities, but couldn't retain recent memory, where they were and how they got there. They showed no other symptoms.
Sex is one of the major triggers for the baffling medical condition called transient global amnesia in which patients lose their ability to retain immediate memory."
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Keith Barber pens an article that looks at the intersection of faith and politics in Winston-Salem.
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In this Reed Construction Data survey of 25 cities Winston-Salem had the lowest construction costs per square foot in four categories (hospitals 2-3 stories, hospitals 4-8 stories, nursing homes, apartments 8-24 stories). Honestly I'm trying to figure out where the apartment buildings over 8 stories are in the city.
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For three years Fred Wilson has done a great job of raising money through the Donor's Choose Bloggers challenge. In this post he shared data on how much money was raised each year and from how many people. What I find interesting is that the amount of money is relatively flat from year to year ($18,538 in 2007, $17,029 in 2008, and $18,824 this year), but the number of donors increased dramatically this year (92 in 2007, 80 in 2008, and 205 this year). While it would be great to see the amount-per-donor at the same level as 2007 with the higher number of donors in 2009 I think that's unrealistic in this economy. In the long run I think that having the higher number of donors will be a positive because when next year rolls around there will probably be more donors coming back and if times are better then the dollars-per-donor average will go up and it's a long-term win for Donor's Choose. I'm wondering if the same trend is happening with other non-profits?
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I'm in general agreement with Fred Wilson:
"It is not a positive to be an incumbent right now. And that's a good thing because the track record of our government sucks. I hope the anti incumbent mood continues to be honest. We could use a good house cleaning throughout our government."
links for 2009-11-05
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I'm telling you if they don't stop doing medical research we're not going to have anything left to do that can't somehow kill you or at least bring you serious harm:
"For decades, doctors described cases of a rare neurological condition that usually occurred in patients over age 50. Neurologists noted that patients knew their identities, but couldn't retain recent memory, where they were and how they got there. They showed no other symptoms.
Sex is one of the major triggers for the baffling medical condition called transient global amnesia in which patients lose their ability to retain immediate memory."
-
Keith Barber pens an article that looks at the intersection of faith and politics in Winston-Salem.
-
In this Reed Construction Data survey of 25 cities Winston-Salem had the lowest construction costs per square foot in four categories (hospitals 2-3 stories, hospitals 4-8 stories, nursing homes, apartments 8-24 stories). Honestly I'm trying to figure out where the apartment buildings over 8 stories are in the city.
-
For three years Fred Wilson has done a great job of raising money through the Donor's Choose Bloggers challenge. In this post he shared data on how much money was raised each year and from how many people. What I find interesting is that the amount of money is relatively flat from year to year ($18,538 in 2007, $17,029 in 2008, and $18,824 this year), but the number of donors increased dramatically this year (92 in 2007, 80 in 2008, and 205 this year). While it would be great to see the amount-per-donor at the same level as 2007 with the higher number of donors in 2009 I think that's unrealistic in this economy. In the long run I think that having the higher number of donors will be a positive because when next year rolls around there will probably be more donors coming back and if times are better then the dollars-per-donor average will go up and it's a long-term win for Donor's Choose. I'm wondering if the same trend is happening with other non-profits?
-
I'm in general agreement with Fred Wilson:
"It is not a positive to be an incumbent right now. And that's a good thing because the track record of our government sucks. I hope the anti incumbent mood continues to be honest. We could use a good house cleaning throughout our government."
links for 2009-11-04
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From the report:
"In September 2009, the delinquent unpaid balance for CMBS increased to $31.73 billion from $28.16 billion a month prior. Such delinquent unpaid balance is up an astounding 583% from one-year ago (when only $4.64 billion of delinquent balance was reported for September 2008), and is now over 14 times the low point of $2.21 billion in March 2007. An increase in four of five delinquent loan categories was noted in September, with a slight decline experienced in the REO bucket (reflected in the increased liquidations for September). Despite such decline, the distressed 90+-day, Foreclosure and REO categories grew in aggregate for the 22nd straight month – up by $1.48 billion (8%) from the previous month and over $16.65 billion (547%) in the past year (up from only $3.044 billion in September 2008)." -
A map showing how Greensboro residents voted for mayor. A very stark divide between east and west Greensboro.
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A look at how a GSO political handler evaluated the field and got a political neophyte elected mayor of Greensboro.
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David Hoggard has an interesting post about last nights Greensboro election results, including a link to a blog post at Yes!Weekly about the work of Bill Burckley who managed the campaign of mayoral upset winner Bill Knight.
links for 2009-10-31
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Freakonomics' Steven Levitt is an economist at the University of Chicago and the school's magazine asks if he's responsible for ruining economics. It's an interesting article in and of itself, but I got no small measure of pride when the one non-Chicago economist cited was from my alma mater (George Mason University). FYI, GMU's first Nobel Prize was for economics in 1986 and the winner was James Buchanan, Director, Center for Study of Public Choice. I can still remember the buzz on campus the day it was announced.
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From the story: “All of the components of real estate value are going in the wrong direction simultaneously,” said Ross, one of nine money managers participating in a government program to remove toxic assets from bank balance sheets. “Occupancy rates are going down. Rent rates are going down and the capitalization rate — the return that investors are demanding to buy a property — are going up.”
h/t to Ed Cone for the link.
links for 2009-10-30
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Not a headline you'll see every day. BTW, the "hot Mormon moms" are posing to raise money for breast cancer research, but that doesn't mean some of the more conservative in their church aren't a bit upset.
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What this piece doesn't mention is that in addition to the 15 year high vacancy rate of 13.9% compared to 11.6% a year ago, the average rent is also down in the Triad from $643/month this time last year to $629 this year. (That might be covered in the full version of the article which seems to be behind a paid subscriber firewall). Not good news any which way you slice it.
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Dan Collins posted a nice piece on his blog about Wake Forest AD Ron Wellman's connection to Joe Girardi (he was Girardi's college coach at Northwestern). I learned quite a few things about Girardi that I didn't know, like he was a three time Academic All-American in Industrial Engineering and he played minor league ball here in Winston-Salem. With all the abuse that Girardi's been taking in the press it was nice to read this.
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In general countries that have lower murder rates have higher suicide rates.
links for 2009-10-29
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Dave Ribar offers some good economic news, although he points out there are still problems:
"The figures mean that the economy has turned the corner and that the Great Recession has ended, at least for now. While the news is good, it's important to remember that the level of output is still substantially (2.3 percent) below where it was a year ago. Foreclosures, bankruptcies, and bank failures continue to mount. Unemployment is expected to continue rising into next year. And at some point the government has to take its foot off the fiscal and monetary accelerator pedals."
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Cone provides a great quote from a conversation he had in China during a recent business trip: "The government knows a picture is worth a thousand words," came the reply. "As long as you don't actually say the words, it's OK."
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You can't make this stuff up. South Carolina assistant Attorney General Roland Corning was caught in a cemetery "with an 18 year old stripper from the Platinum Plus Gentlemen's Club, a bag of sex toys and at least one dose of Viagra."
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Sometimes politics can be funny.
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Almost 1,000,000 foreclosures in the US in 3Q 2009. Ouch.
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This is what I call chutzpah. Send out a rate hike notice AND a flyer asking your just-hiked customers to lobby on your behalf. Ah, the health insurance industry.
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Not exactly a light read, but this piece at the NAA site provides an overview of the legal requirements for Freddie Mac's new CMBS product.
links for 2009-10-28
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Quote from the Freakonomics blog post: "Reading the Secretary’s blog post, it strikes me just how differently he is reacting to a challenge than Arne Duncan (now the Secretary of Education) did when I first told him about my work on teacher cheating when Duncan was in charge of the Chicago Public Schools. I expected Duncan to do what LaHood did: dismiss the findings, circle the wagons, etc. But Duncan surprised me. He said that all he cared about was making sure the children were learning as much as possible, and teacher cheating was getting in the way of that. He invited me into a dialogue, and we ultimately made a difference."
Befuddled 