Fec links to an article in NYT that you really have to read to believe.  In essence it says that the wizards of Wall Street have hit on a new securitization scheme: bundle life insurance policies so that people can sell the payout of their life insurance policies and then the banks collect them after they croak.  Seriously.

Check this out:

The bankers plan to buy “life settlements,” life insurance policies that ill and elderly people sell for cash — $400,000 for a $1 million policy, say, depending on the life expectancy of the insured person. Then they plan to “securitize” these policies, in Wall Street jargon, by packaging hundreds or thousands together into bonds. They will then resell those bonds to investors, like big pension funds, who will receive the payouts when people with the insurance die.

The earlier the policyholder dies, the bigger the return — though if people live longer than expected, investors could get poor returns or even lose money.

Either way, Wall Street would profit by pocketing sizable fees for creating the bonds, reselling them and subsequently trading them. But some who have studied life settlements warn that insurers might have to raise premiums in the short term if they end up having to pay out more death claims than they had anticipated.

This is seriously twisted.

• Winston-Salem Journal: HAWS Hires Project Planner
  "The Housing Authority of Winston-Salem hopes to overhaul 130 acres in the northeastern part of the city under a new public-housing plan being considered by Congress.

  The housing authority's board of commissioners decided yesterday to sign a contract with an architecture and planning company that will help the authority create a "master plan" for the overhaul"

  (tags: winston-salem realestate apartment)

• Yes! Weekly: A Mayor for All Seasons
  Yes! Weekly's profile of Winston-Salem's mayor.
  (tags: winston-salem politics)

• Cuban: What's the Difference Between YouTube Today and Broadcast Networks?
  "I dont think there is any question that the Youtube model is better. Now that they have stopped hiding behind the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, Youtube has taken the very smart step of letting content “audition” for the right to sign a license for Youtube to send it traffic and sell advertising around it.

  Anyone can post content on Youtube. If that content generates enough interest (even if its interest that is artificially created by the content production company), Youtube will offer it a license that allows Youtube to sell advertising around the content and share that revenue with the content creator (Without a license,Youtube is not allowed to sell advertising around the content. By the DMCA, they are not allowed to even know it exists. Youtube acts only as a host). It really is win win."

  (tags: media mediaincome)

• Lex: Irredeemable; or, “What’s the recourse if you make a mistake?”
  Lex provides the conditions necessary to him for the death penalty to stand: "If it ever can be shown that the state has wrongfully executed an innocent person even though a fair exculpatory case existed before the execution, then we also should put to death the prosecutor and judge in the case. If a parole board ever commits the kind of dereliction of duty displayed in Willingham’s case with the result that an innocent person is executed, the board members who voted for execution should be put to death. If a governor can be shown to have denied clemency to an innocent prisoner even in the face of exculpatory evidence, as Texas Gov. Rick Perry appears to have done, the governor should be put to death.

  Then and only then, my friends, will we know that the accused is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

  (tags: society)

• Triad Biz Journal: U.S. worker productivity hits six-year high
  "Workers are more productive, but employee earnings are falling, according to a closely-watched report released Wednesday." File this under least surprising business news of the decade. Fear of loss of job/starvation is a powerful motivator.
  (tags: economics productivity)

• Open Forum: A Good Business Move: Joining Associations
  "The next time you write that yearly check to renew those memberships within your industry’s organizations, think about their value in two parts: What are you willing to put into the membership, and what do you want in return?"
  (tags: association)

• Dana Milbank – Washington Sketch: A Hero Named Bill Cahir Dies in …
  "On Saturday, millions watched as Ted Kennedy made his final trip to Arlington National Cemetery. With rather less attention, Arlington's soil opened again Monday to accept the remains of one of Kennedy's former aides, 40-year-old Bill Cahir."
  (tags: war)

• Triad Biz Journal: FDIC chief sees commercial mortgage threat
  "The chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. warned Tuesday that more banks could be put out of business in the next year because of commercial mortgage problems."
  (tags: commercialrealestate commercialloans)

• Ellen Naylor: Will Associations Go the Way of Print Media?
  I had the opportunity to work with Ellen Naylor during my time with SCIP and found her to be one of the most insightful and fun people to work with in the SCIP member community. She makes some good points about the association business in her post, the most important of which is that association execs need to be attuned to the changes being wrought on their "business" by the evolution of social media.
  (tags: association)

• Shell: "Hey man, pull your pants up."
  This has to be a first in the annals of politics in the Triad. GSO City Council At-Large Candidate Ryan Shell was canvassing when he came across a guy running from, and who was eventually tazed by the police. Later he interviewed the guy and as they guy's walking away Ryan tells him to pull up his britches.
  (tags: greensboro politics)
• AVC: Consumer Centric Health Care
  "The benefit of a consumer centric health care system is we all would start paying attention to what all of this costs and negotiating ourselves for better prices and/or shopping around. That never happens except in the cases where the procedures aren't covered. And Goldhill makes a compelling argument that uncovered procedures have shown the benefit of a competitive market at work:"
  (tags: healthcare healthinsurance)

• Freakonomics: Who Causes Cyclists Deaths?
  This bit of info should be a wake up call to anyone who lives in Lewisville, NC seeing as we must have more cyclists per capita than any other town in the union. A study shows that 90% of accidents that result in the deaths of cyclists are caused by motorists.
  (tags: bicycling lewisville)

• Web Worker Daily: Taking a Sagmeister
  Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister finds that regular sabbaticals are highly beneficial.
  (tags: work career)
• Forest Hills Gardens: A walkable, transit-oriented, architecturally …
  After sitting through two presentations on how to build an attractive, multi-use, pedestrian friendly downtown, last night at the Lewisville Planning Board meeting I found this piece kind of interesting.
  (tags: planning urbanplanning townplanning)

• Rexblog: Politico’s surprising business model (or why print is not the enemy of digital)
  Rex: "In other words, it’s not the “medium” of print that’s dying. It’s the business model of daily newspapers and mass-market magazines that is bringing down the “traditional” and big brands of print media. And in another other word, the “institution of journalism” and the “institution of the general-interest daily newspaper as we now know it” are not one and the same."
  (tags: publishingbusinessmodel)
• Thomas Paine v. the Right's torture defenders – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com
  In a nutshell: two wrongs don't make a right. h/t to Ed for the link.
  (tags: government)
• Digital Roam: American health care on (4) napkins. Now all together!
  Interesting "back of the napkin" look at health insurance reform. h/t to Ed Cone for the link.
  (tags: healthcare healthinsurance)
• Downtown Winston-Salem Blog: Foothills Oktoberfest Celebration September 12
  Foothills Brewery is hosting an Oktoberfest Celebration on September 12. They're raising money for two charities with fantastic names: Save the Tatas and Pints for Prostates.
  (tags: winston-salem)
• Guerrilla Marketing: The Chalk Poll
  The Chicago Transportation Authority allowed consumers to give feedback by writing comments in chalk on a huge "street chalkboard."
  (tags: marketing)

• Blog on the Run: Linin' 'em Up
  If you've been wondering about how the Fed has been spending our money and frustrated by the lack of transparency on the terms of the bailout then Lex has some good news for you.
  (tags: government governmentwatchdog)
• Biz Journal: Survey: Small businesses struggle to handle health insurance
  "Small business owners struggle to provide health insurance for their employees and don’t feel confident about deciding what health insurance best fits employees’ needs, according to a survey by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners."
  (tags: healthcare health insurance)
• Ryan Shell's Take on Greensboro's Downtown Design and Compatibility Manual Meeting
  Candidate Shell thinks land owners should have been involved in the development of Greensboro's proposed DDCM a lot earlier in the process.
  (tags: greensboro realestate)
• Bean Counters Don't Want Government in Health Insurance
  According to this Biz Journal article a survey of CPA executives by the AICPA found that the vast majority don't want a government-owned health insurance provider.
  (tags: insurance healthcare)
• Biz Journal: Business bankruptices up 64%
  "More than 30,000 businesses filed for bankruptcy protection in the first half of 2009, a 64 percent increase from the same period a year earlier."
  (tags: business economics)
• Biz Journal: FDA looking into liver problems with GlaxoSmithKline weight-loss drug Alli
  "The FDA has received 32 reports of serious liver injury among patients taking orlistat. Six cases resulted in liver failure and 27 required hospitalization.

  A GlaxoSmithKline spokeswoman said that there is no evidence that Alli causes liver damage."

  (tags: health drugs weightloss)

• Banks as Oil Barons
  This post from Fec links to a story that truly has me saying, "WTF?" Banks that have been suckling at the taxpayer teat for the last year have been buying up oil at low prices, putting it on supertankers and keeping it at sea until prices rise. Seriously, WTF? Anyone think they can manage the oil biz any better than the banking, insurance or broker biz?
  (tags: economics banks)