This is the essay that Helene quoted in LibraryBytes. The essay is 15 years old and still very relevant and thought provoking.

Helene quotes from a 15 year old essay from Wired. Fascinating stuff, and here's my two favorite quotes she pulled: "'Information is an action which occupies time rather than a state of being which occupies a physical space, as in the case with hard goods. It is the pitch, not the ball, the dance, not the dancer.'" and "'The central economic distinction between information and physical property is that information can be transferred without leaving the possession of the original owner. If I sell you my horse, I can’t ride him after that. If I sell you what I know, we both know it.'"

Graphic showing the reach of Goldman Sachs. As Lex points out, the company does indeed have eight arms. Reference to "vampire squid" is from Matt Taibbi's Rolling Stone article "Inside the Great American Bubble Machine."

Fec's on a roll. Human nature rears its ugly head in the mortgage sector. Ever wonder where the scumbags are these days? I think you'll find some of them here.

Fec compiles some interesting economic numbers for Charlotte. In short it's a mixed bag; commercial sector is weak and unemployment is up while the housing sector looks to be coming back.

From the article: "Growing income inequality 'is a national story, but the South may show it most dramatically because they pushed the low-wage strategy most successfully,' says Joseph Persky, an economist at the University of Illinois in Chicago, who has studied the economy of the South. He believes the region’s low-wage, anti-union model won’t survive as the economy moves away from traditional manufacturing industries. '[The South] can’t compete with Mexico, let alone China.'

and

"'Conservatives maintain their faith in the Southern model. The South’s economy may be struggling now, but in the long-term, it is more likely to be successful,' says Patrick Fleenor, chief economist at the conservative Tax Foundation in Washington.

'The way to fix this economy is to invest in human capital and encourage people to invest in themselves. The state can’t fix the wage gap through income transfers,' he says.'"

A rebuttal of the "government can't do anything right" argument.

Man, this is a good piece. Best explanation I've seen for the current American cynicism and how Obama might be blowing it. From the column: "It’s in this context that Obama can’t afford a defeat on health care. A bill will pass in a Democrat-controlled Congress. What matters is what’s in it. The final result will be a CAT scan of those powerful Washington interests he campaigned against, revealing which have been removed from the body politic (or at least reduced) and which continue to metastasize. The Wall Street regulatory reform package Obama pushes through, or doesn’t, may render even more of a verdict on his success in changing the system he sought the White House to reform." h/t to Ed Cone for the link.

Great post by a rabbi in Greensboro about the need for civility in the healthcare debate, and the nasty effect of using the terms "nazi" and "national socialism" in comparison to the healthcare plans being proposed by the Democrats.

Winston-Salem Journal's editor writes about criticism the paper has received as a result of its coverage of the National Black Theater Festival. Basically readers are complaining that the paper is too "black." Ken does a nice job of addressing the issue.

Sarah Palin takes the same passage from the House healthcare bill that Rep. Foxx got in trouble for misrepresenting as a way for the government to kill the elderly and adds her own level of misinterpretation.

Winston-Salem's Bookmark book festival is being held downtown in the arts district this year after being held at Bethabara Park for the last few years. Date is September 12, 2009 and time is 9:30 to 5:00.

"For the most part, our industry as a whole is still reactionary, non-participatory, and generally unengaged. Who is reaching out to renters across social media sites? What apartment homepages foster community or have ratings and reviews? What Internet listings sites host apartment ratings? Who is openly communicating or allowing open communication with residents on the web? Aside from a select few, there seems to be very little movement."

Very cool interactive graphic that shows how we all spend our days. Sub-categories by age, education, race, children/no children, employed/unemployed. You'll notice that in all groups "socializing" is done by a surprising minority of people, and invariably it's less than watching TV/movies.

"Most of us are afraid of strategy, because we don't feel confident outlining one unless we're sure it's going to work. And the 'work' part is all tactical, so we focus on that."

"This illustration-rich book provides a peek under the hood of the mechanized world we inhabit. David Macaulay, with tech writer Neil Ardley, has that rare gift of technical understanding paired with an ability to convey complex concepts through visual imagery. Kids, parents, Lit. majors, curious people – all can learn, and laugh, from the interpretive drawings that fill this wonderful tome, granting insight into the workings of everything from twin-rotor helicopters to printing presses to self-winding watches and even modems."

"A better indicator of the strength of the labor market is the proportion of the adult population that is employed. As shown in the graph below, this number dipped to 59.4 percent, the lowest percentage in 25 years."

"when I think about the book as digital format from a larger perspective, I see a much bigger picture unfolding. Not only is knowledge no longer bound to its physical format, it’s no longer bound as medium designed primarily for consumption. With digital formats offering the ability to connect with other readers (consumers you might even say) over networked platforms, the consumption of knowledge can actually become a participatory activity resulting in the creation and sharing of new knowledge."

Matt Taibbi wrote a monster piece on Goldman Sachs for Rolling Stone and has been taken to task by the traditional biz press for it. This CJR piece explores why the mainstream press might be making a mistake. (h/t to Ed for link)

From the story: "The number of commercial and multifamily mortgage loans taken out during the second quarter was 50 percent higher than the first quarter, but 54 percent lower than the same period last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association."

Good piece in the Observer that provides a nice overview of the story in Lincoln County that Fec's been tracking for months. I'm glad he linked to it because I was getting lost. Anyway, it shows how social media has changed the landscape for the powers that be.

Interesting look at the varying perceptions of the government's stimulus efforts and how they might be seen through the class prism. h/t to Ed Cone for the link.

Ken Ashford has the top 10 trade ins and the top 10 new cars bought in the government's cash for clunkers program.

Yes! Weekly's blog covers some campaign finance disclosures for Greensboro city council candidates. We ain't talkin' big bucks yet.

Fec gives me another reason to go "ugh."

This piece gave me my new favorite term: "white collar sweatshop." The revelations aren't what I'd call shocking: "Last week, Jack Bonner blamed a "bad employee" for the fact that his lobbying firm had sent forged letters, purporting to be from local minority groups, urging a member of Congress to oppose climate change legislation. (It's since been revealed that Bonner's firm was working on behalf of the coal industry.)" Found via Ed Cone.

Malcolm Gladwell takes a look at Atticus Finch from a different angle. Found via Ed Cone.

"The number of apartment properties falling into financial trouble is far outstripping the number of distressed communities resolved through sale or otherwise, according to a June report from real estate research firm Real Capital Analytics. Outstanding apartment distress is up $8.1 billion year-to-date and totaled $16.8 billion at the end of May, according to the report. Another $750 million of apartment properties had gone into default or foreclosure through mid-June, the report added."

"Initially conceived as a way for Freddie Mac to compete in the CMBS market, Freddie’s Capital Markets Execution (CME) program has become the first source of CMBS based on aggregated multifamily housing loans in over a year. The program allows Freddie Mac to continue to provide liquidity to the multifamily housing industry without adding new loans to its balance sheet, says Patti Saylor, Vice President, Offerings and Customer Management for Freddie Mac."

"Womble Carlyle Ecology Innovations LLC will work with clients to create or preserve wetlands and other environmentally protected areas. That ecologically sound property can be turned into a credit and sold to developers whose plans will destroy other wetlands."

Why meetings stink.

Another Shatner as Palin classic.

Digitized versions of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of cities in North Carolina pre-1922. Very descriptive and detailed maps of downtown areas. So far four cities have been scanned in: Charlotte, Greensboro, Kinston and Wilmington. Hopefully Winston-Salem will be soon.

The man behind PingWi-Fi is in Winston-Salem for a while and he's posted twice about our fair city. First he wrote about the local Hells Angels funeral and most recently he wrote about the scene on Trade Street. I think we might be growing on him.

Ed points out that Triad Watch and Fec "have declared jihad against real estate developers on the city council and county commission" and asks "How much rollback is enough, and is it possible to go too far in the opposite direction?"

Brilliant.

I love Cuban's equation: if cash in is less than cash out then you're a consultant.

Oy.

Very cool graphic showing the evolution of the Pepsi and Coke logos from their founding to today. Coke's is the same while Pepsi appears to be on iteration number 11. Talk about brand identity.

NPR picking up the slack for local news? Apparently that's the play for the newly revised NPR.org.

Email exchange between Simon Johnson and John Talbott about who caused the economic meltdown. Yes, it seems that the exchange was contrived for publication, but it's still interesting.

Fred Wilson briefly looks at how streaming services like Netflix's "Watch Instantly" are killing content pirating.

This is the website where you can check to see if your car is eligible for the "Cash to Clunkers" trade in.

The government's official "Cash for Clunkers" website.

Graphic that helps explain the "Cash for Clunkers" program.

A new local association for commercial real estate folks.

Ed writes about blogging, particularly how it's not the coolest new thing yet and why it's still important.

It looks like a story that Fec has been bird dogging for a while is starting to really heat up. The sheriff in Lincoln County hired a blogger who identifies himself as digital media newsman to be his PR rep. Somehow neither the blogger/rep nor the sheriff seem to recognize a conflict of interest in the situation. Now the PR guy has filed a criminal complaint against the editor and publisher at News@Norman and the Lincoln County magistrate has issued a summons. This is gonna get really juicy.