My favorite part of this post: "If you define membership as entrance into a community, then you’ve just commoditized your membership — and if you don’t have higher aspirations than “bringing people together” then you will find yourself struggling with a steep uphill battle over the next several years. Connections are just too easy. Leveraging connections (whether made through you or someone else) to provide real value and influence? Now, that’s hard, and a lot more fun."

From the article: "'In 1960, UNCG housed 76 percent of our students on campus,” Brady told the board before unveiling the school’s strategic housing plan. “By 2008, this figure had dropped to 25 percent.'" and "Carol Disque, vice chancellor for student affairs, said UNCG is expected to have more than 16,000 undergraduate students by 2020. To reach its goal of housing half those students on campus, the school will need more than 8,000 new beds.

The question: Where to put them? Already using most of its 200 acres and hemmed in by development, the school has struggled with that question for years."

"Work on multifamily homes, such as townhouses and apartment buildings, dropped 13 percent to an annual rate of 91,000. Multifamily projects are more vulnerable to credit constraints facing some builders.

The decrease in starts was led by a 16 percent drop in the Northeast, followed by a 1.6 percent decline in the West and 1.4 percent in the South. They rose 13 percent in the Midwest."

Very interesting piece on the intersection of cloud computing, particularly the hardware aspects of it, and government, particularly regulation and taxation, and what that means for the future of technology companies.

Winston-Salem Journal managing editor Ken Otterbourg questions whether or not Sunday will retain its primacy in the newspaper business as the print and online worlds continue to converge.

A couple of community news operations down near Charlotte are doing what newspapers are supposed to do and it doesn't seem coincidental that they're both run by journalists who have a history of mixing it up. (h/t to Fec for the link).

"Insurance reform absolutely does need to consider costs. However, dollars spent by the Federal government, as important as they are, are neither the sole metric of costs nor the sole determinant of effective social policy."

According to Mark Cuban, serial entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, the most patriotic thing you can do is: "Bust your ass and get rich.

Make a boatload of money. Pay your taxes. Lots of taxes. Hire people. Train people. Pay people. Spend money on rent, equipment, services. Pay more taxes."

He also says:
"I’m not saying that the government’s use of tax money is the most efficient use of our hard earned capital. It obviously is not. In a perfect world, there would be a better option. We don’t live in a perfect world. We don’t live in a perfect time. We live in a time where the government plays a big role in an effort to help lead us out this Great Recession. That’s reality.

So I will repeat my point. Get out there and make a boatload of money. Enjoy the shit out your money. Pay your taxes.

Its the most Patriotic thing you can do."

I truly don't know how these people sleep at night.

Just when I started seeing light at the end of the tunnel Fec goes and screams "Train!"

Guerrilla Marketing has a cool biz card idea.

Some interesting health care stats for the developed world. Two numbers that grabbed my attention: US spends higher percentage of GDP (16%) on healthcare than other countries, yet has fewer doctors per capita than the others (2.4 per 1,000 vs. the 3.1 per 1,000 that is average in rest of developed world).

The President submits an op-ed to the Grey Lady. He states his case for health care reform. His final paragraph: "In the end, this isn’t about politics. This is about people’s lives and livelihoods. This is about people’s businesses. This is about America’s future, and whether we will be able to look back years from now and say that this was the moment when we made the changes we needed, and gave our children a better life. I believe we can, and I believe we will."
On a side note I must say that I'm fairly certain that the President engaged his staff to help write this piece, but at the same time I'm also fairly certain that he has the ability to pen the piece on his own if he so desires. Can't say I think the same about his predecessor's writing ability.

Anil Dash has an interesting post about the gubment being 2009's most interesting tech startup.

Seth's right. Please, please, please stop the screaming.

So the whole 'death panel' thing didn't start with Rep. Foxx after all. Looks like she got the ammo for her pea shooter from some familiar anti-health reform types. (h/t to Ed Cone for the link).

Unfortunately this piece neglects to give the actual day of the week that the town hall is occuring, so I'll tell you that it's on Thursday, August 20. Time is 6:30. Instructions for participating are: Constituents can participate in the meeting by dialing 1-877-850-4133 at 6:30 p.m. and entering the password FOXX (3699).

(BTW, that's the same day that most of the high schools in our area are having their open houses so I don't think she'll be getting a lot of high schoolers or their parents on the call.)

"The dramatic downturn in the Triad commercial building sector has hit the city of High Point the hardest even while construction in unincorporated Guilford County is up so far this year versus last year, according to a Business Journal analysis of area building permits."

Fundamental question: how many times can "hyperlocal" be the new new thing over the span of 15 years?

"But in some ways, an even more eye-opening market test is for a much smaller amount. Microsoft shelled out $115 million to buy Farecast.com, a company that crunches numbers to tell you whether you should buy an airline ticket now or wait until closer to when your flight leaves. I’ve long been a fan of the Farecast predictions (which wonderfully include estimates of their own precision."

Rep. Foxx (NC-5) is not planning on having a town hall meeting, but is planning a teleconference. The reasoning for doing the "town teleconference" (I just made that up) is that it allows more people to be involved in her "sprawling" district. I think the inference of the piece is that Foxx may be trying to avoid the histrionics of other congresscritters' town hall meetings of late, but I can't see anything she'd have to be afraid of. The noise at those things has come mostly from conservatives fighting against "socialist medicine" and the like, and since she's as conservative as they get in one of the most conservative districts you'll ever find I don't think there'd be much action at one of her meetings. I'm thinking I might call in, put the phone on mute and play Solitaire.

Dave Ribar links to a CNN story about a former health insurance exec who's airing some of the industry's dirty laundry. All I can say is this: when all the shouting and histrionics are over we better have at least fixed the insurance part of the equation.

Mark Cuban makes some interesting points about how business models need to change for companies to be profitable online.

And I thought sectarian prayers at the beginning of county meetings was bad. "Republican mayoral candidate Anna Falling said Tuesday that putting a Christian creationism display in the Tulsa Zoo is No. 1 in importance among city issues that also include violent crime, budget woes and bumpy streets."

Lex, who covered the health care beat while at the N&R, offers some thoughts on the health care debate.

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.