• Notes on This Week's Column: A New Consumer?: The Balance Sheet : The …
  "A generation ago, Warren says, basics (housing costs, health insurance, transportation, education, and taxes) accounted for fifty-four per cent of the average family’s income. Today, they account for seventy-five per cent of it. Now, some of those costs arguably do reflect a lack of frugality—homes are more expensive in part because they’re so much bigger. But the fact that more than fifteen per cent of personal consumption expenditures now go to medical care, when in 1930 only three per cent of personal consumption did, isn’t a reflection of frivolity, and that’s not going to change any time soon."
  (tags: economy)
• Google's PowerMeter Bypasses the Smart Meter, Signs Up First Gadget Partner
  Getting smart energy management for your house without having to wait for your utility to install it. Interesting.
  (tags: energy google)
• EthicsDaily: SBC Leader Invokes Nazis in Health-Care Discussion
  Health care reform is vitally important to our country, but I fear that whatever reform we get will not go nearly far enough to truly help us or our economy. One problem is we have people in prominent positions saying crap like what a leader in the Southern Baptist Convention said:
  "A top Southern Baptist official has accused President Barack Obama and congressional Democratic leaders of attempting to do 'precisely what the Nazis did.'" and "'The Nazis said people should be euthanized when they had lives unworthy of life,' Land argued. 'Well, at the very least Dr. Emanuel, [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi, [Sen.] Max Baucus and President Obama are saying that some people have lives less worthy of life. And the older you are, the sicker you are, the less valuable your life is and the more likely they want to terminate your care.'"

  Look, I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with the Democrats' reform proposals, but comparing the Democrats to Nazis is beyond the pale.

  (tags: healthcare religion)

• Hammock: A journalist counting trend story from tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal
  My favorite part of Rex Hammock's post is this bit: "Over the weekend, PaidContent.org’s Staci Kramer passed along a joke via Twitter she heard at the Online News Association awards:
  How does a journalist count?
  “One, two, Trend!”"
  (tags: journalism media)

• Raleigh N&O: Foxx Guarding the Health Care House
  From the story: "U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican from Banner Elk, is warning that Democrats will try to sneak health care reform through Congress.

  It's the political equivalent of slipping a 747 through a toll booth, but Foxx told 1240 3WC, "Hometown Christian Radio," in Wilkesboro that she thinks Democrats will put health care reform inside another piece of legislation that lawmakers would find difficult to oppose."

  (tags: healthcare government politics)

Just in time too because I’m ready to send them to whichever farm bad dogs are taken to.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

• Now That's Just Mean
  Stealing is bad. Stealing from a charity is really bad.
  (tags: northcarolina charity piedmonttriad)
• Now That's an Obit
  Esbee linked to this at Life in Forsyth. A truly awesome obit.
  (tags: funny newspaper)
• GWU: Sigma Chi dedicates townhouse
  When I was at George Mason U back in the 80s I was a member of a petitioning local chapter of Sigma Chi and we spent a lot of time at the house of George Washington U's Sigma Chi chapter (Epsilon) participating in all kinds of clean fun like mantle diving (don't ask). I didn't realize they'd gotten into a bunch of trouble and lost their house about 10 years, but it looks like they've made a pretty full recovery with the dedication of their new house.
  (tags: school)

• Charlotte Doesn't Want to Be Like Winston
  In this particular case I can't blame the folks in Charlotte for not wanting to be like us here in Camel City. Looks like they're getting ready to build a new stadium for the AAA team and the goings-on with Winston-Salem's downtown stadium has some people in Charlotte asking questions about their projected stadium costs.
  (tags: winston-salem governmentwatchdog)
• 30-Player Poker Match Robbed In Winston-Salem
  I used to play in a regular basement poker tourney in VA that usually had about 35 guys at $100 each. I always figured it would be bad news if some kids heard about it and decided robbing us would be a good way to get some easy cash. Never happened, but this story reminded me of those thoughts.
  (tags: winston-salem)
• When in Rome…
  "The News & Observer reported that Cooper's BBQ was about to close Saturday when the band's private jet services coordinator called, asking for enough food for 25 people: barbecue, pork rinds, five fried chickens, pig skins, ribs, cole slaw, hush puppies…

  The Holts prepared the food for the 10:50 p.m. delivery. Debbie Holt and her 14-year-old daughter, Ashley, delivered the food to U2's private jet at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, receiving $300 cash."

  (tags: bbq northcarolina)

• He Made Money the Old Fashioned Way?
  "Mr. Eitel, former colleagues said, really wanted to bring some sizzle to the ho-hum mattress business. He was paid millions of dollars to run Simmons for several private equity investment companies, first Fenway, then Thomas H. Lee Partners. Like those firms, he fared well, even though Simmons plans to file for bankruptcy…

  But while Simmons now faces an uncertain future, Mr. Eitel was a winner in The Great Game of Life. As chief executive, he enjoyed country club memberships, personal use of the corporate jet and thousands of dollars a year in free mattresses. Before stepping down last fall, he earned more than $40 million in compensation, bonuses and perks, according to an analysis by Brian Foley, an independent compensation consultant in White Plains. He earned the bulk of his money when Simmons was sold to Thomas H. Lee Partners."

  h/t to Cone for the link.

  (tags: business businessopinion)

• There, I Fixed It: Epic Kludges + Jury Rigs
  h/t to Lex for this find. I think half of these pics were taken at my house.
  (tags: diy)

• Helping Haiti by Playing Farmville
  "It's a bit tricky to estimate how much money the Sweet Seeds For Haiti has raised to date because you can earn FV cash and you can buy FV cash. When purchased, 25 FV cash costs $5. So if everyone bought the FV cash that has been used to buy the roughly 100k of sweet seeds to date, then $500k will have been raised, $250k of it going to charitable organizations in Haiti."
  (tags: socialmedia charity)

• Godin: Less than zero
  "The long tail is real, but sometimes the longest parts reach underwater. When there's enough choices, it means that some things will never get picked."
  (tags: marketing web business strategy music)

• NYT: E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection
  After reading this I don't think I'll be eating a burger any time soon. Found the link via Cone who had a pic of the cover of Upton Sinclair's book "The Jungle" on the page and I recall feeling much the same way when I read "The Jungle." Ugh.
  (tags: food health)

• Charlotte Doesn't Want to Be Like Winston
  In this particular case I can't blame the folks in Charlotte for not wanting to be like us here in Camel City. Looks like they're getting ready to build a new stadium for the AAA team and the goings-on with Winston-Salem's downtown stadium has some people in Charlotte asking questions about their projected stadium costs.
  (tags: winston-salem governmentwatchdog)
• 30-Player Poker Match Robbed In Winston-Salem
  I used to play in a regular basement poker tourney in VA that usually had about 35 guys at $100 each. I always figured it would be bad news if some kids heard about it and decided robbing us would be a good way to get some easy cash. Never happened, but this story reminded me of those thoughts.
  (tags: winston-salem)
• When in Rome…
  "The News & Observer reported that Cooper's BBQ was about to close Saturday when the band's private jet services coordinator called, asking for enough food for 25 people: barbecue, pork rinds, five fried chickens, pig skins, ribs, cole slaw, hush puppies…

  The Holts prepared the food for the 10:50 p.m. delivery. Debbie Holt and her 14-year-old daughter, Ashley, delivered the food to U2's private jet at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, receiving $300 cash."

  (tags: bbq northcarolina)

• He Made Money the Old Fashioned Way?
  "Mr. Eitel, former colleagues said, really wanted to bring some sizzle to the ho-hum mattress business. He was paid millions of dollars to run Simmons for several private equity investment companies, first Fenway, then Thomas H. Lee Partners. Like those firms, he fared well, even though Simmons plans to file for bankruptcy…

  But while Simmons now faces an uncertain future, Mr. Eitel was a winner in The Great Game of Life. As chief executive, he enjoyed country club memberships, personal use of the corporate jet and thousands of dollars a year in free mattresses. Before stepping down last fall, he earned more than $40 million in compensation, bonuses and perks, according to an analysis by Brian Foley, an independent compensation consultant in White Plains. He earned the bulk of his money when Simmons was sold to Thomas H. Lee Partners."

  h/t to Cone for the link.

  (tags: business businessopinion)

• There, I Fixed It: Epic Kludges + Jury Rigs
  h/t to Lex for this find. I think half of these pics were taken at my house.
  (tags: diy)

• Helping Haiti by Playing Farmville
  "It's a bit tricky to estimate how much money the Sweet Seeds For Haiti has raised to date because you can earn FV cash and you can buy FV cash. When purchased, 25 FV cash costs $5. So if everyone bought the FV cash that has been used to buy the roughly 100k of sweet seeds to date, then $500k will have been raised, $250k of it going to charitable organizations in Haiti."
  (tags: socialmedia charity)

• Godin: Less than zero
  "The long tail is real, but sometimes the longest parts reach underwater. When there's enough choices, it means that some things will never get picked."
  (tags: marketing web business strategy music)

• NYT: E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection
  After reading this I don't think I'll be eating a burger any time soon. Found the link via Cone who had a pic of the cover of Upton Sinclair's book "The Jungle" on the page and I recall feeling much the same way when I read "The Jungle." Ugh.
  (tags: food health)

• Leyden: Triad Business Index for August
  "Interestingly, employment in the Greensboro/High Point area is down 5.4% from the same time last year, which is the third worst among metropolitan areas in North Carolina (only Hickory and Charlotte are worse), but Winston-Salem (also in the Triad) is down only 3.3%."
  (tags: economics piedmonttriad winston-salem greensboro)
• ViralHousingFix: What I learned from Rex Hammock’s Wikipedia post
  "What can we learn from this? Rex suggests that to become the nexus, story-telling may not be the key art; aggregating, summarizing and linking information in a cohesive narrative may be."
  (tags: newjournalism media information web2.0)
• Freakanomics: Cheap and Simple Fixes, the First of Many Parts
  "It is fascinating to poke through history and see how often cheap and simple fixes solved problems that were routinely thought to be either unsolvable or, at best, solved by very expensive, complicated, and invasive means. Of course this is partly because a lot of people stand to profit (or at least keep their jobs) by promoting the expensive, complicated, and invasive means"
  (tags: economics)
• Good Will Hunting
  Dave Ribar takes George Will to task over Will's latest column on global warming.
  (tags: environment media politics)

Pictured are pork shoulders on the barby at Unity Moravian in Lewisville. We start serving at 4 and close the doors at 7:30. Unity is located on Concord Church Road near the intersection with Dull Road (and just down the road from LibertY Restauraunt, Exit 144 off of 421). Come on out!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

• Fall Harvest: Tobacco
  Bowman Gray IV has a nice post about the fall tobacco harvest.
  (tags: northcarolina winston-salem piedmonttriad)
• Blog on the Run: All Apologies
  Lex has a nice little compendium of all the fun that Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) is having with the Republicans re. health reform.
  (tags: healthcare health healthinsurance government politics)
• Cone: Times are Still Tough
  "UPDATE: More evidence that we have a long way to go: 'U.S. job losses accelerated last month and the unemployment rate climbed to the highest level since 1983, stark reminders of how the worst financial crisis in a generation may undermine consumer spending and economic growth in the months ahead.'"
  (tags: economy)
• Freakonomics: Problems With Tithing
  "If every member of a religious group always tithed, the income elasticity of demand for religion would be plus-one. So while tithers donate a large share of their income, the organization’s finances will vary perfectly with the state of members’ incomes; those organizations are by no means immune to macroeconomic fluctuations."
  (tags: religion economy)
• My Take on Wake: Frye Still Outside the Team Looking In
  I love Winston-Salem Journal sports reporter Dan Collins' blog on Wake and his posts on the developing issues with Wake's junior safety Alex Frye is a great example why.
  (tags: sports winston-salem wakeforest)
• Triad Biz Journal: Contractors association unveils plan to turn around industry
  Gotta tell ya, this shows some chutzpah for an association: "The plan, called “Build Now for the Future: A Blueprint for Economic Growth,” is designed to reverse predictions that construction activity will continue to shrink through 2010, which would inhibit broader economic growth, the organization said in a release.

  The plan calls for a mix of new incentives, tax cuts, policy revisions and infrastructure spending."

  (tags: association economy)