EdCone.com

Final entry in the Wake hospital war series gets into state politics and fierce PR battles.

Hunting the Higgs boson: "Physicists around the world, fueled by coffee, dreams and Internet rumors of a breakthrough, gathered in lounges and auditoriums early Tuesday morning to watch a lengthy Webcast of the results at CERN."

Higgs bosons for Dummies.

GPD press release on the non-extradition of Lamont Pride, the accused murderer of NYPD officer Peter Figoski, after the jump.

NYT coverage: Mr. Browne, the New York police spokesman, said, “The person responsible for Officer Figoski’s death is the one who pulled the trigger, not the authorities in North Carolina.

More from the Post, Daily News.

In order (to) adequately and fully protect the personal liberty and religious freedom of citizens of North Carolina and the United States, there must be a de-coupling and disentanglement of the state from the personal and religious institution of marriage. The institution of marriage should be solely in the dominion of citizens and their religious and secular organizations, except that the state should be permitted to carry out prohibitions of marriage for infancy, insanity, bigamy or polygamy, and incest, and marriage as a result of fraud, duress, joke or mistake; and the state should be permitted to adjudicate rights relating to support, child custody, and property in connection with marriages and their dissolution.

From a lawsuit to get the government out of the marriage business, filed by Jeff Thigpen and several area ministers and residents.

Not unrelated.

Thigpen already has done Guilford County proud with his work on robosigned mortgage documents, and his general commitment to running the Register of Deeds office as efficiently and transparently as possible. Now this. Thanks, Jeff.

LA Times says "Dossett [and] Rhiannon Giddens, Joe Newberry, Mike Compton and Jason Sypher [...] bring a breath of fresh, pine-scented air to an intensely crowded field."

The paper misspells Laurelyn's name, but still gives The Gathering three stars -- same as Tony Bennett and Lyle Lovett, better than Carole King and Justin Bieber.

“I am not in favor of rezoning residential to commercial. There is plenty of commercial property in this town.”

Commenters at the N&R article are saying the site is not for a Trader Joe's, but another Walgreen's, which I'd guess will make it even less popular, but the point raised by Susan Wilson remains: Why do we need to tear down houses and pave more lots when so much retail space already sits empty?

I know: Location, location, location, but the vacant square footage in this city is depressing.

Part 3 of the N&O series on the Wake County hospital war, in which GSO native Bill Atkinson figures prominently.

In what is shaping up as a key victory for the shale-gas industry, Gov. Corbett and the legislature appear close to stripping municipalities of the power to impose tough local restrictions on wells and pipelines. Under a pending measure, wells and pipelines would be permitted in every zoning district - even residential ones - statewide.

And the industry isn't stopping there.

Two pipeline companies are seeking the clout of eminent domain. While the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has yet to rule, it signaled this year that it was leaning toward giving firms condemnation power to gain rights-of-way for their pipelines.

Part the Third of the PA gas pains series.

Given Raleigh's recent habit of big-footing local governments, this may be something to watch out for in NC.

NY coverage of un-extradited GSO man accused of killing police officer Peter Figoski.

...the warrant appeared to say that North Carolina would not seek his extradition if he were arrested outside that state.

A law enforcement spokeswoman in Greensboro, N.C., disputed that.

 

Instead of seeking true liberation,
He pursues only a minor nirvana.

--From Fearless Virtue's Attainment of Buddhahood, in A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras

Corporations donate $1 million to the Downtown Greenway (press release after the jump).

Needless to say, this is terrible news for Greensboro.

Lowe's decided to use Facebook to explain its decision to pull ads from the series All-American Muslim.

I wonder if anyone at the Mooresville HQ considered the possibility that the namby-pamby verbiage of the official statement would be less relevant to some readers than the harsher tones of Lowe's supporters in the comments, and that those supporters would, fairly or not, be heard as a de facto voice of the corporation on this matter.

For all the transparency forced on the Federal Reserve by Congress and the courts, one of the central bank’s emergency-lending programs remains so secretive that names of borrowers may be hidden from the Fed itself.

Fortunately, many of these borrowers are European banks, so as long the Eurozone is sound...

Corzine demonstrated virtually all of the pathologies of the rogue trader...A CEO wants to be paranoid about all risks; a rogue trader wants to hide them. It’s clear which one Corzine was.

This guy deserves a special award at the Goldman Sachs alumni dinner.

WSJ has a primer on what's happening in health care, and why.

N&O is halfway through a series that illustrates many of the same points in detail.

UPDATE: Part 2 of the series includes this thumbnail history of pipeline regulation: "The same pattern has been repeated ever since - explosion, deaths, reform." Maybe NC could learn for the experience of others and skip the explosion and death part?

END UPDATE

Pennsylvania's regulators don't handle those pipelines, and acknowledge they don't even know where they are. And when he reported what he saw to a federal oversight agency, an inspector told him there was nothing he could do, either.

PA was unprepared to deal with its natural gas boom.

We know North Carolina's laws are not up to date in some relevant areas, which is one good reason not to rush to punch holes in the ground.

Amex legacy: Empty office space and low tax payments, and a couple of years of community support.

Obama's North Carolina campaign organization is up and running, hard.

Reichard's indictment raises questions about pay-to-play politics and shakes a fragile Democratic establishment still recovering from Easley's felony conviction last year and the legal saga involving former U.S. Sen. John Edwards.

A look at the fundraising career of the former GSO CoC boss.

One warm afternoon this fall, circumstance led me to a bench outside the GSO Historical Museum, where I sat for some time watching the comings and goings at the motel across the street.

And what a busy place it was -- moreso than I could have imagined:

Between January 2009 and November 2011, there have been 549 calls for service to the Greensboro Inn. Of those, there have been 111 criminal charges and 76 arrests.

A movie about UNC's 1957 championship basketball team is in the works.

(Photo courtesy of Fanbase.com)

Manager's weekly report includes recommendations on boards and commissions, and a general obligation and bond issue summary.

Benefit concert tonight at the Blind Tiger to help Lee Wallace with a double lung transplant.

Nine bands in the final lineup, so the $10 cover (which all goes to the cause) works out to $1.11 per band.

8 PM until well past my bedtime.

Alternative explanations were carefully considered to explain individual sets of data. However, when considered together with other lines of evidence, the data indicates likely impact to ground water that can be explained by hydraulic fracturing.

Here's that big EPA report on fracking and ground-water pollution.

Industry pushback was instantaneous, so I guess it's OK to start drilling holes in North Carolina now.

Moody's moves its ratings outlook for a bunch of state and local governments, including GSO and Guilford County, from negative to stable.

"[Romare] Bearden is artist in chief of the modern cosmopolis, griot in residence of the global village."

New York finds multiple ways to celebrate the NC native's centennial; at left, his 1969 work Conversation Piece, part of the Dillard Collection at GSO's Weatherspoon Museum.

Trump debate deflating.

Guess he'll have to find another way to sell his new book. Which I'm sure is world-class.

Five established folk-roots artists gathered in a Greensboro, N.C., house to record this unusual album...Three voices work in harmony backed by banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar and bass. What the season must have sounded like before shopping and Irving Berlin.

From the Wall Street Journal's short list of worthwhile new Christmas music, a nice shout-out for The Gathering. Video review here. Singles for sale here.

Tablet viewers were having trouble with this embed, but it works on old-timey machines like laptops, PCs and Victrolas.

Rhino exit interview with Bill Knight.

Not as compelling as the interview with Rashad Young, in part because we already know Knight's positions on issues (I did think the econ dev thing about the CoC was interesting), but another example of solid local political journalism of the sort that the daily paper should be doing.

Should the National Archives be in the business of offering objective public history at all of the country’s presidential libraries, or at none of them? Is Nixon the one president about whom the government must insist on total impartiality?

Hey, you got history all over my nice whitewashed walls. (Thnx to EF for the pointer)

GDS beats UNC JV.

That must have been a lot of fun for Freddy Johnson's team.

The article mentions that UNC's Christian Pulliam had 12 points; he's also a GDS grad.

There's an open house today at the JSNN, you really should check the place out if you have the time.

Here's a good site for background on the whole nano thing.

"I simply do not know where the money is, or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date," Corzine said.

This may seem obvious, but he should check the pockets of the suit he wore the day before the $1.2 billion in customer funds went missing. Or maybe the money is on the floor of the closet -- it could have fallen out when he hung the suit up. I totally bet it's on the floor of the closet.

More here: "Koutoulas is a legal cynic, which appears to be just what MF Global's customers need."

This evening's opening of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering was a major production. The building is impressive. Gov. Perdue, Phil Berger, and Tom Ross were among the speakers, along with Kay Hagan (on video from DC) and others.

A&T's Harold Martin announced a possible joint venture with Horiba, which sent a couple of people over from France. A joint venture with RPI also was mentioned. Ed Kitchen, board chair of the Gateway research park, joked seriously a couple of times with the honorables that he'd be back for more money on top of the $60 million+ already committed.

If things go well the school will attract major talent and big grants and spin off ideas and companies, and GSO will have a serious research operation that can help drive a modern economy.

That's the plan. Hope it works.

Who decided it would be a good idea to turn the GOP pre-primary season into a reality show? It's all very entertaining, and watching George Will and Karl Rove crevulate is good clean fun, but in terms of sorting out candidates and selecting a nominee, well, it's all very entertaining.

Raleigh council, ex-mayor speak out against gay-marriage amendment.

Defeating this thing on GOP primary day is going to be a chore, but it can be done.

"If we’re training cops as soldiers, giving them equipment like soldiers, dressing them up as soldiers, when are they going to pick up the mentality of soldiers?"

As the Pentagon fights budget discipline, it gives hundreds of millions of dollars worth of "surplus" equipment to local police departments.

My Facebook feed is full of what friends are listening to, what friends are reading, etc. And frankly, I don't give a damn.

Not buying what the frictionless linkaverse is selling.

I did listen to this today, courtesy of a friend's newsfeed*, and we even shared some lulz in the comments, but I don't think any of that happened on the cutting edge of monetization strategy.

More here.

*I'm using "friend" in the old-fashioned sense here, although I've only known the guy since kindergarten so the jury is still out on him.

Conserving Jefferson's Bible, aka The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, which is now online here.

Sorry, Ribar, the South Park version was funnier.

Elijah and I were driving to CT this fall and he said, check out this Casey Jones, and I was all, son, I was done with that song in high school, it's training wheels Dead, because I am a smug bastard who lives to crush the dreams of children. But he was right and I was wrong. Starts kind of sloppy, gets serious around the four-minute mark.

Previous train song love here.

Will the housing market finally bottom out in 2012?

In early 2008, the target for a market bottom was 2009.

That second link reminds me -- did the N&R ever do a serious, in-depth story on the life and death of United Guaranty?

Funny because it's true: Excited Mike Krzyzewski: Duke Squad Hasn't Been This Unlikable In Years.

UPDATE: "At a town hall meeting with students, Erickson and administrators tap-danced around some of the most basic questions posed to them." end update

Penn State really should not have accepted a bowl bid this year.

Former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno had close business ties with board members of The Second Mile, the charity that his assistant, accused child molester Jerry Sandusky, allegedly used to recruit his victims, The Daily has learned.

Around the same time a graduate assistant allegedly approached Paterno in 2002 to say that he had witnessed Sandusky raping a boy in the locker room showers, Paterno and three fellow investors, including longtime Second Mile board chairman Robert Poole, had just secured financing to build a $125 million luxury retirement community, according to public records.

Dress cops up as soldiers, give them military equipment, train them in military tactics, tell them they're fighting a "war," and the consequences are predictable. These policies have taken a toll.

Thnx to DW for the link to SWAT Raids, Stun Guns, And Pepper Spray: Why The Government Is Ramping Up The Use Of Force.

More:

The amount force government authorities use, then, is no longer based not on what sort of threat a suspect poses to the government or those around him, but on the political implications of the laws being enforced. It isn't difficult to see how we get from here to pepper-spraying and beating peaceful protesters, particularly if the protesters are becoming a thorn in the side of politicians or are losing support from the public.

Annual complaints about too many meaningless bowl games undermining the value of post-season play begin here: 8 ACC teams headed to bowls.

That's at least six more than deserve it.

Real football: Page, Northern, and Cam.

"There are two things that will get you fired here: stealing from the company, or running an experiment without a properly designed control group."

Big data and the remaking of innovation.

Digital divide:

Increasingly, we are a country in which only the urban and suburban well-off have truly high-speed Internet access, while the rest — the poor and the working class — either cannot afford access or use restricted wireless access as their only connection to the Internet. As our jobs, entertainment, politics and even health care move online, millions are at risk of being left behind.

No way to go through life, maybe, but OK sometimes.