OP-ED: Now That Was a Debate

• By David Swanson 

Gary Johnson

Participating were Jill Stein, Green Party; Rocky Anderson, Justice Party; Virgil Goode, Constitution Party, and Gary Johnson, Libertarian Party.  Moderating was Larry King.  Larry was a bit unprepared, but his questions were far superior to those asked at any of the corporate funded debates thus far.  They weren’t his questions, though, as they’d been submitted through the internet and selected by http://FreeAndEqual.orgAlso contributing to the debate was an audience that was permitted to applaud and frequently did so.  Johnson was the clear favorite of the crowd before any words were said.

 

The first question dealt with election reform, and Stein and Anderson made clear they would clean the money out of elections.  Goode proposed to ban PACs but to let the money flow through individuals.  Johnson made no proposal to limit private election spending, even though it’s the primary reason most Americans have no idea he’s running for president.  Instead, Johnson claimed he’d like politicians to wear NASCAR suits advertising their funders.  However, he was not wearing one.

Following the first question, it was pointed out to King that he’d skipped opening statements.  So those were made.  Stein and Anderson described a nation in crisis, suffering from expanding poverty, lack of healthcare, homelessness, and an erosion of civil liberties.  Goode tackled the pressing issues of the deficit, immigration, and his desire for term limits (as he would throughout the evening).  As a former constituent of Goode, I’ll have you know we had to vote him out before he would leave.  Johnson focused his comments on the need to end wars, including drone wars, as well as the war on drugs.  He agreed with Stein and Anderson on civil liberties, proposing to repeal the PATRIOT Act and indefinite detention.  But he also proposed to virtually eliminate taxes.  Johnson tried to address the apparently unfamiliar topic of poverty that Stein and Anderson had raised, referring repeatedly to policies that “disparagingly” impacted the poor (he meant disproportionately).

Jill Stein

 

The second question dealt with the drug war, and all but Goode proposed to end it, and to reduce incarceration.  Anderson said that he would pardon all prisoners convicted of only drug crimes.  Goode said he’d keep marijuana illegal but cut funding for enforcing that law.  Cutting funding in his view is clearly desirable even when he approves of the funding.

The third question was whether military spending should be so incredibly high.  All four agreed with the majority of the rest of us that it needs to be cut.  Goode didn’t specify how much he would cut, and his record suggests he would cut little or nothing.  Johnson proposed cutting 43%.  Stein and Anderson failed to specify but have both said elsewhere, including on their websites (which will always remain the best source of most information debates provide), that they would cut 50%.  Johnson, Anderson, and Stein, listed off the wars they would end.  Stein stressed that climate change is where she would move much of the money.

Rocky Anderson

 

Tuesday’s debate included a great deal of denouncing the Obama-Romney position on a range of topics, and a great deal of developing slight differences among agreeing candidates.  But the fourth question brought out dramatic disagreement.  Asked about the cost of college, Goode said he would cut spending on education, apparently because cutting spending is just more important than anything else.  Johnson, in a slight variation, said he’d stop funding education because without student loans students would just avoid education and eventually schools would have to lower their costs.  With at least one leader of the Chicago Teachers strike in the room, Stein and Anderson said they would make college free.  This resulted in Johnson and Goode arguing that there is no such thing as free, that the money must come from somewhere.  A flight attendant on the airplane I took out of Chicago shared their view when I asked her if the online internet was free and she rather angrily informed me that “Nothing is free, sir.”  But of course the porno-cancer-scans and gropes from the TSA are free.  What we choose to fund collectively is often not thought of as a consumer good at all.  Stein and Anderson came back with an argument that “we cannot afford NOT to invest in education.”  But neither of them pointed out that by cutting the military and/or taxing billionaires we could have far more money than needed.  At no time in the course of the debate was the room full of libertarians (who imagine we all have an equal right to spend money) informed that 400 Americans have more money than half the country.

The fifth question dealt with the presidential power to imprison anyone forever without a charge or a trial, a power contained in the 2011 National “Defense” Authorization Act, and a power which Obama’s subordinates are currently struggling in court to uphold.  All four candidates, coming from very different places, agreed that this power needs to be removed, along with powers of assassination, warrantless spying, and retribution against whistleblowers.  Clearly there is a broad public consensus on these issues that is derailed by lesser-evilism, with half of those who care about such things holding their nose and backing Republicans, and the other half Democrats.

Virgil Goode

 

A sixth and final question, before closing statements, asked the four participants for one way in which they would amend the Constitution.  Goode and Johnson proposed term limits, a rather silly solution that would not fix elections but just remove one person from them, accelerating the pace of the revolving door between government and lobbyist jobs.  Anderson proposed an equal rights amendment barring discrimination based on gender or sexual preference.  And Stein, to huge applause, proposed an amendment clarifying that money is not speech and corporations are not people.

Here’s the full video: http://www.c-span.org/Events/Third-Party-Presidential-Debate/10737435220-1/

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David Swanson’s books include “War Is A Lie.” He blogs at http://davidswanson.org andhttp://warisacrime.org and works as Campaign Coordinator for the online activist organizationhttp://rootsaction.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson andFaceBook.

 

BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Victims’ Revolution’: Identity Studies Departments and How They Contributed to the Closing of the Liberal Mind at American Universities

• Reviewed by David M. Kinchen 

Anything with studies in it , avoid! — David Clemens, founder of the Great Books program at California’s Monterey Peninsula College, quoted (Page 346) by Bruce Bawer in “The Victims’ Revolution”

One of the more repellent developments of the 1960s is the rise of identity studies in American colleges and universities — Black Studies, Women’s Studies, Chicano Studies, Queer Studies, Crip Studies: the whole ugly, despicable lot that places a premium on victimology.

My view of identity studies is shared by Bruce Bawer in his “The Victims’ Revolution: The Rise of Identity Studies and the Closing of the Liberal Mind” (Broadside Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 400 pages, bibliography, index, $25.99), the first comprehensive history of identity studies that I’ve come across.

I was fortunate enough by an accident of birth to have attended college in the late 1950s and early 60s, graduating in 1961, well before this academic cancer had spread throughout the humanities departments of many universities.

High school graduates contemplating majoring in the humanities — if there are any left — aren’t so fortunate today. In addition to the woefully overpriced tuition and fees of our institutions of higher education, prospective English, Philosophy or History majors more often than not will find that their beloved subject — I was an English major — has been taken over by ideologues in a manner similar to Jack Finney’s 1954 novel “The Body Snatchers” that was made into an excellent 1956 Don Siegel directed film “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” (OK, I might make an exception for teaching “Film Studies” as an academic subject, as long as it’s in the English Department! But don’t push me.)

Bawer writes that he was an undergraduate English major at a well respected state university (SUNY Stony Brook, on Long Island) in the late 1970s, contemplating an academic career. In the early 1980s, he writes (and he writes beautifully) he was a graduate student at the same school: “By my final year of graduate study I had grown cynical about certain aspects of the academy and I decided I didn’t want to spend my life in it.” He earned his Ph.D. and became a writer, critic and translator. He describes in detail in “The Victims’ Revolution” why he decided to avoid academia — except to write about it.

Beginning with Marxist critical theories — many of them imported from France — and a universal denigration of Western Culture — a subject that Allan Bloom (1930-1992) wrote about in “The Closing of the American Mind” (1987) which Bawer cites with approval, the groves of academe saw a jungle growth of identity studies. Probably the first was Black Studies, with “Chicano” studies following closely, mostly in California, but soon spreading throughout the nation.

Bawer interviews or discusses the notables and the “hustlers” in all of the identity studies. Among the “hustlers” in Black Studies are Cornel West and, a more sophisticated example, Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr., the West Virginia native who heads the department at Harvard University. Yes, the same guy who was arrested by Cambridge, Massachusetts police a few years ago for trying to enter his locked home.

Around the same time as Black and Chicano studies were adopted as full-fledged academic disciplines — mostly without protest — by many universities, Women’s studies were became campus fixtures and the proliferation of identity studies grew like kudzu, choking the teaching of Western Civ Around this time, Democratic Presidential contender, the Rev. Jesse “Hymietown” Jackson joined Stanford University students in chanting “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western Civ has got to go” — a graphic illustration of simple-minded candidates and students alike.

I direct readers to Pages 329-30, where Bawer discusses with passion the impact of Western civilization courses on his own life. Humanities courses were still taught by a decreasing number of professors, who loved their subjects.

This resonated with me because I discovered their kind at the university I was fortunate enough to attend, Northern Illinois University. We learned the greatness of Western literature from dedicated teachers who encouraged their students to read more — and read widely.

When I was a college student, around my freshman or sophomore year, I discovered C.P. Snow (1905-1980) the great English chemist and novelist who wrote about the “Two Cultures” that bridged the gap between the Humanities and the Sciences. (for more about Snow:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two_Cultures).

Even before I discovered Snow — while I was still in high school — I read the “Inside” books (“Inside U.S.A.”, “Inside Europe,” “Inside Asia,”, etc.) by John Gunther. “Devoured” is probably a better word. Bawer was also a Gunther Nerd, describing how Gunther “presented richly detailed political and sociocultural portraits of almost every country in the world.” I might add that Gunther’s book about the death of his son, “Death Be Not Proud,” should be read by everyone.

Much of what Bawer discusses in “The Victims’ Revolution” was covered a few years ago David Horowitz in “The Professors” (for my review: www.huntingtonnews.net/columns/060228-kinchen-review.html)

The addition of divisive identity studies has had a corrosive effect on politics and society today, Bawer writes. But there is hope, from students as well as professors who’ve refused to concede defeat to the identity studies forces. A particularly moving passage (Page 250) involves a conversation between Bawer and Chicana studies professor Eden Torres of the University of Minnesota, who tells Bawer at a 2010 convention in Seattle that today’s young Hispanics aren’t like the ones of the 1960s and 1970s: “When she was young, politically active Chicanos like herself dreamed of Aztlan,” Bawer writes, referring to a secessionist Latino country detached from the U.S. “But her Chicano students today? Nope. For many young Chicanos nowadays, Chicano identity just doesn’t mean what it did to her. They’re apolitical. They don’t see themselves as ‘different’. They don’t aspire to secede from the United States…..they consider themselves members of mainstream American society and buy into its values.” What’s a victimology-driven professor to make of such people?

Once, Bawer argues, the purpose of higher education had been to introduce students to the legacy of Western civilization —“the best that has been thought and said.” The new generation of radical educators sought instead to unmask the West as the perpetrator of global injustice. Age-old values of goodness, truth, and beauty were disparaged as mere weapons in an ongoing struggle of the powerful against the powerless. Shifting the focus of the humanities to the purported victims of Western colonialism, imperialism, and capitalism, the new politicized approach to the humanities gave rise to a series of identity-based programs, including Women’s Studies, Black Studies, Queer Studies, and Chicano Studies. As a result, the serious and objective study of human civilization and culture was replaced by “theoretical” approaches emphasizing group identity, victimhood, and lockstep “progressive” politics.

What have the advocates of this new anti-Western ideology accomplished?

Allan Bloom warned about the deleterious effects of the attack on Western Civilization in “The Closing of the American Mind” and much of what and others predicted has come true, Bawer writes. Bawer concludes that the influence of these programs has impoverished our thought, confused our politics, and filled the minds of their impressionable students with politically correct mush. Everything Western is trashed, while teachers ignore the crimes of past and present Communist regimes like Castro’s Cuba, as well as giving a pass to the hatred spewed by many Islamists. Bawer’s book is must-reading for all those concerned not only about the declining quality of American higher education, but also about the fate of our society at large. I’m sure reading “The Victims’ Revolution” will open the eyes of many who are unaware of the state of higher education.

About the Author

A native New Yorker who has lived in Norway since 1999, Bruce Bawer has written several influential books on a range of issues. “A Place at the Table: The Gay Individual in American Society” (1993) was named by columnist Dale Carpenter as the most important non-fiction book about homosexuality published in the 1990s; Publishers Weekly called “Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity” (1997) “a must-read book for anyone concerned with the relationship of Christianity to contemporary American culture”; “While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam Is Destroying the West from Within” (2006) was a New York Times bestseller and a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist; and “Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom” (2009) was hailed by Booklist as “immensely important and urgent.” He has also published several collections of literary and film criticism, including Diminishing Fictions and The Aspect of Eternity, and a collection of poetry, Coast to Coast, which was selected by the Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook as the best first book of poems published in 1993. He is a frequent contributor to such publications as The Hudson Review, City Journal, The American Scholar, Wilson Quarterly, and The Chronicle of Higher Education, and has reviewed books regularly for theNew York Times Book Review, Washington Post Book World, and Wall Street Journal.

 

A Dad’s Point-of-View: What Happens When Dad Doesn’t Talk

• By Bruce Sallan 

Bruce Sallan

The other night, my wife and I watched “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” a perfectly entertaining, somewhat ordinary movie, with a great cast having a great time. At one point, two characters faced off and argued over who was the alpha person in their relationship. It’s quite clear who is the alpha personality in our home, even though my wife thinks she runs the show. And, I have the bigger mouth.

 

 

 

So, what happens when said “big mouth” doesn’t talk? That is what took place at our dinner table recently. Our family has recently undergone a pretty big change in the family dynamic when we “lost” a family member – my oldest son – to Boston and the beginning of his college journey. We also lost two of our three dogs in the past year, so the Sallan household is a heckuva lot quieter.

 

 

I had had a pretty good day for a Monday. I went golfing with my wife. The weather was gorgeous and we were both in a good mood. I was in my 4th month of learning golf and was still using my son’s clubs. I borrowed a 3-wood from the pro shop that I was advised would be good for me.

 

 

On the 7th hole, I used that club to hit the ball to within five feet or so of the pin. WOW! Sadly, I two-putted and missed my first chance for a birdie. The rest of my game was equally hit-and-miss until we got to the 14th hole, considered the most difficult 3-par on our course. It’s 185 yards to the tee from the white pumpkins, where most of the men tee off. Our club is in and named after Calabasas, which is evidently somewhere defined as pumpkin and, in fact, there are pumpkins growing all over the course.

 

 

Anyway, I used this new club and whacked the ball hopefully in the direction of the pin. It seemed to go straight there, but we couldn’t see it land since it was over 500 feet away. I remarked to my wife, “Hey, that might have run right into the hole.” She gave me a “dream on” look and went ahead and set up her tee shot.

 

 

Right after she hit a great shot right into the trap just before the pin, a greens-man rolled up in his cart and over-heard our continuing debate on the chances of my shot going in the hole. He laughs and says; “I was right there and saw it land, roll, and drop right into the hole! Congratulations on a Hole-in-One!”

 

 

My wife displayed a big grin and together we let out a huge “WOW.” Going up to the hole and actually seeing my ball in the hole was a kick almost beyond description. We took the proverbial photos with my lousy iPhone camera (something is wrong with it though I do love the phone) and went on to finish our round of golf.

 

 

Afterward, we “registered” the hole-in-one with the pro shop, I thanked the head pro for the club recommendation, and we headed on home.

 

 

Quite jazzed by my good fortune, I edited the photos, tweeted about it, and then did what I love to do when I’m happy – write. I wrote three quick scripts for our HYPERLINK “http://www.brucesallan.com/category/main-categories/because-i-said-so-comics/” Because I Said Socomic strips. I thought they were pretty good and pretty funny.

 

 

So, when our reduced family sat down to dinner, we talked a bit about my hole-in-one and then I shared that I had just written three new comic scripts. I proceeded to tell the stories I just wrote, to a double blank-look from my wife and younger son. I wasn’t pleased with their non-reaction and said so. They made a snide comment about me always talking and that they didn’t ask to hear them.

 

 

Acting like the mature alpha-male that I am I poutingly said, “Well, if you feel that way, I’ll just be quiet the rest of the meal.” They both laughed and said, “Impossible.” I kept quiet the rest of the meal and what happened? We ate in silence. My wife asked my son what happened at school that day to which she got the standard reply, “Nothing.”

 

 

I felt vindicated, unless my wife and son really enjoy sitting and eating in silence. It was so revealing of how the dynamic in our family works. I am the loudmouth, often annoying, but equally entertaining if not at least stimulating. My wife has the role of keeping peace, teaching the kids and me manners, running the home, my son has his own teenage life, and I am the Dad.

 

 

This spontaneous experiment was fun to do. Hard as it was for me to be quiet for those 10-15 minutes, I found it amusing to watch the significant difference when I wasn’t talking.

 

 

Maybe I was vindicated, maybe not. But, it was fun to “experiment” and always interesting to see how our family evolves…

 

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Bruce Sallan, author of HYPERLINK “http://brucesallan.com/index.php/store““A Dad’s Point-of-View: We ARE Half the Equation” and radio host of HYPERLINK “http://www.brucesallan.com/index.php/radio““The Bruce Sallan Show – A Dad’s Point-of-View” gave up a long-term showbiz career to become a stay-at-home-dad. He has dedicated his new career to becoming THE Dad advocate. He carries out his mission with not only his book and radio show, but also his column HYPERLINK “http://www.brucesallan.com/index.php/mycolumn““A Dad’s Point-of-View”, syndicated in over 100 newspapers and websites worldwide, his “I’m NOT That Dad” vlogs, the “Because I Said So” comic strip, and his dedication to his community on HYPERLINK “http://www.facebook.com/aDadsPointOfView“Facebook and HYPERLINK “http://twitter.com/BruceSallan“Twitter. Join Bruce and his community each Thursday for  HYPERLINK “http://www.brucesallan.com/index.php/other/353-all-about-dadchat” #DadChat, from 6pm -7pm PST, the Tweet Chat that Bruce hosts.

 

REPORT: U.S. Commercial Real Estate Recovery to Advance Next Year with Nationwide Gains in Leasing, Rents & Pricing

• By David M. Kinchen 

The real estate recovery is set to advance in 2013 as modest gains in leasing, rents, and pricing will extend across U.S. markets from coast-to-coast and improve prospects for all property sectors, according to the findings of the  Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2013 report, released Oct. 17, 2012 by PwC US and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) at the Urban Land Institute’s fall meeting in Denver. The gathering of thousands of real estate professionals ended Friday, Oct. 19.

ULI, a nonprofit that supports real estate development and land-use disciplines, held ts fall conference Oct. 16-19 in Denver. The report was posted by Robert Krueger.

The nation’s two most populous states — California and Texas —  dominate the list of markets to watch, with three each on the Top 10 list: San Francisco (1), San Jose (3), Orange County (10) for California and Austin (4), Houston (5), and Dallas-Fort Worth (9) for Texas.  Dallas-Fort Worth ranks behind only Houston in the nation as a job provider and the area is one of the most diversified of the 51 markets covered in the report.

According to survey participants, despite a slower-than-normal real estate recovery track, U.S. property sectors and markets will register noticeably better prospects as compared with last year. Recent job creation should be enough to increase absorption and push down vacancy rates in the office, industrial, and retail sectors, helped by the limited new supply in commercial markets.    Robust demand for apartments should hold up, survey respondents indicate, even as new construction ramps up – and even the housing sector makes progress in most regions. Additionally, improving fundamentals should help with rents and net operating incomes, building confidence about sustained growth and strengthening recent appreciation.

“With the outlook for commercial real estate continuing to improve in 2013, investors are expected to allocate substantial sums of capital to the real estate asset class, according to our survey respondents” said Mitch Roschelle, partner, U.S. real estate advisory practice leader, PwC. “As yield on bonds and other financial instruments tighten in a still volatile market, commercial real estate’s income producing and total return attributes offer investors potentially attractive risk-adjusted returns.”

Stephen Blank, ULI’s senior resident fellow for real estate finance, noted that investors must keep in mind recent progress made in the industry as they prepare for a slow but steady recovery.    “What these findings suggest is that, in general, the industry is moving forward bit by bit,” Blank said. “Nothing indicates a quick turnaround for commercial real estate, but it is improving. Those who are patient and willing to rethink their expectations and adapt to market realities are the most likely to come out ahead next year.”

Despite macro-economic concerns, the 2013 Emerging Trends forecasts that investors will return to greater risk-taking in their portfolios in an attempt to gain more yield. Even as riskier secondary markets show up on investors’ radars, many believe the move cannot be made without concentration on leasing to high-quality tenants within growth industries that are sustainable. However, as property prices meet or exceed pre-recession levels in the cities of  San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago, the focus of property investors has shifted more to the lessee’s value, various market demographics, a city’s economic production, diversification, job growth, and where people want to live.

According to the report, investment capital’s interest in commercial real estate is expected to increase as other asset classes continue to offer minimal returns or too much volatility. In fact, Emerging Trends found that only six of the 51 markets covered exhibited a decline in investment prospects.

Transaction volume is expected to tick up with more action in 2013, according to Emerging Trends. Pricing is predicted to strengthen, but increases will be muted until credit markets return to more normal states. Commercial mortgage–backed securities (CMBS) may return to the financing spotlight once transaction activity increases. Interviewees expect that CMBS issuance can return to a $75 billion to $90 billion level over the next several years.

Respondents to Emerging Trends cite a number of best investor bets for 2013, which include:

> Concentrate acquisitions on budding infill locations: Top urban markets outperform the average, bolstered by move-back-in trends and gen-Y appeal. Top core districts in these cities have become too pricey, so look in districts where “hip” residential neighborhoods meet commercial areas.

> Construct new-wave office and build to core in primary coastal markets: Major tenants willingly pay high rents in return for more efficient design layouts and lower operating costs in LEED-rated, green projects. > Develop select industrial facilities in major hub distribution centers near ports, rail corridors and international airports: In these markets, the industrial sector is driven by tremendous demand by large-scale users looking for specialized space and build-to-suit activity.

> Use caution investing in secondary and tertiary cities: Focus on income-generating properties and partner with local operators who understand tenant trends and can leverage their relationships. Markets grounded in energy and high-tech industries show the most near-term promise, while places anchored by major education and medical institutions should perform better over time.

> Begin to back off apartment development in low-barrier-to-entry markets: These places tend to overbuild quickly, softening rent growth potentially and occupancy levels probably by 2014 or 2015.

> Consider single-family housing funds: Housing markets finally get off bottom and major private capital investors make a move into the sector. Concentrate investments with local players who know their markets and can manage day-to-day property and leasing issues.

> Repurpose the oversupply of obsolescent properties: Whether abandoned malls, vacant strip centers, past-their-prime office parks, or low-ceilinged warehouses, an overabundance of properties requires a rethink, a teardown, and, in many cases, a new use.

During recessionary times, some investors have sought more economically diverse markets to weather job losses and declines. However, now, in a time of slight economic uptick, Emerging Trends results indicate that investor sentiment is focused on job-producing industries and those markets that contain them, regardless of how diverse the businesses are that are producing those jobs.

The best housing markets, according to the report, will provide better commercial real estate options because a housing sector recovery generates more jobs, and demand for vacant commercial real estate. At the same time, banks will free up funding and a multiplier effect ensues. Even though the housing market is starting to improve, demand and interest in apartments in “American infill” locations remain attractive, leading to a boom in apartment development. Leading this cycle move is the echo boomer generation, which is delaying plans of home ownership.

A snapshot of the top five markets ranked by survey respondents and their outlook for each of the markets:

San Francisco (1). In 2013, San Francisco steals the Triple Crown from Washington, D.C., receiving top billing in the Emerging Trends investment, development, and housing categories. The market is driven by growth and a strong jobs outlook, led by technology and a structural change away from suburban and toward downtown. Continued infill interest is supported by providing one of the best transit systems in the country and a city center with walkability that is number two only to New York City.

New York City (2). New York City makes a small move this year, stepping up two spots to second best investment prospect. However, investors still seem concerned about the run-up in prices. Demographics for the city prevail, with 20 percent of jobs being in the growing education and health care sectors and an important echo boomer population. Service-type jobs continue to develop, but a lag in goods-producing jobs is a concern.

San Jose (3). The San Jose technology corridor continues to be a market to watch. In 2013, San Jose and the broader Silicon Valley are largely expected to generate jobs in a variety of fields, but most will revolve around the high technology firms. Industrial diversity is limited in San Jose and could be a concern for investors; however, the more than 6,600 technology companies based here employing over 225,000 people make it an area of interest.

Austin (4). In 2013, Austin looks set to extend its trend of attracting individual and institutional investors alike. Expansion of commercial real estate in Austin looks likely with a population increase of 2.3 percent anticipated next year, pushed by the echo boomer demographic.

Houston (5). Energy-related employment is one of the driving forces behind the Houston market and the investment prospect rank jumped from eighth to fifth. Survey participants believe the main buying opportunities are in the industrial sector – fifty percent believe that space in Houston is worth taking a chance on.

Rounding out the top ten markets to watch:

Boston (6) has an increase in high-technology and biomedical research and development employment that continues to take the lead, increasing investor interest.

Seattle (7) is the global center for the software industry and continues to be the focus of many domestic and global investors.

Washington, D.C. (8) commercial real estate prices have risen since the recession, with investors regarding D.C. investments as “recession-proof;” however, concerns about overbuilding and costs continue to lead discussions about interest in D.C.

Dallas/Fort Worth (9) ranks behind only Houston as a job provider, and the Dallas/Fort Worth job base is one of the most diversified of the 51 markets covered.

Orange County, CA (10) shows increases in rating value and ranking as an investment prospect.

Among property sectors for 2013, the survey finds that commercial and multifamily regain generally solid Emerging Trendsinvestment ratings. Categories hold their relative rankings from 2012 in the survey, with persistent leader apartments still on top, though noticeably leveling off, and retail continuing to lag, but recovering.

Industrial/warehouse and hotels show the biggest survey improvements, trailed closely by downtown office. Power centers and suburban offices remain investors’ least-favored subcategories. Except for apartments and industrial space, development prospects remain challenging. Interviewees show mixed concerns about apartment construction on a market-by-market basis, but generally concur that overdevelopment will happen, just not in 2013. They also anticipate more big-box industrial development.

Now in its 34th year, Emerging Trends is one of the oldest, most highly regarded annual industry outlook for the real estate and land use industry and includes interviews and survey responses from more than 900 leading real estate experts, including investors, fund managers, developers, property companies, lenders, brokers, advisers, and consultants.

About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org) is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in sustaining and creating thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has nearly 30,000 members representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.

About the PwC Network 
PwC firms help organizations and individuals create the value they’re looking for. We’re a network of firms in 158 countries with close to 169,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax and advisory services. Tell us what matters to you and find out more by visiting us at www.pwc.com.

BOOK NOTES: New Book Celebrates History of Tug Valley Through Old Photos

• By David M. Kinchen 

Williamson, WV (HNN) – A local writer and newspaper reporter has assembled a new book that promises to take readers on a trip back through time, utilizing more than 300 vintage photographs from the Mingo County region.

Memories of Tug Valley, penned by Kyle Lovern and published by Mountain State publisher Woodland Press, Chapmanville, WV, celebrates the colorful and proud history of Mingo County and the Tug River Valley. Using rare images, along with historical narrative, this book reads like a walk down memory lane. Page-by-page, it illustrates the county’s past and depicts many of the people who have shaped the future of this rugged portion of the area.

“It’s the land of the Hatfields and McCoys, the Matewan Massacre, the Glen Alum train payroll robbery, catastrophic floods, and more,” said Lovern. “Hopefully, through this volume, readers will also discover a land of resilient individualists—courageous, inspiring, and hardworking families—who have endured and overcome many setbacks.”

Themes covered include the emergence of the local railroad system, the development of communities, the growth of the coal and timber industries, and the history of local landmarks. Newcomers can experience what the area was once like, and learn about proud West Virginians who have created their own successes.

“This book was really a labor of love,” Lovern added, noting that he is a lifelong resident of Mingo County, having grown up in the community of Nolan. “In addition to my own collection, many old photographs were submitted to me for this project by local residents. The photos are a treasure,” he said.

“The book is already being so well-received. I hope it is bringing back some great memories for those who have lived their lives in the Tug Valley region, and I also hope it will prove valuable for the younger generation. They can see and read about past sports teams and see many of the schools, buildings, and other landmarks their relatives have told them about.”

Lovern, who is also known across the country as a leading Appalachian UFOlogist, authored two other books by Woodland Press, “Appalachian Case Study: UFO Sightings”, “Alien Encounters & Unexplained Phenomena, Volumes I and II”. These titles probe into a number of occurrences that have taken place in the Appalachian mountain region, where he interviewed individuals who have seen or experienced the unexplainable, or documented unusual stories from West Virginia and neighboring states. He has been interviewed on the subject by various newspapers and radio programs across the county, including Coast to Coast AM with George Noory.

Lovern is also the sports editor for the Williamson Daily News.

Downtown Matewan, Mingo County, WV

For additional information about Memories of Tug Valley, see woodlandpress.com. The book, which retails for $21.95, is available online and at better bookstores across the Mountain State.

BOOK REVIEW: ‘The New Tycoons’: Mitt Romney’s Candidacy Puts Spotlight on Private Equity Firms That Own Just About Everything

Jason Kelly

Reviewed by David M. Kinchen

With one of their own — Mitt Romney — running for President this year, it was inevitable that private equity firms like Bain Capital that he co-founded would be dissected by business journalists. The latest look at private equity firms that own just about everything in sight is Jason Kelly’s “The New Tycoons: Inside the Trillion Dollar Private Equity Industry That Owns Everything” (Bloomberg Press, an imprint of Wiley, 232 pages, notes, index, glossary, $34.95).

For those who’ve been in a cave for a year or more, Mitt Romney, the GOP candidate, takes pride in his business expertise that led to the creation of Bain Capital, the private equity firm he co-founded in Boston in 1984 with partners from Bain & Company, a consulting firm.

Kelly, a reporter for Bloomberg News, makes the case that private equity firms like Bain, TPG, Carlyle, KKR, Blackstone, etc. are the new millennium’s iteration of the conglomerate: “a holding company controlling a sprawling set of companies in disparate industries” that he says went the “way of the dinosaur as companies found it difficult to convince investors that there was value that was even equal to the sum of the parts.”  Kelly notes that a few conglomerates survive, including the Tisch family’s Loews Corporation, “which owns everything from hotels to oil fields to insurance companies.” And of course, there’s the most famous conglomerate of all, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

Kelly notes that “private equity in its early days was in part a conglomerate dismantler, a solution for those wanting to disassemble empires.” Ironically, he writes (Page 108): “The size and scale of private equity during the past decade has turned them into conglomerates in their own right, each of the biggest firms owning a wide range of companies from toy makers to refineries to amusement parks.”

The average reader — even one who’s read many business books — will have a hard time distinguishing between a traditional conglomerate and, say, Bain Capital, which since its inception it has invested in or acquired hundreds of companies including AMC Entertainment, Aspen Education Group, Brookstone, Burger King, Burlington Coat Factory, Clear Channel Communications, Domino’s Pizza, DoubleClick, Dunkin’ Donuts, D&M Holdings, Guitar Center, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), Sealy, The Sports Authority, Staples, Toys “R” Us,Warner Music Group and The Weather Channel.

Kelly explains how private equity firms began as a cottage industry as conglomerates were dying and splitting up in the 1980s. In “The New Tycoons” he:

> Explains how two cousins, a restless former Carter administration policy adviser, a pair of out-of-work investment bankers and a lawyer fighting a highway extension in Texas all used the same basic idea to become billionaires.

> Explores how a long-secret industry copes with the scorching spotlight created by Bain Capital founder Mitt Romney’s quest for the White House. Details the response to political pressure about their tax rates, accusations of rampant job destruction, and the rigors of answering to public shareholders.

> Goes inside KKR’s $7.3 billion deal for Dollar General, detailing how a highly sought CEO zeroed in on everything from how the diet soda tasted to sales of toilet seats to revive the retailer.

> Details private meetings with the world’s largest investors, including some the biggest U.S. pensions, as the private-equity managers woo them for new commitments, those investors balk at their fees, and the workers at private-equity controlled companies lobby for a voice.

This is the second book I’ve read and reviewed this year on what makes private equity firms tick. Back in February, I reviewed “King of Capital” by David Carey and John E. Morris, published by Crown Business, a trade paperback updated from a 2010 hardback edition, a book Kelly references in “The New Tycoons”.  (for my review of “King of Capital” click: http://www.huntingtonnews.net/22121).

Jason Kelly demystifies the complex world of private equity by telling the stories of the top firms and their leaders. The book details how their role as investors, owners, and employers has put them at the center of our lives. “The New Tycoons” is very readable, accessible for the general reader. I’d make the same assessment of “King of Capital” and a 1990 book that poked and probed KKR and started the interest in private equity financing: “Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco” by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar.

Kelly  conducted  in-depth, exclusive interviews with private equity leaders,  including Stephen Schwarzman, David Rubenstein, David Bonderman, Henry Kravis, and others,   With on-the-ground reporting, personal observations and richly drawn anecdotes, Kelly takes the story far from Wall Street and into companies controlled by private equity, examining how the business affects us as workers and taxpayers. With the presidential candidacy of former Bain Capital CEO Mitt Romney, and the industry’s deepening influence on Main Street, understanding private equity and where it’s headed is more important than ever.

Kelly even managed to find a Texas union leader, Gary Beevers of the Steelworkers (a union I belonged to when I worked at Youngstown Sheet & Tube in Lake County, Indiana, before becoming a reporter in the mid-1960s) who applauds Blackstone and Tony James, the designated successor to Stephen Schwarzman. Beevers praised Blackstone and its partner First Reserve for reopening a former Valero refinery in Delaware City, Delaware. Most labor unions are hostile to private equity firms, saying they are job destroyers and are anti-union, but pragmatic Beevers said the private equity takeover of the Valero refinery resulted in the creation of  500 full-time jobs and 250 contract workers. Blackstone and First Reserve pumped $450 million into renovating and updating the refinery — at a time when Big Oil was closing refineries.

Rather than demonizing private equity firms in the take-no-prisoners manner of Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi, Kelly says we should take the pragmatic approach of union leader Beevers and learn to deal with them; private equity firms aren’t going away, so deal with them we must.

About the author

Jason Kelly is a New York-based reporter at Bloomberg News primarily focused on the global private-equity industry as part of Bloomberg’s Investing team. He joined Bloomberg in 2002 as a member of the U.S. Technology group, where he covered companies including Intel, Motorola and Texas Instruments. A frequent contributor to BloombergBusinessWeek, Bloomberg Markets magazine and Bloomberg Television, he’s written about topics from artificial intelligence on Wall Street to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Prior to Bloomberg, Kelly was the editor ofdigitalsouth magazine, an Atlanta-based publication focused on venture capital and start-up technology companies. He started his career at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as part of the newspaper’s Olympic coverage team. Kelly is a graduate of Georgetown University.

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Lola’s Secret’: Feisty Lola Quinlan Gives Great Advice — and Is Wise Enough to Listen and Learn, Too

Monica McInerney

Reviewed by David M. Kinchen

If there’s one thing Lola Quinlan, the irrepressible protagonist of Monica McInerney’s novel “Lola’s Secret” (Ballantine Books Trade Paperback, 352 pages, $15.00) can’t stand it’s the “soul-sapping” people she’s encountered in her long life.

The 84-year-old  matriarch of South Australia’s Clare Valley has been faced with what McInerney describes so vividly on Page 55: “The soul-sappers” who bully, try to put her down with low-level insults and general negativity….The sneerers. The Pessimists. People throughout her life who’d told her again and again in many different ways, ‘You can’t do that,’ ‘That’s not how things are done,’ ‘Who do you think you are?'”

If you’ve ever resisted authority to the extent of kicking against the pricks — the  oxen prods referred to in the New Testament’s Acts 9.5 (KJV): “And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”

 

The expression  “to kick against the pricks”  refers generally to being stubborn or resistant to authority to the point of self-harm — something with which Lola can identify.  Mrs. Kernaghan, her latest foe, is a new volunteer at the thrift shop where Lola is a mainstay.  Mrs. Kernaghan is  a woman who believes she’s a cut or two above the other volunteers because she once owned an expensive boutique. Lola, a hippie at heart, not only dodges the figurative prick or goad of Mrs. Kernaghan but also manages to turn the device on Mrs. Kernaghan.

 

But Lola would be the first to admit that she’s far from perfect, as we learn in a powerful scene where she and her daughter-in-law, Geraldine, finally confront the relationship issues accumulated over 40 years, including Lola’s relationship with her son, Jim, and her granddaughters, nicknamed the Alphabet Sisters from their names: Anna, Bett and Carrie. As we encounter Lola and the Quinlan clan at the beginning of the novel, we learn that Anna is dead and Bett and Carrie are feuding. Lola once had to deal with a feud involving all three and now it’s deja vu all over again.

Visualize  the Napa Valley of northern California —  and maybe the adjacent areas of Sonoma and Mendocino counties — when you read about the Clare Valley. It’s a tourist destination and wine country — well known for one of my favorite wines, Riesling —  and Lola lives in the Valley View Motel, moving from room to room, living light on the land, as it were. Jim and Geraldine  have owned the motel for years, relying on Lola’s help,  but there are changes on the horizon — as Lola learns to her dismay.

It’s December in Clare, early summer in the Southern Hemisphere and hardly the Irish-born Lola’s idea of the holiday season. Temperatures are in the high 90s, even reaching 100 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale which Australia abandoned decades ago.

Thanks to young Luke, a computer whiz, Lola is very computer savvy. Telling Jim and Geraldine to spend the holidays away from the Clare Valley, she cooks up a scheme to fill the vacant rooms in the motel:  Plotting in secret and online, Lola thinks it would be fun to invite a select group of strangers to stay at the motel for Christmas.  She makes her prospective guests an offer they can’t refuse. Lola wants to find out if these guests become friends, ignite sparks, fall in love? As she counts down the days until their arrival, Lola’s own family dramas threaten to upend her best-laid plans. Yet amid moments of humor, heartache, and unexpected twists of fate, Lola finds that she’s the one who’s in for the biggest surprise of all.

No, I won’t give away Lola’s secret, but if you want a book crammed to the rafters with characters you can identify with, “Lola’s Secret” is for you. I fell in love with McInerney’s writing — especially her beautifully drawn characters — when I read and reviewed her “At Home with the Templetons” last year (link to my review: http://www.huntingtonnews.net/3730).  As I said in my review of “At Home with the Templetons” — which, like “Lola’s Secret,” includes a Random House reader’s guide — “Lola’s Secret” would be a great selection for a book group.

About the Author

Monica McInerney grew up in a family of seven children in the Clare Valley of South Australia, where her father was the railway stationmaster. She is the author of the internationally bestselling novels “The Alphabet Sisters”(a prequel to “Lola’s Secret),  “Family Baggage”, “The Faraday Girls”, “Upside Down Inside Out”, “Greetings from Somewhere Else”, and “At Home with the Templetons.” She now lives in Dublin with her husband. Her website: www.monicamcinerney.com

U.S.: Housing Starts, Permits Post Big Gains in September; Strongest Numbers in Four Years

• By David M. Kinchen 

Both housing starts and housing permits — an indicator of future construction — rose sharply in September to their highest levels in more than four years, according to a report released Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau. A 15 percent gain brought the pace of new housing construction to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000 units, while an 11.6 percent gain brought the pace of permit issuance to 894,000 units. These were the strongest numbers seen in both categories since July of 2008.

“Builders are responding to the rising demand for new homes as consumers begin to feel more confident about their local markets and put back into motion purchasing plans that were on hold during the recession,” said Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. “Yet, while September’s surge in activity is certainly encouraging, we need to remember that we still have a long way to go back to a fully functioning market — and in order to get there, significant challenges must still be addressed in terms of credit availability and appraisal issues, as well as the increasing cost of building homes due to rising materials prices and a declining inventory of buildable lots.”

“Today’s strong report corresponds with the significant gains we’ve seen in builder confidence over the past year, and confirms our view that a housing recovery is solidly underway in a growing number of markets nationwide,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “That said, we are now almost at the half-way mark in terms of what would be considered a normal amount of new-home construction in a healthy economy, and we need to see consistent improvement like this over an extended period to get back to where the market should be in terms of generating jobs and economic growth.”

The overall gain in new-home construction in September was reflected across both the single- and multifamily sectors, with the first posting an 11 percent gain to a rate of 603,000 units – the best pace since August of 2008 – and the second posting a 25.1 percent gain to 269,000 units – the best pace since September of 2008.

Combined single- and multifamily starts rose in all but one region of the country in September, with a 6.7 percent gain in the Midwest, a 19.9 percent gain in the South and a 20.1 percent gain in the West. Only the Northeast posted a decline, of 5.1 percent.

Issuance of new building permits — which can be an indicator of future building activity — also registered significant gains in both the single-family and multifamily sectors in September. Single-family permits rose 6.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 545,000 units while multifamily permits rose 20.3 percent to 349,000 units. In both cases, these were the highest permit numbers since July 2008.

Regionally, permit issuance rose across the board in September, with the Northeast posting a 6.0 percent gain, the Midwest posting a 19.5 percent gain, the South posting a 10.5 percent gain and the West posting an 11.3 percent gain. 

Housing completions in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 683,000. This is 0.4 percent above the revised August estimate of 680,000 and is 13.8 percent above the September 2011 rate of 600,000.
Single-family housing completions in September were at a rate of 524,000; this is 8.5 percent above the revised August rate of 483,000. The September rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 145,000.

NAHB: Builder Confidence Increases for 6th Straight Month in October

• By David M. Kinchen 

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes edged slightly higher for a sixth consecutive month in October, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012. The latest, one-point gain brings the index to 41 — its strongest level since June of 2006.

“Many builders are reporting increases in the number of serious buyers visiting their sales offices, and the overall confidence measure is much higher than it was at this time last year,” said NAHB Chairman Barry Rutenberg, a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. “The concern is that, even though demand for new homes is rising, overly tight credit conditions are still constraining new building and new purchases at a time when that kind of economic activity and the job growth it generates are greatly needed.”

“The slight gain in builder confidence this month is an indication that, while still moving forward, the speed at which the housing recovery is proceeding is being moderated by the various constraints such as tight credit, difficult appraisals and more recently, the limited inventory of buildable lots in certain markets,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “These are the complicating factors that make it difficult for builder confidence to reach and surpass the 50-point mark, at which an equal number of builders view sales conditions as good versus poor.”

Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for the past 25 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores from each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

Following substantial increases in the previous month, the HMI components measuring current sales conditions and sales prospects for the next six months each remained unchanged in October at 42 and 51, respectively. Meanwhile, the component measuring traffic of prospective buyers increased 5 points to 35, its highest level since April of 2006.

Builder confidence continued to improve in three out of four regions in October. Looking at three-month moving averages, the HMI gained two points in the Midwest and West to 42 and 44, respectively, and three points in the South, to 39. A three-month moving average for the Northeast’s HMI held unchanged at 29.

Editor’s note: The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index is strictly the product of NAHB Economics, and is not seen or influenced by any outside party prior to being released to the public. HMI tables can be found at www.nahb.org/hmi. More information on housing statistics is also available athttp://www.housingeconomics.com/ 

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Cop to Corpse’: Is Top Cop Peter Diamond Taking Too Many Risks in Hunt for Serial Killer?

• Reviewed by David M. Kinchen 

The higher you rise in any organization where there is danger in everyday work, the less likely you are to be in harm’s way. Or so the theory goes. Chief Superintendent Peter Diamond of the Bath, England CID apparently hasn’t gotten the memo; in Peter Lovesey’s “Cop to Corpse: A Peter Diamond Investigation” (Soho Crime, 342 pages, $25.00) the hardly fit — let’s be generous and call him “burly” — veteran police officer is out in the field with younger cops, crawling on his ample belly through gravel paths in a wood, getting hit by a suspect fleeing on a motorcycle and climbing after a suspect on a gigantic gas holder.

It’s not only bad for his middle-aged body, it’s murder on his wardrobe, causing him to appear in costumes best suited to a those worn in period detective novels where long sideburns and turtlenecks prevail. Despite this — or because of it — Diamond has earned the respect of his team in Bath, including ex-journalist Ingeborg Smith, his reliable sidekick Keith Halliwell and the meticulous John Leaman.

In the eleventh Diamond novel, the “Guv” to his squad — he’s not into being called “Sir” — is assigned to solve the sniper assassination of uniformed PC Harry Trasker, the third policeman in the Bath area to be shot and killed in less than three months. The sniper — just about everybody thinks the murders are the work of one person — is always a step ahead, leading Diamond to think the unthinkable, that the murders are committed by someone on the force. Diamond has arrived at the theory after he learns of connections between the three dead officers after talking to their widows. When Diamond suggests this theory, his squad is aghast, forming a blue line against investigating their own. Can Diamond manage to capture an elusive and increasingly dangerous killer while keeping his team from losing faith in him? 

 

Peter Lovesey

 

In “Cop to Corpse” we quickly learn that — unlike their American counterparts — not all British cops carry Glocks or Sig-Sauers or Berettas: Only those who’ve gone through extensive firearms training quality as “armed police,” the equivalent of our SWAT squads. The cane that Diamond wields after the motorcycles sideswipes him in the woods isn’t much of a defense against the Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifle used by the sniper. This is the same 5.56 X 45mm selective fire rifle used by the Avon and Somerset armed police — and the police and armed forces of many countries.

Like the late, great Ed McBain in the 77th Precinct novels, Lovesey melds humor and danger in “Cop to Corpse”, although — with the exception of Diamond himself — we don’t get as much of a look at the private lives of his squad as McBain gave us in his novels. If you haven’t learned about Peter Diamond’s eccentricities and his uncanny ability to solve every puzzle, “Cop to Corpse” is a great introduction to a memorable cop and his talented crew.

About the Author

Peter Lovesey is the author of the Peter Diamond mysteries, well known for their use of surprise, strong characters and hard-to-crack puzzles. He was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2000, the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere, the Anthony, the Ellery Queen Readers’ Award and is Grand Master of the Swedish Academy of Detection. He has been a full-time author since 1975, and was formerly in further education. Earlier series include the Sergeant Cribb mysteries seen on TV and the Bertie, Prince of Wales novels. The Diamond novels, set in Bath, England, where Peter lived for some years, feature a burly, warm-hearted, but no-nonsense police detective whose personal life becomes as engaging to the reader as the intricate mysteries he solves. His website: http://peterlovesey.co