Team Woogle's Final Push - Before Hickory City Council - 3/23/2010

I will report on the other agenda items of tonight's City Council meeting tomorrow, but the most important item on the docket, once again, was the Google initiative to bring 1 Gigabit broadband data service to our area. As will be shown, the document will be submitted electronically tomorrow/today - March 24, 2010, but our area needs to continue to make a push towards this effort, because it may be a while (weeks to months) before Google looks at our Request For Information (RFI) and there will be Rounds (what I call a "Beauty Contest") before the winner(s) is (are) chosen. The deadline for submission is March 26, 2010, so we are well ahead of the clock and I think that is an excellent process of thought.

Let's Look at the sources of information on the Woo Google initiative:
1) Woogle Twitter Account
2) Woogle Facebook Account
3) Woogle Homepage



You still have time to move this initiative forward:

1) You can take the community survey online at the official site - Link to survey.
2) Everyone create videos - General Public, Government Sponsored, Students, Primary Education, and higher Education. (The general public can also rate the videos which will help draw attention to the videos and especially the best videos).
3) Involve Community and Business Leaders - Healthcare, Industry, Small Business, Education, Government, Civic Groups, Fire and rescue, Utilities, and General Population (I believe this has been one of our most successful efforts in this campaign).
4) Chat It Up! - Organize and participate in various community group meetings - Use formal PowerPoint presentation or talking points at community meetings; Collect and document community input via written surveys and video. (I think teachers and school administrators should encourage students to do this. I also think employers should encourage school employees to do this).
5) Encourage groups and individuals to submit Google nominations - Apply Here (I did, have you. This will not take more than 30 minutes).
6) Civic Organizations - Ask for time on the agenda, Utilize existing small databases, conduct e-mail blasts. (Still plenty of time to do this, especially if we move to the next round).
7) Coordinate Local Optical Cable Vendors - Corning, Draka, and Commscope. (I am sure that this has already been done).

The Woogle Presentation was begun by City Manager Berry who stated that the Application must be submitted by Friday at 5pm PDT. He stated how incredible the team has been -- the partnership and the effort.

Paul Baird began his presentation about the progress of the initiative and displayed the website, which he stated was a work in progress. He thanked Ben Willis of CCC&TI, Deborah Ashley who is the President of the Caldwell County Chamber of Commerce, Kim Hudson a consultant on the project, Katie Wynn who has written for the group, and Lee Young who is the Webmaster and works for Catawba County.

The Proposal is an agreement written in Google speak. It states that if Google will come and help transition our community into the 21st century, then there are some things that we will do for Google in return. We will help them build again in our Data Center Corridor -- they are already in Lenoir. Our community leaders are backing the effort and helping to move the effort forward to help the network be installed quickly.

30 focus groups have been involved in this process. Several key promotional ideas have been given as to how our area will promote this network. The ending statement is that we are a strong and resilient area. We will transform our area, but with this initiative we will be able to do it a lot faster and quicker.

Ben Willis and Deborah Ashley were up next. Mrs. Ashley displayed bullet points of how we are ready for transformation. We are resilient even though we are facing major challenges.

- We have lost many jobs, especially in the manufacturing sector
- We have a need for retraining
- We have a very high unemployment rate
- We need education of our adults 25 and over.

Despite the challenges, we are ready to fly

- We have received high marks in several magazines and studies
- Hickory and Lenoir are both All-American cities
- We have the Data Center Corridor
- The Challenges we face allow us to apply for incentives from the State of NC
- The Challenges allow the communities to create tax incentives
- High unemployment gives businesses many workforce options (people to employee)
- We have great healthcare access
- We have an excellent climate
- We have excellent access to I-40 and Hwy 321.
- If Google comes here, we will provide them measurable transformation.
- The details of this information provide raw data and facts.
- The information will also pull heartstrings.

Ben Willis stated that what they are trying to show is that we are down, but not out. The RFI is factual and also romantically written, because some people want the numbers and others want to hear the story. Google really likes partnerships and by coming together as cities and counties we have demonstrated that we do that very well. The Data Center Corridor shows the enhancement of how counties come together to promote an area jointly. Their is also good cooperation with Duke and Blue Ridge Energies. Google also owns a 200+ acre campus in Lenoir. Google would also have access to two state of the art community colleges in CVCC and CCC&TI. There is also Lenoir-Rhyne and the Appalachian State partnership which will help in the training of people.

Mrs. Ashley then spoke about the visuals and video on the website. As far as community leadership, she stated that in the RFI Google asked if we were ready to deploy and can we provide a single point of contact. Lain Baily, Lenoir City manager, will be that point of contact. He has already had a relationship with Google. This is a coordinated effort and it has been important to display how much the community cares and wants this.

Alderman Lail stated that Alexander county has passed a resolution recognizing this initiative even though they are not a part of this current proposal.

Mrs. Ashley went over the recently created Logo:
And spoke to how it incorporates many of the features between Lenoir and Hickory. The Hickory Crawdads, Pottery, the All-American City Sign, and Furniture. Mrs. Ashley pointed to the fact that the Facebook site has over 5,500 fans. She reiterated that the journey does continue even after the RFI is submitted. Google will continue to watch even after this initial stage. If we are selected for the next round, then we need to show Google that this wasn't just for fluff. That we didn't just come together to get this application in and we want people to continue to go on Facebook and be a fan. She wants everyone to continue to be a part of that.

Ben Willis mentioned that they were very fortunate to have Pixelspace to work on this initiative. He reiterated that this does not end on Friday. The buzz needs to be kept alive.

Kim Hudson thanked everyone in the community and talked about the 30 focus groups that involved creative ideas, business ideas, and healthcare ideas. That portion of the web goes into a lot of depth. She then played a Professional video from the Jackson Group. Which displayed several aspects of how this increased broadband capacity could help with emergency services, medical needs, small business, hosting of webinars for homebased businesses, primary education school needs, and Reggie Longcrier speaking to the issues of the Exodus Homes Mission.


Next Kim went over the aspects of an application wheel that integrates into the website. She displayed the in-depth detail of the Healthcare segment of this application wheel detailing information including items such as chronic disease management, doctor collaboration, sending MRI files more efficiently, Computer Chips, and Robotics. In the education section she displayed a video submitted by West Lenoir elementary:


As with the rest of the Woogle staff, she asked the community to continue submitting videos to the Youtube site. She next added the fact that we are the home of 3 world class fiber-optic companies. The community has many fiber-optic experts. There are 4,000 people employed by six plants in the area. These companies are eager to use this network as a means to research the products they develop.

Paul next showed data that will be provided in the RFI. They have worked with the Western Piedmont Council of Governments and various representatives of the utility companies in the area to pull together data involving demographics. The challenge and opportunity presented to Google is to start out with the Hickory-Lenoir area and to build out towards Newton, Conover and then spread out towards the cities along the 321 corridor and then reach out to rest of both communities. The next progression is to spread out towards a regional approach.

Paul showed graphics divided into various maps involving demographics. You can follow this link below to see some of the results: Google Survey Results.

Paul stated that the group was appreciative of the opportunity to work on the initiative that brought the community together in a way that we have not seen in a long time. He showed a map of businesses who were on a map and supported the Google initiative. The Mayor stated that he would hope that more businesses would join in and have there plaque put on this map.

Lastly, Paul mentioned an initiative to bring this technology to low income citizens via a Non-Profit entity. This initiative will be called, "Bridging the Digital Divide." He also talked about a Non-Profit effort involving Blue Cross - Blue Shield.

Alderman Lail spoke of the issue of Micro Trenching and that it was brought up in the initial teleconference in which Google introduced the process of this initiative and stated that he felt that it is important to include this into the RFI.

Ben made a point in stating that it is important that the United States not continue to fall behind on this issue and (paraphrasing) he believe that is the genius in what Google is doing.

The Hound thinks that it imperative that we keep pushing. This is nowhere near close to over. We have lost some momentum in the last couple of weeks since the process was initiated, but now it is the time to figure out new ways to get more people to join up.

I was amazed yesterday when I asked a co-worker if he knew this was going on and he had never heard about it. He is in high school and I would have thought for sure that the schools would have introduced this subject to all of their students and be talking about it as subject material. This is their future at stake and somehow there is a lack of communication about how important this initiative is.

If you read this and your kid goes to high school, elementary school, or college then you need to call the school and ask how they are involved in this initiative. They need to be inspiring these kids to become involved in this effort and if we want to bump those Facebook numbers up higher, well need I say more.

BROAD BAND!!!
City of Hickory - Thinking Big with a Gig
I have a Dream - A 21st Century Hickory
Woogle - How You can Help Us Get Google Ultra High Speed Broadband
3,040 Facebook Fans of the Woogle Initiative - Team Woogle meets with FEC
3/9/2010 - Woogle Town Hall meeting tonight done. Onto Lenoir Thursday night
Google - Come make History in Hickory!!!
Hickory's Diaspora - Bring Home the Scattered Seeds

You can't have freedom, if you ain't willing to lose!!!

I am not going to repeat the same ole talking points that everyone else is pushing forth about this healthcare issue. I'm pretty much sick of it. I have seen both sides of the issue and I understand people's angst towards Democrats, Republicans, government, and their bosses on this issue.

This is just another beginning. Every day is a new beginning. There is no end until they bury you in the ground and I hope to at that time leave this forsaken world for the glory of God.

So many people have spoken of how they are sick of politics. They wish that this were over or that were over, but isn't it obvious that political wills are continuous. The problem is that people won't confront their issues. They would rather have someone else make the difficult decisions for them and then bicker about those decisions.

It is always about unintended consequences versus reality. Whether your heart desires a Utopian world of Sunshine and Lollipops for all is irrelevant. What is relevant is what you are willing to do in pursuit of your dreams and the dreams of a better world you desire. We are interconnected and we do need to be fair and seek justice, but these principles cannot be mandated.

What has been put in place is a system of control towards the Least Common Denominator. Are we going to seek excellence in healthcare? Or are we going to try to control people's habitual will? Did prohibition work in the early part of the 20th century? No, it was repealed because of the consequences it wrought on society and the lives it destroyed in the wake of its path.

Who can argue with what the controlling mindset of unintended consequences can lead toward:
1) Reduction in Patient-Doctor confidentiality.
2) Mandatory Physicals that expose issues that will no longer be private.
3) One child policies with severe sanctions towards those who do not comply.
4) Mandatory Drug testing during physicals to determine issues of dependency that as stated above will no longer be a private issue.
5) Mandatory Counseling leading to possible mandated inpatient counseling at dependency centers.
6) Mandatory Health Coverage by all businesses - large and small.
7) Mandatory Body-Mass Index control with excise taxes applied according to excess weight.
8) Businesses garnishing your meager wages to pay for your health coverage.
9) You being put into a coverage group that has individuals with bad habits, which raises your premium payment with no cap on expenses.
10) The IRS delving into your issues of personal income and auditing you to make sure that you are reporting all of your income; over healthcare issues.

Why wouldn't this happen?
1) Does the government and society not deserve to know if you have a disease that could harm the society?
2) Does the government and business, that contributes to your healthcare, not deserve to know if you are chemically dependent on Marijuana, Cocaine, Alcohol, or other Narcotics?
3) Does the government and business that contributes to your healthcare, not deserve to have you operating at peak productivity which may be diminished by disease, obesity, pregnancy, or chemical dependency?
4) Does the government that contributes to your healthcare, not deserve to know exactly how much money you make? Especially in a progressive income based entitlement system?

You have given up control of you life in order feel a sense of comfort in security, but will you? Security is a personal mindset! Where is the security in full reliance on others.

If you think what I am proposing is ludicrous, then I challenge you to look at history. This has happened many times before when empires were formed. It will last a long time. It may even last the rest of our lives, but it will not last forever, because people yearn to be free.

The unknown causes Fear in many and Terror comes from those who exacerbate fear by manipulating that fear into a resource of control. If we embrace and accept the unknown, then we as humans can truly strive towards good and our powers are limitless. We must change our mindset away from these issues of negative control and move towards positive influence.

And I will never give up on that Ideal!!!

WAMO - Wednesday night At Mount Olive with Houndvision

The following is a video of what I do on Wednesday afternoon and evenings during the Lenten (Easter) and Advent (Christmas) seasons. It entails going and buying groceries, taking them to church, preparing, and serving a meal to 60 to 70 people from our congregation. These events take place all over Catawba County and they bring cohesion to the community.

Looking at ways this system could be improved, would be if Sam's could have a computer system that I could call into with my needs, that could tell me the costs, and possibly help me inventory the products. The product could be available to me for pick-up. This would create more efficient uses of time and money.

There is also video included of the Church's audio/visual computer system and what the church's intentions are with this system. Through a capital campaign that was managed and implemented by the leaders of Mount Olive Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hickory, North Carolina in accordance with the offerings, donations, and commitments of the congregation, we have seen the church move towards 21st century audio, video, and computer technology and communication with its congregation and the outside world.

This A/V system is ready made for a Ultra Highspeed Broadband Network that has the capability of real-time audio and video delivery to individuals and groups located outside of Mount Olive's sanctuary and Property. The system creates the possibility of reaching shut-in members of the congregation, addressing issues of overflow attendance of Mount Olive events, and promoting special events to the community and others outside of the congregation.



Mount Olive's Audio-Video System

How can the United States avoid Bankruptcy?

Washington Post - Moody's warns nations to cut spending or risk AAA ratings - By Howard Schneider - Washington Post Foreign Service - Tuesday, March 16, 2010

New York Times - Moody’s Says U.S. Debt Could Test Triple-A Rating - By DAVID JOLLY and CATHERINE RAMPELL - Published: March 15, 2010

We have already lost our Aaa rating, if they are talking about it. Moody's has close ties with our government and has vested interest in propping up this rating. Look how Moody's propped up Enron while the tech bubble imploded in 2000. Also, look how Moody's propped up the rating of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while the implosion of the housing market was already set in stone. How can anyone trust information coming from this credit rating agency?

If the U.S. credit rating falls that means that investor's will look at our Treasury Bills and Agency Securities as riskier investments. Therefore, investors will look towards higher rates of return on their investments. That means that the U.S. will be paying higher interest on any money borrowed, as well as debt that has already been accrued. The days of massive deficits will be coming to an end, one way or another.

At a time when we are suffering from unemployment rates of 10% to 20% on the national level (15% to 25% locally) depending on how one looks at the numbers, under current thought processes and practices we are going to see spending slashed and taxes raised dramatically. We may well soon see in this country what is already taking place in Iceland, Greece, and Portugal, where strikes and citizen protest marches are leading opposition to tough measures of austerity directly related to reduction of spending on entitlement programs.

From the Washington Post article:

Moody's reported, but "growth alone will not resolve an increasingly complicated debt equation. Preserving debt affordability at levels consistent with AAA ratings will invariably require fiscal adjustments of a magnitude that, in some cases, will test social cohesion."

The Hound's Take: Personally I don't see a way out of this mess. The key is how long it will persist. I see so many people who really don't understand this crisis. They think we are coming out of this mess and it looks to me like we are entering the second phase. I know so many people who are having a hard time making ends meet and yet there are others who don't appear to be suffering much at all.

I know that my personal income level is where it was 10 years ago and things are a lot more expensive; then I look and see the money that some government officials make and it blows my mind. I was thinking about it today after a few conversations with some friends who are in a similar predicament as myself. I think this is a valid question.

Are government officials not willing to rock the boat and take some chances because of their income? Have we set our nation up for failure, because of the way that we compensate our elected officials and the bureaucracy?

I don't want to get into the validity of the payscale. In a time when so many of our citizens are suffering through unemployment or underemployment, I do believe that the questions asked about public compensation are valid. The private sector wants to feel that the public sector is fighting the fight alongside us.

I think it is also time to reign in the banks and I wonder if our government officials are willing to do this. There was a gentleman that is running for Catawba County Commission who stated in the Hickory Daily Record that Catawba County needs to tax the Wall Street conglomerate banks. I dismissed him because I don't want another tax being passed on to me at a time when I feel the banks are already ripping us off. But, this man's thought was genuine and I do understand what he was getting at.

If, however, our elected officials at all levels of government would be willing to stand together with the citizenry they are supposed to represent, then maybe we could start getting some of our money back from the banksters who fomented this mess. People like Webster Tarpley and others have pushed around the idea of a Tobin tax on financial transactions involving securities and derivatives, such as the infamous "Credit Default Swaps." I have come around to their way of thinking.

The Wall Streeters pushed this "Free for All - No Holds Barred" idea of Global Trade. Look at the end results. They are the rich who are getting richer and they are definitely not looking out for the good of the country. Tarpley calls this Tobin Tax "the Robin Hood Tax." I agree with the statement that the Wall Street bankers (along with their willing governmental accomplices) created this depression and it is time that they pay for it.

In reality, what pain have the people who created the mess, Wall Street bankers and Government Regulators, felt from this debacle, especially when one can see that so much fraud was committed. Yet, the American people have lost jobs, felt the credit squeeze, had banking fees grow drastically, watched in terror as national Debt continues to pile up, and we can go on and on and on. Raise your hand if your home mortgage is under water. Who are the real terrorists? Who causes more fear in our lives?

The money raised from this tax can be used to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. You would have to be blind not to notice the rot going on in many urban areas within U.S. Cities. This money should be put towards productive purposes that create value. It could go towards broadband initiatives, creating micro-financing capital, working on alternative energy and transportation, facilitating biotech and nanotechnology.

Folks, you can look at what I say here and say it is pessimistic, but if you will take a truly good look at what I expose, then you will see that it is optimistic. The difference is you. If you are willing to take action by spreading the word, becoming involved, calling your governmental representatives, etc. we can effect change that will make our lives better. We are circling the drain and if we don't take some drastic measures to rectify our economic lot in life, then we are sure to create a dark age period that could last for generations or we can say enough is enough and start doing something about it. Whether this country goes bankrupt or not will depend on you!

Hickory's Diaspora - Bring Home the Scattered Seeds

A Diaspora - (From Wikipedia) - (in Greek, διασπορά – "a scattering [of seeds]") is any movement of a population sharing common national and/or ethnic identity. While refugees may or may not ultimately settle in a new geographic location, the term diaspora refers to a permanently displaced and relocated collective.

The word "Diaspora" was used to refer to the population of Jews exiled from Israel in 607 BCE by the Babylonians, and from Judea in 70 CE by the Roman Empire. Many people look at the Diaspora involving cultures of countries that been displaced because of war. There are examples of this throughout the United States. Think of the Immigration of Cuban nationals to Miami that has taken place over the last half century. Here is a link from The Afghan Embassy detailing the influx of Afghans over the last 30 years due to the wars in that country.

What I would like the readers of this blog to think about is the exodus of people from the Hickory area that has taken place over the last 10 years due to the loss of our manufacturing base. We have seen a massive economic shift from a prosperous, growing mid-sized community to a community whose population has begun to stagnate and whose per capita income has not kept up with the state, the Sun Belt region, or the United States as a whole.

This is an issue that was spoken about during the Future Economy Council meeting on June 18, 2009. The discussion centered on a conceptual belief that there are connections of people throughout the world that may have an interest and/or empathy in this area's plight and these people may be more than willing to lend us support.

Many of our current local inhabitants are pessimistic about the State of our Community's Condition and it is a struggle to change their mindset. A positive process towards progress might involve getting people who are former residents of this area, or who have secondary ties to the area, involved in the reformation of our economy and culture. This is a way to maybe bring a new perspective to ongoing discussions and change people's minds that are stuck in the old ways of thinking.

Terry Bledsoe, Catawba County's Chief Information Officer and the President of the Future Economy Council, has talked about Catawba County's utilization of Facebook. The idea was to gain participation from locals to get (county government) messages out. Unintentionally it was discovered that people all over the world have signed up for the page, because they want a connection with Catawba County. They want to know what is going on in Catawba County.

I joined that Catawba County's Facebook page long ago. That site currently has 1,414 fans. The City of Hickory's page also has 914 fans. But, what is amazing is a private site on Facebook called "I'm from Hickory, North Carolina." That site currently has a total of 3,059 fans. Like Terry stated, there are a lot of people who are interested in having a connection (Past, Present, or Future) with our area.

When we look at the Diaspora of this area we need to ask some important questions:

1) Why did you leave here?
2) If you left here because of an employment or educational opportunity and that opportunity had been available in this area, would you have left?
3) If that employment opportunity were to present itself in this area, in the future, would you come back to the area?
4) What problems do you see with the area?
5) Are you interested in helping the Hickory area turn its economic plight around?
6) What current tangible solution do you see helping the Hickory area?

I think that is a good start. I know that many of you have read my postings, articles, and beliefs about our loss of the younger demographic. In the last year, that has moved from what Futurists call a Weak Signal to an issue of accepted relevance. I believe that we all now understand what a problem the loss of our community's young energy poses.

That is one reason why this Google Ultra Highspeed Broadband initiative excites me so much. It is a solution that can give us a fair chance to retain our area's best and brightest young people, as well as attract the best and brightest minds from around the world. Not many solutions can so easily shift our intellectual paradigm from Brain Drain to Brain Gain. It allows us to develop people who can lead lives rooted on a solid foundation. That type of cultural structure will lead to economic stability and resiliency.

I would like our area officials to study the above by initiating a survey of this Diaspora. We need to form these connections and attach ourselves to the Hickory Natives that we have lost. Does what I am proposing here not make sense? Are there any negatives associated with this? This leads us away from what has seemed to be a scattershot approach involving growth issues. The questions that I posed above will go a long way towards helping us resolve many issues that this community faces and maybe ensure that we never head down this path again.