Today, March 22nd, is World Water Day and while most people don't know this, I thought I'd take the time to give H2O its just due.  Sometimes it helps to bring things down to the elemental level - as NEO residents so many of us take the 6 quadrillion gallons of fresh water that comprise our Great Lakes for granted.  Few people seem to be aware that lake water levels are at historic lows, or what a rapidly dwindling freshwater supply globally has been doing to extinction rates of dependent species of wildlife.  The formula is simple: freshwater use is exponentially increasing while supply is most definitely not.  We use over twenty times more water per person in the U.S. than we did a century ago, and the energy costs involved with agriculture, waste water treatment, and industrial use are growing at staggering rates as well.  I find it ironic that the most highly developed nations in the world are setting this kind of example.  The problem is exacerbated in the most underprivileged parts of the world, which, not coincidentally, face the greatest dearth in freshwater supply.  Primitive technologies and grossly inappropriate waste management and disposal practices (95% of sewage and 75% of industrial waste is returned to surface waters untreated) are the biggest problems in these nations.  Global climate change throws even more uncertainty into the mix.

The Nation magazine chose Cleveland as the city to illustrate the cost of the War in Iraq to one troubled city. The two-page spread in the March 31 issue shows what could have been bought to meet public needs with $479.2 million, Cleveland’s share of the war cost.

Coal Power's Deja-Meltdown

By Denis Du Bois

03/12/08

The government's futuristic "clean coal" power project has joined the long list of scuttled coal plants. The death spiral of coal energy is reminiscent of the 1980s popular blockade of nuclear plant construction. Investors and even the Bush administration are backing out.

A Retired Librarian Leaves $2M to West Hartford Public Library

March 19, 2008

Often, the story of an unexpected major bequest involves a patron who quietly but regularly used the library. In the case of the West Hartfort Public Library, CT, however, the story stars a longtime reference librarian, Thomas Kilfoil, who died in 2005 at 82 and left the library $2 million. (He worked until he was 79.)

 

I visited the Arcelor Mittal Cleveland Works this afternoon to take a a look.   The sun came out making the scene fairly photogenic.  I began to take photos from the public way.

The County has pulled another Gateway. Only better - for the operators.

It looks as if the medical mart and convention center will cost County taxpayers – and this is if there are no snafus - $1 billion.

The Cuyahoga County Commissioners have given me a  great idea.

Let's privatize the Commission by hiring one person who actually  knows what he or she is doing and do away with electing our three Stooges for Private Businesses of Any Kind, aka, Tim Hagan, Jimmy Dimora & Peter Lawson Jones.

Only a few more weeks to go Cleveland.  We can do it!

A nice writeup in the Plain Dealer by freelance contributor Terri Mrosko on the front page of today's Employment section provides a positive portrayal of our region and its ideal positioning as a region poised for significant economic progress.  The article makes strong points in mentioning a growing manufacturing sector and rising economic growth and employment numbers despite national indicators pointing to a deep recession.  As Mrosko points out, technology underpins these successes across the board -whether represented by a solid foundation of expertise in healthcare, engineering, and manufacturing technologies or the inspiring near-future potentials in alternative energy technology and nanotechnology.  While higher paying jobs in NEO are growing at a rate exceeding national averages (boosted by double digit growth in high tech, biomedical, and professional services), the region retains a double-digit advantage over national averages for metropolitan areas for cost-of-living.  A growing populace is living well!

If you owned a $40,500.000.00 parking structure,  would these images concern you?  (by the way, if you live in Cuyahoga County, you DO OWN IT)

From the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission blog:

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved names for five tributaries of Euclid Creek yesterday: Claribel Creek, Redstone Run, Stevenson Brook, Verbsky Creek, and the East Branch of Euclid Creek.

Labels: Lake Erie, Richmond Heights

Just as a reminder to relate to the cost of the medical mart and  the new convention center construction, bonding and payments, don't forget that the County already spends heavily with tax fund for the convention business.

Headlines in current Cleveland media promote a Medical Mart and Convention Center to cure our ill economy. The Plain Dealer quotes Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora saying "We're looking for a tremendous economic boon - something we haven't had for many years here".... and fellow Commissioner Tim Hagan saying "This is a turning point and a defining moment for this community". Such bold claims make me think of The Top 5 Things to Remember When Reading Stories about Alzheimer’s Disease “Cures” or “Research Breakthroughs”:

Friday night I saw The Battle in Seattle, a film about the WTO meetings in Seattle.  It is a powerful look into the growing resistance to the WTO.  The film left my friends and I feeling that we really ought to know more about the pros and cons of the WTO considering how moved so many people are to action by the negitive impacts of the organization.

School design has been on my mind. Here is a thumbnail of an almost perfect Cleveland school.  Benjamin Franklin School slated for demolition in the CMSD Facilities Plan.  It also has beautiful adjacent gardens.

A group of influential green professionals are pushing for activism to go viral. Keeping themselves deliberately incognito and going by the name of The Alarmists they are proposing to make some serious noise about Global Warming. Not just at one event, but at 11 am on the 11th of every month for one minute. They say, "This is a state of global emergency. According to the IPCC, we must cut emissions within eight years, to avoid catastrophic global warming. There is nowhere near enough action yet to make that happen. We need to set off the world's alarms. Join in. It could be the alarm on your phone, in your home, in your car. You could gather some friends to make some noise. Organise a flash mob. Schedule a company fire drill. Borrow a vintage air raid siren... Be creative. Raise the alarm." :: Alarmism

Pee Dee Propaganda Machine
The front page of the Pee Dee this a.m. represents Ms. Goldberg’s contribution to the journalism here: big, splashy headlines, much wasted space, but scarce information.

The Pee Dee is always on the bandwagon when it comes to “Progress.” However, never rely upon the newspaper for hard evidence beyond cheerleading.

Here’s what we have under the Huge Headline: “Medical Mart now a ‘when,’ not an ‘if’”- 4 and a half columns wide and 13 inches deep before a skimpy 4 inch story. Wish we had more about "how."

AND GREAT SMILE!

I attended the KennedyConCenter meeting this morning - held before the scheduled meeting of the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners.  

All the TV cameras and paper reporters were there.   Big news was afoot!

DESPERATION CITY
We have a deal!

The public today was given, as one observer at the meeting says, an “information free” description of the deal between Cuyahoga County and Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. (MMPI).

Each of the last two winters, Cleveland Plain Dealer writer Kevin O'Brien wrote that it sometimes snows in Cleveland so there is no global warming. His latest scientific position on this is posted on Cleveland.com here (and included below). O'Brien is such a strange writer I cannot tell if he is kidding, but in the interest of good public information it seems important for all people to consider what O'Brien published in the Plain Dealer and discuss if it is intelligent, misleading, incorrect or perhaps true. Who has an informed position on global warming and what O'Brien writes below?