Still images of flowers at the Rockefeller Greenhouse, Rockefeller Park, Cleveland, Ohio, realNEO

Christmas Eve, my family drove across East Cleveland (all 3 miles long) to Nela Park - The GE Lighting & Electrical Institute - to see their remarkable, historic Holiday Lighting Display and share some photos on REALNEO. While beautiful at the time, the conditions were not quite right to truly show-off the lights and season.

The conditions were perfect tonight.

One thing that makes East Cleveland unique is the annual Holiday Lighting Display at GE Lighting & Electrical Institute, at Nela Park. A tradition since 1925 - and many of the decorations seem to date from then - this holiday lighting display runs through New Year's Day.

This was REALNEO, from December 16, 2008 - December 15, 2009.

Activity was significant, expanding, engaged, diverse, and global. REALNEO is a very healthy virtual community. But, who were those 277,070 absolute unique visitors attracted to our over 10,141 pages of original content on REALNEO?

Glen Greenwald @ Salon - I wonder what it's like to live in a country where political and financial elites are held accountable for wrongdoing.  Everyone can decide for themselves how credible a threat Obama, Tim Geithner, Larry Summers and friends will ever pose to Wall Street, but at least some of the bankers don't seem to be taking it very seriously:

Average Unique Monthly Visitors for REALNEO Benchmarking Sample
November 2008 - November 2009

REALNEO/COOP members, we own this... we accomplished this... in just our fifth year of operations. Congratulations!

In reviewing REALNEO for material on the historic Cleveland U.S. Coast Guard Station, to accompany these November 25, 2009, photographs and Thanksgiving Day Pans of the Coast Guard site, I came across the May, 2006, REALNEO discussion "COAST GUARD IDEAS" about what should be done with the site... with a lengthy vision from "Citizen" Ed Hauser.

One of my most valued resources for insight on health, the environment and aging is The Myth Of Alzheimer's, and I strongly recommend anyone reading this post subscribe to their e-mail updates and read that site regularly - it updates nearly daily.

The Myth Of Alzheimer's is absolutely about you, your family, your friends, and all our futures, as we all age together on this human-changing world until we die.

November 21, 2009, the Cleveland Plain Dealer published a get-out-of-jail-free editorial for seemingly life-term Cleveland Port Authority dictator John Carney, and his board of directors - "A Cleveland Port Authority board already wounded can't afford conflict-of-interest charges -- editorial" - that fully acknowledges "the port is so broke it may not be able to assure continued operations of the Cleveland harbor, much less pay to relocate and expand".

Yet, the PD editors do not call for changes to the current Port Board. Quite the opposite, the PD empowers them to move into the real estate development business... despite their bond rating having sunk near junk.

Reporting on the cost and environmental impact of household and government greenspace maintenance.

Fall, 2009, Attleboro and Shaker

REALNEO Naturally Header 11/21/09

Citizen Ed Hauser, Victorious In The Battle Of Whiskey Island - "Ask Not What Your Planet Can Do For You..."

It has been a year since Northeast Ohio lost our selfless civic activist "Citizen" Ed Hauser, silencing the great voice in the community saying that "The Process is Broken".

November 14, 2009 - the one-year anniversary of Ed's death - a group of family and friends came together on the beautiful Whiskey Island Ed saved, before a late Autumn setting sun, to toast a glorious man, and mourn a most cursed and horrible year in Northeast Ohio without Ed.

What does the dawn hold for this long-suffering region, in the second year without Citizen Hauser?