Mayor Jackson has been reported to believe the problems with Clevelanders and so his Great City are all in our heads - we're depressed and have a bad attitude... get over it. In response, Cleveland leaders have initiated a variety of "don't worry be happy" "Believe in Cleveland" programs, like their latest "Happiness Virus" initiative by a group of consultants associated with the Cleveland Clinic leadership.

Unfortunately, MEDICAL SCIENCE finds this ridiculous outlook and strategy ignores the cause of citizens' very real depression here - lead poisoning.

The real science of the Archives of General Psychiatry "looked at 1,987 adults ages 20 through 39, finding that those with the highest blood lead levels were more than twice as likely to suffer a major depressive disorder and nearly five times as likely to suffer from panic disorders as those without elevated blood lead levels. The study is a rare look at how lead exposure can affect adults, as most research to date has been focused on the side effects of lead on children."

Dear Sierra Club President and Nachy Kanfer - Campuses Beyond Coal:

Please Add Cleveland State University to your "Campuses Beyond Coal" Campaign and begin organizing against their primary energy provider, the astoundingly deadly, coal-polluting, private-investor-owned Cleveland Thermal coal furnace in the Cleveland Flats!

Cleveland State University (CSU) is the largest customer of Cleveland Thermal, and so must take a lead in moving this community beyond coal.

I don't imagine President Obama realized this sad situation, prior to his recent visit to Cleveland to meet with small business leaders and government representative at CSU about "jump-starting" our local economy, killed by pollution. I'm sure if he knew he was supporting environmental injustice here, in that way, he would have chosen a more socially-just venue to promote. Cleveland State University is not included in your "Campuses Beyond Coal" campaign, and should be added and activated immediately - Cleveland Thermal is one of the largest polluters in America - we must bring this to light and move them beyond coal to protect Clevelanders.

From realNEO:

There has been considerable conflict in industry and government - and Federal courts - over the emissions from large boilers and incinerators in America, and so Northeast Ohio, leading to new Clean Air Act standards for boilers and certain incinerators announced by the EPA today. As all America now acts to implement these new standards, it will be interesting to see what branches of government in Northeast Ohio monitor or even are aware of all the boilers and incinerators in this region - their current emissions and control technologies - which are out of compliance with the new standards - what they need to do to comply - what costs are involved to comply with the new act - what reductions in pollution will result, where - who will see reductions in their ambient and point source pollution - what benefits to public health will result - and how that will improve the value of property in this area. The public should be provided with this information immediately so we may make long term plans about where we live and what property we choose to own.

Battles over such rules are at the root of all evil in industry and America today - the heart of the tea party efforts to corrupt government by the Koch Brothers and their billionaire murderers and fans and followers in industries like coal and oil - The Fossil Boys - and the harm they have caused activists for clean energy, clean social networks like realNEO, the American people, and global climate. Thank you Federal EPA for your good fight for the health of Americans.

And you thought the tea party was actually about ending gays, abortion and unions! It was always all about the right to pollute and kill Americans! Time to end the party and fix America, everyone!

EPA Establishes Clean Air Act Standards for Boilers and Incinerators  

Sensible standards provide significant public health benefits while cutting costs from initial proposal by nearly 50 percentWASHINGTON – In response to federal court orders requiring the issuance of final standards, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing final Clean Air Act standards for boilers and certain incinerators that achieve significant public health protections through reductions in toxic air emissions, including mercury and soot, but cut the cost of implementation by about 50 percent from an earlier proposal issued last year.

Mercury, soot, lead and other harmful pollutants released by boilers and incinerators can lead to developmental disabilities in children, as well as cancer, heart disease, aggravated asthma and premature death in Americans. These standards will avoid between 2,600-6,600 premature deaths, prevent 4,100 heart attacks and avert 42,000 asthma attacks per year in 2014.

I've been stunned to find there is a movement in Cleveland, much like "Creationism" and psycho-conservative mind-control programs of the Koch Tea Partiers, called "Teaching Cleveland", that proposes a group of journalists from the Cleveland Plain Dealer (mostly now out-of-the-profession) and other amateur-historians are qualified to develop education programming for our children.

From "Teaching Cleveland": "The Teaching Cleveland Foundation is a pending 501 (3) (c) organization with a stated mission to develop Cleveland-centered curricula in area schools that deepen an understanding of Greater Cleveland’s rich history, foster an appreciation of its varied resources, and equip participants with the skills and capacities to connect, collaborate, and commit.  The future of Greater Cleveland depends on inspiring enthusiasm and a stronger sense and love of place to grow another generation of civic leaders."

Wrong - the Future of Greater Cleveland depends on providing an authentic, safe, healthy, desirable place for people to live.... not brainwashing people to stay.

Change "Cleveland" to "Fatherland" and you will realize the definition and concept for "Teaching Cleveland" is stolen from your typical fascist handbook... and this type of make-believe "story-telling" is defined as "Historical Revisionism" or "Negationism".

MCCO near complete - next steps

Norm Roulet <norm [dot] roulet [at] gmail [dot] com>     Sun, Feb 20, 2011 at 12:40 PM
To: Chris Ronayne <Cronayne [at] universitycircle [dot] org>
Cc: hershel daniels <hersheldanielsjunior [at] gmail [dot] com>

Chris,

I'm pleased to see posted to the MCCO site that they are now committed to shutting down their coal boilers and will add no more. You should feel great satisfaction for this - 1,000,000s of lives will be bettered in very few years - and I appreciated your help accomplishing this.

 
Dear Fellow Ohio Sierra Club Members,

At the start of this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally began using its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Already, however, powerful forces in Congress--including some Democrats--are working to strip that authority away or delay its long-overdue implementation. We need to make sure Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown stands firm in defense of EPA's authority to cut greenhouse gas pollution right away.

EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gases is the only tool we have right now at the national level to start combating climate change. Taking it away--or delaying it after all these years of inaction--is absolutely unacceptable.

We all need to call Senator Brown today with a single message:

Balloon Over Coal-Fired Chicago: Mayor Daley, is This Your Green Legacy?

Only days before Chicago voters launch their city into a new era with a new mayor, Chicago activists greeted departing Mayor Richard Daley in the City Hall atrium this morning with a giant balloon question mark on his self-proclaim “greenest city in America” legacy.

Featuring a picture of the decrepit and deadly Fisk and Crawford coal-burning power plants in the Pilsen and Little Village neighborhoods, the balloon loomed over the heads of city officials and visitors with the stark reality of Chicago’s ailing neighborhoods. The balloon banner read:

“Mayor Daley, is this your ‘green legacy’?”

MCCO Coal Fired Steam Generation plant - polluting the poor, urban core of Cleveland Ohio since 1932

Regarding the fact that University Hospitals, of Cleveland, Ohio, gets its heat from a coal burning power plant on their urban campus - the Medical Center Company (MCCO), operated by US Senator Sherrod Brown's Brother - located in a largely poor, urban community, which has for over 70 years harmed the health of area and global citizens... and considering the fact no University Hospitals or other area physicians will publicly condemn this and such industrial practices in Northeast Ohio... I posted to realNEO: Doctors at University Hospitals Should Turn In Their Licenses to Practice Medicine, as Hypocrites.

As they do not practice medicine ethically, all Doctors at University Hospitals Must Turn In Their Licenses to Practice Medicine - including my Father - as they do more harm than good as they pollute this community with soot from burning coal that is unnecessary and that causes certain harm and death to area citizens - especially the young, old, poor, black and weak... and these supposed "doctors" know that very well now.

This lack of responsibility by physicians practicing "healthcare" in a geographic area with certain poor health from pollution - including unnecessary pollution from the doctors' own hospital - confirms findings of Alice Hamilton MD, in 1914... "There is here a great neglected field in American medicine and one of growing importance, for each year the number of industrial establishments which employ physicians increases, and the opportunity for expert hygienic control of our dangerous trades increases. But there will have to be a more general understanding of the problems of industrial hygiene before the service rendered by the majority of company physicians becomes of much real value."

The Environmental History Timeline reports "Greek physician Hippocrates (460-377 BC), considered the father of medicine, notes the effect of food, of occupation, and especially of climate in causing disease. One of his books, De aëre, aquis et locis (Air, Waters and Places), is the earliest work on human ecology." This work, reproduced below, offers to all future physicians the guidance "when one comes into a city to which he is a stranger, he ought to consider its situation". The first observation of any physician coming into Cleveland - Stranger or otherwise - should be this is an unhealthy place due to excessive point source polluting from industry, including the MCCO power plant at University Hospitals.

REGISTER FOR CLEAN AIR ACT 101 WEBINAR TRAINING

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A press release I received today from the Environmental Protection Agency reports: "Former city of Detroit Health Department lead inspector Donald Patterson was sentenced today to three years and 10 months in prison and 24 months of supervised release on wire fraud charges stemming from an U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigation. In July 2010, Patterson pleaded guilty and admitted he accepted cash to provide a clean bill of health to homes in which he had either done no inspection or provided fraudulent lead removal training". Which makes me wonder how much time Cleveland "Environmental Leaders", CDC directors, building inspectors, the Mayor, and Councilpeople should spend in jail for the lead poisoning of 1,000s of children in Cleveland, with contempt.

Perhaps Ohio does still need the death penalty?!?!

WASHINGTON — Former city of Detroit Health Department lead inspector Donald Patterson was sentenced today to three years and 10 months in prison and 24 months of supervised release on wire fraud charges stemming from an U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigation. In July 2010, Patterson pleaded guilty and admitted he accepted cash to provide a clean bill of health to homes in which he had either done no inspection or provided fraudulent lead removal training. Lead is a serious public health issue causing a range of health effects from behavioral problems and learning disabilities, to seizures and death. Children six years old and under are most at risk.

The EPA Environmental Justice grants announced below would fit nicely with lead poisoning eradication needs and objectives in Northeast Ohio, as funded by HUD. The Federal Government wants to attack environmental injustice at the core, through collaboration among Federal agencies, like HUD and EPA, with environmental justice organizations in local communities, like in the overly-lead-burdened Cleveland, so proposals to build EPA environmental justice programming to leverage impact of HUD Lead Eradication funding would make sense and likely appeal to grant review committees. Unfortunately, a community must recognize it is victim of ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE to apply for this grant money, and Cleveland has not yet made that recognition. We're the Green City by the Blue Lake.

Let's see if any local Environmental Justice organizations (are there any?) apply for and receive funding from this Federal EPA program for environmental justice, developing programs addressing lead poisoning here, in leverage of the $4.5 million just provided by HUD for lead poisoning eradication, as Obama has determined is a priority here. Let's see if anyone admits we have any environmental injustice here and applies at all.

From the EPA:

Environmental Justice Mailing List

EPA Seeks Applicants for $1.2 Million in Environmental Justice Grants to Address Local Health and Environmental Issues

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting grant applications for $1.2 million in funding to support projects designed to research, educate, empower and enable communities to understand and address local health and environmental issues. Eligible applicants from non-profit, faith-based and tribal organizations working in the community of the proposed project are encouraged to apply.

I'm pleased to see the Cleveland Plain Dealer giving coverage to HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims presenting a $4.5 million Federal Grant to Cuyahoga County to Protect Citizens from Lead Poisoning... on Cleveland.com, at least. Here is their advance story... Cuyahoga County gets $4.5 million to curb lead in homes. Especially insightful, from this coverage: "HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims is traveling to Cleveland on Friday not only to present the grant to Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald but also to formally announce the nearly $127 million HUD will spend for the communities nationwide with the highest rates of lead poisoning. Cuyahoga County and the city of Cincinnati received the largest of six grants awarded in Ohio. The city of Lorain is getting $2.1 million."

Most alarming, in coverage on Cleveland.com, is the feedback of trolls and readers registered there. As the parent of lead poisoned children, I now know what it is like to be a rape victim blamed for being raped. I have corrected some of the misinformation of truly despicable posters there - at least until Cleveland.com for some reason FROZE MY ACCOUNT.

I will say, for any poor behavior on realNEO - at the user and Admin level - it does not begin to compare with the wretchedness of life on Cleveland.com. I've posted below the comments up until I was blocked access, to protect them and save me the effort of rewriting my thoughts for you... I guess they own my voice and words on Cleveland.com now, and they don't want the world to know the truth about lead poisoning in their fair city.

And that is why there is such serious lead poisoning in their fair city...

 jmsullivan  January 27, 2011 at 11:06PM

I don't care about being an ignoramus about lead paint. I will venture to guess that over 90% of us were raised in homes built prior to 1978 which means they had lead based paint in them. My mom did not allow me to chew on the window sills, the house was meticiulously maintained and I have never known one person, not one, have any problems with lead poisoning. This is about common sense. For those that think we are ignorant, have you paid $13,000 on your personal dwelling to eliminate lead paint. If not, then why are you expecting us to spend our money on something that we thing is just plain STUPID and a WASTE

Google Analytics of weekly realNEO visits and pageviews from December 01, 2008 to January 26, 2011

As I've reported over the past year, while sharing realNEO site statistics with members - most recently, in November, marking our 7th year - realNEO traffic demonstrates very consistent month-to-month and year-to-year growth for visitors, visits and pages viewed. Where there are dips, like each Christmas holiday season, there is year-to-year growth - we've always had strong, consistent, steady performance as illustrated above, since December 2008 (the first month we had reliable Google analytics).

The Greater Cleveland Health Homes Advisory Council (formerly the Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council) has announced a press conference, January 28, 2011, at 1:30 PM, at Cleveland State University Levin College Atrium, where HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims will present a $4.5 million federal HUD grant to Cuyahoga County to "conduct a wide range of activities intended to protect children and families from potentially dangerous lead-based paint and other home health and safety hazards". The press release states the "grant funding will clean up lead and other health hazards in hundreds of homes, train workers in lead safety methods, and increase public awareness about childhood lead poisoning.  Lead is a known toxin that can impair children’s development and have effects lasting into adulthood."

The obvious objective of this press conference is to encourage the MAINSTREAM MEDIA OF NORTHEAST OHIO to provide better information about lead poisoning prevention to the people of Northeast Ohio, to protect public health and improve our community. Encourage your favorite Media representatives (and politicians) to attend and serve the region better.

Also expected to attend will be Congresswoman Marcia Fudge,  Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and various other elected and appointed officials.

Nicole Foss will be speaking on A Century of Challenges: Building Local Resilience in an Era of Economic Turmoil & Resource Depletion.  She writes at www.TheAutomaticEarth.blogspot.com under the pseudonym Stoneleigh.  The talk will be held at First Church in Oberlin,106 N.

Protocol for use of EJSEAT in circumstances in which it will have
an impact on current and future allocation of resources

Nationally Consistent Environmental Justice Screening Approaches - text included below, without Appendices - download full 5 MB /PDF Report here

A Report of Advice and Recommendations of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council - A Federal Advisory Committee to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - MAY 2010

CLEVELAND – Gray’s Auctioneers kicks off 2011 with an eclectic Furniture, Paintings and Decorative Arts Auction on Jan. 25. This auction features paintings and drawings from the 17th century to the 20th century, furniture from Charles II to Mid-Century Modern, antique rugs, and many delightful decorative lots including a collection of Chinese and Japanese bronzes and porcelains.

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With the deceptive headline "68% in poll say parents, not teachers, are to blame for students' poor performance" the Cleveland Plain Dealer published today results of a "poll", paid for by eugenics champions and world's richest "humans" Bill and Melinda Gates, which misrepresents poorly-surveyed, poorly-reported opinions of 1,001 Americans about public education in America as significant indicators regarding the failure of the American public schools system, and reports "68 percent of adults believe parents deserve heavy blame for what's wrong with the U.S. education system -- more than teachers, school administrators, the government or teachers unions."

In fact, "government" was not a category in this poll... and, statistically, these Americans placed the same level of blame on State Education Officials (65%, with +/-3.9% sampling errors) as on parents... and all these answers are irrelevant.

Science proves a primary cause of failure in education in America is lead poisoning and other toxins put in the environment by the industrialists partnered with the Gates to control the world.

The Screw Factory Artists are opening their doors again this holiday season with Cleveland Handmade hosting their 2nd annual Last Minute Market in the building. Last year brought in an attendance of over 3,000 shoppers.

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The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported today Birders to lose favorite perches, birds lose havens when 2 power plants close, whereby the PD takes some of the best economic development and public health news of Clevelanders' lifetimes - "plans by FirstEnergy Corp. to close lakefront power plants at East 72nd Street in Cleveland and in Eastlake in Lake County" (and two others on Lake Erie, apparently) - and presents that as bad news for bait shops, birds, ecotourism and the region.

The PD doesn't even mention that what this news really means for Clevelanders is NOT BEING EXPOSED TO 148,141 pounds of toxic chemicals spewed by Lakeshore into the air Clevelanders breathe each year, and that will save lives and make citizens smarter, healthier and more productive in Northeast Ohio. Better air quality will lead to higher property values and reduced public health costs, and that will make this region wealthier and more attractive for residents, who will have a higher quality of life here with cleaner air quality. People will have fewer reasons not to move to the region, and more reasons not to leave.

Google Analytics Traffic Data for realNEO.us for October 19 - November 18, 2010 (31 days)

Based on Google Analytics of realneo.us traffic, we are now at a level that exceeds 500,000 unique visitors and 1,000,000 page visits per year, and both metrics have been growing steadily for as long as we have tracked our web traffic metrics... so expect realNEO.us to exceed 1 million hits per year forever hereafter. By how much we exceed these metrics, with what growth rate for the future, is up to our members and community who create the content here that now attracts over 1,000,000 reads a year.

Amazing! Ohio has an opportunity to be #1 in the world developing a new industry - a new economy - better and different than anywhere else in the world - ahead of the other 49 states in America and every other country in the world - as citizens of California foolishly failed to pass Proposition 19 today.

Supporters include the California branch of the NAACP, state chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union, the California Young Democrats, the Republican Liberty Caucus, the California Council of Churches, and several big labor unions.

"The Obama Administration has been clear in its opposition to marijuana legalization because research shows that marijuana use is associated with voluntary treatment admissions for addiction, fatal drugged driving accidents, mental illness, and emergency room admissions," Kerlikowske said.

What tools of old economy polluting industry our PROGRESSIVE (sic.) Democrats have proved to be!

I can't wait for 2012 and the next Presidential election! The next two years are going to be fun, for a change... I love a GOOD WAR.

Hello Real NEO,

I am in the process of writing an article for Yahoo! News regarding the Ohio elections on November 2. I would like to feature the comments/opinions of 7 to 10 different voters, particularly regarding the races for U.S. House, U.S. Senate and the governor's race and any major ballot issues which are important to you.

I cannot use anonymous quotes (they won't be accepted without a full name, occupation and city)
 

This week, I was thrilled to receive the following forward-thinking message from Nachy Kanfer, Campaign Representative, Midwest States, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign:

Hi Norm, I think we should take down Cleveland Thermal. Thoughts?

Cleveland Thermal is a major private out-of-state-investor-owned downtown Cleveland and regional air polluter that burns 10,000s tons of coal each year... emits 1,000s of tons of pollution on Clevelanders and the surrounding world each year... to benefit only large real estate investors and corporate, institutional and government customers - much like the private, out-of-license "district" coal-burning Medical Center Company (MCCO) plant polluting the community excessively a few miles away, in University Circle.