One of my favorite all-time albums is Clues by Robert Palmer and I still can not believe that the man is dead.   Robert Palmer made such an impact in my life.  REAL artists do that. 

The Huffington Post - The parents of a two-year-old girl in Colorado are unable to obtain health insurance for their daughter because the insurer, United Healthcare Golden Rule, claims she is too small.

Glenn Greenwald @ Salon - Criminalizing cancer and AIDS patients for using a substance that is (a) prescribed by their doctors and (b) legal under the laws of their state has always been abominable. The Obama administration deserves major credit not only for ceasing this practice, but for memorializing it formally in writing.

The Cleveland Plain-Plan Dealer has shown remarkable bias in the coverage and promotion of Issue 6 - the NEOCON-created, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor/Off Shore Wind Economy Expert/political insider's-insider Bill Mason-sponsored plan to eliminate Cuyahoga County government, as we know it, and replace it with some lawyerese slight-of-mind proposal for new leadership of our region... aka NEOCON 6.

The Glass City Jungle blog in Toledo seems to be the only media outlet to have picked up on a TruthPAC poll with results showing, as Dave Betras, Chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party, says, “It looks like Issue 3 is going down.” Wonder if and when the Plain Plan Dealer will share this insight with its intentionally misinformed readers... hopefully, they read REALNEO as well...

PressTV - New disturbing charges have emerged against XE, the infamous private security firm formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, whose operations came under spotlight after its 2007 carnage in Baghdad. According to a report by MSNBC and based on alleged sworn declarations by two Blackwater employees in federal court, the firm used child prostitutes at its compound in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.

The leaders of the American Civil Liberties Union in Louisiana and the Center for Constitutional Rights and Justice in New York said Keith Bardwell, a white justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish in the southeastern part of the state, should quit immediately.

Resident Advocacy Group - Tremont
RAG - Resident Advocacy Group
http://rag14.weebly.com/index.html
http://twitter.com/RAG14Tremont

Does anyone know what this stuff is?

I'm pleased to see a candidate for East Cleveland City Council has joined REALNEO... finally, someone to talk with about politics on the East Side. Welcome, Ephraim Abdullah, Candidate For East Cleveland City Council, Ward 3 - Tell Us Your Vision.

Marie Cocco @ Truthdig - The challenge of our time is to re-create America as a middle-class nation.

VOTE NO ON ISSUE 3.

There are many reasons why this issue should go down in defeat, as far as I'm concerned, not least being the fact that Cleveland is such a poor city already we don't need more outlets for the poorest to spend all their money on an if/come situation.

Common Dreams - Americans are still debating whether to roll up their sleeves for a swine flu shot, but companies have already figured it out: vaccines are good for business.

The $1.5 million investigation showed 35 illicit purchases were successful from a sample of 47 transactions and that of 30 private sellers, 63 percent “failed the integrity test,” by selli

Max Eternity - While I totally agree with Klein's criticisms (all of them) I do however believe that in a very short period of time, Obama has turned out to be a game changer, even as he embraces many of the same ole, same ole policies...like those of Bush and Clinton.  Obama carries himself in a very stately manner and enough cannot be said of his diplomatic skills, his wit and charm, his embrace of digital communication, he and his families image of good health, he and Michelle's savvy style and his overall sense of engagement and flexibility.  So even if he spouts muc

I have noticed, in the reader comments at Cleveland.com to their coverage about the great "Crisis at FirstEnergy" Lightbulb rip-off scheme, that many people in Northeast Ohio don't quite grasp this is an example of extreme monopoly corporate corruption of government - big, bad corporation using corrupt lawyers, lobbyists and politicians to steal $ millions from hard working citizens. That is not the work of Tree Huggers. Yet, the tone of Plain Dealer readers is to shoot the environmentalists, and Obama.

I realize there are many people of NEO who will blame even the worse corporate corruption, like this, on the most innocent people, like environmentalists, and have wondered why.

The pro-gambling-interested Cleveland Plain Dealer announced today that "Cleveland's City Council passed a resolution this week endorsing state Issue 3", which changes the Ohio constitution to give a monopoly on casino gambling to Cleveland Cavaliers owner and overnight "Don" Dan Gilbert. Councilmembers Brian Cummins and Zack Reed did not sign the resolution supporting Issue 3. The support of the other council members follows the endorsement of Issue 3 by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson. As these endorsements show support by these specific people for gambling in our community, and all the ills that go with that, it is time to set in place the names of these people as those accountable for addressing all the harm that is caused by expanding gambling here from now until they are dead... these are our advocates for gambling addiction in Cleveland.

I received an email from the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party with their endorsements for the upcoming election. I thought I would post them here for REAL NEO discussion - I am especially interested in learning what people know about the candidates for the Cuyahoga County Charter Commission, should issue 5 pass - will someone please post the names of the other candidates to complete the list. Any thoughts on this:

For the next three weeks, one of the most important things the people of Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo and Ohio in general may do is fight Issue 3, which changes the Ohio constitution to give a monopoly on casino gambling to Dan Gilbert, owner of Quicken Loans, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and other financial and gambling interests.