Taxonomy

Good Morning real NEO - last night the air was unhealthy... were your windows open?

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 08/09/2010 - 01:22.


August 9, 2010 Ohio EPA AirNow web portal air pollution current conditions for Northeast Ohio - 1:00 AM Report
Unhealthy For Sensitive Groups in Cleveland and surrounding communities, as it was all prior day and last night... now?

Good Morning real NEO - last night the air was unhealthy... were your windows open?

It seemed like a beautiful Sunday night for sleeping with the windows open but you should not have last night. You should have known better. Did you know the air pollution would make you unhealthy last night? Were you warned it would be unhealthy today?

REALNEO Tech Committee RFI From Most Active realNEO Members And Supposed Board And Officers, etc...

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Sat, 08/07/2010 - 13:11.

As it is time for realNEO to assign a new administrator, I recommend to the membership Ramzi Harb
(see below), who is a world class technologist, programmer and musician... the drummer featured here

I sent this out by email to the following realneo members who came to mind for feedback on some technology changes immediately brought upon the REALNEO.US technology committee today - I did not mean to exclude any members of the general realNEO/realcoop community and encourage each of you to comment or email me at norm [at] realneo [dot] us if you want to help address these issues and be active with the Tech Committee for REALNEO.

Let's make this a truly great new day in realNEO!

Most active realneo members and supposed board and officers, etc...

Norm Roulet <norm [dot] roulet [at] gmail [dot] com> Sat, Aug 7, 2010 at 1:55 PM
To:

Most active realneo members and supposed board and officers, etc...

I've included here people who are likely realneo/realcoop board members as I have requested a board meeting for over a year and now it seems we just need to get down to business.

It seems Jeff S is no longer on tech support and I'm determining if anyone is - I have people who can cover this so I just want facts.

Report Prior to Medical Center Company hearing on Tuesday!

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Fri, 08/06/2010 - 11:48.

Report Prior to Medical Center Company hearing on Tuesday!

Norm Roulet <norm [dot] roulet [at] gmail [dot] com> Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 12:44 PM
To: "Aneesh P. Chopra"
Cc: "Reitman, Mattie" <mattie [dot] reitman [at] sierraclub [dot] org>

Aneesh P. Chopra
Assistant to the President and Chief Technology Officer
Associate Director for Technology
Executive Office of the President
Office of Science and Technology Policy
Washington, DC 20502

Dear Mr. Chopra,

We met briefly at the City Club of Cleveland and I requested your card to follow-up regarding an investigation into irregularities in our environmental monitoring data and technologies in Ohio.

I am preparing to report on these concerns to the EPA, in writing and during a permit renewal hearing in Cleveland, August 10, 2010, highlighting the fact that the citizens of Cleveland, Northeast Ohio and the world have been denied accurate, actionable air quality data here for so long, and our air quality monitoring systems are so poorly architected, it is safe to say we have no idea how polluted and polluting we are. As such, no permits to pollute further should be issued here.

I'm actually preparing my report on all this for the CTO of America

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Fri, 08/06/2010 - 09:10.

Medical Center Company hearing on Tuesday!

Norm Roulet <norm [dot] roulet [at] gmail [dot] com> Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 10:07 AM
To: "Reitman, Mattie" <mattie [dot] reitman [at] sierraclub [dot] org>

Mattie,

I'm actually preparing my report on all this for the CIO (CTO) of America, who I have met and have direct access - he is a young Googlie techie Indian-American who embraces open source and innovation of the world through technology - what I am realizing is there has been an intentional crippling of the entire nation's environmental monitoring - this stuff the EPA is using is the worst implementation of IT I have ever seen and it is how we measure our pollution for the world...

Get it... for the world...?!

This is old tech put in place in the Bush era to keep the world from knowing how polluted we are - how polluting we are - to hide that from the world to make us look better than we are - Bush was gaming the entire world on pollution and we lose.

After reading your message, I'm concerned about the human impacts of pollution in northeast Ohio.

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Wed, 08/04/2010 - 12:43.

Daily Air Quality Forecast for Cleveland-Akron-Lorain

Reitman, Mattie <mattie [dot] reitman [at] sierraclub [dot] org> Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 12:13 PM
To: "Carroll, Matthew" <MCarroll [at] city [dot] cleveland [dot] oh [dot] us>
Cc: Norm Roulet <norm [dot] roulet [at] gmail [dot] com>, "Ryan, John (Brown)" <John_Ryan [at] brown [dot] senate [dot] gov>, "pamszoo [at] sbcglobal [dot] net" <pamszoo [at] sbcglobal [dot] net>, "sgreenberg [at] ehw [dot] org" <sgreenberg [at] ehw [dot] org>

Matt, thanks for the update on this issue.  After reading your message, I'm concerned about the human impacts of pollution in northeast Ohio.
 
First and quite simply, I think that it's inadequate to expect networked monitors in a region as large as northeast Ohio to be able to compensate for each other's outages, and that it's a matter of opinion whether high particulate levels are unhealthy only if they persist for a 24-hour period.  I'd say it's downright insensitive to claim otherwise, particularly for those who live in a relatively less polluted area.

TUESDAY MORNING IN CLEVELAND AND ALL AROUND NORTHEAST OHIO - THE AIR IS UNSAFE TO BREATHE

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 08/03/2010 - 09:45.


The NOACA Air Pollution Time Series line chart left above shows the region has had unsafe air quality since midnight, as per many monitoring stations - Cleveland is excluded from this chart but represented in the Rose Chart right above, which indicates the air in Cleveland was Unsafe at least at 5 and 6 AM, before they cut the data stream off.... meaning it is likely unsafe NOW. DO NOT TRUST THEIR DATA BEFORE 5 AM!

Right now - TUESDAY MORNING IN CLEVELAND AND ALL AROUND NORTHEAST OHIO - the air appears unsafe to breathe. According to data hidden throughout air quality monitoring reporting in the region, our air has been AT BEST UNSAFE FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS since MIDNIGHT. In other words... it is still UNSAFE from yesterday. Of course, the Ohio EPA forecast for today was "Moderate".

Here is Our Brightest Greenest Outreach to the People of East Cleveland - We Are Taking This To The Streets and Viral

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 08/02/2010 - 12:31.

What if MARIJUANA was LEGAL in EAST CLEVELAND?!

 

Like in Michigan, California, and other states, but EVEN BETTER for the community

  • Cannabis - the organic medicine - the civil right!

  • Hemp - the industrial crop - "green" fuel source – complete food - ultimate fiber

  • Controlled, TAXABLE Cannabis New Economy

 

Welcome to East Cleveland the International Cannabis Exchange for healthcare and industry for the world – The Exchange will put East Cleveland back ON THE MAP!

The realNEO Formula: k=ic2

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Sun, 08/01/2010 - 16:12.

knowledge = inclusion x community (public + private)

knowl·edge  
n.

    • The state or fact of knowing.
    • Familiarity, awareness, or understanding gained through experience or study.
    • The sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned.
    • Learning; erudition: teachers of great knowledge.
    • Specific information about something.

Origins of realNEO: CAUSE For Cleveland - "Dear fellow University School Alumnus"

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Sun, 08/01/2010 - 06:00.

Old ICEarth CAUSE FOR CLEVELAND Page

At the end of the last Millennium, having created InT+IME (The Information, Technology and Infrastructure Management Exchange), and having led the leadership of scores of the world's leading global corporations through comparative enterprise benchmarking and best practice analysis of their information systems (and lots of related systems), for many years, I recognized an opportunity for Northeast Ohioans to transform ourselves and move our region to a position of global importance by doing best here what my clients did best worldwide... optimize Information Technology, focusing on universal access and open source virtual community development. 

At the same time, the poor information technology climate in Northeast Ohio had forced me to leave my family here and relocate my ICEarth enterprise to Northern California. Once safely in an incubator there, I turned around and asked Northeast Ohio's leaders why I must do my work for Ohio from California?

To help change everything, I reached out virtually to ALL of my Northeast Ohio stakeholder community, from Aggie Gund and family (to post)... to ALL the readers of the Cleveland Plain Dealer... to ALL the alumni of my High School, University School (with email addresses in our online directory in 2003... over 2,000 as I recall)... to 39 children studying at the last-resort Charles Orr Cleveland Public School...  seeking data and insight on real NEO community needs and interests for information systems. This pathway, partially documented on-line on the Wayback Machine, directly resulted in realNEO.... and me relocating ICEarth back to NEO... and meeting my wife... and us growing our family here... lots of good.

"Not all carbon dioxide emissions are equal," said Jacobson. "As in real estate, location matters".

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 07/26/2010 - 22:45.

As Introduced by the Stanford University News, March 16, 2010, in Urban CO2 domes increase deaths, poke hole in 'cap-and-trade' proposal, Stanford researcher says: "Not all carbon dioxide emissions are equal," said Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering. "As in real estate, location matters".

"In the first study ever done on the local health effects of the domes of carbon dioxide that develop above cities, Stanford researcher Mark Jacobson found that the domes increase the local death rate. The result provides a scientific basis for regulating CO2 emissions at the local level and points out a significant oversight in the carbon dioxide "cap-and-trade" proposal that was passed by the House of Representatives in June 2009 and is awaiting definitive action by the Senate."

Everyone knows that carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas driving climate change, is a global problem. Now a Stanford study has shown it is also a local problem, hurting city dwellers' health much more than rural residents', because of the carbon dioxide "domes" that develop over urban areas. That finding, said researcher Mark Z. Jacobson, exposes a serious oversight in current cap-and-trade proposals for reducing emissions of heat-trapping gases, which make no distinction based on a pollutant's point of origin. The finding also provides the first scientific basis for controlling local carbon dioxide emissions based on their local health impacts.

The first rule of the Art Of Surviving Cleveland is PROTECT YOUR DNA!

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Thu, 07/15/2010 - 13:00.

Art of Surviving Cleveland

The first rule of the Art Of Surviving Cleveland is PROTECT YOUR DNA!

As reported on realNEO: "what we have learned after sampling and genetically profiling many gull families is that colonies close to integrated steel mills transmit DNA mutations to their offspring more frequently than those at rural sites. In addition, the closer the colony to steel mills, the higher the mutation rate".  Further, "Our genetic analyses of environmentally exposed mice revealed that offspring from the steel site inherited nearly double the frequency of DNA mutations compared to their rural counterparts. Clearly, air pollution near integrated steel mills can induce genetic damage. At this time we cannot identify the class of chemical pollutant responsible, but suggest that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, by-products of coal combustion, are a likely candidate."

In other words, and further: if you want to live a long, healthy, normal life and perhaps have offspring... DON'T live, work, eat, visit or play near a steel mill or any coal-burning facility... DON'T DO THIS:

An Open Letter From Someone Who Matters About Something That Matters To Real Citizens of NEO

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Fri, 07/09/2010 - 09:12.

Broken Air Pollution Monitoring Station in Cleveland, Ohio, on an UNHEALTHY DAY
Broken Air Pollution Monitoring Station in Cleveland, Ohio, on an UNHEALTHY DAY - July 5, 2010

As highlighted in my posting on realNEO July 8, 2010 - "Texas regulators are failing to properly monitor, control and enforce federal emission standards! Like in Ohio?!" - I've concluded that "Ohio regulators are failing to properly monitor, control and enforce federal emission standards, and that I believe that political, business and environmental leadership are hiding the violations of polluters by causing ineffective and so publicly harmful and dangerous pollution control practices here, which are made possible by government failure here to really monitor, control and enforce federal emission standards."

Further, I make clear, "the Sierra Club and the Federal EPA are taking legal action AGAINST the Texas STATE REGULATORS and the world's largest corporations because they are not in fact protecting the environment, as required by the Federal government," I go on to report "I have been compiling evidence of corrupt and/or incompetent pollution control in Ohio for many years, and have now formally requested the help of the Sierra Club and their affiliates around the world to force change upon Ohio regulators who are failing to properly monitor, control and enforce federal emission standards here."

I conclude: "As I am seeking real, good outcomes for here - elimination of physical harm from Mittal and other excessive polluters in this region - like being realized through real environmentalism in Texas, my role in this community is not Mr. Nice Guy. I am the uncompromising polluter-killer who makes the Sierra Club seem like a breath of cool fresh air on an astoundingly dangerous Cleveland July afternoon, like today..."

Right on cue, like a breathe of fresh air, I recieved copies today of correspondence from the Sierra Club addressing this very issue, and I asked permission to share that on realNEO as public information and motivation for citizens to engage the government on these issues

Texas regulators are failing to properly monitor, control and enforce federal emission standards! Like in Ohio?!

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Thu, 07/08/2010 - 17:20.

Bicyclist in Cleveland Flats during unhealthy smog conditions

Real bicycle commuter riding to work in a lumber yard in the Cleveland Flats. His work didn't cause this smog.

Why am I so hostile toward Ohio leadership?

Must be the poison in the air!

And, the life in hell lived by real environmentalists.

Consider what is necessary to clean up the air in environmentally-compromised Texas, where "Environmental groups say Exxon Mobil refinery violates U.S. air law" - "The environmental groups' legal maneuvers are part of broader accusations by the organizations and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that Texas regulators are failing to properly monitor, control and enforce federal emission standards."

You think it is any easier to deal with the greatest corruption on Earth - the corruption of our environmental laws - right here in highly corrupt, polluted, old-economy Northeast Ohio?

Tip of the Hat and Props to PD's Michael McIntyre - First Reporter to Recognize "A new cash crop" for Ohio

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 06/21/2010 - 14:41.

Tip of the Hat and Props to the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Michael McIntyre, and his Tipoff column today - First Reporter to Recognize "A new cash crop" for Ohio.

I look forward to discussing this initiative in detail with Michael and others in the media and public, as it is important to educate the community on the economic benefits we will receive from "Growing a Bright Green NEO PAC for Legalization & Commercialization of Cannabis Crops, Products & Services".

Here is Michael McIntyre's correct and intelligent impression of our initiative to make Northeast Ohio the Open Source Capital of the Brightest Greenest State of Earth:

A new cash crop

Some Northeast Ohio boosters are pushing for a new product to revive the local economy: Marijuana. And, no, stoners, they're not talking about boosting sales of Doritos.

Norm Roulet of the RealNEO blog announced last week that a political action committee, Real Green NEO PAC, was formed to push for a November ballot issue for "enlightened legalization of cannabis crops."

Identifiable effects on public health which may be expected from the presence of a pollutant in ambient air, e.g. Heart Attacks

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 06/07/2010 - 11:00.

As a result of old science, politics and industry dominating energy, health and environmental planning and development of Cleveland, Northeast Ohio, Ohio and America, citizens here must confront the realities of too much pollution in our air today, with certainty of growing air pollution worldwide in the years ahead. As such, the United States Environmental Protection Agency's 2009 Integrated Science Assessment for Particulate Matter finds our pollution causes cardiovascular and respiratory problems and death... topping a long list of cumulative harm pollution causes people and society. Integrated Science Assessment for Particulate Matter forms the scientific foundation for the review of the primary (health-based) and secondary (welfare-based) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter (PM) in America, and "accurately reflects “the latest scientific knowledge useful in indicating the kind and extent of identifiable effects on public health which may be expected from the presence of [a] pollutant in ambient air”".

As I've long written on realNEO, Northeast Ohio has a pollution crisis and does a poor job or monitoring our pollution, putting citizens' lives in danger. How much in danger is the subject of this lengthy EPA analysis. In short, you are certainly being harmed greatly by the high levels of PM clearly released into the air in Northeast Ohio, especially near major roadways and coal burning facilities that are source points, like Mittal and MCCO. For example: "Epidemiologic studies that examined the effect of PM 2.5 on cardiovascular emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions reported consistent positive associations (predominantly for ischemic heart disease [IHD] and congestive heart failure [CHF]), with the majority of studies reporting increases ranging from 0.5 to 3.4% per 10 μg/m3 increase in PM 2.5".

IP Can Support Biodiversity - WIPO Member States Advance Work On Traditional Knowledge, Folklore And Genetic Resources

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 06/01/2010 - 19:08.

Geneva, May 21, 2010 - PR/2010/643

On the occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) on May 22, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry underlined the Organization’s commitment to ensuring that the intellectual property (IP) system plays a positive role in safeguarding biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components and the sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. 

WIPO is an active participant in international discussions relating to the Convention on Biological Diversity. WIPO’s program on traditional knowledge, genetic resources and traditional cultural expressions aims to empower states and indigenous and local communities to negotiate a fair share of benefits derived from the exploitation of biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge.  Upon request from member states, WIPO undertakes a wide range of capacity-strengthening activities to support this.

WIPO Director General Highlights Importance of Intellectual Property for Innovation and Technology Transfer

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 06/01/2010 - 18:23.

Geneva, May 10, 2010 - PR/2010/640

The critical role of intellectual property as a tool for enabling innovation, the practical transfer of technology and industrial competitiveness were the focus of the remarks of WIPO Director General Francis Gurry to a key meeting of member states of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in Vienna today. 

Mr. Gurry said that the intellectual property system played a key role in facilitating technology transfer by incentivizing investment in innovation, providing a framework for trading intellectual assets, and by establishing market order through marks and brands. He noted that the innovation landscape was “the subject of rapid and radical change” pointing to the intensification of investment in knowledge creation which had more than doubled in the past 15 years rising to some 1.1. trillion US dollars in 2009. 
 
The Director General also highlighted the rapidly changing geography of technology production, noting that China had become the third largest investor in research and development. He highlighted, in particular, the experiences of Japan, the Republic of Korea and China which have experienced sustained growth in international patent applications. In 1994, these countries together accounted for 7.6% of international patent applications filed under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) rising, fifteen years later, in 2009 to 29.2%.

Air Quality Advisory in NE Ohio - Thursday, May 27, 2010 Only

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Thu, 05/27/2010 - 09:46.
05/27/2010 - 00:00
05/27/2010 - 23:59
Etc/GMT-4

Northeast Ohio - Today's high temperatures and lack of wind may result in exceedances today for both ground-level ozone and fine particles.  An Air Quality Advisory is in effect for today, May 27, only.  Fine particle concentrations will be highest in urban areas, while ozone may be more widespread.

Location

Northeast Ohio
United States