Very sad subject in American history. There are lots of issues with lead and soil, and many strategies to address them... we need a whole thread for that... here is the late history of lead from gasoline (the story will make you sick), and in the inner city lead is certainly abundent in your soil, if you live near major roads and freeways...

The final removal of lead from gasoline had little to do with fears about poisoning children.  Following severe smog episodes, the 1970 clean air act led to auto manufacturers adding catalytic converters to reduce air pollution.  These could not operate with leaded gasoline.  Even so, lawsuits from the TEL manufacturing company delayed the phase-out of leaded gasoline.  They successfully influenced the National Academy of Science which, in 1972, declared that airborne lead emissions have no known harmful effects. 

Only in 1980 did the tide finally turn, and the Academy of Science acknowledged the accumulated evidence, declaring leaded gasoline to be the greatest source of atmospheric lead pollution.  But the lead lobby was still influential: the proposal that gasoline be blended by 10% grain alcohol was blocked by the Reagan administration, but Congress passed legislation to outlaw oil companies' opposition to the sale of gasohol at their pumps.  Even then it was still not quite dead, and in 1981 George Bush (senior) headed a task force that tried to relax the phase-out of leaded gasoline, but finally, in 1986 the EPA limited lead content of gasoline to 0.1 gm per gallon.

The result?  In 1983, soon after the phase-out began, the CDC reported that use of leaded gas had fallen by 50% and that blood lead levels had fallen by 40% between 1976 and 1980.  By 1994, CDC reported that blood lead levels had fallen 78% between 1978 and 1991.  The American Academy of Pediatrics concluded the existence of a direct link between childhood lead exposure and IQ deficits.  This has been reinforced in a 2003 report in the New England Journal. 

Source: Dr. Don Wigle "Child health and the environment" Oxford University Press, 2003

Disrupt IT

population  has been the on going saga of our town, way before the foreclosure epidemic. The newer houses around me where built mostly on years long vacant lots as a result of arson.

 How would padding the census work? The Census Bureau had people out in the street this spring counting houses and told me that even vacant houses would get a questionaire "in case they are occupied" when the census questionaire was sent out.

 new one for me. hope it was well cooked. wonder if it was the taste or if it has digestive enzymes lacking in colicy babies that made it work.

Edit here: just found a reference to this as something done for colic, pain in the womb, etc.

DBRA is setting on a goldmine.

Eternity, I appreciate your insight and agree.  Kate

Hello Max, 

I'm sure you'll get some response.  I'm too pooped (not chicken) right now, but believe me many of us have been trying to figure out the potential angles for change.  

The trig is pretty complex however. 

Keep pushing us...

best,

jeffb

I will respond to your post by saying - Cleveland could be a great town - but we have some real "poops" in leadership positions and controling our communities and giving us all "poop" attitudes.

Thanks Debbie. 

If America had more black editors at the helm of major publications like the New York Times and The Washington Post, I dare say America would be a very different place; where great contributors to society like Michael Jackson would be treated with respect--judged for merit and not slanderous inuendos--pure fabrication given validity by a discredited MSM.  But, this is not at all to suggest that Blacks are infallible.  We just need a more accurate representation of the citenzery at the top feeding post, instead of at the bottom; scounging for scraps while being grossly misrepresented by those who know nothing of our hopes and dreams.

30 years ago, Cleveland was the 5th largest city in America, larger than Atlanta.  Now that's changed.  But my belief is that if I'm smart enough to dig myself in a hole, I'm smart enough to dig myself out.  And that begins when I first affirm that I'm worth it.

Forget the petty infighting and rise above the fray.

No one has all the answers, but that's not what's important anyway, because you change the world by first changing yourself. 

When Michael Jackson sang "Man in the Mirror" that's what he was talking about.

So I challenge you (and all) to reach up and touch the sky.  Proclaiming...Cleveland is Great!  I love this place!

Do the work.

Believe it.  Live it.  And it shall be so.

See the comment I just posted (in response to Debbie) above yours, then continue reading.

You have an attitude of gratitude.  That's the way to get good things started.

And as I wrote before, it's important to identify and admit problems, but that alone does not SOLVE problems.  That alone does not create something from nothing.

Things that don't exist that should exist, isn't that the moral of this tale?

Michael Jackson wrote a song called "You Wanna Be Startin' Something" in which he sang about IT being "too high to get over, too low to get under, you're stuck in the middle"  MJ concluded the song by singing "lift your head up high and scream out to the world, I know I am someone, so let the truth unfurl...yes I believe in you, so you belive in me...HELP ME SING IT"

Hey!  Now that's something I can relate to.  That's what I'm talking about.  Start something. 

That's the deal.  That's what's up.

RealNeo is excellent forum for venting frustrations and brainstorming new ideas.  God bless Norm for getting it started.  But at the end of the day, RealNeo can't heal all of NEO--Cleveland et al. 

RealNeo is a nursery of great ideas.  It's a launching pad.  But some of ya'll need to get up out the nest.   This should not be a place to duck and dive.

Everyone knows about ED.  But ED's gone now.  He aready did his part and Norm's doing his part.  Others need to totally up their game and do their part. 

Look to yourself.  Be your own ocean of wealth.  Interdependency does not mean being held down or held back.

So, in my case for instance, while I know little about brain surgery, sports or (for instance) managing a large corporation (yet) I do know some things about fine art, history, architectural preservation and digital literacy.  So I took what I knew and I used my ocean of wealth to set up a network of websites to share my information.

I have a site for my digital art magazine, which I am the editor.  I have a site for my personal observations.  I blog @ RealNeo.  I have 3 different sites for architectural preservation.  I am a contributing artist to several other sites and I have a couple of sites for my scholarly papers.  As a result, over the last 3 years, things have really started to look up for me.

I have only a high school diploma.  I went to college for a year and a half, but never finished.  I have no formal training as an artist or writer.  I taught myself.

So, just fight the good fight and accentuate the positive.

Don't try to solve all the problems at once; tackle a couple at a time.

Help yourself first and others will soon come calling...and some will actually have something to give, instead of it being all take.

You might even make some money along the way!