If you have ever been in a courtroom you know it is a disturbing experience - especially if you don't have the protection of a lawyer. You are on one side of the world, and lawyers, their clients and judges are in a completely different world. Citizens are powerless, as powerful people decide our fates in private discussions in back chambers. The entire process is one of secret deal-making. So how is the deal-making any different if one of the powerful people asking for favors is a county commissioner - how is he any more corrupting than a $600/hour attorney with a big campaign financing fund?

We as a community have much more to learn, share and discuss about the take-down of local government finally upon us. From current reporting on Cleveland.com, it appears there are innumerable sitting judges, Cleveland city officials and other county officials, employees, appointees and contractors still to go down, along with a massive web of area businesspeople.

I proposed positive change to some of the officials who appear to be going down, and I was disappointed by my experiences working with them. So I have long considered the "County" corrupt... the "Democrats" corrupt. Based on my observations from the outside, we are just seeing the very beginning of the FBI actions against public and private parties here, and it seems things will get far worse before they get better - Jimmy DiMora and his goon squad will see to that, as demonstrated in the video above.

Chris Hedges  September 13, 2010 - TruthDig

There are no longer any major institutions in American society, including the press, the educational system, the financial sector, labor unions, the arts, religious institutions and our dysfunctional political parties, which can be considered democratic. The intent, design and function of these institutions, controlled by corporate money, are to bolster the hierarchical and anti-democratic power of the corporate state. These institutions, often mouthing liberal values, abet and perpetuate mounting inequality. They operate increasingly in secrecy. They ignore suffering or sacrifice human lives for profit. They control and manipulate all levers of power and mass communication. They have muzzled the voices and concerns of citizens. They use entertainment, celebrity gossip and emotionally laden public-relations lies to seduce us into believing in a Disneyworld fantasy of democracy.

The menace we face does not come from the insane wing of the Republican Party, which may make huge inroads in the coming elections, but the institutions tasked with protecting democratic participation. Do not fear Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin. Do not fear the tea party movement, the birthers, the legions of conspiracy theorists or the militias. Fear the underlying corporate power structure, which no one, from Barack Obama to the right-wing nut cases who pollute the airwaves, can alter. If the hegemony of the corporate state is not soon broken we will descend into a technologically enhanced age of barbarism. 

RealNEO readers are well aware that Ohio Democratic Congressman Sherrod Brown is obstructive of national environmental policy reform, while his brother is Chairman of the Board of a coal-burning powerplant in the impoverished urban community of Cleveland, and his wife disinforms citizens on related issues for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and global syndication. So, Ohio Democratic policy leaders are indebted to industry, and make poor environmental policy decisions. What should Ohioans and the world expect if these failing Democrats are replaced by Republicans, as seems likely...?!

Climate Progress today provides us with links showing "a comprehensive Wonk Room survey of the Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate finds that nearly all dispute the scientific consensus that the United States must act to fight global warming pollution" - it appears the world is in for a long, hot, globally warmed future ahead, thanks to failing leadership in America OF BOTH PARTIES... with Ohio front and center.

Good work Democrats - you had control when we needed strong environmental policy leadership and you failed to lead well - now our environmental harm is a crisis and you will lose the positions CITIZENS fought so hard to provide you, to be replaced by "brain-dead" Republicans who shall lead America as Republicans always have, for the rich. As national-level politicians are all rich, big-shot politicians of all parties make out better with the nation in the control of Republicans, so are unlikely to care. Real Democrats are poisoned and die unnecessarily as a result of the failure of sell-out Democrats, putting worse Republicans in office. Read about them and weep...

Honestly is the best policy.

There are few intelligent, informed, unbiased people still walking the Earth so ignorant or corrupt as to publicly preach against Marijuana, hemp, and their health and industrial benefits to society and the Earth, but the State of Ohio is ruled by such a Neanderthal - Ohio Democratic Governor Ted Strickland - who is likely to lose his position of power to a Republican in the upcoming November election because he is such a cowardly, industry sell-out. His Lieutenant Governor, Lee Fisher - thinking he had some success in his work with Strickland that he should build-upon - seems positioned to hand an Ohio Senate Seat to a Republican for similar display of cowardice. And they certainly deserve to lose.

According to the Marijuana Policy Project, about the progress of Ohio to join the civilized world allowing the sick to use marijuana to live better, our Governor is already a loser, and deserves to lose re-election... “The governor feels that the predominant opinion of the medical community is that there are existing medicines available that provide appropriate patient care,“ said a statement issued recently. “So based on that opinion and the current research, he feels this type of legislation doesn’t seem necessary or warranted.“

As Ohio is so contaminated by pollution - especially from the heavy mining and industry Strickland and Fisher have supported here - the citizens here live unhealthy lives and die young, horrible deaths. To deny citizens access to any medicine to help comfort them - especially a medicine that may be grown for free - is criminal. Below is more from MPP about the pathetic leadership of Ohio, and what citizens may do about them - followed by a recent article by a doctor about the medical benefits of Marijuana - Andrew Weil: Medical Marijuana's Tremendous Potential for Curing Ailments - Cutting through all the government misinformation - and some of the politics around denying those benefits to citizens, as is perpetuated by sell-out mis-informers like our Ohio Governor Ted Strickland...

I'm new to blog sites, and after spending time on RealNEO (good place to get educated on real time activities unfiltered by the media) I have to ask how can Americans begin a cival discussion on our future without completely disrupting our economic position in the world?  Industry is certainly not the cleanist sector in our economic engine but it is improving and it does provide a significant amount of employment in Ohio, where we need it most.  The workers currently w/in this sector tend to be union members who pay very good taxes.  These same brothers put their children thr

I strongly recommend daily reading of Joe Romm's expert portal on climate and the environment - Cimate Progress: An Insiders View of Climate Science, Politics, and Solutions - which offers the latest rundown on climate news around the world, edited and produced by the former Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy during the Clinton Administration... you may subscribe for email updates there. Joe doesn't just address the science of climate... very often he writes about the climate of science, like in his sharing of perspectives on an Editorial in Nature (which is subscription only, so the public may not see): Science scorned: The journal Nature warns, “The anti-science strain pervading the right wing in the United States is the last thing the country needs in a time of economic challenge.”I can't access Nature, but I may share Joe's observations, which are most valuable, coming from such a valuable source:

 US citizens face economic problems that are all too real, and the country’s future crucially depends on education, science and technology as it faces increasing competition from China and other emerging science powers….  Yet the public often buys into anti-science, anti-regulation agendas that are orchestrated by business interests and their sponsored think tanks and front groups.

The chart above shows citizens of Northeast Ohio have the worst level of mortality from coal fired power plants in America - based on an online risk assessment tool accompanying the September 2010 Clean Air Taskforce study The Toll From Coal - An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America’s Dirtiest Energy Source. As the introduction states: "Among all industrial sources of air pollution, none poses greater risks to human health and the environment than coal-fired power plants – perhaps most consequential of all from a public health standpoint – fine particle pollution."

Fine particles are especially dangerous because they can bypass the body’s defensive mechanisms and become lodged deep in the human lung. Indeed, research also indicates that short-term exposures to fine particle pollution is linked to cardiac effects, including increased risk of heart attack. Meanwhile, long-term exposure to fine particle pollution has been shown to increase the risk of death from cardiac and respiratory diseases and lung cancer, resulting in shorter life-expectancy for people living in the most polluted cities compared to people who live in cleaner cities. And although research suggests fine particles reduce the average life span of the general population by a few years, the life of an individual dying as a result of exposure to air pollution may be shortened by 14 years.

The hopeful news for Northeast Ohio in this science is:

Because most fine particle-related deaths are thought to occur within a year or two of exposure, reducing power plant pollution will have almost immediate benefits.

The worst news is, considering the greatest harm to human health comes from fine particle pollution, and Northeast Ohio has many more sources of fine particle pollution than just the 500 major coal power plants considered in the data of this study (think Mittal), it is an understatement to say the air pollution situation in Northeast Ohio is far worse than it appears in this Clean Air Taskforce report, and there Ohio is ranked the second-worst America gets... and the Cleveland-area is the 8th most toxic metropolitan area in the county...

mor·tal·i·ty
   /mɔrˈtælɪti/ [mawr-tal-i-tee]
–noun, plural -ties.
1. the state or condition of being subject to death; mortal character, nature, or existence.
2. the relative frequency of deaths in a specific population; death rate.
3. mortal beings collectively; humanity.
4. death or destruction on a large scale, as from war, plague, or famine.
5. Obsolete . death.

President Barack Obama gave a personable and hopeful speech to an invitation-only Democratic booster-club crowd of 1,300 smiling faces, at Tri-C West College, in Parma, Ohio, today - showing how concerned the National Democratic party is over under-performance and downright failure by leaders of their party here

Appropriate to the weak local platform on which he stands, the President expressed humility, flexibility and openness to change local and national focus within his economic policy. This was not a commanding speech, but one seeking broader coalition. In fact, the speech acknowledged failure under his administration and the role of Independents in the future.

There is an important story on AlterNet about how evil industrial political operatives known as Trolls corrupt social media to influence public knowledge and so behavior - in this report, addressing scum polluting free speech worldwide via a conceptually and functionally defective Internet content management and rating system called Digg.... read Massive Censorship Of Digg Uncovered. In brief (full posting below), "A group of influential conservative members of the behemoth social media site Digg.com have just been caught red-handed in a widespread campaign of censorship, having multiple accounts, upvote padding, and deliberately trying to ban progressives. An undercover investigation has exposed this effort, which has been in action for more than one year."

Of course, we've had extensive problems with Trolls on realNEO posting inflammatory or misleading content and comments, via accounts established to inflict harm - a crime I have asked County Treasurer Rokakis to have the State Attorney General investigate, as Rokakis was party in one of these crimes, with Roldo and Oengus - I do not believe Rokakis ever initiated the investigation as promised, and I will investigate that.

How Do You Raise Lead Poisoned Children In A Community That Doesn't Care About Lead Poisoning? Best You Don't!

I have the misfortune of having begun doing that - raising children here in Northeast Ohio, where leadership refuses to do the right things about lead poisoning - and I have children who are lead poisoned, and there is not adequate help for them here, and we are moving them away. That they are lead poisoned and there is not adequate help for them here puts them at a disadvantage for life, globally, as most children around the world are now protected from the harm of this industrial poison spewed and spread across our land by evil industrialists for over a century - and still found in household products sold by evil industrialists in America today. Most communities have had better leaders - less polluted leaders - over time, than we have had here in Northeast Ohio. Most communities are far better, safer places to live, than Northeast Ohio.

I know and will not lose arguments on the subject. I will continue to educate people here and worldwide about the subject - I will write extensively about the subject.

I challenge President Obama, here in the most lead poisoned community in America today, surrounded by the worst leadership in America today, to do something about our lead poisoning crisis today.

Obama on TV during his Primary

It is my understanding that only 16% of registered voters were willing to be recognized in support of any political-party in Cuyahoga County by voting yesterday - 85% of voters including myself non-voted in Rage Against The Machine. Those non-voters now have to choose between non-voting against everything here... or voting for the party-machine candidates packaged for us by lawyers, monopoly media and industry here... or electing a green or independent candidate for Cuyahoga County Executive. This is an historic moment.

The biggest CHAMPION of the primary was certainly Dianna Hill, who chose to go with her party loyalty and run as a Democrat, despite the negative associations that brings to her in this corrupt region. She received 14% of the Democratic vote, despite being ignored by her party and mis-characterized by the hater media, like the Plain Dealer monopoly-machine, which still characterizes with assassination, like in reporting results of the election today, noting she's "a political unknown who described herself as an ignorant hillbilly" - nice detail to pull out of your asses, you white-trash hick "journalists".

September is an opportunity to “Start Fresh” at Cleveland Public Library (CPL) to allow patrons the ability to return overdue books and materials free of fines for the entire month.

“These are difficult economic times and this initiative gives our patrons an opportunity to bring their overdue books back without embarrassment, and encourages them to come back to the library,” said Felton Thomas, executive director of CPL. “Library books that are not returned cannot be used by others in the community.”

The slate of County Executive candidates is excellent, I must say... especially when taken en mass.

I know many of the people running for country executive and the ward seats and consider some of them the finest people in town, so the reform of county government has brought out a very good group of new leaders - or I'll say leaders who want to lead in new ways - and that is excellent

I especially like the range of independent candidates and the green candidate... and having those options.

I'm exploring where to base ICEarth brightest greenest development in Ohio, going forward, and am open to suggestions. I already know I will co-locate in Austin, Texas, and in Colorado and California... but where shall we operate from in Ohio?

The Medical Center Company provides dirty, polluting coal-powered heat to many of Northeast Ohio's most "cherished" organizations, including the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA), seriously compromising the value of the CMA to citizens of the region and world - this is being opposed by the real leaders of this community. As the Cleveland Museum of Art has just hired a new Director, David Franklin, from Canada, I must wonder if the Board and Trustees who hired him advised him on these issues surrounding the heating of his new home. Immediately, before worrying about exhibition schedules and completion of the museum expansion, Mr. Franklin must plan to move his museum away from coal, meaning move CMA away from heat from MCCO.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer posted a welcoming opinion editorial championing the Cleveland Museum of Art and its new director to the public, and I was pleased to add to that opinion the fact Mr. Franklin must have very different priorities than the other leadership in University Circle ever has - he must oppose using coal to heat his museum, polluting his community, and he must lead other organizations in University Circle away from coal. How he does that will in fact be his greatest challenge ever. I wish him success, as I always wish the CMA success. I am a sincere supporter of the Museum - the right kind of supporter, without compromise.

I'm writing to encourage you to vote in tomorrow's historic primary election in Cuyahoga County. This election will begin to shape a new form of government for the county and its future.

The natural beauty of family - nine 7-week-old South African Boerboels sleeping in a pack, keeping each other warm on a cool late Summer afternoon.

Soon, they will be separated and live on their own, with humans. We are seeking the best possible humans to care for them. For now, we have the joy of their love, and they share their love with each other.

According to the American Lung Association, 24,000 people a year die prematurely because of pollution from coal-fired power plants. And every year 38,000 heart attacks, 12,000 hospital admissions and an additional 550,000 asthma attacks result from power plant pollution. It is therefore not surprising to read, in The Place My Father Didn't Want Me to See, an article by Plain Dealer Columnist Connie Schultz, published in Parade Magazine this Labor Day weekend, that Ms. Schultz' father died of a heart attack after having worked as a mechanic in a coal fired power plant for 34 years.

As Ms. Schultz writes: "I never knew what Dad did at the plant, but I saw the toll that 34 years of hard physical labor took on him. He had surgery on his shoulder, his hand, his spine. At 48, he had his first heart attack and bypass. He retired in 1993, right after the last kid graduated from college. But the damage was done. A few years later, another surgeon shoved stents into his arteries. The next heart attack killed him. He was 69." She further observed, from once having visited her father at his plant: "I stared at my father, covered in sweat and coal ash, and for the first time had to consider why he was so often angry for no apparent reason."

What is surprising is that Ms. Schultz does not offer her readers of this story the learning opportunity to understand that industrial pollution from burning coal kills 10,000s of fathers, mothers and babies in America each year - I don't know of studies proving "hard physical labor" does the equivalent. There is clear evidence that working with coal causes heart attacks, among a long list of health impacts... including mental illness. From a recent study in Korea: "When particulate matter (a common form of air pollution) spiked, the risk of suicide increased by 9 percent over the next two days, the researchers found. Among people with heart disease, the increased risk was even greater, about 19 percent." Beyond the physiological impacts of pollution, knowing you are being killed by pollution makes you angry... I certainly know that for a fact, as my family is being killed by a coal power plant in my neighborhood, and I have grandparents who died of industrial poisoning, and I am angry about all that. Angry at Connie Schultz' family.

Connie Schultz is married to U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and his family is in the coal burning business, as his brother is Robert Brown... Chairman of the Board of Medical Center Company (MCCO), a coal burning power plant located next to University Hospitals, in University Circle, Cleveland, Ohio, which burns over 44,000 TONS of coal a year, emitting over 4,000 TONS of air pollution into surrounding neighborhoods.... killing people in my neighborhood unnecessarily.

ret·ri·bu·tion
–noun
1. requital according to merits or deserts, esp. for evil.
2. something given or inflicted in such requital.
3. Theology . the distribution of rewards and punishments in a future life.

NON JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE BY FEDERALLY CHARTERED BANK CORPORATIONS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

For decades these types of bank corporations(National Banks, federal savings associations including federal savings banks) have hood winked the courts and the people into thinking that they had the right to use power of sale provisions in a mortgage contract.  The truth of the matter is that it is federal law not state law that must determine the manner of foreclosure.