Over the past few weeks, I've noticed strange Clevelandesque slogans posted on billboards around town, with the attribution "Mind of Cleveland". I remember wondering if this was another Cleveland+hype campaign... or about AIDS prevention... and planned to google it later...

$11 MILLION REVENUE SOURCE

The way government works – because the people who control it are the money people – typically rewards those who already have money.

It doesn’t have to be that way. However, usually taxing ideas come from those who want to shift taxes from the big guy to the little guy.

The Cuyahoga County Commissioners have given me a  great idea.

Let's privatize the Commission by hiring one person who actually  knows what he or she is doing and do away with electing our three Stooges for Private Businesses of Any Kind, aka, Tim Hagan, Jimmy Dimora & Peter Lawson Jones.

A nice writeup in the Plain Dealer by freelance contributor Terri Mrosko on the front page of today's Employment section provides a positive portrayal of our region and its ideal positioning as a region poised for significant economic progress.  The article makes strong points in mentioning a growing manufacturing sector and rising economic growth and employment numbers despite national indicators pointing to a deep recession.  As Mrosko points out, technology underpins these successes across the board -whether represented by a solid foundation of expertise in healthcare, engineering, and manufacturing technologies or the inspiring near-future potentials in alternative energy technology and nanotechnology.  While higher paying jobs in NEO are growing at a rate exceeding national averages (boosted by double digit growth in high tech, biomedical, and professional services), the region retains a double-digit advantage over national averages for metropolitan areas for cost-of-living.  A growing populace is living well!

If you owned a $40,500.000.00 parking structure,  would these images concern you?  (by the way, if you live in Cuyahoga County, you DO OWN IT)

Headlines in current Cleveland media promote a Medical Mart and Convention Center to cure our ill economy. The Plain Dealer quotes Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora saying "We're looking for a tremendous economic boon - something we haven't had for many years here".... and fellow Commissioner Tim Hagan saying "This is a turning point and a defining moment for this community". Such bold claims make me think of The Top 5 Things to Remember When Reading Stories about Alzheimer’s Disease “Cures” or “Research Breakthroughs”:

There is a need for the thoughtful people of Northeast Ohio to speak up loud and clear - sound an alarm - about environmental issues here, and our impact here on environmental issues worldwide.  We should do this in our everyday life, and we should participate in community efforts to speak in harmony about saving planet Earth. One way to shout-out that "This is a state of global emergency" is to become an "Alarmist". As posted on REALNEO here, for this April 11, at 11 AM local time, for one minute, and each 11th of the month thereafter, at 11 AM,  Alarmists declare, "We need to set off the world's alarms. Join in. It could be the alarm on your phone, in your home, in your car. You could gather some friends to make some noise. Organise a flash mob. Schedule a company fire drill. Borrow a vintage air raid siren... Be creative. Raise the alarm." So, people of REALNEO, how should we sound the first Alarmism minute?

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School design has been on my mind. Here is a thumbnail of an almost perfect Cleveland school.  Benjamin Franklin School slated for demolition in the CMSD Facilities Plan.  It also has beautiful adjacent gardens.

Pee Dee Propaganda Machine
The front page of the Pee Dee this a.m. represents Ms. Goldberg’s contribution to the journalism here: big, splashy headlines, much wasted space, but scarce information.

The Pee Dee is always on the bandwagon when it comes to “Progress.” However, never rely upon the newspaper for hard evidence beyond cheerleading.

Here’s what we have under the Huge Headline: “Medical Mart now a ‘when,’ not an ‘if’”- 4 and a half columns wide and 13 inches deep before a skimpy 4 inch story. Wish we had more about "how."

AND GREAT SMILE!

I attended the KennedyConCenter meeting this morning - held before the scheduled meeting of the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners.  

All the TV cameras and paper reporters were there.   Big news was afoot!

DESPERATION CITY
We have a deal!

The public today was given, as one observer at the meeting says, an “information free” description of the deal between Cuyahoga County and Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. (MMPI).

Each of the last two winters, Cleveland Plain Dealer writer Kevin O'Brien wrote that it sometimes snows in Cleveland so there is no global warming. His latest scientific position on this is posted on Cleveland.com here (and included below). O'Brien is such a strange writer I cannot tell if he is kidding, but in the interest of good public information it seems important for all people to consider what O'Brien published in the Plain Dealer and discuss if it is intelligent, misleading, incorrect or perhaps true. Who has an informed position on global warming and what O'Brien writes below?

READY FOR ANOTHER SCREWING

We are, unfortunately, at a dangerous time in the discussions of the Medical Mart with the Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (MMPI) of Chicago and the County, being represented by Fred Nance, managing partner of Squire Sanders law firm.

Typical for the Dirty Dealer, they make a joke out of accounting for the public’s money on the March 11, 2008 editorial page. 

Tonight I saw the hot new mockumentary The Green Chain at the film fest.   The best part is that we used our 'private screening' tickets from Pat and Dan Conway's gig tonight to get past the ticket taker then re-appropriated our access rights to see this mockumentary that got started around the same time slot.   To wrong the right... I offer up a nice plug:

Join us Thurs. April 3, 5:30PM - 7:30PM, Webtego for Midtown Brews with Meet The Bloggers. Live Broadcast and Chat.

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On April 3, 2007 there was a discussion about the proposal for a new Cuyahoga County Administration building here on Realneo.   Around that time I had read a letter written by Tim Ferris which suggested that the present County Administration building was originally built to be expanded upward.   Today I add the photo above to confirm that the building was intended to be continued upward – you can see the columns projecting right up through the roof on both the main Administration Building and the Annex building.  I’ll bet if you removed the copper flashing from the top of the columns, there would be a plate with bolt holes already in it, ready to accept the steel columns for floors 5, 6, 7, etc.  

When Evelyn and I learned we were expecting Claes, three years ago, we started exploring local natural childbirth and child support resources, and have most enjoyed the getting to know the people with the Cleveland BirthNetwork, which is part of a national organization has a mailing list and holds regular local meet-ups and casual events... I strongly recommend expecting families to attend one of their activities, like the following...  An afternoon of discussion and meeting advocates for change, with Judy Norsigian, executive director and co-founder of Our Bodies Ourselves, and Ourselves, co-contributing editor of Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth.

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