I've been asked what our traffic looks like over time, so I pulled a few quick charts of the number of visitors to realneo since we started using Google Analytics, and what they have visited, to measure performance of this site - and we've grown by pretty much all counts I've considered important by 30-100% since then - in some cases by 1,000s% - in less than a year-and-a-half.

I just received an email about the Governor's race - Strickland is running against ex-Lehman Brothers Managing Director John Kasich. Strickland released his tax returns today - putting his last decade of returns on open file - and it seems Kasich has not agreed to release his last decade of returns.

I though that was requred by law. This should be enforced or required as soon as possible.

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Wed, April 28, 2010 -- 12:23 PM ET
-----

Regulators Approve First Offshore Wind Farm in U.S.

After nine years of regulatory review, the federal government
gave the green light Wednesday to the nation's first offshore
wind farm, a sprawling project off the coast of Cape Cod.

I just received great news from our friend Max Eternity - very inspiring developments for him in Atlanta, including saving a Breuer (why we all met Max in the first place)... CONGRATUALTIONS AND THANK YOU MAX!!!!!!!!!!!!

Family, Friends and Colleagues:

 

When I was asked the other day to be interviewed by Architects + Artisans, it caught me by such surprise that all I could do was laugh.  You see, in the last several years I've spent so much of my time thinking, talking and writing about others--advocating for various causes--that it had become unfamiliar to actually have someone want to write about who I was, my art, and what I was doing personally.

 

For a piece entitled "To Write, Paint and Save a Monument", the Editor of A +A, Mike Welton, who has written for The New York Times, Interior Design Magazine and Dwell Magazine, writes in part:

 

Now that he’s saved Marcel Breuer’s last building from the wrecking ball, Max Eternity has returned his attention to the things that really matter, like painting and publishing.

Norm -- Both parties have worked for months crafting a bipartisan Wall Street reform bill. But, just hours ago, Senate Republicans -- including Senator George Voinovich -- voted for a second time to protect their allies on Wall Street and block reform.

Maybe they think obstruction is a good political strategy in an election year. Maybe they're hoping the delay will give bank lobbyists time to water down reform with loopholes and exemptions.

"Kudos on providing a forum for hatred, racism and trolling. Hope you considered this project a "success"" - believelandd. I couldn't say it better myself... this comment by a Cleveland.com reader, posted on Cleveland.com today, condemning the departing "Chief Executive" of the smoke and mirrors PlainDealer/Newhouse's wretched little portal to spam. Hard to calculate anything that has harmed  development of the new economy in Cleveland so much in our history... and so The Chief Executive is being universally trashed in departure.

On May 11th you may benefit three important peace organizations while being smart and local about your foods... simply by grocery shopping. The Food Coop will generously donate a portion of your total bill, on the second Tuesday of every month, to benefit Cleveland Peace Action, InterReligious Task Force on Central America (IRTF), and Women Speak Out for Peace and Justice

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Come and start your Cinco de Mayo celebration one day early with great authentic Mexican cuisine and Dine Out for Peace! Dining Out for Peace continu

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Dear Norm,

I've been traveling Ohio on our silver school bus that we bought on eBay and our supporters named "The Courage Express." What's it like? Well, it's a little bumpy, as school buses are, but it's one of the happiest times of this campaign.

2008 Lead Poisonings of children in Cuyahoga County, Ohio - do not move here

The Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council has released data on children in the neighborhoods of Cleveland and surrounding suburbs who were tested and documented as lead poisoned in Cuyahoga County in 2008 - about 3,200 of our Cleveland children were KNOWN to be lost to lead poisoning - about 4,000 children poisoned in Cuyahoga County overall. As only a small percentage of our children are actually tested for lead poisoning, the numbers of children in the County lost to lead poisoning is much higher... 1,000s of victims higher.

Cleveland's worst known mass-murderer, Anthony Sowell, is only known to have killed 11 people.... yet that has captured 1000s of inches of pointless newsprint... hours of pointless news coverage... to help nobody.

Come celebrate the life and ideas of Jane Jacobs.  You are invited to Jane's Walk in Ohio City.  Meet some community members interested in celebrating the liveability of our unique neighborhood.  Join us in appreciating historic landmarks .  Contribute your ideas about how to make Ohio City's streets more pedestrian, transit and bike friendly.

We will be walking around the neighborhood and talking about what we see. 

Saturday May 1, 2010.  1 PM. Starting at Market Square Park on W. 25th and Lorain.

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A photo montage of images taken en route to recently meet with Jennifer Brunner. 
The woman who will help us save NEO :)

I just stumbled through the stark, ghost-town of Ed-and-Hunter-Morrison-self-promoting formerly George-Nemeth-self-promoting Brewed Fresh Daily land, and over to the neon lights of the glitzy apparently paid product placement based unCoolCleveland dynasty, now featuring original low budget video programming called NEOtropolis... after I finished puking, a lot, I wondered who pays for this unCoolCleveland Dynasty and why? Who really believes such propaganda may be real? Or cool? Or helpful for our economy?

Interesting to see a man who has been responsible for lead poisoning 1,000s of children - 100,000s throughout his "political career" - now "DEFEND" himself about anything, yet here our Cleveland City Council PRESIDENT proclaims "I am not a crook". SO TYPICAL of our incompetent, irresponsible "leaders" to our deathcamp here.

Home Depot uses Ohio U.S. Senator George Victor Voinovich in a failed attempt
to delay EPA rules protecting children and pregnant women from lead poisoning?!?!

Despite the foolish, incompetent, worst efforts of our disgraceful Republican U.S. Senator from Ohio, Genocidal-George Voinovich, who attempted to derail life-protecting lead poisoning prevention measures for America's children and pregnant women - supposedly as a favor to Home Depot, which we should all now boycott for life - I'm pleased to announce:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that renovations and repairs of pre-1978 housing must now be conducted using safe practices to protect children and pregnant women from exposure to lead-based paint. Almost a million children have elevated blood lead levels as a result of exposure to lead hazards, which can lead to lower intelligence, learning disabilities, and behavior issues. Adults exposed to lead hazards can suffer from high blood pressure and headaches. Children under six years old are most at risk.

“Our lead-safe program will protect children and families from lead-based paint hazards associated with renovation and repair activities in houses built before 1978,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “This rule requires contractors to follow some simple and effective lead-safe work practices to prevent children’s exposure to dangerous levels of lead. Lead poisoning is completely preventable.”

I was doing some research on lead paint on toys - still a huge problem in America and world-wide, as the lead industry keeps expanding - and I thought about all the lead American children were exposed to growing up in my generation, and the generations before me, during the foolish industrial era in America. Consider the harm caused to us - older Gen-X, Baby Boomers, down through "The Greatest Generation" - the greatest price for which is still to be paid in healthcare-costs, pain and suffering for industrially-impaired older adults and senior citizens suffering for such socially-irresponsible behavior as chewing their pencils in school, as kids.

In the 2000s, there have been two HUGE international natural disasters that the United States has sent aid for and one that, as far as I know, we have not really helped much. The first of the two the United States has spent millions in aid for is the tsunami in 2004. This disaster was caused by a whopping 9.3 magnitude earthquake that sent a wall of water crashing down on countries in the Indian Ocean. This disaster caused around 184,167 deaths, 125,000 injuries, about 45,725 people to go missing, and around 1.69 million people were displaced.

Please join Congresswomen Marcia Fudge as she welcomes the candidates who will be running for CUYAHOGA COUNTY EXECUTIVE. In this open forum each candidate will present their platform and field questions from those in attendance. Please come out and let your voice be heard as we move towards a new beginning in Cuyahoga County government.

Saturday April 17, 2010
10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

John Adams High School
3817 Martin Luther King Drive
Cleveland, Ohio 44105

11th Congressional District Community Caucus

MISSION STATEMENT

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Richard Williams Oscar winning animated version of the Dickens Christmas Classic. Part 4 of 4.

Tip of the Hat to Steve Cadwell, Director of the American Holisitic Medical Association, for pointing me to a site with the 20 worst restaurant foods in America, which is worth scrolling through to get a sense of the health risks of some typical restaurant foods. Here's a highlight: "We hope the guys at Guinness World Records are paying attention: Outback now holds the dubious distinction of serving the first nationally available entrée in America to pack more than 3,000 calories­. Congratulations."

I was pleased to see posted on Secretary of State Brunner's campaign for U.S. Senator blog a video provided by the Cleveland Plain Dealer of her opening remarks at the City Club debate, this week. This was the highlight of the entire debate... watch to the end, as she differentiates herself from Fisher - nice to see the PD make this available, including allowing it to be embedded in other sites.