So much pain in the world.   The swirling hellishness of these past three weeks brings only one realization--Be an agent of creation not destruction.   The human condition is torn between these two forces.  It is easy to destroy, but not to create.  Do not give up. CREATE.

As the Cleveland Plain Dealer assigns blame for the plight of Cleveland as the most impoverished city in America, they target the black poor. I find this highly disturbing, especially as they completely white-wash the greatest flaw in our economy, which is a century of cow-towing to industry causing and perpetuating toxic contamination of our people and neighborhoods in our urban core.

It astounds me in this day and age there are still products regularly handled by children that contain lead at all. One product that contains lead that blows my mind is soft PVC children's lunch boxes... a fact brought to the public's attention when the Center for Environmental Health tested a TARGUS lunchbox featuring "Angela Anaconda" that tested positive for 56,400ppm, 90 times the legal limit of 600 ppm of lead (why should any lead be found?). As it turns out, other lunchboxes containing dangerous levels of lead are made by at least the following... Generation Sports, Frozen/Ingear, Roundhouse, Crayola, American Studio, Igloo, Sanford, Fast Forward, Arizona Jean Company, JC Penny, Lisa Frank, Animations/accessory Network, Holiday Fair, Mischief Makers, Extreme Gear/Romar, Subzero/Global Advantage, Chill, Big Dogs, Childress baby bottle carriers, Innovo, East End Accessories/Worldwide Dreams.

I just got the following invitation from my favorite economic development leader in NEO, Cleveland Tech Czar Michael DeAloia, and I am intrigued he is not only a technology visionary but a poet. It will certainly be worth checking out the next event where he is reciting his poetry, as this is also a good cause of a group of other great NEO community leaders who operate "Meet the Bloggers". See more about the event below, and more about the poet Michael DeAloia in our feature of him as poet of the day. From poet Michael DeAloia, you are invited...

Location

The host, he says that all is well
And the fire-wood glow is bright;
The food has a warm and tempting smell,—
But on the window licks the night.

Pile on the logs... Give me your hands,
Friends! No,— it is not fright...
But hold me... somewhere I heard demands...
And on the window licks the night.

There is an amazing sculpture on the edge of the Cuyahoga River by former CSU professor and renowned NEO artist Gene Kangas, created in tribute to near-Cleveland born poet Hart Crane, situated in far less than a park, but a beautiful site, marked by a wordless sign. You'd only know the sculpture if you know the Flats, or Cleveland sculpture, and I only knew of poet Crane for knowing of the sculpture, and I'm glad for both. This 1992 master work by Kangas is the Art of the Day, and Crane is the poet of the day, today. See and learn more below...

I am very excited! I recently volunteered to become an Energy Ambassador at Case Western Reserve Univeristy, part of the Adopt a Building program. I will be adopting Mather House, the building where I work. Mather House is a  century old Gothic Revival former girls dorm  turned office building -- probably not the most energy efficient on campus. I suspect the most  significant improvements at Mather House will be directly related to changing the residents' behavior. I think I could be a good energy ambassador; I am always turning out lights, I go to great pains to recycle, I hate air conditioning and I walk rather than using the campus shuttle bus. But I am looking for suggestions as to how myself and the other residents of Mather House could really make a difference. Please post your ideas. I would also appreciate links to good energy conservation sites. The Adopt a Building program is just getting started. My first "Ambassador's" meeting will be next Wednesday. I will fill you in with more details late next week.

The disturbing juxtapositioning of social unconsciousness in NEO, reflected by the billboards above, found on Detroit at W. 28th Street, says it all about what is wrong with America today and our economy. Raw selfishness championed by the baby-boom generation has corrupted core, co-conspiring, selfish Gen-X leadership, placing Cleveland and human existence in jeopardy. In a quote from a 20/20 program today on the end of life on Earth, a scientist said "our children and grandchildren already tell us we ruined everything" and that is so correct. I apologized this weekend to my 12 year old daughter for today's leaders destroying her planet, and challenged her to focus her life on saving Earth, as the future clearly depends upon her and the next generations. After an hour and half of the 20/20 program "Last Days on Earth", exploring what may end human existence, from comets and pandemics to nuclear war, the program's conclusion was that we are already destroying the planet through CO2/pollution, and climate change will end human existence in less than 100 years, without significant change in human behavior and global leadership.

There's an interesting, very colorful new installation of public art right at the W. 28th on-and-off ramps for Highway 2, by Detroit Avenue. While you can get a fair glimpse of the overall work from the road, that does not do it justice at all, as the greatest importance is in the details. For this work, Cleveland Institute of Art graduate Emily Acita collaborated with the Children of Lakeview Terrace Community Center, which is located right down the road from the mural location, explaining the unusual site selection, being where these children and their families pass-by daily on the way to work, school and play.

USDA Designates 20 Biobased Items for Federal Procurement

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2006- The U.S. Agriculgure Department has announced two proposed rules under the Federal Biobased Products Preferred Procurement Program, designating 20 items that must receive special consideration by all federal agencies when making purchases.

"The designation of these 20 biobased items is a major step in advancing the federal preferred procurement program for biobased products," said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. "When finalized, 1,500 biobased products will be given procurement preference by federal agencies, generating new economic opportunities for biobased product producers and U.S. farmers and ranchers, while providing new choices for U.S. consumers." Full text at the North Coast Green Spieler weblog

I went to the Beck Center for the first time for the Masumi Hayashi memorial. I was interested to see the place, as it has sufaced in controversy as the Beck Chairman of the Board wants to move it to Crocker Park, and the media and arts powers that be agree. What I found was a very expensive, expansive, high quality arts facility, as ugly as sin, on the skin, and poorly managed in obvious ways, but far from beyond redemption. That the regional arts leadership is ready to demolish this solid facility is beyond belief and shows how disposable our leadership finds our core and inner-ring community.

The best recognition of Masumi Hayashi to appear online or in print is not in the Plain Dealer or on Cleveland.com but the LA Times, where they actually went to some effort in celebration of her success. Read great insight and true caring about Masumi in LA and worldwide, below...

The Flats in the Fog. Cleveland, Ohio. Panoramic Photo Collage with Kodak type C prints, 1987. Size: 34” x 64”. Artist: Masumi Hayashi

When I saw The Redhead's posting on REALNEO for "green :: a vegan and vegetarian potluck :: every sunday!" I knew this was a good thing and decided to invite some friends and attend. I'm certainly glad I did. Not only did I have the best meal in recent memory, from good homes and hearts, but it turned out to be a real "NEO Excellence Roundtable" where I met a bunch of awesome people making NEO special... we all even learned lots about vegan baking, from an entrepreneurial pro chef... all on a beautiful Summer's eve, in a setting hard to beat, on the shore of Lake Erie, at Lakewood Park. Learn more about all of this, and plan to join in next week... read on!

Granada Relocation Camp, Foundation, 1997,panoramic photo collage, 23"x 31

In one respect Northeast Ohio is world-class: addressing the lead poisoning crisis rampant here and in all older communities of America. For this excellence in action, credit the St. Luke's Foundation and all affiliates of the Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council (GCLAC) and Concerned Citizens Organized Against Lead (CCOAL). GCLAC held our quarterly Steering Committee meeting on August 07, 2006, where University Hospital's Dr. Ash Sehgal, Director of the Center for Reducing Healthcare Disparities, presented his research findings on the implications of lowering the threshold level of blood lead poisoning considered a trigger for intervention from 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood to 5 micrograms per deciliter. The GCLAC Steering Committee strongly supports this action, which will make NEO the most progressive community in America and the first we know to take such bold and intelligent action, setting a safer standard for our citizens than that mandated by the Federal government.

Lisa Wuohela in front of Material Matters, the premier gallery of Canadian glass art in the world.

The August 14, 2006 REALNEO header (included below) has great meaning, as it introduces a new initiative of 7GEN, LLC, the organization formed by Phillip Williams, Evelyn Kiefer and myself following the attempted theft of REALinks, LLC, property by my former partner, Peter Holmes. This header is of a great NEO art collection, of my parents, Doctors Ann and Norman Roulet, which Phillip, Evelyn and I are documenting on-line as a first service of May Show for the NEO community... in the future, my parents and other NEO art collectors and art dealers and artists may show the world the art they create, sell, collect and exhibit here in Northeast Ohio. The May Show portal being developed by 7GEN, LLC, will be the only interface in NEO to so well document art and make it available to the public, far eclipsing capabilities of even our beloved Cleveland Museum of Art. But that is not the most exciting development for 7GEN I have to share with NEO today, as we are basing future operations at the location shown above, on Spadina Avenue in Toronto, Canada. Read a brief introduction of what, how and why 7GEN will operate in Canada below.

Welcome to the home of Material Matters, and now 7GEN Canada, at 215 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Canada

    Given the recent court decision on eminent domain and the upcoming decisions on how to define "blight", CSU professor Tom Bier's testimony on the issues is important reading.  Go to http://www.greaterohio.org/policy/policy.html and click on "testimony".  And while you're there do some other reading.  Clearly the state's policies encourage sprawl.  Sprawl is not good for our air, our land, or our water.  We need a coup in Columbus.

It was terrific to see Cleveland Foundation President Ronn Richard write an opinion column in the Plain Dealer today expressing his vision for developing an alternative energy industry in Northeast Ohio. This has been a topic of considerable discussion in Cleveland for two years, going back to several excellent Tuesdays@REI, back in the day, and more recently wind has become a visible promise on the horizon of Cleveland, with the installation of a turbine in front of the Great Lakes Science Center.

Ronn clarifies below what are his objectives for wind in NEO, which is not just to take as much of the region off the traditional electric grid as possible, but to build alternative energy technologies here, as a workforce and industrial development for the future. There is not doubt that is an excellent strategy with strong support in the region, and absolutely no opposition.

At the end of his column, Ronn writes "We're pressing for a move to advanced energy as an imperative for national security, local economic security and a healthier planet. Won't you join us?... Call Richard Stuebi at the Cleveland Foundation to get involved: 216-685-2011." There is also an opportunity to hear Mr. Stuebi speak at Case tomorrow - see http://realneo.us/SURES-RICHARD-STUEBI.

I took the picture at the top of this posting from Ronn Richard's office at the Cleveland Foundation, several months ago, and he spoke with complete confidence in his ability to make the alternative energy industry a strength of this region, so I am completely confident this will occur - those interested in that outcome should read Ronn's complete column below and follow through on his request - contact the Cleveland Foundation and get involved!

Location

In trying to keep up with what's happening in Cleveland regarding the development of green technologies, I've never been able to find anything that tracks it on a local basis. 
Chris Varley at TechFutures  is likely the most prolific local blogger covering cleantech and posts often about the promise of clean/green tech and a bit about the burgeoning and growing movement here in NEO. 

I had the pleasure of joining a group of East Cleveland residents of Ward 2 (the neighborhood nearest to University Circle), hosted by Ward 2 Councilwoman Barbara Thomas, where she gave citizens the opportunity to discuss their issues and seek insight and solutions - one of the things I love about East Cleveland is this small-town form of government... you need to experience it. One topic was trash, and that led to recycling, and I know realneo members love that! So... who wants to plan some more recycling?