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Dear Norm,

I'm wearing red today, because today is Equal Pay Day. This is the day designated each year to mark how far into the year the average woman must work to earn what the average man made the previous year. Women working full-time and year-round currently earn about 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, so today marks the day using 2009 figures that an average woman would finally earn what an average man made in 2009. In Ohio, this pay deficiency ($33,628 per year compared to $45,214) for women and their families in real terms means they could buy food for another two years or pay mortgage and utility payments for nine more months.

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

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.

Richard T. Andrews writes an insightful blog called "The Real Deal", which he describes as "Periodic reporting and commentary from Cleveland Heights OH. Primary interests: Cleveland/NEOhio regional public affairs; African American politics, commerce, culture and society; public education; national and international affairs; Cavaliers∫Browns∫Indians." I receive it by email and suggest everyone on realNEO check it out. I strongly agree with his most recent posting "Brunner the Best for Ohio Democrats" and suggest all Ohio voters read through to his posting, which I introduce below:

CLEVELAND, OH—The City Club of Cleveland will host the Democratic Debate for U.S. Senate tomorrow, Tuesday, April 13 at the Cleveland Marriott Hotel, 127 Public Square from noon to 1:30 p.m. All candidates on the ballot will participate: Jennifer Brunner and Lee Fisher. 

The broadcast schedule is as follows:

Live on WCPN: 12:30 PM-1:30 PM
WVIZ: 11:00 PM
WVIZ/Ohio Channel: 1:30 PM-2:30 PM

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Come to watch films, network, socialize and eat some great Chinese food (not mandatory)!

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CLEVELAND, OH — Douglas A. Blackmon, an author and winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in the General Nonfiction category for Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, will address The City Club of Cleveland at noon on Friday, April 16, 2010, atThe City Club of Cleveland, 850 Euclid Ave., Second Floor. 

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Ohio Secretary of State and realNEO member Jennifer Brunner shows love for realNEO, so there is certainly much to support about her (besides thanking her for cleaning up the Secretary of State's office)... and she is running for US Senate, so now is your chance...

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I received an email from Earl Pike about the upcoming ArtCares benefit for the AIDS Task Force of Greater Cleveland, at Saigon Plaza - here are some details from the Plain Dealer - this sounds like a great and clearly worthwhile event:

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European Trader in a Hammock, 1800s
Wood, pigment
Unknown artist
Bembe, Congo-Brazzaville

Living in Cleveland, when I think of businesspeople from Detroit I picture someone very much like the European trader depicted in the African carving above - big-game-trader, big-thinker Dan Gilbert, coming from the West to transform Cleveland through gambling... carried through our streets by our native leaders and their subjects. I expect about as great an outcome for Cleveland as such "Westerner" infestation brought to Africa, looking more like complete annihilation than salvation... except in the art, where change may be beautiful, despite being tragic.

I wouldn't go to Detroit or anywhere for a casino, but I am planning to visit the "Motor City" shortly for their museum, to celebrate "Through African Eyes," a major exhibition exploring the European presence in African art that opens April 18 (through August 8, 2010) at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) - the images featured here are from this exhibition. I won't hold Detroit's gambling interests against that city, when their leaders at the DIA have traditionally sought to elevate the community above the annihilation of their local culture.

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I've been printing out many of the unique panorama photo collages of real NEO that I have created over the past six years, which I have displayed as headers on realNEO, as I plan to sell editions of some favorite images to raise money for realNEO. I'm currently producing a series from many shoots at Whiskey Island, in memory of my friend Ed Hauser.

They are stunning, printed in their full glory. Composed of often dozens of high resolution images, these panoramas are 100s of megapixels in size and, printed at 300x300 ppi resolution, they are around 8 feet long... and some may be printed up to 36 feet long, while still holding a strong image.

How low will Cleveland and Northeast Ohio sink in the global new economy, as a result of the embarrassment the leadership of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and their Newhouse parents have brought upon this community, as a result of their pathetic if not illegal misuse of information technology and the Internet here? It doesn't get much lower than this... "Cuyahoga County Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold files $50 million lawsuit against The Plain Dealer and others".

Linked above is the PD spin on this case. Read the actual lawsuit linked as a PDF here (1.13 MB)... and read all the way to the end, where it concludes "Plaintiffs demand a trial by jury by the maximum number of jurors permitted". Smart move for the citizens-Saffold to choose to be judged by their peers.

Some photos recently taken in and around Tremont and Brooklyn Centre. 

I know of three high level bridges that will allow you to cross the Cuyahoga River as a pedestrian or cyclist--Superior, Lorain and Harvard Ave. 

It would benefit all of us to have the Clark Ave. Bridge, again.

"Entrepreneurs" do not maintain résumés for employment, but they do need to maintain a running tally about their professional lives, for various purposes... something I refer to as a curriculum vitae (CV). As I'm growing many entrepreneurial initiatives, I'm updating my CV... so I tracked down my latest version, from 2000. Since then, I've launched ICEarth, realNEO, Star Neighborhood Development, 7Gen, and Bigbang Tech, which I must now add to my life-list below... useful information for someone first getting to know me... but is that good enough for Ireland?

Parade at Tower City Center
Thursday, April 15
5:00 p.m.
Shaw High School Marching Band

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One Cleveland urban church that is still attracting a young, diverse, fun community is The Church of the Covenant, on Euclid Avenue, in University Circle... Claes has decided he likes going to church! I like going to University Circle on any beautiful Sunday, and watching children play.

Psychic Hearts is a solo album by Sonic Youth member Thurston Moore. The album was released in 1995 through Geffen Records.

 Eggs a sign of the resurection and new life, but just a days work for my hens.  (A view inside my hen house.)

Coincidence or global warming? The rhubarb I planted last year has justed started to come up and already I have had to water it. Look at the soil and you might think we are experiencing a late summer draught.

Would any Realneo members like to participate in a seed and plant swap? I would be happy to host. Please post your thoughts on possible dates and times. We could also include garden tools and other gardeing related items if people are interested.

There has been a great deal of anti-community if not illegal Troll activity on realNEO, since it's beginning. What Internet activity is "illegal" and what are the consequences are increasingly being defined by new terms in society and the courts, like cyber-sex crimes, cyber-harassment, cyber-terrorism, and cyber-stalking, as early cases of attacks over the Internet against individuals and society are working their ways up the legal systems in America, and around the world, to supreme levels.