The following survey results from a BBC poll should not come as a surprise to anyone - the world, including the people of the United States, is unhappy with the US role in the world these days... "among Americans, the number of those who viewed their country's role positively fell to 57% - six percentage points down from last year and 14 percentage points down from two years ago.See a full article on this posted below and linked at BBC News here.

Three articles in the Sunday, January 14, 2007, Cleveland Plain Dealer really caught my attention. 1. "Power shifts, and a fast-track bill is derailed"; 2. "Gloomy forecast" and 3. "Lost confidence in Bush? So has he"  - especially the last one, where Elizabeth Auster writes, about President Bush, that "he now seems shaken by the prospect that his vision of a free and stable Iraq may be fading along with his power to achieve much else." Because of this, despite "Gloomy forecast", I expect most important aspects of the Cleveland, Northeast Ohio, Ohio, US and global economy to improve dramatically over the next 2, 4 and 10 years. In fact, I can't think of an area where there won't be significant improvements. Think of the growth I expect like when an economy is freed from a dictatorship and people are allowed to be free and thrive - markets open up - that is America, now that Bush has been replaced by democracy.

Two weeks ago saw the second birthday of REALNEO. I started REALNEO in October, 2004, to provide “Regional Economic Action Links for North East Ohio” and implement for the region some exciting open source social networking technology. While the outcomes have not been entirely what I expected, and these years have in ways been rough, I've been thrilled to help drive and support some great developments in the community.

Trick My Vote: Science, Intellectual Courage, and the Battle for America's Soul" is the topic of a free public lecture by Ken Miller, biologist at Brown University, expert witness at the Dover, PA "Panda Trial," and author of the book Finding Darwin's God. He will explain why every college student must vote. Program will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, October 26, in Ford Auditorium, Allen Memorial Medical Library. Visit /scholars/Events.htm for more information.

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From Denise Polverine's "Young Professionals" blog on Cleveland.com, there's an interesting "Brain Gain" event coming up at the Rock Hall. I went to an earlier one of these events and they are interesting... if you plan to go, be certain to RSVP as they are strick about that:

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Northeast Ohio's Blogging community is America's most active civic journalism network. Meet The Bloggers is an exciting, cutting edge community lead by George Nemeth, Gloria & Tim Ferris, and Jason Haas, building a national reputation for supporting freedom of speech, citizen dialogue and strengthening transparent political process - keystones of Democracy. 

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Around 3:30 AM last night, I went to visit the Edgewater Deli where, a few hours earlier, Salim Alsoliman, 54, was murdered. A home-grown bouquet of flowers memorialized the site - I added some mums from my garden, to express my sadness for the loss of a neighbor and champion of the region. While I was there, some shocked friends of Salim and the other shooting victim of this senseless crime pulled up - recent immigrants to Cleveland, it seemed, as were the victims, I believe... the details are still not available.

The Plain Dealer is taking a high road right now in dealing with politicians and the local economy - the same high road of Ronn Richard and the Cleveland Foundation, and most other community leaders in town... we need good education to have an effective economy. The PD quotes Cleveland Foundation President Ronn Richard as saying, at the City Club Friday, "Any plan to reinvigorate Northeast Ohio has to include reinventing, not just improving, public education... In fact, overhauling our educational system must become a national priority". In the Sunday, 09/10/06 Plain Dealer, the PD proudly proclaims: "Newspapers aim to set the agenda for election"... "Some of Ohio's largest newspapers are banding together to urge candidates in the governor's race to focus on three critical issues: kids, college and jobs." Yet neither Ronn Richard or the PD acknowledge the silent crisis of lead poisoning (and, BTW, mercury in our lakes, rivers and Perch-fries) that guarantees each year 10,000s of children in Ohio will not be able to be educated, or become effective members of the economy or society, and will instead be lifelong burdens. As the Washingtonian acknowledges (large PDF) in their more intelligent August 2006 coverage of social issues in Washington, DC, "In DC, hundreds of children are being damaged every year—and the results will be more school dropouts and more crime." For NEO and Ohio leaders to talk about improving education without attacking the lead and toxin crisis is either ignorant of deceitful. I tend to lean toward deceitful, as in the same PD that proposes to care about education, the business section features a puff-piece on the CEO of Ohio coatings manufacturer RPM, which is in the middle of major litigation over asbestos, and the PD uses this opportunity to position that litigation as fraudulent. The interview with RPM CEO Frank Sullivan features he joking about his relations with Sherwin Williams CEO Connor, who is fighting for his life to battle litigation all over America (except in Ohio) against his company over lead poisoning millions of Americans... to these people, harming millions of people is just good business, and the PD celebrates that.

There is a core group of really cool people in NEO committed to developing a great intellect and quality of life here, and they turned out in force this Thursday evening in two very different but interrelated ways. Free speech enthusiasts gathered for a poetry-laced fund-raiser for social consciousness catalyst "Meet the Bloggers", at Tower Press, and other free expression enthusiasts turned out for "Street Repairs" at Spaces... between the two, perhaps 1,000 of Cleveland's finest turned out, showing NEO at its best.

I always thought there was something innately good about Cleveland Tech Czar Michael DeAloia but didn't know why or what, and then I learned he's a poet, who has published a book of his work and is now participating in area poetry reading for good causes. That enough tells me he is special, but no way to tell how without reading or hearing the poetry. So I asked him to send over a few works to post with him as this Poet of the Day, for us all to preview... and tomorrow, September 7, we all can experience the complete poet Michael DeAloia as he reads more of his work at a fundraiser for Meet the Bloggers. Thanks for the good words for Cleveland, Michael. Read on, and be there, you all!

The Jazz Influenza

The high sounds of strings

Are teased by petite one-sixteenths

Infecting my soul,

Making me want to dance.

A whole note engulfs my sense of style.

My fingers snap!

Sweat rains on my forehead.

I perish under blue fever.

There rests my anger

On a lofty quarter note.

High….

Buzzing sounds of life

Are being played by a maestro,

By a drug addict,

By a man with a matter-of-fact life.

Ready your souls for cheap brass.

Rich men play money.

Poor men drums.

And I fly away riding on an eighth-note, waving.

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.