Dear realNEO Members and so Real Coop owners,

realNEO was founded October 7, 2004, making this our 6th year providing a free, open source content management system and social computing platform to the citizens of Northeast Ohio and the world... for the past few years as a cooperative. In this 6th year, we have reached a stage of ad hoc organizational maturity whereby we have a large, real, engaged community of members who have been active with realNEO for years, who share foundational commitments to openness, truth and freedom, and who are working in concert for the sustainability of our communities... both our virtual realNEO/coop community and our real NEO neighborhoods, around the world.

With maturation comes the opportunity to evolve, with the knowledge we have gained in our lives, now including over 5 years of realNEO.

An old brick garage, the roof long ago collapsed, shards of glass remain in the broken widows. Trees over grown, the remains of a cultivated flower bed by the side door of a house. Plants grow in cracks in the driveway. A slow return to nature.

In 2006, Gen-X Consultant Rebecca Ryan came to Cleveland to speak at the City Club and lead some roundtable discussions (hosted by realNEO) on making this region more desirable to the global Generation-X population.  She was working on Gen-X planning in Akron and Canton and proposed to the City of Cleveland some collaboration with her regional efforts - she was suggesting to brainstorm very openly at very little cost to the city. Her outreach received the cold shoulder here. The last time I remember communicating about this was with Chris Ronayne, then with the city of Cleveland, and I was basically told the development people were too busy trying to close a Nike Cavaliers advertising deal to bother with Rebecca Ryan's proposal - the city economic development resources were too focused on Cavaliers advertising to care.

IT Update - Change To Blog Submission Form - Promote Your Own Pages To Home, If Authorized

In response to problems with some real coop members posting content on realNEO that is harmful or objectionable to other members, and some members abusing the coop trust structure, it has been found advisable to change how content is promoted to the home page of realNEO. In the past, all content has automatically been promoted to the home page for all members, regardless of content. Now, when you post your content, you must select to post it to the home page yourself, if authorized - you will see that option available to you in the last section of the blog (and other content type) submission form - "Publishing Options"... check "Promoted to front page". If you have been asked not to promote your content to the home page, please respect that request and leave this option unchecked. Otherwise, check this option to send your content to the home page as usual.

I missed several days of blogs for events beyond my control and my time is limited to rsvp a subject I am unable to spend HOURS and HOURS and HOURS reveiwing to make any assessments...moreover, I am tapped for time to react...which brings to mind a particular way of life these days.....too much information and information overload....

I guess my simple point is this....we are all trying to share info across the board that we feel our members should be "aware" of so that they can choose to pass it forward, share it, or react to it as they deem appropriate.

I may hate old time politics, but I love this video - thanks Channel 5 - found on the Cleveland.com website. According to a poll on realNEO, "Does Jimmy Dimora deserve the privilege of being considered innocent until proven guilty?", 63% voted "Yes, Jimmy Dimora deserves the privilege of being considered innocent until proven guilty".

CLEVELAND, OH— Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones will discuss the State of the County at The City Club of Cleveland at noon on Monday, May 10, 2010, at The City Club of Cleveland, 850 Euclid Ave, Second Floor. 

Although county government will look different come January, it will function as is until that time. Lawson Jones will address issues and challenges facing the current administration.

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About two months ago I asked the question: Should ICEarth Be Developed In Real NEO Or Elsewhere In The World? In general, the response has been to develop here, and a Strategic Technology Analyst for the Cuyahoga County Department Of Development has asked for a brief overview of my development plans for the activities I propose for Cuyahoga County to help make Northeast Ohio

Join us for Old Brooklyn Pedal for Prizes on Saturday, May 22 during Cleveland Bicycle Week!

Question of the Day: What is Coming Out of this House at Farmington and Forest Hills in East Cleveland? I won't try to explain, as I can't.

Friends of Charlie Mosbrook (seems nearly everyone in Cleveland) have been concerned for his sudden health issues this year, and gladdened to see him back up, around, and performing stronger than ever. Featured above is a video from Charlie's website - inspiring, as is all his work - and he has many events upcoming - two in Lakewood may interested realNEO readers (we have lots of traffic in Lakewood)...

On April 29, 2010, EPA proposed a set of regulatory proposals under the Clean Air Act that address emissions from boilers, process heaters, and certain solid waste incinerators. These rules would significantly cut emissions of pollutants that are of particular concern for children. Mercury and lead can cause adverse affects on children's developing brains -- including effects on IQ, learning, and memory. The rules would also reduce emissions of other pollutants including cadmium, dioxin, furans, formaldehyde and hydrochloric acid. These pollutants can cause cancer or other adverse health effects in adults and children. Together, these rules would cut mercury and other air toxics emissions from nearly 200,000 units across the U.S.

In the past 24 days The Courage Express, a converted school bus bought on eBay from Southwest Licking Schools, has taken me to 96 stops in 43 cities, traveling over 6,000 miles. I have helped fill potholes in a Tuscarawas County township with one paved road, been welcomed into the home of Somali immigrants in Columbus, played "corn hole" on Fountain Square in Cincinnati, worshipped with congregations in Akron, Columbus, Cleveland and Youngstown, met with health care advocates in Xenia and students in Toledo and spoken to crowded rooms from Athens to Bowling Green to Lorain to Brecksville.

I know that this is the real Ohio. I know that when I meet people face-to-face, they can really judge for themselves what they want in a leader--and I can learn firsthand what they need. I've tried to set the tone in this campaign that we are one Democratic family, because it is in unity that Democrats will prevail in November.

Over the next 8 months, Cuyahoga County must remake itself, in designing and preparation for an entirely new government - that is a challenge of epic proportions under the best of circumstances, and this is happening under the worst of circumstances for nearly all in Cuyahoga County. While our nation may be rising out of recession, parts of Cuyahoga County reside in states of true economic depression.

To know the elders of your community who have watched you grow, who have been there through thick and thin and who continue to be icons in your community-is priceless... May God Bless the elders of our community with the respect that they deserve....May we honor, appreciate, and salute them for sharing their wisdom....Today, St. Rocco's had a First Communion Ceremony for over a dozen young catholic children....it's very nice to know that so many famlies are getting back to the basics in our community!

Can anyone explain to me what "Moral Claims" are under this emergency ordinance?  I found it on the February 03, 2010 City Record for the City of Cleveland.

ICEarth Bigbang computers, our Linux distro, and our optimal open source data and application configurations are designed to handle the most processor (CPU and GPU), memory and transaction intensive challenges in the world, to save Earth. Doing that requires an integration of our regional and global geographic information systems with layers of valuable insight not yet integrated, like environmental, atmospheric and topographic data, to drive analyses of life impacting factors in our neighborhoods like environmental fallout from all sources of pollution, to the home and child, for free to them. A good explanation of the type of data and analyses included in such capabilities is described below, helping you make sense of what just doesn't make sense, by doing things like growing GRASS...

I received an email with breaking news and these photographs from a realNEO field reporter - I'll let her file her story later...

Norm. I shot a few pics in the last 30 mins of marchers as they marched from clark down Fulton. Their chant: "If you are not Native American, you are an immigrant. Boycott AZ. Because I am Latino does not make me illegal. Because I am an alien, I am not unworthy"!

Can you post it for me if you think that it looks ok?

I am not the best photographer.

I am also attaching a shot called "urban yard"

Consumers should stop using certain lots of infants' and
children's Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl products
because some of them may contain too much of the active
ingredient, McNeil said in a statement late Friday.

I was watching the Pere Ubu "We Have The Technology" video over and over today and I was thinking why doesn't everyone in NEO appreciate David Thomas like they appreciate LeBron James. Not in tennis shoe sponsorships, but with pride and celebration. Do area residents realize the king of ubu projex is from Cleveland and still makes this his home court? Very few places in the world may make such an important claim to modern cultural significance, and David Thomas is in his prime.

Yesterday, before falling into a fever-induced sleep--some 24-hour flu bug--I meant to look up the words to this song.  We've had some awfully beautiful days here in NEO. It's worth remembering:

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

The Courage Express is making a stop near you on Saturday, May 1st. 

We would love for you to come out and share the excitement as our grassroots campaign continues to gather momentum. This is your opportunity to meet Jennifer face to face. Come step aboard the Courage Express and snap some photos while you are at it!

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