I was just commenting to a Facebook Friend that "I was driving on I-10 in Texas a few weeks ago and they have Border Patrol imprisonment centers ON THE FREEWAY IN AMERICA (I've seen them in New Mexico as well) where they stop every car and truck looking for illegals, I suppose. They searched my whole car - without ever asking my name... they obviously had the car in their system. 1984 but worse, as our society is a complete lie, claiming we are free."

So it is timely to read Willie Nelson Arrested After Pot Found on Tour Bus - traveling from California to Austin, Texas... detained as a US citizen on US soil and searched by US Customs Patrol, though he crossed no borders, just like me - in poor Willie's case to be arrested for what is legal in 15 states in America. From ABC News:

Cleveland NORML will be meeting at Sidetracks Cafe on December 4th from 1 to 6pm! We welcome members and non-members alike! Join us in our fight to reform marijuana laws in Ohio and advocate for safe, compassionate access to marijuana for all patients.

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In 2007 there were 1,143,358  Lawyers in the United States, which had a population of 303 million people, representing 265 people per lawyer in America. That would indicate that the 16 counties of Northeast Ohio (Ashland, Ashtabula, Carroll, Columbiana, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Trumbull and Wayne counties), with a population of 4.5 million people, have approximately 17,000 lawyers.

Thus, Northeast Ohio's 17,000 lawyers should be providing at least 850,000 hours of pro bono work to this community... let's round that up to 1 million hours.

Find more videos like this on Shaw High Online

I was pleased to see posted on East Cleveland's core home-town social network, Shaw High Online, an excellent opinion editorial - Matters Of Opinion: Vol 7 Decriminalize Marijuana - by Zakee A Rashid. The tagline reads: "Why are we spending 10 billion dollars a year to stop people from smoking weed?"

Rashid goes on to reference a wide range of facts about the economics and injustice of the prosecution of citizens for marijuana that all Americans must take into account. In Ohio, recent polls indicate 73% of voters support legalization of medical marijuana "MMJ", showing opposition to legalizing MMJ (now legal in 15 states, including McCain's Arizona) is a losing political ticket. Making President Obama a major loser... especially as the harm caused by unjust marijuana prosecution in America predominantly harms African Americans, who rallied to elect Obama president.

Hemp Industries Association (HIA) President Steve Levine - speaking to membership at the 2010 Annual HIA Convention, November 08, 2010, in San Francisco - discusses his expectation that California will pass and enact into law a Hemp Farm Bill in 2011 - "Definitely in 2012 it (hemp) will be grown in California" - "there is talk there may be some hemp grown in 2011". Steve indicates developments are positive for a 2011 version of Ron Paul's Federal Hemp Farm Bill to pass congress and become Federal law in 2011, making it legal to farm hemp nationwide in 2012 - "as hempsters, we did not lose one of our sponsors for the bill - all 25 were re-elected". This is one of the most important economic development forecasts for America of the 21st Century, to-date.

Google Analytics Traffic Data for realNEO.us for October 19 - November 18, 2010 (31 days)

Based on Google Analytics of realneo.us traffic, we are now at a level that exceeds 500,000 unique visitors and 1,000,000 page visits per year, and both metrics have been growing steadily for as long as we have tracked our web traffic metrics... so expect realNEO.us to exceed 1 million hits per year forever hereafter. By how much we exceed these metrics, with what growth rate for the future, is up to our members and community who create the content here that now attracts over 1,000,000 reads a year.

It is interesting to see published in Crain's Cleveland Business today Study advocates creation of NEO Food Authority to aid in localizing region's food supply that reports "A comprehensive study that examines the state and potential of Northeast Ohio's food economy calls for the creation of a NEO Food Authority that would facilitate a 25% shift in localizing the region's culinary and agriculture systems." That's the leading recommendation I made in my Preamble: Real Co-op for Open Food, Information and Community Development 2009, which I developed with one of the authors of the study Crain's references today, Brad Masi, about two years ago.

To optimize value in these critical sectors, I have recommended Cuyahoga County convene and sponsor overarching Greater Cleveland Food and Information Advisory Councils, like and associated with the Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council, and county leaders should take active roles leading the councils and in planning these multi-billion-dollar sectors of our economy and society... we must not entrust the leadership, innovation, financial engineering and decision-making control to under-engaged government and over-engaged foundations, academe, industry and non-profits.

Planning these sectors should not happen behind closed doors in any ways at all, as has been the case in the past.

Crain's is reporting on "Economist Michael Shuman, who is part of the local and national consulting team that has conducted the Northeast Ohio Local Food Assessment, presented the study's findings Tuesday, Nov. 16, to a sold-out meeting at the City Club of Cleveland." Apparently, a bunch of Foundation-paid consultants have finished planning local foods behind closed doors.

The report is found at the NEO Food Web portal - you must register for access, which seems open to the public, and Drupal.... see Summary of NEO Local Food Assessment and Plan after you have set up an account... or just click the following link for a 354 KB .PDF of the "summary" report (the only report posted)... Summary of The 25% Shift- Northeast Ohio Local Food Assessment and Plan.

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Dozens gathered at the courthouse steps in downtown Dayton on Saturday, to push for laws to legalize medical marijuana.

There was an important public health and social justice activist gathering in Ohio, this past weekend - groups supportive of legalizing medical marijuana in Ohio gathered at Courthouse Square, located at the corner of Third and Main Streets in the heart of downtown Dayton in support of H.B. 478, Ohio’s Medical Compassion Act that will allow for the medicinal use of cannabis.

OCA Image TV Episode 6 - Cleveland Asian Town Community from Johnny Wu on Vimeo.

It's a toss up to me between my two favorite assets in Cleveland - The Cleveland Orchestra or the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) - so I am always interested in unique perspectives on those worlds. The CMA is especially interesting right now as they near completion of a massive expansion, that is going very well, and they bring a new Director on board - from the Canadian Museum of Art - David Franklin.

In this week's Scene Magazine, Michael Gill offers the most informative and interesting perspectives on recent CMA developments I've seen, with THE MONEY BUSINESS - The art museum's new boss gets a crash-course in American arts funding.

I've had a good feeling about Franklin from all I've read, and this adds to my enthusiasm. He seems like a personable family man who will integrate with and celebrate with the community rather than hover above, as is so often the case with people in such lofty places - we'll be seeing much human interest in this family in the community, and expect people will appreciate the additions to the community - and neighborhoods of Shaker, where the Franklins have settled.

Of interest in Gill's informative reporting are some financials on the museum and it's operations, including - "Its largest and most dependable source of public funding — the cigarette tax — is just a $1.5 million fragment of the museum's $30 million overall budget". As the museum is one of the greatest in the world and one of few that are FREE - YES FREE - I'd say this is one public expenditure worth spending... although I strongly oppose this sin tax. I'd prefer to offer them some SALES TAX, de la MedCon.

Last night's election gives way to a Republican Majority in the House of Representatives while Democrats will retain control of the Senate.

This split control of Congress will be a challenge, but we have no intention of ceding America's future to Big Oil.

Do you?

We've worked too hard to turn back now.

I want to thank and acknowledge the tens of thousands of you who volunteered with the Sierra Club and local campaigns across the country. While there were some painful losses, your presence in campaigns across the country bolstered our champions and helped drive our agenda forward.

The question is, which side will the new House Republican Majority choose? Will they bow to the Big Oil and Coal interests who expect a return on their $247 million investment in the elections? Or will they listen to what Americans want: clean energy jobs that will lift our economy up.

I'm pleased to report I will be covering for realNEO the 17th Annual Hemp Industry Association (HIA) Conference in San Francisco, California - November 8, 2010.

Please see the enclosed press release for details and contact me at norm [at] realneo [dot] us if you have any specific issues or questions you would like me to explore for this community. I look forward to sharing with the world the important work of this association, representing a near-half-billion-dollar industry that is just taking off in America and worldwide.

Hemp Industries Association to Meet in San Francisco November 8th for Annual Convention

17th Annual Convention to follow San Francisco Green Festival – Rare Historical
Documents on Hemp Research by USDA will be on Display

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The 17th annual convention of the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) will be held on November 8th at the Holiday Inn Civic Center in San Francisco, CA. The HIA represents a fast growing and environmentally sustainable industry that is creating new jobs, with an estimated $400 million in sales in 2009, despite a federal policy that outlaws hemp farming. Business leaders of the North American hemp industry will meet in San Francisco to map out plans for bringing back hemp farming in the United States, to present updates on industry developments, and to share new data about expanding markets.

Amazing! Ohio has an opportunity to be #1 in the world developing a new industry - a new economy - better and different than anywhere else in the world - ahead of the other 49 states in America and every other country in the world - as citizens of California foolishly failed to pass Proposition 19 today.

Supporters include the California branch of the NAACP, state chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union, the California Young Democrats, the Republican Liberty Caucus, the California Council of Churches, and several big labor unions.

"The Obama Administration has been clear in its opposition to marijuana legalization because research shows that marijuana use is associated with voluntary treatment admissions for addiction, fatal drugged driving accidents, mental illness, and emergency room admissions," Kerlikowske said.

What tools of old economy polluting industry our PROGRESSIVE (sic.) Democrats have proved to be!

I can't wait for 2012 and the next Presidential election! The next two years are going to be fun, for a change... I love a GOOD WAR.

I just received an after-the-fact announcement from President Obama's U.S. Department of Energy that Obama Administration Hosts Great Lakes Offshore Wind Workshop in Chicago with Great Lakes Wind Collaborative, reporting on "a workshop with the Great Lakes Wind Collaborative in Chicago on October 26 – 27, 2010, focused on the siting of offshore wind power in the Great Lakes. The two day workshop brought together wind developers, Federal and state regulators, environmental advocates, and other regional stakeholders to discuss methods for ensuring greater clarity, certainty and coordination of Federal and state decision-making for offshore wind development in the Great Lakes."

Yet, on September 14, 2010, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Bechtel among developers selected for building a Lake Erie wind farm off Cleveland's coast, stating:

The company that built Hoover Dam, the tunnel under the English Channel and 23,000 other gargantuan projects around the world is going to build the first wind turbines in Lake Erie. Bechtel Development Co. of San Francisco is one of three companies chosen to construct and own the five-turbine demonstration project about 7 miles off shore at an estimated cost of $100 million.

Small by wind farm standards, the five-turbine cluster has been proposed as the precursor to erecting thousands of turbines in the lake -- and jump-starting an entire industry in Northeast Ohio.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason, who has chaired the Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force for more than four years, agreed that the idea has always been jobs, not electricity, at least not at this point.

Dear Reader,

Since you have been reading AlterNet, you know that we feel very strongly about the destructive effects of the drug war. In the case of marijuana, our laws are clearly doing more harm than good.  

For a substance with many beneficial qualities and very little negative effects, tens of thousands of lives are undermined and enormous amounts of money is wasted. Somewhere around 750,000 arrests are make each year for possession of small amounts of marijuana, which seems absurd.

I've learned first-hand how people become environmentalists. They realize they are being polluted, get mad as hell, and do something about it... NIMBY... Not In My Back Yard!

Learning the harm of lead poisoning in my back yard made me an environmentalist against lead poisoning in my community and worldwide.

Learning the harm of pollution from the Arcelor/Mittal Cleveland Works steel mills in my back yard made me an environmentalist against steel production pollution in my community and worldwide.

Learning the harm of pollution from Medical Center Company coal burning in my back yard made me an environmentalist against coal burning in my community and worldwide.

Which has me exploring how big is my back yard... how big is my community?

Can anyone think of a reason why Case Western Reserve University would not pay its property taxes for this parcel, going back to 2007 - I believe it is the Triangle property, at the corner of Mayfield and Euclid, which is considered one of the most important development locations in the Midwest, which has received lots of charitable and community support for redevelopment as MOCA, the CIA expansion site and some other plans by Ari Maron. 

For the time being, there is nearly $300,000 owed the citizens in taxes, interest and penalties going back to 2007. Why do I have a feeling this is a case of government-enabled intentional tax-evasion in process.

Sort of like writing off power plants and parking lots as charitable endeavors.

On July 4, 2006, I posted Independence of the day: May the people of NEO find freedom from "Cleveland Works" - a big picture analysis of the $ multi-billion harm caused in Northeast Ohio each year as a result of the Mittal Cleveland Works steel plant being here, and I concluded: "I propose we start working as an activist community to eliminate Mittal and Cleveland Works and all polluters large and small from our region"... leading to "When I met with my counsel about legalizing cannabis in Ohio, I explained I never bring up a problem without a solution".

It is safe to say that my 2006 posting against Mittal pollution of Northeast Ohio was my first shot in a one-website war against all excessive and unreasonable polluters in Northeast Ohio - a war that has made me about as popular here as was Patton with the Nazis.

Clevelanders are victims of uncaring totalitarian dictators who are gassing our families with toxins that are unsafe for us and our community - they are disfiguring the data that would warn citizens of this harm - they use mainstream media to propagandize for polluters - they attempt to increase the pollution for industrialists' financial gains, at great public cost - they make us sick and weak with toxins that shorten our lives - they make this an undesirable place to raise a family, and for our children to raise families - THEY must be stopped.

In September 2009 I observed about Chicago... from The Reader: "Under Daley the city has embarked on aggressive tree planting, installed a green roof atop City Hall, and mapped out an ambitious plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions—but failed to ensure basic recycling services, force dirty power plants to clean up, or confront the city's traffic and transit problems... it did nothing to force the coal-fired power plants on the southwest side to cut emissions."

Citizen activism appears to have improved in Chicago, since then... citizens have become environmentalists, refusing to allow government to sustain dirty coal pollution and bad public health there.

That coal pollution has gone unchecked in Chicago, and will have broadly expanded in Illinois under Obama leadership in Illinois and the White House, may well put a nail in the coffin of Barack Obama's presidential aspirations for 2012... and this issue should keep Obama's right-hand-man Emanuel from succeeding in his pursuit to rule over the millions of poisoned citizens of Chicago, as mayor... and should stand in the way of Obama lifting Alexi Giannoulias into Obama's former Senate seat in Illinois, in November.

As the Obama administration continues the Bush doctrine to deny government responsibility to protect citizens from pollution.... Jeff Biggars asks, on AlterNet: "Will Rahm Emanuel and Other Chicago Mayoral Candidates Join the Clean Energy Race?"

One of the greatest tricks about living in Northeast Ohio is preventing harmful lead poisoning exposure for children and adults living here - some neighborhoods of Cleveland still have around 30% of children showing harmful levels of lead in their blood, causing permanent physical and mental harm. So it is appropriate the United States Senate has declared the week before Halloween - October 24-30 - as National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, which "calls upon the people of the United States to observe National Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Week with appropriate programs and activities."

In the spirit of the millions of Americans harmed by lead poisoning over the years, now dead and haunting those who cause such environmental harm on Earth today... may 2010 be the year when Northeast Ohio leaders get serious about protecting our children and adults from the trick of lead poisoning, as that is the greatest treat they may ever give to this community and themselves.

Was this reported in Cleveland?

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The Cleveland Public Library's Fine Arts Department is pleased to present:

Joshua Rzepka, trumpet
David Thomas, piano

Saturday, October 2, 2 p.m.
3rd floor lobby Main Library

Performing original compositions as well as jazz standards from Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Antonio Carlos Jobim and more.

This program is free and open to all ages. For more information call 216-623-2848.

26 year old rising trumpeter and composer Josh Rzepka has been described as “a musician who doesn’t believe in limits” by the Tribune Chronicle, and as being “gifted” by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He has been heralded not only for his jazz playing and composing, but for his classical trumpet playing as well.

With his debut classical CD, Josh Rzepka: Baroque Music for Trumpet, he has made a bold follow up to his critically acclaimed debut jazz CD Midwest Coast, released less than a year ago in the fall of 2009. Quickly establishing himself as one of the most versatile upcoming performers in classical and jazz music, Josh has performed across the country at famed venues including Severance Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Cleveland’s NightTown, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Knitting Factory in NYC. As a soloist Josh has presented recitals and concerts ranging from the baroque, to the modern, to original jazz.

Josh earned his Masters of Music at Boston University and is a graduate of the renowned Oberlin Conservatory of music with a double major in classical and jazz trumpet performance.

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scheme
   [skeem] noun, verb, schemed, schem·ing.
–noun
1. a plan, design, or program of action to be followed; project.
2. an underhand plot; intrigue.
3. a visionary or impractical project.
4. a body or system of related doctrines, theories, etc.: a scheme of philosophy.
5. any system of correlated things, parts, etc., or the manner of its arrangement.
6. a plan, program, or policy officially adopted and followed, as by a government or business: The company's pension scheme is very successful.
7. an analytical or tabular statement.
8. a diagram, map, or the like.
9. an astrological diagram of the heavens.
–verb (used with object)
10. to devise as a scheme; plan; plot; contrive.
–verb (used without object)
11. to lay schemes; devise plans; plot.