Where is this $180,000 sculpture, who is the artist, why is it located here, how was it selected, who  paid for it, who will maintain it, what does it say, is it successful, does it represent serious problems in unreal NEO, and how may you get it to speak for you, in the future?

I was reviewing emails from last week and read, from the EPA, "EPA Proposes Tightening Standards for Lead-Safe Renovation Practices and Lead Paint Dust to Protect Children", which reports "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is marking National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week by announcing several actions the agency proposes to take to prevent lead poisoning."

Do you remember hearing anything in Northeast Ohio about last week being National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week? 

Wow Man!! did you see that??????????

It was on the front page of the Plain Dealer for Saturday October 24, 2009. The second headline read, "Green idea for Oberlin: a sustainable arts district".

"I think Ohio can be the next Silicon Valley", said Cleveland Foundation President and "former head of North American research and development for Panasonic" Ronn Richard, for a November 2007 Cleveland Plain Dealer article titled "German solar company plans HQ in Cleveland". The PD then reported: "For months, the Cleveland Foundation has sent teams to Europe in an effort to sell Ohio to solar and wind turbine companies as the right place to manufacture."

Today, less than two years later, the PD reports "IBC Solar to leave Cleveland for San Francisco." "The company has maintained its one-person U.S. headquarters here since February 2008." "Cleveland Foundation President Richard hadn't given up Thursday evening. He was to meet with Buntain today to talk about the company's decision -- and what it will take to keep a presence in Ohio."

The Glass City Jungle blog in Toledo seems to be the only media outlet to have picked up on a TruthPAC poll with results showing, as Dave Betras, Chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party, says, “It looks like Issue 3 is going down.” Wonder if and when the Plain Plan Dealer will share this insight with its intentionally misinformed readers... hopefully, they read REALNEO as well...

Welcome to REALNEO, new REAL COOP member and recent Cleveland transplant Bill Botkin. Thanks for joining our real NEO community.

Bill's REALNEO member bio reads: "I am a transplant from Columbus as of 2 years ago. My career has spanned 20 years in the copier/mfp industry and I recently made the change to the Office Supply/Furniture Industry where I discovered Sustainability. I am looking to become more involved in the Cleveland area." Bill came to the right place!

Because Bill filled out his REALNEO user profile with useful information about himself and his employer, I found reasons to learn more about Bill and spent some time visiting his employer's website - Today's Business Products - where Bill "discovered Sustainability"... and Today's Business Products seems to have a good interest in sustainability - they list many "green products".

Marie Cocco @ Truthdig - The challenge of our time is to re-create America as a middle-class nation.

I have noticed, in the reader comments at Cleveland.com to their coverage about the great "Crisis at FirstEnergy" Lightbulb rip-off scheme, that many people in Northeast Ohio don't quite grasp this is an example of extreme monopoly corporate corruption of government - big, bad corporation using corrupt lawyers, lobbyists and politicians to steal $ millions from hard working citizens. That is not the work of Tree Huggers. Yet, the tone of Plain Dealer readers is to shoot the environmentalists, and Obama.

I realize there are many people of NEO who will blame even the worse corporate corruption, like this, on the most innocent people, like environmentalists, and have wondered why.

The pro-gambling-interested Cleveland Plain Dealer announced today that "Cleveland's City Council passed a resolution this week endorsing state Issue 3", which changes the Ohio constitution to give a monopoly on casino gambling to Cleveland Cavaliers owner and overnight "Don" Dan Gilbert. Councilmembers Brian Cummins and Zack Reed did not sign the resolution supporting Issue 3. The support of the other council members follows the endorsement of Issue 3 by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson. As these endorsements show support by these specific people for gambling in our community, and all the ills that go with that, it is time to set in place the names of these people as those accountable for addressing all the harm that is caused by expanding gambling here from now until they are dead... these are our advocates for gambling addiction in Cleveland.

For the next three weeks, one of the most important things the people of Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo and Ohio in general may do is fight Issue 3, which changes the Ohio constitution to give a monopoly on casino gambling to Dan Gilbert, owner of Quicken Loans, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and other financial and gambling interests.

Meet the Public Utilities Commissioners of Ohio - five "public servants" of the State of Ohio who have approved an electricity demand side management program that is so unfair and costly to residents of Northeast Ohio, and so advantageous to a select group of public utility companies, as to raise absolute doubt about the integrity, competency and honesty of those setting energy policy and regulations for our state. Of course, energy policy for Ohio determines our levels of pollution, which are high. These dubious people are:

Over the past four years, since I became involved with the Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council, I have been astounded by the lack of concern about childhood lead poisoning among our largely DINK and empty-nested, baby-boomed, sprawled, childhood-lead-poisoned suburbanite sustainabilly Illuminati, who view today's lead poisoning issue as a poor, urban, peeling-paint code enforcement problem of little societal importance, other than proof the poor are pigs. They think old, suburban farts are not harmed by lead poisoning, and lead is not of long-term interest to them.

In coverage of truly depressing news in our region, the Cleveland Plan Dealer today reports "Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port authority passes on grant for Dike 14 preservation". The Plan Dealer reports:

"It is more prudent to allow for the Dike 14 planning to mature along the time frames anticipated for the lakefront projects as a whole," wrote port attorney Joel Pentz in a letter to a group of environmental agencies working to rescue and preserve the area as a wildlife refuge.

Pentz is absolutely correct. The Port Authority is working with these same environmental groups to plan the relocation and development of facilities so disruptive to the local environment and Lake Erie that it would be entirely foolish to spend a penny on any environmental initiatives within miles of the planned port relocation - especially along the lakefront. If we are seriously allowing over 1/2 billion dollars to be spent reconfiguring our lakefront for container traffic, do not spend a penny on anything not container port related around there until done - for the next 30 years or so.

An anthem for Real NEO today, from the day - vintage Gang of Four performing Anthrax in 1980 - my first year in college - one of the great bands and songs of then and all time. I think the love many of us may feel for this corrosive, punk town is like a case of Anthrax, and that's something I don't want to catch. Read the lyrics below from our context in NEO... concluding "I don't think we're saying there's anything wrong with love, we just don't think that what goes on between two people should be shrouded with mystery." That's REALNEO! Listen, read, and surprise yourself with great music.

Gang of Four: Anthrax

"This is not the time to desert us. This is not the time to be the representative for the private health insurance industry. We need you to stand up!"