MappingTheMess: Tommy Sinito, another heart attack case

Lately, I've been sensitized to the occurrence of sudden and unexpected heart attacks in relation to Cleveland communities and mythologies, and now here comes another one, my southeast-suburb homeboy Tommy Sinito's in 1997. Read the whole excerpt in MapTheMess; for me, it's a new perspective, perhaps a rewrite of actual events, but with oral histories, it's all up for grabs anyway. Enjoy, and make sure to go for your heart screening every year. There might be something in the water around here.

Tommy "The Chinaman" Sinito, a made man in the Cleveland Mafia Family, remains an enigma. The Full extent of his criminal career and influence is shrouded in mystery. He played a large part in the Cleveland Mafia. Tommy Sinito rose from being an errand boy to the rank of made man under Mafia Boss Big Ange Lonardo.

Tommy Sinito caught Big Ange Lonardo’s attention when he tended bar in the early 1970s at the Highlander Restaurant and Lounge on Northfield Road..

Sinito remained a major influence in the Cleveland Mafia until his death from a heart attack in the exercise yard at the Belmont Correctional Institute in 1997. His rapid raise in Mafia ranks from errand boy to made man has created a plethora of stories about him. Most of these are nothing more than fantastic tales.

Click on the Blogger label "heartbreak" below to view my growing collection of those who may have cared too much or felt too strongly.

Archive: AmricanMafia.com: Carmen Zagaria and Tommy Sinito [Map the Mess]

The Wild Wordsmith of Wasilla: grammer and the sintax

I missed this last month and thought it needed widespread sharing.  Sarah's constructs were remarkable, and Dick is in fine form here:

What will ambitious politicos learn from this? That frayed syntax, bungled grammar and run-on sentences that ramble on long after thought has given out completely are a candidate’s valuable traits?

And how much more of all that lies in our future if God points her to those open-a-crack doors she refers to? The ones she resolves to splinter and bulldoze her way through upon glimpsing the opportunities, revealed from on high.

What on earth are our underpaid teachers, laboring in the vineyards of education, supposed to tell students about the following sentence, committed by the serial syntax-killer from Wasilla High and gleaned by my colleague Maureen Dowd for preservation for those who ask, “How was it she talked?”

My concern has been the atrocities there in Darfur and the relevance to me with that issue as we spoke about Africa and some of the countries there that were kind of the people succumbing to the dictators and the corruption of some collapsed governments on the continent, the relevance was Alaska’s investment in Darfur with some of our permanent fund dollars.

And, she concluded, “never, ever did I talk about, well, gee, is it a country or a continent, I just don’t know about this issue.”

It’s admittedly a rare gift to produce a paragraph in which whole clumps of words could be removed without noticeably affecting the sense, if any.

(A cynic might wonder if Wasilla High School’s English and geography departments are draped in black.)

Read the whole thing.

The Wild Wordsmith of Wasilla - Dick Cavett Blog - NYTimes.com

Manners: Be a Gentleman

This post from the sartorial expert Will, and the comments following,  are a needed antidote to the behavioral slippage many of us allowed to happen, or even gleefully pursued, in the societal change of the '60s and '70s.  On a personal note, my crusade to eliminate expletives and crudities from my everyday parlance has been about 90% successful this past year; there are indeed other words that work as well or better, my vocabulary is improving, and I am thinking a little more before I make strong or negative statements. Tourette's is a motherfucker. There! My 10% allowance!

In the first half of the twentieth century, the influential American etiquette author Emily Post considered the term "gentleman" to mean a man with a superior standard of behavior. The word "gentle", originally meaning that a man came from a good family if not outright nobility, came to be associated with the standard of manners expected from that elevated origin. Later, the term was extended to include any man of good, courteous conduct.

Unfortunately, in recent years the term gentleman has been diluted further, so that it now is used to refer to males who are members of certain drinking clubs that offer lap dances by minimally clothed females but altogether lack manners. And a man's poor manners can be a serious impediment in his life, for, like appropriate dress, good manners serve as a social lubricant

A Suitable Wardrobe: Manners: Be a Gentleman

Coroner blames blocked artery for Rosemary Vinci's death

This is the same sort of thing Gloria had on November 17th. See my December 4th post, below.

Since that post, Roldo Bartimole has informed me that Norm Krumholz' heart went down for the count at about the same time Gloria had her incident. (Norm, by the way, has had surgery and is recovered.) Here's the lead-in from the PD yesterday:

Cuyahoga County employee Rosemary Vinci died of a blocked coronary artery, according to a preliminary autopsy report released this afternoon by the county coroner's office.

There was no foul play or trauma involved, the report stated.

Coroner blames blocked artery for Rosemary Vinci's death - Metro - cleveland.com

premature capitulation: the aftermath of "Dan Moore blows a whistle on a bad deal"

Already, going back to this BFD post from November 14th, we find the link to the PD story coming up as "story not found" and the website  http://www.savencb.com/ taken down. The vote does not occur until Friday, the day after Christmas.  The newly coined term "premature capitulation" comes to mind as a descriptor of the way a lot of things seem to go around here. Cookies spilled, everybody's already gone home.

Thanks to Carla Rautenberg for the link to the WaPo article. I'd missed it, and I'd imagine I'm not alone.

Carla Rautenberg adds this background from the Washington Post.

Dan Moore blows a whistle on a bad deal | Brewed Fresh Daily

Ohio Supreme Court rules could make it harder for you to search court records

This bears watching, perhaps scrutiny:

Rules adopted by the Ohio Supreme Court on Monday could restrict the public's access to court records, a leading open-government advocate says.

Cleveland lawyer David Marburger, of the Ohio Coalition for Open Government, said the rules shift the burden to the public to prove why it needs access to court records if someone involved in a case wants sealed.

Before Monday, people involved in court cases had to prove they would be harmed if records remained open in individual cases.

"This is a dangerous precedent," said Marburger, who has represented several newspapers, including The Plain Dealer. "This is a dramatic change. The future of these rules can only be negative."

The court adopted the amendments from the Commission on the Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio. Six of the high court's justices voted for the changes, and Justice Paul Pfeifer dissented.

Ohio Supreme Court rules could make it harder for you to search court records - Metro - cleveland.com

The Put It On The Ballot Campaign continues to smirk smugly

Cuyahoga commissioners shuffle funds to pay medical mart legal bill - Metro - cleveland.com--All of us who worked in the Put It On The Ballot Campaign last year did so efficiently and economically; I do believe that all of our outstanding bills have been paid. We recall quite well how much time and money was expended against us, and against the basic premise that government should not try to sneak through tax increases.

Now, here come the defenders of the MedicalMartConventionCenter with their hands out, expecting the county, the people, to cough up still more. Fred, how about throwing this one in pro bono, as the rest of us did who worked against you, now that Positively Cleveland is backing away from its unethical entanglements?

Commissioners, please hold onto our money. All Fred did during the MedicalMart snafu was to show that he's basically innumerate, and you shouldn't be paying for that sort of foolishness.

civic activism in Cleveland may be harmful to your health; it breaks your heart

My Google calendar tells me that today is Rocco Oliverio's birthday. Rocco, a fantastic grassroots organizer, teacher, and community stabilizer, died suddenly and unexpectedly last December around the age of 75. Gloria and I had met him in the 1980s and worked with him closely during Bill Denihan's campaign for mayor, and thereafter. If I recall correctly, the cause of his early death was that his heart failed. For all we knew, he was healthy and vigorous up until the time of his death.

Our friend Ed Hauser, age 47, passed suddenly and unexpectedly this past November 14th. Again, the cause was that his heart gave out. We got to know Ed very well during the Whiskey Island land-grab attempts and later in recording and witnessing many of the ODOT sham hearings. He was tenacious, brave, principled, and able.

Gloria, age 58, on the evening of Ed's funeral-home visitation on November 17th, had a massive heart attack, suddenly and totally unexpectedly, nearly died a few times, and is now just beginning to recover at Metro in the cardiac ICU.

Lonnie L. Burten, scrappy Cleveland councilman, died at the age of 40 on November 29th of 1984. The CLENIX headline reads "Coroner rules that chronic heart ill killed Cnclmn Burten."

At about the same time as Burten's death, State Rep. John (Jay) Carroll of Garfield Heights, age 29, died in his sleep of "hard-to-detect disease of heart." An article later that year points out that Carroll and Colleen Shaughnessy (murdered in August of 1983 in the State Office Building), both destined for successful political careers in Cleveland, both breaths of fresh air, departed this earthly orb too, too early, with "unfinished business."

What's the point of all this, you say? Well, it appears that November and December are rough times of year for hearts, and that a good number of the bright lights in our community, those who love their neighbors, have hearts that break, particularly around the end of the year.

And again, today is Rocco's birthday, and it was always good knowing that Rocco had your back. You could depend on him to do the right thing.

the Fairness Doctrine

The Center For Individual Freedom -- There are rumblings about the Fairness Doctrine, and you can read NewsMax' rendition of the issues at the link. NewsMax is usually shrill, but I wonder if there's anything to this?

The www.cfif.org URL is dead, and the blast email carries a price tag. This alone reduces credibility, for me. Where is there an intelligent discussion of this Fairness Doctrine?

blogging as an economic cornerstone

Six Apart - Blog - Changes at Six Apart: The people from whom we purchase TypePad for some of our other blogs are making some changes in staffing levels. One thing that stood out for me was the following quote, leading into a larger discussion of SixApart's providing an economic cornerstone for enterprise:

"We've been reminded lately that blogging was born out of the last recession in 2001 - 2002, and that during tough economic times creative voices look to powerful, cost-effective ways to connect and communicate with the world around them."

help save me from the Nellies

One of my business relationships uses Yahoo groups for a collaboration/connectivity space, and here is one of the unwelcome and unintended consequences, random notes from the Nellies of the world. Help me help Nellie, whatever way you see fit. Thanks.

-----Original Message-----
From: Yahoo! [mailto:profiles@yahoo-inc.com]
Sent:
Thursday, November 13, 2008 8:03 AM
To: TIMOTHY ALLAN FERRIS
Subject:
NellieD sent you a message

This is NellieD's message:

hot damn Tim u look fine! i luved ur profile, i will visit Cleveland, Ohio this weekend, wanna go out? i got some pics at: http://eqmzc.tk/, i even got videos, hit me up and get my number from http://eqmzc.tk/ , for real hit me up on http://eqmzc.tk/ on screen name tightp! p.s. im online for couple more hours! :) xwsjzygf

To view NellieD's profile, click here: http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/S4XBHPMJZS3J3H35PTFIAORTN4

To reply to NellieD's message, click here: http://profiles.yahoo.com/msg.php?guid=S4XBHPMJZS3J3H35PTFIAORTN4

Thanks,

The Yahoo! Team

__

To block NellieD, click here:
http://profiles.yahoo.com/u/S4XBHPMJZS3J3H35PTFIAORTN4?foot-block-btn=1&crum
b=lkqOilmTYsG

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable -- The book The Black Swan has come up in many discussions lately. Here's a review by Mike Ryan.

to profess the law

I was having a discussion with my older daughter about friends in the legal profession, and it reminded me that I had just run across this old DOONESBURY clipping on the hard drive--I think I used it for a talk years ago.

This is one of my favorites, and I wanted to share it. Somehow, it just tickled me years ago, and still does. I bombed the LSAT in 1968 after a full sleepless night of revelry. I couldn't get serious about it then, and can't now.

It's interesting to me how the learned professions have come under fire these past few generations. Whether they ceded their status or had it taken from them would make for an interesting discussion. Could it merely be a function of supply exceeding demand, of too many people thinking they should be something they're really not suited to be, or don't actually want to be?

How many are attracted to the bar for the same reasons they are motivated to take karate classes, like self-defense and the concomitant powers to intimidate and inflict?

CoveritLive has a record day on November 4, launches Twitter integration...and turns one year old

[Tim Ferris] We just got this from our friends at http://www.coveritlive.com/#

Hello,

Keith McSpurren here. President of CoveritLive. Three short pieces of information for you about our software.

Record Day for CoveritLive
When we had the idea for CoveritLive back in early 2007, I circled November 4, 2008 on my calendar. By election day in the United States, I figured if we had built something of use to people, we would know it by then. We also knew that it would be the biggest test of our ability to provide a scalable, reliable solution for our users. Thanks to thousands of our users CoveritLive was used in 30 countries around the world that day to serve up close to 3,000,000 pageviews between November 4-5 (the 'Replay' readership the day after the election made it the second biggest day in our history). Special thanks to our many users at Gannett, Tribune, Huffington Post, The Times in London and Le Soir in Belgium.

Twitter Integration
Our friends at Mashable wrote about this idea a few months ago and I've felt guilty about not delivering on it until now. A number of you are avid Twitter users so I know you'll be excited when I tell you it is now possible to integrate up to 12 Twitter feeds into your CoveritLive event. Just type in the Twitter accounts you want to autopublish and every minute, CoveritLive will go get any new Tweets and publish them directly into your Viewer Window with a little 't' logo so your readers know it was a Tweet. As for more integration? We think this was the most important one, so we'll wait a little to see how it works out.

CoveritLive Turns One
It's always awkward when you have to tell people it's your birthday. But ours is November 15. We're growing, but we've got a long way to go. Given how far we've come in the first twelve months, I'm looking forward to seeing what CoveritLive looks like at the end of 2009.

As always, we welcome feedback and suggestions. Please email us at info@coveritlive.com.

Keith McSpurren
President, CoveritLive

If you would no longer like to receive this email, please reply to this email with the word "remove" along with your CoveritLive username.

a surprising collection of Maxfield Parrish illustrations

Golden Age Comic Book Stories -- Somehow, this "Golden Age" illustrator, Maxfield Parrish, turned up in my Google Alerts this morning. He's always been one of my favorites; we have Parrish calendars, Parrish books, and a nicely preserved, larger "Daybreak" (1922) on the wall in the front room, situated away from the light. The latter comes from the dining room of my Uncle Jack and Aunt Francie's (Tante's) place over in Cleveland Heights, where it hung until the early '80s.

At the link is a collection that is largely new to me, of Parrish and a few of his contemporaries. Enjoy.

Malay Blogger Fights a System He Perfected - NYTimes.com

Malay Blogger Fights a System He Perfected - NYTimes.com -- Our incredibly credentialed friend Jill has sent us a really fine story of blogging advocacy, and I share it here:

What I do when I don't have time to blog this stuff

I send it to you :)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/world/asia/06blogger.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/world/asia/06blogger.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Jill Miller Zimon
Newsweek's The Ruckus
BlogHer Contributing Editor
The Moderate Voice
Writes Like She Talks
See or listen to
Jill on CNN, BBC, WCPN, Third Rail Radio
jillzimon@mac.com

Join us today for Midtown Brews with Meet The Bloggers...

• Branding Stories: Art, Advocacy and Global Networks
• Date: Thurs Nov 6, 2008
• Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
• Live Video Broadcast and Chat Conversation 6:00PM - 7:00PM (EST)
• Location: Insivia, 1900 Superior Avenue, Suite 105, Cleveland, Ohio 44114
• Ph: 216.373.1080 Map
• Register: Upcoming.org
• Join our online web space Midtown Brews
• Donation: $5.00 (or whatever you think is proper, or whatever is possible) and your favorite beverage
• The visual arts are a powerful tool of communication.
• Join us to learn more about art and advocacy with Pat Fallon, Painter and Printmaker, Professor and Chair, Art Department, and students from Ursuline College. Learn best practices to tell your story.
• Participate in a round table discussion. Understand how branding sociopolitical stories strengthen transparency, engage humanity and accelerate prosperity in communities and nations.
• Moderator: Gloria Ferris, Meet The Bloggers, www.meetthebloggers.net
• And You...Everyone is welcome. Share your experience.
• Listen to this conversation with Pat and Ursuline students to learn more.
• Learn from civic leaders defining economic development priorities for Northeast Ohio:
• Carolyn Jack, Co-Director of Geniocity, talks about the value of creativity and innovation to civilization. Read the story. Watch the interview on You Tube.
• Questions? Contact: Betsey Merkel, The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open), 4415 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44113 Ph: 216-246-2447

Six Apart - Blog - politics and blogging

Here's an excerpt from a post-election post by Anil Dash, from SixApart/TypePad/Movable Type.

Now that the election is over, we're sincerely hoping that politicians across the political spectrum, and citizens of any stripe, will demand that these social publishing tools be used for a lot more than just raising funds online or getting out the vote. We firmly believe that our platforms, used intelligently and in combination with the many other services and networks on the web, can be powerful tools for better governance.

Blogging, especially when combined with a social publishing platform that bridges multiple social networks, is far too powerful a medium to be dragged onto the national stage once every four years. If, as has so often been stated, this is a "change election" here in the United States, then we hope that one change we'll see, not just at the national level but at a state and local level, is our government making better use of the web.

Given the long tradition of bloggers leading the conversation around politics, policy and government, we hope to play a part in encouraging government to make the same leap into the social web that so many of us have made in our personal and professional lives

Six Apart - Blog - Barack Obama and Blogging

FYI, I-Open: sounds like a plan

wrap-up of MeetTheBloggers/WKYC election night collaboration

live blogging the election results at WKYC channel 3, Cleveland

BCNaturalists Meeting Reminder

Dear  Blogger-

We adopted a new name at our last meeting--Brooklyn Centre Naturalists

Our next meeting will be-- Saturday, November 8th at the CPL-Brooklyn Branch, 3706 Mapledale from 2 p.m.-4 p.m.  At this meeting we will outline goals, action steps and a time line for our projects.

Thanks to Sharon Martyn our application for pre-certification is on it way.  We should have an answer-j ust in time for our December meeting scheduled for December 13-same time and same place.

Other news-We have a blog. http://act3.typepad.com/brooklyn_centre_national_/ Still under construction.  There is a calendar of events on the sidebar- one of the things still under construction.

Note that there are details for the Southwest Citizens Area Council's fundraiser November 8th at Brown's Lanes from 7 p.m. to ?  Please support this fine group of people.

As always we hope to see you:

November 8th, Saturday
2-4 p.m.
Cleveland Public Library-Brooklyn Branch
3706 Mapledale Avenue

Gloria Ferris

I once gave a speech like this

This. Fucking. Election. -- Years ago, in my downtown Mid-Day Toastmasters phase, I gave an end-of-year speech doing nothing but reading the headlines; it seemed to play well. This graphic, at the link, does it in black and white with an occasional red. I think it's sort of nifty. Katie, take note that I note the value of the juxtaposition of the everyday.

Decision '08: Meet WKYC's 'Meet the Bloggers'

Decision '08: Meet WKYC's 'Meet the Bloggers' -- I think we need to have WKYC change the article to read http://www.meetthebloggers.net/, not ".com."

Anyway, I'm trying to get the video onto this blog, so here's another attempt:

What Would Bono Do? (WWBD?)

Blundering Mayor Jackson and City Council REALNEO for all--Roldo points up the fact that The Rock Hall is now a welfare recipient, in competition with the truly needy. I'd encourage each and every rock star involved to boycott the event. Seize the moral high ground! Apply this litmus test: What Would Bono Do? Then, do it.

This is not what you do with a tax dollar, boys and girls of city council. Take back your vote. Take back the money. So you got all excited and gave away the store. You're allowed a mistake every now and then. Now go get the money back. (Think: If we had to recapture it from all of your paychecks, how long would it be until you ate, after the induction dinner? Could you go over to Polensek's if things got really rough? Could you get a ConAgra microwave dinner from the welfare office?)

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is not a charity, despite the fact that they cloak themselves in the tax structure of the truly needy. They have a balance sheet. They try to show a profit and yet not pay taxes back to the community. Let's end this charade.

And for my friends over at the Cleveland Clinic, I hope you're taking this to heart. It's time for PILOTs, before you have to give it all up entirely.

Blog Link: For all Linked In users

TypePad - Features - Blog Link If you use Linked In, you'll probably want to add this Blog Link to your profile. It works with most other blogging platforms. It shows your blog posts as well as those of your Linked In contacts. It installed in a few seconds.

Whether you're searching for someone to hire, or for someone to hire you, you're likely gathering information both from LinkedIn profiles and also from personal and professional blogs. You've worked hard to establish your personal brand via your blog, so it makes sense to showcase it right on your professional profile. The TypePad team that brought you Blog It has created an application to bring your blog and your LinkedIn profile together: Blog Link powered by TypePad.

Blog Link is a free, easy-to-use application that allows you to connect your blog to your LinkedIn profile. The application displays a feed of your latest blog posts right into your profile, so you can extend your personal brand even further by sharing your thoughts and insights with your professional network on LinkedIn.

One of the best aspects of LinkedIn is the network you can build, and Blog Link has you covered there as well. The "Your Network" tab in the application shows the most recent blog posts of people in your network, automatically finding their blogs as listed in their “Websites” list on their profile. And as more of your contacts add the Blog Link application, your own latest posts show up in more places. It's another great way to broaden and enhance your network on LinkedIn.

Blog Link is powered by TypePad, and it supports all blog platforms, including TypePad, Movable Type, Vox, Wordpress.com, Wordpress.org, Blogger, LiveJournal, and many more. To learn more, visit typepad.com/bloglink and add the application to your LinkedIn account today.For a demo and more details on BlogLink, watch the video with David Recordon. David's our Open Technologies Lead, who's known for leading efforts around OpenID and OpenSocial, which powers LinkedIn Applications.

A Vision of Change for Northeast Ohio

The last guy named Mike who had visions for Cleveland wound up down in Klan country around New Philly, raising yaks or llamas or ostriches in a revisionist version of Neverland Ranch. We wish this Mike better fortune.

Ken Duncan: "Creative Capitalism" reformatted in Windows Live Writer

26.10.08

Creative Capitalism

In the free market country club,
being deemed “too big to fail”
insures a corporation against
the mistakes of poor managers.

No wonder those saved
by bucket-wielding taxpayers
avoid making needed loans
and acquire other banks.

Ken Duncan: serpents, and snakes

23.10.08

Ancient Wisdom

Conservative and Liberal,
unlike words early man used
to describe groups of stars,
are creative, but inappropriate.

Republicans who cut taxes,
increase spending, wage wars,
claim deficits don’t matter,
call themselves Conservatives.

Democrats claim to be Liberals
while promoting welfare reform,
higher prices for imports,
conservation and more rules.

Perhaps it’s time we use
old time imagination and look
for similarities. Call one party
Serpents, the other Snakes.

Ken Duncan sums it up

Politry Plus » Blog Archive » Creative Capitalism -- Ken Duncan wraps it up, all in one tight little package. Is there much more to say?

26.10.08
Creative Capitalism

In the free market country club,

being deemed “too big to fail”

insures a corporation against

the mistakes of poor managers.

No wonder those saved

by bucket-wielding taxpayers

avoid making needed loans

and acquire other banks.

having faith in politicians is like casting emeralds into the sewer

I got an email this morning from Matt Furey, writing from China, where he's visiting. This guy has a way with words:

No politician, regardless of how slick, is going to give me or anyone else health, wealth or witticism.

They can promise all they want - but placing your faith in them is sort of like casting emeralds into the sewer. It's a rare day on earth when modern day politicians propose change for the better - and this year, despite all the rhetoric, is no exception.

So I'm in China right now - watching capitalism grow by leaps and bounds while the U.S. races sphincter-first into socialism.

It's quite an amazing view. From the outside China is often depicted as nothing but a bunch of commie totalitarian thugs. Yet, from the inside, there's no better display of the glories of capitalism, team work and creativity.

from cousin Wm. Daniel, out west in Washington

So, where do we find a kid too lazy to go out and trick-or-treat?

open-sourcing birthdates: Bruce Perens' is today

Meet the Bloggers » SourceLabs’ Bruce Perens VP and author of “The Open Source Definition” -- Outlook alerted me this morning that it is the birthday of one of our favorite young people in the Brooklyn Centre neighborhood, and she shares it with the Open Source guy, Bruce Perens, whose MTB interview is extant here:

http://www.meetthebloggers.net/2007/04/17/open-source-definition-author-bruce-perens/

Blue Fish Red Fish : Couture First, Fashion First

Our friend DAM (David Allen Moss) (FKA Baba Dam Moss, apprentice of Baba Ram Dass) alerted me to this new fashionista offering over at Blue Fish Red Fish, and I must say, I agree with the sentiment. I think this country would be a lot better off if we all paid more attention to our attire and perhaps even started wearing ties again on a regular basis, as was the practice in parochial schools. And, as they at BFRF point out, we are all in the same pond or, to tweak the metaphor a bit, the same kettle of fish. This all has something to do with the definition of "progressive."

Here are a few links to tie things, and don't forget to tie one on with Mike at your earliest possible opportunity, for the ultimate sartorial experience short of spending $150,000 in one swell foop.

http://www.vineyardvines.com/index.cfm

http://www.capitalties.com/

http://www.beautiesltd.com/

SCENE Magazine: our friend Mike Lang helps us tie one on

Since he first moved into our neighborhood, Mike Lang has always been humorous, irreverent and fun to be around, a refreshing counterpoint to those who take themselves too seriously or are constantly fearful or bummed. Laughing in the face of massive government destruction of private commerce and industry along Euclid Avenue, Mike keeps lobbing those ads and quips.  This is his latest ad from SCENE Magazine, page 22.

That Tim Ferris is so Damn Smart!

That Tim Ferris [sic] is so Damn Smart! « Experience Experiment -- Hey, it's not my place to tutor them in spelling. I like the headline. It resonates with me. I couldn't pass up the chance to exploit it.

At the link, as well, is an interesting profile of a modern office arrangement in Holland. It reinforces what we learned with Meet.The.Bloggers: Online is fine, but you have to get everybody together face to face regularly as well for the synergies to work.

And while I'm talking about it--I realize that the Meet.The.Bloggers site is still biffed and crippled, and that George only has so much time. However, if you have dead links or if any of your favorite interviews or transcripts haven't reappeared yet, why not drop him a note and see if he has time to get around to recovering content on a per-request basis. We all have a lot invested in the project, and we can ill afford to waste what gives value and depth to a community dialogue.

YouTube - Gloria Ferris: Citizens&CityPlanning

My Google Alerts came in this evening, and look what they had in them. Neither Gloria nor I knew this was up on YouTube.  As usual, she finishes with a smile.

Bennie's back!

Here's a note I got today over at LinkedIn, from our old friend Bennie D'Agostino. We're glad he's back. Years ago, he was one of Cleveland's finest assigned to the Archwood-Denison area, and we remember him as giving 110% and always being fun, and entertaining. He ran for City Council against Merle Gordon, and we still wish he had won--all the others are still so boring.

Check the link. I'm writing his recommendation as soon as I get done here. If he were in council now, you wouldn't want to be reducing the number of seats.

Hey Tim....

I've been back on stage for a while and wanted everyone to know about this New Act.... Disco Deee-LITE and 80's NITE.... also Jersey-Boy-$oprano.. Lot's of Fun Music and Tunes from the Jersey Boys Shows.. It's a FUN and Polished Act...featuring all the material I've been doing as a Single... Plus the Costumed addition to the 70's-80's and Mob Hits Music.

I'm sending this to ask you for a brief recommendation of my work that I can include in my LinkedIn profile. If you have any questions, let me know.

Thanks in advance .... seeking some Cleveland area Performances... Used to do lot's of Corporate including the Convention Bureau...Slowed down to fully recover from all the injuries received as one of Cleveland's finest....and Out with a NEW show in addition to my yearly " Little Italy" gig....

Thanx, and Luck in the Old-Brooklyn area... ( I tried to tell them the truth) Not the Best Politician...or Method of Politics.... Wish Gloria and the Family well....

Thanx again !

-Bennie D'Agostino

What to Watch for During the Final Debate - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com

 What to Watch for During the Final Debate - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com -- I think we'll be logging onto the office computers tonight (dual monitors for each of us, y'know) to see what sort of communications dynamic they crank up at The New York TIMES. We'll be doing this in preparation for our own blogger-reappearance at WKYC Channel 3 this coming election night.

CoverItLive is getting most excellent, and it's been around only about 10 months for general consumption. What I'm using now to compose this post, Windows Live Writer, could also work well if you would just re-post the same post as the action progressed.

These platforms are getting really easy to use, and efficient, too.

instant gratification: Columbus Day clarified in Wikipedia

Columbus Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Who's open, who's closed, who's more laid back than usual today, and are those truants, the assured future for the welfare system, standing on the corner? I needed instant clarification, which I found with Wikipedia. It's so handy. Where do I go to find out if there's a parade downtown today?

"Since 1971, the holiday has been commemorated in the U.S. on the second
Monday in October, the same day as Thanksgiving in neighboring Canada. It is
generally observed today by banks, the bond market, the U.S. Postal Service and
other federal agencies, most state government offices, and many school
districts; however, most businesses and stock exchanges remain open."

I like living on a bus line

I just saw the 807 circulator go by in the rain and realized how much I liked living on a bus line. I see the lit buses go by in the early morning and in the late evening, symbols of our quiet neighborhood's connectivity to things more cosmopolitan. I see them whoosh by all day, reminders of the to hustle and bustle of the extended workday going on elsewhere. It's comforting to have them around. They're my connection to my local civilization.

If it weren't for the demolition of the Fulton Road Bridge, I might never have had the experience of having the buses run by my house. They used to run on Pearl and on Fulton, the spoke streets radiating from the downtown hub, but the older connectors, like Denison, were largely ignored. The emphasis was not so much on functionality among neighborhoods as it was on commuting through them, on bypassing them in an express fashion.

Denison originally had a trolley line running down its middle, and one lane either side of the trolley path for cars. We have a lot of storefronts on and adjacent to Denison, as Sandy Rozhon's chronicling at the Brooklyn Centre WIKI will attest. It is still a main connector to Newburgh Heights and the east side of the valley via Harvard, to the freeways (176 and 77), to Tremont and to the new developments down at Steelyard Commons. The bus line suits it well.

I'm thinking that with this next round of revisions of bus service, we need to become our own best advocates when it comes to requesting bus service as a critical driver for a thriving community.

advocacy kicked around at Midtown Brews last Thursday

This past Thursday, October 2nd, we had a productive confabulation in our Midtown Brews monthly, this one being held at Insivia in The Tower Press Building, site of some of our original Meet.The.Bloggers productions. The topic this time was "advocacy." Betsey Merkel asked that I share some of my notes, so here they are:

Michael DeAloia, Tech Tsar, in a blinding flash of genius or a stroke of blind genius, kicked off the proceedings even though he was not there--he had Betsey, who was in charge of the kickoff, read his regrets statement into the record, which is both in video and podcast format. This was the second anniversary of Midtown Brews, and Michael fondly recalls how he kicked things off a scant two years ago, and how his love of tech and dialogue and connectivity and beer seem to have informed all events since.

Dennis Coughlin of I-Open and formerly of REI at CWRU (how about them abbreviations...) pointed out that I-Open is the parent of Midtown Brews and of Midtown Mornings and that, "like a parent, you can't really tell anyone what to do." Like Topsy, Brews just grew.

Gloria Ferris was moderator, and spoke to the reason why she was replacing George Nemeth as moderator, this time around, so that George could participate more fully in a discussion that is close to his heart. He spoke briefly of Brewed Fresh Daily being his main claim to fame thus far, and how it has led him down the paths of exploring social networking, as it is termed today.

Next up were John Eckerle, the Realtor, and he is also the relator of how we can all be connected on various levels. Then there was Ken Warren of the Lakewood Public Library and Jim O'Brien of The Lakewood OBSERVER, a print takeoff connecting the blogosphere with the rest of the more traditional print media, and advertising, and and the great expanse of  never-connected masses who still have no computers or PDAs, the heavenly fellowship of those who do not yet Twitter. John and Ken and Jim promote the OBSERVER as a bridge and a financially sustainable means of promoting community organizing here and now, until everybody has a laptop, a PDA, a Kindle, or a fancy cellphone.

Marnie Urso spoke of Audubon Ohio; Ed Hauser spoke of broken, broken, completely broken public processes and his sometimes lonely roles of advocate, warrior, and defender of the public interest, and how the Port Authority has failed to serve those same interests on a number of occasions, in contravention of their mission. Marc Lefkowitz of Green City, Blue Lake, and formerly of The Hotel Bruce, mentioned the journalistic tools he has and the writerly roots we all have; he gave an brief idea of how he came to focus on sustainability. Michael Lehto of the CIA faculty introduced himself to the group, and about this time my notes start getting more sparse as I began listening more and writing less. The content is good--you need to listen and watch the content.

Sean Gesing, Mike's son, introduced himself as a college student from Lorain Community College; Bill MacDermott, whose energy-efficient house is on display today, told us of his 1970s persona and Spaceship Earth following on the heels of the ruination of the planet, ending with the quote, "I would rather have been wrong." Stephanie Spear spoke about her work with EARTHWATCH OHIO; Eric Purcell revealed that he was in fact "a little worker bee" of Andy Halko's at the Insivia hive; Jim Herget, son of the '60s gave a quick and incisive preview of his current ACT III project, which involves post-age-60 repurposing and demarginalizing of the leading edge of the boomer wave; his friend Julie Morris told of her CIA and CWRU roots.

Jeff Schuler pointed up the fact that he is an absorbing and integrating influence, in that he is somewhat a son of the '60s, when he was minus 15 years old, a traveler on Spaceship Earth as an embryo, and a potential fixer of Ed Hauser's things that are broken, anytime at all. Susan Miller related to being visionary, arts-based, feeling older than Herget, and seeing how the life phases are working through as she soldiers on with RealNEO. Rich Brhel told of the library connections of Chancellor University (formerly Dyke College) with the advocacy process and reinforced the commonality he shared with Ken Warren and MidTown's dialogues these past few years. Laura Wright of Insivia spoke eloquently to the need we all have for good design and beauty (and by extension, goodness and truth); Evan Wilhelms talked of Creative Commons and Natural Resources Commons; Toni Chanakas related design to community to BFD (Brewed Fresh Daily).

As I careened into my second page of notes, Bruce Lessig spoke simply of simple ways to make simple things; his friend Susie mentioned that Shaklee approaches were noted for their simplicity as well; Lee Chilcote talked about his work with Keith Brown's Progressive Urban Realty and the Cleveland Colectivo advocacy group; Mary K. Holmes told about her work with the Farmers Market over at Shaker Square and wondered how George Nemeth and others might show her how to kick off and drive traffic to a new enterprise, www.bountyofthewesternreserve.com. Scott Sanders of The Earth Day Coalition made a leap from sustainable design to the critical distinction of talking now of "regenerative design." Susan Altshuler of I-Open gave a jam-packed explanation of "neutral open spaces" as well as the bestowing of hope; legacy building and leaving our children better off rounded out her concerns.

Our Answer to Miss Brooks, MaryBeth Mathews, reminded us of the 54,000 students in the Cleveland Public Schools and her perspective as a teacher in that system for nearly 30 years, and a blogger about the kids for the past few years; her reminder, "It's about the kids," should resonate every time we hear about the self-dealing machinations of a crippled board appointed by a third-world politicians with regard to a grossly mismanaged school system (my words, not hers--she's a nice lady and still works there). Peter McDermott of Entrepreneurs for Sustainability used phrases like "advocate for what's possible," "this new economy," "purpose-driven network," and "local food I-can't-read-my own-writing." Orgnet.com's Valdis Krebs told us about human networks and mentioned how E4S and June Holley are so good at connecting others, seeing where the nodes are, and aren't. John McGovern of The Earthday Coalition told us about working with fleet managers to explore cleaner fuel options.

Steve FitzGerald spoke for longer than I've ever heard him talk, about facilitating more than advocating, union work, the City of Lakewood, the United Way, Lakewood Buzz, nonprofit newswire, and publishing Roldo Bartimole. Jenny with NoLastName told us about school in Wisconsin, environmental studies, New Zealand organic farms, and her current incarnation at EarthWatch. Kevin Cronin the attorney and advocate for Cleveland Bikes spoke for less time than I've ever seen him do and left us with the snappy, pithy: "When Cleveland bikes, Cleveland benefits."

Eric Krause (?) introduced himself as one of the new-bees at Insivia, up here by choice from Athens, Ohio. Bill Callahan told us about his background in energy programs, in community organizing, how we all still do it so horribly up and down the social ladder, the reason he pays attention, and the Foreclosure Action Coalition. Mike Gesing previewed the new NE Ohio Citizens League and told of his history with Richard Shatten, REI, and Ed Morrison. Andy Halko interjected the perspective of the businessperson and how to bring economic change about economically. Betsey Merkel emerged from behind the camera and pertly delivered something that made me note "footsoldier" and "relentless" with regard to Ed Hauser.

In the general discussion that now followed, O'Brien talks of the huge disconnect, turning blogs and websites into print, and how at 53 years old he's seen print making a bit of money. Callahan reinforced seeing "where the nodes aren't." Krebs pointed out that one way to strengthen a network is to diversify the network; we need to be uncomfortable to grow, to get out of the comfort zone. (The idea of "dis-ease"?) Twittering. Computers. PDAs. Cellphones. Access for everybody. Science-cartoon web rings as a pleasant memory to be revived?

My hands hurt. My notes ran out. I need to quit. Listen to the whole podcast; view the whole on You-Tube or Mogulus; it was a good session. Here's Betsey's parting shot on RealNEO:

* Watch "The Changing Landscape of Public Advocacy: Citizen-Community Priorities and Web 2.0" Oct 2 Live Show on the Midtown Brews Broadcast channel or on You Tube

Pass this information along freely. All welcome.

Questions? Contact: Betsey Merkel, The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open), 4415 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44113 Ph: 216-246-2447

from Coexist: a reprise of The Death of Common Sense

Coexist: The Death of Common Sense: Diane Ferri, our friend who appears to have lent the additional "s" to Tim Ferriss (we suspect we are all one big happy family, you know, but it's just that the "s" keeps shifting and slipping and sliding around), resurrects something that has circulated on the internet for a good while now, but struck me as more cogent than usual this morning:

"Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Trust and Truth; his wife, Discretion; his daughter Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three step-brothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else is to Blame and I'm a Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone."

Brooklyn Centre Wildlife Meeting

Hello Blogger-

Here are the details for our Next Brooklyn Centre Habitat Restoration Meeeting

Date: Saturday, October 11, 2008
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Where: Brooklyn Centre Public Library
3706 Pearl Road

Topic: GOALS and TIMELINE of Project

Sharon has compiled a Goals and Timeline survey that we will be using to guide our conversation. Tom will be conducting the meeting. If you would like a survey to fill out before the meeting contact Sharon at magicgalATsbcglobal.net or call her at 739-1522. She will get a survey to you.

If you would like to become a member of our habitat team please contact Gloria at Gloria.ferrisATgmail.com or call her at 216-351-0254.

--
Gloria
Brooklyn Centre National Wildlife Community Member

P.S. I apologize if you have received more than one invitation to the meeting.

As always, please forward the info to anyone and everyone you think may be interested in any aspect of our initiative.

And again, if you do not wish to receive the notifications about our meetings please let me know and I will delete your name from our list.

from the PD: how dare you say no to our big accounts!

The Plain Dealer editorial board inveighs against politicians who voted against a congressional give-away to some of the PD's major advertising accounts.

The irony is that, if the PD had had the guts to "just say no" in the first placeto the influencers behind the tainted advertising dollars, we might not all be in the pickle we're in today.

This "just say no" idea applies not only to the foreclosure mess but also to the MedicalMartConventionCenter sellout. The PD has not been an advocate for this community for a good long time, and it shows.

When it comes to advertising, they do not discriminate, except against the best interests of the majority of the public.

the unshockable P.J.

Extensive pornography found on Patrick O'Malley's computer - Cleveland Metro News - The Latest Breaking News, Photos and Stories from The Plain Dealer:

Having been involved in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County politics for most of his adult life, it seems that nothing much fazed P. J. Let's hope this case does not make history with what might be termed the O'Malley Weird Worksite Mitigation Defense: "Please, your honor, my work environment was so weird I thought this other stuff was kinda regular."

"The government found images of bestiality, bondage and other acts of sexual deviance on a computer seized from the home of former Cuyahoga County Recorder Patrick O'Malley in 2004.

A sentencing memorandum filed Monday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan details the wide assortment of pornographic images and text that led to O'Malley's recent conviction."

alternative business stationery: advertisements for yourself

The Crane Insider: The Amazing Calling Card Phenomenon -- I got some gentleman's calling cards from Crane's earlier this year. They're a welcome counterpoint to the traditional business card, which for me has gotten too cluttered, too hidebound, and obfuscated by disclaimers and clarifiers.

With a calling card, I don't have to get anybody's approval about how I present myself to the public. I used to use the calling card as an augmentation to the business card, and now the trend has reversed--the business card is the exception, and the calling card is the standard. It also takes away the appearance of my soliciting business or importuning financial opportunity.

The stock and the engraving are so much better quality as well.

At the link, read what Crane's Insider himself has to say about the phenomenon as it manifests among the generational segments.

RTA afternoon report for the 79, in the twitter fashion

Bad public relations on the 79 bus, from downtown out Fulton to Denison. Had to wait downtown forever. Seemed as though 1 bus were missing. Going out of town, bus was packed. On Fulton, starting at Lorain, we were so packed we had to leave people stranded--probably 10 or 15 were not picked up.

No air conditioning.

Need more buses, more frequent pickup. Ridership cannot increase given the current packed conditions. It's impossible to run a business this way--no room to expand when expansion is sorely called for.

Need to confiscate sales tax increase earmarked for MedMartConventionCenter?

I now need to launder one shirt and send one suit for dry cleaning. Riding the bus today was a false economy.

shedding a little light: in case you were wondering

10,000 Little (micro) Ideas to Keep You Believing in Cleveland -- The prize-winning idea announced 11 days after the Galleria Gala event for 10,000 (((micro))) ideas has to do with improving lighting, and not many details of the suggestion appear. I wonder if improving lighting means reducing lighting, creating atmosphere, and conserving power?

We need to remember that automobiles, buses, and business establishments have their own lights, and street lighting is largely superfluous. At 3 in the morning, it's downright wasteful.

Tactically, the less artificial light there is at night, the safer we are. In the dark, you control your own domain.

A case in point: Since I took the overhead lighting, my own mercury-vapor streetlight, out of my back yard, I have had no further trouble with uninvited visitors. If I want to invite somebody, I'll turn the localized lighting on for them--the porch lights, the garage lights, the landscape lights. I don't use motion-sensor lighting because that, too, can be used by an intruder to his advantage, especially if you're not around.

Lights invite; they should be intentional, thoughtful, and voluntary. Businesses use lights to attract. Public lighting dilutes or negates that ambient effect.

I sincerely hope the prize-winning idea called for less, not more, in the way of the application of night-time lighting.

Bathing the streetscape with artificial night lighting merely sends the bad guys the message that we are afraid and makes it easier for the drug boys to make change.

Boston Legal: junk like a turtle

►► Boston Legal TV Show Unofficial fan site: James Spader, John Larroquette, William Shatner, Candice Bergen, Tara Summers, Christian Clemenson, Gary Anthony Williams, Saffron Burrows, Rene Auberjonois, Mark Valley -- Thank goodness we got the heads up from the kids down in Knoxville about the season's premiere of my one and only TV show. Find out what Denny's talking about, at 10 PM tonight, on Boston Legal, Season 5, Episode 1, "Smoke Signals", when he says:

"It's receded - like a turtle too ashamed to come out of its shell!"

in NEWSWEEK, Rokakis gets pithy about FRB

Callahan’s Cleveland Diary » Blog Archive » Newsweek: Rokakis saw what Greenspan didn’t -- One thing I noticed about the commentary spewing from some of the less accountable media this week was a muddling of the distinction between the Federal government and the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB). On his blog, Bill Callahan points to Newsweek and a pithy, trenchant quote about the FRB from Jim Rokakis:

“Here’s what I learned about the Fed: They do wonderful lunches. Their cafeteria is really good,” says Rokakis. “But the Federal Reserve Bank is not there to protect us. It’s there to protect the banks.”

Callahan nails it again--add your 2 cents

Callahan’s Cleveland Diary » Blog Archive » Battlegrounds and bailouts -- Go to Callahan's and add your two cents. If you want to find a few other talking points on these topics, call me at 216-255-6640, and we'll kick things around a bit. Not everything belongs on a blog.

The dialogue could be very interesting and productive these next few months, if we talk about what we as stakeholders critically need to talk about, not what "they" want to promote as the issues with which to manipulate and polarize the public prior to the election.

I'm not sure that our interests are parallel with "theirs."

ready, willing, and what's the other part?

Palin says she is ready to assume presidency - The Boston Globe -- In a related story, Tim Ferris has declared himself ready to stand in as pope.

#9,999 little (micro) idea, for Visions of Cleveland, today at the Galleria

With the imposed space constraint on ideas, here is my second micro idea in 100 words, or less, using the 5/7/5 syllabic constraint of the haiku structure to kick things off:

Cleveland nonprofits say,

"Don't give where it does no good."

We stare back at them.

Start a business, nonprofit or LLC, to terminate nonproductive nonprofit entities in the Cleveland area. Pay a bounty-type fee. Figure out a way to name the business with the acronym of NINJA. Live long and prosper as a community. The business eventually works itself out of a job when the mission is accomplished.

Simultaneously, establish a similar business to specialize in trimming the government sector. Name this one something like GINSU, or GEEHAW.

These are simple ideas. Why haven't we implemented them yet?

My other micro idea today appears at http://save-our-land.blogspot.com/2008/09/of-10000-little-ideas-this-one-is-for.html.

Ken Duncan reports: Conventional Conventions

Politry Plus » Blog Archive » Conventional Conventions -- At the link, find insightful reporting/commentary framed as poetry.

Rhetoric that rained on Republicans

reminds me of the Democratic deluge.

Both performances triggered emotions,

without leaving any evidence of ideas.

A burdened nation has a choice

of artificial columns or a slide show ―

the only real substance behind

either convention’s winsome words. (more)

secession may provide the solution to what the PD wants

Callahan’s Cleveland Diary » Blog Archive » PD: Cut Council in ‘09, we don’t care how -- Callahan points up the fact that the local paper is calling for a reduction in council, regardless. I'd like to accomodate them. If Brooklyn Centre secedes, there will be at least one fewer council salary.

It's been difficult, over the years, watching our neighborhood be back-leveled through a denial of service. Before we reach the same level as Mayor Jackson's frames of reference of what a neighborhood ought to look like, we need to pull out and declare our independence, and take our money and our assets with us. From my point of view, the city has not been our friend.

All wards may have equal rights, but that doesn't mean a government must degrade prosperous areas to bring them to the same low level as failing wards.

A population size of 25,000 lives, give or take, more than puts us on a par with other suburbs in the coming regionalization craze. The suburbs are going to try to make every little podunk mayor Jackson's equal, and I don't see them getting much resistance. It's time for us to become re-individuated, as it was 200 years ago. Please don't preach me about economies of scale--show me the numbers, if you can.

Brooklyn Centre News

Dear -

You may have heard about this latest endeavor of making Brooklyn Centre a National Wildlife Habitat Community..  We are asking for everyone who wants to come be a part of this fun and exciting project.

The time is right, the time is now.  The things that need doing will begin right here, right now.  All we need to add is you.   Here are the details for the first two meetings:

What:  Brooklyn Centre Habitat Restoration initiative Planning Session

When:   Saturday, September 13th & September 27th
            2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

Where:  Brooklyn Centre CPL Library
            3706 Pearl Road  (across from Riverside Cemetery)

Join us in making OUR neighborhood the FIRST urban community wildlife neighborhood in the NATION!!

If you can't make it face to face in September, don't worry.  We will be setting up an on-line space to keep everyone up-to-date.   We will have October meetings as well.

Sharon, Daryl and Gloria

P.S.  If you receive more than one email, we apologize.  Please pass this on to neighbors that may not have email or are not on an email list.  Look for updates in the Old Brooklyn News as well.

bloviate

Op-Ed Columnist - Obama Outwits the Bloviators - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com -- If I had to look this one up, I'd suspect some of you may have to, too. Here it is.

And I'm resisting the temptation to make some totally immature, scurrilous remark, to coin a new catchphrase for the next 2 months, and then to do ecstatic pirouettes, verbal permutations, and semantic combinations around the adolescent coinage, rolling on the floor laughing. God help me with this Tourette's of the keyboard, and the near-total editorial freedom of the blog format.

attitudinal bias: who says a "golden age" requires a reversion?

Menzies Campbell: Obama's search for the golden age - Commentators, Opinion - The Independent: Ah, now here comes talk of a "golden" age in a cultural and a political context, but the commentator also thinks of this as being a "reversion to some golden age." It's time for an attitudinal shift.

There are no reversions, ever, at least not given our current functionalities with time and space. We have the present: Look around. Isn't this sort of a marvelous era in which to be alive? Could it be the golden age is right here, right now, and all we have to do is to keep moving?

Could it be that the emergence and blossoming of a golden age has very little to do with the November elections?

“this election has never been about me. It is about you.”

The Democrats A stirring speech Economist.com: Barack Obama: "“this election has never been about me. It is about you.”"

A critical point for all of us, to take to ourselves, to internalize. This is beyond politics.

Table 7 on 09/16/2008

Dear Blogger--

Ah, at the beck and call of an email from the Old Road Warrior (parse this three-word phrase as you will), Table 7 awakens from it's summer slumber and begins to slouch towards Superior in September, on the 16th.

What's the upshot thus far? Where are we now? Will the appetizers be just a little bit heavier? Will the coffee be just as good? Will we find the anwers to the meaning of life, and be able to finance the plan-to-end-all-plans from amongst our herd of new-found friends? Will we get out in time to grab dinner at Marie's?

Will we have fun? I'm hoping to be in town and to see you there.

http://thefounderscafetable7.blogspot.com/

If you want admission to the Table 7 collaboration, drop me a line at timothyferris.thefounderscafe@blogger.com

Tim Ferris
216-255-6640

more Olympics: just wait until Saturday night

Channelnewsasia.com -- Olympics: US, Australian women advance to final in basketball.
The picture you'll find at the link has a young lady in it, on the right, whom I mistook at first for Katie Smith, whose fan club we naturally comprise, as family. She's Kristi Harrower, the caption says.

We're looking forward to tomorrow's square-off.

our Olympic Gold connection

This good news comes from an old standby business-systems supplier of ours, Client Marketing Systems (The Leader in CRM Software Since 1985) in Pismo Beach, California. Our cousin Katie Smith is at the Olympics on the women's basketball team (and blogging it, too), and now here comes another outstanding women's Olympic connection, Stephanie Brown Trafton.

Dear Tim,

Since you are part of our Advisors Assistant family, we want to share our excitement over Olympic Gold Medal Winner Stephanie Brown Trafton.

Stephanie Brown Trafton is the sister of one of our programmers, Nate Brown, who has worked for our company for 12 years.

Stephanie won the GOLD MEDAL in the womens' discus competition in Beijing on Monday.

It's the first womens' discus Gold since 1932.

You've probably seen Stephanie on TV already. She's been all over the news and on the TODAY show. She was the underdog. She came from behind to win the Gold, and they're saying it's the biggest upset of the 2008 Olympics.

We're so excited and happy for Stephanie. We've been watching her work very hard for many years - and it really paid off.

Hip-Hip Hurray for Stephanie Brown Trafton!!!!!

Warm regards,

Carol Dempsey
Client Marketing Systems, Inc.
880 Price Street
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
800 799-4267

reprise: Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones on MTB

Meet the Bloggers » Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones -- from October of 2006. It seems that the death notices are official as of this evening.

cut the fares, increase the service

RTA leaders favor 25-cent fare increase, no drastic service cuts - Cleveland Metro News – The Latest Breaking News, Photos and Stories from The Plain Dealer -- Time to talk about RTA board composition and board pay. Why are we having people who did not do so well in their prior incarnations, like Jane Campbell, continuing to have a hand in things so critical to our productivity around here? What do we pay this board, and should we consider cutting back on that? How many on the board are serving just to have a crack at qualifying for PERS, and should that perquisite be eliminated, too? We need to examine these cosy, and ultimately costly, insider relationships.

We need a better board with better connections and with a better track record of getting difficult jobs done to get us the money it takes to cut fares back to nothing, and soon, and increase services to make this the best transit system in the nation. The basics are already there. An attractive transit system is a prime economic driver. Period.

Mass transit can make the world go 'round, all day and all night. We must get out of this 9 to 5 mentality and see a bigger picture. Also, we must consider that it's easier to retrofit a transit system to operate off electricity than it is to do the same with all the automobiles. See Andy Grove's recent piece on energy on Portfolio.com

milestone: 700 LinkedIn Connections

LinkedIn: My Contacts: Connections -- As of this morning, I now have 700 connections on Linked In. It's getting interesting watching the seething, teeming mass of humanity assembled there, seeking knowledge of what they have in common, and not what keeps them apart.

I'd say it's a healthy phenomenon.

beginning to understand what it all meant

AWEARNESS: The Kenneth Cole Blog: After 40 Years Of Olympic History, Tommie Smith and John Carlos Are Vindicated -- At the link is a double YouTube play, about 12-13 minutes in all, taking us back 40 years to turbulent times, showing the beginnings of making amends four decades later. These guys created quite an uproar, were judged as being out of line and traitorous, and paid a terrible price over the years for doing what they thought was the right thing. We're now understand better what they were trying to communicate, what they were adding into the cultural dialogue.

From the perspective of now, we can only begin to listen better, to be non-judgmental, to take words and gestures at face value and not load them up with our own baggage. We cannot ostracize a whole segment of our society any longer; we cannot afford to hold each other apart. We cannot afford to waste time any longer.

Julia Child & The OSS: Oh, So Social

Julia Child, international spy - THE WEEK -- In the late '60s in Boston, I would see Julia on her way to and from work. She rode the bus.

At the link is an eye-opening recounting of the OSS, the Office of Strategic Services and precursor of the CIA. Follow the links in the article itself. Go deep. Here's a taste:

Julia Child: celebrity chef by day, superspy by night,” said Judy Berman in Salon’s Broadsheet blog. She was already a national treasure for having “pretty much single-handedly introduced fresh, high-quality ingredients to midcentury American tables,” but a “mind-blowingly cool” double life, too? “You can’t get more awesome than that, right?”

True, she was “secretly more awesome than you already thought,” said Ryan Tate in Gawker, but actually her work in an “administrative capacity” at the OSS was already known. It’s “interesting to get confirmation,” though, and there are some great new details, like that she said on her OSS application that “her weakness was that she was ‘impulsive,’ because she quit a department store job once.”

Certainly “there was nothing covert about Julia,” said Robert Stein in his blog Connecting.the.Dots. In fact she “reveled” in telling confidantes about “her most dramatic exploit,” cooking up a shark repellant for underwater mines aimed at German U-boats. Her delight in that makes you wistful for “that innocent time when secretly working for your country was a source of pride.”

Child isn’t the only high-profile OSS member already identified as an operative, said Nick Gillespie in Reason’s Hit & Run blog. The “main takeaway” from these new documents appears to be the sheer size of the OSS. People previously thought maybe there were 13,000 employees.

The number of “notables” was also kind of surprising, said Andrea Stone and Emily Bazar in USA Today. The list of OSS agents “resembles a cocktail party guest list rather than a spy network.” With so many “actors, financiers, and socialites,” the internal joke was that OSS stood for “Oh So Social.”

blogging platform augmentation

Movable Type Pro and 4.2: Where Blogging is Headed - Movable Type -- I've been noticing that a few of the TypePad accounts around the blogosphere lately are quite stylish if not gorgeous, and it seems here that they have some functionality behind them.

I'm considering having the next iteration of our blogs use the TypePad platform; Blogger (my stuff) has become too predictable and identifiable, and WordPress (Gloria's stuff) continues to confound me. Windows Live Writer, a Godsend from time to time, works with all these platforms. We're also going to be backing up our bets with Near-Time for even fuller functionality.

Change of Address for Stephen Post

President's Corner Dear Friends: The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love continues as a non-profit registered in Ohio. However, the address for the Institute has changed to PO Box 1516 Stony Brook, New York 11790 In addition, the preferred email for me is now post@stephengpost.com. I can also be reached at stephen.post@stonybrook.edu. The preferred telephone contact point is 216-926-9244 (cell), or as backup, 631-675-1268. I will continue to send out newsletters monthly. Yes, I have moved from Cleveland to New York, where I serve as Director, Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate care, and Bioethics, Stony Brook University (SUNY). Thank you very much. Stephen G. Post, Ph.D.

	Institute for Research on Unlimited Love PO Box 1516 Stony Brook, NY 11790 -US post@stephengpost.com www.unlimitedloveinstitute.org

Stephen appeared on Meet.The.Bloggers a little over a year ago.

Burke Lakefront Airport named after HC alumnus

A few days ago, for some reason, I was looking up a listing of the mayors of Cleveland and noticed that The Honorable Thomas Aloysius Burke, Jr., had a Wikipedia entry indicating he attended "Holy Cross University." Backchecking on the Holy Cross alumni online community, I found that Burke was indeed one of our alumni of the class of 1920 at the College of the Holy Cross, and that his wife was Mrs. Evelyn Burke.

Burke Lakefront Airport (BKL), the sixth busiest airport in the state of Ohio, was named after him; it opened in 1947. Here, below, are a few notes from the city planning commission regarding the lakefront plans Burke set in motion. As a side note, the Cleveland Port Director when the Air Shows began at BKL back in 1964 was Captain Noel C. Painchaud, USNR (R), also an alumnus of the College of the Holy Cross, class of 1954. Hoya.

1947

Burke Lakefront Airport opened as Cleveland’s second municipally-owned airport with a 3,600-foot dirt runway and a small operations facility.

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1952

The Lakeland Freeway (now I-90) was constructed through Gordon Park, almost destroying it.

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1954

The Cleveland Aquarium opened at Gordon Park south of I-90.   Operated by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the City of Cleveland, the Aquarium housed freshwater and marine exhibits in a building originally constructed as a bath house.   A major expansion in 1967 tripled the Aquarium’s size giving it a capacity of 82,000 gallons, but by 1985 structural problems forced the building to close and the exhibits were transferred to the Cleveland Metroparks in 1986.

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1957

After additional landfill had been placed in Lake Erie, a 5,200-foot hard surface runway opened at Burke Lakefront Airport.

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1959

The northern segment of Cleveland’s Innerbelt (I-90) that would eventually wrap downtown Cleveland on its eastern and southern sides opened between Memorial Shoreway and Chester Avenue.   A sharp curve, created as the depressed highway passed under the lakefront railroad tracks and merged with the Shoreway, produced numerous accidents and continues to be known locally as “Deadmans Curve”.

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1968

Intercity Yacht Club was established at East 72nd Street north of Gordon Park.

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1972

The City of Cleveland leased property at the eastern end of Burke Lakefront Airport to the Cleveland Board of Education to build Aviation High School.

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1975

A confined disposal facility, holding dredgings from the Cuyahoga River shipping channel, was filled creating 114 acres of new land at the eastern end of Burke Lakefront Airport.

God bless the little Meweet

Teagan - Origin and Meaning of the name Teagan at BabyNamesWorld -- The baby has arrived, down in Knoxville, at 5:09 PM. She came in at a little more than 7 pounds and hasn't been measured for height yet--her mom and dad haven't turned her loose since she made her debut. And at last we know her name: Teagan Elizabeth. The kids have picked something that should please all sides of the family, with a little Gaelic and a little English derivation.