Judge Peter Corrigan tackles the task of riding herd on the ‘tards

It seems Judge Corrigan finds the current administration as big an embarrassment as the rest of us do, and he can do something about it before election time rolls around. The $900,750 fine should be borne by those who incurred it, our elected and hired help, and not the general fund. We have to start recovering money from them on a personal basis, and not funding their failed attempts at gangsterism out of dollars that should be benefiting all of us.

Penalties and fines need to be specifically and particularly attached to the miscreants, the mayors and their staffs. We must strip away the protections that hitherto have enabled their violating the law with impunity. There must be a personally assessed price for the practices of “cronyism and corruption.”

Judge, City Hall clash over civil service ruling - Metro - cleveland.com

breaking chains: Kill Your Cable TV Bill Dead -- InformationWeek

Years ago, cable television was a godsend. In the mid-70s in Atlanta, I think I paid around $6 a month for no-commercial television and movies with great reception and no rabbit ears.

Today, cable has become what it replaced, commercial-ridden television, and it costs a hefty subscription rate, to boot.

In the INFORMATION WEEK article here are some workarounds you can start using now. Personally, we have a Netflix subscription, cable internet from Time Warner, and over-the-air HDTV. We haven’t had cable for nearly 20 years, since we discovered our then-4-year-old had become exceedingly fond of MTV and also had already memorized a good number of Beavis and Butthead riffs.

Kill Your Cable TV Bill Dead -- Video -- InformationWeek

Steven D. Knope, M.D.: concierge medicine, retainer medicine, direct medicine and boutique medicine

Here’s an interesting fee-based advisory business model that makes a lot of sense to me. It allows the doctor to function as a true professional and to act as an advocate for his clients in a market that has become hopelessly compromised and complicated. Also, Dr. Knope uses blogs and podcasts to get the message out.

I was referred here by a NYTimes article about how doctors are opting out of Medicare.

Concierge medicine, retainer medicine, direct medicine and boutique medicine are all terms used to describe a new form of medical service in which patients contract directly with their doctor for medical services. By removing the third-party payer, your physician acts as your advocate, with no interference or conflict of interest from outside parties.

Internist Steven D. Knope, M.D., a pioneer in creating patient-centered care for optimal health and wellness, is the first physician to offer this comprehensive, personal approach in Tucson.

For one annual fee, Dr. Knope provides:

Exercise and fitness consultation, including a lactate stress test, nutritional analysis and an exercise prescription tailored to your specific health and fitness goals.

24/7 telephone access via cell phone or beeper wherever you are.

Same-day service for any medical problem that requires evaluation by Dr. Knope.

Office visits that are anything but routine. You are scheduled for 20- to 30-minute sessions for routine visits, depending on your needs.

Dr. Knope personally oversees hospital admissions and care. There will be no “hospitalist” or unfamiliar physician directing your care in a crisis.

Dr. Knope supervises and monitors all ER visits.

All blood work is done in our office. You won't be referred to busy labs for blood work.

Prompt telephone feedback with lab and radiology test results.

Prompt referrals to a select group of Tucson's best specialists. When time is important, Dr. Knope will intervene on your behalf so you can see a specialist as soon as possible.

An annual physical exam, including a stress test and a disease prevention assessment, along with a comprehensive cancer screening.

Supervision by a personal trainer at your gym or in your home. Two sessions with a certified exercise physiologist to ensure you are following Dr. Knope’s exercise prescription properly.

Steven D. Knope, M.D.

good article on Jill Miller Zimon also mentions MeetTheBloggers

From Women’s eNews, here’s an article featuring our friend Jill Miller Zimon in “Journalist of the Month” and announcing her entry into local Pepper Pike politics. Gloria just told me Jill is filing her petitions at the Board of Elections right now, which is just before lunch time. In the article, Jill gleans many good comments, among them the following:

On Feb. 23, the day before Limbaugh's women's summit, a Public Polling Study showed Limbaugh--known in some circles for saying "feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream"--has a major gender gap on his hands. In the poll 56 percent of men surveyed expressed a favorable opinion of Limbaugh, while 37 percent of women.

On the day of the summit, Miller Zimon ran excerpts of the Limbaugh program along with her comments, which were sent around the Internet by e-mail and picked up by several other blogs, including ThinkProgress.org, The Moderate Voice, and The Huffington Post.

Miller Zimon's citizen journalism earns the respect of Jay Rosen, a New York University journalism professor, and author of the influential media blog PressThink. "She has her feminist group base, and a local political base, and some new media people and Cleveland bloggers," says Rosen. "I like the way she knits together the local and the national, the political and the personal, without getting sentimental."

In writing for this diverse community, Miller Zimon is succeeding at blogging in the deepest sense, says Rosen. "The greatest characteristic of blogging is that personal expression can have the publishing might of big companies. That's the big promise of it and that's why she's successful."

There’s also mention of the influence of the MeetTheBloggers experience:

Since 2005, Miller Zimon's concern about transparency of local politics, and the power of blogging, led her to attend and blog about almost 40 local "Meet the Blogger" forums in which notable Ohio politicians and other civic leaders faced bloggers and their questions in person.

That helped spur her decision to run for public office.

"Meet the Bloggers helped expose me to just how normal people pursue politics, and why," says Miller Zimon. "Complaining and writing about it can only get you so far . . . "

Citizen Blogging Boosts Zimon into Local Politics

more contact info on Gloria

Dear Blogger Pals,

As of 3 PM yesterday, Friday, Gloria is a resident on the same floor as she was in November and December, the third floor in the MetroHealth Towers, room 334-1, telephone 216-957-7188.

If there are any changes to location or phone number, I'll post it to her blog, www.gloriaferris.net.

We expect her stay will continue 4 or 5 days past the March 19th operation.

Thanks again for your prayers, companionship, and support, all those things that are assisting her miraculous return to good health.

Tim Ferris
taferris@gmail.com
216-255-6640
216-351-0254
216-905-1049 cell

Gloria’s location and telephone at MetroHealth

For our family and friends, here's the update I put up at Gloria's blog just now.

This is Tim, posting to Gloria’s blog. Her location at Metro is the same as it was last November, the 3rd floor in the Towers, to the left as you get off the elevator. The room number is 334-1, and the telephone is 216-957-7188. Visiting hours go from early until 8:30 PM, officially, and the phone lines are open from 8 AM through 9 PM, I believe.

Gloria Ferris » Blog Archive » Gloria’s location and telephone at MetroHealth

Friday events for Gloria

Here's a note I've been emailing around this evening, trying to keep everyone in the loop:

Dear Friends--

Tomorrow, Friday, Gloria is being readmitted to MetroHealth Medical Center to adjust her medication intake for an operation she will have early next Thursday, March 19th.

After the operation on the 19th, we have no idea how long she will be kept in the hospital, but anticipate it will be another 4-5 days.

I'll get the room phone number out to you tomorrow or Saturday. I'll also post it to her blog, http://www.gloriaferris.net, so there is a point to which we can all refer back for details and at which we can converse.

And, for our blogger friends, no, I don't at this point plan to live-blog the operation. My laptop's replacement fan and heat sink have not arrived yet from China.

Tim Ferris
taferris@gmail.com
216-255-6640
216-351-0254
216-905-1049 cell

City of Cleveland, Ohio: CHARTER AMENDMENTS ADOPTED 11-4-08

Way down the page, in section 25, you will find these parameters:

If the City’s population is: The City shall be divided into the following number of wards:

More than 575,000 ………………………………………………. 25
575,000 or less but more than 525,000………………….. 23
525,000 or less but more than 475,000………………….. 21
475,000 or less but more than 425,000………………….. 19
425,000 or less but more than 375,000………………….. 17
375,000 or less but more than 325,000………………….. 15
325,000 or less but more than 275,000………………….. 13
275,000 or less ……………………………………….…………… 11

The wards so formed shall be as nearly equal in population as may be fair and equitable, composed of contiguous and compact territory, and bounded by natural boundaries or street lines. When any territory is annexed to the City the Council shall by ordinances declare it a part of the adjacent ward or wards.

It's interesting to note here that they provide for annexation, but fail to talk about secession, or de- or dis-annexation.

It is my belief that we should now be talking about getting to a level of 17 wards immediately, if we're so hot to trot on getting busy and getting done before the census.

How many times are we going to re-tool all the systems and paperwork at the city and at the county level, to compensate for serial changes over a period of 2 or 3 years. The Honorable (this always cracks me up, how they've decked each other out with titles) Kevin Kelley, at the public review session last Wednesday at the Jones Home (little did we know we were all orphaned at that time, pending new adoption) whipped some Latin phraseology on us, saying the cost each time and every time would be de minimis.

We need to quantify de minimis and, if it's so negligible an expense, let the councilpeople pick up the tab out of their expense accounts, or personal pocket change.

CHARTER_AMENDMENTS_ADOPTED_11-4-08

GloriaFerris.net--"Taking One for the Team: Could Attrition Be the Answer To Cleveland City Council Reduction?"

My good friend and helpmate Madame Gloria has had an innovative and noble idea about letting attrition work to prune the ward structure here, or anywhere for that matter, anywhere that needs to become more efficient in its governmental structures to accommodate declining population and efficiencies and economies available due to technology and regional networking arrangements. "Taking one for the team" is something we should expect regularly from those in public service.

Here are a few things to consider, for the future, assuming increasing density as suburban living becomes untenable and my generation, The Boomers, gets sensible and downsizes into a very affordable pied a terre close to town and to the airports, Hopkins and Burke:

22,500 people X 19 wards = 427,500

25,000 people X 17 wards = 425,000

27,500 people X 15 wards = 412,500

The present situation, in which the population figures are inflated to 427,500 and completely unverified and unfounded, shows we should be at 17 wards right now, according to the dictates of the legislation, if the true number of people actually residing in Cleveland is in the 360,000 to 380,000 range today, as political insiders believe is the case.

22,500 people X 19 wards = 427,500

22,500 people X 17 wards = 382,500

22,500 people X 15 wards = 337,500

Here are the councilpeople by seniority, taking 21 wards down to 15 by attrition of senior members of council:

1. Jay Westbrook, 1980
2. Ken Johnson, 1980
3. Mike Polensek, 1982
4. Roosevelt Coates, 1987
5. Martin Sweeney, 1992?
6. Joe Cimperman, 1997

I'd say Madame give us something to think about, as we verify the population figures. If we're going to do it at all, let's get a big cut out of the way now, using the real numbers. Otherwise, wait to take any action at all until after the census is official. We can't afford to be imprecise any longer. Council must be accountable now, in what they say and what they use to calculate our present and future service.

Gloria Ferris » Blog Archive » Taking One for the Team: Could Attrition Be the Answer To Cleveland City Council Reduction?

Kathy Miracle: attachment from Akers email, posted below, detailing April 2nd event

JUMP START YOUR JOB SEARCH

ENHANCE YOUR NETWORKING RESULTS

AND ACCELERATE YOUR PATH TO YOUR NEXT CAREER!

On April 2^nd from 8:00 to 11:30 a.m., four local networking and “connecting” experts will share their job search secrets at a workshop with strategies, tools and tactics to help any job searcher find their next position. Thanks to our sponsor, MSA Companies, Serving the Medical, Manufacturing and IT Industries (www.medicalsolutionagents.com).

Today’s reality is that most jobs are found through networking and connecting (70% according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) . . . not online. The other reality is that job seekers are facing growing competition . . . northeast Ohio employers have too many resumes and have the luxury of looking for the “perfect fit” to help their business grow. This workshop will provide you with practical and easy to implement ideas to improve your job search efforts and your results. To register for this unique job search workshop, visit www.jumpstartyourjobsearch.eventbrite.com.

Attendees will:

• Learn how to build relationships that will drive introductions and job opportunities
• Discover tactics to improve the quantity and quality of your referrals and job opportunities
• Get access to strategies to help you sell yourself as a “high value ROI” for local employers
• Learn job networking tactics that will increase your referrals by 400-500% or more
• Be better prepared for the job opportunities you pursue

Your Experts – David Akers, Kristopher McCrone, Katherine Miracle and Jeff Nischwitz:

• Local entrepreneurs
• Professional and experienced networkers
• Job search and interviewing expert
• Marketing and personal branding expert
• Proven northeast Ohio connectors that regularly invest their time connecting people and job opportunities

Ø David Akers – President of The Collaborent Group, “master facilitator” and recognized connector

Ø Kristopher McCrone – Owner of Alternative Energy Consultants, "relationship builder" and a leader in the talent management industry

Ø Katherine Miracle – Owner and Founder of Miracle Resources and marketing and personal branding expert

Ø Jeff Nischwitz – Founder and Chief Question Officer of Think Again Coaching, “master connector” and the “human Linkedin” (www.thinkagaincoaching.com)

If you’re ready to jump start your job search . . . and accelerate your results, visit www.jumpstartyourjobsearch.eventbrite.com to register!

Event Details

• Date and Time – Thursday, April 2, 2009, from 8:00 – 11:30 a.m. (registration at 7:30 a.m.)
• Location – Lockkeepers Restaurant, 800 Rockside Road, Independence, Ohio (216-524-9404) (complimentary valet parking and continental breakfast included)
• Workshop Investment - $64.95 ($49.95 if you register on or before March 25^th)

Northeast Ohio employers are hiring, but they’re looking for the right people and being the “right” person means being the best at networking, connecting, differentiating, and interviewing. This workshop will provide attendees with the tools they need to be the best . . . and ultimately the right . . . person for northeast Ohio employers!

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to

jump start your job search and accelerate your career path!

www.jumpstartyourjobsearch.eventbrite.com

For more information, contact:

Katherine Miracle

Miracle Resources

km@miracleresources.com

(330) 777-2003 (Ext. 100)

The workshop is sponsored by

Serving the Medical, Manufacturing and IT Industries

www.medicalsolutionagents.com

What they’re saying about the experts:

"David’s ideas were refreshing, and very creative. I especially enjoyed his wittiness, jokes, knowledge, and charisma. David is really knowledgeable and has a unique approach to helping others think outside the box." Kenya Salters-Gordon, Entrepreneur

“Kris is a go getter. He has a knack for creating activity and generating ‘business’ from the start. He is very driven to be the best at whatever he attempts to tackle. I would definitely want his tenacious work ethic directed toward filling my openings.” Senior Executive Recruiter, Rosetta (formerly Brulant)

"When Katherine spoke at our company she gave us the tools and inspiration to increase our revenue.” Lynne Giacobbe, Executive Director, Kendal at Home

“Jeff Nischwitz is the human ‘LinkedIn.’ Not only does he know everyone but knows how to connect them perfectly. Jeff, with his legal, entrepreneurial, and corporate experience, cuts a wide wake and produces results, independently, through others, and for others. His new business is already making a mark and adding to his track record of helping individuals, groups, and corporations connect and profit. Keep up on what Jeff is doing and who he is helping and it might be you!” Andy Birol, Birol Growth Consulting, Author, growth coach and speaker