Martha posts a piece of Americana by Norman Rockwell.

Jack Ricchiuto writes:

In a talk I heard today at a regional economic development conference, I heard that biological evidence points to the fact that we’re hardwired for crisis-driven, competitive, hierarchical organizations and communities…

If anyone’s good at fostering dialog, it’s Jack.

Scott Gearity emails (reprinted with permission):

George, just noticed this as I was about to head out the door to, ironically, Civilization in Tremont to do some work-related reading/writing. Seemed like something that might be of interest to you and your readers. It�??s about a coffee shop in my old Seattle neighborhood of Capitol Hill called Victrola �?? which I used to visit occasionally and which many in that uniquely caffeinated town would tell you is one of the best local cafes in a place which has no shortage of them �?? that has decided to turn off their wifi access on the weekends to encourage social interaction.

http://wifinetnews.com/archives/005325.html

Cheers,
Scott
http://www.exportcontrolblog.com

I think I’d like to see WiFi a little more pervasive, before we start turning it off. Then again, I like the idea of intentional fostering conversations. Any one have an ideas on how to do both?

Please read the extended entry regarding a grassroot economic development intitiative in encouraging.
(more…)

If you’ve been reading BFD for a while, you know I tend to do short posts. Well, that’s changing. I’ve done more of an opinion piece at NoClevelandWalmart.org called Walmart and the American Dream?

The irony of it is, I end up concluding that I’d rather see The Gates Foundation in the community then The Walton Family Foundation…

Dear Mr. Machaskee,

You’re corrected in saying we don’t have to connected the dots. In your editorial, you spent the majority of the column inches repeating what most “intelligent and foresighted community” oriented people know - there a plenty of organizations working on strategy and vision. My question to you is, who’s going “to act to shape our future rather than react to save our existence”? Your numerous examples illustrate that we have plenty of managers and executives standing by to tell people what to do.

How many boards to you sit on? How many other people sit on more than one board? How many people on the Greater Cleveland Partnership? What sort of impact would you and the board of the Greater Cleveland Partnership have if you all sent the board on hiatus for one year, and instead of trying to executively direct others, you rolled up your sleeves and tackled, say, poverty?

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Regards,
George Nemeth

I had to laugh reading this about “an artist with a global reputation” being cheesed off at a “highly respected” institution.

John Palmer remembers:

It�??s the soldier, not the reporter, who gives us freedom of the press.

It�??s the soldier, not the poet, who gives us freedom of speech.

It�??s the soldier, not the campus organizer, who permits people to demonstrate.

It�??s the soldier - who salutes the flag, serves the flag, and whose coffin is
draped with the flag - that allows the protester to burn the flag.

We all have roles. What’s yours?

From an article titled Boardroom Pressures Open Doors for Women:

Next month Norway will require that all corporate boards be 40 percent female. While the U.S. is nowhere near that benchmark, recent reforms and other pressures on boards are looking like a plus for women.

Jeff Hess left this comment here on Brewed Fresh Daily:

For all that it has allowed me to accomplish in my life, I returned 11 years of service to my country.

We often get teary-eyed on holidays. While I have to say that my observations are anecdotal, it has been my experience that flags play very little role during those thankfully fleeting insane moments of terror that separate the long stretches of boredom for anyone in the military.

It is to your military family, those handful of others on whom you count to watch your back, that your mind turns when you’re in the shit.

But on the broader, more philosophical plane, I have to say that it is a piece of paper, the United States Constitution, not a piece of cloth, that motivated me.

I, and every other person in the service took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Sadly, I think anyone would be hard pressed to discover even a handful of trainees at any boot camp who have actually read and understand the constitution they have sworn to defend with their lives.

For me, there are no more stirring words than:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

That is something worth dying for.

I used to have some respect for Mark Cuban, but it turns out he’s just another conservative fundamentalist (and I mean that in the secular sense):

Mavs owner Mark Cuban and Spurs center David Robinson who said, ‘”If it’s an embarrassment to [Nash] maybe [he] should be in a different country.’

Have Americans become that intolerant, or have we always been that way?

I wouldn’t call this officer’s behavior unfortunate, I’d call it wrong or illegal or unconstitutional:

The victim John Bell says Officer Devore threatened him. The lawsuit claims the officer said he�??ll give Bell until the count of three to hand over the camera or he�??ll make his life �??a living hell.�?�

�??What�??s really wrong with this whole picture is we have a police officer basically robbing a citizen,�?� said Dean Hoover, victim�??s attorney.

The attorney for Bell says it was unreasonable search and seizure, a violation of the 4th amendment.

�??The stopping of his car, abduction…made a false police report, which itself is a crime,�?� said Hoover.

�??The officer was wrong,�?� said Chief Dave Robbins, Hudson police. �??His actions were unfortunate.�?�

What would you call it?

Via Bitter Girl.

Another Civic Strategies E-Letter highlights another problem:

some local officials think the bums at the bank need to make more foreclosures �?? and make them faster.

Reason: The older suburbs are worried that, if a house or two on a street falls into disrepair or is abandoned by a family who can’t keep up the mortgage payments, it can drag down the entire block. Houses that sit empty too long, officials say, attract vandals and arsonists. Cities can help keep up appearances by cutting the grass and repairing the exterior (placing a lien on the property for repayment), but neighbors still worry that the darkened house next door will drag down property values. “Who wants to live in a neighborhood where you have these popping up all over?” one suburban mayor asked.

This is where foreclosures come in, of course. If an owner stops making mortgage payments, banks can foreclose, pay off the liens and back taxes and sell it to someone who’ll maintain the house and pay taxes. Normally, banks don’t need help in doing this, but in the Cleveland area they do. The problem is with the county courts, which are so backlogged and, lawyers say, inefficient that foreclosures can take a year or more to process. That’s a year that a house can sit empty and fall into disrepair while the paperwork sits at the courthouse.

Sounds like we need to work on the court system, not the banks.

Women make up more than 1/2 of the population but sometimes it seems that the Internet has ignored this fact.

Or the sheer enormity of the Internet does not make it easy to find information, resources and items of interest for women in the Cleveland area.

Not anymore! ClevelandWomen.Com is geared toward providing information, resources and fun to the female population of Northeast Ohio - and those who care about them. In fact, we hope that the men in your life will visit and maybe learn what makes you tick…