George Nemeth: Tim Ryan @ bloggapalooza?
This is a cool idea.
May 27, 2006
George Nemeth: links for 2006-05-27
George Nemeth: Cleveland foodies
Lots of great restaurants in town. Do you consider yourself a foodie?
Cleveland should be billed as the foodie capital of the world. My husband, Brian, and his girlfriend Xristi (yes that’s Christi with an X…how cool is that!) are the resident foodies. We love to go out to eat and spare no expense at one new or not so new place each month. Usually we get a hit.
The newest to peak the foodies interest is Momocho. Dining there last night for my friend Brian’s birthday we gorged ourselves on guacamole samples, margarita samplers, taquitos, chilaquilas, enchiladas, one mocha cake, and some fried ice cream. Oh and the chile rellenos too. SOOOOOOO damn good. I could have eaten the goat cheese guac by the spoonful. My smoked trout (i heart trout) and crab chilaquila was tasty! Guess whats going in the garden tonight? Some pablano pepers and tomatillos should I be able to find seedlings at the greenhouse run tonight…
Someone should organize foodie nights out.
George Nemeth: Random Flickr: 000015
George Nemeth: A community statement supporting an employee-friendly ABJ
How about a bit of media activism for you?
I strongly encourage you to visit out site We Are the Beacon and sign the community statement saying you want an employee-friendly buyout of the paper. Every little bit of support helps. These people have become like family to me and I don’t want to see them - or me - out of a job!
Which is why I’m happy Hanna left a comment here on BFD. I’m looking forward to reading posts like this:
Bishop’s Weed is an avid gardener’s worst nightmare. Worse yet, it is sold in garden centers and big box stores with no warning label. Really, before they are allowed to take this stuff home, people should be required to sign iron-clad contracts that requires them never to pass this plant along.
So why do garden centers and big box stores still sell it. Well, because people buy it and those places are all about making a buck. But beyond that, Bishop’s Weed does serve a purpose in the landscape world.
This is where the virtues of Bishop’s Weed comes in. Bishop’s Weed should only be used in areas where there will not be someone to garden. For example, my current guerrilla gardening project, the woman who takes care of the place told me that she purposely planted Bishop’s Weed because she hoped that it would keep down the weeds while still looking nice. Where the Bishop’s Weed is growing, it does just that.
If you have a Great Aunt Helga who just can’t get out in the yard, Bishop’s Weed is a great solution. It will choke out anything including weeds and yet does not seem to grow into the lawn turf. It also grows relatively low to the ground so does not need to be cut…
By the way, there are only a few ways I discover new blogs. Mostly, it’s a blogger linking to me. Sometimes I search, but the easiest way is for someone to tell me that they blog, or know of someone who does. So please, don’t keep it to yourself.
This Garden Is Illegal: The Virtues of Bishop’s Weeds - A Garden Blog
George Nemeth: Blogging from inside the smelter
Fascinating story unfolding. I’m looking forward to Daniella’s updates:
I thought about the money and I thought about the story. I thought about the experience of working in a smelter for a few days or weeks and I realized that I had no idea what it was like to work in a dangerous environment where the temperature is 130F with no ventilation, twelve hour shifts and the need to be totally focus on your work or you may get hurt or cause someone else to die. Fatalities are very real in the steel workers?? world and although I am not enamored of risking my health and life for money, I am curious to see how I will react in this unknown world of mystery…
George Nemeth: The handmaiden of private developers
I’m excerpting an excerpt of an article in Harvard Design Magazine of a panel discussion, which is probably wrong to do on several levels, but it’s darn interesting stuff. Thanks to the author who sent it to me. Make sure you check out the Flickr badge of Cleveland signage while you’re there:
The New London eminent domain case has raised enormous skepticism because of the idea that the government is almost the handmaiden of private developers, taking land from single-family homeowners and turning it over to large developers. So we have to discover what role developers can play in all this. I want to ask the panel here: Whom do you turn to for advice on what to build, where to build it, and how to build it? Are architects your closest, your first confidants as you go about developing land? In short, do you really, really love architects and value their advice?
Run Come Test Us: The Origins and Evolution of “Urban Design,” 1956??2006
May 28, 2006
George Nemeth: links for 2006-05-28
George Nemeth: Overhauling education from the ground up
This is quite a post:
There is perhaps no other single issue that will more clearly define the future of our country than the quality of our educational system. And the sad truth is the current condition of our nation??s education system is abysmal. Despite the Republican??s silver bullet of ??No Child Left Behind?, our schools are continuing to fail, and we remain far behind the rest of the industrialized world in the areas of math and science ?? perhaps the most important educational disciplines in the today??s, and more importantly, tomorrow??s world.
I believe the U.S. educational system needs a complete overhaul, from the ground up…
Truth, For a Change: Where do we go from here? (Part I)
[tag]Education, No Child Left Behind[/tag]
George Nemeth: Ward residents question truth of PD article
I don’t live in that neighborhood, but I’m curious as to why the Plain Dealer would paint a bleak story about a school if it weren’t true:
Denison school officials are puzzled at why their school was listed in a recent Plain Dealer article. Granted, there have been transistion problems this year with the addition of middle school students. Our Kindergarten through fifth grade school added three additional classes, sixth thru eighth. This type of transistion is very hard and would have been made easier if the Board of Education could have eased into the transistion by simply adding one additional grade each year. In Cleveland, that kind of luxury is not possible, so we are left with a hard transistiion. The principal and her staff at Denison school think that the transistion problems will gradually vanish as the older students brought back to the school graduate when they reach the eighth grade.
Councilman Brian Cummins is very concerned about the article and where the Plain Dealer reporter gleaned his facts and what criteria was used. As of Thursday evening, he had not had a return call from the Plain Dealer. Conversations with the Board of Education revealed that they were puzzled as to what documents were used for fact checking as well…
Perhaps we can expect a future Readers Rep column?
George Nemeth: Random Flickr: brian in the coffeehouse
George Nemeth: Random Flickr: Kimo’s Sushi
Well, not so random. These are Adam Harvey’s. You have to click thru and check out his notes if you want to know what the rolls are…
George Nemeth: PostSecret: Iraq vet
From this week’s PostSecret, scared.
I noticed this is linked in one of the comments, but I don’t want you all to miss it. One of our friends @ RAB would rather have a one-paper region:
The ABJ is known for having sometimes an indistinguishable line between their op-eds and columns. Their bias is clearly liberal.
The print media is slowly dying and being replaced by new media outlets. Personally, I’m much more comfortable with the “new media” because many credible blogs, publications and tv shows are very open about biases and they leave it up to you to decide. I can’t say the same for the Akron Fish Wrapper.
Let the Akron Beacon Journal die.
Your reaction?
The Death of the Akron Beacon Journal? | Right Angle Blog- Ohio’s Online Conservative Community
Today’s New York Times Sunday Magazine includes this “Way We Live Now” piece, Can Bloggers Get Real? I’ll be penning a letter to Mr. Bai shortly, but read it and react for yourself. What I noticed:
-Why does he seem to address only Democratic bloggers?
-Why does he not note that if Technorati says that there are 41 million blogs, you still need to determine how many readers and commenters you have (though of course it’s an incestuous medium in that bloggers tend to be the biggest readers of others’ blogs) if you want to more closely review the blogs’ affect?
-Not all bloggers are activists.
-Despite the 11K sites that link to Daily Kos, there’s millions more that don’t give a fig about the big box blogs and it is those that offer the most insight into American’s political thoughts and concerns.
-Blogs are about expression and communication; that some may represent individuals or groups that are now in line to supplant the “party’s insider establishment” is a result of what the initiating blogger and his or her followers desire, and there remain millions of bloggers who want none of that.
Next article, Mr. Bai, should be about that latter group of millions, IMHO always.
And you might want to Meet the Bloggers, in Ohio, often referred to as ground zero for this country’s politics.
George Nemeth: What do you think the most important issues are?
I guess this is why conservativeguy called me pedantic??I would suppose that there are other things on the minds of Americans on Memorial Day Weekend??things like loved ones serving oversees in the military, and the price of gas, and the economy in general:
Today on Fox News Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) tried to argue that banning flag-burning and same-sex marriage are two of the nation??s most pressing priorities, which is why he put them on the Senate agenda for June…
May 29, 2006
George Nemeth: links for 2006-05-29
George Nemeth: Scott Piepho put the ABJ’s “liberal bias” to the test
Nice job by Pho. Perhaps conservativeguy will do the same excerise:
I always giggle a little when conservatives go off on the liberal bias of the Beacon Journal. My short answer is to assure them that we liberals take no comfort in the Beacon??s reportage. My longer response is to cite something specific like today??s fronter on Federal anti-gay-marriage amendment.
I read it. I read it again. It sure seemed like the article tilts heavily for the ban. It??s not just that the article gets to the third graf after the jump before proponents of gay marriage get a turn to talk. It isn??t just that the article begins and ends with long quotes from gay marriage opponent Bishop Johnson. The weight of the thing seemed for the amendment and against gay marriage.
One of my problems with the ??Liberal Media? meme is the lack of rigor. Conservatives often either fulminate without specifics or cite isolated passages from articles before crying ??Aha!? Happily, this article gives us something to test…
George Nemeth: Random Flickr: No vacation
Dina, who posted this picture comments, “It says: ‘24 Hours open’
A very friendly way to encourage people to keep their city clean.”
George Nemeth: Daniella puts her finger on the Secret of the Town Fryer
This is a bit longer then I usually like to excerpt, but I didn’t make it over to the TF myself last night. We worked in the community garden, did the hunting and gathering, and decided to stay in. But Daniella’s piece captures the vibe of the TF, and makes me wish I had gone, especially for the BBQ Brisket:
Susie our favorite hostess was behind the bar and greeted me warmly with a free drink on the house and a great Susie smile. Her daughter Allie was also waiting on the regulars and band members who were floating around the room talking and slapping each other on the back. It must be a guy thing but it looked fun.
The music was perfect. I can??t explain it but there was a real connection between the guys in the band. I am a bit partial since Fred and Bobby are staff at the Town Fryer but I had never seen them as musicians before and they are not your amateur night guys, they have rhythm and the visiting band fitted them like a glove.
After their set which was outstanding, I spoke briefly with both of them.
I said to Bobby, ?? Do you often play with those guys??He smiled, that is one of his great assets by the way. ??No, we just hooked up. I have another band that I play with regularly.?
??It really did not show, I said. It looked as if you had been playing together for years and that keyboard guy just slid up and down those keys like a master.?
Bobby, who is very modest, agreed that the other musicians were excellent; I think he said ??awesome.?
I caught a few minutes of Fred??s time as he was walking by and greeted me with a smile and hug.
??You are full of surprise! I am so impressed.?
Fred just laughed and said, ??I am so glad you came. You are one of my favorite customers.?
What a charmer! But that is the secret of the Town Fryer, everyone is welcomed and treated like friends and families and it is like any good business an attitude that starts at the top with Susie always so aware and thoughtful of her customer??s needs.
My only disappointment is that I was too late for sampling Susie??s Sunday dinner which is usually southern style beef briskets…
American Pink Collar: Old Ladies Underwear??s and The Town Fryer Music Night
May 30, 2006
George Nemeth: links for 2006-05-30
Let me get this straight??we’re voting in November on a constitutional amendment that will allow schools to be funded by casinos. According to an economic development expert, that strategy works best in rural areas where 60% of the patron are outside the region. Does that add up to you?
Casinos represented an old development strategy that is primarily appropriate for rural counties located near metropolitan regions.
(The reason has to do with the economic dynamics of gambling. For gambling to be a net positive for a region, you need at least 60% of your patrons from outside the region. That’s relatively easy to do with a rural county. It is virtually impossible to do in a large metro region. Gambling works as economic development in Rising Sun, IN, but it is a real moon shot in a place like Cleveland.)
At the same time, other factors are often left out of the equation. Gambling carries tremendous hidden social costs.
Here’s a very good series of articles that explore the social costs of gambling…
EDPro Weblog: Economic Development for Today’s Professionals
George Nemeth: Another day, another example of how pedantic I am
Maybe I’m being a bit too strict here, but this coffee maker doesn’t “work just like a French press”, it IS a French press:
It works just like a French press, but unike all the ones I have seen that are glass, this one is ceramic aqua blue or red…
If you click thru to the page where they’re selling this, notice the first sentence: “Are you tired of the bad free coffee at work?”
J. Murray: Who needs a high school diploma, anyway?
Increasing spending for higher education, which is universally assumed to be “good,” has unintended consequences, as I have written before. These include raising the cost of tuition, and lowering standards. An example of the latter was reported in today’s New York Times. Link.
“It is a kind of Alice-in-Wonderland idea. If you do not finish high school, head straight for college…many colleges ?? public and private, two-year and four-year ?? will accept students who have not graduated from high school or earned equivalency degrees.
…The existence of such students ?? eager, yet at high risk for failure ?? exposes a split in education policy. On one hand, believers in the standards movement frown on social promotion and emphasize measurable performance in high school.
At the same time, because a college degree is widely considered essential to later success, some educators say even students who could not complete high school should be allowed to attend college.
Nowhere is this contradiction more evident than in California. This year, 47,000 high school seniors, about 10 percent of the class, have not passed the exit examinations required to graduate from high school. They can still enroll in many colleges, although they are no longer eligible for state tuition grants.” Although federal tuition grants and scholarships, I presume, are still available to these students.
Colleges and universities have become businesses with students as inputs and degrees as outputs. The only way they can keep revenue flowing in the face of a widespread expansion in their industry is to lower the standards for accepting and graduating students. While it is widely agreed that a college degree is some “magical” key to future financial success, it is not widely understood that today’s college degree may not have the value of yesterday’s.
A number of years ago I received a letter asking for assistance in finding a job from a student who was graduating from my alma mater with a Masters degree in business. The letter was semi-literate, and that’s being generous. This woman, who had the same degree I had worked for and paid for with my own earnings, couldn’t form a cogent sentence, paragraph, or letter. Shameful.
George Nemeth: What’s keeping you/i/us back?
If we want change, we have to create the right conditions for it:
To understand how fear blocks creativity, take a moment to imagine yourself telling a story. First, imagine telling the story to someone you love and who loves you. You probably feel warmth and energy as you fill in the details of your tale to your friend’s delight. Now, imagine telling the same story to someone who, for whatever reason, makes you uncomfortable. The wonderful twists and turns, the fine points and colorful images that unfolded in your mind for your friend probably won’t present themselves. Instead of warmth, energy, and creativity, you will probably feel opposite sensations and a desire to close down. When we feel unsafe, whether we fear being judged, disliked, or misunderstood, our creative flow stops. Alternately, when we feel safe, our creativity unfolds like a beautiful flower, without conscious effort.
Knowing this, we can maximize our creative potential by creating the conditions that inspire our creativity. In order to really be in the flow, we need to feel safe and unrestricted…
George Nemeth: Someone think our comments are important
Thanks, Liza.
“[I]t’s comments by bloggers not affiliated with DailyKos like George Nemeth and Jill Miller Zimon that I find particularly important.”
George Nemeth: Random Flickr: Cleveland Grays Armory
George Nemeth: Tech Futures supports Brewed Fresh Daily
I’d like to welcome the latest BFD advertiser??Nortech’s Tech Futures. For the next three months, when you see their ad, I seriously encourage you to click thru, and stay up to date the the changes that are taking place in Northeast Ohio’s tech sector. Don’t forget to read Chris Varley’s blog while you’re there!
Tech Futures: What will the technology economy of Northeast Ohio look like in 2015?
George Nemeth: Josh Mandel joins the short list of candidates
Josh Mandel joins a list of candidates who refuse to do an interview with Meet The Bloggers?. It’s a very short list. Including Josh, the only others that we’ve invited an have refused are Sherrod Brown and Ken Blackwell. Not exactly company I’d want to keep. Tim Russo’s post here:
Jill, Jeff & I invited Josh to sit down with Meet The Bloggers. What followed was a sad caricature of just about everything that is wrong with politics in America today. Josh declined. I tried to change his mind. Emails went back and forth. Josh consulted advisors, who unanimously told him not to do it. Josh then offered to do the interview if he could approve the questions. That, of course, was out of the question. Interview not happening…
By the way, have you noticed that Josh doesn’t state anywhere on his site that he’s a Republican?
George Nemeth: Random Flickr: The two Monks
George Nemeth: Listening to a still, small voice
I have to admit, I love it when Tina writes about God and her religious convictions. The world would be a more sensible place if the silent majority would get to a place where they can quiet the din around them and listen:
God??s vocal chords are humanity. If we remain silent, God remains silent as well. Pope Benedict wonders why his God, my God, didn??t speak up during the Holocaust, but the answer is clear: God was screaming. Every person beaten, every shot fired, every child and parent gassed was a cry out for help that was smothered before it was heard ?? suppressed by fear.
Why, in present times, does God remain silent? We see war crimes, torture and monstrous acts every day and they just keep coming. We don??t live in Nazi Germany, but some still remain quiet in their fear. Fear for their jobs, their families, it makes no difference. There are voices clamoring above the masses of pop-news, though, to get the truth out.
If you think that God is silent, just raise your voice…
May 31, 2006
George Nemeth: links for 2006-05-31
George Nemeth: Random Flickr: Berlin Lake house
George Nemeth: Two new MTB podcasts posts
A couple of good interviews with people not running for office. The highlight of the Helen Smith interview for me was her telling the story about the Duck Island residents, that became a running joke throughout. Spending an hour with Joe Foley was like talking to your 90-year-old grandfather about his experiences in World War II. Well, only if your grandfather was instrumental in establishing the Neurology Department at University Hospitals during the early 1960’s and was a graduate from Harvard Medical School with an expertise in dementia…
George Nemeth: Help a blogger find his missing pet
This is a bummer way of starting my day. Michael is looking for Kerrey. If you live in University Heights, please click thru, look at her picture and keep your eyes peeled:
Last week I came home from work and found the milkdoor wide open. We’ve asked the mail carrier to put our mail in the milkdoor because it fits much better there than in the mail slot by the front door. The only problem is that the inside door doesn’t latch well. MJ started tying it with a twist-tie and that kept the door shut most of the time.
But last week I came home and found Minerva aka Minicat poking her head out the milkdoor, and our mail was soaked from the rain. And once I was in the house for an hour or so, I realized that Kerrey was nowhere to be found.
But it was raining outside, and when I went back to the sidedoor and called her name, she came darting in from the darkness. I towel-dried her best I could, despite her resistance…
George Nemeth: Random Flickr: Heat
George Nemeth: Connecting farmers to urban markets
As a kid who grew up in the country, but would rather live in the city, I love being able to experience the best of both worlds. This is a good example:
City Fresh, a program that aims to build a just and sustainable food system in Northeast Ohio, will open two “Fresh Stops” in Cleveland on June 15.
Fresh Stops are where city residents can buy market bags of produce, connecting them with farmers in the region. The locations are…
George Nemeth: Sign me up
Maybe I can get paid by the ODP to do what I already do, “monitor bloggers and their ilk, trolling for the thoughts and phrasing, the kernels of truth that ignite conversation and consideration.”
Of course I’d only want the position if I can dress in quasi-SS regalia and have jackbooted thugs to squelch any resistance at my bidding…
It’s a joke, people.
George Nemeth: Window dressing
It appears that what an advertisement bills as “Cleveland’s hottest new neighborhood” isn’t so hot for some of its residents, according to Molly:
i am an intimate of this neighborhood. it is slavic village, and a matter of blocks from where shakira johnson was found. this space, where i worked daycare (corner of fleet and broadway), giving breakfast to many children who hadnt eaten since the afternoon snack i had provided my class the day before. here is where they will build gorgeous houses and call it “cloistered”?! (forgive my spelling)
i am tired of this city.
I’m not sure it’s the city to blame, but then, no one wants to take responsibility, do they?
