The talk at the February 17 meeting will be:

"There’s Something Shaky About this Place

and,  We Have the Data to Prove It"

This will be about the 100 plus year history of seismology in Cleveland, the museum’s part in that history, and the Ohio Seismic Network (OhioSeis). A tour of the museum’s seismic observatory will follow this talk.
http://tinyurl.com/yggz4c2

CGS Program Chair.
Douglas Dunn
Assistant, Invertebrate Paleontology
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
1 Wade Oval Dr.
Cleveland, Oh. 44106-1767
1.216.231.4600 x 3240
1.800.317.9155 x 3240
1.216.231.5919 CMNH fax
CMNH Invertebrate Paleontology website entry point:
http://tinyurl.com/yhm8jek
Search our collection database:
http://www.s15276997.onlinehome-server.com/DefaultWebSearch/advanced.jsp

Being a child of the Sixties, I have aged with this Hubert Humphrey quote in my mind :

“It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”

and  The Golden Rule: 

¹²So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

   I believe all religions  have a form of  The Golden Rule , and therefore, religious or not, we should be able to come together to support  our brothers and sisters that need us myself included.

I will be watching to see which county council candidates rise to the occasion and support a large chunk of the core mission of county government, not with words but with action.

Last week I posted about our friend and neighbor’s Valentine’s Weekend Benefit for Big Brothers Big Sisters at his store mlangclothing&cocktails.

This week I am posting a bit more about the event and some of the artists whose work is for sale at Mike’s store.  Three of the artists like Mike are neighbors as well as friends and the fourth artist is a gal who has worked with us in the Brooklyn Centre neighborhood at some of our events.  All four women are incredibly talented and produce quality pieces again and again.

Deby Cowdin. You can see examples of Deby’s work at her website from the blue bag. The Civic Innovation Lab recently awarded Deby and her partners one of their grants to use in promoting the recyclable aspect of the artwork she produces and promotes at her gallery/studio.

Denise Donaldson. Denise is planning a very special necklace set for Valentine’s Day.  It will be displayed on Saturday, and as with all her pieces, she will make only one.  She uses mostly semi-precious stones, the more unusual the better. She does her own designing and welcomes custom orders.

Sharon Martyn. Sharon’s stained glass  designs are original and unique and the glass is hand cut and hand ground.. Her handmade wire work adds flow and beauty to each piece she crafts.  The addition of crystals  to her sun catchers adds a dimension of light and sparkle not often seen.  Sharon has created fan lights, fireplace panels and other custom windows for our neighbors. The pieces shown here are her donations to Mike’s raffle to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters.  The heart on the left is light pink and the one on the right is dark purple.

Marge Pauls.  Marge creates original artwork that appeals to the romantic in each of us.  She paints fairies, angels, society moguls and a myriad of other subjects. She incorporates pen and ink in her work which gives it a sharpness and edge that adds “pop” to her work.  Her artwork is available as prints, matted or unmatted, and as note cards. We eagerly await her yearly Christmas card and the party invitation for New Year Eve’s because it will be a new, never seen mpauls original.  She also crafts unique jewelry which will also be at mlangclothing&cocktails. 

Mike tells me that the raffle this weekend will include theater and sporting event  tickets. There may be restaurant gift cards and Mike has thrown in a few items from the store as well.  Besides, the custom shirt deal for a $49 donation BBBS, there will be a pair of $95 pants raffled.   Did I say  that there is no minimum donation? Come buy raffle tickets, donate and get a shirt, buy a few drinks, and sample a few of the appetizers from area restaurants.

First, It is interesting to note that The Cleveland Foundation is taking heat because they are no longer in lock step with how the Fund for our Economic Future is headed. It appears that FFEF straying from its mission helped Cleveland Foundation revisit its own and find that they themselves were straying.  I found it amusing that The Plain Dealer jumped on The Foundation just as it has bloggers, public officials, businesspeople and others who are not in lock step with the GCP.

Let’s follow the money– the Third Frontier Funds are fronted by Ohio taxpayers.  Fund for Economic Future receives funds and distributes said funds to Jump Start, Nortech, MAGNET, TEAMNEO ETC. Jump Start for example chooses a start up to fund after friends, family, credit cards and savings of entrepreneur are exhausted and the future of the dream and local employees are at risk.  Here is where Norm’s point of equity shares come into play.  Jump Start funds company to get it over the  hump. When start up moves to Early Stage. At this point, Jump Start steps back because company should be sustainable.  If not, company dies or if the company is sustainable but needs an influx of capital to expand and grow venture capitalists agree to fund for equity shares.  Company soon is no longer the entrepreneur’s. Many say that not all entrepreneurs are meant to be CEOs, and this is true butventure capitalists do not always have a community in mind. To them, a company that served a community can move elsewhere because human capital is everywhere.  not so, with an entrepreneur who built a company in a specific geographic area.

I have three questions: Why are taxpayer’s now fronting funds that venture capitalists once provided?  With the FFEF now branching out into Effective Government Now are we tying government and economic development together, and should we? Are Ohio texpayers facing undue  risk by underwriting eonomic ventures?

I know that this is a rather simplified version of how I perceive the taxpayers in our state again taking the risk for the private sector. I am a believer in balance, and when I see and read about these issues I see something that is very off kilter. 

I LOVE the flier don’t you?

I received a flier from Mansfield Frazier. I plan to attend “The Long Road Home”  a documentary narrated by Peter Lawson Jones tomorrow January 28th in MetroHealth’s Scott Auditorium. The presentation is from 3:00 to 4:30 pm.

The recession has hit everyone hard, but especially for those trying to reenter after leaving the prison system. Those who know me well are aware that I am a board member for C.A.T.S. –Community assessment and Treatment Services, Inc. We are presently finishing up our capital campaign to “build a Better Place for Women. We serve a population of offenders whose drug and alcohol additions have caused them to make very bad decisions.  I believe in second chances.

And, I am looking forward to seeing the documentary based on Mansfield Frazier’s book “The Long Road Home” and to listen to the panel discussion that will accompany the creening.

The Cleveland Housing Court is offering an informational meeting on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 10:00 AM at the Justice Center, 13 Floor, Courtroom 13-B. Please plan on attending this event to learn more about the Cleveland Housing Court.

Information presented will include the following:

• the role of the Housing Court in criminal and civil cases;
• how cases are filed in the Housing Court;
• the role of the City of Cleveland Prosecutor’s Office in Housing cases;
• the duties of the City Inspectors in Housing cases;
• search warrants;
• Housing Court programs and initiatives;
• the role of Housing Court Specialists, Magistrates and Bailiffs; and
• the outlook for 2010.

Please RSVP the number of attendees to: mooredi@clevelandmunicipalcourt.org.

Cleveland Housing Court Informational Meeting

Tim Just told me that Ohio didn’t have an income tax until the year 1971. It was to take the pressure off of real estate taxes. Tim found it on the History page of The Ohio Farm Bureau.

I told him I remembered that.  Governor Gilligan oversaw that and the induction of the State Lottery which he opposed. I believe both issues made him a one time governor.  

That tax really worked, didn’t it?

The questions Mr. Greenberg raises in his interview with Mr. Jenkins are very disturbing.  His two suspects for the changes made by the ISDA of Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank does not surprise me.  Ever since I read Never Enough by Joe McGinnis , a Holy Cross Alumnus and the research done by my friend Bill Callahan showing the overwhelming numbers of foreclosures in Cuyahoga County brought by Deutsche Bank or their servicers I have felt that these two firms are not to be trusted.

We should listen to what Mr. Greenberg has to say about the machinations of Goldman Sachs during the New York Federal Reserve’s meeting before the collapse of AIG. This article in Issue 1075 0f The Rolling Stone by Matt Taibbi is a wonderful resource concerning the backroom dealings that weekend before the Monday announcement.  Accessing the full article to get a clearer picture is a good idea.

It is clear to me that Goldman Sachs is not God and Lloyd Blankfein is not Jesus and neither are doing God’s work. Goldman Sachs does not work from the premise of abundance but rather deals in scarcity and fear.  As Mr. Greenberg states in the article it is up to the American public to demand transparency and accountability for the debacle Wall Street has become.  The average American Taxpayer does not reap the benefits of obscene bonuses or the lobbying efforts of banks “too big to fail” or corporations seen in the same light,  but we will be paying the bills for generations to come.