Six. Almost Seven..

Happy Olmstead Day :: Let's ROCK The NOEWAIT Petition..!

2009-06-22T09:20:00.017-05:00

You all were amazing this morning with how many signed on to the NOEWAIT Eliminate Waitlists for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities petition just a little bit ago.. Simply amazing..!

Please don't forget to keep forwarding it along wherever you can think to throughout the rest of the day as this is exactly the kind of subject matter that Lois Curtis, Elaine Wilson, and Sue Jamieson fought so hard for with respect to the Olmstead decision some ten years ago this week..

In Unity with Huge Cyber Hugs from Talking Rock..

FREE OUR PEOPLE..!!

Cindy Sue :)

Darren Couldn't Have Waited Just ONE MORE WEEK.. NOO..! :))

2008-10-26T15:47:00.014-05:00

Just one more week, Darren.. That's all I needed, Darren.. Just ONE MORE WEEK.. :grin:

So a funny thing happened on my way to Darren Rowse's latest Problogger post, Tell us about Your Blog in 140 Characters or Less.....

I got caught with my cyber britches all the way down around my ankles and sliding off one foot with the other not far behind..! :blush:

What has been happening is that I'm in the process of revamping EVERYTHING these Fingertips have ever been online.. Dust is flying EVERYWHERE, but only as fast as $9.95 a month dialup access allows..

Most recently, this blog, Six. Almost Seven.., had started to make the move over to Wordpress.com as wisp-o'-the-will.. Really neat colors I was able to draw on to quickly generate an impromptu header image: Bold black and red using the "Neo-Sapian" theme originally created for Wordpress by WPDesigner..

Scooby Doo farts, you ask..? As Studebaker over at Twitter.. My friends over there are an unbelievably eclectic intermingling of microbloggers I adore and whom have no idea I spend some wee bit of time living vicariously through when they're not looking.. :grin:

Back on the subject of the progressive move over to Wordpress.. Was an extremely difficult decision to make, but ultimately it came down to that I really don't like having to feel like I need to visit my site occasionally just to make sure it's still "safe and sound".. Silly, yeah, but I'm kind of partial to the concept of Freedom of Speech, you know..? :wink:

Well, it was the constant worrying about the stability of one's opinion remaining online combined with the ease, or lack thereof, of being able to successfully validate Six. Almost Seven.. in its current state.. Hard as I tried to keep up with it, the most well-formed I could get it was within something like 80+ errors, give or take, over at W3C.. :grimace:

So what happened with Wordpress.com, though, that sent the virtual dust specs flying everywhere yet again a few days ago was that scripts were getting scrubbed when I entered them.. A quick check of their FAQ revealed that there are a lot of things that don't work on the dot com site that do on some others, well, like Blogger, for example.. That's TOTALLY cool, just thank GOODNESS I learned the limitations this early on.. :phew, giggle:

That realization in hand, one super quick Internet search later brought me straight back to Wordpress, only this time it was over at their dot org version.. The "fun" still wasn't done yet, though..

Seems the completely free, downloadable, use-on-your-own-site version.....

Would NOT freaking download on this end to save my Life..!!!

Best as I can figure is that it might have something to do with that I'm using a really cheap, not p/c "inexpensive" but CHEAP, Internet service provider (ISP).. Caught on tape (translation: print screened for posterity) is the evidence: The file was downloading at 37 [bleeped] bites a second.. Chances are that either my ISP or the Wordpress server was timing me out because the download was taking so [double-bleeped] long..

A Wordpress forums tipster suggested a mirror over at Softpedia.. That proved to be the ticket.. Yeehaw..!

And that is where you find me now.. Cyber britches down at my ankles as I sit this second with Wordpress.org's offering finally downloaded and extracted, YAY, and waiting for me to figure out if yes, Virginia, GoDaddy will or will not accommodate it as an upload..

Stay tuned.. And thank you so much for caring enough to pop in and visit.. :grin:

Cyber Hugs with warmest wishes of Peace and Love from the foothills of North Georgia..

P.S. Hm. Seems my ramen noodles were inadvertently posted elsewhere and never found their way home to roost.. In the spirit of the moment, the 140 characters or less version is:

One military B-1 bomber *approximately* equates to 1,538,461,538 single serving packages of ramen noodles, give or take a million or two..

Washington D.C. :: ADAPT Activists Set Up Operation DUH City For HUD..

2008-09-15T06:10:00.010-05:00

Straight from their own Fingertips and in Loving Unity from this Keyboard..

Washington, DC - At 5:00 AM, ADAPT activists took over the plaza in front of the massive headquarters of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). ADAPT quickly set up tents and other structures to house activists for the remainder of the action. The action's focus is all about the need for accessible, affordable, integrated housing.

ADAPT simultaneously launched a website for the action, nicknamed Operation DUH. The website can be viewed at www.duhcity.org . ADAPT's Housing Platform can be viewed at:

www.duhcity.org/press/DUHPlatform.pdf

To make this action as effective as possible, ADAPT needs your help! Contact your Congress person and tell the to endorse ADAPT's Housing platform! Let them know that people with disabilities face a housing crisis that forces hundreds of thousands into institutions or other dangerous living conditions. Tell them to meet with ADAPT at DUH City!

Also, contact the Presidential Campaigns! Tell Senator Obama and Senator McCain that they need to endorse ADAPT's housing platform and solve the housing crisis for people with disabilities.

Chris Hilderbrant
Rochester ADAPT

In reference to ADAPT's request for everyone to contact their Congress men and women, the following will help get you there:

United States Senators :: In addition to both listing all U.S. Senators on this webpage along with a couple of options for narrowing our searches, Senate.gov additionally provides a search engine with a state drop down list at the top righthand corner of each page..
Contact your U.S. State Representatives :: The U.S. House of Representatives website offers the aforementioned contact webpage along with this Member Listing by state.. They do not immediately appear to offer that same nifty quick reference search feature at the top of their own website.. They do, however, offer a clickable visual map of the United States which is a nice accessibility touch for those of us with cognitive disabilities..

Quickie Observation :: The Senate.gov website loaded fairly easily via my crappy Internet service provider.. The House.gov one, on the other hand, phew, not so much.. Need to work on that, Fellas.. People who don't have money Vote, too.. :wink:

United In Advocacy from Talking Rock..

Hurricane Andrew: 16 Years Ago This Past Weekend..

2008-08-26T08:49:00.006-05:00

For my closest friends who may be wondering..

Like these grown men, I, too, have been.. choked up the last few days:

Hurricane Andrew: 16 Years Ago Today..

Dave Game is quoted as saying, There is no way to tame nature's fury.

That one unbelievably conscious Reality is as much a hard part now as the continual loss since it brings with it the ever-present knowledge that any second, absolutely any blamed second again now, it could happen all over again.. And the thing is that I, for one, just plum do not have the energy it takes to make something to feed the Soul, let alone defend Life, limb, and property against another Andrew..

Comes as much as anything from having fallen through the cracks back then.. There were some well-meaning folks, but, by and large, it was so overwhelming for all of us at the time, survivors and rescuers alike, that falling through just.....

Just happened.. multiple times along the way..

Post-traumatic stress disorder..

PTSD..

With Hurricane Katrina so much more recently in Memory, please learn about it, what it is, what it looks like..

Compassionately understand it..

As you read about it, think hard on CBS' remembrance piece and visualize the grown men depicted as misting up this near two decades later since H. Andrew..

Now, think of the 500,000 give or take that Hurricane Katrina affected and put them in those same Shoes.. For them, the disaster they bore was just that much worse than what the guys at CBS are reacting to in near tears.. I know.. I was there.. And because I was there, when I heard over and over and over what happened during Katrina, I knew it was umpteen times that much worse..

Have lost track now, but back when we did The World Bank Group's Disabled and other Vulnerable People in Natural Disasters three week deal, a grand total of some $600,000 had been earmarked for the mental health care of the survivors.. Haven't much heard of anything along those lines since..

$1.20 a survivor..

Earlier today, hm, yesterday, was reading something from the Los Angeles Times entitled Denver protester focuses on Hurricane Katrina.. In it, they write about survivor Derrick Evans who is said to have hauled an old FEMA trailer from Gulfport, Mississippi, to the 2008 Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado.. The impression he wished to make..?

Where did $129 billion for Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery go?

Can someone somewhere please help him find out..? Venturing to make a wholly uneducated guess that he has many, many, many a day it's all he and/or those around him can do to simply just get up..

All it takes is just one person, even if it's just one stranger, who gives a damn and has some serious fact checking tools to go with.. That's all it would take to help him help pro-actively change the Lives of hundreds of thousands forever..

But don't take it away from him.. Please stand there beside him, instead..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Happy Birthday, ADA :: Disability Rights Protestors Force Bush Admin Meeting..

2008-07-26T21:40:00.009-05:00

Another one of those Eleventh Hour kinds of deals where I've been pondering today being the 18th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the ADA.. Beyond that I've noticed I received barely anything about it all week long even as my inbox swelled yet again by several more thousand, no topics off the top of my head seemed to be celebratory enough..... Either..

Ah, but then..

In late this evening comes something from a fellow advocate I've met out on one of our wonderful disability advocacy listservs on the Net.. This piece he forwarded to his own emailing list more than qualifies as speaking out on how strongly we, as a Community, feel about retaining and improving upon the basic Human Rights so many others take for granted each waking moment..

And speaking of incredible Unity, thank you so much to the wonderful disability advocates I know have been sharing still more information regarding the situation revolving around talk show personality Michael Savage taking disabilistic pot shots at children with autism.. I can only hope you all could feel the Love Vibes coming back in your direction from one very tired little Soul.. In the next day or so, I hope to be able to bring your shared information and opinions to the forefront here along with continuing to further connect the dots all across the World Wide Web as everyone strives so hard to preserve Dignity, Rights, and Respect for all persons with disabilities..

Peace, Hope, and Social Justice For Us All..

PRESS RELEASE
For more information:

Kelly Buckland (208) 869-4135
Shannon Jones (913) 486-4565
Brad Williams (518) 424-8121

Disability rights protestors force meeting with Bush Administration
WASHINGTON, DC (July 23, 2008)

Over 200 disability rights advocates from across the country protested outside the U.S. Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) located at Potomac Center Plaza.

The boisterous group chanted until the Assistant Secretary of OSERS [ 1 ], Tracy Justesen, came down and agreed to meet with a delegation from the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL). The NCIL delegation presented the membership's demands to the Assistant Secretary.
Specifically at issue is RSA's recent interpretation of the Rehabilitation Act and the negative impact it will have on the operation of Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILCs). Despite years of accepted operation, RSA has limited the scope of councils so that they function according to minimum statutory duties.

In Kansas, by advocating for public policy issues, we have increased the employment rate for people with disabilities by 20%, stated Shannon Jones of Topeka, Kansas. These types of advocacy efforts are being thwarted by RSA's narrow interpretation of SILCs duties. Once again, people with disabilities will be marginalized because of bureaucratic nonsense.

After meeting for more than an hour, RSA agreed to respond in writing to NCIL's demands. While NCIL looks forward to their response, they are concerned about how these restrictions will continue to impede policy related to people with disabilities.

Image Description: This post's image (above) depicts multiple NCIL advocate and self-advocates protesting.. Some are holding signs that say things like "Free Our People Now", "Let Our SILCs Be Free", and "Back Off Our SILCs Or Set Us Free".. Others nearby are visibly in the act of vocalizing.. One gentleman up front is actively using a blowhorn to lead the chants that have been described as occurring during this event earlier this past week..

The Hill Blog :: Rep. Mike Doyle: Savage Attack on Autism Is Unjustified..

2008-07-24T08:13:00.011-05:00

Yesterday's The Hill Blog contains an editorial by Rep. Mike Doyle on Michael Savage's recent disabilistic affront on persons with autism:

Savage Attack on Autism Is Unjustified; July 23rd, 2008

As Representative Doyle referenced, definitely have to say that there has been one sizable part of my Conscience playing with that Michael was undoubtedly expressing his Freedom of Speech when he verbally assaulted families with autism.. Then I just this second got to thinking yet again on a very recent documentable experience of my own..

Funny how that creature, Freedom of Speech works.. You rant abusively from one end of this country to the other, and sponsors will beat down your front door to pay you millions of dollars to continue to insult upon the dignities of minorities..

But.....

Try being some "nobody" from a little ol' town called, oh, let's play make-believe and call it, say, "Talking Rock"..

Now.. Fight tooth and nail every single day just to put a 10 cent package, make that an inflation-affected 20 cent package of ramen noodles on your dinner table at night...

Both publicly and privately, with those ramen noodles as fuel to drive your Fingertips along with the inspiration of your dearest Disability Community Friends and Mentors to provide the Wind beneath your Wings, boldly, pridefully advocate for the Rights, Access, and Inclusion of your extended family in one of the fewer places not so many would ever dare to dare to go.....

Then...

Try posting a respectful response to that same presidential candidate's piece where he speaks on FISA over at Huffington Post, and tell me what happens to your constitutionally ordained Freedom of Speech..

Here's a little Hint: Twitter.. Studebaker.. The Fourth of July.. Look, Ma, a Tweet..

Follow the bouncing birdie over to the 3,600+ other comments over there, and... Look, Ma.....

Wait. Dadgum dead air.....?????

Congratulations, you've just been censored. Can anyone say.....

Ryan Lizza..?

United In Advocacy from North Georgia..

NCDR :: Adds Voice To Growing Call For Savage Release Over Dissing Autism..

2008-07-21T06:16:00.010-05:00

Looks like the National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR, alerts registration) has now added its own Voice to the growing numbers asking for the firing of radio talk show host, Michael Savage, over disabilistic remarks made last week towards persons with autism, namely children..

The thoughts being expressed by NCDR echo those previously expressed by the Autism Action Network along with other members of the Disability Community.. NCDR also took the step of associating what has occurred with its untimeliness of having happened so closely to the 18th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990..

If you would like to express how you feel about this latest very public show of disabilism towards persons with disabilities, the Autism Action Network provided a very lengthy list of Mr. Savage's talk show sponsors.. As you contact one or more of the resources provided, please remember that brief, to the point, polite, and respectful help better guarantee your Heartfelt Words will reach others in their entirety..

To those who have shared their thoughts, both here on the blog publicly and privately behind the scenes along with the growing swell across the Internet, thank you all so much for speaking out.. Each time you self-advocate for yourself or step up and advocate on behalf of others, someone you may not ever know well become that much stronger themselves just because of what you do..

Cyber hugs from North Georgia..

NEWS RELEASE

"Talk Radio Network Should Fire Michael Savage," Says Disability Rights Coalition: Hate Speech Unacceptable as 18th Anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act Nears

ADA Watch/National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR)
601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 900S
Washington, DC 20004

Media Contact: Jim Ward, Founder and President
202-415-4753
jimward@ncdr.org..

The leader of a national coalition of disability, civil rights and social justice organizations called on Talk Radio Network to fire talk radio host, Michael Savage for his hateful attacks on children and adults with physical and mental disabilities. Jim Ward, founder and president of ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR), stated:

ADA Watch/NCDR calls on Talk Radio Network to fire Michael Savage. As America prepares to celebrate the 18th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26th, people with disabilities, parents, family members, friends and advocates across the nation are outraged over Savage's latest attack on people with disabilities. His despicable assault on children with autism -- calling them "Frauds" and "Brats" -- is rightly being condemned as hateful and bigoted. But it is just the latest of Savage's numerous and painful attempts to demean and disenfranchise people with disabilities.

Savage has also used his bully-pulpit to declare that:

High levels of asthma impacting minority children was because the children got extra welfare if they were disabled. (July 2008)
The handicapped workers at the Phoenix Cafe would would drool and put dung in diners food. He made up names for the food on the menu, such as nutburger. (July 2002)
Members of the disability rights community are the Wheelchair Mafia.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the world's first civil rights law for people with disabilities, should be called the Lawyers Improvement Act.
His political opponents are degenerate slime bags with mental disorders and have a virus like leukemia.
When he was younger, he touched the hand of a midget [Dwarf], it really freaked him out and, since that episode, he doesn't like public places. (June 2004)
The autism lobby of devastated parents is just a scam to get more money.

Michael Alan Weiner, better known by his pseudonym Michael Savage, is a radio host, author, and political commentator. His nationally-syndicated talk show, The Savage Nation, airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network. His radio show reaches more than 10 million listeners on 410 stations throughout the United States, ranking third in number of stations syndicated nationwide and third in nationwide audience behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights(NCDR) is a coalition of national, state and local disability, civil rights and social justice organizations united to protect and promote the human rights of children and adults with physical and mental disabilities. NCDR's Road To Freedom bus, launched on November 15, 2006, is still on the road and has traveled more than 40,000 miles promoting social justice and economic opportunity for people with disabilities. For more information, go to www.adawatch.org and www.roadtofreedom.org.

ADA Watch/NCDR encourages individuals and organizations to contact:

Talk Radio Network
P.O. Box 3755
Central Point, Oregon 97502
Phone: 541-664-8827
Fax: 541-664-6250

Other contact information for NCDR:

National Coalition for Disability Rights
1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 300
Washington, District of Columbia 20004

Action Alert :: Talk Radio's Michael Savage Trashes Individuals With Autism..

2008-07-20T14:21:00.013-05:00

Within my computer capabilities, have not been able to hear this occur firsthand.. Curious to see if anyone else happened to hear it live..

The attached action alert lead, complete with sample message and multiple media sponsor contact resources, hit my inbox via the DisabilityParty Yahoo! group, by the way, in case anyone else is interested in joining.. :hint, hint, WINK:

Have an observation that came from (as always) trying to do a quick Internet search on it for verification before forwarding to you all.. One of the top new links on it already claims to be sporting an apology from Michael Savage.. When you get to the webpage, visitors instead find a print screen of a spoofed "404 Not Found" webpage..

Would be "cute" except..

Most Humbly, Most Respectfully From This Fingertips :: Through the use of over the top language of its own, the above referenced, otherwise creatively provided 404 Not Found piece dropped woefully, shamefully down to, if not nearly below the level of the very people reported to have horribly disrespected persons with disabilities.. Here's hoping it becomes but a miniscule drop in a million gallon bucket of pro-actively issued rebuttals in this particular instance of blatant disabilism perpetuated so publicly in our Nation's media..

United In Self-Advocacy Reflecting That Which We Ask Of Others..

From: 'Autism Action Network (RJK/HK)' kingavery@comcast.net..
Date: Jul 19, 2008 9:27 PM

Talk Radio's Michael Savage Trashes Individuals With Autism - Act Now To Show His Conduct Is Not Acceptable! Michael Savage Calls Children With Autism 'Brats' and Autism a 'Scam' Take Action!

Use the Autism Action Network to Tell Savage's Broadcasters and Sponsors What You Think of Savage and His Offensive Remarks

OFFENSIVE!

That's What We Call The Words of Trash Radio Host Michael Savage (t/n Michael Weiner)

Take Action Against Michael Savage's Remarks!

'Idiot' 'brat' 'moron'

These are just a few terms Savage used to describe children with Autism on his radio program. He went on to say autism, a lifelong debilitating disorder that leaves many children without the ability to speak and in constant pain, was a 'fraud' and a 'racket' perpetrated by inept parents.

Do not permit Savage's offensive statements to go unchallenged. Savage and his broadcasting syndicators must be held accountable for his hateful and ignorant tirade. Contact his sponsors and demand that they withdraw their support. Most reasonable people, and most for-profit corporations, do not want to be identified as oppressors of the disabled. Your words will have great impact and will make the choice clear for them.

To Hear Savage's offensive comments for yourself with some helpful commentary that puts him in his place, click on these links:

injectingsense.blogspot.com/2008/07/beyond-ignorance-beyond-offensive.html..

mediamatters.org/items/200807170005?f=h_top..

Send a message to Savage's broadcasters, syndicators and commercial sponsors (Use our messaging system to contact them but also fax and call them directly – where a web address email is indicated go to their web site):

Buckley Broadcasting/WOR Radio
General Phone Number: 212 642 4500
111 Broadway 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10006

Home Depot
public_relations@homedepot.com..
(770) 384-4646

Sears
Sears Public Relations And Communications
(847) 286-8371
Website Contact: searsmedia.com/tools/inquires/feedback.htm..

Radioshack
Media Relations
Riverfront Campus
Mail Stop #CF7-130_300
RadioShack Circle
Fort Worth, TX 76102-1964
Phone: (817) 415-3300
Fax: (817) 415-2585
E-mail: media.relations@RadioShack.com..

AFLAC
1-800-99-AFLAC (1-800-992-3522)
Laura Kane, 2nd Vice President External Relations Aflac Incorporated
1-706-596-3493
Mechell Clark, Media Relations Manager, 1-706-243-8004
Email: news@aflac.com..

Budweiser
Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
One Busch Place
St. Louis, MO 63118
Website contact: contactus.anheuser-busch.com/contactus/email.asp..
1 800 DIAL BUD (1 800 342 5283)

Michael Savage
Email: michaelsavage@paulreveresociety.com..

Talk Radio Network
P.O. Box 3755
Central Point, Oregon 97502
Phone: 541-664-8827
Fax: 541-664-6250

The Savage Nation
The Paul Revere Society
150 Shoreline Hwy, Bldg E
Mill Valley, CA 94941
Fax: 415-339-9383

Here is a sample message you can use:

Dear Michael Savage Sponsor or Supporter:

We have learned that your company sponsors or supports Michael Savage's radio program.

On a recent program, he attacked children with autism, claiming that autism was a fraud and a scam. He went on to say:

I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is.

Savage also used offensive terms to describe autistic children, such as 'idiots', 'morons', and more.

We parents and family members of an individual with autism will not tolerate Savage's offensive and unacceptable conduct. We respectfully request that your company withdraws their advertising dollars from his programs and, if you broadcast or syndicate his radio show, that you dismiss him immediately.

Autism affects 1 in 150 children in the USA. Each of those children has a circle of family, friends and supporters who share the concerns of the child. We would say that there are likely 10 people for every child with autism who shares that child's concerns.

When you consider this request, please consider that as many as 1 in 15 Americans will be watching your decision and how you react will have a powerful impact on their opinion of your company.

We hope and trust that you will do the right thing.

Respectfully,

The Autism Action Network

HuffPo :: Obama Supporters Woo 18,000 New Citizens In L.A.

2008-07-14T13:41:00.018-05:00

Was reading Ryan Rivera's Huffington Post entry, Obama Supporters Woo 18,000 New Citizens In L.A. when it occurred to me yet again.....

Would that Presidential Candidates felt the same level of inspiration depicted as exuded in these types of stories towards reaching out to that demographic represented by those hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of persons with disabilities (PWDs) incarcerated away in long term care facilities (LTCs, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, yetc) across the United States..

Disability-focused countrywide registration initiatives, say, as a matter of fact, every day outreach of movements like the highly touted Vote For Change (VFC, also), have yet to see the Light of Day.. Such an initiative would entail going selflessly above and beyond by pro-actively accommodating individuals who absolutely are not able to otherwise logistically mobilize to the places the rest of their fellow citizens take for granted as available for the fulfillment of registration towards our Country's Right to Vote..

There are glorious exceptions to the Rule, but, overall and notoriously, going to LTCs is basically mandatory because long term care facilities do not go out of their way to register those within their walls.. Those facilities know that to actively gain identification for and encourage voter registration of those in their care would enable those same people with disabilities the opportunity to then Vote the line that ultimately empowers them to move inclusively out into Society.. After all, what motivation would there be to become involved in something that would move individuals away from the solitary confinement that continues to first and foremost serve to line the pockets of LTC administrations..

Yeah, to date, the simple inherent fact of the logistics of the ability of persons with disabilities in long term care facilities to access their own respective Right to Vote has not been publicized as being on any candidate's agenda in the same way articles similar to HuffPo's Obama Supporters Woo regularly share concerning other demographics, other minorities.. The aggressive registration of PWDs has, instead, consistently been avoided in progressive movement-based voter registration drives that profess to otherwise be reaching out to draw ALL individuals back into the democratic voting process..

Least anyone forget, oh, say, can you see the also likewise avoided, bypassed by association grander potential numbers that the goodwill gesture of a presidential candidate supporters woo'esque effort given towards institutionalized Lives would otherwise catch the eye of.....

These Fingertips are speaking most respectfully of those millions upon millions strong Americans with disabilities in the United States today..

Who, too, are watching every single move each political candidate makes then spreading heartfelt reactions like wildfire across the World Wide Web..

And who already do have in hand their voter registration card and who are this very moment priming themselves to Voice their Vote, too, come Tuesday, November 4, 2008..

Chevy Chasing off my soapbox now..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock.. :wink:

Want to get involved and help register the many, many individuals across the United States who, too, would like to exercise their own recognized Right to Vote..? Then please do check out the following resources through which will come the empowerment of those blazing paths before you:

Project Vote: A website set out to empower all wishing to exercise their right to vote.. If you do not find the information you seek in such places as their Voter Registration Guides and Surveys section, don't hesitate to give them a shoutout at 800-546-8683..
National Long Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center: Once you have educated yourself with exactly what you need to know concerning legally registering individuals in your state, next, locate the state ombudsman responsible for your area.. Write all of their contact information down and keep it with you just in case you find yourself being denied entrance to a long term care facility..
State Protection and Advocacy Agencies (P&As): The HUD directory of United States disability protection and advocacy organizations is as good a place as any to grab the contact information for your state's centralized disability advocacy office.. Just for kicks, make sure you personally double-check the contact information provided for your respective state's office.. This can be done as simply as performing a quick Internet search to track down their online website where you should then be able to easily locate their (hopefully) prominently displayed, accessible contact data webpage..
ILRU's National Directory of Centers for Independent Living (USA): Coordination with likewise interested parties is one of the best ways to ensure the most effective use of time when it comes to advocacy undertakings, primarily just to prevent needless duplication of activities.. When it comes to preserving, protecting, and enhancing the rights of persons of all disabilities, there are few parties more interested than the independent living centers covering the counties across the United States.. Be well advised, though, that disability advocates historically do not endorse political candidates per se..

As important as anything else you might pack into your personal advocacy kit, don't forget to regularly repeat the following oft-heard mantra to help put that extra little umph in your voter registration drive efforts:

Feel The Power Of The Disability Vote..!

Huffington Post :: Can A Haircut Change Your Life..?

2008-06-24T13:32:00.007-05:00

Tried to leave this over at HuffPo, but it was umpteen words too long.. Imagine THAT, if you will.. :giggle:

That's cool, though.. This way I can dusty it up with a couple of related websites..

Yeah, in response to Liz Jones' Can A Haircut Change Your Life? (June 24, 2008 10:22 AM), these Fingertips (apparently overly) meandered.......

Glad I came in to visit out of curiosity.. Have contemplated Locks Of Love often, maybe even as to having my hair donated after my Time has come.. Unfortunately, this kid's most definitely a (bleach) bottle baby..

Used to be one of those that washed obsessively every day.. All I can say is :: DON'T TO DO THAT..!

My own has grown by leaps and bounds since the worst of my depression hit where the energy to wash it every day left.. Am lucky if it's washed once a week these days (whether it needs it or not).. In return, though, my hair now graciously tickles places it never dreamed of reaching in the past.. And that length comes in spite of the very best efforts of a determined one gallon Shop Vac one day last year..

Don't ask, I'd have to relive the experience that came this close to being one of the weirdest guffaw-inducing 9-1-1 calls on the Pickens County Sheriff's Department's daily blotter.. You know you've got a certain type of reputation when walking around the front yard looking for handtools with a Shop Vac attached to your head does not alert anyone that maybe, just maybe, something is slightly askew in your Life..

Life's Lesson Learned: Yes, Virginia, you can fully dismantle a vacuum cleaner attached to your head with one hand and in one afternoon if absolutely necessary.....

But I digress..

With respect to my hair's health, after years of running the gamut of expensive over-the-counter shampoos, conditioners, and treatments within that cycle of obsessiveness, today's staid, highly stress reducing regimen consists of:

Lander's 32 oz. Lavender 3-in-1 combo (shampoo, conditioner, body wash-aren't they all..?) :: ~$2.50
Suave conditioner 22 oz. :: ~$1.49
Family Dollar Store's Hair Detangler 10 oz. spritzer :: $1.00

Adore my hair stylist, Cindy over House Of Style in Ball Ground.. Just can't afford to see her as often as one would like..

Cindy does exactly as I ask, exactly, regardless of how she knows it will not be perfect to the professional standards she knows when I walk out her business' front door.. Instead, she's one of the few hairdressers I've known in this Life who RESPECTS that hair can be a person's Achilles' Heel..

Would LOVE to hear personally, firsthand, of more hair stylist-related non-profits.. Yup, non-profits that do nothing but serve by lopping off people's hair.. Professional attention to one's hair leads to a chain reaction of a better perceived personal image, more confidence, more likely to reach outside one's current state of affairs..

Here in Georgia, Hosea's Feed The Hungry and Homeless gets that part of the overall picture.. They offer haircuts as part of their service weekends to their local community..

Things are getting tougher and tougher, near literally by the hour.. Each day that passes, for some untold number of us out here in the real World, personal image becomes one of the very, very few things left to us by our Life's circumstances.. It does not make a bad place to start when actively offering others a hand up in our local communities..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

M.S. Bellows :: Late Term Abortions OK For When "Mentally Ill People Have Sex"..?

2008-06-16T10:50:00.017-05:00

Dear M.S. Bellows..

So sorry to do this from here, but I've tried multiple times to respond directly to you over there at your post on Huffington Post.. Even though I'm logged in, the webpage is flipping out.. Guessing it's some temporary technical glitch as the design continues to visually change before our very eyes these days..

An-EE-way.. So, ok, here my Mind is, quickly smoking through the comments section of that article when it comes across what, in your eyes, are some great talking points for making late term abortions acceptable.. Two of the three you highlighted as admissible were:

people get raped
postpubescent children get molested

So, where those are effective is that they successfully distract from the topic at hand because they are acts of violence towards vulnerable people.. Good call..

Still trying to mentally work through the third one.. Condoms.. Late term abortions for when condoms break..

Seriously..?

How about.....

Buy more expensive condoms..?

But then, oy, goodness, you just plum broke my Heart with your fourth item, broke it in a way almost not totally unlike the way it felt when I encountered that piece on Tom Cruise telling Jack Kevorkian how much he admires the doctor's assisted suicide and right to die work..

Yup, can still feel the pang.. You done broke my Heart when, intermingled among the two terrible occurrences of extreme violence mentioned above, one can find where you chose to also express that late term abortions are unobjectionable in instances where:

mentally ill people have sex

Number One: What an incredibly, absolutely flamingly, blatantly discriminatory statement.. Regardless of whatever your personal bias may be, persons with mental illness actually do have your basic civil rights under our Nation's laws.. The stereotype of yore towards PWMIs was once again perpetuated straight ahead seemingly forever forward through your very own Fingertips.. :pouted lip:

Number Two: The longer I think on it, by including when mentally ill people have sex in with the acts of violence mentioned as you have, you consciously wrote to feed on how some countable part of Society feels towards persons with mental illness.. Shame, shame, SHAME ON YOU.. :vigorously shaking naughty-naught finger:

Number Three: Maybe I've just missed this side of your usual commentary, but it feels so completely out of character for you.. Feels like I've just been stabbed in the back by a trusted confidante..

Number Four, Five, Six, ad infinitum: Coming soon.. Will have to find a way to drop a quick bug in my friends' ears so they can fill them in..

And thensome..

Sighing heavily in disappointment from Talking Rock..

Reference:

M.S. Bellows, Jr., McCain's Odd Townhall: Woos Clintonistas By Defending Rights Of The Unborn; The Huffington Post; Posted June 14, 2008 (06:26 PM EST)

Xinhuanet.com :: Tom Cruise Admires Jack Kevorkian's Work..?

2008-06-13T15:05:00.016-05:00

You know, you know, you know.. Back when Tom Cruise's couch jumping ordeal on Oprah's occurred, not to mention the Scientology angle, I didn't have much Internet online access, let alone a functional 'puter so I pretty much just had to leave it go..

The whole thing was frightening to ever so silently bear witness to, though, in that one imagines loyal fans following however he may lead just because of the magnetic draw he has on people.. Human Nature will be what it will be, and the desire of so many to be around celebrities regardless will, too..

But.. this..... shtuff that crossed these Fingertips today.. Oy, freaking vey..

To set it up, part of what comes into my inbox is regular searches on that dreadful phrase, "assisted suicide" along with "right to die".. Today's I happened to open in a timely manner.. Whoohoo.. This is what I found:

[Celebrity photog] diplomatically saved the day by explaining that Cruise really meant the doctor's campaign for the right to die and assisted suicide.

The very first thing that came to Mind as I read that teaser..? Oh, please, say this is not going to show Tom Cruise, with his record on mental health and Scientology already, somehow being referenced as interacting with or about Dr. Jack Kevorkian..?! Leaky pipes, be dogged.. This lead I had to follow..

Celebrity photog: Be nice, don't push, say 'please'
www.chinaview.cn; 2008-06-13 10:08:09

The rest of the blurb went something like.......

[Veteran celebrity photographer Patrick McMullan] tells the story of introducing assisted suicide advocate Jack "Doctor Death" Kervorkian to Tom Cruise at a party. According to McMullan, Cruise had no idea who the euthanasia advocate was, but didn't hold back with the enthusiasm.

I really love your work, he quotes Cruise as saying. And Dr Kervorkian looks at me like 'what'?

The photographer diplomatically saved the day by explaining that Cruise really meant the doctor's campaign for the right to die and assisted suicide.

Just break my Heart, why don't you.....

For so, so many years, Tom Cruise, because of the Old Time Rock And Roll scene in Risky Business, held a fond, fond memory spot in my Heart.. Not because of the adorableness of the scene and, well, YOU know, but because multiple times a day for years, I'd hear that song playing at the Whale Bowl as Tokitae and Makani "duked" it out as to who was the audience favorite..

As a (still) treasured Mockingbird once told me as we gazed out over the Flipper Lagoon, it was such a very magical place and time, those days out there.. Old Time Rock And Roll, by default, brought Tom right along with..

But now.......

Sheesh, golly, gee, Tommy.. Break my poor little Heart.....

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

The Hill Blog :: Sen. Mike Enzi: Those With Disabilities Need Better Jobs..

2008-06-12T02:30:00.012-05:00

My inbox has absolutely just been rocking the last few days.. Trying to call it quits for a bit then came this one about a bill introduced in Congress today, whoops, yesterday:

Those With Disabilities Need Better Jobs
Senator Mike Enzi (Wyoming), The Hill Blog, 2008-06-11

These programs [under the Randolph-Sheppard Act and the Javits-Wagner-O’Day Act (JWOD)] are performing dismally and we must improve them. My main goal is to create more and better jobs for individuals with disabilities. This bill will allow greater flexibility and provide real job training so Americans with disabilities can develop marketable skills and knowledge to make meaningful career choices. It also restores accountability to these programs to make sure workers are no longer exploited. The bill specifically empowers a strong regulator to police both programs and protect workers.

Nice to know that, should one ever come across a program of this nature that is not doing right by its employees, there is a United States Senator out there precisely, actively interested in seeking accountability from the same..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

AJC :: Georgia Governor's mental health commission copied other state's materials..

2008-06-11T13:53:00.016-05:00

Alan Judd and Andy Miller's recanting of Georgia's ever evolving mental health care system story through their A Hidden Shame series just keeps getting better and better.......

Not.

Thanks to the editors who (once again) saw the Value to including the following in the weekday AJC emailing, the latest I've seen is today's entry about how the Georgia Governor's commission has now no less than plagiarized a few years old likeminded report from Michigan rather than dedicate more towards creating our own:

(Georgia) State's mental health report was mostly plagiarized: Gov.'s commission copied others' material

Alan Judd, Andy Miller; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Published on: 06/11/08

A new vision outlined for mental health care in Georgia last week isn't so new after all.

Large sections of a report by Gov. Sonny Perdue's mental health commission were lifted, often verbatim, from a Michigan study published in 2004 and from two other sources, a review by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found. The commission's report, released last week by the governor's office, credits none of the cloned material.

The report presents as its own work entire sentences, paragraphs and longer passages from other sources, with no more than superficial editing. It duplicates, with only two minor changes in wording, the values listed in the Michigan study. Seven of Georgia's eight key findings mirror Michigan's. Even Georgia's vision statement is appropriated from the Michigan report.

Sigh.......

Because of how ceaselessly exhausted I remain and how hard I know it is to keep going most days, a part of me is empathetic to what occurs in situations like this.. What I'm meaning is empathetic towards that days are only 24-hours long and Lives are crammed full to the hilt already trying just to possibly stay somewhere above the water line in this, our one and only shot at that thing called Life..

And like that which goes back to 2002 when the in-my-physical-presence handpicked advocate chosen for me by heads of the Highland River's Community Service Board THEMSELVES the day they publicly announced their slate was clean dropped off the face of the Earth on me regularly in an extremely desperate, by a spider's silk threadbare time of need for any kind of external advocacy assistance.. Every day that blip in time comes to Mind, I try to forgive by picturing she may walk in Shoes not so unlike my own..

Yup.. Some large part of me does "get" it in some part, much as it can be and remains Life-endangering to those who faithfully do as Society expects, too often dictates, and trustingly walk in those same very doors..

What me doesn't get is that those who could become even more empowered by involvement on any level sit day after day after day waiting to hear what tidbits they can from sources such as Alan and Andy.. Most aren't at that point where these fingertips are.. Those in particular could use the self-determination guaranteed by a phone call inviting their opinion on what occurred in each, their own separate case of mismanaged mental health care across the great state of Georgia..

Ego comes to Mind.. When Lives are endangered, there is no place on this Planet for Ego..

There's a reason I openly worship my relationship with the advocates and self-advocates that revolve around the awe-inspiring energies generating from disABILITY LINK, the center for independent living (CIL) down there on Commerce Drive in Decatur.. If they've got Ego, by gosh and golly, they've harnessed it to the hilt to drive positive actions of support and empowerment in all directions towards others, positive forward moving actions of advocacy that are literally saving Lives..

They nearly alone and without twice of thought saved mine..

My Heroes.

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

S'me Again, Vern :: Still Waiting For Non-Disciminatory Inclusion In VFC..

2008-06-05T15:41:00.005-05:00

Just 'cause a fella ain't heard from these Fingertips don't mean a particular bumblebee in my bonnet ain't being constructively followed through to an enlightened end that involves the 100% proactive INCLUSION of all my extended family members jailed away behind bars societally dubbed long term care..

Know what I mean, Jelly Bean..?

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock.. :ga-WINK:

Feds Say Georgia State Mental Hospital's Problems Caused Preventable Deaths

2008-06-05T07:38:00.007-05:00

Had been up since about 3:30am this morning just smoking along checking out the latest leads coming into my inbox along with siphoning out pertinent advocacy/self-advocacy related posts when I slammed wide open into the eternal brick wall that is Georgia's intolerable mental health care crisis:

State mental hospital's problems caused preventable deaths, feds say: Justice Department says conditions at Atlanta facility violate patients' constitutional rights
Alan Judd, Andy Miller; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 2008-06-04

It's already over at Digg.com if you're interested in helping bump it.. Because of the article's nature, it isn't the kind of story people might otherwise promote on average:

Digg.com: Feds: GA State mental hospital caused preventable deaths..

Because I'm going to post an open letter in a few seconds, the following are just a sampling of what was reported.......

In a blistering 65-page letter to Gov. Sonny Perdue, the U.S. Justice Department detailed "critically deficient" conditions at Georgia Regional Hospital/Atlanta. Investigators have inspected two other state hospitals, finding comparable problems, and plan to visit another next week.

Continually failing to address hospital fatalities and violence, the letter said, caused similar deaths to multiply and left patients vulnerable to sexual assaults and other attacks.

Citation #2.....

Federal investigators, the letter said, found that medical and nursing care substantially depart from generally accepted professional standards. They also determined that the hospital provides inadequate psychiatric treatment; uses seclusion and restraint, including sedatives, inappropriately; and fails to adequately protect its patients from harm.

Citation #3.....

We were already working on many of these [problems], Gwen Skinner, head of the state's mental health division, said Wednesday. Georgia Regional has increased its nursing staff, as well as the number of hours of patient treatment, she said. A commission appointed by Perdue to study the state's mental health system issued a report Wednesday documenting problems in hospital care, community psychiatric services and state funding.

And lastly.....

By tolerating a chronic shortage of nurses, the letter said, Georgia Regional routinely compromises patient care. The adolescent unit is highly dangerous, the letter said, quoting one staff member as saying patients would be safer outside the hospital and another who described continuing clinical chaos.

Like I said, just a couple of snippets, but they are snapshots of what has been repeated in some likeness and kind that as yet go unheeded over the last few years..

Having done as much of their own part as humanly possible over the last few years, these Fingertips simply do not understand what else, how many more destroyed Lives it's going to take before Change breaks upon the Horizon.......

United In Advocacy..

WSJ :: Parity For Mental Health Insurance..

2008-06-02T02:54:00.013-05:00

Noting another positive sign of the times at first guess, Wall Street Journal (WSJ) gives their take on Congress' progress towards passing improved employer-provided mental-health coverage (S. 558, H.R. 1424):

HEALTH COSTS: Parity for Mental Health
Jilian Mincer, Wall Street Journal, June 1, 2008

At first glance, I thought, "Oh, how, cool, mental health parity is getting some good play over at WSJ, just as they did for accessible home design so very recently.."

Then I read the article.. Sigh.......

Persons with mental illness (PWMIs) just can't seem to catch a societal break.. If what WSJ is reporting is true, yes, there will likely be mental health parity in health insurance provisions, BUT..

Premiums for everyone will rise..
Stigma levels against PWMIs theoretically could also rise in tandem instead of fall as they take the blame for the fallout from increased insurance deductions in worker paychecks..

Was this part that unfortunately made complete sense:

Congress also must decide how to fund the bill's cost. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the House bill would reduce federal tax revenues by $3.1 billion from 2008 through 2017 because the bill would result in higher premiums and, as a result, lower taxable wages.

Yeah, can't help but feel another eminent rise in the stigma against PWMIs as they will surely take the hit for something that just should have been modus operandi in the first place in a Land that professes Equality for All..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Number One Thing NOT To Say To An Empowered Disability Self-Advocate..

2008-05-29T03:21:00.010-05:00

Do as I say..

Alternately :: Because I said so..............

You are most assuredly more than welcome to offer your opinion as to why you think something should occur a particular way.. Beyond that, though, you start seriously stepping on individual human and civil rights along with the dignity of the individual when you place a demand that another perform specifically as you say..

:raises left brow:

Least the above seem somehow trifling, please never discount that, in precisely the same manner that the ADA benefits all persons, the disability self-advocacy Voice likewise is among the leaders in the legions of those striving to empower all disenfranchised individuals, not just those with disabilities..

Indubitably. :wink:

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

The Calf Path..

And from that day, o'er hill and glade.
Through those old woods a path was made.

And many men wound in and out,
And dodged, and turned, and bent about;

And uttered words of righteous wrath,
Because 'twas such a crooked path.

But still they followed - do not laugh -
The first migrations of that calf.

~S.W. Foss

USF University of Law :: How The ADA Benefits People Without Disabilities..

2008-05-27T13:37:00.008-05:00

Found the following while surfing over around the Disability Law 2.0 blog a little bit ago.. As one of my cyber friends over at the ADA-Laws Yahoo! group said, this is something nice for a change:

Lashing Back at the ADA Backlash: How the Americans with Disabilities Act Benefits Americans Without Disabilities
TinyURL :: tinyurl.com/4hhb52..

This University of San Francisco - School of Law paper applies Professor Derrick Bell's interest convergence hypothesis to the disability context. It identifies that the ADA benefits nondisabled workers and challenges the notion that advancing equality for individuals with disabilities necessarily comes at the expense of the nondisabled workforce.

The above referenced webpage is "just" the abstract.. It also has a downloadable 65-page 300+ .pdf file that goes with.. The link to the article that immediately begins to download is at the bottom of that same page..

A(nother) new resource for me, the above article's hosting website is called Social Science Resource Network and is found at:

www.SSRN.com

For those playing over at Digg.com, I've got it dugg in the Business and Finance category..

Yeah....... Something nice.. Something that just feels supportive for a change..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Universally Inclusive Communities :: One Size Fits All Political Rah-Rah Rhetoric..

2008-05-21T05:12:00.008-05:00

Enough with Bittergate.....

Enough with sweetie.....

Enough with separatist catch phrases like low class and Ordinary People..

And all the positive campaign rah-rah rhetoric in the World will only carry a fella, any fella, just so far in this Life..

If any political parties plan on remaining in the running for much longer, now is the time to start large scale, proactive, united discussions on how we are going to work together at the local community level across our entire Nation to develop universally inclusive programs like housing, employment, and transportation for everyone..

Likely very few communities anywhere that are healthy for long from within without these fundamental Societal Lifelines..

It's not like we don't already have centers for independent living (CILs) scattered throughout our country and possessions, employees and volunteers, alike, with their noses resolvedly to the proverbial grindstone formulating exemplary battle plans of actions towards the same even as the rest "rah"..

Yeah, I dream.......

A lot.

Surely, one of these days one of those Dreams is going to come true.. :wink:

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Wakeup Call :: An Unknown Suicide Jumper On Atlanta's I-285 Spaghetti Junction..

2008-05-19T17:05:00.017-05:00

The words just won't come after having seen yet another news report of this nature:

I-285 West Reopens At Spaghetti Junction; Dekalb County, Georgia; Posted 4:47 pm EDT, Updated 5:22 pm EDT, May 19, 2008

Somehow unexplainedly to these Fingertips through the Tears, this, just the very latest this second of similar pieces echoing across our Country, symbolizes all that is wrong in our World..

Traveled over to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), to see what, if anything more, they had to add to WSBTV's short blurb, and things got just that much worse.. There, right below their own story of the Spaghetti Junction overpass suicide jumper, is a teaser for an article on.......

Taking tourist bus tours to view the destroyed Lives of others in the form of their foreclosed homes:

Bus tour gives people look at foreclosed houses; Kevin Duffy; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Published 05/19/08..

The white shuttle bus came to a stop and Damon Borozny joked to the passengers, "All right, time to scare the neighbors."

Borozny, a product manager for an office supply business, was helping lead a new kind of tour for Atlanta - the home foreclosure tour.

A dozen people paid $49, or $65 per couple, to spend five hours Sunday checking out other people's broken dreams and possibly find a deal.

One unfortunate set of people's Lives are being shattered forever because of endlessly skyrocketing food and fuel prices even as these other wonderful folks are trading humorous barbs over the same while carelessly rummaging where tiny feet of Hope, Love, and Joy once pitter-pattered.. Seeing that article couldn't help but bring back to Mind the similarly minded individuals who graciously provided anxious sightseeing tourists with bus tours immediately following Hurricane Katrina's deaths and devastation in New Orleans, Louisiana..

Our World just keeps sicker by the keystroke.. Predatory lending has now led to predatory sharks very publicly, visually sucking off the blood of permanently wounded homeowners..

For all we know, it was something precisely like this bloodsucking predatory entrepreneurship that was the last straw for the Spaghetti Junction suicide jumper.. Someone somewhere knows the History, the Truth behind what happened today.......

We have GOT to start coming together and support each other for everything we are..

Every Life was someone's Child once..

Every Life had a Chance once to be a productive member of our Society, of our local Communities..

Every Life has Value now in this, our Own one and only, if given a Hand back up towards that Chance..

It begins with Compassion, Human Compassion for another from deep down within our own Souls..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock........

In my Mind's Ear, listening to.......

Against all odds
Against the grain
Love finds a way
Some people change.
Thank God for those who make it
Let them be the light.
~Montgomery Gentry..

Dear Barack and Roy :: Straight jacket..? Not so much........

2008-05-15T04:35:00.007-05:00

Caught up with M.S. Bellows, Jr.,'s/Jr.'s (how does one punctuate that, anyway..?) latest, Former Clinton-Gore Campaign Chair: "This Race Is Over, Over.", over at Huffington Post just now.. Not sure quite what to think..

Yes, as the receiver of the endorsement, Barack Obama is not in full control of the comments appended to the why-fors of people choosing him over Hillary Clinton..

But.......

Straight jacket..?:

This nation is evolving. Colorado is one of those states you call a red state... [but] I don't think Colorado is the same state it was 20 years ago. I think we need to get out of the straight jacket, 'this is a red state, this is a blue state'.... We need a candidate who can appeal to the evolving nature of U.S. politics."

Oooh.. It just got that much better.. First time 'round, I got so hung up on just seeing "straight jacket" tossed about so nonchalantly, I missed that they're recognizing the World is indeed changing..

Most respectfully, word to your camps: Disabilism.. Using terminology like "straight jacket" when you (at least from here on out) know it is offensive to many because of the post-traumatic stress visions of in-hospital abuse and torture it invokes..

Won't go there here, but I can guarantee to you that, betweenst you and I, I'm sure that we could insert in its place something ethnic-based or sexist-based, and you'd suddenly take heed of the comparable pain induced to other sets of demographics.. Works exactly the same for people with disabilities..

They call it dadgum basic Human respect for and acknowledgment of the circumstances of another.. It's not hard to do if it is indeed who you genuinely are deep, deep, down inside.. And when you willingly put yourself out there in politics, it additionally becomes a permanent part of your job description..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Blogging Against Disabilism :: Still Waiting.. ITMT, Edwards and Obama Schmooze..

2008-05-14T18:18:00.036-05:00

Before And After :: About These Images..

Immediately below are two printscreen snippets recently grabbed from the BarackObama.com website while disability self-advocates were asking for inclusion of disabilities under the website's "People" listing.. The lefthand snippet reflects where there was no general disability category under "People".. The righthand snippet was taken last Friday after Seth D. Harris, a member of the BarackObama.com website, shared with us that Disabilities now will indeed receive a demographic representation under the "People" listing.. Yay..!

Before I get started back up on my soapbox and so as not to seem woefully ungrateful, I would very much like to once again sincerely, publicly thank the Barack Obama campaign people for addressing the concerns of those of us who wrote repeatedly to them and about them having persons with disabilities (PWDs) listed for a long, long time only as "Issues", translation: "Problems", and not as "People".. It was the Number One first thing I know I noticed when initially patronizing their website:

Butterfly :: Funny how rhetoric can sidetrack a girl.. :)..

Success was broadcast this past Friday, May 9, 2008, in the form of emailed correspondence from a gentleman named Seth D. Harris and addressed to multiple BarackObama.com disability topicked groups stating that we were indeed now seen also as People First via the new addition of an "Americans With Disabilities" category within the "People" listings on the Obama presidential campaign's official website..

'Tis good the addition of AWDs for, until this very week, "Labor", "Environmentalists", and "Kids" were among all the other demographics and special interests of people visually holding value to the Obama campaign.. Value by association, or the lack thereof, is subliminally perceptual, through the action of addition and/or omissions to such a list.. Highlighting that "minor" detail had been a must-gots-to-do-soon on this kid's upcoming blog agenda as a matter of fact.. :wink, grin:

Now, about all those huge news stories breaking today about Senator John Edwards publicly announcing his political endorsement of Obama as the candidate to beat during the 2008 presidential elections:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) :: John Edwards decides to endorse Obama; Associated Press, Published 05/14/08
The Huffington Post :: John Edwards Endorsing Obama; Published May 14, 2008
Google Search :: edwards endorses obama..

All this flagrant media hyped grandstanding conspicuously reaching out to grab the attention of America's perceived "middle class" voters begs me to most respectfully inquire:

Whose hand is slated to be embraced to garner the confidence of the some 50+ million persons with disabilities across these, our United States..?

Embraced so passionately as to garner the confidence of PWDs such that they will never again feel the stigmatic pain of yet again being left out and behind, endlessly segregant even as others rally and celebrate.. in Unity.. just beyond the Disability Community's societal ordained reach..

With untold numbers of persons with disabilities in long term care (LTC) facilities (i.e. nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, hospitals, et al[l]) to date silently left out in the cold with respect to the recent, albeit admirable, Vote For Change nationwide voter registration campaign, some, for lack of a better word this sec, "schmoozing" in their direction is seriously in order..

Too.......

To date, disability self-advocates have had to champion just to be recognized as People First and not purely issues or problems within certain political circles.. Fodder for another day is us having to then face abusive verbal retribution purportedly from fellow PWDs within that same camp for us even daring to negatively engage in such an action..

And now we see this.. Importance reaped once again on the almighty dollar as one representative of the Democratic political party, the party that notoriously appeals to those with threadbare pocketbooks, seeks to ostentatiously rope in the middle class vote.. Doing so presents the appearance of Choice, one of more monies over less, middle class over lower class, since some sizable number of the Disability voter base is living hand to mouth in the true sense of the old adage, if not literally living on the streets because of their Life-induced circumstances..

Yeah, not hard to tell these Fingertips are still a little bent about the Disability Vote not hitting the radar of the Vote For Change nationwide voter registration drive, well, not in my state, anyway.. I was told firsthand that, well, maybe next time, basically.. "Maybe next time" wearies on these Fingertips as still more people jailed away, incarcerated against their Wills in long term care centers across the country have died while we all wait to be included.......

Maybe next time.

The following quote was a huge part of what kills me about the Vote For Change campaign.. The Barack Obama presidential campaign's OWN correspondence regarding building steam for the voter registration drive last weekend boasted:

The goal of this campaign has always been to reach out to people of all races, ages, and backgrounds and bring them back into the political process.

Right now, there are thousands of qualified voters in every state who are not registered to vote -- and they need someone to help make their voices heard.

Yup. Some other time, kid.. Just not now when they're trying to stir up the most interest via their well-publicized Vote for Change voter registration drive kickoff event..

Voter rights for persons with disabilities in long term care centers..? Still not to be even when the push is on so hard to help enable that Right for EVERY single other one else.. The message remains loud and clear that the Disability Voice continues to be viewed as counting naught for squat..

Here's to bumping up each, our own voter registration efforts just to show them the genuine passion behind one of my favorite mantras:

Feel The Power of The Disability Vote..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock.. :wink:

Acronyms used in this piece.....

PWD :: person with a disability
AWDs :: Americans With Disabilities
AJC :: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
LTC :: long term care
ITMT :: in the mean time

Definitions On The Fly :: "Every"..

2008-05-06T21:30:00.009-05:00

From Dictionary.com, in part, comes the following definition of "every":

adj. Constituting each and all members of a group without exception.

Stay tuned.......

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock.. :wink:

Blogging Against Disabilism v4.0139652 :: The Obama Campaign: Will They Will..?

2008-05-01T21:11:00.027-05:00

Turns out there may be something to be said for waiting until the 11th hour before submitting one's entry in the now annual Blogging Against Disabilism Day.. Between a(nother) bad battle with a bout of "depression" and my left hand progressively going 1/2 numb so as not to be able to feel the keyboard, I had instead spent the last couple of days toying with ideas..

Stalling.. Basically just stalling, waiting for just that one right idea to tickle these fingertips..

Namely at first, I had been looking, leaning a little more towards bearing a media bias slant.. The media's continued incessant use of persons with disabilities "suffering from" playing Tiddly Winks in my Head was the primary culprit..

Just now once again did an Internet search on "disability" and "suffering" together.. In the news.. In the last 24 hours.. Wholly an unscientific slice without going through each and every single webpage returned, but sufferin' succotash if there aren't 374 opportunities laying in wait..

Hm.

Then I thought..... eh, not so much..... how about..... let's compare disabilism returns, just the word "disabilism" versus "sexism" vs "racism", each also by themselves in the news (such as it is represented online) in the last 24 hours..

Sigh...

Sexism in the Google News search engine's eyes in the last 24 hours :: 2,781 returns..

Racism in the Google News search engine's eyes in the last 24 hours :: 14,074 returns..

Disabilism in the Google News search engine's eyes in the last 24 hours, nope.....

Wait, in the last week, perhaps..?

Nooooooo.....

Ok, I know..

In..... The last month.....

Drum roll, please.....

A great big heaping, bleeping grand total of One.

And it was an ad.. An honorable one, to be sure, but still "just" an advertisement..

Hats off to Scope in the United Kingdom for running their Guardian.co.uk website ad that was the only return in Google's News search engine and that made it there because it, in part, stated:

Scope is a national disability organisation whose focus is on people with cerebral palsy. Our mission is to drive the change to make our society the first where disabled people achieve full equality.

We campaign to banish disabilism and we deliver a wide range of services to support disabled people and their families in achieving choice and control over their lives.

Ahhhhhhh, but what of that post subject that so far has nothing to do with the above, the one that says, "THIS is why you wait until the absolutely unbearable last second sometimes..":

Will the Obama campaign camp or will they not.....

INCLUDE the untold feasibly hundreds upon hundreds of thousands in long term care facilities across the United States in their brand newly announced.....

Vote For Change voter registration and mobilization drive..?

The email correspondence that triggered my query was pumping up constituent support for the same, and, in part, states:

From the beginning, our goal has been to reach out to people of all races, ages, and backgrounds and bring them back into the political process. We must use the rare opportunity we have right now to bring people together and make this a better country for all Americans.

That's why I'm excited to announce a 50-state voter registration and mobilization drive we're calling Vote for Change.

Beginning with a nationwide kick-off on Saturday, May 10th, more than 100 Vote for Change events will take place in every state, organized by our dedicated volunteers who are leading this campaign for change in their own communities.

With each new arrival of the same this evening, I got more curious and finally took another timeout from the great hunt for acts of disabilism across the Net.. In opening the email and seeing the above, it occurred to me to ask of one individual forwarding it on a local list I've joined:

Do you know what their plans are for registering those who are in long term care facilities, i.e. nursing homes, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, et al(l)..?

Wait, make that two individuals received the email from here and are now wholly aware, in one sentence or less, of where these fingertips now stand in their quest for genuine Change in our America..

Like I said.. Will the Obama campaign camp or will they.....

Not INCLUDE the untold numbers of persons with disabilities jailed away beyond their control in long term care facilities across the United States..?

To not do so upon announcing this incredibly grand gesture of registering every single American possible so they may enjoy their constitutionally given Right to Vote would be.....

DISABILISM on a scale beyond one's wildest imagination fathomable..

Only feedback from the inquisitive email I redirected to Info @ BarackObama.com, purportedly coming straight from Mrs. Michelle Obama's own inbox, will tell for sure..

And now.....

It's YOUR turn to ask her..

Too.......

~~Info @ BarackObama.com~~ Contact information correction: Online Contact Form..

Nothing about Us without All of Us..

Peace, Love, Liberty, and Social Justice For Us ALL..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock, Georgia, USA.. :wink:

Press Release :: ADAPT Wins Meeting with HHS to Work on Medicaid Reform..

2008-04-28T22:29:00.010-05:00

HOT off the Presses..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock.. :wink:

For Immediate Release
April 28, 2008

For information contact:
Bob Kafka 512-431-4085
Marsha Katz 406-544-9504
www.ADAPT.org..

ADAPT Activists Win Meeting with HHS Sec. Michael Leavitt to Work on Medicaid Reform :: HHS Staff Affirms that Access to Community is a Civil Right

Washington, D.C.--- 500 ADAPT activists closed off all access to the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, headquarters for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and kept it closed until HHS Sec. Michael Leavitt agreed to meet with ADAPT on the multiple policies that force people into nursing homes and other institutions, and prevent them from moving back to their own homes and communities.

75 ADAPT members entered the HHS building before security locked all the doors, and presented the ADAPT demands in the initial negotiations with HHS staff. The demands included:

Meet with leaders of ADAPT within 30 days, with the understanding that access to the community is a civil right that can be improved by the following measures. The meeting can clarify any of the following and identify other barriers to home and community based services in all 50 states;

Improve the implementation of the Money Follows the Person (MFP) Demonstration Projects by increasing the flexibility states have;

IMMEDIATELY eliminate any rules that cause undue burdens regarding case management;

Eliminate any rules that discourage small grassroots providers, like Centers for Independent Living (CILs) and other non-profits, from meeting the needs of the consumers they serve;

Eliminate any regulations and interpretations of "spousal impoverishment" and "risk" that promote institutionalization of persons with disabilities;

Work with ADAPT to pass the Community Choice Act (S 799 and HR 1621).

"People need to be able to choose to live in their own homes, near their families and friends," said Dawn Russell of Texas ADAPT. "Families shouldn't be torn apart by mean-spirited Medicaid policies and regulations that force some people into nursing homes or even to leave their home state in order to get the community-based services and supports they need."

After a six hour standoff, Philo Hall, Counselor to Sec. Leavitt, committed to Leavitt meeting with ADAPT within 30 days as he addressed the crowd in the pouring rain. He began by acknowledging that access to the community is definitely a civil right. Then Hall admitted that HHS has fallen behind in its former regular communication with ADAPT, and acknowledged that the lack of communication has contributed to HHS making some not-well-thought-out decisions that have hurt the disability community. Renewed communication will begin immediately with another meeting between ADAPT and HHS staff on Wednesday, April 30.

"You know, President Bush's first Executive Order was the New Freedom Initiative (NFI), which ordered all federal departments to remove barriers to full community participation for people with disabilities," said Bob Kafka, ADAPT National Organizer. We've been making slow but steady progress until the past couple of years when it seemed like the Medicaid folks forgot the President's order and started reinstituting policies that will push people back into institutions. We're hoping that after today ADAPT will work with us to reverse the current trend, and assure older and disabled Americans can live full lives in their community."

Dear Barack :: One Citizen's Perspective :: Cross-Disability Accommodations..

2008-04-25T12:39:00.013-05:00

Sent from these fingertips a mere few moments ago to Betsy Borgacz with the Barack Obama presidential campaign.. Should you wish to provide her with similar feedback yourselves, email her directly at OlympiaEventPlanning [at] yahoo.com with a subject line similar maybe to "Universal Accessibility and Accommodations Of Political Campaigns"..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Hi, Betsy..

Thank you sooo much for addressing, of late through Jake's own personal efforts, what these fingertips, too, have expressed [1] from my first venture [2] onto the My.BarackObama.com campaign website.. If I may be so bold, I am asking that you please accommodate me now cognitively by allowing the following extended impromptu response to how my Mind processed your recent request for information and feedback on accommodating universal accessibility for persons with disabilities (PWDs)..

Each United States state and some U.S. possessions have centers for independent living (CILs) that *should* be excellent, business day on-call resources for just exactly as you ask.. The Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) website offers an in-depth listing of many American CILs operating at this time:

ilru.org/html/publications/directory/state_list.html..

If for any reason at all, you or any of those who may receive this by default of its intended audience, run into a snag trying to contact these various CILs in your quest for information regarding universal accommodations, *PLEASE* do not hesitate to call my Colleagues, Mentors, Extended Family here in Georgia at the disABILITY LINK (the LINK) of Decatur:

disABILITY LINK
755 Commerce Drive, Suite 105
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 687-8890 Voice
(404) 687-9175 TTY
(800) 239-2507 (V/TTY)
(404) 687-8298 FAX
Email: info@disabilitylink.org..

This particular CIL is chock *FULL* of national disability self-advocates, nay, internationally active advocates.. Not to put them on the immediate spot, but they are, among many other things, very familiar with organizing events of various sizes for persons of, again, *ALL* disabilities..

+ + + + + + +
DISCLAIMER :: Before I go *any* further, please let it be known up front that they, as I, do not openly extend public endorsements for political candidates in and of themselves.. These groups are, instead, being recommended from the Heart as resources for best practices consultations.. Additionally, as it appears that you wholeheartedly acknowledge, no one self-advocate is *ever* in a position to speak absolutely on behalf of the Whole..
+ + + + + + +
Prompting my boldness in highlighting the LINK :: With their last few years' experience in organizing Georgia Voices That Count (GVTC) disability self-advocacy training weekends, they are becoming extremely familiar with coordinating various congregational activities embracing very diverse assemblages of disabilities at any one given time.. This includes but is not limited to the fine honed art of coordinating accessible transportation, temporary housing, and disability-specific accommodations, e.g. interpretors for persons with hearing impairments and suitable quiet space for persons with mental illness..

Additionally, there are many, *many* wonderful organizations scattered across our precious United States, but these next couple of organizations are some that I also ask that you *please* acquaint yourselves with in your own efforts to accommodate all persons, not just now but forever always into that, Our Futures (with above DISCLAIMER remaining in effect here, also):

ADAPT in Denver
201 S Cherokee
Denver, CO 80223
Telephone: 303/733-9324
Email: ADAPT@ADAPT.org..
www.adapt.org..

Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE)
P.O. Box 30142
Kansas City, MO 64112
Attn: Laura Walker
www.sabeusa.org/nationalchapters.html..

Additionally, two more things I would like to quickly *once again*, as I have already done personally and previously, address to the Barack Obama campaign camp: Website accessibility and community transportation.. My suggestions for both, as before, remain to please visit the following:

For the Barack Obama website webmaster and/or webmistress:

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
www.w3.org/WAI/..

Validating the BarackObama.com website is a HUGE start towards its overall accessibility for *ALL PERSONS*:

W3C Markup Validation Service
validator.w3.org..

Public listservs for advisement regarding implementation are available for both of the above.

Lastly, regarding transportation, if you are looking for what I personally find to be an exceptional example of community transportation for persons of all disabilities, nope, again *ALL PERSONS*, I *once again* most humbly recommend someone get a firsthand feel for the community program here in Pickens County (Jasper), Georgia:

Mountain Area Transportation System (MATS)
180 W. Burton Street
Jasper, GA 30143
Telephone: 706-692-3252

Visiting MATS would give you an excellent feel for what you would be looking for in accommodating the transportation needs of local constituents..

In conclusion, thank you for, at this time, pro-actively addressing ongoing concerns of public citizens with disabilities in our United States.. Intermingled with the reputable preferences of others, accommodation requests fulfilled by incorporating any of the above personally-garnered factors have an overall proclivity towards being of mutual benefit for *EVERYONE*, in each our daily Lives..

Peace, Love, and Social Justice For Us All..

Cindy Sue
Six. Almost Seven..

[1] Funny how rhetoric can sidetrack a girl.. :)
my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/butterfly/gGB5JF..

[2] Butterfly's Profile @ My.BarackObama.com
my.barackobama.com/page/dashboard/public/g5XsM..

- :: -
CindySueCausey.blogspot.com
www.ButterflyBytes.com
Georgia Voices That Count, 2005
Talking Rock, GA, USA

HHS/CMS :: Critical New Information On Nursing Home Quality Available..

2008-04-24T03:51:00.026-05:00

This press release from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) just now hit my inbox.. Okay, so actually, the way my Mind works these days, by the time "Publish Post" is toggled, this latest from these fingertips will have been probably two hours in the making..... :grin:

The referenced websites, all from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), include:

Multi-Year Action Plan for Further Improvement of Nursing Home Quality; for comparison purposes, see also the 2007 Action Plan..
Special Focus Facility Initiative..
Nursing Home Compare..
Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs)..
Certification and Compliance: Nursing Homes..
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS)..

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to note is that they reference there are currently 134 long term care facilities that are continuously making it to the CMS' naughty list.. One hundred and thirty-four facilities.. ONE is one too many because each of those 134 facilities represents the very real possibility of reprehensible, wholly preventable Human Life loss..

Should you wish to reach CMS, their contact information is as follows:

Department of Health & Human Services
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Room 352-G
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20201
Telephone: (202) 690-6145

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Critical New Information Added to Nursing Home Compare Web site :: Multi-year Plan for Improved Nursing Home Quality Also Released

Medicaid beneficiaries and families searching for top quality long-term care services can find critical new information added today to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Web site Nursing Home Compare.

For the first time, information about nursing homes on the Compare Web site will list whether a home is or has been on CMS' special focus facility (SFF) list. The agency's SFF initiative gives heightened scrutiny to nursing homes that have a history of poor performance or repeated violations of state and federal health and safety rules.

"Today's expansion of information on Nursing Home Compare will give beneficiaries a more complete picture of a nursing home's history of providing quality care," CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems said.

The SFF initiative was created because a number of facilities were consistently providing poor quality of care, yet were periodically instituting enough improvement that they would pass one survey only to fail the next (for many of the same problems as before). Such facilities with a "yo-yo" compliance history rarely addressed underlying systemic problems that were giving rise to repeated cycles of serious deficiencies.

In November 2007, the agency began publishing a list of Medicare and Medicaid participating nursing homes that have a history of serious quality of care problems and had failed to show significant improvement. In February 2008, CMS took the next step and published an updated, expanded list of nursing homes in the SFF initiative and included the category they fell within such as new additions, not improved, improving, recently graduated or no longer in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

As of April 2008, there are 134 SFFs, out of about 16,000 active nursing homes. CMS works closely with states to select participants and as homes improve their quality of care and "graduate" from the program, or fail to improve and are terminated from Medicare and Medicaid, new homes are added to the list. This movement of homes off the list allows more facilities with problems to be added as the program continues.

Once a facility is selected as an SFF, the state survey agency conducts twice the number of standard surveys and will apply progressive enforcement until the nursing home either

significantly improves and graduates from the SFF initiative
is granted additional time due to promising developments
is terminated from Medicare and/or Medicaid

CMS and the state can more quickly terminate a facility that is placing residents in immediate jeopardy.

Nursing homes that have the SFF designation, including information about that designation, will now be noted on Nursing Home Compare, which can be accessed at www.medicare.gov. The site helps families find nursing homes in their area. Information about the homes includes performance scores on quality measures, staffing information and a three-year history of the home's health, safety and fire inspection reports. The Web site will be updated with new information quarterly.

"Today's action is the next step in our commitment to bring transparency and accountability to the process families must go through to find the care that is best for them and their family member," Weems said.

Further Actions Planned

The publication of the SFF list was the first major step in CMS' latest efforts to improve nursing home care. A comprehensive, multi-year look at future actions the agency will take was also released today.

The "2008 Action Plan for Further Improvement of Nursing Home Quality" consists of several inter-related and coordinated approaches:

Consumer Awareness and Assistance: to include an increasing array of information about long-term care that will be written in an easy-to-understand format and available to the public at www.medicare.gov. Already posted there is the "Guide to Nursing Homes" and the "Compare" data. These tools can be used by Medicare beneficiaries and their family members to better understand the quality and value of Medicare's nursing home benefit.

Survey, Standards and Enforcement Improvement: several initiatives are being developed to improve the effectiveness of the annual nursing home surveys as well as those prompted by consumer complaints. The agency also plans to work in partnership with states to improve current enforcement efforts.

Quality Improvement: The agency is focusing on several key areas to improve health care quality in nursing homes including a special focus from the quality improvement organization (QIO) program on prevention of bed sores, reduction in the use of physical restraints and greater emphasis on developing individualized care plans to improve a resident's quality of life.

Quality Through Partnerships: Through its QIOs, CMS has coordinated an unprecedented, collaborative campaign, "Advancing Excellence in America's Nursing Homes" designed to improve both the delivery and measurement of quality care. Through its work with QIOs, state survey agencies, and the nursing home industry and consumers, CMS is well on track to achieve these goals.

A copy of the full 2008 nursing home action plan can be found at:

cms.hhs.gov/CertificationandComplianc/12_NHs.asp

Illinois H.R. 4537 :: "Voices" Sprouting Up All OVER The Place..

2008-04-19T11:12:00.016-05:00

Too cool to find this just now even as, alack and a[bit of bad]luck, I could not attend the latest Georgia Voices That Count initial self-advocacy training weekend down in Atlanta.. Activities during this first weekend normally include sensitive, fragile self-disclosure along with visits to the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center, his birth home, and the National Park Services' Ebenezer Baptist Church..

This remains my favorite of the Georgia Voices That Count curriculum (and why I go back whenever I can to help speed up the process for others) because I will never forget how lonely I was until that weekend.......

How still lonely feeling and by that time bordering on, hm, how about "overwhelmed" that Saturday morning as Georgia Voices #3 quietly ate breakfast at the hotel then gathered to head out on a short road trip down to the King Center.......

How still very lonely as, one by one, classmates whose Life stories I yet not knew were secured into the wheelchair lift that took them upstairs while excruciatingly silent others waited for their turn.......

How yet lonelier still as I found my solo seat in the very, very, very back of the church as others scattered themselves out each singly elsewhere around, nervously smiling at each other should our eyes all meet..

And then.......

This absolute most amazing flood of warmth, connectivity, camaraderie came over me as I looked out across all those, to that moment, strangers radiating all around before me..

From one heartbeat to the next, I realized I was finally where I was supposed to be.. That all the pain and Lifetime movie-esque Life adventures had been leading up to that very moment in Time..

And now, while I do look back and draw desperately on those so very painful experiences to drive the disability self-advocacy that empowers these fingertips, I can accept that Pain for the learning experiences it all has been..

Because I'm no longer alone in that Pain.. I will, instead, forever forward now have the strength, support, and fellowship that comes from Georgia Voices supplying the Wind beneath these Life-worn Wings..

Wow.. Hm. Where [the.......] did that all come from..? :grin, blush:

Back on track she goes: The real reason I started to type was because of savoring the moment of finding the following story out of Illinois just now while my Mind is constantly running backwards guessing what the newest Georgia Voicers are likely doing each very second today, just before they themselves find that same beyond descript flood of emotion overtake them, too:

Paris Beacon News: HRC self advocates at Springfield
Thursday, April 17, 2008 12:59 PM CDT
Beacon-News Report..

Several self advocates from Paris joined others from around Illinois to testify before the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee on House Bill 4537 (HB4537), a bill introduced by Rep. Bob Flider (Decatur) which would require Illinois public schools to provide curriculum on Disability History.

The testimony included stories of bullying and discrimination toward persons with disabilities by school classmates.

The group involved is called.......

Illinois Voices.. Self-advocacy training for persons with developmental disabilities..

Yay.. Way to go, Fellow Voicers..!

And to my own newest up and coming group of Georgia Voices That Count colleagues, WHO LOVES YOU, BABY..?! All your fellow classmates before you, THAT'S WHO..!

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

United In Advocacy..!

Yes, I AM Bitter..! :: Enough [BLEEPED] Rhetoric: Time To MoveOn, Folks..

2008-04-17T16:08:00.010-05:00

Just got the latest MoveOn.org petition action alert in my inbox:

Enough Distractions Petition To ABC And Other Media Entities..

The "Enough Distractions" petition in part says:

"Debate moderators abuse the public trust every time they ask trivial questions about gaffes and 'gotchas' that only political insiders care about. Enough with the distractions--ABC and other networks must focus on issues that affect people's daily lives."

From these fingertips (to ABC et al[l] via MoveOn).......

I keep saying this, and no one listens, including the Barack Obama camp.. I'm fed up with hearing garbage about how everyone is manipulating 26 letters of our alphabet solely to upset the other party while having absolutely nothing to do with issues like my extended family of persons with disabilities dying in the streets of the U.S. even as big oil companies rape us for every penny they can on the price of gas.....

Run on sentence, yes..

Meant every word of it..?

Indubitably.......

And thensome.

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

OH, NO..! Say It Ain't So..! My Ta-Da List Was, Gasp, INACCESSIBLE.. :blush:

2008-04-14T13:04:00.022-05:00

Many, many thanks to "B" for very kindly contacting me just now..

In the few short weeks since I've had a 'puter back underneath these fingertips, I've been smoking the Net in search of MORE INFO along with ways to creatively share what passes through my inbox each and every day.. To that end, one of the things I created was a very quickly put together Ta-Da List of personally-garnered suggestions geared towards a beginner getting involved in disability self-advocacy..

"B" just typed a few minutes ago and said that my list required a login to the system to access.. That's totally cool if it's the hosting site's policy.. Was probably somewhere in the TOS (terms of service) for all I know.. Had tested the link, but, alack and aluck, I was most likely still logged in with active cookies so of course the link will work for me with no request for login information.. Duh.. :grin:

But... The thing is that the login for access policy's just not mine.. The days when every single second counted towards my Life survival are still too, too very fresh in Mind to not know what it is like to keep hitting road bumps of any size in one's own quest for information and answers..

THEREFORE and IN CONCLUSION....... :grin:

Special for you, "B", and anyone else who unsuccessfully tried to access my very humble advocacy list, here it is below in its still new, forever draft form..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Disability Advocacy :: Get Involved..!

Nothing about us without us.. The *CHOICE* is *YOURS*..!
List Created By :: SixAlmostSeven.org..

Disability Vote 2008 :: Register to Vote..

Disability Vote 2008 :: Help someone in a nursing home or other long term care facility register to Vote..

Disability Vote 2008 :: Visit ProjectVote.org to learn my Voting Rights then help educate others..

Disability Vote 2008 :: Verify the accessibility of my voting poll..

Disability Vote 2008 :: Help arrange transportation to polls for persons in long term care facilities..

Got ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, local self-advocacy group) in your area..?

Got People First (local self-advocacy group) in your area..?

Got SABE (Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered, local self-advocacy group) in your area..?

Get to know your local center for independent living (CIL, ILC)..

Get to know your state's State Independent Living Council (SILC)..

Get to know your state's Protection and Advocacy Office for persons with disabilities..

Get to know your state's Governor's Council on Disability (Google Search, plug in your state's name to narrow the number of webpages returned)..

Visit the EndeavorFreedom.ning.com website..

Visit the Not Dead Yet blog: NotDeadYetNewsCommentary.blogspot.com..

Visit SteveGoldADA's Nuggets of info on long term care facilities..

Attend NCD (National Council on Disability) Quarterly Meetings when they come to your area..

Make a contact list of all your state and national government representatives..

Attend local city/county council meetings in your area..

Locate your favorite print, radio, television, and online media resources and have them ready to go at a moment's notice..

Network.. Network.. Network..!

United In Advocacy..!

Station Break :: Boobies: I'm In Love..!

2008-04-10T20:56:00.005-05:00

Heeheeee.. Made you look.. Is that not a fabulous photo or what..?

'Tis another night of this geekette wandering the many highways and bi-ways of the cyber World in hungry search for.. MORE POWER for my websites.. Tonight's adventure mixed the geekette with her past in wildlife rehabilitation and her possible future of being moved to Bolivia.. Whoo..

Was roaming the expanse of the Internet in search of all things Ruby on Rails when I encountered the little fellow above, a juvenile Booby from the Galápagos Islands.. The website, Oleb.net, was being highlighted as a way that Ruby on Rails is being used across the Web these days..

Well, sigh, all good things must eventually come to an end and so shall it be with this Station Break.. Off to see what else my Gray Matter can absorb before it finally zonks for the night..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Assisted Suicide :: "NO DISASSEMBLE..!"

2008-04-08T21:52:00.006-05:00

Very tired tonight.. Very, very tired.. Been up since like noon (day before) yesterday..

Seriously. :grimace:

Durn near could call it "Happy", though and in spite, marveling at the intricacies rapidly weaving their way into my Life the last few weeks, thank you in LARGE part to that MATS themselves handpicked my "bus stop" in downtown Jasper a few short weeks ago.. Their Choice of what would help them help me mitigate this Life's routine incidentally generated an ever intensifying chain of events one Heart couldn't hope to imagine come true..

New friends, at the very least..

New friends who "get it", to boot..

Then comes the Sad..

War... Gas gouging... Precious family homes being ripped away...

And, yet again, that seemingly never-ending devil monster, assisted suicide...

Not Dead Yet News and Commentary: Hillary Clinton Says Assisted Suicide "Appropriate Right To Have"..

Accredited to Hillary Clinton: "I commend Oregon on this count, as well, because whether I agree with it or not or think it’s a good idea or not, the fact that Oregon is breaking new ground and providing valuable information as to what does and doesn’t work when it comes to end-of-life questions, I think, is very beneficial."

So, in other words, reading into her given arrangement of 26 letters chosen just for that audience, she supports a statewide scientific medical experiment that will ultimately serve as a legalized whitewash of all community health care services rendered reprehensibly..

Whoops.. No, wait.. That was a whitewater of all community health care services rendered non-accountably, wasn't it.. :wink:

Oy, goodness, Senator Clinton, most respectfully, what were you thinking that day you said that..?

My guess is that no one knows any better than you as a lawyer-type person that endorsing, pursuing, lobbying, and implementing just one new Law begets.......

Precedence..

You know.. That nasty, minor little detail of...

Precedence..?

Precedence for some to say, "You legalized us assisting in murdering these people.. Here's a little sumpin, sumpin for your troubles.. Care to let us quietly take out a few million more..?"

Yup... Precedence.

An unforgiving...

Irreversible...

Slippery Slope.....

For sure.

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Resources: Butterfly In Hand image courtesy of: copyright-free-pictures.org.uk..

Princess Diana :: Dear Britney.. No, Make That: Dear Paparazzi.. :raises left eyebrow:

2008-04-07T11:38:00.011-05:00

A few months back, when I did not have keyboard under hand, I shockingly witnessed your unbelievable harassment, nay, endless emotional abuse of Britney Spears as she experienced her mental health crisis so publicly before us..

Walking in the very Shoes I do, the emotions your reprehensible treatment of Britney evoked were so intense as to become a harsh trigger that set off, at the very least, an overwhelming empathetic wave reminiscent of [panic disorder].. I could naught but turn off the television and wait for said wave to pass..

Some of the more arrogant among you said we didn't have to look, just turn off the tv set.. That was "cute".. Not.

Didn't matter if we turned off the box or not, as every [bleeped] time one turned around, your own captured images of your own perversed exploitation of a young woman with mental illness purely to line your pockets were everywhere.. Supermarkets.. Drug stores.. Our radios..

From the very first moment of witnessing via cable satellite what you all were doing, so unreal as to seem surely a LifeTimeTV movie, shades of the circumstances surrounding the untimely death of our precious Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed repeatedly came to Mind.. With the breaking news just now that a jury has ruled Di and Dodi were unlawfully killed through the reckless actions of their driver and the paparazzi, apparently I have been in good company..

So I now say to you, dear Paparazzi, please, you need to step.. back..

You need to take a good.. long..... look at yourselves and your motivations along with the consequences of your actions with respect to the Lives of those you stalk..

When what you do involves a person with mental illness, as is so publicly well acknowledged in Britney's particular case, you yourselves are the ones with your forefinger on the trigger.. From this moment forth, you will, each and every one, be held personally, legally accountable for those you harm..

The abuse of even one individual, regardless of whom, will.. not.. be tolerated.. Through such ready access to the advocacy tools the Internet increasingly provides, the next wave of protecting Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Disability Rights along with the sweeping wave of Grinch-squooshing Open Compassion is upon us..

Period.

End of discussion.

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock with a special one going out to {{{Britney}}}..

WSJ :: Aid to Make Homes 'Accessible'..

2008-04-06T10:36:00.016-05:00

Really nice find in my inbox this morning was an article from the Wall Street Journal regarding accessible housing design:

Aid to Make Homes 'Accessible'..
By Theo Francis, Wall Street Journal, April 6, 2008

In trying desperately to respect copyrights but wrestling with that there is so much important information in his article, am thinking here that highlighting the more prominent resources reporter Theo Francis shares is the "safer" way to go:

400 Centers for Independent Living (CILs).. YAY, CILs get their due national "props"..!
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards For Accessible Design: U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) website..
Pima County Visitability Ordinance: Accessible Society's take on that ordinance (December 23, 2003)..
CUD's Most Popular Resources: Quick hug to The Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University for providing their info in a cognitively accessible manner.. :wink:
Article on Rosanne Grande, Bohemia, New York, investment advisor: Since she was quoted in the WSJ.. Everyone deserves their due fifteen..
IRS' Publication 502 (2007), Medical and Dental Expenses: "Including the Health Coverage Tax Credit"..
Social Security Online's Work Incentives - Detailed Information: In particular, Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWE)..
HUD's PHA Contact Information: Public Housing Authorities searchable by area map..
National Association of Area Agencies on Aging: Cool.. Something new.. Had never heard of that one.. Thank you again, Theo.. :wink:
1997 Assistive Technology Act (AT Act) Programs: State programs, highlights, and accomplishments from the Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs..

A couple more that IMMEDIATELY came to mind to these fingertips:

Concrete Change: "An international effort to make all new homes Visitable!" :hug to Eleanor Smith:
Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia (SILCGA): "Changing lives, changing Georgia." Has Concrete Change as one of their many great projects forever in action.. :hug to Patricia Puckett:

Long as I'm at it, straight from SILCGA's website to you comes their contact info:

Statewide Independent Living Council of Georgia, Inc.
755 Commerce Drive, Suite 415
Decatur, GA 30030
Voice: 770-270-6860
Toll Free: 888-288-9780
TTY: Use GA Relay, 711
Fax: 770-270-5957

Hm. While visiting them right now, my Mind just caught Concrete Change's footer there where it appears the website's information may have been provided in one form or another from some ten years ago until.......

Precisely today, April 6, 1998.. Makes it just that much more TOO cool for school that the WSJ article on accessible housing design debuted today..

Aren't you glad these fingertips have on-demand computer access once again and finally..? :wipes sweat from cyber brow as she winks:

Premature-PS.. Concrete Change should sound at least "vaguely" familiar to any seasoned veterans of the CraigsList Disabilities Forum.. :ga-WINK:

An-EE-way (and in conclusion,).......

*Please*, if you have just a few seconds, drop the reporter, Theo Francis, a very quick *thank you* because, human nature being what it is, people will *finally* start to take note of Visitibility purely because they did indeed see it in the Wall Street Journal.. If it works in your favorite email programs, I've set the email link below to fill in an email that very simply states, "Thank you so much for covering the very important subject of accessible home design. Visitibility benefits everyone!":

Email Theo :: Theo Francis..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

To The W3C Re Cognitive Disabilities :: XSL Recommendations.. NICE..!

2008-04-05T16:59:00.004-05:00

And I do mean, "WOW..!!!"

For those who are trying to grasp some Internet accessibility aspect of designing towards cognitive disabilities in addition to those [physical] in nature, the W3C's Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Recommendation (Version 1.1) is an AWESOME example of how to keep the incoming volume of your inboxes down to a dull roar.. The following is just one great example:

4.4.1 Stacked Block-areas..

The use of color combined with filling the spaces through the use of the various appropriate attributes is a hit with these fingertips..

Thank you..! See you all out there on the lists..!

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Beautiful Minds :: If There's One Thing In This World That Gives A Girl Butterflies..

2008-04-05T00:32:00.016-05:00

It surely gots to be seeing a (hanthum) man at work in the kitchen.. This priceless little treasure jumped out at me from my inbox a little bit ago.......

A beautiful Mind that cooks..

Ok, so he's tossing a salad, but still....... :giggle:

Next thing you know, he'll probably be jetsetting off to some sunset island whilst contemplating just how to save the World from itself..

Or, at the very least......

His navel.. :wink:

Cyber hugs from a very startled fan in Talking Rock....

The Cost Of One Crashed B1 Bomber.. In Ramen Noodles..

2008-04-04T17:10:00.008-05:00

Crossposting this over from the On Butterfly Wings.. blog I started at the BarackObama.com website..

Peace, Love, and Something Warm in the Bellies for All tonight..

Not going to say much here.. Others are surely echoing my tear-stained thoughts across the cyber World..
But.......

The loss of a military B-1 bomber, above and beyond what may involve the human factor, is always outrageous in instances like today's when one starts looking at the Life survival business end of the ordeal of War..

So it works like this: Today, one B-1 bomber has been reported to have crashed over in Quatar
CNN: B-1 bomber crashes in Qatar..

The cost of said lost military plane..? Not quite sure.. Tried to find something reliable and really quick in my favorite search engine.. Best I could do was it was anything from $200 million to $300 million dollars..
Give or take.......
A million or two.......

For one.......

Translated into ramen noodles at, let's say, 2 packages a day of something, anything warm in a person's belly, we get..

$200 million low ball cost for one crashed warplane..

Approximately 13 cents per package of ramen noodles (includes tax here in Georgia)..

Divided back into the aforementioned $200 million equals..

APPROXIMATELY 1,538,461,538 packages of noodles.. That's one billion, five hundred thirty-eight million, four hundred sixty-one thousand, five hundred and thirty-eight packages of ramen noodles laying smashed to smithereens on an al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar, war-involved (?) runway..
Someone check me.. This Mind doesn't always see the obvious it missed.. :wink:
Back to those two packages of something warm in someone's belly (on the high side as a fella could get away with just one), we get.......

769, 230,769 (seven hundred sixty-nine million, two hundred thirty thousand, seven hundred and sixty-nine) days that one Human Life could have something warm in their belly at the expense of one less crashed military airplane.. That's two warm meals a day if a fella eats a package per sitting..
Divide that by 365 days per year, and one gets, hm, crum, that can't be right.. Divided by 365 days a year, one gets:
2,107,481 (two million, one hundred seven thousand, four hundred and eighty-one) years..
Shoot.. That just can't be right.. But, if it is, War just got a whole [bleeped] more absurd to these fingertips.......

Shock from that number still numbing the Brain, but moving on to alternatively think further, seven hundred sixty-nine million, two hundred thirty thousand, seven hundred and sixty-nine people could theoretically have their Lives sustained one more day for the cost of one lost military warplane.......
Extended just one more day that could be THE one day that makes a difference in hoping Fate will land them in the Path of someone who can help guide them to the tools that will improve the quality of their Lives once and forever for all towards healthier communities everywhere..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

ACTION ALERT :: Child with autism charged, others same age NOT..

2008-04-01T16:32:00.011-05:00

Clueless as to why I'm surprised, but here goes..

THANKS to that I am again back at the keyboard 24/7 as of this very past weekend, I just caught the following via a post over at Georgia Childrens Network (GCN) in tandem with only the second ever WSBTV weekday news alert I've ever received.. Fate being what she has been for me of late, these came within, say, an hour of each other today..

+++

Story #1 from the Tifton Gazette :: Autistic child charged with biting teacher: Student arrested for selling bogus drugs in seperate incident:

"An eight-year-old student at Horizon Academy school bit his teacher Thursday morning and was charged with battery."

*LOVE* how they tied the two stories together there, btw, even though they are unrelated.. Not.. :frown:

+++

Story #2 from WSBTV :: 3rd-Graders Allegedly Plotted To Attack Teacher..

"The nine students are too young to be charged with a crime under Georgia law, a prosecutor told the Times-Union of Jacksonville, Fla. They include girls and boys, ages 8 and 9. Authorities withheld the Center Elementary School students' names."

+++

Cool, huh..?

Exact same ages.......

Exact same state.................

DIFFERENT laws...........................

Anyone catch my....... drift..? :raises left eyebrow:

United In Advocacy..

Alrighty Then :: Olmstead Executive Order..

2008-03-29T08:14:00.014-05:00

The White House website.. Last place I expected to end up this morning.. In doing so, came across President Bush's Olmstead Executive Order.. Since our tax dollars pay for the website, am taking great Liberties in providing the full press release below.. :grin:

With this juicy little tidbit refreshed in our Minds, how's it going in your neck of the woods these days..?

Housing..?

Transportation..?

Affordable consumables..?

Employment..?

Feel safe, secure, and protected 24/7/365 in your neighborhood..?

High on the hog living the Great American Dream, right..?

Sigh..............

Cyber hugs from the Hills of North Georgia..

Executive Order
Community-based Alternatives for Individuals with Disabilities

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to place qualified individuals with disabilities in community settings whenever appropriate, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. This order is issued consistent with the following findings and principles:

The United States is committed to community-based alternatives for individuals with disabilities and recognizes that such services advance the best interests of Americans.

The United States seeks to ensure that America's community-based programs effectively foster independence and participation in the community for Americans with disabilities.

Unjustified isolation or segregation of qualified individuals with disabilities through institutionalization is a form of disability-based discrimination prohibited by Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12101 et. seq. States must avoid disability-based discrimination unless doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity provided by the State.

In Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999) (the "Olmstead decision"), the Supreme Court construed Title II of the ADA to require States to place qualified individuals with mental disabilities in community settings, rather than in institutions, whenever treatment professionals determine that such placement is appropriate, the affected persons do not oppose such placement, and the State can reasonably accommodate the placement, taking into account the resources available to the State and the needs of others with disabilities.

The Federal Government must assist States and localities to implement swiftly the Olmstead decision, so as to help ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to live close to their families and friends, to live more independently, to engage in productive employment, and to participate in community life.

Sec. 2. Swift Implementation of the Olmstead Decision: Agency Responsibilities.

The Attorney General, the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development, and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration shall work cooperatively to ensure that the Olmstead decision is implemented in a timely manner. Specifically, the designated agencies should work with States to help them assess their compliance with the Olmstead decision and the ADA in providing services to qualified individuals with disabilities in community-based settings, as long as such services are appropriate to the needs of those individuals. These agencies should provide technical guidance and work cooperatively with States to achieve the goals of Title II of the ADA, particularly where States have chosen to develop comprehensive, effectively working plans to provide services to qualified individuals with disabilities in the most integrated settings. These agencies should also ensure that existing Federal resources are used in the most effective manner to support the goals of the ADA. The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall take the lead in coordinating these efforts.

The Attorney General, the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development, and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration shall evaluate the policies, programs, statutes, and regulations of their respective agencies to determine whether any should be revised or modified to improve the availability of community-based services for qualified individuals with disabilities. The review shall focus on identifying affected populations, improving the flow of information about supports in the community, and removing barriers that impede opportunities for community placement. The review should ensure the involvement of consumers, advocacy organizations, providers, and relevant agency representatives. Each agency head should report to the President, through the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with the results of their evaluation within 120 days.

The Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall fully enforce Title II of the ADA, including investigating and resolving complaints filed on behalf of individuals who allege that they have been the victims of unjustified institutionalization. Whenever possible, the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services should work cooperatively with States to resolve these complaints, and should use alternative dispute resolution to bring these complaints to a quick and constructive resolution.

The agency actions directed by this order shall be done consistent with this Administration's budget.

Sec. 3. Judicial Review. Nothing in this order shall affect any otherwise available judicial review of agency action. This order is intended only to improve the internal management of the Federal Government and does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its agencies or instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,
June 18, 2001.

Disabilism :: SW Reporter Said WHAT About Housing First Project..?

2008-03-27T23:22:00.011-05:00

And I quoteth....

If you want to change people's preconceptions about what it means to have a homeless addict move in upstairs, you need to let them know they have one.

Say huh.........?

I don't think so.. :frown:

If you're so inspired, feel free to email him or respond as a comment on his article..

Cyber hugs from the Hills of North Georgia (in the deepest, darkest of the Night for the first time in some ten months, YAY..!)..

Referenced article inspiring the above:

Your Neighbor's Last Roof Was the Viaduct: Does it bother you that the county is renting him a place next to you?
By Mark D. Fefer, Seattle Weekly, February 27, 2008

Must have been some SERIOUS mojo in my last post..

2008-03-27T08:20:00.011-05:00

Some pretty wild news coming soon.. :wink:

Running out the Library door this moment in full pursuit of.......

One huge chunk of that, from since August, 2001, and up until now, ever evasive.......

American Dream..

Cyber hugs from the Hills of North Georgia..

P.S. Butterflies in my belly the size of elephants.. For all that has, some things never change.. :grin:

NCD :: Let PWPDs Become Part of the American Dream..

2008-03-17T10:26:00.043-05:00

Oh, goodness, Mark.. Sending a great big cyber hug your way..

Your latest Council update COULD NOT be any more appropriate.. Goes to the aforementioned last Friday still..

And my stepping in where not asked and where others might not dare because others might not dare.......

Because others didn't dare.......

Because others might not ever dare..

Stepping in when one face truly listened, truly heard me, and spoke, "Hmm.." to my imposing myself on the situation..

And another's face (not words) tolerated but very definitely bore an unspoken, "Just what business of yours do you really think this is anyway..?"

Stepping in because persons with mental illness (PWMIs), persons with psychiatric disabilities (PWPDs) have long lived their Lives being made to feel it's over before it even gets started..

Because PWPDs are more often than not led to believe they mess up, and that's it, it's over, it's gone, it's done, and that there are no legal alternatives to transition away from the stereotypes, the stigma of many years gone by..

Even when we whoopsie in plain sight.......

Yup, Life supplied these very worn Shoes, but the Wind beneath this Butterfly's tattered Wings comes from Angels like you all there at the National Council on Disability forever moving forward so that we may All live together safely, inclusively as One in our respective communities through open doored, open armed support within the same..

Huge tears of Joy welling from the Hills of North Georgia..

From the National Council on Disability (NCD) emailing list..
Date: Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 10:20 AM
Subject: National Council on Disability Says Let People with Psychiatric Disabilities Become Part of the American Dream..

NEWS RELEASE
NCD #08–556
March 17, 2008
Contact: Mark S. Quigley
202-272-2004

National Council on Disability Says Let People with Psychiatric Disabilities Become Part of the American Dream..

WASHINGTON—The National Council on Disability (NCD) today released a paper entitled Inclusive Livable Communities for People with Psychiatric Disabilities, calling on Congress and the Administration to fully include and integrate people with psychiatric disabilities into America’s livable communities. Let people with psychiatric disabilities become part of the American dream.

According to NCD Chairperson John R. Vaughn, "For the promise of full integration into the community to become a reality, people with disabilities need safe and affordable housing; access to transportation; access to the political process; and the right to enjoy whatever services, programs, and activities are offered to all members of the community by both public and private entities. Although previous NCD reports addressed people across the full array of disabilities, a main focus of accessibility was on environmental elements that primarily apply more to the 'obvious' disabilities than to 'hidden' disabilities like many psychiatric disabilities and mental illnesses. Information about the six identified elements of livable communities, other elements, barriers, and promising practices for people with psychiatric disabilities needs to be broadened to achieve all-inclusive communities."

This paper focuses specifically on expanding the livable communities framework and elements to people with psychiatric disabilities and supports full inclusion that leaves out no one. Grounded in the six identified elements, a livable community

Provides affordable, appropriate, accessible housing

Ensures accessible, affordable, reliable, safe transportation

Adjusts the physical environment for inclusiveness and accessibility

Provides work, volunteer, and education opportunities

Ensures access to key health and support services

Encourages participation in civic, cultural, social, and recreational activities

When the focus shifts specifically to people with psychiatric disabilities, it becomes plain that without expansion this framework is insufficient to ensure the full integration of all people who have disabilities. The main barrier that people with psychiatric disabilities face is that a community that eliminates all the physical environment barriers still may not be fully accessible to people with psychiatric disabilities because of ingrained attitudes toward mental illness. Before people with psychiatric disabilities can even begin to take full advantage of the elements of the livable communities framework, they must be able to surmount an attitudinal barrier.

The attitudinal barrier is exemplified by outdated policies, programs, and beliefs about people with psychiatric disabilities as needing to receive all services within segregated settings in which mental health providers deliver housing, work, education, health care, and support services entirely within the mental health system. Abolishing this attitudinal barrier is necessary to ensure that people with psychiatric disabilities have access to the wider community and all that it may offer.

In this paper, by examining a variety of programs that show promise or have proved successful in achieving community integration for people with psychiatric disabilities, recognizes the need for major changes in public policies to support further efforts for full integration and participation. Five core recommendations summarizing some needed federal-level changes follow.

Core Recommendation One: Congress should ensure that Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) appropriations continue to support anti-stigma campaigns and expand efforts to provide a funding base for self-help programs operated and run by mental health consumers and survivors, analogous to the funding provided under the Rehabilitation Act for operation of independent living centers. Consideration should be given to implementation through HHS/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reauthorization or other federal mechanisms. Consumers/survivors should be included in the evaluation of ongoing anti-stigma campaigns and the design, development, and expansion of self-help program funding.

Core Recommendation Two: Implement changes in federal and state funding and policy to encourage housing models that are integrated, in accordance with individual choice, and delinked from mandatory health services, while providing ongoing flexible supports. Several federal agencies should examine policies and practices through a partnership effort. The work can begin with congressional action to ensure removal of contradictory or incompatible federal paperwork burdens and policy barriers. Congress should provide the funding needed for initial joint planning and reporting by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), HHS, and the Social Security Administration (SSA).

Core Recommendation Three: Congress and HUD, HHS, and SSA should work to change federal and state funding and policy to eliminate the “benefits trap,” which discourages people with psychiatric and other disabilities from working, and to ensure that work opportunities are available for the full range of jobs, with ongoing flexible supports.

Core Recommendation Four: HHS should be authorized to change Medicaid policy and regulations as implemented by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The agency should examine and consider the merits of existing models; for example, the Michigan state model reframes the definition of “medical necessity” to include "community integration," and shifts funding to services based on "person-centered planning." Such changes would allow a broader variety of recovery-oriented services to be eligible for Medicaid funding than is available currently.

Core Recommendation Five: Congress should ask the Government Accountability Office to assess and identify indicators of practices that seem to be working in HHS efforts to address cultural and linguistic issues through initiatives like the National Center on Cultural Competence (NCCC). In addition, Congress should allocate funds to expand the NCCC cultural and linguistic competence training model to ensure that as national demographics change, services to people from diverse racial and ethnic groups are provided in ways that meet their self-defined needs.

"By ensuring the expansion of the livable communities framework and recommendations to fully include and integrate people with psychiatric disabilities, American society can provide all citizens the opportunity to become part of the American dream," Vaughn concluded.

NCD is an independent federal agency and is composed of 15 members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. NCD provides advice to the President, Congress, and executive branch agencies to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures that-

(A) guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability; and

(B) empower individuals with disabilities to achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects of society.

For more information, please contact Mark S. Quigley, NCD’s Director of External Affairs, at 202-272-2004.

Station Break :: "Chester Drawers"..

2008-03-17T09:12:00.010-05:00

My stress level is absolute over the top right now.. Started Friday on a more personal level and just kept right on slamming through in the form of those thunderstorms and tornadoes that ripped their way across the country and on into Atlanta, Polk County, and similar.. PTSD the entire weekend through, indubitably.. :frown:

Anyway, as my Mind does its dadgummiest to clear the dissociative fog so I may find appropriate resources to help [a friend], I came across someone looking for a "chester drawer" on a Freecycle listserv over the weekend.. Through your innocence and local colloquial, fellow Freecycler, you unknowingly brought a twinkle to a very saddened Heart today.. Thank you.. :smile:

And speaking of Chester Drawers, he is apparently alive and doing very well in Branson, Missouri.. Maybe some day we can tickle his fancy enough to coax him over our way for some disability self-advocacy function or 'nother.. :giggle:

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Hong Kong School Closings :: Shades of Pandemic Flu Meetings Conclusions..

2008-03-12T12:25:00.019-05:00

Running to catch MATS, but wanted to toss this one out there (albeit very quickly without much Time for fine tuning).......

Hong Kong closes schools as flu surges..
By Theresa Tang and Kyunghee Park; Bloomberg News; Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Hong Kong will close all kindergartens and primary schools for two weeks after the death of three children admitted to hospital with what the city's government today called influenza-like symptoms.

Brought back fond memories of a very long Saturday a couple of years back when, purely by a slip of Fate, I attended the Atlanta installation of the Public Engagement Pilot Project on Pandemic Influenza.. Rather than reinvent the cyber wheel, below is a post I based on that wonderful exposure and left over at the People First of Georgia listserv a while back..

**Please, please, please: The following is not meant to alarm or distress but to inform and instigate our thought processes further on the survival of our people when we will need to rely on each other the most..

The Seed: End of last year, I participated in the Atlanta pandemic flu community forum sponsored in large part by CDC.. Small workgroups of individuals from all walks of Life were given scenarios then told to bring in each their own Life experiences to show what would and would not occur, work, etc, based on what the CDC and related professionals predict as reasonable to anticipate as entirely possible during a pandemic flu outbreak..

Personal opinion of privacy as it applies to disability-specific public "database(s)", whether or not phone banks and email would even be available for communication (would they be shut down to, say, stem off rumor mills?), and our nation's current overall mental health system's (in)ability to handle the PTSD aftershock for *everyone involved* were my particular focuses of feedback that day.. Well, that and that, without programs such as Meals on Wheels, which would very likely be shut down during a [pandemic flu disaster], some untold number of our vulnerable population would not have access to food, period..

One major, MAJOR factor during the pandemic flu discussions was that, in contrast to other disaster scenarios, direct human-to-human contact would (understandably) be removed to stem off disease spread for the safety of all.. Home health care, food delivery programs, any other home delivery and service programs imaginable that persons with disabilities rely on for full inclusion in their communities, those feasibly could, would be cut off completely.. Six weeks or more of massive halts to everything, territorially being from regional to nationwide, was given as a speculatory anticipated duration..

Simultaneously to our conscious planning for survival during future times of natural disaster due to the elements, now is the time to also be thinking, "How would we replace Life-sustaining door-to-door services when they are shut down completely due to a [pandemic flu outbreak] so our people don't die because others are literally afraid to reach out to each other for fear of loss of their own Lives due to the genuine threat of disease..?"

Please again, this is not meant to be anything more than to put it out there because it is something that needs to be a part of our considerations as we continue to strive towards full community inclusion for All today, elsewise there (theoretically) wouldn't even be forums such as the one I attended that Saturday not too long ago..

PS.. If anyone there had never heard of CILs before that Saturday, as many as humanly possible knew of them by the time we wrapped.. ;)

More later, fer shur, but, for now we need to be forever thinking forward to our independence such as is possible, along with healthy alternatives that mitigate as closely as possible in consideration of that, one Day, some Day will be the Reality of what Hong Kong is facing this very moment in Time..

Warmest cyber hugs from North Georgia..

Congressman John Lewis :: "Phone-Out" Town Hall This Evening..

2008-03-11T10:11:00.020-05:00

Accidentally checked in on an old, a very old inbox a few moments ago, and found an announcement from Congressman John Lewis' office regarding an unusual approach to a telephone town hall..

From what my Mind is grasping, it appears that they will be using one of those automated dialer systems that normally are abused by telemarketers.. Only, in this instance, you will be offered the opportunity to alert Congressman Lewis as to what are your most important Life-affecting concerns at this very moment..

Taking great liberties in reprinting his correspondence (our tax dollars did pay for its creation after all :grin: ):

Dear Friends,

On Tuesday evening, March 11th, around 7:30pm, I will be calling about 40,000 residents of the fifth Congressional District inviting them to join me in a Telephone Town Hall Meeting. If you receive a call, you will hear my voice asking you to stay on the line to be connected to the call.

Then I am going to talk for a few minutes about what I do in Washington, what I am working on on your behalf, and some of the issues that are facing us as a community. But I want to spend most of my time hearing from you and answering your questions about my work in Congress. In the past you may have received other automatic calls or “robo calls” which used the advances in technology to ridicule and divide. This is a positive opportunity, a chance for you and me to meet and talk to more people in the District than ever before. Together we can engage in an open dialogue about the issues that are important to us -- the economy, healthcare, job security, education, the environment and much more.

I feel very honored to serve a district with such vitality, diversity and vigor. We will face many obstacles in the months ahead but, if we pull together and believe in each other, together we can build a more perfect union. I look forward to talking to some of you on Tuesday.

Sincerely,

John Lewis
Member of Congress

If you happen to be on the receiving end of one of the 40,000 anticipated "robo call" phone dials this evening, please do not hesitate to respectfully speak your mind as to what works and/or is not working for you re the State of Life as it is Today..

Me..? Just in case my little ol' house in Talking Rock is not on the automated agenda this evening, have already responded through the email contact form on his website..

Affecting me personally just this very second..?

It was very.. very cold inside when I got up to start yet another Day in the Life of Cindy Sue.. I unabashedly asked Rep. Lewis to please help very openly remind others in the elected seats around him that every day in our Land of Such Plenty, many, many citizens still go without the very most basic of Life-sustaining necessities..

Never 'oits to ask.. :wink:

Warmest cyber hugs from the Hills of North Georgia..

Congratulations, Georgia Voices That Count, Class of 2008..!

2008-03-06T12:34:00.019-05:00

A special email from the fingertips of Linda Pogue at disABILITY LINK in Decatur..

And I quoteth (with just the teensie, tiniest of editables).......

GVTC#6 graduates (and supporters),

Congratulations upon becoming Georgia Voices That Count graduates! We think of you as members of the GVTC family from the moment you first signed on - now you are official! You join over 75 GVTC graduates, advocates from across Georgia who have made a commitment to working in your communities for improved access, inclusion and self determination for people with disabilities.

Thanks to ALL the supporters, presenters, sponsors and others who helped create the GVTC experience and especially to those who joined us for the GVTC graduation (and those who would have been there if they could) to add their power to the GVTC family. There were some wise words spoken at the meeting and graduation. While I am not claiming the following words to be "wise," I do want to make sure you heard them loud and clear.

I have a multiple choice question for the GVTC graduates.....

I applied for GVTC because:

a. Someone I know said it would be good for me
b. I thought it would be interesting
c. You get to hang out with a great group of people
d. I like to be involved
e. I have a passion for justice, I want to make a positive difference in the world, I know I have a responsibility to do what I can for the disability community and I need help and support to be the best advocate for myself and other people with disabilities

Any of the answers are right, but of course (e) is the real point of the exercise!

I want to tell you something straight - ready?

Keep busy , having fun, and being involved are all very well, we all need those elements in our lives, but, if you do not make the move from taking part in training meetings to taking part in the disability movement, then who will?

Who will advocate if not you?
How will things change for the better if you are not going to try to make it happen?
Who will speak to the elected representatives if not you?
Who will reduce stigma and pity for people with disabilities if not you?
Who will help people move out of nursing facilities and other institutions if not you?
Who will make our communities more accessible if not you?
Who will make our communities more inclusive if not you?

That's right - it is all about YOU!
Please think about it:

The Georgia Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) recognized the need for more people with disabilities to become advocates, activists and leaders - and so they fund GVTC as part of their work
disABILITY LINK supplied expertise, organizations, passion, resources, etc. to create and administer GVTC
Then many people, representing many different organizations, donated their time and energy to make presentations to you at the GVTC meetings - to help you learn and consider important topics
Plus many people donated their time and energy as supporters during and between the GVTC meetings - to help make it easier for you to participate
Current leaders and activists have supported and encouraged you to make the next move in your advocacy career
All these organizations and people do this because they see the need, and believe you are the right people to fulfill the role!

Maybe you are already stepping out, taking risks, becoming leaders, doing what needs to be done? I am now encouraging you to take it further.

No one can do it the same as you - you are the best people for the job - others can only encourage and support you - you have to do it - it is you who other people are looking to - do you really want other people to make the decisions for you? - you are the future - it is a huge responsibility, but you are up to it because you are GVTC graduates.

Thank you from me - from the disability community - from everyone!

Like James Allen says, "How do you eat a whale?" - one bite at a time!

So work hard, be well, keep in touch - thanks and best wishes, Linda

Oh, Linda.. A WHALE..? Really..? :wink:

To my fellow graduates, PLEASE never forget the crescendo of empowerment that welled through you as each, your different Georgia Voices training years progressed.. PLEASE find some way to pay it forward to others around you in your respective communities..

Warmest cyber hugs of celebration from a fellow graduate,
Cindy Sue Causey, GVTC#3, Class of 2005..

United In Advocacy..!

Disability Vote 2008 :: Get To Know Project Vote..

2008-03-06T11:01:00.056-05:00

Short and sweet, Project Vote was something I had the pleasure of attending last year as part of an annual People First of Georgia weekend.. We held it down at Camp Dream there within the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute grounds at Warm Springs, Georgia..

Fun.. Lots of fun.. And, woo, what a nice, relaxing drive down and back, too..

Saw lots of seasoned disability self-advocates, most of whom I knew very well.. Met many more I didn't, including those straight across the top of the state over in and around Helen and White County.. Looking forward to eventually getting a second blast in the form of voting and accessibility, BTW.. :hint, hint, wink:

Absolute single most important bottom line I got out of the experience :: Unless, for example, mandated by the courts that you are [mentally incompetent] to register and vote or are currently in prison or on parole for a felony conviction, you have *THE RIGHT* to vote, and, nothing but nothing should in any way impede the process it takes you in registering AND voting..

If someone in, say, a long term care (LTC) facility such as a nursing home or rehabilitation center, or, goodness forbid, it really happened to someone I know, a county registrar in your local voter registration office tries to restrict your Vote in any way, shape, or form.......

Re-emphasizing that part.......

If someone in, say, a long term care (LTC) facility such as a nursing home or rehabilitation center, or, goodness forbid, it really happened to someone I know, a county registrar in your local voter registration office tries to restrict your Vote in any way, shape, or form.......

Get someone like your state's disability advocacy office on the line..

Post-haste..

For us here in Georgia, for example, it's the very cool folks down at Georgia Advocacy Office down in Decatur that we might call:

Georgia Advocacy Office, Inc. (GAO)
One Decatur Town Center
150 E. Ponce de Leon Ave. S 430
Decatur, GA 30030
Phone: 404-885-1234
Website: www.thegao.org..

Rather than count on that someone like our advocacy offices are going to be available just when we need them, though, because, after all, the closer we get to various voting dates, the thinner everyone's available time allotments become, the best voting rights self-advocacy will come from spending a little time getting to know your voting rights yourself.. Consider starting maybe right off the bat with something like Project Vote's Voter ID Requirements webpage..

Speaking from personal experience, the more you read and get involved in something like what Project Vote presents, the ever more increasingly empowered and self-determined you become because you discover.......

No matter what it may feel like just this very second, you are never, ever actually alone through any of this..

Cyber hugs from Talking Rock..

Get involved..!
Get out the Disability Vote..!

Memory Loss :: Not Like THIS, You Don't..

2008-03-05T12:26:00.044-05:00

Forgot how to take a dadgum shower the other day..

Stepped into the shower..

As always.......

Turned on the hot water first..

As always.......

Turned around and pulled the shower curtain to while the hot water perked its way through to the faucet..

As always.......

Turned back around, and.................

Nothing..

Nada..

Zilch..

Stood there for what seemed like an Eternity without a bleeping, flipping zip of a clue as to what came next in the process..

Couldn't remember that next came reaching out to turn on the cold knob to level out the temperature of the hot water already coming through..

Couldn't recognize the objects in front of me as knobs and a faucet, as parts of a shower stall that needed something done to or with them..

Couldn't remember I was even trying to take a shower, for that matter..

:frown:

Brought to Mind once again all the well-meaning folks who have on regular occasion instinctively answered my despair regarding ever-increasing memory loss with what I know from deep down inside is a most genuine, heart-felt,

"Oh, EVERYONE forgets things, Dear.. Why, just the other day, I forgot where I had set my keys down again.."

To which reverberates silently within the ever more forgetful Mind,

"No, not like this, you don't.. Please trust me that everyone does not forget things in quite this same way.. It's just 'slightly' more Life-affecting than misplacing that durn set of car keys..

Again.."

Moral of the Meandering :: Next time we're all sitting around in a disability independent living conference, casually giggling, joking over forgetting each other's names and where we met last, this half of the joke will be simultaneously secretly crossing everything not tied down that she'll be able to remember how to drive all the way back to where she lives, let alone even drive, oh, crap, let alone even drive one of those great big 1,000 pound chunk of metals meant to get her there in one piece...........

Again..

Warmest cyber hugs from the Hills.. :wink:

CBS News Investigation :: "Disabled and Waiting"..

2008-03-03T11:05:00.055-05:00

Call it Fate, if you will, in flipping channels one evening a couple of months ago, caught the news feature teaser just getting ready to lead into CBS News Investigation's Disabled and Waiting: Backlog In Disability Benefits System Leaves Thousands Of Vulnerable Americans Stranded story (January 14, 2008)..

And for some reason, I watched..

And (predictably) ended up absolutely in tears before it was over..

Was this part in particular that did it:

A two-month CBS News investigation has found that over the last two years, at least 16,000 people fighting for disability benefits died while awaiting a decision.

Having spent as long as I have with my cyber heels dug deep [1] into some of the best disability (self-)advocacy Internet sites around since my own psychiatric survivor label-garnering experience, I've seen my share of horrible, horrible stories of people with disabilities going through the social security disability payments ordeal and losing everything, everything in Life they have, are, and were while enduring the seemingly ceaseless process..

Up to and including the "s" word.......

Suicide..

The tears shed over Disabled and Waiting come also in part from consciously recognizing every moment I'm still here that there but for the generosity of an ex-boyfriend for the extremist of Life-sustaining staples go I..

Life being what it is, nay, more what the thunderstorms predict it could be in the near offing, I, too, once again entered the Social Security junket just a couple of weeks ago.. While the despair that arises with each attempt is no less than before due to being forced to openly relive everything disastrous that has been the Life these fingertips have seen, this Time very admittedly seems almost pleasant as the wonderful SS lady on the other end of the phone has herself seen Life from this side..

And she knows what it's like walking in these Shoes..

And, more importantly than anything else sometimes, she really does give.......

A rat's patootie about the Human Life within these same worn Shoes..

To the government entities who each have their Hands in the Beastie that is the social security disability payment process, you obviously can access the file that is mine.. That lady there helping me..? She should be one of the Standards others strive to achieve..

And she already works right there within your, our system..

Please......

As much as anything else, if you don't proactively do something to help, you play a part in that "s" word as it applies to some part of those 16,000 people CBS reports..

If you don't proactively do something to help create change, you play a part in all of those some 16,000 precious Lives lost as CBS reports..

If you don't proactively do something to help create change, you play a part in some untold number of persons with disabilities right this moment..

Living on the street.......

Literally starving.......

Them, too, right this very, very second contemplating the unthinkable a forever untold number of others have already done before them for the exact same reasons..

This very, very second as you read this.......

Cyber hugs with a special one going out to the very kind and understanding Mrs. * currently helping me work through the SS process..

.......This time..

[1] A little sidebar on the referenced CNN.com blurb.. Thanks to the very first opportunity I had to speak totally by accident with Yvette with PAIMI over at GAO back in 2003, I had in fact introduced myself to CNN.com as "a person with mental illness".. Editorial license being what it is and thus wholly out of our control the precise moment the "Send" button is clicked, WHOOPSIE, I became a person who "[has] a mental illness"..

Disability Vote 2008 Meets Horton Hears A Who..

2008-02-29T12:50:00.010-05:00

We are here..

We are here..

WE ARE HERE..

And here..

And... And....... And.................

:wink:

Cyber hugs from the Hills of North Georgia..

Cinderella Wishes Out Loud :: "Increase the Peace"..

2008-02-21T10:01:00.029-05:00

Dearest Fairy Godmother..

So sorry long time no commune.. Those nasty boogers, Life and Reality, just seem to keep doing their dadgummiest to get in the way..

Just wondering if you were privy to any new intel regarding D-Day on the permanent banishment of the Hatred, Harm, Hypocrisy, and Hunger that abounds our World over..??

IMPOSSIBLE, you say..??

Impossible things are happening every day.......

Warmest Daydreams from the Hills of North Georgia.. :wink:

In Loving Memory :: Mark Dyer, ADAPT..

2008-02-20T12:08:00.016-05:00

Through a member post over at the Georgia ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today) emailing list, many thanks to Cheri Mitchell for passing along that we have lost a dear friend, a very active disability advocacy family member, Mark Dyer..

Mark was one of those really active individuals you might not always see but would definitely hear of a lot if you spent any Time around the disABILITY LINK hub down there in Decatur.. I had the distinct honor of a fun, interesting, and educational exchange with him last year at (I think it was) the Georgia Independent Living Network's C.A.U.S.E. Best Practices Conference.. Earlier this very week, had just once again thought back on that moment as exemplary, as worthy of personal aspirations in my own self-advocacy efforts..

Dearest Mark.. Your inspirational activism will be missed by many..

Warm cyber hugs from the Hills of North Georgia..

Autism United :: CBS owes Persons with Autism Apology..

2008-02-19T12:31:00.021-05:00

Couldn't say it any better than they did below.. From Autism United comes the following (via Glynda King at MHDDAD, hugs)..

For what it's worth, the "r" word (retard, retarded) along with other similar disabilistic references have been making a tremendous comeback in television scripts the last few months.. Oh, for a cheap 'puter to have been able to realtime rock the word in rebuke as they appeared.. :hint, hint, wink:

CBS owes an apology.

People with autism are not "retards."

Last week on an episode of the CBS program "Big Brother" cast member Adam Jasinski referred to people with autism as "retards." This dehumanizing language is unacceptable. When Don Imus used racially callous language on his program CBS executives Leslie Moonves and Sumner Redstone issued an apology, fired Imus and cancelled his show. We call up Mr. Moonves and Mr. Redstone to issue an apology to people with autism and other developmental disabilities, fire Adam Jasinski, and cancel Big Brother.

Please forward this message to friends and family.

If you would like to write to Mr. Moonves and Sumner here is their contact information

Mr. Leslie Moonves
Chief Executive Officer
CBS Corporation
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019-6188
Phone: 212-975-4321

Mr. Sumner Redstone
Executive Chairman
CBS Corporation
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY
10019-6188
Phone: 212-975-4321

The text of Autism United's letters to Mr. Moonves and Mr. Sumner is below.

We are writing to express our dismay and disgust at comments that were made by Adam Jasinski during the broadcast of "Big Brother" program. In episode 2, Jasinsiki describes his plans to open a hair styling business catering to people with autism who he refers to as "retards."

Just as we are confident that CBS would not tolerate the use derogatory epithets regarding race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation we hope that the use of derogatory terms for people with disabilities in also unacceptable in your programming.

We believe Jasinski should be terminated immediately, and we believe that the show should be cancelled. Further, we expect an apology to people with autism, developmental disabilities and their families from Jasinski, Big Brother, CBS and National Amusements. While Jasinski displayed gross ignorance, the producers of the show chose to use his comments to forward the show's storyline. This displays a conscious choice on their part to demean and hurt a large group of people to further their own commercial goals.

While a large number of people with autism do have mental retardation, a very large portion do not and they are perfectly capable of understanding that they have been denigrated in an extremely demeaning way by a program broadcast for profit by CBS.

Family members of people with autism, especially parents, are constantly challenged by the great deal of misinformation surrounding autism. Broadcasts such as Big Brother makes caring for a family member with autism all that more difficult.

It is appropriate I believe to note that the Holocaust began with the extermination of developmental disabled children in a secret program called Aktion T-4. The techniques, organization and personnel for Aktion T-4 went directly to run the extermination camps at Treblinka, Sobibor and others. All extermination campaigns begin with the de-humanization of the target group. And referring to developmental disabled people and people with autism as "retards" indeed fails to recognize the humanity of people with these disorders.

We have also contacted advertisers on Big Brother, including Saturn, Pfizer, Geico, Bertoli, Lowe's, Theraflu, and Taco Bell and have asked them if they want their products associated with language that demeans people with autism and other disabilities.

Thank you for your time and consideration and we look forward to your response.

Warmest cyber hugs from the hills of North Georgia..

UNITED IN ADVOCACY..!!

I Just Don't Get It :: All The Service Funding Cuts Going On..

2008-02-08T12:00:00.000-05:00

Rumors (translation: no associated link of confirmation to share) came my way recently (waves to disABILITY LINK NW) that, here in Georgia, funding is in danger of being stripped away from supporting full community inclusion for PWDs and instead will be poured back in to nursing homes and other similar long term care facilities, i.e. jail and segregation.. With all the forward-thinking universal inclusion strides made through individuals' undaunted advocacy and self-advocacy efforts over the years, can we say, "Bass ackwards or what..??!!"

Another desperate "help stop this funding cut" action alert that just hit my inbox (waves to Glynda and Jeannie over at MHDDAD) comes from Mental Health America.. The Mental health slammed in Bush Budget, help fight back! alert states:

The President's $3.1 trillion proposed budget for FY 2009 abandons the millions of children and adults with mental health needs and others at risk of mental health problems. It slashes Medicaid funding by $18 billion over 5 years, and drastically cuts funding of a wide range of other federal programs critical to people with or at risk of mental health problems.

On behalf of the most vulnerable, we CANNOT let this happen. Raise your voice with others and call on Congress to reject the Administration's budget and adopt a budget that makes children and adults living with, or at risk of, mental health conditions one of the nation's most urgent priorities.

What's getting these fingertips more than just a little bit bent of late are the seemingly gabillions of Marines.com U.S. Marine Corps ads running right now...........

Proudly announcing sponsorship of...........

Totally Life-altering...........

Totally Life-affecting...........

Basketball games.

Am I completely mistaken, or is not the military also funded by federal dollars..??

Perhaps near even wholly supported by the same..??

And, if so, could not those dollars being wantonly spent on frivolous ballgames not be redirected to rescue Life-saving, Life-sustaining, non-segregation-supporting community services constantly in danger of being cut..?

:scratches head and furrows brow:

Guessing that those who hold our Nation's purse strings do so have their priorities, doesn't they.. :wink:

Warm cyber hugs from the Hills of Northwest Georgia..

Little Red Car Go "Foom"..!

2007-12-18T20:02:00.000-05:00

If it rains when it pours, I've been wading it out in a bleeping monsoon the last few years.......

The latest adventure came right in the middle of things ALMOST looking, feeling for a nanosecond like they might go on an upswing.. Had just finished making a deposit from funds a friend had given me and was two seconds out of the Regions Bank there in Jasper, 'twixt and 'tween CVS Pharmacy and the Marathon gas station..

Was headed over here to the library to complete a transaction I had started then try to keep that feel of a Life-oriented upswing in (forward) motion.. Next thing I know..........

Little Red Car goes..

FOOM..!!

And stops dead in her tracks right there on the street with 4:00pm traffic looming large in the near future.. A kindly Jasper Police Department officer along with a stranger I never got to thank helped push her out of the way, and R&R Towing completed the task of getting her safely home..

The $2.95 question of the day is..............

Now what.....................?????

Cyber hugs..

Posted in recent memory of :: Big Tree Go BOOM.. :giggle:

GovExec.gov :: EEOC commissioner pushes hiring of people with disabilities..

2007-12-11T17:35:00.000-05:00

In amongst the bazillion other newest emails in my inbox this evening, especially with some much sadder messages lurking, waiting, very cool to find the following highlighted by SSA.gov.....

EEOC commissioner pushes hiring of people with disabilities..
By Alyssa Rosenberg, Government Executive, December 10, 2007..

Notably to these fingertips was "Concerned Employee" who commented expressing an observation of the lack of general accessibility.. Could be interesting to watch over Time..

Doubly cool from here was finding Government Executive as a new resource website to keep an eye out for.. Oh, whoops, and also cited in the article was....

CAP, Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program, a Department of Defense (DoD) interest website (translation: NO funny business while you're visiting :grin: )..

Incredibly interesting over at the CAP website is their own highlighted story, CAP Spotlight: Schedule A, which in part states..

In the Federal government, the number of employees with disabilities is steadily declining.

Kicking back here totally loving the irony......... :wink:

Cyber hugs..

PS.. Shoutout to Gmail.. Would LOVE to share my Gmail seriously successful story with you (in reference to the teaser at the top of every inbox page now), but, alack and alas, no video capabilities so your fun online activity is....

Not accessible...... Any alternatives available..? :grin:

For the Record, basically my Gmail seriously successful story goes something like this.....

796 MB of email and counting..

WITH CONSTANT DELETION as quickly and often as possible..

Before these fingertips opted in for your second round beta program way back when, I was having to split the same level of information between multiple, multiple... GASP... 10 MB accounts.. :giggle:

How to Tell if Someone is In Touch with Walking In Your Shoes..

2007-12-09T17:16:00.000-05:00

For one thing, politician or not, you won't find them documented anywhere as wearing an $8,500 Oscar de la Renta dress to hobnob with stars at some posh-posh fancy affair while you're living on, oh, say, 10cent/package ramen noodles boiled along with 25cent helpings of hotdogs (two dogs) on your single burner..

Here's a hint :: It's not not First Lady Mrs. Laura Bush......

Repeat after these fingertips:

Election 2008, Election 2008..!
Feel The Power of The disAbility VOTE..!

:wink:

Cyber hugs with an extra hug out to Allen L Roland whose latest post inspired, spirred the above..

Mother Jones :: Schlock and Awwww: Commercializing Altruism..

2007-12-09T15:43:00.000-05:00

Excellent observation from Jon Mooallem over at Mother Jones entitled......

Schlock and Awwww: Commercializing Altruism..

Been intending for ages to post that, especially with all the hype that will be given to Super Bowl commercials very soon, how grand it would be if advertiser marketing campaigns went 180 on the gabillions of dollars spent on their commercials by going extremely simplistic then openly expressing that dollars once frivously spent on garish commercials were now going to philanthropic efforts in local communities..

Freedom of Speech existing as it so grandly does, though, there would be a guaranteed adverse effect on some level.. Takes little imagination to envision the organized consumer-driven campaigns that would erupt demanding advertisers stop patronizing some given [non-profit] or consumer dollars would be diverted to competitors immediately.. :sigh:

Back to reflecting on Jon's cool observation of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.. My own take comes from walking in these Shoes: I know what the temperature was inside my house last winter and got a pretty dadgum good clue what it will be again this year..

And then I cry for all those whose Shoes are even more worn than Mine for they will never see the likes of the Ty Penningtons of the World and instead will rely on the Human Kindness within their local communities to offer them a hand back up as productive members of Society..

It can happen.. It does every day.. It begins with extremely unselfish, proactive disclosures of Life-affecting, Life-altering, Life-saving information.. No better Time than the Present.. :wink:

Soggy cyber hugs from my favorite local L with an extra special one going out to Jon..

One Full 1984 National Autism Week Coke Bottle Going Fast..!

2007-12-06T20:18:00.000-05:00

Just checked the Internet briefly with a fairly wide keyword choice, and, out of all the gabillions of pages out there these days, just now got a whopping 60 webpage results returned on....

1984 "National Autism Week"..

Soooooooo..

If anyone is interested in a previously-loved (translation: shows some smudging on the label and slight scratches on the cap) unopened Coke bottle that bears the following:

1984 National Autism Week, December 10-16
Honorary Chairman, Steve Lundquist, 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist
North Georgia Chapter, The National Society for Children and Adults with Autism

I have one available for a price..

Will swap for one usable older sitting-in-the-back-of-your-closet computer (just the PC part, I have the rest) that will be used as always to continue our combined disability advocacy efforts..

Cyber hugs..

IKEA Television Advertising :: My Imagination or are they Humorizing Homelessness..?

2007-12-04T19:44:00.001-05:00

My Kingdomette for a few moments with someone owning Tivo..

Lots of really weird dreams last night so I was up early this morning.. Was watching TNT's reruns of Angel.. Somewhere between 6:00am and 8:00am..

THINK it was the same IKEA commercial that ran twice.. The second time I was paying more attention.. The commercial was featuring a few different times of living abodes, the three or so with delightful words like "peaceful", I think it was, used to describe a houseboat, for example.. Since I've always thought of houseboats as divine, they sucked me right in..

THEN..........

The next thing I know, I swear to all that is I was seeing a picture of a homeless person's cardboard lean-to complete with the sound effect of buzzing fly or flies while the narrator was saying something to the effect of, "Wherever you live, IKEA has what you need.."

Again, nope, definitely not exactly what the narrator was saying, but hopefully it paints the pic of where my Mind grasp they went with it..

With untold numbers of the homeless population having one or more disabilities, this was once again (dis)ablism at its finest.. There is no way in H-e-double-toothpicks you would ever see them doing ANYTHING similar with respect to ethnicities for example, but, by golly, someone who has no place to Live is fair game and fodder for fun and advertising antics...........

Cyber hugs..

PS.. In trying to see if I did saw what I seen, I tried a quick Internet search and came across a "contest" entry that was entitled "ikea instructions for the homeless"..

Double PS.. NOPE.. It was NOT my imagination.. Over at Adtunes.com, they're discussing the commercial and mention exactly what I saw:

Adtunes.com Forum: IKEA Commercial..

Yup, a multi-million, if not multi-billion dollar company is advertising their products by humorizing the homelessness of untold numbers of persons.. Their advertising marketing gurus along with whatever corporate figures who approved the commercial for distribution need.. a little feedback on that particular piece of work if'n anyone was of a mind to..... :hint, hint:

Boston Globe :: AAAAHHH.. WHAT (nursing home) list..?

2007-12-04T19:44:00.000-05:00

Absolute hit-n-run post this evening.. Caught my eye at the top of my Gmail screen just now.. A news lead that was feeding off of goodness only knows what in my inbox......

From the Boston Globe....

Pressure is on 2 cited nursing homes: US lists facilities for deficient care..
By Alice Dembner, Globe Staff
November 30, 2007

Ok, maybe it's just cognitively I'm definitely not "receiving" information this evening, but I can't for the Life of me see a name for the nursing homes list being referenced.. Even a search of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' website as they resourced at the bottom of the article isn't right away getting these fingertips anywhere..

Off to give it another shot, then.. I know..! Time for another visit over to Steve Gold's Treasured Nuggets of Information website, SteveGoldADA.com.. :wink:

Cyber hugs..

Shoutout to the LINK :: Did you all know you've been "Portfolio'd"..?

2007-12-02T16:06:00.001-05:00

Check it out:

Condé Nast Portfolio.com's Top Company Profiles :: disABILITY LINK..

Kewl, ay..?

Cyber hugs.. :wink:

Oh, (Charlie Brownesque) Christmas Tree, Oh, (Charlie Brownesque) Christmas Tree..!

2007-11-26T18:48:00.000-05:00

My latest contribution to the Pickens County branch of the Sequoyah Regional Library System's annual "Festival of Trees" made it up in time, 15 minutes before closing on Thanksgiving Eve (as opposed to the usual 3 the two years previous, YAY).. True to itself, it looks again this year like the artificial version of Charlie Brown's tree from the perennial children's holiday classic..

This year's theme for mine ~~was~~ is, "Nothing About Me Without Me", a mantra oft echoed by persons with disabilities (PWDs) with respect to who makes daily Life-affecting choices.. Came out just as I'd hoped.. Will share pics, credits, and the tree's handmade "ornaments" soon..

If you happen to stop in the library, can't miss it.. It's that Charlie Brownesque-looking Christmas tree there on your right as you enter.. Poor little thing, hate to do it to it, but may need to finally replace it with another next year, bless it's rusted wired little Heart.. :grin:

Cyber hugs, especially to the librarians who have been so supportive of my entries each year..

Hit and Run Post :: GOPUSA :: Fred Thompson said WHAT..?

2007-11-20T15:35:00.001-05:00

"Hit and Run Post" translates into my apologies up front for any accidental whoopsies because of its rushed creation......

In at the library again today because I'm typing up what will be ornaments for my disability self-advocacy entry in this year's "Festival of Trees" (if I finish in time :Oy, goodness, grin: )..

In spite of the ever desperately ticking time clock, OCD dictated that I quickly check in with my email inbox as well.. In doing so, found that the latest GOPUSA Eagle newsletter had arrived.. This week's feature story shared that Fred Thompson believes our nation's national security to be the top issue for Election 2008..

Most respectfully (and all things genuinely considered), I begs to differ..........

Having just paid $3.03 a gallon for gas at the Ellijay Wally World last night (two and a half gallons to make the trip safely back into Pickens County), being able to just afford to put something more than those dadgum ramen noodles on my table at night rules in my house..

Milk, eggs, surely any number of other staples I haven't even looked at because, again, I just plum can't afford them, are over the top, too.. How in the H-e-double-toothpicks do these companies beginning to seriously gouge consumers expect us to continue if we can't afford to fuel our bodies, let alone the vehicles that get us to work, to healthcare providers, to schools, to volunteer activities that perpetuate the Spirit of Giving to others..?

And where, oh, where is my Hero of the Future, the politician who has been here, done that in similar Shoes to know that, without even the very basic sustenances in Life, you might as well be trying to sell me the Hope diamond when you endeavor to get this Mind focused on national security just this very moment..?

Nope. Once again most respectfully, national security will not be Issue One these fingertips will seek out in determining where they will ultimately lay themselves come Election Day, 2008.........

Cyber hugs..

RFID tracking of "Special" Olympics Athletes..

2007-11-19T18:32:00.001-05:00

Something that crossed my inbox since the last time I accessed it is a CIO.com article entitled These Jobs Are Totally Cool..

So, ok, up front and at first glance, the one André V. Mendes does seem admirable.. He oversees the use of RFID technology to track participating athletes..

Just one teensy, tiny caveat there.. These fingertips can't help but inquire: Did he ask the athletes if they wished their civil rights and personal privacy to be invaded thusly..? :raises brow:

To read up on RFID tracking of people, try starting with the following I first used then work your keyword choice from there to follow what fits your own opinion of the same.......

Internet search: rfid tracking people..

Cyber hugs..

PS.. Totally cool, LOVE to learn something new every day, albeit the following does come absolutely at the bottom of the following referenced webpage.........

Special Olympics provides a Language Guide for those interested in their program.. Very lastly but surely not leastly at the end of their section titled "Terminology to Avoid", they speak of refraining from the use of the word "special" with implied reference to it creating stereotypes.. Catching up with the spirit of disability self-determination, they do appear to be..

How to get from CSB to 10 Donated Grains of Rice in One Easy Word..

2007-11-14T17:43:00.000-05:00

Taking this lead with the proverbial grain of salt.......

A recent Internet search on the keyword phrase "community service board" plucked Knitting Sox Fan's One More Thing in from the depths of the Blogosphere.. The lead came in because she was referencing a website link her school's CSB had shared within, that URL being FreeRice.com..

Now I say I take this lead "with the proverbial grain of salt" because, being undeniably gull-a-bull, can't help but wonder and hope for the genuineness of Free Rice's promise at hand.. Once the first word is guessed and clicked through, though, this site features advertisers the likes of Radisson Hotels and Resorts, Apple's iTunes, and Toshiba undoubtedly in part as a response to Free Rice's admirable slogan expressing that they were created "in support of the United Nations World Food Program"..

Just one little caveat, one tiny little pinch at these fingertips, though.. Maybe someone could suggest a slighter more appealing mantra than Play and Feed a Hungry Person for their banner page.. :irrepressible cringe:

If you're up for a little cognitive challenge, check out Free Rice's FAQ, About, and Totals pages to see for yourself if they are worthy of your valuable Time.. From this (once again borrowed) desktop, looks like nothing to gain but the Smarts and some inescapable Feel Goods for the effort.. :wink:

Cyber hugs..

Cyber hugs to all my Friends out there..

2007-11-13T20:17:00.001-05:00

And huge apologies that I have not been able to return messages left for me at certain social networking websites all over the Internet.. Just been without a working computer at the house.. You have no idea how many of you all pass through my thoughts each and every day.. :grin:

The upside to being without a 'puter is that it leaves, yuck, tons of time for housecleaning, ugh, not to mention conspiring to repair a near constantly ailing vehicle of late.. More on the latter later as I have a bunch of public "thank yous" to leave for all those who have been so helpful and, more importantly from these Shoes, kind and respectful throughout all my questions and one-on-ones as I bounce through the list of tow companies, auto repair businesses, and auto parts stores here in Pickens County..

Cyber hugs..

PS If anyone knows where I can get my hands on an inexpensive computer from Year 2000 or better, you'd be my Hero for the Day.. I've run the gamut of community thrift stores with no luck in recent weeks.. 23,000 plus emails in my inbox when I got to the local library earlier.. At least 85% of those emails contain awesome disability advocacy information that never should have stopped at these fingertips........

Cyber hugs X2.. :grin:

In Loving Memory :: George the Wonder Dog..

2007-11-05T18:22:00.000-05:00

Still can't type much right now as the pain continues to reel me.. Just miss my little buddy so much..

The paint on this, Life's most recent of experiences, still wet, cannot help but express the following........

While I remain extremely supportive of psychiatric service dogs for those of us with mental illness as a way to mitigate our disabilities, that support now becomes conditionally with a word of warning that the loss of the same for the more vulnerable among us can be as devastating, if not more, than the disability itself.. A buffer contingency plan must be in place against the ever real unexpected loss of one's very mortal PSD..

It's been a very.. very.. long week, indeed.....

Cyber hugs..

Pickens County :: Anyone out there interested in Long Term Care issues..?

2007-10-25T16:09:00.001-05:00

Just throwing out a quick feeler here while still reeling from a recent, very energetic conversation about long term care (LTC) in this area..

Long story short, if anyone in this immediate area (such as we all know the concept of "immediate area" applies to counties in Georgia) is interested in becoming involved in long term care, community home-based care services (HBCS), and other similar topics, drop me a quick email with a subject line that can be simply "LTC" if you wish.. As soon as any meetings regarding the same occur, you would then be among the first to know..

With this being a brand new inspiration born from a conversation of two, no idea yet on the what and when a first gathering might entail.. Hearts and minds will always be open to hear all that might not fall into any particular meeting agenda of the moment.. :wink:

Cyber hugs..

PS Whoopsie, almost forgot.. The email address is:

ButterflyBytes@gmail.com..

ProBlogger :: If I had a million dollars..

2007-10-23T19:21:00.001-05:00

If I had a million dollars, I'd use it to generate a not-for-profit that provides computers and ongoing technical training for persons with disabilities so that their own fingertips were free to sing glorious songs of self-advocacy..

Special to Darren and Lara.. See, it really never is over 'til the geekette with the slowest computer in the Universe (or at this particular moment in Time with any computer access at all) weighs in.. :wink, grin:

Not that I'm opinionated BUT :: Alabama's DHR..

2007-10-21T16:03:00.002-05:00

If other states are looking to Alabama's Department of Human Resources (DHR) for how they run their own family and children's services divisions, advocates and self-advocates need to be seriously concerned..

Having been involved on the fringes of one particular and very recent case of theirs, I witnessed them take a child away when the case ultimately boiled down to that the child did not like the parents' choice in britches.. The child exhibited physical violence towards family members, and, for such, received (state paid for..???) trips to highend department stores for punishment..

With respect to family counseling, lessons in clothes folding were offered or at least mentioned at some point, but not once, not once, NOT ONCE was there indepth follow-through with respect to mental health counseling..

The even deeper history to the case..? Physical violence witnessed by the child as a youngster that was never addressed.. Would take a glimpse at the case history to see if they would even allow it to be admitted for consideration towards the child's current history of behavior..

Also of interest to these fingertips was the one office's bias regarding the freedom of religious choice provided by our country.. The child's papers physical reflect..? Unwitnessed by these fingertips, but verbally stated as a written recorded statement of:

"claims to be Christian"

The statement of "claims to be Christian" was reported to have been placed on file after a member or members of the family were repeatedly asked about their religious convictions.. For what it's worth in rumorable materials, these fingertips have been personally privy to that this is not the only case of religious bias shown by Alabama DHR, either..

WHOOPS..... Forgot to include the link that started this rant:

Other States Look To Alabama's DHR As Role Model
Monday, Oct 15, 2007 - 09:31 AM
Birmingham, Alabama
By Associated Press via NBC13 (Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Anniston)

Now.. Why should this be of any immediate interest to a blog expressing personal opinions concerning disability self-advocacy rights..?

Because these fingertips are also privy to what remains at best a rumor that a grandmother was put through an absolute ringer over custody of her grandchildren because of her weight.. Reportedly, hear me again, reportedly, as in Rumor has it, the grandmother went through invasive operational procedures for weight removal only to continue to have custody rights to her grandchildren still be denied afterwards.. Granted, I know nothing, nothing of the specifics of this case, but it is not an isolated reported instance of this type.. Surely, surely, surely there is a creative press-type reporter out there who can dig deep down into the nitty gritty of the same..

Yup, jim dandy to know other states will be leaning on Alabama's DHR for the how-tos of getting involved in guiding our family units.. Can't wait to see it reflected in the overall health of our local communities as a whole as Time goes on..

Cyber hugs..

Celebrity Privilege :: Allen Iverson's $6.2 million lawsuit over a $2.2mil house..

2007-10-21T13:54:00.000-05:00

Don't know how anyone else sees it, but, from up "here in the hills" ( :wink: ), these kinds of lawsuits are really starting to burn my britches when those who need real accountability for Lives genuinely destroyed are regularly blocked from being able to do the same..

'Nuff said (for the moment).....

Cyber hugs..

In these times of alternative "recycling", please don't forget your local thrift stores..

2007-10-20T12:55:00.001-05:00

Super quickie here.. With alternative forms of recycling still usable household articles becoming more and more popular (not to mention accessible through the availability of the Internet), PLEASE don't forget to keep your local community thrift stores in mind along the way..

As one on a very limited budget myself for quite some time, my community thrift stores are a regular stop each month.. With the popularity of commendaable websites such as Freecycle, one cannot help but notice the shelves in thrift stores are becoming increasingly more barren..

My thought process is......

The programs that depend on the funds generated through community thrift store revenues are the ones that will feel, nay, are feeling the pinch as tangible donations dry up a little in their directions.. Just please don't forget they are all out there as technology continues to connect us all together more and more..

Cyber hugs..

MH State Hospital Survey :: GA MHDDAD Family Satisfaction Survey..

2007-10-08T17:36:00.000-05:00

*Love* Life's little presents like the following that wholly accidentally find their way to these fingertips.. This is a Georgia DHR MHDDAD mental health hospital survey explaining itself with the following:

People who are treated in Georgia’s state mental health hospitals need the support of their family and friends to get and stay well. Loved ones also see the progress of the patient and the quality of the hospital and its staff from a unique perspective.

If you’re close to someone who’s been treated in one of Georgia’s seven state mental health hospitals, we want to hear about your experiences. Please take a moment to fill out the following survey. If a question isn’t applicable to you, or you prefer not to answer, just select N/A.

Survey's original URL :: 167.193.142.194/mhsite/survey.aspx..

For those who may be concerned, the numerical web addy reflected, 167.193.142.194, defaults back to Georgia DHR's Office of Communications if followed..

BUTTERFLY BYTE :: Know up front that, while this survey does not appear to ask for any personally identifiable information, any server anywhere, any time can and does document our IP (Internet protocol) addresses, the sometimes temporary, sometimes more permanent numbers our IPSs (Internet service providers) mark us with, identify us by each time we log on to the Internet.. Just a subtle reminder that we are never as invisible as it may seem at first glance.. :wink:

Cyber hugs..

Cindy Sue

CSBs :: LE seeking potential victims regarding Gwinnett mental health care..

2007-10-02T13:42:00.000-05:00

This is coming to you from a local library (Pickens) so apologies for the apparent shortness..

Couldn't get the related Atlanta Journal-Constitution webpage to pull up (keeps frying this machine), and most others pretty much deny reproduction rights of any kind soooooo........

Try the following search keywords in your favorite search engine.....

Gwinnett County :: Dr. Mohammed Qureshi, 45 :: psychiatric evaluation :: Lawrenceville :: psychiatric physician :: Gwinnett Rockdale Newton Community Service Board

Google's news search feature provides the following..

TinyURL :: tinyurl.com/289plx
Original URL :: news.google.com/news?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=%22Dr.+Mohammed+Qureshi%22

MOST importantly :: Investigators want to hear from potential victims for whom the above keywords ring home.. Contact info I could immediately come up with (as it was not provided in any of the stories I located)........

Lawrenceville Police Department (Georgia)
- Non-emergency phone number :: 770-339-2400
- Address :: 20 South Clayton Street, Lawrenceville, GA, 30046

As soon as possible, I'll provide more legal resources interested in hearing from potential victims..

If you are affected by this story, please come forward if you can.. Turn to your private circle of support to go with you in person or sit by the phone while you call the proper authorities..

If you have no one immediately available to stand by your side as moral support, call your local CIL (center for independent living) for support.. Better yet, just walk in.. They're open most business day hours.. Ask one of the on-duty CIL associates to sit with you while you call the local Lawrenceville or Gwinnett County law enforcement agencies to explain your own situation..

If you are a friend, family member, or newbie advocate assisting someone filing a report with Lawrenceville or Gwinnett County, please keep in mind that the person who originally opeenheartedly sought out mental health care services, your friend sitting with you there, is now potentially also a victim of sexual assault.. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to this end may additionally have to be factored in to Life, possibly from this point forth..

Remember.. You didn't ask for this to happen to you.. You did what countless psychiatric survivors did before you.. You trusted as you should have been able to do.. When you are ready, do what you can within yourself to hold the person responsible accountable.. Speaking from very personal experience, self-determination and empowerment will be your immediate reward..

Cyber hugs..

Dear President Bush :: (Predicted) escalating mental illness after Katrina..

2007-08-16T11:23:00.002-05:00

Dear President Bush..

Most respectfully...........

Back in the immediate days following Hurricane Katrina, I sent you a very personal, very desperate plea that, even as physical debris cleanup visibly progressed after what could be seen and felt as our nation's most horrible of natural disasters, proactive, conscious, humane, accountable mental health care addressing the aftershock, the post traumatic stress of surviving just such a disaster was paramount.. After an extended deliberation, after some very serious soul searching regarding the possible fallout of the same, as part of that original correspondence, I additionally alluded indirectly, if not near directly, specifically to depression.. to suicide as a very real consequence of the natural disaster at hand at the time..

Within a day or so of that original email to you all, I did see where there was approximately $600,000 in Hurricane Katrina "Emergency Response Grants" publicly earmarked by HHS' SAMHSA for Katrina-related mental health care for the 500,000 Hurricane Katrina survivors.. (Basic math, anyone..?) Admittedly, I am and remain back into survival mode in my own Life and thus "out of the loop" so I do not know what, if anything else was similarly ever earmarked for Hurricane Katrina mental health care specifically..

Silently at that time and even with the desperation through which I typed just hoping to actually be heard, I very consciously realized that I would most likely be viewed as Chickenette Little from Talking Rock for typing to you as one person wearing a particular pair of Shoes since that Monday in August of 1992.. Had no doubt that it would be seen that one person does not a trend make to be considered seriously, but just had to take that chance of opening up to you all at that time..

Prompting this very public plea to you now is that the 15th anniversary of the day Hurricane Andrew ripped through Homestead, Florida, is too rapidly coming down on us again.. And so come back the thoughts of those events just as fresh and green as though they occurred last week..

And, now, just a few moments ago, I found CivilRights.org's Buzz newsletter featuring a USA Today article on the continued escalating of mental health circumstances directly involving survivors of Hurricane Katrina, up to and, yes, including increased tendencies towards suicidal thoughts..

Guess I'm missing something here because a "big surprise" attributed to those overseeing the reported Harvard Medical School Hurricane Katrina study was:

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which typically goes away in a year for most disaster survivors, has increased: 21% have the symptoms vs. 16% in 2006. Common symptoms include the inability to stop thinking about the hurricane, nightmares and emotional numbness.

Because it's taken this fifteen years since Hurricane Andrew, and thus obviously plus, from these Shoes to recover the PTSD effects, my big surprise then becomes that their big surprise even occurred..

Please, to you, President Bush, and to everyone else who can do something about this, I stand strongly by my prediction of a couple of years ago that our nation's communities overall are will be affected if we do not proactively bottom line first and foremost address our nation's mental health care system quality while simultaneously addressing mental health, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) most specifically, with respect to disasters, both by nature and by man..

The disaster that remains of my own Life stands before you most humbly as an example.. Just One.. And Mine pales in comparison to what the Mind can only begin to imagine is Life after Hurricane Katrina for those who did survive all that was that particular disaster.. That's potentially just.. 500,000..

This Party of One once again implores of those with the Keys to Change that, IF our nation does not address the inadequacies of its entire mental health care system and more specifically address post-traumatic stress disorder with respect to disaster, both by nature and man (e.g. the Mississippi River bridge collapse), our nation is in a great big heap of doo for many years to come as there is and will continue to be an increasing rippling effect throughout our entire communities..

Nope, not a clue how we can, like, yesterday turn around the manmade disaster that is our nation's mental health care system such that it actually begins to care about those who walk through its doors.. instead of its bottom line, the almighty greenback.. At this precise moment, I myself am literally continuing to just try to survive.. Do know that beginning by closing one's eyes to one's own sterotypes and preconceptions of folks and instead actually listening to AND hearing those seeking care and assistance is a new beginning.. No time better than the Present to start..

Warning :: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode spoiler ahead..

In closing, saw a great CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Las Vegas episode a couple of nights ago, one entitled Unfriendly Skies that is more than apropos here.. It was the one where a traveler who turned out to have encephalitis that was triggered by an airplane trip was murdered by some five or six of his fellow passengers because his societal overlooked, unacknowledged disability-related actions triggered by the plane, altitude, et al(l) endangered those same passengers..

The last few minutes of the episode concluded with each of the main characters reflecting from the Heart as to why they (likely) would or would not have participated in the mob mentality that ended with the one passenger's death.. Can't recall the exact quote now, but William Petersen's CSI character, Gil Grissom, said something along the lines of, "It took [five] people to kill the passenger. All it would have taken was just one person to have listened to, to have followed through effectively for that man to still be here, for that man to still be alive today.."

Indubitably..

That's what I've been trying desperately to say for as long as these fingertips realized they, too, have a Voice that Counts..

Peace and best wishes..

Cindy Sue from Talking Rock..

Reference - USA Today :: Katrina Victims Struggle Mentally; Marilyn Elias; Thursday, August 16, 2007..

Advocacy 101 :: Courteous Language..

2007-08-08T11:37:00.000-05:00

In circumstances of advocacy and self-advocacy, the use of courteous, heartfelt language, even under the most challenging, adverse of situations, can and does beget the respectful, attentive ear of others..

Speaking most humbly from these fingertips after witnessing the outcome of numerous exchanges, conversations across the glorious WWW.......

Delving into the who, what, whens, and where-not-tos along with when it does become "totally time to" with respect to the impacts of language usage as ourselves and under the guise of Internet anonymity are a must-have-do for any disability advocacy and self-advocacy training programs as part of the provided curriculum.. The difference in verbiage applied can be the difference between our injustices being truly Heard or being shut out for good..

THAT said, I do believe I will continue to most unhumbly stand by my own renaming of our dear Dr. Uncouth for his language used during his advocation for hastening the death of our vulnerable populations.. That was indubitably so a totally time to...

:wink, cyber hugs:

Disheartening as H.. :: ADA, on your 17th Anniversary, meet Reality.. Sigh..

2007-07-27T10:51:00.000-05:00

Hopefully this comes out right.. My gray cells aren't functioning so well at all again today.. :(

PS, by the way.. Everyone with a Yahoo! group needs to please check your spam buckets.. My copy of this to you all from my desktop never made it to the lists.. Next post: The Conspiracy behind effective advocacy posts regularly finding themselves being thrown down the cyber incinerator.. :wink:

Now, about yesterday's 17th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the real Reality of the human factor behind seeking any kind of accessibility accommodations.....

Don't know why I looked at an email bearing a subject referencing a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) IRC chat log yesterday, but I did.. Guess I'm glad I did.. Ran off at the fingertips at first glance, too..

The email was a cross-post to several W3C-associated working (wg) or interest group (ig) listservs.. It was about the most recent realtime talk some members had very literally regarding rewriting how we all design our web page coding so that the Internet is accessible for absolutely everyone..

The email I responded to was by a "Joshue O'Connor" who caught what my mind just completely did not grasp on the first run through of the IRC archive.. What caught my eye most from Joshue's now archived post (w3c-wai-ig, public-html) was the following:

This section is frankly kind of amazing. In several fell swoops the entire efforts of the accessibility people on the list are dismissed as almost Pavlovian responses and then an absurd dialogue about smell-o-vision ensues. This is trivializing the efforts of people here who are concerned about the needs of people with disabilities.

He was commenting on the following block from the log:

# # [15:01] This is orthogonal to fallback/alt content for images, though

# # [15:05] oh well, the legal stick of accessibility has been waived again :-/

# # [15:05] why is it that when accessibility advocates can't come up with a rational argument, they always fall back to the legal stick?

# # [15:08] Well, maybe they realize there are no carrots available?

# # [15:25] If the Web had smell-o-vision, would accessibility advocates fight for longdescs of odors on behalf of those with no sense of smell?

# # [15:27] A perfume site that made use of smell-o-vision would probably provide a description of the smell anyway for all users, so they can know what it's like before sampling.

To put it into some kind of perspective, these are the folks, among others, who are re-creating THE Internet for the rest of us'ns.. My no-regrets and also now archived (w3c-wai-ig, public-html) response was:

More amazing to these fingertips is that this became publicly disclosed, surfaced today, July 26, 2007, the 17th Anniversary of the ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act..

Obviously a long, long way to go before those who seek universal access for *ALL* are not publicly ridiculed by others..

Peace and best wishes..

Cindy Sue

If you've a mind to, please have at it.. These sentiments were left literally for the World Wide Web to meander regarding the acceptance of universal accessibility, let alone the actual implementation of the same..

Ever.........

To those who participated to this level in that chat, do you all honestly think this is what Tim Berners-Lee wants associated with his vision of Reinventing HTML towards a New Net..?

Very personal to Tim.. Please tell me from the bottom of your most visionist of visionary Hearts this isn't..

Cyber hugs..

Walking in These Shoes :: Life Sucks..

2007-07-24T15:11:00.000-05:00

Can't believe I just said and meant "Lighten up" to another.. To a major website and identifiably as myself along with exactly why because they unknowingly chose just the wrong moment to invade my inbox with a "Why haven't you come to visit us in our vision of 'visit us in this many days or you don't give a D*mn about the World'" pressure email..

That "Lighten up" didn't come without forethought, though.. Been a tough few days in the latest personal evolution since my experience within the doors of community mental health care..

I don't know.. "Lighten up" started with the trip to the grocery store a few days ago, I guess..

Sucks that I've found myself jumping up and down to everyone about being able to buy d*mn hamburger for the first time in several years.. $1.00 a pound a few days ago.. Plain white wrapper.. Greasy as H-e-double-toothpicks.. Yummy as H-e-double-toothpicks, btw..

But I digress already from that..

Life Sucks..

Sucks up the wazoo that that $1.00/pound hamburger throws my already long ago flat broke busted 50, 75-cent a day food budget allowance out the fricking window for months to come from now..

Sucks up the bigger wazoo that $1.00 a pound hamburger has to be the highlight of my day.. Oy, vey..

Sucks the even bigger wazoo that lately it's hard to find like-minded people who Love All Others, Support All Others, would Fight and Lay Down Their Own Lives for Others.. Likemindeds who do not in any way, shape, or form judge someone for how they got to be where they are through the Evolution of Life's Choices Made.. (Desperately, hungrily seeking likeminded Consciences the reason why, btw, that I was even on the aforementioned "web surfer anxious" website to begin with..)

Drum roll, please..

Sucks up the humdinger wazoo of them all that, for all the progress that can be and is being made in the preservation of disability rights and human dignity, somewhere under the radar and just out of reach today, someone has already yet again taken the Life of another because their hardened Heart was so cruel as to be woefully blind to the Value in that beautiful Life they have now irrevocably snuffed..

Yup.. Life Sucks..

And it's that Suck Factor that drives these Fingertips to now shamelessly tell it like it is from these Shoes..

Until it "don't"..

Suck..

Other than that, not much else of major importance going on in this little ol' bleached blonde Mind o' mine today (in case anyone was wondering where the H-e-double-toothpicks I'd dropped off the Edge of the Planet to this Time)..

Cyber hugs.. :wink:

Words of Wisdom :: Abraham Lincoln on being melancholy..

2007-07-12T16:31:00.000-05:00

Came upon the following buried deep in my inbox a few minutes ago while searching on something completely unrelated.. It's a quote credited to Abraham Lincoln:

A tendency to melancholy... let it be observed, is a misfortune, not a fault.

I don't know.. It just seemed to hit the spot when the rest of the latest anxiety-inducing emails flooding in the last few days speak more on death and hate than anything hopeful..

Cyber hugs.. :)

Lifesite :: Nurses in Oregon assisted suicide case killed patient without a physician..

2007-07-10T11:02:00.000-05:00

Tip of the iceberg..

PORTLAND, Oregon, July 9, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Two Portland-area nurses have admitted to the Oregon State Board of Nursing that they administered massive doses of morphine and Phenobarbital to a woman dying of cancer with the intention of causing her death. The Portland Tribune reports that the state Board of Nursing was alerted to the nurses' action, but took more than a year investigating and did not report the incident to police.

The Board's finding was that the two did participate in an assisted suicide without a physician. Oregon law states that assisted suicides must be performed with a physician.

Love (not) how it says that Oregon state police are investigating with eyes on possible criminal charges being filed.. Argh.......

Oh, and that the two nurses were allowed to keep practicing nursing..

Aside to our Ted Nugents of the World who think disability advocates are running around saying "the sky is falling": And so just exactly what part of that slippery slope is it that is so beyond comprehension..?

I know, I know.. This is just a rare, isolated instance that would never, ever occur again, right..? :raises brow:

Featured Article: Nurses Investigated In Oregon Assisted Suicide Case - Killed Patient Without a Physician: Netherlands experience showed "euthanasia, once legalized, cannot be effectively controlled
By Hilary White, LifeSiteNews.com..
PORTLAND, Oregon, July 9, 2007

Six. Almost Seven..

Happy Olmstead Day :: Let's *ROCK* The NOEWAIT Petition..!

Darren Couldn't Have Waited Just ONE MORE WEEK.. NOO..! :))

Washington D.C. :: ADAPT Activists Set Up Operation DUH City For HUD..

Hurricane Andrew: 16 Years Ago This Past Weekend..

Happy Birthday, ADA :: Disability Rights Protestors Force Bush Admin Meeting..

The Hill Blog :: Rep. Mike Doyle: Savage Attack on Autism Is Unjustified..

NCDR :: Adds Voice To Growing Call For Savage Release Over Dissing Autism..

Action Alert :: Talk Radio's Michael Savage Trashes Individuals With Autism..

HuffPo :: Obama Supporters Woo 18,000 New Citizens In L.A.

Huffington Post :: Can A Haircut Change Your Life..?

M.S. Bellows :: Late Term Abortions OK For When "Mentally Ill People Have Sex"..?

Xinhuanet.com :: Tom Cruise Admires Jack Kevorkian's Work..?

The Hill Blog :: Sen. Mike Enzi: Those With Disabilities Need Better Jobs..

AJC :: Georgia Governor's mental health commission copied other state's materials..

S'me Again, Vern :: Still Waiting For Non-Disciminatory Inclusion In VFC..

Feds Say Georgia State Mental Hospital's Problems Caused Preventable Deaths

WSJ :: Parity For Mental Health Insurance..

Number One Thing NOT To Say To An Empowered Disability Self-Advocate..

USF University of Law :: How The ADA Benefits People Without Disabilities..

Universally Inclusive Communities :: One Size Fits All Political Rah-Rah Rhetoric..

Wakeup Call :: An Unknown Suicide Jumper On Atlanta's I-285 Spaghetti Junction..

Dear Barack and Roy :: Straight jacket..? Not so much........

Blogging Against Disabilism :: Still Waiting.. ITMT, Edwards and Obama Schmooze..

Before And After :: About These Images..

Definitions On The Fly :: "Every"..

Blogging Against Disabilism v4.0139652 :: The Obama Campaign: Will They Will..?

Press Release :: ADAPT Wins Meeting with HHS to Work on Medicaid Reform..

ADAPT Activists Win Meeting with HHS Sec. Michael Leavitt to Work on Medicaid Reform :: HHS Staff Affirms that Access to Community is a Civil Right

Dear Barack :: One Citizen's Perspective :: Cross-Disability Accommodations..

HHS/CMS :: Critical New Information On Nursing Home Quality Available..

Critical New Information Added to Nursing Home Compare Web site :: Multi-year Plan for Improved Nursing Home Quality Also Released

Further Actions Planned

Illinois H.R. 4537 :: "Voices" Sprouting Up All *OVER* The Place..

Yes, I *AM* Bitter..! :: Enough [BLEEPED] Rhetoric: Time To MoveOn, Folks..

*OH, NO..!* Say It Ain't So..! My Ta-Da List Was, Gasp, *INACCESSIBLE*.. :blush:

Station Break :: Boobies: I'm In Love..!

Assisted Suicide :: "NO DISASSEMBLE..!"

Princess Diana :: Dear Britney.. No, Make That: Dear Paparazzi.. :raises left eyebrow:

WSJ :: Aid to Make Homes 'Accessible'..

To The W3C Re Cognitive Disabilities :: XSL Recommendations.. NICE..!

Beautiful Minds :: If There's One Thing In This World That Gives A Girl Butterflies..

The Cost Of One Crashed B1 Bomber.. In Ramen Noodles..

ACTION ALERT :: Child with autism charged, others same age NOT..

Alrighty Then :: Olmstead Executive Order..

Disabilism :: SW Reporter Said *WHAT* About Housing First Project..?

Must have been some *SERIOUS* mojo in my last post..

NCD :: Let PWPDs Become Part of the American Dream..

Station Break :: "Chester Drawers"..

Hong Kong School Closings :: Shades of Pandemic Flu Meetings Conclusions..

Congressman John Lewis :: "Phone-Out" Town Hall This Evening..

Congratulations, Georgia Voices That Count, Class of 2008..!

Disability Vote 2008 :: Get To Know Project Vote..

Memory Loss :: Not Like *THIS*, You Don't..

CBS News Investigation :: "Disabled and Waiting"..

Disability Vote 2008 Meets Horton Hears A Who..

Cinderella Wishes Out Loud :: "Increase the Peace"..

In Loving Memory :: Mark Dyer, ADAPT..

Autism United :: CBS owes Persons with Autism Apology..

I Just Don't Get It :: All The Service Funding Cuts Going On..

Little Red Car Go "Foom"..!

GovExec.gov :: EEOC commissioner pushes hiring of people with disabilities..

How to Tell if Someone is In Touch with Walking In Your Shoes..

Mother Jones :: Schlock and Awwww: Commercializing Altruism..

One *Full* 1984 National Autism Week Coke Bottle Going Fast..!

IKEA Television Advertising :: My Imagination or are they Humorizing Homelessness..?

Boston Globe :: AAAAHHH.. *WHAT* (nursing home) list..?

Shoutout to the LINK :: Did you all know you've been "Portfolio'd"..?

Oh, (Charlie Brownesque) Christmas Tree, Oh, (Charlie Brownesque) Christmas Tree..!

Hit and Run Post :: GOPUSA :: Fred Thompson said *WHAT*..?

RFID tracking of "Special" Olympics Athletes..

How to get from CSB to 10 Donated Grains of Rice in One Easy Word..

Cyber hugs to all my Friends out there..

In Loving Memory :: George the Wonder Dog..

Pickens County :: Anyone out there interested in Long Term Care issues..?

ProBlogger :: If I had a million dollars..

Not that I'm opinionated *BUT* :: Alabama's DHR..

Celebrity Privilege :: Allen Iverson's $6.2 million lawsuit over a $2.2mil house..

In these times of alternative "recycling", please don't forget your local thrift stores..

MH State Hospital Survey :: GA MHDDAD Family Satisfaction Survey..

Happy Olmstead Day :: Let's ROCK The NOEWAIT Petition..!

Illinois H.R. 4537 :: "Voices" Sprouting Up All OVER The Place..

Yes, I AM Bitter..! :: Enough [BLEEPED] Rhetoric: Time To MoveOn, Folks..

OH, NO..! Say It Ain't So..! My Ta-Da List Was, Gasp, INACCESSIBLE.. :blush:

Disabilism :: SW Reporter Said WHAT About Housing First Project..?

Must have been some SERIOUS mojo in my last post..

Memory Loss :: Not Like THIS, You Don't..

One Full 1984 National Autism Week Coke Bottle Going Fast..!

Boston Globe :: AAAAHHH.. WHAT (nursing home) list..?

Hit and Run Post :: GOPUSA :: Fred Thompson said WHAT..?

Not that I'm opinionated BUT :: Alabama's DHR..