ADAPT speaks for disability rights

Affordable Care Act Anniversary (Photo credit: SEIU International)

I decided to re-circulate this information to both of my devoted readers.

 

Disability Activists Storm U.S. Supreme Court Demanding Support For The Affordable Care Act

 

Washington, D.C.— Hundreds of disability rights activists with the national group ADAPT have swarmed onto the plaza before the United States Supreme Court to demonstrate their support for the Affordable Care Act.  The Supreme Court is currently deliberating whether to strike the Act down.  ADAPT maintains that not only has the Act provided key protections against discrimination on the basis of disability in health care, but it provides for the Community First Choice Option, a federal Medicaid matching program whose rules were completed just yesterday.

 

ADAPT’s demonstration follows on the heels of two days of action on Capitol Hill.  On Monday around 100 people were arrested at the Cannon House Office Building, protesting cuts to the House’s proposed Medicaid budget. Among the arrestees was film and tv actor Noah Wyle, formerly of ER and currently the star of Falling Skies.  On Tuesday, ADAPT blitzed the US Department of Health and Human Services, winning a significant victory in the form of the issuance of the rules for the Community First Choice Option. ADAPT also confronted hotel industry lobbyists at a hearing on Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations on swimming pools.  The opposition of rules governing swimming pools is more widely seen as a potential avenue for weakening the interpretation of the ADA.

 

“The Affordable Care Act has done many good things for people with disabilities,” said Tim Sullivan of Chicago ADAPT.  ”People with pre-existing conditions will have health insurance.  It directs the government to address health care disparities including for people with disabilities.  And of course we believe the Community First Choice Option is critical.  My right to live in the community should not be destroyed by political warfare over whether this law is unconstitutional.”

 

“We have to take a stand for the programs that improve the lives of people with disabilities and others who need Medicaid services to live in the community,” said Dawn Russell of Denver ADAPT.  ”We need the Supreme Court to recognize the decades of work that we have put into giving people with disabilities the legal tools to live in our communities with our families and friends, and not be forced into nursing homes.”

ADAPT was formed in 1984 around transit access, and began its focus on Medicaid community based services in 1992 after passage of the ADA, which legally affirmed that access to public transit is a civil right. The ADA, and a U.S. Supreme Court decision known as the Olmstead decision have both also affirmed that the right to live in the community is a civil right.

 

ADAPT will employ street theater and a mock “court” presentation of disability issues within the Affordable Care Act.

 

For more information about the Community First Choice Option and ADAPT, see www.adapt.org and http://www.twitter.com/nationaladapt

—————–

 

ADAPT Applauds Issuance Of Key Affordable Care Act Regulations

Washington, D.C.— On Tuesday, after months of pressure on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Medicaid division to release federal regulations for the Community First Choice (CFC) Option, the national grassroots disability rights group ADAPT stormed the HHS headquarters once again by surrounding its doors. This time, the protests yielded the long-awaited result: Cindy Mann, Director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations announced at 6 pm that she had just that very afternoon submitted the CFC Option regulations in final form to the Federal Register for publishing. The issuance of the regulations brings the possibility of much-needed Federal assistance to states struggling with massive Medicaid cuts.

“After almost two years of working to get the CFC Option in the Affordable Care Act and then waiting for the regulations, ADAPT truly is celebrating this moment,” said Bruce Darling of Rochester ADAPT. “We thank Ms. Mann and Henry Claypool, Principal Deputy Administrator of the Administration on Community Living, for working with us to see the regulations come out.” The CFC Option is a provision of the Affordable Care Act that would provide Federal matching dollars, plus an extra six percent, to states that amend their Medicaid state plans to provide home and community based services for people with disabilities who meet a certain level of need, determined by each state.

The completion of the regulations marks a high point in a saga of front line battles between advocates in the states and their respective Medicaid administrators. Most states, faced with the prospect of budget cuts in a time of austerity, have not committed to taking advantage of the CFC Option. Some, like Illinois and Montana, have held off on final decisions pending release of the CFC regulations. Others, like New York and California, have moved forward with planning for the CFC Option implementation. In states that have not made such a commitment, Medicaid administrators have met with ferocious grassroots pressure from ADAPT.

HHS itself became the main focus of ADAPT efforts once it was clear that the agency was working on the regulations. The Affordable Care Act provided the deadline of October 1, 2011 for the publication of the CFC rules. Once that date passed, tensions in the disability community ratcheted up as anxiety grew about whether the Administration would hold firm to its commitment to community living and Olmstead implementation for people with disabilities. The release of the regulations and the very recent formation of the Administration on Community Living are both viewed by ADAPT as positive developments.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” said Darling. “The release of the regulations means we will now have to work state by state to ensure that every person with a disability has the same access to community living as everyone else. We are not done, but for today this is a major policy and advocacy victory for disability rights.”

For more information, see www.adapt.org and http://www.twitter.com/nationaladapt

Related articles

• ADAPT Spring Action: Tuesday Report back (examiner.com)
• Noah Wylie Arrested For Protesting Cuts to Medicaid Benefits for the Elderly and Disabled (shoppingblog.com)
• ADAPT Spring Action: Sunday Report back (examiner.com)

It wasn’t broken so they broke it. Grr!

SungYuri (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have thoroughly enjoyed having wordpress host my blog since I started writing. One of the things I enjoyed most was being able to read other people’s blogs through a feature called “Read Blogs.” I reblogged some of those I found most insightful,

Reblogging helped drive traffic to my blog where people picked up on things I had written. It  was fast and fun and it wasn’t broken. Unfortunately, now it is.

At the wordpress log in there is only a continuous whirl, like the way you feel when a relationship keeps you going in circles. Yes, around and around I got. I’m strung out over wordpress.com. At first I thought t I was being targeted for all the snarky things I’ve said about ATT customer service. There’s some creepy guy in an an ATT trench coat following me on twitter. It sort of lends credibility to any kind of low level paranoia you may feel knowing that he’s out there.

However when I went to the wordpress forums I found other people were experiencing the same problem. They, too, were going in circles. Our formerly reliable host had given a zonk and the price was wrong. All those hundreds of millions of unique page views all lost. I may have to go back to reading the newspaper. Or maybe Commissioner Gordon will signal Batman to fix the problem that the engineers created. Until then, keep swirling, fellow bloggers.

 

Blog of the day once again (Photo credit: the Italian voice)

Related articles

• Reblogged Vs. Retweet: A Case for the Former (zemanta.com)
• Grr.. (myperceptionoflife.wordpress.com)
• Reblogging is Back! (savvyvoyageur.wordpress.com)

Related articles

• Reblogging is Back! (savvyvoyageur.wordpress.com)

Respect Yourself

Trayvon Martin Protest - Sanford (Photo credit: werthmedia)

Malcolm X (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I ride the bus as my main means of getting around Milwaukee and all too often I heard through the earphones of young black passengers I hear people talking about “nigger this” and “nigger that” and then I hear on the other side of town about deaths. We have been focused in these last few weeks on 2 situations: that Trayvon Morris in Florida and Bo Morrison in Slinger, Wisconsin.

But what about the ordinary killers of African-Americans? Who is hunting them? Who is looking for the guy who killed his baby mama at 20th and Walnut after beating her with his bare fists? Will anyone find the foster children of Sara Ann, a young mother whose other children are in the foster care system? Will Sara Ann be reunited with her her children one more time? Will we learn about changes in the system after she is dead?

Who will indict and convict the sellers of candy band other killers of black people? Will we round up the grocery stores, gas stations, and crack heads who sell shit that winds up being sold for death in our communities? Will we wind up with over crowding the already full jails with even even more prisoners?

I blogged without end about George Zimmerman who should be facing life ion prison for murdering Trayvon Martin.  But the sad truth is that African-Americans, often friends or domestic partners of African-Americans are the ones who kill our brothers and sisters.

\The stories about murders by racists grab our attention because we have been so innoculated by the ordinary murders that take place around us that we have no idea that the guy upstairs putting his hands on that attractive young woman may end up killing her tonight. We need to stop murdering one another and start loving one another.

It begins with the Staples Singers and their song but it needs you to sing along. Pledge tonight that you will not kill anyone tonight.

African American members of ILGWU Local 222 picket outside. (Photo credit: Kheel Center, Cornell University)

Related articles

• President Barack Obama Calls Trayvon Martin Death “Tragedy” Geraldo Rivera Blames Trayvon Martin Murder on a “Hoodie” (binsidetv.net)
• Justice for Trayvon Martin (redantliberationarmy.wordpress.com)

Trayvon Martin shot in Cold Blood and Geraldo said it’s the hoodie’s fault

Trayvon Martin Protest - Sanford (Photo credit: werthmedia)

Geraldo Rivera (Photo credit: Island Capture Photography)

It’s all so clear what Geraldo Rivera, former reporter means to say when he tells us that we have a totally one-sided view of the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin. For many of us, the word killing should be changed to murder. George Zimmerman, a  man armed with a gun and fueled by racist hatred stalked Trayvon as he walked down the street in his father’s neighborhood. Trayvon was considered dangerous and possibly on drugs, in Zimmerman’s eyes. Zimmerman was going to protect the community from this young boy wearing a hoodie.If black youths would just stop wearing those hoodies, things would be different and white men could see them differently.That’s what we are being told by an idiot with an audience. Like the commercial said, a mind is a terrible thing to waste and Geraldo  has wasted his. Geraldo’s son said it best when he declared he was ashamed of his father.

Related articles

• Fox’s Geraldo Rivera Blames Hoodie For Trayvon Martin’s Death (thinkprogress.org)
• Geraldo Rivera on the Dangers of Clothing (littlegreenfootballs.com)

Wikipedia: Y is the twenty-fifth letter in the ISO basic Latin alphabet and represents either a vowel or a consonant in English. →

And so, Bo’s Killer Goes Free

Today it was announced that the killer of Bo Morrison, a young man who stood on the wrong porch at the wrong time became a victim of the right to defend one’s castle. In a news report, it was discovered that the 20 year-old had been drinking. Since he had been at an underage drinking party that was hardly surprising. But as I suggested in my earlier blog entry Judge, Jury and Executioner, there was no evidence that Bo had done anything except try to avoid being found. It was a matter of his bad judgment.

Before I was old enough to drink, I bought some gin and cola with a couple of friends and drank until I threw up. That pretty much cured me of alcoholism. there’s noting worse than shame, guilt and a lousy stomach to make you realize this is not where you want to be. We were in our neighborhood, we were young black boys and the judgment was faced was that of our parents.

I think that’s the way it should be. I would have loved to hear Bo’s parents discuss with him their hopes and dreams for him and why he needed to remain alcohol-free. But, unfortunately thy never got the chance.

I have read stories of teen underage drinking parties where no one was killed. In fact, in white communities, the police are not always guaranteed entry to check identifications and determine who who should be ticketed.

I never met Bo Morrison and his family. I probably would never have heard about them if Bo had  not been killed in a rush to judgment. There is a vast difference between a young unarmed male on a porch and one who poses an imminent danger requiring an armed response. What the reckless legislators and governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker have done is to leave it up to any Mary, Jane, Harry and Doe to decide on a split second whether that difference matters.

Bo Morrison should have been alive and well and studying today and the man who killed him should have had reason to pause and wonder, is this the right thing to do?

Judge, Jury and Executioner

The news is filled with two cases is which white men killed young suspicious black boys who were unarmed under circumstances that have sparked outrage across the country. One case is in Wisconsin where a newly enacted “castle doctrine” is being used to justify shooting an unarmed youth on a homeowner’s porch. In the second, a teenage boy was gunned down by a neighborhood watch captain while walking through a gated community in Florida. This killing was carried out in the name of “self-defense” by a man who had driven down the street following the boy.

The Florida boy, Trayvon Martin, was on the telephone talking to a girl moments before he was killed.  The killer, George Zimmerman, has a past that should have raised a lot of red flags prohibiting him from participating in neighborhood watch. For one thing, there was the matter of his assaulting a police officer.

Here is an excerpt from Huffington Post by Josh Horwwitz Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence entitled Arming Zimmerman.

“Another disturbing aspect of this case is the fact that Zimmerman was issued a permit to carry a concealed handgun by the state of Florida in the first place. Zimmerman, of course, was arrested in 2005 for resisting arrest with violence and battery on a police officer. The case was dismissed, and Zimmerman’s record expunged after he agreed to attend a pre-trial diversion program. In addition, police have fielded complaints from members of Zimmerman’s gated community about his aggressive conduct in the neighborhood.”

Stories about the 911 call Zimmerman made to the police clearly show that he ignored their advice. They told him not to pursue  and the boy asked him, “why are you following me?” So, why was Zimmerman following him and why was he armed in clear violation of neighborhood watch guidelines? Who appointed him to judge Trayvon’s guilt and pronounce a death sentence upon him when there was no evidence of any criminal intent?

In the Northern Wisconsin town of Slinger we have a case of underage drinking. Bo Morrison, 20 was at a party where alcohol was being served. Police were called to investigate the party due to a noise complaint. Morrison ran next door and was standing on a porch to avoid a ticket when the homeowner shot him. Although some internet messages suggested he had been trying to break in, there was no evidence of any criminal intent on his part.

Yesterday’s article by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Eugene Kane drew a parallel between the two cases . “Given the circumstances, Morrison’s shooting had the potential to become as sensational as Trayvon Martin’s death. Authorities in Washington County will be looking at the recently enacted Wisconsin law known as the castle doctrine to determine whether charges will be filed…For those who loved Morrison most, the fact remains they believe his death could have been avoided, since he wasn’t trying to break into the home or harm anyone, which is what the castle doctrine was meant to address.”

Two black youths have been killed without mercy or consideration of alternate means of action. The elements that tie these cases together, the ready availability of weapons due to lenient gun laws and the perceived threat created in white men, will haunt their families for years to come. Will the tide of history turn toward justice? Will the cycle of violence be broken?

Related articles

• Links to Gunned Down Florida Teen Trayvon Martin 911 Calls; You Be the Judge…was It Murder (alldatsassybizzness.com)
• Florida college students want Trayvon Martin shooter arrested (thegrio.com)
• Trayvon Martin: Sanford police acting like de facto defense team for George Zimmerman (thegrio.com)

Murder, Most Foul: Who Killed Nick Christie?

This morning I saw a picture of a body,  that of Nick Christie, bright orange after being pepper sprayed, stripped of  his dignity, denied medication, kept in restraints until his body gave out. The story by reporter Radley Balko in the  Huffington Post noted that Nick Christie’s wife of 40 years, Joyce Christie, had contacted police before he left on his trip. She told them that he was 62, suffered from several problem including emphysema and was having a mental breakdown.

She wanted them to arrest him and get him the help that he needed. They arrested him, all right, but the pattern and practice in the Lee County Jail all contributed to a massive assault that Nick Christie could not survive.  These included being placed in restraints, sprayed while being restrained and kept in the massive soup of pepper spray for several hours. While Joyce Christie was at the jail, her husband was being killed.

Is it any wonder that outrage and shock have risen as the news of Nick Christie’s murder has spread? The State’s Attorneyhas found no fault with the investigation into the case. Now the only remedy for Nick and Joyce Christie is for the Obama Administration and Attorney General Eric Holder to launch an immediate investigation into civil rights violations. Radley Palko’s article in the Huffington Post noted that there have been other instances of improper spraying and use of restraints on prisoners, many of whom were mentally ill.

We must stop the murder of prisoners by those who are sworn to uphold the law.  We must seek justice. It is now for President Obama to repay the faith that the American people displayed when they elected him based upon his call for hope and change. The change that we need is to uphold basic human rights.  I recommend checking the links to articles I have included in this blog and help spread the news.

Image via Wikipedia

refused to over the hop

Related articles

• Growing anger over 2009 death of Nick Christie in Florida (100gf.wordpress.com)
• Lee County Deputies Tied Suspect to a Chair, Gagged Him, and Pepper-Sprayed Him to Death (reason.com)
• A Death In The Devil’s Chair (huffingtonpost.com)

We Have the Right to Violate You!

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Imagine that you have reported wrongdoing  to the people at the top of the agency and in return you become investigated. Your higher ups come to your house and have you sent to a psychiatric ward without your consent and without a psychiatric evaluation. Your family does not know where you are. Is this a story about psychiatric abuse in the Soviet Union? No, it is  abuse of power by the New York City Police Department. The very institution charged with enforcing the laws is in fact a lawbreaker. And even after being exposed for their venal behavior, the police routinely visit a police officer on leave far away from the city where they have no jurisdiction and demand that he “act  like a man” and return with them for even more abuse. As if to tell him, “we have the right to abuse you.”

On September 10, 2010 the public radio program This American Life aired a series of stories  under the theme “you have the right to remain silent” about  a groups of individuals who at great personal cost spoke up about injustices they witnessed being committed. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/414/right-to-remain-silent The most gripping story was about Adrian Schoolcraft, who exposed a widespread practice among his fellow officers of police inventing reasons to stop and arrest people. Such concerns as probable  cause, evidence and constitutional rights were thrown out the window in this reckless effort to enforce so-called “quality of life” issues. At the same time more serious crimes were being ignored or downgraded.

The Village Voice series that broke Schoolcraft’s story, written by Graham Rayman, is here. Schoolcraft’s website looking for other cops to come forward is here.

My concern is with the psychiatric abuse part of the story. If  you listen to Schoolcraft’s story, you will hear a recording of the incident I referred to in the introduction to this blog. His superiors came to his apartment under false pretenses and decided that his refusal to leave with them constituted mental illness. In my work as a peer specialist the police I have seen are scrupulous in informing mental health consumers of their rights. There are very strict procedures to be followed when declaring that someone is exhibiting dangerous behavior and must be transported to an institution. But the New York City police felt they were above this law. That is the most dangerous part of what happened to Schoolcraft.

What if others are being locked away under similar circumstances? We must continue to advocate for the right not to be violated. Employers can not be allowed to manipulate our minds, the way that the police attempted to manipulate Schoolcraft’s. We must be vigilant. Schoolcraft could be anyone. Say no to mental abuse.

Related articles

• Corruption in the NYPD much wider than Occupy Wall Street beatings (americablog.com)
• Anthony Bologna of NYPD Part of Long History of Police Brutality, Cover-Ups (ibtimes.com)
• #414: Right to Remain Silent (thisamericanlife.org)

Occupy Australia

If President Obama was playing basketball with the American people, the play by play might go something like this. “The President fakes left, ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” Next he goes far right, ignoring the execution of Troy Davis. He dribbles between his legs, passes the ball to Leon Panetta who explains we could go back to Iraq if their leaders requested it.  Then as the Republican candidates makes assess of themselves,  the President dunks as he announces America is going to occupy Australia. http://www.network54.com/Forum/211833/thread/1321502826/last-1321579706/US+permanently+stationed+2500+troop+in+Australia+to+watch+Chinese+movement

Yes 2500 troops will go to the land down under on a mission to supposedly watch Chinese naval movements. The President taps into that vast reservoir of funds and goodwill regained as the rich started paying their fair share of taxes to pay for another military occupation. Instead of taking my advice and realizing this is a hell of a long time to be occupying Asia,  the Big O goes deep and rushes to the aid of Australia, a small struggling third world country.

Actually, they’re a rather powerful and well developed nation.

The economy of Australia is a developed, modern market economy with a GDP of approximately US$1.23 trillion.^[10] In 2011, it was the 13th largest national economy by nominal GDP^[11] and the 17th largest measured by PPP adjusted GDP, representing about 1.7% of the World economy. Australia was also ranked the 19th largest importer and 19th largest exporter.

Australia is a member of the APEC, G20, OECD and WTO organisations. Australia has also entered into free trade agreements with ASEAN, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and the United States.^[12] The ANZCERTA agreement with New Zealand has greatly increased integration with the New Zealand economy and there are now plans to form an Australasian Single Economic Market by 2015.^[13]

Sounds like a country that could afford to take care of itself. Ya think? Meanwhile, yes, I was kidding about that money from the rich, they’re placing bets on who to elect next November.

You might have noticed that at the same time President Obama declare that defending Australia was key to our national security, he re-assured China that we were not somehow tracking their naval expansion.  Our stores are filled with goods from China. The biggest beneficiary of the American “Black Friday” will undoubtedly be China as the consumer orgy floods our homes with more Chinese goods and services.

The Grand Game is on as bets are placed regarding the future of Social Security, Medicare and the  Health Care Law. Will the bloated US military escape the so-called draconian cuts scheduled to go  into effect if the Super Committee cannot find compromise?

Those of us on the left with our Occupy signs probably did not see President O’s latest right wing move coming. But we should have known that the moment the people start talking about occupy, the mis-leaders will  turn that into an opportunity to occupy another large landmass. Let’s Occupy the White  House.

Related articles

• Australia is really good. The only people who don’t believe it are… (petermartin.com.au)
• Moody’s reaffirms Australia’s AAA rating (news.theage.com.au)

Compassion

Reblogged from Beyond Meds:

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others.

Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.

― Pema Chödrön

These are my two favorite books by Pema, though I think everything I’ve read speaks to me:

Read more… 45 more words