Out of the record 10, 552 complaints filed for housing discrimination in 2008, 44% were due to disability-based discrimination.
via disability scoop:
The data, included in an annual report to Congress, includes housing discrimination complaints made directly to HUD and those made to state and local agencies that work with HUD. All complaints must specify one of seven reasons for discrimination including race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability or familial status.
Disability Scoop provides the following information:
Those with concerns about housing discrimination can contact HUD at (800) 669-9777 or click here for more information.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
When the word disability is used in quotes
BBC is running an article about a minke whale who was injured by a net at sea. He now has a deep laceration around his feeding pouch and has adapted his feeding technique in a way scientists have never recorded, rotating toward the right to feed and never the left due to the injury.
The scientist called it a "unique lunge-feeding behaviour."
Aside from ongoing concerns for the well being of these animals, the article is interesting to me because it is entitled "Net injury 'disables' minke whale" with the word disables in quotes, obviously because the animal has adapted a way to feed itself.
The reason I find this so interesting is because we apply the same thinking to people with disabilities. When the nature of the disability is such that someone can adapt and do an activity independently, even with technology, we ascribe a lesser degree of disability to them than when he or she continues to rely on human help and is unable to independently do that activity.
There is a hierarchy that exists regarding disability and this is one aspect of it, in my opinion. It is when the word disability is used in quotes.
Of course we sometimes forget that there are those who , if we took away their assistive technology would then be considered more disabled and many who if they had such technology would be considered less disabled.
With animals, it's understandable that such concerns are rarely addressed, although I've heard of vets rebuilding broken beaks on pelicans and such.
With humans, it's usually an issue of money.
The scientist called it a "unique lunge-feeding behaviour."
Aside from ongoing concerns for the well being of these animals, the article is interesting to me because it is entitled "Net injury 'disables' minke whale" with the word disables in quotes, obviously because the animal has adapted a way to feed itself.
The reason I find this so interesting is because we apply the same thinking to people with disabilities. When the nature of the disability is such that someone can adapt and do an activity independently, even with technology, we ascribe a lesser degree of disability to them than when he or she continues to rely on human help and is unable to independently do that activity.
There is a hierarchy that exists regarding disability and this is one aspect of it, in my opinion. It is when the word disability is used in quotes.
Of course we sometimes forget that there are those who , if we took away their assistive technology would then be considered more disabled and many who if they had such technology would be considered less disabled.
With animals, it's understandable that such concerns are rarely addressed, although I've heard of vets rebuilding broken beaks on pelicans and such.
With humans, it's usually an issue of money.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
"I live in a crazy time"
said Anne Frank. And events from yesterday sadly reflect that we still do.
On the day a play about Anne Frank's life was planned at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, an 88 year old man tried to enter the museum . Special police officer Johns opened the door for the man, who opened fire on the officer. According to witnesses, he then shot at other security guards who fired back near the front of the museum. Visitors to the museum fled in the other direction, toward the "Remember the Children" exhibit, trying to find families and friends who came with them. Some visitors dropped and hit the floor. In the words of a witness:
"No one was standing up; no one dared move; we were all very scared. Finally, I ran back towards where my grandparents were to see if they were OK, and there we stayed until further instructions about how to exit the building safely."
They were told by guards to run and headed outside toward the lawn, some weeping. A security guard was killed. The shooter is hospitalized in critical condition.
*
The Southern Poverty Law Center, quoted yesterday as knowing about James von Brunn, the shooter in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum , said he "has an extremely long history with neo-Nazis and white supremacists. He's written extremely incendiary publications, raging about Jews, blacks and the like."
The Center publishes a hate groups map on its site. They report that there were 926 active hate groups across the U.S. in 2008 which they counted. Their statistics do not include individuals, just groups.
*
The play to be performed, entitled Anne and Emmett, "is an imaginary conversation between Jewish girl Anne Frank, who wrote her famous diary about hiding from Nazi occupiers in Amsterdam, and Emmett Till, a black boy lynched in Mississippi in 1955", playwright Janet Langhart Cohen said.
Emmett Till was a 14 year old black boy who was killed in 1955 for flirting with a white woman in Mississippi. He was brutally murdered, his eye gouged out, shot in the head, beaten, and thrown into the Tallahatchie River with a 70 pound cotton gin fan tied to his neck with barbed wire. His body was found three days later in the river and police tried to convince people that the body was not his.
Anne Frank would have turned 80 years old tomorrow. Although we often talk about Anne Frank, the exact number of Jews systematically killed in the Holocaust has never been able to be determined, but is estimated at six millon. By 1945, 2 out of 3 European Jews were killed. Others also died.
As many as one-half million Gypsies, at least 250,000 mentally or physically disabled persons, and more than three million Soviet prisoners-of-war also fell victim to Nazi genocide. Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, Social Democrats, Communists, partisans, trade unionists, Polish intelligentsia and other undesirables were also victims of the hate and aggression carried out by the Nazis.
*
The museum remains closed today in honor of the slain security guard, with the flags at half mast. There is no doubt, according to witnesses, that the 39 year old security guard who was killed, Stephen Tyrone Jones, laid down his life to protect the visitors and fellow security guards. After telling the armed man to drop his weapon, the guards fired their weapons near the front of the museum. Jones, shown at left, worked at the museum for six years.
The President issued a statement:
"This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms. No American institution is more important to this effort than the Holocaust Museum, and no act of violence will diminish our determination to honor those who were lost by building a more peaceful and tolerant world."
The Anti-Defamation League said the shooting "reminds us in the starkest way where the spread of hatred can lead."
Occurring "at the very place that was created to remember and teach about evil in the world," the attack "is an immediate reminder that words of hate matter, that we can never afford to ignore hate because words of hate can easily become acts of hate, no matter the place, no matter the age of the hatemonger."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned "this apparent bias-motivated attack" and said it stands "with the Jewish community and with Americans of all faiths in repudiating the kind of hatred and intolerance that can lead to such disturbing incidents."
On the day a play about Anne Frank's life was planned at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, an 88 year old man tried to enter the museum . Special police officer Johns opened the door for the man, who opened fire on the officer. According to witnesses, he then shot at other security guards who fired back near the front of the museum. Visitors to the museum fled in the other direction, toward the "Remember the Children" exhibit, trying to find families and friends who came with them. Some visitors dropped and hit the floor. In the words of a witness:
"No one was standing up; no one dared move; we were all very scared. Finally, I ran back towards where my grandparents were to see if they were OK, and there we stayed until further instructions about how to exit the building safely."
They were told by guards to run and headed outside toward the lawn, some weeping. A security guard was killed. The shooter is hospitalized in critical condition.
*
The Southern Poverty Law Center, quoted yesterday as knowing about James von Brunn, the shooter in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum , said he "has an extremely long history with neo-Nazis and white supremacists. He's written extremely incendiary publications, raging about Jews, blacks and the like."
The Center publishes a hate groups map on its site. They report that there were 926 active hate groups across the U.S. in 2008 which they counted. Their statistics do not include individuals, just groups.
*
The play to be performed, entitled Anne and Emmett, "is an imaginary conversation between Jewish girl Anne Frank, who wrote her famous diary about hiding from Nazi occupiers in Amsterdam, and Emmett Till, a black boy lynched in Mississippi in 1955", playwright Janet Langhart Cohen said.
Emmett Till was a 14 year old black boy who was killed in 1955 for flirting with a white woman in Mississippi. He was brutally murdered, his eye gouged out, shot in the head, beaten, and thrown into the Tallahatchie River with a 70 pound cotton gin fan tied to his neck with barbed wire. His body was found three days later in the river and police tried to convince people that the body was not his.
Anne Frank would have turned 80 years old tomorrow. Although we often talk about Anne Frank, the exact number of Jews systematically killed in the Holocaust has never been able to be determined, but is estimated at six millon. By 1945, 2 out of 3 European Jews were killed. Others also died.
As many as one-half million Gypsies, at least 250,000 mentally or physically disabled persons, and more than three million Soviet prisoners-of-war also fell victim to Nazi genocide. Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, Social Democrats, Communists, partisans, trade unionists, Polish intelligentsia and other undesirables were also victims of the hate and aggression carried out by the Nazis.
*
The museum remains closed today in honor of the slain security guard, with the flags at half mast. There is no doubt, according to witnesses, that the 39 year old security guard who was killed, Stephen Tyrone Jones, laid down his life to protect the visitors and fellow security guards. After telling the armed man to drop his weapon, the guards fired their weapons near the front of the museum. Jones, shown at left, worked at the museum for six years.
The President issued a statement:
"This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms. No American institution is more important to this effort than the Holocaust Museum, and no act of violence will diminish our determination to honor those who were lost by building a more peaceful and tolerant world."
The Anti-Defamation League said the shooting "reminds us in the starkest way where the spread of hatred can lead."
Occurring "at the very place that was created to remember and teach about evil in the world," the attack "is an immediate reminder that words of hate matter, that we can never afford to ignore hate because words of hate can easily become acts of hate, no matter the place, no matter the age of the hatemonger."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned "this apparent bias-motivated attack" and said it stands "with the Jewish community and with Americans of all faiths in repudiating the kind of hatred and intolerance that can lead to such disturbing incidents."
Higher utility bills? You're not alone
At least on the East cost.
Thanks to the vagaries of Mother Nature this year, my friends and neighbors are being hit with unexpected higher utility costs. If you're on an equalization payment plan, these accrue and are due in June. Most seem to owe between 350 or more dollars than last year.
Funny thing is that when the bill came in, a friend told me that he thought he was the only one affected by it. (I had a heads up because Meredith got hers first). I was thinking about how often that's a reaction we have, but I bet if I took the time to go up and down my block I'd find a lot of others in the same boat.
One thing you can do is call the utility company and check to see if the bill is actual or estimated (i.e. whether a real meter reading was done.) If you can't find the code, call the billing department and have them help you locate it.
This comes at a really bad time for many people, so although I know it's off topic I wanted to share that bit of information.
A bit of blogging trivia - I somewhat broke the quote key on my laptop with my assistive device which I was using since my voice recognition wasn't working properly, so if you see posts with inconsistent quote marks or creative ones Ive invented , please dont assume Ive lost all the grammar the Sisters of St. Joseph drummed into me.
Thanks to the vagaries of Mother Nature this year, my friends and neighbors are being hit with unexpected higher utility costs. If you're on an equalization payment plan, these accrue and are due in June. Most seem to owe between 350 or more dollars than last year.
Funny thing is that when the bill came in, a friend told me that he thought he was the only one affected by it. (I had a heads up because Meredith got hers first). I was thinking about how often that's a reaction we have, but I bet if I took the time to go up and down my block I'd find a lot of others in the same boat.
One thing you can do is call the utility company and check to see if the bill is actual or estimated (i.e. whether a real meter reading was done.) If you can't find the code, call the billing department and have them help you locate it.
This comes at a really bad time for many people, so although I know it's off topic I wanted to share that bit of information.
A bit of blogging trivia - I somewhat broke the quote key on my laptop with my assistive device which I was using since my voice recognition wasn't working properly, so if you see posts with inconsistent quote marks or creative ones Ive invented , please dont assume Ive lost all the grammar the Sisters of St. Joseph drummed into me.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Arguing about - well , arguing
Having grown up with a father who worked as a labor negotiator, I learned the fine art of arguing at a young age over the dinner table. Never dreaming that he was grooming me to be an attorney, my father enjoyed verbally sparring with me. It taught me a lot about the difference between arguing for the sake of arguing and negotiating.
Often people seem more likely to argue over the smallest disputes rather than negotiate, which can be a waste of time for everyone. Taking a step back and looking at the whole picture can avoid a lot of this - unless, like in this Monty Python clip, you're looking for an argument.
Health care plans are just being presented in Washington. I hope all of us remember to differentiate between arguing and negotiating - because there's so much at stake here.
Often people seem more likely to argue over the smallest disputes rather than negotiate, which can be a waste of time for everyone. Taking a step back and looking at the whole picture can avoid a lot of this - unless, like in this Monty Python clip, you're looking for an argument.
Health care plans are just being presented in Washington. I hope all of us remember to differentiate between arguing and negotiating - because there's so much at stake here.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Support Information for Pregnant Mothers of Children with Disabilities
For information about perinatal hospices,
| listed on www.perinatalhospice.org ." | |
| Several other helpful and informative links from the article include the following:
h/t NJCIM | |
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Weird sports weekend
You all know I'm a Phillies fan, but what's up with Brad Lidge? This post about whether Brad Lidge has made a deal with the devil has me thinking.
Not to mention this hat wielding fan who ran out onto the court during the French Open finals today. Congratulations, Roger Federer, on the Grand Slam win.
Not to mention this hat wielding fan who ran out onto the court during the French Open finals today. Congratulations, Roger Federer, on the Grand Slam win.
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