The media has been ALL HURRICANE ALL THE TIME here in Florida and it is enough to make most of us barf--all of us here in Florida have had enough! While there is great and valuable information being dispensed to those who need it from the airwaves...there are some really stupid things happening, like for instance, at a grocery store magazine rack, a commemorative magazine devoted to Hurricane Charley with a picture of President Bush hugging a victim.
OK, OK, we get the message!!! Because of the Divine Providence of the Bush family, all the Floridians who were touched by this storm will have enough food and water and will be able to procure shelter for their families and go on living the American Dream. "We WILL rebuild," Jebbie says!
Not true! I know people who do not have a home to go to. The electric company or the fire inspectors have sealed off homes that are damaged and structurally unsafe and people that live in those places are left to sleep in their cars, stay with friends and if they have neither, they are on the street. Having no internet access or phone service does not allow them to have access to FEMA numbers or email addresses. People who are still managing to make it to work cannot access agencies for aid, as these agencies are open during working hours only and people are afraid they will lose their jobs if they call in sick. Some have no contact information to give to the agencies anyway, so they cannot be reached by anyone. A certain "Catch-22" and none of these things will expedite help and assistance to those who need it.
So, in short, those who are living paycheck to paycheck are screwed! They could not afford to evacuate and they could not afford to spend hundreds of dollars on emergency supplies. After the destruction, either they cannot go to work, or they go and cannot get aid because they cannot miss work to apply for it or lose their jobs, or their places of employment are not open or worse yet, destroyed...so more people are becoming disenfranchised, hungry and homeless.
Another thing that we here in Florida have noticed, all the media has paid attention to or taken interviews from are people from the middle class white neighborhoods. I can recall seeing one or two black faces and a few more Hispanic people shown on the TV during the coverage on all four of the hurricanes. It is as if these neighborhoods and the help needed by these people does not exist. What is more alarming is the status of the migrant farm workers and illegals that live in trailer parks in the farming communities. We have heard nothing about these people. How have they fared? Do they have food, potable drinking water and shelter? Is the number our press has given on the amount of the dead realistic?
And even worse is the status of the Haitians who were hit by Hurricane Jeanne early on and are now starving and have no water or homes, their portion of the Hispaniola island is one big mud puddle because of previous deforestation. We get less than two minutes of coverage on the national news on their fate. Pretty slanted and biased if you ask me! Where are the black people and do they count? (We already know they do not count when declaring political asylum or applying for immigration status!)
It appears that this administration and its cronies and the biased media do not consider African Americans or Hispanics and their needs important and their problems or tragedies to count during a disaster and it's aftermath. At least that is how we see it here in Florida.
People here have had it! There is no doubt that there will be a lot of people here in Florida putting their houses on the market and getting out of this state for good.
NOTE***Also, keep in mind that when you donate to the American Red Cross, and no one can say that they do not do good work, 41% of your donation will go to Administrative Operations of that organization. It is always best to donate to the organizations where you can get more bang for your buck. Organizations can be checked for a breakdown on their expenses and a financial plan on their websites or you can call them and request it in writing.
Cat Stevens, musician extraordinaire, born of Greek parents in London is one of the most prolific lyricists of all time! The picture I remember of him as he launched onto the music scene back then is the one of the the most gorgeous dark and sensous man sitting on a wall with a cocky expression on his face dressed in black leather pants and boots and a fluffy ruffled white shirt. Men wanted to be like him and women swooned over this man's looks and his gorgeous folk-singer voice. I do admit, I was one of the smitten! I was hopelessly in love with him and had his pictures hung on my wall as a shrine to him!
At the time, as the girlfriend of a guitarist and a sister of a drummer and a singer in my own rite, I bought his albums and crooned his lush and melodic tunes with the grabbing hooks; the hooks that made you want to sing the songs over and over again! I saved my allowance and bought the--what seems like ancient now--33rpm albums and played them until the grooves wore out! All the aspiring folk singers of the time that had any kind of talent at all always had a couple of Cat Stevens songs in their repertoire.
In the late 60's and the 70's, Cat Stevens sold over 40 million albums world wide. Always an advocate of peace, Cat Steven's anthem to peace, "Peace Train" is still covered by other musicians today and his songs still get continuous airplay on classic rock stations.
Cat Stevens explored his spirituality in the 70's after turning to Islam as his chosen faith. He has made some controversial personal opinions in the past years regarding Middle East policies and government leaders, but never abandoned thoughts of peace and speaking out about his
beliefs. While still living in London and being a part of the Islamic community doing good works and donating time and money to charity, two philanthropic organizations that he founded himself. Royalties that he still gets from his music are donated to charity.
It seems unbelievable to me that this world renowned musical personality would be stopped from coming into the United States because of being noted on a Homeland Security Watch List. And his detention and questioning in Bangor, Maine yesterday raises many questions. Is this an example of racial profiling? Just what kind of danger to the US does this man pose as an advocate of peace and a recording artist and a world wide figure? If he had blonde hair and did not wear his Muslim robes and attire would he have been singled out at the airport? Is there concrete evidence that this man associates with terrorists or does he only associate with known Muslims in his community? How does this relate to religion, race, and ethics? Has this war that our country is enmeshed in become, in reality, another Crusades and Holy War? As a free and democratic nation and one that promotes equality for all, how was this kind of thing allowed to happen? And finally, where does the US government draw the line because it seems that the line is no longer blurry!
http://www.phillywire.com/Cat_Stevens.html
Narrated by Peter Dinklage, the four-foot, five-inch star of the film "The Station Agent," Freedom Machines will premiere on national television on September 14, 2004, on PBS’ acclaimed documentary showcase, P.O.V.
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I cannot say enough about the film, "Freedom Machines!" After reading over the above statistics and as I personally know someone featured in this film and I work in health care, I came to somewhat of a realization of the plight of the disabled and the message of this film. Currently there is a move towards differently-abled people living independent lives, but their attempts to do this are thwarted by a number of different roadblocks that are noted by this film.
The differently abled people featured in the film told their own stories with such eloquence. And all were so brilliant and are offering and have offered so much to their communities already and have become productive members of our society. Their hopes, dreams and goals are just as important and valid as those of "abled" people and each of them has a remarkable story of their life so far. Some questions can be asked such as: why has most of our society decided that these people and their goals are not important and that their offerings and contributions to us are of no consequence? Why are there not enough funds granted to the disabled for the fantastic technological advances that we already have and that are constantly being invented and that are so sorely needed to make these peoples' lives independent? Even when the funding is available and is just sitting there locked down by the government?
Well, to state it simply, the current system does not work because it's laws are not backed up by releasing the funding to make independence a reality for the disabled. With most disabled people living at or near the poverty level, items such as $22,000 mechanized wheelchair become an impossibility for most. Medicaid/Medicare programs are used when the disabled person is "warehoused" in an institution or facility and these do not work with the States to facilitate total independence programs for the disabled person as they are out to make money, not spend it. Many times when there are grants or funding available for the "freedom machines" and they are petitioned for, there will be stalling techniques employed such as legal action needed, an appeal, a board member decision, or more medical evaluations for the disabled person. It is taken for granted that disabled people will not vote or petition the government for changes to the current policies. Indeed, sometimes the disabled person does not even have access to those who represent them in governmental agencies.
Therefore, the hope of having the freedom machines is always there, and is certainly promised and guaranteed by law, but rarely comes to fruition without some kind of a lengthy, time consuming process. The money sits there and the "freedom machines" do not get to the people that need them the most. Goals and dreams will always be promised to happen "later."
I called LaToya Nesmith, one of the young people featured in the film and she had some comments for me after I asked her what she needed now and what has been happening to her during two years that have passed since she took part in the film. She has been working hard to keep up with her studies and get into college by September of 2005. She noted that she needed a manual wheelchair but that she had to wait for five years to get it due to her move from New York to Tampa, Florida and the fact that she is no longer under Medicaid, but a Medicaid Waiver because of the move, making the wheelchair not covered by her current insurance. Her schooling has also suffered since some of the credits she accumulated in New York are not recognized by the schools here, so in effect she has had to start a major portion of her high school education over again. One class not recognized by Hillsborough County Schools (in Tampa) for instance, was Global History. She definitely fits as one of the students that the "No Child Left Behind" Act does NOT cover and she has tried to speak to government representatives about that, but to no avail, as this has created yet another hurdle for her.
LaToya uses what is called a digital dialogue phone which is used by the disabled when they have limited or no use of their arms and hands. Therefore she does not have to pick up the receiver when calling. When she calls the government offices or many other offices that she works with for aid, funding, school information, etc., she is hung up on or told to pick up the receiver. Or those that are answering tell her that they do not believe she is disabled and they refuse to give her personal information since they think their voices are being heard by others over a speaker phone. LaToya has heard that the fine tuning and improvement of the digital dialogue phone is happening to make it sound less tinny, but certainly not fast enough. What is even more important and what is needed so desperately is training for the people that are picking up the phones on the other end on how to answer calls from the disabled, what "freedom machines" are being used by the disabled and certainly more sensitivity training.
Not so long ago, cut curbs and ramps outside of office and government buildings did not even exist, now they are there and considered a normal part of our everyday environment. What Freedom Machines do is make it possible for the disabled person to have a HUMAN INTERACTION with others and just like the learning curve, there is no one way to do that, but MANY WAYS. Finally, disabled people were made equal to other US citizens with the enactment of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA but the genuine equality for all disabled is a long time in coming. Thanks to the wonderful people portrayed in this film for letting us in to see a tiny piece of their world from their point of view.
Zalala
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Some Statistics:
There are an estimated 54 million people with disabilities living in the United States. (U.S. Census Bureau)
There are nearly 7 million school-aged children with disabilities in the U.S. (Congressional Research Service)
Nearly 70 percent of working-age adults with disabilities are unemployed. (U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division and Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division)
Almost 40 percent of working-age Americans with disabilities live in poverty. (World Institute on Disability)
Fewer than 25 percent of people with disabilities who could be helped by assistive technology are using it. (Alliance for Technology Access) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA):
http://www.access-board.gov/about/ADA.htm
All About the Film:
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2004/freedommachines/about.html
No Child Left Behind Act:
http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml
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"Freedom Machines" will be nationally broadcast on September 14 at 10:00 PM (local dates/times may vary, see below for information specific to your area). The presentation is a special for the award winning P.O.V. (Point of View) series. Below is a list of the stations (with dates and times) in your area that scheduled a broadcast(s) of "Freedom Machines" as of 9/1/04 followed by a list of all the stations in your area (please verify this information):
Scheduled broadcast(s) of "Freedom Machines" near Tampa:
9/14/2004, 10:00 PM, ET, WMFE, Orlando Daytona Beach Melbourne FL
9/15/2004, 3:00 AM, ET, WMFE, Orlando Daytona Beach Melbourne FL
9/27/2004, 11:00 PM, ET, WEDU, Tampa St. Petersburg Sarasota FL
PBS Stations in your area:
WUSF/CHANNEL 16 Tampa, FL
WMFE-TV, CHANNEL 24 Orlando, FL
WEDU/Channel 3, CHANNEL 3 Tampa, FL
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PRESS RELEASE:Technology and the "Differently-Abled"
"FREEDOM MACHINES" PRESS RELEASE!
http://www.freedommachines.com
New Documentary Challenges Basic Notion of"Disabilities"
"Freedom Machines" Showcases "Enabling" Technologies - and Takes Aim at Barriers that Limit their Use--narrated by The Station Agent star, Peter Dinklage,"Freedom Machines" has its broadcast premiere Tuesday, September 14, on PBS’ P.O.V.SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- "Leave your misconceptions andlow expectations at the door."
That is the message at the heart of "Freedom Machines," a new film that has its television premiere September 14 on PBS’ acclaimed documentary series, "P.O.V."It’s a message that resonates for Susanna Sweeny-Martini, disabled since childhood, who is completing her college education with the aid of a power wheelchair and voice-input software; for Floyd Stewart, paralyzed in mid-life by a car accident, who uses "enabling" tools to teach other disabled people to lead independent lives; and for Shoshana Brand, who has blossomed as a small business owner with the aid of a programmable keyboard. These and other personal stories are at the center of Freedom Machines. Yet the film is also a story of broken promises and wasted human potential.There are 54 million disabled people living in the United States today. Yet, despite the promise of innovative new technologies and landmark legislation like the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), lack of funding, information, and political will have left crucial liberating technologies out of reach for most Americans.
Take Latoya Nesmith. A bright 17-year-old who dreams of becoming a translator at the United Nations, Nesmith is determined to get the best education she can. Yet the lack of assistive technology in her public school is a seemingly insurmountable hurdle.
"What happens is that every time it comes to ordering high tech equipment they ask for another evaluation,"says her mother, Felicia Smalls. "…This has been going on for the last four years, doesn’t matter what district."The lack of accessible tools has thrust many parents into the role of advocates - a role that has become a lifelong mission for Jacquelyn Brand, Shoshana’s mother. As the founder of the nonprofit Alliance for Technology Access, Brand urges all parents of children with disabilities to make their voice count. "We have to stand up and demand that our children be provided with these crucial, life-changing tools because nobody else will do it for us," says Brand. "We’re just asking for the same thing that all parents want for their children: the opportunity to lead independent and happy adult lives."
Fourteen years after the passage of the ADA, its promise of equal access to education, employment and other essential activities and services for the country’s largest minority group remains largely unfulfilled. Yet the film makes clear that assistive technologies are not just a human rights imperative-in many cases, they are also sound fiscal policy. "People should not be warehoused in a facility like cattle, but due to the lack of programs that provide assistive technology and attendant care, you have no choice," says Stewart, who, rendered quadriplegic in his mid-30s, freed himself from a de facto life sentence in a nursing home and now teaches others to follow his trail. "Why pay $65,000 a year to keep someone in a nursing home when $25,000 will allow them to live independently?"
Interweaving the stories of unforgettable individuals with commentary from the creators of assistive technologies, and advocates for disability rights and"universal design" concepts, Freedom Machines throws out old concepts of disability, showing that technological advances can accomplish the impossible. By emphasizing possibilities, the film challenges the very language we use. Dean Kamen, inventor of the first stair-climbing wheelchair, asks: "I want to play tennis at 75, I want that new knee. Is the new knee a‘disability device?’ It’s an ‘enabling device.’
Narrated by Peter Dinklage, the four-foot, five-inch star of the film "The Station Agent," Freedom Machines will premiere on national television on September 14, 2004, on PBS’ acclaimed documentary showcase, P.O.V.
