Author: stevekuusisto

Poet, Essayist, Blogger, Journalist, Memoirist, Disability Rights Advocate, Public Speaker, Professor, Syracuse University

‘Dogs at Work’ U.S. postage stamps feature paintings by VPA’s John Thompson

From Inside Syracuse:

Friday, January 20, 2012 

By Erica Blust • (315) 443-5891

A new series of U.S. postage stamps celebrating canine coworkers feature paintings by a human artist who is also on the faculty of Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA).

dogs“Dogs at Work,” a series of four 65-cent stamps, is being issued Friday, Jan. 20. John Thompson, a renowned artist and professor of illustration in VPA’s Department of Art, created original paintings for the stamps, which were designed by art director Howard E. Paine. The set depicts four hard-working canines: a guide dog, a tracking dog, a therapy dog and a search-and-rescue dog. The 65-cent denomination is the price for single-piece retail first-class mail weighing more than one ounce and up to and including two ounces.

dogs2“This was my first assignment for the U.S. Postal Service,” says Thompson. “I had the privilege of working with an art director whom I’d long admired, Howard Paine. The whole process of coming up with the stamp designs was a thoroughly enjoyable project. All of the models for the paintings, both dogs and people, were from the surrounding [Central New York] area.”

Thompson has exhibited his work widely, including the recent solo show “India” at the Society of Illustrators’ Members Gallery in New York City. He has won numerous gold and silver medals for his illustrations, including the 2006 Hamilton King Award from the Society of Illustrators for the best illustration of the year. As a children’s book illustrator he has won several American Library Association Notable Book Awards. He is included in Walt Reed’s “The Illustrator in America: 1860-2000” (The Society of Illustrators, 2001).

 

World Down Syndrome Day at United Nations

World Down Syndrome Day at UN – 3/21 – “Building our Future”

The first official World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) will be celebrated at the UN Headquarters in NY, on March 21 2012 (3/21), with the Conference “Building Our Future”.

Inclusive education, political participation, independent living, how to work with the media and research are some of the topics that will be discussed.

The event is sponsored by the Missions of Brazil and Poland to the UN and organized byDown Syndrome International with the collaboration of the Brazilian Federation of Associations of Down Syndrome (FBASD), Down España, Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation (DSRTF), National Down Syndrome Center (NDSC) and National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS).

Registration

Participants from all around the world are welcome, especialy those with Down syndrome.

There is no cost for registration. Confirmation to attend the event can be made by the email unconference@gmail.com.

Please inform name, email, age, nationality, relation to Down syndrome (self, parent, relative, professional, teacher, student, friend or other-specify), document number (passport, driver’s license, student´s ID), whether you have a disability and what kind and if you need a disability-related accommodation or service.

Only participants with their names on the list and an ID will be allowed in the building. Space is limited.

About Down syndrome

Down syndrome is a naturally occurring chromosomal arrangement that has always been a part of the human condition, being universally present across racial, gender or socio-economic lines, and affecting approximately 1 in 800 live births, although there is considerable variation worldwide. Down syndrome usually causes varying degrees of intellectual and physical disability and associated medical issues.

About World Down Syndrome Day

World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) has been established by Down Syndrome International and celebrated since 2006 and observer in over 60 countries in the world. It is held on March 21st (21/3) to signify the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of chromosome 21 which causes this genetic ocurrence.

The aim of the day is to raise awareness and understanding about Down syndrome, and to promote the inherent rights of persons with Down syndrome to enjoy full and dignified lives and be active and valuable participants in their communities and society.

A resolution to designate 21/3 as “World Down Syndrome Day”, to be observed every year beginning in 2012, was adopted by consensus by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2011. The resolution was proposed and promoted by Brazil, and co-sponsored by 78 UN Member States. From 2012 onwards, the date will be celebrated by all 192 UN countries.

For information on Down Syndrome:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001992/

For more information on WDSD, visit DSi website.

To know about the resolution process at the UN, visit:

http://www.inclusive.org.br/?p=21550

3/21 – 10h – “Building our Future” – UN Headquarters in NY – Conference Room 2
Confirmations: undsconference@gmail.com

 

Gingrich: a Disability Activist's Perspective

"To reduce food stamp participation, Gingrich recommends that the federal government fix the amount of money for the program and then send the money to the states as a block grant, which would put a cap on SNAP spending regardless of need, and place the burden of cutting the program on the states. An analysisby the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that a plan like this, which was part of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's (R-WI) budget plan, would either cut the benefit level so low that it wouldn't even meet USDA's definition of a bare-bones diet or would kick more than 8 million vulnerable citizens off of food assistance, resulting in a spike in hunger, particularly among children, the elderly, and disabled Americans."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melissa-boteach/gingrich-is-wrong-ab

The quote above is from Melissa Boteach's fine article at the Huffington Post, written just moments after the final GOP debate in South Carolina. (When you click on her name, the link here takes you to a good video clip about contemporary poverty in America.)

There is a falsehood abroad in the land that Newt Gingrich is a friend of people with disabilities, though the evidence for this is slimmer than a 60's retro necktie. Gingrich has famously said that the ADA is "a dumb use of resources" but of course what he means by "resources" is rather interesting for in Gingrichland, the "R word" is perjorative–people who need resources are little better than miscreants–witness his views on mental illness. In his book on renewing America, he lumped the mentally ill in with dangerous criminals.

While it remains true that in general, neither liberal or conservative politicians are well versed in disability, it's clear that Gingrich has kicked the weak throughout his public life, and weeping for his mother is hardly the anodyne necessary for conversion. 

 A superb analysis by Ari Ne'eman of disability and contemporary American politics can be found here. 

Professor Gingrich?

 Hegel wrote: “Education is the art of making man ethical.” Then what are we to make of Professor Gingrich who said: “Give the park police more ammo.” when asked what to do about the homeless a few days after the police shot a homeless man in front of the White House. 

When asked about why he divorced his first wife Gingrich said: “She isn’t young enough or pretty enough to be the President’s wife.”

Gingrich, who fancies himself to be a historian and in particular a scholar of Lincoln obviously missed old Abe’s observation:

“All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.”

Or maybe Newt did read Lincoln and thought: “I’ll pluck a thistle and plant a stink weed– that ought to be good enough for the damned people!”

Newt Can't Find His Wits After Leaving South Carolina

 Poor Newt. Last night while making his victory speech following his win in the South Carolina primary he had a flashback–admittedly a problem for conservatives– and he actually thought the year was 1980. His remarks became saturnine and bat shit loopy. He stumbled like a drunk with a bucket on his foot. He imagined that President Barack Obama is weak and ineffectual in the manner of Jimmy Carter–a comparison that works if you are living in 1980 and imagining that the US has failed to liberate hostages held in Tehran, but not when considering this president’s confident handling of the armed forces and his elimination of Osama bin Laden. Of course I’m opposed to all this militarization of foreign policy, but that aside, one senses that Gingrich is literally trapped in an old campaign, one waged so long ago it has no bearing on our time. The man needs Thorazine and at least one newspaper.  

Chuck Todd Attacks Stephen Colbert: No One Notices

 “What is his real agenda here? Is it to educate the public about the dangers of money and politics, and what’s going on? Or is it simply to marginalize the Republican Party? I think if I were a Republican candidate I would be concerned about that.”

Poor Chuck. He appears to have forgotten, trapped as he is in the lobster tank of the DC bubble, that the GOP has done an exemplary job of marginalizing itself for quite some time. By alienating Latina/Latino voters, African-American voters, GLBT voters, union members, teachers, police and fire fighters, young people, the military, people with disabilities, the elderly, the GOP now appeals only to Christian conservatives and the one per cent. You can look it up. By running so far to the right the GOP candidates have already sowed their fields with salt. Colbert ain’t got nothin’ on that, baby!


What It Means When Your Dog Comes to Work

 I have had three guide dogs from Guiding Eyes for the Blind, dogs that have saved my life, and yes, they’ve made every minute joyful.

I used to go to work without songs. I’m sure you know the feeling. As you open the door to your office you’re thinking of Microsoft Outlook and it’s relentless calendar. But with my guide dog by my side the drear world is altered. There’s joy inside every animal–even the tarantula loves secret corners of the night–but guide dogs love all the minutes, morning and evening, and my dogs also adore silly songs. Honest to God, we go to work like the 7 Dwarves, dog and man, giddy for whole moments. There’s a bone on the floor, just where we left it. We have a little aria, us two. We will turn on Outlook, but not until we’ve honored the bone.

My current guide, “Nira” is companionable– she loves her people. All day she exults in the presence of the staff in my office, and lucky for her, we work with college students, so her pack is wide. Her joy is reflected in the faces of students and faculty all day long. 

We stick to the rules: when she’s wearing her harness she’s working and not to be petted. But then we have silly dog time and you better believe that Nira’s people are ready. And what this reminds us is that good work requires unambiguous play, both for dogs and the two leggeds. 

The photo above shows Nira and I looking mutually pleased in my office at Syracuse University. We get plenty of work done. But not without the songs.