Early

 

Because there are poems after my own heart

Now and then I am happy.

Our day, this day, is a resurrection

Like an orange tree

And blue stones under my feet

Speak of ordinary lives that are saved.

If I said more you would not believe me.

If I said more my discoveries 

Would seem nothing 

But talk of gods.

I am happy without answers.

Poems are after my own heart.

They have made me sadly joyful. 

Can you see me, talking to myself in the street? 

 

 

 

 

Ann Taylor Tells Blind Woman Her Guide Dog Isn't Allowed In The Store

Ann Taylor Tells Blind Woman Her Guide Dog Isn't Allowed In The Store
(Consumerist)
June 26, 2012

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH– [Excerpt provided by Inclusion Daily Express] Hey, retailers — it's 2012, and if you don't know that a service dog is a completely acceptable animal to be accompanying a customer in a store according to the Americans with Disabilities Act, you really need to update your employees.

And yes, we mean you, Ann Taylor.

Consumerist reader Natalie's mom, Becky, has a condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa. She sees about 5% of what is normal so she uses a guide dog, and as such, is dependent on her service dog, Cricket, to get around, especially when she's on her own. She loves shopping at Ann Taylor, but had an unfortunate experience with an employee who told her she wasn't allowed to be in the store with her dog.

Natalie directed us to Becky's blog, "Cruisin' with Cricket," where she detailed her recent upsetting experience at a newly-opened Ann Taylor store at her local mall.

Entire article:
Ann Taylor Tells Blind Woman Her Guide Dog Isn't Allowed In The Store
http://con.st/10030335
Related:
Ann Taylor Says Woman's Service Dog Was Without Harness, Except That Isn’t True
http://con.st/10030385
Ann Taylor Says It Was Misinformed The First Time It Issued A Statement On Guide Dogs
http://con.st/10030413
Blind woman's service dog not allowed in Ann Taylor City Creek (ABC News)
http://tinyurl.com/ide0626125
Crusin' with Cricket
http://cruisinwithcricket.blogspot.com

 

When Mitt Romney Says Obamacare, Take a Drink

First I must say that I’m not disposed to drinking games but I should add that I’m not opposed to them. (Note: on the advice of my attorney, Dagmar Magnus Krapper, I am instructed to say that this blog in no way condones reckless drinking or de-pantsing people in public fountains.) That being saiid, I thought this morning while listening to Romney’s facile and snarly reaction to the Scotus’ decision on the Affordable Health Care Act that if he’s going to repeat “Obamacare” ad nauseum during the presidential campaign, then what better way to get young people involved?

Forget dinner with Barack, how about drinks with Mitt?

Press Release: NFB and World Blind Union File Suit Against State Department

 

National Federation of the Blind Files Complaint
Against State Department

Seeks to Stop Distribution of Inaccessible Kindles Abroad

Baltimore, Maryland (June 27, 2012): The National Federation of the Blind, the oldest and largest organization of the blind in the United States and a leader in the struggle for civil and human rights for blind people all over the world, today filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights for the United States Department of State, alleging that the State Department’s plan to purchase and deploy 35,000 Amazon Kindles throughout the world violates federal law because blind people cannot independently access and use the devices or their content. Four international organizations representing the blind and dedicated to equal access to books and digital information—the World Blind Union, the South African National Council for the Blind,the DAISY Consortium, andthe DAISY Forum of India—are also named complainants. The State Department has announced plans to purchase 35,000 of Amazon’s dedicated e-reading devices under a sole-source contract, at a cost of $16.5 million, as part of an international learning program being referred to as the Kindle Mobile Learning Initiative. The aim of this program is to create a global e-reader program that introduces aspects of U.S. society and culture directly to young people, students, and international audiences and to expand English- language learning opportunities abroad. The plan will involve deploying the Kindles to embassies, libraries, and other entities around the world. The complaint also alleges that a previous deployment of six thousand Kindles to State Department facilities throughout the world violates the law.

Of the Kindles currently available, not all are capable of speaking the content of books. While the State Department proposal specifically calls for the inclusion of this feature, the contract makes no reference to the department’s obligation to purchase accessible technology under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act or otherwise require that the devices procured be accessible to the blind. Blind readers cannot independently access the text-to-speech reading and voice-guided menu features of the Kindle, and cannot independently navigate within a book once it is opened, meaning that they must simply read it from beginning to end.

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Access to information is a fundamental human right, and blind Americans, as well as our brothers and sisters throughout the world, insist that this right be upheld. The State Department wants the international community to learn about United States society and culture; people with disabilities are a part of that society and culture, and the protection of our rights is a national priority as clearly expressed in the Rehabilitation Act and other laws. All federal agencies, including the State Department, are bound by these laws. We intend to see that the State Department meets its legal and moral obligations to the blind people of this country and the world.”

Marianne Diamond, president of the World Blind Union (WBU), said: “The WBU represents over 285 million blind people throughout the world and believes strongly that the blind and others who cannot read print must have access to published materials on the same terms as the sighted. It is critical that the United States demonstrate leadership in this area by procuring and providing reading technology that everyone can use independently.”

The complainants are represented in this matter by Scott C. LaBarre of the Denver firm LaBarre Law Offices.

Things are moving along with Copper Canyon Press

Just got the copy edited manuscript of my new book “Letters to Borges” coming soon from Copper Canyon Press. Michael Wiegers has done a fabulous job. Who says editing is dead? Not in Port Townsend!

America, 2012

Here is the story as I understand it. The wind comes through the silver birches and it is a god. My friend X is stuck on the New Jersey Turnpike because his car broke down. His car broke down because there is a demon. In America nowadays, everything runs according to Orphic principles, even the Pentecostal types. There’s a crack on the sidewalk. If you step on it, Jesus will never come back. Don’t kid yourself, America is officially nuts. Here is the story as I understand it. America was always nuts. Gods are fighting in my privet hedge. They just happen to look like magpies. There’s a demon in my friend’s 1993 Ford station wagon. The mechanic can’t find it. I know why: the Devil lives in the water cooler at the Pep Boys in Brunswick, New Jersey. He’s been there for about five years. He used to be at Princeton. He gets around. He used to live in my gas stove. 

 

Disability Rights Activists Focus On Proposal To Cut $800 Billion From Medicaid

We at Planet of the Blind wonder why The Rachel Maddow Show or other progressive news outlets are not covering the story of disability protest of the Romney-Ryan Plan.

(Between The Lines)
June 20, 2012

WASHINGTON, DC– [Excerpt provided by Inclusion Daily Express] On April 23, 74 disability rights activists were arrested in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C., there to protest the Republican-led House of Representatives’ proposed plan to cut $800 billion from the federal Medicaid budget. The protest was part of the disability rights’ group ADAPT’s My Medicaid Matters Campaign.

ADAPT used to stand for American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, but with the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act in the early 1990s, that battle was largely won. ADAPT now stands for American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, emphasizing the need for personal care assistance to help disabled citizens to remain in their own homes and not be institutionalized.

Actor Noah Wyle, a star of the “Falling Skies” TV program, was among the ADAPT activists to be arrested at the April protest. ADAPT says that like Americans of the past, disability activists are practicing nonviolent civil disobedience to prevent the nation from stepping backward toward oppression and segregation.

Elaine Kolb was one of those arrested in the April protest. She uses a wheelchair as a result of a stabbing injury many years ago. This was her 19th arrest since joining ADAPT in 1987. She is also a singer/songwriter whose work focuses on disability rights issues. Between the Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Kolb, who explains why she participated in this latest protest, as she considers what the future may hold for Americans with disabilities.

Entire article:
GOP Proposal to Cut $800 Billion from Medicaid Budget Focus of Disability Rights Protest
http://www.btlonline.org/2012/seg/120622cf-btl-kolb.html