By s.e. smith on 8 July, 2010
Despite the attempts at sunny forecasts being made by commentators, it’s pretty clear that we are in a recession, that we have not hit bottom, and that things are not going to get better soon. In the United States, all of the indicators are pointing firmly toward ‘shit is bad, folks.’ The unemployment rate1 is [...]
Posted in class issues, events, policy, politics, poverty | Tagged ADAP, aids, AIDS Drug Assistance Program, Recession
By s.e. smith on 7 July, 2010
(Photo by Flickr user Steve Rhodes, used under a Creative Commons license.) Here in the United States, we are in the midst of a midterm election cycle, and given that campaigning for Presidential elections basically starts two years in advance, we are about to start ramping up for the 2012 Presidential election, which looks like [...]
Posted in accessibility, disability activism, policy, politics | Tagged elections, voting
By abby jean on 7 July, 2010
s.e. smith recently wrote about abuse of autistic students in Pennsylvania and the distressing rise in abusive ‘discipline’ for students with disabilities. Ou mentioned a recent study from Delaware that found that students with disabilities are more likely to be suspended for ‘behavior’ problems than students without disabilities. Ou discussed some easy ways that a [...]
Posted in accessibility, justice, politics, poverty, race | Tagged discipline, education, school, suspension
By s.e. smith on 5 July, 2010
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) recently announced that it is conducting an inquiry into disability hate crimes, on the basis of research demonstrating that people with disabilities are much more likely to experience hate crimes than nondisabled people. There have been several high profile cases of bullying and abuse leading to deaths in [...]
Posted in news, politics, social attitudes, violence | Tagged abuse, harassment, hate crimes
By Annaham on 22 June, 2010
Recently, I was on the commuter train home. I happened to be reading Susan Schweik’s book Ugly Laws: Disability in Public for a research paper. Two middle-aged women sat down opposite me, and one inquired as to what book I was reading. Me: It’s a book about 20th-century ugly laws in the U.S. Woman #1: [...]
Posted in activism, bodies, books, history, politics, small stories, social attitudes | Tagged conceptions of disability, reading, social attitudes, things people say, ugly laws
By s.e. smith on 17 June, 2010
Starting in the 1990s, cancer rates in China began rising at an astounding rate. By 2007, cancer was accounting for one in five deaths in China. Similarly rapid increases in cancer rates are being seen in many other nations that are in the process of industrialising. Once considered a disease of the industrialised world, cancer [...]
Posted in class issues, events, global, justice, policy, politics, poverty | Tagged cancer, cancers, child labour, China, environmental issues, environmental policy, factory towns, human rights, industrial pollution, industrialisation, international trade, labour rights, occupational illnesses, pollution
By s.e. smith on 15 June, 2010
House Resolution (H.R.) 3101/Senate Resolution (S) 33041, also known as The Twenty First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, just went through committee hearings, nearly a year after being introduced. Referral to committee is the second step that happens after a bill gets introduced; in this case, H.R. 3101 has been referred to the Committee [...]
Posted in accessibility, activism, politics, signal boost | Tagged action item
By Annaham on 15 June, 2010
dhobikikutti (DW): This is also needed: A Space In Which To Be Angry And what I have realised is that there is a sixth component to zvi‘s rules, and that is that complaining about and calling out what you do not like does help, slowly, painfully, get rid of it. Every time I see friends [...]
Posted in activism, medical practice, normality, othering, politics, poverty, race, recommended reading, representations, social attitudes | Tagged ableism, anger, anti-racism, appropriation, art, cfs, cfs/me, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic pain, creative writing, derailing, disabled artists, fandom, identity, media, medical practice, medicine, othering, political media, race, self-help, spina bifida, tv, vaccine, visual art
By s.e. smith on 14 June, 2010
Of the most pervasive myths about anti-discrimination legislation is that the passage of the legislation somehow magically puts a stop to the discrimination, making everything hunky dory. This myth is most commonly believed by people who are not personally impacted by the discrimination that legislation was designed to address. It’s unfortunately a pretty easy myth [...]
Posted in accessibility, justice, policy, politics | Tagged discrimination, service animals
Latest Comments
Sasha_Feather, Joanna, Ms. M, Jo, Vertigo
Quijotesca, Nana, Teressa, Dani Alexis, Indigo Jo, Quijotesca [...]
Sharon Wachsler
Bruce Triggs
sanabituranima, Sharon Wachsler
Teressa
Jayn, jeneli, Indigo Jo, Jack, The Untoward Lady, Kaz [...]
GallingGalla, Megan, cim, Ben, tekanji, Static Nonsense [...]