This is really giving the American people an ultamatum not an informed decision.
One official involved in the administration's policy discussion described it this way: "There are several strategic options to choose from. Do we cut and leave, and attempt to exit gracefully? Do we adjust the current strategy and be patient? Do we keep the current strategy without any adjustment? Or do we try to change the dynamic by increasing the troop levels and changing the strategy?
"Given an ample supply of patience on the part of the American people, [the current strategy] would work. However, the president now knows that there's not an ample supply of patience on the part of the American people…. So he has to change the dynamic…. Does he do it by reducing troops and withdrawing, or does he change the mix in a different way?"
Dear Nicholas,
I'm excited to announce that I will be hosting a FREE seminar this month on accessible and affordable home ownership. This seminar will show that owning one's own home is a real possibility for people of modest means and dealing with disability.
It is being held at the Keller Williams Realty office in Oakland on Saturday January 27th. Click here to view and print a flyer containing all the details. However, if you cannot view the flyer, all the pertinent information is described below.
If you or anyone you know might be interested in attending, please contact me at the number below. I'd also greatly appreciate it if you could print and post a copy of the attached flyer on your office bulletin board or forward this email to anyone and everyone you know who might want to attend.
SEMINAR DETAILS:
DATE: Saturday January 27th, 2006
TIME: 11:00 AM - 1:30 PM
LOCATION: Keller Williams Realty - Oakland, 4341 Piedmont Avenue, Suite #200, Oakland CA (near the intersections of Pleasant Valley Road)
Light refreshments will be served
Thanks so very much,
Stephen Beard
Stephen Beard, Real Estate Consultant & Accessibility Specialist
Keller Williams Realty
4341 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611
Cell: 510-364-6795, Fax: 510-743-4264
mailto:stephen@stephenbeard.net
http://www.stephenbeard.net
My Commitment is your Peace of Mind
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David Duke Writes Cover Article for NYT MAGAZINE
Former KKK leader David Duke published a cover story in Sunday's NYT
Magazine, in which he suggested that the hyper rich have a moral duty to
alleviate the worst poverty in the world by giving away up to one-third
of their fortunes. Despite Duke's motive of seeking to alleviate poverty,
observers were outraged. "I don't care how worthwhile the ideas expressed
in this article were," declared Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. "Racists
do not deserve the respect that is accorded by having such a prominent
article published in the nation's leading newspaper." The Times issued a
quick apology and blamed the decision to publish Duke on "a distortion in
the editorial process."
Wait a minute. I got the names mixed up. It wasn't David Duke. It was
Peter Singer. And even though Singer advocates the right of parents to
kill infants who are disabled by such conditions as Down syndrome or
hemophilia (and in fact, under personhood theory, any infant who did not
serve the interests of the family), there were no outraged press releases
from Senator Clinton or any other major public figure decrying the Times,
nor, needless to say, was there any Times apology.
This brings up a disturbing dichotomy within the Liberal Establishment,
of which, I think it is fair to say, the Times is a leading member. Does
anyone think the Times would have published the very same article if it
were authored by Duke? Of course not because Duke is considered
(properly, in my view) a racist who is beyond the pale of respectability.
Yet, here is an irony: As far as I know, Duke has never suggested that it
would be okay to kill minority babies. But Singer has, the minority
category being disability, which makes his advocacy at least as
pernicious as Duke's--just aimed at different victims.
Here is another example of this paradox involving Singer: I once spoke at
Princeton and decried America's premier university giving Singer a
tenured chair. A faculty member spoke up and stated that Singer had
sterling credentials and having someone like Singer on campus provided a
diversity of views. I asked the professor if Nobel Prize winner William
Shockley--who clearly had sterling credentials but who was also a
racist--would ever be allowed to teach at Princeton. No, the professor
admitted, which means I guess, that being racist is not an acceptable
diverse view at Princeton, but advocating eugenic infanticide is.
Here is what I think: Liberalism used to be about protecting the equal
worth of all human beings. No longer. The respect for and acceptance of
Peter Singer by such Capital-E Establishment institutions as Princeton
University and the New York Times offers disturbing evidence of this
proposition.
We shall overcome......These were words echoed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Over 40 years later, people with disabilities have developed many laws that forge our civil rights movement. These principles include equal access, accesible/affordable housing, personal assistance services, healthcare, public benefits, working, and protecting laws like the ADA and the Olmstead Act. Theses rights are being threatened every day at every level and everyday as advocates we owe it to our brothers and sisters trapped in the nursing homes who are prisoners to their own disabilities. We must make sure our civil rights and the advancement of people with disabilities in our society is at the forefront of the disability agenda in this country.
Think Tank
Today I was thinking about starting a think tank for people who have severe spasticity due as a result of Cerebral Palsy. There are many ways to treat muscle spasms. Our government is spending millions of dollars as we send our military to take over foreign land as we watch our boys come home in caskets. Our government doesn’t care about it’s own people. Because the man is so out of touch, we must use people power.
I've heard more than once in the DD community, "am I dumb?, am I stupid?". I've become so outraged everytime this question is asked. It poses 2 very big concerns that the PWD community must recon with and solve. Many PWD's don't rise to get a job or go to school, but watch t.v. and mess around on the internet.
When your dealing with a family unit, you can be dealing with many different variables and relationships. A lot of PWD's who have DD, are not communicating with their parents about critical issues involving self-identity, sexuallity, and realistic issues that face everyday people who don't have disabilities.
What makes me even more angry are the people who are designed to help PWD's by providing social services and rehabilitation services. These people have low expectations and fail to teach social skills and how people can live a quality, dignified life.
There comes a time when every disabled person realizes that they may be a part of a natural community and that their social skills and knowledge of world events are left behind. This leaves PWD's in a snowball effect of isolation and not being able to socialize in different circles. In a way, this in itself, represents segregation. The real question is what can we do socially, economically, politically, and from a personal standpoint, to change these issues?
For the past 12 days I have been in Temecula, CA training for a service dog. The program is truly wonderful and accomidates all disablities. The dogs do great with tsk work. Anything from turning on the lightswitch to opening a door to helping me make a purchase at a store. The new love of my life is a black lab named Kate. I hope that if anyone knows of anybody who may be interested in obtaining a support dog that they contact canine support teams. The organization is very understanding of people with disablities who are on fixed income and need financial assistance. These dogs are great for so many different disablities and can serve so many purposes. I will be attending my graduation in Temecula on the 18th of this month. It would mean a lot to me for as many of you to attend as possible. This is a very special occasion.
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