Disability Community Prepares for National Boycott of Tropic Thunder

[Guest guest]

Disability Community Prepares for National Boycott of " Tropic Thunder "

Disability Community Prepares for National Boycott of " Tropic

Thunder " JFA is a free service of the American Association of People with

Disabilities (AAPD)

Weekend JFA:

Disability Community Prepares for National Boycott of

" Tropic Thunder "

Tuesday, August 12 - Special Audio Conference on ADA

Amendments Act

Nursing Homes' Political Contributions & Congress'

Failure to Enact the Community Choice Act

Minimum Wage Increased in July

" Just the Facts " about " Tropic Thunder "

Dear Advocates,

Within the next 24 hours, we will be issuing specific

details about protest efforts surrounding both the premiere (Monday night in Los

Angeles) and the opening date of " Tropic Thunder " (Wednesday) that may be

happening in a city in which you live. We will pass along the details once they

become available. STAY TUNED.

In Solidarity,

Anne Sommers, JFA Moderator

Disability Community Prepares for National Boycott of

" Tropic Thunder "

Excerpts from The New York Times (August 11):

Groups Weigh Boycott of 'Tropic Thunder'

By MICHAEL CIEPLY

LOS ANGELES - A coalition of disabilities groups is

expected as early as Monday to call for a national boycott of the coming film

" Tropic Thunder " because of what they see as the movie's open ridicule of the

intellectually disabled...

... " Not only might it happen, it will happen, "

P. Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, said of the expected push for a

boycott...

...Over the weekend, an ad hoc coalition of more than a

dozen disabilities groups - including the Arc of the United States, the National

Down Syndrome Congress, the American Association of People with Disabilities and

others - laid the groundwork for public protests to begin Monday...

The groups refrained from formally asking that viewers

boycott the movie, pending informational screenings that were scheduled for

their members at eight locations around the country on Monday morning...

...Read the entire article

(free registration may be required)

Tuesday, August 12 - Special Audio Conference on ADA

Amendments Act

The Network of Regional DBTAC-ADA Centers is pleased to

announce a special session of the ADA Audio Conference Series that will focus on

the ADA

Amendments Act/ADA Restoration Act. This session will

be held on a special date and time.

DATE: August 12, 2008

TIME: 12:00-1:30pm Eastern Time (11-12:30pm Central,

10-11:30am Mountain and 9-10:30am Pacific)

SESSION DESCRIPTION:

It has been a year since the ADA Restoration Act was

introduced in both the House and the Senate. The intent of this legislation was

to address the interpretations of the law by the US Supreme Court that

negatively impacted the ability of thousands of Americans with Disabilities from

exercising their rights under the ADA. Over the past few months the House has

passed legislation known as the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (HR 3195) and the

Senate is in the process of considering their version of the bill (S 1881).

There has been a great deal of discussion via generated on listservs, email and

blogs regarding the compromise language used in the ADA Amendments Act and

questions raised by advocates, members of Congress, education and business

communities. Join us for this special session of the ADA Audio Conference series

to learn more about the legislation, the perspectives of the employment

community and how the definition of disability would impact Title I cases of

discrimination.

SPEAKERS:

Andy Imparato, President and Chief Executive Officer,

American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)

P. Aitken, Director of Governmental Affairs,

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

M. , Commissioner, Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission

Fee: $25.00 Per Site for Telephone; $15.00 Per

Connection for Streaming Audio via the Internet and $15.00 Real-Time Captioning

via the Internet*

(*No charge for Real-time captioning provided as a

reasonable accommodation at sites where Telephone or Streaming Audio are

utilized)

REGISTRATION: Go on-line to www.ada-audio.org and

choose the ADA Audio Conference Series

Option or contact us by email at gldbtac@... or by

telephone at (V/TTY).

This program is hosted by the DBTAC - Great Lakes ADA

Center (www.adagreatlakes.org)

Nursing Homes' Political Contributions & Congress'

Failure to Enact the Community Choice Act

Information Bulletin from Steve Gold:

Nursing Home Industry's Political Contributions and

Congress' Failure to Enact the Community Choice Act.

Information Bulletin # 257 (8/08).

Disability and elderly advocates have attempted for a

number of years to end the federal Medicaid " institutional bias " by amending

Medicaid so it would provide a choice of either community-based services or

institutional nursing facility. Currently before the U.S. Senate and House of

Representatives is the Community Choice Act which would end this bias and give

people a real choice.

One would think the proposed Community Choice Act would

be easy to enact, because the federal government and states would spend less

Medicaid funds for people to live in the community. Also, according to AARP's

surveys, more than 90% of the elderly do not want to live in a nursing facility

but

want to continue to reside in their own homes, so one

would think our elected officials would enact the CCA.

So why hasn't Congress stampeded to enact the Community

Choice Act? Who could possible oppose eliminating Medicaid's institutional bias

and who would oppose giving elderly and disabled people a real choice where they

want to reside?

The nursing home industry. And guess what the nursing

home industry does to make sure Congress does not enact eliminate Medicaid's

institutional bias by enacting the Community Choice Act? Surprise! They make

contributions to our U.S. Senators and Representatives.

We would never suggest that our elected officials could

be beholden to their political contributors. But how truly committed to enacting

the Community Choice Act are people who have accepted contributions from the

industry that opposes community choice.

Ask for a meeting with these officials. Use the

information below to initiate a dialogue with your Senators and Representatives.

When they say they are in favor of the Community Choice Act, ask them to return

the nursing home industry contributions as a sign of good faith. If they say

they oppose eliminating the institutional bias, discuss the contributions...

...Read the rest of Steve's bulletin and view the list

of nursing home industry contributions to Members of Congress.

Minimum Wage Increased in July

In case you missed it, the federal minimum wage

increased to $6.55 on Thursday, July 24. With this change, employees who are

covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) are entitled to pay at no

less than $6.55 per hour. The next minimum wage increase is July 24, 2009, when

it will increase to $7.25 per hour.

If you believe you are being cheated out of an hourly

rate increase, contact the US Department of Labor (DOL) at toll-free telephone

1-866-4-USWAGE or 1- or TTY: 1- or on the Internet using

the online contact form.

Information on the Fair Labor Standards Act

For job opportunities listed across the nation, visit

AAPD Employment Opportunities webpage.

MODERATOR, Anne Sommers, JUSTICE FOR ALL -- A Service of

the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD).

To respond to a JFA email, submit an article, or contact

the moderator, email her at JFAModerator@....

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