Dear Friends,
Last Sunday, the Tustin street fair and chili cookoff even was a
complete success. Not only was it a complete success, it was a double
success as we more than doubled the take this time from last year's
take!
Now our focus will be developing the gigantic deaf awareness booth
for the OC-Fair this summer. The exhibitor meeting at the
fairgrounds this Thursday will be our kickoff date for the
preparation operation. We have plenty of room for volunteers.
Recent research has shown that deaf people has become too deeply
interested in Video Relay Services (VRS) and mobile communicators
such as the Sidekick, that nothing else matters to them. Could this
be a foreshock to a major shakeup on deaf rights?
Action is needed by June 13 on the following proposed rulemaking
changes on hearing impairment determination for entitlement programs
such as SSI and others. Look at
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20051800/edocket.access.g
po.gov/2005/05-7355.htm for more information.
OCDAC Communications
-------------< INSIDE NEWS >
We have taken over The Orange County Deaf & Hearing Impaired Meetup
Group and The Orange County American Sign Language Meetup Group.
Please check on http://deaf.meetup.com/38/ and
http://asl.meetup.com/37/ for meeting information.
If we're to be able to order pumpkins for a pumpkin patch this coming
October, we need a place next to a high traffic road, city permits,
property owner's written approvals all in our hands by June 16 which
is the deadline to order the pumpkins for the 3 week pumpkin patch
operation. Does anyone have a site in Orange County for our pumpkin
patch this year? If not, we can try again for next year.
Our next executive board meeting takes place on June 17. The agenda
sheet will be posted on the front of our website in the next few days.
If you shop at Albertsons and have a community partners card, please
consider adding your card to our list of supporters. Our goal is
25,000 supporters who shop a Albertsons.
We recycle used cell phones, empty printer and toner cartridges. If
you have any of these to unload from your hands, please send or drop
them at our agency at 2960 Main Street, A100, Irvine, California 92614
Our next garage sale fundraiser is tentatively set on June 18 & 19
and 25 & 26 2005 8am - 8pm on 9363 Bennett Avenue, Fontana,
California 92355. Just the corner house accross the street from the
last garage sale in Fontana. Directions are to get on the 10 freeway
going east past the 15 freeway getting off on Sierra. Go North about
a mile until you see a market store with a golden arch atop it's sign
and turn left on Fontlee. Go all the way to the end and the sale is
on the corner of where Fontlee and Bennett. If that's too far a
drive, dont worry we will be posting a number of select items on our
yahoo auctions site in the very near future so you can get the chance
to by a garage sale item from us.
-------------< OUTSIDE NEWS >
Mexico extradites deaf men accused of exploiting fellow Mexicans in
New York
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--
captiveworkers0531may31,0,2220407.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
Deaf can text 999 calls
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=643824
(Senator) Decker leads effort to save deaf office
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/wdhlocal/289717222630880.shtml
Court orders language training for deaf accused
http://www.nunatsiaq.com/news/nunavut/50603_13.html
Deaf man rescued from fire despite misunderstanding
http://www.herald-mail.com/?
module=displaystory&story_id=114050&format=html
Man accused of punching deaf teen
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?
id=1&display=rednews/2005/06/02/build/state/90-punching.inc
Emergency text service for deaf
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4605173.stm
OnStar improves accessibility for deaf, hard of hearing, speech
impaired
http://biz.yahoo.com/cnw/050602/onstar_helps_disabled.html?.v=1
Kareena To Play Deaf & Dumb In Priyadarshan´s Movie
http://www.planetbollywood.com/displayArticle.php?id=060205105419
Genetic testing for kids' hearing loss
http://www.wndu.com/news/mommo/062005/mommo_42595.php
New city tours speak to the deaf
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?
siteSect=108&sid=5832203&cKey=1117802152000
Helping Hearing-impaired Children In Tulsa
http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=84272
-------------< DEAF GRAPEVINE >
Sorenson Media, Inc. (Sorenson VRS) has been accused by Hands On
Video Relay Service (HOVRS) of stealing their business plans in a $10
million lawsuit. Copies of legal papers can be downloaded from
http://www.deafadvocacy.com/deafwatch/cn030927151.pdf
-------------< BULLETIN >
ATTENTION DEAF PEOPLE WHO HAVE MYSTERIOUS PROBLEMS WITH THE DISNEY
COMPANY.
We are looking for DEAF People and others who have problems with the
Disney Company:
--apply, and no call back?
--apply, but no interview because deaf/ interpreter issue?
--apply, interview, but no interpreter or captions?
--got job, but then no interpreter for staff meetings?
--you feel punished because after being hired youre excluded from
training's, staff meetings, or other staff events?
(1) NEED YOUR NAME AND (2) ADDRESS (3) and E-mail (4) explanation of
your problem with The Disney Company.
We work with Morse Mehrban who is a rising star in the field of
disability access litigation. Morse needs to know about this no later
than September 4, 2005. Please email [email protected] and
please use 'Disney Problems' in the subject line.
-------------< ADVOCACY NEWS >
National Council on Disability's letter to Michael O. Leavitt the
Secretary of Health and Human Services
May 27, 2005
The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt
Secretary of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20201
Dear Secretary Leavitt:
Your office recently announced the establishment of a Medicaid
Advisory Commission to help identify necessary reforms to modernize
the Medicaid program so it can provide high-quality health care to
its beneficiaries in a sustainable way.
As you may know, the National Council on Disability (NCD) is an
independent federal agency making recommendations to Congress and
thePresident of the United States on issues affecting people with
disabilities. We greatly appreciate the fact that your office
recognizes the significant impact Medicaid reforms will have on
people with disabilities as was noted in your announcement indicating
the need for representation from people with disabilities on this
Commission. NCD is available to help identify people with
disabilities with the needed expertise or experience.
Further, your announcement identifies long-term care as a key issue
to be addressed. We strongly agree with this assessment and want to
inform you of an impending NCD study on the federal role in long-term
services and supports that we will release in the coming months. This
research focuses on the following areas: (1) current level(s) and type
(s) of involvement by the Federal Government in a range of long-term
services and supports systems and financing; (2) current and
projected future needs for long-term services and supports among
people with disabilities and the elderly; (3) gaps in long-term
services and supports; (4) key features of future long-term supports
financing and systems reforms; (5) locales that have incorporated
indicators of cohesive and comprehensive reform into their policy and
service systems; (6) major challenges and barriers that locales face
in moving toward cohesive and comprehensive long-term services and
supports financing and systems reform; and (7) promising policy
levers and policy changes. We will keep you abreast of the progress
of this study and its applicability to the Medicaid issues the
commission will be addressing.
Your announcement indicated that one area the Commission will address
is how Medicaid coverage may be expanded in a fiscally responsible
manner. More and more Americans will need long-term services and
supports in the coming years, and NCD hopes to provide useful
research and information to assist persons with disabilities in
making choices regarding long-term services and supports in their
homes and communities. One focus of the above referenced NCD study is
to examine key features of future long-term services financing and
systems reform.
Again, thank you for recognizing the importance of Medicaid reform to
people with disabilities and the need for inclusion of people with
disabilities on this panel. For additional information, please feel
free to contact me at (202) 272-2004 or NCD's Director of Policy,
Jeff Rosen, at (202) 272-2124 (voice), (202) 272-2279 (TTY) or
[email protected] .
Sincerely,
Lex Frieden
Chairperson
National Council on Disability
-------------< ANNOUNCEMENTS >
Please visit our iGive store http://www.igive.com/ocdac
Please visit our bookstore that has related books and different kinds
of assistive living devices at http://store.deafadvocacy.org
-------------< DEAF QUOTES >
"Mainstream magazines do not print offensive terms for other minority
groups. By publishing this derogatory letter and intentional
humiliation of deaf and hard of hearing individuals, People magazine
has become a tool for bigotry, and that is not acceptable!" Andy
Lange, President of National Association of the Deaf
-------------< COMMUNITY BULLHORN >
Press Release - June 4, 2005
2005 CISS CONGRESS ELECTION "COMEDY" - VIEW POINT FROM EUROPE
By Rafael Pinkhasov Pinchas, CISS/Deaflympics Ombudsman
New York, USA - A reputable deaf online news magazine LBMAGAZIN from
Germany has recently published its reaction and opinion story to this
website's April 20, 2005 material titled 2005 CISS/DEAFLYMPICS
CONGRESS ELECTION VOTING FRAUD. 151 ( ! ) VOTES MISSING!
www.deafsportlawsuit.com/update72.htm
www.lbmagazin.de
Please read the English translation of the LBMAGAZIN story below
(note: translation was made with the help of a computer ).
Deaflympics: Pinchas Accuses Committee of Election Deceit
Again the sport-shoe of Rafael pinches Pinchas.
Again it is about irregularities in the CISS system. This time the ex-
CISS Chairman of the Awards Commission from Uzbekistan even accuses
the Deaflympics Committee of election deceit!
What has put the good man into stick out?
Re-elections took place at the start of January of this year in
Melbourne. The Deaflympics Committee needed a new president, a vice
as well as three new board members.
The course of the election: with the congress, more than hundred
delegates were present from 60 countries. Each country got 2 votes.
120 votes were handed over altogether with each election-round
therefore. Five rounds were delivered - for each free job one.
The new president was chosen in the first round. Here, the then
interim president Donalda Ammons from the USA won the election and
finally became a president.
Since single rival candidate - Rukhledev - had lost Ammons in this
election, he applied for the position of the vice-president. His
competitor David Lanesman from Israel won the second election-round
with 23 points margin.
Despite the two relapses, Rukhledev tried again - it was finally
still free 3 positions as member in the executive committee. Again,
elections took place. Result: The positions were received by the
Swiss Fosshaug, the Chinese Yang and the Turk Özdemir. Rukhledev
went
out empty and was not accepted consequently into the Deaflympics
Committee.
However Rafael Pinchas doubts at the legitimacy of the process. A few
months later added up all votes the pristine board member from all
rounds and must determine, that altogether 151 (from 600) votes was
missing.
Did these votes miss anybody? A quarter of all possible votes after
all!
For whom were these missing votes certain?
Maybe for Rukhledev?
It could be, that exactly these missing votes could have enabled
Rukhledev to win in one of the two last rounds. ( in the third round
Özdemir was the single candidate...)
The election made itself CISS congress delegates suspicious. Became
here so - like also with the recent scandal-surrounded presidency-
elections in the USA - observers put. Indeed they were independently
as with the George Bush vs. John Kerry. At CISS Congress, Tiffany
Granfors, Ammons bosom-friend, commuted and zigzaged from table to
table and looked over the shoulder of the congress delegate.
The best thing about this CISS Congress comedy is that many delegates-
voters spoke little English or knew no English at all. Since all
records were only written in English language and there were no
translators on the spot, most understood only railway station.
Herbert Grill, a CISS Congress delegate and president of the Austrian
Deaf Sports Federation ( he is also Vice President of the European
Deaf Sport Organization ), said over the situation: altogether 78
proposals were put, and partial, one didn't become free the feeling,
that many delegates did not understand at all what it was all about
there.
Besides Pinchas, congress delegates were of the opinion that the two
election-commissioners were all other than impartial. One of the two
was Jerald Jordan, ex-president of the CISS. He had massively fought
for the re-election of Donalda Ammons and in considerable mass the
competitor Valerie Rukhledev was incapable much delegate
discriminates and makes unsure, such an observer.
Why all congress delegates sat quietly and religiously at the
congress at their table places then? Why did not anyone speak out nor
fists fly? A small revolution is there now and it is healthy, the big
movie actor Sean Connery said in the film '"Hunt on Red October" that
he had deserted to the Amises. Maybe, all congress delegates have not
understood the end of the film or simply they all got confused...
-------------< DEAF FRIENDLY JOB OPPORTUNITIES >
2 deaf or hard of hearing mortgage consultants needed for a
Riverside, California mortgage company.
5 drivers needed for an Anaheim, California delivery service company.
2 laborers needed for an Anaheim, California marble processing
company.
All candidates interested in any of the job opportunities are
required to apply for our job placement services. Our intake form is
at Http://www.deafadvocacy.com/intake.htm
-------------< EPILOG >
If you wish to contribute to this newsletter, feel free to send in
news, stories, and opinions relating to the disability community.
Your support for this effort to move the disability community forward
will be greatly appreciated. We will continue to aggressively
pursue justice, fairness, and equality for the disability community
as it has been doing since November 1996. We have chosen that
EDUCATION is the best way accomplish this objective.
Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center is a community based organization
that puts people with disabilities first in their advocacy for equal
opportunities in safety, health, and productive living.
Feel free to forward this email message to any one and any of your
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and wide and encourage them to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
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