Charlie Crist's Priorities

This is heartbreaking.

U.S. Suspends Haitian Airlift in Cost Dispute
By SHAILA DEWAN
Published: January 29, 2010
MIAMI — The United States has suspended its medical evacuations of critically injured Haitian earthquake victims until a dispute over who will pay for their care is settled, military officials said Friday.

The military flights, usually C-130s carrying Haitians with spinal cord injuries, burns and other serious wounds, ended on Wednesday after Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida formally asked the federal government to shoulder some of the cost of the care.

[...]

The suspension could be catastrophic for patients, said Dr. Barth A. Green, the co-founder of Project Medishare for Haiti, a nonprofit group affiliated with the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine that had been evacuating about two dozen patients a day.

“People are dying in Haiti because they can’t get out,” Dr. Green said.

[...]

Some of the patients being airlifted from Haiti are American citizens and some are insured or eligible for insurance. But Haitians who are not legal residents of the United States can qualify for Medicaid only if they are given so-called humanitarian parole — in which someone is allowed into the United States temporarily because of an emergency — by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Only 34 people have been given humanitarian parole for medical reasons, said Matthew Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. The National Disaster Medical System, if activated, would cover the costs of caring for patients regardless of their legal status.

Crist later defended himself.

Miami Herald: But Crist too has denied he's responsible.

In a statement Saturday, he noted that ``between 60 and 80 Haitian orphans arrived at Miami International Airport'' Friday night, and that ``at no time has Florida closed our doors to those impacted by the earthquake in Haiti.

``To the contrary, Florida has been at the forefront of the crisis in Haiti -- caring for the injured, reuniting families, comforting those who have been devastated by loss.''

What a scumbag. Of course Florida is at the forefront, because it's right next door to Haiti. (Just a note... I used to live there, and I even used to have a job in the Little Haiti neighborhood).

From what I can gather, Crist is arguing that as long as they accept airlifts of "orphans", it's OK for them to stop every other medical evacuation. So let's say a Haitian family has one child they were living with, and that child was severely injured in the quake. Their other child was in an orphanage when the quake happened, and is healthy. Guess which child gets a flight to Miami?

The Superbowl is apparently a part of this disgusting mess, as well. Officials need to save hospital beds for Superbowl visitors.

I don't know what to do about this... maybe I'll send an email to the Secretary of State or my representative. I'll try typing something up later.

The Dangerous Desire to Adopt Haitian Babies

I'm a foster care adoptive parent. I can't speak for all of us, since we're a diverse bunch. Some of us have also adopted internationally and support international adoption strongly. Others despise the institution, and are angry about what the perceived hypocrisy of parents who walk past the foster kids in their own cities and states so that they can adopt from a far-away country. I'm somewhere in the middle, but definitely leaning more towards the anti side, especially after this week.

This week, I've been deeply disturbed at the swelling public desire to adopt Haitians. Haitian orphan babies. The very name is problematic. In our imagination, an orphan has no family, but the vast majority of "orphans" all over the world have living parents, and almost every single one has living extended relatives. And the children that need family care are, overwhelmingly, older children.

Quite a few other parents I know are really pissed off about it. If you want to adopt, why not consider adopting from foster care? Why Haitian babies? I can guess at some of the answers. Most of them will not be very flattering.

There's a certain group of white adoptive international parents that dominate much of the discourse around adoption in this country. The most organized of these are evangelical Christians, but many of them are secular in their beliefs on adoption. They're across the political spectrum, ultraconservative to ultraliberal, though if I had to hazard a guess, most of them are center-right in politics. I believe these people are, basically, a force for evil. If I put it in any nicer words, that would be a lie. Examining their belief system, and their potential political influence on the recovery efforts in Haiti, is a pretty terrifying process.

I was first made aware of the Rumor Queen website several years ago. I was doing some research on Chinese adoption for a blog post. They're a large community of parents adopting from China, and the site is known for posting a lot of useful data about wait times. A few years ago controversy happened in the forum when some Chinese-American parents were accused by white parents of "jumping the line". There is, in fact, an expedited program for some Chinese-Americans; it's quite restrictive and any Chinese-American greater than second-generation does not qualify. The fact that some of these Chinese-Americans were possibly be more worthy of Chinese babies because of factors like "language" and "culture" and "race" apparently enraged some of the white parents. I read about it second hand from a couple of really angry, hurt Chinese-American families. This episode should give you a taste of the quality of discourse at this and similar websites. There are dissident voices, but the environments are most often dominated by white parents who refuse to consider any of the complex ethical issues surrounding transracial, transcultural, international adoption. They're saving children. How can you argue with that, right?

These online communities are often very hostile places for adoptive parents of color. They're even more hostile, of course, to adoptees and birth/first parents who want to discuss more complicated perspectives of adoption.

I stumbled on Rumor Queen again recently and was shocked to see what was going on. The whole site has gone gaga over adopting Haitian babies. It began with concerns about Haitian children, and is evolving into a coordinated plan of action to put pressure on political representatives for a Haitian babylift.

Also, I’m hearing about plans to bring more children (as in, thousands) into the U.S. all at once on airplanes. There are some precedents for this, there was Operation Peter Pan / Pedro Pan in Cuba in the 60’s, and then there was Operation Babylift in Vietnam in the 70’s. IIRC they did something similar in Korea in the 50’s, but I’m not sure it was given a name. At any rate, there is precedent for allowing a whole bunch of orphans into the U.S. who do not already have parents waiting for them. The U.S. government has not yet given the green light on this, and I’m unclear at this point who exactly gets the final word on it. If anyone out there has more information about it, please share. If it can be done in a way that ensures they are only bringing true orphans over then I’m all for it and would get behind it in a letter writing campaign. However, I would want someone overseeing the effort who can make sure things are done ethically. Someone with the ability and the clout to insist upon it.

The concern that "things are done ethically"... that's a nice thought. The comments dispense with that window dressing. They're full of demands that we have to get the kids out now, now, now, before they die, die, die. The practical reality is that after a horrific disaster of the magnitude of the Haiti quake, it's completely impossible to determine whether any abandoned child is a "true orphan". It's a process that is going to take months and even years.

This post from a more informed international adoptive parent blogger is a more reality-based examination of the issue. Adoptee bloggers who also study adoption academically -- among them Harlow's Monkey and A Birth Project -- are deeply concerned about the parallels to massive child extraction events like Operation Babylift. These were not shining humanitarian moments. Many of the adopted children found out later that they had parents and siblings left behind who wanted them, or even relatives in the United States who were searching for them.

In countries like Haiti that suffer so severely from poverty, citizens have to take the risks of globalization, but reap few of the rewards. Families are split apart as young people go to the cities to work, or to other countries, leaving their children in the care of relatives. Family ties are weakened by poverty, by the constant presence of disease, death and loss, but also paradoxically strengthened as families come up with new ways to endure hardship and stay together. A white middle-class Midwestern mother doesn't understand why a Haitian mother would leave her children at an orphanage, hoping to take them back later. The white mother could understand if she really thought about it on a rational basis. But the lure of the white savior narrative is powerful, and sweeps her up in a rush of emotion: fear, longing, desire. It's because the Haitian mother is a bad mother who doesn't deserve her kids anymore. The innocent baby is not yet contaminated by this evil culture. They deserve something better, cleaner, richer, more tender, whiter.

Here's another comment from that thread.

RumorQueen Says:
January 21st, 2010 at 2:07 pm
And how many children will die while they are building a new infrastructure?

Sometimes you do what you can, not what the ideal would seem to be.

It’s like the guy rescuing starfish on the beach, there are a hundred thousand starfish and a guy is throwing some of them back in the water. Someone tells him there are too many, he can’t possibly make a difference all by himself. And he says, as he throws one in the water “I made a difference to that one”.

There are going to be all kinds of issues these kids will deal with. I’ve gone out of my way so my kids know I did not “rescue” them... but that isn’t going to be able to be said for these kids. Sure, it’s not an ideal situation. But would it be better to let them die?

Analogies simplify complex issues, sometimes in an accurate way, but this analogy is just smoke and mirrors. International adoptive parents are really fond of this starfish metaphor and this is not the first time I've seen it in play. It always boggles my mind. Why is adopting a third-world "orphan" like throwing a starfish back in the ocean? Maybe the poor starfishes needed to be on the beach as part of their mating cycle and the guy is messing with them because he's sadistic. Maybe he has a weird sexual fetish about echinoderm-hurling. Or maybe he's just a dumb-ass. The analogy effectively obscures the issue of motivation, as well as the implication of "saving".

Let me try another analogy. Let's say you live with your child in a house that burns down. You're dazed, confused, and burned. Your neighbor says, "I think I should take care of your child". You say, "Thanks for your offer. But my child really needs me now, and I think they wouldn't sleep well in a strange house. If you could just give us a tent and some food and some bandages so we can camp out while I get better and look into rebuilding, we'll be OK." Your neighbor says, "that's too logistically complicated and I'm concerned about the security situation. I just want your child." You say, "Thanks again for your concern and I'm grateful for any help you can give me. If you're so worried about my child, maybe you could let both of us stay in your guestroom for a while? That way my child could be safe and would sleep well too." Your neighbor says, "No, we have an interdiction-at-sea policy and visa restrictions will not be relaxed. Just give me your child. Actually, nevermind. I don't even need your permission anymore. I'll just take them."

Here's the worst comment on the thread. It was let through without a rejoinder. Mine was blocked.

49. Proud2Adopt Says:
January 22nd, 2010 at 1:03 am EthioChinaadopt – the issue is that if someone is paying $30,000 to adopt a child, they want a baby! Its as simple as that! I’m really tired of hearing about how so many of these kids are just split from their parents. Lets get the 380,000 kids that were ALREADY orphans OUT of the country & into waiting homes, that way the focus of orphanages can be on those children who are NEW orphans or split from parents & families. The reality to me is, I would LOVE to adopt one of these children. No, this isn’t a NEW passion spurred from seeing photos on TV. But hopefully with the dire situation they will waive much of the 25K+ fees for families like mine to adopt one of these children here! Amen!

I admit I wasn't nearly as diplomatic as I could have been. But that's not my strong point. I was way too irritated with these people. In case you're wondering why the maniac above me was referring to $30,000 for a fresh baby, I really don't know. I'm not up-to-date on the latest prices in the international baby market.

The next babylift thread was racist beyond belief. Rumor Queen ran footage of a riot at a food distribution point.

Desperate target Haiti’s orphanages

In a country where it is survival of the fittest, what chance do babies and children in an orphanage have?

The Vietnamese Operation Babylift was driven both by racism and fear of communism. But this framing, on the other hand, is pure 100% unadulterated racism, invoking the most damaging stereotype of black people invented by white imperialists. "Survival of the fittest" implies that Haitians are nothing more than animals. Their children need to be removed immediately or they won't even grow up to be human beings.

I haven't watched a lot of news in the past week -- probably less than 10 minutes of footage a day from sources like CNN -- but in those brief times, I've seen plenty of examples of orderly food distribution. I've seen Haitians rescuing each other. I've read accounts by independent media, small media and even the mainstream media -- "Despite isolated incidents of looting, violence and other criminal activity, the overall security situation remains calm" -- that security fears have been massively overblown.

Rumor Queen attacked me for my blocked comment later on in that thread. I then left a harsher comment (I refrained from profanity but did use the word "strip-mining") and my comment was, of course, also blocked.

Luckily, policy makers aren't listening to these people with full attention anymore. There are competing voices. UNICEF, Save the Children, SOS Children's Villages, pretty much every single large secular children's aid organization, plus some of the religious ones, are advocating a total stop to new international adoptions until quake recovery gets underway and far-flung families begin to come together again. Adoption should be the last resort. I agree with that. I'm somewhat moderate in that I don't see a huge problem with removing children who have already been through most of the process and have already met their adoptive parents. If a bond is already there, there's no point adding another loss. And a lot of the adoption process is true red tape that doesn't serve anyone's interests. But airlifting children who just "appear to be orphans" (as several Catholic leaders in Miami have been demanding) and almost certainly cutting them off from their roots... this is wrong. It's wrong for the children, it's wrong for their relatives, and it's wrong for the country of Haiti.

There was an adoption story I heard on NPR yesterday that really touched me. It's not the typical adoption narrative we've been hearing:

Margalita Belhumer, a Haitian-American who lives in New York City, was visiting Haiti when the quake struck nine days ago. She shaded her eyes from the tropical sun as her 8-year-old daughter, Melissa, squatted at her feet.

"I'm seeking to leave with my daughter. People are dead, place crumbled. She has nowhere to live, so I can't leave without her," Belhumer said.

She said she raised Melissa since the girl was a newborn infant, wrapped in a sheet and left on the sidewalk in front of St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Child abandonment by destitute mothers is not uncommon in Haiti. While Belhumer worked at her job as a security guard in New York, she paid a family to take care of Melissa. Belhumer said she had begun the adoption paperwork before the quake struck.

"I started the adoption process, but I started last month. But I've had her since the first day she was born," she said.

If any adoption is expedited, it should be these ones. But these are also the people who are least likely to have the ears of politicians. Everyone wants Haitian babies. Haitian adults, and Haitian families, are another matter. There has been no announcement that more visas will be granted to reunite Haitian-American families.

This report by a US adoptee-rights blogger, based on notes from a USCIS teleconference, has a chilling quote.

Hundreds of adoptive parents, paps, orphanage directors with dozens of children, and even, apparently, loose children gather outside the US Embassy. Many come unannounced demanding entry. Officials have set up and are refining procedures for entry into the compound, interviews, and decision making. (Procedures were discussed in detail, but I"ll hold that for another entry.) They emphasize that the Embassy needs advance notice of petitioners so someone can go outside, locate them, and escort them through the gates. Only adoption cases are being handled. (Haitians with other Embassy business, including those with pending pre-quake visa and immigration applications are being turned away for now.)

Talk of adopting orphaned Haitian babies seems to be swirling all over. And though I'm concentrating my ire on a certain class of white adoptive parents, I'll have to note, not everyone full of this dangerous desire is white.

"I wanna just go down there and get some of those babies," Latifah said on the Today Show Thursday. "If you got a hook up, please get me a couple of Haitian kids. It's time. I'm ready."

As someone who has adopted before, here's some questions I'd ask of anybody in the U.S., of any race, who is really serious about this.

- Do you know what a homestudy is? Are you ready to pass one?
- Do you realize it will be almost impossible to adopt a baby, hard to adopt a toddler, and that the vast majority of children who really need to be adopted are older children?
- Do you know what attachment disorder is? Children with inconsistent caregiving in early years often develop this to some degree. They may experience the expression of love as a terrifying loss of self. They may do anything in their power to make you stop loving them, including physically attacking you, your pets or your other children. There is no known 100% effective therapy for this.
- Do you understand the effects of various prenatal exposures? Do you understand and accept that your child may grow up with irreparable brain damage?
- Are you ready to establish routine visits to one, two, three, all of these and more: therapist, psychiatrist, physical therapist, neurologist?
- Are you prepared that your child may resent you or hate you for taking them away from everything and everyone they've known and loved? And that even if you've explained to them that they're never going back, they may still try to push you away, because in the back of their minds, if they're bad enough, you'll send them away, and they'll go back to everything and everyone they've known and loved?
- Are you prepared to have a child so terrified from trauma that they act as if they were half their developmental age? That they wake you up screaming every night at 3 in the morning? That they rage uncontrollably if you don't stay by their side every waking minute?
- Are you prepared for your friends and family to perhaps shrink away from you because they don't understand why your child acts the way they act -- maybe it's because you don't love them enough, or you don't spank them enough -- you're doing it all wrong and it's all your fault.

If you can answer "yes" to all of these, congratulations. You might be ready to adopt from foster care. To adopt from Haiti, answer all the above questions, add the effects of malnutrition, add a language barrier, and multiply the child's trauma by a factor of ten. And subtract a lot of money. Unlike foster care adoptions, which are basically free, you're going to have to pay legal fees. Maybe even $30,000. And children from foster care will have permanent Medicaid, no matter your income level, but if you adopt internationally, it's up to you to find a way to pay for all those psychiatrist visits you'll almost certainly be needing later on.

Here are some additional questions:

- Are you aware of transracial adoption issues? If you're a black American, are you aware that transcultural issues can be just as intense as transracial ones?
- Do you have a connection to a Haitian-American community? Do you speak Kreyol or French?
- Your child will likely be Catholic and think of themselves as Catholic. Are you? If not, how will you handle the difference?
- The ethical thing to do is to try to establish contact with your child's relatives in Haiti. Are you prepared for the fact that you, as a rich American (no matter what your income level) will then be regarded as a financial benefactor/patron? If you've grown up in the US and absorbed our surface-egalitarian values, you will be unaccustomed to this kind of role, and extremely bad at it. If you refuse to make contact because of this issue, or because of fear that your child will love you better if you cut them off from their roots, then... well... you suck. I'll leave it at that.

You'd better be sure you can handle it. If you can't, your child will pay the highest cost. If the adoption falls through, your child may end up in foster care, possibly so scarred that they'll never get another chance at a family.

I've said a lot of harsh things in this post. But I also want to note that this desire can also be understood in a positive way. Children inspire love. I believe in certain universal values, and across every culture and all of history, people love children and want to take care of them. An equally universal trait, unfortunately, is the desire to exploit children. Children don't speak fully for themselves, so we speak for them. It's necessary, but it's also dangerous. Exploiting a child can be as blatant as child sexual abuse, or sweatshop labor... and it can be as subtle as wanting our children to validate us as parents. Wanting them to love us, and being angry when they don't show us love.

We're getting into grounds of philosophy and religion here, but I don't think a completely pure love is truly possible on this earth, because love needs knowledge, and pure knowledge is impossible. We try, but we don't know fully what's best for the other person, so we make guesses, and our guesses are based on imperfect knowledge. And so exploitation creeps in.

My religion talks a lot about the impossibility of individual purity and makes the acknowledgment of imperfection absolutely necessary. I think many other belief systems address the same issue in different ways. For example, in Christianity, Jesus Christ represents a pure kind of love, and other kinds of love exist in relation to that standard. The answer is not to stop loving, or to stop trying to understand, but to realize that our love is always endangered by selfishness. If we ever think our love is pure, we need to stop thinking along that track, take a step back and think again. Don't stop loving, just stop thinking that your love is infallible and all-knowing.

I'll close with a few reality-based ways to help Haitian children in Haitian families:

- Donate to SOS Children's Villages, Save the Children or UNICEF.
- Sign this AIUSA petition to request an end to interdiction-at-sea policy
- Contact your representative. Ask them to support an increase in refugee visas for Haitians and expedited family reunification visas for Haitian-Americans. Ask them to support the airlift of Haitian children unaccompanied by family ONLY for the purposes of temporary medical hosting and NOT for the purposes of adoption.
- If you live close to a Haitian-American community, contact their organizations and ask if there is anything you can do to support community efforts.

I may add more later as I become aware.

Transgender Day of Remembrance Post

Usually I suck at blogging on significant days and anniversaries. But today, I'm in time to catch The Transgender Day of Remembrance.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.

Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgender — that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgender people.

We live in times more sensitive than ever to hatred-based violence, especially since the events of September 11th. Yet even now, the deaths of those based on anti-transgender hatred or prejudice are largely ignored. Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. This trend shows no sign of abating.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance serves several purposes. It raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people, an action that current media doesn’t perform. Day of Remembrance publicly mourns and honors the lives of our brothers and sisters who might otherwise be forgotten. Through the vigil, we express love and respect for our people in the face of national indifference and hatred. Day of Remembrance reminds non-transgender people that we are their sons, daughters, parents, friends and lovers. Day of Remembrance gives our allies a chance to step forward with us and stand in vigil, memorializing those of us who’ve died by anti-transgender violence.

Here is the latest victim: Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, who was stabbed to death, then decapitated, dismembered, and burned in Puerto Rico this week.

I'm not sure if he was gay, transgender, somewhere in the middle, or both at the same time.  But the story makes it clear he was murdered for his gender expression.

I don't want to remove the focus of this day from transgender victims.  However, I have to do that, in order to stress that hatred and fear of transgender people makes all of our lives worse, when you really think about it.

Homophobia and/or transphobia (I think it's a continuum) affected me lightly when I was a girl. I didn't look like other girls around me because of my race. I was also tall, small-breasted and blocky. I got called a "lesbian" and a "dyke" quite a few times.  Once, someone even called me an "Elizabethan" which was awfully confusing. It shows that even when kids don't even know what these words mean, or how to pronounce them, they use them to hurt other kids and try to make them conform to gender standards.

Of course, I've been quite lucky since then.  Since I'm straight, I have a lot of economic privilege from being able to marry my husband and get tax breaks and discounts on a wide variety of things. And I've been mistaken for a man off and on, depending on how I was dressed and how I style my hair, but it never particularly bothered me, and I never had to pay a big social penalty for it.

That is, until one time I went to the Bahamas.  I didn't know it at the time -- I was blissfully unaware -- but many parts of the English-speaking Caribbean are hotbeds of hatred towards anyone who is not "gender-conforming".

I was in Nassau for two days en route to another location.  I dressed in my typical tropical travelling clothes.  Knee-length shorts, baggy long-sleeved cotton shirts, hat.  I like wearing these types of outfits because 1) they're comfortable in the heat 2) they protect my skin from the sun 3) they cover my body enough so I don't get too much unwanted male attention, so I can fly under the radar. 

I started feeling really nervous after only a few hours in Nassau. I was used to being stared at because of my race when I travel, but this just wasn't just curiosity, it was curiosity plus anger.  Bahamians were glaring at me. Women especially.  I'm tall, but a lot of these women were taller and bigger than me. I was in line at an ATM when a group of women pointed at me and broke into derisive laughter.  I didn't understand what was going on... until the time I was outside of a grocery store and women yelled at me "ARE YOU A BOY OR A GIRL! HA!" Then she sneered at me and moved off.

If I'd stayed in Nassau, I was probably putting myself at serious risk of a beat-down. Of course, I had the privilege of escaping that treatment if I had to... I wasn't particularly attached to my androgynous outfits.  I realized later that if I'd put on some lipstick and a halter top, that terrifying sense of constant physical menace would basically have evaporated.

As far as I've learned, although many English-speaking Caribbean countries have horrendous levels of violence towards LGBT people, it's not quite as bad in the Spanish-speaking countries, and in Haiti there's actually a pretty high level of cultural tolerance. I know about this now, because it affected me, and so I took an interest. But it's not just an interest for many other people... their very life can depend on it.

There are many ways in which hatred of transgender people is mainstreamed and made acceptable.  One way in which everyone should help is by making a pledge not to use gender expression for mockery.  For example, I'm going to try hard never to make fun of any woman, trans or otherwise, by saying they "look like a man". Casual stuff like this goes on all the time, and it contributes to the disrespect of transgender women, dehumanizing them, and making their deaths "not count".

I think it's also important to support children in foster care who have been rejected because of their gender expression. There's an organization here in Atlanta I donate to: Chris Kids and Project Rainbow.  They always need donations especially for this program, because although their other child programs receive federal and state funds, Project Rainbow is more "controversial" (sadly) and has to be funded separately.

The Rainbow Program

The Rainbow Program is a subset program of the Independent Living Program that transitions teenagers from homelessness into self-sufficient adulthood. Youth live in apartments and receive counseling, vocational and educational training, and life skills development. Each teen must be working or enrolled in appropriate educational programs for a minimum of 20 hours per week. Teens have individualized service plans that outline goals and objectives for independence. Staff works with each teen to accomplish their individual goals. This program targets outreach to homeless youth and teens identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning (GLBTQ). At CHRIS Kids these youth find a place to live where they can learn self acceptance and be open about who they are without fear or retribution.

• National statistics suggest that up to 56% of homeless youth identify as GLBTQ.
• This program is one of few GLBTQ Independent Living Programs in the Southeast
• This program receives no federal support

Veteran's Day Quick Post: Hepatitis C

I wrote before on this issue.  My stepfather is a Vietnam veteran with Hepatitis C that he contracted while working as a medic stationed in South Korea. Currently, his Hep C is under control, but until a reliable cure is developed, he's always going to be in danger of liver failure. 1 in 10 Vietnam vets have Hepatitis C.

Please see this page at hcadvocate.com to find out what we can do to help people with Hep C.

Email to Hank Johnson Regarding Healthcare Reform and Stupak Amendment

Hello,

I would like to congratulate you on all the great work you have done to fight for healthcare reform so far. I have supported your reform efforts and I attended your healthcare townhall as well as David Scott's. However, I'm very upset right now at the current House bill.  Here are just a few of my problems:

- fines for people who refuse insurance
- lack of coverage for undocumented immigrants
- The Stupak-Pitts "coathanger" amendment

I understand that compromise is necessary in politics.  I understand that if we pass halfway reform now, we will be able to augment and improve on it in years to come. I am willing to compromise quite a bit on healthcare reform. But we can't compromise away everything.  We cannot actually TAKE A STEP BACKWARDS. Any healthcare reform legislation should improve on what we have, or at the very least, continue SOME of the same injustices at the same level... not actually make those injustices worse!

I have never had an abortion. Like you, I am a Buddhist, and although I do not know your opinion on the subject, I have some moral reservations about abortion when it comes to me personally. But I believe every woman has the absolute right to make that decision for herself. If the Stupak amendment is included in final legislation, that means that only women above a certain income level will have that choice anymore! It goes far beyond refusing federal funds for abortion by not even allowing private insurance companies to include abortion.  The Stupak amendment equals FORCED CHILDBIRTH for lower-income women. It is disgusting and unconscionable.

I heard that a letter has been sent to Nancy Pelosi with the names of at least 40 Democrats who have promised to vote against any final reform that includes the Stupak amendment.  I hope your name is on that list. I do believe in compromise and negotiation, but at some point we have to stand strong and hold the line. Thank you.

Another Health Care Failure

This is a tragic case and I think it's all too common.

Thursday, September 10, 2009
Hmm, a desperate plan for this mom?

After speaking again to the CPS social worker that I'm supposed to take his birth certificate, etc to and sign him away.....after even sending his history to the Jolie-Pitt Foundation....after sending a desperate and maybe a little scathing email to every representative including Obama that represents my zip.....I decided to try to go viral.....I'm uploading this to youtube....please help me spread the message

[...]

It should not be criminal to be mentally ill. It should be criminal to be treated by the insurance companies and our health system the way my son has been.

This boy was adopted from Russia at three years old. He looks about ten currently. He's now in a juvenile detention center for assaulting his mother. In order to get him into a non-punitive residential treatment center that costs $450 a day, she's being forced to give over custody to the state.

Biological parents also sometimes have to do this because of mental illness issues.

This is just cruel... regardless of how I feel about international adoption, this is the only family the boy has now. He should not be severed from them because of healthcare bureaucracy.

I also blame the international adoption agencies for this. They sugarcoat the risks to an insane degree. They don't tell prospective parents about residential treatment centers and psych meds and how much they cost.

Foster care families at least have some layer of protection. Sunny's contract includes residential treatment coverage. I know treatment has been a lifesaver for other families, allowing their children to recover and then come back to the family.

Unless the state takes the coverage away because of another budget crisis... then something like this case could happen to us. Sunny's foster mom just told us that adoption subsidies on several of her children had just been reduced dramatically, without warning.

I've written before that I don't think there should be any tax credit or subsidy given to encourage international adoption.  But once those children are here, that's different... all children, biological, adopted or foster, should have access to mental health services without tearing their family apart.

A Japanese Man Who is Even More Eccentric than My Dad

This video is an absolute must-watch.  He sort of reminds me of Billy Corgan, something about the forehead...

The Kennedy Bill?

A message from Stephanie Taylor at BoldProgressives.org:

Thanks for signing our petition asking the Senate to pass "The Kennedy Bill" for health care reform. We'll deliver all signatures next Monday to Senate offices in Washington DC. In the meantime, can you share with your friends?

If you're on Facebook, click here to share.

If you're on Twitter, click to automatically Tweet this message: Tell senators: Pass "The Kennedy Bill" and nothing less http://bit.ly/LN5bb @BoldProgressive #Kennedy #hc09

Or simply forward the below email to your friends.

Thanks for being a bold progressive,
--Stephanie Taylor, PCCC co-founder

---

Hi. I just signed this petition to honor Ted Kennedy, which will be delivered to senators on Monday:

"Ted Kennedy was a courageous champion for health care reform his entire life. In his honor, name the reform bill that passed Kennedy's health committee 'The Kennedy Bill' -- then pass it, and nothing less, through the Senate."

Kennedy's bill includes a public health insurance option, and it would be an honor to Kennedy's memory if it passed the Senate. Will you sign the petition? You can sign here.
Thanks.

I hope this happens.  Kennedy would have wanted his death to help pass healthcare reform.

Today I thought about the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which Kennedy supported, that destroyed the old system of racist, anti-Semitic immigration quotas.  Without it, American society today would not be as enriched with diversity.  And my father would not have his green card.  That's just one of the many good things Kennedy accomplished. 

Nazi Insult Comeback

As someone who was recently called a Nazi at a townhall meeting, watching this clip really made my day. Go Barney!

Mad at Obama

I was listening to the Countdown podcast this morning covering how Obama is backtracking on the public option for healthcare reform. This makes me so mad. In fact, I was so mad I made several wrong turns and was almost late to work. I'm to the left of Obama on pretty much everything, but I'm also a pragmatist, so I knew he was going to present only a moderate degree of improvement over Bush in areas like foreign policy and immigration and gay rights. But I expected him to fight harder over healthcare.

Hank Johnson is one of the Reps who says he is determined to vote against any bill that does not include a public option. I agree with that. The line has to be held somewhere. We've already compromised and compromised to the point that even one step more is going to mean defeat.

David Scott Healthcare Town Hall Report

We went this morning, although we didn't stay for the whole meeting. It was very low key, like the Hank Johnson meeting, with no chaos beforehand. Supporters outnumbered protesters almost 10 to 1. I think the anti-reform side has lost some momentum. Also, many of them probably went to a competing rally today at Centennial Park.

From AJC.COM:
Rep. David Scott fielded dozens of questions from about 600 who showed up at Mundy's Mill High School. The event began at about 10:30 a.m. and Scott answered questions for more than two hours.

Although there were no major disruptions, both sides of the issue were clearly passionate about their views.

At times some audience members tried to shout down each other. And at other times questions or comments were answered with rounds of boos or chants of "Yes we can."

Check out my video!

Best Political Blog Post Title Pun of the Season

I'm still chucking over this title, hours after reading it.

I’m re-doing the den with hardwood floors and death panelling

This living will = "death panel" stuff is just unbelievable. Mind-boggling.

Personally, I wanted to get a living will and DNR order years ago. I just wasn't sure how much to trust those free forms you download from the internet, and I didn't want to pay for an expensive legal session. I joined a legal insurance organization this year, however, and I really do need to go ahead and schedule something now. Death panel, here I come.

Hank Johnson Healthcare Townhall Meeting Was Great!

As far as I could tell from outside, that is. I didn't actually get into the townhall. I went with a contingent of other people, but although we were an hour early, there was no way we were getting in. The line was already around the block. There must have been thousands of people.

We stood outside with signs: large, simple, direct, polite signs. We got some good attention, and maybe some media coverage.

Supporters of healthcare reform outnumbered opponents by a lot, maybe 5 to 1. There were a couple whacko screamers. Someone yelled "YOU'RE NAZIS" at us. Another man yelled "you want to send all our money to Kenya!" However, there were so many supporters that the really rude people never achieved critical mass, and the atmosphere outside remained calm. I saw a ton of people I knew, including our old therapist!

There was heavy security, and apparently the rules for the townhall were very strict and carefully explained at the beginning. People who yelled or were disruptive would be escorted out. I can't wait to read a summary to see how it turned out.

In related news, there's been a lot of local coverage on how Rep. David Scott, of the neighboring 13th District, supposedly "lost his temper" at a non-healthcare townhall when he was asked a healthcare question. I saw a video clip in question, and I don't believe he loses his temper. And I'm not saying this because I like David Scott, because I can't stand him. I think his political career is full of corruption, and he's nowhere near the caliber of, say, John Lewis. But in this case Scott is right. The media coverage surrounding the video clip was ridiculous and racist. Whatever the man's faults, he's a slick politician... he wouldn't freak out in front of a camera. If he was white, the headlines would have said "strong words" at the most, not "loses his temper".

Here's what he has to say in his defense:

"The first question that comes out of his mouth, 'Why did you vote for this?'" Scott said. "Wait a minute -- I didn't vote for anything. We haven't had it to vote on."

What you didn't see in our original report was the three minutes Scott spent answering the doctor's question before he raised his voice.

Watson asked Scott, "In hindsight, seeing those clips, did you lose your temper?"

"No, I did not lose my temper. I was very firm and I talked very firm -- and if you looked at that, my words were there. I didn't bite my tongue about it. I was very, very disturbed with him," Scott said.

But Scott is even more disturbed about mail he has received in the days since the story aired.

Scott held up a sheet of paper to Watson that had a picture of President Obama on it, his face made to look like the joker in Batman, a swastika on his forehead. Then he read what it said.

"They address it to n----- David Scott, 'You were, you are, and you shall forever be, a n-----'," Scott said, reading from the letter. "I got this in the mail today. Somewhere underneath this, bubbling up, is the ugly viscissitudes [sic, because 11alive.com hasn't discovered spellchecking] of racism. We should be proud we have an African American president and celebrating him willing to take on the difficult issue of healthcare, an issue that reflects 19 percent of our economy. Here we are in Congress trying to grapple with an almost impossible task -- almost two improbables together, bring the cost of healthcare down while expanding the coverage of it. That is a difficult assignment and it should not be relegated to these mobs of people who will come and hijack a meeting, and you expect me not to stand up to that and not to show that we're not intimidated?"

Scott is hosting a health fair and healthcare forum at which he will do questions and answers on the topic of healthcare reform.

It will be held on Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm at Mundy's Mill High School in Jonesboro.

I'll be there!

Thank goodness Hank Johnson will never be accused of losing his temper despite incontrovertible blackness. Maybe it's all the "Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō"s he recites... he projects an almost supernatural (though slightly gawky) aura of calmness.

Hank Johnson Healthcare Townhall Monday Night August 10th

I'll be there. I'm sick of this whole debate, and it won't be fun at all. I'm also sick of hearing about the people who have been disrupting these events with their screaming.

Monday, August 10 from 7 to 9 p.m.
Georgia Perimeter College Clarkston Campus
Cole Auditorium/FineArtsCenter
555 North Indian Creek Drive
Clarkston, GA 30021

This country desperately needs healthcare reform. My family desperately needs healthcare reform. My mother is currently uninsured and uninsurable. We're just hoping she makes it to Medicare age without a recurrence of her breast cancer.

When the insurance-company-funded right-wing hooligans try to disrupt Hank Johnson's townhall, I want them to fail miserably. The only way to ensure this is to get so many of us reform supporters into the event early that there's no room for the shouters when they show up.

Please come if you're a local supporter. If you're not a supporter, I despair at convincing you otherwise. I have nothing to say to the other side anymore. A red mist comes over my eyes and I start thinking "YOU DON'T CARE IF MY MOTHER DIES". I'll leave the job to other, less emotional debaters.

Global Day of Action...

... for Troy Davis. Please follow the link to sign a petition.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - USA Online Action Center
Support Clemency for Troy Davis
Take Action On This Issue

Troy Davis faces execution for the murder of Police Officer Mark MacPhail in Georgia, despite a strong claim of innocence. 7 out of 9 witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony, no murder weapon was found and no physical evidence links Davis to the crime. The Georgia Board of Pardon and Paroles has voted to deny clemency, yet Governor Perdue can still exercise leadership to ensure that his death sentence is commuted. Please urge him to demonstrate respect for fairness and justice by supporting clemency for Troy Davis.

Introducing Presente

I'm passing this along at the request of Nezua from The Unapologetic Mexican. He's working on a new online initiative -- Presente-- standing up for immigration justice for Latino communities.

Of course, this is a huge issue in Georgia. There are all kinds of anti-immigrant whacko politicians around here (merely one example). They hate all kinds of "furriners" but Latino immigrants do bear the brunt of it. It's frustrating try to figure out ways how to fight against them.

I look forward to signing up and hearing more about Presente.

Presente.org seeks to strengthen the political voice of Latino communities. Using the Internet, we give our members ongoing opportunities for action on the issues they care about. Our goal is to unite Latinos of all generations, nationalities, and regions, together with allies from other communities. It all starts with the simple pledge below. Join us. ¡Adelante!

The Pledge
Be Counted!

"We, the undersigned, call for an end to immigration policies that divide families, deny educational access, and exploit workers. We agree to stand up and be counted on the issues that matter to Latino communities. With a unified voice we can't be ignored. Together we will become a powerful online community that promotes justice and holds our leaders accountable. We will be Presente."

I'll also mention another Nezua-collaboration site, The Sanctuary, for coverage of the recent disgusting attempts to use swine flu to attack Mexicans.

Email to Sonny Perdue our Idiot Governor

I just can't word this in any more diplomatic way.

You are already a terrible governor, but even for you, this is a new low. I can't believe you are going to put your bankrupt party ideology above the benefit of all Georgians and turn down stimulus money. Is this what you want your legacy to be? I will be protesting your ridiculous decision loudly and through as many venues as possible.

AJC article: Perdue may turn down some funds

Vote For Me!

If you're signed up at http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov and have few spare seconds, vote up or comment on my ideas.

They're too focused and specific to make it into the finals, and I also stuck to creating ones that hadn't already been mentioned. However, the site is going to give them a LOT more exposure than they would have had otherwise.

Encourage Foster Care Adoption - End Tax Credit For Private/International Adoption

I am an adoptive parent of an older child from state foster care. Our adoption costs nothing, and he will receive a subsidy until he is 18 and I will also get a one-time $10,000 tax credit.

This is a good incentive for people to adopt from foster care. There are many older children in the system waiting to be adopted. In the case of my son and many others, the option of placing him with birth relatives was explored for many years, but it did not happen because they were not willing.

The incentive makes sense because if these children are not adopted, the government will spend even more money maintaining them in foster care. The outcome is worse for the child and for the taxpayer.

However, what doesn't make sense is that private adoption (people who pay adoption agencies money for infant adoption from birth mothers) and international adoption parents also receive this $10,000 tax credit.

I am not against these forms of adoption, although I do think they need to be regulated more. However, I don't think they should be subsidized by the government, especially when there are so many older children in state systems waiting to be adopted. The money would be better spent improving and reforming our foster care system.

The private adoption agencies that charge money for adoption just pass the cost of the tax credit on to the parents anyway. They may market babies to parents by saying, "oh, this adoption is going to cost $25,000 but since you get the tax credit it's really going to be 'only' $15,000". Without the tax credit, maybe they would just charge $15,000 anyway.

This tax credit is only a sop to the adoption agencies. It should be ended, and this will save the government money. It should also encourage people to look into FREE adoption of waiting children from the foster care system who might not otherwise have an adoptive home.

Standardize College Accreditation and Regulate "Rip-Off" Colleges

College accreditation in the U.S. is a confusing mix. The highest standard is actually regional accreditation*. Six regional agencies establish accreditation of every school from Harvard to two-year community colleges.

National accreditation is something quite different, and regionally accredited schools usually won't accept nationally accredited credits. Many diploma mills and for-profit schools take advantage of this situation to rip off students.

Many for-profit technical colleges are owned by corporations who spent most of their money on marketing and advertising, not on teachers and students. Their targets are working-class and minority and military and immigrant students. They promise that they can help get student loans to pay the overinflated tuition (when the student could go to a less-flashy, government-subsidized community college for 5% of the tuition). They use “hard sell” tactics, walk the students through taking out large loans telling them they are guaranteed to get some wonderful job with NASA if they sign on the dotted line. Once in, they will attempt to pass you through even if your work is not up to college level. Teachers are encouraged never to fail students in order to keep the tuition stream (composed mainly of student loans) flowing. If students graduate, they graduate with a substandard education that many employers don’t even respect, plus crushing student loans. Many default.

College accreditation needs to be tightened up, federalized and made simpler. And then higher education marketing should be much more regulated. You shouldn’t be able to promise some of the crazy stuff those people promise.**

I suggest that the regional accreditors should be combined into a new federal standard. No matter whether you are studying for a PhD in Philosophy or a community college certificate as an Automotive Technician, you should be guaranteed a minimum standard of education.

All for-profit colleges should be required to provide students with impartial information about tuition, college budgets and probability of credit acceptance. If they make claims about future employment, they must be able to back up these claims. Any college making outrageous promises or using "hard sell" techniques should be fined out of existence.

America is falling behind in many educational areas, and improving our accreditation system should be a low-cost, high-benefit element of any higher education plan.

* read more about accreditation at http://distancelearn.about.com/od/accreditationinfo/a/regional.htm

** Here is one example, among many, of a lawsuit involving such false claims.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DR

Fully Fund Efforts to Combat the Hepatitis C Epidemic

Hepatitis C is the most common blood-borne chronic viral infection in the United States. Once exposed, most individuals remain persistently infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), with 70% developing chronic liver disease and its often life-threatening conditions. At least 4 million Americans currently have chronic hepatitis C, with 25,000 new infections occurring every year. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that the death rate from HCV-related liver disease will triple by the year 2019. No other disease burden is expected to increase as rapidly as that of hepatitis C in the coming decade.

Despite these staggering statistics, the federal government has not provided adequate funding or legislation to mount a comprehensive effort against the disease. Only $17 million is spent each year on viral hepatitis programs. This funding is not enough for states to provide testing, surveillance, prevention, and education services – let alone care and treatment for those in need.

My stepfather has lived with this disease for many years. He contracted it as a medic in the Vietnam War. It is estimated that at least 10% of all Vietnam veterans have Hepatitis C. He receives regular monitoring and treatment at a VA hospital, but his long-term future is frighteningly unknown.

I ask that you address this serious public health crisis in three ways:

-- Add language on your website about the hepatitis C epidemic and how you plan to address it.
-- Support a $50 million in Fiscal Year 2009 funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Viral Hepatitis Programs.
-- Support the "Hepatitis C Epidemic Control and Prevention Act *" or similar Act which would create a comprehensive effort by the federal government to address the epidemic.

*http://olpa.od.nih.gov/legislation/109/pendinglegislation/hepatitisc.asp

First Protest

I almost forgot to mention that Sunny had an important milestone this weekend: he went to his first political protest. This is a long-standing family tradition; my mother has been taking me to protests ever since I was a baby.

The AJC article is here: Pro-Palestinian protesters march on CNN headquarters

My mother helped Sunny make his own pro-peace sign. He was pretty excited about it. When we got there, he was initially a bit nervous because of the shouting, but once he saw there were a lot of other little kids there, he was fine, and really enjoyed the marching part.

Comments closed on this post because I'm not interested in sparking a debate on this topic. The AFSC/Quakers have the right idea, that's all I'll say.

Worried about Atlanta

Jim Martin's loss to Saxby Chambliss was disappointing. I worked for the campaign, but I still had a feeling he was going to lose. The state of Georgia remains firmly in the control of Republicans who are strangling Atlanta... and local Democratic politicians are by and large a mediocre bunch. At least Hank Johnson and John Lewis are doing a good job, and I'm desperately hoping that Burrell Ellis is going to turn things around in Dekalb County after the embarrassing reign of Vernon Jones.

Georgia's unemployment rate is now higher than the national average. Our crime is rising too. It's been rising for a while, in part due to horrible police leadership, and the economic climate is only going to make it rise much faster. A pizza place near where I live just got robbed during dinner peak.

I've always been upbeat, overall, about where I live: Dekalb County, to the east of Atlanta, a large county with a higher population than quite a few states. Living here means I can afford a nice big solid house with a real yard. My commute time isn't bad. I have quick access to the best food from all over the world, and this is really crucial for my quality of life! My son's friends are also all over the map, and he sees lots of examples of successful African-American professionals.

The downside is the crime, and the bad schools. This area is all over the spectrum not just in race and ethnicity, but also in terms of income. There are lots of apartment buildings and residency hotels, especially around the Memorial Drive corridor, where something bad is always going down. I know people who live in these buildings, and they suffer the worst of it, of course. 95% of the residents are in working families, but since they have to work so incredibly hard, while they're out working their two or three jobs the other 5% runs around drug-dealing and shooting their guns and causing general nastiness. Rising unemployment is only going to make it worse for everyone.

As for the schools, there is one thing I know for sure: Sunny is NOT going to junior high school in any of the local public schools. I may write about this later but things are pretty dire. I'm in the same boat as many other people. My neighbor, for example, is gaming the system by using his sister's apartment as an official residency so that his son can go to a safer, better junior high. That's a very common tactic.

I am going to do what I can politically to try and improve the public school situation, but it's my responsibility to try and help fix things... not Sunny's. In the short term the situation is only going to get worse due to the recession and massive budget cuts, but in the long-term, I'm hoping an Obama administration, combined with better local leadership, may turn things around.

I don't have many alternatives for places to live. I need a big cheap city and I can't stand cold weather. The West Coast is still too expensive. I'm scared of Texas. Culturally, Miami and New Orleans are two places I'd consider. But Miami probably has worse traffic than Atlanta, the same crime, and is more expensive. New Orleans has worse crime and fewer jobs. Guy is even more picky than I am, too. He has never really lived away from Georgia and I think he'd be almost incapable of moving. As a final factor, my mother and stepfather moved halfway across America just to live next to us... so I don't think we'll be moving soon. Anyway, things are going to be tough all over for a few more years at the very least.

ETA: I can't believe I forgot to mention one huge advantage Atlanta has over New Orleans and Miami: the absence of killer hurricanes.