Job Offer

Hi,I am looking for someone to help me with my personal care on the weekend I need someone to cover my 5PM-11PM shift that is on Saturday and Sunday and Also looking for someone to cover a overnite shift that from 11PM-9AM Friday and Saturday. I need someone that can commite there selfs to their shifts be on time be trustworthy and reliable.Saturday,Sunday 5PM-11PM would be helping me with dinner and the other things that I do in the evening and also help me get ready for bed.(YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO LIFT 90 LBS)The overnite shift you would need to be able to roll me. If this sounds like a job that you may be interested in then please E mail back with your name and number and I will give you call back so that we can set up an interview. Please do not waste my time if you don't think that you can do the job Please don't apply

Back From LA

Lots of food, lots of drinks, lots of talk of Grandma, lots of friends and relatives I've never seen before, and I am back from LA.

I even got a new book. Hope you all will follow with comments about blogs to come...

Nick

A Few Words

Busy.

Tired.

Getting ready to go to LA.

Wondering what's in store?

Parents With Kids With Disabilities

Something you all should read.
This should be at the front entrance of every social service agency, including the regional centers, and IHSS!

Welcome To Holland
by
Emily Pearl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience
of raising a child with a disability -
to try to help people who have not shared
that unique experience to understand it,
to imagine how it would feel.

It's like this:
When you're going to have a baby it's like
planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy.
You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your
wonderful plans. The coliseum.
The Michaelangelo's David.
The gondolas in Venice.
You may learn some handy phrases in Italian.
It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation the day
finally arrives. You pack your bags and
off you go.
Several hours later, the plane lands.
The flight attendant comes and says,
'Welcome to Holland.'

'Holland?! you say.'
'What do you mean, Holland?
I signed up for Italy!
I'm supposed to be in Italy.
All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy.'

But there's been a change in the flight plan.
They've landed in Holland
and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken
you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place,
full of pestilence, famine and disease.
It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guidebooks.
And you must learn a whole new language.
And you will meet a whole new group of
people you would never have met.

It's just a different place.
It's slower-paced than Italy,
less flashy than Italy. but after you've
been there for a while and you catch your
breath, you look around, and you begin to
notice that Holland has windmills,
Holland has tulips,
Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy
coming and going from Italy,
and they're all bragging about
what a wonderful time they had there.
And for the rest of your life,
you will say,
'Yes, that's where I was supposed to go.
That's what I had planned.'

And the pain of that will
never, ever, ever go away,
because the loss of that dream
is a very significant loss.

But if you spend your life mourning
the fact that you didn't get to Italy,
you may never be free
to enjoy the very special,
the very lovely things about Holland.

Does This Go Too Far?

The ADA has brought Americans with disabilities a long way, and there are still a great many problems with the law. This new proposal seems to have not enough oversight, and not enough education. Telling small business owners that they must accommodate is different than saying, "If you accommodate, you'll have more customers, and your business will reach a bigger audience."
I also have a feeling that the restaurant industry, the entertainment industry will be all in a tizzy over this one. I say that universal design laws known for new housing across America would be a lot more useful than this legislation. I think the regulations about service animals sets a dangerous precedent and can be misinterpreted. Bush trying to be like Daddy, lol.


By Robert Pear

WASHINGTON: The Bush administration is about to propose far-reaching new rules that would give people with disabilities greater access to tens of thousands of courtrooms, swimming pools, golf courses, stadiums, theaters, hotels and retail stores.

The proposal would substantially update and rewrite federal standards for enforcement of the Americans With Disabilities Act, a landmark civil rights law passed with strong bipartisan support in 1990. The new rules would set more stringent requirements in many areas and address some issues for the first time, in an effort to meet the needs of an aging population and growing numbers of disabled war veterans.

More than seven million businesses and all state and local government agencies would be affected. The proposal includes some exemptions for parts of existing buildings, but any new construction or renovations would have to comply.

The new standards would affect everything from the location of light switches to the height of retail service counters, to the use of monkeys as "service animals" for people with disabilities, which would be forbidden.

The White House approved the proposal in May after a five-month review. It is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, with 60 days for public comment. After considering those comments, the government would issue final rules with the force of law.

Already, the proposal is stirring concern. The United States Chamber of Commerce says it would be onerous and costly, while advocates for disabled Americans say it does not go far enough.

Since the disability law was signed by the first President Bush, advances in technology have made services more available to people with disabilities. But Justice Department officials said they were still receiving large numbers of complaints. In recent months, the federal government has settled lawsuits securing more seats for disabled fans at Madison Square Garden in New York and at the nation's largest college football stadium, at the University of Michigan.

The Census Bureau says more than 51 million Americans have some kind of disability, with nearly two-thirds of them reporting severe impairments.

The proposed rules, under development for more than four years, flesh out the meaning of the 1990 law, which set forth broad objectives. The 215,000-word proposal includes these new requirements:

¶Courts would have to provide a lift or a ramp to ensure that people in wheelchairs could get into the witness stand, which is usually elevated from floor level.

¶Auditoriums would have to provide a lift or a ramp so wheelchair users could "participate fully and equally in graduation exercises and other events" at which members of the audience have direct access to the stage.

¶Any sports stadium with a seating capacity of 25,000 or more would have to provide safety and emergency information by posting written messages on scoreboards and video monitors. This would alert people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

¶Theaters must provide specified numbers of seats for wheelchair users (at least five in a 300-seat facility). Viewing angles to the screen or stage must be "equivalent to or better than the average viewing angles provided to all other spectators."

¶Light switches in a hotel room could not be more than 48 inches high. The current maximum is 54 inches.

¶Hotels must allow people with disabilities to reserve accessible guest rooms, and they must honor these reservations to the same degree they guarantee other room reservations.

¶At least 25 percent of the railings at fishing piers would have to be no more than 34 inches high, so that a person in a wheelchair could fish over the railing.

¶At least half of the holes on miniature golf courses must be accessible to people using wheelchairs, and these holes must be connected by a continuous, unobstructed path.

¶A new swimming pool with a perimeter of more than 300 feet would have to provide "at least two accessible means of entry," like a gentle sloping ramp or a chair lift.

¶New playgrounds would have to provide access to slides, swings and other play equipment for children who use wheelchairs.

The Justice Department acknowledged that some of the changes would have significant costs. But over all, it said, the value of the public benefits, estimated at $54 billion, exceeds the expected costs of $23 billion.

In an economic analysis of the proposed rules, the Justice Department said the need for an accessible environment was greater than ever because the Iraq war was "creating a new generation of young men and women with disabilities."

John Wodatch, chief of the disability rights section of the Justice Department, said: "Disability is inherent in the human condition. The vast majority of individuals who are fortunate enough to reach an advanced age will benefit from the proposed requirements."

By 2010, the department estimates, 2 percent of the adult population will use wheelchairs, and 4 percent will use crutches, canes, walkers or other mobility devices. Likewise, it said, as the population ages, the number of people with hearing loss will increase.

Under the 1990 law, businesses are supposed to remove barriers to people with disabilities if the changes are "readily achievable," meaning they can be "carried out without much difficulty or expense."

The Bush administration is proposing a safe harbor for small businesses. They could meet their obligations in a given year if, in the prior year, they had spent at least 1 percent of their gross revenues to remove barriers.

Curtis Decker, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network, a coalition of legal advocates, said: "Safe harbors make us very nervous. A small business could spend the requisite amount of money and still not be accessible."

Randel Johnson, a vice president of the United States Chamber of Commerce, said the proposed rules "are so long and technically complex that even the best-intentioned small business could be found out of compliance by a clever lawyer looking to force a settlement."

The Justice Department cited the "monetary cost cap" as one of several steps it was taking to limit the rules' impact on small businesses. But Johnson said he feared that courts would view the ceiling as a floor and tell businesses they should spend 1 percent of their revenues on removing barriers.

The proposed rules affirm the right of people with disabilities to use guide dogs and other service animals in public places, but they tighten the definition to exclude certain species.

When the existing rules were adopted in the early 1990s, the Justice Department said, few people anticipated the current trend toward "the use of wild, exotic or unusual species" as service animals.

The proposed rules define a service animal as "any dog or other common domestic animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks" for a person with a physical or mental disability.

Under this definition, the administration says, monkeys could not qualify as service animals, nor would reptiles; amphibians; rabbits, ferrets and rodents; or most farm animals.

Under the rules, a hotel, restaurant, theater, store or public park could ask a person with a disability to remove a service animal if the animal was out of control or not housebroken, or if it posed a direct threat to the health or safety of others.

By way of example, the rules say that a theater could exclude a dog that disrupted a live performance by repeated barking.

The rules confirm that people with disabilities can use traditional wheelchairs, power wheelchairs and electric scooters in any public areas open to pedestrians.

But shopping centers, amusement parks and other public places could impose reasonable restrictions on two-wheeled Segway vehicles, golf carts and "other power-driven mobility devices" used by those with disabilities.

The Heart of the Issue

Having been in the field of home care for over ten years, the thought of this lawsuit is great, and a big step for people fighting for better home care wages across the nation. I have been on the streets of San Francisco protesting for better wages for home care workers of California. I have been very active in speaking in Sacramento about cut-backs by the governor for in home supportive services, and how people need to earn a decent wage to do a job that is unheard of in some parts of the country. My hat's off to Mr. Freeman. I wish him success in his case, and I think California should be next on this issue. Enjoy the article below.

Caregivers' pay at heart of lawsuit
By Alan Gustafson
Statesman Journal

Paralyzed since he broke his neck in a 1996 diving accident, Clay Freeman depends on 11 machines and around-the-clock care to stay alive.

With assistance from in-home caregivers who took him to classes, Freeman graduated from Chemeketa Community College in 2006.

He also has relied on caregivers to take him to movies, on shopping trips and other outings, including school functions and sporting events for his five nieces and nephews.

Distressingly, the Salem quadriplegic has had a hard time retaining the caregivers who serve as his conduit to daily life. Some have burned out tending to his complex needs. Others have resigned to take less rigorous work that pays better.

When another caregiver called it quits early this month, Freeman, 34, was left with two of the five hands-on assistants he needs to monitor his machines and assist him with breathing, eating, toileting and more.

The caregiver crisis posed life-threatening complications for Freeman and crimped his federally mandated rights to live with as much independence as possible, according to a lawsuit brought against the state of Oregon on his behalf.

"Mr. Freeman is now at risk of being forced to live in a nursing facility — an institutional setting — because he has been unable to hire and train three of the five personal attendants needed to meet his daily needs," states the lawsuit.

The federal civil-rights lawsuit asks that the state be required to provide enhanced caregiver compensation so that Freeman can hire the help he must have to deal with his daunting disabilities.

Under contract terms with the state, average pay for Oregon's 11,500 unionized home health care workers is slightly less than $10 per hour. To recruit and retain caregivers for Freeman, the state must pay at least $12.90 per hour, his lawyers say. The state also has to ensure that his caregivers get proper training, the lawsuit asserts.

A federal judge has issued a temporary ruling in Freeman's favor. A week ago, U.S. District Court Magistrate Thomas Coffin ordered the state to provide Freeman with five caregivers at the $12.90-per-hour rate. Coffin also directed the state to supply Freeman's caregivers with training provided by a licensed registered nurse.

Freeman's lawyers are asking for a permanent court order that would enforce the higher pay rate. Opposing lawyers are expected to make oral arguments before Coffin at a hearing this summer.

For Freeman, the temporary court order was a crucial victory, said one of his lawyers, Peter James of the Oregon Law Center in Salem.

"This is wonderful. I mean, this person's life was in danger, and I think the court recognized that and acted accordingly," he said.

Since the ruling, one additional caregiver has been enlisted to work with Freeman, pending completion of state hiring checks and other requirements. Efforts continue to land two more caregivers, bringing the total to five.

State officials declined comment on the suit Thursday.

"There's not a whole lot we can say except confirm that there is a suit," said Stephanie Soden, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Justice, which is defending the state against the suit.

Named in the suit are the state Department of Human Services; Bruce Goldberg, human services director; and James Toews, head of the Seniors and People with Disabilities section of DHS.

Freeman's case casts a spotlight on a much-touted state program that provides Medicaid-eligible disabled people with in-home care. It has been praised for promoting independence for people who otherwise might be housed in nursing homes or other facilities.

Oregon was one of the first states to establish home-care services for federally supported Medicaid clients in 1981. Home care is a popular option for elderly and disabled clients because it allows them to stay in familiar settings and remain as independent as possible. Many clients pick their own caregivers.

Currently, about 11,000 Oregonians are enrolled in the program, Toews said Thursday.

"It's a huge part of Oregon's system; probably one of the biggest in-home programs in the country," he said. "The number of people that actually get almost 24-hour (per day) in-home care is a much, much, smaller number."

In past years, the innovative home-care system was plagued by revolving-door turnover rates among its work force. In 2000, Oregon voters supported a reform-minded ballot measure intended to improve the quality of care and accountability in the system.

Measure 99, passed by 63 percent of Oregon voters, amended the state constitution to create a Home Care Commission to set standards for caregivers, provide training and publish a registry of qualified workers.

The measure also gave workers the same rights as public employees to bargain collectively, except for the right to strike.

Determined to shed their status as an invisible work force, home-care workers voted to unionize in December 2001.

Since then, collective bargaining has brought modest pay raises for caregivers, along with modest reductions in turnover rates.

"We've gone through two or three collective bargaining rounds and now they get wages, benefits, workers compensation, a few days off," Toews said. "So it certainly has improved the turnover rates ... but it still is a work force that turns over pretty rapidly."

Freeman did not respond to a Statesman Journal request for an interview about his case.

But he asserted in a court document, dated June 3, that his own caregiver turnover problem began more than three years ago. He linked it to state cutbacks in pay for his lead caregiver — who then was paid $12.50 per hour — and additional pay cuts for his other attendants, who also formerly had received wages above the standard rate.

"This practice ceased about 31/2 years ago when my last grandfathered attendant left," Freeman asserted. "Since that time, the rate of pay has dropped to $9.90 per hour and I have been unable to find people to provide the level of care I need."

Amid caregiver scarcity, Freeman said he was unable to continue his course work at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, where he had been majoring in social sciences.

Freeman said that he made exhaustive but futile efforts to recruit caregivers, including "calling all of the people listed on the Home Care Commission's Web site and placing and renewing weekly an ad on Craigslist and by advertising at Chemeketa and in the newspaper and at the employment office."

Recently, he stated, his situation became dire when another caregiver departed: "My third attendant left because she found a higher-paying job doing less work at a nursing home."

Freeman said it was hard for him to stave off fear as his two remaining caregivers put in long hours to meet his around-the-clock needs and monitor his extensive medical equipment, including a ventilator and a tracheotomy tube.

"My present situation is very precarious. I am experiencing a lot of anxiety and I fear that I will not be able to find sufficient caregivers without further financial aid and support from the state."

Cherishing his independence, Freeman remained adamant about staying in his own apartment.

"I am absolutely unwilling to go to an adult foster home or nursing facility, as I would lose my freedom to come and go as I please, I would lose my ability to choose my caregivers, I would lose my pets, and I believe that with my skin problems, general condition and depression, my overall health would significantly decline."

agustafs@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6709

Next week.

Hey, Everybody!
Next Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I will be in L.A. for some personal family business. I will try and post at least a few times...no guarantees. I hope that everyone is trying to have a great weekend.

The Untold Story (Part 1)

I was born in John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD, 3 months premature. I had to stay in an incubator, and was sent home on a heart monitor. More to come.

Nick

A Man Who Gave Me Money

I am in a wheelchair, but that doesn't give someone the right to assume that I need money. This man handed me a dollar outside of a Thai restaurant where I was actually ordering food. I insisted that he keep the dollar, but he told my attendant to buy me a drink. What's up with that? I don't like pity, and I don't like charity either.

Why Are Mondays Always Crazy?

Good question, but no good answers.

My office elevator was down when I got there. I got a couple new clients, but it was a crazy Monday! I will write more tomorrow.

Meeting New People

Today I met five people. I hired a few of them to work for me on a personal care base program. I hope that these people will work out.



I had lunch at the Vietnamese restaurant, and ordered shrimp rolls. I had a few drinks when I came home. I had a good dinner.

------------------------

Many people have problems with getting IHSS in Alameda county. Unfortunately, I am now one of those people. Despite being cleared by Medi-Cal, IHSS is refusing to pay. I have been using my personal income to pay for IHSS, and it's not fair. Let me know your input,

Nick

Grandma Passed Yesterday

Louise Bennett passed away peacefully on Wednesday June 4, 2008 with her family at her bedside. Born October 1, 1920, in Columbia, South Carolina, she married James Bennett and moved to Baltimore, Maryland. In addition to raising a family, she spent a rewarding career in public service. She worked for the State of Maryland, was an assistant to Senator Charles MacMathias, and served in the White House through 4 administrations. Her last position was as a protocol officer for the State Department. She moved to Santa Monica 8 years ago and served as a school volunteer at the Getty Center and Villa. A true Southern lady, she would light up a room with her wonderful smile and gracious demeanor and truly touched all who knew her. She is survived by her two daughters, Jayne Bennett and Julie Feldman and her son in law Richard Feldman and grandson Nicholas Feldman.

Dianne Odell

Below are photos of Dianne Odell's iron lung displayed at her end of life ceremonies.

What are your opinions views and feelings of having our assistive devices displayed during last rite ceremonies when we have passed on?

Member adaptdan/johnny crescendo recently posted candidly about end life last wishes akin to this discussion as well.

I mean no disrepect to Miss Odell and family but I personally have a hard time with the way Dianne Odell's photo is at the headreast of the iron lung that she had to spend her life in, appearing very much like a casket display itself.

Why not wake Dianne herself in a casket or display her photo alone? To me the iron lung was not Dianne. It was equipment she had to rely but failed during a power outage and contributed to her death.

We don't see mangled cars displayed up front, first thing, for the services of people who die in car wrecks. Or other assistive devices of the departed like canes, toupee's, false teeth, artificial joints limbs, organ transplants, etc, displayed with the person's picture on top of it, so why the iron lung display?

Just my opinion. Varying opinions welcomed and encouraged here.

=====press photos of Dianne Odells funeral services below======

Jason Howell, right, looks at awards and photos of Dianne Odell during the visitation Friday at Campbell Street Church of Christ.

Josephine Murphy looks at Dianne's photos, awards and honors, including an honorary member certificate from the Red Hat Society and a 'Duchess of Paducah' plaque from Paducah, Ky.

Guests pass Dianne Odell's iron lung as they enter visitation on Friday at Campbell Street Church of Christ in Jackson.

-----------------------------------------

My response:

I do not think it would be inappropriate in any way. For Dianne Odell's picture to be displayed I think is a normal process. People were used to seeing her in the iron lung, and that's what people knew. I have a lot of friends who use iron lungs, wheelchairs, and respirators, and they would not be bothered one bit by having their technology displayed at their memorial service. I think people fail to communicate that people with disabilities are very grateful for the assistive technology. I know one thing: I want my wheelchair buried with me when I go. I oftentimes look at my chair that I use as my legs and I think about how many miles my wheels have gone, and how invaluable this technology is that allows me to drive with my chin, just as Dianne Odell's iron lung allowed her to breathe. This is an issue of dignity, and what really should be the focus is the soul of the person. Is anyone afraid of the iron lung? I'm confused.

Nick

Lunchtime

Today I decided to eat lunch outside. It was a beautiful day, and these are the days that I love the Berkeley weather.
I made a lot of phone calls at work, and then I realized that Vanessa, my fiancee, had gone back to school, and had a class tonight. I came home, and took the dog out, played GTA III, and we beat the next level. Yay! :D

More to come tomorrow.

P.S. Hillary called off her campaign today.

An Interesting Article

Sports Business Journal

July 16, 2007

Seats for Sale

By Bill King

The eBay listing made the two seats in Main Reserve 2, Row 1, behind home
plate at Yankee Stadium sound as if they were designed for pleasure, rather
than purpose.

"This row is an ADA accessible row. It is an extra roomy, wider row with
lots more leg room. . Perfect for everyone, disabled or not. Great for
kids."

The pair sold for $197, plus $5.97 for shipping, which, considering the
usual advanced price of $66 each, would have marked a tidy profit for the
seller, an eBayer registered as "rocknrollnsports."

The fact that they were ADA accessible - spaces designed for wheelchair
users - made them even more profitable, since the Yankees sell those for $19
each as part of a settlement with disabled fans who sued them nine years
ago.

Quite a score for "rocknrollnsports." And quite despicable in the eyes of
those who have worked to make sporting events more accessible since the
passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

The ADA requires stadiums and arenas to provide spaces for when they're
wheelchairs. New facilities must be built with 1 percent of their seating
dedicated to those in wheelchairs, and a matching number of seats reserved
for their companions.

But the same civil rights protection that guarantees fans in wheelchairs
access also prevents facility operators from asking them to prove they need
access. You can't ask whether a customer is disabled. Not when they're
purchasing the tickets. Not when they're entering the stadium or arena. Not
when they're watching the game.

That makes buying, flipping and using wheelchair seats as easy as it is
profitable.

"It's killing stadiums," said Amy Robertson, a Denver attorney who recently
negotiated a $13 million ADA settlement with Kmart. "And it's killing people
with disabilities who can't get tickets."

Ask attorneys who represent the disabled. Ask activists who champion their
rights. Ask ticketing executives with teams and facilities. Ask the
consultants who counsel them on what is best and what is lawful. Almost
unanimously, they will tell you that the aspect of the ADA that occupies
most of their attention today is ticket fraud - the unabashed purchase of
wheelchair seats by those who don't need them, most often for profit, but
sometimes because they afford lots of room and a dandy view.

All of them bemoan the practice.

And concede they can do little to stop it.

"Able-bodied people know that ADA seats exist, and they know you have to
sell them to them," said Larry Perkins, assistant general manager of the RBC
Center, home to the Carolina Hurricanes and N.C. State. "It's hard to really
keep those tickets out of the hands of those folks."

Like many venue operators, Perkins speaks of watching able-bodied fans line
up for tickets under large signs that read: Accessible Seating. Some tell
stories of watching scalpers buy the seats, stroll out into the parking lot,
and sell them.

"The law has the best intentions, but it does get abused," said Erik Judson,
who oversaw the development of ADA-friendly Petco Park for the Padres and
now is a principal with Padres owner John Moores' recently launched
development firm, JMI Sports. "We do everything we can to mitigate that.
Unfortunately, if you have an opportunity, people are going to try to seize
upon that opportunity, for better or for worse."

Most teams only sell wheelchair tickets in person and over the phone, a
practice that also likely violates the ADA, since others can buy tickets on
the Web. Teams hope that asking buyers a series of questions will chase off
scammers. Their Web sites include harshly worded warnings promising that any
person using a wheelchair spot who is not disabled will be tossed letters
from the event, or at the very least relocated. They use phrases like "under
penalty of perjury" and words such as "fraud."

But what can they do to make good on those threats?

"Unfortunately, nothing," said Kevin McGuire, a Boston-based attorney who
consults on ADA issues for teams, facilities and promoters. McGuire, who
writes the ADA ticket policies for his clients, likened it to the scare
language that warns fans that they accept the risk of injury from a foul
ball when they enter a ballpark. "But it is a shot across the bow," he said.

Robertson said that walking buyers through a series of questions - such as
the common "what accommodation do you require?" - should deter some of them,
particularly since they must answer them directly, rather than with a mouse
or keypad.

"Maybe people blush a little bit," said Robertson, who settled ADA cases
against the Pepsi Center and Coors Field. "But the determined fraudster is
not going to care." Even teams that sell out every game rarely sell as many
as half of their allotted wheelchair spaces, say teams and consultants.
Brokers know that, even after a sellout, they can get those seats.

"The fraud issue is one that we're concerned about," said John Wodatch,
chief of the Department of Justice's civil rights division, which enforces
the ADA. "It's a hard nut to crack."

Many teams and concert promoters hold wheelchair spots for 24 to 72 hours
after all other seats are gone. That's a common policy meant to give
disabled patrons a fair chance at the seats before they're offered to the
broader market.

"But what it's also done is allow these StubHub schmucks to have that 72
hours to know those seats are open and grab them," McGuire said. "They're
going to get them every time. They know you can't ask them about a
disability. They know the rules better than the people with disabilities,
and they abuse it to the extreme.

"Next thing you know all these people are buying wheelchair tickets for an
event in a state they don't live in. And then they're on eBay. And it's LOL.
Laugh out loud."

The Yankees declined requests for interviews for this story. Many other
teams also declined to discuss the matter, citing fears that shining a light
on it will only attract more profiteers.

No team in sports deals with as difficult a dynamic as the Yankees on this
front. Not only are their tickets in high demand, but their policies for
releasing them to other buyers were set as the result of the settlement of
disabled access complaints in 1999. They only release wheelchair tickets on
a rigid schedule laid out in that agreement.

Beginning at 4 p.m., five days before a game, they may make available one
third of the wheelchair seats that they haven't sold. Two days before the
game, they can offer one-third of what remains at that point. The day before
the game, they can offer one half of what's left. Ninety minutes before a
game - or two hours on weekends or holidays - they can offer what's still
not sold in six sections. They must hold what's left in six other sections
up until first pitch. The settlement says a wave of tickets can be released
beginning at 4 p.m. each day.

Brokers can watch the clock and pounce.
The settlement also attached many of those seats to the ballpark's two
lowest price points - now $12 and $19. Even the highest priced seats come at
a discount of 23 percent. Plus, the Yankees are one of few teams that allows
buyers to purchase accessible seating online. That means a quick, easy,
impersonal transaction.

You couldn't craft a more hospitable environment for a savvy scalper.

In May, an eBay user who bought wheelchair tickets to two Yankees games
posted a plea for advice on the site's message boards after he read on the
team's Web site that the tickets were meant only for disabled fans. He wrote
that he contacted the seller, who told him that the Yankees did not enforce
the policy. He said the seller refunded his money after he outed him to the
Yankees.

The eBay user did not respond to e-mails requesting an interview. The seller
- the aforementioned "rocknrollnsports," who at the time had completed more
than 600 eBay transactions - no longer is registered under that name.

The problem isn't unique to the Yankees, or to baseball. Three weeks ago, an
eBay seller listed wheelchair tickets for two Patriots games, against the
Steelers and the Eagles. Again, the attraction was wide berth. The listing
trumpeted them as "great seats for us big-boned Pats . fans."

Informed of the sale, Patriots executives said they were unable to match the
tickets with their owner, but would keep a closer eye on that section this
season.

"We tell our fans that these are designed for wheelchair users and that we
will be monitoring, and that's all we can do," said Dan Murphy, vice
president of business development and external affairs for Gillette Stadium.
"The people who sit in those sections generally are the ones who police it
pretty well. If they don't think you belong there, you're going to hear
about it."

So why hasn't the Justice Department, which enforces the ADA, taken aim on
so obvious a problem? Consider it from the side of the seller. And take the
scalpers out of the equation.

Kim Blackseth, an ADA consultant who is a paraplegic, has season tickets for
Golden State Warriors games. His seats - a wheelchair space and companion -
are courtside. Like many people who have season tickets in baseball,
basketball or hockey, he goes to many games and gives away, or sells, the
ones he doesn't use.

When the Warriors made the playoffs this season, Blackseth couldn't make all
the games. So he sold them. "They were great seats," Blackseth said, "and I
got a premium for them."

He did not sell them to a wheelchair user. Blackseth argues that limiting
him in that manner would be as discriminatory as refusing to accommodate his
wheelchair.

"I'm not suggesting there is no fraud," Blackseth said. "But don't leap to
the conclusion that there's something funny going on just because you see
able-bodied people sitting in those seats."

Making History

Besides my angry workday, I feel like having one of these kinds of chairs! Equipped with flamethrowers and all!

Perhaps our time has come in this country for some real change. I got home and turned on the news, and saw John McCain making a fool of himself (which he does so well).

Then there was Hillary who would not make any decisions even though she lost.

Then, when all was said and done, the one left standing was hopefully president-to-be, Senator Obama. "Change you can believe in," and I hope we can believe in you.

To John McCain: you don't have a prayer!

To Hillary Clinton: I never thought you'd get as far as you did, and now you need to let your opponent take you on as his running mate.

To Senator Obama: You have a big job ahead of you, way after the election in November! I hope that you can do what others have not, and live up to your promises, and get America back on track. First, on the domestic front (more jobs, universal healthcare, reestablish the middle class, lower the price on gas and oil, and don't let us rely on resources that could one day run out, save the environment), here's looking at you!