We are quickly approaching the first anniversary of the judicial murder of Terri Schindler Schiavo. Advocates familiar with the case watched the unfolding scenario horrified that a human being could be devalued to the point that society would watch her being punished to death, tried like a vicious criminal on national and worldwide TV. Who could believe that she would be forced to endure brutal treatment that our constitution protects even the most hardened evil criminals from experiencing. Neither rapist, nor murderer, she was no criminal at all and yet she was victimized by the Courts that should have protected her from the cruel intentions of her monster husband Michael Schiavo, who out of love he says, starved/dehydrated his wife on 3 separate occasions; forcing her to endure the most horrific treatment administered to any human being anywhere. Could this really happen here? Not only can this happen here in America, it does and is happening all the time all over our nation. Whereas the people here think that Terri was and is the only person to have been treated this way in our country, disability advocates know the real truth. Forced starvation, dehydration happens all the time everywhere in all of our hospitals.

A report by the Robert Powell center for Medical Ethics of the National Right to Life Committee, April 15, 2005, released just two weeks after the murder of Terri proves that starvation/dehydration is a regular form of “treatment” for those whose lives are considered not worth living. When asked, WILL YOUR ADVANCE DIRECTIVE BE FOLLOWED? The Report concludes that, "The public overwhelmingly believes patient and family choices for life-preserving measures should be respected, even when health care providers disapprove. However, health care providers are increasingly denying life-preserving measures in contravention of patient and family directives choosing them. Their denial of care as 'futile' is often based on 'quality of life' rather than physiological grounds and that most state laws fail to protect patients and families who want food, fluids, or life support when health care providers deny it." Do you see why it is of vital importance that people with disabilities absolutely take a very vocal stand now on this issue while we still can. We are at war with a very powerful enemy and most of you don't even know that your life orsomeone’s you know is at risk. I will tell you about some very important issues which you will need to educate yourself about in order to best protect yourself and your families.

1) Please learn about the dangers of using vaccines as a preventative measure against the Flu or childhood inoculations. These are nothing more than poison cocktails. It is much better to have your immune system tested by illness and disease so that of its own accord it can strengthen your immunity. The mercury preservative Thimerosol found in most vaccines is now linked to the drastic rise of Autistic Spectrum Disorders in Children as well as Dementia and Alzheimers in Adults. People who routinely receive inoculations are the greatest at risk for all kinds of cancers and illnesses. Bioethicists are currently trying to establish new precedent for the approved starvation/dehydration of people in this category of need even though they are not dependent on feeding tubes for food and hydration. For parents with kids who have autistic spectrum disorders such as ADD/ADHD, etc; there is a treatment called chelation therapy that can help your children. Generation Rescue a group founded by parents of autistic children have successfully implemented the chelation therapy to cause a beneficial affect on their children. The chelation therapy treats your child for heavy metal mercurial poisoning and can be remedied by using a uninvasive skin lotion which draws the poisons out through the skin. Children having received the therapy are seeing singificant improvement. A federal judge has just ruled that Asperger's syndrome is a disability when in truth it is nothing more than mercury poisoning. Please read the following article I wrote for more information.

2) According to a recently released poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.- Three in 10 people, 29 percent, now say they have a living will. That's more than twice the number, 12 percent, who said in 1990 that they had put into writing how they wish to be treated medically if they are incapable of communicating. While there is a rise in the number of people who have living wills, living wills do nothing to protect the wishes of people and in fact was and is a document promoted by euthanasia and right to die groups. A Living Will is generally described as a signed, witnessed declaration instructing a physician to withhold or withdraw medical treatment from its signer if he or she is in a terminal condition and is unable to make decisions about medical treatment. A Living Will takes rights and control from its signer and gives decision-making authority to a physician. It also gives a physician complete immunity from civil or criminal liability for his or her action or inactions. A better option for really preserving your right and authority to choose is a "Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care" or a document called 'The Will to Live.' Either of these documents will protect you where the 'living will' leaves you at risk. In the Durable Power of Attorney, one can delegate to a trusted friend or family member the power to become your agent for any health care decisions you are unable to make. Also as built in protection the PMDD limits your agent's authority in one very specific way - It makes it clear that your agent does not have the authority to approve the direct and intentional ending of your life. Your agent may not authorize in any way shape or form that you be given a lethal injection or an intentional lethal drug overdose. Your agent cannot authorize you be denied food or fluids for the purpose of causing your death by starvation or dehydration. This limitation not only protects you but also protects your agent from being subjected to pressure to authorize such actions or omissions. The Will To Live safeguards your life when you cannot speak for yourself as your "health care agent", names backup agents if your first choice can't serve, describes the treatment you do and do not want to guide your health care agent and physicians, protects your family and health care agent from pressure from health care providers and others by allowing them to prove what you really did want, and best of all relieves agonizing end of life decisions by making your wishes clear. For more info: go here.

3) If you are an organ donor like I once had been, you may want to read the article I wrote “On the Dangers of Being an Organ Donor.” Bioethicists and for profit health care have put all people at risk, but none more than people with disabilities. Organ donors in general do not receive quality end-of-life care because hospitals stand to make more off harvesting someone's donated organs than they would from saving organ donor's lives. It is of utmost importance for the American people to learn about what is happening in mainstream hospitals that not only embrace personhood theory but also covet the organs of their patients. Ron Panzer, advocate with the Hospice Patients Alliance wrote, "We sometimes (and increasingly) have newly injured patients being declared "brain dead" at the hospital without the appropriate tests ever being completed. We have hospital transplant teams being flown in ready to "harvest" organs from patients who have never been properly diagnosed, whose families are not always informed of all the treatment options, and we have doctors ready to "spin" the patient's condition into a "hopeless" category so the family agrees to "allow the patient's death to have some meaning" through organ donation, even though in cases where the family refuses to accept the "final determination of the all-knowing docs," the patient recovers! The glaring reality is that when the docs are wrong, dead wrong, the patient is killed by the harvesting of the organs, not because of the injuries sustained."

People with disabilities are increasingly targeted as the perfect pool of people to exploit for organ donation. As of February 2002, UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) had a waiting list for 79,523 major organs, while in the previous year the total number of transplanted organs was 22,953. The disparity between number of transplantable organs and the need for such organs has led transplant programs to seek to expand the sources of transplantable organs. Bioethicists working for profit policy boards are giving advice which is quickly moving American society further and further away from an ethic of universal human equality and the Hippocratic oath of Do No Harm. Motive for profit has lead to theories' which create divisions of us and them in an explicit hierarchy of bioethically determined human value. Wesley J. Smith who has been exposing this movement writes, "History teaches us that judging human worth based on subjective criteria -- race, sex, sexual orientation, tribe, religion, nationality or personhood -- invariably results in the oppression, exploitation or even killing of those deemed by the powerful to be less worthy of respect. And considering that many of the people denigrated by bioethics as nonpersons, not coincidentally, also happen to be the most expensive to care for in the age of the HMO when cost-cutting is king, bioethics presents an acute danger to the lives, health and well-being of millions of people who are elderly, disabled, newborn and cognitively or developmentally impaired. Since in the end this could include any one of us, we ignore the threat of bioethics at our own peril."

I leave you with this final quote on organ donation in hopes you investigate the issue more carefully, "There is no more egregious violation of patient rights than to be made dead, without any chance at all to receive care designed to bring about recovery, when recovery is realistically possible. How many inaccurate predictions are made by the doctors who are less eager to provide care and more eager to get healthy organs from the soon-to-be dead, victim of vulture-like organ transplant teams who swoop in and grab whatever they can, selling all the organs and usable body parts for many hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions."- Ron Panzer. To learn more about this issue go here:

4) The issue of the Downing Street Memo and the war against terrorism. Estimates recently released show that the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, have topped the 2 Trillion dollar mark. America is spending a million dollars a minute, a billion dollars a week to stay in wars we were lied into supporting. President Bush has borrowed more money than all other president’s combined. With the state of the budget the way it is, the trade deficit at record highs, and our national debt at all time high, America will continue disintegrating domestically. Bush Jr. has borrowed more money than all other President's combined, not to mention that his neo-con hawks are already planning subsequent wars with Syria and Iran. There is a direct correlation between the lack of government support in our country for those that need it the most and the flood of money leaving our country supporting what now is undeniably illegal wars of conquest benefiting corporations awarded multi-billion dollar no-bid contracts at the expense of both the Iraqi and American people. The Downing Street Minutes show clearly that Bush and Blair had decided for war before Colin Powell went to the UN and before Congress authorized a Declaration of War. It also proves that the American and British Intelligence would have to "fix the facts around the policy." For information on what you can do to help take back our country.

5) One other issue surrounding war which has a direct impact on people with disabilities has to do with our nation’s use of Depleted Uranium munitions. The use of these highly dangerous munitions places not only Iraqi’s in danger but our soldiers as well. If you know anyone in the military make sure they learn about depleted uranium as those soldiers whom have been exposed to DU are returning from war and having children with massive complications as a result of their exposure. Unless we place pressure on the pentagon to quit using DU munitions, the whole world will be at risk as DU can travel piggyback easily into every part of the world on the tradewinds which go all places. This stuff is so harmful that just 1 particle can lead to cancer in lung, bone, kidney, prostate, gut and brain. There has been a shape rise in birth defects in Iraq even from the use of DU in the first Gulf War. The massive use of DU and white phosphorous munitions in this Gulf War has exploded the rate of cancer and birth defects in Iraq. Wasn't one of the reasons for the US to go into Iraq because Saddam had used chemical weapons against the Kurds which we supplied to him in the first place. Now our country is over there bombarding Iraq with weapons of mass destruction way worse than anything he ever used. Following inhalation of DU it is transferred from the lung to other organs eventually making its way to the kidney where it induces nephritis, a chronic kidney disease. DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years which means contamination will last until it is placed in a secure environment where it cannot harm living tissue or contaminate soil or groundwater. Many returning soldiers contaminated with DU are giving birth to children with with extreme complications and disabilities. "Sixty-seven percent of babies born to the 400,000 vets who suffer from Gulf War Syndrome have birth defects,” said Joyce Riley, a former nurse who flew in Iraq and the founder and spokesperson of the American Gulf War Veterans Association. But the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs do not want America to know the number of sick, dead and deformed kids that vets are having. It’s another cover-up... “A lot of the babies are being born with organs out of place—kidneys in the wrong place, hearts out of the body,” Riley told AFP. “The most [common birth defect] is failure to thrive, where they could not keep weight on and just didn’t make it.”

6 Record Defense Budget, Tax Cuts for the Wealthy Could = Death for Many Americans Dependent on Medicaid Medicare

People with disabilities are increasingly being put at risk by the Bush administrations focus on funding the 'war on terror' and the development of a 'police state' in America. "While the Pentagon budget is soaring, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, warns that President Bush is proposing to make cuts in hundreds of domestic programs. This includes education programs, environmental protection programs, numerous programs to assist low-income families, children, and elderly and disabled people, and research related to cancer, heart disease, and other medical conditions. In one case, the Center estimates 420,000 low-income seniors will lose food assistance from the Commodity Supplemental Food Program."

7.  Testimony to the Georgia Senate about the Issue of Forced Starvation/Dehydration

Thank you. Thank you for taking the necessary steps to develop a law which will protect people in our great state from the nightmare scenario of forced starvation dehydration. I understand that you are asking for testimony so that you can better understand this issue. I would like to submit this written testimony into the record and break it down into various parts to illustrate the full story and why and how forced starvation dehydration happens and who and what this bill needs to protect people from.

8. Written Tesstimony to Senate on the New Freedom Initiative

I want to thank you for tackling this issue and especially for asking me to be part of this very important Study Commission. Unfortunately I have bronchitis and will not be able to attend the commission tomorrow. However, I will spend the next few hours working on a written testimony which if possible I would like you to include this in the Congressional Record. Georgia appreciates your concern for those that are the least protected and most vulnerable among the population, namely our children.

These are just some of the most important issues affecting all Americans but especially people with disabilities. For more information on any of these stories please go to the articles section at endeavorfreedom.org. To contact me concerning any issue email zengarcia@alltel.net

I told the crowd that "If any man or woman anywhere in the United States had starved or dehydrated any animal in this way, that there would be huge public outcry and the perpetrators would be locked up for cruel and unusual punishment. We protect even the worse criminals like John Couley from this kind of treatment." I chastised the corporate media for not looking into, why in the first place Terri was in the condition she was in; and only covering the angle that Terri did not want to live in a vegetative state, that it was her choice to be killed this way. Why don't they question the fact that Michael changed his story about the way he found Terri or that when emergency workers came in response to the 9-11 call, they wanted to call the police because it looked like attempted homicide, or that a 1991 bone scan performed by Dr. W. Campbell Walker showed a history of trauma, and listed apparent injuries to the ribs, thoracic vertebrae, both sacroiliac joints, both ankles and both knees. If they looked at all into it, they would find many reasons for Michael to not be Terri's guardian and many reasons for Terri to be cared for by the family that loves her.

Michael Baden, the top forensic pathologist in the country claimed in an interview with Fox News, Terri's condition could not have been caused by a potassium deficiency, "The reason that she's in the state she's in is because there was a period of time, maybe five or eight minutes, when not enough oxygen was going to her brain. That can happen because the heart stops for five or eight minutes, but she had a healthy heart from what we can see. The bone scan describes her having a head injury . . . and head injury can lead to the 'vegetative state' that Mrs. Schiavo is in now", that her injuries are consistent with severe trauma possibly caused by a beating, and that the injuries in medical records warrant an immediate investigation. Dr. William Hammesfahr, Nobel prize nominee and neurologist testified that Terri's neck injuries are consistent with only one type of injury: that of strangulation.- go here:

While outside Woodside hospice, we as Not Dead Yet reminded journalists of the other side, the side that protects civil luberties- We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. We did interviews with CNN, MSNBC, The New York times, People magazine, and all of the local affiliates from Florida including broadcast and print news. I personally did interviews with People, Channel 13 news, The St. Petersburg Times, the Spanish and French free press, and others that came up to us after hearing our testimony while on the ground. It was not until I began my own interviews questioning people that I began to understand there was a hidden force at work here that at the time I did not yet understand. When I returned home it was the 12th day that Terri had been deprived of food and water. Knowing she could not last much longer and wanting passionately to do something about it, I began to review all the details of the case, hoping that I could find something to aide her.

It wasn't until Michael won, $250,000 in a malpractice settlement for Terri in August of 1992; and $750,000 for Terri, $300,000 for himself in November of 1992, that he decided to stop all rehabilitation and therapy for Terri. He had testified that he loved Terri and wanted to take care of her for the rest of his life. The settlement was based on Terri needing rehabilitative therapy for the next 50 years. Once it became clear that Terri was not receiving any therapy, Mary and Bob Schindler Sr., consulted with Mark I. Shames about gaining custody of their daughter because of the differing opinions with Michael over her therapy. Shames, who became Sixth Circuit Court judge soon thereafter, inherited their guardianship case, and should have disqualified himself per Florida Code of Judicial Conduct which dictates that a judge is mandated to disqualify himself in a proceeding in which he has personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding and if the judge has served as a lawyer (or been consulted) in the matter in controversy. Shames however did not, and on May 6, 1997, received a letter from Deborah Bushnell urging him to inform the Schindler's of Michael Schiavo's intent to move Terri to a hospice and have her feeding tube removed; stating that the issue of withdrawal or refusal of medical treatment for the ward "is a difficult issue in this case and that the ward's parents will need to be involved".

This should have been a non-issue because Terri was not terminal or in danger of dying, and therefore did not need the services of a hospice, where she would not receive rehabilitative therapy, dental, or gynecological care; besides at that period in time, food and water were not yet deemed "medical treatment." Upon learning of Michael's intent, Shames should have removed him as guardian of Terri for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act - Cf 28 CFR, Ch 1, Subpart B, Sect 35.130, "Nothing in the Act or this part authorizes the representative or guardian of an individual with a disability to decline food, water, medical treatment, or medical services for that individual" and Florida statute 744.474(2 ) requiring that the guardian protect the rights of the ward, provide for her health and safety, properly manage her financial resources and help her regain her abilities to the maximum extent possible.- go here:

But instead of removing Michael as guardian, Shames approved the hiring of George Felos, a known euthanasia advocate/author, chairman of the Hospice of Florida Suncoast board; as Michael's legal counsel, illegally allowing him to be paid from Terri's trust fund, a violation of Florida statute 744.474(2). The weirdness continues as Felos then files a petition before Sixth Circuit Court Judge George Greer in May of 1998, to remove Terri's feeding tube, moving the proceedings all the way to Clearwater, and still at a time when food and hydration through a feeding tube is not considered artificial support. So why would Felos specifically petition George Greer and why would Greer allow Felos to petition for something not even considered a possibility by Florida statutes?

Even stranger to fathom, while the case is pending, on April 6, 1999 - House Bill 2131 was introduced in the legislature by the Florida Elder Affairs & Long-Term Care Committee to amend Section 765 (Civil Rights) of the Florida Statutes. Two weeks later, the legislature Committee on Judiciary recommended that House Bill 2131 should also change the Section 765.101 legal definition of life prolonging procedures to add: "including artificially provided sustenance and hydration which sustains, restores or supplants a spontaneous vital function."
In October, 1999, a year after the case was filed, led by Senator James King, the Florida Legislature changed Florida law to include assisted feeding to be artificial life support and Greer retroactively applied the law back to 1985 when Michael bases Terri told him she would not want to be kept alive by artificial means. Strange coincidence or did Felos know that somehow the law would be changed, and if he did somehow know, why would such powerful forces including the governor want to side with him on this issue?- go here:

Jan 24, 2000 - Bench trial began to decide whether to remove Terri's feeding tube. Pamela Campbell, represented the Schindler's free of charge after inheriting the case, buying out Shames law practice once he became judge. During the trial she allowed Michael Schiavo to testify about Terri's condition, when only a medically qualified expert should be allowed to render medical opinion, and also allowed him to admit into testimony, hearsay which supports the idea that Terri never wanted to be kept alive in such condition, supported by hearsay from Michael's brother, and sister-in-law. go here:

Once a case is tried and decision made on the merits, it is virtually impossible to have the decision reversed on appeal. Appellate courts review the merits of the case, not the credibility of the witness and thus when Greer ruled that Michael Schiavo's self-serving hearsay testimony was credible that Terri would not want to be kept alive, the die was cast for a denial at every appellate level. In some cases where the verdict is rendered by a jury and trial error has a substantial impact on a case, the appellate court will overturn a jury verdict due to their decision being improperly influenced. However, this does not hold true in the case of a bench trial where the judge is the alleged fact finder and decision maker." Is it again coincidence that Pamela Campbell, who also contributed to Greer, would take the case free of charge and then make the two biggest mistakes, for which denial of every appeal all the way up to the Supreme Court of Florida, and United States, was based upon? Just as suspicious she states, "we do not doubt she's in a permanent vegetative state" allowing many facts presented by Felos, which are now in dispute.

In April, 2000, without knowledge or consent of her parents, Michael Schiavo and George Felos, move Terri illegally from the Palm Gardens Nursing Home where she had been staying to Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park, operated by Hospice of Florida Suncoast. Dr. Victor Gambone, her attending physician at the Palm Gardens nursing home, refused to sign the certificate of need, testifying under oath that Terri was healthy and that her move was ordered by Michael Schiavo and not him. On Feb. 11, 2000, Greer signed the first order authorizing Michael to remove Terri's feeding tube, ruling that Michael's hearsay testimony had constituted clear and convincing evidence that Terri would not want to live 'artificially.' On April 24, 2001 her feeding tube was removed.
On April 26, Cindy Shook calls up a radio station and tells them that while dating Michael, he told her "this had destroyed his life and he was being robed of a normal life." And that Terri never spoke to him about advanced directives, "How the hell should I know we never spoke about this, my God I was only 25 years old. How the hell should I know? We were young. We never spoke of this." Schindler attorney Pat Anderson filed an emergency motion claiming Michael Schiavo failed in his duties as a guardian because he did not uphold Florida statute 744.472 (2), that he is an adulterer and has had a child by his mistress, that he spent all of Terri's money in an attempt to kill her rather than rehabilitate her. Terri deserves the right to divorce this adulterer.

Terri has the absolute right to receive necessary services and rehabilitation based upon Florida statute 744.3215, but Michael has confined Terri "to the "death row" of Hospice instead of leaving her in a nursing facility where she would receive the services and rehabilitation required by law. He systematically isolated Terri and deprived her of sensory input, cruelly restricted and prevented visitors of whom he does not approve. He is required by law prepare and present an annual plan under Florida statute 744.3675, however throughout his tenure as guardian, Michael has filed the annual plans late or not at all, and has provided incomplete and inaccurate information, intentionally withheld information concerning Terri's true condition: that she is conscious, aware and can swallow.

The Adult Protective Services Act (Chapter 415 of the Florida Statutes) affords protection to disabled persons from abuse, neglect and exploitation, and Terri is entitled to the protections afforded by this law. Anderson also cites The Wasting, Embezzlement, or Other Mismanagement of the Ward's Property and the Improper Management of the Ward's Assets - Fla. Stat. §§ 744.474 (7) and 744.474 (16), Development of a Conflict of Interest Between the Ward and the Guardian - §744.474 (11), Guilt of an Offense Prohibited Under Fla. Stat. §§ 435.03 and 744.474 (12), Failure to Fulfill the Guardianship Education Requirements - . §744.474 (15), and After Appointment, the Guardian Has Become a Disqualified Person as Set Forth in Fla. Stat. §§ 744.309 (3) and 744.474 (18) - Pat Anderson 11-15-02 Petition to remove MS as guardian, upon filing of a civil suit by the Schindler's and upon hearing of new evidence by Cindy Shook, 2nd District Circuit Court Judge Frank Quesada ordered Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted.
Cindy Shook later testifies that Michael Schiavo had stalked her numerous times and even run her off the road. "One time he was behind me in traffic he got next to me in a two-lane going the same way, and he changed lanes basically right on top of where I was at, and I had to swerve not to be hit. I had to swerve off the road. Michael ran me off the road. I considered it as stalking, dangerous and guessed potentially life threatening." While any unbiased judge would and should have recognized these claims as reasonable to relieve Michael of his guardianship responsibilities, and open an investigation into why Terri was in the state she was in. Greer instead on August 7, 2001, again sides with Michael, ruling he may remove Terri's feeding tube.

On October 15, 2003, Terri's feeding tube is removed. Acting quickly on October 20, The Florida House of Representatives passed "Terri's Law," that allows the governor to issue a "one-time stay in certain cases." On October 21, The Florida Senate passes the bill; then Governor Bush issued an executive order directing reinsertion of Terri's feeding tube and appointment of a guardian ad litem. Shortly after that, Terri's feeding tube is reinserted. It is at this point that something really weird happens- the wording of artificial means of receiving food and hydration somehow becomes just food and hydration. If you look closely at Terri's law, the meaning somehow shifts and while the courts spend the next months battling over the constitutionality of Terri's Law and the separation of powers, the wording of the bill sets-up Judge Greer's illegal February 25th, 2004 order "absent a stay from the appellate courts, the guardian, Michael Schiavo, shall cause the removal of nutrition and hydration from the ward, Theresa Schiavo, at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 18, 2005."

Somehow between the passing of Terri's Law to Judge Greer's February 25th decree, food and water by mouth, became clumped in with food and hydration as supported by a feeding tube. This decree is what caused numerous people even a 10 year old boy to be arrested outside Woodside hospice for trying to take a cup of water to Terri. This is also the order that doomed Terri to die and restricted her family from giving her food by mouth. Michael did not even want to allow Last Rites for fear of Terri receiving nourishment. It also limited the Governor's authority to "a one-time stay in preventing the withholding of nutrition and hydration from a patient."

On March 31,2005, Terri dies at 9:05 a.m. Her body is transported to the Pinellas Country Coroners' Office for an autopsy. On April 2nd, Judge Greer denied a request from a Florida newspaper for summaries of alleged previous investigations conducted by DCF concerning alleged abuse of Terri who sustained serious brain damage as the result of suspicious circumstances in 1990. "In another emerging revelation, another neurologist who examined the timeline of Terri's brain scans found that for the first three days of her initial hospitalization in 1990, her brain scans were normal. Then suddenly, on the sixth day, her brain scan showed evidence of a massive injury. He concludes that Terri was hit on the head and suffered intracranial hemorrhage while in the hospital. The physician maintains that she did not suffer her brain damage outside the hospital but while she was hospitalized."- go here:

Florida statutes expressly prohibit assisted suicide or euthanasia. 765.309 Florida Statute: Mercy Killing of Euthanasia Not Authorized; Suicide Distinguished. -- (1) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to condone, authorize, or approve mercy killing or euthanasia, or to permit any affirmative or deliberate act of omission to end the life other than to permit the natural process of dying. (2) The withholding or withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures from a patient in accordance with any provision of this chapter does not, for any purpose, constitute a suicide. 458.326 Florida Statute: Intractable Pain; Authorized Treatment. -- (4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to condone, authorize, or approve mercy killing or euthanasia, and no treatment authorized by this section may be used for such purpose. 782.08 Florida Statute: Assisting Self-Murder. -- Every person deliberately assisting another in the commission of self-murder shall be guilty of manslaughter, a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s.775.082, s. 775.083 or s.775.084.- go here:

Many soldiers joined the military as a result of how they felt when the Twin Towers fell on that fateful day in lower Manhattan, September 11th, 2001. They had determined to take a patriotic stance in defense of our nation, to do something that might protect their families and the lives of their children. Some had joined the military as a way to escape mediocre jobs, a desperate economy, and lives of restlessness with friends, who like them, had no sense of optimism for what the future hold. Many lean on the military to discipline themselves, access adventure while at the same time invest in later education as follow-up to a military career. Some joined as military reserves thinking limited service a great way of supplementing income without necessarily having to devote all of oneself to full time service. And so they joined at a time when they knew our nation was to go to war. This would be their way of honoring those who had in other times stood up in defense of our nation. 300,000 had so far served tours of duty in Iraq, many returned lives intact able to go on to other things. Others though would find themselves critically injured, facing futures with life long disabilities.

21 year old, Jay Briseno from Manassas Park, Va., was in Baghdad on a sweltering afternoon in June 2003 when out of nowhere a bullet pierced the back of his neck. The army rushed Briseno to one hospital after another, saving him from multiple heart attacks and strokes until finally he stabilized enough to be shipped back stateside. Briseno is a high level quadriplegic tethered to a respirator forgotten by the war that rages on without him, chewing up other young men and women, leaving them equally destroyed families left to help out where they can.

His care was left to his parents and sisters initially as all struggled to adjust. His father, Joe quit his job to be with his son. "From the beginning all we got from the VA was lip service. They questioned every piece of equipment we asked for. They told us Jay should be in an institution. They told us to give up on him. We were desperate when these people from the Army called and said, Do you have what you need? Is there any way we can help?" Thousand's like the Briseno family will be forced to navigate the difficult and often frustrating course of learning about the benefits and services of disabled veterans. With ongoing cuts to the VA and benefits for veterans, the fight to maintain services for those returning from the Iraq war is an uphill battle.

A few weeks after the Iraq war started and just 3 days before President Bush spent the Memorial Day weekend thanking the nation's veterans for their service, he proposed slashing Veteran's health care by $1 billion next year. An administration memo proposed a 3.4 percent cut in the Veterans Administration budget for 2005, from $29.7 billion to $28.7 billion, this follows other cutbacks since George W. became president. It is not that there is a lack of funding for the military, in fact this year we will spend $16.9 billion more on military increasing funding to $399.1 billion dollars. America spends more on military spending than the combined annual spending of the next 18 nation's combined.
You would think that the President and our congress would find it a priority to take care of those who give of themselves to defend our freedoms. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat from Illinois' 9th Congressional District said, "I find it incomprehensible that a plan to reduce benefits for veterans in Illinois and across the country would even be contemplated at a time when hundreds of thousands of active-duty soldiers are risking their lives in Iraq. I join the Disabled American Veterans in asking, Is there is no honor left in the hallowed halls of our government that you choose to dishonor the sacrifices of our nation's heroes and rob our programs--health care and disability compensation--to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.''

For decades, the Veterans Administration has struggled to keep up with providing health care to the 7.5 million veterans enrolled. At any one time, more than 3,000 vets await their first visit to the doctor. Those whose injuries from battle qualify them for disability compensation wait six months to two years to receive it. Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, have waited 54 days on average to get their first veteran disability compensation checks. With VA's costs increasing by 10% to 15% a year, and newly disabled veterans draining resources the system is under a serious strain. According to David Uchic, spokesman for Paralyzed Veterans of America. "It doesn't just end with them going to Walter Reed [Army Medical Center in Washington] and being treated. This is a lifelong situation for them for the next 60 to 80 years. So is the system going to be ready to serve them for all those years? That is the question."

The next question is how many have been hurt from this war? The Pentagon defines both combat related and non-combat related injury and death. Their official tally shows only deaths and wounded in action. It doesn't include "non-combat" injured, those whose injuries were not the result of enemy fire. The 'official' count of injured in Iraq according to a UPI press release dated November 14th, 2004 has just now surpassed 9,200. However, if you study the number of soldiers flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the U.S. military hospital in Germany that receives all injured soldiers evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan and the number of soldiers back in the States trying to get Veterans benefits, actual numbers swell to over 42,000 and this does not include the number of soldiers who will return and then go through post traumatic stress disorder as many soldiers did upon return from Viet Nam.

Bullets, RPG's, and mortar rounds discriminate less about casualty and being killed than our government's definition of being wounded in action. The Pentagon will only recognize a soldier's sacrifice for our country under the strictest mandate and interpretations of what it means to acquire a combat related injury. Take the case of Joel Gomez for instance, Gomez, was riding in the back of a Bradley fighting vehicle hunting insurgents on a dirt road when the ground gave way and they ended up rolling down the mountain. They landed upside-down in the Tigris River. Both of his buddies were killed and Gomez became a quadriplegic unable to move. Though he was in a military situation, doing a mission that was combat related the Pentagon defined him as "non-combat injured."

Another example: Chris Schneider, a young Kansas father, part of a Reserve unit providing security for a supply convoy traveling 100 miles through hostile territory, was injured when another convoy of heavy equipment transporters slammed into his truck throwing him 50 feet through the air until he landed on the road. The second transport in that convoy locked up brakes, sliding 50 feet until it came to rest on his pelvis wedging his lower leg into the axle. Schneider now uses an artificial leg and walks with a limp. According to 60 minutes which did this interview, he too is not counted on the Pentagon's casualty count.

Though it doesn't make sense to the soldiers that have returned from Iraq, 62 year old civilian Gene Bolles has a good idea. Dr. Bolles has spent two years at the hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, where he specializes in brain and spinal injuries. As a neurosurgeon with 32 years of practice, he admits he has never seen trauma to this degree. He says, "What you see on TV and what you see in reality, is like night and day. The embedding of the journalists made the war out to be like a football game. The true effects of war are not reported at all. In fact, the Bush administration has forbidden journalists from taking pictures of wounded or dead soldiers or even the hundreds of caskets that have been flown in from war. Many have said that the administration does not want what happened during Vietnam to happen today, that being loss of popular support for the war. Especially in wake of no weapons of mass destruction, no connection to Al-Qaeda, no imminent threat, and the UN stance of the war against Iraq being an illegal war."

60 Minutes asked the Department of Defense for an interview on non-combatant injury- totals. The DOD declined but sent a letter alleging "More than 15,000 troops with so-called 'non-battle' injuries and diseases have been evacuated from Iraq." However, Dr. Bolles says, "I've seen figures that are now upwards of 30,000. I know that at least 20,000 have been air-evacuated into the Landstuhl system." According to some veteran groups, 33,000 have sought VA care, 26,000 have filed VA disability claims, and 10,000 have sought VA counseling. With the Pentagon's official casualty number exceeding 9,200 and unofficial 'non-combative' injury number exceeding 33,000, America better get ready for a whole population of soldiers that will need her support. I ask you for the sake of those soldiers who fight because they believe in America and the democracy we represent to the world, call your Representatives and your Senators and tell them to support Veteran's benefits as many, many will need them. Our government owes responsibility to those people sent off to fight wars we insist necessary. Should they become injured during the process of any engagement, we should absolutely and without question, honor their service by providing all the things which will aide in their return from war and reintegration back into American society.

This was my second world cup event and first time ever competing against quadriplegics from other parts of the world. Because in America there are only two quadriplegic fencers, Tony Boatright and myself, we do not usually have the luxury of fighting in C-class and regularly get stuck fighting B-class with the higher level paraplegics; and because of the way direct elimination is set-up much like tennis the number one seed fights the last place seed. So we in C-class not only have to fight B-class fencers, but we always get stuck fighting the best B-class fencers because of the structure of direct elimination. So you other quadriplegics out there, I implore you to get involved with fencing as it is a wonderful sport and we need at least 2 more quad fencers here in the United States to have our own class in national competitions. If you are a little too weak to compete in quad rugby then perhaps fencing will be your sport, I am a C-5 complete with no trace of working triceps. We also need more women fencers to get involved so that women's fencing can like quadriplegic fencing become more varied and competition friendly.

It was a grand spectacle to be witness to such a huge gathering of countries and cultures as languages mixed with a dialogue of swordplay as fencers took to frames and strips to battle for points. There are 3 weapons for men and 2 weapons for women to compete in. A World Cup is much like the Paralympics minus the other sports; it was a unique look into world competition and athletes that spend their lives training to be best in the world at what they do. Disability always seems to be associated to missing or lacking something- movement, abilities, independence, however, these athletes are redefining what disability means. Anyone that was witness to this event and quality of competition would never have thought of anything as being amiss or lacking.

Three weapons are fought in fencing- epee, foil, and sabre. Epee is a long thin thrusting rapier type weapon with a blunt tip at the end that depresses inward once contact is made. The way a fencer scores is by hitting their opponent anywhere above the waist, in the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder, body, or head. Epee is a first blood type weapon in that the way you score is by making contact with your opponent's body before they can reach and score on you. Also with epee both combatees can score at the same time as long as their attacks are near simultaneous. Foil is a thinner lighter type weapon with the same kind of blunt depressing tip. With foil there is a smaller bellguard (bellguard is what protects the hand in epee fencing because the hand is a legal target area and therefore needs a larger belllguard to protect it from attack) because the only legal target areas are to the midsection, shoulder, back with arm hand and head not counting as scoring options. Also in foil one must have what is called 'right of way' which basically means one must have the right of attack to score a point. It is sort of like in volleyball when a team must be serving to gain a point. Foil is similiar in that one must parry (deflect an opponent's attack) to then have 'right of way' to score on your opponent. Foil is characterized by a lot of 'off target' shots that don't count because of the limited target area. Sabre is a slashing and thrusting type weapon that has a long slender blade and is held more like a machete or a cutlass than a rapier. There is no depressing tip on the weapon as the whole length of the blade is used to score on one's opponent. In sabre one can attack any part of the body waist up with head, hand, wrist, arm, shoulder, and body being all legal target areas. Sabre is another weapon characterized by the 'right of way' aspect of fencing.

These weapons are connected by wire to a scoring box that counts touches as fencers score on each other. The judge says fencers ready, then fence, so that the fencers know when to start their attacks and dialogue of swordplay. The way the tournament broke down was with men fighting epee on Friday and women fighting foil. Saturday men fought foil and women fought epee. Sunday the men fought sabre. Women do not fight sabre as it has been mentioned to me that there is simply not enough interest in the sport.

I would like to congratulate my friends from the American Team - Tony Boatright, who got two silver medals in foil and epee, Curtis Lovejoy, who captured bronze in Sabre, Gerard Moreno, who also captured bronze in sabre, Scott Rodgers who captured silver in foil, and luckily myself for capturing two bronze medals in epee and foil. I give final thanks to my coach, Janusz Mylnarz, for dedicating his time to the Shepherd Team. Much thanks to all the volunteers who committed time and effort to this event and special thanks to Audra and Brock for dedicating their every Saturday morning, afternoon to aiding us in our practices. To the rest of the Shepherd staff that I did not name specifically, thanks for all of your help and for cheering us on when we were fighting fencers from other parts of the world.

I would like to mention one last thing. Even though the American team walked away with 5 medals in this World Cup, I feel that in order for us to compete at the levels of the Hong Kong, Polish, French, British, and Kuwaiti Teams, we must have further corporate and private sponsorships, so that we can practice more often than we are. Those aforementioned teams live near each other and get paid to just fight and represent their countries. The Hong Kong team is fighting 6 hours a day 6 days a week. The Kuwaiti's fight two 4 hour sessions, six days a week. The Hong Kong, Kuwaiti, Polish, and French fencers are right now, the best in the world. Most of my teammates on the American Team have jobs they must work just to get by. We practice together once a week for 3 hours, with the rest of our training coming on our own. All of us would love to be able to just focus on fencing, but are not able to because of having to make a living. If it were not for Shepherd and The United States Paralympic Committee, we would not even be able to what we are doing.

She used a specialized wheelchair and enjoyed aquatics, music and pet therapy. She loved special days, events at school, and spending time outdoors with her peers. She loved her family and enjoyed many activities including walks, music, sleigh rides, wiener roasts, bonfires, and watching television, especially hockey games. Despite her many medical problems, Tracy was a happy girl who showed her likes and dislikes by smiling or frowning and laughing with others. A child care worker at Tracy's school, where Tracy spent 8 hours a day, testifies that she was no more physically or mentally disabled than 9 other students at the center where she worked. Tracy died on the 23rd of October 1993 murdered by her father, Robert Latimer.

On Jan. 18 2001, Canada's highest court ordered the already convicted killer Robert Latimer to begin serving a life sentence for the murder of his 12-year-old daughter in 1993. Three years earlier, an appeals judge tried to reduce his sentence to a year in jail and a year of house arrest because the media and the Canadian public felt empathy for Latimer as a father who unfortunately had a child with 'severe' disability. Latimer asphyxiated his daughter by piping exhaust fumes into a pickup truck holding her captive. Latimer claims the murder was out of love and compassion.

The grounds of his appeal include his contention that, "The learned trial judge erred in law in not charging the jury that he had the legal right to decide to commit suicide for his daughter, by virtue of her complete absence of physical and intellectual abilities." He remained a free man for 6 years pending appeals. More than 75 percent of the Canadian population sympathizes with Latimer's actions and say courts should be more lenient for cases involving 'mercy killing'. A web page was set-up to aid Latimer's lawyers in plans to apply for a parliamentary pardon and $100,000 dollars was raised to service his defense. The vast majority of Canadian people favor his early release from prison with some offering to serve one-month periods of his jail time for him.

Let me try to understand this... a man kills his 12 year old daughter and not only does the public cry out in his defense, but they raise money to fight for his freedom and offer to serve his jail time for him. Does the 'normal' able- bodied populace really believe people with disabilities are better off decimated? Do they really believe our lives so unworthy of living?

24th of October 1993 Robert Latimer carried Tracy to his pickup truck, seated her in the cab, and inserted a hose from the truck's exhaust pipe into the cab. Tracy died from the carbon monoxide. The accused at first maintained that Tracy had simply passed away in her sleep, but later confessed to having taken her life. 1st of November 1993, Royal Canadian Police receive toxicology reports revealing that Tracy's blood was 80 percent saturated with carbon monoxide. The sudden-death investigation is reclassified to homicide-murder. 4th of November 1993, police arrive at the Latimer farm, question Robert Latimer, and eventually arrest him and charge him with first degree murder. Latimer confesses to killing Tracy, spends 8 days in jail, and is released from custody under conditions. In later testimony he says, "I honestly don't believe there was ever any crime committed here."

5th of December 1994, Ryan Wilkieson, a 16 year old with cerebral palsy, is murdered by his mother, Cathy, who commits suicide. Carbon monoxide is the cause of both deaths. This is 19 days after Robert Latimer was convicted and at the height of public outpouring of support for Latimer. On The 6th of November 1996, his mother, Danielle, in their Montreal home, drowns Charles Blais, who has autism. Blais attempted suicide unsuccessfully. Originally charged with first-degree murder she later agrees to accept a plea of guilty to manslaughter after psychiatric reports. 2 July 1997--Danielle Blais receives a 23 month suspended sentence for the drowning death of her disabled son, Charles, thus escaping jail time. The judge rejects the Crown's call for a 3-year sentence. Instead of jail, Blais will spend the first year of her sentence in a half way house, submit to psychiatric treatment and find a job. The Autism Society of Greater Montreal offers her a part-time job fund raising.

So in Canada a father kills his daughter and because she is 'disabled' and confined to a wheelchair the media portrays him as almost a hero. Because disability is perceived as hardship society contends our lives to be unworthy of living. What is going on here and where did these people get such distorted misconceptions? A mother kills her son and not only does she not have to serve any time in jail but the agency who should have been advocating for the life of the child she killed offers her a part time job so she won't have to be incarcerated. How does that make sense? Clearly people feel confident that disabled living has far less value than non-disabled life.

Can you imagine the out cry the public would have over a father killing his 12 year old daughter or a mother drowning her young son if disability were not in the picture. What then makes the 'mercy killing' of anyone with a disability humane isn't the killing of any person a crime and atrocity? Parents, society, culture, are entrusted to provide for all children; no matter what state or what form they come into being. All life is precious. Life with a disability can be especially rewarding for establishing relationship with things outside of the realm of normal routine. Who are we to deny life just because some view it as unworthy? Society has upheld many views and biases, which had to be modified over time. We must allow and enable all individuals, no matter their struggle, disability, or disposition, to the chance and destinies that God ordained for their/our lives.

People with disabilities have made up a large part of the population for a long time and we will not simply go away. With the advent of new technologies individuals with disabilities no matter how severe are finding greater opportunity to interact and find worth/joy in living. The public is responsible for fostering life choices for children growing up with disabilities not encourage mercy killing or even physician assisted suicide.

With greater medical miracles being pulled off, we must be focused into empowering life and people. There must be more effort placed into increasing the quality of being for children growing up with disabilities. Like Stephen Hawking, sometimes disability is what grants provision to genius. I find in my life disability gives me time to pursue my truest passions. Who knows what children with disability will contribute to society if just given a chance.

"This case, and more than the case, the public response to the case, served as a powerful wake up call for many in the disabled community. It conveyed to us how very precarious our status in society is, if a life can be taken and there is a kind of public endorsement of that act. It forced us to realize we all have to be involved in fighting this dangerous threat to our very lives."
-Catherine Frazee

A few individuals, who having advocated loudly and boldly for themselves found each other to be pioneers in leadership positions voicing the concerns of the disabled population. Having secured state grants and established a CIL, they found one obstacle in their path to inclusion-transportation. ADAPT which at that time meant American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation found its members were unable to get to and hold jobs because of the lack of accessible public transportation. ADAPT then met with legislators, mayors, councils, boards, etc. to resolve, or at least make known the kind of problems persons with disabilities faced in everyday situations of life. After a year of serious effort, working the proper channels and lobbying for accomodation there was no recourse. It was decided that further steps would be necessary.

So, 19 individuals armed in anger, discouraged, decided to stage a civil protest which later transformed into civil disobedience, to bring the media attention to their cause. This appealing to the media is ADAPT's mainstay and the most powerful tool it has come to utilize to appeal to its truth. Together they lay seige to the local bus depot and bound themselves handcuffed in front and across the exit and entrance to the facility. The media blitz in short time made known their declaration for independence. The mayor obviously flustered sent word no person in a wheelchair was to be arrested. Passioned chants stayed their hearts and for 36 hours they remained through the cold dark Colorado night while deliberations were discussed.

Within one year, all of the buses in Denver, Colorado were made accessible,-The direct result of one act of civil disobedience. And though ADAPT has come to be affiliated with arrest and acts of civil protest, it more truly stands for change and civil rights for all. And it having gravitated to becoming what it is now this day in this strange time, does what is necessary to shed light on those issues which are important to the community as a whole.

Currently ADAPT is working and largely focused on the issue of long term care in our nation. In fact though ADAPT now stands for many things, for years now it has been known as American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today and has successfully encouraged Newt Gingrich to introduce into legislation a bill called MiCASA HR2020, the Medicaid Community Attendants Services Act which would redirect institutionally biased funds back into home/community base services at 1/3 the cost of current spending.

ADAPT understands there are many paths to the same place and many ways to get the same things done. When good legislative work and months of lobbying government halls, visiting governors, legislators, politicians, sitting on board after board with years long commissions fails and one gets fed up with the right way, then one will find ADAPT taking over those offices and boards demanding compliance not years from now but right then and there.

The old way is fine for people who have time but in the meantime our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters are dying horrific deaths in straggled environments debilitating to any livid soul. They need inspiration, inclusion, choice soon to redeem their spirits. If other measures fail to succeed this is where ADAPT steps in unafraid and undaunted. Other measures are what ADAPT is good at.

Those other measures can be simple gatherings, groupings of individuals of like mind, empowering each other and one another to confront and bring awareness to issues of high regard to persons linked intimately to disabilities. This can be done in any state, any city, any town, or any neighborhood if there is one individual that is enough of an outspoken and confident person to gather individuals of similar interests and circumstance, who will familiarize him/herself enough with the basic issues to be a driving force for change; who will bring people together to talk about what to do, and then act upon it, do something about it, and not just have meeting after meeting about what could be done someday.

Go to the people that make the policies and the procedures, and confront them, ask them why it is as it is and then present them with resolutions or at least discuss with them resolutions face to face as a group. If they don't want to have a meeting, go to their office and create a meeting. They are in your office getting paid by your money.

Take with you the support of film either your own or better even, that of the local media. This is key. The media everywhere is usually openly willing to cover civil rights issues. So it isn't even a matter of getting them interested but making them aware of issues as they affect us in discriminating against federally mandated legislation. Usually only a phone call from a well-spoken, well-informed individual will do to spur interest. With the power of film on one's side there is no contested facts of whether violations occur. Documentation on film cannot be falsified or excused away. This can and is the greatest force for change for the continuation of the independent living philosophy.

Especially for higher-level quadriplegics like myself, dependent on others for independence, the American dream can seem like just that, a dream. But we can dream and we deserve every right to fill our lives with things we love and love to do. I admit I didn't see it at first that I didn't believe I could ever hold what was then in my mind a normal relationship. My girlfriend Kristen, who had been living with me in California, flew back to join me in Georgia, but it was too hard for us to relate again from a space of unfamiliarity.

I just wanted a hole to hide in, at least for a little while. I pushed away all my friends and contacts because I didn't want anyone to see me or I them. I shut myself off deliberately so that I could go into a cocoon and not come out until I knew something other than pain. I had to deal with learning to try to live as fully and as independently as functionality allowed. This was all new to me and I was not ready for any of it.

As my body began to stabilize and I became somewhat used to paralysis and what I was feeling, I could then open myself up to that kind of relating. Many things for me preceded how I felt about love. Even though I had been dating people since the early stages of my disability, it wasn't until about 2 years post injury that the numbness started to give a little and I would let people in. Still trying to sort through my feelings and understand the feelings of my partners, I felt I was in better space to assess some of those aspects of my life.

I didn't have a lot of answers and knew that it would be a long process for me to recover. I found myself readily persuaded by love in many different relationships. All of us want to share our most intimate thoughts and secret wishes with someone special. We crave internally to love with someone in the various ways of pleasure. We want others to love us and need us in their lives. Disabled or not, love makes life feel worthy of living. And it sure had thrown an interesting twist in mine. With time and practice I began to find a place for love in my life and how to play an active role in it for those I dated.

I have been in many relationships post injury and the one thing I know for sure about love is, that it happens. It is like the sun in its coming and going, the seasons, flowers dying and coming to bloom. Like lightning or the rainbow happening in moments of ripe beauty and miracle. Love happens. I, understand, your worried confusion, but don't sweat the small stuff.

If your recently injured, use this time to mend and pick up the pieces. It will be hard enough to deal with helping yourself than to worry about the feelings of another. When the time is right the right person will appear. Someone for everyone, instead of worrying so much about love, do things for self that bring happiness. Live as well as you can. I learned long ago not to define my happiness with being in love with some significant other. Rather I spend my time in developing skills that I feel define who I am as a person.

Take care of yourself first. Give yourself ample time to reassess who you are and what it is exactly that you want to be. Everything else will happen of its own accord. If your scared that love won't happen again, find a friend to listen, someone to confide with. Many initially injured find time more readily endured when there is someone to share it with and that's understandable. Trust when you are ready, love will happen again.

Just spend your time developing confidence as a person living with disability but not ruled by it. People will sense your strength and be attracted to it. Then it is just a matter of jumping on chance when chance allow. Don't think that love does not happen to people with disabilities or those who use wheelchairs. The universe provides in all strange unfolding when the time is right. I have had many beautiful relationships with people on very intimate levels since my accident and I have learned so much from each.

Carrie Teegardin, exposes many interesting aspects of the nursing home industry that should disturb anyone living within this State. She confirms that not only does Georgia not care if you get good or bad care in a nursing home, but it has set up an incentives program which actually encourages neglected care. The in depth analysis exposes clearly that major nursing home players care only about expense and profit, not about the quality of care for residents, or the fact that their cost cutting measures create the environment for the many violations they receive every year for harming residents. Her recent work allows us to take a comprehensive look into what is really going on in this State.

"Four of the nation's largest nursing home chains run many of the worst homes in Georgia. Their homes also appear to have the largest operating margins - an average of $784,000 per home, compared with about $93,000 for other smaller for-profit-mom-and-pop-facilities." In Georgia it does not matter whether you provide quality care or harmful care to residents, reimbursement rates are the same. For instance, a Jonesboro home run by Beverly enterprises reports one of the highest operating margins in 2001, but in the same year, the home is cited many times, owning one of the worst records in the State for harming its own residents.

Sunbridge Healthcare, where the Carr brothers were murdered, operated 6 nursing homes in GA with daily staffing levels below minimal standards required by Medicaid. When Carol Carr shot her son's there 2 months ago, Sunbridge was found to be understaffed more often than any other home in the state, but instead of being fined, "the state paid tens of thousands of dollars as reward for keeping costs down." 5 of their 6 homes grossed $300,000 the same year. Ansley Pavilion, one of Georgia's worst homes until it closed in December 2000, received incentive payments for keeping staff and other costs low, even while inspectors cited the Midtown Atlanta home for insufficient staff, patient abuse and neglect.

"3 of every 4 nursing homes in GA are run by national chains. Georgia and other sunbelt states have some of the highest concentrations of for-profit-homes in the country." The AJC analysis found after analyzing data that the system rewards nursing homes that keep their patient care expenses down. Trying to save tax dollars, Georgia's Medicaid program each year doles out hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonus payments as an incentive for homes that spend the least. Those bonuses are paid even where government inspectors have found residents in danger. The current system offers no bonuses to homes with the best record of quality care.

Staff at Savannah Home Kindred Care neglected to call a doctor more than 36 hours after a resident began vomiting violently. The man died in September, a day after going to the emergency room for a broken hip, bowel obstruction, and high white cell count. State inspection records cited Kindred Homes 80 times for actual harm in the past 4 years. A Jonesboro home run by Beverly Enterprises, was cited when an inspector found a woman with numerous bedsores lying in linens soaked with urine and feces that had contaminated her wound dressings. Staff did not even immediately address the problem even after being pointed out the problem. Beverly Homes was cited 78 times for harming residents in the past four years. A Rome home run by Sunbridge Healthcare was cited after a resident reports being sexually molested twice, by a staff member who drew curtains around her bed at night, to kiss and fondle her. Sunbridge's homes have been cited 68 times in past 4 years.
"Staffing was so thin at 33 homes on average that they violated minimal daily staffing levels every day last year, and never had to pay any retribution because state regulators never enforce the requirement. Medicaid officials promised in December to demand accountability, but have yet to enforce the minimums." In Georgia, we have some of the lowest-trained, paid, and educated people, doing bedside care. Most don't stick to their jobs because of the overwhelming workload and low hourly wages. No two people anywhere can properly attend decently, the needs of 15 to 24 people a night, day in and day out. Only four other states have average staffing levels of nurses and nurse's aides that are lower than Georgia's. Nurse's aides here earn an average wage of $7.40 an hour, among the lowest in the nation. Fast-food cooks make nearly as much -- $6.56 on average.

"In Georgia, where for-profit-homes dominate the industry, nursing homes have the goal of making money." The analysis shows that facilities operated by four national chains earn much higher operating margins and poorer inspection records than the other nursing homes. State inspectors wrote up the five national chains' homes for substandard care 65 percent more often than the cited other for-profit- homes over the last 4 years. When Governor Barnes took office, he increased state payments to nursing homes operators, who so happen to have been a major contributor in his past campaigns, donating $1.1 million dollars to both his 1998 and 2002 campaigns.

Back in 1997, Bob Kafka of ADAPT, did a similar insightful comparative study, but instead of nursing homes he compared states, expenses for community and institutional placement. He then released the information in a "10 Worst in the Nation list." Georgia ranked 7th on that list allowing 85% of the Medicaid Long Term Care dollar to be used in nursing facilities. 7 of the 10 worst states were in the southeastern sunbelt region, with Tennessee topping off the list as being the absolute worst in the nation using 93% of its Medicaid long term care funds to support institutional placement.

Georgia was thrust into national limelight again when the following year, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the case, Olmstead vs. L.C./E.W. challenging State's rights to decide institutional placement and whether it was fair according to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act calling for "most integrated setting." Independent living advocates favored community based services wanting the case to hopingly establish a written agenda for alternatives to institutional placement. The fact that things were so biased here actually helped the U.S. Supreme Court side with people's rights.

This decision set new precedence in long term care policy, forcing State's to create and have a plan for community based care as well as initiative to transition people out of institutional placement into community services, however though the decision gave us a strong foundation to sue States for violating people's civil rights, the enforcement of such litigation is still being pursued. And that's where we're at and why MiCASSA is not yet passed and Georgia can continue its long history of violating citizen's rights.

As long as long-term care policy is directed for the profit of a few, many will continue to suffer. Some advocates like myself don't want to shut down all of the nursing homes in the country. We just want to guarantee quality service and choices. Smaller scale nursing homes like Presbyteran Village mentioned in the AJC report, do honor their residents who enjoy assembly with others of similar circumstance. People find comfort with those experiencing like situation. Even for me, back when first injured , the idea of living amongst a group of young people with disabilities seemed very appealing, therapeutic. Group settings for some, means they are not alone against the world. It's the scariest thing, to be a freak among the masses, always looked at and made fun of.

There is no reason why the nursing home industry, cannot be a inclusive part of the healthy holistic world of long term care serving the elderly, disabled populations in a inspiringly beneficial way. That and the inclusion of community based services nation wide, and enforcement of accountability should force for-profit-harmful-to-resident nursing homes to shut down. They will no longer serve as dumping grounds for people who have nowhere else to go. Community services and facilities providing beautiful space, where individuals can face disease, age, and disability with a clear knowing that their last years will be of comfort and resignation, worry free of neglect, abuse, and enduring pain, will be the ones to survive the weeding out process. Besides wasn't that the promise, wok hard until your 65 so that you can finally settle to pleasurable living

Sources of information referenced by the Sunday articles include:

www.medicare.gov/ inspection data for every nursing home in the nation

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/nursinghomes/index.html
inspection data for Georgia and financial data nowhere else available
 
Based on several articles written by Carrie Teegrardin, a Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

A 'Living Will' is generally described as a signed, witnessed declaration instructing a physician to withhold or withdraw medical treatment from its signer if he or she is in a terminal condition and is unable to make decisions about medical treatment. A Living Will takes rights and control from its signer and gives decision-making authority to a physician. It also gives a physician complete immunity from civil or criminal liability for his or her action or inactions. A 'Living Will' is a document created and promoted by right-to-die groups for the express purpose of leading America down the slippery slope to publically accepted euthanasia.

Who Backs the "Living Wills?"

Most "Living Will" proposals have been written and promoted by the following organizations.

1)  The Society for the Right to Die, which became the
"Euthanasia Society of America" in 1975;
2)  Americans Against Human Suffering (AAHS);
  3)  Concern for Dying (formerly the Euthanasia Educational Council), which
split from the Society for the Right to Die in 1979;
  4)  the National Hemlock Society, which lobbies for direct euthanasia, publishes a "cookbook," or "how-to" manual on suicide; and the Communist backed
5) American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The original concept of the "Living Will" originated with these pro-euthanasia groups, which saw the document as a publicly-acceptable way to introduce the agenda of legalized active euthanasia, suicide, and assisted suicide. None of these organizations uses the term "euthanasia" in their titles preferring clever euphemisms like the "right to die," "death with dignity," and "mercy killing". These groups operate in  states like California, Arizona, and Florida where large elderly and retired populations live. Beware of the Living Will, it can absolutely kill you, and protect those who do it.

The Living Will language is purposefully deceptive  allowing simple wordings to appear harmless until hospital staff tries to interpret end-of-life care as dictated by the 'living will.' Words such as "artificial means," "reasonable expectation of recovery," "relatively short time," "heroic measures," and "terminal" are open to a variety of interpretations which could result in the patient's death. Many of the meanings that could be construed from these words may be contrary to the intent of the Living Will signer. Also, there may be more provisions to a Living Will law than the simple declaration which is signed by the individual. For example, persons seeking to prevent "extraordinary" and "heroic" measures at the end of their lives may unintentionally authorize their own starvation and dehydration. The terms used in a Living Will can be widely interpreted or misinterpreted depending on the hospital and staff. A physician whom the signer may not know and whom holds very different values than the signer, may be the authorized decision maker for a 'living will.'

A report by the Robert Powell center for Medical Ethics of the National Right to Life Committee, released April 15, 2005, just two weeks after the murder of Terri Schiavo proves that starvation/dehydration is a regular form of “treatment” for those whose lives are considered not worth living. When asked, “WILL YOUR ADVANCE DIRECTIVE BE FOLLOWED?” The Report concludes that, "The public overwhelmingly believes patient and family choices for life-preserving measures should be respected, even when health care providers disapprove. However, health care providers are increasingly denying life-preserving measures in contravention of patient and family directives choosing them. Their denial of care as 'futile' is often based on 'quality of life' rather than physiological grounds and that most state laws fail to protect patients and families who want food, fluids, or life support when health care providers deny it."

2 Alternatives to the 'Living Will' which will truly protect you in a time of emergency where a 'living Will' will not include:

The Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care promoted by the International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force

The Will To Live promoted by National Right to Life

The "Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care" is a document in which you can delegate to a trusted friend or family member the power to become your agent for any health care decisions you are unable to make. In the DPAHC one can specify more clearly his or her wishes toward a pro-life position. Your trusted friend or family member who is familiar with your values and wishes would have authority to make health care decisions on your behalf. The DPAHC takes the decisions away from the "establishment" and moves it towards "home." To the medical caregivers, the DPAHC essentially says: "Here is a person upon whom I have often been dependent for love and care in the past. Now, when I can no longer participate in decisions about my medical care, I am content to continue to be dependent upon his (her) love and care. Talk with him about what is best for me."

THE WILL TO LIVE protects your own life and the lives of your family members when you cannot speak for yourselves. It names someone you trust to safeguard your life when you cannot speak for yourself as your "health care agent", names backup agents if your first choice can't serve, describes the treatment you do and do not want to guide your health care agent and physicians, protects your family and health care agent from pressure from health care providers and others by allowing them to prove what you really did want, and it relieves agonizing end-of-life decision making from loved ones making your wishes clear.

Zen Garcia - February 7, 2006

United States Budget

People with disabilities are increasingly being put at risk by the Bush administrations focus on funding the 'war on terror' and the development of a 'police state' in America. "While the Pentagon budget is soaring, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, warns that President Bush is proposing to make cuts in hundreds of domestic programs. This includes education programs, environmental protection programs, numerous programs to assist low-income families, children, and elderly and disabled people, and research related to cancer, heart disease, and other medical conditions. In one case, the Center estimates 420,000 low-income seniors will lose food assistance from the Commodity Supplemental Food Program." The 'war on terror' is simply fueling the terrorists and providing them with massive recruitment opportunities especially when you take into account the torture being perpetuated on muslims as a 'tool' in this war on terror. Homeland Security is doing nothing more than striping Americans of our constitutionally guaranteed rights and civil protections in the name of security. The President's authorization to spy on Americans (mostly anti-war groups which let's you know who the government thinks the enemy is) is currently being hotly debated in congressional hearings as the execuative branch tries to establish dictatorial powers overthrowing constitutional balance in the branches of government.

Most important to Bush Jr. is funding wars of occupation which the American people were purposefully deceived and tricked by lie into supporting. We should be impeaching the President over his refusal to explain the Downing street Memo not authorizing further funding especially when it is now known that over 8.8 billion dollars of tax-payers money simply disappeared and ten's of hundred of millions of dollars were squandered through elaborate schemes to defraud the American tax-payer and the Iraqi citizens who were suppossed to benefit from our assistance.

The Pentagon budget for the financial year beginning on 1 October boosts current spending on defense by 6.9 percent, bringing the total amount spent on the military to a record $439.3 billion. Under the proposed budget, defense spending will increase nearly 7 percent to $440 billion. If approved the Pentagon’s budget will become 45 percent larger than when Bush took office five years ago. One recent estimate put the cost of the Iraq war at $100,000 every minute.

In 2 reports one by Truthout the other by MSNBC details of the plots are detailed including one agent who kept almost $700,000 in cash in an unlocked footlocker and mentions the assistant to the U.S. military coach for an Iraqi sports team gambled away as much as $60,000 in reconstruction funds in the Philippines, poor control over an oil pipeline repair contract that resulted in more than $3 million in overcharges, including billing for work not done.

Other details include how investigators reviewed 43 contracts and found 29 had incomplete or missing documentation. For each of the 29, "We were unable to determine if the goods specified in the contract were ever received, the total amount of payments made to the contractor or if the contractor fully complied with the terms of the contract." An example cited, a contract for 15 double-cab pickup trucks for an Iraqi police department paid $87,500 before the trucks were delivered and an additional $100,000 without getting written records that the trucks arrived at the police department. In an article called "Staggering Amount of Cash Missing in Iraq" Three U.S. senators have called on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to account for 8.8 billion dollars entrusted to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq that is now missing. They pointed to "disturbing findings" from the inspector general's report that the payrolls of some Iraqi ministries, then under CPA control, were padded with thousands of ghost employees. They refer to an example in which CPA paid the salaries of 74,000 security guards although the actual number of employees could not be validated. The report says that in one case some 8,000 guards were listed on a payroll but only 603 real individuals could be counted.

Haliburton overbilled American tax-payers $199 million dollars charging $50 dollars an hour to employees paid less than $5 dollars an hour in Iraq. Investigators looking into Haliburton fraud in Iraq could not track down 52 of 164 randomly selected items in an inventory of more than 20,000 items overseen by KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton. The missing items included two electric generators worth nearly $1 million, 18 trucks or sport utility vehicles and six laptop computers. Auditors were unable to account for $97 million of the $120 million in Iraqi oil revenues earmarked for rebuilding projects. We are wasting millions probably billions of dollars in occupying Iraq and Afghanistan when it is clear we are not wanted there(Iraqi poll Afghani poll) and all the while the borders are wide open with terrorists elements killing Americans right here in our own country but you don't hear the media talking about that.

These wars risk bankrupting our nation with both the trade deficit and national debt at record all time highs. This President has borrowed more money than all other President's combined. Bush has declared a war on the American poor and middle class calling for a reduction in 'non-discretionary spending' while at the same time increasing Defense spending to record levels. People with disabilities are being forced into poverty, starvation, and death while the Pentagon and Defense Department don't even have to account for the billions of dollars they squander.

Bush Jr. claims he will spurn the economy by making permanent the tax-cuts he proposed back in 2001. However careful study of making permanent the proposed tax-cuts benefit only the wealthiest of Americans. In an article entitled "The Cost of Tax Cuts" put out by 2 senior economists at the Brookings Institute shows how detrimental the effects will be to our countries revenue intake and how the brunt of these tax-breaks will be deferred to the working class. William G. Gale and Peter R. Orszag claim, "Making the tax cuts permanent would generate large, backloaded revenue losses over the next 10 years. Combined with a minimal but necessary fix to the government's Alternative Minimum Tax, making the tax cuts permanent would reduce federal revenues by almost $1.8 trillion over 10 years - and that's in addition to the $1.7 trillion of revenue losses already locked into law. By 2014, the annual revenue loss would amount to $400 billion, or 2 percent of gross domestic product - almost the size of this year's federal budget deficit."

" Paying for the tax cuts would require monumental reductions in spending or increases in other taxes. To offset the revenue losses in 2014 would require, for example, a 48 percent reduction in Social Security benefits, a 57 percent cut in Medicare benefits, or a 117 percent increase in corporate taxes. Over the long run, making the tax cuts permanent would cost as much as repairing the shortfalls in the Social Security and Medicare Hospital Insurance trust funds. Thus, to the extent that Social Security and Medicare are considered major long-term fiscal problems, making the tax cuts permanent should be seen as creating a fiscal problem of equivalent magnitude. Making the tax cuts permanent would be regressive; that is, it would confer by far the biggest benefits on high-income taxpayers. Once plausible methods of financing the tax cuts are taken into account, more than three-quarters of households are likely to end up worse off than they would have been if the tax cuts had never taken effect."

They end their Report with, "The 2001 tax cut was a centerpiece of President Bush's electoral campaign in 2000, and much of the 2003 tax cut was a partial acceleration of the 2001 tax cut. Now the administration proposes making these tax cuts permanent. It is astonishing that, more than four years after the proposal was first made public, the administration has still not released an analysis of the plan's long-term economic effects, or even a statement of how it intends to pay for the tax cuts. Even supporters of the tax cut would presumably like to know the answers to those questions."

The President's just released 2007 year budget recommends at least a 5 percent increase for Homeland Security up from this year's funding of $30.8 billion.
Similarly, the budget will contain an increase of nearly 5 percent in the Pentagon's funding for next year. The $439.3 billion includes $84.2 billion for weapons systems, an 8 percent increase in weapons spending. Not wanting to limit his budgret, it does not even include the military expenditures being expended in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.. The Pentagon announced it intends to ask Congress for an additional $120 billion -- not contained in the new spending plan -- to help pay for the wars this year and next.

Both Medicare and Medicaid are being slashed significantly putting at risk people with disabilities and the poorest of the poor. Medicare spending is being reduced by $36 billion by 2011 -- and by $105 billion a decade from now. About $20 billion of the $36 billion would come from reducing automatic payment increases to hospitals and other institutional providers, such as ambulance services and skilled-nursing facilities, while the rest would be spread among other forms of care. The Medicare spending slowdown over the next 5 years Bush envisions is larger than the $6.4 billion in Medicare reductions that Congress approved after intense political fighting, in the current year's budget. Medicaid, Congress agreed would be cut by $4.7 billion, less than half what the White House requested last year. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) at the behes of Vetertans’ Affairs Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), reported findings that found unrealistic assumptions, errors in estimates, insufficient data, and an unresponsive budget model contributed to health care funding shortfalls at the Department of Veterans Affairs in fiscal years 2005 and 2006. Certain categories of care that required additional funding not included in the initial budget recommendations for the VA, were care for returning veterans of the war on terror, funding for long-term care, and care for higher priority patients – essentially those who have service-connected disabilities, have special disabilities, such as spinal cord injuries, and the indigent. Learning of these and other shortfalls, Chairman Buyer began the effort that provided VA $1.5 billion in supplemental funding for 2005, with unused funds available for this year. The VA was unable to use the sum total of appropriations requested and therfore rolled over more than a billion dollars into 2006. I have heard from Veteran's on the ground here in the States that the VA is denying veterans care. Let them know that you know they have a surplus and see what they say.

In a press briefing at the Pentagon, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the record amount allocated for defense in the 2007 budget proposal submitted to Congress on 6 February would be used to boost the United States' ability to both fight unconventional terrorism and win conventional wars. "The president's budget request for the Department of Defense represents an increase over last year. It reflects what we believe should be the country's national-security priorities, namely to help defend the United States of America and the American people and their interests, to give flexibility to commanders, to prepare for both conventional and unconventional or irregular warfare, and, importantly, to work closely with partner nations." However, what he did not say was that most Americans feel we are less safe now than before September 11th happened and that the war on terrorism as it is being fought right now does nothing more than breed terrorism and set-up the conditions which only increase terrorism world-wide. Just look at what is happeneing on the border here in the states.

People with disabilities and all americans must demand oversight and an accurate accounting of the money the government has and is using to combat the war on terror. We must absolutely push Congress to bring the troops home and detox them from the depleted uranium that will eventually slaughter mercilessly Gulf war II vets. Then with the money saved we must address the healthcare crisis in America as well as immediately secure our borders. I will list just a few articles here to show you how dire the situation on the border is. Only in stopping these illegal wars and protecting our borders can we begin to do the things we need to here in our own coun try to truly insure safety. Call Congress make them sign on to John Conyers attempt at censuring King George and his Neo-con Hawks. Do it before we comp,letely loss constitutional protections and civil rights. Ben Franklin said, "Those who would give up liberty for security, deserve neither liberty or security."

Minuteman Project

The Secret Border War

Americans for Legal Immigration

Border Badlands

Guatamala Troops Tied to Border Drug War

Border emergency declared in New Mexico

Arizona governor decares state of emergency along Mexican border

Mexican commandos seek control of border

Mexican Drug Commandos

Border Wars Data Page

Mexican drug cartels' wars move closer to U.S. border

Former DEA Agent: Mexican Commandos Killing In South West US To Protect Bush Drug Cartel

BBC US shuts Mexican border consulate

Border Police Chief Only Latest Casualty In Mexico Drug War

Reuters US renews Mexico travel warning as killings mount

AP U.S. consulate reopens in violent Mexican border city

WT U.S. agent accused of aiding illegals

AP Men who shot Border Patrol agents wore black military-style garb

Illegal Alien Crime Wave in Full Swing

Mexican commandos seek control of border

Mexican Drug Commandos

Federal agent killed in Brownsville gun battle

U.S. officials say Zetas (Mexican Commandos) have killed in Texas

Mexican special forces take control in border town

US-trained Mexican commandos pose threat to authorities

BBC US reopens Mexico border mission