Music, Film, TV and Political News Coverage
— Read on www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/covid-19-end-of-american-era-wade-davis-1038206/
Author Archives: Albert Ruel
Gardens nourish body and soul during pandemic | National Observer
Gardening is a powerful and symbolic medicine for what ails us during the pandemic, mental health experts say.
— Read on www.nationalobserver.com/2020/08/05/news/gardens-nourish-body-and-soul-during-pandemic
The world’s longest-living people share this hobby—why it can add years to your life
What do people who live to 100 or older know that the average American doesn’t? For starters, their lifestyle (along with plenty of research) suggests that getting your hands in the dirt can improve longevity and quality of life.
— Read on www.cnbc.com/2020/07/29/people-who-live-100-longer-share-this-hobby-longevity-experts-say-it-can-add-years-to-life.html
VocalEye | Accessible Media Inc.
In this episode of Our Community, we experience theatre through VocalEye, a non-profit organization that is the first live description arts service for the blind in Canada.
— Read on www.ami.ca/category/our-community/media/vocaleye
Travel For All Accessible and Inclusive Travel Blog
Read all about accessible and inclusive travel worldwide by everyone with accessibility needs not just people with disabilities. Share your accessible travel experiences by submitting your blog post to our inclusive travel worldwide blog..
— Read on travelforall.guide/travel-blog/
Albert Ruel Retirement Party on AT Banter
It’s a party! Not only are we celebrating Canada Day this week in the Anti-Gloom Zoom Room, but Ryan, Rob, and Steve also raise a glass and talk to Albert Ruel, Get Together With Technology Coordinator for the Canadian Council of the Blind, who is officially retiring. We talk about his career as an employee of the CNIB and CCB as well as aspects of technology and even how he initially lost his sight.
Love Conquers Hate: An Open Letter from President Riccobono to NFB Members
An Open Letter to the Members of the National Federation of the Blind
I write this message to you as the elected President of the National Federation of the Blind. I also write it to you as an American who is struggling this week. I call upon members of our organization to recognize the solidarity we share as blind people and that the value we place on love within our movement is needed more today than at any other time in our history.
I watched the horrific video shot by a brave seventeen year-old of the killing of George Floyd, a citizen of our great nation. Before I watched the video, I wondered what I could do and how I could contribute to healing the pain. I had no answers. After I watched the video, I realized I still did not have the answers and I was sad, angry, scared, frustrated, and without hope. Then I realized that we share tools in the National Federation of the Blind that can help. We can not look away and we need to share what we know from our experience in this people’s movement.
Our movement has been sustained for the purpose of serving as a vehicle for collective action by the blind of the nation to promote the vocational, cultural, and social advancement of the blind; to achieve the integration of the blind into society on a basis of equality with the sighted; and to take any other action which will improve the overall condition and standard of living of the blind. While racial equality in our nation is not within our mission, we also recognize that blindness affects all races and that the society we live within has an impact on our membership.
The Federation’s Code of Conduct<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nfb.org%2Flibraries%2Fcivicrm%2Fextern%2Furl.php%3Fu%3D17129%26qid%3D3715466&data=02%7C01%7C%7C86209d5b769d471e718608d805917435%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637265469567219829&sdata=2Ath9mUpKvFYL%2BMDmzmUAwdta3T%2B21RQ6I7xUtzM8JI%3D&reserved=0> specifically emphasizes our commitments to diversity. In short “We respect differences of opinion, beliefs, identities, and other characteristics that demonstrate that blind people are a diverse cross section of society…In promoting a diverse and growing organization, we expect integrity and honesty in our relationships with each other and openness to learning about and experiencing cultural diversity. We believe that these qualities are crucial to fostering social and intellectual maturity. Intellectual maturity also requires individual struggle with unfamiliar ideas.” This week, I have been struggling to comprehend the fear and anger that black members of my Federation family are experiencing. I do not, and never can, have the authentic lived experience that you have, but yet I am also completely outraged by the hate and injustice that fell upon George Floyd on Monday. I recognize there are many centuries of painful layers wrapped up in that moment. I recognize that George is neither the first nor the last in a chain of injustices that need to be addressed. I want you to know I stand with you in facing the injustice that persists against you because of the color of your skin. I want you to know that I love you and I struggle with not being able to fully know your pain and fear. I want you to know I am prepared to be guided by you as to how I can make a difference. I cannot say that I have not become desensitized in times past, but I can tell you I will never turn away again.
While our organization is dedicated to advancing the rights of blind people, we should not act as though race does not exist. As our chapters attempt to do business, as we urge our members to take up our priorities, we should recognize that thousands of our members are impacted by the painful realizations of this week. As a people’s movement, we cannot pretend that our people only have one characteristic. Now is the time to let each member know we love them and we recognize their hurt. Now is also the time for us to recognize, as individuals, that we carry implicit bias learned from the society around us, and to seek the training that will enhance our awareness. Now is the time to give love to our black members so that we might learn how we can do better in building the understanding that powers the organized blind movement.
Now is not the time for us to use our organizational communication tools to offer position statements about the activities playing out on the streets of our nation. it is easy to write messages and posts of solidarity without having a true understanding of the issues. It is easy to suggest that we share the concerns of our black members. The harder thing for us to do is to consciously listen and seek understanding while supporting others in their pain and frustration. The Federation has never been known for merely doing what is easy. The priority today is to ensure all of our black members know they are welcomed and loved in this movement. In fact, we should extend that same truth to any others who feel the real pain sweeping our nation. Please do not use organizational assets to enter the dialogue around race. That is not our purpose as an organization and we may unintentionally make it worse. We need to continue to coordinate messaging and to be guided by the wisdom of our diversity and inclusion committee. As leaders of our movement, we should also be conscious that our public posts may be misunderstood as representing the Federation. Our personal feelings and misunderstanding around the death of George Floyd, the protests sweeping our nation, and the underlying systemic discrimination may hurt and divide members of the organization. We cannot let that happen and we must be careful as leaders not to add to the pain our members are experiencing. As it relates to our public messaging, let us stay focused on the priorities of the organized blind movement. As it comes to our cherished friends, let our priority be to reach out personally to listen and offer our hands in support.
I have had the opportunity to gather virtually with some of our top black leaders—a group who will continue to guide my actions related to these issues. I asked them for wisdom and love in finding ways that I could guide our membership during this trying time in our nation. Their message was clear. Our movement is built on love and love always conquers hate. The Federation family needs to shine a light for the rest of the nation by continuing to demonstrate that the love, and solidarity, that we share with each other in this movement makes all the difference. They also noted that our organization has always valued civil disobedience and persistent pursuit of equality. They urged that we continue to pray for peace, justice, and equality. I could not agree more with these friends I have been blessed to learn from in our movement. Furthermore, I am thankful that we have a movement that provides us a meaningful opportunity to know people whose lived experience is so different from our own while sharing a common bond as blind people.
In the National Federation of the Blind we know that blindness is not the characteristic that defines us or our future. Blindness is the thing that brings us together but it is not the thing that makes us want to stay together. That, in a word, is love. We have love in our movement and we strengthen it by giving it. We have some wisdom and we strengthen it by continuing to seek greater understanding. We need more of both love and wisdom at every opportunity. Let’s continue to share love, hope, and determination with each other so that together we transform our dreams into reality. One of those dreams still left to be transformed is that of a nation where we can join together regardless of our unique characteristics. That is a dream I am struggling to help my own children understand so they may do better than I in making it come true. I speak for all of our national board members when I say we sincerely believe that the love and togetherness demonstrated in our movement can go a long way in contributing to that dream. It can be hard to remember that in this moment when so many of us are hurting, angry, frustrated, and scared. Let us continue to support each other in the Federation family. Let us avoid the harmful language that will only serve to divide us in this time. Let us go forward together, love one another, and change the world for the better.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Riccobono, President
National Federation of the Blind
Marie-Claude Landry, Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission releases this statement
June 02, 2020 – Ottawa, Ontario – Canadian Human Rights Commission
“Link to the original web version:
In light of the anti-racism protests taking place this week across the U.S, Canada and the world, Marie-Claude Landry, Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission releases the following statement:
It is time for all Canadians to acknowledge that anti-Black racism is pervasive in Canada. In fact, the belief that there is little to no racism in Canada is in itself a barrier to addressing it.
As millions of people around the world unite to speak out against the killing of George Floyd, many are grappling with grief, anger and anxiety. The Commission extends its deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Mr. Floyd, and to his entire community. We are immeasurably saddened that all those who endure the effects of anti-Black racism may be newly traumatized by this most recent senseless tragedy.
Anti-Black racism is not confined to the U.S. Many people of African descent in Canada feel threatened or unsafe every day because of the colour of their skin — some fear the police officers charged with protecting them.
We must question why Black people in Canada are more likely to be racially profiled whether by police when walking down the street, or store employees when shopping, or when being served in a restaurant. We must question why they are more likely to be the targets of hate speech and hate crimes, and are overrepresented in our criminal justice system.
The roots of anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination in Canada run deep. They are historically embedded in our society, in our culture, in our laws and in our attitudes. They are built into our institutions and perpetuate the social and economic disparities that exist in everything from education, to healthcare, to housing and employment.
Now is the time for all Canadians, but especially non-racialized Canadians, to listen, learn and reflect on how white privilege and systemic racism contribute to injustice and inequality in this country. We need to look inwards and challenge our biases, fears, assumptions and privilege. We need to have difficult and uncomfortable conversations. We must recognize and respect the leadership of voices from the Black community, and learn from lived experiences of anti-Black racism.
Racist comments and racist acts, no matter how subtle, must no longer be ignored or tolerated in Canada. Even the most subtle forms of racism contribute to the conditions that permit overt racism and violence to occur. When we are complacent, we are complicit. When we are silent, we are complicit!
It is not enough to say that we embrace diversity and human rights as the foundation of our democracy. Racism violates human rights. Whether conscious or unconscious, subtle or overt. It diminishes human dignity and it erodes democracy.
It is time for change. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr: “there comes a time when silence is betrayal.” That time is now.
– 30 –
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Hi Everyone
We are doing this last push to invite you all to sign up for this exciting free on-line training through ARCH Disability Law Centre. The course is 4 hours one Saturday a month for four months starting last Sat in March. The National Coalition is one of the partners in developing the training with ARCH. The purpose is to develop advocacy skills and a strong knowledge about how implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities can and will impact you locally. Its also about developing relationships and building a network of people to work with. There are video links below this email that will explain more.
What does that mean to you in your day to day and why is it important for you to consider taking this course?1) Our Human Rights in Canada are based on us, the individual. Not a charity, not a business, not an agency, just us, the individual, we have standing in Human Rights law.
2) As a result, everything that is being decided on our behalf by Governments Local, Provincial and Federal, including funding to organizations that provide services on our behalf, fundraise on our behalf and sit at the decision making tables, impact us the individual, every day.
3) Nothing about us, without us, gets lost in translation when those that are invited to sit at the decision making tables are not us. They usually have no constituency in which to get advice and direction from and make sweeping decisions about us without us.
3) How involved do we want to be in making decisions that impact ourselves and each other on a daily basis? What knowledge do we need and how do we get it? Why spend 16 hours of my life over 4 months to take this course?
4) One example of why this is important, is when a simple process of developing training methods and standards for PTS Dogs for Veterans, was highjacked.
5) From early 2015 to April of 2017, two years of secret meetings and development by many unelected, non representative groups of people with no connection to us, developed standards that if adopted by the Federal Government, would have taken away our individual rights to choose and decide where we go to get our dogs and create a mandatory National Registry.
6) This National Registry of us under a certification model included people we don’t know inspecting our homes, going through our financials and taking our dogs away from us to test them. Then they would decide if they would certify our dogs and they would be allowed to work with us in Canada. Thinking back it is as ridiculous sounding as it was almost three years ago. But it happened and the Federal Government funded it. This was the misplaced thinking of people at the decision table secretly deciding what was best for us. .
7) That is when our Coalition began. We said no and through all of your hard fought advocacy, shut it all down by March 2018.
8) Unfortunately the almost half a million dollars that was spent, failed to produce any training methods and standards for PTS dogs for Veterans. That is what happens when people sit at tables without being responsible back to the people whom decisions impact and move their own agenda’s.
9) This is brewing to start up again, standards accreditation and certification Federally. The same people who started working on that standards fiasco mess since 2009 and almost pulled it off in 2017, are still committed to having it happen and we are constantly responding to their push to do it all over again.
10) why take this training? Because we need more of us to have the knowledge, capacity and skills to continue to protect our hard earned rights and push back when decisions are being made that are eroding them. The more understanding each of us have, we can catch the game way ahead of 2 years of development and stop it before it starts. That is why many of us worked with ARCH to develop this training and to continue with more.As people who have already gone through round one of the standards debacle, I encourage you all to consider learning and preparing for no doubt another round that is coming our way in the next year, not to mention the provincial issues we are already dealing with. Understanding the legal protections of our Rights in the Convention will allow us, individually and together to articulate why these types of ideas are backwards thinking and do not promote a rights based one. We need to be able to argue from a position of strength and knowledge and we all deserve to have that knowledge.
Thanks everyone. The videos and further information are next with the information in French following.
Yvonne Peters
Heather Walkus,
National Coalition of People who use Guide and Service Dogs in Canada
email: info@hooh.ca
Phone: 250-499-0780Hands Off Our Harnesses, Hands Off Our Hounds H.O.O.H
From: ARCH Staff 1 <archsta1@lao.on.ca>
Hi Heather!
I hope you are doing well.
As promised, I’m writing to let you know that we have the course dates confirmed.
OP Lab for OP Champions
· March 28, 12-4 PM (EST)
· April 25, 12-4 PM (EST)
· May 30, 12-4 PM (EST)
· June 27, 12-4 PM (EST)
OP Lab for Legal Experts
· April 21, 2-4 PM (EST)
· May 19, 2-4 PM (EST)
· June 16, 2-4 PM (EST)
Joint Meeting for OP Champions and OP Legal Experts
· September 15, 1-2 PM (EST)
We will be accepting applications until Friday, February 14, 2020, at 5:00 PM (EST). The information has been updated in our website:www.archdisabilitylaw.ca/initiatives/advancing-the-un-crpd/op-lab
Please share this as widely as possible, and as always let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you and have a great day,
Mariana Versiani
Communications and Outreach Coordinator
OP Lab Project Coordinator
416-482-8255, extension 2221
http://www.archdisabilitylaw.ca
Facebook @ARCHDisabilityLawCentre
Twitter @ARCHDisability
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
As a reminder, here’s the promotional information for the project:
1. All information about ARCH’s initiative on the CRPD, and the OP Lab: https://archdisabilitylaw.ca/initiatives/advancing-the-un-crpd/op-lab/
2. People who want to participate in the OP Lab will need to submit anapplication here: https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/5281955/OP-LAB-Application-Form
3. See attached a one-pager about the OP Lab, in English and in French.
4. Primer video about the CRPD, the Optional Protocol and the OP Lab: www.youtube.com/channel/UCBwozUKpvREOrGGzpMHTXCw
5. Factsheet about the CRPD and the Optional Protocol:https://archdisabilitylaw.ca/resource/factsheet-the-crpd-and-the-optional-protocol/
6. ARCH Alert article about the OP Lab: https://archdisabilitylaw.ca/resources/arch-alerts/
All of these were shared through ARCH’s social media:
· Facebook@ARCHdisabilityLawCentre
· Twitter @archdisabilitylaw
· OP LAB activities, including networking, will be encouraged on social media through #OPlab.
Here are the links in French:
· Website/application form:https://archdisabilitylaw.ca/fr/la-mise-en-oeuvre-de-la-cdph-des-nations-unies/op-lab-apprendre-partager-agir/
· Youtube video primer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQSU5WwWZdU&t=12s
· Factsheet:https://archdisabilitylaw.ca/fr/resource/fiche-dinformation-la-cdph-et-le-protocole-facultatif/
· ARCH Alert article:https://archdisabilitylaw.ca/arch_alert/arch-alert-volume-20-issue-4/#lancement-op-lab
Thank you again,
Mariana Versiani
Communications and Outreach Coordinator
OP Lab Project Coordinator
416-482-8255, extension 2221
http://www.archdisabilitylaw.ca
Facebook @ARCHDisabilityLawCentre
Twitter @ARCHDisability
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
Demain nous lancerons l’OP Lab: apprendre, partager, agir!, dans le cadre des célébrations de la Journée internationale des personnes handicapées.
Aidez-nous à promouvoir ce projet dans vos réseaux et médias sociaux!
Le lancement comprendra :
· un courriel que nous enverrons demain avec des informations sur l’OP Lab
· une vidéo sur la CDPH, le Protocole facultatif et l’OP Lab dans la chaîne YouTube d’ARCH :www.youtube.com/channel/UCBwozUKpvREOrGGzpMHTXCw
· un article sur l’OP Lab dans l’ARCH Alerte du 3 décembre : https://archdisabilitylaw.ca/resources/arch-alerts/
· une Fiche d’information sur la CDPH et le Protocole facultatif :https://archdisabilitylaw.ca/fr/resource/fiche-dinformation-la-cdph-et-le-protocole-facultatif/
Ceux-ci seront tous partagés demain via les médias sociaux d’ARCH :
· Facebook @ARCHdisabilityLawCentre
· Twitter @archdisabilitylaw
Toutes les activités d’OP Lab, notamment le réseautage, seront encouragées sur les médias sociaux à travers#OPlab.
Les personnes souhaitant participer à l’OP LAB doivent s’inscrire et nous souhaitons encourager autant de personnes que possible à s’inscrire. Vous trouverez le lien vers le formulaire d’inscription sur le site Web d’ARCH: www.archdisabilitylaw.ca/fr
Cordialement,
Mariana Versiani
Communications and Outreach Coordinator
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1. ARCH Disability Law Centre
http://www.archdisabilitylaw.ca
55 University Avenue, 15th floor
Toronto, ON, M5J 2H7
Tel: 416-482-8255 or 1-866-482-2724 (extension 2221)
TTY: 416-482-1254 or 1-866-482-2728
Fax: 416-482-2981 or 1-866-881-2723
Facebook @ARCHDisabilityLawCentre
Twitter @ARCHDisability
ARCH’s office is physically accessible. ARCH is a scent-free environment. We try our best to keep our office and events free of scents and fragrances. These may cause health problems for staff and visitors. We ask for your cooperation by not wearing perfumes, aftershave, lotions or any other scented products when visiting us.
The information contained in this email may be legally privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying or distribution of this material is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately destroy this message and kindly notify our office.
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Blind people don’t suffer from schizophrenia — and the reason could help us find a treatment
Blind people don’t suffer from schizophrenia — and the reason could help us find a treatment
Author: Mihai Andrei
Date Written: Oct 23, 2019 at 5:00 PM
Date Saved: 10/24/19, 9:10 PM
Source: https://www.zmescience.com/medicine/mind-and-brain/blind-schizophrenia-connection-14102019/
In February 2019, an intriguing study made the rounds. Researchers from the University of Western Australia found conclusive evidence that congenital blindness is protective against schizophrenia.
The unusual discovery offered new insights into the inner workings of schizophrenia, a condition which still has many unknowns, despite decades of research.
“This leads us to think there is a link that must be explored,” said Professor Vera Morgan from the UWA Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology Research Unit, lead author of the study.
Now, a new study sheds new light on that phenomenon and could help us better understand how schizophrenia works — as well as how we build a mental model of the world around us.
The mind’s eyes
The relationship between vision and psychosis is complex. While congenital visual loss appears to be protective against psychotic disorders, gradual visual loss can give rise to hallucinations or even psychotic episodes.
The age at which vision loss happens appears to be a crucial factor. The absence of vision at birth or very early in life appears to have a protective effect, whereas later-life visual loss appears to predispose one to the development of psychotic symptoms. This is particularly unusual as there are very few medical disorders that may be protective against psychosis (the already-notorious example is rheumatoid arthritis).
Researchers suspect that it’s not just the loss of sight that is at work here — it’s also the way the other senses and the brain are rearranged after vision loss. For instance, the brains of blind people adapt to sharpen the other senses, which they are also better at processing.
When something interferes with a person’s vision, it can also send all kinds of confusing signals to the brain. If a person with functioning eyesight is blinded, the auditory and tactile information that he or she receives will be chaotic, confusing, and potentially overwhelming. For a blind person, that just doesn’t happen, as the brain is used to processing this sort of information. Simply stated, their internal model of the world is simpler and more resilient to malfunctions.
“In simple terms, we argue that when people cannot see from birth, they rely more heavily on the context they extract from the other senses,” the researchers write. They also add that this can also explain the
relationship between later visual loss and other psychotic
symptoms, as well as the effects of visual deprivation and
hallucinogenic drugs on psychosis and schizophrenia.
While this is still somewhat speculative, this hypothesis would explain the effect. If this is true, then it would mean that congenitally blind people have overall lower psychosis susceptibility than the sighted population. There are also ways to test this, researchers say.
Congenitally blind individuals will show fMRI prediction error responses during causal learning, unlike people with psychosis whose prediction error is aberrant. In addition, they will experience reduced psychoactive effects from drugs such as ketamine
The study has been published in Schizophrenia Bulletin.
