Subjects Archives: Disability

Language matters, and in the case of people with disabilities, it matters a lot. Ableism, exclusion, and misconceptions are held up by a foundation of words that are still abundant in U.S. society.

The COVID-19 pandemic shone a spotlight on the horrific conditions in long-term care facilities. The institutions are a perfect storm for outbreaks: poor ventilation, understaffing, insufficient personal protective equipment (PPE), a lack of regulation, and years of underfunding.

What is at stake is both a courageous man’s life and, if we remain silent, the conquest of our intellects and sense of right and wrong: indeed our very humanity.

There is a fast increasing trend in cattle breeding towards sex semen technology which will result in birth of only female calves. 90 per cent success in ensuring success (in terms of having only female calves) is claimed by promoters of this technology.

In the sticky conversations around rationing life-saving treatments and vaccines during the Covid pandemic, corporate media have elevated some experts without disclosing their troubling views on disability, aging and the value of human life. Meanwhile, media outlets have largely sidelined the voices of disabled activists and others who could speak on behalf of those most affected by the pandemic.

After a Spring in which Sweden had one of the worst Covid death rates in Europe, some latched on to their low summer case numbers to argue for a herd immunity approach. But as cases again rise dramatically, Madeleine Johansson challenges the Swedish herd immunity myth.

The last economic crisis in Canada saw an intense and sustained attack on public services and welfare programs that disabled people require to live life.

With phrases like “protect the vulnerable” & “underlying conditions” currently all around us, disability activist Ruth Flood looks at the horrendous treatment of disabled people under capitalism.

This all could’ve gone differently. Bob Woodward revealed that Donald Trump knew in February that COVID was airborne, information both men declined to share with the rest of the us until just now.

Just below the steps leading to the engraved words of George Washington “The true administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good government”, members of the People’s MTA, Rise and Resist’s Elevator Action Group, Disabled In Action, The Peoples Power Assemblies NYC were demonstrating for their right to justice.

In December, Ontario’s Auditor-General, Bonnie Lysyk, issued a report that offers the province’s right wing Tory government an opportunity to attack disabled people living in poverty.

In this episode, we’re joined by Steven Attewell, Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at the City University of New York’s School of Labor and Urban Studies.

Here’s what they don’t teach: When the blind-deaf visionary learned that poor people were more likely to be blind than others, she set off down a pacifist, socialist path that broke the boundaries of her time—and continues to challenge ours today.