You Think What?

Late last month, April 2011, the American public was informed of a last minute amendment tacked on to the federal legislation known as the James Zadroga bill. It’s a legislative act providing funds for health care  of the 911 responders who sustained injury while they worked, sacrificed and even died, at New York City’s World Trade Center as well as supplying money for surviving members of their families. It is a law enacted to help those like the man for whom the bill was named. It was intended to be a way We, the people, remember and reward the people who bravely helped during the tragic collective events we remember as September 11, 2001. It was a date that changed our world forever.

It took nine years to get the law passed to provide treatment for the responders who survive and who are experiencing devastating health issues as a result of breathing toxic fumes at the site of the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings, number 1, 2 and 7. The emergency medical technicians, police and fire personnel inhaled the dusty debris while cleaning up the mess, searching for colleagues and saving lives of those injured and recovering the dead in the rubble.

Unfortunately the man for whom the bill is named died of respiratory disorders during 2006. James Zadroga was a New York City police officer, in fact he is the first NYPD officer whose illness and subsequent death has been attributed to his participation in rescue and recovery operations in the rubble of the World Trade Center following the September 11 attacks. Zadroga was the first whose death was attributed to his contact with toxic chemicals at the site of the deadly attack of September 11th 2001.

We learned last month there is a caveat that comes with the bill passed last December during the so called “lame duck” session of the United States Congress. Prior to passage of the bill  congressional representative from Florida’s 6th District  Cliff Stearns suggested an astounding last minute amendment:

Thank you Mr. Chairman.  This basically I’ll give it in one sentence.  Before a person is certified as eligible for the program, the Secretary of Health and Human Services has to confirm with the appropriate federal agency that that person is not a terrorist.  So it’s a simple straightforward amendment.” REP. CLIFF STEARNS, R-FL (5/25/2010)

and received support  from HENRY WAXMAN, a Democrat from Fornicalia

I think it makes a lot of sense, and I’m willing to support it.  All those in favor of the Stearns amendment, say ‘aye’.REP. HENRY WAXMAN, D-CA(5/25/2010)

And as they say “the ayes have it”, allowing the passage of the law with the following amendment in place as reported by reputable news outlets around the nation:

Under the new 9/11 health bill, responders and Ground Zero workers seeking benefits will receive a letter, notifying them that ‘the Act also requires the World Trade Center Program Administrator to determine whether a World Trade Center responder or survivor is on the terrorist watch list prior to his or her enrollment or certification.’ “

We, the people,have knowledge of this most recent added insult to grave injury amendment to a bill intended to help those who were courageous to expose themselves to toxic chemicals and disease when the rest of us were left standing about trying to figure out just what had happened.

The law has been passed. Many of us are feeling helpless. That is why the staff of YouThinkWhat believes the best way for us be helping the individuals and their families who have been damaged by this bad law is to support the efforts of the organizers of an event that will be taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 9, 10, 11, 2011 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the September 11th 2001 attacks, also known as 911,  by commending and raising money to assist the 911 responders.

The event is called 911Remembrance. We’ll have more details  in an upcoming post.

Recently John Hope Franklin the American historian and activist died at the age of 94. His life and times are a reminder to all of the complete history of the United States of America.

John Hope Franklin recorded the American experience from the black perspective in order to give the world and its future generations the full story of this incredible nation.

“My specialty is the history of the south. That means I teach the history of blacks and whites.”~  in a 1990 interview, John Hope Franklin , historian

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The first piece of real legislation Barack Obama signed as the 44th President of the United States, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, is named for a woman who was paid less than her male co-workers at a Goodyear tire factory in Alabama.

Ledbetter’s intention was not to be an activist; hers was a personal quest at the start, but after the Supreme Court ruled against her, she decided it was time to become a labor activist for the sake of her daughters and the daughters of working people everywhere.

As you read this woman’s story keep in mind she was employed by
Goodyear an international company named by Fortune magazine as the World’s Most Admired Motor Vehicle Parts Company in its 2008 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies. The publication also ranked Goodyear No. 1 in innovation, people management, use of assets and global orientation. The company is also listed on Forbes magazine’s list of the Most Respected Companies in America and its list of the Most Trustworthy Companies in America. CRO magazine–the publication for executives charged with Corporate Responsibility, ranks Goodyear as number 72 of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens. Goodyear employs about 70,000 people and manufactures its products in more than 60 facilities in 25 countries around the world.

Ledbetter, a 70 year-old widow whose husband died last December, was hired in 1979 to work as an overnight supervisor from 7PM to 7AM at the Goodyear plant. She worked for nearly twenty years and says with reference to her work ethic,”There was nothing I wouldn’t do, no matter how dirty or hard.”

During her career at Goodyear, Ledbetter experienced (more…)

According to a news release from the Akron, Ohio based Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the world’s largest tire company, will report fourth quarter 2008 financial results before markets open on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 to be followed by an investor conference call at 9 AM on that date.

Despite the recent negative news coverage of the company’s role in the Lilly Ledbetter wage discrimination matter Fortune magazine named Goodyear the World’s Most Admired Motor Vehicle Parts Company in its 2008 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies. (more…)

The very first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama will benefit those who believe they have been affected by wage and gender discrimination in the work place.

On Thursday, January 29, 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama signed legislation into law making it easier for employees to sue for wage discrimination, a measure he said is an important step toward “fundamental fairness” for U.S. workers.

At a White House bill-signing ceremony President Obama said:

“It is fitting that the very first bill that I sign … is an important step, a simple fix to ensure fundamental fairness for American workers.”

The bill known as the Lilly Ledbetter bill in honor of an Alabama woman who worked for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, passed the House in a largely party-line vote Tuesday. The bill was approved by the Senate last week. (more…)

It’s finally happened. It was almost like waiting for your cousin to give birth to a new baby by C-section. You know she’s going to give birth on a specific date and time. You may even know the sex of the child.

That’s what happened when the Illinois state legislature conducted a very public impeachment trial of former Governor Rod Blagojevich. We knew, as did the governor, when he was arrested on December 9, 2008, that it was just a matter of time before he was ousted from the office with much fanfare. The publicity, flamboyance and circus atmosphere surrounding Blagojevich’s actions while governor and his subsequent trial were equal to the way he conducted himself while governor.

We have no fault with what he did. As far as we can see he did nothing wrong. No lives were lost; no one was irreparably harmed. Yet on Thursday, January 29, 2009 the Illinois State Senate voted unanimously, 59-0, to remove Rod Blagojevich from the office of governor, never to hold public office in the state again, for abuse of power. (more…)

The late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on this day, January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia.

As Americans we are compelled to have long holiday weekends. The King holiday is no exception and with the upcoming presidential inauguration of the first non-white, African American the next few days will be filled with national celebration. (more…)

Happy New Year 2009 to the whole planet! We believe more than in spring the New Year is a time for renewal and restoration. (more…)

Make sure your thoughts are only the highest and the best thoughts as you travel this holiday season; especially when traveling via airports in Maryland.

Homeland Security has developed MALINTENT, an Orwellian system, coming to an airport near you, to recognize, define and measure seven of the primary emotions and emotional cues most often reflected in contractions of facial muscles. The system identifies these emotions, relays the information to a security screener in real time thus protecting you from would-be airline criminals. (more…)

‘THE NEGRO NATIONAL ANTHEM’
Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us,
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun
Let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears have been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who has by Thy might
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, Our God, where we met Thee;
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand.
True to our GOD,
True to our native land