Warner Brothers Sinks To A New Low

I wanted to write another ICOIL story today, but my computer won't let me because it's sick of hearing about ICOIL. But the joke's on you, computer, because I've got a ton of more ICOIL stuff on the back burner. Anyway, onto today's story.

First there was Easter Seals. Then there was Jerry's Kids. Now it seems that there's a new player in the 'exploitation of poor innocent disabled kids' game. Warner Brothers.

In the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio movie "Blood Diamond" WB filmed in South Africa and used about 30 kids who were all amputees. In exchange for their appearance they were promised prosthetic limbs. The only problem is that shooting has alread wrapped and WB hasn't made good on their promise. According to the New York Post:

"...months after filming ended, Mnisi and his fellow amputees were still waiting. When they asked Warner Bros. about the promised prosthetics, they were allegedly told, "You will have to wait for December, when the movie comes out, so we can get some publicity out of it."

A local African charity, Eastern Cape, came to the rescue when it heard of the amputees' cruelly dashed hopes, and outfitted them with limbs paid for by the organization. Eastern Cape has said that if Warner Bros. does finally come through with the money, it will go to 27 other deserving amputees."

Some people are calling for a boycott of the movie but what good is that really going to do? 'Diamond' director Ed Zwick responded to the accusations which you can read HERE. I started to read it myself, but I felt the smoke getting blown up my ass after the first few sentences so i stopped.

Keith Coros Doesn't Believe Me

Well, I kind of saw this coming. Surprisingly enough, I've gotten some criticism for writing this blog. But none as laughable as my most recent acquisition. It seems that ICOIL member Keith Coros thinks that what I write about him and ICOIL are slanderous, fabrications and lies. He also has accused the director of the Everybody Counts CIL of the same and has even accused her having her "cronies" write these articles. (I'm guessing that would be me.)

When reached for comment, Keith started crying and whining. Then he threw his bottle across the room and shook his rattle really loud! He then stuck his thumb in his mouth and pouted. But then somebody came running with a big sucker for Keith to calm him down.

Not that I really need to explain myself, but I will. I don't know how much more clear I can make this but there is only one person who writes content for this blog. There's only one person who maintains this site, does research for it and tracks statistics for it. I'll give you one guess who that person is. Go ahead, take your time. I'll wait for you to call the people who boss you around and ask them what you should say.

Ok, ready? Here it goes: ME! I am the sole person who writes for Seriously IL. I find my own content and documents and I publish them. If you look at the top right corner of your computer screen and see that dashingly handsome young man looking back at you, that's me! I live in Valparaiso, Indiana completely capable of living, working, and, most importantly, thinking on my own. NOBODY tells me what to write on here.

Here's the problem with accusing me of "Slander", Keith. If I say something that I can't backup with proof then that's considered slander. However, if I say something about you and I have video, audio email or any kind of documentation to backup what I am saying then that's neither lie nor slander. Besides, read the top of this page. These are satirical stories. Satire.

I guess I could end every post with "The preceding story is entirely false." but with pics, video and documents to the contrary it's kind of hard to do that. Feel free to click on my profile and email me or just reply at the bottom of this post so you can whine and cry say whatever you want to me. And out of curiosity, Mr. Coros, where did I slander you or lie? I get hundreds of visitors to this site. So enlighten us. Please
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One of us is a Liar.

You know, they say that history is only as accurate as the stories told by those who write the history books. There are people who say the Holocaust never happened or that Martin Luther King was a racist and a thief. These people just can not and will not accept things for what they are. They think that if it comes out of their mouths it must be true. But it's hard for me to understand that logic in this, the modern age of technology, what with all the hi-tech gadgets like video cameras, digital cameras and computers.

My point is that I tracked hundreds of people coming to this site to read Monday's story of October's very colorful, heated, loud, argumentative Indiana SILC meeting. I provided video, pictures and audio clips. Add to that my witty and brilliant commentary and you've got yourself a story!

But some people still refuse to acknowledge how that meeting really went down. Yesterday council member Al Tolbert of the Southern Indiana CIL sent out THESE MINUTES to members of the council. Feel free to take a peek at them. Here's what they say in a nutshell:

1. meeting was called to order
2. agenda was approved
3. last few month's minutes were passed
4. recess
5. cops came asked everyone to leave
6. meeting adjourned

Now, maybe Tolbert was at a different meeting than the one I was at, but I'm guessing he left a few things out. I wonder why? Actually I take that back. I know why. We all know why.

It's because the meeting was going so well, everyone was holding hands and smiling at each other and a little cartoon bird from the movie Bambi came in through the window and landed right on Al's shoulder. They talked about how great it was that HUD has agreed to support the creating of more affordable, accessible housing and just then - BAM! the police asked everyone to leave. Just like that. I can understand his disappointment.

I think Tolbert and the rest of the council don't want to acknowledge ADAPT. He thinks that if he leaves out all the parts about people who oppose the council then it never happened. Well, Professor Tolbert, no matter how hard you try, you can't re-write history.

So one of us is a liar. I've shown you all the "Official" ICOIL minutes that reflect their version of the meeting and I've shown you my video of the meeting. YOU DECIDE.
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The Long Awaited October ICOIL Meeting.

Indiana Statewide Independent Living Council

Well, here we are again. I know you've all heard how ridiculous the Indiana SILC "Situation" is. Little old Indiana and Its little council that argues with each other. I mean, sure there's plenty of other stuff going on that I'd love to write about. Like UPS getting sued for not hiring the deaf. Or the judge in Florida that threatened to fine the Dept. of Family & Children thousands of dollars a day if they don't find placement for mentally disabled inmates. But here we go again, I'll tell you all about the ICOIL circus that I went to last week.

First off, if you haven't read my post last month about ICOIL then you might want to start there. We left off around the time Jodi James and Ramona Harvey, the ICOIL Chair and secretary, respectively, came back from the ADAPT action in Washington D.C. and found out that the meeting Jodi cancelled happened anyway. So they elected a new pawn person to serve as Chairperson. This woman seen here to the right, Dee Ann Hart, is the new puppet. I almost feel sorry for her. Almost. I knew she would come with strings but I had no idea how many people were pulling them. Let's start with Dave Nelson. Throughout the whole meeting Nelson was very subtly giving Hart commands of what to do next. Covering his mouth and telling her to call a recess, telling her that it's time to watch a video etc. The whole meeting. And like any good servant, she obeyed her master.


The only problem was that James and Harvey were TRYing to read their prepared statements that Dee Ann Hart told them earlier that they would be allowed to do. That must not have gone over too well with Hart's masters because she went back on her word and kept interrupting. And it wasn't just her, The women across the room were ganging up on Harvey and James too! One of the women, Teresa Mager, previously wrote an email to Ramona Harvey, who is a very qualified yet unemployed Hoosier, with a pleasant insult referring to her not having a job. Real nice, Mager.
I bet there's a few people who read this blog that would be surprised to learn that the director of the Wabash Independent Living and Learning Center makes fun of disabled people who don't have jobs.

So anyway, then somebody on the council (probably Dave Nelson) told Dee Ann to take a recess and so she did. Buuuut since she's not the real Chair, the meeting went on sans Hart, Pat Stewart, Mager, Al Tolbert, Melissa Madill and a few others. Fifteen minutes go by, they come back inside but this time the State Police are there! Which, being the ADAPT members we are, doesn't really intimidate anyone. Besides, we weren't doing anything illegal. Unless you count Teresa Torres. She said a curse word. And according to one State Trooper if she didn't watch her language then she was going to jail! HAHA no, seriously, listen to the audio clip HERE.

Jeez, where was I? OK, yea so yelling, more yelling and then some screaming, then some more debate on whether the meeting from last month was legal or if it wasn't. Oh, and at the end of the meeting, Member at Large Emas Bennett, who is an ICOIL colleague and former employee of Teresa Torres, expressed his frustration by very eloquently telling Torres to "Shut your fat ass up." Again, why would I make this stuff up? You can listen to it yourself by clicking HERE. Big words for a man who stole computer property of the CIL he was fired from. And while we're on this subject, why is his wife being paid by ICOIL to be his personal assistant? I mean, Emas is a smart man. He's a very capable man who has achieved a lot in his lifetime. He has also sat on many boards and committees and councils. So why NOW does he all of a sudden need a personal assistant? He's blind. So what? ICOIL supplies everything in alternative format. If anyone has the answer, please, enlighten me. Remember, you can post comments at the bottom of this blog entry.

So I'll leave you all with these questions: Why did ICOIL kick off Jodi James and Ramona Harvey? Why is Dave Nelson giving Keith Coros money. (wait, I can answer that one. He wants his vote.) And most of all, WHY isn't the Council more concerned with the PEOPLE IN INDIANA WITH DISABILITIES than they are with money and power? There is SO much good happening in this country and Indiana is becoming a laughing stock. Shouldn't we be talking about stuff like THIS?

I can't give a complete recap of this meeting without giving props to Indiana and Ohio ADAPT for coming out and supporting our brothers and sisters in this battle. Sure, there were only about 15 or 20 of us, but there's always next month.



If anyone would like to see this meeting, I would recommend you go to the Everybody Counts website. There you can see the meeting in its entirety. They have a version for hi-speed users and one for those of you who use dial-up. Grab your popcorn, it's a good one. And please, leave your comments either here or the forums that Everybody Counts has set up at www.everybodycounts.org/forums
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So, until next time,
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Thank You, ICOIL!

Well, I started this blog a few months back as a way that I, a simple resident of Indiana, could share my take on the Disability Rights world with the rest of the country. I would have been satisfied if just one person read what I had to say and was more aware of the IL community.

But I'm very proud to say that a bit more than just one person is interested in what I have to say. Quite a bit more. Traffic around here has skyrocketed. What sparked the interest? Well, according to my server logs, the ICOIL story seems be the reason.

So as hard as the Indiana Statewide IL Council tries to subtly change the rules, lie, hide what they do etc., it's not so subtle. People are watching you. Lots of people. What you're trying to do isn't a secret. Just ask my readers all over Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Washington D.C., Alaska, Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, New Hampshire, Nebraska .... well, you get the idea.