Life Lessons From the Blind

Today my co-intern and I viewed one of the many inspiring films screened at last year’s ReelAbilities: Houston Disabilities Film Festival. The feature-length documentary Henry O! conveys the remarkable story of Nicaragua-born Henry Oliu whose love of baseball and encyclopedic memory for facts and figures leads him to fulfilling his major league baseball dreams in becoming the color analyst on Mega Classica 820 radio, WMGG. “Henry hears the crack of the bat and knows if it’s a single, double, or home run; he listens for the ball singing into the catcher’s mitt and knows if it’s a curve ball, fastball, or change-up.*”

Henry O! resonates with me as tear-evoking story of a man who overcame a lifetime of obstacles to fulfill his passion, with an open mind, open arms, and open heart. Disabled by blindness since birth, Henry Oliu has lived a life free of pre-judgement– an obstacle inherent in every society that continues to hold the world back from achieving so much more because so much is initially presumed.

At the surface, Oliu was understood to be living with a disability which left him disadvantaged on a daily basis during his childhood in Nicaragua until his mother was able to send him to the Florida School for the Deaf & Blind. Initially, one may assume that Oliu faces a harsh daily reality, living life in the dark, left disadvantaged compared to those around him. But, in fact, it is our society that continues to live life in the dark as we perpetuate an even harsher reality of a judgmental society. Oliu’s blindness has provided him with what I consider to be a great advantage; unable to see what or who is in front of him, he does not pre-judge people. With an open mind and open heart, Oliu’s disability enables him to appreciate the characteristics of an individual which truly give someone their worth.

Henry Oliu’s DNA wired him to be blind since birth, yet he excels at a job that you’d think would require sight.

He says, “if seeing is perception then I can see just as well as the next guy.” Oliu learned how to see the swing of a bat by swinging it himself. He played a modified version of baseball at a school for the blind. When he wanted to understand how Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price threw the ball, he asked the team manager to show him by putting his own arm through the same motion. When he needs information about a player, his wife reads to him from the statistics page. And he remembers EVERTHING.

So then, what determines an individual’s worth, or who? In the work world, worth is quantified by one’s wage. A political war, furthered by Governor Rick Perry‘s veto of a bill meant to prevent wage discrimination against women, has left women as collateral damage “at best.”

Fort Worth Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis, who carried the bill in the Senate, said women prefer to take equal-pay complaints before elected state judges, to be decided by Texas jurors.

“I am very surprised that Governor Perry does not see the value in it,” she said. “It’s a statement of his absolute disregard for the challenges that women … face in their lives.”

Should a person’s worth be determined by the way their DNA wires them, or by their real abilities?

The JFS Disability Services Alexander Institute for Inclusion works to foster a community that includes all individuals by striving to eliminate the stigma associated with disabilities. ReelAbilities is the largest film festival in the nation committed to promoting appreciation and awareness of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with various disabilities. The festival will present award winning films by and about people with disabilities in multiple locations throughout the city. Post-screening discussions and other engaging programs will bring together our community to explore, discuss, embrace, and celebrate the diversity of our shared human experience.

* IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 20 June 2013

Bangladeshi Women: Agents of Change in Social Reform

  

     Women’s issues prominent in South Asian Muslim communities continue to spark debate over notions of modernity, sovereignty and nationalism. In understanding the crystallization of Muslim national and political identity, our discourse of advancing women’s rights operates within an Islamic Framework, highlighting women in Bangladesh. Within this discourse, women’s rights act as a yardstick for measuring a community’s progressiveness, modernity, and civility. Highlighting Bangladesh, the women taking the reins on social reform in Bangladeshi communities operate within a framework to advance women’s rights.

    Within this discourse, women’s rights act as a yardstick for measuring developmental indicators for a community’s progressiveness, modernity, and civility. What is development, and where does it come from? Academic journals and comprehensive research indicate that as a result of passionate  women community leaders, who at the micro-level is the process whereby individuals gain greater freedom and choices to make decisions about their lives women community are overcoming prejudice and obstacles prominent as a result of developmental deficits. Social reform in Bangladeshi society, catalyzed by an increasing amount of women community leaders, has provided a new basis for human interactions to promote gradual development[**].

     Many roots of the vulnerability are the deficits that can be found from a lack of development. In the case of communities ravaged by cyclones, such deficits from a lack of development have led to the fatal vulnerability of women and children exposed to cyclones. In Bangladesh, gender biased social practices have inspired women like Nazma[***] to overcome prejudice by inspiring women to help disseminate information about cyclones, and educating her community how to prepare for disasters. She recognizes that women, particularly pregnant women and children, are among the most vulnerable groups. “Women are also very vulnerable for a number of reasons,” Nazma stresses, “including their long dress and long hair. Also, women will not go outside even when they receive information that a cyclone is coming unless their husband tells them to, and women can’t swim because they have not been allowed to learn.” Overcoming prejudice, Nazma believes, will be most difficult to overcome where “it happens more [—] in communities with less education.”

Committed community leaders in Bangladesh are coming together to create a more comprehensive risk reduction culture for disaster management. These agents of change are overcoming developmental obstacles, and in doing so, are gradually transforming society. “The Bangladesh government and media underlined the natural origins of the disaster, worsened by the irrational behaviour of individuals and the limited resources of the nation.” Multiple stressors for poor urban dwellers, such as a shortage of adequate housing and emergency supplies, call attention to the detrimental effects of developmental deficits. In shifting the social norms, communities are better able to prepare and response to cyclones and other disasters as a result of the dedicated and passionate women on the forefront of change.

A pioneer of feminism, Begum Rokeya inspired development in advancing women’s issues, encouraging the notion of gender equality within an Islamic framework.[*]

Rokeya has “summoned women to overthrow the invisible bondages of our brains, to strip off the transparent patriarchal exploitation” and to recognize and take action against “men [who] deliberately refuse women equal opportunities to cultivate their minds with the purpose of sustaining women’s dependence on men and further perpetuating women’s dependence on their own inferior status.” Advocates seeking social reform maintain an agenda operating within an Islamic framework to encompass both: (i) a fierce criticism of patriarchal institutions, and (ii) the gradual introduction of change “in accordance to social reality and with respect to social practices.”

[*] Begum Rokeya believed that men and women were created differently, but equally. In her views, the subjugated position of women was not due to Allah’s will, but due to men’s immorality, “there is a saying, ‘Man proposed, God disposes,’ but my bitter experience shows that, ‘God gives, Man robs.’ Rokeya used a fascinating logic to enforce the notion of gender equality within an Islamic framework,’[h]ad God Himself intended women to be inferior, He would have ordained it so that mothers would have given birth to daughters at the end of the fifth month of preganancy. The supply of mother’s milk would naturally have been half of that in case of a son. But that it not the case. How can it be? Is not God just and most merciful?’

[**] human relationships are transformed and there is a new basis for human interactions. Connects w/ social (a different demography-urban/rural; occupational structure, development of networks and social relations), economic (rates of growth, per capita incomes, technological innovation), political (rule of law, democratic devision making), and cultural (literacy/education) realms

[***]”Nazma’s Story: Overcoming Prejudice.” Disaster Fund. British Red Cross, 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2013.

The corporate climb

While President Obama, Congress, and the entirety of the United States fear the fast-approached fiscal cliff, international concerns over the global economy increasingly grow as the euro-zone debt crisis continues to drive market participants to bonds powered by the U.S. dollar. A recent WSJ article analyzing the current state of emerging market bond fund inflows reports that while flows into emerging market local currency bond funds have picked up, other details these bonds’ yields remain in question.

For instance, dollar-denominated emerging market sovereign bonds have seen total returns of 18.3%, according to a Barclays index.

These bonds also still offered considerably higher yields than most debt offerings in the developed world, while still showcasing the relatively stronger economic growth from developing economies.

“It’s been a combination of yield hunger, the more attractive growth rates and fiscal profiles of emerging markets, [and] expectations that the [Federal Reserve] would ease again,” said Cameron Brandt, director of research at EPFR.

Many believe that the second half year will reflect a better economic environment. Economists predict that yields will start to rise and the Fed may push up rates so investment in these corporate bonds will soon fall under pressure. Another WSJ article discusses the possible end of an affair with corporate bonds. The corporate bond market is dicey, but the bond market has been exceptionally receptive this year.

Company fundamentals are sure to become a greater factor. Correlation across corporate bonds is breaking down, Barclays notes. But investors are still being rewarded for taking credit risk. For the average corporate bond in Europe, three-quarters of the yield is coming from the credit spread rather than the underlying government-bond yield. So where should investors look for value?

Europe could be a better bet than the U.S. since European firms are unlikely to take risks with their balance sheets while growth remains so weak.

Lowest quality bonds are the most vulnerable on the economic downturn.

The biggest threat to corporate bonds is external. Economic uncertainty has been a friend to the bond market in recent years. If that fades, then cash could start to depart for higher-risk assets that offer more upside. And rising government yields could erode returns for corporate bonds.

With the Feds buying as much as they have been, we may even be able to reach our goal.

Taxi apps turn efficiency into an issue

Taxi regulation is a favorite target for economists’ criticism. It is a textbook example of artificial supply constraints. In a recent WSJ article, the role of regulation in an economy is pulled into question with the introduction of Taxi Apps into the city-scene in start-up hot spots such as San Francisco.

A slew of start-ups, including Uber Technologies Inc., Zimride Inc., SideCar and Tickengo Inc. say demand is soaring for their services, which let people use apps to hire traditional cabs or bigger, more luxurious sedans…Regulators say many of the services violate the law, and, in the case of the unregulated drivers, pose public-safety concerns.

The electronic hailing of transportation services with smartphones has presented an issue for the industry. These companies demand changes within these applications before they are reintroduced back into the market. Problems include app-using drivers demanding customers to pay a 20% added tip, to vehicles that are not registered limo services being part of the competition– an issue that illustrates not just efficiency concerns, but safety.

Smartphone apps like these began in 2009 under the umbrella industry Uber. A NY Times article calling the legality of the industry into question reports the following:

In a post on Uber’s Web site Tuesday, Mr. Kalanick wrote that the taxi commission had tried to “squash the effort” to provide electronic hailing despite acknowledging privately that the practice is legal under the rules.

What Uber does, essentially, is unite the suppliers, taxi cabs, with those demanding these goods and services, the customers. Although it provides more efficiency to the market using regulatory powers, the firm could definitely result in a positive vision for everyone with a more well-defined set of guidelines and stricter regulatory muscle controlling it on the city streets.

Evading Tax Evasion

Greece is figuring their mess out and is finally getting organized. In a WSJ article about the recent economic mess in Europe due to Germany’s decision to bail out Greece, businesses and customers are informed of some new rules that will soon take effect. Under this new set of rules whose aim is to cut tax evasion, store-goers who fail to receive a receipt or any form of record of their transaction will be able to walk away without paying.

The “shadow economy” accounts for about 24% of Greek gross domestic product, according to a study by Margarita Tsoutsoura of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tax dodging costs Greece about €28 billion ($36 billion) a year, an amount equivalent to roughly 15% of annual economic output, the study says.

In the past, efforts to crack down on cheating by small entrepreneurs and the self-employed have drawn little support from a public that widely believes the root of the problem is the rich and politically connected, not ordinary Greeks.

“Those who don’t issue receipts are just doing it to try to make ends meet,” said Maria Kostaki, who runs a cafe and snack business in the capital’s central Syntagma Square. “They aren’t tax evaders, just small businesses that can’t survive.”

In addition to minimizing tax evasion amongst businesses and their customers, Greece is focusing its energy on collecting from members of the Wealthy guilty of tax evasion in one form or another, according to a recent NY Times article. The Greek government has compiled a list of individuals with overseas bank accounts and is more closely keeping track of financial records to stop more economic black holes in the EU.

The emergence of the “Lagarde list” of 2,000 individuals with overseas bank accounts — named after a list given to the Greek government in 2010 by Christine Lagarde, then the French finance minister and now the head of the International Monetary Fund — and the failure of previous governments to act on it has outraged a generation of austerity-weary Greeks. It highlights as well a longstanding societal fissure between those forced to absorb an ever-increasing tax burden and those who escape the duty by sending money overseas.

The 15,000 names under investigation have been narrowed down from a master list of about 54,000 individuals. One might call it a Lagarde list on steroids — an up-to-date roster of lawyers, bankers, doctors, merchants and even farmers who for decades now have made up the cream of Greece’s tax-avoiding crop.

The economic collapse in Greece, like the 2008 Great Panic, can be attributed to many factors built up over a period of time. Although many of these issues were taken note of and on-lookers knew that Greece was in deep trouble, they were already in so deep that there was nothing neighboring countries could do without causing a blackhole to suck in the rest of the international market. Because of the country’s deep-felt debt, there is a strong need for reforms which include a tax push, courtesy of Greek officials.

The government isn’t projecting how much the tax push might raise, and many citizens are skeptical that Greek officials will suddenly wrest billions from wealthy scofflaws. ‪But the initiative could not come at a more crucial moment. Having just barely secured parliamentary support for new austerity measures, in the coming weeks Greece must persuade its creditors to release 31 billion euros in fresh bailout loans or face bankruptcy.

At the root of the decline in tax collection has been the capital flight of Greece’s tax base.

Let Them In!

According to a recent article in the WSJ, Washington state is currently experiencing a more-than noticeable gap between the demand for labor and the supply of labor. The second-biggest apple crop in the states’ history has resulted in difficult obstacles to overcome for many apple orchards, such as Steve Nunley’s 3,000-acre apple orchard. He is experiencing a 40% shortage of the labor this size crop demands, and needs, in order to have apples picked before they rot.  Because of the shortage in labor supplied, Nunley has been forced to work with the 200 pickers he currently has– he needs nearly 400– much more than past seasons, but because those pickers are unable to even pick apples in a timely mnaner throughout the season. Because of the labor shortage, Nunley had to utilize the workers he did have, pay them more, but also lose out on the tons of fruit which will remained unpicked this season.

So, why the shortage in labor? Isn’t there an unemployment rate in this country well above zero? Don’t people need jobs? The farmers in Washington were blessed with such a plentiful harvest, yet are unable to fully enjoy their good fortune. How does all of this make sense?

The national crackdown on illegal immigration has shrunk the pool of potential farm workers in the state, while at the same time, the modest economic rebound has given immigrants more opportunities than before in construction, landscaping and restaurants. In a standoff, growers say they can’t afford to raise wages further, and workers decline to work for what they’re being offered. ‘We could lose 35% [of the crop. Or it could be much worse,’ said Jeff Rippon…

Here we have an example of an economic issue that could potentially be solved by a political issue– BUT we cannot make economic decisions that require us to bend the lawfulness of Immigration policies in the U.S.

Growers are blaming Congress, but is it their fault? According to an article in the NY times, growers are essentially blaming the responsible actions of the immigrant workers that have resulted in a labor shortage.

As it has become harder to get into this country, many illegal immigrants have been reluctant to return to Mexico in the off-season. Remaining here year-round, they have gravitated toward more stable jobs.

“When you’re having to pay housing costs, it’s very difficult to survive and wait for the next agricultural season to come around,” said Jack King, head of national affairs for the California Farm Bureau Federation.

Other than immigrants, who else needs jobs?

The answer, ironically, is MANY people in this country who aren’t going to necessarily set out and search to be an apple-picker in the state of Washington because the jobs are undesirable to them. Who desires the jobs? Those who laws keep from getting these jobs–immigrants.

Jim Hazen, the business manager at Broetje Orchards in Prescott, Wash., declined to guess what portion of his company’s crop of more than 300 million pounds might not get picked before the first frost. He calculated that he is nearly 200 workers short of what he needs, but hopes mild weather will hold into November and allow more time to get fruit in.