A SIXTEEN YEAR OLD TELLS WHY HER COMMUNITY NEEDS MLK JR. HOSPITAL
LA Youth gives a voice to LA kids in an important way that no one else does, as illustrated by this personal tale from Ronsanise Johnson, a 16-year-old from Locke High School, who writes about the need for Martin Luther King Jr—AKA King/Drew— to reopen.
Here’s a clip:
The hospital near my house was shut down in 2007 because of poor care. I didn’t know this until last year when I got hit by a car and really needed the hospital, King/Drew. Having to go farther away to treat my broken leg made things hard on me and my family.
Last December after school me and three of my friends were walking on 108th Street to catch the bus from Watts to my house in Inglewood. Near the corner of San Pedro Street, we decided to cross the street. Looking both ways, we saw that there were no cars coming. Two of my friends started crossing the street and I followed right behind them. Out of nowhere a black car came rushing down the street and hit me.
I was hit so hard that I flew several feet into the air. Coming down, the back of my head hit the windshield. I remember thinking, “Oh my god I can’t believe this is happening to me!” It hurt at first, then the pain went away. I rolled off the car and landed in the street. My body was numb and I had a nasty taste in my mouth. I looked down and saw my left leg bleeding.
About 25 minutes later the fire department came and wrapped my leg in an inflated orange brace. After a few minutes the ambulance came. After we were driving for about 30 minutes, the siren stopped, but the lights were still on. I asked, “Why are we still driving?”
OHIO DEATH ROW INMATES END HUNGER STRIKE AFTER MOST DEMANDS MET
The Columbus Post-Dispatch reports. Here’s a clip:
TThe three inmates – Siddique Abdullah Hasan, known as Carlos Sanders at the time of the 1993 Lucasville riot; Bomani Shakur, formerly known as Keith Lamar; and Jason Robb, all of whom are serving death sentences for their part in the riot – began a liquid-only hunger strike Jan. 3.
The inmates complained that they were being singled out for unfair restrictions compared with others on Death Row because of their actions during the April 1993 riot. In audio messages distributed via the Internet, Hasan complained they had no outdoor recreation or contact visits with family members, can’t buy winter-weight clothing and lack access to LexisNexis, a legal and news Internet search engine.
The riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville cost 10 lives, including Corrections Officer Robert Vallandingham. Sanders was considered the ringleader of the rioters.
“This is a big deal for them to be able to touch a loved one after 18 years,” said the group’s attorney, Alice Lind.
“Semi-contact” visits typically mean the visitor is separated from the inmate by a plate of glass that has a small gap so they can touch or hold hands.
CA ATTORNEY GENERAL KAMALA HARRIS ANNOUNCES AMICUS BRIEF FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM
Six Attorneys General from across the country will announce the filing a friend-of-the-court brief on Friday defending the constitutionality of the federal Affordable Care Act in one of several legal challenges to the federal legislation.
Other state attorneys general joining in the filing are from New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Iowa and Oregon.
GOVERNOR EGB JR ANNOUNCES HIS “STAY IN SHAPE” STRATEGY
Jerry Brown tweeted the following on Thursday night:
Installed the pull-up bar in the office today. Staying in shape for all the heavy lifting to come. http://yfrog.com/h7ljeitj
(The link takes you to a photo of the pull-up bar in question.)
Brown also tweets wants you to try your hand at balancing the state budget.
Side note on Kamala Harris’ amicus brief – apparently she’s got “the founding fathers” on her side, who early on instituted government-mandated, government run health insurance:
http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/01/17/congress-passes-socialized-medicine-and-mandates-health-insurance-in-1798/
I think Kamala should wear a tri-corner hat festooned with tea-bags if she makes an appearance before the Supremes.
Forgive me for linking to Marxist-oriented sources like Forbes magazine. My bad – but I’m wearing my Che Guevara tee-shirt, so it’s my best shot.
16-year-old Ronsanise Johnson should be glad she didn’t receive care for her broken leg at the old MKL. She might have received an infection or pneumonia to add to her misery.
Ronsanise needs to do a little more research and see how much money was spent on trying to keep the hospital open. And how racial politics and unions placed patient’s lives at danger as the county supervisors tried to correct the problems at MLK.
Don’t kids know the Internet is not just for social networking?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr._Multi-Service_Ambulatory_Care_Center
Nice try but they didn’t mandate it for the entire nation, think that’s a bit different.