Circa 2008 Look familiar? He should. Robert Patrick’s roles include Col. Tom Ryan in The Unit, John Doggett in The Ex-Files and the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. When he’s not in front of the camera, he’s often on his motorcycle, zooming around the country as a part of the Boozefighters, a nonprofit ... Read more
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George Covington — The Secret of Politics
Circa 2008 Politics is often a strange tapestry, woven from diverse threads. Understanding it is simpler if you have a good sense of humor and a greater sense of irony. Almost 20 years ago, I called an old law school buddy to discuss two matters: his boss and the media’s betrayal of Americans with ... Read more
Managing Pain — Ear Aches, Tooth Aches
Circa 2008 At some point in life, most people will experience facial pain. This includes sinus infections, eye irritation, ear aches and tooth aches. Then there are chronic pain syndromes, which afflict certain people over the course of their lives. About four out of every 100,000 people in the US will develop chronic facial ... Read more
JR Martinez — Soldiering On
Circa 2008 As a soldier in Iraq five years ago, J.R. Martinez’s world blew apart when the vehicle he was driving hit a land mine. The corporal, who is now retired, spent more than two years in the hospital, undergoing dozens of operations to put his body—and life— back together. Now he’s up and ... Read more
Meredith Eaton — From Therapist to Actress
Circa 2008 Actress Meredith Eaton has been in a number of shows with roots in the law: She started out on Family Law, and recently has been featured on Boston Legal. But her professional roots are in psychology, where she worked as a therapist for many years. Some of those were with United Cerebral ... Read more
Asst. Secretary Of Labor — ‘Everybody Needs to Work’
Circa 2008 OLD SCHOOL: People with disabilities are institutionalized and written off. NEW SCHOOL: People with disabilities are recognized as untapped talent and hired by forward-thinking employers. In this, Part I of a two part interview, Assistant Labor Secretary Neil Romano talks to ABILITY Magazine about the coming revolution in the American workforce: People ... Read more
William Kennedy Smith, MD — iCons
Circa 2008 Globe-trotting William K. Smith, MD, founded the Center for International Rehabilitation, formerly known as Physicians Against Land Mines. The latter was co-recipient of a 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. These days, Smith also heads up iCons, an umbrella organization for a worldwide group of physicians linked to each other and to patients throught ... Read more
Anthony Kennedy Shriver — Best Buddies
Circa 2008 Founded in 1989 by Anthony Kennedy Shriver, Best Buddies is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering one-on-one friendships between people with and without intellectual disabilities. Here ABILITY’s Chet Cooper speaks with Shriver about the worldwide growth of Best Buddies, including successful initiatives and expansion into the Middle East. Shriver: The great ... Read more
Kennedy Legacy — One Family, Many Contributions
Circa 2008 In his 1961 inaugural address, President Kennedy implored Americans: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” That same year, he founded the Peace Corps which, over the last four-plus decades, has supplied 190,000 volunteers to 139 host countries. Peace Corps volunteers work ... Read more
Anita Kaiser — Finding Innovative Ways to Mother
Circa 2008 Anita Kaiser was well on the path to a career in business, when a car accident sent her in another direction. Now she’s working on a Ph.D. that will help her make her mark in the area spinal cord injury rehabilitation. As a new mom, she’s creating innovative, hands-free ways to care ... Read more
Best Practices — HP & Boeing
Circa 2008 If you’re blind, you shouldn’t have to touch everything in an airplane bathroom to locate the flush handle on the toilet. If you have mobility issues, it shouldn’t take you half the flight to buckle your seatbelt. Boeing, which builds and sells planes to all the major commercial airlines, has implemented a ... Read more
DRLC — Make Polling Places Accessible For All
Circa 2008 Many of us may feel as if we’ve been perpetually in the midst of a presidential campaign for quite some time. In reality, we are just now gearing up for the heart of election season. As we head into this heated contest, it is a good time to reflect on the status ... Read more
Green Pages — Water by Computer, Solar Flashlight
Circa 2008 As the new Green Guy, I thought it’d be interesting to start off with a review of some typically guy technologies and activities that have an eco-friendly edge. AN OUTHOUSE THAT’S IN Falcon Waterfree Technologies, as the name implies, does its business without H2O. In fact, the company estimates that each of ... Read more
Humor — Run for Office? Run the Other Way!
Circa 2008 I always thought ultimate fighting was a brutal sport, until I started following politics. At least the fighters shake hands after they beat the hell out of each other. Why anyone would want to run for public office is beyond me. The scrutiny is relentless. One thing that would disqualify me is, ... Read more
Headlines — Voting Gains; Help with Medicare
Circa 2008 ILG IS A-OKAY Human resource execs, Fortune 500 company reps and small business leaders all put their heads together at a recent summit to discuss strategies to make the workplace work for everyone. The event, which marked the 26th Annual Industry Liaison Group National Conference, featured nationally recognized speakers such as PBS ... Read more
