Good NY Times Piece on a Wheelchair Athlete

One of the few articles of its kind that I've seen that almost completely avoids being patronizing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/sports/othersports/15george.html?scp=1&sq=josh+george&st=nyt

Cool Video

Check out this cool cross-disability video from several countries in the Middle East:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ylFwcdNfVhE&feature=email

Watch the Whole Speech

Obama made a speech this morning on the wider issues raised by his association with Rev. Wright. If you have the time, I urge you to watch, listen and/or read the entire speech. I am sure various news outlets of every political stripe will feature soundbytes of portions of the speech, but to really appreciate what he is saying, you need to experience the whole.

You can find it here: http://my.barackobama.com/hisownwords.

Someone told me that the pundits are already saying that the speech was "too nuanced" for the average voter to appreciate. I am glad he didn't dumb it down, personally. I think one of his attractions is that he is giving voters the benefit of the doubt about being able to grasp the subtleties of the issues.

I Can Relate

One thing that struck me, while I was listening to his speech is that as a "disability rights advocate" I have experienced hearing a so-called ally say things I vehemently disagreed with, or that merely made me uncomfortable. I call it the "don't be on my side" phenomenon. But, unless someone says something that I simply cannot allow to stand, I may remain silent. We need solidarity, or at least the appearance of solidarity in the face of all of the various forces that would weaken our perpetual struggle to equality.

The very title of this blog, "Crip Chronicles" offends some people -- for using the word "crip". But, as a young disabled person, particularly when I first started being integrated in high school, the words "crip" and "angry crip" was used by my older, disabled classmates to refer to US, who were struggling for equality.

I try to be politic about where and when I use the term. But, I know when I have found a brother or sister in the "disability rights movement" when they are comfortable with the use of "crip". And I also know that you can hear some pretty angry and hostile talk when a bunch of angry crips get together and talk about the wrongs done to them by TABs [temporarily able-bodied], the system and the man.

Fly Me to The Moon...

In the course of web surfing, I found this link today: http://www.iflymat.org/index.html for Mobility Air Transport.

If they get this off the ground (pun intended) it will be the greatest thing since sliced bread for wheelchair users. Check it out.

I Got a Check from Ebates

I got my quarterly check from Ebates today ($22 and change), and saw that they're having a special deal until March 31st, so I thought I'd mention them again. Through March 31st, they are increasing their sign-up bonus to $10 from $5 (to get the "free" money, you have to place an order at one of their stores; if you don't order anything until after March 31st, you will just get the usual $5.)

Here's the link:

www.ebates.com/refer-a-friend/bonusoffer/index.htm?id=1935512

I promote this for a couple of reasons -- one is that, yes, I also get a bonus when someone signs up through my link. But also, I post it on "Crip Chronicles" because I think that if you have any kind of mobility impairment and you're not doing the bulk of your shopping online, you're really missing a great boon to your quality of life.

Secondly, who needs a little extra money more than we do? They've got so many store listed now, that it is easy to get a little cash back on a lot of things -- just this month, I got rebates on my groceries at Safeway.com (yes, it is only 1%, but that's 1.15 I didn't have before), on filing my taxes at TurboTax, and on slippers from FootSmart.com.

'Nuf said.

Elected Representatives Respond re: ADA Restoration Act

The day that I posted the call (from AHEAD) to write to our elected representatives to ask for support for the ADA Restoration Act, I did just that -- sending 3 very similar emails to my senators and congresswoman.

While I have signed petitions in the past, I believe this is the first time I'd actually written to my elected officials, and was surprised to get a response from each, via email, over the course of the following 10 days.

If you're keeping score, both Senator Barbara Boxer and Representative Anna Eshoo both said unequivically that they were in strong support of the ADA Restoration Act. Eshoo is a co-sponsor of the legislation.

Senator Diane Feinstein said, after saying that she understood my concerns, "Please know I will keep your thoughts in mind should this legislation come before the full Senate." Sounds like a variation of "science is looking into it", and a strong reluctance to make any promises.

Tell your Representatives to Support the ADA Restoration Act

In the interest of time, I quote an email I received today (I am a member) from AHEAD (Association on Higher Education and Disability):

"On January 29th, 2008, the Education & Labor Committee of the US House of Representatives held a hearing on The Americans with Disabilities Restoration Act (H.R. 3195). This bipartisan legislation is widely supported by members of Congress and organizations nationwide and holds the promise of restoring the original intent of the ADA.

As an organization committed to the ideals of the Americans with Disabilities Act, AHEAD endorses H.R. 3195 and encourages its members to become informed about this vital, pending legislation and to take action to support its passage (see below). This is particularly important as organizations that oppose the passage of the Restoration Act are coming out with outrageous distortions of its consequences.

The Americans with Disabilities Restoration Act (H.R. 3195), introduced by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), would restore the original intent of the historic Americans with Disabilities Act.

Excerpts from testimony given at the hearing include:
"The bill does not seek to expand the rights guaranteed under the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. Instead, it seeks to clarify the law, restoring the scope of protection available under the ADA," said Hoyer. "It responds to court decisions that have sharply restricted the class of people who can invoke protection under the law. And it reinstates the original Congressional intent when we passed the ADA."

"Despite our progress, the courts—including the U.S. Supreme Court—have narrowly interpreted the ADA, limiting its scope and undermining its intent," Hoyer continued. "We could not have fathomed that people with diabetes, epilepsy, heart conditions, cancer, and mental illnesses would have their ADA claims kicked out of court because, with medication, they would be considered too functional to meet the definition of 'disabled.'"
Andrew Imparato, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities, said that the initial promise of protecting disabled workers under the ADA has largely faded as a result of Supreme Court rulings.

"In 1990, the ADA was heralded as an 'emancipation proclamation' for people with disabilities," said Imparato.

"Seventeen years later, on account of judicial activism, we are far from having a law that can be counted on to safeguard the fair treatment of people with disabilities in the workplace."

The AHEAD Board of Directors encourages members to learn more about The Americans with Disabilities Restoration Act, http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc110/h3195_ih.xml and to contact their representatives in both houses of Congress to support this legislation. To contact your members of congress go to: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ "

I used the site above to get the links to my representatives, and it only took me about 10 minutes (using cut and paste) to send an email to each of them. I kept it short and sweet: people with disabilities are losing ground in many arenas -- support the ADA Restoration Act in an effort to keep us from losing more and more...