We at Planet of the Blind received the following note this morning from a good friend:
On NYC time this PM @9:00 PM on Fox Business Network (who else?)
John Stossel "explores" the ADA with Curtis Decker, Director of The
National Disability Rights Network and Greg Perry, author of "Disabling
America; The Unintended Consequences of the Government’s Protection
of The Handicapped". Stossel hates the ADA seemingly. Thought you
might need something to "get your dander up" as I noticed it is
un-characteristically flat.
We of course remember John Stossel for his vituperative and rabid denunciations of pro-golfer Casey Martin back when he was trying to get the PGA to let him use a golf cart as a reasonable accommodation. Stossel dislikes the ADA but he’s even more contemptuous of people who require accommodations. He reminds me of the people who wanted to protect the red man by relocation.
Hey? When did I get flat?
P.S., Mr. Perry’s book is fluff from the fog factory.
S.K.
Planet of the Blind 
Amen, Leslie B.
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Continuing on from the last post related to a society providing participation and access strategies for all of its citizens, the next question of Stossel & Perry relates to how well that society competes with societies that provide more limited access to more select members of society. My feeling is that perhaps this business of being a super-power isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Maybe we could be ready to sacrifice being “#1” for having a greater number of citizens who feel as if they live in a country that respects their contributions. Do people in the U.S. really feel that if more people were happier, a select group would be less happy because of it? I just looked at the happiness index for nations around the world. The superpowers do not appear. Fer crissake, Finland is #7! (Is it the vodka?)
http://www.gfmag.com/tools/global-database/ne-data/10294-the-happiest-countries-in-the-world.html
I remember communicating with a nun at a retirement home a few years back who had contracted some strange disease that left her deaf, able to read only fairly short passages and with a progressive muscular paralysis. After our appointment and before I left, I realized that there was something I had forgotten to tell her (or give her — I can’t remember which). When I inquired as to where I could find her, I was told that she could not be disturbed, as she spent much of her days working in the chapel. She was praying for various issues and people that needed her help, and had a long list of items that required her attention. I thought that was cool. Everybody who wants a gig should have one, and also have the chance for a modestly decent existence.
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What? What? What? My head is spinning.
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Stossel has made a career of bashing the ADA. He provides an ounce of fact and a pound of misleading bull shit. As for Perry, I hope his other books that do not deal with the ADA are better. His book is filled with misleading anecdotes and right wing politics. I also like your reference to Native Americans and reservations. It is as apt as it is deadly.
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