LET LIFE NOT LOSE ITS SPICE

If every person in this country were exactly the same, it would be a very boring country to live in. If every person in our lives were exactly the same, if there were no variety in our lives, life would be very dull and there would be no spice to it. Yet Conservatives/ Republicans seem determined to take away all variety of what people we see in our day to day lives as far as abilities go. They want everyone in a wheelchair to just stay at home, out of sight and out of mind, so they do not need to watch them wheeling up and down wheelchair ramps. Why else would they not want State and Locally owned buildings to have wheelchair ramps? And they certainly want everyone with any kind of mental Disability to stay at home so that they will not have to observe the struggles People With Mental Disabilities have to go through to get by day to day. They think if we just treat everyone the same, those that can make themselves the same will do so and those that can not will simply stay at home, out of sight and out of mind, as in "KEEP THE UNPRODUCTIVE OUT OF SIGHT AND OUT OF MIND" and then only those who are the same will ever be seen and then they can say that that is equality. But is that really the country we want to live in? Where everyone who is differently abled is never seen in public? It is not my vision of "Liberty and Justice For ALL". If any of my readers agree, let us hold our elected officials that fight against equal Rights For People With Disabilities accountable and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

NO ONE WHO IS ANTI ADA IS PRO LIFE

Conservatives/Republicans care more about saving State and Local Governments Money than about saving the lives of People With Disabilities, the week before last's story proves that beyond any and all lingering doubts from the seven earlier short stories and what surrounded and has followed them. The question that remains is why? The answer, of course, is quite simple. They place money and saving it for those at the top who are already set at a higher value than the lives of everyone with any kind of disability at all, period. The bigger question is how can such a Philosophy/Party possibly call itself Pro Life? How is it Pro Life to let a man with no hands get torn apart by a tornado so that buildings did not have to spend money installing and maintaining a button to open the door? How is it pro life to let ramps fall in disrepair so that people with mobility issues must use stairs that they could fall on and break their necks? How is it Pro Life to make People With Mobility Issues weave through a busy parking lot so that businesses do not have to maintain their handicapped parking spaces? Obviously, I can not answer any of these questions, but if I have a Conservative/Republican reader who thinks they can, I would love for them to leave a comment seeking to do so. Otherwise, I will just assume that all anti A.D.A. Conservatives/Republicans who call themselves "Pro Life" are just Hypocrites and Liars.

THE HAND OF THE RIGHT WING

In the story that I published earlier this week, every building was made exactly the same at least as far as its entrance went. And what happened? A young, promising life was ended way too soon. 'The Absence of The Hands of Life' is of course a work of fiction. But Republican/Conservative Efforts to scale back the Protections of The Americans With Disabilities Act as much as possible so that everyone will get treated exactly the same with the idea of that bringing more equality to society is only too real. Obviously, this notion of equality did not turn out very well for the main character of this week's short story, and it will turn out just as badly for real People With Disabilities. So, if you have or know someone who has a Disability and you are a Republican, demand that your party change its position or stop being a Republican. If you are or know someone with a Disability and are not yourself a Republican but have family or friends who are, ask them to think of it from you or the person you know's point of view, and if they refuse stop associating with them. A party that says treating everyone the same is equality and is more important than saving the lives of People With Disabilities has an odd definition of Equality and of Pro Life, and I would ask that they take a moment to walk in the seat of a wheelchair and to see through the eyes of the blind and consider it from that perspective before rushing to undo any more Protections for People With Disabilities. The hand of the Right Wing might just find they can learn a thing or two from a man with no hands.

THE ABSENCE OF THE HANDS OF LIFE

THE ABSENT HANDS AND THE 'RIGHT' HAND OF DEATH BY ,MATTHEW LUCAS BECKETT They call me handi'capped'. “Handi'capped?” I laugh. “That would suggest that I have hands to be capped.” I then hold up the round stumps at the end of both arms They gasp. New people always gasp. “Couldn't you get prosthetics, or even just hooks,?” they ask. “Robotic hands need to nerve endings to attach to function,” I reply. “People that have lost hands have such nerve endings. Since I was just born this way, I do not. Hooks need more to attach to then these stumps provide.” No one ever knows what to say then, so that is where the conversation always ends. With doors that open by button, I can mange, but knobs or even levers or handles are a problem, because my stumps can not get around them. My first ten years, therefore, were very difficult, since very few places had such accommodations and I couldn't always find someone willing to help me with doors. But then in 1990, when The Americans With Disabilities Act was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush, things began improving. Ramps were less worrisome than stairs since I have no way to hold a railing, and almost all public buildings had buttons at the doors. More elevators inside buildings was also nice. Since I of course do not drive, I have no personal use for handicapped parking, but I was glad that those who could use it now had the opportunity. I'm sure there are benefits that I am leaving out that many have made use of, but the point is after The A.D.A. became thee law of the land, those of us with Disabilities began to be treated as and feel like full Human Beings once again. For the first time actually, not again, at east in my case. Which is why I new watch in horror as one after another, every single Republican in The House and Senate in this rare joint Session of Congress and even Democrats from more Conservative States vote for the the bill to totally repeal The Americans With Disabilities Act by a wide enough margin that The President's threatened vet will be easily overridden. Neither my mouth nor my eyes will shut at all. Finally, though, I find my voice. “How can they do such a thing?” I gasp. “Are those of us with Disabilities completely invisible to them?” “No,” says my ultra right wing brother-in-law, Travis. “It's not that Kenneth. It's just that building and maintaining all that stuff costs a lot of money, money our country currently does not have. Also, everyone should be treated equally, and the Americans With Disabilities Act promoted inequality.” The ridiculousness of this last point makes me so mad I have to just walk away or I would give him a kick in the groin that he would never forget. Ramps ad elevators are not destroyed immediately, of course, that would cost money, they are simply not kept up and allowed to fall apart over time. Door buttons are removed immediat4ely, however, to save money on electric bills. No money is spent either on destroying or o keeping up facilities' handicapped accessibility, and so over time many such structural features become unusable. I can now only get into buildings when someone lets me in, and stairs I just have to be very careful on. Transportation is also a problem, since with no more buses designed for those of with disabilities,, with the flex lowering feature for instance, I just have to take the steps with great caution and hope there is a seat, since I have nothing to hold on with while standing. And it is onto this situation that Hurricane Ivan The Terrible from the east and Hurricane Atila The Hun from the west descend on January Second, 2014. The storms are not predicted to make landfall until night, so I go out in thee afternoon to stock up. I just have them put supplies i the basket I hang around my neck, and I got my money in there before going out. Sudden;y, though, The Sirens start blaring and I look up to see the two monsters coming together as they make landfall on the coast a short distance away and start moving up the beech towards me. I look desperately around and spot a building. I run towards it at breakneck speed, thee basket clanging against my chest as I race towards safety. But when I reach the building that I know once had a very large and thus easy to press button, the wall before me is blank, and everywhere is boarded up, so no one can see me out here. I look desperately around, but there is no way inside without hands and no other buildings near enough. . .. And then the double storm is upon me. I feel my arms , legs, head and torso being torn asunder and apart, and then the world goes black.

MONEY TALKS, EVEN WHHHEN NO ONE WALKS

Money talks, they say. Well, if you're a person in a wheelchair and you find that you can't get into your local library because they let the ramp go in order to save money since The Supreme Court said a few years ago that the protections of The Americans With Disabilities Act do not apply to State and Locally Owned Public Buildings, you would certainly find that sentiment to be true. Money talks and blocks the access of those that cannot walk. But did those that brought that suit, those that made that ruling and those that have chosen to use tat ruling to make the kind of choice listed above ever stop to think how these actions would effect REAL people in the REAL world. Americans with Disabilities are not just numbers to themselves and those of us who know some of them, and risking their lives in order to save money is not something anyone who calls themselves' "Pro Life" should be willing to standby and let happen. Yet Republicans not only stand by, they stand for all of this. They should spend a day with a person with a disability in a city that has let its ramps fall apart, and then see how they fell about saving money at the expense of People's With Disabilities' Lives. They should consider whether saving money at the cost of these lives is something that can possibly be called pro life. And then they should realize that money talking when no one is walking is the height of immorality, and then stop believing in this position. So if money talks but no one walks, have Conservatives considered the kind of society that that will make us? Something to think about before undoing any more of The Americans With Disabilities Act and then chart a different course, one that let's the disabled walk and forces money to not talk.