Far North Protest

Brothers and sisters with disabilities in the far north are speaking out against recent increases in paratransit fares and the inferior quality of services made available by Paratransit Inc.

A quick review of paratransit fares across America reveals:

• Anchorage, AK $3
• Seattle, WA (King County) $.75
• Las Vegas, NV $1.50 $2 Peak $4 Strip Zone
• Greenville, NC $1.50
• Dallas, TX $2.50
• Lawton, OK $2
• San Francisco, CA $1.65
• New York, NY $2 (Same as mass transit)
• Atlanta, GA $3.50

You get the picture, Anchorage paratransit fares rank amongst the highest in the nation. I hope that Anchorage Municipal Assembly members are watching polls and realizing that screwing the poor and disabled is not as popular in America as they think.

Mike Tyson and the NFB

BANG. BITE. RIP. SPIT.

Fighting for the WBA Heavyweight Title in 1997 against Evander Holyfield, feeling desperate knowing his winning days were over, Mike Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear assuring a boxing legacy best described as bazaar.

Like Tyson, the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) is feeling desperate as its 20 plus year hold on the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) Commissioner post is slipping away. With their own gnashing of teeth, some NFB members that fed from the RSA trough for years have filed suit claiming discrimination because five of the 66 RSA staff being laid off are blind.

Rumor has it that RSA regional staff without disabilities are considering suing as well claiming discrimination because after working at RSA they are perceived to have a disability.

People with disabilities witnessing the RSA theater, wish that RSA staff would have advocated with equal vigor for their interest.

War Based Equality

In an October 14, 2004 Department of Defense news release a significant shift in military policy is revealed:

President Bush shared this new vision last December during a visit to wounded troops at Walter Reed. "Americans would be surprised to learn that a grievous injury, such as the loss of a limb, no longer means forced discharge," the president told the soldiers.

"In other words, the medical care is so good and the recovery process is so technologically advanced, that people are no longer forced out of the military," Bush said. "When we're talking about forced discharge, we're talking about another age and another army. This is a new age, and this is a new army. Today, if wounded servicemembers want to remain in uniform and can do the job, the military tries to help them stay."

Normally, I would applaud such a shift in policy if it reflected the president's commitment to hiring people with disabilities throughout all of government but it doesn't. The reasons behind this dramatic shift in policy represents just how desperate the need for military personnel is for an American military stretched too thin. While I support people with disabilities who want to remain in the military, I believe it is important to examine the motives of the administration supporting such affirmative-action.