Notes, Notings, and Common Refrains

• Finalized a replacement wheelchair (via tele-health appointment) in September (August?) of 2020 (A process that began in January 2020); finally got confirmation that Medicare approved it in November. My old motor wheelchair died in January 2021. Spent two+ months in a rented, folding manual wheelchair. New Wheelchair arrived at the end of March. I did not learn until they were rolling it up my driveway (after I'd already paid the 20% co-pay) that the model of wheelchair I actually ordered had been discontinued, and nearly every detail of the design of this chair is different from the chair I thought I was getting.
  
  
• I'm now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The side effects were not so bad. But I'm still uneasy because of the Delta variant.
  
  
• This year, after being in the public domain for over two years, the design I came up with for the Disability Pride flag suddenly got famous (someone made a Reddit post about it, I think). And at least a couple posts about it on Tumblr got over 10,000 notes each. With the increased sample size of eyeballs on it, enough people with visually-triggered epilepsy discovered that it created a flicker effect when they scrolled past it online, and some people had seizures because of that.
  
  So much of July was spent redesigning the flag, with several people helping out. Most people (including some who were hurt by the original), were kind and helpful. And now the new design (in my new default icon) is also in the public domain.

Dear Congressman Donald McEachin:

I am writing today to urge you to vote “No” on H.R. 620 (“ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017) when it comes up for a vote (Scheduled for Febuary [sic – oops] 15, 2018), filed under Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 56.7 million, or 19% of Americans, are disabled and living outside of institutions (source: https://www.disabled-world.com/disability/statistics/cbfff.php), and thus, would be directly and adversely affected by this proposed legislation, not to mention the negative impact it would have on their family members.

The following is an excerpt from a summary of the bill, as written on Congress.gov:

"The bill prohibits civil actions based on the failure to remove an architectural barrier to access into an existing public accommodation unless: (1) the aggrieved person has provided to the owners or operators a written notice specific enough to identify the barrier, and (2) the owners or operators fail to provide the person with a written description outlining improvements that will be made to improve the barrier or they fail to remove the barrier or make substantial progress after providing such a description. The aggrieved person’s notice must specify: (1) the address of the property, (2) the specific ADA sections alleged to have been violated, (3) whether a request for assistance in removing an architectural barrier was made, and (4) whether the barrier was permanent or temporary. ”

The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed into law over 27 years ago, and even at the time, a grace period of 18 months was already written into the law in order to give businesses a chance to come into compliance.

The only legal protection that the Americans with Disabilities Act gives to citizens was the right to seek redress in court, if a business or employer denies them equal access to goods, services or jobs that are available to every other citizen. If The ADA Education and Reform Act were to become law, it would hobble these protections even further. In no other domain of public life is ignorance of the law a valid defense. And to ask the victims of discrimination to bear the sole responsibility for enforcement of the laws meant to protect them is a travesty.

Therefore, I urge you again to vote “no” on this bill. Thank you for your continued support of minorities in your district.

Sincerely,
[My name]

If the Nazis don't want you dead, they want you recruited.