I saw one of the most bizarre Daily Show segments ever last night. Stephen Colbert was interviewing a porn starlet named Mary Carey and her producer/director/pimp/whatever. They had recently attended a GOP fundraiser and wrote a $5,000 check to the Republicans. When Colbert asked Carey why she wanted to be a Republican, this was her reply (I’m paraphrasing here):
I think Republicans are wealthy and powerful people. If I want to be wealthy and powerful, I should hang around these people. If you play with cripples, you start limping. I don’t want to be a cripple.

I guess she was equating Democrats with people with disabilities. Here’s my question for Republicans. Do you really want this vacant-eyed, deeply troubled woman affiliated with your party? I know you’re trying to create a big tent and everything, but do you really need the porn vote?
Part of me wants to formulate a response to Carey’s remark, but I’m not sure it would be terribly effective. It’s not like I’m going to organize a boycott of her films or anything. I’m trying to picture myself sending e-mails to porn distributors saying “Please stop carrying Busty Dildo Lovers #4 and Hot Showers #6.” Nope, I don’t think that’s going to inspire a letter-writing campaign.
But I’m sure there are many porn stars who have more enlightened views on disability. Maybe we can recruit some of them to organize a porn-and-disability themed Democratic fundraiser.
Okay, so maybe that’s not a good idea either. I got nothing.

Via Slashdot, here’s a story about a prosthetic arm that enables the user to feel sensations such as hot and cold. You’d think Darth Vader could have afforded one of these instead of that ugly claw of his.
I can’t stop listening to DARE from the new Gorillaz album. It has this infectious beat that strokes my brain just the right way. Oh, and I’ve really gotten into Bloc Party and those shimmering 1980s-ish washes of guitar that infuse their songs.

Cary Tennis, the advice columnist over at Salon, has posted a response to a letter from a young woman who recently became physically disabled. The woman is struggling with adjusting to life with a disability, including the sometimes inconsiderate behavior of other people. Tennis’ response is a bit florid, but he demonstrates a surprising level of awareness in regards to disability rights and culture. He actually suggests to the woman to consider some kind of activism. He writes, “Further, I must say, when I see people in wheelchairs going about the city, I’m not glad they’re disabled, but I’m glad that they’re living life.” Which, really, is all we can hope for anyone.
Thanks to Susannah for pointing that out to me.
Lots of War of the Worlds hype out in Geek Land. Dark Horse is doing a serialized webcomic of WotW based on H.G. Wells’ original text. If the panels they’ve published so far are any indication, it should be supercool. Wonder if they’ll do a dead-tree version.

Today’s Star Tribune has another disability-related column. I’m beginning to wonder if the Strib is controlled by some shadowy gimp cabal. This column discusses a local Catholic high school that declined admission to a student with muscular dystrophy, only after initially accepting him. Apparently, the school decided they could not accommodate the kid’s accessibility needs. It’s been a while since I’ve looked at federal IDEA law and I can’t remember what obligations it places on private schools. But I have heard of other stories of private schools turning away students with disabilities. Often, they simply don’t have the facilities and the experience to accommodate students with disabilities. But how do you reconcile that with the ideal that a student should be able to attend the public or private school of their choice, regardless of disability? The school mentioned in this article was built in 1932 and might not even have an elevator. They probably don’t have a paraprofessional staff trained to assist the kid with daily needs like going to the bathroom. Was it reasonable for the parents to expect their child will be safe and comfortable in such an environment? Or should the school be required to bear all the necessary costs of accommodating him?
I’m just asking.

Dear Media,
I am getting a little horrified with your coverage of the increasingly creepy Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes thing. There are many things in this mad, mad world that deserve media attention. This isn’t one of them. Put the cameras away; you’re only encouraging them. I know times are tough now that the Michael Jackson trial is over, but I can tell that even you’re not buying this spawn of Hollywood PR. Besides, you know what you really want to do is make long-form documentaries. So go clean yourself up and we’ll forget this ever happened.
Yours,
Mark