I was playing around with the Preview Release of Firefox last night. I really like the Live Bookmarks feature, which allows you to view the RSS feeds of websites in the Bookmarks sidebar or menu bar. It’s convenient to be able to jump directly to specific articles. It isn’t enough to make me give up my newsreader, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Mozilla crew eventually integrates a full-fledged newsreader into the browser. It’s too early to say whether the browser wars are back on, but Microsoft better watch its back.
The Christian Science Monitor looks at the opening of the Paralympics in Athens and how it might affect Greek attitudes on disability. One person is quoted as saying, “In Athens, you never even see someone in a wheelchair in the street.” My sister made a similar comment about Paris after she returned to the States. The article also touches on the sense of shame Greeks associate with disability. One hypothesis for explaining these Old World attitudes about disability that pervade much of Europe is the lack of a historical grassroots civil rights movement. Back in the 70s, Americans with disabilities were developing a consciousness that was inspired by other civil rights movements focusing on race, gender, and sexual orientation. The passage of the Rehab Act of 1973 was a direct response to people with disabilities organizing and advocating for themselves. To my knowledge, Europeans with disabilities don’t have a similar history. While they may have laws on the books and ministries and such, fundamental attitudes won’t shift until the gimps in Paris, Athens, Rome, Munich and elsewhere start raising a little hell.
