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Re: NAD v. Netflix: "This is a bad ruling. Really terrible."

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From: Morin, Gary (NIH/OD) [E]
Date: Jun 27, 2012 12:52PM

This is the one that struck me really oddly: "This is what happens when one values equality over the costs imposed by disabled people." Sorry, but yes, equality is of higher value than "costs," just as civil rights aren't up for vote. Aren't there costs of exclusion that can't be measured in dollars/Pounds Sterling/Euros and the like?

I recently saw a cartoon of an individual drowning, while a crowd of people around him all stood there videoing the accident on their cell-phones, rather than helping or even calling for help. As my grandmother would say, after coming to America from the old country, "only in America."

I know I'll be criticized for being "off-topic," but remember that we are living in a time in this country where people in public are calling for the death of homosexuals - see http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/how-could-you-boycott-a-cookie - for example. With the safety of the internet, people seem to feel free to be mean-spirited and to say things they normally wouldn't. People who have traditionally been the arbiters of the haves and have-nots are losing their power and assumed-authority, and they and their wallets seem to be threatened. So, criticizing the decision that streaming videos must be captioned seems fairly tame. Even Oliver Wendell Holmes 'advocated' for eugenics or forced sterilization of "defectives."

NOT A REPRESENTAION OF THE US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OR ANY OF ITS DEPARTMENTS OR AGENCIES. RESPOND TO ME PRIVATELY AT <EMAIL REMOVED> IF YOU WISH TO.

Gary