... but somebody got a bite of the apple first.

1994

page from a Mouth shows a political cartoon of a giant worm chomping its way out of a big expensive apple. The headline reads: "Big apple, bigger worm. How state spending for people with disabilities gets gobbled up by programs and providers."

"Nothing about us -- without us."
-- South African disability rights movement

cover of a Mouth magazine is made from what looks like an enlarged stack of cash. Superimposed on all that real money is funny money, labeled "one disabled dollar."

"Those of us who live in the opulence and plenty that the Social Security cornucopia provides have a different feeling about the bounty of America."
-- Billy Golfus

Here's the cover of the notorious "Trouble With Sex" issue of Mouth. It's a photograph of one person in a wheelchair being enwrapped -- lovingly, joyfully -- by another. It's hard to tell what sex they are. Probably women.

photo of Evan Kemp at an Adapt action wearing a tie-dyed shirt and a big smile.

"The school districts and principals started calling us mothers from hell. We decided to be Mothers from Hell."
-- Mary Louise Pasutti

"Many religions institutions take Matthew 18:20 to mean that God will show up in the presence of able-bodied people who look alike and won't show if funny-looking disabled people are there."
-- Rev. Rus Cooper-Dowda

"Self-appointed saints have no choice. It's their God-given duty to stick their noses into other people's business."
-- Chris Ringer

"Special Ed personnel are human too. They need time to paint their nails and reprogram their emotion synthesizers."
-- Holly Lu Conant Rees

"Control freaks look the same to me in white coats or wheelchairs."
-- Billy Golfus

"If someone read you your rights when you became disabled, they would go a little differently: 'You are disabled. You have the right to speak out. If you give up this right, that fact can be used against you by welfare workers and rehab professionals.'"
-- John Woodward

"These women [Idell S. and Helen L.] raise a very important issue. Here we have the state which funds both the nursing home and attendant care programs. What the state is refusing to do is move the money from its nursing home pocket to its attendant care pocket."
-- Steve Gold

"The high cost of institutionalization eats up state dollars and Medicaid dollars for the imprisonment of the few while the many go without services. It doesn't make sense, but it never stops."
-- anonymous observer in Ohio

"Professionalism -- for which read vanity and career building -- drives up costs. I asked the medical engineer to let me use his first attempt at a raised arm rest for my car. It ended up costing more than half the value of the car, and fits badly, because he wouldn't let it go at that. He wanted to publish in a professional journal and needed a photo of a polished product."
-- Alice Mailhot

photo of Justin Dart peering over his reading glasses, wearing his trademark Stetson hat.

"Parents experience bi-polar postal disorder. The health insurance company is unable to transport reimbursement checks through the mail but hospital bills arrive within three hours of a surgical procedure."
-- Holly Lu Conant Rees

"Bureaucracy math doesn't work like regular math, one plus one is two. It accelerates in geometric proportions. Like stupidity squared."
-- Terry Roarke

"America's medical establishment is philosophically retarded."
-- Jack Kevorkian

"If it is to be state policy to provide death on demand to its citizens, it is best to divorce physicians from any such proceeding. It is perhaps time for a modest proposal: Should not the state set up a Termination Bureau which would provide a comfortable death under pleasant circumstances to eligible, applicant citizens? Terminators would not have to be physicians; they could be veterinarians trained in putting animals to sleep, or perhaps vocationally retrained hangmen."
-- Hugh Gregory Gallagher*

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*In fairness, Hugh Gallagher has apparently recanted this position. He now serves on the board of Compassion in Dying, a group which lobbies, sometimes successfully, for legislation which legalizes homicide when performed by physicians.

The photos of Evan Kemp and Justin Dart are by Tom Olin.

The photo on the cover of the sex issue is by Brenda Prager.

The political cartoon of "Big Apple, Bigger Worm" is by Frank Billey. The disabled dollar was designed by B. Faw.


				1994
	"Nothing about us -- without us." -- South African disability rights movement "Those of us who live in the opulence and plenty that the Social Security cornucopia provides have a different feeling about the bounty of America." -- Billy Golfus "The school districts and principals started calling us mothers from hell. We decided to be Mothers from Hell." -- Mary Louise Pasutti "Many religions institutions take Matthew 18:20 to mean that God will show up in the presence of able-bodied people who look alike and won't show if funny-looking disabled people are there." -- Rev. Rus Cooper-Dowda			"Self-appointed saints have no choice. It's their God-given duty to stick their noses into other people's business." -- Chris Ringer "Special Ed personnel are human too. They need time to paint their nails and reprogram their emotion synthesizers." -- Holly Lu Conant Rees "Control freaks look the same to me in white coats or wheelchairs." -- Billy Golfus "If someone read you your rights when you became disabled, they would go a little differently: 'You are disabled. You have the right to speak out. If you give up this right, that fact can be used against you by welfare workers and rehab professionals.'" -- John Woodward "These women [Idell S. and Helen L.] raise a very important issue. Here we have the state which funds both the nursing home and attendant care programs. What the state is refusing to do is move the money from its nursing home pocket to its attendant care pocket." -- Steve Gold "The high cost of institutionalization eats up state dollars and Medicaid dollars for the imprisonment of the few while the many go without services. It doesn't make sense, but it never stops." -- anonymous observer in Ohio "Professionalism -- for which read vanity and career building -- drives up costs. I asked the medical engineer to let me use his first attempt at a raised arm rest for my car. It ended up costing more than half the value of the car, and fits badly, because he wouldn't let it go at that. He wanted to publish in a professional journal and needed a photo of a polished product." -- Alice Mailhot "Parents experience bi-polar postal disorder. The health insurance company is unable to transport reimbursement checks through the mail but hospital bills arrive within three hours of a surgical procedure." -- Holly Lu Conant Rees "Bureaucracy math doesn't work like regular math, one plus one is two. It accelerates in geometric proportions. Like stupidity squared." -- Terry Roarke "America's medical establishment is philosophically retarded." -- Jack Kevorkian "If it is to be state policy to provide death on demand to its citizens, it is best to divorce physicians from any such proceeding. It is perhaps time for a modest proposal: Should not the state set up a Termination Bureau which would provide a comfortable death under pleasant circumstances to eligible, applicant citizens? Terminators would not have to be physicians; they could be veterinarians trained in putting animals to sleep, or perhaps vocationally retrained hangmen." -- Hugh Gregory Gallagher*





	onward, ever onward to more juicy pictures and quotes from the Mouth \| HOMEPAGE \| ABOUT MOUTH \| SUBSCRIBE \| back to the Mouth Chronicles index page			*In fairness, Hugh Gallagher has apparently recanted this position. He now serves on the board of Compassion in Dying, a group which lobbies, sometimes successfully, for legislation which legalizes homicide when performed by physicians.
				The photos of Evan Kemp and Justin Dart are by Tom Olin. The photo on the cover of the sex issue is by Brenda Prager. The political cartoon of "Big Apple, Bigger Worm" is by Frank Billey. The disabled dollar was designed by B. Faw.