12/1/25 - November Comments
Welcome to December!
We again start the new month with reader emailed comments received in November. This is instead of trying to use the somewhat awkward comments feature in the Ghost newsletter platform.
To send a comment at any time, email me at: apulrang@icloud.com.
There were two in-depth comments about cuts and delays in US SNAP benefits:
11/10/25 - SNAP, gratitude, and 10 movies
Sumitra
"It's never been about a literal lack of money, or about Congressional gamesmanship."
The above is an accurate statement in that:
It is not only the "crisis" of the stopping of SNAP due to the government shutdown, but also new legislation is cutting SNAP in the new budget and through new regulations, with effects starting in November 2025. The cuts are a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), signed on July 4, 2025, which includes a $186 billion reduction and expanded work requirements that will push some people off the program. These changes go into effect even while a government shutdown has halted benefit issuance for November.
Tina Argetsinger
I don't know if you subscribe to the below blog by Imani Barbarin? She was the keynote speaker at the Disability Next Summit: The Future of Disability Inclusion at Work here in Portland, OR last April, which I attended. When I saw that Imani was the keynote speaker at the summit, it solidified my decision to pay the money to attend.🙂 She's wicked smart! Sadly, she left before the conference was over, so I didn't get a chance to meet her and have my "fan girl moment." 😉
Here's some background about her: A prominent disability rights and inclusion activist, speaker, and writer dedicated to amplifying the voices of the disabled community. Born with cerebral palsy, she passionately advocates from her unique perspective as a disabled Black woman. Over the years, Imani has created numerous influential hashtags such as #PatientsAreNotFaking and #ThingsDisabledPeopleKnow, which have sparked important conversations and fostered community among disabled individuals. Hailing from the Philadelphia area, she holds a Master’s degree in Global Communications from the American University of Paris. Imani's impactful writing has been featured in well-known publications like Forbes, Healthline, and BitchMedia. She also runs the blog CrutchesAndSpice.com and Instagram page @crutches_and_spice, furthering her mission to promote awareness, inclusion, and understanding of the disabled experience. Through her work, Imani continues to challenge societal perceptions and champion for a more inclusive world.
Anyway, I think Imani is sadly spot on in her below piece, but I'd appreciate your thoughts on what she wrote given the extensive writing you've done about and around the disability vote. For a report I'm working on, I've recently been reading some old articles you wrote in Forbes leading up to the 2020 General Election. And, your fortuitous last piece for them on 11/20/24: What Disabled People You Know May Be Thinking After The Election. Feel free to use this question in your blog if you think other[s] would be interested as well.
On a different, but related note, I saw this very disturbing, but not surprising, headline this morning from NPR: Immigrants with obesity, diabetes and other health problems may be denied visas
Trump tried the same thing during his first term as you probably remember: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/us/immigration-public-charge-welfare.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
Of course many of us have bee grieving the loss of Alice Wong:
11/17/25 - Remembering Alice Wong
Mark Johnson
beautifil tribute, thanks, mrk
Peter Torres Fremlin
It's a heartbreaking loss.
John Hoppin
rip Alice Wong
Tina Pinedo
Tina kept it sweet and simple, sending this "hugs" emoji: 🫂
And I warmly appreciate all of the supportive messages and well-wishes after my fall in early October:
11/7/25 - Mishaps and new challenges
Franke James
Sorry to hear about your mishap — ugh 😣 that definitely understates the wall of pain you must be feeling! Wishing you good thoughts (and effective pain meds) as you navigate your recovery ❤️🩹.
It’s nice that you can distract yourself with the newsletter which you’ve grown to be a must-read!
We’re at the Emergency Care Centre for Teresa right now to check her wheezing, and blood pressure. It’s non-emergency but Victoria (which we find lovely) has a hard time attracting doctors!
Gordon Jackman
Very sorry to hear about your accident as I had something similar in March. I am a polio survivor partially paralysed legs, need special orthotics to walk, but while out walking the dog by our river may paralysed leg got caught and twisted between two rock and broke my leg in three places, the fibula and two sides of the tibia. I was lucky enough to get a fabulous surgeon, in our public health system, who with lots of metal has reconstructed perfectly. After 4 month I am walking again and expect to get back to previous state before Xmas. I has been quite a journey, using an electric wheelchair for over three months has been quite an experience, something I have been trying to avoid all my life. Foer the first time I had the luxury of being able to move around with almost no energy, a sort of permanent and grounded magic carpet. Despite not wanting to admit this, I couldn’t help but enjoy it sometimes. Now I am walking again , and it has been hard to pace myself in the transition, I am loving again the freedom and perspective one gets from walking. At the same time I have decided to keep using the electric chair when I feel it would be good. I had to let go of a fixed idea to find the freedom I now have. The whole exercise I have thought of as an unplanned diversion on my path through life, learning new things and seeing differently, so while I wouldn’t wish this on anybody, I never lost my joy in life.
Marian A. Ryan
I fell at home about two years ago and fractured two bones in my pelvis. Ouch.
Marge Boyle
I've been reading your emails for a year or two now, and I just saw your email about your fall. So sorry to learn about your injuries, and I hope the rehab place is comfortable for you, and that your physical therapists are skilled, and that you'll have a speedy recovery. Sending healing thoughts your way. It's so very easy to fall and so time-consuming and sometimes difficult to recover. Best wishes.
Tom DeFayette
I hope for your continued recovery. I am thrilled you are home.
Kelly Mack
Congrats on being home again and enjoy!!!
Mark Johnson
Thanks for the update, I like good news, enjoy your Thanksgiving.
Peter Torres Fremlin
Oh so good that you're back home. hope you're doing well! Good luck with rehab Andrew. Coming home is always quite intense! It reminded me of jet-lag.
Maybe you saw a while back but this was my hip story: https://www.disabilitydebrief.org/debrief/fractured-fighting-fixed/
Don't forget, to send a comment at any time, just email me at: apulrang@icloud.com.
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