The Bazelon Center has just released its "highlights of a long and troubling record" of disability right cases decided by Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of Judge Alito's record is his narrow interpretation of the powers that authorize Congress to pass civil rights laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Fair Housing Amendments Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and other laws of importance to people with disabilities. His rulings demonstrate cramped views of Congress's powers that would put critical disability rights laws at risk.

You gotta wonder about the timing of a press release from Wal-Mart announcing Wal-Mart Installs New Equipment to Protect Financial Privacy of Wal-Mart Shoppers with Visual Impairments, coming as it does on the heels of the leaked internal Wal-Mart memo of plans to get rid of "unhealthy" workers.

Right up at the top of the press release, Wal-Mart makes sure to add that "Blind Community leaders praise Wal-Mart's Actions."

The very thoughtful comments to my Friday entry about news stories  that Down Syndrome can be detected in  the first trimester of pregnancy  reminded me that I'd wanted to include a link to a thoughtful op-ed on this topic that ran in The Washington Post a few weeks ago -- ironically presaging this past week's announcement.

 Patricia E. Bauer, a former Washington Post reporter and bureau chief,  in her Oct. 18 op-ed article about  The Abortion Debate No One Wants to Have raises many of the very points commenters raised yesterday.

She begins her piece this way:

Yesterday afternoon's web edition of The Washington Post's story Down Syndrome Now Detectable In 1st Trimester: Earlier Diagnosis Allows More Time for Decisions noted that "word of the study triggered criticism from opponents of abortion, however, as well as from those who object to its use to prevent the birth of children with Down syndrome."

But, as is often typical in stories like this, the only folks quoted were right-to-lifers. No disability spokespeople were quoted. It would be easy to get the impression that disability groups worried about the ability to abort Down Syndrome fetuses were simply right-to-lifers themselves.

Every major disability rights group I know of comes down on the decidedly pro-choice side of the spectrum.  They do oppose abortion for disability, however. They oppose it the same way feminists oppose abortion of female fetuses specifically because of gender.

Can prisoners use the Americans with Disabilities Act to sue for damages when the state prison won't even give them a toilet or shower that's accessible? Here we go again with "Congress Didn't Have The Right" -- the current disabilities hit from the Supremes. They were singing it again yesterday when the  justices heard oral arguments in the case Goodman v. Georgia.

On Nov. 15, Sony Online Entertainment will roll out its new version of Star War Galaxies, which I've learned is called a MMORPG, for "massively multi-player online role playing game." This is not the kind of stuff I know much about.

And what's happening is that a game that was fairly accessible is becoming inaccessible, on the Internet. That's something I do understand the meaning of.

The person on the email list who's been seeking advice is visually impaired.