OT: ACB & NFB

Wed Apr 26 13:08:32 UTC 2017

It's not really your fault, Al. It's mine. I'll admit that this thing 
about each and every person thinking they have all the answers is 
ubiquitous in the human race. Like I always say, I can't stand people 
who think they know everything, that is really annoying to those of us 
who actually do know everything.  But lets not settle for average. Just 
because everybody does it, that doesn't mean we have to. If sighted 
people were jumping off a bridge, would you jump off a bridge?

PS: My dad used that bridge line on me one time when I was a kid. I 
said, "I don't know. I'd have to guess there would be some reason they 
are jumping off a bridge. It depends on what that reason was."

-- John Heim

On 04/25/2017 09:30 PM, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>
>
> Sometimes being inflexible is a good thing, sometimes a bad one.  It's
> often but not always easy to know when to do which.  Some NFB rehab
> centers have been more sensible than others in this department.
>
> I'm normally a guide dog user, but when I use a cane, the NFB straight
> cane is for me the best by far most of the time.  I also use a folding
> cane from time to time, however, and probably should get one of those
> with the ball tip.
>
> Then again, maybe I shouldn't have said any of this.  This has arisen,
> sadly, because I followed up a comment complaining about their being two
> advocacy organizations of the blind by naming twhat I presume to be the
> two he had in mind.  My point had to do with our predictable diversity
> of needs and viewpoints and useful versus dubious forms of unity.  I
> guess I should have figured things would veer off into whether one or
> both organizations suck, but it didn't occur to me.  I probably should
> have stuck to guzzling coffee and studying assembly.  (another grimace)
>
> Al On 04/25/2017 08:18 PM, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>> yeah, they kept trying to make me use "their" brand of cane. One small
>> problem, the tips would wear out too fast. Another problem, the
>> fastening screw would fall out.
>>
>> Somehow, I think their idea of a cane is simply a brand one. Sure, its
>> lightweight, but its also a bit too flexible. It also doesn't work
>> well in areas where sidewalks are broken. It most decidedly doesn't
>> work in snow. Basically, I had my O&M instructor try to navigate a
>> snow packed sidewalk with the NFB cane. Then I had him try it with my
>> folding cane with the large ball tip. He kept insisting that I use the
>> NFB model, but had to admit that it just wasn't practical to use in
>> all circumstances. So, I take it as a valid assumption that the
>> leadership is inflexible at the best of times. I know for a fact that
>> a lot of their instructors are very inflexible unless presented with
>> facts they can't ignore.
>>
>> -eric
>>
>> On Apr 25, 2017, at 4:05 PM, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>>
>>> NFB members at a training center alienated me through their rigid
>>> insistence on straight canes and failure to account for the
>>> multiply-disabled or congenitally blind in training methods. I also
>>> couldn't stomach their idea that I should run all my words and actions
>>> through the "how does this make all blind people look" filter, or that
>>> becoming normal should be my ultimate goal. Several of us in here
>>> would have to lose a bunch of IQ points to be considered normal. And,
>>> I hate the Borg.
>>>
>>> That was over a decade ago. I'm on some of their mailing lists and I
>>> have some of their folding) canes since those are useful things. I
>>> won't join, but I've met some interesting individual members.
>>>
>>> On 4/25/17, Linux for blind general discussion
>>> <blinux-list at redhat.com> wrote:
>>>> The ACB's lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Treasury to make
>>>> them make money accessible was already flawed to say the least.
>>>> According to the United States Constitution, the power to design money
>>>> has been delegated to Congress, and the Department of the Treasury is
>>>> only responsible for carrying out the orders of Congress. Therefore,
>>>> the
>>>> best way to make money accessible would have been for any and all
>>>> so-called advocacy organizations to lobby Congress and get a bill
>>>> passed
>>>> and signed by the President of the United States that would redesign
>>>> our
>>>> money in an accessible way. Do I think the ACB's lawsuit was a
>>>> publicity
>>>> stunt? Absolutely, as if they wanted us to have accessible money for
>>>> sure, they would have gone through the proper channels and we would
>>>> have
>>>> had it by now. Instead, where are we? No closer to truly accessible
>>>> currency than we were when this whole sleighride begen nearly 10 years
>>>> ago. Thank you, ACB and NFB for being such advocates for the needs of
>>>> blind and visually impaired citizens of the United States. Without your
>>>> petty bickering and your "We're not them" attitudes, the world would
>>>> certainly be a better and more friendly place for all of us.
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
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