OT: ACB & NFB

Wed Apr 26 16:26:58 UTC 2017

I've gotten big laughs with that line about knowing everything. It 
always gets a laugh and then a little pause and   I know people are 
thinking, "That was a joke, right?"

Yeah, that was a joke. Mostly.

On 04/26/2017 08:58 AM, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>
>
> Hi, John.  I love that last bit!
>
> And yeah, I agree, if I understand you right, that we should try to be
> our best, individually and collectively.
>
> AlOn 04/26/2017 09:08 AM, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
>> 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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