[gui-talk] National Federation oftheBlindCommentsonFederalCourtRuling on U.S. Currency
Joel Deutsch
jdeutsch at dslextreme.com
Fri Dec 1 17:33:22 CST 2006
What makes you, or the NFB, think that accommodation strategy is such a zero sum game? That if the city of Santa Monica sees fit to install chirping traffic signals, which they do, that there's a good chance that this lowers the likelihood of a blind person being considered seriously for a job in Santa Monica? Really? That's what they think? Do any of them live and work in Santa Monica, or another such place?And the very idea that there is a strictly limited fund of interest in and, if you don't mind the gushy-sounding term, compassion for the blind? I think that's really misconceived, and unfortunate. And yes, I speak as someone who knows how to deal with money with a little help from the grocery clerk, or Open Book, or a sighted friend when there's one around (I don't happen to have the sighted spouse at the moment, but so it goes), but I'd love having currency whose denominations I could tell apart myself. We're about the only civilized country that does *not* have currency that can be distinguished by touch, one way or another, and no one ever told me that the blind are spat upon and disrespected from Finland to the Netherlands. Where do you learn this belief? Who gave you this estimation of such an either/or situation? Where are the stats to back up the belief?
And one more thing that suggests a very narrow scope of attention on the part of the NFB in this instance: Maybe you guys imagine those who can't see currency as all being dedicated, self-identified blind people who are engaged in an ongoing personal jihad under the guidance of the NFB philosophy to learn to die as sighted people, if ever they were sighted, and be reborn as faultlessly self-reliant super blinks? Is the NFB aware that the ranks of the legally blind are swelling daily with the aging of baby boomers who, though normally sighted for decades, are losing their ability to read what it says on a ten-dollar bill due to macular degeneration, just as they've lost the ability to read print or see the details of their loved ones' faces anymore, and they may get into screen readers or CCTV reading systems and a few other goodies, but have enough peripheral vision to get around without a cane or a dog, and don't identify with this super blink concept? They just want to regain their ability to know what the bills are in their wallet without anyone having to tell them? You think these thousands and thousands of people identify with this paranoid ghetto mentality?
Thank God there are other blind service organizations. And no wonder the NFB finds itself in conflict with them over every single accommodation and safety provision.
old sitgui----- From: jaybee
To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 2:41 PM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation oftheBlindCommentsonFederalCourtRuling on U.S. Currency
I believe you are perhaps deliberately missing the point. Changing the
money into sizes or what-have-you, does not help the blind to obtain jobs.
It does not help us achieve respectability. What it does is to bring more
unnecessary pity, and Lord knows we have more than enough of that. As a
blind person, I do not wish my blindness to be the focal point, rather, I
want my abilities and capabilities to stand out. Computers will more enable
me to reach my goal. Sure make the technology availabe for me to be able to
identify money, but the taxpayers' money can be put to a better use than
satisfying a curiosity. Think about it. Best regards, Jesse
"To err is human; to forgive divine (Alexander Pope, 1688.")
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Moore" <don.moore48 at comcast.net>
To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 4:06 PM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation oftheBlindCommentsonFederalCourt
Ruling on U.S. Currency
> Now let's see, Giving us screen access on computers gives us more access.
> Giving us Braille gives us more access and independence. Giving us canes
> gives us more independence and access. Giving us accessible money so we
> don't have to ask sighties what the bill is when we're handed it gives us
> less independence? Hmmm, I know I'm only a poor blink whose parents
> taught me to think for myself, but the logic of this one does sort of pass
> me by.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "jaybee" <jayjohnson62 at bellsouth.net>
> To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 4:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of
> theBlindCommentsonFederalCourt Ruling on U.S. Currency
>
>
> Do you really believe that changing the money will make for more
> independance for blind citizens? Let's be real, changing the money will
> hinder not help blind citizens to achieve equality. Bill identifiers are
> relatively inexpensive and can be obtained much cheaper than the screen
> reading software. Best regards, Jesse
> "To err is human; to forgive divine (Alexander Pope, 1688.")
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Doug Lee" <dgl at dlee.org>
> To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 1:29 PM
> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of the
> BlindCommentsonFederalCourt Ruling on U.S. Currency
>
>
>>I must giggle at this, then hesitantly and hopefully briefly reply:
>>
>> I think we all agree that inaccessible computers deny us jobs.
>> Computers and money do have in common the trait of being hard to live
>> without these days. However, whereas I'm sure a list of jobs
>> impossible without computer access would fall together in a hurry on
>> the slightest public prompting, I doubt a list of jobs impossible
>> without tactily identifiable money would so easily form. Witness the
>> existence of this very mailing list to address the need to make
>> computers accessible, and as far as I know, the profound absence of
>> such a list for the problems we have handling money. Money-Talk, or
>> would that be Money-Talks? Hmm. <grin>
>>
>> My personal view, in case anyone wants it: I would like identifiable
>> money, but I believe it will be extremely expensive to make that
>> happen unless someone manages a way to do it that requires no
>> modification to the myriad money readers out there--laundry machines,
>> change machines, soda machines, etc. I believe the money modification
>> should have been made when other changes were being made to reduce
>> counterfitting, and I even think the NFB defended this position at the
>> time. I think the strongest argument against changing money for blind
>> people is not what it will make people think of blindness, but as Mike
>> said, what danger we place current laws in by trying to use them to
>> accomplish such a mountainous task. Were it me, I would not spend my
>> money fighting this, but I would neither go to the barricades and
>> assert it as necessary. Finally, I hope the outcome of this is,
>> ultimately, a change in US money, even if it occurs as part of
>> something else, and even if not immediately.
>>
>> Disclaimer, if that's what it is: I am an NFB member and have been
>> since about 1984. If I disagree with an NFB policy, I know where to
>> go to speak my mind.
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 01, 2006 at 12:21:21AM -0600, jaybee wrote:
>> There's just as little need to change the currency to make it accessible
>> as
>> there is to change the computer to make it accessible. Regards, Jesse
>> "To err is human; to forgive divine (Alexander Pope, 1688.")
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "denise avant" <dravant at ameritech.net>
>> To: "'NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List'" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 8:47 PM
>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of the
>> BlindCommentsonFederalCourt Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>
>>
>> Well glad you know how the court things before there is ever any oral
>> argument. It's strange that we ask that printed materials be put in
>> accessible format such as braille electronic files or tape. Or we ask
>> that
>> the bus system be made more accessible so we can know when our stops are
>> coming or that elevators have braille and large print on them so we can
>> know
>> what floor we're getting off of. When there is an nfb convention, the
>> rooms
>> are marked in braille. Why because we are blind and cannot see to read
>> print. But when it comes to one of the most important things in the
>> world,
>> knowing what money you have the instant its given to you, oh that's not a
>> good thing because of blindness.
>> The reason why people are not cheated on a wide scale basis is because we
>> take all of these extra steps that sighted people never have to do to
>> avoid
>> being cheated. And I've heard more than a few instances of where people
>> have
>> accidentally given a wrong bill and lost a lot of money. I can say I'm
>> not
>> one of them. But I'm still glad the judge realizes that this is
>> important.
>> Quite frankly if the u.s. supreme court could fool the criminal defense
>> bar
>> with the crawford decision two years ago, don't be so sure that the
>> judge's
>> decision will be reversed on appeal.
>>
>> s
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Mike Freeman
>> Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 8:21 PM
>> To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of the Blind
>> CommentsonFederalCourt Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>
>> If the case is appealed as it most assuredly will be, the appeal will
>> win.
>> And what will have been gained? Nothing. And much could be lost if the
>> decision rejecting the lawsuit on appeal is broader and abolishes some of
>> the protections we now have under Section 504, the underlying statue.
>>
>> Moreover, under most circumstances in which someone would be cheated,
>> cashiers' drawers must balance at the end of the day. I deny the
>> implication
>> that numerous blind persons have been ripped off.
>>
>> I wouldn't object if currency were modified for other reasons. But
>> blindness
>> certainly is not a sufficient reason IMO to do so.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "denise avant" <dravant at ameritech.net>
>> To: "'NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List'" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 8:00 PM
>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of the Blind Comments
>> onFederalCourt Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>
>>
>> Hello,
>> Dr. Mauer and others are correct in saying that there are many more
>> important issues like jobs and access to printed material that touch the
>> blind community. But this doesn't mean that having paper money is not
>> important. I've been working for years now. Before I had a job, I still
>> had
>> to know how to tell what little money I did have. Once I retire the same
>> will be true. There is no question, money is very important all over the
>> world let alone the u.s. and it would be helpful to be able to know right
>> away what bill you are getting.
>> So often, I've been assisted by people who are from other countries. The
>> British for example are shocked that all of our paper money is the same
>> size. And they want to know how do I know someone is not cheating me.
>> Even
>> my friends and assistants want to know how I know what paper money I
>> have.
>> And it would be great if I didn't have to go through various steps and
>> stages to fold money in different ways so I would know this is a twenty
>> or
>> ten etc.
>> Quite frankly, I'm glad that the judge recognized that being able to know
>> what a bill is by feel if not by sight is an important thing.
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Mike Arrigo
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 7:50 PM
>> To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of the Blind Comments on
>> FederalCourt Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>
>> It's times like this that I'm reminded why I have nothing to do with the
>> federation. I'm certainly not saying everyone in the federation is this
>> way,
>> but you have to wonder where some of this logic comes from.
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Will Smith" <wilsmith at iglou.com>
>> To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 5:30 PM
>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of the Blind Comments on
>> Federal
>> Court Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>
>>
>>
>> I continue to marvel at the positions NFB top brass take on things like
>> distinct money markings or shapes.
>>
>> I guess if you have enough power and position then money just doesnt
>> matter
>> much.
>>
>> Will
>> wilsmith at iglou.com
>> On Wed, 29 Nov 2006, Reinhard Stebner
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I really do not understand the NFB's stand on this. I think having
>>> money that I can tell at a glance what it is makes me more independent
>>> from machines, fraud and enables me to be more independent. How do
>>> other blind people think about this?
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>> On Behalf Of David Andrews
>>> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 3:53 PM
>>> To: dtb-talk at nfbnet.org; dandrews at visi.com; diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org;
>>> promotion-technology at nfbnet.org; " nabs-l"@nfbnet.org; "
>> nfbcs"@nfbnet.org;
>>> blindtlk at nfbnet.org; nfb-announce at nfbnet.org; " nfbmo"@nfbnet.org;
>>> nfb-science at nfbnet.org; " journalists"@nfbnet.org;
>>> gui-talk at nfbnet.org; blindkid at nfbnet.org; napub at nfbnet.org;
>>> nabop at nfbnet.org; blparent at nfbnet.org; cabs-talk at nfbnet.org; "
>>> nfb-reno-l"@nfbnet.org; nfb-river-city at nfbnet.org; "
>>> nfb-sf"@nfbnet.org; nfbc-info at nfbnet.org; nfbofncp at nfbnet.org;
>>> trainer-talk at nfbnet.org; " electronics-talk"@nfbnet.org;
>>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org; " tops-2005"@nfbnet.org; " rocketon"@nfbnet.org;
>>> nopbc-board at nfbnet.org; nfb-newsline-sponsors at nfbnet.org;
>>> nfb-imagination-fund at nfbnet.org; " new-horizons"@nfbnet.org; "
>>> ncbys"@nfbnet.org;
>> nabs-presidents at nfbnet.org;
>>> gama-summit at nfbnet.org; nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org; nfb-idaho at nfbnet.org;
>>> mt-blind at nfbnet.org; " cabs"@nfbnet.org; colorado-talk at nfbnet.org; "
>>> nfbaz-talk"@nfbnet.org; mabs at nfbnet.org; oabs at nfbnet.org;
>>> greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org; " nfbf-l"@nfbnet.org;
>>> 4alabama at nfbnet.org; " vabs"@nfbnet.org; " mn-abs"@nfbnet.org;
>>> nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org; " mi-abs"@nfbnet.org; il-talk at nfbnet.org;
>>> iabs-talk at nfbnet.org; " nebraska-students"@nfbnet.org; "
>>> tn-talk"@nfbnet.org;
>> vendtalk at nfbnet.org;
>>> " nagdu"@nfbnet.org; " nyagdu"@nfbnet.org; " ag-eq"@nfbnet.org;
>>> arizona-students at nfbnet.org; " nfb-kzoo"@nfbnet.org; "
>>> reader-users"@nfbnet.org; nabentre at nfbnet.org; " nfbj"@nfbnet.org; "
>>> nfb-db"@nfbnet.org; nfb-fundraising at nfbnet.org; "
>> faith-talk"@nfbnet.org;
>>> " lions-ed"@nfbnet.org; nfb-lions at nfbnet.org; "
>> ncme-mentoring"@nfbnet.org;
>>> " nfbwv-talk"@nfbnet.org; blindlaw at nfbnet.org; nfb-editors at nfbnet.org;
>>> " humanser"@nfbnet.org; rehab at nfbnet.org; nfbpnotk at nfbnet.org; "
>>> musictlk"@nfbnet.org; " nosb"@nfbnet.org; stylist at nfbnet.org; "
>>> sportsandrec"@nfbnet.org; " nobe-l"@nfbnet.org;
>>> travelandtourism at nfbnet.org; " teachvib"@nfbnet.org; "
>> nfb-web"@nfbnet.org;
>>> ccb-alumni at nfbnet.org; " la-students"@nfbnet.org; "
>>> nfb-cars"@nfbnet.org; nfb-hi at nfbnet.org; " nfbkabs"@nfbnet.org; "
>>> nfbkpbc"@nfbnet.org; nfbofncp at nfbnet.org; " tabs"@nfbnet.org;
>>> dtb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>> Subject: [gui-talk] National Federation of the Blind Comments on
>>> Federal Court Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>>
>>> National Federation of the Blind Comments
>>>
>>>
>>> on Federal Court Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Views Effort as Dangerously Misguided
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Baltimore, Maryland (November 29, 2006): The National Federation of
>>> the Blind, the largest organization of blind persons in America and
>>> known as the voice of the nation's blind, criticized as dangerously
>>> misguided a federal court ruling saying that the design of U.S.
>>> currency discriminates against the blind.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
>>> said: "The blind need jobs and real opportunities to earn money, not
>>> feel-good gimmicks that misinform the public about our capabilities.
>>> Blind people transact business with paper money every day. This
>>> ruling puts a roadblock in the way of solving the real problem, which
>>> is the seventy percent unemployment rate among working-age blind
>>> Americans that severely limits our access to cash. The ruling will do
>>> nothing to alleviate that situation; in fact, it seriously endangers
>>> the ability of the blind to get jobs and participate fully in society.
>>> It argues that the blind cannot handle currency or documents in the
>>> workplace and that virtually everything must be modified for the use
>>> of the blind. An employer who believes that every piece of printed
>>> material in the workplace must be specially designed so that the blind
>>> can read it will have a strong incentive not to hire a blind person."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Maurer went on to enumerate the real needs for access to information
>>> by the blind and made a distinction between those needs and the issue
>>> of identifying currency. "Access to information of all kinds, such as
>>> that contained on Internet Web sites and in the press, is certainly
>>> critical to the ability of the blind to become productive members of
>>> society. Blind students need educational materials in Braille and
>>> other alternative formats so that they can prepare for employment and
>>> ultimately earn an income for themselves and their families. Given
>>> the urgent need for access to the kind of information that is required
>>> for success in America's information economy, the matter of
>>> identifying the denominations of paper bills is of relatively little
>>> concern."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Blind people traditionally identify paper currency by folding bills of
>>> different denominations in different ways. "In reality, blind people
>>> do not routinely find that we have been short-changed," Maurer
>>> commented. Machines are readily available to identify paper money for
>>> blind people who run businesses or handle large amounts of cash.
>>> "Essentially, the United States Treasury has been ordered by the
>>> courts to come up with a solution for a nonexistent problem," Maurer
>>> said.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The National Federation of the Blind believes that with training and
>>> opportunity, blind people can compete in the world with only minor
>>> modifications. The American Council of the Blind, which brought the
>>> lawsuit against the United States Treasury, promotes the view that the
>>> blind are unable to compete unless the world is modified dramatically
>>> and specifically for blind people, and that the blind must be made
>>> objects of care and pity rather than equal participants in society.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> John G. Par? Jr.
>>> Director of Public Relations
>>> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
>>> 1800 Johnson Street
>>> Baltimore, Maryland 21230
>>> Telephone: (410) 659-9314, ext. 2371
>>> Cell phone: (410) 913-3912
>>> Fax: (410) 685-5653
>>> Email: jpare at nfb.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> gui-talk mailing list
>>> gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> gui-talk mailing list
>>> gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----
>>
>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> gui-talk mailing list
>>> gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> gui-talk at nfbnet.org
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>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>> --
>> Doug Lee dgl at dlee.org
>> SSB + BART Group doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com
>> http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
>> "Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes
>> revenge, and dares forgive an injury." --E. H. Chapin
>> _______________________________________________
>> gui-talk mailing list
>> gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
> _______________________________________________
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-------------- next part --------------
What makes you, or the NFB, think that accommodation strategy is such a zero sum game? That if the city of Santa Monica sees fit to install chirping traffic signals, which they do, that there's a good chance that this lowers the likelihood of a blind person being considered seriously for a job in Santa Monica? Really? That's what they think? Do any of them live and work in Santa Monica, or another such place?And the very idea that
there is a strictly limited fund of interest in and, if you don't mind the gushy-sounding term, compassion for the blind? I think that's really misconceived, and unfortunate. And yes, I speak as someone who knows how to deal with money with a little help from the grocery clerk, or Open Book, or a sighted friend when there's one around (I don't happen to have the sighted spouse at the moment, but so it goes), but I'd love having currency whose denominations I could tell apart myself. We're about the only civilized country that does *not* have currency that can be distinguished by touch, one way or another, and no one ever told me that the blind are spat upon and disrespected from Finland to the Netherlands. Where do you learn this belief? Who gave you this estimation of such an either/or situation? Where are the stats to back up the belief?
And one more thing that suggests a very narrow scope of attention on the part of the NFB in this instance: Maybe you guys imagine those who can't see currency as all being dedicated, self-identified blind people who are engaged in an ongoing personal jihad under the guidance of the NFB philosophy to learn to die as sighted people, if ever they were sighted, and be reborn as faultlessly self-reliant super blinks? Is the NFB aware that the ranks of the legally blind are swelling daily with the aging of baby boomers who, though normally sighted for decades, are losing their ability to read what it says on a ten-dollar bill due to macular degeneration, just as they've lost the ability to read print or see the details of their loved ones' faces anymore, and they may get into screen readers or CCTV reading systems and a few other goodies, but have enough peripheral vision to get around without a cane or a dog, and don't identify with this super blink concept? They just want to regain their ability to know what the bills are in their wallet without anyone having to tell them? You think these thousands and thousands of people identify with this paranoid ghetto mentality?
Thank God there are other blind service organizations. And no wonder the NFB finds itself in conflict with them over every single accommodation and safety provision.
old sitgui-----
From:
mailto:jayjohnson62 at bellsouth.net jaybee
To:
mailto:gui-talk at nfbnet.org NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List
Sent:
Friday, December 01, 2006 2:41 PM
Subject:
Re: [gui-talk] National Federation oftheBlindCommentsonFederalCourtRuling on U.S. Currency
I believe you are perhaps deliberately missing the point. Changing the
money into sizes or what-have-you, does not help the blind to obtain jobs.
It does not help us achieve respectability. What it does is to bring more
unnecessary pity, and Lord knows we have more than enough of that. As a
blind person, I do not wish my blindness to be the focal point, rather, I
want my abilities and capabilities to stand out. Computers will more enable
me to reach my goal. Sure make the technology availabe for me to be able to
identify money, but the taxpayers' money can be put to a better use than
satisfying a curiosity. Think about it. Best regards, Jesse
"To err is human; to forgive divine (Alexander Pope, 1688.")
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Moore" < mailto:don.moore48 at comcast.net don.moore48 at comcast.net
>
To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" < mailto:gui-talk at nfbnet.org gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>
Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 4:06 PM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation oftheBlindCommentsonFederalCourt
Ruling on U.S. Currency
> Now let's see, Giving us screen access on computers gives us more access.
> Giving us Braille gives us more access and independence. Giving us canes
> gives us more independence and access. Giving us accessible money so we
> don't have to ask sighties what the bill is when we're handed it gives us
> less independence? Hmmm, I know I'm only a poor blink whose parents
> taught me to think for myself, but the logic of this one does sort of pass
> me by.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "jaybee" < mailto:jayjohnson62 at bellsouth.net jayjohnson62 at bellsouth.net
>
> To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" < mailto:gui-talk at nfbnet.org gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>
> Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 4:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of
> theBlindCommentsonFederalCourt Ruling on U.S. Currency
>
>
> Do you really believe that changing the money will make for more
> independance for blind citizens? Let's be real, changing the money will
> hinder not help blind citizens to achieve equality. Bill identifiers are
> relatively inexpensive and can be obtained much cheaper than the screen
> reading software. Best regards, Jesse
> "To err is human; to forgive divine (Alexander Pope, 1688.")
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Doug Lee" < mailto:dgl at dlee.org dgl at dlee.org
>
> To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" < mailto:gui-talk at nfbnet.org gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>
> Sent: Friday, December 01, 2006 1:29 PM
> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of the
> BlindCommentsonFederalCourt Ruling on U.S. Currency
>
>
>>I must giggle at this, then hesitantly and hopefully briefly reply:
>>
>> I think we all agree that inaccessible computers deny us jobs.
>> Computers and money do have in common the trait of being hard to live
>> without these days. However, whereas I'm sure a list of jobs
>> impossible without computer access would fall together in a hurry on
>> the slightest public prompting, I doubt a list of jobs impossible
>> without tactily identifiable money would so easily form. Witness the
>> existence of this very mailing list to address the need to make
>> computers accessible, and as far as I know, the profound absence of
>> such a list for the problems we have handling money. Money-Talk, or
>> would that be Money-Talks? Hmm. <grin>
>>
>> My personal view, in case anyone wants it: I would like identifiable
>> money, but I believe it will be extremely expensive to make that
>> happen unless someone manages a way to do it that requires no
>> modification to the myriad money readers out there--laundry machines,
>> change machines, soda machines, etc. I believe the money modification
>> should have been made when other changes were being made to reduce
>> counterfitting, and I even think the NFB defended this position at the
>> time. I think the strongest argument against changing money for blind
>> people is not what it will make people think of blindness, but as Mike
>> said, what danger we place current laws in by trying to use them to
>> accomplish such a mountainous task. Were it me, I would not spend my
>> money fighting this, but I would neither go to the barricades and
>> assert it as necessary. Finally, I hope the outcome of this is,
>> ultimately, a change in US money, even if it occurs as part of
>> something else, and even if not immediately.
>>
>> Disclaimer, if that's what it is: I am an NFB member and have been
>> since about 1984. If I disagree with an NFB policy, I know where to
>> go to speak my mind.
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 01, 2006 at 12:21:21AM -0600, jaybee wrote:
>> There's just as little need to change the currency to make it accessible
>> as
>> there is to change the computer to make it accessible. Regards, Jesse
>> "To err is human; to forgive divine (Alexander Pope, 1688.")
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "denise avant" < mailto:dravant at ameritech.net dravant at ameritech.net
>
>> To: "'NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List'" < mailto:gui-talk at nfbnet.org gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>
>> Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 8:47 PM
>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of the
>> BlindCommentsonFederalCourt Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>
>>
>> Well glad you know how the court things before there is ever any oral
>> argument. It's strange that we ask that printed materials be put in
>> accessible format such as braille electronic files or tape. Or we ask
>> that
>> the bus system be made more accessible so we can know when our stops are
>> coming or that elevators have braille and large print on them so we can
>> know
>> what floor we're getting off of. When there is an nfb convention, the
>> rooms
>> are marked in braille. Why because we are blind and cannot see to read
>> print. But when it comes to one of the most important things in the
>> world,
>> knowing what money you have the instant its given to you, oh that's not a
>> good thing because of blindness.
>> The reason why people are not cheated on a wide scale basis is because we
>> take all of these extra steps that sighted people never have to do to
>> avoid
>> being cheated. And I've heard more than a few instances of where people
>> have
>> accidentally given a wrong bill and lost a lot of money. I can say I'm
>> not
>> one of them. But I'm still glad the judge realizes that this is
>> important.
>> Quite frankly if the u.s. supreme court could fool the criminal defense
>> bar
>> with the crawford decision two years ago, don't be so sure that the
>> judge's
>> decision will be reversed on appeal.
>>
>> s
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Mike Freeman
>> Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 8:21 PM
>> To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of the Blind
>> CommentsonFederalCourt Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>
>> If the case is appealed as it most assuredly will be, the appeal will
>> win.
>> And what will have been gained? Nothing. And much could be lost if the
>> decision rejecting the lawsuit on appeal is broader and abolishes some of
>> the protections we now have under Section 504, the underlying statue.
>>
>> Moreover, under most circumstances in which someone would be cheated,
>> cashiers' drawers must balance at the end of the day. I deny the
>> implication
>> that numerous blind persons have been ripped off.
>>
>> I wouldn't object if currency were modified for other reasons. But
>> blindness
>> certainly is not a sufficient reason IMO to do so.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "denise avant" < mailto:dravant at ameritech.net dravant at ameritech.net
>
>> To: "'NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List'" < mailto:gui-talk at nfbnet.org gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 8:00 PM
>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of the Blind Comments
>> onFederalCourt Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>
>>
>> Hello,
>> Dr. Mauer and others are correct in saying that there are many more
>> important issues like jobs and access to printed material that touch the
>> blind community. But this doesn't mean that having paper money is not
>> important. I've been working for years now. Before I had a job, I still
>> had
>> to know how to tell what little money I did have. Once I retire the same
>> will be true. There is no question, money is very important all over the
>> world let alone the u.s. and it would be helpful to be able to know right
>> away what bill you are getting.
>> So often, I've been assisted by people who are from other countries. The
>> British for example are shocked that all of our paper money is the same
>> size. And they want to know how do I know someone is not cheating me.
>> Even
>> my friends and assistants want to know how I know what paper money I
>> have.
>> And it would be great if I didn't have to go through various steps and
>> stages to fold money in different ways so I would know this is a twenty
>> or
>> ten etc.
>> Quite frankly, I'm glad that the judge recognized that being able to know
>> what a bill is by feel if not by sight is an important thing.
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Mike Arrigo
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 7:50 PM
>> To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of the Blind Comments on
>> FederalCourt Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>
>> It's times like this that I'm reminded why I have nothing to do with the
>> federation. I'm certainly not saying everyone in the federation is this
>> way,
>> but you have to wonder where some of this logic comes from.
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Will Smith" < mailto:wilsmith at iglou.com wilsmith at iglou.com
>
>> To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" < mailto:gui-talk at nfbnet.org gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>
>> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 5:30 PM
>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] National Federation of the Blind Comments on
>> Federal
>> Court Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>
>>
>>
>> I continue to marvel at the positions NFB top brass take on things like
>> distinct money markings or shapes.
>>
>> I guess if you have enough power and position then money just doesnt
>> matter
>> much.
>>
>> Will
>> mailto:wilsmith at iglou.com wilsmith at iglou.com
>> On Wed, 29 Nov 2006, Reinhard Stebner
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I really do not understand the NFB's stand on this. I think having
>>> money that I can tell at a glance what it is makes me more independent
>>> from machines, fraud and enables me to be more independent. How do
>>> other blind people think about this?
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>> On Behalf Of David Andrews
>>> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 3:53 PM
>>> To: mailto:dtb-talk at nfbnet.org dtb-talk at nfbnet.org
; mailto:dandrews at visi.com dandrews at visi.com
; mailto:diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:promotion-technology at nfbnet.org promotion-technology at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" nabs-l"@nfbnet.org " nabs-l"@nfbnet.org
; "
>> nfbcs"@nfbnet.org;
>>> mailto:blindtlk at nfbnet.org blindtlk at nfbnet.org
; mailto:nfb-announce at nfbnet.org nfb-announce at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" nfbmo"@nfbnet.org " nfbmo"@nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:nfb-science at nfbnet.org nfb-science at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" journalists"@nfbnet.org " journalists"@nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:gui-talk at nfbnet.org gui-talk at nfbnet.org
; mailto:blindkid at nfbnet.org blindkid at nfbnet.org
; mailto:napub at nfbnet.org napub at nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:nabop at nfbnet.org nabop at nfbnet.org
; mailto:blparent at nfbnet.org blparent at nfbnet.org
; mailto:cabs-talk at nfbnet.org cabs-talk at nfbnet.org
; "
>>> nfb-reno-l"@nfbnet.org; mailto:nfb-river-city at nfbnet.org nfb-river-city at nfbnet.org
; "
>>> nfb-sf"@nfbnet.org; mailto:nfbc-info at nfbnet.org nfbc-info at nfbnet.org
; mailto:nfbofncp at nfbnet.org nfbofncp at nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:trainer-talk at nfbnet.org trainer-talk at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" electronics-talk"@nfbnet.org " electronics-talk"@nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:nfb-talk at nfbnet.org nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" tops-2005"@nfbnet.org " tops-2005"@nfbnet.org
; mailto:" rocketon"@nfbnet.org " rocketon"@nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:nopbc-board at nfbnet.org nopbc-board at nfbnet.org
; mailto:nfb-newsline-sponsors at nfbnet.org nfb-newsline-sponsors at nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:nfb-imagination-fund at nfbnet.org nfb-imagination-fund at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" new-horizons"@nfbnet.org " new-horizons"@nfbnet.org
; "
>>> ncbys"@nfbnet.org;
>> mailto:nabs-presidents at nfbnet.org nabs-presidents at nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:gama-summit at nfbnet.org gama-summit at nfbnet.org
; mailto:nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
; mailto:nfb-idaho at nfbnet.org nfb-idaho at nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:mt-blind at nfbnet.org mt-blind at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" cabs"@nfbnet.org " cabs"@nfbnet.org
; mailto:colorado-talk at nfbnet.org colorado-talk at nfbnet.org
; "
>>> nfbaz-talk"@nfbnet.org; mailto:mabs at nfbnet.org mabs at nfbnet.org
; mailto:oabs at nfbnet.org oabs at nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org greater-baltimore at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" nfbf-l"@nfbnet.org " nfbf-l"@nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:4alabama at nfbnet.org 4alabama at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" vabs"@nfbnet.org " vabs"@nfbnet.org
; mailto:" mn-abs"@nfbnet.org " mn-abs"@nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" mi-abs"@nfbnet.org " mi-abs"@nfbnet.org
; mailto:il-talk at nfbnet.org il-talk at nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:iabs-talk at nfbnet.org iabs-talk at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" nebraska-students"@nfbnet.org " nebraska-students"@nfbnet.org
; "
>>> tn-talk"@nfbnet.org;
>> mailto:vendtalk at nfbnet.org vendtalk at nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:" nagdu"@nfbnet.org " nagdu"@nfbnet.org
; mailto:" nyagdu"@nfbnet.org " nyagdu"@nfbnet.org
; mailto:" ag-eq"@nfbnet.org " ag-eq"@nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:arizona-students at nfbnet.org arizona-students at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" nfb-kzoo"@nfbnet.org " nfb-kzoo"@nfbnet.org
; "
>>> reader-users"@nfbnet.org; mailto:nabentre at nfbnet.org nabentre at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" nfbj"@nfbnet.org " nfbj"@nfbnet.org
; "
>>> nfb-db"@nfbnet.org; mailto:nfb-fundraising at nfbnet.org nfb-fundraising at nfbnet.org
; "
>> faith-talk"@nfbnet.org;
>>> mailto:" lions-ed"@nfbnet.org " lions-ed"@nfbnet.org
; mailto:nfb-lions at nfbnet.org nfb-lions at nfbnet.org
; "
>> ncme-mentoring"@nfbnet.org;
>>> mailto:" nfbwv-talk"@nfbnet.org " nfbwv-talk"@nfbnet.org
; mailto:blindlaw at nfbnet.org blindlaw at nfbnet.org
; mailto:nfb-editors at nfbnet.org nfb-editors at nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:" humanser"@nfbnet.org " humanser"@nfbnet.org
; mailto:rehab at nfbnet.org rehab at nfbnet.org
; mailto:nfbpnotk at nfbnet.org nfbpnotk at nfbnet.org
; "
>>> musictlk"@nfbnet.org; mailto:" nosb"@nfbnet.org " nosb"@nfbnet.org
; mailto:stylist at nfbnet.org stylist at nfbnet.org
; "
>>> sportsandrec"@nfbnet.org; mailto:" nobe-l"@nfbnet.org " nobe-l"@nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:travelandtourism at nfbnet.org travelandtourism at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" teachvib"@nfbnet.org " teachvib"@nfbnet.org
; "
>> nfb-web"@nfbnet.org;
>>> mailto:ccb-alumni at nfbnet.org ccb-alumni at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" la-students"@nfbnet.org " la-students"@nfbnet.org
; "
>>> nfb-cars"@nfbnet.org; mailto:nfb-hi at nfbnet.org nfb-hi at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" nfbkabs"@nfbnet.org " nfbkabs"@nfbnet.org
; "
>>> nfbkpbc"@nfbnet.org; mailto:nfbofncp at nfbnet.org nfbofncp at nfbnet.org
; mailto:" tabs"@nfbnet.org " tabs"@nfbnet.org
;
>>> mailto:dtb-talk at nfbnet.org dtb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>> Subject: [gui-talk] National Federation of the Blind Comments on
>>> Federal Court Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>>
>>> National Federation of the Blind Comments
>>>
>>>
>>> on Federal Court Ruling on U.S. Currency
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Views Effort as Dangerously Misguided
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Baltimore, Maryland (November 29, 2006): The National Federation of
>>> the Blind, the largest organization of blind persons in America and
>>> known as the voice of the nation's blind, criticized as dangerously
>>> misguided a federal court ruling saying that the design of U.S.
>>> currency discriminates against the blind.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,
>>> said: "The blind need jobs and real opportunities to earn money, not
>>> feel-good gimmicks that misinform the public about our capabilities.
>>> Blind people transact business with paper money every day. This
>>> ruling puts a roadblock in the way of solving the real problem, which
>>> is the seventy percent unemployment rate among working-age blind
>>> Americans that severely limits our access to cash. The ruling will do
>>> nothing to alleviate that situation; in fact, it seriously endangers
>>> the ability of the blind to get jobs and participate fully in society.
>>> It argues that the blind cannot handle currency or documents in the
>>> workplace and that virtually everything must be modified for the use
>>> of the blind. An employer who believes that every piece of printed
>>> material in the workplace must be specially designed so that the blind
>>> can read it will have a strong incentive not to hire a blind person."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Maurer went on to enumerate the real needs for access to information
>>> by the blind and made a distinction between those needs and the issue
>>> of identifying currency. "Access to information of all kinds, such as
>>> that contained on Internet Web sites and in the press, is certainly
>>> critical to the ability of the blind to become productive members of
>>> society. Blind students need educational materials in Braille and
>>> other alternative formats so that they can prepare for employment and
>>> ultimately earn an income for themselves and their families. Given
>>> the urgent need for access to the kind of information that is required
>>> for success in America's information economy, the matter of
>>> identifying the denominations of paper bills is of relatively little
>>> concern."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Blind people traditionally identify paper currency by folding bills of
>>> different denominations in different ways. "In reality, blind people
>>> do not routinely find that we have been short-changed," Maurer
>>> commented. Machines are readily available to identify paper money for
>>> blind people who run businesses or handle large amounts of cash.
>>> "Essentially, the United States Treasury has been ordered by the
>>> courts to come up with a solution for a nonexistent problem," Maurer
>>> said.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The National Federation of the Blind believes that with training and
>>> opportunity, blind people can compete in the world with only minor
>>> modifications. The American Council of the Blind, which brought the
>>> lawsuit against the United States Treasury, promotes the view that the
>>> blind are unable to compete unless the world is modified dramatically
>>> and specifically for blind people, and that the blind must be made
>>> objects of care and pity rather than equal participants in society.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> John G. Par? Jr.
>>> Director of Public Relations
>>> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
>>> 1800 Johnson Street
>>> Baltimore, Maryland 21230
>>> Telephone: (410) 659-9314, ext. 2371
>>> Cell phone: (410) 913-3912
>>> Fax: (410) 685-5653
>>> Email: mailto:jpare at nfb.org jpare at nfb.org
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> gui-talk mailing list
>>> mailto:gui-talk at nfbnet.org gui-talk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----
>>
>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gui-talk
>>>
>>
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>>
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>>
>> --
>> Doug Lee mailto:dgl at dlee.org dgl at dlee.org
>> SSB + BART Group mailto:doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com
>> http://www.ssbbartgroup.com http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
>> "Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes
>> revenge, and dares forgive an injury." --E. H. Chapin
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>
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