[Nfb-seniors] Nfb-seniors Digest, Vol 3, Issue 6
Ramona Walhof
rwnfbi at qwest.net
Tue Feb 26 13:04:20 CST 2008
I am sorry you seem to be so sad about your blindness. It is natural to
find it difficult at first. The best way to adjust is to look for things
you enjoy that you can continue doing. It is also a good idea to get some
training to learn some new skills. I believe you live in Hawaii. If that
is correct, I suggest you contact Leah Gruppen at the Training Center there.
I can't spell it, but the name is Ho-opono. Since you clearly enjoy outdoor
activities, I will share some of mine with you: I ride the back of a tandem
bike. I chair a big ride called Cycle for Independence which will occur May
17 this year, and we expect more than 350 riders to participate. I love to
swim and hike; I am not a fisherman, but I know many who are blind. There
are also blind people who sail, canoe, waterski, run, dance, rock climb, and
more.
There is a new machine on the market called the Kurzweil National Federation
of the Blind Reader Mobile. It is special software in a cell phone, so that
you can take a picture of a page and convert it into speech.
If you want to email me directly, my address is rwnfbi at qwest.net.
If you want to meet a lot of very energetic and upbeat blind people, you may
want to come to our national convention in Dallas the first week in July.
I have seen messages from you before on this listserve and have not
responded. Sometimes it is hard to know where to begin, but you deserve a
response. So I have tried to make a beginning.
Ramona Walhof
p.s. I don't think I found your name. What is it?
----- Original Message -----
From: <pinkhawaii at gmail.com>
To: <nfb-seniors at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 10:47 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-seniors] Nfb-seniors Digest, Vol 3, Issue 6
> Dear very few answering members. Congratulations that you overcame your
> blindness and became better than the sighted!
> Maybe you can teach me to play tennis or golf again, to get my pilots
> license back, even to get my drivers license back would be a great help,
> teach me how to use my sail boat again or go surfing, scuba diving and
> fishing. I like to go skiing again or go horseback riding, to write
> contracts and read the fine print, to go hunting or just finding a nice
> girl
> friend who does not mind my blindness and being hard of hearing. Please
> let
> me see an Opera, an Operetta, or just enjoy any show or movie again. I
> enjoyed sled riding, Ice skating, ping pong and volley ball. I did all of
> that quite well, but now I must find a super teacher from the NFB like
> YOU!!! Who pays you to spread those rumors of our blind capability,
> enpowerment and blind superiority!!!
>
> On Feb 15, 2008 8:00 AM, <nfb-seniors-request at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
>> Send Nfb-seniors mailing list submissions to
>> nfb-seniors at nfbnet.org
>>
>> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-seniors
>> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
>> nfb-seniors-request at nfbnet.org
>>
>> You can reach the person managing the list at
>> nfb-seniors-owner at nfbnet.org
>>
>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
>> than "Re: Contents of Nfb-seniors digest..."
>>
>>
>> Today's Topics:
>>
>> 1. (no subject) (pinkhawaii at gmail.com)
>> 2. Special Accomodations. Was: Re: (no subject) (George Cassell)
>> 3. Re: Special Accommodations. Was: Re: (no subject) (David Andrews)
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:12:24 -1000
>> From: pinkhawaii at gmail.com
>> Subject: [Nfb-seniors] (no subject)
>> To: nfb-seniors at nfbnet.org
>> Message-ID:
>> <df633d8a0802141312t75b14161k2806986a3444bdeb at mail.gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>
>> Dear Seniors:
>> If the Nfb has more then 50,000 members, only less than 1/10th of a
>> percent
>> are using email? If we really are the voice of the blind then let's all
>> lobby for free high speed internet access and not say that it is not our
>> job. Only 10% of the legally blind cannot see anything at all but the 90%
>> have at least some vision to function with Zoom text or Jaws. Those
>> programs
>> do not only enlarge but also read to us whatever email we receive.
>> Without
>> free high speed access to the internet the free cameras from Sorensen are
>> useless. Yet, video relay services are subsidized at $7.00 per minute by
>> the
>> FCC for the minority of only 10% of totally deaf. So let's all lobby and
>> please keep this website simple like direct email without all the
>> confusing
>> instructions.
>> My love of aloha to all,
>> Heinz-Guenther Pink
>>
>> --
>> Dr. Heinz-Guenther Pink
>> Advocate and program evaluator for the blind, deaf and handicapped.
>> Member: NFB Communication Council
>> and ATRC Advisory Council of the State
>> Member of Senator Chun Oakland's Deaf-Blind Task Force.
>> Founder: Computer College of Hawaii since 1963, pinkhawaii at gmail.com
>> 410 Magellan Ave. Apt.1002, Honolulu, HI. 96813 , Tel 808: 537-1875
>> -------------- next part --------------
>> Dear Seniors:
>> If the Nfb has more then 50,000 members, only less than 1/10th of a
>> percent are using email? If we really are the voice of the blind then
>> let's
>> all lobby for free high speed internet access and not say that it is not
>> our
>> job. Only 10% of the legally blind cannot see anything at all but the 90%
>> have at least some vision to function with Zoom text or Jaws. Those
>> programs
>> do not only enlarge but also read to us whatever email we receive.
>> Without
>> free high speed access to the internet the free cameras from Sorensen are
>> useless. Yet, video relay services are subsidized at $7.00 per minute by
>> the
>> FCC for the minority of only 10% of totally deaf. So let's all lobby and
>> please keep this website simple like direct email without all the
>> confusing
>> instructions.
>> My love of aloha to all,
>> Heinz-Guenther Pink
>> --
>> Dr. Heinz-Guenther Pink
>> Advocate and program evaluator for the blind, deaf and handicapped.
>> Member: NFB Communication Council
>> and ATRC Advisory Council of the State
>> Member of Senator Chun Oakland's Deaf-Blind Task Force.
>> Founder: Computer College of Hawaii since 1963, mailto:
>> pinkhawaii at gmail.com pinkhawaii at gmail.com
>> 410 Magellan Ave. Apt.1002, Honolulu, HI. 96813 , Tel 808: 537-1875
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:55:56 -0800
>> From: "George Cassell" <apolloseven at earthlink.net>
>> Subject: [Nfb-seniors] Special Accomodations. Was: Re: (no subject)
>> To: "NFB Senior Division list" <nfb-seniors at nfbnet.org>
>> Message-ID: <001701c86f65$2449b750$5e27cb40 at D2J7LK21>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>>
>>
>> Dr. Heinz-Guenther Pink, Advocate and program evaluator for the blind,
>> deaf
>> and handicapped, Member: NFB Communication Council, and ATRC Advisory
>> Council of the State, Member of Senator Chun Oakland's Deaf-Blind Task
>> Force, Founder: Computer College of Hawaii since 1963, said, "If we
>> really
>> are the voice of the blind then let's all lobby for free high speed
>> internet
>> access and not say that it is not our job. Without free high speed
>> access
>> to the internet the free cameras from Sorensen are useless. So let's all
>> lobby."
>>
>>
>> I really can't believe I'm hearing such a thing from an NFB member on an
>> NFB
>> list. Ask the government to subsidize us? Rediculous! Absurd! Not to
>> mention that such a thing goes entirely against everything the NFB stands
>> for.
>>
>> Being blind, we need to continue to perpetuate the myth that we are just
>> like any sighted person, without requiring any special accomodations.
>> After
>> all, that's why the NFB insisted that we, the blind, stop being able to
>> ride
>> city busses for free, in spite of the fact that we are experiencing an
>> 80%
>> unemployment / underemployment rate. To continue to keep doing so would
>> make the blind appear to be somehow different from those who can see,
>> perhaps requiring some kind of special treatment. And nothing could be
>> further from the truth, could it?
>>
>> Just as good as any sighted person? No way! We're better than sighted
>> people, able to do everything they can do, and we can do it better than
>> them, too!
>>
>> That's why our NFB is constantly doing everything it can to ensure that
>> no
>> blind person should ever have any kind of special priviliges or
>> advantages,
>> like being able to rely on audible crossing signals to tell us when the
>> light is in our favor. Of course we can figure that out on our own. And
>> those who can't, will, of course, be run over and killed, never having to
>> ever worry about such things again. And without such stupid, blind
>> people
>> running around any longer, the rest of us will seem a lot smarter, won't
>> we?
>>
>> I suggest that the NFB begin a new campaign, once again trying to prove
>> that
>> being blind is better than being sighted.
>>
>> In the meantime, shouldn't we b blinding sighted people, using our canes
>> to
>> poke them all in their eyes, similar to what Louis Braille did to
>> himself,
>> with an awl in his father's workshop? Blinding himself. Great idea!
>> What
>> a role model for all of us!
>>
>> The only problem is that he stopped with blinding only himself, and not
>> everybody else around him as well. But back then, I guess there wasn't
>> an
>> NFB to suggest such things to them yet, was there?
>>
>> If nothing else, we should at least be consistant.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 3
>> Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:55:23 -0600
>> From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-seniors] Special Accommodations. Was: Re: (no
>> subject)
>> To: NFB Senior Division list <nfb-seniors at nfbnet.org>
>> Message-ID: <auto-000037681797 at mailfront1.g2host.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>>
>> While my better judgment tells me I shouldn't respond I am going to
>> anyway.
>>
>> First, if we are so crazy, why are you on one of our lists.
>>
>> Secondly, you have simplified and distorted many of our positions,
>> presumably to further your own political agenda. It is a falsehood
>> to say that we ask for no accommodations and don't want anyone to
>> accept any. On the whole we do believe in only asking for those
>> accommodations that are truly necessary, and different people and
>> different groups will disagree about what is necessary. However,
>> this is not a basis for your ridiculous statements.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>> At 05:55 PM 2/14/2008, you wrote:
>>
>> >Dr. Heinz-Guenther Pink, Advocate and program evaluator for the blind,
>> deaf
>> >and handicapped, Member: NFB Communication Council, and ATRC Advisory
>> >Council of the State, Member of Senator Chun Oakland's Deaf-Blind Task
>> >Force, Founder: Computer College of Hawaii since 1963, said, "If we
>> really
>> >are the voice of the blind then let's all lobby for free high speed
>> internet
>> >access and not say that it is not our job. Without free high speed
>> access
>> >to the internet the free cameras from Sorensen are useless. So let's
>> >all
>> >lobby."
>> >
>> >
>> >I really can't believe I'm hearing such a thing from an NFB member on an
>> NFB
>> >list. Ask the government to subsidize us? Rediculous! Absurd! Not to
>> >mention that such a thing goes entirely against everything the NFB
>> >stands
>> >for.
>> >
>> >Being blind, we need to continue to perpetuate the myth that we are just
>> >like any sighted person, without requiring any special accomodations.
>> After
>> >all, that's why the NFB insisted that we, the blind, stop being able to
>> ride
>> >city busses for free, in spite of the fact that we are experiencing an
>> 80%
>> >unemployment / underemployment rate. To continue to keep doing so would
>> >make the blind appear to be somehow different from those who can see,
>> >perhaps requiring some kind of special treatment. And nothing could be
>> >further from the truth, could it?
>> >
>> >Just as good as any sighted person? No way! We're better than sighted
>> >people, able to do everything they can do, and we can do it better than
>> >them, too!
>> >
>> >That's why our NFB is constantly doing everything it can to ensure that
>> no
>> >blind person should ever have any kind of special priviliges or
>> advantages,
>> >like being able to rely on audible crossing signals to tell us when the
>> >light is in our favor. Of course we can figure that out on our own.
>> >And
>> >those who can't, will, of course, be run over and killed, never having
>> >to
>> >ever worry about such things again. And without such stupid, blind
>> people
>> >running around any longer, the rest of us will seem a lot smarter, won't
>> we?
>> >
>> >I suggest that the NFB begin a new campaign, once again trying to prove
>> that
>> >being blind is better than being sighted.
>> >
>> >In the meantime, shouldn't we b blinding sighted people, using our canes
>> to
>> >poke them all in their eyes, similar to what Louis Braille did to
>> himself,
>> >with an awl in his father's workshop? Blinding himself. Great idea!
>> What
>> >a role model for all of us!
>> >
>> >The only problem is that he stopped with blinding only himself, and not
>> >everybody else around him as well. But back then, I guess there wasn't
>> an
>> >NFB to suggest such things to them yet, was there?
>> >
>> >If nothing else, we should at least be consistant.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >_______________________________________________
>> >Nfb-seniors mailing list
>> >Nfb-seniors at nfbnet.org
>> >http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-seniors
>>
>> David Andrews and white cane Harry.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nfb-seniors mailing list
>> Nfb-seniors at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-seniors
>>
>>
>> End of Nfb-seniors Digest, Vol 3, Issue 6
>> *****************************************
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Dr. Heinz-Guenther Pink
> Advocate and program evaluator for the blind, deaf and handicapped.
> Member: NFB Communication Council
> and ATRC Advisory Council of the State
> Member of Senator Chun Oakland's Deaf-Blind Task Force.
> Founder: Computer College of Hawaii since 1963, pinkhawaii at gmail.com
> 410 Magellan Ave. Apt.1002, Honolulu, HI. 96813 , Tel 808: 537-1875
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> Nfb-seniors mailing list
> Nfb-seniors at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-seniors
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.21.1/1299 - Release Date: 2/26/2008
9:08 AM
More information about the Nfb-seniors
mailing list