[nfb-talk] The JFK Battleship Incident

Thu Mar 8 14:58:52 CST 2007

I fell down a flight of stairs just in a hotel.
So yes it can happen to us blind as well.
I have scars to prove it.

--Dar
wishing a
backTpack
call me at
406-259-1124
Every Saint has a past,
Every sinner has a future ,
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS) [E]" <powerst at dcpcepn.nci.nih.gov>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2007 5:32 AM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] The JFK Battleship Incident

> As I said before, wheelchairs should have more trouble getting around
> holes and the like.  We have our canes.  How do they think we find
> stairs.  It is not to often that you hear of a blind person falling down
> a flight of stairs.  It happens more with the elderly.  So as I said
> before, why should the less able go on when the more moble are
> uncualified to go on.
> This is discrimination.  If a wheelchair person feals he can handle the
> craft, he should be allowed on and the same is true for all other
> handicapps.  We all know what our abilities are.
> Ex.  I have epelepsi so I know it is not healthy for me to go on things
> like roler coasters.
>
> Terry Powers
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: T. Joseph Carter [mailto:tjcarter at bluecherry.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 6:32 PM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] The JFK Battleship Incident
>
> I think the biggest concern they're going to have is that we'll wang our
> heads on some pipes or bulkhead openings or something.  Or maybe they
> figure something might be open and we'd fall into it--though this latter
> point is trivially disprovable.  The former does seem to be a problem
> for
> those whose travel training isn't the best (but also for sighted people
> who just aren't paying attention.)
>
> Proving that we can find low-hanging pipes and the like before we run
> into
> them might dispel some of the legitimate concerns, but having to prove
> this same issue again and again just in my own life has grown tedious.
>
> On Tue, Mar 06, 2007 at 03:15:49PM -0500, Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS)
> [E] wrote:
>> I was afraid of that.  When we were in Louisville 2 years ago, we went
>> on a river boat.  If the blind can navigate a river boat, why can't
> they
>> navigat a Navy ship.  I was on that river boat and got attact by
>> insects.  I wonder what they would say to that question, accept that
> the
>> river boat is smaller.  They have no other way to defend themselves.
>> The blind are more capable of getting around opsticles on a boat than
> a
>> person in a wheel chair, and they exclude the more able!
>> Terry Powers
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: kaye zimpher [mailto:kayezimpher at bellsouth.net]
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 3:07 PM
>> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] The JFK Battleship Incident
>>
>> That would be neat although Atlanta is about 4 and half hours from the
>> water
>> depending on who is driving. The closest water that is not man made is
>> the
>> coastline of Savannah.
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS) [E]" <powerst at dcpcepn.nci.nih.gov>
>> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 2:07 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] The JFK Battleship Incident
>>
>>
>> > This may sound kind of crazy, but how close is Atlanta to the water.
>> If
>> > it is close, we could schedule a tour of a Navy boat and prove that
> we
>> > are capable blind people and are equal.
>> > Just a thought.
>> > Terry Powers
>> >
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: Brian Miller [mailto:brian-r-miller at uiowa.edu]
>> > Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 1:46 PM
>> > To: NFB Talk Mailing List; Beth Wright
>> > Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] The JFK Battleship Incident
>> >
>> > This incident is definitely frustrating and disturbing, though not
>> > surprising in the least.
>> >
>> > I wonder what our options are here -- Can we really sue the U. S.
> Navy
>> > as so
>> > many of these articles say we intend to do?  I have my doubts that
>> this
>> > is
>> > possible, given sovereign imunity protections, and the unique ways
> in
>> > which
>> > military facilities protect themselves from laws of accessibility.
>> >
>> > Brian MIller
>> > ----- Original Message ----- 
>> > From: "David Evans" <drevans at bellsouth.net>
>> > To: "Beth Wright" <beth.wright at mindspring.com>; "NFB Talk Mailing
>> List"
>> > <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> > Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 9:36 AM
>> > Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] The JFK Battleship Incident
>> >
>> >
>> >>
>> >> Dear All,
>> >>
>> >> This is the same battle we have been fighting with the cruise lines
>> > for
>> >> years.
>> >> It does not seem to matter how many times we tell them that there
> is
>> > nothing
>> >> on a ship such as bulkhead doors, ladders, stairs and the like,
> that
>> > are
>> > not
>> >> present in any large building.
>> >> Stepping over a bulkhead hatchway is the same as stepping over a
>> > parking
>> > lot
>> >> bumper.  Ladders and stairs are the same as those found in any
> common
>> >> building.  Anyone ever had to climb up in a attic? or down into a
>> > basement.
>> >> As a NAVY brat and blind since the age of 16, I have been aboard
> many
>> >> warships including submarines, and everything else up to both
>> aircraft
>> >> carriers and two IOWA class battleships.
>> >>   In fact one of the last warships I was on was the USS Yorktown
>> > before it
>> >> was decommissioned.  I still have my hat with it's name on it that
> I
>> > bought
>> >> when on board.
>> >> This was ridiculous for them to turn him away.
>> >> AS we who are Blind well know, there are good blind travelers and
> bad
>> > blind
>> >> travelers.
>> >> The good ones don't need anyone to go with them because they have
>> good
>> >> skills.  The bad blind travelers never go anywhere without someone
> to
>> > help
>> >> them.
>> >> As someone who has always been proud of being associated with the
> U.
>> > S.
>> >> NAVY, I must say that the NAVY is all wet on this one.
>> >> I think that we must fight for this to be changed once and for all
> or
>> > others
>> >> may use it to deny us access in other places.
>> >> This, in my opinion, is a black eye for the NAVY in which my father
>> > served
>> >> for almost 40 years seeing action in World War 2, Korea and two
> tours
>> > in
>> >> Viet Nam before his retirement.
>> >> My father did not raise me to be a quitter or to take second place.
>> >> Even with my blindness at age 16, I finished high school, have 2
>> > college
>> >> degrees, was on one US Olympic Team, NCAA National championship
> team
>> > and
>> > Pan
>> >> American Team in Track, worked as a Nuclear/Aerospace materials
>> > Engineer,
>> >> built the Lunar Rovers that sit on the Moon and several noted
>> aircraft
>> >> including the F-117-A Stealth Fighter
>> >> Today I work for a national transit company and serve on several
>> board
>> > that
>> >> oversee transit services where I work to improve access to Public
>> >> Transportation to Para-transit, fixed route services and commuter
>> > rail.
>> >> I know the next time there is Fleet Week here in South Florida I am
>> > going
>> > to
>> >> be there and the Marines and Shore patrol are going to have there
>> > hands
>> > full
>> >> with all of the Blind People I am going to bring them to tour the
>> > ships.
>> >>
>> >> David Evans, NFBF
>> >> .
>> >> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> >> From: "Beth Wright" <beth.wright at mindspring.com>
>> >> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> >> Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 11:42 AM
>> >> Subject: [nfb-talk] The JFK Battleship Incident
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> > Hi, folks.
>> >> >
>> >> > In case you haven't checked our website, there's been a follow-up
>> to
>> > last
>> >> > weekend's incident with the battleship.  Not only did the Navy
> not
>> > back
>> >> > down, but they said that, had the blind guy been accompanied by a
>> > sighted
>> >> > person, they would gladly have let him tour the ship.  How long
>> have
>> > we
>> >> > got
>> >> > to keep fighting these battles until they finally get it?  It's
> the
>> > same
>> >> > old
>> >> > thing.  Shut up.  Be reasonable, be grateful, and don't cause any
>> > trouble.
>> >> > Look at all those other blind people.  They're not making a fuss.
>> >> >
>> >> > Well, what they don't realize is that the same blind people who
>> > appear
>> >> > docile and grateful in public are the first ones to turn to the
> NFB
>> > when
>> >> > they encounter discrimination and they can't get the sighted to
>> take
>> > them
>> >> > seriously.  Let's keep up the fight!
>> >> >
>> >> > Beth Wright
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > _______________________________________________
>> >> > nfb-talk mailing list
>> >> > nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>> >> > http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>> >> >
>> >>
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