Re: [blind-democracy] Re: A tidbit from Hillary's speeches

When I meet with newly blinded clients, I tell them that we will
assist them in becoming as independent as they can be, or as they want
to be.
We have found in working with over 3,000 older blind and low vision
folks, that regardless of our efforts, many do not want to be
independent. Fear, ignorance and their individual comfort zone play
an important part in how far down the road to personal independence
they travel.
And then there are the "real world" limitations. No matter how we
want it not to be so, there is much in this world, and in our present
social system that presents barriers to personal independence. Our
American Way of Life has decided that individually owned
transportation takes priority over mass transit. Again, my personal
opinion is that only a blind fool who has no idea of what traffic
looks like, would dream of taking to the road independently. Maybe
down the road we will have safe vehicles that safely drive us about,
but that is one long look down the road. Location is a factor in how
independent we blind folks can be. Living in the Forest on the
Olympic Peninsula can only be possible if the blind person has
convenient access to transportation. Perhaps the blind individual is
wealthy enough to call on taxis or Uber to attend distant activities
or do the shopping. Even having a sighted family member puts limits
on the freedom of the blind person, that is not put upon the sighted.
And despite all of the advances our American ingenuity has created, we
can find ourselves in a tangled mess when the TV acts up, and we can't
access the On-Screen prompts, or our computer suddenly stops talking.
Perhaps those of us who became blind at an early age, or have had lots
of "hands On" experience, can run our homes without sighted support,
but many people who lose sight at an older age are completely helpless
when it comes to the most simple of tasks. Putting the key in the
front door, getting the toaster plugged into a socket, setting the
washer or dryer, finding the proper settings on the coffee maker or
the stove oven, replacing a washer in a dripping faucet, knowing if
stains are out of clothing, and on and on and on.
Many of these skills can be taught, if the blind person happens to be
young enough or in good enough health, but that depends upon having
enough rehabilitation teachers and enough funding to reach all of
those needing such assistance.
The number of older blind people is growing. The number of
Rehabilitation Teachers and funding is not growing.
And by the way, if I haven't offended anyone to this place, let me do
it now. I have had it up to here with blind people who claim to be
photographers. First of all, I was a professional photographer back
in my life as a sighted man. With limited sight, there were some
processes I either did poorly or could not do at all. Setting up and
framing the photograph I desired to take was very doable, as long as I
had enough sight to arrange the details to my satisfaction. Doing the
darkroom work presented serious problems for a partially sighted
photographer. A spec of lint or a hair on the lens of my camera or
darkroom projector could produce a mark on a final photograph, that I
could not see no matter how close I peered.
In portrait photography, timing the click of the camera to that exact
expression, the slight tilt of the head or the certain look in the
eyes, made the difference between a great masterpiece or a simple
snapshot. In capturing the beauty or the strangeness of Nature, long
planning might go into just how to set up the scene. What sort of
lighting? Shoot the scene low or high? What filter would give you
the desired results?
I worked to try to set up the perfect photograph when I snapped the
camera. Then in the darkroom I could make final small adjustments and
crop the picture exactly as I wanted it. I did know many
photographers who took many pictures in the field, then went through
them in the darkroom to determine which ones they wanted to save. But
either way, the beauty was in the eye of the creator.
Am I being too rigid? Perhaps. But blindly clicking a camera is, to
me, no different than a deaf person banging their hands on a piano
keyboard and declaring that they had just composed a song.
Living as independently as I can live calls for me to be as honest as
I can possibly be. I won't pretend to do that which demands eye
sight, just to try to prove my independence. And trust me, the older
I become, the more challenges I am forced to examine to determine if I
can overcome them and continue living at my current level of
independence, or whether I must alter what I do in order to still
enjoy my personal freedom.

Carl Jarvis


On 10/23/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> I've heard tales of legally blind people ddriving cars. People tell these
> tales with pride. My silent response is that a blind person who drives a
> car
> on a public street or highway is a selfish ass. I also think that elderly
> people whose reaction times have slowed and whose vision may be severely
> impaired are doing a disservice to others, as well as themselves, when they
> continue to drive. Given that our culture emphasizes automobile use in
> terms
> of convenience and lack of funds for public transportation, I understand
> why
> people feel as they do. Nevertheless, reality intrudes. In the same way, I
> believe that a blind person who chooses to own and use guns at his
> discretion, is a selfish ass. If shooting at a target with a sighted
> instructor at a shooting range is part of a rehab program, I have no
> problem. But if that is a precursor to that blind individual owning and
> using guns on his own, I have a problem. If blind people believe that
> government should provide them with an even playing field, should alter the
> environment to meet their special needs, then they should also accept
> government restrictions on their activities in situations where their
> blindness might cause harm to others.
>
> Miriam
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org
> [mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
> Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2016 11:10 AM
> To: blind-democracy@freelists.org
> Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: A tidbit from Hillary's speeches
>
> Okay, so I have my head in the sand...or in the clouds, but I am totally
> against firearms of any kind, owned by anyone. Of course I understand that
> this will never happen in the lifetime of anyone on this list, but that is
> my position.
> Don't tell me that criminals can always get guns. Drunks can always get
> cars. Should that stop us from having laws that protect our People? This
> nation leads the world in gun violence, both civilian and by those who are
> supposed to protect us from violence. And I know that people meet violent
> death by many means, every day of the year.
> But I'd rather be met by a drunk carrying a knife, than the same drunk
> packing a gun. Out here in the quiet wilderness...except for hunting
> season, we gather up the broken beer bottles and booze bottles and food
> wrappers tossed aside by people who don't give a good God Damn about the
> rights of others. These are law abiding citizens! And they are after the
> Bucks who have the good sense to have already moved to the high mountain
> canyons, leaving only the Does behind. When we used to put up signs
> telling
> hunters to not trespass, and declaring our property to be "gun free", the
> signs were shot off the trees. And so were the,, "School bus stop" signs.
> The conclusion I draw from years of observing careless behavior by hunters,
> is that we are far too infantile to be allowed to own deadly guns.
> But frankly, if a citizen can head for the hills, packing a weapon and a
> jug
> of hootch, then I would say that any totally blind, sober person would be
> safer. Nonetheless, I never plan to own a gun, nor to allow hunting on my
> property.
> Carl Jarvis
>
>
>
> On 10/22/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
>> This is particularly for Joe whom it will bother the most, I think.
>> She's talking about gun control here.
>> It was a law that is what we call in Washington it sunsetted. So it
>> went out at the end of 10 years. And since then there has been a
>> concerted effort by the gun lobby to basically end all restrictions on
>> guns. And I don't think that's what is called for under the
>> Constitution. I think that there are a number of sensible steps that
>> can and should be taken. [.] And one of the new claims that they're
>> making is that blind people deserve to have their Constitutional
>> rights, and deserve to have guns. And that you kind of think to
>> yourself, that's almost beyond imagination. And it's pushing and
>> pushing and pushing because there's no push back." [Hillary Clinton
>> Remarks at Nexenta, 8/28/14]
>>
>> Miriam
>> Hai
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>