another Fairy Tale

According to a report I heard this morning...or was it yesterday morning...we spend only 2% of  our budget on Foreign Aid.  Yeah, right.  Reminds me of the time I bought that really cheap beach front property.  Turned out the beach was on the land side of my property. 

I wonder if that 2% includes all of the arms we sell overseas?  And what about those 800 plus military installations around the world?  Aren't they there to "protect" the people living there from Terrorists?  Present company excluded, of course. 

I think this is a case of, Figures don't lie, but Liars sure can Figure. 

 

Curious Carl

----- Original Message -----

From: R. E. Driscoll Sr

To: Blind Democracy Discussion List

Cc: Marsha

Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2011 9:55 AM

Subject: Re: THIS IS A WITHDRAWAL?

There are other subsidies - generally in the billions - that are being sent to our 'beloved friends' around the world.  I have ofter written by representative and senators about these funds but have never had an answer. 

On 5/8/2011 1:33 AM, Marsha wrote:

Hi
 Here we go again.  "Our government is broke".  We can't afford to take care of our veterans.  Social Security and Medicare need to go.  We can't help the poor and elderly heat their homes during the winter.  Our children may not be fed or educated.  But we can keep substantial forces in Iraq, where we really aren't wanted.

Marsha
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Blind people whining? Or just feeling trapped.

 

Well, maybe I do want to say again that I was saying that there are people who do not have a clue as to what living in poverty is like.  I'm not sure that I actually know myself, since I only remember it from a child's perspective.  It's a funny thing.  We lived in poverty during the late 30's and through most of WW II, but with the exception of the teasing  and some bullyingI received from other school children, these years were quite happy ones.   Later, as a newly blind adult, my wife and I had our backs to the wall but I never thought of myself as living in poverty.  I just figured it was a temporary set back and I would find a way around it. 

So would you accept that poverty is as much a state of mind as it is of living standard? 

Do you think that there is a difference between a person passing through a period of poverty in their life, as opposed to a person ground down and hopelessly trapped with no hope of escape? 

I think of the politicians who "experienced" poverty for several weeks.  But they knew that at some point they would pull off their rags, wash their bodies and put good food and wine in their stomachs.  How do they really experience the futility of knowing that the deck is stacked against you and no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you will be shoved back into the mire? 

You see, there are people who believe that this only happens because people allow it to occur.  They have no understanding of the forces at work in the real world. 

Curious Carl

 

Waterboarding Worked'? So says Bill O'Reilly

Just the idea that O'Reilly and other Torture Advocates could make the claim that Water Boarding a man several years ago gave us information that led to the killing of Osama
bin Laden, shows just how much they hold the average American in contempt. 

Just spin us any old lie.  After all, what does it matter?  If we did actually rise up in an effort to take back our government, they would slap us down just as they've done in one peoples' uprising after another.  We are being taken down the Road to Hell by the American Empire.  And by the way, we've helped build it into the mightiest Empire of all time.  We did it by paying our taxes and not demanding an accounting of where the money went.  We did it by looking the other way while our Bully Boys trampled Freedom in one country after another.  We did it by gobbling up the bobbles and bright shiney beads and gadgets dangled in front of our glazed eyes, allowing ourselves to be distracted by meaningless entertainment.  We did it by never questioning our leaders as they pulled us further away from our own freedoms and as they sneered at our inalienable rights.  We are letting them tap our phones and our email.  We are allowing them to squash free speech.  And we shrug as they trash the few true American Patriots who dare to speak out. 

So let's all give ourselves a standing ovation for the work we have done, it may be the last act we do together. 

 

Curious Carl

 

being suddenly blind

Any situation can become a teaching opportunity.  For the most part, putting folks under sleep shades only reinforces their fear of blindness.  But how you handle the situation can turn it into a positive outcome. 

Each year Port Townsend puts on a Disability Awareness Day.  City and county officials, as well as influential community leaders are put under sleep shades or in wheel chairs. 

They are escorted by actual disabled people, touring the town's streets, parking lots, public buildings and retail businesses.  The goal is to demonstrate the architectural barriers that prevent disabled citizens and visitors access to the town. 

If we merely took these folks out and then let it go at that, they would be either frightened out of their wits or very frustrated. 

The actual "learning" takes place in the meeting at the end of the demonstration.  We stress that we are not attempting to demonstrate how frightening blindness is, nor how frustrating living in a wheel chair can be.  The goal is to demonstrate first hand how difficult our town has made it for some disabled people to availed themselves of services that most of us take for granted.  For the most part they get the message.  We've had some positive outcomes as a result.  Curbs have now been painted yellow to assist low vision folks to find them.  Sidewalks are being built along roads formerly too dangerous to walk beside.  Stores are clearing out aisles and putting in wheel chair ramps.  It's not a perfect town, yet, but it's well on its way. 

Has it changed anyone's beliefs about blindness?  Of course not.  But it makes them more sensitive to the fact that our town is not serving all of its citizens. 

 

Curious Carl

 

a clean slate

I believe that everything that happens...just happens.  There is no purpose to it.  It is a clean slate.  Neutral.   It is what we are able to do with it that makes it purposeful. 

 

Curious Carl

----- Original Message -----

From: R. E. Driscoll Sr

To: Carl Jarvis

Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2011 9:23 AM

Subject: Re: [acb-l] sleep shades, mobility and rehab

Carl:
Over the years many things have happened to me in my life.  Some of them were pleasant and some were unpleasant.  However, I have personally held (and believed) that almost everything that occurs has a purpose and, if we try with sufficient vigor, can be turned into something that will prove to be of value to that person.
Regards,
Dick

On 3/26/2011 9:25 AM, Carl Jarvis wrote:

True enough Ken. 

That is a function of VR.  But I'm suggesting that it is not a function of the Orientation Center.  Most states do not have the staffing or funding to provide both services in-house.  For example, since I went through the Orientation Center long before computers, I might say to my VR Counselor that upon entering college I discovered that my 10 words per minute Braille was not going to allow me to take and retrieve notes from class lectures. 

Should he then displace a student from full time participation in the Center in order to send me back for additional Braille training?  Any time the instructor gives to me, is time taken away from another newly blinded student. 

I assessed my skills and solved my note taking problem by tape recording all my lectures.  This created double work for me.  I would sit up late nights revisiting the lectures and slowly Brailling out my notes.  But it did force me to improve my Braille skills, something I would need for the rest of my life. 

So my question is this, who is responsible for training you once you have your basic skills in place? 

Again, when I became lost on the vast campus of the University of Washington, I did not go back to my O&M instructor or to my VR Counselor and demand advanced training.  I called my dad and we spent weekends walking the campus until I had my routes down pat.  Should that have been a service provided to me by the agency?  Or was it time for me to put to work the rudimentary skills, and develop them under field conditions? 

 

As a Rehab Teacher, my goal is to provide you the basic information and skills and self belief that allows you to take charge of your life.  Part of that business of taking charge is problem solving.  Some of that we do on an individual basis, but much of it we can do collectively.  In our state we have a strong chapter of the ACB.  We constantly work with our agency and with our legislature and with our schools to provide the accommodations we need.  Even so, it's a struggle.  But so is all of life.  In fact, how dull life would be if everything came easy. 

 

Carl Jarvis

Carl and all.

This may work in some areas to send the blind students to community computer programs, but that doesn't always work. I personally believe that if someone completes his/her basic computer skills and wishes to work in the field of computer science, he/she will still require help from rehab. In dealing with vocational rehab, we shouldn't stop short of the needs of each client as long as they are reasonable. I've known several clients of rehab, both blind and sighted, in California who have been clients for 20 years and more. Now, that's ridiculous.

KEN

From: acb-l-bounces@acb.org [mailto:acb-l-bounces@acb.org] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, March 25, 2011 5:10 PM
To: Baracco, Andrew W; acb-l@acb.org
Subject: Re: [acb-l] sleep shades, mobility and rehab

Ashley, Andy and All,

Point well made Andy.  When I directed the training center in Seattle, I was under constant pressure by VR Counselors and clients to provide advanced training, usually in computer science.  I would point out that our mandate was to provide basic adjustment to blindness.  Once a student completed the training, they would possess the necessary tools to return to the real world and either continue their education or enter the job market. 

Carl Jarvis

 _______________________________________________ acb-l mailing list acb-l@acb.org http://www.acb.org/mailman/listinfo/acb-l 

BREAKING News- Osama bin Laden Is Dead

Good point Mike.  Is this subject Blindness Related? 

What impact will the killing of Osama
Bin Ladin have on the well being of Blind Americans?  Will we now see our troops come home and hundreds of military bases closed around the world?  Will we see some of the more than one trillion dollars spent each year on killing and "defense" brought back to the public coffers to be distributed among the Working/Middle Class, creating jobs, better housing for the elderly and lower health care for all Americans, including the blind?  Because that is where most of us find ourselves.  We are among the Working/Middle Class Americans who have seen our cost of living rise, our neighborhoods become less safe, our low paying jobs shuttled overseas, our medical costs rise to the point where many of us cannot afford them.  And this does not even begin to touch on the sacrifices blind Americans have been forced to accept. 

Recently, in our work, we have seen support services to the older blind and vision impaired begin to melt away.  Will the killing of Osama Bin Ladin mean that now they will once again have those critical services restored?  And, just for example, will our older blind and vision impaired citizens look forward to increased services such as enough O&M teachers to actually provide full training?  Or what about increased numbers of Rehab Teachers to actually be able to spend the weeks and weeks needed to properly teach newly blind folks, instead of a few hours and a promise? 

We blind Americans are part of this Earth's People.  What happens now that we have killed Osama Bin Ladin, does affect us. 

 

Carl Jarvis

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Mike Edwards

To: Carl Jarvis ; wcb

Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 12:18 AM

Subject: Re: [Wcb-l] Fw: BREAKING - Osama bin Laden Is Dead

Careful, Carl, some may say this isn't blindness related, and therefore, shouldn't be out here...I found it informative, though.

----- Original Message -----

From: Carl Jarvis

To: wcb

Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2011 9:44 PM

Subject: [Wcb-l] Fw: BREAKING - Osama bin Laden Is Dead

Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2011 8:43 PM

Subject: BREAKING - Osama bin Laden Is Dead

White House: Osama bin Laden Is Dead According to White House sources, Osama bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan. His body is in the US's possession. President Obama will soon deliver a statement on the matter tonight, nearly ten years after the September 11 attacks. Watch the Live Stream ---------- Support Truthout with a tax-deductible donation by clicking here. To ensure you receive our messages please add the following address to your email address book: messenger@truthout.org If you need help figuring out how to do this click here to read our guide. Truthout is a proud member of the Newspaper Guild/CWA, Local 36047 Click here to Subscribe Our Privacy Policy Click here to Unsubscribe

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who killed Osama bin Laden? Does Terror bring an end to Terror?

Subject: who killed Osama bin Laden? Does Terror bring an end to Terror?

    Just who are these highly trained, secret agents who finally tracked Osama bin Laden down after only ten years?  They killed the killer.  No doubt about it, Osama bin Laden had earned the right to a violent death.  But what do reports concerning how we went about tracking him down and who our hired agents of Death are, tell us about prospects for a more peaceful future? 

And why, after ten long years of waiting, did the swat team decide to quickly bury the body at sea?  After this man had been the central figure in the deaths and horrors affecting thousands, even millions of people around the world?  Not to have presented his body for all to see?  Very strange. 

Did our killing of Osama bin Laden bring us to the place where we can now say, "mission accomplished"?  Can we bring our illegal wars to a close and be done with the bombings and killings? 

Or was Osama bin Laden merely a convenient peg on which to hang our aggression? 

If we are truly a nation of laws and justice, why do we have specially trained forces working outside the law, commissioned to hunt down and murder individuals who have never been afforded a trial, or held accountable for their crimes? 

Is this now the wave of the future?  A new Terror from within? 

And one final thought.  Osama bin Laden was just one man.  Certainly he master minded the death of thousands of innocent people going about their jobs in the World Trade Center.  But he is/was only one man.  This reign of Terror did not begin with Osama bin Laden.  We may desperately want to believe that Osama bin Laden's death will bring an end to the great suffering, but we are fools if we really  think it.  Can we honestly say that the hands of the American Empire are any less bloody than Osama bin Laden's? 

 

Carl Jarvis

 

*************
Too long have the workers of the world waited for some Moses to lead them out of bondage. I would not lead you out if I could; for if you could be led out, you could be led back again. I would have you make up your minds there is nothing that you cannot do for yourselves. --Eugene Victor Debs
1855-1926