[Mn-at-large] Fwd: NFB President's Notebook - week of 11/06/2017

Tue Nov 7 03:42:48 UTC 2017

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>President's Notebook
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>National Federation of the Blind
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>Mark A. Riccobono
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><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
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>(410) 659-9314
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>Dear Fellow Federationists,
>
>I wish to call your attention to a very pressing 
>item today. There is immediate need to get the 
>word out about the elimination of the blind 
>exemption in the tax proposals that are moving 
>on Capitol Hill now. Please take a moment to 
>call Congress, distribute the call-to-action to 
>other members, and encourage our members to make calls as soon as possible.
>
>There were many affiliate conventions this 
>weekend. I want to thank the NFB of Connecticut 
>for their hospitality this weekend. I also wish 
>to acknowledge the nearly two decades of service 
>that Jim Antonacci gave as president of our 
>Pennsylvania affiliate. This past weekend, Jim 
>successfully passed the torch of leadership to 
>Lynn Heitz. Thank you to Jim and welcome to Lynn.
>
>The 2018 National Convention will be held from 
>July 3-8 at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando 
>Florida. We are seeking an affiliate or a team 
>of affiliates to serve as our host committee for 
>2018. If you are interested, please reach out to 
>me as soon as possible. More details about the 
>convention will appear in the December Braille Monitor.
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>Critical Actions This Week:
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>Action Needed Regarding the Proposed Tax Bill:
>The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (H.R. 1) was 
>introduced last Thursday, November 2, in the 
>United States House of Representatives. 
>Beginning in tax year 2018, this bill will 
>repeal the standard deduction for blind people 
>valued at $6,350 for the 2017 tax year. Please 
>call your representative and urge him or her to 
>maintain this critical tax deduction for the 
>blind as soon as possible. The House Ways and 
>Means Committee begins mark up on this bill 
>today, Monday, November 6. The best way to 
>contact your member of Congress is to call the 
>Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask 
>for the office in question. Emailing your member 
>of Congress is also a good idea. If you do so, 
>please copy <mailto:JPare at nfb.org>JPare at nfb.org.
>
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>News:
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>Presidential Release:
>The November release is available at 
><https://nfb.org/presidential-releases>https://nfb.org/presidential-releases.
>
>NFB Scholarship Program:
>We are accepting scholarship applications from 
>November 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018. This annual 
>program offers thirty scholarships worth from 
>$3,000 to $12,000 to eligible students, from 
>high school seniors beginning their freshman 
>year in the fall semester of 2017, up through 
>graduate students working on their PhD degrees. 
>Go to 
><http://www.nfb.org/scholarships>www.nfb.org/scholarships 
>for complete rules and requirements.
>
>Santa Letter Program:
>Santaâ€™s coming, Santaâ€™s coming, and heâ€™s 
>sending Braille letters to children all over the 
>country. Thatâ€™s right itâ€™s the time of the 
>year for the NFB Santa Letter Program. Beginning 
>next Monday, November 13, parents can submit an 
>application for their young blind child to 
>receive a Braille letter from Santa. This letter 
>also comes with a coloring page, a recipe, a 
>craft, and song lyrics. The print for each of 
>these items is sent along as well. Once the 
>program is open, you will be able to apply at 
><https://nfb.org/santa-letters>https://nfb.org/santa-letters. 
>The program runs until December 15.
>
>Tactile Art Program:
>As of October 27, 2017, we have had 415 
>applicants for the Tactile Art Program, with at 
>least a quarter of those participants completing 
>the pre-survey as well. We hope to have five 
>hundred tactile art kits out by the end of the year.
>
>Independence Market Closures:
>The Independence Market will be closed Friday, 
>November 10, and Monday, November 13.
>
>NAPUB Call:
>The National Association to Promote the Use of 
>Braille (NAPUB) is pleased to announce its first 
>telephone conference/presentation/discussion on 
>issues surrounding Braille in the United States. 
>On Thursday, November 9, NAPUB will be pleased 
>to have Curtis Chong share his experiences with 
>the Orbit Reader 20. The Orbit Reader 20 is a 
>twenty-cell, eight-dot refreshable Braille 
>display.  The call will take place at 8:00 p.m. 
>Eastern, 6:00 p.m. Mountain, 5:00 p.m. Pacific. 
>The call-in information is (605) 472-5772, code 154426#.
>
>BRAL Contest:
>The NFB of Illinois, in partnership with the 
>National Association to Promote the Use of 
>Braille (NAPUB) is pleased to extend the 2017-18 
>Braille Readers Are Leaders (BRAL) contest to 
>any NFB affiliate that wishes to participate. If 
>your affiliate submits $100 to the NFBI, an 
>unlimited number of children in your state can 
>enter the contest. The kids can start reading on 
>December 15, so that amount should be received 
>by the NFBI before that date. Contact Patti 
>Chang at 
><mailto:pattischang at gmail.com>pattischang at gmail.com 
>for transaction details. The NFB of Illinois 
>will take care of the administrative details for 
>the contest, including providing and mailing out 
>all prizes. Each participating affiliate, 
>however, will be responsible for publicizing the 
>contest within its own state. The complete 
>contest rules, registration form, and the 
>reading log form will be available by November 8 
>on the website, <http://www.nfbofillinois.org>http://www.nfbofillinois.org.
>
>Autonomous Vehicle Summit:
>On Wednesday, October 25, we hosted a meeting of 
>automakers, advocates, disability organizations, 
>and ride-sharing providers regarding the 
>development of autonomous vehicles. The 
>intention of the meeting, titled â€œThe Promise: 
>Autonomous Vehicles and the Disability 
>Communityâ€ was to reinforce the necessity that 
>these future cars be made accessible to all 
>people, especially those with disabilities. As 
>stated in a 
><https://nfb.org/national-federation-blind-and-automakers-host-conference-promise-autonomous-vehicles-and-disability>joint 
>press release from the Alliance of Automobile 
>Manufacturers and the NFB: â€œAutonomous 
>vehicles offer disabled Americans opportunities 
>for increased mobility and independence, as well 
>as reliable transportation that could vastly 
>increase employment opportunities.â€
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>
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>Dates to Keep in Mind:
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>
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>    * <https://nfb.org/state-conventions>Fall Conventions
>    * November 6-8, 2017: 
> <https://nfb.org/dare-be-remarkable-call-presentations>Dare 
> to Be Remarkable Conference
>    * January 29, 2018: Great Gathering-In
>    * January 29-February 1, 2018: 
> <https://nfb.org/washington-seminar>Washington Seminar
>    * March 1, 2018: Deadline for scholarship 
> applications, <http://www.nfb.org/scholarships>www.nfb.org/scholarships
>    * March 22-23, 2018: Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium
>    * April 15, 2018: Deadline for 
> <https://nfb.org/bolotin-award-main>2018 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award competition
>
>
>The National Federation of the Blind knows that 
>blindness is not the characteristic that defines 
>you or your future. Every day we raise the 
>expectations of blind people, because low 
>expectations create obstacles between blind 
>people and our dreams. You can live the life you 
>want; blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>Mark A. Riccobono
>President
>200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
>(410) 659-9314 | 
><mailto:officeofthepresident at nfb.org>officeofthepresident at nfb.org
>
>
><https://nfb.org/>
>National Federation of the Blind
>
>
> 
><http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind>
>Facebook
>     <https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice>
>Twitter
>     <https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind>
>Youtube
>
>
>The National Federation of the Blind is a 
>community of members and friends who believe in 
>the hopes and dreams of the nationâ€™s blind. 
>Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.
>
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