[stylist] stylist Digest, Vol 81, Issue 3
Donna Hill
penatwork at epix.net
Thu Jan 6 00:25:31 UTC 2011
Kerry,
I hope it does as well.
Donna
Read Donna's articles on
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www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/donna_hill
Ezine Articles:
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American Chronicle:
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Connect with Donna on
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Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
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Check out the "Sound in Sight" CD project
Donna is Head of Media Relations for the nonprofit
Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind:
www.padnfb.org
On 1/5/2011 5:20 PM, Kerry Thompson wrote:
> Donna, You're right about the lack of a draft making it much easier
> for those not connected with the military to turn away. At the same
> time, there is much more media coverage of the plight of the wounded
> and of their families than I remember during Vietnam. Of course, I was
> very young, only eleven, when Vietnam ended, so my memory may not be
> all that reliable. Still it is true that the mainstream media run a
> lot of stories, and many of them not feel-good success stories, about
> returning vets. So, though there isn't the threat that "your" son or
> daughter, niece or godson will be drafted, still anyone who watches
> network news knows what's going on.
>
> Also, lack of a draft doesn't necessarily mean lack of contact. In my
> own limited circle of friends, my best friend's sister had multiple
> deployments to Iraq and another friend's sister is a nurse who has
> served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
>
> Guess I don't really have a point except to hope that, this time, some
> good will come to our society of all the suffering.
>
> Solidarity and Peace,
> Kerry
>
> On 1/5/2011 4:10 PM, Donna Hill wrote:
>> Kerry,
>> True, a higher percentage of wounded vets are now living with severe
>> disabilities, but I think back to Vietnam. The sheer numbers of
>> wounded, killed and disabled were so vastly higher than we have seen
>> in Iraq and Afghanistan that even though a higher percentage are
>> surviving today, there were still many more individuals surviving
>> after Vietnam. Guess I'm just saying I don't hold out much hope for
>> this to make a difference, especially since we now have an all
>> volunteer armed forces and it's easier for people to turn away from
>> the problems because they don't have the universal concern that it
>> could be their loved ones.
>> Donna
>>
>> Read Donna's articles on
>> Suite 101:
>> www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/donna_hill
>> Ezine Articles:
>> http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=D._W._Hill
>> American Chronicle:
>> www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885
>>
>> Connect with Donna on
>> Twitter:
>> www.twitter.com/dewhill
>> LinkedIn:
>> www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
>> FaceBook:
>> www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill.
>>
>> Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
>> cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
>> Apple I-Tunes
>> phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374
>>
>>
>> Check out the "Sound in Sight" CD project
>> Donna is Head of Media Relations for the nonprofit
>> Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind:
>> www.padnfb.org
>>
>>
>> On 1/5/2011 3:19 PM, Kerry Thompson wrote:
>>> Donna,
>>>
>>> Free associating a bit here: There have always been wounded i.e.
>>> disabled veterans. But, with so many more wounded, with such
>>> horrific injuries, surviving from Iraq and Afghanistan, coupled with
>>> the fact that so many of them are so young,maybe the wall between
>>> able bodied and disabled will finally start to crumble. These kids
>>> are going to need serious care and serious societal change for many
>>> years to come. Of course, it's already been ten years. How much
>>> longer, how many more ordinary kids turned into desperately disabled
>>> citizens is it going to take before the able bodied get the message
>>> that, to paraphrase Pogo, they have met the disabled and they are us?
>>>
>>> Solidarity and Peace,
>>> Kerry
>>>
>>> On 1/4/2011 8:56 PM, Donna Hill wrote:
>>>> Hi Kerry,
>>>> Thanks for the Damaris link. I know in high school, her teachers
>>>> still called her Damari. If I can find her, I'll use whatever
>>>> spelling she uses. If not, it'll stay Damari. Thanks for the
>>>> liberating comments about using whatever one I like.
>>>>
>>>> As far as Braille and literacy ... I think one of the understated
>>>> issues with Braille literacy is that society is undergoing a
>>>> blurring of standards for literacy in general, which is a shame. I
>>>> really don't think people get that audio learning isn't the same as
>>>> Braille or print. When I do radio interviews, I do often ask a
>>>> sighted host how they would feel if their child came home with the
>>>> happy news that he/she no longer needed to study reading, because
>>>> the teacher thinks they're such a good listener. Of course, it
>>>> isn't OK for sighted children to just listen, when you put it to
>>>> them that way.
>>>>
>>>> As to your comments about the fact that literacy for all should be
>>>> the goal and we aren't second class ... I think that this is what
>>>> Shawn was talking about when he mentioned that we need to make
>>>> blindness and how we cope with it relevant to the general public.
>>>> To most people, blind people are not equal. I say this not merely
>>>> out of experience and observation but because it is what pollsters
>>>> learn when they canvass non-disabled Americans on their beliefs
>>>> about people with disabilities. The report I often cite from the
>>>> early '90s says the general public views people with disabilities
>>>> as "fundamentally different from the rest of the population." I
>>>> don't think there's any other way to frame that other than by
>>>> saying that we are in the minds of our fellow Americans second
>>>> class. It always reminds me of the movie "Children of a Lesser God"
>>>> which dealt withdeafness.
>>>>
>>>> In order to get John & Jane Q. Public to understand the injustice
>>>> of only 10% of blind children being literate or over 70% of blind
>>>> adults being unemployed, we have to first convince them that we
>>>> are part of them, and that there's no reason they have to carry us
>>>> on their backs. All too often the success stories of blind people
>>>> are presented and viewed as isolated instances of inspiring
>>>> individuals who surmounted insurmountable obstacles to get
>>>> somewhere that can't really be expected of blind people in general.
>>>> The fact that others could achieve if they had the tools, training
>>>> and the attitude of these few isn't discussed. I think the public
>>>> likes to have the occasional blind hero to give them a warm and
>>>> fuzzy feeling. There wouldn't be as much of that, if we were
>>>> expected to achieve like everyone else.
>>>>
>>>> I think your points about working for equality like other
>>>> minorities is right on. It's a civil rights issue based on fear and
>>>> prejudice. I don't think the public gets that either. They think we
>>>> are here to be taken care of and to remind them of how good they
>>>> have it because they can see.
>>>> Donna
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Read Donna's articles on
>>>> Suite 101:
>>>> www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/donna_hill
>>>> Ezine Articles:
>>>> http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=D._W._Hill
>>>> American Chronicle:
>>>> www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885
>>>>
>>>> Connect with Donna on
>>>> Twitter:
>>>> www.twitter.com/dewhill
>>>> LinkedIn:
>>>> www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
>>>> FaceBook:
>>>> www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill.
>>>>
>>>> Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
>>>> cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
>>>> Apple I-Tunes
>>>> phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Check out the "Sound in Sight" CD project
>>>> Donna is Head of Media Relations for the nonprofit
>>>> Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind:
>>>> www.padnfb.org
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 1/4/2011 5:18 PM, Kerry Thompson wrote:
>>>>> Hi friends,
>>>>>
>>>>> Donna, maybe the problem, the barrier, is the emphasis on
>>>>> "braille." The emphasis needs to be on "reading," however the
>>>>> individual approaches reading. It sticks in my mind that only ten
>>>>> per cent of blind children are taught to read braille, i.e. the
>>>>> method of reading appropriate to them. Only ten percent! How would
>>>>> society at large react if, say, only ten per cent of black
>>>>> children were taught to read, or ten per cent of Jewish children,
>>>>> or ten per cent of children from Idaho? It's a question of human
>>>>> rights. All American children should be taught to read. Someof
>>>>> them need an alternative method to print. So what? The method
>>>>> isn't (or shouldn't be) the issue. The issue should be literacy.
>>>>>
>>>>> Yes, I realize the above sounds naive and utopian. But, I truly
>>>>> believe it should be the goal. I mean, the phrase "separate but
>>>>> equal" comes to mind whenever I hear people talk about braille
>>>>> literacy. Literacy is the goal, full literacy of the entire U.S.
>>>>> population. For most that will mean print literacy, for some,
>>>>> braille literacy. But, the two really can't be separated. To read
>>>>> is to read, whether with the eyes or with the fingers. The false
>>>>> dichotomy of literacy and braille literacy needs to be removed,
>>>>> both in our own minds and in themind of John Q. Public.
>>>>>
>>>>> That reminds me. Did Congress ever do anything about the shameful
>>>>> lack of accessible textbooks for blind schoolchildren? Again, it
>>>>> seems to me the emphasis needs to be, not on the difference, books
>>>>> in braille, but on the colossal injustice ofany American
>>>>> schoolchild being denied access to schoolbooks. Again, how would
>>>>> it be if it were some other group being denied access to schooling
>>>>> or to the necessary books? It wouldn't wash. We have to present
>>>>> our needs the way Civil Rights and Women's Rights campaigners
>>>>> presented needs, not as special concessions or favors we're asking
>>>>> for, but as matters of right, of justice.
>>>>>
>>>>> There was a time when printed books were very rare and valuable.
>>>>> Now, you can pick up a mass market paperback for five or six
>>>>> bucks. Braille books are just the same. Now they are dear, but as
>>>>> demand grows with the increasing literacy of the blind population,
>>>>> prices will come down. That's simple demand and supply. As demand
>>>>> grows, supply also grows and prices fall. Again, we all, blind and
>>>>> sighted alike, have to stop regarding braille as a specialty item.
>>>>> It's no different from print.
>>>>>
>>>>> I donno. I just get so frustrated and angry at the conditions we
>>>>> have to accept, conditions no other minority group would put up
>>>>> with. We're not subhuman. We're citizens just like anybody else,
>>>>> and we should have the same rights and expectations...
>>>>>
>>>>> End of rant.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jim, so glad Lynda is on the mend, if slowly. Continuing prayers
>>>>> and heart thingies.
>>>>>
>>>>> Judith, For some reason, I always thought "thingy" was chiefly
>>>>> British. I've always liked it. Yes, it's a very useful word. It's
>>>>> strange about the pronunciation. Window-eyes pronounces the
>>>>> singular with the hard g sound but the plural with the soft g.
>>>>> Just one of those oddnesses we have to get used to, I guess.
>>>>>
>>>>> Judith, yeah, but it's a generic British just like the generic
>>>>> American. I imagine British JAWS users get just as frustrated with
>>>>> pronunciation as we do. And, how about the Canadians?
>>>>>
>>>>> Donna, I know there's a girl's name Damaris. The way I've heard it
>>>>> pronounced is with the stress on the second syllable. Here's the
>>>>> page from Behind the Name:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.behindthename.com/name/damaris
>>>>>
>>>>> Behind the Name does not have a listing for Damari. It sounds like
>>>>> a diminutive to me, probably for Damaris or possibly a nursery
>>>>> name derived from Rosemarie or Rosemary.
>>>>>
>>>>> The thing is, with a rare or even made up name, you can spell it
>>>>> any old way you like.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jim, it's funny you should think the same thing about damari and
>>>>> Damaris. Great minds...
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm not sure "hood" is out of date even now to mean hoodlum etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> Marion, what race was "hoodlum" supposed to be targeting? Sheesh!
>>>>> Now, I can see "hooligan" being construed as anti-Irish, maybe,
>>>>> but "hoodlum?"
>>>>>
>>>>> Solidarity and Peace,
>>>>>
>>>>> Kerry
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Writers Division web site:
>>>>> http://www.nfb-writers-division.org
>>>>> <http://www.nfb-writers-division.org/>
>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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