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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Good Evening Federation Family:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Earlier today, there was a post that came out to this listserv regarding Iowa’s Medicaid providers and Covid-19 and other vaccine coverage. The substance of the message was good in that it informed blind Iowans of one provider’s handling of coverage for vaccines and some things to watch out for. I must remind everyone of a few list guidelines that need to be followed when posting to NFB lists in general.<o:p></o:p></p><ul style='margin-top:0in' type=disc><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>This list, like most NFB lists, are searchable. This means that, if you post, it will be out there and not contained in a vacuum. This is why it is important that if you reply to a message intended for only one person, and not the list as a whole, you’ll want to do that as a new message, or at least put that person’s address in the “to” line instead of the listserv.<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>We in the National Federation of the Blind are proud of our work across all segments of the political spectrum. To that end, it is important to cultivate relationships with both major political parties that exist today and those that may exist in the future to get our legislative priorities accomplished. We maintain a stance of political neutrality on issues except where we need to make a stand as an organization. As such, if a stand is to be taken, it must be done so on an organizational level, and not through unofficial channels. A prime example of this is our work on behalf of the Iowa Department for the Blind during the last legislative session. We formed our position, organized, and made our voices heard on an organizational level, and not just as individuals. Any individual efforts were ultimately done on behalf of the organization.<o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>Individual opinions on issues, parties, candidates, etc. are fine to hold privately, but I challenge all of us to answer one question. Do my feelings on a candidate, issue, etc. add value to the mission of the National Federation of the Blind of Iowa? If not, then such opinions should not appear on a listserv. After all, we wouldn’t want individual biases to negatively influence the work we’re all doing to better the lives of the blind people of Iowa. <o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>Diversity of opinions is one of the things that sets the National Federation of the Blind and its chapters, affiliates, groups, and divisions apart from other organizations. We must do whatever we can to respect the views of everyone even if we do not agree with such views. As we’ve said at conventions at the state and national level in the past, just because we may not agree with a particular speaker or issue, we still must display an attitude of respect. The same goes for politics. We’ve done a pretty good job up to this point of keeping politics off of our list discussions. Unless an issue calls for it, and you’ll know if it’s warranted, please refrain from political commentary in list postings. <o:p></o:p></li><li class=MsoListParagraph style='margin-left:0in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'>The last thing I’ll say on this topic is this. If you have any questions as to whether you can or should post something to the listservs, feel free, especially on Tall Corn to reach out to Bob Ray, list moderator, or you can also come to me directly and I’ll be happy to discuss it further.<o:p></o:p></li></ul><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.25in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.25in'>Please feel free to reach out with any questions. In the meantime, let’s get back to building the National Federation of the Blind of Iowa! <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>Scott Van Gorp, President<br>National Federation of the Blind of Iowa<br>Phone: 515-720-5282<br></span><a href="mailto:svangorp@nfbi.org"><span style='color:#0563C1'>Email</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.nfbi.org/"><i><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1'>Website</span></i></a><i><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> <br></span></i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/National-Federation-Of-the-Blind-Of-Iowa-372681823082570/posts"><i><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1'>Facebook</span></i></a><i><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> <br></span></i><a href="https://twitter.com/nfb_iowa"><i><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1'>Twitter</span></i></a><i><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'> <br>Live the life you want.<br></span></i><br>The National Federation of the Blind of Iowa is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>