[nfb-talk] Stupidity running amuck on the Colbert Report!

[Buddy Brannan]

It isn’t quite that simple. I love animals and happily use a guide dog. However, I understand that there are those that either don’t love animals, only love other people’s animals, don’t have room for animals, don’t want some of the real tradeoffs inherent in traveling with animals, and the list goes on. Where I have problems is when the animal people say that non-animal-using people are at a distinct disadvantage for not utilizing the brain of another creature, or where the non-animal people say that the reliance on another being means you aren’t as self-reliant just by the nature of that. Of course it’s possible to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both. I’ll happily do so with anyone, so long as we have a real and substantive discussion of it. Coming into every object in your path can be an advantage, because it gives you certain landmarks you can use that you’ll totally miss by not coming into contact with those objects, which a dog will generally avoid. Being able to make a direct line for a door across a wide open space can be a real advantage with a dog, but arguing with the dog because you want to go somewhere different than you would normally go can be a problem. The interaction with the general public over one’s dog, in my view, is not an advantage, and I’ve never bought the “dog as social icebreaker” argument, mostly because I want people to leave me and my dog the hell alone so I can get where I’m going. And on it goes. So I’d say it’s possible to have such discussions, so long as both sides are willing to do so. My experience tells me that many, though not all, are not willing, and I say this about both camps, if camps there be.
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY



On Nov 17, 2013, at 6:37 PM, Mike Freeman <k7uij at panix.com> wrote:

> It's simple: those who love animals cannot admit that they might have
> drawbacks as well as benefits; those who are not into animals can't see why
> anyone would want to be intimately associated with one. Given this
> intellectual disconnect, it's impossible to discuss the subject without
> emotion.
> 
> Mike Freeman
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michael
> Hingson
> Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2013 3:27 PM
> To: 'NFB Talk Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Stupidity running amuck on the Colbert Report!
> 
> Oh it can be discussed, but emotion needs to go away.
> 
> I am not sure why there need be two camps anyway.  Dogs and canes both work,
> just like PCs and MACs.  Which computer is better?  That debate will exist
> for a long time, unless a quantum computer comes along.  The fact is both
> work and it is a matter of choice, preference, and practicality.
> 
> People need to get over the debate. 
> 
> 
> Best,
> 
> 
> Michael Hingson
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mike
> Freeman
> Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2013 03:20 PM
> To: 'NFB Talk Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Stupidity running amuck on the Colbert Report!
> 
> Amen, amen, amen! Steve Jacobson and I have reached the conclusion that the
> subject cannot be discussed logically by members of either camp.
> 
> Mike Freeman
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Buddy
> Brannan
> Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2013 11:44 AM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Stupidity running amuck on the Colbert Report!
> 
> Mike and Gary,
> 
> I tell y'all what, you've got more patience than I do. On both sides o this
> issue. I'm about fed up with the "guide dogs are superior" "canes are
> superior" argument. I'm just out of patience with the whole blasted thing. 
> --
> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
> Phone: (814) 860-3194 or 888-75-BUDDY
> 
> 
> 
> On Nov 17, 2013, at 2:40 PM, Larry D. Keeler <lkeeler at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
>> Joshua, I respectfully disagree! I use both cane and dog. It is still 
>> our
> responsibility to know where we are going and to know what obstructions our
> dogs find. It can make some things easier but doesn't take away any
> independence!
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joshua Lester" 
>> <JLester8462 at pccua.edu>
>> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2013 1:20 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Stupidity running amuck on the Colbert Report!
>> 
>> 
>>> We've discussed this on another list!
>>> You're more independent with a cane, because you're responsible for
> finding clues, and things like that, but when you have a dog, you're
> depending on the dog's sight, to get you where you need to go.
>>> Blessings, Joshua
>>> ________________________________________
>>> From: nfb-talk [nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Eddie 
>>> Salcido [rednexican at socal.rr.com]
>>> Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2013 10:10 AM
>>> To: 'NFB Talk Mailing List'
>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Stupidity running amuck on the Colbert Report!
>>> 
>>> Preferably a cane?  According to whose preference and why should it 
>>> matter to you whether someone uses a dog or a cane to get around
> independently?
>>> Isn't it enough that said hypothetical person travels about?
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nfb-talk [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of 
>>> Joshua Lester
>>> Sent: Friday, November 15, 2013 6:17 PM
>>> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Stupidity running amuck on the Colbert Report!
>>> 
>>> Correct!
>>> I'm proud of Mr. Carter's responses about it, but I want to know, as 
>>> I posted before, why doesn't he use a cane or a dog?
>>> All of the blind boys are putting their hands on the shoulders of the 
>>> sighted guys in the band, so they can be led on stage!
>>> #1, that's empropper sighted guide, and #2, they need to use a cane, 
>>> or a dog, but preferably a cane, to get around!
>>> Blessings, Joshua
>>> ________________________________________
>>> From: nfb-talk [nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Mark Tardif 
>>> [markspark at roadrunner.com]
>>> Sent: Friday, November 15, 2013 4:46 PM
>>> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Stupidity running amuck on the Colbert Report!
>>> 
>>> All I will say is that racism should be considered ridiculous and 
>>> stupid regardless of whether one is blind or dighted.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Mark Tardif
>>> Nuclear arms will not hold you.
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Joshua Lester
>>> Sent: Friday, November 15, 2013 3:13 PM
>>> To: nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>> Subject: [nfb-talk] Stupidity running amuck on the Colbert Report!
>>> 
>>> Two nights ago, my friends, the Blind Boys of Alabama were guests on 
>>> Stephen Colbert's show on Commedy Central.
>>> Colbert had the nerve to ask Jimmy Carter, (the leader of the group,) 
>>> a stupid question.
>>> "As a blind person, does racism seem ridiculous to you, since you 
>>> can't tell what race somebody is?"
>>> What's next?
>>> Not only is the question offensive from a racial standpoint, but it's 
>>> offensive from the blindness perspective!
>>> I would have asked to have my group removed from the show, but Jimmy 
>>> educated Mr. Colbert, and handled it with grace!
>>> There's a link to this ignorance on the group's Twitter page.
>>> http://www.twitter.com/blindboys
>>> Blessings, Joshua
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> 
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