Roger,
Your observations on Thunderbird are encouraging to an old fumble
fingers like myself. I don't have a great deal of extra time to
invest, but I'm going to give it a try. As I've mentioned before, I
bought a lap top computer from Texas, with NVDA on it. I found it
easy enough to learn that I took it on our last long trip, and could
do my basic gmail. Then I sat it aside, thinking that "When I get the
time", I'd replace JAWS with NVDA.
But time never came...for two years. And here we are, about to head
out on September 21, for another extended trip, and I discovered that
I've forgotten all I knew about NVDA. I always fancied myself to be
an adventuresome Soul, willing to take on new challenges. But I found
lurking inside me, Chicken Little. I think that now is the time to
get serious again. JAWS keeps raising their charges, and I'm two
upgrades behind, and don't want to shell out the money they are now
charging just to make me compatible with a system I originally paid
nearly $1,000 for. I've at least equaled that amount in upgrade
payments over the years that I've used JAWS. I think I began with
JAWS 3.
I think that JAWS sees us as their Cash Cow. They offer no break to
long time users, even though much of their upgrades are of no real
value to us basic users. But then, what do I know?
Carl Jarvis: crawling back in my safe cave.
On 8/27/19, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I have never used NVDA, but I understand that it is easier to learn than
JAWS because it does a lot less and so is a lot less complicated. I also
understand that most of the quick commands are the same as in JAWS, so
that gives you a head start. As for Thunderbird, when I switched from
Windows XP to Windows 7 the new email program that came with it was very
unstable. It finally froze up on me and I was subscribed to the JAWS
users list at the time and so I sought help there. The problem was off
topic, so someone on that list tried to help me privately. He finally
gave up and just sent me a link to download Thunderbird. I decided to
try it out. It was certainly different from what I was used to, but I
mastered it to the point that I was able to use it for what I was trying
to do in less than a day. I learned other things later and just recently
I learned how to block an email address. So what I am saying is that you
just might surprise yourself in that you might not need a teacher. The
big advantage of self teaching is that you don't have to wait for or
even secure a teacher. I even taught myself to use a computer from
scratch. I never did have a teacher. I will admit, though, that learning
how to use a computer starting at the point of just barely knowing how
to plug it in is a lot harder than learning Thunderbird. I still cringe
at the memory of my mental exhaustion. But if you are a regular computer
user who has learned that much then Thunderbird should not be that hard
to learn. And it is free too. So just download it and give it a try. You
just might surprise yourself that you can teach yourself. If you can't
then all you have lost is a bit of time.
---
George Carlin
“ Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the universe,
and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they
have to touch it to be sure. ”
― George Carlin
On 8/27/2019 3:49 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
I guess I am always trying to find out what is really going on. I listen
to news and to opinion, to try to figure it out. I tend to trust some
people more than others, the people who seem to be most honest, to really
care about the reasons for why things are happening, who care about the
people to whom things are happening. I seem to be most interested in what
this country is doing internationally to other countries and for a very
long time, I've been interested in the quality of news sources and how
it's reported. I remember being surprised that other people seemed not to
care about that. And by the way, I have been wondering for quite some
time, where Amy Goodman gets her money from because it can't be that her
program does what it does, just from small donations. Maybe George Soros
is donating to her. As much as I like The Intercept, it's original funds
come from the guy who owns Ebay. It asks for donations, but it is becoming
more and more mainstream in many ways. Our profit system corrupts
everything.
And that reminds me. I began thinking, this morning, about how blind tech
users are victimized by capitalism. Here I am, old, on a fixed income,
very dependent on my computer for information and books and social
contacts, and I'm not a competent tech user. If agencies for the blind
worked as they should and if our socio-economic system were different,
first of all, someone would have taught me to use NVDA and Thundeerbird.
NVDA is a free screen reader and Thunderbird is a free email program. The
person who taught me would be paid by an agency for the blind. Even if I
were asked to pay a fee to that agency, it would be a small fee. But no
one teaches blind people how to use these programs because everyone who
teaches, teaches the programs used by rehab agencies and the rehab
agencies have all been convinced to use Jaws and everyone teaches
Microsoft Office because that is what is taught to people who work. If
you're blind and younger and technically adept, you can learn free
programs on your own or from your friends. But you can't do that if your
older or if you're newly blind. And agencies for the blind only teach
people for whom they can be reimbursed by state and federal rehab funds.
If they were using the model from 60 years ago, they'd just provide
services to any blind person who needed them. When I first became a social
worker, I remember that I H B would send a rehab teacher to someone's
house to teach him or her braille or some other specific skill, if that is
what was needed. But then reimbursement from the commission for the blind
came along and the person had to be taught a cluster of things and fit
into a category. No one could just learn braille anymore, unless it was
part of a plan. It's really an unfair, unrealistic system. An older
sighted person who needs a new computer can just buy one and her children
or grandchildren can show her how to do the things she wants to do on it.
That's certainly not true for an older blind person. You need a special
program to be installed. You need to learn to use it. When Internet
Explorer becomes truly unusable, I'll need to pay a blind person to
install a substitute for me and show me how to use it and it will be a
remote lesson because there's no one who can travel to where I live to
show me. I read on the newly constituted Jaws list yesterday, that now
Jaws will cost $90 a year for a home use license. I used to pay $120 every
2 years. And office 365 costs approximately $70 a year. But this is what
an agency should be doing. 60 years ago, agencies employed sighted people
to drive blind teachers to people's homes in areas where there was no
public transportation. I'll bet no one does that anymore. Of course,
agencies sold the myth that once a client received services, he or she
would be able to live an independent life and would no longer need extra
help. And there are some blind people who believe that they are actually
doing that.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2019 1:53 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: NPR Mocks Cancer Survivor in Drumbeat of
Syria Propaganda
Well, you are one up on me, Miriam. I'm terrible with names. But you're
right, Seymour Hersh was on Democracy Now, as was Noam Chomsky. But I
listen to the broadcast for a sense of world and national news, and then
the Bellevue college channel has local and state news. All public
sponsored. That's where my dribble of money goes, not to NPR or even to
Amy Goodman. And I usually tune in to Thom Hartmann if I'm near the radio
at 9:00 A.M. He's too much the Liberal Democrat, but he does offer
stimulating opinions. Alternative Radio is another favorite of
mine...when I can find it. Last Sunday I listened to a
1987 speech by Howard Zinn. It could have been given last evening.
But there's no perfect program. And even the people I agree with can make
my skin crawl. Richard Wolff, the Marxist professor, sounds like he's
talking to six year olds, Thom is too much the liberal democrat, David
Barcinian(forgive the spelling) sounds like he might not make it through
his program, and Noam sounds exactly like Doctor Jerry Dunham.
Dunham was a blind PhD who...sort of directed the Washington Services for
the Blind, back when I first became blind. He did inspire some of us. He
was so inept that he inspired us to go to the legislature to pass the
Commission for the Blind.
Anyway, we're all flawed enough that we should never hang our hat on one
super leader.
And in my wicked, fuzzy minded past I've done that a time or two.
Regardless of who, what, where or why, I always remind myself that someone
paid to put forth the news or opinion. First, I ask myself who that could
be, and then I ask what's in it for them. Usually they're busy telling me
why it's good for me, but since I already know what's good for me, I want
to know why they're spending all their money. I can do this with the
commercial news, if I can put up with piles of commercials and giggling
news casters. But I can do it better with Amy Goodman, too. At least
she's more on target on most issues than the corporate media.
Oh yes, another half hour program that I stumbled across is named, The
Media Project. Three or four journalists kick around issues of the day.
It comes from upstate New York, and gives me a different sense of the
workings of journalism.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/27/19, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yes, but the problem is, that is also happening to Democracy Now. She
covers the same stories as corporate media and she uses corporate
media representatives to do it. The exceptions are Glen Greenwald and
Alan Nearn and very occasionally, Jeremy Scahill who, of course, got
his start on Democracy Now. But I read all of the real left of center
investigative reporters and I hear them on podcasts, and she doesn't have
them on anymore.
Perhaps she had Seymour Hersh when his latest book came out. Even the
Nation had him. But what she has now is the acceptable, commercial
Left. Not only doesn't she have the authentic Left. She doesn't have
principled people who write for the Conservative Press like Gareth
Porter or that military guy, can't think of his name, who's often on
The Real News. She doesn't have Aaron Mate, who also got his start
with her, because he has been doing real investigative stuff with
alternative media. He's far enough to the left to have moved from The
Real News to The Grayzone Project. The people whose reporting and
opinions truly differ from the mainstream, end up on the Grayzone
Projectd, Mint Press, assorted podcasts and RT or Sputnik which is
ironic. It's ironic that our radicals can't find a place in American
media and end up on media sponsored by Russia which has an
authoritarian government. But then, Russia is where Edward Snowden
found refuge from the American police state. And Putin is an
authoritarian, or they say he is, who persecutes gays and lesbians and is
being protested in his own country.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2019 12:01 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: NPR Mocks Cancer Survivor in Drumbeat
of Syria Propaganda
Unless NPR changed their minds, they no longer are National Public
Radio, they are simply, NPR. Bit by bit, piece by piece, and position
after position NPR has quietly been selling us out. It takes money to
run an operation as large as NPR. We have learned that a dollar has
as much right to express itself as does any other First Class
Citizen...we'd better all check to see if our names are on that list.
Anyway, despite all the protests to the contrary by NPR, they are
sounding more and more like all the other Corporate controlled networks.
I think NPR now stands for, No Public Responsibility.
Carl Jarvis: listening in vain for the old NPR.
On 8/26/19, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Opinion & Analysis
NPR Mocks Cancer Survivor in Drumbeat of Syria Propaganda
While NPR snorts about Asma Assad "sporting a chic blonde pixie cut",
Lilly Martin points out that she was recently bald while fighting for
her life.
by Rick Sterling
August 23rd, 2019
By Rick Sterling
It may be a new low in propaganda. National Public Radio (NPR) used
the news that Syrian First Lady Asma Assad had overcome breast cancer
to mock her and continue the information war against Syria. They
interviewed a Human Rights Watch staffer named Lama Fakih who is an
American from Michigan now based in Beirut.
Do you believe Ms. Fakih in Beirut or do you believe people who live
in Syria who say we are being lied to? Lilly Martin is such a person.
Although
she is American from Fresno California, Lilly has lived in Syria for
nearly
25 years. She is married to a Syrian and has two Syrian sons. Dr.
Nabil Antaki is another such person. He is a medical doctor in
Aleppo, fluent in English and French as well as his native Arabic.
While NPR snorts about Asma Assad "sporting a chic blonde pixie cut",
Lilly Martin points out that she was recently bald while fighting for
her life.
While Ms. Fakir in Beirut says that there is "quite a lot of anger"
because Asma Assad has conquered cancer, Dr. Antaki says that Syrians
are happy at the news. Asma Assad is First Lady, mother to three
children, and known for her compassion. Lilly Martin says that even
while she battled cancer Mrs.
Assad continued her charitable work.
Asma Assad NPR cancer
While Ms. Fakih says that the "Assad government has been
systematically targeting medical facilities and medical personnel",
Dr. Antaki, who has remained in Aleppo throughout the conflict, says
this is not true. While there are many western accusations that the
Syrian government attacks hospitals, the evidence is remarkably thin.
One of the most highly publicized cases was regarding "Al Quds
Hospital" in east Aleppo. In April
2016 there was a media blitz about this hospital having been
destroyed by the Syrian Army. Following the departure of the
"rebels", it was discovered that "Al Quds Hospital" was an unmarked
portion of an apartment building, that it had NOT been bombed and was
the LEAST damaged building in the area.
It was determined that the nearby Nusra (Al Qaeda) headquarters and
ammunition depot was the Syrian army target. Accusations that "Al
Quds Hospital" was bombed were false. It was a media stunt.
Ms. Fakih says that "Syrians have not been able to benefit from
medical care
in Syria since the beginning of the uprising in 2012". Lilly Martin
simply
says "This is factually untrue. The Syrian system of national
hospitals, free services to the public, are in every area of Syria
and have run continuously throughout the war." Dr. Antaki is an
example; he is one of THOUSANDS of doctors working at HUNDREDS of
hospitals throughout Syria. But you would never know it from NPR or Ms.
Fakih.
It is true that there have been disruption and damage to many
hospitals, as demonstrated in this jihadi assault on Al Kindi
Hospital. These are the "rebels" supported by Ms. Fakih and Human
Rights Watch. They effectively supported them in east Aleppo until
they were expelled from the city. Now Ms. Fakih and HRW is supporting
the "rebels" in their last redoubt in Idlib.
There are countless videos demonstrating the cruelty and fanaticism
of the "rebels". For example, the aftermath of the above assault on
Kindi Hospital and the execution of the Syrian soldiers who defended
the hospital. Those who are cheerleading for the "rebels" and trying
to prevent the Syrian reclaiming Idlib should look at the execution
video to see what they are supporting.
The West has provided weapons and other support to the "rebels". In
parallel, there has been a campaign to whitewash the "rebels" and
demonize the Syrian government. On top of this, the USA has imposed
crushing sanctions on Syria which make it difficult or impossible to
get critical medicines and replacement parts for western medical
equipment. Dr. Antaki says it took him 1.5 years to obtain a
replacement part for a Japanese medical instrument. I had my own
experience with the draconian and inhumane sanctions. It took one
year and endless hassle to send hearing aid batteries to help a deaf
child in Syria.
This is one among hundreds of Syria "regime change" propaganda pieces
broadcast on NPR. Behind a facade of authority and objectivity, there
is
bias and misinformation along with crocodile tears. As Lilly Martin
says,
"While the Syrian government medical system has tried to meet all the
needs of Syrian civilians during 8 years of armed conflict, still
there are numerous cases where the needs were not met and Syrians
have suffered, and that blame must be shouldered by every person who
held a gun against Syria and their foreign supporters who have
succeeded in bringing the Syrian people into the depths of destruction
and despair."
As to Asma Assad and her integrity, it is best to listen and judge
for yourself. At about 5:30 of the interview she speaks of the
families of 100 thousand Syrian martyrs who died defending their
country. "On a personal level, I am humbled by their determination,
by their resilience, and by their love of Syria. They are my biggest
source of strength and hope for the future."
The sneers, misinformation, unverified accusations and de facto
defense of Nusra/Al Qaeda by NPR and Lama Fakih stand in stark
contrast.
Feature photo | Asma al-Assad visits the children of Basma
Association, which cares for children with cancer. Photo | Syrian
Presidency
Rick Sterling is an investigative journalist based in the San
Francisco Bay Area. He can be reached at rsterling1@xxxxxxxxx
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not
necessarily reflect MintPress News editorial policy.