http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Presidential-Proclamation-White-Cane-Safety-Day-2009/

However, so much remains to educate people locally. I did my white cane tour of the Prescott downtown, with stop in line with trucks at talking ATM. Did anyone notice there was a visually impaired person making her way around the streets and crossings? A few, I hope, but I haven’t seen any local proclamations. Indeed, I asked the (soon to be ex-_ mayor about plans for White Cane Day andgot a “don’t keep track of dates” grumble. Well, so-and-so, that’s sad that a community aspiring to greater tourism and retirement quality can’t get up a sense of fairness and opportunity for visually impaired citizens. Public transportation, accessible cross walks, even white cane training itself — ah, it would be such an improvement to have these safety support services.

Do It Yourself Sputnik

describes the simple architecture of the satellite and compares with modern components and costs

Actually it exploits the analog to RSS in the domain of calendars, which is iCalendar.

This distinction is almost universally ignored, which is why although vast numbers of sites provide RSS feeds for event pages, those feeds are not machine-readable into calendaring software and services.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/blind_photographers/discuss/72157622124018136/

1) Cognitive scientist George Lakoff writes on the ways and importance of framing
political issues, i.e. using and ingraining the simplestterminology for the issue. Here, he lambasts the Obama administration for too much “policy speak” with lists of sub-issues that distract from the main message and easily attacked piece-meal. His recommendation, paraphrased, is “Just say it that the health insurance industry has failed the U.S. citizenry. Profits require denying health benefits. Premiums paid go increasingly less for actual health care, now below 80%. Costs to doctors and patients continually go up from insurance intervention. Regulation cannot control this mess. Say it again: the health insurance industry cannot be allowed to manage health care for citizens.”

2) Here is Nobel economist Paul Krugman’s argument on the the why free markets fail for health care. Paying a health care premium is not like buying a loaf of bread, not products but risks are the essence of the transaction. And your gain in necessity is pure loss for the insurance company, unless otherwise regulated. Say it again, no matter how much one reveres capitalism, the U.S. health insurance industry has failed the health care of U.S. citizens

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/why-markets-cant-cure-healthcare/

3) Barbara Ehrenreich has several essays in “This Land is THEIR Land” about health care industry operations, e.g. 400,000 involved in underwriting, i.e. denail of services from a consumer perspective. CEO salaries, and more.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/This-Land-Is-Their-Land/Barbara-Ehrenreich/e/9780805088403

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/the-policyspeak-disaster_b_264043.html

I commiserate with your uncertainty and wish for a plan. It’s very hard to know what’s coming and when. At least you’ll have Braille experience, which is soon on my list, if I can figure out how.

I’d warn you that it’s just before stopping driving, before you realize the value of sweeping a cane ahead of you, of mistakes in paperwork etc. that times get really tough. You’re doing well to learn and look ahead to know the signs for gaining the next skills.

Good luck with your new career. Do you have a blog for your experience?

Susan