Planet of the Blind

Lucky to be Alive

 So there I was, flying to Boston to hear my friend Zoe Tall Weiss and her baroque opera company. Our plane (a turbo prop Dash 80) took off from Syracuse in a driving rain. When the plane was about 7 minutes in the air the pilot came on the intercom and told us the electrical system was failing and he was turning back. We bobbed like a cork and quite literally dove for the runway. I was talking with a woman across the aisle about dogs and disability and my lovely Miss Nira kept her usual demeanor of poise mixed with quiet happiness. You could feel the collective tension of the passengers. The plane was dropping fast. I thought about all the dirty jokes I've told in my life and I decided that they had no relevance to what might be in store after death. It was a clarifying sense that the guilt of Christianity is blather and hog wash and I felt this without any panegyrics. Then we were on the ground. And then, as they say, it was over. And US Air had no way to get me to Boston because they said LaGuardia is 6 hours delayed owing to the rain. And so we went home. I'm still in the elastic gratitude tunnel of affirmations. Isn't it lucky to be here? Isn't it amazing to be able to make a turkey sandwich, drink a glass of water, admire the way winter light on a dark day is still so sustaining? It is dark and gorgeous in Syracuse and we have a little more time to know it. 

Hungry in O'Hare, Krishna Krishna!

My friend Andrea Scarpino writes about being stuck in O’Hare airport in Chicago and this puts me in mind of how I was trapped there once during a blizzard. The year was 1978 and back then the airports were gathering places for wandering packs of Hare Krishna guys who followed you everywhere trying to sell you paper flowers. So there I was, trapped in O’Hare for two and a half days and trying to stay away from the Hare Krishnas who were everywhere. No food court. No food in fact. Just a vast, souless airport, weary passengers, and the minions of Krishna pushing trinkets. And so yes, finally, trapped by a man in a robe, a man who had a coffee can for making change strapped to his waist, and who had a fistful of paper flowers, I bought a flower, and yes, I ate it. Right in front of him. Those were the days. Those were the days.   

 

White House Appointee Ari Ne’eman on the Power of Autistic Community

By Steve Silberman

See full story: http://blogs.plos.org/neurotribes/2011/11/01/white-house-appointee-ari-neeman-on-the-power-of-autistic-community/

 

POTB is a follower of ASAN and a fan of Ari Ne'eman's work. Visit this great article for a good look at the visionary thinking that comes from the movement of neuroatypical thinking. 

 

SK

6 Ways of Looking at O’Hare

By Andrea Scarpino

 

1. From below: people rushing, running, bumping into you with roller bags and overstuffed purses. Disembodied announcements, ceaseless—unattended luggage will be destroyed, do not accept items, shoes left at security, church services, now boarding, final boarding. Golf carts trying to maneuver the crowds by beeping their horns incessantly. Sobbing babies. Somewhere: an inconsolable cat, howling.

 

1. From above: rooftop garden. Tall plastic columns of plants under fluorescent lights—green onions, chives, habanero chilis, green peppers, salad greens, basil, edible flowers. The calm of it—rectangle of color, water rushing into the planters each hour, heat from artificial suns. Large windows: gray sky, blowing snow. And a garden, growing.

 

1. In hunger. Frontera: fresh tortas and homemade salsa, Greek yogurt bar, salads with creamy dressing and avocado. Wolfgang Puck: roasted beet salad, wood-fired pizza with fresh mozzarella. Cappuccinos on every corner. Carefully brewed Argo tea. Frozen  yogurt with chocolate sprinkles.

 

1. In kindness: the gate agent who searches for other flights when yours has been cancelled, the server who lets you sit most of the afternoon ordering nothing but Diet Coke, the security agent who pats you down, how she nods, “I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t go through those machines either.”

 

1. In exasperation: flights cancelled 30 minutes before they’re due to take-off. Mixed messages: you’ll have to call the 1-800 number; you’ll have to speak to the gate agent. Bathrooms miles down the hall from where you’re sitting. The cab driver who swears non-stop and charges you double to drive you 8 minutes down the highway.

 

1. In kindness: your partner and friend who search online for a hotel while you’re still standing in line at the gate of your cancelled flight, who research rental cars, who offer to drive six hours to pick you up. The friend who knows you’re stuck, finds your hotel online, and calls the bar to order two shots, brought to your room by room service. You’re angry, annoyed, watching stupid television, watching people do stupid things on television, and there’s a knock at your door. You open it: two shots of whipped-cream topped alcohol on a silver tray. A smiling room-service man. You sit in your overstuffed bed with your drinks and sip them joyfully.

 

 Poet and essayist Andrea Scarpino is a frequent contributor to POTB. You can visit her at:

www.andreascarpino.com 

 

 

 

 

Man and Dog, Footprints in Snow

 

Bitter cold. No one is abroad.

I have been looking everywhere for you.

If you don’t believe me, 

Look at my footprints in the snow.

 

--(anonymous, translated from the Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth) 

 

**

 

My dog and I leave two sets of footprints. Together we are a lyric poem, the dog with a temple in her mind--incense, tall windows; and the man with his capacity for being lost. What are we looking for? A house, a door, a familiar street...Other times it’s peace of mind we’re after. Two sets of prints. One creature. 

 

Giants Went Head Hunting Against 49ers

"You know how the NFL has been so concerned about concussions and head injuries and has made an effort ‒ some might even call it an overzealous effort ‒ to limit players' risk to head injuries?

Not everyone shares the league's concern. Some players, in fact, when they know a guy has had head injuries, will make it a point to inflict even more damage to that fellow's head."

See full story: yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/giants-knew-kyle-williams-had-concussion-problems-targeted-183400986.html

The Sky Writes My Name, and Yours

The local weatherman calls the conditions “silvery skies” and why not if it gets people out the door? In fact it’s grey as my uncle’s undershirt; grey as a circus donkey; grey as John Paul Sartre’s bathrobe. “Silvery skies” is the true representation of the weight of your shell. I think you know what I’m talking about. Bring on the leafless trees. We have all the light we need. 

**

Watching the president’s speech last night was so demoralizing. Where was the discussion of a middle east peace process? The environment? It’s clear that the GOP has stolen the lexicon--it’s wrapped in a rug in the trunk of a Lexus.

** 

Today in my lyric poetry class I’m talking about Gregory Orr’s work. This makes me happy. There’s a pearl in a dream. We can touch it. We can hold it in our hands long after we’ve awakened. We have all the light we need.  

** 

Gregory Orr:

 

On the side of a bleak hill

we build our hut; windowless,

but filled with light.

 

 

JFK Tapes, Instructive on Income Inequality Today

 

"DURING THE last days of his presidency, John F. Kennedy had a number of concerns on his mind. In tapes being released today by the Kennedy Library, we hear, for example, the president focus on his reelection and issues of economic inequality. What can we do, he asks his political advisers, to make voters “decide that they want to vote for us, Democrats? What is it we have to sell ’em? We hope we have to sell them prosperity, but for the average guy the prosperity is nil. He’s not unprosperous, but he’s not very prosperous. He’s not . . . very well-off. And the people who really are well-off hate our guts.’’ As questions about growing social inequity increasingly dominate our current political dialogue, it may be instructive to look back at how these issues played out a half century ago."

See Tom Putnam's full OpEd in today's Boston Globe.

The Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Program from NFB

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

cdanielsen@nfb.org

National Federation of the Blind Announces Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards

 

Baltimore, Maryland (January 24, 2012): The National Federation of the Blind today announced that applications are now being accepted for the 2012 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Program.  Each year the National Federation of the Blind presents cash awards to individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions toward achieving the full integration of the blind into society on a basis of equality. 

 

Dr. Jacob Bolotin was a blind physician who lived and practiced in Chicago in the early twentieth century.  He was widely known and respected in Chicago and throughout the Midwest during his career, which spanned the period from 1912 until his untimely death at the age of thirty-six in 1924.  He was particularly recognized for his expertise on diseases of the heart and lungs.  Bolotin used his many public speaking engagements to advocate for the employment of the blind and their full integration into society. 

 

Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “Dr. Jacob Bolotin was a pioneer who overcame low expectations and discrimination to become a renowned member of the medical profession without the benefit of the support services and civil rights protections available to blind people today.  He was also a fierce advocate for greater opportunity for the blind in his time, and doubtless would have been a leader in the organized blind movement had he lived to see it come into being.  The Jacob Bolotin Award Program celebrates his pioneering spirit by recognizing and supporting outstanding programs, technologies, and individual efforts that promote independence and opportunity for blind Americans.  Our previous winners have been a distinguished lot and we look forward to honoring more trailblazers this year.”

 

Recipients of the 2012 Dr. Jacob Bolotin Awards will be determined by the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award Committee of the National Federation of the Blind.  Online applications are due by March 31, 2012.  Individuals or organizations are encouraged to apply on behalf of themselves or others.  The award recipients will be announced at the 2012 National Federation of the Blind Convention in Dallas. 

 

The Jacob Bolotin Award Program is funded through the generosity of Dr. Bolotin’s nephew and niece, Alfred and Rosalind Pearlman.   In addition to establishing the Alfred and Rosalind Pearlman Trust to endow the awards, the late Mrs. Pearlman also wrote The Blind Doctor: The Jacob Bolotin Story.   The book has been published by Blue Point Books and can be ordered directly from the publisher at www.bluepointbooks.com.  Proceeds from book sales will also benefit the award program.  For more information or to fill out the online application, please visit www.nfb.org.

 

 

More Summer Programs in Washington for PWDs

012 Student Summer Programs at DOL

What:  The Department of Labor’s Student Summer Programs provide current students with experiential work experience as an integral part of the student’s course of study.  To ensure a productive experience for both the student intern or volunteer and the sponsoring agency, the Agency promotes an educational environment for the benefit of the student by offering substantive and developmental work, close and constant supervision and feedback, and sets clear expectations regarding the desired outcomes of the student’s internship or volunteer service.  The goal is to have at least 100 student summer interns and volunteers housed in the National Office and at least 80 student interns and volunteers in the regions during the 6-10 week summer program.
Website: www.dol.gov

Deadline: Students must submit all application materials (resume, cover letter, and short writing sample) to students@dol.gov by COB on April 6, 2012.
Who can apply:  Candidates must be U.S. citizens currently enrolled in an accredited educational institution.    

 

Workforce Recruitment Program for College Students with Disabilities (WRP)
What: The WRP is a recruitment and referral program that connects federal and private sector employers nationwide with highly motivated college students and recent graduates with disabilities who are eager to prove their abilities in the workplace through summer or permanent jobs.
Website: https://wrp.gov 
Deadline: Interviews are conducted in the fall semester at participating campuses and the database is published each December. For the 2013 WRP release, interviews will be held in the fall of 2012.

Who can apply: Candidates must be U.S. citizens. In addition, candidates must be current, full-time undergraduate or graduate students with a disability, or have graduated within one year of the release of the database.

Pathways Programs for Students and Recent Graduates
What: The Pathways Programs are three clear program paths tailored to recruit, hire, develop, and retain students and recent graduates. It lays the groundwork to improve recruiting efforts; offers clear paths to Federal internships for students from high school through post-graduate school and to careers for recent graduates; and provides meaningful training and career development opportunities for individuals who are at the beginning of their Federal careers. The three program paths included in its framework are: an Internship Program, a Recent Graduates Program, and a reinvigorated Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program.  
Website: http://www.opm.gov/HiringReform/pathways/ and http://www.usajobs.gov/studentjobs 
Deadline: Varies by Federal agency
Who can apply: Programs will be launched in the spring of 2012. All the eligibility requirements will be provided on the websites above once the program regulations are implemented.

Presidential Management Fellows Program

What: The Presidential Management Fellows Program is the flagship leadership program for advanced degree candidates and is designed to develop potential government leaders. It also seeks to encourage lasting careers and dedication to public service and government.

Website: http://www.pmf.gov/

Deadline: Applications for the 2012 cycle were completed in September 2011 through usajobs.gov website. For the 2013 program, applications will be accepted in September 2012.

Who can apply: US citizens or in rare cases, non-US citizens appointed by Federal agencies or who will earn citizenship by fellowship completion. Applicant must be enrolled in a graduate degree program within one year of applying and complete their degree by August 31st in the year their fellowship begins.

United States Department of Agriculture Summer Internship Program
What: Student employees gain valuable professional experience as an assistant in scientific, professional, technical, and/or administrative areas. The "Student Internship Program" could be a paid or unpaid internship. The internship opportunity gives students insight into considering a future career with USDA. Annually USDA employs thousands of students nationwide throughout our 7 Mission Areas, 17 agencies and 14 offices. 
Website: http://www.dm.usda.gov/employ/SIPIntro.htm
Who can apply: Students aged 16 or older in high schools, community colleges, 4 year colleges/universities, trade schools, career/ technical education programs, graduate programs and other qualifying educational institutions and programs, as determined by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are all qualified to apply. 

 

More Great Links

1.     Federal Internship Directory

This directory lists internship opportunities in many federal agencies

http://www.osec.doc.gov/ocr/2011/InternshipDirectory/Internship%20Directory%202011.pdf

1. USAJobs
   Most federal vacancies are advertised on the USAJOBS Web site found at www.usajobs.gov.This is the Federal government’s official site for job information and includes over 16,000 job postings. Through this site, you can search for openings in a particular field, city, or agency, or all three
2. Disability.gov 
   This website, managed by the Department of Labor, lists many employment resources. https://www.disability.gov/employment/finding_a_job/places_to_search_for_a_job
3. Learn about Schedule A
   Schedule A is an excepted service hiring authority available to federal agencies to hire and/or to promote individuals with disabilities by avoiding the traditional, and sometimes lengthy, competitive hiring process. You are eligible for a Schedule A appointment if you are a person with a severe physical or mental disability, and meet the qualifications of the job in question. http://golearn.gov/HiringReform/applicant/hpd.htm