A Proposal, Albeit Not a Modest One: Resolution for Dealing with Corrupt Probate, ABusive Guardianships, and the GOP Tax Plan

Dear Readers,

Imagine you are disabled in the United States right now. WHat is your life like? What is your aspiration for life? Have you been forced to drop out of college twice? Has the DVR system failed you not once, but three times over? Well, that’s my life for you. And that’s the lives of millions of blind and low vision folks here.

I am a bit envious of those blind folks in Britain, Canada, and other places, but not so when I feel what pain they go through. But in the United States, we have a system that corrupts our courts and is hurting our disabled. WE disposed of Anastasia Adams, a precious young woman whose life was “not worth saving” according to Innova Fairfax Hospital and the guardians in charge of her. Yolanda Bell repeatedly called for her sister’s stay of “execution.” HOnestly, our culture has gone to death, no longer pro life, and we welcome only able bodied folks who are pale as ghosts. WHat do you suppose we do about it?

IF I, for example, have to go to a group home because I can’t afford to live on my own, if I have to live with parents or family on either side because I don’t live on my own, I propose that Trenton and myself leave the north American continent behind and investigate countries who are welcoming to disabled immigrants. WE need to be nomads at this point, according to my proposal, and suppose we move to Britain.

If we do, then we’d have to give up freedoms, but who cares? THis country is bunk, is not providing a life for me and Trenton that includes something more normal, only surprise wrongs that I have yet to right. I am not a policymaker or a government/parliament speaker at all. Because of my low status in America, I am more prone to becoming the next Anastasia Adams, but worse. Trenton may not be able to say goodbye to me if I’m an old lady, and a public guardian could stow me away in Florida against my wishes. I hope the Attorneys GEneral of both Florida and Colorado read this carefully. We have a choice: abolish all guardianships that punish and/or hinder the lives of disabled people and abolish the practice of probate abuse altogether or we leave for England or someplace else that will not tolerate guardianship. Yes, the NFB and ACB are seen as radical, but we need to show the Brits how it’s done. They might learn a few tools and techniques, jot down notes, and think twice before deporting us back to the U.S., back to the corrupt court system. And we do have a choice. We shouldn’t have elected a narcissistic con artist called Donald Trump, but it gets worse. The government wants to end net neutrality and hurt the poor with a new tax policy. IF we disabled people face group homes and guardianship because of the GOP, we’re outa here. WE won’t put up with our independence lost because of slashing benefits and Medicaid and SSI and all that stuff. Even the pensions in Britain and Australia are higher in value than the SSI in the U.S. In this country, there is a danger greater than anyone can stand. We want to change the courts and attorneys, to change the policies the government may put in place, but we disabled people have no influence and no power unless we get elected, which we won’t because the world seems unfit for us. I’m sorry to report that the choices here are the only ones we disabled independent citizens have in order to keep our dignity! If we don’t act now, we could be put under public guardianship and placed in a home with cognitively impaired people who really need the services other than us. Trenton and I are blind primarily and use adaptive techniques and tools for our cooking, household tasks, and soon, we want to use adaptive techniques for childcare and childrearing. We don’t want the older kids looking out for the younger kids or playing a distorted parental role because of us. We want our children of the future to know that we’re the boss, we’re the parents, and to wake up every morning in our house, not in the house of someone else. WE’re lucky that the grandmother is supportive, and so is the mother, who will become a grandmother if a child is born to us. But we could face discrimination in the adoption application process, so having a child is crucial to us doing what we want to do with our lives, start a family. I’m already 31 years old, unemployed, no job prospeects, and I have had no dating prospects for the longest time. Not till Trenton came through, and all the others left where he just stuck around. We’re hoping to have a safe wedding including support from friends and relatives, but the friends are questionable because I don’t have enough in Colorado except a few from the Islamic community who are begging to take me to a mosque. I cannot go in a religious organization because of the exclusion of disabled patrons and members I witnessed as a firsthand member of a church in Westminster, Colorado.

So what is the solution? We have two choices: either change your thoughts and beliefs about disabled people, you rich Republicans, or we disabled people could exodus out of here and emigrate to Canada, when it becomes open, or Britain, if it becomes more open.

Reference To a Previous Post on Net Neutrality, Plus Other Stuff

Dear Readers,

What do you use the Internet for? If you use the Internet for preying on young women and defenseless children, that should be scratched off the list. But do you use the Internet for banking? Do you use it for applying for jobs? Filling out doctor forms? Securing appointments? Adding to a google calendar? If you don’t stand with us and demand that the FCC end its proposed slashing of net neutrality rules, Trenton and I and countless other poor and disenfranchised individuals, homes with poorer couples living there, etc., could be thrown off the information age. It is a step backward to the 1800s, when print was the norm and blind people were excluded. Braille was invented so the BLind could read, but Comcast and other ISP’s could block WebBraille and Bard as well as other blindness related sites such as RS Games, Quetin C.’s Playroom, and many other sites related to the disabled community from viewing if net neutrality is thrown away. If I have to cut my Comcast internet and stay with cable and phone, I will. And even more, we will fly to D.C. and make an appointment to meet with someone in Congress who can demand the FCC reverse its ruling, override the policy, or tell the FCC to either back off our internets or risk losing their own. We need to teach the FCC a lesson about what it’s like not to have the Internet free and open.

Suppose Comcast says they don’t like the NFB Net sites. If Net Neutrality were put in place as is now, they can’t block it. Most websites would have to pay ISP’s to get in the fast lane, and I’m not one who can pay an ISP for a tiny website like mine. My blog could be blocked by government buttheads who want to regulate it, sure, but Comcast? I’ve been a loyal customer for years. I don’t appreciate when things go wrong. The slow lane and fast lane approach is a bad idea.

So what can we do about it? If you haven’t already, make an appointment or call your Congresswoman or Congressperson at all. I went through many voicemails, most of them full, and called my local decision maker. I’m happy Diana DeGette still does her job. She’s the best!

Anyway, if you use the Internet as a low income blind person, you need to contact your Congressman or person in authority and tell the FCC to abandon their plan. If they don’t, they will lose themselves a loyal Comcast customer, and I’ll be screaming from the tops of Capitol Hill, worse of all, maybe even yodeling, and I will have to say I’m a little old lady who … wants her Internet never to slow down and be heavily controlled by the buttheads in ISP’s. Thank you for your support of Net Neutrality. We must win, at all.

Thanksgiving 2017: What Are We as a Country Thankful For?

Dear Readers,

It is with a disturbed mindset that the FCC could allow ISP providers to block me from blogging, stop me from Facebooking, and slow me down immensely because they want to turn a profit. However, I’m thankful that I can even write this blog, but I will say this: the FCC should be thankful they have jobs, have wives, and have lives. They shouldn’t deny us that because we’re low income or blind or disabled. The Internet should be open and free, no profits. The Comcast company should think about who they’re hurting, and the FCC should think first before they cast a vote. GOP candidate campaign guys who’ve been arrested get to have Thanksgiving with their families, yet there are conflicts of interest in allowing convicts to have at least a turkey and dressing. Even in America, we have still a lot to be thankful for.

For one, I’m thankful I can wear clothes I like, blue jeans included. In North Korea, that is forbidden.

I’m thankful I can wear my hair short or long, curly or straight, and in North Korea, government has to approve your hairstyle. Ugh.

I’m also grateful that we can at least consume seafood and use iron products, for in North Korea, guess what? Sanctioned by the Trump administration. And food is plenty here, but there, it’s rationed and you have to use your shit for the farming community instead of simply flushing it down the toilet. I’m not kidding.

I’m thankful we have clean water in Denver, but even in Puerto Rico, some people don’t have power or clean water this Thanksgiving. Ridiculous, right?

But let’s not forget that the CEO’s of big companies should be celebrating tonight without thinking, “I have a mansion, maids, a cook, a butler, all the computer crap I want because I’m rich. Haha you’re not.” These guys should pause a moment, be thankful they can even have these things. They should also be thankful their wives or maids don’t. have to hand make cheese and beer, two things Puritan New Englanders absolutely had to do. I’m thankful myself that cooking is nearly automated but in my apartment, we have a NuWav Pic Gold, a gift from Trenton’s mom. I’m thankful we can use the pic for browning meats, making skillet meals for two, etc etc. Thanksgiving is a particularly honorable moment for me as I’ve been asked to say grace for the family, which to me is a great honor and blessing I can’t ignore and I am again thankful for. For now, this blog will be published, so be careful what you say in it.

Another thing I’d love to do right now is clean house. For one, JDO’s friends and associates will be detected and not allowed to comment on this blog. I can’t have my Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any holidays ruined by this monster. Don’t think this is a lie, it wouldn’t shock me if he did the things he supposedly did. Disabled men are just as capable of abuse as non disabled men. And JDO isn’t the only one..

John (name has been changed) had a threesome with two girls and is not smart with women. There are many John Dohs in the world who don’t know how to behave. Blind men in particular need to learn about consent and respect for women. So there you go. Anyway, comments and authors will be monitored closely, and any author of a comment associated with JDO has been clearly blacklisted. Happy Thanksgiving everybody, and stay safe.

Beth

Anastasia Adams’s Family Needs Your Help

via Go Fund Me Campaign #Justice4Anastasia #IsMyLifeWorthSaving

In Memoriam: AOL Instant Messenger and Other AOL Products

Dear Readers,

Once upon a time, there was a bunch of nerds who came up with this glorious and blushy service called America Online. On the instant messaging service, people could chat with their friends, chat with family, and hit up a predator? Oh, did I forget to mention that AIM chat rooms were the most dangerous for kids and teens? And did I forget to mention that Chris Hansen did dateline specials on catching predators on the AOL and Yahoo chat sites? Yes, I didn’t forget that.

But let me tell you my story of AIM, my story of total drama and intrigue that is AOL instant messenger.

I first started using the messaging software when I moved to Tallahassee, Florida in 2008. I had several AIM screen names, but then I moved on to chatting in no time. The software worked with my adaptive screen reading software, worked like a charm. I chatted with my cousin, set identifiers for my buddies, and had a fun time chatting with people I knew. But there were people who hated me who chatted with me on AOL for a short time, and AOL had no clue what went on. WHen Facebook and Facebook messenger came along, AIM lost its charm. I began using the AOL messenger to chat on Facebook, but then Facebook was pulled from it. Therefore, I decided to stop using the software because of what was the dramatic moment for a while. I was told later on to not contact certain entities whose names I will not reveal here on AOL. I have completely left AOL, even though I do have an email address there, but the millennium started with a bang thanks to this drama-filled messenger. Now, it’s Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. AIM, to be honest, I will not miss you. I will not miss the times I was told to either allow someone to flirt with me on AIM or rot in Hell. I will not miss the screenname kf4yfa messaging me for the last time telling me that I was a slut or that I wouldn’t be hearing from that entity. I will not miss anything about AIM and the people who perceived me as evil or slutty at all. Most of all, AIM, I will not miss all the predators who flocked to teenagers’ chatrooms trying to get some. I hope the predators rot where they should but the use of AOL’s messenger software to enable such scrupulous adults will not surely be missed. AOL, if only you hadn’t merged with Time Warner and tried so hard to charge us for Internet service in the new millennium. We will miss the time stamps, the instant chat logs, though not slimy ones, and the AOL phone calls that range from funny ones to sad ones to happy ones. Goodbye, AOL instant messenger.

FYI: No memorial or funeral services will be done in AOL instant messenger’s name, but we will hit the nail in the tech coffin and write the following epitaph on the gravestone of a chat service that once ruled the beginning of a new era of computing softwares: “AOL Instant messenger: 1999-2017, from the strangers to a strange land, you will be never forgotten, but soon hard to remember.”

God Bless the Children

Dear Readers,

It’s kind of a smog in the wall to learn that one of my friends, Arik, is being heavily mistreated by his father, who called his roommate a “fat” person, and he used a word I would not dare write here. Arik has been harassed and mistreated by his father, who also called me a moron. His mother’s worried, and this is just one instance of suffering I’m bound to report.

Another instance of suffering is occurring in Georgia. A young girl is on life support because of an ex, JDO, the infamous blind and disabled abuser who almost killed Bree Searles, who has revealed to me the worst news about the young baby girl and a thirteen-year-old older brother.

God in Heaven, I pray for the safety of the children under the abuse and control of JDO, aside from other things. I also pray for the safety and security of Bree and other girls who’ve been abused and isolated by this man. And I also pray for the safety and security of Arik and others like him whose facebook page is littered with harassing and bad comments about people such as his BFF’s and myself. He is terminally ill and I’m planning to donate $10 in memory of him should he end his life in a way that isn’t so pleasant. Please pray for all the children and adults who suffer at the hands of perpetrators like JDO and many more who are slipping through the justice system. We must put abusers in their place, and their place is in jail. Nobody deserves abuse or mistreatment at anyone’s hands. AS Shania Twain would sing, “Hallelujah, hallelujah, god bless the child who suffers.”

Blindness Around the World: How Other Allies See Dependence or Independence of the Blind

Dear Readers,

I recently watched a video on young caregivers in the UK. It struck me as odd that a blind couple opted to have the older two girls look after the younger siblings. The big problem with this video is that the UK producers tried to be objective, but many American listeners and viewers of this video thought this video was disgusting because the couple was not practicing independence skills as they should be trained in said skills.

The big problem with these American viewers is that they’re basing their disgust on their own experiences, call it Americacentric thinking if you wish.

One particular viewer tried to convince me that kids washing dishes at eight was not age appropriate. However, this person being that she’s Americacentric in her thinking and all too modern as well did not read carefully that my dad, a sighted man, washed dishes and helped clean the kitchen, and was the youngest of four children. Unfortunately, the Americacentric viewers of this UK documentary are not helping the cause of blind people being independent over there by telling themselves that Paul and Amanda, the blind couple, should lose their children just because of the fact that the older kids look after the younger ones. Unfortunately, there are problems with the country’s deep roots that must be addressed before Americans can voice their objections with this video.

First, as my buddy Aaron Danvers-Jukes points out to me in previous conversations with me on TeamTalk and other forms of communication, the UK sees the NFB and United States based blind organizations as “radical.” This hurts Paul and Amanda’s chances of getting access to proper independence training like at Colorado Center for the Blind. Paul and Amanda have a large family, and their way of dealing with it may not be the best way, however with no access to independence skills or training, this couple likely will fail in their effort to raise all their children. The UK sees centers for the blind and independence as radical because of a crown centered mentality. They see independence as more a luxury good as well, I mean, if Kate Middleton was blind, she could have handmaids do her hair etc., as befits a royal. Sadly, the United Kingdom has a long way to go with regards to the way this young carer video was viewed by other world viewers.

First, I would recommend Paul and Amanda try a trip to the United States. They should visit Brent and Ina Batron, a couple with five kids and a close knit family that doesn’t rely too heavily on their kids to raise themselves. Brent and Ina are a couple that rely on their nonvisual training skills, and Paul and Amanda could benefit from seeing the Batrons in action. CCB teaches thousands of blind people to become independent, but so does other places like the Hatlin cCenter in California, where others have gone and learned how to be independent. Hatlin tailors its independence skills training to meet the needs of the individual, not a philosophic organization’s need to promote an image or two. Brent and Ina both met and married at CCB, and five children later, they are devoted parents who care for their kids, but if they lived in England, there might be a problem with the UK social services recommending carers, or caregivers, for the couple and seeing their skills as radical. While the American way of life is based on independence and every man for himself, the Batrons would have to adjust to a different measuring system, mainly SI measurements in the UK, but they’d also have to adjust and educate others about the radical views of the UK thinking squad. The UK does not have a federation, only the RNIB. ANd they don’t do much, says Danvers-Jukes. I’ve heard good and bad about things in the UK, and since independence is a luxury, people like Samantha, another friend of mine and Trenton’s, may find it hard to get a job in her desired field. Samantha is a college student, but she’s on top of her game, which seen as radical by others, this being on top could lead her to some trouble. The United Kingdom has a lot to change with regards to blind citizens over there.

First, why not set up independence training and parenting centers over there? Learn to parent and be independent, we might say, but how is the question. Paul and Amanda would be able to be parents if they only knew how to change diapers, hold the baby properly, and do the things that the Batrons are able to do seemlessly. Parenting is hard, but to burden older siblings with the care of younger ones is not beneficial worth to the parents. Paul and Amanda might need a tech evaluation, so why not the UK set up independence classes in the local area? Ben Breen benefits from having a specialist teach him ways to navigate the vast cities in the Kingdom,, but what about cooking? What Breen might need is something akin to, sadly, the CCB or Hatlin centers. Both places can work with people who have other disabilities as well, but people who are only blind have it bad over in the UK because not only of the Braille illiteracy rate there, but not enough education is being done to give citizens who are blind and physically handicapped independence and dignity. Radical or not, these centers can provide folks like Ben Breen, Aaron Danvers-Jukes, and Samantha Ashe a sense of dignity and understanding about nonvisual techniques for cooking, cleaning, and caring for homes, kids, and pets. Aaron might not, if such a practice came into effect, find it that hard to tell his wife if she is blind to prepare a teakettle. Aaron could do it too, even make coffee for his hypothetically tired wife. No carer included. Samantha could find employment through a local agency if such a thing existed and she could become a neuropsychologist that she wants to be, and when she gets home from a long day’s work, she could feed her pets, feed her kids, whatever she feels like doing, and knowing she can do such things would make her even more confident in daily living skills. While discrimination in the UK is existing still, it can be reversed in decades if what they see as radical can be transformed into what we see as essential to the British family’s dignity.