From: empower@smart.net
Subject: Re: Why The NFB
I think the unified braille code is quite a significant issue.  I'm
personally disappointed that its support has eroded, though glad to hear
there was evidently a fair debate about it at the Anaheim convention.
Regards,
Jamal
On 1998-04-18 NFB-Talk@NFBnet.org said:
   >It may indeed be nice that the membership was able to overrule
   >the leadership on a relatively miner issue, but it is not history
   >making any more than it is for Nac to revoke the accreditation of
   >one small agency allegedly for failure to meet its standards
   >just so it can have something to whip out later when it is asked
   >whether or not it has ever revoked an accreditation for failure
   >to meet standards.  After all, how do we know that the leadership
   >didn't plan it that way just so they could say how democratic the
   >movement really is?
   >I think we do have some ineffective people on our board of
   >directors one whom I believe is being kept on only because he is
   >one of the last of the Tenbroek boys still in a leadership position
   >despite the fact that his affiliate which is now probably the
   >richest in the country has given very little to the national
   >treasury, and that he tried to develop a camp for the blind in his
   >state even after the national leadership said that while it would
   >not discourage the existing ones it would discourage the founding
   >of new ones, and that he is the ultimate in mike hogs who takes 30
   >minutes to say what most of us could say in 2 just because he loves
   >to hear himself talk.
   >and that we also have some disreputable people who continue to
   >receive high profile positions or assignments in spite of their
   >continuing failures while others are made to follow the rules to a
   >fault.
   >I also think we have put more energy and resources into things
   >better left on the back burner.  News line is a classic example of
   >this.  It's a fine thing to have and I'm glad we have it as it
   >allows access to information for blind persons that we might not
   >otherwise have, but it is far overrated and is only being
   >pushed because we developed the software for it.  It is far less
   >important than education, job training or employment.
   >I hope we don't have any kind of wholesale defections from the
   >organization, but in my opinion another civil war is not
   >impossible and the irony is that the more tightly the national
   >leadership pulls in the reins, the more likely it is to happen.
   >Harvey
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