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One in 12 men and one in 200 women are affected by colour blindness, and The Football Association has published guidance notes on the condition to raise awareness of its impact on football.

The detailed guidance publication complete with visual examples has been produced by The FA in conjunction with Colour Blind Awareness, the leading UK organisation devoted to the issue. It also has the full support of UEFA, who intend disseminating the guidance to all the football governing bodies under its umbrella.

As well as spectators, players, coaches and referees who are colour-blind face everyday problems. Former Charlton Athletic and Ipswich Town midfielder Matt Holland, who is colour blind, said: In one particular match when we were in red and the opponents were in dark green I couldnt tell the colours apart.

I had to really concentrate in that game looking at socks, because they were easier for me to distinguish. There was nothing else I could do.

Norway national team manager Lars Lagerback added: If the play moves very quickly it's easy to end up in a situation where you have a hard time telling if the other player is an opponent or a member of your own team.

The guidance explains the different types of colour blindness, answers common questions and provides suggested positive interventions with those who may be affected.

It gives best-practice visual examples to avoid kit clashes, and includes a series of simulations to show the normally-sighted what colour-blind people are likely to see.

The guidance notes are available to download below.

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Colour Blindness in football - The FA

For many organizations, embracing the potential of the new digital economy involves migrating services, data, and infrastructure to the cloud. The cloud is a powerfully disruptive technology. It allows businesses to be more agile, responsive, and available than ever before by transforming traditional compute architectures and best practices that have been in place for decades.

Most organizations today have some sort of a cloud strategy. Nearly all of them are adopting a hybrid cloud infrastructure that combines their private cloud with one or more public cloud solutions. As a result, organizations now use an average of 62 cloud applications, with cloud-based Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) apps climbing to their highest value ever. And nearly half of all workloads are now being run in a cloud environment.

Unfortunately, many organizations are now facing a cloud skills gap every bit as serious as the one affecting cybersecurity. The result is that many companies are having a difficult time seamlessly integrating their traditional network with their new cloud environments.

And of course, every time you extend or alter the network you also expand the potential attack surface. Mobile computing, the increase of new applications, and the distribution of data into the cloud means that users, devices, and applications are able to access virtually any information or interact with virtually any user or device, from any location. New cloud-related risks include insider threats, especially from privileged users, compromised accounts, and shadow IT (where data and resources are stored or processed using cloud applications not approved by corporate).

The traditional security models and technologies we have relied on for decades were simply never designed to protect todays elastic and highly virtualized environments. And as we continue to see, cybercriminals are ready and able to exploit every weakness in these new technologies or services. So, while we are in the process of reengineering our businesses (and our society), it is also time to radically rethink security.

To respond to this new threat landscape, many organizations have accelerated the adoption of specialized security, such as virtualized, on-demand data center protection, web-application firewalls, security for mobile devices, secure email gateways, advanced threat protection, and sandboxes. However, dozens of isolated security tools, regardless of how relevant they may seem to be, create their own problem. Overburdened IT teams are poorly equipped to adequately deploy, configure, monitor, and manage dozens of new security tools - especially when there is no good way to correlate the threat intelligence each of these devices produces.

As a result, this deluge of isolated security tools being deployed has actually created a blind spot in the overall security strategy of many organizations. And as we continue to see, a critical lapse invisibility, control, or coordination in any part of the distributed network, especially in the cloud, can spell disaster for a digital business.

To address this challenge, security needs to be redesigned. Todays organizations require an interconnected security framework that can dynamically expand and adapt as organizations extend into the cloud. Security policy and enforcement need to seamlessly follow and protect data, users, and applications as they move back and forth between IoT, traditional networks, and the cloud. And networks need to be able to automatically respond in a coordinated fashion at the speed of an attack.

In order to adequately protect todays distributed business, organizations need to adopt an integrated security strategy that can actively collect, share, and correlate threat information, distribute mitigation instructions across all attack vectors, extend visibility and control across the networked ecosystem, and enable a synchronized attack response. One effective way to do this is to design a security architecture, or fabric-based approach, that enables you to tie your deployed security tools into a single, holistic solution.

As your organization expands its security strategy into the cloud, you should consider the following:

See the original post here:
Preventing Cloud Blindness | CSO Online - CSO Online

My casual skim along the handrail becomes a white-knuckle grip as the light slowly disappears behind me. Photograph: Megapress / Stockimo / Alamy Sto/Alamy Stock Photo

Heres a question for sighted readers: could you safely navigate a busy intersection one with cars, motorcycles and trams whooshing past from every direction without the use of your eyes?

Thats one of the questions the immersive exhibition Dialogue in the Dark poses its visitors and based on my rather enthusiastic charge into the path of an oncoming tram as soon as I heard a crossing signal somewhere in my general vicinity its safe to say my answer would be hell no.

That tram, mercifully, exists only in theory: as part of the impressive sound design of Dialogue in the Dark, which allows sighted attendees to experience a stroll around Melbourne accompanied by blind and low-vision guides, in total darkness. Blind, in other words.

Founded in Germany in 1988 by Dr Andreas Heinecke, the Dialogue in the Dark exhibits have toured 40 countries and serve a dual purpose: providing employment opportunities for blind and low-vision people (it has employed up to 10,000 blind guides and facilitators in its 25 years), and allowing sighted people the chance to better appreciate life without vision.

Guide Dogs Australia has brought Dialogue in the Dark to our shores, with the Melbourne experience opening in Docklands Harbour Town this month, where it employs 22 blind and low-vision people and where it hopes it will remain open for at least five years.

After a short introduction that warms up my ability to identify things based on smell (jars of samples, hidden inside tissue paper), sound (tubes filled with sound-making materials) and touch (boxes full of different objects), I am equipped with a cane and sent into the exhibit. My casual skim along the handrail becomes a white-knuckle grip as the light slowly disappears behind me.

One of the parlour games of privilege is to try to imagine what life would be like if, say, you woke up tomorrow and could no longer see. You might close your eyes and think, Hey, no big deal! Ive been in a darkroom at high school! That blustering confidence dissolves immediately upon entering the Dialogue in the Dark exhibition space: this is total, complete darkness.

My guide instructs me to move towards his voice and Im suddenly struck by my relative inability to orient myself based solely on sound: is he right in front of me? Somewhere nearby? A foot to my right? After my first and last experience of ploughing straight into his shoulder, we move off for a stroll around Birrarung Marr.

The particular masterstroke of this Dialogue in the Dark iteration is its grounding in familiar Melbourne spaces. The exhibit is designed in different zones, where tactile and sound design create a remarkably realistic experience; while I know intellectually that Im not actually riding a tram, everything my body experiences suggests otherwise.

The sounds (birds calling, distant traffic, the Yarra river) and feelings (grass, trees and a cool breeze) of Birrarung Marr are a comforting introduction to the experience. Comforting enough, it turns out, that I charge ahead only to find myself confused by the sensation of wobbling, seemingly in mid-air; it takes a moment to realise I am, in fact, on a suspension bridge.

These humbling moments continue throughout the hour-long experience, but Im soon delighted to find my other senses coming to the party. At an approximation of the Victoria Market, I feel a heavy, rough piece of produce and though my mind initially searches for the image of a pineapple since Ive seen one instead I try to remember what a pineapple feels like. Similarly, my instinct upon picking up what feels like a coconut is to say, Theres only one way to find out and shake it near my ear; there it is, the familiar slosh of coconut milk.

My guide explains that this is, of course, a heightened experience designed to encourage our senses to come to the fore; in real life, blind and low-vision people dont tend to go around manhandling the fruit and veg to tell the difference between an ear of corn and a coconut. Online shopping and smartphone apps have revolutionised the shopping experience.

If I quickly become adept at feeling my way through life, the bewildering cacophony of Melbournes central business district reduces my ability to orient myself to wandering meekly in circles and the prospect of a tram ride along the familiar Swanston Street corridor finds me praying for a low-floor tram and accessible stop to alight at. As a cobblestone street sends me tumbling into a wall, I realise Im using my cane as a last resort rather than as an extension of my arm. I can only imagine my expression when faced with what turned out to be an ATM, and the only Braille letter I can recognise is A.

Our journey ends in a typical apartment, where the real dialogue begins.

My guide and I chat about job prospects, the general publics level of empathy towards blind and low-vision issues, and whether Melbournes accessibility features make it, well, accessible (short answer: its OK). Having helped people on and off public transport, I make sure my understanding of how to provide guiding assistance is up to scratch (offer an elbow, dont grab hands, and dont be embarrassed to offer assistance; the worst youll get is a confident No thanks!). Too soon, its time to return to the overwhelming light of day.

The Dialogue in the Dark experience could be a game-changer for those attendees who see being blind as a tragedy, or who arent aware of the employment prospects for blind and low-vision people. The inclusion of entrance and exit surveys suggests the operators expect peoples feelings to change throughout their journey; ideally, they leave with a greater understanding that blindness is no barrier to a rich engagement with life. As the official word goes, a level of vision loss is not a disability, its just different.

But the true genius of Dialogue in the Dark is how it demonstrates that its not necessarily individual disability that makes life difficult for those who are differently abled, but the way our world is actively designed against them at every turn. If Dialogue in the Dark encourages just a handful of young people to enter town planning or study accessible or universal design, it will be a roaring success.

(Oh and while Ive got you, reader: dont pat that Guide Dog!)

Dialogue in the Dark takes place in Docklands, Melbourne. Book your session here

More here:
'A game-changer': The hour of blindness in Melbourne that could open your eyes - The Guardian

During the Great American Total Solar Eclipse on Aug. 21, millions of people will gaze at the sun to see the moon slowly pass in front of it, blocking out the light. But those who aren't careful risk doing some nasty damage to their eyes.

You've probably been told that it isn't safe to stare at the sunand that watching a solar eclipse without proper eye protection can make you go blind. That's because the light from the sun is so intense that it can literally burn your eyeballs even during a solar eclipse, when part of the sun's disk is still visible.

Even the tiniest sliver of a crescent sun peeking out from behind the moon emits enough light to scorch your eyes, Ralph Chou, professor emeritus at the School of Optometry & Vision Science at the University of Waterloo in Canada, told Space.com. "I have seen instances where the patient has eventually shown up with crescents burned into the back of the eye, and you can almost tell exactly when they looked." [How to View a Solar Eclipse Without Damaging Your Eyes ]

This panel shows the various stages of the solar eclipse. The so-called "diamond ring" marks the beginning of totality (third from the left) and the end of totality (third from the right). Imelda Joson and Edwin Aguirre assembled this sequence from individual still frames they took of the March 29, 2006, total solar eclipse near El Salloum in Egypt.

Sunlight damages the eyes by triggering a series of chemical reactions in the retina, the light-sensitive part at the back of the eye. Retinas contain two types of photoreceptors: rods that help you see in the dark and cones that produce color vision.

When intense solar radiation hits the retinas, it can damage and even destroy those cells, in what doctors call a retinal photochemical injury, or solar retinopathy. Whether looking at the sun will cause this type of injury depends on both how long you look without protection and the sun's position in the sky. Overhead, the sun is brighter and more dangerous to look at than when it is close to the horizon during sunrise or sunset.

The left image shows a healthy eye. The middle is the eye of a young adult male who viewed a partial solar eclipse repeatedly without protection and suffered both thermal and photochemical solar retinopathy. Several crescent-shaped scars can be seen over and around the fovea (bright pinkish spot). He is legally blind in this eye. The far-right image shows an eye with several photochemical retinal lesions. The irregular pale "smudge" above and left of the fovea, plus the three smaller pale areas at the arrowheads, are the remnants of the photochemical injuries to that eye. The vision did recover eventually.

"You can think of it in the same way as this: Let's suppose you decide to really pig out for dinner, and afterwards you're not feeling very well," Chou said. "Well, [it's the] same thing with all the light hitting the light-sensitive receptors at the back of the eye. They get so much of this light energy coming in that they really can't handle [it]."

In severe cases, this type of photochemical damage may also come with thermal injuries, or literal burns, that destroy the rods and cones in the retina. This can happen to people who repeatedly look at the sun without any protection, those who stare at the sun for an extended time, or even those who glance through a telescope or binoculars without solar filters.

Not many people look at the sun long enough to be blinded by the light, Chou said, but the risk is certainly exacerbated during a solar eclipse.

Under normal circumstances, it's more difficult to look at the sun long enough to incur damage because of something called an aversion reflex. "We learn early on in life we just shouldn't be looking at something that bright, because it is uncomfortable and we can't see anything," Chou said.

"The problem when it comes to looking at a partially eclipsed sun is that you are trying to see something that you know is going on that's different, and willpower is an amazing thing to override an aversion reflex."

To make matters worse, it's possible to look directly at the sun "with a certain degree of comfort" when the sun is partially covered by the moon, Chou said. Even when the sun is almost completely covered, though, the tiny crescent that remains is still bright enough to burn your retinas.

One thing that makes eclipse blindness particularly dangerous is that a person who looks at the sun long enough to incur damage probably won't notice any of the effects until the next morning, Chou said.

"Let's say you take a look at the sun in the afternoon. The cells get overloaded, and they're actually still able to function for a little while, but overnight while you're asleep the cells start lose their function, and then they even start to die depending on exactly how badly they've been affected," he explained.

People who wake up to discover their vision has become impaired may look in the mirror to find their face is a featureless blur, Chou said, or they may try to read the newspaper only to find that there are no words on the page. While peripheral vision is usually spared, the center of vision is affected the worst. That's the part of the retina responsible for seeing in high resolution and in color.

"Most people, they don't see a black spot," Chou said. "For the most part they have damaged photoreceptors that just aren't capable of doing more than just registering maybe the presence of light but can't really build up enough information for them to be able to see clearly."

Most patients with eclipse blindness are legally blind when they go to see an eye doctor, Chou said. Unfortunately, the prognosis for these patients is nearly impossible to determine.

"You just sort of end up having to wait it out, and that's the really unfortunate part about it," Chou said. "The typical person who's been injured is going to wait six to 12 months before they know what their ultimate status is going to be."

Statistically, about half of those who are diagnosed with eclipse blindness will recover full vision in six months, he said. The other half either partially recover or are stuck with the problem for the rest of their lives.

And when it comes to treatment, there really aren't any options. "Over the years, certainly ophthalmologists have tried various ways, pharmacological and otherwise, to try and reduce the amount of damage and swelling that is thought to be the main cause for the loss of vision," Chou said. "For the most part, those types of treatments don't seem to be effective."

The only thing doctors can do to help these patients is to treat the case as any other case of visual impairment, Chou said, by teaching the individuals how to get around in the world and function without central vision.

The "diamond ring" effect is seen in this view of the March 8, 2016 total solar eclipse, which was captured by the Slooh Community Observatory.

The only time it's safe to look at the sun withouteclipse glassesor other solar filters is during totality, when the moon is completely blocking out the sun's rays and only the corona is visible. If you're planning on watching any kind solar eclipse, whether it's of the total, annular or partial variety, you absolutely must use proper eye protection if you want to spare your eyes. Otherwise, you'll risk long-term or even permanent blindness.

But definitely don't forget to take off your solar eclipse glasses during totality, when the sun is 100 percent covered by the moon. In fact, if you don't remove your solar filters during totality, you won't be able to see anything at all.

While official recommendations by NASA and the American Astronomical society say you shouldn't look directly at the sun when any part of it is showing, experienced eclipse watchers like Chou say it's safe to remove your eclipse glasses during the 2-3 seconds before and after totality to see the so-called diamond ring effect, or "Baily's beads." During this phase of the eclipse, the light of the crescent sun forms points of light on the edge of the disk for just a few seconds.

Anyone who plans to observe the eclipse with a telescope, binoculars or cameras should practice using the equipment before the eclipse, Chou said. Don't wait until the eclipse starts to figure out how to insert and remove the filters from your lenses. For those using eclipse glasses or handheld viewers, make sure to put the filters in front of your eyes before looking up at the sun, not the other way around, Chou said. And children observing a solar eclipse should always be supervised to ensure they're practicing proper eye safety, he said.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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A Solar Eclipse Can Blind You (Read This Before Looking at the Sun!) - Space.com

Volunteer Delegates Gather to Meet with Government Representatives, Advocate on Vision and Eye Health Issues

CHICAGO (PRWEB) June 20, 2017

Prevent Blindness, the nation's oldest volunteer eye health and safety organization, will be holding its eleventh annual "Eyes on Capitol Hill" advocacy day on Tuesday, June 27, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Since 2006, Prevent Blindness and its affiliates have brought citizens from across the country to meet with members of the House and Senate, and their staff, to discuss the importance of vision and eye health programs and research.

In 1908, Prevent Blindness was founded as a public health and advocacy group dedicated to healthy vision. From children's vision issues, to workplace safety, to adult eye disease and more, the Prevent Blindness mission has been to save sight across the age spectrum for more than 100 years.

This year's Eyes on Capitol Hill meetings have been scheduled to specifically ask elected officials to:

On June 28, all Eyes on Capitol Hill delegates will attend the sixth annual Focus on Eye Health National Summit at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

"We are proud to continue to work with members of government, through our Eyes on Capitol Hill event as well as other local and national advocacy efforts, to help protect the gift of sight and continue to bring Americans to quality, affordable eye care," said Hugh R. Parry, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness.

For more information on Eyes on Capitol Hill or Prevent Blindness and its advocacy initiatives, please call (800) 331-2020 or visit http://www.preventblindness.org/content/eyes-capitol-hill.

About Prevent Blindness Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. Focused on promoting a continuum of vision care, Prevent Blindness touches the lives of millions of people each year through public and professional education, advocacy, certified vision screenings, community and patient service programs and research. These services are made possible through the generous support of the American public. Together with a network of affiliates, Prevent Blindness is committed to eliminating preventable blindness in America. For more information, or to make a contribution to the sight-saving fund, call 1 (800) 331-2020 or visit us on the Web at preventblindness.org.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/06/prweb14440381.htm

Read more here:
Prevent Blindness Brings Constituents From Across the Country to ... - Benzinga

Theres consensus that the UKs maritime industry has, over the last few decades, struggled to captivate the public imagination. Whether it be through word of mouth, media attention, or the jobs on offer, other sectors, such as automotive, aerospace and aviation, have climbed the ladder of awareness to such an extent that the term sea blindness has now entered the maritime lexicon.

Out of sight and out of mind, is how Nick Harvey, campaigns manager at the charity Seafarers UK, describes it. We take the view that sea blindness is very much a real issue. The contact we have with people through our campaigning work indicates that young people, in particular, are not receiving information in schools or in their family units.

But, according to a recent poll, people do understand shippings importance to the countrys imports and exports.

Ive lost track of the number of times people have complained to me that the public and our politicians dont understand the importance of shipping to our trading economy, wrote UK Chamber of Shipping communications director Jonathan Roberts in May. I was concerned not only of the enormous time and energy being devoted to solving sea blindness, but that it was also potentially diverting resources away from more pressing matters.

The Chamber, therefore, undertook a poll with ComRes, asking 2,026 members of the British public and 127 MPs which mode of transport was principally responsible for moving international trade. Results show that 87% of MPs and 84% of the public identified shipping.

Is that to be expected, or a surprising finding? I think this idea that people don't understand where our goods come from is a myth, explains Guy Platten, Chamber of Shipping CEO. Platten does, however, qualify his answer, agreeing that to some extent the publics relationship with the maritime industry has changed over the years, adding: What Im finding as I speak to people and journalists is that they suddenly find it interesting. We can sometimes do ourselves down a little bit. I think the profile will continue to rise.

"If you look at the national media, maritime is seldom a headline story."

Theres also the caveat that comes with any poll how accurate is the result and were people simply guessing at the answer? Speaking after the publication of the results, Maritime UK chairman David Dingle said: This opinion poll shows without doubt that shipping is in the minds of the public and our politicians, while an article on the Chambers official website was titled Opinion poll confirms 'sea blindness' is a myth.

Yet such a statement seems premature when coupled with Harveys thoughts and, indeed, the opinion of trade union Nautilus. Theres no doubt, says a Nautilus spokesperson, that sea blindness is a challenge, with a widespread lack of public and political awareness about the vital role of ships and seafarers in our society.

Theres certainly evidence to show some alarming gaps in knowledge about the maritime sector, the spokesperson adds.

Back in 2014, another poll this one commissioned by Seafarers UK as part of the annual Seafarers Awareness Week found that just four in 10 people knew that the majority of food imported into the UK came by sea. Of the 1,000 people surveyed, 27% said air and 20% road.

Harvey adds: Some of the research we have done among children, even those living in coastal towns and port cities, shows they don't have much of an inkling of what's going on right under their noses.

So, why might the maritime sector be losing public awareness? The reasons are complex. Globalisation has somewhat diminished Britains status as the pre-eminent maritime nation. Seafarers can now be employed from almost anywhere in the world, often on lower wages than their British counterparts. Consider also Harveys point that the majority of business takes place out of sight, out of mind.

Young people now have more career options. Education, in particular higher education, is now more readily available, meaning that school leavers are less likely to follow parents or other family members in their choice of job. Moreover, in the UK people look back on the countrys maritime heritage with a great deal of fondness. Is there too much focus on the past and not enough on the here and now?

You have hit the nail on the head, says Harvey. We take the view that 30, 40, 50 years ago, there was a feeling that everyone knew someone who worked at sea.

Platten argues that we have tended to be a bit inward looking at times, while Harvey adds that its also the fact that maritime gets on with its business; it does what it does. In essence, it is away from the media glare. If you look at national news programmes or newspapers, maritime is seldom a headline story, although Platten is eager to point out that the Chamber had over 150 mentions in the mainstream media last year, up from 13 in 2013.

Still, there is concern that unless more is done, recruitment will be damaged. In January, the governments shipping minister, John Hayes, spoke of how the sea and those who work on it and for it are significant for the economy, contributing about 13.5bn and employing over 110,000 people. It is, he added, important to what we are, who we are, as a people. An island race. A maritime nation.

It is conceivable that this status will come under threat if the sector does not sell its story to the next generation. If you look at the merchant sector, says Harvey, seafarers are getting older. If those gaps aren't filled [in the UK], they will be filled by seafarers from other countries.

If the ordinary man or woman in the street doesn't have a feel for the country's dependence on seafarers, then they won't be very sympathetic when charities like ours ask them to help seafarers when they fall on hard times.

Government figures released at the start of year show that in 2016 the estimated number of UK nationals active at sea was 23,060. A total of 1,860 officer cadets were training in the financial year 2015/16, a decrease of 3% on 2014/15. Meanwhile, the number of new entrants under the governments Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme was 750, a drop of 9% compared to 2014/15.

It may seem modest, and predictable, but awareness is the priority. We have to tell the story of seafaring from the beginning, explains Harvey, who, alongside his colleagues at Seafarers UK, is currently preparing for Seafarers Awareness Week, which takes place on 24-30 June, and this year focuses on careers.

Seafarers UK is also running a 'fly the Red Ensign' event for Merchant Navy Day on 3 September. This involves asking local councils we're hopeful that we'll have as many as a 1,000 participating, says Harvey to fly the Red Ensign on civic buildings. The very act of it being flown is quite helpful, because people don't commonly see that flown ashore, Harvey adds.

Platten and the Chamber of Shipping, meanwhile, want the government to double its funding for the SMarT scheme. "At the moment we get about 15m worth of support. Around 800 new cadets start each year, but we'd like to get that to 1,200, then 1,600 over time. I think 15m extra is a bit of a drop in the ocean. They can get an awful lot of bang for their buck.

"We are changing perceptions every day."

We've had parliamentarians back this campaign we believe it is the right thing to do. The government was approached for comment but was unable to respond because of pre-election purdah rules.

Furthermore, the Chamber is working with schools, sending in ambassadors on a weekly basis to outline careers at sea. The governments Maritime Growth Study, released in 2015, also makes numerous recommendations to keep the sector competitive.

And, with Brexit thrusting the economy to the forefront, theres a chance for shipping as the leading facilitator of global trade to embed itself within the collective consciousness.

I think we are upping our game, says Platten. Momentum is starting to build, and we are changing perceptions every day.

Continued here:
Sea blindness: UK maritime in the public eye - Ship Technology

The 59-year-old from Wellington had already lost sight in one eye after a work accident years before, but has had to adjust to life with only five per cent vision after his operation at Princess Royal Hospital in October.

The condition, he said, has left him terrified to leave his home town, and he blames the hospital for both the original infection and, he says, for failing to help him in the months since. The hospital has denied responsibility for the infection.

Bosses at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust said that after an investigation they found no errors in his care or treatment, and that they would be happy to talk to Mr Mason about his options.

I used to travel all over the world. I dont feel confident leaving Wellington now, Mr Mason said.

I know the environment here, but I dont know about going somewhere else.

I used to do a lot of travelling, but because of this I cant do that any more. I dont feel confident enough to travel anyway. Ive got to ask people what time the train is coming or where I should go. It makes life so difficult.

It causes me an awful lot of problems. I struggle around the house. I live on my own in Wellington. Because of my eye sight problems, I had a fall and broke my left arm because I missed a step. That was the beginning of this year.

I cant see the cooker dials, but I can just about see the microwave minutes buttons. I cook food that way.

I used to enjoy cooking, but I cant do that now. I seem to be living on ready meals. It has had a major impact on my life.

Mr Mason was admitted to Princess Royal Hospital in October with an abdominal issue, but while there picked up an eye infection, which left him with a swollen eyeball.

He was treated with antibiotics and his eye went back to normal size, but he was left with his now limited vision.

He said: It was just a minor surgery issue, but once I had recovered my eyeball had swollen up. I was given eye drops which cured it for a short time, but now Ive been left in the position Im in now.

The hospital have told me I need a corneal skin graft to smooth out the front of my eye, but nothing seems to be forthcoming from them.

Ive seen a specialist who has told me Im in a queue. Ive complained to the chief executive and got a letter back saying theyd look into it. That was in the beginning of March.Theres a hope this operation will restore my sight, and its a hope Im clinging to. If it fails, that is something Ill cross when it comes to it. Im not someone who looks on the negative side. I just know I need the operation.

Mr Mason said that he wanted the hospital to take responsibility for what happened while he was in their care.

Id like them to give me the operation, but Id also like them to take the responsibility for my condition, he said.

I got the infection while I was their patient. Ive come out of Princess Royal Hospital with a problem and its only gone on from there. Im a fairly positive person, but I went in for an operation and this happened. I wasnt banking on this.

Mark Cheetham, scheduled care group a medical director at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: We are aware of Mr Masons complex medical history.

Were sorry to hear Mr Mason has suffered a deterioration in his eyesight. We have fully investigated Mr Masons concerns and no evidence has been found of any errors in his care or treatment. We would be very happy to meet with Mr Mason if he would like us to discuss this further with him.

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Princess Royal Hospital to blame for blindness, says Telford man ... - shropshirestar.com

Tyson Graham sits in a small room with a keyboard. His fingers move across the keys with the ease of a professional pianist though Tyson is only 11 years old.

That was beautiful, he says as he finishes writing a piece, a smile forming on his face. He listens to a piece of piano music and plays it back nearly perfectly without ever seeing the music. At the age of 9, he was given a full scholarship to a gifted school of music in Salt Lake City.

The music is in him, said his mother Laura. He has a hard time vocalizing his feelings but he speaks through his music.

Despite playing his beautiful music, Tyson cannot see the keys. He and his brother, Landon aka Dino, are both completely blind from retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP, and have cerebral palsy. They also both love music. As Tyson plays in the keyboard, Landon squeals with delight in the next room as he hears the sounds.

Thats a happy scream, Laura explains. Landon is nonverbal and the family has learned his sounds. Tyson smiles as he hears his brothers joy.

The two are perfectly in sync. When Landon is sad, Tyson will go check on him and make sure he is okay. And when Tyson is having a rough time, Landon will lay with him to cheer him up.

They dont like when the other is upset, I dont think they even understand what fighting is, explained parents Laura and Jared.

Today, Landon is working with the physical therapists at the Now I Can Foundation in Provo. The Grahams came from their home at Hill Air Force Base near Ogden to be at the center, which provides traditional and intensive therapy sessions that last three to four weeks long.

The first time we came, Landon would lay in the bathtub and we could wash him, explained Laura. After that he would stand and hold the rail, it was worth it just for that.

Now, he is working on walking with less assistance. Due to his condition, one of Landons legs is inches shorter than the other. Along with his cerebral palsy and blindness, he lacks the confidence to walk alone. At the center, the physical therapy team works with the children to gain confidence in themselves along with learning new everyday skills. On Tuesday, Landon will graduate from this three-week section.

We have never told them they cant do anything, said Laura. My goal is for them to reach whatever height they can achieve.

Together, the two show talents incredibly beyond their ages, Tyson through music and Landon through engineering things, taking things apart and putting them back together again.

Life for the Graham family has been anything but easy. Jared is a member of the U.S. Air Force and was previously deployed when the boys were younger to serve his country. During his deployment, Laura learned how to handle the boys on her own. I learned to just do it, she said. There are times when I dont want to be a nurse, but I do it with love and joy because that is the option. The boys have a nightly three-hour routine involving g-tubes and medications and medical activities.

They have a warrior spirit to them, explained Jared. Theyve had so much done to them their entire life but they never complain. We have a little bit of heaven in our house.

As therapy continues, Landons walking improves and he walks while only lightly holding someones hand for a while. Laura beams at the progress he is making.

Theyre incredible human beings, said Laura. Theyre not giving up and we arent either.

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A little bit of heaven - Twin boys with blindness share love of music - Daily Herald

PHILADELPHIA An individual is suing The United States of America c/o U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, alleging that the department denied his claim for damages stemming from what he claims was negligent care for an eye condition.

Theodore Miller filed a complaint on June 1 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleging that the government agency failed to provide proper medical attention to the plaintiff.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that he became completely blind in his right eye because of untimely treatment at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center during 2015. The plaintiff holds the defendant responsible because it allegedly failed to properly diagnose and treat the plaintiff's retinal condition, which led to complete blindness in one eye; in April, the department also denied the plaintiff's claims for damages stemming from the alleged negligence.

The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against the defendant in the amount of $10,000,000, and all other damages. He is represented by Joseph Chaiken of Joseph Chaiken & Associates P.C. in Philadelphia.

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case number 2:17-cv-02467-MAK

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Man says Philadelphia VA failed to prevent blindness in one eye - The Pennsylvania Record

Being blind hasnt stopped Alfred Ho from becoming a singer and a live performer. Regular commuters who pass through the LRT Concourse at KLCC in Kuala Lumpur know him as the blind busker who serenades themwith songs by Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard and Pat Boone.

My main forte is the oldies, says Ho, though he also has Chinese, Thai, Japanese and Spanish tunes in his repertoire.

Ho, now 68, lost his eyesight when he was three years old after he contracted measles. He went to St Nicholas School For The Blind in Penang and received vocational training to be a phone operator. But difficulty in finding a job led him to a life in music instead.

Someone recommended I participate in a singing competition called Bakat TV, says the self-taught guitarist, who reached the semi-finals of the 1971 show.

He began pursuing a singing career after he moved to KL in 1985, performing at weddings, in pubs and shopping centres, and even corporate events. But as the gigs slowed down, he also had to stop appearing in bars and pubs when the cigarette smoke started to affect his health.

Ho believes not having someone to manage him is whats holding him back from working more often. It doesnt matter if youre blind; if you have the the right music agent, youll go places, he says. Not that its dampened his spirit. Ho and Rufina, his wife, do all that they can to get him out there.

So his message to other people with disabilities, who are struggling to pursue their dream or facing challenges in trying to make a living, is to always persevere.Ive gone through a lot of pitfalls, but we should work hard at whatever we want and never give up.Yasmin Ahmad Kamil

Albert Ho can be heard most Thursdays, 5-7pm, at the AK Busk Stop in KLCC LRT. You can also reach him and Rufina at 012-346 1232 or e-mail alfredho.music@gmail.com.

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Blindness hasn't stopped this busker from singing his heart out - Star2.com

Photo: Liveright, Handout

He Calls Me by Lightning: The Life of Caliph Washington and the Forgotten Saga of Jim Crow, Southern Justice, and the Death Penalty

He Calls Me by Lightning: The Life of Caliph Washington and the Forgotten Saga of Jim Crow, Southern Justice, and the Death Penalty

Book World: The brutal blindness of Jim Crow justice in 1957 Alabama

He Calls Me by Lightning: The Life of Caliph Washington and the Forgotten Saga of Jim Crow, Southern Justice, and the Death Penalty

By S. Jonathan Bass

Liveright. 413 pp. $26.95

---

How is it possible in a country that prides itself on having a Bill of Rights, expresses reverence for due process and touts equal protection that a 17-year-old can be arrested, put on trial and sentenced to death, and then spend 13 years being shuttled among death row cellblocks in disgusting jails and prisons with his case under appeal, all for a crime he didn't commit?

The answer contains some simple prerequisites: He had to be black, live in the Jim Crow South and be accused of committing, as one deputy sheriff put it, a "supreme offense, on the same level of a white woman being raped by a black man" - that is, the murder of a white police officer.

Teenager Caliph Washington, a native of Bessemer, Ala., was on the receiving end of all three conditions. And as such, Washington became a sure-fire candidate to suffer the kind of tyrannical law enforcement and rotten jurisprudence that Southern justice reserved for blacks of any age.

In "He Calls Me by Lightning," S. Jonathan Bass, a professor at Alabama's Samford University and a son of Bessemer parents, resurrects the life of Washington, who died in 2001 finally out of prison - but with charges still hanging over his head.

Bass, however, does more than tell Washington's tale, as Washington's widow, Christine, had asked him to do in a phone call. Bass dives deeply into the Bessemer society of 1957 where Washington was accused of shooting white police officer James "Cowboy" Clark on an empty dead-end street near a row of run-down houses on unpaved Exeter Alley.

Bessemer-style justice cannot be known, let alone understood, however, without learning about that neo-hardscrabble town 13 miles southwest of Birmingham.

Bessemer served as home to a sizable black majority, an entrenched white power structure and an all-white police department, consisting at the time of a "ragtag crew of poorly paid, ill-trained, and hot-tempered individuals" who earned less than Bessemer's street and sanitation workers.

Bessemer was a town with its own quaint racial customs, such as forcing black men to "walk in the middle of the downtown streets, not on the sidewalks, after dark - presumably to keep them from any close contact with white women."

Bessemer was a town where in 1944 the police forced black prisoners to participate in an Independence Day watermelon run. White citizens reportedly cheered as firefighters blasted the inmates with high-pressure hoses to make the race more challenging. Winners, it is said, received reduced sentences and the watermelons.

It was in that town that Caliph Washington was born in 1939, the same year of my birth in Washington, D.C.

Bessemer's racial climate was no different the year Washington was accused of killing Cowboy Clark. The town's prevailing attitude on race was captured at the time in a pamphlet distributed by a segregationist group, the Bessemer Citizens' Council. Black Christians, the white citizens' council said, should remain content with being "our brothers in Christ without also wanting to become our brothers-in-law."

If ever there was a place to not get caught "driving while black" - which is what Washington was doing on that fateful night in July 1957 - it was Bessemer. And that night's hazard appeared in the form of Clark and his partner, Thurman Avery, who were cruising the streets in their patrol car looking for whiskey bootleggers.

Washington was not one.

But his color was enough to get him chased, pulled over and told by Clark to "get out, boy."

Washington's color was enough to cause Cowboy to instruct him to place his hands over his head, to get him patted down and escorted to the rear of Cowboy's patrol car, where a tussle ensued following Cowboy's accusation that Washington had whiskey in his car; Washington's denial; Cowboy calling Washington a "smart n-----"; and Cowboy getting so angry that he pulled his weapon and started to strike Washington in the head with the butt of the gun.

Three shots went off in rapid succession - the prosecution said Washington pulled the trigger; Washington's defense said the bullet that ripped through Cowboy resulted from an accidental discharge - that it hit the car, ricocheted and tore into Cowboy.

Both sides agreed on one thing: Washington ran off.

It was a dash compelled by fear and a Southern-bred instinct that no good comes to a black man who defends himself against a white man.

Next, a massive manhunt, arrest in Mississippi, return to Bessemer courthouse, angry cursing white cops, lots of guns, plenty of hate and a jury decidedly not of Washington's peers.

Washington, accused of committing a crime against a white man in Bessemer, Ala., entered a courtroom to face a white prosecutor, a white judge and an all-white jury. To have a black lawyer defend Washington in 1957, Bass observes, would have been seen as an affront to Southern traditions.

Bessemer had only one black lawyer: David Hood Jr., a Howard University Law School graduate. Hood and another black lawyer, a fellow Howard graduate, Orzell Billingsley Jr. of Birmingham, helped prepare Washington's case for trial.

But they knew what Bass would later write in his book: that white supremacy and racial superiority were so deeply ingrained, Bessemer in 1957 was no place or time for a black lawyer to defend a black man. So, to represent Washington, the court appointed a white lawyer, giving him 14 days to prepare for the murder trial.

It was the start of a legal proceeding that stretched more than 13 years - a trek that, along the way, found countless opportunities to celebrate the triumph of racial traditions over justice.

Washington endured police interrogations without counsel; denial of the right to cross-examine witnesses; years of confinement behind bars without trial; more than a dozen scheduled dates with the electric chair, relieved by last-minute reprieves; blatantly discriminatory jury selections; and often languid and lukewarm efforts by the defense bar.

One notable exception in Bass' recitation of Alabama judicial horrors is the role played by Gov. George Wallace. Morally opposed to the death penalty, Wallace granted Washington 13 stays of execution. But Wallace's opposition wasn't enough to stop him from letting other prisoners be put to death, and the governor denied Washington's 14th petition for a reprieve.

I stop short of Bass' sympathetic portrayal of Wallace.

It fell to federal Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr., a law school classmate and onetime friend of Wallace, to render justice. Johnson, not Wallace, stayed Washington's execution. Johnson, not Wallace, recognized errors in the trial that found Washington guilty. Johnson, not Wallace, ordered Washington's conviction and death sentence be set aside. It was Johnson, not the racially demagogic Wallace, who redeemed what little there was left of integrity in Alabama jurisprudence and set Washington free to live what was left of his life. And out of America's sight.

In sharper focus, thanks to Bass' painstaking research, is a picture of how Jim Crow legal systems operated at the local and state levels. Because of his diligent examination of the backgrounds, upbringing and pedigree of those white Southern men and women who enforced Deep South justice, we know more about how courtrooms and jails functioned, and how cops, lawyers, courts and juries combined to degrade the judicial system. Bass provides details, details and more details, to the point, at times, of being overdone.

There is much in "He Calls Me by Lightning" that we needed to know. There is much, almost too much, in this book that is simply nice to know. But we are left, at the last page, with insight into a history of America that can no longer be left unknown.

---

King, winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, joined the editorial board of The Washington Post in August 1990 and was deputy editorial page editor from January 2000 until his retirement in 2007. He continues to write a weekly column.

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Book World: The brutal blindness of Jim Crow justice in 1957 Alabama - Laredo Morning Times

Willful blindness when it comes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) could cost companies millions in statutory damages and penalties. Dish Network has been ordered in two cases to pay a total of $341 million based on its failure to prevent TCPA violations committed by its marketing agents. The cases illustrate the factors that courts may consider in determining what level of culpability is appropriate for ignoring TCPA violations, even in the absence of direct knowledge.

In Krakauer v. Dish Network LLC, 14-333 (M.D.N.C. May 22, 2017), the court rejected Dish Networks claims that it sufficiently supervised its marketing agent, Satellite Systems Network (SSN), to prevent SSN from making unsolicited calls to consumers. According to the court, treble damages were appropriate because (1) SSN knowingly violated the statute, and (2) Dish Network turned a blind eye to SSNs TCPA violations. The ruling contributes to the uncertainty regarding when courts will find a TCPA violation to be willful and thus subject to treble damages.

In US v. Dish Network, LLC, No. 09-3073 (C.D. Ill. June 5, 2017), the court found that a mathematical calculation of statutory damages would be disproportionate and unreasonable, and therefore did not award treble damages. The court did find, however, that a large civil penalty was appropriate after considering the degree of Dish Networks culpability, its history of prior conduct, its ability to pay and other circumstances.

The TCPA provides for $500 in statutory damages per violation. Courts have discretion to award treble damages for willing or knowing violations. In recent cases, courts have applied varying standards to determine whether conduct is willful and thus subject to treble damages. Some courts have required that the defendant have direct knowledge of calls made and knowledge that the calls violate the TCPA. For example, in Lary v. Trinity Phys. Fin. & Ins. Servs., 780 F.3d 1101 (11th Cir. 2015), the court found that it was not enough to require only that the alleged violator know that it was engaging in the conduct; instead the violator must also know that the conduct violates the TCPA, [otherwise] the statute would have almost no room for violations that are not willful or knowing. The Lary court also noted that the defendants in that case could not be responsible for treble damages under the TCPAs willful and knowing requirement since the defendants had used a third party to send out advertisements, which suggests that [the defendants] might have had no knowledge that [the plaintiff] received a particular fax. See also Harris v. World Fin. Network Natl Bank, 867 F. Supp. 2d 888, 895 (E.D. Mich. 2012) (observing that an overbroad application of willfulness would significantly diminish the statutes distinction between violations that do not require an intent, and those willful and knowing violations that Congress intended to punish more severely.); Brown v. Enter. Recovery Sys., Inc., 2013 WL 4506582, at *9 (Tex. App. Aug. 22, 2013) (But to recover treble damages, the Browns had to show that ERS knew of the TCPAs requirements and that it knew or should have known that its actions violated the Act.).

In some cases, however, courts have stated that treble damages could be awarded where there was only intent to perform the conduct at issue, regardless of whether the defendant knew that the conduct violated the TCPA. In Clark v. Red Rose, Mentor M.C. No. 04CVF-150, 2004 WL 1146679 (May 3, 2004), a consumer brought an action against Red Rose claiming that the company sent her unsolicited fax advertisements. The court awarded treble damages and noted that, as defined in the Federal Communications Act, the term willfully merely means that the defendant acted voluntarily, and under its own free will, and regardless whether the defendant knew that it was acting in violation of the statute. Regarding the knowing standard, the court explained that [k]nowingly may not be held to mean that the defendant must know that its acts were a violation of the law, since this would conflict with the long-established legal principle that ignorance of the law is no excuse. See also American Home Servs., Inc. v. A Fast Sign Co., Inc., 747 S.E.2d 205, 208-209 (Ga. App. 2013) (AHS admitted that it hired Sunbelt to send advertising faxes on its behalf. This is sufficient to make the violation willful within the meaning of the statute.).

Dish Network, a telecommunications service provider, was sued in 2014 in a class action after its marketing agent, SSN, was accused of making more than 50,000 telemarketing calls on Dishs behalf to numbers on the National Do-Not-Call Registry. The lead plaintiff, Dr. Thomas Krakauer, sought injunctive and monetary relief on behalf of himself and others who had allegedly received the calls. Following trial, the jury found Dish Network liable and awarded $20.5 million in damages. The parties then submitted closing arguments to the court on whether the TCPA violations were willful for purposes of treble damages, which was the subject of the courts May 22 opinion.

The court held that Dish Network willfully and knowingly violated the TCPA and trebled the damages award to $61 million. Although SSN made the calls, the court reasoned that Dish, as the principal, was vicariously liable. The court also explained that certain aggravating factors justified the award of treble damages. First, Dish Network failed to monitor SSNs calling practices, ignored SSNs many TCPA violations over the years, and repeatedly looked the other way. Second, and even more damaging, the court was convinced that Dish Network did not care whether SSN complied with the law or not and that Dish Networks TCPA compliance policy was decidedly two-faced, allowing Dish Network to monitor TCPA compliance while Dish Network failed to do so.

Dish Network is expected to appeal the district courts ruling to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, especially considering the inconsistent standards for awarding treble damages and Dish Networks position that the company did all it could to ensure SSN was in compliance with the TCPA. In the meantime, the ruling adds more concern for defendants on the possibility of treble damages and creates another big-dollar TCPA headline.

Unlike the court in Krakauer, the district court judge in US v. Dish Network, LLC, No. 09-3073 (C.D. Ill. June 5, 2017) decided against statutory damages, which the court found unreasonable and disproportionately high given that such damages totaled in the billions of dollars. The court, therefore, did not consider treble damages. Instead, the court awarded a $280 million civil penalty, citing Dishs culpability, its history of prior conduct, its ability to pay and other circumstances. The court found that culpability was significant because the programs were run in a reckless manner. According to the court, Dish [Network] had on-going problems complying with Do-Not-Call Lawsand understood the potential penalties for Do-Not-Call Law violations could be substantial, and yet the problems persisted over many years. Similar to Krakauer, the court was troubled that Dish Network seemed to make little effort to comply with the TCPA, noting, for example, that Dish Network hired Order Entry Retailers based on one factor, the ability to generate activations and that Dish [Network] cared about very little else, including complying with Do-Not-Call laws.

Companies concerned about avoiding potential TCPA exposure should be aware of the factors that some courts have considered in deciding what level of damages and/or penalties are appropriate:

The TCPA continues to create significant litigation risk for any company that communicates with customers or potential customers by phone, text or fax. Although the potential for treble damages and heavy civil penalties heightens the risk, efforts to put strong compliance procedures in place can not only reduce the risk of lawsuits, but also reduce the risk of treble damages in the event of litigation.

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Willful Blindness Costs Dish Network $341000000 For TCPA Violations - Lexology (registration)

New research found that 53% of respondents did not know about the link between smoking and blindness

15 Jun 2017 by Emily McCormick

A recent survey by the Macular Society reports that 53% of people are unaware that smoking can cause blindness.

The national charity performed the survey ahead of Macular Week at the end of the month (26 June 2 July), which aims to raise public awareness about age-related macular degeneration (AMD) the largest cause of sight loss in the UK.

The Macular Society highlights smoking as the biggest modifiable risk factor in the development of AMD and reports that smokers are four times more likely to develop the condition when compared to non-smokers.

During Macular Week the charity will focus on raising awareness about the harmful effects that smoking can have on the eyes, stressing that this includes passive smoking.

Explaining the cause and affect, the charity detailed that tobacco smoke contains toxic chemicals that are transported to the delicate tissues of the eye through the blood stream where they can damage the structure of the cells.

Chief executive of the Macular Society, Cathy Yelf, said: It is surprising how many people do not realise that smoking causes blindness. The message is often missing from anti-smoking messages, which simply concentrate on the life-threatening side effects of smoking. Sight loss, however, is a very important effect of smoking.

Ms Yelf emphasised that smoking is incredibly bad for your eyes, adding: You could be 20 or more times more likely to get macular disease if you have those certain genes and you smoke.

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Many unaware that smoking causes blindness - AOP

Prevent Blindness Provides Alternative Ideas on Ways Families Can Celebrate Independence Day Safely

CHICAGO (PRWEB) June 14, 2017

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), estimated that injuries from fireworks sent 8,000 Americans to the emergency room over the Fourth of July holiday. The latest CPSC annual report stated that forty-two percent of the estimated emergency department-treated, fireworks-related injuries were to individuals younger than 20 years of age. Sadly, the CPSC also reported 11 non-occupational fireworks-related deaths.

The American Pyrotechnics Association states that Delaware, Massachusetts and New Jersey are the only states that ban all consumer fireworks. Fireworks laws vary from state to state and sometimes, within different counties.

A recent study, "Effect of Fireworks Laws on Pediatric Fireworks-Related Burn Injuries," published in the Journal of Burn Care & Research, concluded that the relaxing of fireworks laws in the United States has had a dramatic effect on the severity of the related injuries, resulting in more inpatient admissions and longer length of stay in the hospital.

Yet despite the thousands of injuries and consumer firework-related deaths, some state government representatives are moving to lift restrictions on consumer fireworks.

In fact, in Iowa, a new law enacted in April allows retail sales of consumer fireworks in permanent buildings between June 1 and July 8, and again between Dec. 10 and Jan. 3.

As a public health-based organization, Prevent Blindness supports the development and enforcement of bans on the importation, sale and use of all fireworks and sparklers, except those used in authorized public displays by competent licensed operators. The national non-profit group, including its affiliates, works with leading organizations to educate the public on the dangers of consumer fireworks and endorses legislation to help protect adults and children from needless injuries from fireworks.

The CPSC states that burns from fireworks are the most common injury to all parts of the body, except the eyes, where contusions, lacerations, and foreign bodies in the eyes occurred more frequently. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, approximately one third of eye injuries from fireworks result in permanent blindness.

Prevent Blindness, the nation's oldest volunteer eye health and safety organization, offers alternatives to celebrate the holiday safely:

"The Fourth of July can still be fun without fireworks," said Hugh R. Parry, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. "By attending only fireworks shows run by licensed professionals, and being vigilant, we can celebrate our nation's birthday with family and friends, not in the emergency room."

For more information on the dangers of fireworks, please call Prevent Blindness at (800) 331-2020, or visit preventblindness.org/prevent-eye-injuries-fireworks.

About Prevent Blindness Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. Focused on promoting a continuum of vision care, Prevent Blindness touches the lives of millions of people each year through public and professional education, advocacy, certified vision screening and training, community and patient service programs and research. These services are made possible through the generous support of the American public. Together with a network of affiliates, Prevent Blindness is committed to eliminating preventable blindness in America. For more information, or to make a contribution to the sight-saving fund, call 1-800-331-2020. Or, visit us on the Web at preventblindness.org or facebook.com/preventblindness.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/06/prweb14422232.htm

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Prevent Blindness Works to Educate the Public on the Dangers of ... - Benzinga

Have you ever thought about how people in the modern day have dealt with being blind?

I did some research and learned a lot. Following are some bits of information you may find interesting.

1829: Louis Braille publishes his system of writing the French language. Its 1837 revision was the first modern binary writing form developed.

1832: The Perkins School for the Blind in Boston admitted its first two students sisters Sophia and Abbey Carter.

Perkins manufactures its own Perkins Brailer, which is used to print embossed, tactile books for the blind.

1860: Simon Pollak demonstrates the use of Braille at the Missouri School for the Blind.

1861: Helen Adams Keller is born in Tuscumbia, Ala.

1864: The enabling act giving the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Blind the authority to confer college degrees is signed by President Abraham Lincoln, making it the first college in the world expressly established for people with disabilities. Columbia University, its name later changed to Gallaudet University, is in Washington, D.C.

1878: Joel W. Smith presents his Modified Braille to the American Association of Instructors of the Blind. The association rejects his system, continuing to endorse instead New York Point, which blind readers complain is more difficult to read and write.

What followed was a War of the Dots in which blind advocates for the most part preferred Modified Braille, while sighted teachers and administrators, who controlled the funds for transcribing, wanted New York Braille.

1909: The New York Public School System adopts Modified or American Braille for use in its classes for blind children, after public hearings in which blind advocates call for abandoning New York Point.

1909: The first folding wheelchairs are introduced for people with mobility disabilities.

1921: The American Foundation for the Blind is founded. Helen Keller is its principal fundraiser.

1929: Seeing Eye establishes the first guide dog school for blind people in the United States. Today, this well-known guide dog school is in Morristown, N.J.

1932: The Treaty of London standardizes American and English Braille.

1933: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the first seriously physically disabled person ever to be elected as a head of government, is sworn into office as president of the United States. He chooses to minimize his disability in response to the ableism of the electorate.

1936: Passage of the Randolph Sheppard Act establishes a federal program for employing blind vendors at stands in the lobbies of federal office buildings.

1937: Herbert A. Everest and Harry C. Jennings patent a design for a folding wheelchair with an X-frame that can be packed into a car trunk.

1940: The National Federation of the Blind is formed in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., by Jacobus Broek and other blind advocates. Among other reforms, it pushes for white cane laws and input by blind people into programs for blind clients.

Since 1942: Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) has created partnerships between people, dogs and communities. With client services and a network of instructors, puppy raisers, donors and volunteers, the agency prepares highly qualified guide dogs to serve and empower individuals who are blind or have low vision throughout the United States and Canada.

All services for GDBs clients are provided free of charge, including personalized training and extensive post-graduation support, plus financial assistance for veterinary care, if needed. GDB has two campuses in San Rafael, Calif., and Boring, Ore.

1943: Congress passes the Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments, known as the LaFollette-Barden Act, adding physical rehabilitation to the goals of federally funded vocational rehabilitation programs and providing funding for certain health care services.

1945: The Blinded Veterans Association is formed in Avon, Conn. Its mission is to promote the welfare of blinded veterans so that, notwithstanding their disabilities, they may take their rightful place in the community and work with fellow citizens toward the creation of a peaceful world.

1961: The American Council of the Blind is formally organized. ACB strives to increase the independence, security, equality of opportunity and quality of life, for all blind and visually impaired people.

1963: John Hessler joins Ed Roberts at the University of California at Berkeley, other disabled students follow. Together they form the Rolling Quads to advocate for greater access on campus and in the surrounding community.

1968: The Architectural Barriers Act is passed by Congress, mandating federally constructed buildings and facilities be accessible to all people.

The ABA requires access for everyone whether blind or with any other disability to have access into any facilities designed, built, altered or leased with federal funds.

This marks one of the first efforts to ensure access to the constructed environment for all people.

Blindness or visual impairment can have a profound impact on your life, but you are still in control there is an abundance of information to help you.

Ernie Jones, a registered nurse who retired due to vision loss, can be reached at 529-9252 or eajsr37@outlook.com.

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Milestones in living with blindness in the modern day | A Different ... - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

In the 1800s, as today, people overcame challenges to make great accomplishments.

Although many people dont know who he is, the subject of this weeks story has been called our greatest American historian.

Francis Parkman was born in Boston in 1823. His grandfather was a wealthy merchant whose estate provided him with enough money to be a man of independent means.

In 1846, Francis graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard. After graduation, he became intrigued with the French and Indian Wars from 1689 to 1763, and decided to write a book. For background material, he felt it was necessary to get a picture of the Indian before the arrival of the Europeans.

Realizing he was no longer able to do that with the northeastern Indians, Francis headed west. On June 15, 1846, he arrived at Fort Laramie, Wyo. Over the next six months, he lived with the Oglala Sioux and discovered these blood-thirsty savages were actually a warm and generous people who indulged their children to excess and were devoid of greed. The result was an important book about the ethnicity of the Indian titled, The Oregon Trail.

Because of an illness that plagued him throughout his life, he had to return east after six months. In a short time, Francis became virtually blind, making it impossible for him to see what he wrote. He had to use a device called a noctograph that had spaced wires so he could write on a straight line. For five years, he couldn't concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time.

In spite of these handicaps, Francis Parkman's passion for chronicling the true history of the United States kept him working. During his life, he wrote more than 30 books and is considered one of our great writers.

Dakota Livesay is the editor of the Chronicle of the Old West. For more information about the Old West visit http://www.ChronicleoftheOldWest.com. You can hear Dakota at 10 a.m. each day on KZUZ 93.5 in Show Low and KZUA 92.1 in Holbrook.

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Despite blindness, Parkman successfully chronicled US history - White Mountain Independent

Christian Guardino brushed off his nerves and blew audiences away with his powerful performance!

The 16-year-old boy from Long Island, New York earned the coveted Golden Buzzer from judge Howie Mandel on Tuesdays Americas Got Talent with a soulful rendition ofThe Jackson 5s 1969 single Whos Lovin You.

You were like a little mouse that turned into a lion. You are one of my favorite contestants Ive seen this year. Not only in terms of your voice. I just like you. Theres something about you, and its just the best possible feeling when we meet someone like you, Simon Cowell told Christian, who teared up on stage.

And when Mandell asked the singer if he could make one wish come true, Christian said: Probably the golden buzzer.

The Golden Buzzer puts Christian directly through to the hit NBC talent competitions upcoming live rounds.

On Tuesdays episode, Christian and his mother, Elizabeth, opened up about his journey of being blind for most of his life before an experimental treatment gave him back his sight.

Christian was diagnosed with a retinal disease called Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), according to his September 2016 profile in National Geographic. He was cured of blindness after receivinggene therapy treatment andnow can see well enough to read enlarged notes on sheet music.

Christian has plenty of singing experience.He has previously performed four times at theApollo Theater in Harlem, New York.

Mandels Golden Buzzer recipient is the third one this season, following Mel Bs 12-year-old singing ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer and Cowells 29-year-old deaf singer Mandy Harvey. Judge Heidi Klum still has yet to select her Golden Buzzer contestant.

Americas Got Talent airs Tuesdays (8 p.m. ET) on NBC.

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WATCH: Long Island Teen, 16, Cured from Blindness Earns Golden Buzzer on America's Got Talent - PEOPLE.com

An initiative in Los Angeles aims to address eye problems in diabetics before they get too bad to treat.

Los Angeles Times: A Simple Test Is Helping Thousands Of Diabetics In L.A. County Who Face An Increased Risk Of Going Blind The condition, called diabetic retinopathy, is the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults nationwide. A simple test can detect and help treat the problem, but four years ago most diabetics in Los Angeles Countys massive healthcare system werent getting screened. (Karlamangla, 6/12)

In other news

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Text Messages Can Help Lower Blood Sugar Levels, Study Finds Text messages can help motivate Type 2 diabetics to lower their blood-sugar levels, according to a new paper that involved a researcher at the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute in La Jolla. The study randomly assigned 126 people whose blood-sugar levels were not well controlled to either of two groups one that received standard care and another that got up to three motivational diabetes-related text messages per day. Both groups were monitored for six months. (Sisson, 6/9)

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An Easy Screening Can Help Defuse 'Ticking Time Bomb' Of Blindness For Diabetics - California Healthline

In January 2016, a 24-year-old woman in Mannheim, Germany was reportedly raped by three migrants. At first, she identified them to police as German nationals, later explaining her lie as reluctance to help fuel aggressive racism. Then, astonishingly, she wrote a letter of apology to her attackers in which she blamed her society for their crime, saying I wanted an open Europe, a friendly one You, you arent safe here, because we live in a racist society. You are not the problem. You are not a problem at all.

British political commentator Douglas Murray recounts this anecdote in his brilliant new book, The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam. The victim, seemingly beset by a reflexive, socially entrenched fear of appearing Islamophobic, was willing to sacrifice justice to virtue-signalling. Such conduct is a microcosmic example of the bottomless white guilt that is crippling Europe.

Canada hasnt experienced the same migrant-related stressors as Europe, but that victims spasmodic recoil from perceived Islamophobia looks awfully familiar. Case in point: a fascinatingly logic-tortured June 9 Toronto Star columndevoted to Islamism exculpation, entitled Terrorists are misogynists first. In the piece, pundit Heather Mallick informs us that religion isnt terribly relevant in recent European attacks. No, the real problem is male misogyny. Mallick knows this because It is my job to see patterns in events. And we women see different patterns than men do. (Sigh. Mallick never speaks for me. I wish shed drop that we women shtick.)

In a recent column, Heather Mallick informs us that religion isnt terribly relevant in recent European attacks. No, the real problem is male misogyny

What is the pattern in events that Mallick sees? That all the killers are young males, with a narrow world view who suffer from status anxiety. The wanton spilling of blood is simply the way they display maleness. This is a simplistic theory cut from whole cloth. It completely ignores the role of ideology in terrorism, and the fact that millions of men have status anxiety but do not resort to terrorism to express it.

From the assertion that misogyny is universal, Mallick irrationally leaps to the conclusion that terrorism knows no particular race or culture. Look, she says, at the hateful men we have come to know: here, she lists four Islamist terrorists andfive North American, non-Muslim massacrists (only two of whom were motivated by misogyny), implying a general numerical equivalence. But her non-Muslim, North American massacrists were not associated with organized terror movements or with a specific ideology. And her non-Muslim, North American massacrists and their victims are statistically nugatory beside the vast human wreckage that has occurred as a result of individuals carrying out radical Islamists apocalyptic vision.

In a further attempt at moral equivalence, Mallick writes, Its of no interest to us whether were attacked by a mens rights advocate, the alt-right, a Muslim terrorist or an Irish one. But these are shamelessly misleading comparisons. IRA terrorism is not animated by gender bias, and was territorially and temporally constrained by political ends attainable through negotiation. Islamist terrorism is global and not open to negotiation. Mens rights advocate? A dreadful slur on a civilized movement. To my knowledge, no massacrist has ever cited encouragement to violence from any mens rights association.

Whats Mallicks solution? First, she thinks we ought to discard Muslim or Islamic as an adjective. (Obama and many other politicians have tried that, Heather. It didnt work.)

Whats Mallicks solution? First, she thinks we ought to discard Muslim or Islamic as an adjective. (Obama and many other politicians have tried that, Heather. It didnt work.) Because why single out Islam, when the misogyny of the Roman Catholic church is one of its pillars. Even if that were true (which I dont think it is), where is the organized terrorism or any terror perpetrated in Christs name that Mallicks reckless equivalency implies?

The column is a sad read, but emblematic of the desperation progressives feel when objective evidence contradicts their beloved multicultural theories, and the intellectual corruption to which they fall victim in their stubborn refusal to acknowledge reality. Mallicks jejune finale only plunges deeper into polemic bathos: Lets tackle misogyny at its source and find a way to raise boys to be more like the studious, gentle girls many of them have been told to despise.Lets, as in let us? As in Canada? Been there, done that, Heather. Any other brilliant suggestions for ending Islam er, I mean, status-anxiety driven terrorism?

All thats missing in Mallicks column is a sincere letter of apology to ISIL for the bad rap they are getting from people less enlightened than her. Regrettably, many Canadians think as Mallick does, or think they should. They need to read Murrays book and get woke.

National Post kaybarb@gmail.com Twitter.com/BarbaraRKay

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Barbara Kay: The West's willful blindness to the threat of Islamist terrorism knows no bounds - National Post

Toronto Sun

Cyclist sets his sights on fighting blindness Toronto Sun John Tomasino isn't just along for the ride he's leading it. Although severely sight impaired, the 55-year-old teacher is Ambassador for the Cycle For Sight Creemore fundraising event and he'll be putting in 150 km on June 24 to fight blindness ...

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Cyclist sets his sights on fighting blindness - Toronto Sun