Blinded Ukrainian Commander Helps Others

by ABC World News (LVIV, Ukraine) — Col. Oleh Avtomeenko was wounded while performing a combat mission in Donetsk region, in the first days of the Russian full-scale invasion in late Feb. 2022, and lost his eyesight.    And now, after 20 years in the Ukrainian Army, he has to say goodbye to it and …

Far From Being Obsolete, Braille Is Essential

by Tracy Conly    (Tracy Conly is a longtime friend from our days at the Ohio State School for the Blind, a great Braille reader and advocate for the blind. This is her reaction to our March 15 story “A New Tool In The Fight For Braille Literacy.”)    “Braille changes lives. It gives thousands …

Studies Say Music Is The Way To Brainpower

by Kevin Burton    My father wanted me to study computer programming in college. He had that charming way of pushing his desires for himself onto other people.    I wanted to be a journalist – an unblinking champion of the truth and a painter with words. I had that charming way of evaluating ideas …

Where Does Lost Airline Luggage Go?

by Melanie Peeples National Public Radio    The Transportation Security Administration screened 30 million people over the recent Thanksgiving holiday.    That’s a lot of suitcases for airlines to keep track of, and unfortunately, some are bound to get lost. So where does all that lost luggage end up? In a store called Unclaimed Baggage, in …

Blind Man Loses Website Discrimination Case

by  Jessica Stemple    (The following is a blog from the Valenci Rose law firm from Los Angeles.)    Consumers in America and around the world have embraced online shopping for everything from food and fashion to vehicles, medicine, travel, and countless other purchases. But many retail websites are inaccessible for consumers who are blind …

A New Beatles Song? We’ll Take It!

by Kevin Burton    From a beloved uncle or a dear friend who has passed away, you find a previously unknown letter. How precious is that?    It’s a piece of that person that you never had, at a time when you thought there would be no more glimpses into their being. Would you not …

My Grudging Acceptance Of The iPhone

by Kevin Burton    The cell phone, or more specifically, the cell phone call, turned 50 recently.    It’s a story I almost ignored. Here is part of a CNN Business story on the anniversary:    “On April 3, 1973, Martin Cooper stood on a sidewalk on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan with a device the …

The Return Of Sunday Go To Meeting

by Kevin Burton    The Burtons have entered the building, the church building.    We have been watching church on the big screen of my Macintosh computer in the basement for more than two years now.  That was a virus thing of course. We didn’t close our Bibles; we were just trying to stay safe. …

Rage And Despair In The Business Center

by Kevin Burton    Dear, gentle, intelligent Page 7 reader, may I ask you a question?    What would you say is the key element, all things considered, in the business center of a hotel? What makes a business center a business center?    If you were told by a hotel employee that, yes, said …

Overchoiced And Underconfident

by Kevin Burton My longtime beep baseball team mate Mike Miller who pitched for the Columbus Vipers is famous for calm under pressure and for saying “It’ll all work out.” So it was his voice I heard in my head Sunday night when I realized, against all odds, I was in position to get four …