[jaws-uk] Re: Gates Signs Deal On Software For The Blind
- From: "Jane Sellers" <jane@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <jaws-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2004 17:39:30 -0000
Hi Nigel,
I knew that you were only joking, and so was I in my reply, you never know what
may happen!
I hope you have a happy and peaceful Christmas and I look forward to receiving
your mail in the New Year as I have signed off as from Tomorrow until the 31st
so I shall have to wish you a Happy New Year when I come back on to the list
what do yo do when you have returned from holiday do you still have to put in a
message saying returned from holiday ? I am a little bemused by this any help
appreciated.
kind regards
Love
From
Jane
----- Original Message -----
From: Nigel
To: jaws-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2004 12:38 PM
Subject: [jaws-uk] Re: Gates Signs Deal On Software For The Blind
Jane, Don't worry as with the rest of that email I was only joking. I am not
really into gambolling!
Hope you have your computer sorted now?
Happy Christmas,
Nigel
----- Original Message -----
From: Jane Sellers
To: jaws-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2004 12:43 AM
Subject: [jaws-uk] Re: Gates Signs Deal On Software For The Blind
Hi Nigel,
I feel i have to reply to you about this, no i am not emigrating just yet.
But I am going to Spain for 10 days and yes it was a really interesting
article, I had been drawn to the attrention of this by RNIB 's Lorraine Brown
who is a emplioyment person at Judd Street so i knew a little about the
organisation but it would be nice to go and have a look on their web page and
if anyone has the url to the spanish association it would be interesting to see
if their mobil phone called Oasis is on the site although that is another
matter.
all the best for Christmas and the new year
all the best
from
Jane
----- Original Message -----
From: Nigel
To: jaws-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 12:22 PM
Subject: [jaws-uk] Re: Gates Signs Deal On Software For The Blind
Thanks for this Barry. This explains why Jane has gone off to Spain for
ten days, did she say anything about emigrating while she was there?
It sounds like we could learn a lot from this organisation, even if we
aren't a nation of gambolling addicts. Now what's the URL for that Ladbrokes
site again? I want to put a ten a on "Dead Dog" in the three thirty at New
Market.
Nigel
----- Original Message -----
From: Barry
To: Jaws list
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 7:09 AM
Subject: [jaws-uk] Re: Gates Signs Deal On Software For The Blind
Do you know why Bill Gates is developing the software in Spain? It
might have something to do with the Spanish association for the blind running a
national lottery and, therefore, being one of the richest companies in Spain.
Bill Gates may give a lot to charity but he is still a business man and has to
look after his shareholders.
Here's an article from the Spanish National Federation of the Blind
that I wish all governments would adopt :
SPANISH BLIND GROUP THRIVES ON LARGESS OF LOTTERY
By: CIARAN GILES
Editor?s Note: The following article is re-printed from the Associated
Press, May 29, 2000.
MADRID, Spain (AP) - The Spanish Civil War killed and maimed hundreds
of thousands of soldiers and civilians and left much of Spain in ruins. Yet,
for one
disabled group, the war's legacy has had advantages.
No one knows how many people were blinded in the 1936-39 conflict, but
eager to rid himself of the problem, dictator Francisco Franco ordered them to
form
a national organization and take care of themselves. To encourage them,
he granted the right to create a national lottery. Six decades later, with
Franco
long dead and democracy fully restored, the National Organization of
Blind Spaniards has blossomed into one of Spain's most successful businesses
and one
of the world's most dynamic disabled support groups.
"There's no doubt about it, if you're going to be blind, be Spanish,"
quips Miguel Callejas, a blind man who has sold lottery tickets the past 28
years
for ONCE, the Spanish acronym for the organization. Lottery drawings,
staged every day except Saturday, bring in the equivalent of dlrs 2.3 billion a
year.
Profits enable the organization to guarantee employment for nearly all
of Spain's 60,000 blind.
"I know of nothing even comparable to the ONCE in the entire world,"
said Edwin Vaughan, a blind sociology professor at the University of Missouri
who has
studied how countries view and treat blind people. "In nearly every
country, the United States included, blindness is associated with begging and
the blind
are virtually totally dependent on welfare assistance with employment
opportunities severely limited," he said. "In Spain, it's the opposite."
In the United States, unemployment among the blind rarely falls below
70 percent, while in Spain, it's hardly ever above 5 percent, Vaughan said. The
European
Blind Union says its latest figures, for 1995, showed that out of
41,000 blind adults available for work in Germany, only 9,000 had a job. In
France, only
7,000 of the 18,000 working age blind were employed. ONCE receives no
government subsidy and its board is independent and elected every four years by
its
members, all blind or sight-impaired. The growth of the lottery allowed
ONCE to gradually build up a business empire with stakes in everything from
hotels
to construction. In the 1980s, it branched into the media, founding a
private national TV channel, a national daily newspaper and a popular radio
chain.
But sensing expansion was tarnishing its more-important image as a
caring group for the disabled, ONCE sold off its principal media holdings -- at
a profit.
Nowadays, ONCE is as Spanish as bullfighting, sidewalk cafes and
soccer. Vendors wearing dark glasses and carrying canes pace the streets in
nearly every
village, barking out, "Lucky numbers for today!" In the cities, single
vendors sit in enclosed ONCE kiosks, selling tickets through glass windows.
The lottery has thrived not only because Spaniards love to gamble, but
because of clever marketing and slick advertising. Midweek coupons sell for 200
pesetas
(dlrs 1.25), offering a chance at 500 daily top prizes of 5 million
pesetas (dlrs 33,000) each and thousands of smaller winnings. The No. 1 prize
for the
Sunday lottery pays dlrs 58,000 a year for 25 years.
Totally independent since 1982, ONCE plows its profits into serving its
members. It runs Europe's biggest guide dog school, a factory whose products
include
canes, children's Braille sets and portable speech-activated computers
and social rehabilitation centers. It also works with other companies, such as
Microsoft,
to develop systems and technical innovations for the blind. On a more
public level, ONCE runs a touch-and-feel art Museum for the Blind. In 1998, it
organized
an international competition in Madrid for blind athletes. In recent
years, ONCE has supported projects for the blind abroad, including in several
Latin
American nations, notably Chile and Argentina.
ONCE estimates there are 150 million blind people in the world, but
many poor countries do not keep records on who and where they are. "The ONCE's
idea
is that the blind should care for the blind. In most countries, nobody
looks after them at all," said Rafael Mondaca, the organization's director of
international
relations. ONCE recognizes that even though it is private, it has a
privileged position and the government could withdraw its lottery rights or
grant licenses
to other causes. "Fortunately, it wouldn't make business sense for the
Spanish government to do so because it knows that if ONCE crumbled it would then
be responsible for looking after the blind itself," said Pedro Zurrita,
who heads the World Blind Organization, which is based in Madrid.
"For the Civil War authorities, it was a load off their mind," he said.
"Back then no one thought the lottery was ever going to be so successful. It's
unlikely
that any government would do it today."
Barry H
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