Equality! Why are there no deaf zombieeeeeees in films??

Since Halloween is fast coming up I thought I bring up this very, very, verrrrry important question that was inspired by a forum in the U.K. I came across. Actually it was in a newspaper forum "My Sun" with the thread title, "Are minorities under repesented in Zombie films?"  After reading it I realized it was a thread inspired by another article "Call for greater representation of ethnic and disability groups in zombie movies."

Now, after thinking for a moment or two, aren't zombies technically "disabled" in the first place? You know, arms dropping off, missing eyeballs, missing or disintegrating brains, missing fingers, noses, etc? You get the idea. But have you ever seen zombies talk to each other? Why would they bother? They're dead. They just amble around mindlessly looking for fresh flesh to go after and turn those hapless once healthy victims into zombies.

Award winning director Tim Burton had this to say about using "disabled" zombies and the problems that might come with it in his upcoming 2011 zombie film.

The problem is also acknowledged by award-winning director Tim Burton, whose new zombie film ‘Dark Shadows’ is scheduled for release next year. ‘The issue here is that the vast majority of the cinema-going public has grown up only being exposed to white able-bodied zombies. As a result, I just don’t think people are ready to see the hero of a film smashing the living hell out of an Asian learning-disabled zombie in a wheelchair.’

But Burton is keen to try and change audience perceptions. ‘We’re filming two versions of my next movie, and when the DVD is released it will come with the second version featuring disabled zombies. Although if I’m honest, the plot does suffer a bit. When the hero is cornered by a group of zombies on crutches, he just escapes down a flight of stairs before spending the rest of the movie hiding in a public library without wheelchair access.’

Cueing on Burton's funny response about "disabled" zombies suppose we'd have a crowd of deaf zombies going after and terrorizing a bunch of hearing people and have a hearing hero save the day by "smashing the living hell out of Deaf zombies." I can see it already with some responding with outrage on claims of "avdism." Or show disgusts on how that zombie movie was attempting to inject subconsciously the viewing audience the idea of eugenics as being acceptable. Some might get the wrong idea just as Burton has said about using ethnic zombies to play the part.

Others in the industry, though, are concerned that unless is it is handled sensitively, including themes of ethnicity and disability in zombie movies could lead to prejudices being reinforced. ‘I recently saw a movie set in the American deep south,’ said film critic Mark Kermode, ‘in which a rural community is terrorised by a gang of Afro-Carribean zombies. I just worry that some, seeing the scene where the white farmers chase the black zombies out of town brandishing pitchforks and torches, might get the wrong idea and assume it’s a documentary.’

Or something like that. *mumbles*

Funnily enough as I write this zombie blog piece I am also watching "Haunted Mansion" with Eddie Murphy where he and his daughter are inside a mausoleum being attacked by zombies reanimated from their slumbers inside their dusty, cobweb covered coffins.  Yep. No eyeballs. No muscles. Already decayed flesh. All bones. No muscle tone whatsoever. Yet those zombies managed to walk and "see" where their intruders are. But if they were deaf how would you know? They still manage to hear sound, too. Go figure. And they go about their usual patented zombie walking stance with arms outstretched doing the whole "arrrgh" thing over and over. Btw, no vocal cords either. Hmmmm.

Now, really. You can hire deaf actors to play the zombie part but who would notice a deaf zombie? Wouldn't a group of deaf zombies be at a disadvantage when they cannot hear where their next victims are? Of course maybe it might work if they had hearing aids. Nah. Batteries would be dead long ago. Same for cochlear implants, too. If you think about it, it would look silly on them anyways. Though it'd be easy for a hearing hero to come up behind a deaf zombie and kill it a la Zombieland but to attract deaf zombies' attention by playing a banjo just wouldn't work here. No matter how much noise you'd try they wouldn't come out after you.

Maybe that's a good thing?

Yet, I'm sure there are people out there that with enough creativity they can include anybody in a zombie film. Even the mindless ones. Although you might be surprised if you didn't know it already but there are deaf zombies out there. In fact, some of them ultimately lost their sanity and brains after playing an engrossing zombie Monopoly game and became zombies themselves. Maybe it might be a good idea to contact Tim Burton and suggest some deaf zombies for a change? Seriously. Give it a Zombieland shot.

Three more days til Halloween. Are you gonna be a mindless deaf zombie who like to eat brains? Ok. Whatever you do, DO NOT CLICK ON THIS LINK!! 



Aaarggh! (repeat ad nauseum).

Halloween cochlear implant awareness

I received a hint and was directed to a Cafepress store on some Halloween items being sold as part of the whole cochlear implant awareness campaign. Check it out. Lots of items to choose from to buy and help support the cochlear implant awareness campaign at the Cochlear Implant Online Store.

Gallaudet University - an oppressive environment for deaf/hh students?

Here's a story from the Buff and Blue on how one Gallaudet University student seemed to have expressed his anger and disappointment in the wrong way by inferring that a shooting or shootings will happen again on campus. I believe this had to with the general Deaf on deaf oppressive campus environment from clique-y fraternities and sororities to general "Deaf on deaf" oppressive campus environment. His floor mate explained:

“He was raised oral without much exposure to Deaf culture and community—and here at Gallaudet he, for the most part, was an outcast. Wirick vented to me before about deaf-to-deaf audism, which enraged him. He didn’t like how Gallaudet treated him and didn’t know how to fit in the university.”

Some students, especially new ones who were brought up in an oral/aural environment are able to recognize, understand and cope with this general clique-y-ness circle in a Deaf environment seen on the campus of Gallaudet University. But in Wrick's case he claimed to have experienced these oppressive attitudes acted out his frustration by espousing alarming predictions of shootings on campus. But other students of similar upbringings might have shown their frustrations through suicides or by leaving the university which may or may not have been attributed to the well known Deaf on deaf oppression in some circles on the campus of Gallaudet University. I know this happens. I was one of them that experienced those attitudes against me in rare instances. But the difference here is that I recognized it was a problem early on and it wasn't about me but them.

The first clue I got about this "attitude" seen on campus was through my good friend of mine who also grew up orally/aurally when we both lived in Washington while growing up. He was my first contact when I first arrived at Gallaudet University since he had been there for about a year or so prior to my arrival. He was the only person I knew on the whole campus. Soon after arriving I finally met him after so many years apart. He began to introduce me to a few people but soon quickly noticed a pattern of him avoiding me. I couldn't figure out why he acted like that. I soon found out he had joined a fraternity and once in he was lost in his own world of getting accepted by his own frat boys in the Alpha Sigma Pi or the "Cobra" fraternity. This was early on in 1988 when I first arrived. I shrugged it off and continued to make friends,  learned about the Deaf community, ASL and continued my studies. I never had any desire to join a fraternity in the first place though I had gotten a few offers which was kind of funny looking back. I felt that joining a fraternity was simply too "clique-y" for my own taste simply because of my independent nature. I had better things to do than to worry about getting "accepted" by an organization.

Joke: Why did a frog hop across a busy road?
Answer: He was taking a leap of faith.

Back in 1990 or 1991 fake "FROG fraternity" t-shirt was set up as a joke aimed at fraternities and soroties when I was a student in Gallaudet University at the time it happened. Check out my blog piece I did in 2006 "One FROGgy year at Gallaudet University."

Back in around 1990 or 1991 on the campus of Gallaudet University there was this new independent “fraternity” group who called themselves “FROG” with the Greek capital letters phi (F), rho (R), omicron (O), and gamma (G) or (Φ­РОГ ). When finger-spelled it is spelled out as the letter “F,” “R,” “O,” along with an upside down “L” to look like the capital Greek letter “rho” which spells "FROГ."

This was a fine and dandy thing except that some of the fraternity members on campus were whining about the fact that “ FROГ “ was not a legitimate Greek organization. Probably because somebody misunderstood what this whole "FROG" thing was about. I remember hearing about this complaints and just laughed over it. The hilarity was over the fact that some of the campus fraternity members actually felt threatened by a group of people who wanted to sell green T-shirts with large greek letters that spelled "FROГ" on the front. This was never meant to be an official Greek organization. The people who brainstormed this idea just wanted to sell T-shirts to make a point and for people who are proud to be independents and not frat members. It was Robert Johnson, creator of Sextoon who was killed last year in a car accident, who helped set up and organize this short-lived ad hoc “Greek” organization.

This ad hoc "Greek" organization, "FROГ," was all about poking fun at the Greek organizations during their infamous Rock Festival weekends.

The beauty of FROГ was that anybody can join, except for members of legitimate Greek organizations on college campuses. Also, no hazing is required to be a member. Just buy the T-shirt and, voila, you're a member of the Greek "FROГ" organization. Ribbit. Ribbit.

But this Wirick case raises some serious questions on the possibility of these "Deaf on deaf" and even "Deaf on Deaf" avdism charges that do exist on campus although I would suspect it's a rare thing if not uncommon when compared to 1990.  Newer students may feel vulnerable because of their oral/aural upbringings or because of their cochlear implants who may get rejected because of that. Again, not a common practice, I believe. Some students are able ignore this problem while others, like Wrick perhaps, dealt with it differently. This is reminescence of how students who got bullied would retaliate in the wrong way against his/her oppressors. But this time is different, we have the ever pervasive internet, new words being invented to describe select oppression, and new groups over the internet that help create more fear and suspicion or create a false sense of unity that have perhaps helped foster bullying attitudes on the campus of Gallaudet University. What are the factors here that contribute to this attitude of elitism by the few on the campus of Gallaudet University?

Something to think about. Is elitism a serious problem on campus thinking it's justified to have these, though rare, examples of Deaf on deaf/hh oppression? Maybe it's not a rare thing and it's more common than one would think?

If there are Deaf people who have actually accused Tayler Mayer, owner of Deafread, of being an "avdist" then we can certainly expect Deaf students (maybe some faculty members?) who have accused other deaf/hh and perhaps some Deaf students of avdism as well whether directly or indirectly. Pretty silly but it does happen. Just look at Tayler Mayer as an example of that elitist attitude.

But the question here is what is helping promote or encourage that kind of an oppressive environment on campus? Would some of the more highly sought after fraternities or sororities such as KG (Kappa Gamma) or PKZ (Phi Kappa Zeta)  be somewhat or partially responsible in helping establish and promote that kind of an environment over the years where they are sometimes seen as an "elitist" members? What about sport jocks such as the football team? Wrestling? Baseball team? What about counselors who do not seriously take these types of oppression against new students who do not necessarily "fit in" in the general sense of the word here. Would it be possible that some of the Deaf faculty members may also help contribute to this environment on campus as well? Maybe some organizations or groups seen over the internet could have been indirectly responsible in helping encourage that "oppressive" environment on campus in an elitist sense? Maybe it's an "entitlement" or heirarchy thing like being a 7th, 8th or 9th generation Deaf person. Who knows? Perhaps Wrick exaggerated his claims in order bring attention to himself? Perhaps not and everything he said was true?

I think the Wrick's case brings up more questions than not on what's happening on the campus of Gallaudet University that led him to act that way. And that "unity" and acceptance on campus was never really the case in Wrick's eyes.

What do you think?

Lou Ferrigno "The Hulk" pre-UFC 121 fight video interview - captioned

Here's a captioned video interview with Lou Ferrigno "The Hulk" on his thoughts oo the upcoming UPC 121 fight and about Matt Hamill. Don't miss this interview! Captions added courtesy of MMA Heat "Karyn Bryant." Be sure to send your kudos to her for having captioning available for those who need it in her interview with Lou Ferrigno. Also, word has it that Karyn Bryant will make sure that Matt Hamill get to meet Lou Ferrigno.

Video: Matt Hamill post fight response with reporters - captioned

Captions courtesy of Kokonut Pundit

Will Matt Hamill soon become one of the top 10 UFC fighters for his weight class? Only time will tell.

Matt Hamill post fight video interview - captioned.

Captions added courtesy of Kokonut Pundit.


Read here about what Tito Ortiz said about Matt Hamill by making fun of the Deaf community in pre-fight trash talk.

Tito Ortiz in post fight talk.

Student knocks off teacher in fight with round by round description of fight. Last night I gave all three rounds to Matt Hamill, the judges at the UFC also gave all three rounds to Matt Hamill.

Matt Hamill wins fight against Tito Ortiz!

It was great watching Matt Hamill face his former coach and trainer during his TUF days. I was at the Buffalo Wild Wings Bar and Grill during their Saturday fight nights where I had the chance to see the fight on 15 different screens of all sizes throughout the restaurant. The place was packed only because the Phillies vs San Francisco baseball game for the World Series slot. My wife and I had to stand for nearly 3 hours with the last 2 hours watching the UFC 121 fights. Then it was finally Matt's turn to fight. The ultimate test in battling it out against a former coach and trainer. In all three rounds Matt dominated them with the last round had Tito getting his own taste of Matt's patented "Ground and Pound" meat grinder. By the time it was over everybody knew Matt won the fight. Even Tito Ortiz raised Matt's arm recognizing that he won even before the announcement was made. Tito's face was bloodied and bruised while Matt hardly had any bruise or even a cut on his face. This is a huge win for Matt tonight.

If you haven't seen my rare post-fight pictures of Matt Hamill and Tito Ortiz together rough housing around then don't miss it. Those pictures are not available anywhere else on the internet except at my blog.

ADDENDUM: Watch Matt Hamill post fight video conference - captioned!

Rare post fight picture of Hamill vs Ortiz

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Here's a rare post fight picture of Tito Ortiz delivering an underhook shot to the chin of the well known deaf MMA Matt Hamill. You won't find this picture anywhere else except on Kokonut Pundit. But it's not a picture you'd expect seeing how Hamill allowed himself to take one on the chin by Ortiz...all in the name of rough housing fun.  A post fight picture after the TUF3 show. Of course, this group picture was taken over 4 years ago. Yet it is just bizarre considering the turn of events not knowing that these two MMA fighters would come to blow someday but 4 years later that revelation has come true today at the UFC 121 fight with Hamill versus his former MMA coach. Watch the pre-fight presser video with Ortiz and Hamill (not captioned).  The UFC 121 fight starts at 7 PM (Pacific Time)/10 PM (Eastern Time).

ADDENDUM: Matt Hamill wins the fight! Watch the post fight video interview of Matt Hamill in caption!

A Zombie Monopoly Game!

Just in time for Halloween, too. Here's a zombie monopoly game that's easy to play even a deaf caveman can play it!


For more information on this game board go here.

How much is your blog or website "worth"?

Some interesting results when I compared Deaf, deaf or hard of hearing websites or blogsites do I see what their "valuations" are worth. Websites like Gallaudet university, Deaf Video TV, ASLrocks.net, Deafread, DeafVillage, DBC, AFA, DH Foundation, AGBell, and several blogs were compared. I got some surprising "valuation" like Deaf Video TV vs ASLrocks.net. Perhaps after reading this people will learn a few things about their own website or blogsite?

Gallaudet University ...............................($5,785)
Deaf Video TV ........................................($5,430)
ASLrocks ................................................($4,385)
Deaf Nation .............................................($2,119)
Deafread .................................................($2,031)
Cochlear Americas .................................($1,696)
AGBell ...................................................($65)
Fookem and Bug .....................................($52)
Kokonut Pundit .......................................($45)
John Tracy Clinic ...................................($38)
Eh? What? Huh? .....................................($31)
I Am Thankful for My Ears ....................($25)
We Cue! .................................................($25)
Jeff's Bionic World ................................($25)
Deafhood Foundation .............................($25)
The Holism ............................................($22)
Deaf Village ...........................................($19)
Seek Geo ................................................($17)
Candy .....................................................($14)
The Orange Deafie Blog ........................($13)
Kate-Louise's Cochlear Implant Blog ....($12)
Ann C's i.reflections ..............................($11)
Radio 666 FM .......................................($10)
Deafhood Discourses .............................($10)
DBC........................................................($9)
The ASL Project ....................................($6)
AFA .......................................................($5)

Try it. Plug in a website or blogsite's URL address and see how much it is "worth." Now, remember, the My Website Worth page has a disclaimer about making valuations:

"These numbers are estimates only based on criteria available to the domain name. It does not provide a value of the company behind the website."

Despite that disclaimer you might get a fun kick on seeing what's your site is "worth." Or maybe not and throw a fit? There is no real valuation being estimated but a fake one that mirrors how much traffic a website or blogsite gets.

Enjoy!

Zombieland!

Aargh! (a zombie scream)

Over the past several years I have progressively become one of the more well known deaf/hh bloggers by those who like to read blogs. Over time I knew I’d be delving deeper into the seemingly quixotic ideals of the Deaf world with each deaf-related topic I write. A topic that would either send people howling and convulsing along with the gnashing of their teeth, or have them nod their heads with understanding and concurrence. Maybe even get a chuckle or two from readers. Yet, what I've witnessed has become a paradoxically funny turn of events in an odd sort of way seeing how some people objected to on how I write my blogs almost as if they’re demanding that their own sensitive sensibilities not be violated. Well, no one forced them to read my blogs if they are THAT sensitive to begin with. Why bother reading them if you disagree with them and that you get upset easily? Maybe a little sunlight here and there helps?

Aargh!

I’m not a Deaf blogger but a blogger who happens to have a hearing loss. No need for a feel good label. I’m “a nationally known professional patriotic purveyor of highly entertaining and informative blogging” or so says the title description seen in my blog which describes me pretty accurately I suppose. What I write is my own artful expression of what I want to discuss what's on my mind. But this isn't the first time when people have gotten upset over my writings. This has been going on since I started blogging in back in 2004. Yet, realize that each of us bloggers carries certain strength to the community whether it’s the deaf/hh communities or the Deaf community. But to blog is to express oneself in a variety of ways. Yet some people tend to convulse a bit now and then. 

Aargh!

Next, this whole “anti-deafhood” claim is getting a bit out of touch with reality here when it was simply about how people have politicized “deafhood” that people disagree with.  It was a philosophical concept that was contrived and invented as a feel good word to muck about with.  Remember that paradoxically funny turn of events I said earlier? Well, this is one of them when people get upset whenever Deaf, deaf or hard of hearing people who speak up up on how they don't care for the word. Some disagree with the word seeing it as the equivalent as someone inventing the word "blindhood" or "intellectually-challengedhood" or "wheelchairhood" or whatever other nonsense words to be contrived, manipulated, and mangled like once fresh human beings turned into zombies with appendages and bodyparts falling off. And whenever people disagree over something, then they're labeled "anti" something. If I disagree with the word "blindhood" and then suddenly you get people go on the warpath screaming with zombie-like expressions with fingers pointing at you with large eyes and gaping mouths, "You anti-blindhood! You anti-AFA! You anti-deafhood!" Whatever. Maybe we're just a bunch of pro-common sense people to begin with?  Instead people vulgarize the word constantly. You know, zombie-like vulgarization.

Aargh!

I’ve also seen how people attempt to use “social guilt” in the effort to somehow “control” or "influence" how people should write, think or say (e.g. “anti-this” and “anti-that”). Rather than agree to disagree people go overboard using “social guilt” to push their own brand of agenda around. I’ve seen how people are easily misled by false claims or myths like how faulty cochlear implants have shocked children as if it was a wide spread problem. That is an example of an (highly) exaggerated claim since about 1/10th of 1 percent of implanted children in one case study (922 patients) experienced “shocking sensation” (rather than “shocked children” since it envisions a picture of kids gettting shocked like sticking a fork into an outlet plug or something). In that case study I mentioned only 1 patient experienced that “hard failure” of getting that "shocking sensation" from an implant as reported in a recent 2008 Otology & Neurotology report. What's next? Cochlear implants will turn kids into little zombie runts?

Aargh!

Oh, by the way, be sure to buy your latest zombie wig to go with your upcoming zombie Halloween outfit. There's nothing scarier than a zombie with a blond wig!

Aargh!

When captioning was bad in 1990

Here's a picture I took of a tv with its captioning on back in 1990 in Carlin Hall at Gallaudet University. It was one of my roommate's separate room. You can see where it says "In one ear out the rubber" when it should've said "In one ear out the other." But here's the thing, I remember I accidentally took a picture and I had no idea what I took. Now, I suppose with rampant captioning errors back in 1990 I guess the odds were pretty good that I'd capture a captioning error on tv with my camera. But back then I didn't realize I took a picture of a tv. I didn't know until I got my film developed did I notice the captioning error on my roommate's tv screen. Must've been really bad back then to capture a captioned tv at random and without even realizing it.

Even today, we still see captioning errors that still make you shake your head or do a double take on what you just witnessed like this one here.

As always, both are examples of human errors when human captioners are involved listening to the words where sometimes they do not always get it right. Still, we should be thankfull of that access and we'll see plenty more captioning on both tv and the internet.

A model of success: Hands and Voices

This organization prides itself on showing the positive sides of how communication choices are supported and the wide ranging support to parents of deaf and hard of hearing kids. A safe place to explore options and not get involved with emotional or biased confrontations when you contact the organization.

"Who are we? We are parents of ASL signers, cued speech users.... parents of kids with cochlear implants or total communicators... we are people who have common interests connected through the community of deafness. Hands & Voices is a safe place to explore options, get unemotional support (although we can be emotional about it!), learn from one another and share what we have in common. We value diversity and honor the role of parents and family as the single greatest factor in raising a WASK, (our favorite acronym: W ell- A djusted S uccessful K id) "There is room in the community of deafness for an organization like Hands & Voices, and in fact, I think parents, and even many professionals, have been crying out for a group like this," says Leeanne Seaver, Executive Director. "Somehow parents connecting to other parents provides an element of credibility; there's a level of 'knowing & feeling' that only a parent experiences. And parents, especially parents of babies newly identified with deafness or hearing loss, need a way to connect like this without being wary of a sponsoring agenda from a service provider."


Hands & Voices is a non-profit, parent-driven national organization dedicated to supporting families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. We are non-biased about communication methodologies and believe that families can make the best choices for their child if they have access to good information and support. Our membership includes families who communicate manually and/or orally. From American Sign Language to cochlear implants, our organization represents people from all different approaches to, and experiences with, deafness or hearing loss. We have local chapters comprised mainly of parents along with professionals.

So how did Hands and Voices began? Well, it's a familiar story about poor representation.

In the early-1990s, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington , D.C. , was preparing an exhibit called "Silent America." It was intended to raise positive awareness of the Deaf Community, highlighting cultural and linguistic (American Sign Language) aspects of the Deaf experience. Meanwhile, a number of people who were deaf or hard of hearing, but who were not living with those aspects of the Deaf experience, had a problem with the exhibit. From their perspective, it did not represent who they were-specifically, listening/oral communicators. They resented what they perceived to be the exclusionary nature of Silent America's point of view. Controversy roiled across the land. Both camps fired off angry letters towards each other, and at the Smithsonian exhibit planners. In the end, the Smithsonian scrapped the whole project.

And thus born the idea of coming up with a parental support organization version now called "Hands
and Voices" that began 17 years ago in 1993 in the state of Colorado. What you don't see are leaders who give out marching orders to go out and protest against certain deaf/hh organizations. But instead you have marching orders to embrace all kinds of communication modalities and offer parental support to those who need it. No need to create new words to describe specific oppression. No need to create a new word that describes the concept of idenity, discovery and journey. No need to create phoney hit counts on a website just to look appear authentic. Instead this is about a simple need that all parents and kids with hearing loss want and that is a support mechanism in place for them to help make an informed decision without politics and pettiness getting in the way.

The goal of Hands and voices? See an improved educational and social outcomes for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. And because of the organization's philosopy and support mechanism built in they continue to grow not only in the United States but elsewhere. Today there are chapters in 19 states and one chapter in British Columbia. There are 6 more states underway in getting chapters as well as one in Italy.

So, what are the qualifications in setting up a chapter in your state as a representative of Hands and

 

•Parent as director
•State Department of Education (DOE) representative of Deaf/Hard of Hearing programs as Advisory Board VIP
•Adults who are deaf and hard of hearing
•Members who can effectively advocate for all communication choices, regardless of whatever choice they've made for their own child.
•Teacher(s) of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing
•Educational audiologist
•Representative(s) from Institutions of Higher Education (universities, colleges)
•Parents of children who are deaf
•Parents of children who are hard of hearing
•Parents of children with unilateral or conductive hearing loss
•Parents of preschoolers, elementary-aged, & high school students
•Individuals who represent Deaf culture & community
•Individuals who have expertise with oral communication methodologies.
•Individuals who have expertise with manual communication methodologies.
•Professionals from Part C/infants & toddlers

It's not just parents but people with hearing loss can contribute to this organization as well and the opportunity to provide support they can give to parents looking for help and answers. This is what every parents want. Information about hearing loss while preserving  their parental rights to make informed decisons for their deaf/hh child.

Remember, 90 percent of all babies born with hearing loss are born to hearing parents. That's a big population of parents with deaf/hh children who seek support and answers every day. Not the negative politiking.

And lastly, the Hands and Voices' rallying cry:

If you or your child/student talk or sign... if you talk and sign, or cue, or care, we need you. If you are directly, indirectly, or potentially involved with children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families, we need you. We need to be united by our hands and our voices . We are parents, professionals, adult mentors, consumers, and others who are in so many ways connected to a cause and to each other through the community of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. We are card-carrying members of the National Association of the Deaf, the Alexander Graham Bell Society, the American Society for Deaf Children, and Auditory Verbal International. We are Hands & Voices.

Visit your nearest Hands and Voices chapter if you have questions or are curious.

Six Year Anniversary of Kokonut Pundit

Yay! Well, not quite but that's a week away and I just wanted to put this out just in case I forget. I'm well underway very soon to start into my 7th year as a blogger of Kokonut Pundit.  Even though I am known as one of the more prolific and well known blogger among many deaf/hh bloggers. I've done 198 blogs so far this year. You can see the number of blogs in the left column of my blog page under "Blog Archive" that shows total number of blogs for each year and month. And as of today since January 1, 2010 (286 days so far) I've blogged on average 0.7 blog/day (198 blogs/286days = 0.7).  Or on average 5 blogs per week (0.7 * 7 = 4.9).

The most I've ever blogged was 471 blogs in 2005 or 1.3 blogs per day or 9 blogs per week. That's when I was really into blogging in my 2nd year as a blogger. But altogether 2186 days (or almost 7 years) I've produced 1609 blogs which turns out to be 0.73 blog/day if you calculate the whole thing.

For bloggers the most common rate of updating their blog is 2-3 times per week on average and not 2 to 3 blogs per day as some might say. I can see how some people might be mathematically-challenged to even say that. Also, approximately 20% of all bloggers update their blog on a daily basis. I'm not quite there since I don't quite blog on daily basis nowadays but back in 2005 and 2006 I was blogging on average a little more than 1 blog a day.

Happy?

When it comes to the deaf/hh/Deaf blogging community no where have I ever come across a blogger who have blogged on average 2 to 3 blogs a day. Anybody who says that need to take remedial math and learn how to compare actual numbers of blogs done each day, week, month or year to get your unit average for well known deaf/hh/Deaf bloggers.  So, please, next time, exercise some caution for a change instead of making things up along the way like the number deaf people that get arrested each year...on average. It doesn't pay to throw numbers around without any real validity or proper research into it. Your reputation could be a stake if you try and ignore that process.

Also, I don't sit around and plan for my blogging topics. Many are on spur-of-the-moment blogs when I get an idea from somewhere on the what I want to blog about. Usually it takes me anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to do some quick research, get some links, or just take my time to put my thoughts into words on my blog. It just comes to me in most cases on what I want to blog about. No days and days of planning while I have my pinky finger inserted into my lips thinking up of diabolical plans and cast ruins upon the world......mwaahahahaha!  I'm like you guys, I get my inspiration and then I blog it.

Simple.

UbiDuo in Pakistan?

I came across a blog written by one of the participants from the 2009 IVLP program organized by Department of State titled "A Gateway to Friendship" about a representative of Pakistan who have plans to market the UbiDuo product in Pakistan.

It was July 14, 2009 and I was visiting American Library Associations’ annual conference in Chicago, representing my country Pakistan on this international event as a state guest. As I was passing through different stalls at the convention center, a stall attracted me with its simplicity and calmness, which was hard to find anywhere else in this mega event and that was SCOMM stall.

I curiously watched what is going on at this stall, I saw two men just sitting in front of a small electronic device like digital notepads. I then surprise to find that this unique machine is known as UBIDUO and the stall was set up to market this product.

On my turn, I started my communication through this machine with one of the rep., our chat was displayed on both ends and we started our discussion, you would not believe it, this machine enabled me to understand a person with disability and performed as a GATEWAY, without learning any special sign language.

Well, to communicate with any person with disability, it is important that you must learn the way to interact with him/her through a special language, and although there is a significant difference within these special languages designed for each continent, they have their own special signs to convey the message to the communicators. But this UBIDUO turned as a major breakthrough to this limitation, a face to face communicator which enable us to use standard English as a medium of communication between the person with disability and the rest of the world, the only thing he/she has to do is, just become familiar with the keyboard, and there it goes.

Read the rest.

A mostly blank book = Deaf community?

For a person or company to sell books containing mostly blank pages purposely aimed at the Deaf community on the heel of a massive investment fraud that came to a screeching halt where some 6,000 deaf people lost their money is nothing but bad timing. Not only was it bad timing but utter stupidity fits the picture as well when the self-promotion and marketing were designed to mislead and decieve the public into thinking it was a legitimate bookful of writings. But it wasn't. Simply put it was an effort to make a fast and dishonest buck. We can already see that.

Yes, it was dishonest.

Yes, it was stupid.

Yes, it was very misleading on how that book was marketed. But the problem with that book is that it could now be used against the Deaf community. Let's consider a possible scenario.

If hearing parents with deaf/hh children have questions about the Deaf community wanting to know what it is like all one has to do is to show them a particular book containing mostly empty pages.  A book that could aptly describe the Deaf community as one person could say to the hearing parent, "A book with very little to show for with lots blank pages."  Upon that explained realization parents would recoil in utter disbelief and amazement at the effort of that dishonesty to fool people into buying that book. And conclude it'd be far safer to keep their deaf/hh child away from that Deaf community.

What a nice way to keep shooting themselves in the foot again and again and again and again. Credibility continues to crater.

Anybody want to buy London Bridge for a buck?

THE VOID!! *sucking sound*

The void. It means empty. No space. A vacuum where air or gas doesn't exist like out in space. A great emptiness. Sometimes that word is used literally and at times figuratively to describe a situation, an idea, a concept, a person, a group of people, an organization, or what have you. But in vacuum there is always an opportunity to exploit the seemingly empty space. But let's take a little stroll through history first on how such a "void" or "vacuum" occurred in the Deafread aggregator site that have allowed bloggers to take advantage of less opposing bloggers.

First there was a group of Deaf people that wanted to get rid of "deficit thinkers" from Deafread in order to control views seen and heard in the Deaf community via Deafread aggregator  site beginning in 2007.

They tried that and....failed.

Another year passed and suddenly a new idea on the effort to control Deafread's content and that was to try and force Tayler Mayer to institute guidelines in DR by implementing the "a" word. And attempt to heap social guilt on him.  But Tayler realized it'd be an impossible job to enforce that concept because there is no acceptable definition and it was just a cover.

They tried that and.... failed.

So after three years of trying to control Deafread people as a last resort boycotted DR by walking out as bloggers who were once linked in the Deafread aggregator list. That action has undoubtedly left a vacuum, so to speak, in Deafread. And when that happens bloggers who have not left Deafread will get to see their own blogs become increasingly unopposed in Deafread's aggregator site. It is easier for readers to visit an aggregator site to see who is what what and to whom than to try and remember which blogger wrote what. It may look like a "void" in Deafread when the first boycott began but whenever there is a vacuum bloggers will use that to their advantage, naturally. And that is to allow Deafread to continue the linking to their blogs. This ensures that their views get to be heard more often with greater frequency. Bloggers like me and many others can see that.  So, does that mean the boycott of Deafread has failed as well? Good question. You make that call.

Now, what's next? A Deaf video anti-cyberbullying Public Announcement? It'd be great if this anti-cyberbullying video include every stripes of deaf and hard of hearing people to make that announcement by saying "Cyberbullying isn't cool." Include people from NAD, AGBell, and deaf and hard of hearing people of all stripes and backgrounds. Maybe throw in a couple of 6 year old kids with cochlear implants and have them use their cute voices and say, "Cyberbullying isn't cool!"  Include late deafened adults as well and have them speak or sign. Of course, you'd have your Deaf people signng "Cyberbullying isn't cool!" one by one as each of them speak out. The point I'm making is to have different individuals with different backgrounds stand collectively against cyberbullying over the internet. Personally, I think it'd be cute to see those kids with CI speak up and say, "Cyberbullying isn't cool!" Don't you?

Let me end my thoughts here about the void discussion.

It may seem like Deafread is "suffering" from the lack of participants but traffic to Deafread has increased by 20% over the last month, and up to 10% over the last 3 months according to Alexa's traffic stats. Which means more people still depend on Deafread to follow the latest blogs on its aggregator site. This trend will simply continue to grow after all even after all those earlier attempts at controlling Deafread's content. It's not just Deaf people who visit Deafread but the deaf, hard of hearing and hearing people who will increasingly discover and visit Deafread's site regardless of the opinions rendered by various listed blogs seen in Deafread.

Growing up...something about me.

There were lots of things I remembered while growing up as a little boy. A boy that wore happily and proudly a body hearing aid from almost the age of two years old to age seven. I took a trip down to memory lane over the last few weeks over a pile of my baby and boyhood pictures. I also got to see many of my old drawings and other artsy stuff I did. Read some of the John Tracy Clinic correspondence letters that were written to my parents. Got to see my past grades, state testing results and more. I even found my old State Champion soccer patch that my teammates and I won in a hard fought soccer game for state champ recognition in 1974 when I was in the 4th grade. It was my second state champion team in 1974 after winning a state championship soccer game in 1973 when I was in the 3rd grade.

As I went through my old stuff I recognized the fact that I liked to draw where many of my hand drawn pictures were happy, memorable ones. Oftentimes with me wearing proudly my body hearing aid.  The hand drawn and colored in picture you see above "Something about me" was a drawing about my missing tooth.  I drew that picture when I was in the first grade at 7 or 8 years old during the 1972 - 1973 school year. It was part of an activity drawing of a story of mine with 8 pages of drawing made into a "book." My oral upbringing was certainly filled with memorable times where I was happy, outgoing and a fun guy to play with my friends, hearing and deaf, where I didn't let my body hearing aid stop me from having fun.

Something about me.

When cyberbullying topic is a good discussion but....

Cyberbullying discussions are good when topics broached are about intimidation, retaliation, control, creating an atmosphere of fear, stalking and the effort to try and ruin people's reputations. I think cyberbullying is all encompassing where it can fall under the stalking, intimidation, and harassment category. Whenever somebody discusses cyberbullying or bullying we generally know it's about harassment. But lately I've noticed how some people simply have the capacity to misunderstand conversations, blogs or vlogs and equate them as threats. We already have one such example that took place in court which proved one person's action wasn't seen as a threat. Just an overly active imagination here.

Let's expand on this here on what's an overly active imagination looks like.

In Russell Errigo's vlog he talked about his fears on how the California government could one day cut off funds to organizations in the hearing loss field in Julie Rems Smario Facebook discussion on June 6, 2010 at 3:09 PM.

My biggest fear is seeing a huge state cutbacks to Norcal, DCARA, GLAD and other sister organization who opposed the AB...2072. The state recognized them as one side viewpoint which does not meet the state standard for the funding purposes. The bridges have been burned.

I remember that comment very clearly. He's clearly concerned. There is no doubt about that.

A couple of months later in August 2004 he brought up the same points and concerns about the potential loss of fundings of deaf organizations in his YouTube video starting at the 1 minute 5 second mark. In that video he did refer elsewhere about a Facebook discussion he had a few months earlier discussing that same concern of his on funding cuts.

But here's the thing. I was a bit dismayed seeing intelligent people who actually thought Russell would call upon the government of California to encourage them to de-fund deaf organizations such as NorCal, DCARA and so forth. No such verbal threats ever happened from Russell. Russell is already on record hoping that this funding cuts WON'T HAPPEN to those deaf organizations. He is already on record as seen in the links I've provided. He clearly shows a concern for those deaf organizations who might see a cut in funds from the state in the coming months and years ahead.

So much for that.

Then there's another discovery on the curious mindset of how some Deaf people think that targeting other Deaf people is justified by contacting their employers. Actions manifested into this whole neurotic orgasm of this "deafhood" movement that has been running amok ever since.

Candy (see her blog) was a victim of a planned attack when nutty people actually contacted her employer based on a lie and disagreements over her blogging opinions and facts.  Although her workshop presentation at the 2010 IRS/DEAF Leadership Development Conference in Salt Lake City recently was a success despite their failed attempt to "boycott" her workshop.

Anybody with a mindset thinking their action is justified in calling an employer over an opinion piece or get upset when a Deaf person works with a variety of deaf and hard of hearing people and organizations (i.e. "working with the enemies") would be seen as borderline delusional. It doesn't pass the smell test when they know their action is designed to psychologically hurt, intimidate, and/or instill certain institutional fear in Deaf people by calling their employers. That action alone is a classic example of how it can fall under the cyberbullying or bullying category. And for those who contribute to help on addressing the cyberbullying problem but at the same time secretly nod in approval on the tactic of contacting employers is an example of hypocrisy in action.

The vulgarization of "deafhood" continues.

Use your voice, get detention at a Deaf school. In the first grade?

This is a true story here. Before I start let me point out that no one should be punished or scolded for using a preferred communication method whether it's signing, cued speech or use of one's voice at school used in a regular manner while in school (and not done out of spite to interfere or interrupt a classroom). But in this case we have a true story of a deaf mother whose deaf children were either scolded for using their voice or sent to detention in a Deaf school while in kindergarten and 1st grade.  This story happened some years ago, not too long ago and it may have been an isolated incident or perhaps a common one?  What is unclear today is whether punishments exist in some Deaf schools on students for not using ASL or for using their voice. Are those actions, punishment that is, acceptable at those age.....at any age?

I can say for sure that Indiana School for the Deaf uses "voice off" policy with pull-outs for speech therapy only (20 minutes 2x a week at maximum... not minimum.) My kids were scolded for using their voices, and my daughter was sent to the detention twice for using her voice. Opposite of oral deaf schools, as you'd say. So they went mainstreaming, to meet their communication needs, since they liked using their voices. Now, they are back at the bilingual Deaf school, in a different state now, yes, and so far it's not a totally 100% "DEAF" school, so it is good for now.

And it happened in kindergarter and 1st grade. The detention forced them to miss recess. A fun social activity for deaf/hh kids.

This deaf mother continues to explain:

Actually, I'd not mind for my kids to be told to use ASL. But for kindergarten and 1st grade kids... being sent to detention for using voice... I disagree with it...that's what happened to my daughter.

Well, it's over. The challenge is of course how to meet the deaf children who have aptitude to talk and listen... we can't leave them behind in deaf education. Often the solution would be mainstreaming them, which shows that deaf education needs to develop resources to meet their needs.

The question now becomes at what stage would this kind of punishment be acceptable or not? We all know the stories of the past (and even perhaps to today) of how deaf students were punished for signing.  Now, it seems that in some instances this situation has reversed where a deaf student is punished for using his or her voice. Obviously to this deaf mother it certainly shouldn't have taken place in kindergarten and 1st grade. What about in the 2nd grade? 4th grade? 8th grade? 10th grade?

Let's take two scenarios, one in an oral/aural school and another one in a Deaf school. Imagine a 1st grader in an oral/aural school gets detention for signing. Imagine the outrage. I agree. Now, imagine a 1st grader in a Deaf school gets detention for talking with his/her voice. Imagine the outrage. I agree. Though we'd have to ask why was there punishment involved before we can make a judgement.

Billy Seago's old newspaper clipping

I found an old newspaper clipping of Bill Seago (around mid 1970s) about how his deafness was not a hindrance. If you don't know the name Seago then you should be familiar with his brother Howie Seago who played the part as a deaf mediator, Riva, in one Star Trek episode. Look here on how Howie came up with a better idea for him to sign instead of speaking in this Star Trek episode, producers liked his suggestion. And thus born was an episode where his character, Riva, was forced to use an alternate communication, ASL.

Hypocrisy on the DR boycott and "avdism"?

About a year ago people decided to boycott Deafread because of Tayler's refusal to put the "A"-word in the Deafread guideline as grounds for not accepting a blog.

Because I lack the experience, knowledge and authority, I refuse to embed the term “au****” into the guidelines. Doing so would have significant impact on the deaf community and would not be able to bear the responsibility of forcing the wrong interpretation upon the community. Until there is greater consensus on “au****”, therefore having less room for it to be abused, the guidelines will protect DeafRead by the “excessive negativity” clause and DeafVIDEO.TV by the harassment rule. Following this fiasco in which au**** was exposed to be both widely misunderstood and abused, I retracted my committment to Patti to add it to the guidelines. As Patti and I agreed more recently, I will instead work with the DeafRead team to incorporate a broader term that will offer tighter protection than that of the “excessive negativity” clause.

Note that I am censoring part of the "a" word in Tayler's comment in the above for my own personal reason. You can read here on why. I could've replaced it with "avdism" though but either way I'm making this known for you readers.

And because of Tayler's refusal to include such a word in the Deafread guidelines numerous Deaf bloggers decided to boycott Deafread and not have their blogs show up on Deafread. One of the blogger is Dr DonG where he explained why he boycotted Deafread.

I have long since been speaking against au****. I have taken a stand against a****. I believe that if you “talk the talk”, you must “walk the walk”. Au**** hurts, and it hurts worse when it comes from one of our own. But it hurts worst when one of our own allows it AND profits from it.

That is the reason that I feel I can no longer be involved in DVTV, if au**** is allowed to continue. I cannot let someone directly profit from au****. It’s bad enough when Hearing people, like at Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, profit from au****, but we Deaf should not allow it, we should not accept it.

So, people boycotted Deafread because of the "rampant" avdism seen in the aggregator list linking to blogs with attidudes of "avdism"? Right? What about Deaf Village's aggregator site, too? Now, isn't avdism seen in majority of DV's submissions include lots of stuff about how wonderful hearing and speaking is for children, CIs and their marvelous results, all technically defined as the "A"-word in all its mutations  If so then why is DonG's website listed on Deaf Village's aggregator site as seen on DV's blog contributors list? And yet the most recent submission of DonG's in DV was on September 10, 2010 with a total of 24 submissions ever since he boycotted DR over a year ago over a single word.

Regardless, I still think it's rather a petty and trivial thing to boycott over a word when Tayler made clear on why he is unable to institute such a word into Deafread's guidelines.

"Fiver!" - Who is this guy? A threat to Deaf culture??

I received a comment from an unknown commenter today in my blog "Deafhood? No Thanks." A blog piece I did a few months ago. This anonymous person says that he/she is from "within their ranks" of other Deaf people and are on the "inside." Not sure if this is true, bogus, or somebody making an exaggerated claim. You decide. Who is this guy? 

Remember this one? "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers." Especially when they have some support from the Government. Deafhood is not merely a movement, it's a hideous, dangerous and counter-productive ideology. Many of the people associated with Deafhood are mere followers, they really have no idea just how destructive this movement/ideology is. This "thing" has destroyed and alterered terribly the lives of many already, usually those who cannot stand against them and succumb. Among them are young children whose parents unwittingly commit them to deaf schools where those pushing Deaf Culture and Deafhood assimilate them into "Deaf Culture" as a source of raw recruits for future members. Deaf Culture is dying, yet they're trying to revive it. These children are shut out of the usage of speech and hearing as much as they can possibly be, without raising suspicions and creating a conflict with state authorities. Deafhood has expanded it's control of state schools for the deaf and enforces it's Deaf Culture and ASL-only doctrine as the only mode of communication. I have witnessed the repudiation of "SIMCOM" or "Total Communication" where any staff member using this means faced discipline and termination. NO speech is allowed, ASL only! Turn off your voice! The parents of these childern unwittingly placed within those cultures have no idea what their child is being subjected to. The Deaf deny them that right to know, going so far as to use speech during parental visits, but speech ends as soon as the parents are gone!

State lawmakers need to investigate what is going on within government funded schools. These schools do not belong to the Deaf! These schools are publicly funded schools for all of society and have been hijacked.

I am going to stop here but will be posting more in the future. My pseudonym for this forum: Fiver. I fully expect the Deafhood "leadership" to start looking for me now, as I am within their ranks, the most dangerous threat to their plans.

I am: Fiver!

And this person raises an important question from me. Are those things really happening or have happened? Or maybe this is all a sick joke? Plus, I noticed this ominous "warning" this mystery person said: "I am within their ranks, the most dangerous threat to their plans."

Don't Feed the Trolls.....

Ever hear of the expression, "Don't feed the trolls"? What is a "troll" then?

...a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog/vlog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into a desired emotional response....

I included "vlog" in the above since vlogging is an important medium in the Deaf/deaf/hh community just as blogging is.

In this day and age of cyberbullying/harassment/stalking via the internet in the deaf and hard of hearing communities, especially the Deaf community, we see blogs and vlogs being produced everyday by people with hearing loss. And from time to time we get our own brand of "deaf trolls" who also run their own blog or vlog with the express purpose to personally attack people that he or she doesn't like. They do so with the intent to hopefully provoke victims into responding should they fall into that trap by responding to a "deaf troll." Such a response would justify a "deaf troll" to ramp up even more inflammatory and extraneous responses to a previous response that he or she started. That's the sole design and purpose for a troll. It becomes a vicious cycle. A cycle where a troll would thrive just to gain that extra attention and, for some warped reason according to trolls, more "fame" or recognition for those acts of continuing stupidity. What's really stupid is to respond to a troll in the first place. We all have been there at one time or another in responding to trolls bent on harassing as many people as possible.

So, we have this expression, "Do not feed the trolls," which means don't pay those trolls any attention. Do not give those trolls any morsel of a reason for them to try and respond to your response. Best thing to do? Of course, ignore those trolls once you realize the negative behavioral patterns and the vicious cycles they thrive on. They simply seek attention in the most desperate and negative way that can hurt, in this case, the Deaf community's own image and perhaps even self-esteem.

There is a difference between having a dialogue and debate but to craft a blog or vlog or a comment just for the sole purpose to personally attack people on a regular basis will ultimately create greater negativity and resentments throughout a community by those who were attacked by trolls. But for people to align themselves with these trolls knowing he or she does those things do not make them any better than those trolls of negativity. Cheering on those trolls or supporting them will only help amplify the negativity and bitterness in a community if people (or victims of cyberbullyings) feel the need to respond to such attacks by deaf trolls.

So, my advice? Don't feed the deaf trolls. Let them live under the bridge, undisturbed, with an empty belly in silence. Don't even look at the trolls just to read or watch what they say because you might find yourself feeding those trolls again. 

My mother....My hero.

Last night I was going through my garage and found what I was looking for. My stuff when I was just a toddler up to a young boy with pictures, report cards, John Tracy Clinic letters, my stories I've written while in the 3rd and 4th grade, my old hearing aids with one of it a box (chest) hearing aid, a couple of pro-oral bumper stickers, Birney School information, drawings, a Washington state champion soccer patch in 1975 the team I was on, a wrestling letter congratulating my wins, and so on. Lot of it deaf related stuff along with my history of my childhood that I am collecting for later research and organization.

I sat down and read a few of the several John Tracy Clinic letters written to my mother (and father) when she took up John Tracy Clinic's correspondence kit when I was around two years old which helped me on my way to a better oral-aural development only after when I received my hearing aid. Those letters were very positive, encouraging and informative. In fact, my mother was so inspired, encouraged, and determined to help me where I've improved so much that I was placed at Birney School's oral program before age 3. And by grade 2 in a school report card from Birney School saying I was ready for public school (with a deaf teacher for supplemental support) for the 3rd grade. And then finally I was placed in a regular public school in the 4th grade and stayed in the public school system until I graduated at age 18.

You would think that I had a miserable time as a deaf/hh boy growing up with a box hearing aid but I didn't. I had fun, enjoyed my hearing aid and the sound I was able to pick up, and had both deaf and hearing friends. In fact, I drew a picture when I was 8 showing me and my friends playing on playground set. You can see in the drawing I included my box hearing aid with me smiling while swinging on a swing and with the sun smiling in the background and wind blowing while kids wore long stocking caps (which means it must've been around fall/winter time when I drew that). All good times with a few rough spots in between but that picture epitomizes my childhood time.

My mother is my hero. She's the one who rescued me, loved me and nurtured me into who I am today. I love my mother. And she knows that but I want to say that here for all to see.  Everyday is Mother's Day to me because what I do today was because of her love and dedication.

In the coming days and weeks here I will reveal letters, pictures, my personal stories and a bit of history about myself in my blog as a deaf/hh person growing up learning how to speak while I had auditory training at the same time with my hearing aid. Because oralism, when done right, does work. And to ensure its success, early intervention is the key.

Video: Hike to High Rock Lookout

Here's a short video of the views on High Rock Lookout not too far from Packwood, Washington. Once you get to the top you get rewarded with a 360 degree view of the landscape all around you and below you. On this clear day I got to see Mt. Hood, Mount St. Helens, Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier. Not many people get to go where I can go. This hike require you to be relatively fit. The trail is short covering 1.6 miles one way but steep in many places along the way with the steepest being the last 150 feet to the lookout building. If you're not fit or overweight then I suggest you do not take upon this moderately hard hike unless your doctor gives you the approval.

The bullying of a deaf kid

I take special umbrage against bullying, even cyberbullying, when aimed at kids. Read Karen's blog "Bullying Experience from Parent's Point of View" about her deaf son who was bullied at a Deaf school. The irony here is that you'd expect some acceptance and support at a Deaf school but instead the young man gets bullied. And this is without another irony, too, if you include the fact that he wasn't bullied while in a mainstreamed school when he begged to be put back into mainstreamed school fulltime the second time around.

Karen's son wrote down words or acts that were said or done while he was bullied at a Deaf school. If you read the PDF letter "Bully" he wrote you can see the exact same cyberbullying and threats experienced by deaf/hh adults in today's blog/vlog world. It's the same words and actions used today against adults.  It's not just one time, as the Karen's son said, but the numerous times the bullying takes place over a space of days, weeks, months, or even years. Some are able to handle it. Some cannot and must resort to other self-preservation actions. Some are able to deal with it straight on by confronting it, especially if it's a serious one where restraining orders or arrest warrants are justified.

Thank you Karen for bringing that one up. Whether it's bullying or cyberbullying, it's simply not acceptable.

As I Hide in the Shadows

I hide in the shadows.
A silent person among the shadows.
Do not look for me but seek the mountain behind me.
Beyond the shadows where I stand as a silent person.

A mountain that speaks volume of nature's call.
I am puny and small.
Limited in space and time.
Yet the mountain is big and timeless.

Do not look for me for solitude.
Seek the mountain's snowy fortitude.
It is loud for all to see.
Its embrace soothes the soul.

I may not hear nature's call.
But my mountain shouts to all.
If you need a friend
Look up to your white, gentle giant.

I hide in the shadows.
Black as a crow.
I am not important.
But my mountain is.


Picture: Mt Rainier. September 2010. You can see me in the shadows on the right.

Rules for commenting in my blog - whiners need not apply.

This is a reminder to those who may want to post their comments in my blog. There is a link at the top of the blogger comment box where it used to link to this page that describes my moderating rules for people who think name calling or ad hominem attack has the equivalent of a fantastic argument. Get real, it is not. There is also a painting of Uncle Sam in the upper left column of my blog where clicking on it will bring you to this page here as well. These rules were instituted since 2010 after seeing comments by those who love to  lob their brand of hate by attacking other people who comment in here. Sometimes they throw their junk hate at me here as well.  Calling people names do not have the same editorial strength as making strong, cogent arguments. There is a responsibility I have when it comes to moderating comments and to protect those who post their comments in here, especially in the age of deaf/hh/Deaf cyberbullying (see here, here and here).

The rules are made clear as seen below.  So simple these rules are that even a deaf caveman can understand. I expect cooperation from people who want to post their comment in my blog. I am sure most people will agree with my moderating policy. Even though on rare occasions a few people have incredulously whined over this posting policy of mine.

If you violate my trust, make personal attacks against others who post their comments here or abuse the commenting system then your postings are not welcomed, obviously. And in turn you would not be welcomed...eventually so but that's quite rare. Furthermore, it doesn't matter if you post as anonymous person or leave your name behind just that I expect you to follow my explicit and very simple posting rules. Just because I may not like you as a person isn't a reason to post anonymously thinking I will delete your comments should your name is made known. That's a crutch and cowardly excuse. I only delete comments that violate my posting rules.


A very, very simple guide to posting comments on Kokonut Pundit

Kokonut Pundit welcomes all points of view but unlike some sites this blogsite does not permit people to greet those who disagree with by way of personal attacks, name-calling, or profanity. So, if you want to avoid having your comments edited or deleted then please follow these simple guidelines on how to follow posting rules:

No profanity. There is no reason to resort to foul language, regardless of how badly your arguments have been shredded or that you are befuddled by your own stupidty you'd resort to profanity thinking it replaces well thought out arguments.

No personal attacks. If you want to call names, you know where you will be welcomed. But in here, please conduct all discussions with at least a modicum of intelligence and respectability. Personal attacks against others who post their comments here will not be tolerated.

No off-topic ramblings. If you think a comment thread is meant to be a free-for-all smorgasbord for anything that comes into your head, you are in the wrong place. Try to maintain at least a tenuous connection to the subject matter at hand. In some instances this will be relaxed but overall it will most likely be enforced.

No posting abuse. Post the same message over and over, especially in multiple off-topic threads, is not a good way to ingratiate yourself or get on my good side.

No spamming. No advertising and whatnot about product or services. Nobody like getting spams or gratuitous adverts. If you do like spam then certainly there must be something wrong with you.

None of the juvenile stuff. In case you didn't understand what I'm getting at...don't act like a 5 year old child with a temper tantrum issue. Kokonut Pundit had its fill of the occasional insipid insults that pervade the cybersphere, and they will not be permitted in here.

And most importantly of all, comments are to be made in English only. Anything other than English will means automatic deletion. I'm sure you can understand the obviousness of that.

Since this is my personal blog, I have a right to moderate comments as I see fit. It is not free of speech issue here. Your rights are not being violated if your comments get edited or deleted (which is rare, btw, despite what others might try and say otherwise) but rather it is a privilege to comment in my blog as long as you follow my rules here.  It is really an easy thing to follow. You don't have to be a genius to figure that one out.

If you disagree with my moderating policy then that's really your problem. This is a place where all can present their arguments, facts, ideas, and opinions about the subject matter at hand. This is so that we can learn about certain topics and other people's perspectives. But if you're a known abuser or hater, then you are certainly not welcomed here.

Organizational Cyberbullying Action

What is that? "Organizational Cyberbullying Action" or OCA where groups of people band together in the effort to cyberbully people into silence. Sometimes using an organization as a front but behind the scene the bullying by leaders or members of that organization occurs. A term that Amy came up while commenting in my blog regarding use of a DBC website to harass a blogger. Although the definition of OCA was my own, not Amy's. Something that I thought was worth looking into for now.

Over the last few years or so, especially right after DPN2 protest in 2006, the use of new and colorful words were used and abused in the effort to suppress others into submission by getting bloggers and vloggers to shut up with their comments and opinions contrary to other Deaf people's views and opinions by using words against them. Words like:

Avdism. This is probably the number one word used to try and cajole and suppress other bloggers or vloggers' opinions by accusing them of practicing "avdism." This word was especially used against Tayler in the effort to control him on how Deafread and DVTV are to be operated.

Colonized/Colonialized. As in the case here seen in this screenshot where one Deaf person used a visible and well known organization's website, Deaf Bilingual Coalition, to try and bully me into submission (see story here) and create an appearance he had the backing of the DBC behind him. Incidentally, neither the Deaf person in question and especially the DBC never once made any attempt to make a formal and public apology to me. The word "colonialized" is a commonly used word against other deaf and hard of hearing people, and sometimes Deaf people. The word was conceptually derived from Paddy Ladd's book as a source of inspiration for Deaf people to use and abuse.

All these efforts at suppression seems to reek of the age old social problem of "not Deaf enough" lobbed at other Deaf people, ironically so. And if you're a Deaf person who doesn't agree with "avdism" then you are deemed as a "traitor" to the Deaf community. If your views do not jive with some Deaf people populist views then they see you as an adversary, a person who doesn't fit the mold as what a Deaf person is supposed to behave, act, and think when others see it as extremism going too far. There's common sense and then there's extremism.

When Deaf Clowns Go Bad

In previous blog I discussed cyberbullying and stalking by some people in the deaf community and now would like to touch briefly on "hate crime."

Let's suppose the cyberbullying of deaf people through YouTube, chatrooms, in discussion forums, or even in blogs are the efforts to try and harass a person because he or she doesn't like the person in the first place. Are those examples of a hate crime in action? That depends on the nature of the hate, the context, and resulting response by people who received the brunt of that hate.

Let's look at a recent case of what some people say is an example of a hate crime.

Cyberbullyin is out of control.

For example, take the case of Tyler Clementi. Clementi was an 18-year-old freshman at Rutgers University who jumped from the George Washington Bridge after a video surfaced on the internet featuring Clementi and another male student engaging in sexual acts.

Two students were charged with counts of invasion of privacy but is that really all they deserve? These students should be held accountable for Clementi's death. This can and should be viewed as a hate crime not simply because of the student's sexuality, but because these students targeted that aspect of his life. They were the emotional shove that sent him falling from that bridge.

Was that really a hate crime or a prank gone bad? Just bad judgement all around and not about hate crime per se? Or is this a blurring of cyberbullying with that of a hate crime in action? Is it a hate crime to go on YouTube in the effort to purposely discredit a person's reputation by providing false information to viewers in a cyberbullying act? Can defamation be hate crime in action?

In California there's a court case in the attempt to connect a cyberbullying case with that of a hate crime. Was it really a "hate crime" that happened? What about the case of Amy Cohen Efron?

I get ostracized and harassed just because of my own opinion and my role as an Editor of DeafRead. As one of the pioneers of Deaf vlogging world, I get cyberbullied just like others. Yes, someone did call my employer about my online activities. This kind of stress caused a trip to emergency room.

Was that a case of a hate crime in action when that person or persons who followed through with his or her hate of Amy by actually calling her employer with the express purpose and malicious intent to cause psychological harm to her and damage her reputation at her place of employment? Was it a hate crime in action because others did not view her to be "Deaf enough" because of her views on certain Deaf-related issues did not agree with other Deaf people's more extreme views? Or was it a simple case of her releationship with Deafread and Tayler who owns Deafread on how he received his own brunt of hate for his opinions regarding avdism and how it was just a cover used by some Deaf people? Where is that line between cyberbulling, hate speech and hate crime?

Also, another question, is the action of sending threatening emails to other people a case of a hate crime in action if the perpetrator uses his or her own "Deaf hierarchy" (culturally deaf status) over others in the effort to "protect" the Deaf status quo in their own Deaf community? In other words attack those in the attempt to falsely report or ruin the reputation of people who do not share the same extreme "Deaf views." Or perhaps this was a case not being "Deaf enough" in the extreme sense?  A case of not jumping onto the "Deaf extremism" bandwagon? Or maybe a case of people who are "professional haters" who rely on false reporting and hyperbole to get his or her way?

But what about reporting a false hate crime that never existed? It does happen. Here's one professor who did just that and got caught. Not only got did he get caught for lying but got caught in a web of hypocrisy using the status as a professor to make the reporting of a "hate crime" sound even more legitimate.

And what about the hypocrisy of people who discuss hate crime while on a soapbox but continue to make vlogs or blogs in the effort to cyberbully other people in the effort to ruin their reputations with false rumors or false information? And yet we see cases where people ended up physically stalking somebody's house for a few days. A manifestation of a cyberbullying action that slowly transitioned into the physical act of stalking a person he or she hates. But sometimes the hypocrisy gets surreal when a person goes back to his or her soapbox on the whole hate crime, hate speech or cyberbullying spiel pretending nothing ever happened?

The question here is the shifting, blurry line of hate speech and cyberbullying with that of a hate crime. Where do you draw that line?