How to describe piano ragtime to a deaf person....

There are certain music I believe that most deaf people, especially those born with a hearing loss or lose it early in life, do not even know it exist or even care for it. One of that music is ragtime. I genre of music that I've come to know and enjoy immensely.

What is ragtime anyway? According to Scott Joplin, the "King of Ragtime," he aptly described ragtime music as "weird and intoxicating" when played right. Yeah, but that doesn't describe it does it? In ragtime on a piano it is the (melodic) syncopation of the right hand with the accented bass movement of the left hand. Chords do not define ragtime but the syncopated style that makes ragtime music recognizable. Which is why it's called "ragged time." Confused? Ok. The bare bones description. On the piano it combines the left hand bass movements (the "oom-pah oom-pah" feel to it) with the deep bass notes that you can actually feel the vibration. The right hand movements play the syncopated movements that produces the melody with an off-beat sound to it. This is mostly the higher notes which is harder to feel and detect its vibrations. With that combination of sound it gives that particular "weird and intoxicating" flavor of music to it.

It's hard to describe to a deaf person on why ragtime is so enjoyable and pleasing to listen to just as it's hard to describe to a blind person why a particular painting is so wonderful and pleasing to look at. Descriptions can only go so far. Other senses must be used help fill in this gap.

First, if you have a good set of speakers for your computer (or to an even larger, stronger external set of speakers) let's go to John Roache's website where he describes what ragtime is all about and a chance for you to feel (and perhaps hear) what it "sounds" like. John Roache is able to break it down into separate, identifiable music and when combined makes it into a ragtime music. In this case, he uses the familiar tune of "Mary had a little lamb" and turns that into a ragtime example.

All I can say is that as with jazz, stride piano, novelty piano, or even ragtime piano, one has to appreciate the musical qualities behind them in order to truly enjoy these genre periods. I don't expect Deaf people to understand why I enjoy and play ragtime piano except that I find it "weird and intoxicating" whenever I play it. It's a musical art that keeps on giving.

Kobayashi Maru and Deafhood

If you don't know the name "Kobayashi Maru" and the concept behind that name then you're not a Star Trek fan. The Kobayashi Maru is the name of a distressed space ship in a simulation exercise for Starfleet members, officers and other cadets. The distressed ship in question is stuck in a "gravitic mine" in the middle of the Klingon Neutral Zone. The ship is losing power, hull integrity and life support failing. The test takers face a serious conundrum. Rescue the ship and face a real possibility of an all out Klingon War or abandon the Kobayashi Maru ship and let her crew and passengers die. A simulation game that was purposely designed that no matter what you do to try and rescue the ship it ends up being a "no-win" scenario.

A "Kobayashi Maru" moment.

Now, this "deafhood" thing is looking more like a "Kobayashi Maru" thing than not simply because of what one blogger said based on hope and expectation. The "The ASL-Cochlear Implant Community" blog described perfectly a "Kobayashi Maru" moment about "deafhood."

I just finished watching the welcome video for the Deafhood foundation. Before I started watching the video, I was wondering- would they mention cochlear implants? I was actually hoping that perhaps the message would be positive and inclusive. Wishful thinking.. Butch mentioned cochlear implants 33 seconds into the welcome message as an example of economic exploitation of deaf people. This did not make it into the English text version though.

The Deafhood foundation is run by well respected Deaf people in the Deaf community, and many Deaf people are impressed by the video and its powerful message. But all I see is a huge obstacle to the acceptance of all of these Deaf children with cochlear implants. Would this lead to increased intolerance for Deaf children who happen to have cochlear implants?

Just so happens that this person with a cochlear implant and ASL user had hoped that this video wouldn't politicize cochlear implant. But it did, 33 seconds into the video. Right off the bat. Bam! It is a politically-motivated video and not about the concept of a personal journey.

What this person failed to realize is that "deafhood" was already politicized from the beginning and that any hopes for this would one way or another get quashed. That video came directly from the Deafhood Foundation organization whose interest seemingly lies more exclusively with the Deaf people than with the rest of the 30+ million people with hearing loss in the United States.

What this shows is that certain segments of the Deaf community constantly derails any expectations for people of all kinds with hearing loss when it comes to "deafhood" because they have already assumed such ownership over the word "deafhood." They are there own worst enemy by turning a supposedly benign concept about a personal journey into a political agenda to self serve their own needs and, to some people, even a selfish purpose.

So, the best scenario in this Kobayashi Maru test is that it's best to simply ignore and abandon any hope for this Deafhood starship stuck in a gravitic mine smack dab in the middle of the Klingon Neutral Zone. Best thing to do is to save your own ass, and your people instead of joining a crew that's destined to die. Others who have taken the test would realize it'd be a no win scenario to try and rescue an already doomed ship so it was better to leave the hapless ship alone and leave. Some figured it'd be better to fire on the Kobayashi Maru ship to spare the already dying crew which was already a no-win situation to begin with. But the bulk of test takers all "died" trying to rescue the trapped Kobayashi Maru ship.

Take your pick.

UPDATE: Take a look at the "What is Deafhood" page. It's even worse and seeks to politicize Deafhood even more, and still begrudges the past to the present. Learn to let go of the baggage and embrace everybody for a change.

Texting while driving = drunk driving

I know there are a lot of deaf people on the road who depend on their cell phones to communicate through texting but that is not an excuse to text while driving. There is no excuse to text while driving. None! More and more people are using their cell phones to text, including while driving. That continues to go up every year and each year more people are killed or seriously injured on the road because a driver was distracted for a few seconds at a time that led to an accident.

Texting poses serious, sometimes fatal distractions to all drivers, but particularly teenagers. According to the Centers for Disease Control, auto accidents are the leading cause of death for people between 16 and 20, killing more than 5000 annually. Increasingly, drivers are texting on their phones and this is placing others at risk. Recent studies show that text messaging is a growing cause of auto accidents in the United States. Motorists who text message have been found to be more distracted and more likely to be involved in an accident.

A new study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that when drivers engaged in texting while driving, their risk of an accident was 23 times greater than when not texting. This study showed that texting is much more dangerous than other driving distractions. The study also demonstrated that drivers spent almost five seconds looking at their cell phones while texting and driving.

Traveling at 60 mph and for a 4 second distraction texting on your cell phone you'd have travelled the length of a football field. As in this case in the United Kingdom one driver was momentarily distracted while texting and ended up killing a motorcyclist.

Anybody, even Deaf people, who text while driving is in the same league as drunk drivers. And to do so means that they are irresponsible drivers who do not care for the safety of other people who may be harmed or killed over a stupid texting moment.

I hope stricter laws will be enacted that includes jail time and/or the confiscation of cell phone depending on the nature of the driving (e.g. 10 mph versus 75 mph on a highway).

Hey, I got a message to all you drivers who insist on driving while texting, especially Deaf people who don't listen.

Text driving = drunk driving = immature drivers.

Don't text and drive. You may save a life, including your own.
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Alldeaf - the prejudice factor

This is my third and final installment of the "factor series" (see previous ones here and here) where prejudicial feelings are used as a justification to go after people whose political views or opinions that do not line up with their supposedly prevailing attitudes. In short, acting out of sheer deaf madness in moments of temporary insanity. But read on further and I'm sure you'll get a big laugh out of this one!

Here it goes.

Not too long ago I got a ban notice saying that my ban would last 4 days but it ended up lasting only one day (they owe me 1 day of no access!) after a moderator (who doesn't like me for my political beliefs and opinions, a fact) realized the folly of banning me over something that was really funny in the first place. Right then and there I knew it was all about the person's own political feelings getting hurt and nothing about keeping things "neutral" (if there is such a thing in AD) while as a moderator.

Here's my cropped banned letter with the original reason why I was banned just to save space.



This was the result of me putting a picture of a cat dressed up as an al-Qaeda suicide bomber in the jokes section. Yuk yuk. Only this person didn't have any sense of humor, obviously. The ban only lasted less than 24 hours which I'm sure others higher up had to convince this person just how stupid it was and and how transparent the actions were by going after me so quickly, and without thinking, too.

Here's the "offensive" picture that I posted along with some notes.

Finished laughing?

Then came *TWO* reasons explaining why I was banned for putting an "offensive" picture of a suicide bomber cat in the Jokes and Funny Stories section. But in less than 24 hours the 4-day ban was rescinded and I got this PM letter. This person asked why I put the picture up. I responded,

"Because it was funny. Live a little."

Still laughing?

I'm not done.

Two weeks earlier (I didn't even know the same suicide cat bomber picture was posted there, too!) the same suicide cat bomber picture was found in the pets section of AD. Go to this link here and you'll see it before your very own eyes. Don't worry. I made a screen capture and an html copy of it just in case. See what the commenter said below about the 72-virgins post -picture joke? Shouldn't that comment be "offensive," too? And what about the suicide bomber cat picture? Is it that offensive? How come that poster never got banned? Do you see anybody in that thread howling with outrage?

But really, the first time I saw that picture it was in Deafreedom. I thought it was hilarious and so I copied and pasted it in AD in the jokes section. As I found out, laughingly so, somebody certainly didn't find the picture amusing. But this whole "banning thing" was a complete joke in of itself worthy to have it's own jokes section.

This wank, S*blesc**t, (in a forum that claim to be politically neutral, hah!) seriously needs to address his own personal issues against me and leave the proper and professional moderating duties to those who know how to do them correctly.

Lou Ferrigno - finally, the first non-Deaf star to be on "Dancing with the Stars" show

(See update below).

Thank goodness that the people of Dancing with the Stars were smart enough to finally "pick" a "non-Deaf" star, Lou Ferrigno (who is famous for playing the big, green hulking mutant in a 1970s The Incredible Hulk tv series), for a shot at the dance shootout. And, if officially picked, we'll see whether his feet matches his muscles, or perhaps his brain, in terms of dexterity, grace, and, without stumbling flat on his face, too. The last deaf person on Dancing with the Stars was in fact a Deaf person named Marlee Matlin who signed her way throughout the show but ultimately eliminated from the competition.



Now, the table has turned. We will have Lou Ferrigno who represents the majority of deaf people who do not know or use sign language to communicate but rather use oral/aural methods to communicate with the help of their hearing aids or cochlear implants in their everyday lives. Lou is a role model and an inspiration to the hundreds of thousands if not millions of deaf and hard of hearing kids who will get a chance to watch this "Deafless" guy dance (or stumble) his way across the screen. So the question is this. How light is Lou's feet? Well, check out Lou's 2007 audition clip where he didn't make the cut the first time around and probably enough to make you wince watching it, I did (sorry Lou). Just don't bad mouth since Lou is also a reserve Deputy Sheriff who was sworn in back in 2006.



Lots of hip swiveling with his white t-shirt and jeans along with fading in and out screen shots. Hmmm, 50s type dancing? Not really impressed. Probably the same feelings as the producers of the show who saw Lou's clip. But who knows how he'll fare this time around (I'm assuming his recent audition clip was much better than the one in 2007?) once he gets a professional dancer to teach him how to really dance. We might be in for a surprise. At least hopefully he'll go a lot longer than Marlee before getting eliminated.

Ok, folks. Calm down now. You can stop hyperventilating.

Geez.

UPDATE: Apparently last week on Good Morning America a list of names was read on those who were officially selected by DWTS Tom Bergeron. And the name Lou Ferrigno wasn't on that list. Lou's mad, or maybe was more surprised than mad but certainly his wife, Carla, is mad after whipping Lou into shape and have him lose 25lbs in bodyweight.

From E! Online:

Here's the full list of "stars" you'll see during the three-day premiere of Dancing With the Stars, kicking off Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. on ABC...

Kathy Ireland, 46, model
Macy Gray, 41, singer
Melissa Joan Hart, 33, actress
Mya, 29, singer
Ashley Hamilton, 34, actor-comedian
Michael Irvin, 43, football player
Mark Dacascos, 45, actor and martial artist
Donny Osmond, 51, entertainer
Kelly Osbourne, 24, singer
Debi Mazar, 45, actress
Chuck Liddell, 39, UFC fighter
Natalie Coughlin, 26, swimmer
Joanna Krupa, 30, model
Louie Vito, 21, snowboarder
Aaron Carter, 21, singer
Tom DeLay, 62, former House majority leader

I suppose they went for Chuck Liddel, a widely popular and well known UFC fighter, instead of the bigger (now slimmer) Lou Ferrigno? Who knows what the DWTS officials were thinking, especially picking a politician, Tom Delay, who is not even considered a "star" but more of like a very well known public servant whose only fame was getting kicked out of the House majority leader position.

Will Lou try again? No, not according to Carla and the fact that DWTS never had the class to inform him or his manager beforehand.

His manager and wife Carla told RadarOnline.com:

"They never even had the class to give Lou a call and tell him that he was not going to be chosen - this is the second time they haven't selected him but it will be the last."

"We couldn't believe some of the people they picked, and Lou was more surprised than upset that he wasn't chosen because we know he would have been great. "I mean, Tom Delay, a corrupt politician, a skateboarder [Louie Vito] who nobody has ever heard of, and what exactly has Ashley Hamilton ever done?"

Indeed. A strange list of "stars." But don't worry folks, Lou is still a role model for millions of deaf and hard of hearing kids to look up to.

Famous deaf person loses 82 lbs with successful portion control program

Rush Limbaugh, who is deaf by the way, is continuing with his successful weight loss program which stands at 82lbs after hearing it on the radio recetly Friday a few days ago (link will expire in a few days).

....my weight loss, which is now 82 pounds. I started on March 9th. This is August 14th. My weight loss is now 82 pounds...

That'd be losing on average 1/2 lb of bodyweight a day. Not bad. Quite safe. And he follows highly nutritious meals prepared for him at 1500 calories a day under a "Quick Weight Loss" program. He looks much better in his ditto-cam nowadays and not so much looking overly rotund.

Here's a dinner description that Rush highlighted on Friday:

Last night when dinner was placed before me, I said, "This can't be right. There's too much here." The plate was filled with seven ounces of chicken, chicken breast cut in half, and on the top of it was a casserole type of broccoli, a little rice, some cottage cheese in there, and a thickening agent, I don't even know what it was, and a cup of asparagus that looked like the whole package from the grocery store. And then there was the frozen strawberry daiquiri protein shake, which is, by the time you drink it, about 20 ounces. I looked at that and said, "This can't be." I almost called Kathryn, said, "Kathryn, this is not right, this is too much food." I've thought that I can't tell you how many times that I've sat down to eat on this diet. It's amazing. The people who have not done it and the people who don't know what it is are telling you more about how it can't work and doesn't work than the guy who has done it! The arrogance of these people is just amazing.

Arrogance? How about prejudiced, too, simply because he's a conservative Republican? Unreal. And there were articles after articles demonizing Limbaugh for losing 1/2lb a day or 15lbs a month but spun it as if he was losing weight dangerously to imply, unrealistically, that Rush is in danger of doing that. Unreal. And they call themselves "doctors."

I went over to Alldeaf to start a topic to congratulate Rush Limbaugh on his weight loss success with kudos. The only thing I got was veiled demonizations from commenters against Rush rather than to give him any kudos. That tells alot of how they make this into a political reason not to praise and give kudos to Rush. In short, this was about politics when it shouldn't have been about politics but about acknowledging and giving well deserved kudos. Kind of funny when commenters attempt to bob and weave with their responses to make sure they don't give any semblance of kudos to Rush Limbaugh. Funny, but sad at the same time, too. It's people like Rush Limbaugh who inspire others to lose weight and that alone speaks volume. Avoiding kudos also speaks volume, doubly so.

Rush didn't take stimulants (ie. diet pills). No drugs. Instead he has a planned eating program designed to learn how to portion your food intake while having a great and nutritious meal. And because of that, Rush was able to lose 82 lbs so far and inspired others to continue with their own weight loss program.

CALLER: I'm calling because I've had similar success on a weight loss program very similar to your program.

RUSH: Not possible.

CALLER: (chuckling)

RUSH: The weight I've lost I haven't lost, according to the experts.

CALLER: I know. I heard that. I started out at 319; I lost 90 pounds.

RUSH: In what period of time?

CALLER: It took about a year.

RUSH: It took about a year.

CALLER: Uh-huh. And I looked online at the program you were using and I realized that the products were very similar to the ones I used. The protein supplements and things were very similar.

RUSH: Well, congratulations, that's great, 90 pounds, that's significant. I'm at 82 since March the 9th. But, you know, men lose weight faster --

CALLER: Exactly.

RUSH: -- than women do. They just do.

CALLER: And I had kind of slacked off and wasn't being as diligent and then when I saw what you were doing I got back on it and I lost five pounds the first week.

RUSH: Well, way to go! I'm happy to provide inspiration in yet another way.

CALLER: Thank you.

RUSH: You had a question. It says up here, "Do you still eat...?" What? What were you going to ask me?

CALLER: Oh, the screener was asking me if I go hungry, and I told him no. I don't go hungry at all. The food is very nutritious. It really teaches you the proper portions and you don't go hungry at all.

RUSH: I actually don't look at this as a diet anymore. I look at it -- you can call it portion control or whatever. It's just how to eat sensibly.

CALLER: Mmm-hmm.

RUSH: I'll tell you a little something. We've had a blast out here this week and I've been going to dinner every night, and one night this week -- it's not because I overate or anything, but one night this week -- at the end of the night I felt like I used to feel when I weighed 290 after eating dinner.

CALLER: Mmm-hmm.

RUSH: And I said, "I am never going through this again. This is never going to happen." It just took that one time.

CALLER: Mmm-hmm.

RUSH: Really, I don't know what happened. I think it was just a combination. That was the night I pulled the all-nighter and so forth. But I'll tell you, this is the first diet -- quote, unquote, "diet" -- that I been on that I don't want to get off of.

CALLER: Well, I'm still on it.

RUSH: Other diets when I finally got to the goal I said, "All riiiiiiiight!"

CALLER: Exactly. That's what I did and then I started putting it back on.

RUSH: Yeah, well, that will happen. Yeah.

CALLER: I'm not going to do that.

RUSH: Well, congratulations, June. That's just great. I'm very proud of you.

CALLER: People can do it.

RUSH: People don't know how hard this is. They don't know how to stick with something and lose 90 pounds.

CALLER: It is hard but people can do it.

RUSH: Of course! Of course people can do it. People do it all the time but the experts say I haven't done it.

CALLER: I know. I heard that. (chuckling)

RUSH: It's just amazing. June, thanks for the call.

CALLER: Thank you. Bye.

RUSH: I appreciate it.

So, instead of using politics as an excuse to avoid kudos to anybody who loses weight in sound and sensible manner who took the time and planned effort deserves kudos no matter what their background in politics. People will try all kinds of justification to avoid any semblance of a kudos and will come up with their own lame, lame way to avoid it.

Sad to see that happen. So, congrats to Rush Limbaugh on his successful weight loss! The most famous radio personality in the United States who happens to be deaf and wears a cochlear implant.

Gallaudet's Community Service Requirement - a forced, mandatory volunteer program?

Community service? It can be done while as a volunteer or it can be used to punished those who violate the law where judges dole out community service requirements to offenders. Community service punishment is also seen as the ideal sentence for those who commit misdemeanor crimes must do 80 hours of community service.

Juvenile court Judge Christopher Estes sentenced Pleajhai Mervin, Kenngela Lockett and her brother Joshua to at-home probation and community service, but spared them any jail time. Ms. Mervin, then 15, and Ms. Lockett were charged with the misdemeanors while Joshua Lockett was charged with felony counts of threatening a public officer and making criminal threats. He also faced misdemeanor charges for disturbing the peace.

The youths must perform 80 hours of community service and undergo anger management classes, but according to Atty. Carl Douglas, their lawyer, they could be entangled in the legal system until they are 23-years-old. He doubts that will happen because the teens “are good children,” he told The Final Call.

Now, Gallaudet University has a "community service program requirement" for new freshmen where it requires them to do 80 hours of community service in order to graduate.

Ironically, in Gallaudet University's Community Service Program Requirement, it states one of the things on what the program is about,

Understand first-hand obligation to contribute to the solution of societal problems.

Isn't one of societal problems also includes the forcing of a mandatory volunteer requirement on new undergraduate students in order for them to graduate?

The word "volunteer" means to do things on your own initiative and on your own time without anyone telling you when and what you must do in order to graduate from college? Volunteering comes from the heart when the person is ready to do so out of self-consciousness or realization. The words "community service program requirement" is simply an euphemism for mandatory volunteering requirement. The phrase "mandatory volunteerism" is an oxymoron. You cannot force people to volunteer. Mandatory volunteerism is the heart of Gallaudet's program could be seen as a stumbling block for those who want to graduate.

In a 2008 commentary letter about a North Carolina Senate bill that will add a community service requirement for graduation for almost every college in the state:

In 1999 and 2004 there were similar attempts on community service requirements at the University of California. Former system provost H.R.C. Greenwood reminded us that the university’s academic senate stated that "existing research on collegiate community service suggests that a graduation requirement impedes, rather than promotes, the fostering of an ethic of public service."

Indeed. I see that it does impedes the spirit of volunteering rather than promotes it.

So those of you thinking about going to Gallaudet University for the first time, maybe it's time to broaden your options first before deciding. It's time to develop your critical thinking skills on these matters.

UPDATE: See my recent blog, a continuation of this subject.

Deafness Cure One Step Closer.....

And, no, this isn't a fake news but a real one where scientists have gotten one step closer, very close I might add, to help solve an age old problem on how to restore hearing loss in deaf and hard of hearing people.

Deaf people could one day have their hearing restored through a ground-breaking gene therapy technique, scientists reported yesterday.

They showed that they can trigger the growth of new hair cells in the inner ear that are crucial to hearing as they pick up sound vibrations.

In tests on mice they showed that stimulating these usually irreplaceable cells to grow resulted in new cells that helped detect noise.

Researchers believe the approach could eventually be used to improve or restore hearing to the 9 million people in Britain classified as deaf or hard of hearing.

Dr. Mark Downs, of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, said: "This is an exciting development which completes another important piece of the jigsaw in understanding how we might use gene therapy to eventually restore hearing loss.

"It is no longer a pipedream to talk about cell and drug-based solutions. There is a long way to go, but the journey towards new treatments is certainly under way."

Read more here. And even more details here.

Once scientists began to unravel certain key but crucial elements on how to unlock the mysteries of deafness by restoring hearing will only mean that the dominos will fall faster as more scientists join in on the search to finally help restore hearing loss. This news discovery today will only mean that research will step up even more quicker and the time til the first deaf person to have his/her hearing restored will be even more closer and not some distant pipe dream.

Amazing science!

And here's to for the restoration of hearing loss!

Ball and Chain

I agree and I support on what Amy Cohen Efron said about the need to exhibit positive examples rather than resort to conspiracy talks, continued negative remarks and darts and daggers aimed at AGBell (and not "AGBAD" which is clearly a barb) whether implied or directly, and the continued bringing up old history rather than to look forward to the future in a positive way. If DBC supporters or followers continue to do these negative types of compaigns via their vlogs or blogs then it will probably be the death of DBC unless somebody make clear to these Deaf people and supporters, who carry way too many baggage, hidden agendas, hiding behind their masks and whatnot need to stop with these personal vendettas and negative but personal campaigns on the sideline

I and many others have seen time and time again these detractors' hidden agendas and masks worn by many of them who pretend to be neutral on cochlear implant issues, AVTs, oral progams, parental rights regarding their deaf/hh babies and such. Their rift is simply too big for them ignore and hide behind their own masks. It’s simply too apparent in a lot of cases. Brian O'Reilly exemplies this fully though, ironically, he's a hearing person who is speaking on behalf of all Deaf people. Until these things are weeded out as early as possible no amount of PRs by DBC will have much an impact since the numerous Deaf vloggers and bloggers will simply overshadow DBC's laudable goals and efforts on positive thinking. Again, Brian O’Reilly’s article in DBC’s own official website was written to attack and demean AGBell and the organization thereby nullifying DBC’s own agenda on moving forward. It cannot if these attitudes persist.

Examples of negative remarks and darts thrown at AGBell seen in "Gearing Up" by Brian O'Reilly (a hearing person speaking on behalf of Deaf people at DBC):

- "Battle of the Conferences” (which implies that DBC is a protest of sort on behalf of Brian O’Reilly’s own writing in DBC’s official website)
- “…merciless references to the great antagonist and arch-villain of the story, Alexander Graham Bell.”
- “ …destroyed lives.. ”
- “ …damage done… ”
- “ …insidious method of preemptive strike… ”
- “Premptive strikes on the social level..”
- “ …force them to try to communicate… ”
- “ …Bellian-Oralist scheme… ”
- “ …still-born plan of the type of mad scientist better relegated to a Mary Shelley novel… ” (note: Mary Shelley wrote the famous novel “Frankenstein”)
- “ …having been fooled.. ”
- “ …silver-tongued embezzler of the mind.. ”
- “ ..mental hijinks lay dormant.. ”
- etc..etc… ad nauseum.

This article (that DBC implicitly supports) probably set back the goals and image of DBC by several years, if not decades, in the effort to get their word out. But with a single stroke of a pen the article, “Gearing up,” single handidly ruined DBC’s first day at the Milwaukee conference. There is nothing worse than to have a stuck mental picture in the public minds, who happens to be mostly hearing parents of deaf/hh children, seeing just how loathsome, angry and disrespectful DBC seems to be. And all because, with thanks, Brian thought it was a cleverly done article replete with negative attacks after negative attacks in an official DBC website?

Nice going.

Isn’t DBC about looking forward and not backward? There are simply too many Deaf people with hidden agendas and heavy baggage that are capable of ruining DBC’s main goal on getting positive information out to parents of deaf/hh babies and children so that they can make an informed decision. Now, Amy Cohen Efron won’t say these things but I will just to make myself a bit pointedly clear on just how obnoxious and damaging "Gearing Up" turned out to be.

Frankly, imho, putting the DBC “conference” right next to AGBell’s already produced one big honking red flag warning people on what’s to come. Good intention aside. Why are people surprised that the skywalk was blocked in the first place? Now, remember, the myths about Deaf people and their “attitudes” are already and firmly in place in most of the public minds and see them as simply “angry” Deaf people (see my points about the UFG protest here and here, and other protests of sorts).

Of course, all it takes is one DBC supporter at the Milwaukee site to cast a negative and angry glance at any of the ABGell’s attendees or a group of them and that alone will simply confirm to them that the DBC conference is nothing more than an opportunity to protest rather than to disseminate useful information in a neutral and positive way. So far, day 1 has been a “failure” on that part. People supportive of DBC need to look to the future and not the past without using accusatory tones and resentments or else DBC’s message and goals will not be heard but overlapped and swept under the rug. Plus, many people continue to be suspicious of DBC leaders’ intentions because the baggage of the past is simply too heavy for many Deaf people to carry and ignore. I and many, many others have seen this time and time again. Transparency gets ugly if people insist on wearing masks. They have turned that baggage into a ball and chain tightly cuffed to their ankles and they are unwilling to let it go.

So, now. What will it be? Look to the future or look to the past and let the ball and chain do the talking?