My Grand Experiment

I've given this some thought for several weeks now and decided to try this out on a self-imposed experiment of mine. I don't know if it'll work or if I have the will power to see it through but it'll be like a time capsule I'm putting myself through. Something different to try my hands on for a whole year. What is it you say? Well, it's an all news blackout for me....for a year. Practically on any news.

Starting on July 25, 2011 on a Monday I will NOT allow myself access to any news information whether it's from my truck radio, television, newspapers, magazines, internet, and even through my blog comments. Any news (sans the weather on the internet) whether its politics, world news, local news, and so on. This may include accessing any deaf-related news as well only because I may inadvertently pick up some outside news along the way, however. It's the day to day news I'm attempting to avoid rather than deaf news. This experiment of mine might prove harder to discipline myself since I will miss my daily political news and editorials on my truck radio whenever I drive to work each morning and back home. Instead I'll pop in some of my music tapes. No FM stations for music because news can filter in that way. If I'm in a store and I come across a magazine rack or newspaper dispenser I'll force to avert my eyes and avoid reading anything where news might filter back to me.  Having said that I'll will also disable comments on my blog for a whole year because some people might try and sneak in some tidbit of news hoping to bait me. I will limit myself from accessing Facebook and YouTube as well because, well, again, news can filter in that way as well. I'll limit myself to certain websites that do not carry any news. Good bye Drudge Report and all that.

Now, I bet there are some Deaf people cheering at this blog news of mine thinking that I won't blog much on anything related to deafness. Be forewarned, I do have a lot to say and will contribute to my blog on a variety of topics, deaf or not. Who knows. This goal of mine may last only a day if I catch myself watching, reading, or listening to any news but I'll try and remind myself not to do that. Bad boy! Bad boy! This experiment may last only a week. A month. Or if I'm lucky a whole year. But I reserve the right to come out of "retirement" which would be a bonafide "threat" to some Deaf people. Ha ha...seriously. They're just that cranky and whine so much you could actually hear them! Ok. Rather a facetious if not hyperbolic response.  

If you look to the left of my blog near the top you can see my countdown clock. On Monday it'll be 365 days til July 25, 2012 when I come out of my self-imposed news ban. The clock says "Seattle" because it was set at Pacific Coast Time and Seattle was the city I selected that I'm not very far away from. This experiment of mine is kind of like this one guy who went below into a cave for a whole year as part of a science experiment and after awhile lost all track of time and any news on the outside world. Only this time for me I want to try and lose track of any sense of news on whats happening "out there."  And when I "re-emerge" back into the world of nuttiness I'll see what I missed and the things I've learned while I was "away."

Starting tomorrow I'll turn off the comments. If you have anything to say, say it now and say your peace. And I'll see you guys in about a year from now. I'll continue to write and blog, and still meet my friends in person. But I'm sure some Deaf people will get angry on what I will say but so what. They can never be happy. We already know that. But the beauty is that they can't respond in my blog and I wont read or watch their responses elsewhere. Tough guano on their part.

See ya in about a year?

"Deaf group attacks stem cell researcher for his work on the cure for deafness"

"Arrests were made against a small group of Deaf people who attacked a stem cell researcher for his work on finding a cure for hearing loss. The attack took place at the researcher's home where he sustained multiple injuries. He was treated at a nearby hospital and released. The attack occurred while he was home alone. Graffiti was spray painted on the living room walls and elsewhere in the victim's house with words like 'Audism is wrong,' and 'Deaf babies do not need your help,' along with several epithets. The group, based on the graffiti, named themselve as 'Deaf Crusaders.' "

Could this shocking news conceivably happen someday?

Let's hope not. But with researchers working around the clock all across the United States (and the world) on the cure for hearing loss (see here, here, here, here and here) it would be a matter of time until a cure could be found for various kinds of hearing losses. For some Deaf people they would consider these scientific advancements as a threat to their Deaf culture (see "Will Deaf Culture Die Out Someday - Part I and Part II) should a cure finally be found. And certainly among those few who do view a cure for hearing loss as a threat there could be potentially smaller subset of Deaf extremists who may resort to the use of violence against stem cell researchers on the cure for hearing loss. As with any group there is always a few bad apples who will resort to violence as their means of protesting (see vandalism question at Gallaudet protest). Researchers have been attacked in the past before for their medical work.

Police said several students from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) attacked a researcher, who uses mice to study breast cancer, at her home Feb. 24. (2008)

The biology professor, who declined to give her name to protect herself and her family from more violence, was at home with her children and husband when the alleged assailants attacked her home just before noon. The suspects attacked the professor’s husband and then fled the scene in a vehicle. Because the incident happened in daylight, the husband, who suffered minor injuries, was able to write down the license plate of the car.

If a bunch of students went after a professor for her medical work on mice to the point of terrorizing and injuring a researcher then it wouldn't be inconceivable that a Deaf person (or a small group of Deaf people) with extremist tendencies to attack a researcher working on a cure for hearing loss. Or for that matter supposingly a cure has been found would a research center get vandalized and broken into in the attempt to "stop" the cure on deafness from getting out. There is always that possibility. It may be small or even non-existant but certainly a possibility based on fear and frustration.

The above news is a hypothetical one but the fact remains that there are always somebody with extremist tendencies who will go further, even to the point of injuring, or heaven forbid, murder a researcher in the name of stopping medical advancements, for example, such as for the cure on hearing loss.