Bar of Expectation - Lower It Now?

This is nothing new but a few days ago I blogposted "A fancy, schmancy blogpost" where I discussed the audacity of the few who actually took the time to complain about a blogger's use of "fancy words." One blogger tried to dissect my blogpost but her biggest complaint was this:

"But what offended me about McConnell’s post was that he *deliberately* put in words that very few people knew, then told them to look it up! That doesn’t strike me as being very respectful of your readers."

Now, there seem to be a bit of a misunderstanding on this blogger's part on why I put certain "fancy words" into my blogpost deliberately so that day. And that was to drive home a point. This is the era of the internet where words can be easily looked up.

I have used the word "discombobulate" a couple of times in my blogposts. Words like "confounded" is, to me, a commonly used word. And for "vulgarized," it was specifically chosen solely for the look and sound of the word where readers (those who do not bother to look it up) will assume it has to do with "vulgar" words, which it is not. Just like when many readers assumed on what "incestuous" meant despite how it was placed context-wise in a sentence.

I have in the past, on rare occasssions, added dictionary links to certain "unfamiliar words." But I pretty much stopped doing that since I figured readers are smart enough to do that on their own and look them up. Should I expect otherwise? This has always been my expectatation, as should be for everybody else, that it's the reader's responsibility to look up a word. Should I instead expect readers not be able to do this and they're a bunch of helpless creatures? Of course not! This is, after all, the era of the internet. I err on the side that my readers here are smart enough to know how to use the internet.

There is this seeming habit by certain people who have the uncanny ability to twist everything out of context in some of my blogposts thinking the subject is aimed at the whole Deaf community. It is not if one actually take the time to see where I'm driving at in my blogposts. It's clear in my blogposts that the subject is about certain individuals who do these certain things such as, for example, taking the time to actually complain to me about the use of "fancy words." Instead, a time would've been better spent looking up unfamiliar words in the first place, and not complain like a 2 year old. My blogsite is aimed at both hearing and deaf people. See?

Now, I don't turn down requests for explainations of certain words or clarifications when asked. That's a different approach and completely acceptable. But if one chooses to complain instead, well, then that person must be the laziest person on the planet who cannot even look it up or have the decency to ask for an explanation. Why complain? Is the person insecure or what? Or perhaps, instead, have serious issues with me and start throwing unfounded charges of "audism" because of the person's personality conflict with me? What gives? Seriously.

This is all intuitive here and I shouldn't even have to explain it all here in the first place. The subject is about a certain group of people who act in a certain way and not about the whole community.

Do you see the thrust of my argument here? It's the same one in my recent blogpost "A fancy, schmancy blogspot." Many Deaf people understood my blogpost right away and agreed and knew that I was talking about certain individuals who act a certain way rather than at the whole Deaf community. It's rather incredible to see these types of knee jerk responses. All this is what I could be described as "distressingly funny."

I make it abundantly clear to those who do complain about the use of "fancy words" and that is they need to grow up. I have no qualms in saying that. There are people who do not like what I say and get offended for basically telling them that they are smart enough to do these things on their own. My bar of expectation is higher for the readers who come here to read my blogposts. No reason to expect otherwise. We're not doing the limbo here.

What is your bar of expectation for your readers?

Do Deaf Stalkers Exist?

Apparently, they do exist. This isn't the first time I talked about stalkers. I blogposted this subject earlier about hearing stalkers going after hearing people like crazed fans stalking movie stars. All this made me realize that there are very little discussions about Deaf stalkers. I believe now is a good time to address this reality about Deaf stalkers who go after Deaf people, and perhaps in rare cases go after hearing people though I've not heard of such a thing though the possibility does exist.

There are two kinds of stalkers.

1) Stalkers who actual stalk people in the flesh like following a person closely outside. A common occurrence precluding a physical attack or rape.

2) Stalkers who follow and/or harrass certain individuals via electronically such as the phone or internet.

Why do some Deaf people stalk another Deaf person? The reasons are many, of course. Some do it because of their utter hatred of the person for whatever reason. Some do it because they are obsessed and in love. Some do it to make money many like in a money making scam. The level and type of stalking varies as well as the reason for doing so.

Now, some people might protest or complain that hearing people do same thing and what I'm posting is unfair to Deaf people or may make a ridiculous accustion of "audism." It's true that hearing people do stalk as well but the differences lies in the size of a community. In this case, we have a Deaf community where the effects of a Deaf person stalking another Deaf person becomes much more magnified due to the more closed-knit community. A community where everybody basically knows everybody else. Especially in the Deaf blogosphere and Deaf forums on the internet.

In this day and age, the use of the internet gives special advantages for Deaf stalkers. A stalker would be able to harrass his/her victim anonymously or not. Or, perhaps more commonly, the stalker may "ask" his/her friends to sic on a particular person. Attacks could come in the form of name callings, damaging lies or outright lies, threats of bodily harm, libel, defamation, and so on. By making the complaints known to his/her friends or over the internet in a public format, the friends of a stalker will do the bidding instead. A stalker typically respond in a knee jerk fashion. It is usually a defense mechanism whenever one feels threatened and go about calling names and make wild accusations and claims. And in the process makes a fool of him/herself in public over the internet. This kind of action simply makes a stalker that much more transparent to the public. Just remember, a stalker's typical response over the internet usually come in the form of being overly defensive along with name calling and making wild claims.

Here are some Deaf stalkers stories I've found using Google to do my research on deaf stalking stories. It was no suprise to find very little Deaf stalkers stories or articles on the subject. The limited information on these things points to a serious problem.

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Example #1.

I have to use paper for persons who can't read lips. MY ASL sucks, but its all one-sided. You see I'm almost completely blind so when comicuating with the deafits very frustrating. I had a deaf stalker in fact and to be honest I didn't know what to think if I could even think. I couldn't seem to get it across to him to leave me alone. and talk about serious stalker issues. He kept trying to make out with me no matter how many times and ways I said no.

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Example #2.

grunter
07-19-02, 04:43 PM

Trust me Giles - sometimes the talkers are better than the deaf-mutes who won't and can't take "NO" for an answer. Why do I say this? Because I have a deaf stalker at one of the baths I frequent. All he ever wants to do is take you back to his room and *yeeuck* "cuddle."How do you sign "eff NO - I ain't here to play smoochie-smoochie?"

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Example #3.

When Anita left her abusive husband Ed, she found that escaping his violence would not be easy. She moved her two children into an apartment and sought expert advice on how to start a new life. She obtained an order of protection, a divorce, and full custody of her children. As she struggled to free herself from Ed, he began stalking her. Anita finally moved to a new city and even changed her name. Yet one afternoon when she picked up her children, Ed was waiting outside the school. Alarmed and frustrated, she prepared to flee again.

Anita's plight is hardly unique. Abusers often become stalkers. And stalkers tenaciously pursue their victims. Yet Anita's story is somewhat unusual. In her case, the stalker had little trouble finding his ex-wife because she has a disability: she is deaf. To locate Anita, Ed (who is also deaf) simply contacted the Social Security Administration to "inquire" whether the Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) checks his children receive as his dependents were reaching them. In answering Ed's question, the agency gave him Anita's new address.

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As you can see there are few stories or discussions about Deaf stalkers who stalk other Deaf/deaf/hh people. Or even articles on the subject. People may talk about a "Deaf stalker" as a tongue-in-cheek response in order to get the point across in a figurative and not literal manner. In other cases, it's very real and it does happen. The actual stalking in of itself is serious thing. Especially considering, for example, in the light of the rapes that have occurred on the campus of Gallaudet University for many years. I did a 3-part series covering this rape issue on the campus of Gallaudet University last year. In many cases, the stalking usually occurs prior to a rape event whether it's done physically or through electronic means such as the internet.

I'm sure many people may have noticed the times when people made anonymous comments in blogsites or even in forums as way to attack and harass continuously the people they don't like. Repeatedly coming over to post anonymous comments is merely a design to harass. This could, in fact, be a potential sign of a stalking taking place. It could also be a sign of insecurity and/or low self-esteem.

So, what can the victims do when it comes to electronic stalking?

First and foremost, keep a record of every incident whether it's emails, videos, a screen capture of the harrasser's websites that shows the offending materials, use of the Google or Yahoo cache to capture dead and live links, and so on. Note the time and date. Nothing is ever too small because all those information help draw a picture of the stalker should you have to take the case to a judge. Documentiation is very important.

In fact, there was a story about how a next door neighbor in the United Kingdom was harrassed and threated by an old 82 year old lady. . The neighbor was forced to document every incident, no matter how small, to the point where it gave enough proof for a judge to jail the woman. It may sound funny but it is not once you read the story. It's not funny for people who become victims of a stalker.

If you are a Deaf person who is stalked by another Deaf person, it's time that you share your stories here (or elsewhere if you have a blogsite or in a discussion forum). Have you ever experienced a stalker who have harassed you, made up lies about you, physically attacked you, or used websites or forums to defame you?'

Share your stories here. Also, don't be surprised on what you might find in my Haloscan comments by people who have nothing better than to go after me.

For more information on stalking, go to the Anti-stalker website.

A Fancy, Schmancy Blogpost

Now, this isn’t the first time when a deaf person actually took the time to basically complain to me about a blogpost accusing me of using “fancy” words whenever I write. In fact, I’ve had several of these “complaints” over the past two years plus when people actually took the time to complain. Most of these “complaints” came from the Haloscan comments. Only one or two from the top of my head came to me via email.

Now, do I get discombobulated over these things? No. Am I confounded over this? No. Should I use vulgarized words so everybody can understand? No. Must I change my writing style for the sake of accommodation? Why should I? And before you assume on what I wrote better look up the words first. Wouldn’t want another “incestuous” misunderstanding again.

Now, I don’t see any “fancy” words that I’ve been using in my blogposts. Not from my own perspective because I don’t consider them “fancy words” in the first place. Oh, sure the above paragraph was a tongue-in-cheek response and shouldn’t be taken seriously of the words I used. Just making a point here that’ll be explained further below.

You know. My mother told me a very important story when I was a young boy attending school that had an oral program. She was very vocal on telling teachers that deaf kids needed to be taught alternative words that have the same meaning or that they take the time to explain the meaning of "bigger" words to these deaf kids. Many teachers ignored my mother’s suggestion and continued to teach deaf kids using very simple words rather than to try and explain what many of the "bigger" words meant. Luckily, my mother was proactive in her approach with me and taught me alternative words and took the time to actually explain what these “fancy” words meant. It was never the “No, it’s too complicated to explain.” There was always a dictionary book close by in our house and it was one of those huge 7 or 8 inch thick dictionary books.

Now, this is the era of the internet. You have Google. You have online dictionary websites. You have online thesaurus websites. And whenever I come across a word I’m not familiar with, I look it up. This is an amazingly but extremely easy process. I can guarantee you that. Never have I ever complained to anyone's blogpost about his or her use of "fancy" words. If that is how a person writes, then that is how a person writes. Who are these people to complain about a person’s writing based on “fancy” words? Common sense dictates that if you don’t know what it means, you can actually use your own 10 little fingers and look up these words with a few keystrokes over the internet.

By now you may be saying, “Well, there are deaf people out there who have trouble understanding certain words or sentences when such words are used.” I certainly do sympathize with that. However, my goal has never been to “dumb down” what I write. And why should I? This is my writing style and my flow of thought reflects that. I have always written in that fashion. So, why change? Over because a few people who are unable to understand the meanings of certain words used or understand the construct of what I have written that reflects my blogposts? I write because who I am. I choose certain words in order to add the needed flavor that will express exactly what I want to write.

So, what is the bottom line? If you don’t know what the words mean, look it up. It’s better to do so than to complain about it. The English language is your friend.

Here’s a new word for you to look up.

chutzpanik

Yeah. That's right for those who have the gall to actually complain.

An Inconvenient Truth – Gallaudet University

Yesterday a team of students, faculty and staff held a global warming presentation at Gallaudet University as part of the Earth Day celebration event. One of Al Gore’s team members made a special visit to the campus to make a presentation as well as Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth.”

Again, this is another example of the global warming screamer crowd pandering to a political agenda whose objective is to prey on human's irrational fear. Now, since people have seen the presentation at Gallaudet, we will now have to deal with some of the students, staff and faculty who may likely have very little understanding on the knowledge of earth science and will now take face value of what was presented yesterday. The question is, will these students, staff or faculty members have the necessary critical thinking skill to discern truth from fiction, and not rely on emotional knee jerk reaction? Or will they run amok to everybody else that we must change or Earth will turn into a cooking oven? Will they question the validity of what was presented at Gallaudet University?

Let's hope so but then again I had to actually educate one Gallaudet University alumnus about his misconception of where oil came from. This fellow being an extremely bright and intelligent one actually believed oil came from dinosaurs. Now, my professional background is in the earth sciences covering hydrology, geophysics, geology, hydrogeology and some atmospheric work that I do on my job. But this guy has none of the earth science background. Yet believed oil came from decomposing dinosaurs.

Here is the fact. The source of oil does not come from dinosaurs. The source of oil comes from long past decayed biological materials but not from dinosaurs but from marine algae!

A primary source of organic material is marine ALGAE. These minute, one-celled organisms form the bulk of plant life in the world's oceans. They are ideally situated for preservation in deep oceans because of their planktonic (ie, free-floating) existence. When they die, algae sink to the seafloor where they are buried within silts and clays. Since burrowing organisms are not present, the algal material builds up to form an appreciable part (1-2%) of the total sediment. Bacterial action releases oxygen from this material, further concentrating the hydrogen and carbon molecules required to produce petroleum.

Now, if an intelligent person believed oil came from dinosaurs, and with no environmental science background, what do you think these students and staff will think about Al Gore’s movie and the Earth Day presentation at Gallaudet University who will now think that human population is responsible for global warming? You see, the global-warming-caused-by-human-population is in fact….a myth!

This is really all about politics and power here. Nothing more. People are being duped left and right on this.

Still, it is stupefying to watch people scream and hyperventilate about "Global Warming" claiming that it is caused by the human population and call this whole thing a "crisis." A crisis? Oh, please! Crisis is when you're facing a rogue country who want to lob nuclear missiles our way.

It is also equally dismaying to watch a few deaf/hh people like the ones in Gallynet-L or other forums run the gamut in a near state of panic to try and get people to help solve this "Global Warming" by sending a message to Congress on Al Gore's website. A last minute knee jerk panic button for the environmentally guilty. Once they send their message out they'll automatically feel better about themselves thinking they did something great.

Hardly.

Again, pure politics at play here that's entirely misplaced and abused by those who insist earth will collapse into a heaping pile of doo.

What is equally ridiculous is when people try and set up an acceptable “average global temperature” in order to have a baseline data to draw from. You cannot. Temperature changes over the hundreds and thousands of years from extremely warm periods to extremely cold periods such as the ice age. All you have are temperature trends. In fact, 900 years ago (“medieval period” - click to see timeline) temperature was much warmer back then than today’s. But the warming didn't start then. It began about 10,000 years ago which was when the last ice age ended. That was when glaciers and ice sheets that covered the mid-portion of the United States (geographically speaking) began retreating when world wide climate began to warm up! This would be the start of the warming period over the next 10,000 years to the present.

The premise behind Al Gore's alarm is to get people to feel guilty about using coal, oil, and gas. Or the amount of carbon we use. And by getting them to feel guilty he does the Chicken Little act and repeatedly says that the sky is falling because we drive too many SUVs like John Kerry. Or fly too many planes like Al Gore. Or build too big of a house of 28,000 square feet like John Edwards. After all, many forget that Earth is a carbon based system in the first place which has expelled/released carbon dioxide (CO2) for eons. And much of the carbon excess is recycled back into to the land, plants and ocean that act as “carbon sinks.” Trees require CO2 to survive, and in return it expels oxygen, the stuff that we need to breath and live!

But… but… you say that over the years CO2 has risen, so has the temperature! So what? In the field of science you have to be extremely careful when using trends in the attempt to correlate it with something else. Correlation does not always equate 100% causation. Especially as complex as the earth system and how it works.

This scare tactic is a design by the Al Gore's team along with the rest of the so-called scientists who say that Carbon Dioxide or CO2 that is being spewed out is caused mostly by the human population and sole reason for the global warming. This isn’t true. In fact, it is an outright lie.

The amount of CO2 expelled by man whether it’s from factories, cars, burning of petroleum or our own exhaled breath is extremely small compared to the actual amount of the earth's CO2 it puts out into the atmosphere annually.

In terms of total C02, volume-wise, in the atmosphere compared to the rest of the gas makes up only .03% (or .0003) of the atmosphere. Nitrogen makes up 78% of the atmosphere while Oxygen at 21%, Argon at 0.9% and water vapor at 0.5% (Troposphere only). See the interactive flash player on atmospheric content of these gases.

What people don’t know is that water vapor such as the amount of humidity we feel around us and in the clouds we see above us have the ability to hold and release heat. Carbon Dioxide or CO2 does not act as heat exchangers. Carbon Dioxide is not known to be a climate driver. It has never been a climate driver. Water vapor helps create clouds. Clouds form and help produce precipitation such as rain. Rain helps keep the earth cool. The cycle continues. Without precipitation earth would simply become too hot for human habitation.

The total human CO2 emissions, primarily from the use of coal, oil, and natural gas and the production of cement, are currently about 5.5 GT C (Gigaton carbon) per year. But lets put these figures in perspective.

It is estimated that the atmosphere contains 750 Gt C; the surface ocean contains 1,000 Gt C; vegetation, soils, and detritus contain 2,200 Gt C; and the intermediate and deep oceans contain 38,000 Gt C. Each year, the surface ocean and atmosphere exchange an estimated 90 Gt C; vegetation and the atmosphere, 60 Gt C; marine biota and the surface ocean, 50 Gt C; and the surface ocean and the intermediate and deep oceans, 100 Gt C ( Schimel, D. S. (1995) Global Change Biology 1, 77-91).

So, what does the total CO2 emission by man means? It means that the human population produces only 6% of the carbon emission than what the ocean puts into the atmosphere annually. It means that the human population produces only 9% of the carbon emission plants put out into the atmosphere annually. But the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere constitutes only 0.03% (or 0.0003) of the total gases in the atmosphere. Very small indeed. Again, CO2 has never been known to be the major climate driver. Water vapor, yes. CO2? No.

Now, what many people do not know is that the earth climate system is an extremely complex one with many feedback loops. Scientists have tried to use computer modeling to try and predict what the climate would be like in the future. The problem is when validating such a computer model it must be able to mimic the past and they weren't able to.

Ask yourself this. How many of you trust the weather man’s prediction of your weather a week later? Two weeks? How about a month later? Would you put your life on the line to say that the weatherman’s prediction will be true? Even though the weather person uses powerful computer modeling to figure out what next's week weather may be like. This is what many people are saying about our own long term climate prediction and that it will eventually, in our life time, wreak untold havoc.

How do you know for sure?

You don’t. It’s a prediction computer model. Not a fact. Though we do and continue to have climate disasters. We may by next year have several volcanos pop its cork and release the ash and gases into the atmosphere and cause a worldwide cooling that could last a decade.

Next we hear claims that the snows of Mt. Kilimanjaro are disappearing because of global warming. Hardly. What Global Warming alarmists WON’T tell you is that trees around the mountain have been disappearing through aggressive deforestation practices and the lack of trees is the culprit and reason for ice and snow disappearing on Mt. Kilimanjaro.

“Although it’s tempting to blame the (Kilimanjaro) ice loss on global warming, researchers think that deforestation of the mountain’s foothills is the more likely culprit.”

Forests at the base of Kilimanjaro have been steadily disappearing for decades. “Without the forests’ humidity,” Mason reports, “previously moisture-laden winds blew dry. No longer replenished with water, the ice is evaporating in the strong equatorial sunshine.”

Ah, there it is again. Water vapor helps keep the surrounding local climate of Kilimanjaro cool! Trees expel moisture everyday and helps keep the surrounding air cooler! Of course! Without water vapor that helps make clouds and produce precipitation, the earth surface would simple get warm…too warm for habitable life such as us mere human beings.

The Tanzanian president has now banned deforestation practices in order to try and save Kilimanjaro which is aimed at halting rapid environmental degradation, including the melting of ice on Mount Kilimanjaro. There is no mention that global warming is sole culprit. This is another scare tactic by global warming screamers.

But then you hear screams of panic about glaciers retreating all over the world like the ones in the Alps as proof that it’s global warming (as caused by man, again) to be the culprit. But never mind the fact that glaciers take thousand of years to grow. The recent warming essentially began after the Little Ice Age from 1400s to 1800s when, of course, human population was much lower than today. In short, over the last several hundred years’ earth at the mid-latitude has warmed up with occasional brief periods of cold climate conditions did glaciers and ice respond to the temperature change. Humans were never the culprit. How could they? About 900 years ago the Aletsch and Grindelwald glaciers in Switzerland were much smaller than today! How can that be!! Well, just observe the timeline here where you will notice references of glaciers retreating starting as early as the 1600s!

A study published in Progress in Physical Geography (Braithwaite, R.J., 26: 76-95 (2002)), analyzed mass balance measurements of 246 glaciers from around the world between 1946 and 1995. According to the study’s author, “there are several regions with highly negative mass balances in agreement with a public perception of ‘the glaciers are melting,’ but there are also regions with positive balances.”

Within Europe, for example, “Alpine glaciers are generally shrinking, Scandinavian glaciers are growing, and glaciers in the Caucasus are close to equilibrium for 1980-95,” according to Braithwaite. Significantly, regarding this most recent 15-year period of time, Braithwaite noted “there is no obvious common or global trend of increasing glacier melt in recent years.”

Again, the earth system is in a constant state of flux. Earth’s complex climatic system is always changing within the normal parameters of human and animal’s range of habitability. Let's knock off scaring little kiddies about polar bears saying they get stranded on ice floes because of global warming. Another myth to be busted. Polar bears won’t drown for the lack of ice. Nature designed polar bear for swimming in the icy cold waters in the first place. They can swim up to 100 miles at a stretch. Please, none of this stranded polar bear on an ice floe baloney.

All in all, we will still have snow, rain, heat, cold, hurricanes, tornados, winds and water. Instead of becoming a lemming for the global warming screamer crowd will you jump off the cliff with them, it’s better send a message on good environmental stewardship than to scream like a banshee that earth is going to boil over blaming humans for it.

Nonsense.

Use your common sense. Let's hope some of the guys at Gallaudet University will do the same.

The Great Hearing Aid Search

Right now, I am looking around for a new digital hearing aid My old digital hearing aid is about 9 or 10 years old. With the technology today I suspect digital hearing aids are much more superior than the ones 10 years ago when it first came out. Sure, a digital hearing aid is expensive but it’s about investing in a hearing aid that will assuredly give back many times more. My old one cost about $2300 about 10 years ago. That’s $230 a year (and dropping as I continue to use it) or about $20 a month. This doesn’t include the two or three earmolds that were made over the 10 years, batteries bought or the one time repair a few years back costing me about $260.00. My hearing aid is a still bargain since it has allowed me to interact with hearing people whether in person or over the phone without much problems in terms of doing business and arranging things. The idea is the same if you think about buying a UbiDuo communication device will it, over time, pay you back in terms of time, resources and better job performances in your line of work if you deal with hearing people on a constant basis. The spells out greater opportunities for advancement and improved career performances.

"Sticker shock" is a problem for a lot of people when all they see is the price tag of a hearing aid, a car, the cost of college education or even the cost of the UbiDuo communication device. What people need to factor in is the potential return of their investment, so to speak. They need to learn to look past the cost and consider over time how such a device, a transportation system or an education can help your recoup your cost over time.

Getting my graduate degree which set me back about $35,000 through two loans just for a two year’s worth of education and housing for a family of three and then four. The loans were paid off within 5 years after getting my graduate degree. But my graduate education took me three years with an additional 2 more years of my education as part of the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) where I continued with school as a fulltime student in order to be eligible in the program. Thereby earning enough credits for two degrees! So, what's the point here? Well, I saw graduate education as an investment opportunity. For who you may ask? Well, myself. I invested in myself. Who better to invest than yourself? Think about that.

Still, we see the narrow thinking from those who balk or even complain about the price tag for attending Gallaudet University. Many see it being as “too expensive” rather than an “investment opportunity” instead. The cost of attending Gallaudet University is approximately $12,000 a year (or about $15,000 if you include summer semester) for a total of about $50,000 to get a bachelor degree in four years. Although a good majority of the students take 5 to 6 years to complete a 4 years college program at Gallaudet University, increasing their educational cost already. People who balk or complain about the price tag usually do not see it as an investment opportunity for themselves and rather than a stepping stone that could potentially lead to a better paying job/career afterwards or higher learning on getting their masters or doctorate degrees that could spell even better job opportunities.

Now, let’s go back to my hearing aid search. I have heard about digital hearing aids that have built in “artificial intelligence” software allowing it the ability to help discriminate certain sounds and screen out unwanted ones. This type of feature would be extremely important for me whenever I attend meetings with several people or in large crowds dealing with loud background noises. The ability to understand speech in virtually any situation is my top priority for me as a working professional in the field of science. Currently I am looking at Oticon “Syncro” hearing aid for hearing loss in the moderate to severe range. I’m especially interested in one where I can control the volume. My old one controls the volume automatically by detecting surrounding loudness that goes up and down. Not really that good in meeting situations if loudness of speech goes up and down, especially when people make jokes do they laugh loud and then start talking normally, I’d have to wait until my hearing aid’s volume go up again so I can hear them talking in a normal voice. Also, not really that great listening to music whenever a music piece gets loud does my hearing aid turns down the volume. It is also maddening when that happens if I play the piano, too.

Looks like I’ll have to do some more shopping around and ask my audiologist about which hearing aids would best fit me using today’s artificial intelligence software. It’s time to invest in another digital hearing aid.

When the Deaf Community Eats One of Their Own

Ok. My blog title is a bit misleading but it comes pretty close on what we have been witnessing over the last few days ever since a well known Deaf blogger made the faux-pas blog post of the year that angered so many deaf and hearing readers. A move that prompted blog readers to contact companies in protest to get their banner ads removed from this particular Deaf person's blogsite. And why? It turns out that it was a blog post that essentially insulted, according to many who have complained in disgust, or made light of the Virginia Tech massacre. And as a result, numerous banner ads were removed en masse.

This is an unprecedented reaction when you get so many deaf/Deaf/hh/hearing readers contacting companies to get them to remove their banner ads from a popular blogsite. Although this reaction would not be entirely unprecedented in its own right for a Deaf community to basically go after a Deaf person. Or "eating one of their own" as you could say. That honor of such an unprecedented reaction of "eating one of their own" belongs to the recent protest at Gallaudet University. A feast that lasted for months. But that's another story for another time.

This isn't about "pushing buttons" which this Deaf person is famously known for but about the complete failure to present the proper frame of mind by being a bit more sensitive and cordial when it comes to such a horrible event like the Virginia Tech massacre. Failure to be that much more "cordial" in light of certain events would eventually lead to the continued painting of a negative picture of what a Deaf community would look like to outsiders. Thinking it would be about a bunch of whiny, selfish and entirely insensitive group of Deaf people. A stereotype that would be hard to get rid of. But ironically it was the Deaf community who put this particular Deaf person on a pedestal and paid homage to this guy with accolades, praises and wonderment. Right now it seems that many blog readers are facing a realization. Either expose the hypocrisy and remove the mask of that person or hope that the person will start that long list of apologies on the road to recovery. Shouldn't this be a time of healing and recovery?

All in all, there are consequences to one's own actions. Especially so when it comes to writing in a public setting over the internet about people or events. Even I am keenly aware of this and I know better whenever I blog my own posts.

Bottom line? It pays to be cordial and forthright.

Cash Prizes Announced for First Ever NADS Games!

Cash Prizes Announced for First Ever North America Deaf Strongman Games in 2008!

Sometime in 2008 there will be the first ever North America Deaf Strongman games (NADS). Cash prizes are now available on the NADS Games official website. This is planned to be an open event for men (maybe women later on) with 1st place for $500.00, 2nd place for $350.00, and 3rd place for $150.00. Check it out! You have about a year or so to prepare yourselves for this unique and only deaf strongman sporting event in the United States! So, start early if you haven't been exercising lately. And if you are already exercising, do you think you can win this competition?

All cash prizes will be presented by the official host, sComm, Inc, a wholly deaf-owned company and maker of the widely popular and successful UbiDuo communication device.

Do you have enough balls to do this? Are you strong enough? Check out the website to see what objects you may end up pulling, pushing and lifting to win that cash prize! If have questions, contact the NADS team for more information on how to compete.

Go NADS Games!

Only those with enough balls can compete!

RIT Student Arrested for Possession of Rifles on Campus

This is a bit surreal here. A student was arrested for possession of assault rifles on the campus of RIT which is also home of NTID for deaf and hard of hearing students. What's more, police found more than 300 ammunition rounds for the rifles.

A student at a Rochester college faces charges after police found two assault rifles inside his room at one of the school's suburban residence buildings. Authorities say they also found more than 300 rounds of ammunition in Jonathan Hackenburg's car.

The 22-year-old from Hackettstown, New Jersey was arrested yesterday after an employee at the Rochester Institute of Technology's Inn and Conference Center told police he heard a sound like someone racking a gun.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Department says deputies found a Stag-15 rifle and a Romanian made A-R-15 rifle.

Supposed the employee was deaf? And this turned out deadly? Suppose a similar event happened at Gallaudet or NTID where a gunman would be shooting at people on campus and students unable to hear the bang and richochet of bullets to run and take cover? But instead see the confusion of people dropping like flies not knowing, at first, what is going on until too late? Indeed, this is heavy food to chew on. Let's hope nothing like this ever occurs.

The Virginia Tech Massacre is nothing about “Reap what you sow”

The senseless killings at Virginia Tech a few days ago shook the entire nation when a lone, foreign student with a student visa shot and murdered, some in execution style, 32 people on campus. My thoughts and prayers are to the victims, their families and friends who are now hurting and suffering right now.

This isn’t a tragedy. A tragedy is when a tornado or hurricane wipes out a town killing people. This killing was an act of pure evil. An evil person who carried a Glock pistol, guns and a vest full of ammos for the express purpose to kill and injure as many innocent people as possible on the campus of Virginia Tech. This was a total disregard for human decency and respect.

Now, some people, believe it or not, would find this whole thing “amusing.” I certainly don’t. This was an unwanted but horrible and vicious crime that took place. I won’t mention who found this whole thing “amusing” just because Virginia Tech has a few known rivalries with other universities and doesn't have any soft spots for them Hokies.

The "amused" comment was blogged by somebody within the Deaf community. The same person who believes also that this is all about “reaping what you sow” which is a totally ludicrous comment. Purely on the sick side of things. Virginia Tech students who were lined up against the wall of their classroom and shot execution style had nothing to do with “you reap what you sow.” None of the students did anything to that deranged killer to deserve this but were in fact innocent victims caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. Just like the Beslan massacre in Russia where hundreds of children and adults were murdered by Islamic terrorists wielding guns and explosives.

An armed group took over 1000 children and teachers hostage on 1 September 2004. On 3 September, following explosions and gunfire and an assault by state security forces, more than 330 people were dead, including at least 176 children. Many hundreds of people were injured.

Amusing, huh? Absolutely not. Hokies or not, these victimes deserve our utmost respect in times of mourning.

Anybody who says in the context of “reap what you sow” about killings at Virginia Tech or elsewhere is clearly not thinking because none of the victims did anything bad to deserve any of this. For the Virginia Tech students they were sowing a good education for a good life. I'm sure the people at other universities who are rivals against Virginia Tech will surely stand shoulder to shoulder with the families and friends of the victims at Virginia Tech in full solidarity and respect. There is nothing to be "amused" by all this in any context.

This isn’t about deaf people who occassionally may write down the wrong words when trying to express a thought or feeling. I understand that and that’s entirely forgivable. However, the “reap what you sow” comment was made after the “amused” comment in one deaf person’s blog is indicative of not writing it in error context wise but did so with a conscious effort. Just like the conscious effort on wishing the death of a deaf father’s son in the hope he’d trip over his son so he'd feel guilty for the rest of his life. Or wishing that one deaf person would die in flames just so that the Deaf community would be "better off" without him. Or wishing another deaf person brain damage. Or laugh at a dead U.S. soldier (who was the cousin of a hard of hearing person) who was murdered prior to the start of the Iraq war in Kuwait in the well publicized grenade tent attack.

I am generally appalled at how some members of the Deaf community continue to turn a blind eye toward certain Deaf people who have the audacity to be heartless, thoughtless and above all violate just about every rules of internet courtesy when it comes to blogging or making comments. And at the same time put that same person on a pedestal. This makes no sense at all. And when people continue to hold certain deaf people on a pedestal who do these things then they are no better off themselves and are equally guilty.

I am just hoping and praying that this person will have enough sense to acknowledge what was written did indeed show certain insensitivity towards the families and friends of victims murdered at Virginia Tech. And acknowledge that it was done in error. A public apology to the victims out there in the blogosphere would be nice as well.


UPDATE: The Virginia Cavalier Athletic Director expresses condolences to their rival team, Virginia Tech Hokies.

Statement from Athletics Director Craig Littlepage on Monday's Tragic Events at Virginia Tech

Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone at Virginia Tech.

April 17, 2007

The following is a statement by Virginia Athletics Director Craig Littlepage concerning the events at Virginia Tech on Monday.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone touched by the devastating events at Virginia Tech. We join our colleagues around the Commonwealth and nationally in expressing our sorrow to the students, faculty, staff and alumni of Virginia Tech. Many of us know individuals who work or study at Virginia Tech or have family members and friends who do, and our hearts are with all of them. This is a time when we all must be available to provide support, assistance and understanding to those affected by what has happened in Blacksburg."

Even though they are fierce team rivals they, too, recognize the importance of expressing condelences and prayers for the victims and families. I suppose the VA Cavalier also does not find this whole thing "amusing" just because they are rivals to begin with? None of that "soft spot for Hokies" stuff, I tell ya.

Thank you, Craig. You're the smart and honest person here.


UPDATE II: The deaf person in question has since removed the blog post. I can imagine why this was done. However, doing so would probably make things a bit worse because an apology hasn't been issued to the victims of families and friends for making that remark, no acknowledgement mentioned of the faux pas blog of the year, and the fact that Google still has the cache version of that blogpost that is now forever archived.

Michael Bisping Howls about Matt Hamill

Either Michael Bisping is feeling a bit insecure or he’s sure of himself about Matt Hamill (and in MySpace) who had some dem fightin words for Matt.

THE MATT FINISH
You may have heard that a certain TUF 3 dropout was calling me out last week.

To be honest, I really didn’t want to respond because that plays right into his hands by whipping up interest in a fight that I believe is a big step backwards for me.

However, at the same time I don’t want anyone thinking I was afraid of this guy, either.

The fighter in question - I forget his name - is a good wrestler but has no BJJ and couldn’t strike a match. He’s the one who produced the most embarrassingly amateurish performance of the entire season, where even though he won he couldn’t continue in the competition as he was so bashed up.

Do you know who I’m on about? I can picture his face but still can’t remember his name but I remember personally sending this novice to the hospital with a busted arm and my mate Kendall Grove - a middleweight - knocked him silly with a high kick in sparring.

I also recall that he went to the hospital three times during TUF 3 and each time came back to the TUF house with his tail between his legs. He spent more time in bandages than King Tut.

But, now, he’s shouting my name in an obvious attempt to leap frog from his preliminary bout status to genuine PPV level.

Sorry, pal, I won the TUF 3 three-year contract, thank you very much, so I don’t need a part time job running your PR office on the side.

I’ve got a long way to go and a lot to prove in the UFC but - in terms of what I did during my TUF 3 run - I don’t think I’m being big-headed when I say my run to the TUF 3 title was pretty damn conclusive.

I scored three consecutive knockouts without a scratch on me while this guy calling me out had one fight that looked like two drunks scrapping outside a kebab shop on a Friday night.

For him to claim I’ve yet to prove I’m the real TUF 3 winner is pathetic.

Until next week - the Count.

While Michael Bisping trying to accentuate the negative Matt Hamill are doing positive things in his life.

In fact, he hopes to use his newly found popularity to train as many potential fighters as possible.

That's why he has been helping out with Whitesboro High School's wrestling team. It's also why he's opening his own school, and plans to have a fighting cage, a wrestling mat, and some weights in it. He says it will be a school of mixed martial arts. He's in the process of remodeling a building across from the Uptown Theatre on Genesee St. into the Matt Hamill Training Center, but says the vision is clear.

"I'm tired of driving to Syracuse and flying to California," Hamill said. "We need something here."

Hamill said he's happy with the treatment he gets when walks around and estimates that 100 people have stopped by his house in New York Mills seeking autographs and pictures.

"They go crazy," Hamill said of his fans. "I like it, it's not bad. I'm new to it, I still have to get used to it."

When kids who are interested in wrestling or martial arts see Hamill, they ask when he's holding a camp or clinic. Now, he hopes to work with those people full time, in between traveling the country to pummel his competitors.

Maybe it’s time for Michael Bisping to address his insecurity and demand a UFC fight against Matt Hamill? There is a difference between having heart and being a complete noob. And, in case you're wondering, Matt's the one with heart.


Hat Tip: MaxUFC

See all of Kokonut Pundits blogs on Matt Hamill.

Will Certain Deafness Be Cured in Our Lifetime?

More progress is being made in the hope that hearing loss will be restored someday soon. Except this news isn't about stem cells but about using actual inner ear cells and coax them into regrowing mature hearing nerve fibers.

Australian researchers say they have developed an alternative to stem cell technology for growing human inner ear cells.

The Ear Science Institute Australia said it has successfully grown inner ear cells taken from an adult patient at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Western Australia.

Researcher Marcus Atlas said the cells have the potential to restore hearing and balance in those who are born deaf or have degenerative hearing diseases, though human trials are still a long way off.

Atlas said growing adult organ cells in a laboratory has presented problems for researchers in the past. "It is extremely difficult for us to grow these cells .... We have to give them the right environment, we need the right nutrients, the right blood supply, the right environment for these [inner ear] hair cells to grow in."

"I think one of our biggest challenges will be in fact getting these hair cells to actually attach to the existing nerve fibres and create a functional hearing system. That is a significant move for us and that is where we're going to now," he said.

The researchers are asking for millions in government funding to advance trials of the procedure.

This area of research will simply heat up over time as more and more researchers get into the game to come up with the first patented process of growing ear hair cells in the laboratory for each deaf/hh patient using their own ear hair cells. Successful application will spell out a very lucrative market in the medicine field. Just as curing Type 1 diabetes using stem cells will it soon become a lucrative field to be in.

I'm all for research on finding cures for various conditions and ailments, including hearing loss. At least people can have a choice to keep with their hearing loss or not.

Incestuous Relationships in the Deaf community?

And so I sat and observed, mostly, what people have said about the recent article "Deaf Identity Gone Wild" in various blogs and noted with amusement and some amount of wincing involved on how people continually misunderstood the word "incestuous" and "oxymoronic" in Charlotte Allen's article.

The role of bloodlines and pedigree in defining Deafness, along with the relatively small number of deaf people in the United States to begin with, helps explain the unusually active and even incestuous part that Gallaudet alumni, deaf parents, and even supposedly neutral organizations such as the National Association of the Deaf played in the battle against Fernandes.

Now, the word "incestuous" isn't used in the same context as "incest" like many people have complained rather wrongly recently about Allen's article. Even some well known blogs got this context horribly wrong. What Charlotte Allen wrote had nothing to do with incest. Rather she wrote it in the context of "improperly interconnected" like nepotism, cronyism (ie, Favoritism shown to old friends without regard for their qualifications) or a group that is more "clannish" than not. Only a few people were able to address this correctly in the context that Allen was presenting.

Even if people do complain, perhaps correctly so in some aspects, by saying that the Deaf community is not at all like that but have, ironically, instead slammed Gallaudet University (e.g. BoTs. et al) as being the "politically incestuous" university as it is/was/still ongoing.

By an accident of history, the Board is allowed to choose their own members (for now) and thus they have morphed over time into this mutant, politically incestuous, illegitimate entity.
Posted 10/1/2006 6:00 AM by brianriley1987gallygrad

So, it was ok for all to agree about the "politically incestuous" slander comment heaped at the BoTs but not so for Charlotte Allen's observation about the Deaf community which may or may not be true in parts or whole? Who is being intellectually honest here?

One deaf blogger in Belfast, Ireland sees cronyism in the Deaf community as a problem in Ireland. If it's a problem over there, then is it also a problem here in the United States and Canada, too?

Perhaps Charlotte Allen wasn't far off when she said that incestuous relationship is a work seen in many places in the Deaf community? In other words, the "good ole' boys" network type of thing?

So we ask this question.

How much is true about the Deaf community? Are they indeed clannish or, hence, overly protective? Are there nepotism involved? And that cronyism is also a part of their standard fare when it comes to hiring friends over qualifications instead in the Deaf community? How prevalent are these things anyways? And will we see some intellectually honest debates in all this after I'm done with this blog article?

Greg Gunderson's Racing Plan for 2007 and 2008

From Greg Gunderson to all those racing fans out there, be sure to check out the newly revamped Gunderson Racing website.

The Gunderson Racing Team is seeking more sponsors for the 2007 racing season. Greg Gunderson, a veteran Sprint car driver from Sioux Falls, S.D., has an ambitious plan to become the first ever deaf NASCAR driver. The 2007 racing schedule includes races in South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and specific tracks in other states as requested by sponsors.

“Not only do I want to publicize the exciting sport of racing; I also want to emphasize the fact that Deaf people can do anything except hear,” said Greg as he makes plans to achieve his ultimate goal of becoming the first ever deaf NASCAR driver. The 2007 racing season in Sprint circuit is the first step toward the goal. In 2008 Greg plans to race on asphalt tracks in the ASA Late Model Series or ARCA Series before attempting to become a NASCAR driver in 2009.

Short- and long-term sponsorships will be integral part of Greg’s future NASCAR plan and will receive the following marketing benefits:

· Greg has a strong fan base with a wide diversity: 31 million Americans with hearing loss, millions more Americans with other disabilities, racing fans, friends, co-workers, deafness-related professionals and many more;

· Greg has been an inspiration to deaf and hard of hearing children and adults;

· Media enjoys doing stories on Greg because readers and listeners love a great human interest stories;

·For more information, visit the recently redesigned Gunderson Racing Team website at http://www.gundersonracing.com or email media@gundersonracing.com.
Greg has 15 years of racing experience and has consistently been in the winner circle;

· Greg finished 3rd place in popular voting for a new reality TV show, Racin’ for a Livin’, and is waiting to get on the TV show in the near future.

Spread the word and help Greg Gunderson get the needed sponsors.

Identity Politics Gone Wild

The Weekly Standard is out. Just like I said it would a few weeks ago. It has the title "Identity Politics Gone Wild." The author of the article made a reference to my past blog regarding an email response about my blogging Deaf Republicans website.

Like black underclass youngsters who diss their more studious classmates as "acting white," some deaf activists denigrate deaf people who use eloquent English as unacceptably "hearing." Mike McConnell, a 1991 Gallaudet graduate and active in the nearly oxymoronic (given the bent of Deaf culture) Deaf Republicans, posted this email he received from a deaf activist on his blog Kokonut Pundits: "Deaf Republicans website is not written by deaf people. its language is too hearing and it is written by Republican party."

I warned the author to expect back lashes from the Deaf community (and here in DeafDC) and needless to say when her editors read her article they were more or less "horrified" at what went on out there and how people or protesters, per the article, who constantly portrayed themselves as being the "victims." Or are they? Who are the real victim here?

Good or bad? A matter of difference in perspsective here? A little bit of harsh truth here or there? Incorrect factoids? Or too much of a myth, labeling or painting it with a broad brush here? Was the article a good one? Or a bad one? A bit of both? Depends on who you ask I would guess.

The Strong Silent Type

Ya'll must be wondering. Where's my Kokonut Pundits fix? If you must know I am putting in more of my time working out in preparation for my strongman competitions this year. I plan to attend a couple of those events and plan to video tape them as well.

I began working out about 7 weeks ago and I'm into my 8th week right now after a 7 month layoff. You can see all the details of my progress over at my Deaf Strongman blog including a subtitled video of my 620lb tire flip I did in my backyard yesterday.

There are so many things I can do and I can't do all them at the same time. If I'm going to devote more time like getting myself prepared for my strongman competitions, it means cutting back on a few things like my Kokonut Pundits blogging. But this doesn't mean there won't be any Kokonut Pundits blogs. There will be. Just less of it for now. I just need less distraction right from all of the silliness (yes, they're getting a bit silly out there now. You know what I mean) so I can concentrate on my working out and practicing with my strongman implements which I am currently ramping up with greater intensity and weight. This includes putting on additional bodyweight to get to 205lbs and eventually to 230lbs perhaps by next year. If I ever going to flip an 1000+ lb tire, I need to get my bodyweight up to 205lbs which I am only 17 lbs away.

And, if you're deaf or hard of hearing and like to lift weights? Do you think you have the "nads" to compete in the first ever North America Deaf Strongman (NADS) Games? Check it out and see the updated website on plans for 2008 with DeafNation.

Also, I have to do my annual pack test to get ready for next week for re-certification of my red card for forest fire fighting where I have been on 4 differents fires so far. But I may have to forego the actual fire fighting this year and next because it takes so much out of you and that puts a damper in my strongman preparation like it did last year when after I returned from fire fighting in August for 3 weeks worth and was totally worn afterwards.

But a few weeks ago I went with a crew for a 3-day prescribed fire down on the Guadulupe mountains in southern New Mexico amongst all the cactuses, prickly pears, and all plant things that have those pokey and painful barbs. And I did get injured by those thorns, too. My right poked-in knee is nearly healed after two weeks. It was my first prescribed fire and I was able to go since my red card for fire fighting was still good until my next pack test.




Arriving at the site to hike out to do some presciption burns.




Watching the line with other crew fire fighters to make sure the fire doesn't escape the fire line.




Can you find a live rabbit in this picture? The rabbit is just sitting there in the cool black burn. Here's a link to a bigger picture. Note the prickly pear cactuses.



Here I am making sure the fire doesn't cross the fire line which would be the road seen here along with other fire fighters. This was where smoke would get so thick you'd have to cover up your face to breathe a bit better. My eyes would water, too. Lots of standing around here and we bump up the line every 50 or 60 feet to monitor the fire's progress. We would watch and listen for the call "Bump Up!" and we move up another 50 feet. Sometimes the smoke would be so thick you'd have to listen for the call. I'd monitor my field radio and listen in to the chatter of the fire's progress.



An occasional torching of fire would happen during a prescription burn and would not last very long. Not a big deal. Everything was a success over the 3 days of prescibed burn.


Now, you may be asking yourself what is a presecription burn? Go here and learn.

Until the next time. Stay strong.

Article on Gallaudet, the Protest and Protesters

An article will come out soon either next week or the week after that that will discuss Gallaudet, the protest and the protesters in the The Weekly Standard magazine. The magazine is a very popular conservative political magazine whose magazine has a weekly circulation of 83,000 per week where the magazine is published 48 times a year. The article on Gallaudet, the protest and protesters may be available online but for sure will be available in the printed format at your nearest store that carries the magazine.

Several deaf and hard of hearing people who are familiar with the protest were interviewed. Some were interviewed to understand better what Deaf culture was like. Why the protest happened. And what other people on the outside are seeing/reading about the protest. All this boils down to is a matter of perspective. Either you can gripe about it and complain, or do something about it by helping educate people instead and create a better understanding. Despite that, it doesn't necessarily mean that our post-protest, positive pro-active response will erase the pictures or the feelings of what people on the outside saw about the protest that day when the campus was forcibly and illegally shut down. There is such a thing as "first impression". And you cannot blame them for that.

The Great Global Warming Swindle - Part 1 of 8. CAPTIONED!

This global warming video isn't captioned or subtitled so I decided to do this myself using BubblePLY as part of my own captioning work. And why not? There are some 15 million people here in the United States who are severely to profoundly deaf and having a video with no captioning would prove fruitless and of no use to them. A message would be lost by those who cannot even access the video and learn more about the big global warming swindle by scientists, politicians and activists. Even in the United Kingdom there are a few million people who are deaf as well. Not to mention many more millions around the world who do understand the English language and benefit from captioned videos.

If the producers had the common sense, intelligence and foresight they would've added the subtitle to the video which would have enabled them to reach more people who otherwise cannot hear or are unable to understand the spoken words in the video. It doesn't take much brains to figure out that there are millions of deaf and hard of hearing people out there who prefer to have captioned/subtitled videos.

I spent several hours listening to this video, typing in the spoken words in my digital Notepad and adding them into BubblyPLY as captions for Part 1 of 8 of a video clip found on YouTube called "The Great Global Warming Swindle." It's a 75-minute video that came out recently a few weeks ago in the United Kingdom. My subtitling work took several hours for just 9 minutes worth of captioning. The captioned work produced by me is probably 98 to 99 percent accurate. So, if you spot an error or see that a word need to be added or removed, please let me know and I'll correct it if it matches the audio portion. I plan to add captioning for the rest of the 7 other parts as I go along. Not a guarantee here since it does taxes my time doing this. So, enjoy this Part 1 of 8.

If you want to donate money as show of appreciation for my work go here.


THE GREAT GLOBAL WARMING SWINDLE - PART 1 of 8.

Poll: Death Penalty be allowed for Deaf Person?

Here's a poll question. Should the death penalty be allowed for a Deaf person such as Daphne Wright? This is not about a retarded person but simply a Deaf person who is accused of committing an atrocious murder and dismemberment. If proved guilty, should she be treated like any other hearing person who gets the guilty verdict for murder and face the same death penalty punishment? Why or why not?

Death Penalty be allowed for Deaf Person - Daphne Wright?
	Yes.
	No.
	I don't know.
pollcode.com free polls

Watch Matt Hamill Fight on YouTube

Grab this 8 minute long video of Matt Hamill's 4-minute fight against Rex Holman before it disappears. At the end of the fight Matt was interviewed by Mr. Rogan where Matt described the techniques he used and how he was pleased with his performance and at the end of the video he says,

Matt "The Hammer" Hamill will be here for a long, long time!

Indeed. Let's hope so.

Watch Matt Hamill Fight on UFC Demand for $1.99

If you missed the UFC PPV fight a few niights ago or those who paid their $40 bucks hoping to see the Hamill vs Holman fight on PPV (it didn't show) you can now watch the rest of the fighters that didn't show up on PPV for $1.99 on UFC Demand via through your computer. Click here or on the picture above to link to the UFC On Demand video.

CFlannagan, who is deaf, said about the fight as he watched the 4 minute long video clip.

Watched the match.. hardly "worst striking ever" at all based on many MMA matches I've seen so that Sherdog guy is an idiot. Hamill dominated the fight. Funny to watch Hamill do some new moves.. spinning back kick for one! Well worth $1.99, IMHO.

So, instead of spending $40 bucks for a PPV cable fight, you can now pick and choose which of the fighters to watch on UFC Demand for only $1.99.

Go ahead and watch it and give me your opinion of Matt's fight. Has he improved?

Hat tip: CFlannagan!

UPDATE: See pictures of the fight.

Matt Hamill doing the "Superman" thing.

Rex Holman in pain.

Matt Hamill punching away.

Matt Hamill slugging at Holman's face.

Matt Hamill's patented "ground and pound" before the fight is called off.

Matt Hamill wins!

See all of my blogs on Matt Hamill and interviews.

Matt Hamill Follow-up Winning Fight Report

Matt Hamill won his 3rd UFC fight card last night in the first round with 1 mintue left in a 5-minute fight per round. It was supposed to be a 3-round fight but with Matt's wrestling ability he was able to take Rex Holman down and did his patented ground and pound for a win.

This event wasn't televised for those who paid for the PPV event hoping to see Matt though I didn't pay for it this time. Though from reports elsewhere it was reported that it was Matt Hamill who drew the biggest applause from the sold-out UFC crowd of 18,000 fans that night after his win.

The non-televised portion of the card was filled with three submission victories. Jamie Varner, Matt Hamill and Jon Fitch all won via rear-naked choke, with Hamill, the UFC's only deaf fighter, drawing the biggest applause from the sold-out crowd.

Interesting.

Matt's win was probably clinched early on with his "Superman" flying punch to Rex Holman's nose. Enough to slow Rex down and make him realize that he was fighting a serious fighter.

His opponent was former Ohio State Division I national wrestling champion and Columbus native Rex Holman. But it was Hamill who enjoyed the overwhelming support of the 18,000 fans in attendance at Nationwide Arena.

Hamill ignited the action early by landing a flying "Superman" punch that left a cut on the bridge of Holman's nose. Holman countered with kicks to Hamill's thighs as Hamill advanced.

The two former wrestlers clinched only twice, with neither fighter overpowering the other. Hamill pressed his boxing advantage with snapping jabs and straights to Holman's nose, while Holman came up short with awkward upper cuts to counter.

As the first round neared three minutes, Holman, 38, appeared winded. Hamill connected with a straight that dropped his opponent, who clutched onto Hamill from the mat. But Holman couldn't pull the better-conditioned fighter down and Hamill unloaded strikes to the side of Holman's head.

The fight was stopped by the referee at four minutes of the first round with Holman lying prone, Hamill straddling his back, punching Holman's head.

Would love to see the video clip of Matt doing the "Superman" punch thing.

Although in one report it says that Matt is still planning for the 2008 U.S. Olympic (not Deaflympics) hoping to get a spot on the wrestling team.

Hamill also plans to compete for a spot on the U.S. Olympic wrestling team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

This is something I'll have to confirm and verify if this is the case because I believe the discussion between Matt and I earlier last year had to do with contract with the UFC which may prevent him from doing the U.S. Olympic with a stipulation that he cannot do other sports which may cause him to injure himself which may prevent him from competiting in an UFC fight. Also, the tryout for the 2008 wrestling team takes place in Las Vegas this year.

The 2007 U.S. World Team Trials will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, June 9-10. This event will determine the 2007 U.S. World Team that will compete at the 2007 World Wrestling Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan in all three Olympic wrestling styles: men�s freestyle, men�s Greco-Roman and women�s freestyle.

But I hope I'm wrong or that things have changed where Matt can do both. Represent the U.S. and continue with his UFC fights. We'll see. In fact, an added factor of being well known in the UFC fighting arena may give Matt that extra intimidation factor when he (and if) wrestles.


See all of my blogs on Matt Hamill and interviews.

Matt Hamill Wins UFC Fight in Round 1

Matt Hamill wins his 3rd UFC fight (2-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC). From Sherdog:

First three minutes displays some of the worst striking from both fighters you will ever see in the cage. Hamill is cut under his eye but it doesn't seem serious. Hollman looks completely gassed. Holman shoots but Hamill stuffs the takedown. Hamil takes down the fatigued fighter and not long after gets his back. Hamill unloads with a series of punches that forces the referee to halt the action at 4:00 of the first round.

Matt wins it in the first round with 1 minute left to spare. It may have been an ugly one but when it comes to ground and pound, Matt takes it to the ground with punishing results. Though I wasn't able to see the PPV fight but Sherdog pulls it through and give us a play by play update for all fighters. Be sure to scroll down to the see the ongoing results of other fighters.

Congrats to Matt on his continued UFC wins and the first Deaf UFC fighter moving his way quickly to the top.

UPDATE: Read the recent follow-up report in today's blog after this one.


See all of my blogs on Matt Hamill and interviews.

Show Me the Captions!

Guest blogger, Curious Eyes (Patty Albee), tells a story that there are some people who will bend over backward for a deaf customer when asked about a television CC quality. Read on.


The other day, I went shopping for a 20” flat screen color TV, the analog kind. After doing my research on ShopLocal.com and Froogle, I decided to head for my friendly neighborhood Target store for a TruTouch TV on sale for $88.

You can tell what’s coming next, can’t you?

It can be such a hassle buying a TV when you’re deaf and only watch it with closed captions. First of all, I have never, ever seen any kind of audio-visual store where the captions were already on display. You have to ask for them. I estimate that at least 8 times out of 10, the salespeople have no idea what I’m talking about, and on the rare occasions they did, they haven’t the foggiest notion how to turn them on. These days, the fancier digital TVs have a remote control that requires a 200-page manual and an engineering degree to operate.

On to my saga. I went to the demo model in Target and turned it on. Nice picture, natural colors. I turned around and said to the salesperson, “May I please have the remote control so I can turn on the closed captions?”

She said, “I don’t have a remote control.”

I said, “I need to look at the closed captions before I purchase this TV, to make sure it works and looks nice. How about if I open the box and use the remote control on the demo model?”

She said OK, and proceeded to open the box with her box cutter. Luckily, the remote control was in a Styrofoam compartment right on top of the box, and she helpfully put in a couple of batteries from her stash under the counter. After pressing a few buttons on the remote trying to find the captions function, she handed it to me and asked if I could get them started.

Right around then, the floor manager came around and asked if he could help. He was a polite, youngish man with his long hair in a braid, a pierced eyebrow dumbbell stud, and the requisite computer-nerd horn-rimmed glasses and Dockers. I’d gotten stalled at the first menu list which did not list captions, so he quickly found the second menu page and turned the caption setting to “C1.”

The three of us waited for the captions to start playing on the demo TV. Nothing happened. No captions. Why? Because all the demo TVs were playing a tape from a central computer. The tape was all advertising, which of course was not closed-captioned.

I asked the manager, “Can you bring a DVD player, hook it up, and play a DVD?” He sent the salesperson to fetch it.

Attach DVD player to the demo TV, seek and find the remote for that too, and press play. Nothing happened. No captions.

Fortunately, the floor manager, Britt it says on his name tag, is a smart guy and good at problem-solving. He detached the DVD player and re-attached the cables to a Magnavox TV/DVD combo set on the shelf above. The salesperson scurried to find a remote for that one too.

Press “play.” Nothing happened. No captions.

I suggested to the manager, “I think you need to set the language options on the DVD itself. Can you go back to the menu of the DVD and select language options?”

Luckily, Britt is a smart guy who can accept direction and not question my every move (subtext: “just because I’m deaf.”). He went back to the main menu of the DVD, clicked language options, and selected English subtitles.

Press “play.”

Finally! Houston, we have captions. Very nice captions too, big and clear, on the movie “Lord of the Rings.” You’ve got a sale, Target. I happily jogged the half-mile to the checkout counters with my 50-pound prize stuffed in the red plastic shopping cart.

I wasn’t keeping my eye on the clock during this rigamarole, but think probably a good half hour was spent on this the transaction. I would call it successful because, due to some patient and creative problem-solving, I actually got to see the captions before I took my new TV home.

As I drove to work in the brilliant February sunshine, I reflected on what went right today. The one thing that probably made the biggest difference was that I went to Target during my lunch hour. I’m lucky that there is one within a 10 minute drive of my workplace. Between 11 and noon on a Friday, the store was practically empty. Less than a handful of customers were wandering around the audio-visual department at that time of day. The salesperson and manager were not busy, and able to give me their undivided attention. I had enough experience with TVs, DVDs, and remote controls that I knew what to ask for and when. I was assertive enough to express my needs. The salesperson and manager were savvy enough to accommodate me. I was polite and gracious. All in all, a win-win situation for me and Target.

Oh, and the TruTouch TV? It’s all right. Remember, you get what you pay for. The best thing that can be said for it is that the picture is nice and clear. It has one annoying idiosyncrasy, though. If you want to get a channel that has two digits, like 24, you have to push a button that labeled “-/--/---“. You have to push that button until “--“ shows, and then push 24. You have to do this every time! What a pain in the rear, because my favorite channels are 12, 24, 41, 42, 45, 50, and 67. Oh well. Good thing I’m not a channel surfer.

Matt Hamill is to fight on PPV tonight.

Don't forget folks. Matt Hamill, the first Deaf UFC fighter, is to fight Rex Holman tonight at 10 PM Eastern Time on Pay Per View. However, the first 10 main fighters will be the first to fight on PPV guaranteed. The other 8 relatively unknown fighters will fight on PPV only if the previous 10 fighters finished their fight early giving enough time for Matt Hamill and Rex Holman to fight next. There are a total of 18 fighters in this "The Uprising" UFC 68 fight and Matt is in the 6th lineup.




For a larger picture click HERE.

See all of my blogs on Matt Hamill and interviews.

When Stalkers Do Their Thing - A Stark Reality.

Big news item of the day is the Mike "Did you spit on your first wife" Stark nutroot under the radar attack on Michelle Malkin by pretending to be a fan. Number one, anyone who throws questions like "Did you spit on your first wife?" after pushing past guards just to get close to Republican candidate George Allen is simply a sign of a loose canon. Secondly, by pretending to be a fan just so he could get a photograph with her and believes that she likes him is another symptom of neuron synapses not firing all in the right sequence. Perhaps it was Mike's subconscious desire to be a Republican conservative someday or in the fact secretly in love with Michelle Malkin? Then again what we have seen so far is not a good sign if one reads a recent study on stalking.

A recent study by the National Institute of Justice found that stalking was far more prevalent than anyone had imagined: 8% of American women and 2% of American men will be stalked in their lifetimes. That’s 1.4 million American stalking victims every year. The majority of stalkers have been in relationships with their victims, but a significant percentage either never met their victims, or were just acquaintances - neighbors, friends or co-workers.

Not very encouraging information.

There are various forms and ways of stalking nowadays with technology into consideration. One is email. Another is to make use of a person's website or blogsite's commenting section. Or easily set up his/her own blogsite/website to describe the details or success of a stalking event. and describes the encounter with such emblazoned title as "Look who loves me!"

A typical stalker is described as such:

The typical profile of delusional stalkers is that of an unmarried and socially immature loner, who is unable to establish or sustain close relationships with others. They rarely date and have had few, if any, sexual relationships. Since at the same time they are both threatened by and yearn for closeness, they often pick victims who are unattainable in some way; perhaps she is married, or has been the stalker’s therapist, clergyman, doctor or teacher. Those in the helping professions are particularly vulnerable to delusional stalkers, because for someone who already has difficulty separating reality from fantasy, the kindness shown by the soon-to-be victim, the only person who has ever treated the stalker with warmth, is blown out of proportion into a delusion of intimacy. What these stalkers cannot attain in reality is achieved through fantasy and it is for this reason that the delusion seems to be so difficult to relinquish: Even an imaginary love is better than no love at all.

An erotic fantasy of Mike Stark's?

These delusional stalkers have almost always come from a background which was either emotionally barren or severely abusive. They grow up having a very poor sense of their own identities. This, coupled with a predisposition toward psychosis, leads them to strive for satisfaction through another, yearning to merge with someone who is almost always perceived to be of a higher status (doctors, lawyers, teachers) or very socially desirable (celebrities). It is as if this stalker says, "Gee. If she loves me, I must not be so bad." As Dean Martin compellingly crooned what could be considered the delusional stalker’s anthem: "You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You." It is not unusual for this type of stalker to "hear" the soothing voice of his victim, or believe that she is sending him cryptic messages through others

Yet he get to post on Arianna Huffington's blogsite about his time at CPAC while flying under the radar to report his story. Nothing wrong with that but to pose next to someone by pretending to be a fan while holding up a book that Michelle wrote is not what you'd call being of sound mind.

SLCC - much ado about nothing?

Check out all the links, presentations, visual drawings, plans, pdf files and slides about the SLCC building. To me the building looks to be about strong visual relationships with the people and that includes ASL. Heck, the Video Phone by Sorenson helped many people realize the value of technology and communication just as Marlee Matlin did in her presentation on Capitol Hill a few days ago on the importance of VRS. Where would YOU be without technology?

Also, read, "If you build it, we should come" and The challenge of next-generation on campus technology.

Technology, it's coming and it'll just get better. And it'll greatly add to ASL making it more widespread than ever before.