Check it out. Ain't Saying this Again.

Me? A certified forest fire fighter? Who actually do go out and help physically fight forest fires? Why am I alone? Read on what I have and been doing to keep my status as a certified fire fighter going. No, really. I actually go out and fight wildfires in the middle of forest when I can. Honest. Scouts may-the-ACLU-be-damned honor.

Now, I need to get ready for my physical test next month for the annual recertification. I'm game. Stay tuned.

Super HIV Bug Confirmed.

Well, I'm not suprised. Given the right environment, the HIV virus will mutate to a point where it becomes resistant to almost every class of HIV drug and apparently able to wreck the immune system with unprecedented speed. Not years but months.

But they also say the new virus is exceptional. Normally, drug-resistant strains are less virulent -- they gain their resistance at the cost of their ability to replicate. In this case, though, the agent -- but in laboratory conditions -- replicated as easily as non-resistant types.

"This case serves a reminder that HIV remains a frighteningly versatile foe, one that can mutate to escape immune attack or to acquire drug resistance with surprising speed," The Lancet said in an editorial.

Markowitz's team stress it remains unclear how widespread 3-DCR virus is, how easily it can be transmitted, and whether some people may be genetically more vulnerable to it others.

Is this what they want? Have their cake thinking there would not be any consequences? It's time they take their heads out of the sand and realize that multiple sex partners or unprotected sex is never 100% guaranteed risk-free. In this day and age, it's courting disaster.

Now, the next question is, will Bug Chasers go after the big one? Paranoia reigns.

Deaf Man Dream to Build a Deaf Town

Remember the Wyndholme Village? It was supposed to be a breathtakingly beautiful, private community designed for deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing people, age 55 years and up. The building plan was to build a deaf community with 928 residences on the 24 acres of land in neighboring Baltimore County where one investor, Lancelotta grew up. The land was inherited and Lancelotta had gotten the idea to build a deaf retirement community because his mother’s family was hard of hearing. The new community would offer 24-hour security, individual emergency response systems and an around-the-clock, 7 days-a-week staffed gatehouse, lobby reception area, theatre, hotel rooms, transportation and much more Even though some 20 contracts were drawn up from interested Deaf buyers to buy residences it was not enough and was up to the deaf community to decide if they wanted to invest in this project.

For awhile, this was an attempt to build an unique village specifically for deaf and hard of hearing people but for various reasons it failed. According to Lancelotta everything was lined up in the fall of 1998. The Wyndholme project had $7.15 million in financing promised in October of 1998 from a Colorado lender, Cornerstone Private Capital. Soon after the promise an embezzlement scandal rocked the firm and all new lending dried up. Lancelotta was forced to file for bankruptcy and later on sold the property for 4.6 million dollars at an auction. The attempt to build a small but specialized deaf community like Wyndholme Village requires huge financial commitment and planning, and desire from the deaf/Deaf community to invest in such an idea is hard. The timing of Wyndholme Village was right but not before the lending institution bailed out. A hard lesson learned. (Note the expired website http://www.wyndholmevillage.com but can be found in www.archive.org).

And now we have this next dream coming from a different person. A Deaf man wanting to build an entire Deaf community of signers out in South Dakota near interstate Highway 90 between the cities of Sioux Falls and Mitchell. Marvin Miller's idea is provoking this new pioneer-type of land rush "homesteading" fever among Deaf people (and hearing signers) with more than 90 families or individuals from 17 states along with a few people from England and Australia who have already signed on to be part of this new town in South Dakota. The name of the new town is to be called Laurent after the French educator who founded the first school for the deaf in the United States.

This would be a true modern day pioneering effort and spirit in more than 100 years. Will it fail? Only time, perserverance, ingenuity and will power will answer this. After all this is America where anything you set your mind to it, you can succeed. America is truly the land of opportunity and freedom.

Check out the latest news from Laurent, South Dakota. And, oh, please do visit Marvin Miller's blogsite. Lots of pictures and blogs with archive going back to November 2003.

BTW, I'm still going to use and talk on my cell phone whenever I visit Laurent, SD.

Bug Chasers - Intent to Kill

I came across a newspaper editorial article in the Albuquerque Tribune while I waited in line at Subway. The article was called “Chasing bugs of death: Some gays seek HIV, ignoring devastation." Fortunately there is a hyperlink to the editorial article that I read.

What I found out was that this is a relatively new and dangerous recreational activity where people who purposely look for people with positive HIV so they can become infected with HIV.

These people are called “Bug Chasers.” And they see having HIV is a “Badge of Honor.” But, in reality more like a “Badge of Stupidity” because they want to fit in with an already infected crowd. Some call it an “erotic” adventure according to one Rolling Stone interview in 2003. Hardly I'd call it an "erotic" adventure. I and others call this a deranged and dangerous practice with no moral boundaries or concerns. What pity.

However, many psychologists theorize that participation in bug parties is actually an anxiety disorder where the non-infected individuals fear getting HIV so greatly that they would rather contract it and free themselves of the anxiety of living in fear. These parties are also seen as a sort of club for those living with HIV. Infecting a HIV negative and willing participant initiates them into their world. However, that would be a world of pain and suffering instead that many are not even prepared or even understand the extreme consequences.

And yet they expect the government to pay for their medical expenses because they purposely want to get HIV? How blatantly stupid is that?

Aside from wanting HIV there are those who are called “Gift Givers.” A gift giver is an HIV positive gay man who deliberately transmits the virus, often times to bug chasers, or those willing to contract it. Isn’t it grand to be a “victim”? Be in a society of “victimhood” so they can belong to a family of victimhoods? They certainly won't get my pity. More like they need straight-jackets for those who purposely want to injure or kill themselves in the process, however long or short it may take, by means of purposely acquiring dangerous pathogens. Pink rooms for them. Or why they would want to spread HIV purposely to those who do not want it in the first place? People, heterosexual or homosexual, who commit crimes of that nature ought to be shot. But on one end we find all kinds of strange reasons why people want to mutilate themselves (or others) to no end by infecting others on purpose with the HIV virus.

There are even hearing people who want to poke out their ear drums, so to speak, so they can become deaf and be a part of the Deaf world. Pretty desperate people they are. At least these deaf wannabes are not killing themselves or passing on these death viruses to other people on purpose.

“These are disability wannabes - people who think becoming disabled will give them a sense of family, while they deny the medical and social problems of disability. The bug-chasers have the same illusion. They wreak havoc on their families, on the health care industry and on research for a cure. Education and treatment are the only weapons to dispel these dangerous fantasies.” - Barbara McKee, Albuquerque Tribune.

She forgot to mention some serious counseling or psychological help, too.

What’s next? Super HIV Bug Chasers where they die a few months later as a result? I think we have those diseases already where you can die in a few days, it’s called the Ebola Virus. At least there's a 20% outright survival rate for the Ebola virus compared to HIV positive that becomes a full blown AIDS which is nearly always fatal at some point in time. The immune system becomes weakened over time and have trouble fighting infection and other pathogens creating diseases. Although with advanced medicine and knowledge have extended the life of a person with HIV/AIDS even to 10 or 20 years. However, idiocy is not an excuse.

A little common sense here. You cannot die from not having sex, but you can certainly die as a result if you’re not careful. So, don't pass around cooters next time.

UPDATE: A rock band group called Erasure whose singer Andy Bell recently announced his HIV-positive status late last year. In a recent interview Bell stated that he will begin a campaign to educate young people about HIV and AIDS. While noble yet he says in another more recent interview by Jonty Skruff where Bell replied about his HIV positive condition that reveals more about his nature with HIV:

From the re-birthing experience I understood that I’d always wanted to belong in groups; I wanted be a gay man, I wanted to be a drug addict and I wanted to be HIV positive.

And this is from a person who want to educate young people about HIV and AIDS? What better spokesperson to encourage the spread of AIDS by explaining that in order to "belong" to a group of people you must have the HIV positive virus? Funny how the band group's name is called "Erasure." The name is prophetic in its own right.

This is a sign of things to come, HIV-positive wannabes.

UPDATE 2: From Demure Thoughts, this blogger share my same feelings.

Most telling exchange of the interviews "The Gift" came when the most vocal of the men in the support group was bitching about the ridiculous number of AIDS/HIV support organizations and charities. In the San Francisco area alone there are something like 75 some-odd agencies addressing the disease. He started talking about the Pride Parade and how it was basically the HIV/AIDS parade now with all the floats and groups being some how affiliated with the disease. He says, “What in the hell did we have in our parades before HIV?”

Check out the comments. They're pretty telling, too, about how repulsive these acts are.

Acts of Stupidity...Brian Nichols and Safety Protocols

As you have heard by now the now killer Brian Nichols was apprehended and re-arrested but this time it'd be for murder charges, intent to murder, among other felonious charges including the original rape charges. What it appears is that improper police handling protocols in the handling of Brian Nichols. Consider the size discrepancies. Brian Nichols 6 feet 4 inches tall while the petite female court deputy is 5 feet tall. A difference of about 1 foot 4 inches.

The 50-year(?) old petite 5 ft tall court deputy (unconfirmed about size and age) was sucker-punched to the face breaking numerous facial bones and going down flat on her back. She lose the gun to the prisoner and he later pulled the trigger in a few minutes of rampage inside the court building. Michelle Malkin and La Shawn Barber have their inputs and comments from readers on this police handling gone awry.

Now, with my being 8 years into the martial arts business so far, size does matter. Psychologically, and in many ways physically. For those who are bigger, did you ever ask yourself saying "I bet I can take him, he's smaller than me." ? Ok, if so, did you ever ask yourself this about a much bigger person who is about 4, 6, 12 or ever 16 inches taller and maybe an additonal 40 - 150 pounds heavier, more muscled with this thought "I bet I can take him." ? If you're the regular 5 foot 8 inch American Joe, that's like you saying you think you can take on a guy who is exactly 7 ft tall - the same difference of 16 inches in the Nichols case. Now, do the same thing but with the opposite sex, a woman and you're a man thinking this. Size does matter, it gives you that psychological edge. You don't see 5 ft tall petite female bouncers "manning" the doors at dance clubs, do you? Although that could change because of a different reverse-psychological hold on aggressive male patrons. Women do have their places in security and enforcement, however. Look for pros and cons in both situations but you need to take height as an advantage to help even the psychological odds.

AN Argentine nightclub is trying a cunning psychological ploy to prevent bloody fistfights among its patrons — hiring women bouncers.

“It’s based on the premise that says you don’t hit a woman,” said Daniel Monin Juregui, head of the security agency that protects the club on the outskirts of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires province. Six women with martial arts training will guard the doors at the club. When a woman steps in to break up a scuffle, “a man, in general, doesn’t react aggressively,” Juregui said. “And there is a fear that if a woman beats him up he will never recover from his friends’ ridicule”.

But a bouncer story is an entirely different story (these are not six 5ft tall petite women bouncers btw) from a lone (female) court deputy escorting a violent male offender. Now had the petite court deputy been more aggressive in protecting herself while escorting Brian Nichols she might have had a chance since Brian would realize she's more aware of her surroundings and environmental conditions. I believe a larger male police escort (should be at least two police escorts) would have had a better psychological hold over Brian given him reasons to have second thoughts about his attempt on fleeing (on a rape charge, no less). But clearly there were problems in the chain of custody event.

The chain of events led a number of legal analysts and former judges or court officials to question how efficient the security was at the Fulton County Courthouse. Why was it that an accused violent rapist was being escorted by only one deputy? How could the suspect get the gun away from the deputy?

"Clearly something broke down in the system," said Howard Safir, a former New York City police commissioner. "One thing you never see in a federal courthouse is an exposed weapon."

Although the question should be asked, why was an accused violent rapist escorted by only one petite small female court deputy? Further investigation of this chain of custody protocols will need to be looked at. Now, I don't want to be political correct. It's bad form in my opinion. Common sense need to be the over-arching factor here on addressing certain issues. You can have women in police enforcements since they are an important addition to the police force. But to have one lone, petite, female court deputy handling a much larger violent offender and former football player who is nearly twice the female court deputy's weight and several inches taller. You tell me that there is nothing wrong in that picture.

Ward Churchill.....Another Doozy, Plagiarism.

So far, Churchill has come under fire (an understatement there) for some of his other (hateful) writings and speeches, his scholarship, his claim of American Indian ancestry, and even his artwork which was an exact mirror opposite of known painting called "Winter Attack." Now, he is being charged with plagiarism. This is one sick, trippy-leftover-60s-peace-era-Indian-wannabe-longhaired-dude.

"The article . . . is, in the opinion of our legal counsel, plagiarism," Dalhousie (University of Nova Scotia) spokesman Charles Crosby said in summarizing the report's findings.

Churchill did not return calls to his home or office Thursday seeking comment. Dalhousie began an investigation after professor Fay G. Cohen complained that Churchill used her research and writing in an essay without her permission and without giving her credit.

Althougthe investigation substantiated her allegations, Cohen didn't pursue the matter because she felt threatened by Churchill, Crosby said.

Crosby said Cohen told Dalhousie officials in 1997 that Churchill had called her in the middle of the night and said, "I'll get you for this!"

And Churchill makes threats, too. Not surprising since he did attack a Fox reporter in front of a camera when the reporter asked him about the copyright infringement on the "Winter Attack" painting.

Colorado University officials should just simply fire him. Keep the $10,000,000 to themselves and put the money into their legal defense coffer fund should Churchill decide to sue. Give him money and he'll have more reasons to sue> Give him money and that's a victory for every loudmouth Liberalista professors in the United States.

Fire the lout.

Google Experiencing Technical Difficulties...stand by.

If you tried to post comments in my blogsite and got a "The blog you were looking for was not found," please be aware that Google is experiencing technical difficulties with their Blogger.com site. Come back and t ry again. I'd love to hear from you!

UPDATE: I guess, it was me. I had to republish everything in my blog for the comment field to work. Try again folks. Last I checked, it worked fine now.

Gallaudet University, Who is Mr. Benson Tong?

Who is Benson Tong? Why is Gallaudet University keeping quiet on him? Or are they?

This is breaking news, at least for me, in the December 2004 article by the History News Network on the “Investigation by the Chronicle of Higher Education: (part) 2 - Historians Accused of Plagiarism” where there seems to be a plagariasm brouhaha (or will be soon) on the campus of Gallaudet University. If you can't get to the link go here to the Google cache section.

Are you listening Buff and Blue? Or Buck Naked Bison? You got your work cut out for you right there on your idyllic green campus.

The authors, Bartlett and Smallwood, highlighted four cases that they came across in their investigation of “plagiarists you’ve never heard of.” Benson Tong is one of them discussed. What was surprising was that Gallaudet University never heard of Benson Tong's charge of plagiarism, the accused one levied by the Historical Association’s findings, until after they hired him. This is one big plagiarism brouhaha surprise we have here on the very campus of Gallaudet University according to the authors, Barlett and Smallwood. Could get quite interesting.

Now, who is Benson Tong? Well, to begin he was an assistant professor of history at Wichita State University. In his written anthology on Margaret Chung, the first U.S.-born female Chinese doctor, who was also the subject of Ms. Wu's 1998 dissertation, seemed to have copied nearly verbatim Ms. Wu’s dissertation of the same subject.

It all started when Judy Tzu-Chun Wu came across a newly published anthology on the American West in 2002. Ms. Wu, who was an assistant professor of history at Ohio State University at the time, had a great deal of interest in Margaret Chung. Ms. Wu wrote and taught about the American West while on campus. Her revelation about this other author, Mr. Tong, was soon to be discovered when she looked through his book to see how the this author felt about Margaret Chung. Ms. Wu was surprised to see such similarity to her own 1998 dissertation. So similar that according to Ms. Wu in one of the chapter (Tong, ch. 11: Margaret Chung and the Dilemma of Bicultural Identity) it was nothing more than a condensed version of Ms. Wu dissertation almost by pure verbatim.

Sounds like a plagiarist who got caught by the very author herself, Ms. Wu. But read the rest of the full article:

Ms. Wu went through Mr. Tong's chapter word by word. She highlighted in yellow those portions of the text that were borrowed directly or altered slightly. She highlighted in green those sections that were paraphrased versions of her arguments and research. When she was finished, only one paragraph of the 15-page essay had escaped the highlighter.

But the most damning evidence could be found in the footnotes. If Mr. Tong's list of sources was to be believed, he had gone to the same archives, reviewed the same unpublished manuscripts, oral histories, and newspaper articles as Ms. Wu and then chosen to quote identical passages from that material. "Almost all of the citations in Tong's essay exactly replicate the sources and page numbers that appear in my footnotes," Ms. Wu wrote in a complaint to the American Historical Association.

Despite the compelling evidence, some of her colleagues told her to forget the matter. Pursuing it could damage another scholar's career and would no doubt be a long, exhausting process.

Ms. Wu ignored their advice. She submitted a 21-page complaint to the association and wrote a letter to Scholarly Resources Inc., the publisher of Mr. Tong's book. Mr. Tong offered a rebuttal to Ms. Wu's charges, and Ms. Wu countered with a response of her own, again laying out the evidence against him. She describes the experience as "emotionally draining."

The process was difficult and tiresome, just as some of her colleagues had predicted. In the end, the historical association ruled in her favor, finding that Mr. Tong "appears to have borrowed most of his research and overall analytical framework from Ms. Wu's work without sufficiently indicating the extent of his indebtedness." The group concluded that Mr. Tong had indeed committed plagiarism. Not long after, the association stopped investigating plagiarism cases, saying it was not a good use of its resources.

As was the association's custom, it sent a letter to Ms. Wu and Mr. Tong informing them of its decision about Ms. Wu's complaint. There was no press release, no notice on the association's Web site. Today, more than a year afterward, the association won't even confirm that it conducted an investigation.

As a result, Ms. Wu felt it was her responsibility to publicize the findings. She had the chairman of her department fax the association's letter to the chairman of the history department at Wichita State.

That was particularly bad timing for Mr. Tong, who was coming up for tenure. He was turned down. After sticking around Wichita State for another year, he was hired by Gallaudet University (in August 2004).

When contacted recently at the university (Gallaudet), Mr. Tong asks the caller to hold on while he closes his office door. He contends that he "didn't make any mistakes" in the essay and says he refuted Ms. Wu's allegations. When asked if he was guilty of plagiarism, he responds, "No, I don't think so at all."

However, he declined to discuss any details, saying the matter had already been put to rest. When asked whether his new employer (Gallaudet University) was aware of the historical association's finding, he said: "I guess they know about it. The word does get around."

According to the article it goes pretty much hush, hush regarding plagiarisms committed by scholars. That's why the authors of the article are writing about this "hush hush" business on scholarly plagiarism. But words did get around, eventully, to the right, uh, ears of one of Gallaudet University's chairman.

Apparently word had not gotten around to the chairman of the government and history department at Gallaudet, Russell Olson

Upon being told that a newly hired member of his department had been found guilty of plagiarism, Mr. Olson groans. When asked if this came as a surprise, Mr. Olson answers, "Total." He went on to say he would "do something" but declined to be more specific.

He would do something? Is this going to be another “Ward Churchill” thing where Gallaudet University officials will pay Benson Tong some moolah so he can leave and not fear a lawsuit? We’ll see.

Except for acknowledging the receipt of her first letter, the publisher of Mr. Tong's book never responded to Ms. Wu's letters and e-mail messages. This year Scholarly Resources was acquired by Rowman & Littlefield. Kelly Rogers, the director of permissions at the publisher, was unaware of the plagiarism charge. "I would be the person who would know," she says.

As for Ms. Wu, she feels somewhat vindicated by the historical association's ruling. Still, she remains frustrated that Mr. Tong's book has never been retracted. "It's still out there," she says.

Her dissertation is scheduled to be published next year by the University of California Press. Ms. Wu worries that Mr. Tong might even be asked to review her book. After all, he's written on the same subject.

Ok. Here’s the old adage, you reap what you sow. Take full responsibility of your actions. When you plagiarize, you are stealing another person’s work. When you copy a famous painting and sell as your own painting, that’s stealing someone elses recognized but hard work. Not very smart, even coming from scholars which makes them very dumb professors.

However, Benson Tong left a pithy quote about research and writing seen in the Wichita State University’s newsletter (Vol 3, #1 Spring 2002):

“Students learn not only methods of research and writing that they can apply to other endeavors, but they also sharpen their social skills. They learn to meet deadlines, compromise with each other and appreciate the importance of tolerance of diverse opinions. And of course, they also expand their appreciation of the past.”

And yet he earned a spot in the annals of famous plagiarists? Is this fair? And he's famous, too? Well, maybe after this goes out he will be.

Anybody listening?

By the way, can Benson Tong sign? Go find him on campus and report back to me. Ask him about Ms. Wu with your flying fingers of yours. Or maybe contact him via Gallaudet University's email. And for Pete's sake, does anybody have a picture of him on campus? Is Benson Tong still there three months after the story broke out? Is Gallaudet University doing anything at all??

Gallaudet University - Rate Your Professor.

Here's a new one. A website where you can rate your professors at Gallaudet University. Seems like a good idea but the underlying results could prove devastating to poor performing professors or professors who seem to have a prediliction on flirting with young girls will red flags pop up for Gallaudet University's administrators to take notice when it was them who hired these people in the first place. Lots of positive/negative comments are made.

Of course, there is no way to gauge the actual truthfulness of these online surveys along with comments that borders on slanderous, even criminally charging towards some professors thus eliciting hateful responses:

We also get some pretty hateful emails telling us how inappropriate the site is, how they are going to shut us down, etc.

Sounds like liberals bent on extolling the "virtues" on freedom of expression.

Anyway, the responses are sometime funny. A few writes of one professor who remind them of grandpa. While some of the more "famous" professors get accolades such as "Skip" Williams. He's a go-getter and burn the crutches right off the ground. He's like a guy doing Mach 2 on those sidewalks on the campus of Gallaudet University. Well, at least he did in his younger days when I was a student there, uh, 15 years ago.

The best rating at 4.8 out 5.0 with enough students responding (8) to make it acceptably "valid" is, so far, Professor Bernard Brown. And the worst one comes in at 1.6 out 5.0 is Professor "Grandpa" Beasely with 9 respondents. Poor guy. I never had him, though. But I've seen him in the hallways wondering who the heck he is. And that was 15 years ago. Even then he looked like "Grandpa."

Look around the website and get the skinny on which professors at Gallaudet University get ranked favorably or unfavorably. There are a few vicious comments...oooh and ouch! But, hey, that's reality and the world ain't a cakewalk. There are such things as really, really bad professors.

Regardless, the website is worth looking into every 6 months when more come online to register and do the ranking survey. So, sign up!

CTIA Wireless - How Wireless Continues to Help Deaf and Hard of Hearing People

FCC Commissioner Copps Keynotes CTIA Wireless Accessibility Workshop
WASHINGTON --(Business Wire)-- March 10, 2005 -- Half Day Session Focuses on Services and Products Available to Individuals with Hearing, Mobile and Visual Disabilities CTIA-The Wireless Association(TM) announces Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Michael Copps will present the opening keynote address at a half day Wireless Disabilities Workshop CTIA is hosting on March 14 at CTIA WIRELESS 2005. The largest wireless expo in the world.

Representatives from the disability community will join leaders from the wireless industry and the federal government to focus on the technical and policy issues involved with continuing to make wireless services accessible to individuals with hearing, mobile and visual disabilities.

"Wireless phones started as a luxury toy for the wealthy businessperson. Yet, in 21 short years, this industry has advanced the technology and lowered its price so that all consumers - regardless of where they live, the language they speak, or what disabilities they may face - can enjoy the convenience and safety provided by wireless technology," said Steve Largent, President & CEO of CTIA.

"CTIA and its member companies remain committed to providing accessible wireless services for all consumers and look forward to this opportunity to meet again with the Disabilities Community and discuss how together we can continue to provide innovative new services for those with hearing, mobile and visual disabilities."

There will be three panel sessions: "Gadgets and Gizmos: What's Here and What's Coming", "The Consumer Perspective: What Consumers Expect and Need to Know" and "Standards and Testing: Status".

The panels feature speakers from consumer groups, research institutes, the federal government and the wireless industry, including representatives from the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau, the Food and Drug Administration, American Council of the Blind, Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, Cingular Wireless, Georgia Tech Wireless RERC, Motorola, National Association of the Deaf, National Spinal Cord Injury Association, Nextel, Nokia, Research In Motion, Self Help for the Hard of Hearing, Sony Ericsson, Sprint and UT Starcomm.

Erin Casler, the National Association of the Deaf Miss Deaf America 2004-2006, will close the Workshop with a keynote address. The event, held Monday, March 14 from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., will be wheel chair accessible. Interpreters and guides will be provided.

The Wireless Accessibility Workshop will be held only at CTIA WIRELESS 2005, the world's largest wireless trade show, featuring nearly one mile in exhibit space. This year, the show will take place at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, March 14-16.

Register now to network with industry leaders, regulators, technologists and reporters at the one place that draws the best of wireless - CTIA WIRELESS 2005. For more information about CTIA WIRELESS 2005, including registration, travel and housing, and session details, please visit our Web site http://www.ctia.org. CTIA is the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry, representing carriers, manufacturers and wireless Internet providers.

Microsoft Losing Suit over Local College Student Representing Himself

What was the local college student crime to gain the attention and wrath from Microsoft? He sold two unopened software packages on eBay for $91 after he realized he had to reformat his hardrive in order to install the software, which he didn't care to do so. He tried to get his refund from the university bookstore but they refused. What to do? He auctioned the two unopened MS software on eBay. Microsoft took wind of it and to make a long story short they took him to court.

But so far, the local college student is winning with his countersuit. If MS offers an apology, Zamos, the college student, will be willing to drop the countersuit. MS refused to apologize.

Zamos said his countersuit, which includes allegations that Microsoft committed fraud and violated the Consumer Sales Practice Act, is more about principle. And his legal battle with Microsoft reflects the passion with which he is defending his case.

He said he spent hours in law libraries constructing his defense, learning the ropes of law to file more than a dozen motions himself. "I knew absolutely nothing when I started this,'' said Zamos, who plans to use his chemistry degree to work as a pharmaceutical researcher.

The court docket is voluminous, so much so that Judge John R. Adams has ordered both sides to stop filing motions until the March 25 case management meeting. Zamos said after talks with Microsoft's Cleveland attorneys that he believes at least one California attorney failed to research the company's claims and overstated its case in the initial suit. But without an apology, he said, he's not going anywhere but a courtroom, where he plans to act as his own lawyer and argue before a jury.

"Once they found out their mistake, they should have said they're sorry. And we could have been done with this a month ago,'' he said.
"They say I'm hassling them with my motions, but they sued me. I didn't sue them.

"I'm not asking for much, but apparently they think so. I mean, hey, apologize and pay off Kinko's'' for copies, he said.

Looks like Microsoft can't find a way to make used products illegal.

C'mon Microsoft, don't be such a weenie. Lick your wounds and apologize. Else, bloggosphere's going to take this like the wind in a wildfire!


Oh, yeah, this dude at one time was arrested after sneaking across a lawn with a can of spray paint in Ohio, heading toward the notoriously large Bush/Cheney sign in the yard of Summit CountyRepublican Chairman Alex Arshinkoff. Zamos was convicted of misdemeanor trespassing and criminal mischief.

Here's a video-tape. Not him, though, I suppose, but maybe his friends? But it did occur in Summit County.

He got his dues. Now, it's time for Microsoft to get some serious dues. I'm rootin for the little guy.

The Extreme Liberal Bias Against Phil Mitchell of CU

A University of Colorado professor has lost his teaching position because of his outspoken views and controversial personal beliefs—and it's not Ward Churchill. Most Americans have no doubt heard of Churchill, the CU ethnic studies professor who compared the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to Nazis. But he still has his job. Phil Mitchell, a conservative Christian, does not. His offense? He assigned his history class to read "In His Steps" by Charles Sheldon, the book which in which the phrase "What would Jesus do?" was coined. Mitchell said he was immediately terminated when one student complained to the history department about the assignment.

Interesting bias going on here. Colorado University led a blind eye over "Prof" Churchill's comment when he described the World Trade Center victims as "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolph Eichmann, who carried out Hitler's plan to exterminate Europe's Jews during World War II. But instead Colorado University's officials came down on Professor Mitchell for having a class assignment to read "In His Steps" all because of one (if at best a few) student complained. Yet C.U. officials hardly ever listened to Sophomore Matt Coppo's complaint of Churchill who lost his father, Joseph Coppo Jr., in the World Trade Center attacks, and was angered over the invitation to Churchill.

"Knowing that I'm paying for a person to disrespect my father, it doesn't go over too well in my mind," Coppo said.

And Phil Mitchell knows all too well of what and why C.U. officials are trying to do.

"They know what they're doing," Phil Mitchell said of University of Colorado officials. "They're freezing out conservative ideas; they're freezing out conservative professors."

Indeed. So much for academic freedom.

UPDATE: More important points here from another blogger, and he's not a fan of evangelical Christianity.

Uber-cool Cyborg Device

Go here (allow a few minutes for the website to set up) and learn about the new "cyborg" device that will aid certain "handicapped" people. It's a large device almost the size of child's fist that sits next to the ear and it took 8 years to develop.

Welcome to the cyborg community.

You will be assimilated!

Are You a "Go-Getter" Athlete or Do You Make Excuses?

Are you a no nonsense, no excuse "go-getter" athlete who take "no" for an answer?

One thing though, be careful on who to blame when it comes to these deaf/hh athletes. Blaming parents, hearing coaches, deaf schools, the government and whatnot for not achieving to the athletic standards of hearing athletes. Pure bunkum.

I have participated in sports all of my life among my hearing teammates. As a kid I had two soccer championships SEAA ELKs, two little league baseball championships, wrestling trophies in which in one final wrestling event I took 2nd place in my weight category, took tumbling, basketball and swimming. All these took place OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL. Go figure. And all of my coaches were hearing, too. Ooooh, double go figure. But even while in Middle school I continued to play soccer and basketball. And in high school took track for short while before I began my odysey in weightlifting and finally powerlifting competing in powerlifting events where I often did well sometimes taking 1st or 2nd place in the bench press, squat and deadlift (which wasn't my favorite). All events were "hearing events" but they never discriminated anyone who had a hearing loss and allowed them to participate. Not one iota time. Go figure. This is what coaches want, go-getters. I have never remembered a time when I was put on the side line. Not once. I was part of the team and participated in every game. I even made the baseball team at Gallaudet University during a try out and I was to be placed either as 2nd base or short-stop because of my excellent ball fielding and batting. But I just wanted to see if I could make the team since I was more interested in using my time to study than to play sports that could take up my time and away from my continuing powerlifting exercises at Gallaudet. And now I'm into Aikido, a Japanese martial art and I'm in my 8th year. I'm a no nonsense, no excuse, go-getter.

Using an excuse, any excuses, on why these deaf/hh athletes couldn't be better than their hearing counterparts is nothing but laughable if they can do the same thing they can. If you have an athletic talent, you WILL be discovered whether a hearing or deaf coach spots your talent in the first place.

Terence Parkin had a hearing swimming coach who spotted his talent at age 13. And yet it was him who set out to teach everyone on his swim team the alphabet in sign language, starting with his hearing coach, so that they could communicate with him. Now everyone in swimming circles had a level of understanding with him. Parkin is a go-getter. Coaches like go-getters, whether they're deaf or not. Shows that you have the cojones, the will, the desire and the talent to be even a better athlete. Even if you don't become a professional athlete. Now, Terence Parkin has a swimming academy where he can be a deaf role model as a deaf coach for deaf/hh youngsters to look up to who go to his swimming academy. Truly a gold standard there.

It doesn't have to be the Olympics but the aspiration on getting into professional sports such as baseball. Curtis Pride became the fifth deaf player to reach the major leagues. At the age of six, Curtis Pride played one T-ball game and then said, "I'm going to be a baseball player." Twelve years later, he signed a contract to play for the major league New York Mets. In the intervening years, he was: (1) an outstanding high school athlete excelling in baseball, soccer, basketball, wrestling, swimming, track, and gymnastics; (2) named as one of the top 15 youth soccer players in the world (the only American) and a member of the U.S. National All-Star Soccer Team which traveled to China to compete for the 1985 Junior World Cup; (3) a "Parade Magazine" high school basketball All-American and a four-year starter as point guard on the College of William and Mary basketball team. On every one of those squads, Curtis was the only hearing-impaired athlete. Curtis Pride is a no nonsense, no excuse, go-getter.

Or maybe the first deaf professional cyclist, Reece-Emerson van Beek, of Australia? Notice his objectives: To win more major races; To compete overseas before the Deaflympic Games;
To win the Deaflympic Games in 35km Road Time Trial; 100km Road Race, 50km point Road Race; To become the first deaf professional athlete to join the European Professional cycling team in Division 1, 2 or 3. Reece-Emerson is a go-getter.

Or maybe a deaf semi-professional football player? Phillip Morris is both a defensive end and offensive guard on the Austin Gamebreakers, a semi-professional football team in Austin, Texas, part of the North American Football League. He’s a valued player, helping his team win the division championships this past year. Morris is also the only deaf player on the team. The story of how he got there is a story of struggle, harassment, acceptance and passion. "Life does not come in a silver spoon, we have to fight our way to the top," said Morris recently, but Morris not only fought but also played his way to success. He perceived the advantages in his deafness and made it work for him. Phillip Morris is a go-getter.

There is no end to this. None of these now professional athletes used excuses as their crutch for not making it. Excuses are for losers. You do your best and that what really counts whether you make the semi-professional sports, professional sports, the Olympics or just become a gosh darn excellent deaf/hh coach to help aspire young deaf/hh athletes.

This is what you must do by doing the best you can and not make excuses when it comes to sports. Again, excuses are for losers. You try and overcome any obstacles in your way in order to continue and improve your athletic skill. Parental support is important, too. But the inspiration and desire must come from within you to succeed. Please, no more excuses of why deaf and hard of hearing supposedly cannot be among the best of the best athletes in the world.

Are you a go-getter or do you want to make excuses?

Just as I thought.

Arrest of the Armanious Murderers

Read both Michelle Malkin and Powerlineblog about the case solved in the Armanious murders that was referred to in the NYPost. Seems the police have arrested two drug dealers who lived above the Armanious dwelling in an apartment rented to them by the Armanious. I'm glad the police finally caught the right murderers (ie. charged with the crime).

A few months ago I made a note about these murders and how may Liberals continue not to show any signs of sympathy or express condolences (or even outrage) to the friends and families of the murdered Armanious family and would rather talk about other things just to avoid any condolences or sympathy, and go about name calling. That was my point. Some people just don't get it.

However, there are always questions involving a murder and the extreme brutality of these murders didn't help but stir more questions, including possible hate crimes. And just because two suspects were arrested. The questioning doesn't stop there. Next is to figure out exactly what their motives were for the murders since both of them were drug dealers, living in a cheap apartment and are constantly looking for money. Extreme brutality can be an indicator of a hate crime and people will naturally question whether or not the murder is hate crime related. Pretty much the same way people question the Oct. 2 killing of Daniel Fetty, a 39-year-old gay, deaf man living in his car after a fire at his apartment who was beaten with bricks, boards and bottles, stripped naked and left in a trash container in downtown Waverly. He died the next day in a Columbus hospital. The prosecutor is calling this a hate crime. The exact motive is still unclear for both of these murders, the Armanious and Fetty. Condolences all around for these unwarranted but brutal murders.

Again, I express my condolences to the Armanious family and their friends. May the Armanious family rest in peace. They're in God's graces now.

The Problem with Deaflympics..."Wannabe Athletes?"

From the Belfast Telegraph newspaper: "Deaflympics: why it's time to make a change."

A Belfast man back from Melbourne told me the Games were well-organised and professionally-controlled, but is it appropriate to describe the results as world records when they are so inferior to medal-winning times in the hearing world?

It's also quite obvious that, in order to try and improve standards and win medals, the organisers have changed the whole meaning of the word DEAF and the medical cut-off line between deaf and hearing has been reduced to 50 decibels - very different from the strict tests of 70/80 loss ten years ago. People with that low level of hearing loss enjoy almost normal hearing with their digital aids and sign language is not in their vocabulary.

Hearing aids are not permitted when competing to try and put all competitors on an equal footing, but nearly all the winners interviewed by See Hear spoke as hearing folk and it seems ridiculous to persist with the title Deaflympics when the great majority of the sports men and women competing are not part of the deaf community as we know it.

If this policy of lowering the level of hearing loss in order to attract a better class of competitor persists, then the time will surely come when sign language users will be in a minority and, with English as their first language, the new breed of deaf athletes will be perfectly at home in events like the Paralympics.

I spoke to the head of UK deaf sports and he said that, while he agreed with many of my points, he felt that the deaf community still felt the need for this four-yearly get-together - not just to compete in sport, but perhaps even more importantly, to meet and socialise with deaf people from many other parts of the world.

Seems to me that there is more emphasis on socialization at Deaflympics than purely for the athletic event. Just my perception. Since all of the deaf and hard of hearing athletes are able-bodied compared to those in the Paralympic or even the Special Olympics. There is a difference between these two sports organization on athletic qualification requirements. And yet many of these deaf and hard of hearing athletes are wannabes who dare hope and dream of competing in the Olympics some day if they practice hard everyday for it.

The Deaflympics shows good intention by showing and helping these skilled deaf or hard of hearing athletes to the world much like the Paralympics. Historically, the Olympics had their share of people with certain disabilities.

So far, 15 deaf or hard of hearing athletes had the rare privilege to compete in "hearing" Olympic Games between 1948 and 2004. The most recent one was a deaf sportsman Frank Bartolillo who won the selection for the 2004 Australian Olympic Fencing Team.
The next recent one was Terence Parkin, an outstanding hard of hearing swimmer from South Africa, in 2000. Before that a deaf athlete made the 1998 Winter Olympics to compete as a speedskater. It was Chantal Sevigny who made the Canadian Olympic Team that competed in the 1998 Winter Olympics. She became the first deaf athlete to take part in the Winter Olympics while the Summer Olympics has a list of deaf or hard of hearing athletes who took part. But this was a first for the Winter Olympics. Even for Jeff Float who became the first gold medal winner as a deaf swimmer in the 1984 Olympics. Jeff Float was never a Deaf athlete but a deaf athlete and was oral most of his life. And not only deaf or hard of hearing athletes competed in the Olympics, so did blind athletes. These athletes aspire to be greater than simply a deaf athlete. These athletes aspire to be nothing but Olympic athletes.

Now, what the CISS/Deaflympics don't tell you about those 14 deaf or hard of hearing athletes even though they acknowledge them quite pridefully, is that many of these athletes are not Deaf or culturally deaf, or even know sign language. Many of these athletes are simply deaf or hard of hearing athletes who may read lips, communicate verbally among their hearing peers and friends, or even use sign language. Some use their hearing aids as a source of communication input and use their voice to communicate instead. And most of these athletes do look up to their famous hearing athletes as a source of their athletic inspiration rather than deaf or hard of hearing athletes. But that's changing, too.

Regardless, the Deaflympics is an inspiring athletic sports organization sponsored by the Olympics committee enabling deaf and hard of hearing athletes to aim at their very best. The best of the best go to the Olympics. Who will be the next one?

When Militant Deaf Liberals Use the "Fake but Accurate" Response

Dan Rather said it in his defense of the fake Bush memo. Ward Churchill basically said it about his fake but "original" painting of "Winter Attack". And now Deaf Militant Liberals are getting on the bandwagon?

In one recent Deaf blogsite the person shows pictures of Arnold Schwarzenegger of his young self posing his famous muscular pose and him from a few years ago in his beach swimsuit looking mightly out of shape for a man who was 55 or so at the time when the picture was taken. Supposedly the picture is Arnold. On the Snopes message board they discuss the veracity of the photo of the older Arnold. Elsewhere one has said it was seen in People Magazine. Just because it's in a magazine doesn't mean the photograph is that of Arnold. The actual source of the photo has yet to be revealed and with modern photoshopping methods on digital photos anyone can plant a face of a famous person onto an ungodly overweight or out of shape person. Here is what one militant Deaf and Liberal person (A) said:

A: "This is gross. Hopefully, gay men will think twice before imitating this fool."

B: "It isn't his body at all you fell for the most common trick in technology!"

A: "I dont care if it's fake or not. Deal with it."

And a long pause, some rebuttal about blogging as part of the "entertainment" business and nothing about learning or education in a subsequent blogpiece along with a few expletitives and then somebody blinked:

A: "Besides, Arnie was always a lousy actor to start with."

Okayyyy. It's entertainment. Consider my blogpieces to be both entertaining AND educational. The learning never stop.

One thing I do question. I don't see a scar on Arnold's chest. He had open-heart surgery in 1997 to replace a congenital (by birth) aortic heart valve before it had a chance to get worse later in his life. This is where doctors have to crack open the chest just to get to the heart in plain open view. Scars would have been very prominent in Arnold's photo that was shot supposedly in 2003 when he was 55 years old. A scar should have been seen from at the top of the chest ribcage down to the bottom of his middle ribcage. Though the picture is not all that clear, either.

Whether it's fake or not, it's up to you people, really. But it is really just plain idiocy to call upon the old "fake but accurate" response just so you can have your say without admitting to anything in error a la' Dan Rather's bobbing and weaving style. It's called "intellectual dishonesty." For all we know, the photo could be quite real. But to say "I don't care if it's fake or not" looks a bit, uh, INANE and points out your own obviouis agenda. And for the person who said "Gross" ought to look at his own photos of himself on his own webpage with that large gut of his in the way at age late 20-ish or something and compare that to Arnold's younger days when he was 20-ish or something. Now, imagine yourself at age 55, with no exercise and continued bad eating habits enough to give you diarrhea all the time. Not an attractive picture for anybody to imagine. The results will be worse than the contested out-of-shape Arnold. Much worse.

Be careful how you judge other people's physiques. Until you walk in their shoes, being fit and healthy isn't an easy task. Keeping slim isn't easy either for many. Exercising at an older age gets harder. Exercising and proper eating become a whole different lifestyle. You have that choice. And you live with that choice. Sometimes your own genes make it harder to have that healthier lifestyle but it is does not have to become an impossible task if you're smart about it. And it make no sense to point fingers at other people's awful physiques when you need to take that plank out of your own eyes for a change. And this isn't even about politics, either. This is about common courtesy. Given that Arnold mainained his physique for nearly 35 years is amazing in itself compared to people who hardly touched a barbell or much less exercised at all want to make fun of his physique at a later age. Especially when Arnold has a keen interest in helping special people at the Special Olympics events. And at age 57, if you can look this good in a suit, then certainly you have that physique advantage that anybody would kill to look that good. Even at age 57.

BTW, it's never too late to sculpt your body, even at age 72. And it doesn't have to be bodybuilding, either.

Ward Churchill's Painting: Fake but Accurate

Ward Churchill is getting himself into more hot water. This time over copyright infringement of a famous painting called "Winter Attack." If you place Churchill's work beside that of renowned artist Thomas E. Mails, you can tell they're exact mirror images of each other. But one is a copyrighted drawing. The other is an autographed print by Churchill.

When Foxnews reporter (Chohan) questioned Ward Churchill outside of his office about the fake paintings he certainly wasn't happy:

"Get that camera out of my face," Churchill said.

"This is an artwork we've got called 'Winter Attack.' It looks like it was based on a Thomas Mails painting; it looks like you ripped it off. Can you tell us about that?" Chohan asked.

That prompted Churchill to take a swing at Chohan while he held a stack of papers in his hand.

Then after Ward Churchill calmed down a little bit he had this weak defensive reply reminiscent of CBS' Dan Rather's "Fake but Accurate" response using a mirrored response of "Accurate but Fake" reply:

"It is an original art work by me, after Thomas Mails," Churchill said.

"Original art work" ? It's an accurate piece, but it's certainly a fake one off of a truly original art work. Nobody would get away with that if one tries to pass off a Mona Lisa art work as their own.....a signed copy, that is.

When contacted at his home in North Carolina, Ryan Mails, the son of the late Thomas Mails said the family still retained the copyrights to the drawings of the Mystic Warriors book, and that his father fiercely defended the copyrights."My father invested a great deal of himself in his work, and from that he developed a great fierceness in defending his work," Mails' son said. "I cannot imagine he would ever grant permission to anyone to copy one of his pieces."

So, Churchill lied about him being in the indian ancestry by masquerading as a indian for years. A wanna-be. Aren't all Liberals like that? And now he lied about his "original art work" as if it his work was THE orginal art work along with 150 signed copies of his "original" art work.

Now, I respect the Indian culture and have a fascination over the various cultures. Even my wife is 1/60th indian but we haven't found out which tribe, yet. Still investigating. But as for Ward Churchill he has gone delusional over the years pretending to be an indian in his books and articles. Churchill has described himself as a member of the Keetoowah Cherokee tribe in Oklahoma. In past interviews, he's claimed to be one-sixteenth Cherokee. He certainly seems trying to be one with the long hair.
How INANE is that?

By the way, be sure to check out the video clip of Ward Churchill attacking the Foxnews camera man and reporter at the bottom of CBS4 webpage. Or go here for the shorter version of the attack story.

Justice for Maj. Gregory Stone

I just looked it up and found out that the trial is to begin soon for Sgt. Akbar for the killing of two officers. Maj. Gregory Stone is one of the two officers who were killed during a tent grenade attack at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait at the start of the Iraq war. Maj. Gregory Stone is my cousin.

I hope Sgt Akbar gets his full due. Akbar could get the death penalty if convicted of two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of attempted premeditated murder.

He is accused of stealing grenades from a Humvee and initiating the attack on fellow members of the 101st just days into the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. Killed were Army Capt. Christopher Seifert, 27, and Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40. Another 14 soldiers were injured.

If convicted of two counts of premeditated murder and three counts of attempted premeditated murder, the 33-year-old Akbar could get the death penalty.

The case marks the first time since the Vietnam War that an Army soldier has been prosecuted for the murder or attempted murder of another soldier during wartime.

Henley set aside April 5 for another motions hearing to resolve any final pretrial issues. After jury selection, he said he expects testimony to begin April 11. The entire court-martial is expected to last four
weeks.

Rebuild Iraq Expo

Apparently just about everybody is vying for a piece of the reconstruction pie in Iraq. The "Rebuild Iraq 2005" expo coming up this April has over 1000 exhibitors from 35 countries (yes, USA is in this Expo show). This is an increase from 30 countries from last year's first ever expo. The 2005 Expo will be held at the Amman International Fair, Marj El-Hamam, Amman - Jordan, April 4 - 7, 2005. The "Rebuild Iraq 2005" website advertises the fact and makes clear that:

No country in the region has more business-generating potential than Iraq. Almost two-and-a-half thousand projects are creating massive demand for material and equipment. The U.S. government has set aside $18.6 billion for the rehabilitation of Iraq’s electricity, water, oil, health, transportation, agriculture, and telecommunications sectors. Global donors have committed a further total of $13 billion to projects in Iraq.

Power facilities and electrical grids need to be restored, oil and gas supplies nurtured, airports, roads and schools rebuilt, and seaports transformed. The country’s fiber optic network must be rehabilitated, its water infrastructure overhauled and its healthcare system reformed. The quality of education needs to be enhanced, local food production industries upgraded, and agricultural productivity increased.

Emerging Iraq is in desperate need of a full range of infrastructure \ products, services and systems, including hospital and security equipment, medicines, road and rail machinery, oil production tools, and finance and telecom systems.

Soaring demand for materials and technology in key sectors of the Iraqi economy may well exceed $150 billion in the long term. In the medium term, $60-70 billion will be needed to rebuild the country.

No wonder Germany and France are wanting to be nice again with the USA after losing their multi-billion dollar contracts with Saddam under the Oil for Food guise. They stand to make more money in the reconstruction business than the oil business. And by looking at the exhibitors list Germany has more exhibitors than the United States. Yet, it was the Liberals who were screaming bloody murder that the United States were after Iraq for its oil? Looking mighty foolish they are.

And yet over 50 Saudi companies are set to take part in the second Iraq Reconstruction Exhibition. Again, not exactly just a USA thing when it comes to reconstruction.

And how come the MSM won't pick up on this in a positive light? It is because they don't want to give President Bush any more credits on the success of the Iraq war than necessary? Typical mainstream media reaction.