Dufur

Dufur, Oregon, an old agriculture town that is close to my heart. A town with a lot of fond memories while as a kid growing up. Each summer from Tacoma, Washington my folks took me, my sister and brother to see our grandparents, uncles, aunt and cousins in Dufur, The Dales, and my mother's girlhood farm house that sits between Dufur and Tygh Valley. My mother and father grew up in Dufur and eventually got married. Dufur is a town that's easy on the eyes with picturesque views of open fields and hills with the ever present Mt. Hood in the distance. A town whose smell, look and feel harken to the days when life was simpler.

                Looking toward the west while Dufur is to the east. Mt Hood is off in the distance behind the clouds.

                                             An old truck behind a house named "Fort Dufur."

 Fort Dufur house. I'm not sure what the history of this house but it is an abandoned one. Sits next to the historic Balch Hotel.

Old theater or auditorium seats stacked in the back yard behind Fort Dufur house.

Inside an old bus used by the Portland Police.

My old swimming hole near Friend, Oregon which is about 13 miles south of Dufur as the crow flies. Every summer while growing up my family would go there to swim along with my uncle and aunt.

Swimming hole is anywhere from 5 feet to 8 or 9 feet deep.

Found it! The last time I swam here was back in the early 1970s. Took me a few hours to finally find the place deeply tucked in with the basalt canyon. I know the name of this creek but I won't mention it here. After all, it is my "super secret" swimming hole.

Jump in! The water is fine. It was warm enough, upper 70s, and sunny with some wind. The water was cold but refreshing. You have to hike a steep trail that you can barely make out down 200 feet into the canyon to get this spot. And hiking back up can be chore if you're not up to the task.

This water fall is not a vertical waterfall but it cascades down a 30 to 40 degree angle and goes into a small pool before cascading into the larger pool. You can take an inner tube and slide down this waterfall for some fun.

Beyond the pool is the "The Chute" you can float down on while it cascades into a few pools.

Because this is a dry country poisonous snakes are known in the area. This isn't a rattlesnake but a poisonous snake called the Hypsiglena torquata.

An old school house used as a community center in Friend, Oregon.  You can see the two outhouses to the right of it.

His and her outhouse.

Inside the old school house. There's an old piano in the corner. I played on it and the sound reverberated throughout the whole school house. The school house is an open building where anyone can go in but there is a sign inside the entrance that says please not to vandalize the place. It looks to be well kept. Very few people come out of the way to Friend, Oregon.

 

Playing ragtime...songs of the past that matches the old school house. 

The picture quality isn't so good in my blog but you can see those same pictures (and more!) in Flickr that comes with better resolution and quality. Enjoy!

A quack and a liar

Here's a captioned video clip of Charlie Brown and Lucy that I put together by myself. . There are some things to watch out for when it comes psychiatry. Even Charlie Brown doesn't quite see it and still he succumbs to such quackery and dishonesty each and every time. As a deaf or hard of hearing person, what are some of the things you can do to avoid the same mistakes Charlie Brown makes?



As for me, I'm like Schroeder. Just sit down at my piano and enjoy playing my ragtime and early jazz pieces. And on occasions, when I'm into it, play some classical pieces. It'd be cool to hear Schroeder play some ragtime pieces. One can only imagine.

The new deaf generation....listening and speaking.

Cochlear implant technology has enabled a whole new generation of deaf people enabling them the ability to speak, listen and understand the spoken word, and acquire a language. Below are two split videos of a documentary of deaf children who were outfitted with cochlear implants while very young. They were interviewed later on in life as pre-teens and teenagers and talking to them, you wouldn't know they were deaf. These group of deaf people are the next upcoming crop of new generation of deaf people with cochlear implants.

In the documentary, those children and teens are from Australia where all of them grew up with all of the inflection, pitch and intonation in their voices with an apparent Australian accent. When that happens you know for fact that early intervention works and that cochlear implant provides that very access to a world of speaking and listening, and spoken language acquisition. For parents of deaf babies to watch this documentary would prove to be powerfully insightful and full of hope for them that anything else wouldn't be anywhere near as convincing. This documentary points out that cochlear implants do work and that early intervention is the most important key of them all because of the brain's early plasticity development. Parents would be the glue to make it all work.

Be sure to watch all of the video documentary before commenting so that you can be properly informed on what was covered in the video.

Part I
http://youtu.be/0lmCuyrgc80

Part II
http://youtu.be/ttd2l9J9oqE


When I watched that documentary I was simply amazed at the children and teens' voices and I could actually hear their full inflection, pitch and intonation of their accented (Australian) voices as opposed to hearing American kids with cochlear implants (they do just as well, btw). The difference was hearing their Australian accent vs American accent. Which means one thing, cochlear implant does work even to capture the accent of their (hearing) native spoken language. Not only just speaking but listening as well. The boy with the rocket ship doesn't need to look at his teachers' mouth (i.e. lip reading) to have a conversation. He even understood the electronic voice in the space rocket announcing a countdown (5, 4, 3, 2, 1...blast off!) and the boy would hear that and lifts the rocket up.

Early intervention is the key and parental involvement must play a huge role in this. Not doing those things would simply be left to chance. All this is from an aural and oral development point of view I acknowledge readily. I still see that signing such as SEE, SE, PSE or ASL can play an important role for deaf and hard of hearing children although perhaps in some areas not as critical to others (e.g. profoundly deaf vs those with mild hearing loss at 30 db). It's simply up to parents to make an *informed decision* before moving forward. And we must accept those parents' decisions. The decision does not rest with anyone else. Yet this documentary video will prove to be compelling to parents of deaf babies by providing them the biggest hope and a confirmation that it does work.  How can you compete with that when it comes to speaking and listening development?

"Being your best advocate"

That was a phrase coined by Stephen Hopson, who is deaf and became the first deaf person in aviation history to earn an instrument-rated pilot's license, spoke as a commencement speaker in front of the graduating high school class at Clarke School in Northampton. He told students that his life and accomplishments were proof that you "have to be your own best advocate."

Stephen Hopson, the first deaf person in aviation history to earn an instrument-rated pilot's license, told students that they had to stand up for themselves and ignore naysayers in order to succeed.

"If you do, your life will change and your life will change other people's lives. You have that power," he said.

Hopson, who was born deaf, also had a successful career as a Wall Street stockbroker and is now a writer and inspirational speaker.

And that's true. There will be naysayers who will attempt to detract your efforts  by negatively saying what you do will not work or succeed, especially against deaf people such as those in the global microbrand business. Jason Curry, CEO of sComm, is an example of that by "being your best advocate." He believed in his vision that a new product of his will help deaf and hard of hearing people communicate better with hearing people without the need of a sign language interpreter. And he did exactly that by designing a patented communication face-to-face device called "UbiDuo" which made its debut on April 22, 2006 after starting up his business in 2002. Most new businesses fail within 5 years but in the face of a downturn economy Jason's business continues to thrive and grow only because he became his own best advocate. That is key on ensuring success along with drive and focused determination. If you believe then you can succeed.

Marlee Matlin and her hearing aid experience

Marlee Matlin gives us an understanding why she wears her hearing aids in both ears and the reason she supports the Starkey Hearing Foundation on providing free hearing aids to kids around the world.

If you're in Minnesota or nearby, or can fly in, you can always attend the July 24, 2011 "So the World May Hear" 11th annual gala with celebrities and musicians stopping by to watch, celebrate, and perform. Last year, with their 10th annual Gala they raised a record $7 million dollars, the most ever. In 2009 they raised $4.6 million dollars with each succeeding year earlier raising more money than before.

This year 11th gala includes the ever present Marlee Matlin, former president Bil Clinton, Randy Hogan, and Doug Pitt as Honorees with hard hitting performers Miley Cyrus, Reba Mcentire, Garth Brooks, Meat Loaf, and the Kevin Costner & Modern West country band.

With Marlee Matlin's extensive coverage about her hearing loss as a deaf person on Celebrity Apprentice has raised her profile as well as awareness on hearing loss. I'm sure the 11th annual Gala "So the World May Hear" will raise even more money beating out the $7 million dollars raised in 2010. And provide even more hearing aids and services to kids around the world. Watch their latest captioned video of their visit to one of the towns in Africa they visited in 2010. 

The million dollar whine....

People need to stop whining about Marlee Matlin's $1 million dollar charity contribution via The Celebrity Apprentice show to the Starkey Hearing Foundation in their own utter befuddlement over on why she didn't contribute to NAD or some other organizations. Best to put your money where your mouth is if you are so darned worried about NAD not getting enough money. As for Starkey HF, I simply see evidence of them being a successful organization than anything else.  I've no need for these hokey, wild-eyed conspiracy theories about Marlee Matlin, and Starkey Hearing Foundation. Better to focus than to whine.

All this boils down to simple math if ya'll want to see $1 million dollars put into, for example, NAD's coffer each year.

Let's use 5,000 people who can contribute to NAD as an example. That's $200 per person per year. Or just under $17 per month if you prefer to contribute monthly. Are you telling me that a mere 5000 Deaf people are unable to contribute basically a few dollars a month to NAD? That's 100 Deaf people from each state in the United States that can contribute if they are so concerned about NAD or where the money "should be" going.

Which is it, folks? Complain and worry about NAD or other organizations not getting enough money for more and better advocacy while complaining incessantly on how Marlee Matlin should've forked over the $1 million, or actually have the balls to do something about it? BTW, you don't have to be a member to donate. 

As for me, I am more in line with HLAA's philosophy.  And more good news on "Walk4Hearing" fund raising goal. They are at 30% of their goal on raising $1.2 million dollars. At least they're doing something positive that reach across all folks with a wide range of hearing loss.  

Matt Hamill - prefight interview

Don't miss it. This Saturday, May 28 at 6PM West Coast time or 9 PM East Coast time. How will Matt Hamill do? The only way to find out is to watch the UFC fight.

Another new milestone......and upcoming Matt Hamill fight!

Whoo hooo! Over 900,000 visits on my Kokonut Pundit blog. Only another 100,000 more hits to go til I hit 1 million visits. You can see the Sitemeter number on the leftside of my blog and scroll down til you see it. After 7 years and 1799 blogs later I hit the 900,000 mark. How many deaf bloggers are in that same league? My 8th year will begin this October 22, 2011. Hopefully, sometime in 2012 I'll hit my 1 millionth mark.

One thing I noticed over the last few days is that I've gotten a lot of hits from Wikipedia on Matt Hamill it mentioned about my interview (see #13 in Wikipedia's references) with Matt Hamill back in June 26, 2006. This happens every time Matt Hamill gets ready for a fight but this time the fight against Rampage this Saturday, May 28, has produced an unusual number of traffic flow from Wikipedia compared to other fights.  I'm one of the very few bloggers who have done interviews with Hamill and I was given several photos of him practicing sparring and joshing around with Tito Ortez from Matt Hamill to use in my blogs.

Anyway, do not miss this epic fight!! I plan to go to a sports bar with my wife and enjoy the fight there. It's better to pay $50 bucks on drinks and snacks and watch the fight there than to pay $50 bucks for pay per view.

I just wanted to toot my horn and thank you all for visiting Kokonut Pundit, a nationally known professional patriotic purveyor of highly entertaining and informative blogging!

John Rich or Marlee Matlin?

Finally watched the last Celebrity Apprentice show and saw that Mr. Donald Trump picked John Rich as the Celebrity Apprentice over Marlee Matlin. It's interesting to watch the culturally deaf people grumble about the selection saying that Mr. Trump made a mistake. I, on the other hand, do not think Mr. Trump made a mistake but the correct one. John Rich was consistent in everything he did including being a leader. Had Marlee Matlin been more aggressive as a leader rather than be lead around like a lost puppy with Meatloaf making the decisions. That not only happened once but a few times throughout the whole Celebrity Apprentice show. Marlee Matlin may have raised the most money in the beginning with $1 million dollars, the most ever on the show but it was John Rich's consistency on being a leader as project team leader that everyone can look up to. Marlee Matlin was great but she fell a notch below Trump's expectation of her and she lost an opportunity to showcase herself to be a thorough leader. I wasn't surprised that Mr. Trump selected John Rich as the C.A. Trump made the right decision.

I'm not sure why during the show that Marlee Matlin grumbled about John Rich receiving $250,000 from two people who came up to him during the show and donated the money to his charity of choice. It would be nuts for him to turn it down and Marlee Matlin knows it. And with John winning C.A. and received an additional $250,000 makes him the highest fund raiser ever on C.A. for his charity of choice. He fulfilled his goal at the very beginning of the show to raise the most cash for his charity of choice. He certainly did just that. Shows great leadership and compassion. Marlee Matlin did a great job on raising $1 million dollars for her charity of choice, Starkey Hearing Foundation. Plus, the 7-up can her team helped designed supports deaf kids where the 7-up company is donating money to the Starkey Hearing Foundation as well. And that's another story on how some culturally deaf people are grumbling and whining over her charity of choice, too.

Taking Rein over Paddy

Once I took control of Paddy it was an exhilarating experience. It was a moment I've been waiting for when I finally confronted the beast. Over the years I gradually came to the realization that I had to confront this desire of mine and find a way to learn how to control such an animal when at one time I didn't really care for. It's a long history and I'll explain it later.  Confronted I did. And that was recently a few days ago on Saturday during a lovely warm day on a 20 acre ranch out in the green, rolling country hills of Missouri. 

With my worn cowboy boots I had for many years snuggly fit inside the stirrups I sat high up and comfortable on a saddle with Paddy, a young horse that was a few years old. I knew there was a risk when it came to controlling Paddy on my command since he wasn't used to having a stranger on his back but the owner of the horse was sure his horse was broken enough not to show any temperament while I had my fun for the day. Paddy has been in training for the past 10 months for a show competition called Reining.

Reining is a judged event designed to show the athletic ability of a ranch type horse within the confines of a show arena. In NRHA competition, contestants are required to run one of ten approved patterns, included in the NRHA Handbook.


Each pattern includes small slow circles, large fast circles, flying lead changes, roll backs over the hocks, 360 degree spins done in place, and exciting sliding stops that are the hallmark of the reining horse.


The NRHA Judging System is recognized as the leading format for judging an equine event that combines technical and stylistic elements coupled with consideration of "degree of difficulty". Many segments of the equine judging discipline have openly embraced the NRHA Judging System.

Here's a video of how Reining is done.

While trotting around I wondered if other deaf people used sign language to communicate with their horses just as those who have done that with dogs but I digress. There are after all deaf and hoh people who love horses and ride them, too.



After trotting awhile I was satisfied knowing that I was able to control Paddy with ease. So I tried spinning a few times in both directions. Backed him up. Trotted some more. A slight gallop. And then a trot. And finally got into position for a classic photo shoot of me with Paddy.

After that experience I got off and verbally thanked the horse for allowing me that opportunity and patted him. My good friend, Jason, was next. He got up and had his fun, too.

The horse riding was a part of my vacation out in the midwest. I had a great time and the next time I go I look forward to an all day horse riding experience with my new friends I made on that trip along with a good friend friend of mine who made this day possible. Thank you, Jason!

Now, I can't wait for my next horse riding experience. I think my inner cowboy is beginning to surface now. Just feels so natural riding a horse. Such a simple thing can be so pleasurable and fun.

Global Microbrand

There is a new concept in the business world called "global microbrand" that was coined several years back. For those not familiar with the phrase it basically means in a niche market you have a brand that sells all over the world but not yet at the tipping point on being able to produce in massive quantity the product being sold. There are some deaf-owned businesses that does this on their own designing, making and selling their own technology products. sComm is one of those very few businesses that does that. And by saying "very few" it's a true statement around here. sComm has a global microbrand called the "UbiDuo" which has been sold worldwide and it continues to grow. No matter how small or big this niche market is as long as there is big enough interest in a product there's money to be made and profited. In this case the UbiDuo has been proven to be a money maker ever since the first year it debuted.

sComm began as a company in 2002 and debut the UbiDuo communication device on April 22, 2006 at DeafNation. Jason Curry, who is deaf and the CEO of sComm, never looked back once his product took off that year and saw sales rise each year. It has been 5 years since the opening day when the UbiDuo was made available to the public. Most new businesses do not survive past 5 years and go out of business. But sComm is nothing but normal as a business in an economy that has been suffering for the last few years. In fact, in a depressed economy sComm is actually thriving because people are quickly finding out the value of 100% accessible communication of the English language. 

Looking back 5 years ago the year when UbiDuo first exploded into the conscious minds of many deaf people you had your naysayers and detractors on this new technology, a soon to be global microbrand. You had your deaf techno geeks and so called "experts" who derided and made fun of the Ubiduo and the CEO of sComm for making that communication device seeing it as "worthless" and not "doable."  This was a product I recognized several years back seeing it as potentially a valuable communication device for deaf people. A niche market I knew that Jason Curry, the CEO, could easily help fill not just in the United States but worldwide for deaf users who know English. And that's a lot of people my friends. Not really so "niche-y" if you think about it.

I first heard about the upcoming communication device back in 2004 from Jason Curry, CEO of sComm. Even the people at NIH was impressed with Jason's vision that his company was awarded a $1.3 million dollar grant in February of 2005 to help fund the Phase II of sComm's product that would enable face-to-face communication betweeen deaf and hearing people, and between people in other communication-challenged situations.

Again, you had those deaf self-appointed techno-geeks and so called "experts" on technology and communication laugh at Jason's vision and product only to be proven wrong year after year after year.  Jason easily made fools of those so called "experts" in the world of micro branding. The superb quality that goes behind every Ubiduo stands on its own. I've seen it with my own eyes which validated my strong belief that Jason's vision was right on the mark that this communication device can help deaf people communicate effortlessly with hearing people. And that alone could potentially help a deaf person's own career as well with the ability to effortlessly interact with hearing people.

But in a world of deaf people who rely on sign language to communicate where some have been resistant and one-minded that they must have interpreters  24/7 available to them in order to communicate with their hearing peers, friends, co-workers, supervisors or bosses, that idea simply will not work in all cases. Not everybody can have the luxury on having a personal interpreter shadow you all day long like Marlee Matlin's own personal interpreter.  Don't get me wrong, having an interpreter is quite important in many cases but having or demanding an interpreter in nearly every single situation doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the world of business where English is king. Most of your co-workers, supervisors, clients and customers are hearing people who use English to communicate on a daily basis whether on paper or by voice. It makes good business sense to interact with hearing people using English on a daily basis.

Let me ask you this question.

What would you say about a deaf worker who worked as a greeter at Sam's Club for 12 years without having any other responsibilities or promotion? What would you say upon learning about a deaf worker who obtained a piece of communication technology called the "UbiDuo" that allowed him access to hearing customers and because of that technology he was promoted three times and now supervises 20 hearing people in a space of a few years? How much would you pay for that piece of technology that would allow you to interact and communicate with hearing people where signing isn't involved nor required?

Before you answer that there's a sobering reality what many culturally deaf people do not realize in the world of business.  In the United States in one federal agency with 37 deaf employees it had to spend $2.7 million dollars a year on interpreting fees alone.  On average that turns out to be $73,000 per year for each deaf person. In a time of budget cuts, downsizing and rising unemployment rates the bottom line has become quite apparent for all federal agencies, state government agencies and companies in lean times all over the world, and not just in the United States. There are efforts underway by companies and such to find ways to help control their cost , especially among those who are not so "English-impaired" and can communicate using English instead of acting like helpless people who don't know a lick of English and demand sign language interpreters in every possible or impossible scenarios.

Deaf people have a choice. Either they take the reign and show what they're capable of by showing their independence on their capability to interact with hearing people. Or become overly dependent on interpreters when their English is sufficient to communicate in the first place in face to face scenarios. If you can chat online, use the email, use the TTY, go on discussion forums over the internet and type everything in English, then certainly you have the capability to use the UbiDuo instead of using interpreters as a crutch.  Either you can stand up and speak for yourself in your own words or have a third person do the speaking for you all the time. The choice is really yours to make.

How much would you pay for a proven piece of communication technology?

What would you say about a deaf worker who worked as a greeter at Sam's Club for 12 years without having any other responsibilities or promotion?

What would you say upon learning about this deaf worker who obtained a piece of communication technology that allowed him access to his hearing customers, co-workers, supervisors and boss? Not a big deal?

What would you say to the fact that he was promoted three times and now supervises 20 hearing people all because of that communication technology he used?

I'd say you would probably be dumbstruck seeing the drastic change in this deaf person's own career advancement by using a crucial piece of communication technology. He's now much more happier and confident in his new founded career path.

How much would you pay for that piece of communication technology that can easily provide you the opportunity to interact and communicate with hearing people where signing isn't involved?

How much would you pay for that piece of communication technology that will allow you the opportunity to succeed? And the opportunity to show your co-workers and boss your entrepreneurial and team-work spirit? And impress your customers and business clients as well?

How much would you be willing to pay for a proven piece of communication technology to advance your own career at your place of work? Would you use it if your company paid for it? Do you have the drive and determination to succeed in your place of work? Would you take advantage of this piece of communication technology knowing that it could help you with your career in a positive way?

Would you?

Post Office Worker and Communication Access

Here's a story about a deaf man who communicates in various ways with his customers. Sometimes with his hands. Sometimes with a binder that explains to his customers on what they need to do. Or the use of a technology that makes communication easier. Check out the article and video!

When hearing loss doesn't stop a deaf musician

Here's a captioned video of a deaf musician who can play the piano, flute, clarinet, most woodwind, strings and and most percussion instruments. He talks about his hearing loss and hopes to meet with Evelyn Glennie someday soon.

Cure for nerve deafness gets even closer

One step closer on the goal to help restore hearing loss.

A cure for deafness could be on the horizon after scientists created specialised ear cells in the lab.

Grown in their thousands, the delicate hairs could one day be transplanted into the inner ear, restoring hearing to millions.

The breakthrough comes after ten years of painstaking research.

It may also allow some balance disorders to be eased and aid the search for drugs to prevent people from becoming hard of hearing.

Age-related hearing loss affects half of Britons aged 60 and over and there is currently no way of holding it at bay.

Hearing aids amplify sounds but nothing can give sufferers back the hearing they once had.

In the latest research at Stanford University, California, scientists perfected turning stem cells - blank cells which can turn into other cell types - into the delicate hairs found in the inner ear. ones.

The linch-pin of hearing and balance, thousands of these hairs help convert sound vibrations into nerve impulses which are decoded by the brain.

Ageing, noise and general wear and tear make them wither away and, until now, there was no way of replacing them.

The hairs made in the lab from mice looked and acted like the real thing, the journal Cell reports.

Researcher Stefan Heller said: 'We knew it was really working when we saw them in the electron microscope.

'They looked more or less like they were taken out of the ear.'

If the same technique can be applied to human cells, within ten years it may be possible to transplant-the delicate hairs to restore hearing.

Using slivers of the patient's skin as a source of the stem cells means that any hairs generated would be a perfect match for their body.

It also raises the tantalising possibility of creating drugs to coax the ear into growing more hair cells of its own accord.

We may be only 10 years away on witnessing the impossible.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1278160/Deafness-cure-breakthrough-scientists-create-tiny-ear-hairs-stem-cells.html#ixzz1MIzLjDfu

Had enough oranges?

Incestuous Relationships in the YouTube Deaf community?

And so I sat and observed what some people have said about the recent brouhaha in DVTV land where vloggers went so far as to issue threats and/or violated the rules in DVTV earning them a quick ban. Issuing threats are not cool. Throwing a temper tantrum while on the floor isn't cool, either.  This is like witnessing another round of "Deaf Identity Gone Wild" but only this time people are aiming their badly focused sight on Tayler instead, the owner of DVTV. 

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.

Except this battle isn't about Fernandes but about Tayler who is at the helm of his own DVTV ship but he's no Captain Bligh. He's fair and makes sure that DVTV is "more safe" than YouTube because blocking against individual vloggers has never been easier.  It's not a right to vlog on DVTV but a privilege and must follow DVTV's R-List of rules. Maybe Tayler isn't quite "Deaf enough" to some of the culturally deaf people's taste because he isn't "radical" enough? Hence, the continuing protestations?

Deaf people have increasingly used YouTube to the point where their actions have morphed into this mutant, politically incestuous, illegitimate entity, ad hoc type of group that has increasingly become more "clannish" and even "cultish" in some ways. In other words, they've increasingly become the epitome of what online bullying looks like in order to get what they want as a group that matches their agenda.  It has even gotten to the point where people have condoned (e.g. keeping silent about it) making online threats to other people as long as they think if it benefits their agenda.

Not cool, and pretty sick, too. But you won't hear that condemnation from some leaders when it comes to online threats.  It can be done directly by making email/online threats or indirectly as in the case of the "neo-nazi" tattoo lie hoping it will stick and cause the person to lose his job which pretty much defines a "hate speech" in its own right. And the leaders were once again, silent.

So we ask these questions.

How bad is this particular incestuous lot in the YouTube Deaf community? Is it real or imagined? What is the connection? How many are we talking about? How deep does it go? Or is this a case of a massive misunderstanding taking place? Has "Deaf power" run amok amongst the leaders and people of that community? Is the wearing of hoods a manifestation of what hatred looks like?  The people who sent threatening emails to Tayler, do they represent the Deaf community at large?

The Suckees and the Suckers....

I'm thinking about all the whiners out there who are unable to debate or argue intelligently and knowing when to disagree tactfully so. But instead they throw temper tantrums like a 6 year old kid because their "feelings" were hurt or felt "insulted" and how they demand that the offending person be removed for having an opinion that targeted no specific person. In life, how are they going to learn to suck it up once in a while? Of course, what I'm referring to is the whole DVTV debacle (not Tayler's but the whiners' own). For those who learn to "suck it up" when it comes to vloggers they find "offending" they know what to do by either ignoring the vlogger, put a block on him/her, or able to learn to control their emotions by not getting unnecessarily upset over it. They're called "Suckees." For those who refuse to put a block on the offending person in DVTV or refuse to ignore vlogs they don't like, they're called "Suckers." Why? Well, they are suckers for drama and would rather be on the sucker end of the joke. Weak-minded and unable to resist the need to have drama in their lives, and so they are the suckers.

People can disagree tactfully by voicing their displeasure or disagreement in a reasonable manner. I have no problems when it comes to disagreeing, even strongly, and be respectful about it. But to put on a drama show, stage protests, walk-outs, act intimidating in front of the camera, crying and demanding that the offending person be somehow banned, create vlogs specifically to harass, mock, show extreme hate, name calling, and so on against a person or vlogger they do not like for whatever reasons make them....Suckers. Because once they go down that path then you know they are unable to reasonable debate or argue effectively on why they disagree with that offending person's point of view or opinons. They are unable to agree to disagree and move on. They MUST have drama.

Suckees know what to do, say and act. They refuse to be suckers, and would rather be on the "suckees" end and not on not be "suckers." They learn how to suck it up and not let emotions cloud their judgements. They try and see from other people's point of views and perspectives. They try and see it objectively rather than emotionally. Suckers are unable to debate or argue their case cohesively and clearly, and are perhaps temporarily "crippled" mentally-wise. They are emotionally "crippled" in their own pool of thoughts on hate, contempt, derision, and anger. They are unable to be reasoned with, perhaps on a temporary basis, and how they are unable to objectively argue. In short, they throw themselves on the floor and do these temper tantrums like a 6 year old kid who can't get what he wants and demand that Mommy or Daddy do something about it to make him happy. You need to stop running to Tayler Mayer for every little vlogs that you don't like. Making a personal attack does not replace an effective, well thought out argument.Throwing a temper tantrum doesn't help, either.

And so, in the case of Barry (The Holism) in DVTV, you have the weak-minded group of people who cannot even use the basic common sense to use DVTV's block feature to block out any vloggers they do not like. If not DVTV but in YouTube, they are unable to avoid watching vloggers they don't like. But I suspect that many refuse to block certain people or through act of will power learn not to watch certain vloggers they do not like because many are simply addicted to drama. They want something to complain and whine about. Tayler Mayer is not your Mommy or Daddy for you to cry and run to. If you don't like certain vloggers in DVTV you can easily block that vlogger. Easy! Tayler Mayer already explained recently on how to do that by spoon feeding you that information. But for your own sake and sanity, it's better to avoid watching any vlogger that you don't like in the first place. Use your willpower to make sure of that and get that peace of mind.

I'm telling you. Suckers are addicted to dramas. They want that. They *THRIVE* on that. Suckees know better than to let emotion get the best of them. DVTV is an open book for the world to see and what do you think they see once they take a look at vloggers in DVTV ? A bunch of Suckers? Or a bunch of Suckees? 

Are you a sucker? Probably so. Prove me wrong.

Rockin Ranch

I love it out there! Here's a subtitled video compilation of pictures and videos of my aunt's ranch in eastern Oregon when I was out there two years (and again last year). So much peace for me whenever I go and visit her ranch, and the chance to see her horses again. My aunt's husband has lost a good amount of hearing and now wear a hearing aid. He's not always happy about wearing it all the time but it gets easier with time. I think he can finally relate to me when it comes to trying hear and not always get everything as a hard of hearing person. He isn't in good health but he is in my thoughts and prayers!

It's not often I come across deaf or hard of hearing individuals who love the great outdoors and the ranch life as well. I probably wouldn't raise horses myself but I sure wouldn't mind raising alpacas on a ranch.

Someday....

A Deaf Trash Collector and Surfing in Japan

Here's an interesting movie that comes with subtitles.

Shigeru is the main character of the film. He is a young garbage collector who is deaf and mute. One day he finds a broken surf board in the garbage. After watching the surfers he starts to feel an uncontrolable desire for the sea. He takes the board home and fixes it as much as he can. After that point, surfing becomes the main thing in his life. He is ignored and laughed by the young & ignorant local surfers. But he gets all the support he needs by his symphatetic girlfriend who is also deaf and mute.

In this film, Kitano tells us about the surf scene in Japan. It is a western import in Japanese society which is favored by the youth in sea shore parts of the country. Kitano portrays the surf in a pure and realistic way but not without the the poetic and emotional camera work. Maybe waves are the best way to describe the Shigeru's inner feelings which Shigeru is unable to express to the out side world fully. He seems calm and relaxed on the outside but inside, a big fire burns for surfing and freedom.