“Honesty is the best policy. If I lose mine honor, I lose myself.” ~William Shakespeare As a child, my parents taught me to always be honest. As a child, I would try and get away with lying—and always got caught.        Disappointed Mother: “Why did you lie?”        Me as a Child Testing My Boundaries: “Um……” Eventually, I learned that lying doesn’t really get you anywhere. In fact, lying degrades [...]

Some thoughts grown out of recent discussions on Gallaudet. There are still those who oppress Deaf writers, attacking them personally instead of their ideas. The focus is on groups and their particular foibles rather than on elevating the discourse of ideas, and that pulls us all down. So in the Tradition of Joanna Russ’ “How To Suppress Women’s Writing”: 1. Hint coyly that Deaf students apparently don’t have the right [...]

Thu Dec 02, 2010 at 12:14:12 PM PST I was reluctant to sign the Dailykos petition in support of Netflix and asking the FCC to reign in Comcast’s abuse of corporate power. Why was I reluctant to do so? Because of the history of Netflix’s hostile business practices towards the deaf community, in refusing to caption streaming videos. Dana Mulvany, a consumer advocate, explains the history between Netflix and the [...]

TREE HUGGER He was a Zen disciple of passion. Prior to the meditative ritual that landed him in prison, he never would have thought that being One with a tree was illegal in every state except California (and only there since Legislature needed Republican votes to get “for-cancer-patients-only medical marijuana” passed, and some compromise was called for). Nudity was simply acknowledgement; the absence of “his”(or him, I…). Sticky sap, contours [...]

From time to time, I would be startled when one of my friends or acquaintances decides to “leave” our community. They are always non-natives, often people who found their way into our world as adults after excruciating childhoods as the only deaf one in their families and schools. One woman who recently did this said that “the Deaf community is a snake pit of backstabbers!” Another friend who walked out [...]

Deaf people often possess a painstakingly curated collection of videophone numbers. This is more a reflection of the highly fragmented video relay service (VRS) industry and its practices than any predilection towards numerical hoarding on the Deaf person’s part. The FCC requires that any person who uses a videophone must register for a telephone number compliant with the North American Numbering Plan which gives us (xxx) xxx-xxxx. And that number [...]

One issue that my business struggles with on a daily basis is video communication.  Simply put, there is no perfect solution out there that even covers the majority of needs.  Here, let me explain. With our business, we talk to clients, contractors, and various other businesspeople of all stripes: Deaf contractors with iChat or VP Hearing contractors via VRS, AIM, Email, or Text Message Deaf businesses via VP Hearing people [...]

Long ago, I was dating this Christian woman, Sandy. In my own defense, let me say three things: 1) She was hot (I have my wife’s permission to tell you this, by the way); 2) I was a spankin’ new college freshman at UW-Milwaukee, and was opening myself up to new dating experiences; and 3) she struggled enough with her piety to make our relationship interesting. Nonetheless, she did try [...]

Deaf people who are teachers think about the nature of education a lot, I think. I certainly do. I see all kinds of viewpoints, even today. There are people who say that the point of educating Deaf people is that they can learn to communicate in English, which is patently ridiculous; there’s enough bobbleheads spouting empty things on weekday television. We need more than that. I believe bilingual education is [...]

[Editor's note: The article you are about to read first appeared in Dailykos.com on 12/08/10. The thread referred to in the first sentence is taken from a discussion that followed a different article. Reviewing this may be helpful in establishing context.] Judging from this thread, not many people are aware about how their comments can offend and hurt those who are deaf and hard of hearing, and these comments are a prime example of audism. I do [...]