Under The Hill

Deaf-Blind Virginian Denied Restaurant Service Because of...
Under The Hill A deaf-blind Virginian woman and her husband were denied service in a restaurant because of her service dog, according to this WLJA ABC Channel 7 news report posted last Friday. The restaurant managers basically told the couple to leave because of the service dog. The couple tried to explain that there are federal and state [...]
Mon, May 17 2010

NECA Proposals to FCC could kill VRS Industry
Under The Hill SorensonVRS issued a nationwide plea to the Deaf/HoH consumers, asking for their help to convince the Federal Communication Commission not to accept the proposals from the National Exchange Carrier Association, which could doom the future of the video relay service industry. The link from SorensonVRS: [link] This is the Public Notice from the NECA to [...]
Sat, May 08 2010

Rest in peace, Todd Silvestri, Great Football, All-American...
Under The Hill Vincent Todd Silvestri, a former Gallaudet University football and wrestling star, a US Deaflympic wrestler, and coach, died suddenly yesterday or last night. I really don't know the full details but I'm informed by someone on Facebook that he hung himself and that his younger brother, Toselli, founded him in the basement. I'm absolutely shocked [......
Sat, May 01 2010

Mike McConnell Ranted On Deaf People on Radio?
Under The Hill Mike McConnell ranted on and on about deaf people on his radio talk show... in Texas? Our Mike McConnell of Kokonut Pundit blog? Actually no, it's not really him. It's the other Mike McConnell, the hearing radio talk show host in Texas. Mike the Kokonut was kind enough to share with me about this other Mike [...]
Thu, Feb 18 2010

Bowling Green State Student Did Master Thesis on Deaf...
Under The Hill Mike of Kokonut Pundit has something juicy for DeafReaders, Tayler, Ridor, Mishka Zena, Fookem, etc.: Empowerment in the Deaf Community: Analyzing the Posts of Internet Weblogs. The thesis was done by a Master of Art student at Bowling Green State University in Ohio last summer. Check out the PDF there. Interesting, long read, though. Mike took [...]
Sat, Feb 06 2010

Deaf people more gullible for global warming claims?
Under The Hill The awesomeness of Kokonut is just. . .awesome, dude. Global warming science is not that awesome. But there are enough people to believe that global warming is real, that scientists said so, and it's a great cause for concern, so then it must be awesome of some sort, I guess. Well, you can put it that [...]
Wed, Feb 03 2010

Egbert’s Identity/Racial Politics Paranoia on AGBell, NAD,...
Under The Hill John Egbert posted a blog in AGBell.info, exhibiting his paranoia and rumormongering regarding AGBell, especially when he suggested that National Association of the Deaf should have a black deaf leader to be the CEO of NAD to “frighten” AGBell before Congress. His first paragraph has a long running-on sentence, lacking punctuation and proper grammar, on th...
Fri, Dec 11 2009

Deaf Conservative Republicans Blog Has New Bloggers
Under The Hill Mike McConnell and I are pleased to introduce two new deaf bloggers to Deaf Conservative Republicans blog: Jeff Kurz and Eddie Runyon. Welcome abroad, guys! Jeff has his first new blog yesterday: Forecast on Government Health Care Reform: Another Failure. We are hoping for few more deaf conservative Republicans interesting in being guest bloggers for DCR in [...]
Tue, Dec 01 2009

Disney Not to Caption/Subtitle All Movies in rental DVD?
Under The Hill Don't be surprised by the above headline. Disney's “marketing decision” to not to included closed captioning or subtitles for the deaf in the rental DVD of a popular 3D animation movie, “UP“, could either be a sign of things to come or just a dumb-ass decision made by the new people at the Disney video [...]
Tue, Nov 17 2009

Deaf Man Worried that Obamacare Would Shut Out...
Under The Hill A deaf man named Noah Logue of St. Louis asked the Democratic operatives if he's going to be punished under “Obamacare” (the so-called America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009) ? Thanks to Gateway Pundit for this blog, a YouTube video of Noah Logue questioning the operatives is included (but no captioning). Noah's mother provided a...
Wed, Jul 29 2009

Are you thick-skinned or thin-skinned?
Under The Hill Reading from NAD's blog about “Strategic Information Sharing or Malicious Gossip” got me thinking about this adage: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Whoever said that must have been a truly thick-skinned person. Or must have been incredibly hardened by all sort of words being thrown at him (or her). [...]
Wed, Jul 15 2009

Gallaudet Forcing Students to Volunteer?
Under The Hill He's back and he is at it again! At least he must be doing something right to recognize the obvious flaw (and irony) of forcing young people to volunteer. Personally, I say that forcing people to volunteer is asinine, whether it is to benefit academic institutions, companies or the government seeking attention to their “street cred” [...]
Sun, Jul 05 2009

WOSU-TV Interviewed Deaf-Blind Man…for RADIO only?
Under The Hill Today, I learned that WOSU has interviewed Bryan Grubb, a deaf-blind right activist and a motivational speaker from central Ohio, about deaf-blind rights. It was assumed that his interview would be telecast on WOSU-TV channel (Columbus, Ohio) sometime in the near future, with captions, of course. Instead, as Mr. Grubb learned today, his interview will [...]
Wed, Jun 24 2009

Closed Captioning not necessarily alone improve one’s...
Under The Hill This morning, reading JJ Purorro's blog about his campaign to convince Netflix to include closed captioned movies offered on Netflix's “Instant View” online rental service, which doesn't offered the closed captioned versions. I commended him for setting up a Facebook campaign to rally people to get Netflix to include captioned/subtitled m...
Fri, Jun 05 2009

Prayers for Swine Flu Victims; Can you read lips covered by...
Under The Hill So far, over 150 people died from swine flu and there may be more to come out of this swine flu pandemic eventually. From this point, we should all say a prayer to the swine flu victims as more people are suffering and dying unexpectedly from it, especially in the more severe cases. Your relatives, [...]
Tue, Apr 28 2009

Rush Limbaugh Praising Obama?
Under The Hill Wow, Mr. McConnell of DCRepublicans got the goods on Rush's now legendary speech at the CPAC Saturday night, praising Obama and all that. Read it all here. Great stuff there. I did watched Rush's speech on C-SPAN and it's really fantastic. And Mr. McConnell is absolutely spot on this point: Many liberals and even some [...]
Mon, Mar 02 2009

DeafReaders Politically Ignorant or Don’t Care? A Poll
Under The Hill Given the disappointing lack of responses and interest from DeafReaders (and Deaf Village readers) over my blog or DCRepublicans blog on the particular subjects with politics, the stimulus package bill and the U.S. economy. Mike of DCR and I have come to a conclusion that the majority of the Deaf/deaf/HoH community may be either politically [...]
Wed, Feb 18 2009

Sudden Deafness on Anyone Ain’t Funny
Under The Hill I absolutely agreed with Mike McConnell's blog about sudden deafness for anyone not a laughing matter, especially when a sick nutbar like Robert L. Mason actually wished Rush Limbaugh to die on the operating table for a cochlear implant procedure. I saw that comment he made and it was absolutely stupid. If people wish others [...]
Fri, Feb 13 2009

Rush Is Always Deaf
Under The Hill Did you know that Rush Limbaugh is deaf? Click here to see the photo of Rush wearing his cochlar implant, hat-tip to Mike.
Mon, Feb 09 2009

Google Earth 5: Going back in time
Under The Hill I had recently downloaded the latest (beta) version of Google Earth for the new features: historical imagery, 3D view of ocean floors, and visit the landscapes of Mars. During the tryout of Google Earth's historical imagery, I thought about Gallaudet University and what the campus looked like back in time. So far, only the maps of [...]
Mon, Feb 02 2009

Obama’s 100 Tons of Trash Left While Everyone Celebrated...
Under The Hill Whoa. To Obama's hearing and Deaf supporters who attended the Inauguration Day at Washington, D.C., nice going! Leaving that much trash at the Mall is truly mind-boggling. 100 tons of trash! DCRepublicans blog has something to say and ask about what happened on Jan. 20th below: And I wonder also how many Gallaudet students and Deaf [...]
Sat, Jan 24 2009

New from Ancestry.com for 2009: Deaf Marriages 1889-1894
Under The Hill Hmm, something new coming soon from ancestry.com (click on the graphic screenshot below to expand): No idea when that will come out, could be sooner or later this year, if you're a Ancestry subscriber or thinking of doing your own family tree research, Ancestry.com could be the place to start out for you. I had a [...]
Wed, Jan 07 2009

Merry Christmas to the Deaf/HoH folks out there
Under The Hill Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to DeafRead, the Deaf and HoH folks out there. Enjoy the picture. Ho Ho Ho.
Thu, Dec 25 2008

Poll for DeafReaders: Would You Join Or Avoid It?
Under The Hill This poll is for all DeafReaders and deaf voters of college age (Gallaudet, NTID, CSUN, etc.). Please take your lovely time to consider and vote for your choice. It's worth thinking about this. Meanwhile, DCRepublicans have something to share with you all about Rahm Emanuel, back in a CSPAN interview back in August 2006, when he [...]
Thu, Nov 13 2008

Deaf Conservative Republicans - A new blog
Under The Hill No more hating and dissing the Republicans, okay? Obama is the new President, we know that and accepted the will of the people of the United States. But that doesn't mean it's end of deaf Republicans and conservatives still out there in the nation. I know there are some of you among the Deaf community [...]
Mon, Nov 10 2008

Pat Condell: Islam’s War on freedom (subtitled)
Under The Hill Pat Condell, the British stand-up comedian, a former Catholic-turned-atheist, a vegetarian and a writer, has a new video about Islam's war on freedom, subtitled for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. I don't agree with his atheist stance but I completely empathize and agree with him about the real danger of Islamists in outlawing free speech, criticism [...]
Sun, Aug 31 2008

The Parallel: Deaf Protest 2006 & Presidential Election 2008
Under The Hill Back in May of 2006, as the students, the faculty, staff and the deaf community were protesting the choice of Jane K. Fernandez as the next president of Gallaudet, I began to observe, research and understand what had transpired in the events prior to the protest, with a wide range of substantiated and unsubstantiated information [...]
Fri, Jul 18 2008

Leaving DeafRead? Nope!
Under The Hill Someone named Jason “Mr. Anonymous” Miller left me a seething comment in one of my blogs: You are a real traitor to the American deaf community for leaving the DeafRead.com without letting us, regular DR readers. O-kaee. That made me puzzled. I have never left DeafRead.com nor I put in any such request to DR editors to [...]
Mon, Jun 16 2008

Helen Killer? Deaf-Blind Super-Agent?
Under The Hill I don't know if this is going to amuse or anger the deaf community, so here goes nothing: there's a new comic book limited series called Helen Killer, deaf-blind super professional assassin. Yes, you read it right. All about Helen Keller, the most famous deaf-blind woman in the past century, but in this completely fictionalized [...]
Sat, May 31 2008

ASL Idol 2008 on TV!
Under The Hill Presenting the ASL Idol 2008 on CSD-TV website. Enjoy! Note: ASL Idol 2008 was taped by CSD-TV at Westerville Central High School, north of Columbus, Ohio on March 15th, 2008. It was a sell-out.
Sun, May 25 2008

Robriefs 5.23.2008
Under The Hill Robrief no. 1: Polar bears can tough it out Polar bears are amazing, hardy survivors and quite very capable in surviving and adapting in the harshest, ever-changing, ever-shifting environment. There have been a recent spate of alarms and concerns about polar bears in the media due to nonsensical global warming hype. Especially the last week's announcement [...]
Fri, May 23 2008

2008 Disability Forum in Ohio, No Deaf Org Rep?
Under The Hill National Association of the Deaf is not involved in it. Neither does AGBell organizaiton. Not even the local or regional deaf community or organization is involved as well. I guess the 2008 National Forum of Disability Issues to be held in Columbus, Ohio on July 26th doesn't seem that important to the deaf/HoH community out [...]
Mon, May 19 2008

Robriefs 4.21.2008
Under The Hill Robrief no. 1: “Sweet Nothing In My Ear” movie was okay The CBS Hallmark movie last night, “Sweet Nothing In My Ear”, which starred the amazing Marlee Matlin and centered around the controversy of cochlear implant was, in my opinion, okay. Not impressive enough to compel me to stay really interested in the movie throughout. Cochlear [...]
Mon, Apr 21 2008

The End of Deaf Culture?
Under The Hill UPDATE 4.2.2008: This is a repost from yesterday's blog that didn't make DeafRead. See important note below after this blog. Before I graduate from Gallaudet in 1995, I participated in the MacDougall Creative Writing contest for the English Department by submitting a short story about the future of genetic-engineering and the end of deaf [...]
Wed, Apr 02 2008

Robriefs 3.10.2008: No more blogs?
Under The Hill Robrief no. 1: Most Americans don't read blogs, political or otherwise Those 56% of Americans don't read your blogs. Only 22% do but most of them are senior citizens. That's just too bad but that ain't stopping me from blogging! As because there are hungry readers out there, I have a lot of red meats, vegetables [...]
Mon, Mar 10 2008

Hlibok’s French Revolution Example for DPN Event?
Under The Hill Yesterday, I watched the guest vlog statement of Greg Hlibok via the KISS-FIST ASL blog. While watching it, Mr. Hlibok used two examples to describe the Deaf President Now of 1988 for comparative, idealistic purposes: the French Revolution and the 1960s Civil Rights movement. The overall vlog was a very nice presentation by one of [...]
Fri, Feb 29 2008

Robriefs 2.28.2008
Under The Hill Robrief no. 1: Ohio-born Deaf carpetbagger to run for U.S. Senate for Kentucky David Wylie, who was born in Marion, Ohio and graduated from Ohio School for the Deaf in 1988, then moved to Kentucky afterward, announced that he is running to become a Democratic U.S. Senator for Kentucky. This is his official campaign website, WylieforSenate.com [...]
Thu, Feb 28 2008

Robriefs 2.25.2008
Under The Hill Robrief no. 1: Muslims Demand Gallaudet U to Accommodate Them! Imagine... one day in the future, deaf Muslim students attending Gallaudet University would demand university administrators to accommodate them by arranging separate classrooms and dorms for young deaf male and female students and to establish class schedules centering around Muslims' 5-time-a-d...
Mon, Feb 25 2008

Call out to deaf Jews and deaf Arabs in Israel
Under The Hill I had just read a National Post article written by the Israeli ambassador to Canada, Alan Baker, describing the “poisonous myth of Israeli apartheid”. I know for a fact that Israel is one of the two major liberal democratic states in the Middle East (the other is Turkey, although with a mixture of secular and [...]
Thu, Feb 21 2008

YouTube closing to silence dissent?
Under The Hill One of these days, AGBAD could seriously brand Deaf/ASL activists as “extremists” promoting an ideologically-based “violence” and radicalization, only in form of free speech and criticism against AGB.org. See this video below, implying that YouTube.com could be closed due to a possible passage of H.R.1955, - although the title suggested a sensa...
Sun, Feb 10 2008

Congrats to the Giants! No Bob’s House?
Under The Hill What an intense, close Super Bowl game! Congratulations to the New York Giants. For the first time in NFL history, two living brothers won the Super Bowl MVP awards while leading their teams to Super Bowl victories: Peyton Manning for the last year's Colts and Eli Manning for this year's Giants. Archie, their father and [...]
Sun, Feb 03 2008

Robriefs 2.1.2008
Under The Hill Rob's brief no. 1: Al Qaeda used Down's Syndrome women as unwilling suicide bombers Sick. Sick. Sick. This is how far and desperate Al Qaeda militants in Iraq are willing to go: by using two women who have Down's Syndrome, strapped them with explosive packages, instructed them to walk into two pet markets in Baghdad and [...]
Fri, Feb 01 2008

Expounding the Facts on ADA Myths
Under The Hill After work, I bought few supplies for my cat, including a cosmic country catnip pouch. So I threw the pouch to my cat, Belle and she went cat-crazy with it! So hilarious to see her hissing, clawing at it, crouching around it as if there's a live mouse struggling to escape the clutches of a [...]
Wed, Jan 16 2008

How about all-deaf cast in MTV’s “The Real World”?
Under The Hill MTV is looking for young deaf adults to “play” in MTV's “True Life”. Phooey to that! How about an all-deaf cast in the next Real World series instead?! Seven young deaf adults from all over living in a total cool, fancy-schmancy dig somewhere in the United States, having fun with each other, getting drunk and horny [...]
Tue, Jan 08 2008

Sign Language Proficient Clerk at DMV? Yep!
Under The Hill Today, I had to renew my driver's license after my old one's expiring this month and get new license plates to replace the ones I had since I moved to Columbus almost 8 years ago. I went to the local registrar office of the Ohio Dept. of Motor Vehicles and I had to inform the [...]
Tue, Jan 08 2008

Have To Be Deaf-Related Blogs Only Or What?
Under The Hill Just read up Paotie's hilarious and snarky post about his slamming comment on DBC and the negative reactions he attracted. He took issue with DeafRead's neutrality issue and the ambiguous sentiments of the human editors, possibly reacting to the fallout from John Egbert's ill-conceived and foolish proposal to DeafRead editors to root out “defic...
Thu, Jan 03 2008