NAIROBI - As the preparation for the first ever presidential debate in Kenya gathers momentum, Kenyans' excitement and eagerness for this historic debate is very evident.
WJLA - Gallaudet University marks 25th anniversary of 'Deaf President Now' protests.
WASHINGTON - Gallaudet University is marking the 25th anniversary of the “Deaf President Now” protests. The grassroots effort was launched by students in 1988, generating national and international headlines and resulting in the university’s first Deaf president.
When the Board of Trustees selected the only hearing candidate as Gallaudet University’s next president 25 years ago, students organized a week of protests, chanting “Deaf president now.”
“I can remember when we were looking for a Deaf president I actually made a comment that I hope we see a Deaf president in my lifetime. So I think that gives you an example of how far away it seemed to me,” says Fred Weiner.
Since 1988, three Deaf men have served as president of the university. This week, they gathered to reflect on the so-called DPN movement’s anniversary.
“Expectations were very high, very, very high,” says Dr. I. King Jordan, Gallaudet’s first Deaf president. “But there were also expectations that I couldn’t succeed.
Chanting, “You don’t need permission to sign a petition,” members of the faith community held signs and marched near the Gallaudet main gate.
The university placed McCaskill on administrative leave after it found that she signed a petition to put the Question 6 referendum on Maryland’s November ballot. If successful, Question 6 would allow gay and lesbian couples equal rights under Maryland’s civil marriage laws. But the protesters say that the underlying premise of Question 6 equality and fairness is the reason why Dr. McCaskill should be reinstated... Read more http://www.examiner.com/article/protesters-demand-gallaudet-reinstates-dr-angela-mccaskill?cid=rss
Anti-gay campaigners using Deaf woman’s story against her will.
A suspended diversity officer at a Maryland university for the Deaf has asked anti-same-sex marriage campaigners in the state to stop using her story but they have refused.
A Deaf woman who was suspended from being a university diversity officer after signing a petition against same-sex marriage has asked opponents in her home state of Maryland to stop using her story in campaign ads, saying they misrepresent what she believes.
Gallaudet University Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion Dr. Angela McCaskill was suspended from her role at the university, which specializes in educating Deaf students, after a co-worker noticed she had signed the petition.
‘I have placed Dr. Angela McCaskill on paid administrative leave effective immediately,’ Gallaudet University President T. Alan Hurwitz said in a statement earlier this month.
‘Dr. McCaskill has participated in a legislative initiative that some feel is inappropriate for an individual serving as [the university's] Chief Diversity Officer.’
However McCaskill held a press conference on Friday asking for the group to stop using her image and story in the commercials - which she says misrepresents what she believes in.
‘No one has the right to decide what my signature meant,’ McCaskill told a press conference via sign language.
Gallaudet University has called for the group to stop using its copyrighted material in the campaign but the Maryland Marriage Alliance told CBS Baltimore it has no plans to change the commercial.
Angela McCaskill sat down exclusively with ABC7’s Mike Conneen at her home in Upper Marlboro to respond to criticism for inking the petition.
“Signing that petition is a right that I have as a citizen of the state of Maryland. It simply means that I want to see this very sensitive issue put on the ballot as a referendum in the state of Maryland,” McCaskill said.
Video clips of Dr. Angela McCaskill - Press Conference.
ANNAPOLIS, MD. - Dr. Angela McCaskill speaks out on bullying by Gallaudet University president. So far, the best argument for protecting marriage may be sitting in the President's office of Gallaudet University. There, voters got a unique view of the real-life persecution that awaits anyone who opposes Maryland's same-sex marriage. Last week, when Gallaudet's Dr. Angela McCaskill was outed for signing a Petition in favor of a public vote on marriage, she was exiled from the University she called home for 23 years. Now, instead of sitting in her office helping students, she's meeting with attorneys, trying to come to grips with President T. Alan Hurwitz's decision to banish her from campus. Calling McCaskill's actions "inappropriate," Hurwitz is putting a face on the intolerance that FRC and other marriage advocates have warned about for years.
By all reports, his ruthlessness is already taking its toll. According to her pastor, Rev. Dr. Lee Washington, Dr. McCaskill and her family have been the targets of threats and intimidation ever since the story broke. "As her church family, we stand firmly by her side and welcome all persons of good faith regardless of their ideological views to denounce these actions of cowardice and bullying." Even the The Washington Post warns that Gallaudet's overreaction could seriously "undermine" the effort to redefine marriage. "The surest way to repel voters--and to vitiate the marriage movement's broader goals and values--would be to say, or even seem to say, 'Agree with us or else.'"
Unfortunately, that's always been the underlying, totalitarian message of the homosexual movement. The only difference here is that Maryland voters have been warned: public dissent will not be tolerated. Not surprisingly, liberals are racing to cover up Gallaudet's mess, insisting that they believe in free speech as much as the next guy. Tell that to the wedding cake bakers, the T-shirt makers, the bed and breakfast owners, the military chaplains, the high school teachers, the restaurant owners, the photographers, the churches, the Massachusetts parents, and others who were fired, sued, harassed, fined, and suspended. Like Angela, their biggest crime was having an opinion contrary to the radical Left--something one former FRCer knows a lot about.
When Teresa Wagner left Family Research Council, she had plenty of offers to join university faculties and teach law. A graduate of the University of Iowa, Wagner joined the staff as a part-time associate director of its legal writing program. She also applied to be a full-time teacher at the law school, but her application was mysterious denied. It wasn't for lack of experience, since Teresa was the most qualified candidate. Nor was it for lack of legal expertise, since the person offered the position "had never practiced law, had no legal publications, and had no prior successful teaching experience." It was because of her work in the pro-family movement. As seen on article Lawsuit Pits Political Activism Against Campus Diversity.
Teresa will try to prove as much in federal court, where her appeal kicks off today. Although people have sued for discrimination in hiring decisions, experts say Teresa's case is the first of its kind. Unlike other plaintiffs, she has evidence. Like Angela McCaskill, Teresa Wagner belongs at the University. Until then, both women are giving students a serious education in political bias. For more on Dr. Angela McCaskill's case, If you haven't signed FRC's petition, join the more than 50,000 who have called for her reinstatement. go to http://bit.ly/PAyirq
ANNAPOLIS MD. - Gallaudet University Put Dr. Angela McCaskill for Opposing Gay - Question 6 Doesn't.
Dr. Angela McCaskill has worked on the campus of an American college for the Deaf and hard of hearing for over 20 years. If the marketplace of ideas and freedom of expression is not prized in that environment, how can we ever expect it to survive elsewhere if same-sex marriage activists prevail?
Gallaudet University is catching a fair bit of criticism after the federally-chartered college placed Dr. Angela McCaskill, its chief diversity officer, on paid leave. The decision was made after it came to officials’ attention that the administrator reportedly supported a controversial referendum that challenges Maryland’s same-sex marriage law.
National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS), the leading charity dedicated to creating a world without barriers for Deaf children and young people. Visit http://www.ndcs.org.uk/ for more information.
Video with Captions - Is Deaf 100% Independent in India ?
President & Vice-President of India Deaf Expo 2012 shared their views on the difficulties that Deaf faced in Independent India and recommended that India must Change for the benefit of Deaf people living in India. Subscribe: IndiaDeafExpo
NewsX: Ban on bulk SMS hits Deaf people hard of the nation India.
NEW DELHI - The Government of India's blanket ban orders on limiting the number of SMSes may have been rational in terms of its bid to stop miscreants from sending bulk sms that spread panic. But there's a whole new segment that finds the clock stops as soon as the smses stop.
The most inconvenienced by this order are the 1.8 million hearing & speech impaired citizens of the nation. It began as a move to stem the exodus of North Eastern citizens... arising out of rumours being spread by certain vested interest groups.
The government in an effort to stop these messages initiated a ban on more than 5 sms from any pre-paid number for 15 days. Amidst criticism and growing public outcry the govt increased the limit to 20 sms a day. A Deaf person would require to send anywhere between 100 to 250 sms' per day to carry on with their basic activities... Read more: http://www.newsx.com/videos/ban-bulk-sms-hits-speech-impaired-hard?
Video: Keep On Truckin' For The Deaf! in captioned.
Tell the FMCSA To Let Qualified Deaf Truck Drivers Work Currently, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is accepting comments from the community on whether it should give exceptions from hearing requirements to forty-five (45) Deaf people so that they may obtain their Commercial Drivers License (CDL) to drive commercial trucks in the USA.
We need your help in supporting these truck drivers to obtain their licenses and also to tell the FMCSA that they should allow all qualified Deaf drivers to drive any vehicle. There is no valid reason to prevent Deaf people from driving commercially because there is no proof of any safety issue. In 2008, FMCSA did several studies and found no evidence that hearing affects people's driving skills.
At this time, they are only considering 45 people for the exemption from the Federal hearing requirement. We want these people to get that exemption. But while we show support for the 45, let's also tell FMCSA that we support ALL qualified Deaf people and those with hearing loss to receive their CDL!... Read more: http://deafprogressivism.blogspot.com/2012/06/keep-on-truckin-for-deaf.html
How can you help? Leave a comment online at the Government's Regulations website by following the steps below:
2. Put "FMCSA-2012-0154-0001" in the search for box.Look for Qualifications of Drivers; Exemption Applications: National Association of the Deaf.
3. On the right side under Actions click on "Comment Now!"
4. The next window will ask you to fill in your name, address and contact information.
5. And on the last part, you will need to decide if you would like to post in the comment area or create your own word document to upload in there. If you prefer to work on your comments offline first, do so in MS Word, save it then upload it.
When writing your comments, please be sure that you include the following things in your letter: FMCSA should grant the requests for exemptions for all 45 deaf truckers
- Believe that deaf truckers should be allowed to drive any vehicle, including vehicles both with and without air brakes.
- That modern trucks today are loud inside the cab and hearing drivers cannot hear much inside the cab. For this reason, many technologies were developed to help hearing drivers that benefit deaf drivers as well. There are no legitimate safety issues connected to hearing and truck driving.
Or copy and paste the comments below to post:
I support the exemption for all 45 deaf truckers to obtain their CDL Class A Licenses. The evidence has shown that not being able to hear does not effect one's driving skills and that truck drivers, both hearing and deaf, equally use modern technology to deal with the inability to hear inside a truck's cabin.
For this reason, I think FMCSA should allow ALL qualified deaf people to drive any kind of vehicle; that includes trucks both with and without air brakes. A deaf person driving is no more of a safety concern than a hearing person. Again, I support this awarding of exemptions for these 45 people from the Federal hearing standard, but I also want the Federal hearing physical standards removed for ALL drivers because driving trucks is about skills not hearing.
Jordan approved of campus lockdown in 1988 video in captioned.
A documentary about Gallaudet in this interview from 1998, Irving King Jordan says he supports the idea of a campus lockdown and he supports the idea of the Deaf community overruling the Gallaudet Board of Trustees.
Video: EHDI's Stakeholders in American Sign Language and captioned.
"Who is Karl White?" Quote, "Deaf people don't know what is best for their babies" by Karl White. "It would be even better if they would register for the meeting and join the discusion, because EHDI will be stronger if we have all the stakeholders at the table and everyone is working together to make EHDI programs better."
EHDI focuses on Deaf babies, parents and medical professionals only. Not Deaf adults, Deaf mentors, and Deaf Stakeholders. END TOKENISM!
Video: For those who don't understand what it's like to be Deaf in American Sign Language.
For people who don't understand ASL here is a written translation:
Hello my name is Leeza.
Hello my name is Joshua.
Leeza: Joshua and I are from California School for the Deaf in Fremont.
Joshua: We are here to talk about your proposal HB1367 - that proposal talks about moving Outreach out from Indiana School for the Deaf and ISD has to pay for it.
Leeza: I'll share one quotation, "History does not repeat itself", Foraker Act in 1900...
Joshua: Long time ago in 1900 Puerto Rico became a territory of America. The president of United States got to pick their president. How is that become a problem? Puerto Ricans didn't get a president that understood their environment, culture, and rights.
How we are having the same problem with the board that Indiana government choose (All the people in ISD board is not the people we suggested.) - they made the decision that will hurt Indiana School for the Deaf. We, Deaf people, feels like you are not respecting our rights as a Deaf citizen of United States.
Leeza: Now look at ISD's Board, they are proposing to pull Outreach out from Indiana School for the Deaf and put it to someplace else and forcing ISD to pay for it. Outreach is very important for us. It's the place where parents with Deaf children will learn about children's choices - cochlear implant(s), ASL, oral methods, and many more choices. Of course ISD want to play the big part in supporting with their children's future.
We also want to show them how ASL is our big success for Deaf people. Again, we Deaf citizens feels like we don't have our right of speech, based on my data: about 400 people send letters explaining why this should be not happening. While another 30 letter supports this proposal. Now, we want you to think about your decision. We, Deaf citizens of United States, think the right decision will be keeping the outreach in ISD.
Rocky Mountain Deaf School, Golden, Colorado - The mission of the Rocky Mountain Deaf School is to provide Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing children, preschool through 12th grade, a publicly-funded bilingual education which promotes academic excellence, full proficiency in ASL and English literacy, and which supports the home-school connection by offering a language rich environment that includes the RMDS personnel, the RMDS Board, parents, and the Deaf community: http://www.rmdeafschool.net
Video: Please OPPOSE Indiana HB 1367 in captioned.
INDIANAPOLIS - The Deaf community of Indiana ask us to help them! We need your support! SAY NO to HB 1367. Support the Indiana School for the Deaf Coalition. Oppose HB 1367.
Please see 32-minutes film with subtitles which related and comparing with HB 1367 at: “I Sign and I Live” by Aidan Mack. The film about an Audism, Cochlear Implants and Suppression of ASL... After watch the film to make you reconsidering... Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/petitions/oppose-hb-1367 Please share this blogpost. OPPOSE HB 1367! Thanks everyone for not support HB 1367.
