food for a thought.

I can’t help but be crass. Just like anyone can’t help but comment one way or another.

think about the name: “dog food”. It sure brings out the colors of those who are most pissed at my comments. What deaf person doesn’t like to be thought of as a dog?

Obviously that says alot about a commenter’s self-esteem. Does your emotional baggage get in the way of your thoughts when you’re affect by my crass comments which always had a point?

You could check out the Insane World of Misha about respect: http://blog.deafread.com/misha/2008/08/04/surgeon-general-mishas-warning-to-drdvtv/

Also, I appreciate Brance’s videocomment (the first comment under Barry) on Barry’s vlog: http://www.deafvideo.tv/video/watch/21738/. Dr.Don, I know you are not crazy about Barry, but I do agree with Barry because he has been saying what a few of us have been saying for the last year since DBC was born.

Why does it bother me? I feel Deaf Community deserves full transparency from an organization representing them. The negative reactions I received the last four weeks after I asked for clarification and transparency show me that DBC doesn’t welcome this kind of approach. The strong retaliations against these people and also the former DBC members who shared their experiences with DBC leave me even more concerned and reserved about the democratic process of this growing organization and its handling of the Deaf Community. Raising questions and concerns being interpreted as attempts to destroy an organization raise my eyebrows. I won’t be surprised if I’m attacked again for making this statement, but that’s how I and others see it. Many people contacted me privately out of concern due to my treatment on the Internet. They were very supportive of me as they didn’t like what they saw.

Where is the freedom of speech for Deaf people? We live in America where people are encouraged to think critically, but I don’t see the same encouragement in the Deaf Community. It’s sad.

I’ve been threatened, slandered, and attacked. There were and are smear campaigns to destroy my reputation and integrity. I still use my name. *shrug*

Personally I think people using anonymous tend to attack more viciously at a personal level. Which doesn’t reflect well to that person, hence the usage of the anon terms. I think it’s cowardly, imo.

From what I’ve seen, it seems many Deaf people are not feeling empowered to really express their honest opinion. The free thinkers who do, receive retaliations, which I think is sad. So much for Deaf Empowerment if peaceful constructive dialogues are strongly discouraged. How far have we progressed since Unity for Gallaudet, I ponder.

Personally I am puzzled why it’s so difficult to conduct a discourse without people feeling threatened. We do see citizens, including reporters, expressing concerns, opinions and raising questions without the fear of retaliation. It just makes me wonder why it’s so different here.

I have been a political – peace (anti-war) activisit for a number of years. We would make signs for picketing at rallies. In October of 2002, I saw a sign picketed by a Georgetown University student, “Do not bomb Iraq.
Bomb Bush.” Another sign I saw was “Bury Not Iraqian civilians. Bury Bush.” (I made a jumbo reproduction of “Guernica”, by the way.)

Do you think that activists literally wanted to bomb or bury Bush?
No. Just figuratively. So it was the same with Jack Barr who did not
share his vlog with the world but with the e-loop of DeafRead. Why make a mountain out of a molehill?

Richard – You are an example of why we are having problems — you tell parents what they WANT to hear instead of what they NEED to hear.

Don,

You hit the nail on the head!

Jean

I wanted to respond to why someone’s hiding behind an anonymous name. I can’t speak for that person, but I can speak for myself. After the verbal violence that has occurred in the past several months (calling people acolytes, minions, etc, as well as other insults; threatening people’s jobs, shredding people’s reputations, etc), there is no way in hell I’m using my real name online. I’d like to keep my job and reputation, thankyouverymuch. Anyone who does now is brave or nuts, maybe both, in my opinion.

And what’s wrong with anonymity, if one sticks to issues, principles, ideas, and arguments without personal attacks?

We will need to disagree here. Surely we can disagree without beating up each other, right? We are adults.

Jack Barr did the right thing. He stepped forward and apologized for his behavior. He also shared his very painful story which touches me very deeply.

By the way, why are you hiding behind an anonymous name? Wouldn’t it be better if we all use our real names and carry a constructive dialogue, including feedback, without this ridiculous attacks? If we attack others because we cannot handle constructive feedback, how can we move forward? We are stuck in one place… exactly where AGBell system wants us.

We need to hear feedback, both the positives and not so postives, to help us evolve, learn, and make progresses.