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Items by tomwillard
Tom's Deaf Advocacy
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Oh %@*#, here we go again
Posted: July 1st, 2008, 5:20pm BST by tomwillard
Damn it, I’m mad again. This seems to happen whenever I try to venture into the hearing world, where the inhabitants are ready to squash us like the bugs they think we are. Here’s the latest. My dentist referred me to an orthodontist (Steven M. Kazley DDS, 1688 Monroe Ave., Rochester, NY 14618, 585-244-3500) [...]... -
More on the Amazing Morons
Posted: April 26th, 2008, 10:26pm BST by tomwillard
The New York Mets gained the moniker “amazing” after they went from a string of last-place finishes to a 1969 World Series Championship, but the only thing amazing about the current-day Mets is their stubborn refusal to closed-caption their broadcasts on SportsNet New York (SNY). Closed-captioning has been commonplace since the early 1980s, but the Mets [...]... -
Mets Continue to Diss the Deaf
Posted: April 2nd, 2008, 5:43pm BST by tomwillard
Tradition Field, Mets Spring Training, Port St. Lucie, Fla., March 15, 2008. Photo by Tom Willard. +++++ The New York Mets have played only two games this season but have already lost one of their ace pitchers to what could be a serious injury. To which I say: Serves you right, you rat bastards!! I was a Mets [...]... -
‘We forgot about the deaf!’
Posted: February 14th, 2008, 8:11pm GMT by tomwillard
My mind often gets baffled, and today’s example comes courtesy of the Arts and Cultural Council here in Rochester. Next Wednesday, they are hosting an event called “Perspectives on Accessibility.” Billed as a wine-and-cheese “evening of networking,” the event features a panel discussion “exploring multiple perspectives on accessibility and inclusion in the arts and culture community.” Topics to [...]... -
The deaf dudes wouldn’t stop talking!
Posted: February 14th, 2008, 7:26pm GMT by tomwillard
I asked the Housing Council if they could provide an interpreter for their landlord workshop, and when they said yes, I put out the word on DeafROC.com to encourage other deaf people to sign up. I hate being the only deaf person in that situation. I feel guilty about someone spending all that money just [...]... -
What a weird press release
Posted: February 11th, 2008, 9:43pm GMT by tomwillard
I’ve been reading press releases for over 20 years, and today I came across one that has to rank in the top 10 for weirdness. A company called RBC Life Sciences, Inc. sent out a release to say that it “announced today that it will now be able to handle calls received from our deaf and [...]... -
I’m not trying to destroy ASL
Posted: February 10th, 2008, 9:28pm GMT by tomwillard
This is for Susan, who left a comment on my post, Oh, leave AGBell alone! My response got to be too long to be a response, so I decided to make it a new post instead. +++++ Hi Susan … Thank you for taking the time to write. Once again, I am not supporting AGBell’s positions, [...]... -
Midwest Airlines Center Invited AG Bell Conference, Refused ASL EXPO!
Posted: February 8th, 2008, 9:52pm GMT by tomwillard
From: James Kittell, CEO of ASL EXPO 2008 Hello, everyone! I am writing this letter to ask for your support. Last August, the ASL EXPO team communicated with the Midwest Airlines Center about reserving a space for June 27-28, 2008. We were told that Exhibit Hall D was available. This space is next to the hall where [...]... -
Oh, leave AGBell alone!
Posted: February 7th, 2008, 4:18pm GMT by tomwillard
Boy, am I sick and tired of all the whining going on in Deaf Blog Land about the A.G. Bell Association of the Deaf. Look, everyone knows there are two schools of thought in deafness – oral communication and manual communication. So it makes perfect sense that there would be two different organizations to promote the [...]... -
If I Were President of the NAD
Posted: February 4th, 2008, 10:21pm GMT by tomwillard
If I were President of the National Association of the Deaf, here is the press release I would be sending out today: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE DEAF URGES BOYCOTT OF COMPANIES WITH NON-CAPTIONED SUPER BOWL ADS SILVER SPRING, MD — February 4, 2008 — The National Association of the Deaf today urged a boycott of some of America’s [...]... -
Where was the deaf Pepsi ad?
Posted: February 4th, 2008, 4:14am GMT by tomwillard
Was it just me, or was the deaf Pepsi commercial missing from the Super Bowl? I didn’t watch the pregame or halftime shows, but I watched the whole game and I did not see that commercial. Also, it does not appear on this website that lists the commercials: http://sports.aol.com/nfl/superbowlads So what happened? Did Pepsi chicken out because the [...]... -
What does age have to do with leadership?
Posted: February 3rd, 2008, 3:31am GMT by tomwillard
I’m glad to hear that the National Association of the Deaf is planning a Leadership Training Conference April 3-5 at the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin. This is a good way for the NAD to use its limited resources because it can have a domino effect as the people who attend the [...]... -
What do you think of Pepsi’s Super Bowl ad?
Posted: January 25th, 2008, 5:37pm GMT by tomwillard
You may have heard that Pepsi is running a deaf-related commercial in the Super Bowl on February 3. You can read an article about it by clicking HERE and see the actual commercial on YouTube HERE and a “making of the commercial” video HERE. The commercial is based on an old deaf joke about two [...]... -
No interpreters for NTID reunion workshops??
Posted: January 25th, 2008, 4:58pm GMT by tomwillard
Yesterday I took a look at the Call for Presentations for the 40th Anniversary Alumni Reunion at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and was shocked to see this line: “Interpreters (voice and signing) will not be provided.” This boggles my mind. It seems we always have to fight the hearing world to [...]... -
Goodbye to the Old Blue Lady
Posted: December 7th, 2007, 10:02pm GMT by tomwillard
Something noteworthy happened today in Westfield, New Jersey. The house that my parents bought in 1959 when I was 1 year old was sold. The closing took place this afternoon and as of now the house I had known all my life no longer belongs to my family. I made the six-hour drive last [...]... -
Yet another shameless logo contest
Posted: November 20th, 2007, 5:24pm GMT by tomwillard
I just saw on USA-L News that an organization called the “Society for Disability Studies” is having a logo contest. I’m not going to give any details on the contest because I don’t think any self-respecting artist should enter. I will just paste in the email I sent to Joy Hammel, the executive director of [...]... -
California’s Media Access Office
Posted: November 11th, 2007, 3:21pm GMT by tomwillard
The Media Access Office is a California state agency designed to help people with disabilities succeed in the entertainment world. I’ve been getting their newsletter for many years and it has to be one of the dullest newsletters I’ve ever seen. I wish you could see it for yourself, but they do not make it [...]... -
Big-D Deaf seems Big-Headed to me
Posted: October 12th, 2007, 5:03pm BST by tomwillard
Barb DiGi did a vlog recently suggesting we eliminate small-d deaf and only use capital-D Deaf. At the risk of inciting a riot, I want to add my own thoughts. I’ve been an editor of deaf-related publications almost constantly going back to the NTID student newspaper in 1981 and I’ve never jumped on the bandwagon for [...]... -
Oh come on, Hillary Clinton!
Posted: October 9th, 2007, 5:31pm BST by tomwillard
I’m on Hillary Clinton’s mailing list and I get email from her and her supporters all the time. Today I got an email from Rob Reiner saying he had answered Sen. Clinton’s call for volunteers by putting together a little movie. I clicked the link to see the movie, but it was not captioned and I quickly [...]... -
Karma is Cause of Mets Collapse
Posted: October 1st, 2007, 3:02pm BST by tomwillard
The New York Mets have just experienced what many are calling the worst collapse in baseball history. The Mets were in first place most of the season, but in the last two weeks it all fell apart. Yesterday, the last day of the season, the Mets packed and went home for the winter. As a deaf [...]... -
Why must journalists spotlight deafness?
Posted: August 8th, 2007, 4:54pm BST by tomwillard
Does it bother you when a newspaper headline includes the fact that someone is deaf? For example, here are a few of the headlines that have come across my desk in the past two weeks while working on Deafweekly: Deaf sniper in Palmdale attack receives 21 years Deaf man sentenced for shooting neighbor Deaf couple, child, killed in [...]... -
Free sign language classes a MUST!
Posted: July 31st, 2007, 4:22pm BST by tomwillard
The recent demonstration at the AG Bell conference has brought the age-old controversy of “signing vs. speaking” back to center stage. This issue, like abortion, is one that will never really be resolved because people are going to do what they want to do. If someone prefers the oral approach to signing, we can holler ‘til [...]...