"ASL IN THE RAW" COMEDY SKITS

"ASL in the RAW" comedy skits pay the homage to the pre-politically correct ASL storytellings (in XXX-rated scenarios), will be held at the Andrew Foster Auditorium, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, Friday and Saturday, May 2nd and 3rd.

The admission fee will be $10 dollars per person

For more info about the Deaf Comedy Duo -
www.handson.org/aslinraw.htm

ASLize yours,
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
RLMDEAF blog

Congressional Hearing on Communication and Video Accessibility Act, 5/1/2008

The House Subcommittee (U.S. House of Representatives or HR) on Telecommunications and the Internet will have the congressional hearings on the 21Th Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2007 this Thursday, May 1st, 2008.

The enclosed legislation proposed by the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology known as the COAT. It is consisted of more than 175 national, regional and community-based organizations affiliated with the COAT.

CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS ON 21TH CENTURY COMMUNICATIONS AND VIDEO ACCESSIBILITY ACT
0F 2007

THURSDAY, MAY 1ST, 2008, 9:30 a.m.
2313 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
SOUTHWEST OF INDEPENDENCE AVENUE AND SOUTH CAPITOL STREET,
FIRST STREET AND C STREET, SW

NEARBY METRO RAIL STATION - CAPITOL SOUTH

Attendance from Deaf Community is real necessity. Celebrity witnesses will testify before the H.R. Committee on Telecommunications and Internet.

ASL interpreters and CART services will be fully provided.

This hearing will explore on the issue of

Closed-Captioning Decoder and Video Description Capability, ex. HDTV/videocasts

Video Description and Closed Captioning, Sec. 202, ex. HDTV transmission

User Interfaces, Sec. 203, ex. Internet-based video programmings

Access Video Programming Guides and Menus, Sec. 204, ex. Navigational Guides for
Deaf-Blind Video/Internet Users

For more info, http://www.coataccess.org for viewing the COAT's White Pages on H.R.'s "21th Century Communications on Video Accessibility"

House Commerce Committee and House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet-

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), Chairman, House Commerce and Energy Committee
Rep. Ed Markey,(D-CA), Chairman, House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Internet

Ranking Members -

Rep. Joe Barton, (R-TX)
Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI)

ASlize yours,
Robert L. Mason
RLMDEAF blog

USHMM Exhibition Similar to the AGBELL Propaganda & Misinformation

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC have the special exhibition on The Nazi Olympics Berlin 1936 - the opening day - Friday, April 25th. This museum ever offer the superbu online exhibition regarding this very same topic.

The Nazi Germany and the Alexander Graham Bell Association (AGBELL) were much intertwined in common themes - alternation of human race to fit their sense of superiority and systematic prejudice, ex. responsible for eugenics movements and spreading falsehoods. Ever systematic suppression on the "right to express freely" like banning the use of American Sign Language and visual gestures in many schools for the deaf, especially oral schools.

Not many people REALIZE that the Olympic Torch Relay was originated (started) at the Nazi Germany 1936 Games! Irving King Jordan (IKJ), former Gallaudet University president carried the Olympics Torch Relay from the Clinton White House in the early 90s. Carl Schroeder, 1983 Gallaudet graduate, also carried the Olympic Torch Relay from the 1730 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW over two blocks to another torch relayer on 14th December 2001 - http://news-gallaudet.edu/newreleases/index.asp?ID=2309. Schroeder have his own vlog - Kalalau's Korner.

For more information on the history of the Olympic Torch Relay, please click on
hubpages.com/hub/OlympicTorch-Relay or type "history and Olympic Torch Relay" on any ISP search engine.

Anyone really do not need passes to see the Special Exhibition of "The Nazi Olympics Berlin 1936" at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). This exhibition will be available from April 25th to August 17,2008. Here is the USHMM website - www.ushmm.org Just go to the rear side of the USHMM building to enter for the special exhibition. Tell the museum and security staff - Go to see the special exhibition or research - the Wermer Learning Center. D'accord?

The USHMM also have other special exhibitions - "Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race" as similar to the Alexander Graham Bell Association (AgBAD) and the cochlear implant industry repeatedly exploit deaf babies, youngsters and adults in name of human progress and advance. More special exhibitions like "A Dangerous Lie: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", very powerful Nazi propaganda in painting the Jewish Bolsheviks conspiracy to control the world which the Alexander Graham Bell Association and Alexander Graham Bell distributed his illogical and scientifically unproven findings - "Upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race of 1884"

The USHMM also have the special exhibition - "Persecution of Homosexuals,1933-1945" which the homosexuals were treated much worse than other concretation camp prisoners. The Nazi homosexuals were often experimentated for changing their own sexual preferences and desires. The same situation faced by deaf people with the cochlear implant surgery and forced oral methods to hearize the culturally and lingusitically superior people (deaf people) into their own desired image.

The Nazi Germany and the Alexander Graham Bell Association are having much common like human experimentation forcibly upon involuntary subjects (deaf babies and deaf youngsters without their own sayings in choices, consents and permissions) and largely focused on defective natures of given human population.

I. King Jordan, Gallaudet University president from 1988 to 2006 and Jane Fernandes, Provost and the Gallaudet Board of Trustees 2000-2006, were entirely responsible for the creation of the Cochlear Implant Center in the Fall 2000 on the Kendall Green campus. Both individuals wanted to re-create the imperfect Deaf Society for the sake of the hearing society at large.

The Jewish populace and deaf people everywhere face much similar situations which eventually threaten their own cultural, linguistic and symbolic identity throughout the history of humankind.

Don't forget to check out the USHMM website for an online "limited" exhibition -
www.ushmm.org and other enclosed links to the history of Olympic Torch Relay above.

ASLize yours,
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
RLMDEAF blog

Deaf Customers Fight the Unfair Wireless Taxes?

This issue probably affect you greatly as a deaf customer from using the deaf pager and wireless online service on daily basis. More local and state government are desperately seeking for more revenues into their treasury during an economic slump. These government likely to double and triple your monthly wireless taxes. Here are your chances to do something -

The "My Wireless.Org" launched the nationwide campaign in urging the Americans to demand the elected officials from levying more unnecessary wireless taxes on the wireless users, ex. deaf pagers, wireless online services and cell phones.

The wireless industry want the American people to support the Lofgren-Cannon Tax Fairness Act of 2008 and co-sponsor the H.R. 5793 to halt the "out of control" spiraling state and local wireless taxes. This industry claim that the wireless users need the real vacation from unfair new state and local wireless taxes. The wireless users have been slapped with excessive wireless taxes for past five years up to the whopping $21 billion dollars! This bill would impose moratorium (put the brakes on) upon new and discriminatory local and state taxes on mobile services. It ever doesn't concern the federal taxation within the wireless services.

My Wireless.Org website have the 10 Worst Wireless Tax States, Cell Fairness Act,Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act, My State Issues and other mores. It have the list of states with wireless tax rates.

Surprisingly, Nebraska lead in the ranking list of wireless taxes - 18.35% in total of 22.54% as compared to California - 12.67% in total o 16.86 based on the statistical information back to 2006. Oregon have the lowest wireless tax in the entire country - 1.66% in total of 5.85.

My Wireless.Org's nationwide campaign slogan - "Take Action Now! Help Freeze Unfair, New Wireless Taxes!

Deaf District of Columbia wireless pager users pay average $10 monthly wireless taxes. What about yours?

For more info, click on www.MyWireless.org
http://www.techjournal.com/topstories/2008/200804515.esp

ASlize yours,
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
RLMDEAF blog

Director Joseph Sargeant Kept Telling Marlee Maltin to Shut Up Her Mouth During the Signing Scene(s)

According to the Washington Post special article in the weekly Post's TV Week periodical by Kathy Blumenstock.

Director Joseph Sargent repeatedly instructed Actress Marlee Matlin not to open her lips while signing to capture the accurate and pure ASL use for this telemovie. The director and the film making crew had to edit several scenes with Matlin and frequently panned the scenes to Jeff Daniels. The film making crew with the director's instruction to avoid the filming of Matlin's lip movements to be consistent with the given script and storyline.

Director Sargent pointed out Matlin's "hard to break" habits of moving lips and signing at the same time. Real impressive with Sargent's artistic determination to bring the balanced and realistic portrayal of culturally deaf person for tonight's CBS telemovie - "Sweet Nothing in My Ear" without resorting to typical and confused image of deaf people. *waving hands*

The remaining question about the byline title of Post's TV Week periodical - Sound Judgment following the word composition of Marlee Matlin, Jeff Daniels Star in "Sweet Nothing in My Ear". Why write "Sound Judgment"? What the Washington Post meant by that byline title?

Let's see tonight's telemovie and find out if the television reviewer make the sense with this byline title - "Sound Judgment". What is to do with very emotional issue about cochlearizing deaf child thru the use of so-called sound judgment? How can it be the sound judgment if the Jeff Daniels character simply want to see his own son leading the normal life by having the ability to hear. What about the pros and cons of cochlear implant surgery on deaf child? No such thing like "sound judgment"! Purely emotional decision to make!

Is the Washington Post's TV Week editorial team being irony or what?

Here is the link to the Washington Post's TV Week review of "Sweet Nothing in My Ear" telemovie -

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/16/AR2008041602436.html

or type www.washingtonpost and type "Jeff Daniels" on the enclosed search for Kathy Blumenstock.

Too many deaf people in DC area expressed sigh about not able to watch "Desperate Housewives" new tv epsiode. Also want to see tonight's PBS telemovie - "My Boy Jack" with actor Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter).

ASLize yours,

Robert L. Mason (RLM)

RLMDEAF blog

Why Isn't Cochlear Implantee Using Hir CI to Talk on Regular Phone?

What good will be for Jamie Berke and other CI users if they could not use the regular phone to communicate with someone on the end of phone? What point for having the mega-expensive cochlear implant device and invasive surgery in the first place? What a waste for the health insurance company or the Medicaid program to pay for the cochlear implant device and costly surgery! *groan*

Please check out Jamie Berke's latest blog about her personal frustration with the federal "Do Not Call Registry" which it designs to block any incoming telemarketer calls.

Unfortunately, the screenings of relay calls to be misconstructed as "telemarketer call". At least, Berke raised such an awareness about our relay calls misinterpreted as "telemarketer call". How can be possible for the relay calls ended up misdiagnosed as telemarketer call?

Jamie Berke and other CI users ought not to waste our American taxpayers' hard-earned monies and health insurance payees' "considerable high" health insurance premiums (fees) IF they could not possibly communicate on regular phones. Whoa!

We should rally our elected leaders to slash the public funding for cochlear implant surgery on deaf children thru the state Medicaid programs within the 2008 presidential election. Same thing to put the pressures on health insurance providers and hospitals and the American Medical Association (AMA) to halt the health insurance coverages on cochlear implant devices and surgery. So the deaf community will be not widely disfranchised due to abnormal technological presence in human beings.

Let's send the future medical bills from cochlear implant surgery and device to the Alexander Graham Bell Association of the Deaf (AgBAD) to bankrupt this audistic organization for all good.

For our own sake, we are in the weakening national economy right now. Cochlear implant device and surgery are not part of the basic necessity. They are the luxury items! Nothing to do with the basic human functions for everyday lives.

Robert L. Mason (RLM)

How Can We Shake Up The General Conception of Our Deaf Community Thru Spilling Over Our Black Kettle?

Barbara DiGi of the "Deaf Progressivism" wrote the real splendid letter to the CBS-TV in response to the airing of the "Cold Cases" last night on the network television. Her "open letter" to the CBS-TV could be seen on Misha Zena' blog.

My first reason is to get into the DeafRead blogosphere few years ago is to mobilize all of you, deaf readers, viewers, bloggers and vloggers to spill our concerns and expressions over the DeafRead black kettle to the general society to educate and mobilize the millions and millions of hearing people what and who we, deaf people are all about. We must not let the society at large to define and pigeonhole us, deaf people.

The best way is to pressure the CBS-TV and the producers of the "Cold Case" television programming by writing countless open letters to various publications, ex. local and regional and statewide newspapers, national and international magazines to get the formal apology and disclaimer and the follow-up reactions from the deaf community on various CBS newsmagazine tv shows and entertainment shows.

We must get together as the whole deaf community to fight off the "inaccurate/unfair" portrayal of deaf people in the world of entertainment and newsreportings. Or we will dearly pay the price for being socially and culturally passive without making any corrections or challenge their societal perspective of our own dear community.

Some deaf people like Mike McConnell, probably will scoff at the significance of fair and accurate portrayal of deaf people on the tv shows and newsreportings. Many social and cultural historians and researchers will tell you differently what really happened in the past societal occurrences/incidents.

From my past sociological research for the Gally sociology class, the sociology professor did scoff at me for doing the research on this very topic. He became mesmerized later with the reading of several books after I researched on the portrayal of African Americans from Hollywood films and tv shows over 100 years. The images of African Americans came out unfavorably portrayed and often twisted from the "Birth of the Nation" to "Pinky" films to "Andy and Amos" tv shows. The professor told me "I really did not realize about those things occurred", ex. proven racial and ethnic hate crimes against particular and targeted minorities.

The past statistics of racial hate crimes against African Americans by the white America got skyrocketed almost 70 percent after the screening of "The Birth of a Nation" - endless lynchings, widespread discrimination, societal prejudices and other things.

Vito Russo, author of "The Celluloid Closet" nonfiction book and producer of the "very same title" powerful film documentary, done the years of stealth researching on the Hollywood portrayal of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) individuals on the celluloid images. He had to trick the Hollywood film suppliers and studios to send in their films or will never get a chance of getting the hands on endless films which often portrayed the so-called social deviance and psychologically abnormal minority in such questionable and unfavorable manners. The GLBTs ended up portrayed as scheming and twisted and pathetically degenerate creatures, instead of balanced and realistic and fair portrayal of sexual, cultural and linguistic minority (GLBTs). "Cruising" 1980 film with Al Pacino was one of the fine example of unfair depiction of gay males in the world of S&M.

The non-challenged images of African Americans and GLBTs in the world of entertainment from the 1890s to 1980s, left those minorities the hefty price from leading the decent, progressive and successful living in the United States. Their rights to the equal society had been endlessly denied from gainful employment to legal protection(s). Such misconceptions and irrational fears about any minorities led to the systematic discrimination and prejudices on the long-term hauls .

Please write the open letters to your local, regional and national publications to express your concerns about the CBS-TVs "Cold Case". We ought not to engage in the call for any kind of censorship and just engage in constructive dialogues for future "balanced" portrayal of deaf people. We ever have to forward our deaf blogs and vlogs to the movers and shakers of the entertainment world and the hearing bloggers to urge the show business people to take the deep insights how they portray us, deaf people on the silver screen and television shows.

No questions about Hollywood's true love for getting the hands on the social deviance of any groups and make money off the human misery for the purpose of entertainment. We really could make the difference in societal portrayal of deaf people within all of us. How sad!

Hopefully will see Barbara DiGi's open letter to the CBS-TV appears on the next week's "Variety" magazine, a respectable show business.

More information on Vito Russo's "The Celluloid Closet" could be found on http://en.wikipediaorg/wiki/TheCelluloid Closet or type 'The Celluloid Closet". I could not recall the titles of several nonfiction books on the Hollywood portrayal of African Americans.

Robert L. Mason
RLMDEAF blog
rlmdeaf@hotmail.com