Free Republic

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI lamented the serious lack of public programs and measures to address the needs of deaf people and a lack of even basic health care, which often can prevent hearing impairment. He spoke Nov. 20 to some 400 people attending a Vatican conference addressing the role of the deaf in the church. A handful of interpreters signed the pope's words to deaf participants during the audience in the Clementine Hall of the papal palace. The Nov. 19-21conference was organized by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry and was dedicated to "The Deaf Person...

Dr. Antonio De la Cruz, a renowned neurotologist at the House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles who performed cochlear implant surgery on conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, has died. He was 65. De la Cruz, who also was the director of education at the House Ear Institute, died July 31 of complications of lymphoma at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles, an institute spokeswoman said. An associate of the House Ear Clinic since 1975, De la Cruz was in the news in 2001 when he successfully performed cochlear implant surgery on Limbaugh. A cochlear implant is an electronic...

LAWRENCEVILLE - Betty Macaluso doesn't need an alarm clock; she has cats. The Lawrenceville woman is awakened each morning by Tom 2, a wide-eyed orange and white cat, who gently paws at her arm about 6 a.m. wanting his breakfast. If Tom 2 happens to sleep through his job or gets distracted, Tiger, a heavier gray and black tabby, steps in. Since Macaluso can't hear the ringing of an alarm clock - she has been deaf all her life - her cats serve as her ears. She adopted Tom 2 and Tiger, both now about a year old, from PetSmart...

A couple weeks ago, I posted the item about Boston's new deaf priest. And recently the Religion News Service caught up with Fr. Shawn Carey to ask him a few questions about his singular vocation. They exchanged some Q&A emails with him. An excerpt: Q: What was it like growing up as a deaf Catholic? A: Back then, there were no (deaf) interpreters in the Catholic Church and in the Catholic schools. It was a frustrating journey, but I managed to overcome the obstacles. Today, more deaf Catholics can attend Masses and receive sacraments through deaf priests or hearing priests...

The city of Fort Worth has reached a $50,000 settlement with a deaf man who claims his nose was broken during a November 2007 traffic stop as he tried to explain to an officer he could not hear. Fort Worth police Sgt. Pedro Criado said settlement Wednesday did not include any admission of wrongdoing on the city's part. The city also released the police dash camera video of the traffic stop. On Nov. 30, Christopher Ferrell, 43, was pulled over for speeding, police said. Criado said Thursday he did not know where the traffic stop occurred. Ferrell’s attorney said his...

COB ADDER, Iraq – Soldiers from the 3rd Sustainment Command’s 7th and 287th Sustainment Brigades worked side by side as they hosted Operation Voice of Hope Dec. 11 on Contingency Operating Base Adder. Members of the Muthanna Provincial Reconstruction Team and the 7th Sust. Bde.’s Civil Military Operation’s group worked together to host Iraqi girls from the Al-Amal School for the Deaf and assist them by diagnosing hearing impairments. Lt. Col. Allan White, 287th Sust. Bde., medical operations officer and audiologist conducted the tests using a standard audiometer.My goal today is to see what these children’s needs are,” said White....

England is currently deciding whether or not to legalize the use of embryo selection to produce deaf babies to accommodate deaf couples who want their children to share their soundless world. When Thomas Lifson reported this in AT, he expressed shock that such things could be permitted. I was shocked too---until I realized that this, and much worse, is the logical consequence of our legalization of abortion. Rightly or wrongly, our legal system regards death as the greatest possible injury that one person can inflict on another. Any injury that is not likely to cause death, however degrading or disfiguring to the...

The New York Archdiocesan Deaf Choir "signed" a song for Pope Benedict XVI Saturday at a seminary outside New York, where the pontiff blessed some 50 children with disabilities and visited students. The 81-year-old pontiff rose and applauded the choir of 15, accompanied vocally by the Cathedral of Saint Patrick Young Singers, after they had finished their song, "Take Lord, Receive." "God has blessed you with life and with differing talents and gifts," Benedict said in a short speech to the crowd of around 50 families of children with disabilities. "Sometimes it is challenging to find a reason for what...

2/15/2008 - MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) -- Airmen from the U.S. Central Command Air Forces Band "Live Round" found themselves in front of an unlikely audience Feb. 13, when they visited Bishkek's Boarding School for the Deaf. The visit was part of the band's outreach efforts during their eight-day trip to Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan. Band members delivered toys and candy as well as a musical performance for the students. Although music doesn't seem like it would be logical fit at the school, it is actually an important part of the curriculum for the more than 360 students there....

An 11-year-old boy from Britain, who was deaf for nearly 10 years, was suddenly cured when a thick piece of cotton popped out of his ear, according to a report in the Daily Mail. Jerome Bartens was diagnosed as deaf in his right ear when he was just two-years-old. Click here to read the full story and see pictures Over the next nine years, he struggled to live a normal life as a young boy — but everything changed when he felt a sudden pop in his right ear while playing a game of pool with friends. He put his...

Freakonomics One year from today, a new president moves into the White House. This president will be eager to carry out any number of plans — including, surely, plans to help the segments of society that most need help. Extending a helping hand, after all, is one of the great privileges and responsibilities of the presidency. But before charging ahead with such plans, the new president might do well to first ask him- or herself the following question: What do a deaf woman in Los Angeles, a first-century Jewish sandal maker and a red-cockaded woodpecker have in common? A few...

Some hard-of-hearing patients in England are having to wait more than two years for an NHS hearing aid. The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) used the Freedom of Information Act to discover just how long the waits were. It found that ten trusts were not treating patients within a year, in spite of the Government’s target being 18 weeks. The worst offender was Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, where patients had to wait 125 weeks for an aid after first seeing their GP. The average wait was 22 weeks in the 99 primary care trusts (PCTs) across the...

A federal appeals court ordered a San Francisco judge on Friday to reconsider his ruling requiring United Parcel Service to give its deaf employees a chance to compete for jobs as drivers of small delivery trucks. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 13-2 that U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson had used the wrong standard in his 2004 decision that UPS was discriminating against deaf people with safe driving records by refusing to consider them for commercial driving jobs. Henderson allowed the plaintiffs to show that they were qualified for the jobs based on their driving records, and failed...

DEAF parents should be allowed to screen their embryos so they can pick a deaf child over one that has all its senses intact, according to the chief executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People (RNID). Jackie Ballard, a former Liberal Democrat MP, says that although the vast majority of deaf parents would want a child who has normal hearing, a small minority of couples would prefer to create a child who is effectively disabled, to fit in better with the family lifestyle. Ballard’s stance is likely to be welcomed by other deaf organisations,...

Donnell Williams had just gotten out of the bath tub, wearing only a towel around his waist, when he turned the corner to see guns pointing right at him. "I ain't never been so scared," says Williams. Police forced entry into Williams home while responding to a shooting, but it turned out to be a false call. They had no idea at the time the call wasn't real and that Williams is hearing impaired. Without his hearing aid he is basically deaf. "I kept going to my ear yelling that I was scared. I can't hear! I can't hear!" Officers...

FORT WORTH -- A store cashier struck a deaf customer in the head with a crowbar after he mistook the man's silence for rudeness and disrespect, police said. The cashier, Ricky Benard Young, 20, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The customer, Cody Goodnight, 31, suffered "a large knot" on his head during the incident, which occurred Saturday at the Family Dollar Store at 4117 E. Lancaster Ave. "I can't believe someone would hit him for not speaking," said Goodnight's mother, Kay Goodnight. "When you're deaf, you don't make a point of starting conversations with people." Young's...

Pfc. Patti Angel, a food service specialist from Grand Junction, Colo., from Company F, 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, serves Soldiers their meals from a mobile kitchen trailer at Combat Outpost Cleary. Photo by Sgt. Natalie Rostek, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs. COMBAT OUTPOST CLEARY — Pfc. Patti Angel faces communication barriers no amount of waiting in line or talking into a phone can help. Her parents are deaf. Keeping in touch back home is already tough for deployed Soldiers with friends and family members who can hear. Not being able to use the conventional means of...

After laying siege to a house for five hours, police gave a final warning before storming the house where a gunman had been reported inside. A police dog rushed upstairs and, finding a woman in bed, proceeded to sink its teeth into her arms. But as armed officers surrounded a terrified Sonia Pellow, they realised two things. First, she wasn't a gunman. Second, she was deaf and had been sleeping throughout the entire stand-off. Yesterday Miss Pellow, 36, was still too afraid to return to her home in Hayle, Cornwall, after the ordeal, which followed a hoax call to police...

For a number of years now, a great deal of discussion has taken place among scientists and in the popular media about the genetic engineering of children. Will it soon be possible, for prices widely affordable at least to the upper-middle class, to guarantee that children have a high IQ, or excellent athletic ability, or be over 6 feet tall, or have blond hair and blue eyes? Is it right to commodify children in this way, and have parents choosing options as they do with cars? And wouldn’t it be boring to live in a world someday where almost everyone...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation's only liberal arts university for the deaf could lose its accreditation unless it addresses concerns about weak academic standards, ineffective governance and a lack of tolerance for diverse views, an education oversight group warned. Gallaudet University was rocked by student demonstrations last fall that shut down the university for several days and forced the board to revoke the appointment of a new president. Afterward, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education said it was delaying a decision on whether to renew the school's accreditation because of concerns raised during the protests and because of a...

CBS/AP) EAST MEADOW, N.Y. It has taken a week, but the East Meadow School District is now telling its side of the controversy involving a deaf boy who wants to bring a service dog to class. East Meadow has prevented 14-year-old John Cave from bringing his dog Simba to the W. Tresper Clarke High School. The family has the state's Human Rights Commission looking into the case. East Meadow Superintendent Robert Dillon says the boy's parents have "repeatedly rejected" efforts to discuss the boy's wish to bring his service dog to school. In a statement released late Tuesday, Dillon says...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Gallaudet University has turned to former student with national credentials to lead the school until a permanent president can be selected. The school's board of trustees has announced that Robert Davila will serve as interim president beginning Jan. 2, when Irving King Jordan steps down after 19 years. Davila, who graduated from Gallaudet in 1953, says he worried about getting into Gallaudet while attending the California School for the Deaf as a 12-year-old boy. He taught at Galluadet for 17 years beginning in 1972. He also served as vice president of the National Technical Institute for the...

At least 16 Ramsey County deputies and correctional officers are being investigated for allegedly keeping a jailed deaf man incommunicado by denying him an interpreter or communication device, Sheriff Bob Fletcher said Friday. The 16 are still on duty, but Fletcher said he is looking into how they dealt with Douglas Bahl, an internationally known deaf advocate who was arrested Nov. 17 in St. Paul for running a red light. "We are taking this very seriously," said Fletcher. "Mr. Bahl seems very credible. If one or more of our employees have failed to act in the appropriate way, we will...

One of my dance students sent me this last week and I was in tears watching it. It's beautiful on its own, but what makes it so heart wrenching is all the dancers are deaf-mutes. And no, there are no special effects, those are real arms.

PHOENIX -- The state Attorney General's Office is suing Pima Community College, charging it didn't provide the help a hearing impaired student said she needed. Legal papers filed in Maricopa County Superior Court say that the college did provide sign language interpreters so that Stacey Duvall could understand what her instructors in the pharmacy technology program were saying. But Assistant Attorney General Sandra Kane said that in at least two of the cases, Duvall could not understand the interpreters. Kane said, though, that the college insisted the two were qualified and refused to replace them. At one point there was...

Well. It's confirmed. Senator McCain resigned his honorary position from the Board of Trustees at Gallaudet University. Like one commenter said, "McCain can take a LOT of flak- Gee, Deafies ran off the guy who stood up to the North VN Communists! ACK!" Indeed. McCain was a POW in North Vietnam. He's now an ex-honorary member of Gallaudet's Board of Trustees....

WASHINGTON — The board of trustees of the nation's premier school for the deaf voted Sunday to terminate the appointment of the incoming president, who had been the subject of protests, the board announced. The vote at Gallaudet University came after a daylong closed-door meeting that followed a month of protests by students and faculty members. Jane Fernandes, the school's former provost, had been selected in May to take office in January.

Breaking News Gallaudet Board Votes Out Jane Fernandes Washington Post sources confirm that controversial president-elect's appointment has been rescinded.

And then you have a recent assault against Dr. Jane K. Fernades (first deaf woman to become the 9th president of Gallaudet University) where some idiot threatened her with a gun. She explained to reporters when they asked her whether she has been threatened with assault. She said, "Yes, with a gun." Check out NBC4 video during her press conference when she said that at 23 seconds left into the video. The incoming president said that in the midst of the the conflict she has recieved death threats and other personal attacks.....

The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act reflected a generous national impulse to provide the most opportunity... But the law has also sometimes led to overzealous interpretations ...that can defy common sense -- and endanger the broader public. A case in point is last week's ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that United Parcel Service has violated federal law by banning drivers who are deaf. While acknowledging that federal law requires drivers of trucks heavier than 10,000 pounds to be able to hear, a three-judge panel of the ...court ruled that UPS was obliged to prove that allowing the...

Gallaudet University students blocked access to campus for a second day Thursday, escalating their protest against an incoming president they say lacks the skills to lead the nation's only liberal arts university for the deaf and hearing impaired. "We're in the middle of a crisis here," said LaToya Plummer, 25, a junior from Suitland, Md., who was among the protesters. The blockade started around 3 a.m. Wednesday and forced the university to cancel classes for a second day Thursday as about 100 students protested at the front gate. Students sitting in 11 chairs blocked the main campus road at the...

UPDATE: Professor Ammons is not arrested. Miscommunication. However, 107 deaf protesters are arrested at Gallaudet University so far. More vans are brought in by DC police. Cold temperature is taking a toll on some protesters. Hyperthermia? Ambulance on scene. Many Deaf students, faculty members, staff and alumni throws fit over 1st deaf woman to become the 9th president at Gallaudet University by mostly deaf Board of Trustees early this May. Protest has been simmering since May and exploded last week almost 9 days ago. And..

San Francisco -- A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling that UPS Inc. violated anti-discrimination laws by automatically barring the deaf and hearing-impaired from driving parcel delivery trucks. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson's 2004 ruling that the Atlanta-based company's practices breach the Americans with Disabilities Act. Henderson, in a class-action case representing as many as 1,000 would-be drivers, ruled that the hearing impaired should "be given the same opportunities that a hearing applicant would be given to show that they can perform the job of package-car driver...

A police officer described yesterday how he pulled over a motorist who was veering across the road and found that he had no eyes. Omed Aziz, who lost both his eyes in a bomb blast and is also deaf, was caught behind the wheel with a friend sitting in the passenger seat giving him instructions on when to steer and brake, and how quickly to drive. Omed Aziz Bomb victim Omed Aziz Aziz, who also suffers from leg tremors, claimed he was perfectly safe and denied a charge of dangerous driving before being convicted.....

"We are not the problem, we are the solution," says Fr Thomas Coughlin, a deaf Honolulu priest who has founded the Dominican Missionaries for the Deaf Apostolate with five other deaf men. Deaf since birth, it was Fr Coughlin's lifelong dream to start a religious community where sign language is the primary means of expression at both the eucharistic table and the dinner table, according to the Catholic News Service. Fr Coughlin was one of five men who made their first profession of vows as Dominican Missionaries for the Deaf Apostolate last week at St Albert's Priory in Oakland, California....

Official announcement directly from Matt Hamill to Kokonut Pundits about his new and exciting website. -See Matt challenges Mike Bisping on his website!-

Emory Dively is seeking to be the Republican Endorsed Candidate for the House of Representatives for District 64B. He is the Pastor of Twin Cities Deaf Assemblies of God and serves on numerous organizations throughout the country. Emory has a unique background. He was born Deaf in Flint, Michigan and attended the state school for the deaf. Following the state school for the Deaf, Emory went to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (a part of R.I.T.) in New York where he earned his Bachelor's Degree in Social Working. He went on to graduate with a Master's Degree from...

Check out Greg Gunderson's latest ranking update in the "Racin for a Livin" vote poll. Greg is currently at #4 !! Two days ago Greg was at

Kokonut Pundits: In the TUF3 show was there anything else that wasn't shown on tv that Hamill fans would be surprised to hear? Anything that would be new to Hamill fans about behind the scenes in the TUF3 filming. Matt Hamill: the show didnt show how much trouble the other fighters were giving me. I would be sitting in the hot tub and someone would be throwing beer bottles at me. I was never sure of who it was though and

Now, you might be asking yourself. What does Joe Posnanski has to do with Greg Gunderson? Well, Joe Posnanski wrote an article along with pictures (note: pictures in paper version only) called "Racing Reunites Deaf Men." It's a story about Jason Curry who is the president of sComm, Inc with his UbiDuo communication device; Jason's friend Greg Gunderson, a Gallaudet University alumnus, who is vying for a spot on the Racin for a Livin reality TV show...

Racing and winning with Snowmobiles, ATV's, Enduro cars, and 10years with Sprint Cars including Knoxville Iowa. One of only a couple Deaf Racecar Drivers ever. Proving his point that, "Deaf people can do anything but hear". http://www.racinforalivin.net/viewtopic.php?t=47 Here's your chance to vote for Greg Gunderson!! Vote often as you want.

Kokonut Pundits: I see. What are your feelings for the 2008 Olympic? How will they pick you to represent the United States? Matt Hamill: I'm thrilled to look forward to join the 2008 Olympic team. Kokonut Pundits: How will they choose a representative for the United States for wrestlers?

Check out a different post-fight interviews with Matt Hamill. Expcect more interviews to come later! http://kokonutpundits.blogspot.com/2006/06/interview-with-matt-hamill.html http://kokonutpundits.blogspot.com/2006/07/matt-hamill-interview-olympic-2008.html A poll to help Matt decide - UFC or 2008 Olympic. http://kokonutpundits.blogspot.com/2006/07/ufc-or-olympic-2008-for-matt-hamill.html

May 05 4:06 PM US/Eastern Email this story VALPARAISO, Ind. Two men who had driven around several towns for hours after meeting in a bar ended up fighting after one of the men couldn't communicate directions clearly to the driver. Kent Hisey, 52, became frustrated by the difficulty of James Mills, who is deaf, in communicating directions, Valparaiso police said. They had driven from the Playboy Lounge in New Chicago to Portage, then Hobart _ where the 46-year-old Mills lives _ and finally to Valparaiso _ communities spread across two northwest Indiana counties about 30 miles southeast of Chicago. Hisey,...

Students objected to the appointment of Jane Fernandes, who is deaf and is currently the university's provost, because she did not grow up using American Sign Language. Some students also criticized Fernandes for not having warm relations with students.

For most of her 67 years, Mary Lomastro could not fully understand the Roman Catholic Mass that she attended each Sunday. Ms. Lomastro, of Coventry, R.I., is deaf. She attended weekly services at her home parish, but could not follow the Mass beyond what was printed in the missalette. That all changed last summer, when the Diocese of Providence became one of the few in the country to have a deaf priest celebrate a Mass in American Sign Language, with a verbal interpreter. The priest, the Rev. Joseph Bruce, says Mass at St. Ann's Church in Providence and at other...

Matt Hamill There's been a lot of talk about Matt Hamill around the internet. Matt, aside from the coaches, is clearly the star of the show so far (and we haven't even really seen him fight). His situation is interesting and the personality he's shown engages a lot of viewers. I was recently contacted by a hard-of-hearing martial artist and blogger by the name of Mike McConnell. He's written some posts about Matt Hamill in relation to the deaf community on his blog....

ST. CLOUD -The big smile on Heather Breitbach's face gave away her news. The 16-year-old had passed the written portion of her driving test Tuesday, the first step in getting her learner's permit. "I finally did it!" she said in sign language to friends and family members. Most teenagers take getting a driver's license for granted. But for Heather, of Melrose, Minn., who is deaf, it has already taken a year and cost her family several thousand dollars in costs for an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. Hours of behind-the-wheel training still await. Breitbach and her family don't think it's...

AUSTIN -- The reigning Miss Deaf Texas died Monday afternoon after being struck by a train in Austin. Authorities said 18-year-old Tara Rose McAvoy was walking near railroad tracks when she was struck by a Union Pacific train. A witness told Austin television station KTBC the train sounded its horn right up until the collision occurred. McAvoy, who had been deaf since birth, won the state title in June. The state pageant director said she represented Texas "with dignity and pride." McAvoy was to represent Texas at the Miss Deaf America pageant this summer.

Hear that silence? It’s the sound of America going deaf from an earful of technology. What’s that, you say? Popular technology — not just the iPod — threatens everyone’s hearing, especially children and teenagers, according to a new report by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). While much attention has focused on the iPod and other personal music players, the association randomly chose and tested nine devices that can be turned up to potentially damaging decibel levels. Among those tested were Bluetooth headsets that allow wireless communication and laptop components that let travelers listen to private concerts while blocking out the...