Tuesday morning news and tea roundup

Had the pleasure of speaking with Jen Dodds yesterday who is working the deaf-blogs.com project. She will be adding DEAF IN THE CITY soon; and possibly next year deaf-blogs.com could be in charge of the 2006 Deaf Blog Awards. Which I think would be very neat... in other news, I'll be working with the MICA Project and Ann Marie Bryan on the Sarah Marie Pack Writing Award. Funny; when I was in college I fought for such chances, never thinking about the people they were named for, only thinking that they were opportunities. Now I'm on the other end of the bench.

The news is full of the criminally Deaf this week, but one could wish a little clarity from this story:

Arrested were Harumi Otani, 59, and Hirofumi Takaya, 65. Takaya's 40-year-old daughter Masami was also arrested in connection with the crime, police said.

Both Otani and Takaya were deaf and mute. The three suspects reportedly learned about the 77-yer-old victim at a gateball contest for deaf and mute people in Kochi Prefecture in January last year.

Investigators said the three conspired to intimidate the elderly woman, who was also deaf and mute, and on Aug. 29 last year they demanded money from her at her home in Sanuki, Kagawa Prefecture. They reportedly knocked her to the ground and trampled on her legs, then took her to an agricultural cooperative in the city and made her withdraw a total of 3 million yen from two accounts and hand them the money.

You know, when I was in college, and valiantly trying to get along well with the hearies with very mixed results, I remember one conversation with my friend Kres who was convinced disabled people didn't commit crimes. Hearing people are weird. That being said, I shouldn't, but I feel a bit of satisfaction at the news that Deaf people also mug old ladies. I don't feel good, no, just... proves we're as capable as anyone else and... I better drop this. Of course, the police are also taking action at the news:

The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) is setting up a training scheme for police officers.

The aim of the scheme is to raise awareness among policemen of the barriers faced by deaf and hard of hearing people.

Officers will be able to learn basic sign language and will be given advice by RNID trainers on how to communicate more effectively with deaf people IN CASE THEY MUG OLD LADIES (addition: by editor).

In case they mug old ladies, or in case they commit crime sprees. From The Australian:

California's oldest death row inmate, who was blind, deaf and ina wheelchair has been executed, minutes after the end of his 76th birthday.

Clarence Ray Allen was pronounced dead by lethal injection at 12.38am (1938 AEDT) at San Quentin prison today, less than an hour after his 76th birthday ended at midnight.

Allen, who was legally blind, deaf, could not walk and suffered a near fatal heart attack in September only to be revived and returned to death row, was assisted into the death chamber by four correctional officers shortly after midnight.

Of course the only reason the newspaper mentioned he was blind and deaf was shock value. I don't believe in death penalties but I have met some Deaf kids who think cops will just let Deafies do what they want - they won't - and they don't show pity just because, you know, you're a Deaf person.