Am I the only one who feels that head honchos (mostly CEOs) of bankrupt or defunct companies should not be awarded “golden parachutes?” The amounts these days can go upwards to millions of dollars in these severance packages. Do they deserve these perks for mismanagement? I think not.

Let me take you back to the sandbox. As a child, if you were to hurt another child, whether deliberately or not, did your parents give you a pat on the head and stuffed you with cookies? If you said “yes,” you may have been a product of borderline sadistic DNA suppliers.

I may be using an overly simplistic analogy, but I am not a financial expert. But the point is that people generally should suffer the consequences of their actions and decisions. Why should these top dogs get megabones for gnawing away at the shareholders and/or employees’ wallets and nest eggs? Enron, anyone?

Who do you think will shoulder the brunt of the proposed $700 billion bailout (rejected today by the House of Representatives)? I’ll take the taxpayers for $500, Alex. It’s not rocket science, people.

We will pay the true cost of any proposed bailouts down the road. The question is, how soon is the end of that road? Will the economy do a “Thelma and Louise” and drive off the cliff, dragging the rest of us along for the ride but leaving these fat cats on the side to lick the cream off their paws?

Last Thursday night I had the honor of attending an Eid al-Fitr celebration hosted by Global Deaf Muslim and the Deaf Muslim Student Association (DMSA) at Gallaudet University.  Just in case you are not familiar with the Eid al-Fitr holiday, this is the three day celebration that occurs at the end of Ramadan, a month of fasting during daylight hours.

Although I spent part of my childhood in an Arab-American community where Arabic was spoken and cultural norms from the old country were observed (including the importance of education), I was not really familiar with Islam. Sure, I knew about the Eids and Ramadan and the five pillars of Islam, but for the most part it was academic, not practical, knowledge.   

Why didn’t I know more?  After all, wasn’t my family part Arab-American?

Well, contrary to what many Americans believe, the descriptive terms Arab and Muslim are not synonymous. Not all Muslims are Arab. And not all Arabs are Muslim. There are Christian Arabs and Jewish Arabs. In fact, many of the early immigrants to the USA from Lebanon and Syria (at that time under the Ottoman Empire) were Christian Arabs. And there are Muslims of almost every nationality - in fact, one of my closest friends while I was in graduate school was a Muslim of German-Irish descent who hailed from Iowa.  But I digress…

After entering Ole Jim and climbing the steps to the gathering space on the second floor, I was greeted by two lovely young women who were handing out programs for the evening. Both deaf Muslims and Gallaudet University students, one from Somalia and the other from the DC metro area.   

Ole Jim was filled with deaf Muslims (some were students and staff from Gallaudet and others happened to live nearby), hearing Muslims (some of whom were members of the media) and non-Muslims (deaf and hearing), mostly from Gallaudet University, who were curious and/or wanted to offer their support to these members of the deaf community.

Light shining through the windows of Ole Jim indicated the position of the sun – there would be no food or drink served until the sun had set and darkness set in.  The mistress of ceremonies, a member of DMSA, did a fabulous job of introducing the president of the DMSA and the president of Global Deaf Muslim, who each said a few words about their respective organizations and welcomed the crowd who had gathered for this celebration.

Soon afterwards, Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University and featured speaker of the evening Imam Yahya Hendi appeared. At first I did not even know that the imam had arrived, since he was clothed in western attire, which I was not expecting. During his introduction, his broad smile transcended the language barrier – although he knows Arabic and English, he does not know ASL. He greeted the crowd warmly, quickly putting them at ease with a joke about DC traffic that made everyone laugh, and then smoothly proceeded into opening prayer.

Having never attended Islamic services at a mosque (or anywhere else), I did not know what to expect.  So I reverted back to what I call my “hard of hearing mode”, depending on my powers of observation to do the right thing by watching and following and listening (i.e. cranking up my hearing aid volume as high as possible).  Yet unlike my experiences in other places of worship, where much depends on knowing when to stand and sit, calisthenics were not a critical part of the opening prayer before the imam’s talk. 

Imam Hendi spoke about many things, but the primary message I came aware with was the desire for peace – in many forms.

He mentioned the challenges of Ramadan, where one’s bodily desires of hunger and thirst during the days of fasting are overruled by one’s mind and faith, and the skill of self-discipline that one practices during Ramadan.

He also spoke of compassion, calling upon people to exercise compassion for one another, and he also spoke of social justice, economic equity, and community.

In addition, he raised a subject very dear to my heart, the duty of us to consider our impact on the planet, which he referred to as a “fundamentalist environmentalist” position. In this case, fundamental did not refer to a particular way of practicing religion, but the foundational importance of human dependence on the planet earth, and our duty to care for it. As someone who teaches environmental ethics, I was especially glad to see the imam express this message and to watch the crowd’s positive response to his words about this issue.

As the Imam wrapped up his remarks, the sunlight illuminating the stained glass windows of Ole Jim became dimmer and dimmer. Once he finished speaking, it was time to break the fast!

Buffet tables were laden with food and beverages, and the mood in the room quickly shifted from somber reflection to festive. 

Women and children were asked to line up first at the buffet. Yet, I hung back, hesitating to line up, mainly because I was not fasting and I knew that the Muslims in the room who had been fasting all day were hungrier than I. After several men kindly gestured for me to take my place in line, including one who appeared to be of Arab heritage, I did so, figuring that to dismiss their gracious hospitality would be disrespectful.  (Also, having grown up with a strong sense of Arab hospitality – I knew better than to decline this last offer!)

The food was a delicious mix of mostly Middle Eastern and American dishes – it brought me right back to the holiday buffet tables of my childhood, right down to the baklawa. People congregated at tables, sharing introductions and stories – it was a lovely gathering.

During dessert, people listened to Imam Hendi respond to questions that attendees had jotted down on index cards during dinner. 

One of the questions dealt with ways to stop extremism – the Imam’s response was so compelling that I have been thinking of it for days.

He started with a nonverbal response – fanning his face with his hands as to indicate what a hot question this was, matching his facial expression to his gestures. At this point, I realized that he was trying to connect directly with the deaf members of the audience – since he had waited until the interpreters had finished interpreting the question before he began to gesture. Only after he had established a (non-verbal) exchange with the audience, did he begin to speak. 

Now, I have watched hundreds of hours of hearing speakers having their English words interpreted into ASL. I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen a (non-signing) hearing speaker - one with no experience with the deaf community - communicate directly to deaf audience members.  I was impressed.       

And then he began to speak his response, the contents of which impressed me still more.

Imam Hendi began by boldly stating that extremism in any form was dangerous – whether religious extremism or political extremism, whether Jewish extremism or Christian extremism or Islamic extremism.  He spoke of the incompatibility of reconciling the notion of a God of mercy and love with the rigidity of extremism, and concluded by remarking that “forgiveness does not work well with extremism.”  It was a powerful response to a challenging question – and I just wish that I had been able to capture more of it in my notes. I did later find this link (written earlier this year), which provides more detail about his position.

As the evening came to a close, the Imam began the call to prayer, first chanting the words in Arabic, and then repeating the English translation for the interpreters, who then translated into ASL. He remarked that this was the first time he had ever done the call to prayer in English, though one would never know it by the ease in which he moved between chanting in Arabic and speaking (not chanting) the English translation.

Shortly after the call to prayer, the Muslims in the room gathered for closing prayers led by the imam, kneeling on the cloth spread on the floor in lieu of prayer rugs, and prostrating in the direction of Mecca.   Others in the room watched in respectful silence.

I’d like to end my post by thanking the many people who made the Eid al-Fitr event such a success and especially for extending such a warm welcome to all who attended, including non-Muslims.  I think all of us came away with a better understanding of the Islamic religion and of the needs of the deaf Muslim community, at Gallaudet and beyond.

Disclaimer: Although Teresa Blankmeyer Burke has many institutional and other affiliations, the contents of this blog represent Teresa’s personal views only, and are not associated with any of her professional affiliations.  

I’ve thought long and hard about this campaign. When I learned that Palin, a newbie barely versed with the echelons of our national capital powerhouse, was selected, my first thought was, “It’s a ploy.” I didn’t even think, “Gosh, possibly the first female vice president ever” nor “Wow, McCain’s clever.” If anything, it is…wait…I’m going to borrow all the letters that spells Palin and type this word: appalling.

It puts me to shame that my own country is capable of choosing this path of trash. I don’t care that this is an historical moment.  It is not about the gender thing.  Obama stated this when interviewed about Palin’s selection, “I think that has less to go with gender than it has to do with her ideological predispositions, which are closely aligned to theirs.” It is as if McCain just Googled her and said, “there’s my girl.”

McCain alone was a fair competition against Obama. Nonwithstanding McCain’s geriatric contributions to the presidential ticket, he had a fairly respectful following by both parties. However, when socially ultraconservative and anti-abortionist Palin was plucked out of the oil-rich land, became an overnight sensation, and was dubbed as the “Hot Governor” or “VPILF,” McCain suddenly looked pathetic. And his actions have made many lukewarm Obama supporters into zealous pro-Obamans and pro-Obawomans. And unfortunately, started a trend of white women voters switching to the McCain/Palin side (there’s no telling yet how broad or limited this trend may be).

How did this happen? You know, when a couple meets, you hope they bring the best out of each other, affirming the phrase, “My better half.”  That’s how it should be with presidential and vice presidential candidates–some kind of marriage that works. McCain and Palin. It’s like trying to wake up from a bad dream. McCain-Palin. It doesn’t exude that certain fuzziness as Obama, the change agent and Biden, the author of Violence Against Women Act (and entirely responsible for my current job, thanks).

But, it is still too soon to know how this would impact the voters, especially white women. Many of the white women voters were Hillary supporters. How many of them will be switching over to McCain/Palin ticket?  The ephemeral novelty of McCain’s selection of Palin will soon come to an end. The hard part is to gain the same kind of momentum for six more weeks.  Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln has also echoed the “Palin-will-wilt-in-the-spotlight theme.” Election 2008 is apparently the fight for white women voters. The scary thing is there’s no clue which direction they will choose.

One thing that is explicitly clear is this: Obama needs to garner support from white women voters now. According to Politico, there are over 52 million women voting in the general election.

Remember this when making a decision on who to vote that it’s not just the president that you may want now, it’s also the possible president should Obama or McCain somehow expire. Let me reiterate this: McCain’s 72. Palin as President? Good lord, I may want to hop on a plane aimed for the wolves and get as far away as possible from my country. 

Teigan Van Roosmalen, a deaf Australian swimmer, missed the start of a final race in Beijing on Tuesday at the Paralympic Games after the light on the block that was supposed to coincide with the starter gun malfunctioned. They immediately re-ran the race, so she was still able to participate.  She came in eighth.

Still, headlines immediately ran about how she was marooned on the blocks, heartbroken and crying.

Wait a sec — I thought the Paralympic Games were for those with actual physical disabilities?! Y’know, like amputees and that sort of thing? Teigan also has Usher’s syndrome, uses a cochlear implant, and competes with retinitis pigmentosa as her classification for participation in the games, but still, does that mean she can’t move her body in certain ways? Not at all.

Well, color me uninformed. A quick search reveals that the Paralympic games actually classifies their athletes six ways: 1) those with Cerebral Palsy, 2) amputees, 3) visual impairment, 4) spinal cord injuries, 5) intellectual disabilities, and 6) anybody who doesn’t fit into the first five categories (les autres).

Whoa. Number 6 is a whopper of a category. But I’m clueless, so I won’t go there.

And number 5 sounds familiar: to participate in the Special Olympics, To be eligible to participate in the Special Olympics, “athletes must be at least 8 years old and identified …as having one of the following conditions: intellectual disability; a cognitive delay as determined by standardized measures such as intelligence quotient or other generally accepted measures; or a closely related development disability, i.e., functional limitations in both general learning and adaptive skills.”

Sounds like, in theory, someone could compete in both games? Guess that’s not a bad thing — Teigan herself has apparently competed in both the Deaflympics and the Paralympic Games. Good for her; it’s an undoubtedly hard-earned honor.

But I’m confused here. The US Olympic Committee has a history of supporting the US Olympic and Paralympic teams …but not the US Deaflympic team, even though the International Olympic Committee does recognize the Deaflympics.

And, after all, one of the main principles of the Deaflympics is the idea of equality through sports. From the Deaflympics website:

“Unlike the athletes in all other IOC sanctioned games, including the Olympics, the Paralympics and the Special Olympics, the Deaflympians cannot be guided by starter’s guns, bullhorn commands or referee whistles. Nor can the majority of the athletes experience the crucial sense of inclusion in other general games because they cannot just strike up a conversation or in other ways communicate instantly or in a practical manner with their fellow hearing athletes.”

Hello? Looks like Teigan’s missed start just illustrates the inequality of even the Paralympics, albeit inadvertently, beautifully.

Oh, and postscript: “Unlike other games for athletes with disabilities, which are all directed by non-disabled officials, the Summer and Winter Deaflympics are run by deaf people for deaf athletes.”

Snap.

(Photo from here.)

A few days ago, YouTube added captioning/subtitle support to its videos. Users can upload their own SubViewer (.sub) or SubRip (.srt) files to videos. Viewers can turn on captioning (if enabled) by clicking on the bottom-right button on the player. Right now, however, YouTube doesn’t seem to offer a feature to search for captioned videos only. 

Got a favorite YouTube video you’ve been itching to watch with captions? According to TechCrunch, the captioning company SubPLY will caption 5000 YouTube videos submitted by users like you. FREE. So, hurry! Click here to read the details and submit a YouTube video you’d like to see captioned. Be sure to add the YouTube video link to a comment here at DeafDC so we all can watch it, too!

(Unfortunately I doubt they can caption ASL videos, just spoken English or Spanish videos.) 

We may experience the initial stages of an eager DPHH attendee going by the name Hanna (the Tropical Storm making its way up the East Coast) but she will not arrive in time, shucks. She’s been known to whirl through crowds, and to break the ice by literally spraying in all directions. Despite the fun her presence would have brought, we encourage you to consider your safety when traveling to DPHH.

Tropical Storm Hanna is expected to hit tomorrow afternoon. Please check the weather forecast at weather.com for tonight’s conditions:
http://www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/USDC0001?from=36hr_topnav_undeclared

For more information about tonight’s DPHH:
http://www.deafdc.com/blog/deafdccom/2008-08-21/september-dphh-at-georgetown-washington-harbour/