Pastor M. Beecroft, 08/30/2009

From a distance, the man would have looked like any other man. If you passed by him on the street, you would have noticed nothing extraordinary. Only if you tried to engage him in a conversation would his handicaps be revealed. The man was deaf. And if being deaf were not enough of a challenge, the man also had a speech impediment so severe he could not articulate his words. His tongue was broken as well. Although you would not know by just looking at him, this man was trapped inside himself. …

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Life Sucks

Oh no. Antonio Love had a really, really, upset stomach when he entered a Dollar General store in Mobile, Alabama. The rumblings were so bad he raced to use the restroom. Mr Love was in there for well over an hour when the staff decided to ring the police. After the officers knocked on the door several times without a response they used a tire iron to open it. Each time they did Mr Love pushed it back. The police then decided to use pepper spray  and then taser him after they noticed he had a weapon. Oh boy, well didn’t the cops get a shock when they discovered Antonio is deaf and mentally disabled and didn’t have a clue what was going on. As for a weapon, well that was his umbrella. Antonio was still arrested for disorderly conduct but the magistrate had the good sense to refuse to issue a warrant. The officers claim they were justified in using force because the guy had an umbrella!

THIS JUST IN — We the DEAF DEMOCRATS editors got a forwarded e-mail message from one of our readers, and it opened like this:

“David Wylie is running for KY Senator for 2008! He graduated from Ohio School for the Deaf in 1988.
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!”

As this reader pointed out, it was not certain which party in Kentucky David Wylie was running as a candidate for. Nevertheless, HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to you, David Wylie!! You can read more about him at David Wylie for Senate.

Are there any other Deaf & Hard of Hearing candidates running for office? Do let us know!!

**PLEASE KEEP YOUR COMMENTS TO UNDER 200 WORDS!
Thank you- DEAF DEMOCRATS Editors

Deaf man killed over noise
From correspondents in Brisbane
September 20, 2004

A BLIND man was jailed for eight years today for killing a deaf man by slashing his throat because he was enraged by the noise coming from his stereo and television.
George Gerard Goeldner, 49, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court for the manslaughter of Francis John Butcher, 54, on January 4, 2002.
Both men lived at the Aid For The Blind Complex at Fairfield on Brisbane’s southside.
Prosecutor Michael Byrne said the men’s units were 20 metres apart and Goeldner had made numerous complaints to management about the noise from Mr Butcher’s unit.
Mr Byrne said Mr Butcher had been given head phones but wasn’t using them because they were uncomfortable in the extreme summer heat.
Goeldner is 90 per cent blind and Mr Butcher was profoundly deaf, and had worked as a city based charity collector for the Aid For The Blind Association for decades.
Mr Byrne said Goeldner snapped when he heard Mr Butcher at the administration office telling staff he intended to have a good weekend, believing this meant he would be making a lot of noise.
Goeldner rushed out with a serrated kitchen knife and saw Mr Butcher at the letter boxes and put it to his throat.
He claimed Mr Butcher who had a prosthetic limb and depended on crutches, slipped from his grasp and his throat was slashed after he could no longer support his weight.
Justice James Douglas said psychiatrists agreed that Goeldner was of impaired mental capacity because of brain damage, depression and inadequate epilepsy medication.
AAP
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I just love the way this has been written, letting all the details slowly escape throughout the entire piece.
In fact…  this is GOLD.

GOLD BABY!