I had a bit of a bother today on See Hear’s forum. I have caught myself in a childish tit-for-tat battle with Andy Arthur, aka CornishAndy. I even called him CornyPunk – gawd, that is how low I have stooped.
The real bone of contention is kicked off with my request for sources to be cited. It was in response to MM’s blow by blow account how BDA disintegrated, with RNID playing a big part in their downfall by wresting away the ownership of BSL mantlepiece and therefore we should converge on RNID and play at their own game. This is all news to me, having been busy uprooting me and my family 4 times in the last 2 years (3 times whilst my wife was pregnant) – starting from Derby, via Inverness, Pudsey, Shipley and then back to Derby. So I am out of the loop. So I am curious. Therefore I asked for sources. Isn’t this straight forward enough for you?
However, there is a deeper story to my request. MM is well known for saying his piece. Frequently, you will find him to be the 1st person to comment whenever a new thread/blog is created. In fact, saying his piece in every nook and cranny conceivable on the deaf-related web 2.0 arena and its forums. I have yet to witness an acknowledgment from him that someone else, aside from him, does also have a good point. He just wade in and turn on the whole debate on its head without addressing the issue brought forward. His blogs is devoid of any source citations to back up his thoughts. Deservingly, this has earned him a troll status, invoking regular vehement outbursts from a fellow Aussie blogger, the peerless if somewhat unrestrained Tony Nicholas, aka Radio666. 
Back-tracking a bit, my request for sources was met with scorn by CornishAndy – a well-known ally of MM.
Why do I keep seeing requests for links and references?
As I see it these requests are just a way to try and punish posters by making them do a lot of work looking things up. Forget that.
There have been plenty of links in the past, use those.
Not a good start. Rude actually. I have been looking and looking for any info surroundings the events outlined in MM’s original post hence my request. CornishAndy went on to he is not justified to provide the links, which is apparently somewhere in the forum – a forum without any form of search engine. I somehow think my request was perfectly reasonable, but after that point, the rest of the conversations on that thread descended into a farce as I took out my frustrations on him. It is too onerous and petty to go any further than this as much as it pained me to say.
My real sore point of these events are individuals making sweeping statements, without foundations or corroboration whatsoever. By publishing these unsubstantiated claims, it will colour the perception of BDA upon any newcomers who happened to be reading this post. Quite possibly it can add another nail to the coffin for the struggling BDA, for each reader happened upon the post. Another blogger have admitted to me that he was almost ready to believe the hype spewed by MM and CornishAndy. Thanks to JGJones timely intervention, he was pulled away from the abyss. This is why I am compelled to challenge this piece of unsubstantiated piece of social commentary – hard work or not – which does no-one any favours except playing right into the hands of RNId.
oi! Link to Tony’s site but not mine?? Tsk tsk how DARE you!
Andy might boast of his high IQ, but it’s beyond him why it’s perfectly reasonble to ask for links when someone have claimed something external as being a fact (rather than personal experience).
Perhaps Andy need to wake up and realise that high IQ != cleverness. It’s meaningless and he’s a shining example so far…
Finally – what I just can’t get over – they keep saying deaf people should join RNId so that we have a voice with them, to change them etc – but then in other threads go on and on about how RNId never listen to the members?? Eh? They say we should join RNId so that they’ll listen to us, but at the same time say that RNId doesn’t listen to members?
How about waking up and realise that maybe on paper it sound wise to join RNId to change them – but in reality you are not going to get deaf people to do that – they will not join RNId.
How about a complete change in tactics? Start realising that RNId is *not* the sole provider of services. In my case, whenever I require an interpreter I make it very clear that I won’t accept any substandard interpreters from RNId (as have been my experience too many time…they do have quality interpreters but they also have too many “interpreters” that appears to have just passed Level 2 – giving the rest of quality RNId interpreters a bad name).
Instead I always request it from other companies such as Neal Communication Agency – that one is a deaf owned business and the interpreters are excellent (all vetted by the business). That gives the money and power to the deaf people instead of lining RNId pockets.
Surely a better way of doing it. Reject all services that are provided by RNId and instead request it from other agencies such as the many deaf run businesses.
Mind you, those deaf businesses really do need to get together and agree to setup something like a Deaf Business Federation – have some lobbying power to go along with it too.
Tony having known you for a bit I was suprised that you had wasted time in confrontation with Cornish Pasty.
I suspect that they are frustrated that they are getting no where with the RNID unlike Tim.
Tim ( another poster) as far as I am concerned are making inroads as they have replied to his letters as he said in email that they do read See Hear although they had spelt it wrong in letter to Tim
Rather than helping the ones that breezed in they took a snipe at us!
This must be amusing to the RNID!
We read with interest what Tim have posted and I have to oppligise to Tim that we have wasted time with trolls and to endeavour Tim any way we can!
Yes Fin, but as I have said to Alison Byran on many occassions, the more you challenge MM and CornishAndy, pulling them up on the various points they make, the more mute they become.
More importantly, when you respond with fair dinkum requests, and logical rebuttals, they back down. Where it used to be just me and Alison, they were unrestrained. Now that you guys are wading in, that’s too much for them and they know it.
I have begun to notice, that MM and CornishAndy and indeed their friends like Wirral, are backing down a bit, because Tony B, Joe, and yourself, Fin are actually speaking out and calling their bluff.
MM won’t dare put a foot out of line on any of Alison’s, for example, because he knows he will be told where to go.
So Tony, go for it, lose your cool, they deserve it.
Lately, I am just letting it go because the debating with them, for prolonged periods, tends to get superfluous. I would like to lose my cool with a fierce retort and, believe me, I have allowed myself to get narked off in the topic above. Whereas now, more I got to know them, the more I can see right through them and the more when to pick my battles. I would like to see more people contributing to the conversation, which does makes me wonder if our bark is worse than our bite.
The lack of magnanimity coming from them, especially CornishAndy, is something that doesn’t sit well with me.