Colorado Springs - I got yet another email from a friend who sent me links relating to deafness that I found to be interesting and downright absurdly stupid. If there’s a moral to this article, it’s this: people are stupid.
First, from Scotland comes word that an 82-year-old man - who is blind in one eye and deaf - was clocked speeding on one of Scotland’s most dangerous roads. Maurice Hollyfield told a court he wasn’t paying attention because he had his stereo turned up loud so he could hear the music.
Hollyfield, whose left eye is made of glass, was clocked at 88 MPH by a speed camera on the A9 at Waterloo between Perth and Dunkeld. He should only have been doing 50 MPH. He apparently mistook the RPM gauge for the speedometer itself.
David Holmes, defending Hollyfield, told Perth Sheriff Court yesterday:
“He said the reason for his driving was that he was listening to loud music because of his deafness. It was a new car and the instrument panel was very different. He kept glancing at what he thought was the speedometer, but it wasn’t.”
Hollyfield, a retired engineer from Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, admitted speeding on the notorious road on April 4 and now faces banishment from Scottish roads.
Paotie’s Postscript: No word yet on whether Hollyfield actually utilizes the Braille found on drive-through ATM machines. And, stay the hell away from Scottish roads, too.
Now, for the stupidly stupid: a deaf man in Denver is suing correctional authorities because he stupidly pleaded guilty while in jail - and now blames the lack of an interpreter for his plea. A lawsuit was filed on behalf of Debbie Ulibarri, the estate of Shawn Vigil, Roger Krebs, the Colorado Association of the Deaf and the Colorado Cross Disability Coalition claiming discrimination against deaf people in Denver jails due to a lack of interpreters provided.
Paotie’s Postscript: In the first place, if you’re a 55-year-old man like Roger Krebs, you should know better than to get into a fisticuffs fight at a Greyhound station. A man Krebs’ age ought to know at the very least how the criminal justice system works. Apparently, Krebs was in a hurry to get to his place of destination and pleaded guilty anyway.
Krebs claims that because he wasn’t given an interpreter, he was discriminated against. He might have a point; however, because of his stupidity, he wants to blame the lack of interpreters for his own moral ineptitude. If Krebs really wanted to get home so badly, then he would not have gotten into a fight at the bus station. Instead, he fought, got arrested, and in a moment of sheer stupidity, pleaded guilty. And now he wants his plea removed because he wasn’t given an interpreter.
If a defendant were allowed to escape legal responsibility for his acts, merely by saying “I didn’t know it was wrong/illegal”, the system of using law to regulate human conduct would collapse.
Ladies and gentlemen: Krebs’ is the winner of the first monthly Stupid Idiot of the Month award. You don’t get arrested for fighting if you’re 55. You don’t go to jail and act stupidly ignorant and then plead guilty to a crime you committed if you’re really not guilty. And you especially don’t go to jail and act like a retarded idiot - completely incapable of communicating without ASL or an interpreter. Well, maybe I’m looking at this all wrong: perhaps the man is in the process of his Deafhood.
Stupid. I hope he stays in jail and I hope this serves as a lesson to many Deaf people: simply because you’re Deaf and need an interpreter does not give you free reign to act stupidly. If you don’t know your rights, then it’s your own damn fault - interpreter or no interpreter. You don’t get arrested and plead guilty and then later retract it and blame an interpreter for your inability to understand how the legal system works.
Willful blindness is a term used in law to describe a situation in which an individual seeks to avoid civil or criminal liability for a wrongful act by intentionally putting himself in a position where he will be unaware of facts which would render him liable.
So, next time you’re in Scotland, stay away from them old, blind and deaf drivers. And if you happen to be arrested for fighting when you’re near the senior citizen discount age, then you’re simply an idiot. But if you plead guilty and try to take it back, you’re an even bigger stupid idiot - especially if you claim ignorance.
Be good .. or be good at it.
Paotie
Question though, about the Kreb’s section: If an United States Senator could pull this shit–the pleading guilty and trying to recant it later–why can’t he? (For those who don’t understand…Sen. Craig of Idaho).
Also, in a sense, one could say it’s part of Kreb’s deafhood because with this lesson, one would hope that he learned from it–Interpreter first, then talk your ass off…any mistakes…blame the interpreter.
Der Sankt
By the way, I really love your humor.
Der Sankt
Ben ..
Actually, I agree with your question. Let us remember Washington DC mayor Barry, whom was once convicted of buying cocaine - and it was caught on tape. I don’t remember if he was removed from office or if he resigned, but he did return to win as mayor again.
Also, in doing my own spider crawling with the links in the article (starting with ignorance), I came across the concept of willful blindness, which was new to me. As I read it and referred back to Krebs, I had a mental picture of the words, “willful deafness” instead.
*shrugs innocently and kicks a small pebble*
Glad you like the humor, too.
Paotie
[...] Deaf Follies [...]
[...] once again - this time to demonstrate that he is fit to drive. Earlier this month, I reported on Deaf Follies that Hollyfield had been caught speeding in excess of 80 MPH on a small country road. His excuse at [...]
I cannot believe that you would say that Roger is stupid THAT is discrimination against deaf people saying that they are stupid or anything you don’t even have your damn story story straight. I am his daughter and i am appalled that you can even say what u think you know when it is completely wrong. Go to flippin’ hell. I think YOU are stupid. He pleaded guilty because he asked for an interpreter several times and he had no idea what he was being charged with they didn’t even read him his rights and HE was attacked absolutely no reason. He was sitting charging his phone and the security came over to him and attacked HIM. They attacked him and broke his foot and cut his wrists with cuffs. In the hospital they did not give him a qualified interpreter and that was the only one he got.
The security took his phone and money so he had no way to contact us his family. And after they released him from custody they made him walk on a broken foot 5 or 7 blocks to find the bus station again with no money except for a damn stupid check that he couldn’t even use. He did not start the fight he was defending himself. They twisted his head face down on the ground and covered his mouth so he couldn’t cry out for help. Where do you get your damn facts man?! My dad is not blaming the damn interpreter he is suing the bus station and the security as a whole and an individual. The interpreter has nothing to do with it, the fact he didn’t get one is against the law and IS discrimination. They didn’t understand my dad and he didn’t understand them. The lesson if any you stupid people is that everyone has the same rights deaf or hearing. I personally think hearing people are more stupid. And I am hearing.
Amy ..
I understand your anger and frustration.
Please forgive me - I only went by what I read in the newspaper, same as anyone else. And just so you know, there are plenty of stupid people on the planet, deaf or not.
Good luck with your father’s case - if you want to send me updates on your father’s case, I’ll be happy to publish them.
Paotie
My dad did not commit a crime. He was wrongfully attacked and all of you who believe that this jerk that posted this damn article is right then go to hell. They did not get their facts straight, discriminated the hell out of someone, and then tries to be funny so that people will think that they’re right. I am not one who would give input to what i read, but this is ridiculous.
So you think that just because you heard something you can elaborate on it and call them stupid. You suck.
And your picture sucks.
Original newspaper article here.
Paotie
Amy, why did you wait 8 months to respond to this? Sometimes people report things based on what was in the papers. And, most of us do know that it is just one sided story.
Anyways, we can only hope that this story will teach many people not to plead guilty and to remain steadfastedly innocent until a lawyer is present. Perhaps this is a lesson for us all to learn.
Candy,
I didn’t even know this was on the internet but still you can’t say that this is fair and ya its what they put in the paper and that was not right because people have not got their stories straight.
Sure pleading not guilty is what he should have done but you need to understand that he couldn’t explain himself because he had no interpreter. He is not blaming the interpreter and its not like he could have gotten one himself.
We his family weren’t allowed to even talk to him or know what was going on so of course he wants to be with us.
Its exactly the same as not knowing the language as a foreigner and not getting an interpreter for your language. He couldn’t defend himself and should not be called stupid or anything for that.
The original article didn’t get the whole story right but you don’t have the place to call him stupid because of it.
—And you especially don’t go to jail and act like a retarded idiot - completely incapable of communicating without ASL or an interpreter. Well, maybe I’m looking at this all wrong: perhaps the man is in the process of his Deafhood.—
Are you saying he was going deaf and could hear or wasn’t really deaf and thats what makes him a stupid person? Im not sure what the other person in this article was doing, but im just bugged that you would say he needs more common sense just because he was 55 and deaf.
Yeah, Amy, I understand what you’re saying. Paotie tend to write satires and sometimes his satires are based on news stories.
I think this article helps other deaf people to be more assertive when they get arrested. I don’t think he was mocking your dad in anyway. I bet you, if you asked him to remove your dad’s name from this post, he’d do it for you. He’s a good guy, really.
Many AP news stories are done in similar fashion and even the public knows there’s two sides. News reporting is just that, not everything you read is true.
Look I know Roger and i know Amy and what you making this sound like is that Roger is stupid just because he is deaf and that is not right. You can’t call someone stupid just because they have a slight handicap Roger is a very smart man he just didn’t know why he was being attacked so naturally he defended himself
Ok, you’re getting out of hand here John. Satires are similar to what you see on Saturday Night Live…so, you are making a big deal out of it. Why wait for 8 months to finally respond to this?
Train gone…..
Ok i understand what you are saying about articles having two sides but you cant bash my finance for defending her dad and getting his stories straight. I find it was wrong for him to call Roger stupid just for being deaf the thing is other deaf people are granted interpreters. He asked and he didn’t get one so to me that is discrimination’s do you not get we didn’t know it was on the internet why are you waiting 8 months all we ask you you don’t bash someone on a story you don’t know both sides
I don’t mean to sound rude but the way this article is worded it is saying he is stupid for being deaf and he is not stupid. Paotie thanks for being understanding about what amy was saying if you will please take her dads name off this it would be great
It would be great thanks and we didn’t mean to start an argument we so i am done we just where telling you how we felt just like everyone else have a great life you jerks
No one bashed your fiancee.
I know it’s hard for deaf people to understand satires.
Listen, someone told you to mess with Paotie. Pretty obvious.
Paotie didn’t do shit. He just reported what the newspaper said and made a satire out of it.
Me saying this was not Amy’s idea so don’t say anything against her. She is defending her dad and I am just putting in my two cents
Hey no one called Amy names, nor did anyone called you names. Since you called us jerks, you can go stick it up yours.
We are not deaf ha ha ha ha ha ha ha and deaf people can understand. ok thats all bye bye and your not jerks sorry me getting out of hand sorry going now bye