I know it is about time that I finally decided to write a new snippets article after a very long time, and I apologize. This year has been hectic for me, including a thing that is a very good thing that happened in my life before that I had a bit of time for articles writing or writing some reviews. Still, since that happened, I shifted all the time I have and more on that good thing that happened this year for me because it is the most important thing for me over writing articles, writing reviews, or anything that has to do with the internet such as social media or whatnot. I am sure I will share what I am talking about in one of the topics below. Still, I think it is because I have not written a snippets article in a very long time, it might be a bit long and has several topics, but at least there is plenty of reading for you to do!
As always, here are the topics included in this snippet’s article. To see the list of the topics, you can do so by clicking the “expand topics list” below to open up the list of topics included in this snippets article. This also will be helpful for anyone who does not like an extended reading but wants to read this snippets article because you can always come back later and pick up where you were left off by knowing which topics you had already read or right-click on any of the topics below to copy the link to share with others that will pinpoint them to a specific topic that you would like for them to read rather than making them look through the whole article or the topics list to find which topic that you were referring to when you talked to somebody about it.
4-14-2023 Snippets
Being updated with me
I am doing good, of course; like everyone else, I have good and bad days, but as for me, I am doing well! I hope that every one of you is doing well as well; if you would like to share how you are doing, please do so by leaving a comment below, as I would like to hear from you to see how you guys have been doing lately! A few things have happened this year for me, some good, some bad, and the best thing that ever happened to me, which I might share! As some of you know, I am not a big fan of the summer because I’m not too fond of the heat temperature, but as the summer was nearing the end, I decided to finally take my four-wheeler to the shop to have it repaired and serviced so I could ride in the fall. After a few days, when I took the four-wheelers to the shop, they had replaced the fuel pump and new battery, so the repair was somewhat expensive thanks to the fuel pump replacement, I got my four-wheeler back. The first thing I did was go for a drive right away because I hadn’t driven four-wheelers for over a year and hadn’t been in the mood for it until the end of the summer. After riding my four-wheelers for a few days, another problem arose, so I had to take my four-wheelers back to the shop. The throttle needed to be replaced, but I had to leave my four-wheelers at the shop for about two weeks because the mechanic was on vacation and had to wait for the part to be ordered by them, so that was a bit frustrating for me. I finally got my four-wheeler back, and everything is fixed, so there is nothing wrong with my four-wheeler now. I haven’t ridden it yet because of the weather, so I hope to catch a day warm enough to ride, especially in the winter.
As Christmas is nearing, it has been very hectic for me trying to get things in motion and getting presents for everyone who deserves them. If you are shopping for Christmas, you know how it is mainly trying to figure out what they like. Not just that, before Christmas, there was a Thanksgiving which was one of the great Thanksgiving I had in this life because I had my girlfriend and one of her babies with me for Thanksgiving, so that meant the world to me! Because of that, I get to celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom, my girlfriend, her daughter, and Chad under the same roof, so it can never get any better than that for me!
Wait? Did I just read that Joshie has a girlfriend?! I have had one since August 17, 2022, named Kim (I won’t give her full name, especially the last name, for security reasons), and I love her more than she can imagine! She is the only one who makes me the happiest and the luckiest man in the universe! She always makes my heart the happiest, and I never felt that with anyone else. She and her kids are the best things that have happened in my life! But yes, I now have a girlfriend (the dream girl of my life), so I haven’t written an article (aside from reviews) for a long while because she deserves all the time I have. She and her kids will always come first over everything, including JoshiesWorld, which is how it will be. Of course, I will not stop writing articles and reviews for JoshiesWorld. That never will happen, but you can expect my mom, my girlfriend, and her kids are my main priority, and then I will see if I have any time to write an article or review. Don’t worry about that; I will not let JoshiesWorld become inactive!
But overall, I am doing well, and I hope you are doing well too!
Bogus beggar in Pike Co, Ky
A few days ago, something suddenly caught my attention while watching television news. It was local news irks me a bit, especially with how it happened. Here is the video of the local news that I am referring to so you can get a bit of an idea of what I am referring to, and that is what I will share my opinion on.
That guy is going all over the place in Pike County, Ky, where I am from, in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This bogus beggar is going to different locations asking for money; some would refuse to give him money especially knowing that he is bogus or couldn’t. This bogus beggar would take a knife on them, threatening them if they didn’t give him anything. While what he is doing, especially being a bogus beggar in the county where I am from, is wrong on many levels but what is even worse is that he is giving people with disabilities, like the homeless people and me (a disabled person), a bad name or giving us a lousy outlook which is tiring because we have been trying so hard to show that we have dignity and integrity. Still, this bogus beggar just made it not so. This guy’s name is Gary Thompson hailing from Lexington, Ky, about 2 hours or so drive away from Pike County, Ky. He is supposed to have a degree in speech pathology and knows how to imitate a person with a speech problem easily in due to that. Thankfully, many people have noticed, thanks to that news coverage. Some called the Pikeville police department to report Gary Thompson with what he was doing in Pikeville, a Pike County, Ky seat. He was finally arrested for criminal trespassing, soliciting unlawful compensation, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest charges. He is now being held at Big Sandy Regional Detention Center in Paintsville, Ky, in Johnson County, Ky, and Pike County, Ky’s neighboring county.
This wasn’t the first time; he did it again because two years ago, in 2020, it happened in Lexington, Ky, and there was news coverage about that as well. Also, in 2016, he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of falsely representing a mental condition to collect over $100,000 in disability and Medicaid benefits over four years. He told a reporter in 2013 that he could collect $60,000-$100,000 by panhandling. He went by many aliases, but one of them was Gary Davis, and he has been doing this for many years by pretending that he is disabled and has mental conditions, which is unacceptable in every way.
Here are a few articles I’ve found to read about him if you are interested.
- ‘Bogus Beggar’ arrested in Eastern Kentucky by Elisa Schwartzmiller at Wave 3.
- ‘Please do not refer to me as The Bogus Beggar’: Gary Thompson out of jail and back at it by John Boel at Wave 3.
- Police believe ‘The Bogus Beggar’ was spotted in Eastern Ky. by Dakota Makres and Buddy Forbes at WYMT.
- WATCH: ‘Bogus Beggar’ at it again after serving 3.5 years on federal fraud charges by Kristen Pflum at Fox56.
- The Bogus Beggar strikes again: Professional panhandler resurfaces in Kentucky by Carol Kuruvilla at New York Daily News.
Now, as a person with disabilities. This disgusted me to no end, especially seeing that it was happening in my county in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and for him to come from another county such as Fayette County, Ky, one of the wealthiest counties in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Some so many people pretend to be disabled to have a way to get empathy from other people into giving them money which in turn that gives the disabled people a lousy outlook, especially the ones that are genuinely homeless and struggling but thanks to like these people, it’s going to make many people even harder to trust them. That is a problem; this must stop, and sadly, there is no surefire way to validate their disability but to stop these people who pretend to be disabled to stop pretending that they are disabled. It is unacceptable, and just because people like him should never be the reason for many people to doubt that they are genuinely disabled that need help, but again, there is no way to validate their disability, so how do we do that? I don’t know, and that is a scary thing, especially for disabled people that genuinely need money for good reasons. The best thing you can do is follow that disabled bagger to make sure that the disabled bagger is disabled. No, don’t be a stalker because that is a disrespectful thing to do, but keep an eye and see what the disabled bagger does or if you have any doubt that the bagger is disabled, you can always ask around in your community to get information on that bagger to make sure that the bagger is disabled before you decide to donate.
Truly shameful; shame on Gary Thompson and many people like him. They have a special place in hell, that is for sure!
Elon Musk’s Twitter banning journalists
As many of you know, Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, has acquired Twitter for 44 whopping million dollars. Elon Musk has been preaching that he is all about freedom of speech, which makes him freedom of speech absolutist, and that is fine, but only if no one uses that right against Elon Musk himself. Everyone is free to talk about anything against others but not Elon Musk. That has happened with a good number of journalists; in turn, getting Elon Musk to ban journalists for what he said is “doxing” him, exposing his real-time location that someone did. These journalists shared and pointed out what some of these people were doing by sharing their real-time locations, but they did not do it themselves, which that does not matter because they are still banned for even sharing them in their articles. Freedom of Speech, huh, Elon Musk?! You are oppressing the very thing you preached, freedom of speech. Talking about a hypocrite of yourself for saying a lot about freedom of speech, but once the journalists said anything about you or even used different sources to point out what others were saying about you, it’s a big no-no. When it’s about someone else or other people, as long as it’s not you, it’s absolutely fine because it’s freedom of speech! No, it does not work like that. You cannot preach the importance of freedom of speech when you are oppressing them yourself. Unban these journalists and do the right thing, at least because they have the right you have, which is what? FREEDOM OF SPEECH!
Twitter suspends journalists who wrote about owner Elon Musk by Matt O’Brien at AP News.
What’s even worse is that Elon Musk decided to make a poll on Twitter asking for Twitter users’ opinions by voting if Twitter should unban or keep them banned, and at this moment, the most votes go to unban them now. Of course, I can understand that Twitter is now his, and he can do whatever he wants to do with it, but he should do the same for others. For instance, if he doesn’t want someone to dox him, then make sure that no one doxxes anyone else, and if he does not want anyone to mock him, then make sure that anyone else doesn’t mock others!
Plus, shame on you, Elon Musk, for terminating the accessibility team who makes sure that Twitter is accessible for all of the disabled communities!
Twitter Was a Lifeline for People With Disabilities. Musk’s Reign Is Changing All of That by Megan McCluskey at TIME.
Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy visits the United States of America.
In case you didn’t know, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise visit to the United States of America to visit the United States of America’s president Joe Biden and the United States of America congresses on 12/21/2022, which was yesterday on Wednesday. Of course, his visits will be in the media’s spotlight everywhere because they are historic. Since he showed up on the floor in the United States of America’s capitol to deliver a speech to every American, I think it is a historic moment! It gave me goosebumps to even think about this because I just got finished watching his speech on the floor at the United States of America’s capitol, especially where almost everyone on both aisles (meaning both parties of Democrats and Republicans) gave him a somewhat long standing ovation which in my opinion he deserves that. During that time, it was a thing for the sight because we barely get to see both parties, the Democrats and Republicans, stand united and give someone who deserved the standing ovation like that, especially in this era of political polarization.
Here are a few videos where you can watch the visits of Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy. From visiting the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, then a press conference with United States of America’s President Joe Biden, and then addressing a joint session of Congress.
Watching these videos made me feel a bit proud of being American because that is how we should treat our allies, unlike when you know who was the President of the United States during 2017-2021. You can see the videos above, especially the one where he was addressing the joint session of Congress, which was a very inspiring thing to witness for every American, I think, because it reminds us that there are certain things that we can be in unity for especially when it comes to helping others. Some of you may think we should focus on Americans first and not others. I believe it is selfish for you to think that way because we asked the United Kingdom to help us with the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not only that, but we also had France helping us free ourselves from Great Britain (also the United Kingdom). So, refusing to help others while we ask others to help us is nonsense, and how can we not, especially against a tyrannical government such as Russia’s government?! Nonetheless, it was great to witness the President of Ukraine paying a surprise visit here in the United States of America only for a few hours and then flying right back to Ukraine because they were a war. Still, it was heartwarming to see Ukraine’s President bring over a flag in the most challenging area of the war to the United States and deliver it himself with many signatures from the Ukraine soldiers fighting on the frontline of the most difficult place in the Ukraine-Russia war.
You should watch some videos above, especially the one where he addressed the United States Congress!! What an inspiring thing to watch, that is for sure, and even more inspiring to see almost everyone in both aisles of Democrats and Republicans giving the Ukraine President a lengthy standing ovation!
New Year 2023 Resolutions
I think a lot of us like making a list of every new year’s resolutions, too, but I think the biggest problem is that we constantly question if we will be able to accomplish them or not and did we achieve them or not. Congratulations to anyone who has completed them and to those who have failed them; know that it’s always alright because not everything can be achievable, especially if we put ourselves too ahead of what we want to achieve. This is why any of us making a list for the new year 2023 resolutions should write down WHAT WE THINK WE CAN ACHIEVE, not WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE. Because with that mindset, I think it may help us to achieve them more manageable because they would be more in reality than it is not. I know there is a line saying that we should go ahead and dream more extensively, but the question is, are they possible? Better yet, maybe to give you an idea. How about making a list for the new year 2023 resolutions that we create two sections on the list, such as the ones that are more possible that we would be able to achieve and what our dreams that we would hopefully like to achieve?
I’ll start with mine, although there might be one or two that I will not add due to privacy reasons, only the ones I wouldn’t mind for the public knowing.
My New Year 2023 Resolutions List (in no particular order)
- Continuing to improve my health and well-being, especially my diet.
- Spend more time with my mom, my girlfriend, and her kids.
- Riding ATV on the Hatfield-McCoy trails system, especially their Buffalo Trail.
- Riding ATV more, whether it be on roads or other mountains.
- Grow my businesses, Joshie’s Photography and JoshiesWorld. Getting more clients, taking more pictures, taking more videos, writing more articles, writing more reviews, and visiting more places for reviews is the same for hopefully getting more products from different companies. Building a network with others in the same field I am in for my businesses.
- Renovate my bedroom.
- Sell all of the things that I no longer need or want rather than keep them.
That is all I can think of; if I can think of more, I will return to the list and add it to my new year 2023 resolutions list. When you make a new year’s resolutions list, it does not have to be made in a hurry as you can take the time to create the list, but at the same time, you got to be realistic about it too.
Christmas of 2022
How was your Christmas? Mine was a-ok. I got a few good presents and as well gave a few good presents. It was mainly only me, my mom, and Chad on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I wished I had my girlfriend and her children at least on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or a day before or a day after these, but that did not happen, which was unfortunate due to her work and inability to find the time to do so. We had overnight slow-cooked roast beef for Christmas dinner. What did I get for Christmas? I didn’t ask a lot this year. Still, I got GoPro Hero 11, Channel Bleu Parfum, Dior Sauvage Elixir parfum, an on-camera flash gun for my camera, repairs paid for my four wheelers which were repaired a while before Christmas, an Apple Watch 8, a charger station for iPhone and my Apple Watch and few of other things. What did you get for Christmas?! Please let me know by leaving a comment below, such as what you got for Christmas, your dinner, and whether you had a good Christmas?!
What a historic US House Speakership!
When Republicans won the majority of the United States House, by narrow, they had to choose who was to be their leader, and that was called the House Speaker. Like the past two years, Democrats had the majority, and the speakership was Nancy Pelosi. But now, the Democrats had become a minority. Hence, Nancy Pelosi decided to hand over the leadership of the Democratic party to the first black Congress to be the leader of the Democratic party for the United States House, United States Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York. As the Republicans won the majority, this was the first time in United States history that it took more than one ballot to vote for the speaker because the Republican party is so severely divided.
In contrast, all democrats only took one round of ballot votes to pick the speakership. Still, this time it took Republicans 15 rounds of ballot votes to appoint the speakership, and that is the representative Kevin McCarthy of California, which is the same state that Nancy Pelosi represents. That was so crazy. Nancy Pelosi and others in the Democratic party said that they would make sure that they have enough to vote for a speakership before putting it on the floor for a vote to appoint the speakership. Still, Republicans didn’t do that and decided to take it to the floor straight, which was embarrassing, especially where Republicans would argue, fight and show chaos on live TV for everyone to see! That was a mess, and it is undoubtedly that the disorder will continue for the next two years because thanks to the deeply divided Republican Party in the United States House, especially these 20 or so representatives that are more far-right extremists.
GOP leader McCarthy elected House Speaker on 15th vote in historic run by Christina Wilkie, Chesley Cox, and Dawn Kopecki at CNBC.
Great job, Republicans! Please continue doing that so we can see how pathetic the Republican party is and have more reason not to elect a Republican candidate again! I am so glad that the United States Senate is still a majority of the Democratic Party and even better that they’ve won another seat so that the Democratic Party senate does not have to rely on a moderate Democrat senator like Joe Manchin of West Virginia for a vote and to allow him so much of power because he was the one who was often giving his political party a hard time to pass the critical laws to make the American’s lives better!
Sorenson VRS sucks!
Before I start, in case you don’t know what Sorenson VRS is. It is a provider that provides video relay service to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community that can make a call to anyone here in the United States of America using a live interpreter to relay the communication between the Deaf or Hard of Hearing person and the person on another end of the phone who is a hearing person (hearie what we call them) – ever heard of TTY for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing? Almost the same thing except that it’s more modern and communicates through a live interpreter who knows American Sign Language or Spanish, depending on which language the Deaf or Hard of Hearing person uses instead of communicating through text on TTY, but video; hence VRS stands for Video Relay Service. There are a few VRS providers, such as Sorenson VRS, Convo Relay, ZVRS/Purple Communications, Global VRS, and others, but in this one, I will mainly talk about Sorenson VRS as the provider.
Now onto the subject of Sorenson VRS sucks. I have been with Sorenson VRS since they launched a VRS device called VP200, an update from their VP100. So, I have been with Sorenson VRS for several years, if not over a decade, and they were alright until last summer of 2022; that was when I completely lost it with Sorenson VRS; hence I am almost giving them a review here which is something that they will dislike, but they did this so here I am. While using Sorenson VRS, they were my first VRS provider when I discovered VRS was such a thing. Hence, I emailed them to make an appointment for one of their installers to visit and install their VP200 device, which is the name of the phone for us Deaf or Hard of Hearing people. I started using Sorenson VRS for a long while until I stumbled upon another provider named Convo Relay, now what’s unique about them is that they are the only Deaf-owned video relay service provider, so I thought that it was a no-brainer because since they are owned and operated by Deaf so that should mean that they know what we Deaf and Hard of Hearing community need or want for our video relay service use. After I started using Convo Relay, I quickly liked them, so Convo Relay became my primary/leading VRS provider. However, I still use Sorenson VRS as almost a backup or use both Sorenson VRS and Convo Relay simultaneously. Remember that Sorenson VRS was my first provider, so everyone, including clients/customers from my businesses, still knows my phone number linked with Sorenson VRS. So that means the number I had with Sorenson VRS is very important to me because everyone knows the number I use for my everyday calls. As for Convo Relay, it was more of a small circle of family and friends, but with Sorenson VRS, that was thousands of people knowing the number.
Last summer in 2022, I discovered I couldn’t connect to Sorenson VRS. Not even on my iPhone, not even on my Macbook Pro, not on my Windows desktop tower computer either, and not on their VRS device either, so I thought that must be an error, so I let it go for a few days. I decided that I needed to make a call, so I tried to connect with Sorenson VRS again, but I still had no luck, so I decided to go ahead and log myself in on their website, but it showed that I had longer had an account there. So, I quickly emailed them, letting them know that something was up with that, and I was informed that I was no longer with them for a while. What?! I rely on them for calls from and to my family, friends, customers/clients, and beyond; now I lost that?! So, I told Sorenson VRS what they did was wrong on every level, especially going ahead to cut me off without me knowing because that is what they did. No warning, nothing. So, that means that my business number on many fliers, business cards, in some phone directories for my business, in many of my family members’ phone books, or on their contact books on their phones and whatnot is no longer a working phone number! I explained to Sorenson VRS about what they just did; that number I had with them was everything to me since I started using Sorenson VRS on the first day when one of their installers came to my house and installed the VP200, which meant my access to everyone from family to clients/customers is gone like that along with many of my advertisements/promotions with that number wasted thousands of dollars I spent putting that number on them where Sorenson VRS was my first VRS provider.
I blatantly told Sorenson VRS to get that number of mine back NOW and fix it. Nope, Sorenson VRS told me, “Too bad,” and go ahead to register for a new number to start all over again! I am somewhat relieved that I have already begun to transition all of my family members, friends, clients/customers, and others to a different number which is with Convo Relay because I now have two numbers with Convo Relay since they offer one for personal and one for business but unfortunately that only a quarter of that base has already started using the phone number that I have with Convo Relay while the rest was still using the one with Sorenson VRS so I couldn’t get all of them in time to start using the phone number I preferred which is with Convo Relay. Because of what happened with Sorenson VRS, I made a call to Convo Relay customer service to discuss that with them because I had a fear that if something happened with Sorenson VRS that it would happen with other VRS providers, too, since Convo Relay is one of the others and they assured me that it wouldn’t happen with them. At the same time, they were shocked by how Sorenson VRS did to me.
Sorenson VRS control the majority of the VRS market, over 50%, which means that they have an advantage in technology, funding, and whatnot, so you would think as a Deaf or Hard of Hearing person that it would be safe having a phone number with them? No, think again! If you are looking for a video relay service, please do not go with Sorenson VRS because with what happened to me, I look at it as risky now, especially for anyone who needs a VRS phone number for business, even for personal use. Pick a different VRS provider, which I have already listed above (each of the VRS providers is clickable, so click any of them, and it will take you to them to register a free VRS phone number with them, but you must be Deaf or Hard of Hearing to use them) but I highly recommend Convo Relay.
Slowing down on reviews
I am sure that for months now, you have noticed that JoshiesWorld has somewhat slowed down on writing reviews, and there are two reasons for that. One, JoshiesWorld cannot afford everything to do a review on, which is why JoshiesWorld always encourages companies to send their products or invite JoshiesWorld to try their products, especially in a restaurant to review their food or a business to review their service and more. For JoshiesWorld to be able to write, reviews are that we need something to review on. I already made a plan for this year, 2023, that I will be a bit more aggressive when approaching different companies to convince them to ship their products or to get an invitation to try them out so that I can have something to write reviews on. Second, it is because I have another business that I am running, which is my photography business, and I am trying to balance both of them without giving one more or less. But really, the main thing is that nothing is free, and JoshiesWorld does not have all the means to afford something so often to do a review on. Want to help JoshiesWorld out? You are welcome to go to your favorite companies, ask them to contact JoshiesWorld (which I will provide the link for them to reach), and send their products to JoshiesWorld to review them. There are many things I would love to have my hands on to do a review on, but again no money, and they are expensive. Here’s a list that I would love to do reviews on but cannot afford; who knows, maybe we can get them to send their products to me for me to write reviews on them?!
You can tell them to visit JoshiesWorld.com, and they will be able to find the contact information on their own or ask them to go to this web address: joshiesworld.com/contact/
Here’s the link to JoshiesWorld Reviews Wishlist; you are more than welcome to order them and have them shipped to JoshiesWorld to review them, which would be considered a donation by you rather than donating with funds through the donate page. However, if you still prefer to donate some funds to JoshiesWorld instead, please do so because the more JoshiesWorld gets, the easier that JoshiesWorld can purchase some of the items to review! This would be a big help!
JoshiesWorld Reviews Wishlist
Donate JoshiesWorld
Do you understand the word “woke”?
Like the topic title above asked, do you understand the word “woke” and the meaning behind that word? Before you started throwing “leftists”, “communists”, “socialism” and whatnot at me, I ask, have you researched what the word “woke” means? The term “woke” is deprived of African-American English, meaning alert to radical prejudical and discrimination. Since that origination, the word “woke” has expanded to be more aware of and attentive to critical societal facts and issues (especially racial and social justice). Simple right? But the Republicans and Trump supporters have weaponized that word so much that it has become a weapon on its own to use against the BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of colors) community and against anyone who is liberals when it’s not even relevant because “woke” only means that being aware of radical prejudical and discrimination against BIPOC community but Republicans, Trump supporters cult and far-right people weaponized that word into something else such as an insult or a hopeful insult at the democrat/liberal people when it has nothing to do with a political party in the first place. Let me lower my writing and reading grade levels for some of you. Woke is knowing what is happening to BIPOC people, such as disliking them because they aren’t white and discriminating against them because their skin colors aren’t white as ours – simple as that! You are racist, and so am I. Accept it! We were taught to be one; now, the question is, what can we do about it? That is the crucial part. Unpack ourselves, recognize what society and our past generations taught us about them, then learn how to be an ally! This wakes us up, and WOKE!
Here’s an example of a politician weaponizing the word “woke”. It is almost irrelevant because he thought it was something else when the word “woke” is just about radical prejudice and discrimination, especially regarding race. Climate? Equity? Come on.
Where is the Kentucky Association of the Deaf?!
Just a few hours ago, I was watching some videos by David Luis Medero about the Baton Rouge Association of the Deaf, aka BRAD, regarding the vice president named Jimmy Challis Gore, also who is President of Louisiana Association of the Deaf which is a state organization unlike Baton Rogue Association of the Deaf because it is a city’s organization. I am unsure about the whole thing, although I get a few things from David Luis Medero’s videos. The bottom line is that the President of the Louisiana Association of the Deaf, who is also vice president of the Baton Rouge Association of the Deaf namely, Jimmy Challis Gore, who has an egoistical problem, likes to divide the Deaf community within the city of Baton Rouge and as well Louisiana, especially that David Luis Medero showed a video clip where Jimmy Challis Gore threatens someone at the other end by saying that he would tell someone named Gary something and said: “so be it!”. This forced the vice president of the Baton Rouge Association of the Deaf to resign immediately, although he remains a president of the Louisiana Association of the Deaf. Now, this is only the tip of the iceberg; as I said, I am not sure about the whole thing meaning I don’t have a complete picture of what is happening. I will not discuss the Baton Rouge Association of the Deaf, the Louisiana Association of the Deaf, or even David Luis Medero. Still, I must say that watching videos made by David Luis Medero has me thinking very hard about something that makes me want to share my thought or more of my thoughts along with the facts.
And that is the Kentucky Association of the Deaf. Why the Kentucky Association of the Deaf? Because the commonwealth of Kentucky is where I have lived all my life, and I am a Deaf person. I have written a few issues about the Kentucky Association of the Deaf a few times, which you can find by searching for the top of JoshiesWorld’s website.
A few years ago, there was a way for anyone who wanted to become a member of the Kentucky Association of the Deaf, which was through their website. They had a website where you can go for information, such as what is going on with the Kentucky Association of the Deaf, who’s on the board, a way to contact them, a way to pay for membership or to renew membership and plenty of resources for Deaf Kentuckians to use but now there is none. The Kentucky Association of the Deaf website has been shut down. They couldn’t afford to run it, which I do not believe a bit because I am a web developer and know everything there is about running a website, so I know they can afford to keep a website up. I even offered to host their website and be their webmaster, a position that takes care of the website itself. This includes maintaining the server, ensuring that the website is updated often, making sure that it runs smoothly daily, providing that every new information is being posted there as I receive from the Kentucky Association of the Deaf, making sure that all of the contents on the website can be found on search engines such as Google, Bing or the likes (which is called search engines optimization aka SEO) and more. The bottom line, think of it as a website administrator. As soon as the President of the Kentucky Association of the Deaf, aka KYAD, decided to shut down the website, they also wholly severed the line where they receive donations, membership fees, and other ways of getting funds. If they haven’t done that, I am sure they would already have money to pay for the website to continue running and for other things. Now with the website down, hardly anyone is running KYAD as a whole, and as a result, all the powers go straight to the President of KYAD, that has been President for so many years now named Dodie Karr. I know that sounds so familiar because she is also a permanent representative for the Deaf Grassroots Movement of Ky, who replaced me when I was just a temporary representative until she brought in her connections from KYAD (see the point?) to vote her as a permanent representative for Deaf Grassroots Movement of Kentucky.
Now all the powers of KYAD are gone to her; although they have a vice president, secretary, and whatnot, they are just there to make at least KYAD legitimate. Now, where do the people go for KYAD stuff? I mean, for information, resources, and whatnot? Guess where? A freaking Facebook group. Like, come on! Now back to the board of the Kentucky Association of the Deaf; it is even worse. Remember me mentioning that Dodie Karr remains President for many years, which is almost unheard of, especially since state associations would often have a president replaced every two years with two terms limit but take a close look at the board for me and tell me what do you see? EVERYONE ON THAT BOARD IS WHITE AND OLD! The majority is women but one man, which is fine, but again WHITE AND OLD. I’ve gotten to know Dodie Karr for a while because when they voted for her to replace me as a permanent representative for the Deaf Grassroots Movement of Kentucky, they wanted to keep me on but as one of the assistant representatives and I accepted that because I was all about the team. Still, as it went on later, I realized that Dodie Karr is all about having power and attention to herself, so I resigned because it was so toxic. I asked Dodie why she didn’t let young people take over the Deaf Grassroots Movement of Kentucky. I even said that if I were replaced by someone younger and wanted to learn, I would be at peace, but to be replaced by someone thirsty for power and wanting it all to herself? Yeah, that left a bad taste in my mouth. I even told Dodie to get out of the way and let that one guy who never liked me take the representative role because he’s a BIPOC and A LOT younger. I advocated for that guy like heck!
Of course, Dodie wouldn’t give up, and sadly that guy agreed with her, which makes me wonder why he was so quick not to take over the representative role but allowed Dodie to continue. Out of fear? But again, as I said, she has complete control over the Kentucky Association of the Deaf, and apparently, it’s not enough. Hence, she had to be a representative for the Deaf Grassroots Movement of Kentucky – okay. Now back to the Kentucky Association of the Deaf; that person runs the Deaf association on the state (really commonwealth) level, so imagine that! It saddens me that it has poisoned the Kentucky Association of the Deaf and made the organization hardly known, unlike many other states. There is an even worse state’s association with the Deaf running theirs better than the one here in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. If you go to the Kentucky Association of the Deaf’s Facebook group (so unprofessional!), you will see how to become a member by paying, and guess how? It’s done on paper with a check. In contrast, most other state associations of the Deaf offer a way to pay for membership online! Paying for membership online is mainly done on their website, and KYAD doesn’t have a legitimate website. Oh, you found KYAD’s website? Look closer. Wixsite, which is a free hosting site, and it’s kadkentucky.wixsite.com/website. No, seriously, that’s their “official” website now. Before, it was just KAD.org. Simple, clean, and professional. I’ve begged her (because KYAD is no longer “them”, it’s now all Dodie) never to sell that domain name because no one can ever get a 3-letters domain again, so there’s a value behind it. I went to college for a bachelor’s in web design and multimedia; I have been running, building, and maintaining websites for over a decade, so I have volunteered my labor, skills, and time because it is so embarrassing. Still, of course, the President of the Kentucky Association of the Deaf doesn’t want it (go figure, again, with the power).
You can find the Kentucky Association of the Deaf Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/446236618783336
I don’t think they have a physical building anymore. They did for a long time, but now they no longer do. I am saying this because if you go to maps services such as Google Maps or others and type Kentucky Association of the Deaf, you will not find their headquarter. If you even search for Kentucky Association of the Deaf in Danville, Ky which was where it was, you will not find an address to it anymore like you used to. You might find their place in Kentucky School For the Deaf now. Long story into shortest, thanks to the power-hungry President who took over the Deaf Grassroots Movement of Ky and single-handedly brought the Kentucky Association of the Deaf down – congratulations, Dodie Karr! That very same one will advocate that the leadership should be given to the youth and BIPOC, but secretly she wants to wield power as long as she can, which she will, thanks to the use of the Kentucky Association of the Deaf to get what she wants.
I lost my faith in the Kentucky Association of the Deaf when I saw how Dodie Karr acted toward the youth and BIPOC people. I WAS one of them, and I saw it with my own eyes. It is very disappointing and saddening. Want to restore faith in the Kentucky Association of the Deaf? GET OUT OF THE WAY, DODIE, FOR ONCE AGAIN!
Old news now!
By now, you will notice that many of the topics above are somewhat old news, and you would be right about that because some of them are, especially if it was started around Thanksgiving. As I said earlier, I have been swamped and can barely find the time to write an article or do anything I want because of my hectic schedule. I write as I go, every chance I can, and finally, I am at the end – thankfully! The good news is that I think I should be able to write more often and do reviews by now. Although, doing reviews would largely depend on if I can get the products or services or even an invitation to a business, such as a restaurant or a company, to try their products so I could write a review. The quickest way to get me the things in my hand or an invitation would be through donation because I don’t have the means to, especially since we are in inflation. So, if you want to donate, then very please do so – click here to donate. But if you prefer to donate products, you are more than welcome. I have provided some of my wishlists above under “slowing down on the reviews”.
Who are Americans? The United States?!
Suppose you think that when we say Americans, we mean it is the United States. The answer to that is: NO! The United States is PART of America, specifically North America, which also belongs to Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Haiti, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, and many more. Then there are South American countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Guyana, Suriname, and more.
List of North America Countries and Territories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_in_North_America
List of South America Countries and Territories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_in_South_America
The Americas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas
So, again who are Americans? The United States is America! Yes, they are, and SO IS OTHERS in North America and South America. America does not belong to the United States only; why do you think we are called the United States OF America?! Isn’t that obvious enough? The reason I am saying this is because I am getting tired of people telling other nationalists to “get out of America and go back to __________ (like Mexico)” when they are already Americans! Oh, now you finally realize that we are not THE Americans – well, too bad because we are not! If Republicans quit fiddling with education, then there would be education about that, and from there, we will know about that!
Go away, summer!
I don’t know about you, but I am not looking forward to summer, especially the heat it brings. If you have been following JoshiesWorld for a long while, you would already know I am a winter person, meaning I prefer cold weather. I would not mind and can tolerate the spring or fall, but the summer is a different story. I can never understand why people look forward to the summer, getting their tan, and being outdoors under a scorching sun – yuck! Oh, how I will miss the cold weather! If some of you live around here, you will notice that I am often found indoors wherever there is air conditioning! I don’t like being outside in the summer or being around in the heat environment because I wouldn’t say I like how the sweat feels, which creeps me out. That is just how I am; although I used to enjoy being outside a lot of the time when I was young, as I get older, the less I like being outdoors, although I am a vivid ATV rider, and this is why I will be trying to go riding before the summer arrives. Are you looking forward to summer? If so, comment below and let me know what you plan to do in the summer?! I will most likely stay in my own home where I can control the temperature around me. However, I probably will hop around different places in the area and some a bit far away, such as a couple of hours if we decide to go to a mall, Charleston Mall or Huntington Mall in West Virginia.
National American Sign Language Day
National American Sign Language Day is on April 15, tomorrow! It is a day that the Deaf community and the people who use American Sign Language celebrate a language that belongs to the Deaf community because it is their native language. American Sign Language is considered a language like any other, such as English, Spanish, French, and more. The only difference between these languages I mentioned is that they are written or vocal, while American Sign Language is a language used by hands. American Sign Language, along with many other sign languages from different countries, each country has its sign languages while here in the United States, Canada, some countries in North America, or maybe some in South America uses American Sign Language has some of the benefits that spoken or written language lacks, such as communicating underwater, through windows, from a far distance, and more. Also, any sign language, including American Sign Language, has its accents, just as spoken languages have. For example, there are two or three signs for the same word, considered an accent. National American Sign Language is not the only thing that we celebrate on April 15; on that same day, it is also American School for the Deaf (ASD) in West Hartford, Connecticut, which opened back in 1817. A few years before April 15, a person named Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet went to Europe to learn about educating Deaf children, and from there in Europe he met a person named Laurent Clerc, a French Deaf teacher; Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was impressed with him, so he had asked Laurent Clerc to come back to the United States with Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet to establish a school for the Deaf – American School for the Deaf (ASD). Then a college for the Deaf was founded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet’s son Edward Miner Gallaudet, which is now a university for the Deaf, and it’s called the Gallaudet University, the only Deaf University.
How was the language American Sign Language founded? In the early days of school, American Sign Language was created using a combination of Native American Signs (indigenous people sign language), French Sign Language (Laurent Clerc), and Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language (Martha’s Vineyard back was a place where almost everyone knows sign language – it was the friendliest city for the Deaf community).
Here are some readings for you on different subjects that are related to American Sign Language (ASL) and the Deaf community:
American Sign Language on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Sign_Language
Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha%27s_Vineyard_Sign_Language
American School for the Deaf on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_School_for_the_Deaf
Gallaudet University on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallaudet_University
Deaf Culture on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaf_culture
And a few fantastic books that you should read:
Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood by Dr. Paddy Ladd on Amazon.
The Deaf Community in America: History in the Making by Melvia M. Nomeland on Amazon.
Signs of Survival: A Memoir of the Holocaust by Renee Hartman, Joshua M. Greene on Amazon.
Deaf Heritage: A Narrative History of Deaf America by Jack R. Gannon on Amazon.
Introduction to American Deaf Culture by Thomas K. Holcomb on Amazon.
There are a few more books, but these are plenty enough.
Pictures of Williamson, Wv
If you have read this article, or maybe you already know that I am a photographer and own a photography business called Joshie’s Photography. So, I have decided to go to a city named Williamson in West Virginia to do photoshoots in different areas of Williamson, Wv. I have published a blog post on Joshie’s Photography website with my photos in Williamson. These photos have received high praise and as well recognition which flattered me. Here’s the link where you can go and look at some of the pictures I took in Williamson, Wv! Before I share the link to that blog post, here are a couple of facts. The city of Williamson in West Virginia is known as a one billion dollar city due to the coal mine boom business decades ago, and secondly, that city is where I was born! What? You thought I was from Kentucky. Yes, I am, but I was not born in Kentucky. I was born in Williamson, Wv because it was where my grandparents lived before they passed away. My mother was at my grandparent’s house in Williamson, Wv when she went into labor, so she went to the nearest hospital in Williamson, Wv, just about a mile away from my grandparent’s house. After I was born and left the hospital (yes, that old Williamson Memorial Hospital, now a haunted place for tourists), I went home to Kentucky. It’s fun living on the border between Kentucky and West Virginia!
The link to the pictures of Williamson, Wv: https://www.joshiesphotography.com/photos-of-williamson-wv/
Be sure to follow Joshie’s Photography on social media!
Movies or TV shows Recommend?
Yesterday I decided to go ahead and bring the new Avatar: The Way of Water. I am somewhat late with that movie because it came out digitally recently, although it has been in the theatre for a while. I don’t do theatre, especially since we don’t have one anywhere near here or even a good distance from here that would provide closed captions for them, so there is no point for me to going there. Because of that, I have to wait until they come out digitally to watch finally, knowing that they would have closed captions. Do you recommend any movie for me to watch, whether new or old? Maybe I will do a review on that, and of course, I will review Avatar: The Way of Water once I have finished watching the movie, which I might do on the weekend. Recommend a movie or even a TV show by leaving a comment below!
Any idea how to get pictures from floppy disks?
I am sure many new generations, such as Generation Z (born in 1995-2012) and Gen Alpha (born in 2013-2025), don’t know what I am talking about. A floppy disk is a way that we, such as generation Millennials or generations before that, store the files on them such as pictures, documents, videos, and whatnot, like you would do on a compact disc (CD), flash drive, or direct your computer’s hard drive. No one manufactures computers with floppy disk readers anymore, although a few make floppy disk readers that can be connected via USB. They aren’t that good because Windows 10/11 hardly can recognize them, so they hardly ever work. Because of that, I had to order an old floppy disk camera Sony MVC-FD73 that I owned before to finally have a way to look at the pictures on many of the floppy disks we have here. I have been struggling to find a way to transfer the pictures from floppy disks to my computer’s hard drive or even a flash drive; as I said, the external floppy disk reader isn’t going to cut it because Windows 10/11 and even MacOS will not recognize them to let them load up anything from the floppy disks. Two reasons I decided to order a used floppy disk camera so I could hopefully have a way to transfer the pictures from the floppy disk to the computer. Still, I was wrong because it does not have a way to transfer anything from the camera to the computer, such as a USB cord, which is frustrating. The last resort would be trying to look into ordering a used computer that does have a floppy disk reader built-in, but as I said, it’s the last resort, and it’s a bit out of my budget; hence I ordered the used floppy disk camera because it only cost me almost $20 and the external floppy disk reader is I believe $20 too while the computer that has floppy disk reader is several hundred dollars.
Now I have been trying to figure out a way to get all of the pictures from my floppy disks. If you have any idea or know how to transfer pictures or files from floppy disks to a computer’s hard drive, please let me know by leaving a comment below, or feel free to contact me via e-mail or social media. I have tried everything except getting a computer with a built-in floppy disk reader, which is getting a bit harder to find that is still functioning.
Donate To Help JoshiesWorld
With the inflation going on, the rising costs of the server, domain, maintenance, features, and many more that JoshiesWorld heavily relies on daily are making it very hard on me. Don’t even get me started on crazy interest increases. There are a few things that need to be renewed or added. Otherwise, a few of the major/essential features will be either outdated or disabled due to the inability to afford them. I wanted to ask for your support, only if you have any spare and are willing to donate them to help me keep JoshiesWorld going. I wouldn’t be asking for a donation if I wasn’t having a hard time, but unfortunately, I am, and that will affect JoshiesWorld along with other websites or the businesses I own. Still, the most significant impact will be on JoshiesWorld since it’s the longest-running and most expensive business. Even a dollar, five dollars, or ten dollars can make a difference, and I would greatly appreciate any support you would give to JoshiesWorld. The donation I am asking for will not be used for personal because it will be used only for JoshiesWorld as JoshiesWorld needs some funding the most. JoshiesWorld runs a few thousand dollars every year, and I honestly don’t think I ever get a cent for my labor, which is ok because all I care about is to keep JoshiesWorld running so that I can or guests can continue to deliver content on JoshiesWorld whether that be articles or reviews.
Here’s the link that you can go to and donate using a service that you like: https://www.joshiesworld.com/donate/
If you don’t see a service on the donate page, please comment below or contact me via e-mail, and I will look into it. If you are a business and want to sponsor JoshiesWorld, please get in touch with me via e-mail. I would greatly appreciate any help that you would give JoshiesWorld!
The link to contact me via e-mail: https://www.joshiesworld.com/contact/
JoshiesWorld Has Merch!
A while back, I announced that JoshiesWorld has merch you can buy, which will help JoshiesWorld while, at the same time, you get something! Right now JoshiesWorld has a few products in the shop, but they will grow as I look into more products to put in the shop. All of these products are made professionally! You can visit JoshiesWorld’s shop and buy something from there. If you have any problem, please get in touch with me.
JoshiesWorld shop: https://www.joshiesworld.com/shop/
Contact: https://www.joshiesworld.com/contact/
The End!
That is all for now; I know I haven’t written a snippets article in a very long time which I have already explained why at the very beginning of the article. I hope that some of you at least enjoyed this snippets article, as always if you have any idea on what topics I should include in the next snippets article, please let me know by contacting me here or feel free to message JoshiesWorld on social media (social media list here). I thank you so much for all of your time reading this article, and I also thank all of you for your patience when I write this snippets article. I know I have said I am getting closer to publishing one, but I kept delaying it. Again, as I said above that I have a hectic schedule, and whenever I am in the mood to write one or add another topic in an upcoming snippets article, my hectic schedule constantly interrupts me or not allowing me to have enough time even to write a sentence let alone a paragraph for a topic! But now I think I have gotten a grip on it, so I should be able to write more articles or reviews. Would you still prefer I continue with snippets or write an article for each topic? Let me know by leaving a comment below! I welcome any suggestions.
Joshua “Joshie” Sullivan.
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