For a deaf infant, the window of opportunity for learning language is not open very long, which is why the debate about whether a child born deaf should have Cochlear Implants, or not, is very fierce. By the time the child is 18 years old and supposedly able to decide whether s/he wants to be Deaf or Hearing, learning to hear and understand the spoken word is unbelievably difficult. Not to mention learning to speak...

"They call it the bionic ear. It is a tiny piece of auditory technology known as a cochlear implant that can unlock the world of sound for even the most profoundly deaf people.

[…]

The small electronic miracle that is the cochlear implant … has received a mixed reception from the deaf community.

One faction supports traditional sign language and lip-reading over cochlear implants because it sees implants as killing off their beloved deaf community.

And that faction's opposition can be fierce.

Some argue the surgical intervention erodes the proud identity of the deaf and that children should be given the choice of whether to learn sign language or have to spend years adapting to the hearing world.

The most radical adherents … even accuse their opponents of a kind of "cultural genocide". ...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10773878

*******

And another side of the same coin.

"Green MP-in-waiting Mojo Mathers has accepted an apology from a Conservative Party member who questioned whether the deaf Ms Mathers should be an MP because she didn't have all her "faculties". …. 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10772630

Imagine a Sami with his reindeer, somewhere in the Finnish forests, coming across an African with a spear in a clearing. The African is busy taking a few short quick steps before flinging his tool, and he keeps on repeating this over and over again. So the Sami asks him what he is doing, and he replies that Finns tend to win a lot of javelin medals, and he thought if he flung a few throws there, his chances of winning one himself would improve.

Such an event seems implausible right? Well that is what we Kenyans are facing. Our former colonial master appears to have lost his head, so they are busy here pounding the dirt roads of rural Kenya, startling herds and interfering with the usual morning jog to school in the hope that, come the summer, this will translate into medals and podiums. How such people could ever have been our rulers is hard to fathom!

I remember during Seoul, a colleague who obviously had greater insights into the English than I, foreseeing them doing exactly what they are doing. I didn't take him seriously, more so when he claimed that the performance of our female athletes then, was supposedly affected by the Kenyan male anatomy, but it appears he was being sagacious on one issue and totally juvenile on the other.

All that these antics that have been taking place here, of late, ensure is that come the summer, we will have the usual tearful Ekaterinas and Tatianas listening to what are to us obscure but vaguely familiar anthems. If I was to counsel the British, I would ask them to concentrate on the river, the bicycle and the pool. Medals could come that way, but they should not expect to listen to their anthem in their stadium .... unless of course they decide to play it in the opening and closing ceremonies...

Even as they share, they censor their voices.

“Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women.”

The two editors, Ayesha Mattu and Nura Maznavi, sought to create a book that dispelled the stereotype of Muslim women as mute and oppressed. They gathered 24 portraits of private lives that expose a group in some cases kept literally veiled, yet that also illustrate that American Muslim women grapple with universal issues.

 […]

The difficult experiences were all the harder to write about, contributors said, knowing they could provide ammunition to those who paint all Muslims as somehow un-American.

“It is doubly hard for Muslim women, because we want to complain about our men without everyone turning around to say, ‘See, I knew they were all crazy terrorists,’ ” said Ms. Noorbakhsh, a 31-year-old comedian, who after describing her sex education talk goes on to detail losing her virginity in college. “You leave yourself vulnerable to people using your voice to attack your community, so we kind of censor our own voices.” 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/books/in-love-inshallah-american-muslim-women-reveal-lives.html

That kind of behavior would get her stoned in Iran.

Scenario: You are riding in a car driven by a close friend. He hits a pedestrian. You could see his speedometer and know he was going at least 50 km per hour in an area of the city where the maximum allowed speed is 30 km per hour. There are no witnesses. His lawyer says that if you testify under oath that he was only driving 30km per hour it may save him from serious consequences.

What do you think you would do in a view of your obligation as a sworn witness and as a friend?
A) Testify that he was going 30 km/hour
B) Not testify that he was going 30km/hour

Well, if you think most people in the world would jump to tick B, then you are wrong – see below.

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cross-cultural/intercultural-communication-translation-news/2012/01/26/would-you-lie-in-court-cultural-differences/

You mean that most people are more loyal to close personal friends, than to the State ? 

Horrors !