North of the Stupid Line

What a day. It was Diane Jackson’s (Rachel’s aunty) wedding to Jack Jones today at Ystrad Mynach Registry Office at 2pm followed by a reception at the Three Horseshoes in Pentwynmawr and then an evening party at the Pentwynmawr Workingmen’s Club. It was a lovely day. Rachel was one of the bridesmaids, and she looked, quite simply, stunning. If she looks this good as a bridesmaid, imagine what she’ll look like as a bride on 19 August 2006! I was so proud of her.

I drank quite a bit, but it was spread throughout the day, so I wasn’t pissed nor did I have a hangover the next day. I know some people will be disappointed as they normally jump with glee when I’ve been pissed, so sorry to disappoint you (:oP).

What is happening to Eurovision? 24 countries took part this evening, but 46 were allowed to vote?! How big is Europe exactly?! And since when were Russia, Monaco, Israel etc. etc. all part of Europe? And tonight, all the voting consisted of block, regional or neighbours voting for each other. Pathetic.

I think the UK should drop out of it instead of continuing with this stupid farce of a show.

Well, well. Tonight I dabbled into the lovely, complicated world of HTML. Yes, I did some webdesign! First time in ages. HTML isn’t easy. It basically looks like this:

Welcome to Deaf Lawyers UK

<.p>Welcome to the Deaf Lawyers UK website. This is a collaboration between UK based d/Deaf and hard of hearing lawyers, students and those trying to access the profession.<./p>*

*Note that HTML code does not ordinarily have a . after the . I have done this here because otherwise the code would show up as it’s meant to show up rather than the code itself.

Nice huh? The hard thing is, if you make a typo, it fucks the www up. By the way, that was for deaflawyers.org.uk, which Alison and I have decided to resurrect. It’s been an idea for a long time, and we did set up a basic www, but now we’ve got the blawg, we decided to renew it in the same style as the blawg. Now that the basic layout is up, hopefully we can get some content in. It’s not open to the public yet, but I will let you know when it is.

I didn’t mention the blawg before now. Basically, the aim of this blawg is to provide a forum whereby Deaf lawyers, primarily those who reside in the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), can muse on and discuss issues of a legal nature. Please take a look.

For immediate release

- STARTS -

P R E S S R E L E A S E

Unique New Website launched by Deaf Lawyers UK

A brand new website – http://www.deaflawyers.org.uk – has been launched to look at issues relating to Deaf lawyers, as well as Deaf issues within the legal system.

The website was set up by a group of Deaf solicitors, barristers, law students and people trying to qualify as lawyers. It aims to respond to access issues, publicise specialised information and raise awareness of issues Deaf people face within the legal system. The site also aims to bring Deaf lawyers together, and to reach out to others who may not be aware of their rights.

Due to lack of access and understanding of our needs, the number of Deaf people trying to access the legal profession in the UK has been fairly
small. As well as this, there is no way for British Deaf people to get
access to independent information about relevant Deaf legal issues.

www.deaflawyers.org.uk includes a Deaf Blawg, which is an online journal, to be updated regularly. Written by Deaf people, the Blawg will raise and discuss issues outlined above, as well as providing regular comments by Deaf people on Deaf legal access in the mainstream culture.

The website is gathering support from Deaf lawyers internationally. Henry Vlug, a Deaf Lawyer from Canada, said, “I am truly impressed. The website has already pointed me to the UK Equal Treatment book, which I have downloaded and passed onto the British Columbia Law Society Equality Committee, to see if they could do something similar.” Meanwhile, Sheila Conlon-Mentkowski, Chief of the statewide California Client Assistance Program, Sacramento stated, “This website is very thoroughly researched and is rich in resources from different aspects of the law as relevant to the UK experience. I congratulate our UK deaf legal professionals and colleagues in setting up and maintaining an excellent law related site.”

Additional support has come from the British Deaf Association. Its Chair, Doug Alker commented, “The BDA welcomes this initiative, and sees it as a significant step forward towards Deaf lawyers having involvement and influence in Deaf legal issues.”

www.deaflawyers.org.uk highlights the potential, professionalism and depth of Deaf talent in the UK that is still not recognised at the beginning of the 21st century. This group of Deaf solicitors, barristers, law students, decided to strike out on their own to help to make the law and the legal system accessible for British Deaf people.

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Notes to Editors:
1. The website can be found online at http://www.deaflawyers.org.uk and the direct link to the Deaf Blawg: http://www.deaflawyers.org.uk/blawg.
2. For further information on this project, please email: contact@deaflawyers.org.uk.
3. The term ‘Deaf’ is capitalised to mean all deaf people, to indicate positive affirmation of their identity; and as a celebration of individual and collective talent.