The CISS e-News, Number 202 Issue, the IOC and the IPC

Today, February 6, 2002,  someone alerted me about the new release of the CISS    e-News, Issue Number 202 on the CISS Website ( see www.ciss.org  E-NEWS, February 2002 ).

While getting acquianted with it, I was not again very pleased with the way the entire contents of the e-News issue were editorially  done. I must bluntly state now  that the CISS Exective Committee at its coming meeting must  address as the top priority on an urgent basis the matter of  the still uncontrollable situation over John Lovett's and Donalda Ammons' questionable work in the area of journalistic writing, editing and proofreading.

I will now randomly concentrate on the five subjects, which were associated with the yesterday's website release of the CISS e-News, Number 202 issue, including  my unpublished Letter to the Editor.

As a long time sports lover and concerned deaf sports movement individual, I do express  my tremendous  displeasure with the e-News, Number 202 issue work as follows ( here are also my comments and questions ):

1. President's Message.
My comments and questions: Lovett  again produced a poorly and unprofessionally-written Presidential Message ( I spotted  over 21 mistakes and inaccuracies  on it ).  Apparently, Lovett, in order to continue to maintain his personal pride and ego and act above the law, ignored my plea to do something with his limited knowledge of English  grammar  writing. Who  is Lovett? Does he still "own"  the CISS?  Is he the CISS' wealthy benefactor and financial sponsor? For the record,  the reality  in these days is that Lovett is lacking  his genuine legitimacy, authority and 100% broad public support consensus from the CISS Member Nations because he obtained  the CISS Presidency position  in 1997  and 2001 in an electionless and delegate's voteless manner! The clear fact was that he "won the election"  in a communist-style, one candidate way in 1997 and 2001!

( Born and raised in the Soviet Union's communistic system, during my teenage years  in Tashkent and Moscow, I had  often obnoxiously witnessed there the one-candidate, undemocratic, dictatorial and voteless elections. As a result, you know where the USSR and its communistic system now? In 1991 the communism there died and the USSR
ceased to exist as a nation!).

Is it possible that  one day soon the CISS itself may cease to exist because the CISS has in 1997 and 2001 witnessed the same communist-style, one candidate elections for the positions of the President and Secretary-General? Through their sophisticatedly  manipulative tactics, including their knowledge of English language and their biasedly drafting of the CISS Constitiution rules, the USA-Australian-born members  in  the CISS Legal Commission - Lovett, Ammons, Jerald Jordan and Rebecca Adam, a young attorney from Sydney, Australia and Lovett loyalist - created in the last few years such a discouraging atmosphere  in the CISS. This foursome  made the CISS Constitution rules, in which it would be almost impossible for  other deaf sports leaders from other non-English-speaking countries to place their names as the candidates for the CISS President's and Secretary-General's positions! Practically speaking, that was what exactly happened  at the two consecutive CISS Congress election sessions in Copenhagen, Denmark,  in 1997 and in Rome, Italy,  in 2001, in which  both Lovett and  Ammons ran for their respective positions unchallengedly   and unopposedly! For such "a conveniently luxurious election  treatment" you see, as a result,  what kind of  an unprofessional job both Lovett and Ammons  as  the "elected and re-elected"  top CISS  officials did and are still doing on the CISS' behalf.

I would also like to educate you  that, for example, Dr. Jacques Rogge of Belgium, as the IOC President, currently enjoys a very broad public support among the IOC members. That is because Dr. Rogge, on July 16, 2001, won the IOC Presidency in a genuinely democratic and hard-fought election battle  ( Dr. Rogge, as you may recall, faced a very  tough election challenge for the top IOC job position  from  the four other candidates: Mr. Yong Kim of Korea, Mr. Dick Pound of Canada, Mr. Pal Schmitt of Hungary and Miss Anita de Frantz of the USA).
An obvious  example of Lovett's lacking of broad public support is that nearly  40 CISS Member nations signed a July 29, 2001 petition by denouncing Lovett's single-handed  and suppressively  unconstitutional removal  of Mr. Rafael I. Pinkhasov Pinchas as a candidate for the CISS Executive Committee member position at the recent 37th CISS Congress in Rome. This was done in a blatant violation of the CISS Constitution,
Rule 15.


2. The unpublished  Letter to the Editor by me.
My comments and questions: on December 23, 2001, I sent  my Letter to the Editor of the e-News material ( please read it below ), which went unpublished on this e-News, Number 202 issue as requested. Why did not, to this minute,  I receive  any explanation from the Editor as to why my such a Letter was not published? In what way was my December 23, 2001  Letter harmful to the CISS? Is Ammons the current  proprietor of the e-News? Is Ammons the CISS censor? Are we dwelling in the dark and medieval world? Is not  CISS e-News supposed to be an open and democratic forum of freedom of speech, opinion and idea exchange?


3. The CISS-Widex 2001 World SportsMan and SportsWoman of the Year Award Selections.

My comments and questions: There was an interesting column, which featured 30 Award finalists, but I was very disappointed  that I had to spot over 35 errors in  it plus 8 out of 30 finalists had  featured their photoless portraits in it.  That is a highly-unprofessional and disrespectful way  to honor these elite athletes via the worldwide website system! It was obvious that Lovett, Ammons and Knud Sondergaard, the person in charge of the 2001 Award Selections project, did not work extra hard in locating these missing candidates' photos, albeit each of them had plenty time in obtaining these photos from the respective National Sports Associations.
For comparison, look at  what kind of  write-up work I did as the CISS Awards Commission Chairman. Did you see any photoless Award finalist in the first issues of the  CISS Bulletin  write-ups in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, each time?
Also,missing in the column was the number of points each Award finalist  earned from the Selection Commission members. Why were these not  included in the column? Please be advised that  to date, Knud Sondergaard, has not released to the world the complete scoring tabulation re: the 2001 Award Selections as I, the CISS Awards Commission  founder and its first Chairman,  requested him to do so following my last month's material write up solely dedicated to this  questionable subject ( see
www. deafsportlawsuit.com/update8.html ). Why?


4. The David Stewart and Donalda Ammons story  - Future Directions of the Deaflympics - derived from the Palaestra magazine.

My comments and questions: I read the long  material with much interest. However,  these two doctorate degree holders, the supposed role models for any deaf persons, regrettably, produced the story which had over 29 mistakes and questionable historical facts.It should also be noted that Dr. Stewart, like myself, has "a mixed citizenship/residence status flavor." Originally, a Jerald Jordan's choice for the CISS Technical Director Ice  Hockey position since  1991, Dr. Stewart, a Canada's native, was an official of the Canadian Deaflympic Games delegation in 1989. To this day, he, as a Michigan, USA, resident,  is still the CISS TD in Ice Hockey. You see that it was not  and still is not a problem for both Lovett and Ammons to have Dr. Stewart  in the CISS  as a person with the mixed citizenship/residence status, while Lovett and Ammons had a big problem with me in Rome by denying me in getting involved in the CISS EC - in an elective or appointed basis - because I had and do still have, like Dr. Stewart, a mixed citizenship/residence status!
The key thing is that I, a fairly and open-minded person, see nothing improper with Dr. Stewart's involvement in the CISS as the dual citizen/resident as long as he is an asset  and tremendous benefit to the CISS' cause as its  TD in Ice Hockey! The truth is Dr. Stewart is doing a terrific job as the CISS TD in the last 11 years and I am , as a result, ready to nominate him  for the CISS Medal of Merit ( bear in mind, he is and never was my personal friend).

5. 19th Deaflympic Games Rome 2001 Official Results Book.
Let me exactly quote as to what Lovett  and Ammons wrote on the yesterday's release:

"The results of the 19th Summer Deaflympic Games sent out recently are SOLELY the work of the Italian Deaf Sports Federation ( FISS ). CISS received a draft copy from FISS which contained errors. CISS sent corrections to FISS but these do not appear in the results book sent out by FISS. Therefore, the results are NOT OFFICIAL. To obtain official results that were prepared and verified by CISS, visit CISS's official website for the Deaflympics - www.deaflympics.com".

My comments: I was truly disgusted to learn  when Lovett and Ammons, as the supposed  chief supervisors of the book project, two-facedly disavowed  and very irresponsibly absolved   their roles in this long-delayed, rule-violated book's preparation and supervision work project. Lovett and Ammons obviously set themselves free from guilt or blame  for the poorly-prepared book. They now, after reading my February 3, 2002 material titled 19th Deaflympic Games Rome Official Results 22th July-1th August material ( see  www.deafsportlawsuit.com/update9.html )  instantly found the FISS  as the scapegoat for the book's woes. Instead, Lovett and Ammons  cleverly   wrote to say that they are responsible for the Games results that are on the www.deaflympics.com.  This statement of theirs  is of  no help. I will explain why later on. The unfavorable act toward  the FISS  by Lovett and Ammons is tactless, undiplomating, unpatriotic  and insulting one toward this Italian sports organization, a loyal  and long-time member of the CISS community since its inception some 78 years ago!  I must be clear and straightforward now. As a firm believer in law and order, honesty and information accuracy, I am coming, for a number of valid reasons, to the defense of the FISS. It is under the sole  leadership, guidance and supervision of both Lovett and Ammons that  we are experiencing an embarassing book project failure! The FISS is not 100% to blame for the book project collapse. It is Lovett and Ammons who bear the prime responsiblity for such a book publication fiasco!
In spite of all these, the irony and  truth are  these www.deaflympics.com still has, via  my arduous research and investigation, over 485 errors and inconsistencies regarding the results in all 15 different sports held during the disorganized  and Lovett-Ammons-ineptly-supervised XIXth Deaflympic Summer Games in Rome! Now, you see either way - through the FISS  or  www.deaflympics. com - Lovett and Ammons still did a very bad supervisory job with the Official Games Results!

There were other items that had inaccurate reporting in  the e-News, Number 202, but, I am not going to waste my precious time by declining to provide my additional  comments  regarding the other materials' inconsistencies and inaccuracies!
Enough is enough!

Because Lovett  and Ammons biasedly  and discriminatedly refused to publish my very important  December 23, 2001 Letter to the Editor on the e-News, Number 202, as was requested, I am going to send this material and a copy of my December 23, 2001 Letter to the Editor  of the e-News to the Editors of the major international sports organizations: Fekrou Kidane of the  IOC OLYMPIC REVIEW MAGAZINE and Martina Reuter of the IPC MAGAZINE. The aim in doing so is to let these Editors of the financially-prosperous, editorially-professional and democratically-minded IOC and IPC organizations' publications learn as to what kind of journalistic writing and editing work, including their questionable supervising duties, both Lovett and Ammons did and  are still  doing on behalf of the still cash-starving and medievally-administered CISS organization.
Who knows, perhaps, for example, Lovett and Ammons will one day soon visit the IOC office in Lausanne, Switzerland, and there, among the other things, they may  be taught by the IOC people ( the IOC is  the partial financial backer of the CISS )  as to how to properly, appropriately and professionally write and edit the sports magazine in today's fast-moving  and contemporary sports communication   world!

And one day sooner or later, Lovett and Ammons, upon learning from the lessons of my rampant  and valid criticisms of them in many different professional ways,will, I hope and pray, improve  their CISS leadership and supervision work obligartions in many different ways!. This way, I hope and pray again ( if the two will courageously admit their shortcomings and mistakes as the leaders of the CISS )that  one day, the CISS will finally be managed under both Lovett and Ammons in a professionally sophisticated way!
To move the CISS forward, we MUST have  a strong, comprehensive, articulate,   fairly-minded and very dedicated  sports administrator-leader, who is DEAF!

On the other hand, there is still no decision on my ongoing lawsuit case.   In case the USA-born Judge in the USA District Court in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, decides unfavorably toward  me, an Uzbekistani-born plaintiff, and in favor of the USA-Australian-born defendants Jordan, Ammons and Lovett, it then will not mean  to be an end of the world! My other  alternative will be to file my Verified Complaint  against these three persons  through Court of Arbitration  for Sport or Tribunal Arbitral du Sport ( this Court is partially funded by the IOC and other International Sports Organizations and it has offices in Lausanne, New York and Sydney).  To file the Complaint with this Court, both opposing parties must first agree to accept this Court's jurisdiction. I will of course  be ready to accept such a jurisdiction, but I doubt very much that the defendants Jordan, Lovett and Ammons will have  the courage to do so by agreeing to to litigate  at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. My  first and foremost aim was and still is  to bring these three persons to JUSTICE!
Let's see as to what will happen in  the next coming days, weeks and months.

Sincerely Yours,

Rafael Pinkhasov Pinchas
**********************************

Here is a copy of my Letter to the Editor of the CISS e-News

December 23, 2001

Dear Editor,

In the last two days ( December 22 and 23, 2001 ) 26 persons from 17 nations contacted me by advising me to view the newest CISS e-News website ( www.ciss.org e-News).

I do warmly applaud the advent of this new and attractively-designed e-News concept. It was enlightening to see that such a design was done by Miss Heather Lightfoot, a current world record holder in the women's  hammer throw event and 2001 Deaflympic Games champion. In addition, Miss Lightfoot finished sixth on my recently-chaired 2000 CISS-Widex World Female Athlete of the Year honors list!

However, in the column of President's Message, I spotted over 16 errors, including the grammatical ones, committed by John Lovett. There is also a beautiful color photo, in which 3 persons are posed - the Presidents of the IOC, CISS and Mr. Gilbert Felli. Lovett in that column failed to identify as to who Mr. Felli really was ( i.e., what kind of position he does occuppy in the IOC ). To show our genuine esteem and appreciation for Mr. Felli,
it should also be noted that the correct first name spelling for that person is Gilbert ( not Gilberti as it was erroneously printed on the e-News photo caption). It should also be recalled that Mr. Felli is an exceptional person as in the last few years he has been an encouraging and positive force to our deaf sports cause in the IOC circles ( i.e., Mr. Felli, to my best knowledge and belief, attended our CISS Congress sessions in 1997 and 1999 as a special guest, and he also, as I understand, was receptive to the idea that the CISS EC hold its meeting at the very IOC premises in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2000 ).

As for the errors committed in the one-page message by Lovett, I, as a leading contributing writer for the now-defunct CISS Bulletin and recognized authority on the history of the Deaflympic Games, suggest that in the future, in order not to bellitle, degrade, ridicule our deaf person's and deaf author's intelligence image in the eyes of the world, including the IOC, the NOCs and International Sports Federations, we should begin to utilize the service of a paid and professional proofreader/sentence and word corrector for the e-News website. If it will be a burden for the CISS Treasury to hire such a  person on a compensatory basis, then there is another viable and realistic solution to the problem. How about using the proofreading services of a Gallaudet University-educated and, admittedly, proficient English language writer - Jerald Jordan? As a retiree and top-rated and genial advisor to Lovett, will it be possible for Jordan to perform the important proofreading task for the e-News on a voluntary basis?

For the sake of the CISS' image, progress and well-being, I hope the Editor of the e-News and the CISS EC will in earnest consider and accept my recommendation.

Rafael Pinkhasov Pinchas
Tashkent, Uzbekistan/New York, USA

P.S. In case the editor decides to decline to publish my above letter for the next Number 202 issue for certain reason, please advise me so immediately.
Thank you.