Posts by Rosemary McDonald
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Social Bonds get the Insight treatment on Natrad this morning.
Audio here.
-
Access: Disability as a wicked policy problem, in reply to Hilary Stace,
I would like to see a list of ALL employers/businesses who have a Minimum Wage Exemption.
ALL of them.
Re the CYFs review...does 9 years as a foster parent(over 60 children, including some with disabilities) give me any right to comment on this?
Very hard to do without risking Privacy Act breaches...but a shake up of CYFs?
Most definitely.
"Serco" type contracts....no, no, no.
Better resourcing for existing Child Protection NGO's, serious rethink about the whole "culturally appropriate placement" mantra....(**Not** an auspicious start to a placement when the Social Worker repeatedly tells you that you are the last resort as there were no "culturally safe" foster homes available.) If CYFs are going to "dump and run"...then the least they could do is use the time they are not having to worry about the child's safety to put some serious work into the neglectful/abusive parents or facilitating prompt sourcing of an appropriate long term placement.
I could go on...but the best thing out of the review is extending the age that the children are supported....17 is way too young to be cast into the wind.
-
Access: Disability as a wicked policy problem, in reply to Sacha,
seems to be relaxing on the Hokianga
Well spotted...my first home in New Zealand. :-)
While folk are around....Himself and myself are giving serious thought to pushing (with some effort) aside our cynicism at the whole shebang and engaging with the NZ Disability Strategy revision process.
The are events at which, perhaps, some members of the Reference Group will be in attendance.
I have spoken with two of the Atkinson Plaintiffs over the past week and needless to say the bitterness they feel towards the Government runs deep.
Nobody seems to be pursuing this, and with all due respect to the plaintiffs (the ones who are still alive), they are getting on in years.
One is in their eighties.
"I can't accept that this is the end of it...I just can't."
-
I don't generally look at the DPA NZ website anymore...long since given up on them ever actually doing what they ought to....be the voice of all New Zealanders with a disability.
However, the new CEO, Waddy Wadsworth in the new DPA NZ newsletter acknowledges DPA NZ has...
to regain the trust of our members, so that we can work to the benefit of all disabled people. We need to have regular and open communications with you on an ongoing basis. We need to know what you need, and where you would like us to focus our efforts and resources to help you achieve your goals.
It would appear that DPA NZ funding has been cut.....ouch!
-
Up Front: Cui bono?, in reply to Hilary Stace,
I was surprised how angry and shocked I was hearing such attitudes so casually expressed.
Yep.
Logic tells us to discount such crap for the unfounded inflammatory rubbish that it so clearly is.
But when one's reaction comes from somewhere else...is visceral...when logic yet again kicks in it's obvious that the visceral reaction was the type that the author(and I use that term advisedly) intended.
The author of course is making the correct assumption that a significant percentage of his audience is not overburdened with powers of logical thinking.
And as evidence of that assertion...look how "Dirty Politics" failed to alter voter perception of Our Leader and his bunch of Merry Members at the last election.
the general demeaning of whole groups of humans which seems to be encouraged by the privileged and powerful at the moment.
Yep.
-
Up Front: Cui bono?, in reply to mark taslov,
Clearer than that is that the highest levels have had absolute influence on the life and livelihood of this compromised individual. His family have yet to meaningfully intervene.
Pity the family member quoted in the article you linked to has few qualms about using the potential power of this manifestation of mental illness to have a bit of go at someone else....
We feel free to disagree with each other on WO. We do not have a rigid WO view. We do however have the largest Blog readership in New Zealand so our individual views have the potential to influence a huge amount of people.
Juana Atkins Sunday, 28 June 2015
I am struggling with the narrative that 'mental illness' lies behind the actions of a certain person....makes me feel that perhaps others struggling with mental illness might see it as using 'mental illness' as an excuse to be simply an arsehole.
-
Speaker: Confessions of an Uber driver, in reply to Erin,
I would ditch taxi companies completely unless I was going somewhere which could only accommodate a regular wheelchair (I mostly use a power wheelchair to get around). The availability of taxi mobility vans is so limited,
...and even for those lucky enough to have their own accessible vehicle, there can be
significant delays in organising alternate transport for those in power chairs if things go tits up.We have a hoist in our Bus...but even if we had known Bryce was in strife (we were in the area at the time) we could not offer help as our hoist can not handle the weight of a power chair.
-
Housing affordability in Auckland and right across the market is more affordable now than when National came to power....
according to Nick Smith...
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/201798817
So be of good cheer folks...we're not fucked after all....
-
And from the provinces, Labour speaks to the assembled in Tauranga on their "housing crisis".
The inverted comments are the work of the reporter...
a kindy teacher at Welcome Bay's Earth Kids Childcare Centre, said she had put her name down at four real estate agencies, but so far had been unsuccessful in finding a place.
"Most of the two-bedroom places I have looked at are $340-$350 a week, and when you turn up for a viewing it's like the agent's running an auction. There are plenty of Aucklanders offering to pay way more than the advertised rent so you don't get a look in."
And as a consequence of the "housing crisis" in Tauranga...
Up to 150 letters a day sent by the Bay of Plenty District Health Board aren't being delivered ...
No housing, no healthcare,
-
Hard News: How the years flew by ..., in reply to Bart Janssen,
but yes he is distinctly uncomfortable with poor people.
Minorities often feel uncomfortable when outnumbered by the mainstream...