Presiden Obama hurts the blind and vip community
nomius
have an impact on the blind and vip community. It turns out that President
Obama is pressuring Governor David Paterson of New York not to seek re
election next year for the good of the Dmocratic party. Apparenlty Mr.
Paterson's approval numbers are very low. Paterson if you recall became
Governor after Eliot Spitzer was forced to resign amidst a scandal
surrounding prostitutes. Paterson is not only one of a few African American
Governors, but also he is legally blind.
It's bad enough, from a civics point of view, that the top elected
constitutional officer of the executive branch of the federal government is
trying to interfere in a local election, but in addition, Obama is hurting
the blind and vip community with his attitude. Whether or not Paterson is
the Dmocratic party candidate for next year's election is a matter for New
York Democrats to decide. I am sure that Obama is not biased against the
blind or vip any more than any other person, but his lack of support sends a
signal to employers who already make up many excuses not to hire blind and
vip individuals. This hurts very much blind and vip individuals who not only
struggle daily to obatin gainful employment but also to keep their positions
if they are lucky enough to get hired. I wish President Obama would rethink
this matter and let New York Democrats decide who will run for New York's
governorship next year. Even though the damage is already done, more damage
could be avoided.
Paterson for his part is rejecting White House pressure and vows not to step
aside. I believe this is a good thing. Sink or swin, Paterson and the
Democrats should do so by their own merrits (or lack thereof).
Brian Gaff
that its far better that this sort of thing is now public, than what tends
to happen, ie its done on the quiet and the public are not aware. It is, as
you say, in the end up to local interests etc, to select cndidates, but how
democratic is this in any case? Vested interests and the perceived appeal of
the candidate are what they are looking for, not in many instances, whether
the person can actually do the job.
I think the blindness aspect is probably academic, and unfortunately,
employers do not need anything to cloud their judgment about employing
disabled people.
I'd not be totally hard on employers though, often the support needed from
Government to give blind people a job, is not forthcoming unless the job is
a done deal, and its a catch 22 situation.
Brian
--
Brian Gaff - bri...@blueyonder.co.uk
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in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"nomius" <nom...@myisp.net> wrote in message
news:h99ek7$8qn$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
nomius
Brian Gaff <bri...@blueyonder.co.uk> typed:
> I'd not be totally hard on employers though, often the support needed
> from Government to give blind people a job, is not forthcoming unless
> the job is a done deal, and its a catch 22 situation.
In the U.S. it's even worse. Under the Americans with Disabliities Act (ADA)
businesses are required to accomodate disabled employees (special equipment
among other things), but the government does not provide any assistance,
monetary or otherwise. The ADA is one of those do-gooder acts that have done
more harm than good.
chris mcmillan
<nom...@myisp.net> writes
>I realize that this is not a political group, but in this case politics do
>have an impact on the blind and vip community.
>
parliament, David Blunkett. At one point there was a very real
possibility that he could have been a candidate for Prime Minister, but
you should have seen the articles written that said that as he can't
sight read materials, he couldn't do the job. Well, I reckon (and I am
not a Labour supporter), if he could get through his work with what he
used to be a Minister, he almost certainly had the capacity to continue
his reading in the same manner.
Even though he's not a Minister now, he still seems to 'speak' for the
Labour party on some matters, so obviously someone in the party thinks
his voice (and therefore his research) is as good or better than some
other individuals.
Sincerely Chris
>
--
Chris McMillan
http://www.chinavision.org.uk/
http://www.oneplusone.org.cn�
chris mcmillan
<nom...@myisp.net> writes
>In news:R90um.81567$OO7....@text.news.virginmedia.com,
>Brian Gaff <bri...@blueyonder.co.uk> typed:
>> I'd not be totally hard on employers though, often the support needed
>> from Government to give blind people a job, is not forthcoming unless
>> the job is a done deal, and its a catch 22 situation.
>
>In the U.S. it's even worse. Under the Americans with Disabliities Act (ADA)
>businesses are required to accomodate disabled employees (special equipment
>among other things),
>
>
> but the government does not provide any assistance,
>monetary or otherwise.
>
done since the 1980s, though at first it was only available (Access to
Work) for professionals who needed materials read to them, it soon was
expanded to enable people to not only *have* a job by providing
equipment and pay for readers, but also paid for taxis if public
transport wasn't available.
Sadly, it has been watered down now as far as travel is concerned and is
very much a complicated 'target' but equipment and reasonable adaptation
it still does (including structural work), but as Brian says, its often
all too slow and the person has had to forfeit their job.
W. Baker
: I realize that this is not a political group, but in this case politics do
are you saying that just because Patterson is blind that he is above
criticism? He has not been particularly effective as governor and may
well be up against a very tough opponnet from the Republican party next
year. Obama, and the Democrats do not want to loose NY State, so would
like to see a strong candidate, not one with about a 20% approval rating,
so would like to see patterson step down.
Of course, Patterson cannot say he is willing to, as that would remove
whatever power he has with the state legislature, a most dysfuncional
body.
It ias important to keep everything in perspective. It is not patterson's
blindness that is issue here, but hie ffctiveness as a governor.
Wendy Baker
Brian Gaff
well.
I could list subsidised transport which does not allow blind people to 'see'
what it is costing them till the end of the trip, and then only the word of
the driver.
Government requiring volunteers get so many criminal and other record checks
before they can work with 'the blind' that it can take over three months to
get the person vetted, and by then they have given up.
etc etc.
Seems to me some common sense in the thinking of do gooding is needed
unless its just a sop to say something is being done when its not.
Brian
--
Brian Gaff - bri...@blueyonder.co.uk
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"nomius" <nom...@myisp.net> wrote in message
news:h9aedq$48i$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
chris mcmillan
<bri...@blueyonder.co.uk> writes
>Government requiring volunteers get so many criminal and other record checks
>before they can work with 'the blind' that it can take over three months to
>get the person vetted, and by then they have given up.
>
you have to be vetted for *each* of your working with people be it for
work or leisure. My daughter has - at the last count - four of these
certificates, renewed yearly. Am I glad that in each case her employers
have been paying for them.
>
>etc etc.
>
I refuse to do any voluntary work that brings me into direct contact
with people. Thank goodness there's still plenty that can be done
without being face to face.
Sincerely Chris
--
Chris McMillan
sig line taking a holiday
bando?ers@gmail
communitty...
nomius wrote:
> I realize that this is not a political group, but in this case politics do
> have an impact on the blind and vip community.
I think it is a partly political group; at least by tradition. It
turns out that President
> Obama is pressuring Governor David Paterson of New York not to seek re
> election next year for the good of the Dmocratic party. Apparenlty Mr.
> Paterson's approval numbers are very low. Paterson if you recall became
> Governor after Eliot Spitzer was forced to resign amidst a scandal
> surrounding prostitutes.
It is by tradition if not by explisit job discription for the pres. to
have a major role in making his (or in some future her) party
competetive not only on a federal, but also on all levels of .gov.
Paterson is not only one of a few African American
> Governors, but also he is legally blind.
>
> It's bad enough, from a civics point of view, that the top elected
> constitutional officer of the executive branch of the federal government is
> trying to interfere in a local election,
I already explained how this works in the u.s., and in most countries
for bettr or worse/Obama has a lot to try and change, and even if
this should be changed it would not be on his short and maybe not an
extra long list of things to do.
but in addition, Obama is hurting
> the blind and vip community with his attitude. Whether or not Paterson is
> the Dmocratic party candidate for next year's election is a matter for New
> York Democrats to decide.
And at the end of it all they may, but if Mr. Paterson stays in this
for long people will start to asociate half blind and blind people
with failed administrations which will make it harder for the next man
or woman with a VI condition to get their foot in the door. This is
the same old politic that exaserbated racism, sexism, and other types
of prejudice: people supporting any and everyone who shared their skin
color, ethnic origin, etc. no matter whether they were worth their
salt or the most corrupt scowndrel in town. Give me a f'ing break!
I am sure that Obama is not biased against the
> blind or vip any more than any other person, but his lack of support sends a
> signal to employers who already make up many excuses not to hire blind and
> vip individuals. This hurts very much blind and vip individuals who not only
> struggle daily to obatin gainful employment but also to keep their positions
>
There is no comparison between keeping an elected post and keeping
another job, except that a blind person who gets to keep a job that
they do less well than average _anywhere is bad for us all.
if they are lucky enough to get hired. I wish President Obama would
rethink
> this matter and let New York Democrats decide who will run for New York's
> governorship next year. Even though the damage is already done, more damage
> could be avoided.More damage can only be avoided by Paterson's disappearance from the New York and any other political sceen.
>
> Paterson for his part is rejecting White House pressure and vows not to step
> aside. I believe this is a good thing. Sink or swin, Paterson and the
> Democrats should do so by their own merrits (or lack thereof).
Not taking good advice is one of Mr. Paterson's problems, but he has
many more, but let someone from his state explain them. let the blind
and VI keep their jobs by working well as everyone else should. The
only point you almost make is that once a corrupt and worthless blind
politician is remembered for being corrupt and worthless and the
blindness is forgotten we will have reached a level of equalitty.(but
not really so because he will always still be VI!)
bando?ers@gmail
chris mcmillan wrote:
> In message <h99ek7$8qn$1...@news.eternal-september.org>, nomius
> <nom...@myisp.net> writes
> >I realize that this is not a political group, but in this case politics do
> >have an impact on the blind and vip community.
blind? politician, and as such badly represents the VIP communitty.
You bring up a case of a person who seems to do a good job./goes to
show you that the blind and visually impaired are as good and bad as
anyone else.
> >
> You may recall some years ago that the UK had a blind member of
> parliament, David Blunkett. At one point there was a very real
> possibility that he could have been a candidate for Prime Minister, but
> you should have seen the articles written that said that as he can't
> sight read materials, he couldn't do the job. Well, I reckon (and I am
> not a Labour supporter), if he could get through his work with what he
> used to be a Minister, he almost certainly had the capacity to continue
> his reading in the same manner.
>
that is just terible, crazy, hopefully a babystep towards
understanding of the realitty? I hope. You and I know that for many
years now there are many options for reading, and for one with the
money and need there have always been human readers.Tape...
> Even though he's not a Minister now, he still seems to 'speak' for
the
> Labour party on some matters, so obviously someone in the party thinks
> his voice (and therefore his research) is as good or better than some
> other individuals.
>
> Sincerely Chris
Here in Mexico a few years back we ran across a deputy (the
equalvalent of a MP or congressman who came to talk at a ngo center
that does physical therapy and voc rehab work where I used to work.
He tried to convince us to vote for his party because it had given him
the chance to be in politics. His party was the PRI. The PRI is the
party that ruled Mexico for around seventy years,and was very corupt
for most of that time. This party still corruptly runs my state, and
is in large part responsible for the poverty that still persists in
this country. Should we have supported his party just because he was
blind?
I hear Gov Paterson described as black more than blind which is
probbably related to latent racism in the US, and or a special poli-
atmosphere that exists in this "Obama erra". So, if he goes away now
he may not give the VI world too bad a rep. He certainly had some
potential just for having overcome his handicap, but for a politician
who replaces another felled by a sex scandle to be involved in one of
his own?well maybe he just was in the right place in the wrong time.
Apart from that he seems to have had many other problems in office,
but as I said before, I'm not from NY and don't keep up enough to
comment much. I'll just say that He seems to have made many
mistakes.
As to the point that Brian expounds about the evils of the feds
meddling in non federal politics, the only real remedy is to not have
poli parties that exist in all levels of .gov. Here in Mexico some
local enteties ban state and nacional parties in there elections.
Candidates run as individuals, or as part of add hoc tickets. (the
red and blue tickets for example) Unfortunately this seems only to
have changed big party corruption and incompetence for a more
localized brand of the same)
In closing I will only say that in the U.S. black folks usually
support black candidates by wide margins, but in Mr. Patterson's case
his approval among black voters is at %30 last I heard. If anyone
really cares, check New York state news for the last few months to get
a better handle on the issue.
burt Henry
bando?ers@gmail
even the best intentions can lead to disaster.
In defense of the ADA I will say that there are major tax breaks for
employers that provide special equiptment for disabled workers. On
the other hand it has led to many lawsuits that for me are frivalous,
filed by people who don't want to meet the nondisabled world half
way, and its biggest weakness is that it generally makes no provission
for getting people to work in small business.(I think businesses that
employ under 10 have no obligations, and are generally ignored by .gov
agencies looking to place disabled workers)
But what do you expect in a world where if I help an injured person
and they live and their outcome is less than perfect I can be sued/
the government promotes me leaving them to die.
bando?ers@gmail
player, or another way to play streaming .wma audio.
http://www.tavissmileyradio.com/guests09/100909/DavidPaterson_wma.html
Tabith Smily is one of the more thoughtful interviewers we have in the
U.S,. these days, and although I don't think Mr. Paterson is exactly
a dynamic speaker, but he does make a couple of valid points; and
shows some errogant politician too.
AT the end of the day he is a man who wants to be Gov. of N.Y., and
his blindness is and to the best of my knolege has never been an issue
with most voters or the press.