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The Senate Idiot

 June 17, 2010 at 4:12 pm by Chris

Senator Steve Fielding’s comments about a so-called loophole in the paid maternity leave scheme has been widely condemned. Sen Fielding said that some women might purposely get themselves pregnant then have an abortion at 20 weeks so they can get paid maternity leave.

Steve Fielding’s comments are wrong on so many levels.

Steve Fielding forgets about women who go through a whole pregnancy and then have to go through a stillbirth. Someone might take months or even years to recover from something like this. Should this person still get maternity leave? Of course they bloody well should.

What about a woman who has a scan at 20 weeks and finds out their baby is hideously deformed and will only live for moments after birth. The kindest thing this woman can do, unless you are a heartless pro-life nutter, is to have an abortion. I personally would want this person to have maternity leave.

Pregnancy is one of the most dangerous undertakings most women are going to go through. It is dangerous for the baby and the mother. Pregnancy is often complicated and there are many reasons why things go wrong. Any legislation of this kind has to come face-to-face with this fact.

Do you know many women who are so evil that they would go through with Steve Fielding’s scheme of defrauding the government? That is incredibly evil- Hitler evil! And to suggest there is a whole horde of evil Hitler women junkies out there just waiting for this legislation is plain ridiculous.

From what I know about junkies it is all about the short term. They need money now, so they can get a hit now. Does a junkie even have the long-term planning to pull something like this off?

Steve Fielding you are an idiot. You have sat back the Family First party years and seriously damaged the pro-life movement. I really hope you never get another Senate term.

Banning smoking – not a good idea.

 June 16, 2010 at 4:53 pm by Chris

The proposal by Queensland Minister Steve Dickson to ban smoking is idiotic in the extreme.

It is a popular and frustrating refrain of intelligent people – those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Minister Dickson obviously does not know about the American experience of prohibition.

If you ban something like smoking all you are doing is handing all the revenue over to organised crime. People will still smoke. It will be a serious act of rebellion and become cool again. Not having to pay taxes will make it cheaper too.

A much broader range of people will start to have exposure to organised crime. The same people who sell cigarettes probably sell other drugs as well. With more money to be made there will be more crime.

Banning smoking is a gift to organised crime.

You can think like Minister Dickson and say the government are drug dealers who profit from people’s misery. This is a short sighted and emotional way of looking at it. There is a great deal of fear and emotion mixed up in the so-called war against drugs.

Yes, governments around Australia do receive a hell of a lot of revenue from cigarette taxes. I would much rather governments, legitimate corporations and shopkeepers receive the profits from cigarettes than criminals.

Drug abuse is a very complex problem. Solutions need to be developed using intelligence not emotion. The smoking problem is a balancing act between minimising the number of people taking up smoking, using the taxes raised to help combat the problem and not putting the taxes up so high that it encourages a black market to develop.

Banning smoking does none of these.

Instead of banning smoking they should be considering legalising recreational drugs. Almost all of the points that I have made earlier can be made about recreational drugs.

Wouldn’t you rather people be able to buy marijuana or ecstasy from a legitimate shop run by a legitimate shopkeeper? They would know exactly what they are getting with a greatly reduced chance of poisoning or overdose. The profits could be heavily taxed with a lot more money being put into treatment programs and advertising to discourage drug use.

There would be less people in prison and less crime and probably less people using drugs.

This is not about condoning drug use. It is about taking emotion out of the war against drugs. Solutions require intelligence and logic not a sound bite designed to get your face on the news.

I’m alive!

 June 15, 2010 at 12:07 pm by Chris

The surgery went fine. The drugs were damn good by the way. I was so relaxed that I fell asleep for the whole surgery. I was only under sedation so they didn’t put me to sleep I actually fell asleep.

I haven’t been feeling too good the last few days. My stomach is still leaks a bit and I’m still getting used to the new tube in my stomach.

Hopefully I’ll get back to blogging and writing very soon.

Ouch IV: The Final Chapter (I Hope)

 May 24, 2010 at 4:06 pm by Chris

I will be going in for minor surgery again on May 26. This should only be day surgery and I will not be gone for long I hope.

This should fix my problem and hopefully I will no longer leak.

Wish me luck.

Talking to Cripples

 May 17, 2010 at 3:05 pm by Chris

In recognition of Scope’s “See the Person” week I have decided to do a little initiative of my own.

As somebody with a severe physical disability I hope to make it easier for people who still have trouble when confronted by somebody like myself.

Some people still have a lot of trouble speaking to people with a disability. Younger people generally do not have this problem as more and more people with disabilities are in mainstream schools. You also see people with disabilities out in the community.

30 years ago the world simply wasn’t like this. People with disabilities were sent to special schools even people with physical disabilities. They were also sent to live at institutions where they were kept safely isolated from the rest of the community. People with disabilities who did live at home were encouraged to stay at home. Those that did venture out met with constant staring, verbal abuse and outright discrimination.

The rights of people with disabilities has come a long way in those 30 years. There is a much greater understanding of disability, but confusion still remains. Should you use the word handicapped or disabled? (I don’t understand the difference myself.) Many are terribly afraid of offending a disabled person often to the point of being unable to speak to a disabled person.

Disabled people have an undeserved reputation for being easily offended. I believe this is because some people feel they need to make conversation whenever they come across somebody with a disability. It is easy to forget that you ignore the vast majority of people only speaking to them when you need to. Why is this rule forgotten when faced with disability?

It is easy to get a little snappy when you have been told, “you drive well”, or “nice wheelchair” or “you’re speedy” or “where are your L plates?” for the hundredth time that day. It is also terribly irritating for people to use an assumed nickname like, “Wheels”. When you see somebody with an incredibly large nose do you say, “how is your nose today?” or “nobody knows nose” or “you must smell good”?

Doing the right thing around people with disabilities is damn easy. Simply treat them exactly as you would another person because that is exactly what somebody with a disability is – a normal everyday person.

If you don’t know whether or not to open the door for someone in a wheelchair just remember the same roles of common courtesy apply to disabled people. If somebody looks like they are having trouble with a door, like if their arms are full of shopping bags, you would help – the same rules apply.

It has happened to friends of mine where they have opened the door for somebody with a disability and have been unfairly attacked verbally by the disabled person, “do I look like I need help etc” Just remember there is never anything wrong with offering help and if somebody has a problem with that is their problem not yours.

The thing about disability which makes it different from other minorities is anyone could join it at any moment. You could be hit by a car or have a stroke you could catch an illness that paralyses you or you could grow old. Disability completely ignores race religion and financial status.

I hope I have helped.

Something I Have Always Suspected

 May 13, 2010 at 3:59 pm by Chris

Do ‘Family Values’ Weaken Families?

The answer is apparently yes – as I suspected.

The War on Stupid

 May 10, 2010 at 4:09 pm by Chris

Australian Senator Cory Bernardi has printed on his website (now removed) that the Burqa should be banned “for safety reasons” following its use for an armed robbery.

Following this line of reasoning the balaclava, the motorcycle helmet and the scarf should also be banned.

And for those who read spam e-mail – the South Australian woman wearing a Burqa on her driver’s license does not exist. Senator Bernardi might claim that his proposed ban is for safety reasons, but we all know the real reason.

Senator Bernardi’s comments regarding the Burqa are stupid for many reasons.

1. It is a complete waste of police time and taxpayer money. There are bound to be protests if this is ever introduced and every protest has police on hand in case things get ugly. Police have real criminals to catch.

2. Why should the government have any say over what we can and can’t wear? To use a pathetically political argument this could be the thin end of the wedge. They could start banning boxer shorts and G strings worn above pants – Australians have a right to bad taste.

3. It will be counter-productive. Many Muslims and non-Muslims may start wearing a burqa simply as a form of protest. They say that the banning of a movie is advertising paid for by the government, the same could be true of burqas.

4. How would the ban work? Will they arrest Muslim women for wearing a burqa or fine them? Either way that sounds like persecution to me.

5. Even if you assume that Muslim women are forced to wear the burqa by a patriarchal Muslim culture it still makes no sense. They are told to wear the burqa by a patriarchal culture on one side and told not to wear it by a parliament that consists of 75% men on the other side. It is unfair and patriarchal either way.

6. It makes us a target for terrorism. I’m not saying that fear of terrorism should in any way influence what we do. But why should we stir up the ants nest? If you see a snake do you poke it with a stick? Australia has been lucky with no successful terrorist attacks on Australian soil. Why risk that with a stupid law that is counter-productive and will never be enforced.

7. It is un-Australian. We criticise Iran and Saudi Arabia for forcing women to wear headscarves and now certain members of the Liberal party want to force women not to wear it – is there any real difference?

Of course it is also sexist, racist and anti-religion. Even I aren’t a real fan of the burqa as it is a one-way ticket to vitamin D deficiency, but I will defend anybody’s right to wear it. Except for armed robbers of course.

Logitech and the Writing Forum

 May 5, 2010 at 4:07 pm by Chris

I recently purchased a Logitech wireless headset. The headset combined with Dragon NaturallySpeaking and the fact that the TV above my bed is now a second monitor means I can write from bed. I used Dragon NaturallySpeaking to write this. Technology don’t you love it?

I have been writing all my blog posts from bed in fact I am writing a lot more generally.

I’ve also recently joined a writing forum, writingforums.org. On this site you have to write the ratio of two reviews for any one piece that you submit. The guys on this site will tell you what is wrong with your piece and how to fix it.

If you are in trouble with your writing you should give the site a visit.

Ouch III: Part III, Andy Goes Bananas

 April 30, 2010 at 3:12 pm by Chris

Part I | Part II | Part III

I decided the best thing to do was to stay silent and hopefully Andy would forget I even existed. Andy’s delusions were becoming increasingly elaborate. Phil turned out to be his former best friend and housemate. Andy was now in the magistrates court and everybody in the ward was a character in this delusion.

For example the urinal bottle was now a jug of water and Andy would periodically fill his glass… from the urinal bottle – much to the nurses’ distress. Psych Guy 2 was letting Andy wander around the room. And he accused one of the other men in the room of stealing his mobile phone the only problem was the mobile phone was the controller for the TV.

Here I was in bed with the covers over my head (that’s how I like to sleep) I am unable to move at all and there is a potentially violent crazy person wandering around the room. Most of what I’ve described above is put together simply from what I heard.

I must have drifted off to sleep, because the next thing I remember is Andy yelling at me right next to my bed. All he would need to do is reach out and disconnect the hose from my ventilator (this properly wouldn’t kill me as I can breathe a little on my own) or worse throttle me.

I was too busy freaking out to actually hear anything he was saying. Although I was calmer than I thought I would be in this situation.

Me: Look I am not Phil. You have got me confused with somebody else. I do not owe you $70,000.

Andy: Bull-fucking-shit, You Bastard!

This seemed to wake psych guy two up and he managed with great difficulty to wrestle Andy back into bed. I immediately tried to call out the nurse with zero response. I’ve waited five minutes and called out again…no response.

Andy was walking around the room again and thankfully was choosing some of the other residents to pick on. The others were very sick, but at least they had a chance of defending themselves. He got into an argument with the guy next to me and the guy told told him to piss off. On his way back through the bed he grabbed hold of the foot of my bed and gave a shake. This gave me a hell of a fright, what was he to do next push me out of bed?

I was still yelling out the nurses every five minutes and I still had no response. I asked one of the other guys in the room to press their buzzer. To my astonishment they all refused.

Cancer Dude One: why don’t you just shut up?

Me: I… by haven’t you heard what I explain to Andy? I can’t move this is the only way I could call out. For fuck Sake (I said this last part quietly)

I have experienced this before, when a weaker person is being picked on by a bully people will often side with a bully rather than stick up for the weaker person-especially if that person is irritating. Eventually Psych Guy Two saw what was happening and pressed my buzzer for me.

About 10 minutes later a nurse finally came in. The relief I felt was like nothing I’d ever felt before it was actually a few moments before I was able to speak. Almost suppressed fear and paranoia threatened to bubble to the surface.

Me: somebody is threatening me.

Nurse One: Who?

Me: Andy.

Nurse One: Andy is harmless.

Me: try telling Andy that. He has been wandering around shaking my bed arguing with everybody and he thinks that I owe him $70,000. Do you understand why I am scared?

Nurse One: Jesus. We will have to get you out of this room.

Finally my nightmare was over. Five minutes after this my stepdad and friend arrived. Andy went completely off the deep end. He kept screaming out for the magistrate. Andy was now had a nightmare of his own. The most stressful part of his life was being replayed in his head, it had something to do with his former best friend Phil and the $70,000.

Eventually he became violent and the nurses were first to call a code grey. Three large men came into the room picked him up and held on to the bed and while they strapped him down and injected him with a sedative. This should have been enough to put an elephant to sleep but Andy was still straining against the restraints and screaming at much reduced volume.

I was moved to a new room and then finally to a new ward. I don’t feel any anger towards Andy as he was sick and it would be really difficult to be in his position. I am a little angry at the Austin hospital, somebody like him should be in a psychiatric ward or at least a private room where he is unable to threaten other patients. I was very angry at the government of Victoria government as there obviously is not enough psychiatric beds and they should fund more of them.

The Austin has probably saved my life on more than one occasion all the staff are usually very good and overall they do a good job. It is just a shame that this episode has shaken my faith in this hospital.

Part I | Part II | Part III

Ouch III: Part II, Andy

 April 28, 2010 at 4:49 pm by Chris

Part I | Part II | Part III

It was almost 1 o’clock in the morning and eventually I got to sleep. I was woken by an argument coming from the cubicle across from me. It seemed the man, Andy, (name changed) in this bed wished to escape. He had another man sitting next to him whose sole job was to keep Andy in his bed. I’m not sure what his name or job title was so we will just call him Psych Guy 1.

It was a little like this:

Andy: It’s not a prison. I pay the rent, I can leave whenever I want.

Psych Guy 1: No you can’t. You are in the Austin hospital and you are very sick.

Andy: That’s bullshit. [Sounds of struggle] YOU BASTARD! Let me go.

Psych Guy 1: You’re an involuntary patient. You have a serious infection and you’re not thinking straight.

Andy: You can’t keep me in here.

Andy tries to climb out of bed, brief struggle ensues, Psych Guy 1 proves to be stronger.

Psych Guy 1: Look, it’s three o’clock in the morning. The buses aren’t running at this time and nowhere is open. Can’t you wait until morning? And look you can watch TV.

Psych Guy 1 turns on the TV. Surprisingly, this seems to work and Andy shuts up until about five AM. Meanwhile, I have been regularly calling out to the nurses as the ward did not have a call button that I could use.

There is a changeover in the nursing staff and Psych Guy 2 takes over from Psych Guy 1. Andy starts giving me an increasing amount of crap about me calling out. Eventually, he gets quite abusive.

Andy: Stop whingeing you bastard.

Me: I’m just calling out to the nurse. I can’t use the buzzer. I’m sorry if I have disturbed you.

Andy: Arsehole.

Me: I have Duchenne muscular dystrophy, I can’t move, this is the only way I can get the nurses attention, sorry.

Andy: Damn thief.

Thief? This conversation had taken a bizarre turn. Part of me was wondering whether he was a fundamentalist libertarian who believed that seriously disabled people don’t deserve respect because they are a drain on the economy – no that couldn’t possibly be it. Things go missing in hospital all the time maybe he was just looking for a convenient person to blame for his missing socks.

Me: I can’t move. I could not possibly have stolen anything from you.

Andy: That’s crap Phil. It wasn’t just anything it was money.

Phil? Interesting. Was he addressing somebody else? No, he was definitely answering me. Maybe he calls people Phil as a term of endearment, or if he doesn’t know their name? And what about the money?

Me: Do I owe you money?

Andy: Yes.

I was thinking that maybe his wallet went missing and he was short a maximum of 50 bucks. If he threatened me maybe it would be easier just to pay him off, well it was an option anyway.

Me: How much do I owe you?

Andy: 60 or 70 thousand dollars.

Holy fuck. He’s going to kill me. I must be like a character in his delusion. If you thought somebody had stolen $70,000 off you and they were just lying there… would you get violent? Some probably wouldn’t, but a large percentage would and Andy wasn’t exactly the sanest person around. Only Psych Guy 2 stood between me and certain death. The only problem was Psych Guy 2 just wasn’t as competent as Psych Guy 1.

End of part II

Part I | Part II | Part III

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