Posts
A couple recent Stories from the Nanaimo Daily News that I thought I would comment on.
Students plead for a break on loan interest
Sealing awareness campaign will lack perspective
What can I say about student loans? If you are not the beneficiary of them then as you will read in the comments below the story linked above you may not understand the difficulty some people have in paying them back. Me, I graduated in 2002 with a Child & Youth Care degree and $56,000 in student loans. In a couple ways I was lucky; one being I had stopped getting loans in 2000, otherwise I would likely have owed over $70,000; two, I had been under the remission qualifier program which meant as long as I graduated in as timely manner I qualified. The latter resulted, upon my graduation and submission of paperwork, in a total forgiveness of my BC student loans to the tune of $22,000. Had this not happened I would have been required to pay over $700 a month in payments but as it is I now only have to pay $300 a month over a 15 year term. Despite having paid over $25,000 since 2002 I still owe another $22,000 so I figure that by the time the loan is paid off the bill will be well over $60,000 and possibly as high or higher than twice the original $34,000. I am one of the lucky ones in that I can somewhat afford to pay but I tell you it ain’t easy and because I am always late in my payments it has really screwed up my credit rating.
Sealing protests? I fully support the protesters and if you read Robert Barron’s story, I usually like what he has to say, and have even the slightest bit of intelligence you will be able to read between the lines. No one wants to stop indigenous peoples from hunting for their livelihood and that is not the wholesale slaughter that people are protesting against. Mr. Barron talks about the seal harvest as food but other than those taken by First Nations the vast majority of the carcasses are left t0o rot on the ice with their mothers having looked on while their babies were killed simply for their fur. Mr Barron then has the audacity to compare the killing of baby seals to humanities insatiable lust for McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
“But killing animals for food, clothing and other uses has been an ongoing human activity since we first walked the plains of Africa millions of years ago and most of us, including many of the people who will attend Nanaimo's protest with Sparky, have no problems eating meat products or wearing leather. The anti-sealing groups have become very successful in their efforts to separate the seal hunt from the slaughter of pigs and cows that occur daily in abattoirs in every neighbourhood across Canada and the world by appealing to human emotions, rather than basing their campaign on hard, cold facts.”
Give me a freakin break Robert this is in no way even remotely the same and lest ye forget there are many animal rights groups that protest the way food is treated prior to becoming food. The killing of baby seals for monetary gain is plain and simply wrong.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
More musing, S/A and Meals on Wheels
So the Daily News published my last letter, Improved social safety net is what is needed, not too bad a job of editing.
Below is a link to more on the plan by VIHA, for the uninformed the Vancouver Island Health Authority, to cut funding to Meals on Wheels and another letter sent but unpublished as yet. Government and their lackeys just don't get it and it appears to be the same across the political spectrum. There are some services that it just makes sense to fund because ultimately they do or would save a vast amount of the taxpayers money.
Independance at risk for meal clients
Letter unpublished as yet
The social aspect for both volunteers and clients is but an added, no cost, benefit of the ‘Meals on Wheels’ program. Much like how the government would save money by housing the homeless, providing these people with a healthy meal is a cost saving alternative to the much higher costs that would be born by hospitals and other provincial care facilities in the event ‘Meals on Wheels’ shuts down.
The rationale government bureaucrats’ use, cutting funding that ultimately saves government far more money, simply does not make sense. If this is not a core service, providing a fundamental aspect of healthy living, that meets VIHA's responsibility to “ensure public money is spent wisely and deliver clear health benefits to the greatest number of clients," then what is?
That the providers of ‘Meals on Wheels’ are having a tough time meeting with VIHA comes as no surprise. This is an arm of government that consistently, despite spending a lot of money on an effective communication strategy, seems to disdain even the basics of community consultation.
Below is a link to more on the plan by VIHA, for the uninformed the Vancouver Island Health Authority, to cut funding to Meals on Wheels and another letter sent but unpublished as yet. Government and their lackeys just don't get it and it appears to be the same across the political spectrum. There are some services that it just makes sense to fund because ultimately they do or would save a vast amount of the taxpayers money.
Independance at risk for meal clients
Letter unpublished as yet
The social aspect for both volunteers and clients is but an added, no cost, benefit of the ‘Meals on Wheels’ program. Much like how the government would save money by housing the homeless, providing these people with a healthy meal is a cost saving alternative to the much higher costs that would be born by hospitals and other provincial care facilities in the event ‘Meals on Wheels’ shuts down.
The rationale government bureaucrats’ use, cutting funding that ultimately saves government far more money, simply does not make sense. If this is not a core service, providing a fundamental aspect of healthy living, that meets VIHA's responsibility to “ensure public money is spent wisely and deliver clear health benefits to the greatest number of clients," then what is?
That the providers of ‘Meals on Wheels’ are having a tough time meeting with VIHA comes as no surprise. This is an arm of government that consistently, despite spending a lot of money on an effective communication strategy, seems to disdain even the basics of community consultation.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Musing about S A etc
Originally was going to do some musing here but ended up writing the letter to the editor below. Following it are some links to stories related to the S/A and the RedZone, which for those of you who don't know is a defined area of the downtown in Nanaimo where those convicted of drug offenses in the area are not allowed to frequent.
What strikes me most about the stories of late regarding the Salvation Army charging a buck for their lunch are the asinine opinions some people have about those living in poverty. What also strikes me is that there are a growing number of people who understand poverty isn’t simply about addiction or laziness but about the utter lack of anything resembling a Social Safety Net. Sure, government provides funds to the poor but they are totally inadequate in providing the necessities that would allow a person(s) to move forward.
Poverty PIMP is a term used most often to convey a person or organization profiting excessively by acting as an agent for the poor and disadvantaged and benefiting from their misfortune. They don’t really want to see the problem eliminated, as it is not in their interest, and usually provide just enough of a service to keep the person(s) coming back for more. While the term is often associated with certain social services it is my belief that it could just as easily apply to government as well.
While providing services that allow for whatever government is in power to benefit unduly from the publicity of being seen as working on the problems of poverty and homelessness they don’t come close to providing enough to eliminate the problem. Research continually shows that adequately housed and fed individuals or families would save governments billions and yet we still see huge numbers of homeless and in BC the highest child poverty rates 7 years running in Canada.
Gordon W. Fuller
Jan. 28, 2010
VIHA plan threatens meal programs future {This story is sad and typical of VIHA and the Provincial Government. If the program shuts down it can only add to the numbers of people having to access services like the 7-10 Club [link over to the left]}
Jan. 27, 2010
Giving away meal tickets better than giving spare change
Jan. 26, 2010
400 free meal tickets go to city's hungry
Jan. 26, 2010
Red zone is still necessary
Jan. 29, 2010
Red zone has not ended drug trafficking plague
Red zone has not ended drug trafficking plague
Gordon W. Fuller, The Daily News
Published: Friday, January 29, 2010
There is no doubt that the Red Zone accomplished what it set out to do in the downtown, but only to the degree of the low level street user and dealer. One can still enter most of the bars and nightclubs in the area and within minutes secure whatever the drug of choice for the evening will be, the problem is still there but indoors. The Red Zone moved the problem into residential areas.
With a 30% increase in drug dealing and drug-related crime in 2009 one has to wonder if dispersing the dealers and addicts was really such a good idea.
Until the province and feds get off their collective butts and put funding into detox, treatment and supportive housing for recovering addicts we will always have a problem. Unless the incentive is there, what choice is there but to remain addicted? As long as the penalties for drug trafficking are seen as little more than a slap on the wrist what motivation is there for change?
What strikes me most about the stories of late regarding the Salvation Army charging a buck for their lunch are the asinine opinions some people have about those living in poverty. What also strikes me is that there are a growing number of people who understand poverty isn’t simply about addiction or laziness but about the utter lack of anything resembling a Social Safety Net. Sure, government provides funds to the poor but they are totally inadequate in providing the necessities that would allow a person(s) to move forward.
Poverty PIMP is a term used most often to convey a person or organization profiting excessively by acting as an agent for the poor and disadvantaged and benefiting from their misfortune. They don’t really want to see the problem eliminated, as it is not in their interest, and usually provide just enough of a service to keep the person(s) coming back for more. While the term is often associated with certain social services it is my belief that it could just as easily apply to government as well.
While providing services that allow for whatever government is in power to benefit unduly from the publicity of being seen as working on the problems of poverty and homelessness they don’t come close to providing enough to eliminate the problem. Research continually shows that adequately housed and fed individuals or families would save governments billions and yet we still see huge numbers of homeless and in BC the highest child poverty rates 7 years running in Canada.
Gordon W. Fuller
Jan. 28, 2010
VIHA plan threatens meal programs future {This story is sad and typical of VIHA and the Provincial Government. If the program shuts down it can only add to the numbers of people having to access services like the 7-10 Club [link over to the left]}
Jan. 27, 2010
Giving away meal tickets better than giving spare change
Jan. 26, 2010
400 free meal tickets go to city's hungry
Jan. 26, 2010
Red zone is still necessary
Jan. 29, 2010
Red zone has not ended drug trafficking plague
Red zone has not ended drug trafficking plague
Gordon W. Fuller, The Daily News
Published: Friday, January 29, 2010
There is no doubt that the Red Zone accomplished what it set out to do in the downtown, but only to the degree of the low level street user and dealer. One can still enter most of the bars and nightclubs in the area and within minutes secure whatever the drug of choice for the evening will be, the problem is still there but indoors. The Red Zone moved the problem into residential areas.
With a 30% increase in drug dealing and drug-related crime in 2009 one has to wonder if dispersing the dealers and addicts was really such a good idea.
Until the province and feds get off their collective butts and put funding into detox, treatment and supportive housing for recovering addicts we will always have a problem. Unless the incentive is there, what choice is there but to remain addicted? As long as the penalties for drug trafficking are seen as little more than a slap on the wrist what motivation is there for change?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Starvation Army Part Two
And so they charge again Free lunch ends . On January 20th, coincidently the day people receive income assistance, the Salvation Army started to once again charge $1.00 for lunch.
"The $1 charge is being brought back to help offset costs as they deal with growing demand."
What a crock of shit this comment is. The S/A have been, for months, quoting numbers of upwards of 200 plus people accessing the free lunch. Members of the Creative Awareness Collective have been doing counts of their own which turn up numbers half of what the S/A says are going through their doors.
The numbers are in actuality along the same lines as those of the 7-10 Club which sees on average just over 100 people coming and accessing their FREE breakfast and bag lunch program. Rob Anderson of the S/A has stated that their annual budget for the lunch program is $250,000.00. This is more than double the $110,000.00 that the 7-10 Club spent to provide its service.
Whats up with that and what are the true reasons that the Salvation Army is charging for meals? Hopefully, after wading through all the bullshit excuses, the truth will come out. Alas, as with most of what this organization does, secrecy seems to be the way.
"The $1 charge is being brought back to help offset costs as they deal with growing demand."
What a crock of shit this comment is. The S/A have been, for months, quoting numbers of upwards of 200 plus people accessing the free lunch. Members of the Creative Awareness Collective have been doing counts of their own which turn up numbers half of what the S/A says are going through their doors.
The numbers are in actuality along the same lines as those of the 7-10 Club which sees on average just over 100 people coming and accessing their FREE breakfast and bag lunch program. Rob Anderson of the S/A has stated that their annual budget for the lunch program is $250,000.00. This is more than double the $110,000.00 that the 7-10 Club spent to provide its service.
Whats up with that and what are the true reasons that the Salvation Army is charging for meals? Hopefully, after wading through all the bullshit excuses, the truth will come out. Alas, as with most of what this organization does, secrecy seems to be the way.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Salvation Army drops $1 lunch cost
After a meeting held with the S/A last Thursday at which nothing was resolved another meeting was scheduled for yesterday the 15th. Prior to the meeting yesterday Wallace Malay, of the Creative Awareness Collective, and myself decided to organize a protest to be held in front of the S/A. The Collective and I got the word out to those who were being affected by the $1 charge and turnout of about 20 people with posters rallied across the street. While this was going on Wallace and a couple other members of the collective, as well as the City of Nanaimo, the S/A and others met to discuss the issue. The link that follows is the upshot of what happened at the meeting and while by no means a perfect outcome it is a step in the right direction. Personally I am hoping that people will call the S/A head office in Burnaby;
Major Brian Venables Divisional Secretary for Public Relations and DevelopmentBritish Columbia DivisionAddress:The Salvation Army 3833 Henning Drive, Burnaby BC V5C 6N5Phone: (604)296-3821Fax: (604)291-0345Cell: (778)227-7291E-mail: Brian_Venables@can.salvationarmy.org
and let them know that the charge for the meal should be lifted permanently.
While they say no one will go hungry and can access meal tickets through their Family Services program one has to ask how many appointments for tickets can be handled, on top of their regular intakes, each day?
Major Brian Venables Divisional Secretary for Public Relations and DevelopmentBritish Columbia DivisionAddress:The Salvation Army 3833 Henning Drive, Burnaby BC V5C 6N5Phone: (604)296-3821Fax: (604)291-0345Cell: (778)227-7291E-mail: Brian_Venables@can.salvationarmy.org
and let them know that the charge for the meal should be lifted permanently.
While they say no one will go hungry and can access meal tickets through their Family Services program one has to ask how many appointments for tickets can be handled, on top of their regular intakes, each day?
Salvation Army suspends unpopular $1 fee for lunch
Small group of protesters says the charge is unfair
Salvation Army suspends unpopular $1 fee for lunch
Dustin Walker, Daily News
Published: Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
STARVATION ARMY
This is fairly lengthy but I encourage people to read on and comment.
On December 1st the Salvation Army in Nanaimo, under the guize of promoting dignity, implemented a $1.00 charge for its lunch program. I have to ask is that what they believe a persons dignity and self worth is? This is another shameful act on the part of one of the biggest and richest global NGO's on the planet, an organization that posess so much wealth it should never have to panhandle to the public again.
I have been helping protest with a small group of Advocates, Community Awareness Cllective, headed up by Wallace Malay by collecting and distributing pennies to those who cannot afford the new $1.00 charge. After the first day or two the S/A said they would no longer take the pennies unrolled and were turning people away.
I e-mailed the following to a friend who has a number of lists and touched a nerve in the BC Division Head Office.
Good day. Some may and others may not realize that the Salvaation Army has recently started charging $1.00 for lunch when for the past 6 years it has been free. It is also useful to know that about 6 months ago they also started charing $2.00 for their dinners, they to were free for aprox. 6 years. This is an organization that takes in untold thousands and millions in donations and yet they want the poor to fund their programs as well.
Part of the Salvation Armies rational for charging for lunch is that they feel it will increase the persons self worth and dignity by contributing. In reality what it will do is remove one of the very things from the reach of the poorest of the poor that keeps them alive, many will be reduced to panhandling or other means to obtain the cost. In a province that has had the highest child poverty rates six years running, the implementation of the cost for lunch and dinner will only serve to push those in need further into the depths of poverty. Attached is a poster from a group trying to raise pennies for the poor and giving them to people so they can get a lunch. Please express your disappointment at the Starvation Armies policies by calling their offices at the following numbers;
Community Services: 250 754 2621
New Hope Centre: 250 714 1142
Admin: 250 753 8834
PS. Just informed that the Salvation Army has been telling people they will not take the pennies unless they are rolled. This is to put it mildly Bull Shit. Please call the above numbers, e-mail Rob Anderson http://ca.mc327.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=rob_anderson@sananaimo.org or Martin McCarter http://ca.mc327.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Martin_McCarter@can.salvationarmy.org or mail thier administration offices at 505 Eighth Street, Nanaimo, BC V9R 1B5 and speak out.
You can also contact and express your disgust with this new policy:
Major Brian Venables
Divisional Secretary for Public Relations and DevelopmentBritish Columbia Division
Address:The Salvation Army 3833 Henning Drive, Burnaby BC V5C 6N5
Phone: (604)296-3821
Fax: (604)291-0345
Cell: (778)227-7291
E-mail: Brian_Venables@can.salvationarmy.org
I will say one thing for him he did gaurantee that people would not have to roll the pennies. So on the protest goes and has served an average of 50 people daily by giving them the funds to access lunch. If you wish to donate drop your pennies off between 10:30 and 1:30 at the Vault Coffee Shop on the corner of Wallace and Albert St. downtown Nanaimo.
Below are links to the Nanaimo Daily News stories and letters to the editor on the subject.
News Stories
Penny protest targets $1 Salvation Army lunch fee
Cost designed to reduce problems with neighbours
Penny protest targets $1 Salvation Army lunch fee (1)
Penny protest.......(2)
Dustin Walker, The Daily News
Published: Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Darrell Bellaart: Pennies are welcome
Darrell Bellaart: Pennies are welcome
Darrell Bellaart, The Daily News
Published: Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Letters to the editor
Salvation Army should not charge for lunches
Edith Cartwright, The Daily News
Published: Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Costs should not come from those most in need
Wallace Malay, The Daily News
Published: Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Salvation Army decision not based in Christianity
Madeline Bruce, The Daily News
Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009
Buck is better spent on a meal than on cigarettes
David J. Payne, The Daily News
Published: Friday, December 11, 2009
Salvation Army's reasons don't make sense
Gordon W. Fuller, The Daily News
Published: Saturday, December 12, 2009
All the needy should not be painted the same
Andre Mollon, The Daily News
Published: Saturday, December 12, 2009
On December 1st the Salvation Army in Nanaimo, under the guize of promoting dignity, implemented a $1.00 charge for its lunch program. I have to ask is that what they believe a persons dignity and self worth is? This is another shameful act on the part of one of the biggest and richest global NGO's on the planet, an organization that posess so much wealth it should never have to panhandle to the public again.
I have been helping protest with a small group of Advocates, Community Awareness Cllective, headed up by Wallace Malay by collecting and distributing pennies to those who cannot afford the new $1.00 charge. After the first day or two the S/A said they would no longer take the pennies unrolled and were turning people away.
I e-mailed the following to a friend who has a number of lists and touched a nerve in the BC Division Head Office.
Good day. Some may and others may not realize that the Salvaation Army has recently started charging $1.00 for lunch when for the past 6 years it has been free. It is also useful to know that about 6 months ago they also started charing $2.00 for their dinners, they to were free for aprox. 6 years. This is an organization that takes in untold thousands and millions in donations and yet they want the poor to fund their programs as well.
Part of the Salvation Armies rational for charging for lunch is that they feel it will increase the persons self worth and dignity by contributing. In reality what it will do is remove one of the very things from the reach of the poorest of the poor that keeps them alive, many will be reduced to panhandling or other means to obtain the cost. In a province that has had the highest child poverty rates six years running, the implementation of the cost for lunch and dinner will only serve to push those in need further into the depths of poverty. Attached is a poster from a group trying to raise pennies for the poor and giving them to people so they can get a lunch. Please express your disappointment at the Starvation Armies policies by calling their offices at the following numbers;
Community Services: 250 754 2621
New Hope Centre: 250 714 1142
Admin: 250 753 8834
PS. Just informed that the Salvation Army has been telling people they will not take the pennies unless they are rolled. This is to put it mildly Bull Shit. Please call the above numbers, e-mail Rob Anderson http://ca.mc327.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=rob_anderson@sananaimo.org or Martin McCarter http://ca.mc327.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Martin_McCarter@can.salvationarmy.org or mail thier administration offices at 505 Eighth Street, Nanaimo, BC V9R 1B5 and speak out.
You can also contact and express your disgust with this new policy:
Major Brian Venables
Divisional Secretary for Public Relations and DevelopmentBritish Columbia Division
Address:The Salvation Army 3833 Henning Drive, Burnaby BC V5C 6N5
Phone: (604)296-3821
Fax: (604)291-0345
Cell: (778)227-7291
E-mail: Brian_Venables@can.salvationarmy.org
I will say one thing for him he did gaurantee that people would not have to roll the pennies. So on the protest goes and has served an average of 50 people daily by giving them the funds to access lunch. If you wish to donate drop your pennies off between 10:30 and 1:30 at the Vault Coffee Shop on the corner of Wallace and Albert St. downtown Nanaimo.
Below are links to the Nanaimo Daily News stories and letters to the editor on the subject.
News Stories
Penny protest targets $1 Salvation Army lunch fee
Cost designed to reduce problems with neighbours
Penny protest targets $1 Salvation Army lunch fee (1)
Penny protest.......(2)
Dustin Walker, The Daily News
Published: Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Darrell Bellaart: Pennies are welcome
Darrell Bellaart: Pennies are welcome
Darrell Bellaart, The Daily News
Published: Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Letters to the editor
Salvation Army should not charge for lunches
Edith Cartwright, The Daily News
Published: Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Costs should not come from those most in need
Wallace Malay, The Daily News
Published: Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Salvation Army decision not based in Christianity
Madeline Bruce, The Daily News
Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009
Buck is better spent on a meal than on cigarettes
David J. Payne, The Daily News
Published: Friday, December 11, 2009
Salvation Army's reasons don't make sense
Gordon W. Fuller, The Daily News
Published: Saturday, December 12, 2009
All the needy should not be painted the same
Andre Mollon, The Daily News
Published: Saturday, December 12, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
One of my favourites written in 2002
This was the second post to the blog. It is one of my favourite writings and thought I would repost it.
It started well before birth in the stygian depths, fetid dank moistness, of our mothers’ wombs. A self projected on us prior to conception by the abject dysfunctional behaviours of our parents and past generations. Spewed forth from the dark crevasse between our mothers’ legs we grew up fast, tormented by the misbegotten memories of incessant generational abuse and neglect. Hidden away in murky corners of basements and closets we escaped into the twilight gloom of dimly lit streets and alleyways. Sleeping in shadowy alcoves, desolate corridors, refuse and needle strewn rooms of long deserted buildings haunted by the ghosts of those gone before us. Abandoned we walk the night. Eyes glazed, legs, cheeks, and mouths wide, we take in the disease-ridden jism from the corrupt underbelly of the cold dark unforgiving city.
HOMELESS
It started well before birth in the stygian depths, fetid dank moistness, of our mothers’ wombs. A self projected on us prior to conception by the abject dysfunctional behaviours of our parents and past generations. Spewed forth from the dark crevasse between our mothers’ legs we grew up fast, tormented by the misbegotten memories of incessant generational abuse and neglect. Hidden away in murky corners of basements and closets we escaped into the twilight gloom of dimly lit streets and alleyways. Sleeping in shadowy alcoves, desolate corridors, refuse and needle strewn rooms of long deserted buildings haunted by the ghosts of those gone before us. Abandoned we walk the night. Eyes glazed, legs, cheeks, and mouths wide, we take in the disease-ridden jism from the corrupt underbelly of the cold dark unforgiving city.
* And We Dream! *
Gordon W. Fuller, April 11/2002
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