Morning Brew: November 24, 2006

Wow, that's in pretty bad taste. I gotta ask: What kind of jackass is going to feel smugly "ironic" seeing that on their tree come December 26, the first anniversary of Jane Creba's death?

I don't know: I still don't see the irony behind it all. Bad business move, they'll pull the product soon enough, I'm sure.

I saw that ornament in the store. What a dumb idea. The response that it's supposed to "ironically celebrate" the holidays just baffles me. It pretty much falls outside any definition I have of a celebration. If you want an ironic Christmas ornament, make a tiny mullet people can hang on their trees.

"Where do they get that kind of money?" - bwah! So true.

In unrelated news, why is this site suddenly trying to open a popup window from "surveymonkey.com"?

You ask, where do they get the money.

The answer is simple. Parents, who have no clue at all how to parent and say no, and are struck with the fear of God that their kids will cry something false and ridiculous to children's aid, who will believe it because they're equally incompetent.

(I'm not making this up, either)

and don't forget this lovely gem in the Toronto Star...Disabled class action suit overturned

Link to Article

My family is one of many that have had to disown their disabled child - yes disown - in order to get the care she needs just to live. This is another leftover policy from the Harris days. We could not afford the help my sister needed. She has Cerebral Palsy, is a quadrapelegic and has spina bifica - that means her spine is going to snap - she has had to have operations to help reverse the effects.

You don't know how many people in this province have no idea, are absolutely ignorant about the lives and plights of disabled persons in this city, in this province. Toronto used to have some great care facilities for people with conditions like my sister. Most have closed down after Mike Harris' government cut their funding. We now have to travel to Brantford, Hamilton - Peterborough! for her medical care.

Building policies still don't take accessibility into account. The hallways in my new condo building (completed in 2005) is accessible for people in wheelchairs - but as soon as they enter the apartments, it's a different story. Kitchens are not designed to allow wheelchairs to turn around. Our elevators and call boards don't even have braille labels! This is the world we live in. 2 legs good, anything different bad.

Most people don't know that families like ours - have had to give up our children in order to ensure that they can get adequate care. This is demeaning, irresponsible and heartbreaking. We can't even give her gifts so that she can buy new clothing or go to the movies with her friends and careworkers - after all if she has more than a certain amount of money in her bank account - somewhere in the area of $500, the government has every right to deem her no longer in need of her disability allowance.

This province's treatment of the differently-abled is pathetic, and that the Ontario Court of Appeals won't even hear this women's story is downright terrible.

Wow that's heartbreaking Chickencurry. Thanks for the information on this obviously oft-overlooked tragedy.