tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4248478318892426116.post1794791518095446169..comments2024-02-20T17:48:55.571-05:00Comments on Freedom Through Truth: To HRC or Not to HRCMichael Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17557797099650457723noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4248478318892426116.post-44102351223794794422010-06-13T07:52:34.187-04:002010-06-13T07:52:34.187-04:00Hi Brian:
Long time no hear.
I responded to your...Hi Brian:<br /><br />Long time no hear.<br /><br />I responded to your other two comments this morning.<br /><br />One reason that I have not been commenting on Human Rights issues is that, as I said, I kind of moved along to other things that, rather than disturbing me, would uplift me and I hope my readers.<br /><br />I was in a car accident a number of years ago and incurred a brain injury. As a result, the only thing in my mind generally is the current thing in my mind. Long term memory is still pretty good, but short term memory, not as much.<br /><br />I can follow a chain of events or postings, but when they change direction, I cannot find my way back to where I was before. It is out of sight and out of mind, or it is out of sight and I am out of my mind, or maybe my mind is having an out of my body experience.<br /><br />This is not all bad news, by the way. I meet a lot of interesting people who are friendly to me and know me by name, though I have never met them before. :)<br /><br />Thank you for stopping by<br /><br />Michael BrandonMichael Brandonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17557797099650457723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4248478318892426116.post-78993639292475634462010-06-10T14:13:02.027-04:002010-06-10T14:13:02.027-04:00Any recent comments? I enjoy the discussion and th...Any recent comments? I enjoy the discussion and thought I'd see if you had made any recent posts on the issue recently.<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />BrianAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4248478318892426116.post-67418727164490764512010-01-20T09:37:18.379-05:002010-01-20T09:37:18.379-05:00Dear Brian:
Usually I get my comments by email, s...Dear Brian:<br /><br />Usually I get my comments by email, so I do not have to go to comment moderation to find them. Consequently, I was not even aware of your comments until this morning. I am not sure why this happened, but will see if I can fix it.<br /><br />I was not ignoring them, and intend to make them available in a new posting soon, and will comment here with the link. My reason for making them into a new posting is (I think as I have said before)that when people take the time to make meaningful comment to something I have written, whether or not I agree with it, I think it deserves to stand on its own, and not be hidden in comments that most people never will see.<br /><br />From my first look, I see that you have passion for what you are saying, and that counts with me. I will spend the time that your passion deserves in examining what you have written, before I respond.<br /><br />My personal passion is not with the HRC's. I do not see government intervention in our lives as a good thing. I do however see the UDHR as a good thing, and in fact am in agreement with the last two popes who have also spoken favourably of it.<br /><br />But, the devil is in the details, though God can be too. As the provinces and even our Canadian Human Rights legislation and regulations and policy statements wander along finding discrimination under every shrub, their need to pad their own budgets and feelings of self importance seem to take precedence over TRUE human rights, as articulated in the UDHR.Michael Brandonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17557797099650457723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4248478318892426116.post-3192439469929158782010-01-16T19:16:34.329-05:002010-01-16T19:16:34.329-05:00Not posting my comments?? Where is the open discus...Not posting my comments?? Where is the open discussion?? Not really into defending your position?<br /><br />BrianBriannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4248478318892426116.post-43333918896051261502010-01-14T20:38:53.303-05:002010-01-14T20:38:53.303-05:00Hey there. I posted a response a few days ago but ...Hey there. I posted a response a few days ago but it hasn't appeared as of yet. I was wondering if you had received it or if I should post it again?<br />Thanks<br />BrianBriannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4248478318892426116.post-36119813268766152672010-01-10T13:31:11.470-05:002010-01-10T13:31:11.470-05:00mbrandon8026,
My post was too large for one conti...mbrandon8026,<br /><br />My post was too large for one continuous post. Here is the third and final part.<br /><br />6) You spoke previously of how the HRC just costs taxpayers and employers money. I would love to know the cost to the taxpayers to resolve your dispute to get money from an insurance company or even better, I wonder how much your lawyer will receive once your case is settled? I bet it would make the $20000 ‘pot load’ of money that the HRC awarded someone look like chump change. (don’t get me wrong I hope you get every penny you deserve). <br /><br />But do you not think that there are insurance cheats? Do you not think that many insurance companies look at injured claimants as ‘playing victim’? Do you not believe that they would argue that much of your pain and suffering is ‘in the eye of the beholder’? Do you not think that people suing insurance companies cost the rest of us a great deal of money in higher rates?<br /><br />And even though you are going through the courts to get money for yourself I support you and your efforts. Just because the courts do not always get it right and just because there are immoral people out there who would abuse and cheat the system does not make want to simply tell you to ‘move on and live your life’ and ‘don’t play the victim’.<br /><br />7) I must admit that your comment, “I do not need to play victim” is extremely insulting. While that is fine for you, implicit in this statement is that some disabled people ‘play’ victims rather than actually be victims. I can assure you that the women I know is not ‘playing the victim’ but rather has been victimized by an illegal activity. <br /><br />Asserting your rights is not playing victim. Pressing charges for assault does not mean than that individual is playing a victim, rather it is the resistance to being made into a victim. It is the refusal to be treated unfairly and without compassion. Had it not been for the actions of the assailant or in my case the unlawful actions of the employer, there would be no victim.<br /><br />Do you really believe that there are no victims of discrimination? Do you not believe that disabled people often suffer dearly as a result? Demanding to be treated with dignity and compassion is not ‘playing the victim’ it is asserting your God given rights as a human. Good for you for being strong but don’t demean others for asserting their rights!! <br /><br />I would hope that rather than implying that disabled people are playing the victim when they assert their rights that you would repudiate the individuals who victimize them...In other words DON’T BLAME THE VICTIM!Briannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4248478318892426116.post-364979142672383112010-01-10T13:29:23.739-05:002010-01-10T13:29:23.739-05:00mbrandon8026,
My post was too large for one cont...mbrandon8026, <br /><br />My post was too large for one continuous post. Here is the second half.<br />3) I would also like to address your response to my comment regarding my friends efforts to demand she be treated equally. You responded, "Demanding to be treated fairly is an interesting perspective, because it is only in the eyes of the one who thinks he/she is not being treated fairly.” <br /><br />Are you really claiming that all violations of Human Rights are in the ‘eye of the beholder’?<br /><br />This is unfair and disingenuous. To assert that there are not objective, unquestionable cases of discrimination is disheartening. Are women who face sexual harassment in the workplace only in the eye of the beholder? So it really never happens that women are sexually harassed or disabled people fired for their disability... no no no....the women who refused to have sex with her boss just sees it that way. Your friend who was fired for having skin blisters was just imagining her discrimination. My friend who was fired for having a disability that the employer did not want to be inconvenienced by is just imagining it that way. <br /><br /><br />Really, when it comes to Human Rights there are no objective facts. Right?<br /><br />4) You state the following, “We have a court claim in against the driver that hit me, and it has not settled in the almost 6 years, and may take another year or 2 to be finished as well. My lawyer has been in touch with my employer as needed, and if they had terminated me, I would not have laid down, but on legal grounds not on grounds of some cooked up discrimination.”<br /><br />Once again, if someone who is discriminated against wants to assert their rights is really just a case of “cooked up discrimination”. This is SO insulting. Just because some abuse the system does not make everyone a liar. Please do not paint us all with your same jaded brush!<br /><br />Can I also be clear that discrimination are legal grounds. I am not sure what you are saying. What are the legal grounds? Being fired for having a disability is a legal issue and a Human Rights issue. It is a false dichotomy to say it is either one or the other. Human Rights violations are illegal. Your downplay and dismissal of Human Rights violations as “in the eye of the beholder”, “cooked up discrimination” and not really a legal issue is more than unfortunate...it is downright shameful!! <br /><br />5) It would seem from your statement that you would enforce your rights through the court system. From what you have faced fighting your insurance company (6 years already and 2 more to come) is that really a good system? Could you afford 8 years of court proceedings to right a wrong? Should the lady I work with wait for 8 years to have her rights be respected? I think the result would be most people saying that the fight is just too hard and too long to be worth it. Most people do not have the resources to pay for expensive lawyers and court costs. Should my friend have to wait for 8 years to get her job back?Briannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4248478318892426116.post-65343127900680507092010-01-10T13:26:11.154-05:002010-01-10T13:26:11.154-05:00mbrandon8026,
I must admit that I do have a dif...mbrandon8026, <br /><br />I must admit that I do have a difficult time understanding your approach to this issue. In your response to my comment that we need to Stand-Up not Shut-up when it comes to Human Rights violations you responded that you have numerous posts on the issue and that you are standing up. I will admit that you do have many posts on the HRC but I would not exactly say you are standing up against those who would discriminate against the disabled or any group in Canada. To that end I really do not see how you are standing up for those who face very real discrimination.<br /><br />You criticize the process, yet do not propose an alternative. You discuss only the cases where the individual going to the HRC are abusing the system, which they are. But to only discuss the cases where the HRC was misused by immoral and selfish people greatly misses the point. <br /><br />If you were really standing up for the disabled you would also discuss some of the egregious cases where an individual’s Human Rights were violated. However, they do not fit into your narrative so you look past anytime the HRC may have helped someone who faced discrimination and choose only to examine the HRC through the cases that abused the system.<br /><br />Let me be very very clear, I do not believe that the HRC is perfect or even the preferred system to protect our Human Rights. But my problem is with YOUR overall approach to the issue of Human Rights, those who violate them and the response of those whose rights have been violated. This is an important point I would like you and other to keep in mind as you read my post.<br /><br />You State that, “I have now about 300 posts on my blog, most of which are about HRC/HRT incompetence, and meddling into our society. So, I am standing up, not shutting up, just not agreeing with you.”<br /><br />1) You may be standing up...standing up to an institution designed to protect the rights of Canadians which may be far from perfect. But you are applauding others who are ‘shutting up’ when it comes to enforcing their Human Rights and holding those who would break the law deny others of their Rights (which are protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms). <br /><br />You actually say that people should just move on and live their lives. But do you not think that if everyone did that and there was no accountability that this problem would get even worse and that employers discriminate to an even larger extent then they currently do? I understand and appreciate your valid concerns with the HRC but I feel that your distain for the HRC and the immoral people who abuse the system has clouded your perception of the discrimination that takes place and the consequences it has for real people and real lives.<br /><br />Do you really not believe that those who have faced Human Rights violations should resist, should fight? Do these people fighting for the rights of all Canadians to be treated fairly and with dignity deserve our appreciation and respect? Or should they just ‘move on with their lives’ and get over it?<br /><br />2) I do not quite understand your following statement that the HRC, “stacks up rights as it makes them up and as it chooses, so that my rights as a disabled person would trump my rights as a Christian. I refuse to give them the chance” . I would contend that discrimination against disabled people is a universal right and is in keeping with Christian values and rights. How exactly is the HRC enforcing rights that trump your rights as a Christian? Which Rights do you not agree with? <br /><br />I have read you chastise the HRC for clearly outline Human Rights which muddles up your simplistic view that we should all be nice and get along. But the problem is, people don’t. Are you saying that those 15 classes of discrimination do not need to be protected? Which ones would you get rid of? And in the words of Voltaire, “I may not agree or like what you have to say but I would fight to the death for your right to say it”!!Briannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4248478318892426116.post-54319107427661747052010-01-08T22:29:41.747-05:002010-01-08T22:29:41.747-05:00P.S.
What may I refer to you as? Any name?
Thanks....P.S.<br />What may I refer to you as? Any name?<br />Thanks.Briannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4248478318892426116.post-68835475921506389452010-01-08T22:24:30.554-05:002010-01-08T22:24:30.554-05:00Hello, Anonymous here. Thank you for your comments...Hello, Anonymous here. Thank you for your comments on my response to one of your posts. I really do appreciate it. I just popped in to see what was new and saw this. It is a bit late in the evening to make a full and complete response but I thought I would let you know that I will tomorrow. I may even need to seek some advice from you, despite our differing points of view. <br /><br />By the way, you can call me Brian if you’d like, although Anonymous certainly seems more intriguing.<br /><br />Anyways, I will post tomorrow. And I thank you again for this opportunity to voice my views.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />BrianBriannoreply@blogger.com