resting up

i haven't been posting here because i've been posting over at the hand mirror, and here is a roundup of the latest posts:  one on barriers to seeking justice for survivors of sexual abuse and violence, another on a trip i made to a resthome in auckland, one basically linking to other people's excellent writing, one remembering workers who have died because of inadequate health & safety measures at work, one on the reactions to a controversial piece by mona elhatawny, and finally, one on my negative reaction to a piece of advertising that appears to be extremely popular around the world.

i've been on anti-biotics for over a week now, trying to cure various infections that seem to have built up and which i can't seem to overcome.  i don't know that the medicine is working too well, which is a little depressing.  when anti-biotics are a failure, i hate to think what the next step is supposed to be.  but i'm spending this weekend trying to just rest and not do too much.  especially when i've got two very busy weekends coming up.  but more about that later.

i was directed to this moving talk by nobel laureate leymah gbowee from liberia, and it's really worth listening to:

the most important thing she said was at the end: that it doesn't take much to help these young girls to make their dreams a reality, and to improve their lives.  it just takes peoplel in their country and their community to care.  and as she says, there are girls in america & certainly in nz, who have dreams but lack opportunity.  sometimes all they really need are role-models, and as she says, the space to talk about their dreams.

there's this piece, probably only interesting to bruce springsteen fans, about 5 leadership tips somebody got from attending one of his concerts.  i thought it was cute.

and finally, talleys show once again why they're probably the worst employers in nz:

The Labour Department said on Monday that Talley's had a "long-running disregard for health and safety", with six incidents in the past 18 months of workers amputating fingers while using bandsaws to cut up carcasses.

Yesterday, Silver Fern Farms, which operates 22 plants, and the Alliance Group with nine plants, reported that each had recorded three workers cutting off fingers during the same period. 

i seriously don't know why this family has been allowed to control so much of nz's agricultural sector.  surely, like the crafars, there should be a mechanism by which to say they are simply unfit to be employers.