In response to criticisms of the governments delay in evacuating Australian citizens, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says;

“The failure so far to get a chartered ship in shows just how hard it is.”

Not too hard for the British who are on stand-by with two aircraft carriers and four other ships, not too hard for India sending four navy ships, not too hard for Russia sending Emergencies Ministry aircraft to pick up its citizens, not too hard for Spain sending a Spanish airforce Boeing 707, not too hard for Brazil sending a Brazilian air force plane, not too hard for Croatia who sent a Croatia Airlines chartered flight, not too hard for France sending a ferry, not too hard for Egypt sending two Egyptian air force C-130 transport planes, not too hard for Italy sending an Italian destroyer, not too hard for Canada who sent six vessels to evacuate their citizens and not too hard for Sweden hiring a ferry boat –Source.

All those years in the top job and our Foreign Minister has not created a reliable network of support.

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Yesterday, one of my favourite bloggers alerted me to the story of India banning xxx.blogspot.com/xxx.typepad.com/
xxx.blogs.com/and www.geocities.com/xxx. Speculation for the reasons for the censorship banning have been linked to the recent bombings in Mumbai.

In less than a week I see that the pressure was such that the Indian government had to retreat from it’s censorship and state that:

“Because of a technological error, the Internet providers went beyond what was expected of them which in turn resulted in the unfortunate blocking of all blogs.” – said the government official.

One domain name and one web site can create the same type of information as a blog.

Bloggers and the blogosphere- too wired, too smart, too many.

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The problem with not addressing a deep-seated issue between two people who are in a close relationship with each other to the satisfaction of both of the people in that relationship is that the deep-seated issue does not disappear – it just gets worse. So, ‘shaking hands’ is really just a short-term response to the discomfort or perceived impasse of the issue.

I’m predicting Costello will use the popular tool of the oppressed and powerless – sabotage and passive resistance.

This should be interesting!

Have you ever dated someone and they have a when-it’s-the-right-time-rule-book for intimacy? Sadly, once, I did. He was older than me and stated that it would be disrespectful to rush straight in. We were to take it slowly and get to know one another first before we became intimate. I was young and I thought, “Ok, this must be how grown-ups have relationships.” After too many of these slowly, slowly dates I just thought Fuck! – Can I get some disrespect here? Discussions, like the decision, were one sided. Needless to say, by that point I wasn’t too clear if it was less about passion and lust and more about power and control. I found a new date.

I very quickly realised that things that are organic should not have non-organic elements super-imposed.

This is exactly what has happened to the leadership speculation between HoWARd and Costello. Our PM is using his power to control what is a natural dynamic of a group- that being the progression of a new Leadership. He is doing this to the detriment of the wellness within his party and the confidence of the voters. The longer it goes on, the happier I am as it destabilises the coalition’s position and we may finally vote them out. The longer it goes on the more we realise just what sort of a person HoWARd is. And isn’t he looking like nothing more than a mendacious, compulsive excuse-maker.

By the time HoWARd and Costello wrestle through the power and control and the “but you promised”- the voters will cease to care and the electorate will be dating someone new.

Six years ago, in the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne, a woman (known as “Ms X”) became hysterical when she was informed that the foetus she was carrying had skeletal dyspraxia (commonly known as dwarfism). She demanded an abortion.

At 32 weeks pregnant, aged 40, Ms X was acutely suicidal and, after careful examination by an ultrasonologist, obstetrician, geneticist and psychiatrist, a decision was taken to terminate the pregnancy in February 2000. Six years later the Court of Appeal rejected Ms X’s case.

“Subject to any appeal by the Hospital to the High Court, this decision categorically determines that sensitive medical records of a hospital are not exempt from production to a Court or statutory body (acting within its powers) on the grounds of public interest immunity.”

Ms X, as best she could, got on with her life. That was until Senator Julian McGauran, an anti-abortion Liberal Party Senator made a complaint to the Medical Practitioners Board. In November 2000, in parliament, he urged prosecution under an untested section of the Victorian Crimes Act, which creates an offence of child destruction after 28 weeks. Senator McGauran made the complaint after the State Coroner handed him a copy of the police brief that included the woman’s private medical files.

I have been concerned about the push to set aside a woman’s right to privacy with regard to medical records with the express goal of reducing reproductive rights for some time, and now, I am terrified.

“None of the people around that case, either that be the nursing staff or social workers or psychologists or the hospital ethics committee, the patient, the patient’s family or any doctors, had a concern about that case and did not feel it was appropriate to notify. When it was notified, the patient did not want the records released.Irrespective of that, then an individual, who has no real connection to the case, but has an ideological interest in the case has then been able to drag an individual through a process, over six years, where her records are investigated by people she didn’t want them to have investigated by.” – President of the Victorian AMA, Dr Mark Yates

I am very proud of the Victorian AMA and their push to change legislation so that a case like this can never be heard again. Ms X, and all women, have a right to expect privacy, dignity and support when they find themselves acutely suicidal at the thought of continuing a pregnancy.

Just so we are clear- after ‘acutely suicidal’ comes ‘completed suicide.’

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