For those who care - my PhD research proposal.

It is my intention to further pursue issues arising from my honours thesis. I intend to investigate causal properties of qualia and their involvement in our ability to direct attention and explore the possibility that an iterated attention mechanism is a causal feature in the capacity for self awareness as experienced by human beings.

For my honours thesis I proposed a possible evolutionary trajectory for qualia that illustrated the importance of causal phenomenal qualia to the function of complex brains. I argued that qualia, via our senses, provide important information about our environment that are conducive to survival within it. To bolster the claim that qualia have causal properties, I used pain dissociation syndromes to illustrate that qualia we experience as one sensation are in fact made up of several modalities functioning in unison. This has implications for the view that some qualia are epiphenomenal and also the view that epiphenomenal qualia supervene upon brain function.

Possible avenues of further exploration include an assessment of Prinz’s latest work on attention and his defense of proxytype theory. I am certain that a study of Prinz, who recommends that: “We should seriously investigate the possibility that our cognitive resources are couched in codes that originated in the service of perception.” Will be vital to any further development of my thoughts on this matter. Also, recent studies of animal consciousness, such as those by Donald R Griffin, will aid the delineation of conscious and cognitive capacities, and hopefully point the way to a reduction to the capacity to pay attention.

Competing theories of perception will need to be given serious consideration as will the work of Chalmers, Michael Tye, Kim, Levine, Robinson, Strawson, Horgan and Tienson and others all of whom have something to say about the causal features of perceptual phenomena. Human medical examples that will aid the exploration include asognosias, attention deficits, and pathologies of perception particularly those resulting from stroke or other brain injury. I believe we learn most from brains that malfunction and new technologies such as fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) and TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) offer unprecedented insight into these pathologies.

My approach is both physicalist and empiricist. My scientific background in biochemistry makes me ideally placed to take advantage of any opportunities for cross-disciplinary investigation that may arise during my thesis.

*sigh* It's never, ever good enough.

The cure to sentimentality when it comes to killing rats.

Today was looking to be gloriously productive. Toddler napping, 11yo about to go to his friend's for a swim, me about to sit down and fill out my PhD application in the peace and quiet.

Only, when I reached up to the tippety-top of our one cupboard to retrieve the swimming gear that had been lying dormant since last season I was treated to an avalanche of something I thought were little black beads. In my face, in my hair, down my shirt. I vaguely wondered why I'd stored craft stuff up there instead of with the crafty stuff and took a closer look. Rat droppings. There must have been thousands. There are no words for how ill I felt. I'd literally been dumped on. 11yo thought it was hilarious of course. As usual Mummy is glad to be of comic service - not. *grump*

I've known that we've had vermin for a while. They sneak into the kitchen and eat left over dog food, provide snuffly chasey entertainment for the dog at night and we hear them chasing each other in the roof and walls. But since they were not actually interfering with anything of ours, e.g. food. I have left them alone. (My husband sees this as 100% my problem just in case any of you were wondering...) But now that they are nesting in the linen cupboard and have chosen the crib cover I made for 2yo for a nest, chewing up the cot sheet that both 11yo and 2yo used as babies to line said nest, they have got to go. Nice Mummy has just been replaced by a rattucidal killing machine. Only...

I have a problem with killing rats. Not mice, or cockroaches, or venomous spiders, just rats. When we had our mouse invasion during the drought and they were eating anything not sealed in metal or glass I was happy to kill the little fuckers. It was a them or us thing. They contaminated our food supply, catching and relocating was not an option, therefore they had to die. It was during my mouse killing spree I found that poison was not a viable solution for us as they crawl away to die where you can't find them, produce unsavoury smells, and breed flies. So, I used traps, and when the traps didn't kill them I drowned them.

The trouble with using this method for rats, is that traps don't always kill them first go and then you are responsible for hours of suffering until you come along and finish the job. And rats, in the degrees of sentience scale, are way more sentient than mice. Rats can count to five, they are social creatures who pass on knowledge inter-generationally. They have been known to demonstrate emotional attachment. Leaving a creature like that in a trap for hours might just be beyond me :-(

(Oh, and for the anti-choice trolls who lurk and occasionally post here: Yes, I do think a rat has a stronger claim to sentience than a a 24 week old human foetus. Please go find yourselves a fetid dingo's kidney and choke on it. I'm not in the mood for you.)

But then again, maybe I should just remember how it felt to be dumped on by several generations of ratties before I get too sentimental. That and the fact that I now have to wash the entire contents of my linen cupboard and line the thing with steel wool wherever they are getting in.

So much for PhD application! Grrrr! Ah! Now I've found the anger. Off to Traps-R-Us for a little retail therapy....

40 days for Life and the consequences of Abortion Free States

This blogger, who wrote an article on the success or otherwise of the 40 Days for Life campaign, forgets a few key points.

The first is that abortion clinics have not been closing their doors due to lack of business, they have been closing their doors due to government legislation created by anti-choice pollies "for the health and safety of women" making it impossible for them to operate legally. Abortion clinics in the US have closed because they could not afford to widen their doors by the extra 2 inches required by the new laws. Hmmm. Abortion providers are dripping with money from their ill gotten gains, yet cannot afford a few renovations to keep their goose laying its golden eggs? Give me a break. Anyway, closures had less to do with lack of demand from women and more to do with impossible government demands. 40 days for life is giving itself a tad more credit than is due.

I wonder what will happen to the maternal death rates if the anti-choice dream of having abortion free states is realised? Middle class whiteys will be fine, they'll pay some obgyn to do it in secret. Its the poor women with nowhere to go that I worry about.

I want this book.

I know, I'm a bad blogger. I'm having a rest now that the decriminalisation legislation has been passed. It left me feeling both elated and deflated if that's possible.

But this issue will not go away. The religious right component of the anti-choice movement believe that they only lose if they give up. So they will not give up. We will be hearing from them again.

What can we do in the meantime? Reducing the stigma associated with abortion would be a start. Apparently this book is an excellent start. I want. I really like the picture on the cover. The emphasis is on the women and the choice. We remain women, people, dignified autonomous agents, no matter what we decide to do with our wombs.

Abortion Reform Bill passed. How to thank your MLCs

It seems that despite a few amendment hurdles women will now be able to exercise some control over when they use their precious power to make people without the threat of criminal prosecution. Am I happy? You betcha.

However, the MPs who voted for decriminalisation are probably still receiving hate mail as I write this.

Please help redress the balance and thank them. It's just one word, in one email (if you cut and past the long address I have provided below).

Here are the MLCs who voted for the bill:

Greg Barber, Greens
Candy Broad, Labor
Andrea Coote, Liberal
Kaye Darveniza, Labor
David Davis, Liberal
Philip Davis, Liberal
Khalil Eideh, Labor
Peter Hall, Nationals
Colleen Hartland, Greens
Gavin Jennings, Labor
David Koch, Liberal
Shaun Leane, Labor
Wendy Lovell, Liberal
Justin Madden, Labor
Jenny Mikakos, Labor
Martin Pakula, Labor
Sue Pennicuik, Greens
Jaala Pulford, Labor
Johan Scheffer, Labor
Brian Tee, Labor
Evan Thornley, Labor
Gayle Tierney, Labor
Matthew Viney, Labor

...and here is something you can cut and paste into the "To:" field of your mail program, it works for apple mail, and I imagine it will work for most mail programs:

greg.barber@parliament.vic.gov.au, candy.broad@parliament.vic.gov.au,andrea.coote@parliament.vic.gov.au, kaye.darveniza@parliament.vic.gov.au, david.davis@parliament.vic.gov.au, philip.davis@parliament.vic.gov.au, khalil.eideh@parliament.vic.gov.au, peter.hall@parliament.vic.gov.au, colleen.hartland@parliament.vic.gov.au, gavin.jennings@parliament.vic.gov.au, david.koch@parliament.vic.gov.au, shaun.leane@parliament.vic.gov.au, wendy.lovell@parliament.vic.gov.au, justin.madden@parliament.vic.gov.au, jenny.mikakos@parliament.vic.gov.au, martin.pakula@parliament.vic.gov.au, sue.pennicuik@parliament.vic.gov.au, jaala.pulford@parliament.vic.gov.au, johan.scheffer@parliament.vic.gov.au, brian.tee@parliament.vic.gov.au, evan.thornley@parliament.vic.gov.au, evan.thornley@parliament.vic.gov.au, matthew.viney@parliament.vic.gov.au

Finally, here is my letter:

Dear Members of the Legislative Council,

I wish to convey my heartfelt thanks for your support of the decriminalisation of abortion. Especially those who voted for it despite having personal reservations, you are true representatives of the people.

Thank you for trusting me, and women like me with this decision.

Thank you for contribution to removing the legislation that would, in the wrong hands, be used to compromise our autonomy and bodily integrity.

A very warm thank you to all of you.

Kind regards,

Update from Colleen Hartland (Wednesday afternoon)

A further update from Colleen Hartland MLC. I'm so grateful for these summaries! I read Shaun Leane's speech today and almost wept with relief. The man injected some reason, sanity and compassion into what has, at times, been a debate where certain blokes have laid bare their misogyny. Surely women represent half of their electorates? I wonder if any women are regretting their vote for Bernie Finn?

As for the delay tactics being used by the anti-choice brigade... can anyone say: "Abuse of Process"?


Dear all,

Nineteen MPs have now spoken, of which eleven have indicated that they will vote for the Abortion Law Reform Bill at second reading.

When I sent my last email to this group*, at about 6.30pm yesterday, I said that Bernie Finn (Libs) had been speaking for over an hour. He kept speaking after the dinner break, and hadn't finished at 10pm when the house adjourned. He started again this morning and kept talking, give or take lunch and question time, until 2.45pm this afternoon. I'm not entirely sure he stopped when we all went home overnight.

Mr Kavanaugh (DLP) is now speaking. So far it sounds like a repeat of Mr Finn's arguments, but with a softer voice. He has anticipated that he will speak for some time.

It's as though the anti-choice advocates have realised that they can't win the argument on legal or moral grounds, and instead they're trying to starve us out.

Mr Finn's arguments, while lengthy, were predictable, so his speech gave me over five hours to reflect and achieve perspective on the contributions so far.

One of the clearest truths, from all the speakers, including some of the anti choice speakers, is that this Bill won't change the number of abortions carried out in Victoria. All it will do is improve safety for the women and the medical practitioners. Nothing else will change if it passes.

Women still wouldn't make their decision in a vacuum. They still have to deal with society. I nearly cheered when Shaune Leane (ALP) suggested that the 2,000 people who have lobbied him against abortion, should instead send protest notes to their local media outlet when it vilifies single mothers in his extraordinary speech yesterday.

Jenny Mikakos (ALP) made an argument for practicing Christians such as herself, who would never choose abortion themselves, to nevertheless support the Bill in her speech on Tuesday. Jaala Pulford (ALP) said this afternoon that, worldwide, the abortion rate has no correlation to the legality of abortion, but instead to the place of women in society.

Ironically, some anti-choice advocates are frightened that this Bill will give too many rights to women, when it is an increase in women's rights that will decrease the number of abortions.

Mr Theophanous (ALP) was the first speaker this afternoon to refer directly to proposed amendments, which he has circulated. The amendments relate to abortion after 24 weeks gestation. He argues that some of a woman's reasons for abortion have more validity than others, and his proposed amendments reflect this view. My Greens colleagues and I will vote against them.

There will be up to 20 more speakers before we reach the first vote, which is the vote at the end of "second reading". My best guess is that the vote will take place tomorrow morning, after which we will start debating proposed amendments.

Usually we don't sit on Fridays. We've only done it once since I was elected. I think we should sit every day until the debate is concluded. I don't think that delay tactics should be rewarded, when the result would be to leave the public hanging on a decision by 40 members of parliament. Particularly when I think the decision should belong to each individual woman.

Regards, Colleen

* This email is going to about 500 people who have contacted me to indicate their support for a woman's right to choose, or their support of this legislation. I am sending updates from Parliament, while the Bill is being debated.

Colleen Hartland MLC

Western Metropolitan Region


E: colleen.hartland@parliament.vic.gov.au

P: 9689 6373

W: www.electedgreensvictoria.org.au

I’m now on Facebook – click here.

Update from Colleen Hartland MLC

Another email from Colleen Hartland MLC. I'd love to blog but I can't do much except bite my nails and watch.

Dear all,

The Abortion Law Reform Bill debate adjourned at 10pm last night, and started again this afternoon, after debate finished on a Liberal party motion on another topic.

We have now heard from 16 MPs, of which ten have indicated they will vote in favour of the Bill at "Second Reading" - that is, they support the Bill in principle, and will let it progress to the next debate stage, which is called the "committee" stage.

Today's debate has been fascinating. I recommend anyone following the debate via Hansard to read the extraordinary speech by Shaun Leane (ALP) when it is published overnight. It joins speeches by Andrea Coote (Libs) and Jenny Mikakos (ALP) yesterday, which I thought were outstanding.

There are still about a dozen MPs on the speaking list tonight. Yesterday they spoke for an average 30 minutes each (I only spoke for about ten minutes), so don't expect a result any time soon. As I write this, Bernie Finn (Libs) has been speaking for about an hour, and for the first time I have left the chamber.

I was surprised and delighted to receive brief messages from so many of you yesteday evening, including people who listened to my speech on the live broadcast, or read it on the website. My staff forwarded me some of the messages in Parliament, and they gave me a strong feeling of being part of a supportive, caring community during an exhausting sitting week.

These updates are going to about 500 people who asked me to vote for a woman's right to choose. I was already pro-choice, but you have given me the courage to stand up and speak with your strength and support. This included my very difficult decision to go public about having had an abortion. I am sure that brief, warm supportive emails to other pro-choice MPs would also be appreciated.

You may have heard that pro-choice MPs are receiving abusive emails after speaking. I have been inundated with those emails, each one nastier than the last. If the anti-choice brigade ever needed to convince us that they are abusive, misogynist bullies who want to impose their choices on others, they have achieved that aim, with bells on! Mind you, yesterday one email spat "the BRAZEN nerve of you", and I'm taking that as a compliment.

I expect we will sit later tonight than last night, because of the delay in starting the debate. I will send a message with the results of the "second reading" vote, if we get there.

Colleen Hartland MLC

Western Metropolitan Region



E: colleen.hartland@parliament.vic.gov.au

P: 9689 6373

W: www.electedgreensvictoria.org.au

I’m now on Facebook – click here.

Email from Colleen Hartland MLC

Colleen Hartland sent this email to people who wrote to her regarding decriminalisation of abortion. I have permission to reprint it here.

Dear all,

I am writing to you with an update on the debate in Parliament on the Abortion Law Reform Bill, because you sent me an email or letter in support of a woman's right to choose.

The debate started a few hours ago. Seven MPs including myself have given their main speeches on the legislation.

Six of those seven MPs (including myself) have indicated that they will support the Bill at 'second reading'.* However, the Bill is still a long way from passing. It will be a very close vote, and there are already amendments circulating that, if passed, would threaten the integrity of the Bill.

Some of the speeches have been inspiring and unexpected. Others have been careful and restrained. All have been respectful.

I have placed a copy of my own speech notes onto my website - click here. It was both a proud and humbling experience to speak on behalf of women's rights in parliament. I dedicated the speech to women who had died or were maimed by backyard abortion, and spoke about a range of issues, including the steps that need to be taken to give women more control, and decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies. I challenged the anti-choice MPs to support initiatives from contraception and sex education through to sole parents benefits.

It's been a great day for women's rights. I've really enjoyed working wtih pro-choice MPs from different political parties, including people I wouldn't agree with on many other issues!

Parliament will resume at 8.30pm tonight and I expect that we will sit until very late.

The debate on this Bill will most likely continue tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon, then again on Thursday morning. It's possible we will sit on Friday and even Saturday to complete the debate.

You can listen to parliament via a live broadcast - click here and choose "Legislative Council" (ie the "red" chamber!). You can also attend and listen (quietly) in the public gallery, which is always open when parliament is sitting, no matter how late.

I won't be able to answer any queries while Parliament is sitting, but please contact my office on 9689 6373 if you have any urgent enquiries.
Colleen Hartland MLC

Western Metropolitan Region



E: colleen.hartland@parliament.vic.gov.au

P: 9689 6373

W: www.electedgreensvictoria.org.au

I’m now on Facebook – click here.

* That is, they support the Bill in principle, and will vote for it to proceed to the "committee" stage, when individual clauses and any proposed amendments will be debated in greater detail, and voted on separately.

To my lovely work mates.

Hmmm. From the logs it looks like someone from work has been checking this blog out.



There are three things my lovely work mates should know.

a) I am not my blog, my blog is not me.

My blog is a slice of my ego, it is not necessarily the nicest portion either. This blog is where I get things off my chest. Do not confuse ventings here with my meat-space self.

b) There are things I post here about my life outside work that you may regret knowing.

Some things you can't "unread" - proceed with caution.

c) I am actually happy to answer questions in meat-space, though you may be disappointed with the responses I give there!

Cheers peeps :-) See you for coffee.