I'm back. Or at least, I think I am.

Applying for scholarships again after a long break for reasons that I may or may not stick up here. In other words, real life and personal reasons. It has occurred to me that documentation of these events could be illuminating given that I'm semi-articulate and self absorbed enough to enjoy writing about personal drama. However, the fact that I was not even able to do that is an indication that I should think very carefully before going public.

I'm wading through old essays in an attempt to trace my developing interest in consciousness. It's a fascinating ride, and I've decided to put up a few snippets here, but before I do:

Important tip for part-timers - always, always look back over old essays. I have just realised that many of the positions I hold today are held for reasons that I have FORGOTTEN because I came into them years ago. So when I'm asked to justify them now I look like a complete eeejit, frantically grasping for memories I couldn't possibly be expected to retrieve in moments after a break of over ten years. Looking over these documents is like reading the journey of my arrival. It's so enlightening that I can't recommend it highly enough to people who have to complete their degrees at a snail's pace.

It's also an interesting example of extended mind :)

Sermon over.

There are so many references to it that I am vividly recalling my frustration at the word limit and how often I was picked up on a statement I did not have room to justify. Hopefully postgraduate study will allow me to justify to my heart's content, so wish me luck!

My frustration with the often tenebrous use of the terms consciousness and mind are evident in a 2000 tutorial assignment:

"How am I to answer a question about a Problem of Other Minds when I could not say for certain what features just one mind would possess?"

I was thinking about this ten years ago, and the question STILL bugs me today. This is a good, good sign :)

My frustration with the word limits, expressed in an essay:

"Since it is impossible in 2000 words to cover all philosophical theories of perception, I shall cover the central issues by using Fred Dretske's entry in my Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy as a guide..."

Actually this was complete crap. I had left this particular essay until the last minute and had to springboard 2000 words off a ~100 word dictionary entry - I was convinced I'd failed spectacularly. However, it seems that philosophy lecturers like it when you focus on one microscopic point and take it to pieces. Who knew?

My public comment on the draft - National Guidance on Maternity Care

or as I like to call it, Sharing the Maternity Habitat.

It's a bit long, but I've been too unwell to write anything more substantial than a tweet for ages, so I thought I'd put it up. It's terrible, but the best I could do in three hours :-\

To Whom It May Concern:

I’m an over educated mother of two having two degrees and a philosophy honours. I have been interested in reproductive autonomy ever since I had to fight to get it during the births of my two children. I have maintained an active interest ever since. My activities include writing to MPs and supporting and advising friends of their rights during their pregnancies and births. My primary reason for penning this contribution is that I believe that home birth midwives are professionals in their own right and thus should have indemnity insurance etc without the rather draconian necessity for collaboration.

Details are below. I humbly apologise for any errors of expression or formatting. I’m rather busy and vague and I was reminded of this deadline today - I only started at 9.00 pm! Obviously I feel very strongly about it if I’m willing to sweep all other commitments aside to work on it.

Reading through 1.1 Collaboration in health care, I am reminded that the hospital environment has its origins in the military and still has a rigorous ‘chain of command’ environment with doctors at the top and unquestioning nurses at the bottom. I was pleased to see your acknowledgement of the current health care culture in 2.6 Mutual trust and respect:

“For maternity care collaborations to be successful in Australia, the culture in maternity services will need to change. The current lack of trust is proving a major barrier. Trust and respect must be earned, rather than just assumed (Box 2.8; NHMRC consultations 2009).”

Collaborative care challenges that culture and you are to be congratulated on your efforts in this regard.

Summary of my points

We need to be sure that the people determining what is best evidence are capable, discerning and impartial. That is, they know how to read a paper and have some grasp of statistics.

Despite assertive wording in this document to the contrary, a power imbalance will continue between doctors and midwives. That this power imbalance remains illustrates that midwives are still not identified as independent maternity care professionals.

Private midwives must be able to enter metropolitan hospitals as the birthing woman’s chosen maternity care coordinator and be able to act with appropriate authority in this position.


Box 1.2 Point 2

“Collaboration empowers women to choose care that is based on the best evidence and is appropriate for themselves and for their local environment.”

During my experience in science I found that “best evidence” is always open to debate, and often what is best evidence is dictated by those who are perceived as more knowledgeable or experienced. In this case, the perceived voice of experience is the AMA. If the people dictating “best evidence” are doctors (well meaning, but fallible, reluctant to be sued, and an amazing number of them can’t do statistics) then there will be no improvement in maternity care and women will not be empowered because they will not be fully informed. Recently, the head of the AMA used a South Australian study to show that home birth was dangerous. If one reads the research paper it is perfectly clear that he misunderstood it, and if one removes the problematic births (premature, fatal birth defects) home births are just as safe as hospital births for normal pregnancies. We need to be sure that the people determining what is best evidence are capable, discerning and impartial. This needs to be explicitly stated in the guidelines as evidence guides risk assessment policies and it is these policies that will directly affect pregnant women.

Box 1.3

“Collaborating partners are independent maternity care professionals who are actively collaborating (i.e. not in an employee–employer relationship). Collaborating partners refer women to each other as the need arises.”

Despite your emphasis on there not being an employer-employee relationship, the power imbalance between doctors and midwives remains. A doctor will not lose insurance and Medicare access if a midwife refuses to collaborate with him/her, but a midwife stands to lose all of these things if a doctor refuses collaboration. That this power imbalance remains illustrates that midwives are still not identified as independent maternity care professionals. The power relationship is the same as that of an employer/employee in this respect.

I am saddened to see the assertion repeated here in 2.3 Awareness of disciplines and autonomy:

“Importantly, maternity care professionals should fully respect each other's professional autonomy. As regulated health practitioners, each clinician is responsible for working within and to their scope of practice, as defined by their profession, and in line with their professional and organisational codes and guidelines. Maternity care collaboration does not include one profession controlling the practice of another.”

Until midwives can access insurance etc without a collaborative arrangement, these mentions are mere lip service to the idea that one profession does not control the practice of the other.

Back to Box 1.3:

“A collaborative agreement or arrangement is an informal or formal recognition of the terms of a collaboration.”

How are midwives going to qualify for insurance etc if agreements are informal?

3.3.3 Metropolitan public hospitals - Access to Hospitals

You state that “access may be problematic at metropolitan hospitals”. This is something that must be addressed in the legislation to prevent situations where the birthing woman has chosen her maternity care coordinator, but this coordinator cannot attend the patient in any meaningful way if a transfer to hospital becomes necessary.

I note that you address some of the issues in 3.2.6 Credentialing, however, I believe that the emphasis on allowing privately practicing midwives access to hospitals should be stronger. Below I emphasise my concerns regarding outcomes if a midwife is not allowed to practise at the hospital of her client’s choice.

If a privately practicing metropolitan midwife cannot be credentialed at several hospitals then this will restrict choice of hospital for anyone she cares for and 1.2.1 Definition of maternity care collaboration:

“They support the person the woman has nominated as her maternity care coordinator, and recognise clearly defined roles and responsibilities for everyone involved in the woman’s care.”

is not remotely possible. Private midwives must be able to enter metropolitan hospitals as the birthing woman’s chosen maternity care coordinator and be able to act with appropriate authority in this position. In order to act with appropriate authority they must also have clinical privilege. Clinical privilege is something that can be established during the organisation of transfer plans.

I note this also comes up in 2.1 Women centred care and communication:

“Women have the right to decline care or advice if they choose. Therefore, if a woman refuses care or advice based on the information provided, her choice must be respected. Importantly, women should not be ‘abandoned’ because of their choice (NHMRC consultations 2009). Having a coordinator of care to provide a consistent, clear point of contact is integral to this approach (NHMRC consultations 2009).”

Again, if a private midwife has appropriate authority in a hospital setting the issue of abandonment becomes null and void. I know women who have elected not to have a private midwife because the thought of being in a hospital where their primary carer would have to leave their qualifications at the door was too daunting.

3.2.7 Hospital bookings

It is my opinion as a consumer that booking into hospital ought to be compulsory, and that the hospital should be notified of beginning of labour, particularly for a home birth. Making this compulsory would facilitate communication between home birth midwives and doctors and also act as a gesture of goodwill. Even the most belligerent OB can muster some respect for a safety conscious home birth midwife.


Again, I admire your efforts to change the culture of maternity care in Australia. But I reiterate that home birth midwives and models of care need more support than they currently get in these guidelines.

Yours sincerely,

Quick letter re the state of our State Library

Dear Editor,

Regarding Leslie Cannold's article (Comment, 23/2) and Anne-Marie Schwirtlich's reply (27/2).

The State Library has failed to provide the colony with its "peoples' university". If people who need silence to work cannot access it then the library is not the truly egalitarian institution envisaged by Sir Redmond Barry.

Perhaps the CEO of the State Library has not frequented an Australian university library of late. Though they have noisy areas, Australia's university libraries are home to some of the last bastions of totally silent study. Often and unfortunately these sacred spaces are reserved exclusively for those who have the privilege of being enrolled in a course. If the CEO were truly interested in providing a "peoples' university" for our growing colony, she would provide spaces for people to work in silence regardless of social status, financial resources, age, gender or university enrolment status.

Kind regards,

Has the Tell the Truth Coalition has reared its ugly head again?

Maybe, maybe not. The US style scare tactics are similar, I wonder if Trevor Grace, who has put 'election campaign' posters up, has started to deliver pamphlets yet?

I wonder if Trevor Grace is using public money for his 'campaign'? It seems to me that any reasonable person would know that a graphic anti-abortion campaign is a sure fire way not to get elected. Then again, it also seems to me that running for a seat with public money is a great way to get publicity for your anti-choice campaign. Just sayin'

Unfortunately the website does not have forums for discussion, but if anyone reading this has had a termination in SA could they please fill out their questionnaire. Might provide some balance. The questionnaire does require that you give personal details so... not that I would encourage anyone to lie... but fake addies if you feel that it's none of their business who you are. My favourite fake addy is:

1 MyPrivacyPolicy Drive, YouDon'tNeedToKnow, Vic 3000

Usual warnings about graphic photos apply. Site is filled with the standard lies.

http://abortSA.com

Interestingly enough, they are whois savvy with the domain name registered to... um... no one in particular. However, it does seem that you can send that no one in particular an email or post something to their Post Box. It appears that this kind of Domain Privacy is becoming the norm these days.

What's weird is that if Trevor Grace has boldly associated himself with abortSA.com then he shouldn't have anything to hide from a whois search.

So whois hiding??

I strongly suspect that some digging might produce some familiar names, however, I don't have time to dig, I have to get back to work!

omain Name.......... abortsa.com
Creation Date........ 2008-10-14
Registration Date.... 2008-10-14
Expiry Date.......... 2018-10-14
Organisation Name.... abortsa.com
Organisation Address. P O Box 59
Organisation Address. Collins Street West
Organisation Address. Melbourne
Organisation Address. 3000
Organisation Address. VIC
Organisation Address. AU

Admin Name........... Admin PrivateRegContact
Admin Address........ P O Box 59
Admin Address........ Collins Street West
Admin Address........ Melbourne
Admin Address........ 3000
Admin Address........ VIC
Admin Address........ AU
Admin Email..........
Admin Phone.......... +61.386242485
Admin Fax............

Tech Name............ TECH PrivateRegContact
Tech Address......... P O Box 59
Tech Address......... Collins Street West
Tech Address......... Melbourne
Tech Address......... 3000
Tech Address......... VIC
Tech Address......... AU
Tech Email...........
Tech Phone........... +61.386242485
Tech Fax.............
Name Server.......... ns32b.ssggrp-wc.com
Name Server.......... ns32a.ssggrp-wc.com

Roxon's response to AVN and a dig at her take on home birth.

From a press conference with Nicola Roxon, the Health Minister, and Jim Bishop, the Commonwealth's Chief Medical Officer.

Question: Do you think an element in the slow take-up has been misinformation from the internet and from groups like anti-vaccination network?

Nicola Roxon: I think we've been quite clear about the anti-vaccination network's objections to any type of vaccination which is not based in any of the science or medical advice that we have.

I can't explain or predict how many people pay attention to that. I think it is irresponsible material, by and large, and I would encourage all Australians to act on the advice of the Government, of course based on the advice from the Chief Medical Officer, our specialised teams that meet to provide us with information, the very rigorous TGA process to ensure that this is safe for children, and we are satisfied of all those things and I think it is foolish for people to spread misinformation about a vaccine which can actually provide protection where we know there have been some bad consequences in paediatric situations, so for young children, and this is a way to protect against that.

Though I wholeheartedly agree with her this time, it's a depressing thought for me that she lacks credibility due to her involvement in restricting home birth. Roxon, unfortunately, appears to do none of the research herself. Rather, she seems to take as gospel anything anyone with a white coat or an AMA membership says.

Music for Agnostic Ears

I DO like this Father Peter Kennedy guy: "I think it's much more wonderful to believe in evolution, it's such a mystery, it's so wonderful and it's breathtaking, but that doesn't destroy my faith in God - in whatever God is."

This, coming from a recovering catholic priest, is music to the ears of an agnostic like me who believes that a common belief and regular gatherings are good for a community. For those who are under the erroneous impression that we agnostics are 'fence sitters' may I remind you that a a true agnostic is one who believes that the existence or not of a god is something that we, as human beings, CANNOT POSSIBLY KNOW.

Read more at www.abc.net.au

For Melbournites - Birth Choices Meeting

Wanna bet I'll be moderated off the AVN blog?

Below is my response to AVN's blog post that jumped on the Sunday Express front page "Jab 'as dealy as the cancer'"!!! Headline. I'm betting it won't make it past moderation, because the AVN won't be at all interested in what Dr Diane Harper actually had to say about the HPV vaccine.

That's because this 'woman' - Dr Diane Harper - was contacted for comment by Ben Goldacre and it turned out she did not say any of the things above. She made a complaint and the article was removed from the Sunday Express website. Obviously, however, the damage it caused remains.

To read what she actually thinks of the HPV vaccine and to learn some important distinctions between the UK vaccine and the US vaccine, try:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/oct/10/ben-goldacre-cervical-cancer-jab
This was published in the Guardian. You will note that Dr Diane Harper has not asked the Guardian to remove this column.

Prochoice Comfort Food

A great interview demonstrating why any religious body should steer clear of interfering with the state - They have NO idea how legislation enforcing their moral codes would work. Enjoy.

Large Hadron Rap. Making physics funky.

Ever wonder what the Large Hadron Collider did? Also check out Marty's blog for photos of the Gordan Freeman look alike :)

Women Deserve Better

Thanks to Leslie Cannold for passing this on. As she said, strap in, and hold on. Folk using readers may have to visit to see...

I think I really am two people.

I'm getting more than I bargained for with this multi-disciplinary thing. Whenever I read medical or scientific papers my philosopher persona continually shakes its head in disbelief at the all too frequent internal contradictions and ambiguity caused by sloppy choice of words. Yet if I try to read philosophy my scientist persona thunks its head on the desk in frustration at subtle distinctions it sees as time-wasting bickering over definitions or processes that can't be tested.

I just wish they would talk to each other for a bit and leave me alone!

Letter to Essential Baby re AVN link

Sent this a few minutes ago. It would be so nice to get a reasonable response! We'll see:


Dear Editor,

I write regarding the article in Essential Baby entitled "Vaccines and Your Child".

I have no complaint about the article, but I am gravely concerned that it links to the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN).

The AVN are currently under investigation by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission for providing misleading information to parents who are researching vaccination.

I am deeply worried that if this link to AVN is provided by Essential Baby it will give the AVN a credibility that I am convinced they do not deserve.

They are demonstrably anti-vaccination and it would be extremely difficult to find a doctor in NSW (where they are based) who would recommend them as a balanced or reliable source of information on vaccines.

I have personally gone through their claims and found most of them to be outdated or cherry-picked. (I have a BSc/BA Hons and have worked in an industry where we create anti-bodies for research.) I published my (long) findings on my otherwise uninteresting blog - http://emervents.blogspot.com/2009/06/critique-of-avns-10-reasons-to-think.html

I recommend you change the link to the Victorian Government's information page which also has vaccine information available in languages other than English and has links to recent data on vaccine coverage etc. http://www.health.vic.gov.au/immunisation

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Extension vs Intension

If you have arrived here hoping for a clear explanation of extension and intension I would read no further and go to Garth Kemerling's page on Meaning and Definition which is excellent. In this post I'm just having a play with the words and I'm likely to muddy the waters rather than enlighten you. (Also, it's very probably false.)

The extension of the term ‘extension’ consists of every word that could be said to be extensional.

Whereas the intension of the term ‘extention’ is the criteria for extension which is that the word be extensional.

The extension of the term ‘intension’ consists of every word that could be said to be intensional.

Whereas the intension of ‘intension’ is the criteria for intension which is that there be criteria a word must meet before the word intension applies.

OK?

An honest account of motherly anger? About time.

Film-maker Julia Black, a BAFTA and Grierson nominated independent documentary maker, is making a film about motherly anger. As a mother of two, she is interested in shifting the taboo that surrounds a mother's anger towards her child or children and wishes to research into how many mothers, like her, have been shocked by the level of anger they experience.

Please take a few minutes to fill in this online questionnaire. All answers are entirely anonymous and cannot be traced to your e-mail address.

www.survey.ingenious2.co.uk

I did it, and it can be done in ten minutes or so. There's also room for the more loquacious of us to comment at the end which was nice (for me anyway!).

I love this sentence...

...from an old essay:

Deleuze and Guattari state that “The problem of philosophy is to acquire a consistency without losing the infinite into which thought plunges.” (p 42). It is the conceptual persona that drinks from the infinite and vomits possibilities onto the philosopher's page. They are the explorers, the provocateurs and engineers of thought, the part of the philosopher that ventures into the new, awake while the remainder wallows in dogma anaesthetic. This aspect of the creative process is a necessary part of thought and thus for Deleuze and Guattari's philosophical ontology, indispensable.

...and I can't help wondering where all of my conceptual personae have got to :(

In support of Ken McLeod's complaint against the AVN

Better late than never I guess...

To whom it may concern,

I write to support Ken McLeod's complaint against the Australian Vaccination Network. I found AVN after a rather heated discussion with friends about vaccination and was so appalled at the misinformation on the AVN's website that I wrote two lengthy blog posts calling them out on their errors.

http://emervents.blogspot.com/2009/05/thinking-about-vaccines-thinking-of.html

http://emervents.blogspot.com/2009/06/critique-of-avns-10-reasons-to-think.html

I have two degrees, one of them in science, and sometimes I use my advantages (education and access to university resources) to call out organisations who would seek to sway the public with, if I'm kind, mistakes and outdated information.

In summary, the AVN use information that is often outdated, cherry picked, or just plain erroneous, and I think that it is of grave concern that well meaning parents might use their information as a basis for an important decision regarding their children's health.

Please keep in mind that these are blog posts, the tone is meant to be conversational and sometimes acrimonious (I get grumpy when tired). Nonetheless, the second one especially should give a clear indication of the kinds of untruths the AVN are happy to have parents believe. I am not happy about it at all. Hence this letter of support for Ken McLeod's complaint.

Brief birth language...

Quite often when an unusual birth story hits the news you'll read about the hero civilian (or other non-medico) delivering the baby as though the mother was so much chopped liver. Nice to see a news article getting the labour the right way around for once!

What do I want?

Good food, good drink, to be warm in winter and not too hot in summer, to have moral, well-rounded and content children, to have a small circle of good friends who get my jokes, a devoted partner who can make me laugh even in my blackest moods, a vegetable garden and to figure out what makes humans, well, human. I want to have all this while living in an equitable society.

I’ve very nearly got them all. Australia is slowly getting there. I haven’t planted anything this year but planning to be raring to go for autumn and the 3yo is slowly getting the all important “Do unto others” maxim. It’s the penultimate one that’s going to be the corker. What makes humans human? What are humans anyway? What are we? WHO are we? What on earth are we for? and most importantly (for me anyway), how do we work?

I’ve done a science degree majoring in biological molecules, I’ve explored the world of plants, microbes, insects, reptiles and mammals and it still amazes me that something as complex as an ant could emerge from an exquisitely organised cluster of molecules let alone a thinking, feeling, acting human being capable of immense wonders, dire atrocities and love that makes my heart flip every time I encounter it.

When I crumble homemade compost through my fingers I wonder: how can we be made from essentially the same stuff as this? It is naught but luck that some of the carrots in our house turned into compost and some into human via hungry kiddie tummies. No wonder people invented a divine creator (apologies to those who don’t think the creator was an invention) - something to stop the wondering that could drive most men mad. Fortunately for me I’m not most men (I don’t envy them their genitalia to be honest and seriously, if there is a creator, I think they’ve got some explaining to do in that area) but the question is driving me mad. Not because I don’t like the wonder, but because (despite my husbands Herculean efforts) I get to spend so little time devoted to it.

Parents simply don’t get to swim in entrancing questions the way people can when they do not have caring commitments. And when the question is one of human consciousness, there’s a great deal of swimming needs to be done. So what do I want? I don’t want a Nanny, I like my children most of the time and they need their parent around. Maybe I’d like an extra 72 hours a week just for me. Yep, that’s what I want. A little speedy time capsule so I could nab an extra 72 hours while the others slept. I might age a little faster than my husband, I might use some of those extra hours for sleeping, who knows? The point is they would be just for me. Some guilt-free hours just for me, that’s what I really want.

How to approach women in public 101

One day, a long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away when I worked in science.... a bunch of girls and one bloke were sitting in the tea room talking about self defence. We talked about the general differences between men and women, strength, centre of gravity, and vulnerable body bits. Each contributed something: knowing when to run, how to fight when cornered, what to yell (FIRE!) and how to defend yourself with a pencil or a set of keys.

The one bloke listened with his mouth agape, "You girls have REALLY thought about this haven't you?"

Well, yes, we have. Because we have to, because every strange bloke we meet might be a strange assaulter. Men are generally so much stronger than women it's almost obscene, we have to think about our safety all the time. That's life.

This excellent post, Schrodinger's Rapist, sums up why we girls might treat really nice men like they're lepers if they approach us in public. It's a beautiful job, reasonable and non-hackle-raising. Essential reading for any bloke still looking for Ms Right.