I have a new hero

Lubna Hussein.

If you don't recognise the name, you might know the story. She is a former journalist from Sudan who was arrested a few weeks ago for wearing pants (trousers for those in the UK) in a restaurant. She was with 10 other women also wearing trousers, who were all arrested for indecent dress - the penalty is a whipping.

Unfortunately, while the penatly is pretty well established, the interepretation of 'indecent dress' isn't so it's pretty much up the individual cop as to whether to charge a woman for wearing trousers or not.

In this case, 10 of the women pled guilty to indecent dress and recieved lashes the next day. Lubna is pleading not guilty and has taken her case to court in a test of the law. And what makes this story even more amazing is that to force the issue and avoid any potential backing-out by the authorities in Sudan, she has quit her post at the UN Council and waived any right to immunity as a result. She is putting herself forward as a test case for women in Sudan and their rights - not so much to wear pants (I'm pretty sure that isn't really a right but a fashion statement although no doubt some people would think it was) but to not be subjected to vagarities and inequality in the justice system and to have a right to choice and know the consequences rather than being coerced into choices because of fear or lack of knowledge. Or maybe she is fighting for the right to wear pants because she has thick ankles and can't wear skirts.

Either way, she's pretty damn brave and definately a new hero of mine.

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE5734IP20090804?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

TED 2009

Another quickie - just wanted to draw your attention to the 2009 TED lecture series. My sister introduced me to TED and I'm rapidly becoming addicted to this site...

Basically it's an website that provides high quality videos of lectures by some pretty amazing people on topics near and dear to their hearts - so you get to hear Dan Gilbert explain what makes people happy, Richard Dawkins on militant atheism or people like Hans Rosling with some pretty amazing and fairly friendly statistics on poverty ect.

Think Stephen Fry, Bill Gates, Gordon Brown and others all have a lecture up there. Definately worth checking out on a lazy afternoon.

www.ted.com

Goodbye Chaser, Goodbye.

The Chaser finale was on Wednesday night. Sob.

I've been reading the obituary (comments) from the ABC website and I think this was my favorite because it managed to slam everyone under the age of 50 while acknowledging a slight flaw in their own reasoning:

Chris Theunissen:
30 Jul 2009 3:54:28pm
Good riddance. They symbolise all that is offensive about Generation Y even if they might be Gen X'ers.
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Nice.

Midwifes and Medicare

There was an interesting question posed on Q and A last night about midwives... apparently Nicola Roxon (the Australian Minister for Health and Aging) is suggesting that midwives who go about their midwif-ly duties in a hospital setting should be able to access the same sort of insurance and benefits to which doctors and nurses are currently entitled. This would not, however, extend to home births with no medical supervision.

Some women are visably distraught and upset about this - for some reason that I can't quite understand they seem to believe that their ability to choose how they have their baby is being taken away from them. I can appreciate that, if that was the case, it would cause distress to anyone facing such a big moment... but the arguement to me seems absolute rubbish. The choice is still open, and as with any choice there are consequences to take into account. These might be financial, health related or social but to expect that the repercussions of your choices should be equal is just ridiculous.

Personally I think the opportunity to choose a midwife rather than a doctor is a huge step forward. While I can appreciate the appeal of a world where giving birth at home and giving birth in a hospital carried the same amount of risk and was therefore a choice on preference rather than medical or financial reasons, that is a little unrealistic and places a huge burden on the rest of society to cater to the whims and fancies of every single individual. Of course, having never been pregnant or given birth, nor being a medical professional I have zero experience in professing my opinion... but I would like to think that one day it is a choice I would have to make and that I wouldn't expect the entire community to shoulder the risk and consequences of my own personal preferences. Just saying.