tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53921691625912667892023-11-15T10:21:31.124-08:00Blond AmbitionMy blog for rants and observations about politics, especially Australian politics. Pet peeves include corruption in politics, science and medicine and the aggressive promotion of psychiatry. I've often wondered why it appears that scum rise to the top and smartest, most honest people leave or are marginalized. I'm also peeved about the victimization of asylum-seekers by the Australian govt. and the parlous state of federal politics in general.
- Lili Marlene (not my real name)Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.comBlogger158125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-35768171461978902222019-06-14T02:14:00.001-07:002019-06-14T02:14:11.679-07:00Good riddance to bad rubbish!<br />
<span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The undeniably evil Australian cult leader and child abuser Anne Hamilton-Byrne has died in a nursing home. Should have happened inside of a jail.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why did the Victorian authorities allow the many years of abuse to happen, and why did they fail to bring her to trial and convict her? </span><br />
<span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/people/2019/06/14/notorious-cult-leader-anne-hamilton-byrne-dies/"><span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/people/2019/06/14/notorious-cult-leader-anne-hamilton-byrne-dies/</span></a><br />
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<a href="http://neverheardofthebloke.blogspot.com/2017/12/vile-deeds-grave-accusations-non.html"><span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://neverheardofthebloke.blogspot.com/2017/12/vile-deeds-grave-accusations-non.html</span></a>Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-47788604208229726672019-05-26T17:40:00.001-07:002019-05-26T17:40:30.410-07:00A timely question<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Has any journalist ever had the courage or the lack of regard for their career to ask former ALP Prime Ministers of Australia Bob Hawke or Paul Keating what and when they knew about the alleged child sex abuse activities of the late former ALP federal minister Bob Collins? It is too late to ask the over-rated Hawke, who died shortly before the recent federal election and will have a state memorial service in his honour next month at the Sydney Opera House, and will also soon have a new school in Perth named after him. I very much doubt that anyone has or will have the fortitude to ask the acid-tongued Keating what he knew, even though there has been an allegation reported that Keating's office was informed about Collins' activities when the ALP were in power (presumably during the Hawke/Keating era in the 1980s-1990s), to be told that they couldn't do anything without evidence. An allegation is counted as evidence when it is made in a court hearing, but like many men accused of child sex abuse crimes, Collins took his own life before he had to face a courtroom, saving the ALP and his supporters the trouble and dishonour of having to acknowledge any guilty findings of a court, and also denying his many alleged victims the "closure" and personal validation of a guilty finding. </span><br />
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<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20071224195947/http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=299532"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">https://web.archive.org/web/20071224195947/http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=299532</span></a><br />
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20071224195953/http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=301641">https://web.archive.org/web/20071224195953/http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=301641</a> </span><br />
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<a href="https://neverheardofthebloke.blogspot.com/2017/12/vile-deeds-grave-accusations-non.html"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">https://neverheardofthebloke.blogspot.com/2017/12/vile-deeds-grave-accusations-non.html</span></a>Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-13898988430289413902019-05-05T19:48:00.002-07:002019-05-05T19:50:00.524-07:00New additions to listMy list about famous people accused or convicted of sexual exploitation of young people or children now has more names added and additions to notes on other names. Interesting and disturbing stuff, and lots of Australian names, but also many names from outside the Anglophone world.<br />
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<a href="https://neverheardofthebloke.blogspot.com/2017/12/vile-deeds-grave-accusations-non.html">https://neverheardofthebloke.blogspot.com/2017/12/vile-deeds-grave-accusations-non.html</a><br />
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<br />Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-17343736687971147522018-07-25T08:38:00.000-07:002018-08-29T03:54:25.119-07:00Who is the "lion of the Left"?<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b6d7a8;">A while ago I noticed something interesting. It appears that, for some reason, journalist Tracey Spicer, who has become the leader of the Me Too movement in Australia, has retracted an interesting detail from an article that she wrote for the Daily Telegraph that was published on April 29th 2018, and some time after publication that article was put behind a paywall. That article is <span style="background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">about sexual assault accusations in regard to famous or powerful Australians. </span>I'm quite sure I read the article in the original form without paying a while ago. When I looked up the full text of the article in an online article subscription database recently, the phrase "<span style="display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">known as a ‘lion of the Left’," was missing. Fortunately the original article was quoted in <a href="https://finance.nine.com.au/2018/04/30/15/18/red-ink-tracey-spicer-bill-cosby-sky-news-fairfax-media">another article</a> that is still openly readable on the internet, including a quote of the paragraph that has been snipped, the quote still having the missing phrase intact </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"<span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">“One woman who contacted me with claims of being drugged and raped says her lawyer advised her not to report it because, ‘prosecuting a rape case against such a high profile man would be harrowing’. Another woman says she was drug-raped by her uncle — an Australian media icon — after he spiked her drink. A third alleges she was raped by a legendary politician, known as a ‘lion of the Left’, at the age of 15,” Spicer wrote."</span></span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></span></i></span>
<span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, I'm guessing someone from "the Left" has spooked Spicer or the newspaper that she wrote for, and caused an episode of self-censorship. If someone somewhere has already reported about this retraction I'd like to know the story behind it. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></span></span>
<span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, I've wondered who this person is, bearing in mind that accusations are not proof of a crime. The phrase "lion of the left" could be a quote from a written source, and I've had a stab at a phrase search on Google, but I've found that phrase has been widely used to describe various politicians. I've assumed that this "legendary politician" of the left is Australian as Spicer is operating her campaign in Australia. For a moment I wondered whether this could have been an early disclosure from the daughters of the late Australian writer Dorothy Hewett, before they started naming names last month. They named Bob Ellis and an abuser when they were underage, and though he was closely associated with the left in politics in Australia, he never got elected as a politician. Another Bob, Bob Collins, was a known child sex abuser and an Australia politician of the left, but hardly legendary and as I am aware, chose boys as victims. My money is on Bill Shorten, if the allegation is true, and I have no reason to doubt. He has already been accused of rape by a female who has alleged that she was 16 at the time, a very similar accusation. Shorten could fairly be described as a legendary Australian politician who is a lion of the left. Perhaps the choice of the phrase "lion of the left" is a hint at Shorten's legendary record as a political predator? </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #b6d7a8;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></span></span>
<span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Could it be true that the man who is close to becoming Australia's next Prime Minister is a paedophile rapist at least twice over? Such a state of affairs is worse than my worst nightmares. Could it be seen as a less or a more horrible possibility that the accusation about a rape of a 15 year old girl does not have Shorten as the subject, but yet <i>another</i> famous name on the left of Australian politics, neither Shorten nor Ellis nor Collins? If that was true, would that make the ALP a paedophile ring? </span></span></span></span><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><i></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><i></i><span style="color: #b6d7a8;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #b6d7a8;"></span><br />Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-31257591157169903042018-06-27T23:30:00.000-07:002018-07-30T07:50:54.360-07:00Famous pedos list leans a bit more to the left<br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The left of politics in Australia and that generation of Australian libertarian, left-wing, arts and culture tossers who made big names and big careers for themselves in the 1970s have lost a lot of shine in the last month, with the horrific disclosures from the two adult daughters of the late highly respected Australian author Dorothy Hewett, detailing their perverted mother's role in their underage sexual exploitation at the hands of a great number of paedophiles in the arts-leftie culture of that tumultuous decade. One leading figure from the ALP, a speechwriter and long-time supporter but I'm guessing never sober enough to get elected, was named as one of the arts community figures who had sexual relations with both of Hewett's daughters when they were both underage, one episode explicitly described as non-consensual. I'm not at all surprised. He always was a vile person who wrote vile things, and he had a huge career in the Australian film industry and screenwriting. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because of these recent accusations Bob Ellis has been added to my horrible list, to join the company of two other ALP figures. A very concerning inclusion was an ALP senator from the 1980s to the 1990s. The child sex charges against him were numerous and very serious, but as is often the case when paedophiles face a court hearing over their crimes, the fat piece of scum killed himself before the victims got a chance to see justice served. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: #ea9999;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob Ellis and Bob Collins had a few things in common: both called themselves "Bob", a name famous in the ALP where the over-rated ex-PM Bob Hawke is still regarded as a living legend by some. Both were important figures in the ALP, and both were mates with the ABC radio broadcaster Phillip Adams, himself associated with the ALP for many years and a huge figure in the Australian film industry in the 20th century. Adams certainly knows how to pick his mates! Were the revolting Bobs products of their time and place in history, a permissive age and a booze-soaked social set? Are there kiddie-fiddlers in every power elite? Does the right of Australian politics harbour and cover up just as many of these offenders?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: #ea9999;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is some comfort that these men are all dead or not far from it, but the third ALP figure in my list (see below) is a present and future concern. A BIG concern. It is very likely that one day he will be Australia's Prime Minister. Great. </span><br />
<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-36732046426133677202018-03-20T23:51:00.000-07:002018-03-20T23:51:46.414-07:00My views on disclosures of sexual misconduct within the skeptic/atheist community...<span style="font-size: large;">...and other pieces of writing critical of this community can be read at my other blog:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com.au/">http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com.au/</a></span><br />
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<br />Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-74363857021508410642017-12-03T10:20:00.001-08:002017-12-03T10:30:08.670-08:00Prof. Graham Burrows media reports[I have no idea what's the deal with the colours of this text - the technical side of this blog is as bunky as a Malaysian airline]<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;">The list below of details of text and video media reports is a compilation of available and lost reports. The details of these media reports were sourced from the Blond Ambition political blog, the PsychCrime anti-psychiatry blog and from Google searches. This compilation was created as a record of the misconduct of this once-powerful figure in Australian psychiatry. Many video reports by Louise Milligan for Seven News appear to be no longer available, which is a pity as they are an important record of the standard of misconduct that is possible in Australia by a professor and a psychiatrist who enjoys the authority of being at the top of his or her profession (in terms of power and influence). I’m guessing 7 News just don’t care to archive their news reports in video. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: yellow;">A whitewashing of records of misconduct of the medical profession in Australia is clear in the glowing and entirely positive obituary of Prof. Burrows that was published in 2016 by the Sydney Morning Herald, and the apparent fact that Burrows was still a professor at the time of his death. After reading the remarkably detailed and complete obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald lacking any attribution of authorship, I’ve come to the conclusion that it was probably written by the man himself before his death, or someone very close to him.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">One website that still publishes a lot of very negative views of the late professor is a doctor rating website that appears to be based in the USA. The United States has the right to free speech and a free press enshrined in its constitution, the “first amendment”. We have no such thing here in Australia. Our constitution includes no guarantee of free speech or a free press. Journalism in Australia can be held to ransom by the legal might of wealthy individuals and corporations who are able to use our defamation laws and gag orders as protection from the publication or sharing of criticism or negative information. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Graham Burrows obituaries, tributes and reviews</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">'Workaphile' professor had a 25-hour day. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sydney Morning Herald.</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">MARCH 16 2016</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/workaphile-professor-had-a-25hour-day-20160310-gnfcut.html">http://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/workaphile-professor-had-a-25hour-day-20160310-gnfcut.html</a></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Other entirely positive obituaries and tributes from Australian media companies:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://tributes.theage.com.au/obituaries/theage-au/obituary.aspx?pid=177253401">http://tributes.theage.com.au/obituaries/theage-au/obituary.aspx?pid=177253401</a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://tributes.theage.com.au/obituaries/theage-au/obituary.aspx?pid=177253869">http://tributes.theage.com.au/obituaries/theage-au/obituary.aspx?pid=177253869</a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/theage-au/graham-burrows-condolences/177253870?page=12">http://www.legacy.com/guestbooks/theage-au/graham-burrows-condolences/177253870?page=12</a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But the late prof did get a some very bad reviews from ex-patients at a US-based doctor review website:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">RateMDs</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Rate Dr. Graham Burrows, Deceased</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.ratemds.com/doctor-ratings/105216/Dr-Graham-Burrows-Melbourne-VIC.html">https://www.ratemds.com/doctor-ratings/105216/Dr-Graham-Burrows-Melbourne-VIC.html</a></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">List of media reports in chronological order</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sack academic for giving evidence in Arthur Freeman case, says senator Julian McGauran.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">AAP</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">News.com.au</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">MAY 11, 2011</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/sack-academic-for-giving-evidence-in-arthur-freeman-case-senator/news-story/39ac8f576d0bee363cc1cace81158d86">http://www.news.com.au/national/sack-academic-for-giving-evidence-in-arthur-freeman-case-senator/news-story/39ac8f576d0bee363cc1cace81158d86</a></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">[Report exists in Dec. 2017]</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Calls to sack Freeman trial psychiatrist.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">ABC News</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">MAY 11, 2011</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-05-11/calls-to-sack-freeman-trial-psychiatrist/2710700">http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-05-11/calls-to-sack-freeman-trial-psychiatrist/2710700</a></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">[Report exists in Dec. 2017]</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Medical scandal uncovered.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Louise Milligan</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Seven News</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">June 20th 2011</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/watch/25670720/">http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/watch/25670720/</a></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">More complaints against Burrows.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Louise Milligan</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Seven News.</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">June 21st 2011</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/watch/25693691/">http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/watch/25693691/</a></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/watch/25670720/">http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/watch/25670720/</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Burrows Denies any Wrongdoing.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">June 22nd 2011</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/watch/25670720/">http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/watch/25670720/</a></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">[Existence of report verified using Wayback Machine but video not found]</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">7News exposes medical scandal. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yahoo7 </span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">June 22nd 2011</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/vic/a/9690341/7news-exposes-medical-scandal/">https://au.news.yahoo.com/vic/a/9690341/7news-exposes-medical-scandal/</a></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">[Report still exists at this location and archived at Wayback Machine]</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Call for Burrows Investigation.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">June 23rd</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/watch/25670720/">http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/watch/25670720/</a></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">[Video report page at 7 News Melbourne but not video itself archived by Wayback Machine]</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Mental health charity probe.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Grant McArthur</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Herald Sun.</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">December 23rd 2011</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/mental-health-charity-probe/story-fn7x8me2-1226228855616">http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/mental-health-charity-probe/story-fn7x8me2-1226228855616</a></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">[Report still exists at this location but not archived at Wayback Machine]</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Burrows patient used as "guinea pig".</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Louise Milligan</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">7News.</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">January 12th 2012</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/sa/watch/27859872/248154/">http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/sa/watch/27859872/248154/</a></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/burrows-patient-used-as-guinea-pig-27859874.html#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Fworld-15749633%252Fburrows-patient-used-as-guinea-pig-27859874.html">http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/burrows-patient-used-as-guinea-pig-27859874.html#crsl=%252Fvideo%252Fworld-15749633%252Fburrows-patient-used-as-guinea-pig-27859874.html</a></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Class action against Burrows.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Louise Milligan</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">7News (Melbourne)</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">January 15th 2012</span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/-/watch/27901358/class-action-against-burrows/">http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/-/watch/27901358/class-action-against-burrows/</a></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/watch/27901358/">http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/vic/watch/27901358/</a></span><br />
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Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-10038395099934714282017-11-30T06:55:00.000-08:002017-11-30T06:55:42.605-08:001984 was supposed to be a work of fiction - not a policy!<span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/lifestyle/health/privacy-groups-outraged-over-failure-to-inform-aussies-about-a-new-government-health-record/news-story/5d1c7f980de28966d3ede764ae875cb6">http://www.couriermail.com.au/lifestyle/health/privacy-groups-outraged-over-failure-to-inform-aussies-about-a-new-government-health-record/news-story/5d1c7f980de28966d3ede764ae875cb6</a></span><br />
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<br />Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-109974343592532642017-11-27T23:10:00.000-08:002017-12-04T08:28:53.905-08:00Where's our free speech? Where are our consumer rights? <br />
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<br />Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-73096882875448231682014-10-16T07:16:00.003-07:002014-10-16T07:18:35.680-07:00Paul Howes, what a piece of..........<span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"Faceless man" Paul Howes, one of the arseholes of the ALP/union clique who stole a Prime Minister from the nation in his first term of office and thus condemned his pals to a return to the political wilderness, always was and always will be a creep, and it appears he is a creep in every aspect of his life, a skid-mark on the fabric of Australian society. </span><br />
<span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/private-sydney/paul-howes-drama-takes-centre-stage-at-opera-house-ball-20141015-116h5t.html">http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/private-sydney/paul-howes-drama-takes-centre-stage-at-opera-house-ball-20141015-116h5t.html</a></span><br />
<br />Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-35821632935093280012014-05-25T21:04:00.002-07:002014-05-25T21:05:55.674-07:00Labor, Liberal; all members of the same elite social sets<a href="http://redflag.org.au/article/don%E2%80%99t-worry-we%E2%80%99re-all-good-friends-here"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">http://redflag.org.au/article/don%E2%80%99t-worry-we%E2%80%99re-all-good-friends-here</span></a><br />
<br />Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-19840962453775485682013-11-27T23:35:00.002-08:002013-11-27T23:35:55.885-08:00Frightening report on the ABC about dangers of anti-psychotic drug Seroquel<span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Concerns grow over top-selling drug's side effects. <i>7.30.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Australian Broadcasting Corporation</span><br />
<span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Broadcast: 27/11/2013</span><br />
<span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Reporter: Louise Milligan</span><br />
<span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3900419.htm">http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3900419.htm</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/growing-concerns-over-side-effects-of-seroquel/5120554">http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/growing-concerns-over-side-effects-of-seroquel/5120554</a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>"....doctors are warning the drug is being massively overprescribed and the potentially dangerous side-effects are being ignored."</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is a shocking and important report. Nice work Louise. </span><br />
<span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The drug Quetiapine (brand name Seroquel) stands out among other anti-psychotic drugs for two reasons: the astronomical increase in the rate of prescription of this drug in the last ten years in Australia far outstrips the rates of prescription of other anti-psychotic drugs, and the measured rate of cases of serious harm to patients from side-effects of the drug also far outstrip those of other anti-psychotic drugs. As if that is crazy enough, consider the fact that that this drug is also prescribed for depression even though it comes with an increased risk of suicide compared to other anti-psychotic drugs. Something must be seriously wrong with medicine in Australia when increased potential for harm sit alongside spectacular prescriber popularity. </span><br />
<span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Grave concerns about side effects are by no means the only reason why this drug has been hitting the headlines in the last few years. Readers of this blog might recall that the celebrity psychiatrist Prof. Patrick McGorry tried to trial this drug on patients thought to be at risk of developing psychosis in 2011 in a trial that was known as the NEURAPRO-Q study, but that study was closed down following objections from McGorry’s international peers. The drug has also been the subject of a deluge of litigation in the United States, which should surprise no one. So why does this drug continue to elicit such huge popularity with Australian doctors, and is even sought after by some as a drug of abuse? I think there’s no over-estimating the power of marketing and there’s no under-estimating the common sense of my fellow Australians. </span><br />
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Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-74121740824543336012013-10-29T01:44:00.001-07:002013-10-29T01:44:48.467-07:00Please! More truth and less lies about Sri Lanka, asylum-seekers and the Tamil People<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ey_tffHFqMk" width="640"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a disgrace that the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) 2013 is scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka, with its long, ongoing and deplorable record of serious and large-scale human rights abuses. If you don't approve of this, now is the time to make your opposition heard. </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/prime-minister-reconsider-chogm-2013-in-sri-lanka"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.change.org/petitions/prime-minister-reconsider-chogm-2013-in-sri-lanka</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
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<a href="http://www.amnesty.org.au/action/action/33166"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.amnesty.org.au/action/action/33166</span></a>
Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-7200506479461143872013-09-05T17:30:00.000-07:002013-09-05T17:30:00.418-07:00Lili's political thought for the day<span style="color: #fce5cd; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What's the deal with Joe Hockey, all sweating and pale? Regardless of politics, I hope it's just a passing and minor thing.</span> Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-31050033693201752412013-08-17T21:18:00.001-07:002013-08-17T21:21:43.647-07:00Lili's political thought of the day<span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Doesn't Tanya Plibersek look happy as one of the nodding heads behind Rudd at today's press conference? Loving working for Rudd? </span>Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-6577841817141271322013-08-17T02:53:00.000-07:002013-10-29T01:52:32.561-07:00Lili laughs<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Gina Rinehart sings Sweet Child O'Mines on Wednesday Night Fever #WNF</span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/PpdCvBOwuFg" width="640"></iframe>Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-88119514445226882272013-06-25T18:03:00.000-07:002013-06-25T18:03:16.765-07:00McGorry to feature on ABC's show One Plus One?<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I saw a promo on ABCTV about an upcoming special on the show One Plus One with Jane Hutcheon featuring Prof. Patrick McGorry. I think they were seeking people for the audience or a forum. Unfortunately I can't find anything at the ABC's website about this to verify the details. </span><br />
<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/abcnews24/programs/one-plus-one/">http://www.abc.net.au/news/abcnews24/programs/one-plus-one/</a> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While I would never advocate that anyone personally bother the professor, I do hope that whatever this show is to be that it isn't a festival of back-slapping from a collection of associates and admirers. There are many elements of McGorry's work that deserve criticism, and there are many critics. I hope these perspectives will be well-represented in the upcoming show. </span>Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-9930715323340244872013-06-25T17:16:00.000-07:002013-06-25T17:16:37.281-07:00Great to hear Martin Whitley on the radio<span style="color: #ffe599; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Are children over-diagnosed? Life Matters. ABC Radio National. 17 June 2013.</span><div>
<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/overdiagnosed/4757096"><span style="color: #ffe599; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/overdiagnosed/4757096</span></a></div>
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Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-70980780835900199732013-05-23T01:11:00.001-07:002013-05-23T01:12:12.428-07:00New book by Dr Allen Frances<span style="color: #d9ead3; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dr Allen Frances has a new book out, titled<br /><i>Saving Normal: An Insider's Revolt Against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life.</i><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062229257">http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062229257</a><br />interviewed on <i>Lateline</i>:<br /><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3763502.htm">http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2013/s3763502.htm</a></span>Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-52074833990461848672013-04-26T03:02:00.000-07:002013-04-26T03:07:32.021-07:00Nice work, Tony.<span style="color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My amazement has grown over the way that journalists at the ABC's current affairs TV program Lateline have firmly challenged the inappropriate use of anti-psychotic drugs by Australian doctors and psychiatrists. In fact a very good argument could be made that there is no appropriate application of these dangerous and harmful drugs, but I think it would be too much to expect that this argument should be found on Australian TV.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">In 2011 Tony Jones interviewed the powerful Irish-Australian psychiatrist Professor Patrick McGorry. At the time I thought this interview was informed but too soft, and the findings of research that has been done since this interview has shown that much of what McGorry claimed about the effectiveness and evidence-base of the interventions he has been advocating for many years was wrong. In 2012 Tony Jones appeared to be quite personally inflamed when he reported about elderly dementia patients having their lives shortened in Australian nursing homes because of the widespread over-prescription of anti-psychotic drugs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">The last couple of editions of Lateline have examined the issue of a 600 per cent increase in the use of the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel in just five years by Australia's Department of Defence, presumably for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in soldiers. Allegations have been made that this drug is being used instead of proper and expensive psychological interventions, is being prescribed in dangerous high doses and is being prescribed inappropriately to treat insomnia symptoms of PTSD. Last night Tony Jones was steadfast in asking questions, recounting evidence and seeking answers in an interview with a clearly very irritated senior person in the Australian Defense Force, our Commander Joint Health and the ADF Surgeon General. The interview was a pleasure to watch. I am sure that there are heaps of journalists who would not have had the confidence to question the practices and administration of a qualified doctor and senior bureaucrat on an issue about the rights or wrongs of medical/psychiatric clinical practice. I am sure that many journalists would simply defer to authority, or be too intimidated to be seen questioning that great sacred cow of Australian popular culture; the "mental health" industry. Not Tony Jones. A good journalist should be hot on the inside, cool on the outside, filled to the brim with all the relevant facts, and able to recognize the truth beyond personal agendas. I think Mr Jones approaches that ideal. Nice work Tony.</span></span></div>
Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-9172857939644877542013-04-04T11:31:00.002-07:002013-04-04T11:43:13.506-07:00Another speculative thought about the interesting case of "Doc" Evatt<span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of years ago I was amazed to be apparently the first person in the world to identify the fascinating, formidable and not bad looking for a pollie late Australian politician H. V. Evatt as a synaesthete, based on biographical information written by others but not previously analysed in terms of synaesthesia. Evatt was a controversial and enigmatic character, and his coloured days of the week synaesthesia was perhaps one of the least amazing of his characteristics. Synaesthesia certainly wasn't the only interesting thing going on inside the brain of the ALP leader. By all accounts he suffered from a dreadful mental decline for an unknown period of time before his death, which seems like an especially cruel fate for a man who displayed a powerhouse intellect since he was a school-boy. Biographers have put forward a number of theories about the cause of his death and decline. Some wrote of atherosclerosis, some offered convincing evidence that epilepsy was treated as a definite or speculative diagnosis by Evatt's doctor. As you'd expect, some who don't like his politics have asserted that he was simply crazy as a loon. Asperger syndrome has been offered as an explanation of his personality, which is really an empty assertion as that label is itself little more than a description of behaviour. Eccentric behaviour has been noted by a biographers and commentators - a terror of flying, stuffing newspapers under his clothes as insulation against hot weather, sloppy dressing accompanied by a "strine" accent, a cruel manner at times, sleeping few hours a day (as appears to be common among political leaders), and meeting guests fully dressed but lying in bed. In not sure exactly during which period in Evatt's life he liked to go nude, a behaviour admired by another colourful past ALP leader, Mark Latham. Our nation came <i>that close</i> to having a nudist PM, <i>that</i> long ago? That's something to consider. I could be accused of anti-intellectualism in my suspicion that there was something interesting behind Evatt's life-long habit of collecting achievements, but when I read in one biography pages upon pages of description of the academic prizes, positions and honours amassed by Evatt since his earliest school-days, I couldn't help wondering about the powerful driving forces and motivations. Even his nick-name is an academic achievement. He had a doctorate in law. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the oddest behaviour noted by biographers is the being in bed fully clothed. Why? Sleeping in clothes? An odd attempt to hide physical collapse caused by absence seizures? Some other medical problem causing fainting? I was monkeying about on YouTube, as you do, viewing one of my favourite genres of videos - the medical freak-show, when I came across an episode of the TV series Mystery Diagnosis. There were two interesting medical cases in the episode, but it was the case of swallow syncope in long-suffering patient Martha Bryce that made me think of Evatt. If Evatt had this illness or something like it. it would explain a lot of his eccentricities and also the tragic mental decline. This rare medical condition as an explanation would encompass both the seizure-like and the circulatory symptoms that Evatt appeared to have. If he had it way back in the 1950's in Australia I think most likely it would have been misdiagnosed or not medically understood and not treated effectively. I imagine it would slowly but surely destroy the brain and the mind if untreated, and no one would understand what was happening. What a horrible fate. Could there be any link between synaesthesia and neurally-mediated syncopes? God only knows, but I do know that I, a multi-synaesthete, have experienced some memorable episodes of this type of fainting. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rare diseases and medical conditions deserve a greater share of research funding, recognition and donations. Individually these conditions are indeed rare, but as a group rare medical conditions and disorders are not rare at all - many people have one or more rare or uncommon medical issue, but it is the common deadly diseases that get all the attention. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #9fc5e8; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.swallowsyncope.com/">http://www.swallowsyncope.com/</a></span><br />
<br />Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-30213152339298390502013-03-20T19:32:00.001-07:002013-03-20T19:34:11.066-07:00An apology diminished<div>
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<span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hate the way that considerations of mental health and psychiatry have made their way into just about everything that Australian government agencies do. In Canberra today a historic apology to those affected by forced adoption has been made, and right in the middle of the speech there was talk about access to mental health services. It wasn't appropriate. The presence or absence of mental health issues and whether or not affected people seek the services or psychiatrists or psychologists is not a measure of what happened, nor are these things a measure of how serious the issue is. I am so fed up with hearing about mental health in discussions and speeches that are about other things. It's like listening to a tedious a religious person who can't help but bring God or Jesus into every discussion.<br /><br />We live in a secular society, so we no longer have to put up with such nonsense, but what has happened is that psychiatry has replaced religion in the lives of many Australians, so everyone is now compelled to listen to frequent and inappropriate references to mental health issues and therapies seeping into every corner of public and private life. Mental health is the new religion, and we are made to feel obliged to strive for a new kind of perfection of the soul. A state of perfect mental health has replaced moral perfection as the ideal. It is an idea with some merits but I still believe morals are more important than health, even though I'm an atheist and thus don't hold a religious view of morality. I suspect that it might be the amorality of the new religion that is the reason why so many find it personally attractive. We no longer have to deal with old-style moralizing attitudes but the new flock are just as tedious as the Bible-bashers of old, because all religions have zealots, and zealots insert their views into life at every opportunity, regardless of appropriateness. Winston Churchill defined the fanatic as one who ".... can't change his mind and won't change the subject". This is why we have today had to listen to a description of mental health service provision by the government inserted into a historic apology, an annoying and probably in the eyes of some an insulting distraction. Enough already!</span>Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-61438545791743145012013-02-05T08:17:00.003-08:002013-02-05T08:17:41.077-08:00A nod still means yes, last time I checked<span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I couldn't help noticing Kevin Rudd's head nodding rather a lot after he was asked if his supporters are counting numbers for another leadership challenge.</span><br />
<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-05/deja-vu-as-federal-parliament-resumes/4502860"><span style="color: #d5a6bd; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-05/deja-vu-as-federal-parliament-resumes/4502860</span></a><br />
<br />Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-68419408332798277982013-01-24T08:54:00.001-08:002013-01-24T08:54:57.814-08:00Gillard makes a predictable choice<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You are the Prime Minister. You note that there is a lack of Aboriginal representation in your political party in federal parliament. Do you initiate in inquiry to find out why there is a lack of Aboriginal representation in your political party in federal parliament? Do you reform the party's preselection process? Do you consider changing party or government policies with the aim of making the party more popular with indigenous Australians? Or do you walk all over everyone and everything and parachute an Aboriginal celebrity into parliament? </span>Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5392169162591266789.post-85068089715745270792013-01-15T23:15:00.000-08:002013-01-15T23:16:47.552-08:00You thought the Gillard Govt had mental health all sorted?<span style="color: orange;">WRONG!</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: #e69138;">Australia needs Better Access to psychological treatment</span></strong><br />
<span style="color: #e69138;">a petition to the Hon Julia Gillard MP initiated by</span><br />
<span style="color: #e69138;">Dr Ben Mullings</span><br />
<em><span style="color: #e69138;">Change.org</span></em><br />
<a href="http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/australia-needs-better-access-to-psychological-treatment"><span style="color: #e69138;">http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/australia-needs-better-access-to-psychological-treatment</span></a><br />
<span style="color: #e69138;"></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: #e69138;">Alliance for Better Access</span></strong><br />
<a href="http://betteraccess.net/"><span style="color: #e69138;">http://betteraccess.net/</span></a>Lili Marlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09303890038396510279noreply@blogger.com0