Eritrea: Praying Women Banned

From BBC News:

Thirty elderly women have been arrested in Eritrea while praying together, one of their relatives living in the United States has told the BBC.

Requesting anonymity, she said she only found out about her mother when she phoned to speak to her this week.

Most of the women belonged to an outlawed evangelical group.

The government recognises only four faiths - Islam, Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran - and bans gatherings of more than five people.

Human Rights groups regard Eritrea as one of the world's most repressive states.

"Conjugal Wrongs"

"Conjugal Wrongs" is an insightful article by Kiera Lindsay (University of Melbourne) which appeared in Saturday's A2 section of The Age.

Briefly, the article dealt with the Irish "practice" of noble - yet often totally broke - men carrying off eligible heiresses and forcing them into marriage, all to gain their inheritance. Ten times out of ten, the bride was most unwilling - as were her family!

Apparently, approximately 200 "noblemen" were transported to Australia between 1797 to 1849 for the crime of "bride theft".

Kiera gives the example of Miss Mary Pike who was "abducted" on the night of 22nd July 1797 - yet she would not yield - and a reward was posted for the capture of one Sir Henry Browne Hayes of Cork.

It is a shame that I cannot re-direct you to an online version of this article as I know many would have love to read it.

Flora Robson

The other night I watched "Fire over England" - which is essentially the story of the lead up to the Spanish Armada episode in English History.

Well ..... I said essentially. There was quite a bit of "artistic licence" in the whole movie. However, I still loved it.

Particularly Flora Robson - what an exceptional actress! Her Elizabeth I was, I must say, brilliant. And again, her role as the Empress of Russia in "Catherine the Great" was also notable.


Anyway, for those not familiar with this remarkable woman, here are a few web-links for you:

• Flora Robson - wikipedia
• Flora Robson - biography
• Flora Robson - facebook
• Flora Robson - IMDB
• Flora Robson - filmography

Balibo: An Australian Tragedy

From BBC News:

Indonesia has banned the film Balibo, which depicts the deaths of six foreign journalists in East Timor, the head of the foreign correspondents club said.

The club cancelled a screening of the film on legal advice that they could face charges.

The journalists died as Indonesian troops invaded East Timor in 1975.

Jakarta maintains they were killed accidentally in cross-fire. But an Australian coroner found in 2007 that the journalists had been executed.

The journalists - two Australians, two Britons and a New Zealander - were killed in the border town of Balibo as Indonesian forces entered East Timor.

A sixth Australian journalist was killed in Dili shortly after when Indonesian troops entered the city.

Web Links:

• Balibo - Official Film Site
• Balibo Five - Wikipedia
• Shooting Balibo - Penguin Books
• Balibo - Review by Shirley Shackleton
• Balibo 5 - Liam Bartlett Sixty Minutes Blog
• Death in Balibo, Lies in Canberra - Review by Simon Philpott
• Justice Long Overdue - Article in Perth Now
• Balibo 5 Inquiry - IGIS
• We Killed Balibo Five - from news.com.au
  

A Little Bit of History

Just a few snippets of what's making news in the world of history:

From the Times Online:

A medieval book is to become the first item from a British national museum to be returned to its rightful owners under a new law governing looted artefacts.

The Benevento Missal, which was stolen from a cathedral in southern Italy soon after the Allies bombed the city during the Second World War, has been in the collection of the British Library (formerly the British Museum Library) since 1947. After a change in the law, it could be back in Italy within months, according to The Art Newspaper.

From BBC News:

A hoard of silver coins hidden in a Northamptonshire field during the Wars of the Roses has fetched more than £29,000 at auction.

The 186 coins, found in Brackley in 2005, were sold at Morton and Eden by the metal detector enthusiast who found them and the owner of the field.

It is thought they were hidden in the summer of 1465 by someone who went into hiding during the dynastic civil war.

From the Telegraph:

A copy of Edgar Allan Poe's first book fetched $662,500 at a Christie's auction in New York, smashing the previous record price for American literature.

The copy of "Tamerlane and Other Poems", published by Poe anonymously in 1827 when he was just 13, had been estimated to sell for between $500,000 and $700,000 (£ 302,000 to £442,000).

Death of Jane Austin

From CNN News:
It is a truth universally acknowledged -- or nearly so -- that Jane Austen, the author of "Pride and Prejudice," died of a rare illness called Addison's disease, which robs the body of the ability to make critical hormones.

Katherine White doesn't believe it. White, herself a sufferer of Addison's disease, has studied Austen's own letters and those of her family and friends, and concluded that key symptoms just don't match what's known about the illness.

The disease -- a failure of the adrenal glands -- was unknown in Austen's day, first having been identified nearly 40 years after she died in 1817 at the age of 41.

White is not the first to dispute the theory that Addison's disease killed Austen. British biographer Claire Tomalin suggested in a 1997 book that lymphoma was the culprit.

White finds that, too, unlikely. She suspects the answer is much simpler: tuberculosis.

Books: Yes More!

As Christmas is upon us - way too soon I might add - here are some more books of interest - at least to me - that you might like to add to your Santa's List:

• Lustrum by Robert Harris
• The Australian Light Horse by Roland Perry
• Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier
• Mr Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange
• The Pocket Book of Boosh by Julian Barrett & Noel Fielding (I love the Mighty Boosh!)
• Rebels & Traitors by Lindsay Davis
• Legionary by Philip Matyszak
• The Book Theif by Markus Zusak
• Tell It To The Squirrels by Judy Kolt
• Changing My Mind by Zadie Smith

And a copy of reviews that might also interest:

• Kristin Lavransdatter: The Wreath by Caribousmom
• Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire by Judith Herrin by Khanya

Too Much Chocolate

Is there such a thing as too much chocolate???

Today, one of my i-friends (ie: internet buddy) sent me some pics of their latest journey and I sat down with some chocolate as I was waiting for the images to load. So engrossed was I with viewing the images - superb I might add enviously - that I did not realise just how much chocolate I had eaten until I felt like I was having a Homer Simpson moment (release the belt!).

Does eating too much chocolate give you a headache - or do you get a headache (ie: withdrawal symptoms) from lack of said delicious substance? Are you a secret stasher - hiding chocolate to ensure you get a "hit" when the mood strikes? Me, I have taken to adding just a dash (ie: large teaspoon) of chocolate powder to my coffee - yum - double the pleasure!

So I ask - is there such a thing as too much chocolate?

Maid Abuse Rampant

From CNN News:

A recent spate of suicides by foreign maids in Lebanon is prompting outrage among human rights groups, who say the government is doing too little to protect migrant domestic workers from severe abuse.

Over the past seven weeks at least 10 women have died, either by hanging themselves or by falling from tall buildings. Six of these cases have been reported in local media as suicides and four more have been described as possible work accidents.

In August 2008 HRW reported that more than one domestic worker was dying each week, either from suicide or failed escapes from abusive employers.

There are more than 200,000 migrant domestic workers in Lebanon -- roughly one per every four families. Overwhelmingly they are women in their 20s and 30s who come alone from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nepal and Madagascar, to earn money to support families back home.

The abuse faced by migrant domestic workers is a common problem throughout the Arab Middle East, both because of generally poor labor regulation and also cultural prejudice.

For more information visit: Human Rights Watch