Do you still like democracy?
It's funny, democracy. We have a voice and yet we whinge way more than anyone in the not-so-free world.
Sorry, what do you mean?
I’ve been considering whether National Sorry Day would be more or less controversial if we spoke Spanish. There…
The Eurovision you know and love
The Eurovision you know and love.
The song was perfect. The dress was perfect. The hype was perfect.
Okay, so in hindsight we were never going to win the thing. But for a long moment there they really made us believe it was possible.
And the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 is … a Korean-born Australian? One who would have celebrated not with champagne but with a glass of lemonade?
It was too good to be true. For all the logic that Eurovision famously doesn’t follow, this perhaps would not have been in the spirit of Europe - not the Europe of the twenty-first century ...
Something about Mary
Apparently Margaret Thatcher was my hero. When I was in Year 6, each kid in our class had to nominate a female role model and I chose the Iron Lady. I don't know why I didn't pick Aung San Suu Kyi. Way cooler. And I mean, I'm possibly part-Burmese. Maybe.
Meanwhile, Alex - the boy I had a crush on - chose English nurse Florence Nightingale. My heart fluttered and sighed. This guy is beautiful and deep!
He chose a compassionate, determined, God-fearing woman. I chose a conservative politician (in)famous for being a hard-ass.
To this day, I think Alex had the right idea. And I'm starting to think I need to have better taste in women.
All About Evo
To commemorate the official start of Evo Morales’ third term as president, I thought I’d share a few images…
“Effectivisation”: A post about the law (and reforming it)
Bolivia is currently reforming its justice system. On October 31, the Bolivian Parliament passed a new piece of legislation, called the Law for the Decongestion and Effectivisation of the Criminal Procedure System. In case you were wondering, it's Ley de Decongestionamiento y Efectivización del Sistema Procesal Penal in Spanish - and "efectivización" isn't a real word in Spanish either, hence the weird translation.
Process is at the heart of justice - as important as a just result is a just procedure to arrive at that result. I'll confess I've forgotten a lot of what they taught me at law school, but this particular principal of justice has stuck with me. Working at IJM Bolivia, I am struck anew by how much of a paradox this often is.
Two words for Washington
If I could choose two words to describe Washington, D.C., they would be EMPIRE and EXTRAVAGANCE. Perhaps they…
Bryan Adams v Joe Hockey
What can I say, I’ve always had impeccable music taste. But no, seriously – I haven’t posted this…
Election 2013. Sigh and splutter.
Another election to remind me how disappointed and frustrated I am with the state of Australian politics. There…