Best Of
Let’s say you’ve stumbled upon a new blog, and for argument’s sake we’ll say it’s mine, and you’re wondering where to start reading. Sure, you could just read the most recent entries, but what if you want to delve further than that? What if you want to rummage through the dozens of entries already posted to see which ones are the best?
That’s what this page is for. I won’t claim it’s perfect but these are the entries that I think are some of the best I’ve posted. I’m also aware that it’s a really, really long list, so read the summaries and decide which entries sound most interesting! (That is, unless you want to read every single one. I wouldn’t object to you doing that.)
World
Entries posted in this category explore my observations of the world and the things happening in it.
- Scattered thoughts on Gaza 14.01.09 Consisted of some rambling about Israeli attacks on Gaza and about the Arab-Israeli conflict more generally. It’s not that I think Israel has no right to exist, but they do need to stop killing, starving and oppressing innocent people, because that’s why they get so angry that they resort to terrorism.
- Arresting the sick 22.11.08 About the way tuberculosis sufferers in parts of South Africa can be locked up in badly-maintained hospitals surrounded by barbed wire, just to prevent them from infecting anyone else. The problem is, the tuberculosis sufferers being imprisoned have forms of the disease immune to medication. You wouldn’t want anyone to contract a terrible illness that can’t be treated, but at the same time, imprisoning people who have done nothing wrong? That’s not right either. So what should be done?
- Self-determination 29.10.08 Another look at South Ossetia but this time a broader look at the concept of self-determination itself. Basically, I like the idea of self-determination, but I think it’s overused.
- Cold war, part two 27.08.08 Looked at the war in Georgia and what Russia hoped to achieve. Oh, but contrary to what the title might imply, I didn’t think another Cold War was going to happen.
- Land of the free? 09.08.08 Criticised the US for criticising China’s human rights record when it wasn’t doing so well itself. In the “retti.org era”, this was actually my post with the highest number of hits by a big margin, so it can’t be that bad. Plus, it has footnotes! FOOTNOTES!
Australia
Entries posted in this category explore my observations of my own country, Australia and the things happening in it.
- The PR State 09.06.09 About how the Rudd Government controls the media to prevent proper scrutiny or criticism from occurring.
- The Chaser’s War on Everything 06.06.09 About how a hilarious program got suspended for two weeks just because some whingers (incl. the prime minister) were offended that they’d parodied the Make A Wish Foundation. I thought this was ridiculous.
- Labor’s Plan for Cyber-Safety 06.04.09 An examination of the actual plan in accordance with which Labor is imposing its censorship scheme.
- Censorship, revisited 20.03.09 About the Rudd Government’s plan to impose a compulsory firewall on the Internet to prevent us from seeing undesirable content. It’s “revisited” because it’s the second entry I wrote about the topic.
- National service 24.01.09 Posted in response to the Young Liberals’ plan for compulsory national service, which I think is a TERRIBLE IDEA. Young Labor was no better though; their criticism of this plan wasn’t, “That plan sucks,” but, “But that was our plan! You stole it!”
Life
Entries posted in this category usually tell a story about some small event in my life that I thought was amusing or otherwise worth commenting on.
- Patriotism, or lack thereof 03.07.09 About my “joking-around, inconsequential” style of patriotism in which I refuse to follow rugby because it’s a New South Welsh sport and demand my sister use Australian English because it’s ours and just as valid as any other form.
- Community service
18.05.09
Tells the story of how I got a detention for being late three times to
homeroom“team meetings”. I didn’t really care about having a detention, because really, it’s not much of a deterrent. Unfortunately, my school was way ahead of me and decided to trial their new idea for punishments: community service. - Cynical teachers 02.03.09 My unit 3 Geography teacher had this utterly infuriating style of teaching that I really couldn’t stand at all. This entry describes his style of teaching and his rationale for it.
- Good citizenship 05.01.09 About my History teacher’s scheme to indoctrinate us all into being “good citizens”, and my scheme to oppose him. There is a part two, because it came to be a really long entry; this is part one.
- My IS classmates 17.12.08 About the crazy people that studied International Studies with me. I only attended four seminars, but they definitely made an impression!
- “Limited democratic rights” 09.11.08 Complained about the completely undemocratic process through which my school elected its school captains. Plus the silly justifications offered for such a system.
Miscellaneous
Lastly, entries posted in the “miscellaneous” category just don’t quite belong in any of the other categories. They explore my observations on things I might not talk about that often, like books… or websites.
- I Am the Cheese 02.10.08 This is a book review, and we all know how awesome book reviews are! Briefly, I loved the book, except for the characterisation which I thought relied on stereotypes too much.
- Writing an “About” page 26.06.08 About the kinds of things people should be thinking about when putting together their “About” pages. When I wrote it I hadn’t actually written an “About” page myself (and wouldn’t for months), so it was a touch hypocritical.
- A beautiful novel 22.05.08 About the kinds of things I love to see in novels. And at least one of the things I really hate seeing in novels. If you’re writing a novel, I recommend following my advice.