Notes on a Scandal | Issue 23

Posted 4:03pm Sunday 9th September 2012

I once did some volunteer work for a guy who was a thalidomide victim. In a departure from my usual linguistic prowess, I came home from my first day and announced with appropriate gravitas, “He was a formaldehyde baby, you know.” Whilst I still struggle to pronounce the name of the infamous Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 22

Posted 5:17pm Sunday 2nd September 2012

This week’s column is about what you might call a Frankenconflict (a word I made up just now). The details read like Auschwitz, Nanking, and Srebrenica rolled into one. Without further ado, I’ll let you in on this dirty secret going down in our own backyard. West Papua is in the western half Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 21

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 19th August 2012

Three weeks ago I attended my first-ever protest, organised by the Organisation for Global Nonviolent Action (OGNA) on campus. I figured it’d be rude not to go, given that my academic raison d’être is ostensibly nonviolence. Also, as I’m in the twilight years of my university career, it was about Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 20

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012

I had almost finished my column for this week when I read that two New Zealand soldiers very recently died in Afghanistan. The “Breaking News” snippet on Stuff was a nigh-perfect example of how media framing influences how we understand a conflict. The words “personnel”, “team”, and “help” were used Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 19

Posted 4:49pm Sunday 5th August 2012

I have a friend who has done some work for the UN. Despite never having been employed by anyone even remotely worthy of mention, I nevertheless like to pipe up when she mentions it, usually in the form of a snobby comment along the lines of: “But how can you sleep at night knowing you’ve sold your Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 18

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 29th July 2012

As a peace student this is mortifying to admit, but there have been times when I have considered joining the army. These phases consisted primarily of daydreams in which I was toned, tanned, fit and ready, covered in mud and sweat, and doing innumerable press-ups in a too-tight singlet and camo Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 17

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012

The 90s enjoy a special place in the hearts of Generation Y, and Y wouldn’t they? It was the decade of chatter rings, Pokémon, Saved by the Bell, and skirts worn over pants. But for the people of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, it was the decade they became famous for the veritable tidal wave of violence Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 16

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 15th July 2012

On a recent drive to Christchurch I stopped to use a public loo. In the gathering dusk, the cinderblock building looked so foreboding that I seriously considered leaving a Hansel-and-Gretel-style trail from my car, all the better for the police to find my dismembered remains when I met my demise in Read more...

Notes on a Scandal | Issue 15

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 8th July 2012

This column was inspired by conversations with friends (particularly med students) who have time and again proved to be woefully ignorant of the earth-shattering events that regularly unfold just beyond our borders. I am no current affairs expert. I am not a policy analyst or an Read more...