Australia Day

Yesterday, Australia celebrated its national holiday: Australia Day. This has provoked a flurry of protest from various corners of our society, all championed by The Age newspaper. These people say that January 26, as the anniversary of the day the first white settlers arrived in 1788, is a terrible day to have a national holiday. After all, when the white settlers arrived, indigenous people were forced to get off their land, and it’s so inconsiderate of us to celebrate that event. It must be moved!

The Age is now calling on Australians to have a “national conversation” on the matter, and if we must, then here is my contribution.

National service

Today in The Australian, there was an article I found horrifying. Apparently, the Young Liberals strongly believe that it is in young Australians’ best interest to complete nine months’ national service, whether they want to or not.

The article says that service would not be restricted to the military. That is, Australians would be able to serve their state in a number of ways other than risking death in its name — in nursing homes, hospitals, homeless shelters, trades, the Red Cross, or even Médicins Sans Frontières. Within Australia or overseas. And you’d only be there nine months. What’s nine months?

Blogging

When you write a new blog entry, how do you decide what to write? And how do you decide how to write it?

I’m sure everyone does this differently, and it’d be interesting to hear some answers. As for myself, I usually write when I’m feeling inspired.