pol pot

Published: Mongrel Magazine, November 2007

The Mongrel Guide to Being a Bad Ass

I’ll be honest, this is one of the most half-assed feature I’ve ever written. Mongrel ed Michael Freeman wanted me to write a feature entitled ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’. Mike was a great editor, one of the best I’ve ever had, but this was a misjudgement on a par with commissioning a ‘Live and Let Live Has Always Been My Philosophy’ op-ed from Pol Pot. Anyway, the ‘bad ass’ idea was kind of a last minute compromise. Read the rest of this article.

Published: Mongrel magazine, November 2005

Getting away with murder

From Nelson Mandela to The Birmingham Six; from Andy Dufresne to Deirdre Rachid; the plight of the wrongfully incarcerated will always strike a chord with people. Perhaps it’s a subconscious manifestation of our guilt over greater injustices (such as the unfair division of wealth and opportunity) in which we are complicit. Perhaps Western society places a higher value on liberty than it does on life itself. Whatever the reason, cases of wrongful imprisonment arouse sympathy and outrage in us like very little else.

But who, outside the ranks of the world’s law enforcement agencies, spares much of a thought for the people on the other side of the injustice equation? The people who are free but who deserve to be locked up. The wrongfully still-at-large. Does anyone write songs, chant slogans or organise benefit concerts to celebrate these people and their struggles? Time to redress the imbalance I think. Read the rest of this entry »