Much to my suprise, my lecturer for Strategic Management was dead keen on BP as a business study, which made it seem a better choice for my group partners. It's something to think about at any rate- that Oil will affect not just politics (see- Iraq War) but also business in the years to come- what will the Transnational Oilers do when the juice stops running? I'm well aware that BP's "Beyond Petroleum" bollocks is pretty much just an exercise in greenwashing, but I can't help but feel it's also a slight shift towards renewable energy resources- kinda like a sprinter shifting his step to get that inch over his competitors. And with BP toeing the line, easing out of the middle east, won't that hint to Exxon and Mobil that judgement day's coming, and it'd be a good idea to clean up the house a bit before Jesus pops around for a bit of Wrath.
posted by Keegan at 3:28 pm
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Thursday, August 05, 2004
Let's Talk About Sex-
Or lack thereof. well, more accurately, the abstinance movement currently ruining millions of young people all over the world, forced to make a promise to god that their young bodies are all too likely to break for them, and when their will slips, it's ever more likely that they won't use a condom, not knowing how bad things can get not using one until afterwards. Thankfully, my antipodean education involved lots of "use a fucking rubber or you won't get a fuck", in not so many words, and for most of the youths who actually paid attention in class, it makes sense that when it's not on, it's not on. It won't stop teenage pregnancy or AIDS (there's just too many dropkicks to prevent it), but it can at least slow it down to the point where it is not such a critical issue, less likely to trap people in "the poverty cycle".
posted by Keegan at 4:28 pm
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Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Secret Cabinets
it's kinda like having bits of dead people in the draws, which is probably why party politics leaves a bad taste in the mouth. when a decision is made in the cabinet of 17 people, any dissent will rarely make it out of the room, at least for Howard's govt. Very few leaks, none really very critical. the mysteries of the neo-con methods of governance, and the oddly persuasuive methods Howard must be using irks me. Not much I can do about it though, it's not like the major parties are likely to increase the chances of independents and minor parties of gaining more than the few seats they already hold, but it'd be nice...
how awesome, I'm actually going to develop a report with recommendations and everything for a government department on sustainable tourism, specifically the value of accreditors, and projections for the future of tourism - I could actually have a real hand in saving vast portions of the NSW environment - But let's not get too ahead of ourselves. I am, after all, just a Uni student, writing a report not at the request of the ministry, but rather as a suggestion/action plan for the ministry to consider, if it makes it past the executive director of the Department of Tourism. Yet, it still beats being a layabout uni student who can't be arsed with the union cos the union can't be arsed, and one of the few non-mature age students taking politics courses who'll actually speak up in class - sigh, such is life...
couple of days previous non-blogging are attributable to massively long days - Uni then work, work then uni...
posted by Keegan at 8:35 pm
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Sunday, August 01, 2004
Alternative History
Sunday and All, thought it would be time to mention a couple of books-
Now I've been filing time with Harry Turtledove (there's two of them, I mean the space lizards one), but I've been a fan of Birmingham since 'He Died With A Felafel In His Hand', and this book just blew me away, as to how good airport trash can really get. He knows what he's writing, and it shows in that writing, much the same as with 'Leviathan', a history of Sydney. Not that many reviews around, mostly because readers will be either fans, or people who pick up books at the airport. A Multi-national Carrier group from 2021 is transported into the middle of WWII- Chaos ensues. Read the Book or Review for more details.
His books got me through high school with hope, rather than the despair that arises from studying 'King Lear' and 'Blade Runner'. This one, about a world where European society was wiped out by the plague, leaving a world dominated by Islam and China- few authors would dare contemplate an alternative world much further beyond the American Civil War (see Turtledove again). It really makes you think...