dad just asked if he could borrow my car for the day.

i gave him the keys and went back inside, then i just hear the sounds of tyres screeching, and then a lingering smell of burning rubber.

i think my dad secretly wants a manual car.

although, he seems to have forgotten that I’m gonna take his BMW today, and be equally careless.

so i’m a fence-sitter for the KONY 2012 thing.

let’s start with clarification. I’m referring to the Invisible Children campaign. I’m not denying for one second that Joseph Kony is an evil man. I just agree and disagree about the campaign, and the reasons why.

so let’s start with the obvious. the campaign worked. i have 680 friends on facebook, 490 of them have posted the video. everyone is talking about it. i currently have 4 IM chats going - all of which are discussing KONY. so what does this mean?

Put it this way. 2012 is an election year for the USA, and from the way things are going, quite possibly for us (Australia) too. The aim of the video, as clearly stated within, is to convince those with power to keep the support flowing into Uganda to assist the local authorities in capturing Kony. How does one convince those with power? By threatening to remove power.

I don’t know how the USA political system works, so my ideas here are coming from my knowledge of the Australian system, but in any democratic system, politicians are all doing their best not to be hated so they can get their job back in the next election.

In the year 2007, after Labor was elected to government, Kevin and his team didn’t have to worry so much about screwing up because by the time 2010 came around, people would have hopefully forgotten about the shit they did. It worked - just.

I’m guessing the same thing goes on in America. Obama wants votes. How does he get votes? By promising to do something about issues that matter to American voters. Ie: Kony. Something that is being talked about worldwide, but most importantly, by American voters.

If Invisible Children can convince Americans that playing Hide ‘n’ Seek with Kony is something worth doing, then every politican would be stupid not to take advantage of this. Most likely, why Obama decided to write a letter saying he’s sending in the troops.

Will it work? In theory, yes. After this much talk, there’s no way that November 1 can go un-influenced by KONY2012.

So all in all, it seems like a good cause of a campaign? Yes, but I also have some issues with it.

I very rarely like activism. When one person speaks out about something troubling them, I rarely care much, unless it affects myself, or a majority of people in my community. In this case, it’s neither. I also don’t like the kony kit box. Unnecessary. They already have all the awareness they need without the funding.

Emotional involvement is enough. There’s no need to con people out of their money for a shiny, limited edition, one of a kind bracelet.

TLDR: I support the cause, but I also don’t support it.

Feel free to respond, or ask me questions about my opinion.

has just increased my credit limit by $1000 on my mastercard.

oh god…*avoids temptation to buy more stuff*

…a letter from the college you already told can go fuck themselves saying “happy birthday…you owe us $17,000”.

Yeah good luck buddy… Even though they asked so nicely, i somehow doubt they’ll ever get this money from me - not that i even have that much cash just lying around. I’m a student…not James Packer…

so it’s my birthday on thursday. i’ll be 19, which in my mind is a fairly insignificant age. hence why i almost completely forgot about it till mum asked me last night if we were going to watch the fireworks in darling harbour again.

oh, that’s right, it’s also australia day on thursday. *insert patriotic statement here*.

well, i suppose i better hit up woolies, stock up on lamb chops and tooheys, and celebrate properly…

just as a side note… i’ve recently figured out how subtly proud of my country i am. not only that, but proud of my city - even my suburb. i used to always think of australia as “meh, it’s ok”, but now that the idea of moving out of home, and going anywhere in the world is something i think about quite often, i always end up concluding this train of thought with “there’s no where else in the entire world i would rather live than here”. i’m not a loud-shouting patriot who’ll wear the green and gold wherever i go, nor will i start a race riot to prove any points, but honestly, it’s true.

holidays, yeah i’d love to travel, but i could never see myself living in any other country.

your lecturers sound awful! and so does your uni! you shouldn’t have to put up with that…

these lecturers think they’re top shit just because a majority of the students are internationals who don’t know anything about hospitality yet. they can’t accept the fact that i know more than them in some respects.

eg: sales and marketing. basically, a COMPLETE copy of preliminary HSC business studies. i did that already, and i wasn’t allowed to apply for RPL? No. I have to go, feel like i’m repeating year 11, and pay them the $1200.

learning things so slowly like that it was makes me LESS motivated to show up to class. the fact that i sometimes feel dumber for having shown up.

Then there’s the slave labour. Rooms Division operations. Go and be a cleaner at a hotel for 6 weeks. Learn nothing. Pay us $1200 for doing so. FB Operations. Go be a waiter/bartender (in our own restaurant) for 24 weeks. Learn nothing. Pay us $2400 for doing so. Industry Placement I & II. Go get a job in the industry without our help. Work there for 6 months. Pay us $2400 for doing so. (that one made me REALLY mad.)

/rant

It’s amazing how much can change in twelve months to make me think differently about college life amongst other things…

I’ve come to the realisation that I actually hate my uni. I hate the lecturers. I hate (most of) the other students. I hate the assignments. I hate having to go.

The only reason I do go is to get a certificate that may or may not assist me in getting a job, but the thing is, I already have a job in the company I dreamed of working for, why should I continue?

What really makes me angry about it is three-fold:

1. The lecturers all think I’m an international student and are constantly telling me my student visa can be cancelled if I don’t show up to lectures. I AM A FUCKING CITIZEN - YOU WON’T GET RID OF ME THAT EASILY.

2. The lecturers get mad when I don’t turn up to lectures, but still get straight As. They don’t seem to realise that you actually have to be mentally retarded to not pass the course.

3. It’s a very expensive way to get by… Something like $32,000 - $7500 of which I don’t think I should be paying for, if not more considering the fact that tafe gives the same course for a very small fraction of the price.

Just thinking about it makes me so angry that I am actually considering dropping out and working full time. My boss already says I have what it takes to succeed in this industry and I’m ready to move onwards.

I’ve had enough of rude, stuck up lecturers. I’ve had enough of childish, stuck up students. I’ve had enough of the politics of this stupid college. I just want my career to start now.

/rant