Fri, 12 March 2010
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In a series of articles, we are going 'green' this week, beginning with our humble Editor's encounter with the mighty Al Gore.The elderly gentleman leaned forward conspiratorially and sotto voce declared, ‘The Second Generation is only months away.’ In the vast hall his words were as mere droplets in the vastness of the ocean. But I heard them and I felt privileged, one of the chosen few. Others spoke of ‘cleansing’, ‘biomass’ and ‘hybrids‘.
I had not infiltrated a factory churning out the next series of cyborgs: this was the Biofuels market at the Brussels Expo. A man was explaining to me that he was in vegetable oil for diesel when the tannoy announced that the conference was about to begin, a call to prayer at the size 11s of none other than Al Gore, former VP of a very large corporation. Al’s reinvented himself, becoming the spokesman for his generation on the hottest ticket in every Western town - global warming.
Here he was surely preaching to the converted, a congregation made up of the movers and shakers of the Biofuels industry. An expression from his country springs to mind - No Brainer. You would think. But it seems that many people are still not listening, like two men bang slap in the middle of the road arguing over just how long it will take the juggernaut to flatten them.
Al Gore's The Inconvenient Truth
Al made a speech that he has no doubt used many a time, taking us all the way back in time to when we were part of the primordial scum and bringiing us to our current responsibilities as we stand upright now in the 21st century. He warned the new fuels market that the technology has to catch up fast and that it has to deliver genuine reductions in CO2s. As he stood there, I kept thinking of how, just before his entrance into the hall, I had met him in the toilet, as one does. He said, ‘You have to freshen up.’ I hoped he wasn’t being personal. As he splashed his face, his bodyguard held his jacket, all the while checking me to see if I had assassin’s eyes.
This handy guide from Expertise in Labour Mobility includes how to write a CV, application procedure, interview dos and don'ts, Belgian management culture.
Belgium’s first alternative directory assistance services - available through the shortcode 14-14 - can now be accessed on the internet.
Moving to Belgium presents a host of challenges to expats, not least of all finding the right home.
The psychological effects of global mobility can be physically painful.
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