Zacht Ei

Edwin votes 'yes'

Like many, he's in favor of supporting a measure which will allow shops in Utrecht to be open on Sundays.

(Got you worried for a moment there, didn't I?)

20:19

Monday, May 30, 2005

Poll: 65 percent 'no', 10 percent undecided
In two other polls, the no voters are 16 to 18 percent respectively ahead of the yes voters.
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Sunday, May 29, 2005

FRANCE DOES NOT SURRENDER: 55 57 55 PERCENT 'NON'

According to preliminary figures, at least, which have just been broadcast on French television. Dutch PBS says these figures are highly reliable, and not your ordinary exit poll, since they're based on a number of sources, including French government figures.

Can't think of a better reason to open up a good bottle of St. Emilion and put on some music. I wanna be drunk when the Holocaust comes!

I've tuned my satellite receiver to France 2 and will be watching, and report back here if I deem it necessary.

Damn, haven't felt this European in a long time.

Update 22.31: Chirac gives an address. ~~More soon.~~ Chirac acknowledges the French have rejected the constitution, and says he'll respect the wish of the voters. He'll have to. Tomorrow, Sarkozy will be after his job. Chirac will at the very least have to sacrifice prime minister Rafarrin. No mention of that now, although Chirac does make a reference to updates on his government in the forthcoming days.

Update 22.39: 83 percent of all votes counted. It's just gotten better: 57,26 percent NON. These figures are from De Telegraaf though, which is not the most reliable newspaper in the country (though not nearly as bad as it's often made out to be).

Update 22.52: Germans have just hung a sign from the Bastille stating 'Danke France' (Thank you, France). Makes you think about that little propaganda stunt on Friday when the Bundestag, Germany's Parliament, ratified the constitution with a near-North Korean majority. Without a plebiscite of course. Can't trust them voters.

Update 22.55: Prime minister Balkenende has responded on Dutch PBS with his usual eloquence. We should vote 'yes' because we have our own responsibility. I agree with him on the responsibility part.

Update 23.09: 57,26 percent NON figure popping up all over the place, making this an undeniable victory.

Update 23.17: European Council president Jean Claude Juncker says the ratification procedure should go ahead, stating that 9 countries have already ratified the treaty. Well yes, but only one of those countries had a plebiscite: Spain. They get a lot of money from Brussels. On the other hand, one founding member of the European Union has rejected the constitution with a convincing majority of the population. The Netherlands, also one of the six founding members and the largest net contributor per capita, may (and hopefully will) do the same on Wednesday. That's the people speaking, not politicians who have their own vested interests in wanting to adopt a constitution which endows them with more power and/or career prospects. Besides, Juncker's point is moot. The constitution can't legally get into force without the consent of all 25 members.

Update 23.32: Damn, Balkenende was right. World War III just broke out.

Update 23.40: Don't want to vote 'no' because of the bandwagon effect? Then vote 'no' after watching this atrocious attempt of Balkenende to defend the constitution.

Update 30/5/05, 11.31: The official end result says 55 percent voted non. Apparently, there were quite a lot of yes votes amongst the remaining 17 percent which still needed to be counted.

22:08

Free Palestine! Support the constitution!

I get the New York Times less and less these days.

(Via Tim Blair.)

14:35

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Dutch courage

From Dutch PBS, who have screwed up their website with loads of Flash so I can't hyperlink to the article:

'If the French vote "no" on Sunday, over 60 percent of the Dutch will vote "no" in the plebiscite on Wednesday.

On the other hand, if the French vote "yes", that number will drop.'

I love living in a country full of independently minded people.

12:39

Prime minister gives one more reason to say 'no'
According to Jan Peter Balkenende, he'll 'look like a fool' if the Dutch say 'no' to the constitution. Considering Balkenende is one of the most hated prime ministers we've had for decades, I'm not sure if this argument will convince anyone to say 'yes'. (Anyway, I'm glad he chooses to use reasons which actually have some bearing on the contents of the constitution.)
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Friday, May 27, 2005

France tries reverse psychology

From the Times:

THE leader of France’s ruling party has privately admitted that Sunday’s referendum on the European constitution will result in a “no” vote, throwing Europe into turmoil.

“The thing is lost,” Nicolas Sarkozy told French ministers during an ill-tempered meeting. “It will be a little ‘no’ or a big ‘no’,” he was quoted as telling Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the Prime Minister, whom he accused of leading a feeble campaign.

Right. Like anyone's gonna fall for that. (It's far more likely that Sarkozy is, not for the first time, positioning himself for a run up the career ladder. To the point where Chirac is now, to be exact.)

(Via Instapundit.)

19:22

Valery Giscard d'Estaing: Fuck you very much

The guy who wrote the European constitution has come up with the perfect way to handle a constituency that doesn't seem to appreciate what he's wrought. If the French say 'no' to the constitution on Sunday, he'll just have to ask them again! After all, that's what very mature kids do if their parents won't give 'em more candy. They continue whining.

Never mind that Giscard d'Estaing is directly contradicting statements by prime minister Rafarrin of France, who said yesterday there won't be second chances. Well, I guess it's only fair to expect Giscard d'Estaing to be a little overbearing. After all, we're talking about a guy who thanks himself and his chums in the preamble to the constitution:

'GRATEFUL to the members of the European Convention for having prepared the draft of this Constitution on behalf of the citizens and States of Europe.'

As reader Jay so eloquently put it a few months ago: 'Wherever he is, you know Thomas Jefferson is laughing his ass off at that part. That'd be like him writing as the first words of the Constitution "Copyright 1776 TJ Enterprises, Inc." or "All Hail us!"'

16:08

'Holocaust or EU' ad being aired despite 'retraction'

This sick ad was produced by the VVD party to scare Dutch voters into supporting the constitution. It caused a huge uproar at the time, and the VVD promised an immediate retraction.

Well, it turns out that RTV Drenthe, a local tv station, did broadcast the commercial nevertheless. And according to GeenStijl, they will do so again on Sunday.

No bridge too high, no cess pool too deep.

Update 18.23: GeenStijl reports that at least two other local tv stations aired the commercial.

13:21

Second Chechen arrested in connection with Van Gogh murder
Police have only now released this information, but it turns out a total of two Chechens have been arrested in connection with the murder of Theo van Gogh on 2-11 last year. The guy is called Marat J., 22 years of age, and hails from the fair city of Grozny. Whereas his compadre, Bislan I., was arrested in France, J. got busted in the Dutch town of Schiedam. Finger prints of I. have been found on a 'goodbye, I'm going to sacrifice myself for Jihad' letter from suspected Van Gogh murderer Mohammed Bouyeri to his parents. I., from the Chechen village of Machkety, had a residence permit for the Netherlands on humanitarian grounds.
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Thursday, May 26, 2005

'European democracy will be deeply strengthened by a no-vote'

Andrew Sullivan, himself a British American, thinks a 'no' vote may be right even if it's for the wrong reasons:

'It's worth celebrating what seems to be the simple refusal of most French to go along with the monolithic policy of literally every elite institution in the country. Recall: almost every mainstream party in France is in favor of the E.U. constitution; the government and the opposition agree; no mainstream newspaper is urging non - and yet the public is still telling them to go shove it. This has got to be healthy. I'm not counting out the oui forces yet; but what we are watching is a kind of democratic protest. It may have less to do with the constitution itself than with the way in which the EU has made people feel powerless over their own destinies. The E.U. will survive a no-vote. European democracy will be deeply strengthened by a no.'

The French are, of course, a very strange country in the sense that the elitist organization of their schooling system makes them the only European country with a strong class system, comparable to that which the British Empire used to have in the 19th century. Although the French implementation is much more subtle, it's nevertheless there and it is very hard to get around. I've seen acquaintances crash and burn because they were not born in the right families or did not have the proper connections to get into the 'right' schools, although they were more than qualified. I suspect France may be facing some very tumultuous years as it moves towards a more meritocratic model.

As far as the Netherlands are concerned: in the past few days I've often wondered what worries Dutch politicians most: that a majority is considering to vote 'no', or that the country is finally engaged in the most intense political debate since the assassination of Pim Fortuyn. Indeed, the one thing that seemed to annoy most politicians about Fortuyn is that they suddenly had to debate issues which a large part of the electorate had wanted to address for years, and thanks to Fortuyn, they no longer could avoid it (though Ad Melkert famously tried).

I've felt strangely hopeful for the past few weeks, as the voice of dissent gradually increased in strength, that the tide may indeed be turning, and that this is the first step towards a better way of governing, in which politicians rule on behalf of the people rather than over them from a pedestal of feigned moral superiority.

Then again, just this afternoon I was accused, not for the first time, of being an unrealistically optimistic and idealistic person, so I'm probably wrong ;).

Off to bed now, after seven consecutive nights with no more than four hour sleep each.

22:30

Cat in a hammock

No, this picture is not upside down. The cat is, however.

13:15

Russian connection to Van Gogh murder
French police have arrested a 25 year old Russian by the name of Bislan I. in connection with the murder of Theo van Gogh. Mr I. apparently was on friendly terms with Chechen islamic militants.
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Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Rietveld switches sides and moves to the 'no' camp

I've said it before, David Rietveld is the one remaining sane member of the Dutch Green Party (GroenLinks). Now he proves it once more. While his party supports the EU constitution, David won't:

'History shows that obstructionists have always been compensated by the EU. For years it's been the sole negotiation tactic of the French. The British "got their money back" that way, the Danes have created more room for themselves. The Netherlands are the highest contributor per capita to the EU. I don't mind paying for a good cause, but then I want to have a say in it. And I won't settle for weak compromises just because they're easy.'

Indeed.

21:19

We have ways of making you vote 'yes'

OK, some of them are extremely childish, others are too rude for my taste, but some Photoshopped 'Vote Yes for the Constitution' parodies are actually quite funny. See more of them here.

19:57

Dutch Central Bank: trading in guilder too cheaply for euro did increase prices

Which means, of course, that secretary Gerrit Zalm of Finance did lie. According to André Szász, former director of De Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch 'Fed', the guilder was traded in too cheaply. This resulted in price increases. Szász will acknowledge this tomorrow night in Zembla, a tv program of Dutch PBS (credit to whom it's due). The (Maoist) Socialist Party has already called for a parliamentary inquiry.

Meanwhile, EU Rota (who apparently has way too much time on his hands) knocked together a few numbers and came to similar conclusions. As this graph shows as well:

(Note: CPI means Consumer Price Index. The Eurozone consists of the twelve countries that have adopted the euro.)

17:45

Stratfor sums it up

'A 300-page constitution, by dint of its very size, sums up the first problem facing Europe: The EU is governed by a bureaucracy whose ways cannot be understood by ordinary citizens, and which does not intend itself to be understood. It is therefore not trusted.'

'The deeper issue is sovereignty. The government of France is asking its people essentially to transfer major elements of sovereignty to a state that France cannot control. The French do not see a common identity with the rest of Europe, and the rest of Europe does not see a common identity with France. The EU is rooted in an alliance of convenience that is rapidly becoming inconvenient. We do not know what will happen with the French referendum on May 29, but the important thing already has happened. If France cannot be absolutely counted on to vote for the constitution, then the constitution is dead.'

(In its geopolitical analysis newsletter. Not online, unfortunately.)

17:14

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Why Balkenende should talk a bit more about Srebrenica

Mark Steyn is on a roll:

'So the choice for voters on the Euro-ballot is apparently: yes to the European Constitution, or yes to a new Holocaust. If there's a neither-of-the-above box, the EU's rulers are keeping quiet about it. The notion that the Continent's peoples are basically a bunch of genocidal whackoes champing at the bit for a new bloodbath is one I'm not unsympathetic to. But it's a curious rationale to pitch to one's electorate: vote for us; we're the straitjacket on your own worst instincts. Or as the cute but gloomy Omar Naber, the Slovenian Eurovision entrant, put it in his Naberly way: "Come on; tie my hands so I can drown In lies, I bleed to death in your lap."'

'And, insofar as the past 60 years in Europe have been comparatively non-bloody, that's surely due to Nato and the American military presence, both of which your average EU apparatchik would scrap in an instant without worrying about Theresienstadts looming round the corner. The nearest to a latterday Theresienstadt was Yugoslavia and that didn't exactly reflect well on the EU. Jacques Poos, foreign minister of Luxembourg and as the holder of the rotating Euro-Presidency the Union's chief negotiator with the disintegrating Yugoslavia, told the Americans to butt out and declared: "The hour of Europe has come!" The hour of Europe came and went, and a couple hundred thousand corpses later the EU was only too grateful for the Americans to butt back in again.'

Although Steyn has never been a stranger to hyperbole he has a point. The Dutch let Srebrenica happen. A cabinet fell over that, albeit years later and only a few weeks before elections were to take place anyway. Dutch soldiers, mind you, who were at the mercy of French general Bernard Janvier, who basically told the Dutch soldiers to go to hell when they requested air support. How's that for European cooperation? We told the UN we could do it, but over 7,000 Bosniak men and boys died. It's one of the few examples of Europe having acted on its own, and I can't say it helps Balkenende to make his case.

Now, I'd rather be talking about the contents of a constitution which I've opposed for years, rather than discuss past war crimes, but you'll only have to scroll downwards to see at what level our government wants to pursue the debate. Well, at your service!

(Incidentally, that the VVD dared to include Srebrenica in this sick pro-EU commercial only indicates that they should read a book every now and then. This one will do.)

19:36

Avoid a Dutch 9/11: support the constitution!
Just heard Balkenende and sidekick Donner suggest we can't fight terrorism without the European constitution. I'm sure Dutchman Gijs de Vries, who's in charge of Europe's anti-terrorism efforts, will be real glad to hear that. Anyway, I'm not going to waste any more words on our beloved prime minister. May Hermione transmogrify him into a cruise missile we could lob at Al Qaeda; that way "Harry Potter" would at least be useful. Urgh.
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This must be a conspiracy
The PR campaign to get the Dutch to vote in favor of the European constitution is run so incredibly bad that I wonder if it's their intention to get a no vote. For example: • Did anyone think of the symbolism of inviting a German foreign minister on Dutch PBS to threaten us with another pan-European war, keeping in mind which country started the last two, and also considering this particular minister was in league with a terrorist group (the Rote Armee Fraktion) right until the moment it started to use violence? Now I don't mind the Germans - heck, when studying in Dublin, I had a German roommate - but I'm 29. There's still a sizeable number of people there that lived through at least part of WWII, and got raised in an anti-German atmosphere. They might not take so kindly to Joschka Fischer telling them what to do. • Neither does it seem wise to have the Belgian prime minister trying to convince us we will lose influence in the EU if we don't go along with the constitution (never mind that agreeing to this constitution will do that, not voting against it) and threaten (there seem to be very few real arguments in favor, at least, I don't hear the proponents using them) the constitution might still go along even if we vote 'no'. Yeah, antagonize the Dutch even more will help. Incidentally, the results of the interview were accessible on the news service of cell provider Vodafone before it was alleged to take place, but otherwise than that, fair Dutch people, you're not observing a carefully orchestrated propaganda campaign, and you should trust denials of your government to that effect. Verhofstadt and Fischer regularly get involved in Dutch political affairs, like when... er... • Come to think of it, the government slogan to promote Europe is 'Europa, best belangrijk'. This translates to 'Europe, well, I guess it's kinda important' and the slogan was widely ridiculed. • Minority (Labour) leader Wouter Bos now says he wants a second referendum if the first one doesn't provide him with the 'yes' vote he desires. It's not that they don't take their constituents seriously, mind you, it's just that they, as our shepherds, want to make sure we make the right choice - no matter how long it takes... Unless, of course, we can also have a second referendum if the result is a 'yes'.
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Monday, May 23, 2005

Dutch government orders new voting machines
They are not taking any chances (satire, in Dutch, but you'll get it if you don't speak it).
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More EU statistics

EU Rota did some further number crunching on economic growth in the Eurozone and the entire European Union. The results are somewhat disconcerting.

9:31

Thanks for your donations
I received another donation last night. Thank you for that. This blog is a hobby. I don't expect nor need to make any money with it. That makes me appreciate any contributions you choose to make all the more.
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Sunday, May 22, 2005

Cowardice in Amsterdam

What do you do if someone desecrates the Theo van Gogh memorial? Well, you restore it with a slogan you hope will no longer incur the wrath of vandalizers.

I'm not sure "what Theo would have wanted", but I'm pretty certain this isn't it.

22:06

Anonymous sources and journalism
I wrote an extensive article about this subject for Netkwesties, which you can read here (in Dutch).
21:27	permalink comment(s) (0) trackback(s) (0)

Found it!
Galactica's episode The Hand of God had a seemingly Gaelic victory song which I absolutely loved. Well, I found it. Turns out it's in Hindi, and not Gaelic, but nevertheless, here's your new ringtone. (Actually, I just remembered something from the grand total of two Gaelic lessons I've had in my life: there is indeed a connection between Gaelic and Hindi. Did some Googling, and voilà. The lyrics of the song I linked above can be found here, by the way.)
21:07	permalink comment(s) (4) trackback(s) (0)

Thanks, Tim
EU Rota was kind enough to nominate the 'Nuclear Winter' story by 'Lucasdelinkselul' ('Luketheleftwingdick') about the EU constitution to British blogger Tim Worstall. The latter chose to include it in his weekly Britblog Roundup #14, even though I'm as Dutch as stamppot. Which provides all the more reason for a thank you.
20:57	permalink comment(s) (0) trackback(s) (0)

Do you like the Autobahn?
Enjoy it while it lasts. The EU's energy commissioner has suggested a 100 km/h speed limit for all of Europe. And here I thought Europe wanted to prevent another war with Germany.
14:33	permalink comment(s) (0) trackback(s) (0)

"Dutch PBS censors 'no' proponents"

According to Jan Marijnissen, leader of the (Maoist) Socialist Party (SP), a debate today in Buitenhof, the leading political tv show on Dutch PBS, was cancelled to promote the European constitution:

'Buitenhof has cancelled a debate in which I was to participate. They'd rather talk to Fisher, the German secretary of Foreign Affairs. You guessed it: a staunch proponent of the European constitution. (...) Next week, Buitenhof will have the prime minister as its guest.'

Gee, I wonder how he will feel about the constitution!

12:59

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Crash course in voting 'no' on the constitution

In three hyperlinks.
• The reasons of The Economist
• The reasons of Elsevier (whose editor Arendo Joustra, by the way, is a staunch pro-European)
• The reasons of this blog.

I'm not against the EU. Not even against a constitution. But I won't support this monstrosity. There's no going back if we adopt this constitution, ever. But the Dutch government can negotiate a better deal, as Denmark has in the past, if we force them to by voting 'no' in ten nights.

9:58

I love continuity

Just returned from my high school reunion. The hot blonde girl from my year was still a hot blonde girl (though she really shouldn't be wearing glasses), the guy who used to make all the dry remarks still made them, and the dirty history teacher still spent too much time laying his hands on women less than half his age.

So if nothing ever changes, why have reunions to see whether it has?

(Correct, or sensible, answers will be rewarded with a magical spell to ward off history teachers and/or attract hot blonde girls. Offer void where prohibited.)

3:28

Saturday, May 21, 2005

European Union wants us to vote 'no'
Why else oppose measures which would lower the Dutch contribution (currently the highest per capita in Europe), and propose new measures which would increase our contribution with 1 billion?
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Friday, May 20, 2005

Vote for the EU constitution and against Zyklon B!

This is an actual commercial produced by the free-market VVD party. For those of you who until now figured I might have been exaggerating the rhetoric used to scare us into supporting the EU constitution, well, this should prove the contrary. (BTW: the VVD party has retracted this commercial on the same day it was released.)

Update 21/5/05, 0.31: An English translation can be found here.

21:37

Thursday, May 19, 2005

This just in: 'no' campaign backfiring

According to commercial broadcaster RTL, twice as many Dutch now plan to vote 'no' on June 1. That's what you get for trying to cram something down our throats.

Meanwhile, Parliament will allow itself two days of leave to be able to campaign in the direct vicinity of polling stations on D-Day. A highly democratic practice, which you'd expect to find in civilized countries such as North Korea, China and Zimbabwe.

19:20

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Thirteen nights until our 'NO' to Europe: other than this, the euro didn't screw up our wallets

Enlightening, isn't it? (Via EU Rota, reprinted with permission.)

Meanwhile, the Dutch government is digging itself in, threatening to ignore the result of the referendum if it doesn't suit them. At least, secretary Verdonk, whom I used to respect, said that. They legally can do that, since it is not a binding referendum. However, a majority of Parliament have chosen to respect the results.

This may well mean the government intends to make a final stand by challenging Parliament, and especially the parties that support it: do what the government wants, or live with the fall of the current administration.

It's sickening, really.

Update 18.27: More disconcerting figures, courtesy of EU Rota.

8:00

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Government has now officialy lost its mind

Secretary Brinkhorst, long-time member of the D66 party which is in favor of giving the referendum a place in the Dutch constitution, is...

AGAINST THE EU REFERENDUM.

'Plebiscites can be a good thing, but this one is about something the Dutch people know nothing about,' according to secretary Brinkhorst.

The definition of being ignorant in Mr. Brinkhorst's book of course is: everyone who doesn't agree with him.

You might be interested to know that Mr. Brinkhorst used to be a member of the European Parliament. I interviewed him once - he was quite ~~arrogant~~ self-assured already at that time. This didn't get any better when his daughter got married to a prince of the Dutch royal family. In fact, since his daughter is also part of the House of Orange, she will be queen of the Netherlands if something happens to Willem-Alexander and Maxima, the current king-and-queen-to-be (and of course, God forbid, W-A's and M's child, plus the one which is currently on the way).

Whatever happens won't matter to Mr. Brinkhorst. He already thinks he rules the place.

20:33

Fourteen nights until our 'NO' to Europe: The Nixon of the Netherlands

Meet Mr. Gerrit Zalm, secretary of Finance. First Mr. Gerrit Zalm told Parliament back in 1999 that the guilder wouldn't be traded in for the euro at a bargain price. Then he appeared on Dutch television last week, when he denied he had ever denied this devaluation. (Fortunately, the Dutch Parliament keeps records.) Now, his department has issued a statement that he did indeed lie, but had to for the sake of the country. Not that this makes him a liar, mind you. According to said department, since it was for a good cause it wasn't really a lie.(Today's portion of bent reality perceptions are courtesy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Surgeon general's warning: may cause spontaneous brain haemorrhages.) And on top of all that, Mr. Zalm just gave an interview, this time denying again, like he did in 1999 (which he denies), that the guilder didn't get a good exchange rate.

Now I understand why I get all those Vicodin spam mails. You need 'em just to be able to keep up with the political news.

By virtue of logic, at least one (but probably more) of the above statements must be false.

I'll try to sort it out after my head gets a bit clearer (see the 'running for nine miles whilst not having eaten for 20 hours' part below).

If I had wanted to organize a 'vote no campaign', I couldn't have done a better job than Mr. Zalm.

19:15

Leasons you learn from running
Breakfast isn't necessarily the most important meal of the day. However, it can be if you also skip lunch and then decide to have a 14+ km (about 9 miles) run. God, I love those beautiful colors. Hypoglycaemia is way underrated. If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to administer some intravenous Twinkies.
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Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Damn, still no famous infatuated gorgeous blonde blog groupie for me

From my stats:

But alas. Turns out I'm mainly popular with Kiwi domain sharks. God, I hate New Zealand.

19:29

Fifteen nights until our 'NO' to Europe: too bad most of you don't understand Dutch

You'd be able to read this rant, which is in essense a parody of the scaremongering tactics employed by the Dutch government to bully us into supporting the EU constitution:

'What a 'NO' vote will mean? In fifty years they will write (a poem, AD) about the Netherlands: 'Thinking of Holland I see barbed wire fencing, guard towers, dust and ashes. Bodies are swinging upside down, slowly rocking in the winds of a nuclear winter.'

It will be because of you, ungrateful citizens! Hypocrite dogs! We as a government have been trying so hard to build a better world. We have given you a new currency which didn't increase prices at all! We have gotten you into a wonderful union with members including a barely fascist Italian (head of state, AD) !'

If anybody wants to have a go at translating it (i.e. someone who doesn't have to work for 70 hours a week), I'd be grateful.

Update 21.11: reader Bob was kind enough to do the honours. Read the full translation by clicking 'Lees verder'.

More...

18:09

Monday, May 16, 2005

Berman and Braga sucked into black hole

Well, one can hope.

Just finished watching the last Star Trek episode ever. What a total disgrace. To quote another review: fuck you, Rick Berman.

11:06

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Say no to Europe: Sensible civil servant surfaces

(Try saying that ten times fast.)

There may yet be hope for this country:

'A staff member of the finance ministry asked not to be named as he admitted that he would be voting No. "There should have been a referendum on the euro, there should be a referendum on Turkish entry," he said. "I'm voting against the constitution because politicians cannot tell me why I should be voting for it."'

And since there are plenty of reasons to vote against it, the choice really shouldn't be that hard. Read the full article from today's Daily Telegraph here.

21:35

Say no to Europe: Why this referendum is about the euro

The Dutch government is getting frightened. They've allocated an extra 3.5 million euros for pro-constitution propaganda. It's a good thing that (thanks to Europe) this hardly buys you a sandwich anymore these days. Meanwhile, they keep on repeating the same old arguments why we should vote in favour.

Because we'll get left behind in Europe. A lie - every country that ever threw a tantrum in the EU only got more perks. Think Thatcher.

Because we'll get another Auschwitz. A lie - rejecting the constitution only keeps the EU in its current state. It doesn't disolve the Union.

And because this isn't about the euro. The biggest lie of all.

True, rejecting the constitution won't bring back the guilder. But we were cheated back then. First, by allowing Greece into the Economical and Monetary Union while their economy didn't meet the criteria. Second, by diluting the guilder to 90 percent of its real value only to please Germany.

We were robbed. And you simply don't make new deals with people who've cheated you in the past without them having made amends or even having offered an apology.

In other words, saying that this referendum isn't about the euro is the same as a salesman telling you there's nothing wrong with his camper vans, while you are still paying off the garage bills for the crappy car he sold you back in 1999.

(So there's still no reason yet not to declare war on Iran.)

11:16

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Good news from Iraq
In the New York Times. Then again, I saw a flying pig this morning. And they are having reforms.
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Friday, May 13, 2005

Well, more for us then
Finally a reason not to bitch about anti-Americanism. That is, if you're not an American. Of course, the Dutch could be next if we decide to declare war on Iran. (Via Myrtus.)
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Changes in the right column
A short time ago, I started to blog in Dutch again at BlogNoot. In order to facilitate my readers, and thanks to the fine people at RSS Digest, I've put up a list with the ten most recent articles on BlogNoot in the righthand column of Zacht Ei. Since I've received quite a few mails from Dutch readers wondering if I'd ever start writing in Dutch again, I hope this is some consolation, even though the subject matter of BlogNoot is limited to information technology and gadgets. No politics, sorry. Enjoy!
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Thursday, May 12, 2005

Say no to Europe: declare war on Iran

Prime minister Balkenende these days takes pleasure in comparing those Dutch citizens who consider voting 'no' against the European constitution with those responsible for letting Auschwitz happen. Secretary Donner of Justice thinks we'll have World War III if the constitition doesn't come through, in which case we'll be in a world of trouble. Especially, as one rather agitated reader so kindly put it in a recent email to me after seeing my pics of Margraten Cemetery, the USA won't come to help us this time. They'll nuke our capitals instead and be done with it once and for all.

Bad American tempers aside, David Rietveld (the one sane member of the Dutch Green Party) points out what has happened to countries that didn't join the European Union, such as Iceland, Switzerland and Norway. Not a lot of war there of late. It may have to do something with the fact that they're all fairly rich countries, either by facilitating tax refugees or because they possess vast natural resources, such as oil, or in case of Iceland, lots of fish and steam. (Yes, there's a market for steam. Just ask your local sauna.)

More fishing is out of the question. The European Union already saw to that before the constitution. Besides, you can only eat so much smoked mackerel. And there's really no need for another tax haven in the same continent. So the solution is simple. The Netherlands should invade Iran and make it into a province. Plenty of oil there, and we're already accustomed to large numbers of Arab-speaking foreigners in the country. Hell, we're used to bread and buttered Dutchies who don't speak the language. The province of Friesland is filled with them. And America would be so pleased about us taking care of the little nuclear problem that has presented itself in Iran, they'd probably allow us to open up a coffeeshop (Dutch style) inside the Capitol. Maybe even sell MDMA as well. No, that's pushing it.

Yes, let's have a referendum on war with Iran instead. It's only slightly less crazy than adopting the constitution, the cost will be negligible in comparison, and there's actually some promise of long-term yields from oil revenues. Plus, we'll finally have our very own Florida, a place that is warm enough to send our senior citizens without having to worry about their arthritis. Needless to say, the first civilian flight to Teheran after the Dutch tricolor waves everywhere in Persia will be filled with exactly these kind of sclerotic and grey-haired people: all European Union staff we can round up.

9:20

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

That's number one

We've got one tentative fellow masochist willing to do the 10 mile run in September from Amsterdam to Zaandam.

Who's mad as well? If there's enough of us, I'll have some egg T-shirts made. (Or not, if this prospect discourages some would-be runners.)

10:13

Tin foil

Rogier had a brief holiday and now he's back in form. Here's his latest rant about something which I touched briefly on: the way Human Rights Watch tries to blame the Crain bashing on the native Dutch for not being nice enough towards the attackers:

And surely you've heard of those much-feared Catholic goon squads, wearing tall pointy hats and wielding sharpened crucifixes as weapons, who violently terrorize gay men holding hands? What, you haven't? Oh. Come to think of it, neither have I.

Pointy hats? Make that tin foil, because, by God, we need to eliminate every single chance of their minds being read.

8:58

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Ant killing with Antworks

I sometimes review gadgets for national broadsheet NRC Handelsblad and a few months ago I had the opportunity of checking out the Antworks, a device to ~~kill~~ keep ants in. The pre-supplied ants dug themselves in so deep in the blue gel the Antworks contains that even their tracheal tubes couldn't provide them with oxygen anymore, or perhaps they popped a strychnine pill. Either way, they were all dead in a few days.
So I went to see an entomologist who told me that ants couldn't possibly survive in the Antworks. He gave me another colony of ants to prove just that. They died as well, except for the queen, who was already well on her way to colapse when I decided to set her free. Hopefully, the neighbourhood cats didn't get to her.
Needless to say, the distributor was somewhat ant-agonized by my review entitled 'Toy for sadists'. Then again, when I told her I went to see an entomologist to verify my findings, she had to look up the meaning of the word first. (Sadly, I am not kidding about the latter. Unfortunately, neither ignorance nor the entomologist's expert opinion stopped her from yelling at me. My physician says the ringing in my left ear should pass with time. In another decade or so.)
And now it turns out there are more people out there who had to have solemn ant burials, such as this guy from Bristol. So if you're looking for the perfect gift to teach that aspiring young executive about the harsh realities of business life and dog eat dog, this is it!

(By the way, I do write about 'larger' subjects than ants as well. But if you ever have an interesting gadget to review, and are pretty sure it doesn't kill anyone or -thing, drop me a line. If it's for sale in the Netherlands at least. I've got outlets in several national media, and I promise to check with an entomologist first if it turns out to suck after all.)

8:24

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Cold in May

Not a good idea: to do your first attempt at a 16 km/10 mile run in a normal T-shirt. When I got to 13,5 kms, I was so incredibly cold I had to stop. Nevertheless, that's farther than I've ever run, and at 1 hour 15 minutes, my time could have been a lot worse.

Oh, in case anyone is still interested in my weight loss program: down to 93 kgs from 101 in januari, a loss of 8 kgs, or about 2 kgs per month. This means I'll get to 80 kgs in another six or seven months or so, unless I decide beforehand that my 32" trousers fit again.

By the way, are there more masochists out there who are willing to have a go at the 10 mile Dam to Dam run in September?

9:50

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Monday, May 9, 2005

Bruce Bawer on Dutch (in)tolerance and gay bashing

In an email to Andrew Sullivan about the attack on Chris Crain:

As for the cops finding the guys who beat up Chris Crain: I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they haven’t lifted a finger. They probably thought he was nuts for confronting the guys. The authorities’ traditional policy is: keep your head down and don’t provoke anybody. In January, two schoolboys in IJsselstein were ordered to remove Dutch flag patches from their backpacks because Moroccan students might consider them provocative. It turned out this flag ban is officially in force at many schools. Meanwhile Muslim kids have pictures of van Gogh's murderer on their lunchboxes because they consider him a hero, and nobody dares tell them to remove those pictures. In a recent article, a teacher at a school in Amsterdam said that a decade ago, ten-year-old Muslim kids were saying, 'We Moroccans are going to take over the Netherlands'; now five-year-olds who can hardly write are scrawling 'Fuck you Netherlands' on scraps of paper.

Read it all here.

One thing Sullivan neglected to mention is that he and Bawer are wrong: it's our fault! According to Human Rights Watch at least:

It said gays are the victim because immigrants take revenge for the injustice they encounter themselves.

Riiiiiiight. Twinkle twinkle little bat, how I wonder what you're at...

18:11

Sunday, May 8, 2005

Largo et andante

Can someone *please* tell whichever military band was playing the Star-Spangled Banner and the Wilhelmus, the Dutch national anthem, at Margraten Cemetery today that you're not supposed to play the jazzy versions at a commemoration service? Both anthems have rather stately melodies, but by the time they got to 'And the rocket's red glare' I was actually ready to get out the party hats.

Not that it wasn't uplifting.

10:57

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Thank you
Several readers have emailed me in private thanking me for the photo report on Margraten Cemetery I made. The pleasure is all mine.
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Saturday, May 7, 2005

Sign here, please
Pieter reports on a survey showing a lot of anti-Americanism in the Netherlands. Sered rightly adds to this the poll isn't so much about America, but a reflection of years (if not decades) of biased reporting against the USA and, of late, George W. Bush. Which makes the following all the more important, because the fine fleur of Dutch journalism has no intention of slowing down in its glorious march towards a better, America-free world. Only a few minutes ago Dutch PBS radio aired an item about the memorial service for the 60th anniversary of V-E Day at Margraten Cemetery tomorrow. They interviewed a WWII vet who is opposed to the very existence of Margraten Cemetery, stating that the US government should have brought the remains home. Now, the veteran is very much entitled to his opinion, and it has made me curious about how these cemeteries came into being in the first place. But in the past few weeks various American families have spoken out in the Dutch press on the same issue (makes you wonder why it is brought up so often, but anyway). All of them so far told about having had the opportunity of shipping the remains home. And all of them have chosen instead to let their son sleep in the soil of the country in which he died. Hardly a clear-cut issue, although a cynic might say it would suit Dutch PBS not to have any reminders of American sacrifice within our borders. It is a typical journalist tactic to interview someone who wants to say precisely those things you don't dare to, or can't back up. It's one of the reasons good magazines such as The Economist or Elsevier (disclaimer: I am hugely biased concerning the latter since I write for them) use quotes sparsely. This policy gives a reporter less room to hide behind other people's reputations, and it forces him to do his research, since he can't blame what he wrote on a third party any longer. So it's a very interesting editorial angle indeed to bring up this issue only hours before Bush arrives in the Netherlands. Maybe Dutch PBS can start collecting signatures to ship all 8,301 Margraten coffins back to the States in order to prevent another American president from landing here in the future. Or even better: they could interview someone who wants to begin collecting signatures. If they start now, they may succeed in having Margraten removed just in time for the 70th anniversary of V-E Day.
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Friday, May 6, 2005

American homosexual beat up in Amsterdam

Read his story here.

I was walking through central Amsterdam with my boyfriend back to our hotel. People were still milling about on the sidewalks from Friday night's revelry. We were only blocks from the most popular gay areas; and we were holding hands.

As we passed two men standing on the side of the street, one of them deliberately spat on us, mainly hitting me in the face. Without saying a word, we stood our ground. We stopped, turned around, and asked why. The man, who looked in his 20s, had Moroccan features and spoke with a heavy accent, murmured something about "fucking fags."

Within seconds, the two somehow turned into seven — and five of them were ganging up on me, probably because at 6-foot-7 I'm a good bit bigger than my boyfriend. It seemed like every direction I turned, I got another punch to the face, and when they kicked me to the ground, time seemed to stop. My heart still races as I write about it now. It felt like the situation had spiraled completely out of my control.

Then just as quickly as it began, it was over. I was standing up on my own, and our attackers were fleeing. There had been dozens of people on the streetcorner, but none of them had acted or even yelled anything. My boyfriend had escaped his attackers and had come to my aid, and that finally convinced the others to run.

Two kinds of herd mentality. One is to only dare attack someone when part of a group, the other is to ignore evil happening in front of you because everyone else is. And both are hallmarks of supreme cowardice.

21:30

A tribute to Margraten Cemetery

Sunday is V-E Day. President George W. Bush will visit Margraten Cemetery. There lie the bodies of 8,301 soldiers. It is the only American war cemetery in the Netherlands, and a few weeks ago I drove there to take pictures.
So before the news gets blurred by anti-Bush protesters, here's my tribute to those young American, British and Canadian men who never got to raise a family, so I can do so now in freedom.

Click 'Lees verder' to see some of the nearly 200 pictures I took.

More...

11:15

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Thursday, May 5, 2005

A time for the British to show they have a backbone

All we've got now are preliminary reports, but indications are someone - or some group - is trying to pull a Spaniard on the British elections today. So far, there is no mention of casualties and the damage seems to be limited to some broken glass.

Best reason to vote Blair if there ever was one.

Good luck today.

Update 21.09: Police are questioning a Dutch worker. Wow. According to Reuters, he's not a suspect though.

11:41

The folly of the drugs war

Rogier takes on some doubtful statistics.

I don't agree with him on the cold fusion and bratwurst thing though. This very much overlooked article in The Economist on the subject is food (though not necessarily bratwurst) for thought.

10:02

Wednesday, May 4, 2005

The problem with writing a book

Is that whilst researching it one encounters too many interesting sidetracks which tend to er... sidetrack you.

Nothing further to add, lest I get sidetracked once more.

Expect the book somewhere around 2008, ALDP (Anno Lou de Palingboer, or Lou the Eel Seller, famous Dutch cult leader).

20:33

Tuesday, May 3, 2005

Aan degenen die klaagden dat dit blog Engels is geworden: er is nu BlogNoot

Dat blijft 'ie, helaas. Maar dagelijks mag ik nu wel mijn (al dan niet zachte) ei kwijt op het Planet Multimedia-weblog BlogNoot.

Schrale troost?

21:14

Monday, May 2, 2005

A eulogy for Star Trek
Lileks does it best.
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Americans, here's your chance to make a convert

Meet Martijn. He's a communist (sort of), but nevertheless a good friend of mine. He used to be quite the anti-American, but I think I managed to talk a little bit of sense into him. Not much, just enough to open him up to the possibility that not all Americans are evil monsters who drink the blood of babies during a full moon. (Everybody knows sensible Americans wait for a waning moon.)

So now it's up to you.

At this very moment, Martijn is touching down at Dulles International Airport. He flew there with United Airlines, and will continue onwards on flight 947 to Los Angeles at 17.30 EST. (I only do 24 hour time notations. Never could figure out the difference between AM and BM.)

Please be kind to him and show him the same hospitality I have always received when I was in your country (except whilst flying with Continental Airlines, which I feel can go **** themselves).

Incidentally, Martijn will not stay very long in the USA. He's catching a late flight from LAX at 22.55 PST to Guatemala City, where he will be both studying Spanish and teaching children English, presumably so they can shout anti-globalist slurs during the next IMF meeting.

But on his return flight on June 22, he has nearly a full day to spend in Washington, DC, as he arrives at 5.55 EST and only flies out again at 17.15 EST for Amsterdam. He'll be totally knackered after the long haul from Guatemala via LAX, of course, which makes the following question all the more relevant.

Anybody want to make him feel welcome while he's there?

(Dutch readers may be interested in his adventures, which will be posted on this travel blog.)

22:07

I was going to write a rant about the Dutch secret service

But I won't.

The AIVD intelligence agency knew about the upcoming attack on Theo van Gogh, but thought the guy who was incriminating Mohammed Bouyeri was only trying to settle a score with good ol' B. As if those two need to be mutually exclusive.

I don't think it's unforgivable to screw up. But I do think it's intolerable if you don't own up.

Nevertheless. No one is going to resign, no one is going to offer apologies, so I am not going to get myself all wound up.

I just hope those who could have prevented this murder and the resulting civil unrest will never have a moment's rest until they admit to their guilt.

When they seek redemption, we'll talk. Until then, they're not worth even the shallowest of my breaths. Or any other decent human being's, for that matter.

22:07

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Sunday, May 1, 2005

Oh, and if you're going to write a piece on Europe...

...do your best to actually get to know the place a bit, will you?

The LA Times publishes an op-ed by one Irshad Manji, who tries to explain away the failure of some immigrants to integrate into European societies by refering to the class systems which are, according to her, still in place here:

'In Western Europe, by contrast, heredity, hierarchy and entitlement trump achievement.'

Makes you wonder why a guy like me, who's from the countryside and could be considered the Dutch equivalent of a hillbilly, is able to get published in several national media. My father is the son of a garage owner, who used to be a blacksmith before that. My mother's father used to be a chauffeur. Obviously, no nobility in my ancestry to help my career.

This difference between the United States and Europe feeds into the perception that immigrant communities have about whether they can ever be good enough for their host societies. That, in turn, can only influence how hard (or not) they try to integrate in each place.

Classic case of seeing the facts, but misinterpreting the causes. Yes, immigrants may feel that they can't be good enough. But that's not because we make them feel bad. On the contrary, it's because we don't allow them to feel bad enough. It's nearly impossible to hit rock bottom in Europe the way you can in America, and thus, it's also nearly impossible to get motivated to succeed. (Note: native Dutch sometimes suffer from similar problems, but that's another story.)

The problem is not that Europe has been too tough on its new citizens. The problem is that Europe should have been tougher. If you fail to get a job here, it hardly makes a difference, for the government will pay your bills. If you don't learn the language, it makes no difference, for the government will provide a translator and start publishing its brochures in seven different languages. If your son commits a crime, it makes no difference, for the government will provide counseling and send him off with a stern warning.

Don't believe me? This is the rap sheet of one of those guys. It should be clear enough even if your grasp of Dutch is limited to 'Heineken'. The brochure thing isn't made up either. If you want to come and live in the Netherlands, here's a brochure telling you how to do it. You should be fine, it's available in English, Arabic, Farsi, French, Servo-Croatian, Somalian, Spanish, Turkish, Papiamento and Dari. Oh, and there's a Dutch version, too. Plus, welfare is so high in the Netherlands that, especially for immigrants who tend to come from impoverished countries, the money is plenty for them. The difference between the minimum wage and welfare is virtually non-existent. Although the actual minimum wage may be higher, someone who's on welfare is eligible for perks such as rent stipends and the remission of council taxes. They may even end up with more money than someone who does want to work for a living. So why bother?

Or why learn the language, for that matter. Try finding a second generation Mexican-American (i.e., born in the USA) who still doesn't speak English properly. There may be a few of them around, but they'll be relatively far and few between. Now try finding a second generation immigrant in the Netherlands who still speaks with a heavy foreign accent. Thanks to government-subsidized 'Education in the Mother Tongue', you'll find plenty of candidates.

So indeed, why would immigrants try as hard as they would in the United States, if there's no demanding society to motivate them?

We brought this upon ourselves, but not in the way Irshad Manji supposes.

(BTW, Irshad Manji apparently published the book 'Big Ideas'. Sounds great. Please get some.)

23:07

So now we're the extremists

I'm not making this up, Islam-online.co.uk tries to victimize Dutch Muslims (yet again):

'The xenophobia and extremism cancer prompted Queen Beatrix to dedicate her annual address to the nation last December to national unity and the importance of tolerance and moderation for the welfare of Dutch society.'

Right. So that's why a prominent Muslim was brutally slaughtered in the streets of Amsterdam, and the Muslim mayor of Amsterdam, along with several other prominent Muslims, are now under 24 hour guard in order to somewhat increase their life expectancy. It's because of the 'extremism cancer' that's got us Dutch folks in its grips.

Sod off.

(Incidentally, the racist city council of Amsterdam is sending a busload of youngsters to a WWII concentration camp to commemorate the Moroccans who perished there. Yet another foul act of native Dutch willingly ignoring and stigmatizing their minorities.)

23:04

Happy happy joy joy

If there's ever going to be another Star Trek series, Rick Berman probably won't be involved:

'I'm not certain that I will be involved in creating the next 'Star Trek' series. I have no idea when that's going to happen, and it very well may be someone new who's going to be doing it.'

Ladies and gentlemen, the wanker has left the building.

11:26

Yet another reason to say 'no' against the constitution

According to De Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch equivalent of the Federal Reserve Bank, the guilder (our former currency) was five to ten percent undervalued when it was absorbed into the Economical and Monetary Union (EMU), the entity that has produced the euro. This article (in Dutch) states that lots of people knew, but because of political pressure from Germany (the article speaks about 'sensitivities') nobody did a thing about it. All for the greater (= ~~European~~ German) good.

As a result of this magnificent example of Dutch policy makers and civil servants acting for the best interests of our nation, Dutch prices have increased more than would have been necessary, and our competitive position has deteriorated. Thank you, European Union, on behalf of all those who are currently unemployed because our economy is in a slump, or are having trouble to make their salaries meet their material needs.

The other day, I paid 2,75 euros for a Diet Coke in a pub. That's 2,2 times the price it used to be, and still policy makers maintain that the euro has not made life more expensive. All of us already knew, through our daily experiences, that life had become more dear. Now, the policy makers finally start to admit the truth. At first, hesitantly, when it turned out Greece shouldn't have been admitted, but was nevertheless, diluting the value of our currency. Now it has become obvious that we didn't need the Greeks to water down the guilder. Our own monetary officials could handle the job just fine.

Worse may be to come. The EMU was 'just' about our money. The constitution is about our voting rights, our collective defense, our welfare state. Indeed, our very sovereignty is at stake here. Is there anyone out there who can seriously believe that Dutch interests won't be trumped time and time again if the European constitution were to be adopted, God forbid, and the bigger member states would get even more power in even more areas?

They have been lying to us, they have been deceiving us. They need to be stopped. Throw a spanner in the works of the EU machinery. Vote no.

6:56