The system worked

Myrtus reports on how Mohammed Bouyeri nearly got hired at Schiphol Airport as a security agent.
The important word here is 'nearly'.
Bouyeri got rejected at the moment they did the obligatory background check - in other words, at the moment this should have happened.
Mind you, at the time, Bouyeri hadn't yet fallen in with radical Islam. He had a criminal record for having been involved in a brawl in 1997.
There've been a number of people commenting on this, most of them along the lines of 'how close we came to danger'.
Instead, this is a prime example how affairs should be conducted in a civilized country. Bouyeri had every right to apply for that job, just as much as the security services had a duty to stop him from getting it.
The system worked.

17:49

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Dutch PBS doesn't want America-friendly anchor

What a surprise. The Dutch state news independent and impartial NOS Journaal doesn't want Mr. Charles Groenhuijsen to be its new anchor.

Part of the reason lies in Mr. Groenhuijsen's request to anchor the news broadcasts from Washington, DC, where he currently lives. However, it's easy to confuse cause and effect. Mr. Groenhuijsen has been at odds with the NOS Journaal for some time because he has said such fascist controversial things as:

'When I see whole American families signing up for the military to defend the freedom of others, some Dutch say: Americans are fanatics. I say: I salute you.'

and my personal favorite:

'Many Dutch are what they claim Americans to be: they are suffering from Torremolinos superficiality, BMW rudeness and Vinkeveen egotism.'

So of course I ordered his book ('Amerikanen zijn niet gek', or 'Americans aren't crazy') immediately.

15:10

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Friday is not semi-nude day

Since none of you guys bothers to send in submissions (no Hirsi Ali pun intended).

So it's on to the UK then.

It seems I'm not the only one who's kinda fed up with inflammatory comments these days. Scott Burgess gives one of his commenters an appropriate fisking:

'I thought this example held some interest, only because it so accurately reflects a couple of specific attitudes commonly voiced by many on the left; namely:

* That the mere reporting of the most blatant expressions of hatred from Islamist extremists and their apologists constitutes something approaching racism (we'll accept this as shorthand, given the commenter's reference to a "racial group", which Islam of course is not).
* That those who suggest that people who despise and loathe their country of residence might be happier in a society that better represents the values they hold are trying to "exclude all dissent".'

Which explains why I am a leftie no more, I might add. Having a heart is no excuse to stop thinking.

(Mind you, I use both hemispheres, although many of my friends would probably want to challenge the mere assumption that I'm capable of thinking at all.)

13:37

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