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Monday, March 27, 2006
Intellectual treason |
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Secretary Van Ardenne of International Development alienates herself from her own civilization by uttering unacceptable criticisms of freedom of speech in an Arab newspaper
It was a small, but useful diplomatic victory. Thanks to secretary Ben Bot (CDA party or Christian Democrats, AD) the European Union has altered a statement on the Danish cartoons in order to make sure it couldn't be interpreted as support for those who felt an apology on the part of the Danish was in order. There is no reason whatsoever to meet extremists halfway.
Not quite as useful was the article that Bot's fellow CDA member Agnes van Ardenne wrote for Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. The secretary of International Development painted 'those that make a lot of racket about freedom of expression' as dangerous 'fundamentalist secularists' who use the guise of tolerance to target religion. Whereas, according to Van Ardenne, it is 'an undeniable fact' that religion constitutes 'one of the binding factors of our time'.
To those that have seen the Twin Towers in New York collapse, or who have read the Qu'ran, this fact may not seem as self-evident. But the most painful result of Van Ardenne's statements is that they constitute a knife in the back of advocates of free speech such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Geert Wilders, brave politicians who need around the clock security in order to be protected against the 'binding' effects of Islam.
The secretary used a visit to Yemen to plead for 'reconciliation rather than alienation', but alienated herself from her own civilization by launching an unacceptable assault on criticism of religion.
The (free market, AD) VVD party was angry because the secretary went against the policies of the Dutch administration. But the reality is much worse. Agnes van Ardenne has committed intellectual treason against the foundations of liberal democracy.
Gerry van der List
(This article was originally printed in Dutch news weekly Elsevier. Reprinted with kind permission of editor-in-chief Arendo Joustra of Elsevier. Please respect Elsevier's copyright. Translation mine.)
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19:03 |
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The most influential journalists in the Netherlands |
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This ranking is highly dubious, since it's based on Google statistics which will inevitably benefit people that report on the Internet, especially if they have a blog, BUT... I'm very easy to flatter, not to mention suffering from the same kind of narcissism that befalls most journalists, so if it turns I rank as number 12 (as of today, the list has been changed quite a few times since it was first published last week), yes, of course, I'll link to it.
(And sorry for that Thomas Mann sentence.)
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17:55 |
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Saturday, March 25, 2006
I'm a Pandora addict |
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There, I've said it. No twelve step programs in my neighbourhood yet, and if there were, I doubt I'd be joining them If you love music and haven't checked out Pandora yet, please do so here. Pandora offers new musical recommendations based on your stated preferences.. It's sort of a Last FM like site with some small but important differences. First, Pandora is not Web 2.0: it doesn't have any social networking capabilities, unlike Last FM Second, Pandora is much more user friendly. I wouldn't send my dad to Last FM, but even he couldn't get into trouble with Pandora. (Now there's a challenge for the old man!) Third, and most importantly, the recommendations Pandora makes are a lot better than those at Last FM. I am downloading like hell buying like crazy to stock my music library with new artists that iTunes doesn't stock and even Shareaza is having a hard time to find. As Peter has said on his blog: I've discovered more new music in one week of using Pandora than in ten years of listening to the radio.
Too bad Pandora doesn't do classical music. Yet.
(BTW: My radio channel got its name because of its strange tendency to mix indie/normal/emo/punk rock, power/goth/nu/symphonic metal, middle of the road singer songwriters of the 'are you happy yet' kind, not so middle of the road singer songwriters of the 'we are all going to die and I'd rather it be sooner than later' kind, and electronic music. Yes, those are all genres I happen to like, so sue me. Except if Pandora plays Nathalie Imbruglia again, in which case I will sue them myself.)
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9:55 |
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Friday, March 24, 2006
"Iraqi links with OBL, Russia, France" |
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This is a very interesting article indeed:
Two Iraqi documents dated in March 2003 — on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion — and addressed to the secretary of Saddam Hussein, describe details of a U.S. plan for war. According to the documents, the plan was disclosed to the Iraqis by the Russian ambassador.
(...)
An Iraqi intelligence service document saying that their Afghan informant, who's only identified by a number, told them that the Afghan consul Ahmed Dahastani claimed the following in front of him: That OBL and the Taliban are in contact with Iraq and that a group of Taliban and bin Laden group members visited Iraq.
(...)
This is an intriguing document that suggests Saddam Hussein's regime had a strong interest in the mechanics and legalities of financial contributions to French politicians. Several former French politicians are implicated in receiving oil vouchers from Iraq under the U.N. Oil for Food program.
Of course, one source means no source, and any claims resulting from the above ABC investigation need to be corroborated. But I'd reckon this article would have drawn a lot more attention if it were to claim rather the opposite from the above.
Meanwhile on CNN: Cheney's hotel requirements.
Update 10.10, 25/3/06: I'm eating my words; the Russian link is all over news.google.com. It took them a day, but that's pretty good for the MSM. After all, they get paid, so why hurry.
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12:29 |
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A big decision |
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Remeber the house I couldn't get? Turns out I can get it after all. The previous candidate apparently wasn't able to arrange financing.
This is the house which costs 289,000 euros (that's nearly 350,000 US Dollars). Any remarks about why I should(n't) go through with this are more than welcome.
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10:55 |
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Sunday, March 12, 2006
Saturday, March 11, 2006
All those in favor of bestowing nuclear responsibilities on Iran say 'aye' |
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A snippet of a sermon by Iranian ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, via Andrew Sullivan:
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati: Western culture and civilization - and especially criminal America - are heading towards a serious collapse.
Crowd: Allah Akbar.
Allah Akbar.
Allah Akbar.
Khamenei is the leader.
Death to those who reject the rule of the Jurisprudent.
Death to America.
Death to England.
Death to the hypocrites [Mojahedin-e Khalq] and Saddam.
Death to Israel.
Christianity sucks. I never got to hear such riveting speeches in church when I was a kid. When I read this stuff in western newspapers, it tends to be a satirical piece in The Onion. Speaking of which, it seems the crowd could use some Onion schooling in divinity:
(By the way, I will post more on the Hofstad group verdict later on. Several politicians have commented on the verdict, which is a direct violation of the trias politica. Moreover, any comments at this time are hugely premature, since the full verdicts have not been made available to the general public yet; only a summary has. And as they say: 'Death of a Salesman' is summarized by its title.)
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21:19 |
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Bird flu strikes in Netherlands |
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In case you've been hiding under a rock all day: genocidal maniac Slobodan Milosevic has been found dead in his prison cell in The Hague (that's in the Netherlands, not in Rhode Island or Denmark). Apparently, Dutch cells are downright dangerous for you, because Milan Babic killed himself a week ago whilst being held captive in the same prison. Yes, nylon shoelaces can be detrimental to your health. Slobodan Milosevic had requested to be treated in Russia for his health problems but the court had ruled that Dutch healthcare was more than adequate. I am not as sanguine about that.
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17:10 |
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Friday, March 10, 2006
Hofstad Group designated a "terrorist organization" |
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A landmark ruling in Dutch legal history. The group around Mohammed Bouyeri has been designated a terrorist organization by the Dutch court in Amsterdam. One member, Jason Walters, was sentenced to 15 years in jail. Another suspect, Ismail Akhnikh, will have to serve a 13 year sentence. (Apart from life sentences, jail time is usually commuted by one third, meaning Walters will probably be out in 11 years and Akhnikh in nearly 9 years.)
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14:03 |
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War with *snort* Venezuela |
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Didn't have too high an opinion of Hugo Chávez before, but this is downright ridiculous:
As exemplified by most of his speeches, Chávez maintains the idea that the Bush administration wants to invade Venezuela, and on this day assured the country that a larger and better equipped army was necessary for protection against the United States. Continually evoking struggle of a revolution against imperialism, Chávez demanded that Puerto Rico, Netherlands Antilles, Guadalupe, the Maldives and the Virgin Islands be released from outside control, his voice gaining momentum, crescendoing in outrage as he listed off every island in captivity.
There's also a Dutch article in newspaper De Telegraaf and this one on a blog by a professor of Leiden University, both citing Chavez's desire to annex the Netherlands Antilles.
It's going to be some showdown. The Venezuelan navy attacking a Dutch vessel with one of their - er - 'state of the art' 120 mm mortars? Mate, we've got stealth ships and Goalkeepers, and I'm not referring to the upcoming soccer world championship.
Perhaps we'll get our very own Falklands after all. Dutch blogger Retecool has engaged in some pre-emptive victory celebrations by starting a Photoshop contest in which Chavez features as the new Imperious Leader of the Netherlands Antilles.
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1:52 |
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Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Thursday, March 2, 2006
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