Comic Relief

Just in case you were worried I don't have any sense of humor.

A Dutch designer has created a Tanja Nijmijer t-shirt. (see earlier post on Tanja featuring similar Balkenende t-shirts.
He doens't say how much they cost, but I'd like to buy one myself for my collection.


And, a hilarious link to an American's amazement at the Dutch biking scene. (A foretaste:)


I couldn't have said this stuff better than myself (note my son, in "suicide position") in photo at upper left hand corner of page.
(Thanks, Norma!)

That's All, Folks! MORE

Ex Muslims

(photo: darkpatator)
Muslims around Europe are launching committees of "Ex-Muslims"
The idea is, they want to demand the right to renounce religion without facing reprisals from other Muslims. This is a sledgehammer to the worldview of people who see Islam as one monolithic block of radicals. Of course there's a huge diversity of opinion within people who live in or immigrate from Muslim-majority countries to the West, because they are a huge number of people. (indiepoprockJesse)

Possibly the most interesting part of the debate in the Netherlands has been about freedom of speech and whether it includes the right to insult. Obviously, freedom of speech has its limits (especially as regards hate speech), but it does include that basic right.

However, people who insult also offend, and (as Christopher Hitchens says) Muslims have proven themselves champions at avenging insults with violence. At least in recent years.

But who in the world DOESN'T get bothered by insults? That's the point of an insult, after all.

Last month, Dutch police sued and WON a suit against a guy who gave them the finger, saying it was illegal to insult an officer because it was damaging to his authority and reputation.
That was an extremely bad ruling, and wouldn't stand up in U.S. courts.

On the other hand, who is so stupid that he gives the finger to a police officer? Anywhere in the world, from Saudi Arabia to the United States to France to Japan, you are asking for trouble when you make an obscene gesture at a cop. You may not have done anything (else) wrong, but you are sure to be punished in some way; in my experience the kind of people who become police officers are often the same kind of people likely to enjoy wielding authority and bullying.

The previous Dutch immigration minister, Rita Verdonk, sued to prevent squatters from hanging a banner that read "Rita Mordenaar" _ which means, "Rita Murderer." Under her regime, a dozen immigrants were burnt to death while awaiting deportation in a hastily built prison. Is that insult not fair comment, especially for a public figure?

The squatters initially lost their case, and were forced to hang banners that read "Rita Molenaar" instead. That means, "Rita Windmiller" But it sounds almost exactly like "Murderer" in Dutch. Only hilarious. Is this really a society where all criticism of public figures has to take place through satire or allegory?

So back to the Muslims. The founder of the Dutch ex-Muslam group, Ehsan Jami, says he's not anti-Islam, but he also says insulting things about the prophet Mohammed _ it's his right. And of course it's also his right not to be attacked on the street.
However, wouldn't he be more likely to win sympathy for his cause among Muslims if he just stuck to the point?
A rival group of Dutch Ex-Muslims (!!) has formed to protest for a less confrontational approach. They announced their formation in an Amsterdam mosque (!!!).
Jami argues there's no need to let Muslims play 'victim' and they should be able to take a few barbs. Nobody was murdered over "Piss Christ" in the U.S.

But again, why intentionally say things that you know are going to offend, when it's not even your primary goal?

I hope Jami lives to be older and wiser. Or that I do.
MORE

(photo credit: flickr's supersuus)
Talk about long-term planning. The Dutch are working on plans to deal with rising sea levels due to global warming through the year 2200.

"We want to make sure that there's still a Netherlands a century from now," Tineke Huizinga, the country's top water official, told state broadcaster NOS.
"We don't want to just let the water flow and all have to move to Germany."

-AP

Now that's thinking ahead!

(photo by goya)
The two most awesomest ideas are re-routing the Rhine and building "breaker" islands off the coast.
Me, I want to put a rubber dinghy in my attic. Just in case.
MORE

Dervis defends Melkert / UNDP - NRC

More in the way of public service; I notice that previous posts on the Ad Melkert/UNDP saga have drawn some traffic; so here's this: The Dutch daily paper NRC Handelsblad has an interview with Kemal Dervis today, defending Melkert.

(oversimplified synopsis of the story so far for those who don't want to read in: some conservatives in Washington think Melkert should leave the UNDP because of the "Cash for Kim" scandal, and some liberals think that's only because the conservatives blame Melkert for the downfall of Paul Wolfowitz at the World Bank).

I think I can claim 'fair use' if I translate the single best NRC quote:

"Mr. Melkert has my support as colleague and as his boss. Last week I spoke with authorities in Germany, France and Britain, and they all support Mr. Melkert. Why is this so personal? It could be because of matters in his political past in the Netherlands, there could be matters dating from his time at the World Bank. You know, I was a politician, he was too. In politics, people make enemies."

On the question of why the UNDP wasn't agreeing to a U.N. ethics investigation into the whistleblower question, despite requests from the U.N. secretary general, Dervis said there is an investigation into the scandal, and on the whistleblower UNDP is following its own rules (which are not the same as those of the U.N.; he hopes to harmonize with U.N. rules in the future).
One other quote: "Despite all the commotion, outcry, there is not one piece of evidence of any personal fraud." MORE

Sison Protest III

Today was the third protest in the Netherlands about the arrest of Jose Maria Sison. It was held outside the court house where he had his second appearance, this time to discuss whether he can be held another 90 days on murder charges.

Actually, I probably would stop posting these entries, but now I notice I'm getting a lot of hits on the site from the Philipinnes, so I consider it a public service.

Here, Luis Jalandoni was starting to say that the Dutch have a lot to lose (in terms of international reputation and ultimately Shell oil interests) if information from the police raids in Utrecht is passed on to Philippine authorities and used to persecute NDF sympathizers (or non-sympathizers!) there.

Dutch prosecutors and Sison's lawyer say that won't happen _ but Koppe didn't rule out the chance some information could go through a back door from the Dutch secret service to the CIA to Manila.

The CPP and Sison are on the E.U.'s terrorism list, after all.

This is lawyer Victor Koppe, explaining to Sison supporters what happened inside. Supporters were crowded around to hear what he had to say (but he still couldn't talk about the evidence).
And here are the supporters. I thought most of them were the same as last time, but a handful of new faces, and maybe a few more people actually. Some were standing near a fence showing signs to passing cars. I still don't think most Dutch know this is even happening: they're much more concerned with internal politics right now. MORE

Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad

Dutch financial daily "Het Financieele Dagblad" has a whole new look. This stunningly stylish revamp entails a change from white color paper to pink color paper, and also trying to rebrand themselves as the "F.D." (Pronounced "F.T." in Dutch). This new look for Het Financieele Dagblad reminds me of something, but I can't for the life of me think what it is...Oh yeah, *that's* it. The Financial Times, a little-known British financial publication, uses almost exactly the same color paper. Maybe you know them as the "FT." Boy, I hope nobody confuses a high-quality paper like Het Financieele Dagblad with that rag out of London.
/sarcasm. There's a good old British saying "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
MORE

Balkenende & Guerrilla Girl

These awesome t-shirts 'inspired' by the iconic Che Guevara image were part of the political campaign that got Christian Democrat (i.e. conservative) Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende elected last year. Oh, the delicious irony!

Today, Jan Pronk, the guy hoping to become the Howard Dean of Dutch politics (that is, Labor Party chairman) called Balkenende a "liar" for misleading the Dutch into Iraq.

"We were rushed into that war on the basis of lies," he said. Where have I heard that before?

Sticklers for detail like me will remember that the Dutch technically didn't rush into anything, but had a more nuanced stance on the war, namely that they supported it "politically but not militarily."

Politically but not militarily? Whatever.

Later, the country participated in peacekeeping. In a comparatively peaceful province (al-Muthanna). But I digress.

Pronk later said he "was a little sorry." But he still thinks this country is ruled "by a person who has lied."

In politics, it often seems, the goal is either:
a) a race to see who can say the stupidest thing first or
b) a fight not to have to retract the stupid thing you said.

Meanwhile, the Dutch press is in a tizzy about "Guerrilla Girl," identified (first by website Geenstijl, who else?) as Tanja Nijmeijer, from the small Dutch town of Denekamp.

(photo courtesy GeenStijl).
She studied Spanish, started hanging out in leftist squatter circles in the Dutch city of Groningen, and wound up traveling to Latin America to help impoverished people.

She's fighting for FARC in Colombia these days, and Colombian daily El Tiempo is leaking out the dirty details of her diary bit by bit, milking this story for everything it's worth.

Apparently none of the guerrillas use condoms, and big-breasted bimbos get favors from El Commandante. Her diary was recovered after a raid in which they were caught bathing and had to run into the jungle half-naked!!

Titillating story, no?

So how does this all tie together?

Proceeds from those Balkenende shirts go to a good cause: an organization called COMUNARTE by a young Colombian named Elkin Ramos, in which rather than fight turf wars, gangs are encouraged to dance instead.

Or so they say.

So, if you're either "with us or against us," then you're either a Balkenende or a Pronk, or a Nijmeijer or a Che or an Uribe.

But maybe, just maybe, if Us is Them, and the world isn't all black and white, and you can support a war politically but not militarily, you could choose to be a Ramos instead...
MORE

Ice Creamed: Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's

(exhibit "A")

When I first arrived in Amsterdam, the only high quality ice cream available was Haagen Dazs, and it was only available at 6.25 per 500ml at the Albert Heijn, the country's dominant grocery chain.
That's US$8.53, at today's exchange rate. They added in Ben & Jerry's somewhere along the way, at 5.25 euro (US$7.17). I think they may have cut those prices by a few cents about two years back.

Anyhow, the point is, the chickens are finally coming home to roost. SUCK IT Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's! And tell your masters (That's General Mills/Nestle and Unilever) the grim reaper has arrived!

Das Lidl (the German chain with the Wal-Mart type labor practices) and Dirk van de Broek (The cheap-o Dutch retailer whose name means "Dirk of the Pants") have both introduced cheaper versions of super high quality ice cream in the past month.

At the Dirk on Heinekenplein (where I do my shopping when I can) the new "Noblissima" brand is 2.99 euros. As you can see from exhibit A, they have Cookies & Cream, among others.

In exhibit B, you can see the Lidl sells the "Prestige" brand at that same price, featuring "Macadamia Nut Brittle," my personal favorite.

(exhibit "B")

Admittedly, it's not *quite* as good as the Haagen Dazs version, but it's definitely in the same ballpark.

Albert Heijn has stopped selling Haagen Dazs completely (they pulled it from the shelves in April), I guess because they have a deal with Unilever on Ben & Jerry's. But B&J prices have already been cut to 4.79 euros (US$6.54). (Exhibit C:)


And I bet the best is yet to come.

B&J have to fight against Albert Hein's in-house brand "Albert Heijn Excellent," available for 3.99 euro.

In other words, capitalism, in the form of price competition, is finally arriving in this cartel-run country.

The Oracle of Amsterdam predicts all purveyors of overpriced ice cream will feel the pain very, very soon. Or better yet _ commoditization! Margin squeeze! Affordable ice cream for all! Die, you consumer-hating corporate swine!

Die! Die! Die!

Can you tell I get worked up about this?



Especially Haagen Dazs must be suffering due to getting the 'boot' from Albert Heijn.
Apparently HD is still for sale at the chains "C1000" and "Super de Boer," but their owner Laurus is a step away from Chapter 11 anyhow (okay 2 steps), and they are like the dingleberries sticking to the backside of Albert Heijn in terms of size.

I've never even seen a Super de Boer in Amsterdam, and just one C1000, once.

The only way normal people can get Haagen Dazs now is from a pizza delivery company (or at the HD shop on Leidseplein). Delivery costs 6.75 (US$9.22) per pint.

Ha, ha! 'Tis to laugh.

-Your friendly neighborhood consumer advocate.

MORE