Silly news, silly newspaper
Mar. 30th, 2007 09:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzIn the catagory "everyone's gone mad and thinks everything's normal" ('iedereen is gek geworden en vindt alles maar normaal') we have yesterday's news. In one of our leading papers, the Algemeen Dagblad yesterday:
- The Teletubbies will have a tulip named after them. Page 3.
- Zoetermeer, a city-suburb of The Hague, has invested € 25.000,- for a virtual city hall in Second Life. From the article: "We have invested 25.000 euro in this virtual city hall. A bargain. With all this publicity of the last few weeks we saved tons of money."
Maybe someone should tell him it's not real.
Also, streakers disturbed the press conference in Second Life and started stripping. They were removed from the virtual city hall. Page 4.
- Dutch politicians insist that there will be an agression test for large dogs. From the article: "Usually the problem is not with the dog, but with the owner who made the dog vicious."
I saw what the test did. Let me tell you, any well-trained dog that's a bit smart is going to attack three people who try to approach their masters in a menacing way. Any well-trained dog that's smart enough, anyway. I like wolf-like dogs, and I'm pretty sure if I ever trained one he'd never pass that test. As much fun as a drooling bag of fur that follows you around is, I got pretty hooked on smart dogs that think for themselves when we had Curly (Bouvier de Flandres)
Another good example of a bad idea and a waste of money. Page 9.
- This one takes the cake. In the town Vlaardingen, a sub-urb of Rotterdam, three mosques have asked permission to hang up speakers so they can summon the faithful to their Friday prayers. The Dutch political party VVD (right-conservative businessfucks)'s Henk Kamp said "This is a testament of putting oneself forward that is not normal. People will look upon this as a disturbing factor, because those calls to the faithful are in a different language and on unusual times."
VVD is backed by PVV (Partij Voor Vrijheid - almost extreme right-wing) and SGP (extreme christian party, no women allowed to take a seat in parliament for this party).
What it's all about: two calls of maybe two minutes, from the mosque: one to call the faithful to the lectures, one afterwards. On Friday afternoon. Around one o'clock in the afternoon. This according to the Mayor of Vlaardingen, who spoke to Radio Rijnmond in their news show. He also rightly pointed out that there's no law against this, and that he thought it was very polite that the mosques actually asked permission to do so.
I was visiting an old friend Necktar in Tilburg a few years back, who lives maybe 200 meters from a mosque. Yes, we could hear the call from the mosque that afternoon. No, I didn't find it disturbing.
When I was sleeping over at JJ's house in Ede a few years back, I found it much more disturbing that I was awoken by 26 churches in that town tolling their bells for ten minutes long. Sunday, 10 am.
It's a sure sign that we're losing all tolerance. We brought those people here. We asked for the Turks, the Maroccans and everyone, we opened the borders to fugitives. Now they live here, and we have - whether you like it or not - a multi-cultural society. We also enjoy the Freedom Of Belief, it's in our constitution. So, if the Christians can toll their fucking bells for ten minutes while most sensible people should still be asleep, then the Islamic people should be able to call their faithful to the Mosque for the most important prayers of the week. Yes, Christianty is in our history (look at what 'good' that did us). Cultures change, and most muslims are more peace-loving than us Dutchies ever were.
- Let's close down this rant with a few disasters. No disaster so great or we westerners can make profit of it. Nicolas Cage's movie about the WTC is a good, yet tragic, example of this. In moments of Dutch 'glory', we will now also get a movie about the train-jacking of 1975, a movie called "Wijster".
Oh. And Frans Bauer (ongewenst zanger) will sing in the RTL's Dancing With The Stars. Two more great reasons why I am glad we don't own a television.
- The Teletubbies will have a tulip named after them. Page 3.
- Zoetermeer, a city-suburb of The Hague, has invested € 25.000,- for a virtual city hall in Second Life. From the article: "We have invested 25.000 euro in this virtual city hall. A bargain. With all this publicity of the last few weeks we saved tons of money."
Maybe someone should tell him it's not real.
Also, streakers disturbed the press conference in Second Life and started stripping. They were removed from the virtual city hall. Page 4.
- Dutch politicians insist that there will be an agression test for large dogs. From the article: "Usually the problem is not with the dog, but with the owner who made the dog vicious."
I saw what the test did. Let me tell you, any well-trained dog that's a bit smart is going to attack three people who try to approach their masters in a menacing way. Any well-trained dog that's smart enough, anyway. I like wolf-like dogs, and I'm pretty sure if I ever trained one he'd never pass that test. As much fun as a drooling bag of fur that follows you around is, I got pretty hooked on smart dogs that think for themselves when we had Curly (Bouvier de Flandres)
Another good example of a bad idea and a waste of money. Page 9.
- This one takes the cake. In the town Vlaardingen, a sub-urb of Rotterdam, three mosques have asked permission to hang up speakers so they can summon the faithful to their Friday prayers. The Dutch political party VVD (right-conservative businessfucks)'s Henk Kamp said "This is a testament of putting oneself forward that is not normal. People will look upon this as a disturbing factor, because those calls to the faithful are in a different language and on unusual times."
VVD is backed by PVV (Partij Voor Vrijheid - almost extreme right-wing) and SGP (extreme christian party, no women allowed to take a seat in parliament for this party).
What it's all about: two calls of maybe two minutes, from the mosque: one to call the faithful to the lectures, one afterwards. On Friday afternoon. Around one o'clock in the afternoon. This according to the Mayor of Vlaardingen, who spoke to Radio Rijnmond in their news show. He also rightly pointed out that there's no law against this, and that he thought it was very polite that the mosques actually asked permission to do so.
I was visiting an old friend Necktar in Tilburg a few years back, who lives maybe 200 meters from a mosque. Yes, we could hear the call from the mosque that afternoon. No, I didn't find it disturbing.
When I was sleeping over at JJ's house in Ede a few years back, I found it much more disturbing that I was awoken by 26 churches in that town tolling their bells for ten minutes long. Sunday, 10 am.
It's a sure sign that we're losing all tolerance. We brought those people here. We asked for the Turks, the Maroccans and everyone, we opened the borders to fugitives. Now they live here, and we have - whether you like it or not - a multi-cultural society. We also enjoy the Freedom Of Belief, it's in our constitution. So, if the Christians can toll their fucking bells for ten minutes while most sensible people should still be asleep, then the Islamic people should be able to call their faithful to the Mosque for the most important prayers of the week. Yes, Christianty is in our history (look at what 'good' that did us). Cultures change, and most muslims are more peace-loving than us Dutchies ever were.
- Let's close down this rant with a few disasters. No disaster so great or we westerners can make profit of it. Nicolas Cage's movie about the WTC is a good, yet tragic, example of this. In moments of Dutch 'glory', we will now also get a movie about the train-jacking of 1975, a movie called "Wijster".
Oh. And Frans Bauer (ongewenst zanger) will sing in the RTL's Dancing With The Stars. Two more great reasons why I am glad we don't own a television.
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Bouvier - my favorite dog EVER!
Date: 2007-03-30 09:46 am (UTC)*goes back to searching for Claude*
Re: Bouvier - my favorite dog EVER!
Date: 2007-03-30 10:34 am (UTC)In any case, she was a smart dog, and very sweet. My mother was just in a divorce and not so stable, but when there was an annoying salesman at the door, Curly stood next to her in an inobtrusive, but oh so noticable little threatening way.
Curly would roll around on the grass we had nextdoor, chewing a log with the three remaining teeth while my mother would work in the garden. Every once in a while Curly stopped rolling, look at my mother from the corner of her eye, going "are you looking at me?" and when my mother was, she'd fall back again and have the best time. The poser.
I loved that dog so much!
no subject
Date: 2007-03-30 12:03 pm (UTC)And yes, the Dutch. Frans Bouer, WHY??? I mean really, now as time goes on and I understand the language more and more, he really DOES sound like a whiner. And always about the same damn subjects. And as for the political parties, we had ONE party in Aust that tried pushing for right wing stuff more openly like so many parties here do and it was shot down so fast by the locals that the leader was marred for life. Paulin Hanson for 'One Nation'. see, even after all these years, her name I still remember. Really the Dutch government needs to wake UP.
Actually, most of the Netherlands (apart from the freeminders like yourself and many other larpers we know of) need to get a brain. "Doe het normaal en het is gek genoug" or something like that. "Be normal and it's already crazy enough". GRRRR!!!!
Anyway, be well!!
Mel ;)
(ps: Talking about profitering tragedy, have you also counted how many war movies there are? Brrrr)
no subject
Date: 2007-04-29 04:14 pm (UTC)Oppression/Suppression of the minorities has been part and parcel of politicos since the Stone Age I think. It is a covert way of letting them know who's the boss and you damn well better remember it! I've been part of the minority my whole life (in Singapore where I was born, 80% Chinese. I am Indian. In Malaysia where I live now, 70% Malays/Muslims). I learnt to 'make do' in many ways although the governments in either of these countries strongly advocate against racism in their policies but you can't really stamp it out of people's mindset. Sadly, not rocking the boat - no matter how slightly - is how we all stay harmonious (hence, the asking for permission thing you reported about).
btw, I'd like to add you if you don't mind :)
no subject
Date: 2007-04-29 06:53 pm (UTC)