newspaper cover: voting machine disapproved

In 35 voting districts the voting machines are disapproved because the computers are unreliable.
Amsterdam is one of the districts. The media says tonight that the city will vote manually. That's means color the white dot red of the candidate you want to choose.
Oh, I wanna be an Amsterdammer (inhabitant of the city of Amsterdam) for one day only to choose with the red pencil.

It's so romantic. Then the voting night will last till hours after midnight before the results become clear. Check and double check and making sure what happens because it's so transparent.

I miss that with the damned computerized voting machines. This procedure killed democracy. Young people don't see the magic of the voting procedure. Now it's one press on the button and -there your vote goes-. The whole procedure of getting your voting billet, going behind the curtain and closing it, filling in the billet, walking back and putting your vote in the basket (and with young children they do it for you. The basics of democracy for a child).

Monday..newspaper cover: 10 years after the World Food Conference

This article informs the reader that the international Community shows insufficient political will to effect the available means in the fight against famine. According to the UN organization FAO it shown no improvement.

I've been busy.... at 9 pm I've done some financial deals on the stock and bond market.

A butterfly in the garden

Sunday

No newspaper today but there are initiatives to market a Sunday newspaper. Unfortunately the biggest one is postponed. It might be a free paper, maybe like the free Metro. You can get this paper on the many public transport points in the country. The Metro concept is originally from Scandinavia.

Saturday I was downtown on my bike when my eye catched something strange at a bus stop. It looked like someone was overrun by the bus. When I passed by I saw a man without shoes, grey socks, a brown trouser and a leather jacket lying under the bus.
The last wheels might have overrun him. The man is seriously, not dangerously wounded.
This affected me a little during the rest of Saturday. It made me think about what could have happened. About the impact that such incident could have on the person and his family.

Today I cycled again 57 k and on the river dike stretch I looked over my shoulder and lost control over my bike and came in the verge of the road. Not really a grassy one but one with nasty stones. I slipped trying to avoid those sharp bricks. On one side the fence at the slope of the dike, left the save flat road. Luckily I could control the bike.
I'm on schedule to ride my record year-distance and more important I'm still fit and sharp to continue riding.

newspaper cover: UN envy will return

The Dutch UN envy in Sudan will return to duty in Sudan. After criticizing the Sudan Cabinet Jan Pronk returned to New York. But now he'll return to his post. He will stay mainly in New York.

Is this a kind of gentleman's agreement without loss of face?
Still the people in Darfur aren't save. The people can't hardly be protected by the UN forces. We can use the troops in Afghanistan here. Or US soldiers and British forces of the lost war in Iraq? It's a win win situation in all situations. Iraq is better off without the foreign troops. America and Britain can send most troops home. Finally the Darfur region can really be protected.

Tonight we change back to wintertime. So tomorrow it's dark early. The cycling is almost over, but tomorrow I gonna ride my tour with the team again. (note: last week I had the best sprint in a group of 4 after 70 kilometer.)

newspaper cover: one ministry of Security

Former Minister Elco Brinkman advices the present cabinet to bring together the department of Interior affairs and the department of Justice as one department about security affairs.

Help, Holland is going to transform into the new Romania of Ceausescu with his Securitate! I thought that was irreversible, that the Sicherheitspolizei died with the dismantling of Das grosses Deutches Reich in 1945.
But no, history repeats itself.

And yes, Minister Verdonk, I can compare the measures of this cabinet with those in Germany 1940-1945. And if you don't like it vote another party, or don't take such measures. Be human!

What the advice implies is that all what matters concerning security and savety should be in one Department, everyyhing not directly linked to Security should be in another Department.

Of course there is much to say for this, but their have measures to be taken to secure information is not misused. If it is possible it will happen.

newspaper cover: photo

On the cover of the newspaper tonight a photograph of a cartonboard Dutch minister president. It is situated next to a stand selling the mp's book with the prophetic title "we dig for gold" on a campaign night in a province town.

Today we had officially the warmest day in 300 years in the last 10 days of October: 22.1 degrees Celsius.
Great. I didn't have a break to go home earlier to cycle a short while.
I decided to go to the racing track. When I arrived (after 9 k) my average was below 30 k/hr. When I arrived back home I cycled more than one hour and rode 32.22 k an average of 32 k/hr.
Not bad, after a long workingday.

newspaper cover: Hungary startled by it's own anger.

The commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian uprise against the Soviets yesterday, ended in a battlefield in the street of Budapest. Anger, frustration and shame is in the air.

On the workfloor we had a talk about a television broadcast of yesterday about Halal meat in Dutch supermarkets and especially in the leading supermarket (I said something about this market in a previous entry).
The broadcast shows that the meat we eat are Halal slaughtered animals.
Now the pro-animal front is furious.
I sent an email to the company too. It's my grocery and the meat I buy should not be from cattle that unnecessarilly suffer and bleed to dead.

newspaper cover: Jan Pronk leaves Sudan for deliberations

Jan Pronk is Dutch UN-envoy in Sudan. He wrote in his personal blog about the situation in Sudan. The Sudan Government didn't appreciate this entry.
Now he is persona non grata and has some days to leave the country.

It's expected that he'll arrive in New york for deliberation with Kofi Annan on Tuesday October 24.

no news? No Sunday edition.

We don't have a newspaper with a Sunday edition. All the countries around us do have one.

Maybe it's the moral of the protestant church which poisoned our minds for centuries. It's still in our country laws. Shops aren't allowed to be opened is the owner wants to be opened.

In the Summer there was a dispute in the city council because a little bookstore close to a touristic attraction was open on a Sunday . It sell postcards and souvenirs. Can you imagine?

It means we are not a truly secular state. Why do we (or Europe) critize Turkey for their non-secularity? As I said Holland isn't really, Greece isn't secular at all. And what to think about Italy and Spain?

newspaper cover: Dutch leading supermarket stops pricewar

The Dutch marketleader in the food segment is intending to stop the 3 years old pricewar to get a better share of the total market.

The marketleader was a little to expensive and aimed at quality. The competitors have reached their limits. Some had to sell some stores, others went bankrupt. The next move will possible be a price rise. At the end the consumer will pay the bill.
Another article, even more important considered the length of the story and the impact on the world is about Iran. It says, "Iran will talk with the US, but from a strong position."

newspaper cover: US strategy in Bagdad fails

US strategy in Baghdad fails; Us army admits failure in the streets of Baghdad.
The operation Together Forward has not met the overall expectations in sustaining a reduction in the level of violence. Instead violence increased with 22% in the last 3 weeks Major General William Caldwell said.

According to White house spokesman Tony Snow there is an increasing violence because the insurgents possibly want to have an influence on the US congressional elections.

Think it all over. Is it really a matter of possible influence on US elections in November '06? Or has it to do with the growing civil war. Now it's Baghdad, Basra, Mosul were the suicide bombers hit their targets. There might be other explanations.


I forgot the Thursday headline: Berlin moves to Moscow in new Ostpolitik.
Germany (new chairman of the European Union) wants to get better relations with Russia mainly to secure energy supplies from Russia. It's very delicate because former border states have huge problems with Russia. Also Russia is not considered a democratic country.

Newspaper cover - crisis in Seoul: how do we get a job?

The 5 columns wide article "crisis in Seoul" is about the nuclear dispute between N-Korea and the rest of the world and the reaction of the South Korean people om it. The elderly people in the South criticize the North but are not afraid of the treat from the north. Students in the south don't think there will be an armed conflict. Though one student from the border is afraid of North-Korea.

Kim Kyung-Won (34) was a soldier in the militarized zone along the border with the brother nation.
He tells that in the army you be indoctrinated and become another human. As soon as you get out of the army you change back in no time, he said.
He and his girl think that the relation between both countries must be built up again. "We are one people. There is no reason to be afraid of you own northern brothers.", Kim says

Newspaper cover - China's N-Korean border

On the cover tonight a picture of a Chinese farmer cycling along the border with North Korea. The border is strengthened with concrete palisades and barbed wire to stop possible refugees.

As I have seen in East Berlin it won't help. If people want to fly out of the country they succeed. The measures on the photograph mean nothing for real refugees.

Newspaper cover - history map

In the coming weeks..... going to the general elections on November 22 I'll read the newspaper more often.
I think my entries in this blog will start with headline of the newspaper of that day.

Today it's a 4 columns wide headline about the rent-charge of the Netherlands which doesn't want to be a law.
Our Government has the idea that youngsters don't know history anymore. To change that a Governmental Committee has made a map with pictures for a view on the history of the Netherlands in 50 images.
It should guarantee a common knowledge of history and culture among all Dutch.
It starts with the megalithic chamered tombs in the North East and goes via Erasmus to the VOC, slavery, Napoleon, Rietveld, the great depression, Anne Frank, Annie M.G. Schmidt, the discovery of a large gasreserve to the introduction of the European Euro.

This rent-charge (according to my dictionary) will be discussed I'm sure because many important historical events are not on the map. That's why it ought not to be a law.

Dinner

In the previous post I read something about task groups. That remembers me I got a task to do tomorrow. It's been weekend and I pushed it away as far as possible.

Last Thursday we had a dinner in a restaurant on occasion of a colleague's 25 years duty. According to some people I ate to much. I didn't say much and when I don't talk the food must be good. Friday my co-worker remembered me of my appetite the day before.

This weekend I had another long bike ride. It went okay till after the hills I could easily go with the riders. But then while eating a banana I lost contact with them. I cycled 30 kilometers back home alone.

Working

Tomorrow I'm off, meaning three days being not at the office. Okay, this week was one of getting soaked. September was over and the weather changed dramatically. Day's of thunder and rain, some sunshine too, but mainly rain when I wanted to go home or go to work. Some like days like these. October being the best month? When it's dry and not windy then the it can be nice outside, nature might be beautiful. Almost rewinding May. But this week, with the bad air-conditioning at work, the wetness outside, it was a lost week.

But I was able to cycle after work. It was the coldest ride in 6 months and it was dark early. Pity that the summery days are over. Next Sunday I'll cycle again. In fair weather hopefully.

My co worker has had a telephone call this morning. his son broke his wrist. He should come home to take his child to hospital. It happened in the gym at school. Doesn't bear school the responibility for the child taking him to a hospital?

On the other side work wasn't bad at all. In the silent room, for the 5 of us, we could work with no disturbance. That means continuing work.
As we are all doing our utmost in task groups for the next new task we have to do from January 2007. It's a little bit of chaos in the department. Nevertheless, a friendly chaos. Almost every second week we have an informational -top down- consult of our manager.
I said that we could do with less and proposed once a month and mentioned that the expected return might be lower than expected. Much of the information could be emailed. Also 30 to 40 men is to much in a meeting. We got to split it up and let mutual arrangements do the work. Later, bigger arrangements can be made with delegates of the different task groups. Finally I got an opinion!
I didn't tell that the form we use in these deliberations now is so paternalistic.

photo's

Matters

In my previous post I wrote about the air conditioning system at work. Well, at my workplace the climate is almost okay. (22 degrees C and no wind) But other colleagues complain a lot about the coldness and "windiness". The building is a sick one, I can tell you that.
The department which facilitates us does great work concerning customer relations. The responsible man advised a lady to take off her shirt when it's to warm or put on a jacket with the cold (!!!) That can't be serious, sexual harassment?

Of more importance is the Dutch election in 2 months. All the parties have made up their candidates list.
Some people on the lists have Turkish roots. Talking about the genocide among the Armenian minority in the early 20th century (500,000-1,000,000 Armenians were killed by Turks) the candidates denied the genocide. In the Netherlands we think the genocide took place. Now the 3 candidates were members of parties which accept the genocide as a fact. Denial would be not accepting the parties point of view. Than it's better not to be on the candidates list. So, the 3 candidates withdrew.

Turkey protested, saying that people in the Netherlands aren't free. Of course that is ridicule. Dutch Turks may think, say, the genocide didn't happen, but if you are on a party list other people can say if your opinion is adequate. For these 3 people it isn't.
Turkey still denies the manslaughter on the Armenians in the 21th century. It's a huge subject over there. Writers who say it happened can be jailed for years. Is that freedom of speech?