Monday, March 28, 2011

content

2 Years ago I bought a LCD television, great view, everything improved. Now I bought some content, digital HD television and more quality broadband.
Interactive television to watch when I want to see a program. It's just wonderful.

- update I almost forget the VOIP-telephone account.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

April 1

This is always a hectic period. The period of the tax return ends on March 31.

I just got some days left and some things I just don't wanna know. I don't want to spoil my appetite to live. Okay, maybe that's over the top, but I might get depressed by knowing to much. Being depressed is losing appetite anyway. So I had a question for my psychologist. But before answering she said that time was up. Lets answer that question next time. Next Thursday, March 31.
My question is simple "what is a manic depression"? I googled it and there was an answer but not completely satisfying. Can she give me answers?
Some 20 years ago a student-psychologist rhetorically asked me what I thought about MD.
Did he know that being diagnosed MD (I'm not, let that be clear) means something for somebodies life.
Jesus, I watched to many movies with a hypochondriac Woody Allen

This weekend I read. I bought 2 new books. One of Johnathan Franzen, the corrections, the other one is about the Biblical Old Testament, aka as the Hebrew Bible. As I wrote something which happened 2000 years ago in the middle east, this is literature I should have.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

reading

The story about the fall of ABN AMRO Bank makes me think about the culture of greed in the banking world, how to run a public or private business, the accountability of managers and board.
Big banks with huge responsibilities towards their stakeholders play a winning or losing game which is based on the ego of their CEO. Really, they don't care about responsibilities. It's their game.

What about a movie titled the game? A 1997 movie but still......

Monday, March 21, 2011

benghazi

Benghazi, Benghazi it could be a movie, at least the title of it.

In 1955 Benghazi had been released. The plot: never steal a treasure from desert people. See IMDB
.
And now Gaddafi had his first air raid on his bab al-azizia, his command center. The dictator has to go, but how?

In 1982 when PLO chairman Arafat was under siege in Lebanon he begged for help "where are the Arabs?".
In 1991 coalition forces stood poised to drive Saddam Hussein from Kuwait.
Where were the Arabs in the coalition force?
Now on the first day of the raid on Tripoli, where are the Arabs?

Read the Al Jazeera story where are the Arabs?


Last week I had the feeling that there was going to be a war when some countries opposed the regime of colonel Gadaffi. The international world was to meek to make a fist. Only Thursday March 17 2011 the UN set resolution 1973.
I didn't like the thought of going to war to a country just on the other side of the Mediterranean. it isn't far away. Weeks to cycle. 3 hours flight.
I remembered the Dutch neutrality during the Great War, maybe we stayed neutral again. But no, the Dutch want to play a role in the international community. Where were we weeks ago?

Sunday, March 20, 2011

drop

To drop a line.

Drop is the plural of dropje.
Drop are Dutch sweets made of the extraction from the dried roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra by hot water under pressure and then concentrated. Mixed with starch from potatoes or Arabic gum drop has been made. The color is pitch black.
It's a Dutch equivalent of chewing gum. Some drop are sticky but at least you can swallow it.

This weekend I swallowed a lot of drop. Probably because I'm getting nervous of the dental correction. At least I can have a dropje now (or a lot)

What happened Friday is something I mentioned before. I signalled it before.
The fact is that E. is back in town. She was only 3 and a half week in Buenos Aires. She called my colleague, who wasn't in. I answered the phone and we had some smalltalk. I didn't ask her about her funny walk only if she refreshed herself. And that she did.

The 2 dogs of last post represent the bond between animals when they face hard times. When a human doesn't calculate on those moments he stays with his wounded friend. Like being brothers in arms on the battlefield. It's not behavior only for humans I conclude.
What did the camera crew do? Humans have the right to get medicare and the crew has the duty to get the care. Different dogs? I don't think so.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

care

after the quake

Sunday, March 06, 2011

tiger

Years ago we had neighboors raising their children in a strange way. When the children didn't make their homework from school well they had to stand on the staircase, face the stairs and there the children had to stand for some time. How long? No idea. But it was to make the children better, to let them learn and have excellent marks. The parents tried to break the children to make them do things the parents wanted them to do. It's psychological warfare between the parents and children.

For us, Dutchmen it's like being crazy. But in a way it isn't. It's accepted in society. We got a name for it; the church. It has it's derivates which are all based on the same believe in God. Some believes are more strict than others. But when it all comes together they can achieve great results in exploiting people. Churches bring people together and together they can reach something beyond reach for an individual.

With a non Catholic church the Dutch united to free their country from the Spanish Inquisitor.
In the meantime the 17th century started and it became the Golden Century of the Dutch. Only 5 million (a quick estimate) people ruled the waves. We had outposts everywhere in the known world of those days.

How did we do that?
We were reliable when we had to. Traders exist by having customers. The Dutch merchants could deliver products nobody had in Europe.
So unity made us big. (the United East Indies Company) We didn't want the highest quality because quality has it's price. We just had the best price/quality ratio.

Now I'm back in the present world where I see competitiveness and fathers and mothers still wanting the best for their kids.
They tell their kids what to do, what to want and how to pursue the objectives the parents set. For one type of parent the highest isn't good enough. They are called the tiger mother and tiger father. They want their offspring to be the best in the qualities they have. They demand 10's in Europe and the equivalent A's in the US.

Okay, what's up doc? Boring?
Well the American Amy Chua is a tiger mother and she wrote a book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

This is madness if it's being institutionalized.
Yeah, being the best in something you study at University. Only one can be the best. There will be a lot of ugly faces because they didn't make it.
This is not efficient and effective. The price of studying will be higher. Maybe the money driven college will attrack more motivated students but keeps the spirit of creativity away.
In a way the Dutch are moving towards an University where only the best can go to. This is painfull for those who aren't. Being the best costs a lot. I should have had a tiger mother, ha ha.
It pays when you have one.
Are studies available on being raised by a tiger mother? I wonder how the social & emotional component of the study is interpreted.

I think the Chinese concept for raising your kid(s) is functional in a Chinese structure. There are many people with the same skills and knowledge.
The Chinese have as object China. China is aimed at the interior. That means much competition and being outstanding is something to be when you want to climb Maslow's mountain of these days.

The Dutch have to be aimed at the exterior. Through history we have had to be efficient and effective. The last thing we need is a tiger as a parent.

Thursday, March 03, 2011

brainvillage

Well I've had an intake for the next step to work on my strengths and weaknesses.

One of my weaknesses came to me in a dream. I really have forgotten time when I had that dream, say nightmare. That was the point of no return.
More strengths were presented to me in an assessment report from 2001. I totally neglected this report. I do have major strengths and the art is to exploit and develop these. Doesn't the O stand for opportunity?

I have to formulate the ultimate goal I want to achieve at the end of these fortnight sessions in a business center on a recently developed state of the art brain village in the middle of the Netherlands.

Well, this is the first step.