April 2004 Archives

yeay!!!! i got a new phone today! I couldn't find my charger and decided to get a new phone :) I got a Samsung E700 with camera in it. So expect more pictures of my life from now on. I'm no longer depending on Sweety's camera-phone. She has a much older model, my pictures will be sharper :) But i'll have to be honest, her's will work on US mobile networks and mine won't. So i'll have to get a new one when we move to the USA.

From the Samsung site:
"Your enjoyment of using a mobile phone will soar....."
"You may not believe what you are seeing."
"We were amazed when we created it. You will be amazed when you see it!"

Wow! And now it's mine!!!!

Today schools and homes where raided by law enforcement agencies around the world (Reuters). More than 120 searches were conducted in a 24-hour period in 27 US states and 10 countries in an effort to dismantle organizations known by such names as Fairlight, Kalisto, Echelon, Class, Project X and APC, officials said According to the Miami Herald.

In Arizona Federal agents raided schools (azcentral.com article). In The Netherlands student homes where raided (Expatica article and this editorial by Leigh Phillips) in Enschede, Utrecht, Delft and Groningen. Among the other countries in which FBI searches have been conducted are Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Singapore, Sweden and Great Britain.

Now, since when can the FBI determine when and where raids should take place here in The Netherlands and other European countries? Didn't we have our own legal system? What's considered illegal in the US might be very normal in The Netherlands. Like smoking weed and prostitution. I think we are too liberal in The Netherlands but it's our call. These actions shouldn't take place just because the FBI wants to. The weird thing is that nowhere did i here anything that suggests any involvemend of the Dutch Justice Department or politics. The news is just that raids took place requested by the FBI.... i think that's scary. Before you know they start raiding abortion clinics in The Netherlands because once they helped an American citizen. The US already has the 'Hague invasion act' that, simple stated, says "it's ok to invade The Neterlands".

I'm a great fan of the Feedroom, i can watch US breaking news from my own home. That's not otherwise possible. No cable provider offers anything else but CNN international and CNBC and a lot of European of course. No Fox, ABC, NBC can be watched in The Netlerlands. Not even with you own dish. So that's why i'm a fan of the Feedroom.

And now, WNBC and the Feedroom have a great collection of unusual and unexpected moments caught on video. Like the Super Squirrel that escapes a fire by making a huge jump, the Singer Accidentally Set On Fire and the humiliating: Woman Flees Marriage Proposal during a halftime event at an Indiana Pacers-Washington Wizards game. Ouch....

It's now time for a new post of "Better in America", after museums and manners and service, it's now time for: in God we trust.

Most Dutch are easely annoyed by the presumption Americans have that God is on their side. But i like it! In The Netherlands it's not commen to talk about your religion. In most families it's not even discussed, let alone at school, work or anywhere else. And so the Dutch turn on the tv to watch American shows and CNN. And they see al those Americans talking about God, like they actually know Him. Or President Bush who was quoted saying: "the greatest gift that people can give to a president or people in positions of responsibility — anybody else, for that matter — is prayer.". That would be considerd "To American" in Holland.

But it's normal in the US where almost 60% is Protestant, 30% Roman-Catholic, 2% Jewish and 4% has some other religion. That means only 4% considers themself not religious. Compare that with more than 40% of the Dutch saying they don't belong to any ideology (according to this Dutch CBS report). No wonder Dutch don't understand it when they hear "God bless America" or "In God we trust". They're like "who's this God dude?"

Why is it better for a country and its people to have trust in God? Religion gives you purpose and direction. It helps you with wrong an right. There's also a clear connection between religion and economic prosperity. Like Max Weber said; capitalism strongly profited from the protestant urge to develop your own potential and to be dedicated to labor. Christianity also promts loving one's neighbour. American dedication to charity has its roots in being your brother's keeper. Not all good deeds should be left to the government.

It used to be different in The Netherlands. When we still had our own money (pre-euro), it read "God zij met ons", simular to "In God we trust" on the USD. When our Kingdom was found in 1813 the constitution was largely based on Christianaty. So The Netherlands is historicly based on Christian beliefs, but we lost it somewhere. Probably by smoking to much grass. Believe in God can make your life better. A nation's believe in God makes it a better place to live in.

You see? Everything is better in America. God bless :)

Sweety and i adopted a monkey at Monkey World. Maybe you've seen their Monkey Business show on Discovery Channel.

I think she looks a bit like me :)

Her name is Hsiao Ning: peaceful sunrise.

On my way from work i noticed huge clouds of smoke drifting over The Hague. Turns out that Snow and Skate dome "De Uithof" is on fire.