Henk van de Goor's Bloggers@large

Queen's Day 2009 has ended in a tragedy. At 11:50am some crazy person drove a Suzuki Swift straight into the crowd when he tried to ram the bus carrying the royal family and Queen Beatrix in it. So far it seems that 14 people have been wounded and 1-4 people possibly died. The driver of the car has survived the crash and has been taken from wreck to be questioned by police. A witness has declared that the car was following the trail of the bus, so it seems it was no accident. News is sketchy at the moment, but this is a national tragedy.

I am so shocked. I can not believe that some mindless asshole had the guts to do this. There have never been any incidents of this kind during the 29 years we are celebrating Queen's Day. The worst thing that happened in the past was someone throwing an egg or holding some dumb sign.

As a result almost all Queen's day festivities in the Netherlands are cancelled.



Queen's Day always was one big national party. It will never be the same now :-(

Breaking news:
Around 11:50 in the morning, just before the bus with the royal family made its last turn towards the Loo Palace in Apeldoorn, a black older model Suzuki Swift crashed through the audience and came to rest against a monument, just missing the bus carrying the royal family. It's still unknown whether this was an accident or a genuine attack on the Royal Family. Fourteen people, including the driver of the car, are reported injured and are rushed to the hospital. Two people are reported dead.

The driver, a male, who was rescued by the Fire Department was arrested. The car was examined by the anti-terrorist department and the local police. This search was conducted with live TV viewing.
At 12:15 the National Holiday program was cancelled in light of the tragedy. The TV central mentioned at 12:52 that there was a possible fatality by the incident because a sheet had been placed over a victim and there was a medical examiner's van parked close by. At 13:30 the Dutch National Television announced there were 2 fatalities from this incident. Also, Queen Beatrix has expressed her condolences to the family and victims.

All festivities in Apeldoorn were canceled. A press conference will be held at 15:45 GMT+1

The following article is from author Naomi Wolf and was originally posted in the Guardian Unlimited on Tuesday April 24, 2007. I am using it here verbatim because I really believe she has a point with this article when she compares the steps taken by fascist regimes in order to set the stage for a totalitarian regime with the steps that George Bush has been taking in America. It is quite unsettling to read and see the parallels. Her about this subject, The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, came out in September this year.

I always like to say: "History doesn't repeat itself; people do". And as Wolf describes it, Bush is definitely working on repeating some of the ten steps she talks about.

From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all

Last autumn, there was a military coup in Thailand. The leaders of the coup took a number of steps, rather systematically, as if they had a shopping list. In a sense, they did. Within a matter of days, democracy had been closed down: the coup leaders declared martial law, sent armed soldiers into residential areas, took over radio and TV stations, issued restrictions on the press, tightened some limits on travel, and took certain activists into custody.

Continue reading "Fascist America, in 10 easy ... »

Right, we just had another all time low for one of Hollands stupidest politicians: the semi-fascist Geert Wilders. This Wednesday he came up with yet another dumbass idea: he wants to forbid the Koran because - according to him - it is just as bad as Hitler's "Mein Kampf". It is not the first time that Wilders came up with such a stupid idea. Earlier this year he stated that Muslims that want to stay in Holland should "rip out half of the Koran and throw it away". I am for freedom of speech but this kind of pathetic populism is just outrageous. I guess Wilders just is screaming to be murdered and then live on like some hero, just like Pim Fortuyn.

What a clown!

I wrote earlier about Micheal Moore's latest documentary SiCKO. The story Below comes from The Washington Post and shows how the US Governement (i.e. Bush) treats its own people, in this case veterans from the Iraq/Afghanistan war. Did I hear anyone say "Vietnam?" It is really another example of how the "richest country in the world" just seems to give up on their own citizens. The sad thing is that I see the same trend in my own country.

SOLDIER WHO CAPTURED SADDAM IS SICK, BUT LEFT TO ROT BY VA

Army Spec. Jeans Cruz helped capture Saddam Hussein. When he came home to the Bronx, important people called him a war hero and promised to help him start a new life. The mayor of New York, officials of his parents’ home town in Puerto Rico, the borough president and other local dignitaries honored him with plaques and silk parade sashes. They handed him their business cards and urged him to phone.

But a “black shadow” had followed Cruz home from Iraq, he confided to an Army counselor. He was hounded by recurring images of how war really was for him: not the triumphant scene of Hussein in handcuffs, but visions of dead Iraqi children.

In public, the former Army scout stood tall for the cameras and marched in the parades. In private, he slashed his forearms to provoke the pain and adrenaline of combat. He heard voices and smelled stale blood. Soon the offers of help evaporated and he found himself estranged and alone, struggling with financial collapse and a darkening depression.

Continue reading "Bush' politics of war: just ... »