Daylight saving time, or DST, will kick in here in Europe tonight. When it’s 3am, our clock moves back to 2am. I never understood why we need to change the clock each time. All I know is that when winter time starts, I get an extra hour of sleep. Good as that might sound, it also means I get hungry earlier during the day for at least a week or so. And when it’s around 4pm I feel like going home from work already. Some say that using DST saves on energy. But I think thats just a load of […]
Above the Law
When people are talking about dictators, they usually live in countries far away like Africa or South-America. I’m talking about the likes of Hugo Chavez (Venezuela) and Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe). What a lot of people do not realize is, that right here and now, we have a dictator in Europe as well. A dictator that got elected democratically, just like Hugo Chavez and Robert Mugabe once were elected. But a dictator nevertheless. I’m talking about president Silvio Berlusconi (73yrs) of Italy. Don’t get me wrong: I believe strongly in he fact that most countries (not all) get the government they […]
Healthcare in the US? Overrated.
While I was in the US in August visiting my girlfriend, the one theme dominating US news, was president Obama’s healthcare reform plan. As an outsider looking into what goes on in America, I find it strange that people seem to object to something that will help out literally millions of fellow Americans. It seems that everyone says they want to help someone, but not if it costs them any money. Well, folks: there is no such thing as a free lunch. I guess I’m to liberal – or should I say socialistic – to think that I am doing […]
Dutch government battles A/H1N1 with leaflet
As of yesterday the Dutch government, together with the RIVM (the Dutch equivalent of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC) have decided they will no longer test all people with flue symptoms for the A/H1N1 virus, or give them anti-viral medication, such as Tamiflu. According to a spokesman for the RIVM they have decided to adopt this new policy because the number of infections in Holland has become so large, the labs that test for the virus can’t handle the work. Excepted from the new policy are pregnant women, people who have a lowered immune system and […]
A/H1N1 underestimated?
Scientist are now publicly debating the fact that they have underestimated the swine flu (A/H1N1). One wonders what this means. After all: the WHO has already declared A/H1N1 a pandemic. What else would they need to understand the severity of the situation? Are we being kept in the dark by authorities on purpose? The news is getting more unsettling recently: so far the virus has been fatal for people that had a previous illness where in a weak condition already. But in England two three previously healthy persons have now died of A/H1N1. One girl, aged 6,died within 48hrs after […]
Google Chrome OS hype
Big news in IT land today. Google announced officially it’s working on Chrome OS. As usual the press immediately translated this news into something like “Google declares war on Microsoft Windows”, which is complete and utter nonsense. I used to be a journalist myself and I find it increasingly annoying how the press nowadays is just giving a twist to news that is besides the truth. Just another hype then? Don’t get me wrong: I love competition and the choice for consumers that comes with it. But Chrome OS is not intended to compete with Windows per se, simply because […]
Goodbye MJ
Ok. I changed my mind. I had decided not to blog about Michael Jackson’s untimely death. To much hype, to much blabla. But just out of curiosity I watched the Jackson memorial on CNN. I figured I could turn it off if I felt like it anyway. But I didn’t. I watched the whole thing. And yes, I am man enough to admit I did shed a tear. It was when Brooke Shields did her eulogy. The most sincere I heard all evening. Regardless of what you thought of the man: he was a living legend. And if your 40-something like […]
12 Monkeys part 2
The World Health Organization has declared the swine flu officially a pandemic (or alert phase 6) on June 11th. The first flu pandemic in 41 years and infections continue to climb in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere. The spread of the swine flu contagion has not yet reached scary “Resident Evil” like proportions, but I really think things will get pretty hairy out there! Even the famous Wimbledon tennis tournament is effected now, with a total of 28 staff that have been asked to stay at home with suspected swine flu! Surprisingly enough it is getting quieter […]
Death to newspapers!
I love Holland, but we sure do have some insane people politicians with the dumbest ideas you can think of. Today was a prime example. Some time ago a commission of wise men decided to examine the future of Dutch newspapers. As we all know there is an economic crisis going on and this hits every part of our society. Newspapers suffer because they lose money on advertising. Most companies spend their marketing budget on other media or a different media mix; they go where their target audience is. And guess what: their target audience no longer reads newspapers. Besides […]
Queen’s Day will never be the same
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 […]