Magere Hein

An Ayn Rand croney... I admit I read The Foutainhead and rather enjoyed it, without being convinced by its ideology. I tried Atlas Shrugged and put it away. regards, Hein

I don't believe prayer works, but suppose it did, should I now pray against his health? regards, Hein

Make yourself a shiny new chess set. Mxf7! regards, Hein

Today in 1994 Polish tank commander general Stanisław Maczek died, aged 102. In 1944 General Maczek was commander of 1st Armoured Division (Poland) that, as part of the First Canadian Army, fought in Normandy, northern France, Belgium and the southern Netherlands and liberated the Dutch town of Breda on 29 October 1944. After demobilisation in 1948 he was stripped of Polish citizenship by the communists and remained in Britain. As he was not considered by the British to be an Allied soldier, he was denied combatant rights and refused a military pension. As a result, until the 1960s he worked as a bartender at an Edinburgh hotel. He's buried in the Polish military cemetary in Breda. regards, Hein

Not yet he doesn't. Perhaps someone else up there in the rankings has picked Price as well and has a youngish unique pick teetering on the brink... Also, I believe the man to decide this year's DDP may be none other than General Wojciech Jaruzelski. Indeed. His death would lead to general joy, at least at Magere Meanor. Well, yes. 69 points, 9 hits, tied for 28th place, my best result in years. :-) regards, Hein

Dutch actor Kees Brusse died yesterday from emphysema, aged 88. regards, Hein

Yeah but doesn't the fact that the Queen doesn't want to fly to SA show maybe she isn't as robust as we all thought? I'm surprised such a flurry of speculation hasn't already appeared in this thread. No No.... As a general rule the Queen does not do funerals. If she started going to foreign dignitaries funerals there would be a careful analysis of each decision to see if there was a snub. She didn't even go to Pope John Paul II funeral and sent Charles to get photomugged by Robert Mugabe. Queen not a contender for 2014. Oh, right. Yeah. I would have thought it was more a case of she doesn't go to foreign funerals in case someone there is armed with a snub....... nosed revolver. Especially in some place like South Africa (no racism/post-colonial snobbery intended) Will King Willlem be going? According to Dutch sources King WIllem-Alexander will attend Tuesday's remembrance service in Johannesburg. It's not known yet who will represent the Dutch government at the funeral. regards, Hein

The Greek'll go first, but I hardly care. regards, Hein

Af far as I know the building was never painted. It seems to have been built with eternity in mind; although seen close-up the concrete looks a bit flaky at the edges, it's in good shape. Just to make things clear: I didn't take the picture, a Wikipedia user did. regards, Hein

MHGTotN of 9 December 2013 took our intrepid reporter to Kootwijk[1], a village in the municipality of Apeldoorn, a provincial town in the Veluwe without obvious use. The cycling trip was rather miserable, windy and a spot of rain, but my first target, the Kootwijkerzand (one of the largest sand drifts in Europe) didn´t disappoint. My main target is rather geeky and needs a bit of explanation. This concrete building in the Art Nouveau Deco style also fancied by the Nazis, and not only for their bunkers and flak towers, is the main transmitter building of Radio Kootwijk. That radio station was built in the early 1920s for radio traffic between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies. While that purpose disappeared in the late 1940s after independence of the Republic of Indonesia, the building remained in use well into the 1990s, mostly for radio traffic with Dutch merchant shipping. It´s now stripped of all equipment and used for conferences and expositions. The rest of the site is rather derelict. [1]Pronounced, roughly, as Coatwike. regards, Hein

Billy Graham, just before Xmas. regards, Hein

I can think of many much more amusing things to spend my time on than deleting spam and banning spammers, as you may appreciate. If deathlists were wishlists, mine would look like: Spammers Makers of spambots Investors in spambots Spammers People who let their computer be hijacked by botnets Spammers Etcetera Spammers Spammers regards, Hein

Because, ATM, the spambots have the upper hand in the arms race against captcha software. DL staff are banning spammers like there's no tomorrow, but it always takes some time before that takes effect. regards, Hein

It´s certainly cruel and unusual arithmatic. regards, Hein

Riep je? Nee, ik heb geen berichten van je verwijderd. Een andere mod misschien. I think your keyboard is broken. There was certainly something wrong. I can think of several causes, like the phase of the Moon, Earth radiation and General Holistic Interconnectedness, yet I think the most rational explanation is that it was posessed. regards, Hein

Riep je? Nee, ik heb geen berichten van je verwijderd. Een andere mod misschien. groet, Hein

And finally he's in prison. regards, Hein And now dead. Good! Unfortunately I didn't stick him in my DDP theme team, but still: good riddance. regards, Hein

Dutch former MP Bram van der Lek (Pacifist Socialist Party) died yesterday, aged 82. regards, Hein

regards, Hein

Today in 1967 Belarusian sculptor Ossip Zadkine died, aged 77. A sculpture by Zadkine, formally named De Verwoeste Stad (The Destroyed City), commemorates the bombing of my hometown Rotterdam by the Luftwaffe on 14 May 1940. Most people refer to it by the name of its maker. regards, Hein

Dutch author (and computer programmer) Gerrit Krol died yesterday, aged 79, from Parkinson's disease. (portrait by Siegfried Woldhek) regards, Hein

She died while she was doing something she really liked. I've been told that's a Good Thing. regards, Hein

Shit, he died 18 September 2012. Completely missed that. regards, Hein

Perhaps he just needs time to collect an unclaimed inheritance of a deceased relative. regards, Hein

I guess we'll learn if he's discharged. regards, Hein