Magere Hein

Here's my €0.02. I understand the reason for excluding the condemned and executed is that it's a predictable death. Whether or not the victim was or wasn't guilty seems immaterial in such reasoning. I completely agree with that, even though I'm not familiar with the facts of those people's cases. I looked up Troy Davis's article on Wikipedia and his case seems quite a muddy one. regards, Hein

Let it be a lesson. Politics, it's too important to leave it to politicians. As some may have noticed, the Dutch had general elections last week.[1] The liberals won, with a few seats (41/150, +10) more in the Tweede Kamer than the labour party (38, +8). There's no way of knowing what kind of government we'll get, but courtship displays have been observed between those two. The good news is: the christian democratic (pron.: conservative) arseholes lost (13, -8), as did the fascists (15, -9), so things can only get better. To get back on topic: I saw former Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok (b. 1938) on the box at a labour election party. He looked wrinkled and his hair's white now, but seemingly in good health. [1] In an interview: Journalist: Do you have elections? Chinese politician: Oh yes, we have elections evely day. regards, Hein

Is that slurry as in shit? That's deadly. We had an accident a few years ago here. Two men suffocated in a pig shit storage cellar, the second one while trying to rescue the first victim. regards, Hein

Fascinating indeed. I rather liked Dan Dennet's talk on The illusion of consciousness. Normally I don't care much about philosophy and philosophers, but Dennet has a good point. I've been thinking occasionally about a somewhat related question ever since a bar discussion: "Is what I call I the driver or rather a passenger of my life?" My answer is both, of course. However, it seems we don't do much driving and if what Dennet describes is correct, we do most of that driving inside our minds, rather than in the outside world. regards, Hein

Will it be tranquil? Hard to predict. It will be a lot wetter, though. regards, Hein

"Go on pork, make my day" That, or possibly: "This is a Magnum, the most powerful ice cream in the world." regards, Hein

Lazy forum staff, what else? regards, Hein

Of course, silly. Why would Germans want to play in the SPL. Andy Thom, Stefan Klos, George Albertz, Andreas Hinkel, Dirk Lehmann, Christian Nerlinger, Mathias Jack off the top of my head, there has been a few Not exactly household names, Hinkel I recognise, didn't he play in the German national team? Oh, I see, so did Nerlinger. The evidence is incontrovertible: huns did play in the SPL. And now they don't (I checked at Wikipedia, so I may be wrong). regards, Hein

Of course, silly. Why would Germans want to play in the SPL. regards, Hein

Suddenly two stories from the late 80s spring to mind. In May 1985 Pope John Paul II paid a visit to the Netherlands. He didn't stop in Rotterdam, but still we (that is: the people of the squat I lived in) tried to make a public protest against His Holiness. As chance would have it, the Rotterdam Marathon was held during his visit and the squat happened to stand prominently over the course. As the race was covered live on Dutch national TV we saw an opportunity. We painted a large banner with a portrait of JPII and the text Help de paus naar God. A literal translation is Help the pope to God, but the Dutch phrase also means Kill the Pope. We put it outside before the start of the race, but within half an hour the police raided the place and took the banner, well before the first runners arrived. Later we saw that the TV coverage cut to a helicopter shot when the front runners passed. Much later we learned that a neighbour had complained. A few years later we had more success when a US amphibious assault ship was moored a few hundred yards from our home and personnel on leave had to pass under our squat on its way to town. This time the banner showed a carrier sinking under rocket attack and large text: That sinking feeling and a streamer with: Remember Pearl Harbor. The angry yelling of pissed off (and pissed) sailors and marines was very rewarding. regards, Hein

Such a shining example. I hope his Dutch political soul mate Geert Wilders follows it. regards, Hein

This is your theme team, innit? You got a hit, together with 25 other teams. regards, Hein

I can't think of a better demonstration. Well done. Would he be Darwin Award material? The Bigfoot impersonator has already been nominated. regards, Hein

Impersonate Bigfoot. regards, Hein

I thought 2012 would be the last chapter for a number of authors but it seems there is still more to be read. This brings me back to a miss you had some years ago, MH. He was an author .. his name was Kurt Vonnegut. Yes, it appears I'm pants at predicting author's deaths. Or anybody else's, for that matter. regards, Hein

Yes, quite some excitement in a time of year nothing much happens. It's mostly the general elections of 12 September that's in the media now, althoug there's little news there. regards, Hein

Eloquent insults are a rarely used part of the spoken Dutch language, we usually stick to single words like klootzak ("bawbag", as the Scots would say), lul ("prick") or trut ("cunt", used for females). A trailing godverdomme may add strength when used sparingly, but that's about it. Of on the spot insults I've witnessed nothing comes to mind as more imaginative. Once I called in email the person who wiped my hard disk containing several day's worth of my work, an idiot[1]. He complained to his boss, his boss complained to mine, who demanded an explanation. I apologised to the hapless service droid in email (cc-ed to all suits involved) and I learned to write angry emails without name calling. There's a tradition of polite (and not so polite) name calling and insult among Dutch writers of all sort of print. Defamation law suits are regular field days for them, as party in the case or reporting and commenting on it. WF Hermans had a reputation for finely tuned insults to other intellectuals and in the Dutch chess world anyone who hadn't been insulted by grandmaster Donner's flames was of no importance. I fondly remember when Peter Hagtingius, managing editor of weekly Panorama, received flames in Letters to the Editor, after describing the inhabitants of the province of Limburg as "Belgians with a German accent, who suffer from looking Luxembourgian." The Letters to the Editor of Panorama regularly featured correspondence from insulted readers and were often the best part of that rag. The Answers from the Editor often added some injury. I used the words "de christenhonden[2] van het CDA[3]" with success (measured by amount of hurt responses) in a Dutch language newsgroup about religion, but the fun soon wore off. regards, Hein Notes: [1] All computers were upgraded to a new Windows version by hard disk format and new installation. We had been warned about this in Email from Management to All Staff. I don't pay much attention to Emails from Management to All Staff, so I forgot all about it. Ignorance was no excuse. [2] christian dogs [3] a then large conservative party with a Christian ideology, whatever that means

I swappen him for Gabriel García Márquez in my DDP team. Perhaps not a wise choice. Edit to add. Strange, One would think Márquez would have his own topic, but no, can't find it. Grass has managed to stay under the radar quite a bit, I see. Just a few posts mention him. I've read several of Grass's (aha!) novels, auf Deutsch and in Dutch translation. I liked Der Butt, (hehe) and Die Blechtrommel. His poetry I know hardly. He used to loud politically, but I guess he got old, maybe wise. regards, Hein

Last time that happened in the Netherlands was in 1986, when Koos Rietkerk, Minister of the Interior and aged 60, died in office, from a heart attack, IIRC. One Dutch Prime Minister died in office, Thorbecke. This man is highly regarded in Dutch political history. His name is almost synonymous with the 1848 state reform, in which the political principle of ministerial reponsibility in was introduced and all political power removing from the king. Hie died in 1872 from pneumonia, aged 74. Oh, and he wasn't handsome: regards, Hein

Yes, I'm aware of that. The fact of the matter is that I chose that display name to distinguish it from yours. It originally was too similar for my taste. A more permanent solution can be found when he or she starts posting. regards, Hein

Being an atheist[1] myself, I'd love to learn their experience. As far as I know they've been silent, which is of course what would be expected of the dead. [1] More precisely, I'm both an atheist and an agnostic. Atheist meaning that I don't believe any gods exist. Agnostic meaning that I don't know whether one or more gods do or don't exist. I also doubt that it's possible to learn. regards, Hein

Quite an interesting list of sinners, there, with rather a few dead ones. Several also already have a topic here. Anyway, I doubt this topic will be productive. Few people, if any, are famous for being an atheist; this in contrast to many self-apointed ground staff of their gods. regards, Hein

Interestingly, there's quite a row in Belgium at the moment about Michelle Martin, wife of Dutroux at the time of his crimes. In 2004, eight years after she was arrested, she was sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder, accessory to murder and kidnapping. A court in Mons decided on 31 juli 2012 to grant her conditional early release. This decision is now being challenged by, amongs others, Jean Lambrecks, father of one of Dutroux's victims. She's still in jail. Some English language news sources reporting on this The Huffington Post, The Daily Mail, BBC and The Torygraph. regards, Hein

Villy Graham? Check what you've typed before you post! Villy Graham is my favourite preacher :-) Does he preach the teachings of the Vible? I guess his favourite version is the Wicked Vible. Mine however is the Vuggre Alle This Vible of 1651. regards, Hein

I'll drink to that. Especially on a hot summer's night like i'm currently in a pastis goes down well. Unfortunately I haven't any, so I'll make do with lager. regards, Hein