Magere Hein

Strange, on a day like this. regards, Hein

Called it. Well spotted. While the person calling him/herself 'Ben' raises a valid point (easy access to the Web for criminals), his method of raising it, the morality of that method, 'Ben's' methods, reasoning and proposed remedy are dodgy. A few thoughts: 'Experiment' is a misnomer for this little excercise, I'd call it a demonstration. 'Ben' obviously has no training in social sciences. Note that this observation doesn't invalidate the results, whatever those may mean. It seems to me that 'Ben' has been doing this from a political agenda, rather than from a want to establish facts, the goal of experiments and demonstrations. 'Ben' writes: Ben did not do the opposite, he did, on the contrary, the same thing: he used an assumed name to mask his/her real identity. I'm not questioning using assumed names; I'm doing exactly the same thing here. I'm challenging the quality of 'Ben's' reasoning. 'Ben' assumed GG's identity online. This in itself is morally reprehensive. While that may be a lesser evil than the one 'Ben' is trying to demonstrate, a bit more thought before he started it might have been in order. What exactly does 'Ben' want? Legislation, obviously, but I don't think 'Ben' has given much thought to the implementation and enforcement of such legislation and their consequences for internet users without criminal intent. As far as I can see 'Ben' raises two completely valid points: Web users must be aware that other people on the web are not necessarily who they claim to be and may have criminal intentions. This is, unremarkably, the same in real life. Parents must not let their underage children use the Web without supervision. [/rant] regards, Hein

Yes, Lou Rawls. And Deng Xiaoping in 1997. regards, Hein

Excellent! regards, Hein

Oh, fuck them. regards, Hein

Unusual surname, Motors. regards, Hein

Dutch ballet dancer and choreographer Rudi van Dantzig died today, aged 78. Ballet is an art form for which I care not, but his death is quite a big thing in the Netherlands. regards, Hein

I'm black and I'm proud! regards, Hein

Here you go! To my shame I learned of mr Leonhardt's existence from VSB's post. His death wasn't exactly breaking news here. regards, Hein

Welcome to DeathList, where sinners and saints are treated equally under the sun. I have no particular opinion of The Most Reverend Dr. I'm not a christian, my knowledge of the many churches is spotty, and the Church of England I see as a strange mix of protestant and catholic that I fail to understand. That said, I appreciate Archbishop Aspinal's precarious position. Within the church he's an authority. Outside the church he's at best a moral guide. In the church he's supposed to be the boss of all faithful, progressive, conservative and politically apathetic alike. You can't keep all of them happy at once. He may be a shepherd, but his flock resemble cats more than sheep. I have no idea what his opinions and proclamations mean in Australia at large. In my ideal world his opinions would mean nothing outside the church. One more thing: I'm not so sure Christ is actually the Lord of Peace many people believe in. Not only did He say "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword", it's also hard to dismiss as christians the many who went to war in His name. regards, Hein

May I suggest Francesco Schettino, captain of MV Costa Concordia, for consideration? He's definitely in hot water. regards, Hein

Dutch actor Piet Römer died today, aged 83. I knew he was unwell, but I don't expect his death to be reported abroad, so he was not in my DDP Theme Team. The picture shows mr Römer as police inspector De Cock in Dutch TV detective series Baantjer, after novels by Appie Baantjer, who died in August 2010. regards, Hein

From that one would expect that in subjects of a monarchy early stages of dementia are less easily spotted, when asked after the name of the monarch. Another good reason for the republic. regards, Hein

Wow, Skunk Anansie, that takes me back...Bet he doesn't feel good any more. That doesn't mean it wasn't right. regards, Hein

She was a civil servant. It was practically her job to be boring... I know a few cases of non-boring civil servants. They rarely did the Right Thing, so let's stick to the boring ones. Now that I think of it, I rather have boring politicians too. regards, Hein

28 years, what the Dutch would call a "flinke douw" . Time enough to dig a tunnel or nick a rope. regards, Hein

Dead. regards, Hein

That's what I thought. Wikipedia tells me that humanity munches through some 5 million horses a year, far fewer than #10 on that quiz. And yes, horse is pretty good. I'm aware that in most English speaking countries they rather eat the rider. Dutch culinary values toward horse vary from abhorrance to delight. Most Dutch consider horse as something the poor eat and therefore as less attractive1. It's a well known fact that quite some horse meat finds its way in sausage and it's occasionally available at butcher's. I eat it regularly 1All human tastes, fashions and prejudices work as much for food as for other things we do daily for survival. regards, Hein

Joran van der Sloot pleads guilty to killing Stephany Flores and hopes for clemency. He'll be in for the next few decades, if nothing untoward happens. In other Joran news: Natalee Holloway, the Amercian woman who disappeared on Aruba in 2005, a case in which Van der Sloot was a suspect, has been declared dead. Just out of curiosity, suppose I had her on my DDP MMXII list, would such a declaration count as a hit? regards, Hein

Seconded. regards, Hein

Interestingly, I got the same result. I've been in parts of the world where 10 is regularly eaten by people, so I may well have been served those without knowing. I wasn't aware so many 9s are eaten, and indeed never by me. regards, Hein

The culprit, Amanita phalloides or deathcap is itself a European immigrant in Australia. In Europe this mushroom causes deadly meals every year. I love mushrooms for food (chanterelle, shiitake, truffle!), but I won't eat any that people have picked themselves, unless they're trained mycologists. regards, Hein

I suppose that the usual physicians can't cure him, so he calls in the quacks. Soon in this theater: The End. regards, Hein

Hamsters are edible. A friend of mine owned a pet snake which he usually fed rats, but occasionally other small mammals, including hamsters. The snake ate the lot without complaint and to great effect, it quadrupled its size in about two years. I have no idea whether hamsters taste good. Rodents aren't popular human food, but I suppose that's because most of them are small. In South America live capybara, the largest living rodent at some 40 kg, which are eaten with gusto, so one may surmise that rodents do indeed taste good. That said: a single hamster is not much of a meal for a human. I guess that if you cook several you have dinner. Perhaps it's not a good idea to order a dozen of hamsters at the local pet shop and even then: butchering a hamster seems delicate work. Perhaps eating them the (not RSPCA approved) way some French eat Ortolan buntings works with hamsters. regards, Hein

Ah, now that we have the expert on the line, I have a question: such a hamster is very nice, but do they grow if you feed them? You know how it is: they're cute when they're small. regards, Hein