Weird shit in Holland
Interesting it is, sometimes, to have a snoopy nose around Dutch news. Not a lot happens, in general, but then that's the price you pay for a well-maintained modern society… Funny, when you think about the U.S. Drug Tsar referring to the country's drug policy as 'An unmitigated disaster'. Oh, really? Well then why the no crime?
Er…
Yeah, you see.
The only thing most drug users are doing that's illegal is, well, using drugs! Once you shake that misconception from your wormy brain, it all becomes much clearer.
That's not what I was going to bang on about though, nope.
Dutchnews.nl is a great aul site. Slightly vague on many of the details, not terribly informative on many others and strangely averse to the hyperlink, it is still one of the few ways I can find out what's going on in my new home.
Unfortunately, a lot of it is like THIS, yes… An op-ed about blasphemy. Can you tell we have too much time on our hands here?
Here's another one about a man who was locked up for insulting the queen. I'm confused by this one, not surprisingly given the serious lack of information. OK, so he called her a 'cancer whore' — hardly the most cutting of insults, in the grand scheme of things — but how did he get found out? Who grassed him up? Did he say it to her face?
The story, I think we can all agree, makes no sense whatsoever without this pertinent information. It's a vague anecdote, a bit of hearsay, a random tidbit — definitely not news, without a little more information.
I should probably mention that I didn't get a job with Dutch News cos my Dutch is, as ever, woeful. I'm not bitter, I'm simply pointing out that even someone with no knowledge of Dutch can see that what that story is is bollox.
One more before I go to read some Noam Chomsky or something. Tax Office Head Quits Job On The Side — interesting I thought. The first thing that struck me was, Why are hospitals paying taxes in the first place? Surely income tax, etc, wtvr, goes FROM the public at large and goes TO the hospitals?
Surely?
Again, the major failing of this story is a lack of hyperlinks. You can't beat a good hyperlink in my opinion…
Er…
Yeah, you see.
The only thing most drug users are doing that's illegal is, well, using drugs! Once you shake that misconception from your wormy brain, it all becomes much clearer.
That's not what I was going to bang on about though, nope.
Dutchnews.nl is a great aul site. Slightly vague on many of the details, not terribly informative on many others and strangely averse to the hyperlink, it is still one of the few ways I can find out what's going on in my new home.
Unfortunately, a lot of it is like THIS, yes… An op-ed about blasphemy. Can you tell we have too much time on our hands here?
Here's another one about a man who was locked up for insulting the queen. I'm confused by this one, not surprisingly given the serious lack of information. OK, so he called her a 'cancer whore' — hardly the most cutting of insults, in the grand scheme of things — but how did he get found out? Who grassed him up? Did he say it to her face?
The story, I think we can all agree, makes no sense whatsoever without this pertinent information. It's a vague anecdote, a bit of hearsay, a random tidbit — definitely not news, without a little more information.
I should probably mention that I didn't get a job with Dutch News cos my Dutch is, as ever, woeful. I'm not bitter, I'm simply pointing out that even someone with no knowledge of Dutch can see that what that story is is bollox.
One more before I go to read some Noam Chomsky or something. Tax Office Head Quits Job On The Side — interesting I thought. The first thing that struck me was, Why are hospitals paying taxes in the first place? Surely income tax, etc, wtvr, goes FROM the public at large and goes TO the hospitals?
Surely?
Again, the major failing of this story is a lack of hyperlinks. You can't beat a good hyperlink in my opinion…
posted by Stephen McMullin at 9:55 am
2 Comments:
>>The story, I think we can all agree, makes no sense whatsoever without this pertinent information.<<
I think it makes perfect sense: Free speech isn't tolerated in Holland. It doesn't matter who reported it, or whether he said it to the Queen's face. Who cares?! The important fact is that you can be LOCKED UP for such a thing!
Sensible drug policy or not, I certainly wouldn't want to live someplace as "well-ordered" (ie, "well-REGULATED") as that!
It all depends on the circumstances surrounding his saying it, not recognising that… I dunno. For example, did he break into the queen's house first? If yes, four months isn't enough.
Free speech is very much encouraged here (just look at the Geert Wilders crap), but Holland is just as subject to the whims of Christians and other nutters as everywhere else.
Out of interest, which bastion of free speech do you hail from?
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