Take cover,
don't hide.
Be my lover,
be my bride.
Leave or stay,
but take my key
and please be
forever free
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Friday, May 30, 2025
Forever Free (a #poem)
Thursday, May 29, 2025
Who is speaking?
My dear friend Hannibal Lecter almost escaped from Alcatraz. Sing-Sing! But there was this big shark. 'Jaws' they called him. He had very strong teeth. Just like mine. I have very strong teeth but nobody ever gives me credit, did you know that? The Chinese owe us a lot of credit. So I will call them tomorrow and tell them that Ukraine has to give us credit. Did you know that there are nazis in Ukraine? I saw it myself on TV the other day. Or maybe it was the day after. Great movie, 'The Day After'. It's American, did you know that? 'cause they all speak English in it. People tell me that people don't speak English like they used to. Like my dear friend, Joe the Plumber. Remember him? Ah, dear old Joe. An illegal immigrant took his job, did I tell you that? But Fake News won't tell you because they don't like me. Oh, no. But I will make them like me. I will put tariffs on Fake News...
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Only two things are certain in life
"Nothing is certain except death and taxes" A famous quote from Benjamin Franklin. It's a bit simplistic of course but otherwise some 30 percent of people won't understand this.
It's also not exactly what he said, back in 1789.
There's this myth going around that the Dutch pay the highest tax rate in the world. Sorry to burst your bubble, but that bit of propaganda is just not true.
Above chart shows how the people with the highest incomes are taxed. By far most Dutch people don't make more than some €70,000 a year, so they will never be taxed that 'More than 50%!'.
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There are more taxes than just income tax. And every country has a different way of spending all that tax money. Some countries spend more on subsidies for the weapons industry and financial support for billionaires in Big Tech, Big Agro and Big Oil. While other countries put more emphasis on Healthcare and Education than on giving 'the elite' more money and power.
The difference can maybe be attributed to the USA being a capitalist plutocrasy and the Netherlands being a social democracy.
What do you think your government spends most of your tax money on?
Here's where the citizen's tax money goes to in The Netherlands. Here's the USA for comparison.
Both countries spend a lot on 'defense' (the arms industry) but where the Dutch money for a big part goes to healthcare and education, a big sum of American tax dollars goes to paying of government debt.
That's of course quite simplistic because there's far more to it than that.
If you want to know more about the Dutch (income) tax system, here's expat David Wen with a nice breakdown:
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Living without potholes
"Self-healing roads aim to offer solution to crater crisis", a UK news article read hopefully.
Fun fact: there's no word for 'potholes' in Dutch. Because the word is not needed. Because (part of) the (road)tax we pay actually goes to infrastructure and not to a few billionaire politicians. Although that may change now The Netherlands has a extreme right wing government. Barry Madlener (From Geert Wilders' 'Freedom Party' PVV) cuts over €100 million from Public Transport and plans to privatise road- and bridge maintenance. Madlener plans on cutting €500 million from the budget for infrastructure. There's one part of the Dutch building landscape Minister of Infrastructure Madlener dóes want to put more taxpayer's money in: giving extra tax breaks to real estate companies. Like his privately owned Erasmus Makelaardij. Where he officially quit in 2008.
At least Minister Madlener came up with a great solution to end traffic jams: a call to motorists to avoid them. Jeez! Why didn't anyone besides 'the dumb right' think of that? It's typical for right wing populists: give the people simple solutions to a complicated problem and the people will cheer for you. It's how f4scists governments come into power.
F4scists tend to only look after themselves, their businesspartners and minions.
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If you're convinced the f4scist governments of Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Leopold II, Trump, Le Pen or Wilders are the best kind of government for 'the people'...tell me how 'the people' profited under their dictatorship and not only a handful of very rich people.
Speaking of rich people: the Netherlands is very rich. Só rich in fact that the country offers immigrants a 30% discount on the taxes regular Dutch people pay. The 30% ruling - of course - does not count if you're a brown skinned...excuse me...poor immigrant.
In practice: one of the thousands of immigrants that the VVD (ruling party in The Netherlands from 1977 until current day. With the exception of 3 years) lured in from Turkey and Morocco: tough luck. Born in a predominantly 'white' country? You are entitled to a 30% discount on your taxes!
But I am sure those nice right wing people are not r4cist at all and it's just a coincidence that rules are in place that put 'white' over 'brown' people.
Thursday, May 15, 2025
What does 'freedom!' mean for you?
I am old enough to remember the days when rule of law prevailed over 'gut feeling', i.e. racism. When you could not get away unpunished for executing someone 'because I think he may be an Arab and therefore maybe supports Hamas' but had a legal system to determine if someone was guilty or not and perhaps deserved a fine or prison time.
History will not judge kindly on fascists commiting a genocide and those supporting it. Wether it be actively or by chosing not to protest or at least speak out. Elderly racists in the future will deny they ever supported what the Trump regime is doing with South-Americans and the Netanyahu regime is doing to Arabs.
By default fascists want more children in 'their' country who are just as genetically perfect as they are. An "Übermensch", so you will. In case you're wondering why Trump offers people money to have more white children and Netanyahu pays white people to call themselves Jews and come live in his 1000 Year Empire. So, who said below quote: Trump or Netanyahu?
"In order to get enough soldiers, he bans all information about contraceptives. At the same time, he introduces a special 'bachelor tax' and reduces the tax for families with more than five children."
So I took a couple of hundred screenshots to shove their own filthy, racist online posts in their faces when they are waiting for days for someone to please come change their diapers after they cheered when all brown people were kicked out of 'their' country and fellow racists won't clean their own sh1t.
One of the countries supporting the best documented genocide in history is the (far right government of the) Netherlands. As a matter of fact: Geert Wilders of the Freedom (for everyone who's male, white and rich) Party actually gets paid by zionists to push their lies. It's true. Bigly.
"Yeah, but Israel is allowed to defend itself!" Against the people whose land and houses they stole and deliberaly slaughtered by the thousands?
If you support the IOF, riddle me this: If someone violently stole your house and land and slaughtered your children in the proces and kidnapped your partner, would you simply shrug and try to find some other place to live or would you try to fight back?
Just imagine you get invicted because someone claims your place was promised to them by an invisible being 3,000 years ago and you get shot if you protest:
Recently the people of The Netherlands celebrated Remembrance Day. Followed by Liberation Day, the day after. It was 80 years ago that concentration camp Auschwitz got liberated, freeing surviving Jews, gypsies, homoseksuals, poets, communists and other people hated by the ['anti-woke' community] nazis.
Not everyone has any historical awareness:
People who found themselves superior to other people killing, torturing and oppressing them would never happen again! Right?
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Wrong. It díd happen again. Immediately. Look up Atlit detainee camp. "Okay, sure, but that was decades ago. Surely mankind has learned and no people are that barbaric anymore!?"
Still today people are rounded up, imprisoned and tortured. For simply looking a different way.
Guantanamo Bay under Trump is a termination camp: for hundreds of 'criminals' (ie people of colour) it's the end of the line. The Great Leader recently closed a deal with the self described 'coolest dictator on the planet' (Predident Bukele is of Palestinian descent) to have thousands of [brown people] 'illegals' deported to death camps in El Salvador.
Cheered on by a group of people that can by recognised because they love to shout 'Freedom!'.
By 'Freedom!' wappies mean they demand the freedom to be r4cist, mysogynist, homophobe b4stards without their behaviour having any consequences.
Civilized people would like the freedom to live life without the presence of said 4ssholes.
What kind of freedom do you prefer: the freedom to be a r4cist pr1ck, or the freedom to live in a world without r4cist pr1cks?
The people of the USA (factually 'only' arund a third of them) went for option number 1. And are now the world's no. 1 laughing stock
Their Great Leader ('Führer' in German) is not only extremely stupid and therefore easy to manipulate by foreign dictators, he literally can't do anything right. Not even writing a social media post without any mistakes in it:
"The smaller kids in the playground refuse to give me their lunch money. If they don't give me their lunch money next week I'm gonna tell mommy!" Even bullying he can't do right. Normal behaviour. For a six years old spoilt brat. Just like claiming that the EU is a country.
To think US citizens elected the brightest among them to lead them...But hey, current US playground 'politics' and 'economics' at least gives comedians free material. Because the MAGA crowd is só incredibly dumb and funny.
They worship their Great Leader ("Führer" in German) to no end. They should be considered armed and dangerous. I worry greatly about my US friends and relatives. Even for those who voted Krasnov in. Most of them can't help to be uneducated. And now the Department of Education is abolished, they will grow in numbers. I'm all for a great big wall being build around its borders. But let's give sane Americans a few weeks to pack their bags and escape. I heard Greenland is very nice this time of year. They now sell red caps spelling MAGA: "Make America Go Away". And they boycotted Vance and his immigrant tradwife.
Fun fact: there once was a guy called Boycott who told the people of Ireland to give a percentage of their income to his Great Leader; they literally turned their backs on him and his name became a word. It's true. Bigly.
Thursday, May 08, 2025
Am I happy?
"You went through a lot of hardship and suffered big losses. But still I always see you smiling. How come?"
Because I am content. And grateful. For my health, my friends, family and neighbours. For the fact I live in one of the best countries to live in.
With only 2 euros, a fresh set of bedding and a roof over your head, you're already amongst the 2% most wealthy people in the world. As a matter of fact: worldwide more people die from eating too much than from starvation: 1 in 8 people is obese. Meaning on a population of 8 billion people, a billion are obese. Costing society a lot of money in healthcare. Like hospitals having to put in wider doors and having to buy more solid wheelchairs and stretchers.
Do you consider yourself poor or are you happy you live in the wealthy west and therefore are part of the 2 percent wealthiest people in the world?
I consider myself fortunate because I didn't have to work hard to be born in the welfare state that is The Netherlands.
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Thursday, May 01, 2025
Confusing language
With milk we mean cow milk
and when we talk about eggs, we talk about chicken eggs.
Any more words like that?
Language not always makes sense. And sometimes even seems counter productive. A simple glance or hand gesture is often a better way to get a message across. And leads to a lot less confusion. And even arguments.
At times using words can feel like throwing a shoe at someone while still wearing it.
Do you have examples of miscommunication that lead to an awkward situation?
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