Cogs can think.

Remember, boys and girls, today we honour the dead of World War II, and every other person who ever died in a war. As always, put the tri-colour at half-height of the flag pole (or whatever it’s called in English). Today is of course an extra tough day for Dutch Jews, Gipsys, and homosexuals.

At 19:30, as always, the Queen and other members of the Royal Family will pay their tributes to the dead at Dam Square, next to Amsterdam’s war monument. At 20:00, the entire nation pays its tribute by 2 minutes of national silence.

Don’t forget this, boys and girls. We must not forget this.

—

And of course, tomorrow, Liberation Day.

I love today! It’s well over 20 degrees outside, sunny, pretty girls wearing pretty clothes, and yes, I even ran into two stewardesses of the Dutch Royal Air today (I have a thing for stewardesses). Okay, in all my enthusiasm I forgot to bring my normal glasses; all I got now are my superhip sunglasses. Prescription, so I can still see well (my fellow members of the road liked that, probably).

It’s just that today I was supposed to meet up with some people with whom I form a workgroup… And nobody came. Fcuk.

Here’s one for why I hate the EU. My government wants to start prohibiting the sale of diesel cars without exhaust filters, starting January 2007. This is a very important step, as those filters significantly reduce the polution caused by diesel cars. And contrary to the US, which is still somewhere in the stone age automotively speaking (*4* speed automatics? WTF?), clean diesels are very popular here.

To illustrate the importance of these filters: a modern diesel car with an exhaust filter pumps out more kilometres per litre than a Toyota Prius hybrid, so that makes them better for the environment. Other than that, hybrid cars polute like fcuk because they require more polluting production processes (two engines have to be built instead of one). In other words: fcuk hybrid cars. They are NOT good for the environment.

I’m digressing.

The problem is this: because not all car manufacturers can offer those filters on their diesel cars yet, my sovereign government is not allowed by the EU to enstate this law, as it would disturb the internal market too much.

Fcuking bitches up in Brussels. We’re a goddamn sovereign nation, and we can do whatever the fcuk we want. I’d say to hell with the EU, and implement the law. Our democratically elected government, by the grace of Queen Beatrix of The Kingdom Of The Netherlands, has the right to enstate laws. So they should.

And so it happened that Karadzic and Mladic are still not delivered to the Yugoslavia Tribunal. The main prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte (whom I respect deeply), was visibly irritated and disappointed by the situation. The EU had issued an ultimatum to Republika Srbija (Republic of Serbia) to deliver former general Mladic, responsible for, among other things, the Srebrenica Massacre. prime-minister Kostunica of Serbia/Montenegro had promised to deliver him, but because of how sensitive the issue is (Mladic still has many supporters), he only asked Mladic to turn himself in. Which he of course will not. Out of shame, the vice-prime-minister of Serbia has resigned.

As a result, the EU has terminated all negotiations concerning Serbia entering the EU. While this is a good start, I am a supporter of a military (special forces) operation to retrieve Mladic (as well as Karadzic) from Serbia. They manouver freely in Belgrade, so it shouldn’t be too hard.

These two criminals need to be brought to justice. If the Serbia/Montenegro government is unable to accomplish this simple task, then to hell with them. We were the ones to end that damn war, and free them from Milosevic, so we have the damn right to retreive these two criminals ourselves.

I like it when people take good care of their appearence. I find it one of the most important points of a person, female or male. Now, please bear in mind I’m not talking about attractiveness or uglyness or whatever. When you’re fat, you’re fat. When you’re bald, you’re bald. When you’re ugly, you’re ugly. I mean, it’s not like I didn’t get a few pokes from the ugly stick myself.

My point however is this: being ugly is no reason not to properly look after your appearence. I don’t leave the house without doing my hair (or what’s left of it); I make sure my clothes’ colours match; I make sure my clothes are clean, my jeans don’t drag along on the street, etc.– not because I have a supercool hairdo or something, and not because of my vanity, but because I want to show the rest of the world that I take proper care of myself, that I find it important to make a good impression on people.

Now, not to be arrogant or anything (arrogance is a virtue), but my charm lies within my humour, my capability to listen, my intellegence, and of course my almost scary ability to correctly judge a person’s worth after only a few words. In other words, I could neglect my appearance and still be charming. Sort of.

However, appearance is important. Taking good care of yourself and your appearance will make your life a lot easier.