Cogs can think.

Update: And that’s number six! The Dutch water polo ladies beat team USA with 9-8 in a breathtaking final. Wonderful comeback by team USA, who faced a 4-0 standing in the first quarter, but fought back to 5-5. In the end, it was the Dutch coach who made the risky, but winning gamble to focus on the American attacker, trusting the Dutch keeper to take out the distance shots.

Great match.

—

We Dutch already have 5 gold, 5 silver, and 4 bronze medals, but I don’t think any of them were as beautiful and inspiring as the gold medal we won this morning.

Maarten van der Weijden won the gold medal on the 10km ‘open water’ marathon swimming. He was diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukaemia in 2001, and here he is now, standing on the podium, with his eyes closed, singing our national anthem.

I want to say to everyone who is fighting the disease right now, it may not seem like it now, but cancer doesn’t have to be the end - it can be a new beginning.

There is no difference in what we’re doing in here
that doesn’t show up as bigger symptoms out there

Overhead directional roadsigns in The Netherlands have been the same basic design for god knows how long. Blue background, white text for cities and villages, black text in white boxes for places of interest, and white arrows indicating which lane goes where. Since these arrows indicate which lanes go where, they point down onto their specific lanes. This is deemed too confusing for foreigners, since they might believe the arrows are indicative of direction (what, down into the ground?), and not lane. So, starting this year, all newly placed or renewed roadsigns will have arrows pointing upwards.

I am replacing all my perfectly fine plates, cups, and beakers with red ones. In addition, I will replace all my perfectly fine towels and washing cloths with red ones. I’ll be doing the same with my longdrink glasses, but red glass is hard to come by (although not impossible). None of these items are broken, worn, or used up in any way. It’s just that I decided I want them all in red.

Somewhere up in The Hague there is another version of me. He just decided that he wanted all the arrows to point upwards.

Spotlight on these seeds of simpler reasons
This core, born into form, starts in my livingroom

…and I dried my watery eyes.

Speechless.

I still have all my Lego (in Dutch, we use the singular form), neatly organised by type of block, back at my parents’. When I grow up (…), and I have my own house, there’s going to be one room dedicated to Lego, and I don’t care whatever the fcuk the rest of the world thinks.

That’s one childhood dream no one’s going to take away from me. NOT EVEN YOU, FUTURE-WIFE.

According to several fashion journalists, this model is too fat.

Like I’ve said before, the fashion and modelling industry is one of the worst industries in this world, and as far as I’m concerned, my government imposes strict rules and guidelines that protect the health and well-being of the models. Any fashion house, either domestic or abroad, that violates these rules anywhere in the world will be declared illegal, and its products will be taken off the shelves, offices and shops closed. A friend of mine has experience in the modelling industry, and he’s pretty crystal clear: it’s poisonous.

I mean, I haven’t yet met any guy who likes to fcuk these bonebag models anyway.

The fashion industry consists of women and homosexuals. No wonder they haven’t a goddamn clue as to what true beauty is when it comes to women.

There’s one moral issue I’ve been struggling with for a long time now.

You see, for everything in this country, you’ll need a permit, a license. Want to drive a car or a motorcycle? Better invest thousands of Euros in driving lessons and a license. Want to externally alter your house in any way (even if you own it)? You need to get a permit from the local government. Want to go fishing? Get a fishing permit.

Want children? Go fcuk someone and pop out a kid nine months later. No permit needed, no license, no lessons. You need not pass any tests of competence.

Which is peculiar, to say the least. Raising children isn’t an easy task, and requires strength of will, determination, and the ability to completely put your personal needs aside for the benefit of your child. You need to be able to make yourself irrelevant, as the well-being of your child is much more important than your own. Not everyone has the ability to do this. Not everyone has the ability to love someone else unconditionally.

My parents have. That’s why I turned out so loving, caring, and all-round SUPERDUPER AWESOME.

However, a lot of people don’t. This year’s ’spring break’ (to put it new worldishly) lasts two weeks instead of just one. This is causing problems for many parents, as their jobs may not allow them to take two weeks off instead of just one. Complaints aplenty.

Well, tough luck. In order to fix this, you might have to organise spring break differently this time. Instead of both parents taking one week off at the same time so you can go on vacation, you’ll have to be a bit more inventive and, for instance, have mommy take the first week off, and daddy the second week. It’s not as if the vacation dates for this school year weren’t already known for god knows how long.

When you have kids, you’ll have to make concessions. You can’t and both have full-time jobs, and go out every weekend, and go on vacation whenever you wish, and have children. It just doesn’t work that way. You effectively gave all that up the moment you both decided to have a go at it without the pill.

This is not all the parents’ fault, of course. Especially when it comes to single-parent families, or simply poorer families, our government is not doing enough to help these people in their times of need. Welfare checks are way too low, and financial child support is near nothing. Which is interesting, seeing the Christian parties have a strong say in parliament and the government.

So, what’s the moral issue? Well, should we allow just anyone to have children, uncontrollably, without any checks as to whether or not people are actually ready or capable of being good and responsible parents? Should child molesters be allowed to have children? What about murderers? The mentally ill? The mentally handicapped? Are those people capable of raising children? Should they have the right to have children?

What about this one? Should a daughter and her father be allowed to have children? Their first one died, their second one is still alive. They pleaded guilty immediately, explaining their relationship is completely consensual. The judge took the consensual nature into account, and released the parents with a 500 AUD fine.

It’s not the incestuous relationship itself that that is the problem here. I may have a deep and strong physical and mental aversion against the whole concept, but this does seem to be a consensual relationship - whether or not these people are psychologically sound and actually capable of making consensual decisions like this is a different matter altogether, and not for me to decide. The problem here, of course, is the children. Can these people be called responsible parents? These children have a high risk of serious genetic defects due to their incestuous parents, and it’d be hard to argue the parents did not know of this risk. In addition, these children will face a life of hell. Forever will they have to bear the burden of their heritage, there’s a large chance they will be outcasts, which may even lead to them developing serious psychological problems. And their own children, in the future, will still be susceptible to serious genetic defects.

Consequently, in my book, these people are not responsible parents, and therefore, should have never been allowed to have children in the first place.

The problem with this moral issue is this: who gets to decide if people are fit for parenting? Who gets to evaluate prospective parents and say, look, I’m sorry, but you are not fit for parenting? I think most of us can agree that child molesters should not have children, but what about all the border cases? Heck, I’m sure there are many who would consider the right to have children so sacred, that it cannot be taken away, not even from child molesters.

So you see my dilemma.

It’s funny how you can see the concept of evolution all around you.

During lunch break at work today, I overheard the news on the radio; a few teenage girls had died in a gas explosion. They were trying to get high off natural gas. IN A COUNTRY WHERE YOU CAN SCORE DRUGS ON EVERY PLAYGROUND.

That’s natural selection at work right there. We should be happy they don’t get to pass on their genes.

Scientific research like this interests me beyond imagination. I find it fascinating how researchers find pieces of real-world evidence that actually support many myths and legends found in cultures all over the world. Fire raining from the sky, as in Sodom and Gomorra, is not something exclusive to the bible/torah - similar myths and legends can be found all over the world. The same thing goes for the story of Noah, and the big flood God caused to whipe the slate clean. Stories of such epic floods can be found in cultures as diverse as the Mayans, Egyptians, and our Christian/Muslim/Judaic cultures (let’s face it, those last three are more or less the same).

To me, this indicates that various global disasters are somehow engraved in mankind’s collective consciousness. It is not hard to imagine that the end of some ice age, which obviously would lead to a dramatic rise in sea level and loss of habitable land all over the world, has somehow made its way to various folk tales and myths, passed on from generation to generation, until someone decided to pen them down - like the writers of the Old Testament did.

Personally, I think cellular memory can account for more of these kinds of cases. Take the dragon, for instance. Dragons appear in cultures all over the world, in one form or another. In any case, lizard-like creatures that may or may not breath fire. Now, how can you explain that cultures that have never had any contact with one another, share the concept of the ‘dragon’?

To me, cellular memory is something that may explain this. Even though this is utterly speculative, with no roots in any proper scientific studies that I know of, I think it would be feasible that our early ancestors - small rodent mammals - who lived during the ages of the dinosaurs, somehow engraved “memories” of these gigantic creatures into their cells, over long periods of time.

Evolution took its course, eventually leading to us - a species with a very well developed brains, most likely the first ever brain capable of ‘wording’, of ‘communicating’, bits and pieces of this cellular memory, leading to the fact that the ‘dragon concept’ manifested itself all over the world.

Despite there being no scientific base for these claims, it seems reasonable to me, it makes sense to me. It can explain many startling similarities between vastly differing cultures, cultures that may not have even existed alongside one another during the same timespan.

Think about this one for a while. It’s interesting material, and I’ve always been saddened by the fact that studies into this matter are far, far beyond my capabilities.

Has it already been 5 years?

Apparently, it has.

And almost 90000 documented civilian casualties. Documented casualties. There’s something chillingly bureaucratic about that term. It means 90000 times, someone, somewhere, added a little tally mark under the header of “civilian casualties”. But behind each of those tally marks, behind each of those few molecules of ink, there’s a person, a human being. A man or woman, boy or girl, with a history, a story to tell, friends, relatives, hopes, fears, dreams.

It all seems so far away. Did you know that the amount of genetic variation between all of mankind, between all of its members, is smaller than the genetic differences between one troop of chimpanzees? This means that for all intents and purposes, those 90000 men and women are not strangers, they are not mere tally marks somewhere in a dusty office without a corner view. No, they are relatives, closer to you and me than most people are willing to admit.

I hope none of us can sleep tonight. We are all responsible for all the people in the world, and these 90000 tally marks should haunt you tonight. Like 900000 nails on a chalkboard.

She had such a deformed face due to tumors, that she could no longer live a normal, acceptable life. She wanted to end her own life, but French law does not allow for euthanasia. The savage French law had rather that this woman suffer needlessly from her severe illness, that she would die a miserable, painful death, instead of allowing her to die with dignity and peace of mind.

French law, and the law of just about any other country out there, is barbaric for not allowing euthanasia. The choice to end one’s life when in severe pain is a personal matter, and the state has no place in this choice in any way.

I’m proud to live in the first country to unofficially legalise euthanasia (over 20 years ago, we officialy legalised it in 2002). I am proud that we were civilised enough to allow people in severe pain to end their lives, surrounded by friends, family, and loved ones, in a peaceful, painless, humane, and most of all, dignified way.

Chantal Sébire had to end her own life illegally, in a way as of yet unclear. I hope she found a way to do it with dignity. It was her only wish, and I hope it has been fulfilled in the way she desired.

I hope she found her peace. Wherever she may be.

omgwtfnooo!!11! Hide your children! Park your car indoors! Buy lots of bottled water, toilet paper, cat food, and canned beans! Duck and cover! Curl up in fetal position in a corner and cry!

For the love of god people, this is not a joke! We are facing the worst disaster to have ever struck in the history of man!

She’s coming! SHE’S COMING I TELL YOU!