Cogs can think.

Beste. Comment. Ooit.

Ik vind ‘t allemaal wel mee vallen. Alleen die zonnebril van Wouter slaat nergens op. Als ik mijn zonnebril kwijtraak, wanneer ik voor de baas in het buitenland zit, dan moet ik dat declareren bij de verzekeraar en niet bij de staat. Oke, sinds de crises is de verzekeraar in handen van de staat, maar dan nog slaat het nergens op.

I never quite understood this.

No matter how much Obama wants it, Turkey has no place whatsoever in the EU. My reasons for being against Turkey in the EU have nothing to do with it being an mainly Islamic country. I don’t give a rat’s ass whatever people believe, and a nation’s prime religion has little to do with what a country might contribute to the EU.

So, what are the reasons? First, the Armenian Genocide. As long as Turkey keeps on denying that it happened, and persecuting those that talk about it, they can suck a big fat EU cocksicle. Obama is a big fcuking hypocrite: so, we are not allowed to deny the holocaust (luckily it’s illegal here to do so), but it’s okay for Turkey to deny the Armenian Genocide? Give me a fcuking break.

Second, the situation with the Kurds. I am a proponent of an independent Kurdistan, as I am of the strong belief that every people has the right to take care of themselves, and run their own country. The way the Turks persecute, oppress, and massacre the Kurds is totally fcuking unacceptable. Again, Obama is a hypocrite on this one.

And, of course, there’s the geographical issue. Turkey = Asia. For all I care, the set up an Asian Union, model is after the EU, so that Asia and the middle east can get their fcuking act together on their own. I dont want MY tax money to go to that total mess.

That’s it. Turkey is a glorified third world country with an opessive regime, a horrible human rights situation, no free speech, and it’s not even a European country. What’s next, rogue state Israel in the EU?

Why I’m proud to live in a welfare state.

I’d rather have a few people that don’t deserve/need it get my tax money, than having people who deserve/need it not get my tax money.

Paying taxes sucks ass, but at the same time, I know my money goes mostly to people that need it, and that makes me proud.

Massive worldwide economic downturn…

Accepted and widespread hatred towards a religion and its members…

Just saying.

I don’t know about you, but my country as it is today reminds me of something. I consider myself to be very, very Dutch, but I’m simply no longer able to be proud and upfront about it. It doesn’t feel like something “good” anymore to be Dutch. All our ancestors have worked for - freedom, equality - are being thrown out the window because of a perceived threat.

Many, many of my countrymen are advocating the end of freedom and equality to defend… Freedom and equality. The lack of logic in their reasoning is so glaringly obvious that they simply don’t see it anymore. You can’t give up freedom and equality in order to defend freedom and equality. It doesn’t work that way.

I feel let down by my fellow countrymen. The Netherlands that I see today is not The Netherlands I want to live in or can be proud of. And with the economy only getting worse, hatred and fear will only grow larger.

I do see a light in the darkness, though. I’ve always been to the right of the political spectrum. I still am. However, the right in this country has been hijacked by mindless nazis who only try to get votes by fuelling the hate and fear. As a result, I’m moving towards the left. Not the far left obviously (I’m not an idiot), but towards the left of the middle.

Alexander Pechtold. That’s the man to lead our country. He’s the one voice of reason among the screaming and yelling children of our Lower House. He’s well-spoken, honest (for a politician), a good speaker, incredible debater, and one of the few who goes head-to-head with the nazi in our parliament without yelling or resorting to derogatory language. And he wins every time. The man has done the impossible: he made me want to vote for D66.

And now the world will end.

Now that the Bush era is finally behind us, let me express my hope that Obama will be able to restore the image of America around the world, that he will return the United States to a policy of instilling freedom, liberty, and equality not through violence and oppression, but through diplomacy, respect, and tolerance. I hope that the US will return to a policy where violence is a last resort, a means to protect people whose rights are denied - instead of violence being merely an offensive tool to increase the wealth of the United States.

Most of all, however, I hope that Obama will be capable of improving the living standards of ordinary Americans, and improving freedom, liberty, and equality within US borders. I hope that he will be able to lay the foundations that will one day provide true legal equality for all minorities in the US - black, Hispanic, homosexuals - something we have enjoyed for a few years already.

It’s interesting to see the immense amount of attention European media are giving to President Obama. The entire inauguration was broadcast live on Dutch TV, and the media have been filled to the brim with stories on Obama. I think it is a signal that we Europeans are craving for a strong figure as well, that we also want politicians with the ability to unite us, instead of dividing us. What do we have to show for ourselves? That midget in France? The grey sack of salt in Germany? The megalomaniac corrupt botox-user in Italy? That colourless accountant in Britain? Our very own bland and empty Harry Potter? Are those the kind of leaders that Europe deserves?

The past 8 years Europe had the opportunity to fill the void that Bush had left. We had the opportunity to become that shining beacon of civility, equality, and freedom. We had the opportunity to rise above petty differences, politics, and religion and work together to provide peaceful solutions for conflicts around the world.

Instead, we joined Bush in his black/white thinking. We joined him in his west vs. east divide. We joined him in his unlawful and aggressive wars. We joined him in his unsubstantiated support for rogue state Israel. We made all the mistakes that Bush made, and now we are trying very hard to make it seem as if we were against him all the time. We’re pathetic.

Europe needs a figure like Obama. Someone who can unite all the different people of Europe behind one common goal, one vision, one future.

Sadly, we seem to find it much more important whether Muslim women are allowed to wear a headscarf in public or not.

Like I said, we are pathetic. And as always, a people gets the government it deserves. We Europeans have the leaders we deserve.

I felt like I was part of something special last night. Involuntarily, I was counting his stress points in each sentence. I forgot my friends around me. For some mysterious reason, I spoke along with the Lincoln quote, a quote that I happen to know by heart. You know what?

I felt American.

We were all witnesses to something remarkable last night. In 20 years, my kids are going to ask me where I was.

The part of the speech that touched me most was the following. It’s as if he was talking directly to my friends and I, huddled up around a huge flatscreen TV, on the other side of the Atlantic, our bodies kept going by what the rattling coffee machine provided us with.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

Beautiful. Just beautiful. I’m not used to getting slightly emotional because of someone’s speech, but this one certainly did it. You know what? I’m gonna do it.

YES. WE. CAN.

I couldn’t have said this better myself. Amazingly simple and effective.

As long as people like this can be found in the US, you guys will turn out just fine. If you live in California, please, vote ‘no’ on Proposition 8.

I’m a barbie girl, in a barbie world… Life in plastic, it’s fantastic!

That pretty much sums up my view on Palin’s performance in the debate this night. I watched the entire debate (just as I did with the first presidential debate), and I must say, it was rather interesting. To us Europeans, both Palin (that’s the MILF with the knocked up daughter, right?) and Biden (who?) are relatively unknown, creating a more or less level playing field from our perspective.

Palin did well. But let’s face it, it was pretty much impossible for Palin to underachieve. However, she was kind of like the interiors of most American cars; sure, it looks great on photos, but you know that it’s all just cheap plastics we Europeans wouldn’t even make disposable cutlery out of.

Biden did well too, but from where we’re standing, it was pretty much impossible for him to underachieve either. He did sound an awful lot like a broken record player, and he had a fetish for lists and voting records, but he had a few really good moments.

Sadly, both tickets are pro-apartheid, and pro-Israel. Both tickets (yes, including Obama) oppose gay marriage, and therefore contradict the Founding Fathers by blatantly promoting inequality. In addition, both tickets have this unhealthy obsession with the rogue state of Israel, a country that ignores the UN and the anti nuclear proliferation treaty. I’m not saying that Israel is any better or worse than its neighbours, but the special treatment it receives, based on a misplaced spoon-fed sense of guilt, is simply not something that that country deserves.

America deserves better than either of these two sides of the coin, but you folks across the big wet thingie will have to make do. I’m just glad I’m not going to be in that voting booth.

I mean, our voting booth is pretty much similar, just with more choices between nothing. And more is better, right?

Libertarians?

No offense, but, uhm, total idiots.

Show me one example of a libertarian governmental model working out better for citizens than a welfare model as seen in most European countries. Just one.

Just an ordinary Tuesday, it would seem. That’s how it felt when I got out of bed in any case.

But oh no.

I finally received word from the municipal government here, concerning my request for a tax break concerning the sewage and pollution tax (colloquially: “crap tax”) - which is 300 EUR each year. For people with a low income - like me - there’s a system in place where you send in data on your income, proving that you are, effectively, not rich enough, and then you don’t have to pay the 300 EUR. Last year, I got this tax break, seeing I’m just a student, and don’t make an awful lot of money.

This year, nothing changed concerning my financial status - in fact, it got a little worse. My salary didn’t go up, but just about every expenditure went up - rent, property and health insurance, petrol, they all got more expensive. My student loan, which I receive every month, went down - this is a loan from the government, so technically, it’s not even income. I have to pay that back in the coming 25 years.

So, confident this year I’d de eligible for the same tax break, I filled in all the forms, sent them my data, and waited. For a long time. And a few months ago, they replied - and denied my request, saying my income was too high. I was baffled. Nothing had changed - in fact, my financial situation had deteriorated! I don’t believe in free rides, but this just wasn’t fair.

So I filed an official complaint. I sent a polite but firm letter back to the municipal government, asking for a clarification. How was it possible that despite my financial situation getting slightly worse, I was now not eligible for the tax break? On what basis had this decision been made?

The answer came today. They acknowledged that my situation had gotten slightly worse, but they still denied my request. You see, my income may have gotten worse - but they changed the way they calculate the total income of students. Basically, what they do differently now is that they add the student loan to the total income. Obviously, nobody announced this change, so I couldn’t have known.

What a total piece of horse shit. So, everyone who has a loan in this country should add that loan to his or her total income? What kind of bullcrap is that?

Back at the store where I work, we call this creative bookkeeping. We have two registers, and every now and then, at the end of the day, the numbers don’t add up. One of the registers may have a surplus or a loss, which is not really desirable. However, sometimes, one of the registers has too much money, and the other too little. Technically, we should locate the source of both discrepancies and fix them - but hey, sometimes it’s Friday evening, 21:00, and we just want to go home. So we do some creative bookkeeping, and fix the issues by taking money from one register, and putting it in the other. Technically not a solution to the problem, but nobody is none the wiser. Problem “fixed”.

This kind of feels like the same thing. I’m fairly sure the municipal government had a shortage in one part of the balance sheet, and is now trying to fix it by taking money from somewhere else. Whether or not this is a nationwide issue remains to be seen - municipalities have a lot of freedom when it comes to local taxes.

I truly feel fucked in the ass, and I’m going to fight this to the bitter end. It shouldn’t be possible that a fcuking loan is considered as income. That’s really fcuking unfair.

And to make matters worse, it’s the third Tuesday of September, Prinsjesdag, so the government has offered the proposed budget plans for next year to the Lower House. And you know what?

Starting next year, sleep medication will not be paid out of insurance any more. That’s another 240 EUR right down the drain. Sleep medication that has been prescribed by two different doctors, and two different specialists. In other words, I think I might actually need that stuff. I’d rather do without the stuff, but hey, I kind of value a good night’s sleep (technically, it’s not sleep medication at all, but a relaxant - I have trouble falling asleep ever since I was a kid).

Fcuk this shit.