Resurfacing...

Hi folks. Sorry I've not posted since that guy with the pointing finger. I had to work on Friday - usually my day off - and shifted such a mountain of dryness that my mind was like a desert when I got home. Couldn't face turning on the computer again. Definitely need to get a broadband connection and one of those nifty little laptops that just open up and you're in.

There is life in Holland after all
That's a bit cruel, put like that, jj. But, finally, the Dutch have taken to the streets in droves, gathering in their thousands at the Dam and Museumplein today to protest about the current Cabinet's restrictive, punitive, anti-everything policies. Mr. Balkenende, the Prime Minister, will be able to see it all from his hospital bed - or wherever he is recuperating from his foot operations - on the news tonight. It was heart-warming. They were there with flags, balloons, banners, stickers, headbands, you name it. Old, young, middle aged (don't count me in there...), black, white, yellow and with polka dots. There were planes flying overhead with banners that you could actually read every time - never seen that before, they're usually back-to-front. "It's enough: time to protest", they said, in Dutch.
One placard read "Vote for Voldemort" - a reference to the evil character in the Harry Potter books and a reminder that Balkenende is seen as a Harry Potter lookalike. And there were other less polite ones saying "Rot op Kabinet" = "Get lost Cabinet".
It probably won't make any difference to the policies they're bringing in. The decisions have already been taken. But this Cabinet has to be very thick indeed to miss the point: the people are not with you.
And I had photos to show you. But unfortunately, due to a technical hitch - or more probably, human error (jj's thumb on the shutter at the wrong moment) - they've all been wiped out just prior to downloading. This is disappointing. But if you're really interested then you can probably find pics via google if you type in something like 'FNV' 'protest' and 'Museumplein'. Or look on www.nu.nl .

Read the news here first...
I'm sure you have other things more interesting to think about (like that debate the other day). It's just that this is by far the biggest demonstration in Holland in all the time I've been here. In fact, the International Herald Tribune picked up on the story on the front page with a headline saying 'A strike in Holland!' So, you see, read my blog and you'll get the news first....:)

No.? I used to be a journalist. Once a journalist, always a journalist, they say...

And now I'm off out to dinner with friends who live nearby.