The next four years

So, the beginning of the next four years... After all the hype, I'm glad it's over and I'm left with a feeling of 'so what?'. Have to admit that B. gave a good speech and wasn't as obnoxiously triumphant as he could have been. He managed to smile instead of smirking.

Wiped off the map
Truth is that the US elections have been wiped off my map by the horrific murder of Theo van Gogh just minutes from my home. The chief 'suspect' - seen in broad daylight shooting him off his bike, slitting his throat and plunging a knife into his chest - was a Dutch/Moroccan with links to an extremist Islamic cell. For those who didn't read yesterday's post, he is in custody.

Where do you go from here? We live in a district with a very high first, second and third generation immigrant population, many of the them Muslim - and most of them perfectly OK. We have Moroccan Muslim neighbours; their TV satellite dish stands above our balcony door - put there so they can receive programmes from Morocco. Bud regularly gives a massage to a young Dutch/Moroccan guy. He's also a Muslim, currently observing Ramadan, but fanatical only about sports. Integrity shines from him and he's one of the kindest people I know.

Youths of Moroccan origin already had a bad name here. They tend to have difficulty getting work and regularly feature in the news for being in trouble with the police. Now the fear is that the situation will get much worse. The coming weeks and months will be crucial. Are we going to polarise into two camps - Muslim and 'Christian'/non-Muslim - or will we manage to keep some semblance of an open society? I don't know. I do know that I'm beginning to feel like I should live somewhere else. Anyone got a good suggestion?

Melting ice
Apart from that, the other issue that's preoccupied me more than the voting habits of middle America, is the recently issued report in which scientists tell us - again - that climate change is happening now. They predict that all the ice at the Arctic polar cap will be gone by the year 2070. That could be within your lifetime Young Blogger. My instinct was right: buying a house in Holland is not a good idea.

There is still hope...
Just one last bit on the election. Thanks to you fellow bloggers from the USA, I know that there are many great, intelligent, discerning, thinking people over there. Without the contact with you, I might begin to wonder...