Anticipating rain
When I left home, our termometer said it was more than 28 degrees Celsius.
But this is a fake reading, due to direct sunlight shining on the censor.
The sky was clear, and the temperature was nice. I guess, just below 20
degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, I put on my long coat, because the weather
report said we have to anticipate some very serious rain later in the
afternoon. Yesterday evening, I saw some video clip of ice (formed by hail)
floating through the streets of Monmartere in Paris. This morning, there was
a report of a French town been flooded with one meter of water.
Jesus was gay?
Tim Blair reports
the story that Rollan McCleary claims that Jesus was Gay. McCleary basis his claim on astrology.
It seems he also is a nudist, as he protests for the right to go nude in public.
When I bike to the office this morning, I had to take of my coat, because it was
already getting hot. The weather report says that the temperatures have gone up
to 28 degrees Celsius around here. At the moment the sun is gone and the sky is
getting darker. Heavy thunderstroms have been predicted. We will see. Last Monday
there also were some very heavy thunderstorms in other parts of the country.
Dark
It suddenly start to get very dark outside, and it starts to rain. I guess, I will
have to wait until this over because I can go home.
Cleaning the front garden
Yesterday, around seven in the evening the sun was shining, and I could bike home
without having to worry about getting wet. After dinner, I spend till about ten
cutting various plants in the front garden, and cleaning
up everything.
Dutch being judged in the U.S.A.
It seems that nowadays,
people with the Dutch nationality can be judged in America under the American
law for a crime the supposedly did inside the Netherlands. Yesterday, a judge in
Haarlem has decided that a Dutch person who presumely sold XTC to American
tourists here in the Netherlands, should be handed over to the American
authorities to be judge in America. Don't understand me wrong, I am convinced
that XTC is a dangerous drug, and that everything should be done to stop it being
used, and that people actively producing and selling this drug should be
prosecuted. (Still, I believe that preventive education is the better way to
stop this drug. If we can convince people that XTC is a harmful drug, they also
would not want to buy it.) But I still think it is utterly wrong to hand over
this person, because I believe that the crime (if there is any) commited by a
national in our country should never be judge abroad under the law of any
foreign nation. It would be different if the person involved committed the crime
outside the Netherlands, or did not have the Dutch nationality. I think in this
case it is even more wrong, because I don't believe that the American
authorities would not allow the American tourists to be judged here in the
Netherlands under Dutch law. (Remember the "Invasion of The Hague Act" that
was accepted by the American government
to use military power to "rescue" any American solder to every be brought before
the International court of Justice, which happens to be housed in the
Netherlands.) I find it strange that a Dutch government body is handing someone
to a foreign nation, because this person presumely performed a crime, while they
at the same time do not see a reason to prosecute this person by themselves.
Although I did not perform any crime (as far as I know), and I do not have any
intention to do so, I feel that my personal rights have been violated.
(follow-up)
I just had a Random Memory about the book "Mannekino"
by Sybren Polet at
14:01. It's about a boy called Guido, who at his ninth birthday
decides he wants to be a milionair one at age 10. Surprisingly, he succeeds in
doing this, but not without some clever blackmailing. I read this book during
highschool. That is more than twenty years ago.
(I bought the book second hand,
and start reading it on June 13.)
I have been trying to lose some weight in the past weeks. The "diet"
I am following simply consist of only eating vegetables during dinner time, for the rest,
it looks similar to what I have been eating in the past years. For breakfast, I take three slices
of whole wheat bread with jam made from fruits without any sugar added. I also
take one glass of orange juice with some Q10, Omega-3 EFA's, vitamines and
minerals. Around eleven, I eat one apple, and during lunch time three slices of
bread with another apple. Somewhere between three and four, I take some oranges.
I still eat some Bio-Quark after dinner, and I still eat some whole-wheat
cookies in between. In the evening, I drink one of two additional glasses of
orange juice, and a lot of tea during the days, especially on working days. At
the moment, I am around 83 kilo. I would consider 75 kilo to be my ideal weight,
but I do not know whether I manage to get that low. My weight has been jumping
around between 84 and 86 kilo in the past years.
(follow-up)
Losing key
It is a hot day again. I had to take of my coat about halfway biking to office.
Yesterday evening, when I wanted to leave, I discovered I had lost the key for
the lock on my bike. Also after an extensive search, I failed to locate the
missing key. Luckily, I did have the spare key with me, but I was rather
frustrated by the fact that I lost the other key. These kind of events really
make me doubt my mental sanity. Although I consider it to be permenantly lost
by now, I still expect it to find it at some totally unexpected place.
According to
a CNN story, it looks like Saddam is organizing a kind of guerilla war in
Irak. At least he is paying people kill American soldiers. I wonder how long it
still will take until more Americans are killed after the war than during the
war with the current rate of casualties. At the same time
Hans Blix Accuses
U.S. of Smear Campaign and
Iraq's Missing Weapons May Become Election Issue.
2:35 PM
We just heard a loud bang outside from an unknown source.
Yesterday, Li-Xia bought one bottle of
Calvé pindakaas
(the best penautbutter in the world!). Under the lid there was a small
promotional CD-ROM related to the De schippers van de Kameleon movie. It is quite likely that I will go
to see this movie together with Annabel, because
she has read many of the books of the series that this movie is based on.
Tree being cut down
When I just arrive at the office, two men were busy cutting down a tree on
the parking lot. It was obvious that the tree had not fallen down by itself,
but I could also not descern a reason why it should be cut down. Because they
were busy with their chain shaws, it was not possible to ask them why they were
doing what they were doing. The tree is close to the tree that felt down due
to the storm last year October.
I read that today the Security Counsel of the United Nations
has accepted a resolution, extending the immunity of American
soldiers with respect to the International Court of Justice,
which was installed by the United Nations. Should this be
considered as a good example of shooting yourself in the foot?
School party
Tonight, Annabel and I joined the "fox-hunt" of
her school.
We were given a description of a route around the neighbourhood and had
to locate the disguished teachers. The weather was nice, and we had a lot
of fun. One teacher was dressed-up like an Abraham doll. (Around here, there is a
strong tradition of putting up a Abraham or Sara doll in the front garden of
someone who became 50.) The children of our group all walked up to look at it,
when the suddenly started to shout it that it was one of their teachers. One fox
we you missed. It was a teacher dressed up like a Turkish lady cleaning the
window. What made her disguish perfect where the three Turkish children sitting
around her. Afterwards, there was also something to eat and drink.
Book of Shadows
This weekend, I saw some fragments of Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. I have to say, that I did not make much
sense, not even for a horror movie.
Reasoning dream
Shortly before I woke-up this morning, I was having a "reasoning dream",
which is a dream in which I am giving an extensive oral defend of some of
my thoughts, decisions or behaviour.
I have to admit that the OUTSPAN®
Clementines #4450, I am eating this week, are very nice.
Green smell
This morning it was 17.7 degrees Celsius outside, much warmer than I had
expected after last nights thunderstorms, which left their visible marks
on the streets in the form of the typical arrangements of sand, dirt, and
organic material as a result of water flowing over the pavements. When I
step outside, I noticed a pleasant "green" smell. It looks like, I work
in the middle of the
biggest
wireless
hot spot of Europe. (I think it is incorrect to call the
University of Twente a school, as
one of the article does.)
It seems that they are practicing for
the national airforce
open day, which will be held coming Friday and Saturday. There was
just a fighter (probably a F16) flying over at a low altitude. There is an
airforce airport less than 2 Km away, but usually, they do not cause much noise.
(follow-up)
I just heard the great news that princes Máxima is pregnant. Already for
some months it seems, because the baby is expected to be born in January 2004.
(follow-up)
Tonight, Annabel got her third
swimming diploma,
and very likely also the last. For this diploma she had to swim about 550 meters,
of which 200 "fully" dressed with swimming suit, underwear, pants, shirt, and
rain coat. She also had to swim 9 meters under water after diving into the
water. I estimate that she can swim about 15 meter under water, if she wants.
Pregnancy of Máxima
The news of the pregnancy of Máxima
leaked out a few hours early through
an email she send to her friends. Some rumours already had been circulating.
I am happy that I heard the news only after it was officially release, because, I
firmly believe that couples have the right to decided by themselves when and to
whom they make this kind of news known.
Open day
We went to the open day of the Dutch Royal Airforce.
We took the bus to the city center, and had to queue for the free shuttle
to the airforce airport. There we still had to walk some distance, which
took longer than expected because it was very crowded. When we arrived, a
stunt team flying around. This was followed by a noisy solo stunt show.
Then it became a little more quiet. We watched some more planes to take
off, including a DC-10. Then we walked along the static display. I took
a picture of Annabel before the Uiver. (This is
not the original one that one the won the
London-Melbourn race
in 1943, but one that has been restored in the image of the original
one. However, it is the oldest, and at this moment the only, flying DC-2.)
Just before we decided to leave, there was a solo stunt show of a Dutch
F-16 pilot showing some astonishing maneuvers. I tried to video tape it,
but I am afraid it will not look very impressive. Then when we were
walking back to the shuttle stop, an Italian stunt team took of and we
were considering to go back, but concluded it was better to go to the
city. Li-Xia was feeling tired, and Annabel wanted to go to McD because
they were having some special activities for children.
On the way back home, Annabel suddenly remarked
that we were in the same bus as when we went to the city. I asked her how
she knew this. Then she remarked that rubbish in some hole in the floor
was the same. I was rather surprised that she came to this conclusion. I
had also looked at this hole, but I was not absolutely sure. I looked around
the bus, and did not find a single thing to deny her statement. Even the
notice on the wall behind the drivers seat was the same. When I remarked
this to her, she said that all buses had the same notice, suggesting that
that was not a special thing. However, I thought it was rather special,
as the notice was saying something specific for Hengelo, and not Enschede,
a thing which I remember having found rather particular when we took the
bus. I even considered the possibility that the bus was temporarily hired
from Hengelo because of the open day, which afterwards did not seem to be
a very valid reason, as I did not see any regular busses being used in the
shuttle service to the airport.
A little rain
It was 17.4 degrees Celsius when I went outside this morning. Because it was
raining a little, I put on my long coat, but it stopped raining soon, and
before I arrived at the office, I had opened my raincoat.
There is something wrong with the
SARS graphs.
Note that the graphs are incorrect compared to the published figures, but there is
something strange with the figures. One would expect that the form of the graphs
would be everywhere the same. But there are some striking differences. It seems
to me that the graph of Canada is the most realisitic. Not one single outbreak,
but a chain of outbreaks. Also the graph of Hong Kong seems to be realistic. If
you compare this graph with the graph of the Peoples Republic of China, I get
the stange feeling that the latters is dropping much faster. That means that
people in China recover much faster. Or does it means that at the highest point
it was over-diagnosed and/or that it is now under-diagnosed. Yet, the most
exceptional graph is that of the United States: almost constant, and no deaths.
I have no explaination for this.
Last Saturday, we attended the Royal Dutch Airforce open day at
Twenthe airport. Today, the news came that it is probably going to be closed down
as part of the cut on the defence spendings issued by the new government. That
means that it like also was the last open day we had here in Twente.
Two party system
It is long ago that I wrote
something about politics, but some recent statements from Wouter Bos, gives me
reason to do so. He has expressed the thought that he prefers a two party
system, above a multi-party system with coalition formation. In the past months
D66 also has expressed their wish for a district system as a means to improve
the democratic process. It is rather obvious that any district system set a
limit to the minimum number of votes required for a party to enter the senate.
The limit is mainly determined by the number of persons each district may send
to the senate. An extreme district system (where each district may send one
persons), automatically, leads to a two party system. It is likely that any
district system in the long run, will always lead to a two party system. It
furthermore seems that a two party system leads to a concentration of power, and
I believe that such concentration automatically leads to a less democratic
system. For this reason, I also believe that a multi-party system is generally
speaking more democratic than a two party system. It is indeed true that with a
two party system, decision making usually works faster, but I doubt whether fast
decision making always implies a stronger democracy. I cannot escape the idea
that those desiring a two party system as simply driven by their desire for
power, and not by ideologic motives. For the same reason, I am still happy that
we do not elect a president in the Netherlands, but it worries me that current
proposals for a constitutions for Europe does included an elected president.
This too, I am afraid, will lead to an undesirable concentration for power.
Power attracts the corruptable.
I just realized that there is a way to create multiple
interfaces in C++ by the means of multiple inheritance. Sometimes, you are in
the position that an objects needs to have two faces. This often occurs when the
object is part of interface between two worlds. In each of the worlds it needs
to have it's own set of methods, which should not be all visible in the other
world. But still their might be methods that should be visible in both worlds.
The solution to this problem is to make use of multiple inheritance (with
virtual class inheritance). However, it remains an open question if the amouth
of instrumentation that is needed, weights up to the benefits in all situations.
Multiple inheritance does have its problems.
Mannekino
Yesterday, I finished reading the book "Mannekino" by Sybren Polet. About six years ago, Frank Herrebout wrote
a script based on the book.
It was only translated into German, I believe. It is a rather interesting book
about a very smart nine year old boy, who manages to earn a million, with the
help of some adults, which he has to manipulate to do what he wants. The book is
mostly about his interaction with these adults. The book uses a rather
experimental style: sentences that break in the middle, white areas, lines with
dots, non-linear story line. At the end it becomes a little chaotic, but the
final chapter makes sense again. This gives the impression of the story being a
memory with vague spots and missing parts, jumping forward and backwards.
Spider
A spider has been walking along the top of my monitor for more than an hour
now. It's a very small spider. This has made me think about the computational
power of the spiders central nervous system.
Noise from the AKI
It is hot outside (I did not even put on a coat this morning) and it is
Friday afternoon. Usually, that means noise outside. The noise is coming from
the AKI. I have considered to enlist myself,
just for fun.
(follow-up,
name of the band, and
more sounds)
This afternoon, Li-Xia, Annabel and I went to see the movie
"De Schippers van de Kameleon".
This movie is based on a famous series of books for boys. Annabel already
has read a lot of the books from this
serie. It is about a twin who own a very remarkable boat, which does not
appear very special, but is very strong and fast because it has the engine
of car. Although the author wrote about sixty books, the boys never became
one year older. Also, girls did not play any significant role. The movie
however, does have a girl as one of the main characters. We all did enjoy
the movie. It is a typical Dutch movie, so, I wonder if it ever will be
shown outside the Netherlands, except maybe for Belgium, as the series
might also be known there.
(follow-up)
The war on drugs
This evening, I watched some part of a documentary about the war on drugs
in the United States of America. It was a rather shocking documentary.
It seems that this "war" has resulted in a billion dollar industry of
putting people behind bars. Even people that never used, bought or sold
drugs end up behind bars for sometimes over twenty years, just because
they knew someone who was dealing drugs and somehow were considered to
be giving support to a drug deal. At the same time the "real" drug dealers
can get away when they appear as witnesses in cases against other "drug
dealers". Prices for drugs have been dropping, while the quality has
increased in the past ten years, which can be seen as a proof that the
whole drug industry is florishing. It was estimated that there are over
100,000 informants active in the U.S.A. only for drug related crimes. In
a certain sense, the U.S.A. is becoming like the soviet union during the
cold war. As usual, the U.S.A. is forcing its totally ineffective drug
policies on other countries. Recently, they put a lot of pressure on
Australia, when they wanted to implement the "Swiss" system of taking care
for people that got addicted to drugs. The Dutch government also has been
giving in with respect to handing
over people to the American government, when they are suspected of
drug related crimes.
(follow-up)
This months interesting links
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