Dutch Pedophiles Start a New Political Party

A new political party entered the scene in the Netherlands, called "Neigbourly Love, Freedom and Diversity" (Naastenliefde, Vrijheid en Diversiteit - NVD). It could have been the name of a Christian party. However, the party programme suggests quite a different orientation.

NVD is founded by members of the "MARTIJN Association: for acceptance of pedophilia and adult-child love relationships." The party wants to legalise child pornography, and sex between adults and children, as long as there is mutual consent.
On their website, the party says it wants to give any one older than 16, the "right" to act in pornographic pictures. The NVD holds to one strict condition, that people act on a voluntary basis, because "we are against abuse, like every other person would be" (quoted from nu.nl, translated by Sander).
The party wants to introduce a labelling scheme for child pornography to certify that no children were acting involuntarily.

Other positions of the NVD:

• Banning elementary schooling with a religious basis
• Legalisation of sexual intercourse between over-12 year olds
• More legal rights for children
• More legal rights for animals
• Free railway transportation

In a society where people have lost their relationship with God, there seems to be no moral bottom line. I do not say that every non-believer hits the bottom or lower, however there are some - actually surprisingly many - who are guided by the spirit of the anti-Christ. It hurts when I write this. I do not hate people who struggle with a pedophile orientation, God's love is broad and deep enough to love ALL people. But I hate to see people doing injustice under the guise of neighbourly love, freedom and tolerance, and even promoting injustice. I hope that these situations will make people consider the deeper meaning of love, the deeper purpose of life, and the presence of a loving Father in heaven.

pedophilia,politics,Netherlands,pornography

Reading Experiment

On Aysem's blog I found this reading experiment. Can you read this one for me?

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny %55 plepoe can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcus eae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

reading,experiment,human mind,miscellaneous

EU to tax e-mail, text messages?

I came across this article in zdnews. The EU considers to tax e-mails and text messages. It would supplement the EU's budget... Apart from raising money at the cost of internet users, such a policy could be regarded as an attempt to make the private/transnational internet public.

What about reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and spending less money on agricultural subsidies? (see last post: Don't Let The Left Hand Know...)

European Union lawmakers are investigating a proposed tax on e-mails and mobile phone text messages as a way to fund the 25-member bloc in the future.

A European Parliament working group is reviewing the idea, tabled by Alain Lamassoure, a prominent French MEP and member of the center-right European People's Party, the assembly's largest group. Lamassoure, a member of Jacques Chirac's UMP party, is proposing to add a tax of about 1.5 cents on text or SMS messages and a 0.00001 cent levy on every e-mail sent.

"This is peanuts, but given the billions of transactions every day, this could still raise an immense income," he said.

Currently the EU budget is funded through a combination of import duties, value added tax revenues and direct contributions from member states--the so-called "Gross National Income resource," which is calculated according to wealth.

EU,politics,e-mail,tax,EU budget

Don't Let The Left Hand Know...

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth (Matthew 6:3)

An article in Spiegel confirms that hundreds of millions of euros of European farm subsidies flow not to small farmers, but to landowners, agribusiness and even Queen Elizabeth II.

EU agricultural subsidies represent about 44% of the EU's budget (about €43 billion in 2005). These subsidies distort markets, often leaving small farmers in development countries unable to compete with their heavily subsidised colleagues in the EU. By comparison the EU's official development aid amounted to about €33 billion in 2005.
So next time you hear that the EU is generous, remember that it gives 33 billion with one hand and takes 43 billion with the other hand. That's a weird interpretation of Matthew 6:3, don't you think?

CAP,EU,agriculture,subsidies,development,Bible

15 September SOLIS Dinner at Zolder50

SOLIS Amsterdam is a Zolder50 initiative to help the poor. SOLIS is a non-profit organization focused on ending poverty and creating economic sustainability in developing communities.

I have mixed feelings about presenting SOLIS Amsterdam. On the one hand I’m excited to introduce you to a concrete project to help the poor. On the other hand I’ve been struggling with a sense of being overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the problems we’re talking about. We’re talking about poverty issues, hunger and social injustice.

I wondered how I should present this project. Should I perhaps use Bible verses, to convince you that it is good to feed the hungry? – I am sure many of you already know these verses. Should I perhaps invoke your compassion by speaking out emotionally? – But it’s not about us, it’s about what God has to say to us. This morning I struggled with these questions. I started to have an headache over all this thinking, I realised I could not really communicate what I wanted to communicate, because my mind was not at peace. So I switched on the TV.

There are moments when God seems to speak so clearly to me, and this was one of them. Our brothers and sisters of the Evangelical Broadcasting Company (EO) reported on the situation in Kenya. Persistent drought has caused food shortages. Now 3,5 million people need food aid. A woman working in Kenya for an aid organization told us about how people craved for food, how huge the needs were, not only for food but also for schooling, future prospects. The programme makers also reported on two kids who have lost their father. Elephants killed him, as they were competing for scarce water resources. Parents helplessly watch their children suffer sickness and starve...

I think it is important to understand that helping the poor is more than about giving money. We could for in instance commit time. We can also raise other people’s awareness for these issues, which is what we’ve been doing this month at our Church.

15^th of September we plan to organize a fundraising dinner at our church. All profit we make will be for business starting & community projects by the Village Enterprise Fund. Of course, we will have great food, but also performances and a DJ.

We hope to raise funds for the micro-enterprise fund and community grants.

Micro-enterprise funds help to create sustainable small businesses in developing communities in Kenya. The Micro-Enterprise fund will provide small loans to help people to start small businesses for instance metal recyclers, farms, taxi services, retail shops, etc.

Community grants are invested in community development. An example would be helping churches that have to take care of adopted aids orphans.

To organize this dinner we need your help. We need to fill the following tasks:

• Food and Beverage: choosing recipes, preparing food, serving
• Entertainment: performances (DJs, bands, …)
• Decorations: tables, cutlery, etc.
• PR: making and distributing brochures, making menu cards
• Prayer
• Sponsors: buy food and decorations.

In the orange room at the Zolder you will find lists where you can sign up I you want to volunteer the 15^th of September. Please sign up if you feel you could contribute something. For more information you can mail or phone me.

Long-term Commitment

Finally there are a couple of things I would like to mention shortly. This year some people in our church will visit Kenya, to see what happens with our projects. We want to build a long-term relationship between our Church and a Kenyan community. We think we will better understand the needs of people as we get to know them better. We also think a long term relationship will raise our awareness for poverty in this world. So, as we are ending our May Awareness month, the raising of awareness still goes on. In June we will organise Rich Man Poor Man dinners at the Home Groups of this Church. The idea is that the dining table represents the world, some people get food in abundance, others will have to do with a spoon of rice. Maybe you’d feel uncomfortable sitting at that table, but then again I think we should not feel comfortable about social injustice in this world.

Kenya,social justice,food,fundraising,microfinance,Solis,poverty

My Personal DNA

Here is my personal DNA map that is supposed to represent my personality. Mouse over any part of the box to learn more about the traits that the colors represent.




My Personal Dna Report

Where Do Footballs Come From?

In preparation for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, German news magazine Der Spiegel describes how good intentions can end up in hell for thousands of football stitchers in Sialkot, Pakistan.

Just before the last World Cup, working conditions in the football industry got a fair deal of media attention. The world was shocked to see how children in the football stitching industry were employed under terrible conditions, long working hours, low wages and access to education was denied. Now, four years later in spite of international action families are even worse of. Without the income of their children, they can barely survive. I takes three people working whole days to serve three meals in an average family. Some children therefore have to work in dangerous heavy industry like construction.
Football industry executives from an industrial center in Pakistan could not care less, after all they complied to the wishes of the Western consumer: children are no longer employed in their factories. But families are even poorer than five years ago...

It takes an integrated view of development and environment to really help people. Simply because people are more than labourers, economic units and human resource. They are relational, they need dignity, they need love and care, they need prospect. A shortsighted focus on child labor alone, can be disastrous for the very people that are supposed to be helped. That is why I find the concept of sustainable development so interesting. I know that the concept has been abused to fit everything that needs political endorsement. But the world needs an integrated approach towards development and environment, embedded in social relations, on levels of society. I believe that the Bible presents an integrated view of the world and creation that can be very helpful and even guiding in the devising of better policies. Moreover, the Bible speaks of the One who redeems this planet and all who dwell on it.

child labor,poverty,football,industry,globalization,world cup,FIFA,Pakistan

Better Than a Cup of Coffee and a Baguette

For no obvious reason I stayed up almost all night yesterday. I surfed the internet all night and I felt down. Today I was caught inside my head the whole day.
Looking for some diversion I went to a place to eat a baguette in a lunchroom/hotel called Belga. As I sat there I felt some peace for the first time since many days. Plastic table cloths with flower prints, fluorising vases, fake cristal ash trays, silly pot plants, in a harmonious whole. As if grandmother collected all kinds of junk for many years... no trends, no fashionable items, distinctly unpretentious. The harmony seemed such a contrast with my life.
I don't run a hotel, but research, publishing and trying to earn a PhD title are pretentious things. And sometimes I feel it's all about my proud image. At times it's as if life becomes of function of image-making, it's about names, about personal desires, about what people think of you, about self-esteem and approval. But all these things can hardly cover the emptiness inside.

Then, this evening I went out for a drink with some friends. It's always good to be with them and break out of the prison of my thoughts. But I knew that - even when the company of friend can be encouraging - it wouldn't last. On my way home I thought I needed to stuff myself with some junk food in a snackbar nearby.
The snackbar owner - I had not met before - started to talk about Jesus with one of his clients. I started praying for the client and I joined the discussion. I saw the love of Christ through the snackbar owner. He's an Egyptian Coptic Christian. I stayed a bit longer, smoked a cigarette with him and talked a bit more about the love of Christ. That was just the encouragement I needed, God's encouragement is infinitely better than the encourgement of a good cup of coffee and a baguette, or, better even than a drink with friends.
daily life,encouragement,Christ,Amsterdam,friends

Evolution of Dance

Limerick Soviet and Other European Nations

I came across a Wikipedia list of former European countries since 1915.

Wikipedia gives an overview of countries (including puppet-countries) that existed in Europe after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. For each country, information is given about the period of existence and what has happened to the territory since. Some of the most remarkable former European countries since 1915 I found:

Flanders (1917-1918: Vlaanderen) In 1917, during the German occupation of Belgium, the Independent State of Flanders was proclaimed. This state was terminated by the Allied occupation forces in 1918.

Limerick Soviet (1919) During the Irish War of Independence the Limerick Trades and Labour Council declared a general strike and formed the Limerick Soviet. It lasted from April 15 to April 27 1919 Nowadays it is part of the Republic of Ireland.

Cospaia (1441-1826)Due to an error in a treaty between Florence and the Papal States in 1441, a small area of territory between the two was no longer incorporated in either; the inhabitants then declared the Republic of Cospaia. In 1826 it was divided between Tuscany and the Papal States.

Two Sicilies (1759-1861: Due Sicilie)The southern parts of mainland Italy and Sicily become in 1130 the Kingdom of Sicily. In 1281 the kingdom was split into the Kingdom of Sicily, informally Kingdom of Naples, and the Kingdom of Sicily. The two kingdoms were sometimes in personal union and ruled by Aragon, Spain and Austria between 1442 and 1759. From 1759 the two kingdoms had a joint king, the king of Naples. After the French period the country was reunited as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1816. Between 1848 and 1849 the entities had two separate administrations. It was united with Sardinia in 1860. Nowadays it is part of Italy.

I am glad there's only one Sicily now, I think that neither the EU nor Italy could handle more than one...
And when will the Republic of Amsterdam be proclaimed? Let's get rid of the polders (= drained land)!
Europe,Flanders,Sicily,Amsterdam,Limmerick,Cospia,former countries

And the Winner is ..."Hard Rock Hallelujah" From Finland

For my European friends, there's no need to explain what the "Eurovision Song Contest" is. Since other people (most notably Americans) sometimes visit this blog, I should give just a short introduction.

The ESC is the biggest annual music event in the world, viewed by over 300 million people. It's a kind of (American) Idol, only some 50 years older, campier and very popular with elderly and gays. Maybe the term "music event" is somewhat misleading, because the ESC seems to be about everything but music. It's about getting people's attention in a 3 minute time-span an trying to get them to cast their tele-vote on your country. Some of the most effective ways are:

• non-sensical lyrics like "La La La," "Boom Bang a Bang," "Ding Ding-a-Dong," and "Diggi Loo Diggi Ley", to bridge the language barriers running through Europe's 40 countries.
• clothing, or a lack of it
• letting your country be represented by a transsexual wearing big feathers (Israeli transsexual "Dana International" won in 1998)

Last Saturday "Lordi", monster hard rockers from Finland, won the 2006 ESC with their song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" despite (or thanks to) accusations by the Greek Orthodox Church that the band is satanist. The lead singer denied charges (Lordi had a hit in Finland before called "Devil is a Loser").
Often "shock rockers" (like Kiss and Marilyn Manson)sound surprisingly soft to my ears. Also "Hard Rock Hallelujah" doesn't really match the "hard" looks of the Lordi band members. But judge yourself... do Eurovision Song Contests also make you a skeptic of European integration?


eurovision,lordi,europe,culture,Finland

"CO2: We Call it Life"

I found this article from the Sierra Club Compass blog about corporate criminals at the Competitative Enterprise Institute (sorry I have no other words):

In what is apparently an attempt to blunt the impact of Al Gore's new film, the geniuses over at the Competitive Enterprise Institute -- a neoliberal "think tank" funded, in part, by $$$$ from ExxonMobil -- have cooked up two 60-second TV spots attacking politicians and "global warming alarmists" who would have you believe that we ought to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions. (Somehow, they fail to mention that the world's leading scientists also believe this.)

You really have to watch the ads for yourself to appreciate just how farcical they are. It's hard to believe they're not meant as self-parody -- like something the Onion would have come up with.

The thrust of the spots is captured in the tagline, "Carbon dioxide: They call it a pollutant. We call it Life." Never mind that atmospheric CO2 levels are higher now that at any time in the last 650,000 years: CO2 can't be a bad thing, according to the CEI ads, since "we breathe it out" and "plants breathe it in." In other words, it's natural.

They've basically launched a pro-CO2 campaign.

Now, it's true that carbon dioxide is essential to life on Earth. For one thing, greenhouse gases like CO2 keep our atmosphere warm by absorbing infrared energy radiating off the Earth. The problem is one of balance; in other words, you can have too much of a good thing -- too heavy a jacket on a warm day, for instance. Or take, for example, water. Water is the very stuff of life, but over-water a plant and what happens? It dies.

Of course, you know this. Everybody knows this, because it's common sense -- something the spin doctors at the Competitive Enterprise Institute don't believe you have.

environment,global warming,cei,politics

Missing Berlusconi

Former Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, wants to retake government by founding a new rightist, populist party, the so-called Party of Freedoms. Let's hope he won't succeed. Although I'm kind of missing him...

Here are some of his best quotes:

At a rally during the 2006 election campaign:

"Read The Black Book of Communism and you will discover that in the China of Mao, they did not eat children, but had them boiled to fertilise the fields"

"I am the Jesus Christ of politics. I am a patient victim, I put up with everyone, I sacrifice myself for everyone."

To German MEP Martin Schulz, at start of Italy's EU presidency in July 2003:

"I know that in Italy there is a man producing a film on Nazi concentration camps - I shall put you forward for the role of Kapo (guard chosen from among the prisoners) - you would be perfect."

At the Brussels summit, at the end of Italy's EU presidency, in December 2003:

"Let's talk about football and women." (Turning to four-times-married German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder.) "Gerhard, why don't you start?"

On Italian secretaries (comments made at the New York stock exchange):

"Italy is now a great country to invest in... today we have fewer communists and those who are still there deny having been one. Another reason to invest in Italy is that we have beautiful secretaries... superb girls."

On Mussolini:

"Mussolini never killed anyone. Mussolini used to send people on vacation in internal exile."

On himself:

"The best political leader in Europe and in the world."

"There is no-one on the world stage who can compete with me."

"Out of love for Italy, I felt I had to save it from the left."

"The right man in the right job."

"I don't need to go into office for the power. I have houses all over the world, stupendous boats... beautiful airplanes, a beautiful wife, a beautiful family... I am making a sacrifice."

On a proposal to base an EU food standards agency in Finland, rather than the Italian city of Parma:

"Parma is synonymous with good cuisine. The Finns don't even know what prosciutto is. I cannot accept this."

---

Hirsi Ali to quit parliament and the Netherlands

From Radio Netherlands, by Hans Andringa (15-05-2006)

Controversial politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali looks set to leave the Netherlands. The conservative member of parliament will announce later this week that she is to move to the United States where - according to Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant - she will be working for the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank based in Washington D.C.

Ms Hirsi Ali's quitting of Dutch politics and the Netherlands follows on from a television documentary, shown last week, which reported that she lied in the early 1990s about how she fled her native country, Somalia, in order to gain asylum in the Netherlands. Since the broadcast, there have been calls from various quarters for her to lose her Dutch passport.

Stormy
Ayaan Hirsi Ali's departure from the Netherlands bears a strong resemblance to her arrival on the country's political stage: stormy and with a 'big bang'. Right from the outset, in 2003, she was the focus of much attention, and her clear and tough position towards Islam helped put that subject at the very top of the national political agenda. People are either for her, or against her - there seems to be no middle ground when it comes to opinions about Ms Hirsi Ali.

The latest, rapid developments surrounding her were sparked by the television documentary, in which journalists took a closer look at the story Ms Hirsi Ali told the immigration authorities when she arrived in the Netherlands in 1992. At the time, she did not provide correct information about her name, her age or the country from which she had travelled to the Netherlands. And it was partly on the basis of these inaccurate details that the Somali-born refugee later became a naturalised Dutch citizen in 1997.

Never Dutch
Law Professor Gerard-René de Groot of Maastricht University says that the fact that someone furnished incorrect information when applying to become a Dutch citizen is sufficient reason for them to lose their passport:

"In recent years, policy has developed in such a way that if you provide a false name or false personal details when applying for naturalisation, the conclusion must be in such a case that Dutch citizenship was in fact never acquired."

While the television documentary has caused an outcry in some quarters, it should be noted, however, that Ayaan Hirsi Ali has never really made a secret of how she fled her country and ultimately ended up in the Netherlands. Indeed, she talked about it publicly in interviews she gave a number of years ago. It would appear that no one was too concerned about the facts of her case at that time. In 2003, when the liberal-conservative VVD party approached her about standing as an election candidate, she also revealed that she had lied, but - once again - this appears not to have met with any objections from the party leadership.

Inequality
Now, however, former VVD leader Hans Dijkstal has said that Ms Hirsi Ali should give up her seat in parliament and that she can no longer keep her Dutch passport. Responding to a question about the possibility of her retaining her current status, he commented:

"I should think not. What are other people in a comparable situation then supposed to think? That would be inequality before the law. And she should also be asking herself whether she can go on serving any longer in parliament."

Embarrassing Rita
Meanwhile, the affair is also a source of embarrassment for Immigration and Integration Minister Rita Verdonk (photo), who is also a member of the VVD and currently campaigning to be the party's next leader.

In recent years, she has made it her task to toughen up and tighten the country's policy on immigrants and refugees, and has consistently maintained that people who tell lies in order to enter and stay in the country must be deported.

This is why, earlier this year, she took a controversial decision to send a teenage schoolgirl from Kosovo back to the place of her birth just weeks before she would have taken her final exams here in the Netherlands. Now she appears to be taking a similar strong stance on Ms Hirsi Ali - always a wholehearted supporter of Ms Verdonk's policies.

Read more on Washington Post.

Ayaan,Hirsi,Ali,politics, Netherlands

Amsterdam Third Highest Quality of Living in the EU

Amsterdam is again the third best capital to live in, in the European Union. Vienna maintains her first position. Copenhagen is takes the second place. Brussels and Berlin are number four and five for their quality of living. These are some results from a recent investigation by Mercer Human Resource Consulting; more than than two hundred metropolitan cities were reviewed.

The least attractive city to live in, in the EU is Bratislava, Slovakia's capital. Major European capitals like London, Paris and Madrid have average scores. Compared to last year, few changes have occured.

Mercer’s study is based on detailed assessments and evaluations of 39 key quality of living determinants, grouped in the following categories:

• Political and social environment (political stability, crime, law enforcement, etc.)
  
  
• Economic environment (currency exchange regulations, banking services, etc.)
  
  
• Socio-cultural environment (censorship, limitations on personal freedom, etc.)
  
  
• Medical and health considerations (medical supplies and services, infectious diseases, sewage, waste disposal, air pollution, etc.)
  
  
• Schools and education (standard and availability of schools, etc.)
  
  
• Public services and transportation (electricity, water, public transport, traffic congestion, etc.)
  
  
• Recreation (restaurants, theatres, cinemas, sports and leisure, etc.)
  
  
• Consumer goods (availability of food/daily consumption items, cars, etc.)
  
  
• Housing (housing, household appliances, furniture, maintenance services, etc.)
  
  
• Natural environment (climate, record of natural disasters)

Top 10 EU Capital Cities With the Highest Quality of Life and their world standing, 2006
	position within the EU	World ranking
Vienna	1	4
Copenhagen	2	11
Amsterdam	3	13
Brussels	4	14
Berlin	5	16
Luxemburg	6	18
Stockholm	7	20
Dublin	8	24
Helsinki	9	29
Oslo	10	31
Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting

Amsterdam,cities,EU,world

Internet Providers and Pastoralism

At the moment I don't have internet access at home because we're switching internet providers. And I don't want to spend too much time surfing the internet at work, so I guess that I'm going to post less frequently this week.

Anyway, what about this thought I took from Colin Thudge's masterfully written "So Shall We Reap":

Kain (the farmer) killed Abel (the pastor). In the bible, pastoralism (king David was a shepherd, shepherds visited the nativity scene) is often portayed more favourable than hortoculture (Adam's curse was to work on the land by the sweat of his brow to eat bread, Cain killed Abel).
The fact that hortoculture has a deeper and at sometimes devastating impact on the land might be understood as manifestation human pride. Where the farmer manipulates the land, the pastor is dependent on the lands (fellow creatures, creation, seasons, etc.).

Could this be understood as an environmental statement in the early scriptures?

What I Do For a Living

I've been working at the Institute for Environmental Studies of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam for more than 4 months. The research project I'm working on concerns the emergence, effectiveness and legitimacy of "transnational pulic policy networks in international sustainable development politics" (a.k.a. sustainable development partnerships).

Traditionally scholars of international relations have been concerned with relations between states (inter-national). However, the assumption that states are the only actors in international relations has increasingly been challenged. One could even question the whole concept of the state. Do we talk about similar entities when we compare Switzerland (a showcase of direct democracy) with North Korea (a typical military dictatorship)? And what do the USA (GNP 10,533 billion USD) have in common with Tuvalu (GNP 0,02 billion USD)?
Today, many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) represent millions of members, while a quarter of the world's countries do not have populations exceeding a million persons.
Many multinational companies (MNCs) represent market values that exceed the average GDP of a middle-sized African country.
So, if non-state (transnational) actors, are so sizeable and wealthy (in terms of finance, membership etc.), why should scholars of international relations only be concerned with states?

Moreover, negotiations between states have not resulted in answers to some of the greatest challenges of our times - most notably global environmental change - . Therefore, some people have called for a world government. Still more people suggest that NGOs and MNCs should be part of the solution.
However, networks of NGOs and MNCs pose serious challenges to traditional ideas of democracy and legitimacy. Moreover, MNCs (and sometimes NGOs) are often seen as the "bad guys", halting development in the poorest countries and causing irreparable environmental damage by their activities. Can these actors really be part of the solution and seriously commit to sustainable development? ... Is this really going to be the future of international relations, what are current trends?

These questions about the emergence, effectiveness and legitmacy are the object of our research. But usually when people ask me what I do, I just say that I do research on international environmental politics. This is not entirely correct, but I think it is easier for people to imagine "international environmental politics" than "transnational public policy networks in international sustainable development politics".

daily life,politics,science,environment,work

Why do so few Dutch bloggers write in Dutch?

In one of his latest blog entries, my American-Dutch friend Eric Asp asked the following question:

Why do so few Dutch bloggers write in Dutch?

Dear Eric,

I like to believe that Dutch is a very important language. However, I need to be creative to reach that conclusion.

In the seventeenth century Czar Peter (the Great) of Russia proposed to change the official language of Russia into Dutch.
Unfortunately this policy was not implemented, otherwise the world would now perhaps have seen about 200 million Dutch speakers.

Instead, there are now only about a tenth of this number. Dutch is spoken by some 22 million people on 2 continents (and if we'd count Afrikaans as a Dutch dialect, 3 continents - but that would be unfair because they have a different grammer), in 4 countries (Belgium, France [really, in Duinkerken!], Netherlands, Suriname) and on the islands of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. It ranks 48th in the list of most spoken language in the world, which could be regarded as relatively high since there are 6,500 living languages listed.

However, in spite of all creativity, Dutch speakers would still make out only 1,9% of all internet users. And since probably 90% of the Dutch internet users also understand English, it doesn't need much math skills to conclude that - since it is all about the stats - there's just no point in writing Dutch on this blog. (But really, sometimes I do, just to keep the Dutch language alive)

Oh, and this one, by my friend Maarten, is in Dutch. (For a while he switched to English, but now he writes in Dutch again.) He's world famous - among his friends - for his opinions and his witty, stylish and creative use of Dutch.
Dutch,blogging,languages,statistics

The Ecological Bankruptcy of Christianity?

One of JR Woodward's choice blog entries is an essay called The Ecological Bankruptcy of Christianity, a seven-part series where Joe Baker posts his 3,299 research paper on the Christian culpability in regards to the Ecological crises. He looks at three basic Christian responses to this allegation: the apologetic, the reconstructionist and the revisionist perspectives, and concludes the revisionist perspect holds the most promise. I copy-pasted part 2 of the series. For the whole series, please go to PeaceChurch.

As the environmental crisis deepens and climate change accelerates, it is clear that scientific and technological advances in the so-called 'developed' world in the last four centuries in particular have precipitated the impending disaster. In examining the root causes, cultural values and ideologies that have brought the Earth to this crisis point, it has been alleged, as the title of this essay suggests, that the Western Christian tradition is 'ecologically bankrupt.'^[1] This has, of course, given rise to a spectrum of responses from within the Christian tradition, ranging from rejecting the allegations at one extreme to rejecting Christianity at the other, but has also provoked much positive reflection and self-examination.

In this essay I shall first examine the accusations levelled at Christian attitudes to creation, which Santmire refers to as the 'critical ecological wisdom.'^[2] This was given its most influential articulation in the celebrated 1967 essay by Lynn White, Jr., in Science, 'The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis,' which has precipitated further critical assessment of historic readings of the Bible.^[3] Christian responses to the allegations of culpability can be classified in the following typology: those characterised by an apologetic defence of the present position; those that seek a reconstruction of dominant Christian theology; those that propose a revisionary re-examination of Christian theologies of nature in the light of these allegations.^[4] I shall examine each of these in turn before offering some concluding thoughts.

Footnotes

[1] H. Paul Santmire, The Travail of Nature: The Ambiguous Ecological Promise of Christian Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1985), 1.

[2] Santmire, Travail, 1.

[3] Lynn White, Jr., 'The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis,' in, The Care of Creation: Focusing Concern and Action (R. J. Berry, ed.; Leicester: IVP, 2000), 31-42; repr., with anglicisations, from Science 155 (1967): 1203-07.

[4] This typology is derived from H. Paul Santmire, Nature Reborn: The Ecological and Cosmic Promise of Christian Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000), 6-8. Lawrence Osborn categories Christian responses similarly, opting for a more alliterative typology: reaction; reconstruction; re-examination. Cf. Lawrence Osborn, Guardians of Creation: Nature in Theology and the Christian Life (Leicester: Apollos, 1993), 60-61.

environment.christianity,theology,ecology

Moving Ahead With Solis Amsterdam

In September we plan to organize a fundraising dinner at our church, Zolder50. All profit we make will be for a business starting & community project by the Village Enterprise Fund. Of course, we will have great food, but also performances and a DJ.

In Autumn this year, one of the people on our team will join a study trip to Kenya. We believe that field visits will help us to raise awareness for equity problems in the world. Moreover, we hope to build a long term relationship with local communities, so we can help them to meet their needs structurally and substantially.

This month (May) we declared "raising awareness" week for social justice issues at Zolder50. The first week we'll have an introduction on social injustice issues. The second and third week are dedicated to local action (organising a night in an elderly home and redecorating a house of the Salvation Army), and the fourth week we'll talk about the Solis initiative.
social justice,action,Amsterdam,Kenya

Cycling

This afternoon I made a bicycle tour in the polders South of Amsterdam, the socalled Ronde Hoep. It's amazing how well a bicycle tour does to me.
The nature and the open space, I too easily forget as a city person. But every time I'm in the country side I think I should be spending more time outside of Amsterdam.
I truely believe that God's word is also spoken through his creation, through the grass, through the skies, the waters and todays warm weather.

Netherlands,Amsterdam,cycling,nature

Awareness III - Poverty and the Poor in the Bible

In the Bible we find that the terms “poverty” and “the poor” have many meanings. It does not only talk about material deprivation, such as homelessness and financial difficulty.
In the Old Testament we see that prophets single out the poor as human victims of broader societal and religious system in decay.

“This is what the LORD says:
For three sins of Israel even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.
They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed.”
Amos 2:6-7

More often, especially in the New Testament, “poor” reflects a broader social, economic meaning, but also spiritual meaning. For example, think of how the beatitudes start, when Jesus says:

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:3

If poverty is more than material deprivation, it would also mean that if we want to fight poverty, we a fighting more than financial-economic injustice. Rather we are fighting against the ways of the world.
When I read Amos, I was surprised by the similarities between the social-economic condition of the time and ours. In the developed nations of the world we keep believing in the myth of economic growth. However, this growth has no relation with bio-physical reality. The fact is that even though our economies “grow”, there is no real growth of earthly resources.
Thus the only way to achieve that growth is through trampling on the heads of the poor, by denying justice to 80 per cent of the world human population.

When we want to act against this injustice, we do not only want to give money.
In fact, as far as I know, it has not been written that Jesus Christ helped the poor through giving money. He did significant things about poverty by reversing all sorts of socio-economic and cultural processes. He dealt with problems of poverty by giving the poor a meaningful life, dignity and hope. This, however, does not mean that material deprivation is not a very important factor causing poverty. When Jesus taught his people for days, he also fed them miraculously by breaking bread.

It is important to understand that helping the poor is more than about giving money. Especially in young churches where many of the visitors and members are students and people who are looking for work, money might not be the resource we have in abundance to help people. But we have other resources in abundance, I think of time for instance. It would be very helpful to our cause, but – maybe more important – very formative to these people to commit time to help the poor, because that commitment is not (only) a matter of financial wealth but also a matter of the orientation of our hearts.
social justice,poverty,poor,bible study

Awareness II - Hunger and Poverty Facts

1.2 billion people live below the international poverty line, earning less than $1 per day.
(http://devdata.worldbank.org/wdi2005/cover.htm)

Last year an estimated 852 million people across the world were hungry. And in spite of international declarations, this number is still rising.
(www.bread.org/institute/hunger_report/index.html)

A child under five dies every three seconds because they lack decent neonatal conditions, simple vaccinations and medications, or adequate food and clean water.
(http://www.unicef.ca/news/displayNewsItem.php?id=100)


An estimated 25.8 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa were living with HIV at the end of 2005 and approximately 3.1 million new infections occurred during that year. In just the past year the epidemic has claimed the lives of an estimated 2.4 million people in this region. More than twelve million children have been orphaned by AIDS.
(http://www.avert.org/aafrica.htm)


hunger facts,poverty,social justice,aids

Awareness I - 7.5 Million People

My friend Bret posted the following on his blog:

I saw this article on CNN today and am again saddened by the world in which we live. The headlines these days are smeared with the Divinci Code and the NFL Draft, but half a world away, none of this matters. People are dying. Here I am, no better. I live in a nice house. We own a nice car. I ride a $1200 bike to work every day. I just ate a banana with peanut butter on it and am still hungry. Now I'm drinking coffee from Starbucks. What have I done to help...? Nothing.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- A senior U.N. humanitarian official said Tuesday he saw Somali refugees living in "the worst conditions I have ever seen" during a tour of the Horn of Africa.

Kjell Magne Bondevik, the U.N. special humanitarian envoy for the Horn of Africa, said that governments must do more to ensure drought and hunger are eradicated in the long-term.

At least 7.5 million people are suffering from the worst drought in a decade in parts of Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya and Djibouti. Cattle are dying and food supplies to 18 million people are in jeopardy.

"It was especially moving to visit the country where several thousand ... displaced were living under the worst conditions I have ever seen," Bondevik said of his visit to lawless Somalia. He added, however, that Somalis want to "reconcile and rebuild their economy."

Somalia has had no effective government since 1991, when warlords ousted a dictatorship and then turned on each other, carving the nation of an estimated 8.2 million people into a patchwork of fiefdoms. A transitional federal government that was formed following peace talks in neighboring Kenya is struggling to assert its authority.

Bondevik also said he could not confirm reports that 90,000 tons of food aid were being left to rot in Eritrean warehouses. The Eritrean government, he said, made it clear that "the discussion about this was closed. The warehouses were closed, that the government has the keys."

But he said he has asked Eritrea to issue a report on the matter.

In the past year Eritrea has rejected or suspended the operations of several aid agencies. The government previously has accused some foreign agencies of sympathizing with Eritrea's hostile neighbor, Ethiopia, where aid workers also are trying to combat the effects of the region's five-year drought.

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year guerrilla war. The two fought a 1998-2000 border war that ended with a fragile peace agreement. Efforts to demarcate their border under the terms of their 2000 peace deal have stalled after Ethiopia objected to the awarding the town of Badme and other territories to Eritrea.
Somalia,Eritrea,Kenya,Ethiopia,famine,drought,Horn of Africa

Jacques Brel

Here's some unique footage from one of my all time favourite artists, Jacques Brel.



Jacques Brel,music,les bourgeois,

Before/After

I wanted to grow hair as long as Todd Watkin's, but before it got really long it got very annoying. So last week I decided to go to the hairdresser.
(Sorry, the after photo was taken in the evening, so it's somewhat darker.)