Continuing my jaunt around the Low Countries
No, not Belgium again. Instead, our Dutch friends have an election in 10 days, and I've been sniffing around to see what's what. What with my Dutch beginning and ending with 'Edam', 'Polder' and 'Zuider Zee', Dutch language sites are not enormously helpful, but fortunately there are some English language sites out there.
The most recent opinion poll I can find has the ruling Christian Democrat alliance on course for 44 out 150 seats, 4 up on last time, with the Social Democrats easing down one at 39. The VVD, which sounds, erm, 'sound' ("The VVD is the most vociferous supporter of private enterprise in the Netherlands...and is often perceived a centre-right, free market or conservative liberal party") is on 20, down 8 from 2003. The Socialist Party is down three at 20, with the Green Left best of the rest on 7. Following the murder of Pim Fortuyn, his party has atomised, and there would seem to be a lot of duelling egos at work. I attempted to take notes at the NCF event I attended on Monday, which had a lot of Dutch content, but the speaker was very difficult to précis.
Further digging suggests that the Dutch find choosing a party a bit of a struggle, as 2.3m people visited the StemWijzer ('Vote Indicator') site last time. Or maybe the country is full of electoral nerds who just like playing with these things. Anyway, it 'compares the viewpoints of the website visitors over 30 important election themes such as public safety and integration with the policies of the nation's political parties'. (source). Armed with the trusty WorldLingo translator, I've had a go. And lo and behold, dodging the questions that came out as gibberish, I should vote for the rump List Pim Fortuyn party. Examination of the questions matched against announced party platforms makes it look as though but for being happy with cannabis cafes in Limburg I would have been offered the VVD. Hey, and indeed, ho. If anyone else has the patience to give it a go, I'd be interested in the results.
The most recent opinion poll I can find has the ruling Christian Democrat alliance on course for 44 out 150 seats, 4 up on last time, with the Social Democrats easing down one at 39. The VVD, which sounds, erm, 'sound' ("The VVD is the most vociferous supporter of private enterprise in the Netherlands...and is often perceived a centre-right, free market or conservative liberal party") is on 20, down 8 from 2003. The Socialist Party is down three at 20, with the Green Left best of the rest on 7. Following the murder of Pim Fortuyn, his party has atomised, and there would seem to be a lot of duelling egos at work. I attempted to take notes at the NCF event I attended on Monday, which had a lot of Dutch content, but the speaker was very difficult to précis.
Further digging suggests that the Dutch find choosing a party a bit of a struggle, as 2.3m people visited the StemWijzer ('Vote Indicator') site last time. Or maybe the country is full of electoral nerds who just like playing with these things. Anyway, it 'compares the viewpoints of the website visitors over 30 important election themes such as public safety and integration with the policies of the nation's political parties'. (source). Armed with the trusty WorldLingo translator, I've had a go. And lo and behold, dodging the questions that came out as gibberish, I should vote for the rump List Pim Fortuyn party. Examination of the questions matched against announced party platforms makes it look as though but for being happy with cannabis cafes in Limburg I would have been offered the VVD. Hey, and indeed, ho. If anyone else has the patience to give it a go, I'd be interested in the results.
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on Sunday, November 12, 2006 at 11:32 pm.
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If Pim Fortuyn hadn't been bumped off by the animal rights nazi, things would be very different in the Netherlands today. Anyway, it seems that the left is not about to return to power....reasons to be cheerful, I suppose.
As I have previously confessed the doings of foreigners are not central to my concerns and I struggle to understand the fascination absolutely everyone else has with them . Does this have any resonanace here I can cling onto ?
Until it is thrown into the rapids my mind is still on Verity`s cat Rupert. My wife claims to prefer animals to people which given her enthusiastically carnivorous habits is a worry
IT - All very true.
N - well, each to their own I suppose. Rupert sounds quite a suitable name for a cat. Going off at an considerable tangent, many years ago I was discussing with a philosopher which would be the most suitable philosopher to name a pet rat after, and he reckoned Schopenhauer.
Wittgenstein? In the end his linguistic and logical therories reduced him to such inarticulate twaddle that a cat would have been better company.
There are lots of things everyone but me seems to like . Motor racing , ski ing ( same person in a different coloured suit?). Gambling .Jazz ...and many more
So ignore me
Must say that Ludwig isn't exactly a fun read. I've got a parody of the Tractatus hidden away somewhere.
I got bored with F1 about 15 years ago, skiing I can take or leave, gambling is fine (when I win), and jazz isn't really my thing, although I've tried.
Hey! Rupert's my cat! He's a very sweet little boy - half tabby and half Siamese with very slanted bright blue eyes. He is a very dear little thing and the cruelty that had been perpetrated on him doesn't bear thinking about. I got him in France. First, his previous owners had chopped off his tail. I guess as a kitten, he just wasn't cute enough.
Even after they'd chopped off his tail, he still wasn't cute enough, so they took him on the autoroute and threw him out of the car window travelling at 100 klicks. He fell on his face. And some of his teeth shattered. He must have been in horrific pain, but one way or another, he managed to survive for around two weeks (according to the vet who eventually examined him)- probably by eating insects as he certainly couldn't hunt - when some kind French ladies found him. They were ladies who rescued cats, as it happens and they took him in to a vet and got him fixed up. There is no cat society in the Languedoc, but I heard of these ladies and called them to ask if they had any cats as my 17-year old cat had died several months before and I was ready to adopt again.
Well, the minute I saw Rupert through his cage door, I loved him to bits. He is an affectionate little thing, and walks around at my heels. He also loves going for walks. They couldn't believe it at the boulangerie. He would come with me to buy bread every morning and wait nicely outside the door.
Don't worry, Newmania, the Brits have a decreasing interest in abroad, preferring gossip about Kylie, druggie Kate etc!
CR1 - the reason the VVD are chuting in the sondages is Rita Verdonk (guess her campain song), the Immig Min, who was too tuff for the Dutchies. (Not hard.)
$ An interesting pt for pedants is that the Freedom Party is shown as having no seats in 03. But their leader Gert Wilders was elected for the VVD. (He's even more anti-sponger than Rita). So how cd he not have had his seat in 03?
Tot ziens
V - Poor wee beastie. Can't say I would want a pet, but I do believe that there is, so to speak, a special circle of hell reserved for people who are sadistic to animals.
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