The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is considering changing its flag because it resembles the Dutch one too much. Indeed it does: their flag is almost identical to ours, except they washed out the blue part a bit. So, I’d say they’ve got a great idea there. People of Luxembourg, please change your flag, so nobody mistakes yours for ours anymore!
If you want to know what this song really is about, have a look here: the Boten Anna video clip with Dutch or English subtitles.
Also available for Basshunter’s new single, Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DotA: Dutch or English subtitles.
More in the category “weird stuff”:
A couple was caught stealing potatoes from a farmer’s field last weekend. They admitted to the police that they wanted to get themselves a couple of free meals. They should have taken better care, though. For one thing, obviously, they got caught. For another, they were taking potatoes that are only ready to be harvested in October!
Dutch soccer player Ruud van Nistelrooy has moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid, following a dispute between him and Manchester manager Sir Alex Ferguson. At the press conference where Van Nistelrooy was presented as the new Madrid player, he discussed his last couple of weeks at his old club. By that time, he’d already given the standard speech about how proud he was to be playing for Real Madrid, and how great a club Real is. But how great is it exactly? Not as great as Manchester United, apparently, because Van Nistelrooy talked about how bad he felt about having to leave the greatest soccer club the way he did. Oops… Not the best way to impress your new fans and team mates, is it?
A news report I heard on the radio last week:
Some people were killed in a suicide attack in Israel…
Wouldn’t have been much of a suicide attack if nobody had died, would it?
During a recent unannounced fire alarm test here at the observatory, a number of people closed the door to their room to block out the noise and continue working, rather than leave the building. Apparently, these astronomers are fire-resistant.
Belgium has advanced plans to introduce a fee for anyone travelling by motor vehicle. The costs for Belgian people will be compensated through lower taxes. People from other countries will have to pay to use the Belgian roads. Dutch tourists are making a big fuss over this. They think it’s ridiculous to have to pay only to drive through Belgium to France. But why is this such a weird idea? Isn’t it normal to pay for something you use? I can see how people going on vacation in Belgium might be upset, because they are already spending money there on accomodation, food, drinks, activities, and so forth. The boost to the local economy can be considered payment for the use of the roads. But if all one does is pass through Belgium, one shouldn’t complain about having to pay for it.
The world’s richest countries spent about 79 billion dollars in development aid for the poorest countries in 2004. That’s good. What’s not so good is that only about half of that money ended up with the people that needed it, according to a recent ActionAid report. The rest went to overpaid Western consultants or was lost on the wrong projects.
In Cambodia, for example, consultants fees were $17,000 a month while government salaries were only $40. In Ghana, even relatively inexperienced consultants earned per day what government officials earned in a month. In Sierra Leone, according to one former UK-funded consultant, daily take-home pay was the same as the Auditor General’s monthly salary.
In Tanzania, Japanese consultants on an irrigation project introduced the use of diesel pumps that, after a massive increase in fuel costs, have become too expensive for local farmers. The pumps now lie idle and farmers are worse off than before.
Can’t we do better than that?
