According to the most recent figures published by the American research institute Pew (Rising tide of restrictions on religion, september 2012), three out of four persons on earth live in a country with 'strong religious restrictions' or in a society where 'social hostility towards certain religions' is high. In 2007 10 countries knew very high governmental restrictions on religion against 18 in 2010. Egypt, Indonesia, the Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan are heading the list. In 15 countries (against 10 in 2007) social hostility is growing almost every...

This morning I was talking to an old friend about the lack of moral direction in our societies. Who took the place of the church, the boy scouts or the grandmothers? No wonder so many people get lost in their search of right and wrong. Nobody tells them whjere the thin lines are between success and making money at any price, or between freedom and cheating. Whether we look at sports (Lance Armstron), science (fraud in research results), business (too much to mention), law practice or Wall Street,...

Yunnan Insect Biotechnologies. Remember that name. It is a Chinese industry that will save the world from famine. You can visit the factory in Kunyang, the suburb of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province. As a welcome dish wou will receive bamboo worms, if you'r lucky. Also on the menu: dried scorpions, dried larvae, protein powder extracted from insect skeletons and lots of whole insects. Insects are, according to the FAO (the UN agriculture and food organisation) the best alternative for meat and fish in developing countries, especially...

Het AD heeft de zaak Joris Demmink maar weer eens aanhangig gemaakt. Afgelopen zaterdag werd in geuren en kleuren uiteengezet hoe onze hoogste ambtenaar op het departement van Veiligheid en Justitie zich jarenlang tegoed heeft gedaan aan minderjarige jongens. Deze werden hem o.m. geleverd door een Haagse pooier, maar ook door in principe fatsoenlijke lieden zoals politieagenten en zakenrelaties. Inderdaad, het leest als een jongensboek, maar dan wel als een boek in de afdeling pedofilie/pornografie. Op zoek naar reacties blijkt geen van de publieke omroepen het bericht te...

I am driving on the road that separates East and West Beirut. On both sides families have lost beloved ones during one of the wars. Only a few years ago snipers killed, bombs destroyed, rockets burnt. Today, houses have been rebuilt, shops are open, veiled women cross girls in tiny shorts, men salute each other. But what about their memories? What do they dream at night? What does it mean to have neighbours that killed your friends only a few years ago? I have been accused of using...

Most visitors to Lebanon stay in and around Beirut, maybe go for a day to Byblos or the Chouf mountains (Beiteddine), but only few venture to one of the borders or into the Bekaa valley. These days the tension in Syria fuels all sorts of crisis scenario’s, forbidding foreigners to go anywhere near potential fighting. Lebanese have developed a keen antenna for upcoming danger, so one is advised to trust their gut feeling. On the other hand, Lebanese want to prove that impossible is a word they...

Beirut, September 2012. As always the city has found the energy to raise from its ashes. Cranes dominate the skyline, expensive night clubs fill the roofs on the Corniche, Ferrari’s rush through avenues with their boutiques and espresso bars. Most women wear high heels, tight dresses and great hairdo’s. Most have been through plastic surgery and that’s why they all seem to be sisters. Men are more macho here than in Buenos Aires and they have more weapons in the back of their cars....

i was seated next to a Japanese violonist at a dinner yesterday. She asked me what my favourite music was and I said that it depends on the mood I'm in. Cello for the Sunday morning, Glenn Gould in the late afternoon and, yes, Brazilian music for dinner. We moved to economy and I wondered what Japan is planning to do to get out of a fifteen year's crisis. 'Japan is sick, almost dead', she replied, which probably explains why she lives in Connecticut. After her eductation at...

'China muscles in on the Arctic resource rate. With money and clout, it seeks a share of bounty unlocked by melting ice.' The New York Times (September 19th) warns the world against Chinese ambitions to buy exploitation rights in Greenland, where abundant supplies of oil, gas, and rare minerals have become accessible thanks to climate change. We can hear Greenpeace warning as well: hands off the Arctic, the last virgin place on earth! Forget the deep sea foraging, the Arctic belongs to nobody but nature. This may be...

According to the FT of September 15th, 'Turkey has sent thousands of troops into battle against Kurdish rebels as violence in the country's most intractable dispute have reached levels not seen for more than a decade...