The following ad appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad on August 21st: Under a picture of Syria's president Assad: '' There are moments when you feel lonely and misunderstood...

Het is echt een epidemie: iedereen is somber, zon of geen zon. Crisis is het magische begrip dat verlamt, verstilt en verpest. In plaats van aan te pakken en creatief te worden, gaan de meesten bij de pakken neerzitten. Of ze verstoppen zich op Ibiza, om even alles te vergeten. Alsof het noodlot heeft toegeslagen. Alsof er niets aan te doen is en wij het maar over ons heen moeten laten komen. Hierbij een oproep om juist nu ondernemend te worden. Er is geen geld, de banken werken...

Pussy Riot. Great name, great stunt. But not in a country without any sense of humor. Not in a country where a big majority still believes in national values and is disgusted by the West synbolized by punk, drugs, AIDS and same sex marriage. NJET. What will the price be for a little teasing of the authorities? We will know today, when a judge in Russia will decide on the fate of the three female & feminist members of the punk band. All over the world people...

Ah, the French, how they love to use initials for famous people. Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) for a while dominated the list, but now he is back at the top, glamorous Bernard-Henri Lévy, BHL for friends and foes. BHL, philosopher, writer, journalist, political activist, trusted public advisor and above all ego tripper. BHL rules intellectually over the pragmatic French government, his opinions almost dictates. It was BHL who convinced former president Sarkozy (Sarko) to lead the attacks against the Libyan rulers. At least, this is what has been said...

Like many others, I was convinced that the world would run out of fossil energy very soon. A good reason to invest in wind mills, solar pannels and other alternative energy sources. But we were wrong: the surge in oil production around the world is a fact. Yes, more oil, not less, let alone not enough. While we were wondering how the energy hungry emerging markets would handle their strategies in a shrinking oil market, technicians from the giant companies like ExxonMobil, Shell and BP were inventing hydraulic...

In my last blog I wrote about the question whether our societies still enjoy the right balance between security and privacy: how much state intruding do we need to be secure? Or, in other words: should we accept the growing interference in our private lives via modern technology? Are we supposed to live being spied on, day and night? The state uses our real and latent angst to control all our moves and monitor all our habits. In order to protect us from evil or diseases, from...

Volgens Freedom House, een mensenrechtenorganisatie in Washington, is de wereld stteds 'vrijer' aan het worden. Vrij in de zin van vrije meningsuiting, vrije beweging, vrije verkiezingen enz. Was in 1989 nog maar 41% van de wereld zo 'vrij', in 2012 is dat volgens een recent onderzoek 60%. Van de wereldbevolking van zo'n 7 miljard mensen leven er 3 miljard in vrijheid (43% vergeleken met 25% vijfentwintig jaar geleden). Terwijl onderdrukte samenlevingen zich steeds vaker weten los te worstelen, zouden wij in het Westen juist steeds bevreesder moeten zijn...

Dat was toch echt fenomenaal: Rowan Atkinson in het orkest bij de opening van de Spelen. Dat is nou Britse humor op z'n best. Totaal lak hebben aan conventies en een niesende, treiterende Mr. Bean de ruimte geven voor zelfspot en jongensdromen (wat liep hij mooi voorop op dat filmstrand!). Ook uniek was de James Bond act met de Queen, de wentelende hondjes, de helikopter, het parachute springen. Elisabeth II lacht zelden, maar ze heeft zeer zeker humor, net als haar man Philip trouwens. Stel wij krijgen in...

With a dull title and sometimes an over esoteric content, the British magazine is one of the few printed media to be in good health, especially in the United States. In 2010 The Economist sold 1,42 million copies each week, out of which 820.000 in the US alone. According to The New York Times, it is all about marketing: the elegance of the sober logo, good and daring (and funny) covers, an Oxbridge tone of voice (appealing to American snobs) and a fairly high price contribute to the...

When ancient generations in Alpine villages had to find names for the mountains surrounding them, they either used geomorphical characteristics (rivers, rock formations, strange forms, lakes etc.) or more romantic features (sun, moon, flowers, stars, paradise, heaven etc.). Newly created ski resorts like Les Arcs, Tignes (France) or Beaver Creek (Colorado) use more modern names to underline how young they are. But what to think of names like Diavolezza (devil's mountain, near Pontresina, Switserland), Mont Pourri (Haute Savoie) or Mont Maudit (near the Mont Blanc, French side)? Did...