One of my colleagues wondered if reflection always follows material setbacks. As if we stop thinking (and feeling) as long as money fills our time. As if reflection is for the poor, those who have lost, those who are disappointed. As if materialism and healthy thoughts are incompatible. As if greed blurs our intelligence, bank accounts cover up our philosophies, business beats our brains.  As if it takes a crisis to realize that life is more than a financial bonus. Maybe he is right. This morning I saw a picture in...

We asked for it: everything has to be transparent and now that it is, the leaders in the global village are complaining. Hillary Clinton is ashamed of her civil servants in the field. Poor, naive gossipers, that's what they are. It is time for diplomats and strategic advisers to wake up. There are no more secrets, no more plots, no more plays. Only the truth counts. And you know who really don't care about what Wikileaks publish? The naughtiest boys in the class: Berlusconi, Putin, Sarkozy. For them there...

The media have been wondering why the military rulers in Myanmar decided to give the Nobel Peace Prize laureate her freedom back. Why she was suddenly allowed to speak up, lead rally’s, show her son -whom she hadn’t seen for decades- around town and give interviews to the international press. Well here is the answer: Myanmar has discovered massive amounts of oil. That’ s nice. But the question is, who is going to offer the expertise needed to drill for the black gold? Which oil company can afford...

Istanbul has 25 million people to feed, house, transport and keep happy. Imagine being the mayor of this great city on the Bosphorus. You are more powerful than, say, the prime ministers of  The Netherlands, Norway and Belgium combined! 25 million people will, all together flush their toilets over 100 million times a day, will use around 20 million loaves of bread, 5 million liters of olive oil, 1 million kilo of onions, half a million kilo of red pepper etc. every day. No wonder the streets are permanently constipated. It will...

Er is al veel over gedebatteerd in de Nederlandse media. Er is al officieel geprotesteerd door Turkije. Maar zolang niemand de waarheid durft te vertellen over de manier waarop Ankara het mes op de keel zet van zijn in het buitenland wonende burgers gaan wij er niet uit komen. Waarom is het hebben van een tweede paspoort niet erg als het om Zweden, maar wel als het om Turkije gaat? Heel simpel: de Zweedse overheid zet zijn burgers in den vreemde niet onder druk om te rapporteren, te klikken...

Iran Air kan niet meer tanken op Schiphol. De grote oliemaatschappijen hebben besloten Iran te boycotten en niet alleen op de luchthaven van Amsterdam. Waarom eigenlijk? Worden de oliecontracten in Iran niet gehonoreerd? Worden ExxonMobil Total, BP en Shell  plotseling nog meer beschouwd als vooruitgeschoven posten van het verderfelijke Westen en dus overeenkomstig slecht behandeld? Het dichtdraaien van de benzinekraan (Iran produceert weliswaar veel olie maar is niet in staat zelf te voorzien in de eigen benzine- en kerosinebehoefte) is kennelijk de eenvoudigste manier om de onvrede over...

The Al Jazeera program I was reffering to in an earlier blog can be seen on: YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj79bPHjyjE&feature=player_embedded AJE page: http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/listeningpost/2010/10/201010167205072574.html Hope you like it. It was made by Jason Mojica, a great guy! I have a question: is it a political statement to appear on Al Jazeera if you are Dutch and European? Or: Is it a statement to appear on CNN if you are an Iranian or Afghan?...

This is not just a statement: everytime the economy goes sour the stupid majority tends to look for a scapegoat. They can be Jews or Roma, gays or priests, Muslims or ...

Every year on 9/11 I wake up with a shock: will something happen today as a terrible, cynical reminder of the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York (why don't we ever remember what happened in Washington DC on the same day?)? Will another plane crash into another relic of the West, of capitalism, of democracy? This year I think of the plan to build a mosque on the site where hundreds of innocent people were killed. President Obama thought it was a good idea until someone...

I have been interviewed by Al Jazeera English. The journalist wanted to know what I thought of the responsibility the media have when it comes to distributing messages of terrorists or other non established individuals. He had found my book on Abu Nidal which was published in 1989. Internet, I tell you...