"Smiling Girl, a Courtesan, Holding an Obscene Image."
One of my favorite paintings, seen at St Louis Art Museum during a recent visit. Just love the expression on her face, and the humanity embodied in her presence. An oil painting on canvas by Gerard van Honthorst, created in 1625.
Droomde vannacht een (naar mijn weten) niet bestaand woord: "afkansing", oftewel als kansen verminderen. Er is bijvoorbeeld sprake van afkansing als je steeds minder kans maakt op een huis of baan. En als er steeds langer niks aan de klimaatverandering wordt gedaan, dan is er sprake van overlevingsafkansing.
There’s one crucial point on which the #Dutch will still keep the faith with #Europe: #Ukraine. Just like #Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the Netherlands’ new far-right government will stick with Ukraine. The incoming government will support Kyiv, truly, deeply and constantly. As I have previously written, paying obeisance at the western world’s newest shrine, Kyiv, appears to have become a purity test of sorts. https://www.rashmee.com/dutch-far-right-geert-wilders-ukraine/
The newly agreed #Dutch coalition government on Thursday plans the "strictest-ever" #asylum policy, including an opt-out from European Union rules. After six months in the making, the 26-page coalition agreement proposes to “deport people without a valid residence permit as much as possible, even forcibly”. Monte Francis reports. #Netherlands#EU#immigration#FarRight
There's so many little things the new #Dutch xenophobic rightwing / anti-environment government will make worse.
Here's one most people will have missed:
In the early 2000 my "farmer" classmates got diesel cars as their first vehicle. They'd fill it up with "red diesel", a very cheap (no sales & excise tax) fuel legally only to be used in farm vehicles.
Despite stern warnings only one of them ever had its fuel checked. He received a small fine.
2/3 "Minor" misuse was de facto tolerated (like the unenforced 100km/hr speed limits on Dutch highways, something also thrown out).
In 2013 the 0% excise tax was cancelled and this practice stopped. A decade in and it turns out farmers don't need this subsidy to be profitable anyway.
However. The farmers wanted "stuff", and #rodediesel is a nice direct subsidy.
So after weeks of rumors it was announced #rodediesel wil be back.
One of the first farm vehicles to be electrified is "that small wheel / front loader". The machine that never leaves the farm yet gets used hours a day for a million little things.
It can charge locally and thus doesn't need a massive battery. Its effective up-time is easily higher than comparative diesel vehicles.
The new #Dutch government just made the business case for these waaaay worse by subsidizing every liter diesel with 15 to 20 eurocent.
Diseases are used for swearing in Dutch – but how does that work? @sesquiotic analyses the idiom "sjouw me de tering" in a new post on the Strong Language blog: