It was fun. And though I'm happy the end is in sight I will miss school as well. So who knows, I might go for my Masters one day.

But is that reason to arrest someone?

Remember the riots after the Danish cartoon publication? For some reason a lot of people where so offended that they resorted to violence. The response in Denmark? They supported the cartoonist and published the cartoons again after death threats. All in defense of the freedom of speech.

Just as in Denmark and most western countries, freedom of speech is in the Dutch constitution (article 7). And we have artists that use that to express. Sometimes artist offend others. In 2004 Theo van Gogh was murdered for doing so. He had offended part of the Muslim community.

What did we do here in The Netherlands? Sure, there where protests. But after a few weeks, maybe months it all seemed to be forgotten. I don't think his film, that was critical on how woman are treated in Islam, was ever shown again on TV. And some now seem to be trying to prevent a second murder or riots. Not by referring to the constitution. But by trying to prevent someone ever gets 'offended'.

Politicians are told to tone done and now Gregorius Nekschot got arrested. We are scared shitless* to offend someone. But I believe intimidation and censorship are no answer. Though I find most of the Gregorius Nekschot cartoons tasteful nor funny, I support his right to publish them. It should be allowed in a constitutional democracy.

As far as I can see now, there was no reason to arrest the cartoonist.

update: the only way that I was able to fix this is to restore all my MT templates. That broke my lay-out. So I restored the lay-out and in the process broke the comments again.....

First, during my 40 minute commute I was fed traffic information twice. That's a waste of time for me. I ride the same way to work every day, with the same traffic. I'm not interested in roadwork or a accident on a highway I never travel on. I think people who really want or need up-to-date traffic reports either have a TomTom like device or just check the web before they leave. They could even call one of the traffic information numbers on a moment they want to.

Second, I really missed the fast forward function of my iPod. Some of the songs I just didn't like, so I wanted to skip them and go the next section.

And last I missed all the savants, the NyLon, CSB...... but I hope it's just a matter of time before new, Dutch savants will report for duty.

CNN Money

So now we'll try to have stress-free pregnancy for the remaining 20 weeks or so.

I guess one of the most scary things is that nobody seems to protest the silencing, tasering and arrest of Andrew Meyer at the University of Florida. Sure, afterwards there are online protests everywhere. But during the event everybody just sits there. Did people think the tasering and arrest was justified? Did they think it was a joke, an act? Or where people afraid to interfere because they could be tasered and arrested as well?

UPDATE: eye witness report by Your Average Idiot

Obviously the most import thing is our second pregnancy. We're expecting a baby girl in January.

Well, this is one of the things I Love about the US: people take initiative to contact their Senator! That's probably because, contrary to what I see in The Netherlands, people in the US feel connected to their representatives. They also hold their politicians a lot more accountable. Hey! We elected you into office! This is what you should do.

Here's an e-mail I recieved a few days ago......

Hi, I found your blog through Google!

I can't believe that the amendment to eliminate the
Diversity Visa passed in the House. BUT there is still
hope as it will be voted on by the Senate in the
coming weeks. Cross your fingers!

I wrote to my Senators to support the Diversity Visa.
I also wrote to Rep. Herseth who wrote the amendment.

You should write to a few Senators! I'm sure they
would love to hear the story of a normal, intelligent
person who applies for the visa year after year. And
how badly the visa is needed!

That's great!! I'll follow this reader's advise and write a few Senators myself. And maybe that way I can inspire YOU to do the same....

Why would you do that? Well, because just love Sweety and me :) But there are other (better) reasons to. Here's what the same reader had to say about that.

The reason why I'm a huge supporter of the Diversity Visa is because it is the only real fair opportunity to obtain a green card for those who are not fortunate enough to have family members invite them, or have a specialized occupation. I think it is a true "equal opportunity," and a very generous immigration policy that I am proud of.

I think people who oppose it are racist/classist.
Racist because they don't want any more immigrants
into the country than are absolutely necessary;
classist because they don't want immigrants who don't
come from money or high education.

I do not agree that the process is completely random.
"Winners" still have to prove their citizenship,
provide documents of education/training, clean
criminal background (right?), and pass the US Consular
interview. Winners are guarenteed nothing but the
OPPORTUNITY of being issued a visa.

The simple fact that 100,000 winner letters are issued
to fill 50,000 visas proves that only half of the
winners are expected to fulfill all the
qualifications, pass the interview, and actually be
issued a visa.

Anyways, I'll get off my soapbox... and I'm crossing
my fingers that the very unpopular HR 4437 (or 4337)
doesn't pass.

There you have it! Do you need more reasons to write your Senator? Hurry up, sent them a letter or e-mail today!

In High School I was no friends with any of the teachers. Except one. Today I learned that the only teacher I truly liked died in a plane crash this weekend..... He was a pilot and for some reason I've known for years that he would die in a plane crash one day. I'm not surprised but it's just not fair. He made economics a fun subject and students respected him deeply. R.I.P.

I celebrated yesterday with a lunch with just some family. We didn't want to organize anything to big with a 10 week old baby :) My mom, one of my brothers and Sweety's mom took care of all the food. Ths only thing I did was provide them with a theme: 1976. They came up with some great recipies from the seventies and my mom found some orange and brown tableware.... it was great! Thanks everybody!

Sweety had told me not to make any plans for Sunday night, and not to read her e-mail.... as if I ever!
Anyhow... I tried to figure out what it was we would be doing since TJ is to small to take to a restaurant. And I don't think we could leave TJ with a baby sitter, even family, just yet. When Sweety told me we had to leave at 6pm, and we would have a 15 minute walk to where we were going, I knew we would either go to our friends K&M or to my brothers house. We started walking toward K&M and Sweety started preparing me to leave TJ there. To be honest,
I did not like the idea.... I'm not ready to leave TJ with anybody. But I also didn't want to ruin her plans...

When we arrived at K&M's place they let us in and I walked into their livingroom to be greeted by a "SURPISE!!!!".

Sweety had organized a spuprise party with a great selection of friends.... THANKS SWEETY! I had a great evening, again with wonderful food. The best burgers and a superb Texas Chocolate Walnut pecan Cake... hmmmm

I started a new job and that always requires some extra energy. Slowly I'm getting used to the new rhythm.... and surviving with less sleep :) The job is a lot more interesting than the previous one. Working for the Government I'm involved in a network security project. Last week I received my 'Top Secret' clearance. Good stuff :)

As you know we're participating in this years Diversity Lottery. Just as last year the rumours of notification letters being send to winners started very early. Officially the Kentucky Consular Center will notify winners by mail between May and July 2006, but they often start early. So between now end July we could receive a notification letter..... or not :(

But don't worry TJ! This is daddy's last 5 day workweek! Next week I'll take few days of and March first comes the new job! And the new job means less travel but most importantly a full daddy day every week! This will probably be on Mondays. We'll have time to go for a walk, do some blogging or even a podcast together and of course change diapers and all that stuff :)