Showing posts with label Enormative. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Enormative. Show all posts
21/06/2011
Greece: we Europeans need to bypass politicians and support the Greek people
At pressing times like these, it may be time for the citizens themselves to speak out and connect to Greece and its people. The euro has a very positive cost-benefit ratio as it shielded Europe from uncanny complicated situation when the financial crisis hit in 2007. Without it we would have had highly fragmented local financial disasters all over Europe. Politicians are forgetting this too quickly and choosing for populistic lines of reasoning to satisfy what, in their view, is the peoples wish/opinion.
On both a political and human level, there is no other way than supporting the Greek. But we shouldn't let only the politicians and bankers do the work. It is now time for European labour unions, companies, families, sports clubs, stamp collectors and what have you, to reach out to the Greek counterparts that they have been in touch with over the last years.
The message to them could be one of human and moral support, outlining that both the Greek people and the European people are stuck with politicians that sometimes don't do their job right. In Greece they frauded a bit too much and in Europe they are just too populist and lack the leadership to stand up for the euro now. But if we look underneath it all, there is only one thing to do: support the Greek, sympathize with their situation and encourage/support them to make the best of it.
10/05/2011
Foreign reporters discover that Geert Wilders only proclaims freedom for himself..... not for the nation
The last months we have witnessed a couple of incidents here in the Netherlands, where a whole bunch of writers, cartoonists and invited speakers are being 'asked', 'convinced' or otherwise bullied in order to refrain from the quite logical comparison of the developments with respect to Wilders Freedom Party with those of the German/Dutch pre-second world-war years. I won't bore you with the details, but the examples are really numerous (see over on the Dutch blog). And this phenomenon now has also hit the international radar, due to this article by a Canadian journalist. For those readers who think that this case is an incident: it isn't. It's a feature of the double-speak that Geert Wilders uses.
Where Geert Wilders is 'fighting' for freedom of speach. He essentially means: freedom of speech for himself alone. For example, he proclaims the right to compare the Quran with Mein Kampf and to suggest that the Quran should be forbidden. And a number more of such comparisons have given rise to a court case against Wilders. Which leads to an interesting paradox. In the court case Wilders claims to be the agent for freedom of speech. Meanwhile Geert Wilders and his followers are insisting that people stop comparing them to the other populist movements and politicians that are around, such as Hitler, Mussolini.. etc.
As for my personal opinion, I happily exercise my freedom of speech by outlining to you foreigners that, having monitored a lot of his appearances and the trial as well, I am pretty confident that Geert Wilders is a narcist, whose opinions should not be read as a vision for the country or the people, but as a reflection of an otherwise distorted mind. Geert Wilders is himself a son of a immigrants from the former Dutch colony (Indonesia). Whereas his parents (and he himself) strongly assimilated and adapted to the Netherlands, he feels that all other immigrants should be forced to undergo the same treatment. So it is the regular tragic of the one being bullied that now bullies the others, as he wishes to do unto them the same pain as was inflicted on himself. Essentially his is quite a sad story, but here in the Netherlands we are merely unfortunate that he is projecting it upon the state of the Netherlands.
Where Geert Wilders is 'fighting' for freedom of speach. He essentially means: freedom of speech for himself alone. For example, he proclaims the right to compare the Quran with Mein Kampf and to suggest that the Quran should be forbidden. And a number more of such comparisons have given rise to a court case against Wilders. Which leads to an interesting paradox. In the court case Wilders claims to be the agent for freedom of speech. Meanwhile Geert Wilders and his followers are insisting that people stop comparing them to the other populist movements and politicians that are around, such as Hitler, Mussolini.. etc.
As for my personal opinion, I happily exercise my freedom of speech by outlining to you foreigners that, having monitored a lot of his appearances and the trial as well, I am pretty confident that Geert Wilders is a narcist, whose opinions should not be read as a vision for the country or the people, but as a reflection of an otherwise distorted mind. Geert Wilders is himself a son of a immigrants from the former Dutch colony (Indonesia). Whereas his parents (and he himself) strongly assimilated and adapted to the Netherlands, he feels that all other immigrants should be forced to undergo the same treatment. So it is the regular tragic of the one being bullied that now bullies the others, as he wishes to do unto them the same pain as was inflicted on himself. Essentially his is quite a sad story, but here in the Netherlands we are merely unfortunate that he is projecting it upon the state of the Netherlands.
01/05/2011
Shame on the Vatican, Benedictus and Roman Catholic Church for sanctifying Pope John Paul 2 !!
Today is a remarkable day. Most important is of course the fact that this old man started blogging, exactly one year ago, about his suprise. En as from today we will be doing the same in English. But there is quite a bit more that deserves our attention and surprise today.
No, I'm not referring to the 65th birthday party of our leftwing Labour party. Although that event does in itself create an atmosphere of wonder, I will leave the so-called 'left church' to themselves to focus at the one and only Roman Catholic Church. The Pope, Benedictus has managed, in a flurry of self-abuse, to beatify predecessor John Paul II. He chose today in order to beat the Guiness Book of Records which until today had Mother Theresa as the person who became saint the fastest. And that is of course why Benedict wanted to get this done today, so that saint John Paul would beat Mother Theresa with 6 days.
As you can see, I am quite astounded and schocked. We knew of course that the Roman Catholic Church was a church with an unhealthy distinction between what is preached and what is practiced. And that is surprising, given the fact that the Bible contains quite a beautiful example of a compassionate, objective human being who tries to live in peace, love and without pre-occupations or prejudices. It's unfortunate that the RC Church has built such a big marketing machine around this example and has succeeded in turning away from the example, to the extend that the RC Church now has become the sort of Pharisees that Jezus would have his struggle with. And if I would have been Roman Catholic myself, today would have been the day that I would resign my membership.
Why?
Well, it seems to me that one of the most relevant developments in the last years is the discovery of numerous examplex of abuse of power en child abuse. Which has been covered with a blanket of deaffenning silence by the Church itself. And if we look at the man who contributed to the texts and instructions that helped keep the blanket of silence intact, we must recognize that it is th current Pope, Benedictus. And the main goal of these instructions was to keep the image of the Church clean, not so much to behave merciful or compassionate towards the victims. Pope Benedict has as a member of some working group contributed to that document (''Crimen Sollicitationis' of March 16, 1962, also know as: how to hush clerical child abuse by using church law rather than civil proceedings) which subsequently was ratified and sent out by the Pope. Of course the Vatican had to deal with the effects of all this becoming public knowledge and has witnessed a further decrease in attendance and faithul followers. And although Benedictus ('he, who speeks well') did try to apologize for the role of the Church, today turns out that thas was a mere blind (I hope I use this expression in the right way).
It appears to me that the beatification of a Pope who for image-reasons prescribed secrecy with respect to child abuse can be viewed as a direct 'slap in the face' for all the victims of child abuse and the subsequent secrecy/denial. But the Roman Church is apparently unable to cleanse itself internally and to point out to Benedict the consequences of his coldhearted and dry-eyed behaviour. Well, they will find out when in a half year time they are wondering what the sudden decrease is, around May 2011, in the stats for church membership.
And while Benedict and his Church couldn't care less about the particular opinion of this old man, I cannot stop myself from writing: 'Shame, shame and deep shame on you and your Church !'
No, I'm not referring to the 65th birthday party of our leftwing Labour party. Although that event does in itself create an atmosphere of wonder, I will leave the so-called 'left church' to themselves to focus at the one and only Roman Catholic Church. The Pope, Benedictus has managed, in a flurry of self-abuse, to beatify predecessor John Paul II. He chose today in order to beat the Guiness Book of Records which until today had Mother Theresa as the person who became saint the fastest. And that is of course why Benedict wanted to get this done today, so that saint John Paul would beat Mother Theresa with 6 days.
As you can see, I am quite astounded and schocked. We knew of course that the Roman Catholic Church was a church with an unhealthy distinction between what is preached and what is practiced. And that is surprising, given the fact that the Bible contains quite a beautiful example of a compassionate, objective human being who tries to live in peace, love and without pre-occupations or prejudices. It's unfortunate that the RC Church has built such a big marketing machine around this example and has succeeded in turning away from the example, to the extend that the RC Church now has become the sort of Pharisees that Jezus would have his struggle with. And if I would have been Roman Catholic myself, today would have been the day that I would resign my membership.
Why?
Well, it seems to me that one of the most relevant developments in the last years is the discovery of numerous examplex of abuse of power en child abuse. Which has been covered with a blanket of deaffenning silence by the Church itself. And if we look at the man who contributed to the texts and instructions that helped keep the blanket of silence intact, we must recognize that it is th current Pope, Benedictus. And the main goal of these instructions was to keep the image of the Church clean, not so much to behave merciful or compassionate towards the victims. Pope Benedict has as a member of some working group contributed to that document (''Crimen Sollicitationis' of March 16, 1962, also know as: how to hush clerical child abuse by using church law rather than civil proceedings) which subsequently was ratified and sent out by the Pope. Of course the Vatican had to deal with the effects of all this becoming public knowledge and has witnessed a further decrease in attendance and faithul followers. And although Benedictus ('he, who speeks well') did try to apologize for the role of the Church, today turns out that thas was a mere blind (I hope I use this expression in the right way).
It appears to me that the beatification of a Pope who for image-reasons prescribed secrecy with respect to child abuse can be viewed as a direct 'slap in the face' for all the victims of child abuse and the subsequent secrecy/denial. But the Roman Church is apparently unable to cleanse itself internally and to point out to Benedict the consequences of his coldhearted and dry-eyed behaviour. Well, they will find out when in a half year time they are wondering what the sudden decrease is, around May 2011, in the stats for church membership.
And while Benedict and his Church couldn't care less about the particular opinion of this old man, I cannot stop myself from writing: 'Shame, shame and deep shame on you and your Church !'
28/04/2011
Trouble in The Hague and Amsterdam: Ministry of Finance does not favour Hoogduin as DNB-President...
In the Netherlands we are looking forward to hearing from our government who the next president of the Central Bank will be. You know my personal opinion and preference voor van Dijkhuizen as the next President. And this morning the Financieele Dagblad outlined that he is one step closer as it appears that the Ministry of Finance has a strong preference for an outsider candidate rather than the candidate Hoogduin, preferred by DNB itself. Het Ministry thinks that this is necessary to ensure that DNB will effectively change its culture and does not believe that an internal candidate can do this.
Now that the Ministry of Finance doesn't rubberstamp the proposal of DNB (which they used to do until now), the official decision by the Dutch Cabinet has been delayed a couple of times. And the Financieele Dagblad notes a couple of arguments, among which the political colour of candidates, as possible reasons. But we don't get the full picture, as there is also a candidacy for the role of Executive Director Bank Supervision. But we don't hear anything about that appointment procedure.
I have been pondering the continuation of this sequel. I wouldn't be surprised if a new solution to the problem surfaces in which the executive director on Bank Supervision is also named: vice-President of DNB. In that model Hoogduin would be promoted to President and remain the monetary expert he is, while the real weight rests with the Vice-President, responsible for Supervision.
We'll soon discover how this ends: I am most curious!
PS 1: Dow Jones reported this morning that Ministry of Finance, De Jager, has reacted that the political colour of the candidate does not play any role:
'I haven't seen a final list of candidates' according to the CDA-Minister. Hij continues to outline that he is not in a hurry, because: 'we still have until June'.
PS2. The PVV has explicitly noted that they wish the successor for Wellink to be an outsider, in order to change the DNB-culture properly.
Now that the Ministry of Finance doesn't rubberstamp the proposal of DNB (which they used to do until now), the official decision by the Dutch Cabinet has been delayed a couple of times. And the Financieele Dagblad notes a couple of arguments, among which the political colour of candidates, as possible reasons. But we don't get the full picture, as there is also a candidacy for the role of Executive Director Bank Supervision. But we don't hear anything about that appointment procedure.
I have been pondering the continuation of this sequel. I wouldn't be surprised if a new solution to the problem surfaces in which the executive director on Bank Supervision is also named: vice-President of DNB. In that model Hoogduin would be promoted to President and remain the monetary expert he is, while the real weight rests with the Vice-President, responsible for Supervision.
We'll soon discover how this ends: I am most curious!
PS 1: Dow Jones reported this morning that Ministry of Finance, De Jager, has reacted that the political colour of the candidate does not play any role:
'I haven't seen a final list of candidates' according to the CDA-Minister. Hij continues to outline that he is not in a hurry, because: 'we still have until June'.
PS2. The PVV has explicitly noted that they wish the successor for Wellink to be an outsider, in order to change the DNB-culture properly.
09/11/2010
When a government resort to money printing... the end of an era is in sight...
Well, this week is the week of the spill-over: the US-FOMC decision to finance TReasuries by the FED is leading to:
- China further restricting the imports of money,
- investors that flight into gold, commodities and equity,
- growing criticism for Bernanke,
- who will be defended by Obama with the answer that the growth that the QE-stimuli causes will soon be welcomed by many.
The veteran Junker from Luxemburg, doesn't hesitate to point out on behalf of the Eurozone that while the US blame China to maniupate the exchange rate, it is actually calling the pot a cattle as the US does the same (but by increasing the supply of the dollar). But he can't say that out loud in the G20, because we can witness a number of Euro Member States in the periphery that are stumling into the abyss. Only domestic players invest in Spanish, Iris, Greek or Portuguese government securities. So, before we know, there may be a mini-monetary-earthquake in the Eurozone.
In essence we are now witnessing the definitive beginning of the end for the US as a world power. De United States of America have always been living on credit, which was a powerful motor for themselves as well as the world. Yet, here's the day when empty is empty and the effect is over. The only one not to have noticed it, is the US themselves. During the mortgage crisis we could still say that the external effects of the US crisis for other countries was indirect. With Quantitave Easing the effect is more direct because the US directly exports its problems. It all has the sound to it of empiresand states that are at the end of their existence and try the money injection as measure of last resort.
- China further restricting the imports of money,
- investors that flight into gold, commodities and equity,
- growing criticism for Bernanke,
- who will be defended by Obama with the answer that the growth that the QE-stimuli causes will soon be welcomed by many.
The veteran Junker from Luxemburg, doesn't hesitate to point out on behalf of the Eurozone that while the US blame China to maniupate the exchange rate, it is actually calling the pot a cattle as the US does the same (but by increasing the supply of the dollar). But he can't say that out loud in the G20, because we can witness a number of Euro Member States in the periphery that are stumling into the abyss. Only domestic players invest in Spanish, Iris, Greek or Portuguese government securities. So, before we know, there may be a mini-monetary-earthquake in the Eurozone.
In essence we are now witnessing the definitive beginning of the end for the US as a world power. De United States of America have always been living on credit, which was a powerful motor for themselves as well as the world. Yet, here's the day when empty is empty and the effect is over. The only one not to have noticed it, is the US themselves. During the mortgage crisis we could still say that the external effects of the US crisis for other countries was indirect. With Quantitave Easing the effect is more direct because the US directly exports its problems. It all has the sound to it of empiresand states that are at the end of their existence and try the money injection as measure of last resort.
11/05/2010
Greek butter on the heads of politicians...?
The past few days were all about Greece, the European Union and the financial system. All kinds of stuff happened that amazed me. Most remarkable was, IMHO, the reflex by politicians to blame the financial markets (and/or banks) that the trade in Greek governments bonds halted. Rating agancies were blamed for putting Greece on the hot seat. Politicians felt that speculants, banks and anyonemore were speculating Euroland to its downfall, which is why new regulation should be designed to counteract such speculative trades.
Let's look at this from a distance. The European politicians decide to introduce the euro and realize this requires fiscal discipline. Yet, the disciplining mechanism (stability pact: a well chosen name) is not being used, nor followed. The euro thus becomes a coin with some loose ends.
Meanwhile, financial markets have seriously realised that all sorts of loans may have counterparty risks (having learnt this the hard way by being too careless with the bus loads of cheap money since 2000). Whether it is a bank or a government that you lend out money too, there is always a counterparty risk. And particularly rating agencies are very eager to demonstrate that they did learn their lessons from the crisis. They won't be caught redhanded by giving out AAA-ratings. No, they now more seriously look at risks than before. And apply that lesson to Greece. Only to be heavily blamed by the politicians for doing so and upsetting the markets.
The conclusion seems clear to me. The current size and maturity of the financial markets does not leave a lot of room for immature politicians who think it is possible to build a European Union without respecting their own basic agreements on budgets. What happens in the financial markets is not so much caused by speculation. It is better to state that it is the direct but delayed result of political inabilities and inaction. The grudge that politicians hold towards speculaters thus returns as a boomerang to hit themselves.
Let's look at this from a distance. The European politicians decide to introduce the euro and realize this requires fiscal discipline. Yet, the disciplining mechanism (stability pact: a well chosen name) is not being used, nor followed. The euro thus becomes a coin with some loose ends.
Meanwhile, financial markets have seriously realised that all sorts of loans may have counterparty risks (having learnt this the hard way by being too careless with the bus loads of cheap money since 2000). Whether it is a bank or a government that you lend out money too, there is always a counterparty risk. And particularly rating agencies are very eager to demonstrate that they did learn their lessons from the crisis. They won't be caught redhanded by giving out AAA-ratings. No, they now more seriously look at risks than before. And apply that lesson to Greece. Only to be heavily blamed by the politicians for doing so and upsetting the markets.
The conclusion seems clear to me. The current size and maturity of the financial markets does not leave a lot of room for immature politicians who think it is possible to build a European Union without respecting their own basic agreements on budgets. What happens in the financial markets is not so much caused by speculation. It is better to state that it is the direct but delayed result of political inabilities and inaction. The grudge that politicians hold towards speculaters thus returns as a boomerang to hit themselves.
01/05/2010
The beginning, why did I start this blog?
This is a blog about amazement and wonder. I am often surprised about what happens in the Netherlands, how the public react and about the views of Dutch politicians. Aren't we just running around as headless chickens too often? Talking through our hats? Don't we, Dutch people, often find things too selfexplaining whilst they are actually not? I can really be surprised sometimes and this blog is just a place to vent my observations and to create a public archive of my personal surprise.
Perhaps it surprises you that, some 10 years after blogging evolved, I am now taking up this blog..? Well, that seems a pretty good start for me. You are surprised, I am surprised, We are surprised.
Perhaps it surprises you that, some 10 years after blogging evolved, I am now taking up this blog..? Well, that seems a pretty good start for me. You are surprised, I am surprised, We are surprised.
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