fixed it for ya

There is something unbearably poignant about paratroopers jumping over the eastern Netherlands to commemorate the fight against the Nazis at the exact same moment that neo-Nazis are trying to smash into parliament in The Hague. What a world. What a mess we’re in.

Far-right thugs rampage in the Hague, attacking police and the HQ of centrist party D66. While parliament condemns the threat of “fascist” antifa. Shame on every politician -including VVD ones - who spent the last year ramping up tensions to win votes. You don’t get to do that and then condemn this.

What is there to say about a party which is fine with Netanyahu’s actions in Gaza and thinks antifascists are terrorists, but is deeply worried about women getting elected and supermarkets opening on Sundays? Astonishing these people still exist in such numbers in 2025 (let alone run Gouda)

Sadly, five parties were barred from competing in the Dutch elections on 29 October, so there will be only 27 parties to choose from. www.rtl.nl/nieuws/polit...

Sadly, five parties were barred from competing in the Dutch elections on 29 October, so there will be only 27 parties to choose from. www.rtl.nl/nieuws/polit...

Oh, I know this one! Is the answer: “Don’t resist, or Rutte’s party will declare you a terrorist” ?

The big question: if the VVD is increasingly willing to ally with the FvD, PVV, JA21 etc to win votes, does this mean they’ll also be willing to go into coalition with them after the elections? Unfortunately the answer may be yes.

I KNEW IT!! it’s official, Dutch only makes sense if you’re drunk

Yesterday Trump said Antifa are terrorists In the evening the FvD- a pro-Putin party which says Macron’s wife is a man- tabled a motion to label antifa terrorist in NL too. And a majority of MPs voted for it, including VVD! Honestly embarrassing, the state of politics now www.rd.nl/artikel/1121...

I see lots of breathless Dutch news today about (to paraphrase) f***ing tyfus kanker expats driving house prices to unaffordable levels. Oddly these pieces ignore the title of the original study: “Internationals increasingly become buyers, but their role remains limited and locally concentrated”

Spotted on a rowing jetty on the Amstel in Amsterdam today: a seal

If this doesn’t get him a Nobel Peace Prize, nothing will

The US going fascist Russia menacing eastern Europe The Middle East ablaze Economies flatlining Climate disaster Rightwing populism spreading like a plague Dutch leaders:

Starmer debasing himself in supplication to Trump has advantages, in terms of securing trade deals etc. But I’m unconvinced these benefits outweigh the damage caused by the rest of the world seeing Britain as a slathering footman for an incompetent authoritarian buffoon www.ft.com/content/37b4...

what is Michael Gove doing?

I see lots of breathless Dutch news today about (to paraphrase) f***ing tyfus kanker expats driving house prices to unaffordable levels. Oddly these pieces ignore the title of the original study: “Internationals increasingly become buyers, but their role remains limited and locally concentrated”

A dark, dark moment in the history of Gouda. Brood&ko - probably the best bakery north of Paris - has closed! www.ad.nl/gouda/dit-wa...

💥 #Femke2025

I hate football, but this is a charming little story of a Dutch guy who invented a new type of football pump and managed to sell it to most of the world’s biggest football clubs (partly by emailing Dutch coaches in a language which most other staff couldn’t read) www.nytimes.com/athletic/662...

Respectfully, this seems like a weird take to me. There is no equivalence between Starmer’s overzealous policing of Gaza protests & Trump’s rampant corruption, racism and dismantling of democracy. Ideally you might protest against both, but if you have to choose one to fight, I know which I’d choose

Incredible achievement that the one price that the Trump administration has brought down notably is "cocaine."

for a Dutch speaker, Afrikaans is hilarious

One v. good thing in yesterday’s Dutch budget announcement: The Panorama Mesdag -an amazing circular painting of Scheveningen beach -will become an official state museum and start getting a subsidy of €1.8 million per year. “It’s the Night Watch of The Hague” the director says nos.nl/artikel/2582...

Yet again, she assumes that the opinion of a few very online hard right conservatives is representative of the public mainstream. It’d be funny if it wasn’t so damaging.

Beyond parody: the outgoing Dutch government has, at the behest of industry, scrapped taxes on plastic and on CO2 emissions - but says it’s ok, because they will make up the tax income shortfall by taking money from the national climate fund, established to help reduce emissions

Eelco Heinen laments declining trust in politics and rising authoritarianism and populism worldwide. “This is not the world I want my two sons to grow up in”. Fair enough - but perhaps he shouldn’t have chosen to help lead a government led by one of Europe’s most notorious authoritarian populists?

Book Review: The Invention of Amsterdam by Ben Coates open.substack.com/pub/nenadgeo... #amsterdam #book #travel

🧐

A bizarre bit of political theatre today: A government which resigned months ago, and which has 32 out of 150 seats in parliament, will- six weeks before an election they’ll lose- solemnly present its policy plans for the coming years It’s like a 95 year old planning their next ten birthday parties

Lost for words at this Jonathan Sacerdoti piece in the Spectator

Just ordinary decent people, worried about the cost of housing

If you’re cool enough to be interested in Dutch colonial history, then Cape Town is the mother lode. Fascinating churches, forts, statues all over the place. Here’s the Castle of Good Hope, built by slaves in 1666 as the HQ of the VOC in Africa; a handy spot to refuel and trade on the way to Asia

“Fight back or die” As others have said, this is Musk’s “rivers of blood” moment. Bleak if spoken by anyone, but perhaps more so from someone who grew up in apartheid South Africa.

Dutch elections are about six weeks away. Polling + conventional wisdom suggests Wilders will fail to hit previous highs or secure any power. But I’ll be honest: the state of the UK, US, France etc right now is not making me think “the wind is at our backs, we’ll definitely be fine!”

Amazing news everyone, I never have to work again!!

I have wanted to visit Cape Town for years, and it did not disappoint at all. An incredible place; really one of the world’s great cities.

Selling well in Cape Town!

“In Nederland wordt elke acht dagen een vrouw vermoord… maar er zijn nog steeds religieuze instellingen en politieke partijen die het idee verspreiden dat vrouwen een aparte klasse vormen met minder rechten dan de mannen die de beslissingen nemen” www.ad.nl/gouda/deze-g...

Incredible that we’ve reached a point where “I’d like to help some sick kids get hospital treatment” is a controversial thing for a politician to say

Actually jaw dropping from James McMurdock MP, even by his standards. We cannot become numb to this. The far right are in Parliament, and they're trying to normalise outright, vicious racism (same goes for the likes of Rupert Lowe too)

Let me run the country, says man who was recently given the chance to run the country and completely f***ed everything up

Wow, €16.4 million. Enough for an eighth of one fighter jet. That’ll show Putin!

It’s interesting to compare the state of debate in the UK and Netherlands at the moment. Both have got a weak PM being challenged by the hard right, an immigration “crisis”, protests at asylum centres etc. But the political climate in NL feels far calmer, despite upcoming elections.

This story is WILD. Trump sent Seal Team 6 into North Korea to plant a listening device. The entire thing went sideways within minutes of landing when they noticed a fishing boat near the beach. They killed everyone on board, sunk the bodies to cover their tracks, and fled. Congress was never told.

Interesting graphic People do not like Lilo & Stitch they way they liked the Lion King

I enjoyed the John Madu exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum. It’s only a handful of pictures but they’re nice pieces, inspired by both van Gogh’s work and Madu’s African home. (only on display for a couple more days)

but he’s not a working class woman, so it’s ok