My friend James Murray, who lives here, says people don't realise that the dark side of Amsterdam's delights is its crime. I think everyone at WebMedia knows that very well now. I can't offer much comment on events in New Zealand because I've been away two and a half weeks and it has reached the stage where the local stories don't make much sense to me. We are gloriously unaware of our momentary prosperity, actually. Yesterday Philips, one of the bulwarks of the Dutch economy, announced it was laying off 6000 staff.
Nobody seems to be blaming the government.
It's the global economy, stupid. The government here does seem to be in the gun over foot and mouth disease, however. Dutch farmers are angry, although the language barrier makes it hard to divine exactly what they're angry about. Anyway, they've taken to stringing up pigs and cattle to any available high point in their local burgs - trees, signs, lamp posts, buildings. There are whacking great beasts suspended in the air in rural Holland.