Last Sunday's blog, Panic in Beijing and its original Bloomberg article, made me realize that there is a difference between business and politics that is easily overlooked. Unlike businessmen, politicians are not allowed to make serious errors, especially in countries like China. Despite that seeing is believing, (communist) ideology is (much) stronger than seeing....
The Dutch Cabinet has pledged to apologize for our history in the slave trade. Today is that day. A few centuries ago, our ancestors transported (most) slaves from Africa to their destination. Slave trading was done by Arabs (with the help of African tribes) and still continues today. Actually, today's slavery is even bigger than before. That weird fact seems...
Tuesday last week, several people commented on my draft blog on Parenting. One of them included a nasty judgement about me without even knowing me. We live 2,000+ kilometers away. She claims she is my friend and even her brother. To me, her comment felt as betrayal of our (online) friendship. Her comment didn't hurt me though because you can only hurt someone with...
Some time ago, a friend made this Dutch comment: “En spijtig genoeg lukt het niet met iedereen om vrienden te blijven.” My title above is the English translation. She and I are still friends, although no longer lovers. Our friendship has always been stronger than our relationship. She is like the sister I never had. Generally, I tend to disagree with my friend’s...
A lot has changed since the 1976 hit song Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word by Elton John. Not for me, though. Saying sorry is still one of the hardest words for me. I keep telling people not to say sorry to me, unless they actually mean it. Saying sorry is just a habit for many people. There are several reasons why I prefer minimising the word sorry: The more you...
In 2015, I wrote my blog Apologies and the 7 reasons for non-apologists. A few days ago, I noticed an article in The Times of Israel, an online English language newspaper: What’s the point of an apology? It caught my interest as I seldom apologize. I only apologize when I mean it; not when it's politically correct. Moreover, it genuinely (sic!) irritates me when...
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