Recently, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (ie, Kaja Kallas) claimed that “The free world needs a new leader”, following Trump’s Oval Office clash with the Ukrainian president (eg, Independent). Perhaps, she referred to the EU as that new leader (Who). Her timing (When) is remarkable because Trump is old (b.1946) and in his second...
How-What-When-Where-Who-Why
De tolerantie van intolerantie
10 Jan, 2025
In 1945 waarschuwde Karl Popper ons reeds voor de paradox van tolerantie in zijn boek The Open Society and its Enemies. Hij wordt “algemeen [] beschouwd als een van de grootste wetenschapsfilosofen van de 20e eeuw.” “Minder bekend [dan andere paradoxen] is de paradox van de tolerantie: onbeperkte tolerantie moet leiden tot het verdwijnen van...
Does everything have a beginning?
11 Dec, 2024
A recent Aeon article (ie, Will we ever know the origins of the Universe?) touched an unresolved thought of mine: must the Universe truly have a beginning?? The Aeon article has a clear answer: No. Not necessarily. “The Malament-Manchak theorem presents us with a sobering limit: our observations, no matter how extensive, may never be sufficient to determine...
“Accountants moeten obsessie met zekerheid loslaten”
25 Oct, 2024
Bovenstaande titel in een Accountancy Vanmorgen artikel pakte mijn interesse. Het bleek van mijn oud-PWN collega John van der Starre te zijn. Accountants vertonen inderdaad vaak ayatollah gedrag: kan niet, mag niet, maar ook wil niet. Zekerheid is een deel van hun geloof. Absolute zekerheid bestaat niet. Zelfs onze zon stopt uiteindelijk. Hoeveel relatieve zekerheid...
Impoverishment
23 Oct, 2024
The average Dutch house in 2024 Q2 has a price of Euro 468,000 (NOS), while the average annual Dutch salary is "only" Euro 44,500 (Manpower). Hence, an average house will cost you about 10.5x of your average annual salary. That 2024 multiplier of 10.5x was about 5x when I bought my house in 1994. The doubling of that Dutch multiplier - or the home price-to-income...
The rollercoaster of solitude and loneliness (6)
22 Oct, 2024
I think I finally understand the feeling of loneliness. In my view, it feels like the Daryl Hall song below: "Every time you go away; You take a piece of me with you" (lyrics). This yearning-like feeling is new to me. I have always liked my feeling of solitude but I'm (far) less sure about this new feeling. As I had always suspected, my inspiration is taking a dive....
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