A random Dutch radio news message: police retirement will outpace police recruitment in the forthcoming years, which will result in police shortages. You can hear/read similar messages about nurses, plumbers, teachers etc. The (predicted) impact of a graying population is - finally - becoming noticeable. My blog's title is a reference to the 1972-1985 British comedy...
In 2021, I've written a lot about human stupidity (my blogs). I've been hesitant to address the How-What-When-Where-Who-Why questions. A 2021 Psyche article was very helpful: Why some of the smartest people can be so very stupid (eg, my blog). Apparently, stupidity is a blind spot in our thinking. Recently, I noticed two more related articles that have been causing...
In his 1742/1768 poem, Thomas Gray wrote two famous last lines: “[..] where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise”. The old English word "folly" means foolish; bliss is "a state of complete happiness or joy". My blog’s title is a paraphrase of those two lines. Small human problems often arise from misunderstandings and/or wrong assumptions. Both can be solved...
It's probably safe to argue that Donald Trump lost his re-election due to his failed handling of Covid-19. I believe he would have been re-elected if he had - at least - taken Covid-19 serious. It's probably also safe to argue that Joe Biden's vaccine mandates are mobilising the Republican opposition (eg, AP). AP, 2 November 2021: "A closely contested race for...
According to the Dutch Financial Times, the European Commission wants to interfere with Dutch tax laws. Financieele Dagblad, 1 November: The Netherlands must sacrifice its tax allowances for independent contractors and its mortgage interest deduction in order to obtain EU billions. There is some irony in this because our PM has been highly critical towards Hungary...
CNN, 31 October: "American Airlines canceled another 634 flights on Sunday, more than 12% of its total operations for the day, the company said Sunday. The airline has now canceled more than 1,500 flights since Friday, as it deals with weather issues and staffing shortages that started last week." Some media claim that vaccine mandates are causing those staffing...
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