Be at Politics

So Russell Brand apologised for his juvenile jokes he and Jonathan Ross left on Andrew Sachs answering machine during Brands radioshow on BBC radio. 

Do you think his apology is genuine? I don’t think so. He is a comedian, an actor! Is his resignation from his BBC radio show justified? I don’t know. I think he made a rude joke, apologised for it and the victim of the prank accepted the apologies. Who apparently could or did not understand half of the comments that were left on his answering machine in the first place!

It is The Sun that has blown it out of proportion so much so that even the Prime Minister and the Shadow Chancellor felt the need to comment on it.

It are dire times for Britain…and humour. 

Criticism on Barack Obama has gotten so bizar and out of hand that even Fox News presenter Shepard Smith felt the need to stand up for Obama.

What happened? Joe the Plumber, aka Joe Wurzelbacher, has agreed on a comment of a McCain supporter that a vote for Obama means the “death of Israel” and the end of democracy in America. When pressed by the Fox News presenter on Tuesday Joe was hardly able to back up these comments. 

It becomes more and more clear that

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Do you ever have to enter your home through a pile of rubbish not left by yourself but by passing pedestrians? Do neighbours who over and over again leave their garbage bags on the sidewalk on the wrong day ever frustrate you? Well join the club! It happens to me on a daily basis and I am so sick of it.

Two things cause the piling of garbage in front of my door; firstly the absence of bins in the street due to the fear of terrorist attacks and secondly the complete lack of responsibility of the general public. The bin problem is a temporary safety measure that will hopefully become unnecessary one day. The lack of responsible behaviour is a bigger problem that will be hard to solve unless society in itself changes its attitude. Because

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The credit crunch has not had a big impact on my life yet. We don’t have a risky mortgage and we still have a job. But we do prepare for rough times to come. You never know. So I started thinking about what things am I spending money on that are completely unnecessary?

Coffee is one of them. One thing I have indulged in the last years was my morning coffee at my local coffee place. I have never been good in making coffee myself and drinking out was a good way to meet new people or get ideas for writing. I had a great time, but lately I have started to feel uncomfortable about my morning coffee ritual. In total I have spend around

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The American election has given us some funny insights in the behaviour of the American voter so far. From both sites supporters have given reasons and sometimes pure lies why not to vote for either Obama or McCain.

But this is a new one: Don’t vote for Obama because he is the Anti-Christ! 

Apparently there is a story going around on the internet that the Bible chapter: Revelations 13 will show that Obama is the beast, the anti-christ on earth who will lead us to destruction. The main reason

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The Dutch politician Ahmed Aboutaleb, who is of Moroccan origins, is nominated for the position of the Mayor of Rotterdam. If the nomination of Aboutaleb is accepted, he will be the first Muslim mayor in The Netherlands to be appointed by the Crown.

Of course his nomination is first and foremost because Aboutaleb is a good politician and a very capable candidate for the job. But his nomination is significant at a time when the Netherlands is struggling with its Muslim minority of around 1 million. And especially the Moroccans are enduring a very severe criticism about their lack of integration in Dutch society. Whether this criticism is deserved or not, it does make life for Moroccans pretty unwelcoming in the Netherlands.  

In these difficult times

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I have a writer’s block that started on the day that I decided to become a writer. Fourteen months ago I left my job in local politics in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to live with my love in Notting Hill, London. This also gave me the great opportunity to finally give my writing ambition a change.

Moving from Amsterdam to London was easy. But the move from politics to writing has proven to be difficult. For months now I have been twisting and turning in my bed. Because I fear laughter and ridicule. I keep wondering if my brilliance will be recognised or if my so-called talent is just an illusion. 

When suffering of such a fear of failure it doesn’t seem logical to start a weblog. The conventional writer can write and rewrite her stories and opinions at her own pace and within a save environment. Yet the Internet writer or blogger will immediately be exposed to either the praise or scorn of her readers. So what am I thinking? 

Well, I have decided that the best thing I can do is to challenge my fears. Like the sufferer of arachnophobia has to tickle spiders to be saved from his phobia, I have to put words on my blog to be healed. Beatpolitics will be my ultimate test ground. You as a reader are invited to respond to my writings. Give me your criticism and your encouragement.  

Be candid, but decent.