Aljo-Log

Archive for April, 2009

Today is the Dutch national holiday ‘Koninginnedag’. On this day everybody wears orange clothing, and there are lots of activities, like open air concerts and so called ‘vrijmarkten’ (free markets where you can sell all sorts of items, stuff you no longer need or for instance food like hot dogs). The weather is really important on this day, and that on most April 30th we have sunshine. The Dutch call this the ‘Orange Sun’, like divine approval.

Aljo_

One of my most favorite radio stations is Eins Live from Cologne Germany, they are officially called WDR1 (West Deutsche Rundfunk) and serve the NRW (Nord Rhein Westfalen) also referred to as der Sector, which is a province of Germany bordering the Netherlands. I find the presenters – like Jasmin Pour – interesting. In German a presenter is called a ‘Moderator’. Eins Live has news on the top of the hour and it is presented by a male and a female news reader together. I can recommend Eins Live, it is fun.

Aljo_

PS, German is such a difficult language that it takes a lot of effort to learn to master it. That German primary and high-school pupils require a much higher level of performance to complete their education with a diploma compared to Dutch pupils. That just speaking in German means that you probably are really smart.

Today is ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand. ANZAC stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps. This is an Army unit that fought in WWI and WWII. In WWI they participated in a bloody battle in Turkey at Gallipoli in Lone Tree Valley. This is the Australian Memorial Day. I read in The Australian yesterday that one of the biggest problems for ANZAC was the high number of Court Marshal cases. That tens of thousands of ANZAC soldiers were disciplined for being Absent Without Leave or for disobeying orders. The highest military honor for Australian soldiers is the Victorian Cross. A few months ago a soldier got this decoration for bravery in Afghanistan. He is only one of three people still alive who ever got this decoration. In most Australian cities and towns is an ANZAC memorial, like a statue and an old cannon. ANZAC is very important to Australians. Australian soldiers are called Diggers and they have this type of hat unlike any other military in the world.

Aljo_

Even before the global economic credit crisis hit most developed countries already had budget deficits. There are two main ways of fixing a deficit, a government can cut spending or can  raise taxes. The third way to fix a deficit is by significant economic growth, but that governments only have limited control over growth rates. We in Europe expect our governments to provide: health care, education, pensions etc. For most countries cutting budgets is not possible, because over the past 20 to even 30 years there have been budget cuts made many times. We need to fix our budget deficits because countries have borrowed far too much already! So tax raises make sense. The main task for the tax payer is that they monitor the government to spend their money wisely. As it is there is more money around compared to the 1980s. We can afford to pay the government for their funding of services like health care and education where we all benefit from. People know nothing is free, and I am sure that there are people who would want to invest in for instance education and child care. When we go to the dentist we find it normal that we get a bill. Instead of Dutch politicians thinking “Where can we cut our budget spending?” they should be thinking: “What would the Dutch people want to spend their money on?” It would be financially unwise to cut taxes even further, because taxpayer money is like lubricant for the local economy. Remove it and the people might get a little more money to spend but at the same time the local economy is slowed down instead of accelerated. We pay taxes to  get  the government services we want and need. It is okay if it costs some because we all benefit from these services. For instance, we wouldn’t cut spending for keeping our cities clean, now would we? There are so many examples where we know that we would spend our own money just the same as the government does. If we had to pay ourselves for cleaning our own streets, that it would become much more expensive to begin with. City governments have always cared for cleaning streets etc, they know this business. Only big ticket expenses like new jet fighters for the Air Force should face public scrutiny, because this kind of money takes a lot of time to gather and people will wonder if it is really worth it. Most items on government budgets are probably small in price and help a lot of people. For instance city council money to a city quarter for social gatherings is nice, this improves our quality of life and it doesn’t break the budget. Of course a government has so many items on its budget that it would be logical that the government pays for things nobody wants or needs, but that the government monitors its expenses all the time to find out what needs more and what needs less public money. We need to trust our elected officials to do the right thing where spending taxpayer money is concerned. Most elected politicians know this game, but that civil servants in charge of budget planning are professionals who are much more creative in managing their money streams than an average citizen. Even though you wonder why Dutch government organisations lost a lot of money by investing in banks in Iceland which failed. So professionals can get it wrong too!

Aljo_

I try to view every episode of SOKO Leipzig on ZDF on Friday evenings. One of the actresses in  this show is Melanie Marschke (which is her real name), and that I find her really beautiful and attractive. She plays a police investigator. SOKO Leipzig is one of my most favorite Krimis on German television. Not because of one pretty actress but because the staff of this police team are really nice, that you would want to have colleagues like these people. Leipzig is located in the former East Germany (the so called ‘new states’), and that in episodes of SOKO Leipzig they often deal with issues which have to do with local history. SOKO stands for the department of the police which is responsible for solving serious crimes, mainly murder. Melanie Marschke is my favorite actress of this year.

Aljo_

PS, SOKO Leipzig is on Friday 4/24/09 at 21.15 on ZDF.

There is a new criminal investigations series (they call this in German a ‘Krimi’) on the ZDF (Germany’s Number 2 Network), it is about a Kommissar Martin Süden. Unfortunately I don’t know yet in what German city this new series is situated. What I do know is that there are naked people in every episode. Yesterday evening was an episode about air guitar playing. And that the deceased hadn’t been murdered but was frozen to death in a car. The actor who plays Kommissar Süden was in an episode of some other Krimi as a suspect of a murder, which he hadn’t committed as it turned out. There are so many Krimis on German television and I find these shows really interesting, that the plot, the acting and the scenery can be entertaining.

Aljo_

In 1984 I visited Devonport Tasmania, it was during the Australian winter. So all my cousins had to go to school. I had just finished grammar school and my cousin suggested I’d follow some classes at his college. So I went to see Mr Richardson the dean at the Don College in Devonport, I showed him my grades and he told me I was welcome to attend classes at his college. During biology I learned that in Australia most animals – both large and small but mainly small – are very poisonous. In Australian history I learned how all Tasmanian Aboriginals had died due to European diseases like the flue. During math I learned what a factorial was. I remember this well. The students at the college were very different compared to my fellow students in The Netherlands. I remember looking out of a class window – with an entire class – at some students doing sports and that one guy said to another: “If so and so gets her pregnant it will be her third child.” These students actually were sexually active! I got to be friends with a female student from the Don College, I still could locate her home, because it was on the way from my relatives’ place to the college. The people of the college asked me if I would do a lecture on the European Economic Community. Which I did, that was nice telling 40 to 50 people about the EEC. The girl I mentioned wasn’t like a vacation love to me (because it wasn’t a holiday for Australian students), but we talked quite a few times. I remember how she told me about a car with Mac tires, which are wide tires, she was really nice. There were teachers at the college from the UK and the Netherlands. Years later I mailed a parcel  with Dutch exam books to the Don College so that the Don College could use them for tests. My female friend from Devonport looked like the girls of The Veronicas. Except she didn’t have a twin sister, as far as I can remember. I forgot her name, I don’t think we exchanged addresses when I left, but I do remember she wanted to move to Britain. In Australia a guy is a ‘bloke’ and a girl is a ‘sheila’. A ‘fortnight’ is two weeks. Australia is a great place to be! It is British excellence in education but then with fun.

Aljo_

The Dutch people are starting to realize that I am not allowed by the Netherlands government to have any children. But that the government also denies me to have a Dutch girlfriend because the government is trying to contain me, because the government knows that my condition didn’t start as an illness but that my sanity was deliberately destroyed. If I were just a regular mental patient then all these people wouldn’t know me from all these Dutch soaps and other TV shows. The more misery, the more drama, the more viewers. Happiness denied… The Dutch need to learn that they cannot make so much money off me by constantly being on my case, that they need to pay me for this. The Dutch actually think that they can get away with ruining my life and letting the whole country witness this. I can only speculate as to why these Dutch people deny me my own life in freedom, with a free mind. It probably has to do with these motives: 1) I no longer went to church after age 18, 2) I abandoned my high school sweetheart while the government wanted me to be with her and didn’t allow me to be with anyone else  (I wonder if the Dutch would have let me be with any Dutch female in the first place, this wasn’t done in good faith), 3) I no longer listened to Dutch radio but only listened to American military radio. 4) The Dutch in charge were stinkingly jealous that the American government showed an interest in me. 5) I didn’t study in university for a job in the Netherlands. 6) The Dutch didn’t allow me to immigrate to Australia. 7) I hurt the Royals pride (without knowing it). 8.) I had shed my Dutch identity and no longer associated myself with Dutch culture. Which especially sets off Dutch military people, who cannot accept that American military people mean more to you. 9) I had fallen in love with an American woman and no longer showed any interest in Dutch females. These are nine possible reasons why the Dutch government is making my life miserable. Please realize that the Dutch want to socially isolate and abuse me for many years to come. And that my bad physical condition was also deliberately done to me! The Dutch cannot get away with this, without paying for the consequences. It would be best for me, if I moved to Tasmania. But that I am in the condition of a 95 year old, because the Dutch destroyed my mind, my body and my beauty. This is not due to natural causes, but that a shrink is never going to deal with the truth, this is a nightmare.

Aljo_

Even though Dutch radio and television are constantly hurting my feelings. I do have a job in radio land too. Meet my alter ego Lindsay McDougall also known as ‘The Doctor’. The Doctor presents radio and television shows for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the ABC. The funny thing is, that Lindsay is his real first name, and that normally only girls in Australia are called Lindsay. My name Aljo is also often considered a female name. In 1984 I followed classes at the Don College in Devonport Tasmania. I did English Literature, Australian History, Math, Biology, and Social Studies, I loved it there. In Germany they dubbed me ‘Professor’, so maybe there is this intellectual side of me, which is recognized by people who know what it takes to earn a PhD. Sort of like how only a Knight can Knight someone else. So I do have a day job in Australia! And this is so good!

Aljo_ or Lindsay…

Joint Press Conference with
Senator Conroy and
Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett
Devonport, Tasmania

Subject: National Broadband Network

PM: Well good morning everybody and it’s great to be here with the Premier with local members including Sid Sidebottom and Dick Adams, as well as the Minister Stephen Conroy. This is a good day, it is a great day for Australian infrastructure, a great day for Tasmanian infrastructure and a great day for jobs, here in Tasmania and for the nation at large. What we are designing here and what we are about to roll out across the nation is the infrastructure we need for the 21st Century. So much of this nations’ productivity was built on the back of rolling out our railway network in the 19th Century, rolling out our electricity grids in the 20th Century, but the big turbo charge of productivity growth for the 21st century is going to come from high speed broadband, so what is the problem? Nationwide, we have I have got to say, one of the slowest and most expensive broadband networks across all the developed countries. We can’t afford to be in that position any longer. We can’t afford to be down the bottom of the OECD table – when it comes to speed, when it comes to price, when it comes to take up. Because this will so much underpin productivity growth for businesses, productivity growth for small businesses in the services sector and also productivity growth for manufacturing long term as well. Really important for business in the economy, really important also for communities and for Government service delivery also through our hospital network and health network and our schools. Here in Tasmania we actually have a problem which needs to be fixed as well. And it is like this: currently Tasmania has the lowest proportion of households with broadband of any State or Territory. 39 per cent compared with the Australian average of 52 per cent. The national average isn’t good enough by global standards and the Tasmanian average isn’t good enough by national standards. That is why the Premier here has been so strong in taking the lead in the proposals he has put to the Federal Government on rolling out broadband in this State. So what we are on about is making sure that this happens here in Tasmania and happens across the nation. And the good news for Tasmania is that this new National Broadband Network is going to start its rollout here in this State, because the Tasmanian Government has been so far ahead of the game. And can I also say this: that what it therefore means in Tasmania is that we are going to be in the business, with Aurora, of constructing a fibre to the premises network, which will deliver speeds of up to 100 megabits per second, to something like 200,000 premises across Tasmania, businesses, households, to make sure that they are all linked with the global economy of the 21st century. It also means that this fibre to the premises network will be connected to all hospitals and some 90 per cent of schools. This again is a terrific outcome for this State. We want to make sure that it works well for everybody, and for those with whom we cannot make the connection to this fibre optic to the premises network, we will also be deploying of course, a wireless network and new satellite technologies to make sure that those communities have speeds of 12 megabits per second. This is critical for the future. Can I also say what this means in terms of jobs for Australia and jobs for Tasmania. This new National Broadband Network is critical for building the economy of the 21st Century but also in providing jobs in the here and now. We can see some of the jobs which are being provided through the work already being done here in Tasmania through Aurora and the Tasmanian Government. But nationwide, let me just confront you with this figure, when this rollout starts nationwide, for each year, out to the seven or eight years it will take to complete this rollout nationwide, we are looking at 25,000 jobs each year rising to 37,000 jobs at peak in that particular year. This is a big shot in the arm at a time when we are in the midst of a global recession which is impacting jobs right across Australia and in particular in this part of Tasmania. Therefore, we want to do our bit, play our part by providing this injection of stimulus now. So what does that mean for Tasmania, we will be having hundreds of jobs generated off the back of this state-wide rollout, this state wide rollout of the National Broadband Network. Good for Tasmania, good for Australia, good for the future. One disappointing thing which has emerged overnight is the statement from the Liberal party and Mr Turnbull that they will now block this, vote to block this in the Australian Parliament. The Liberal Party has indicated that they will vote to block this 21st century equivalent of the Snowy Hydro scheme – that the Liberal Party has said that they will vote to block 25,000 jobs a year for Australia, including what happens here in Tasmania. That the Liberal Party will vote to block this necessary piece of infrastructure to build productivity growth for the future. I think it is time that Australians made it very plain and very loud and clear what they think of this blocking opposition tactics. This is serious stuff. The Liberals have enormous influence in the Senate. This therefore is not just a political debate, it goes down to the core question of whether the underpinning legislation for changes to regulations and for the corporation we are proposing to establish, will find its way through the Senate or not. That is why the position of the Liberal Party is important. So I would simply say loud and clear, for Australians who want this infrastructure rolled out, make it very plain, absolutely crystal clear what you think about this proposal and what you think about a political party which for opportunistic reasons wants to vote it down. And I conclude by saying this: it is absolutely wrong for Mr Turnbull and the Liberal Party, to be voting to block 25,000 jobs a year and to vote to block the 21st Century equivalent of the snowy hydro scheme.

Statement by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.