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Monthly Archives: December 2012
who is top dog: government or business?
Yes, not a good question. The ways of the world are a bit too complex for such a binary perspective to make sense. But obviously the issue of the continuously changing relationship between public and private power is certainly core to … Continue reading
how the US is like Indonesia
However much judgement might be in the eye of the beholder we still tend to agree on lots of things. Social beings that we are that agreement is as important as the facts. Some argue, more important, or even all … Continue reading
the Dutch are not Germans and other betrayals
But I am, originally, so I speak Deutsch, but as I was born in Holland, and picked up Nederlands on the street, or actually Broabants, cause I grew up in Brabant, obviously its Northern part, else I would have been … Continue reading
Posted in personal, society
Tagged Adam Hochschild, cambodia, Congo, ethnic cleansing, Europe, Ewald van Vugt, Geert Mak, Holland, John Pilger, Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, Opium, Poland, Rhineland, Sudentenland
1 Comment
Zappa and the amazing mr. Bruce Bickford
Frank Zappa collaborated with a clay animation artist, Bruce Bickford. This collaboration resulted in some amazing visuals. Zappa is a cult figure whom many know about but Bruce is much less known and not many have actually seen the Zappa … Continue reading
mount everest closer up than any trekker will ever see it
Yes, no need to strengthen the stereotype of what Nepal is about even more. But this pic is indeed something special. My technofobic nature doesn’t allow me to tell you anything sensible about how David Breashears managed to construct this 3.8 billion … Continue reading
the joy of stats
We humans are good at seeing patterns. But one has to take that quite literally, seeing patterns. At least for those with brains as limited as mine. If you’ve got a fancy for data like me, that means you have … Continue reading
the research-policy interface: context
My previous post on the research policy interface described a case study of a particular Dutch policy arena and the way this resulted in an understanding of the Dutch welfare state as including experts and research as lubricants of the system, something I … Continue reading
I will miss running Nepali trails
Cannot say for sure because I cannot look into others’ heads but I imagine that “Nepali trails” evoke images of the main Himalayan range, fantasies of running across 5000 meter passes, and otherwise alpine inspired associations. That’s all very understandable … Continue reading
running to rant
Many who ran with me will find my reflections on the trails page a bit too fuzzy, leaving out something obvious: Conversations with me on a run have a fair chance of transforming themselves into a ranting monologue about something that … Continue reading
this is not a revolution, is it?
Running a hotel has many advantages, one of them being the diversity of guests and what they share with you. Recently someone left me an issue of the New York Review of Books. The giver recommended the piece on the … Continue reading
I won’t miss eating Kathmandu dust
Any city in a bowl shaped valley has issues with it’s air quality. When I left Kathmandu after my first longer stay there, end of 1993, it was already bad. During the following two decades many things changed. Population quadrupled, … Continue reading
extreme running equals brain fasting?
My running mate Thomas sent me a link to the abstract of an article in German weekly Der Spiegel. It’s about a study (only the methodological description…) of the physiological effects of “extreme” running: 44 participants of the 2009 TransEurope FootRace … Continue reading
the research-policy interface: a case study
While Building Bridges allowed me a helicopter view of the research-policy interface, my subsequent involvement with a case study on the influence of research on policy changes in the Dutch disability insurance act (WAO) allowed me to look at the … Continue reading
moving to Egypt means leaving Nepal
I’ve again been living and working in Nepal for nearly three and a half years. Leaving soon and just said goodbye to those who, like me, enjoy running Nepali trails. I am ready to go but I feel very emotional … Continue reading
the research-policy interface: a helicopter view
Some of my fancies go way back. One of them is an interest in the way social science research and policy interact. In the late 90s, as the coordinator of the European secretariat of Metropolis International (a forum for bridging … Continue reading
Posted in society
Tagged Building Bridges, Gareth Morgan, metropolis, research-policy interface
2 Comments
reading about the financial crisis
If you’re interested in “how the world works” you’ll read about the financial crisis. I do. And if you’re like me that’s tricky business because as non-economists we rely on others for the facts. So coming across Andrew Lo‘s Reading … Continue reading
inequality is toxic
I’m normally swayed by social analyses that stress the complexity of social processes. You may expect quite a few posts to come on that perspective. But recently I read a book called The spirit Level, why Equality is Better for … Continue reading
the persuasive power of humour
Most internet users are by now familiar with the TED, the nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. So some or even many of you may have seen Ken Robinson‘s Talk on how our current schooling system kills creativity. Why? It’s … Continue reading
Posted in psychology
Tagged Alan Watts, creativity, Douglas Adams, humour, Ken Robinson, Michel Foucault, purpose of life
1 Comment
let’s talk straight
The power of words is enormous. Very difficult to escape. At least for me. As my body is the food it eats, my mind is the words it absorbs. What is on offer on the market place of information is … Continue reading
corruption
One of my fancies is corruption. I come from a country that’s scored as being very clean by Transparency international (in 2011: 8.9 on a scale of 10) and then moved to places like Cambodia (2.1) and Nepal (2.2). Corruption … Continue reading
Posted in society
Tagged corruption, legal corruption, tax justice, transparency international cpi
3 Comments
roger henke's fancies 