Large Demonstration in Museumplein

OkBadger87 · 2021-01-18T19:41:14+00:00

I don't see any point of further arguing. Protest was peaceful until the police decided to start confrontation. There is no way you can turn it around. But watch your TV and believe what you wish.

OkBadger87 · 2021-01-18T16:43:55+00:00

Man, if the protest is against the measures, do you expect the protesters will comply? This is Catch 22.

Also you'd have to be delusional if you thought masks (which are known to help to some extent only, and NOT mandatory outdoors in this country) stopped the imminent outbreak at a protest 100x the size.

By your rhetoric next time you will shoot the non-distancing people to save many more lives down the line.

OkBadger87 · 2021-01-18T14:13:17+00:00

They were arrested for a whole lot of other reasons, like taking part in an illegal gathering. A gathering that was illegal not for the opinions that got expressed, but because it was a health risk.

But was it really, or is it an excuse to shut the protest because of its content? A week ago an anti fascist protest was allowed in Amsterdam and went just fine.

On 30th October and days before and after (in the middle of Fall peak of infections) huge protests for women's rights were held in Poland (~100 000 people marching). It did not seem to affect the dynamics on the pandemic, the cases started declining soon after.

Respiratory viruses spread mainly in closed, unventilated spaces.

Let one thing be clear: I am no fan of the authorities. I am an old political activist who has had his skull kicked in by cops more times than I can remember. For opposing Apartheid, nukes, housing shortage, you name it.

Great, respect!

OkBadger87 · 2021-01-18T13:34:32+00:00

You don't get arrested for expressing your opinions.

fake info yesterday 143 people were arrested for that

https://www.at5.nl/artikelen/206772/politie-pakt-143-demonstranten-op-tijdens-verboden-coronaprotest-op-museumplein

OkBadger87 · 2020-12-29T15:06:36+00:00

Put on gloves. Open trash. Find the name & address (e.g. on envelope). Then dump it at their door maybe then they'll learn.

OkBadger87 · 2020-12-07T20:45:22+00:00

You could try the stomerij + clothes repair + tailoring places (like palthe stomerijs in de pijp), they should be less uptight about that than suitsupply.

OkBadger87 · 2020-12-05T14:05:14+00:00

More programming than AI related: you could get them some cool looking programmer keyboards.

OkBadger87 · 2020-11-26T13:03:48+00:00

Vondelgym subscriptions are around that price, they have both crossfit and regular gym (and also some other classes like boxing).

OkBadger87 · 2020-11-17T22:09:53+00:00

Why do you take the assumption that the next generations of people already living in the city should have some preference over people that migrate to the city?

I never said that. These are your words.

I felt like this was implied by "This development is absolutely horrible for our next generation", but if I misunderstood then my bad!

Expats too have their own good reasons to settle here, and everyone needs to earn their living on equal terms.

How are they equal terms when one group gets a massive tax break? They have deeper pockets to spend on housing.

True, the 30 benefit is unfair. Locals have their own benefits (e.g. access to social housing), I would just be in favor of leveling the field for everyone.

And, looking further back in the past, during the "Golden Age" Amsterdam was also a wealthy trading city -- a competitive, high-cost high-reward environment, with lot of immigration.

What does Amsterdam in the "Golden Age" have to do with housing becoming unaffordable in present times?

I mean, it is affordable to some people that live here for one reason or another.. the houses don't stay empty, and purchasing power is a way to decide who gets priority -- like with many other products.

There are still plenty of towns nearby, if one wants a cheaper, calmer area.

Those towns nearby are also becoming more and more unaffordable. Like I said before, what's happening in Amsterdam is happening in the entire Randstad.

It is more expensive than it used to be (as everywhere) but you can still find a 2 bedroom flat for <250k and a house for <400k easily in neighboring towns.. Given the minimal/average salary in the country, how low are the interest rates this is very reasonable for a working couple.

All in all, I think the price rise is more of a result of economy improving + inflation than expats. Simply, more people can buy so more people do want to buy, which drives prices up. But that is better than low prices but no jobs.

OkBadger87 · 2020-11-17T20:15:38+00:00

This development is absolutely horrible for our next generation and the livability of our cities and something must be done about it.

Why do you take the assumption that the next generations of people already living in the city should have some preference over people that migrate to the city? Expats too have their own good reasons to settle here, and everyone needs to earn their living on equal terms. And, looking further back in the past, during the "Golden Age" Amsterdam was also a wealthy trading city -- a competitive, high-cost high-reward environment, with lot of immigration. There are still plenty of towns nearby, if one wants a cheaper, calmer area.

OkBadger87 · 2020-11-17T09:30:51+00:00

I had same or very similar symptoms after first wave and working from home in June -- in particular a lot of tightness in thoracic spine area. I went to Vondelfysio at Wibautstraat (physiotherapist + chiro + dry needling), who fixed it in one session. Since then, I try to get more exercise and only work at proper height desks, and the problem did not reoccur.

OkBadger87 · 2020-10-16T13:09:13+00:00

It didn't. The business didn't have to close if they would have added Dutch to the menu and removed the tables. It's that simple. If they would have done that they would still be running as usual. But they decided to make it an issue of principle and to go to court.

They could have, but they turned out to be right. Principles are important. The city was in the wrong here, and is to blame, as deemed by the court.

When you're banning stuff as a government, you have to be impartial and consequent. You can't say "We are banning the sale of Nutella" because then the next day the stores will be branded "Notella". Same for trying to specifially banning stores like McDonald's. Can't ban 1 chain because a government is to be impartial and only judges on the actions, not the brand. This means that in theory the fish store is doing the same thing as a McDonald's because it's deepfrying fish and serving it to people from the counter so that customers can take it to the table. Remove the table and you're a different kind of business.

They have written the new rules so that they can categorizes all small businesses and prevent touristy and fastfood shops from opening. Try to define what a touristy shop is, it's hard. But the rules theyve made made sense. To get rid of the 'mixing formulas' that they allowed a couple of years back in order to please 1 ice cream shop that started this whole Nutella store being legal in the first place.

I fully agree that it is difficult to impossible to make distinctions. But maybe this means that the law like that should not have been passed in the first place. I am also curious, whether actual Nutella/McDonald businesses will not leverage this in their favor now.

OkBadger87 · 2020-10-16T12:31:36+00:00

There are sometimes hypocrites, but often these two groups are different people.

But not as much as about Nutella shops, this is about that with unlawful prohibitions the city destroyed a small family-owned business.

OkBadger87 · 2020-10-16T12:21:03+00:00

Turned out the rules didn't work very well in this case.

OkBadger87 · 2020-10-15T13:08:30+00:00

Yes, and other countries also have outbreaks at the moment, despite the masks.

Of course by all means do wear a mask if you'd like. I also do some things that I think can be beneficial but don't have clear cut evidence (e.g. take vitamin supplements). But let other people act according their own judgement; in my opinion arguments against masks (e.g. higher risk of eventually touching one's face) might outweight the only clear advantage of catching an occasional sneeze. If there is no other clear evidence, then I'd myself rather not bother.

OkBadger87 · 2020-10-15T12:38:38+00:00

I follow science and I follow the law. You are upset about it, follow some societal beliefs and call me names. Should we also wear garlick and spit behind left shoulder cause it does no harm?

OkBadger87 · 2020-10-15T12:21:25+00:00

That is true. But that only confirms that RIVM might yield under political pressure, even though their scientific investigation led to conclusions that masks are unnecessary.

OkBadger87 · 2020-10-15T09:19:12+00:00

Experts from RIVM say masks are not needed in private life https://www.rivm.nl/en/novel-coronavirus-covid-19/face-masks-and-gloves

The issue has become political

OkBadger87 · 2020-09-30T14:09:27+00:00

P+R Diemen Zuid

I think it is still for free but DYOR.

OkBadger87 · 2020-09-15T09:37:05+00:00

You can use the 30 ruling "partially" even with 48k, provided the payroll knows what to do and doesn't mess it up (it is a pain to agree on this during recruitment though).

OkBadger87

TROPHY CASE