Reading Time: 4 minutes “Excuse me, young man,” I asked the 23-year-old volunteer who got ready to steady his shaking hands, before opening an AstraZenica vial and insert a rather long-looking needle into my left arm. “You do know it’s my arm you’re jabbing?” And with what, I could have added? “Don’t worry,” he said. “Just a little prick.” […]
Ethics
- Netherlands
- ...
Netherlands: Who’s Been A Very Naughty Boy, Your Majesty?
Reading Time: 2 minutes King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands and his wife Maxima are going to get a right ticking off from Beatrix (she’s his mother and her mother-in-law) when they finally get home from their Greek holiday that turned out to be more of a tragedy than a long weekend away from home. Well, at least he got […]
The Love and Soul of Antimatter – Five Poems
Reading Time: 9 minutes Poem One What’s so cool about… Antimatter, the hub of creation, Pathway to my […]
Black Lives Matter In A Land Of Hope And Glory
Reading Time: 3 minutes You’re at it again, aren’t you? Playing mind games with traditions, tearing up musical scripts and peeling off black make-up on white people’s faces. I got used to seeing Black Peter roaming the streets of Dutch towns and cities, distributing marzipan tasting biscuits to smiling children. The children believed; the children loved. There was no […]
- Psychology
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Sorry Mum, I Think Dad’s Had Sex With Someone Else Again
Reading Time: 4 minutes You learn a lot of things watching television and reading newspapers. I’ve just finished watching the first series of Doctor Foster, a BBC drama series featuring a rather elegant senior GP and her mug of a husband. She would have forgiven him having a sex affair with a twenty-three-year-old dumb blond – an affair that […]
The Colour Of A Face
Reading Time: < 1 minute The colour of a face, The darkness of a place, Staring from behind, I am the one you find, I crash to the ground, and pray, You take my breath away, It’s me today, him tomorrow, You do not stop and have no sorrow, Let the men and women march, Down the avenue, under the […]
- Internet
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Facebook – 50 Shades Of Grey (Disintegrating) Matter
Reading Time: 2 minutes I don’t want to judge millions of people who absolutely swear by Facebook. I’m not even arguing with those who get a kick out of insulting others they don’t even know. I suppose it’s my fault – I mistook a boy for a girl, and then criticised him because he posted a video saying that […]
In Need Of Sense And Responsibility
Reading Time: 4 minutes The situation is scary because the enemy is invisible, and although not everyone is sick, we are all affected. We must all take our responsibility. I have studied enough biology at school and university to know what a virus is and how it acts. The PhD I obtained in 1999, although mainly focusing […]
The Coronavirus Pandemic And Individual Responsibility
Reading Time: 4 minutes It is strange that what many people decry in our societies – loneliness – will probably save us from flirting with partial extinction. In confining the whole population of France to two weeks of house arrest, Emmanuel Macron has used one of the ills of present-day society so that we can all continue living together. […]
Coronavirus – Ethics And Rationality In Decision-Making
Reading Time: 5 minutes Implementation of restrictions in various European countries has made me realise to what extent we all took things for granted. Gone are the days where we could eat out, go to the cinema, or visit a museum, without thinking twice about it. But the coronavirus outbreak has also cast a shadow over my dental practice. […]