Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

Rough Beasts of Empire by David R. George III My rating: 4 of 5 stars Third Typhon Pact book focusing on Spock on Romulus, the Romulan people, Benjamin Sisko and the Tzenkethi. I enjoyed the Spock part of the story and loved reading about the Romulans - they're always interesting. Scheming, devious, always several steps ahead and never disclosing all they know. Would have liked more Donatra time, though. Bringing the Vulcans and Romulans closer feels logical and sensible (in general, not just in this book) as they're basically 'cousins' who chose different paths in life, yet this book left me thinking that perhaps reunification wasn't all that necessary or even desirable. If the idea was to convey the (general?) Romulan view of possible reunification - why would we, we're fine as we are - then bravo and well done, I agree with the Romulans. Missed getting into Spock's head and really understanding what motivates him to be where he is. Found the Sisko part o...

Mind Body Green shared thirteen inspirational JFK quotes in honour of John F. Kennedy's birthday. The 35th President of the United States would have been 98 today, the article states. "Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly." "...we can have faith in the future only if we have faith in ourselves."   "Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."  "If more politicians knew poetry, and more poets knew politics, I am convinced the world would be a little better place in which to live." "The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were and ask 'why not?'." Happy Birthday, JFK! 13 Of His Greatest Quotes To Inspire You Today | Mind Body Green

Today there are elections in The Netherlands. We vote twice today, once to elect new members of the provincial councils and once to elect new members of the water boards. Today people will vote about the future of the country, about how we want our country to be, who we want in government, who we want in power. Today we speak out about what matters to us by voting. As I sit here writing this I am still trying to decide which party to vote for in the provincial council elections, which is why I haven't been to vote yet. When it comes to the water boards, I know exactly which party I will vote for and why. In case you're curious, I'll be voting for Water Natuurlijk because their vision best matches my own. To read about why water boards exist in The Netherlands, check out DutchNews.nl's excellent article " Why you should vote for your local water board? A dijkgraaf explains all " which really does explain the importance of water management in The Netherland...

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali My rating: 5 of 5 stars What a book. What a story. What a journey. What a woman. I once wrote that I hoped that reading this book would help me meet the real Ayaan Hirsi Ali, not just the woman I read about in the media and saw on television. The book did not disappoint and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. WOW! View all my reviews

Met minder dan 2% van de stemmen nog te tellen kunnen we met zekerheid zeggen dat de VVD en de PvdA de grootste partijen zijn. Alhoewel ik het op een aantal punten eens ben met Geert Wilders en de PVV ben ik toch blij om te zien dat de steun van Nederland voor de PVV minder lijkt te worden. Bedankt Nederland, ik heb wat vertrouwen in ons landje terug!

There's always lots going on in the world, and thus also lots of things being reported about in the media. The President of the US, Barack Obama, announcing that Osama bin Laden had been killed, well, that was definitely a biggie. I'm still not sure I believe it, to be honest.

Mijn missie vandaag met betrekking tot dit blog was om door oude blog entries te kijken en ze ietwat te saniteren als dat nodig was. Informatie weghalen die ik te persoonlijk vond, of juist een extra stukje schrijven bij een artikel van een paar maanden geleden zodat het - in mijn ogen - net iets beter klinkt. Ik had eigenlijk al lang in bed willen liggen, maar wilde deze taak afmaken, en kwam zo aan bij een entry die ik schreef op de avond van de verkiezingen. De verkiezingen die - let wel - op woensdag 09 Juni werden gehouden. Het is nu begin Augustus, we zijn bijna twee maanden verder en de heren in Den Haag zijn nog steeds aan het onderhandelen over wie het land de komende paar jaar zullen regeren. De VVD en PVV bleken de "grote winnaars" te zijn van de verkiezingen. Nederland wilde blijkbaar een rechtsere regering. De PvdA kreeg ook veel stemmen, terwijl het CDA van Balkenende veel stemmen moest inleveren (aan de VVD en PVV). We hebben naar een rechtse r...

"Most of US troops to leave Iraq by August 31st of this year" Saw this on the late news tonight and my first thought was  WOW, seriously?! It's about bloody time !!!  I didn't think it was a good idea when America 'invaded' Iraq in 2003, and while the US army's presence there has no doubt done a lot of good, I also wonder if the situation might not have been resolved better without intervention from the USA.

Today it is exactly eight years ago that Pim Fortuijn (Fortuyn) was murdered. I wasn't in The Netherlands when it happened. I heard about it, read about it, was completely dumbfounded by it. The Netherlands is not usually a violent country (well, apart from when it comes to football, perhaps!), we are not usually a violent people. We are competitive, we are easily annoyed, we often grumble about anything from weather to sports to the economy - but we are not a people who assasinate politicians or our royal family or people we don't agree with. Or so I thought. The first time I came across Pim Fortuijn was when I saw him on TV, commenting on the happening of September 11th. I was 17 then, and really not interested in politics. This TV appearance was the first time I heard Pim Fortuyn's name, the first time I saw his face. The first time I can remember anyway. I didn't agree with what he had to say then - something along the lines of how Muslims are bad, Isl...

Wow, another interesting day in The Netherlands. The weather pulled a very Kiwi "Four seasons in one day" (pop-culture reference to the song by Kiwi band Crowded House) stunt today - rain, hail, wind, grey skies, a bit of sun, then blue sky and lovely sunshine - had it all and enjoyed, well, none of it actually. If only the sun had been shining a bit earlier, then my backyard would have been a lovely spot this arvo. Ah well, at least the flowers got watered eh... On a completely unrelated note, I was about to switch the telly off a few minutes ago when I heard an interesting sentence. Due to financial problems in this lovely country the government is trying its best to find ways to save money. One way that has been suggested is the reintroduction of compulsory military service. Whoa hold up WAIT THIS IS INTERESTING  my brain told me, yet the compulsion to log on to Facebook and play some games got to me. Good thing pretty much every newspaper is online today, as it m...

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama My rating: 5 of 5 stars Reading this book, there was one thought that kept spinning through my head: "I like this guy!" Seeing Mr Obama on TV and reading about him in different newspapers in the time before his election to President, he amazed me. The way he talked  drew me in and his charisma and vision fascinated me. But, I wondered, did he have the experience to know what he was talking about? How well would his words translate into action? Reading about Mr Obama's life and experiences in Hawaii, Indonesia, Chicago and Kenya was extremely interesting. To have access to diverse environments such as these is one thing, but to be an insider there (instead of a visitor or a tourist) is something else entirely. It gives one unique insights that aren't available to others, and I feel that this is definitely true in his case. I wanted to read this book as I wanted to find out more about Mr O...