We're running out of toiletpaper.

It seems like everyday we receive warnings in the media of how the economic rise of the superpower China will deplete the world's resources. Most fear oil shortages but how about this newswire as food for thought?

February 15 - UPI: "An official from the Shanghai Paper Trade Association said China's consumption of wood pulp for toilet tissue was worrisome, China Daily reported... Wood pulp used to produce various kinds of paper has become China's third largest import after petroleum and steel... The country consumed 8.2 million tons of wood pulp in 2004, of which slightly more than 6 million tons were imported. 'While I am happy to see many young people adopt paper tissue for its convenience, a sign reflecting our social development and helping improve our industry to some extent, I am beginning to worry about our large wood consumption,' Wang said."

So that's why Japan has those hightech WCs with sprays and fountains. They were planning for the toiletpapershortage all those years!

Don't believe the hype!

Barroso and many fellow politicians (Bolkestein, Blair, McCreevy, Verheugen, Kroes, Van Rompuy, Daems, Berlusconi , Balkenende, the list goes on & on) want the European labor market to take their cue from the U.S. because it's much more dynamic and flexible. After all, the official unemployment rate in the euro area is 8.8% , compared to only 5.5% in the U.S .However, the official figures are painting a rosier picture than the actual job market situation:

• the number of Americans without a job for more than 6 months has more than doubled over the past 3 yrs to 1.6mln
  
• the share of unemployed without work for more than 6 months has stayed above 20% for the past 18 months.
  
• The U.S. manufacturing sector has lost 2.8mln jobs over the last year
  
• Since spring 2003 the average duration of unemployment is 19 weeks, the longest since 1948!!
  
• 5.5% is the official unemployment rate but over 12% of Americans live below the poverty line; many people need to take up 2 or even 3 jobs to keep their heads above water, they are called the 'working poor'.
  

Economic liberals rightly claim that it is not fair if people are on welfare and they don't have to work because they live off the fruits of labor of all the others. But what about all those people who do work in the U.S. and who are still poor? Isn't that even less fair??

The article below by George Monbiot illustrates that the wellfare state canbe effective, as the example of Sweden shows.

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/01/11/punitive-and-it-works/

Nuclear energy

Politicians in Europe have put nuclear reactors back on the agenda now that Kyoto has gone into effect. Granted, a nuclear reactor does not emit CO2 but it happens to produce an even more lethal byproduct for mother Earth. Until he/she can answer the following questions, no politician is allowed to discuss the relaunch of the nuclear industry in my vicinity!

1. What are you going to do with the millions of tons of nuclear waste, with its cute radioactivity that lasts for a kazillion years? Oh, and shooting it into space is not an option.
2. What if uranium runs out in say 50 years?
3. Do you really want to have nuclear reactors spread out all over the European mainland, offering an inviting canvas to airplane flying terrorists?

I wonder what the solar energy industry would look like today with the kind of funding the nuclear industry received over the past 50 years.

Philosophical Joke

As the buddhist said to the hot dog vendor:
'Make me one with everything'

Sorry Dutch speakers

as of today I am switching from Dutch to English. I have a feeling there won't be many complaints, since only 1 person sofar has commented on my posts. Maybe it says more about the knowledge of my mother tongue than my English, but I feel more at ease using the language of Shakespeare as opposed to the language of Hendrik Conscience.

Rice on the Rise

Nu dat Condoleezza Rice gepromoveerd is tot Minister v. Buitenlandse Zaken komt ze nog meer voor de camera's. Misschien ligt het aan mij, maar 'that woman scares me!'. Ze ziet eruit als een kruising tussen Rob de Nijs en Whoopi Goldberg. Ik verdenk haar ervan synthetische verjongingsdrankjes te nemen want ze lijkt 15 jaar jonger dan haar ware leeftijd (geb. 1954). Naar verluidt heeft ze een huizenhoog IQ waarmee ze baas geworden is van Stanford University vóór ze voor GWB ging werken.

Ze hebben natuurlijk wel wat slimme mensen nodig in het Witte Huis om het gemiddelde peil omhoog te trekken wanneer George thuis is. Zouden ze veel lachen met hem als hij er niet bij is?

Eigenlijk zouden ze ipv oorlog te voeren tussen naties op de ouderwetse manier, de zaken kunnen oplossen met kwisavonden, waarbij verschillende teams tegenover elkaar gaan zitten in het decor van de Pappenheimers. Maar dan wel met de huidige regeringen en niet met de beste kwissers van het land.

Die kerel van NoordKorea zou goed scoren in vragen over Hollywood, en Putin in vragen over de Berlijnse underground new wavescéne. Berlusconi weet alles over Frank Sinatra en Las vegas van zijn dagen als crooner op een cruise schip.

De Belgische regering zou haar mannetje staan me dunkt. Verhofstadt mag je alles vragen over sport en wijn. Vandelanotte en Landuyt zijn degelijke allround kwissers maar articuleren is de boodschap. Zeker in de finale. Aan Waalse zijde , zal het vooral moeten komen van Rudy Demotte. We kunnen winnen van Holland met onze vingers in de neus.

En wie gaat er de finale winnen denk je?
Mijn geld staat op Zweden.

Citaat in Humo nr. 3358

Sven Nys, wereldkampioen cyclocross (veel leuker woord dan veldrijden): 'Mijn zoontje Thibau doet mij gewoon vergeten dat ik voor het ogenblik de beste veldrijder van de wereld ben'. (Thibau was zeker niet aanwezig bij het interview)
Als Sven niet langer de beste veldrijder ter wereld is , hoop ik voor hem dat Thibau dat ook doet vergeten.

Fact of the day

75% of Icelanders believe in elves, but only 40% will admit to it when sober.