Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

  • Rewriting History

    I see that the Trump virus that causes the rewriting of history has apparently reached the Netherlands.

    The Guardian reports today that displays commemorating African American servicemen in the visitors’ centre at a Dutch War Cemetery have been removed.

    At least the local community and others are up in arms about it. The provincial government of Limburg will be formally asking the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), which runs the cemetery and the US Ambassador to put the commemoration panels back on display.

    “Lest we forget” – well, unless you are a member of a group in Trump’s crosshairs of course – then you will be marginalised and swept aside at the earliest opportunity…

    Addendum 12 December 2025: It’s now been reported in the Dutch newspaper the Gelderlander that it was the then Secretary of the AMBC himself who caused the displays removal out of fear following the publication of Trump’s “Anti-Woke decree”.

    On March 19 of this year, he emailed the staff of ABMC about Trump’s decree, which put an end to the ‘discriminatory equality ideology’. Although the ABMC was not mentioned, the then Secretary Charles Djou emphasized that the committee had to comply with Trump’s anti-woke policies to avoid negative publicity.

    He wanted to make sure that the databases on fallen African Americans and Native Americans did not violate the decree. And he asked the head of the visitor service, to check whether there are “panels” in the visitor centres in the overseas cemeteries that could cause problems for the committee.

    A day later, the head of education and public information, responds saying that certain texts have been removed from the ABMC site and that the database is not accessible to the public. He also suggests the removal of the panels from the Visitor Centre.

    The Deputy Secretary at the time, Robert Dallesandro agrees, saying in an email: “That panel has to go. Frankly, it never should have been there in the first place.”

    I note that Charles Djou has since departed from the ABMC, and Dallesandro has taken over as acting Secretary. He clearly sees no problem with rewriting history.

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  • Migrating Cranes

    It’s that time of the year when flocks of birds are migrating south. There have been many flocks of geese passing overhead during the past couple of weeks, but a few days ago we had a flock of Cranes pass by.

    I was out working in the garden, when I heard their distinctive calls in the distance. I grabbed the camera and got a few shots of the flock as they passed by high overhead. There were more than 180 birds in this flock.

    There’s been a severe outbreak of Bird Flu this year that has struck the Crane population, so these were lucky survivors.

    The last time I saw migrating Cranes was back in 2013, in March. That time they were going North for the Summer, and they were flying lower and circling over the house.

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  • Swinging to the Right?

    The dust has now settled following the Dutch election. While the result won’t be officially given until next week (after the postal votes from Dutch ex-pats have been counted), it seems almost certain that the D66 party, led by Rob Jetten has got the most votes.

    It was a close-run thing, with the PVV of Geert Wilders matching the 26 parliamentary seats garnered by D66.

    For a governing majority in the Dutch parliament, Jetten needs more than 75 seats, so, as usual in Dutch politics, he needs to form a coalition with other parties. And there’s the rub. He has said that his ideal would be to form a coalition with the Groen-Links/PvDA, VVD and CDA parties. That would make a Centrist coalition, with the GL/PvDA on the left wing and the VVD on the right, However, the fly in the ointment is the leader of the VVD, Dilan Yeşilgöz. She has made it clear that she won’t work with the GL/PvDA party. Her party has been moving increasingly rightwards, and the gulf between it and the socialist GL/PvDA is now seemingly too great.

    Personally (because I am a life-long socialist, just like my parents were), I would be happy with Jetten’s preferred coalition, because it would seek to serve the broadest spectrum of the population. He himself has said that he wants to serve all of us.

    Yeşilgöz on the other hand will want to supplant GL/PvDA with a hardline Rightist party, such as JA21, which would push the coalition to the Right.

    If that happens, then I fear that Dutch politics will remain in the quagmire of blaming all the country’s ills on immigrants, and fail to address the real issues and problems as happened with the last government. Ironic really, since Yeşilgöz herself is an immigrant.

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  • On The Eve Of Elections

    We have a general election tomorrow to choose who will lead us in the next government in the Netherlands.

    I can’t say that I’m looking forward to the outcome; after all the good people of the USA voted in Donald Trump for a second term and similarly in Argentina they have just voted for Javier Milei in the Midterms, thus doubling the number of seats he has. It seems that rational thought is a diminishing resource in humanity.

    Here, people say that they are losing their trust in politicians, yet the last time around they put Geert Wilders in front. On the other hand, I can quite understand the loss in trust – it’s just been revealed that two government members of Wilders’ PVV party have been behind some truly slimy AI-generated ads attacking Frans Timmermans, leader of the GroenLinks/PvDA party. Of course, they lied in parliament about it, so I can totally understand the loss of trust in some politicians.

    Martin and I will be casting our votes tomorrow in an attempt to restore balance towards a society that believes in equal opportunities for all and one that does not demonise migrants.

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  • Who Is My Neighbour?

    Here in the predominantly rural region of the Netherlands known as the Achterhoek, the traditional concept of Noaberschap (neighbourliness) is still very strong and much-touted by many.

    It does rather beg the question of “who is my neighbour?”, though.

    We are starting to see demonstrations against immigrants and asylum seekers in many places throughout the Netherlands. This has arisen because the main asylum seekers reception centre (azielzoekerscentrum or AZC) in Ter Apel is often in the news because of overcrowding and local authorities are seeking to build new AZCs.

    With a general election just a few weeks away, the PVV of Geert Wilders and other right-wing parties are focusing on the issue of immigration, engendering fear, uncertainty and doubt in the minds of voters.

    The result has been demonstrators demanding that their local authority scrap any plans for future AZCs. There have been threats made to local councillors. Violence is in the air.

    Just in the last few weeks there have been demonstrations in Aalten and Eibergen – two places not very far away from us.

    In Eibergen, a local figure and conspiracy-theorist, Ton Koenderink, called for solidarity with the demonstrators from all Achterhoekers:

    Wij bunt Achterhoekers, en as-ie een Achterhoeker bunt, dan kum-ie op veur Achterhoekers!

    Which is Achterhoek’s dialect for:

    We are Achterhoekers, and if you are an Achterhoeker, then stand up for Achterhoekers!

    I’m not a Christian, but I think I would remind Mr. Koenderink of the answer that Jesus gave to the question: “Who is my neighbour?” with his parable of the Good Samaritan. A good neighbour is someone who shows mercy towards his fellow human beings, rather than hatred or passing on the other side of the road.

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  • A Critique of Pure Stupidity

    Are they playing four-dimensional chess? Well no, the simpler explanation, and the one that fits, is that the entire top of the US Administration is staffed by stupid, incompetent and vengeful people. I wonder how the USA (and the rest of us) will ever recover from this?

    A critique of pure stupidity: understanding Trump 2.0 | Donald Trump | The Guardian

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  • Meanwhile…

    My last post concerned the rise of the extreme right in the UK. It turns out that the UK is not the only place where the extreme right is feeling emboldened. As I was writing it, anti-immigration protesters were gathering in the Hague, and things turned ugly.

    The rioters were shouting slogans such as “We are the Netherlands”- er, no, you are not. You are right-wing thugs.

    The problem is that the political discourse is becoming increasingly right-wing populist. A motion put forward in the Second Chamber last week by the oxymoronically titled Forum for Democracy to ban AntiFa as a terrorist organisation was enthusiastically adopted by all the usual suspects: the PVV, BBB, Ja21, and they were joined by the SGP and the VVD. The latter was originally a centrist party, but has moved rapidly to the right over the past few years.

    The motion was passed (just) with a majority of 1 vote.

    This resulted in an article in the Volkskrant with the headline “Dangerous Bravado Say The Experts“.

    Fortunately a member of the CDA party has now raised sensible questions with the Justice Minister concerning the hurdles to this motion actually becoming law.

    We have a general election coming up next month. We’re in for a bumpy ride.

    2 responses to “Meanwhile…”

    1. Ludwig Avatar
      Ludwig

      So what do they think AntiFa is? It is not an organization here in the USA and I doubt that it is an organized effort anywhere else. It is no different than being anti-hunger or anti-poverty. Outlawing an idea only strengthens it.

      Reply
      1. Geoff Coupe Avatar
        Geoff Coupe

        I know – some of our politicians are not the sharpest tools in the box.

        Reply

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  • A Dangerous Moment For Britain

    Despite living for more than half of my life in The Netherlands, I still follow events in the UK closely. And recent events, such as the sudden proliferation of St. George’s flags and the far right march in London have proved both unsettling and depressing to me.

    Chris Grey, as usual, provides an excellent analysis of what seems to be happening in the UK – I urge you to read it.

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  • A Visit To The Depot

    The Boijmans Van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam has a vast collection of items, of which only about 6 to 8% of which are on display at any one time. The rest were being housed in a variety of locations in the Netherlands, including the basement of the museum.

    The basement was flooded in 2013, thus prompting a plan to build a new storage facility close to the museum that would be capable of housing the entire collection.

    This became the Depot Museum Boijmans van Beuningen – simply and aptly known to Rotterdammers as “De Pot” (the Pot).

    Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the art storage museum housed in a curved mirror glass building. Opened November 2021

    Unlike most museum storage facilities, it is open to the public and I visited it yesterday for the first time in the company of two friends.

    I was most impressed by it. It has a central atrium criss-crossed by stairs connecting the six floors, with some of the collection being displayed in glass cases around the atrium. Information about the objects is revealed via the Depot App used to scan QR codes next to the objects.

    There are passenger lifts and a massive freight lift used to get the pieces to the storage rooms. All the storage rooms are climate controlled, and short tours of small groups are given by the curators.

    There are areas where themed exhibitions are held, and the current programme is to be found on the Depot website.

    The rooms where the curators and conservators work can be viewed via windows in the atrium.

    The Depot is topped off with a roof garden and restaurant.

    When the Depot first opened in 2021, the Architecture critic of the Guardian was a bit sniffy about it, but I found it an interesting place to visit and learn from. Of course, with over 155,000 objects in the museum’s collection, each visit can only make a tiny scratch on the surface.

    The Boijmans van Beuningen museum itself is currently closed until 2030 for major renovations. When it reopens, there will be more space to reveal their collection. If I’m still here, I look forward to that.

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  • An App To Be Avoided

    ByGOT – one step away from being an actual app…

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  • On The Right Side Of History

    Like my father before me, I’ve been a Labour supporter all my life, but now I fear that the UK Labour Party has lost its way. These are not terrorists, but people protesting against the genocide in Gaza.

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  • Garden Changes

    Regular readers may have spotted that something is different in the header photo of the garden in front of the house…

    When we came here in 2006, the front garden had both a small pear tree and the imposing cherry tree.

    The garden at the Witte Wand

    We had a couple of years when the pear tree fruited, but then it stopped. The cherry tree gave fruit each year, but it was always a battle between us and the starlings as to who would get the cherries first.

    We had to cut down the pear tree in around 2022 because it had died, and then in 2023 the fungus on the cherry tree started to get the upper hand…

    In March this year we decided the time had come to say goodbye to the cherry tree.

    At least we have wood for the woodburner stove for the next few years.

    We will shortly be paying a visit to a local tree nursery to pick out a couple of replacement trees. We won’t see them come to maturity, but hopefully the next owners of the “Witte Wand” will…

    One response to “Garden Changes”

    1. New Plantings – Geoff Coupe's Blog

      […] We had to have the Cherry tree in our front garden cut down last September. […]

      Reply

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  • Varsseveld Carnival Parade 2025

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  • Roll Up! Roll Up!…

    I would like to think that Marina Hyde’s withering contempt would actually count for something, but to a person with no apparent morals whatsoever, it clearly won’t..

    Hurry, hurry, hurry! It’s Trump’s great Ukraine giveaway. Bargains galore, if your name is Vladimir Putin

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  • A Supply Chain Story

    I’ve just purchased a Microsoft Surface Pro 12 and keyboard to replace my aging Surface Go 2.

    The experience of buying the Surface tablet has been illuminating of just how complex, and data-driven, supply chains have become.

    The Surface comes in three available colours: platinum, violet and ocean-blue. The online Dutch Microsoft store only offers the platinum version, with a black keyboard with the US International layout. Naturally, I wanted a violet Surface and keyboard… So I went looking for other online sources for that combination. All the alternative online stores in the Netherlands were only offering the same combination as the Microsoft store. The online German Microsoft store did have both items in violet – but the keyboard was the German QWERTZ version – not what I wanted at all.

    I returned to the Dutch store and explained what I wanted to a Dutch support person via Chat and after some research he confirmed to me in an email that we could source the Surface from the German store (because it was 50 euros cheaper – special offer) and the keyboard from the Irish Microsoft store. The only snag was that the keyboard would be the UK layout, rather than US international, but at least it would be better than the German QWERTZ layout. I replied to his email confirming that I wanted to place the order.

    I attempted to reach him again via Chat, but that was not working, so after I sent him my phone number, he phoned me. After verification checks, he proceeded to place the order via the German and Irish online stores on my behalf. I got email order confirmations for the tablet (in German) and the keyboard (in English).

    Because we had placed the orders in two different EU countries from where I actually live (the Netherlands), I was expecting shipment and delivery to take at least a week. However, the following day I got emails from both Microsoft and the courier that the goods were on the way and would be delivered the same day.

    Bizarrely, although the orders were placed in the online stores of different countries, they both turned out to be fulfilled by the Irish operation. Even more bizarre, there’s apparently a warehouse in Venlo (in the Netherlands just 80 km from here) that bears the title Microsoft Ireland Operations Ltd. That had the items in stock and so they were shipped locally to me…

    And a coda to this story is that before I had even set up and signed in to the Surface with its keyboard, Microsoft knew that I had bought them and had included them in the list of my devices in my Microsoft account. I think they must immediately track their serial numbers from the moment of placing the orders.

    3 responses to “A Supply Chain Story”

    1. Ludwig Avatar
      Ludwig

      Fascinating! And surprising that it worked so efficiently. Tip of my hat to Microsoft. Now the question: How does the UK keyboard layout differ from ours in the US? Is it just the pound character instead of the dollar sign?

      Reply
      1. Geoff Coupe Avatar
        Geoff Coupe

        The positions of the @ and ” keys swap places on the keyboard and the # symbol is replaced by the £ symbol. The # symbol moves to the key that has the ~ symbol as the shift character, and that key itself seems to have been inserted at the end of the third row of keys. My muscle memory will have to cope with the swapped @ and ” positions…

        Reply
        1. Ludwig Avatar
          Ludwig

          Thanks, Geoff. A lot more changes than I expected. I still have an over 60-year old typewriter with a bastard German-US keyboard. The major change there was the Z-Y interchange and a few symbols. I thought the world has been more homogenized since then.
          Enjoy your new Surface!

          Reply

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  • Jaw-Dropping Indeed

    God help us, or should that be God help the US?

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  • The Nobel Peace Prize 2025

    I nominate Francesca Albanese for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. She deserves it. To award it to Trump would be an utter travesty.

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  • The Alan Turing Lecture 2025

    Sandi Toksvig gave this year’s Alan Turing Lecture. I urge you to watch it. She is thought-provoking about the nature of bias and the creeping stultification of thought that seems to be pervading Western societies.

    The Mappa Mundi Project that she is involved with is also very interesting. It has the simple but essential goal of telling the stories of women. There’s a Chinese Proverb (probably apocryphal) that “women hold up half the sky”, but women only account for 0.5% of recorded human history.

    On a related note, the book “Half the Sky” by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn is worth reading…

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  • Is This Satire – or Reality?

    Should Trump be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize – Matt Green has the answer…

    One response to “Is This Satire – or Reality?”

    1. Geoff Coupe Avatar
      Geoff Coupe

      Even Matt Green couldn’t match the outrageousness of real life: Netanyahu nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. We seem to have slipped into a Bizarro World where everything true and honest has become reversed in meaning.

      Reply

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  • The Aids Memorial Quilt

    I remember visiting the warehouse in San Francisco where the Aids Memorial Quilt is stored in 1992, and then seeing the Dutch contributions to the quilt laid out in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam during the 1998 Gay Games.

    I wept both times.

    Now the UK Aids Memorial Quilt is being displayed in London’s Tate Modern museum for a short time.

    Lest we forget.

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