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03 Mar 2011 10:06

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World: Dutch helicopter crew captured by Libyan (well, Gaddafi’s) forces

  • cause Three Flying Dutchmen (sorry), attempting to rescue Europeans stuck in the country, were captured by Libyan forces last Sunday – the first sign of Libyan forces going after Westerners.
  • reaction The Dutch government has actually kept this story under wraps; it didn’t break until a newspaper discovered it. There’s a fear the Libyan government might use the pilots as propaganda tools. source

27 Dec 2009 20:30

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U.S.: Detroit terror flight, Mach 2: Don’t fly to Detroit from Nigeria

  • Human beings scared of their own shadow – more at 11. What happens when a guy from Nigeria flies to Detroit and is caught nearly committing a terrorist act, hangs out in the bathroom for an hour, and is stopped only by his own incompetence (and a brave Dutchman)? He gets caught. And what happens when a second guy from Nigeria takes the exact same flight two days later under almost identical circumstances, and also heads to the bathroom for an hour? We freak out and overreact. Human nature. source

28 Aug 2009 09:12

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World: The Dutch don’t want 13-year-olds to set sailing records

  • Laura Dekker wants to sail around the world, solo. The 13-year-old could become the youngest person to sail around the world by herself, but she won’t if the Netherlands’ Child Protective Services has its way. A court just granted custody of Dekker to the state, who freaked out at the idea of letting someone so young hang by themselves for two years. Stupid state ruins everything neat. Dekker, by the way, is really more Boatsch than she is Dutch – she was born on a boat and has spent much of her life on boats. Unfortunately, boats don’t have schools or legal systems. source

25 Feb 2009 10:00

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World: Big plane crash in Amsterdam. Yikes.

  • 9+ people were killed when the plane hit a field (and broke into three pieces) near Schiphol Airport. source