Paul Crossley

Have just got back from 8 days in the Netherlands - 4 days in Amsterdam and 4 days in Breda for the Jazz Festival. Whilst in Amsterdam we witnessed the biggest street party in the country - the annual celebration of the Queen's Birthday. It was great fun.  Also visited the Anne Frank Huis  - which clearly showed and brought to life why Facists must never be allowed to seize power again anywhere.

For my holliday reading I took along 'Letters from Burma' by Aung San Suu Kyi. She is surely one of the greatest people of our time. The letters were written in 1995/96 after her release from house arrest and before her re-detention. The book has many fine quotes but I thought this one good in view of events in Zimbabwe as well as Burma.

'Only a government that tolerates opinions and attitudes different from its own will be able to create an environment where peoples of diverse traditions and aspirations can breathe freely in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and trust.'

The supression of the people by the military regime in Burma comes through loud and clear in the dignified writing from Dr Suu Kyi. The military clearly has no connection with its people and then as we arrived back home the government there has finally admitted to the full scale of the horror in Burma following the recent cyclone.

Please check out todays entry on Sokwanele (see link in side panel) as it contains a very informative if distressing video of events inside Zimbabwe at this time. 

One of the great things about the Netherlands is the amount of trips that are made by bicycle by people of all ages. It means the air in the towns is cleaner, people are healthier, the roads are safer and traffic flows more freely. The picture shows a multi story bike park next to Amsterdam central station. It would be great if we could get cycle use in this country anywhere near the Dutch levels.