Guus Bosman

The Economist this week:


"The name is Wouter Bos. He's a miracle-worker. He brings political parties back from the (almost) dead. [...]


The Fortuynists' disarray has cut their own throats (they may get half a dozen seats, say pollsters). But Mr Bos has twisted the knife. When he went on the stump in one of Rotterdam's most Fortuynist areas, it was plain that working-class voters were swinging back to Labour in droves."

For those who don't know what to vote, Wouter sent me the perfect solution.

It would be great if it is true that Job Cohen is the candidate prime minister of the Labour party. Yesterday he said:

,,We hebben vreemdelingen hier gehaald om werk op te knappen waar we zelf geen trek meer in hadden. We hebben ze daarvoor nog nodig. [...] Vergis je niet: bij veel allochtonen is er een enorme gretigheid om het in Nederland te gaan maken, een gretigheid die ik bij autochtonen wel eens mis.''

(,,We took foreigners to do the jobs we don't feel like doing. We still need them for that. [...] Don't be mistaken: many foreigners are very eager to go for it in Holland, an eagerness I don't always see in the natives.")

I never knew that the song 'Happy Birthday to You' is protected by copyright. This story however, describes the history of the song and the copyright transfers.

For private use you don't have to pay royalties but for commercial use you do. The song generates about $2 million in royalties annually.

From the article:
The next time you hear "Happy Birthday" in a movie -- and now that you’re listening, it won’t be long -- stay for the credits at the end of the movie.