Opel Gliwice

De splinternieuwe fabriek ging open toen GM bessloot om Opel Antwerpen te sluiten.
Vlak voor de deur staat een groot bord met de Poolse en de EU vlag, waarop trots is aangekondigd dat de fabriek tot stand kwam met 35 miljoen euro subsidie van de Europese Unie.
Of hoe Europa geld geeft aan een Amerikaans bedrijf om een fabriek uit België weg te halen.

De Morgen 15/12/12

Voorlopige hechtenis is nog de enige effectieve straf. Gruwelijk om vast te stellen, want het wringt met alle mogelijke basisprincipes van ons rechtssysteem, maar zover is het gekomen.

Karel van Cauwenberghe, onderzoeksrechter

Life without oxygen and light (update)

Bacteria have been found in water encapsulated in an antartic ice lake.
The water is deep beneath a 12 meter thick ice crust where light can't reach it and there's no oxygen.
It has been isolated from the outside world for several thousands of years.
The temperature is -13°C and the water is six times as salt as seawater.
The bacteria have a very slow metabolism and take 120 years to reproduce.
The discovery was made by boffins of Chicago University and the Nevada Desert Research Institute (wonder how these guys got lost in Antarctica).
More...

They need a them
So they'll have an us

The Walkabouts - They are not like us

I'm a lesbian trapped inside a man's body.

Douglas Coupland -  Generation X

En hij deed zijn mond open, 
zijn zwarte mond. 
Maar hij zei niets.
Want hij was dood.

Karel van de Woestijne - De oude boer die sterft

School leavers should not accept underqualified jobs

Research at Ghent University shows that school leavers should be patient and selective when looking for a job.
If someone has been looking out for a job for two months refuses a job below his qualifications, he tends to get an offer for a job that matches his qualifications within a month.
If the same person accepts the underqualified job, it tends to take 10 years before he gets a job (and salary- at this level.
The longer one searches for work, the more he should be ready to accept other jobs. Applicants that have been searching for a year, have a less than 50% chance of finding a job at  their level within the next year.