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Front Page: Turkish Airlines Crash Kills Nine in Amsterdam

CitizenSugar — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:40:41 -0800

A Turkish Airlines passenger plane crashed in Amsterdam today. Nine of the 134 people aboard were killed. - Reuters
US stocks fell this morning, after President Obama's speech to Congress failed to rally the markets. - Reuters
Iran tested its first nuclear power plant today. An Iranian technician declared it Iran's "independence day." - CNN
Michelle Obama has revealed that the White House dog will be coming in April. - MSNBC
Last night when MSNBC cut to Bobby Jindal's response, someone with a live mic was overheard saying "Oh, God." - Huffington Post

Weeding Out Crime: Amsterdam Closing Many Pot Cafes!

LibertySugar — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:30:00 -0800

Amsterdam wants to be known for its tolerant spirit, not as a haven for organized criminals. Thus, the city has plans to close troublesome brothels, sex shops, and marijuana cafes, while also spending millions to build cultural attractions like art galleries and restaurants.

One city council member explains that:

"[Amsterdam] will be a place with 200 windows (for prostitutes) and 30 coffee shops, which you can't find anywhere else in the world - very exciting, but also with cultural attractions. And you won't have to be embarrassed to say you came."

Perhaps the new plan to shut down some pot cafes shows the wisdom of decriminalization, not the folly of it. Officials can step in and shut down the shops that cause problems, without pushing everyone that uses marijuana into a criminal network.

Do you think criminalization or legalization is the best way to deal with drug related crime?

Source

Public Art In Amsterdam Doesn't Hold Back

GiggleSugar — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:30:00 -0700

Let's not forget that marijuana is legal here. That might explain this.

Source

One-Sided Biking

GiggleSugar — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0700

They say, "If ain't broke, don't fix it." After watching this, I think they're onto something. Whatever works, man. (Thanks, i am bored!)

Flashback: Found Footage of Anne Frank

TresSugar — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:00:00 -0700

Many of you spoke about how moved you were when you read Anne Frank's diary for the first time and what a lasting impression the sensitive teen's life and words had on you. Prepare to have your heart break a little when you see the following video.

The Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam recently posted the only known film footage of Anne Frank. The film clip, shot on July 22, 1941, records the wedding of a woman who lived next door to the Frank family. You can catch a glimpse of Anne watching from the window of her apartment; she would die of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp just a few years later in 1945.

After Anne's diary was published and made her posthumously famous in the '50s, the couple recognized her in their film and contacted her father Otto Frank. They have since given the museum their longer version of the clip. One can only wonder what the impressionable and romantic Anne was thinking when she watched this couple get married. To see an interview with Otto about Anne's diary, read more.

Love: The Key to Creativity

TresSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:00:00 -0700

Love has been the driving theme of artistic creations stretching over generations. Researchers from the University of Amsterdam recently decided to verify that love can change the way we think. The study found that love makes us more creative, while sexual desire makes us more logical.

Subjects who thought about a romantic walk with the person they loved performed better on tasks that required creative thinking. When asked to think about a sexual encounter with someone they didn't love, the subjects performed worse on the creative tasks, but better on logical puzzles. Scientists reasoned that romantic love makes us see things from a long-term perspective (which is good for creativity), while sex makes us think short term (which is good for logical thinking).

So now we know that love makes us creative, while lust might have the opposite effect. I'd like to add heartbreak to the list of creative forces. Without that we wouldn't have Shakespearean tragedies or Kanye's amazing song "Heartless."

Does love make you more creative?

What Do You Know About 400-Year-Old New York City?

TresSugar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:31:18 -0700

Yesterday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomed Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands to New York City. The royals are in town to kick off the festivities for New York City's NY400 week. This year marks 400 years since Dutch traders departed from Amsterdam for what would become New York City. Take a bite out of this quiz to see what you know about the Big Apple.

Take the quiz

Book Bag: The Big Rewind, a Pop Culture Memoir

TresSugar — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:00:36 -0700

On more than one occasion, I've imagined what song would make the perfect soundtrack for a moment I'm currently living. One of my friends' favorite party topics is who would play us in our hypothetical biopics. We are a pop-culture obsessed culture, comparing our realities to that of reality TV stars and voraciously devouring VH1 specials and The Soup.

Naturally, I love the idea of The Big Rewind: A Memoir Brought to You by Pop Culture by The Onion arts and entertainment writer Nathan Rabin. The book tells Rabin's autobiography through the context of the songs, books, movies, and other diversions that defined his youth.

If you're still looking for something to read this month, Rabin's memoir sounds pretty rich. Each episode is tied to a specific song, book, or show, whether it's a story about tripping on mushrooms at the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam or a stay in a mental hospital that's compared to Girl, Interrupted. To read some of what Rabin has to say about the power of pop culture, read more.

Like an ideal family, our personal pantheon will never let us down. Ella Fitzgerald's version of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" will never abandon you. Belle and Sebastian's If You're Feeling Sinister will never run off with your best friend. John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces will never tell you that it finds the prospect of having sex with you less appealing than watching back-to-back reruns of The Golden Girls.

It sounds as if many of Rabin's cultural references are also my own. But what would be the movies, books, TV shows, and more that would shape the story of your life?

Did You Read The Diary of Anne Frank?

TresSugar — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:24:38 -0700

The Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam announced that it is going to permanently display Anne Frank’s diary and writings to commemorate what would have been her 80th birthday today. (They hope to get everything up by November 1.)

It’s almost a tween rite of passage to read The Diary of Anne Frank. I remember getting so attached to Anne, who wrote so honestly about her love for her father, her conflicts with her mother, and her budding crush on the only boy around in "The Secret Annex" - Peter. ("The Secret Annex" was the hidden room in her father’s office building in Amsterdam where her family hid during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.) You read her writing with the impossible wish that she will grow up to live the adult life she so passionately anticipates in her diary.

"I want to go on living even after my death," Anne wrote in her diary. Although she died of typhus at 15 at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, The Diary of Anne Frank made her wish come true.

Did you read The Diary of Anne Frank? What did you like best about it?

Front Page: Palin Says Letterman Joke About Statutory Rape

TresSugar — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 07:24:09 -0700

Governor Sarah Palin ripped into Matt Lauer on the Today show, saying David Letterman's joke was "about the statutory rape of my 14-year-old daughter" and that Lauer was "extremely naive" if he believed otherwise. - Entertainment Weekly
Record turnout is expected today for Iran's presidential elections, as three candidates try to oust President Ahmadinejad. - New York Times
Obama gives up on bringing Gitmo detainees to US. - Washington Post
Alleged Holocaust museum gunman left note at the museum, saying Jews "created Obama." - CNN
April's Mom blogger, who captivated the pro-life community with her determination to keep a terminally ill baby, made the whole thing up. - Chicago Tribune
Anne Frank would have turned 80 today. To commemorate, the Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam will permanently display her actual diary. - Los Angeles Times