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Post by karl on Mar 30, 2019 9:20:50 GMT -7
Jaga and Pieter
I must admit to eves dropping upon your respective conversations, and found them very revealing in as much to personal reactions to not just the topic at hand, but reactions to the thought and thinking that constitutes the foundation of those reactions, such as language.
Language is simply a body of thought placed in to words of mutual understanding, and with this, we each are of a different state with a different first language. What ties us together is a common language that could be labeled {universal language of mutual understanding} a tool of interaction we all here use.
English as well as German was forced upon my self by circumstances of events, but as time has proven, absolutely essential as time as proven true. As Pieter has so truly brought out with language is it is very flexible in use, rather be it on a casual basis or as a business medium.
Two distinct issues though that are my personal nemesis with English, is differences between American and British English. The Americans seem to appear to still rebel against the British in many manners for some reason am not sure of. For this is most noticeable with spelling differences with words that sound the same, but differ in spelling. This creates an issue with me personally for I find to be correct, in this manner, must resort to using the top of screen search as a spelling check and choose the desired word.
Another undesirable trait that was an issue, that is common between Canada, British and American, is the use of mph in the stead of km/h, although the instruments do have both face readings, it is still an issue. To not create a culture war, my self not to mention the lack of common use of metric measurements in the US.
Karl
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Post by pieter on Mar 30, 2019 11:33:28 GMT -7
Dear Karl, I like your reaction. You could say that English, German and French were forced on my as compulsory (required) in the first few years of the different levels of highschool I attended. But what a good luck I had that these lanuages were forced on me Karl. I studied history and art on vocational university level and have to tell you that I would have missed a great deal if I could not have read certain English and German language study books, biographies, study texts, essays, articles and could not have understood certain English (both British and American, and ofcourse also Canadian, Australian, New Zealandish and South-African movies and documentaries). In my history teacher study I had to read Dutch language, English language and German language texts. To be honest with you, the German texts were the most complicated for me. Complicated doesn't mean I don't like the language, because I belong to the Dutch minority who loves to use 'Germanism' (Germanisme in Dutch) in the Dutch language, which means using German loanwords. www.quora.com/What-are-similar-words-between-German-and-DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by around 23 million people as a first language and 5 million people as a second language, constituting the majority of people in the Netherlands (where it is the sole official language) and Belgium (as one of three official languages). It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives English and German. Although speakers of English usually call the language of the Netherlands “Dutch” and the language of Belgium “Flemish,” they are actually the same language. For instance, I (Pieter) can understand a Flemish Belgian person 100%, the only thing is that the accent and certain words and expressions of Flemish people are different. You could compare it to Germans and Austrians, and British, American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealandish and the English-speaking white Africans (my South-African family from Cape town, descendants of British colonialists). And you could compare it to French, Walloon Belgian, Québécois French speaking Canadians and French speaking Swiss people. Germanism in the Dutch context of 'Germanisme' is the use of words like Überhaupt, abseilen, a Aha-Erlebnis (for the eureka effect, also known as the Aha! moment or eureka moment), Anschluss (often used in the historical context of the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938, by Dutch historians, history teachers at highschool or the university history professor, journalists, writers, intellectuals, artists and tv and radio presenters ), angehaucht (breathed on), an sich (in effect), Apfelstrudel (apple pie), auf Wiedersehen (sometimes used between Dutch people with a German tic, sometimes serious and sometimes in a jokeful manner, like us German loving minority amongst each other -with a tongue in the cheek-), Auseinandersetzung, begeistert (to be enthousiast about something, Dutch intellectuals or academics or artists use this word if there is a strong emphasis on being very enthusiast about something), Auseinandersetzung, aus einem Guss, Bildungsroman, Bühne (On stage), dabei sein, Doppelgänger, Fingerspitzengefühl, Fremdkörper, fröbelen (gefröbel), Gesamtkunst / Gesamtkunstwerk, Glühwein, Gutmensch (word for naieve, goodwilling, leftwing people), Heimat, Hetze (used so much that it almost seems to be a Dutch word, but it is German, often used in political terms, in quarrels and in misunderstanding situations), niet im Frage/ in Frage (Nicht im Frage), Kitsch (bad taste), langlaufen (a sport), Leitkultur, Leitmotiv, nachleben, Nachwuchs, Prinzipienreiter (someone who is to stubborn and strict in his opinion), Realpolitik, salonfähig, Schnaps, Schnitzel, sowieso (anyhow, a simpel and normal German loanword which is used a lot in daily Dutch sentences), Streber, tschüss, Über-ich (psychology, psycho analythical thought), Umlaut, Weltanschauung (world view) and Zeitgeist. German expressions which were and are used a lot in Dutch are: - das war einmal - erst kommt das Fressen und dann die Moral - Ganz losgehen - Himmelhoch jauchzend, zum Tode betrübt - Immer gerade aus - in der Beschränkung zeigt sich erst der Meister//und das Gesetz nur kann uns Freiheit geben - jetzt geht's los - jetzt kann's losgehen - Kommt gar nicht in Frage - Ordnung muss sein - Unbeschreiblich weiblich (from a song of the German Punk diva Nina Hagen) - Verdammt noch mal - Wein, Weib und Gesang Fact is that I and other Dutch people with a certain fondness, affection or love for the German language use these Germanisms (Germanisme), but we are often criticized, attacked or corrected by Dutch language purists or people who don't like the German language and thus Germanisms, they say, use Dutch expressions in staid. My opinion is that people have to use the words they want to use. We also use Latin, Malayan (Indonesian or Indo-European), Surinamese Sranang, Dutch Antiillian Papiamento, French, English, Turkish, Arabic, Yiddish, Frisian, Low Saxon and other loan words in Dutch. Karl, I know Dutch university English students in Arnhem and I know Dutch english translaters. One of them was an expert in Southern hemisphere English languages, meaning New Zealandish English, Australian English and the English of (white) Anglo-African South-Africans. In my opinion Karl, American English is different, because there are German, Scandinavian and even Dutch influences in American english. Cheers, Pieter
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Post by pieter on Mar 30, 2019 13:11:34 GMT -7
Dear Jaga and Karl,
Language in the eyes of one of my best friends, is the most important thing. In her view we can not understand things, describe things, use things and create things without language. In her opinion language lies as a fundament, a base, under everything. It will be of no surprise to you that Ludwig Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle (German: Wiener Kreis) had a great influence on her next to Logical positivism (of which the Vienna Circle was part of), Phenomenology, the Frankfurt School (Frankfurter Schule) of Max Horkheimer, Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund Adorno and Jürgen Habermas. Next to that the French philosophers Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Jacques Lacan play a role in her thinking and reasoning. Her world is of Dutch language poetry, literature, philosophy (her main interest is Hermeneutics), the Dutch language and English language (her English poems) and the Dutch press and media (articles, essays, columns in Dutch and Flemish newspapers and magazines, both indeed Dutch language based). I also live in a professional world with a lot of academic trained language professionals. Journalists who studied at the school of journalism in Utrecht, Amsterdam, Tilburg or Ede. Journalists who studied at Dutch universities in Maastricht, Nijmegen, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Groningen or Leiden. Language is important in these studies, because they learn critical thinking in language there, text analyses.
The Dutch media and press is a world with a lot of language perfectionists, some language purists, text exegesis, text study, archives study, reading texts of other journalists of other newspapers and magazines, reading text and press releases of the various authorities, muncipalities (mayors, aldermen, councillors), statistics, graphics, estimates (budgets), calculations, states, figures, assumptions, directions, statements, rumors, political developments, facts, motions (democracy), amendments, proposals, constructs, contracts, negotiation papers and political deals.
As a local, regional and national journalist you deal with sometimes very complicated technical, civil servant, corporate or political professional Jargon, from Corporate jargon to Law enforcement jargon to civil servant jargon. Sometimes you have to translate files from that technical Dutch language (jargon) to normal Dutch language to be able to understand what is said, written down and communicated. You have to make it understandable for an average watcher (tv), listener (radio) and reader of our RTV-Arnhem Facebook and website news texts.
Language constitutes the foundation of thought and thinking in my profession. It is hard to do my kind of job, if you don't understand or have a bad understanding of the Dutch language, and it is also hard to do if you don't understand the political jargon (political language with the language which is used in these motions, amendments, proposals, and political constructs. Next to that again, you have to develop a certain feeling with and understanding of the civil servant language of Arnhem muncipality civil servants, the advisor teams of the aldermen and mayor, top civil servants (University level Public relations, communication, Business administration trained, Public administration theory experienced, and some of the Commerce or Economics studied personel, muncipality civil servants of the mayor department, the communication department people, civil servants of the Financial department or the economy departments, and political advisors), and the Clerks (legislature). And next to that all the local branches of the national and local political parties in the city council, the councillors, fraction followers, commissioners, political advisors and party secretaries. I follow the Arnhem city council for 12 years now, sometimes day and night. Council evenings often last until afrer midnight. And you often go with the local politicians and sometimes with some aldermen to a local pub to relax after a long evening of political debate and tension. Some politicians and party people you get to know very personally, but in the same time you (have to) keep a professional distance. The press, the politicians, the coalition parties and the opposition parties know their place in this local political game.
Karl, you are right that what ties us together is a common language that could be labeled {universal language of mutual understanding} a tool of interaction we all here use. But we also have to deal with the reality of the Tower of Babel, the fact that the world's peoples speak different languages. There are huge differences between languages, but also the use of English language, by various peoples who use English as their second language. Different cultures, different languages, different mindsets, different political realities, different interests, different atmospheres, different traditions and different meanings of words, sentences and expressions create differences and sometimes misunderstandings. Language is based on mutual understanding, communication and interaction and thus also some rules, guidelines and understandings. We use English over here, because English is general accepted in Europe and the USA as an international communication tool. Maybe Karl and I use English which is more British or continental European based and John, Jeanne, Kaima and Jaga might use more American based English. But we understand the broad picture, we can understand each other over here.
Karl, I hope that the English and German that were forced upon yourself by circumstances of events, did not damage or oppress your Frisian and Danish languages and language skills.
I spoke out my opinion about the differences between American and British English above here. In my opinion American English came to existance due to the fact that immigrants that made the American today came from various European nations and influenced the American English. Because in the first centuries the North-Western-European, Centre European and West-European migrants were dominant, the American language is greatly influenced by the English people, Scottish people, Welsh people, Irish people, German people (about 13.26% of the U.S. population is German American or has some German American ancestry), Scandinavian people and some Dutch, Swiss, Austrian, French and other people. Later came the Slavic people, Centre and Eastern European jews, Italians, Hispanics and others. The native Americans and the Afro-Americans of course also were and are in America for quite some time.
The lack of common use of metric measurements in the US for myself also sometimes is difficult, because we Europeans measure in meters and kilometers. We also use celcius in staid of Fahrenheit.
Cheers, Pieter
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Post by pieter on Mar 30, 2019 13:28:23 GMT -7
Technical German
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Post by pieter on Mar 30, 2019 13:30:47 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Mar 30, 2019 13:32:00 GMT -7
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Post by pieter on Mar 30, 2019 13:32:32 GMT -7
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Post by karl on Mar 30, 2019 18:53:24 GMT -7
Dear Pieter
You certainly made my day and a bit if laugh with your presenting the various technical videos, thank you... I would tend to believe also, you have such technical expertise by virtue of your artistic skills and with this, your vast experience in camera work which requires a great deal of mechanical expertise in judgment of camera vision, focus and rules of of light, shadows and control of each for your work.
My own mechanical knowledge was enitially gained whilst a young man whilst serving my military time in the Panzer. This then evolved whilst later whilst taking my maritime training in Hamburg fore then serving in the fishing fleet.
The most intensive mechanical training was in the Panzer maintenance and effective operations. Many of our manuals were from past war time use and readily applied to present day application. As with this, many of our commanders were recycled from the past war, perhaps as a surprise to the present day people, but not to us. For these commanders were not class room experts, but were experienced by combat. It was then my self attempted to asked some after class if they knew my father. But short time quick was called in to the base commanders office and quietly told to not ask those questions from that time on.
Whilst in field training with our machines, if to throw a track, it was as if no support was to be expected, so it was to us to break the track after releasing tension, to then realignment and pull through over the upper rollers the track back and re-pin it, to then properly re-tension the track to specs. Those panzer tracks are very very heavy and a careless slip could give cause if dropped, to break a bone or even cause the death of a fellow crew member. This never occured in my time of service, but heard it had happened in the past.
Karl
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Post by pieter on Mar 31, 2019 2:49:41 GMT -7
Dear Pieter You certainly made my day and a bit if laugh with your presenting the various technical videos, thank you... I would tend to believe also, you have such technical expertise by virtue of your artistic skills and with this, your vast experience in camera work which requires a great deal of mechanical expertise in judgment of camera vision, focus and rules of of light, shadows and control of each for your work. My own mechanical knowledge was enitially gained whilst a young man whilst serving my military time in the Panzer. This then evolved whilst later whilst taking my maritime training in Hamburg fore then serving in the fishing fleet. The most intensive mechanical training was in the Panzer maintenance and effective operations. Many of our manuals were from past war time use and readily applied to present day application. As with this, many of our commanders were recycled from the past war, perhaps as a surprise to the present day people, but not to us. For these commanders were not class room experts, but were experienced by combat. It was then my self attempted to asked some after class if they knew my father. But short time quick was called in to the base commanders office and quietly told to not ask those questions from that time on. Whilst in field training with our machines, if to throw a track, it was as if no support was to be expected, so it was to us to break the track after releasing tension, to then realignment and pull through over the upper rollers the track back and re-pin it, to then properly re-tension the track to specs. Those panzer tracks are very very heavy and a careless slip could give cause if dropped, to break a bone or even cause the death of a fellow crew member. This never occured in my time of service, but heard it had happened in the past. Karl Karl,
Interesting story of you serving in the Panzer division of the Bundeswehr. I hope that while doing that (stepping in the footpath of your father), you got closer to your dad. Probably the old officers of the Wehrmacht (and maybe Waffen SS?) had an earlier carreer in the Reichswehr, which was dominated by Prussian officers. They were professional carreer officers and probably thought in a hierarchic manner. A young man asking questions about his dad who died during the war was probably to much for them? They had served in that war, had lost their own men, and maybe saw your father as one of the German casualties of that war.
If I remember your previous stories correctly, you served under this old Wehrmacht officers and worked in American tanks, which were explained to the Bundeswehr of that time by American instuctors. It must have been fascinating for these ofmer Wehrmacht officers to work with equipment and tanks of their former enemy. Probably they introduced some former Reichswehr/Wehrmacht discipline, military tactics and strategic thinking and military epxerience in the Bundeswehr and merged it with new American military technology, experience, advice and connections (American instructors, trainers, advisors and Liaison officers).
Interesting to read about your track and it made me to go to wikipedia and read this: Continuous track, also called tank tread or caterpillar track, is a system of vehicle propulsion in which a continuous band of treads or track plates is driven by two or more wheels. This band is typically made of modular steel plates in the case of military vehicles and heavy equipment, or synthetic rubber reinforced with steel wires in the case of lighter agricultural or construction vehicles.
The large surface area of the tracks distributes the weight of the vehicle better than steel or rubber tyres on an equivalent vehicle, enabling a continuous tracked vehicle to traverse soft ground with less likelihood of becoming stuck due to sinking. The prominent treads of the metal plates are both hard-wearing and damage resistant, especially in comparison to rubber tyres. The aggressive treads of the tracks provide good traction in soft surfaces but can damage paved surfaces, so some metal tracks can have rubber pads installed for use on paved surfaces.
The M4 sherman tank was the most commonly used American tank in World War II. More than 50,000 Shermans were produced between 1942 and 1945.
A Sherman M-51 tank
An Israel Defense Force Merkava Mark IV main battle tank during track replacement drill
Cheers, Pieter
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Post by karl on Mar 31, 2019 8:40:24 GMT -7
Pieter An excellent reply with illustrations. We had the American M48 machines, they were capable and not so bad for maintenance. Most repairs and maintenance were done at the motorpool for the manner this were very heavy equipment needing specilized tools. The other was simply task requiring time, to change out the fluids such as engine oil required some hours of labour. In the case of a cracked roadwheel, those things were first noticed by a creaking sound as the wheel shifted under load as it rotated. For this reason, to save further damage, a recovery vehicle would be called in for removal of the vehicle to the repair yard. In combat, the vehicle would be operated until failure, or if the area was quite, a replacement could be accomplished. The danger with this, is both the vehicle and crew are placed in danger of being killed or captured, with this,very often the vehicle would be abandoned for later pick up or written off as a loss. In the case of field track replacement as demonstrated by the Israeli tanker guys, this is a very real case of heavy repairs. For one, it is very difficult due to the heavy vehicle weight to raise the vehicle, for this reason, the replacement track needs be treated as a carry through with the old track with use of a on-board ratchet spanner or if possible, with great care, start up the motor and use the powered sprocket to rotate the track in which ever direction indicated by need. In nice weather and day light, the above is difficult, but more difficult in cold snowy or wet weather. www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/West_Germany/German_Cold_War_tanks.phpKarl
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Post by pieter on Apr 4, 2019 17:00:57 GMT -7
After his senate win, give Thierry Baudet a chance to take responsibilityApril 2, 2019Photo: DutchNews.nlThierry Baudet has been able to capitalise on government laxity, despite the fact the country is doing well. So now the cabinet excludes Baudet at its peril, say economists Willem Vermeend and Rick van der Ploeg.
The latest figures show the Dutch economy is one of the best performing in Europe. Growth figures are looking healthy, unemployment is low and government finances are in tip top shape. The Netherlands also ranks among the top 10 of European countries for competitiveness, innovation, the investment climate etc. The social security system and the pension and care systems are the envy of the world.
And just recently the Netherlands came fifth in the UN list of happiest countries.
The current government and the preceding cabinets could be forgiven for feeling just a little proud of this ‘little earthly paradise’.Payback timeThierry Henri Philippe Baudet (born 28 January 1983) is a Dutch politician. He is the founder and the current political leader of the right wing political party Forum for Democracy (FvD, Dutch: Forum voor Democratie). He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 23 March 2017. But then came the provincial elections. Distinctly unforgiving voters made perfectly clear that their definition of paradise is a different one and opted en masse for Thierry Baudet’s Forum voor Democratie.
Baudet has been trying to convince people since the inception of his party that things are not going well for this country, that the current cabinet’s policies are having a disastrous effect and that the coalition should pack it in and go home.
His clever election campaign earned him not just a landslide victory but the leadership of what is now the biggest party in this country.
Did it come as a bolt from the blue? Not really. Thierry had a simple and clear message which he kept repeating over and over: ‘put an end to the current immigration policy now’, ‘down with the ridiculous climate policy’, and ‘make Rutte III pay for the fact it is not listening to the voters’.Rutte III made Baudet bigAlmost all voters were against the abolition of the dividend tax. Rutte III did not listen. Many voters wanted to hang on to the referendum. Rutte III did not listen.
Many people were angered by the cabinet’s scaremongering tactics around the climate policy, the hike in energy premiums and the expensive investments in gas free homes. People were worried about their pensions but once again Rutte III did not listen.
Rutte’s ministers failed to find a solution to the ‘public sector crisis’. People who work in the public sector (care, education, police) clamoured for improvements but felt they were not taken seriously.
Voter confidence in the promised increase in purchasing power also plummeted. Thanks to Rutte III Baudet was able to profit massively from the growing discontent.Thierry BaudetLet Forum take responsibilityThe established parties congratulated Baudet on his victory and rightly so. But they mustn’t now carp on about protest voters that made Forum big, or about the party’s lack of experienced people to govern the provinces.
As the biggest party, Forum must be given every opportunity to take responsibility. Established parties should not contrive to exclude it because if they do the disaffection among the people will grow and so will Forum at the next national elections.
Mark Rutte, faced with his party’s loss and the loss of a majority in the senate, said he would ‘have lots of coffee mornings with all the parties’ to try to build support.
The other big winner of these elections, GroenLinks’ Jesse Klaver, thinks the prime minister now has no other option than to come to him. But the VVD and CDA are wary of having to advocate for the substantial hikes in tax for citizens and businesses which are at the heart of Klaver’s climate policy.
In order to retain a majority in the senate the cabinet can also turn to the Labour Party (PvdA). We think Lodewijk Asscher would be a better choice than Jesse, who mainly represents well-educated voters with a passion for combating climate change.
Rutte worked well with the Labour Party (PvdA) in the last cabinet and, with the help of the social-democrats (the Labour Party PvdA), should be able to solve the public sector crisis, get on top of pensions and the labour market and strike deals on purchasing power for the low and middle income groups.Economic downturnHowever, the cabinet would do well not to ignore the Forum presence in the senate. There are signs the Netherlands is on the brink of an economic downturn. Rutte III will have to come up with a package of measures consisting of tax breaks for citizens, investment boosts for businesses and government investment. Foum could help achieve a majority by throwing its weight behind such a package.
A climate policy not characterised by ineffectual measures and economically damaging taxes could be part of this package. The Netherlands is already heading the European league table on tax levels and the limit has been reached.Extra taxes The planet is not going to be saved by tax hikes which damage the economy. What will help is government investment in the latest technologies to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy, and investment in research. The Netherlands must also invest in a green business climate.
A key element is to devise an attractive business package for smart start-ups which operate in the field of energy transition. If we use that package to recruit smart folks from all over the world, the Netherlands could become a start-up centre for energy transition.
Thanks to Rutte III and Rutte II this country has enough millions to finance a modern and effective climate policy, with the added advantage of tackling the economic downturn in a sustainable manner. This column appeared earlier in the conservative and populist Dutch newspaper, the Telegraaf and was written by the economists Willem Vermeend and Rick van der Ploeg. Wilhelmus Adrianus Franciscus Gabriël "Willem" Vermeend (born 21 December 1948) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and jurist. He is a Full Professor of European Fiscal Economics at Maastricht University.Frederick "Rick" van der Ploeg (born 28 April 1956, Rotterdam) is a Dutch economist. After having obtained his PhD at the University of Cambridge, he held professorships in economics at the University of Amsterdam, Tilburg University, and the London School of Economics. After having served as an MP for the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) from 1994 until 1998, he became State Secretary for Culture and Media in the Netherlands (1998-2002). He is currently a professor of economics at the University of Oxford and the VU University Amsterdam, and the research director at the Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies. In 2010 he became a correspondent of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Post by karl on Apr 4, 2019 18:20:20 GMT -7
Pieter
It sounds as Mr. Thierry Baudet has said the correct things to his voters and more emportant, listioned to the voters. In my own opinion, his statement rings true with mistake of raising taxes for the sake of climate change. For yes, industry and transportation could be drastically curtailed with the cost to the public, but,,,the farts of a thousand head of cattle would quickly nullify {annullieren} those efferts with their addition of bovine methane.
Karl
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Post by Jaga on Apr 4, 2019 23:09:22 GMT -7
Pieter,
I liked the title: "After his senate win, give Thierry Baudet a chance to take responsibility"
this says something . I hope that the politicians would understand the consequences of their actions
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