As much as I like this I'm sad to say that we also have numerous violations of the law with respect to privacy by many branches of the Dutch government. Journalists have had their phones tapped, the schools and health care providers are asking for ever more absolutely private information about parents from both the parents and their children (this is of course 'for the children' so never mind the violations), finger prints of non-felons are still collected with impunity, dragnet style information collection is on the order of the day, there are no means of transport that are not under continuous surveillance outside of going on foot and by bicycle (and even there the little snitch in your pocket will tell big daddy where you are) and so on.

It's sad that we seem to be able to make the right decisions from time to time but at the same time we are actually making the wrong decisions most of the time. Here's to hoping things will eventually get better, I shudder to think of the kind of catastrophe that would swing the pendulum back the other way and turn the tide.