holland

Missing Tourist Shows Up with Op-Ed in North Korean Newspaper

Max Read · 08/10/11 07:25PM

Hey, has anyone seen Dutch stamp collector Willem van der Bijl? He went to North Korea in July to buy some of the country's stamps, and his family hasn't heard from him since. Oh! There he is! In the Pyongyang Times, extensively praising North Korean elections in a personal essay!

Dutch Government Ruins Amsterdam for Backpackers

Max Read · 05/28/11 11:58AM

The Netherlands' right-wing coalition government announced yesterday that it will ban tourists from weed-selling coffee shops by the end of the year, effectively giving the finger to backpackers everywhere. And while we generally support liberal drug laws, and have no fondness for Geert Wilders' anti-Muslim Freedom Party, we don't really blame the Dutch for wanting to limit drug tourism, given that it attracts the most annoying people on the planet.

Six Dead in Shopping Mall Shooting

Max Read · 04/09/11 01:45PM

A shooter with an automatic weapon opened fire in a shopping mall in the Dutch town of Alphen aan den Rijn, killing six and wounding 10 before taking his own life. It's the second shooting in as many weeks in the town of 70,000 (two were killed on April 2), though it's unclear if the incidents were connected; the gunman in today's massacre was apparently shooting indiscriminately. He hasn't been identified, though he is apparently "known to police." [BBC; image via AP]

Trick or Pleat

Richard Lawson · 09/24/08 01:05PM

[Actress Gwyneth Paltrow in Milan today; image via Splash] MattGaymon's new line beats the original, An Idea of Holland Made Manifest Out for a Stroll.