I think I love the Netherlands.... The guy almost hit the "Royal Bus". .

[annabanana]

The Royal Bus!

How can you not love a place where the Royal Family makes public appearances in a friggen BUS?

[babylonsister]

1. He killed 5 people...

and it was an open-topped bus, probably to accommodate the entire family. I think it's tragic.

Karst Tates, Dutch Parade Attacker, Dies Of Injuries

ARTHUR MAX | May 1, 2009 08:14 AM EST | AP


Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands greets well wishers, shortly before a car ploughed into the crowd, during festivities marking Queen's Day in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Thursday, April 30, 2009. Dutch authorities say a speeding car that raced toward an open bus carrying Dutch Queen Beatrix and her family during a holiday parade has killed four people and injured 13 others. Prosecutors said the incident was deliberate, but not an act of terrorism. The small black car was heading at high speed toward the royal bus and passed within a few meters of it before plowing into a stone monument. Police declined to identify the driver beyond saying he was a white Dutch male, aged 38, who had no police record or history of mental illness. (AP Photo/Robin Utrecht, Pool)


AMSTERDAM — The man who drove his car into a crowd of parade spectators and killed five in an attempted attack on the Dutch royal family died early Friday of his injuries, prosecutors said.

The 38-year-old suspect, identified by Dutch media as Karst Tates, had been in critical condition since the attack Thursday on Queen's Day, the Dutch national holiday.

Eleven other people were hurt when he rammed his car through police barricades toward an open-topped bus carrying Queen Beatrix and several other members of the royal family.

He told one of the first police officers to rush to his car that the attack was aimed at the royal family, prosecutor Ludo Goossens said Thursday. But the motive was unclear.

more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/01/karst-tates-dutch-parade-_n_194387.html

[annabanana]

7. Of course the story is tragic. I'm not suggesting it isn't. . . . .

But when I think of the heavily armed big black limo motorcades we're accustomed to, I have to appreciate the open & egalitarian cast of The Netherlands...

[babylonsister]

10. The Netherlands vs. the US and our history.

Compare the sizes of these two places, and the populations. Our motorcades won't change. I wish it were possible.

[HereSince1628]

2. I suppose it depends on things like how anti-monarchy a person is

Really.

[dionysus]

3. i'm sure the 5 dead people agree with you...

:puke:

[datasuspect]

4. jeez

i'm sure these folks share your enthusiasm:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=701_1241096917

[Turbineguy]

5. Supposedly in the late 1950's

The Prinsesses would avoid the car the palace sent to pick them up from school. They would hitchhike home. Ordinary people who picked them up would pretend not to know who they were, but drop them off at the palace front gate (which was usually open).

These people are not like Bush who had to be screened from regular citizens.

[BurtWorm]

6. The Netherlands do have a lot to like about them.

:thumbsup:

[Maine-i-acs]

8. I think I love the Netherlands - the Royal Family travels by bus!

Has a nicer ring to it ;-)

[On the Road]

9. The Netherlands are a Little Cramped to Go Jetting About

probably faster to take the bus. B-)