From the tax office to the nation. An untitled acrylic by Herman Brood, two men with a pistol, painted with his ever-present syringe and paint rollers, has become the first Brood in the 120,000-piece national art collection. It used to hang in the tax office in The Hague. “This news is like winning gold at the Olympics,” said Rob Dupré, a friend of the artist.
Half a desk each. The government plans to cut 25,000 of its 160,000 full-time jobs by 2035. State Secretary Eric van der Burg also wants one workstation for every two civil servants: “Even on our busiest days, occupancy rarely reaches 70 percent.” Early birds, it seems, will keep their desk.
Butcher on watch. The great grey shrike no longer breeds in the Netherlands, but it is back for the winter. Its Latin name, Lanius excubitor, means roughly the butcher on watch: it spikes spare prey on thorns, a larder for later.