Friday, October 31, 2014

Ombudsman Heavily Criticizes Former Deputy Minister

The acting ombudsman, Frank van Dooren, has said that the approach of the previous Deputy Minister of Finance, Frans Weekers, in dealing with the so-called “Bulgarian fraud” a year ago, contained huge mistakes.  Weekers had decided, in 2013, that people who get support from the government can only use one bank account.  Two weeks after he decided that, the payments to 177,000 people were suspended.  It led to many financial problems for the intended recipients.  Van Dooren claimed that the short time Weekers gave his officials to deal with the matter has caused many problems. He added “ Good people suffered from the misbehavior of bad people.”


Thursday, October 30, 2014

Prosecution Wants Rapper Who Threatened Wilders to Do Community Service

The prosecution has asked the court to sentence Rapper Hozny to 80 hours of community service and two months of probation. Earlier this year, Hozny put up a video on YouTube where two guns are held to the head of a Wilders lookalike, and then the picture fades to black and a shot is heard.  

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

American Trader Explains Dutch Police Corruption



Richard Bistrong, an American weapons trader, has explained how the corruption in the weapon trade functions.  Until his arrest in 2007, he was a supplier to the Dutch army and the Dutch police.  He said that he would meet an intermediary who would tell him how much corruption money would have to be paid for information or orders.  Once he agreed, he would pay the money to the intermediary.  It was clear that the money would be paid to government officials.  Currently there are major suspicions about corrupt purchases by the Dutch police.http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/corruptiespel-rond-wapens-voor-nederlandse-politie~a3757688/

Number of Impoverished Children Has Increased

A new UNICEF report says that the poverty of children in the Netherlands has increased from 12.9% in 2008 up to 13.9% in 2013.  11% of people interviewed in 2013 said that there had been moments where they did not have enough money to buy food for themselves.  In 2008, the figure was 4%.  Already in March of this year, the Verwey-Jonker Institute published the fact that between 2009-2012, the number of children living in poverty in the Netherlands increased by 10%.  The report also mentioned that impoverished children live mainly outside the main urban areas.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Five Employees of National Police Have Been Suspended

The head of the national police has decided to suspend five employees who are responsible for purchasing.  He said that this decision was necessary because of the debate on the integrity of the police.  The prosecution department of the Ministry of Justice has started, as of last month, an investigation of a variety of police employees.  The Minister of Justice, Ivo Opstelten (Liberal) has informed parliament that there are suspicions of corruption concerning the purchase of police vehicles in 2010.  Furthermore, there are now indications that a major order for mobile phones has not been dealt with according to the law.  The same is true for communication and other equipment.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Social media warning for Dutch military abroad for fear of jihadists

Dutch military who go abroad for their work or vacation should cancel the facilities to locate them via social media. According to the Ministry of defense in that way can be prevented that jihadists can locate them. The ministry of defense has informed soldiers that their Facebookpages should not be accessible to the public. This warning follows a number of incidents where soldiers have been harassed via the internet. The MIVD ( The Military Intelligence Service) has started an investigation.) 

www.volkskrant.nl/tech/nederlandse-militairen-krijgen-waarschuwing-over-social-media-op-vakantie~a3775000/

Friday, October 24, 2014

Mayor Compares Dutch Jihadis to Post-War Jews

In a radio program Pieter Broertjes, (Labor party) the mayor of Hilversum has compared Jihadis from his town who left for Syria to the Dutch Jews who went after the Second World war to Israel to fight there against the English. He said that those who left for Syria are adult people.  Via his spokesman the mayor modified his statement somewhat. He stated that Broertjes wanted to say was that the authorities can not forbid people for whatever reason to go and live elsewhere. [Comment: recently Broertjes said that the Netherlands should expel Putin’s daughter in view of the  West’s conflict with Russia.)
www.elsevier.nl/Politiek/achtergrond/2014/10/Pieter-Broertjes-zorgt-voor-ophef-na-vergelijking-Joden-en-IS-1627729W/



Thursday, October 23, 2014

Officials and Bureaucrats Doubt the Integrity of Their Colleagues

One out of ten government bureaucrats has strong doubts about the integrity of their colleagues.  Similarly, one out of ten officials in communities and provinces have doubts about their fellow politicians.  The main subjects concerned are false declarations, the treatment of confidential information, and conflict of interest.  These results are from the Monitor for Integrity of Public Management 2012.  Such a study is carried out every year by the BIOS bureau. 

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Dike break in Germany may cause Hundreds of Deaths in Netherlands.

Recent data from the Waterschap Rijn en Ijssel show that if a dike breaks on the German side of the Rhine River, the eastern part of the Netherlands until Zwolle might be flooded. That would lead to hundreds of deaths and tens of billions in Euros of damage.


Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Foreign Children an Increasing Problem for Schools

Elementary schools have great difficulty coping with children who either hardly speak Dutch or not at all.  These difficulties result in part from the new flood of refugees from Syria, Somalia and Eritrea, but also from children from Eastern Europe.  The teaching material available often dates from the 1980s.  Government subsidies can only be obtained if a school has at least 4 pupils who are less than one year in the country.



Monday, October 20, 2014

The Guidelines for Asbestos-Removal Companies Are Inadequate


The guidelines for asbestos-removal companies are inadequate.  Companies which lose their license because they do not respect these guidelines can easily create a new corporate entity and receive a new license.  The authorities cannot do anything about this.  These facts were obtained from internal emails from the Ministry for Social Affairs.


Sunday, October 19, 2014

One-Third of Police Staff Aggressed


Almost one-third of police employees were either threatened or assaulted by civilians during work hours.  Outside of the workplace, this was the case for 14% of police employees.  These results are from research done among 3,000 employees by the Police Academy.  Another study showed that one out of five policemen who are involved in maintaining order and answering calls for emergency help are met with threats and violence after work hours.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Many Murderers Escape Punishment

Forensic experts and pathologists say that murderers in the Netherlands increasingly escape punishment. This results from the fact that after suspicious deaths far too little forensic research is being done. Last year the number of autopsies was halved. Pathologist Frank van de Gool says that every year 5 000 people die from non-natural causes including traffic accidents. The number of annual autopsies is barely 300.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/23213475/___Moordenaars_gaan_vrijuit___.html

Friday, October 17, 2014

European Commission Wants Penalty of Netherlands Concerning Laboratory Animals

The European Commission wants to impose a penalty of 51.156 Euro per day on the Netherlands as the Netherlands has not yet converted the European rules of treatment of laboratory animals into national legislation. It will bring The Netherlands before the European Court on this issue. The national legislation should have been adopted by November 2012. With its rules the European Commission wants to diminish the use of laboratory animals as much as possible.   

www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1012/Nederland/article/detail/3770251/2014/10/16/Megaboete-dreigt-door-slechte-zorg-voor-proefdieren.dhtml

Thursday, October 16, 2014

In 1977 Minister of Justice ordered Execution of Train Hijackers

In 1977 a Dutch train was hijacked by people from the South Moluccas. A policeman has now declared that then Minister of Justice Dries van Agt (Christian Democrat) had ordered that the hijackers “should not leave the train alive.” When Dutch marines stormed the train six hijackers and two hostages were killed.

www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/10/15/van-agt-gaf-toch-opdracht-tot-de-executie-van-molukse-treinkapers-in-1977/


Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Parliamentary Commission: Government Fails on Computerization

A parliamentary commission headed by Tom Elias (Liberals) has concluded that the government is often unable to control computerization projects. This concerns the costs, execution on time and the final results. Much money is invested in failing projects. An earlier estimate by the expert Professor Mulder indicated that the government wastes every year 4 to 5 billion Euro on failing computerization projects.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/23202661/___Rijk_blundert_met_ICT___.html


Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Non-Western Immigrants Account for 2/3 of anti-Semitic incidents

According to Esther Voet, director of the Dutch Israel defense organization CIDI, in the summer of 2014 the number of anti-Semitic incidents reported was equal to the year number of incidents in the year 2011-2012. She estimates that 2/3 of these are caused by non-Western immigrants or their descendants. [Comment: this is a euphemistic way for saying people originating in Muslim countries. They represent about 7% of the population]. Voet says that social media has played an essential role in the incitement against Israel. She was herself the victim of incitement and can no longer keep track of all the insults on Facebook and Twitter against her.



Monday, October 13, 2014

Authorities Pressure Crime Solving Program to Show less Moroccan Criminals

Anonymous policemen have leaked that the authorities and public broadcasting organization NPO put pressure on the makers of a program that shows real unsolved crimes “Opsporing Verzocht” to diminish the number of Moroccan and other non-Western criminals that are shown. The makers want to give a real view of society, which means that a disproportionately large number of crimes are being committed by Moroccans. They say that the authorities reproached them and accused them of making a Moroccan problem. The policemen say that this turns the world on its head, as the police has its hands full in finding Moroccan criminals.


Sunday, October 12, 2014

To Avoid Attacks Customs Officials Should Not Wear Uniforms Outside of Work

The Ministry of Finance has confirmed that customs officials should not wear uniforms outside their workplace. This follows earlier instructions from the Ministry of Defense that soldiers should not wear uniforms when using public transportation.  These instructions followed a threat from jihadi circles calling for revenge against Dutch participation in the fight against the Islamic State. 


Saturday, October 11, 2014

Frequent Visits to Prostitutes by 10% of the Male Population

Dutch men spend every year 430 million Euros for prostitution.  10% of Dutch mails visit a prostitute 15 times per year. Prices vary between 36 euro and 164 euro.  This research was done by the National Bank of Belgium.



Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Kurdish Protestors Fight Their Way into Dutch Parliament

A hundred Kurdish protestors forced their way into the Dutch parliament building and sat on the floor holding banners, one of them which read “Stop Kobane”.  The protestors explained that this was a protest against Islamic State fighters who are attacking the town of Kobane in northern Syria.  They want the West to do more to stop the situation.


Tuesday, October 7, 2014

To Avoid Reprisals by Jihadists, Dutch Soldiers Should Not Travel in Uniform


The Ministry of Defense has told soldiers not to travel on public transport in uniform.  This because of a call from a Dutch jihadist who has cried for revenge against the Dutch because of their participation in the war against the Islamic State.  A spokesperson of the Ministry said that after that call, there have been specific threats against soldiers. Former intelligence employee, Paul Mulder, has said that he expects attacks on soft targets in the Netherlands, which could include train and metro stations.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Dutch School Cancels Trip to Paris Out of Fear of Terrorism

The increasing fear of the terror group, ISIS has led to the cancellation of a school trip to Paris of 400 graduating high school students from Etten-Leur.  This is because ISIS has threatened attacks in the Paris Metro network.


Sunday, October 5, 2014

Doctors Warn: Assisted Suicide in the Netherlands is Out of Control

UK Doctor Peter Saunders of the Christian Medical Fellowship said that the Dutch experience shows that doctor-assisted death is impossible to effectively regulate.  He added that, “euthanasia in the Netherlands is virtually out of control.”  Overall deaths by euthanasia have increased by 151% in seven years.  The Dutch regulator, Theo Boer, says that it is likely to hit the 6,000/year mark in 2014. These figures represent 3% of all deaths, but if one adds the cases of terminal sedation, where patients are given a cocktail of sedatives and narcotics before food and fluids are withdrawn, the percentage rises to 12.3% of all deaths in the Netherlands.

Saturday, October 4, 2014

In Spite of Need for Better Defense, Ministry Keeps Selling Military Equipment

Rob de Wijk, Director of The Hague Center for Strategic Studies, says that the Ministry of Defense is still selling military equipment in substantial amounts while it is clear that more money has to be spent on defense.  Some of the equipment sold is brand new.  In next year’s budget, income from selling such equipment is estimated at 117 million Euros. This policy was criticized by Christian Democrat parliamentarian Knops.


Friday, October 3, 2014

Deputy Minister: By 2021 all Short-Range Dutch Trains will have a Toilet

Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Wilma Mansveld, said in parliament that in 2018 the NS (Dutch State Railways) will start installing existing short-range trains with toilets. By 2021, all short-range trains will have a toilet. [Question:  What do train passengers have to do until then?]
www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/sprintertrein-nog-jaren-zonder-wc~a3760165/

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Graffiti in Dutch Town: ISIS -All Jews Will Die

A school and various buildings in the town of Voorburg have been vandalized with pro-ISIS graffiti and with texts such as “ISIS -All Jews Will Die”.  The police assume that it is just hooliganism. [Comment:  It is easiest for the police to describe it as such because it requires little action from them.]


Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Netherlands Has No Money Left for Fight against ISIS


There is no money available within the current budget for the Dutch involvement in the fight against ISIS.  To pay for the costs of the F-16 planes and military trainers the Dutch government is providing to the international forces, the money will have to come out of the 2017-2019 budgets.  Rob Swartbol, Director of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says that the money in the 2014-2015 budgets is almost entirely earmarked for Dutch involvement in the international military missions to Mali and the Somali coast.