Thursday, April 29, 2010

Eggs Thrown on Former Minister


Moroccan youngsters have thrown eggs at Former Minister Rita Verdonk and called her a racist and a whore. She was in the middle of making a TV spot for her election campaign. Ironically the spot was about a woman who is attacked in the streets.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/6597588/__Verdonk_met_eieren_bekogeld__.html?s n=binnenland,buitenland

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Nuns Also Accused of Sexual Abuse


Public attention in the Dutch Roman Catholic Church so far has focused on male perpetrators and victims. Since the end of February 29 women have complained about abuse in Church institutions. Ten women complained about abuse by a priest or brother. Nineteen testified about abuse by nuns. Of all these complaints about nuns, 40% deal with child abuse.
www.nrc.nl/nieuwsthema/misbruik_kerk/article2529845.ece/Ook_vrouwelijke_religieuzen_schuldig_aan_seksueel_misbruik

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Rotterdam Soccer Supporters Shout Anti-Semitic Slogans


The Rotterdam has arrested 71 hooligans on Sunday in anticipation of the cup game between Ajax and Feyenoord in Amsterdam. 15 people were arrested when anti-Semitic slogans were shouted from a terrace in the town hall square.
www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article3051762.ece/71_raddraaiers_opgepakt_in_Rotterdam.html

Bus Drivers in Gouda Continuously Attacked


The town of Gouda was in the news a year and a half ago because of an attack on a bus driver by youngsters who were throwing stones at buses. Problems have not been resolved since then and bus drivers remain a favorite target of hooligans. Gouda has 71,000 inhabitants, the crime statistics are increasing and the town has proportionately the largest number of criminal Moroccans in the Netherlands. Yet, these are far from the only criminals in town.
www.depers.nl/binnenland/473475/Het-kan-zo-maar-weer-fout-gaan.html

Monday, April 26, 2010

Court Exonerates Holocaust Denial by Arab Organization




The Arab European League (AEL) and its Dutch representative, Abdoulmouthalibb Bouzerda, have been exonerated by the Utrecht court for having placed a holocaust denial cartoon on their web-site. The court concluded that the cartoon is hurtful for Jews and exemplifies bad taste. However as the AEL claims that it was published to show the double morality of the media, it is not punishable. The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI) has asked the prosecutor to appeal the judgment as the court decision means that if one claims to have been hurt by the behavior of somebody in the Netherlands, one can now go unpunished for attacking a third party unrelated to the original incident.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/6578446/__Vrijspraak_AEL_voor__Auschwitz-cartoons___.html?p=3,1
www.cidi.nl/Nieuws/Nieuwsberichten/CIDI-wil-uitspraak-hogere-rechter-in-AEL-zaak.html

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Fraud Rampant Among Student Stipends


According to estimates there is wide-spread fraud among students collecting stipends, which amounts to ten of millions of euros. Many students claim that they live away from home while in fact this is not the case. Deputy Minister of Education Van Bijsterveldt (Christian Democrat) has stated that systematic checks will be undertaken in Amsterdam to counter this. Thereafter other towns will follow.

http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/6581929/__Actie_tegen_fraude_studiebeurs__.html?cid=rss

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Parliament Wants Special Debate on Congress of Radical Muslims


Four parties – The Freedom Party, the Christian Democrats, and Liberals and the Christian SGP Party – want an urgent debate in parliament about the Congress of Radical Muslims that will take place next month in Amsterdam. The daily De Telegraaf says that one of the organizers is the International Support Organization. The papers say it is a front organization for the International Union of Muslim Scholars which is led by Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who in his fatwas supports suicide attacks.
www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article3047942.ece/Kamer_eist_opheldering_over_moslimcongres_Amsterdam.html

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

More Reports Regarding Violence in Trains


The daily Telegraaf quotes a confidential safety report undertaken by the Dutch Railways which shows that there were more reports of violence taking place in trains. In March conductors requested assistance from the police and safety teams 2,000 times, which is 500 times more than the average of 2009. Most reports concern people who are traveling without having a ticket. However, there were 218 cases of threats, 68 of physical violence, 303 cases of verbal abuse and 4 cases of assault with a deadly weapon. The Dutch Railways claim that the increase is due to better reporting.
www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article3046528.ece/Meer_meldingen_geweld_in_treinen.html

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Crime Journalist: Senior Judge Exonerated Criminal in Exchange for Sexual Services


The Dutch crime journalist Peter R. de Vries has claimed on Dutch TV that the late vice-president of the Hague court, Cornelis Stolk, exonerated the criminal Koos Hertogs of a raid he had admitted committing in exchange for homosexual services. Stolk also paid for Hertogs’ driving lessons. Later Hertogs murdered a 12 year old girl and was condemned to life imprisonment. Parliamentarian Fred Teeven of the Liberal Party (VVD) has called on Minister of Justice Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Christian Democrat) to investigate the matter.
www.elsevier.nl/web/Nieuws/Cultuur-Televisie/263299/Koos-Hertogs-had-homoseksuele-relatie-met-rechter.htm?rss=true

Monday, April 19, 2010

Death of Dutch Soldiers in Afghanistan Due to Inferior Armed Vehicles


The Liberal Party has asked Minister of Defense, Van Middelkoop, for clarification about the quality of armored vehicles used by the Dutch Military in Afghanistan. Soldiers serving there have told the daily De Telegraaf that the deaths of two Dutch soldiers last Saturday could probably have been prevented if the military had replaced the light and vulnerable Viking vehicles with Bushmaster vehicles which can resist roadside bombs. The soldiers call the Vikings “death coffins on caterpillar tracks”.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/6552298/__Viking_ondeugdelijk__.html?sn=binnenland,buitenland

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Radicalization of the Extreme Left in the Netherlands


Minister of the Interior, Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Christian Democrat) has sent figures about radicalization in the Netherlands to parliament. These show that the resistance of the extreme left against the Dutch asylum policies has again become structural and is radicalizing. The left-wing activities include illegal actions and intimidation of people at work or at home. In 2009 the extreme left organized 104 legal activities, such as demonstrations and meetings, and 88 incidences of breaking the law were registered.
www.trouw.nl/nieuws/nederland/article3041577.ece/Links_verzet_tegen_asielbeleid_radicaliseert.html

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Mentally Challenged Children Victims of Sexual Abuse


Three former lay-leaders of the Roman Catholic institute De La Salle in Boxtel have come forward saying that in the 60s and 70s mentally challenged children were victims of sexual abuse by friars of the Congregation of Fraters van Tilburg. This is the first time that non-victims of sexual abuse in the Dutch Catholic Church voluntarily have come forward revealing such abuse.
www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/article1369028.ece/Fraters_vergrepen_zich_aan_zwakbegaafden

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Belgium Police Stops Noisy Exercise of Dutch Army


The Belgian police have stopped a noisy exercise held on Saturday at 6 am by the Dutch army after tens of citizens complained. The Belgians are annoyed because they claim they were not informed about this beforehand. The Dutch Ministry of Defense says that the exercise was announced more than a year ago.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/6506572/__Politie_stopt_oefening_leger__.html?p=36,1

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Majority of Chicken Meat Infected With Anti-Biotic Resistant Bacteria


A study has shown that 88% of chicken meat in Dutch shops is infected with ESBL bacteria. These are resistant to various anti-biotics such as penicillins and cefalosporins. Already last year several thousands of Dutch patients were infected with bacteria which was anti-biotic resistant. Pig meat and beef are also infected although in lesser percentages.
www.nrc.nl/wetenschap/article2515999.ece/Kippenvlees_vol_met_resistente_bacterien

Monday, April 12, 2010

Minister Wants to Abolish Informing People They Have Been Taped


Minister of Interior, Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Christian Democrat), is inclined to abolish the obligation of the National Intelligence Service AIVD too inform people who have been taped by the service about this afterwards. One of his motivations is that many people who have been taped cannot be found afterwards. A commission which has investigated this considers that citizens have enough other possibilities to enquire whether or not they have been taped.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/6488908/__AIVD__afluisteren_niet_melden__.html?sn=binnenland,buitenland

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Ombudsman: Social Climate in the Netherlands Grim and Intolerant


National Ombudsman Alex Brenninkmeijer, when presenting his 2009 Annual Report to the Parliament, has said that the social climate in the Netherlands is grim and intolerant. This intolerance is fueled by the disproportionate attention of the politicians and media for incidents that are perceived to be deviations from what is the norm. The authorities should avoid polarization and not attack individuals. The authorities have much to learn in this field.
www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/article1360221.ece/Ombudsman_wil_minder_incidenten-politiek

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Wilders: New non-western immigrants cost 6-10 billion euro annually


PVV Party leader Geert Wilders says that a study by the research organization NYFER has found that the annual immigration of 20 thousand non-western immigrants costs Dutch society 6-10 billion euro. He says that this is based on the number of non-western immigrants who come to the Netherlands each year within the framework of family reunification. The real number of these immigrants is higher, so that the cost is probably much higher as well. The PVV is in favor of a stop on this type of immigration. It has ordered the study after former Minister of Integration, Van der Laan, had only provided limited data.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/6471487/__Immigratie_kost_zes_miljard__.html

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Scholar: Agricultural sector blocked Q-fever information for Decades


The Dutch Agricultural sector has blocked information about Q-fever of Dutch livestock for decades. This was revealed by Jan Hendrik Richardus, a scholar at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. Richardus published his doctorate, which dealt with Q-fever, in 1985. He and his academic supervisor were asked, for economic reasons, not to give much publicity to his findings. He therefore did not approach the media at the time. Richardus states that at the time only a few cattle and people were ill with Q-fever.
www.trouw.nl/nieuws/zorg/article3034497.ece/_Doofpot_rond_Q-koorts_vergrootte_probleem_.html

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

1,300 Complaints on Sex Abuse in Roman Catholic Church




By the end of March the Hulp & Recht hotline for Abuse within the Roman Catholic Church had received 1,300 complaints regarding sexual abuse within the Church. In mid-March the number was 600. The spokesman couldn’t tell how many official complaints have been made against the Church. The Dutch Church has charged the former (non-Catholic) Minister Wim Deetman to establish a commission of enquiry in to the sex abuse in Catholic institutions during the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Ministers André Rouvoet (Youth and Families Affairs) and Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Justice) have also launched an investigation into possible sexual abuse of children which had been placed by the Child Protection Services in State or private youth care institutions during the 50s and 60s.
www.trouw.nl/religie-filosofie/nieuws/article3031966.ece/Aantal_misbruikmeldingen_nu_op_1300.html