Tens of Millions of Euros Wasted on Programs for Moroccan At Risk Youth

Experts claim that the 32 million Euros spent by municipalities on Moroccan youth at risk have been wasted in the last three years. The project for dealing with Moroccan Dutch youth at risk exists since 2008. Twenty-two municipalities receive funds to solve problems with Moroccan problem youth under 24 years of age who engage in vandalism and criminality. Some communities are trying projects which have already failed. In Amersfoort, crime has increased since the community has hired “street coaches” to help the youngsters. www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/9408741/___Marokkanen-project_mislukt___.html

Municipal Officials Forced to Attend Useless Courses

More than 2 percent of the monies paid for salaries by municipalities are spent on courses for officials. Many municipalities have no idea what this money was spent for and whether they show any results. This was said by Michiel de Vries, Professor of Management, to the publication Binnenlands Bestuur. He added that in practice, officials have no time to devote to these courses, but the money has to be spent according to agreements with the trade unions. Thus they are being sent to one-day courses which are extremely costly. De Vries considers this the perversity of the system. These courses are useless for the officials, but very effective for the employer who only misses the official for a short time. www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/9391349/__Ambtenaren_moeten_naar_school__.html

Aspiring Police Agents Too Fat and Out of Shape

The Dutch police are worried about the physical condition of the aspiring police agents. Many are in poor physical condition or are too fat. Han van As, Chairman of the National Consultation on Training for Integral Preparation for Jobs says: Youngsters have grown up in the welfare state. They give too little attention to proper nutrition. The previous generation would play on the streets everyday. The present one sits behind a computer. Priorities have changed. www.depers.nl/binnenland/556331/Aspirant-agenten-zijn-te-dik.html

Increase in Threats Against Politicians

The public prosecution has announced that in 2010, politicians were threatened with violence 353 times. That is an increase of 8%. Deputy ministers, parliamentarians, mayors, aldermen and members of the municipal council were threatened. In 201 cases, the public prosecution considered that these were criminal acts. Ninety-two cases were resolved. In 72 of the cases, the threats were from minors. Most threats are sent via email or posted on the internet anonymously. www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/1863441/2011/03/22/Acht-procent-meer-politici-bedreigd-in-2010.dhtml

TV Program Taps Voice Mails of Ministers

The TV program EenVandaag has, through a simple trick, obtained access to the voice mail of a variety of ministers and politicians. Among the ones tapped are those of Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal and the Leader of the Left Liberals, Alexander Pechtold. Other voice mail the program could gain access to if it chose are those of generals, members of the Supreme Court and the top directors of the Central Bank. http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2824/Politiek/article/detail/1864159/2011/03/23/EenVandaag-luistert-voicemails-ministers-af.dhtml

Soccer Fans Threaten Parliamentarian with Death

Parliamentarian Richard de Mos of the Freedom Party (PVV) has been threatened with death by soccer fans of the Hague Football Club ADO. These threats came via email and the Hyves website. De Mos, who himself is a supporter of ADO, had condemned the singing by ADO fans and soccer player Lex Immers of anti-Semitic songs.
www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1425/ADO-Den-Haag/article/detail/574633/2011/03/23/Kamerlid-PVV-met-dood-bedreigd-door-fans-ADO.dhtml

Arab Dictatorships Own Major Investments in Netherlands

Labor Party Parliamentarian Frans Timmermans wants the authorities to establish a list of companies which are in the hands of dictatorships where human rights are abused. A study ordered by the RTL News Service reveals that state companies from Arab countries have almost 20 million Euro of investments in the Netherlands. Libya and Saudi Arabia are major investors. Timmermans says that once a list is drawn up, the Netherlands can take action against these companies if there are developments such as the ones presently taking place in Libya.
www.parool.nl/parool/nl/3587/POLITIEK-BINNENLAND/article/detail/1862478/2011/03/19/Roep-om-lijst-buitenlandse-staatsbedrijven.dhtml

Soccer Player Calls for Hunting of Jews

After the victory of the Hague Soccer Club ADO over AJAX Amsterdam, during the festivities supporters sang: “We are going to hunt Jews.” [AJAX supporters are known by the nickname “Jews.”] One song leader was the ADO player, Lex Immers. Various parliamentarians have condemned this. Parliamentarian Van Klaveren of the Freedom Party (PVV) has put inquiries to the minister of the interior about these anti-Semitic songs. Christian Union leader, Former Minister Andre Rouvoet has asked the minister of interior to take appropriate action.

www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/9328769/__Kamer_veroordeelt_Immers__.html?sn=binnenland

Animal Protection Group: The Animal Victim has to be Helped

Director Frank Dales of Dierenbescherming (The Organization for the Protection of Animals) said that much attention is given to the creation of a new police corps for animals with 500 agents. While on the other hand, nothing is known about a budget and manpower necessary to help and cure the victim - the animal.
www.gelderlander.nl/voorpagina/8324946/Dierenbescherming-bepleit-slachtofferhulp.ece

Dutch Army May Fight Without Tanks

The Dutch Army has to reduce its expenses by one billion Euro. One possibility presently investigated by Minister of Defense Hans Hillen (Liberals) is to abolish all tanks. Tanks are rarely used by Dutch missions abroad. In total, 10,000 out of 70,000 employees of the Ministry of Defense will lose their jobs. At present the Dutch army has two bataljons with in tota eighty tanks. www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1012/Binnenland/article/detail/573626/2011/03/17/Nederlandse-leger-verder-zonder-tanks.dhtml

Police Not Interested in Shop Thefts

If one steals from a shop, that has no priority for the Dutch police unless the thief is caught red-handed. These are the results of a study by the Detailhandel Nederland, an interest group of shopkeepers. In one region of the Netherlands, the police only investigate if the damage is more than 25,000 Euro. Dutch Parliamentarians are shocked by this. Liberal Party Parliamentarian Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert called it “absolute madness.”
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/9267959/__Winkeldieven_hebben_vrij_spel__.html?sn=binnenland

Train Conductors are Afraid to Announce Delays

Dutch train conductors prefer not to inform passengers about delays as they are afraid of their reactions. This was found in a study on the provision of information by the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways) which has been sent by Minister of Transport Melanie Schultz van Haegen (VVD) to the Parliament. In only 40 percent of the cases are delays announced. Recently, the Minister gave the company a conditional fine of 2 million Euro, because too few trains travel on schedule plus the shortage of information about delays.
www.depers.nl/binnenland/550941/Conducteur-verzwijgt-vertraging.html

Student/Teacher Sex in Half of Dutch Junior High Schools

Close to half of all Dutch junior high schools have in the past ten years had at least one case of sexual relations between teacher and student. Fourty-eight percent out of about seven hundred teachers interviewed say that there has been such a case at their school. Eighty percent of them consider that this relationship should not be allowed. Seventeen percent of teachers say that they had “feelings” for a pupil. One percent admits to having had sex with a student. These figures obtained by the TV program Brandpunt are much higher than those previously known.
www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/5288/Onderwijs/article/detail/1858603/2011/03/11/Seks-met-leraar-op-helft-alle-scholen.dhtml

Freedom Party Opposes Appointment to Supreme Court

Louis Bontes, a Parliamentarian from the Freedom Party (PVV), has called the proposed appointment of Law Professor Ybo Buruma to the Supreme Court “scandalous.” Bontes said that Buruma is a far too political person who has compared PVV Leader Wilders to the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Bontes said “Buruma states something and is rewarded. Wilders states something and is prosecuted.” The PVV has asked for an individualized vote in Parliament on the proposed appointment, which is highly unusual.
www.depers.nl/binnenland/550533/PVV-wil-Buruma-niet-in-Hoge-Raad.html

Dutch Queen Visits and Praises Two Arab Dictators

Last week, Queen Beatrix visited Sultan Qaboos of Oman and Emir Hadad of Qatar. During a conversation with the Dutch journalists who accompanied her, she expressed her appreciation for these two dictators. She praised the vision of the Emir and the wisdom of Sultan Qaboos. Geert Wilders, Leader of the Freedom Party had called the Sultan an abject dictator. Both countries are ranked by Freedom House as non-free countries, the lowest of its three categories. [The other two are free and partly free.]
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/9237218/__Waardering_voor_sultan_en_emir__.html

Misconduct at Dutch Marine Base

A few days ago, Minister Hillen of Defense declared that he did not know about problems of integrity at a marine base in Den Helder. It now turns out that the head of the ministry Ton Annink was aware of the problems for about six months, but had not reported on this to his minister. At the prestigious CAMS Force Vision of the Marines, computers and equipment have been stolen, there has been abuse of car privileges, personnel is absent without permission and there are strong indications that top management there has received bonuses and salary premiums that they were not entitled to. The head of the ministry had announced measures six months ago, yet nothing has happened.
www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/3598/Kabinet-Rutte/article/detail/1857346/2011/03/09/Hoogste-baas-Defensie-zweeg-tegen-Hillen-over-misstanden.dhtml

Mice Flourish in Amsterdam Jail

Lawyer Gerald Roethof has told the AT5 T.V. station that the Amsterdam jail in Havenstraat is plagued by mice. Inmates there call it “The Mice Jail.” Some of them say that it is as dirty as jails were in the Middle Ages. The director of the jail denies that there is a plague, yet says that occasionally some mice walk around, which shouldn’t surprise anyone there. The Justice Department will make an effort to improve the situation.

www.at5.nl/artikelen/58464/muizenplaag-teistert-gevangenis-havenstraat

Twenty Percent of Policemen Have Psychological Problems

About 1 in every 5 Dutch policemen suffers from psychological problems. This was published by RTL News on the basis of an intermediary report on stress and post-traumatic stress disturbances carried out by researcher Jan Struijs. Of the total 50,000 policemen, an estimated 8-10,000 have such problems. This leads to tens of millions of extra Euros per year and about a 15 per cent increase in absence from work. The researchers say that the increase in these complaints over the last ten years derives inter-alia about the bureaucracy of the organization.

www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2011/03/05/psychische-klachten-bij-een-op-vijf-agenten/

Wilders: Queen Beatrix’s Dinner with Sultan of Oman is Stupid

Geert Wilders, Leader of the Freedom Party (PVV) opposes the dinner that Queen Beatrix together with Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife Princess Maxima will have tomorrow night with Sultan Qaboos in Oman. Wilders mentions that hundreds of people are presently demonstrating in that country against the abject dictator. Wilders Twittered: “The fact that the Queen goes to dine with that dictator is very stupid.”
www.spitsnieuws.nl/archives/binnenland/2011/03/wilders_beatrix_is_erg_dom.html

Three Dutch Military Personnel Seized in Libya by Kaddafi Loyalists

Three crew members of a Dutch military helicopter which tried to evacuate Dutch citizens from Libya were captured with the civilians they picked up by Kaddafi loyalists. The three military personnel are being held in the country while the civilians have been released.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/03/world/la-fg-libya-dutch-20110304

Dutch Pension Funds Invest in Suppliers of Weapons to Libya

The RTL News Media has undertaken an analysis of the investment of Dutch pension funds. It came to the conclusion that six major pension funds invest in weapon suppliers of Libya. They hold 350 million Euro in shares and debentures of such companies. The economic research company Profundo assumes that this is the tip of the iceberg as it has only investigated the ten largest pension funds in the Netherlands out of 500. Gerard Riemen, Director of the umbrella body of pension funds (Pensioenenfederatie) said that all investments had been done according to the rules
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2011/02/26/nederlandse-pensioenfondsen-investeren-in-libische-wapens/

Green Left: Deputy Prime Minister Uses Officials for Party Propaganda

The Green Left Party wants an urgent debate about news that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs, Maxime Verhagen is using ministry officials to support the political campaign for the upcoming provincial elections. An anonymous official of the ministry had said that officials working in communications at the ministry are being charged to write Verhagen’s speeches for the party. He also claimed that the visits Verhagen made in electoral campaigns were sometimes being prepared by ministry officials. Verhagen says that this is not true.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/9119114/__Ambtenaren_met_CDA-werk__.html

Police Commander Suspended for Two Years

Gerda Dijksman, the District Commander of the police in the Southwestern part of the province Drenthe, has been suspended of her functions. If she makes further mistakes in the probation time of the coming two years, she will be fired. After a recent case of death due to carbon monoxide poisoning in the town of Meppel, she Twittered that it was due to domestic violence. She had no specific knowledge of the facts. Dijksman, a former Labor party parliamentarian, had already earlier been warned about misconduct.

www.elsevier.nl/web/Nieuws/Nederland/290347/Twitterende-districtschef-Drenthe-uit-functie-gezet.htm