29 December 2008
From
The International Herald Tribune:
Two years ago, the Dutch could quietly congratulate themselves on having brought what seemed to be a fair measure of consensus and reason to the meanest intersection in their national political life: the one where integration of Muslim immigrants crossed Dutch identity. In the run-up to choosing a new government in 2006, just 24 percent of the voters considered the issue important, and only 4 percent regarded it as the election's central theme. What a turnabout, it seemed - and whatever the reason (spent passions, optimism, resignation?), it was a soothing respite for a country whose history of tolerance was the first in 21st-century Europe to clash with the on-street realities of its growing Muslim population.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, the Netherlands had lived through something akin to a populist revolt against accommodating Islamic immigrants led by Pim Fortuyn, who was later murdered; the assassination of the filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, accused of blasphemy by a homegrown Muslim killer; and the bitter departure from the Netherlands of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali woman who became a member of Parliament before being marked for death for her criticism of radical Islam.
Now something fairly remarkable is happening again.
Two weeks ago, the country's biggest left-wing political grouping, the Labor Party, which has responsibility for integration as a member of the coalition government led by the Christian Democrats, issued a position paper calling for the end of the failed model of Dutch "tolerance." It came at the same time Nicolas Sarkozy was making a case in France for greater opportunities for minorities that also contained an admission that the French notion of equality "doesn't work anymore."
But there was a difference. If judged on the standard scale of caution in dealing with cultural clashes and Muslims' obligations to their new homes in Europe, the language of the Dutch position paper and Lilianne Ploumen, Labor's chairperson, was exceptional. The paper said: "The mistake we can never repeat is stifling criticism of cultures and religions for reasons of tolerance." Government and politicians had too long failed to acknowledge the feelings of "loss and estrangement" felt by Dutch society facing parallel communities that disregard its language, laws and customs. "Without a strategy to deal with these issues, all discussion about creating opportunities and acceptance of diversity will be blocked by suspicion and negative experience."
And that comes from the heart of the traditional, democratic European left, where placing the onus of compatibility on immigrants never found such comfort before. It's a point of view that makes reference to work and education as essential, but without the emphasis that they are the single path to integration. Rather, Labor's line seems to stand on its head the old equation of jobs-plus-education equals integration. Conforming to Dutch society's social standards now comes first. Strikingly, it turns its back on cultural relativism and uses the word emancipation in discussing the process of outsiders' becoming Dutch.
Read the entire article
here.
28 December 2008
From
The Times:
Half of Amsterdam's prostitute windows must be closed to save Europe's most tolerant city from criminal gangs and an excess of sleaze, the mayor has told The Times. The Continent's most open red-light district, which sprawls over Amsterdam's entire historic canal district, will be reduced to two main streets under a dramatic downsizing plan drawn up by Job Cohen, the city's mayor.Mr Cohen, who is also closing a fifth of the city's cannabis cafés and a number of sex clubs, denies that his clean-up means an end to the permissiveness that draws in thousands of tourists, many from Britain, every year. He says that he wants Amsterdam to become better known for its art, chamber music and museums rather than as a hotspot for sex and drugs. There are currently more than 400 of the distinctive neon-lit prostitute windows from where scantily clad women beckon passers-by and about 70 “coffee shops” selling ready-rolled cannabis joints.
“The tolerance, which we in Amsterdam are proud of, is not the same as indifference,” said Mr Cohen, 61, the former Rector of Maastricht University, who resigned as the Deputy Justice Minister in Wim Kok's Labour Government to become mayor of the city in 2001. (...) “It is not that we want to get rid of our red-light district. We want to reduce it. Things have become unbalanced and if we do not act we will never regain control. At the heart of this project is our desire to drive back criminality and make the city welcoming for everyone.”
More at
The Times
24 December 2008
Leidseplein, Amsterdam. December 24, 2008.
22 December 2008
From
Wired.com
On a late fall afternoon on the western edge of the Netherlands, coastal engineer Marcel Stive stands atop a 40-foot dune. He stares out beyond the posse of wet-suit-clad surfers wading into the breakers of the North Sea. Where the surfers see inviting waves, Stive sees dry land—and a distant storm. He points south toward Rotterdam, Europe's busiest port. Arm outstretched, Stive rotates 180 degrees to face the shoreline running north. "As far as you can see, in both directions, we're going to push the coast out 3, maybe 4, kilometers," he says. "We have to—to keep the water out."
Stive is part of a Dutch team charged with reducing that risk. Narrowing the gap between the Netherlands and North America by a couple of miles would be a start, and as a bonus it would create valuable new real estate for recreation and development. Also on the drawing board are massive new storm-surge barriers and reinforcements around cities like Rotterdam and Dordrecht, built on the marshy delta where the Rhine and Meuse rivers meet the sea. "If you see a certain future, you must react," Stive says. And as he sees it, that future looks wet.
Yet the chance of a breach at Ter Heijde is actually quite low, about 1 in 10,000 in any given year. (In the lingo of storm protection, that's known as a 10,000-year flood.) The coastline and river deltas of the Netherlands are arguably the best-protected lowlands in the world, and the Dutch are a little miffed at Al Gore for suggesting in An Inconvenient Truth that their homeland is as vulnerable to rising seas as far less protected places like Bangladesh and Florida.
There is, of course, another factor to take into account: Global warming is increasing the odds of a catastrophic breach. That means the risk calculations need revamping. New projections of sea-level rise and other potential consequences of climate change, coupled with the aftershock from Hurricane Katrina, have prompted Dutch officials to ask a very big question: What would it take to climate-proof our country for the next 200 years?
Of course, a 200-year plan seems absurd. Two centuries ago, it would have been impossible to predict how civilization and the planet would look today. But the Dutch insist that the project is prudent and rational. If they start now, the costs will be minimized and disaster, perhaps, averted. After centuries of damming, pumping, barricading, and redirecting water, the Dutch water masters are laying the foundations for what may be the most ambitious act of territorial defense in history. In so doing, they are giving engineers and urban planners from New Orleans to Singapore a preview of what it will take to keep rising waters at bay. "We have the safest river delta in the world," Stive says. And, he adds, they want to keep it that way: "We will completely control the water."
Much more at
Wired.
Also read more about the Dutch and water management in the archives:
Is the Netherlands waterproof?
Dutch help the 'Big Easy' face the future
Dutch to boost flood protection measures
What the Dutch know about deltas
Dutch plan for flooding: Higher ground
22 December 2008
From
The Guardian:
Sometimes, life's simplest innovations can turn out to be the most useful: cats' eyes on roads, Post-it Notes, Velcro – the sorts of things that cause a sigh of frustration for not having thought of it yourself. Embracing blissful simplicity as a creative aide, Dutch communications company
Spranq have designed a new environmentally friendly font, that looks like this:
The Ecofont saves on printing ink by … well, using less of it. Letters in the freely downloadable typeface contain multiple small circular holes, meaning that each letter requires less ink to be printed. As the designers put it: "After Dutch holey cheese, there now is a Dutch font with holes as well." Quite.
Though rather striking, the typeface is wholly readable (no pun intended) and is, apparently, most effective at nine or 10 point. It's also sans serif, because, of course, the little flourishes on serif fonts will use up more ink when being printed.
Read the entire article
here.
Download the font
here.
18 December 2008
The flower version of one of America's most recognized national monuments and a symbol of freedom, the Statue of Liberty, signifies the theme the world-famous international flower exhibition
Keukenhof in Lisse has chosen for its anniversary year 2009: "USA, New Amsterdam - New York, 400," building on the strong ties between the two countries and the 400th year anniversary of the establishment of New Amsterdam (New York).
According to general manager Mr. Piet de Vries, Keukenhof aims to emphasize the ties between the Netherlands and the United States, as well as to pay tribute to its many American guests. "We enjoy a vast interest of visitors from the United States. The number varies, but it counts for some 11% percent of the approx. 840,000 people we welcome every year."
Four centuries ago, in 1609, Henry Hudson stepped ashore on what is now Manhattan on behalf of the "Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie," the Dutch East India Company, a seafaring company ruling the oceans back then. Henry Hudson established New Amsterdam, which was later re-named into New York, making the Netherlands the founding father of one of the most important metropolitan areas in the world.
At Keukenhof, an amazing American themed route starts with the Hudson River at the park's entrance. From there a swaying path of blue grape flowers illustrates the two streams of New York and leads the visitors along recognizable American phenomena such as Brooklyn, Harlem and Wall Street. A walk of fame depicts, among others, current First Lady Laura Bush, as well as famed destinations such as Hollywood, Manhattan, Washington and Portland in flowers. The American Dream inspires one of the gardens in which Uncle William, a returning emigrant, plays the major role.
More at
Marketwatch.com and
Keukenhof.nl.
More about the 400th anniversary of Hudson's landing and Dutch New York in the archives:
Windmills have storied history in NY, captured by city's seal
1609-2009: 400th anniversary of Hudsons landing in NY
Historic New York: From Dutch colony to world capital
New York’s birth date: Don’t go by city’s seal
Harlem: Then, now and forever
Manhattan letter returns to New York
16 December 2008
In the capital of Curaçao, Willemstad, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has signed an agreement with the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba on the new political structure of the islands, effectively dissolving the federation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The final details were ironed out at a summit dubbed the Round Table Conference. Guidelines are now established on the powers of the Dutch government regarding the administration of law in the Netherlands Antilles. In the 2007 round of autonomy negotiations, the Dutch government agreed to write off the largest part of the Antillean debt in exchange for having a say in the islands' legal system and finances. The islands of Curaçao and Sint Maarten will become autonomous territories, while Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius will become Dutch municipalities.
More at
Radio Netherlands
13 December 2008
All the information you need to enjoy the holiday season in Amsterdam can be found on
IAmsterdam. From
festive events to
New Years parties to
fun on ice and skating. Among tons of other information the site also offers a
printable guide presenting a selection of the exhibitions that take place in Amsterdam from September 2008 until the end of April 2009.
13 December 2008
From an excellent and in-depth look at the current status of Dutch cannabis politics at
Alternet.org:
For more than 30 years under the policy of "gedoogbeleid," which could best be translated as "pragmatic tolerance," the Dutch have allowed the sale of personal amounts of marijuana through the coffee house system, even though doing so is technically illegal. But lately, especially for those of us on this side of the water, a black cloud appears to be hovering over the coffee shops. The number of coffee shops has contracted from about 1,500 in 1995 to 720 now, as successive governments have tightened the screws. The current national government is hostile, if somewhat divided on the issue, and recent headlines about moves to close coffee shops in some border towns and reduce their numbers across the country add to the ominous picture.
But the picture is nowhere near as gloomy as presented by the occasional Reuters or Associated Press report covering such developments. Dutch cannabis policy is approaching a tipping point, the status quo is under pressure, but the end result is more likely to be the creation of a vertically-integrated legal cannabis production and sales industry than the end of the coffee houses and retreat back into prohibition.
While the Christian parties appear implacable in their opposition on moral grounds, the PvdA and the opposition parties are arguing more pragmatically over a pair of issues that have come to symbolize the "problems" of the coffee shops. One is the endless influx of cannabis buyers from neighboring countries with more repressive laws, who clog the city centers of border towns and sometimes deal with hard drug dealers and create public nuisances as well. The other major issue around the coffee shops is the "backdoor problem," wherein, while retail sales at the coffee shops are tolerated, the wholesale supply of cannabis to the coffee shops remains tethered to a criminal netherworld.
The ball really got rolling last month, when the mayors of the southern border towns of Roosendaal and Bergen op Zoom announced they would close all the shops in their cities because of the influx of foreigners. That led the mayor of Eindhoven to announce a proposal for a municipal cannabis garden to supply coffee shops in his city in a bid to reduce the illicit cannabis trade that exists outside the coffee shop system and causes many of the problems associated with foreign "drug tourism." Those moves in turn led to the November 13 "Weed Summit," where the 30 most involved mayors called for a "simple and transparent policy, including a legal system to supply the coffee shops that would be carried out in coordination with European governments."
Read the entire article
here
10 December 2008
From
AFP:
In the shadow of a 14th-century Gothic church and a stone's throw from a day care center, prostitutes flaunt their bodies in red neon-lit windows that Amsterdam city fathers now plan to shutter. The port city's brazen red-light district is also one of the oldest and most picturesque areas of famously liberal Amsterdam, and draws hoards of tourists -- although most come mainly to gawk. But Mayor Job Cohen hopes to close all 35 of the legendary "windows" on the historic Oudekerksplein (Old Church Square) by 2011, and some 200 others in nearby streets over the next 10 years. "Things have become unbalanced," said Cohen, lamenting the spiralling organised crime attracted by the trade in soft drugs and sex, which in themselves are not illegal.
The city's blueprint calls for replacing brothels, cannabis-vending coffee shops, sex shops and peepshows with cafes, boutiques and speciality stores. "If we don't act now, we will never regain control," the mayor said. "At the heart of this project is our desire to drive back criminality."
Though prostitution has long been tolerated in the city -- and the "windows" long touted in guidebooks -- the Netherlands only legalised the world's oldest profession in 2000. The consumption and possession of under five grammes of cannabis was decriminalised in 1976. It is sold in coffee shops with special licences, but its cultivation remains illegal. Both "vices" became major drawing cards for tourism, and Cohen conceded that "there is no way" the brothel windows would ever disappear altogether. But after much deliberation, city officials confirmed this weekend that cuts would be made -- announcing plans to halve the total 482 prostitution windows and 76 coffee shops in a multi-million euro (dollar) revamp of the city centre. "They must remain, but they will be concentrated in a special area for better control," Cohen said.
Today by the city's quaint canals, men -- and groups of snickering adolescents -- amble along the red brick facades where bright neon lights scream the names of sex shops.
Read the entire article
here.
09 December 2008
In an interview with Greta van Susteren for
Fox News, Dutch member of parliament Hero Brinkman slams officials on the island of Aruba, allegations of a cover-up and corruption related to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. From the
transcript:
Van Susteren: You said that Aruba is corrupt as hell. Do you have any particular names of people that should have the bulls eye on their back, people we should look at to try to at least take a look at them?
Brinkman: There are a lot of people. I have made a full investigation this year and filed a full reporting in the parliament early this year from hundreds of different cases of corruption. Nobody in the parliament wanted to talk about that. It is a disgrace.
Just one example - Minister Croes says that he knows that the Van der Straaten, the police chief of Aruba, and Paul van der Sloot, the father of Joran, were very, very good friends. And those two investigated the matter in the early days of the case, and they did this in a very slow manner. If Croes does say this, and this is true, then he already knew that for more than three years. This is truly a disgrace. Why didn't he tell that before? That's why I think it's fully corruption.
Read the entire transcript
here or watch the
video.
More about the Natalee Holloway in the archives:
Joran says Natalee Holloway sold to Venezuelan, then says he lied
Tips renew hopes of solving Holloway case
Report: Natalee Holloway suspect involved in Thai sex trafficking
Emmy for Dutch reporters' Natalee Holloway broadcast
Joran van der Sloot will not be rearrested
Holloway Case News
News Roundup: Holloway Case
Update: New clues in Holloway mystery
Dutch reporter claims to crack Holloway case
06 December 2008
Amsterdam unveiled plans Saturday to close up to half of the famed brothels and marijuana cafes in its ancient city center as part of a major cleanup operation. The city says it wants to drive organized crime out of the district, and is targeting businesses that "generate criminality," including prostitution, gambling parlors, "smart shops" that sell herbal treatments, head shops and "coffee shops" where marijuana is sold openly.
"I think that the new reality will be more in line with our image as a tolerant and crazy place, rather than a free zone for criminals" said alderman Lodewijk Asscher, one of the main proponents of the plan. The city said it would also reduce the number of business it sees as related to the "decay" of the center, including peep shows, sex theaters, sex shops, mini supermarkets, massage parlors and souvenir shops.
The city said there were too many of these and it believes some are used for money-laundering by drug dealers and the human traffickers who supply many of the city's prostitutes. Asscher underlined that the city will remain true to its freewheeling reputation. Under the plan announced Saturday, Amsterdam will spend euro30-euro40 million ($38-$51 million) to bring hotels, restaurants, art galleries and boutiques to the center. It will also build new underground parking areas for cars and bikes and may use some of the vacated buildings to ease a housing shortage.
More at
Associated Press
brothels and cannabis cafés furious over mayor's 'clean-up'
Although prostitution has been legal for eight years, and possession of small amounts of drugs has long been tolerated, the latest moves mark an escalation in the culture wars in a country that many of its people believe has become too liberal. At the heart of the new initiative is the city's drive against the organised crime that it claims gravitates to the areas with high concentrations of 'coffee shops', brothels and the 'windows' where women advertise themselves. While Amsterdam has long been held up as a model of the argument in favour of the legalisation of soft drugs and the sex trade, its critics counter that the windows and coffee shops mask the violent reality of organised crime. 'By reduction and zoning of these kinds of functions, we will be able to manage and tackle the criminal infrastructure better,' the city said in a statement.
Opponents of the clean-up - including coffee-shop owners and the prostitutes' union, De Rode Draad (Red Thread), which represents 20,000 Dutch prostitutes - told The Observer yesterday that they believed that, far from reducing crime, it would encourage drug dealers and prostitutes to go underground in areas where they were banned.
More at
The Guardian
04 December 2008
The Netherlands ranked first in the list of 22 democratic nations chosen because of the combined size of their economies and effective impact on developing nations. The rest of the top 10, in order, were Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Finland, Australia and Austria. The U.S. finished ahead of Switzerland, Greece, Italy, Japan and South Korea. The Netherlands topped the list “on the strength of ample foreign aid, falling greenhouse gas emissions and strong support for investment,” the report said.
More at
Bloomberg
01 December 2008
The Berlin Philharmonic has been toppled. Cleveland no longer reigns supreme. And the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is the best orchestra in the United States. Gramophone magazine has polled international critics to create a list of the top 20 orchestras around the globe, and like all such lists, it will offer fuel for discussion for some time to come. Those of us who think the conductor Mariss Jansons is possibly the best in the world are not alone.
The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, which Jansons has led since 2002, leads the list, ahead of Berlin and Vienna.
Read the entire article at
The Washington Post
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Shop Only in Holland
» Amsterdam dumps wheel clamp
After almost 25 years, the city of Amsterdam has officially ended using wheel clamps. The city councillor responsible for transport in the Dutch capital, Tjeerd Herrema, presented the last wheel clamp to the director of the Dutch Police Museum today. The wheel clamp was introduced in 1984 and last year, 22,000 cars were clamped in the centre of Amsterdam.
Radio Netherlands
» Amsterdam's gay Christmas features Mary in drag
Amsterdam hosted a Christmas celebration for its gay community on Sunday featuring a nativity tableau with a male Mary in drag that church organizations denounced as an affront to traditional values. Organizers said the event was meant to raise Amsterdam's profile as a gay capital at a time when homosexuals feel threatened. Christians for Truth, an independent religious group, had asked the city council to cancel the "Pink Christmas," event, saying it made a mockery of Christian tenets. The city did not comment. Frank van Dalen, chairman of Pro Gay, which organized the event, said gays were not satisfied with being tolerated, but wanted to be "socially accepted as an indivisible part of society." He said the Amsterdam city council sponsored the euro15,000 ($21,000) event, which he hoped would become a regular event, like the annual floating summertime gay pride parade through the city's canals that attracts tens of thousands of visitors.
More at
Associated Press
» Tour of Spain 2009 to start in The Netherlands
The Tour of Spain, the last of cycling’s yearly Grand Tours, will spend its first four days outside of its namesake country, race organizers announced during the presentation of the event’s 64th edition. The route will begin Aug. 29 in Assen, Netherlands, and remain in the flatlands of the country for the first three stages. It will then progress into Belgium for the finish of the fourth stage.
More at
The Examiner
» Dutch state consolidates ABN AMRO stake
The Dutch government will take over Fortis Bank Netherlands's stake in ABN AMRO, a step that will simplify the structure of the state-owned businesses and improve the bank's solvency, the Dutch finance ministry said on Tuesday. The Dutch state took over the Dutch business of Fortis, as well as ABN AMRO that was owned by the Fortis financial group, in October for 16.8 billion euros ($23 billion).
More at
Reuters
» Netherlands in recession in 2009
Following in the steps of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain, the Netherlands has reported that it too will slip into a recession in 2009. Despite the statement - often repeated in recent days by the Dutch government in The Hague - to the effect that the country is 'in a relatively good position', a recession is on its way nonetheless. The latest estimates from the Netherlands' Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) show the Dutch economy is set to shrink in 2009 by at least 0.75 percent.
More at
Radio Netherlands
» Real go Dutch again
Real Madrid Thursday presented their new striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Signed from Ajax, he becomes the sixth Dutch player in the squad. "I think my adaptation will be rather smooth because there are many Dutch players on the team, several of which I know from when they played at Ajax," the new man told a news conference. "This will make it easier than having to adapt to a team in which you know nobody. I still haven't thought much about it. I'll see how things unfold and I will ask for help if I need some."
Real, plagued by injuries and poor form this season, announced Huntelaar's signing from Ajax Amsterdam on Tuesday in a deal worth 27 million euros (34 million USD) that will keep the player at the club until 30 June 2013. The capital side already have five Dutch players on their books: Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Rafael van der Vaart and Royston Drenthe. The squad has drawn comparisons with the Barcelona side of Dutchman Louis van Gaal, who managed the Catalan giants from 1997 to 2000 and then in 2002-03 when it became known as "Ajax Barcelona."
More at
Fifa.com
» Amsterdam ignores magic mushrooms ban
Amsterdam's Mayor Job Cohen is not planning to implement the ban on hallucinogenic mushrooms for now. From last Monday (1 December), the sale of 'magic mushrooms' has been banned. Amsterdam is not however planning to uphold Health Minister Ab Klink's ban, because there are "currently too many uncertainties about how this should be done," said Cohen after leading talks with the police and Public Prosecutor's Office (OM).
More at
NIS
» First Dutch tourists on the way home from Thailand
The first Air France-KLM plane has left Thailand's holiday island of Phuket carrying more than 400 Dutch tourists who had been stranded by protests at Bangkok's international airport. More stranded Dutch tourists are expected to return in the coming days. Air France-KLM says it will fly between Phuket and Amsterdam once a day. Around 1,500 Dutch tourists have registered with the Dutch embassy in Bangkok. The Dutch Ambassador to Thailand, Tjaco van den Hout, has criticised Air France-KLM in an interview with NRC Handelsblad. According to Mr Van den Hout, in comparison to other airlines, Air France-KLM was slow to respond to the crisis. Stranded tourists were allegedly told they would not be able to return until 10 December.
More at
Radio Netherlands
