Posts Tagged ‘Dutch’

Tulipomania – Dutch tulip market crash

three tulip bulbs traded for a whole house

Tulipomania refers to a market gone seriously madly wrong in the sale of tulips at extra-ordinary prices in the 17th century Holland. In 1633, three tulip bulbs were exchanged for a whole house. In January 1637, a single bulb was sold for the equivalent of $1.06 million.

The tulip craze reached its highest in February, 1637 when a single bed of tulips left by a dead father was sold for 90,000 guilders – worth more than a house, now about $10 million today, by orphans of the deceased. By May of the same year, a bed of tulips that sold in January for 1000 guilders was suddenly worth no more than just six guilders, down to less than 1% of previous value.

Building sector lobby

building more empty unrented excessive office space costs €640 million/year

Lobbying The building sector lobby is so strong in the Netherlands that despite an increase of empty unrented office space to 14% of total, they continue to plan and develop still more office complexes. There are now some 6.5 million square metres of excessive office space, and that costs at least €640 million a year half of it built by government or funded tax-payer’s money. This clearly is an area in which much budget cut can be very meaningful.

Jewish Islamic lobby for painful animal killing

Kosher meat ruins new animal-protection law in Dutch senate

Kosher meat – Jewish religious tradition, also absorbed by Islam, not only requires that only certain types of animals can be eaten, but also specifies how those animals should be killed in the first place. Basically, these religions stipulate that animals should be killed by bleeding to death; what gives the beasts extremely painful suffering. Animal protection activists now increasingly object to such hypocritical, religious, wicked ways of killing animals without sedating them. Almost single-handedly, Mariane Thieme leader of the Animal Rights political party in Dutch parliament achieved a great feat by getting the majority of the lower house to successfully pass a new law that forbids the religious killing of animals without sedation. CDA the biggest Dutch Christian party in parliament also voted in support of the new law, at that stage.

Although Jewish religion and Islam are clearly against wickedness even to animals, Jewish and Islamic lobbies exerted much pressure on the Dutch senate to reject the new law, thus denying it of the necessary approval by that higher house of parliament. The greatest opposition in the senate was from the CDA – the Christian party. Evidently, this party was corrupted by the Jewish and Islamic lobbyists to change its vote to a ‘no‘; clearly an unchristian practice.

Corrupt inefficient purchase in hospitals

Davinci robots unproven efficacy at high price

Philips Electronics as company was fined heavily recently for bribing the staff of medical hospitals into buying expensive medical equipments. Now Dutch health insurance companies led by Achmea are complaining that there are far too many expensive medical equipments – the Davinci robots used to perform operations on patients with prostate complaints. Each Davinci robot costs €1.5 to €2 million – a very high price that is difficult to justify on the basis of its performance. Yet, while a total of four Davinci robots are sufficient for all of Dutch hospitals, already as many as 16 are bought and in use. This shows an exorbitant financial waste by hospitals that are under pressure to cut costs and become more efficient.

Orchestrated lying on candidacy for top post

CDA's Piet Hein Donner, Jaap de Hoop Schaeffer, Dutch premier Balkenende denied own cand

If rubber as the most flexible natural product came from the Americas and Africa, definitely the most flexible political trickery with cover-up akin to open-air corruption comes from Holland. Curiously orchestrated lying – that is the case of the holy Christian CDA party candidate – Piet Hein Donner – who as minister of Interior Affairs tactfully gets himself appointed as Vice Chairman or head of the Dutch Council of State – the very highest legal and political, constitutional body in Dutch kingdom, simply by denying any knowledge of his very own candidacy.

In the illicit and corrupt CDA tradition of candidates denying own personal candidacy for major posts, Jaap de Hoop Schaeffer repeatedly publicly denied being candidate for the post of NATO Secretary General while he was desperately currying favour of George W Bush by offering expensive Dutch support of stupid wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – simply to ward off other candidates. He kept denying until the very day his appointment was publicly announced, as if the leaders in charge are stupid enough to appoint someone to such an important post without informing the candidate before hand.

Similarly, the over-ambitious, inexperienced, Dutch premier Balkenende kept his strong lobby for the new post of European President very secret while constantly denying in public that he was a candidate. Even when his imminent resignation as premier to free himself for the new post was well-known in wide circles, he continued to deny any knowledge of being candidate himself. But he was very upset when Britain‘s premier Tony Blair became candidate for the post. That both Blair and Balkenende had over-estimated themselves was clear when the cool-headed Belgian candidate got the job. Now, CDA’s abominable minister Donner has again fooled the Dutch public by denying that he is candidate for a post for which he ensured that no other candidate world get seriously considered.

In his denial on Wednesday, 14 December 2011, minister Donner told reporters that it was premature to call him candidate for the post of Vice-Chairman of Council of State if he knew nothing about it. That same day, in Holland, his VVD premier Mark Rutte told the public on TV that he as premier was busy to ensure that the candidate selection process for that post would be perfectly thorough, transparent and free of nepotism. Yet the very next day, Thursday 15 December, Rutte was thousands of kilometres away in Afghanistan to ensure that he committed the Dutch government to extend the duration of the expensive Dutch training of Afghanistan police and even to expand the scope. All that is at great expense to Dutch tax payers who are facing huge budget-cuts even on essentials of life including health care, education and pension income.

That same Thursday, Donner was still denying his candidacy when he was confronted that he was the only candidate, and that a lady was being selected to replace him as minister of Interior Affairs so as to free him for the new post. Yet, the very next day Friday 16 December, with Rutte as premier and Donner as responsible minister of Interiorl Affairs, the Dutch cabinet appointed Elisabeth Pies as new minister to replace Donner. And in that same seating, the cabinet appointed Donner as new Vice-Chairman of Council of State, making him the most powerful person in Dutch government, with the monarch only symbolically higher.

What makes Donner’s denial most spectacular is not so much his simple denial as is now customary of CDA party candidates of posts, but the scale of the denial of cover-up even when it became known that they were all lying. Following Donner’s dubious appointment, VVD minister of Justice Ivo Opstelten had the audacity to declare to the public that Donner’s appointment was transparent. They even try to make Donner seem especially holy cut out for the post despite his repeated air of bluntness against all opposing meanings on any issue in public and in parliament when he disregards ethics.

Donner’s appointment as Vice-Chairman of Council of  State is of crucial strategic interest nationally because by getting him there, the Orange monarchy ensures its own permanence in the on-coming wave of demands for constitutional changes to reduce the Orange hold unto power, calls for the Orange family to pay tax like every Dutch does, and calls to make the undoubtable Orange family’s political influence more open and less covet.

Recent issues that reinforce such demands include:

1. hidden behind-the-screen appointment of Formateurs to form cabinets after public party elections,
2. Queen Beatrix’s undaunted visit to Qatar’s dictatorial emir in the midst of political demonstrations there for much-needed democratic reforms,
3. sharply increasing budget-cuts that make the life of the ordinary Dutch difficult while the Orange royalty continues to cost so much but enjoys exemption from tax,
4. centuries-old oligarchy between the Dutch Christian political groupings (CDA) and the Orange royalty in setting the now conservative social stage for Dutch customs and practices.

The grip of the insurance and banking sector, the building sector and the military on Dutch life, economy, health care and infrastructure rests on that joint power-play behind the screen. Everybody knows that no Dutch company can include the Royal title in its name or internationally in its logo without having alliance with the Orange family. Yet, no public shareholders’ meetings nor public bodies ever get to seeing the role of the House of Orange in the affairs of such a company.

Public desire to improve Dutch thinking and policies in the above areas are reasons enough for calls by D66 and other parties except CDA for constitutional change to give the Vice-Chairman more power and reduce the impact of the Dutch monarchy. Donner’s new appointment is a tactical political move by the House of Orange; a move called positioning by strategists. He is positioned in the new post precisely to ward off any coming demands for constitutional change in the role of the Dutch monarchy, no matter what future elections and referendums may dictate.

As a known close friend of the House of Orange, Donner cannot be objective in his new post. He was suddenly appointed as formateur by Queen Beatrix in the past just to seat CDA’s Balkenende in cabinet. He is fanatically adamant in defending indefensible political standpoints in public as minister; much to the horror of well-meaning other members of parliament. He even justified the death of several asylum seekers in fires to their prison when Dutch guards failed to open gates for their safety. He is known as the influential architect behind Christian CDA’s very unchristian commitment to the evil, racist, unsympathetic, often unethical stand of Gerard Wilder’s populist PVV party. Without Donner, Maxime Verhage could not have been able to resist CDA party members’ opposition to the present minority Condonation cabinet with PVV and VVD parties.

Donner’s style as political servant and as minister is very much one of secret actions behind the screen as typical of the House of Orange. He is almost a reincarnation of the author of the slogan “Oranje boven, Oranje boven..!!!” – Gijsbert Karel Hogendorp who around 1795 declared total rejection of any constitution that did not guarantee an Orange figure as head, except that there is now in 2011 no one opposing as did Schimmelpenninck two centuries ago.

The question for the serious thinking Dutch politician and voting public is – can one trust a guy in the highest head of the Dutch national system who lied so consistently and openly to get the post?

Pedofile church priests take confessions of sins

homosexual candidates for priesthood helped

Church priests, and bishops in particular are expected to show the highest level of ethics as religious leaders. Catholic priests should be even more committed to high ethical standards if only because they assume the pretentious duty to take confessions of sins from their church members and give advice on moral behaviour. Recent and ongoing waves of reports of sexual abuse of children by celibate Catholic priests show the failure of the church maintain the required standard of religious ethics.

A case in view is the revelation that for decades, tens of thousands of cases of Dutch priests abusing children sexually when reported were systematically swept under the carpet by church leaders, rather than take disciplinary action against the sinful priests. Despite warning and advice by selection committees, bishop Eijk of Rotterdam – thought to be homo himself, repeatedly  hired homosexual candidates into the priesthood. At least five of such priests when eventually dismissed from Rotterdam for sexually abusing children, were personally helped by the bishop to move to other parishes as priests, without warning those parishes. As a result, the priests continued their sexual grip on boys in their new settings. Such support of sexual abuse given by a bishop is deplorable.

Catholic priests sexually abuse children

deaf-pot - cover-up by bishops celibacy is sex-hunger

For years now, with an air of puritanism, the Dutch press has been musing over the world-wide scandal of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests in other countries. Then suddenly a few cases of such sex abuse by Dutch priests covered up by bishops came to light.

More than a year of investigation by a commission led by Wim Deetman has now uncovered 10000 specific victims in a total of over 20000 children abused for years on end by Catholic priests in Holland who reported own experiences. The one case that went to court was clearly won by the victim who now stands to get compensation by the church. Yet in typical huge Dutch cover-up style – called the deaf-pot, the public prosecutor has now declared that it will no longer prosecute any of the thousands of cases, giving expiration as flimsy excuse. Clearly a cover-up by Dutch Justice Department that is ever the domain of the christian CDA party now under influence of church lobbyists.  Does this mean that all the sex-hungry, celibate Dutch priests suddenly stopped all erotic satisfaction years ago by miracle of a holy ghost that very exactly makes the law expire just to help them?

Profiteering on health needs

Hearing aid 1700% profit margin

Hearing aid – those small plastic-electronic hearing appliances cost €70 to €260 to produce and supply to the shops where they are sold for €1720 to €4500 each by shops like the Dutch Schonenberg and Specsavers chain stores. That gives an exorbitant profit margin of 1700% to 2450%. Their sales staff is under great pressure to sell mainly the most expensive models, even when a buyer does not need such. These two companies spend up to €200 on ads per piece sold.

Multinational companies evade Dutch tax

€14 billion - unpaid company tax

Company takeovers by multinationals are paid for by Dutch tax payers for up to €10 billion via tax on interests. Moreover, each professional tax payer in person or as home owner pays more tax than each multinational as multinationals frequently evade tax payment. In 2007 alone, tax evasion by companies amounted to €14 billion.

Slavery still in England today

working 15 years without pay

Slavery still in England today !! British police stormed into a caravan camp in Liverpool on 12 September 2011 and found 24 men who had been kept there as slaves, some for 15 years already, forced to work under very unhealthy conditions without pay for four men and a woman. The slaves were recruited from poor, hungry, homeless junkies and bums on the streets. They easily accepted promises of good pay and housing, but ended up locked into a caravan park camp to work as slaves.