Education

News Below Sea Level

The Dutch Central Planning Bureau (CPB) issued a stark warning: “The European welfare state is unsustainable.”

The Dutch Central Planning Bureau (CPB) issued a stark warning: “The European welfare state is unsustainable.” The CPB said the Netherlands and other EU countries must drastically reform their social welfare systems because of factors including aging, growing income gaps, increasing social diversity, and reduced tax revenue. Dutch unions, employers and the government meanwhile agreed to halt wage increases in exchange for avoiding welfare cuts. The accord, seen as proof the ‘polder model’ of social consensus still works, means no pay rises for union workers in 2004-2005. In return, the government will postpone pension cuts and provide some compensation for increased healthcare costs. Elsewhere, so heated was a Dutch Parliament defense policy debate that the Telegraaf headlined, ‘Parliament wants to eat defense minister alive.’ Most parliamentarians oppose the planned purchase of 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles. The purchase would make the Netherlands the third country in the world, behind the U.S. and UK, to own cruise missiles. Opponents say the missiles are ‘a superfluous luxury’, especially as 12,000 military jobs will be cut in the coming years. Dutch Minister of Justice Piet Hein Donner wants to take away the landing rights of airlines that repeatedly transport drug smugglers. And to combat drugs tourism primarily from Germany, the Minister wants to limit hash and marijuana sales in Dutch coffeeshops to local residents. To buy a joint, people would have to show a Dutch passport. German officials called the plan ‘ridiculous’ and are demanding a total ban on soft drug sales in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, a study by the Trimbos Institute, a Dutch mental-health center, found that smoking marijuana and hash doubles the risk of schizophrenia and other mental disorders.

A new report on car use in the Netherlands concludes that the country is now %%a car-dependent society%%; there are ten times more cars today than 40 years ago. The Dutch Royal family continues to make headlines. A parliamentary debate focused on the role the Dutch national security service (AIVD), and Premier Balkenende, played in investigating the background of Prince Johan Friso’s fiancée, Mabel Wisse-Smit, who allegedly had connections to the criminal underworld. A newspaper editorial said the debate took place %%in an atmosphere of whole and half-truths and political intrigue.%% Meanwhile, Princess Irene, the Queen’s sister, has written another book about her mystical New Age beliefs, entitled %Earth I love you%. The Telegraaf reports that Irene also enjoys talking to trees and whispering to horses. Her father, Prince Bernhard, once again denied that he%s a traitor. A new book alleges that Bernhard, a German, wrote to Hitler in 1942, offering to assume the role of stadholder (governor) of the occupied Netherlands. No such letter has ever been found, however, and Bernhard ‘repeatedly and emphatically’ denies the allegation.

Police ended the kidnapping of 16-year-old Reinier Terwindt, the son of a rich industrialist from Nijmegen. The kidnapper, a 37-year-old Dutchman, held Terwindt prisoner in a holiday house in Belgium, demanding a 10 million euro ransom. Police traced the kidnapper’s whereabouts through his mobile phone. Police also thwarted an attempt by Yugoslavian criminals to kidnap soccer star Meteja Kezman, a Serb who plays for PSV Eindhoven. And finally, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, maker of Viagra, has approached a Groningen University professor who claims to have made the first PET scan of the human brain at the moment of an orgasm. The professor says an orgasm has the same effect as a shot of heroin. The drug company hopes to develop an orgasm pill that gives users an orgiastic feeling.

The CPB said the Netherlands and other EU countries must drastically reform their social welfare systems because of factors including aging, growing income gaps, increasing social diversity, and reduced tax revenue.


Dutch unions, employers and the government meanwhile agreed to halt wage increases in exchange for avoiding welfare cuts. The accord, seen as proof the ‘polder model’ of social consensus still works, means no pay rises for union workers in 2004-2005. In return, the government will postpone pension cuts and provide some compensation for increased healthcare costs. Elsewhere, so heated was a Dutch Parliament defense policy debate that the Telegraaf headlined, ‘Parliament wants to eat defense minister alive.’ Most parliamentarians oppose the planned purchase of 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles. The purchase would make the Netherlands the third country in the world, behind the U.S. and UK, to own cruise missiles. Opponents say the missiles are ‘a superfluous luxury’, especially as 12,000 military jobs will be cut in the coming years. Dutch Minister of Justice Piet Hein Donner wants to take away the landing rights of airlines that repeatedly transport drug smugglers. And to combat drugs tourism primarily from Germany, the Minister wants to limit hash and marijuana sales in Dutch coffeeshops to local residents. To buy a joint, people would have to show a Dutch passport. German officials called the plan ‘ridiculous’ and are demanding a total ban on soft drug sales in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, a study by the Trimbos Institute, a Dutch mental-health center, found that smoking marijuana and hash doubles the risk of schizophrenia and other mental disorders.



A new report on car use in the Netherlands concludes that the country is now ‘a car-dependent society’; there are ten times more cars today than 40 years ago. The Dutch Royal family continues to make headlines. A parliamentary debate focused on the role the Dutch national security service (AIVD), and Premier Balkenende, played in investigating the background of Prince Johan Friso’s fiancée, Mabel Wisse-Smit, who allegedly had connections to the criminal underworld. A newspaper editorial said the debate took place ‘in an atmosphere of whole and half-truths and political intrigue.’ Meanwhile, Princess Irene, the Queen’s sister, has written another book about her mystical New Age beliefs, entitled ‘Earth I love you’. The Telegraaf reports that Irene also enjoys talking to trees and whispering to horses. Her father, Prince Bernhard, once again denied that he’s a traitor. A new book alleges that Bernhard, a German, wrote to Hitler in 1942, offering to assume the role of stadholder (governor) of the occupied Netherlands. No such letter has ever been found, however, and Bernhard ‘repeatedly and emphatically’ denies the allegation.



Police ended the kidnapping of a 16-year-old boy, the son of a rich industrialist from Nijmegen. The kidnapper, a 37-year-old Dutchman, held the boy prisoner in a holiday house in Belgium, demanding a 10 million euro ransom. Police traced the kidnapper’s whereabouts through his mobile phone. Police also thwarted an attempt by Yugoslavian criminals to kidnap soccer star Meteja Kezman, a Serb who plays for PSV Eindhoven. And finally, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, maker of Viagra, has approached a Groningen University professor who claims to have made the first PET scan of the human brain at the moment of an orgasm. The professor says an orgasm has the same effect as a shot of heroin. The drug company hopes to develop an orgasm pill that gives users an orgiastic feeling.

Editor Redactie

Do you have a question or comment about this article?

delta@tudelft.nl

Comments are closed.