Coping with public and private transport since 2001
I know it’s kind of weird to discuss a defect of Dutch-writing people in English, but it bothered me that much I just had to mention it. So here goes. My personal rant on misspelling and general neglecting of rules in writing Dutch. Whenever someone is ranting on a defect, there’s a website on that subject. This is also true
Continue readingThis week, our world is about to get a little less polluted. The Dutch government has effectuated regulation conceived last August in conjunction with the corporate world and the municipalities to collect and process the plastics in the garbage separately from the other waste. No worries there, separated collection of garbage makes it easy to process it, as the separation
Continue readingWell, we probably all know the issues in Belgium these days. After a period of 192 days, a new government has been formed under the supervision of Yves Leterme, which had to cope with a huge amount of concessions. The agreement was almost non-functional as both sides were dug in deep. Today, and in the short week hereafter, this might
Continue readingYes, it does say murder. Our nation has been renowned for it’s mussels for ages, as ‘Zeeuwse Mosselen’ are world famous for their taste and fat. Dutch mussels differ from all other mussels as they are treated well in every stage of their life, to benefit both the fishers and consumers and the mussels. Nowadays, all production involving livestock has
Continue readingInheritance tax probably is the most disliked and misunderstood form of taxation our country has. Whenever a departed dear one grants a part of their ‘fortune’ to you, you’ll have to pay taxes for receiving it, even when you have not yet received it (for instance, when your mom still lives in the parental house when your dad passed away).
Continue readingEach and every day there seems to be news about Geert Wilders, his Islam-critic film Fitna, "Boerkinis", troublesome (islamic) allochthonous youth and more. One could say it’s the Islam, or rather the fear around it, that’s keeping the reporters and our politicians busy. To start with Fitna, the recently completed but still unviewed critical film about the Islam and the
Continue readingEmployment , forced termination of employment, legal issues surrounding employment and the current cabinet Balkenende IV don’t go together very well. After the near crash of the current cabinet last year, minister Donner has said today he thinks the regulations regarding the termination of employment should be re-evaluated and perhaps even adapted to respect employers more. Today, regulations around employment
Continue readingIn the USA, the race is on. All candidates for the democratic and the republican parties did it, previous to and even during their campaign. Fund raising through dinners, shows and private parties. Anyone with money and a little affiliation is welcome. Luckily, the fund raising is not anonymously, all gifts have to be registered and published. Back to our
Continue readingYes, the title does indeed say "constitutional discrimination", as this is what the European Commission thinks of the practice in our country. Recently, the European Commissioner of Social Affairs Vladimir Spidla has sent the Dutch government a letter concerning the treatment of homosexuals, and the more strict compliance to a European regulation stemming from the year 2000. This guidance is
Continue readingBad, bad American banks. Giving mortgages to people who have a high risk of not being able to pay the monthlee fees, and reselling the packaged mortgages to other institutions. Oh well, it has happened, and we cannot do anything about it. With the prices of housing stagnating, and the dollar decreasing in value, a crisis of unknown propotions seems
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