Every year, the third Tuesday of September is the day when the Queen reads the ‘Speech from the Throne’, outlining the government’s plans for the coming year.
Austerity was the dominant theme this year. ”The Dutch economy has ground to a complete halt this year,” Queen Beatrix told the nation. ”The Netherlands currently faces recession. Swift and decisive action has become imperative%painful measures need to be taken now.” The ruling CDA-VVD-D66 coalition intends to slash government expenditure by 11 billion euros in 2004. Opposition parties called the cuts ”anti-social and irresponsible.” Dutch statistic office figures showed that the Netherlands’ 0.2% growth rate in 2003 was the slowest economic growth of all EU countries. Despite this, however, the Netherlands remains one of the EU’s most prosperous countries: Dutch Gross Domestic Product was 13% above the European average. Recently returned from a state visit to Washington D.C., Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was named the new secretary general of NATO. Current NATO secretary general Lord Robertson said De Hoop Scheffer ”has a distinguished record as both diplomat and politician that makes him superbly qualified to be secretary general.” Previously, De Hoop Scheffer was leader of the Christian Democrat party, but his poor leadership of the party led to him being forced to resign and replaced by current Dutch Premier Balkenende. Minister for Development Cooperation, Agnes van Ardenne, announced the Netherlands would contribute 95 million euros to the reconstruction of Afghanistan over the next three years.
Dutch newspapers reported a spate of violent attacks this past week. In Tilburg, a bus driver was stabbed by a passenger; in Den Helder, a 17-year old youth was stabbed to death on a train station platform; and in Rotterdam, a police officer shot a man in the leg during a street fight. Elsewhere, two families went on a robbery spree in Amsterdam North. A mother (37), son (18) and daughter (15) of one family, and the mother (37) and daughter (16) of another family robbed homes and shops in their neighborhood, setting one building on fire. Dutch judges, meanwhile, launched an offensive to improve an already overloaded judiciary, announcing that if a defendant is more than 15 minutes late for a court appearance, they’ll simply acquit the defendant of the crime. Judges are fed up with ”twiddling their thumbs” while waiting for no-show defendants, the result of an incompetent prisoner transport service. According to US law enforcers, 80% percent of the party drug XTC used in America comes from the Netherlands. The Amsterdam Forum debate tackled this contentious subject, with panelist Mark Souder, a Republican U.S Congressman, labeling the Netherlands ”the Colombia for synthetic drugs.” Souder said the reason for this is that ”the US and the Netherlands have very different cultures. We have a more moral base; the Dutch do not have a moral base. For example, less than 20% of the Dutch population attends church regularly.” Austrian police arrested two Dutchman in Vienna for smuggling 230,000 XTC pills into the country.
2003 produced a record number of warm days. Last Sunday was the 115th day this year when temperatures exceeded 20ºC. The previous record was 113 20ºC+ days in 1921 and 1947. In the farming community of Zuuk, police are searching for ”the avenger”. The Algemeen Dagblad newspaper reported ”350 inhabitants of this community have been living in fear of ‘the avenger’ who has been terrorizing them for five years now.” Barns are set on fire, brake cables cut, and property vandalized. The terrorism began when farmer Gerrit Bosch had an affair with his young baby-sitter and got divorced. He then began receiving death threats, and now everyone who buys hay or potatoes from him, and even his dentist, have been attacked. And finally, a three-year-old boy was shopping with his mother in Deventer when he got hold of her car keys, went outside, started the car and drove through the clothing store’s front window.
Every year, the third Tuesday of September is the day when the Queen reads the ‘Speech from the Throne’, outlining the government’s plans for the coming year. Austerity was the dominant theme this year. ”The Dutch economy has ground to a complete halt this year,” Queen Beatrix told the nation. ”The Netherlands currently faces recession. Swift and decisive action has become imperative%painful measures need to be taken now.” The ruling CDA-VVD-D66 coalition intends to slash government expenditure by 11 billion euros in 2004. Opposition parties called the cuts ”anti-social and irresponsible.” Dutch statistic office figures showed that the Netherlands’ 0.2% growth rate in 2003 was the slowest economic growth of all EU countries. Despite this, however, the Netherlands remains one of the EU’s most prosperous countries: Dutch Gross Domestic Product was 13% above the European average. Recently returned from a state visit to Washington D.C., Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was named the new secretary general of NATO. Current NATO secretary general Lord Robertson said De Hoop Scheffer ”has a distinguished record as both diplomat and politician that makes him superbly qualified to be secretary general.” Previously, De Hoop Scheffer was leader of the Christian Democrat party, but his poor leadership of the party led to him being forced to resign and replaced by current Dutch Premier Balkenende. Minister for Development Cooperation, Agnes van Ardenne, announced the Netherlands would contribute 95 million euros to the reconstruction of Afghanistan over the next three years.
Dutch newspapers reported a spate of violent attacks this past week. In Tilburg, a bus driver was stabbed by a passenger; in Den Helder, a 17-year old youth was stabbed to death on a train station platform; and in Rotterdam, a police officer shot a man in the leg during a street fight. Elsewhere, two families went on a robbery spree in Amsterdam North. A mother (37), son (18) and daughter (15) of one family, and the mother (37) and daughter (16) of another family robbed homes and shops in their neighborhood, setting one building on fire. Dutch judges, meanwhile, launched an offensive to improve an already overloaded judiciary, announcing that if a defendant is more than 15 minutes late for a court appearance, they’ll simply acquit the defendant of the crime. Judges are fed up with ”twiddling their thumbs” while waiting for no-show defendants, the result of an incompetent prisoner transport service. According to US law enforcers, 80% percent of the party drug XTC used in America comes from the Netherlands. The Amsterdam Forum debate tackled this contentious subject, with panelist Mark Souder, a Republican U.S Congressman, labeling the Netherlands ”the Colombia for synthetic drugs.” Souder said the reason for this is that ”the US and the Netherlands have very different cultures. We have a more moral base; the Dutch do not have a moral base. For example, less than 20% of the Dutch population attends church regularly.” Austrian police arrested two Dutchman in Vienna for smuggling 230,000 XTC pills into the country.
2003 produced a record number of warm days. Last Sunday was the 115th day this year when temperatures exceeded 20ºC. The previous record was 113 20ºC+ days in 1921 and 1947. In the farming community of Zuuk, police are searching for ”the avenger”. The Algemeen Dagblad newspaper reported ”350 inhabitants of this community have been living in fear of ‘the avenger’ who has been terrorizing them for five years now.” Barns are set on fire, brake cables cut, and property vandalized. The terrorism began when farmer Gerrit Bosch had an affair with his young baby-sitter and got divorced. He then began receiving death threats, and now everyone who buys hay or potatoes from him, and even his dentist, have been attacked. And finally, a three-year-old boy was shopping with his mother in Deventer when he got hold of her car keys, went outside, started the car and drove through the clothing store’s front window.
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