Education

News below sea level

After 218 days without a formal government, a CDA-VVD-D66 center-right coalition government is set to rule Holland. But for how long, skeptical pundits ask? Dutch Premier JP Balkenende isn’t among the top 5 most popular Dutch politicians, according to recent polls, and D66 leader Boris Dittrich warned that ”if they try to trick us, we’ll break, and it’ll never be glued back together.’

‘ Premier Balkenende’s mother is worried, too. ”Our boy hasn’t had a vacation in 18 months!” she complained. The Dutch economy is officially in recession, shrinking by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2003. Royal Dutch Shell reported a net income of $ 5.3 billion for the first quarter of 2003, a quarterly record. The government plans to cut 20,000 civil service jobs, and force under-23-year-olds to accept work-placement assignments. 9.7% of under-23-year-olds are unemployed (national unemployment rate: 5.1%). Ministers warn of a ‘lost generation’ of high school dropouts: 47,000 Dutch kids quit school annually. The average Dutch worker now works 9.5 hours of % paid and unpaid % overtime per week. Dutch unions aren’t happy with this ”structural overtime” trend. ”One person’s overtime is another’s unemployment,” a union representative said. A survey found that 58% of Dutch women work less than 3.5 hours per week, compared to 10% in South Korea, 18% USA, 34% Germany. A TV programming board for Drenthe-Groningen province recommended that CNN be dropped from the local cable TV menu because it’s ”too pro-American”. A study found that 15% of Holland’s dikes fail to meet safety standards. However, according to Royal Water Board Chairman, Prince Willem Alexander, there’s no need to worry: ”Many [safety] goals haven’t been met, but Holland is safer than ever before.” The National Committee for High School Students (LAKS) received so many email complaints in the first week of the final examination period that its computer network crashed. High school students complained that exams were too long and required too much math. Last year LAKS received 68,000 complaints during the exam period. An Erasmus Medical Center research project determined that 400,000 Dutch people will die from smoking-related illnesses between 2000 and 2015. Since 1950, smoking-related illnesses have killed 800,000 Dutch people. Thirteen men suspected of having links to al-Qaeda have gone on trial in Rotterdam. The National Ombudsman reported ”explosive” growth in complaints concerning ”SMS Wild West practices” by Dutch telecomm companies: customers were bombarded with unwanted SMS messages they then had to pay for. Secondary school students in Amersfoort will take an ‘aso test’ to determine how anti-social they are. Questions include, ‘What do you do when a feeble old man boards a crowded bus?’ The test’s organizer said, ”Students know they shouldn’t buy stolen bikes or give people the finger. This test reminds kids that it’s not cool to destroy bus-stop shelters, but that it is cool to help people.” Deventer police cordoned off the city ahead of a Sunday afternoon football match between a local team and ADO Den Haag. ADO supporters are notoriously violent. All cars stopped by police containing ADO fans without tickets were turned back. Elsewhere, PSV Football Club’s Managing Director, Fons Spooren, was arrested for an ”indecent sexual act”.

After 218 days without a formal government, a CDA-VVD-D66 center-right coalition government is set to rule Holland. But for how long, skeptical pundits ask? Dutch Premier JP Balkenende isn’t among the top 5 most popular Dutch politicians, according to recent polls, and D66 leader Boris Dittrich warned that ”if they try to trick us, we’ll break, and it’ll never be glued back together.” Premier Balkenende’s mother is worried, too. ”Our boy hasn’t had a vacation in 18 months!” she complained. The Dutch economy is officially in recession, shrinking by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2003. Royal Dutch Shell reported a net income of $ 5.3 billion for the first quarter of 2003, a quarterly record. The government plans to cut 20,000 civil service jobs, and force under-23-year-olds to accept work-placement assignments. 9.7% of under-23-year-olds are unemployed (national unemployment rate: 5.1%). Ministers warn of a ‘lost generation’ of high school dropouts: 47,000 Dutch kids quit school annually. The average Dutch worker now works 9.5 hours of % paid and unpaid % overtime per week. Dutch unions aren’t happy with this ”structural overtime” trend. ”One person’s overtime is another’s unemployment,” a union representative said. A survey found that 58% of Dutch women work less than 3.5 hours per week, compared to 10% in South Korea, 18% USA, 34% Germany. A TV programming board for Drenthe-Groningen province recommended that CNN be dropped from the local cable TV menu because it’s ”too pro-American”. A study found that 15% of Holland’s dikes fail to meet safety standards. However, according to Royal Water Board Chairman, Prince Willem Alexander, there’s no need to worry: ”Many [safety] goals haven’t been met, but Holland is safer than ever before.” The National Committee for High School Students (LAKS) received so many email complaints in the first week of the final examination period that its computer network crashed. High school students complained that exams were too long and required too much math. Last year LAKS received 68,000 complaints during the exam period. An Erasmus Medical Center research project determined that 400,000 Dutch people will die from smoking-related illnesses between 2000 and 2015. Since 1950, smoking-related illnesses have killed 800,000 Dutch people. Thirteen men suspected of having links to al-Qaeda have gone on trial in Rotterdam. The National Ombudsman reported ”explosive” growth in complaints concerning ”SMS Wild West practices” by Dutch telecomm companies: customers were bombarded with unwanted SMS messages they then had to pay for. Secondary school students in Amersfoort will take an ‘aso test’ to determine how anti-social they are. Questions include, ‘What do you do when a feeble old man boards a crowded bus?’ The test’s organizer said, ”Students know they shouldn’t buy stolen bikes or give people the finger. This test reminds kids that it’s not cool to destroy bus-stop shelters, but that it is cool to help people.” Deventer police cordoned off the city ahead of a Sunday afternoon football match between a local team and ADO Den Haag. ADO supporters are notoriously violent. All cars stopped by police containing ADO fans without tickets were turned back. Elsewhere, PSV Football Club’s Managing Director, Fons Spooren, was arrested for an ”indecent sexual act”.

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