The Netherlands - US Relations: Florida governor: sick passengers on cruise ship cannot be 'dumped' here "as a result Fort Lauderdale could be branded world-wide as an inhumane tourist destination"

The Florida Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, has said passengers on a coronavirus-stricken cruise trip cannot be “dumped” in his state, casting further doubt over where two vessels carrying hundreds of people will be a two vessels carrying hundreds of people will be allowed to dock.

Two people have tested positive for the disease and dozens are ill with flu-like symptoms on the Zaandam luxury cruise liner, which has not been able to dock after several Latin American countries closed their ports in response to the global pandemic.

Hundreds of North American, Australia, Dutch and British citizens are in isolation in their rooms and a boat-to-boat operation is underway to move some healthy travellers to a sister ship, the Rotterdam, over the weekend.

But there are fears that sick, elderly passengers and crew members will be left stranded at sea during a global pandemic, with some on board isolating in small, humid cabins with no natural light or fresh air.
Holland America Line, which owns the cruise ship, confirmed on Friday that four elderly passengers had died onboard. It is not clear whether they died after catching Covid-19.

“Unfortunately, four of our fellow guests have passed away – one last night, two yesterday and one a few days ago,” the ship’s captain Captain Jan Smit said in an announcement, which was obtained by The Guardian. “We are still seeing both guests and crew with symptoms reporting to the medical center. The situation continues to grow more challenging each day.”

Both ships are presently on their way to Fort Lauderdale.

Note EU-Digest: Both Ships - the Zaandam and the Rotterdam use Fort Lauderdale as their cruise base and all passengers on the ships boarded in Fort Lauderdale before any US travel restriction were issued. 

Florida  Governor Ron DeSantis better realize that if he does not allow all passengers of these cruise ships to disembark in Fort Lauderdale, so they can be properly taken care of and treated, that Florida will be branded around the world as an inhumane tourist destination.  

EU-Digest

The Netherlands-USA Relations - Global Warming - Tampa Teams Up With Netherlands to Deal With Climate Change - by Dalia Dangerfield

The Bay Area and the Netherlands are teaming up to raise awareness on climate change. 

• Tampa working with Netherlands on climate change
• Tampa Chief of Staff John Bennett toured Netherlands to get ideas
• Tampa to develop action plan with ideas

Tampa Chief of Staff John Bennett was invited to the Netherlands by Dutch Leaders to learn how their country deals with climate change.

"When you're riding around the country, it looks like any other country, but when you know what you're looking at, you're like 'wow that's a neat project," Bennett said.

The Netherlands is very vulnerable to floods and storm surge.  Their answer includes using natural resources as a defense. Something Bennett agrees with.

"Lets use nature as much as possible instead of putting more infrastructure in place," Bennett said.

 Read more at: Tampa Teams Up With Netherlands to Deal With Climate Change

Harvey and Irma remind us, all displaced persons around the globe share common problems and deserve common solutions - by R.M.

Irma : Floridians fleeing the State from natural disaster

As more than 5.4 million Floridians evacuate from the upcoming onslaught of Irma, while Texans are still recovering from the devastating damage caused by Hurricane Harvey, it might be a good moment to take a second, step out of our comfort zone, and realize the Floridians and Texans are not the only humans facing these problems around the world.

The only difference being that for one the calamity came as part of a natural disaster, from which they eventually can return home safely, and for the other, as a result of “man-made “ disasters, commonly known as wars and religious persecutions..

We as humans, morally,  can not show compassion for one human being and withhold it from the other. Certainly not for those displaced persons, who were forced to flee from their home countries against their will and become refugees in foreign lands, and considered second rate citizens there.

A "master race" does not exist. Humans are all equal in the eyes of our Creator. There is no difference if you are a man or a woman, black, white, brown, yellow, African, American, Arab, Asian , European, Eskimo, or Indian.

People fleeing from "man-made"disasters reaching EU coasts

People fleeing from their homes and cities, either for religious persecution, or because they have been bombed to oblivion by either their own governments or others, and who fled seeking safety and economic prosperity in countries other than their own, should not be barred by any country. At least not by those who proclaim they hold human rights and other values dear to their heart.

Bottom line: Yes, we need to help and pray for all the stricken people in Florida and Texas, but must also include in our prayers all those other displaced persons around the world.

Displaced persons from Myanmar,,Syria, Afghanistan,Sudan,  and many other “disaster” areas, to mention just a few, deserve the same helping hand and prayers we usually reserve for our own.

© This article can be copied,translated,distributed by request to:

freeplanet@prontonmail.com

 

EU-Digest

Cuba-USA: A new chapter in Cuba -US relations: History happening again right before our eyes - by RM

Viva Cuba - Viva USA

History is  happening right before our eyes - Cuba-USA: March 21, 2016 . The first day of Spring and also signalling a new beginning in a long-rime historic and often turbulent relationship between the USA and Cuba,

For me personally it brings back many memories, going back to when I was a kid visiting Havana, Cuba in 1957, with my parents ( two years before the Castro Revolution) - on the way from La Guaira, Venezuela to Le Havre, France.

Cuba-USA  -A new Chapter -Raoul Castro and Barack Obama -  

Cuba at that time was a US backed "Republic" ruled by Fulgenca Batista, a ruthless dictator with close links to the US Mafia. He ruled Cuba with an iron hand, while the mob controlled all the night-life, prostitution and other criminal activities. 

The "real economy" of Cuba at that time was mainly in the hands of US multi- nationals, as was over 50 % of the sugar industry, 

The US multi-national communications giant of that time, ITT,, controlled all the communication systems on the Island. 

Fast Forward to 1980 - working for a multi-national aluminum corporation based in Pittsburgh, I was assigned to organize a "strategy planning" meeting for our Caribbean External Relations Managers. We chose the beautiful Florida Island of Key-West to hold the meeting.

Again history happened right before our eyes, when we literally saw from the hotel we were staying in Key West how droves of Cuban refugees started arriving on Key West shores - this eventually became known as the Mariel Boat Lift. 

And here today we are again in Florida, April 21,2016, watching live scenes form Cuba, with Raoul Castro and Barack Obama starting a new chapter in the Cuban US relationship - we can only hope that Cuba and the US will have learned from their past mistakes, and that greed will not, once again, become the driving force of this relationship.  

Viva Cuba, Viva USA !

 
EU-Digeswt

Global GNP: Holland outside the EU would be reduced to the same level of global importance as Florida

Netherlands equal to state of Florida

How does the U.S. economy measure up to the rest of the world? You could find out by poring over a table of GDP figures, or you could get a snap perspective from this map, which renames every U.S. state according to a country with a matching GDP.

One million Rhode Islanders have as much wealth as 15 million Guatemalans. Texas has an economy the size of Australia’s. And New York has met its match, Mexico.

The map from economist Mark J. Perry at the American Enterprise Institute puts America’s $16 trillion GDP in perspective. “The map and these statistics help remind us of the enormity of the economic powerhouse we live in,” Perry writes, at least to the 4% of the world’s population that lives there.

The Netherlands economy (GDP) is approximately the same as that of the state Florida in the USA with a similar number of inhabitants (17 million people) . 

This report underscore the fact that if the EU would break up - as most of the Eurosceptics would like to see happen -  individual EU member-states would not be able to play any significant role on the global scene in relation to international trade, economics, finances, jurisdiction or military matters. 

In other words a united Europe can be a master of its own fate but divided it will fall.

Read more: GDP Map of U.S. States Compared to World | TIME.com