The Netherlands: Dutch PM under protection as the ‘Mocro Mafia’ drug cartel sows fear in the Netherlands - by David GORMEZANO

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has been placed under police protection in response to fears of an attack by the Mocro Mafia (Moroccan mafia), a North African criminal organisation linked to cocaine trafficking, two months after Dutch investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries was murdered in Amsterdam.

No more cycling alone through the streets of The Hague to get to meetings for Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. On September 27, Dutch daily De Telegraaf reported that the Royal and Diplomatic Security Services have deployed personal security guards to protect the prime minister, who is believed to be under threat from the Mocro Mafia.

The group operates out of the Netherlands and Belgium and controls a third of all cocaine traffic in Europe. One police union chief said in 2019 that the Netherlands was becoming a narco-state. The 2014 novel “Mocro Maffia”, co-authored by Marijn Schrijver and Wouter Laumans, coined the term and brought the criminal gang to the public’s attention, recounting how a group of Moroccan jewellery thieves in Amsterdam created one of Europe’s most powerful criminal organisations. After its success in the Netherlands, the book was made into a TV series.

Read more at: Dutch PM under protection as the ‘Mocro Mafia’ drug cartel sows fear in the Netherlands

Netherlands: The Corona entry pass system - as per EU guidelines

This information is provided by

Netherlands Enterprise Agency, RVO On this page

Current rules When is the use of the corona entry pass system mandatory? When is the use of the corona entry pass system not mandatory? Capacity with corona entry pass system How does the corona entry pass system work? Checking the result

Registering events where you use the corona entry pass system

Do you organise (professional sports) events or (youth) activities? Or are you an entrepreneur in the cultural sector? You must use an entry pass system

As of 25 September 2021. With the corona entry pass system it will be possible to organise social activities more often and for more people. Current rules.As of 25 September, the 1.5-metre social distancing rule is no longer in place. You must use the corona entry pass system for certain events that are allowed during the corona crisis. All other basic corona rules,such as washing your hands regularly and making sure there is a good flow of fresh air, remain in place.

Visitors of outside hospitality venues (such as terraces) don’t need a corona entry pass. However, if they want to go inside (to use the toilet or to pay) they need to show their corona entry pass.Children under 13 can enter without a corona entry pass. You need to review both the corona entry pass and the identification of any visitor of 14 years or older.

When is the use of the corona entry pass system mandatory?

in the hospitality sector (such as bars and restaurants, also when part of a store, hotel or sports location) at casino's at festivals with events (both in- and outdoors, with- or without allocated seating) at weddings in public locations at professional sporting events (only for spectators) in the cultural sector (such as cinema's, theatres, concerts)

When is the use of the corona entry pass system not mandatory?

on outside terraces as part of a venue in the hospitality sector (such as bars and restaurants) funeral homes during funerals in airports (after security) at care facilities at goods markets at museums, amusement parks (except hospitality, events and shows), funfairs and nature- or wildlife parks at amateur sporting events in schools at venues for practicing art, culture and sports at events where people do not spend long standing in a single spot (doorstroomevenementen), except for open locations such as town fairs.

Capacity with corona entry pass system

Outdoors with or without allocated seating: 100% capacity, no mandatory closing times Indoors with allocated seating: 100% capacity, no mandatory closing times indoors without allocated seating: 75% capacity, mandatory closing times between 00:00 and 06:00 hours.

How does the corona entry pass system work?

Does a person have a valid corona test certificate, valid proof of vaccination or proof of recovery? They can put these certificates in the CoronaCheck app on their smartphone. Proof of vaccination is valid from no earlier than at least 2 weeks after full vaccination (in Dutch) and from 4 weeks after a Janssen vaccination. A negative corona test result can only be used as a valid test certificate within 24 hours of testing. With the CoronaCheck app they can generate the corona entry pass as a QR code. They may also print a copy of the corona entry pass through CoronaCheck.nl. EU residents may use an EU Digital COVID Certificate

(DCC). Checking the result As the organiser or business owner you can check if a person has a valid corona entry pass with the CoronaCheck scanner

. You, or one of your employees, scan the CoronaCheck app QR code on the visitor’s phone or on their printed copy. If the screen turns green the person has a valid corona entry pass, if it turns red the corona entry pass is not valid or not available. You cannot see which type of certificate they have. You can only verify that their corona entry pass is valid. Then you must check if the data on your screen match the data on the proof of identity.

It is your responsibility as the organiser or as the business owner to check the corona entry pass in the CoronaCheck app or a printed version of the corona entry pass. You should make sure you check the corona entry pass in a safe way. Registering events where you use the corona entry pass system

You need to register your event through the Testing for entrance website

(in Dutch) if:

you need a one-time permit from the municipal authorities and you expect at least 1,000 attendees you organise an event in a large event location with a permanent permit and you expect at least 3,000 attendees

Read more at: Corona entry pass system | Business.gov.nl

The Netherlands: 150,000 people joined protests against nightlife restrictions in the Netherlands this weekend

150,000 people reportedly marched in ten cities, 80,000 of which in Amsterdam alone, also taking to the larger provinces of The Hague, Eindhoven, Groningen, and Utrecht following an earlier protest in August. ‘Unmute Us!’ sparked international attention, with an aim to call attention to the plight of the nightlife industry.

The protest demanded that the Dutch government to amend COVID restrictions in the country after noting the successful reopening of clubs elsewhere in Europe.

Read more at: 150,000 people joined protests against nightlife restrictions in the Netherlands this weekend - News - Mixmag

The Netherlands: Dutch coalition talks deadlocked 5 months after election

The Netherlands appeared to be heading toward talks to form a minority coalition after efforts to piece together a Cabinet made up of five parties from across the political spectrum broke down Tuesday.

More than five months after a general election left the Dutch political landscape fragmented, two key parties said they do not want to form a new government with a pair of leftist parties.

The decision by caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte's conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy — known by its Dutch acronym VVD — and the CDA Christian Democrats came after months of talks between party leaders and an official who is attempting to cobble together the coalition.

Read more at: Dutch coalition talks deadlocked 5 months after election

EU - Coronavirus Travel Restrictions: Czechia Adds Belgium & Netherlands to High-Risk COVID-19 Category

The Czech Republic’s government has announced that from April 5, Belgium and the Netherlands will be included on the COVID-19 dark red list, in which are placed countries profoundly affected by the Coronavirus disease.

At the same time, Ireland and Malta will be placed on the red list of countries, while Iceland will move to the orange list, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

Czechia’s Ministry of Health decision comes after taking into account the updated data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which shows the degree of risk which countries face from the spread of the virus.

Read more at: Czechia Adds Belgium & Netherlands to High-Risk COVID-19 Category - SchengenVisaInfo.com

The Netherlands: Solar parks in Netherlands to be connected at 70% of their peak capacity –

The Netherlands’ renewable energy sector has reached an agreement with the country’s grid operators and power providers for a faster grid connection of solar parks. PV plant operators will be able to connect their projects at 70% of their capacity and, in turn, they will be allowed to connect them without having to wait for more grid availability.

Read more at: Solar parks in Netherlands to be connected at 70% of their peak capacity – pv magazine International

Denmark: Government seeking to tap mobile phones of rejected asylum-seekers "program should also be adopted in the Netherlands and other EU countries"

The government is aiming to obtain data from the mobile phones of rejected asylum-seekers in a bid to hasten their repatriation.

The measure is one of seven proposals that are part of a new repatriation law,

According to the immigration minister, Mattias Tesfaye, many asylum seekers in Denmark have used YouTube and Snapchat to discuss routes and destination countries.

The new law aims to provide clear direction on the treatment of asylum seekers – from the moment they are rejected residence until the time they are sent home.

Read more at: 
Government seeking to tap mobile phones of rejected asylum-seekers - The Post

Poland: Poland's ruling PiS party wins most votes, according to exit polls

Poland's ruling PiS party wins most votes, according to exit polls

Read more at:
https://p.dw.com/p/3RDY6

The Netherlands: Dutch multi-nationals will be forced to pay profit tax

Reed more at: 

https://nltimes.nl/2019/09/11/dutch-multinationals-will-forced-pay-profit-tax-netherlands-report

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Sex Abuse: hyped by the Media is among, but not the most important issue the world is facing today

Life's experiences can make you bitter, hateful,  resentful or cynical if you let them. It's even worse if you trying to build a relationship with the opposite gender and you already had some share of disappointments in your life.

Sometimes it's good to go through all those things for some individuals, because sometimes you decide there and then that "I wouldn't never put anyone through what he or she put me through. " .

And sometimes it's not good at all for others because they can decide that "I will never let anyone put me through this again, therefore I will hurt them before they hurt me" and they just do that. Hurt or hurting people hurt people,

Honestly isn't that what life is all about? Maybe the best way to to label that is experience.

Unfortunately the Media, and Government, which influence the majority of the population around the world, are now all riding on the bandwagon of combating  "sexual abuse"which mainly focusses on celebrities, the Catholic Church and most recently NGO's like Oxfam.

Obviously it is important to combat sexual abuse, but it certainly  should not be on top- of the list of all the other horrors the world is facing like war, poverty and the causes of mass migration, or weapons sales.

The number of people displaced from their homes due to conflict and persecution last year exceeded 60 million for the first time in the United Nations’ history, a tally greater than the combined populations of the United Kingdom, or of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, says a new report released on World Refugee Day today.

The Global Trends 2015 compiled by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) notes that 65.3 million people were displaced at the end of 2015, an increase of more than 5 million from 59.5 million a year earlier.

The tally comprises 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers, and 40.8 million people internally displaced within their own countries.

Measured against the world’s population of 7.4 billion people, one in every 113 people globally is now either a refugee, an asylum-seeker or internally displaced – putting them at a level of risk for which UNHCR knows no precedent.

In the past years Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia produce half the world’s refugees, at 4.9 million, 2.7 million and 1.1 million, respectively.

Colombia in Latin America had the largest numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs), at 6.9 million, followed by Syria’s 6.6 million and Iraq’s 4.4 million.

While the spotlight last year was on Europe’s challenge to manage more than one million refugees and migrants who arrived via the Mediterranean, the report shows that the vast majority of the world’s refugees were in developing countries in the global south.

In all, 86 per cent of the refugees under UNHCR’s mandate records were in low- and middle-income countries close to situations of conflict.

Nearly 1/2 of the world's population — more than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty — less than $1.25 a day. 1 billion children worldwide are living in poverty. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty.

Like it or not, dear feminists, you might find the sexual harassment a terrible crime , so do most most of us, but there are also other crimes, sometimes must worse than sex abuse.

Harvey Weinstein, one of Hollywood’s most revered moguls and influential kingpins, who has been sexually harassing and abusing women for nearly 30 years.is a terribly sad case but in reality that is a drop of water on a hot plate, compared to the results of wars and proxy wars, or poverty around the world.

Unfortunately those horrific events hardly ever get the attention they deserves because those problems are usually the the result of our own governments deeds and actions.

"We the people" are really the only ones who can do something about it, this destructive policy of wars has to stop and we should not get side-tracked by the smoke-screens our Governments and  media are applying to divert our attention.

EU-Digest  

The above report can be used
 only if the source is mentioned 

The Netherlands: Dutch Government hires almost a fifth more external staff in past 2 years

The Dutch government has spent almost a fifth more on hiring in workers and consultants in the last two years, claims the AD on Friday. Despite calling for other firms to reduce the amount of flexible working, the paper says, the government has not got its own house in order. It has investigated external hiring by Dutch ministries, provincial bodies, municipal councils and water boards, saying that last year this cost €2.4 bn and 13% of staffing budgets. This was a rise of 19% on the previous year. But ministerial norms are to spend less than 10% of such costs on freelances, flexible workers and consultants. Leading the way was the tax office, which reportedly spent €272 million on outside staff in 2016, followed by the infrastructure and environment and the justice ministries. Mostly, says the AD, the hires related to IT staff. Zakaria Boufangacha, of the FNV union, told the AD that the situation was ‘disappointing and worrying.’

Read more at DutchNews.nl: Government hires almost a fifth more external staff http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/07/government-hires-almost-a-fifth-more-external-staff/

Dutch Government flex workers hiring rise of 19% over last year

The Dutch government has spent almost a fifth more on hiring in workers and consultants in the last two years, claims the AD newspaper.

Despite calling for other firms to reduce the amount of flexible working, the paper says, the government has not got its own house in order. 

It has investigated external hiring by Dutch ministries, provincial bodies, municipal councils and water boards, saying that last year this cost €2.4 bn and 13% of staffing budgets.

This was a rise of 19% on the previous year. But ministerial norms are to spend less than 10% of such costs on freelances, flexible workers and consultants.

Leading the way was the Government tax office, which reportedly spent €272 million on outside staff in 2016, followed by the infrastructure and environment and the justice ministries. Mostly, says the AD, the hires related to IT staff.

Zakaria Boufangacha, of the FNV union, told the AD that the situation was ‘disappointing and worrying.’

Read more: Government hires almost a fifth more external staff - DutchNews.nl

Spain's Socialists vote to allow Rajoy minority government

The opposition Socialists in Spain have effectively voted to allow the conservatives under Mariano Rajoy to rule as a minority government.

Party leaders decided by a majority at their meeting in Madrid to abstain when Mr Rajoy puts his Popular Party (PP) government to a vote in parliament.

The country had faced the prospect of a third general election inside a year.

But the Socialists forced out their leader, Pedro Sanchez, earlier this month after he rejected abstention.

Mr Rajoy has led a caretaker administration since losing his overall majority in an election last December. A repeat election in June failed to end the impasse but strengthened his hand. 

Belgium: putting the house back in working order

Belgium facing a somewhat uncertain future as they are trying to put the country back in working order after the terrorists attacks.

To read the complete report click here

Terrorism and the Press: Politicians duck the blame for terrorism and Press lets them get away with it - never asking any real questions

The Press: Say not, See Not, Hear Not

It is amazing listening to news stations during any terrorist attack. They report "blow by blow" all the gruesome and horrific details endlessly.

CNN in particular, turns these sad events into an endless nauseating soap opera with infinite and at times totally insignificant detail.

Questions are asked about why the most wanted man in Europe was able to elude the police for so long, even though he was living in his home district of Molenbeek in Brussels.

Television and newspapers ask nervously about the chances of Isis carrying out another atrocity aimed at dominating the news agenda and showing that it is still in business.

The reporting of the events in Brussels is in keeping with that after the January (Charlie Hebdo) and November Paris attacks and the Tunisian beach killings by Isis last year, or the killings in Ankara and Istanbul 

For several days there is blanket coverage by the media as it allocates time and space far beyond what is needed to relate developments. But then the focus shifts abruptly elsewhere and Isis becomes yesterday’s story, treated as if the movement has ceased to exist or at least lost its capacity to affect our lives.

The outpouring of official grief that commonly follows any atrocity, such as the march of 40 world leaders through the streets of Paris after the Charlie Hebdo killings last year, is used to help neuter any idea that the political failures of these same leaders might be to a degree responsible for the slaughter.

After all, such marches are usually held by the powerless to protest and show defiance, but in this case the march simply serves as a publicity stunt to divert attention from these leaders’ inability to act effectively and stop the wars in the Middle East which they had done much to provoke.

But it its not only the US which deserves the blame. By taking up the cause of the Syrian and Libyan opposition and destroying the Syrian and Libyan states, France and Britain opened the door to Isis and should share in the blame for the rise of Isis, terrorism and creating the refugee crises in Europe.

By refusing to admit to or learn from past mistakes, the West Europeans did little to lay the basis for the current, surprisingly successful “cessation of hostilities” in Syria, which is now considered by the public at large almost entirely as a Russian achievement. 

Once again the question can be asked - which major News Agency has shown the courage to sit down with any important political leader and ask them some serious investigative questions, like: "why have you made such a mess in the Middle East , or, "what is being done to stop weapon dealers from selling their weapons and munition around the world at will ", or, "how come the former US Bush Administration  is not taken into a criminal court  for war crimes ", or, "why is the West propping up the Egyptian military dictatorship, or, "why is the military industrial complex industry selling  weapons and aircraft to despotic and undemocratic nations like Saudi-Arabia, Egypt, Iraq and Somalia", or, "why can't the UN declare the Middle East region a nuclear free zone", or, "what are the requirements to be a member of NATO, when we see that one of their member states (TURKEY) does not respect freedom of the Press, throws investigative reporters in jail or takes over newspapers when they don't follow the party line" - and the list goes on and on.

Barton Gellman of the Washington Post says that for journalists just getting basic information from any governmen tagency has become very difficult: “Besides the actual risk of prosecution . . . there’s an investigative issue that very much relates to the ability to do national security journalism now. Almost everything you want to write about these days, if you are writing about diplomacy, or intelligence, or defense, is classified; everything indeed, except the boiler plate press release and the tightly controlled  news conference, is classified."

Unfortunately, that is just the way how most governments operate these days.  Today there is more classified information which can not be accessed than there is open-source information on the planet.”

Bottom-line, political clarity and honesty is a "Fata Morgana" when it comes to getting it from Governments. Consequently distinguishing  "fiction"    today is the new reality.

 Almere-Digest

Privacy and Freedom in danger: A Cashless society will destroy freedom and privacy

Big btother is watching

Unfortunately, the time is fast approaching where our current technological snooping capabilities and the ease of  major data manipulation by the Government and the financial Industry will accelerate the arrival of a completely cashless society..  

This will happen in such a way as to permit governments to exercise incredibly powerful controls over all human behavior and activities.

While this may sound like a paranoid doomsday scenario to some, this theory is not only eminently possible, but most of the technology is already available to frighteningly make it a reality.

Technological advances have led to the creation of algorithms that can instantaneously review financial transactions, determining the nature, location and even the appropriateness of a purchase decision. These are already freely used by governments, banks, credit- and debit-card companies amd other financial institutions.

If these current trends continue, a cashless economy could thus very well lead to a complete evaporation of what we consider today as our basic Democracy and Human Rights. 

Imagine a future in which a government employee, who suspect an individual of some misconduct, or perhaps even that person's politics or speech unacceptable, could, with a few keystrokes on the computer, order all financial institutions to decline any withdrawal or payment from that individual, and freeze all other access to funds. 

Perhaps, in order to show a veneer of due process, this would need to be reviewed by a secret Kangaroo court that would approve 99.7 percent of all requests.

The final result is that the  targeted individuals and anyone supporting them could in fact be made to starve to death. 

When it comes to creeping state control in creating a cashless society, it is therefore no surprise to find France out in front. In the wake of last year’s terrorists attacks, the government has clamped down on the use of cash.

In the Netherlands depositing cash more than six times a year, even into your own personal account is penalized with a fee. All this without the Government lifting an eyebrow. 

In reality, cash is far too valuable to be given up lightly. In truth, the benefits of the abolition of cash is largely oversold and certainly not in the Public's favor.

EU-Digest 

NSA Spying: Some German officials now use disposable phones over eavesdropping fears

The so-called "burner" phones have been used not only in countries such as Russia and China, which continue to be at loggerheads with the West over a number of issues, including the Ukraine conflict - but also during visits to close allies such as the Britain and the United States, "Der Spiegel" news magazine reported on Saturday.

The magazine said politicians had been advised by Germany's Federal Office for Information Security to use disposable phones and only download essential data on it.

"There are clear signals that people are getting more sensible," the report quoted one security source as saying.

For years, security agencies have warned their leaders of the dangers of mobile phones and eavesdropping. During their visits abroad, officials run a particularly high risk when leaving phones unattended in order to hold secret talks as this opens a window of opportunity for spy agencies to manipulate the phones or even upload surveillance programs.

Following a year of revelations that the US National Security Agency had allegedly been listening on phones belonging to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other key German politicians, these fears have become a reality for Germany. A WikiLeaks report published last week suggested that NSA spying had gone on for much longer than previously thought.

Despite the advice from Germany's security authorities the "burners" have not been introduced universally across the cabinet. Both Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel reportedly went on their recent respective trips to Cuba and China with their normal phones.

 Read more: German officials use disposable phones over eavesdropping fears | News | DW.COM | 18.07.2015

Preventive Healthcare: Pro-business lobbying giant US Chamber of Commerce waging global lobbying campaign against anti-smoking laws

CVS Health Corporation (CVS) made big news recently when it cancelled its membership in the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, the pro-corporate,Washington lobbying giant that was recently revealed to have been waging a global lobbying campaign against anti-smoking laws.

Given its stated commitment to health promotion, CVS did the right thing. But six major health care companies, four of which sit on the Chamber's board – and all of which have anti-smoking programs – haven't done anything. It's time to hold them accountable.

These companies should not be allowed to profit from the US Chamber's corporate lobbying and then stick their heads in the sand when it's caught working directly against public health and safety.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and a group of fellow Democratic senators have just sent a letter to all 108 companies on the Chamber's board, demanding that they state their positions on the Chamber's pro-smoking lobbying.

But six major health care companies who are Chamber members – Aetna, Cigna, Anthem, the Health Care Service Corporation, the Steward Health Care System of Boston, and the Indiana University Health system – also have a responsibility. All of them support anti-smoking programs, but the Chamber’s efforts undercut that mission.

Today, tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S. and around the world. Cigarette smoking accounts for almost half a million deaths a year in the U.S. alone. Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.³

Tell these health care companies: Drop your affiliation with the pro-smoking U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Click here to sign the petition.

EU-Digest

Dutch VVD-PVDA Coalition Government In Deep Trouble After Resignation of Justice Minister, Secretary, in Drug Payoff

Dutch Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten and his state secretary, Fred Teeven, have resigned after "misleading" or as a parliamentarian said "for blowing smoke" to members of parliament over a 2001 compensation payment to a convicted drug trafficker.

Mr Opstelten had said the trafficker was paid less than he actually was for money wrongly confiscated by the state. He also said details of the payment - authorized by Mr Teeven as the prosecutor during that time - had been lost, but it turned not to be so.

The resignations are a blow to the conservative party VVD as it faces an election.

Mr Opstelten and Mr Teeven are both from the conservative wing of the party which governs the Netherlands together with the labor party, and is faces a challenge from Geert Wilders' far-right Freedom Party in provincial elections this month.

The resignations are also expected to place a strain on the Conservatives coalition with the Labour party, which has been very critical of Mr Opstelten and Mr Teeven.

This tidal wave of political unrest in the VVD-PVDA coalition could very well be"the straw that breaks the camels back" of the Dutch Government..

EU-Digest

Surveillance: 9 Ways You're Being Spied On Every Day

Casinos. Banks. Airports. We all know there are public places where we're being watched, ostensibly for crime-prevention purposes. But with the advancement of digital technologies, "Big Brother's" reach has gotten way wider, recording our movements—and our conversations—in a surprising amount of places.

"Big Brother is becoming more and more intrusive in our private lives and until something is done to scale it back or eliminate it, it's only going to get worse," says David Bakke, Money Crashers tech expert.

Read more: 9 Ways You're Being Spied On Every Day

Netherlands: Dutch business leaders slam cabinet polices, support at record low

Dutch business leaders are extremely unhappy with the current right-left coalition's policies and think the cabinet is failing to tackle the crisis.

Employers' organisation VNO-NCW questioned 471 company bosses about their attidudes to the VVD-PvdA government and current policy. In total, the cabinet scored just 4.9 out of 10 - a record low according to the Telegraaf.

Prime minister Mark Rutte was rated 5.4, well below most of his senior ministers. Top ranked minister was finance chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem from the PVDA (Labour Party) government coalition member, who scored 6.6.

Read more: DutchNews.nl - Dutch business leaders slam cabinet polices, support at record low