The Netherlands: Dutch biking turns Bostonians speechless - by Martine Powers

The intersection at De Koppeling Street is the kind of sight that might render a Bostonian speechless.

The Netherlands: a bikers paradise

“This,” howled Andrew Brunn, a burly 22-year-old engineering student   grinning like a kid at Disneyland, “is totally crazy!”

To the average American, that’s exactly how Dutch bicycle traffic seems. This is a place with more bikes than people, where about 26 percent of commuting trips are taken by bicycle, where toddlers and 85-year-olds ride happily in traffic, and where the likelihood of getting killed on a bike is among the lowest in the world, about five times less than the United States.

Almost every major street features separated bike lanes, bike-specific traffic lights, bike highways, and yield signs that, together, deliver one message: The bicycle is king.

Read more: Bicycling the Dutch Way - Metro - The Boston Globe

The Netherlands: Unrest In The Labor Party (PVDA) About JSF Purchase And Other Issues Could Topple Rutte Government

The former Dutch Vice-PM, Finance Minister and (PVDA) Labor party leader Wouter Bos, who writes a bi-weekly column for the well know Dutch Volkskrant newspaper  recently expressed his dismay in this column about the present Dutch Government of Mark Rutte's turn to what he called a "classical liberal American and ultimately marginalizing participative society".

"Even The King was allowed to announce that the established Dutch welfare state was going to make place for this so-called "participation society", said Bos 

Bos noted: "If the participation society as expressed in the speech from the throne on "Prinsjesdag" is not only the view of the  PM Rutte, but also that of  the Coalition (which includes the PVDA labor party), than the labor party must have gone through an ideological revolution... please tell me that this is not the case".

Given the unrest in the labor party on several actions undertaken by the government, including the recent decision by Defence Minister Jeanine Hennis and the government to abruptly finalize the year-long discussions about the JSF by unilaterally choosing to purchase 37 JSFs for the air-force at more than 5 billion euro's, has created a swell of protest not only in PVDA  circles, but around the country.

This could lead to a situation, if the present Labor party (PVDA) parliamentary leader Diederik Samsom does not succeed in holding his parliamentary fraction together, whereby several Labor party members would cast their votes in parliament with the opposition against the proposed government budget, and toppling the Rutte government. 

EU-Digest

Netherlands: Dutch to buy JSF fighter jets in 4.5-bn-euro deal - question is - can Holland afford or need the JSF?

Global Post reports the Netherlands wants to buy 37 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) from US-based Lockheed Martin in a deal worth 4.5 billion euros ($6 billion) to replace its ageing fleet of F-16s by 2019, the country's defense minister said Tuesday.

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert announced the long-debated purchase in a letter to parliament at the presentation of the government's 2014 budget at the Lower House's official opening in The Hague. afford

"In view of our current planning, the F-35 (also known as the Joint Strike Fighter) will go into service by 2019," operating from two Dutch air force bases, the minister said.

"After evaluating competitors in 2001 and 2008 and with updated relevant data in 2013, the cabinet has decided, based on operational and financial considerations, to choose the F-35 as the new fighter plane for the Dutch armed forces," she said.

The choice had been widely expected, with the Netherlands closely involved as one of the contributing countries to the JSF's development.

As early as 1997, the JSF has been flagged as the preferential candidate to replace the Dutch fleet of F-16s because of its stealth features, which make it almost invisible to radar.

In 2002, the Netherlands and eight other countries joined the fighter's development phase.
But a finalized Dutch purchase had been rejected in parliament, mainly by the centre-left Labour Party (PvdA) while in opposition.

However, that decision changed after Labour formed a majority coalition in the Lower House with Prime Minister Mark Rutte's Liberal party (VVD) after last September's elections.

The bottom line however is: can the Netherlands afford an expense of   4.5 billion euro's for this airplane while the Dutch taxpayer is asked to make all kinds of sacrifices to meet Government austerity measures. In addition the Government is buying into an airplane which has been plagued by problems.

An other problem is that the Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program continues to trigger new controversies. Latest comments allege flawed estimates of the jet's weight and, as before, questions about the timeline for the plane's delivery and final cost.

The F-35 was spotlighted in technical troubles in addition to debates over its costs. In February the U.S. Department of Defense suspended flights of all 51 F-35 planes after a routine inspection revealed a crack on a turbine blade in the jet engine of an F-35 test aircraft.

Outgoing Executive Vice President and JSF General Manager Tom Burbage was quoted in the news media as saying the manufacturer miscalculated on the aircraft's weight during its early development.

The question remains: should the Netherlands cut their losses on the JSF and pull out of the project or go deeply into debt with a project which is extremely questionable? 

EU-Digest

Netherlands King Warns:" Dutch Welfare State Gone"

In his first major public address, the recently crowned Dutch King Willem-Alexander has warned his subjects that the welfare state of the 20th century is gone.

While still traveling past waving fans in an ornate horse-drawn carriage to the 13th-century Hall of Knights in The Hague, the monarch's traditional speech on the government's budget was gloomy.

In televised remarks, King Willem-Alexander said the traditional welfare state that has made the Netherlands famous is coming to an end.
 
"In its place," he said speaking carefully, a "participation society" is emerging, "in which people must take responsibility for their own future and create their own social and financial safety nets, with less help from the national government."

He stressed that, "The classic welfare state of the second half of the 20th century in these areas in particular brought forth arrangements that are unsustainable in their current form."

Note : EU-Digest: Regardless of the comments the King made about the end of the Welfare State had come to an end he still made use of the ornate gold-plated horse drawn carriage to take him to Hall of Knight. Said one onlooker: "if he wants us to tighten our belts  he should have driven to Hall of Knights with his wife in his own car."

Read more: Netherlands King Warns: Dutch Welfare State Gon

The Netherlands: "Prinsjesdag" - a special occasion this year as new King makes his first speech

This year's Prinsjesdag is special because it is the first time for Willem-Alexander, who succeeded his mother Queen Beatrix on April 30 this year, to read the speech written jointly by the ministers and secretaries of the state.

And this is also the first time since 2002, when late Prince Claus, Beatrix's husband, was too ill to attend, two thrones, for the king and his wife Queen Maxima, will be set on the platform in the "Ridderzaal," the Hall of Knights.

In this speech, the cabinet usually looks back to past events and gives a broad outline of cabinet policy for the coming year.

After the speech, the Minister of Finance Jeroen Dijsselbloem will move to the House of Commons with a traditional briefcase filled with the "Miljoenennota," the budget plan of the government.

According to the leaked content of the budget, it outlined additional austerity measures of 6 billion euros (8 billion U.S dollars). The budget deficit is expected to be 3.3 percent of GDP next year, which is above the European standard of 3 percent, but the Dutch have permission to exceed the limit in 2014.

Based on the figures, the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) calculated an economic growth of 0.5 percent next year. 

Read more: Dutch King to present policy plans on "Budget Day" - People's Daily Online

Lotteries: are they a hidden "scam" to make the lower income earners pay more tax?

The world lottery news reports that in the the first half of the year global lottery sales were up nearly 5% world-wide after a sluggish start with Latin American, Asia Pacific, and North American markets performing strongly in the second quarter.

Latin America showed a increase in sales of 24.6% for the first six months of 2013. Argentina’s Lotería Nacional Sociedad reported an increase in sales of 31% for the period January–June 2013 and Brazil’s Caixa Econômica Federal also enjoyed healthy sales growth, reporting an increase in sales of 12.5% for the first half of 2013.

The Asia Pacific region witnessed an increase in sales of 11.1% for H1 2013 over H1 2012, including the China Sports lottery increased by CNY 10.54 billion and the Chinese Welfare lottery increased by CNY 10.11 billion for the first six months of 2013.

European lotteries witnessed a relative decrease in sales of 1.7% but was still up a small percentage against the same time frame in 2012.

In the North American market, an increase of 9.4% on sales for the second quarter of 2013 was reported. 

The North American lottery system is a $70 billion-a-year business, an industry bigger than movie tickets, music, and porn combined. These tickets have a grand history: Lotteries were used to fund the American colonies and helped bankroll the young nation. In the 18th and 19th centuries, lotteries funded the expansion of Harvard and Yale and allowed the construction of railroads across the continent.

Since 1964, when New Hampshire introduced the first modern state lottery, governments have come to rely on gaming revenue. (Forty-three states and every Canadian province currently run lotteries.) In some states, the lottery accounts for more than 5 percent of education funding.

While approximately half of Americans buy at least one lottery ticket at some point, the vast majority of tickets are purchased by about 20 percent of the population. These high-frequency players tend to be poor and uneducated, which is why critics refer to lotteries as a regressive tax. (In a 2006 survey, 30 percent of people without a high school degree said that playing the lottery was a wealth-building strategy.) On average, households that make less than $12,400 a year spend 5 percent of their income on lotteries—a source of hope for just a few bucks a throw.

A 2008 Carnegie Mellon study found that "lotteries set off a vicious cycle that not only exploits low-income individuals' desires to escape poverty but also directly prevents them from improving upon their financial situations." As the study's lead author said: "The hope of getting out of poverty encourages people to continue to buy tickets, even though their chances of stumbling upon a life-changing windfall are nearly impossibly slim and buying lottery tickets in fact exacerbates the very poverty that purchasers are hoping to escape." (For what it's worth, the odds of winning the latest Powerball drawing were about one in 175 million.) A Duke University study found that the poorest third of households purchase more than half of the lottery tickets sold during a given week.

So let's acknowledge the lottery for what it is: a tax on those who can least afford it that is levied by preying on the very fact that they can't afford to buy the things they need. Sure, buying lottery tickets can be fun in the short term, but in the long run, lotteries are a truly cynical way for states to raise money.

As to the operational mechanics of lottery systems - investigators probably would have a field day looking into these structures. It is obvious that the super-computers which run these lotteries can easily be manipulated.

EU-Digest 

Golf - Netherlands: Luiten beats Jimenez in playoff to win KLM Open

Joost Luiten beat Miguel Angel Jimenez on the first playoff hole Sunday to win the KLM Open for his second European Tour title of the year.

Luiten became the first Dutch winner of his country's national open since Maarten Lafeber in 2003 and the first Dutchman to win twice in a season on the European Tour. He also won the Lyoness Open in Austria in June.

Jimenez made four early birdies to take the lead but Luiten rallied on the back nine at the Kennemer Golf & Country Club, with both making par on the 18th to force the playoff. Jiminez shot a 3-under 67 while Luiten had a 68. Both finished with 12-under totals of 268.

"It was tough. He was playing really, really good, especially on the front nine," Luiten said of the far more experienced Jimenez. "I thought 'I just have to hang in there until the back nine and hopefully I can make a move there,' and luckily it happened."

The players returned to the 18th tee and Luiten made par, while Jimenez hit his drive into the rough right of the fairway, left his second on the fringe and could not hole out in two.

On the back nine, Jimenez missed a birdie putt on the short par-5 12th, while Luiten sank his birdie putt to draw even at 13 under.

But the Spanish veteran, who won this tournament 19 years ago, responded immediately by rolling in a birdie on the 13th and stretched his lead to two strokes as Luiten's par putt slid past the hole.

Luiten birdied the 14th and Jimenez bogeyed the 15th and 17th to drop back level with Luiten and set up the playoff.

Read more: Luiten beats Jimenez in playoff to win KLM Open in Netherlands