(photo credit: flickr's supersuus)
Talk about long-term planning. The Dutch are working on plans to deal with rising sea levels due to global warming through the year 2200.

"We want to make sure that there's still a Netherlands a century from now," Tineke Huizinga, the country's top water official, told state broadcaster NOS.
"We don't want to just let the water flow and all have to move to Germany."

-AP

Now that's thinking ahead!

(photo by goya)
The two most awesomest ideas are re-routing the Rhine and building "breaker" islands off the coast.
Me, I want to put a rubber dinghy in my attic. Just in case.
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Dervis defends Melkert / UNDP - NRC

More in the way of public service; I notice that previous posts on the Ad Melkert/UNDP saga have drawn some traffic; so here's this: The Dutch daily paper NRC Handelsblad has an interview with Kemal Dervis today, defending Melkert.

(oversimplified synopsis of the story so far for those who don't want to read in: some conservatives in Washington think Melkert should leave the UNDP because of the "Cash for Kim" scandal, and some liberals think that's only because the conservatives blame Melkert for the downfall of Paul Wolfowitz at the World Bank).

I think I can claim 'fair use' if I translate the single best NRC quote:

"Mr. Melkert has my support as colleague and as his boss. Last week I spoke with authorities in Germany, France and Britain, and they all support Mr. Melkert. Why is this so personal? It could be because of matters in his political past in the Netherlands, there could be matters dating from his time at the World Bank. You know, I was a politician, he was too. In politics, people make enemies."

On the question of why the UNDP wasn't agreeing to a U.N. ethics investigation into the whistleblower question, despite requests from the U.N. secretary general, Dervis said there is an investigation into the scandal, and on the whistleblower UNDP is following its own rules (which are not the same as those of the U.N.; he hopes to harmonize with U.N. rules in the future).
One other quote: "Despite all the commotion, outcry, there is not one piece of evidence of any personal fraud." MORE

Sison Protest III

Today was the third protest in the Netherlands about the arrest of Jose Maria Sison. It was held outside the court house where he had his second appearance, this time to discuss whether he can be held another 90 days on murder charges.

Actually, I probably would stop posting these entries, but now I notice I'm getting a lot of hits on the site from the Philipinnes, so I consider it a public service.

Here, Luis Jalandoni was starting to say that the Dutch have a lot to lose (in terms of international reputation and ultimately Shell oil interests) if information from the police raids in Utrecht is passed on to Philippine authorities and used to persecute NDF sympathizers (or non-sympathizers!) there.

Dutch prosecutors and Sison's lawyer say that won't happen _ but Koppe didn't rule out the chance some information could go through a back door from the Dutch secret service to the CIA to Manila.

The CPP and Sison are on the E.U.'s terrorism list, after all.

This is lawyer Victor Koppe, explaining to Sison supporters what happened inside. Supporters were crowded around to hear what he had to say (but he still couldn't talk about the evidence).
And here are the supporters. I thought most of them were the same as last time, but a handful of new faces, and maybe a few more people actually. Some were standing near a fence showing signs to passing cars. I still don't think most Dutch know this is even happening: they're much more concerned with internal politics right now. MORE

Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad

Dutch financial daily "Het Financieele Dagblad" has a whole new look. This stunningly stylish revamp entails a change from white color paper to pink color paper, and also trying to rebrand themselves as the "F.D." (Pronounced "F.T." in Dutch). This new look for Het Financieele Dagblad reminds me of something, but I can't for the life of me think what it is...Oh yeah, *that's* it. The Financial Times, a little-known British financial publication, uses almost exactly the same color paper. Maybe you know them as the "FT." Boy, I hope nobody confuses a high-quality paper like Het Financieele Dagblad with that rag out of London.
/sarcasm. There's a good old British saying "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
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Balkenende & Guerrilla Girl

These awesome t-shirts 'inspired' by the iconic Che Guevara image were part of the political campaign that got Christian Democrat (i.e. conservative) Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende elected last year. Oh, the delicious irony!

Today, Jan Pronk, the guy hoping to become the Howard Dean of Dutch politics (that is, Labor Party chairman) called Balkenende a "liar" for misleading the Dutch into Iraq.

"We were rushed into that war on the basis of lies," he said. Where have I heard that before?

Sticklers for detail like me will remember that the Dutch technically didn't rush into anything, but had a more nuanced stance on the war, namely that they supported it "politically but not militarily."

Politically but not militarily? Whatever.

Later, the country participated in peacekeeping. In a comparatively peaceful province (al-Muthanna). But I digress.

Pronk later said he "was a little sorry." But he still thinks this country is ruled "by a person who has lied."

In politics, it often seems, the goal is either:
a) a race to see who can say the stupidest thing first or
b) a fight not to have to retract the stupid thing you said.

Meanwhile, the Dutch press is in a tizzy about "Guerrilla Girl," identified (first by website Geenstijl, who else?) as Tanja Nijmeijer, from the small Dutch town of Denekamp.

(photo courtesy GeenStijl).
She studied Spanish, started hanging out in leftist squatter circles in the Dutch city of Groningen, and wound up traveling to Latin America to help impoverished people.

She's fighting for FARC in Colombia these days, and Colombian daily El Tiempo is leaking out the dirty details of her diary bit by bit, milking this story for everything it's worth.

Apparently none of the guerrillas use condoms, and big-breasted bimbos get favors from El Commandante. Her diary was recovered after a raid in which they were caught bathing and had to run into the jungle half-naked!!

Titillating story, no?

So how does this all tie together?

Proceeds from those Balkenende shirts go to a good cause: an organization called COMUNARTE by a young Colombian named Elkin Ramos, in which rather than fight turf wars, gangs are encouraged to dance instead.

Or so they say.

So, if you're either "with us or against us," then you're either a Balkenende or a Pronk, or a Nijmeijer or a Che or an Uribe.

But maybe, just maybe, if Us is Them, and the world isn't all black and white, and you can support a war politically but not militarily, you could choose to be a Ramos instead...
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Ice Creamed: Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's

(exhibit "A")

When I first arrived in Amsterdam, the only high quality ice cream available was Haagen Dazs, and it was only available at 6.25 per 500ml at the Albert Heijn, the country's dominant grocery chain.
That's US$8.53, at today's exchange rate. They added in Ben & Jerry's somewhere along the way, at 5.25 euro (US$7.17). I think they may have cut those prices by a few cents about two years back.

Anyhow, the point is, the chickens are finally coming home to roost. SUCK IT Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's! And tell your masters (That's General Mills/Nestle and Unilever) the grim reaper has arrived!

Das Lidl (the German chain with the Wal-Mart type labor practices) and Dirk van de Broek (The cheap-o Dutch retailer whose name means "Dirk of the Pants") have both introduced cheaper versions of super high quality ice cream in the past month.

At the Dirk on Heinekenplein (where I do my shopping when I can) the new "Noblissima" brand is 2.99 euros. As you can see from exhibit A, they have Cookies & Cream, among others.

In exhibit B, you can see the Lidl sells the "Prestige" brand at that same price, featuring "Macadamia Nut Brittle," my personal favorite.

(exhibit "B")

Admittedly, it's not *quite* as good as the Haagen Dazs version, but it's definitely in the same ballpark.

Albert Heijn has stopped selling Haagen Dazs completely (they pulled it from the shelves in April), I guess because they have a deal with Unilever on Ben & Jerry's. But B&J prices have already been cut to 4.79 euros (US$6.54). (Exhibit C:)


And I bet the best is yet to come.

B&J have to fight against Albert Hein's in-house brand "Albert Heijn Excellent," available for 3.99 euro.

In other words, capitalism, in the form of price competition, is finally arriving in this cartel-run country.

The Oracle of Amsterdam predicts all purveyors of overpriced ice cream will feel the pain very, very soon. Or better yet _ commoditization! Margin squeeze! Affordable ice cream for all! Die, you consumer-hating corporate swine!

Die! Die! Die!

Can you tell I get worked up about this?



Especially Haagen Dazs must be suffering due to getting the 'boot' from Albert Heijn.
Apparently HD is still for sale at the chains "C1000" and "Super de Boer," but their owner Laurus is a step away from Chapter 11 anyhow (okay 2 steps), and they are like the dingleberries sticking to the backside of Albert Heijn in terms of size.

I've never even seen a Super de Boer in Amsterdam, and just one C1000, once.

The only way normal people can get Haagen Dazs now is from a pizza delivery company (or at the HD shop on Leidseplein). Delivery costs 6.75 (US$9.22) per pint.

Ha, ha! 'Tis to laugh.

-Your friendly neighborhood consumer advocate.

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Google and the Associated Press

Holy Guacamole!

Google is going to host stories from the AP directly on its own site!

This is huge news from my perspective, and newspapers may view this deal as the fourth horseman of the apocalypse.

Though hardly anybody knows it, AP is a not-for-profit organization, funded by member subscriptions. In other words, it acts as the "pool" for many of the world's newspapers (and websites).

Now an elephant has jumped into the pool (AP story):

"Although the change might not even be noticed by many Google users, the decision to corral the content from the AP and other news services may irritate publishers and broadcasters if the move results in less traffic for them and more for (the) Internet's most powerful company.

Translation: if the users don't click through to the newspaper's site, the papers are cut out of the online advertising loop. Even though they're the ones "funding" the pool. Google is obviously going to be paying $$ for the news now too (no inside knowledge here, just common sense), but they are almost certain to get all the eyeballs.

A diminished audience would likely translate into less online revenue, compounding the financial headaches of long-established media already scrambling to make up for the money that has been lost as more advertisers shift their spending to the Internet.

Several other major Web sites, including Yahoo, Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, have been featuring AP material for years within their sites. Google has an even larger potential audience because its search engine handles more than half of the online search requests in the United States.

However, despite Google's dominance in search, its news section lags behind the industry leaders. In July, Google News attracted 9.6 million visitors, trailing Yahoo News (33.8 million visitors), MSNBC (24.5 million), AOL News (23.9 million) and CNN (22.5 million), according to comScore Media Metrix."

-AP

Translation:

Google is about to open up ANOTHER can of whup-ass on all other media companies, new and old.

On the bright side, this should make finding permanently valid links to my own stories a little easier. I'll be dis-inter-media-ting the newspapers' sites.

Funny enough, I couldn't find AP's story on this deal on Google's news site. It's here on the AP's own site and in a fair number of papers, but not on Google's news site.

I think it was in "Office Space" that they explained the theory of why it is best to lay off workers on a Friday.

I bring it up because this feels like a layoff notice for a lot of good reporters working at newspapers...

My visual summary of how this deal is likely to be interpreted by AP's regular newspaper subscribers:


As a final observation, I notice the NYT took Reuters on this story, rather than AP. Well, one wouldn't want to appear biased.
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Sison, Dati and a pretty hectic day

Today was the kind of day where it's so busy things start falling through the cracks.

First there was another protest in front of the courthouse where Philippine communist leader/academic Jose Maria Sison is being held.

(Si-son Vrij! means Free Sison! The man with the megaphone is Luis Jalandoni, and the woman in white is Sison's wife Julie. She has bruises on her wrists where she says the Dutch police grabbed her during the raids; she's not being allowed to see her husband).

Then the French Justice Minister Rachida Dati popped over to check out a Dutch asylum for the criminally insane _ because maybe they want to adopt the Dutch system for recidivist sex criminals. This is a big story in France that no one else cares much about. She spoke French likety-splitly at this press conference.

(sorry for the red eyes, Ms. Dati. I'm still not much of a photographer).

Then there was a ruling in the Sison case, that he can be held for another two weeks.

I'm very, very curious to see the evidence against Sison, and now I have to wonder why the judge is keeping him in solitary confinement. The public prosecutors aren't saying anything about their evidence. That's normal, but the track record of the government isn't great in proving criminal organizations, much less "chain of command" cases.

But basically, we will know nothing for the next two weeks at least.

The news coming from the lawyer is very one sided: he says there was "no evidence" against Sison, but it says something that the judges thought it was enough to hold him anyway.

Having met the man, I will be very surprised if he said anything out loud that could get him into trouble. Various members of the NDF here told stories of how the Dutch police burst into their houses, breaking down the doors. One guy said his kids were like "sheesh, all they had to do was knock."


(I thought it would be cute to see the demonstration from the eyes of the people holding the banners).

Meanwhile, Ms. Dati came through to check out the Dutch system of holding criminals who commit crimes like rape or pedophilia in mental hospitals until they are considered cured _ even if the cure lasts longer then their prison sentence.

It's ironic that the French would consider adopting this system, since it's been one of the number one most criticized policies in the Netherlands in the past five years: prisoners keep escaping supervision while on furlough and committing crimes (rape, murder, you name it).

But that's politics.
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