January 4, 2008

Push-up bras hinder probation work

Filed under: Weird by Orangemaster @ 8:00 am
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Push-up bras are currently at the centre of a huge conflict for probation employees in the Den Bosch region and the Penitentiaire Inrichting (PI)(prison) in Grave, Noord-Brabant. Nobody can come into the prison as long as the detection ports peep. Metal objects that cause the peeping have to be removed. You all see where this is going – push-up bras make the detection ports go ‘peep peep’, which stops female probation employees from doing their work by going into the prison to prepare reports. They also refuse to take off their bras or change bras just to be able to do their work. Security refuses to let them in and so the women are pretty pissed off and aren’t getting work that needs to be done in the short term to the detriment of prisoners. The ports are not an issue anywhere else in the Netherlands. The worst case scenario is to send only men. Why isn’t anyone talking about getting them fixed? Seems pretty obvious what has to be done.

(Link: waarmaarraar.nl)

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January 3, 2008

The Netherlands is sloppy at protecting privacy

Filed under: General,IT by Orangemaster @ 1:42 pm
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The Netherlands scores a poor 21st place on the international list of countries that uphold citizens’ privacy, according to the 2007 International Privacy Ranking of Great Britain. The Netherlands is in the category labelled “systematic failure to uphold safeguards” when it comes to privacy. The Netherlands also scores poorly when it comes to ID cards and biometrics.

According to Privacy International, the Netherlands’ score is so bad because of its compulsory identification, the possibility of listening in on phone conversations (communication interception) and the obligation of storing Internet data (data sharing). If you read the section entitled ‘countries with the worse records’, the Netherlands gets nailed for its leadership, albeit along with half the EU and others.

Some highlights of the privacy problems specific to the Netherlands:

– Continued proposals to increase power of law enforcement agencies
– Plans to implement in 2008 a database of all children to record development from birth
– Compulsory identification for all persons from age of 14, where 5,300 individuals are fined every month for not carrying ID
– Courts have ruled that subscriber data can be disclosed to copyright industry, and anonymous website owners

(Link: Het Parool)

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January 2, 2008

Dam disclaimer for New Year’s concert

Filed under: General,Weird by Orangemaster @ 1:41 pm
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I know they have surveillance cameras and some web cameras downtown Amsterdam, but walking down the street and seeing a disclaimer posted before arriving on Dam Square made me uneasy. No glass and no fireworks is understandible, but warning me about possibly being on TV, YouTube and the likes does not seem necessary. Will people actually think of sueing for being on TV without their permission? I can’t possibly imagine it has come to this in 2008. And I’ll leave the quality of the English translation alone since it’s clear enough.

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January 1, 2008

Smoking ban kicks in on 1 January prematurely

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 8:30 am
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After all the whining and complaining about banning smoking in Dutch establishments in the media (you can still see people being interviewed smoke on TV), some 70% of hotels, restaurants and cafes plan to ban smoking in their establishments on 1 January 2008. This is surprising since the actual ban is set for 1 July 2008. According to a spokesperson of the Royal Dutch catering and hospitality organisation, implementing the ban on 1 January has psychological reasons. “Many people start their resolutions on New Year’s Day, which often includes giving up smoking.” In fact, about three quarters of Dutch hotels have had smoking bans since 2006.

And then there’s the discussion about an exception to the ban for ‘coffeeshops’, which in Dutch refers to cafes that sell weed and hasch, since the whole point is to go there and smoke.

Tell us what you think. And Happy New Year!

(Link: fok.nl)

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