September 2, 2013

Prosecutor wants carless woman imprisoned for not paying car insurance; judge protests

Filed under: Automobiles,General by Branko Collin @ 4:49 pm

An unnamed Dutch woman was threatened with imprisonment for failing to insure her non-existent car in March of this year.

She was saved from that fate by a sympathetic judge in Noord Brabant who felt that the way the justice department hid behind its automated processes lacked care. The justice department should have noticed that something was amiss when they tried to repossess the uninsured and, most importantly, non-existent car. After all, why would a person own license plates but not a car?

Instead of stepping in and finding out what was going on, the justice department let its automated systems do the thinking and had the system pile up fine after fine until the computer said that now might be the time for imprisonment.

It is unclear if the accused will be taken out of the system or if the justice department will try and jail her again. The justice department seems to think that if the computer says so, you’re guilty, regardless of what a buttinsky judge thinks.

The blogosphere seems to believe this mess is the result of failing automation. I side with judge Wim Verjans who feels the humans hiding behind the computers are ultimately responsible.

Keeping the remainder of a punishment after the original punishment fell away because there were no grounds for punishment is a classical Dutch meme. The saying ‘Barbertje moet hangen’ (Babs must hang) stems from this principal. It was novelist Multatuli who wrote the story that started the meme—his Max Havelaar took a stand against the Dutch colonial system in 1860, but the underlying bureaucracy that pushes people around like they are nothing lives on. The unjust law with which alleged traffic offenders are pushed into this bureaucratic mess is called the Wet Mulder and was only introduced in 1989.

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August 31, 2013

Fresh couple needed at Castle Loevestein

Filed under: Architecture,General by Orangemaster @ 8:00 am
Loevestein

Back in 2010 Slot Loevestein (‘slot’ means ‘castle’ in Dutch) was looking for new castle watchers, preferably a couple to also run its bed & breakfast. Loevestein is remote, tends to flood in the winter and the right couple is required to stay in the castle à  la The Shining, come hell or high water, quite literally. Loevestein is again looking for a new set of castle watchers and we actually know people who are going to try and get the job.

This 14th century castle used to be a prison, and one of its most famous inmates was lawyer, poet and politician Hugo de Groot (Hugo Grotius) often protrayed as the ‘father of modern international law’. In 1621 Hugo de Groot pulled off a very cool escape in a book chest, an idea he got from his wife, Maria van Reigersberg who was living in the castle, albeit probably not locked up.

Some 400 couples have applied for the job this time around. Another common job opening that has this kind of response is for fort watchers on the artificial island of Pampus where being a couple and staying put is also a requirement.

(Link: www.amsterdamherald.com, Photo of Castle Loevestein by StimpsonJCat, some rights reserved)

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August 25, 2013

Dutch house owners spend their holiday bonuses on mortgage payments

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 4:11 pm

ABN Amro’s mortgage portfolio has decreased by 0.3 billion euro because house owners have been making extra payments using their holiday bonuses, the troubled bank writes in its interim financial report for 2013 (PDF, page 41).

Z24 discovered this titbit and adds that according to TNS Nipo (a polling company) 1 in 5 home owners would like to make extra mortgage payments. Dutch banks generally penalize extra payments above a threshold of 10% to 15% of the loan.

Dutch employees have a right to a holiday bonus of 8% of their annual salary. Employers usually pay this bonus in May before the summer holidays start.

House prices in the Netherlands have been declining for a couple of years now, resulting in a negative balance: home owners, especially young ones, owe the bank more money than their home is worth. Z24 says that home owners use their holiday bonuses to help pay off their mortgages partially because the interest on savings accounts is at a very low point. These extra payments are not enough, the financial news site says, to counter the declining house prices.

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August 24, 2013

Diederik Stapel for hire as a chauffeur

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 5:01 pm

The Netherlands’ favourite scientific fraudster, Diederik Stapel, is at it again.

The former psychology professor, whose name ironically also means ‘crazy’, has started offering zinritten, ‘mind rides’. He explains on his website:

Always on the move, from A to B, hurried, no time for reflection, for distance, for perspective. […] Diederik offers himself as your driver and conversation partner who won’t just get you from A to B, but who would also like to add meaning and disruption to your travel time. He will […] listen to what you have to say or talk to you about what fascinates, surprises or angers you. [Slightly paraphrased for brevity—Branko]

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August 19, 2013

Dutch banks rush mobile payments system into production

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 1:06 pm

The three major Dutch banks—ING, ABN Amro and Rabobank—are set to introduce ‘mobile payments’ to unsuspecting consumers in two weeks, Volkskrant reports.

To use the system consumers must have an NFC-capable mobile phone. The banks hope that by introducing this new payment method they get to be the gatekeepers that determine the price tag.

It is not clear from the article which stores will accept mobile payments. The paper mentions a trial period in Leiden. Spokesperson Margo van Wijgerden of Mobiel Betalen in Leiden tries to maximize the confusion by saying: “It is not a trial. There will be an evaluation, but mobile payments will continue after the initial phase.”
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August 18, 2013

Unclaimed public transport deposits a ‘goldmine’ for operators

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 4:23 pm

Telegraaf reports that public transport operators are making megabucks off of passengers that forget to swipe their public transport card (OV Chipkaart) when checking out.

The paper calls the thirty million euro that the companies pocket ‘a goldmine’. The OV Chipkaart system (basically a single-purpose electronic wallet) deducts a deposit when you check in and returns that money when you check out. That deposit is 4 euro for bus, subway and tram and ten euro for rail—twenty if you travel using an ‘anonymous’ card. According to Telegraaf, forgetting to check out happens approximately once every 100 trips.

The news follows hot on the revelation that the transport card seems to have led to considerable price hikes. RTL Nieuws reported two weeks ago that since the introduction of the card, fares have risen by as much as 48% (The Hague). Cities like Amsterdam and Groningen follow with rises of 38% and 20% respectively. For comparison, inflation in the Netherlands was around 4% during that period.

In July Dutchnews reported that rail users’ association Rover and travellers’ association ANWB had started a probe to find out exactly how much money passengers lose because of forfeiting their deposit. The results are expected in the autumn. Telegraaf does not say where it got its information, but instead cites ‘reliable sources’.

See also:

(Photo of public transport companies getting an ‘award’ for being the worst privacy offenders of 2010 by Sebastiaan ter Burg, some rights reserved)

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August 4, 2013

Drug dealer accepts payment in Lego

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 10:09 am

A 34-year-old from Groningen paid for his drug addiction by stealing expensive Lego and Playmobil kits, Spitsnieuws reports.

The addict told the court his dealer accepted payment in toys. The boxes he stole from a local toy store were valued up to 190 euro a piece.

Algemeen Dagblad quotes his lawyer who explained the popularity of Lego as follows: “Lego is easy to shift. Once children have been exposed to their first brick, they’re hooked.”

The justice department demands 265 days imprisonment, of which 180 days are suspended. The papers do not say what the suspect is supposed to be addicted to.

Fueling addictions with Lego, even if they’re not addictions to Lego, could become a trend. In 2011 a 21-year-old woman from Dublin was convicted to 200 hours of community service for stealing Lego, Transformer toys and bubble bath sets to pay for her heroin addiction, Herald.ie writes.

(Photo by Sunny Ripert, some rights reserved)

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July 29, 2013

Dutch postal worker burned mail

Filed under: General,Weird by Branko Collin @ 11:39 am

A 26-year-old woman from Swalmen, Limburg has been burning the mail she was supposed to deliver in her short-lived career as a postal worker.

Apparently she said she did not feel like delivering all that mail, though Spitsnieuws doesn’t mention who she told this to.

The woman had been a postal worker for two weeks. Post.nl fired her and reported her to the police. The company also sent the victims a letter informing telling them what happened.

Former state monopolist Post.nl has been replacing well-trained, well-paid postal workers with hard to employ people with little or no experience who are willing to work — or not work, as the case may be — for little money.

See also: Dutch postal strike ends after reaching an agreement

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July 22, 2013

Ferry wars are threatening to isolate the island of Vlieland

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 9:42 am

A price war between two competing ferry companies servicing the Dutch Wadden island of Terschelling is threatening to isolate the island of Vlieland as well.

Rederij Doeksen is the official ferry company that connects both islands with the mainland. In 2008 islanders of Terschelling, dissatisfied with Doeksen’s service, decided to start their own ferry company, Eigen Veerdienst Terschelling (EVT), which literally means Own Ferry Service Terschelling.

The Dutch government granted Doeksen a monopoly in 2011 (which was to enter into force in 2012) provided that Doeksen would guarantee a service throughout the year and not just in the summer, when tourists flock to the islands. EVT brought a case before the Dutch Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal fighting the concession and in the meantime it charged 5 euro for a ticket to Terschelling whereas Doeksen originally charged 25 euro. Doeksen has lowered its rates to 4 euro, but now threatens to cut trips to Vlieland from three times a day to twice a day.

Vlieland’s inhabitants are not happy. Mayor Else Schadd (Labour) told Volkskrant on 15 July: “This is unacceptable. In the future if you want to go to the dentist, you will need to take the entire day off. Islanders who work on the mainland won’t get to their office before ten in the morning. And day trippers who want to visit us in the off-season will have to return home at five o’ clock.”

EVT’s case hinges around whether the Wadden Sea is a real sea or merely a whole lot of water, Veerbootinfo writes. In case of the former European law apparently gives EVT some breathing space.

(Map of the Wadden Sea by OpenStreetMap contributors, some rights reserved. Vlieland and Terschelling are in the top left corner, Vlieland is on the left. The white lines show the ferry routes)

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July 19, 2013

No wonder Dutch students live in containers

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 12:10 pm

It’s not too much of a surprise that student rooms in Amsterdam are the most expensive in the Netherlands at 100 euro a week, but maybe a little surprising that Dutch student housing is the second most expensive in Europe after the UK at 139 euro a week. Belgian and German neighbours are lucky, paying respectively 66 euro and 57 euro a week.

The typical ‘I’m looking for a room ad’ shows that people are willing to pay just as much and even more than people renting an entire flat to get a room. I also know a lot of Dutch adults who still have roommates, but then the amount of British television shows where adults share flats taught me as a non-European that it’s perfectly normal in Europe.

A few weeks ago I was part of a Canadian documentary about Amsterdam North’s NDSM dock area and both cameramen were stunned by the container village (see pic) that students have to live in, first thinking it was some sort of elaborate artwork. When I told them it was student housing, we talked about the differences between Amsterdam and Montréal were the entire crew and myself are from.

Amsterdam style:

– I actually know rich Dutch parents who bought a second house so that their daughter could have a room and share the house with friends.
– There used to be parties in Amsterdam where students could win a room in a house, not rent-free of course.
– Some adults stay in their student room years after graduation because there are very tough laws about throwing people out of their homes.

Montréal style:

– Student housing provided by universities is overpriced and usually full of foreigners who don’t know better. They usually wise up really quickly and get a normal flat.
– Renting a flat is easy, so there is no need for students to live in student housing. They live in flats just like normal people.
– The idea of renting a room in a house is weird. People rent a flat or share a flat, but don’t usually go looking for a room with the assumption that renting a flat is very difficult like it is in Amsterdam.

(Link: www.iamexpat.nl, Photo of Multi-storey container housing by Rory Hyde, some rights reserved)

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