I am starting to believe more and more that these people are just confused and need help. They start the day with the introduction of a 36% tax on investing (the highest in the world) and end the same (!) day with the announcement of a study to stimulate investing fiscally. 🙃 (translated)
All debates are over. Thankfully. I was actually done with it. Both with the coalition and the opposition. I will do other things for the next three days, and on Monday, I will start again with renewed optimism. Thank you for following and see you again next week! (translated)
To think about: In April 1946, Nazi leader Hermann Göring explained in his cell in Nuremberg exactly how political power really works. He said that ordinary people never demand war or crisis, but you can always get them on board. The recipe is simple: tell them they are in danger, and accuse the critics of endangering the community. That eighty-year-old formula is today the exact blueprint behind the permanent state of crisis in which we are kept. We see this in the conflict between Europe and Russia over Ukraine, where fear is used to push through billions in weapons without real democratic debate. But it doesn’t stop at geopolitics. We saw the same recipe with COVID-19, and now with climate change and the energy transition. It penetrates into our immediate living environment, such as the Environmental Vision Fryslân or the planned closures of the Wadden nature. While island residents are excluded, the elite discusses coercive 'system changes' at the Springtij Forum on Terschelling. The control over the narrative has now gone frighteningly far. Unheard Netherlands (ON!) is being ousted from the public broadcasting system, and through new legislation, there is an open search for ways to ban right-wing opposition parties. This is exactly where history painfully begins to rhyme with the 1930s, when critical media and parties were gradually silenced under the guise of 'public order' or 'safety'. The lines of this coordinated policy go directly to international networks and think tanks such as NATO, the World Economic Forum (WEF), and the UN with their coercive SDGs. Through programs like the Young Global Leaders, politicians worldwide are being trained to roll out exactly the same crisis narratives in their own countries. Our local democracy seems to have become an execution office for a predetermined global agenda. The great eye-opener that Göring left us is that this mechanism works in every system. Once a population is made afraid enough of an invisible enemy (whether it is a virus, an aggressor, nitrogen, or CO₂), it willingly surrenders its freedom, its diverse media, and its common sense. Fear is the ultimate weapon to steer the masses. This pattern only stops when we cease to blindly follow that automatic pilot of fear. Will you let history repeat itself, or will you say no? (translated)
"You see the city, but the city does not see you," observes investigative journalist and documentary maker Yuval Abraham as he settles in for yet another interview. (translated)
The British police have arrested a 27-year-old British-Iranian man in connection with an investigation into a potentially thwarted terrorist attack on an air force base, while Prime Minister Andy Burnham has identified Iran as a possible involved party. (translated)
In France, dozens of universities/schools are now closed. Lyceums are burning. Teachers and police are injured. The extreme-left mayor is complicit. In Liège, they are closing preventively. “Students' protest.” Are we really going to leave the defense of our values to Vlaams Belang and Rassemblement National? When will traditional parties (across Europe) really talk about security and integration? (translated)
Symbolically, the schools are burning in France. The places where knowledge should be gathered, where cultures come together, where children become citizens. The destructive urge of the radicalized rioting youth knows no bounds. (translated)
Patients with lung cancer undergoing immunotherapy who also received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine during that time survived twice as long. (translated)
The Inspectorate of Education urges secondary schools to better utilize the information about new students obtained during the 'warm transfer' from primary schools to tailor education more effectively to the knowledge level of these students. (translated)
King Willem-Alexander will receive the results of a comprehensive investigation into the role of the House of Orange-Nassau in colonial history this Friday, including how the royal family benefited from slavery and colonization. (translated)
The French student protest against the poor education situation is expanding to dozens of universities, prompting the government to hold crisis talks out of concern over escalating tensions and violence. (translated)
A 27-year-old British-Iranian man has been arrested in London on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, following an incident at the RAF Fairford airbase in Gloucestershire. (translated)
Customs at Schiphol discovered 18 kilos of cocaine this week with a crew member of a plane that had arrived from Mexico, and the case has been handed over to a drug team of the Royal Marechaussee for further investigation. (translated)
A British-Iranian man has been arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts at the air force base in Fairford, while the British anti-terror police are also investigating a group of five men who were previously arrested in connection with a potential terrorist attack. (translated)
I just saw the debate between @MPHoogeveen and @Stas_Financien about the difference in taxation between directly held bitcoin, in a wallet or on an exchange (capital gains tax), and bitcoin through an investment product at a bank or broker (wealth tax). @Stas_Financien states that crypto cannot be included in the amendment, because the existing exception for start-ups and scale-ups can only be extended to other securities. But is that really true?! An amendment is a legislative proposal with which you can modify and/or supplement another legislative proposal. The fact that there is currently no exception for crypto (and precious metals) does not automatically mean that you cannot add one. If speed is the reason to accept that difference, then concretely justify why direct crypto/precious metals cannot be included in time. My question would be: What concrete legal provision makes it impossible for crypto/precious metals to be included in the same amendment? Saying "that exception was not included yet" is not sufficient. It didn't exist for start-ups either, but was also added. Think of an addition for regulated institutions, exchanges, or brokers that have a license or AFM permit. (translated)
"Keep calm and carry on, and keep supporting Ukraine." According to NATO chief Mark Rutte, Russia is trying to intimidate Europe and undermine support for Ukraine. (translated)
Taghi vows revenge, as revealed by hacked chat messages, and says he will 'let everyone sleep' Nabil B., underworld language for murder. (translated)
Any entrepreneur who mishandles government money in Flanders ends up in prison on remand. Sihame El Kaouakibi, on the other hand... (translated)
Why is it being suggested that you are completely transitioning to capital gains tax, while not mentioning crypto and precious metal investors at all?! Those who will have to pay the capital gains tax and an entire industry with thousands of jobs that will be destroyed?! (translated)
The Rotterdam city council is encountering significant opposition from residents and opposition parties regarding their plan to expand paid parking throughout the city to generate funds for investments. (translated)
