Anna Holligan 7 October 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15225270
Robalini's Note: Talk about a bait and switch: the far right parties in Amsterdam - which gained political power scapegoating Muslims as a social menace - have instead gone after regulating marijuana.
The famous cannabis-selling coffee shops of the Netherlands are facing new tighter restrictions.
The Dutch government is reclassifying high-strength cannabis to put it in the same category as hard drugs.
It says the amount of the main active chemical in the drug, THC, has gone up, making it far more potent than a generation ago.
It means the coffee shops will be forced to take the popular, high-strength varieties off their shelves.
Dutch politicians say high-strength cannabis, known as "skunk", is more dangerous than it was before.
In the future, anything containing more than 15% THC will be treated the same way as hard drugs, such as cocaine and ecstasy.
The move is a big blow to the coffee shops - and means they will have to replace about 80% of their stock with weaker varieties.
Marc Josemans, who runs a cafe in Maastricht, says he believes that the new tough approach is being driven by the increasingly influential far-right in Dutch politics.
"You immediately can taste the difference. Everything which is considered unusual for them - they call it 'left hobbies' and under this name they want to ban all 'left hobbies', like using cannabis," he told the BBC.
The move means that the Netherlands' traditional tolerance of soft drugs is to become a thing of the past.
The ban on the high-strength "skunk" is expected to be introduced next year, when police will start doing random checks in the cafes.
From next year, the Dutch government also plans to ban tourists from entering coffee shops across the country.
Amsterdam and other cities are strongly opposed to such a ban.
Showing posts with label Amsterdam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amsterdam. Show all posts
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Dutch Election: Voters Opt for Austerity
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1995772,00.html
Dutch Election: Voters Opt for Austerity
By Leo Cendrowicz / Brussels Thursday, Jun. 10, 2010
While all around Europe citizens are taking to the streets to protest their governments' plans for budget cuts, pledges to curb spending and balance the budget have proven to be vote winners in the Netherlands. In Wednesday's general election, the Dutch gave their strongest support to the pro-business Liberal Party (VVD) and its stark message of austerity.
In the midst of a brutal economic downturn and a bruising market buffeting for the euro, Dutch voters turned away from the traditional hot-button election issue of immigration to focus instead on how candidates proposed to nurse their nation's public finances back into health. The result was a surge in support for the Liberals, led by the telegenic 43-year-old former Unilever executive Mark Rutte, whose belt-tightening mantra was underlined by his having predicted an economic crisis as early as January 2008. On Wednesday night he hailed "a fantastic evening" for his party. "We are the party for everyone who wants to make something of their lives," he said.
But the popularity boost didn't translate into an outright win, and the VVD is now in the process of trying to form a coalition. As leader of the biggest party in the 150-seat Dutch Parliament, Rutte will aim to head up the government, but he still has a way to go before he can become the first Liberal prime minister since the World War I. Wednesday's vote delivered one of the most fractious results in Dutch election history: with 31 seats — 20% of the vote — the Liberals will still need at least two other parties as allies if they are to form a coalition.
The question for Rutte is whether he decides to work with the election's other big winner, Geert Wilders, who heads the Islam-bashing, anti-immigration Freedom Party (PVV). The Freedom Party, taking part in only its second national election since being founded by Wilders in 2005, secured 16% of the vote, jumping from 9 to 24 seats. Wilders, the bogeyman of Dutch politics, called it a "glorious day", and demanded to be included in any ruling coalition. "They cannot ignore us. We want to be taken seriously," he said. "One-and-a-half million Dutch voted for us and for more security, less crime and less Islam."
The success of both Rutte and Wilders — and their respective agendas — represents a relatively new phenomenon in Dutch politics, according to Paul Scheffer, professor of urban sociology at Amsterdam University. "Voters feel uncertain and uneasy, and this applies both to economic and cultural issues," Scheffer says. "The Dutch traditionally were able to adapt to the world. But there is a feeling now that they are exposed to globalization and no longer protected by the government."
Given those concerns, it's surprising that the Wilders effect wasn't as strong as many had expected. When the election was called in February, the Freedom Party was riding high in the polls, and Wilders' gripes about Islam and immigration were expected to dominate the campaign. But instead voters stuck to economic issues. "The debate moved from Muslims and headscarves on to more profound and constructive issues like mortgages and tax deductions," says Adriaan Schout, director at the Clingendael Netherlands Institute for International Relations in The Hague. "People realize that the economic situation is much more serious than anyone thought, and there is a large consensus that big cutbacks are needed."
With a budget deficit currently running at 6.6% of GDP, and debt at 62.2%, the Netherlands has one of the European Union's soundest public finances (Greece's deficit, in comparison, is estimated at 13.6% of GDP and its debt is at 115.1%). But the euro crisis has so shaken voters that they have placed austerity at the heart of their concerns. Rutte went further than anyone else in his aggressive cost-cutting promises, saying he would slash public spending by about €45 billion ($54 billion) over the next four years and by €20 billion ($24 billion) each year from 2015. That would mean higher taxes, raising the retirement age, canceling a number of generous social programs, eliminating development aid, reducing the military by half, firing thousands of civil servants and bringing the budget into surplus within two terms.
The most obvious allies for the Liberals for such a drastic program would be the conservative Christian Democrats (CDA), whose leader, Jan Peter Balkenende, was the prime minister in the outgoing coalition. But after eight years of being the largest Dutch party, the CDA suffered a crushing defeating on Wednesday, sliding from 41 seats to 21. Calling the results "very, very disappointing," Balkenende stepped down as a party leader.
The CDA's erstwhile coalition partners, the Labor Party (PvdA) also lost ground, but less dramatically: they fell from 33 to 30, just one MP less than the Liberals. The Labor leader, former Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen, represents a more familiar Dutch tradition of tolerance and openness. A Jew who has reached out to orthodox Muslims, he was the first mayor in the world to perform a civil gay marriage in 2001. Cohen has accepted the need for budget cuts, but on Wednesday told supporters he would do all he could to make sure the Netherlands continues to be a social and decent country.
If he rejects Wilders and his Freedom Party, Rutte could work with Labor's Cohen, but he would still need at least one other party to join them. That could be either the CDA under Balkenende's successor, or the left-wing Liberals of D66 and the Greens.
But whatever the solution, it would mean a precarious coalition with fierce in-built tensions. "The political landscape is hugely fragmented, and it is unclear what this election result means," says Rob de Wijk, director of The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS). "The economic crisis has made the country preoccupied with itself, and that is a big problem: if you want to restructure your economy, you have to be outward-looking."
Dutch Election: Voters Opt for Austerity
By Leo Cendrowicz / Brussels Thursday, Jun. 10, 2010
While all around Europe citizens are taking to the streets to protest their governments' plans for budget cuts, pledges to curb spending and balance the budget have proven to be vote winners in the Netherlands. In Wednesday's general election, the Dutch gave their strongest support to the pro-business Liberal Party (VVD) and its stark message of austerity.
In the midst of a brutal economic downturn and a bruising market buffeting for the euro, Dutch voters turned away from the traditional hot-button election issue of immigration to focus instead on how candidates proposed to nurse their nation's public finances back into health. The result was a surge in support for the Liberals, led by the telegenic 43-year-old former Unilever executive Mark Rutte, whose belt-tightening mantra was underlined by his having predicted an economic crisis as early as January 2008. On Wednesday night he hailed "a fantastic evening" for his party. "We are the party for everyone who wants to make something of their lives," he said.
But the popularity boost didn't translate into an outright win, and the VVD is now in the process of trying to form a coalition. As leader of the biggest party in the 150-seat Dutch Parliament, Rutte will aim to head up the government, but he still has a way to go before he can become the first Liberal prime minister since the World War I. Wednesday's vote delivered one of the most fractious results in Dutch election history: with 31 seats — 20% of the vote — the Liberals will still need at least two other parties as allies if they are to form a coalition.
The question for Rutte is whether he decides to work with the election's other big winner, Geert Wilders, who heads the Islam-bashing, anti-immigration Freedom Party (PVV). The Freedom Party, taking part in only its second national election since being founded by Wilders in 2005, secured 16% of the vote, jumping from 9 to 24 seats. Wilders, the bogeyman of Dutch politics, called it a "glorious day", and demanded to be included in any ruling coalition. "They cannot ignore us. We want to be taken seriously," he said. "One-and-a-half million Dutch voted for us and for more security, less crime and less Islam."
The success of both Rutte and Wilders — and their respective agendas — represents a relatively new phenomenon in Dutch politics, according to Paul Scheffer, professor of urban sociology at Amsterdam University. "Voters feel uncertain and uneasy, and this applies both to economic and cultural issues," Scheffer says. "The Dutch traditionally were able to adapt to the world. But there is a feeling now that they are exposed to globalization and no longer protected by the government."
Given those concerns, it's surprising that the Wilders effect wasn't as strong as many had expected. When the election was called in February, the Freedom Party was riding high in the polls, and Wilders' gripes about Islam and immigration were expected to dominate the campaign. But instead voters stuck to economic issues. "The debate moved from Muslims and headscarves on to more profound and constructive issues like mortgages and tax deductions," says Adriaan Schout, director at the Clingendael Netherlands Institute for International Relations in The Hague. "People realize that the economic situation is much more serious than anyone thought, and there is a large consensus that big cutbacks are needed."
With a budget deficit currently running at 6.6% of GDP, and debt at 62.2%, the Netherlands has one of the European Union's soundest public finances (Greece's deficit, in comparison, is estimated at 13.6% of GDP and its debt is at 115.1%). But the euro crisis has so shaken voters that they have placed austerity at the heart of their concerns. Rutte went further than anyone else in his aggressive cost-cutting promises, saying he would slash public spending by about €45 billion ($54 billion) over the next four years and by €20 billion ($24 billion) each year from 2015. That would mean higher taxes, raising the retirement age, canceling a number of generous social programs, eliminating development aid, reducing the military by half, firing thousands of civil servants and bringing the budget into surplus within two terms.
The most obvious allies for the Liberals for such a drastic program would be the conservative Christian Democrats (CDA), whose leader, Jan Peter Balkenende, was the prime minister in the outgoing coalition. But after eight years of being the largest Dutch party, the CDA suffered a crushing defeating on Wednesday, sliding from 41 seats to 21. Calling the results "very, very disappointing," Balkenende stepped down as a party leader.
The CDA's erstwhile coalition partners, the Labor Party (PvdA) also lost ground, but less dramatically: they fell from 33 to 30, just one MP less than the Liberals. The Labor leader, former Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen, represents a more familiar Dutch tradition of tolerance and openness. A Jew who has reached out to orthodox Muslims, he was the first mayor in the world to perform a civil gay marriage in 2001. Cohen has accepted the need for budget cuts, but on Wednesday told supporters he would do all he could to make sure the Netherlands continues to be a social and decent country.
If he rejects Wilders and his Freedom Party, Rutte could work with Labor's Cohen, but he would still need at least one other party to join them. That could be either the CDA under Balkenende's successor, or the left-wing Liberals of D66 and the Greens.
But whatever the solution, it would mean a precarious coalition with fierce in-built tensions. "The political landscape is hugely fragmented, and it is unclear what this election result means," says Rob de Wijk, director of The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS). "The economic crisis has made the country preoccupied with itself, and that is a big problem: if you want to restructure your economy, you have to be outward-looking."
Dutch voters boost far-right party of Geert Wilders
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0610/Dutch-voters-boost-far-right-party-of-Geert-Wilders
Dutch voters boost far-right party of Geert Wilders
Spurred by anxiety over immigration, Islam, and the economy, Dutch voters put the center-right Liberals in the lead in national elections, and gave a strong boost to Geert Wilders's Freedom Party, which proposes banning the Koran and the building of new mosques.
Robert Marquand, Staff Writer / June 10, 2010
The Dutch woke up Thursday morning to a striking new right-leaning political reality after Wednesday’s national elections ratified both a conservative emphasis on austerity and a populist push against immigration and Islam.
It was the first European elections since the Greek debt crisis put the euro in a funk – and results proved so fragmented that forming a ruling Dutch coalition will be difficult and may take months.
The budget-cutting center-right Liberals (conservatives in US parlance) under Mark Rutte gained the most seats, 31. But the center-left Labor Party took 30, led by former Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen, who ran on a “bridge-building, hate-busting” campaign.
Mr. Rutte ran on cutting spending by more than $50 billion in coming years. Should the telegenic and youthful politician cobble together a like-minded coalition, it would mark the first conservative Dutch government in a century. He told reporters Thursday that "I would like to see a new cabinet put together as soon as possible because of the seriousness of the economic crisis."
If Mr. Cohen should prevail, he would be the Netherlands' first Jewish prime minister – and would represent a formidable bully pulpit against a growing chauvinist feeling in the country. Cohen is known for bringing calm to Amsterdam after the assassinations of anti-immigrant figure Pim Fortuyn and Theo Van Gogh, whose anti-Muslim film caused a furor, and brought fear and anger to the usually mild city several years ago.
The biggest winner, however, is the flamboyant and extremist politician Geert Wilders, whose Freedom Party platform to ban the Koran and mosque-building defied election polling data and jacked him from 9 to 23 seats. Mr. Wilders’s rise as leader of what is now the No. 3 party in the Netherlands is considered a bellwether of a surlier sentiment in a country traditionally tolerant but now anxious over Muslim minorities.
A straw poll of Dutch junior high and high school students prior to the election showed Wilders actually winning the election among Dutch youths, as reported by DutchNews.
"The Netherlands chose more security, less crime, less immigration, and less Islam," a delighted Wilders told Dutch TV viewers last night. In a post-election rally, he was more colorful: “I say to all the newly elected Freedom Party MPs of our beautiful party, bring battering rams with you, because starting tomorrow, we're going to give them hell!”
Current government's free fall
The biggest loser is Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende. After a bumpy eight-year rule from the center-left, Mr. Balkenende’s Christian Democrats went into free fall, from 41 to 21 seats. The prime minister said he will resign pending a new government.
The Dutch government broke up in February partly over its participation in the Afghan war, but election campaigning was dominated by the economy.
The Netherlands is in far better financial shape than most eurozone states, but voters in the fiscally conservative nation are concerned about negative forecasts as well as higher borrowing costs and bank debt. A 2008 government takeover of the Netherlands' flagship bank, ABN AMRO, cost $35 billion, and is well-remembered.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The world's happiest cities
http://shine.yahoo.com/event/tastefulliving/the-worlds-happiest-cities-508202/
The world's happiest cities
by Forbes.com
Wed Sep 2, 2009
Ever since Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers appeared in the 1933 film Flying Down to Rio, the world has been fascinated with Rio de Janeiro. Popular perception of the city is infused with images of starry-eyed youngsters dancing into the dusk, backed by imposing mountains and dark sea.
That view has propelled Rio to the top of our list of the world's happiest cities. Famous for its annual Carnaval festival (starting Feb. 13 next year), the second-largest metropolis in South America finished first among 50 cities in a recent survey conducted by Simon Anholt, an author and policy adviser.
"Brazil is associated with all these qualities of good humor and good living and Carnaval," says Anholt. "Carnaval is very important--it's the classic image that people have of Rio, and it's an image of happiness."
Next on the list is the top city from Down Under: Sydney, Australia. Known for balmy weather, friendly locals and an iconic opera house, Sydney fared well in Anholt's survey because of its association with a popular brand--Australia.
"It's where everybody would like to go," he says. "Everybody thinks they know Australia because they've seen Crocodile Dundee. There's this image of this nation of people who basically sit around having barbecues."
Rounding out the top five are third-ranked Barcelona, Spain, which Anholt calls "the classic Mediterranean city"; fourth-ranked Amsterdam, Netherlands, because Anholt's young respondents "know you can smoke dope in the bars"; and Melbourne, Australia, which makes the list simply because it's in Australia.
"People know it's in Australia, and that it's full of Australians," says Anholt. "Therefore, it must be fun."
Behind the Numbers
The data Anholt provided for our list is part of his Nation Brands Index, which he developed in 2005. The latest incarnation, the 2009 Anholt-GfK Roper City Brands Index, was released in June. The data was compiled from online interviews with 10,000 respondents in 20 countries.
Happiness is difficult to quantify, and Anholt acknowledges that his data is less an indicator of where local populations are happiest than a reflection of respondents' thinking about where they could imagine themselves happy.
"This is a survey of perception, not a survey of reality," he says. "People write me all the time and say 'that's not true.' It probably isn't true, but it's what people think. The gap between perception and reality is what interests city governments."
The French historian Fernand Braudel wrote that "Happiness, whether in business or private life, leaves very little trace in history." But a perception of happiness leaves a strong trace on the balance sheets of cities that depend on conventions, tourism and an influx of talent.
The Pursuit of Happiness
Anholt notes that the results of his survey reflect the longstanding reputation of Mediterranean and Latin American cities as non-stop party locales.
"It's pretty much the expected bunch," says Anholt. "Though I'm a little surprised about Spain outdoing Italy. It's interesting that the Spanish are perceived as being happier than the Italians--I find the Spanish rather gloomy."
Still, Barcelona--Spain's highest-ranked city--has plenty of supporters.
"The beauty of the city and its environs, along with affordable housing and business opportunities, is the fantastic lifestyle," says Michelle Finkelstein, a vice president at travel agency Our Personal Guest. "There's not the stress of getting a child into the best preschool--the public ones are good and close by. And they have the top soccer team and some of the best weather in Europe."
Other places in the world that lack the metropolitan flair of the cities on this list are often identified with the notion of happiness. "Anyone lucky enough to visit the magical Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan would know that there is no competition: There can be no happier place," says Patricia Schultz, author of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. "This small Buddhist nation of incredibly stunning beauty follows a unique guiding philosophy of GNH--Gross National Happiness. You can see it in their open faces--they smile from the heart. Barcelona has nothing on them."
Global rivalries notwithstanding, Anholt notes that his findings more or less support historical trends, with one notable exception.
"The cities on this list would probably be the same if I'd been running this survey in 1890, aside from Sydney and Melbourne," he says. "Australia is kind of a branding miracle."
Not bad for a former penal colony.
Top 5 World's Happiest Cities
1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2. Sydney, Australia
3. Barcelona, Spain
4. Amsterdam, Netherlands
5. Melbourne, Australia
The world's happiest cities
by Forbes.com
Wed Sep 2, 2009
Ever since Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers appeared in the 1933 film Flying Down to Rio, the world has been fascinated with Rio de Janeiro. Popular perception of the city is infused with images of starry-eyed youngsters dancing into the dusk, backed by imposing mountains and dark sea.
That view has propelled Rio to the top of our list of the world's happiest cities. Famous for its annual Carnaval festival (starting Feb. 13 next year), the second-largest metropolis in South America finished first among 50 cities in a recent survey conducted by Simon Anholt, an author and policy adviser.
"Brazil is associated with all these qualities of good humor and good living and Carnaval," says Anholt. "Carnaval is very important--it's the classic image that people have of Rio, and it's an image of happiness."
Next on the list is the top city from Down Under: Sydney, Australia. Known for balmy weather, friendly locals and an iconic opera house, Sydney fared well in Anholt's survey because of its association with a popular brand--Australia.
"It's where everybody would like to go," he says. "Everybody thinks they know Australia because they've seen Crocodile Dundee. There's this image of this nation of people who basically sit around having barbecues."
Rounding out the top five are third-ranked Barcelona, Spain, which Anholt calls "the classic Mediterranean city"; fourth-ranked Amsterdam, Netherlands, because Anholt's young respondents "know you can smoke dope in the bars"; and Melbourne, Australia, which makes the list simply because it's in Australia.
"People know it's in Australia, and that it's full of Australians," says Anholt. "Therefore, it must be fun."
Behind the Numbers
The data Anholt provided for our list is part of his Nation Brands Index, which he developed in 2005. The latest incarnation, the 2009 Anholt-GfK Roper City Brands Index, was released in June. The data was compiled from online interviews with 10,000 respondents in 20 countries.
Happiness is difficult to quantify, and Anholt acknowledges that his data is less an indicator of where local populations are happiest than a reflection of respondents' thinking about where they could imagine themselves happy.
"This is a survey of perception, not a survey of reality," he says. "People write me all the time and say 'that's not true.' It probably isn't true, but it's what people think. The gap between perception and reality is what interests city governments."
The French historian Fernand Braudel wrote that "Happiness, whether in business or private life, leaves very little trace in history." But a perception of happiness leaves a strong trace on the balance sheets of cities that depend on conventions, tourism and an influx of talent.
The Pursuit of Happiness
Anholt notes that the results of his survey reflect the longstanding reputation of Mediterranean and Latin American cities as non-stop party locales.
"It's pretty much the expected bunch," says Anholt. "Though I'm a little surprised about Spain outdoing Italy. It's interesting that the Spanish are perceived as being happier than the Italians--I find the Spanish rather gloomy."
Still, Barcelona--Spain's highest-ranked city--has plenty of supporters.
"The beauty of the city and its environs, along with affordable housing and business opportunities, is the fantastic lifestyle," says Michelle Finkelstein, a vice president at travel agency Our Personal Guest. "There's not the stress of getting a child into the best preschool--the public ones are good and close by. And they have the top soccer team and some of the best weather in Europe."
Other places in the world that lack the metropolitan flair of the cities on this list are often identified with the notion of happiness. "Anyone lucky enough to visit the magical Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan would know that there is no competition: There can be no happier place," says Patricia Schultz, author of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. "This small Buddhist nation of incredibly stunning beauty follows a unique guiding philosophy of GNH--Gross National Happiness. You can see it in their open faces--they smile from the heart. Barcelona has nothing on them."
Global rivalries notwithstanding, Anholt notes that his findings more or less support historical trends, with one notable exception.
"The cities on this list would probably be the same if I'd been running this survey in 1890, aside from Sydney and Melbourne," he says. "Australia is kind of a branding miracle."
Not bad for a former penal colony.
Top 5 World's Happiest Cities
1. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2. Sydney, Australia
3. Barcelona, Spain
4. Amsterdam, Netherlands
5. Melbourne, Australia
Friday, August 7, 2009
FeedBack: Jack Kirby
As always, it was good to see Jack Kirby’s name in Konformist, which recently ran the abbreviated bio from Lambiek’s. Lambiek’s is the oldest comics shop in Europe, a must-see place for any visit to Amsterdam. The times I’ve been there the wares have been amazing as have the exhibits. That bio, however, was quite short and glosses over many of the major controversies in Kirby’s career, including an ongoing attempt to obscure his name.
As recently as this last Comic Con in San Diego, comics guy Stan Lee billed himself as the sole creator of all the Marvel licensing properties (Fantastic Four, Iron Man, The Hulk—all now major Hollywood box office draws) and sold the pleasure of his companionship for $300 a plate dinners. The dinners included a grab bag of autographed memorabilia. Those who know that Jack Kirby created those properties, while Lee served a minor editorial role, regard these as way over-priced barf bags. Kirby was paid a per-drawn-page rate for those creations and got no percentage for their licensing. Lee makes exaggerated claims about his involvement to gloss over the inequity and protect the corporate owned copyrights, thereby also depriving Kirby even of some measure of the celebrity he deserves.
Lee’s employers, Marvel Comics, recently produced a title called Young Allies with material reprinted from the Golden Age of comics, 1930s-40s. It included a text piece reprint from 1941 by Stan Lee, with the writer well credited but not the illustration artist. What looks like an uncredited Kirby illo accompanies another text reprint in the issue with another full Stan Lee writer credit.
Here’s an excerpt:
--In a few minutes the two lads ran into two other boys while turning a corner. "Hey look where you-all am goin'!" cried one of the boys, as he dropped a piece of watermelon out of his hand.
"Put that melon away and follow us, Whitewash," ordered Jeff. "Someone's in trouble and we've got to assist her!" "Yahoo!" yelped the darky lad. "I'se just itchin' to meet up with some trouble--providin' it ain't bigger than me, ob course!"
...
"Let's see now, who am missing?" asked Whitewash Jones. "Dere's me ob course, 'n Knucks, 'n Jeff'son, n' Tubby--"
In the new material that comprises most of this issue of Young Allies, writer Roger Stern makes Whitewash one of the Tuskegee airmen. It includes a long apology on the first page about how Golden Age comics were so poorly credited—but not a thing apologizing for the reprinted racial stereotypes. It looks like that's one credit that Lee doesn't want to take.
Kenn Thomas
Steamshovelpress.com
As recently as this last Comic Con in San Diego, comics guy Stan Lee billed himself as the sole creator of all the Marvel licensing properties (Fantastic Four, Iron Man, The Hulk—all now major Hollywood box office draws) and sold the pleasure of his companionship for $300 a plate dinners. The dinners included a grab bag of autographed memorabilia. Those who know that Jack Kirby created those properties, while Lee served a minor editorial role, regard these as way over-priced barf bags. Kirby was paid a per-drawn-page rate for those creations and got no percentage for their licensing. Lee makes exaggerated claims about his involvement to gloss over the inequity and protect the corporate owned copyrights, thereby also depriving Kirby even of some measure of the celebrity he deserves.
Lee’s employers, Marvel Comics, recently produced a title called Young Allies with material reprinted from the Golden Age of comics, 1930s-40s. It included a text piece reprint from 1941 by Stan Lee, with the writer well credited but not the illustration artist. What looks like an uncredited Kirby illo accompanies another text reprint in the issue with another full Stan Lee writer credit.
Here’s an excerpt:
--In a few minutes the two lads ran into two other boys while turning a corner. "Hey look where you-all am goin'!" cried one of the boys, as he dropped a piece of watermelon out of his hand.
"Put that melon away and follow us, Whitewash," ordered Jeff. "Someone's in trouble and we've got to assist her!" "Yahoo!" yelped the darky lad. "I'se just itchin' to meet up with some trouble--providin' it ain't bigger than me, ob course!"
...
"Let's see now, who am missing?" asked Whitewash Jones. "Dere's me ob course, 'n Knucks, 'n Jeff'son, n' Tubby--"
In the new material that comprises most of this issue of Young Allies, writer Roger Stern makes Whitewash one of the Tuskegee airmen. It includes a long apology on the first page about how Golden Age comics were so poorly credited—but not a thing apologizing for the reprinted racial stereotypes. It looks like that's one credit that Lee doesn't want to take.
Kenn Thomas
Steamshovelpress.com
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Amsterdam says "we are all gay"
http://www.gadling.com/2009/07/16/amsterdam-says-we-are-all-gay-begs-gays-to-visit-them
Amsterdam says "we are all gay" - begs gays to visit them
by Scott Carmichael
Jul 16th 2009
The Dutch tourist bureau is reaching out to American gays by trying to convince them that "everyone is gay in Amsterdam".
The bureau says that gays are one of the few remaining tourist groups with any disposable income left, and they are trying to paint Amsterdam as a very gay friendly city in the hope that they'll make the trip and spend their cash in the Dutch capital.
To deliver their message, they'll be inviting the gay community in the US to visit Amsterdam using TV commercials and magazine ads.
Gay TV channel "Here TV" is even planning to show a documentary about gay friendly Amsterdam.
Of course, the whole promotion could also have something to do with the fact that Amsterdam really isn't as gay friendly as it used to be, and that many other European cities have bypassed them.
Amsterdam says "we are all gay" - begs gays to visit them
by Scott Carmichael
Jul 16th 2009
The Dutch tourist bureau is reaching out to American gays by trying to convince them that "everyone is gay in Amsterdam".
The bureau says that gays are one of the few remaining tourist groups with any disposable income left, and they are trying to paint Amsterdam as a very gay friendly city in the hope that they'll make the trip and spend their cash in the Dutch capital.
To deliver their message, they'll be inviting the gay community in the US to visit Amsterdam using TV commercials and magazine ads.
Gay TV channel "Here TV" is even planning to show a documentary about gay friendly Amsterdam.
Of course, the whole promotion could also have something to do with the fact that Amsterdam really isn't as gay friendly as it used to be, and that many other European cities have bypassed them.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Dutch TV show exonerates Osama bin Laden
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ie9cf6d4fe9496d052885db4114f0c656
Dutch TV show exonerates Osama bin Laden
'Devil's Advocate' jury finds no proof he was behind Sept. 11
By Scott Roxborough
April 9, 2009
BERLIN -- A Dutch TV jury has found Osama bin Laden not guilty of the Sept. 11 attacks.
In the conclusion Wednesday night to the show "Devil's Advocate" on Dutch public broadcaster Nederland 2, the jury of two men and three women, along with the studio audience, ruled there was no proof bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.
The Netherlands, home to "Big Brother" creator Endemol, is known for being on the cutting edge of format-based television. But even for Dutch standards, "Devil's Advocate," from Amsterdam production house AVRO, pushes the envelope.
The show features star defense attorney Gerard Spong standing up for some of the world's worst criminals.
In the latest show, Spong was able to convince the jury that bin Laden's connection to Sept. 11 was a product of "Western propaganda." The jury also ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove bin Laden was the real head of terrorist network al-Qaida. However, the jury did rule that bin Laden is a "terrorist who has misused Islam."
The show is certain to provide further ammunition in the already heated Dutch debate over immigration and the country's large Muslim minority. The Netherlands saw a sharp rise in anti-immigration and anti-Islamic sentiment after the 2004 murder of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh by a Muslim extremist.
Spong has been at the center of the debate, supporting legal action against anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders.
Dutch TV show exonerates Osama bin Laden
'Devil's Advocate' jury finds no proof he was behind Sept. 11
By Scott Roxborough
April 9, 2009
BERLIN -- A Dutch TV jury has found Osama bin Laden not guilty of the Sept. 11 attacks.
In the conclusion Wednesday night to the show "Devil's Advocate" on Dutch public broadcaster Nederland 2, the jury of two men and three women, along with the studio audience, ruled there was no proof bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.
The Netherlands, home to "Big Brother" creator Endemol, is known for being on the cutting edge of format-based television. But even for Dutch standards, "Devil's Advocate," from Amsterdam production house AVRO, pushes the envelope.
The show features star defense attorney Gerard Spong standing up for some of the world's worst criminals.
In the latest show, Spong was able to convince the jury that bin Laden's connection to Sept. 11 was a product of "Western propaganda." The jury also ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove bin Laden was the real head of terrorist network al-Qaida. However, the jury did rule that bin Laden is a "terrorist who has misused Islam."
The show is certain to provide further ammunition in the already heated Dutch debate over immigration and the country's large Muslim minority. The Netherlands saw a sharp rise in anti-immigration and anti-Islamic sentiment after the 2004 murder of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh by a Muslim extremist.
Spong has been at the center of the debate, supporting legal action against anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
End for Amsterdam’s magic mushrooms
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5254351.ece
November 29, 2008
End of a good spell for Amsterdam’s magic mushrooms
Farmers face ruin as Amsterdam alters image
David Charter, Europe Correspondent
It was mind-expanding for many while it lasted, but the trip is finally over: a last-minute attempt to stop a ban on magic mushrooms failed yesterday as the Netherlands sought to reverse its reputation for hedonism, which attracts drug tourists from around the world.
City authorities in Amsterdam are bracing themselves for a weekend of hallucinogenic bingeing as dozens of so-called “smart shops” that specialise in fresh psychedelic mushrooms sell off their stock before the trade becomes illegal on Monday.
The Dutch Government has adopted a stricter stance on issues such as soft drugs and prostitution, as well as immigration, since the elections in 2006, which were held amid a backlash against tolerant attitudes.
The demise of the magic mushroom follows plans in Amsterdam to close 40 cannabis caf̩s Рknown as coffee shops Рbecause they are too close to schools and to shut scores of prostitute shop windows.
For the mushroom growers and vendors who failed to get an injunction against the Government yesterday, a whole way of life will be lost.
Freddy Schaap, 36, who grows 25 tonnes of “shrooms” a year at a farm in Tiel, in central Netherlands, said that he faced financial ruin. “For 30 years we have had this liberal way of doing things here but this Government just wants to ban everything,” he said. “We sell fresh mushrooms that you can recognise, that you can get information about. But if you have to buy from a dealer in the street, nobody Schaap is chairman of the industry association VLOS, which said that there were six growers in the Netherlands, 180 smart shops and a few hundred employees in an industry with an annual turnover of about €20 million (£16 million). The industry grew rapidly after 2002 when a Dutch court banned the sale of dried mushrooms but confirmed the legal status of the freshly grown product because of a loophole. While the active ingredient, psilocybin, was illegal, it could not be measured in the fresh fungi.
Smart shops sell 189 varieties, for €20m €12 to €15, mostly to British tourists. knows what they are getting.” Mr “The use of mushrooms gives you insight, it should be part of growing up. It is a nice experience,” said Mr Schaap. “People experience it positively – it is something you should do two or three times in your life.”
The Government cracked down after a 17-year-old French girl jumped to her death from a window last year while suffering hallucinations. Her parents blamed magic mushrooms, although she was also known to have had psychiatric problems.
The industry argues that the case has been unfairly used to target them, since many more people die from the effects of alcohol and cigarettes. Ab Klink, the Dutch Heath Minister, confirmed the ban, saying that hallucinogenic mushrooms “can lead to unpredictable and risky behaviour”.
Bart, 45, the owner of three smart shops, including the long-established Kokopelli in Amsterdam’s red-light district, said that he would try to adjust by selling more herbal remedies and supplements – but he was not optimistic. “This is a disaster,” he said. “The shops are quite big, with lots of products, but the thing that makes a smart shop a smart shop is lots of mushrooms.”
November 29, 2008
End of a good spell for Amsterdam’s magic mushrooms
Farmers face ruin as Amsterdam alters image
David Charter, Europe Correspondent
It was mind-expanding for many while it lasted, but the trip is finally over: a last-minute attempt to stop a ban on magic mushrooms failed yesterday as the Netherlands sought to reverse its reputation for hedonism, which attracts drug tourists from around the world.
City authorities in Amsterdam are bracing themselves for a weekend of hallucinogenic bingeing as dozens of so-called “smart shops” that specialise in fresh psychedelic mushrooms sell off their stock before the trade becomes illegal on Monday.
The Dutch Government has adopted a stricter stance on issues such as soft drugs and prostitution, as well as immigration, since the elections in 2006, which were held amid a backlash against tolerant attitudes.
The demise of the magic mushroom follows plans in Amsterdam to close 40 cannabis caf̩s Рknown as coffee shops Рbecause they are too close to schools and to shut scores of prostitute shop windows.
For the mushroom growers and vendors who failed to get an injunction against the Government yesterday, a whole way of life will be lost.
Freddy Schaap, 36, who grows 25 tonnes of “shrooms” a year at a farm in Tiel, in central Netherlands, said that he faced financial ruin. “For 30 years we have had this liberal way of doing things here but this Government just wants to ban everything,” he said. “We sell fresh mushrooms that you can recognise, that you can get information about. But if you have to buy from a dealer in the street, nobody Schaap is chairman of the industry association VLOS, which said that there were six growers in the Netherlands, 180 smart shops and a few hundred employees in an industry with an annual turnover of about €20 million (£16 million). The industry grew rapidly after 2002 when a Dutch court banned the sale of dried mushrooms but confirmed the legal status of the freshly grown product because of a loophole. While the active ingredient, psilocybin, was illegal, it could not be measured in the fresh fungi.
Smart shops sell 189 varieties, for €20m €12 to €15, mostly to British tourists. knows what they are getting.” Mr “The use of mushrooms gives you insight, it should be part of growing up. It is a nice experience,” said Mr Schaap. “People experience it positively – it is something you should do two or three times in your life.”
The Government cracked down after a 17-year-old French girl jumped to her death from a window last year while suffering hallucinations. Her parents blamed magic mushrooms, although she was also known to have had psychiatric problems.
The industry argues that the case has been unfairly used to target them, since many more people die from the effects of alcohol and cigarettes. Ab Klink, the Dutch Heath Minister, confirmed the ban, saying that hallucinogenic mushrooms “can lead to unpredictable and risky behaviour”.
Bart, 45, the owner of three smart shops, including the long-established Kokopelli in Amsterdam’s red-light district, said that he would try to adjust by selling more herbal remedies and supplements – but he was not optimistic. “This is a disaster,” he said. “The shops are quite big, with lots of products, but the thing that makes a smart shop a smart shop is lots of mushrooms.”
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Photo gives face to Anne Frank's "one true love"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080226/people_nm/dutch_annefrank_dcPhoto gives face to Anne Frank's "one true love"
By Alexandra Hudson
Tue Feb 26, 2008
A photograph of the boy with the "beautiful brown eyes" who Anne Frank recalled as her "one true love" in the diary she wrote whilst in hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands is to go on display in Amsterdam.
The photo of Peter Schiff was donated to the Anne Frank museum by his former childhood friend Ernst Michaelis who realized after rereading Anne's diary recently there were no known pictures of Schiff, a museum spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
Frank's Jewish family fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and settled in Amsterdam. During World War Two the Nazis occupied the Netherlands and began deporting Jews to the death camps in 1942, prompting the Frank family to go into hiding.
They lived in a secret annex in a canal-side house for more than two years before their hiding place was betrayed and the family sent to concentration camps.
Anne recorded her years in the attic hideaway in her diaries. A Dutch woman who helped the family found them in the annex after Anne's arrest and gave them to her father Otto who survived the Holocaust. They became famous around the world.
She writes in her diary: "I forgot that I haven't yet told you the story of my one true love."
"Peter was the ideal boy: tall, slim and good-looking, with a serious, quiet and intelligent face," Anne wrote of the 13-year-old she had fallen for in 1940 when she was just 11.
SCHOOL FRIENDS
They would collect each other from school and walk hand in hand through their local neighborhood.
"He had dark hair, beautiful brown eyes, ruddy cheeks and a nicely pointed nose. I was crazy about his smile, which made him look so boyish and mischievous."
Peter later died in Auschwitz, while Anne died in Bergen Belsen concentration camp in 1945.
Michaelis, now 81, had attended a Jewish school with Schiff in Berlin in the 1930s before both families fled the Nazis. When they parted, the boys exchanged photographs.
"He read the diary in the 1950s and thought that Peter Schiff was very likely his friend. But it was only when reading it later that he saw there were no photos and so he contacted us," said a museum spokeswoman.
Anne last saw Peter a few days before she moved into the annexe, but wrote of him in her diary more than 1-1/2 years later after dreaming of him.
"I've never had such a clear mental image of him. I don't need a photograph, I can see him oh so well," she said.
(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson)
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Amsterdam orders famed sex club to close
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_re_eu/netherlands_sex_club_closed
Amsterdam orders famed sex club to close
Fri Nov 16, 2007
One of Amsterdam's best-known sex clubs has become the latest target of the city's crackdown on organized crime infiltration of the city's world famous sex industry.
The Yab Yum club, in a historic canalside mansion in downtown Amsterdam, has long been an expensive hangout for well-heeled businessmen and foreign travelers, but city fathers now believe its owners could be engaging in "criminal transactions" and have revoked its permit, Amsterdam Municipality spokesman Hendrik Wooldrik said Friday.
Amsterdam has been conducting a crackdown on criminality in the city center for nearly five years, using a 2002 law that forces business operators to disclose detailed accounting in order to have their licenses renewed.
Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands, but Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen says he wants to root out the "underlying criminality" linked to the city's famed Red Light District.
A panel set up under the 2002 law concluded that there is a serious risk Yab Yum's owners use it as a front for criminal activities. The owners were allowed to respond to the conclusion, but could not convince the city not to withdraw its license, the municipality said in a statement.
Nobody answered the phone at Yab Yum on Friday to comment on the announcement.
Wooldrik would not elaborate on what kind of criminal activities were suspected, but so-called private clubs and brothels have in the past been accused of laundering money for crime gangs involved in everything from drug dealing to extortion rackets.
The club's owners have been ordered to close it down within weeks, but can appeal the decision to pull its license, Wooldrik said.
Entry to the club costs $100, according to its Web site, which shows pictures of an ornate bar and private rooms featuring double beds and huge bath tubs.
In September, the city announced that a public housing corporation had bought 18 buildings in the Red Light District to redevelop them — a deal that could lead up to the closure of a third of the windows where scantily clad prostitutes stand to attract customers.
Amsterdam orders famed sex club to close
Fri Nov 16, 2007
One of Amsterdam's best-known sex clubs has become the latest target of the city's crackdown on organized crime infiltration of the city's world famous sex industry.
The Yab Yum club, in a historic canalside mansion in downtown Amsterdam, has long been an expensive hangout for well-heeled businessmen and foreign travelers, but city fathers now believe its owners could be engaging in "criminal transactions" and have revoked its permit, Amsterdam Municipality spokesman Hendrik Wooldrik said Friday.
Amsterdam has been conducting a crackdown on criminality in the city center for nearly five years, using a 2002 law that forces business operators to disclose detailed accounting in order to have their licenses renewed.
Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands, but Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen says he wants to root out the "underlying criminality" linked to the city's famed Red Light District.
A panel set up under the 2002 law concluded that there is a serious risk Yab Yum's owners use it as a front for criminal activities. The owners were allowed to respond to the conclusion, but could not convince the city not to withdraw its license, the municipality said in a statement.
Nobody answered the phone at Yab Yum on Friday to comment on the announcement.
Wooldrik would not elaborate on what kind of criminal activities were suspected, but so-called private clubs and brothels have in the past been accused of laundering money for crime gangs involved in everything from drug dealing to extortion rackets.
The club's owners have been ordered to close it down within weeks, but can appeal the decision to pull its license, Wooldrik said.
Entry to the club costs $100, according to its Web site, which shows pictures of an ornate bar and private rooms featuring double beds and huge bath tubs.
In September, the city announced that a public housing corporation had bought 18 buildings in the Red Light District to redevelop them — a deal that could lead up to the closure of a third of the windows where scantily clad prostitutes stand to attract customers.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Dutch ban famed hallucinatory mushrooms
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071012/ap_on_re_eu/netherlands_magic_mushrooms
Dutch ban famed hallucinatory mushrooms
By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer
10-12-7
The Dutch government said Friday that it will ban the sale of hallucinatory mushrooms, rolling back one element of the country's permissive drug policy after a series of high-profile negative incidents.
The decision will go into effect within several months and doesn't need parliamentary approval, Justice Ministry spokesman Wim van der Weegen said.
"We intend to forbid the sale of 'magic' mushrooms," he said. "That means shops caught doing so will be closed."
Under the country's famed tolerance policy, marijuana and hashish are technically illegal but police don't bother to prosecute people for possession of small amounts, and they are sold openly in designated cafes.
Possession of "hard" drugs like cocaine and Ecstasy is illegal.
Psilocybin, the main active chemical in the mushrooms, has been illegal under international law since 1971. However, mushrooms that are fresh and unprocessed in any way have continued to be sold legally in the Netherlands, on the theory that it was impossible to determine how much of the naturally occurring substance any given mushroom contains.
Mushrooms will fall somewhere in the middle of the Dutch legality scale.
"We're not talking about a non-prosecution policy, but we'll be targeting sellers," Van der Weegen said.
Van der Weegen said that, in the end, that was also the reason the policy proved unworkable.
"The problem with mushrooms is that their effect is unpredictable. It's impossible to estimate what amount will have what effect."
Calls for a re-evaluation arose after a French 17-year-old, Gaelle Caroff, jumped from a building after eating psychedelic mushrooms while on a school visit to Amsterdam.
Caroff's parents blamed her death on hallucinations brought on by the mushrooms, though the teenager had suffered from psychiatric problems in the past. Her photographs was splashed across newspapers around the country.
Since Caroff's death, other dramatic stories involving mushrooms have been reported in the Dutch press, though mushroom vendors complained that each of the cases involved tourists who were using other drugs and alcohol at the same time — against their usage instructions for mushrooms.
The users include:
• A British tourist, 22, who ran amok in a hotel, breaking his window and slicing his hand badly.
• An Icelandic tourist, 19, who thought he was being chased and jumped from a balcony, breaking both his legs.
• A Danish tourist, 29, who drove his car wildly through a campground, narrowly missing people sleeping in their tents.
Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen had suggested a 3-day "cooling off" period between ordering them and using them. Most mushrooms sold in Amsterdam are sold to tourists, and the city's reputation for liberal drug policies and legalized prostitution are major tourist attractions.
Dutch ban famed hallucinatory mushrooms
By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer
10-12-7
The Dutch government said Friday that it will ban the sale of hallucinatory mushrooms, rolling back one element of the country's permissive drug policy after a series of high-profile negative incidents.
The decision will go into effect within several months and doesn't need parliamentary approval, Justice Ministry spokesman Wim van der Weegen said.
"We intend to forbid the sale of 'magic' mushrooms," he said. "That means shops caught doing so will be closed."
Under the country's famed tolerance policy, marijuana and hashish are technically illegal but police don't bother to prosecute people for possession of small amounts, and they are sold openly in designated cafes.
Possession of "hard" drugs like cocaine and Ecstasy is illegal.
Psilocybin, the main active chemical in the mushrooms, has been illegal under international law since 1971. However, mushrooms that are fresh and unprocessed in any way have continued to be sold legally in the Netherlands, on the theory that it was impossible to determine how much of the naturally occurring substance any given mushroom contains.
Mushrooms will fall somewhere in the middle of the Dutch legality scale.
"We're not talking about a non-prosecution policy, but we'll be targeting sellers," Van der Weegen said.
Van der Weegen said that, in the end, that was also the reason the policy proved unworkable.
"The problem with mushrooms is that their effect is unpredictable. It's impossible to estimate what amount will have what effect."
Calls for a re-evaluation arose after a French 17-year-old, Gaelle Caroff, jumped from a building after eating psychedelic mushrooms while on a school visit to Amsterdam.
Caroff's parents blamed her death on hallucinations brought on by the mushrooms, though the teenager had suffered from psychiatric problems in the past. Her photographs was splashed across newspapers around the country.
Since Caroff's death, other dramatic stories involving mushrooms have been reported in the Dutch press, though mushroom vendors complained that each of the cases involved tourists who were using other drugs and alcohol at the same time — against their usage instructions for mushrooms.
The users include:
• A British tourist, 22, who ran amok in a hotel, breaking his window and slicing his hand badly.
• An Icelandic tourist, 19, who thought he was being chased and jumped from a balcony, breaking both his legs.
• A Danish tourist, 29, who drove his car wildly through a campground, narrowly missing people sleeping in their tents.
Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen had suggested a 3-day "cooling off" period between ordering them and using them. Most mushrooms sold in Amsterdam are sold to tourists, and the city's reputation for liberal drug policies and legalized prostitution are major tourist attractions.
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