Global Advertising

This section interested me the most in this class. It tied in a lot with my theory of rhetoric class, where my professor did a section about the rhetoric of the media. This also ties in a lot with the section about corporate democracy. But the truth is, advertising runs the media in our country. From small newspapers, struggling to sell ad space to loyal advertisers influencing corporate media content, it has all gone down hill since newspapers started advertising. One thing I have been noticing is that you can see the news affiliations with their advertisers. Have you noticed that the Today show only has stories about NBC's and other "sister company's" movies and books? Once you know who owns what, it becomes really obvious.

Welfare Claims Down

Welfare claims have gone down this year in the Netherlands by 30,000 this year. In a country with a population of over 16 million, that is a lore portion of the population off of welfare.

In an earlier post, I talked about new policies to help with unemployment rates, and although they wouldn't be showing results this quickly, obviously something has been getting done right. I think that our country should take notes, maybe by helping people at one point and (this is the key) giving them the tools to get a job and get their lives working.

Mayors to Raise the Drinking Age?

Because of the Netherlands problems with underage drinking, they are proposing that the mayors of each region raise the drinking age from 16 to 18 (the same age they can get their license). They are choosing to do this from region to region because the seriousness of the problem varies. The punishment for the teens will be similar to the US and they are going to be cracking down on the places that have been selling to minors. Holland has the worst underage drinking problem in Europe.

FInally, and argument against the age-old statement "we should lower the drinking age in the US, look at Europe, they have a lower drinking age and they don't have the same problems as we do..." Well, yes actually they do. Currently the drinking age is 16 and they are still having problems with underage drinking. Yup, thats the 13-year-olds drinking. But what I don't get is why they aren't doing it nationally. In a country about the size of New Jersey, with about 12 regions, it would be pretty darn easy to go across the line and get some alcohol.

Minister Speaks Out Against Anti-Immigration

This week the integration minister Ella Vogelaar spoke out against her fellow politicians, saying their stance against immigration was all for show. She plans to increase the ethnic diversity in Holland and thinks that the gap between native Dutch people and immigrants is not beneficial for the society. The Dutch people find the increasing visibility of Islamic people threatening, even though non-western immigrants aren't accepted as ordinary citizens.

I think that politicians can talk about "bridging the gap" all they want, but they have a long road ahead of them to change people's core beliefs, and in this case hatred. It won't change anything to have a law making eastern immigrants true citizens, or to make it easier for them to come into the country, if the people of the country don't have the same core beliefs that they do, it is a long road ahead. I am not saying that you shouldn't try to change what people believe, especially if it is hate, but it is going to take a lot more than what Vogelaar has proposed.

Longer Mission in Afghanistan

This week the Dutch government made the decision to extend the military's mission in Afghanistan. The majority of the cabinet is behind an 18 month extension, while some believe that three to six months will be fine.

Holland has 17,000 troops in Afghanistan, mainly rebuilding in the southern province of Uruzgan. NATO (Northern Alliance Treaty Organization) is pressuring the government to stay longer, and before they make their decision, Canada and Australia are waiting on the Netherlands' decision.

I think that the fact that they can get out of Afghanistan in as little as three months is awesome and I wish that America could do the same. Holland isn't there to fight, they are there for rebuilding efforts. Sounds to me like they are cleaning up the mess we are leaving in the Middle East. Shouldn't we be in responsible for the mess we leave behind? I think that this is yet again tied into globalization. The way the we communicate and learn about countries has changed in the recent years because of technological advances. We are also so dependent on other countries for all our imports, we are more conscious of the world around us. Also, most companies are globally influenced financially. Other countries invest in us and we invest in others.

After school care to be doubled

The junior education minister told parliament that she would double the amount of after school programs from 8,000 to 16,000 by April 1.

I think that this is a great initiative to be taking, but is it really feasible in just five months? It seems to me like they would need more time.

After school programs are in need, I think all over the world. Because of globalization there are these huge corporations emerging, and they are employing parents. WHy shouldn't the companies provide after school care for children? If they want the parents to be willing to stay at work longer in the day, it would make sense to have child care available and cost effective to get parents to stay at work without having the stress of having to get there child into after school care.