Netherlands to Close Prisons For Lack of Criminals
http://vorige.nrc.nl/international/article2246821.ece/Netherlands_to_close_prisons_for_lack_of_criminals"The Dutch justice ministry has announced it will close eight prisons and cut 1,200 jobs in the prison system. A decline in crime has left many cells empty.
During the 1990s the Netherlands faced a shortage of prison cells, but a decline in crime has since led to overcapacity in the prison system. The country now has capacity for 14,000 prisoners but only 12,000 detainees.
Deputy justice minister Nebahat Albayrak announced on Tuesday that eight prisons will be closed, resulting in the loss of 1,200 jobs. Natural redundancy and other measures should prevent any forced lay-offs, the minister said.
The overcapacity is a result of the declining crime rate, which the ministry's research department expects to continue for some time. "
On the other hand, Belgium has a surplus of prisoners, so The Netherlands will house some of the Belgian prisions for them.
I would like to point out that The Netherlands has more progressive drug policy than Belgium, for what it's worth.
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worked in favor of the 99%. I tell you, the only way to success is through oppression and deprivation for the majority while increasing the wealth of the 1%, it's worked soooo well!
and get a time share out of the deal?
but I would really like a bookstore/jazz club. the b&b wouldn't hurt, tho. 
I might be more interested in Utrecht. Actually, I like Leuven and Brugge, in Belgium.
my former step-daughter got her PhD there and now lives there and does research. It's a beautiful city and has a great book fair.
Brugge seems touristy b/c it's so small - b/c the river silted up so long ago. All major cities have a central Grote Markt that remains a tourist draw, but developed industry too.
Antwerp is a really nice large city - I like it better than Brussels. The train station is beautiful, the zoo is right beside the station (with bonobos!) and the whole city is just easier to navigate. (I didn't drive when I lived there.) Also, parts of Brussels just smell rank from industry.
my ex sister-in-law went to cooking school after her licensiate and she and my ex m-i-l (whose grandmother cooked for priests) taught me how to cook "ala Flammand." The Belgians have a better cuisine than the Dutch, imo. Better beers, too. And chocolates. And... really, what more do you need?
They have decriminalized cannabis but don't know the laws concerning this overall. It seems that nations with a strong specialized liquor tradition (Belgium or France) have been more reluctant to liberalize some laws.
When I lived there, the Flemish Belgians thought the Dutch "went overboard" in their liberalization b/c... well, b/c they were the Dutch and had that long tradition of tolerance going back to the 1600s. But the two like to point out the other's flaws. Kinda hard for the Belgians to do that since they couldn't form a govt for quite a while until recently.
I've actually looked at the chamber of commerce instructions for The Netherlands in the past, but put that whole idea behind me as undoable at this time. Even tho my ancestors are French, I like the low countries better - probably b/c of my connection through people I knew for decades.
tons of Flemish primitifs there - Dirk Bouts musuem etc.
David's Death of Marat is in Brussels - it was a thrill to see that one irl after studying that era for France. I spent a lot of time with the medieval paintings in the MdBA b/c my ex s-i-l got her licensiate in art history and studied food in medieval paintings... she was my tour guide...
Antwerp also has a great little museum... Mayer Van der Bergh? ... have to look it up - with lots and lots of small Brueghel paintings. (I lived in Antwerp but my relatives lived in and around Brussels - but that's like a drive in traffic in a U.S. city, as far as time, to get from one to the other..
I would assume it's still there - who knows - but there was a great restaurant to the left and behind Onze Lieve Vrouw - part of the walls were the church exterior - and they had good mussels - mussels are the big national dish. mussels and fries, or mosselen met frietjes.
Ghent's big dish is waterzooi - that's the region that made it famous. Van Eyck's triptych is there.
Two kinds of belgian waffles - the street vendor kind are sticky sweet and not my thing. the ones in cafes are light, with whipped cream. they're all over the country.
inexpensive but good pralines (filled chocolates) are Leonidas. they only have a shelf life of a week or two.
One thing that's served there that you never find here are potato croquettes, aka kroketten. (I have a croquette maker I got there to have here.) I'm sure they have them in restaurants - they're a tradition for meals on holidays, etc. They have potato puree mixed with pepper and nutmeg inside and a bread crumb coating. They're fried and the outside is crisp while the inside is soft. Those are traditionally eaten with braised endive - i.e. witloof. (the veggie grown in greenhouses, covered up to turn them white, not the salad green) The witloof is sauted in butter, pepper and nutmeg, then braised in stock until soft. very much worth seeking out. also witloof gratinee. mussels are also served with kroketten for nice dinners.
Blood sausages are also good, served with red cabbage, another traditional dish (I have a recipe if you want it.) and potatoes.
lots of good breads and cheeses to make lunches for yourself. kervil soep (chervil soup) is traditional with these meals, but not for a packed lunch! explorateur is a great cheese - like a brie, and of course the various edams, etc. a boterham is a sandwich of any kind, usually standard bakery bread that's buttered with gouda. they don't mix meat and cheese unless it's something like a croque-monsieur or -madam. a sandwich (sand-wische) is a type of bread at the bakery - a roll.
there's also something called "spring soup" that's worth trying. "lente soep"
another dish is vogel zonder kop, or "bird without head." this is really spiced ground beef wrapped in a steak cut and sauteed. a traditional food.
also, there's a large Turkish population there and they have GREAT food.
and, of course, Belgium has 100 different beers. Duvel is one you need to try. strong and dark. You HAVE TO have a real lambic kriek, or cherry beer - that's usually served with blood sausage - or spicy, as in pepper, meat. this beer is in what looks like a champagne bottle b/c it's fermented and bubbly like champ. also Trappist is a dark beer you need to try.
people usually have a coffee and pastry or fruit tart in the afternoon... that le petit dejeuner tradition... or a crepe or good waffle - not the vendor kind, either at home or in a cafe. Rice pudding (riz tartje) is another traditional dessert.
the dishes I'm talking about are really the "belgian kitchen" - i.e. cooked at home but also found in little restaurants - mussels are found in just about every restaurant. I didn't do much fine dining when I was there, but I know there are great restaurants in Brussels.
vol au vent is another dish that's all over the place. rabbit is very popular but I couldn't wrap my mind around eating thumper, horse meat (shhh, don't want a flame war) paard, is a deli meat. couldn't go there either.
I may have misspelled things here horribly. if so, het spijt me (sorry)