The market

Politicians have failed to realise that making a profit has become more important than service when introducing market forces into public sector activities, according to the government's highest advisory body, the Council of State.  'The public interest is becoming a marginal,' the paper quotes Herman Tjeenk, deputy chairman of the Council of State as saying at the publication of the council's 2008 annual report.

Politicians, MPs and officials have been unable to act as sufficient counterweight to the dynamics of the market, Tjeenk said.
'When market forces do not appear to deliver what was forecast, we have to look again at which tasks are so essential to the public that they should not be left to the private sector alone,' the paper quoted Tjeenk as saying. Last year the council was asked for its recommendations on 593 occasions. The organisation's legal department dealt with 9,700 appeals.

The reality gets them at last!

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Sex firms banking

The justice ministry has no powers to force banks to accept sex companies as clients, the ministry has told the industry's lobby group VER. The VER asked the ministry for help last year after it emerged that banks were closing the accounts of brothels and massage parlours, even though they are legitimate businesses.
The ministry said companies should go to court if banks refuse to do business with them. 'There is no direct role for the government,' the letter said.

VER director Andre van Dorst told news agency ANP the government wants the sex industry to be as transparent as possible and therefore had an interest in making sure companies can organise their finances properly. It was unfair of banks to assume all sex companies are involved in human trafficking and money laundering, he said!

Hard porno …days!

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Kidnapped couple

The Dutch couple kidnapped in Yemen last week are in good shape, the foreign affairs ministry said on Wednesday. Officials had contact with the kidnappers on Wednesday morning, the Telegraaf reports.
The Yemen government is negotiating with the kidnappers to release the couple, who are in the country for work.

The kidnappers are thought to be demanding the release of two family members who themselves were jailed for kidnapping foreigners. The Telegraaf has published photographs of the couple with their kidnappers.