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Besides the obvious compromises in Dutch politics we have the following (all from the recent news…):

Last year, Dutch government introduced some very strict regulations for the passport photos, e.g. laughing is banned and the mouth must be closed, even for babies…

Few days ago, a guy managed to get an official dutch id card with a “Joker'’ photo since he claimed that to wear such kind of make-up is part of his religious beliefs.

Riot police, with the help from some Afghan war veterans, used tanks to drive the squatters out of an abandoned fort near Arnhem which was empty for several decades and to be converted into a museum according to the owner.

Two weeks later, the squatters re-squatted the building. In the end, they are “to be put in charge of running of the property under a deal made between the local council and the fort’s owners”.

There are around 11,000 people who deliberately refuse to take the state-run insurance schema on religious grounds in the Netherlands.

Instead, Dutch government makes them to pay the equivalent amount in extra tax and then save it up in a special bank account for emergencies.

The Dutch transport minister is to start an experiment allowing 17-year-olds to drive a car under the supervision of an adult.

Teenage drinking in the Netherlands(under 16), which is high compared to the rest of Europe, is currently the subject of wide concern.

In 1975, the Dutch government gave the sole licence to the state-run casino: Holland Casino to clean up the industry and reduce addiction to gambling.

In fact, you can see the word “Holland Casino” everywhere and it lures addictive new customers(and money launderers) every year. Of course the government earned big money: €114m in 2005 only.

Dutch Defence minister gave a medal to 850 soldiers who were present at the storming of the Bosnian town in 1995, in recognition of their experiences there.

In fact, around 8,000 Muslim men and boys were massacred by the Bosnian Serbs after the failure of Dutch UN forces who should have protected them.

Amsterdam city council withdrawed licences for 33 brothels(1/5 of the total number) due to the criminal connection of their owners.

Later, judges in Amsterdam have ruled that those brothels can stay open until their appeals have been heard. “The court ruled that Amsterdam City Council had no grounds for demanding the red-light premises be shut down immediately.” At the same time, Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen tried to persuade banks to extend loans to brothel owners to weed out criminality.

The Dutch banks requires the account-holders to prove who they say they are, no matter how long they have been a customer, due to the new anti-terrorism measure.

A 93-year-old German woman who has been living in the Netherlands for 80 some years, has undergone a formal(compulsory) ceremony to become Dutch - because her passport has (of course) expired and she could not prove her identity to post bank.