The Dutch Health Council (Gezondheidsraad) is letting babies and their parents down in the fight against rotavirus, medical experts say. While all surrounding countries have adopted a vaccination policy against the diarrhoeal disease, that annually kills up to half a million young children around the world, the Netherlands are yet to develop an immunisation programme.
In 2010, the Health Council, which advises the government on medical matters, actually held a majority vote in favour of adopting the rota vaccine, but it wasn’t carried out. The minority, who held that the consequences weren’t severe enough and the project too expensive, had their way. Emeritus professor in child medicine Ronald de Groot adds that ‘there are fears of rising opposition to vaccination in society. But you simply need to inform people well. (…) [Since 2010] we’ve added to the record dozens of dead children and thousands of hospitalisations that could have been prevented.’
Dutch journalist Maarten Reijnders wrote a book about the currently most popular and (in)famous conspiracy theories and their proponents in the Netherlands. The book, titled Complotdenkers – Hoe gevaarlijk is het geloof in samenzweringstheorieën? (‘Conspiracists – How dangerous is belief in conspiracy theories?’) was deliberately published on 11 September 2016, because the 9/11 Truth movement is one of the most prominent of these phenomena in Western society at the moment. Skeptic Pepijn van Erp wrote a review; here is an excerpt:
Reijnders defines ‘conspiracists’ as people who believe in lots of different conspiracy theories at the same time, or draw rather far-reaching conclusions from such a conspiracy belief system. He calls a collective of such conspiracists a conspiracy church. That is a broad church, with many schisms. With liberals and literalists. With soft, kind and harmless believers, but also with some extremist fundamentalists. (…)
It can lead to contempt for innocent people and minorities, and we can still see enough suffering caused by that today. And we also know the example of the disastrous HIV/AIDS policy in South Africa under Mbeki, based on completely pseudoscientific ideas, that has led to an early death for an estimated 330,000 people.
The Dutch skeptics foundation, Stichting Skepsis, will hold its annual congress on 22 October 2016 at De Eenhoorn in Amersfoort. This year, four pairs of speakers will jointly give a presentation, and then discuss the topic with each other and the audience:
Maarten Boudry (philosopher UGent, SKEPP) & Massimo Pugliucci (prof. Philosophy CUNY, Rationally Speaking podcast):
‘Why do people cling to unproven ideas?’ (keynote session, in English)
Peter JanMargry (prof. Ethnology UvA) & Cees Renckens (gynaecologist, former VtdK chair):
‘Alternative treatments’ (in Dutch)
Brecht Decoene (ethicist UGent, SKEPP)
& Leo Polak (popular science journalist):
‘Conspiracy theories’ (in Dutch)
Martijn van Calmthout (Volkskrant science journalist) & Patricia Osseweijer (prof. Science Communication TU Delft):
‘Science Communication’ (in Dutch)
Dutch comedian Arjen Lubach is well-known for his criticism of –amongst other things – religion, alternative medicine and the monarchy. This time, he addresses tensions on Turkish schools in the Netherlands between supporters of president Erdogan and supporters of the cleric Gülen, whose movement allegedly staged the 15–16 July coup d’état attempt in Turkey, and is currently facing governmental repression that has repercussions in other countries.
In an information video by a fictional school addressed to teachers, Lubach says that, to reduce tensions amongst pupils with different backgrounds, several measures have been taken, including:
In case of an emergency, pupils will be informed by telephone. (…) Jewish pupils don’t need to be called, they’ve already heard everything through the Zionist conspiracy.
Not all pupils have been raised with the same ideas about history. Therefore, different truths apply in different areas of our school building. The hallways have been equipped with different colour codes:
– In hallways with a green stripe, the Holocaust never took place;
– The Armenian Genocide is denied in the red zone;
– And if you see wallpapers with flowers, 9/11 is an inside job.
KD’s logo shows Russell’s teapot revolving around the Sun. (Jozef Van Giel CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Kritisch Denken (‘Critical Thinking’) is a Dutch language podcast, founded in 2009 to promote critical thinking in Belgium and the Netherlands. The podcast aims to teach people not to just blindly accept what they hear, nor to brush it aside as a mere ‘conspiracy theory’. The goal is to develop a critical mind, that evaluates views critically, first of all one’s own views.
As of October 2016, Kritisch Denken is downloaded more than 20,000 times a week.
Kritisch Denken is produced by Russells Theepot (‘Russell’s Teapot’), a Belgian–Dutch team of skeptics, consisting Jozef Van Giel (host), Rik Delaet, Emile Dingemans, Stefan Suetens and Leon Korteweg. Russells Theepot makes information on skepticism and critical thinking available for the Dutch-speaking public. It takes the view that freedom of expression can only exist if people are able to critically examine all different opinions.
The Dutch Health Council (Gezondheidsraad) is letting babies and their parents down in the fight against rotavirus, medical experts say. While all surrounding countries have adopted a vaccination policy against the diarrhoeal disease, that annually kills up to half a million young children around the world, the Netherlands are yet to develop an immunisation programme.
Dutch journalist Maarten Reijnders wrote a book about the currently most popular and (in)famous conspiracy theories and their proponents in the Netherlands. The book, titled Complotdenkers – Hoe gevaarlijk is het geloof in samenzweringstheorieën? (‘Conspiracists – How dangerous is belief in conspiracy theories?’) was deliberately published on 11 September 2016, because the 9/11 Truth movement is one of the most prominent of these phenomena in Western society at the moment. Skeptic Pepijn van Erp wrote a review; here is an excerpt:
The Dutch skeptics foundation, Stichting Skepsis, will hold its annual congress on 22 October 2016 at 