- Culti Newsletter August 25: Nice Pictures of Sail and..... Crises 2.1? -

At the bottom of this mail, you will find Culti Arjan his answer to the question: "Will we have a Crises 2.1?.  On the way to the bottom, you will walk into some tips for meetups, also you will walk into some links to stories in the Frisian, Dutch, Belgium  and German press and wiki's, plus you will walk into..... The Website of the week :)

- Last weekends SAIL Meetup -

Last weekend Culti Group had an event in Amsterdam, with SAIL. Check out some nice pictures right here: LINK. It was a very nice event to host. It was a daytrip Culti Style: with a strong focus on getting to know each other and with a nice thing to do attachted to it all :)

- This Weekends Meetups -

In this newsletter, I will take a look at this weekends meetups in Amsterdam Area. The extend to which Meetup.com offers good meetups in general and also "'Something for Everyone" is different in every city area, but the quality in Amsterdam Area is pretty good - only London seems to do better on meetup.com in Europe, but than again, London is the current worldwide powerhouse of meetup.com anyway, with more and more groups taking the[masked] members limit there.

In this weekend, the best meetup on Friday in Amsterdam Area seems to be in Haarlem. A group in Haarlem is meeting up for drinks, and this might be fun, or at least it will get you to see Haarlem. Which for most readers of this mail isn't a daily routine. LINK.

In Amsterdam on saturday at daytime, there really is something for everyone! But nothing really big. The best advise I can give you is: check it all out right here: LINK.

On Saturday Evening, a new Meetup Group called "Stad" will have it's first meetup - and as far as I know, this is the first social Meetup Group that is in Dutch - meaning it's not just about the Dutch Language, but it also uses the Dutch Language as the social point of reference. LINK.

For those who want to socialize in English, the meetup of the Expat Meetup Group ( one of the very view groups that has over[masked] members on the continent ) is the place to go to this saturday! LINK.

Now, if also on Sunday you are in Amsterdam Area, than maybe check out the historical windmill site "Zaanse Schans" together with... me :) ....  The weather really doesn't matter, because most of the time we'll be inside a mill. LINK.

So - if you already life in Amsterdam Area, maybe stay there this weekend? And if you life in one of the other international hubs, than maybe consider booking a trainticket and a hotelroom right NOW? 4 days in advance the prices sometimes still are kind of OK - and a weekend in Amsterdam is a nice idea anyway :)

- Website of the Week -

The website of the week is Greg Shapiro´s "United States of Europe". On this website, Comedian Greg Shapiro delves into the EU every week and gives you the unfiltered version of what is happening across the continent.

Check it out right here => http://gsuse.eu/

- MEANWHILE IN BELGIUM -

World news in Belgium this week - the news was: together with 3 other guys, an American soldier managed to prevent a terroristic attack.  This happened in Brussels. This story is true and correct, but not complete - in reality a banker started the fight with the attacker, and his wife looked for other people to help, when she did so 3 more guys decided to indeed help.

As a result of all this prevented attack, a lot of European states inside the Schengen Zone want more protection of international trains. In The Netherlands a lot of people are thinking that it's pointless to protect international trains, because the attackers will simply attack the crowd elsewhere. This might be true, but I'd say not protecting the trains is no good option either.

Read the story right here => http://www.nu.nl/buitenland/4111793/thalys-helden-krijgen-hoogste-franse-onderscheiding.html ( Dutch )

Read more about the Schengen Zone right here => https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espace_Schengen ( French )

- MEANWHILE IN GERMANY -

In Germany, violence against foreigners is becoming to be a serious problem. Possible victums are people that look different, people in centers for asylum seekers and people that talk in foreign languages that aren't French, English, Swedish or Dutch or so. Over 2.000 incidents have been reported of violence versus migrants in 2014.

Now one MIGHT think it's only the people doing the attacks who are responsabile, but there is more to the story. In France, Belgium and The Netherlands the right radicals have found a place inside the democratic process. As a result, the extreme right is isolated all the way. Idiots like Wilders, De Winter and Le Pen aren't isolated. They can try to convince the crowd that their hate agenda is the best agenda indeed. They have their seats in parliament for this.

But where in the western countries just west of the German federation the other leaders respond in a kind of calm way to the idiots on the right side of the spectrum, there in Germany the right radicals are locked out of the democratic process  - so they are taking their political agenda to the streets.

Also, where in The Netherlands everyone still talks with each other  ( which keeps some reason in the minds of the haters ) there in Germany leading figures in the press refuse to see the difference between the right radicals and the neo nazi's. In that sence the German society is 50 years behind the British society and around 20 years behind the French, Belgium and Dutch society. It's stupid to think in the same way as 50 years ago. So the people in the center of politics and debate in Germany are idiots too. Romantic idiots - but idiots never the less.

In The Netherlands, Geert Wilders rants a bit every now and than in the parliament, he sents out lots of hate tweets, the haters retweet them and add unfiltered racism to it.... But the streets are save. This is because where in Germany Angela Merkel and many other current people in power respond to idiots in an angry school teacher kind of way, there in The Netherland the current people in power most of the time respond in a calm, or strong way. But always with respect for the democratic right one has to be a right radical.

Also: if one answers an idiot in an insane way, than the entire conversation ends up being insane. But if one answers an idiot in a calm or easy to understand plus firm way, than there can be an insane monologue tops - exactly what is happening in The Netherlands right now. Germany didn't seem to have found the way to deal with the idiots on the right side of the political spectrum just yet. But some day, they will have to do so, unless they want the far right to become and be more radical all the time. Which I don't think is the case at all.

Plus, and this is the heart of the thing: the numbers of immigrants and asylum seekers from countries with very different cultural standards that are coming to Germany are way to high. 800,000 immigrants and asylum seekers only this year on a say 80 million population is way to much. Most certainly if this goes on for many years.

This fact ( in combination with the fact far most Germans have a hard time being being realistic about all the negative side effects of massive movements of people from one part of the world to another ), causes a more and more alarming situation in Germany.

On one hand a big minority of native German can't or won't deal with the changes in their society - and on the other hand neither the EU or Germany seems to be capabale or willing to slow the speed of migration down, as far as it concerns the people that in all to many cases don't have the skills needed to be succesfull in the very modern socities. Which the societies in this part of Europe really are.

Angela Merkel wants solutions on the European level, she wants all these people to be spread over the entire EU.... But the EU isn't very good when it comes to being  capable of coming to agreements on points like this. And even if they are capable of coming to an agreement, than the nation states don't really support or carry out these regulations. So Angela Merkel is walking on a road going nowhere.

Which is not really the kind of leadership one wants right now. While we are speaking, the massive movements of people keep on going on, just like the hostility from a large miniority amongst native Europeans in many member states of the EU goes on.

The 5% bar a party needs to take in Germany is a part of the problem. Read more about the German Parliament right here => https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutscher_Bundestag ( German )

An explenation of the 5% bar can be read here => https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duits_kiessysteem#Bondsrepubliek_sinds_1949.2F1990 *

( Dutch )

This bar keeps regional parties out of the parliament almost all the way, but it also keeps small minoritees out - this means that untill a new movement has 5% of the votes, it grows on the streets and not in the parliament. This together with other factors makes the entire situation in Germany a bit tense right now.

Read more about the problems in Germany right here => http://www.nu.nl/dvn/4112502/moet-u-weten-spanningen-rondom-asielzoekers-in-duitsland.html ( Dutch )

- MEANWHILE IN THE NETHERLANDS -

A lot of people might already have discovered it the day after dining out in an "All You Can Eat" Sushi Restaurant in The Netherlands, but now, it's official: a lot of these restaurants are crap. Well, at least in the Netherlands they are. It seems as if there is to much space for entrepeneurs to do the right thing themselves - a thing a lot of them are not doing.

The problems described in the linked article are not as bad as it gets, but there are to much "Bacteria" in the rice and many other dishes, which is not a good thing if the main product is raw fish....  Read all about it right here => http://www.itnijs.frl/2015/08/safolle-ast-ite-kinst-sushi-faak-fol-baktearjen/ ( Frisian )

Also, the locals in The Netherlands are quit exited about Dafne Schippers her second place at the World Championship 100 meter sprint in China. In many countries an athlete or nation wouldn't be very happy if they end up being the best loser, but in The Netherlands "'Silver" means that 3,5 billion women can't keep up with you at the most competetive match in the world, which the 100 meters really are.

A lot of girls with the same backgrounds as Dafne wouldn't even try to winn the 100 meters, well, if you don't even try, than you will surely not winn. She's a native Dutchy, this where in the past Carribean Dutchies where the only ones being any good at the sprint at all. So - another myth got busted I guess.

Dafne has a very strong and super athletic body, which means she can compensate for her relative slow start with a strong finish. This where the other girls are losing a LOT of speed in the last 30 meters, she only loses a bit of speed. An aspect which might very well make her winn the biggest price of all next year in Rio. Read all about it right here => http://www.nu.nl/sport-overig/4112209/coach-schippers-wist-wk-medaille-eraan-zat-komen.html ( Dutch )

- Crises 2.1? -

People who have no idea what calculators are and aren't interested in economy might have missed the significance of the news, but I assume we have at least noticed that the stock-markets in China lost a LOT of value, and the stock-markets all over the west have taken a very serious hit yesterday.

Now, one might wonder what kind of value these markets have anyway, if a person with a serious weight problem loses 40% of her or his weight in just 5 months, that person is very happy. So sometimes losing volume is a good thing. For example, Mother Earth will be VERY happy if Uncle Sam and all of his family in Europe starts consuming a LOT less, which will be bad news for the stock exchange for sure, but which seems to be best for Mother Earth at first sight...

Than again, maybe what the world needs is more investments in sustainabiltity, and less in... China? I never liked the idea of a lot of money going to countries like North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China and to some extend also the United States, but where the United States at least have a bit of democracy ( Just like the EU countries, btw) there China doesn't have such a thing at all.

Investing = Funding. I don't like funding nations that have a the death penalty, and therefor still live in the stone ages at least on that crucial point. I also believe that investing in nations that have some serious issues always is more risky than investing in more modern and further advanced nations. That, for example, don't have the death penalty.

From a neutral point of view, I'd say investing in a country like China is kind of risky anyway. Because of the one party system. Then again, for several reasons western countries invest a lot more in each other than in China already as we speak, so one MIGHT argue: "What's the problem?". Well, other than direct investments in China, of course there also is import from China and export to China. If in the second biggest economy of the world the stock exchange loses as much size as the Chinese one did, then this WILL influence export to and import from China BIG time, also it can influence global stability, which makes the overall risk factor different too.

Before I get into the question "Will we have another economical crises?" we need to ask ourselves if the one that started in 2008 one was already over anyway. Well, let me say that in the marco economic world it wasn't over, but on the streets of Amsterdam area, where I life, it was over. In Amsterdam Area Banks started being more easy on the credit again, more and more people started spending again, the prices of houses were going up again, and the overall vibes in the streets became to be more and more relaxed.

But meanwhile, in the EU Zone as a whole, the interest rates still are very very low, and as a result of that a fund on the stock exchange that has a 5% dividend a year will be very attractive indeed if saving your money on the bank gets you 0,8% a year. Now, this very low interest rate maybe makes the 5% dividend a bit TO attractive, but having said that: being able to talk about economy and REALLY understanding it, are two different things.

In my personal opinion no one really understands economy, but at the same time: some people have a better understanding of it than others. I kind of get it, but I don't really get it. But let me come to a conclusion anyway: if the second biggest economy in the world took a hit as big as this one, then yes, then the alarm bells should go off. Already for some time the stock exchange funds were a bit pricey, which means the buyers are optimistic, so the question should be: "Should one be optimistic right now?". My answer is: "No". Because a very low interest rate isn't really something one would expect in a healthy economy, also I think there's little reason to be optimistic just after the second biggest economy in the world took a hit as big as this one.

I'd say it's best when people are realistic, but this simply is not how most of us are  wired up. Also: it's very well possible that only optimistic people kept on buying shares in China or kept on buying them in general. To some extend also in the western countries, where realistic people already for months were saying "'The prices at the stock exchange are to high". This is what lots of experts already said for several months. That's why there might be SOME reason to assume it's only China that will get into a crises now. Which is not nice for people in China, but which also means there is less reason to feel fear for a house you are about to buy in Amsterdam losing 5% of it's value in the year after you took it....

This is NOT the right moment to buy a house in Amsterdam if you have to take all the money needed for it from the bank, but if you can pay a part of it yourself... Well.... Than you might at least consider it :)

Thanks for reading,

Culti Arjan