Unreal. 
[quote]
Criminals can deduct costs of crime
24 January 2005
AMSTERDAM
crime always pays
I thought the US is also very generous in awarding compensation to criminals that got injured (accidently or by the owner) when e.g. breaking into somebody’s house?
real estate is a crime
Very hard to believe that this isn’t an Onion article…
If it is not a joke, then I have two quick questions:
(1) Anyone know if gambling is illegal in the Netherlands? (At any event for minors it must be, I would think…) Doesn’t seem like a bad way to living right? Bet your life savings in some illegal wager. If you win (and don’t get caught), great. If you lose, you turn yourself in and politely ask the government to return you to your pre-crime financial status (i.e. give you back the money you lost).
(2) How does this law work for crimes that are punishable only by fine? There must be such crimes right? Is the idea that when you get your fine for driving over the speed limit that you first pay the fine, and then submit the paperwork to get that money sent back to you? Do you get interest?
-Curious
[quote=“Hobbes”]
(1) Anyone know if gambling is illegal in the Netherlands? [/quote]
It’s legal. I used to walk by the casino in the center of Eindhoven every day.
That’s the UK, not the US. In the US we are generous in filling burglars’ asses full of lead.
I second that. When I lived in Groningen I would pass the casino on the way to the market.
I think Europeans face these problems because they cannot face up to their history. I read this book Crab Walk by Gunther Gras… 
[quote=“Comrade Stalin”][quote=“Hobbes”]
(1) Anyone know if gambling is illegal in the Netherlands? [/quote]
It’s legal.[/quote]
Curses, foiled again! 
[color=green]Hobbes tosses another get-rich-quick scheme in the bin and reluctantly goes back to his day job[/color]
That’s the UK, not the US. In the US we are generous in filling burglars’ asses full of lead.[/quote]
Not exactly correct, as long as the authorities accept that the injuries sustained are in line with defending yourself / property and in restraining the burglar, then generally nothing will come of it, go over that threshold and yes you will be prosecuted.
[quote=“Traveller”][quote=“Comrade Stalin”]
That’s the UK, not the US. In the US we are generous in filling burglars’ asses full of lead.[/quote]
Not exactly correct, as long as the authorities accept that the injuries sustained are in line with defending yourself / property and in restraining the burglar, then generally nothing will come of it, go over that threshold and yes you will be prosecuted.[/quote]
Like in the case of Tony Martin?
[quote]
Progress in policing ‘bandit country’
BETH MANNING
October 30, 2001 19:00
In the two years since Tony Martin’s killing of Fred Barras efforts have been made to change the face of rural policing in the Fens.
At the time of the Bleak House shootings a rising tide of crime had led people living on the borders of West Norfolk to dub the area “bandit country”.
Warnings of vigilantism preceded the notorious event from residents and community leaders at the end of their tether.
Tony Martin branded the police “stooges” after years of repeated raids by burglars on his home.[/quote]
by way of contrast:
cnn.com/2005/US/01/26/store. … index.html
[quote]When two men walked into a popular country store outside Atlanta, announced a holdup and fired a shot, owners Bobby and Gloria Doster never hesitated. The pair pulled out their own pistols and opened fire.
The armed suspect and his partner were killed. The Dosters won’t be charged, according to local officials, because they were acting in self-defense.
[/quote]
[/quote]
Typical American response to violence – more violence. :loco:
-
Did the shopkeepers even attempt a dialogue or negotiated settlement with the criminals?
-
Was there any effort to understand why the criminals were robbing the store? Perhaps there were socially constructed root causes that could have been addressed with some kind of government program…
-
Perhaps the criminals were raised in a culture that stressed communal property. Who are we to say that our understanding of property rights is any more valid than that of the criminals?
-
Finally, how about using a little positive reinforcement? You know, carrots rather than sticks? The shopkeepers might have offered the criminals a free bag of Doritos and a sixpack of Coors Light if they left without robbing the store – and promised not to come back the next day for another helping of free stuff. (Note: if they did come back the next day, the shopkeepers would probably need to give them a little bit more free stuff, and perphaps ask the criminals to sign a written agreement promising not to come back again.)
But no … as soon as one of the criminals tried to kill her husband, this American woman just pulls out her gun and shoots the guy…
[quote=“Hobbes”]
- Did the shopkeepers even attempt a dialogue or negotiated settlement with the criminals? [/quote]
Hobbes, that should be [i]alleged[/i] criminals.
This is relevant to this thread in what way?
This is relevant to this thread in what way?[/quote]
…nibble
To give some perspective, i.e. it’s not limited to Europe that crime seems to pay.
So the question you should have asked should be: “Why is this thread only about Europe”?
To give some perspective, i.e. it’s not limited to Europe that crime seems to pay.
So the question you should have asked should be: “Why is this thread only about Europe”?[/quote]
Hmmm.
So, Rascal… are you saying that in a discussion of US military practice as an extension of US foreign policy, it is appropriate for some posters to make reference to German foreign policy and or military practice?
Just seeking clarification.
To give some perspective, i.e. it’s not limited to Europe that crime seems to pay.
So the question you should have asked should be: “Why is this thread only about Europe”?[/quote]
I don’t want you to feel left out…after all, most of the threads here in IP seem to be about the big, bad US.