Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch pronunciation:) (English: Dutch Railways) or NS is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. NS provides rail services on the Dutch main rail network (hoofdrailnet). The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. Freight services, formerly operated by NS Cargo, merged with the DB Schenker group in 2000.

NS runs 4,800 scheduled domestic trains a day, serving 1,1 million passengers.In addition, NS provides international rail services from the Netherlands to other European destinations and carries out concessions on a number of foreign rail markets.

Founding

The NS was founded in 1938 when the two largest Dutch railway companies, the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM) and the Maatschappij tot Exploitatie van Staatsspoorwegen (SS), formally merged. These two companies, however, had been intensively cooperating as early as 1917. There were both economic and ideological reasons for the cooperation.

As a result of the First World War, the Netherlands' economy had declined causing HSM and SS to fall from profitability. Given their national importance, allowing them to slip into bankruptcy was not considered acceptable. While remaining independent companies, HSM and SS improved overall efficiency by cooperatively integrating their operations. The Dutch government further supported HSM and SS by purchasing shares in both firms. In 1938, the government merged the two companies to form the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS). In the process, the government bought all remaining shares, yet never nationalised the company. Therefore, NS remained, and still is, a private company solely owned by the Dutch government.
NS as a state enterprise

During the Second World War the NS remained an independent company, but was forced to do the Germans' bidding; the NS was forced to construct the railway lines to camp Westerbork and help in the deportation of almost a hundred thousand Jews to extermination camps. The NS went on a strike once during the war, in the winter of 1944-45, after it had declined to participate in one a year earlier.

The NS played a pivotal role in the reconstruction of the country. There was little alternative transport in the country besides the train, while there was a huge demand for logistical services which the NS could provide.

While the 1950s were generally a good time for the company, it started to decline in the 1960s, like most other railways around the world. Not only did the NS suffer from the competition of the car and other modes of transport, it also suffered from a loss of income when natural gas started to replace coal as the main fuel in powerplants and homes after a gas field was found near Slochteren. The NS had been involved in the transport of coal from the mines in Limburg to the remainder of the country.

The NS responded with an aggressive strategy named Spoorslag '70. This strategy meant, among other things, that the NS substantially increased the number of trains per hour and also introduced the Intercity services. However, it was quite clear that this would never return the company to profitability. Nevertheless the company was declared to be of national importance, meaning that it would receive large amounts of subsidies every year.

Reforms of the 1990s

In the early 1990s, the government started to question the subsidies given to the NS. Not only were there questions regarding the way the NS spent the subsidies, but, after the neo liberal reforms of the 1980s, it was also considered not done to award generic subsidies to companies. The government decided on the verzelfstandiging of the NS. (Although technically, this is not the case, but instead refers here to withdrawal of the subsidies.) The idea was that not only rail transport was economically viable, but that there could be competition as well.

There were two external circumstances which allowed for this to happen. Firstly, the European Union passed Directive 91/440, which prescribed, among other things, the (formal) separation of the national railways into two separate companies, one which deals with the infrastructure, and the other which deals with the transport activities. Secondly, the old CEO of the NS, Leo Ploeger, retired, which allowed the government to name a new CEO which would execute the government's plans. The new CEO was Rob den Besten.

The plans entailed that the government would remain responsible for the rail infrastructure, while the NS would provide the (passenger) transport on a commercial basis. Where the services would prove to be economically inviable the government would subsidise that route. The division which was responsible for the infrastructure would later be turned into NS Railinfratrust.

To facilitate the government plans for the commercial operation of the NS, den Besten planned to split the NS into many smaller independent divisions. The idea was that these smaller divisions would be better able to respond to the market. The plans, however, received massive opposition from the unions, which meant that the only divisions created were NS Reizigers, and locomotive maintenance company NedTrain. There were also other internal changes in the company. The routemanagers got de facto control over the operation, but they were dependent of a different organ in the company.

The freight sector NS Cargo became part of the Deutsche Bahn after its merger with Railion in 2000, now known as DB-Schenker rail.
These reforms were never much of a success and left the company in an uncontrollable state. Result was that the company started to decline rapidly, and that the employees started many unorganised strikes. Following this, the complete board of directors felt it necessary to resign in late 2001.

In 2002 Karel Noordzij was named as new CEO of the NS with the mission to restore the confidence in the company. In essence, he did this by reversing most the reforms of the late 90s and restoring the company to the old state. Meanwhile, the government had changed its opinion of the railways, it no longer considered competition on (passenger) transport a viable goal. Thus, the government started to commission railway operators to run routes on the network. The NS was granted (by the national government) the concession to run on the main lines, whereas other companies received a number of the concessions on the secondary lines. The goal is to give individual concessions for the individual lines, but (at least) until 2025 the NS holds the concessions for main lines.

From Wiki

All About Sheep for kids

The sheep is an animal which has a thick coat of fleece on its body. Sheep have hoofs that is divided into two toes. They have a gland between their toes. The horns of the ram is usually curved outward. Not all rams have horns. There are hornless breeds too. In some breeds, even the ewes have horns. The average life-span of a sheep is about 7 years. Some live longer. The sheep should not be confused with the goat. They are different in many ways. Sheep do not have a beard like the billy goat. They also do not have the "goat" odor.

There are still wild sheep around. The largest sheep is the wild sheep, Argali. The Argali lives in the Altai Mountains of Siberia and Mongolia. The male can grow up to 4 feet tall at the shoulders and his horns can spiral about 20 inches around. Wild sheep look a lot like wild goats. Wild sheep can climb high mountains.

The sheep is believed to be first domesticated in Asia during the Bronze Age. Primitive tribesmen kept the sheep for its wool to keep warm and the meat as food. The sheep is still important to us today. They provide us with both food, leather, clothing and give us the raw materials for by-products, such as soap, lanolin, glue, tallow and catgut. Catgut is used in stringing tennis and badminton rackets. Lanolin is natural oil found in the sheep's fleece which is used to make cosmetics and candlewax. Today, modern sheep, through selective breeding are bred for either their good meat or quality wool. TheY are the Merino and Rambouillet. They were developed for dual purposes, for maximum wool and mutton production. The Columbia, Romeldale, Montadale, Panama, Targhee and Polwarth are also examples of modern breeds. Domestic breeds of sheep are descendent of 2 kinds of wild sheep. They are the Urial and the Mouflon from Southern Asia.

Examples of these are, the Australian Merino which is bred for its high quality wool. Wool is a natural fibre grown from sheep. Clothes made from wool will not burn, they are fire-resistant. Woollen clothes also stay cool in summer and warm in winter. Different kinds of sheep will produce different kinds or quality of wool. Wool is a natural fibre grown from sheep and will not burn. Wool is fire-resistant. Woolen clothes will stay cool in summer and warm in winter.

The fine-wooled sheep will produce fine wool. The fine wool are made into garments. The American Merino sheep which originated from the Spanish merino breed is an example of the fine wooled sheep. The Rambouillet is also another example and also a descendent of the Spanish Merino.

The medium-wooled sheep are grown mainly for their meat. Their wool are also important and are made into blankets. These breeds include the Hampshire, Shropshire, Southdown, and the Suffolk. Shropshires are very popular on farms and so are the Hampshire and Southdown.

The coarse-wooled sheep include the Scottish Blackface or Blackface Highland in the United States. They produce wool for tweeds, carpets and mattresses. The Navajo breed produces wool for rugs and blankets. The Karakul is also another coarse-wooled sheep. They have fat tails where fat is stored up and released when food is scarce. The adults have coarse fleece but the Karakul lambs have glossy, silky fur . They are used to make fur coats. The lambs are killed when they are 3-10 days old for their fur.

Last are the long-wooled sheep which include the Lincoln, Leicester, Coswold and Romney.


The picture shown here is the Merino ram or the male.
Although most sheep are raised for meat and wool, the East Friesian is a dairy sheep raised for production of milk in Germany. It has white wool and white faces, ears, and legs all clean of wool and a "rat-tail" that is thin and has no wool on it. In France, milk from Roquefort sheep is used to make Roquefort cheese. Sheep's milk is different from cow's milk. It contains more protein and has a higher fat content. Then there is the East Friesian Sheep that is bred for its milk.

In the United States, the popular breeds are :

Rambouillet,

Charlie Hebdo is whom?

Charlie Hebdo (French pronunciation: ​[ʃaʁli ɛbdo]; French for Weekly Charlie) is a French satirical weekly newspaper, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. Irreverent and stridently non-conformist in tone, the publication is strongly antireligious[2] and left-wing, publishing articles on the extreme right, Catholicism, Islam, Judaism, politics, culture, etc. According to its former editor, Charb (Stéphane Charbonnier), the magazine's editorial viewpoint reflects "all components of left wing pluralism, and even abstainers".[3] It first appeared from 1969 to 1981; it folded, but was resurrected in 1992. Charb was the most recent editor, holding the post from 2009 until his death in the attack on the magazine's offices in 2015. His predecessors were François Cavanna (1969–1981) and Philippe Val (1992–2009).

 

The magazine is published every Wednesday, with special editions issued on an unscheduled basis. It experienced two terrorist attacks, in 2011 and in 2015, in response to some controversial Muhammad cartoons renamed "Charia Hebdo", a reference to Sharia law.

In 1991, Gébé, Cabu and others were reunited to work for La Grosse Bertha, a new weekly magazine resembling Charlie created in reaction to the First Gulf War and edited by comic singer Philippe Val. However, the following year, Val clashed with the publisher, who wanted apolitical mischief, and was fired. Gébé and Cabu walked out with him and decided to launch their own paper again. The three called upon Cavanna, Delfeil de Ton and Wolinski, requesting their help and input. After much searching for a new name, the obvious idea of resurrecting Charlie-Hebdo was agreed on. The new magazine was owned by Val, Gébé, Cabu and singer Renaud Séchan. Val was editor, Gébé artistic director. The publication of the new Charlie Hebdo began in July 1992 amidst much publicity. The first issue under the new publication sold 100,000 copies. Choron, who had fallen out with his former colleagues, tried to restart a weekly Hara-Kiri, but its publication was short-lived. Choron died in January 2005.

European court rules obesity can be a disability!

LONDON (AP) — Obesity can be a disability, the European Court of Justice ruled Thursday — a decision that could have widespread consequences across the 28-nation bloc for the way in which employers deal with severely overweight staff.

The ruling, which is binding across the EU, has such profound implications for employment law that experts expect EU nations to challenge it. The court ruled in the case of a Danish childcare worker Karsten Kaltoft, who weighed 159 kilograms (350 pounds) and said he was unfairly fired for being fat. The ruling said if obesity hinders a "full and effective participation in professional life," it could count as a disability. 

According to Jacob Sand, Kaltoft's lawyer, the ruling means employers will have an "active obligation" to cater to the needs of their obese staff members who are considered disabled, because discrimination on the grounds of disability is illegal under European Union law. 

This could mean providing car parking spaces closer to the office, changes to workers' desks and other modifications. In some EU states, the decision may also make it more difficult for employers to fire or lay off workers who are grossly overweight. 

"It is a good ruling in my case and I am happy about it," said Kaltoft, who is now fighting for compensation worth 15 months of his salary. Kaltoft worked in child care for 15 years for the Municipality of Billund in Denmark before being dismissed in 2010. 

The municipality says Kaltoft's position became unnecessary due to a decline in the number of children served. 

The European Court of Justice said it was now for Danish courts to decide whether Kaltoft's obesity constituted a disability. Tam Fry, a spokesman for the UK's National Obesity Forum, said he was worried the ruling could "cause friction in the workplace between obese people and other workers." Fry said he expected EU member nations to challenge it.