The old normal
By Hilbert Haar Nothing surprises me anymore about politics in St. Maarten so the coalition-agreement the URSM signed with the DP, NOW and PFP did not come like a bat out of hell either. The four parties have eight More...
Bold promises
By Hilbert Haar It will take some time before the Netherlands has a new government – with or without Geert Wilders, leader of the PVV (Party for Freedom) and winner of the Dutch elections. Wilders has to More...
Counterfeiting
By Hilbert Haar Tee shirts, watches, booze, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics. There is hardly a product for which consumers cannot find cheaper (and therefore counterfeited) alternatives. Stores in St. Maarten are stuffed More...
Good grief!
By Hilbert Haar What is the world coming to? What happened to the process of logical thinking? Those thoughts hit me like a hurricane when I read that the Council of Ministers asked the Integrity Chamber whether More...
Wishful thinking
By Hilbert Haar The prime minister listening to his own fairy tale. That is how comedian Wim Kan once described the traditional speech by the Dutch Queen (at the time) during the opening of the Dutch parliamentary More...
Eternal debt
By Hilbert Haar I am not an accountant and not a financial wizard, so I share my thoughts with our readers about rather diffuse topics like debts and refinancing on a personal title. The Netherlands loaned St. More...
Personnel affairs
By Hilbert Haar I am completely stunned by the way government-owned entities handle their personnel affairs. When you read the verdicts in the two GEBE-cases (against Sharine Daniel and against Clifford Sasso) More...
Trustworthy politicians
By Hilbert Haar “I am an honest politician,” the man said to the beautiful looking blonde who sat next to him at a bar. “Yeah, right, the blonde quipped. “I am a prostitute, and I am a virgin.” This is More...
Where freedom ends
By Hilbert Haar I have written this more than once but this seems an opportune moment to repeat it: freedom ends where it intrudes upon the freedom of others. Unfortunately, the prime ministers of St. Maarten, More...
Who benefits?
By Hilbert Haar I am not a fiscal expert, let me make that clear from the get go, but I have a simple question. Have you ever wondered why things are the way they are? I ask myself that question a lot and now I More...
