• العربية
  • 简体中文
  • Nederlands
  • English
  • Deutsch
  • Русский
  • Español
  • العربية
  • 简体中文
  • Nederlands
  • English
  • Deutsch
  • Русский
  • Español

M!chel

  • Home
  • About me
  • My Account
  • Home
  • About me
  • My Account

Add

How I unexpectedly found myself in a coup d'état

July 19, 2016

I was halfway through my delicious dessert -a Kunefe- when the first reports of a coup came in. I had spent the hours before just outside the center of Gaziantep talking with two doctors about health care in Turkey. Mainly that for the more than 3 million refugees Turkey is currently hosting. Go back to your hotel Streets were closed, bridges occupied, and fighter jets and helicopters would fly low over Istanbul and Ankara. According to initial reports. Quickly we decided to end our conversation and each go our separate ways. I was advised to go back to my hotel. I decided to go to the police headquarters. I figured that if something was about to happen in Gaziantep, a place an hour from the border with Syria, the first signs of it would be visible there. I decided to watch from the steps of a closed restaurant across the street from the station. Erdogan: Take to the streets Many cars approached the main entrance at high speed, and there was a busy discussion. Not much later, the Prime Minister proclaimed on TV that a coup was underway. People were asked to take to the streets

Read More "

Column: The Purmerend of Spekkers of June '16

June 30, 2016

Last week we had Reuring. What a small town can be big at. Great, a wonderful festival it was. I was surprised, in my mind Reuring was no more than one stage on the Koemarkt, but in the years of my absence it had grown into a true event with multiple stages at different locations. Over 300 volunteers cooperated to make Reuring a success. truly fantastic, but everything can always be better. The organization totally missed the mark when it came to the use of Social Media and a message from Reuring to the volunteer group yesterday created a bitter aftertaste. One of the initiators and regular paid workers of reuring was disappointed in the number of volunteers who, after the event in the past few days, were busy cleaning up and clearing away the event in the park. 'Next year this really needs to be different,' the paid worker said. 'Not only the joys, but also the burdens, sharing together,' she concluded her rambling message in which she vented her heart about the shortage of volunteers 'The final party already has a nasty taste in my mouth,' she stated. 'Reuring is over for the public on Sunday. But

Read More "

How I got a criminal journalist arrested

May 30, 2016

It is early afternoon, two hours ahead of schedule, that I walk into the Dutch embassy in Kiev. Three hours earlier I landed my flight from Amsterdam, and in between I have arranged for a hotel, a Ukrainian SIM card and some other basic necessities for the coming days. One tweet with the embassyStefan knows nothing of my arrival. Through one tweet with an acquaintance of Stefan and the Dutch embassy in Kiev, he came to the embassy hoping to get a Western Union code so he could pick up 100 euros. It would be the 100 euros from an invoice from RT, one of the few clients where Stefan was still welcome as a journalist. The rest of his clients, such as GeenStijl.nl where he published on (as well as through Reporters Online), had long since taken their hands off Stefan after he was arrested in Beirut a few months ago for credit card fraud. Geenstijl helps Stefan out of Lebanese cellMany clients feel misled because everyone initially thought he was arrested in Beirut for his journalistic work, a lie he himself made public on social media the day before his arrest. 'I have

Read More "

Stefan Huijboom again in controversy

April 12, 2016

Yesterday a warning about Stefan Huijboom appeared on the Kiev expat Facebook group. Yanka Dudenko warned the over a thousand members of the group about Stefan's practices, and many others responded. But what happened? "Could you call my lawyer to ask what I should do if I do get stopped at the border?" asked Stefan Huijboom to me yesterday afternoon. Stefan was on his way from Kiev to Moscow. Earlier today, a warning about Stefan appeared on Kiev's expat Facebook group. Yanka Dudenko warned the group's 1,000-plus members about Stefan's practices, including allegedly stealing $300 during the time he had stayed with her. He also allegedly tried to withdraw money from Yanka's account last week by forging checks. When I confront Stefan about this during one of our conversations, he adamantly denies the allegations. "It's not true! BeirutThis is not the first time Stefan has been compromised; earlier this year Stefan was briefly detained in Beirut due to credit card fraud. Only when the misappropriated amount of $800 was paid will Stefan be released. I spoke to him about it especially

Read More "

From nothing to something (5): more for less

April 11, 2016

It is cold as I walk from the shelter toward the Albert Heijn supermarket. The almost regular rhythm - getting a free cup of coffee at the supermarket - is beginning to irritate me. As I walk on, I begin to feel frustrated about the setbacks of the past few days. After two months in the night shelter, I finally had my first intake interview for social assistance and assisted living, but it didn't really flow. 10-year-old documents A few days after the intake, I called the caseworker, because she had not kept a telephone appointment about the outcome of the intake. 'Ah! Michel, that's a coincidence I was just about to call you.' I just didn't respond to it. She managed to tell me that the counselors had decided not to put me on the eight-month waiting list for assisted living just yet. Before considering that further, they wanted to request my psychological reports from ten years ago. After some discussion and consideration, I called her back to let her know that I was quite willing to have a new examination done, but that a report from ten years ago seemed irrelevant to me in deciding whether I should be

Read More "

Column: Behind closed doors

March 3, 2016

Today I had my debut column for RTV Purmerend's Purplus program. It went as follows Behind closed doors: While the almost 70-year-old, child-meaningful Grandpa Ed talks on about his life, I think of Sonja. My beautiful ex-girlfriend with Eastern European roots from 2006. She struck out as I lay on the ground at the gas station near our house, motionless as I lay there. I defended, sure, but gave her more than enough space to continue expressing her emotion. The police came, and almost ex officio Sonja was taken away. I tried to explain that I would work it out with Sonja, that the best thing we could do was go home. It wasn't the first time. Crazy how long I was able to accept that. Love makes blind. Grandpa Ed continues his story and talks -as if it were yesterday- about his time in the army, his driving schools and his beautiful ex-wife whom he affectionately calls "my M. In fits and starts, the sometimes almost uncontrollable emotions come to him as he talks about the last 15 years of his life. 'In 2015 alone, I reported 26 times to the police Michel. See

Read More "

The expensive homeless person, in 379 words

February 28, 2016

For RTV Purmerend: Watch it back here from 13:30 'In my humble opinion the world upside down, there are not too few beds but too many homeless people!!!', said VVD Purmerend parliamentary party chairman Jan Peter Dompeling on Twitter last week in response to an article from the Noord Hollands Dagblad titled 'Bed shortage in night shelter Purmerend worrying'. In that article, the director of the Purmerend social shelter, Niels Kentie, states with crocodile tears that more space would be needed for the reception of homeless people, but it cannot be found. ''We are doing what we can, but it is worrisome.'' A municipality that writes as rejection criteria for a homelessness application on its website in bold letters that being homeless is not a valid criteria for such a homelessness application that is the world upside down Mr. Dompeling, but that is my humble opinion. The Purmerend shelter receives 1.7 million euros per year for the reception of temporary-vulnerable-citizens, 1.3 million from the municipality and over 350 thousand from the own contributions of clients. Simply translates a spacious 1000 euros p.p.p.m. The result of this hefty investment from the municipality is that there are too few beds for emergency shelter so the homeless do not

Read More "

Why a Dutch journalist lied about his arrest in Beirut

January 23, 2016

Alarm bells went off not only for me but for several colleagues and agencies Jan. 7. The reason for this is a video that appears online, in which Stefan Huijboom anxiously recounts his fear of being arrested because he had asked questions about Hezbollah to the Ministry of Defense in Beirut a few days earlier. And indeed: he is arrested. Behind the scenes, a handful of colleagues and agencies begin a rescue plan, but the reason for Stefan's arrest later turns out to have absolutely nothing to do with journalism. Stuck in a Lebanese cellStefan and I are sitting in a café near the Red Light District in Amsterdam, looking tired, confused and anxious. The night before, Stefan landed at Schiphol Airport after being stuck in a Lebanese cell for seven days. 'Michel, you won't believe the conditions there. There are twice as many prisoners as beds and they cram thirty of you into a small cage. There is screaming, it was terrifying.' As Stefan tells his story, I think he is lucky. For the same money or a little less, they would have kept him there for longer periods of time. Somehow he is

Read More "

From nothing to something (4): The just-grown-up homeless person

January 20, 2016

After we leave the night shelter at 8:00 in the morning, we stand in front of the DEEN supermarket talking. The coffee maker in the supermarket is working again, after breaking down for days, and the croissants are on sale. It is cold outside and for the next few hours we have nowhere warmer to go. We talk a bit, mostly about life. Meeting up with "friends" Wouter just turned 18 and has been living in the night shelter for four months. He has applied for the Casa24 project, a youth project of the General Reception Center Purmerend. However, the waiting time is long; it can take from 6 to 10 months. Until then, he sleeps in the night shelter at night and wanders the streets during the day or meets up with "friends. Wouter grew up in a foster home, where he was raised for eight years before leaving. 'This week I was also standing here in front of the DEEN and all of a sudden my foster mother came by, but I think fortunately she didn't see me, I don't want her to see me like that either.' As Wouter searches his phone for an old photo of himself, he says he used to be "much broader and healthier. The blowing

Read More "

From nothing to something (3): You better be in a prison

December 25, 2015

About the expensive homeless, the well-oiled machine of the Purmerend municipality and the hopeless waiting times

Read More "
Load More

Contact:

baljet.michel@gmail.com
Phone & WhatsApp: +31610314715
Threema: TDA5F56Y



  • Algmene conditions
  • Privacy Statement

michelbaljet.com is part of Valentineble Projects B.V.

New Acres 3
UNIT:10870.
5431 NV Cuijk.
Netherlands.

Chamber of Commerce: 83684514
VAT: NL862957370B01
IBAN: NL27 BUNQ 2064 4438 86

Management permission
To provide the best experience, we use technologies such as cookies to store and/or access information about your device. By consenting to these technologies, we may process data such as browsing habits or unique IDs on this site. If you do not consent or withdraw your consent, certain features and capabilities may be adversely affected.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service expressly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
Technical storage or access used exclusively for statistical purposes. Technical storage or access used solely for anonymous statistical purposes. Without subpoena, voluntary compliance by your Internet Service Provider, or additional data from a third party, information stored or retrieved solely for this purpose typically cannot be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is necessary to establish user profiles for sending advertising, or to track the user on a site or across sites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
Management permission
To provide the best experience, we use technologies such as cookies to store and/or access information about your device. By consenting to these technologies, we may process data such as browsing habits or unique IDs on this site. If you do not consent or withdraw your consent, certain features and capabilities may be adversely affected.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service expressly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
Technical storage or access used exclusively for statistical purposes. Technical storage or access used solely for anonymous statistical purposes. Without subpoena, voluntary compliance by your Internet Service Provider, or additional data from a third party, information stored or retrieved solely for this purpose typically cannot be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is necessary to establish user profiles for sending advertising, or to track the user on a site or across sites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
EnglishEnglish
NederlandsNederlands العربيةالعربية EspañolEspañol 简体中文简体中文 DeutschDeutsch РусскийРусский