Things are fairly quiet in the Netherlands so most of the news seems to be of the manufactured kind: the papers are dominated by events that have not yet taken place: the Mexican flu epidemic and the fifth annual World Congress of Families.

The WCF is supported by several fundamentalist Christian organisations that are diametrically opposed to the ideals that have been the bedrock of Dutch society since the Enlightenment, namely freedom, equality and tolerance. Several groups have announced plans to demonstrate against the WCF on the grounds that organisations preaching intolerance towards minority groups have no place in the Netherlands. Freedom is fragile and hate speech should not be tolerated.

Epidemic, what epidemic? Fear of Mexican flu dwindles
Stories about the Mexican flu epidemic, or rather stories about the coming flu epidemic, pop-up in several papers this morning. "Hysteria Mexicana - not in the Netherlands" headlines De Volkskrant, above a photo of a man wearing homemade face mask with fluffy pink pigs sewn onto it. The paper writes that the chance of getting the Mexican flu is slightly higher than winning the lottery, but no one seems to be particularly worried about it, except hospitals and companies who fear losing money.

NRC.next writes that the flu epidemic could cause a dramatic shift in the Dutch work ethic. The health ministry recently advised employees suffering from Mexican flu to stay at home, and columnist Suzanne van den Eynden writes: "is it not remarkable that the health ministry should have to issue advice for what should be normal practice, i.e., do not come to work and infect everybody else with your virus".

Ms Van den Eynden writes: "Many employees are afraid to call in sick and employers look askance at those who dare to take a few days off because of the flu". She continues, "Most companies encourage people to come to work when they are ill and hand out bonuses to people who have not reported sick for a year". She adds, "I look forward to the day when people are given bonuses for staying home with the flu". Fat chance.

Family Congress sparks criticism
This morning's Trouw kicks off with the news that the World Congress of Families, which starts today, has raised a storm of controversy before it has even begun: "Family Congress promotes extreme ideas" headlines the Protestant paper. Critics say the WCF is a fundamentalist organisation and its views are completely out of character with traditional Dutch ideals of tolerance and freedom.

Deputy Prime Minister and Christian Union leader André Rouvoet is scheduled to deliver the opening address, but Catholics for Choice has called on the minister to cancel because his appearance "implicitly supports the ideas which led to the murders of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh". Several other groups are planning protests due to the WCF's opposition to abortion, single mothers, contraceptives, euthanasia and equal rights for women, lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.

Ill-gotten gains earning big money for municipalities
It appears that Dutch municipalities have found a new way to make money in these economically challenging times; Trouw writes: "Targeting flashy criminals makes millions". According to the Protestant paper, Dutch provinces and municipalities are earning hundreds of millions of euros by targeting criminals who flash their ill-gotten gains about.

In 2005, Amsterdam police began a pilot project - codenamed sports car strategy - that targeted criminals' assets. Police seized real estate, expensive automobiles, boats, scooters, jewellery and electronic goodies worth millions from criminals who were stupid enough to parade around revelling in their wealth. The project was so successful that it has now been implemented by police departments across the country.

Defence helicopters used to rescue tourists
Trouw reports that military helicopters are busier than usual rescuing tourists from the Wadden Islands; over the last two weeks, military personnel transported 15 people to hospitals on the mainland. A defence ministry spokesperson tells the paper: “transporting patients to hospitals happens fairly frequently in the summer but 15 patients in a two-week period is an awful lot".

The paper doesn't speculate on the reason for the increase, but the global credit crisis will probably be blamed.

Consumer Association: fast food joints must display calories
"Report calories in hamburgers" writes AD on an inside page. The Dutch Consumer Association has called on fast food joints to report the fat content and the number of calories next to the price on their menus. Researchers in the US recently reported that calorie and nutritional information printed on paper placemats or flyers have no effect on consumer behaviour.

A Consumers Association spokesperson tells the paper, "the government also wants clear information about the fat, sugar, salt and calorie content in food to be available for consumers," adding: "The association supports the government move but the information should be displayed in a prominent place in order to encourage people to eat healthily".

According to the Consumers Association, many people underestimate the number of calories in a particular food item. A photograph used by De Telegraaf to report the same story supports the theory: it's a photo of a rather chubby chap stuffing his face with a very large hamburger! They don't call it junk food for nothing.