Pointer

Police logger Jan-Willem goes into the mistake ... again. Despite the instructions for the use of social media by police, there are still people traceable in videos of the Vlogger. And with that he lays private data from citizens on the street. Pointer investigated the traceability of people in videos of police logger Jan-Willem and it shows that the popular agent rebreeds several privacy rules. That is remarkable, because following earlier research, the police proposed guidelines for improving social media posters. Now it appears that after the tightening of the rules in certain 22 cases that are traceable to a person are visible and audible in videos of Jan-Willem. Social media is indispensable in the police. You see it at all arguing: a detection message via a Twitter or Facebook message.

In collaboration with Reporter Radio and Follow the Money, Pointer reveals that there are several healthcare institutions in the Netherlands that achieve extreme profits. The accounts look suspicious. How is it possible that these businesses earn so much money? Many of those companies are in home care. Is the care that these companies must deliver sufficient or is there the back of people who needed home care earned money?

In June 2019, DataLatform Pointer revealed in collaboration with research site Follow the Money and Reporter Radio that there are care institutions that get extreme profits. After an analysis of the annual figures for 2017, it turned out that 97 large healthcare companies were jointly made for more than fifty million euros in profit. That amounts to more than twenty percent of turnover, while at most three percent are common within mental health care, care for the disabled and home care. These profits may have been unlawfully achieved. The annual accounts of these institutions are rarely checked, allowing shareholders to pay for millions of Euros to care money. These 'care cowboys' would perhaps even ride out huge profits at the expense of supplying care to people who need. In the second broadcast on mega ministers in healthcare, the DataTeam of Pointer once again examines the annual accounts of these types of companies.

Behind a simple e-mail in the inbox of Pointer appears to be a network of lighting sites, mailbox companies and more than a hundred victims around the world. Via a wirwar to NEP accounts, the track is followed that leads to two Danish cheaters, which abuse people from people.

Almost a hundred care companies make structurally high profit in the healthcare sector. The DataTeam of Pointer, together with Reporter Radio and Follow the Money, examines why municipalities pay for tens of millions of euros in care money to these companies within the framework of the Social Support Act. Why do municipalities do not seize as soon as it becomes clear that this money is not spent on good care? Municipalities must ensure that the money intended for elderly and disabled care is used properly. Why do municipalities do business with companies that use the money for other things? And is it maintained?

The Clintel Notice Foundation on climate change and climate policy and is regularly cited in debates that go among other things about climate change. For example, reports and articles from Clintel are quoted by Thierry Baudet of Democracy Forum, especially when it comes to how urgently the climate debate is actually. For Clintel, the need is less high than many climate activists claim. Clintel is particularly critical of reporting about the global warming. The foundation is not yet a year yet, but is now one of the largest clubs of climate skepticists. Who is behind Clintel? How can they be on the rise so quickly? And is it true what they say about the state of the climate? Who is behind the lobby of climate seplect?

The global outbreak of the coronavirus ensures that our daily news consumption almost only exists with news about COVID-19. Not only through established media we are kept informed, also via social media, reports about the virus are sent and forwarded. And the question is how reliable those messages are. Nowadays, Fake News is hard to distinguish from real news. Pointer went looking for fake news and shows how you can really distinguish from NEP on the basis of journalistic and forensic treasure methods. For example, images on social media that was suggested that people commit suicide because of the virus. These shocking images were bleached. Why are these messages sent? It provides more unrest and fear. Who is behind spreading fake news? Why do they do that? And what can fake news bring about?

The Turkish President Erdogan suddenly throws open the border with Greece at the end of February. The pressure on Turkey, which would absorb the migrant current, is too large. Support from the EU remains, and therefore Erdogan throws open borders to let the EU experience the pressure. He sets buses to bring migrants to pazarkule, the border crossing between the Turkish Edirne and the Greek chestnuts. With skirmishes on the border between Greece and Turkey, it is getting out of hand. People are injured and there is also a dead person: the Pakistani refugee Mohammed Gulzar. He was hit and died on the spot. Turkey and Greece accuse each other over and over again, deny all allegations and manufacture fake news to make the other black. Greece denies that injuries have fallen and all that someone has been killed, and even puts into embassies to stop every news about the incidents.

A group of Dutch, shady real estate dealers, real estate agents and entrepreneurs earns considerably during the Second World War to trade in Jewish real estate. Millions were involved with the purchase and sale of real estate of led jews. The real estate was - often for amounts that were far below the applicable market prices - purchased from the German occupier that the houses had expropriated. The transactions were kept by the German occupiers in the so-called Verkaufsbücher. Almost all books have been preserved. They contain the addresses and the names of the original owners, the brokers involved and the war copies, plus selling prices. And so a penetrating image of a criminal real estate circuit creates that gold earned money from expropriated, Jewish real estate. Were municipalities informed? Are they aware of the transactions? And how is the relatives? Are they compensated for expropriating the houses of their family?

The Transatlantic Christian Council is one of the most influential American lobby clubs. They stand for a conservative Christian ideas: against abortion, against same-sex marriage and for Christian education. In the Netherlands, the battle of Trump may seem like a far-away-bed show for many, but right here has an active co-founded. Henk Jan van Schothorst - Former lobbyist of the SGP - With support from controversial American think tanks, Gouda cheese traders and American ambassador Pete Hoekstra part of this international lobby organization, which aims to stop laws and regulations that the rights related to LGBT people , abortion, euthanasia and equal rights for women. How far does the influence of this lobby club and what role does the American ambassador play in the Netherlands? Pointer dived in the network of this lobby club.

In the Netherlands, 2.5 million people have difficulty with reading, writing and/or arithmetic, which prevents them from fully participating in society. In Heerlen, South Limburg, where a relatively large number of low-literate people live, we come across many separate initiatives to tackle language disadvantages: from projects in the playgroup to extra reading lessons in education and language courses for adults. Yet a more structural solution to this problem seems to be lacking. What is needed to ensure that future generations grow up without language disadvantages?

Homes with vermin and mold, sleeping in a tent on a campsite or spending hours on the train to attend a lecture. Students accept a lot because there is a major shortage of student housing. Dutch universities have grown enormously in recent years. Almost every course can be followed in English and the doors are wide open to students from all over the world. Student numbers are expected to continue to grow in the coming years. But who is responsible for a decent student room?

Last fall, a shock went through the Netherlands when it turned out that children in our rich country were going to school without food. There was great outrage, volunteers started making sandwiches and The Hague released millions to feed children at school. What's behind this? How big is the problem of poverty and bad food among children? And what do schools think about the fact that they now have it on their plate?

Anyone waiting for help with psychological suffering must have a lot of patience. There are currently 85,000 people on a mental health waiting list. In the meantime, the need for psychological help is only increasing. One in five Dutch people will experience mental difficulties at some point. Once it is your turn, you must receive a label, otherwise the care will not be reimbursed. And this compartmentalized thinking is meeting with increasing resistance. So the problem is all over the place and there are no easy solutions. There are more and more calls for a drastic overhaul of mental health care.

There are countless jubilant stories about the Healy on Facebook and YouTube. A small device that you can clip to your sweater or shirt and is said to promote your health through frequency therapy. You can treat any complaint with it: from sleep disorders and pain to depression and anxiety. And not only that, it can also make you rich, the sellers promise. But behind all the promises there appears to be a shadowy world hidden. A network of traffickers that takes advantage of thousands of vulnerable people.

Millions are released for emergency aid because children are hungry in class. This is a temporary solution to a problem that has been going on for years. Hunger and bad food hinder equal opportunities. Teachers Jean-Paul and Susanne have therefore started organizing a healthy school lunch. But in practice that is not easy. How do other countries in Europe do this? And what is the vision of this cabinet?

Pointer investigates the power of the Brussels pesticide lobby. More and more scientists are concerned about the relationship between pesticides and diseases such as Parkinson's, but plans to reduce the use of pesticides are encountering great resistance. The controversial herbicide Glyphosate may continue to be sold on the European market for the next ten years and an important law to halve the use of pesticides by 2030 is being rejected by the European Parliament. What tactics does the lobby use and why is it so successful?

Where should people who are dependent on someone else 24 hours a day focus? There is limited space in large healthcare institutions and the number of people working in the institutions has also been declining for years. The attention, regularity and structure of home cannot be guaranteed in such an institution. Families are faced with a dilemma: keep it at home, even if that is no longer possible, or take matters into their own hands? Everywhere in the Netherlands, parents join forces in small-scale housing initiatives that combine care and shelter. How feasible and affordable are these types of alternatives? Which buttons can be turned and by whom?

You can have fillers injected into your face to fill in lines and folds, or, for example, to give your lips more volume. More and more people are using them. Legally, only doctors are allowed to inject fillers. Yet you also see many beauticians without the correct papers, a lucrative business in fillers. This is not without risk, because if a filler is injected incorrectly, it can cause serious complications. Is there sufficient supervision of these actions?

In winter, many people like to light a crackling fire. Cozy right? But wood smoke regularly causes nuisance and can cause health problems, as is the case with Dirk. He experiences nuisance because local residents burn wood, it makes him short of breath and keeps him awake at night. If he reports it to the municipality, little happens. What can he do?

Thousands of tenants are stuck this winter. Their houses are poorly insulated, sometimes with only single glazing in the windows, forcing residents to choose: either high heating costs or wearing sweaters on top of each other to fight against moisture, mold and draughts. The government says that landlords must improve homes, homes with poor energy labels first. But Pointer discovered that the energy label does not properly indicate how cold a house is. For example, a home can have a label and still be ice cold due to gaping cracks or incorrect insulation. Why do we focus on energy labels?

About 900,000 people are exposed to harmful noise during their work. And that can, for example, lead to a ringing in your ear, hypersensitivity to sound or hearing loss. Sometimes this is due to a loud bang, such as when police officer Raya had a fireworks bomb thrown at her head. Much more often, however, hearing damage occurs gradually, due to long-term exposure to noise that is slightly too loud. For example, lifeguard Jack tells Pointer that he suspects his hearing loss was caused by all those hours in a reverberating swimming pool. What can employers do to prevent the risks of hearing complaints? And are they doing enough?

Build a house for an elderly person, and help everyone. There is a great need for senior housing, the government says. Due to the aging population and the healthcare crisis, there must be 288,000 houses in which seniors can live comfortably, preferably together. This also helps against the housing shortage, because when an elderly person moves, a large house often becomes available, which leads to a series of moves. Yet municipalities hardly allow any additional senior housing to be built. The construction of senior courtyards, care homes and houses without stairs is even worse than normal housing construction. How is that possible?

Elke (22) has been looking for a suitable job for years, but due to her autism and mental problems she keeps dropping out. Ultimately, she applies to the UWV for a Wajong benefit, a benefit for young people without the ability to work. You only get this if you can never work again. But how do you prove that when you are still so young? And can UWV doctors make such a prediction? Feline (37) can also hardly work due to various conditions. Yet she does not receive Wajong benefits. She has been on social assistance for years, including all the strict rules. Shouldn't we help young people with disabilities better? And what does politics do for this group?

The strengthening of the houses in the Groningen earthquake area is difficult. The reinforcement advice of the National Coordinator Groningen, which states whether or not a house should be reinforced, raises questions. Pointer receives dozens of tips from residents who say there are errors in the reinforcement reports they receive about their own home. Sometimes the drawings are incorrectly measured or are incorrect. Also, the advice is often not well-founded and cannot be checked because the calculations are missing. Can residents still trust that they live in a safe house?

All Dutch people live an average of eight months shorter due to bad air. And in some places the damage is even greater, such as in the west of Rotterdam. Highways, industry, an airport, shipping, animal husbandry and wood burning come together. However the wind is, you breathe in pollution. Citizens have therefore started their own measuring installations. With titles such as De Neuzen van Vlaardingen, they check the status in their own backyard. Residents see that air pollution sometimes goes far above the limit. They are proven right by scientists and even the measurement services. But what can you do then?

We dive into the war past of the KRO. What happened to the Jewish musicians who disappeared from the broadcaster's orchestras long before the war? Did their Jewish origins play a role in the dismissal? A reconstruction based on hundreds of previously undisclosed archive documents, the criminal files of the KRO leadership and conversations with surviving relatives of Jewish KRO musicians of the time.

Across the Netherlands you can see that the quality of life in neighborhoods with a lot of social rent is deteriorating further. Due to the allocation policy of social rental housing, status holders and people with, for example, psychological problems, addiction problems or debts are all placed together in one neighborhood. This creates an accumulation of problems in these neighborhoods. This increases the nuisance and you see neglect of public space. This is also the case in the Geitenkamp district in Arnhem. In recent years, many shops and facilities have also disappeared here, as a result of which residents are now resisting.