Hi dear readers and friends. Long time no sees. I have not been able to ignite the posts in me that I want to share. As you might have seen I have been unhappy with the way our world is developing at the moment and I don’t want to be a doom writer. I want to be a blog about hope, love, and friendship. A blog about people helping this world and everything on it. Ironically, today’s blog is a bit of both.
Who is Mr. Giovanni Brignoni? He is a few things. First and foremost, Mr. Brignoni is a helicopter pilot in Puerto Rico. Secondly, Mr. Brignoni will be a symbol that stands for the people of Puerto Rico and those that are helping them. But let’s start with Mr. Brignoni.
Giovanni Brignoni
You know… I couldn’t tell you a thing, not a clue except for the little bit I have seen from a video I will link below as Facebook doesn’t allow me to embed. This is a video by David Begnaud. A CBS journalist who has been covering the events in Puerto Rico ever since the Hurricane devastated the islands. While Mr. Begnaud has been keeping P.R in the public eye, Mr. Brignoni has been flying all over, rescuing people with every flight in many ways. Please watch the following to get an emotional but honest report and you might understand why I choose Giovanni Brignoni to be “the face” of today’s Everyday Heroes
I hope you agree that this man is a very shiny example of an Everyday Hero.
The People in Puerto Rico
Thos that lived there and fell victim as well as those that came and are helping the Islanders get back on their feet. Many people are working tirelessly to restore power and water, clean up beaches and town, clear taken down forests. Nature has a habit to heal itself over time and I am sure that in that regard, in a few years Puerto Rico will be back to its former beauty.
I would like to show you a video made by Sigma 3 survival school about their efforts to provide the so much needed help
I want to conclude with a few mentions and requests.
My first mention must be Carmen Yulín Cruz. The Mayor of San Juan who has been a voice for the people of Puerto Rico and has done lots of work when others waited for “official help”. She has imo shown to be a true leader and the people of San Juan and Puerto Rico should be dang proud of her.
My second mention must be my dear friend Horty Rexach. A proud Boricua that lives in the USA and has kept Puerto Rico in the news with her blogs and FB activity. I can advise no better place to go and get to know Puerto Rico and how the situation evolves then by reading It is what it is by Dr.Rex
Finally, I want to request you follow the above blog and David Begnaud and if you happen to feel generous please donate to a relief charity of your choosing. If you don’t know one you might try http://rickymartinfoundation.org/
In parapsychology and spiritual practice, an aura is a field of subtle, luminous radiation surrounding a person or object like the halo or aureola in religious art. The depiction of such an aura often connotes a person of particular power or holiness. It is said that all objects and all living things manifest such an aura. Often it is held to be perceptible, whether spontaneously or with practice: such perception is at times linked with the third eye of Indian spirituality. Various writers associate various personality traits with the colors of different layers of the aura. It has also been described as a map of the thoughts and feelings surrounding a person.
That, according to wiki, is what the aura is. For me, a more simple explanation is “the aura is the spiritual energy you radiate which influences you and those around you.
When I was a little puppy, the world was simple. There was you, your school, club, family and neighbors and if you where lucky enough holidays. These where the places you had aura related influence and here your friends were found. Relations where forged in your immediate surroundings often not reaching beyond your own town or country and if vacations where abroad they could be forged in that small area or that camping site in Cumbria or Antalya.
Oh my, did the times change. Nowadays we travel the world and surf the net and it is the last that opened up the Global Aura Network (mind you, this term did not exist before I wrote this blog, no use googling it)
I believe that people radiate their personal energy to others in all what tey do and energy, as you might know, can travel in many ways. Therefor it is my believe that when we comment on a blog, talk to people on Facebook or Skype etc or in other ways directly interact with each other our energy is reaching them through the means of cable and broadband ethernet, yes… I do not joke here. After all, fiberglass, copper and those materials are perfect transporters of energy and there is no energy stronger than that of your own. I believe that this is what makes real friendships over the internet possible, friendships with people you never have seen or never would have met if it wasn’t for the internet.
We can make use of this global network, we can do good with it because it is also my firm believe that this energy is not limited to the person you address. Did you know that the reach of your aura can be several miles wide, all our auras are in some way overlapping (thus creating the G.A.N) and our modern world has opened up ways for us to use this energy simply by making friends, being loyal, kind and positive in all we do on the interwebs. The more we send our good aura into the world the bigger the impact. This is not a short term thing and change will not be today but if we stand fast in how we treat our fellow man and the more we write about the good and wonderful things in our lives we might be able to change something for our children and their children.
Who knows, maybe when the Vulcans come we don’t need them anymore.
and to the two amazing ladies I met on WordPress (you know who you are)
THIS IS A WEREWOLF BLOG POST, controversial content
This is my opinion, you might not like it or agree with it. Either way, when responding do so in a respectful way.
With all the crap going on lately I see a growing gap emerging between the so-called “white” and “black” people around the world. Even when it comes to people who actually agree with each other like recently on a blog post from a good friend of mine that had the “audacity” to post (or rather…link to a blog) about racism from a “white perspective” with the simple message “why can’t we just live together in peace”
Somehow one “anti racist” blogger reacted with “You being caucasian I’d expect that mindset from you. When Caucasian, Purple, Yellow people get treated daily as Black people get treated, then and only then we ALL be equal people. Wake Up.” excuse me?? you want racism to stop, you want equal treatment for black people and this is your response to an anti racism post? My friend, being the kind person I know her to be, responded in a friendly way, calling the poster friend (which she does more often, also to said person, without any problem. Explained to him that, although the focus now is on black people, other minorities experience similar forms of prejudice (e.g those with a mental condition, homeless people, gay people etc, finishing her comment with “This is not about the color of someone’s skin. This is about leaving judgments about others out of our lives. All judgments.
Lots of love'” I can not see anything wrong with that..do you? the response of the commenter started out with “I am not your friend” and ended with “Caucasians like you are cause and effect” and remember, my friend has shown nothing but support for the victims and their family yet she gets thrown together with “all other caucasian” as being “the problem” leaving me to wonder if I was watching some “reversed racism”
And that is exactly what I wanted to discuss here. Let me first say..I do not believe in “race” when it comes to the human population, it is not “the black race” and ” the white race” it is “the human race”. I see different cultures…sure…but not different races. This doesn’t mean that I will say “I don’t see the color of your skin” because saying that would be denying your identity.
I wonder, are we not all racist at certain times in our lives? I know and admit I am. In my country we have a lot of arab people and in my neighborhood the amount is above average and I can’t deny that I have generalised n occasion when something happened and a Moroccan or Turkish person was involved. I think it is something in our dna that comes from the times when we where a more territorial species. I think it is something that comes to us all and that some of us can “keep it in” just a bit better than others. I think most of the times we don’t even realise that we made a racist slur (just like above example, I think the commenter didn’t even realise he was being racist in reverse” (by lack of me knowing a better description) and I think here lies the root of the problem. We only see it when others are racist against others but we are blind towards our own racism.
All lives matter, black, brown, purple, yellow I don’t care. there is just one race and that is the human race.
One other thing and this is especially directed to my brothers and sisters of color (yes, you are my brothers and sisters) I can “understand” that white people call you black (well I can’t understand actually hence the quotation marks) but why do you call yourself black. Let me explain the reasoning for me question.
I never ever have seen a black person in my life (yes, black Pete, black faces and other painted people excluded) I see a thousand different shades of brown but black…nope. I won’t say that none exist but I haven’t seen them. Of course this is a matter of semantics but I would have thought that…with all this crap about racism THAT would be a point. I call myself white because I AM white (heck…milk is dark compared to me) t.b.h I would say “let’s quit the use of black, white, red, yellow” all together and just stick with European, African, Asian etc (or African-American, European American, Asian American etc) Let’s stick with where your roots are instead of what color your skin is
Again, this is my opinion and thought process. You don’t agree with me or don’t like the way I think you are welcome to discuss it in the comments. Be respectful to me and my readers and I will respectfully reply back. Be disrespectful and you will be deleted
Conchita Wurst caused Balkan floods after Eurovision win, say church leaders
Conchita Wurst is responsible for flooding that left over 50 people dead earlier this month, church leaders in the Balkans have claimed.
The Austrian drag artist, whose real name is Thomas Neuwirth, seized international attention after winning Eurovision 2014with his hit Rise Like a Phoenix.
However, several church leaders have now claimed the recent devastating flooding across the Balkans, which was the worst in a century and left over 50 people dead, was “divine punishment” for Conchita’s victory.
“This [flood] is not a coincidence, but a warning,” Patriarch Amfilohije of Montenegro said, according to e.novine.com. “God sent the rains as a reminder that people should not join the wild side.”
Patriarch Irinej, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Serbs, reportedly said the floods were “divine punishment for their vices” and that “God is thus washing Serbia of its sins”.
The Russian Orthodox Church has previously described Conchita as an “abomination” and that his victory was “one more step in the rejection of the Christian identity of European culture”.
Speaking about her look on the Graham Norton Show, Conchita said: “It’s my own truth. It makes me comfortable on stage. I love myself and the bearded lady is fun and expresses everything I feel.”
The Balkan flooding caused widespread devastation, forcing almost 150,000 people from their homes.
Towns and villages in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia have been swamped, homes have been swept away by landslides, electricity has been cut off and vast tracts of farmland remain under water.
It is almost mother day so I thought I dedicate an every day heroes post to mothers. It actually is kind of funny I do this since my biological mother didn’t want me and my foster mother,.. well, she raised me and gave me all I needed, She loved me tat I am sure off but a son? no after the first few years and certainly after I became homeless I never got the feeling that I was her son. |I love her to dead though and I have a huge respect for her and my foster dad, she gave me all I needed and more out of the goodness of her heart with no strings attached as you might expect from a mother I guess my own path in life has something to do with the feelings I have about “not feeling a son” and I have decided a long time ago to not hold that against her.
What is a mother::Etymology
The modern English word is from Middle English moder, from Old English mōdor, from Proto-Germanic *mōdēr (cf. East Frisian muur, Dutch moeder, German Mutter), from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (cf. Irish máthair, Tocharian A mācar, B mācer, Lithuanian mótė). Other cognates include Latin māter, Greek μήτηρ, Common Slavic *mati (thence Russian мать (mat’)), Persian مادر (madar), and Sanskrit मातृ (mātṛ).
Biological mother
In the case of a mammal such as a human, a pregnant woman gestates a fertilized ovum (the “egg”). A fetus develops from the viable fertilized ovum, resulting in an embryo. Gestation occurs in the woman’s uterus from conception until the fetus (assuming it is carried to term) is sufficiently developed to be born. The woman experiences labor and gives birth. Usually, once the baby is born, the mother produces milk via the lactation process. The mother’s breast milk is the source of anti-bodies for the infant’s immune system and commonly the sole source of nutrition for the first year or more of the child’s life.
Non-biological mother
Mother can often apply to a woman other than the biological parent, especially if she fulfills the main social role in raising the child. This is commonly either an adoptive mother or a stepmother (the biologically unrelated wife of a child’s father). The term “othermother” or “other mother” is also used in some contexts for women who provide care for a child not biologically their own in addition to the child’s primary mother.
Adoption, in various forms, has been practiced throughout history. Modern systems of adoption, arising in the 20th century, tend to be governed by comprehensive statutes and regulations. In recent decades, international adoptions have become more and more common.
Adoption in the United States is common and relatively easy from a legal point of view (compared to other Western countries). In 2001, with over 127,000 adoptions, the US accounted for nearly half of the total number of adoptions worldwide.
Motherhood in same-sex relationships
The possibility for lesbian and bisexual women in same-sex relationships (or without a partner) to become mothers has increased over the past few decades thanks to new technology. Modern lesbian parenting (a term that somewhat erases the bisexual case) originated with women who were in heterosexual relationships who later identified as lesbian or bisexual, as changing attitudes provided more acceptance for non-heterosexual relationships. Another way for such women to become mothers is through adopting and/or foster parenting. There is also the option of self-insemination and clinically assisted donor insemination, forms of artificial insemination. As fertility technology has advanced, more women not in a heterosexual relationship have become mothers through in vitro fertilization. Note that in the Netherlands it recently became much easier for Lesbian couples to be equal parents for the child (as in same sex marriages) without the need of long lasting expensive legal procedures. (as an extra note to all religious nutcases that ar against same sex marriage and motherhood http://www.impactlab.net/2010/01/22/do-children-need-to-be-raised-by-a-mother-and-father-to-do-well/ )
The proverbial “first word” of an infant often sounds like “ma” or “mama”. This strong association of that sound with “mother” has persisted in nearly every language on earth, countering the natural localization of language.
Familiar or colloquial terms for mother in English are:
Aama, Mata used in Nepal
Mom and mommy are used in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Philippines, India and parts of the West Midlands including Birmingham in the United Kingdom.
Mum and mummy are used in the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Ireland. Charles, Prince of Wales publicly addressed his mother Queen Elizabeth II as “Mummy” on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee.
Ma, mam, and mammy are used in Netherlands, Ireland, the Northern areas of the United Kingdom, and Wales; it is also used in some areas of the United States.
In many other languages, similar pronunciations apply:
Synonyms and translations
Maa, aai, amma, and mata are used in India
Mamá, mama, ma, and mami in Spanish
Mama in Polish, German, Russian and Slovak
Māma (妈妈/媽媽) in Chinese
Máma in Czech and in Ukrainian
Maman in French and Persian
Ma, mama in Indonesian
Mamaí, mam in Irish
Mamma in Italian, Icelandic, Latvian and Swedish
Māman or mādar in Persian
Mamãe or mãe in Portuguese
Mā̃ (ਮਾਂ) in Punjabi
Mama in Swahili
Em (אם) in Hebrew
Ima (אמא) in Aramaic
Má or mẹ in Vietnamese
Mam in Welsh
Eomma (엄마, pronounced [ʌmma]) in Korean
In many south Asian cultures and the Middle East, the mother is known as amma, oma, ammi or “ummi”, or variations thereof. Many times, these terms denote affection or a maternal role in a child’s life.
The most famous mother in history (regardless if you are religious or not) must have been the virgin Mary,Did you know that the immaculate conception has nothing to do with her being a virgin or not? It has to do with the fact that she was free of the original sin (or so the bible says)
Do you still have your mother around? Then make sure that on Mothers Day she is the star of the day. Do I hear you saying that you don’t follow these commercially founded celebrations? Then remember this… A breakfast on bed, An extra hug, doing the dishes or vacuuming, this all has nothing to do with commercially but only with showing appreciation and love and thanks for that what she is doing 24/7 year long.Honor your mother, she deserves it.
Spring is in the air on this side of the globe and this means a lot of young animals and plants are being born and sprouted. This is a good time to highlight a Canadian founded but Dutch based cause.
Greenpeace is known for its direct actionsand has been described as the most visible environmental organization in the world. Greenpeace has raised environmental issues to public knowledge, and influenced both the private and the public sector. Greenpeace has also been a source of controversy; its motives and methods have received criticism and the organization’s direct actions have sparked legal actions against Greenpeace activists, such as fines and suspended sentences for destroying a test plot of GMO wheat.
Greenpeace might be controversial but the work they do is absolutely needed, who else has the willpower, the organization and the amount of people to defend out globe and all it’s beauty that this group of people.
Writing down the history of Greenpeace would take up way to much space and frankly, if you hit the Greenpeace banner above you will goto the wiki page that has the complete history with references. I can promise you a long but interesting read.
You can read more about Greenpeace on their own websites. I link the international site and from there you can choose a localized version using the little world map displayed next to Greenpeace International on the top left of the page
Some bear physical scars. All carry emotional ones. On the Syrian border, where the swell of refugees fleeing a bloody and unrelenting conflict shows no sign of abating, the stories that are the hardest to hear belong to the children. War permeates their dreams at night. It has made many of them too anxious to go to school, to leave their homes, or to be more than a few feet from their parents. Children who were once confident, bright and articulate now cower in corners of make-shift tents, eyes downcast, the strain of their lives palpable.
There is five year old Mada, whose hands shake so uncontrollably that she has difficulty dressing herself. Nadiyya, also five, stopped speaking for three years after a mortar exploded in front of her house. Her mother Rasha, pregnant with her second child, immediately bundled her daughter up and fled to the Jordanian border, which she calls “the journey of death.” Like most Syrian refugees, Rasha and her children can barely get through the day, drained as they are by fear and exhaustion. They don’t think about the future, she says, because it is too difficult to imagine one.
As the Syrian conflict enters its fourth year, international agencies worry about the “lost generation” – the children of war who are now years behind in their schooling, and who feel dislocated in an environment that often treats them as interlopers. Syrian children who do manage to enroll in local schools must rejoin at a lower grade level – something that older children say embarrasses them and causes them to be stigmatized by their peers. Their extreme poverty, the lack of running water in their homes that makes it impossible to wash themselves or their clothes, and the very fact that they are Syrian, often result in bullying. Parents notice changes in their children’s behaviour as well: their screams in the dark; their unexplained tearfulness; and, their attention and behavioural problems.
But for some children, like ten year old Ameera, school itself is simply too painful to think about.
Ameera wears an orange-knit dress with threadbare sleeves, which she ritually pulls at. A once outgoing little girl with high grades, Ameera no longer attends school – she cannot even bear the thought of it. The last time she sat in a classroom, a missile landed in the school’s courtyard, instantly killing fifty primary school children. Ameera placed her hands over her head as her two best friends, seated a few rows in front of her, were blasted with glass and shrapnel. Amidst the smoke and confusion she ran to them, but her teacher prevented her from seeing them. The girls were already dead. The teacher then led Ameera out the back of the school, and instructed her to run home without stopping. This is her lasting memory of grade five.
Shortly after the missile attack at Ameera’s school, her father, Fayez, began making arrangements for this family of nine to make a run for the border, believing that it was safer to take their chances with what lay ahead than to face what was surely coming for them. The day of their departure, over 100 people – neighbours and friends – were pulled from their homes and hiding places and, according to Fayez, were butchered with knives or gunned down as they ran. Fayez grabbed his children, hastily bundling them into the car behind their home, and fled.
Now in Jordan’s northern refugee area, Fayez is unable to earn a living because he cannot afford the necessary work permits and has shrapnel damage to one arm. Still, he hopes that with time and support his children will have a chance at recovery, and that Ameera will once again be excited to go to school. “I want to be a doctor” she told me. Her wish is that someday she might be able to stop people from dying.
What children like Ameera need – desperately – is to feel safe. This is why War Child’s first priority is to reduce the immediate risk of violence, exploitation and abuse. In the coming months and years we will need to address the education deficit, with accelerated learning classes that will help children catch up their missed years of school quickly. This will allow them to either join the formal Jordanian school system or remain in the program to continue their education. A safe place to go and a return to learning – important first steps on the long journey to a restored childhood.
The war in Syria has precipitated the biggest refugee crisis in twenty years. But it is the stories of individual children like Ameera that give us a sense of the true scale of the tragedy. The suffering of Syria’s children cannot be ignored. It demands action. Please give generously today.
Still millions of kids suffer in a war or are suffering from the effects of a war they have been in previously. Syria, Uganda and many other countries still wage a war and it’s the kids that pay the price.
About War Child International
War Child International is a family of independent humanitarian organisations, working across the world to help children affected by war.War Child was founded upon a fundamental goal: to advance the cause of peace through investing hope in the lives of children caught up in the horrors of war and currently consists of three implementing offices: War Child Holland, War Child North America and War Child UK.
These offices operate as equal partners, share the same aims and goals and work together in the field, but are totally autonomous, with independent trustees and financial coordination.
War Child International currently consists of three offices: War Child Holland, War Child North America and War Child UK. Although sharing the same aims and goals, the three organisations are totally autonomous, with independent trustees and financial coordination.
The three implementing offices have united under a common War Child International flag to unite their efforts and to define a shared set of values, best practices, common principles and operational guidelines under total equality. Thereby creating a network of organisations working across the world to help children affected by war.
WHAT WE DO
War Child International implements projects in Afghanistan, Burundi, Chechnya, Colombia, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uganda, West Bank and Gaza according to the following themes:
Child protection: to protect children and young people against the consequences of armed conflict.
Education: to enable children and young people’s access to education.
Justice: to ensure children and young people’s access to justice when their rights are violated.
Livelihoods: to build sustainable local livelihoods that address children and young people’s fundamental needs.
Psychosocial: to stimulate children and young people’s own psychological and social development.
The War Child organisations run their own projects, but also work in partnership with local grass roots organisations, through both short-term emergency relief and long-term rehabilitation programs, to improve the living conditions of war-affected children.
SUPPORT FOR WAR CHILD
War Child has gained enormous support from the public, schools and business communities. Company sponsor programs, products and co-promotion activities have been set up and many concerts, art expositions and special events have been organised to support the War Child cause. Thousands of schools around the world have participated in raising funds and awareness for children in war zones.
Since the early days of War Child the music and entertainment industry and many famous artists have joined the ranks to support War Child’s cause. Dozens of special concerts and CD’s have been organised to support War Child’s activities.
Annual Reports
To learn more and download financial information, visit the national websites:
After Janmaat it was silent for a while on the extreme right of the political spectrum. We all figured that we where still a very tolerant country and continued as we always had done, ignoring the problems that we had created ourselves until Pim Fortuyn came to the stage. Now don’t get me wrong. Fortuyn was not nearly as bad as Janmaat and he was among the first to openly speak about the real problems we had created however many people felt he was doing so in a populist way
On 9 February 2002, he was interviewed by the Volkskrant, a Dutch newspaper (unfortunately not archived). His statements were considered so controversial that the party dismissed him as lijsttrekker the next day. Fortuyn had said that he favoured putting an end to Muslim immigration, if possible. Having been rejected by Livable Netherlands, Fortuyn founded his own party LPF (Pim Fortuyn List) on 11 February 2002. Many Livable Netherlands supporters transferred their support to the new party.
election poster LPF
As lijsttrekker for the Livable Rotterdam party, a local issues party, he achieved a major victory in the Rotterdam district council elections in early March 2002. The new party won about 36% of the seats, making it the largest party in the council. For the first time since the Second World War, the Labour Party was out of power in Rotterdam.
Fortuyn’s victory made him the subject of hundreds of interviews during the next three months, and he made many statements about his political ideology. In March he released his book The Mess of Eight Purple Years (De puinhopen van acht jaar Paars), which he used as his political agenda for the upcoming general election. Purple is the colour to indicate a coalition government consisting of left parties (red) and conservative-liberal parties (blue). The Netherlands had been governed by such a coalition for eight years at that time.
the book
In August 2001, Fortuyn was quoted in the Rotterdams Dagblad newspaper saying, “I am also in favour of a cold war with Islam. I see Islam as an extraordinary threat, as a hostile religion. In the TV program, Business class, Fortuyn said that Muslims in the Netherlands did not accept Dutch society.He appeared on the program several times. It was moderated by his friend Harry Mens. Since his death, commentators have suggested Fortuyn’s words were interpreted rather harshly, if not wrongly. For instance, he said that Muslims in the Netherlands needed to accept living together with the Dutch, and that if this was unacceptable for them, then they were free to leave. His concluding words in the TV program were “…I want to live together with the Muslim people, but it takes two to tango.”
After his death a statue was placed at his home in Rotterdam
On 9 February 2002, additional statements made by him were carried in the Volkskrant. He said that the Netherlands, with a population of 16 million, had enough inhabitants, and the practice of allowing as many as 40,000 asylum-seekers into the country each year had to be stopped. (This figure was higher than the actual numbers, and immigrants were decreasing at the time.). He claimed that if he became part of the next government, he would pursue a restrictive immigration policy while also granting citizenship to a large group of illegal immigrants.
He said that he did not intend to “unload our Moroccan hooligans” onto the Moroccan King Hassan. Hassan had died three years earlier. He considered Article 7 of the constitution, which asserts freedom of speech, of more importance than Article 1, which forbids discrimination on the basis of religion, life principles, political inclination, race, or sexual preference. Fortuyn distanced himself from Hans Janmaat of the Centrum Democraten, who in the 1980s wanted to remove all foreigners from the country and was repeatedly convicted for discrimination and hate speech.
Fortuyn proposed that all people who already resided in the Netherlands would be able to stay, but he emphasized the need of the immigrants to adopt Dutch society’s consensus on human rights as their own. He said “If it were legally possible, I’d say no more Muslims will get in here”, claiming that the influx of Muslims would threaten freedoms in the liberal Dutch society. He thought Muslim culture had never undergone a process of modernisation and therefore still lacked acceptance of democracy and women’s, gays’, lesbians’ and minorities’ rights. He feared Muslims would try to replace the Dutch legal system with the shari’a law.
He said he was concerned about intolerance in the Muslim community. In a televised debate in 2002, “Fortuyn baited the Muslim cleric by flaunting his homosexuality. Finally the imam exploded, denouncing Fortuyn in strongly anti-homosexual terms. Fortuyn calmly turned to the camera and, addressing viewers directly, told them that this is the kind of Trojan horse of intolerance the Dutch are inviting into their society in the name of multiculturalism.”
When asked by the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant whether he hated Islam, he replied:
“
I don’t hate Islam. I consider it a backward culture. I have travelled much in the world. And wherever Islam rules, it’s just terrible. All the hypocrisy. It’s a bit like those old reformed protestants. The Reformed lie all the time. And why is that? Because they have standards and values that are so high that you can’t humanly maintain them. You also see that in that Muslim culture. Then look at the Netherlands. In what country could an electoral leader of such a large movement as mine be openly homosexual? How wonderful that that’s possible. That’s something that one can be proud of. And I’d like to keep it that way, thank you very much.
”
Fortuyn used the word achterlijk, literally meaning “backward”, but commonly used as an insult in the sense of “retarded”. After his use of “achterlijk” caused an uproar, Fortuyn said he had used the word with its literal meaning of “backward”.
On 6 May 2002, at age 54, Fortuyn was assassinated in Hilversum, North Holland, by Volkert van der Graaf. The attack took place in a parking lot outside a radio studio where Fortuyn had just given an interview. This was nine days before the general election, for which he was running. The attacker was pursued by Hans Smolders, Fortuyn’s driver, and was arrested by the police shortly afterward, still in possession of a handgun. Months later, Van der Graaf confessed in court to the first notable political assassination in the Netherlands since 1672 (excluding WW II events). He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. (and will be released on probation this month after having served 12 years)
His Killer Volkert van der G
The assassination shocked many residents of the Netherlands and highlighted the cultural clashes within the country. Various conspiracy theories arose after Pim Fortuyn’s murder and deeply affected Dutch politics and society. Politicians from all parties suspended campaigning. After consultation with LPF, the government decided not to postpone the elections. As Dutch law did not permit modifying the ballots, Fortuyn became a posthumous candidate. The LPF made an unprecedented debut in the House of Representatives by winning 26 seats (17% of the 150 seats in the house). The LPF joined a cabinet with the Christian Democratic Appeal and the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, but conflicts in the rudderless LPF quickly collapsed the cabinet, forcing new elections. By the following year, the party had lost support, winning only eight seats in the2003 elections. It won no seats in the 2006 elections, by which time the Party for Freedom, led by Geert Wilders, had emerged as a successor.
funeral Fortuyn
During the last months of his life, Fortuyn had become closer to the Catholic Church. To the surprise of many commentators and Dutch TV hosts, Fortuyn insisted on Fr. Louis Berger, a parish priest from The Hague, accompanying him in some of his last TV appearances. According to the New York Times, Berger had become his “friend and confessor” during the last weeks of his life.
And so we come to Geert Wilders, the New Janmaat (and by some even compared to Goebels and even Hitler). Wilders is a man that makes no secret of how he sees out Dutch?Arabic citizens, he doesn’t care if they are born here, he doesn’t care if they do well at school, work hard and are fully intergrated into society. Geert Wilders has just one M.O… getting into power over the back of the immigrants and their kids.
Geert Wilders
In 1997, Wilders was elected for the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) to the municipal council of Utrecht (same as me), the fourth largest city of the Netherlands He lived in Kanaleneiland,(again, same as me.. in fact same street as I do) a suburb with cheap social housing and high apartment blocks, and which has a relatively high number of immigrants. While a city councilor, Wilders was mugged in his own neighbourhood; some have speculated that this may have catalysed his political transformation. He was not rewarded for his time on the municipal council of Utrecht, for in the following elections he would score well below the national average in the University city.
A year later, he was elected to the Netherlands’ national parliament, but his first four years in parliament drew little attention. However, his appointment in 2002 as a public spokesman for the VVD led Wilders to become more well known for his outspoken criticism of Islamic extremism. Tensions immediately developed within the party, as Wilders found himself to be to the right of most members, and challenged the party line in his public statements. He was expelled from the VVD parliamentary party, and in September 2004, Wilders left the VVD, having been a member since 1989, to form his own political party, Groep Wilders, later renamed the Party for Freedom. The crunch issue with the VVD party line was about his refusal to endorse the party’s position that European Union accession negotiations must be started with Turkey.
The Party for Freedom’s political platform often overlaps those of the assassinated Rotterdam politician Pim Fortuyn and his Pim Fortuyn List. After his death, Fortuyn’s impact remained, as more and more politicians sought to gain political mileage by directly confronting topics such as a ban on immigration that were, from a politically correct point of view, considered unmentionable in the Netherlands until Fortuyn came on the scene and upended the Dutch tradition of consensus politics with an anti-immigration stance. Wilders would position himself to inherit Fortuyn’s constituency. The Party for Freedom called for a €16 billion tax reduction, a far stricter policy toward recreational drug use, investing more in roads and other infrastructure, building nuclear power plants and including animal rights in the Dutch constitution. In the 2006 Dutch parliamentary election, their first parliamentary election, the Party for Freedom won 9 out of the 150 open seats.
Anti pvv logo
In March 2009, in a party meeting in Venlo, Wilders said “I want to be prime minister“, believing the PVV will eventually become the Netherlands’ biggest party. “At some point it’s going to happen and then it will be a big honour to fulfil the post of prime minister”.
Polling conducted throughout March 2009 by Maurice de Hond indicated the Party for Freedom was the most popular parliamentary party. The polls predicted that the party would take 21% of the national vote, winning 32 out of 150 seats in the Dutch parliament. If the polling results were replicated in an election, Wilders would be a major power broker. Under such circumstances, there would also be some likelihood of him becoming Prime Minister of the Netherlands. This has been partially attributed to timely prosecution attempts against him for hate speech and the travel ban imposed on him by the United Kingdom, as well as dissatisfaction with the Dutch government‘s response to the global financial crisis of 2008–2009.
Wilders (right) with the leaders of VVD and CDA following the 2010 election.
On 3 March 2010, elections for the local councils were held in the municipalities of The Netherlands. The PVV only contested these local elections in the Dutch towns The Hague and Almere, because of a shortage of good candidates. The big gains that were scored indicated that the party and Wilders might dominate the political scene in the run-up to the parliamentary elections scheduled on 9 June 2010. The PVV won in Almere and came second to the Dutch Labour party in The Hague. In Almere, the PVV won 21 percent of the vote to Labour’s 18 percent, preliminary results showed. In The Hague, the PVV had 8 seats—second to Labour with 10 seats.
On 8 March 2010, Wilders announced that he would take a seat on the Hague city council, after it became clear he won 13,000 preference votes. Earlier he had said he would not take up a seat if he won. In the parliamentary elections on 9 June 2010, the PVV went from 9 to 24 seats (out of 150) resulting from over 15% of the vote. This made the PVV the third party in size. With a fragmented parliament, at least three parties were required for an absolute majority. A coalition of VVD and Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) was negotiated with parliamentary support by the PVV. The PVV did not become part of the government formed by VVD and CDA but actively participated in the negotiations and thus policy decisions and – as part of the outcome agreed that they would not support any motion to dismiss ministers concerning topics listed in a so-called “support agreement” – much like the Danish model where the Danish People’s Party plays a similar role. The very fact of the participation of Wilder’s party in these negotiations caused fierce discussions in political circles.
On 21 April 2012, Wilders withdrew his support from the Rutte cabinet because of new austerity measures that were about to be taken. Commenting on his withdrawal Wilders blamed the “European dictates” pointing to the 3% rule on budget deficit for European countries although his party had supported these rules earlier on. The cabinet blamed Wilders for what they call his “lack of political will” and “political cowardice” in regards to addressing the economic woes of the Netherlands.Wilders’ withdrawal from the negotiations led to new elections in September. Wilders and the PVV ran on a campaign to have the Netherlands withdraw from the European Union and for a return to the guilder. The PVV won only 15 seats in the election.
Then two weeks ago during the City Council elections he made some controversial remarks again. When he was in the Hague on a campaign trail he asked the crowd “Do you want more or fewer Moroccans in your city and country” the crowd chanted “Fewer Fewer Fewer” after which Wilders responded “then we going to take care of that” The fact that he said it, the crowd responded and he made the promise was not even what shocked me. I was absolutely not surprised and actually glad he showed his true colors at last (he always claimed NOT to be a racist and he was always careful in his wording not to target a specific group from a specific country) No, what shocked me was the poll a few days later which showed that a whopping 45% of the people questioned about it had absolutely no problem with what he said (thank God the majority still does)
Soo… If you still think the Netherlands is such a tolerant country think again. We have become a country that has just as much racists as for example Germany, the USA or the UK We have a long way to g before we are free from this hate mongering lunatic and as long as this man is around I am afraid I can not call my country a “tolerant and welcoming country”
Of course the Netherlands is still filled with millions of beautiful people from all walks of live and all religions, cultural backgrounds and there still are loads of tolerant people, we just aren’t the most tolerant country anymore.
There is a lot of talk during the last.. well… decades if not centuries, about the so called “Dutch tolerance” and yes, if you check our past the Dutch have been a very tolerant people. First of course there s the multicultural aspect.. If you check cities like Amsterdam or Utrecht you will see that we have many nationalities roaming across the city streets. You can see a lot of people from the former colonies like Suriname and Bonaire whom have been part of our Dutch culture for many centuries. Most of these Dutchman you will find in Amsterdam and Rotterdam as where the Hague is more the city where you will find the people that originate from areas like Indonesia. Since the mid 60 there has been a huge growth in Dutchman that originate from the middle Eastern areas like Morocco and Turkey and with the things happening in central and north Africa in recent decades the amount of people originating from the African continent has been growing as well.
Of course where cultures meet lot of things happen, always has been doing that always will be doing that. These “things” can be positive and negative but they almost always come from either lack of knowledge about a certain culture or (more positive) curiosity about these different cultures.
Of course all these “new Dutch” had their reasons for coming to the Netherlands. When it comes to people from the former colonies many things can be the reason ranging from economic to family related issues, although clearly not “original Dutch” I don’t think there are many Dutch that are counting them as “allochtoon”
An “Allowhat?” you might ask yourself now. In the Netherlands there is a distinction between the people that are “original” Dutch and those that are “Import”. If you are Born and bred Dutch with Dutch parents and grandparents you are considered “Autochtoon”. Anybody else is considered “Allochtoon”. I Highly doubt if there is a translation for these words in English (or any other language for that matter). It has been “invented” as political correct alternative for the many words depicting “others” that might be offending to the subject in question such as “Negers” (litteral “Negros” but more regarded in the same way by many as the dreaded “N” word” in English)
So..back to the reasons of moving to the Netherlands. As said, the former people from our former colonies could have many reason like work or family related. Then there is a large group of people that originate from either Morocco or Turkey. In the post WWII era there was enough work in Holland, in fact there was so much work that the Dutch where feeling to “high and mighty” to do the dirty work themselves. If you where Dutch in those days you would opt for a job as manager or salesman, working in a store or in an office building. Jobs like Garbage collector, factory line worker, cleaner and maid where “sourced out”. Many small temp job agencies came to live that had a representative in these countries and they where recruiting the Moroccan and Turkeys people for these “Dirty jobs” Many came to Holland invited by us to do the jobs we didn’t want to do ourselves. Although many came here as “temp workers” or as we called them “Gast Arbeiders” (Guest workers) most of them ended up staying either marrying someone they met over here but in many cases bringing wife and kids over as well. No real efforts where made during those days to have these people integrating into our society since “they would not stay anyways”
Here is where the main problem started, although we did invite these people most of us never really tried to actually “get to know them”. If you where lucky, people greeted each other when they met but more interaction then that was not really there. However as it goes with people, most of us get kids eventually and these kids grew up in a split world. In one world they where at home wit their family, the language was Arabic (Moroccan, Turkeys, Kurdisch etc etc) and there was (and still is btw) a big chance that at least one if not both parents where unable to speak proper Dutch. Since these kids grew up never hearing Dutch they entered the school systems with a severe disadvantage since all classes in Dutch schools (some university classes excluded) are. in Dutch. Imagine being 6 and going to the first grade for the first time and being greeted by a lady that is talking to you like your deaf (why are people shouting when they talk to deaf people, they can’t hear you). often in typical Dutch “high speed talking” Kids at the playground laughing at you or with you? or are they even laughing? could be crying, or shouting or, or, or). So these kids start with a disadvantage that often only gets bigger with time passing since teachers simply don’t have the time p go one on one with a student.
And so this first “Dutch born” generation grew up in relative anonymity. Although these kids did learn the language, the cultural gap between home and school still made them relatively lost between two worlds and many if not most of these kids left school after primary school. However by then the jobs we Dutch didn’t want to do when there parents came over we now needed ourselves and so the unemployment within this generation grew bigger and bigger.
It was the 2nd and 3rd generation after WWII (basically my generation) and the things that happened in WWII was something we only knew from History class and the things our own parents still knew. Since our own parents where typically around 5 or 6 in”45 the seriousness of what had happened did not sink in for a lot of people. Yes, we knew there had been war, people had been killed and we did understand that such a war should never happen again however the reasons and motives… we just didn’t mirror it onto how we treated our Moroccan class mates unwillingly creating a generation of kids that grew up with bullying and in some cases even flat out hatred towards them. Then the extreme right wing started to show it’s ugly face.
Old pamflet of the CD saying: You can choose before it is too late
First there was Hans Janmaat , This man was from the WWII generation (born in ‘37) and should have know better but he was the first really racist, right wing politician in our country. Janmaat wanted to represent the indigenous Dutch workers and middle class. His views were based mostly on economic and materialistic arguments rather than an underlying ideology.Disappointing economic growth, unemployment and government cutbacks could not be addressed while large numbers of immigrants were flowing into the country Janmaat was against a multicultural society: he argued that immigrants should either assimilate into Dutch culture, or return to their country of birth. His best known slogans were “Holland is not a country of immigration,” “full=full” and “we will abolish the multicultural society, as soon as we get the chance and power”; he was convicted for the last two statements. According to Jan van de Beek, Hans Janmaat often used economic arguments in his tirades against immigrants.
He was often accused of committing acts of hate speech, and received fines and a conditional prison sentence for incitement to hatred and discrimination against foreigners.
He often made controversial remarks about immigrants and other politicians. He argued that Ernst Hirsch Ballin should not be allowed to hold a high office because of his Jewish heritage and said he was not saddened by the sudden death of political opponent Ien Dales.
Other parties erected a cordon sanitaire around Janmaat, ignoring him while he spoke in parliament. A taboo on discussing negative aspects of immigration existed in the Dutch political climate in the 1980s.
Meindert Fennema, Emeritus Professor of Political Theory of Ethnic Relations at the University of Amsterdam, argued in 2006 that Janmaat was convicted for statements that are now commonplace due to changes in the political climate (caused in part by the September 11 attacks, and the assassinations of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh).
Every Day Heroes. When we think of heroes we tend to think people. Alanya and Lijda for example in my last two EDH blogs but also people like Fireman, Policeman, Nurses and Teachers will be counted among them by most of us. However not every Every Day Hero is a human.
In the title I used S.E. Dogs. Now you could read that as Special Edition dogs since a lot of dogs I am talking about are very “special edition” but it stands actually for Seeing-Eye Dog also known as Guide dogs.
Some History first.
References to guide dogs date at least as far back as the mid-16th century; the second line of the popular verse alphabet “A was an Archer” is most commonly “B was a Blind-man/Led by a dog” In the 19th century verse novel Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the title character remarks “The blind man walks wherever the dog pulls / And so I answered.”
The first guide dog training schools were established in Germany during World War I, to enhance the mobility of returning veterans who were blinded in combat, but interest in guide dogs outside of Germany did not become widespread until Dorothy Harrison Eustis, an American dog breeder living in Switzerland, wrote a first-hand account about a guide dog training school in Potsdam, Germany, that was published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1927. Earlier that same year, U.S. Sen. Thomas D. Schall of Minnesota was paired with a guide dog imported from Germany, but the guide dog movement did not take hold in America until Nashville resident Morris Frank returned from Switzerland after being trained with one of Eustis’s dogs, a female German shepherd named Buddy. Frank and Buddy embarked on a publicity tour to convince Americans of the abilities of guide dogs, and the need to allow people with guide dogs to access public transportation, hotels, and other areas open to the public. In 1929, Eustis and Frank co-founded The Seeing Eye in Nashville, Tennessee (relocated in 1931 to New Jersey).
USA and Canada…. click here
The first guide dogs in Great Britain were German shepherds. Four of these first were Flash, Judy, Meta, and Folly, who were handed over to their new owners, veterans blinded in World War I, on 6 October 1931 in Wallasey Merseyside. Judy’s new owner was Musgrave Frankland. In 1934 The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association in Great Britain began operation, although their first permanent trainer was a Russian military officer, Captain Nikolai Liakhoff, who moved to the UK in 1933.
UK click here
Australia click here
Now of course the Seeing Eye dog is the most well known of the support dogs but there are also dogs that are trained to help other people then blind. I am thinking not only disabled people but, like we do here in the Netherlands, dogs can be trained in the following areas as well:
Kids with Autism:
Autism Service Dog
Some children with autism become mesmerized when on the streets. They suddenly run away or stay standing in one place. This can result in dangerous and difficult situations. As a parent, you are forced to always hold your child close by . Going out with your child or family together, can therefore be a big problem. Do you recognize this? By linking your child to a trained autism service dog, the danger of running away disappears and takes some of the stress off. I will list some organizations at the end of this article where more info can be found about these special dogs
BUDDY DOG FOR (FORMER) Armed Forces
Cope with life again
Buddy dog for (former) Armed Forces
Some (former) military personnel, agents or people with similar professions, are struggling with anxiety, nightmares, insomnia, social isolation and other PTSD symptoms. A specially trained dog buddy can be a solution. H/she ensures peace, regularity and ease of movement. The buddy dog also knows practical skills with which he supports his buddy. For example waking up his buddy when he has a nightmare. These dogs can actually prevent homelessness and avoid institutionalization among those that have returned from active duty in Iraq ad Afghanistan. In the USA they are called Battle Buddy Dogs.
Battle Buddy Dog
These dogs are ALL Every Day Heroes but here is a helpful hint: I am sure that if you see such a dog helping his/her “master” you are eager to pet and praise the dog. DO NOT DO THIS unless you have gotten permission from its owner. It is very simple, these dogs are working, let them do their work please. If you see one of them resting first ASK if it is ok to approach and/or pet the dog. DO NOT GIVE IT TREATS
Besides the seeing eye links already given here are some more informative links about these dogs.
Dutch organization (all types)
Uk Organization (Dissabilities/Autism)
USA organization
Australian Organization (kids, Autism, special needs)
(Australian, similar as above)
UK organization
Worldwide Organization. All types
Many more organizations are to be found worldwide. I have only listed the Dutch, USA, UK, Canadian and Australian Organizations (and not even all of them) since most visitors to this blog come from these countries. However google is your friend if you live in another country then mentioned.
To close this article I would like to ask if you can think of anyone/thing more deserving for the honorary title of Every Day Hero?….not?…. thought so as well 😀 A big Wolf Hug to ALL the trainers and Dogs out there, you are AMAZING
Mavadelo's mindscape 