Willothewisp

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Delft is a beautiful little city, a town really given how it feels when you are in it’s centre.  It  had been some years since we had visited the city but we have some wonderful memories of a lovely passionate week spent in it, so Tyjardia and I took our children there for a couple of days. Delft is actually well positioned geographically if you also want to explore Rotterdam and Den Haag as it lays half way between the two. In fact, given the small size of our country in this case half way means that the town is reached by the urban transport systems of both major cities with train and bus lines direct to Rotterdam and a very efficient tram service direct to the heart of Den Haag as well as train of course. The beauty of this is if our two teenage boys got bored we could pack them off on the tram to Den Haag and the beach at Scheveningen to pose on the beach and oggle the girls, boys will be boys ! For our daughter we made the promise of a trip to Madurodam, Hollands smallest city, literally. Madurodam is a model of our country in miniature, always a favorite with children.

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Delft is a fine example of the most typical of Dutch architecture and city design. It is criss-crossed with canals that keep the town dry and mimmick the much larger network in Amsterdam, so in a sense it is a more compact and less crazy version of Amsterdam, just much more user friendly. It is a delightful shopping centre if you want to escape the big chain stores with many small independent retailers and craft/art shops.  Delft is also a great place if you like antiques (or junk) because of the enormous market the town has. For those with an interest in European history then Delft is full of it. Delft was the headquarters for William of Orange during the 80 Years War with Spain, and is the resting place of the kings and queens of The Netherlands.

If you want one final and over riding reason to visit Delft then there is Johan Vermeer. Johan Vermeer was  born in Delft in 1632 and died there in 1675 and in between he painted, but, he painted the most beautiful and glorious paintings and seeing the town that formed that talent is a must.

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If you want to learn and see more about Delft then please see our delft page here.

Author: Nonke.

TSA

Want to hear a funny story of “Law Enforcement” falling foul of the very hysteria they created – then read on.

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created as part of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Chimpanzee Bush on November 19, 2001. The agency is responsible for security in all modes of transportation and given the idiocy of it’s employees the travelling American public should be scared witless.

At the Bakersfield airport in California USA, TSA authorities recently shut down the entire airport after finding what they thought was a container of liquid explosives. Luggage screeners discovered five Gatorade bottles full of an “amber” liquid. TSA agents then opened the bottles and complained they smelled “a strong chemical odor.” They then complained of nausea and were rushed by paramedics to the local hospital for treatment. Then the whole “security” apparatus swung into action as County Sheriffs deputies, fire crews, FBI agents and members of a joint terrorism task force responded to the scene and spent the day questioning a farmer, Mr Ramirez before further tests showed that the liquid was natural, unprocessed HONEY,

Let us be clear here, Mr Ramirez was interrogated by the FBI for hours while being presumed to be a terrorist – not a case of innocent until proven guilty, those days have gone.

An important question is just how did TSA agents smell chemicals in an all natural substance when clearly there were none, So convinced were they that this was an “explosive amber liquid”, cued no doubt by their agencies own rhetoric, that they were overcome by fumes from possible chemical explosives. Clearly they were also budding actors because they started acting like they’re experiencing nausea to be rushed off to the hospital. Either that or they were just bucking for the day off !

I have visions of those overfed macho men hold a limp wrist to their forehead and exclaiming in a feminine southern belle accent “ Why I do declare I feel an attack of the vapors a comin over meeee!” before swooning gracefully to the floor.

Personally I think they acted just like teenage girls sometimes do, and developed a form of hysteria. Primed by years of their own “terrorism” propaganda they have ended up swallowing what started out as a lie. Add this to their “obey all orders without thinking” institutional mentality, and the famous “you must respect my authority!” US law enforcement mindset and you have set the stage for some unbelievable stupidity.

The TSA cannot catch actual terrorists, despite the vast monies thrown at them. It is really good at flagging innocent people as terrorists and wasting thousands of hours of time and millions of dollars by declaring bogus terrorists emergencies that only serve to inconvenience everyone and give them a stage on which to display the all Peacock the plumage of US law enforcement.

In the last few years they have managed to arrest innocent people when the tests they use cannot tell the difference between natural chocolate (cocoa) and cannabis resin or when their tests flag natural soaps as containing cocaine. Now their tests cannot tell Honey from explosives. Some how I think that given the right emotional cues there is not any food or liquid substance that is safe from being declared a bomb by the stupid and incompetent TSA employees.

As I have stated before the real mission of the TSA and other US law enforcement agencies has nothing to do with security. It has everything to do with brainwashing Americans to surrender to police state searches while living in a never-ending state of extreme fear of terrorism.

Americans, you are following a herd mentality on the road to a police state, you need to wake up.

American Airport Madness

• TSA agents confiscated three bags of Gummie Bears from the children of a family stating that they were “gel like” and wouldn’t be allowed because regulations stated no “gel-like substances”.
• In training exercises where fake bombs are put into luggage to test the TSA’s x-ray screening machine operators it seems that the boys of the TSA miss a staggering 75%.
• An airport manager had her Dr. School’s taken by the morons at the TSA. They had a gel in-sole to help her walk, this lady was unable to work shoeless & had to go home.
• Two days after serving two journalists with subpoenas demanding that they reveal a confidential source, a move that prompted widespread backlash among frequent fliers, the Transportation Security Administration has withdrawn the subpoenas and returned a damaged laptop to one of the blog writers. A TSA spokesman claimed Thursday that its investigation into who leaked a December 25 security directive was nearing completion and the subpoenas were no longer necessary, they should admit that they were simply caught out be very stupid and employing bully tactics.
• A Texas woman was forced to remove a nipple ring with pliers in order to board an airplane. The lady called for an apology by federal security agents and a civil rights investigation. TSA officials said they are investigating whether the agency’s policies were followed. “Our security officers are well-trained to screen individuals with body piercings in sensitive areas with dignity and respect while ensuring a high level of security,” the agency said in a statement, Sorry guys but your agents are poorly trained, and for the most educationally challenged.
• Let us be clear; Shoebomber failed because he was taken by force on the plane. The liquid bomb plot failed because someone turned them. What has the TSA caught?
• The American taxpayers have paid out billions for the TSA to remove tooth paste, bottled water, and your grandmother’s sewing needle from your person. Because if there really was a bona fide terrorist arrested at the security checkpoint, we’d be seeing news bulletins about how Bush’s/ Obamas’s increased security saved Americans from a second 9/11.

“With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” Steven Weinberg.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

So another idiot, one Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was known to US and British authorities – whose brain has been eaten away by the delusion inherent in religion has tried to destroy an airliner and it’s passengers. The law enforcement and intelligence agencies of the USA must be jumping up and down with glee at the opportunity to justify the introduction of yet more powers over the lives of the public, despite the fact that this incident should be putting the spot light on their own utter incompetence despite being in possession of what twenty years ago would have been considered draconian powers.

We all have to understand a simple fact – that complete security is a chimera. It’s a monster that emerges only after all our liberties have been lost, we must wake up to this and understand that freedom carries with it some risk, we cannot be risk free and still travel.

If he had suucced Abdulmutallab could have killed some three hundred people and devastate the lives of relatives of his victims, perhaps an additional five thousand people. It would have been appalling for those involved but the pain would one day ease. The real damage to society will be done not by Abdulmutallab but by those politicians, intelligence and law enforcement officials who will use this failed attack as yet another excuse to further erode civil liberties and bring in yet more laws and regulations, handing them even more rights to control and oppress ordinary people, you and me. They will use it to further expand their numbers and their empire, which in turn will increase their influence and their ability to remove yet more of our rights. It is happening right now, before our very eyes.

Despite the fact that Abdulmutallab’s OWN father had reported their son to the US authorities in person his trouble son was still able to gain a US visa and travel, showing very clearly that security is not being tackled at the correct level. In my opinion Abdulmutallab’s parents were very, very brave people in reporting their own child to a government known to use torture and imprisonment without trial, they are the real heroes here.

Airport security is in fact a mirage. You could publicly strip search every passenger, force them to wear paper jumps suits issued to them at the boarding gate and remove every item of personal property, handcuff each one to their seat and still it would not work. It would not work because flying is a business and business wants to make money so they will continue to employ the cheapest labor to handle baggage and ground duties. For years we have seen airport staff turning out to be illegal immigrants, criminals and others with motivation enough to be a security risk and yet these security risks fail to be addressed, clearly the authorities do not wish to really address the issue so airport security is just a mirage, a gloss to impress, then subdue, control and oppress the travelling public.

In late August this year Abdullah al-Asiri passed through many security checks, searches and even airport style body scanners to gain an audience with Prince Muhammed bin Nayef, a Saudi anti-terror chief in Jeddah. Al-Asiri then detonated a bomb consisting of about half a kilogram of high explosives hidden inside his rectum. The prince escaped with very minor injuries as the blast vented largely downwards rendering the bomb ineffective. On the surface it was a bizarre incident, even more so when you consider the rampant homophobia of islam but as any Western woman who has spent time online will tell you a great many muslim men do seem to have a never ending fascination with that area of human anatomy !

Of course it goes deeper than this. If you really wanted to address to terrorist threats you would tackle the problems that cause it at their roots. You would be serious about addressing the grinding poverty and inequality around the world, you would stop corporations exploiting the poor and most important of all you would tackle the ideology of religions and demand that they adjust to the times we live in and not remain rooted in the fourteenth century. But as we know few have the true courage required to even raise their voice on these issues, let alone actually try and do something about them. It much easier to hide behind the politicians ability to legislate and the law enforcement officer’s gun than really act to address the problem, in the mean time we are slowly loosing our civil rights to those originally tasked with protecting us.

Cowardice in the face of religions and the self interested pursuit of power by politicians and law enforcement bodies are the real threats to us.

Author: Nonke

It is hard to believe that it is Christmas already, the last couple of weeks have really rushed by and now here it is, the big day.

Last night we had a wonderful Christmas Eve Night having spent most of the day at Nina & Judith’s home where there was a full house crammed with four generations as well as god children, friends, guide dogs and several cats (one of which is theirs). As usual we were all well fed with some incredible treats springing from Judith’s kitchen, including a nougat ice cream that was d-e-v-i-n-e. Our adopted daughter Mia ate so much of the home made nougat that she was sick which slowed her down, but only very briefly. I also noticed that when our boys slipped out to go and meet their friends at the fair many of those sweet treats found their way into their pockets, no doubt to delight some young female friends ! We are of course waiting for the latest addition to our extended family but Nina appears to be laying down on the job, or at least her womb is ! For those thinking she would be having a Christmas baby I regret to report that it looks unlikely.

For all of our little group this last year has been difficult but it does seem to be finishing up on positive notes for us and we hope that all of you may be as fortunate as well. Where ever you are please accept our best wishes to you, may your Christmas day be spent in good company with people who care and love you.

Kindest Regards & Love from Willothewisp.

Author: Nonke

Eyes, precious to us all, more so to the deaf

We have had a number of letters asking us about the exactly nature of Judith’s problems with her eyes so we though we would provide some clarification.

Judith eyes are actually fine, there is no problem with them, however her eyesight has been compromised due to the head injury and the resulting bleed into her brain last year. The damage to the visual area of her brain has affected two aspects of her eye sight:

1. visual acuity : central vision, the vision we use to see with.
2. visual field : how much we can see around the edge of your vision, while looking straight ahead or if there are areas within it where we cannot see.

Let me explain a little about how eye sight is measured; On the Snellen scale, normal visual acuity is called 6/6 (20/20), which corresponds to the bottom or second bottom line of the chart. If you can only read the top line, the one with the biggest letters on the chart, then this would be written as 6/60 (20/200). This means you can see at 6 metres what someone with standard vision could see from 60 metres away.

The figures 6/60 are how the result of a Snellen test are written. The first number given is the distance in metres from the chart you sit when you read it. Usually this is a 6 (for 6 metres) but would be 3 if you were to sit closer to the chart, say 3 metres away. The second number corresponds to the number of lines that you are able to read on the chart. The biggest letters, on the top line, correspond to 60. As you read down the chart, the numbers that correspond to the lines get smaller, ie 36, 18, 12, 9 and 6. The bottom line of the chart corresponds to the number 6. Someone with standard vision who can read to the bottom of the chart would have vision of 6/6. If you have a good visual acuity, you will usually have had to have lost a large part of your visual field to be registered as severely sight impaired (blind) or sight impaired (partially sighted).

Since her most recent surgery Judith has a visual acuity of 6/60 and a visual field that is 25% percent deficient. Prior to the surgery she had visual acuity of 3/60 a visual field that was 31% percent deficient. From the figures you may think that there is not a huge improvement but Judith tells us the practical experience of the changes is very marked indeed.

Because the decline to 3/60 took place so slowly it took us, including Judith, a while to realize just how badly her sight had deteriorated. That period turns out to have been rather damaging to her confidence in herself and her abilities, especially in her interactions with other people and being outside the home. The last round of surgery has been successful in a number of ways but principally in restoring some measure of self confidence.

There maybe some further improvement with time but we will have to wait and see (pardon the pun). In the meantime Judith’s assailant gets out of prison in a few more months, free to live her life.

Author: Nonke