When I was out walking yesterday I encountered some sheep on the path ahead of me and I ended up herding them, involuntarily, for ages. They didn’t seem to get that they could simply move off the path, left or right, and I’d no longer be ‘chasing’ them. I’d stop, they’d stop and so on. Anyway a black ewe decided to stop running and hide in the bracken. The flaw in this cunning plan was her bright white lamb.

#SheepOfMastodon #Defaidodon

#verzet #onderduikers

Laat ons vandaag herdenken dat Hannie Schaft op dinsdag 17 April, 1945, vandaag precies 29,118 dagen geleden, werd gexecuteerd vanwege haar hulp aan illegale onderduikers.

An article from our local paper. The headline reads "Local resident claims that we're being treated as fools".

It goes on to describe how the local asylum seekers centre is to stay open for another 15 years, accommodating up to 1000 people.

People who live "nearby" (none within 1/2 km from what I can tell) apparently went along to a council meeting and made a lot of noise about this.

They claim that shop keepers see higher rates of theft, that there's a feeling of intimidation on the streets.

"The feeling of lack of safety is not being taken seriously. People adapt to the unsafe conditions and pull back. The inner city has been a safety risk zone for years. Violent incidents are normalized" etc.

This seemed a bit strange to me because Assen is actually a *very* safe place to live by comparison with anywhere else that I've ever lived.

Later there are some figures. Last year ~200 incidents involving asylum seekers were reported to the police. In the same period, ~60000 incidents were reported involving other Assen residents (who number ~68000). This means that asylum seekers, who everyone watches very closely, actually feature in these reports about 1/4 as often as native Dutch people.

The problem experienced by those complaining has a name: Racism.
#racism #racisme #azc #assen

Good morning #Canada, Canadians everywhere, and those who aspire to be Canadians (you can still be all your other stuff simultaneously here too).

Today we celebrate – overtly or low key, both are fine.

We shouldn't forget. We should try to be better. We should learn new things about other people and peoples – but we can still celebrate what we are and the good parts of what we have become.

#OCanada #CanadaDay #July1