In March 2023, I interviewed Caroline van der Plas shortly after the Dutch Provincial elections. She is the leader of the BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB), (The Farmer–Citizen Movement).
The BBB was founded in October 2019 by agricultural journalist Caroline van der Plas, Wim Groot Koerkamp, and Henk Vermeer from agricultural marketing firm ReMarkAble, in response to the widespread farmers’ protests earlier that month.
The BBB supports Dutch membership of the European Union (EU) for trading purposes but wants to reduce the power of the EU “to a level of how the EEC was once intended” and opposes federalisation of the EU. The BBB also supports Dutch membership of NATO and called for providing Ukraine with F-16s.
The BBB became the biggest part in the provinces with 19.19 % of the votes.
In November 2023, they won 4.65% of the votes during the Dutch national elections. making it the 6th biggest party nationally. They will be key in the coalition which is yet to be formed.
Van der Plas was born on 6 June 1967 in Cuijk to a Dutch father and an Irish mother. Her father, Wil van der Plas (1937–2014), was a sports journalist and worked for the regional newspaper Deventer Dagblad. Her mother, Nuala Fitzpatrick, is a retired politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), who served as an alderman in the municipal executive of Deventer. Nuala was born in Waterford but grew up in Limerick.
Van der Plas began her career as a journalist, covering the meat industry for Reed Business. She would later shift to communications, providing support to agricultural workers’ associations and the Dutch Association of Pig Farmers.
Originally a member of the CDA, Van der Plas left the party shortly after the 2019 provincial elections. During her membership, she frequently criticised the party for not doing enough to represent the interests of the agricultural sector. In response to the widespread farmers’ protests that took place in the Netherlands in October 2019, she then founded the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB). Her husband sadly passed away in 2019.
The sound isn’t optimal during the interview, due to some technical glitches, but it is clear enough for the main part.
Today marks the 24th anniversary of Putin as President of Russia. Yes, he did step down at one stage to take the prime minister role, but let’s not kid ourselves—this was only to bypass the Russian constitution.
Proud to be a strong leader and keep his country safe, he has us look at—how safe Russia actually has been over the last 24 years.
In the early 2000s, Chechen militants staged several major terrorist attacks as Russia waged a second war to defeat a separatist movement in Chechnya. In October 2002, dozens of Chechen gunmen seized a crowded Moscow theatre, taking more than 750 people hostage and killing at least 170 persons.
In September 2004, Chechen militants swept into a school in Beslan, a city in the North Caucasus, taking more than 1,000 people hostage, including 770 children, and rigging the building with explosives. More than 330 hostages — including 186 children—died in the battle, leading the European Court of Human Rights to decide over a decade later that the Russian authorities had violated European human rights law in their handling of the siege. The Kremlin rejected the conclusion.
The 2006 Moscow market bombing occurred on 21 August 2006, when a self-made bomb with the power of more than 1 kg of TNT exploded at Moscow’s Cherkizovsky Market, frequented by foreign merchants. The bombing killed 13 people and injured 47. In 2008, eight members of the neo-Nazi organization—The Saviour—were sentenced for their roles in the attack.
In March 2010, two women carried out suicide bombings. They aligned themselves with the Caucasus Emirate and Al-Qaeda. This terrorist attack happened during the morning rush hour on 29 March 2010, at two stations of the Moscow Metro (Lubyanka and Park Kultury), with roughly 40-minute intervals between. At least 38 people lost their lives, and more than 60 injured.
The Domodedovo International Airport bombing was a suicide bombing in the international arrival hall of Moscow’s Domodedovo International, in Domodedovsky District, Moscow Oblast, on 24 January 2011.
The bombing killed 37 people and injured 173 others, including 86 hospitalised. Of the casualties, 31 died at the scene, three later in hospitals, one en route to a hospital, one on 2 February after having been put in a coma, and another on 24 February after being hospitalised in grave condition.
In December 2013, two separate suicide bombings a day apart targeted mass transportation in the city of Volgograd, in the Volgograd Oblast of Southern Russia, killing 34 people overall, including both perpetrators who were aligned to Caucasus Emirate and Vilayat Dagestan. The attacks followed a bus bombing carried out in the same city two months earlier.
On 21 October 2013, a suicide bombing took place on a bus in the city of Volgograd, in the Volgograd Oblast of Southern Russia. The attack accomplished by a female perpetrator named Naida Sirazhudinovna Asiyalova (Russian: Наида Сиражудиновна Асиялова) was converted to Islam by her husband, she detonated an explosive belt containing 500–600 grams of TNT inside a bus carrying approximately 50 people, killing seven civilians and injuring at least 36 others.
On 5 October 2014, a 19-year-old man named Opti Mudarov went to the town hall where an event was taking place to mark Grozny City Day celebrations in Grozny coinciding with the birthday of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. Police officers noticed him acting strangely and stopped him. The officers began to search him, and the bomb which Mudarov had been carrying exploded. Five officers, along with the suicide bomber, were killed, while 12 others were wounded.
On 4 December 2014, a group of Islamist militants, in three vehicles, killed three traffic policemen, after the latter had attempted to stop them at a checkpoint in the outskirts of Grozny. The militants then occupied a press building and an abandoned school located in the centre of the city. Launching a counter-terrorism operation, security forces, with the use of armoured vehicles, attempted to storm the buildings and a firefight ensued. 14 policemen, 11 militants and 1 civilian were killed. Additionally, 36 policemen were wounded in the incident. The Press House was also burned and severely damaged in the incident.
Metrojet Flight 9268 was an international chartered passenger flight operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia (branded as Metrojet). On 31 October 2015 at 06:13 local time EST (04:13 UTC), an Airbus A321-231 operating the flight disintegrated above the northern Sinai following its departure from Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, Egypt, in route to Pulkovo Airport, Saint Petersburg, Russia. All 217 passengers and seven crew members who were on board were killed.
Shortly after the crash, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)’s Sinai Branch, previously known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, claimed responsibility for the incident, which occurred in the vicinity of the Sinai insurgency. ISIL claimed responsibility on Twitter, on video, and in a statement by Abu Osama al-Masri, the leader of the group’s Sinai branch. ISIL posted pictures of what it said was the bomb in Dabiq, its online magazine.
By 4 November 2015, British and American authorities suspected that a bomb was responsible for the crash. On 8 November 2015, an anonymous member of the Egyptian investigation team said the investigators were “90 percent sure” that the jet was brought down by a bomb. Lead investigator Ayman al-Muqaddam said that other possible causes of the crash included a fuel explosion, metal fatigue, and lithium batteries overheating. The Russian Federal Security Service announced on 17 November that they were sure that it was a terrorist attack, caused by an improvised bomb containing the equivalent of up to 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) of TNT that detonated during the flight. The Russians said they had found explosive residue as evidence. On 24 February 2016, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi acknowledged that terrorism caused the crash.
On 3 April 2017, a terrorist attack using an explosive device took place on the Saint Petersburg Metro between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations. Seven people (including the perpetrator) were initially reported to have died, and eight more died later from their injuries, bringing the total to 15. At least 45 others were injured in the incident. The explosive device was contained in a briefcase. A second explosive device was found and defused at Ploshchad Vosstaniya metro station.
The suspected perpetrator was named Akbarzhon Jalilov, a Russian citizen who was an ethnic Uzbek born in Kyrgyzstan. Before the attack, Chechen separatists had been responsible for several terrorist attacks in Russia. In 2016, ISIS had plotted to target St. Petersburg due to Russia’s military involvement in Syria, resulting in arrests. No public transport system in Russia has been bombed since the 2010 Moscow Metro bombings. ISIS propaganda was being circulated prior to this incident. It encouraged supporters to launch strikes on Moscow. ISIS propaganda showed bullet holes through Putin’s head and a poster circulated before the attack of a falling Kremlin and included the message “We Will Burn Russia.”
On 22 April 2017, two people were shot and killed in an attack on a Federal Security Service office in the Russian city of Khabarovsk. The gunman was also killed. The Russian Federal Security Service said that the native 18-year-old perpetrator was a known member of a neo-Nazi group.
On 27 December 2017, a bomb exploded in a supermarket in St Petersburg, injuring thirteen people. Vladimir Putin described this as a terrorist attack.
On March 13, 2019, two perpetrators attacked Federal Security Service (FSB) officers with automatic weapons and grenades when stopped for questioning in Stavropol of the Shpakovsky district. Both perpetrators were killed in the confrontation. Later, Russian authorities reported they were planning a terrorist attack—in accordance with their affiliation with ISIS.
On 8 April 2019, ISIS (claimed to have) set off an explosion at Kolomna, a city near Moscow. The attack did not result in any casualties.
On 1 July 2019, ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack on a police officer at a checkpoint in the Achkhoy-Martonovsky district of Chechnya, who was stabbed to death. The attacker was shot and killed as he threw a grenade at the other officers.
On 19 December 2019, someone living in the Moscow region opened fire near the FSB headquarters in Moscow and caused six casualties; two killed and four wounded. Subsequently, the shooter, later identified as Yevgeny Manyurov, a 39-year-old ex-security guard, was killed onsite.
On 26 September 2022, about 600 miles east of Moscow, a gunman attacked a school in the city of Izhevsk, killing 15 people, in what the Kremlin called a terrorist attack. The authorities said the attacker, who had been armed with two pistols, “was wearing a black top with Nazi symbols and a balaclava” and was not carrying any ID.
On 2 April 2023, a bombing occurred in the Street Food Bar No.1 café on Universitetskaya Embankment in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, real name Maxim Fomin, died as a result of the explosion and 42 people were injured, 24 of whom were hospitalized, including six in critical conditions
On 22 March, a group of four gunmen of IS-KP, also known as ISIS-K, opened fire on the public and then set fire to the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk city, on the Western edge of Moscow. ISIS-K has claimed responsibility, killing at least 132 people.
This brings the total to about 1022, which is approximately 42 deaths per year since Putin came to power. I am not even counting the deaths his “safeguarding” has caused due to the Ukrainian war.
He was recently elected again for another 6 years, doing the math there will be another 252 deaths, I am wondering if the voters in Russia realize that anyone could be next in line to die because of Putin’s law and order.
To all those souls murdered between 1933 and 1945,
I wish I could tell you, the hate that murdered you, died with you, but that would be a lie.
That hate never died, for a while it was dormant, but it was always simmering in the background. Some people say that none of you were murdered. They say it is all some conspiracy theory.
When I asked them ‘How do you explain the murder of Arthur Kahn, a 21-year-old Jewish German medical student, the first victim of the Holocaust, who was murdered on April 12, 1933. A murder that is well documented? They just dismiss the question and fail to answer.
When I ask how they explain the murder of Bernard André van Vlijmen, a 15-year-old boy whose date of death is May 9,1945, a day after VE day? They ask for documents.
When I show them, they say “That’s no proof”
When I asked them about the other groups, who were murdered during the Holocaust, they just denied it or said that it was actually the allies who killed them, collateral damage. Then I tell them about my grandfather who was either executed or driven to suicide. They dismiss that as him having mental health issues. About my uncle who died because of mistreatment and medicines being denied, they say he would have died anyway.
Their hate comes from indifference and ignorance, it is the type of hate that is impossible to fight, but I try, for you.
For a while the hate seemed to have disappeared, but it resurfaced on a large scale on October 7,2023. When Hams terrorists waged the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust slaughtering babies, raping women, burning whole families alive, and taking hundreds of innocent civilians hostage. One would think people would be outraged, and they were for a while, less than 24 hours really, Then that rage turned to the Jews once again.
Of course, no one wants to see innocent lives being killed, but people forget who started it. They forget because it is convenient.
No, I don’t agree with a great number of the actions of the Israeli prime minister, he naively fell into a trap. However, when I hear the UN and other organisations and governments, being only one-sided in the condemnation of the violence, what choice does he have.
I hope that peace will be found. I always thought that love would conquer all, but now I am not so sure any more, I keep hoping because without hope we have nothing.
For now, to those millions who were murdered, I will continue to keep telling your stories. Hoping that something will be learned from history.
You might be wondering what is the connection between the music scale picture above and the question, “What if the Nazis had won?”
Firstly, let me explain what type of rhythmic pattern it is. It is an example of a rhythmic pattern used in heavy metal. The upper stave is a palm-muted rhythm guitar part. The lower stave is the drum part.
The following are some rock musicians who may not have been born because they were Jewish or half-Jewish. For that, the Nazis would not have made a difference.
Saul Hudson, aka Slash, is an English-born-American musician and songwriter famed for his distinctive guitar playing, characterized by intricate, powerful riffs and searing solos. Born on July 23, 1965, in London, England, he spent his early years surrounded by the artistic influence of his parents who worked with rock royalty including David Bowie and Joni Mitchell. However, it was a move to Los Angeles, California during his adolescent years that would set the stage for his eventual success in the music industry. Slash’s rise to fame began as the lead guitarist of the American hard rock band “Guns N’ Roses” which he joined in 1985. The band’s debut album, Appetite for Destruction, released in 1987, propelled them to international stardom, largely credited to Slash’s innovative guitar work.
His father, Anthony Hudson, is a Jewish English artist. Of his mixed background, Slash has remarked, “As a musician, I’ve always been amused that I’m both British and Black; particularly because so many American musicians seem to aspire to be British while so many British musicians, in the ’60s in particular, went to such great pains to be Black.” He does not consider himself Jewish, but for the Nazis that would not have mattered.
Daniel “Dee” Snider is an American singer-songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality, and actor. Snider came to prominence in the early 1980s as lead singer and songwriter of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister. He was ranked 83 in the Hit Parader’s Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time. Born in Astoria, Queens, New York City, Snider was raised in nearby Freeport, New York, and Baldwin, New York, both on Long Island. His father, Bob, is a retired New York State Trooper and Nassau County court clerk, and his mother, Marguerite, is a retired art teacher. His father is Jewish, whereas his mother is from a Catholic family of Swiss descent. He is also of Ukrainian descent from his grandfather.
Martin Adam “Marty” Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for the heavy metal band Megadeth which spanned nearly the full decade of the 1990s. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony until 1989, as well as his 13 solo albums and tours. Friedman has resided in Tokyo, Japan since 2003, where he has appeared on over 700 Japanese television programs such as Rock Fujiyama, Hebimeta-san, Kouhaku uta gassen, and Jukebox English. He has released albums with several record labels, including Avex Trax, Universal, EMI, Prosthetic, and Shrapnel Records.
Dave Mustaine, bandmate of Marty Friedman, born on September 13, 1961, etched his name in the annals of rock history as one of the pioneering figures of thrash metal, a sub-genre of heavy metal music. His journey began in La Mesa, California, where he spent an unruly and tumultuous childhood that fueled his passion for music. He established himself as a leading guitarist and vocalist in the industry, known for his distinctively snarling performance style and intricate guitar work. Mustaine’s career took off when he co-founded Metallica in 1981, serving as the original lead guitarist. However, his tenure with Metallica was short-lived due to personal and professional disputes, leading to his expulsion from the band in 1983. Unfazed by this setback, Mustaine picked up the pieces and founded Megadeth, a band that would go on to be regarded as one of the “big four” bands of thrash metal. Under his leadership, Megadeth released several acclaimed albums like Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying? and Rust in Peace, which are considered classic masterpieces of the genre. Beyond his musical prowess, Mustaine is also recognized for his outspoken political views, which often found their way into his songwriting. He battled with numerous personal issues throughout his life, including substance abuse and cancer, but his ability to overcome these challenges only strengthened his legacy. His unique blend of technical virtuosity and raw aggression continues to inspire countless musicians around the world. His mother was of German Jewish ancestry. but the Mustaine family were practising Jehovah’s Witnesses. Another group that was persecuted by the Nazis.
I have done a piece on Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons before, but Bruce Kulick is a third member of Kiss, who is Jewish. He was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and lived in Queens for a time, graduating from Newtown High School, and also going to Hebrew school. His brother, session guitarist/producer Bob Kulick, was influential in his music career.] Bob’s performance credits include W.A.S.P., Meat Loaf’s touring band, and Kiss.
David Draiman is an American singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of the band Disturbed as well as the band Device. Draiman is known for his distorted, operatic baritone voice and percussive singing style. In November 2006, Draiman was voted number 42 on the Hit Parader’s “Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time”
He was born to Jewish parents in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on March 13, 1973. His father, YJ, had worked as a real estate developer and small-business owner before he was arrested for embezzlement and sent to prison when Draiman was 12 years old. YJ would later become a candidate in the races for Mayor of Los Angeles in 2013,2017, and 2022. Draiman’s brother, Benjamin, is an ambient musician who lives in Israel. His grandmother Ziona is a Yemenite Jew whose family immigrated to Israel in the early 1900s. While not personally observant of their Jewish faith, Draiman’s parents sent him to Orthodox schools, where he believed he was on the path to receiving rabbinic ordination. He frequently spent time in Israel during his early life.
Scott Ian Rosenfeld, better known as Scott Ian, is the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the renowned heavy metal band Anthrax. Recognized for his aggressive playing style and influential sound, Ian has contributed to numerous successful albums such as Among the Living and Spreading the Disease. With his signature goatee and iconic appearance, Ian has become synonymous with New York’s thrash metal scene, making him a prominent figure among Jewish hard rockers. Scott Ian Rosenfeld was born to a Jewish family in the Bayside section of the New York City borough of Queens; he has a younger brother named Jason, who was the lead vocalist of Anthrax for a brief period in the early 1980s.
Peter Green was not a Heavy Metal artist as such, but he has influenced many Heavy Metal guitarists. Born as Peter Allen Greenbaum, known professionally as Peter Green, was an English blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. As the founder of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Green founded Fleetwood Mac in 1967. was born in Bethnal Green, London, on 29 October 1946, into a Jewish family, the youngest of Joe and Ann Greenbaum’s four children. His brother, Michael, taught him his first guitar chords and by the age of 11, Green was teaching himself. He began playing professionally by the age of 15.
Life would have been so boring if the Nazis had won.
When I say Metallica and the Holocaust, I really mean Lars Ulrich and the Holocaust, but since Lars is one of the founding members of one of my favourite bands, I thought it was apt to use the name of the band in the title.
This is one of those “What if?” stories. The life of Lars could have been completely different. Lars, like his father Torben and Grandfather Einer, was destined to become a professional tennis player. However, when he saw Deep Purple in concert in Copenhagen in 1973. he knew he wanted to become a musician. As a result of his newfound interest in music, he received his first drum kit, a Ludwig, from his grandmother around the age of 12 or 13. In 1980 he moved to the USA. In 1981 he placed an advert in a local classifieds newspaper looking for musicians to start a band with him. James Hetfield replied to the ad, and Metallica was formed, the rest is Rock N Roll history. However, it is the story of his Grandmother and Grandfather which links to the Holocaust.
Einer Ulrich was a Danish tennis legend. Between 1924-38 he played Davis Cup for Denmark in 28 ties, winning 39 of 74 matches. His 74 Davis Cup matches were a Danish record until it was broken by his son, Torben Ulrich, who eventually played in 101 matches. Einer competed in the singles event at the 1924 Summer Olympics, reaching the second round in which he lost to Dutchman Henk Timmer. With compatriot Erik Tegner, he competed in the men’s doubles event and reached the third round.
In 1926 he competed in Wimbledon where he reached the 4th round. He initially started as a footballer, playing with Akademisk Boldklub, Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, and Hellerup Idræts Klub. He later served as a football referee for 25 years.
Ulrich was on the board of directors of the Danish Lawn Tennis Federation from 1938-69, serving as chairman in the last five years of his life. His career was in advertising with his own company, Einer Ulrich Advertising, and later Ulrich and Parrilds Advertising, which they sold to American James Thompson.
After the Nazi occupation of Denmark in 1940 the family decided to stay in the country despite the Jewish origin of Ulrich’s then-wife Ulla The turning point was the year 1943 when they were informed of the Nazis’ intent to “purge” the Danish protectorate as well. This rumour was strengthened by the deportation of the Danish police in 1943. In October 1943, to prevent being arrested, Einer used his ties to the Swedish King King Gustav V, a recurring sparring and doubles tennis partner of his, to send his wife and two sons to Sweden in secret. His family along with a group of other Jewish refugees were transported on a fishing boat by smugglers across the Øresund strait when they were caught on the sea by the Germans. Shots were fired, the passengers jumped into the water and scattered. They were pulled aboard by the Nazis and taken into custody in Elsinore and then to a local camp. Einer was so well known that he went to the camp and convinced the Nazis to free his family. Six weeks later, they tried again and were successful. Einer joined them six weeks later, aided by Swedish Davis Cup tennis player Marc Wallenberg. After the war, they moved back to Denmark.
A Sewing Club reunion, many years later. From left to right: Thormod Larsen; Børge Rønne; a Sewing Club associate named Carl Palm, who was a Swedish police commissioner; Ove Bruhn; and Erling Kiær.
The majority of the Danish Jews survived the Holocaust, thanks to the Danish government and also resistance groups like the ‘Elsinore Sewing Club’ a Danish resistance organization established in 1943 which covertly transported Danish Jews to safety during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. The town of Helsingør (known as Elsinore in English) was only two miles away from Sweden, across the Øresund, from the Swedish city of Helsingborg. This allowed the transport of refugees by local boats.
Finishing up with Lars Ulrich and his bandmates in action.
Frank Farian, the man behind Boney M and Milli Vanilli, and many others died yesterday, aged 82. Rather then going tonto details of his life and sometimes controversial career, lets focus more on some of his music.
Staring of with the good man singing himself.
Boney M
Eruption
In 1986, Farian produced and mixed the Meat Loaf album Blind Before I Stop. He also sang backing vocals on the album’s lead single, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Mercenaries”, which was credited to Meat Loaf featuring John Parr.
On 14 November 1990, Farian confessed to orchestrating the events leading to the Milli Vanilli scandal. As a producer, he assembled a group of session musicians and fronted it with physically attractive dancers Robert Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan. Following a 1989 performance where a backing track error first revealed the singers had been lip-syncing, Farian later confirmed to the press that others had sung on the albums. Milli Vanilli’s 1990 Grammy Award for Best New Artist was revoked, and at least 26 lawsuits were filed in the United States under U.S. consumer fraud protection laws.
Farian also started the supergroup Far Corporation (named after the first syllable of his last name), which featured Steve Lukather, David Paich, Bobby Kimball, Simon Phillips (all from Toto fame), and Robin McAuley. Far Corporation were the first act to chart with a cover version of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”; their cover was a top 10 hit in the UK, reaching number 8 in October 1985.
History of Sorts 
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