The risks of reenactment

[Jona Lendering]

Let this article (Dutch original) be a warning: never dress like a Roman when there is a Dutch policeman in the neighborhood.

"Roman" student suspected of terrorism
The Haaglanden police force has suspected a student from Delft of terrorist activities, according to Rijnmond RTV.

The student had dressed himself as a Roman and was cycling to a student party. The police were alarmed because of his remarkable attire, thinking he wore a terrorist bomb belt.

According to Rijnmond RTV, the police suspected the man of going to Rotterdam to commit an attack. When arrested, the student proved he was on his way to a student party.

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

Not very true this news...

The student wore something which should have resembled a Toga, however to the Policemen it looked like a Moroccan Jallaba. Also the student drove in this white garment towards the Area of the Delft University Nuclear reactor.

Furthermore, the police were phoned by a member of the public, who warned them of this "suspect" person, which was the reason they went after him...

In a country where stigmatising has become a rule for the lesser educated populus,
no thanks to our racist politician who thinks that wearing a dead cat on his head
is fashion, it is not remarkable that someone dressed in what looks like an Arab outfit is targeted immediately.

Me and my friend when returning from a Roman gig one day walked through the entire length of the shopping street of Leiden, wearing our full armour, pila and swords. We were not stopped once.

The article is highly misleading.

There is far more danger in the Angst campaign put out by the powers that be denouncing any and all muslims than in anyone wearing ancient clothing.

M.VIB.M.

[Jona Lendering]

our racist politician who thinks that wearing a dead cat on his head is fashion

The strange noise you heard during the night, dear Henk, at about 3 o'clock, was me, roaring with laughter.

There is far more danger in the Angst campaign put out by the powers

Yep; and so many security measures are so poorly thought about.

[john roberts]

"Dead cat on his head?" I had no idea that Donald Trump was involved in your politics.

[Jona Lendering]

"Dead cat on his head?" I had no idea that Donald Trump was involved in your politics.

The strange noise you heard, dear John, coming from the east, was me, roaring with laughter.

But Wilders and Trump really look a bit the same: exhibit A, exhibit B.

[Musivarius]

'...the Delft University Nuclear Reactor.' hock:
Whatever happened to science students just making things fizz in a test tube?

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

students just making things fizz in a test tube

[M. Demetrius]

Yep; and so many security measures are so poorly thought about.

And basically ineffective. In spite of all the naked body shots at American airports, police agents were able to smuggle pistols on board on several occasions, and other things, like dummy bombs in luggage. Yet millions and millions of dollars are spent on the equipment and personnel to enforce the new, essentially meaningless regulations.

[Sean Manning]

Yep; and so many security measures are so poorly thought about.

The usual explanation by the wise is that its security theater to make people feel safe and look like the politicians are doing something. Yet I`ve never seen any evidence that harassing photographers and patting down 80 year olds makes people feel safer, so we are paying a lot of tempus, pecunia, et libertas to help to fund dominance displays by politicians.

[jkaler48]

I had no idea that Deft pottery making included the use of a Nuclear reactor!

[Jona Lendering]

I had no idea that Deft pottery making included the use of a Nuclear reactor!

Talking about Delft... isn't Vermeer's painting beautiful?

[Forty-One]

I love Vermeer! I once got jumped on by the guards for leaning too close to it in the Mauritshuis. :oops: The other popularly well-known Vermeer (Het meisje met pareloorbel) faces it on the opposite wall.

I was once on a tour of "Roman Germany" led by Brian Dobson and David Breeze. Peter Connolly had brought along a little standard that read "Coh I Dobsoniorvm" which we used as a rallying point for our group. More than once die Polizei stopped us and demanded to know what we were protesting with our sign. :roll:

[hoplite14gr]

Those who cant work teach and those who cant teach are employed by the security apparatus. :twisted: (Luckily I could teach when I was in need!)

An yes money will be spent on "improving security". There might be some for you if you "know people" :twisted: :twisted:

An the rest of us will pay the taxes!!!! :evil:

[Jona Lendering]

I love Vermeer! I once got jumped on by the guards for leaning too close to it in the Mauritshuis. :oops:

I can imagine. Proust describes how someones dies by seeing that very painting (more).

Now here is a very strange personal anecdote. My parents owned a a copy of that painting. When I went up to my room, I passed along it. I must have seen it four, six times every day. One detail I found absolutely fascinating: a yellowish piece of wall. When I later visited an art exhibition, I immediately recognized it when a painter had repainted that little piece at 4x4 meters. And God is my witness: that fascinating detail is exactly the detail that Proust found so very interesting (in the article I linked to, option A).

This is not a constructed memory after reading Proust; my parents knew about my fascination for that little detail. So what is it?

[Crispvs]

"Yep; and so many security measures are so poorly thought about."

A couple of years ago I bought a six foot length of dowel at a hardware shop a few minutes walk from my office. As I was carrying it back to the office I rested it against my shoulder and carried it in much the same way I would normally carry my pilum on the march, partly because it felt natural to do so but mainly because it seemed to me that carrying it a near vertical angle would be less likely to end up injuring any of the many other people walking along the same street at that moment. I was carrying a plastic shopping bag filled with fruit and vegetables in the other hand. After a couple of minutes I was approached by two policemen who asked me not to carry the dowel in this way. I asked why, pointing out that carrying it that way was the safest way to do so on a crowded street and they replied that it was aggressive and could be considered threatening (I can think of far more threatening ways to carry a length of wood but felt it better not to mention this to them at that moment). I pointed out that, if anything, the bag of fruit and vegetables was more likely to knock into people and annoy them. They insisted however that I carry the dowel horizontally at my side. I tried to explain to them that this would be more dangerous to other people but they insisted. It didn't bump into anyone during the five minutes it took to get back to the office but there were a couple of close calls and a lot of dirty looks, whereas, before the police intervened with a half baked concern about a threatening looking piece of wood, it had not been in danger of knocking into anyone and no-one else had even seemed to notice it.

There was a street robbery and two instances of theft from shops adjacent to my office within the next hour, none of which were dealt with either promptly or efficiently by the police and the culprits were not caught. A couple of weeks later a thief stole the petty cash box from our office, while the receptionist's back was turned. The thief's entry into the building, the theft itself and the thief's exit from the building were all caught on our security video, which was copied and passed to the police, when they arrived two hours later. The footage was very clear but the police still failed to catch the thief and I wonder if they actually tried. There are numerous cameras covering that street and the street outside was not particularly busy when the theft took place.

'Security' concerns over how to carry a six foot dowel were clearly much more important for West Midlands Police officers in Smethwick than concerns over robbery and theft.

Crispvs