Belgian Big Bang???

[Videoskooter]

Originally Posted by dfc99bb

So a deal is in the works to keep Belgium in one piece?

No, that was an article from a week ago. The partners are still not on speaking terms and it's already decided that on October 9th when the parliament will open there will not be a state of the union because there won't be a new government.

Over the last days the Walloons have tried to torpede Yves Leterme but today all Flemish partners have stated: Leterme will be prime minister or they just won't be a Belgian government.



Who'll back down first????

Also, Freddy Thielemans, the mayor in Brussels is under heavy fire now after his cops insulted and attacked Flemish representants and senators and a inquiry from the EU is under way to investigate on which grounds he has forbidden the demonstration against Islam and why he has arrested members of the European parliament.

He's also under heavy attack after it was revealed that he publicly raised his glass when the death of Pope John-Paul II was announced and he shouted: "Let's celebrate that!".

And Eurabia will never be a fact! Don't worry! There may be a lot of Muslims but don't forget that Roman-Catholic Poland is also a member of the EU! And Turkey is not and probably will never be.

[RetroRuss]

Apart from one mention a couple of weeks ago on the BBC News, this story is not in the public consciousness here in the UK. Quite incredible really given we are connected by a rail tunnel and Brussels is only 2 hours away by train and that it is the 'Capital of Europe'.
It is a to a degree happening here in the UK, with Scotland demanding independence from England and passing a lot of its own laws. The UK Prime Minister is Scottish, like his predecessor! In this country 80% of the people are politically illiterate so really don't care what happens - as long as they have their pint to sup on a Friday, Sky TV and cheap food from Asda they get on with their lives...sad really!

[Videoskooter]

And just when all parties are willing to negotiate again some Walloons place this on YT

Probably meant to point out that the Flemish are not so happy with the royal family they think it's funny faking the blow up of the royal palace.

Maybe the Walloons can stop the provocations now???

In case people are planning to visit Brussels, it's a fake clip of course and showing ZE bad taste of some idiots!

[dfc99bb]

This is the first column in a mass-circulation NYC newspaper, The New York Post, regarding the Belgian situation.

================================================== ===

A WAFFLING FATE

By JONAH GOLDBERG

Linked here

October 13, 2007 -- YOU probably don't real ize it, but we' re living in an unprecedented historical moment: For the first time, Belgium has managed to be interesting without getting invaded by Germany or abusing an African colony.

What's so interesting? In short: Belgium is coming apart at the seams. For four months, its 11 political parties have been unable to form a national government because the Dutch-speaking regions want greater autonomy, or even outright independence.

Primarily split between Dutch-speaking Flemings and French-speaking Walloons, Belgium was formed as a constitutional monarchy whose non-French-speakers were mostly treated as second-class citizens. Even today, 177 years later, there are no national figures or national political parties. Each party represents its own ethnic, linguistic or regional enclave. But, although the Flemish majority is somewhat more prosperous, the Walloons have a perceived stranglehold on Belgian politics.

One is tempted to joke that it's an Iraq with better weather and waffles. But it isn't a mini-Iraq, and not just because they're not killing one another. It's more like a mini-European Union. In fact, that's the one thing everyone can agree on.

No country is more invested in the EU experiment than Belgium - whose capital, Brussels, is also the EU capital. If Belgium falls to sectarianism, what does that say about prospects for making Europe into a super-Belgium?

Belgium is a "laboratory," says Joelle Milquet, leader of the French-speaking Humanist Democratic Center Party and a defender of both a united Belgium and European Union. "If 10 million people in a developed country do not manage to build a collective project," she told Britain's Telegraph newspaper, "that would signal the bankruptcy of what one tries to build at the European and even international level."

But here's the hilarious irony of all this: The European Union is in effect subsidizing nationalism in Belgium and across the continent. As the European Union assumes more of the responsibilities of states - regulations, the economy, currency, possibly even defense - the cost of independence becomes lower.

Look at Scotland. The Scots are moving, perhaps inexorably, toward independence from Britain. A referendum could take place as early as 2010 and would likely pass. And why not? Scotland didn't formally become part of Britain until 1707, when it caved in to English threats to its trade and the free movement of people across the border. Now, thanks to the European Union, such threats are illegal.

A similar process is under way in Kosovo, which wants to break from Serbia (the United States backs that idea) and get EU candidacy like Croatia and Macedonia. The Basques in Spain aren't far behind.

In the past, ethnic enclaves probably couldn't make it on their own. But now the European Union provides a safety net.

The catch-22 is delightful. With the job description of a nation-state scaled back to a few ceremonial duties, ethnic minorities see fewer risks and a lot more rewards in breaking away. Countries such as Slovakia get to trade on their votes in the European Union and the United Nations. They get their own anthems and sports teams and get to teach their own language and culture.

It's like a McDonald's franchise. You man the register and keep the bathrooms clean, but the folks at corporate HQ do the heavy lifting. That's why the Basques, Scots and Flemings are looking to open their own franchises.

The question is whether the nationalist hunger of such McNations can be satisfied by just symbols of autonomy - which points to why I take such pleasure in the troubles in Brussels.

The European Union always made the most sense to Belgians, who have a weak national identity. The myth was that everyone felt the same way.

Indeed, the EU project has always been predicated on self-serving myths. Another is the idea that with greater "understanding" comes greater peace and comity. The Walloons and the Flemings understand each other; they just don't like each other very much.

Nobody wants the bloody nationalism of early 20th century Europe. But it's nonetheless gratifying that even on the European Union's Brussels campus, life resists the blueprints of the bureaucrats.

Copyright 2007 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.

[Videoskooter]

Very accurate article!

The government formation is going on right now but tomorrow they'll be discussing the "language" problems and then everything can happen. Or, there finally will be an agreement or the formation will come to an abrupt end and nobody can predict what's going to happen then.

[RetroRuss]

I find it rather amusing that I have to read about Belgium's problems on a Disco Music forum! In the UK (when in two weeks we will be 90 minutes by train from the Belgium capital), the story doesn't even make the BBC News website!
I imagine our Government have a 'D' notice (complete censorship) on this issue as they are sh*t scared that if we see discord in another EU country then the mutterings for withdrawal from it will become a cacaphony!!

[dfc99bb]

Originally Posted by Headlamp

I find it rather amusing that I have to read about Belgium's problems on a Disco Music forum! In the UK (when in two weeks we will be 90 minutes by train from the Belgium capital), the story doesn't even make the BBC News website!

Same lack of coverage here in the US. Nothing or next to nothing about Belgium on Fox News, CNN or the broadcast networks. The cable and brodcast networks tend to cover events in the UK, Ireland, France and Germany on a regular basis. Forget about Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, etc. Only 2 items in the NYC newspapers about Belgium over the past few months.

It's not a big story here perhaps because it's expected to be settled in a peaceful fashion. Plus there is no large Belgian ethnic community in America. If Italy were to break up north/south it would get more coverage here, maybe.

[Videoskooter]

Originally Posted by Headlamp

I imagine our Government have a 'D' notice (complete censorship) on this issue as they are sh*t scared that if we see discord in another EU country then the mutterings for withdrawal from it will become a cacaphony!!

The whole EU is scared for Belgian's worst case scenario. What will the other regions do? Scotland? The Basks? Nato and the EU headquarters are in Brussels! What will happen to Brussels? Will Flanders claim a part of that region. How will the national deficit be taken care of. Will Brussels and Wallonia continue together under the Belgian flag?

Some say, that in that case all the debts are for them! Will Wallonia go bankrupt? Will Flanders be accepted as a new member of the EU (because as a new state they are NOT a member of the EU, nor Nato (the American nukes are based in Flanders), nor the United Nations, nor the Eurozone (currency), nor the Shengenzone (bordercontrol and customs).

Originally Posted by dfc99bb

Same lack of coverage here in the US. Nothing or next to nothing about Belgium on Fox News, CNN or the broadcast networks. The cable and brodcast networks tend to cover events in the UK, Ireland, France and Germany on a regular basis. Forget about Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, etc. Only 2 items in the NYC newspapers about Belgium over the past few months.

It's not a big story here perhaps because it's expected to be settled in a peaceful fashion. Plus there is no large Belgian ethnic community in America. If Italy were to break up north/south it would get more coverage here, maybe.

Well, New York is discovered by Belgians who quickly sold it to the Dutch. F.i., Hoboken is named after a Belgian city near Antwerp! Belgians are more to be found in Africa, in are former colonies, Cogo, Rwanda, Burundi.

And we gave you Jean-Claude Vandamme, Audrey Hepburn and Toots Thielemans, the Belgo restaurants, the Beaulieu carpets, Celis White Beer, Belgian fries, Belgian pralines, Belgian waffles, Soeur Sourire, the chief designers for Pininfarina, Bentley, Lamborghini...and...the Videoskooter in 2009, so you don't have to complain

Famous Belgians

[dfc99bb]

Originally Posted by Videoskooter

Well, New York is discovered by Belgians who quickly sold it to the Dutch. F.i., Hoboken is named after a Belgian city near Antwerp! Belgians are more to be found in Africa, in are former colonies, Cogo, Rwanda, Burundi.

What!! The Dutch first settled New Amsterdam!! Who was the Belgian that first settled New York? I live on Staten Island, where you still have neiighborhoods and streets with Dutch names: New Dorp, Kill Van Kull, Arthur Kill Road, Great Kills, etc.

Nato HQ goes to the UK, EU HQ goes to France. The US can move it's nukes out very quickly if need be.

[Videoskooter]

READ...LEARN and BE SURPRISED!

No Belgians in the US, hmmmmmm:

New York and its origins

The Dutch never tell you that story, do they????? Grrrrrr!