Filip Dewinter, the leader of the extreme-right Flemish party Vlaams Belang, held a cake Tuesday celebrating Belgium’s 100th day without a government after the last general election.
BRUSSELS, Sept. 16 — Belgium has given the world Audrey Hepburn, René Magritte, the saxophone and deep-fried potato slices that somehow are called French.
In the southern region of Wallonia, members of a political group expressed their desire for the region to join France.
But the back story of this flat, Maryland-size country of 10.4 million is of a bad marriage writ large — two nationalities living together that cannot stand each other. Now, more than three months after a general election, Belgium has failed to create a government, producing a crisis so profound that it has led to a flood of warnings, predictions, even promises that the country is about to disappear.
“We are two different nations, an artificial state created as a buffer between big powers, and we have nothing in common except a king, chocolate and beer,” said Filip Dewinter, the leader of Vlaams Belang, or Flemish Bloc, the extreme-right, xenophobic Flemish party, in an interview. “It’s ‘bye-bye, Belgium’ time.”
Radical Flemish separatists like Mr. Dewinter want to slice the country horizontally along ethnic and economic lines: to the north, their beloved Flanders — where Dutch (known locally as Flemish) is spoken and money is increasingly made — and to the south, French-speaking Wallonia, where a kind of provincial snobbery was once polished to a fine sheen and where today old factories dominate the gray landscape.
“There are two extremes, some screaming that Belgium will last forever and others saying that we are standing at the edge of a ravine,” said Caroline Sägesser, a Belgian political analyst at Crisp, a socio-political research organization in Brussels. “I don’t believe Belgium is about to split up right now. But in my lifetime? I’d be surprised if I were to die in Belgium.”
With the headquarters of both NATO and the European Union in Brussels, the crisis is not limited to this country because it could embolden other European separatist movements, among them the Basques, the Lombards and the Catalans.
Since the kingdom of Belgium was created as an obstacle to French expansionism in 1830, it has struggled for cohesion. Anyone who has spoken French in a Flemish city quickly gets a sense of the mutual hostility that is a part of daily life here. The current crisis dates from June 10, when the Flemish Christian Democrats, who demand greater autonomy for Flanders, came in first with one-fifth of the seats in Parliament.
Yves Leterme, the party leader, would have become prime minister if he had been able to put together a coalition government.
But he was rejected by French speakers because of his contempt for them — an oddity since his own father is a French speaker. He further alienated them, and even some moderate Flemish leaders, on Belgium’s national holiday, July 21, when he appeared unable — or unwilling — to sing Belgium’s national anthem.
Belgium’s mild-mannered, 73-year-old king, Albert II, has struggled to mediate, even though under the Constitution he has no power other than to appoint ministers and rubber-stamp laws passed by Parliament. He has welcomed a parade of politicians and elder statesmen to the Belvedere palace in Brussels, successively appointing four political leaders to resolve the crisis. All have failed.
On one level, there is normalcy and calm here. The country is governed largely by a patchwork of regional bureaucracies, so trains run on time, mail is delivered, garbage is collected, the police keep order.
Officials from the former government — including former Prime Minister Guy Verhhofstadt, who is ethnically Flemish — report for work every day and continue to collect salaries. The former government is allowed to pay bills, carry out previously decided policies and make urgent decisions on peace and security.
Earlier this month, for example, the governing Council of Ministers approved the deployment of 80 to 100 peacekeeping troops to Chad and a six-month extension for 400 Belgian peacekeepers stationed in Lebanon under United Nations mandates.
But a new government will be needed to approve a budget for next year.
Certainly, there are reasons Belgium is likely to stay together, at least in the short term.
Brussels, the country’s overwhelmingly French-speaking capital, is in Flanders and historically was a Flemish-speaking city. There would be overwhelming local and international resistance to turning Brussels into the capital of a country called Flanders.
The economies of the two regions are inextricably intertwined, and separation would be a fiscal nightmare.
Then there is the issue of the national debt (90 percent of Belgium’s gross domestic product) and how to divide it equitably.
But there is also deep resentment in Flanders that its much healthier economy must subsidize the French-speaking south, where unemployment is double that of the north
[A poll by the private Field Research Institute released on Tuesday indicated that 66 percent of the inhabitants of Flanders believe that the country will split up “sooner or later,” and 46 percent favor such a division. The poll, which was conducted by telephone, interviewed 1,000 people.]
French speakers, meanwhile, favor the status quo. “Ladies and gentlemen, everything’s fine!” exclaimed Mayor Jacques Étienne of Namur, the Walloon capital, at the annual Walloon festival last Saturday.
Acknowledging that talk of a “divorce” had returned, he reminded the audience that this was a day to celebrate, saying, “We have to, if possible, forget about our personal worries and the anxieties of our time.”
Belgium has suffered through previous political crises and threats of partition. But a number of political analysts believe this one is different.
The turning point is widely believed to have been last December when RTBF, a French-language public television channel, broadcast a hoax on the breakup of Belgium.
The two-hour live television report showed images of cheering, flag-waving Flemish nationalists and crowds of French-speaking Walloons preparing to leave, while also reporting that the king had fled the country.
Panicked viewers called the station, and the prime minister’s office condemned the program as irresponsible and tasteless. But for the first time, in the public imagination, the possibility of a breakup seemed real.
Contributing to the difficulty in forming a new government now is the fact that all 11 parties in the national Parliament are local, not national, parties. The country has eight regional or language-based parliaments.
Oddly, there is no panic just now, just exasperation and a hint of embarrassment. “We must not worry too much,” said Baudouin Bruggeman, a 55-year-old schoolteacher, as he sipped Champagne at the festival in Namur. “Belgium has survived on compromise since 1830. Everyone puffs himself up in this banana republic. You have to remember that this is Magritte country, the country of surrealism. Anything can happen.”
vendredi, octobre 12, 2007
Calls for a breakup grow ever louder in Belgium
Article from the New York Times written by Elaine Sciolino, published on Spetember 21, 2007.
Filip Dewinter, the leader of the extreme-right Flemish party Vlaams Belang, held a cake Tuesday celebrating Belgium’s 100th day without a government after the last general election.
BRUSSELS, Sept. 16 — Belgium has given the world Audrey Hepburn, René Magritte, the saxophone and deep-fried potato slices that somehow are called French.
In the southern region of Wallonia, members of a political group expressed their desire for the region to join France.
But the back story of this flat, Maryland-size country of 10.4 million is of a bad marriage writ large — two nationalities living together that cannot stand each other. Now, more than three months after a general election, Belgium has failed to create a government, producing a crisis so profound that it has led to a flood of warnings, predictions, even promises that the country is about to disappear.
“We are two different nations, an artificial state created as a buffer between big powers, and we have nothing in common except a king, chocolate and beer,” said Filip Dewinter, the leader of Vlaams Belang, or Flemish Bloc, the extreme-right, xenophobic Flemish party, in an interview. “It’s ‘bye-bye, Belgium’ time.”
Radical Flemish separatists like Mr. Dewinter want to slice the country horizontally along ethnic and economic lines: to the north, their beloved Flanders — where Dutch (known locally as Flemish) is spoken and money is increasingly made — and to the south, French-speaking Wallonia, where a kind of provincial snobbery was once polished to a fine sheen and where today old factories dominate the gray landscape.
“There are two extremes, some screaming that Belgium will last forever and others saying that we are standing at the edge of a ravine,” said Caroline Sägesser, a Belgian political analyst at Crisp, a socio-political research organization in Brussels. “I don’t believe Belgium is about to split up right now. But in my lifetime? I’d be surprised if I were to die in Belgium.”
With the headquarters of both NATO and the European Union in Brussels, the crisis is not limited to this country because it could embolden other European separatist movements, among them the Basques, the Lombards and the Catalans.
Since the kingdom of Belgium was created as an obstacle to French expansionism in 1830, it has struggled for cohesion. Anyone who has spoken French in a Flemish city quickly gets a sense of the mutual hostility that is a part of daily life here. The current crisis dates from June 10, when the Flemish Christian Democrats, who demand greater autonomy for Flanders, came in first with one-fifth of the seats in Parliament.
Yves Leterme, the party leader, would have become prime minister if he had been able to put together a coalition government.
But he was rejected by French speakers because of his contempt for them — an oddity since his own father is a French speaker. He further alienated them, and even some moderate Flemish leaders, on Belgium’s national holiday, July 21, when he appeared unable — or unwilling — to sing Belgium’s national anthem.
Belgium’s mild-mannered, 73-year-old king, Albert II, has struggled to mediate, even though under the Constitution he has no power other than to appoint ministers and rubber-stamp laws passed by Parliament. He has welcomed a parade of politicians and elder statesmen to the Belvedere palace in Brussels, successively appointing four political leaders to resolve the crisis. All have failed.
On one level, there is normalcy and calm here. The country is governed largely by a patchwork of regional bureaucracies, so trains run on time, mail is delivered, garbage is collected, the police keep order.
Officials from the former government — including former Prime Minister Guy Verhhofstadt, who is ethnically Flemish — report for work every day and continue to collect salaries. The former government is allowed to pay bills, carry out previously decided policies and make urgent decisions on peace and security.
Earlier this month, for example, the governing Council of Ministers approved the deployment of 80 to 100 peacekeeping troops to Chad and a six-month extension for 400 Belgian peacekeepers stationed in Lebanon under United Nations mandates.
But a new government will be needed to approve a budget for next year.
Certainly, there are reasons Belgium is likely to stay together, at least in the short term.
Brussels, the country’s overwhelmingly French-speaking capital, is in Flanders and historically was a Flemish-speaking city. There would be overwhelming local and international resistance to turning Brussels into the capital of a country called Flanders.
The economies of the two regions are inextricably intertwined, and separation would be a fiscal nightmare.
Then there is the issue of the national debt (90 percent of Belgium’s gross domestic product) and how to divide it equitably.
But there is also deep resentment in Flanders that its much healthier economy must subsidize the French-speaking south, where unemployment is double that of the north
[A poll by the private Field Research Institute released on Tuesday indicated that 66 percent of the inhabitants of Flanders believe that the country will split up “sooner or later,” and 46 percent favor such a division. The poll, which was conducted by telephone, interviewed 1,000 people.]
French speakers, meanwhile, favor the status quo. “Ladies and gentlemen, everything’s fine!” exclaimed Mayor Jacques Étienne of Namur, the Walloon capital, at the annual Walloon festival last Saturday.
Acknowledging that talk of a “divorce” had returned, he reminded the audience that this was a day to celebrate, saying, “We have to, if possible, forget about our personal worries and the anxieties of our time.”
Belgium has suffered through previous political crises and threats of partition. But a number of political analysts believe this one is different.
The turning point is widely believed to have been last December when RTBF, a French-language public television channel, broadcast a hoax on the breakup of Belgium.
The two-hour live television report showed images of cheering, flag-waving Flemish nationalists and crowds of French-speaking Walloons preparing to leave, while also reporting that the king had fled the country.
Panicked viewers called the station, and the prime minister’s office condemned the program as irresponsible and tasteless. But for the first time, in the public imagination, the possibility of a breakup seemed real.
Contributing to the difficulty in forming a new government now is the fact that all 11 parties in the national Parliament are local, not national, parties. The country has eight regional or language-based parliaments.
Oddly, there is no panic just now, just exasperation and a hint of embarrassment. “We must not worry too much,” said Baudouin Bruggeman, a 55-year-old schoolteacher, as he sipped Champagne at the festival in Namur. “Belgium has survived on compromise since 1830. Everyone puffs himself up in this banana republic. You have to remember that this is Magritte country, the country of surrealism. Anything can happen.”
Filip Dewinter, the leader of the extreme-right Flemish party Vlaams Belang, held a cake Tuesday celebrating Belgium’s 100th day without a government after the last general election.
BRUSSELS, Sept. 16 — Belgium has given the world Audrey Hepburn, René Magritte, the saxophone and deep-fried potato slices that somehow are called French.
In the southern region of Wallonia, members of a political group expressed their desire for the region to join France.
But the back story of this flat, Maryland-size country of 10.4 million is of a bad marriage writ large — two nationalities living together that cannot stand each other. Now, more than three months after a general election, Belgium has failed to create a government, producing a crisis so profound that it has led to a flood of warnings, predictions, even promises that the country is about to disappear.
“We are two different nations, an artificial state created as a buffer between big powers, and we have nothing in common except a king, chocolate and beer,” said Filip Dewinter, the leader of Vlaams Belang, or Flemish Bloc, the extreme-right, xenophobic Flemish party, in an interview. “It’s ‘bye-bye, Belgium’ time.”
Radical Flemish separatists like Mr. Dewinter want to slice the country horizontally along ethnic and economic lines: to the north, their beloved Flanders — where Dutch (known locally as Flemish) is spoken and money is increasingly made — and to the south, French-speaking Wallonia, where a kind of provincial snobbery was once polished to a fine sheen and where today old factories dominate the gray landscape.
“There are two extremes, some screaming that Belgium will last forever and others saying that we are standing at the edge of a ravine,” said Caroline Sägesser, a Belgian political analyst at Crisp, a socio-political research organization in Brussels. “I don’t believe Belgium is about to split up right now. But in my lifetime? I’d be surprised if I were to die in Belgium.”
With the headquarters of both NATO and the European Union in Brussels, the crisis is not limited to this country because it could embolden other European separatist movements, among them the Basques, the Lombards and the Catalans.
Since the kingdom of Belgium was created as an obstacle to French expansionism in 1830, it has struggled for cohesion. Anyone who has spoken French in a Flemish city quickly gets a sense of the mutual hostility that is a part of daily life here. The current crisis dates from June 10, when the Flemish Christian Democrats, who demand greater autonomy for Flanders, came in first with one-fifth of the seats in Parliament.
Yves Leterme, the party leader, would have become prime minister if he had been able to put together a coalition government.
But he was rejected by French speakers because of his contempt for them — an oddity since his own father is a French speaker. He further alienated them, and even some moderate Flemish leaders, on Belgium’s national holiday, July 21, when he appeared unable — or unwilling — to sing Belgium’s national anthem.
Belgium’s mild-mannered, 73-year-old king, Albert II, has struggled to mediate, even though under the Constitution he has no power other than to appoint ministers and rubber-stamp laws passed by Parliament. He has welcomed a parade of politicians and elder statesmen to the Belvedere palace in Brussels, successively appointing four political leaders to resolve the crisis. All have failed.
On one level, there is normalcy and calm here. The country is governed largely by a patchwork of regional bureaucracies, so trains run on time, mail is delivered, garbage is collected, the police keep order.
Officials from the former government — including former Prime Minister Guy Verhhofstadt, who is ethnically Flemish — report for work every day and continue to collect salaries. The former government is allowed to pay bills, carry out previously decided policies and make urgent decisions on peace and security.
Earlier this month, for example, the governing Council of Ministers approved the deployment of 80 to 100 peacekeeping troops to Chad and a six-month extension for 400 Belgian peacekeepers stationed in Lebanon under United Nations mandates.
But a new government will be needed to approve a budget for next year.
Certainly, there are reasons Belgium is likely to stay together, at least in the short term.
Brussels, the country’s overwhelmingly French-speaking capital, is in Flanders and historically was a Flemish-speaking city. There would be overwhelming local and international resistance to turning Brussels into the capital of a country called Flanders.
The economies of the two regions are inextricably intertwined, and separation would be a fiscal nightmare.
Then there is the issue of the national debt (90 percent of Belgium’s gross domestic product) and how to divide it equitably.
But there is also deep resentment in Flanders that its much healthier economy must subsidize the French-speaking south, where unemployment is double that of the north
[A poll by the private Field Research Institute released on Tuesday indicated that 66 percent of the inhabitants of Flanders believe that the country will split up “sooner or later,” and 46 percent favor such a division. The poll, which was conducted by telephone, interviewed 1,000 people.]
French speakers, meanwhile, favor the status quo. “Ladies and gentlemen, everything’s fine!” exclaimed Mayor Jacques Étienne of Namur, the Walloon capital, at the annual Walloon festival last Saturday.
Acknowledging that talk of a “divorce” had returned, he reminded the audience that this was a day to celebrate, saying, “We have to, if possible, forget about our personal worries and the anxieties of our time.”
Belgium has suffered through previous political crises and threats of partition. But a number of political analysts believe this one is different.
The turning point is widely believed to have been last December when RTBF, a French-language public television channel, broadcast a hoax on the breakup of Belgium.
The two-hour live television report showed images of cheering, flag-waving Flemish nationalists and crowds of French-speaking Walloons preparing to leave, while also reporting that the king had fled the country.
Panicked viewers called the station, and the prime minister’s office condemned the program as irresponsible and tasteless. But for the first time, in the public imagination, the possibility of a breakup seemed real.
Contributing to the difficulty in forming a new government now is the fact that all 11 parties in the national Parliament are local, not national, parties. The country has eight regional or language-based parliaments.
Oddly, there is no panic just now, just exasperation and a hint of embarrassment. “We must not worry too much,” said Baudouin Bruggeman, a 55-year-old schoolteacher, as he sipped Champagne at the festival in Namur. “Belgium has survived on compromise since 1830. Everyone puffs himself up in this banana republic. You have to remember that this is Magritte country, the country of surrealism. Anything can happen.”
As Belgium goes... so goes Europe?
Double click on the images to enlarge them. The article "As Belgium goes... so goes Europe"? (written by Pryce-Jones) was published in the National Review magazine on October 22, 2007. The Belgian issues are getting hot!!! Is it still gonig to be Belgium next time I go back? I'm getting worried!
Is Belgium Breaking up?
Double click on the article to enlarge the picture. "Is Belgmium Breaking up"? (written by Patrick J. Buchanan) is an article from The American Conservative magazine published on October 8th, 2007. Is Belgium going so bad that even Americans need to talk about us? ... This is not the only article... It's getting really scary!
mercredi, octobre 03, 2007
Fake attack at the Belgian King's workplace!
Here is another of the really funny things that happen in Belgium.
Check yhis out on YouTube. Some fake tourists managed to fake an explosion in front of Royal Palace! Click here for the first part and here for the second part (where you can actually see that it's a really video of a made-up event!).
What is this going lead us to?
mercredi, septembre 19, 2007
No gov't in Belgium
The person in charge of foming the new governement gave up. Belgians voted in May and they are still waiting for a new governement (in september!). What if this was the best time to split Belgium in two parts?! Let's hope that this is just a hard time...
lundi, juillet 30, 2007
Coca Cola Plus (part 2)
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You've seen the design in the US, now here is the design in Europe! Merci au photographe à la fourrure jaune!
mercredi, juillet 25, 2007
And what about them?
They criticize 24/7, but it doesn't seem like they actually know why... Europeans pretend doing everything better than the Americans, but sometimes -often, Americans are way more advanced! Here is the sidewalk example:
In Belgium:
And now you probably think that it's a brand new thing right?! Nope! It's been decades! Yep! They are way ahead of Europeans...again...again...and again! And you also probably think that we just have a couple of them right? Nope! There is no one sidewalk that is still without a ramp!
mercredi, juillet 18, 2007
Foothill College's Mountain Lion
Here is the e-mail that every Foothill College (De Anza's sister college) student received today:
Foothill Fusion for Students & Community Members
UPDATE: Stay Alert While on Campus Pathways Law enforcement authorities report that a mountain lion was sighted Tuesday, July 17, in a creek bed near the Foothill College campus in Los Altos Hills. The animal was not seen on the Foothill campus. The sighting occurred in the O'Keefe Preserve in Los Altos Hills, which is located approximately 1.5 miles north of the college. Authorities recommend that students, faculty, staff and community members use caution and remain alert while walking, jogging or biking on the numerous trails and pathways that surround the 122-acre campus. Should you see a mountain lion, get to a safe location and immediately call 9-1-1.
Here is part of one of the many articles that circulate on the topic:
"Anyone who spots a mountain lion nearby should never run. Instead, make eye contact and stand your ground, and try to appear big and aggressive. Throw stones and branches without bending or turning away. If attacked, fight back".
Rue Neuve vs. Alves Drive
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Here is the equivalent of what we have in downtown Brussels... Check it out sometimes... I still have the pic somewhere if needed...
mardi, juillet 17, 2007
T-shirt
An XXL in Europe is probably like an L here. No wander why they come up with these stupid tees.
jeudi, mai 24, 2007
Harry Potter and the political matters!
We are waiting for the last book of the Harry Potter series that won't be out this upcoming summer... Americans have reinvented the titles featuring the current events... Why not?!
Magic Bullet: a full-of-crap head!
It's still here! The Magic Bullet is now available outside the TV network! Don't miss it (you can't miss it anyway...but just in case). I posted this for some of my Belgian friends... ;)
Two thumbs up and your body down !!!!!
I watched this impressive movie yesterday, and I figured I would cut down on fast food! It's amazing how we destroy our body step by step -day by day! No doubt, Amercica is sinking under the weight of greasy food and fat people! I would say that it's even really scary! A two-thumbs-up movie that perfectly depicts the whole situation!
samedi, avril 28, 2007
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vendredi, avril 27, 2007
Diet Coke Plus
Starting from Spring, you can enjoy the same great taste of Diet Coke but with 5 of the minerals and vitamins that your body needs daily included in the beverage... What an update! I'm thinking about trying it... It may be better than normal Diet Coke for such a Coke drinker.... I dont think this new product has already been put on the European Market. I guess you guys will see it pretty soon in the supermarkets!
vendredi, avril 06, 2007
Flint Center: General Wesley Clark
Yesterday, Paola and I went to the Flint Center to see General Wesley Clarck who had a Celebrity Forum. The Flint Center is located on the De Anza Campus, althought it's on a private property in front of the Sunken Garden. Gen Wes Clark is retired since a couple of years. He is a Democrat and tried to be candidate for the elections; Kerry finally got the opportunity to get the presidency against G.W. Bush. He's got really nice ideas, but his ideas are Democrat, and therefore, not applicable!
lundi, avril 02, 2007
Parking for Belgians only !
They pick whatever cool stuff and they make parking spots for them...It's a joke, but I remember I had one from Salem last year...Cool stuff !!!
Only in the US!!!!
As far as I know, we'll never see that in Europe! They have a hole building in San Francisco as well as people in the streets promoting the Message sent by the sect!
dimanche, mars 11, 2007
Tintin in Hollywood...Good link!
http://users.pandora.be/intertintin/homepage.htm Tintin in Marilyn Monroe
samedi, mars 10, 2007
Americans learn French
"Au printemps, chez les Belges...
Le temps est nuageux.
Il fait frais".
"During Spring time, in Belgium...
The weather is cloudy.
It is chilly."
They even talk about Belgians in textbooks. Isn't that so cool? The information is not always accurate, but, still, it's fun to read!
Amercicans -whatever you may think- are more advanced!
At De Anza, there are different kinds of parking spots. Student carpool: 2 or more people in a car have priority to park their car (the spots are closer to the buildings). Alternative fuel vehicle: even closer to the buildings, these spots are reserved for people who drive the brand new types of cars that produce less polution. Staff parking: you know what that is! Besides, there are the regular "disabled", "police", etc.
mercredi, février 28, 2007
Unbelievable !!!!!!!!
Click here to discover what a Belgian family hides behind the façade of their house! It's simply incredible! Although I feel sorry because the report is in French and filmed by the French television, I could resist! Serge has got 30 children from three different women: 2 of them (his wife and his sister in-law) live in his house and the third one has to live somewhere else because of a lack of room. Both parents are unemployed and they manage to feed their kids with only 3000 € a month! When they go shopping they need 170 lbs of potatoes, 9 lbs of pastas, 7 bottles/day of milk! It's just crazy! They live in a trhee-room house where the bedrooms look more like dorms than real kids' bedrooms!
mardi, février 27, 2007
mercredi, février 21, 2007
License plates
In the US, your are not forced to have a license plate at the front of your car, and you can even choose what's gonna be written on it! Isn't that amazing?! For instance, the owner of this Mini Cooper S picked "DI MINI" standing for "THE MINI"...Easy to remember! I've seen other funny stuff and even a little cheesy sometimes such as "V loves M"...Others even put names of sports like "GOLF"...Interesting! At the front, it is often seen that the owner put his/her favorite baseball or football team as his/her license plate! Much more excinting than our boring red numbers!
dimanche, février 18, 2007
Fuck Iraq, hot topic!
Paola and I saw this car with the American Flag and "fuck Iraq" written on it! Americans don't fear anything obviously!
Notre-Dame de Namur
Notre Dame de Namur, that's the name of a university located in California! Can you believe that? Impressive, right?! Namur is the first city in the Waloon Region...
dimanche, février 04, 2007
Let's save up!
I don't remember for what poroduct it was, but there is one thing I perfectly remember: these Americans are crazy! On this item, you could save 4 cents. I can't believe it! That's how they can get so rich! They keep saving up...And 4 cents in one shot, that's really impressive!
So, I really don't understand why Belgians keep complaining when we offer them discounts going up to 50%! OK...here there isn't any "sales time", but still! I'd rather save a lot at a time then saving 4 ridiculous cents everytime I go to buy a new pair of shoes!
samedi, janvier 27, 2007
On la connaissait....
Un homme se balade dans Central Park à New York. Soudain, il voit un pitbull attaquer une petite fille. Il se précipite, attrape le chien et finit par le tuer, sauvant ainsi la gamine. Un policier qui a vu la scène arrive et lui dit :
- "Vous êtes un héros. Demain, tout le monde pourra lire à la une des journaux : " Un courageux New-yorkais sauve la vie d'une enfant."
L'homme répond : - "Mais ... je ne suis pas de New York !"
Eh bien on lira : "Un courageux Américain sauve une petite fille... "
"Mais... je ne suis pas Américain !"
"Et qu'est ce que vous êtes alors ?"
"Je suis Pakistanais."
Le lendemain, les journaux titraient : " Un extrémiste islamiste massacre un chien américain sous les yeux horrifiés d'une petite fille. "
dimanche, janvier 07, 2007
Dick Cheney's research on Google
I hope you can actually read (click on the image to see it bigger) the words that Cheney looked up, but here are some of them: "jeanette mcdonald nude", "ossama ben laden", "lesbos vinyl black boots",...
INTERESTING what the vice president of the US looks for!
But don't worry I'm not suddenly becoming anti-republican!
Viewers fooled by 'Belgium split'
Belgians reacted with widespread alarm to news that their country had been split in two - before finding out they had been spoofed.
The Belgian public television station RTBF ran a bogus report saying the Dutch-speaking half of the nation had declared independence.
Later it said Wednesday night's programme was meant to stir up debate.
It appears to have succeeded. Thousands of people made panicked calls to the station and politicians complained.
"It's very bad Orson Welles, in very poor taste," said a spokesman for Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, referring to the famous director's 1938 radio adaptation of War of the Worlds. That spoof fooled many Americans into believing Martians had invaded.
"In the current context, it's irresponsible for a public television channel to announce the end of Belgium as a reality presented by genuine journalists," he added.
The French-language TV channel interrupted regular programming with an apparent news report, announcing that Dutch-speaking Flanders had unilaterally declared independence and that Belgium as a nation had ceased to exist.
It showed "live" pictures of cheering crowds holding the Flemish flag, huge traffic jams leading to Brussels airport, and trams stuck at the new "border".
The broadcast came amid an apparent growth of separatist sentiment in Flanders.
Recent regional elections have shown strong support for the far-right, nationalist Vlaams Belang party, which advocates Flemish independence.
The station's website crashed briefly as alarmed viewers sought more information, and 2,600 calls were made to a telephone number given out during the spoof. "Our intention was to show Belgian viewers the intensity of the issue of the future of Belgium and the real possibility of Belgium no longer being a country in a few months," Yves Thiran, head of news at RTBF, told the BBC.
He said it introduced people to the debate who would otherwise have ignored it, but he admitted some may have taken it the wrong way.
"We obviously scared many people - maybe more than we expected," he said.
Diplomatic reaction
Some politicians were in on the joke, contributing interviews to the programme with their reactions to the "news". But others were not amused.
The minister for audiovisual affairs for the French-speaking community, Fadila Laanan, said the words "this is fiction" appeared on screen half an hour into the broadcast - at her insistence.
"I find it questionable to use such a tactic, which frightened people unbelievably," she said, adding that a number of people had called her in panic when the "news" broke.
The AFP news agency reported that even some foreign ambassadors in Brussels were taken in, and sent urgent messages back to their respective capitals.
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