Archives
September 2007
9/30/07
9/29/07
9/28/07
9/28/07
9/28/07
9/28/07
9/27/07
9/27/07
9/27/07
9/27/07
9/26/07
9/26/07
9/26/07
9/26/07
9/25/07
9/25/07
9/25/07
9/25/07
9/24/07
9/24/07
9/24/07
9/24/07
9/23/07
9/22/07
9/21/07
9/21/07
9/21/07
9/21/07
9/20/07
9/20/07
9/20/07
9/19/07
9/19/07
9/19/07
9/19/07
Bye Bye Belgium?
9/18/07
9/18/07
9/18/07
9/18/07
9/17/07
9/17/07
9/17/07
9/17/07
9/16/07
9/15/07
9/14/07
9/14/07
9/14/07
9/14/07
9/13/07
9/13/07
9/13/07
9/12/07
9/12/07
9/12/07
9/12/07
9/11/07
9/11/07
9/11/07
9/11/07
9/10/07
9/10/07
9/10/07
9/9/07
9/8/07
9/8/07
9/7/07
9/7/07
9/7/07
9/7/07
9/6/07
9/6/07
9/5/07
9/5/07
9/5/07
9/5/07
9/4/07
9/4/07
9/4/07
9/4/07
9/3/07
9/3/07
9/2/07
9/1/07
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
11:51:00 AM EDT
Hearing It Can't Rain All the Time -- Jane Siberry
Belgium: Don't think much of it, do you? By which I mean you don't dislike it, you just... dont' think about it much. Because why should you? Most of you who read this are on the North American continent. So you have an excuse. However, it increasingly looks like as if Belgians don't think much of Belgium either, and they actually live there:
A whiff of the Balkans is wafting through the heart of the EU. Belgium, a kingdom created by the great powers 177 years ago to keep the Dutch in their place and as a buffer between France and Germany, is falling apart.
It has always been a battlefield. From Waterloo to Passchendaele and the Ardennes, the superpowers of their day brought their wars to Belgium. Now Belgium is under attack from within.
"There's no Belgian sentiment," says Filip Dewinter, the leader of the Vlaams Belang party of extreme Flemish nationalists. "There's no Belgian language. There's no Belgian nation. There's no Belgian anything."
If the country eventually splits, it will likely be along cultural lines: The Flemish, who speak Dutch, and the Walloons, who speak French (I think that's right). And apparently no one quite knows what to do with Brussels, so it might become an independent city, not unlike Washington DC (it's where the European Union meets, so it's not entirely out of character).
And I will get all the Belgian chocolates. I think that would be a reasonable part of any separation treaty.
I don't personally have any real feeling about this, except to say I think it would be sad if Belgium stopped existing because no one could be bothered to save it. Who wants to be part of a country no one cares about?
Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
11:51:00 AM EDT
Hearing It Can't Rain All the Time -- Jane Siberry
Bye Bye Belgium?
Belgium: Don't think much of it, do you? By which I mean you don't dislike it, you just... dont' think about it much. Because why should you? Most of you who read this are on the North American continent. So you have an excuse. However, it increasingly looks like as if Belgians don't think much of Belgium either, and they actually live there:
A whiff of the Balkans is wafting through the heart of the EU. Belgium, a kingdom created by the great powers 177 years ago to keep the Dutch in their place and as a buffer between France and Germany, is falling apart.
It has always been a battlefield. From Waterloo to Passchendaele and the Ardennes, the superpowers of their day brought their wars to Belgium. Now Belgium is under attack from within.
"There's no Belgian sentiment," says Filip Dewinter, the leader of the Vlaams Belang party of extreme Flemish nationalists. "There's no Belgian language. There's no Belgian nation. There's no Belgian anything."
If the country eventually splits, it will likely be along cultural lines: The Flemish, who speak Dutch, and the Walloons, who speak French (I think that's right). And apparently no one quite knows what to do with Brussels, so it might become an independent city, not unlike Washington DC (it's where the European Union meets, so it's not entirely out of character).
And I will get all the Belgian chocolates. I think that would be a reasonable part of any separation treaty.
I don't personally have any real feeling about this, except to say I think it would be sad if Belgium stopped existing because no one could be bothered to save it. Who wants to be part of a country no one cares about?
Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has 2 comments: (Add your own)
-
Things I like about Belgium: Pretty lace. Great chocolate. And the beer (my god! Do we ever love the beer in Belgium!?!).
Things I dislike: Waaaaay too many streetlights. And, Jean-Claude Van Damme.
-Dan
http://thewisdomofadistractedmind.blogspot.com/
9/19/07 11:22 PM