Lance Armstrong On Kornheiser: ‘Punkass Chump’

Fresh off his ESPN double secret probation for mocking Hannah Storm's 1960s-inspired go-go outfits, Tony Kornheiser is at it again; letting his mouth lead him where he probably shouldn't go.

"When three or four of these people start riding abreast, I swear to you, it's all you can do to not run them down! Like Wile E. Coyote! Run 'em over! Get the hell out of my way!", some people took it the wrong way.

Like, for one, Lance Armstrong. From his Twitter account:
Listening to Tony Kornheiser's comments/rant on ESPN radio re: cyclists. Disgusting, ignorant, foolish. What a complete f-ing idiot.

And this all happens the same day we have four cyclists killed by a frikn tractor here in Belgium. It happened in Flanders in Bochholt, which is near Tongeren, so what I can gather with my limited Dutch from this news story is he was transporting those bales of hay you see in the picture and had limited visibility. He drove right over a pack of ten cyclists, killing four of them. There is video in French below the pictures.

Three dead in stabbing attack at Belgian creche

VIDEO
Three people were killed in a stabbing at a daycare centre in Sint-Gillis, part of the municipality of Dendermonde (East Flanders). Two children and one adult have died and some 10 childen were injured. The assailant was arrested by the police.
According to eyewitness reports a man went on a rampage causing a bloodbath in the daycare. His face was painted black and white. The attacker went into the daycare, pulled a knife and started stabbing anyone in his path. 3 people were killed.

Some 10 injured children were taken to hospitals in the area.The municiple disaster plan was immediatly called into effect, following the report of the incident. Ambulances were speeding to and from the creche. A police helicopter was deployed to look for the perpetrator, who left the scene of the crime by bicycle. He was reportedly detained in a nearby supermarket.

Earlier reports from the creche referred to chaos and panic in the daycare centre. Employees who were not hurt in the rampage are in shock. Federal Home Affairs Minister Guido De Padt arrived at the scene of the crime within a couple of hours. Flemish Welfare Minister Veerle Heeren was also there. Both officials are shocked about what happened and extend condolences to the families of the victims.

Dendermonde, a town of with 40,000 residents is about thirty miles north-west of Brussels. The public nursery was called "The Land of Fables with 18 children and six women, all staff members.

Belgians are nothing but slow-witted frite eaters

France takes a condescending, affectionate approach to its small neighbour. The butt of jokes, Belgians are seen as slow-witted frites eaters with a creative genius that produced Art Nouveau, Hergé, the father of Tintin, and entertainers who move to France when they make it.

The latest of these is Cécile de France, one of the cinema's hottest young stars [pictured above]. Otherwise, Belgium is Brussels, the French-speaking seat of the European bureacracy and source of many French ills.

Watching the mess in Georgia, we should not get too smug about breakaway provinces on the fringe of central Asia. An ugly struggle for ethnic separation is brewing only an hour's train trip north from Paris......in Belgium.

READ MORE

It's time for Belgium to call it quits..

Belgium is a little country sandwiched between France and Holland. It disappears periodically, whenever Germany goes on a shopping expedition for territory.

It was, in short, a Petri dish in which where the EU concocted its formula for the new Empire of many and diverse nations living within a large and happy federal state. So confident were the Eurocrats of their coming success that they made Brussels their capital on the assumption that everything else would just fall into place. WRONG!

If Belgium goes the way of the dodo, then so may the EU. And would that be such a bad thing? Those Eurocrats have been ramming their nonsensical legislation down throats for decades now with an incredible sense of determination and destiny. And as the Irish recently found out, these are not people who take no for an answer. FUNNY VIDEO EXPLANATION

If you want to collect unemployment...Wallonia is the place to be.

Now those damn Flemish are even outsourcing their unemployment to Wallonia.

MR chamber member François Bellot, serving as mayor of the tourist attraction town of Rochefort in the Ardennes, is of the opinion that the Flemish jobless are moving to Wallonia to escape the Flemish employment service VDAB, who continuously bother them with finding a new job.

Imagine that....getting unemployment, and they actually expect you to "look" for a job!

They do not have to fear the Walloon service Forem, who will not bother them, the mayor believes. Moreover, they can live much more cheaply in Wallonia. He has questioned federal labour minister Joëlle Milquet (CdH) on this matter and she has responded by saying that the Flemings in Wallonia will also fall under the administrative control of the federal employment office RVA in addition to the activation policy of the Walloon employment service Forem.

50% of Walloons say, lets join France...including me!

I don't think the French would take them though. Why not ally them with the Quebecois and create a new nation of Francophone rejects.

If Belgium should be split, almost half of the people living below the language divide, in Wallonia, would not object to Wallonia becoming a part of France.
According to a poll carried out by the Francophone Belgian daily Le Soir and the French daily La Voix du Nord, 49 percent of Walloon citizens would not object to Wallonia being incorporated into France.

I don't think the French would take them though. Why not ally them with the Quebecois and create a new nation of Francophone rejects.

The same poll, conducted among some 1,500 people, shows that 60 percent of French respondents support the idea.
23 percent of Walloon respondents think that Belgium will really cease to exist, but 59 percent say our country will not disappear.
However, the political crisis in Belgium is "serious" according to 93 percent of the people taking part in the poll.

"Wallonia and France are quite close already"
The Flemish public broadcaster VRT went to Brussels to listen to the man in the street.
"Belgium wil disappear, that's for sure. If there is a majority in Flanders to split the country up... it's like in a relationship. If your wife wants to go, she is off", says one French-speaking man.
"Wallonia becoming a part of France would have one big advantage. We would only have one government. One, instead of six!" says another man.
"Wallonia and France are quite close", a French-speaking woman tells reporters. "We speak the same language and have the same mentality."

Walloon terroists are blowing up Flemish hamburger stands!

Not really, but it sounded legit eh? Belgians should probably stick to the frites and leave the burgers to the Americans.
The injured all sustained burns.

The Festival of Ghent is the country's largest street party with scores of concerts across the centre of the East Flemish capital.
The festival that started on Saturday runs until next Monday.
The explosion happened at the heart of the revelry in a street near the Belfry and Saint Bavo's Cathedral.
The area attracts large crowds until the early hours.

The explosion happened at 5AM when many people were still partying.
The emergency services were at the scene within seconds.
Ghent chief commissioner Steven De Smet says it was a very big explosion. Several surrounding streets were cleared.

The cause of the blast is the matter of an investigation. It is believed the accident occurred when the stall owner drove his truck over a gas canister.
The stall burned to a cinder.

Why can't we all just get along

A simmering Belgian political crisis boiled over today after Flemish lawmakers voted on the deeply-contentious issue of French-speakers' voting rights in Brussels suburbs, threatening the fragile coalition government.
Members of parliament managed to schedule in a vote on the issue as sought by Flemish lawmakers, which minority French-speaking legislators see as a direct affront.
But to block any vote for 120 days French-speakers could launch a conflict of interest procedure as early as Friday.
Eager to avoid a crisis, Prime Minister Yves Leterme had in recent days been racing against the clock to negotiate a compromise on the issue, which is threatening his government barely two months after taking office.
The row was one of many dividing politicians of the rival language communities as Leterme struggled for nine months to set up a coalition government following his election victory last June.
Flemish parties, want to do away with a special arrangement whereby French-speakers in Flemish suburbs of Brussels vote in the capital, where French-speakers are a majority.
Flanders seeks greater regional powers to reflect its prosperous status. It also resents subsidising the less affluent French-speaking Wallonia region.

Belgium is not a model to follow

Belgium's linguistic communities pay a high price for sticking together, resorting to fudges that range from the silly to the destructive. Put like that, you can see Belgium's new government not as a relief, but as an awful warning. A political union hatched together by a fractious elite, and answerable only to itself, is not a model for anybody to follow. STORY IN THE ECONOMIST

Belgium a Retirement Haven?

Inadvertently, the Region of Flanders in Belgium is positioning itself as a retirement haven for retired entrepreneurs from all over Europe. In reaction to a decision of the European Court of Justice, Flanders has changed its inheritance tax legislation so that businessmen can come and live in Flanders and save on inheritance tax on their estate.

To qualify for the inheritance tax exemption, the entrepreneur must
be domiciled in Flanders;
Have held, together with his family, at least 50 percent in a company
that is established in the European Union,
that has staff in the European Economic Area with an average salary cost of €500,000 during the last three years (that level must be maintained for five years),
That drafts annual accounts in accordance with the Belgian rules (that is attached to the company’s income tax return) or in accordance with the legislation of the country where the company is established; and
of course, the heirs must have declared the participation in the inheritance tax return.

If you understood any of that...great! Here's the FULL STORY

Author Hugo Claus, writer of 'The Sorrow of Belgium,' dead at 78

\Writer Hugo Claus — an artist, poet, playwright and novelist whose books painted a scathing picture of repression and hypocrisy in bourgeois Flanders — died Wednesday by euthanasia, his wife said. He was 78.

Claus, who had Alzheimer's disease, died at Middelheim Hospital in Antwerp. "He himself picked the moment of his death and asked for euthanasia," not wanting to extend his suffering, his wife, Veerle De Wit, said in a statement.

Claus produced some 200 works during his career but was best known for his classic, "The Sorrow of Belgium" — a scathing attack on social injustice, stifling family relationships and Roman Catholic repression in his native Flanders in northern Belgium. "I am a person who is unhappy with things as they stand. We cannot accept the world as it is. Each day we should wake up foaming at the mouth because of the injustice of things," he said in a magazine interview more than a decade ago.

He was married several times, including to actress Sylvia Kristel, star of the 1970s erotic movie series "Emmanuelle.".......now you got my attention! MORE

George Bush's popularity ratings would be sky high in Belgium!

George Bush's popularity rating would look pretty good in Belgium, where an opinion poll for the daily La Libre Belgique showed that 54 percent of the north and 92 percent of the south did not trust the new Belgian prime minister.

Belgium Political Crisis Ends With New Government. Belgium's rival parties say they have agreed to a new government, ending months of deadlock over demands for greater autonomy by the Dutch-speaking part of the country.

The deal for a coalition government was reached by five Belgian political parties representing not only political differences - between the left and the right - but the key split between those from Francophone Wallonia and Dutch-speaking Flanders.

Belgium gets a government this week

AFTER nine months, Belgium finally gets a proper government on Thursday. (Let me know how that works out) Guy Verhofstadt, prime minister since 1999, will make way for Yves Leterme and a new five-party coalition.

The deal will lead to a further weakening of Belgium's federal state in favour of regional governments, an unpopular decision in the poorer, Francophone south, where some of them might actually have to get a job to get paid.

Belgian 'wise men' strike breakthrough devolution deal

My...lets throw flowers at ourselves and we shall be known as the Committee of Wise Men! It's been my experience that a wise man in Belgium must be an expat or a tourist.

Eight Belgian elder statesmen reached a breakthrough deal on further devolution early on Monday that could end eight months of political deadlock and lead to formation of a new government within a month. Under the deal reached early on Monday, the interim five-party government would try to transfer a series of minor powers to the regions and pursue measures to strengthen cooperation between the regions. STORY

Man gets booted from Bruge cafe for being Jewish, but can't file a complaint unless it's in Flemish!

In one of those only in Belgium stories, some more of that good old European Tolerance thats constantly preached to you......The Mayor of the Belgian city of Bruges has asked for an inquiry after an American Jewish tourist was ousted from a café restaurant because he was wearing a kippa or skullcap.

Later, an officer indicated that a complaint can only be registered in Flemish and not in English, adding erroneously that Belgian law doesn’t foresee the anti-Semitic offense. STORY

Original link in Dutch from De Standard

This is an old trick from Wallonia

A 66-year-old man from New York, Virgilio Cintron, died before he could cash his Social Security check so his roommate and a friend used an office chair to wheel Virgilio's corpse down to the Pay-O-Matic check cashing store in an attempt to cash the check. A trick used by Walloons for decades, its why the Flemish want to seperate.

Unfortunately, the two men couldn't help but be noticed by passers-by as they wheeled a corpse, flailing from side to side, along Ninth Avenue in Manhattan.
The roommate and a third man, who was a friend of the deceased, reportedly left Cintron outside as they entered the establishment, pointing to him through the window when the cashier told them that Cintron would have to be present to cash the check, according to the police account.

When the cashier asked them to bring Cintron inside, they exited the building, where they were confronted by an on-duty Real Time Crime Center detective who had been in the building next door when he noticed the commotion.
The two men were taken into police custody, where they were questioned and may face charges related to criminal impersonation or check fraud.
Cintron is believed to have died of natural causes.

Sounds like "Weekend at Bernie's" STORY

'Belgium Means Nothing to Me'

The party is frequently depicted as "extremist" or "racist" in the international media. (Which simply means its a threat to the status quo politicicians in Belgium) Its predecessor party, Vlaams Blok (Flemish Bloc), was dissolved in 2004 after being condemned as such by a Belgian court.

In an interview that appeared in German in November, Hanspeter Born of the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche spoke with Vlaams Belang chairman Frank Vanhecke about the party's goal of independence for Flanders and the charges of racism against it. The interview appears here for the first time in English.

READ THE INTERVIEW

Belgium not a good place for Entrepenuers

Nearly 70,000 new companies were established in Belgium this year, almost 10 percent more than last year, according to Unizo, a Flemish organization of self-employed and small and medium-sized enterprises on Friday.

This is the best figure for Belgium in years, but it is still quite low compared to the other euro zone countries, the organization said. The increase in the number of start-ups is highest in the Brussels region (15 percent), followed by French-speaking southern region of Wallonia (10 percent) and Dutch-speaking northern region of Flanders (8 percent), the statistics showed.

Unizo, which provides information for start-ups, said the threshold for starting a business in Belgium is still too high.Major obstacles include the social statute, securing sufficient start-up capital and bank guarantees and the uncertainty of starting one's own business, it said.

The organization said the government should help entrepreneurs by granting start-up bonuses, lowering tax burdens for companies and providing a better social statute.The organization also suggested that the authorities provide a better safety net for entrepreneurs who go bankrupt.

Loser to Lead Belgium's Interim Government

After a meeting with King Albert II, Guy Verhofstadt, left, the liberal ousted by voters in June, accepted the job of forming and leading an interim government because of the ”gravity of the situation in which our country finds itself.” But he said he did not want to remain in power beyond March. Mr. Verhofstadt, who had been prime minister since 1999, conceded defeat after the June election but has stayed on because the conservatives who won proved unable to form a coalition.

On Saturday, thousands of trade unionists took to the streets in Brussels, complaining about the political stalemate and rising food and fuel prices.

Belgium created a social welfare system in which the unions are related to one specific political party and it is the unions which pay the jobless peoples support payments.

The medicare and health insurance system payments are also executed by organisations related each to one political party. For this "work", the health insurance organisations and the unions receive an administration "commission" of 7%.

Do you think the unions want to stop this? The Walloon jobless bring an enormous income to the unions. The Flemish unions, which are Socialist at heart, would lose serious financial income in an independent Flanders.

They are the champions of the status quo.

King Albert unveils new Belgian Emblem

King Albert announced today that the federal government changed the countries Lion Emblem to a multicolored red, yellow, and black BELGIAN CONDOM because it more accurately reflects the government's political stance.

A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually getting screwed!