Will we have to change the name of Belgium STUDS?

Belgium appears to be in the midst of a political crisis that has many questioning whether the country even has a future. In June, when French-speaking Wallonian politicians rejected their Dutch-speaking counterparts' demands for greater autonomy for Flanders. Lawmakers have spent the past 11 weeks trying to form a coalition government. There is apparently growing Flemish resentment that their tax dollars are going to subsidize the less prosperous French-speaking south. Pro-independence rallies have been held in Flanders and remarkably, only 29 percent of Belgians are certain that there will even be a Belgium in ten years. A full fifteen percent are certain that it will not.

After a round of talks led by the head of the Flemish Christian Democrats collapsed last week, Belgium's king has now appointed another prominent Flemish politician, Herman Von Rompuy, to resolve the situation.
Paul Belien at the Brussels Journal blog has been all over "the Belgian Crisis" like mayo on frites, deriding the international media for not covering what he calls "Yugoslavia in slow motion" and speculating about Europe after Belgium.

A recent editorial in Le Figaro (in French) called for French President Nicolas Sarkozy to annex Wallonia if Belgium should split, comparing it to Helmut Kohl's decision to absorb East Germany after the fall of Communism. Seventy-seven percent of Dutch citizens apparently favor absorbing Flanders as well.
If nothing else comes from this, it should certainly give EU diplomats some pause before chastising Albanians and Serbs, Palestinians and Jews, or Sunnis and Shiites for failing to coexist. I suppose Congolese peacekeepers on the streets of Brussels would be too much to hope for.

Belgium was ranked number 167 on the 2007 Failed States Index.

No Sex Please...We're Swedish

The Swedes are famed for their sexual tolerance and laissez faire. But that tolerance hasn't been extended to a seemingly innocent competition to find the world's most beautiful bottoms.

A competition launched by German underwear maker Sloggi to uncover the world's most beautiful ass, has been slapped down in Sweden after media protests against the "pornographic" event. "Alas, our goal of finding the most beautiful backsides has been misunderstood by certain sections of the media" in Sweden, the German firm said in a statement Tuesday.

'Taste is a bit like buttocks - divided'.

In Keeping with Beer Week

German beer. Bought most cheaply in crates of 18 to 24 bottles. The only problem is that these crates can be heavy, especially when they're full of beer. (here, full of Kristallweizen):
If you dropped one on a small child, for instance, tragedy could strike -- you could lose several bottles, if not the entire case. Fortunately, you can always count on German ingenuity.
Behold the Paulaner 20-bottle crate When you lift up the golden handles on either side of the top, something charming happens:

Damn, i hate when that happens!

Austrian runner Guenther Weidlinger slammed his head into a hurdle during the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the World Athletic Championships in Osaka the other day. Here’s a video of his painful experience:


http://view.break.com/356996 - Watch more free videos

Belgium needs a dose of Austrailian Politics

In the Australian House of Representatives last month, opposition member Julia Gillard interrupted a speech by the minister of health thusly:

"I move that that sniveling grub over there be not further heard.''
For that, the good woman was ordered removed from the House, if only for a day.

She might have escaped that little time-out if she had responded to the speaker's demand for an apology with something other than "If I have offended grubs, I withdraw unconditionally.''

Read more..Real Clear Politics