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Louis VI the Fat
12-14-2006, 21:18
OH. MY. GOD !!! Belgium has ceased to exist! ~:eek:

In a surprise move Flanders has declared itself independent. Even as we speak, there's widespread panic in Belgium as confused masses take to the streets. Flemish nationalists are celebrating nationwide. The king has abdicated in disgust. Foreign ambassadors are frantically trying to contact their capitals...:stunned:


Not.

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.

"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.

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".
RTBF showed shots of flag-waving independence supporters

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.
BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6178671.stm)

Brilliant joke, I say. ~:thumb:

Scurvy
12-14-2006, 21:22
:laugh4:

--> feel sorry for the Belgians that really panicked though

Keba
12-14-2006, 21:24
:laugh4: Fantastic and original. Why, oh why'd they insist on putting 'this is fiction' half an hour into the programme is beyond me, would have been much more fun to leave it running for longer.

Though, in that case, people might begin acting like Flanders really did secede.:idea2:

BDC
12-14-2006, 22:00
:laugh4: Fantastic and original. Why, oh why'd they insist on putting 'this is fiction' half an hour into the programme is beyond me, would have been much more fun to leave it running for longer.

Though, in that case, people might begin acting like Flanders really did secede.:idea2:
The people were frantically phoning up in the dim hope it was real. :p

Sardo
12-14-2006, 22:52
The worst thing is, if we really had declared independence, I would have learned from a gaming messageboard...

Good joke on the Walloons though. :2thumbsup:

Kralizec
12-14-2006, 22:57
I remember that radio broadcast (read about it, not actually heard it ~;)), some people actually comitted suicide out of fear of what the Martians might do.

In this case it's pretty harmless. Some people just have no sense of humour.

Sjakihata
12-14-2006, 23:46
ceci est une fiction but still great humor. Some Flandern nationalists are angry, they think it was stepping on their toes and ridiculing legitimate Flandern claims. LoL get over yourselves.

AntiochusIII
12-14-2006, 23:58
The worst thing is, if we really had declared independence, I would have learned from a gaming messageboard...By a Frenchman! :book:

Love the joke, it makes fun of people and make them all angry for showing how stupid they are. Mwahaha. I'm in love with misery.

Andres
12-15-2006, 00:58
. Some Flandern nationalists are angry, they think it was stepping on their toes and ridiculing legitimate Flandern claims.

Well actually there is some truth in that.

We have elections next year. Those elections are necessary to change our constitution and to make some important changes in the organisation of our state. Important negotiations are at hand and they might be decisive for the continuation of our country as a whole. If these negotations would fail, we might split up for real in the long run. Our state is currently in transition towards a real federal state and the current chaotic, abominable structure and organisation needs a change asap.

The "strong support for the extremistic party Vlaams belang" exists for a long time. What is new is the current position of the CD&V towards the "staatshervorming" like it is called. The CD&V, which cannot be considered as an "extremistic" party, but as a Center-right one, made some serious and rather hard statements towards the walloons. Off course, alot of walloons call the CD&V also an extremistic party nowadays, allthough their claims are very reasonable and realistic. Calling the CD&V "extremistic" is ridiculous.

Anyway, the timing for this kind of jokes could have been better.

This "joke" also shows the power of the media and how they can make us believe what they want us to believe (it lasted for more then 10 minutes, before they mentioned it was a joke, only after the walloon minister of media demanded it (RTBF is the official walloon tv-station)). Meanwhile alot of walloons were panicking and reacting with fear, disbelief and even anger. Things would have gotten out of hand very easily if it would have last for another 10 or 15 minutes.

A lot of journalists seem to have ruined their reputation, since they've lost a lot of credibility.

The current climate of our country does not leave many room for this kind of jokes and it was dumb. Very dumb and irresponsable.

Mithrandir
12-15-2006, 01:01
This "joke" also shows the power of the media and how they can make us believe what they want us to believe

:yes: :wall:


Nice one, I loved all the outraged reactions :laugh4:

AntiochusIII
12-15-2006, 07:12
People hate it when they're shown how gullible they are. :laugh4:

In a way, though, this one is way milder than the Martian one; at least there's a certain grain of truth to it (what is wrong with you Europeans anyway? Bloody separate-everything-because-we-are-slightly-different weirdos). I can't believe some idiots killed themselves over Mars' invasion, though. :dizzy2:

Husar
12-15-2006, 08:46
Bloody separate-everything-because-we-are-slightly-different weirdos
I agree completely, never got those weirdos either, those terrorists somewhere in spain come to mind as well, but they can blame the hot climate at least.~;)

Peasant Phill
12-15-2006, 10:31
Firstly,I agree with Andres that this was very poor timing. Some may suspect foul play but as since the preparations started 2 years ago I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Secondly, this 'docu-fiction' doesn't show the gullibility of the Walloons rather it's an indication about the general climate amongst Walloons towards Flanders and Flemish politicians. I'm convinced that the majority of the Walloons honestly believe that Flanders is capable and willing to declare its independence. How come?
- The preparations for the 'docu-film' started 2 years ago in order to come up with a believable scenario for the broadcast. One of the those 'believable' events was an attack by Flemish soldiers on the buildings of the RTBF. Not very believable as there is only a Belgian army and the buildings of the RTBF are the same as those of the VRT (Flemish public TV and radiostation).
- In an interview yesterday the head of the project defended the program vigorously against Flemish comments on its implausibility by claiming that 70% of the Flemish people were in favour of Flemish independence. This so-called expert backed up his claim by naming every political party (and its percentage of votes) that wants more responsibilities for Flanders. He (and probably a lot of his fellow Walloons) confuse the Flemish demands for responsibilities over, for example, social security with the demand of independence.

And Lastly, Husar and Antiochus, please don't compare the Flemish movement with the ETA and IRA. The Flemish movement has never resorted towards violence, only the political way. The demands for complete Flemish independence represents only a small percentage of the populace so don't call me a Bloody separate-everything-because-we-are-slightly-different weirdo for wanting more to say about my own region. I still believe in Belgium as a country, but I also believe that Flanders as a part in this country (and also Wallony) could do better if it got more responsibilities.
Besides, Husar, great call on bashing a federal state in transition when Germany itself is a federal state.

doc_bean
12-15-2006, 10:54
I wanted to post about this yesterday but couldn't find any English sources.

Overall, I found it amusing, but I'm one of the few.

My girlfriend works with a lot of Walloons and they certainly didn't appreciate the joke. several of them had called the 'emergency number'. They're all higher educated, intelligent people. This wasn't a news report that only fooled a few dumb people, half the country was in panic, especially the elderly. How many people will have lost years of their life just from the sheer panic this caused them ?

Then there's the political side, as Andres pointed out, it makes a mockery out of Flemish demands for more regional independence (which is necessary because the economic climate is totally different in the two regions and the current system isn't working out at all). I'm not sure it will work though. I could see a lot of Walloons confronted with the reality of a possible separation and possibly being more lenient towards 'our' demands to prevent it from happening. Who can tell though ? Certainly in flanders I heard quite a few comments along the lines of 'if only it would have been true !'. The idea that we could really have independence is probably now more firmly implanted in the Flemish mindset. And we have *a lot* to gain from independence (over 1000€ a year a person, for starters...).

This 'joke' was totally inappropriate and possibly quite damaging to the country. That said, I enjoy absurd situation and chaos, so I thought it was pretty amusing.

Husar
12-15-2006, 11:28
And Lastly, Husar and Antiochus, please don't compare the Flemish movement with the ETA and IRA. The Flemish movement has never resorted towards violence, only the political way. The demands for complete Flemish independence represents only a small percentage of the populace so don't call me a Bloody separate-everything-because-we-are-slightly-different weirdo for wanting more to say about my own region. I still believe in Belgium as a country, but I also believe that Flanders as a part in this country (and also Wallony) could do better if it got more responsibilities.
Besides, Husar, great call on bashing a federal state in transition when Germany itself is a federal state.
Firstly, I was talking about people who want their own Flemish country, not more responsibility.
And secondly, where did I say the german system makes me happy or anything like that? Whenever I hear some bavarian politician say something about bavarians being better germans than the rest of us, I develop a little bit more hatred towards bavarians which is sad because a Germany with equal people and no jealousy would be preferred by me.

It all sounds nice until the jealousy and hatred start because someone is "better" than the other.:wall:

Peasant Phill
12-15-2006, 11:52
Firstly, I was talking about people who want their own Flemish country, not more responsibility.

Unfortunatly it, together with the post of Antiochus, didn't gave that that impression. Especially the reference towards the ETA was anything but subtle. For your information the only time when a situation could be regarded as an armed coflict was when the 'ijzertoren' a tower that is a symbol for the Flemish movement was dynamited (twice) by unknown culprits.


And secondly, where did I say the german system makes me happy or anything like that? Whenever I hear some bavarian politician say something about bavarians being better germans than the rest of us, I develop a little bit more hatred towards bavarians which is sad because a Germany with equal people and no jealousy would be preferred by me.

It all sounds nice until the jealousy and hatred start because someone is "better" than the other.:wall:

Granted, you didn't mention your feelings toward the German governmental organization. Also, the expression of being superior just because the regions one lives in is richer than the regions around it is retarded. BUT don't dismiss the system just because some extreme rightwinger (borderline racist) needs to feel good about himself. Ask yourself if Bavaria is treated differently by the German federal government than the region you live in. If it is, than something is badly wrong with the German system. If not than there is nothing wrong with the system other than it supports the freedom of speech.

AntiochusIII
12-15-2006, 11:58
And Lastly, Husar and Antiochus, please don't compare the Flemish movement with the ETA and IRA. The Flemish movement has never resorted towards violence, only the political way. The demands for complete Flemish independence represents only a small percentage of the populace so don't call me a Bloody separate-everything-because-we-are-slightly-different weirdo for wanting more to say about my own region. I still believe in Belgium as a country, but I also believe that Flanders as a part in this country (and also Wallony) could do better if it got more responsibilities.I'm just making fun of the fact that, from my perspective, you people are living so close together it becomes -- honestly -- ludicrous that someone out there wants to have his own country on a continent where's there's quite a lot of very, very small countries already. To use an American analogy would be Western Massachusetts breaking apart from its eastern part because they're slightly different from each other -- from a foreigner's perspective, of course.

I couldn't care less if the nation in question has problems with its geographical distribution of power; that is a real issue and Flanders' desire for a more federal structure is not what I'm making fun of. Even the massive United States have a lot of problems with that: State's Right (a misnomer) vs a centralized Federal Government, anyone?

Quite frankly, from an outsider's perspective, you guys all look the same, sound the same, and act the same; then we see you "hating on" other like you're some sort of polar opposites with one side Paladins and the other Death Knights or something. :2thumbsup:

It's a joke anyway.

*you* as in a general term, referring to "European" in a greasy generalization, not any poster specifically. :smash:

BDC
12-15-2006, 12:40
I'm just making fun of the fact that, from my perspective, you people are living so close together it becomes -- honestly -- ludicrous that someone out there wants to have his own country on a continent where's there's quite a lot of very, very small countries already. To use an American analogy would be Western Massachusetts breaking apart from its eastern part because they're slightly different from each other -- from a foreigner's perspective, of course.

Of course the irony is that whilst every state wants to be free etc, they are all also joining the EU and losing freedoms (kind of).

doc_bean
12-15-2006, 13:31
I'm just making fun of the fact that, from my perspective, you people are living so close together it becomes -- honestly -- ludicrous that someone out there wants to have his own country on a continent where's there's quite a lot of very, very small countries already.

I *think* part of the problem might be the highly socialised governments most countries have. Big 'government' often leads to a majority dominating a minority who then want more pwoer for themselves. The solution is often federalism, but then the majority often gets pissed because the minoity group has a disproportionate amount of power (like in Belgium) and often 'exploits' the majority. This can to the majority wanting to get rid of the minority (by declaring independence).

There is no 'right' way of handling these situation. Currently the trend seems to be to both increase the power of the regional governments and the power of the EU. Thus we'd be evolving to a sort of US system, where not the countries but the regions could be regarded as 'states' (so Scotland instead of the UK, for example).

Kralizec
12-15-2006, 14:37
I think I'll have to come back on my earlier post. Then it seemed to me that this was a purely satirical stunt, but when I watched the news that evening I saw the executive of RTBF defending the broadcast because it would educate people about what the slogans used on the other side of the linguistical border would lead to (not a direct quote)
Ludicrous.


I'm just making fun of the fact that, from my perspective, you people are living so close together it becomes -- honestly -- ludicrous that someone out there wants to have his own country on a continent where's there's quite a lot of very, very small countries already. To use an American analogy would be Western Massachusetts breaking apart from its eastern part because they're slightly different from each other -- from a foreigner's perspective, of course.

The root of most of the frustration is not the fact that there are two different cultures...or at least not directly.
Flemings are annoyed by the fact that Wallony's economy can't pay for herself, that Walloons almost catagoricly refuse to learn Dutch and instead like to speak French in any part of the country, the "Frenchification" of Brussels and some other municipalities, et cetera.

Peasant Phill
12-15-2006, 15:54
I think I'll have to come back on my earlier post. Then it seemed to me that this was a purely satirical stunt, but when I watched the news that evening I saw the executive of RTBF defending the broadcast because it would educate people about what the slogans used on the other side of the linguistical border would lead to (sic)
Ludicrous.

That's the whole point. The first time I heard about it, I made the connection with Welles and had a good laugh but than came the comments on it. A team doing 2 years research on the topic honestly believed this was a likely scenario. Furthermore he uses argumentations that when looking them over for just an hour (how hard is it to read election programs of political parties) can totaly be ruled out. If a research journalist working 2 yearson a topic is still convinced of this retarded (I'm not using this word lightly) idea, then I fear what the common Walloon thinks about his fellow countrymen in the north. :shame:

OT Kralizec, if you like this kind of thing try locating the shortfilm 'Flemish omelet'. It's about the Netherlands reannexing Flanders and not a bad movie at all.


The root of most of the frustration is not the fact that there are two different cultures...or at least not directly.
Flemings are annoyed by the fact that Wallony's economy can't pay for herself, that Walloons almost catagoricly refuse to learn Dutch and instead like to speak French in any part of the country, the "Frenchification" of Brussels and some other municipalities, et cetera.

Yes and no to this. IMO (as a master in public management) the difference in culture is the direct cause, but you have to see culture in its broadest sense.
The language and everything around it is a very obvious source of frustration. Although I think that its more a matter of the past (like Polish people being very sensitive when it comes to German people).
The other big source of frustration is the way of life which translates itself in governmental culture (= way of governing). Walloons have a southern attitude like South France, Spain and Italy while Flemings have a northern attitude like the Netherlands and Scandinavia. Flemish government wants to make it better for Flemings by helping to help themselves (which means the occasional sacrifice) while Wallony don't want to make those sacrifices and helps their populace directly. An example about unemployment (a bit overstreched to make a point): Flanders will try to get companies to make more profit => company expands => company hires. Walloon government on the other hand will just hire unemployed themselves.
In the eyes of Flemish people this is just wasteful (certainly if they have to pay for it to) but for a Walloon this is the government helping effectively. Which one is better?

The biggest frustration however comes when both cultures of governing have to work together. Flemish politicians complain that Walloon politicians want to keep the system as it is because it is easier and better for them and the Walloon politicians complain that the Flemish politicians want to get rid of them now Flanders has become richer than Wallony.

Moros
12-15-2006, 15:57
I was already looking for this thread.

Personally I'm fanatically against the separation. But I can't see the humour of it either. I don't understand why the RTBF did that, who's going to believe them from now on. Personally I don't watch French television, but if I would, RTBF would now be something like FOX. It being a shame for a journalist to work there, if yu can still call them that.

I fdon't find it funny at all, still my greatest respect for those who went protesting.

Kralizec
12-15-2006, 16:04
OT Kralizec, if you like this kind of thing try locating the shortfilm 'Flemish omelet'. It's about the Netherlands reannexing Flanders and not a bad movie at all.

I'll look that one up :beam:


In the eyes of Flemish people this is just wasteful (certainly if they have to pay for it to) but for a Walloon this is the government helping effectively. Which one is better?

I doubt that if Wallony could pay for such government spending by itself, many Flemings would complain.

Moros
12-15-2006, 16:10
I doubt that if Wallony could pay for such government spending by itself, many Flemings would complain.
Indeed they would. If they even couldn't find anything that could complain about, they'd make stuff up. But ofcourse there's always one of those 4 million who's so stupid to give them one. And if that's not th case, they do a trick like this.

doc_bean
12-15-2006, 17:25
Yes and no to this. IMO (as a master in public management) the difference in culture is the direct cause, but you have to see culture in its broadest sense.
The language and everything around it is a very obvious source of frustration. Although I think that its more a matter of the past (like Polish people being very sensitive when it comes to German people).
The other big source of frustration is the way of life which translates itself in governmental culture (= way of governing). Walloons have a southern attitude like South France, Spain and Italy while Flemings have a northern attitude like the Netherlands and Scandinavia. Flemish government wants to make it better for Flemings by helping to help themselves (which means the occasional sacrifice) while Wallony don't want to make those sacrifices and helps their populace directly.

Except Scandinavian countries are most known for directly hiring people (certainly Norway), as a master of public management, you should know that :jester:

I don't think the difference between the two parts of the country is that big, we're both lazy people who almost completely lack entrepeneurship and who'd rather be unemployed in the town where they were born than making good money a few 100 kilometers away. Okay, their politicians seem even less concerned with good government than ours, but let's not forget Flanders essentially ruled the country for over 50 years or so (when was the last time we had a Walloon as prime minister ?).
We both love playing the underdog so we can complain that we don't get what we are entitled to (Govzernment money, letters in our own language, radio station reception, whatever else we can come up with).

Peasant Phill
12-15-2006, 17:59
Except Scandinavian countries are most known for directly hiring people (certainly Norway), as a master of public management, you should know that :jester:

touché. But in al seriousness, the bottomline of my argument was correct. The southern-northern difference involves also the role of the leader (president, mayor, ...), adoption of corporate techniques amongst other things.


I don't think the difference between the two parts of the country is that big, we're both lazy people who almost completely lack entrepeneurship and who'd rather be unemployed in the town where they were born than making good money a few 100 kilometers away. Okay, their politicians seem even less concerned with good government than ours, but let's not forget Flanders essentially ruled the country for over 50 years or so (when was the last time we had a Walloon as prime minister ?).
We both love playing the underdog so we can complain that we don't get what we are entitled to (Govzernment money, letters in our own language, radio station reception, whatever else we can come up with).

Again true, we are not without our similarities. BUT I wouldn't call Flemings lazy at all just because some of us are. I was under the impression Flemish people had the opposite reputation. I don't know about the Walloons as I don't base myself on stereotypes.

Why would Walloon politicians be less concerned just because they don't have a the prime minister? Believe me when I say they have more political power than their populace alone give them. Don't forget that for every change to the constitution in favor of Flanders Wallony got something in return.

Louis VI the Fat
12-15-2006, 20:40
:laugh4:



-->I feel sorry for the Belgians that really panicked thoughHehe, it were only the Walloons who panicked. The Flemings were dancing in the streets with joy...:laugh4:

***



The worst thing is, if we really had declared independence, I would have learned from a gaming messageboard...This is quite telling of the cultural divide in Belgium. Half the country is in a state of uproar and outrage while the other half is not even aware of anything.

***



This "joke" also shows the power of the media and how they can make us believe what they want us to believe Aye. But it also shows how accustomed Belgians have become to the weird and the bizarre being a reality in their country.

For one thing, we must never lose sight of the most basic distinction on the planet. That is that all of the earth's different countries and cultures can be classified as belonging to either of two groups: the first group consisting of Belgium, the second of everybody else.

A sudden collapse of the Belgian state would be as a calm, logical event in comparison to the usual madness and mayhem of Belgian headlines: Prince Laurent, nine layers of government, the affaire Agusta, 'temporarily insane' monarchs, les tueries du Brabant, Dutroux, Dutroux escaping, Lernout and Hauspie, the Belgian football team...

The absurd IS the reality in Belgium. Hence the need for a sense of humour and why I fully support this RTBF 'joke'. :smash:

***



I wanted to post about this yesterday but couldn't find any English sources.
Hah! Outgoogled. My skillz pwnrz yours :whip:

I must say though, that just as in that other Belgium thread a few months ago, my opinions are remarkably close to yours on almost every account. :2thumbsup:

***

Sardo
12-15-2006, 23:08
This is quite telling of the cultural divide in Belgium. Half the country is in a state of uproar and outrage while the other half is not even aware of anything.
Quite telling of my disconnect with reality, more like. :embarassed:
Seriously though, I don't know if there are all that many people here who watch the French-language channels - I know I don't. But then my French is really lousy.

I did catch a French newspaper headline on the train home though: Le RTBF reste credible (ceci est une fiction). Gave me a chuckle.

doc_bean
12-16-2006, 14:08
Oh fantastic, the Walloons are already trying to form a front against Flemish demands, calling certain issues 'non negotiable , and then they're surprised some of us want independence :wall:

Louis VI the Fat
12-16-2006, 22:35
Our resident Flemings making their contribution to world civilization, while we can but stand in awe at Flanders' cultural refinement:


Sardo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVZ6kdJEuB0)
Andres the Cunning (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJa2NXbebc4&mode=related&search=)
Gertgregoor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4owyjiOGy0Y&mode=related&search=) and mates.
Peasant Phil, Pheasant Pill, whatever. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iCUIFBkopY)
Grandmeister jumpen doc_bean (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CgmwQ__-1g)



Hehe...~;p

Andres
12-16-2006, 22:44
Our resident Flemings making their contribution to world civilization, while we can but stand in awe at Flanders' cultural refinement:


Sardo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVZ6kdJEuB0)
Andres the Cunning (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJa2NXbebc4&mode=related&search=)
Gertgregoor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4owyjiOGy0Y&mode=related&search=) and mates.
Peasant Phil, Pheasant Pill, whatever. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iCUIFBkopY)
Grandmeister jumpen doc_bean (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CgmwQ__-1g)



Hehe...~;p

:laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4:



Oh fantastic, the Walloons are already trying to form a front against Flemish demands, calling certain issues 'non negotiable , and then they're surprised some of us want independence

Certain issues are "non negotiable". What else is new? I hope for once and for all the Flemish parties make a front, instead of their eternal quarrel.

If for once all Flemish parties would stop their petty disputes, unite and defend their points together, without backstabbing each other, everything would become negotiable.

Allthough I really don't like the attitude of the walloons when it comes to "communautaire" issues, I have to admit they at least stick together and always end up as the winner of these kind of negotiations.

If Flanders really want more powers for the regions without giving outrageous, exaggerated compensations, the Flemish parties will need to learn how to use Flanders' strong position and how to negotiate.

Shaka_Khan
12-17-2006, 00:25
Countries like Fiji wouldn't panick over over a coup, South Korea wouldn't panick over a threat of an invasion from the North. They're used to these things.

doc_bean
12-17-2006, 11:18
Our resident Flemings making their contribution to world civilization, while we can but stand in awe at Flanders' cultural refinement:


Sardo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVZ6kdJEuB0)
Andres the Cunning (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJa2NXbebc4&mode=related&search=)
Gertgregoor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4owyjiOGy0Y&mode=related&search=) and mates.
Peasant Phil, Pheasant Pill, whatever. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iCUIFBkopY)
Grandmeister jumpen doc_bean (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CgmwQ__-1g)



Hehe...~;p

I'll get you for this Frenchie.....

Fragony
12-17-2006, 12:44
Went from 'about bloody time' to 'best joke ever', let those arrogant wallo's sweat a little. At least learn to say 'dank u' instead of 'merci' for flemish cash.