Live From Brussels

Klaartje and Penguin

At the Zoo with Klaartje

Next Embassy to Burn: Egyptian?

Heh, this is too funny. A blogger in Egypt has revealed that the Egyptian Newspaper Al Fagr reprinted the infamous Danish Mohammed cartoons, and this already back in October 2005! He has scans too, to prove it.

He also has a quite interesting theory as to why several Arab governments have been fueling the frenzy about the cartoons in their own population.  Hint: it has to do with distracting attention away from domestic problems.

Go see this: Rantings of a Sandmonkey: Boycott Egypt.

Can Bush Now Legally Invade Syria?

An interesting side-effect of the Danish cartoon affair might be the invasion of Syria by U.S. forces.  As you can read in this CNN article, the Norwegian and Danish embassies in Damascus were burned down by angry mobs on Sunday. 

Now, depending on the level of (passive) involvement by the Syrian regime, one could make the case this is an act of war.  And since Norway and Denmark are both NATO members, Bush can invoke article V of the NATO charter that says an attack on one member state is an attack against all of them...

Presto!  Legal casus belli... and no need to find further justifications in hidden WMD's, terror sponsoring or the need for 'regime change'.  Just point the tanks in Baghdad to Damascus and start driving...

Far fetched?  You bet.  Unlikely?  Probably. But would it hold up under 'international law'?  Not so sure about that.  But then again, that's the fun of blogging: you just make stuff up as you go and count on the commenters to flesh it out...

Gas Prices Drop to Zero in Belgium

It's true!  Just read in De Standaard, a leading paper, that the justice department will no longer prosecute for gasoline theft at service stations!  Just fill up your tank and drive off without paying...

Even if the owner gets your license plate and calls the cops, prosecution is unlikely to follow.  Laurette Onkelinx, Minister of Justice, said that it is just no use prosecuting in this kind of case.  The maximum jail time is too low, so even if a conviction is obtained the perpetrator walks away because there is not enough room in Belgian jails. 

And even getting a conviction involves too much effort in court, with long, drawn out procedures and people claiming they didn't intend to steal but just 'forgot' to pay.  So the reasoning goes: why bother?  Onkelinx claimed the department of justice is not an incasso-agency for pumpstation owners.

So, if you need gas, head to Belgium!

Source: Benzinedieven niet meer gestraft.

State of the Union X

More announcements on AIDS funding.

Calls for courage, to 'finish the job'.  Freedom.  Optimism.  Faith.  Confident of victories to come.

And it is over!

State of the Union IX

Values stuff.  Praises both Democrats and Republicans for this.  Drugs, abortion, crime etc. all falling.

No reason for pessimism.  Praises new members of Supreme Court.  Thanks the senate for confirming them.  They will uphold the law, not legislate from the bench.

Asks for legislation against cloning, human-animal hybrids etc.

Says he's agains corruptoin.  Duh!

The obligatory shout-out to his wife.

85 billions spent on Katrina aid already.

State of the Union VIII

More domestic stuff.  Not so interesting for me.  Healthcare, tort refom.  Bla bla...

Alternative energy sources.  The Advanced Energy Initiative.  Hydrogen, nucular, ethanol...

Ethanol practical within six years...

Replace oil imports from Middle East by 2025.

American Competitiveness Initiative.  Education reform.  Give children firm grounding in math and science.  More research funding and tax breaks.

More teachers etc. for math and sciences.

State of the Union VII

Describes economic achievements.  More jobs created than EU and Japan combined.  Growth is great.

Immigrants are good for the economy.

Make the tax relief permanent.

Reforms to cut spending.  Cut deficit in half by 2009.

Earmark reform.  Asks for line-item veto (again, hehe).

"Congress did not act on my proposal to save social security": The democrats actually applaud this!

Castigates them for this: the rising costs will not go away...

Calls to solve this problem in a bipartisan way.

Calls for more open markets.  Buy American!  With level playing field, no-one can out-compete the American worker.

Secure borders, stronger immigration enforcement and border protection.  Also rational and humane guest worker program (without amnesty!)

State of the Union VI

Talks about compassion and foreign aid.

Praises government departments fighting terrorism (DOHS, military...).  Standing ovation for them.  Asks for reauthorization of the Patriot Act.  Applause on one aisle (guess which).

Defends wiretapping, citing example of 911.  Calls it international surveilance.  Cites previous presidents and legal precedents for doing this.  "If people in the U.S. are talking to Al Qaeda, we want to know about it, because we will not sit and wait to be hit again."

Hillary Clinton smiling beatifically at this.

State of the Union VI

Talks about compassion and foreign aid.

Praises government departments fighting terrorism (DOHS, military...).  Standing ovation for them.  Asks for reauthorization of the Patriot Act.  Applause on one aisle (guess which).

Defends wiretapping, citing example of 911.  Calls it international surveilance.  Cites previous presidents and legal precedents for doing this.  "If people in the U.S. are talking to Al Qaeda, we want to know about it, because we will not sit and wait to be hit again."

Hillary Clinton smiling beatifically at this.

State of the Union V

Tears into critics of Iraq policy.  Describe what would happen if U.S. is to withdraw.  Kerry looks as if he doesn't like what George is saying.

Praises the military.  Quotes from a letter of a fallen marine.  The parents and sister get a standing ovation.  Calls to never forget sacrifices of military families.

Says defeating terrorism is not just military thing, but also battle of ideas.  Asks for more democracy over broader Middle East.  Mentions Egypt and Palestine.  Says Hamas must disarm, recognize Israel and work for lasting peace (and pigs should fly...)

Also says Saudi Arabia should democratize.  Middle Eastern democracy will not look like ours.

Calls Iranian govenment on supporting terrorism in Palestine.  No 'nucular' weapons for Iran.  Calls people of Iran hostages of small group of clerics.  Speaks directly to Iranian people.  Hopes to be friends one day with democratic Iran.

State of the Union IV

He just listed the 'new' axis of evil.  Zimbabwe and Syria are now on the list too.

He also seems to avoid the 'WMD' word.

But he does call the enemy by its name: 'Radical Islam'.  That's new.

Also mentions liberation of Europe.  Hint to the EU?

Listing where they are on the offensive.  Claims he does have a plan in Iraq.

Describes how far they've come in Iraq in three years.  Declares confidence in military, in Iraqis and in victory.

State of the Union III

And there he is!  Bush was just ceremonially announced.  A lot of smiling, hand shaking and picture taking ensues.

The CNN commentators mention that many representatives actually staked out seats on the aisles, often coming in hours before the speech, just so they could be in the picture when Bush walked in.

Bush was just announced by the speaker.  He's off!

He begins by eulogizing Coretta Scott King.

He is appealing for a more respectfull and civil debate.  And there is the phrase 'The State of our Union is Strong'.

He's making the case again for spreading democracy as a guarantee for American security.

State of the Union II

So, here we go...  I've lost count how often I've liveblogged the SOTU, but it has become a fun tradition for me.

So far, the representatives of the various branches of the government are coming in.  The atmosphere of this thing is special every year, and no press report in the Belgian media comes close to describing it...

State of the Union I

Well, I managed to stay awake this far.  Just saw on CNN that Cindy Sheehan was arrested for unfurling a banner inside the House of Representatives.  Guess she got what she came for... publicity.

Second Episode of "The IT Crowd"

I just watched the second episode of The IT Crowd, and I loved it.  Much better than the first episode, with fewer stale jokes and some great situation humor.  Loved the 'new emergency number' gag, the fake feet, the guy with the 'obscenity buzzer', the flaming fire extinguisher and of course the 'fire screensaver'.  Oh, and the whole 'e-mail to the fire department' joke.

Definitely a new series to follow...