Little Belgium (7)

Belgium is shaken up nowadays. A day after the collapse of the government the Belgians got another shock, when various media reported that Roger Vangheluwe, bishop of Bruges, confessed to years of sexual abuse of a nephew. This confession came only a week after he had given a lecture at K.U Leuven’s Theology faculty where blank faced, he answered questions on the paedophilia scandals in the Catholic Church.

Permanently Pissed (1)

“MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE”

For quite a while now I’ve wanted to try my hand at writing something that’s a bit philosophical. I mean, I would like to talk about matters and events, both ordinary and exceptional, and look at them from a point of view inspired by some philosophy or philosopher. I thought long and hard about an interesting topic but no light bulb lit up. So I decided to go grab some beer (to create the conditions for inspiration). And what do you know... even before a gulp of that wonder drink, something that happened three years ago rushes back to me.

Little Belgium (6)

For the fourth time in two years Belgium is at the time of writing almost without government. The electoral and juridical district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, known as BHV, is at the heart of the current political crisis. Flemish legislators want to divide the district, separating largely French-speaking, but officially bilingual Brussels, from the other Flemish areas that surround it. That would stop French-speaking politicians from seeking votes in Flemish areas and end special bilingual rights for 70,000 French speakers living in Flanders, but outside Brussels. However, Walloon legislators are blocking the changes, fearing that their power will erode, that the Flemish are doing some legal ethnic cleansing and that the only motivation Flemish politicians have is to further erode Belgium until they see the end of it.

Little Belgium (4)

IN BRUGES

After watching the hilarious and unexpectedly successful movie ‘In Bruges’ (2008) Belgian boyfriend B. decided to take me there as he was stunned by the fact that after having spent some good four years in Belgium, my first images of Bruges indeed came from the film. The picturesque town, on the screen frequently referred to as both ‘a shithole’ and ‘a fairy tale’, is among Belgians however commonly known as the ‘Venice of the north’.