Belgium -- Secession or civil war?

[Abdul Alhazred]

:D

It's the end of Belgium as we know it (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2505108,00.html) (UK Times)

...

About 6 million of Belgium’s 10.5 million people live in Flanders, 3.5 million in Wallonia, and a million in Brussels. All the main political parties are based on linguistic groups and both regions have their own parliaments. Flanders is now the wealthiest of the two halves but painful memories linger from the 19th century when the French-speaking aristocracy held sway.

...

[The Don]

Oh, flipping heck, even The Times has become illiterate

Flanders is now the wealthiest of the two halves

I sense Digger's malign influence

[Grammatron]

Stupid Flanders...

[hgc]

Funny, seeing this reminded me of an article I read in the New York Review of Books years ago titled, "Is There a Belgium?" I've found the link (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=283), but it costs $3 to read the archived article.

The author, in the wake of the horrible mishandling by the Belgian police of a big child kidnap/torture ring, questions whether there is any point to Belgium existing in at all.

[Abdul Alhazred]

The author, in the wake of the horrible mishandling by the Belgian police of a big child kidnap/torture ring, questions whether there is any point to Belgium existing in at all.

As opposed to a great big hole in the ground?

There's land with people on it. So if no Belgium then some acceptable alternative.

[Forty-Two]

I am appalled by the number of Rule 8 violations in this thread! Appalled!

(Sorry; I return you to your Very Serious Discussion.)

(Oh, and to the Brits who read the original version: Yeah, yeah, I know.)

[hgc]

As opposed to a great big hole in the ground?

There's land with people on it. So if no Belgium then some acceptable alternative.
No, as in being separate countries, or its parts being parts of other countries. Or something. Imagine a world without Belgium. No Belgian chocolate. No Hercule Poirot. No endives. No Simenon. No Duvel.

[Merko]

Maybe it's been posted a lot before in this forum, but:
http://zapatopi.net/belgium/

Anyway, apparently Belgian TV performed a stunt recently where they for several hours pretended that Flanders had seceded. They interviewed real politicians, experts, etc, giving their opinion on the development, all taking part in the illusion. Obviously lots of people fell for it, at least initially.

Anyone knows anything more about this? :)

[Darth Rotor]

:D

It's the end of Belgium as we know it (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2505108,00.html) (UK Times)
Civil war, in Belgium? The havn't the nerve to fight anymore, they are a nation of bureaucrats. (Bloody well educated bureacrats, of course.)

DR