Brussels, Belgium

On this Thursday last, Jan and I decided to take a little trip to Brussels. I had some business to take care of at the US Embassy, so we decided to do some sight seeing while we were there. The day was rainy, sleety, and cold. Not the best day for checking out the sights, but it was still interesting and fun. Enjoy the pictures.

Belgian Parliament Building

Brussels Park

Parc de Bruxelles (French) or Warandepark (Dutch), wrongly called Parc Royal in French, is the largest urban public park in the center of Brussels. It is surrounded by the Royal Palace of Brussels, the Belgian parliament and the U.S.A. embassy. In the summer, free parties are organized every weekend in the heart of this park. There is also the Théâtre Royal du Parc (Dutch: Parktheater) on its border.

Its main paths and fountain are laid out in the form of masonic symbols (in particular the compass).

Jesus in a "fish suit," really?

Royal Palace.

The EU Parliament

Espace Léopold (French, commonly used in English) or Leopoldsruimte (Dutch) is the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels housing the European Parliament, a legislative chamber of the European Union.

It consists of the Paul-Henri Spaak building (which houses the debating chamber), the Altiero Spinelli building, two new buildings known as D4 and D5 and a newly refurbished building with was the former entrance to the Brussels-Luxembourg Station. The buildings are located in the European quarter in the east of Brussels, with building starting in 1989.

The complex is not the official seat of Parliament, which is the Immeuble Louise Weiss in Strasbourg, France, but as most of the other institutions of the European Union are in Brussels, Parliament built the Brussels complex in order to be closer to their activities. A majority of the Parliament's work is now geared to its Brussels site, but it is legally bound to keep Strasbourg as its official home.

Parc du Cinquantenaire and the Military History Museum

St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral

The St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral is located at the Treurenberg hill in Brussels. In Dutch it is called Sint-Michiels- en Sint-Goedelekathedraal, usually shortened to "Sint-Goedele".

In 1047, Lambert II, Count of Leuven founded a chapter in this church and organized the transportation of the relics of Saint Gudula, before then housed in Saint Gaugericus Church on Saint Gaugericus Island. The church patron saints, archangel St. Michael and the martyr St. Gudula, are also the patron saints of the city of Brussels.

In the thirteenth century, the cathedral was renovated in the Gothic style. The choir was constructed between 1226 and 1276. The facade was completed in the mid-fifteenth century.

It is an archiepiscopal cathedral of the Archbishop of Mechlin-Brussels, the Primate of Belgium, currently Cardinal Godfried Danneels. It is located in the national capital and therefore often used for Catholic ceremonies of national interest, such as royal marriages and state funerals.

The south tower contains a 49-bell carillon by the Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry on which Sunday concerts are often given.

Manneken Pis and Environs

Manneken Pis (Brabantian for little man wee) is a Brussels landmark. It is a small bronze fountain sculpture depicting a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin. Similar statues can be found in the Belgian cities of Geraardsbergen, Hasselt, Gent and in the North French village of Broxeele, a town with the same etymology as Brussels. There is an ongoing dispute over which Manneken Pis is the oldest - the one in Brussels or the one in Geraardsbergen.

There are several legends behind this statue, but the most famous is the one about Duke Godfrey II of Leuven. In 1142, the troops of this two-year-old lord were battling against the troops of the Berthouts, the lords of Grimbergen, in Ransbeke (now Neder-over-Heembeek). The troops put the infant lord in a basket and hung it in a tree, to encourage them. From there, he urinated on the troops of the Berthouts, who eventually lost the battle.

Another legend goes like this: In the 14th century, Brussels was under siege by a foreign power. The city had held their ground for quite some time. The attackers had thought of a plan to place explosive charges at the city walls. A little boy named Juliaanske from Brussels happened to be spying on them as they were preparing. He urinated on the burning fuse and thus saved the city.

Grand Place

The Grand Place (French: Grand-Place or Grand Place, Dutch: Grote Markt) is the central market square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guild houses, the city's spectacular Town Hall and the Breadhouse (Dutch: Broodhuis, French: Maison du Roi). The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels.

The town hall was constructed between 1402 and 1455. The original architect was probably Jacob van Thienen. The gothic tower was designed by architect Jan van Ruysbroeck. At the top of the tower stands a statue of St. Michael, the patron of Brussels.

In the 13th century the predecessor of the Breadhouse was a wooden building where bakers sold their bread in a covered market: the Dutch name Broodhuis recalls this function. It was replaced in the 15th century by a stone building for the administration of the duke of Brabant; when the duchy fell to the Habsburgs, the Maison du duc (Duke's house) became the Maison du Roi (King's house). In 1873, the city entrusted architect Victor Jamaer to restore the battered structure in neo-gothic style.

The Grand Place was first laid out after the construction of the town hall, at the centre of the city's commercial district. Neighboring streets still reflect the area's origins, named after the sellers of butter, cheese, herring, coal and so on. The original Grand Place was a medley of buildings constructed between the 15th and 17th centuries in a variety of styles.

On August 13, 1695, a 70,000-strong French army under Marshal François de Neufville, Duke of Villeroy attacked Brussels in retaliation for the League of Augsburg's attack on French-held Namur in what is now southern Belgium. The French launched a massive bombardment of the city centre with cannons and mortars, setting it on fire and flattening the majority of the Grand Place. Only the stone shell of the town hall and a few fragments of other buildings remained standing.

The square was rebuilt in the following four years by the city's guilds. Their efforts were regulated by the city councilors and the Governor of Brussels, who required that their plans be submitted to the authorities for their approval. This helped to deliver a remarkably harmonious layout for the rebuilt Grand Place, despite the ostensibly clashing combination of Gothic, Baroque and Louis XIV styles.

Update

I've been here in Belgium for almost two months now, and I can say that I'm find this country, and its people, very strange. The Belgians tend to be somewhat racist. The thing is that I don't think that they know that they're being racist. They have this tradition here called Black Peter. Now I don't know if this is a European thing or what, but the gist is that Santa has this sidekick who is this stereotypical 1860's little black man. Oh, it's horrible. This is further illustrated in the music shops. You're not going to find hip-hop, or R&B, rather...well look at the picture...

Speaking of music stores, and music. I don't really think that words have quite the same meaning in Flemish as English. Or if they do, they don't have quite the same impact. I'll let you decide.

Finally, we seem to have adopted a little fluffy critter. Well, when I say we, I mean Jan.

Genocide Olympics

Where have you been? What have you done to make a difference? I think that these are all valid questions that we all need to ask ourselves, and I include myself. The situation in Darfur is worsening. More and more people are dying. "Why should I care?" "What's in it for me?" Both questions that I'm sure you're going to be asking. I'm going to tell you what's in it for you...we are all humans. We are all residents of spaceship Earth, and we MUST help to protect those in need, those who scream out in the night and the wilderness for help. We can hear their voices. In the dark and the despair they are calling to us for help. They want to live their lives where baby boys don't have their penises cut off so they bleed to death. They want to live there lives where the women don't have to worry about being gang raped by 200 para-military soldiers. They want to live their lives where they, and their families, can have a home and it is safe to walk outdoors without the fear of high altitude bombers destroying their villages. If you have not watched "On Our Watch" from PBS-Frontline, you need to. You can watch it online here. It is imperative that as many people as possible see this, and are motivated to take action.

Now is the time for all of us to take action! For too long China has stood in the way of progress in Darfur. Too long has China hemmed and hawed over doing what must be done all for black gold. Now there is a way to hit China where it hurts and that is in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. China has much riding on these Olympics. They're trying to show to the whole world that China is a first-world player on the world stage. They are hoping that these events will propel them to a leadership roll in world politics. That's the best place to hit them. We threaten their games. We need to write letters to all the corporate sponsors; Steven Spielberg (the artistic director for the games); to the Olympic committees of our various home countries. This can seem the daunting task. However, don't despair. If you go to Olympic Dream for Darfur everything, including the letters, are waiting for you.

Besides Olympic Dream for Darfur, please visit Sudan Reeves, Save Darfur, Oxfam, and Darfur Genocide for more information. It may be a cliché question, but it still needs to be asked..."If not now, then when?"

PLEASE FORWARD THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. You're not going to receive any wishes if you send it to ten friends. The only thing you'll receive is the peace-of-mind that you did something to help.

Below you will find an Op-Ed written by Mia Farrow, and printed in the Wall Street Journal (taken from http://www.miafarrow.org/editorials.html).

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Published in The Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2007

China Can Do More on Darfur

By MIA FARROW

As Khartoum's largest and closest business partner, China has provoked outrage from the international community for underwriting genocide in Darfur. In recent months, Beijing has responded with steadily increasing talk about its commitment to promoting peace in the region. But it has taken no meaningful action.

Beijing apparently has two strategies. The first is to preserve its alliance with Sudan in order to meet its massive oil needs. The second is to fashion its brand new image -- one that befits the host of the 2008 Olympic games. The two are inconsistent.

Genocide Sudanese style is expensive. It requires the purchase of bombers, attack helicopters and a steady flow of arms and ammunition for their proxy killers, the Janjaweed militia. It is no longer a secret that some 70% of Sudan's Chinese oil revenues, which now top $1 billion per year, have been used by the Khartoum government to attack the non-Arab population in the remote Darfur region.

Under intense international pressure, China for the first time did not abstain from signing on to the newest United Nations Resolution to provide a protection force for Darfur. But scrutiny of the various incarnations of U.N. Resolution 1769 reveals that China signed only after removing some of its sharpest teeth: The resolution has no mandate to disarm the Janjaweed, and no provision to protect Darfur's borders in eastern Chad and the Central African Republic. The Darfur spillover is threatening to topple both impoverished and unstable countries. Although China has made numerous glib statements in support of the proposed peacekeeping force, the force's command, capabilities and composition effectively remain in the hands of the Sudanese regime.

China, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, has rejected imposing any form of sanctions on its Sudanese partners, thereby allowing Khartoum to continue its campaign of destruction with impunity. Furthermore, Beijing has refused to commit to an arms embargo even in the face of documented and increasingly publicized evidence that Chinese arms shipments to Sudan are destined for Darfur.

Despite claims by both the Chinese and the government of Sudan that the situation in Darfur has improved, the U.N. and humanitarian organizations on the ground present a very different picture: Security is rapidly declining, and the threat of humanitarian organizations withdrawing grows by the day.

On Sept. 24, Oxfam announced that it is on the threshold of pulling out personnel due to worsening security. This week, escalating violence in the region caused World Vision, a New York-based aid group, to cut its team by two-thirds. World Vision had been feeding 500,000 people.

Many camps are so unsafe that humanitarian work is grinding to a halt. Attacks on aid workers rose 150% in the last year. An unprecedented one million vulnerable civilians are currently outside of humanitarian reach. UNICEF reports that in several camps 30% of the population is suffering from acute malnutrition.

Meanwhile, aerial attacks on civilians continue, according to an Amnesty International report of Aug. 24, 2007. Just this week in north Darfur, a breakaway faction of the rebel groups JEM and SLA Unity attacked the African Union base in Haskanita, killing at least 10 peacekeepers. Dozens are reported missing. The attack was strongly condemned by Suleiman Jamous, the most respected elder statesman among the rebels in Darfur.

"As rebels, we are losing the sympathy of the international community because of lack of control and divisions within the movements," said Mr. Jamous, a leading figure in the original Darfur rebel movement, the Sudan Liberation Army. "People are frustrated that the African Union is not able to protect them."

This latest horror underscores the urgent need for a rapid deployment of well-trained, well-supplied troops and fully qualified civilian police. Ironically, however, it is likely to make it more difficult for the U.N. to assemble the necessary peacekeepers.

What better time for China to step up and change its image? In the face of mounting criticism of its support of brutal repression and cultural destruction in Burma and Tibet, Darfur represents an opportunity for Beijing to create a positive impression -- and desperately needed favorable PR in anticipation of the 2008 Olympic games.

The Chinese have hired more than one prestigious international public-relations firm to clean up their image. But the words they are churning out about Darfur are, at this point, simply that. The undeniable fact remains that China continues to underwrite genocide and the immeasurable suffering of millions of human beings in the Darfur region of Sudan.

If Beijing elected to act rather than talk, there is plenty it could do. It could refuse to sell weapons to Sudan. It could insist that the Janjaweed be disarmed. It could demand that the regime stop bombing civilians. It could suspend new oil deals with Khartoum until there is security in Darfur. Even the threat of such actions would have an immediate effect.

The world should urge China to apply its unique and powerful leverage to bring an end to this continuing nightmare in Darfur and make its Olympic slogan -- "One world, one dream" -- a reality.

Ms. Farrow, an actress, has just returned from her seventh trip into the Darfur region.

Dear Red States

Here's a great posting on a site called Cronus Connection. Please read and enjoy!

Dear Red States

We're ticked off at the way you've treated California, and we've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us.

In case you aren't aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and the entire Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California....(Click here for the rest of the story).

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Stalemate between largest parties on both sides of language frontier worsens - International Herald ...

Stalemate between largest parties on both sides of language frontier worsens.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007