The same old

I've been really busy lately with my job, playing FIFA 2006, following the news and catching up on some reading. I'm currently wrestling through 600 pages on the birth of the Flemish nationalist movement. Very interesting and quite revealing. I promise I will follow up on this in the future. So only a quick rant ...

So what's new then? Or perhaps, what's old news?

Day one-hundred-and-who's-counting of being without a federal government in one of the richest countries in the world. Let's all nag, bitch and whine about it, please! Although I seem to have noticed that besides all the angry letters in the newspapers people don't really care anymore. And in fact they shouldn't, cause I don't know if you've noticed, but the world hasn't stopped turning. Life as we know it isn't that different of any other day in any other month of any other year... No matter what in the end everything will turn out fine. Cause that's how lucky we are. Our political system might fall apart, the waterlevel might rise dangerously, we can build walls, plant flags, and we can sell the little amount of freedom we still have left. But at the end of the day, we're all still rich and spoiled. And that's all that seems to matter...

The great leader 800.000 people voted for in June is looking more and more as a puppet on a string. And Bart De Wever is still pulling all the strings.
1* All the hard work Herman Van Rompuy (and mind you, I'm not a fan of him either) has put in to bring back all the different sides to the table has been for nothing. Or close to nothing. Bart De Wever managed to get into conflict with the man who cleaned up his mess. Herman Van Rompuy didn't like his attitude very much and decided to leave the 'peace talks'. So we're back to square one. And again, who gets the blame? Milquet! For not wanting to put up with Bart De Wever's bullshit.
2* Yves Leterme only speaks of 4 parties around the table nowadays. These parties being: MR, SP, Open-VLD and CD&V/NVA ? Since when did these last two officially join? Is Jo Van Deurzen, CD&V president, completely redundant now? Or was he already from the start?

But the talks continue and more and more about the next government is known. The more I hear, the less I like to hear. It seems we're directly going into a radical right wing direction. Eight years of semi-progressive leadership has gone down the drain. Thank you narrow minded, hate bearing, conservative asswipes!

And besides all of that hypocrisy is already reigning supreme. CD&V, formerly in the opposition, along with the media spit out the former socialist minister of budget, Freya Van Den Bossche. Mainly for making one-time measures to get the budget right at the end of the year. But one of the leading ideas in the currenct budget talks is to diminish the part in shares of all governmental companies. As there are only three -or so- left. The next government is going to give away their majority of shares in the communication and transport sector. A one-time measure that's going to have a direct inpact on the market position and the jobs of thousands of people. Well done, Mr Leterme!