taxi - mayhem - taxi

There was something rather peculiar about the trouble with the Brussels area taxi-drivers last week. For those of you that missed the action, here's a short version of the facts :

The police does a spot check of the taxi-drivers at the airport. This is a logical thing to do, in order to pick up people at the airport you need a special license. Not many of those licenses are available. One of the unlicensed (for the airport) drivers tries to evade the check and drives off. A policeman tries to stop the taxi and gets lifted on the hood. The taxi continues on for another two kilometers at which point the policeman fires two shots, one of which grazes the driver. Pandemonium follows. In no time taxi-drivers from the Brussels area gather to the airport and block all the entryroads. And the main motorway around Brussels. For hours. Riots with the police are barely avoided, especially when word (a lie) gets around that the offending driver is dead.

No, I don't think the Brussels taxi drivers are right. On the contrary. The offending driver now faces murder charges and that is correct. And before saying stuff like he was shot like a dog, you should at least know the facts and also know that only the maddest of dogs are shot, most mad dogs are gassed.

What I did notice however was this. The television showed the rioting Brussels area taxi drivers. All of them (not a single exception) were coloured. All of them (not a single exception) were men. Many with a beard that Osama would have been proud of. Next the television showed the airport (licensed) taxi drivers. All of them (not a single exception) were white (caucasian). And several women there. All neatly shaved. The women too. The distinction between these two groups of people - doing the same job - could not have been bigger if you had planned it. And yet they do exactly the same job, not ten kilometers apart.

Strange.

adoption

Only a couple more Morrocan children need to be adopted directly by Belgian parents and Morroco will be on the official Belgian list of countries that couples searching through official channels for a child to adopt will be brought in contact with.

This all sounds very humane, does it not ? The parents get screened thoroughly before they are allowed to adopt. All in the best interest of the child.

Morroco has however imposed an unbreakable rule. The Belgian parents have to be muslim. And Morroco is not the only country which has such rules. The congregation of mother Theresa, that still has a stranglehold on adoption from India, imposes that the parents both have to be catholics (note that the main religion in India is Hinduism, followed by Islam) as well as being maried in church. The list of countries imposing rules is long.

Can somebody please explain to me how this is in the best interest of the child ? In Belgium state and religion are divided. Moreover, secularism is ingrained in every aspect of society.

What I do understand is that Belgium (the country where the child is going to live its life, yes ?) imposes rules. Against child trade for example. But accept rules that will marginalise the child ?

No, that I do not understand ...

closed garden

I went to Pairi Daiza (which apparantly means 'closed garden') yesterday. Its a zoo in Belgium which used to be rather focussed on birds (and went under the name of Paradisio).

The zoo, located at the site of an ancient abbey, pulls in a big crowd and has been steadily adding new ... attractions. There's a field near an old tower where demonstrations with birds of prey take place, there's a lemur island, there's giraffes and elephants are a recent addition. The grounds themselves are rapidly being extended, making it an interesting place to go back to now and then.

A recent addition (still being build but already mostly open) is the Hindu temple complex. This will no doubt become the home of the elephants, some monkeys and water buffalos are already there. Its very impressive. Very detailled. In fact its not clear whether its a real temple or not.

I say this because the following sign was on display : "The Hindu religion forbids women having their period to enter the temple complex. Covering clothes are mandatory in the temple complex.". This message was neatly displayed in three languages.

Excuse me ?

If it (the temple) is a copy, that (sign) is a very interesting detail. Hilarious in fact. It shows exactly how backward the Hindu religion is. How discriminating for women. Just like any other religion (I do not discriminate) !

If it (the temple) is real it (the sign) is an insult. This is a zoo. In Belgium. Women pay no less entryfee. They are not informed that part of the complex may not be accessible for them at certain times of the month.

As for clothing restrictions ... are you kidding me ? Again, it is a zoo. In Belgium. The monkeys in the temple complex were showing their bare bottoms and since it was 20+ celcius (which is 'hot' for Belgium) their was a lot of other 'flesh' in view too. Some of it was definitely 'too much' ;-) ..., but that's my personal opinion, not something that I'd impose upon other people.

Preoccupied

I've been a bit preoccupied these last months. A new member of planet Earths human population - my son - takes up a lot of time. As a lot of Nord-African countries are finding out these days, a lot can happen in a short timespan (let alone in several months).

Not so in Belgium. We now officially hold the world record for government formation, each day proving that we do not actually need one (a government that is, so far we have been unable to do without daylight). This my fellow Earthlings, is what is called a technocracy. Regardless of who is at the top (and mostly regardless of what these people say or - think they - decide), the wheels of the administration keep turning and so do the wheels of the country. The less corrupt this administration is and the more intelligent autonomous people it contains, the longer this situation can be kept going. And we seem to be doing well.

The only thing the Belgian population is concerned about is the fact that in the mean time, the politicians are still paid. Well paid. Was this money going to go to the technocracy instead (to keep it running smoothly and efficiently), nobody would complain one bit.