Come on, we should meet at Château d'Hassonville, Marche-en-Famenne, there's everything you are dreaming of.

@ Traveller

Perhaps you have a point, but only with respect to 'our' generation, which is departing the scene....I suspect (but you may know better) that even in the beautiful Ardennes, around Houffalize and Bastogne, where the Battle of the Bulge was fought, the know-nothing Kapperts-of-the-world rule today.  Tavigny, Montleban, Steinbach....they are all part of 'Paradise Lost'.  What is going to become of Jambon d' Ardennes?    

@ Sepex

Indeed, Blueglasnost's statement on religion in Belgium was manifestly wrong or misinformed. Your correction was needed and is a welcome one, but it could have been more informative and precise.  We do not want to leave Blueglasnost 'in the dark' any longer. 

The "prevailing" 'religion' in Belgium is indifference and/or agnosticism, and the "dominant one" (in terms of protection provided by the political authorities via controlling critical speech) is islam. The French-speaking southern part (Wallonia) is largely atheist (and socialist). The Dutch-speaking northern part (Flanders) is still culturally Roman-Catholic, but only a small minority is 'practicing' that religion. Protestantism is only a marginal phenomenon in Belgium, i.e. virtually absent.

It is obvious that the English accented translator used to translate from German to English is a blind multi-cultist, he seemed to share and convey the same emotions as the German, rather than merely translate his words.

____

Defend Christendom. Defend Jewry. Oppose socialism in Europe.

I am also inclined to say Mr Farage was being necessarily rude, for an authority to command proper respect it must derive its powers from some kind of legitimacy, which is clearly not Mr Van Rompuy's case. Perhaps some would like to counter this particular point by positing Mr Van Rompuy has been nominated by the European Council. Nothing could be further from the truth; the Lisbon Treaty provides for election through unanimity or consensus, and we all know Mr Van Rompuy was actually Mrs Merkel's protégé, even the hapless Gordon Brown did not quite like the appointment although he pretended otherwise. I have no respect whatsoever for that bunch of euro-apparatchiks presiding over 500 million mujiks, the very words they use suggest their underlying liking for communism (please note that Mr Schultz more than once called Mr Farage 'comrade' [der Kamarade Farage]), how not to draw comparisons with the late USSR then?

The tone of the intervention did not strike me as inappropriate, it is beyond dispute it was an ad hominem attack on Mr Van Rompuy but then explain how a proper 'democracy' could function if it were not for some emphasis laid on personalities? Practically every MEP has hitherto resorted to personal statements. Mr Farage has just been selected, because he begs to differ, as a convenient scapegoat.

Everything Mr Farage said was in effect true: (1) Mr Van Rompuy was not democratically elected (although other forms of legitimacy exist outside democracy), (2) next to nobody knew him prior to his anointement as President of one of the EU's major institutions (except for the 'Belgians' and a handful of outsiders), (3) I would like to stress Mr Van Rompuy was never elected Prime Minister of Belgium but was appointed by the King and was submitted to the polling booth in a parliamentary election with appalling results, and (4) Belgium is a non-country, it is a pure construct born out of some diseased minds, where most eurocrats see Belgium (or rather another of their numerous provinces) I seen Wallonia and Flanders, I see a French-speaking people and a Dutch-speaking people, the former largely Catholic, the latter vastly Protestant (notwithstanding aliens).

Mr Farage is essentially right and I dearly hope he will resist the whole bullying that is being imposed upon him, and will go down in history as a defender of British parliamentary liberty, an unswerving defender of his nation-state's integrity against Brussels' schemes and plottings. He has got more guts than most of the British House of Commons and the House of Lords put together (bar one or two stalwarts such as Daniel Hannan and Lord Pearson of Rannoch).   

Moreover, I fully agree that the fact the EU recognises 23 official languages is utterly preposterous, however, it is beside the point as we are not eurofanatics trying to advance their multi-culti fantasies. The whole institution must be torn down, anyway.

I believe that Mr. Farage was necessarily rude.  He had to be in order to convey the British spirit and draw attention to the anti-democratic and anti-liberal cynicism of his fellow MEPs. 

Well apparently mister Elaib Harvey, you are getting a big deal too excited about a little excitement about some unexciting storm in a bowl of waterzooi that shouldn’t have excited anybody in the first place. Not very exciting, all that.

@ KO

This particular "German member" is not just some member.  He is the leader of the group of socialist parties in the European Parliament. That makes him, more or less, the 'equivalent' of Nancy Pelosi.  While I am no fan of the latter, I do believe that her 'democratic' instincts are still somewhat stronger than those of this particular "German member". 

While Mr Farage spoke his mind, I do believe that he did so in an unncessary rude way.   His kind of language is certainly not typical for the US Congress and not even for the Westminster paliament.  Part of the problem, I believe, is the poor English language skills of the European parliament chairman, who failed to 'restrain' Mr Farage, something the speaker of the House of Commons in Westminster ("Order, order...!!") undoubtedly would have done.  I see this 'incident' as one more illustration of the need for a common language in a 'multi-ethnic society' aspiring to become 'trans-ethnic'.

What a fine speech in the best British parliamentary tradition!

Israeli commentator Carolyn Glick is no less acerbic regarding European abdication of its national interests:

http://www.carolineglick.com/

The German member seems to need a little dose of multiculturalism to be able to swallow British parliamentary liberty.