Arm Vlaanderen

In de rubriek "Doorgeprikt staat netjes" van De Standaard heeft de onovertroffen Mia Doornaert, voor mij zowat de "koningin" onder de Vlaamse journalisten, een opmerkelijk, hoewel licht pamfletair, artikel gepleegd waarin een aanzienlijk aantal Vlaamse dogmas en illusies worden doorgeprikt.
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Een paar pikante hoewel niet direct de meest relevante uitreiksels :
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"Begin deze week kregen we op het tv-nieuws de vijf lieden te zien van wie toen de toekomst van België afhing, namelijk de vijf parlementsleden van de N-VA. Het was niet bepaald een gezelschap staatslieden, en het schouwspel was niet geruststellend voor de toekomst van de natie."
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"Het wordt stilaan vechten tegen de bierkaai om dit alsmaar provincialistisch Vlaanderen diets te maken dat er een heel grote buitenwereld bestaat en dat de concurrentie om aanzien en welvaart bikkelhard is."
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"Het project van de ideologen ... wordt niet ingegeven door grootse dromen, maar door pleinvrees, door een zucht naar kleinheid, door de drang knus en klein onder elkaar provinciaal Vlaams te zitten zijn."
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"Hoe zelfstandiger Vlaanderen geworden is, hoe meer onze taal verloederde, ook op de openbare omroep ; ... hoe groter het wantrouwen werd tegen elegantie en wellevendheid, die als 'elitair' gebrandmerkt worden."
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Ook de loge van de Warande-broeders krijgt een paar vegen uit de pan. Mevrouw Doornaert was duidelijk ontstemd toen ze deze tekst schreef en is niet altijd even objectief. Maar dat zijn haar "tegenstanders" nooit.
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Ik heb echt genoten. Ik wou dat ik zo'n tekst kon schrijven !
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Not all our journalists are possessed by the Flemish bug. A sharp-penned article by a grand dame of Belgian journalism puts some of the reveries and daydreams of our parochial Flemish independentists in a sobering perspective.

Sudan

British teacher Gillian Gibbons, who perpetrated the heinous teddy bear of blasphemy on an unsuspecting Sudan, has been convicted of blasphemy, but will not face the lash for her crime.

Gibbons has been convicted of inciting religious hatred for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Muhammad and sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation from Sudan, one of her defense lawyers said Thursday.

The director of the school employing Gibbons noted that since she had already spent five days in prison, she would serve only 10 days.

“It’s a very fair verdict, she could have had six months and lashes and a fine, and she only got 15 days and deportation,” said Robert Boulos of the Unity High School, adding they would not appeal the decision.


Oh yes, very fair.


(From little green footballs)

November 29 1805

Catharina Theresia Van Cauwelaert died in Pamel, where she was born on February 14 1729.

She had two children with her first husband Judocus De Vidts (Pamel 1703 - 1750) and thirteen with her second husband Joannes Josephus Kestens (Pamel 1719 - 1778).

Catharina Theresia became a meisenier in 1751 ; her first husband was a meisenier in 1715 (at the age of ten ?).

The De Vidts line which I have used up to now comes from a very reliable source but I haven't checked it out personally.
However, mistakes do happen and at that time, even on the very same day, another Judocus (Joos) De Vidts became a meisenier. If the two have been swapped in the line, the previous generations would be different.
However, a quick check shows that the possible swap would not be all bad news.
The other Judocus was born in 1691 and disappeared in the mists of time : no marriage, no death reported, at least not in Pamel, so the "exchange" cannot be excluded. But even if he were the "correct one", nothing drastic would happen in the male line, because both were grandchildren of Judocus De Vidts (Pamel 1627 - 1694) : the first one by Petrus (Pamel 1655 - 1726), the second one by Martinus (Pamel 1652 - 1735) ; the female line would be different.

To be examined further : once more the importance of reconstructing the entire families becomes apparent.

Back to the subject of the post : Catharina Theresia Van Cauwelaert. Her eldest son was Petrus Joannes De Vidts (Pamel 1749 - 1793).

He had 10 children, of which Joannes Franciscus (Pamel 1784 - 1839) was the seventh.

For the further descendance : see the post on "November 24 1741".

November 29 1728

Petrus Paridaens died in Pamel on November 29 1728.

I already reported on him on his birthday - see the post "September 15 1655".

November 29 1666

On November 29 1666, Nicolaes Walravens died in Gooik. He was the farmer ("pachter") of Hof te Kranenbroek. He was born in Pamel ca 1610 and was the third husband of Maria Evenepoel (born ca 1600, who died in Gooik ca 1671).

A fact is that both my father and my mother descend from that couple in two different lines each.

Another fact is that I still haven't verified the correct descendance.

I described the problem in my post on "September 18 1671". But the solution probably is more complicated still. I now think that Joannes Jacobus Walravens, who married Maria Thienpont, and Anna Walravens, who married Egidius Huylenbroeck, were not brother and sister but aunt and nephew. In this hypothesis, Anna was a daughter of Nicolaes and Maria ; Joannes Jacobus was a son of their son Nicolaes who married Magdalena De Ro.

More about this later ; I have some new clues. But if there is any help out there, I'd be grateful.

Berucht

Voor één keer ben ik het volledig eens met onze - intussen beruchte - minister van Defensie. In de Kamer riep hij uit : "Als er iets is wat ik kan doen dat het Vlaams Belang stoort, zal ik het niet laten". Une fois n'est pas coutume : bravo, Flahaut !!

De even zeer beruchte Daniel Cohn-Bendit, voormalig boegbeeld van de Mei '68 revolutie, maar nu sedert jaren diep groen (wat zei de ook beruchte Franz-Joseph Strauss ook weer over onrijpe tomaten ?) : "Wat er nu bij jullie gebeurt, is krankzinnig. Zonder de euro was België al lang ontploft" en "In elk geval is het gewicht van België in de Unie nul". Volgens hem maakte onze dienstdoende eerste minister het verschil : ook niet echt een compliment ...

My favorite pianist ...

is Maria Joao Pires, born in Lisbon in 1944.

I heard her play Mozart in Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City. It must have been 1992 (or maybe 1995 - I should check the program).

It was an absolutely divine evening, one of the very best musical moments in my life. I fell in love with her art ... and almost with her too ...



That night, she played with her husband, violinist Augustin Dumay. The very next day I ran to the nearest record shop to buy some CD's.

If I am informed correctly, she has had very serious health problems since - it shows, but fortunately one does not hear it.

Two masters ...

Mozart and Linea

Euro-English

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where! more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru. Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

If zis mad you smil, pleas pas on to oza pepl.

Many thanks to my good friend Petar, who brought this very important message to my attention.

November 28 1815

Maria Francisca De Schepper was born in Iddergem on January 17 1744. She was a daughter of Petrus and of Catharina De Quick.

She married Petrus Asselman (Okegem 1729 - 1792) and had seven children. She died in Okegem on November 28 1815.

Franciscus (Okegem 1769 - 1865) was their third child - he lived to be 95.

His son Andreas (Okegem 1795 - 1875) was the eldest of seven and had a daughter Catharina Asselman (Okegem 1823 - 1892).

Catharina was the third of five and married Amandus Neukermans (Okegem 1824 - 1857).

My great-grandfather Hermilianus Neukermans (Okegem 1855 - 1932) was the fourth of their five children. Hermilianus has been named a number of times before.

November 28 1818

Franciscus Muylaert was born in Nieuwerkerken. He was a son of Jacobus (Nieuwerkerken 1779 - 1858) and of Barbara Schouppe (Aalst 1781 - Nieuwerkerken 1857).

Franciscus married Coleta Vlaeminck (Denderhoutem 1813 - 1891) in 1847.

They had three children of which my great-grandmother Blondina Muylaert (Denderhoutem 1849 - Pamel 1942) was the eldest.

But Blondina had four half-sisters and one half-brother : her mother Coleta was the widow of Baeyens Josephus (Denderhoutem 1805 - 1846) when she married Franciscus Muylaert.

November 28 1594

Petrina Grijseels was born in Denderhoutem on November 28 1594. She was a daughter of Pieter and of Cornelia Walckiers, who both died in 1639.

Petrina was the spouse of Petrus Guns (Denderhoutem 1595 - 1646). They had five children.

Their son Petrus Guns, one of a twin, was born in Denderhoutem in 1623. He had 10 children. His daughter Maria, born in Denderhoutem in 1660, was the mother of five, including Egidius Goossens (Denderhoutem 1695 - 1762).

Egidius was the father of 11 children, including Franciscus (Denderhoutem 1733 - 1778).

Maria Anna Goossens (Denderhoutem 1774 - 1852) was one of his eight children. She was the mother of nine ; Coleta Vlaeminck (Denderhoutem 1813 - 1891) was her seventh child and the mother of my great-grandmother Blondina Muylaert (Denderhoutem 1849 - Pamel 1942).

Ambras

Ambras voor welgeteld drie hoofddoeken in de stad Gent ? Ik stel vast dat mijn blog al een paar dagen echt zagerig wordt, maar alla, een laatste schep bovenop de rest.

Etienne Vermeersch, moraalfilosoof, juicht het hoofddoekenverbod in Gent toe. Al had hij nog liever een hoofddoekenverbod voor publieke functies in heel Vlaanderen gezien.

Vermeersch vindt het verkeerd om het hoofddoekenverbod als een actie tegen de islam te beschouwen. Alle mensen die in hun functie met het publiek in contact komen of verantwoordelijkheid dragen, moeten vrij zijn van levensbeschouwelijke tekenen omdat de openbare diensten neutraal moeten zijn. Waar deze discussie over gaat, is een gebrek aan inzicht over wat de civiele maatschappij werkelijk inhoudt, zegt Vermeersch. Als je op één punt aanvaardt dat je uiting mag geven aan je godsdienst in een publieke functie, zet je de deur open voor alles.

Moeten we dan aanvaarden dat een vrouw in burka lesgeeft, zoals dat nu al in Engeland gebeurt? Moeten we dan aanvaarden dat moslimvrouwen ons geen hand meer mogen geven? Dat we gescheiden zwembaden moeten bouwen? Of dat een arts een moslimvrouw niet meer mag behandelen?

Volgens Vermeersch zijn veel moslima's bovendien zelf niet consequent. Veel vrouwen zeggen dat ze de hoofddoek dragen, omdat de Koran dat voorschrijft. Als ze dat beweren, moeten ze het ook goed vinden dat de man zijn vrouw slaat en moeten ze homo's verderfelijk vinden. Het kan best pijnlijk zijn voor vrouwen dat ze nu hun hoofddoek niet meer mogen dragen aan het loket, maar men voert een achterhaald gevecht, aldus Vermeersch. "Ik hoop dat men de discussie over kledijvoorschriften uit de zevende eeuw eindelijk laat vallen en sereen nadenkt over wat een moderne islam in onze huidige samenleving kan betekenen."
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Criminals

The French prime minister François Fillon said that the youngsters who have been running amok near Paris on Sunday and Monday night are criminals. I do not often agree with the authorities, but that is the right word. No political correctness here.

Some websites were already writing about the third Paris intifada. But Tuesday night appears to have been calmer, mainly because of an important deployment of police.
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And I see no reason to call the forty or so youngsters, who have been terrorizing the tenants of two social appartment blocks in St Gillis, Brussels, by any other name. That behaviour is common in many bigger towns and cities, but is systematically under reported or ingnored. Political correctness, you know.

Free competition

De vrije markt is een van de basisprincipes van de heersende economische godsdienst en zijn dogmas.

In de electriciteitssector heeft de overheid, zonder veel succes, hemel en aarde bewogen om het monopolie van Electrabel te doorbreken en te ondergraven. De markt is, met de jungle van verschillende aanbiedingen, totaal ondoorzichtig geworden. Maar concurrentie moet er zijn, liefst wanneer ze enkel op papier bestaat.

Maar voor Telenet ligt het anders. Dat bedrijf ontstond, jaren geleden, uit de technologische natte droom van een Mechels politicus. De klantvriendelijkheid van dat bedrijf is legendarisch. Een klein voorbeeld : hoeveel TV zenders hebben ze al van de kabel gehaald, zogezegd om technische redenen, waarvoor de klant geen enkele compensatie gekregen heeft ? Klachten worden te laat of niet beantwoord enz ... Klanten zijn een nodig, maar vervelend detail.

Telenet wordt nu wel de moopolist voor kabeldistributie van TV in Vlaanderen. De nog bestaande intercommunales, verenigd in Interkabel, met 800.000 klanten, verkopen hun markt aan de Mechelse monopolist. Die 800.000 klanten, of zijn het gezinnen, worden nu ongevraagd klant bij Telenet. Gelukkig zijn de pogingen van Telenet om ook in Wallonië stevig voet aan de grond te krijgen tot nu toe mislukt.

Het zenderaanbod van Telenet is rotzooi, al moet ik toegeven dat de meeste "ernstige" zenders al even goed verzanden in de mestput van de reality TV. Ik heb er dan ook al meerdere keren over nagedacht mijn abonnement op te zeggen, en, geloof mij, vroeg of laat komt het er van.

En indien ik ooit op digitale TV overstap zal het zeker niet bij Telenet zijn.

Total control

I can't help it, but even the unsavoury Brussels Journal sometimes makes sense :

"The EU's inspectors are keeping themselves busy coming up with more and more regulations to govern even the most hidden corners of human existence, and that will cover the length and breadth of the EU – from northern Finland to Limassol on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Current regulations already run the gamut from protections against fine dust and noise to soil conservation to protections for workers against solar radiation and protections for non-smokers. A green paper for a "smoke-free Europe" is under discussion.

There is only one thing the Brussels bureaucrats have forgotten in their zeal to slap regulations on just about everything: the often-evoked "responsible citizen." The Europeans of the 21st century appear to be dim-witted and unable to cope with life – and wholly dependent on the dictates of Big Brother in Brussels. When it comes to protecting the population from its own supposed lack of common sense, Big Brother is enthusiastic.

Last year the president of Germany's Federal Constitutional Court, Hans-Jürgen Papier, warned "against the constantly increasing regulation of virtually all areas of society and the economy, as well as large segments of private life." The "expanded apparatus of the Brussels EU Commission" contributes to the fact "that there is now a layer of overregulation that exceeds the reasonable scope of the law," says Papier, the chief justice of Germany's highest court. For this reason, says Papier, the legal system runs the risk "of suffocating the individual responsibility and self-determination it is in fact intended to guarantee." Torsten Stein, a European legal expert at Saarland University, warns that one day EU citizens will become aware "that, long after the end of absolute rulers, a new authority has established itself that once again claims the authority to decide what is good and what is bad for subjects." Undeterred by such doubts, officials in Brussels continue to perfect a system of total control."
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Big Brother lives ! Indeed.

Integratie

Humo publiceert de resultaten van zijn grote moslim enquête :

"65% is gelukkig in België * 55% wil best met een Belg trouwen * 51% voelt zich soms gediscrimineerd * 25% vindt dat sharia boven de Belgische wet staat".

Ontdek zelf de rest. Voor de volledige resultaten, zie : http://www.humo.be/cps/rde/xchg/humo/hs.xsl/DezeWeek_index_allochtonenenquete_resultaten.html.

Slaap zacht, mijn prinsje, slaap zacht ...

The Dark Ages

"Who would have thought centuries after the Enlightenment
that sophisticated Europeans
— in fear of radical Islamists —
would be afraid to write a novel,
put on an opera,
draw a cartoon,
film a documentary
or have their pope discuss comparative theology?"

Victor Hanson

Beheadings

On an archconservative US website, an Ethel C. Fenig reports another record year for beheadings in Saudi Arabia.

She states that Sunday's execution brought to 136 the number of people beheaded in the kingdom this year. Saudi Arabia beheaded 38 people last year and 83 people in 2005. She bases her commentary on an Associated Press count.

Her comments : "In contrast to world wide condemnation of the US when it executes someone after a trial and lengthy appeals this increase in executions has gone relatively unnoticed and subsequently escaped commentary. Indeed, the uh, pecularities of the Saudi justice system were basically ignored until an international storm arose after the publicity regarding the imprisonment and 200 lash sentence to a Saudi woman who suffered a gang rape.
But the harsh sentences, mainly against women and foreign servants continue. ... Unfortunately the Saudis silence the feeble human rights groups with oil wealth and the executions continue."

Nice allies, those desert princes ...

Snieklaas

Een van de vele goede sketches van Toon Hermans (° 1916 + 2000):



Ik herinner me nog goed dat ons gezin aan de TV gekluisterd zat om toch maar niets te missen van de fantastische vondsten en dat we het steeds opnieuw uitschaterden - behalve dan onze pa. Toon was geen vriend van onze pa : die vond hem een beetje "onneuzel". En bij toeval stierf Toon twee dagen na onze pa.
Maar al die shows : toch een zeer mooie jeugdherinnering .

De volledige one-man-shows zijn nog steeds te krijgen - zelfs op DVD.

Toon was ook een begenadigd dichter, maar ernstige dichters noemden hem, mijns onziens ten onrechte, een rijmelaar.

Vergelijk

Ik zie per toeval op 15 januari 2008 dat deze post verdwenen is. Het ging, indien ik me goed herinner, over de drie groten : Toom Hermans (perfect), Wim Sonneveld (too gay) en Wim Kan (te politiek). Ik heb spijtig genoeg geen kopie bewaard.

Maar ze hebben huns gelijken niet meer. Hoe het artikel verdween is mij een mysterie maar ik kan Wim wel weer inlassen met mijn favoriete :



Een droom vol poëzie en heimwee ...

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is said to consider selecting his successor himself. He wants to avoid Chinese manipulation of the selection process.
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Wikipedia states that : "Upon the death of the Dalai Lama, his monks institute a search for the Lama's reincarnation, or yangsi (yang srid), a small child. Familiarity with the possessions of the previous Dalai Lama is considered the main sign of the reincarnation. The search for the reincarnation typically requires a few years. The reincarnation is then brought to Lhasa to be trained by the other Lamas. "
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Selecting one's own reincarnation ? Interesting perspective ... but by definition faith and belief are beyond reason.
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By the way, Benedict XVI will not receive the Dalai Lama during his planned visit to Italy in December. Too much pressure from China.
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Not the first time we hear something similar, what ?

November 26 1700

Catharina Reybosch, who lived in Impegem with her husband Laurentius De Leeuw (Impegem ca 1644 - 1728), died on that date.

She was the second spouse of Laurentius, with whom she had 7 children. Laurentius had an additional three children from his first marriage.

Catharina De Leeuw who died in Okegem in 1757, a daughter of Catharina and Laurentius, married Egidius Vernaillen (Denderleeuw 1691 - Okegem 1759), with whom she had five children.

Joanna Vernaillen (Okegem 1725 - Pamel 1791) was their fourth child. She had five children with Ferdinandus Van der Sleyen (Pamel 1724 - 1810) ; Michael was their middle child.

Michael Van der Sleyen (Pamel 1758 - 1827) was the father of six, of which Maria Elisabeth Van der Sleyen (Pamel 1811 - 1860) was the youngest. She married Joannes De Vidts (Pamel 1811 - 1881) which I have named a number of times before.

For the latest mention : see " November 26 1673".

Musings ...

Two of my ancestors died on the same day : November 26 1673, now 334 years ago ...
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It is more than probable that they have known each other : the churches of the two villages, Pamel and Okegem, were less that a kilometer apart, as the crow flies.
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Times were bad - filled with poverty, wars and pestilence : surviving was the only priority. Far from them the idea that three centuries and so many generations later, common descendants of both of them would be walking the earth - and God knows how many of them there are.
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In those small villages, up to the French revolution, and even to the nineteenth century, intermarriages were very common : almost everyone was in some way related to everyone else. It is improbable that my line is the only one in which their genes have been intertwined.
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If I were not more than fully occupied with my own ancestors, finding out in how many ways their descendants were inter related would be a nice - although daunting - project.

November 26 1673

Henricus Van den Waterloop died in Okegem on November 26 1673 and was buried the next day. He married Joanna De Winne. There was, at that time, a De Winne family in Okegem, but Joanna has not been linked to it (yet ?).

They had six children. Anna Van de Waterloop (Okegem 1662 - 1740) was the third. She married Joannes Asselman (Okegem ca 1663 - 1723).

As reported before - see post "August 17 1650" - I descend from two of their seven children :

Anna Asselman (Okegem ca 1690 - 1784)

Joannes Asselman (Okegem 1692 - 1732).

November 26 1673

Joanna De Beer was born in Pamel ca 1599, became a meisenier in 1656, and died in Pamel on November 26 1673. She married Paschasius (Paschier) De Vidts, born in Pamel ca 1595, who died in 1656.

They had seven children. Judocus (Pamel 1627 - 1694) was the second ; he became a meisenier in 1669.

Judocus had 10 children, of which Petrus (Pamel 1655 - 1726) was the fourth ; he became a meisenier in 1700.

Petrus had three children : Judocus (Pamel 1703 - 1750) was the eldest - he became a meisenier in 1715.

Petrus Joannes (Pamel 1749 - 1793) was the first of the two (known) children of Judocus.

He was the last meisenier (in 1784) in the line, the father of Joannes Franciscus (Pamel 1784 - 1839) and the grandfather of Joannes De Vidts (Pamel 1811 - 1881).

See "November 25 1770" and many other posts for the rest of the line.

November 26 1650

On that day, Egidius Van Muylem died in Denderhoutem. He was married to Clara Cobbaert, who died there in 1647.

Maria Van Muylem (Denderhoutem 1638 - 1708) was the seventh of their eight children. Maria herself had six children : Maria Meganck (Denderhoutem 1666 - 1734) was the fourth.

Maria Meganck had ten children : David De Dier (Denderhoutem 1693 - 1777) was the sixth.

He was the father of Joanna Catharina De Dier (Denderhoutem 1738 - 1822) who married three times. She had eight children (with only one of her husbands) and I descend from her daughter Maria Anna Goossens (Denderhoutem 1774 - 1852).

See the posts : "July 16 1705" and " November 17 1666".

November 25 1770

Carolus Covens was born in Malderen and died in Pamel on November 25 1770. He became a meisenier in 1712 and was farmer ("pachter") of Hof te Berchem and alderman of Pamel. He married Barbara Galmaert, born in Gooik in 1720 who probably died in Aalst.

They had 12 children of whom Maria Josina Covens (Pamel 1759 - 1827) was the youngest. In 1782 she married miller Joannes Josephus Van Lierde (Pamel 1746 - 1811). He came from a well known "miller dynasty" in Western Brabant.

Their daughter Maria Elisabeth Van Lierde (Pamel 1790 - 1838), the fifth of their eleven children, married Joannes Franciscus De Vidts (Pamel 1784 - 1839).

They had eight children, of which Joannes De Vidts (Pamel 1811 - 1881) was the second. We have met Joannes a number of times (see "November 24 1741" and many others).

Arithmetics




Hillary

Still, I can't help it, I like her. But then I liked Ségolène Royal too.

Costs

According to the governor of the Belgian National Bank, the present political crisis is costing us about € 2.5 bio and delays the reorganisation of the public finances by years. But who cares ?

See : http://www.tijd.be/nieuws/binnenland/artikel.asp?Id=3404622.

Not to be outdone, the former president of the House of Representatives (and in a previous life minister of public transport) states that the Belgian railroads costs each and every inhabitant of the country 235 € per year for a substandard service as they represent only 10 % of commuter traffic (against 70 % by car).

See : http://www.hln.be/hlns/cache/det/art_667391.html?wt.bron=homeArt6.

The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on ...

November 24 1779

Philippus Van den Houte was born in Lieferinge, where he died 70 years later on December 12 1849. He married Anna Maria (De) Colins (Lieferinge 1780 -1839) in 1812.

I haven't yet looked up the whole family, but their daughter Anna Maria Van den Houte, born in Lieferinge in 1825, became the second spouse of Charles Timmermans (Meerbeke 1812 - 1883) in 1857.

Charles and Anna Maria are my great-great-grandparents. See also the posts "November 12 1780", "November 1 1808" and "September 13 1812".

November 24 1741

Maximilaan Van Cauwelaert, born in Onze Lieve Vrouw Lombeek, died in Pamel on November 24 1741. He married Elisabeth Van Overstraeten (Sint Katharina Lombeek 1692 - Pamel 1741). They lived on the Ledeberg in Pamel. Maximiliaan became a meisenier in 1715.

Elisabeth married three times : Maximiliaan was her third husband with whom she had six children. She had six children with her second husband Adrianus De Vidts (Pamel 1688 - 1724) too. Adrianus was a meisenier from the second of the De Vidts families in Pamel.

Catharina Theresia (Pamel 1729 - 1805) was the third child of Elisabeth and Maximiliaan. She was the only (reported) meisenier among their children. She had two children with her first husband Judocus De Vidts (Pamel 1703 - 1750), meisenier in 1715, and thirteen with her second husband Joannes Josephus Kestens (Pamel 1719 - 1778).

Her son Petrus Joannes De Vidts (Pamel 1749 - 1793) was the father of Joannes Franciscus (Pamel 1784 - 1839) and the grandfather of Joannes (Pamel 1811 - 1881), whom we have met oftentimes before, including on "August 27 1881".

I repeat that Joannes was the father of Antonia, born in Pamel in 1840, my great-great-grandmother on my father's side and of Felix (Pamel 1853 - 1940), my great-grandfather on my mother's side.

Something fishy

An Englishman writes in his blog :

As an occasional treat, I am very fond of popping down my local chippie for cod and chips - except that cod is becoming more and more expensive and more difficult to get hold of. My chip shop has taken to promoting coley and pollock as alternatives. The reason for this, it appears, is an EU directive limiting the amount of cod which can be caught and this is designed to protect the cod from overfishing.

All very laudable - until that is, you learn that "caught" doesn't actually mean caught, it means landed. The result is that trawlers are still catching cod in their nets - they can't really avoid it - but because they can't bring it back to port, they have to dump it - dead of course - back in the ocean. So from the consumers' point of view there is a shortage of cod, while substantial amounts of the fish are being thrown away at sea.

Somebody's been at the silly pills again!

See : http://rndman.blogspot.com/.

Printer ink

Comparison of luxury or costly liquids - price per milliliter

Multicolor inkjet cartridge ..............................$ 5.14
Black inkjet cartridge .....................................$ 3.33
Prada atomizer parfum ..................................$ 1.19
Dom Perignon champagne (1998).................$ 0.17
Gasoline .......................................................< $ 0.01

See : http://www.aci-citizenresearch.org.

I didn't know it was that bad !

Overwicht

In Waarde Redactie uit De Standaard van vandaag schrijft een lezer :

"...ben ik er nog meer dan vroeger van overtuigd dat het eenzijdig ophemelen van alles wat met economische en zakelijke successtory's te maken heeft, en vooral het verpletterende overwicht van de economie op de rest van de samenleving, één van de kernproblemen van onze samenleving is. "

Nee, ik heb het niet geschreven, maar ik had het niet beter kunnen verwoorden.

Iets verder in de brief volgt nog een sneer die ik ook wel kan waarderen : "Sommige ondernemers zijn cracks, maar we hoeven er heus geen redders des vaderlands van te maken."

Sinte Cecilia


Gisteren was het naamfeest van Ste Cecilia, patrones van mijnwerkers, muzikanten enz.
In mijn jonge jaren, en in het rijke Roomse leven, was dit de gelegenheid tot legendarische drankgelagen.
En nu ? Nog een dikke kater aan overgehouden ?
.
Wel een van mijn favoriete kunstwerken... Maderno zou zelf het opgegraven lijk van de heilige gezien en gebeeldhouwd hebben zoals het na zovele eeuwen werd teruggevonden.
.
.
St Cecilia 1600 Marble, length 130 cm ; Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, Rome.

Record

Patrick De Witte over het komend seizoen van goede wil in De Standaard van gisteren. Hij schiet naar alle kanten, onder meer :

"Met het vliegtuig naar Torremolinos was vroeger gewoon vakantie, nu is het plots even moreel verwerpelijk als pedofilie. "

"Als u 'manager' op uw naamkaartje hebt staan, weze het manager natuur of voorafgegaan door een prefix à la 'general', 'assistant' of 'business': scheer uw scrotum met een bot steakmes want u bent even nuttig voor de maatschappij als een valluik voor een zweefvliegtuig. "

En ik die dacht dat ik een contrarian was ? ... Ik buig voor de Meester !?

World language

Some English signs seen in non-English speaking countries

In a Japanese hotel : You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.
On the menu of a Swiss restaurant : Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.
Outside a Hong Kong tailor shop : Ladies may have a fit upstairs.
In a Zurich hotel : Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose.
In a Rome laundry : Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time.
In a Czechoslovakian tourist agency : Take one of our horse-driven city tours -- we guarantee no miscarriages.
In a Tokyo bar : Special cocktails for the ladies with nuts.
In a Copenhagen airline ticket office : We take your bags and send them in all directions.
On the door of a Moscow hotel room : If this is your first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it.
In a Norwegian cocktail lounge : Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.
In the office of a Roman doctor : Specialist in women and other diseases.
In an Acapulco hotel : The manager has personally passed all the water served here.

Much more : http://humormatters.com/language.htm.

Dallas

On November 22 1963, a warm, sunny Friday, president John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot to death while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. History might have been different, had he lived. But knowing what we know now, it might not necessarily have been better : Kennedy was not the cristal pure devoted statesman with perfect long term vision of a just society most of us thought he was.

I paid my due, and visited the spot of the murder many years later. Even to the present day it remains one of the touristic and emotional highlights for almost every visitor to Dallas.
.
I was serving in the Belgian army at the time of the murder - counting off the very last days of my 12 month long military service. We were located in Arnsberg, Germany, not that far from the Iron Curtain. We were placed under full, red alert immediately, and everybody thought that the third world war had started because we were "sure" that the Soviets were responsible for that murder, and America was bound to retaliate.
.
Fortunately, the alert was blown off quite soon, but I vividly recall the fear and panic we all felt at that time. A couple of years later, we lived through the Cuban missile crisis, where the "push on the button" came even that much closer...
.
I was conceived and born during the second world war (of which I hold some memories, which I detailed before). And during most of my lifetime there have been almost continuous threats of new wars extending to, or erupting in, Europe. For the last twenty or so years the threat has receded to become almost imperceptible. With hindsight, it is almost a miracle that - up to now - we escaped the "final" nuclear Armageddon. Unfortunately, many other regions of the world have not been so fortunate and remain the theater of senseless slaughter.
.
The picture shows Kennedy and his wife seconds before the murder.

Sorry ?

Uit de krant van vandaag - het onderwerp is aids :

"Als een natuurlijke besmetting al niet beschermt tegen herinfectie, zoals nu blijkt, dan is er weinig kans dat vaccinatie dat wel doet."

Ik kan effe niet mee ...

Het houdt niet op

Nog eens uit "Commentaar" in De Standaard :

"Zonder extra sociale-economische bevoegdheden is de Vlaamse welvaartsgroei niet te handhaven. Vlaanderen zal achteruitboeren en de last van de transfers naar het zuiden zal ondraaglijk worden.

Zonder responsabilisering maken Wallonië en Brussel economisch zeker pas op de plaats.

Zonder stevige staatshervorming zijn collectieve verarming en niet-onderhandelde veranderingen de toekomst. De keuze is aan de Franstalige partijen."

***

Het houdt niet op : onbewezen dogma, paternalisme en nauwelijks verhulde afdreiging in een paar zinnen.

Thanksgiving again

"The First Thanksgiving" (1915), by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris (American painter, 1863-1930).

***

There is one day that is ours.
Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American
O. Henry

To my American friends :

May you always have much for which to be thankful.

Zin of waanzin ?

Geplukt op de website van Het Laatste Nieuws :

de Kortrijkse burgemeester laat de mogelijkheid onderzoeken om de tanden te trekken van overledenen die zullen gecremeerd worden in het nog te bouwen crematorium in zijn stad. "Dit komt de volksgezondheid ten goede, want zo kunnen we de uitstoot van kwik bij het crematorium beperken", zegt hij.

Come again ?

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving - the family feast "par excellence" in the USA.

http://humormatters.com/holidays/Thanksgiving/turkeycartoon.htm.

Fundamentalisme

Uit "Commentaar" in Tertio van deze week :

"Fundamentalisme is namelijk een door en door modern fenomeen : het is een krampreactie vanuit de vrees dat je diepste identiteit wordt bedreigd."

Dat van die krampreactie vind ik prachtig uitgedrukt, maar een door en door modern fenomeen ? Hallo ? Ooit geschiedenis gestudeerd ?

Shock and disaster

I finally acquired a copy of the book.
.
It is a truly "groundbreaking" work. Naomi Klein's story of how free market policies have come to dominate the world through the exploitation of disaster-shocked peoples and countries.
.
The shock doctrine is "the use of public disorientation following massive collective shocks - wars, terrorist attacks, natural disasters - to push through unpopular economic measures" leading to the chaotic free market situations known around the world.
.
Klein has a reputation - given to her by well thinking economists, politicians and other birds of the same feather - for being a pamphlet writer, blind for each and every point which does not suit her theory. So what ? That's exactly what the well-thinking "intellectuals" do too.
.
Klein most certainly does not hold the whole truth, but - in my view - she dug out a good part of it. In the coming weeks, as I advance through this book, I may put some quotations on my blog. So, you will know where they come from.

See : http://www.naomiklein.org/main.

Crumbling

First the currency crumbles, then the military might and economic power might follow ... Up to 1.5 USD for one Euro. The new record stands at 1.4775 USD/€. The evolution of the USD is not only bad news for the world in general, and the USA in particular. And sooner or later, it may also inspire dangerous ideas in some "strategic" minds.

***
"De euro heeft dinsdag een nieuw recordpeil (1,4775) bereikt tegenover de dollar ... Ondertussen ondermijnt de snelle dollarval de status van de dollar als wereldwijde reservemunt. ... De dollar geraakt steeds meer in onbruik in het buitenland. De dollar verschaft toeristen voortaan geen toegang meer tot de belangrijkste Indiase toeristische trekpleisters zoals de Taj Mahal. De Indiase regering zegt zo haar toerisme-inkomsten tegen de val van de dollar te willen beschermen. De Indiase beslissing is een nieuw symbool dat de snelle neergang van de status van het groene biljet als wereldwijde reservemunt ondermijnt. ...

Tegenover de euro gaat de 'greenback' sinds zijn hoogtepunt in oktober 2000 al zeven jaar in dalende lijn. De euro heeft de dollar al onttroond als de belangrijkste munt voor de uitgifte van obligaties bij buitenlandse beleggers. De status van de dollar als de reservemunt in de wereld is voorlopig onbedreigd, al valt ook daar de opmars van de euro op.

De Golfstaten versoepelen geleidelijk hun traditionele muntkoppeling tegenover de dollar. Door de muntkoppeling zijn de Golfstaten nu verplicht het soepele monetaire beleid van de Amerikaanse Fed te volgen, terwijl de inflatieopstoot als gevolg van de oliehausse precies het omgekeerde vereist. Het oliekartel OPEC zweert tot nader order trouw aan een olieprijs in dollar. Saudi-Arabië negeerde zaterdag het voorstel van de 'OPEC-rebellen' Venezuela en Iran om de zwakke dollar te bespreken. "

An interesting read - in full : http://www.tijd.be/nieuws/economie_financien/artikel.asp?Id=3393118.

Taxes

Het alleenstaand Belgisch kaderlid wordt het zwaarst belast en houdt van zijn brutoloon netto maar 49,5 procent over. Het consultingbureau Mercer concludeert dit uit een vergelijking van de belastingregimes in 32 landen, aldus de Coreliokranten op maandag.

I know, I know, I know ... or rather I experienced that for 37 years ... but I survived.

Japanese food

The first edition of the "famous" Michelin guide for Tokio has awarded 191 stars. All the restaurants in the guide got one star at least. Eight restaurants - five Japanese and three French - got three stars, twenty-five got two and 117 got one.

Words like the exceptional quality of the food, the incomparable quality of the products and the rich culinary tradition were used.

Paris has 97 stars, New York 54.

I never once ate Japanese food in my life, so I most certainly am not an expert.

As a contrarian I try to avoid all things Japanese - and believe you me that is not easy. But this time, I sincerely think Michelin finally overdid it - there already had been ominous signs in Belgium and elsewhere.

AHA

To the millions op people suffering from acute reunionitis, an incurable, but not normally terminal disease. With my fullest sympathy.

I still shiver thinking about all the meetings I sat in and listened, doodled and slept.
I'm still thinking of all the meetings where I forced others to listen, doodle and sleep.

But wait ... acute reunionitis is not terminal for the participants : but it can be terminal for the company or group in which it grows rampant.

November 17 1674

Joanna De Meyere was born ca 1589 and died in Wetteren on November 17 1764.

She was the spouse of Jan Broeckaert (ca 1586 - Wetteren 1672), the mother of Joannes Broeckaert (Wetteren 1628 -1676), the grandmother of another Joannes (Wetteren 1653 - 1742) and the great-grandmother of Pieter Broeckaert (Wetteren 1687 - 1749).

Pieter was the father of Joannes Josephus (Wetteren 1726 - 1760), the grandfather of Bernardus (Wetteren 1758 - Serskamp 1802) and the great-grandfather of Eugenius (Serskamp 1792 - 1846).

Eugenius was the father of Karel Bernard Broeckaert (Wetteren 1832 - Okegem 1928), my great-great-grandfather (see various previous posts).

November 17 1791

In Pamel, Joanna Vernaillen died on that day. She had been born in Impegem on October 27 1725 and married Ferdinandus Van der Sleyen (Pamel 1724 - 1810).

See : "November 1 1758", "October 27 1725" , "October 26 1691" a.s.o.

November 17 1666

On that day, Maria Meganck was born in Denderhoutem as a daughter of Egidius Meganck, who died in Denderhoutem in 1690 and of Maria Van Muylem (Denderhoutem 1638 - 1708).

Maria Meganck married Franciscus De Dier, who died in Denderhoutem in 1715, and with whom she had 10 children. She died in Denderhoutem on January 25 1734.

Their son David (Denderhoutem 1693 -1777) had a daughter Joanna Catharina (Denderhoutem 1738 - 1822, who married three times.

Her daughter Maria Anna Goossens (Denderhoutem 1774 - 1852) was the mother of Coleta Vlaeminck (Denderhoutem 1813 - 1891). See "October 25 1691", "October 24 1732" ...

BHV - 2

"Je kunt geen staatsstructuur tegen de mensen in uitwerken. Brussel moet uitgebreid worden als pasmunt voor een grotere sociaal-economische autonomie voor Vlaanderen en de splitsing van de sociale zekerheid."

Aldus Bruno De Wever, professor geschiedenis, geciteerd op de website van De Morgen.

Zo hoor je het ook nog eens van een ander.

Solidariteit

Ik krijg het even te kwaad. Solidariteit is inderdaad een vuil woord aan het worden want solidariteit mag niets kosten.

Solidariteit tussen jong en oud, tussen arm en rijk, tussen Vlaming en Waal, tussen Noord en Zuid ... weg ermee.

Leve het eigenbelang ... met misschien een snuifje liefdadigheid. Meer niet !

Arme, arme maatschappij ...

Charity may be in, solidarity definitely is out ...

Oud

In een artikel : "Families als bonenstaken" in De Standaard van vandaag legt een professor sociologe uit dat gezinnen krimpen in de breedte (kinderen zijn niet meer zo taltrijk als vroeger) maar groeien in de diepte doordat mensen langer leven : families met vijf generaties komen alsmaar vaker voor (vandaar de term bonenstaakfamilie).

Ik citeer : "Binnen de bonenstaakfamilie heeft vooral de oudste generatie het moeilijk. Ze valt er eigenlijk een beetje buiten. ... De alleroudsten hebben hun familie ook niet veel meer te bieden. Ze behoeven integendeel zelf zorg van hun kinderen en kleinkinderen. Familierelaties verlopen top-down. De oudere generaties investeren in de jongere. Dat kan een financiële investering zijn of een investering in de tijd : grootouders die op hun kinderen passen bijvoorbeeld. De alleroudsten kunnen dat niet meeer. Ook daardoor vallen ze buiten de familie. Als dat je overkomt, ben je echt oud geworden."

De schrijfster weet : "Het is iets waar we meer aandacht voor zouden moeten hebben."

Ik wil de auteur zeker geen woorden in de mond leggen en ik respecteer haar analyse, maar toch kan ik niet beginnen te schrijven hoeveel deze nochtans zeer "neutrale" tekst mij schandaliseert.
Alleen al het gebruik van het woord "investeren" !! Het gaat hier niet over economisch nut maar over mensen !! Waar is het "zorgen voor", "houden van" enz. of is dat wollig taalgebruik ?

In sommige geesten in onze "ikke en de rest kan stikken" maatschappij zou de conclusie snel kunnen getrokken worden dat wie niet meer nuttig is heeft geen reden meer heeft om hier nog rond te lopen en geen recht meer heeft om de schaarse middelen te verbruiken. Zie ook de ondertoon ik veel discussies over de toekomstige onbetaalbaarheid van de pensioenen.

Om het ook eens in economische termen te schrijven : die ouderen hebben een gigantisch economisch, sociaal en cultureel kapitaal uitgebouwd of behouden, en mogen nu in alle rust van hun rente leven !

In five-generation-families, the oldest generation is perceived as being somewhat isolated and economically useless. So what ?!? The day economics is no longer the dominant religion and no longer contaminates all human behaviour, the world will be a much better place to live in.

Verdraagzaamheid

Uit Het Laatste Nieuws : "Vrouw die verkracht werd krijgt celstraf en zweepslagen".

Een rechtbank in Saoedi-Arabië heeft het slachtoffer van een groepsverkrachting in beroep veroordeeld tot zes maanden celstraf en tweehonderd zweepslagen, dubbel zoveel als zij in eerste instantie had gekregen. De vrouw krijgt de straf omdat ze zich in een auto bevond met een man die niet tot haar familie behoort, wat in Saoedi-Arabië verboden is.

Volgens Arab News kreeg de vrouw van de rechtbank te horen dat haar straf was verhoogd vanwege haar pogingen 'de rechterlijke macht te provoceren en te beïnvloeden via de media'.

De celstraffen voor de zeven mannen die de vrouw in totaal veertienmaal verkrachtten, werden ook verdubbeld, tot tussen de twee en negen jaar.

De rechtbank verbood de advocaat van de vrouw haar te verdedigen. Zijn bevoegdheid om als advocaat op te treden werd hem afgenomen en hij moet later deze maand voor de tuchtraad verschijnen. "Ik heb uitgelegd dat het mijn werk is om alle wettelijke mogelijkheden te benutten om mijn cliënt te dienen, maar ze luisterden niet", zei hij.

***
Hier is alle commentaar te veel ...
Of toch, één woord : olie.

November 15 1734

Maria Schandevijl was born in Pamel on May 2 1655 and died there on November 15 1734. She married Adrianus Huylenbroeck, born in Sint Kwintens Lennik, who died in Pamel in 1699. They had six children, and Maria was a widow for some 35 years.

Their daughter Catharina Huylenbroeck lived in Pamel from ca 1685 to 1751. Her son Ferdinandus Van der Sleyen (Pamel 1724 - 1810) was the sixth of eight children.

Michael Van der Sleyen was a son of Ferdinandus, the third of his five children. He lived in Pamel from 1758 to 1827.

His daughter Maria Elisabeth Van der Sleyen has been named before - the most recent posts are : "November 1 1758", "October 27 1801", "October 27 1725" and "October 26 1691".

Jokes ?

For insiders only : two Belgian ministries, one with a shaky reputation, the other with a bad reputation, are quarreling over expenses. No problem really, because in one ministry, they cannot count ; in the other one they think that one plus one is four. You decide which is which.

***
Stupidity reigns, not only in Belgium. A seventy year old German, who has lived in Switzerland most of his life, wants to become a Swiss citizen (good for him, better late than never). But a local official has decided that he has to follow a German language course. No exception can be made. The guy is not planning to follow the € 150 course. (And no jokes please about the fact that I could use a Dutch and an English language course : I know!)

***
A Greek fake "surgeon", with apparently very good forged credentials, was so incompetent that 25 % of his patients died on the operating table. In 2000 he was namen top surgeon in a hospital in Athens.But he was learning, because in the last couple of years, the death rate of his patients dropped to 17 %. He was found out only recently.

A reminder


Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.
John Kenneth Galbraith

YouTube

As one finds almost anything that can be taped or filmed on YouTube, I thought I might launch a search on two of my favorite places : Okegem, where my mother was born and where I was born, and Meerbeke, where my father was born.

I did launch the search. I sincerely wish I hadn't. Brrr ... it sometimes looks like the end of civilisation indeed.

Stupidity

In politics stupidity is not a handicap.
Napoleon Bonaparte
.
One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes,
but for real bona fide stupidity,
there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork.
Edward Abbey
.

Voor de liefhebbers




November 13 1532

Jan Pipenpoy van Bossuyt, lord of Bossuyt and alderman of Brussels in 1504 died in Sint Martens Lennik where he was buried in the church. He married Geertruyd Bosch who died ca 1553.

They had a son, Jan, lord of Bossuyt and alderman of Sint Maartens Lennik. He lived on hof ten Berg in Sint Gertrudis Pede and died ca 1553 - like his parents he was buried in the church of Sint Martens Lennik.

The third Jan in a row was lord of Bossuyt and alderman of Sint Martens Lennik just like his father. He died ca 1615.

His daughter Maria Pipenpoy had a son Zeger Van Cutsem who was born ca 1620 and died 1681.

From here on the story has been told before : see "November 5 1699" and "September 5 1623".

Dierenleed

Amerikaanse religieuze leiders ondertekenden een verklaring waarin godsdiensten worden opgeroepen van het respect voor dieren een wezenlijk onderdeel van hun religie te maken.

De verklaring, ‘A Religious Proclamation for Animal Compassion’, kwam tot stand op initiatief de Best Friends Animal Society, die een van de grootste dierenasielen in de Verenigde Staten beheert.

Naast vertegenwoordigers van de drie grote monotheïstische godsdiensten, inclusief de verschillende christelijke kerken, ondertekenden ook leiders van hindoes en boeddhisten de verklaring. Daarin wordt er tevens op gewezen dat dieren behoren tot Gods schepping. “Daarom mogen zij niet uitgebuit of gruwelijk behandeld worden.”

Zie : http://www.kerknet.be/actua/nieuws_detail.php?nieuwsID=76592.

Volledig accoord : de leden van het mensdom mogen niet uitgebuit of gruwelijk behandeld worden ; de leden van het dierenrijk ook niet. Maar hebben die dames en heren "religieuze leiders" echt niets beter te doen ? Schoenmaker blijf bij je leest of zo ?

Onze frank

Uit De Morgen :

"Voor mij is het elke dag een steeds grotere opluchting en een intense bron van vreugde dat de Luxemburgse frank niet langer aan de Belgische is gekoppeld." Dat verklaarde de Luxemburgse premier Jean-Claude Juncker vanavond na afloop van de vergadering van de Eurogroep in Brussel. Heel nadrukkelijk suggereerde Juncker dat zonder de euro de Belgische politieke crisis grote negatieve gevolgen op de voormalige Belgisch-Luxemburgse monetaire unie en de koersen van beide munten zou hebben.

Ik zou het tegendeel willen beweren. De Luxemburgse premier heeft zeer zeker gelijk, maar indien de Belgische frank nog had bestaan zouden onze heren leiders niet zo lang zijn blijven prutsen want ze zouden het snel in hun eigen koopkracht gevoeld hebben.

Zie : http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/996/Economie/article/detail/52055/2007/11/12/Luxemburg-blij-dat-Belgische-frank-niet-meer-bestaat.dhtml.

The prime minister of Luxemburg is glad because the Belgian franc no longer exists. He says it would have suffered a lot in the present crisis. Right he is. But on the other side, the crisis might not have lasted so long : our lords and masters would have felt it in their wallet. And that is a sensitive point, no ?

Voorbeeld ?

De Spaanse koning Juan Carlos viel even uit zijn rol en riep tegen de Venezolaanse president Hugo Chavez : "Waarom hou je je mond niet ?"

Lees : http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelId=DMF11112007_037.

Misschien wel een voorbeeld voor een andere koning ...

November 12 1780

On that day, Maria Anna (De) Colins was born in Lieferinge in a family of recently ruined landed gentry. See "August 11 1777".

The De Colins descended from some famous families : van Leefdaal, van Gavere, and probably from van Heetvelde, van Massemen (de Masmines), van Zottegem ... and may have had roots in a natural branch of the counts of Flanders.

Anna Maria married Philippus Van den Houte (Lieferinge 1779 - 1849), a farmer. She died in Lieferinge on July 11 1839.

Their daughter Maria Anna Van den Houte, born in Lieferinge in 1825) was the second spouse of Charles Timmermans (Meerbeke 1812 - 1883), my great-great-grandfather - see "September 13 1812".

Telemann

Uit Tertio nr 404 :

"Dat Bachs Duitse tijdgenoot Georg Philipp Telemann een van de grootste barokcomponisten aller tijden was, staat buiten kijf."

Juist, ja ...

November 12 1716

On that day, Maria De Vleminck died in Pamel. She was the spouse of Joannes De Vidts (Pamel 1651 - 1724).

Their daughter Joanna Maria De Vidts (Pamel 1683 - 1726) was the mother of Elisabeth Baveghems (Pamel 1723 - 1807). I need go no further : see the post " July 3 1737".

Islamic car

"The Malaysian carmaker Proton has announced plans to develop an "Islamic car", designed for Muslim motorists. Proton is planning on teaming up with manufacturers in Iran and Turkey to create the unique vehicle.

The car could boast special features like a compass pointing to Mecca and a dedicated space to keep a copy of the Koran and a headscarf.

The idea came during a visit to the Middle East by a delegation of Malaysian politicians and businessmen. Malaysian press reports say officials in Iran originally suggested the idea.

Safety features or fuel economy is one way of selling a car, but Proton thinks vehicles designed specifically for Muslims across the world represent a huge gap in the market.

Proton is the most dominant car on the streets here but the company has suffered recently after the government allowed more foreign cars to be imported. The firm has been in talks recently with VW about a takeover by the German car giant."

see : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7089707.stm.

Another culture ? Another world ? Betcha ! But then there is the popemobile, isn't there ?

Fusie

Uit de pers : bijna de helft van de Nederlanders zou een fusie tussen Vlaanderen en Nederland wel zien zitten. Een meerderheid van 49 procent is wel tegen.

Een fusie met Nederland : dat zou pas een ramp zijn !! Gelukkig tonen oudere enquetes dat de "liefde" niet echt wederzijds is !

A reminder

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

Albert Einstein

In Paradisum

At the eve of Remembrance Day and a few days after All Souls, I feel the need to repeat the centuries old prayer which in the Roman Catholic Church accompanies the deceased when they leave the church building for the very last time.

I list two versions : the age old Gregorian one, followed by the angelical one by Gabriel Fauré.





In paradisum deducant te Angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.

May angels lead you into Paradise; may the martyrs receive you at your coming and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem. May a choir of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, who once was poor, may you have eternal rest.


Amen.

Last Post

November 11 1918


At 11 minutes past eleven the First World War ended.
We commemorate the end of four years of senseless, barbarian slaughter.
..
IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
..
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
..
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
if ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

by : Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army. He wrote the poem at the Ypres front in May 1915 and died of pneumonia in Boulogne on January 28 1918.

November 10 1693

Magdalena De Ro lived in Gooik and died there on that date. She married Nicolaes Walravens, meisenier (Meerbeke 1638 - shot or murdered in the castle of Neigem in 1692). He was a son of Nicolaes Walravens and Maria Evenepoel mentioned in the previous post. See also : September 18 1671".

November 10 1642

Nicolaes Walravens was born around 1570 and died in Pamel on November 11 1642. He was an important farmer of Hof ter Stene. His tombstone survived the centuries but was moved from the old graveyard of Pamel to the chapel at Ledeberg, where it was placed against the outer wall.

Nicolaes married Maria Eylenbosch. Their son Nicolaus was born around 1610 and died in Gooik in 1666. He married Maria Evenepoel (ca 1600 - Gooik 1671).

I already described the multiple ways in which I descend from this couple : see " September 18 1671".

November 10 1989

Early in december 1989, I was sitting at lunch in a renowned hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, California. (Each year I participated in an international professional seminar in various locations in the US, and the organisers always chose top hotels with resounding names, but got a good deal because as a rule, the hotels were undergoing renovations.)

Anyway, I was sitting at that table with a couple of Americans, a Brit, and a French or a Swiss guy.

A couple of weeks before, a senior officer in the DDR decided to open one of the transit points in the Berlin Wall, and the rest was history. All those who are old enough will remember the scenes which followed ...

One of the Americans asked us Europeans what we thought about the fall of the wall.

I was really surprised by the unanimity of our reactions.

We all said that one would have had to be inhuman not to be moved by the tsunami (a word unknown then, but in its place here) of joy and roaring happiness of the freed people.

We all agreed that none of us had expected to see the fall of the wall and the reunification of Germany in our lifetimes. We all agreed that the power and might of the reunified Germany was a major point of concern to us.

So many years later, we know that the reunification was partly botched and that one German in five (in east and in west Germany) longs for the period before 1989.

We also know that in communist Eastern Europe, which crumbled soon after, people were housed, fed and clothed at the cost of their personal freedom.

Now they all have tasted the joy of capitalism and of the free maket economy. A very few have made scandalous fortunes by robbing their countries blind in the chaotic transition period. Most of them just scrape by in a "competitive" environment, and a significant minority lives in hunger and abject povery.

And the magnanimous West got something in return too : valuable assets almost for free, and the "Russian" and other East-European mafias !

About the might of the Germans - well, they most certainly have not been throwing it around as ostentatiously as I would have expected. But in the economic field, I have seen acquisitions that never would have taken place in the previous circumstances : not all of them were roaring successes.

But then, those who know me know I have an almost pathological problem with Germans (and with some of their little brothers slightly further West).

Piloot

Een gepensioneerde Belgische piloot belandt in moeilijkheden in Tsjaad. De man had blijkbaar de beste intenties maar ging onvoorzichtig in zee met een "verdachte" organisatie.

Ik lees in de krant dat hij vannacht met een vliegtuig van het ministerie van defensie wordt teruggevlogen naar België. Op vraag van zijn vrouw zal een medische ploeg aan boord zijn.

Een behoorlijk uitzonderlijk en mooi humanitair gebaar ... indien defensie alle Belgen zou gaan repatriëren die in het buitenland in moeilijkheden verzeilen zou Brussel Nationaal (of is die naam veranderd ?) er nog drukker uitzien.

En wie betaalt al die kosten ?

Quite

Don't go around saying the world owes you a living.
The world owes you nothing.
It was here first.
Mark Twain
*
So Twain was an ecologist, a long time before the concept became politically correct ...

Kristallnacht

The terrible confirmation that the world was approaching one of the most barbarian, monstrous and ignominious periods in its history : the holocaust.
*
From The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum :
.
On November 9 1938, the Nazis unleashed a wave of pogroms against Germany's Jews. In the space of a few hours, thousands of synagogues and Jewish businesses and homes were damaged or destroyed. This event came to be called Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass") for the shattered store windowpanes that carpeted German streets.

The pretext for this violence was the November 7 assassination of a German diplomat in Paris, Ernst vom Rath, by Herschel Grynszpan, a Jewish teenager whose parents, along with 17,000 other Polish Jews, had been recently expelled from the Reich. Though portrayed as spontaneous outbursts of popular outrage, these pogroms were calculated acts of retaliation carried out by the SA, SS, and local Nazi party organizations.

Stormtroopers killed at least 91 Jews and injured many others. For the first time, Jews were arrested on a massive scale and transported to Nazi concentration camps. About 30,000 Jews were sent to Buchenwald, Dachau, and Sachsenhausen, where hundreds died within weeks of arrival. Release came only after the prisoners arranged to emigrate and agreed to transfer their property to "Aryans."

Kristallnacht culminated the escalating violence against Jews that began during the incorporation of Austria into the Reich in March 1938. It also signaled the fateful transfer of responsibility for "solving" the "Jewish Question" to the SS.

November 9 1742

On that day Joannes Broeckaert died in Wetteren where he had been born on September 7 1653. I wrote about him in the post "September 7 1653".

November 9 1658

On that day Elisabeth Sterckx was born in Pamel. I already commermorated her death and descendance in the post "September 14 1714".

November 8 1939

I remember my mother telling me how she was called away from her work with "Felen Aues" because her grandmother had passed away quite unexpectedly. Clementina (Manse) Broeckaert was born in Okegem on November 11 1858 and died in her house on November 8 1939. She was buried two days later. She had been a widow for seven years and my grandparents - my mother's parents - and their two remaining sons lived with her on the Rattenberg (Leopoldstraat) in Okegem. My parents married some months before on July 22 1939.

Manse came out of a family with 12 children - she was the eldest - and had ten children herself with her husband Hermilianus Neukermans (Okegem 1855 - 1932).

I do not know when my grandparents went to live with my grandfather's mother or when they bought the house - it must have been sometime in the mid thirties, but I do know that my mother lived there before her marriage. And I always had the impression that Manse was quite strict with her resident grandchildren, certainly with my mother. But then the poor lady had more than 30 grandchildren ...

See also : "My great-grandparents".

November 8 1693

Joannes Lievens died in Denderhoutem. In 1674 he married Anna Van der Heyden who died in 1714.

They had five children : their eldest, Livina Lievens (Denderhoutem 1675 - 1742) was the mother of Elisabeth Wijnant (Denderhoutem 1698 -1781), who, to the best of my knowledge, had 11 children.

Her son Franciscus Goossens (Denderhoutem 1733 - 1778) was the father of Maria Anna Goossens (Denderhoutem 1774 -1852).

Maria Anna was the mother of my great-great-grandmother Coleta Vlaemick (Denderhoutem 1813 - 1891). See "October 25 1691", "October 24 1732" ...

BHV

Nooit gedacht dat ik daar een post zou aan wijden, maar genoeg is genoeg !

Ik ben het volledig eens met Patrick De Witte in De Standaard van vandaag. BHV is een opgeklopt probleem (probleempje) , een "faux problème". De democratische rechten van de in (grote) meerderheid franstalige bewoners van de zes "communes à facilités" moeten gerespecteerd worden.

Bygones are bygones : die gemeenten zijn "verloren" voor de "Vlaamse gemeenschap" en kunnen beter bij Brussel gevoegd worden, mits strict respect voor de democratische rechten van de Vlaamse minderheid.

Een ander punt is wel dat de "invasie" van franstaligen in de rest van Vlaams Brabant met alle wettelijke middelen moet worden afgeremd of gestopt indien zij zich niet willen aanpassen aan de Vlaamse meerderheid. Integratie is het sleutelwoord. Ik heb ten andere nooit iets gehoord over problemen met de vlaamstalige inwijkelingen in Waals Brabant : die passen zich wel aan !

Voor het volledig artikel :

I dare you ...

I cannot possibly explain the political evolution in this minuscule country to rational people abroad. Suffice it to say that the Flemish majority- in total contempt of the spirit and loyalty on which any federal country is based, and most certainly in a radical break with the Belgian political custom of seeking for a consensus, has rammed a proposal to split Halle-Brussel-Vilvoorde down the throat of the French speaking minority.

Brute force in a porcelain shop, and a cheap gesture too, because the French speaking minority now can and will stop the proposal for over a year.

I agree with Marc Hooghe, political scientist at the KUL. In a free translation : public humiliation of one's opponent never is a good deal. Whether in the federal state of Belgium, or in an independent Flanders, we shall always have to respect the opinion of our opponents and be willing to listen to their arguments.

For the full text of Marc Hooghe (in dutch) : http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?.artikelid=R11JP5V8

Quality

I am not the only one who is doubting the quality of our political "representatives".

Patrick Stouthuysen, political scientist at the VUB in Brussels has some interesting lines :

1. Belgium is small. Statistically there are less super talented politicians in a population of ten million than in a population of fifty million ;

2. If you can put all the top politicians in a single government, the probability that you will have the best ones are better than when you have to distribute them over five or six governments, as is the case in Belgium.

3. When you have but one or two parties, chances are that the leaders of those parties will have a lot to offer. When, as is the case in Belgium, you have six or more parties in Flanders, and another six or more in Wallonia, that becomes a lot less obvious.

4. When politicians are respected, chances are the best talents will be attracted into that field. When that is not the case, ...

Stouthuysen draws the tentative conclusion that in the possible "republic of flanders" (no capitals for me) those lines can only be further accentuated. Almost everyone then will be able to claim the status of "top politician". And he ends with a deeply significant line which I cannot translate : "Dan wordt de Dorpsstraat de Wetstraat".

See : http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelid=R11JP5V4.

November 7 1640

Laurentius De Leeuw died in Impegem on November 7 1640 and was buried the next day in Okegem. He married Anna Van Stalle who died in Impegem in 1663. They became "buitenpoorters" of Aalst in 1603 and had nine children.

Guillelmus (Impegem ca 1610 - 1677), one of their sons, was the father of another Laurentius (Impegem ca 1644 - 1728).

Catharina was a daughter of Laurentius : she died in 1757 and was the mother of Joanna Vernaillen (Impegem 1725 - 1791).

For the rest of the story, see "November 1 1758".

Labels

It became obvious to me that the "labels policy" set up at the beginning of my blog, which was to use very general labels only - except for family names in my genealogy - cannot be sustained any further. To begin with, I never expected to write that many posts ...

As from "now", I will use some more specific labels ; whenever possible, I will adapt the labels for some previous posts too, but I will not reconsider the labels for each and every post I wrote up to now.

The fall of Rome

Found by pure chance on a very suspect website (prophecy, end times and all that ...).

Fifteen, twenty years ago I would have laughed out loud and considered this text as pure bull manure. Here it goes anyway :

The US government is on a ‘burning platform’ of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country’s top government inspector has warned. David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually downbeat assessment of his country’s future in a report that lays out what he called “chilling long-term simulations”. These include “dramatic” tax rises, slashed government services and the large-scale dumping by foreign governments of holdings of US debt. Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”.
*
Fifteen, twenty years ago, it was fashionable to forecast the end of American world domination and imperialism. I didn't believe it then. I'm very tempted to believe it now.

Consensus

In De Standaard van vandaag publiceerde Dave Sinardet "Democratie via consensus" waarin hij herinnert aan de grondslagen van de Belgische democratie, die niet steunt op een meerderheid, maar op een consensus.

Ik stip dit artikel aan omdat het mij bijkomend inzicht verschafte : waarom lukken sommige staatsrechtelijke initiatieven wel en andere niet.

Zie : http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelid=US1JMM9N.
.
.
Without mutual goodwill and respect, the present Belgian dilemma appears to have no solution indeed. And I see no goodwill, nor respect, on either side.

11.11.11

In "100 euro voor 11.11.11 levert miljarden op voor zuiden" verklaart Bogdan Vanden Berghe, algemeen secretaris, de strategie van deze organisatie die werken op structureel en politiek vlak belangrijker vindt dan rechtstreekse ontwikkelingshulp.
.
Dat artikel verklaart haarfijn waarom ik 11.11.11 nooit gesteund heb en ook nooit zal steunen. Ik steun van harte humanitaire campagnes, maar politiek en humanitaire hulp gaan voor mij niet samen.
.
Rechtstreekse hulp is onze verdomde plicht want miljoenen mensen creperen door honger en ziekte, maar structurele hulp is een zaak tussen regeringen en internationale organisaties zoals VN, Unicef en tientallen anderen.
.
De heer Vanden Berghe draagt geen bewijs aan voor zijn titel, die dan ook nogal "goedkoop" en pamfletair overkomt : indien dat waar zou zijn dan gooide ik direct mijn principes overboord om een substantiële schenking te doen aan zijn organisatie !
.
Ik twijfel geen halve seconde aan de goede intenties van 11.11.11 en van zijn duizenden vrijwilligers maar voor mij zitten ze op een zijspoor, of tenminste toch een spoor waar ik hen niet wens te volgen. Toch wens ik hen alle succes toe in hun werking.

Crematorium

De krant : in samenwerking met de gemeente Ronse wordt er in Hacquegnies een crematorium gebouwd dat in de lente van 2008 klaar zou zijn. Het crematorium ligt net over de taalgrens in Waals gebied.

Maar : "Crematies zullen in beide landstalen kunnen gebeuren."

Komaan zeg !! Is franstalig vuur nu ook al verschillend van nederlandstalig vuur ? En is er ergens ook geen derde landstaal ?

Architect

Een van de architecten van het federalisme in België, ex-premier Wilfried Martens in De Standaard van vandaag :

"De schade die ons land oploopt, vooral in de ogen van de Europese Unie, is zeer reëel. Iedereen praat over België in negatieve zin. ... We geven het slecdhte voorbeeld in Europa. Overal waar ik kom, vraagt men zich af hoe het toch mogelijk is zo in onze eigen voet te schieten."

Misschien komt het berouw heel misschien toch na de zonde ?

Staatshervorming

Dogma :

"Daarvoor is de staatshervorming nodig: om goed beleid te kunnen voeren en de toekomst te vrijwaren". Eerder ging het over "deelstaten ... die nog niet over de geëigende instrumenten beschikken."

OK, ik heb de zin uit zijn verband gerukt - hij prijkte in een Commentaar in De Standaard van vandaag - maar ik zou me toch stukken beter voelen indien er nu en dan voor dit stilaan veralgemeend dogma enig bewijs zou worden aangevoerd.

Home manager

De vzw "Solidariteit voor het Gezin" herdoopt haar poetshulpen, na een intensieve opleiding van minimaal veertig uren, tot "home manager", in de hoop om zo de hoge uitstroom en het ziekteverzuim in de sector tegen te gaan, en natuurlijk ook om een betere klantenservice te organiseren.

Heb je wel gelet op het gebruik van het ietwat politiek correctere "poetshulp" in plaats van "poetsvrouw" ? Ik ben er zeker van dat al die dames en heren zich nu als politiek oppercorrecte home managers op slag veel gelukkiger en erkend zullen voelen.

Alle respect voor deze en andere, gelijkaardige organisaties, en vooral voor alle poetshulpen te lande, zonder wie onze huizen en onze omgeving er maar bekaaid zou uitzien, maar hoe moeten we dan de fulltime huisvrouw noemen ? Toch minstens chief executive officer zeker ?

Gravediggers


Tomorrow our political heroes - or are they dwarfs ? - will have negotiated for 150 days, trying to set up a federal government. Setting up a government never took so long : our heroes just broke the previous record.

One hundred and fifty days after the start of the "talks" they are as close to their objective as they were on the first day - if their objective is the formation of a government that is. I have the distinct impression that some of them are rather aiming at short term death for Belgium.

Former "statesmen" regret the present gridlock, but they forget that in creating a "federal" state they sowed the seeds of the present blockage : politicians are elected on a regional base, and by their voters only. So they represent their regional interests in the first place. That may be all right with a significant number of regions, but not with two or three, where politicans and media have done all that is in their power to smother whatever remained of "belgian-hood" in the population.

The fact that there is not a single statesman of stature to be found amongst the negotiators does not help.

Not one politician is elected by the whole of the Belgian population : so the other part of the country is considered foreign territory. Look at the papers and you will understand. In "normal" circumstances, there is more interest for marginal showbizz creatures than for fundamental trends in the other part of the country.

I hope I am totally wrong, I hope that our negotiators will soon form a government, although, with present tensions, it very probably will be a lame duck from the start. But better a lame duck than no duck at all, or than more regional experimenting.

If not, they will become the gravediggers of a tiny, but great country.

November 4 1792

I forgot to mention that Petrus Asselman died on that day in Okegem, where he had been baptised on November 19 1729. He had been alderman (schepen) of Okegem in 1765 - 1768 and in 1770 - 1773 and apparently was poor (he had to borrow money). He had 11 children, four with his first wife and seven with his second wife Maria Francisca De Schepper (Iddergem 1744 - Okegem 1815).

Long-lived Franciscus Asselman (Okegem 1769 - 1865) was a son of Maria Francisca and the father of Andreas (Okegem 1795 - 1875). Andreas had five children, all with his first wife Alexandrina Van der Speeten (Okegem 1795 - 1831).

As mentioned before, their daughter Catharina Asselman (Okegem 1823 - 1892) was the mother of my great-grandfather Hermilianus Neukermans (Okegem 1855 - 1932) whose father Amandus Neukermans passed away very young (Okegem 1824 - 1857).