Peeping Tom in Luxembourg

A man has been arrested this weekend, for using a mini camera hidden in his shoe to look up skirts, at Auchan. WTF?!

Flemish Apartheid

If the recurrent language restrictions in Flanders were being imposed in a non-european country, protesters would already be camping in front of that country's embassies. Where is Europe going? (again?)

(see also easyexpat.blogexpat.com)

Where I Lay My Head (and my bones...) Is Home: Some statistical facts about dual citizenship in Luxembourg

(see the original charts in http://www.statistiques.public.lu/)

The red line at the bottom of the chart represents the number of foreigners that actually died in Luxembourg from 2001 to 2006 (arithmetic mean: 613 per year). Compare it with the blue line at the the top(arithmetic mean: 3133). Luxembourgers/foreigners death percentages: 83,6 / 16,4 %. Luxembourgers/foreigners total population percentages: 61,2 / 38,8 % (arithmetic means per year, again). Now think that some (most? half?) of this foreigners didn't choose to die in Luxembourg (road or work accident, sudden death, whatever...).
Surprised? I'm not.

And I'm also not too keen on the traditional idea of patriotism. In fact, I think most of it is a bunch of nonsense, and "national" traditions just a model for those who are too lazy or too stupid to think for themselves. But I do believe in citizenship, in responsibility, in rights and duties. The kind of citizenship built in Europe after the French Revolution (but not in France, it seems...).

There is no true citizenship without integration. The dual citizenship law in Luxembourg will only serve economical purposes. Luxembourg needs citizens, not "nationals", and those can not be created by law. True integration will come later, when people will be willing to die in Luxembourg. That's why I see no point in the "patriotic debate". It's only a question of money, a question of labour force. The patriotic debate will eventually boost up some clever (sorry for the incoherence) extreme right political formation, and that's it.

I also find the linguistic question to be a joke in a country with three official languages ("triglossie", they call it, in French...). But the language tests can be a good thing. In fact language tests can help improve the Luxembourgish statistics on accidents at work. It's different to be able to understand "José, bring me that cement bucket" (level A2) or "José, bring me that cement bucket without falling off the scaffold" (level B1).

Vel'oh! hoax

Someone at RTL Radio Luxembourg thougth that the Vel'ohs were just asking for an April Fools' Day hoax ... and shot himself in the foot!

The hoax was about swapping an old bicycle for a Vel-oh!'s annual subscription. The City decided to fight back, and play the game:

"La Ville de Luxembourg s'était inspirée de l'action «poisson d'avril» organisée par RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg le 1er avril pour proposer aux intéressés de déposer leurs vieux vélos le 2 avril entre 15h et 16h devant l'Hôtel de Ville, place Guillaume II. En contrepartie la ville a pu offrir 35 abonnements d'un an à vel'oh!

La ville projette d'utiliser tous ou une partie des vieux vélos dans le cadre de l'action «Mei oder manner», ayant pour but d'engager les enfants des écoles primaires à prendre leurs responsabilités et de susciter leur compréhension envers la nature et l'environnement.

Merci à tous ceux qui ont joué le jeu !" (in vdl.lu)

The old "Veräinshaus" in Differdange

I don't understand this country. Is it so difficult to see some cultural and patrimonial value in this XIX century (the entrance gate is older) building in Differdange?

The fabrique d'Église(laymen association in catholic parishes) wants to sell it (one million euros). The Secretary of State for Culture wants to preserve it. According to L'Essentiel, this is another political dispute between central and local governments over the possession of land.

Either way, couldn't they preserve the old building and use it for community purposes? Just the idea of preserving it would serve per se a very strong community purpose - it would help keeping the city's collective memory and it would strengthen the sense of identity of its habitants.

I'm sure they could find another place to build this ... thing:

Tim Buckley / Song To The Siren

YouTube rules...

"Long afloat on shipless oceans
I did all my best to smile
'til your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving to your isle
And you sang
Sail to me
Sail to me
Let me enfold you
Here I am
Here I am
Waiting to hold you

Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you hare when I was fox?
Now my foolish boat is leaning
Broken lovelorn on your rocks,
For you sing, touch me not, touch me not, come back tomorrow:
O my heart, o my heart shies from the sorrow

I am puzzled as the oyster
I am troubled as the tide:
Should I stand amid your breakers?
Should I lie with death my bride?
Hear me sing, swim to me, swim to me, let me enfold you:
Here I am, here I am, waiting to hold you"

Herbert James Draper - Ulysses and the Sirens (1909)

'Come here,' they sang, 'renowned Ulysses, honour to the Achaean name, and listen to our two voices. No one ever sailed past us without staying to hear the enchanting sweetness of our song- and he who listens will go on his way not only charmed, but wiser, for we know all the ills that the gods laid upon the Argives and Trojans before Troy, and can tell you everything that is going to happen over the whole world.'

(The Odyssey, by Homer, written 800 B.C.E, translated by Samuel Butler, here)

Tom Waits - European Tour Petition

Update: European dates here!

"To: ANTI Records

I have been a Tom Waits fan for many years now, yet have never been lucky enough to see him in a live setting; I wasnt born at the time he performed in Scotland and couldnt get tickets to see him at his last appearance in the UK in London in 2003. It is with this petition that I hope to appeal for a European tour - however small - to iron-out the inequities wrought by Time and to see one of the most original and electrifying musicians of our era.

C. MacIntyre

Sincerely,

The Tom Waits - European Tour Petition to ANTI Records was created by and written by Chris MacIntyre (chris_mac159@hotmail.com). This petition is hosted here at http://www.petitiononline.com/petition.html as a public service."