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Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border

#201

Post by jacquesm »

gwright wrote: post #182
8ytecoder wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the most complex borders with hundreds of enclaves and people living there with no clear idea on which country they belong to used to be the India-Bangladesh border. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India%E2%80%93Bangladesh_encla...

This is another interesting one. A part of Russia that sits on the Baltic Sea disconnected from Russia proper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliningrad_Oblast

One day that will cause a major geopolitical headache. And now every time I move around in that area it causes me a huge detour. Oh, and I ended up accidentally at the Belarussian border one day (note to self: update your satnav).

Re: Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border

#202

Post by jacquesm »

smnrchrds wrote: post #45
ad404b8a372f2b9 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aaah I was going to post that :D! It stars one of my favorite comedic actors, Benoît Poelvoorde who is belgian. I'd encourage anyone with a taste for foreign films to check out "C'est arrivé près de chez vous" (Man Bites Dog in english) another great movie of his (features lots of violence and serious themes, not a family movie).

> Benoît Poelvoorde It looks like a very French first name and a very Dutch last name. Is that common in Belgium? Is there a significant overlap between the linguistic communities of Belgium?

That's also common in the Netherlands and even Germany. French first names are simply popular all throughout Europe (ditto Italian and English names).

Re: Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border

#203

Post by jacquesm »

FabHK wrote: post #174
berkes wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A related story is the border between Belgium and the Netherlands that was recently moved[1]. Not because some war was imminent, but because of very practical reasons: Belgian police could only reach that piece of Belgium by boat; so "exchanging it with NL" was the easiest, because the Dutch police could just drive there. It makes me happy to see that we're down to "practical exchanges of land" from centuries of war…

Or the Whisky War over Hans Island, which the Canadians claim and leave a bottle of (Canadian) whisky, upon which the Danish claim it and leave a bottle of (Danish) snaps, ad infinitum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisky_War

I can see a business in there somewhere.

Re: Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border

#205

Post by tonfa »

glandium wrote: post #191
ghaff wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a prior life (i.e. 25 years or so ago), I was in Brussels for a work event where there were various speeches. The way it worked is that you either spoke English or you spoke alternating French/Flemish.

20 years or so ago, I went to the movies in Brussels. A movie in English with subtitles. Both in French and Flemish at the same time, and in many cases the subtitles were taking close to half the height, it was ridiculous.

I might misremember given that with covid I haven't seen a movie in ages, but iirc same in switzerland with de/fr. (Or maybe it's only for the trailers, not the movie?)

Re: Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border

#206

Post by sundvor »

lb1lf wrote: post #141
tinus_hn wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This all goes well just until it goes horribly wrong and you’re forced to demolish everything you built.

...or you encounter a bit of chainsaw diplomacy: (link in Norwegian, but the photos are quite telling.) https://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/i/GkGJm/nabotvist-paa-ne...

Wow, rather than exercise a bit of flexibility some people truly have their sense of entitlement stuck in overdrive.

The guy who did this also rubbished 70 year old stone fence - erected a generation before he was born, and ended up in jail after a number of court cases. Talk about pissing your life away because of misplaced anger.

https://www.aftenposten.no/norge/i/4deprG/huskapper-i-asker-...

Re: Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border

#207

Post by lovemenot »

ddnb wrote: post #62
smnrchrds wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Benoît Poelvoorde It looks like a very French first name and a very Dutch last name. Is that common in Belgium? Is there a significant overlap between the linguistic communities of Belgium?

Yes there is, another example: Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe is a Walloon politician, Geert Bourgeois is a Flemish one.

Let's not forget Benoit Mandelbrot, who may have discovered fractals while staring at a map of the Belgian border.

Re: Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border

#208

Post by orwin »

speedgoose wrote: post #60
ad404b8a372f2b9 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aaah I was going to post that :D! It stars one of my favorite comedic actors, Benoît Poelvoorde who is belgian. I'd encourage anyone with a taste for foreign films to check out "C'est arrivé près de chez vous" (Man Bites Dog in english) another great movie of his (features lots of violence and serious themes, not a family movie).

Wikipedia says that they removed the woman rape and the kid murder scenes on the American version, 30 years ago. I don't know if people would appreciate such a movie today.

It was honestly both disturbing and funny. Nowadays, it is just funny, since everybody have seen worse in their favorite tv show.

Re: Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border

#209

Post by tonfa »

FabHK wrote: post #174
berkes wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A related story is the border between Belgium and the Netherlands that was recently moved[1]. Not because some war was imminent, but because of very practical reasons: Belgian police could only reach that piece of Belgium by boat; so "exchanging it with NL" was the easiest, because the Dutch police could just drive there. It makes me happy to see that we're down to "practical exchanges of land" from centuries of war…

Or the Whisky War over Hans Island, which the Canadians claim and leave a bottle of (Canadian) whisky, upon which the Danish claim it and leave a bottle of (Danish) snaps, ad infinitum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisky_War

It's pretty significant right? Island typically procure claims over a large surrounding area, and there's quite a bit of resources in the arctic.

Re: Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border

#210

Post by lizknope »

gwright wrote: post #182
8ytecoder wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the most complex borders with hundreds of enclaves and people living there with no clear idea on which country they belong to used to be the India-Bangladesh border. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India%E2%80%93Bangladesh_encla...

This is another interesting one. A part of Russia that sits on the Baltic Sea disconnected from Russia proper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliningrad_Oblast

That was basically East Prussia and they forcibly removed the Germans.
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