LL-L "LL-L news" 2008.03.12 (01) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 12 March 2008 - Volume 01
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From: orville crane <manbythewater at hotmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "LL-L news" 2008.03.11 (02) [E]

Feliciteren! Ik ben blij dat je (ook voor ons) een dergelijke eer ontvangen
hebt!
man bij het water

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From: Andrys Onsman <Andrys.Onsman at calt.monash.edu.au>
Subject: LL-L "LL-L news" 2008.03.11 (02) [E]

From; Andrys Onsman
re: News

Dear Ron

WooooHooooo!!

Nothing more than you deserve! Congratulations; wear it proudly.

Best wishes
Andrys

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From: Diederik Masure <didimasure at hotmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "LL-L news" 2008.03.11 (02) [E]

Gratz, Ron!

One sidemark, whereas the letter says that "more and more peoples have been
growing aware of their cultural identities, and they express their
uniqueness by speaking their original languages", of course we all know that
the Flemish government uniformly propagates the Northern Dutch standard
language and does everything to surpress local varieties as much as
possible, as f.eks. a few days/weeks ago when minister Keulen forbade
representants in the "gemeenteraad" (muncipality council?) in Voeren to
speak their local Rheinlandish dialect in council meetings, where the use of
Voerens/Rheinlandish was inspired by an attempt to avoid choosing sides
between Flemish and Walloon in the political "hetze" of lately. And quite
often you hear about studies finding out that teachers still use too much
dialect in schools, and consecutive directives from official instances that
education should happen in standard dutch and standard dutch only.
Of course I kind of understand that they want to have a unified language and
such, but I just think it's a little bit bullshit/hypocritical to claim that
they're happy about people using indigenous languages more and more(, as
long as it doesn't happen in their backyard)...

Diederik

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From: Luc Hellinckx <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "LL-L news"

Beste Ron,

You wrote:

I had the honor and pleasure of being Roger's guest last night at a
reception given by the Belgian Trade Mission to Seattle and Vancouver.
Heading the delegation was Philippe, Duke of Brabant and Heir Apparent to
the Belgian Throne, as well as relevant Flemish and Walloon cabinet
ministers.

Wow!

My sincere congratulations, for the medal that you received: No doubt, you
really deserve it.
Guess the reception was probably a great opportunity to advocate the
Lowlands? So nice that Roger managed to get you inside, hats off to him too.
My school is located approximately a 100 m away from the King's palace and
garden in Laken, but I haven't had the opportunity yet to talk to him or any
of his relatives. Maybe I should just kick a ball in his backyard, then ring
his bell and ask him if I can pick it up? :-D

Anyway, guess we're all very proud of you!

Kind greetings,

Luc Hellinckx

PS: Bear in mind that our dynasty belongs to the  house of
Sachsen-Coburg...is that the right Sachsen? ;-)

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From: Maria Elsie Zinsser <ezinsser at icon.co.za>
Subject: LL-L "LL-L news" 2008.03.11 (02) [E]

Ron,

How lovely, this news, and of course die buitebeen the most worthy
recipient!

Hartlik geluk!

Elsie

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L news

Thanks, "guys," "dudes," etc.,

But, as I said, it's for all of us. I'm not just saying this to be polite or
diplomatic. Think about it! Could I have done any of this without you, at
least without those of you that have been participating day-to-day and/or in
special projects? It doesn't matter how "great" one's idea is, and it
doesn't really matter either how many people jump through the hoops of being
on the band wagon. What matters is that people "get it" and in that spirit
keep it going and make it *everyone's* thing and shape and color it
communally. In that regard we have been blessed for 13 years now. Since my
name is not on the medal (English:
http://lowlands-l.net/rfhahn/special/medal.htm, German:
http://lowlands-l.net/rfhahn/special/medaille.htm), I make it all
Lowlanders' medal, and that just in time for our anniversary, will also say
so at our anniversary site (http://lowlands-l.net/anniversary/). So there!

Luc, I'm afraid we're talking about fake Saxons. They aren't even from the
area of today's fake Saxony but from Bavaria and Thuringia!

Diederik, I agree that many things still need to be fixed and that there is
still a lot of nice-sounding hot air flying around. But with the years I
have learned that it is most effective to generate good-will and capitalize
on it, thereby getting as many people as possible to listen to you, as
opposed to making people lose face and thereby turning them into enemies
that will never listen to you with an open mind. Even the largest avalanche
begins with a tiny fluff of snow, to use a Highlands metaphor.

Yes, Belgium is an enigma, even to Belgians, when it comes to internal
politics. Never mind the seemingly intractable language policy situation
(that prevents recognition of languages such as Walloon, Picard and
Limburgish), and never mind the current political *shlamazl*, things are
happening in Belgium, often surprisingly so. That, to me, is a good sign.
Belgium seems to defy conventional logic in its seeming contradictions, and
that not necessarily in a "negative" sense. Ethnic divide, political
stalemate, monarchy, and dominant Roman Catholicism are by most considered
sure signs of conservatism. But then little Belgium shocks the world by
being at the cutting edge of social reform, such as putting its money where
its mouth is with regard to consistent gender equality or "gender
blindness," with the result of abandoning the firstborn-male inheritance of
aristocratic titles and being among the very first countries that truly
reformed marriage laws to allow same-sex marriages (rather than the usual
half-baked "unions" of other countries). I am not advocating anything here,
am merely trying to illustrate what I said about the seeming contradictions
in Belgium.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

•

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