Wednesday, November 10, 2004

 
I'm having some trouble making sense of an internet live feed of some sort of preliminary negotiations in Bastogne. Much of it is in french(which I don't speak)but there is an english translation in the background and sometimes one of the participants will break into english when addressing the arbiter. It seems that there is serious consideration being given to something like the splitting of Czechoslovkia into the Czech Repubic and Republic of Slovakia. The cacophony is maddening but I think I've made out, "Unlike ze french *we* are not your 'ow you say? cheese eating surrender monkeys....(something, something)...General McAuliffe..[huh? It's *Chairman*-not "General" Terry McAuliffe, ya ignorant frog du nord, and what's the DNC got to do with all this?]...(something, something)....Ecrous!..[I think that means "escrow"]" They *do* seem to have made some progress, having agreed on some matters of real estate, but a final sticking point seems to be a demand by the "lazy, socialist" francophones for the "industrious, capitalist" Flemings to make a final "Walloon Payment"......