Sunday, February 04, 2018

This is the second week in a row there was a European country that has very active standards to address the climate crisis. They entrench their LAND USE in protecting forests and still conduct viable industry to bring high standards of living to people. The governments definitely set standards to control emissions of GHGs. They does not inhibit their economies.

These are relatively small countries in number of square miles compared to countries such as the USA and Canada, yet they are champions in mitigating the climate crisis. One would almost expect their abuses to the environment would be worse than larger countries, but, that is not at all the case. These countries are about the size of any given state of the USA; there simply is no reason to lie about the climate crisis or it's needed social reforms.

To date, the countries brought to focus are Western allies to the USA. They are seeing the climate crisis destroying it's beauty in Australia, but, not so in Austria and Belgium. If any country ever busted a myth about forests, their resilience and benevolent purpose, it is Belgium. Simply amazing. It would seem as though forest management in Europe far exceeds anything the USA is doing.


February 16, 2016
by Eliana Dockterman

The FDA is warning pasta and pizza lovers (click here) that cheese labeled “100 percent Parmesan” are often filled with cheese substitutes—like wood pulp.

Yes, you’ve been eating wood, thanks to companies like Castle Cheese, which produced Parmesan cheese containing no actual Parmesan for almost 30 years. The president of the company, which supplied megastores like Target, is scheduled to plead guilty this month to charges that carry a sentence of up to a year in prison and a $100,o00 fine, according to Bloomberg.

Neil Schuman—who runs Arthur Shcuman Inc. the largest seller of hard Italian cheese in the U.S.—estimates a whopping 20 percent of such cheese are mislabeled....

I'm just sayin'.

I want to mention a growing concern to some Belgian Catholics. I am sure the government is as concerned about the issue of death and dying from terminal illnesses, but, have lost touch with the thinking of the community as to some abuses. In such important decisions, the Belgian government should be more in touch with the community and their real life experiences.

January 17, 2018
By Alexander Slavsky

Brussels (ChurchMilitant.com) - Bishops and doctors (click here) are mounting pressure on Belgian officials to hold them accountable for abusing the euthanasia law used to kill terminally ill patients. 
On January 11, Auxiliary Bishop Jean Kockerols of Mechelen-Brussels told Catholic News Service that the Church knew the Federal Control and Evaluation Commission on Euthanasia (FCEC) was "not working as it should." He said the bishops would support an investigation into the activities of the commission "to ensure it functions as it's supposed to." 
Speaking with Church Militant, Erwin Wolff, a member of Pro Familia, a pro-life lay apostolate in Belgium, commented on the Belgian church's relationship with the state. 
"Like all other social developments, there was no strong response or comment from the Church," Wolff said. "The Church would not dare criticize anything, because if they do, the liberals and the far left would start lobbying to have the funding stopped and by so doing have the Church destroyed." 

He continued, "And they would have their way because ideologically speaking there is no real difference between the Christian Democrats, liberals and the socialists, hence the consensus-driven political policy."...

Trees in the way of forests are very valuable, but, are great mitigators of the climate crisis. How difficult is it being involved with the Paris Accords really?

Timber production in Europe (click here)

Climate change will probably increase timber production and reduce prices for wood products in Europe. For 2000–2050 a change of timber production in Europe is expected of -4 to +5%. For 2050–2100 an increase is expected of +2 to +13% (21).

Maple syrup production (click here) in the United States was up 203,000 gallons (6.3 percent) in 2015, making it the second largest crop on record. Production of this sweetener has trended higher over the past few decades, and the 3.4 million gallons harvested this year is more than three times the amount produced in 1995. The number of tree taps this year reached almost 12 million, the highest on record, and 61 percent of those taps were in New England. Vermont is the Nation’s largest producer of maple syrup and, with New York and Maine, accounts for 75 percent of the U.S. total. Despite the steady growth in domestic production, imports from Canada still account for nearly 70 percent of U.S. consumption. The average price received by farmers in 2014 was $36.40 per gallon (ranging from $31.50 in Maine to $70.90 in Connecticut), down $1 from the previous year. The wide divergence in average prices is due to sales format—largely retail sales in Connecticut and bulk sales in Maine. This chart is from the July 2015 Sugar and Sweeteners Outlook report.

Specifics on Belgium manufacturing and lace.

Belgium bridal lace
The manufacturing sector (click here) accounts for about one-sixth of the GDP. Manufacturing is the major economic activity in the provinces of East Flanders, Limburg, and Hainaut. The corridor between Antwerp and Brussels also has emerged as a major manufacturing zone, eclipsing the older industrial concentration in the Sambre-Meuse valley.
Metallurgy, steel, textiles, chemicals, glass, paper, and food processing are the dominant industries. Belgium is one of the world’s leading processors of cobalt, radium, copper, zinc, and lead. Refineries, located principally in the Antwerp area, process crude petroleum. Antwerp is also known for diamond cutting and dealing. The lace made in Belgium has been internationally renowned for centuries. To combat the slow decline of this industry, which has been dependent on the handiwork of an aging population of skilled women, specialized schools were established in Mons and Binche to train younger workers.
Foreign investment led to considerable growth in the engineering sector of Belgium’s economy in the late 20th century. The country has assembly plants for foreign automakers, as well as for foreign firms manufacturing heavy electrical goods. Moreover, Belgium has a number of important manufacturers of machine tools and specialized plastics.

Your eyes are not lying to you, the percentage of forest in Belgium has increased over the years.




This photo of Bruges Ballooning is courtesy of TripAdvisor (click here) The title of the pictures is, "Flying High over Belgium Forests." 

There is absolutely no excuse for deforestation. Belgium is densely populated with a diverse set of cultures, yet they are keeping their promise to their children in protecting the environment and beauty.

These statistics regarding the Belgium forests is duplicated by the statistics of the World Bank (click here).

22.0% —or about 667,000 hectares—of Belgium is forested. (click here) Of this, none is classified as primary forest, the most biodiverse form of forest.

Change in Forest Cover: Between 1990 and 2000, Belgium lost an average of 1,000 hectares of forest per year. The amounts to an average annual deforestation rate of 0.15%. Between 2000 and 2005, the rate of forest change decreased by 100.0% to 0.00% per annum. In total, between 1990 and 2005, Belgium lost 1.5% of its forest cover, or around 10,000 hectares. Measuring the total rate of habitat conversion (defined as change in forest area plus change in woodland area minus net plantation expansion) for the 1990-2005 interval, Belgium gained 6.1% of its forest and woodland habitat.

Biodiversity and Protected Areas: Belgium has some 548 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles according to figures from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Of these, 0.5% are endemic, meaning they exist in no other country, and 3.5% are threatened. Belgium is home to at least 1550 species of vascular plants, of which 0.1% are endemic. 0.0% of Belgium is protected under IUCN categories I-V.

Belgians have disposable income and they like to travel. A hot spot is Greece.

March 2, 2018

Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura, Secretary General of Tourism Policy and Development, G. Tzialas, Greece's Ambassador to Belgium, Eleftheria Galataniakis, and local Head of Greek National Tourism Organization Eleni Skarveli at Salon de Vacances

Tourist (click here) arrivals in Greece from Belgium in 2017 broke the 10-year record. According to data, for the first time, the number of visitors from the northwest European country exceeded 509,000. In fact, Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura, who visited Brussels and met with officials from the Belgian tourism market, announced that the 2018 bookings were already on an upward trend.

Based on current figures, Greece is the second most popular summer destination in the Belgian market....

As a side note and in defense of student employment (ages 15 - 24) there is a study out of Australia which states higher wagers begin in teens. It is important young people have disposable income to enjoy life and realize the cost of living well.

I second the idea that Millennials are a hard working lot. They were the lost generation which Occuplied Wall Street. They created their own work and ecnomic opportunities. Many today, are still working as entrepreneurs in their own businesses. They are important and it is very important their economy is protected and supported with legislation that promotes small businesses.

January 28, 2018
By Matt Wade


The employment rate among Australians aged between 15 and 24 – which takes in the Millennial generation born after the mid-1990s – is close to 60 per cent. That's way above the 41 per cent average for that age group among the advanced-country members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The share of 15- to 24-year-olds that work in Korea, France and Belgium is less than half of Australia's rate.

The growth in the USA is right on track with Europe. How much growth is needed in a population that is static?









There is some inflation in Belgium, but, the national deficit is incredibly low at 2.5 percent of GDP. The national deficit is expected to reach 1.6 percent by 2019. It is in the PDF. Belgium is a country that takes it's government spending seriously.

PDF (click here)

Economic growth (click here) increased in 2017 and is projected to stabilise at 1.7% in 2018 and 2019. Private consumption will be an important driver of growth. Government investment will be strong in 2018 and private investment will support growth. Inflation will increase due to tightening labour markets and higher wages.
The fiscal stance will provide modest support for growth in 2018 and 2019, due to planned reductions in labour taxation. Raising skills and work opportunities for disadvantaged groups would make growth more inclusive. Re-orientating public spending towards education and physical infrastructure investment would enhance productivity growth and inclusiveness.
Public debt, at 105.7% of GDP in 2016, remains high. To ensure sustainability, it is important that the government sticks to its medium-term consolidation path. Financial sector vulnerabilities are limited, with stress tests indicating resilience in the banking sector. However, prolonged low interest rates could create risks. House prices and mortgage lending have already increased considerably. Further improving macro-prudential measures to mitigate risks related to the housing market would be welcome.

A country's priorities in spending is important.

Military (click here) expenditures data from SIPRI are derived from the NATO definition, which includes all current and capital expenditures on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces; defense ministries and other government agencies engaged in defense projects; paramilitary forces, if these are judged to be trained and equipped for military operations; and military space activities....

Europe's ports are in close proximity to Russia and it's ports. There are areas where Russian vessels cross European waters to reach a port in a closed harbor. So, the idea mines could be deployed to effect the security of NATO is very real.


The Belgian government (click here) on Friday, January 26, (2018) decided to give the department of defense its green light for the acquisition of six new mine countermeasure vessels.
The order will be placed jointly with the Netherlands Navy which will acquire an identical number of MCM ships.
In addition to mine countermeasures, the two countries are collaborating on the purchase of new frigates, two units for each country.
Belgium will be in charge of MCM acquisition while the Netherlands is to lead the frigate project.
With the government’s approval, the Belgian Navy will spend 1.1 billion euros on the entire MCM project which will include a range of unmanned systems including unmanned surface, aerial and underwater vehicles alongside towed sonars and mine identification and neutralization ROVs....

Another European ally that has a fairly static population with successful longevity.

Life expectancy (click here) at birth: total population: 81.1 years

male: 78.5 years

female: 83.8 years (2017 est.)

Definition: This entry contains the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future. Life expectancy at birth is also a measure of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes the mortality at all ages. It can also be thought of as indicating the potential return on investment in human capital and is necessary for the calculation of various actuarial measures.

Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on January 20, 2018
We all know the factual story of wolves in relation to Yellowstone National Park. The park was deteriorating because this cornerstone predator was missing due to over hunting. Today, a balance exists and the USA wolves are well documented.

30 January 2018
By David Nield

It's not hard (click here) to find worrying stories about the state of our planet's wildlife, so it's refreshing to hear news with a more positive spin: a wild wolf has been spotted in Belgium for the first time in over a century.

Having been driven from much of western Europe through a combination of hunting, increased industrialisation, and wider urban sprawl, these animals are now making a comeback across the continent. Belgium is the last mainland country to have reported such a sighting in recent years.
Thanks to an electronic tag previously fitted to the wolf, we know it's travelled hundreds of kilometres, through Germany and the Netherlands, before arriving in Belgium, and more wolves may now follow.
"In recent days the wolf has stayed near the Flemish town of Beringen and the military base at Leopoldsburg," says Belgian environmental group Landschap. "The animal has covered 500 kilometres (300 miles) in ten days."
However, not everyone is celebrating – farmers in France, Spain, and Italy are worried about the threat these predators pose to their livestock.
For environmental and biodiversity campaigners, though, the news is definitely good. In 1979 the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats listed the wolf as a "a fundamental element of our natural European heritage"....

These are the efforts by Belgium to control and reduce GHG emissions in million tons of CO2 equivalent

This statistic shows the annual greenhouse gas emissions from fuel combustion in manufacturing industries and construction in Belgium from 2005 to 2014. In 2014, the greenhouse gas emissions from fuel combustion in manufacturing industries and construction in Belgium amounted to 13.29 million tons of CO2 equivalent.

Nuclear energy is a problem and it isn't just the spent fuel rods.

Cracks in nuclear facilities globally are not discussed openly and regularly so the public can understand the impacts of choosing electricity from nuclear power.

As an example, there were two reactors in Texas, USA experiencing the same problem as the reactors in Belgium.

February 4, 2018
By Dave Keating

Last summer, (click here) when the Belgian government revealed that seventy new cracks had been discovered in the boiler of the country’s Tihange 2 nuclear reactor, towns near the country’s borders reacted with exasperation.

The power plant lies just 60km from the triple border where Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands meet, close to the Dutch town of Maastricht and the German town of Aachen.

These were not the first cracks to be discovered. Tihange is now more than four decades old, but it was built to only have a lifespan of 30 years. Already in 2014 an inspection found thousands of small ‘microcracks’ in the reactor. The neighboring German state of Northrhine-Westphalia became so alarmed that it ordered iodine tablets for German citizens in case of a Belgian nuclear accident.

Tihange isn’t the only plant of concern. The Doel 3 reactor, near the Belgian port city of Antwerp next to the Dutch border, also has cracks. These reactors have been subject to sudden shutdowns which have caused disruption to the Belgian electricity network. The country is 40 percent reliant on nuclear power for its electricity....

Belgium GHG emissions and energy production distribution.


It's Sunday Night

Annelien Coorevits
Beligum model and Miss Belgium 2007


La Brabanconne

O dear Belgium, O holy land of our fathers –
Our soul and our hearts are devoted to you!
With blood to spill for you, O fatherland!
We swear with one cry – You shall live!
So gladly bloom in beauty full,
Into what freedom has taught you to be,
And evermore shall sing your sons:
The King, and Law, and Liberty!
Faithful to the word that you may speak boldly,
For King, for Freedom and for Law!
To Law and King and Freedom, hail!
The King, and Law, and Liberty!




I spent a fair amount of time trying to be correct regarding the Belgium national anthem. The anthem has changed over the past centuries and the rendition above is supposed to be the latest and most correct. I left it in English.

Belgium has three official languages. Dutch, German and French, reflect the highly diverse population of Belgium. Belgium has sought to incorporate all languages in the latest national anthem.

Nunes needs to resign or be removed as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

This is a strong indication of the incompetency of this administration and Congress. I congratulate Mr. Baier for ending the propaganda and seeking the truth.

The Nunes memo is more than a piece of paper to seek continued support of the third of the voters in the USA that comprise the Republican base; it is an act of treason. Just that simple. The memo defames the very intelligence institutions the USA relies on to protect it's national security. The memo is a national security issue and it is not about to disappear as a political stunt.

It was prudent on the part of Rep. Goudy to come out and openly state the Russian investigation by Former Director Mueller will go forward as there are many factors involved in this investigation. As Vice Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Goudy needs to issues a clarification to the reason and content of the Nunes Memo.

Rep. Goudy is reported to be leaving Congress at the end of this term for his own reasons. I wish him well in further endeavors. But, he has seen it necessary to state the Russian investigation is necessary. He also departs from President Trump in that the Nunes memo clears the President of any aspect of the Russian investigation. The President engages all too often in lies and propaganda to ignore the damage such statements cause the country.

I think the people of the USA can now land firmly on ridicule of a memo intended to defame the FBI and undermine a necessary investigation to the attempts by Russia to change the face of freedom and democracy in the USA.

I think Mr. Goudy for his candor. It is important to the sovereignty of the USA for every Congresswoman and Congressman to bring truth to their practice in their respective institutions.

February 2, 2018
By Bryan Logan

The House Intelligence Committee (click here) chairman Devin Nunes admitted on Friday that he did not view the underlying intelligence on which he based a memo that accuses the FBI and the Justice Department of improperly surveilling Trump associates during the 2016 election.

Hours after the memo came out on Friday, Nunes gave an interview on Fox News during which anchor Bret Baier asked him if he wrote the memo. "Yes," Nunes replied, saying other Republican lawmakers, like House Oversight Committee chair Trey Gowdy, also contributed.

"Did you read the actual FISA applications," Baier asked, referring to the documents that the memo cites in part as evidence of improper conduct by US law-enforcement officials.

"No, I didn't," Nunes said, before adding that Gowdy was part of a designated group that reviewed the intelligence, took notes, and reported it back to committee members....