Belgium

Belgium's made its mark on the culinary world with waffles and chocolate. But could Ghent, Belgium, become the world's first city known for its vegetarianism? Starting today, the city has instituted a weekly "veggie day" in which government officials opt for meatless meals. When school begins again in September, schoolchildren will also have a weekly meat-free day.

Deputy mayor of Ghent Tom Balthazar explained that the reasons for going vegetarian are manifold: in addition to tackling obesity, raising awareness for vegetarianism reduces the city's environmental footprint and helps fight hunger. "Eighteen percent of the greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the meat industry . . . and the fight against hunger will go better and smoother if we eat less meat. For producing one kilogram of meat, you need seven to 10 kilograms of grains," he said.Citizens of Ghent still have the option to eat meat on "veggie day." However, as Balthazar (who is a self-described flexitarian) explains, the main menu on these days at city schools and many restaurants will be meatless, and the alternative menu will contain meat.

Although I consider myself a big meat eater, it's a relevant time to consider the social, health, and environmental impacts of consuming less meat. Would you support a vegetarian movement in your town?

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Hoping to raise awareness about suffering caused by the lack of drinkable water, an ad agency in Belgium came up with a campaign called: "Thirsty Black Boy Interrupting Live Television."

During various prime time broadcasts, a young boy ran onto the set, chugged the glass of water sitting next to the host or the guests, and then quickly ran out of sight. The viral awareness campaign helped raised $5.24 million for the water cause in only six days!

Every day 1.1 billion people — equivalent to the combined population of North America and Europe — go without clean water. Even worse, every 15 seconds a child dies because he or she doesn't have water to drink. While some could derive colonial or patronizing undertones from the title "Thirsty Black Boy," it's refreshing to see creative viral marketing going to a good cause.

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Belgium's government collapsed today, but at least they can drink away their sorrows. An American treasure — Budweiser beer — is now Belgian. Perhaps baseball or apple pie will leave us next. For $52 billion Belgian company InBev purchased Anheuser-Busch, pledging to keep the North American headquarters in St. Louis, while cutting $1.5 billion in costs.

The King's defection hits no place harder than its birthplace St. Louis, MO. Anheuser-Busch's reign in the Midwest city dates back to a brewery founded in 1852. If you're keeping track, InBev's first brewery was founded in 1366.

For more on Anheiser-Busch's American legacy, and what my grandparents in St. Louis have to say about this "rotten deal" read more

A few months ago a Belgium newspaper wrote the following:

The American mortgage crisis affects banks in Europe. The insatiable American demand for oil makes the Arabian sheiks rich. The American refusal to care for the environment causes the North Pole ice to melt and coastal areas in Asia to flood. Hence, the world should be given the right to vote. Because the current situation is a blatant case of taxation without representation.

Today, the Wall Street Journal, took a look at how the world would vote, if it in fact had a chance. It seems support for the three candidates is divided among continents. Europe and Africa are enamored with the Kennedy-esque Obama. The Middle East is also fascinated with Obama's roots. Mexico and China are hopeful that Hillary Clinton will continue the free trade policies of her husband. France just warmly received John McCain, as he is viewed as a George Bush adversary.

It is true that American policy has global repercussions. Does it matter what other countries think about the candidates? If you're a voting American, how would you feel if you couldn't have a say in who is elected to lead the world's major superpower?

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This week Belgium's banks and government agreed to begin paying $170 million in restitution, to families of Holocaust survivors whose property and goods were stolen by Nazi occupiers. The agreement comes years after passing a law authorizing the compensation.

Approximately half of the 50,000 Jews living in Belgium at the beginning of World War II perished in the Holocaust. Of the reparations, $54 million will be paid to individuals, with the rest of the $170 million to be put in a Jewish trust for the poor and for Holocaust education.

The picture above shows a group of Jewish refugee children fleeing Belgium in 1940. At the ceremony announcing the reparations, was a man who had lived in Belgium at the start of World War II, who'd lost eight brothers and a sister during the war. He said that the Nazis took three years of his life, adding, "no money can pay for that."

Is Belgium's reparations plan admirable? Or is there no amount of money that can ease any portion of the pain?

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Two sets of parents in Belgium have been sentenced to five months in prison and fined 4,100 euros ($8,000) for failing to have their children vaccinated against polio. If the parents meet the deadline to vaccinate, they can dodge incarceration. Because of Belgium privacy laws, the details as to why the parents refused vaccination are unknown.

Polio is the only vaccination required by law in Belgium, and France is the only other European county that also requires it. In the US, children can avoid vaccination easily for religious of philosophical reasons. In Saudi Arabia, pilgrims from countries with a polio epidemic must prove vaccination, as well as receive an extra dose from the Saudi authorities at the airport. To see if vaccination is worth it, read more