Oh man, here we go…

From CNN:

(CNN) — Belgium’s Prime Minister Yves Leterme has offered his government’s resignation amid a row over the break-up of the stricken Fortis bank, according to national media reports.

Belgian newspapers and state television reported that Leterme was tendering the government’s resignation to the king.

Gotta love it! So much of my cash goes to the damn government, you’d think they would at least get their act together and make better decisions. The basics of democracy forbid the exact sort of meddling that Yves was involved in. I hope the King (*gulp*) accepts his resignation and makes this guy work in some cave in Wallonia so I don’t have to pay unemployment benefits. Does this make me a fascist?

Anyway, I propose a 2-state solution. Ethnic Kurds can have the nor… oh wait. Wrong country!

Reporters Without Borders recently published their Press Freedom Index for 2008. I saw a report the other day on al-Jazeera’s English news station. The results of the list — which I recall seeing several years ago with the same reaction — are surprising. Most notable is how low the US is on the list, with most of Europe coming in before it. The report on the Index’s website says:

Two aspects stand out in the index, which covers the 12 months to 1 September 2008. One is Europe’s preeminence. Aside from New Zealand and Canada, the first 20 positions are held by European countries. The other is the very respectable ranking achieved by certain Central American and Caribbean countries.

In addition to the above, I selected a few of the countries that I thought stood out.

• 1 Iceland
• 7 Belgium
• 13 Canada
• 20 Germany
• 25 United Kingdom
• 35 France
• 36 Bosnia and Herzegovina
• 41 United States of America
• 46 Israel (Israeli territory)
• 92 Congo
• 103 Turkey
• 119 United States of America (extra-territorial)
• 132 Malaysia
• 146 Egypt
• 151 Zimbabwe
• 156 Afghanistan
• 161 Saudi Arabia
• 166 Iran
• 172 North Korea

You can read how the statistics were compiled here. You can also get the full report here. What do yo think? Are you as surprised as I was?