A Belgian Parliamentarian cancelled lunch with an Iranian delegation because they hinted that he should not partake of alcoholic beverages during the meal.

This reminds me of the UN officials who protested that they did not have enough copy paper in stock.

Oh, The Courage!

A lunch meeting between a leading parliamentarian in Belgium and counterparts from Iran has been cancelled because the beer-loving Belgian could not stomach a ban on alcohol.

“Even for the tolerant Herman De Croo, that was a bridge too far,” De Croo, a Dutch-speaking Liberal, told De Standaard daily on Thursday.

...

But he said lunch had been cancelled because the Iranians, who as Muslims do not drink alcohol, wanted their hosts to do the same.

“I did not receive such demands in writing. But ... I was indirectly asked not to serve alcohol,” said De Croo.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8413439/

That's the last straw! Not only are the Iranians pursuing nuclear technology, but they're anti-booze, too!

Have these people no sense of civilization!? Savages...

;)

That's the last straw! Not only are the Iranians pursuing nuclear technology, but they're anti-booze, too!

Have these people no sense of civilization!? Savages...

;)

Exactly! If one can not enjoy a malt beverage with ones meal, well, how shall we go on living?!?

Ya know, if we could just get all the silly warring factions of the earth to sit down to a round of pints and have a good p!ss up, I think we could clear up a great many number of the problems we face in the world...

I said it in another thread- If the world did things the way the Irish did things, there'd be a lot fewer wars in the world. Fights there'd be more of, but fewer wars! ;)

Ya know, if we could just get all the silly warring factions of the earth to sit down to a round of pints and have a good p!ss up, I think we could clear up a great many number of the problems we face in the world...

I said it in another thread- If the world did things the way the Irish did things, there'd be a lot fewer wars in the world. Fights there'd be more of, but fewer wars! ;)

"have a good piss up", has got to be a Brit thing, or maybe an Irish thing. (don't get me wrong, I am completely on board) I'm just having a laugh at the phrase. (and I'm completely going to steal it)

Not too far off the mark, though, in my opinion, in that, if we could all just sit down and deal with one another as people, not as political parties, not as nations, not as ideologies, just as regular folks, I think that we'd find that we're not so far apart.

Yeah it's a Brit/Irish thing, of which I'm neither... Spent a semester abroad (Oh so many years ago :( ) and picked up a few of the phrases. I love that one in particular, and I love the Brit/Irish pub culture. It's so different from here in the states. A piss up at the pub, laughs and conversation, then after enough (or too many, in my case) pints, off to the disco... The problems I have with style correlate to the dance floor- for some reason, I can't move the top of my body at the same time as the bottom of my body... well, at least not with any rhythm, anyway!

That reminds how wine is part of Christian religion, which seems strange seeing what alcohol can do to people.

That reminds how wine is part of Christian religion, which seems strange seeing what alcohol can do to people.


:rolleyes:

A bit of wine used in a ceremony is not the equivalent of drinking to excess.

Many things are fine in moderation. If we weren't meant to enjoy life, we wouldn't have pleasure centers in the brain.

Without getting serious here, I should point out that alcohol was consumed in earlier ages (particularly the middle ages) in lieu of the oft' icky water... At least the hooch gave you a buzz and the trots, instead of JUST the trots!

Many things are fine in moderation indeed... and some are even better in excess!