Richard Rorty

Richard Rorty has died.

Like with so many other philosophers I can't quite talk about his thinking. Still the influence is there.

Election Fever

There's a bustle on election Sunday. People walking to the polling station and returning, meeting each other, gossiping. The line was non-existent, so I could go in, vote, and come out again. My date for the afternoon to keep me from watching the Big Election Show on the television messaged off with a migraine. P. is out on civic duty. He got claimed to man the polling station. So this afternoon it's only me, the housechores, and the television.

Oversimplification

Sarkozy and the French elections land on the BBC News homepage. After some lurking and clicking around I finaly find a little article on the Belgian federal elections. Speaking of oversimplification: there you have it. No history, no general framework, no explanation, no nothing. This mainly shows that Belgium is a no-nothing country that yells about regional problems that are considered feeble abroad. If only we would put all those so-called problems aside, maybe they'd take us more seriously.

P.S.: Flemish liberals have lost together with Flemish socialists, leaving Christian Democrats as the biggest party. On French-speaking side the liberals and socialists are still very strong, with either one of them being the biggest party in the French-speaking constituencies. Here's to an interesting round of negotiations.