The Best Practical Joke Played On Politicians In 2006
The Best Practical Joke Played On Politicians In 2006
Article by Waldemar Puszkarz, Ph.D.
I thought that this practical joke was hilarious. And obviously politicians, surprise, surprise, did not think so…
What am I talking about? Well, read this report from Brussels by Raf Casert, Associated Press, from Dec 14,2006:
BRUSSELS, Belgium – Suddenly and shockingly, Belgium came to an end. State television broke into regular programming late Wednesday with an urgent bulletin: The Dutch-speaking half of the country had declared independence and the king and queen had fled. Grainy pictures from the military airport showed dark silhouettes of a royal entourage boarding a plane.
Only after a half hour did the station flash the message: “This is fiction.”
It was too late. Many Belgians had already fallen for the hoax.
Frantic viewers flooded the call center of the RTBF broadcaster that aired the stunt. Embassies called Belgian authorities to find out what was going on, while foreign journalists scrambled to get confirmation.
“Ambassadors who were worried asked what they had to tell their capitals,” said Senate Chair Anne-Marie Lizin. “This fiction was seen as a reality and it created a catastrophic image of the country.”
RTBF defended the program, saying it showed the importance of debate on the future of Belgium. But the network won few friends.
Even the Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister from neighboring Luxembourg, was angry and let it be know at the opening of the European Union summit. “This is not the kind of issue you play around with,” he said.
The RTBF’s phony newscast reported that the “Flemish parliament has unilaterally declared the independence of Flanders” and that King Albert and Queen Paola had left on the first air force plane available.
The broadcast showed jubilant demonstrators waving the yellow-and-black flag with the Flemish Lion outside the legislature. A small crowd of monarchists rallied outside the royal palace waving the Belgian flag.
Reporting that the royal family fled did not go down well at the palace, which said in a statement the hoax was in “bad taste.”
“It is totally unacceptable,” said Vice Premier Didier Reynders.
That’s the report.
Now, remember that joke about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq started by some guy a few years ago. Yeah, I mean the same joke that cost thousands of troops their lives, not to mention the lives of over 100 thousand of innocent Iraqi civilians, mostly women and children. I don’t recall too many politicians protest that it was really a bad joke. You know why? Because the joke was not on them. The joke was on those who died in Iraq. But when a joke is on politicians, no matter how innocuous… well, that’s a totally different matter. That is something that requires the attention of the European Union summit!
More articles of this nature can be found in the Eclectic section of my site at http://www.eminimethods.com/Eclectic.html.
About the Author
Waldemar Puszkarz, Ph.D., is a web veteran with 15 years of web surfing under his belt. By training, he is a theoretical physicist, but his interests include also trading financial markets, sports betting, poker, and researching online business opportunities. He is the owner and webmaster of Eminimethods.com (http://www.eminimethods.com) which provides free trading education and reviews of honest online business opportunities.
“Everything is changing. People are taking comedians seriously and politicians as a joke” – Project 366 2008 – October 14, 2008 ~
“Everything is changing. People are taking comedians seriously and politicians as a joke” – Project 366 2008 – October 14, 2008 ~
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288/366 – Project 366 2008 – October 14, 2008 ~
~Will Rogers
Mrs. (Republican) & Mr. (Democrat) Duck are getting out to vote next month!!
Hubby designed and made these adorable outfits, and I did the hand sewing part ~
Please view on the LARGER sizes to see the straw flags and details:)
Practical joke
Practical joke
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.. not mine, I was simply on the periphery.
Not that I didn’t enjoy the laugh. 
joke hind : A day in life of India
A 2min video song about a very few crazy things about Indians! This was shot for a Times of India contest — A day in Life of India. Watch the video atleast THRICE to identify the few crazy things we have tried to showcase and drop in your comments.
Office joke Video
This is a Video i got from a friend and it is a good office joke. it is one of james blunts song but diffrent.
