Europe may be in (severe) decline...

But the Brussels Journal may be the finest blog on the planet. [Doesn’t it make you want to get on the plane for a plate of moules frites?-ed. No kidding, especially if I could meet those guys.]

UPDATE: Related must-read post here. It contains this sentence: Like the Arabs, the French were once the leaders of European and global culture (from the 11th to the mid-19th centuries); and like the Arabs, they have a deep sense of grievance at “history gone wrong.”

APROPOS: In terms of opera bouffe, what could be more comical than than Chirac’s walkout over a Frenchman speaking English? Meanwhile: The Financial Times says English is becoming the lingua franca in French boardrooms anyway.