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Friends.
I'm almost speechless.
I don't know if this should go in "False Religions" or "Incredible Stupidity you witnessed" or "More Belgiummer Abominations".
Or even talked about at all.
But because it's important to know who your enemies are, I'll link to the story anyway.
If you are having a bad day: stop reading.
If you really love GWB: stop reading.
If you want to hate Belgium even more: continue reading.
OK, enough disclaimers.
LAST WARNING!
<spaces>
Right.
George Bush has Flemish roots
It sounds a little far-fetched, and might even be defined as unpatriotic, but there is a growing body of evidence to show that George Bush has distant Flemish roots
It seems that he is descended from a certain Willem Baudaert (or Baudartius), born in Deinze, west of Ghent, in 1560. Baudartius came from a Protestant family at a time of growing religious intolerance and finally fled north to the Netherlands, where he became a strict Dutch Reformed preacher. He spoke fluent Hebrew and played a role in translating the first Dutch edition of the Bible.
His daughter, Maria Baudartius, born in 1600, married a Dutchman called Hendrik Beekman. They had a son called Willem, born in 1623, who sailed with Pieter Stuyvesant to America and settled in the colony of New Amsterdam (later New York).
Willem Beekman became one of the most prosperous citizens in Manhattan. Even today his name may strike a vague resonance with New Yorkers: just a couple of blocks from the Brooklyn Bridge runs a Beekman Street, named in honour of the Dutch immigrant.
But we’re still a bit of a way from the leader of the free world. Cornelia Beekman, grand-daughter of Willem, married Gilbert Livingstone, the son of a Scottish minister. And Cornelia’s great-granddaughter, Judith Livingstone, married a Samuel Herrick Butler. Their grandchild married Robert Emmet Sheldon, a wealthy arms dealer. And his daughter Flora Sheldon married Presscott Bush, great-grandfather of the president of the United States. So there you have it. George Bush has Flemish roots. But, to quote a familiar Bushism, "I think we all agree, the past is over.”
Derek Blyth
This is war friends.
I'm almost speechless.
I don't know if this should go in "False Religions" or "Incredible Stupidity you witnessed" or "More Belgiummer Abominations".
Or even talked about at all.
But because it's important to know who your enemies are, I'll link to the story anyway.
If you are having a bad day: stop reading.
If you really love GWB: stop reading.
If you want to hate Belgium even more: continue reading.
OK, enough disclaimers.
LAST WARNING!
<spaces>
Right.
George Bush has Flemish roots
It sounds a little far-fetched, and might even be defined as unpatriotic, but there is a growing body of evidence to show that George Bush has distant Flemish roots
It seems that he is descended from a certain Willem Baudaert (or Baudartius), born in Deinze, west of Ghent, in 1560. Baudartius came from a Protestant family at a time of growing religious intolerance and finally fled north to the Netherlands, where he became a strict Dutch Reformed preacher. He spoke fluent Hebrew and played a role in translating the first Dutch edition of the Bible.
His daughter, Maria Baudartius, born in 1600, married a Dutchman called Hendrik Beekman. They had a son called Willem, born in 1623, who sailed with Pieter Stuyvesant to America and settled in the colony of New Amsterdam (later New York).
Willem Beekman became one of the most prosperous citizens in Manhattan. Even today his name may strike a vague resonance with New Yorkers: just a couple of blocks from the Brooklyn Bridge runs a Beekman Street, named in honour of the Dutch immigrant.
But we’re still a bit of a way from the leader of the free world. Cornelia Beekman, grand-daughter of Willem, married Gilbert Livingstone, the son of a Scottish minister. And Cornelia’s great-granddaughter, Judith Livingstone, married a Samuel Herrick Butler. Their grandchild married Robert Emmet Sheldon, a wealthy arms dealer. And his daughter Flora Sheldon married Presscott Bush, great-grandfather of the president of the United States. So there you have it. George Bush has Flemish roots. But, to quote a familiar Bushism, "I think we all agree, the past is over.”
Derek Blyth
This is war friends.
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