The obscene amount of vehicles pumping out noxious fumes in Italy

[Scrapspal]

Good morning to you Lombardia, it's heartwarming to see you chose 'option b' in the end. People do often adjust their stance. It's a shame you cannot have a dog due to your agreement, as even "ankle biters" are excellent company. Ask Carole B, she has a cute little ankle biter. How about a cat instead?

[Angie and Robert]

I used to have a Great Dane, does that count?
A

[sueflauto]

I'd have thought ankle biters a bit dangerous in an Italian context. They grab your jeans, you give a quick flail of your leg to get rid of them, and they go sailing over the balcony wall...

One of my neighbour's dog is so small that whenever I see him I don't look at this face but down on the ground in case I step on his dog.

[janie]

Originally Posted by sueflauto

I'd have thought ankle biters a bit dangerous in an Italian context. They grab your jeans, you give a quick flail of your leg to get rid of them, and they go sailing over the balcony wall...

One of my neighbour's dog is so small that whenever I see him I don't look at this face but down on the ground in case I step on his dog.

I take it you mean on those rare occasions when the dog isn't being carried?

[Nielo]

Scrapspal, got any photos of Rex?

Here are my two.

dogs.jpg

[Scrapspal]

Here's a photo of the faithful hound.
REX.jpg

[Nielo]

Oh he's a cutie!

[Angie and Robert]

What a lovely boy!
A

[Sancho the Fat]

One of our St Bernard Dogs Is Missing
(N. F. Simpson)


A moot point
Whether I was going to
Make it.
I just had the strength
To ring the bell.

There were monks inside
And one of them
Eventually
Opened the door.
Oh
He said,
This is a bit of a turn-up
He said
For the book.
Opportune
He said
Your arriving at this particular
As it were
Moment

You're dead right
I said
It was touch and go
Whether I could have managed
To keep going
For very much
Longer.

No
He said
The reason I use the word opportune
Is that
Not to put too fine a point on it
One of our St Bernard dogs is
Unfortunately
Missing.

Oh, dear
I said.
Not looking for me, I hope.

No
He said.
It went for a walk
And got lost in the snow.

Dreadful thing
I said
To happen

Yes
He said.
It is.

To
Of all creatures
I said
A St Bernard dog
That has devoted
Its entire
Life
To doing good
And helping
Others.

What I was actually thinking
He said
Since you happen to be
In a manner of speaking
Out there already
Is that
If you could
At all
See your way clear
To having a scout
As it were
Around,
It would save one of us
Having to
If I can so put it
Turn out.
Ah
I said
That would
I suppose
Make a kind of sense.

Before you go
He said
If I can find it
You'd better
Here it is
Take this.


What is it?
I said
It's a flask
He said
Of brandy.

Ah
I said.

For the dog
He said.

Good thinking
I said.

The drill
He said
When you find it
If you ever do
Is to lie down.

Right
I said
Will do.

Lie down on top of it
He said
To keep it warm
Till help arrives.

That was a week ago, and my hopes are rising all the time.
I feel with ever-increasing confidence
that once I can safely say that I am within what might
be called striking distance of knowing where, within a
square mile or two, to start getting down to looking,
my troubles are more or less, to all intents and
purposes, apart from frostbite, with any luck once
help arrives at long last, God willing, as good as over.
It is good to be spurred on with hope.

[liketheroman]

For those of you who might remember the comedy series, Mr Don & Mr George, Mr Don had a thing about the Swiss. He said they were too lazy too fight a war and the country was too 'slippery' (where are the 'gritter')

They were the peasant states of the old Germanic kingdom and at one time their principle export was mercenaries for Kings who could not raise an army.

In the last war they had 500,000 men at arms and did not risk a single one ultimately for their protection as well as everyone elses. Respecting their neutrality was a hindrance to the allies as it greatly reduced their opportunities for fronts.

Meanwhile they profited from the boom in commerce, allowed trains to pass from Germany to Italy and since the Reichmark became worthless they exchanged swiss francs for gold to enable Swedish iron ore to be purchased to build things to blow up our cities.

Today the Swiss do not belong to any world organisations nor do they contribute their men at arms to any peacekeeping initiatives. They can sniff at the failures but the likes of Sierra Leone have no Swiss contribution.

What is Switzerland today. Well they are credited with being uber democratic yet the last canton only gave women the vote in 1971. They have low unemployment which is just as well since workers have almost no rights. They also have the worlds highest firearm ownership.

Are they a clean country. Well they are the third richest in the world and do enjoy a certain largesse in car choice. They are the worlds 13th most prolific smokers and drinkers interestingly.

Do they contribute to the EU financially? Well they are not members of the EU and since their democratic process sensibly prevents them from ratifying treaties they are not technically but in reality de facto members of EFTA, parties to the Schengen accord and to the Amsterdam Treaty. This year they agreed by referundum to pay for the benefits they get from these various bilateral agreements.

Their nose for business is legendary and they are experts at profiting from other peoples problems. They are the third riches country behind Luxembourg and Norway but due to their low tax burden, their citizens are in reality the richest. In spite of their success they are an insecure nation, having few natural resources, poor agricultural stock and now have the most to lose from Globalisation.

A model country? Certainly. A Lexus is a perfect car but I would rather have Jag.

PS None of this googled, or wikid or from street observation one weekend so forgive me if any factual inaccuracies.
PPS You cannot beat a Jack Russell - honest dogs, they dont pretend to like you