2010: a Swiss odyssey: what an outstanding year that was! We had referenda to deal with the problem of foreigners. The world pressured us to end some of our more dubious financial dealings. Roger Federer racked up more tennis titles. Admittedly, I could be talking about any year over the past decade ...
| Auteur | De Faoite, Diarmuid |
| Fonction | Humour |
... But here it is, your review of the Helvetic goings-on of the past 12 months.
February
Antoine Goetschel, an animal lawyer (think Ally McVeal), represented a dead pike after an animal protection group accused the angler who caught it of cruelty for taking over 10 minutes to haul the fish in. The angler was found not guilty. The fish was reported to be tasty and served with a selection of seasonal vegetables.
April & May
Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull (which looks like a Swiss-German word, but actually isn't) volcano erupted, severely disrupting flights across Europe. Swiss railways made a killing on increased passenger numbers, proving the old adage that every volcanic dust cloud has a silver lining.
June
In a shock result, Switzerland beat Spain in their opening game of the World Cup in South Africa (that's a lot of countries starting with "S" in the one sentence!). So shocked was the team by this historic victory that they forgot to try in the following two matches and so didn't get out of the group stages.
July
A study released by Bern University claimed the wastewater in Swiss towns contained surprisingly high traces of cocaine. Eating domestic fish is now both good and bad brain-food.
August
The government began paving the way for a vote on the reintroduction of the death penalty after enough signatures were collected to force a referendum. The people behind the initiative then said, "Psych! Actually we don't really want to have this vote, but thanks for signing up for it anyway." Apoplectic Swiss politicians called for the reintroduction the death penalty for people who misuse direct democracy.
Also in August, a global survey from U.S. polling firm Gallup said 10 million people around the world would move here if they could. However, the survey was unable to say what Germany would be like with a population reduced by 9.9 million.
September
With the election of Simonetta Sommaruga, for the first time ever there is a female majority in the...
Pour continuer la lecture
SOLLICITEZ VOTRE ESSAICOPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
