Friday, February 4, 2011

Luxembourg is NOT the size of Rhode Island, but the ex-US ambassador to it would fit right in here in lil' Rhody.

In what has to be the best news story of the day, it seems that the US Ambassador to Luxembourg, a position apparently earned by donating $500k to President Obama's campaign, has been rather extravagant and extremely difficult.

This is glorious.

Among her atrocities, she "purchased $3,400 in wine and liquor a day before the 2010 budget year ended", "spent $2,400 to fly with an aide to a Swiss "professional school" whose graduates have gone on to work for Buckingham Palace and similar places to interview candidates to replace a retired property caretaker and a fired chef,", and so distressed her employees that "at least four staffers quit or sought transfers to Iraq and Afghanistan during her tenure."

She has since resigned.

While this story is so delicious I want to eat it, investigation is called for. In the original article (which I can't recommend enough) the author states that this magnificent diplomat was assigned to the "Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, a tiny nation of 500,000 people about the size of Rhode Island."

Sadly, it is not true.

Luxembourg is a mere 998.6 sq mi , (2,586.4 km²),  while Rhode Island is a whopping 1,545 sq mi (4,002 km²).

However, given Ambassador Stroum's skill set and leadership tactics, I am sure that if she were willing to relocate to Rogue Island, she would find kindred spirits in abundance.



Link to Seattle Times article here. Does Rhode Island really mean that much more than Luxembourg to readers in Seattle????