Liechtenstein braces itself for a Facebook invasion.

[Damjan]

People of Liechtenstein, you have been warned: an army of thousands is poised and ready to invade. The country's largest daily paper, Die Liechtensteiner Vaterland, described the "hair-raising" prospect, published a map of the proposed entry routes from Austria in the east and Switzerland in the west, and asked of one of the world's most prosperous nations, "Will Liechtenstein be taken?"

The bankers and waiters of this tiny German-speaking country (population 35,000) should not feel too worried, though, given that the threat comes from a Facebook army. And the fact that the campaign is the brainchild of students means that invasion plans are unlikely to be organised with military efficiency.

So why Liechtenstein? Liechtensteiner Vaterland speculates that its size – around the same as the metropolitan borough of Rochdale – has made it an "easy target", but other motives are hard to discern. An absence of oil in the country is made up for only with abundant supplies of spring water and a claim to being the world's largest producer of dentures.

Lizzie Palmer, Sheffield University student and self-proclaimed future queen of Liechtenstein, co-launched the group "The Facebook Army – Let's Get 1m People And Then Invade Liechtenstein". Although enthused by the idea of limitless false teeth, she insists that Liechtenstein was chosen for more pragmatic reasons. "We hadn't heard much about it but read about an accidental invasion into the principality by the Swiss army in 2003."

A 171-strong Swiss company took a wrong turn into a Liechtenstein forest, citing bad weather for the mistake. The authorities didn't react too harshly: "It's not like they invaded with attack helicopters," a spokesman reasoned at the time.

Palmer took encouragement from the muted reaction but says detailed invasion plans are still being drawn up, subject to careful consultation with the group's other 7,000 members.

Liechtenstein's concern is understandable though, given it has little or no military history. The army was abolished soon after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, in which Liechtenstein fielded a fighting force of just 80.

lol.

Source: Guardian.

[The Bossman]

WTF, that must have been a slow news day.

[Chris]

Ha, I read that when it was posted and thought the exact same thing. The Guardian is one of the more respectable papers in this country.

[The Bossman]

After watching Season 5 of The Wire, which focused on the media, that's how I imagine all media companies to be like. Scrambling around for stories at the last minute, and, if, to use The Wire again as an example, a serial killer is threatening the homeless sections of the city, they'll throw as many homeless and ' a day in the life' articles as possible, to show they're 'on the ball'. Jumping on the bandwagon, basically.