have you ever noticed at the bottom left side of my blog is a flag counter? i added this to my blog awhile back stumbling upon it on some one's site...it's one of those freebies that you can add....so then i, being me, started to become neurotic about gathering flags from around the world and blogged about it once asking for every one's help in my flag gathering game....! and you let your friends know, for i had some new countries added!
today i noticed that the race is really on between
Founded in 963, Luxembourg became a grand duchy in 1815 and an independent state under the Netherlands. It lost more than half of its territory to Belgium in 1839, but gained a larger measure of autonomy. Full independence was attained in 1867. Overrun by Germany in both World Wars, it ended its neutrality in 1948 when it entered into the Benelux Customs Union and when it joined NATO the following year. In 1957, Luxembourg became one of the six founding countries of the European Economic Community (later the European Union), and in 1999 it joined the euro currency area.
Although ultimately a victor in World Wars I and II, France suffered extensive losses in its empire, wealth, manpower, and rank as a dominant nation-state. Nevertheless, France today is one of the most modern countries in the world and is a leader among European nations. Since 1958, it has constructed a hybrid presidential-parliamentary governing system resistant to the instabilities experienced in earlier more purely parliamentary administrations. In recent years, its reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the economic integration of Europe, including the introduction of a common exchange currency, the euro, in January 1999.
oh my....i feel like i'm sitting at a track waiting to see the outcome...pretty thrilling...
i have had 70 different countries hit the blog...that is pretty amazing considering how big the internet is and how small of a world i'm in...
i only get a 'point', so to speak for newbies though....once you've been counted, that's it i'm afraid....
so let's cheer them both on....yep, it's the little things in life that are such a thrill!
