Last but not least: Crap with a political dimension

The USA has elected the first black president in its history, the financial markets are in a crisis of the century and Federal Councillor Samuel Schmid has become the victim of "social lynch law" (quote from sociologist Kurt Imhof on Tagesanzeiger.ch). But the government of the Grisons winter sports and climatic health resort of Davos has a completely different problem: horse manure that is incompatible with tourism, and lots of it. 18 horse-drawn carriage companies trot through the popular ski resort in winter, depositing a number of brown bombs in the process. Mixed with rain or snow, this results in "the unsavory situation that has provoked numerous reports from the population", writes the small district council in a press release. The committee therefore passed an ordinance on Thursday. From December, all coachmen working in Davos must collect the manure themselves. Otherwise the men in blue will be in real trouble. Violations will not simply be punished with fines, but with a proper procedure including a report to the cantonal road traffic office. The new practice is intended to strictly adhere to the polluter-pays principle that applies in the traffic sector. Perhaps the cantonal council should start thinking about making it compulsory for horses to wear diapers.