Once again music gets the blame

[Henderson Keith]

Mike U.G. Holmes offers...

> Per capita ownership is higher in Switzerland (than) in the US
> (it's mandatory for males to keep a gun and ammunition) while the
> crime rate is lower.

Um...I will qualify that by saying that only male Swiss (native)
citizens are required to pack heat in their homes.  So far, nobody
has come knocking on my door telling me to arm myself.  But yes, after
I was surprised to see Swiss military get on the train and store their
rifles in the overhead bins, I learned from my Zurich-native colleague
here that indeed they retain their weapons for life after their
service is up.  And that they do have this little box of ammunition
that is to be only opened in case of some legitimate situation.
Like Nazis marching across the border or something.  Or perhaps an
invasion force from Liechtenstein on sheepback, I dunno.

Since the Swiss don't seem to have much influence on international
politics/affairs (an understatement) apart from organizations that
are *intended* to cross int'l boundaries without political concerns
(i.e., Red Cross, etc.), I guess you might sum up the attitude of
this place as "Speak not-at-all, and *everyone* carries a big stick.
(So leave us the hell alone.)"

Guns in the home here don't have much of anything to do with the
kind of violence you're all talking about though.  That doesn't
exist here (hardly) 'cause I can't seem to find a 'slum' here, and
I don't think there are any poor/forgotten people here either.
But then, you really *can't* be forgotten, 'cause everyone
registers with their local community as an official resident (I
guess censuses (censa?) aren't necessary?) and if you get into
any kind of serious financial trouble, I guess they call you into
a hearing and take over management of your personal finances.
That leaves 'crimes of passion,' and maybe they don't have much
passion here either.  :)

OK, a bit of a close-to-on-topic music bit...here's an old Alien
Planetscapes tape being offered on Ebay...FYI.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1577&item=935431512

Grakkl (FAA), who knows better than to go into *those* areas of certain
towns like Detroit and Cleveland, unless there's a really good reason,
like a space-rock concert or something.  And who's never come across
a problem/spooky feeling otherwise in the states, and hence is more
relieved about the lack of PC-hypersensitivity about everything (from
sex, to nipples (what are they?), to race, to marijuana, to...) here.
And the fact that everything in the states is so darn LOUD and in-your-
face...this coming from my recent 2-week visit there after 4 months away.