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Post by OLKoot on Mar 17, 2006 10:55:42 GMT 12.75
I was watching one of the public service stations today, and there was this travel show which was about going to Switzerland and touring the Alps.....(I forget the names of the MTS)......I remember one of your earlier posts about guns, voting and the defensive ways the Swiss have with gun ownership....What I didnt realize was how prepared Switzerland was with their national defense program..... In a limited way, the announcer was introduced to some of the defense positions and what they contained ....We saw a series of normal looking homes, but when doors were opened, the homes were bristling with artillery, and where the homes looked like log, they were actually poured concrete bunkers.....What they were also saying, was the entire country was actually a fortress.....most of these armaments were set up during WW11 and continued to be improved during the cold war era.....I was totally amazed, but I could understand why......being in the location that they are.......
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Post by Paws on Mar 18, 2006 4:42:05 GMT 12.75
Sorry I missed that one. Sounds very interesting. ;D
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Post by OLKoot on Mar 18, 2006 5:33:42 GMT 12.75
It was an interesting show........But it was a low level eyeball of the defense for the entire couintry.... The artillary pieces I saw were upgraded pieces from WW11 and each male is expected to do a combination of 20 years of active and reserve service....Each male also has his own complete issue of combat gear, rifle included in his home.....and that was just the basics....They wouldnt devulge anything more then that.....
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Post by Brikatw on Mar 18, 2006 9:08:58 GMT 12.75
You know, I haven't seen Othmar around in awhile. Anyone heard from him?
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Post by brittonfaith on Mar 18, 2006 10:14:15 GMT 12.75
Last I heard from Othmar was when he posted back in February. The last I heard, was about 3 weeks ago. He was tired, had a bad cold, and just wanted to go to bed.
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Post by Paws on Mar 18, 2006 13:44:12 GMT 12.75
Maybe we ought to send him some happy cards. He sure is a good guy!
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Post by Brikatw on Mar 19, 2006 5:14:05 GMT 12.75
Ain't it agaist the law to send happy pilss through the mail??? OH, you said "Happy CARDS". Sorry, never mind.....
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Post by brittonfaith on Mar 19, 2006 12:06:16 GMT 12.75
Ain't it agaist the law to send happy pilss through the mail??? OH, you said "Happy CARDS". Sorry, never mind..... You mean it's still legal to send Happy Cards through the mail?? I thought they banned this years ago. All I ever get is "butt wipers" & bills! ;D
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Post by Brikatw on Mar 20, 2006 6:34:55 GMT 12.75
I can deal with the jumk mail and even the Bills. It's them "Williams" that stir my blood up. You know, them full growed bills? ?
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Post by OLKoot on Mar 22, 2006 11:08:33 GMT 12.75
Still no news from Othmar? ?
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Post by Paws on Mar 23, 2006 5:07:17 GMT 12.75
Othmar jposted a PM to me this morning. He is having difficulty posting. Seems that the system is not giving him the option to post. Dang! That might be considered censorship and start an international incident! This ever happen to any of you and if so what did you do to fix it?
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Post by brittonfaith on Mar 23, 2006 5:10:42 GMT 12.75
No. Hasn't happened to me. In fact, even if I forget to sign in first, I can still post. I just need to remember to put my user ID on the top line.
It wasn't always like that. Use to be I had to login to be able to post. The not signing in deal started in the last week.
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Post by Toby Benoit on Mar 23, 2006 18:13:33 GMT 12.75
Not me.
I had the same trouble as Faith in the last week or so, but I logged in and set the duration for forever and now I don't have to worry about that anymore.
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Post by othmar on Mar 24, 2006 6:37:29 GMT 12.75
As you can see Othmar, I have no problem signing in with your jprofile!
Paws
Folks, Othmar does not have a reply or quote button on his display for some reason. Did one of you guys ban him for some reason.
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Post by OLKoot on Mar 24, 2006 9:22:52 GMT 12.75
Why would anyone want too do that anyway??? Cant you get into the system and get him reativated? ?
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Post by brittonfaith on Mar 24, 2006 11:17:37 GMT 12.75
Folks, Othmar does not have a reply or quote button on his display for some reason. Did one of you guys ban him for some reason. Now doesn't that bite the big one?? Just out of curiosity, did you try changing his location to somewhere in the States to see if it made a difference? First, our avatars get taken away and it took weeks to get them back. Then, Othmar is taken from us by means of him not being able to join in. >:(GRRRRR.......D@NMED SCREW BALL TECHIES!!! QUIT MESSING WITH US!!!
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Post by Bro. Freddie on Mar 24, 2006 11:19:40 GMT 12.75
As you can see Othmar, I have no problem signing in with your jprofile! Paws Folks, Othmar does not have a reply or quote button on his display for some reason. Did one of you guys ban him for some reason. Not me. I like Othmar ;D
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Post by Toby Benoit on Mar 24, 2006 11:24:47 GMT 12.75
Heck no, I didn't ban him.
After thirty-five years of not knowing how to sharpen a knife, he taught me how to do it right here at O.C.C.
I was too dumb or stubborn to ever ask before, but now, my knives are sharp and actually hold an edge.
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Post by Paws on Mar 24, 2006 11:55:42 GMT 12.75
All right, we got him back. We went through hell and are not really sure what the problem was; just suspicion. Anyway he reports that the screens and prompts are now all visible and he will be posting later.
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Post by othmar on Mar 24, 2006 17:45:25 GMT 12.75
I finally made it, it took some doing between Phil and me with my smart and lovely wife giving me her valued advice. I am a member of many forums and this is the first time this happened. I still have no clue what happened but alas I ma back here again.
To answer SteveTheOLKootKorot, God what a mouth full that name is, about Switzerland's self defense system.
Since I am still, like all Swiss males of sound mental and physical health, a listed solider and under oath I am not able to say to much about our system. I can say though that what you have seen on TV is the old weapons we show off to the tourists. Unlike other countries we never show off or parade our newest weapons.
As for the defense system I can say that much. Every house has a bunker, every school, hospital, government building has it's equivalent under ground. Ever inner city has underground parking and the massive steel and concrete ramps you see are in fact hydraulic doors. Every mountain in Switzerland is hollow and has been turned into civilian shelters, railway stations, food storage and even military airports. Switzerland has a complete railway and highway system under ground plus the worlds largest food, water and oil reserves all stored in the mountains. It is estimated that Switzerland could survive a nuclear attack underground for up to three years.
Switzerland is in many way very unique from every other country in this world. So we have in fact three governments. The army is a state within the state and to nobody answerable other than directly to the people. The actual government has no power whatsoever ever. All the ministers including the president of state are bound by the order of the people. The actual ruling government are the people of Switzerland.
In Switzerland the people do not vote for a party, they vote for every single member by name in the Parliament, in the cabinet and on all local levels. We even vote which person gets which governments job. Thus Switzerland never has had, as ordered by the constitution, a party majority. If for some strange reason a party should gain the majority vote re-voting is ordered by the president of state. Like I said, by the Constitution is is forbidden for a party to rule.
Furthermore the Swiss have to vote every year for every single law before it can be passed, but also for the financial budget and even how much tax they want to pay. Including any major building such as highways and so fort.
Switzerland has also a very unique constitution (The Swiss Constitution has been adopted mostly as is by the American founding fathers), in that is has been written not by politicians but by three farmers. Thus it has been written very detailed, leaving absolutely not room for interpretations. Our founding fathers where in many regards very wise man and must have foreseen the future and the meddling ways of politicians, because they stated very clearly. "These constitution has been agreed upon in the presence of God and only he can change this constitution. Any mere mortal man attempting to change or amend this holy Constitution shall be punished by being put to death."
But also in other way the constitution is very specific like with the ownership of arms. "Every man, child and woman has the God given right to defend their own live, health and property by all means necessary including putting the assailant to death by any means with out fear of punishment of any kind or loss of any priviledges..." "The Federation of Switzerland shall be protected from any enemy from outside or within by regular armed forces. In addition every able Swiss born man, child and woman of sound mental health and having not committed any unlawful offense against the state and fellow Swiss man has the God given right to own and bear arms at all times of their choosing. The armed citizen is the militia and the only guarantee to safeguard our beloved Nation against the loss of freedom, justice and honour."
To make sure that the constitution and the rights never can be changed by politicians the founding father but a safety in it which comes in form of the army. "The armed forces due to their loyalty to the People and the Country shall be put solely in charge to safeguard the people rights and freedoms and uphold this constitution, if necessary with armed force."
This was a long answer but I found it important to understand why in my country people can own firearms like cars and why the army has such a close relationship with the people, but also why my country is still so "old fashioned". It is true that every Swiss soldier takes all his weapon and clothing home after each service. The idea behind it is that a Swiss soldier leaves the house ready to do battle.
In my case, I was a soldier and a member of the federal guard, I took home a revolver with 50 rounds of ammunition, five hand grenades, one machine pistol with 20 rounds of ammunition, one assault rifle with 10 rounds of ammunition and finally one snipper rifle with 10 rounds of ammunition. It takes Switzerland no less that 48 hours to have have all its troops ready to fight on the front lines while all armed non service citizen defend the houses, towns and villages. This is the reason why Hitler called Switzerland the "Little Hedgehog" and left Switzerland alone. Even the Americans who tried in two wars to use Switzerland as a short cut route deemed it wiser to travel around the country. Not that Switzerland couldn't be invaded but the price would be very high and bloody. Switzerland has the biggest army in the world compared to the size of the country and the people and who wants to fight with people that simply disappear under ground and then pop up anytime and anywhere.
As a interesting side note, specially with all that gun control nonsense going on. Switzerland has the most weapons including assault rifles per person of any country in the world. The preferred storage space for the firearms are the bedroom closet followed by the kitchen broom cabinet gun locks are on none of the guns and children have anytime access to ammunition and guns. Yet we have very little crime, suicides or accidents. This comes because we grow up with guns as we do with knife and fork and we respect them. Criminals know what is waiting for them if they break into a house and that old little lady walking on street most likely will have a gun in the pocket, if not other people on street will have one and if we have to we will use them on criminals without any hesitation.
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