They didn't attack the Swiss.

[30 cal slob]

The Swissies are an anal retentive lot.

I admire them for many reasons.

However, in two thousand years, what have the Swiss as a nation produced?

The cuckoo clock.

Seriously, Switzerland is just like any other commie-lib Euro-poofta nation ... all those Swiss gun freedoms that we all admire here will go down the toilet, just you wait and see, there is a strong movement afoot to disarm Swissies. It all started going downhill when they gave women the vote in the '70's. (Just kidding...)

Now, Austria, THAT's a place I wouldn't mind living right now. Concealed carry without a permit is the norm in most areas there, and you can still get the latest and greatest in full auto and suppressed goodies without undue red tape and paying an arm and a leg for them. On the negative side, like everything else in Europe, everything is socialized, so, taxes are higher and everything is more expensive.

 

[The Rabbi]

The Swiss are the international Libertarians. Any nation can do anything to any other nation and Switzerland will sit by and count the money.
They turned back many refugees from all over Europe. They refused to turn over bank information to next of kin who were slaughtered in the Holocaust. Their insurance companies are still litigating to avoid paying polcies taken out by people subsequently liquidated.
Of course if you want to live there and be a citizen you have to go through all kinds of scrutiny for about 10 years. If you dont fit in, you're out.
And yes, they sell arms to anyone who can pay. I believe their Oerlikon guns made a huge difference to the Afghan resistence, supplied by US funds.
Feh
TheImwithwildalaskaonthisoneRabbi

 

[Sawdust]

But ya gotta dig the unis on the Pope's Swiss Guards:

Sawdust

 

[grampster]

Sigh.......If we were fighting a war in the classic sense, Iraq and A'stan as well as Vietnam would have been desolate wastelands in short order. America has had and continues to have the most awesome, devastating machines of war that the world has ever seen. Our ground pounders are the best trained, motivated and armed in history. We partially unleashed all of them in the past in several different ways. We have never unleashed the full force of our might all at once at an enemy as had other armies of past history. We are not conquerors and/or occupiers. If we were, the world would be much different today than it is. That is to our credit and to our grief.

We are also a compassionate people who are "led" by other citizens, not warlords, dictators, kings, or the like, who because of our form of government, do not unleash this horror in the full sense of the word. Again, this is to our credit and our grief.

 

[Bear Gulch]

Simple reason for no invasion of the Swiss, follow the money. As most have pointed out, a thief goes to a good effort not to hack their fence off.

 

[ctdonath]

anything new is $180 minimum - and usually they're only Gamma detectors.

You'd really only be worried about gamma radiation anyway. Beta can be shielded from just by being inside, and alpha won't get thru your clothes or even the top layer of skin ... but gamma will go thru a few feet of just about anything.

 

[Mulliga]

Er... there's only, what, 7 million people in Switzerland?

I'm with WildAlaska. They wouldn't last a month if we went all out. I mean WWII-Tokyo-style-bombing, not "shock and awe" precision guided try-not-to-harm any civilians.

 

[Joejojoba111]

Heh, true, but if you're carrying the survey instrument when gamma lights it up, you won't need it for long I think they are most useful for surveying which areas are contaminated, and some bombs leave little or no residual gamma radiation. IIRC Plutonium emites only alpha radiation, so if you see a layer of dust and it doesn't set off a geiger counter, it's possible to be plutonium residue and it would be unhealthy to breath it in, or get it in your eyes or stuff.

I think that Clooney film 'The Peacemaker' had terrorists remove the small initiator bomb from a bigger bomb, I think those small cores are plutonium bombs.

 

[Ivy Mike]

Um, I think the cuckoo clock is actually a German creation.
Comes out of the Black Forest.

I could be mistaken though.

 

[Sactown]

I don't trust anyone who claims not to have an opinion and claims neutrality.

 

[RevDisk]

But ya gotta dig the unis on the Pope's Swiss Guards:

They might be dressed for a Ren Faire, but I wouldn't mess with them. The Swiss Guards are mercenaries. They are all military trained mercs, with exceptionally high training and weaponry skills. They also receive training in using the sword and halberd, which is kinda nifty in this day and age.

In otherwords, that stick isn't just for show. It can take your head off.