Is that a gun in your pocket or...

Well, have one more week off before I start
an exciting new job. Chose carefully
this time and have a job I know I will love.
Just finished finalizing the details of my
contract. Even managed to get a parking
spot thrown in which is a feat in itself
for the city Edmonton.


So, as I was laying around not
doing much of anything, I picked up a
book to read. In the book it says that
all male residents of Switzerland, if they
are of an age to be 'eligible for military
service' MUST be armed with a rifle in
their home. This is in case Switzerland
is attacked without warning.

I thought "Can this be true?" So I go
to the God of information, Google.
Sure enough, site after site tells me
it is true.

" Ownership of an assault rifle is mandatory in
Switzerland for all men liable for military service,
i.e., all men under fifty."
http://www.anchoragepress.com/archives-2004/lettersvol12ed50.html

Call me naive but I found this stunning.
It also gave me cause for concern.
So I looked into their crime rates and in
particular, gun crime rates. They are very
low, lower than most part of the world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1566715.stm

So, maybe that's the secret...if everyone is
armed, no one wants to be the first to shoot.

I also worried about the chances of children
accessing these mandatory guns. However,
the firearm accident is also very low. Likely
due to the fact that they are trained from
an early age how to properly operate the
weapons.

All those guns and I am afraid to play paintball!

What bugs you?

A friend of mine sent me this video regarding the

finer points of insect consumption

http://www.supload.com/vid/cuisine/103112635/wmv/

So, I got to thinking...why don't we eat insects?

It is just because they are creepy crawly looking?

Lots of things we eat are creepy crawly looking.

Take broccoli for instance. Looks gross, tastes

gross. Maybe some of these bugs are really

tasty but no one has given them a chance.

So in fairness to bugs out there, I encourage you

to start eating bugs. They are free, easy to hunt,

and apparantely nutritious. Obviously the most

appealing to crunch into would be the June Bug.

Consider this:

Protein in 100 grams of June Bug: 13.4

Protein in 100 grams of lean ground beef: 27.4

Throw a couple of cups of June Bugs into your

next hamburger helper and save a few bucks!

So there you go. Cheap and nutritious. To help

you get started I have included a recipe:

Chocolate Crispies
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 12-ounce chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup dry-roasted crickets or beetles

Preheat oven to 375. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt;
set aside. In large bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla;
beat until creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour mixture and insects,
mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded measuring teaspoonfuls
onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

And remember...Toasted June bugs have a surprisingly sweet delightful taste.

The flavor closely resembles thick raw molasses or crudely

made ribbon cane syrup. It is difficult to eat just one.

Crushed into fine powder, bug-flour added to hot water forms a

rich nourishing drink perfectly suited to victims suffering from

anemia, dehydration, and other maladies. If mixed with warm

milk, it has a malted milk taste. http://www.wwmag.net/junebug.htm

The many benefits of bugs.