Ban on firearms is needed

It is inconceivably sad what has happened in the U.S. and in China. Amok is and remains incomprehensible to a human. I can only assume that the fact from the perspective of the perpetrator has a purpose. The rest of us stay back in disbelief and overwhelmed. These deeds do not make sense.

The ban on the possession of functioning weapons by individuals is only a first step. The prohibition of firearms is urgently needed. What needs an individual a gun for?

But the case in China shows that firearms are probably more used in wealthy countries for such horribly crimes. A ban on firearms may therefore be "bypassed". If someone lost it then the choice of the murder instrument is obviously secondary and depends on 'what' is available. If no guns were available anymore then there would still be plenty of opportunities to make a weapon or device.

So it is too shortsighted to simply prohibit firearms for privates. It takes courage and early detection. If such criminals capable of amok are more prevalent in "difficult conditions", then the society must include this "difficult conditions" and not exclude those people. We have to look and care, instead of turning away and marginalize. Society must care and act to prevent.

There will still be members of the community who are a danger. This is cannot to be prevented. But society must also have the right to lock up these members. For a free society, and freedom does not mean that no preventive measures may be taken in the interests of society.

Speaking of freedom: of course there are those who operate shooting as a sport. And not just guns and pistols are needed for that. There are also spears and bows and arrows and crossbows. And I do not think any use should be illegal. But the hurdles have to be higher to abuse these weapons. And there are not only athletes, but also hunters. A tax on ammunition with defined exemptions seems now a reasonable solution with a ban on functioning firearms for individuals who can not justify possession. It would still be possible to collect firearms and go hunting.

My sincere condolences go to the victims and their families, friends and the communities that have been hit by these disasters.

542. Herbschtmäss - Basel's annual fall fair

Today, I visited the annual fair in fall in my hometown. It was great fun - and brought back many memories. Especially the sweets. There are tons of rides that bring a multitude of color into the dark of the fall night. For me, they are fun to watch.

But I always preferred the sweets and specialities to eat... :-) The local specialities and the ones from all over the country. Delicious ideas from generations back - recipes maybe hundreds of years old. Passed on from generation to generation... There are things easy to explain like caramel... but how to explain "Magenbrot" - something similar to gingerbread... if there would not be ginger bread on sale, too. It is maybe a more basic form of ginger bread. Nonetheless delicious!

Or the Rosekiechli... A crispy fried sort of dough sweetened with powdered sugar. It has nothing in common with the Rosenkuchen - maybe only its shape. This speciality looks as if it is coming directly from medieval times... Or aniseed cookies... Or the European versions of lollipops, looking like sticks...

And, and, and... But I must not forget the Magenmorsellen! They are known in Germany and I think they come fro there although they have a French sounding name... Morselled may explain the sweets. It is basically sugar with some flavor added... And coming in all different kinds of colors! A marvelous thing for kids. And so I always waited for the fair to come when I was a little boy. Today, I also had to buy some of the Magenmorsellen... And it brought back sweet memories of childhood...

A stroll through the sites of the fair brought back so many memories about a happy childhood and a quite happy time as student in this town. And never before did it feel so open and so like home.

Too many things going on

I had too many a thing going on: taking exams at school, tons of work and testing some platforms ...

Many things were done, but not much related to this blog and my web site... I collected some ideas for future posts but I could not develop them. But some things need time to grow...

Speaking of growth: I decided to participate in the Movember movement: My goal is to collect CHF 500.- for this organisation. It would be great if you donate - best on my account:

But all donations are welcome. And of course, the awareness is key: if you should not know what the Movember action is about then I would like to explain it as follows: it is about the health of your father, brother, friend, husband or any male member of your life. Also your male colleagues in the office. While there is a lot of awareness among women to have regular examinations (health checks) at their Doctors, men usually care about their spouse's health and their pets's health. The idea that their health could be at risk comes next to seldom to their minds...

The goal of Movember is to make men aware that the risk of developing a serious cancer like prostate cancer.

What to do:
1.) think about how many men are part of your life and determine if you happen to be a man, too.
2.) go to https://www.movember.com/
3.) search for friends or visit my http://ch.movember.com/mospace/5263505
4.) please donate

I will update with regular posts the development of my growth

Thank you

further reading (in German): http://www.krebsliga.ch/de/uber_krebs/krebsarten/prostatakrebs_/

I am still thinking about my own web page. What content to add? Well, I remember back in the late 90ies, when everybody created their own private homepages. Most of them awful collections of even worse pictures. A lot of kids created their own sites with pictures of their pets and toys. I guess they are now all in manager positions working for IT companies... ;-)

Well, I am not. So, who was lucky. Check their shares and check mine... Yep, but I am quite healthy. I can run for miles...

But that is not the content you expect from me... I was travelling today through Switzerland for customer visits. I saw a lot of medium sizes companies and I was wondering: Why have I never heard of them? Is their business unrelated to mine? Are they B2B? But the special-B-2-special-B kind of thing? Or should everybody know about them but their marketing efforts or reach is limited. Well, you know, marketing efforts and reach are not the same.

So, should I help them? More important, would they let me? Do they have some smart guy at hand doing all the marketing for them and they are just fine with the fact that I have never heard of their company? Maybe they are only regional? Maybe they would indeed have wasted their precious resources on me if I would have heard about them.

But, is it really so terrible to have such a wastage? YES, IT IS!!! I know. The financial means are not used properly. The customer is occupied by irrelevant information instead of reading what is necessary for him. And he gets fed up with communication because he thinks it is normal to receive just some kind of communication and not the relevant one. OK, let's focus. Let us all work for better communication! The customer deserves to receive only relevant content. Glad that the Internet can be the most effective means of communication in this respect.

Jessus!

It took me a while to figure out how to create a blog...
Jessus!
Now, it's done! ehm...
Well, there is actually a lot I would like to write about ...


Let me see, there sure is a lot to write about. A lot of people write every day a lot about a lot. So, there must also be something I can write about. And that some wants to read. Ah, content! Sure, everybody want's content. What is content? Relevant information I learned in school. And when it is relevant people will read it. But can I create relevant content that has not been created before? And do I have to create original content (I'm thinking of new content that has not been created before) or is it enough to combine existing content in a new way? You get the point.

Well, I do not want to say that latter is easier. It is for sure the more common thing to happen. I just have one big disadvantage: I do not know a lot of technology. My strength is more: the concept behind it. The general plan, that what ought to be. And I am never sure if what I thought of already exists.

What I will do is: I will write -hopefully on a daily, at least regular basis- about what comes to my mind. Maybe someone will respond. Maybe not. I won't be cross with you. Why? There is already so much stuff and information being thrown at you that I understand that you do not need to care about what I will put down here.

But one question remains: if we generate more and more content that needs to be stored: where do all the electrons come from..? ;-)