Dear Jim,
I found this article on the safest states to live in, based on major crime rates. Compare that to this article from “Parents” magazine, who[‘s author] seems to rate states by the number of socialist laws they have.
This is the [same] magazine whose solution to children fearing fire, after seeing the attacks of Sep 11 [2001], was “therapy.” I used the expedient of starting a small brush pile out back, dousing it with an extinguisher, and leaving a new extinguisher in their room. $30 is a lot cheaper and less stigmatizing than “therapy,” and had the practical benefit of teaching them how to control small fires.
Along the same lines, here’s an article from England.
I was being partly facetious when I suggested in my novel “The Weapon” that fire extinguishers would be banned like guns because “firefighting should be left to professionals.” It seems that I wasn’t too far off.
I am so very glad my parents made the decision to relocate from the UK to Canada, and then to the United States. Just keep in mind there’s nowhere left to retreat to at this point. Liberty must make its stand here. – Michael Z. Williamson