The Swiss just won't go away. What an enigma they are. Here's a statistic for you - there have been 14 cases of "family slaughter", as the BBC puts it, in the last 11 months in Switzerland. This is where one member of the family, usually dad, kills the rest of them in one go. There's usually no direct motive - they just can't cope with the pressure of clinging to the position of power they've carved out in this modern world. The trigger is the threat of losing something. Another statistic to ponder - 58% of murders in Switzerland are within the family, as opposed to 29% in, for instance, Holland.

Also, what with every Swiss family-household containing a gun, and all the men being disturbed and paranoid about failure, you could say there's an innate tension that marks the whole nation. Apparently the recent awareness of domestic violence and murder has turned the militaristic Swiss against themselves, and people are beginning to try and get guns stored in more public cupboards.

If only life weren't befuddled by psychology.