Ah the Swiss, land of neutrality, anonymous bank accounts, fine watches and chocolate.  Just when you think they're making progress on common sense they do something like this.

 Here's the back story.  According to a variety of published reports, asylum seekers and migrants who have received welfare benefits over the past three years will no longer be granted Swiss citizenship--unless they pay back the state.

NewsOne reports "The enforcement of a new Swiss civil rights act is cracking down on the European nation’s refugee crisis that has been draining state funds for years with the old laws permitting migrants to apply for citizenship as long as they were not on state benefits at the time when they applied for citizenship."

The new laws benefit the Swiss in a couple of ways. 1.) It saves Swiss taxpayers money, and 2.) it encourages Muslim refugees not to isolate themselves in enclaves while making no attempts to assimilate to Swiss culture--in fact, it requires them to prove they have a certain number of Swiss friends, acquaintances and language skills.

Now that all makes sense.  The message sent loud and clear is -  if you want to become Swiss, actually become Swiss!  Embrace the culture and consider the financial responsibilities  - so score one on common sense for Switzerland!

And then they turn around and pass new rules that tell you how to humanely cook your lobster.  Really.   "Live crustaceans, including lobster, may no longer be transported on ice or in ice water. Aquatic species must always be kept in their natural environment. Crustaceans must now be stunned before killing them."

So I'm stunned! Does that kind of care include providing last rights, notifying next of kin, offering your next meal a last meal of its own?

The new rules will got into effect in March and are part of an overhaul of the country's animal protection rules.   And the Swiss are not alone in that regard, back in July, Italy's highest court ruled that lobsters must not be kept on ice in restaurants because it causes them "unjustifiable suffering" before they are cooked and eaten.   (Yahoo)

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