Mark,

I am an American living in Brazil. On the street where I live there are an average of 9 violent crimes reported daily and there is one murder a week within one kilometer of my apartment. In the four years I have been here I have had to take evasive action four times to avoid criminal assault. My four-year-old and I witnessed a gunfight, near our apartment. I have personally witnessed six armed robberies. A month ago my mother-in-law had her car stolen at gunpoint and they first tried to force her and her fiend into the back seat. Thank God they refused.

My life has been threated to my face by a member of a radical PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER. group. He also said my name was on a list of people to "be dealt with" when they decide it is time. I don't know how seriously to take this guy, but I keep my eyes open.

Now maybe it is a little rash of me, a mere commoner, to value my own life, but I do take my safety seriously. I could care less if a police officer finds what I have in my shoes, none of these things are illegal. BTW I go through metal detectors every week with my shoes loaded up like this and nothing happens.

The number one focus of Brazilian kidnappers are members of the upper middle class. The most typical situation is that you are forced into the trunk of your car and taken to an ATM where you take out the maximum for the day. They then force you to hand over your PIN number and proceed to withdrawl the max allowable until your account is zero, while this is going on they hold you in a remote location. The other tactic is that they take you home and hold your family hostage while you go and liquidate your assets.

The sad fact is that here you don't have to be anybody special to have to deal with kidnapping. It happens to guys like me on a regular basis and many such cases turn out poorly. So yes, if I can get myself out of such a mess I'm going to try.

Not in Kansas anymore,

Mac