Amen wildcat.... yep.. the simple life for me.

We are in the throws of negotiation to sell our place but will gain an almost equal chunk of land next door, where we hope to build.
I also wantto make it as self sustaining as poss..Solar elect and hot water.. with a gas in line water heater to boost temp when needed.

I thoroughly recommend being involved in various local things, for social networking etc.
I can't believe the great mates I'm gaining though my kickboxing :) I dunno if I'm the 'pet geriatric' or what but I relate to young fella's and gals quite ok.

Re the G20.. and the girly police (to quote Saint Andrew (Bolt) or is it wingnut ? :) yep..following orders seems to be it.. to put a 'friendly face' on the front line. Though the reasoning seems to me a bit flawed.. just imagine ..ur out there facing an enemy with an AK47 and you 'smile' at him :) the only word that comes to mind is *bang*.

It is actually possible for big brawny blokes to smile and act friendly with good humor. Though a condom full of urine in the face might take the edge of their smile :)

Cheers

Boaz I think a citizen group would be a great idea! A group of pro Australian people who play by the same rules as those scum bag protestors! Give them a taste of there own medicine I say.
If not I think bring back old style policing to deal with anti globalization protestors! (Drag them into a drak corner give them a good beat down with a baton and tell them if you unwashed bong breathed hippies show up again next year the beating will be 3 times as bad as it was this year!) I know it will never happen but it would be nice.

People knock global companies all the time but how many millions of people do this companies employee? How much of the technology of today was created by these evil companies?

The only people who are anti globalization are those who either have no grasp of economics or just rebels with out a cause.
Globalization is going to be the best thing to happen to the world, and it’s a strange scenario in which everyone benefits. Not just Australia but all the poor countries as well. Watch and see.

Easytimes,it will never be that easy or simple.Life is all about balancing power.When one group has too much power,another group will suffer.

With too many people on a planet, resulting in finite resources and energy,only the really powerful and wealthy will live well.

I don't measure wealth in purely monetary power to feel elevated from the mono syllabic masses,money buys me time to think about what really matters.

I hope you guys come back and interact a bit more :) I have a rather colorful experience to share.

Oh..Easy...on the citizens thing, I would just advocate being a presense which can assist in lawfully restraining people who get out of hand, not crushing heads :)

but wait..theres more.

TODAY I WAS ATTACKED.....BY A WOMAN
Yep.. its true. I went to the IR laws demo in Melbourne with my own sign saying "BLAME CHINA" and underneath it had this "Tax slavery at our customs ports". I meant it as a kind of discussion starter with passer by, but one lady who 'passed by' stopped to give me a serve.
"You can't put that kind of racist sign here" to which I replied my standard "This is a democracy and a public place" She turned out to be a hard core Socialist/Communist who was there to bring in Utopian world socialism.
Then, after I refused to put my tail between my legs and slink off the got in my face and said full of venom "I want to smash your face in". I didn't really worry about that. But when she pointed at me and yelled to the unionists nearby "BOSS..HE'S A BOSS" with the clear intent to have me 'whacked' by them, (based on her 'face smashing' statement) this kind of faded as no one took interest in her. But LOTS of people took interest in my sign and nodded in agreement as they passed by. Then, while having a great convo with a lady who appreciated my reasoning, this commy thugess attacked my sign :) wohoo....WHACK she went with her flag thing, breaking my flimsy sign in 2 pieces. At this point I'd had enough and told her I'm making a citizens arrest for assault, and grabbed her and marched her to the nearest policeperson, where I was told "Cut your losses mate, or you will be arrested yourself".

..continued.

Other passers by notice the slight fuss, and one very strongly built bloke rebuked me for the way I handled the woman.
The point I'm making here, is if you are attacked by a woman DON'T tell the politically correct police, because they have pamphlets in the stations saying "If HE abuses you, its NEVER your fault". This woman could have come at me with a knife, how were they to know ?
Personally, I regard having been told "I'm going to smash your face in" as a serious threat giving me reasonable and lawful grounds to physically restrain her.
I've written to the Police Conduct mob about this, and I find it ironic that on the one hand, I was there at the G20 willing to assist police who were in fear for their lives, and now, in my own moment of need, they treat me like scum.
Don't worry :) I'm not bitter... I went to the rally again 'to learn' and the lessons here are
1/ "If a woman threatens violence, tell her to go get a man to do it"
2/ Rallies such as this are a big fake. They are just about Union power. Trying to use the emotion for their own purposes.
3/ If someone attacks you or your sign, goto police first and ask them to get the offenders away. (unless the offender is trying to king hit you)

Boaz, you have some strange ideas about your fellow man. And even stranger ones about women.

You deliberately and with intent join a demonstration that is absolutely certain to be run by and populated with left-of-centre, anti-Howard folk, and then profess to be startled when a couple of them turn on you. What exactly did you expect?

In much the same way that you fail to hear or recognize any statements that disagree with your notion of religion, these people fail to hear or recognize any statements made that disagree with their notion of politics.

This syndrome is blatantly apparent to ninety percent of the population. We call it blind bigotry.

It does not respond to calm, rational argument, because every word is refracted through the lens of their particular prejudice. To pretend otherwise is beyond naivety; it is perverse.

If you did not know what to expect, shame on you for your ignorance of the human race. It does you no credit at your age not to have learned at least the basics of what makes them tick.

And if you did know, and went ahead and provoked them anyway, shame on you for your stance as agent provocateur. It does you no credit that you achieved the result you sought, and then proceed to whine about it on this forum.