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I have always known that life is better when you share it. I now realize it gets even sweeter when you expand the circle.
- Oprah Winfrey

For the next few hours or days it's moving time. THE BIG DAY is tomorrow. Moving house can be an exhausting and disruptive experience, but it also is filled with opportunities and anticipation of the variety that life tends to serve us on a plate in our exile. The biggest move in my life was the crossing of the Iron Curtain at 22. Since then I lived like a gypsie most of the time - it included stings at Traiskirchen was the Austrian headquarters for refugees ... Villawood became my Hollywood and then living with George Dorman - uncle of Leo Schofield at Croydon the leafy Bay Street. Lauren introduced me to Jessie Street at Westmead and together we saved to invade Darling Point Road at Darling Point where both girls Alex and Gabbie were conceived ;-) The longest time we stayed somewhere was at Birriga Rd, Bellevue Hill. Since then Adelaide and Brissie and Sunshine Coast where our homes. Now we say goodbye to the Shire and hello to Bondi again ...
Gabriella and I have used the surreal act of moving house again as an opportunity to sort out our possessions. We had a garage sale and we had given away stuff to friends and charity shops. As we packed everything up and the rooms came merely to hold cardboard boxes rather than our lives, the house returned bit by bit to a Platonic state of unreality about the move - IT all seems abstract and kind of ghostly. With each book I removed from the shelves I felt like David Bowman unplugging HAL’s memory modules towards the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Something wound down and faded, but you couldn’t call it a living thing. We were the living things, and we are on our way to a new place, and our memories are coming with us. I miss all those different places like I miss my childhood: terribly, but I wouldn’t go back ...

Moving house can be one of the most exciting things you ever do. Here are a few helpful tips to make moving more colourful ;-) Tips courtesy of Izzy’s Channel 7

So much of our lives on this side of the cemetery appears to be in the name of love and friendship. Indeed, friends give us memories we are unlikely to forget. ... Lately life's been good again, thanks to soulful friends, as we have rebonded over best thai, dark coffee and breezy walks ... How can I ever thank you enough? Steve, Chris, Phil and Roberto? Gina, Gwynne, Patricia, Kerri and Vanessa - thank you for restoring my faith in women. Every time I think of our intimate conversations, it makes me smile like a village idiot ;-) You have been the best brothers and sisters in the world, and have listened to me bitch, whine, and complain for years! I'd move a mountain for you Steve and Chris seriously. Enough with this sentimentality, I'll just buy you brandy! I'd like to thank you for always telling me the things I never wanted to hear, and for steering me in the right direction. Your support keeps me grounded, and your love for simple things in life is very inspiring.

Honestly, there are dozens of people I need to thank, because I have truly crafted an amazing life in exile with your help. Every day when I wake up, I am positively sure that it will be better than the last one. You see with friends like you, my success is guaranteed. Thanks for helping him create a meaningful and impactful life (Bear with me if I disappear temporarily beneath the river of life filled with new adventures)

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
-Melody Beattie

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History is a great dust heap
-Thomas Carlyle

The history of modern nation building suggests that the authority of the state must be grounded in the common cultural and ethnic values of its citizens Nationhood, modernity, democracy

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: KISSING UP KICKING DOWN
How well do you know your colleagues' personalities? Researchers warn some of them may have psychopathic traits.

But they say this is nothing to be worried about. They will not be violent, but their psychopathic traits will allow them to climb the career ladder, New Scientist magazine reports. Professor Robert Hare, of the University of British Columbia says "corporate psychopaths'" arrogance and focus helps them succeed. They may also be superficially charming, prone to fly into rages and likely to take credit for colleague's achievements. Professor Hare estimates that around one per cent of the population of North America could be described as psychopaths.

• How to spot a psychopath at work [ Kissing up, kicking down, blogging around ; Are you ( working with ) an Office Psychopath ? ]
• · Australian children enjoy less freedom to roam independently than children in German, English and New Zealand cities Children's freedoms reduced out of fear ; Why Nazism Was Socialism and Why Socialism Is Totalitarian
• · · Helping people break out of the poverty trap offers a career opportunity. Small is beautiful ; No government anywhere has lived up to its basic promises- all people need to contribute to building a new kind of freedom The Nature of Man and His Government ; Yes, I remember one student saying, the author has done a good job describing the way the windows broke. But he might have done something more beautiful by throwing rocks himself.... A look at France's history of violence
• · · · Here is a paradox. In the financial markets,
investment information is rapidly and efficiently diffused. New product and service
innovations, be they junk bonds, new forms of options, or debt securities that allocate
and price risk in an innovative fashion, get rapidly copied by competitors Presumed Truths Need Debunking ; If you want people to follow you, take a walk in their shoes How to Become a Change Agent
• · · · · Employee Engagement: New age HR ; Interesting Stuff: Hot Topic - inspirational dancing Will M&S's fancy footwork improve staff motivation? ; Peter Drucker is the one management thinker every educated person should read Trusting the teacher in the grey-flannel suit
• · · · · · There are two common misconceptions held by those who are critical of globalism. The first error is that there is a very small group of people who secretly run the world with all-powerful and unrestrained dictatorial powers. The second error is that there is a large amorphous and secret organization that runs the world. A look at The Global Elite: Who are they? ; The destiny of the currency is, and always will be, the destiny of a nation New International Economic Order ; An interview with Mark Crispin Miller, author of Fooled Again Fool Me Twice

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Diversity means different things to different people and the blogs I read value All People. Diversity is 'otherness' or those qualities that are different from our own and outside the group to which belong. There are many dimensions to diversity such as age, ethnicity, gender and other qualities that can be changed such as marital status, income, educational background, geographical location and work experiences. Diversity means more than just acknowledging or tolerating difference. Diversity is a set of conscious practices that involve appreciating interdependence of cultures. To me diversity means sharing all kinds of stories at Media Dragon. The concept of diversity encompases acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique. The whole wide world of the internet is moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the RICH dimensions of diversity contained within each individual. Who could be more diverse than Shel and Robert ;-)

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: An Interview with God
What would you like to ask God?

The beautiful and powerful presentation that has inspired
millions will bring you closer to God

• God is Light: Beautiful Flash presentation [A study links information and communications technology to political 'place-making' efforts A sense of place ; From Business Week, a cover story on Ikea: How the Swedish retailer became a global cult brand. Ikea ]
• · Cross City Tunnel scandal threatens to sweep up the former premier, two of his ministers and the state' Scandal hits premier's men ; Real estate is a national obsession in Australia but this week comes warnings that the market may be in for hard landing. Prices have already come off 10 percent in Sydney Safe as houses ; According to this premise, when a real-estate bubble bursts, It smells like syrup
• · · Who deserves to be a citizen? Migrant Worry ; Ex-communist countries are competing hard in the global education bazaar From Marx to marketing
• · · · What Chou En Lai said about the French Revolution holds for the Russian as well: Too soon to judge (subscription req) ; After Nov. 1, 1755, the new Lisbon would be a monument to the Enlightenment, a living metaphor of effective government. Stirred, Not Shaken
• · · · · An article on the demise of Canadian ideas Intellects can't be public without good magazines ; Christian pacifists ignore the true ambitions of terrorists Peace Now
• · · · · · Francis Fukuyama knows how to toss out an idea that, like a baby rattle, is big enough for small minds to hold onto. History in the Remaking ; The conservatives may look to be imploding at the moment, but liberals have a serious long-term problem that won't go away Can We Talk?

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I was trying to think of a way to make the point that this whole war is such a waste. But I also wanted to honor the troops I believe our government wrongly sent to Iraq Luckovich spent 13 hours working on his "Why?" cartoon
(Mike Luckovich's Wednesday editorial cartoon has the hand-written name of every American soldier killed in Iraq)

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: The Polish autumn
The double election victory of the Law & Justice party has left Poland’s leading political actors embracing new friends and old enemies, finds Adam Szostkiewicz.

From Open Democracy, the double election victory of the Law & Justice party has left Poland’s leading political actors embracing new friends and old enemies

• Polish political sclerosis [French people’s impatient distrust of their ruling class is a symptom of a deep political and Social malaise ; Latin Americans do not want to go back to dictatorship but they are still unimpressed with their democracies Democracy's ten-year rut]
• · Byelection hopefuls quizzed on sex life ; Economist.com Cities Guide: Sydney Briefing - October 2005
• · · James Q. Wilson to Californians: Lawmakers stole your vote; Research Service, Parliament of New South Wales Industrial relations reforms: the proposed national system
• · · · Essential liberties are lost in imitation ; An overview of the effectiveness of closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance
• · · · · George Williams surveys the High Court career of Justice Michael McHugh Democracy and the High Court ; The political process is being used to wage a civil war in Iraq, writes Derek Woolner War by other means
• · · · · · Will Howard investigate seditious leaks on terror scare against his public wishes? (rhetorical question) ; Webdiary

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Is the Prime Minister misusing the Government's Senate majority by rushing to introduce two major pieces of legislation? Emperor Howard

Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Terror defence, or slur?
In what is perhaps the most bizarre business idea to spring up since the 9/11 attacks, an American entrepreneur is trying to show that, in the fight against terrorism, the pen is mightier than the sword

An American entrepreneur is trying to show that, in the fight against terrorism, the pen is mightier than the sword

• Revenge [Villawood hunger strike into its 10th day ; Heavy weapons in the home of democracy ; What use is the CIA? asked Richard Nixon. They’ve got 40,000 people over there reading newspapers. Not a bad idea, actually Reexamining the Distinction Between Open Information and Secrets ]
• · Mate! Citizens, aliens and ‘real Australians’: the High Court and the case of Amos Ame ; Peter Mares and Nic Maclellan argue that it’s time to create opportunities for lower skilled workers in our region Knocking on Australia’s door ; World Bank: Doing Business database
• · · More splits for Labor? ; Marc Mauer: Experience from the US suggests that prisoners should keep the right to vote Disenfranchising criminals is bad for democracy
• · · · Derek Woolner: The political process is being used to wage a civil war in Iraq War by other means ; Police probe Liberal Party fraud claims ;Nicolaou chosen to contest Brogden's seat
• · · · · John Singleton made a Fabian Society speech on Labor's chances of winning in 2007; The NSW Police Integrity Commission is probing suggestions that police phone tap warrants used to snare 12 of the so-called exam scammers were obtained using false or misleading information Police watchdog bitten by scandal
• · · · · · You've bought your home and now you want an investment property. So, do what millions have done before you - borrow the money, buy an apartment and write off the interest against your tax. In this special series we debate whether so-called negative gearing is wrong The great Aussie dream - take two ; Sedition, or How I Learned to Love Howard's Terrorising Legislation ; Bibliography of News and Gov. Docs on Libby Indictment