About 30 years ago, I took a series of jobs in Australia, turning around failing manufacturing businesses. We were there for a very few years, and during this time became eligible for Australian citizenship, which we took up. In return for saving one such failing business, I received shares in it, which I still hold today. Over the years I have remained an employee of that small private company, as has my wife, and visit regularly to see that it survives and thrives.
With respect to Australia, we love the people of the rural areas, and the land, passionately. We have never met finer people. City folk are much the same as they are anywhere, but Australian country folk are as fine as they come, as they are in the US. We love the “wide, brown land” of Australia.
“I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!”
So, it is obvious by now where this is going, and where I and my family are going. We are building our doomstead in Australia. I have kept this quiet for some time, as I value anonymity and privacy.
Australia does not have a Bill of Rights, and in some ways is far different than the US. Gun rights are substantially restricted, but virtually all guns are available, especially to those that live on the land. Freedom of speech is not specifically protected, but is so generally. Violent crime is far less than in the US. Murder is very rare, and almost all perpetrators are caught forthwith.
The political system is as dysfunctional as it is anywhere. The public debt is smallish, and the country has enormous reserves of natural resources, and has the ability to grow its population substantially over the coming decades if need be. It is a far kinder, gentler nation than the US, but that will need to be continually paid for. It has better prospects than most in so doing, owing to the above re resources and population growth, at least in the near term. It is referred to as “the lucky country” and with good reason.
The following three issues are critical to the plan we have implemented – Australian citizenship, part owner of small business, and employee of that same business. In combination, those three things have allowed us to implement plans over the past almost 3 decades that are now coming to fruition.
The benefits of citizenship are obvious – I can come and go as I please, plus citizenship passed through me to my offspring.
The business ownership allowed me to take and store and save business earnings that have already been tax paid. I am able to draw them down complete with tax credits as and when I see fit. I can access approx. $360,000 per year tax free of these earnings. If I access less, I actually get a refund of the taxes previously paid. This is very beneficial indeed.
Keeping employee status allowed us to access the private pension scheme (“superannuation”). It is a very tax effective scheme, and is meant to encourage people to self-fund retirement, rather than use the government pension system. Not only does your employer contribute a percentage of your income, a person can add more him or herself, either pre-tax or post-tax. I added a lot of post-tax funds, which has some significant benefits attached but which are too complex to visit here. The income prior to retirement is preferentially taxed, and post-retirement, all income generated by the scheme, and all income distributed by the scheme, are tax-free, if properly structured. And it does not depend on the amount.
Re the doomstead – the doomstead is on 40 odd acres of rural land, and is around half an hour from a regional center. The home/garage/shedding we have built are very substantial, and are independent from public water and energy. The homestead is water self-sufficient, with dams of a couple million gallons, and with perhaps 100,000 gallons per year filtered and sterilized rainwater collected for use in the house/pool. The outside areas will be irrigated via the dams through significant installation of pipes/pumps/filters. The option of bore water is available, but it is not high quality water, so unless necessary we will not use that option.
The house will have solar hot water, and solar electric panels will generate around 40 KW hours of electricity per day, complete with battery back-up for overnight. This will more than meet our needs, and we will sell some back to the grid. In the event of insufficient sunlight to power the battery bank, we will have a generator, and should that fail, we can tie into the grid.
The 40 acres is on a hillside with nice views, and is mixed as to its characteristics. Some of it is rocky and unusable, while some is nice pasture for a cow or two. Some of the in-between areas are being planted out for firewood and for fruit trees. A large area for growing food is under development, as are areas for egg production and such. The land is over-run with wildlife, especially kangaroos. There are goannas, and assorted birdlife, and echidnas, the odd wombat, perhaps a koala here and there (very hard to spot and only live in certain types of trees), and some of the world’s deadliest snakes about.
The project itself will be fully completed, save for some of the issues re planting of gardens, trees, etc. We are fortunate that we can do this project all at once, and understand what we are implementing, and how we are doing it, is not going to be possible for most people. I do encourage everyone to implement their own plans, however, and work toward that end.
As mentioned, our plan took 30 years, and it was ever evolving, but we had a very good vision of what we wanted to do, and an approximate date when we would do it. If you do not start the journey, you cannot get to the destination.
We are located near our friends from the past, and have responsible, hard-working neighbors of fine character next to us – gentlemen farmers such as ourselves. My kids are going to college in Australia – the education, while not free, costs around $6000 for tuition per year. One is going to the best university in Australia (approximately Ivy standard), and the other will be living at home as soon as the doomstead is complete, commuting to a rural college around 20 minutes away.
I have implemented an exit strategy for my business, which I will perhaps discuss another time.
Another upside is that we get to access our US Social Security in Australia. That pleases me to no end, as it will be good to one day get something back for all we paid in taxes and SS over the years.
There is a significant downside, which I have mentioned in passing oft-times before. The US taxes its citizens on their world-wide income, and places severely onerous reporting requirements on its citizens living abroad. And US tax law does not mesh well with Australian tax law. This will be addressed carefully, as it must. A good tax attorney has been very beneficial to us.
We hope to have transitioned by year’s end. I know folks have talked about responsibility to stay and fight, about how it is cowardly to run away, etc. I in no way see it that way.
The US is a place that I love, with people that I love. But it is deeply flawed. The US people are getting what they want, as I believe is their right. But it is not what I want. The police state is too huge, the loss of rights too pervasive, and the international aggression too frequent. The two lazy wolves and the one highly productive sheep are voting on what to have for dinner, and more and more I feel I am the sheep in that scenario. And that disgusts me and makes a travesty of everything I have believed, and everything I have worked for. The politicians and the bulk of the populace stand idly by while productive society is disadvantaged and destroyed in order to benefit the non-productive bankers, corporate giants, welfare recipients, et al.
I have paid my dues and then some. It is time for a quieter, back to nature lifestyle. We love Australia, and we are of no doubt that the lifestyle we can and will lead in Australia will be far, far more peaceful and happy than that which we could enjoy in the US. The entire family is in agreement on this. I do not wish to support financially the corrupt system, and so I am taking steps to end such support. I will vote with my feet and with my wallet, and will no longer be the milk cow for a vast number of takers. I will ultimately be responsible only for property and sales taxes, and will otherwise be largely entirely free of any tax system.
One of the basic human freedoms is freedom to move and to live where one sees fit. We are exercising that freedom, while it lasts. I am not sure that it is going to last much longer – the US is making increasing efforts to discourage its citizens from living abroad, and it is ever more difficult to do so.
Again, I understand some will view these actions poorly. But, to them I say that I am not a slave, although I have begun to feel like it. I am able to choose my own path, and have worked long and hard with foresight so that my family and I can choose our own paths. I encourage everyone to look at what they can do to minimize their exposure to the yoke, and to plan for the day when they can break from servitude to a master who cares not for you, but rather only for what you can do for him. Rapidly the productive of society are being crushed by the sheer number of those that refuse to add anything. The wolves are voting to eat the productive sheep and the process is accelerating. If you can get out of the servitude, the sooner the better, as the noose is tightening every day.
I thank the Admin, and the friends of TBP, who are doing important work here. I will continue to try to add something of value.
Kill Bill , I will adopt you.You ,me and little bb…….and my mom. -beebs
Thx beebs..do I get to shit in the cat litter box?
Because if I don’t..that’s kind of a deal breaker.
Llpoh…..good for you. Best wishes to you and your family Down Under!
Good post LLPOH. I’m a USA trained EM doc in AU for three years now , working EM. Here with my wife and five school aged kids. I agree with most of what you say. I love living and working here; while not “perfect”, it’s much safer and more civil than the USA right now. The Aussies have also been pretty awesome and welcoming to us in general. We have PR and will apply for citizenship next year…I think it’s a very good idea to have an extra passport or two going forward…The US has a rocky road dead ahead, IMHO, and it’s not cowardice to realize that one can’t really impact on the outcome, as per James’ 4th Turning articles. I prefer to think of it as, ” If you see a hard sucker punch coming your way, only a fool doesn’t duck and remain standing to fight in the second round…” Or sumpin’….Also, at the end of the day, managing 24m people is a lot less complex than 330m.
In terms of China, they’ll exert some financial pressure, but historically have not been an offensive power. When the SHTF, they’ll have lots more than AU on their plate…
So, I concur, AU is a fantastic place to build an alternate life while watching the winds of history build up to gale force…Who knows where any of us will land?
Best on your preps down unda’…Drop me a note if you are in the Brisbane/ northern NSW area.
Ozdoc….
Llpoh, best of luck. Sounds like a well though out and soon to be well executed adventure. Population of florida, land mass of the continental US. I want to strike the words ‘running from’ in a earlier post, doesn’t jibe with how it’s being used in this thread.’getting away from’ might have been a better choice.
Steph, otto, NOT. Guy’s a coward for retiring the way he wants? Please. The coming fight you describe isn’t his, it’s yours. Good luck with that, make it count. Your future depends on it. Llpoh, how’d you thread the needle on the citizenship thing? Oz was always picky back then, and uncle sam didn’t allow dual until clinton? You pulled off something right. Watch the snakes. They look harmless, but are the worlds deadliest
Star – far as I could tell, it was and is pretty straightforward to get in, if you have skills. They take 120k in a year or somesuch. College, ed and under 35, and bob’s your uncle as they say down under, or if you have a trade.
Re duals, I think the US has allowed that for decades. From way before my tome anyway.
Oz doc – sounds like you have a plan. Good luck and thanks for the invite.
llpoh
Yay, mate, I wish you well, I live in a rural area too, since 2003.
As usual, admin misremembers; you may recall my blogging on Cyclone Yasi (Clue). Heh.
To the old timers I remember – it was mainly a case of internet burnout. When you reach the point of wondering what use all these hours spent online and finding more and more annoyances.
TBP hit a patch of a small group of commenters that only increased the noise-to-signal ratio. And there was one regular who posted a lot and also commented, much of his text was simply lifted from somewhere else. Plagiarism is tacky, specially in comments. But no one seemed to notice.
One day I said, either I call him out or just walk away from all of it. It wasn’t only here, I dropped almost all of the newsletters and RSS feeds.
llpoh, or whomever, admin can give you my email addfress. Or go to Twitter where I am #elkhorne
Oh, and Stef, tacky playing the generation card but true to form. Elder sage as I am, however, I understand you are but a product of your government schooling.
Really good to hear from you, novista. Please do not be a stranger.
We live in Melbourne. We are planning to get OUT of Australia should things get interesting.
I’m a Meteorologist for CSIRO, and the fallout dispersion maps for even a “modest” Northern Hemisphere Nuclear engagement are far from reassuring. With the added confounding effect of unpredictable (so un-modellable) changes in global circulation patterns resulting from thermal injection alone, the “models” whilst reassuring on paper, now, may not be even a close reflection of eventual reality.
As for “No Nuclear Target” – the US Marine Base in NT (along with Aussie Naval Seismographic centres) are already assumed to be targets should a “more eastern” theatre of military operations occur.
So, nothing is certain, and if there is a Nuclear conflict, I’m afraid ALL options / outcomes must be regarded as equally likely
I understand why you want to flee modern day Nazi Germany (aka USA 2015)
Realistically here in Oz we’re at the end of the line or close to it as far as global collapse goes.
Most people here, like elsewhere, don’t have a fucking clue about reality, being the typical phone zombie brain-dead wastes of oxygen plaguing the planet. Hey we escaped the GFC ! Mining boom ! Lucky country ! Growing economy ! Housing boom ! (BOOM! all right…ha ha..suckers.)
Complete fucking bullshit in 2015. The media here is as dumb as the USA or anywhere else.
You read the daily rag to see who’s up Kim Kardashian today NOT to see the realities of the world.
But thanks to a “global economy” when one gets pulled underwater and drowns, EVERYONE eventually goes under too as we’re all tied to together by the same economic rope.
Pick a gun ? Dream on buddy. Port Arthur over here put an end to semi-auto/full auto with very rare exceptions.
Don’t think for a second you’ll see M16’s, AK47’s H&K’s. Fantasy Island stuff over here Pal.
Replica weapons are now illegal in all states, Crossbows ? Forget it. Hell, even catapults are prohibited weapons !
Exactly what I’ve been warning people about for YEARS now is fast becoming reality in the good old US of A or what’s left of it.
But still, we only have 213% debt/GDP, incompetent lying self-serving f-wit politicians like you do
Go ahead – move here. It’ll delay the inevitable but only by a few years and the what will you do ?
Oh, and flush the crapper before using it: It’s dangerous over here !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=z2boFJX2Mtw
Sensetti said:
“None of the top three military powers, US, Russia, China has a reason to Nuke the land down under. That’s the reason I have considered a move outside the US mainland to places such as Australia.”
Not true. Besides this map I know of two other locations down under that might be nuke targets. When each country has 5000 plus and you’ve already pushed the button………why not?
As I recall from my youth, the basic plan is world annihilation once they start popping them off. Basically if we get hit, the whole world gets hit to stop the enemy from claiming any spoils.
I looked long and hard at moving to Australia — for that matter I could still end up there one day. I made a different choice because I found a lower cost of living in a very safe environment.
Patriotism is greatly over-rated (or should I say a form of brainwashing). USA! USA! Do you realize how stupid that sounds to someone that isn’t American?
Clammy, Are you telling me that if I offered you a good paying job in Australia that you wouldn’t take it because you would consider yourself as a rat deserting a sinking ship?
Llpoh, Good luck. You’ve made a great choice.
llpoh, I will offer one bit of advice. Perhaps you’ve already seen it but look up an Aussie program called Bush Tucker Man. Being Native American I think you’ll get a kick out of it. Basically it’s an army major who got to know aboriginal peoples in an effort to figure out how soldiers could live in the bush. Fact is, in the best of conditions some parts of Australia can only support something like one person per 50 square kilometers based on available food and water. Aborigines were nomads in the extreme and for about 99% of their history led a subsistence existence. There is a reason that place was essentially uninhabited prior to whitey using it as a prison colony.
Even in modern times, vast areas of the continent are totally uninhabited. Fresh water is scarce and even some deep wells produce water that is at boiling point or hotter at the well head.
However, Les Hiddens built a career on learning the ways of the bush people who managed to survive for up to 40,000 years in that land where even well provisioned expeditions by whitey proved to be too harsh to continue. His program lasted three years and is fascinating even if you don’t live there and you might even learn a thing or to that saves your life or just makes it more enjoyable.
I think T4C might even get the hots for him after she watches the show. I’d love to have spent a year with the guy tooling around the outback learning all those techniques and tricks to survive. I’d probably eat all the crazy things he ate as well except for the Mangrove worms.
One of my hobby’s is collecting rough, uncut diamonds that have lots of character. I design jewelry around them and then use a local jeweler to bring my ideas into existence. One of my prize possessions is a 4.80 carat diamond from the Argyle Mine in the Kimberly that I put into a wedding ring to mark our 20th anniversary. I designed one for my wife as well but she wanted a cut, natural blue diamond. I think she missed the point! Nothing is ever inexpensive or easy with women!
I’ve been living in Japan for 21 years now and the more I read and see what the USA is becoming
the happier I am that I don’t have to live there. Japan isn’t perfect of course but it has good health
care at a reasonable cost and a great train and bus system so I don’t need a car. It has strict gun laws, but that means the possibility of being shot by a criminal or a cop is about the same as winning a lottery.
What it will be like when industrial civilization crashes and the ships full of food and oil stop coming
is another matter, but I’m already 71 so it only has to hold together for another decade or so. And, even if it doesn’t, I won’t complain.
Enjoy Australia.
Bill
Llpoh, I am also in Australia, and I have given these issues some thought. In December I gave a talk on some options for Australia (taken as a whole, not for individual planning) if the music ever stopped and outside world resources were cut off for a shorter or longer period; I still have the notes for the talk. Also, from your specifications and descriptions I can hazard a guess about where you chose to live, but I won’t speculate here in public. If you want to contact me to discuss any of this, you probably have access to the hidden email address I am using to post here, or you can do a paper chase through my home page to find it.
Anonymous Melbourne CSIRO meteorologist, if Australia is too exposed to fallout, I can’t think of anywhere safer apart from some barely habitable areas like the Falkland Islands, far south Patagonia, or the Kerguelen Islands.
I feel the vortex, getting sucked in again … never mind … and still nice to see my avatar, proof that Smokey was Full Of Shitte.
llpoh, I welcome you to the land I invaded in 1974. I hadn’t intented to stay but … I went back to the U.S. in 1993 after my father died and … JFC, some of these people I went to high school with had not moved on one iota. I came to have a look because I tried to get here two times prior.
First time, c. 1955, my friend Tom Childers from Lexington, knew resurgence of early jazz in oz. Tom with his cornet (think “Legend of 1900”) and … (off the record) “You boys would go and not come back for the draft.” Uh huh. Learning that America has disappeared takes a while.
OK, second go: advert in trade paper for microwave techs, middle of barren continent. ots of quals, I ticked every box. Knocked back but sent a nice parcel of govt info about the land of oz.
Shit, OK but … I had the tech quals, the working the desert from Saudi Arabia. And what I did not know at the time: govt jobs with high quals never intended to be filled — no, grandfathered. So, at that point In Providence, RI, I said ‘fugem’ and a little later got a job offer in American Samoa.
Two year contract there covered shippig costs back to Prov or wherever. Hey, guys, let’s go to Australia! Wife and two boys, Yah!
Never intended to stay tho even my broadcast engineer ‘preferred occupation’ warranted permanent residency. But my 1st wife went back stateside because her father was dying [he outlived her!] and came back to Hobart where I picked her up at the ‘small airport’. “I’m glad to be HOME!” She had learned the Thomas Wolfe lesson, ‘You can’t go home again.’
So, yeah, Stef – you of great criticism and little experience: shit happens. I never intended to be away for the rest of my life. So I haven’t “run away” just never returned to a country that does not exist any more.
OK. llpoh, So the first ever time I knew I wanted to see Australia was hearing an Australian tenor folk singer with the ould songs. And got here. Paid my dues, as it were. 1974 was conversion to colo(u)r tv. Heh. Never regretted it.
Moving right along …
ZDawg, Yeah Weasel Howard happened. You may not have been in the loop. I wan’t myself at the time. You know there’s supposed to be 250,000 unlicensed illicit firearms in oz? Some of them entered via ‘ controlled areas’. I only learned some of this from [fredated] and fhe cargo was AK47, some Uzi and assorted trash left over from Iraq or wherever. After the fact. Damn it!
Ask yourself where the bikie gangs get their goodies. Howard and the plods stopped nothing. Except honest law-abiding citizens.
As usual.
I can tell you this: when Townsville gets emptied out affer The Collapse, c. 3 days tops, they head north and will enter a world of hurt. Those few who survive will head further north and it will only get worse. Then they will discover they are followed by the neighborhood watch from the last area only intent on picking up the garbage.
“Australia nearly completely dependent on imported fuel”
“Fuel actually underpins our economy and our way of life. In Sydney alone there are 25,000 truck trips a week that do our food supply. If you turn that supply off, it’s not a matter of having to import some product, your way of life stops. It’s fundamental, it’s like air.”, Air Vice-Marshal John Blackburn
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/fuel-security/5278572
Bill Roope says:
“I’ve been living in Japan for 21 years now and the more I read and see what the USA is becoming
the happier I am that I don’t have to live there. Japan isn’t perfect of course but it has good health
care at a reasonable cost…”
Duh, Bill…ever hear of that nuclear accident at Fukushima? You’re gonna need that health care!
Ottomatik said: “To all of those who gave me thumbs down, without comment, cowards.”
Okay, I downvoted most of your comments until I got tired of reading your spew, so here’s a comment: You’re an asshole. You think you’re something special in your arrogance, but you’re not. You’re just an arrogant asshole. I feel sorry for your “15 employees”, if in fact, that’s true. I’d bet you’re a shitty boss.
You’re welcome.
After reading all the comments so far, including the factual and accurate negatives about Oz, stll think it is a great plan for Llpoh… especially since he can freely come to New Zealand if the worst that is outlined happens in Oz (as an Ozzie citizen). Of course if hundreds of thousands of Ozzies start coming over NZ is likely to change the regs so be one of the first! 🙂
For those who think I might have NZ blinders on – it will be in a world of hurt but not as bad as most of the developed countries. Ample water supply, 80% or more of the power generation is from wind or water so there would be tightness of supply but power would still be mostly available, self sufficient in food with an amazing variety of almost everything grown or raise and much of it by smaller producers who use “green” or organic methods, lots of related craft knowledge broadly dispersed across the population (relatively speaking), guns are easy access for responsible citizens or permanent residents, a community supported hunting culture, etc. Yes, zombies and sheeple a plenty too and dumb fuck main stream media that, on the other hand, still calls a lot of govt shit out, sort of like 60 minutes did in the U.S. back in 1970.
Being relatively isolated, Kiwis developed a lot of know how and self starting ingenuity and this is reflected in the old kiwi phrase of the “number 8 wire man” fixing anything with a bunch of wire. Of course that can be taken two ways! 🙂 While slowly disappearing, all of these positive qualities are in NZ as it really does seem to be 40 to 50 years behind the US in the negative trends.
Llpoh, good on you!
As an after reader but almost never commentator, this post really drew me in due to ‘parallels’.
Like llpoh, I too ‘built something’ ( that the ‘you didn’t built that’ President was not around for). I worked hard, saved my pennies, paid oodles of taxes (yes, millions), and finally one day ‘quit'(sold out).
While ‘family & friends’ still keep us here (for now) our future will likely mirror llpoh.
Some years back I began buying ag land in a small South American country. Everything I made (after paying all foreign and US taxes) I have reinvested to ‘grow’ my growing operation. As our wealth declines here, it increases there.
Now those who say ‘gringos’ will never be accepted in South America must not have spent much time there, at least the southern part of the continent. A trip to Chile will find most look Italian, Spanish or German. Argentina and mostly spanish or Italian. Uruguay much like Chile. Brazil looks like the whole flipping world!
Where I go few ‘mericans seem to go, so despite my ‘northern european’ looks, when I speak Spanish everyone pretty much believes I’m from that part of the world. Even my accent is close enough — cause this ain’t Mexico.
While I dont (yet) have a 2nd passport, and I love my own country, if TSHTF I am prepared to ‘get out of Dodge’ if need be.
Is that ‘running away’? I dunno. While I feel a duty to ‘defend my country’ from all ‘enemies both foreign and domestic’ (of which there seems to be many in the latter), as a husband and father my higher goal is to defend my family. And I am not even sure HOW to defend my country anymore?
I don’t fear death, never have. To defend my family I’d be the ‘last man out’ and gladly die to keep them safe. But I don’t know how to defend my country against a system that has run so amok you don’t even know where to begin. And those who think they can hunker down with their AK’s like some zombie apokylips movie will be in for quite a surprise when the local military (police) blow them up and out with surplus defense arms.
A ‘free man’ is now owned by their country beyond its borders. Freedom is both a state of mind and a state of physical being. If attaining freedom means relocating from Ohio to Texas. Or the US to Oz, so be it. That is the nature of freedom. Those who criticize such moves don’t understand freedom, they seek to exercise the same ‘thought control’ as the government.
Llpoh, I’ll join you one day, but not in Oz. It’ll be wayyyyy down south, in a nice rural area with good rainfall and plenty of crop/cattle land. Go where your heart leads you, make the most educated decision you can, and hope for the best.
D
Llpoh–Some things stick in my craw, nothing more than trite saying like, “I payed my dues”, as if that grants you some kind of entitlement. You have a right to lead your life as you see fit as long as you don’t hurt another. God gave your life to you. We all make decisions as to what we think is best for ourselves. You need make no apologies for your choices or rationalize your right to do so. I grant you that freedom and expect you to grant that freedom to me. It’s called civilized living.
Steph, my millennial babe, I have seen cowards in my life, real cowards. Most often they resort to behavior less than their best has to offer and I have seen extraordinary bravery, too. Martin Luther King, and Rosa Parks are heroes in my eyes. Can you imagine pitting yourself against the social milieu of the South and the United States in general. I am sure Martin knew that he had placed his life in danger, but did what he knew to be the right thing to do. He didn’t wait for someone else to step up to the plate. He had a higher vision and couldn’t deny it. To deny it would have denied his own being, his Godliness.
Steph, You’re young in this life and quick to form judgements. The only person to live to your standards is you. Others have standards different than yours. It doesn’t make their standards less than yours only different. We all have our own path to follow, set by our highest ideal. What makes us cowards is failing to follow that path, to live up to that ideal.
“To know all, is to forgive all”.
Mike in Ga- ” if in fact, that’s true. I’d bet you’re a shitty boss.” Huh? I surmise your calling me a liar based on some feeling your having “inside” and presenting it on this forum as knowledge, buttressed by third grade insults. Pathetic.
Do you have anything relevant to add or are you going to just blow Lloph until he spews in your mouth.
Lloph did not present this piece as a ” Im retiring in Australia” piece. He made his case, quite clearly, that due to a deteriorating political environment he is escaping, running, fleeing, to a less dangerous environment where he can enjoy the fruits of his labor. As Here:
“The police state is too huge, the loss of rights too pervasive, and the international aggression too frequent.”… ” I am the sheep in that scenario.”
So rather than brave the dangers of staying here where”The US is a place that I love, with people that I love.” and recycling his big treasure pile amongst members of the community( he loves) that helped him generate that big treasure pile, he is going to flee.
If in fact he is correct, and most here believe he is, a Great Storm is coming, then I do not see why we should be celebrating these actions. Fair weather American to the max. Here for the good times, split for the tough. It is this attitude that is writ large across the lands that many here including Lloph bemoan constantly. Admin will attack me with a what are you doing, what have you done angle, and that’s fine, but I am not running away from “The US is a place that I love, with people that I love.”.
Regardless of what either of them say this type of action is not what this country was built upon. If everyone views this place as a cash cow to be milked and abandoned, then that is what we get. I feel differently, go fuck yourself.
“And there was one regular who posted a lot and also commented, much of his text was simply lifted from somewhere else. Plagiarism is tacky, specially in comments. But no one seemed to notice.”
—-Novista
Does his screen name rhyme with smash? We called him out on it numerous times, to no avail.
“And there was one regular who posted a lot and also commented, much of his text was simply lifted from somewhere else. Plagiarism is tacky, specially in comments. But no one seemed to notice.”
—-Novista
Super Shit stain-Does his screen name rhyme with smash?
Everyone here C&P’s , especially during sourcing debates , including the shit stain.
But nevertheless if Novista is referring to me, he as full of it..I’ve never posted one source in comments that I failed to provide a link to the source. If you can;t discern the source link from the comment then you might be too friggin’ stupid to post here.or merely a lying sack of statist shit like super stain.
I think Novista meant AWD.
LOL! This place is more like family than most would care to admit.
Where the hell is Stucky anyway?
Otto – I have avoided conflict on this thread. But you really are a piece of shit.
Otto echoes Obama’s “I did not build that” sentiment. How surprising. So I should hang around and give it all back in taxes.
The hundred million plus I gave generated is not enough. I need to gang around and make sure I give back the relative crumbs I hung onto.
I stood on the principles that the US was built on, and still do. But those principles are no longer valued by the majority. So I am going to stop supporting a system I do not believe in.
I did not milk this system, it milked me. I gave far more than I got, and it is not even close.
By stay and fight Otto really means hang around and keep supporting the corrupt system.
The people that built this country left a corrupt one behind. I do not suggest that Australia is far superior in its system. But I will be able to live a simpler life free of the vampire squid I am currently dealing with every day.
Damn auto correct typos eat shit.
words of wisdom
Where liberty is, there is my country.
Benjamin Franklin
Its not all about dollars and cents, somewhere, somehow ones principals matter. Just because you made more dollars and cents than all here combined does not put you in a special class above critique.
360,000$ a year tax free is not scratch, its great power, too me at least, and along with great power comes great responsibility, the yoke of the free man.
Hell if this was a retirement piece I would be silent, but its not. Its a Get out of Dodge piece, and I wont sign on, regardless of my fear. I certainly will not Celebrate this as heroic behavior we should all endeavor to pursue, in the face of the coming storm.
I still support your right as a free man to take this action, to the end, its your right, and privilege. You just wont be a member of this American Community any longer. Nor do you want to be, apparently, own it.
Flash , you nutbrain ……..Now the Lord is Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.2 Corinthians 3:17 .You think this is the real reason we are becoming an enslaved nation.
Good riddance. We need leaders. Sanctimonious, narcissistic braggarts are useless against the challenges we face.
Just a comment that NZ is not as safe as some think.
They host a bid ‘five eyes’ spring base there.
ageofchance says: Good riddance. We need leaders. Sanctimonious, narcissistic braggarts are useless against the challenges we face.
WTF do you think LLPOH is doing? He is leading the way. In time you will see the wisdom of his example. Do you really think it is an easy decision to leave the country of your forefathers? LLPOH announces he is relocating and suddenly he assholes surface to discourage him. Are you and Steph leaders? Shall we follow you? Are you a winner?
My old boss said, You can’t argue with success. If you want to win, do what winners do.
As for the nutsack lickers that gave my DWW vid thumbs down, the message wasn’t for you, shiffle-brains, it was for my buddy LLPOH. Dickheads.
Ageofchance – if there were were leaders maybe I would hang around. You don’t need leaders, you need tax slaves.
So you do not need qualified businessmen. That is exactly the point I am making. I am leaving you to that which you want.
I have obeyed the laws of the country, have not tried to avoid my responsibilities in anyway. Years of doing what I believe to be right hasn’t stopped the rot that has set in.
You forgot arrogant.
Otto – I have set up my affairs in a legal fashion. It is important to me that I do not keep supporting a corrupt system any more than I have to.
Re the $360k, that is what I can take, not what I will take. I will not spend so lavishly – it gives me no pleasure, save for good alcohol. But I do not want to give it away in taxes either. We are expanding our charitable donations and will continue to do so. Tax is forced charity. Being free of the forced charity allows us to choose worthy causes.
Thanks Siete. I will earmark a bottle of Padron for you when you come visit.
Re Stucky – I hope no illness in his family, and that all is well.
Thank you for your concerns.
Admin is correct. I’ve been doing a shitload of shoveling between the two houses …. plus driving my dad to the rehab center ……. plus cooking meals for my mother, because she is losing a lot of weight at the rehab center ….. the food is SHIT!!, and she can’t keep it down, or in …. so it’s up to me.
I’ve been reading when I can.
Regarding Llpoh’s leaving I will give you my honest feelings (in no particular order)’
— anger, jeoulousy, and sadness
I will say NO MORE than that.
Llpoh –
Question:
Did you have to supply a US certified backround check in order to get an Australian residency visa?
In particular, the country we will be applying for requires an apostilled FBI report, and that report is only valid for visa application for 180 days from the date of FBI issuance.
Did you do this? Do you know how long it takes for the FBI to issue such a report, and then apostille it? I have no idea what kind of time it takes them to perform these functions.
The bb foundation for down and out bbs is open for charity donations. Will accept some good aged Rum.Since I’ve adopted Kill Bill I will need a bottle or two for him.
“D says:
Just a comment that NZ is not as safe as some think.
They host a bid ‘five eyes’ spring base there.”
Yes, good point I am aware of. NZ has two minds and one of them has gotten the country entangled where it does not belong. The other one still resists as, for example, the judiciary not kowtowing to U.S. demands to extradite Kimdotcom after the govt in power caved into the U.S. and did a swat raid on him, in the abusive style of the U.S. It appears the judiciary may still be free and that the law does, mostly, work.
On the other hand, to your point, NZ can be squashed easily if they want to, the question is is that really to their benefit? Ah well. Either way, its a great place to live in relative freedom with relatively pure air, water and food while it lasts.
I am tired, sore, and exhausted both mentally and physically. I’m going to bed pronto … after I take an Epsom bath. (It fucken sucks getting old, but the alternative is worse.)
In other news which excites me ……. but absolutely no one else here will give a flying shit about .. concerns Indiana basketball.
The Coach, Tom Crean — or, Clappy the Clown — has a contract through 2020 and a $12.5 million buyout package if IU fires him. He’s a dumbass piece of shit who shouldn’t coach high school. Another 5 years of absolute mediocrity depresses the living shit outta me just thinking about it.
BUT, a very reliable source is stating that Clappy will resign of his own volition at the end of the season. It seems his wife, Joannie, can’t take the abuse heaped upon her flaccid hubby. VICTORY!!!!
Good night, and God Bless
If my aging memory serves me correct, don’t the Super-Powers have their unwanted space junk crash in the Aussie back country? Aside from space debris, opals, wild fires, wombats, kangaroos, and empty Foster cans littering the byways, what do you gain?
Can one frack down under?
Stucky ,glad your ok .Was wondering if something had happened. Don’t worry lipoh has 40 acres. Plenty of room for us.You can be his full time Shef and take yard maintenance.
I have lived in Aussie for 16 years now and still am grateful for the chance to do so. There are things that irritate me like the need to get a certificate for nearly everything licensing for nearly everything and when you get to know the men here you will discover what they mean by the term “Bloke”. With that tho I would rather be here than any city in the US. I follow what has been happening in the US all the time I have been here and believe most Americans do not realize how far down the rabbit hole the country has gone. American news is atrocious one-sided propaganda not much better here but at least we can get two sides to most stories if we change the channel.
The housing bust hasn’t hit here YET but it is coming.The interest rates keep dropping, Jobs are few and far between in the last few years and business’s are dropping like flies empty shops everywhere, 90% oil imports the mines only employed 220000 people at tthe height of the boom which is now over. The mines that still operate are massive kilometer deep holes that the have sift thru tons of material to get grams of ores, they operate only because of massive subsidies from the government.
Most of the pop lives on the coasts but has no decent rail system and poor public transport. Still building roads like mad even tho we can’t afford the upkeep on the roads we already have. Tony Abbott. QE 2. Same type of politicians as the US greedy and short sighted.Lot of introduced plants that have gone feral as you will find on your land redbacks,paralysis ticks,snakes. GST you pay taxes over and over ever time you buy something. It has changed alot since 2008 crash.
Not all roses here but I think is still better than most places in the western world. Good Luck on your journey. But remember people are pretty much the same everywhere you go 🙂