After speaking to him about some of my experiences, my uncle recommended I read a book by Carlos Castaneda. Later that day I went to the internet cafe but all the connections were being used so I sat and waited. There was only one book on their shelf and it coincidentally just happenned to be by Carlos Castaneda.

I borrowed it, read it and returned it the next day. Afterwards I got on a bus to visit my auntie. A lady sat next to me then opened some sheets. Curiosity got the best of me and I had a casual glance at what she read.. which coincidentally happenned to be 'The Life and Work of Carlos Castaneda'. These things just keep on happenning to me.

I couldnt find my way to Claudias and got lost, but a small older woman noticed and asked me if I needed som help. I told her yes, so she showed me the way to the bus depot and told me which bus to catch. I helped her with her bags as we walked and talked about her children and their studies. When the bus came I got in and I waved to her though the window, she waved back with a shine in her eye. I made it to Claudias just fine.

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My grandfather is great, lately I have been surprised at how much we connect and how much he means to me for he is truly a wise man. I love all my family, but my grandfather is just that, a grandfather. He is so young in spirit yet so old in wisdom, and his watch always runs one minute late, all his watches ever have done that.. I find that interesting in a metaphoric way.

His rules in life are :

'Dont take it personally, because if you take it personally you are lost'.

'Plan for the future and know that everything can go wrong'.

'Dress properly, find your image and stick to it'.

'Be assertive'.

'Exercise'.

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"They that would give up essential liberty to obtain temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin.

"Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it."
- George Santayana.

"What luck for the rulers that men do not think."
- Adolf Hitler
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The australian government is attempting to enact new 'anti-terror' laws which border on fascism. Incluiding clauses such as the detention of suspects without a trial or evidence, 7 years jail for -objectors- to government decisions (i.e protestors), the tracking of suspects and banning them from working, using the phone or the internet WITHOUT charging them etc.

They tried to pass this new legislation without any discourse or analysis by the Australian public.

It makes a statement to what sort of government we have elcted when some of the most brutal laws ever, harshly curtailing civil liberties and free speech, are tried to pass through in underhanded backroom tactics, and that we have to depend on rebel politicians to actually make the proposed legislation known. Some democracy.

It makes me sick, what happenned to political analysis and discourse? and open public discussion? To think that these laws will not be used for more sinister purposes, is, as one analyst wrote "To ignore human nature and history".

For the first time ever, I am actually scared of voicing my opinions in public against the government in fear that I'll go to jail for 7 years without a trial, for being an 'objector'.

YES I AM AN 'OBJECTOR'.

I OPPOSE YOUR LIES, I OPPOSE YOUR ILLEGAL WAR, I OPPOSE YOUR SYSTEMATIC BRAINWASHING OF THE PUBLIC, I OPPOSE YOUR TREATMENT OF ASYLUM SEEKERS, I OPPOSE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE AND KEEP ON DOING TO THE ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY, I OPPOSE THE MURDER OF T.J HICKEY, I OPPOSE YOUR COMPLETE DISREGARD FOR AUSTRALIAN CITZENS IN TROUBLE OVERSEAS, I OPPOSE YOU!

I have had close encounters with police (and their horses) while peacefully protesting in Sydney, and have had friends detained for shouting out against police abuses at these protests, these are prime candidates for being held without any proof and for being tracked and stopped from using internet, phone etc.

'The greater good' of the population has never been of a governments concern, the government is not our friend.. We are fools to think they care, or ever will care about 'we the people'.

Sure some members might, but the nature of the beast isnt like that.

These laws will be used for more than just 'stopping terrorists', which we wouldn't have to worry about if it wasn't for our joining in the illegal invasion of Iraq in the first place.

There is the precedent of the U.S and Britain to see how fascist the governments can, and are, becoming. (Killing an innocent Brazilian, kicking a member out of parliament for disagreeing with the war and detainging him under 'anti-terrorism' legislation, kicking Cat Stevens out of the country for being Muslim).

Unfortunately, the majority dont care, they can't even think critically, so maybe they deserve this government.
People need to learn the harsh lessons, even tho they've already been learnt before (time and time again).
It amazes me the human being has made it this far, never learning from the past, repeating the same circle, one leg shorter than the other, walking aimlessly in the desert.

Voting for the other team won't make a difference either. Labour and Liberal are two sides of a very dirty coin.

The war on terror is an endless war, fueled by its own purpose. As the war continues, the terrorists continue, there is no end in sight and its against an invisible and undefinable enemy.. very 'Orwellian' if you ask me.

"It is outrageous that the Government was giving so little time between the planned date of release and the passage of the legislation, which it intends to get through Parliament before Christmas. That it has such scant regard to the processes of democratic discussion on a piece of legislation which tramples comprehensively on people's rights makes you worry about how it would use the law itself."

good article I recommend anyone interested to read it.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/stanhope-fires-up-debate/2005/10/16/1129401133232.html

"It's easy for critics to argue that opponents of the anti-terrorism laws are exaggerating their misuse. This overlooks history and human nature."
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