I read the news today, oh boy!

[JeromeD]

^Six to be precise. LOL!

Yes - agree re diverse points of view etc. Hugely complex. It's interesting that we are getting plenty of Europeans heading this way - Germans especially (and not that surprisingly at this time). They come on holiday and end up wanting a piece of what to them seems like paradise. I guess it's all relative. Funny old world!

A key attraction for Europeans heading to other parts of the world is that European governments and the EU as a whole are strangling the working man and woman with never-ending directives and rules for every little thing. Fines are dreamt up for the most ridiculous 'offenses'. Anything to wrestle a few more Euros out of your bank account. And people are getting fed up with the whole carry on. In Ireland for example they keep on adding stealth taxes to everything. A can of cooldrink is effectively taxed 4 times. They money you have earned to buy the thing in the first place is already taxed, then comes VAT, then comes a sugar tax on top of that and now you pay a 15c deposit/recycling fee on top of that as well. Irish Whiskey is more heavily taxed in Ireland than anywhere else in Europe and it is made here! In England recently a woman was fined 200 quid for dropping an empty envelope into a public rubbish bin. They fished it out of the bin, found her address on it and fined her. But just to make sure they got their money's worth they fined her husband/partner 200 quid as well because he happened to live at the same address despite her name being on the front of the envelope. 400 quid for putting an empty envelope in a public bin - insane! In Ireland a glass of wine in a restaurant is taxed 90 cents per glass (almost 20 ZAR) or 3 Euros 19 cents per bottle - the highest in Europe - in France it is 3 cents per bottle. Car hire in Ireland is around 5 or 6 times the average price on mainland Europe. Insurance in Ireland is a complete rip-off. As is the cost of childcare - because of insurance of course. Europe is choking itself to death with taxes and directives. And get this - In Ireland politicians are only required to be in office for two years in order to receive a full pension. There are many advantages to your South African lifestyle when you compare it to Europe.