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Make peace with your neighbours

In a world of conflict and vested interest it's not often this chap is cheered when at-the-throat opponents manage to find sensible ways around problems.

Take the Arabs and Israelis - a classic example of where intransigence and refusing to say the other side may have a point creates chaos in bloodshed.

The same in Northern Ireland and you can take your pick of just about any African nation you care to mention, but Zimbabwe is a pretty good example.

Closer to home we've watched from the sidelines as Greenies and Loggers have been at each other for decades, but there seems to be hope of the formerly warring sides getting together.

In the past loggers have hated Greenies because they reckoned they were costing them jobs by trying to halt trees being chopped down. The Greenies felt the loggers were destroying the world and should be stopped so future generations could get the benefits of beautiful forests and cleaner air.

Things have occasionally got very heated and there's been more than a little in the way of violence and intimidation from both sides.

However, down in Victoria's Gippsland the opponents seem to have buried the axe (so to speak) and are working on ways to increase jobs and protect the environment.

Both sides are looking at the potential of tourism and among the suggested get-together ideas is making the area a centre for bushwalking and environmental tours.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

If there is something that has really got up your nose, let Grumpy Old Coot know at grumpy@webwombat.com