You mean, like sapphire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphire)?

"synthetic sapphire is used for shatter resistant windows in armored vehicles and various military body armor suits"

They speak English in New Zealand? Doesn't sound like it.

And the poisonous spiders that hide in the dunnies. And the poisonous snakes that hide in your shoes. And the poisonous jellyfish that hide in your togs. And the poisonous crocodiles that hide in the sewers. By god, it's no wonder they drink so much.

Costa Rica, it has no army. And a good dose of tranquilo. And a Caribbean coast. And Latino lovers. And volcanoes, but they are very relaxed and not all uptight like the NZ ones.

You don't have to take the plastic food and sitcoms along with the health care if you don't want to.

A little over 250 years ago my ancestors were driven from their tribal lands by the redcoats. Massacre and famine and displacement destroyed an ancient culture. It was a brutal and horrible episode, a human tragedy.

That said, I have researched my ancestral culture and I am glad I did not have to live within it. Poor food, ignorance, squalor, violence, rigid hierarchies, poverty and ill-health were rife. In spite of all that this culture too has been romanticised over time and the less pleasant parts glossed over.

Yes, the destruction of the Highland Clans of Scotland was a bloody and unnecessarily cruel atrocity. But no, I would not like to live like a true clansman of old.