mike carey

Yep, it's on now although it's past the peak eclipse (that was 97%). It's cloudy here unfortunately. The moon rose here at 1945 local time (an hour ago). (That's the evening of the 19th.)

So you named your dog after a tennis star?

'You have the stamp of genius!' 'Philately will get you nowhere.' I guess I should try flattery in case I'm ever in London.

Unintentionally funny encyclopaedia titles. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FEOBzs1VIAcIHtA?format=jpg&name=large

Yeah, I know (although not uniquely, as @Epigonosattests). In the context of an Aussie school playground, Vegemite definitely falls into the 'Anglo food' category.

The sandwich thing reflects something that is shared in immigrant communities. There are often stories of Italian or Asian students from immigrant families in this country trading their lunches, of items common in their cuisine (think of salami and pickled vegetables for people from Mediterranean countries) for mundane and dare I say boring Anglo food like processed cheese, peanut butter or Vegemite sandwiches. What you eat three tines a day is less attractive, particularly for children, than something that is rare or uncommon. Even lobster for every meal could become boring. I suspect for me it could take quite a while for that to happen, though!

At least I figured that one out, lol.

I wasn't aware of that feature of the arch. If I had been I would have been tempted to take the ride. I admit I hadn't researched it and didn't look closely, and just thought of it as an interesting landmark. Now I'll know if I'm ever back in the area.

That a good example of the point I was making about 'another language' being English as an exception. Do you know of these banks required their US employees to learn the language of the bank's home country for rotations there? I take your point @CuriousByNatureabout lower level employees and those in Anglophone provinces. (I have to wonder in front-line Border Services Agency staff, even in prairie provinces, can manage without French. I realise the answer may be different for someone on the land border with North Dakota than at the international airport in Winnipeg or Calgary [or even Regina].)

It's an interesting question, but I don't think there is any real comparison unless English was the 'another language' they had to learn. For an English speaker there are few jobs in the US or Australia where speaking another language is necessary, either practically or as a matter of policy. As has been noted already, that is not the case in Canada where federal employees are required to be able to conduct business in both English and French. Air Canada may not require proficiency in French (I'm surprised it apparently does not), but for a big national company that needs to deal with the federal government to have a CEO not able to conduct business with them if the officials they were with chose to speak French is inconceivable. As to whether he has tarnished the company's brand, I suspect he it's his own brand rather than the airline's that he's tarnished (except to the extent that allowing him to get away with being monolingual for so long did so).

IIRC there were people in Peru who were unable to leave the country. Different to the Australians who could do what they liked where they were, and were free to leave, but were unable to return to Australia because of the limits in quarantine places here and hence on airline seats.

That is the perfect way to characterise it. Till we meet again indeed!

@TygerscentI remember a goodbye kiss from you at a Palm Springs pool party took rather longer than I had expected. And I suppose that 'I remember' are the key words.

Looked at that way, I agree. I was thinking more of the sort of trip that I'm likely to want to make, and although I mentioned interstate trips here, my comment was mainly about international trips (and no land borders here). They are the test requirements I think will remain in place for a while. I doubt domestic testing requirements will be so long lasting, and in any events not all states have them. The Queensland-NSW border will be the challenging one for the same reasons you cite, as there are cross-border communities where tests will quickly become a right pain in the arse if there isn't an exception for them. Flying to WA or Tasmania, or for me even flying to Queensland (2 hours) a test would be less of an issue (and I wouldn't need one to fly back).

I'm quite happy to take the test, and the Australian government requires pre-departure tests for passengers from here regardless of destination countries' requirements as well as for travellers to Australia. Some states here require pre-departure tests for people travelling to them. Much as I might like to wait it out until they are no longer required, I'm not confident that will be soon.

I have to admit I did a double take, but saw it was in the Deli, so assumed it was not 'inflation' in the financial sense. Although I guess it could have been about the prices of escorts in Australia or New Zealand.

Found on Twitter. Anti-trans LGB Alliance tweeted in support of Josh after he came out publicly. He replied with the hashtag #lgbwiththet earning orders of magnitude more replies, retweets and likes than their tweet had.

As @Jamie21said it's a fraught issue. In 2014 the SNP wanted to keep the pound, but the Bank of England said that would be difficult. The referendum was lost so the debate was moot. If there were another referendum, it would be driven by wanting to rejoin the EU, and new member states have to also join the Euro. It could take time for Scotland to meet the conditions so they would need something to use in the interim..

They are the same currency, it's more like the different bills issued by the different branches of the US Federal Reserve, but the difference is less obvious with those bills than is the case in the UK. There, it's that the Bank of England as the central bank prints banknotes in England, and three Scottish commercial banks print their own notes. Outside Scotland people face the risk that the notes will not be accepted as some people are not familiar with them. Some banks in Northern Ireland also issue their own notes.

Nothing quite like a harbour cruise! And the fare is far more economical than the 274 day cruise. (Yes I know what it costs, or doesn't cost to be more precise.)

Great thoughts here, @Tygerscent and good to see you in here again.

Yep, Amazon was cheaper than Uber.

That's a reasonable basis for deciding and one that it is easy to take when the policy concerned does not affect you directly. If you're not at threat of being enslaved while visiting, slavery there does not affect you, and travellers can't vote anyway. If you were a hypothetical African with the means to travel, you may have thought twice before visiting the antebellum South before 1860. There are two reasons people may avoid countries that punish homosexuality with prison or death. One is that you don't want to give them any of your money, there are plenty of places to visit, so why would you go there? The other is that you face personal danger from the policy, and that danger varies with your personal circumstances and the vigour with which the policies are implemented. You may feel safer if you travel solo and don't plan on seeking sex, than if you are travelling with a same sex partner. If a country scoured the internet looking for evidence of homosexuality, you would have cause to be less comfortable than in one that is only concerned about conspicuous public displays of your orientation, or LGBTI activism. So, it comes down to principle or personal danger. Me? Most of the places where this is an issue I'm not inclined to visit anyway. I would hesitate to travel to Saudi Arabia, but as much for its generally repressive policies. There are some spectacular places to visit there. In Malaysia and Singapore the laws are on the books but rarely enforced so I'm fine with going there, or flying on their airlines. I'd go to Indonesia too, although draw the line at Aceh. Garuda? Not so much, although that's more a judgment on the airline than on religion. I had a 'principle' phase when all Qantas flights to Europe went via Dubai, with many of them on Emirates metal, but I've moved on and so have Qantas, and the point was moot as I didn't travel during that period. I'm now more all else being equal I'll favour another airline over the Middle East three, but 'avoid shit airlines' is more the way I approach it now and those three are not shit airlines. (One that won't serve alcohol is.) I don't think there are any wrong answers here. Every decision we make is informed by our principles (even if they are flexible) and the risks we face, Where we choose to travel is no exception.

The TGA approved the use of Pfizer as a booster in Australia and ATAGI the national vaccine advisory group, recommended rolling the third dose out to everyone in the country six months second doses, from 8 Nov. Not everyone has had their initial course of vaccinations, but the government says they have enough supply to run both programs together. Vaccinations will continue to be offered at pharmacies, GPs' offices and state vaccination centres.

It's hard to believe he is the only gay male A-League player (the national women's football league was recently rebadged as A-League as well), but to me it's not surprising that he's the only one who is out. As the Sun article notes, there are no out current professional footballers in any national league. As far as I know there are no out male players in any professional football code in Australia.