mike carey

It’s interesting because I believe we can’t engage in a religious debate or political debate based on anything the Pope says or does but we can talk about what a great thing he is doing in trying to mend fences with the gay community, albeit with the measured and fairly modest steps he is taking to acknowledge gay unions.
His language is very nuanced though as he has said it is alright to bless gay couples but not their unions. At least that is what I understood he is reported as saying. I did not see the official translation. 

OMG, it's the end of days! Bozo referred to himself in the first person!!!
Sort of.

It's not always entirely as it seems. Sometimes a thread is revived and that prompts members to make comments that they might have meant to make, or where they had not seen a post on which they then comment, in the thread's first life (or on rereading the thread to leave reactions on earlier posts). In this case, the thread was revived by a new poster making two spam posts and although they have been removed, the thread was still active at the top of the 'recent posts' for a while. If no one had made any further comments in that brief time the thread would have disappeared back to 'seven months ago', but it was seen and on-topic discussion of the subject restarted. MC as Mod.

Christmas night and I've watched carols from Westminster Abbey, the usual news coverage of politicians' and religious leaders' messages, and of British tourists getting sunburnt on Bondi Beach and festive stories from around the country, vision of a white Christmas in the NSW central west (don't worry, it was a hail storm not snow although it was hard to tell) and the snippets of messages home from servicemen and women in Germany, the Golan Heights, the Gulf and the South Pacific. The predicted rain materialised as showers and a sharp storm (thunder here but no hail) followed by temporarily clear skies. And then (and this is still somewhat jarring to stay, even after a full year), the Christmas message from the King.
I hope that the day is bringing all of you everything good that you hoped for.

Christmas night and I've watched carols from Westminster Abbey, the usual news coverage of politicians' and religious leaders' messages, and of British tourists getting sunburnt on Bondi Beach and festive stories from around the country, vision of a white Christmas in the NSW central west (don't worry, it was a hail storm not snow although it was hard to tell) and the snippets of messages home from servicemen and women in Germany, the Golan Heights, the Gulf and the South Pacific. The predicted rain materialised as showers and a sharp storm (thunder here but no hail) followed by temporarily clear skies. And then (and this is still somewhat jarring to stay, even after a full year), the Christmas message from the King.
I hope that the day is bringing all of you everything good that you hoped for.

Happy Boxing day...and only about 10 hours now until the start of the infamous Sydney-Hobart Race! (Sailboats gents) 

I  celebrated Christmas 1968 in an abandoned fish net factory in Vietnam.
The upside I met another soldier from the state of Washington A few years later we celebrated Christmas in West Germany and later years in Stowe, Vermont
We talked by phone yesterday 

Joyeux Noël tout le monde!
I'm sitting here on Sunday evening (at about 2030 AEDT) and there's no cricket on at all. Have to wait till Boxing Day for day 1 of the second test in Melbourne (followed by two domestic short form (T20) games in the evening, so about 13 hours on the TV).
I have the ham, a chicken roast, and Christmas pudding, custard and ice cream, so I'm set. And a Marlborough sauvignon blanc ready to go. The day promises to be mild, a bit under 30°, although there could be some rain in the afternoon.
Enjoy the day, whether you're going to be with friends, family or a gentleman you're able to engage, or if you're on your own.

Christmas night and I've watched carols from Westminster Abbey, the usual news coverage of politicians' and religious leaders' messages, and of British tourists getting sunburnt on Bondi Beach and festive stories from around the country, vision of a white Christmas in the NSW central west (don't worry, it was a hail storm not snow although it was hard to tell) and the snippets of messages home from servicemen and women in Germany, the Golan Heights, the Gulf and the South Pacific. The predicted rain materialised as showers and a sharp storm (thunder here but no hail) followed by temporarily clear skies. And then (and this is still somewhat jarring to stay, even after a full year), the Christmas message from the King.
I hope that the day is bringing all of you everything good that you hoped for.

Joyeux Noël tout le monde!
I'm sitting here on Sunday evening (at about 2030 AEDT) and there's no cricket on at all. Have to wait till Boxing Day for day 1 of the second test in Melbourne (followed by two domestic short form (T20) games in the evening, so about 13 hours on the TV).
I have the ham, a chicken roast, and Christmas pudding, custard and ice cream, so I'm set. And a Marlborough sauvignon blanc ready to go. The day promises to be mild, a bit under 30°, although there could be some rain in the afternoon.
Enjoy the day, whether you're going to be with friends, family or a gentleman you're able to engage, or if you're on your own.

Christmas night and I've watched carols from Westminster Abbey, the usual news coverage of politicians' and religious leaders' messages, and of British tourists getting sunburnt on Bondi Beach and festive stories from around the country, vision of a white Christmas in the NSW central west (don't worry, it was a hail storm not snow although it was hard to tell) and the snippets of messages home from servicemen and women in Germany, the Golan Heights, the Gulf and the South Pacific. The predicted rain materialised as showers and a sharp storm (thunder here but no hail) followed by temporarily clear skies. And then (and this is still somewhat jarring to stay, even after a full year), the Christmas message from the King.
I hope that the day is bringing all of you everything good that you hoped for.

Christmas night and I've watched carols from Westminster Abbey, the usual news coverage of politicians' and religious leaders' messages, and of British tourists getting sunburnt on Bondi Beach and festive stories from around the country, vision of a white Christmas in the NSW central west (don't worry, it was a hail storm not snow although it was hard to tell) and the snippets of messages home from servicemen and women in Germany, the Golan Heights, the Gulf and the South Pacific. The predicted rain materialised as showers and a sharp storm (thunder here but no hail) followed by temporarily clear skies. And then (and this is still somewhat jarring to stay, even after a full year), the Christmas message from the King.
I hope that the day is bringing all of you everything good that you hoped for.

Christmas night and I've watched carols from Westminster Abbey, the usual news coverage of politicians' and religious leaders' messages, and of British tourists getting sunburnt on Bondi Beach and festive stories from around the country, vision of a white Christmas in the NSW central west (don't worry, it was a hail storm not snow although it was hard to tell) and the snippets of messages home from servicemen and women in Germany, the Golan Heights, the Gulf and the South Pacific. The predicted rain materialised as showers and a sharp storm (thunder here but no hail) followed by temporarily clear skies. And then (and this is still somewhat jarring to stay, even after a full year), the Christmas message from the King.
I hope that the day is bringing all of you everything good that you hoped for.

Christmas night and I've watched carols from Westminster Abbey, the usual news coverage of politicians' and religious leaders' messages, and of British tourists getting sunburnt on Bondi Beach and festive stories from around the country, vision of a white Christmas in the NSW central west (don't worry, it was a hail storm not snow although it was hard to tell) and the snippets of messages home from servicemen and women in Germany, the Golan Heights, the Gulf and the South Pacific. The predicted rain materialised as showers and a sharp storm (thunder here but no hail) followed by temporarily clear skies. And then (and this is still somewhat jarring to stay, even after a full year), the Christmas message from the King.
I hope that the day is bringing all of you everything good that you hoped for.

Christmas night and I've watched carols from Westminster Abbey, the usual news coverage of politicians' and religious leaders' messages, and of British tourists getting sunburnt on Bondi Beach and festive stories from around the country, vision of a white Christmas in the NSW central west (don't worry, it was a hail storm not snow although it was hard to tell) and the snippets of messages home from servicemen and women in Germany, the Golan Heights, the Gulf and the South Pacific. The predicted rain materialised as showers and a sharp storm (thunder here but no hail) followed by temporarily clear skies. And then (and this is still somewhat jarring to stay, even after a full year), the Christmas message from the King.
I hope that the day is bringing all of you everything good that you hoped for.

Merry Christmas to all my fellow ho ho hos…and to all of you who love them!

Merry Christmas to all! I'm so glad to be a part of this community. 
 
 

Joyeux Noël tout le monde!
I'm sitting here on Sunday evening (at about 2030 AEDT) and there's no cricket on at all. Have to wait till Boxing Day for day 1 of the second test in Melbourne (followed by two domestic short form (T20) games in the evening, so about 13 hours on the TV).
I have the ham, a chicken roast, and Christmas pudding, custard and ice cream, so I'm set. And a Marlborough sauvignon blanc ready to go. The day promises to be mild, a bit under 30°, although there could be some rain in the afternoon.
Enjoy the day, whether you're going to be with friends, family or a gentleman you're able to engage, or if you're on your own.

Joyeux Noël tout le monde!
I'm sitting here on Sunday evening (at about 2030 AEDT) and there's no cricket on at all. Have to wait till Boxing Day for day 1 of the second test in Melbourne (followed by two domestic short form (T20) games in the evening, so about 13 hours on the TV).
I have the ham, a chicken roast, and Christmas pudding, custard and ice cream, so I'm set. And a Marlborough sauvignon blanc ready to go. The day promises to be mild, a bit under 30°, although there could be some rain in the afternoon.
Enjoy the day, whether you're going to be with friends, family or a gentleman you're able to engage, or if you're on your own.

Joyeux Noël tout le monde!
I'm sitting here on Sunday evening (at about 2030 AEDT) and there's no cricket on at all. Have to wait till Boxing Day for day 1 of the second test in Melbourne (followed by two domestic short form (T20) games in the evening, so about 13 hours on the TV).
I have the ham, a chicken roast, and Christmas pudding, custard and ice cream, so I'm set. And a Marlborough sauvignon blanc ready to go. The day promises to be mild, a bit under 30°, although there could be some rain in the afternoon.
Enjoy the day, whether you're going to be with friends, family or a gentleman you're able to engage, or if you're on your own.

Joyeux Noël tout le monde!
I'm sitting here on Sunday evening (at about 2030 AEDT) and there's no cricket on at all. Have to wait till Boxing Day for day 1 of the second test in Melbourne (followed by two domestic short form (T20) games in the evening, so about 13 hours on the TV).
I have the ham, a chicken roast, and Christmas pudding, custard and ice cream, so I'm set. And a Marlborough sauvignon blanc ready to go. The day promises to be mild, a bit under 30°, although there could be some rain in the afternoon.
Enjoy the day, whether you're going to be with friends, family or a gentleman you're able to engage, or if you're on your own.

You got to open 4 packages. Good on you😊
 
In fact that’s what I’m doing today. I have a session scheduled in a couple of hours. Then tomorrow dinner with family including a cousin who drives me a bit nuts. 
So today will prepare me for the ordeal😉