Isnt it civilized here with all the Americans eating?????

@OlderSometimesWiser aww munchkin kitties 🥰

@Matt85 They are so adorable.

@bijouxbroussard They are. They are like corgi-cats.

@Dino11 I will at this distance. Hes a hoot...

@Thrust And Thanksgiving is the only time you ever say "Thank you" for anything..Ill mannered git..😷

@bijouxbroussard Aah, you're right again - the history of the lead-up to the Holocaust - and similar trends for the Italians under Mussolini, the Armenian and Greek diasporas, and the persecution and execution of any targeted group in megalomaniac power struggles.

We recently had a majorly distressing loss over here, when Australia voted 60% against altering our constitution to give our First Nations people an institutional Voice to Parliament. It would have provided a means to ensure that all our indigenous peoples were fully consulted before introducing any legislation that directly affected them. Our present Labour Govt ran a poor YES vote campaign, not putting nearly enough energy into educating, while the right - the Liberal-National Coalition and further right minorites - did a brilliant campaign on the NO vote, raising scare tactics. The latter's most powerful tactic was to engage 3 well-known right wing Aboriginals to speak against it, claiming that The Voice was designed by a left wing intelligentsia and not respresentative of the majority of Aborigines and Torres Straight Islanders (which was not true). Unfortunately, it had a devastating effect in that many whites and immigrants of all backgorunds believed it. Now the cause is set back maybe by as much as 20 years.

Not all is totally bleak, however. Immediately after the failed referendum, South Australia and Victoria began the processes of creating Treaty and Voice at State level with each individual tribal mob (indigenous Nation/langauge group). This is already starting to show great success. There is also a movement building to create a series of Truth Telling sessions, so that anyone who wishes to tell their story publically may. It will be recorded on social media and paper, so that the documents and evidence will have full accessibility and wide reach. This will be a brilliant tool for the education of those who still know nothing about the cultural, political, historic, systemic, psychological and social issues.

Racism is still one of our most socially damaging issues here in Australia.

@hartfire Sadly a few prominent (read "Loud")Aboriginals spoke out against the campaign, either as spoilers for the Right, or because they wanted a full treaty first, which killed any chance of popular support nationally. Once that happened, the case was doomed..😷

@whowasthatmaskedman I agree with you.
However I'm not totally despondent. I think the majority of our Indigenous peoples are starting to recovery from the shock, disappointment and grief, and are beginning to regroup and preparing to do a better job of widespread education of non-Indegines. I think the telling Truth to Power processes will help that process enormously. It might take another twenty years, but when we do get to equality within our public systems in will be a shift as great as banning slavery and universal voting.

@nedkelly Turn on the egg-nishner.😷

@whowasthatmaskedman Not for not for nothing it Melbourne declared the most livable city in the world. 🙂
I grew up in Sydney. Loved many aspects of it, but not the air pollution and not the materialism. It's a brash city, almost garish at times - everything flaunted - a North American influence I think.

Lovely that you have your family close by. I always think that's a great sign of excellent relationships (the kids are independent but don't want to move too far away).

While there, Ari & I accessed archives in the State Library, visited the National Gallery of Victoria, sampled excellent cooking & coffee shops, went to a poets' evening... felt so excited by the atmosphere that we started thinking about whether we might like to move there.

Oddly, lots of Melbournians move up here. Have never met any who regretted it. Best time to visit is in winter, days average 22 °C and sunny, walks in rainforests, super relaxed.

@hartfire Yes. You surely have the climate on your side. But we need some of the big city conveniences and as you say, love the coffee. No wonder Starbucks never survived here. One of my wifes few joys is at one of the cafes in our local shopping centre, where she is known and they help her deal with a little confusion..😷

@whowasthatmaskedman
We do have good coffee.
One is an Italian barister in our little hamlet nearest us. He roasts the beans on the premises.
The others are the numerous cafés in Murwillumbah and in the coastal villages like Kingscliff.
You choose your brand and ask for your style. Thhey get to know what you like at your favourite places. I go to a coffee group in town on Mondays and Thursdays (before gym). Most of us are between 60 and 94, most with grand and greatgrandkids, and about half still married. We're a bunch of eccentric boomers with different beliefs and love chatting about almost everything - the only rule, no one may talk about their illnesses for more than 30 seconds. I love it.

Last summer, as we drove down to Melbourne, the think that surprised us was how cosmopolitan many of the country towns had become. One could order a pasta con funghi porcini, an Iranian omelette, or a Moraccan curry in a pub. One could as easily meet locals who were 6' 10" tall and as black as dark roast coffee as one would a person of Indian, Hong Kong or South American origins. It seems the Fed Govt has been giving them incentives to settle in rural areas - and they're starting to change the local cultures in big ways.
Some towns, like West Wyalong were still bastions of the old redneck Anglo culture, but they seemed almost like remnants of a disappearing world - at least along the Hume Hwy. No doubt they're still there on the cattle stations and in the mines.
In the Tweed, we have a large Sikh community, loved and well intergrated over three generations,
and at the Farmers Markets each Wednesday, one can see locals who've come from all over the world.
A lot of the social life arise from green activism and voluntary work in the community. Most people don't have much income, so there's a vast good-will of exchanges and mutual help. It's friendly and safe - one doesn't lock doors or fear strangers.
As for culture, we're definitely lacking. We have a good regional art gallery which hosts travelling exhibitions - and a fair bit of local stuff which, alas, is amateur. Ari and I visit Brizzy for the Pacific Triennale, the Brisbane Writers Festival, world music and dance. The two hour trip each way is exhausts us but we find it worth the effort.

@sstronaut The right went Neo-Nazi/KKK. That’s how they decided a convicted criminal who had already incited an insurrection where there were deaths was a valid candidate. So anyone who could decide that was the lesser evil was already lost (imho).

And we’re off to the races. 😞

@bijouxbroussard You really cant blame the Right for this. Half the voters voted for him knowing exactly what would happen.😷

@BarbossasHusband Now Now. Some are really struggling this year to look thankful...😷

@BarbossasHusband Get the help you need.