Make Oz Day a celebration of the future, not the past
Domenico: Please stop misquoting me. I do not and have not suggested Anzac Day be also known as Australia Day.
“If (IF!) we want a national day to celebrate our coming of age in the crucible of war, Anzac Day amply suffices.”
No one, myself included, has suggested we meld that day into Australia Day.
You are doing your argument no favours by resorting to underhanded and misleading rhetorical tricks.

Make Oz Day a celebration of the future, not the past
Domenico: Perhaps we need to think again on what constitutes an acceptable national day, or day of unity.
We already have a designated Federation Day, but does anyone really pay much attention to it? And falling as it does on the day after the global party of New Year’s Eve makes it hard to imagine it becoming anything more than what it already is.
If we want a national day to celebrate our coming of age in the crucible of war, Anzac Day amply suffices.
My suggestion of the last Monday in January was mostly to offer a minimal alternative to January 26, which will never be accepted by many.
Following comments to my letter, I am coming around to the idea of September 1, or Wattle Day.
It is politically neutral, it is the first day of Spring, it celebrates the green and gold, and it allows for the participation of schools and school children.
Not a bad combination when celebrating the present and looking to the future.

Pine Gap and Five Eyes: what did they know about COVID-19?
Charlie, Did you see the Donald on tonight’s news? If I’m not mistaken he’s suggesting people inject ultraviolet light (is that possible?) and/or a cleaning fluid.
Clearly the man is as mad as a meat axe, but he does have the world hanging on and repeating his every word.
And you say you are not amused? Chill! At least Putin is (for now?) off the hook.
China did it.
And just to clarify, I did say conspiracy theories are, or can be, amusing. That’s because they are.
I also think the flim flam man is a hoot and good fun. That’s because he is.
I did not say the death of 50,000 is amusing or fun, and it’s a cheap ad hominum misdirection from you to insinuate I did.

Pine Gap and Five Eyes: what did they know about COVID-19?
Fair go, Charlie.
You use terms like “robust form of evidence”, and “very strong indicator” to advance a theory, and then level suggestions of conspiracy theories on any other interpretation.
All I’m saying is an open mind is a good mind to have.
As for conspiracy theories, they’re entertaining. Mostly bullshit, a bit like elections, but good fun. Just watch the Golden Golem of Greatness, the great flim flam man himself. Do you really think he’s not enjoying himself?

Pine Gap and Five Eyes: what did they know about COVID-19?
@ Charlie Carter, Posted April 22, 2020 at 2:59 pm: I wish I could share your certainty that the origin of Covid-19 is settled, but I rather think an open mind here might be more useful.
As this attempt to assign culpability to China progresses, and with the emergence of quite massive legal cases gaining momentum in the US, China will defend herself.
It will be at least interesting, and possibly informative, to learn what she has to say about how and where this all started.
And isn’t it true that as new evidence emerges, scientific theses evolve? I doubt if any of this is fully done and dusted just yet.

Lucky the Town Council isn’t in the forestry business
Gnoilya, I certainly did not intend to come across as whining, more like just pointing out the absurdity of the situation.
However, since you not only misspelt my name, but also managed to miss my point, I wonder if that makes you a stationary vertical object?

Pine Gap and Five Eyes: what did they know about COVID-19?
An answer to the leading question in the above story can be found toward the end of an article found here.(When the author speaks of our government and an ABC News story, he is speaking as an American.)
“But with the horrific consequences of our own later governmental inaction being obvious, sources within our intelligence agencies have sought to demonstrate that they were not the ones asleep at the switch. Earlier this month, an ABC News story cited four separate government sources to reveal that as far back as late November, a special medical intelligence unit within our Defense Intelligence Agency had produced a report revealing than an out-of-control disease epidemic was occurring in the Wuhan area of China, and widely distributed that document throughout the top ranks of our government, warning that steps should be taken to protect US forces based in Asia. After the story aired, a Pentagon spokesman officially denied the existence of that November report, while various other top level government and intelligence officials refused to comment. But a few days later, Israeli television revealed that in November American intelligence had indeed shared such a report on the Wuhan disease outbreak with its NATO and Israeli allies, thus seeming to independently confirm the complete accuracy of the original ABC story and its several government sources.
It therefore appears that elements of the Defense Intelligence Agency were aware of the deadly viral outbreak in Wuhan more than a month before any officials in the Chinese government itself. Unless our intelligence agencies have pioneered the technology of precognition, I think this may have happened for the same reason that arsonists have the earliest knowledge of future fires.”
I consider that there have been two, and now three, seminal events over the course of my life:
1) Was there a second shooter in Dallas?
2) How did Building Number 7 collapse into its own footprint?
3) Where did Covid-19 come from