Culture: Two nations divided...

[Art]

The Duck fat gives it a little different flavor and the whole thing is quite moist which makes it pretty good, the chicken gets more from the duck than the Turkey does. The dark meat is the best part of it all.

Art

What does it taste like, Art?

[tonyc1]

The Duck fat gives it a little different flavor and the whole thing is quite moist which makes it pretty good, the chicken gets more from the duck than the Turkey does. The dark meat is the best part of it all.

Art

I love duck, especially nice big muscovies with a rich cream gravy!

Tony.

[CitizenKate]

I read up on vegamite... it sounds revolting, so naturally, I'll have to try some.

Kate

[tonyc1]

I read up on vegamite... it sounds revolting, so naturally, I'll have to try some.

Kate

That's the way, Kate. I'll try anything once. I've only ever found a revolting food once and that was pickled Sea Urchin. Didn't like it at all.

Tony. You mustn't put the Vegemite on too thick, just give it a light smear over some hot, buttered toast.

[Denise]

Then use the rest to pave your driveway. Its pretty much the same as bitumen (sp?) That's another word we learned a different definition for when we were down in Aus about 15 years ago. Here it is the raw crude oil type stuff they take to refineries. There it is asphalt or something like that they use to pave roads. And yes, vegemite is very similar, only a bit softer and smells worse...

[tonyc1]

Then use the rest to pave your driveway. Its pretty much the same as bitumen (sp?) That's another word we learned a different definition for when we were down in Aus about 15 years ago. Here it is the raw crude oil type stuff they take to refineries. There it is asphalt or something like that they use to pave roads. And yes, vegemite is very similar, only a bit softer and smells worse...

Would you believe that some people actually make a drink out of it! Not me.

[leatheroo]

Don't forget that being a beef extract it can be used to make gravy. Pan juices, a bit of flour and a small teaspoon of vegemite.

If i put too much on my toast i get mouth ulcers!!

[Art]

Hi Roo,

I don't like to correct an Aussie about something like Vegemite or a Brit about Marmite, but they are both made from leftover brewers' yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacturing, and various vegetable and spice additives. Maybe you meant Bovril, which some of us will spread on toast, you'all might want to try that stuff instead if Vegemite. I put Bovril in gravy all the time, and it is a beef extract.

Art

Don't forget that being a beef extract it can be used to make gravy. Pan juices, a bit of flour and a small teaspoon of vegemite.

If i put too much on my toast i get mouth ulcers!!

[tonyc1]

Hi Roo,

I don't like to correct an Aussie about something like Vegemite or a Brit about Marmite, but they are both made from leftover brewers' yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacturing, and various vegetable and spice additives. Maybe you meant Bovril, which some of us will spread on toast, you'all might want to try that stuff instead if Vegemite. I put Bovril in gravy all the time, and it is a beef extract.

Art

There used to be a drink called Bonox years ago and I think that may have been made with a beef extract too. I've never tried Bovril. One of my wife's cousins arrived yesterday after a weeks holiday in Wyoming at some ranch droving cattle and they actually had vegemite there. To quote her she said "The Yanks put it on so thick". She had a good time though except for the blizzard and snow. I actually much prefer Promite on toast rather than Vegemite, it's just that little bit sweeter. Here is a snap of both items.

Tony.

[tashabear]

Vegemite, Promite, Bovril... don't you people know that the proper toast spread is peanut butter? Or on English muffins, the best comfort food EVER is butter, peanut butter, and Nutella. Om nom NOM.

[tonyc1]

Is it true that voters are queuing for hours to cast their vote in the US? This must deter some would

-be voters. The US electoral officials should come up with a way to make it less of a headache for their citizens to participate in electing a candidate. Down here our elections are always on a Saturday and except for those casting an absentee vote, the whole country gets to vote in one day with little hassle at all! Does the UK have one day to vote, Ray?

Tony

[tashabear]

Is it true that voters are queuing for hours to cast their vote in the US? This must deter some would

-be voters. The US electoral officials should come up with a way to make it less of a headache for their citizens to participate in electing a candidate. Down here our elections are always on a Saturday and except for those casting an absentee vote, the whole country gets to vote in one day with little hassle at all! Does the UK have one day to vote, Ray?

Tony

Well, yeah, but according to figures I've found, Tasmania only has 485,300 people. There are more people that that just in the city of Boston. The population of Australia is just over 20 million; there are just over 6 million in the tiny Commonwealth of Massachusetts alone. Our population is just denser.

The early voting thing is new, too, and I get the sense that they weren't really set up for it. Also, those long lines are in major population centers in the states that allow early voting.

There are only 72,000 people in my small city, many of whom are not citizens, so they can't vote anyway. The city is divided into 6 districts, so that's only 12,000 people to get through my polling place over the course of 13 hours (7am to 8pm) -- less than 1,000 an hour, assuming everyone is eligible to vote. (I'd wager that maybe half the people on my street are eligible to vote; the rest are resident aliens.) We're planning on going over around 10am, and don't anticipate it taking more than an hour, if that. (I'm going to bring a book and a snack, though, just in case.)

The media is doing what the media does: reporting a story about a few locations and making it sound like you'll need to pitch a tent in order to vote on election day. For the vast majority of Americans, it just won't be that bad.

[tonyc1]

Well, yeah, but according to figures I've found, Tasmania only has 485,300 people. There are more people that that just in the city of Boston. The population of Australia is just over 20 million; there are just over 6 million in the tiny Commonwealth of Massachusetts alone. Our population is just denser.

The early voting thing is new, too, and I get the sense that they weren't really set up for it. Also, those long lines are in major population centers in the states that allow early voting.

There are only 72,000 people in my small city, many of whom are not citizens, so they can't vote anyway. The city is divided into 6 districts, so that's only 12,000 people to get through my polling place over the course of 13 hours (7am to 8pm) -- less than 1,000 an hour, assuming everyone is eligible to vote. (I'd wager that maybe half the people on my street are eligible to vote; the rest are resident aliens.) We're planning on going over around 10am, and don't anticipate it taking more than an hour, if that. (I'm going to bring a book and a snack, though, just in case.)

The media is doing what the media does: reporting a story about a few locations and making it sound like you'll need to pitch a tent in order to vote on election day. For the vast majority of Americans, it just won't be that bad.

We are actually almost 500,000 now according to recent stats, and our birthrate was the highest for about 20 years, last year. Where we have to go to vote is only about 1 mile away for both state and federal elections.

Tony.

[ferret]

Just one day for voting over here, turnout is around 61-65% as a lot of us can't see any difference between the main partys. No problems with hanging chads as we use tried and trusted technology (making an X in pencil on the ballot paper).

[tashabear]

We are actually almost 500,000 now according to recent stats, and our birthrate was the highest for about 20 years, last year. Where we have to go to vote is only about 1 mile away for both state and federal elections.

Tony.

Right, and my polling place is only half a mile from my house. The town where I grew up, though, had only 4000 or 5000 people, and the polls were at the high school, in the cafeteria. We had a half day of school that day, so we didn't need to use it. I can't really remember any lines at all, though there may have been at the end of the workday -- lots of people trying to vote on their way home.

You see what I'm saying, though. You have fewer people on your island than I have in the capital of my state, 35 miles from where I sit this very moment. So yeah, we're going to have lines, and this year we may have a bumper turnout, as this election has been extremely polarizing. And while the waits may be excessive in some areas, in the vast majority of the United States, I doubt it will be that bad.

[whinewine]

I will be so glad when it's all over. In our state (which is one of the 'battleground states') the tv ads, robocalls, full page newspaper ads... ad nauseum, are SO nasty, SO inaccurate, SO flat-out-lying-wrong, SO divisive, SO mean spirited... I've NEVER seen it this awful, even during the height of the vietnam era. It's terrible in its childishness- over the weekend a local GOP official was arrested for stealing Obama signs from peoples' yards. Churches are getting into the looney game & threatening moral sanctions for those voting for the 'wrong' candidates

(BTW, whatever happened to Jesus' admonition to "give to Caesar that which is Caesar's and give to God that which is God's"??? It seems that this is no longer a part of Church teaching anymore.)

I've even seen reports where on Halloween, children were turned away from houses by people if they said their parents supported the 'wrong candidate'... what kind of country have we become, to make children cry & go away empty handed on trick or treat night because of their parents' beliefs???

I will be so glad when it's all over. Whoever makes it is going to have one hell of an uphill battle just on the economy alone.

[Washroad]

I will be so glad when it's all over. In our state (which is one of the 'battleground states') the tv ads, robocalls, full page newspaper ads... ad nauseum, are SO nasty, SO inaccurate, SO flat-out-lying-wrong, SO divisive, SO mean spirited... I've NEVER seen it this awful, even during the height of the vietnam era. It's terrible in its childishness- over the weekend a local GOP official was arrested for stealing Obama signs from peoples' yards. Churches are getting into the looney game & threatening moral sanctions for those voting for the 'wrong' candidates

(BTW, whatever happened to Jesus' admonition to "give to Caesar that which is Caesar's and give to God that which is God's"??? It seems that this is no longer a part of Church teaching anymore.)

I've even seen reports where on Halloween, children were turned away from houses by people if they said their parents supported the 'wrong candidate'... what kind of country have we become, to make children cry & go away empty handed on trick or treat night because of their parents' beliefs???

I will be so glad when it's all over. Whoever makes it is going to have one hell of an uphill battle just on the economy alone.

This election is getting really ugly. I voted absentee ballot a month ago (I'm permanent absentee).

We have a proposition on the ballot here in California, prop 8. If passed, it would make marriage heterosexual only as right now gays can marry here. Down the street, gay couple, No on Prop 8 signs in their yard. Get stolen often, then their car got defaced with spray paint. Not right regardless of how you feel about the proposition. Thank heaven it'll be over in a day or so.

Personally, I think both of the "major" party candidates suck. I think most of the USA feels the same. Each election it's not getting to vote for someone you really like, it's who sucks the least (lesser of the two evils). Gawd, I'm starting to sound like my parents!!

OK, I'm getting ready for my Thanksgiving trip! That's an American holiday that's in November. We usually get together with our friends out in the desert and everyone brings something for the feast. I'm the turkey/stuffing guy. I cook the turkey by burying it in the sand in hot charcoal for 6+ hours. It's so tender/juicy when I can finally dig it out that I don't need a knife to carve it, just put a fork in the breastbone and pull the meat off!

So, with almost 30 people for dinner, the side dishes get pretty inventive! And there's always too much!

AND YOU'RE ALL INVITED!

[/b]

[celticleather]

I'm still a bit baffled by the fact that some people in the US have to wait for hours to cast their votes.

In the UK, each of our constituencies (there are 646 constituencies) is divided into smaller 'wards', and each of these has its own polling station, or sometimes more than one. People drift in throughout the day, collect their polling slips, mark their 'X' in pencil, place the slip in the voting box, and off they trot.

Is the US system too technological, or do they not have enough polling stations? I understand that many people in the US vote in advance, and we have a similar system which uses postal voting, but this has been proved to be vulnerable to abuse.

One thing's for sure . . . if the UK ever tried computerised or online voting, it would collapse at the first fence! We manage to spend waste millions of pounds on new systems - everything from passport issuing to air traffic control and the health service - and nothing ever comes up to expectations. We're better off with pencils and paper!

[Jordan]

There are a few things that bother me about the voting thing #1 the electoral college really irks me, individual vote doesn't seem to be part of the equation. #2 the money involved in getting elected could be used to really help alot of people instead of lining the pockets of the uber-elitist few. #3 Politico's in general are not in it to help anyone except themselves, maybe their original motives were good but once they taste the gravytrain it is all about staying in office at all costs, no matter what party. #4 a lot of religious organizations have strayed way too far from the word, they should concentrate on spreading the good news to the world, instead of installing espresso machines in the lobby. Just a few thoughts on this history making election day.

[UKRay]

I'm still a bit baffled by the fact that some people in the US have to wait for hours to cast their votes.

Y'know that puzzled me too - I have just been watching the news and the lines of people are the longest I have ever seen. I'm not sure voters would stand it over here - they'd all go home for a cup of tea and a moan!

You are quite right about the pencils and paper, CL, like it or not we British are very good at being low tech. LOL

[tashabear]

FWIW, I voted at 2pm, and there were no lines whatsoever.

Also, I filled in circles on a piece of paper with a felt-tip pen. :-)

[rawhide1]

I live out in the country but the the small town I vote in had no lines at all. It was so slow I had my to daughters with me and was able to go over the candidates and explain some of the process to them. I sure do like small towns. I had my choice of pen and paper or electronic voting. I chose the electronic.

Mike

[celticleather]

Y'know that puzzled me too - I have just been watching the news and the lines of people are the longest I have ever seen. I'm not sure voters would stand it over here - they'd all go home for a cup of tea and a moan!

You're dead right, Ray! Voting here in the UK (in my family, at least) is an after-tea in the evening event, and certainly not an all-day chore!

I'm beginning to understand that there are several methods of voting in the US polling booths . . . electronic, pen and paper, and pulling some sort of lever. Perhaps having to make the decision of which method to use contributes to the long wait?

And I still don't understand what part Chads play in the process. The only Chads I've encountered were little cartoon drawings that appeared on walls in Britain after WW2.

So much to learn, and so little time!

[jwwright]

We here in the US have a much larger population to get to the vote, as stated here before..............and in some places a very dense population. Sure, there are waiting lines in some primarily very urban places, but I don't think that is the rule. I live in a very rural area, and our locality has only 370 registered voters. I was able to vote this morning with a 5 minute wait time. As for methods of voting............this is not a federal action..........it is a state action. Each state determines it's own method of casting votes........and many US states are larger than the other countries used for comparison in this conversation. I think we are seeing a record % of voter turn out as well, which is a great thing. A new day for the US will begin Wednesday. JW

[tonyc1]

We here in the US have a much larger population to get to the vote, as stated here before..............and in some places a very dense population. Sure, there are waiting lines in some primarily very urban places, but I don't think that is the rule. I live in a very rural area, and our locality has only 370 registered voters. I was able to vote this morning with a 5 minute wait time. As for methods of voting............this is not a federal action..........it is a state action. Each state determines it's own method of casting votes........and many US states are larger than the other countries used for comparison in this conversation. I think we are seeing a record % of voter turn out as well, which is a great thing. A new day for the US will begin Wednesday. JW

We do have some big states here in Australia!

Tony.