We have at least one Australian commenter (unless the Australian government’s put a stop to that). Americans have always liked the way Australians were even more like the Wild West than we are today. So we have to ask:

What are you waiting for?

I know, having Biden as a president, we’re not in a position to ask, as we plod around in our facemasks and have naked women trash Outback Steakhouses until they’re tazed and squeal on tiplines about those who have not been vaccinated; but it’s still dispiriting to think that once-heroic Australians are even worse off than we are.

We hold you in high esteem, as rugged individualists, happy to denigrate the English as much as we once did. (We earned our chops on that, big time.) You were like cowboys in a post-Mad Max society, compared to our effete post-World War II society. But now… curfews, lockdowns, and unfair-dinkums; over a virus that’s less lethal than curlews, warm Foster’s, and highly contagious bar brawls.

That’s not a life. {Holds up photo of Elle Macpherson on a crowded Brisbane beach} That’s a life!

And now we read this:

NSW [New South Wales] Health Limits Residents of Locked-Down Tower Block to Six Beers Per Day
news.com.au | 9/8/21

Residents of the social housing estate have complained that care packages sent by friends and relatives have been searched before they are delivered.

“They are searching all bags and things coming into the building … They confiscated a series of gifts. So things like bottles of spirits, we weren’t allowed to have those and we still (aren’t),” Common Ground resident Robin Elhaj said.

Residents are allowed to receive a ration of one of the following: six beers or pre-mixed drinks, one bottle of wine, or one 375ml bottle of spirits.

I wonder if that “3” is a typo. All anyone ever mails me every single day of the week (do they deliver mail on Sundays? If not, are you allowed double on Monday?) is a 1.75-liter bottle of spirits. (No one told me there would be math involved, here.)

Excess alcohol is being confiscated until lockdown rules are lifted.

Residents can consult with a clinician if they think they need more than the allowed limit.

Yes, get your reputable doctor to write a note saying you need more than 375ml or 175ml of spirits per day.

So what are you waiting for? Being confined to isolation cells with state-allowed conjugal visits? (Because that’s what the apartments in this block now are.) Or being forced to watch Outback commercials all day?

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Do you have something you’d like to share? A link? A joke? Some words of wisdom? A topic to discuss? It’s our nightly Open Thread, and you have the floor.