In which the pond takes a break ...

The pond regrets to advise that tomorrow it's flying to Canberra to demand that Malcolm Turnbull resign and a fresh full election be called immediately to resolve the current crisis, and that in the meantime, an interim government run by the pond will immediately begin fixing the NBN ...

We keed, we keed, just like that splendid trick featured in Jane Stewart's splendid story Campfire Girls at Long Lake, the pond has changed the signs and is off for the weekend to drop in on a splendid summer hotel, and simply won't have the time to indulge in reptile reading matter ...

Regrettably this means that all the most excellent reptile offerings for the weekend - including but not limited to Dame Slap, prattling Polonius, possibly the bromancer, certainly nattering "Ned", the dog botherer, and other reptile luminaries - will pass the pond by ...

And assorted other eccentricities will not be noted as another meditative Sunday comes and goes ...

An Alabama state official on Thursday dismissed a Washington Post report alleging that GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore had initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl decades ago, saying there was an age gap between the biblical Joseph and Mary. The Post also alleged that Moore had pursued three others when they were between the ages of 16 and 18 and he was in his early 30s

“Take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus,” Alabama State Auditor Jim Ziegler told The Washington Examiner. “There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here. Maybe just a little bit unusual.” 

In the Bible, Mary is the mother of Jesus, and Joseph became her husband. Beliefs about the specific story of Joseph and Mary and Jesus’ birth vary widely in Christian history and across traditions. Mary is referred to in scripture as a virgin, but there is disagreement about what that means. Generally, however, Christians believe that Mary was a virgin when he was born. Joseph is usually referred to as Jesus’ “father” or a father figure. (WaPo it here)

But the pond knows that reptile devotees will keep taking a baptismal dive into the reptile waters and be rewarded by what they find ... and virginal aircraft and their cowboy pilots willing, the pond hopes to be back by Monday ...