Anti-gay marriage ad in Australia

I just learned that the mail-in vote is being conducted by the Bureau of Statistics. And that voting is kept open until November. Australians, is it just wall-to-wall media coverage for months and months?

Latin American taxi crash tests

First of all, can anyone identify the make and model of these Medellin taxis?

I first noticed these microtaxis in Nicaragua, which had tons of them. They might have been more noticeable due to the lack of private cars on the streets (as compared with other Latin American nations).

I'll be using these quite a bit in Colombia: Cali, Medellin, Turbo, and Bogota. It would be funny to see me fit in the back of one of these with my big backpack. It would not be funny, I imagine, to be rear-ended in one of these.

I present to you: Latin American crash tests of typical taxi models.

Do they still sell these old Nissan Sentras as new cars, Ramon?

Chinese Cherys.

Not requiring frontal airbags in new cars is as anachronistic as restaurant smoking sections.

These are not the Sparks sold in America. These are teeny.

I think these Indian-made Suzukis were what I saw a lot of down there.

Conan O'Brien visits Golan Heights and Tel Aviv

Crazy that he could hear the fighting from his vantage point.

Tel Aviv looks like a chill place to hang out. 

Heathcliff cartoon

Did anyone else watch this as a kid in the 80s?

• Drawn by the same people as Inspector Gadget.
• Were they trying to emulate Transformers with that junkyard Cadillac?
• Cleo was a gold digger!

Carspotting in Italy

A friend just came back from Italy and shared the following photos and insight (at the end):

• Pisa is a waste of time. 
• The hill towns are amazing. We stayed in Orvieto and visited Civita Bagnaregio. Both awe inspiring. 
• Pedestrians do not have the right of way. 
• Italian drivers take lane markings very casually. 
• Cars are tiny so they can drive down small alley ways that you don't think should really be streets. 
• If you get just a little bit outside the tourist areas you are more likely to encounter people who speak no English. 
• Trains work pretty well, buses are ok. We almost got stranded by a bus strike though. 
• There's a 50/50 chance that anyone is going to check your train ticket. There seems to be a zero percent chance that your bus ticket will be checked. 
• Sienna is pretty awesome. 
• The train station with the name that's the most fun to say is Firenze Santa Maria Novella. 
• Italians basically don't believe in washcloths. 
• Do not use the small towels hanging above the bidet as washcloths. They are for your butt. 
• Children spend a lot of time trying to kick pigeons. 
• Restaurants do not server olive oil and vinegar with bread. 
• The bread really isn't that good. The Italians could learn a thing or two from the French on appreciating good bread. 
• Some words don't have an exact translation but are more of a general use like allora and prego. 
• Many public restrooms don't have toilet seats. 
• Wiener dogs are very popular. 
• I met a lot of cats that seem to be just hanging out living their life in amazing settings. The cats (like the cars) are pretty small. 
• Capri is beautiful but a total tourist trap. 
• We had a nice kosher meal in the historically Jewish district with some fried Jerusalem artichokes. 
• Romans will go out of their way to tell you that they're Roman. They consider that additive to being Italian. 
• We had a tour guide that spoke Italian, English, Spanish, French, a little bit of German and could speak passably in Japanese.

Sleeper bus between San Francisco and Los Angeles

8 hours, $115. Unless you're afraid of flying, I do not see the appeal to this, or this business model.

Thermal efficiency of 2017 Mercedes F1 engine

Is breaking the 50% thermal efficiency mark a big deal?