mike carey

I'm inclined to give them a break, they're adapting an HIV form of words, where testing and well understood precautions gives some small but not insignificant basis for confidence to a new disease where the test means 'right now' and is negated the minute you walk out the door. I'm fairly sure most of them simply don't understand the difference, or don't realise how meaningless their claim is. Still, saying I'd give them a break doesn't mean I'd pay the slightest attention to the claim. Of course some do know it's bullshit and are playing on potential clients' ignorance of the facts.

Do you still have to field those questions even though there's a link to your personal site and it has that information? Oh wait, I already know the answer to that, they only look at your photos before they message you.

Of course, and you did say 'your favourite escort' so that would imply one you'd previously contacted. Sorry, didn't think of that before my previous post.

Hi AJ, I thought I had seen a note at the top of a frozen ad page saying that we can't contact escorts through those ads, so I checked again and all the contact option are greyed out, so if you meant through RM, then sadly not. If, however, you meant via your personal web site, obviously that is an option!

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They are small, about 15cm, but the sort of budgy you were talking about could easily be a grower. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budgerigar

Haha, when being able to wipe your arse makes America great!

'Brian Bettong' is an animal character created for a poll on what should be the ACT official mammal, and the bettong is an endangered marsupial that is being bred in a fenced feral-predator free nature reserve on the fringes of Canberra. And here he is having lunch and telling us to stay at home. [MEDIA=twitter]1249989726142107649[/MEDIA] (#JobKeeper is the government's coronavirus wage subsidy program.)

This is beautiful! Some dude wanted to return over 100 packs of toilet paper and over 100 large bottles of sanitiser. Supermarket told him to get fcuked. [MEDIA=twitter]1249960162627997696[/MEDIA]

Thanks for posting, and welcome back. Good luck for the future.

Truly sad, Goodies actor Tim Brooke-Taylor has died of Covid-19, at the age of 79. [MEDIA=twitter]1249309232358400006[/MEDIA] I fear he won't be the last.

Oh, I agree we have no idea of how old they were when posted, and also I would have thought it would be good marketing to post up-to-date ones now. The main reason I posted was to point out that he was resurrecting (given the day it is, that word use was deliberate) an old profile, not creating a new profile with old photos which in my view would have been worse.

It's an old indication in the forum that conversation in the thread is getting old and we'd be better off just having pizza. I disagree in this case as I think the discussion of Killian in past years is a separate issue to this new thread. If old hands are tired of the subject they are welcome to bake themselves a pizza, but some of us are content to wait a while before that meal.

In his previous incarnation we had never met but we had some banter on social media, and he always came across as smart and engaging. I messaged him on RM a couple of days ago, and he replied today. From the tone he seemed to remember me but that may only be because he might have inferred some sort of previous engagement from my message. I too was perplexed as to why he picked now to reactivate his ad. I seems a less than ideal time for that. It looks to me as if he has just reactivate a dormant ad, it has reviews from the years up to 2017 and he's listed as a member since 2014. The most recent photo is two years old, with most of them posted in 2016. It also reappeared in my buddy list when he reactivated it.

I wouldn't worry in the slightest about that. Hands are not intrinsically a problem, the issue is that they touch things and can transfer virus to other things that they touch. If you wear gloves (unless you change them every time you touch anything) you will still pick up virus on them, and I've heard suggestions that the virus adheres better to latex than it does to skin and survives longer. I hate the expression, but there's an element of virtue signalling in mandating wearing gloves, and there's also the risk that wearing them will generate a level of complacency. Hand sanitiser at the entry to the shop and again at the checkout is probably more effective. And contactless payment. For the last month the most common words I've heard have been, 'Wash your hands'. That said, if an establishment mandates gloves, just do what they say. And I would say if a shop does that they should supply gloves as you enter, and insist that you throw away any that you were wearing and use theirs.

There are a lot of gay stereotypes out there, those that have any validity don't apply broadly. I'm gay and I like to cook. That said, it's easy to default to applying them without intending any judgment, it's just a bit lazy. For those who don't want to cook, either at all or once in a while, the government here is telling people to buy take-away food. [MEDIA=twitter]1248755210673164288[/MEDIA] As I've mentioned before, one element of the government's wage support is directed at helping those businesses stay open.

The temptation for people to do this is underpinned by the comfortable middle class assumption that people have enough in the best of times to save anything. Not everyone does, and unless the person making the judgment knows the detailed circumstances of the person they are judging they really don't have any right to do so.

An interesting side effect has come to light here today. Along with the welcome news that the number of new infections is falling in Australia, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer reported today the the number of seasonal influenza cases has plummeted (his word).

Well, it's obvious. You're in the desert, so dress as Priscilla. Also, see my post 582 above.

So far, not too bad. I've been posting a bit in the 'other counrties' thread in the Politics Forum. We are currently at 54 deaths (three today) and just over 6,000 cases in total. New cases have dropped below 100 per day nationally for the first time since 16 March. A significant reason for the drop is we closed the borders (except for returning Australians) on 19 March so we have almost eliminated imported cases. The imminent arrival of winter is a great concern. New Zealand had its second death today, from 1200-odd cases. Lockdown measures have been extensive, and widely accepted with some initial reluctance at being told what to do. The intensity of enforcement has varied from state to state (cities and localities have no say, regulation is at state and territory level, not lower) but essentially the message is stay at home unless what you are doing is essential. Work, shopping and exercise are deemed essential, restaurants and cafes are open only for takeaway and delivery (some are using their providores to source supplies for customers), but pubs, clubs and bars are closed, church services are closed (or streamed on line) and most small non-food retailers have closed down. Gatherings, both outside and in private homes, are limited to two people apart from household members (with fines for non-compliance). Travel is severely restricted with some states having mandatory self-quarantine for people arriving from interstate. This has been reinforced for Easter. The Northern Territory Chief Minister's advice for Easter was stay at home and eat chocolate. Unemployment payments have been doubled (it's a social security payment not insurance, it's not limited to people who were employed beforehand) and when the day after that was announced and employers knew they weren't throwing people into poverty if they laid them off and did so, long lines at claims offices led the government to rethink. Within days they announced payments of $750/week for each employee, to businesses and non-profits that had lost a significant proportion of their business. They are entitled to the payment whether they keep the employees working or stand them down, as long as they keep them on their books ready to work when this is over. The employer has to pay the worker before they receive the money through the tax office. The latest measure is making childcare and early childhood education free to parents. All of these are essentially survival payments aimed at keeping services operating and money flowing in the economy. There are gaps in the coverage but it seems to be an appropriate response, and helps make it possible for people to stay at home.

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More a response than a preparation, but even for a response you have to prepare. Some put more effort into it than others. [MEDIA=twitter]1248378486533681159[/MEDIA]

They are restricting the number of people who can leave (max 1,000 per day to Beijing) and imposing stringent tests before allowing people to leave. Those going home to Beijing need clearance from their local district that they can quarantine in place once they return. So, easing rather than lifting.

Ok, so posting this here is a stretch, but children travelling or even seeing their grandparents are one of the groups who are waiting for it to end. The evening current affairs program put out a call last week, or maybe the week before, for people to send in videos of children sending messages to their grandparents. They are broadcasting a collection of these videos every few days. These are the ones broadcast tonight. [MEDIA=twitter]1247826687913365505[/MEDIA]