mike carey

I just decided I like you, you're a smooth talker!

In its article about the increasing prevalence of airline wi-fi, the Economist noted, 'And Instagram will be even more awash with pictures of passengers’ tepid airline food.'

To me this encapsulates the whole issue. I want to know some things about an escort I want to hire, and I accept he wants to know certain things about me. If either of us googles the other we will most likely find out a whole lot of information. Bottom line, both of us are looking for red flags, any other information is irrelevant and most people will ignore it. If I find out that an escort can't abide a 60yo, I move on, if I find out he wants a phone call before meeting, I accept that and call him or let him know he can call me. [Kurtis, I was talking about a general case, not you!]

I have a copy of the Piddle Valley cook book!

Yes and it has a sister city relationship with Dull in Scotland, and the Bland Shire in central-west NSW.

I'm sure there are at least a few guys here who would hate the idea of never seeing you again. I'm not one to judge, of course!

Agree, keep it to yourself and don't put yourself in a position where you might inadvertently let slip things you have discovered. You may well find, however, that he discloses some of these things when you are chatting. Don't let on that you already knew. Also don't look at his personal stuff again before your meeting - if you do that, your recollections may blur so you will be less inclined to speak of them during your meeting.

Same here, the machines don't always work correctly, and the attendant has override authority. They were also needed to check signatures on credit cards, but that's not needed now you have to use a PIN or PayWave here.

No, the tree looked like a eucalypt and the street sign a standard Australian one, so I did a quick search. My sister has a 'lifestyle block' not too far from there.

Ah, Wedderburn in country Victoria!

Not even presidential candidates? I guess that means we have to make up pseudonyms for all of them, not just Donald Drumpf. That could be fun!

Isn't it the candidate's real name?

Because he's serving breakfast? Or is breakfast.

A thoughtful article about 'rape culture' from the victim of an assault. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/12/i-didnt-understand-culture-until-i-was-attacked?CMP=share_btn_tw

I quite like a G&T, or even straight tonic water [or bitter lemon]. However, I'm quite partial to a glass of straight gin to sip on, I'm just worried that I'll drink too much of it! Next time I go abroad I should buy a couple of litres of Bombay Sapphire at the duty free on the way home. I can always use more of those blue bottles!

Sooo, ArVaGuy, it was that good?? Is that better?

I think we need to be careful to distinguish between what courts do and what police investigors do. In a trial there is and should be a presumption of innocence. Where an alleged crime is being investigated, whether it's because there is physical evidence of something that may be a crime, or because there's a complaint that what may be a crime has happened, the task of the police investigator is to establish the facts, not to make any assumptions about the guilt or otherwise of any people who might be linked to the event. In doing so, they have to remember the level of proof they have to establish, and that is that the person is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. In the case of an alleged sexual assault, the person making the complaint is entitled to be believed in their claim that something has happened, but the investigator should make no assumptions about guilt or innocence. Whether it is assault, sexual assault or rape, or something else [or indeed that no offence has occurred], is what the investigator has to determine from interviews and/or physical evidence, and in some cases the starting point will be that something physical happened between two individuals. Believing a complainant is accepting that it is their perception of what has happened, nothing more. It does not mean accepting that their perception is objectively true or that if they have accused someone that the person is guilty. Beyond anything else, the police should be aware that aggressive questioning based on an assumption of guilt is likely to result in tainted evidence that is inadmissable in court.

A Ten Commandments app sorta rings alarm bells for me!

'Irony day' sounds like 'a rainy day'.

If you're on a Windows device look for Character Map in the programs. Some computers have keyboard short cuts but I can't make them work. In the mean time, à á â ç è é ñ ï ó

I'm a little questioning of the whole idea of cultural appropriation, and if it is a thing, where does it start and end. Some cultural expressions may be seen as defining a particular cultural group, but others are just something that members of the group like. Anglo-Australians and -Americans have 'appropriated' food culture from every immigrant group. What is the line, if there even is one, between cultural appropriation and adopting and adapting an idea? Can it be respectful, or is it always a type of theft? Oh, and on dreads, who do they belong to? Are they Afro-Caribbean culture that African Americans have appropriated? Are they part of an Ethiopian culture that Jamaicans appropriated? Or are they all of the above as well as being a hippy cultural artefact used by all sorts of people? I think in Bieber's case it is an affectation.

Saw this guy on TV this evening, an Uber driver who started a blog of his experiences and now has a book offer from Harper Collins. One of his stories is about having a gay escort as a passenger. He's not hard on the eye, either. http://diaryofanuberdriver.com/

Je ne suis pas Miss Piggy!