Graeme

I don't have a problem with an author who has an agenda. If I agree with the agenda, then they can be more long winded than if I disagree, but either way it is possible to go to long and that's when I turn off. If I disagree with the agenda, then a lot depends on how the author has approached it. If they are heavy handed, I turn off because they're not giving me the chance to disagree. They are, in effect, trying to tell me what to think. If that's the case, I stop reading.

It sounds like you're emotional worn out, Kevin. If that's the case, then do what you can to take a break. A change of scenery for a week might help, if you can work out a way to do it. How about going up to Dallas and visiting Joe for a day or two? You're a sensible and caring guy, so if what I'm about to say doesn't come out right, I hope you'll take it in the way it's intended.... Kevin, one of the first things that sprung to my mind when I read what you have written is that it sounded like you're afraid to try a relationship because so many haven't worked out. A break is good, but don't be afraid to take some risks. Some relationships take time to develop -- you won't have that instant rapport with them, but you'll find growing over time. This is especially true with friends. The "friend zone" is good, but it can be a trap, too. If your friend is the sort that doesn't normally initiate things, then the fact that he did implies that he might be testing the water to see if you were interested in trying. If you take it slow, and both talk about why, you could try to find out if your friendship could become more. Ultimately, you're the only one who can know what you want from life. Just don't let yourself become too comfortable with "just friends" that you don't give yourself a chance to find a "friend Mr. Right". Good luck! Graeme

You can, except that I've seen no evidence to support the levels of 1000+ that you've reported. I have a suspicion that you made them up.... :wacko:

You'd have a lot more chance of convincing me if I knew that you were authorised to set the membership levels, but I thought that was Myr's responsibility.....

Sorry, but under the rules established by C James himself, you have to have a posting rate of over 8 a day to be considered a lurker.

Happy Birthday, Benji! I hope you have a great day and an even better year ahead. Best wishes!

Happy Birthday, Davey!

Not officially. The echidna, one of the two monotremes, is not related to the anteater species found elsewhere in the world. The only similarity is that they both share a common main element in their diet -- ants. Saying that makes them similar would be like saying that humans and tigers are similar because both like eating goats....

It's been over nine hours since the last post in this forum. I know it's been my weekend and I've been doing family things -- what's everyone else's excuse?

Luckily, we don't have any of those in Australia....

I'm not adverse to receiving a PM with the full joke.... On other topics, I noted that CJ didn't deny the story that Steve (wildone) put forward, or my theory that he's going to blow up the small town of Tooborac. I think we can take his silence as confirmation that both of these are actually true....

I also went for youth, with wisdom being my other choice. My view was that that was as close to a wish for immortality as you can get, and with the ability to live a long time you can take the big picture view to things like wealth -- invest with a view of decades, not years. Actually, if that's your view, you should have picked Power. With others obeying you, you can ask for donations and be as wealthy as you want (Bill? I need a couple of billion dollars. Can you drop it off tomorrow? Thanks, mate!). With power you can have any freedom you want to -- because those who want to deny freedom will obey you when you tell them to get lost (or words to that effect ). Healthcare is only a request/order away. Love is trickier, but lust is easily satisfied since the object of your lust will obey your every wish. However, I'm not a megalomaniac, so I went with youth....

I've just watched the video and I was struck by the expression on the guy being f*cked. Uncertainty, with just a touch of horror.... A straight version wouldn't be hard to produce with exactly the same message. The more people who get the message, the better. As for prisons, I understand what Menzo is saying, but I have to disagree. It is the same logic that has stopped education on contraception for teenagers in some places -- "You shouldn't be doing it so we're not going to tell you how to do it safely if you disobey because you might think that means we approve." When a policy is failing, ignoring the consequences of that failure is wrong. The policy/rule of "no sex in prisons" is failing -- that is widely recognised -- so doing nothing about preventing the negative consequences is tantamount to criminal behaviour. Ethically, they are accessories to the spread of HIV by not trying to do something effective to try to prevent further infections.

As a side point, The Kite Runner has been made into a movie. The only reason I know this is that I saw a news report yesterday that the release has been delayed while they evacuated the child actors from Afghanistan -- they were afraid of repercussions against them. This kids will continue their education in a foreign country....

I disagree. The name of the band is an important clue. The behaviour of everyone in the story is an instinctive reaction to being threatened. Brandon, who was previously poor but has become famous and popular, is clearly the avatar of CJ himself, who also went from being a poor goat, sold through many countries, to a famous and popular writer of cliffhangers... er... stories. Chase must be based on Shadowgod -- the King to CJ's Queen. I haven't worked out Eric and Jon yet, though.

My view was that it was a literal translator of words, and not grammar. There is a thread elsewhere here at GA that mentions the pitfalls of a literal translation of English into French. For an alien, that would be an even bigger problem. Unless they programmed the device to translate grammar, it is likely to do a literal translation of the words in the order supplied. Now, English has a really weird grammatical construction, so it makes sense that other languages (especially alien ones) would have a different order for subject, adjectives, verb and adverbs -- at a minimum. I'll give an example of what I'm talking about. The phrase Amgueddfa Lechi Cymru is the Welsh equivalent of Welsh Slate Museum. However, a literal translation would be Museum Slate Wales as that is the order of the three words in the original Welsh. Without an understanding of the grammatical construction of the Welsh language, you wouldn't realise that the language specifies that modifiers to a word occur after that word, and in decreasing order of modification (I think). You'll also notice that the word "Welsh" doesn't appear in the original phrase -- it has Wales, but the English language has that modified into Welsh because it is used in a way that means "of Wales"... ie. Welsh. Now extrapolate that to an alien language....

It ships in Australia, but it appears to be a touch more expensive here... like almost double I think I'll keep looking....

I have an announcement to make.... I have worked out where one of the nuclear weapons is going! I was driving in the Victorian countryside today and I happened to see a sign: Goats 4 Sale With my keen senses of deduction, I have concluded that CJ will have the small Victorian country town of Tooborac will cease to exist sometime in the near future in the story

If that's the case, then I hope it gets thrown out. The statute of limitations is well and truly past, and they can't claim special circumstances because they couldn't contact him. If they haven't asked for support for 18 years, the judge should be asking some questions about why not.

Good questions, James However, this is going to be in addition to our home PC. I already use Open Office which is available on an of the platforms I'm looking at. The primary uses while we're away will be: 1. Internet access so I can check out what we're doing next (eg. maps, etc) 2. Email access so we can keep in touch with whoever is looking after our house while we're away. 3. Downloading pictures off the digital camera 4. Playing some games (for the boys). These will either be on the internet, or PC games (since we currently own any other sort). Later on, I'll use it around the house for writing. Most file transfers are likely to be via USB drive. I'm not rushing into anything, but I really appreciate all the advice that's been given. Thanks everyone!

I'm struck by the fact that the same situation was reported in the The Sydney Morning Herald today, but for some people in Britian. In that case, he only became liable when the lesbian couple split up. He's also fighting it. As a side point, why is he requested to pay child support for an 18 year old? Is the son legally an adult and no longer a child?

I remember walking into a gay bar in Birmingham, UK, bought a pint, sat down, drank it, and only realised it was a gay bar when I was leaving and saw all the gay literature on a table nearby....

You mean like "tsop htdnasouht evif semaj c" which is "c james five thousandth post" spelt backwards? Didn't see it... and it'll go straight past most people.

Take care, Kevin! Happy New Year!