Sirona

Hah, I wouldn't put it past you Moontanman! What about an Australian hermit crab, Pagurus sinuatus? I would love to see a picture of your aquarium!

In some scenarios it may be difficult to establish who is in the wrong, if anyone at all, especially on subjective matters. Personal feelings, tastes and opinions vary and some can be more emotional and sensitive than others, especially on controversial issues. It's difficult to maintain your position when you feel strongly about something but a relationship is at risk. I would accept just a promise of repair for lack of competence, however, being a very sensitive person would want a more elaborate apology when integrity is involved, particularly when it comes to an explanation and expression of regret. I think a detailed explanation is important because it gives you the opportunity to explore intent and establish whether the expression of regret is genuine and rule out possible misunderstanding or misinterpretation.

I've never quite been able to enjoy fishing but I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with me being unlucky, or just terrible at it. Although, I did enjoy urban prawn fishing in Taiwan last year (it's pretty hard to go hungry when they're in a small, shallow pool). The snorkelling at Silver Beach is quite good, you can see the beautiful weedy seadragon. Apparently you can sport the Port Jackson shark but I've not seen it. Snorkelling at Clovelly is not bad, you can see blue groper and surgeonfish. I've been snorkelling around New Caledonia and Vanuatu several times and I've seen green turtles, sweetlip cod, feather starfish, trumpet fish, soldierfish, damsel fish, sea urchins, sea snakes and loads of other magnificent creatures. I really want to visit Lord Howe Island too, I've heard the snorkelling is good. It's a very costly holiday though and not exactly backpacker friendly.

I certainly didn't. Though, I do love how you've turned this thread around for the better. You're refreshingly positive, Moontanman!

You can love someone that's not good for you, including your mother. I don't believe love means making countless excuses for people who are abusive, neglectful or have severe addictions which impact your quality of life and emotional state significantly. You may choose to limit the contact for your own well being; this doesn't mean you've stopped loving them. The OP was talking about family members who become estranged from their families, I don't believe this happens due to lack of love.

Your family can couch surf in Australia, just don't come on a boat.

That's beautiful, Sensei. We're all related, the question is just how distantly.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." I don't believe imitation is always a sign of insecurity; in some instances it can be but you've associated it with very negative connotations which is not always the case. Our formative years are a difficult time for most as we're discovering many new things about our personality and making sense of where we belong. We also become conscious about what behaviours, attitudes and physical attributes are socially preferable in different circles. It's not uncommon for children and young adults to have role models, whether they're positive or negative ones, adults or peers and attempt to imitate them in varies ways often unintentionally. This behaviour is much less common in adults not because we become 'better' people, but because we have different obstacles as we get older. They do not confuse their identity, as you say, but they try to make sense of it. Teenagers are full of doubt and struggle for social acceptance because it can be an isolating time being confronted with so many new physical and emotional changes. It's unfair to reprimand them because you're in a different psychological state to them. Even as adults it's often difficult to find your position in social circles are there is an element of competitiveness, jealousy and the need for attention but there is certainly some degree of this offline too. It's not uncommon to befriend someone in the workplace for a competitive advantage or to be friends with respected and well liked people for credibility and acceptance. As sociable beings, we seek others approval and seek mutually advantageous relationships. Some may do this through imitation in order to be perceived as likable since we tend to favour relationships with those that are similar to ourselves.

Not caging it will increase the frequency even if it does impact the quality; you can't have everything. Happy weekend to you too.

and diplomacy which you men must have down to an art form.

Not forever per se, but I wouldn't be opposed to another few hundred years. However, since you're asking me this question today, I'd regretfully reject the offer as it's almost impossible to live undetected today; had it been a few centuries ago then it would change my answer. As tempting as it is to have more time, I also don't want to be a fugitive or a lab rat (unless you're also offering super powers too since we're being hypothetical). Why must we measure in quantity anyway? There are those who live well into their nineties and don't leave their town or change their routine; can you say their life would be vastly improved by additional time? For me, life is more beautiful because I know my days are numbered; it is because they're numbered that they're precious. I'm not certain I'd be as inspired to see and do as much as I could if I knew the time would always be there.

I'm sure when he looks in the mirror he sees a perfect 10 too.

The most you can do is put them through a series of tests and interviews. It's not uncommon to take an aptitude test designed by the company for many professions in Australia, as well as a phone interview and face-to-face interview. There is always a chance that the process is not objective enough, however, most companies will put you on a three to six month probation period also.

It's not just France but a lot of the developed world is becoming less religious. There is a correlation between higher educational qualifications and no religion, for example in Australia 31% of with a Post Graduate degree reported no religion compared to 20% with only a Higher School Certificate (Australian Bureau of Statistics). Also, it's mostly older people who report as religious, approximately half of those who reported no religion in the 2011 census were under 30. If this trend continues, then the children of my generation (millennials) will be less religious still.

Splendid, another rating/ranking system that will have the flock squabbling I just use common sense when it comes to who to trust and we have the beauty of being able to stalk people's past posts! There are a lot of reliable people here and probably not enough banners for them. I think that someone could sell me a poorly constructed, cheap knock off Rolex that weighed my wrist down and stopped working after a week even without the 'best price'. In fact, he may be more fearsome than Connery himself!

Moontanman, you must be quite the ladies man with an attitude like that! How poetic. It's purely a coincidence that I was listening to Real Men earlier, 'if there's war between the sexes then there'll be no people left' *insert invisible music note emote that only cool people can see here*

Sounds like a politician to me

I think this test may be useful to gather some preliminary information about job applicants. However, I don't believe it would be a good indicator of general intelligence. Like most standardised tests, the Wonderlic seems to be measuring linguistic, spatial and logical intelligence; yet there are other intelligence's that are not tested because they're most difficult to test. For example, if an employer could benefit using this test as a way to narrow down the list of applicants and select those with higher scores to go through to the next round which would be a face-to-face interview. Interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence is equally as important for a lot of jobs, therefore this can be tested (although less objectively) in the interview process. I personally believe it's important for employers to give preliminary exams to potential candidates that test a range of abilities. It's not difficult to exaggerate one's abilities or experience in a resume and interview, however, an exam is an extra piece of information which can be used to make an informed decision. It would work better if the test was taken in person right before the interview to ensure it's accuracy rather than online. There are multiple ways in which people can be intelligent and it's difficult to access ones strengths using the one standarised test, however, this does not mean the test is useless as it can still be used to give employers some information. It just should not be used alone to determine one's intelligence but as part of an interview process.

Pierce Brosnan may have been the worst Bond, but he was definitely the most handsome.

Whoa String, that comes from the latter part of the 20th century! You're letting me down! I love these guys.

I'm embarrassed to say I thought String's avatar was some sort of oil on canvas biblical painting. I really should wear my glasses when online. Although, without my glasses, Connery might start to look good too.

Absolutely. When people make constant allowances and forgive unacceptable behaviour continuously for family members then often they grow accustomed to this and don't try to a change their behaviour because they know that their family will make exceptions. I don't think any sort of relationship warrants an excuse for abuse and shouldn't come at the compromise of your well being and health. I'm sorry to hear about your fiancées brother, I can't imagine it's easy for you either.

It's not an unfair advantage; one dollar for a cupcake would be close to cost price. The cost is irrelevant, and the discriminatory price was to make a bold statement about wage disparity and obviously succeeded in its intended purpose. Women are not only paid less but they also face price discrimination on many goods which are specifically marketed towards women. When it comes to personal hygiene products for example, women are most subject to price segmentation; they're charged more for the same products which are just packaged, labeled and marketed specifically for them. I would personally call this discrimination too.

Perhaps you can generalise and say this is true in most cases, however, it's not always that simple. Over the years I've questioned whether 'blood is thicker than water'. We have the tendency to try to salvage family relationships and make excuses for unacceptable behaviours when it comes to kinship when we otherwise wouldn't. However, I believe sometimes people can be bad for you and this doesn't exclude family. If someone is emotionally or physically abusive and repetitively causes harm to you and makes you question your self-worth then perhaps it is better to remove them from your life. Although estrangement has been associated with anxiety and depression, you cannot begin to build your self-esteem, confidence and self-worth back up until you've removed the cause. I obviously would recommend trying to salvage the relationship first and reconcile, or even limit the amount of contact. It will obviously be different for each case, but it might come to a point when you really need to ask yourself if this relationship is worth continuing. Friends can be strong support networks too if you let them in and are open and transparent like you would be with family. I believe strong relationships and connections are extremely important, but I wouldn't necessarily say that family ties and stronger than friendship; I don't believe you can quantify it because it depends on who your family is and how much effort you put into developing and maintaining strong friendships.

I believe they do this for environmental reasons, however and it has nothing to do with unequal distribution of food. A big portion of municipal and commercial waste is food. You can help reduce some of the environmental impact yourself by diverting food scraps into reusable garden products in your own home if you're concerned (apparently, I've yet to see quantifying data on this and even if it made a slight difference, it still doesn't solve the main problem which is the resources involved in producing, transporting, storing and cooking food). The solution is to eat efficiently and not buy and prepare more food than you need to; eat smaller portions, buy less food, buy sustainable produce, plan meals, consume leftovers. So, I suppose you'd now tell your children not to waste their food because (methane) contributes to climate change and resources are finite.