Our neigbours used to have a blind dog. They got it from a rescue centre to live with their existing dog. The dogs became very close and would go everywhere together. The sighted dog lead the blind dog by the simple expedient of allowing his friend to stay in contact with him. If they became seperated the blind dog would wait for the sighted dog to find him and they would continue.

In his own yard the blind dog could manage, but his sighted guide was never far away. Eventually the blind dog died and his sighted friend pined for months.

It's interesting that the bill effectively bans teachers and other outside parties from promoting "gateway sexual activity". It does not ban parents from doing so. So under this bill it is only OK for a parent to encourage such activity. However that parent would become an outside party to another family should they encourage their offspring to engage in such activity with a child from outside their immediate family.

So in effect this bill says it's only OK to promote gateway sexual activity between siblings.

But then it is Tennessee.

Many similar bikes have been built in the past, but I'm not impressed by this one. having a plate rubbing the inside of the rail is not an efficient way of keeping the bike on the rails.

Some bikes have been built with flanges on the rims, some "bikes" have even been built with four wheels and the rider in the centre (there was a name for these, but I don't recall it). However fewer have been built with proper conical rims. It's the conical "tyres" that keep rolling stock centred on the tracks, not the flanges. And certainly not a fixed plate.

The guy waving looked like a camper/hiker to me. Notice all his gear? He was probably just waving to call attention to himself and his gear - "don't run me over". Or maybe he was just lonely. Either way you don't normally hitch a lift on a dirt bike, escpecially carrying all that gear.

It's very simple.

A tip or gratuity is a voluntary payment. A compulsory charge cannot, therefore, be a tip or gratuity. What was on this bill was a service charge. If it's clearly marked as a service charge then fair enough, but if it is marked as a tip or gratuity then it can't be enforced.

I will not eat anywhere that makes a compulsory service charge, but I do tip and heavily when I feel it is deserved. One thing I do make sure of is that I don't pay tips on my credit card. I pay cash and direct to the staff. If you are paying it on your card with your bill you have no guarantee that the staff will see a penny of it. Having worked in restaurants I know plenty of owners either don't pass on such tips or when they do it's on the principal of "one for you two and two for me too".

Hitchhikers? On a road that is clearly closed to traffic? I think you mean hikers.

I remain puzzled by the fame of the Titanic. Sure the loss of life was huge, sure it had been described as unsinkable, but ship wrecks were still relatively commonplace back then. Indeed the primary reason it was thought necessary to describe it as unsinkable was because of the frequency of wrecks and the resultant fear many still had of sailing.

I often wonder if the wreck attracted so much attention because for once the crew acted like gentlemen and didn't trample the passengers in the rush for the boats.

Don't want to worry you then Craig, but the Chinese build more ships than anybody else. If you're right there must be an awful lot of wrecks we're not hearing about.

@Jimbo the stopping distance is irrelevant. At that distance it's your reaction time that matters. If the truck's brakelights come on at that distance you've hit it before you could even squeeze the brake lever.

I recall some idiot trying to draught the bus I was on a few years ago. He probably wasn't even as close as this guy, the bus driver didn't even brake hard and the cyclist hit the back of the bus. Now he didn't hit it hard, but hard enough to take him down. Whereupon he slid under the rear of the bus. He lost a fair amount of skin, was battered and bruised and received minor burns from the exhaust, but he was lucky. Sliding under the back of a stopping bus is probably preferable to being run over by the following car.

And of course you should always remember that if you can't see the driver of the truck, he can't see you. So he won't be making any allowances for you.

Then there's the other problem with draughting too close. You can't see what the guy in front can see. I recall riding along once at speed when I swerved to miss a serious pothole, only to hear a clattering and swearing behind. A rider of whom I was completely unaware had been slipstreaming me and had hit the pothole good and hard. He lost skin and teeth. And all to take a little effort out of riding.

John, you simply can't legislate for the literal mindedness of a small (but vocal) percantage of your readership.

How can it call itself a city when it doesn't have a dance hall, night club or skating rink?

But in all seriousness how can somewhere with a population of 65,000 call itself a city anyway? My nearest population centre has a population of way more than twice that and is only a town.

About time those nice peaceful football fans did something about all those boisterous chess fans disturbing their peace!

@MyNameIsTim the comparison with islamic states is interesting, since they have one thing in common with the US. They were founded by and a largely run by religious fundamentalists.

Artist he may be. Waterman he is not.

You don't need a dagger board like that on an outboard powered coffin. A wee skeg will do just fine on your trip across the Styx.

I can't understand why anbody buy's the Guinness book any more. When we were kids you only looked up things like gluttony and, well basically, freaks and now most of those have gone. Lets be fair it's a book mostly read by kids and the boring stuff doesn't attract kids.

The book originated as a way of solving arguments in bars (hence the involvement of Guinness) and they don't even have things like sculling records. Humbug!