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How come everyone is "within the last 4 weeks?"! Are there real people on this site? It's free people!!!!!! Use it!!!!

Once upon a time, I used to have a blog. I wasn't one of the first, but got onboard not long after. I met some cool people, had some fun and actually met my ex-wife through it.

Yes, ex-wife. 8 years, but the divorce came through a month ago.

So here I am. I found the constraints of internet dating really frustrating at first, but then my blog gave me a voice that ticking a bunch of boxes or answering standard questions didn't.

Onward and upward.

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I watched a link that Bali provided and as I watched it, I felt a cold shiver down my spine. Now, before I get deeper here let me say my knowledge in this area of the Muslim world is as close to my knowledge as performing brain surgery. I've never been to the ME never knew or met a Muslim so my information base as I said is severely limited.

Listening to this video created many thoughts in my mind. One of which is an area that I thought was a holy sanctum 'the Mosque' was a place to learn about their God. This video proved otherwise, it reminded me of the beginning as Hitler was assembling his army of terrorists.

I also thought that having Saudi Arabia as a USA ally was a good thing for the aid in keeping peace in the ME. I no longer think this.

As the video describes that they are promoting the s*xual intercourse of 9 year old girls and hitting them and their wifes for not wearing the proper clothing etc.....wow....just plain wow.....who would have known this is what is being taught in addition to the acts of terrorism.....

Now, like in Germany during WWII there were good Germans and bad ones. Millions of people didn't die at the hands of a few. The same thing holds true here, I guess, there are good Muslims and bad ones. But, if they're teaching the young these types of uncivilized behaviors someday in the future all hell will break loose.

I will not comment here, as prior stated, my knowledge is limited and I don't have the time.....but it was quite an awakening for me, thank you Bali..


Here is Bali's link..http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/the-film-that-uncovers-what-is-really-happening-in-mosques-across-the-uk/

Dear Members of CS and CS moderators

I had been on this site for nearly a year now. My intent was to meet and chat with great people all over this planet (and I did get this opportunity... thank you)...

However, recently I really got so disappointed in the people we have on this site... to a degree it is worst than real life, ...in real life you also can go and sort conflict face to face... here it gets messy...

My disappointment is not only in how people on this site deals when being challenged with facts ... It is also how gullible intelligent people can be... how can we take sides and that based on face value

... some bloggers don't keep any records of previous blogs (also then usually blame the inconsistency of this site ... which is also a concern for me). When there is a blog 'complain' ...some intelligent people will then get involved in the discussion and taking sides and that based on selective or no information at all...

My value system is far to solid for 1) being insulted purely because I wanted to make sense of my world, 2) tolerating manipulation of the system and 3) seeing members succeeding in the victim game...

My life is blessed and this site was purely when I couldn't sleep at night. I really don't have to be put up with this. Maybe I would be able to meet some of you in real life ... take care... look at the bigger picture, don't provide any person with your login details and approach life with open eyes...

I am in the process cancelling my profile... but in the meantime....

Sweetkisses ....Namaste

Sometimes I feel like a wooden spoon in a fancy metal bowl...alien from my own planet far, far away...

I have the tendency to ask what others are thinking, but just not bother to really debate or ponder about... many would have answers based on religion, but having to face the reality on a daily bases, really brings another dimension to every day...

The irony I need to understand and more importantly need to accept is...We are born, work hard to get through school and later on to to get a decent job,...Then we get at a stage where we look back to say...well done...only to get ill or old where we need to scale down on whatever we collected throughout the years...

During that time we also realise that children are no guarantees, they don't want your old stuff, have their own lives and even friends disappear...

Point I am making...We came alone with few things we could call our own, only to leave again alone...with few things we can call our own...weird this life of ours...

Out of Forbes magazine comes a news article that will certainly catch the attention of the rest of the restaurant world. CEO Danny Meyer announced that tipping would be abolished at the firm’s 13 restaurants around New York City. Erika Anderson wrote “Without tipping, dining out won’t be an arbitrary math problem for restaurant-goers; service staff members can be rewarded consistently by their companies for outstanding performance (versus being subjected to the whims of diners); kitchen staff can be fairly compensated relative to servers; and restaurant owners can operate using a more reasonable model that profits from providing great service in every part of the operation.”

Unfortunately they did not go on to say how the customer will be able to make their wishes known and be compensated for poor service, which has sadly become the norm for far too many eating establishments. In the world of food service there have been a great many changes over the past decade. The promotion of the concept that 20% is now the correct tip and that servers should automatically receive a tip, no matter the quality, or should I say lack of quality in their performance.

There was no mention of how much of an increase in food prices diners would see, but I think it goes without saying that such a policy won’t go unnoticed. It’s doubtful that all waitresses and waiters will get an automatic 15-20% raise in their salary and if they don’t, there will most certainly be a exit of many good employees. No business magic here; something has to give to make up for the difference unless the company is going to take a 15% hit in it’s profits …. doubtful, very doubtful.

Personally, I travel a great deal now that I’ve gone back to work. Yes, retirement was OK, but just too boring so I started consulting again. Anyway, my travels take me throughout the Southeast, Midwest and the deep South. Like most places, there is a wide variety of eating establishments above your fast food fare. Finding a good sit down eatery that is clean, properly staffed, and the employee’s perform top notch is getting harder and harder to find. Unless you’re going into a place where your meal will cost $30 and up, you probably will find that minimal effort has been giving to training and managing servers. Simple manners are all but forgotten. How many times have you and your date, wife, significant other sat down only to be greeted by your server by “how are you guys today?” I’m no snob, but failing to recognize new and women as “ladies & gentlemen” or even calling us “folks” would be acceptable, but based upon my companions shirt size and hairdo alone, the idea of her being a guy would be the concept of somebody with an IQ in single digits! And I find few, if any, servers that really understand that a “tip” is for service that is average or better. Do you allow your server to come to table and hand you your silverware, drinks, or food??? And what happens if the order is wrong, or the food is cold? I find too many that think saying “sorry” is enough. I even had one waitress in an upscale eatery tell me “look mister, we certainly aren’t going to throw it away so you better eat it because you’re going to have to pay for it”.

TIP is often defined as “to insure promptness” but I think it should be more like “to insure professionalism”. In any case, if this latest move brings back the professionalism we used to all see in the average and above restaurant, I’m more than happy to see it. I’ll be watching to see how this new concept is accepted, but knowing corporate America, I doubt many others will follow, particularly if it means a price increase at a time where nobody wants to see higher prices.

I need some clarity please .... does co existence mean that we need to keep quiet, has no right to question information and has to walk away the moment the other party gets upset...? What is your definition of co existence?

I have to leave my blog unattended for a while, but would appreciate debate and discussion in this section...

I am looking at all the adverts while being on the CS site... There are Russian ladies, pretty girls from Rio, Ukraine... even Travel ladies ... The girls on these adverts are so pretty... even on the CS site, there are really pictures catching the eye of pretty girls ... blondes, brunettes, stunning skin and awesome smiles...

Now if the assumption is true that men are more visual and would go for the attractive girls ... then I really have empathy for our men... The one girl is prettier than the other... it's like shopping for crystal in a mega store and you are to scared to look at the price tag...

So many girls so little time ...

It is often and accurately stated that “history is written by the victor” and that history rarely completely resembles that actual facts of the matter. Even today we are seeing history rewritten from what we learned in school. Some of it understandable and some, quite shocking. What is the value of these updates? Well, truth would seem to be the most obvious but all too often the rewrite has considerable political influence behind it that can smear the truth to the point where the truth is no longer recognizable.

We have watched the battle between those that claim their confederate heritage and those that would seek to remove all traces of it, although that might be a slight exaggeration. The removal of the confederate flag from state property in South Carolina would seem appropriate since those properties are part of a state that is no longer part of a defunct confederacy; but it would also seem most appropriate that the flag be preserved for its historical significance so future generations could better understand the history of this country. History was not intended to be pretty, sweet, and always flattering. On the contrary, history needs to be rich with both good and bad; proud and embarrassing, all with the intention of teaching both sides of any equation.

The proposed addition of a Martin Luther King Jr. tower on the top of Stone Mountain, Georgia would appear to be an attempt to degrade and historical rendering, destroying the depiction of many historical figures. A number of other states continue to remove previously significant statues, paintings and similar renderings of historical figures. Be they good or bad, they are depictions that some find good, others bad, but in every case they signify a part of history that it is important for our children to see and know.

An interesting comparison I recently heard suggested that these acts were not much different that the actions of ISIS in their destroying many antiquities throughout the middle east. As unflattering as that sounds, it is not inaccurate. A German artillery crew blew the nose off the great sphinx, hundreds of years earlier the pyramids were looted for gold and throughout history there have been many examples of destroying significant historical items for a wide variety of reasons.

Now days we speak of inappropriate words, actions, thoughts, and idea’s. We seek to make our culture so vanilla that any cultural significance will most certainly be lost in a few short generations. We demand the Japanese continue to apologize for their atrocities of World War II yet we do not regularly apologize for decimating the Native Americans of our own country. We speak of the Nazi concentration camps, but quickly dismiss discussions of the Japanese detention camps of the same era. We complain bitterly of Palestinian suicide bombers but don’t complain about numbers of Israelite retaliations that are more than a little over the top.

Yes, history is constantly being written and rewritten. Hopefully, over the course of time the historians will collect it all and get it right; least we forget those very things that made us what we are, reminding me of another important quote; “He who forgets history, is doomed to repeat it” or is that too sexist?

I like children but only if they have good manners. Last Sunday I put my foot into it again. I should rather have put it in my mouth.

My sister’s daughter and her husband relocated to Gauteng recently and, not to disrupt the children (aged nine and ten), they decided to leave them with their grandmother (my sister) until the end of the school year. For some reason my niece and her husband believe that good manners start and end with ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ while ignoring minor details like respect for adults and especially older people.

My father (88) asked the boy (9) to fetch a glass of water. He decided to ignore my father. When my father asked him a second time he laughed at my father, stuck his tongue out and walked out the house onto the veranda. That was when this Catfoot lost his cool and told him that I have peace about the way he talks to his own father but he is not going to treat my father, who is his great-grandfather, like that.

Of course, he complained about it to his father when he called later in the evening, and it turned into an unpleasant exchange of words with his father. I have never reacted well to threats and told him to take a few days off from work to download and install some good manners in his children. My father and my brother-in-law think I deserve a medal, but my sister is not too happy with me. As I said, I like children but only if they have good manners.


A wonderful day to you all.