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Having been a member of CS for approximately 2 months, I’ve made certain observations.

1. From reading the comments of others, I’ve concluded that some people have been members for many years. Although the site may offer a sense of camaraderie and support, amongst other things, it would appear that often it may not lead to finding a long-term partner.

2. It’s apparent that there is a very high number of scammers on the site, which is probably due to it being a free site. Sifting through many unwanted messages is very time consuming.

3. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s very difficult to find members in my local area, Initially I thought this was due to the fact that I live in a fairly remote area, but from others’ comments, I get the sense that it’s more pervasive. In order to establish a real relationship, I believe that people actually need to meet in person, so this is clearly somewhat problematic.

4. Perhaps one of the things that has taken me aback most is the fact that a few profile pictures are actually of people wearing masks. In psychological terms, wearing a mask is akin to a person hiding his or her true self and is the complete antithesis of being authentic. Why anyone would choose to put up a profile picture on a dating site with at least two thirds of their face obscured by a mask defies belief. I cannot make any sense of it. Why put up a picture at all? But, obviously it does say a lot about anyone who would choose to do that. Having received one or two messages from people wearing masks, which I ignored, I chose to reply to one and challenge this. Whether doing this made any real difference, I’ll never know.

All this has left me wondering what people are actually looking for on a dating site like CS. I’m guessing that it’s probably very different things for different people. If people are not actually looking for a partner, I’d really be interested to know what draws them to a site, which is designed for single people who do want to find a partner.

Dating, as in every other area of life, involves making choices. Coming from a place of self awareness means being really conscious of the choices we make. In relation to online dating, I believe that in addition to many other factors, the issue of whether the other person has taken the jab or not is likely to become increasingly important in the future.

The illegal trade in elephant tusks, fuelled by continuing demand for ivory, drives elephant poaching, where elephants in the wild are ruthlessly shot and their tusks hacked out.

According to the WWF, a new report issued under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) shows that illegal killing of elephants and illegal ivory trade continues to increase.

The report highlights China and Thailand as the two most important raw ivory consuming countries in the world, and indicates that poaching trends can be correlated to increasing affluence in China and tourist arrivals in Thailand.

To me it doesn't matter where the the demand's coming from -- I only wish those who are buying ivory trinkets, ivory jewellery, and other ornamentation carved from elephant tusks could be forced to spend a few hours close to dead elephants that've been shot by poachers and their faces butchered to remove the tusks.


Dead elephant, its tusks hacked out and its hide streaked with vulture droppings, lies in rigor mortis under the African sun after being shot by poachers in Zambia's Lower Zambezi National Park.

Another dead elephant, shot at the same time and its tusks also hacked off by the poachers, lies nearby.
And for what? An ivory trinket or ivory carving (below).


For those living in the West, it's easy to become smug and blame the illegal ivory trade on China, Thailand and other Asian countries.

However, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has found a thriving trade in ivory items after a survey of websites in the UK, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and Germany.

"In just two weeks, our survey found more than 660 items with a total advertising value of almost ?650,000 across a variety of European websites. A shocking 98% of adverts failed to comply with website policies of providing evidence of legality," said Kelvin Alie, director of IFAW's prevention of Illegal Wildlife Trade Programme.

"Europeans must realise that what they see as a pretty trinket for sale online is just one facet of an ongoing war against cruelty and for the protection of biodiversity. In Kenya, and across most African range states, elephants are ruthlessly slaughtered by poachers to fuel the illegal ivory trade," Alie continued.

"Any trade in ivory provides a cover for and encourages elephant poaching and illegal trade in ivory. The war on illegal ivory trade and elephant poaching can only be won by removing elephant ivory not just from international trade, but entirely from the global marketplace, " he said.

In 2007 eBay, under pressure from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, banned all international sales of elephant-ivory products. But sadly that's not the case in my own country, where Bid-or-buy.com, a South African online auction site, still lists hundreds of ivory items for sale.

As those advocating a total ban on ivory sales point out, if ivory had no commercial value, there would be little incentive for anyone to kill elephants for their tusks and one of the major threats to their survival would disappear.

So please don't buy ivory of any kind, and tell your friends and family not to buy ivory, especially when travelling in Thailand or South East Asia.

(To supplement my previous blog, this blog shows graphic images of the carcasses of the slaughtered animals.)



(grateful acknowledgement to Scotch Macaskill)

One of the downside of our progressive life is the creation of so many industries that not only pollute the earth but known to have a very negative health impact in our lives.

In 1970, the US Environmental Protection Agency was formed and last year has 15, 913 employees with a $7.901 billion dollar annual budget.

It was primarily conceived and created for the purpose of protecting human health and the environment during the Reagan's administration.

Today, it prides itself in creating and maintaining the national standards on the enforcement of laws for the said purpose.

But this is only in the US. The purpose of this blog is to create awareness for us all citizens of the world to participate and cooperate in such an astronomical responsibility, after all, we have only one earth, yet so far that sustains human life that we know of. While science has a continued effort and success in finding so many similar planets that can sustain life, it is not clear yet as to how we can reach those planets to become habitable for us human.

I am inspired to create this blog due to the enormous negative impact of other countries who might not have the same programs like we do. I am very aware that in some third world countries like my birth country, the Philippines, pollution is one of the worst problem we have when it comes to human health.

Our population growth is rising fast, yet we are not globally united in this effort that I know of. In fact I am aware how most of us are not taking the responsibility seriously expecting the government to do it all for us. I read the new law under the Obama administration on checking the new system of extracting gas from under the surface of the earth called FRACKING.

Any opinions on how we can contribute to this growing concern? And what can we do specifically in our place to create awareness and responsibility? What would happen if we continue to harm our environment?

Thank you all for your contributions, opinions and comments.

Who loves this man, besides me???

Every now and again I produce a blog that is completely misunderstood because of an innocent word or phrase appearing somewhere in the blog. I’m talking about a word or phrase so irrelevant that if the sentence containing that word was omitted, it would not have changed the spirit of the blog and yet, the inclusion of it changes the entire flow of comments. Somehow some people latches onto that word or phrase and respond to it in stead of the blog as a whole. This happens mostly when the ‘trigger’ appears in the first or last paragraph.

In this way even a tongue in the cheek blog becomes a serious affair. I’m led to believe that some people only scan the blog for a ‘forbidden’ word or phase to react on, often negatively and sometimes completely out of context with the spirit of the blog. All you need is the first few comments to be off track and you never get your topic back. I will include a few examples in the comments section.

These triggers may change from time to time depending on world affairs and other blogs at the time but some always remain controversial. Some of the more popular triggers in the past included corporal punishment, PMS, poaching, death penalty, scammers, rape, sex, hunting, meat production, and any form of woman/child/animal abuse. While these are all excellent blog topics they tend to derail my blogs if mentioned en passant. This phenomenon also appears to be regional because I noticed that Americans can get quite excited if the word ‘Trump’ appears in a blog.

I have intentionally included a lot of triggers here to give everybody something to latch on to. You have my blessings to comment on anything and maybe suggest more controversial triggers so I can avoid them in future. Oh dear! I should have listed then in the first or last paragraph

It seems that I come from a notorious family of writers. My father writes checks that no bank will honor, my mother wrote memoirs that nobody looked at, my brother wrote novels that nobody published, my other brother wrote songs that nobody ever sang, my sister writes poems that nobody recites and I write blogs that nobody reads.

Father James was hearing confession at the local Catholic church on Monday night.

A young fellow of about 28 went into the confessional and said, "Father this is my very first confession". Is it OK to tell you what happened last night ?

Father James said, "Of course my son, that's what I'm here for.

So, the young man said, "Father I had s*xual intercourse 11 times last night".

Father James said "that's all right my son, your are married, aren't you ?"

The young man said, heck no, I'm not even Catholic, but I really needed to tell somebody !!

A memory to send shivers down the back of many US veterans.

Somehow for the past 40 years of my life I have always had a case or two or three of them.

During the Cold War many places I worked in had whole closets stuffed with them. Some LRRPs (Long Range Recon Patrol) & RCW (Ration Cold Weather) too. Early on the C rations had those wooden crates that unfolded into a desk and which were stuffed with C rations. I saw some of those C rat desks get moved out and replaced by MREs. <Those desks are considered prized collector's items BTW by those who collect such military exotica.>

So anyway not very long ago I was issued some new MREs. This led to a decision that the time had come to start rotating out my Vietnam/Cold war stockpile.

NRE content has always been a source of controversy. A natural result of trying to please all the people all of the time.

Back in WW2 the C ration was basically some crackers and spread, a can of apple sauce and some cigarettes and toilet paper and matchs. It was intended to provide a lunch for soldiers on the line. It was not intended for long term sustenance. The meals evolved, becoming more nutritionally complete with each incarnation. A K ration came into being. LRRP meals had more calories and protein. Cold Weather Rations had more calories.

Eventually what we call the MRE emerged. A broad variety of freeze dried meals in an airtight sack stuffed into boxes labeled A or B or C.

There also exists a meal type called Humanitarian Ration. Made without meat (except chicken) so as to not offend some like them, some hate them. Originally in yellow bags, I believe the current color is pink.

Well my MREs were way, way, way past their shelf date and two weeks ago I decided it was time to eat them or dispose of them.

Tang from a vintage 1970s MRE compared to a contemporary MRE bag.



Cold War era MRE vs contemporary MRE



Commercial knock off copies of an MRE usually using a mix of true MRE components and commercial equivalents.



MREs usually come with a heating pouch. Just put the food in the bag and add a half inch of water. A chemical reaction then produces lots of heat to heat the food.



Most MREs come with deserts of one kind or another. They can be bags of fruit cocktail, apple sauce, brownies, cookies, skittles, or (my favorite (no longer issued) oatmeal cookie bars. They usually also come with crackers of one kind or another and a spread. Grape jelly, peanut butter, cheese, jalepeno cheese spread, etc.

As you can imagine there is usually some trading going on with soldiers for the different components. Trade you my jalepeno cheese spread for your peanut butter, etc.



I love the old Oatmeal cookie bars.



Right after Hurricane Katrina some countries donated their own military rations to the folk of New Orleans. Similar to US Aid to Haiti being blocked by Haitian Customs, US Customs seized the shipments of aid to the US. I am happy to report while I was there some of the foreign military MRE equivalents fell off the back of the truck into my hands. The French include wine in theirs! The British meals were so so, but wow, that is some excellent coffee in those little silver packets.

More info on MREs is at


What is your experience with MREs?

Mountain peaks are never crowded. I climbed many mountains and I was almost always alone. Why?

1. It’s hard work.
2. Not many people desire to climb mountains.
3. It’s lonesome.
4. You have to forsake all to do it.
5. It’s apt to cost your life.
6. Lots of scratches and bumps.

Long after the valley was in darkness, I could still see the sun. There is more light on the mountain. The valley is full of people and things, but usually in darkness. The mountain is windy and cold, but thrilling.

You have to have the feeling that it’s really worth dying for! Any mountain—the mountain of this life, the mountain of accomplishments, the mountain of obstacles, of difficulty—if you’re going to climb them, they have to be worth dying for, to brave the wind and cold and storm, symbolic of adversities.

But on the mount alone, you feel so close to the Lord. The voice of His Spirit there is so loud, it’s almost like it’s thundering! The voice of the multitude is so loud in the valley, you can’t hear the voice of God. The silence on the mountain peak is deafening! You get a real “high” on top of a mountain! It’s a thrill! It’s almost terrifying!

Only pioneers climb mountains—people who want to do something that no one ever did before, people who want to get above the multitude, beyond what has already been done and accomplished. Pioneers must have vision—to see what no one else can see; faith—to believe things that no one else believes; initiative—to be the first one to try it; courage—the guts to see it through!

On the mountain, you’re the first to see the sun rise and the last to see it set. You see the full circle of God’s glorious creation. You see the world in its proper perspective with range after range to be conquered and a world beyond the horizon of normal men. You see distant peaks yet to be climbed. You see distant valleys yet to be crossed. You see things that the men in the valleys can never see—can’t even comprehend, because they can’t see it! You can see the 360-degree circumference of the total horizon. It’s like seeing all of life from its beginning to its end, and understanding. You feel like you’re living in eternity.

The valley land is man’s country; the highlands are God’s country. Man dominates the valley. Only God dominates the mountain, and the men living on the mountains know this. Those on the mountains live so close to God and the things which are frightening and terrible and dangerous that they have to live close to God.

Beaten paths are for beaten men, but mountain peaks are for the mighty. Mountain peaks are for the mighty pioneers.

You never hear about the people who wait to see if it can be done. You only hear about the people who either made it or died trying. You never hear about those fancy tourists down on the ski slope somewhere. You just hear about the people who either made it or tried. But when you make it, the mouth of God will be opened unto you. He’ll speak to you face to face and will teach and reveal to you the greatest of His secrets.

So what do you hear on the mountain? You hear things that are going to echo around the world. What do you hear in the stillness? Whispers that are going to change the course of history.

Eight people came down from one mountain—Noah and his family from the Ark on Mount Ararat—and they were never the same, and the world was never the same. One man, Moses, came down from a mountain and a whole nation was never the same, and they changed the world. And Jesus and His disciples came down from this mountain and changed the world! They were never the same.


Posted by Stephy Finch: What is Jesus Worth to You - Blog Spot... Come!

Paul Newman. He died yesterday at the age of 83 of lung cancer. He was a terrific actor starring most notably in Cool Hand Luke,
The Hustler, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Color of Money and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He was nominated for an Academy Award 10 times and finally won for The Color of Money.

In 1982 he founded 'Newman's Own' and set it up, so that all profits after taxes would be donated to charity. So far, over $200 Million has been donated to charity from this venture alone. He also gave independently to many charities and cofounded a summer camp for seriously ill children, The Hole in The Wall Gang Camp.

Paul was a tail gunner in the Navy during World War II. He originally went into the service to be a pilot, but was found to be colorblind. Later in life, due to his love for speed, he became a successful race car driver.

Paul was married twice. His last marriage to costar Joanne Woodward has lasted 50 years. Apparently, they did NOT 'have a failure to communicate'.

Thanks for the wonderful memories and all your philanthropic efforts Paul ! May you rest in peace.

The two perfect pair of bloggers to get together as they are a match made in heaven, can you guess who they are, a male and a female on blogland ?......................