Thank you so much, my CANADIAN friend, for proving to all the world it's not just Americans who are myopic and ill-informed and share such misguided concerns.
Does it harm US workers through job displacement? Hell no. We're talking mostly unskilled labor jobs. If US workers weren't such a bunch of girly-men, they'd have those jobs already. I know. I work in a labor-intensive site. I'd love it if we could hire just anybody to compete, but we can't. We have to hire a bunch of lazy slowpoke whiney crybabies.
Does it depress wages? Well, in the long run, probably, yeah...US wages, anyway. But do the lazy slowpoke whiney crybaby US workers deserve higher wages?
Decades ago, I worked in a resort in south Florida. Most of the support staff was undocumented Haitians. They couldn't speak a word of English. But they were about the most hard-working and reliable people I've ever known. So...not all immigrants are Mexican, either.
That's two questions, Woolgathering, and as it happens, there's two (at least) answers.
1: We fall in love with somebody. Sure. That's what everyone thinks. And why not? Why should "everybody" be wrong?
2. or with the expectation we have from him /her? Here's what complicates things. Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer was the first to suss out that romantic, loving, lustful attraction, important and universal as it was, had never been addressed by his philosophical forebears. So he set about doing so himself. His conclusion was: we feel attracted (subconsciously) to those whose physical makeup would produce better children (than ourselves).
If Schopenhauer was right, we're all casting about for a mate whose nose is not so large/not so small, whose ears are not so wide/not so thin, whose laugh is not so loud/not so quiet, whose you-name-it it not so much, or more so.
In sum, the latter: we think we fall in love with someone because (we think) we love them. But in truth, it may be, we fall in love with them because we diagnose them as being better breeding partners.
Funny. I first heard the term "psychobilly" in Miami in 1981, from a bass player auditioning for the band. At the time I thought he was just being descriptive. I didn't hear the term again for over 20 years.
Well yeah, that's better. I was looking for something more along the lines of asking-without-being-obvious. For instance, just a Hey-let's-get-to-know-each-other questionnaire, with various sizes included amongst the questions.
Not the first time I've encountered this problem. Decades ago, I wanted to buy a gf a pair of boots, but didn't know her size. Best I remember, I ended up asking her outright, which spoiled the surprise.
Yeah, that's helpful, thanks. What if it were something like a special pair of boots, or a jacket, or just about anything size-specific? You need to know the size, but if you just ask your sweetie, he/she will know in advance. How can you "ask" without giving your plan away?
Let's say you were looking to purchase a gift for your sweetie, but you didn't know his/her size. How would you go about learning it without spoiling the gift surprise?
Alcohol (not necessarily wine) goes way way back, and its mind-altering properties likely had somewhat to do with worship, originally.
I've read that beer, in fact, is the world's oldest manufactury (meaning, produced in excess for trade, beyond one's own consumption). This, attributed to the Beaker People of prehistoric Spain.
I don't think it's gonna happen, see. My guess is, it's an artifact of CS's earlier days, when it had fewer members, and it wanted to encourage folk to upload pics.
I'd guess the "Rate Photos" function was created for just that purpose: to encourage members to upload photos. But as membership grew, it began to backfire, and people (esp. ladies) began to ignore it, or turn it off.
What CS could do now, easily enough, is dispense with the numerical ratings altogether, and only show the member others who rated their photos a 9 or 10, just as they do now. That way, no one would feel insulted by a lowly rating, but they would still know who thought they were a hottie.
Yes, it is derived from a Greek word, oenus I believe.
The Romans, who celebrated wine, credited the Greeks with it, and the Greeks of classical antiquity were happy to take credit. But there's evidence the Greeks themselves acquired it from elsewhere, likely Anatolia or Cyprus or the Levant. Bacchus, the Greek god of wine, was considered a relative newcomer to the pantheon, and his most celebrated mythological adventures involved seafaring from the east. That points to acquisition from somewhere eastward.
Sophia dear, I'm not sure who the wizard (Merlin) would be. But there's another in line before you in the royal ascent, SummerUk. Keep your bodkin handy. It might prove useful.
Oh I think Kaybee may have inherited the role of Princess Heir to the Realm. I'd forgotten momentarily about all her good works for us luckless commoners.
Conrad would be Papa, of course, and Venusenvy would be his (I guess?) second wife. Boban would be the first-born of that unholy union (yet still the only sheep whose wool was white). Ali would be the second son. The eldest daughter, Princess Heir to the realm, would have been SweetlyScentedOne, but she abdicated in favor of a life among the commons. RDM of course represents the Scottish line of the royal family, as KidatHeart represents the Canadian branch.
As it happens, I just did buy a car, two months ago. A 2013 Chevrolet Sonic. As it also happens, that's the only car in its class (subcompact) that is manufactured in the US. But that's not why I bought it.
I thought it wise to consider my own needs first. I wanted a small, economical car, as I do most of my driving locally, commuting to work or shopping. I've no family, so I don't need a rear seat, ever. But I wanted a hatchback, for the ease of loading groceries and other such minor cargo.
I looked at similar models from Toyota, Hyundai, VW, Honda, Ford, and Mazda. Most any would have suited my needs. (The only one that really 'turned me on' was the Fiat 500, but there is no Fiat dealer here.)
So with all things being equal, it was about price. And if price were equal, I'd be driving a Ford Fiesta. But as it also happens, I had a $3000 GM credit to use. So the Chevy Sonic was $3000 cheaper than the Ford, and a good deal cheaper than all the others.
I do feel good about driving a "US made" car, but I also know the only reason it is US-made is, the unions agreed to take a pay cut in order to keep its manufacture here. That means, depressing wages and compensation for the working guy, in the long run. I'm a working guy. So I don't feel too good about it.
First, let's not pick on faceless Irish blokes; you only notice those because those are who you talk to. If you were in Canada, or Indonesia, or South Africa, or the UK, you'd be saying the same thing about faceless guys from there, right? So let's not knock the Irish guys.
Or maybe we should. Fact is, decades have passed since most anyone lacked the capacity to upload some sort of photo, so "I can't" won't wash anymore. That leaves "I don't want to." Well, why not? If they wanna talk to you, why not?
Yes CS offers a faceless policy; good for them. And perhaps there are times when a member might need to hide their face (being stalked by some crazy weirdo, perhaps).
But let's face it (pardon the joke): virtually all with no pic are either hiding from someone or something, or, their given details like age, race, height, weight, are wildly wrong.
Many on CS, especially many women, have a personal policy: "No pic, no play." I think that's wise. If you get contact from some faceless entity, you should be polite, but not inviting. And if you get further contact, you should stop being polite.
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon, Folio Society edition. I'm near the end of volume 3 of 6.
The Trojan War, Barry Strauss. Just started, but can't say I'd recommend it. Though Strauss has scholarly credentials, this publication doesn't; no footnotes, not even endnotes, it's just "take my word for it, I'm an expert," and in the first three pages I found that was not good enough.
English Poetry and Prose of the Romantic Movement, ed. George Benjamin Woods. A vast and comprehensive survey of English-language writing, mostly poetry, of the Romantic movement.
Dagosto Forum Posts (3,076)
RE: Do you like to cuddle?
I love it. With my sweetie.