Do dating sites work?

In their quest to find Mr. Right, Mr. Right Now, or Mr. You’ll-do-until-someone-better-comes-along, more and more women turn to dating sites.  (Obviously, the same applies to men)

It’s a smart move I suppose.  There’s no need to wait for a guy to approach them, no need to suffer their pick-up lines, or go on a series of first dates that may or may not be enjoyable.  

Women (and men) can pick and choose between a series of candidates and get to know them in relative anonymity.

But do these dating sites work? 

John doesn’t think so.  He’s been a member of Match.com for some time now and is far from happy with their services.  He sends out winks and either gets nothing in return or someone winks back and wants to chat. 

Either the chat leads to nothing or the girl of his choice provides her email address and website, which turns out to be a porn site.  She’s not looking for a potential boyfriend, she looking for a client.

In addition to not attracting the right type of girls, John and other members of Match.com have their doubts about the site.  Toward the end of their membership or when they’re no longer a member, they suddenly get winks from pretty girls.  Who can resist?  When they become a member, or renew their membership, the girl in question mysteriously disappeared.  

Could these “ghost girls” be a way of attracting members?

Other sites, like Lavalife and eHarmony seem to be operating much the same way.  Especially Lavalife, who appears to be the favourite of girls aiming to attract clients.

Ladies and gentlemen, do you really need dating sites to meet potential boyfriends/girlfriends?  How about smiling at someone and see what happens?  How about just walking up to someone and making small talk? Girls are everywhere.  They’re in grocery stores, at the gym, in book stores and their absolute favorite … hardware stores.

Why do you think girls linger at the power tool department?  They’re not interested in drills and saws, they’re waiting for the right operator.

If all else fails, visit a shoe store … you know how fond girls are of shoes, right?  Gentlemen, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.   

For thousands of years men and women have found partners without the convenience of the internet.  Instead of paying a monthly fee to a dating site, why not just ask your family how they managed to get hooked up?

Vaseline linked to cancer

Some people never cease to amaze me.  On the one hand they are so concerned with their health that they almost turn neurotic and look down on others who don’t share their views, yet on the other they do their very best to sabotage their health.

Take the use of Vaseline also known as petroleum jelly for instance.  Some people happily smear it on their baby’s bottom, while others use it to treat dry skin, or add shine to their lips.  Did you know that women who use lip gloss regularly, eat about seven pounds of the Vaseline in a decade.

Little do they know that Vaseline does not moisturize, it draws moisture to the surface, as such robbing skin of what it so desperately needs, and they risk all kinds of cancers.

Vaseline is made of petroleum sludge, a type of wax that forms on oil rigs.  The wax interferes with the proper working of the rods on the rigs and has to be removed from time to time.  The wax contains hydrocarbons, a substance found in women with breast cancer. 

Still, people ignore advice given online and state that Vaseline has been around for years, that their grandma used it, and that only fools would believe that the greasy wax could be bad.  Not only that, some articles actually promote the use of Vaseline/petroleum jelly. 

Why anyone would do this is beyond me.  You only have to look at and touch Vaseline to know that something so greasy cannot be good for your skin.  It leads to acne, impurities, irritation and worst of all, certain cancers.  This possibility alone should be enough to scare people off.  Sadly, this is not the case.  The product is cheap, has been used by their mother and grandmother, so they figure it must be good.

What is even more mind boggling is why the Cancer Society hasn’t made it its business to warn the public about the use of Vaseline.  If the product has been linked to cancer, you would think this is right up their alley.  On the one hand they raise millions of dollars for cancer research and promote pink ribbons to make women aware of breast cancer, yet on the other hand they keep silent about the dangers of Vaseline. 

If you want to moisturize your skin or give shine to your lips, do it with something safe like an organic oil.  Oils such as olive oil, almond oil, cacao butter, shea butter and coconut oil will be more expensive than Vaseline, but at least they are risk free.

Before you buy your next beauty product READ THE LABEL.

Happy Birthday Dieter

Today, November 8, is my son’s birthday.  How he made it to 33 is a mystery to me.

He was supposed to be a Christmas baby, but eager as he was to get started on life, he decided to make an early  entrance.  He’s been in a hurry ever since. 

Initially he was slow with sitting, crawling, walking and talking, but once he got going there was no stopping him.

Once he had learned how to sit, he wouldn’t lie down anymore.  A nap was out of the question, and when he had to go to bed at night he would scream his head off.  The only way to sooth him was to put him in the car and go for a drive.  

Usually we hadn’t even reached the street corner when he was asleep.

Crawling turned out to be rather frustrating for him.  He went backward you see, and this annoyed him to no end.  Red faced and pounding his little fists on the floor, he couldn’t understand why he never got anywhere.

Eventually he learned how to walk, only he didn’t exactly walk.  He went from crawling straight to running.  Wherever he was going, he couldn’t get there fast enough.

As for talking … it didn’t take him long to say “mama”, “papa” and “cat”, but he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) string a sentence together.  In due time he learned of course and oh dear, then he could have talked a cat out of a tree.

I remember the day when the whole class (grade 4) went to see Jurassic Park in the cinema.  When I picked him up from school that day, he talked and talked and talked from the moment he got into the car, until we reached the house (and then he was still not finished).
What amazed me was, he knew all the different dinosaurs by name.

Being in such a hurry, he had all kinds of accidents.  He frequently tripped over his own feet, resulting in bumps and bruises.  One day he fell and hit his head on the corner of a cabinet.  He ended up with a gash on his forehead, causing blood to stream down his face.  My heart nearly stood still.

Another time he disappeared for a whole afternoon.  One moment he was playing in the front yard, the next he was nowhere to be seen.  My search for him caught the attention of the neighbors and soon the whole street was in search of little Dieter.  Hours later he walked out of someone’s house … he had been visiting a woman because she baked good cookies.

Another day he visited a friend and about an hour later I received a call …

“Mom”

“Yes”

“Can you come over.  I think I need stitches”

Just like that, as cool as a cucumber.

When I got to the friend’s house, it turned out Dieter had done a little carpentry.  In the process, he had used a Stanley knife and cut through the wood, through his jeans, into his thigh.  When I saw the gaping wound, my stomach flipped.

And speaking of stitches … I’ll never forget the day that I went to pick Dieter up from day care and found blood stains on the driveway.  I immediately knew that he was once again in trouble.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” my husband said.  “It could be any of the kids.  Maybe someone just had a blood nose.”

Intuition told me that this blood was more than a bloody nose and it wasn’t just anyone, it was Dieter’s blood.

A short time later, a car pulled up and Dieter and his caretaker got out.  She looked worried, he looked as white as snow.  Angry red marks stained his cheeks, while a big white gauze bandage stretched from the outer corner of his eye into the hairline.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Our dog is in heat,” Linda explained.  “He wanted to get out and Dieter tried to stop him.”

Dieter, 8 years old and maybe 4 feet tall tried to stop a fully grown St. Bernard!

The dog had jumped on Dieter, in the process scratching his cheeks and making a huge gash next to his eye with one of his nails.

Over the years, all kinds of injuries and doctor’s visits followed, including being stabbed in the arm at school and two brain operations.  Dieter came through them with flying colors.

When Dieter was born and he was fighting for his life in an incubator, I was anxious that he wouldn’t make it.  The nurse told me not to worry, that premature babies grew up into stronger than usual adults.  I guess she was right.

Happy birthday Dieter … you made it!

Ladies, be careful who you vote for

If you're a women

and you want to keep your rights, 

vote democrat

Until recently I only took a moderate interest in the American presidential elections.  This year that’s different, not only do I take an interest, I fear the elections.  In a few days, everything could change (and not for the better).

After hearing and reading the beliefs of the republican politicians, I can only shake my head and wonder … how can anyone even consider voting for this party?

Let’s look at some of their beliefs … 

“A Republican congressional candidate says abortion should not be legal, even when it involves "the rape thing," according to audio provided Wednesday to The Associated Press.”

The rape thing? 

A Missouri Republican who came to the defense of Representative Todd Akin told the The New York Times last week “ If God has chosen to bless this person [the rape victim] with a life, you don’t kill it."

Rape is a blessing?

I struggled with myself for a long time but I came to realize life is that gift from God, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape. It is something that God intended to happen.”

So, according to these clowns, rape and a subsequent pregnancy is are gifts from God?  Isn’t it a shame that men can’t get pregnant?

That some men might welcome republics, I can understand.  Slowly but steadily men have been losing ground and this might be their chance to get the upper hand again.  Put women in their place, so to speak.

Until not so long ago, women couldn’t have their own money, couldn’t have property and were not allowed to vote.  Their lot was to marry and have babies.  When in doubt, look at a 

Mormon family and count the kids (if you can).  Will this be the lot of women again should republicans win?   

Maybe not at first, but if rape is seen as a blessing, and abortion is against the law, what will be next?  Keep in mind that the presidential candidate is a Mormon and it might be a good idea for any woman to familiarize herself with Mormon beliefs.

Other than women, African Americans and the gay community might also want to take a look at the Mormon beliefs.  They think gay relations is a sign of mental illness.

http://christiandefense.org/mor_black.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints

I can only hope that there are enough Americans who will see through the lies and the deceit and do the right thing when casting their vote. 

Ladies, do you really want to lose your rights?  Do you really want to be seen only as a baby making machine?  Do you want to stand the change of being raped, end up pregnant and having to raise the kid? 

Women everywhere have fought for your rights, make sure you keep them!

Does Santa need to go on a diet

Yesterday’s blog post brought about a flurry of comments.  As it turns out I forgot I few things.  Since there’s no time like the present, let me put the spotlight on some of the comments.

Andrea said …

“McColl is just another author trying to sell books.  She’s desperate and she knows that creating a controversy will give her her five minutes of fame.  She’s a nut job.”   

(There were more emails to that effect, stating that McColl is simply seeking publicity)

Linda said …

“I always question the motives of these do-gooders.  What alternative motive do they have?  Nobody does something for nothing.”

Michael said …

“If a smoking Santa sets a bad example for kids, so does his body.  Santa is morbidly obese and needs to go on a diet.  His weight sets a bad example for the kids.  Perhaps kids should stop setting out milk and cookies and give him something healthy to snack on.”

Erik said …

“All things considered, Santa is breaking the law.  He’s breaking and entering.  Is this what we want to teach our kids?  That’s it’s okay to go into other people’s houses at night.”

Monica said …

“The whole Santa thing is against my beliefs.  We teach our children that love can’t be bought, but Santa is doing just that.  If he didn’t bring gifts, would kids still love him as much?”

Madeleine said …

“I have three kids and I can’t afford presents for all of them.  Last year each had to make do with a scarf.  When they saw what other kids got, they asked me if Santa didn’t love them.  When I said that of course he did, they asked why he didn’t bring them nice presents.”

Andrea said …

“If we want to set a good example for children, we should look at the fairy tales.  If parents today are complaining about violence on TV and the effect this has on younger viewers, what about Snow white, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel.”

I guess it’s true, the old fairy tales are filled with violence.

Snow white casts a bad light on stepmothers.  The stepmother orders the huntsman to find Snow white and cut out her heart.  When this fails, the stepmother poisons an apple and has Snow white eating it.  She is committing murder.

In Cinderella we not only meet an evil stepmother but two evil stepsisters.  Cinderella is forced into child labor and the whole story is filled with nothing but lies and deceit.

In Red Riding Hood children encounter murder.  Remember the wolf eating Red Riding Hood and her grandmother? If memory serves me correctly, in the end a huntsman kills the wolf which set the grandmother and Red Riding Hood free, which reflects animal cruelty.

In Rapunzel we encounter abduction and a child being locked away in a tower.

The cartoons kids watch don’t set a good example either.

Think of the Roadrunner … how many times has he wolf attempted to kill the Roadrunner?  He’s tried shooting him, squashing him under rocks, blowing him up with dynamite and a series of other ways.

Perhaps McColl has something to say about that too.

Fact is, no matter how much certain mothers try to blame TV for violence, that theory doesn’t hold water.  Millions of kids grew up listening to fairy tales and watching cartoons.  Most of them turned out to be upstanding adults.  Sure, there are a few bad apples, but is that any reason to deprive kids from their favorite entertainment?

McColl and other women with similar notions should take a good look at themselves.  Could it be that, because their life is miserable they can’t rest until they’ve spoiled things for a few others?

Santa can no longer smoke his pipe

I noticed an article this morning that right away put my teeth on edge.  The smokers are being attacked again, this time by Pamela McColl.

"What was her explanation for the publishing of a new version?  According to a Telegraph article , she is quoted as saying, “I just really don’t think Santa should be smoking in the 21st century. Santa is the most powerful character in the world. "

McColl’s father died in a fire, apparently caused by smoking in bed.  Now she’s made it her mission to join the ranks of smokers haters. 

McColl couldn’t sleep at night until she accomplished one thing … changing the line in a Christmas song “The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth / and the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath”. It was too much for her, she couldn’t make peace that Santa smokes and thought this was a bad example for kids.

This let me frown on more than one level.  Does McColl believe in Santa?  Perhaps she hasn’t heard the news, but Santa doesn’t exist, he is an imaginary figure.

If he exists, than he is thousands of years old.  Who (smokers or non-smoker) can say as much?

Children who believe in Santa don’t smoke.  Any normal child only believes in Santa until the age of 5 or 6 and then one way or another the mystery is revealed.

By the time they are ready to make the choice whether to smoke or not, they no longer believe in Santa, so what difference does it make whether Santa smokes or not?

But let’s leave smoking out of the picture for a second.  Let’s look at what else McColl should be interested in.

As we all know, North American children are not just fat, they are obese.  Should Santa advertise junk food McColl?

With alcohol being the leading cause of accidents and spousal abuse, should Santa advertise alcohol?

What about this Santa, this not only looks like indecent exposure, it looks like plain bad behavior.

What about this Santa … that looks like marijuana to me.

How does Santa feel about the sport of ice skating?

 How does he feel about men going to the gym?

And what about this Santa, McColl, what is he up to?

This anti-smoking campaign is getting more ridiculous by the minute.  Perhaps McColl should learn a lesson from the sun and the wind.

Have you heard about the bet the sun made with the wind?

The wind said “I bet I can make that man take off his coat.”

The sun said “I accept that bet.”

The wind blew as hard as he could, but the harder the wind blew, the tighter the man held on to his coat.  Then the sun came out and the man took off his coat.

If McColl doesn’t understand the bet (after she must be of limited intelligence if she still believes in Santa as a grown woman) she can contact me and I will explain it to her.

http://www.forces.org/evidence/index.htm

http://www.rogerwallace.com/smoking.html

http://www.smokersclubinc.com/

PMF Scam - Update

If you read yesterday’s post about the Princess Margaret Foundation scam, you might have come to the conclusion that I’m puzzled by the way they handle their money.

To get clarity, I wrote to them and ask them for an explanation.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I had a look at the sweepstakes and when I add all prizes together I come to about 10 million dollars.

Wouldn't it be better to invest that money into healthcare instead of all those items?

How can you afford all those houses, cars, vacations and electronics?

I'm looking forward to your answer,

Conny

This morning I found a reply …

Hello, Conny, and thank you for your note.

This is a long-standing debate. The problem is, without the prizing, especially the largest of the prizes, the lottery doesn’t hold the same cachet. It would be all but impossible to have people pay $100 (or any sizable amount of money) for a ticket without offering something very substantial in return. The homes, cars and trips provide dreams for ticket buyers, but these dreams fund essential cancer research work at The Princess Margaret in turn. And we need the lottery proceeds because they are the single largest source of funding, outside the government funding, that the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre receives. Since the first Princess Margaret lottery was presented in 1996, more than $227 million has been raised for cancer research programs at The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. We wouldn’t have had that source of revenue without the lotteries.

I hope you better understand why we hold the lotteries and why we offer such wonderful prizes.

Respectfully,

Kevin Shea

The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation

This fund raising still doesn’t make any sense to me.  Do people really need a reward to find a cure for cancer?  Isn’t healing (and subsequent living) enough?

The Cancer Society was founded in 1913 by 15 doctors and businessmen.  So they’ve been in operation for 99 years.  Although progress in the diagnosis and treatment of certain cancers has been made, cancer is still a dirty word that for a lot of people sounds like a death sentence.

In comparison, vaccines have been formulated for viral and bacterial diseases.  Nearly all these vaccines were formulated quite some time ago, without the use of computers and with limited funds.  So why is it, that with all our technology no more cures our found. 

One cure our brilliant scientists did find.  The cure for erectile dysfunction (Viagra) and it only took them 13 years. 

When can we expect a cure for cancer?  My guess is never. 

Imagine if you will that a cure was found.  No more donations for the Cancer Society, Princess Margaret Foundation and a list of other cancer related organizations.  No more cancer related doctors and nurses, no more machinery and oh dear, no more drugs.  That translates into a loss of not millions but of billions of dollars.

For the longest time I thought I was the only one being skeptical about the use of all those donations, but after talking to quite a few people, it turns out I am far from the only one.  All kinds of people are more than a little suspicious of cancer “research”.

In general they all agreed, cancer is not just an illness, it’s a business.

Are people really spending $100 on a ticket for the Princess Margaret Foundation?  They bitch and whine about the gas prices; they switch to LED lights to save electricity; they go to the store with coupons; they complain about unemployment after the recession; there’s all kinds of advice on frugal living.  In short … do you really see these people throw away $100 on a ticket that might or might not win?

And speaking of winning … where is last year’s list of winners?  Who won the houses and the cars?  Were they won?