Based on real questions from the viewers and readers not only here but all over the places I write. Some of these were also answered elsewhere, but especially YouTube doesn’t give enough space for a decent answer to most good questions.
Please don’t ask me private questions unless it is on something really private, as otherwise I will probably not answer unless I’m allowed to share it wider. That doesn’t apply to people I know in real life or to people seeking spiritual guidance.
Topinambur – grown in Poland, or: “the new Jerusalem artichoke”.
If someone doesn’t like tasty food and pretty women, easy-going, polite and positive people with a good sense of humour plus great sights of various kinds, from the historical to the futuristic, from the urban to the most rural landscapes, and if someone likes to overpay for their purchases, then such a person ought not to visit Poland.
If someone likes to criticise a nation for being proud about its history and independent-minded, if someone wants to mock someone else’s religion, or behave in an anti-social manner while mouthing off about how rude the locals are for not having identical habits and manners as in their country of origin, well I think such a person won’t enjoy Poland much either. And Poland certainly won’t enjoy them. Continue reading “Why should I never visit Poland?”→
It’s a “good question”, as these days of course she is rather advanced in years and not exactly pin-up material. If indeed she ever was. Which is putting it in a rather ungallant way.
“You can wear my poppy, because you’ve got your hand blocking mine and I want them to see we’ve got two poppies.” (PD, courtesy of author Ibagli).
Blue blood and red doth not the royal purple make
If we are talking about a younger version of herself, presumably she looked better. Again, it’s hard to believe she was in the top 1% of available women, when surely that is what a Prince would be able to attract. And we all know the difference between what a man with high position and wealth can attract and what the same man in a low-status job or poverty can attract. Camilla herself was not, of course, exactly rolling around in the squalor of poverty either. And having a double-barreled name makes every pound in your pocket worth thirty shillings. Any financial advisor worth his certificate will tell you that – for thirty shillings.
The good ol-factory gate…
Why pick her? I can only assume they got on well as friends and he felt understood by her, appreciated by her. I assume also that the chemistry between them was good. People are more attracted to others by their scent, which talks to the subconscious mind about what class of auto-immune system the person has, than by a lot of other things. Experiments have been done involving girls and used men’s shirts that came to this conclusion. However, as far as I am aware they never made it to replace the usual “blind date” format on the telly.
We are initially attracted by eyes but once we get close it is the smell which causes the stronger attachment. Presumably he liked her body’s scent intensely. He was even famously intercepted saying he wished to be her tampon. This is very visceral attraction. Beyond the romantic, but very essential. It tells us that he craved a level of intimacy with her which can only be craved when people are ideally matched at a chemical level.
Charlie and the shock olfactory
And although he was afterwards married to a woman who most people regarded as more the 1% of attractive that he should have (not my type but that’s all for the better. We all need to have a slightly different type) he never stopped loving her and moved heaven and earth to get her back again. It was a mistake and one could say even an abuse of his human rights, in fact, that he was not permitted to marry her in the first place. Continue reading “What do you think originally attracted Prince Charles to Camilla Parker-Bowles?”→
Original Posting Date: 24/06/2018
Question as answered Shouldn’t Poland be taking in more African refugees? Poland is a large EU country with a booming economy.
Views at the time added to HTV: 3,000
Upvotes at the time added to HTV: 78
Comments at time added: 1
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This question was asked at the time of the first Migration crisis where indeed there was quite a sizeable focus on North Africans coming into Europe in 2014. Germany at the time invited them in and then expected other countries to take co-responsibility for this rash action, especially blaming Poland, like they had anything, anything whatsoever, to lecture Poland about other than how to make a nice Vollfettquark, or a decent Leberwurst. Oh, and literature. But less of that.
These days we have a more topical migrant crisis but I haven’t really needed to update the text below to take account of the change in times, but something to bear in mind when reading this is that the main issue now is it is no longer Germany wanting to take them, they have closed the doors to the migrants coming via Belarus and are not encouraging them from anywhere else either, and I have not heard Olaf-faminit Schultz, the new socialist chancellor for a month or so now, change back from Merkel’s hardened position, although it is early days yet and I don’t put anything past German Socialists.
The main issue now is that these migrants are very clearly being weaponised by Russia and Belarus, in a context of military pressure around the Ukrainian border. I do get why Putin feels he should push on the east of Ukraine, why he and Lukashenko are having a good laugh really exposing the hypocrisy of western Europe this way, but I cannot condone the weaponising of people. Moreover, each of these people apparently paid good money to Belarus for transit and the simple pocketing of the money seems very cynical. On top of which Belarus forces have gone too far in assisting breaches of the border and clearly this is not acceptable. I can only commend the Polish side for a very measured reaction. Clearly both sides have at their disposal ordinance which would allow a very rapid and harmful escalation of hostilities. It is therefore a good thing if this mess can be put right by the President of Belarus. He’s going to have to step up and bear the costs of this one, unless Putin is bailing him out.
Anyway, here is the article exonerating Poland from any moral need to take in non-European refugees. Poland has actually taken a reasonable (by comparison to similarly engaged countries) share of Afghans whom they knew and worked with during Western occupation of Afghanistan. I am not dealing with that issue here, it is in my opinion a separate and very complex issue, but suffice it to say hardly anyone appearing on the Belarus -Polish border is from Afghanistan, despite early media reports that this was the case.
Last time I looked, Poland wasn’t the ‘First Safe Country’ with regard to any African country. Nor any Middle Eastern one. It is, however, ‘First Safe Country’ for Ukraine, so in accordance with the relevant international treaty that is actually signed up to by our nations, namely the Dublin Accord, (as opposed to making new laws up as you go along, which is what some leaders in the EU, notably Merkel, have been doing) it accepts refugees from that country, and has done so far in excess of its duty, with about a million Ukrainians having benefited from an open door to Poland. And this in spite of Ukrainians having been responsible for some of the worst massacres against Poles in living memory. They are not exactly natural allies.
As far as economic migrants are concerned there is no point in accepting these from Africa in a big lump but for sure there might be some who have skills we need, and indeed you do see Africans around, and I have been to a fine Nigerian doctor here in Warsaw, probably some of the people from Poland reading this post know who I mean and people like this man will always have an open door to Poland. Continue reading “Shouldn’t Poland be taking in more African refugees? Poland is a large EU country with a booming economy.”→
Original YT playout date: 28 February 2009
Duration: 1:14:13
Cheryl from Manitoba in Canada gives 5 great questions about the Gold List method which will certainly help people who are using the method and still have uncertainties about its application.
First produced by me as an answer to a Quora question, this became relatively popular over there, so I thought I would bring it home here and share it with you. It is a few unwritten rules (now written) for how you can avoid comment or offence of general faux pas in these eating situations known as buffets, and they include rules that apply in varying contexts, including conference or party buffets where people know each other or who are supposed to be getting to know each other, as well as restaurants having buffets like the “Swedish table” at breakfast where you are not expected to be using the food as an adjunct to another social purpose. Some are in public places, others inside comanies or even people’s houses. Some of these buffets are culinary occasions intended to enable the tasting of different types of food and some are mere convenience, with containers piled with cheaply made and poor-quality food. Some of these rules don’t apply therefore to every occasion, whereas some probably would. Unless you know that a rule wouldn’t apply, assume it would.
If there’s a queue, don’t jump it.
Once you have charged your plate with a reasonable amount of food, move away from the area in order not to cause congestion.
If there are platters for vegans, or food allergy people, only take from them if you are in that group, unless it is close to the end and you’re sure they won’t need them. It’s a dirty trick by greedy pigs to analyse what some other people can’t eat in the company and come to that last, but go first to the only stuff those people can eat. Don’t be like that.
Don’t just hog all the best things
Don’t hog all the best things because you were lucky enough to be near the front of the queue.
Don’t pile your plate high.
Don’t take more than you can eat. I know you cannot send the food from this buffet to the starving children, but that is not a reason to be wasteful.
Take the cutlery and handle it appropriately. If you are not sure you can handle the food in mod air without dropping it on the floor, take it to one of those tables (in mixer situations). Then ask the people who are already round that table if you can join them.
Don’t handle the food with your fingers, and if you have taken something, don’t put it back. Don’t maul the collective food even with the tongs. If you have to cut cheese, know how to cut it in a civilised way, with a “nez” and not straight on like some kind of philistine. If you are no good at cutting bread, don’t do it. If you do want to cut bread, handle the loaf via the cloth. try and show a certain culture in a discrete way, because people may be observing you even without especially meaning to.
Likewise don’t sneeze, cough, fart, spit, or leave your dirty plates and cups around the food. Leave the dirty plates, glasses and cutlery in the place provided or give them to the waiter. Especially don’t leave glasses in places where someone could accidentally break them and cut themselves.
If the idea of the buffet is a social event then bear that in mind and use it as a means to the end of getting to know people and don’t live for food like some modern Epicurian.
If you have a buffet arrangement as part of a job interview then bear in mind you are still on parade during this time and someone is likely watching your savoir-vivre and true character which tends to come out when the trough opens before certain people’s snouts.
Use the cloakroom especially if it is a standing buffet. Don’t have people tripping over your briefcase, and don’t knock someone’s plate or glass out of their hand with your stupid backpack. Don’t come inappropriately dressed if there was a dress code stated on the invitation, and don’t wear outdoor clothing to an indoor event.
If you are the host, or an employee of the hosting company or organisation, you must stand back and give the best of it to the guests.
Don’t juggle with too many containers or items of cutlery, and don’t take risks with other people’s carpets.
If it’s a restaurant don’t take the food out unless it was all paid for by the event organisers and would just go to waste, in which case you should indeed take some to go but always check with the manager. If it’s an in house do make sure any decent left overs are saved for those colleagues who couldn’t attend the event.
Don’t gatecrash if you are not supposed to be there or try to weedle other unexpected guests in at the last minute. Likewise if you are expected but know you cannot attend, try to give the organisers some notice, the more the better.
Be polite to the wait staff and the cloakroom attendant, including being aware of and adhering to the tip culture of the place you are.
Don’t hog one person if it is a networking buffet, cramping their style, but circulate. Work the room, and develop some elegant ways of rounding off conversations. If you tell someone you have to go home and they see you chatting away to someone else ten minutes later, you can well imagine what conclusion they will come to and what they will think. Better is to say “I promised such and such to catch up with him this evening, please excuse me”.
Don’t forget you business cards for social buffets and don’t forget the follow-up in mail or phone afterwards. Don’t worry if you don’t meet everyone. I usually leave when I have ten cards even if I could get more. Good follow up on ten cards is better than thirty cards with poor follow up.
and finally…
Have some regard for your health. If you are on a diet, the abundance of quality free food is not reason enough to abandon it. I like to walk home afterwards, weather and safety permitting.
