It is a time to give in charity to those in need, and celebrate with family and friends

the completion of a month of blessings and joy.

Before the day of Eid, during the last few days of Ramadan, each Muslim family gives a

determined amount as a donation to the poor. This donation is of actual food -- rice, barley,

dates, rice, etc. -- to ensure that the needy can have a holiday meal and participate in the

celebration. This donation is known as sadaqah al-fitr (charity of fast-breaking).

On the day of Eid, Muslims gather early in the morning in outdoor locations or mosques to

perform the Eid prayer. This consists of a sermon followed by a short congregational prayer.

After the Eid prayer, Muslims usually scatter to visit various family and friends, give gifts

(especially to children), and make phone calls to distant relatives to give well-wishes for the

holiday. These activities traditionally continue for three days. In Muslim countries, the 3-day

period is an official government/school holiday.

When the sighting of the moon of Shawwal is confirmed, Muslims recite the "Takbir"

which is a prayer glorifying the almighty. The Takbir consists of the lines:

Allaho-Akber, Allaho-Akber

La ila-ha ill-lal-lah Allaho-Akber,

Allaho-Akber Wa-lilahill hamd.

(English Translation)

Allah is great, Allah is great.

There is no deity but Allah

Allah is great, Allah is great

And all praises are for Allah.

I had a blue screen last year. Instead spending the cash on a new P.C. I bought a Windows 7 Pro disc.

the cost 2014 was $135 USD (122Euro, £ .64, $134 AUD, $1.27 CAD, 2.950 Toman) .

I installed the W7 Pro and now I can play both Windows 7, Windows XP, 2000 and 98 software and games.

on the original W7 Home I had difficulty with even XP. It is nice to be able to enjoy some of the great older games again.

I almost never have trouble with 98 or 2000 and rarely encounter ME or NT so am not sure about them.

The problem for the Eurozone (code for German bankers) this time is the Greek Prime Minister.

Alexix Tsipras is looking out for the Greek people not Angela Merkel's political career and the well being of the EEU bankers.

this has upset them something horrible and they don't understand how you can look out for the country before the Euro...this is the problem the EEU

has had from the beginning...the people of different nations who speak different languages and have different outlooks on things.

The EEU has too many regulations and rules trying to make everyone fit in one category and they just don't and every have and never will.

Greece for example has a leader now who is protesting the these proposals that would have them agree to a minimum of 50 years of voluntary poverty.

Anyone with friends in Greece knows that conditions there are already hard enough without making them worse.

....I believe it is possible that Germany somewhere does remember what was done to them after World War One in the Treaty of Versailles which left much of the population in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Turkey in hunger and poverty.....not to forget the treatment after World War Two which was equally as bad with women abused by all the victorious armies and the civilians pushed around and left to starve.....

remember Greece never has received war reparations from Germany, that subject was brought up during this mess but they were told that the case was closed.

........... instead of being pushed around.....it is good to be in charge........they could be more subtle and not such bullies about it though.

I have been unable to log on for over a year.

I do miss this place and it is quite a bit different, especially from what I remember from years ago.

I started this profile in 2004.

Also I bring greetings from another veteran Gamespotter. Miss Fari Khatibi

who many of you may remember as Khatibi22 who is doing well and remembers this place with great fondness.

she still can not log in as the site is blocked where she lives.

we still keep in touch vie e-mail.

if you have a message for khatib22 or kasiabartek I still talk to them both.

How have you all been and what is going on.

when I just a little tyke my favourite cartoon was Mary Jane and Sniffles.

Thanks to reruns I saw it for a few years after they quit making new episodes and comics.

for the many of you who are unfamiliar with this cartoon it is about a little girl and her mouse friend.

when Mary Jane says:

"Magic words of poof poof piffles, make me just as small as Sniffles."

she shrinks to the same size as Sniffles the mouse and has adventures, usually in the lawn or the house.

once I can remember they went to the North Pole and helped Santa.

it was the type of silly things that were meant to entertain little kids.

It was sort of the My Little Pony of many, many years ago.

what are some of the shows that you remember from your younger days?

and can you still watch them without resorting to Hulu or youtube...

Ive been sick in bed for the last 6 days so I haven't been doing much of anything except coughing,

and molting. the last couple days I did catch up on all my missing episodes of Doc Martin.

Despite nothing much ever really happening on the show I have become addicted to it.

America makes more shows but my favourites have been produced in the U.K. for years.

Here are just a few of my faves you may remember:

Doctor in the House

Sapphire and Steel

All Creatures Great and Small

The Saint

The Avengers

Keeping Up Appearances.

As Time Goes By

Doc Martin

and I've watched Dr Who since the first Doctor

Time to share the excess and go to some after Christmas sales.

I hope everyone had a great holiday and have a Happy Boxing Day

the reason I say holiday season is that I include Bohdi and Yalda in the holiday season.

For anyone who has read the 1958 novel "The Ugly American" which was amazingly accurate for the time we have just gotten proof that this syndrome is alive and well in American politics.

The novel takes place in a supposedly fictional southeast Asian nation but that was when we began interfering in the eventually failed struggle to combat the "evil" of international communism.

notice how Mandela who was on the terrorist list and not allowed a visa to the United States is now hailed as a hero?

In the novel, a Burmese journalist says "For some reason, the [American] people I meet in my country are not the same as the ones I knew in the United States. A mysterious change seems to come over Americans when they go to a foreign land. They isolate themselves socially. They live pretentiously. They're loud and ostentatious."

What has happened recently is the same double standard.

United States embassies are considered American soil and beyond touch in the countries they visit however our government evidentally does not believe in giving the same treatment to their "supposed" allies.

Witness the treatment of Devyani Khobragade, the Deputy Consul General of India, hardly a simple staff member, who was arrested and strip searched in New York.

For espionage or being a threat to the security of the government?

it must have been something really serious, right?

she was accused by her maid of not providing her with a proper salary and not treating her nicely.

In case anyone is unfamiliar with international protocol the embassies are not required to follow the American system of jurisprudence even while over here - there is a thing called "Diplomatic Immunity" which our government considers sacrosanct for out diplomats but is ignoring for the visiting dignitaries and that is why the Government of India is in such an uproar and I don't blame them a bit.

Considering that for some reason Ms Khobragde is still under charges I would expect that without these chareges being dropped forthwith and both she and her government being given an immediate apology I would expect and even hope that our Ambassador be expelled and returned to Washington.

This is an inexcusable mistake and faux pas by the Untied States (not a spelling error)

p.s. in the book "The Ugly American" that sobriquet applies to the diplomats and the majority of the businessmen.

the hero of the book was a man who lived among the people of the country he loved, spoke the language and did his best to improve the lives of those who had the hardest lives.

the ideal of the Peace Corp rather than the reality where largely untrained volunteers are dropped in and create havoc as often as they aid the people they wish to help. Volunteers by Tom Hanks is one of my favourite movies though.

There are plenty of people here I don't know and some of you I do know only know my profile name.

I'm Jim a gaming grampa from the western part of the United States.

in my Air Force days I was a liaison with the RAAF for a time and played a bit of Australian Rules Football.

this happened mostly because my Colonel noticed I spelled honour instead of honor and since that was the only difference between me and the other blokes he had under consideration I got an assignment I didn't know existed.

I was the best job I ever had and besides it was partly as a result of this I ended up going to Philippines and South Korea.

this was a time of unrest in Korea because it was not too long after President Park Chung-Hee was assassinated.

I helped a Korean girl who was being harassed by a couple of GIs and ended up in a relationship for a couple of years.

back in the 1970s......my dad broke his neck so I had to skip university and stay home and get a job.

I had hoped to stay with relatives and I also had a scholarship that covered tuition and books.

I got work at the local hardware store and went to a couple of community colleges and transferred to State.

the job at the hardware ended when the owners son left school and came home.

I couldn't find anything else and wound up with the Air Force which wasn't bad as an career goes.

It wasn't my first choice but my father had been in the Army and my padrastro (stepdad) was a Marine Gunny.

I was married for a few years to a girl who was the daughter of a Korean military man.