Cannot delete or add bookmarks in Safari 8.0.3 on my iMac

Question

Although I've been a Mac user forever, I've always preferred Google products, especially Chrome.  I decided to give Safari another try after updating to 8.0.3 but am ready to go right back to Chrome and just deal with the syncing issues.
I am trying to personalize Safari and absolutely cannot get the bookmarks to change.  I do NOT want Bing, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Yahoo in my favorites (they aren't MY favorites, goshdarnit!) but no matter how I try to delete them (right-click, delete; drag into the desktop; delete from the menu) they always pop back when I restart Safari.
Moreover, any bookmarks I add (including bookmark folders) disappear as soon as I log out.  I have researched the issue (clearly I'm not alone with this problem) and have tried the following:
1.  Opened iCloud preferences from Finder and unchecked the box next to Safari.  Restarted computer.  No love.
2.  Another user asked a similar question (it wasn't answered) and someone suggested he try to move the bookmarks.plist to the desktop and then relaunch Safari.   I tried to move bookmarks.plist to the desktop and relaunch Safari but when I got to the part in the instructions where I was to paste bookmarks.plist into the "Go To" text box in Finder, I got the error message that "library can't be found.
I have also "turned the computer off and turned it back on again" several times, just to make sure.
I'm at a loss.  I'm not *that* computer savvy so I've been reluctant to do anything that requires going into directories and typing a lot of stuff that looks suspiciously like code  :-)
So now I'm stuck with these stupid "favorite" bookmarks stinking up my favorites bar and no way to add my own.  I have checked Safari settings on my iPad and iPhone (both brand new and everything updating to iCloud and supposedly synced) and they both have different preset favorites than the ones on the iMac.  I have only tried to save bookmarks on the iMac.
TIA!

Answer 1

Back up all data before proceeding.
This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership, permissions, and access controls to the default. If you've intentionally set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it, but you do need to follow the instructions below.
Step 1
If you have more than one user, and the one in question is not an administrator, then go to Step 2.
Triple-click anywhere in the following line on this page to select it:
sudo find ~ $TMPDIR.. -exec chflags -h nouchg,nouappnd,noschg,nosappnd {} + -exec chown -h $UID {} + -exec chmod +rw {} + -exec chmod -h -N {} + -type d -exec chmod -h +x {} + 2>&-
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.
Paste into the Terminal window by pressing command-V. I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.
You'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The command may take several minutes to run, depending on how many files you have. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear, then quit Terminal.
Step 2 (optional)
Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1, if you prefer not to take it, or if it doesn't solve the problem.
Start up in Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
          Utilities ▹ Terminal
from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open. In that window, type this:
resetp
Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:
resetpassword
Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.
Select your startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.
Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.
Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.
Select
           ▹ Restart
from the menu bar.