What not to do when you're sick.

Fernapple comments on Jan 7, 2023:

You should change them if you feel you are at risk. But I am told that there is little risk in writing them down, and that the old advice, never to write them down, is now regarded as history. It appears that experts in crime now say that, people who break into your house or steal your bag, are almost never the same criminals who drain money from your accounts on-line. Nor are they in contact with them. If you want to be extra safe it is easy to think of a simple code or cypher to use when writing them down, or you can add an extra bit to all of them which you don't write down, but it is easy to remember because it is always the same. Such as. "I always add my initials backwards to the end of all my passwords. "

More Americans stay away from church as pandemic nears year three Many Americans already had ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 6, 2023:

Its an ill wind. As they say.

Re-introducing myself - anyone remember me?

Fernapple comments on Jan 6, 2023:

Interesting talk.

Re-introducing myself - anyone remember me?

Fernapple comments on Jan 6, 2023:

Welcome back, I do remember you, and its still quite fun here. I do not think that it matters one little bit what words you do or do not use, as long as you are careful to ensure that you define the meaning of your words each time you use them. Especially so if your usage deviates from the commonly assumed meanings. Though that is hard work, but it is less work than trying to clear up a mess of confusion afterwards.

Interesting survey on Twitter this A.M.

Fernapple comments on Jan 5, 2023:

I don't think that Later Day Saints halved either, that is just probably, because the survey measures in whole round percentages and they dropped below two.

We always ignore out instincts, and as time goes by, we soon see that they were right all along.

Fernapple comments on Jan 5, 2023:

Very true.

We're not human beings having a spiritual experience.

Fernapple comments on Jan 4, 2023:

No we a narcissists having a hubris event.

"Amen" is actually a Hebrew word meaning "certainly", "truth" or "verily".

Fernapple comments on Jan 4, 2023:

Sometimes translated as "So be it." or "Let it be."

Is it just me or do you also find sadistic evil projected in the “loving” name of the Christian ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 4, 2023:

Very sorry for your loss. Religion offers a big show of pretend caring, and pretend morals. Those who can not do the real thing, or can not be bothered with the real thing, are the ones who most want to control the fake puppet show.

Usually when a pope dies it's plastered all over the news for a week.

Fernapple comments on Jan 4, 2023:

Some of the hard line deep catholics seem to, but it does not seem to matter to anyone else much. Perhaps modern media does help the world understand what is happening, and what people really are like better after all, whatever its downsides.

My rant.

Fernapple comments on Jan 3, 2023:

Sorry to hear about that. But they may be more sympathetic than you think in ER, they are sure to know just how painful stones can be. Go and plead your case, what have you got to lose ?

A sad but true observation on today's social-media driven world: "The reason is because ours is ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 3, 2023:

Mainly true, but be careful not to glorify the past. Schools in my day, half a century plus ago, existed mainly to suppress education, and to propagate ignorance, there was just as much disinformation about then as now, it just cost more money to get it, and it was called education. I was for one, taught in school things every bit as foolish, as the worst web based fringe pseudo-science. One of my own experiences. https://agnostic.com/discussion/703130/the-more-i-look-at-the-hypocrisy-of-some-of-the-teachers-in-my-childhood-the-more-outraged-i-become?aid=2906336 What did change, possibly because of that, was that the old respect for the establishment was thrown out, which may have been good because of exactly that ignorance and prejudice, but with it, the ideas of good taste and objective truth were also thrown out, because they were seen, wrongly, as part of it, to be replaced with shambolic, anything goes, happy go lucky relativism. Yet as said. "Human nature does not change with the passing of history." So that social attitudes often adjusts themselves with time, to fulfill real human needs, and when people begin to see the fruit of the present attitudes, a reaction will almost certainly set in. I think that we are on the brink of a new age where belief in objective truth and formal good taste are the emergent mainstream values once more. You already begin to see a thousand commonalities emerging which disparage the new relativism, from, “You found it on the web.” to “Wing nut”, and that shows the growing trend of contempt for failed values, which always precedes a reaction.

The safest country in the world. The US ranks 129, just above Azerbaijan. [usatoday.com]

Fernapple comments on Jan 3, 2023:

Interesting report, though not that many surprises.

[youtu.be] This story is being made into a movie. Its amazing.

Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:

Yes it does work like that, a lot of the time.

The more I look at the hypocrisy of some of the teachers in my childhood the more outraged I become.

Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:

My school teachers forbade the reading of the classical literature of Rome and Greece. Because, they said, it was wholly out of date, immoral, and of no worth in the modern Christian/socialist world. Since modern thinking had entirely superseded them. ( This was UK so socialist and Christian can go together. ) So of course being a child, and being told not to do something, I went out and did exactly the opposite, I read all of them I could get. I only half understood most of it then, and I do not now, agree with much of what I read. But they did tell me, that there were quite viable alternate views to the modern Christian dogma, and that the Christians did not have a monopoly on virtue and understanding. ( I also learned that my school teachers had not read everything they claimed to be experts on, and they told lies.)

The more I look at the hypocrisy of some of the teachers in my childhood the more outraged I become.

Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:

No you are not alone. But you must remember that teachers are at the core of any culture, and that they are there, because they have proved to be the people who are most compliant with that cultures values, or lack of values. They are therefore also, any cultures greatest victims.

Research finds negative effects of screen time on kids, including higher rates of OCD and attention ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:

Worrying. Does that apply to computer screens too, and do you still count as a kid at sixty five ?

When history is not what it used to be, nostalgia has assumed its most dangerous nuance Dr.

Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:

Sadly history changes all the time, sometimes because a revisionist finds a revealing new understanding of it. But mostly because, a would be revisionist, wants to stoke their vanity by persuading everyone to think the have revealed a new understanding.

One of the reason the US has dominated the world was because it inspired, doing shit the kiddies ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:

It is a common observation, that the countries which thrive and provide the moral, economic and intellectual leadership of the world in any age, are usually the most democratic. ( The most in the age. They can be absolute kingships, if their kings is just closer to and more respectful of the people, than the other kings of the time. ) And there are good reasons for that. Not only the obvious, that people do not have to face the violent armed power of government, when a bad government needs to be replaced. But also that people are more likely to invest, work hard, respect others and innovate, when they feel they, and their products, are likely to be respected and protected by the law and state. And also that where a country makes mistakes, and they all make mistakes, it is easier for countries who invest power in the nameless masses, to admit and correct that, than it is for less democratic governments who must try to pose as infallible, to try to justify their denial of democratic rights and their frequent criminal corruptions. Yet democracy most often fails because people lose faith in it. It is easy to say when you look for someone to blame. "Why would I want, "those" to have a say in my government ?" And there are more ways for it to fail than just some dictator seizing power, failing to provide good information to the people, good education, and the economic security needed, for all people to vote and assist well in government, is enough. America began two and a half centuries ago, in the top five most democratic counties of that age, and by far the most important democracy by size. With what seemed like a cast iron guarantee in the constitution. But success breeds complacency, and while other countries, though behind to start with, have continued to move forward and improve on their democracies. The USA have neglected those other things besides the constitution that are needed to support good working democracy. Like a healthy, well informed, well educated population, who feel secure enough in their rights to respect others rights. I would say be careful therefore. I think your democracy is still strong enough to come back, but you will lose it if you are not careful. There now, and that is the arrogant, poorly informed opinion, of a foreign person, with no right to tell you what to do in your own country. So you are welcome to throw stones if you like.

New York State now allows human composting. Just in Time!

Fernapple comments on Jan 2, 2023:

Humans compost whether you like it or not, ( Unless you burn them. ) if the state of N. Y. thought that they could stop it, then they were getting delusions above their station. LOL

I second the motion!

Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:

And to you.

Would you prefer that this site be more welcoming to religious people, or screen them out more ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:

Yes please, I love to talk and debate with any opinion. But it also has to be kept in mind that this is a refuge for some people, so that while diversity is good for people like me, it should not be gained at the expense of making an unfriendly site to those who need the community, and the religious do have plenty of places of their own where they can find community.

Happy Arbitrary New Year.

Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:

May the fates send you only happy accidents.

One of my favs!

Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:

But apart from that, Dawkins seems to quite like him.

I think that's doable...

Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:

She's been looking at my list.

Which prize wanker in Verizon hired the prize fucking idiot who claimed that 0.

Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:

0.002 dollars is I think one fifth of a cent, while 0.002 cents would be two thousandths of a cent. But I am British so you must tell me if I am correct.

Greta Thunberg claps back at Andrew Tate on Twitter Tate had requested the 19-year-old climate ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:

A perfect sting. Well done G. T.

Happy New Year, ya heathens!

Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:

And to you.

It’d be funny, it he wasn’t a rapist and human trafficker…

Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:

Well at least my house looks neat, relatively. But you do just wonder if life in prison, is not an improvement in living standards for some people.

In some cases, color may matter. [sciencealert.com]

Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:

We ourselves may as yet pay many little understood prices, for using our genes for multiple purposes, all the effects and uses of every gene have not been tracked down yet even in humans, and there may still be many undiscovered uses for a lot of our so called junk DNA.

“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better...

Fernapple comments on Jan 1, 2023:

Great advice, but sorry, no. My vices are now at least sixty years old, which is well past the age of consent, so it is well time that I started having an intimate relationship with them, before its too late.

Happy New Year everyone. It's now 2023 in Australia.

Fernapple comments on Dec 31, 2022:

Only where you are, we have got a long wait yet. Still look on the bright side 2023 is probably going to be a lot worse, so a few extra hours of even this dismal year is a gift.

Value of beauty

Fernapple comments on Dec 31, 2022:

No especial favourite form, but I do like it to have a philosophical content, or some deepity in it, since that rewards the slightly higher reading effort required. Years ago I was told that poetry is concentrated text, like rich fruit cake, while prose is like plain bread. And just as you would only take rich fruit cake in small bites, and savour it carefully, so you should take time with poetry, small bites even with a long poem. Therefore I like my bites to be filled with good things. Loss. In this cool green space. Where wings of memory, Bring in a once loved face. Nature’s sky is all above, And only shadows, yours to love.

What Happened to the World's Greatest Ape? - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Dec 30, 2022:

Sad but wonderful.

Share you ideas for celebrating/spending new years eve/day.

Fernapple comments on Dec 30, 2022:

I go to bed.

Does The Team Think ... ?

Fernapple comments on Dec 30, 2022:

It is the same as nearly everything else, exercise and keeping fit are things needed in moderation, neither too little nor too much, and yes too much is a sign of unhealthy attitudes, just as much as too little.

16 Y.

Fernapple comments on Dec 29, 2022:

Well that's good nothing wrong with getting kicked out of Sunday school, big win. I have heard, only heard, because I am no Greek scholar myself. That the whole nativity story about there being no room in the inn, and Mary having to give birth in the stable. Is based on a mistranslation of the Greek word ( maybe kathistikó )which does not mean "inn" but "living room".

You really can't make this sh!t up...

Fernapple comments on Dec 29, 2022:

Well of course NASA would tell a few of their actors to pretend to be Flat Earthers, would they not, its a double bluff. LOL

Would you prefer that this site be a comfortable echo chamber for like-minded individuals only, or ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 29, 2022:

The wider the range the better and the more stimulating. But, having said that, not all opinions are worthy of equal respect, and any opinion has to stand up to the full force of counter opinion.

“Organised religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 29, 2022:

Especially when they need a way to prop up their prejudices.

I should already be dead. [consumerreports.org]

Fernapple comments on Dec 29, 2022:

Turmeric is another health food, which has also been found to sometimes contain lead at quite high levels.

Scientists publish the first complete human genome | Reuters

Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:

You should not trust any claims made by anyone or any institution entirely. Scientist do not themselves do that, and more than that it is the fundamental principle upon which scientific philosophy is built, that all claims are subject to correction and reevaluation. It is exactly therefore, because it is the only thought system which values its mistakes as good things, that you can trust scientific claims more than any other, though not completely.

Scientists publish the first complete human genome | Reuters

Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:

It is actually quite hard to define what is the genome, since most individuals have some mutations and a lot of genetic variation, not even all the base pairs match up, so saying you have the entire genome, is really a quite subjective statement anyway.

Fat chance 😆 Mary Holding Out Hope For 4th Wise Man Bearing An Air Fryer

Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:

"So Joseph you tell me that you married this young woman, despite the fact that she was pregnant ? Because she told you that it was a miracle, that she was still a virgin, and that the father was God himself. THEN ! You ask me how I explain the fact, that three random rich guys turn up at the birth with expensive presents !"

Terry Pratchett

Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:

Beware of the fantasy you choose and support, even our fantasies blend into our mind and alter our balance. As science seems to be discovering with pornography today. And someone else, may take it literally, therefore you have to be careful what you dream, the dream often births the literal, therefore it is unwise to propagate nightmares even as metaphors.

And they swap as I turn over. 😆

Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:

I know that feeling sadly.

Lies travel faster than the truth.

Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:

This is fun. Truth is naked because the lies stole her clothes and ran of round the world wearing them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_Coming_Out_of_Her_Well

Whoopi Goldberg Reiterates False Claim That Holocaust Wasn't Racist

Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:

The two are not logically different, "white on white" can still be racist, since race is a matter of belief, and the Nazis themselves believed that they were being racist. Since as race is a belief system and not a matter of fact, anyone, including the Nazis, (or W. G. ) are free to put racial divides where they like. Including also, most biologists, who say that their scientific evidence supports the idea that there are no races, though they are to some degree guilty of trying to apply objective evidence to a subjective superstitious belief, which is not strictly valid, even if plainly true. It does not matter if someone like W. G. thinks that they were technically wrong, about their definition of race, since there are no technically valid definitions, and the big mistake is to think there are.

You can only see as far as you think. -Author unknown.

Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2022:

Yes as an inversion of. "You can not see as far as you think." That is quite clever and equally true. Neat.

I don't get the concept of prayer.

Fernapple comments on Dec 26, 2022:

You are not the only one, there have been people who thought that, since at least Epicurus three centuries into BCE. You are in good company.

Agnostic, atheist, druid, buddhist, martian.

Fernapple comments on Dec 26, 2022:

Very heavily shortened but quite good. I prefer Jeff Buckley's though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4

Same place, same memory, 58 years later.

Fernapple comments on Dec 26, 2022:

Clever shot.

Please spend 3 minutes reading this note from William Shatner, the actor from Star Trek: “Last ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 26, 2022:

Of course you don't have to believe in warp drive space travel, to think wrongly that you need not value the earth, just thinking that it is only a preparation for an afterlife, can do that for you.

Today, so very long ago, a very special man was born.

Fernapple comments on Dec 25, 2022:

I visited his birthplace this year. https://agnostic.com/group/photography/discussion/683783/i-and-went-to-visit-woolsthorpe-manor-yesterday-the-birthplace-and-home-of-the-scientist-isaac-new

A more important day

Fernapple comments on Dec 25, 2022:

I went there this Summer. Unlike the cave in Bethlehem this is probably not a fake. https://agnostic.com/group/photography/discussion/683783/i-and-went-to-visit-woolsthorpe-manor-yesterday-the-birthplace-and-home-of-the-scientist-isaac-new

Is advertising a business on this site against community standards?

Fernapple comments on Dec 24, 2022:

No idea. It seems not to happen, and those that try it seem to disappear quickly. Though I have often thought, that it would do no harm for the site to carry a few paid adds.

Why is the site not sending an activation link to my email despite me pressing the re-send button?

Fernapple comments on Dec 24, 2022:

You do not need one if I remember correctly. Just log in as you are doing.

What it should be is the first item which would lead to Atheism but what it is in fact is the second...

Fernapple comments on Dec 24, 2022:

Yes. but you do not need faith to ask challenging questions about yourself, there are many things which can and do lead to that. But. you do need faith to think you know how everyone else should live. He has hit on the deep connection between religion and inhumanity.

My daughter died yesterday.

Fernapple comments on Dec 24, 2022:

I am sorry to hear of your loss. She sounds like my sort of person the world needs more people like her.

Jehovas Vitner taper registrering som trossamfunn. | Statsforvalteren i Oslo og Viken

Fernapple comments on Dec 24, 2022:

Well that is a step forward, and for good reasons, though it still means that there is a subsidy for a lot of other religious communities.

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. My God, there's three of them!

Fernapple comments on Dec 23, 2022:

No there is only one, Christians think that one, plus one, plus one equals one. It not their most illogical idea, but its on the short list.

Cattitude!!

Fernapple comments on Dec 23, 2022:

Well it means that your face is warm. Would not lie there if you had just come in from sweeping the snow.

Reason for the season…

Fernapple comments on Dec 23, 2022:

Amen, to all that.

John Cleese's Classic 'Silly Walk' Burns More Calories Than a Normal Gait, Study Finds ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 23, 2022:

Well yes, your normal gait would probably be the one which burns the least calories.

These are nuns I can get behind.

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2022:

Good for them.

The fossil record is a logical counter to the Xstian notion that the planet Earth is only around ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2022:

There is a real holy book, and strangely it is written with only the letters T A G C , but it tells a story going back three and a half billion years at least. And now we are beginning to read it, it tells us many things we could never have known before. Such as the fact, that at some time about forty thousand years, a man and a female Neanderthal met for sex in the forests of central Europe. Or that about seventy thousand years ago, we nearly died out, probably because the volcano Tambora caused a global catastrophe, so that only a tiny remnant population struggled through in central Africa, with just one surviving female linage. ( Please remind the Bible belt racists, that we are all the children of a black woman, they will love that little factoid. ) Now that is cool too.

It may seem like an ordinary thing but it's an achievement for me to be the first Ugandan on this ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2022:

You are welcome, if you are interesting you soon go up the ranks.

Happy Winter Solstice from Alaska!

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2022:

May the returning sun bring you joy with it.

Trump business losses sharply reduced his tax bill [bbc.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2022:

Of course.

That’s a boat load of cookies!!!🥹

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2022:

I recommend, a three speed hand drill with a three jaw chuck, and a one tenth inch clean cut flange ended wood bit, with the dill set to the lowest speed and torque settings. Use a piece of hardwood not softwood as a base when making the cut. This usually results in a nice neat clean hole in the belt.

Most likely, I posted this last year, but being a creature of some habit, am doing so again.

Fernapple comments on Dec 22, 2022:

Happy Yule, and may the returning sun bring you joy.

The Real Reason for the Season. Happy Winter Solstice & a New Moon soon.

Fernapple comments on Dec 21, 2022:

Great photos. And may the returning sun bring joy to you too.

Whatever your hemisphere…

Fernapple comments on Dec 21, 2022:

And may the returning sun bring joy to you.

[washingtonpost.

Fernapple comments on Dec 21, 2022:

Yes it has been on here before. Seems they shot him full of arrows.

Trump paid no federal income tax in 2020. Anyone surprised?

Fernapple comments on Dec 21, 2022:

No.

Israeli archaeologists excavating 'Jesus midwife' tomb The Israeli antiquities authority says ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 21, 2022:

Big grand tomb, midwives must have earned really good money in those days then, not like today. (Irony.)

I hope this is not my last post.

Fernapple comments on Dec 21, 2022:

Hang on and fight hard, there are a lot of people who really value you.

Neil deGrasse Tyson: DO THIS Every Morning To Find Happiness & Meaning In Your Life

Fernapple comments on Dec 21, 2022:

"How to be a wonderful engaging communicator." Quoting the interviewer, near the end.

Wishing everyone in the site a Happy Winter Solstice.

Fernapple comments on Dec 21, 2022:

Happy ancient festive season, celebrating the return of daylight and warmth, to you too.

I love it🥰🥰🥰

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2022:

You don't mean that some of your local governments are at last, giving up on their horrible addiction to grass shaving ?!!! Welcome to the twenty first century USA. ( Well there are a few other things, but lets not be negative. )

I can think of an exception... But watch out..you're warned!!

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2022:

Hard to find clients for a lot of them though, could be standing outside blocking the pavement for a long time.

IMAGINATION IS THE CLOSEST TO BEING GODLIKE Imagination is the living agent of all human ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2022:

I don't know that imagination always wins over will. Most of us can imagine robbing a bank, but most of us have the restraint not to do it.

The truth of being green

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2022:

And when you factor in the losses during transmission down the power lines ? In countries where all the power is green energy perhaps, but there are not many of those yet, however if you do not sometimes move forward you will never improve.

It's a mental illness, it's always those who already have too much that can never get enough.

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2022:

I also remember seeing a study, which said that poor people give a bigger percentage of their income to charity.

Tell me with whom you share a coffee and I will tell you who you are.

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2022:

My friends, especially the ones from my village.

“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, then you’ll have to settle for the ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2022:

Yes, but the ordinary can be profound.

As an Atheist do you still choose to listen to Christmas music?

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2022:

No. Not because it is Christian, but just because most of it is horrible.

Ok... you can uncross your eyes now

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2022:

M. Monroe, though at first I thought it looked like D. Trump. That's what can happen when you get old.

I was trying to figure out someone's complicated insurance—a strange brew of higher math and, ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2022:

Nice rant, I feel for you.

Neighbor Shoots Black Airbnb Guest Simply Walking To Grocery Store - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2022:

In a country which values not only racism but also gun addiction.

In reference to the image meme; If you were raised a theist, what (approximate) age were you when...

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2022:

Sorry this will be a long one, I can't make it shorter. I took a more convoluted route, since like many in the UK I was raised as only a nominal Christian, with little real contact with the actual faith. I did however grow up thinking that people who embraced such a selfless value system, as that preached by Jesus, must be basically very good people, though my family cast doubts on the validity of the more extreme forms. I did however, like many in the UK, where the schools were largely controlled by the church, end up going to a Christian school. Where I was sadly disillusioned, to find that many who preached and followed Christianity, were often in fact quite horrible people, and their professed Christian values shallow. While being raised to ask questions and respect science and evidence, I soon found it hard to believe literally as I was asked to. Especially so, after my school teachers forbade the reading of the classical literature of Rome and Greece. Because, they said, it was wholly out of date, immoral, and of no worth in the modern Christian world. So of course being a child, and being told not to do something, I read all of them I could get. I only half understood them, and I do not now, agree with much of what I read, but they did tell me, that there were alternate views to the Christian dogma, and that the Christians did not have a monopoly on virtue. (Also that my school teachers told lies.) I was then, at about thirteen or fourteen, introduced to the metaphorical cult, where religion is seen as a metaphor, not to be taken literally, but to be interpreted as containing deep wisdom, ( Often hidden and cryptic wisdom. ) which is today, the main cult among the English clergy. And for a while it seemed to resolve all the problems. But then at higher education I met a school master, perhaps the most horrible and dishonest of all people I ever met, who espoused the metaphorical cult as his main ideology, but used it to justify the most horrible extremes of racism, class bias and sexism. At which point I learned that wisdom could not be based on interpretation alone, and that things which are most open to interpretation, but are still treated with respect as supposed sources of deep ( Magical.) wisdom, are the natural intellectual weapon of the criminally minded. And I became aware of the deep dishonesty of a clergy, who preached literal belief to the congregation on Sunday, and reaped the benefits of that, while talking the metaphorical cult among themselves on weekdays. Who poured scorn on science, yet made claims that their wild metaphorical interpretations came with the same rigour, and the same value as science. The relativists, many different ways of seeing the truth, but all equal, view, and that hard work, courage and ...

An interesting opinion piece, clearly identified as an opinion piece by RT.

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2022:

Which ever side wins, even if one side does win and the conflict does not last forever, as some do. Some large section of the civil population will suffer ethnic cleansing and worse. That is a given, it can not be avoided either way. But if it goes on forever, then both sides will suffer endlessly. Therefore it is simple maths, that it is better to accept that one or another crime against humanity will happen, and endeavour for a quick end. While given that Russia is the primary aggressor, and has shown itself more willing to commit more serious crimes, it is reasonable logic to support the Ukraine, as the lesser of two evils. Not good but just the lesser evil.

Religious beliefs

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2022:

No. Because it almost inevitably has the opposite effect. If people have real knowledge, and the willingness to help humanity, then they will try to share that knowledge, by reasoning, free debate and education etc. and as a last resort they may use, things like, tradition and superstition as leaverage, because the fake authority of those things can be powerful in persuading people. ( Its sometimes called the fallacy of proof by authority.) But only as a last resort, because people with good ideas will usually believe that honesty, evidence and reason are enough. People however who hold to bad ideas, especially the criminally intended and those who do not even believe themselves, that their ideas can be supported by reason, evidence, science and open debate etc. Will naturally reach for the fake authority given by religion, tradition and superstition. It is their first go to choice, in part, because it is usually so muddled that it can be interpreted to mean anything you want however crazy. Which is why there is a deep sibling connection, between religion and anti-social, anti-science and even criminally immoral ideals. Which may not have mattered much once, but as secular philosophies such as the social contract and science advance, those opposed to all education, intellectual growth and human advancement, will increasingly make religion their own. While with our increasing numbers and technical power making us more dangerous, the need for science, evidence, education, good democratic debate and reason grow ever more critical with time.

Group photos….

Fernapple comments on Dec 18, 2022:

Five gingers in a row. Did you know that when the Vikings raided and traded across Europe and the North Atlantic, one of their most valued trade goods were ginger cats. They sold for a fortune. The reason was that at that time, the ginger colour form was a new mutation, no one had ever seen one before, and they became for a while the most valued and fashionable of pets, and the Vikings had the only breeding stock.

It’s been a minute…

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2022:

And your mother said that you failed the interview, but somehow her letter got lost.

I Know There Is No God.

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2022:

I have never seen credible evidence either way, therefore I remain agnostic on the issue of whether a god exists or not. However to stir the pot a little I will say that, I do not think it an important question, with any value even as a question. Since the existence or none existence of a god would make no difference to anything. I think that muffins are much more interesting. ABOUT MUFFINS. Suppose for a minute, and for the sake of argument only, that there is a god, and an afterlife, including heaven and a hell; and that the god chooses whether people go to heaven, or if some go to hell, in fact the whole theist deal. Not only that, but the criterion on which the god makes the choice is based on the type of muffins they eat. ( Note: “eat” not prefer, this is not about free will or anything like that.) People who eat lemon muffins go to heaven and people who eat chocolate muffins go to hell, with limbo for those who don't eat muffins at all, naturally. Would that make a difference to your life ? Would you give up your chocolate muffins for an eternity of joy, and all the lemon buns after death you could ever eat ? Perhaps you would. But there is one vital thing that I forgot to mention about this god, which is that; this particular god, does not tell you about his thoughts on muffins, or how they affect your afterlife, in fact it keeps the whole thing a big secret just to itself, so that you have no way of knowing which muffins you have to eat. Then in that case, of course, you could not make the appropriate changes to your life, or save your soul anyway. In fact muffins, the gods preferences and even that god, would not impact on your life at all. The point is this. That a gods, souls, the afterlife etc. have no effect on anything, unless that god, spirit, or someone who knows, tells you about it, and you therefore have some knowledge of god's cake prejudices. Making this the big difference between religion, which pretends to offer knowledge of god the afterlife etc., and none belief which does not. Which is why the difference between atheists, humanists, agnostics and even deists, is so small and unimportant by comparison, because none claim any knowledge of gods preferences, and it is the pretense of fake knowledge, and of god given authority, or even the authority of tradition which makes the big difference to the religious and secular views. Compared with that the differences between atheist and agnostic, even deist, are trivial to the point of vanishing.

The psychology of science denial, doubt and disbelief: [youtube.com] (36 minutes long)

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2022:

Yep, things don't just change rapidly in science, in the video they came out in praise of Twitter, which since then, has of course been sold to someone who wants to take it back to the stone age.

Germ theory denial in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic: [sciencebasedmedicine.

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2022:

Good overview. Though a lot of it is well known. I always myself think that there is a wonderful irony, in the for profits/anti big pharma denial. Since perhaps yes, big pharma may make huge profits out of drug and vax. But do they not see that if big pharma went away, then the so called alternatives, of diet supplements, air cleaners, environment enhancers, crystals etc. would still be, (And are.) sold for big profits, probably by the same people. If big pharma were really only motivated by profits, regardless of the lack of evidence for the usefulness of the product, or even its harm, then they would sell you crystals too.

If you created the higher power "government " which is imaginary and followed its orders OR You ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2022:

God is a word without fixed meaning, it can mean anything you want it to. Therefore there would be no difference between a higher power government and a god, they are the same thing. Just as if you overvalue and over respect them, you can make the equivalent of a god, and therefore a true god, out of tradition, culture, art, sport, political ideology, and even religion itself. I know some who worship religion, as an institution, mindlessly , though they claim not to believe in a literal god, yet in worshiping religion, (Which is what they are doing.) they make it into just the same sort of fake idol, with the same failings, as a theist god.

Massive Berlin Aquarium Bursts, Flooding Streets With 1,500 Tropical Fish : NPR

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2022:

Yep. The the Cardinal fish did it because his Cod told him to.