Paul4747's Profile

Safety versus freedom. Make of that what you will. Any thoughts?

Toonces comments on May 6, 2020:

Why is it one or the other?

Paul4747 replies on May 6, 2020:

Because right-wing libertarians like setting up this strawman.

"Plandemic" Rebutal ?

SenorRotten comments on May 6, 2020:

Check RationalWiki, Snopes, Factcheck and a host of other reputable sites.

Paul4747 replies on May 6, 2020:

@SenorRotten I think Snopes in particular are accused of being biased towards the Clintons, and it was claimed that the DNC and George Soros stage-manage them; while FactCheck is involved with those horrible liberal newspapers, and you know they're the enemy of the people.

"Plandemic" Rebutal ?

SenorRotten comments on May 6, 2020:

Check RationalWiki, Snopes, Factcheck and a host of other reputable sites.

Paul4747 replies on May 6, 2020:

People who believe these theories also tend to dismiss Snopes, *because they're in on it...* (sinister whisper)

"Plandemic" Rebutal ?

Surfpirate comments on May 6, 2020:

Parts of this video set off my Bullshit Detector, it was too choppy and convoluted in presenting a reasonable argument. What it amounted to was casting aspersions on the CDC, Dr. Fauci, Bill Gates and the WHO, suggestions of corruption, greed and criminal acts are not the same thing as producing a ...

Paul4747 replies on May 6, 2020:

If I may rebut your not-quite-a-rebuttal: The shambles of a response in the UK and USA was due largely to a political agenda, not to promote a disease or to promote drug manufacturers, but to deny the *need for* any response and indeed, deny the crisis in the first place. 34 times over the course of the first 3 months of this year, Trump downplayed the problem because he feared it would bring the economy down on his watch. He also praised China's response, a course he's now reversed. It's apparently now all China's fault. "The numbers are not as high" *precisely because* of social distancing and the other measures taken to prevent the spread of the virus. You may not know anyone who has died of the disease, but that's because deaths are *only*(!!!) around 60,000 compared to the numbers we might have right now without taking measures, according to the more optimistic models. And since I work in the prison system, where we now have almost daily deaths among infected prisoners and have lost staff members as well, I almost guarantee that I know someone who's died- even though we don't publicize the names of the prisoners and they're now quarantined at a different facility from mine. The "lackluster" response of public health organizations has been because they've had one hand tied behind their backs by their political masters. Witness the fact that part of the White House pandemic response is headed by Trump's son-in-law, and staffed by volunteers from the corporate world, who, it turns out, knew nothing about procuring PPE for American hospitals and actgually modified a website to say that the national stockpile was *not* meant to supply the states, after all. Drs. Fauci and Birx have had to spend vital hours every day correcting the misinformation that Trump blathers, rather than actually doing their jobs. There's no conspiracy here. It's simply that people like Donald Trump and Boris Johnson are the worst people to have running a nation at this time. Witness New Zealand and Australia's success in fighting the virus. New Zealand is now at a negative rate of infection and Australia is almost flat. Germany is another prime example, in the middle of Europe. We could have done this.

Is there a way to check whether a certain profile has been flagged as spam or catfishing?

powder comments on May 5, 2020:

Spam spam spam spam, everybody loves spam!

Paul4747 replies on May 6, 2020:

Especially Hagbard Etheldronga and his Viking Horde.

Ok so I'm not sure how many parts of the country are getting it but the My Pillow guy is hawking ...

DavidDuhon comments on May 5, 2020:

So, if the complexity of the universe proves there must be a designer, would the designer not have to be more complex than their creation. So they must also have a designer, etc, etc, ad infinitum, and most certainly an absurdity.

Paul4747 replies on May 6, 2020:

@Joanne We're dealing with more than one interconnected law of thermodynamics, though. According to the First Law of Thermodynamics ‘Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed, it can only be transformed from one form to another’. According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which does not violate the first law, energy which is transformed from one state to another is not always useful and 100% as taken. So it can be stated that ‘ The entropy (degree of disorders) of an isolated system never decreases rather always increases’. If this were not true, it would be possible to invent a perpetual motion engine (which is probably something the current White House has the Department of Energy looking into, if the truth be known.) So by my thinking, it's arguable, once energy is converted to a non-useful form, that it no longer is energy per se. A pertinent example is pollution; as a waste product of energy, it may be eternal in some sense, but it's no longer in any useful form, and I don't regard it as "energy" any more.

Tuesday Morning fire!

Oldman51 comments on May 5, 2020:

almost as good as tits on a tank. Really need more violent women. Really need more violence in this world

Paul4747 replies on May 5, 2020:

Dude, it's Natasha. Black Widow from the Marvel comics. Relax.

Ok so I'm not sure how many parts of the country are getting it but the My Pillow guy is hawking ...

DavidDuhon comments on May 5, 2020:

So, if the complexity of the universe proves there must be a designer, would the designer not have to be more complex than their creation. So they must also have a designer, etc, etc, ad infinitum, and most certainly an absurdity.

Paul4747 replies on May 5, 2020:

@Joanne Except that energy isn't really eternal, entropy means everything runs down until the heat death of the universe. (Very roughly speaking.)

Why Religion Is Not Going Away and Science Will Not Destroy It

Paul4747 comments on May 2, 2020:

Unfortunately, since the time of Galileo, both 1) and 2) are true. If religion is the revealed and infallible word of a god, and science then contradicts that word, then one or the other must be false. Since science is testable and subject to repeated experiment and peer review, we can determine ...

Paul4747 replies on May 2, 2020:

@TheMiddleWay I'm an historian myself, not specializing in the history of science, but in social science, which means I look especially at "the popular mind", as the article terms it. And 85 pecent of religions may very well accept science as helpful, but that's like saying 85 percent of Republicans aren't enthusiastic about Trump; they're the quiet ones. It's the loudest voices that result in the public's perception, so when, for example, the state of Kansas wants to teach "Intelligent Design" (Creationism in a three-piece suit) in the classrooms on equal footing with real science, that's what people see; fundamentalist Christians rejecting science and insisting that it's all just a matter of opinion. The public understanding of science worldwide is woefully inadequate, due in large part to the efforts of fundamentalist religion to keep it there.

How would you feel if someone gave you unsolicited advice about your appearance?

DoctoralZombie comments on May 1, 2020:

Eat quinoa, lift and fart and get swole, jog till your toenails fall off, die anyway. If you are strong and healthy and powerful, you are enough- and so amazingly beautiful. This man is an insufferable *sshole; feel free to tell him so.

Paul4747 replies on May 2, 2020:

What a horrible curse. Quinoa is a terrible thing for anyone to eat.

Religion can heal and harm. We've seen both during the pandemic - CNN

HerbertNewsam comments on May 1, 2020:

I often wonder if such acts of those believers do think about storing brownie points with a invisible god. Since they all fall short of said commandments, forgiveness is foremost in their minds. Agreed some good can come from bad things, for many do believe without holding it against those thinking ...

Paul4747 replies on May 2, 2020:

@Triphid Indulgences

A former client I had went up to me and said "You're a really intelligent person aren't you?

Paul4747 comments on May 2, 2020:

If you think pro wrestling or other forms of "reality" TV are actually real... well, it would cast some doubts, is all I'm saying.

Paul4747 replies on May 2, 2020:

@VeronikaAnnJ My work here is done. I must go now, for I am needed elsewhere.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgbBy9hmZjA

Why Religion Is Not Going Away and Science Will Not Destroy It

t1nick comments on Apr 30, 2020:

I agree the first one is truly a myth. No matter how socially encompassing science becomes in society, there will always be religion. There are always weak minds who prefer to be told rather than asking the hard questions and questioning eatliercheld paradigms. However, science and religion are...

Paul4747 replies on May 1, 2020:

Elegantly stated. Thank you.

“If God isn’t real, what's the point of living at all when one day you’re just going to ...

anglophone comments on Apr 30, 2020:

"Good God! And exactly to which God do you refer?" (Slaps the imbecile about the face with a wet fish.)

Paul4747 replies on Apr 30, 2020:

@anglophone This is the only proper reply to your comment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8XeDvKqI4E Enjoy.

A little kinky

dave1459 comments on Apr 30, 2020:

It looks like she can get her hands out. No safe word needed

Paul4747 replies on Apr 30, 2020:

@Davekp The best safe word is "Meatloaf". Because "I would do anything for love, but I won't do that."

Humanist Chaplains Reach Landmark Recognition by Prison System - American Humanist Association

motrubl4u comments on Apr 30, 2020:

I'm not big on criminals getting anything.

Paul4747 replies on Apr 30, 2020:

6 out of 7 people now in prison will be getting out, either through parole or by reaching their maximum sentence. You have a choice of how you want them returning to your neighborhood: bitter and angry over how they were treated in prison and looking for paybacks (and remember, payback's a bitch), or possibly rehabilitated, with some job skills, and prepared to be self-supporting, tax-paying, useful members of society. I know what my preference is. Being in prison, deprived of the basic freedom to even use the toilet in private, is dehumanizing enough. Anything that aids their rehabilitation is not a bad thing in my book.

What sayings would one have to stop using if they wanted to fully De God their life?

ErikK comments on Apr 27, 2020:

I use less-conventional forms when I speak. Gods forbid. Thank Goddess. It fills the need for the expression but anyone who is paying attention gets the signal that I'm not in the christian mainsteam.

Paul4747 replies on Apr 30, 2020:

As a (lapsed) Discordian, I often invoke Goddess. I also sometimes say "Hail Eris", just because it freaks people out a little. Technically I'm still a Pope of the Discordian movement, but that's no big deal because *everybody* is a Pope in the Discordian movement. It was their way of one-upping Kirby Hensley's Universal Life Church ordaining people as ministers for $75. Becoming a Pope is free (and you don't even have to ask, it just happens!).

What sayings would one have to stop using if they wanted to fully De God their life?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 26, 2020:

These phrases are part of our shared culture that goes back hundreds of years. To "fully de-god" one's life, one would also have to give up literary references like "a drop in the bucket", "a house divided", "a labor of love", "all things must pass", "to all things a season", "by the skin of my ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 30, 2020:

@SanDiegoAirport Very gracious of you to say. I could have continued for another paragraph or two, but only at the risk of droning on.

A different perspective; Is the fight against COVID19 worse than the disease?

JonnaBononna comments on Apr 27, 2020:

I'm just going to drop this right here.... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-prisons-testing-in-idUSKCN2270RX

Paul4747 replies on Apr 27, 2020:

@JonnaBononna Thank you. A corrections officer thanks you. @Flowerwall The issue isn't only that prisoners are being tested because they don't have a choice about social distancing, and once the infection is in it's going to spread like wildfire. (Example- one facility here in Michigan found approximately *300* positive cases in a day once they began testing all the prisoners.) The issue is that staff like me have no choice but to go to work and face exposure, and we have no way of knowing which prisoners have the virus unless they're tested, so we can't take appropriate measures other than wearing a mask and *trying* to stay 6 feet away from everyone- which is impossible when you have to make rounds in a housing unit or on the yard, There just isn't 6 feet to spare. So we face exposure every minute of the day, and then we risk bringing it home to our families, to strangers in stores, to who knows who? And it's a choice between doing our job or getting fired from our jobs. It's absolutely in the public interest to control the spread in prisons, because members of the public are also who go to work there.

Would you like to understand reality?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 26, 2020:

It may be that at the subatomic level, matter as we encounter it doesn't exist. However, that's not helpful to consider at an everyday level. On an everyday level, a baseball hurled at your forehead will knock you out, because both it and your forehead are made of matter. And the universe exists, ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 26, 2020:

@JeffMesser Yes, I know exactly what you're saying. And if consciousness does not originate from the electrical, biological and chemical reactions of the brain, it doesn't originate from anything. Mind and body are intimately connected, and one can't exist without the other. You seem to be under a delusion that you are other than your body. If you aren't your body, what are you? In this whole thread, you haven't given anyone an actual, non-vague-mystical-BS answer to the question of what your supposed "truth" is.

Would you like to understand reality?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 26, 2020:

It may be that at the subatomic level, matter as we encounter it doesn't exist. However, that's not helpful to consider at an everyday level. On an everyday level, a baseball hurled at your forehead will knock you out, because both it and your forehead are made of matter. And the universe exists, ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 26, 2020:

@JeffMesser For Avicenna, truth is "what corresponds in the mind to what is outside it". I agree.

The Satanic Temple Is Now Officially an IRS-Approved Tax-Exempt Church | Hemant Mehta | Friendly ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 25, 2020:

Good, give the Devil equal time. Or as suggested by @Donotbelieve, "Give the Devil his due."

Paul4747 replies on Apr 25, 2020:

@Donotbelieve Absolutely not! I wouldn't dare take credit for your idea. But I'll use it, and give credit where it's due ;)

The Satanic Temple Is Now Officially an IRS-Approved Tax-Exempt Church | Hemant Mehta | Friendly ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 25, 2020:

Good, give the Devil equal time. Or as suggested by @Donotbelieve, "Give the Devil his due."

Paul4747 replies on Apr 25, 2020:

@Donotbelieve Aw damn, now I wish I'd used that one. Thanks to the magic of the Edit command, it is so done :D

The Satanic Temple Is Now Officially an IRS-Approved Tax-Exempt Church | Hemant Mehta | Friendly ...

Gatovicolo comments on Apr 25, 2020:

Asatru, the druids, Wicca and satanists. They’re all posers.

Paul4747 replies on Apr 25, 2020:

Actually, except for Satanists, they're all older than Christianity. Who exactly are the posers again?

😋😜 Look what I got.. Nah nah... 😂 I can touch them anytime I want...

Charlene comments on Apr 25, 2020:

I touch mine all the time..😈😈😈😈

Paul4747 replies on Apr 25, 2020:

@Cutiebeauty Me too... (Mine, I mean!)

Someone mentioned there's a sword in this photo? I still can't see anything but the redhead...

Cutiebeauty comments on Apr 25, 2020:

Bring your own sword...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 25, 2020:

She would have the advantage of me in a duel

Citing a ‘primary outcome’ of death, researchers cut chloroquine coronavirus study short over ...

Silver1wun comments on Apr 24, 2020:

Yes, the 'safety' of their plans to formulate a vaccine worth potentially billions. There is not threat to life from this drug when dosage is properly prescribed. Like any other potential good news, efficacy of anything as a treatment for active cases reduces ultimate dependence or perceived ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 24, 2020:

24 out of 81 patients *died* when taking this medicine as it was suggested as a cure for Covid-19. *DIED*. That's not an opinion or something rigged to skew the results so that people would prefer vaccine research, they outright died. This isn't a disease with a shortcut cure. This medicine didn't even work on mice in the original study. We need a vaccine.

I really wish they would stop rubbing this in...

FearlessFly comments on Apr 19, 2020:

. . . oh, what a burden you bear -- not.

Paul4747 replies on Apr 19, 2020:

Whatever

Making home self quarantine sound more heroic.

Novelty comments on Apr 19, 2020:

Could it be as simple as appealing to the alpha male Jungian archetype? Of course it is, it always is, sickening really. 💋

Paul4747 replies on Apr 19, 2020:

@Surfpirate @Novelty Just because we use the term "alpha male" doesn't make them that. They don't demonstrate the real qualities that would make them leaders. I was Infantry, where our motto was "Follow me!" That's what makes a leader.

Making home self quarantine sound more heroic.

Novelty comments on Apr 19, 2020:

Could it be as simple as appealing to the alpha male Jungian archetype? Of course it is, it always is, sickening really. 💋

Paul4747 replies on Apr 19, 2020:

@Novelty @Surfpirate What's your concept of an Alpha? The Alpha pair in a wolf pack are responsible for protecting the rest, defending the young, and leading the hunt. They're not aggressive within the pack, they're emotionally secure. In fact it's the alpha female who seems to make the decisions on where to travel and where to hunt, then the male goes where she points. Papa Wolf is not a bad thing to be. Just don't mess with the cubs.

Sunday afternoon picnic, anyone? They've got the blanket out...

motrubl4u comments on Apr 19, 2020:

I will violate social distancing for them lol

Paul4747 replies on Apr 19, 2020:

Who wouldn't?

Why is the Satanic Temple officially recognised as a tax-exempt religious organisation.

Word comments on Apr 18, 2020:

Why is the secret religion of the Masonic Lodge secret religion racist devil worshipers, most commonly and publicly known as the government of the United States of America, since the Masonic Lodge secret religion racist devil worshipers freedom from England July 4, 1776, being lead by the angelic ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 19, 2020:

@Castlepaloma Just one more thing. In a criminal case in 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington noted: 'Defendant [Kenneth Wayne Leaming] is apparently a member of a group loosely styled "sovereign citizens". The Court has deduced this from a number of Defendant's peculiar habits. First, like Mr. Leaming, sovereign citizens are fascinated by capitalization. **They appear to believe that capitalizing names have some sort of legal effect.** For example, Defendant writes that "the REGISTERED FACTS appearing in the above Paragraph evidence the uncontroverted and uncontrovertible FACTS that the SLAVERY SYSTEMS operated in the names UNITED STATES, United States, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and United States of America ... are terminated nunc pro tunc by public policy, U.C.C. 1-103 ..." (Def.'s Mandatory Jud. Not. at 2.) **He appears to believe that by capitalizing "United States", he is referring to a different entity than the federal government. For better or for worse, it's the same country.** Second, sovereign citizens, like Mr. Leaming, love grandiose legalese. "COMES NOW, Kenneth Wayne, born free to the family Leaming, [date of birth redacted], constituent to The People of the State of Washington constituted 1878 and admitted to the union 22 February 1889 by Act of Congress, a Man, "State of Body" competent to be a witness and having First Hand Knowledge of The FACTS ..." (Def.'s Mandatory Jud. Not. at 1.) Third, Defendant evinces, like all sovereign citizens, a belief that the federal government is not real and that he does not have to follow the law. Thus, Defendant argues that as a result of the "REGISTERED FACTS", the "states of body, persons, actors and other parties perpetuating the above-captioned transaction(s) [i.e., the Court and prosecutors] are engaged ... in acts of TREASON, and if unknowingly as victims of TREASON and FRAUD ..." (Def.'s Mandatory Jud. Not. at 2.) The Court, therefore, feels some measure of responsibility to inform Defendant that all the fancy legal-sounding things he has read on the internet are make-believe ...' You might want to keep this ruling in mind.

Why is the Satanic Temple officially recognised as a tax-exempt religious organisation.

Word comments on Apr 18, 2020:

Why is the secret religion of the Masonic Lodge secret religion racist devil worshipers, most commonly and publicly known as the government of the United States of America, since the Masonic Lodge secret religion racist devil worshipers freedom from England July 4, 1776, being lead by the angelic ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 19, 2020:

@Castlepaloma > "Plus your name in capitals on your ID is not your real name." Okay, I'm just going to address this bit of drivel before I say goodbye forever. This is a fictitious argument invented decades ago. Your name is your name, no matter what construction is placed on the letters. As an *actual* lawyer writes, "In fact, names are not written in capital letters on all legal documents and doing so is really more a question of style than anything else. Over my twenty plus years as an attorney, I have prepared hundreds of legal documents. Sometimes they were prepared with names all in capitals; sometimes they were not. I think perhaps that capital letters are more likely to be used when the parties to the document are less sophisticated in order to emphasize the significance of the document they are about to sign." My source here (which took all of 5 minutes to find) is Quora, and on the same page is a copy of a Louisiana birth certificate on which a person's name is typed out with only the first letters of the name capitalized- blowing a hole in the idea that people are uniformly assigned some fictional legal strawman identity from birth. https://www.quora.com/Why-are-names-written-in-capital-letters-on-all-the-legal-documents The simple, non-conspiratorial truth is that block capital letters are easier to read on a form. That's all it is. It's the choice of the jurisdiction involved whether or not to use all caps on a document. The line of reasoning you're following is all part of the Sovereign movement, of which I'm well aware. I don't know whether you accept those ideas in full, and frankly I don't care, but if you do, be aware that I consider you all a bunch of raving nutters. Imagining that the U. S. is "owned" by England or the Vatican, filing false leins against people for using their "copyrighted" name, claiming that the Federal Government doesn't actually have any authority... and all based on "logic" that I can poke a wet noodle through. I once read someone arguing that he could get out of speeding tickets by calling the radar detector as a witness, and that the judge dismissed the case because the piece of machinery wasn't able to testify. Bullshit. Your name on a document is just.... your name on a document, no matter the capitalization. You're only a corporation if you incorporate yourself under the law. And the word "incorporated" has several different meanings, as in "incorporated township" versus "Boeing Corporation". When you deliberately confuse the meanings, all you're doing is deluding yourself. Have a nice life. Seek professional mental help.

Let's discuss censorship.

Paul4747 comments on Apr 18, 2020:

A) Censorship generally means something the government does. This is a private site, it's their house and their rules. The 1st Amendment has nothing to say about it. B) That said, I self-censor more than anything. I have a skewed sense of humor, but I ask myself, "Would I want to read this, if ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 19, 2020:

@TomMcGiverin Moreover, for those who so choose, there's a filter control that actually bleeps out the bad language in your view if you turn it on. It actually turns "fuck" to "f^^^" or "shit" to "s^^^". So users on this site have no excuse for being offended by language; they are in fact *choosing* to be offended by leaving it unfiltered. I remind myself, whenever I find myself getting a little salty, that "Anyone who doesn't have the filter turned on must not mind this kind of talk, so... fuck 'em."

Thoughts on globalization.

PBuck0145 comments on Apr 18, 2020:

International cooperation between sovereign nations is definitely required for the betterment of humanity. Since the so-called "Arab Spring", it has been evident that Globalism has been facilitating and encouraging the propagation of the cruel, oppressive, imperialistic, totalitarian political ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 18, 2020:

Like all words, "globalism" can have more than one meaning. If you're thinking of it as a shorthand for the way industry treats the world as a market for raw materials and cheap labor from one half, and a market for selling at high prices to the other half, then I tend to agree. But others may think of globalism as meaning that it's time to put petty nationalist disputes behind us, and unify behind things that matter- like climate change, ending war and poverty, decent health care and education for all, things of this nature. And to do that, we need to educate everyone into a new mindset, including those in the Middle East, that conflict is not the way forward. Unfortunately, we in the US, one of the three remaining superpowers, are currently presided over by a President who doesn't believe in climate change,, sees international relations as a zero-sum game where someone has to lose for the other party to win, and withdrew us from the international treaty on land mines because he felt it was inconvenient. And he also thinks torture is something we should do. In other words, the exact opposite of the leader we need to help usher in an era of global cooperation.

Why is the Satanic Temple officially recognised as a tax-exempt religious organisation.

Word comments on Apr 18, 2020:

Why is the secret religion of the Masonic Lodge secret religion racist devil worshipers, most commonly and publicly known as the government of the United States of America, since the Masonic Lodge secret religion racist devil worshipers freedom from England July 4, 1776, being lead by the angelic ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 18, 2020:

@Castlepaloma No, he (Word- I can't remember what his prior username was) is just a troll. Quoting from Revelation as if it is a real prophetic vision, and moreover, as if the Social Security System is a sign of the Apocalypse, is just trolling the atheists. Furthermore, he pastes this same basic quote pretty much every time he responds to anything. The U.S. Government is not a "corporation" in anything except the imagination of conspiracy theorists. Please find me one quote of a former President warning of "a secret society running everything".

It seems like with so many different beliefs and religions in the world it would be impractical if ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 17, 2020:

It occurred to me many years ago that if any god existed, and said god cared about being believed in, it would be a simple matter to appear in the sky in an unmistakable way and remind the world once a month or so that he/she/it was still around. Something like, **"Just checking in, sorry about the ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 17, 2020:

@AHWalter1989 Time to go into business

Why did 'god' create Atheists (or Agnostics, or Secular Humanists)

Paul4747 comments on Apr 17, 2020:

Seems like a trick question.... This is yet *another* paradox for believers. If God knowingly, deliberately created humans as flawed and free-willed creatures (Psalm 103:14, "For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust"), how then can we face eternal punishment for exercising that ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 17, 2020:

@Storm1752 Who's the Goat? They can both be a goat if they want, can't they? I mean, Halloween is months off yet anyway. ;)

It seems like with so many different beliefs and religions in the world it would be impractical if ...

Paul4747 comments on Apr 17, 2020:

It occurred to me many years ago that if any god existed, and said god cared about being believed in, it would be a simple matter to appear in the sky in an unmistakable way and remind the world once a month or so that he/she/it was still around. Something like, **"Just checking in, sorry about the ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 17, 2020:

@AHWalter1989 I wasn't thinking of it in terms of Occam but that works. "Occam's Razor" is just "common sense" in fancy dress. People who say "God moves in mysterious ways" are just disguising the fact that there's no sense in believing in a benevolent god whose supposed benevolence is indistinguishable from random chance. A "miraculous" survival of 1 person when 300 others died in a plane crash isn't a miracle; the miracle would be a plane crash where *nobody* died. I want a T-shirt that reads "I Shaved With Occam's Razor"....

Why did 'god' create Atheists (or Agnostics, or Secular Humanists)

Paul4747 comments on Apr 17, 2020:

Seems like a trick question.... This is yet *another* paradox for believers. If God knowingly, deliberately created humans as flawed and free-willed creatures (Psalm 103:14, "For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust"), how then can we face eternal punishment for exercising that ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 17, 2020:

@DevilMayCare > i don't understand, generally, why people spend so much time on this site, arguing about religion, one way or the other I suppose it's for pretty much the same reason that people on Xian and other religious sites spend so much time discussing how they can bring atheists and agnostics back to God, or else gloating over how we're all going to be burning come the Apocalypse. This is an "Agnostic" website, after all; the one thing that unites us all is our self-defined freedom from religion and, by implication, an opposition to being ruled by it. Consider how much of the world is currently ruled by religion, and the fact that almost every religion considers it their duty to run the world in the name of their god. This is a worrying prospect for agnostics and atheists. I recognized this was a quote you pasted, not your original story, and for what it's worth, I applaud the sentiment behind it. Empathy is all too rare these days, as the world becomes more and more polarized. Unfortunately there are too few who are willing to reach out and put themselves in someone else's shoes, especially someone they see as an opponent.

The Bitter Disappointment of No Biscuits

Lauren comments on Apr 16, 2020:

Geez, I'd think biscuits would be one of their staples ... how disappointing. Are they permanently out?

Paul4747 replies on Apr 16, 2020:

@Lauren Yes indeed. Gone, for now, are the days when one could flag down a passing server and say, "Excuse me, I ordered a side of biscuits," and get the reply, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'll bring those right away!"

The Bitter Disappointment of No Biscuits

Lauren comments on Apr 16, 2020:

Geez, I'd think biscuits would be one of their staples ... how disappointing. Are they permanently out?

Paul4747 replies on Apr 16, 2020:

No, no- they just forgot to put my order in the bag!

‘Tremendous Victory’ For Wildlife: Federal Judge Invalidates Keystone XL Pipeline Permit

Paul4747 comments on Apr 16, 2020:

America is now the biggest petroleum producer in the world. *In the freakin' WORLD*. What do they need with a pipeline?

Paul4747 replies on Apr 16, 2020:

@Lorajay This makes so much sense it saddens me.

Bernie Sanders: "I Quit, But I Don't Quit"

Dancing comments on Apr 8, 2020:

Get behind Biden? Hahaha. No. This is a worse choice than Hillary. We are screwed.

Paul4747 replies on Apr 13, 2020:

@towkneed Non Sequitor

In the UK, a woman supporting the opposition party to Boris Johnson's government commented on ...

noworry28 comments on Apr 10, 2020:

We tend to forget that free speech is not a universally given right in every country. In the U.S. we enjoy that right more than other countries, and we have the courts to remedy any infringement on that right. However with conservative judges being appointed by our current president, and Mitch ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 11, 2020:

@ArtemisDivine There's no debate whether many Southern Democrats (the party that hisorically, from the 1800s, opposed Emancipation and supported States Rights, the South, and eventually the right to secede over slavery, leading to the Civil War) flipped to the Republican party 100 years later when the party platforms had reversed and the party of Lincoln somehow became the party of wealthy white people. Again, it's history. An earthworm can feel pain. All living organisms can feel pain. Amoeba feel pain. It's been claimed, with some dubious studies to back them up, that *plants* feel pain. Pain is a reflex action to stimuli. That doesn't mean higher brain function, or existence as a human being. If the mother feels that it does, fine. That's up to her. But it's not up to you, and it's not up to me, and it sure as hell isn't up to lawmakers or courts to tell her so. It's interesting to me that you critique one side's porkbarrel projects, without mentioning, for example, the billions targeted to megacorporations, who have more than enough resources to survive this downturn, without any caveat in return that they maintain their current payroll. For example, Boeing, who donated to Trump's inaugural celebration, are getting billions of dollars. And it won't be the CEOs of these firms who are getting laid off; they have to make the tough decisions like "how many workers should we cut this month?" And I doubt you noticed how deep into debt we went on the Republican tax cuts, which will have to be paid for eventually by- did you guess?- *taxes*. Not on the rich, though, if the Conservatives have anything to say about it. Nowhere in your link to the BBC article does any Democrat mention "disarming the American people", nor does anyone mention socialism. Did you read it? There was a proposal for a federal licensing requirement, a proposal for a waiting period, a proposal for an ammunition tax. So a $20 box of ammo would cost $25. Socialism indeed! I'm not wasting any more time with you. Be healthy and have a nice life.

In the UK, a woman supporting the opposition party to Boris Johnson's government commented on ...

noworry28 comments on Apr 10, 2020:

We tend to forget that free speech is not a universally given right in every country. In the U.S. we enjoy that right more than other countries, and we have the courts to remedy any infringement on that right. However with conservative judges being appointed by our current president, and Mitch ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 11, 2020:

@ArtemisDivine It was racist *Southern* Democrats, united with Republicans nationwide, who opposed the Civil Rights Act. It was the Democrats under Lyndon Johnson who actually passed it. This is an incredibly tired Republican talking point. Those same racist Southern democrats went on to convert into the racist Republicans who formed the core of Nixon's "Southern strategy", and they and their descendants largely remain racist Republicans unto this day. Get your history right. The rest of your post is really unworthy of response, but... "unborn children" are embryos with no conscious brain activity? So, when do they qualify as alive? Get me a scientific (as opposed to religious) consensus as then let's talk about the "right to life". Meanwhile, Democrats will continue to support a progressive income tax and a living wage, so that people who are *already born* can support their *already living* children, something Republicans don't seem to care about. Name me a single gun control law passed during the Obama administration. It's a trick question- there wasn't one. In fact, *he signed a law guns to be carried in national parks*. https://www.thoughtco.com/obama-gun-laws-passed-by-congress-3367595 Pretty strong steps to abolish the 2nd amendment there, eh? Yes, it's the hypocritical Democrats who are constantly trying to restrict what we can see on TV and in the movies and on the internet because it's obscene, anti-Christian and un-American. No, wait, that's the Republicans again. Want to go again? I'm here all week....

If a church holds services and a person get covid an dies can the family sue for wrongful death or ...

TomMcGiverin comments on Apr 10, 2020:

You could sue (you can always sue for any reason), but as my brother used to say when he was a private practice lawyer, it doesn't mean you have a case. Most courts would say that anyone who showed up at the service was assuming their own risk for getting infected or suffering harm, so they wouldn't...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 10, 2020:

You beat me to the punch. Anybody who goes to church, in full knowledge of the risks, can only blame themselves for the consequences.

Bernie Sanders: "I Quit, But I Don't Quit"

Dancing comments on Apr 8, 2020:

Get behind Biden? Hahaha. No. This is a worse choice than Hillary. We are screwed.

Paul4747 replies on Apr 10, 2020:

@RoboGraham I'm sorry, I didn't actually *notice* your question amid the wall of words between you and Tom. I'll answer thusly: 8 years experience in the Executive branch, dealing with other world leaders, dealing with the legislature, brokering deals to get things done and move America ahead- all the things Trump *claimed* he would be able to do but which proved hollow words in his case. 6 terms in the Senate and a proven ability to negotiate with both the Republican party and all the factions of the Democratic party to *get things done*, something progressives seem to forget is necessary in our system. Bernie seemed under the impression that all he would have to do to achieve Medicare for All was win the election, and then it would be a done deal due to the massive public pressure. The history of every Democrat reform since Social Security suggests otherwise. We need a dealmaker to get anything substantial done, even if both houses are majority Democrat, since it's very unlikely that there will be a 2/3 (filibuster-proof) Democrat majority in the Senate. Biden favors an expansion of the ACA, probably with a public option. This is Medicare for All in everything but name. It's the next step on the road to single-payer, universal health care, and it's in a form that's gradual enough to actually be achieved. Most important to me, Biden believes in the system. So do I. He believes in working within the system, not blowing it up. My main problem with Sanders isn't really his policies, but his attitude. He wants a revolution? Well, so do Trump's followers. Revolutions are messy as hell. Gradual improvement is the right way to go. Keep the best of what we have, and improve on the rest. Use the system, don't smash the system. That's why. He knows what he's doing, and I agree with what he wants to do. It's not that complicated.

Bernie Sanders: "I Quit, But I Don't Quit"

Dancing comments on Apr 8, 2020:

Get behind Biden? Hahaha. No. This is a worse choice than Hillary. We are screwed.

Paul4747 replies on Apr 9, 2020:

@TomMcGiverin @RoboGraham I'm not gaslighting anybody, you're doing it to yourself. You've forgotten that everything Obama did, he did with the opposition of the Republican party and that they've been trying ever since to undo it all. If you're convinced there's really no difference between Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump, then I truly wonder what you want out of the Democratic party. I can't help contemplating how much better shape our nation would be in, right now this minute, with a President Clinton at the helm for the past 3 and 1/2 years. No tax cut for the rich. No President who has basically gone around flipping off our allies and cozying up to our enemies. A President who doesn't use the power of the office to fire everyone who questions them. A President who actually knows the meaning of the three branches of government. A President who understands the need for international relations. And a President who would have taken seriously the news from China three months ago, and begun a response then. Just imagine. Then I extrapolate to wonder what new disasters we will face in another year of Trump, much less four years. Have a nice day.

Bernie Sanders: "I Quit, But I Don't Quit"

Dancing comments on Apr 8, 2020:

Get behind Biden? Hahaha. No. This is a worse choice than Hillary. We are screwed.

Paul4747 replies on Apr 8, 2020:

@TomMcGiverin Then get involved in the party, rather than stand outside throwing bricks. President Obama passed the greatest health care reform since Medicare. That's not nothing for the middle class. Imagine what he could have accomplished if "progressives" had continued getting involved and voting Democrat during the midterms, instead of letting the Republicans pick up several House seats and flip the Senate. Yes, I can blame "progressives" for not being satisfied with gradual progress and wanting it all, now now now. That's not how the country worls and it's not how politics works. And you won't get it by boycotting the only party that's friendly to you. You sure as hell won't get it from the Republicans.

Bernie Sanders: "I Quit, But I Don't Quit"

Dancing comments on Apr 8, 2020:

Get behind Biden? Hahaha. No. This is a worse choice than Hillary. We are screwed.

Paul4747 replies on Apr 8, 2020:

@RoboGraham "Why do you assume that rejection of Biden is automatic support for Trump?" It's *effective* support for Trump. Just as voting for the third party losers (I mean that in the sense that they lost) in 2016 was effectively a vote *against* Clinton and therefore *for* Trump. Only two candidates have a real chance of winning the election, and everyone knows it. The Greens, Libertarians, and whatever elses are just pie-in-the-sky candidates with no chance of reaching the White House. Their only real function is to draw off protest votes from those who are too morally pure to vote for their second choice as the Democrat candidate. But, you see, Republicans don't have that problem- "moral purity". They just want to *win*. And they vote for whoever their standard bearer is, with the hope that they can then steer that person in their direction once they're in office. But they never lose sight of the important thing: *Get that person in office first*. Because unless your candidate wins, you can't do any steering. They voted Trump because they thought they could modify his behavior. They ignored the fact that they didn't like him, they just got their candidate in office. Why must Democrats be so damn *morally pure*? Why can't we see that the main thing is, *get a Democrat in the White House*, and keep them there? Primary season is *over*. It's time to *WIN THE ELECTION*. Vote Biden.

Bernie Sanders: "I Quit, But I Don't Quit"

Dancing comments on Apr 8, 2020:

Get behind Biden? Hahaha. No. This is a worse choice than Hillary. We are screwed.

Paul4747 replies on Apr 8, 2020:

@TomMcGiverin "Clearly" or "in your not-unbiased opinion"? " I know damn well that you and the rest of your Never-Bernie Dems would not have gotten behind Bernie if he had won the nomination..." I can't answer for Varn, but I'll answer for me, since your reply showed up as a comment to me in my feed: You don't know any such thing, Tom. We're the ones who voted for Hilary, even though some of us didn't especially *like* her or think she was a person you'd go and have a beer with; but that's not the criteria for voting Democrat. We looked at the field of candidates, then looked at the Republcan nominee, and asked ourselves, "Could *anyone* be a worse President than Donald J. Trump? Does anyone other than the Democrat nominee have a chance of beating Donald J. Trump?" And the answer, then as now, is a resounding "NO!" After the first primary or two, I was starting to resign myself to Bernie Sanders as the Democrat candidate, and I resolved, if he won, to vote for him, learn his talking points, donate to the party, hell, even put a sign on my lawn. Because **it's that important that the Democrat wins this time.** And there is NO realistic alternative. Conservatives are going to vote for Trump, period. It's the left that splits itself five ways, and right now the Trump campaign are laughing themselves silly at people like us arguing while they rake in money and prepare to turn us against each other, **AGAIN**. Republicans, since the days of Gingrich, treat politics as war, and the adage "Divide and conquer" is a strategy going back to the very earliest times. We can't let them do it! We mustn't treat this as a game where one team takes their gloves and goes home at the 5th inning because they don't like the score. It's war for the survival of America. And, not to sound too harsh, if you don't pitch in *for* the nominee of the Democratic party by at least voting for them, you're deserting. That's how it is.

Bernie Sanders: "I Quit, But I Don't Quit"

Dancing comments on Apr 8, 2020:

Get behind Biden? Hahaha. No. This is a worse choice than Hillary. We are screwed.

Paul4747 replies on Apr 8, 2020:

I take it you prefer Trump, then.

Mrs.

Lauren comments on Apr 8, 2020:

She's a satirical character created by the comedian Deven Green, and she's a hoot. Sadly, I don't know that many believers who actually watch her. I wish they would. https://www.devengreen.com/betty-bowers

Paul4747 replies on Apr 8, 2020:

Thanks, I had no idea!

The Americans defying Palm Sunday quarantines: "Satan's trying to keep us apart"

CommunityTom comments on Apr 5, 2020:

If Satan is trying to keep people apart shouldn't this God step in and just stop Satan from doing this in the first place? This is my whole issue with religion. If this god exists and is loving and compassionate he should prevent suffering, disease, and numerous other problems that humanity has had ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 6, 2020:

@dalefvictor The paradox is that apparently the devil has free will to do evil, but god has no free will to do prevent it. God should at very least act as a referee and maintain a neutral playing field. In Terry Pratchett's *Good Omens*, one of the characters (a demon) reflects that the devil very rarely has to make people do *anything*. People come up with such inventive things all by themselves. That pretty much sums it up. (If I believed in that kind of thing.) There's no *need* for the existence of a devil, human beings get up to all kind of mischief out of our own imaginations, and then feel we need to blame it on someone else.

The Americans defying Palm Sunday quarantines: "Satan's trying to keep us apart"

CommunityTom comments on Apr 5, 2020:

If Satan is trying to keep people apart shouldn't this God step in and just stop Satan from doing this in the first place? This is my whole issue with religion. If this god exists and is loving and compassionate he should prevent suffering, disease, and numerous other problems that humanity has had ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 5, 2020:

Religion always musters up enough cognitive dissonance to account for whatever believers want to believe.

Scrolling through Facebook, I've noticed hundreds of prayers to a god to help protect against ...

genessa comments on Apr 4, 2020:

sometimes i find it more helpful to speak to people within their own bubble than from outside. instead of "there is no god" i try "god helps those who help themselves. when people want to congregate i quote matthew 6:5-6 where it says 5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 5, 2020:

That's one of my favorite verses. The other is Luke 7:8, “For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.” Jesus (in the next verse) recognized the lawful authority of the centurion. It befuddles the heck out of all the prisoners (have I mentioned, I work in corrections) who think they should be above the rules because they go to services at the chapel and read the bible in their cells. Especially the ones with "Only God can judge me" tattooed on their arms.

Why all the hate?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 4, 2020:

I don't hate religion as such. I hate ignorance and hypocrisy. Those traits are found in religion more than anywhere, along with politics and sport (which both resemble religion in their blind devotions to "my team, right or wrong"). Along with these is the fact that religion considers itself above ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 5, 2020:

@patchoullijulie Aw shucks

Why all the hate?

Paul4747 comments on Apr 4, 2020:

I don't hate religion as such. I hate ignorance and hypocrisy. Those traits are found in religion more than anywhere, along with politics and sport (which both resemble religion in their blind devotions to "my team, right or wrong"). Along with these is the fact that religion considers itself above ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 5, 2020:

@Beowulfsfriend Least I can do is give you 1 thumb up in return

Near death experience

PondartIncbendog comments on Apr 4, 2020:

BTW, I was dead before I was born. It was real quiet.

Paul4747 replies on Apr 4, 2020:

Technically you weren't, dog, you just hadn't been alive yet.

Near death experience

Cyklone comments on Apr 4, 2020:

My most memorable near death experience was when I got pinned under a descending load of collar on a rig (really heavy pipe). The crane operator couldn't see me and had to rely on another bloke signalling him. By the time the load stopped it was brushing my chest as it swung. I thought I was gone ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 4, 2020:

@girlwithsmiles I plan to use Jonah Heston's (as foretold in MST3K)- tag the person standing next to me and say, "You're It."

Its about time for the President's Press Cartoon.

Paddypereira comments on Apr 3, 2020:

If the impeachment didn't go through, I think in the next election Trump will get out. Same with Bolsonaro in Brazil. I already heard by a NY citizen that things are pretty bad there. Boris Johnson in the UK it's said he's infected. As usual, it's mainly the small fish that suffers the most. I hope ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 3, 2020:

@starwatcher-al You do realize the military is largely Republicans? If anything the ranks were thinking of a coup against Obama...

Its about time for the President's Press Cartoon.

Paddypereira comments on Apr 3, 2020:

If the impeachment didn't go through, I think in the next election Trump will get out. Same with Bolsonaro in Brazil. I already heard by a NY citizen that things are pretty bad there. Boris Johnson in the UK it's said he's infected. As usual, it's mainly the small fish that suffers the most. I hope ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 3, 2020:

@starwatcher-al I have to believe there is a point where they'll recognize an outright violation of the law. As long as they could shade it as open to interpretation, they did, but this is not open to interpretation.

Its about time for the President's Press Cartoon.

Paddypereira comments on Apr 3, 2020:

If the impeachment didn't go through, I think in the next election Trump will get out. Same with Bolsonaro in Brazil. I already heard by a NY citizen that things are pretty bad there. Boris Johnson in the UK it's said he's infected. As usual, it's mainly the small fish that suffers the most. I hope ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 3, 2020:

@Paddypereira You're not being ignorant at all, no apology needed. I'm going to quote liberally from the Snopes article here, since they did the research already. "The Presidential Election Day Act, passed by Congress in 1845, mandates that “the electors of President and Vice President shall be appointed in each State on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November of the year in which they are to be appointed.” The sitting president has no ability on his own to alter that date — he cannot issue an executive order or otherwise act unilaterally to change the deadline. All of the individual states could conceivably change the method by which they choose their electors to something other than popular vote, but that option would require, for the most part, that the state legislatures and governors in all 50 states approve new methods for selecting electors by Nov. 3. But such a course of action would likely be quite difficult to accomplish in time and prove extremely unpopular with voters. Another option for states to be able to choose their electors via elections held later than Nov. 3 would be for both houses of the U.S. Congress to pass, and the president to sign, a law superseding or modifying the Presidential Election Day Act to establish a new date. But given the current highly polarized state of U.S. politics, the chances that such a feat could be accomplished in sufficiently timely fashion — if at all — are also extremely unlikely. And even if the U.S. legislative and executive branches could sufficiently cooperate to buy some additional time by delaying the next election, they wouldn’t have much leeway. The 20th amendment to the U.S. constitution states that the current president’s four-year term ends at noon on Jan. 20. So the election couldn’t be put off by much more than two months without incurring the risk of leaving the U.S. without a president or vice president come Jan. 20, and leaving Congress the chaotic task of having the Speaker of the House temporarily govern while figuring out how to rectify the absence of a duly-elected chief executive. (Altering that Jan. 20 deadline would require amending the U.S. Constitution in a matter of months, a virtually impossible feat.) Mail-in balloting, which is used almost exclusively in several states such as Washington and Colorado, would give voters a chance to vote without having to show up at the polls. It would ensure that fewer people would be disenfranchised. And importantly it would provide a good argument against an attempt to try to postpone voting in November (or worse yet having state legislatures appoint presidential electors themselves without a vote of the people) … Congress has the power to pass such a law. The elections clause in ...

Its about time for the President's Press Cartoon.

Paddypereira comments on Apr 3, 2020:

If the impeachment didn't go through, I think in the next election Trump will get out. Same with Bolsonaro in Brazil. I already heard by a NY citizen that things are pretty bad there. Boris Johnson in the UK it's said he's infected. As usual, it's mainly the small fish that suffers the most. I hope ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 3, 2020:

@DenoPenno We have had Presidential elections during a civil war. This is not an emergency that rates cancelling an election. Trying it would be tantamount to attempting to assume dictatorial powers and lead to his immediate impeachment, and likely his conviction this time. It would be almost impossible to even postpone it, as a matter of law. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/presidential-election-postponed/

Its about time for the President's Press Cartoon.

Paddypereira comments on Apr 3, 2020:

If the impeachment didn't go through, I think in the next election Trump will get out. Same with Bolsonaro in Brazil. I already heard by a NY citizen that things are pretty bad there. Boris Johnson in the UK it's said he's infected. As usual, it's mainly the small fish that suffers the most. I hope ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 3, 2020:

@Paddypereira "W" was reelected because they managed to scare people about terrorists and convinced a slim majority that his party was the only one that could protect them against Iraqis and Al Qaeda blowing their children up with stolen bioweaponized Iranian nukes from North Korea (or something). It's pretty damn clear that not only can't the Trump administration protect us from the pandemic, they made us uniquely vulnerable to it by ignoring its threat while other nations mobilized their health care systems. Not only did they not get our system ready, they effectively pulled its pants down around its ankles and told it to bend over.

Its about time for the President's Press Cartoon.

Paddypereira comments on Apr 3, 2020:

If the impeachment didn't go through, I think in the next election Trump will get out. Same with Bolsonaro in Brazil. I already heard by a NY citizen that things are pretty bad there. Boris Johnson in the UK it's said he's infected. As usual, it's mainly the small fish that suffers the most. I hope ...

Paul4747 replies on Apr 3, 2020:

"Will be voted out" you mean? Hopefully, but his followers are still very passionate and they believe he's doing just a *wonderful* job. They have cognitive dissonance to the point they can't remember that he minimized the whole thing only a month ago; they believe him when he says "I thought it was a pandemic before they called it a pandemic."

Its about time for the President's Press Cartoon.

dumasarok comments on Apr 3, 2020:

A few ad hominems, nothing of substance. The post says more about the mindset of the writer than it does about the President or his team. Just more TDS.

Paul4747 replies on Apr 3, 2020:

"Nothing of substance" actually sums up Trump's leadership during this pandemic to a T. History will say he hindered our response out of concern with his reelection prospects and cost thousands of lives that could have been saved if only we had had a cooordinated response earlier. Or indeed, any response. (Hopefully history will not record that it was *millions* of lives, but the jury's out.)

Its about time for the President's Press Cartoon.

Imatheistically comments on Apr 3, 2020:

Trump could not follow a script if it was tatoied and stapled to his forehead!

Paul4747 replies on Apr 3, 2020:

He couldn't see it if it was, give him that much....

Christian Film “20 Minutes” Falsely Suggests Atheists Find God When Facing Death | Hemant ...

anglophone comments on Mar 7, 2020:

That is absurd as the trope that there are no atheists in foxholes. The willful ignorance of the people that keep peddling that line both amuses and saddens me. (Edited for a missing word.)

Paul4747 replies on Mar 31, 2020:

A moment's thought suggests that there are plenty of atheists in foxholes. The horrors of war are likely to make a person wonder how a "just god" could permit the world to run this way.

What do you fear more.

ReadyforaChange comments on Mar 24, 2020:

I fear all the wrong people will die. #FucktheGOP. Millions okay with me as long as they are right wing conservatives.

Paul4747 replies on Mar 30, 2020:

It is not "okay" for *anyone* to die of anything preventable, ever. I had to say this.

"We’re either trying to fight this virus or we’re not," says Florida's Governor- who refused to ...

racocn8 comments on Mar 30, 2020:

"Sadly, the Republicans in charge are often our weakest links." What the heck does that mean? It's not sad; it totally predictable. Republicanism is anti-progressive, anti-fairness, racist, sexist, representing and embracing every stripe of bigotry. It is probably naive, but we can hope that ...

Paul4747 replies on Mar 30, 2020:

It means exactly what it says: that I'm sad because many of the Republican chief executives have failed utterly to rise to the occasion, Trump foremost among them. Many Republicans, on the other hand, have done and are doing a splendid job. In my neighboring state of Ohio, Gov. John Kasich is running a remarkable response to the crisis and in fact he issued a stay-home order before my own Gov. Whitmer (Michigan) did. I felt her order should have come earlier. Mitt Romney, in the Senate, is a figure of great gravity, dignity, and decency. I would have him in the White House in a heartbeat, versus Trump. There are others, too numerous for me to name, who are pulling together at this time as Americans, regardless of party. That's what we need right now. You can't tar every Republican with the same brush, nor praise every Democrat for simply having a "D" after their name. What of Ocasio-Cortez, who threatened to hold up the relief package because it wasn't perfect to her satisfaction? In these times, especially, the perfect is the enemy of the good. We need action now to save our nation and the millions who are suffering and in fear for their very livelihoods and lives. I stand by my remark as well as by the Constitution. Find me a better.

"We’re either trying to fight this virus or we’re not," says Florida's Governor- who refused to ...

JGal comments on Mar 29, 2020:

Perfect example of American exceptionalism in action.

Paul4747 replies on Mar 29, 2020:

Although I don't think that's what the phrase is *supposed* to mean, it's what the practice of it often comes to. Leading to the "Ugly American".

Would "the apocalypse of peter" have changed your mind about christianity?

Paul4747 comments on Mar 28, 2020:

The concept of "slightly modified eternal hell" is no less unjustifiable in moral terms than an eternal hell would be. Back when I was stuck halfway between Gnostic Christian and agnostic, I questioned the existence of hell in the first place, and the morality of any god who would dish out that kind...

Paul4747 replies on Mar 29, 2020:

@Techpriest I believe that's in one of the Eastern religions, but I forget which one right now. They also have a varying degree of heavens based on one's spiritual attainment, until you're reincarnated to go round again. Probably Buddhism.

As bad as C-19 is, and getting worse.

Sgt_Spanky comments on Mar 28, 2020:

Man has no natural predators so nature has to come up with some way to kill us off and cull back our numbers. A viral plague is one of its oldest and most effective strategies.

Paul4747 replies on Mar 28, 2020:

You're imputing conscious intention to a viral mutation. A virus transmitting from animals to humans, as most likely happened here, wasn't "nature coming up with a way to kill us off". It was no different than the appearance of influenza. If a meteor struck the planet, would that be "the universe coming up with a way to kill us off"?

Jewel Staite

Paul4747 comments on Mar 27, 2020:

There sure are a lot of celebrity fakes out there, aren't there....

Paul4747 replies on Mar 28, 2020:

@OldMetalHead Upon further research it may be a leaked, uncropped photo from a shoot that was intended to appear cropped. That's what made me suspicious- Jewel doesn't generally do topless pics. This is the authorized version I found.

Trump Signals Break with Medical Experts as His Base Attacks Fauci Conservative commentators ...

Paul4747 comments on Mar 27, 2020:

So what's morally wrong about mailing Rush more cigarettes? As long as they're unfiltered, that is. It's no surprise that Trump is ignoring the medical experts, as he has ignored experts in every other field for his entire term (and his entire life, for that matter). His "gut" tells him what's ...

Paul4747 replies on Mar 27, 2020:

@dalefvictor But the only way he could piss them off would be to admit he had been wrong all along, meaning they'd been fools to follow him. That won't happen. He, and they, will just double down on the idea that everyone else in the world is to blame and their leader has been "perfect".

Say “No” to Death’s Dominion | R. R. Reno | First Things

SCal comments on Mar 25, 2020:

I don't know. The common cold kills tens of thousands and affects millions of lives. We have seen sars, swine flu, h1n1, bird flu, etc, etc. Ive just never seen so much soap boxing and overreaction by govt and the people who worship govt. Completely unsane.

Paul4747 replies on Mar 27, 2020:

@BryanLV I don't think you *have* "done enough research to grasp the gravity of the situation." It doesn't take a whole lot of research to grasp that going from 0 cases in December to almost 95,000 confirmed cases now, and approaching 1500 deaths in that same time span, just in the US, is not anything like the flu or the cold. It's several orders of magnitude more virulent, especially when we realize that the confirmed cases are likely only 20 percent of the actual infections. That does not call for fear, but it does call for all due caution and all possible measures to control the spread of the virus as we try to create a vaccine. The situation is more grave than you want to realize. All you have to do is look at the curve of numbers over time to realize that.

What's in the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill

Paul4747 comments on Mar 25, 2020:

You forgot to mention the quiet bailout specifically for Boeing, who contributed to Chump's inauguration party. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/25/boeing-bailout-coronavirus/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most=email=newsletter=nl_most I gained a tiny bit of respect for Nikki Haley, who ...

Paul4747 replies on Mar 26, 2020:

@dalefvictor By "the system" do you mean "capitalism"? The system that has been working for centuries? Marx was wrong in thinking workers want to overthrow the system. Workers just want a bigger slice of the pie, and management had better figure that out soon.

500,000 infected?

Paul4747 comments on Mar 21, 2020:

By his own math, the professor is probably wrong to say 500,000 people walking around America with an active infection. Even if every one of the 1,600 who tested positive infected another 50 people, the high end of his "25 to 50", that's 80,000. And every person passing it to 50 people is way ...

Paul4747 replies on Mar 22, 2020:

@Flowerwall I'm really, really not arguing with you, but I want you to understand the situation. Prisons have limited space. Quarantining only works as long as there are quarantine cells available. The vast majority of prisoners in my state, and I dare say most states, are in double bunked cells or open living cubicles with as many as 8 sharing the space, and 60 or more share the same bathrooms. A military barracks is the closest equivalent. Eventually they would run out of room to separate cases. The most effective measure is to keep the virus out. Of course I'm concerned about eveyone, but in prison, a person is a ward of the state. The state has an obligation to protect them from health risks if possible. Someone sentenced to 2 years should not face a death sentence due to a communicable disease because they're not allowed to take measures to protect themselves.

Prehistoric girl had parents belonging to different human species | New Scientist

Paul4747 comments on Mar 21, 2020:

That would explain my bad posture and back hair. Neanderthal.

Paul4747 replies on Mar 22, 2020:

@KJThomas A good theory while it lasted.

500,000 infected?

Paul4747 comments on Mar 21, 2020:

By his own math, the professor is probably wrong to say 500,000 people walking around America with an active infection. Even if every one of the 1,600 who tested positive infected another 50 people, the high end of his "25 to 50", that's 80,000. And every person passing it to 50 people is way ...

Paul4747 replies on Mar 22, 2020:

@Flowerwall Prisoners are in a unique situation. They are in a hothouse for infection already. There's no such thing as social distancing in the prison setting. Diseases spread like wildfire, and that's the common cold or flu. They don't have the option of self-isolating. So, yes, a priority is testing and isolating anyone with these symptoms there, because if one gets it, it's very possible that soon 700 will have it. And staff, who have no choice but to come to work, will take it home with them, unwittingly spreading it to potentially thousands who unwittingly become disease vectors in their turn. Do you see why testing in prisons would be a priority? I understand you are afraid. Don't give in to it. By the way, in Michigan, at least, "the system" doesn't profit off of prisoners whatsoever. MDOC is the single biggest budget item and the first one to face trimming every year. It costs the taxpayers upward of $50,000 to keep one person in prison a year, before considering any medical treatment, extraordinary health care, and mental health treatment they may need. State prisons are NOT a for-profit industry.

Prehistoric girl had parents belonging to different human species | New Scientist

Paul4747 comments on Mar 21, 2020:

That would explain my bad posture and back hair. Neanderthal.

Paul4747 replies on Mar 22, 2020:

@LimitedLight No, I think she just looked at my picture...

500,000 infected?

Paul4747 comments on Mar 21, 2020:

By his own math, the professor is probably wrong to say 500,000 people walking around America with an active infection. Even if every one of the 1,600 who tested positive infected another 50 people, the high end of his "25 to 50", that's 80,000. And every person passing it to 50 people is way ...

Paul4747 replies on Mar 22, 2020:

@Flowerwall I think you've taken me for saying more than I did. I am not saying, don't take precautions. I am not saying, go on with lfe as normal. I had my daughter stay home at her mother's (my ex) this weekend because I work in a correctional facility, and we've put 2 prisoners into quarantine already for flu-like symptoms. They don't even lock in my unit, but there's no telling how many of mine they did come in contact with, not to mention staff who travel from building to building. So I kept her away from me until we know more. What I am saying is, take everything with a grain of salt. If you're not hearing it from Anthony Fauci, the leading voice on this issue, the one who has been saying all along that it will get worse before it gets better, ask yourself why not. He has not been one to pull punches because it makes Trump or the nation feel better when it comes to the numbers. Take into account the natural tendency of some people to see a microphone or a TV camera during a crisis and put themselves front and center with the absolute worst predicctions they can imagine. It's good for us to be realists. It's not good for us, or for our mental health, to be either foolishly optimistic nor to give in to gloom & doom pessimism. You ask the question, "Is the Professor wrong?" It's a good question, maybe the best question. I don't assume bad faith on his part, but: have his conclusions been peer reviewed? Has anyone else agreed with him? These answers are important in deciding whether to trust him, or to write him off as a talking head grabbing his moment in the limelight. Not everyone, even in a crisis like this, is an honest broker. Maybe especially in a crisis like this.

Prehistoric girl had parents belonging to different human species | New Scientist

Paul4747 comments on Mar 21, 2020:

That would explain my bad posture and back hair. Neanderthal.

Paul4747 replies on Mar 22, 2020:

@Sofabeast Gray hair = silverback mountain gorilla?

500,000 infected?

Paul4747 comments on Mar 21, 2020:

By his own math, the professor is probably wrong to say 500,000 people walking around America with an active infection. Even if every one of the 1,600 who tested positive infected another 50 people, the high end of his "25 to 50", that's 80,000. And every person passing it to 50 people is way ...