German Agency Site Addresses 9/11, Other Conspiracy Theories

Paul4747 comments on Jul 8, 2018:

The problem I foresee right now is people quote mining this site and claiming that it supports their own views, and others accepting this without going to the source and reading the final warning... i.e. that it's a bunch of crap.

Hanging up on people was much more emotionally satisfying when you could slam the receiver down.

Paul4747 comments on Jul 7, 2018:

Technology was more durable back then...

Why I don't eat at Chick Fil A

Paul4747 comments on Jul 7, 2018:

Oh yeah... "Not only are we bigoted, we think deliberate misspellings are cute." I can't STAND that shit.

What defines you.

Paul4747 comments on Jul 7, 2018:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmwLPU5H6_Q

Why I don't eat at Chick Fil A

Paul4747 comments on Jul 7, 2018:

Who the fuck, in 2018, is proud of stopping equality? Read it the correct way: "We are bigots. Enjoy your fries."

I've been teaching my cat to jump through burning hoops.

Paul4747 comments on Jul 7, 2018:

Don't give up. I know where you can get more cats. My neighbors have extra.

AP Report: U.S. Army is quietly discharging immigrant recruits | PBS NewsHour

Paul4747 comments on Jul 7, 2018:

So... support our troops... but only those who look like your voter base?

Do you love sleeping with Windows open?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 6, 2018:

I'm nervous about sleeping with Windows open. Then again, sometimes I fall asleep with my computer on, and I forget to close my Windows. Sometimes if I'm watching certain videos.... I get very excited ;) and then afterwards I'm so exhausted I fall asleep without closing the Windows. Wait... this wasn't a computer question?

Are atheists criticising the wrong things about religion?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 6, 2018:

I criticize religion for getting people killed, over fairy tales. When people bomb each other over who owns "the holy land". When lobbyists convince a President to go to war because it's all part of the End Times. When imams promulgate tales that Western medicine is designed to kill Muslims, so their children won't be vaccinated against deadly diseases. When Catholic Cardinals spread tales that condoms don't actually stop AIDS. Believe what you want for yourself. Believe in Allah, Jesus, Shiva, the Tooth Fairy. Right up until it costs people their real lives. At that point, I have a problem with you.

Anyone else bothered by being asked out of the blue, by a significant other or a date, "What are you...

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

"I was thinking how nice it was when I was reading this book in peace. " End of relationship.

Athiests and Guns

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

I'm a shooter, collector, LEO and self-defense advocate who also agitates for stricter screening, training, and licensing procedures. (Emphasis on the training before giving someone a permit.) So I don't see a conflict. Once someone is licensed, they should be considered trustworthy, even in the so-called "gun free zones", which are an invitation to criminals, who by definition aren't going to obey those signs. The only influence being an atheist has on my positions is that I don't go so much with the "god-given rights" BS.

A good question for gardeners....

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

Depends on the size of the gardening tool...

Everyone else okay?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

Still don't get it...

How do you deal with Door-knockers?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

Bucket of water?

Is anti-theism on a par with racism?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

NO idea is beyond criticism. Religions explicitly try to set themselves up as a category apart from all others, claiming that they aren't even ideas, but rather revelations from a divine source, and thus immune to criticism. Yet, if you notice, each religion criticizes all other religions. Religion cannot logically plead a special immunity. There's no special exemption for any category of thought. Religion is as open to critique as any other. Atheism or antitheism is not bigotry, it's simply an opinion. A religion is not something inborn to a person, like skin color, it's acquired and can be shed just as easily.This is just another of the religions' ploys to give themselves a special exemption.

One of the things I found out while hanging out with the other side, they do NOT want anybody to ...

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

1) The state police know, my purchases are registered, and it's nobody else's business. 2) I have take pride in being responsible and in proving it. I've taken extensive training and further I'm in law enforcement. I feel anyone who is licensed for carry should be trained to similar standards first. 3) Firearms can be banned based on what they do, but too many want to ban them because they look scary. 4) See points 2 and 3. Law enforcement has access to all kinds of weapons, let's be specific. I don't want tear gas or door breachers, but I would like to own an AR someday to remember my days in the Army. It's a heck of a rifle. 5) I feel safe in my community because I carry a gun. Average 911 response time is 11 minutes. That's a time to wait if my life or someone else's is on the line. 6) You're absolutely right with your last statement, that you're making generalizations- so why conclude with a sweeping and over-the-top generalization? Oversight is inherent in the process of carrying firearms, and any responsible gun owner knows this. The vast majority of gun owners are responsible gun owners. 7) I carry no water for the NRA. Their leadership are NOT responsible gun owners, they're jackasses.

I have enjoyed myself on here today. Keeps up like this and I might get off of FB for good. ;)

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

Good thinking. Get out before the next data leak to a Chinese company...

So how did Noah get the critters from Australia across the ocean to his canoe and then get them back...

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

See, here's how it worked... They loaded all the animals into the boat, and everything was fine for a few weeks... but the weight of all the accumulated droppings was weighing them down low in the water. So they took some shovels, tossed the droppings over the side, and named the result "Australia".... (Sorry, sorry... )

Christian Group: Ben Jealous Thinks “Raw Naked Sex” Between Two Men is Marriage – Friendly ...

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

I'm reasonably sure a lot of men use condoms. That wouldn't count as "raw". Or maybe not "raw naked"?

Good lord, trying to come up with a clever first post is hard!

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

Even worse coming up with a second one... (kidding!!)

I read some recent figures that in 26 states of US (mostly Southern) the death rate is higher than ...

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

Nothing really explains paranoia. Paranoia is its own reward.

Are you a Humanist too?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

But I'm not a Humanitarian. Vegetarians eat only vegetables. Humanitarians.... well, I'm not a Humanitarian.

I'm stuck in this chair.

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

If anyone ever decided to shoot someone in this town on 4 July, there wouldn't be a police call for hours.... sounds like an artillery barrage. I'm lucky this year I'm on vacation, I didn't have to drive home through it (2nd shift)...

The old debate rises again! (or closes again)

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

What is the big deal about not wanting to put it down? Is this some assertion of manliness? I live by myself. I leave the damn lid down. The muscle power involved in lifting the lid is MINIMAL. Gravity puts it down for me again. Really. What's the big deal? Men?

Argentina just signed into law the Justine bill (organ donation).

Paul4747 comments on Jul 5, 2018:

This rubs me the wrong way, just because it takes it out of a person's hands and puts the power in the state's. That government is best which governs least, and when it comes to your body, dead or alive, not at all. If you want, give the family the power to make the decision after death.

Thank Dog I survived the day.

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Dog spelled backwards is God. Cow spelled backwards is Woc. Pterodactyl spelled backwards is darn difficult to pronounce.

So We Do Have A First Lady!

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

That's no lady, that's Donald's wife!

Sessions Says Refugees and Asylum Seekers Will No Longer Be Allowed To Work

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

So, if, as he says, "Americans deserve to have their voices heard and a government that is accountable to them," then why not take into account the majority who not only voted for someone other the the Donald, but who support providing asylum and helping refugees?

I don't mind people of faith.

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

But, as Christopher Hitchens pointed out ("God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything"), the more-or-less decent 97% enable the other 3%. They make excuses and explain how the radical fringe doesn't "really" represent their religion, but don't understand that the religion itself is the problem. Its very existence allows anyone to pick and choose what they want to believe and how they want to act on it, because there's supposedly an authority figure in the sky who said all these things. For example: Until the Vatican comes out and disavows all its former papal teachings, cardinals will still teach that birth control is a sin, and unplanned pregnancies and AIDS will continue. And even then, the church would schism and there would arise a "true" faith. *Religion itself is the problem.*

When did you last have sex with a partner? (A 50 and over confidential poll)

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Mine is not going to be a representative sample, since it was an attempt by my ex as an alternative to marriage counseling and getting to the bottom of the real problems. And I gotta tell you, "save my marriage" sex is the worst kind of sex.

Agnostics are the bisexuals of the philosophical community.

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Wait a cotton-tailed minute. Agnostics are the SCIENTISTS of the philosophical community. If you don't know something, you SAY you don't know. Don't rely on someone who made something up 6000 years ago. "Agnostic" breaks down from the Greek as "no knowledge". It doesn't mean "Xian by any other name."

The Muslim situation in America is really complicated.

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

So your Christians who want the 10 Commandments to be the law of the land, are different how, exactly? I do not approve of terrorists of any stripe, nor religious oppression in the name of any god. It's doubly ironic since all 3 Middle Eastern religions claim to worship the same god.

Why do men want younger women?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

My first kiss was with someone 2 years older. Lost my virginity (had it for 19 years and never got any use out of it) with a lady 7 years older. In grad school, got engaged to someone 7 years younger. My ex is 3 1/2 years older. Now in my 50s and divorced, I've been out with ladies several years older and younger both, and exactly my age too. Maybe I defy the norm, maybe I just can't guess women's ages, maybe I'm just attracted no matter the age.

Mosques in America

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Most fundamentalist Xian churches are actively involved in recruiting members to become radical conservatives prone to violence against anyone who doesn't conform to their narrow views. Their are many more Xian churches than there are mosques. Most violence in this country is committed by Xians. Perhaps the FBI should put their resources into monitoring those churches. Maybe send the Xians back to where they came from?

Do you deal with grief?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

I intellectualize things too much. I feel like because I have a mental understanding, somehow it makes me immune from the emotions, and then I'm blindsided every time. I'm working hard on just experiencing my emotions, instead of trying to plan out how I should feel and grading myself on whether I'm feeling the right things.

"Austerity" only works for the Wealthy.

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Well, yes... because otherwise you would need to raise taxes on the wealthy, and then where would they be? The entire conservative economic model ("lowering taxes raises revenue") would be down the toilet. Never mind that economic history and basic math should tell us that this model has repeatedly failed. There's NO direct relation between tax rates and economic growth.

If you want to be all about the bass, then learn how to play one....

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Are you sure this isn't bass?

Yesterday someone posed a question along the lines of “what would your ideal profile say?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Maybe because it's hard to be so vulnerable to people I don't know. To write my deepest desires for everyone to see. It's easier... safer... to write something general, and hope someone wants to know more... to let people filter themselves through that initial interest and then see what happens.

Obey Jebus, or else!

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

But I don't even believe in your god Jebus!

Evangelist Says Christians Should Run For School Boards to End LGBTQ Advocacy – Friendly Atheist

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

*Franklin Graham* doesn't believe in separation of church and state? *Nobody* on the religious right believes in separation of church & state. Theirs is a fantasy world where the US was founded by WASP ministers, for WASP ministers, and nobody else existed. Although there's plenty to suggest that their religious rhetoric is merely for the troops, and it is and always has been simply about political power... another tool to grab and keep power for the Republican party.

I don't meet a lot of people in my age group that are Atheist/agnostic, are people too afraid to be ...

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Atheists and agnostics aren't organized. We have no meeting places or PACs. We don't protest against Supreme Court decisions from decades ago or have interest groups recommending nominees to Presidents. We don't SCREAM about how oppressed we are. So because we're quiet and polite, we underestimate our own numbers. The evangelicals screaming in the street are like puffer fish, inflating themselves and exaggerating their own importance. The result: we think we're outnumbered, when in fact, if we regard ourselves as a group, we are the largest single point of view.

Do you and your partner make each other feel happy?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

First five or so years we were married, we were very happy together. The next few years, little things started falling by the wayside. The last six years were me trying to find ways to keep us together, keep the romance in the marriage, and then finally understanding that she didn't even see the problem. So overall... we did, sort of, for a while?

Happy Treason Day! You ungrateful colonials! Lol!

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Bloody peasants!

Size matters...there, I said it....Happy Day, everyone! Have fun but be responsible!

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Cheers!!!

Ultra-Orthodox Jews Delayed a Flight (Again) by Refusing to Sit Next to Women – Friendly Atheist

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

To compensate, I'd like to welcome any ladies to sit with me next flight I have to take. I'm a perfect gentleman.

The question is do we have any where to return any more

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Humbly, I'm going to rephrase this in less mystical terms, which I can then agree with. "We don't have long on this planet. Our lives have no larger cosmic purpose... so we are best off learning, loving, and growing as much as we can, before our inevitable death."

Men, what would you think of a woman if they were forward with you and asked you out on a date.

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

I chose 2 options, it's about time, plus I wish there were more like her. Now, where's the option for "Get her into my life, PDQ"?

Swear words?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

I often take after Bender from Futurama and use "Oh your god!"

Dealing with holiday loneliness

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

I spent New Year's right here, by myself, relaxing... nothing wrong with time to yourself. Might have a hot dog with the kid tomorrow but nothing bigger planned.

Why did the moose cross the road?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Hmm... single male moose... Is there a lady moose on the other side of the road? Or maybe he just felt like taking a walk... not enough information.

'Special place in hell': Trump's top advisers accuse Trudeau of betrayal

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

History doesn't repeat itself, historians repeat each other...

Religious Homosexuals

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Remember the two words that keep 95% of people in the Republican party: Cognitive Dissonance

Who here is an avid video gamer?!

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Yo (sorry, I just had a flashback to my days on Bungie.net, when I answered half of all threads that way... I had to get out of that toxic mess)

This is gross . . . But inquiring minds want to know!

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

You're right... it's gross.

I am a 50 something single mom and have a profile on a popular dating site.

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Speaking as a 50 something father, I know it's hard to find someone who doesn't seem peeved with the time that I feel I need to devote to my kid. Somebody who doesn't understand that she isn't going to become the center of my world instantly... she isn't going to be a good fit long term anyway. I'm ready to make room in my life, but it's already pretty full, and I expect that everybody else has a pretty full life too. Texting, phone calls, those are how people get to know each other these days, and I'm ok with that. I'm okay with taking it slow.

A Muslim martyr went to heaven.

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Not joking here- the virgin thing was a mis-translation, it was supposed to be "72 white grapes of exceptional purity" (something like that, it's the grape thing that I remember best). Imagine how great it will be once people everywhere realize that all religions are just interesting fairy tales, made up back when we didn't understand how the world got here and what thunder was...

A new study has reported that iPhone users have more sex. Is there an app for that?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 4, 2018:

Maybe in the Google Play store...

What about Last Rites. Would you object to a Cathoiic Priest administering on your deathbed?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 3, 2018:

Meh, what do I care what a priest does with his time? If he brings wine, he can stay. But he'd better have a sense of humor.

Praying for something to happen is akin to doing nothing...

Paul4747 comments on Jul 3, 2018:

People who believe pray for loved ones because there's nothing else they can do. They're not doctors and nurses or research chemists. Research has shown that prayer doesn't improve recovery, it even hinders it when people know they're being prayed for (patients may feel pressured to get better), but nevertheless I understand the feeling of helplessness and wanting to turn to a higher power. Sometimes, for instance when my ex-mother in law was diagnosed with cancer, I wish there was a power to turn to. My ex and her family are all devout. I wish I could tell them I was praying. But they know I don't pray. They know that my best wishes are with them, though, and they don't doubt my love. (Yeah, even though it's my ex, I still love her as a friend and mother of my child. I'm very lucky we had a cordial divorce.)

I've read all types of outraged comments here about the "CRIMINAL! NAZI! DESPICABLE! INHUMANE!" way ...

Paul4747 comments on Jul 2, 2018:

It's not really about "priority". Everybody could be taken care of, if the top 1/2% weren't being given priority in the current budget. Here's how the GOP thinking goes, for the most part: We have a deficit? Cut taxes on the wealthy, that increases revenue! We have a surplus? Cut taxes on the wealthy, they've paid so much already!!! I'm talking about the actual budgets that are passed, not the lip service "tax cuts for the middle class", which come out to about $300/year for the vast majority of taxpayers, while the very top get tens and hundreds of thousands.

Some lucky FBI agents! Lol!

Paul4747 comments on Jul 2, 2018:

OK then...

OK...let's post our nude photos for the world to see...here is mine!

Paul4747 comments on Jul 1, 2018:

I'm actually completely naked right now. There you go. ?

What sex toys do people own?

Paul4747 comments on Jul 1, 2018:

Frankly, nothing yet... although I have a shaving brush that I've never used for shaving. It does feel very nice on the skin, though.

I thought that most people on this website had some intelligence, but tonight proved me wrong

Paul4747 comments on Jul 1, 2018:

Then I presume you'll either be A) no longer gracing us with your presence, or B) explaining what your frakking problem is.

Do you believe in law of attraction?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 30, 2018:

I believe that's the distance squared law. Or cube. Something like that. Sir Isaac Newton.

Anthony Kennedy's son was Trump's moneylender at Deutsche Bank

Paul4747 comments on Jun 30, 2018:

Moneylender has such a great ring to it. You want Jesus to show up and beat his ass.

50 Reasons to Bail Out of the Two-Party System and Become an Independent Voter [ivn.us]

Paul4747 comments on Jun 30, 2018:

3 Reasons why this was not anything worth reading: 1) 50 sentences with a number on the beginning of each are not 50 separate reasons. They are sentences which properly belong in fully developed paragraphs. Separating an ABCD chain of logic into A B C D doesn't make it 4 different thoughts. 2) Who was so pretentious as to print quotes from the article in bold type, in the middle of the article... highlighting the author's words as if they were an independent quote agreeing with the article? 3) I can't begin to sum up how many things were flawed with these ideas. Argument from popularity - most people aren't affiliated with a party now, this is a good reason to be an independent. The notion that the internet is a reliable source for everything you need to know about a candidate (because nothing is ever not true on the internet). Argument from authority- famous figures in the past agree with me. I have no problem with pointing out the flaws of the party system, but idealists who wanted to protest against it by voting for their more perfect candidates are partly responsible for Trump winning. A few percent here and there was the difference. They need to own that. The perfect is the enemy of the good.

At the current rate of joinage Agnostic.

Paul4747 comments on Jun 30, 2018:

I was told there would be cake.

How many of you miss Craigslist classifieds?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 30, 2018:

That whole thing passed right by me. Other than, wasn't there something about getting murdered? ?

The temperature in Seattle has finally risen above seventy and some female flesh has emerged from ...

Paul4747 comments on Jun 29, 2018:

Wait... why does she clearly need my seat? Yeah, I'm going to give my seat up to someone in distress, but wouldn't a senior citizen need it more? Isn't feminism all about equality?

Looks like something trying to escape

Paul4747 comments on Jun 29, 2018:

While it's technically legal to go commando after memorial day... Not like that.

Is it possible to 'kill yourself' just by thinking about it?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 29, 2018:

I just lost a friend to diabetes and a heart condition. I'm not saying he willed himself dead, but sure as shit he didn't will himself to live either.

Military religion.

Paul4747 comments on Jun 29, 2018:

In the Army (Infantry), 20 years ago, it was an excuse to get away for a couple hours on Sunday morning. If you didn't go to service you would be snatched up to police the area instead, so chapel was preferable to picking up litter.

How do you deal with today's pain in this difficult world?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 29, 2018:

Booze and masturbation. Oh, wait, joy to myself *and others*... I'll get back to you.

What do you do about inaccurate memes?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 29, 2018:

I stay off Facebook.

I'm curious about the politics of atheists, where do you lie?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 29, 2018:

I defy succinct description.

The Old Testament knows everything, because it is the word of Yahweh. Really?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 29, 2018:

Wait, unicorns in the bible?

Let’s take a few minutes to share our favorite sexual experiences—one that really stands out in ...

Paul4747 comments on Jun 29, 2018:

Okay, here's how it was. When I was 19, I fell in love with my married neighbor. 26. Redhead, smart, sexy. Married to a much older man, who was very religious and believed sex was for procreation (except on the very rare occasions he felt horny...), so once they had a son, God didn't want him having sex. She felt unsatisfied, unwanted, unattractive. I felt compassion... I felt she deserved better... I wanted to comfort her... we became friends... we fell in love. We started sleeping together. Older and wiser as I am now, I know I should have held out and suggested divorce. We were young and foolish and on fire for each other. But anyway... We were worried that ours was becoming a relationship where all we did was meet, drink a cup of coffee, then jump into bed. So we decided to watch a movie together. But since we couldn't stand not touching, skin on skin, we curled up side by side on the couch nude under a blanket and watched the first thing that came to hand. Kissing once in a while... me caressing her back and shoulders... her playing with my chest hair... snuggled up. Have you seen *Monty Python and the Holy Grail*? Remember the part with the castle full of young women trying to tempt Sir Galahad (the chaste)? When it got to that bit, that's when she moved her hand down to my lap... and found that I was already growing more interested by leaps and bounds. Her fingers started teasing, so lightly, making me gasp and quiver. That's when the show got to that line, "After the spanking, the oral sex!" (If you haven't seen it, google that phrase...) And she ducked her head under the blanket. I could barely control my fingers to get the TV turned off by this point... besides which, my eyes kept rolling up in my head. No woman has ever treated me like her. She was my first and she probably did spoil me for all other women, at least in the sense that I've never been with anyone who made love with such enthusiasm and devotion. And that morning on the couch stands out in my memory.

You are on a date...

Paul4747 comments on Jun 28, 2018:

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I always wonder how and why do I walk into a door confidently without knowing whats waiting on the ...

Paul4747 comments on Jun 28, 2018:

How bad could it be?

What hair color of the opposite sex are you more attracted to ?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 28, 2018:

I don't know if I have a preference, I just like good hair. Long long hair, short sassy hair, all I can say is I don't care. I'm sorry, I think I just channeled Dr Suess there for a moment.

How does your moon look tonight?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 27, 2018:

Not a great picture from my phone, but better than the alternative

How does your moon look tonight?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 27, 2018:

Somewhat out of shape, definitely could lose some weight... but still not so bad. I'm not including a picture, though.

Guilty Pleasures Confession: I actually like gospel music.

Paul4747 comments on Jun 27, 2018:

I have a heavy silver & black cross that I miss wearing. My ex gave it to me, so on two levels it's not really appropriate any more. Also, Johnny Cash singing "The Man Comes Around". Sure, it's a song about the Antichrist, who doesn't exist (unless maybe it's me), but it's such a fucking cool song. I just sing it when I'm in a mean and vengeful mood.

What is this?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 27, 2018:

Sounds to me like he gets off on the teasing and knowing it could happen, but doesn't feel like he wants to go to the next level yet for some reason. Maybe he's afraid you'll be disappointed with him? Maybe he has performance anxiety? Could be a dozen things. Or maybe he's actually married. (I hate suggesting that last one, but hey, I'm a cynic, I tend to suspect the worst.)

If vaccines work, why should everyone get them still?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 27, 2018:

There's also the problem of active resistance to vaccine programs from those who think they're an evil conspiracy. Polio, to give an example, was on the verge of being effectively wiped out, when Muslim fundamentalists started spreading the word that the vaccine was part of a plot (by the US and the UN, no less) to covertly sterilize Muslims and destroy their religion. That's right, the vaccine could tell Muslims from Christians and Jews. Children went unvaccinated and within months the disease popped up again, not only in Nigeria, where this took place, but in Mecca and throughout the Middle East. Yet another example of the scurrilous interference of religion with science and health. (A possibly even more shocking example of religious fearmongering: a Spanish Cardinal in the Vatican once warned Central American Catholics, some of the poorest and least educated, hence most vulnerable to this type of propaganda, that condoms are made with microscopic holes that actually let the AIDS virus pass through. Presumably he recommended a good prayer for disease prevention instead. It makes me wish I believed in a Hell so this guy could burn in it for a while.)

Why migrate when u know who’s president?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 27, 2018:

He won't last forever. Just like working for my last boss... stick it out long enough, the next one might be better. Just gotta outlast the fucker.

A Jury May Have Sentenced a Man to Death Because He’s Gay. And the Justices Don’t Care.

Paul4747 comments on Jun 26, 2018:

Almost 20 years working in Corrections, and let me tell you, it's no picnic for anyone, and *especially* not for a gay/trans man. They are particularly targeted by other inmates and often considered "property" of other prisoners and fought over, or forced to pay protection to avoid paying in forced sexual favors. (Yes, we, the staff, do try very hard to prevent this behavior, but there are 50 or 100 prisoners to 1 officer and it's impossible to watch everyone all the time.) So, the jury's reasoning is faulty as hell. He certainly would not have been getting a "vacation" or any kind of pleasure trip.

Thinking about the end of life, do we get dispersed throughout the galaxy as energy?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 26, 2018:

Consciousness depends on a working brain. So, when that stops, you stop. The bioelectric energy of the brain will ground out and that's that. You seem to be seeking an afterlife by another name.

Is Dating someone who is in a different political party a deal-breaker for you?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 26, 2018:

Define "conservative". Is someone who voted Democrat on the straight ticket, every election since the age of 18, still defined as a conservative because he owns guns? I guess my question is, do you consider support for the candidates a deal breaker, or is it specific issues?

My wife has decided that we should live apart, and begin divorce proceedings. The problem?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 26, 2018:

For what my 2 cents are worth, I was on the other end of this. I filed for divorce, but wanted to make sure my wife and child would be secure once I left; so I stayed there on the couch for a few months (Michigan has a 6-month waiting period when you have kids) to give our kid time to adjust and get ready for the change, and to work out our financial arrangements in advance. They stayed in the house, I moved to an apartment and we agreed on the amount of support. Kept the courts out of our finances completely. Clearly yours is a different situation, but so far we have had no animosity. I just explained that I had to go. She knew why; I asked her to go to counseling and she refused, so I felt I had to take the next step, for my own sake. Probably not very helpful, I know... sorry.

I believe intimacy starts with the mind.

Paul4747 comments on Jun 26, 2018:

Intimacy for me, mentally and emotionally, means someone knows my strengths, knows what I'm proud of, knows what I like about myself... but more importantly, knows my weaknesses, knows my fears, knows what I'm ashamed of, what I hate about myself, knows me at my worst, accepts me and loves me as I am... and I know and accept and love that person as well.

Quiz: What's Your Sense of Humor? -- Science of Us

Paul4747 comments on Jun 23, 2018:

Without taking the quiz, I'm going to say "aggressively self-defeating"...

How is this actually a dating site?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 23, 2018:

It's as much of a dating site as you want to make it. I'm currently treating it as a philosophy and thought-sharing site.

Ohio Cop Is Fired After Threatening To Jail Daughter's Boyfriend On Bogus Charges | HuffPost

Paul4747 comments on Jun 23, 2018:

So you're generalizing this specific officer's behavior to say that *every cop* is this guy? That *all police everywhere* will take you in and say "we'll make some shit up on the way"? Isn't that equally bogus as a cop treating everyone he pulls over who is of a different color as an armed and dangerous suspect? One in a million bad cop shown here. Just as one in a million actively targets the police looking to kill someone in a uniform, as we saw a couple of years ago.

Who Loves President Trump?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 23, 2018:

For finally highlighting how contradictory the Republican position on... well... *everything* has become? Others are at least intelligent enough to finesse things, whereas he comes right out and says the things that others are secretly thinking. The rest of the nation now realizes what the Republican Right actually stands for, and has no excuse when they vote. They know exactly what "Republican values" are.

What activities do you participate in regularly that are environmentally friendly and do your ...

Paul4747 comments on Jun 22, 2018:

In the event that I ever have to do away with anyone who irritates me, I promise to feed the body to wolves, thus continuing the circle of life. :) (JUST KIDDING, everyone!!! Jeez.)

For any new members here or those who were not yet aware, there is a dating/singles group for those ...

Paul4747 comments on Jun 22, 2018:

Libertarians are not necessarily conservatives. (And some conservatives are the opposite of libertarian.)

Why label ourselves as heathens?

Paul4747 comments on Jun 22, 2018:

Why not? It's fun being a heathen. And the rest of the world can piss off.

You can be a realist and a believer at the same time Having a sense for reality and believing in ...

Paul4747 comments on Jun 22, 2018:

I think, by "realist", you mean "a practical person". Yes, it is possible to be completely practical in your everyday life, while still believing that there is a big spirit in the sky running everything. Billions of people do it. But in the larger sense, you're still not a realist. A realist copes with the lack of a cosmic plan, the fact that there's no Apocalypse coming, the fact that we are not the center of the universe except in our imagination. A realist deals with real life.