Is a Great Resignation brewing for pastors?

Fernapple comments on Mar 20, 2022:

So it seems to say, that ministers are not big on serving their fellow humans and communities, especially not in difficult times. Is this really news, or have I just arrived in a parallel universe ?

Misdirection Misinformation

Fernapple comments on Mar 20, 2022:

Here in the UK gas prices are about twice what you pay, even now. It is highly taxed because that is seen as a good way to encourage he cutting of carbon emissions.

New Insight Into Possible Origins of Life: For the First Time Researchers Create an RNA Molecule ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 20, 2022:

The RNA world theory of abiogenesis, has been growing in importance compared to other theories now for a long time. It looks like it is getting near to becoming the standard model.

I'm feeling beyond frustrated and feel a strong need to vent.

Fernapple comments on Mar 19, 2022:

The bottom line is, happy people are content, so they don't buy anything. The whole point of sales is make them believe they are unhappy, so that then you can sell them the solution. Which is why religion, which is pure sales, without even a product, at least not one you get to collect until after you are dead, (No returns so far.) is in the business of promoting unhappiness more than anything else. The secret of happiness is simple, first you must be free of the things that make you unhappy, pain, hunger, cold, fear etc., which is not too hard for most westerners. And then you must learn to value the gifts that you have, which is called appreciation, and which is best acquired through learning. And guess what, there are a lot of institutions, I need not name them, who are opposed to things like social responsibility, unless they control it, which promotes the freedom from cold, hunger, pain etc. for everyone, and they also oppose education, (only read one book).

The joy of watching raptors. What's your raptor story?

Fernapple comments on Mar 19, 2022:

During my youth in the UK, you hardly ever saw a raptor of any sort, except perhaps, a kestrel. The hunting and shooting lobby had driven them almost to extinction, because it was said they were harmful to game birds, especially pheasants and grouse. But a few decades ago they were all given protection, and now just twenty or thirty years later, buzzards and red kites especially are seen all the time around here. Things that we thought were gone forever. It just shows how fast nature recovers as soon as it is left in peace. And we still have plenty of pheasants.

It seems the war in Ukraine is being seen by many Xian leaders as the sign we are in the last ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 19, 2022:

Yes they thought that about the Black Death too, and the Plague of Justinian and the mini ice age caused by the eruption of Tambora, and Halley's Comet ............

Does eating chocolate upset your stomach?

Fernapple comments on Mar 18, 2022:

It can drive your blood pressure up, and a lot of people have allergic reactions causing headaches, sleep problems, and energy loss if they don't top up. And of course it contains a lot of sugar. But then there is range of benefits too.

Have you noticed something wrong here 🤣

Fernapple comments on Mar 18, 2022:

levitation.

“Sometimes the bible in the hand of one man is worse than the whisky bottle in the hand of ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 18, 2022:

Oh, I think that is Atticuss in To Kill A Mockingbird.

TI Ukraine (@TI_Ukraine_eng) | Twitter

Fernapple comments on Mar 18, 2022:

Old saying. "Bullets take three lives, the one who gets shot, the one who wastes their life making them, and the one who earns the money to pay for them."

The Russians seem to be having great success- against unarmed civilians, anyway.

Fernapple comments on Mar 18, 2022:

Actually the numbers are about equal, if not slightly in favour of the Ukrainians. But the Russians may be better equipped, especially in air support, but then again it is said that in modern wars the attacker needs at least a three to one advantage.

Thinking about getting a (my first) tattoo. I'm digging the spaghetti monster thing. Any thoughts?

Fernapple comments on Mar 18, 2022:

Nah, Go for a slogan like. "Jesus was gay." "Fairy-tales make Bibles." or "Satan was the good guy."

A New Study Has Identified a Dominant Force Driving Evolution on Earth Today: [sciencealert.com]

Fernapple comments on Mar 18, 2022:

The really fun thing, (irony) is that the most successful creatures are likely to be our parasites. We could end up living alone with our increasingly numerous and diverse parasites, from the things which nibble at us in bed, to the things which eat our crops and raid our dustbins, and hardly anything neutral as a buffer between us.

“Power is dangerous.

Fernapple comments on Mar 17, 2022:

And power that can be won without effort or proof, well ? (Hint I think they call it religion.)

Meanwhile, the other war: [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Mar 17, 2022:

Yep. And our PM has just been to Saudi to ask for more oil. Its all about the oil.

Well, I am going to speak frankly.

Fernapple comments on Mar 17, 2022:

I think that, all you have got, on armed conflict, is all you really need. You got there, and you need to concentrate on your own needs first. Because our first and best commitment even to others, is to look after ourselves well, and not to be any more of a burden to others than we need be. But at the same time remembering that, everybody on the planet is a burden to someone some of the time, we all bump together in this limited space, therefore there is no shame in seeking help, because we are all in this together.

And speaking of quilts, the latest one. It looks better "in person"!

Fernapple comments on Mar 16, 2022:

Do you ship to the UK ?

How do I help my dog with separation anxiety?

Fernapple comments on Mar 16, 2022:

That is sad, and there may be little you can do. Dogs, even ones that have not suffered a loss, hate to be left alone. In the dogs mind when you leave it and will not take it with you, there is nothing to reassure it that you will be coming back, for all that the dog knows it has been deserted. Perhaps the only two things that you could do, are perhaps fairly expensive ones. One is to take him to a good trainer or vet with a knowledge of animal psychology, or the other may be to get him a companion, but I would try vet first, and take their advice about the second idea.

Maggie, my five year old granddaughter, sat for awhile watching me quilt today and then said, "When...

Fernapple comments on Mar 15, 2022:

And the only immortality a wise person would wish for. Most of my life has been spent as a horticulturalist, and gardens are the most ephemeral of arts, just stop weeding and pruning them for a two or five years, and they are half gone. And I find that pleasing, because it means that I will leave no legacy to burden those who follow, gathering dust in some institution.

The $100M "He Gets Us" ad campaign for Jesus ignores an obvious problem

Fernapple comments on Mar 15, 2022:

It says that. "Its hard to sell the product, without acknowledging the harm that Christianity has done." Actually I think that it is hard to sell any product without acknowledging the harm which hard selling does as well.

“There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book.

Fernapple comments on Mar 15, 2022:

That was in many ways an innocent age.

‘All art must go underground:’ Ukraine scrambles to shield its cultural heritage ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 15, 2022:

Link broken sorry.

Off with his head?! :-/

Fernapple comments on Mar 15, 2022:

The slow on the uptake can be lethal, and they don't have to be kings.

Oh, the horror!!! [youtu.be]

Fernapple comments on Mar 15, 2022:

That is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. Great find.

I know.

Fernapple comments on Mar 15, 2022:

I don't know what it is, but it may be specific to that area, because it looks like it is coloured to match the rocks.

Why is it that I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night for no reason and can't go back to ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2022:

LIke someone said. " If I had known grandchildren were this much fun, I would have had them first."

Why is it that I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night for no reason and can't go back to ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2022:

Sound like you are an owl, have difficulty getting to sleep, but then have difficulty waking up. You are not alone.

I don't believe in religion because I believe in humanity

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2022:

Hello and welcome, enjoy the site.

It's free speech until you piss someone off... then it's hate speech.

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2022:

You can be free with your hate.

Religion and violence in public schools.

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2022:

If they wont join in with the delusion, and you know you can't win the debate. Then the options get few.

“A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then stand on the stump ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2022:

There is another kind of politician ?

I dont know why I'd be interested in the perspective of experts thoroughly educated and steeped in, ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2022:

Many a true word.

At what point does it no longer make sense for national leaders to stop making claims of ownership ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2022:

You have to find political leaders who grew up into adults, who understand that. "Mine is bigger than yours." Is an argument, that should have been left behind in the nursery playground.

The talk about the beginning of the universe seems to imply the creation of something of great ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2022:

The big difference is, that science describes the big bang, as. "Our best current model." And not all scientists accept it or are forced to accept it. Where religion describes creationism as, our only model forever.

Goat humor! [vm.tiktok.com]

Fernapple comments on Mar 14, 2022:

Just don't try head butting back.

"The worst thing about growing old is that you will likely not live long enough to celebrate the ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 13, 2022:

And I thought that I had a negative attitude to life sometimes. That is right up there with. " My enemies enemy, is not my friend. "

Donald Trump Thought US Troops Were in Ukraine in 2017: Book

Fernapple comments on Mar 13, 2022:

Obviously did his homework well before the meeting. LOL But then he probably thought, that they went there in 1775 to keep control of the airports.

Even the camels are going on the warpath! What's next? The Alpaca's? [msn.com]

Fernapple comments on Mar 13, 2022:

Five hundred people each year, on average, are killed by donkeys. That compares very well with sharks. So is anybody interested in cloud funding a block buster film, about a little seaside town called Amityville, being terrorized by a killer ass. You know a pair of big ears are to be seen sticking up above the fence, and the music goes, bump bump bump bump bump bah bah BUMP.

Who Remembers?

Fernapple comments on Mar 13, 2022:

So. "Two wrongs do not make a right." And "The crimes of others do not excuse mine."

LOL. It's funny how some of you take what I write to be serious. Jesus fucking Christ.

Fernapple comments on Mar 13, 2022:

Try being British on a largely USA based site. Sometimes I think that I have stepped into an irony free alternate universe.

A friend lucked out and bought this poster at a garage sale in Oklahoma.

Fernapple comments on Mar 13, 2022:

There are a lot of people who think. "If only it could !!!" Me, it just makes me sleepy.

Hello.

Fernapple comments on Mar 13, 2022:

I think that it is better to not be too aggressive in the usage, since promoting a, them and us, attitude is even more damaging. So I would go with something more sympathetic, if still slightly disparaging, both to not promote division and to sell the usages message to third parties looking on from the side. So I would go with something like. "Echo chamber prisoner." Or " Sub-culture victim."

The joy and threat of seeing mountain goats.

Fernapple comments on Mar 13, 2022:

Great pictures.

Good morning everyone, I am going away for the weekend and where I am going I get no cellphone ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 12, 2022:

Enjoy and travel safely.

Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it. Christopher Hitchens

Fernapple comments on Mar 12, 2022:

Hello and welcome. Enjoy the site.

The cheek of of them all, unbelievable I say, unbelievable.

Fernapple comments on Mar 12, 2022:

Good for you.

Right-wing pastor attributes climate science to Satan and blames environmentalists for Ukraine ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 11, 2022:

Just tell him that pet cats cause alien visitations, if you see him, will you.

A little mold education I came across.

Fernapple comments on Mar 11, 2022:

Beautiful patterns.

Beauty is where you find it....or make it. You will never guess what this is a photo of.

Fernapple comments on Mar 11, 2022:

Lichen ?

Beauty is where you find it....or make it. You will never guess what this is a photo of.

Fernapple comments on Mar 11, 2022:

Rust on a metal plate ?

Never ask a person how their garden is doing, if it's bad, no need to embarrass them, if it's good, ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 10, 2022:

And never, never ask them about their compost heap, you will be there all day.

The caption of a low-life odyssey, Charles Bukowski, died on this day in 1994: “There's nothing ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 10, 2022:

I spent most of my life doing sex, drugs, junk food, drink and farting, but I will admit, that I did waste a little bit of it sleeping.

Breaking News...

Fernapple comments on Mar 10, 2022:

In Britain we have a different strategy. We will send a lot of aid, and weapons, but we will just wait until the war is over before we send it. Then when it gets to the French border, with the wrong papers of course, we will just let it sit there for ten months, and then say. "Well its not needed now anyway".

This logical contradiction has been around a long time but nobody wants to put their imaginary god ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 10, 2022:

Satan in the bible, up to and beyond the Gospels, hardly gets a mention, and the whole idea of hell is a later theological invention. Since, theologians have a problem, because when your house of cards begins to wobble, then, you need to adjust or take away some of the cards, as most people do. But if you have already declared your cards sacred, and your construction perfect, in order to big yourself up, and gain the maximum amount of fake authority, you can't do that. So your only answer is to prop the whole thing up by adding yet more cards, which in turn create more wobbles of their own, and so you go on adding yet more and more, until the least puff of logical wind, the tiniest hiccup, will bring the whole thing crashing down. So you have to say. "Keep your logic away from my cards will you, you nasty, burping atheist, you should not have eaten those chili beans, that is the fires of hell you are breathing out.".

The animals may be adapting quicker to global climate change than we expected ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 10, 2022:

One of the biggest problems is that faced by land animals and plants. Who in the past when climate changed, as it sometimes did, could simply shift their range to another area, where the weather suited them better. But now they live in an environment, which is carved up into many islands, by urban developments, farmland, roads and dams etc. And many are already struggling, due to having their populations carved up into small inbred pockets, or just because of lack of enough environmental space in simple terms. For many it will be just one blow too many.

Unbelievers. Are there any moral flaws in Jesus?

Fernapple comments on Mar 9, 2022:

The question does not seem to be very clearly put, since you list at least five Jesus persons: the biblical, the Roman, the Gnostic, the one who is identical to Yahweh and the possible original one behind the myth. Does the question in the first line refer to all of them, or only one ? As to the biblical Jesus of the textual account, which is the one which interests me the most, I would say yes, quite a few moral flaws: the promotion of racism, (It is better to give food to dogs, etc.) the promotion of belief in inherited original sin, the promotion of the idea of making no investment because of the immediate world ending, the idea of thought crime (Thinking of adultery is committing it.) the promotion of violence ( Cleansing the temple.) and several others. Do I think that on balance the Jesus of the text was more morally good than bad, especially in the effects of his legacy on the following ages ? Yes, in the later Roman empire, the dark ages an the middle ages, perhaps, after that, into modern times, perhaps not, and into the future almost certainly not.

“Nature is a mixture of opposites… it is beautiful and dangerous, constant and inconstant, ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 9, 2022:

But it does not judge you. There are often many ways in which the cold indifference of nature, is much to be preferred, and is much more worthy of love, than the deliberate cruelty of human inventions, like gods.

Outside my window on Sunday morning ...and I shot this with my cell phone?

Fernapple comments on Mar 9, 2022:

Beautiful, you are so lucky.

7 Humane Cat traps arrived from the R.

Fernapple comments on Mar 9, 2022:

For your biggest pest, a simple pitfall trap works best. You know a big deep hole in the ground covered in leaves or something like that. You need to make it quite big, big enough say to catch a donkey, which is why its generally called the ass hole.

I have finally decided to block frayed bear.

Fernapple comments on Mar 8, 2022:

Its your account, you engage with whom you wish. But for my part I think he has just got too silly to be worth the bother.

Attack of the sex toy!! 😂😂 [deadstate.org]

Fernapple comments on Mar 8, 2022:

So he insulted the members of his own church, by accusing them of what in their culture is regarded as a moral crime. Probably without any real evidence but just hypothetically as a shock jockey tactic, to stir up mindless ire. And now he is surprised that he is getting come back. Is he the stupidest evangelical of the lot, or do you know of a more brain dead one.

Ain't No Rabbits in the Burgess Shale MP3 Song Download by The Galapagos Mountain Boys (Darwin, Darn...

Fernapple comments on Mar 8, 2022:

Great song, and every word clearly heard.

Where's your god now?

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2022:

In the next cubical you hope. LOL

Here is an old piece I wrote a couple of years ago.

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2022:

Yes I agree with that. ( See my comment on your last post. ) Though it should be pointed out that he was a largely failed and unsuccessful salesman and entrepreneur, who turned to politics to give himself a second chance.

A little knowledge: " When would you estimate the "dumbing down” of America began?

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2022:

No. I think that that may contribute to the Dunning-Kruger effect, and may make ignorance more bold and visible, but it does not add to the sum total of it. I think that it really begins when those who control power and wealth, began to lose faith in education, as a generator of more power and wealth for themselves. In the nineteenth century, many with power and wealth thought that education was an unalloyed good, which would make for a more effective workforce, eager to buy more goods, which education would lead them to want. But over the years it was realized that education in fact makes people self reliant, and teaches them discernment. So that those who had the wealth and power, began to doubt that earlier view, and especially they began to think that well educated people would have little interest in buying the goods and services they could easily produce. It would be harder to produce the goods demanded by those with discernment, and the fewer goods would reduce profits. The discerning and self reliant would not want to pay for shallow sermons on Sundays, junk food on weekdays, or canned entertainment on Saturdays. So that education (True education not just schooling.) became a low priority, for industry, church and government, since they thought that they could see, that too much of it was not in their best interests.

Know what pisses me off?

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2022:

If you care you suffer, that is life, sadly. But at the same time, even if we make mistakes, the chances are that if we truly care, then we will still end our lives in the credit side of the balance sheet. And to die hurts no creature, it is the living who suffer, so i think that the religious moral judgment,which says that we can not kill, even in mercy, is as mindless as all other religious judgments, but the legacy of it still lingers in our culture and makes us feel guilty even when we are kind. But kindness is never wrong.

“It’s not enough to win a war; it is more important to organise the ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2022:

You have not won the war, until you have organized the peace, anyway.

There Is No Way Back {Part 1)

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2022:

Would we now be having a war in the Ukraine, if the West and the world as a whole, had stood up to Putin in Syria ? And if not Syria or the Ukraine then where next ? But of course the place where winning the war really matters, is in Russia. The Russians have a long tradition for the of disposal on longer useful leaders. It does not involve voting them out of office, its a lot more brutal than that, but it does happen, and no doubt a lot of powerful people are getting very unhappy with Putin now. Who knows what the future may bring ?

STFU.

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2022:

True. But still I wonder, if the wholesale price of gas only equals about one percent of my total monthly gas bill. Why is it that when the wholesale price of gas goes up by half, my bill goes up by nearer to fifty percent, than by half of one percent ? Actually I also wonder why I am paying one hundred times the wholesale price of the product in the first place. Yes I know they have to maintain the pipes, and there is a cost in posting my bill each month, but even so, that is one hell of a big mark up. But no, I would happily see my gas bill doubled, if it meant that some journalist, would not have to take just one more photo of a cold frightened parent, carrying a baby round piles of debris, while the grandparents try to drag spare clothes and baby food behind, with no certainty of where they were going.

I notice that Pepsi-co and McDonalds are still operating in Russia.

Fernapple comments on Mar 6, 2022:

The food industry, is not worried who rules the Ukraine, or who runs Russia or even America for that matter, because it knows that it rules the whole world, and even the superpowers are just pathetic little bit part players by comparison.

Religions survive mainly because they brainwash the young. - A.C. Grayling

Fernapple comments on Mar 6, 2022:

That is quite true. Although I think that they also survive, because they tell people including the young, that they need not bother thinking things through, be critical, or look for anything more. Nice to be lazy, great if you don't even have to bother trying.

“The most confused you will ever get is when you try to convince your heart and spirit of ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 6, 2022:

Practice helps a lot, many who hold to beliefs which require high levels of cognitive dissonance, get to be very good at fooling themselves. Which eventually becomes a problem that extends far beyond the initial, acceptance of the doctrine around religious belief uncritically, which is why religion often has such a corrosive effect on the personality, when once you have trained yourself to accept one big idea uncritically then all others become easy. And when once religion then racism, class, toxic nationalism etc. etc. all fall into line easily.

Did you know, the boy who cried "wolf" was also involved in archeological forgeries?

Fernapple comments on Mar 5, 2022:

Extra big groan.

I now know what American life during the Holocaust was like.

Fernapple comments on Mar 5, 2022:

True, and seeing only your own self absorbed interests as the only thing that matters, is a sad limit to vision and understanding. But it is also true that a few more cents on a gallon will cost lives. Because across a world where population is in billions, there will be a lot of pensioners and poor people, for whom the economic down turn he is causing, will be just enough to push them over the edge. Especially in Russia itself. Somewhere this week there will be a few among the poor and the old, who will decide that the extra cost, is just too much to afford that trip to the doctors, where they would have got a life saving diagnosis, or they will decide that this week they will have to manage without the expensive pills, or can't afford the donation to the charity which provides, clean life saving water equipment, to children in the third world. The death toll spreads out, slowly and widely, but ever so inexorably, far beyond the Ukraine, like ripples in a pond, and the economic impact is a major one of those ripples.

With all the book banning, I saw one counter measure that worked at one board meeting - ask if ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2022:

Or where a pimp lets his girlfriend be gang raped until she dies, and then kicks her dead body for dying on him. After which he cuts her up into pieces and sends them to people.

I hate when people hide behind religion think it all about love, which it all about control

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2022:

hello and welcome, enjoy the site. And we are completely out of control, welcome to the anarchy.

I'd like to suggest a new feature.

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2022:

Maybe a good idea. What the site actually does is, it displays them only in landscape. Which means that, in the mean time, there are at least three things you can do. One is to turn your camera landscape before you shoot, especially if shooting with this site in mind. The second is, if you do not need all of the photo, then crop it down in size removing the top and/or bottom to make it wider than high, and the third is to use a photo editor to put a longer than high frame around it, with a blank space on each side.

Praise to the almighty Deer God...

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2022:

Witness: " No they bought the antlers quite cheaply second hand."

Past CIA expert warns not to simplify Putin as a madman.

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2022:

You can lose your grip on reality completely yet not be mad. Putin spent his whole working life in the echo chamber of the KGB, and he now surrounds himself with people who tell him what they think he wants to hear, by repute he has never even visited the internet, and he does not read newspapers. It is perfectly possible to lose all contact with reality, not only, because you have lost the ability to grasp it, but also because you have pushed it so far away that you can no longer touch it.

Ukraine is offering money to Russian soldiers to surrender. [youtu.be]

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2022:

I think that the take up will be quite small, not because there is no wish for the money and freedom, but because fear of Putin and fear of being forever parted from their family would prevent it.

Putin is losing. [youtu.be]

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2022:

Beau, is always very good, but I think that here he could be over-stretching a bit. The future is rarely that certain, strange and unexpected things often happen in world history. That is perhaps a best case view, and it would be nice to think he is correct, but who really knows what the next few months will bring.

“Putin has become the world’s most toxic man,” Howard W.

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2022:

"Some parts of Poland hold German speaking people, therefore Poland is part of Germany." A. Hitler. "Some parts of the Ukraine hold Russian speaking people, therefore the Ukraine is part of Russia." V. Putin. No further comment from me needed.

Was that turtle flying under its' own power or did somebody toss it in order for it to take flight?

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2022:

Birds of prey, especially eagles, have been known to drop turtles from hight, in order to break the shells. Whether that happened in this case it is hard to say, but it is also hard to think of another plausible explanation.

I just beat my Rubik's cube!!! With a hammer.

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2022:

Sadly that method is not new.

New first-of-its-kind map reveals ‘whale superhighways’ throughout the oceans

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2022:

Yes very interesting. If you remember in Moby Dick, captain Ahab claimed to have just such a map, but it was only fantasy then.

“What concerns me is that man, unable to articulate, to express himself adequately, reverts to ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2022:

People reach for their guns, when they know they can not win the argument. ( Can't remember who first said that. )

Meta-analysis of 83 studies produces 'very strong' evidence for a negative relationship between ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2022:

That of course probably means measuring intelligence mainly in terms of IQ, scores. But real working intelligence, of the sort which matters in the complex human world, depends much more upon many qualities of character, besides just paper problem solving ability. Such as honesty, setting high standards, being prepared to put effort in, being willing to change even when it hurts, and patience, I would like to bet that if you could find a way to measure those too, the results would be even stronger.

That’s all he got.

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2022:

Maybe not, there is good evidence that he was gay and had a long term lover.

Why people trust in God?

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2022:

Because they want to waste their lives and then get a free pass ?

Meta-analysis of 83 studies produces 'very strong' evidence for a negative relationship between ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2022:

Site is down sorry.

Bob Dylan said that you don't need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows, and Trump wafts in...

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2022:

Maybe Putin canceled his payments.

I used to try to figure out the cost per sheet.Now I just buy the kind that feels good.

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2022:

I just grab the nearest big pack. Sorry, I must be a toilet paper selection fail. Can you get evening classes in toilet paper management ?

Mornington Crescent anyone?

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2022:

Kew. (Without the gardens. See if you can get round that one smart ass.)

Why yes I have on many occasions, can I get an Atheist Amen? :)

Fernapple comments on Mar 2, 2022:

Altogether now bothers and sisters. "Amen".

I know I love my kitties as if they were my children.

Fernapple comments on Mar 2, 2022:

If the presidents of more countries were people like him, we would not be in this trouble in the first place.

The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for. Will Rogers.

Fernapple comments on Mar 2, 2022:

Yes but waiting in line gets to be less of a problem too, because you realize as you get older that you never had anything really important to do anyway. At least not more important than standing relaxing and talking to strangers.

Putin’s mind… [youtu.be] .

Fernapple comments on Mar 1, 2022:

A good thoughtful video. I remember reading some time ago a stat. that well over half of Russians believe that Russia's economic difficulties, are mainly to be blamed on foreign agents working on Russian soil. Putin is perhaps not alone in the delusion that Russia is under constant attack, by foreign powers trying to destroy it economically and politically. Just how much, that parity with wider public opinion, is due to the Kremlin exporting propaganda to cover its failings by blaming foreigners, as failed governments often do, and just how much Putin and the government just themselves reflect a naturally widespread attitude, is difficult to say, without a much more in depth knowledge of Russia. But it certainly was not helped by western triumphalism at the end of the cold war, treating it as almost a victory, as though the western powers had won a real shooting war. Without being a little more thoughtful about how that would play in a very paranoid, ( In the popular sense of the word. ) population of Russia who already saw themselves as victims.

James O'Brien: Vladimir Putin has made a 'massive miscalculation' in Ukraine | LBC [youtu.be]

Fernapple comments on Mar 1, 2022:

In part at least, though I am sure it is more complex than this, the answer to "that question" is. That the author of the video is a journalist, and he has therefore, because of the world in which he operates, which could be called, the media bubble and its own echo chamber, an exaggerated view of the power and scope of the media and journalism. Just as Putin in his own political bubble and echo chamber, achieved an exaggerated view of what his plots and propaganda were achieving. That of course, in part, is what in the end pushes all tyrants over the edge into madness, because no one lives more completely in an echo chamber, so utterly divorced from reality and and evidence of the real world, than political leaders, especially dictators.

I'm back. Able to get into my account for the first time in a week,

Fernapple comments on Mar 1, 2022:

Welcome.

In 2021, atheists made up only 0.1% of the federal prison population

Fernapple comments on Feb 28, 2022:

I have to say though that I have read those sort of stats before, and they may always be skewed. Since prisoners come under a lot of pressure to sign up to religion, both from the parole system, and also from just plain boredom. Plus atheists generally come from higher earning and higher education groups, who are less likely to be pushed into crime. While I think that atheist are likely to be generally more honest, the figures for at least those who go into prison, probably are not quite as extreme as that.