To fill the wishes of Marrionville I found another story of the same sort as the last, this one is ...

Marionville comments on Dec 30, 2021:

Certainly plausible! Btw I found your post by accident…I only have one letter “r” in my Marionville, and you omitted the @ in front…which would’ve brought it straight to me! I am however, going to join the group as I I think I’ll find it interesting.

Fernapple replies on Dec 30, 2021:

I was sure you had two "R" but anyway, while my IT skills are quite second rate.

I'm sentimental, what can I say. ;)

FrayedBear comments on Dec 30, 2021:

Isn't finishing other's sentences obsessive control freak behaviour?

Fernapple replies on Dec 30, 2021:

Yes I think that at least one of them , probably both, was into that.

I'm sentimental, what can I say. ;)

Fernapple comments on Dec 30, 2021:

Just a pity her coward of a partner, did not have the courage to face his.

Fernapple replies on Dec 30, 2021:

@David1955 True. Who knows what he knew? Some of which may have been deadly to the regime, there is no doubt that they certainly had motive, but did they get him or did he off himself before they could, that is still not proved.

Premiering on PBS stations tonight: EARTH EMERGENCY This revealing film examines how human ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 30, 2021:

Says. "Video not available."

Fernapple replies on Dec 30, 2021:

@nicestuff No sorry.

I'm sentimental, what can I say. ;)

Fernapple comments on Dec 30, 2021:

Just a pity her coward of a partner, did not have the courage to face his.

Fernapple replies on Dec 30, 2021:

@David1955 Very true, but as to trivial, that depends with what you compare it to. The death of one small component of a corrupt and morally bankrupt class, in a decaying republic, to keep him silent, is hardly new, there have been thousands of those, in hundreds of decadent states across the world from ancient times. And in the time it took him to choke, many hundreds of children died of poor food, water and heathcare all across the world.

“Nothing of real worth can ever be bought.

Fernapple comments on Dec 29, 2021:

Opportunity can be bought, and it is a prerequisite for all the others.

Fernapple replies on Dec 30, 2021:

@Mcflewster Yes but you don't need money so much for choice, sometimes, but not so much. And opportunity is a prerequisite for choice too.

Letters From An American 12/28/2021

JackPedigo comments on Dec 29, 2021:

How can we have a hope of changing the future when we continue to live in the past?

Fernapple replies on Dec 30, 2021:

@JackPedigo "Those who do not learn from the past, are doomed to repeat its mistakes." In fact, the past is our only sourse of learning, not to accept the need to study the past, is to reject learning and choose ignorance. Which is great only for those who want to spend the lives doing stupid stuff.

I'm sentimental, what can I say. ;)

Fernapple comments on Dec 30, 2021:

Just a pity her coward of a partner, did not have the courage to face his.

Fernapple replies on Dec 30, 2021:

@David1955 Who knows ? I would not get into conspiracy theories over something so trivial. Don't forget there are at least four possibles, suicide, murder, assisted suicide, and enabled suicide.

NASA Says Webb’s Excess Fuel Likely to Extend its Lifetime Expectations [blogs.nasa.gov]

Druvius comments on Dec 29, 2021:

Let's just hope they get it deployed and up and running. :)

Fernapple replies on Dec 30, 2021:

Took me a second, but that is the funniest thing this week.

This is not a picture as such, but a story, and I take the risk of posting it, because it is a great...

Marionville comments on Dec 29, 2021:

I love watching Waldemar Januszczak’s art detective work on TV…his deductions are usually spot on…as in this one!

Fernapple replies on Dec 29, 2021:

Don't want to overdo it, but if I find another good one I will post it soon. This one is special to me, as I have a personal history with this painting, since a print used to hang on the school room wall, in my childhood. And I often used to wonder, why the man in the picture wanted such a miserable and unflattering portrait of himself doing. Now I know, mystery solved,. It is amazing how some mysteries do solve themselves even years later.

Why not take a walk down a Irish lane in spring, in the middle of winter we need to dream a little.

JackPedigo comments on Dec 28, 2021:

There is an amazing, must see series one can find on Youtube. Different ages different styles of agriculture. One series "Edwardian Farms" has a section on making hedgerows. It starts with the Blacksmith (each district had a different style of tools) and then on the construction the hedgerows. This ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 28, 2021:

Yes I have done some, I have a Yorkshire bill hook from my Yorkshire family. This was a series on the BBC tv.

“There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the...

Fernapple comments on Dec 28, 2021:

And yet that only happens because the earths rotation, and its orbit do not line up. There may be planets which follow even tracks around their stars, where there live aliens who have no idea of what the word, seasons, could mean, or even that such things exist. From very simple things often there ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 28, 2021:

@Marionville The point of the sepulation is to show up all the better, what a strange and wonderful place this is.

One of the things which amazes me about the natural world, is they way that we keep discovering new ...

Buttercup comments on Dec 28, 2021:

Me too, weird how immense and variable even one smallish planet filled with complex creatures can be. There are thousands of micro species in my own house too. (most uncatalogued)

Fernapple replies on Dec 28, 2021:

That is true. For large creatures like the new bat which was quite resently discovered in the UK, it is strange that they are overlooked, but at the micro level we know almost nothing of what is out there.

What Christmas Carol do you dislike the most and why?

Fernapple comments on Dec 27, 2021:

Oh little town of Bethlehem. Its just so twee from the first line, makes my skin crawl.

Fernapple replies on Dec 28, 2021:

@Julie808 Its a really useful word. I bet you can't wait for an opportunity to try it out now.

There’s a limit to how nice one can be.

barjoe comments on Dec 28, 2021:

It's nice to be nice. To the nice.

Fernapple replies on Dec 28, 2021:

If you are only nice to the nice, are you really nice ? Or is it nice to be nice to the not nice, for the sake of niceness in a nicer world ?

Got our first snow this week, on the cottages across the road and in the field behind.

Mooolah comments on Dec 27, 2021:

Love the snow. More than here in Wisconsin. And I am south of you.https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2021/12/26/six-injured-after-20-car-pile-up-near-reno/ Donner Pass. Pack a lunch.

Fernapple replies on Dec 28, 2021:

Yes we do not get much snow here in the UK due to the exceptionaly mild climate for our latitude, caused by the Gulf Stream. What we do mostly get, in winter, is six months of unending drizzle only interupted by occasional bursts of rain, very like the, six months of unending drizzle only interupted by occasional bursts of rain which we call summer.

lol.. Perhaps something to chew on. If the universe has no beginning, then it has no edges

Fernapple comments on Dec 27, 2021:

That is even included in some versions of the Big Bang theory.

Fernapple replies on Dec 28, 2021:

@hankster Much within the universe is imaginary, cosmology has not as yet moved much beyond the hypothesis stage, about many things.

lol.. Perhaps something to chew on. If the universe has no beginning, then it has no edges

Fernapple comments on Dec 27, 2021:

That is even included in some versions of the Big Bang theory.

Fernapple replies on Dec 27, 2021:

@hankster That is also accepted by many, as are several other versions.

lol.. Perhaps something to chew on. If the universe has no beginning, then it has no edges

Fernapple comments on Dec 27, 2021:

That is even included in some versions of the Big Bang theory.

Fernapple replies on Dec 27, 2021:

@hankster No it is only the beginning of the local universe, the multiverse beyond it may have lasted forever. While it could be infinite in space as well, according to some thought, the edges where we see the cosmic background are caused only by, the limit of time for light to travel stopping us seeing further, our local bubble beyond which there may be alliens seeing other local bubbles out to infinity

Happy Newtonmas

Fernapple comments on Dec 25, 2021:

Not until the fourth of January.

Fernapple replies on Dec 26, 2021:

@LenHazell53 Thank you that's wonderful, you are well informed.

My friend said.

Lorajay comments on Dec 25, 2021:

It sounds like his family will lose the joy of achievement. That is far from a loving wish.

Fernapple replies on Dec 26, 2021:

I think that is the joke , yes.

Yes indeed and damn proud of it.

CourtJester comments on Dec 25, 2021:

Define “Science loving”

Fernapple replies on Dec 25, 2021:

You use technology for trills.

How To Start Your Own Religion [thoughtcatalog.com]

barjoe comments on Dec 24, 2021:

L Ron Hubbard did a pretty good job with a phony religion. Actually they are all phony.

Fernapple replies on Dec 25, 2021:

@barjoe He is a very fishy person, even if he did exist. He is a government agent, tasked with undermining a new political religious movement, he then claims to have a magical conversion, and starts telling everyone in the movement to do exactly what his former political masters would like. Who is he fooling. Its less believable than a Dan Brown plot.

How To Start Your Own Religion [thoughtcatalog.com]

barjoe comments on Dec 24, 2021:

L Ron Hubbard did a pretty good job with a phony religion. Actually they are all phony.

Fernapple replies on Dec 25, 2021:

I think that Joseph Smith did a pretty good job with Mormonism too, but the real matser faker has to have been St Paul.

When the will to learn from the ordinary is present, a seeker may indeed gain entrance into levels...

AnonySchmoose comments on Dec 24, 2021:

I feel that 'the ordinary' in this quote means the racism.

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2021:

@Theresa_N Yes me too, it is only when you stop pursuing novelty and start to understand the ordinary, that your power of appreciation begins to be trained, and with that your capacity for wisdom and happiness increases. The collector of rare and precious gems, will never be satisfied, but if you can. "See a world, in a grain of sand. " in Blakes words, then you will always have abundance beyond your power to count.

Why his mumbo jumbo shows no logic anywhere

Fernapple comments on Dec 23, 2021:

According to the book, it was actually god who. "Hardened Pharaoh's heart." So he took away Pharaoh's free will, in order to make it happen.

Fernapple replies on Dec 24, 2021:

@Storm1752 Yep. Totally illogical.

Do numbers exist? Not the visual or verbal symbols for numbers, but numbers themselves?

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2021:

Define "exist" ?

Fernapple replies on Dec 23, 2021:

@bbyrd009 Define "objective" and "evidence" please.

Are some of us destined to be dumb and is there anything we can do about it? [abc.net.au]

BD66 comments on Dec 23, 2021:

Television was supposed to educate the masses. That failed. The internet was supposed to educate the masses. That failed too.

Fernapple replies on Dec 23, 2021:

You forgot state schools, and the popular press.

You just never listen do you! Don't say you weren't warned!

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Dec 22, 2021:

No one has EVER offered me an extended car warranty.

Fernapple replies on Dec 22, 2021:

You are lucky.

The Most Improbable Xmas Gift

Word comments on Dec 20, 2021:

What is Boris?

Fernapple replies on Dec 20, 2021:

The British prime minister. Large fat bloke, with goofy hair. Well ok, looks like a typical politician.

Do numbers exist? Not the visual or verbal symbols for numbers, but numbers themselves?

Charles1971 comments on Dec 19, 2021:

Numbers are ideas... and ideas exist. So, therefore numbers exist.

Fernapple replies on Dec 20, 2021:

@Charles1971 Ideas, which are things of the imagination, are fictional attemps our brains make to model the world without, sometimes things which are without, and sometimes things which only exist in that imagination. Those ideas, can be represented in their turn by physical objects, so that money as an idea of value, can be represented by a coin, and Batman as a fictional hero, can be represented by physical ink stains on the page of a comic book. But we are still creating a fiction when we imbue those coins or ink stains with the power to represent, even though they physically exist.

Do numbers exist? Not the visual or verbal symbols for numbers, but numbers themselves?

Charles1971 comments on Dec 19, 2021:

Numbers are ideas... and ideas exist. So, therefore numbers exist.

Fernapple replies on Dec 20, 2021:

@Willow_Wisp Phlogiston theory reborn. lol

Do numbers exist? Not the visual or verbal symbols for numbers, but numbers themselves?

Charles1971 comments on Dec 19, 2021:

Numbers are ideas... and ideas exist. So, therefore numbers exist.

Fernapple replies on Dec 20, 2021:

@Willow_Wisp Yes I agree with you and also try to keep a bound between the world of abstract ideas, and real physical things. Human language especially can, because it is just a scrap heap of old historic accidents, so easily mislead. I had not long ago a common example on this very site. One of the really common language based falacies. When I had to explain to a member that there is no such thing as cold or dark, in real terms, only a lack of heat and light. He replied that there must be such a thing as dark, since it is what exists before light reaches you. I think that I finally got through to him when I asked if anyone had ever detected a particle of dark. See also my reply to RussRAB above.

I love new biology breakthroughs this one is better imaging of living cells. [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2021:

Really wonderful, but sadly it is a little hard to tell in the video, which are their actual images and which are animations, created for the video.

Fernapple replies on Dec 20, 2021:

@Willow_Wisp Yes I have sen the old scanning images too. It sounds like they have not yet attempted viruses, they wouldbe very fast moving relative to their size in the free state.

I love new biology breakthroughs this one is better imaging of living cells. [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 20, 2021:

Really wonderful, but sadly it is a little hard to tell in the video, which are their actual images and which are animations, created for the video.

Fernapple replies on Dec 20, 2021:

@Willow_Wisp No some of the animations are clearly artistic recreations such as the picture of a virus.

Do numbers exist? Not the visual or verbal symbols for numbers, but numbers themselves?

Charles1971 comments on Dec 19, 2021:

Numbers are ideas... and ideas exist. So, therefore numbers exist.

Fernapple replies on Dec 20, 2021:

@Willow_Wisp The answer is that a thing may exist and not exist, both at the same time, in three levels at least. Money in my bank account only exists as an idea, yet I can draw it out as cash and translate it into a physical object, called coins and notes, yet the physical objects themselves only stand for the abstract idea of values, yet I can buy a dog with both those coins or a non material bank transfer, and thereby exchange that abstraction of value for a physical object, also worth so many pounds.

Do numbers exist? Not the visual or verbal symbols for numbers, but numbers themselves?

Willow_Wisp comments on Dec 19, 2021:

Numbers are an abstraction, like all of math. If I write a one on a piece of paper billions of carbon atoms make up that one, there's no one there. Concepts aren't real in the physical sense, only in the abstract sense. Like my identity, which brain cell does it reside in? All of them, it's a ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 20, 2021:

@skado If you use those definitions then number exists as an idea but not materially. But that I do think answers your question.

Do numbers exist? Not the visual or verbal symbols for numbers, but numbers themselves?

Willow_Wisp comments on Dec 19, 2021:

Numbers are an abstraction, like all of math. If I write a one on a piece of paper billions of carbon atoms make up that one, there's no one there. Concepts aren't real in the physical sense, only in the abstract sense. Like my identity, which brain cell does it reside in? All of them, it's a ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 20, 2021:

@RussRAB You have a dog, and then you have another dog. The word, "two" is an abstraction which represents the idea of an object (dog) and then another object in the same category. Yet even that is a further layer of abstraction, because the idea of category, is also a mathematical or mental abstraction used by our brains to model the world outside. Yet at the same time those models do indeed exist as real things in themselves, in a sense similar to that of a physical model. Such as if I build a model railway, the model railway exists as an object, even if it is not a real railway. The interesting thing is, that we know this in part, because we know that dogs themselves, understand both the concept of categories and of numbers, as do many other animals, so they are not just human cultural constructs.

Interesting mating strategy…glad humans don’t share it!

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2021:

The Granny advice I was given to attract the female of the species was, to wrap a few mint leaves in a hanky and tuck that in your top pocket. I am surprised that they did not mention though, Artemisia abrotanum or Lad's Love, which is said to be used by women to attract specifically younger men.

Fernapple replies on Dec 20, 2021:

@Lorajay It is especially the Artemisia abrotanum, which smells quite different to most Artemisia, a bit like pine with fruit gums.

Heck, this one got me thinking... Is intelligence really simply an accident of evolution?

BD66 comments on Dec 19, 2021:

Are you sure Asimov said that? If so, that's one of his worst quotes.

Fernapple replies on Dec 19, 2021:

@BD66 Yes, but it is not always and advantage. Many creatures, especially parasites, have probably lost some intelligence, since brains are expensive to run, and sometimes the economic gains out weigh the behavioral advantages. And now that humans are becoming increasingly parasitic on our own technology ? Well who knows ? But there is some limited evidence that our brains started to shrink, following the agricultural revolution, when the ability to survive on lower value food became more important, and a celibate life may have become attractive to the more intelligent. See also JeffMurray who puts the idea in more simple terms.

Blood clots.

Fernapple comments on Dec 19, 2021:

I usually burn the blood cloths, would not want the police to find them, even if I have disposed of the bodies carefully.

Fernapple replies on Dec 19, 2021:

@Jolanta Try to help someone every day.

Our fiction addiction: Why humans need stories… [bbc.com] .

KateOahu comments on Dec 18, 2021:

“The more people read fiction, the easier they find it to empathise with other people.” We could do with more reading in the world! “Asking a panel of readers to rate the principal characters in more than 200 novels (beginning with Jane Austen and ending with EM Forster), the researchers ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 18, 2021:

The problem with narrative, just like all the arts, and just like religion (an art and prime user of art ), indeed most of human culture, is that it is a powerful tool, but one which is neutral, to most spectrums including truth and lies, moral and immoral, good and evil. Narrative especially but all the arts and human culture, will serve to promote both the good and the bad, equally, and indeed since lies and bad ideas are harder to sell, those wishing to pedal bad ideas are more likely to invest the most in those arts. So that you could easily say that the more true and beautiful it seems to be, the more you should distrust it. Remember, to use the most banal of cliches, that the Nazis invested hugely, perhaps more than any other modern government, in the arts and narrative, to promote a truely evil and racist and genocidal agenda. While the damage done to human relations by Romantic literature, is beyond all measure. Nothing has done more harm to women's position in society, especially, and to human relations in general, than the "happy ever after" myth. Pride and prejudice, which is cited, ends in a marriage, between too people of quite different types. Did they make a happy life after that ? Who knows, maybe they did, but many do not, and the one thing that you may be certain of, is that post marriage was the point at which their problems really began, in a way that makes the problems of courtship trivial.

I think it is wishful thinking to believe you can rid yourself of wishful thinking.

Julie808 comments on Dec 17, 2021:

As long as we realize that our wishful thinking is just that, we should keep it up, so we have some pie in the sky goals, so that even if they never come true, at least we are aiming in the right direction.

Fernapple replies on Dec 18, 2021:

If you throw a pie at the sky, it falls back to earth and makes a nasty inedble mess on the ground.

No explanation needed for those "in the know."

Fernapple comments on Dec 17, 2021:

Did not get it until I read bobwjr's comment.

Fernapple replies on Dec 17, 2021:

@Petter Well I feel old now.

No explanation needed for those "in the know."

bobwjr comments on Dec 17, 2021:

Simon and Garfunkle

Fernapple replies on Dec 17, 2021:

Now I get it.

Poland's border wall will cut Europe's oldest forest in half

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2021:

And sadly, this is mainly because Belarus has deliberately created the migrant route in order to cause problems.

Fernapple replies on Dec 17, 2021:

@AnonySchmoose Here you go. People used as pawns,, in political games. the BBC has several posts on it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-58952867

"All our environmental problems become easier to solve with fewer people, and harder - and ...

Marionville comments on Dec 16, 2021:

Well…that’s pretty obvious I’d have thought!

Fernapple replies on Dec 16, 2021:

I have heard a politician say. "Population is not a big problem, it is global warming we have to be concerned about." As though the one is not a function of the other. But that is political logic, if you can fool some of the people, as they say.

What caused you to leave Christianity?

Fernapple comments on Dec 16, 2021:

I was never in it, being raised in a mainly secular home.

Fernapple replies on Dec 16, 2021:

@Buck Yes in some ways I was, I was certainly never brain washed in early life, but of course an attempt was made when I reached school. Most schools in the UK being religious schools, especially, way back then. But that of course generated a reaction. Especially when I realized that the schools system actually possed a threat to a lot of the things, like science, geniune history, and especially the love of nature, which I had come by then to value.

I couldn't agree more. People should stop mocking birds

Fernapple comments on Dec 15, 2021:

Redbreast, Magpie, ( = Margaret) Blue Tit, Great Tit, and especially Great Crested Tit.

Fernapple replies on Dec 15, 2021:

@MsKathleen Those are the English names of course, You would call most of them Chickadees I think. But In England we call a Tit a Tit.

Vet Angry At So Many People Believing These Pet Breeds Are “Cute” Explains How They Are Not ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 14, 2021:

PS. To my last. And of course, at the bottom of it, bad taste and a total lack of empathy for other creatures, is just a product of ignorance. Because our education systems would rather not teach, understanding, empathy and good taste, in case they were "difficult" in the workplace.

Fernapple replies on Dec 15, 2021:

@Ryo1 That is a great truth.

They say excuses are the mother of failures and they also say failures are how you learn so if you ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 13, 2021:

Errr ?

Fernapple replies on Dec 15, 2021:

@Beachslim7 Sorry I have got more than three, but only two are working at this time, I think the others joined a union.

14th December 1812…🇫🇷 The French invasion of Russia, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, officially ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 14, 2021:

I remember reading an account by one of the survivors. Where he described having managed to steal a potato, just one. But being mad with hunger and cold he did not want to share it with his fellows, who had a fire and could have cooked it. He then wrote that. "I was punished for this, because the ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 14, 2021:

@Marionville Yes there is no need for a Satan, humans can generally create hell without any supernatural help.

14th December 1812…🇫🇷 The French invasion of Russia, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, officially ...

bobwjr comments on Dec 14, 2021:

The winter was the enemy

Fernapple replies on Dec 14, 2021:

That is true. Although, it is also true that the, so called, great millitary genius, had not taken any winter uniforms with him for his troops, because he thought that the Russians would quickly capitulate, before the autumn.

Has anyone ever seen a clamshell that big?

bobwjr comments on Dec 14, 2021:

If you looked like that, no complaints

Fernapple replies on Dec 14, 2021:

Off course she does, what is this with the "if".

Does Objective Evidence for God Exist?

Heraclitus comments on Dec 13, 2021:

If God is defined as everything that exists then you have also axiomatically defined the nature of God, as well. The nature of God is...well, the nature of nature itself and all scientists are actually theologians. Problem solved.

Fernapple replies on Dec 14, 2021:

Metaphorically speaking, I would rather call them saints and prophets, ( Sometimes angels. ) since theology is the worship of other peoples second hand errors, and is anti-progressive, while saints and prophets are innovative.

The Steel Man Technique: How To Argue Better And Be More Persuasive

hankster comments on Dec 13, 2021:

I'm not sure i could do that. sounds difficult and i don't behave well. still, an interesting endeavor. worthwhile..

Fernapple replies on Dec 14, 2021:

@hankster You are never offensive, quite the opposite. Do it more.

The Steel Man Technique: How To Argue Better And Be More Persuasive

hankster comments on Dec 13, 2021:

I'm not sure i could do that. sounds difficult and i don't behave well. still, an interesting endeavor. worthwhile..

Fernapple replies on Dec 13, 2021:

Doh. you do it to me all the time.

As tornadoes tore through southern and central US, storm survivors describe the fear and horror they...

Charlene comments on Dec 13, 2021:

I've sent 3 tractor trailers chock full of Thoughts and Prayers. I addressed them to Sen.Rand Paul.

Fernapple replies on Dec 13, 2021:

I hope you remembered to put the covers on the trailers, prayers tend not to keep well if they get rain on them, and a trailer full of rotting prayers, is just a mess to clear up. Rather than trailers full of prayers, it would be a lot better to send tools even in the post, some roundtooits are always usful in a crisis, because if you can get a roundtooit then you can generally solve anything.

Even that less than virtuous creator of Protestantism understood the issues of plagues:

Fernapple comments on Dec 13, 2021:

I would like to bet though, that more than half of the worlds protestants today, have never even heard of him.

Fernapple replies on Dec 13, 2021:

@Gwendolyn2018 yes I always thought that he was just as bad as the corrupt catholics he was said to fight. And the whole story of "Here I stand." etc. is a very iffy piece of myth making. Which is probably no more true than the Easter Bunny, helping Santa at christmas; if you ask me. Much more respect for Huss as the founder of protestant thinking, but history counts only winners.

Aaaaaannnnnnd as if on cue, Captain Pinhead comes by to prove my previous point.

Fernapple comments on Dec 13, 2021:

If we knew what your previous point was, we could probably guess who you were being rude to.

Fernapple replies on Dec 13, 2021:

@Toonman Oh, you have been engaging with Word have you. That's always fun. Word has been hanging out on this site for ages, under several different names, because he used to get himself kicked off fairly often, but he has mellowed in resent days. As to your point, just wait you will get some.

I have a question for you all: do you find that fraternal organizations (eg.

Paul4747 comments on Dec 12, 2021:

Freemasons are forbidden, by their charter rules, to discuss religion or politics in the Lodge. If I were ever to join a fraternal organization, it's Masons for me. (Plus, maybe they really do rule the world, in which case I could get in on the action.)

Fernapple replies on Dec 13, 2021:

@MsKathleen It always used to be the case in England that the Queen was a member of the Masons. Because it was said that as a monarch she was an honorary male. LOL A female friend of mine asked, Where the honor was in that ?

Does Objective Evidence for God Exist?

Toonman comments on Dec 12, 2021:

That is the biggest load of pseudointellectual buttfuckery I've read all day.

Fernapple replies on Dec 13, 2021:

Imagine such an argument used in another sphere of life, say a court of law. " I put it to the court. that the police and the prosecution have repeatedly stated that my client, shot the victim with a revolver. But my client tells me that he does not own a revolver, the device he owns is called a gun. I therefore put it to the court that my client is clearly innocent." I have very little respect for language, its rules or the view that language itself is a source of truth. But I do have more respect for it than to abuse it this much. Redefining words is commonplace and even respected among theists and apologists, more than anywhere else. Generally if you keep bad company, you acquire bad habits.

Does Objective Evidence for God Exist?

hankster comments on Dec 12, 2021:

maybe the question is, " Is there any evidence of evidence for gods existence?"

Fernapple replies on Dec 13, 2021:

@racocn8 It is just animism writ large. The ancient. "Because we can not fully explain where rain comes from, therefore some thinking agent must cause it." Becomes. "Because we can not fully explain all the laws of the universe, therefore god." What is worth taking from this, is a reminder that arguments like this, based on little more than redefining words are commonplace and even respected among theists and apologists, more than anywhere else. ( Perhaps they do not have any good arguments.) So much so that they become almost the accepted norm, in such circles. Which should be enough to warn anyone about the corrosive effect, that theism and apologetics have on the human character, and how destructive to the higher human qualities such as honesty, empathy, and self respect, that even slight contact with religion and apologetics have. If you keep bad company you will acquire bad habits.

Does Objective Evidence for God Exist?

David1955 comments on Dec 12, 2021:

These ideas are where the new age idea of God is the 'universe and everything' has come from. As a result God means everything and nothing. Since the universe exists it then becomes a cheap trick to avoid the question of evidence for God. In the end it's word play.

Fernapple replies on Dec 13, 2021:

If you use god to mean nature, then what word do you use when you mean god ? You start having to qualify every statement with words like "the christian" god or the "theist" god. I intend to start calling my bicycle my car, then if I need to I shall refer to my car as, my big four wheeled car, and my bike as, my small two wheeled car, that should improve understanding. What is worth taking from this, is a reminder that arguments like this one, based on little more than redefining words are commonplace and even respected among theists and apologists, more than anywhere else. ( Perhaps they do not have any good arguments.) So much so that they become almost the accepted norm, in such circles. Which should be enough to warn anyone about the corrosive effect, that theism and apologetics have on the human character, and how destructive to the higher human qualities such as honesty, empathy, and self respect, that even slight contact with religion and apologetics have. If you keep bad company you will acquire bad habits.

My father died at Christmas at age 51.

Fernapple comments on Dec 12, 2021:

That sounds like a wonderful father daughter relationship. You were very lucky. A good relationship like that at the outset, lights up a whole life.

Fernapple replies on Dec 13, 2021:

@LiterateHiker I understand. I had a similar relationship with my mother, though she was not alcholic, just a completely toxic person, who saw belittling others, not merely her son, as her main occupation in life. The one thing that I learned from her therefore, was just how destructive that can be, not just to those you attack but to your own life as well.

Evolution only responds to the current situation, it has no foresight.

skado comments on Dec 12, 2021:

Almost true. "We are therefore most likely completely ill adapted to the new world in which we now live." Not "completely". Substantially. Substantially enough to put us in danger of extinction if we don't use that brain to modify our behavior culturally, which is our uniquely human ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 12, 2021:

That is perfectly true. Substantially would be far better. And this is why it is so important to teach critical thinking skills, and turn our backs on old corrupt institutions such as theism. Though that will probably happen anyway by the normal actions of history, it is just a question of soon enough and completely enough.

Seems to me that in the opinion of many on this board, women have Bodily Autonomy when it comes to ...

FearlessFly comments on Dec 11, 2021:

"my body, my choice" does NOT apply to selling your organs . . .

Fernapple replies on Dec 12, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay If you are comparing apples and oranges the you will discover nuance. It is equating them that is foolish.

Evolution only responds to the current situation, it has no foresight.

hankster comments on Dec 12, 2021:

"we have no defenses against fiction, we are made to be deceived used and manipulated, by anyone with a voice." to consider - seems to me like we have plenty of "fiction defenses". Yet, as vulnerable as we can be in some circumstances, (immaturity, pride for ex.) we are also very capable of ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 12, 2021:

Yes we do have defences, but of course we have to learn those. In the context, having "no defenses" I intend to mean only inherited instinctive defenses.

Seems to me that in the opinion of many on this board, women have Bodily Autonomy when it comes to ...

FearlessFly comments on Dec 11, 2021:

"my body, my choice" does NOT apply to selling your organs . . .

Fernapple replies on Dec 12, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay Understanding comes from putting the hard work in and continuing to do so. Absolutes and simplicity are the fruits of laziness, and their product inhumanity, while wisdom is mainly to be found in nuance. Albert Maysles said, “Tyranny is the deliberate removal of nuance.”

How true is it that religion has done more harm than good in the world ?

anglophone comments on Dec 11, 2021:

Religion does no more harm than the equations of quantum mechanics. People who claim to be religious do both good things and harmful things in the name of their religion. It is helpful to think analytically about such matters.

Fernapple replies on Dec 12, 2021:

That is true in the same sense that the argument used by the gun lobby is true. That. "Guns never killed anybody, it is people who shoot people." But just as, the usual reply to that is to point out that. "If you want to kill a lot of people, then it is a lot easier with a machine gun than a club. Which is why most mass murders don't carry clubs." So it is also true that while religion never did any harm, it does put a powerful weapon in the hands of those who would do harm, giving them both the means to recruit otheres, and a way to justify the harm they wish to cause. It is generally not too hard to justify good ideas to people, because they can usually see the benefits for themselves. But if you want to sell a really bad idea, which hurts and endangers people, or promotes pointless hate, for that you need a really good source of fake authority, like the word of a god to help you promote it.

As requested I will post this one.

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Dec 11, 2021:

I'll celebrate that! P**s off Xtians, and Make the Yul'tide gay!!! http://gayinfluence.blogspot.com/2012/08/yul-brynner.html?m=1

Fernapple replies on Dec 12, 2021:

Enjoy.

As requested I will post this one.

Triphid comments on Dec 11, 2021:

Well now you have given me a great idea. I will get some 'white-out' and erase the crappy Merry Xmas message in every card, replace it with " Have a Warm and Loving Yule, then post as many as possible to every Godster in town and sign them " from Ulrik Neingott."

Fernapple replies on Dec 12, 2021:

Good idea. Though you can buy none religious cards from the Humanists association here in the UK, you may be able to as well.

As requested I will post this one.

DenoPenno comments on Dec 11, 2021:

As a single person these days I have nothing to celebrate. As one former gf told me once I could buy myself a present, put it under the tree, and pretend I did not know what tit was until I opened it. No thanks. I'm OK.

Fernapple replies on Dec 12, 2021:

The great thing about living alone is that you can do just what you like all year.

As requested I will post this one.

Tejas comments on Dec 11, 2021:

I mean Hinduism is older than it by at least a thousand years

Fernapple replies on Dec 11, 2021:

@Gwendolyn2018 Sorry I perhaps have a more positive view of Tejases conmment than that, I think that he was just adding a little nuance. But please both of you, don't foget that I posted this under Silly Random and Fun.

As requested I will post this one.

Tejas comments on Dec 11, 2021:

I mean Hinduism is older than it by at least a thousand years

Fernapple replies on Dec 11, 2021:

Yes. I meant the mid winter celebration in general, rather than the North European specifically, though I used that name. But ten out of ten credit to you for raising an interesting point.

Seems to me that in the opinion of many on this board, women have Bodily Autonomy when it comes to ...

FearlessFly comments on Dec 11, 2021:

"my body, my choice" does NOT apply to selling your organs . . .

Fernapple replies on Dec 11, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay It is a stupidly crude slogan, each issue needs to be addressed on its own, you can not compare any two different issues, whether it be selling organs or prostitution. Abortion or vaccine.

As requested I will post this one.

Aaron70 comments on Dec 11, 2021:

Yule burn in hell for that mister....😁

Fernapple replies on Dec 11, 2021:

Always preffered it warm. LOL

As requested I will post this one.

Killtheskyfairy comments on Dec 11, 2021:

Isn’t pissed off their natural state?

Fernapple replies on Dec 11, 2021:

Yes but "really pissed off", is a whole notch higher. LOL

It is the proud boast of women...

LenHazell53 comments on Dec 8, 2021:

Incorrect There are even more if you include the 15 deleted books from the RC Bible, however Esther, Ruth, Deborah, Huldah, Hannah, Sarah, Hagar, Miriam, Anna all recognised as prophets in the KJV Christian bible all are quoted directly as passing on the word of god.

Fernapple replies on Dec 9, 2021:

@snytiger6, @LenHazell53 Yes, but the question is not whether they existed or not, but whether they were the inventions of men or not.

It is the proud boast of women...

LenHazell53 comments on Dec 8, 2021:

Incorrect There are even more if you include the 15 deleted books from the RC Bible, however Esther, Ruth, Deborah, Huldah, Hannah, Sarah, Hagar, Miriam, Anna all recognised as prophets in the KJV Christian bible all are quoted directly as passing on the word of god.

Fernapple replies on Dec 9, 2021:

@snytiger6 Yes, but Ruth though is so clearly a mans, and a highly misogenystic mans creation, it is the one book in the bible which certainly could not have been written by a woman..

Did Art and Religion co-evolve? [agnostic.com] .

hankster comments on Dec 8, 2021:

no. The concept of evolution involves chance and a random nature to its development. whereas religions and art are fabrications with intentions, with plans, in their development. Surely these intentions overlapped in thier purposes and development on occasion, but by design.

Fernapple replies on Dec 9, 2021:

@hankster Thank you for the interesting eymology. Perhaps I should have said that the earlier usage of evolution, I was talking about was purely the scientific usage. As for what skado may say, he has already said it to me, I am quoting to preempt an uncontroled input.

Did Art and Religion co-evolve? [youtu.be] .

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2021:

Of course they are the same thing anyway.

Fernapple replies on Dec 9, 2021:

@skado I don't argue with the anthropologists, indeed the anthropologist ( in a broad sense of the word anthropologists ) in the video exactly present that view.

It is the proud boast of women...

LenHazell53 comments on Dec 8, 2021:

Incorrect There are even more if you include the 15 deleted books from the RC Bible, however Esther, Ruth, Deborah, Huldah, Hannah, Sarah, Hagar, Miriam, Anna all recognised as prophets in the KJV Christian bible all are quoted directly as passing on the word of god.

Fernapple replies on Dec 9, 2021:

Yes except that most of the things atributed to those female "prophets," were probably made up, or edited by males. While some of them like Ruth, probably never existed outside of male imaginations.

Did Art and Religion co-evolve? [agnostic.com] .

hankster comments on Dec 8, 2021:

no. The concept of evolution involves chance and a random nature to its development. whereas religions and art are fabrications with intentions, with plans, in their development. Surely these intentions overlapped in thier purposes and development on occasion, but by design.

Fernapple replies on Dec 9, 2021:

You are quite right. A situation "evolved", in which both art and religion became possible and/or needed. From that, the cultural developments that we call art and religion began to be made. People are sometimes too loose in their use of the word evolution. In fact art and religion are are just two features of the phenomena we call culture, and are inseparable parts of that whole. ( Though skado would like to tell you that the word "religion", was originally used by the ancient Romans as a synonym, for our word "culture". Which makes it seem that he has already answered his own question. ) The word evolution originally meant, what we would call embryonic development, and only came to mean change to species genomes at around the time of Darwin. ( More loose usage, though in that case with some justification because there was no existing word. ) A good lesson in why human culture is an untrust worthy source of truth, when even its basic units, words, shift meanings and usages endlessly like quicksand.

Can you spot both bobcats photographed in Wisconsin forest?

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2021:

No. Though I did think that I could see one, so there may be three.

Fernapple replies on Dec 9, 2021:

@dalefvictor Yes that was the one I think I can see.

Did Art and Religion co-evolve? [youtu.be] .

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2021:

Of course they are the same thing anyway.

Fernapple replies on Dec 8, 2021:

@skado Religion is the use of artistry to indoctrinate, and the belief that art is always a source of truth, is a religious dogma.

SOME MORE NEWS - Simple, Obvious Solutions To Glaring Problems [youtube.com]

Fernapple comments on Dec 8, 2021:

Sadly the British post office which has long had a bank, is now trying to move out of banking services, because with current low interest rates there is little profit in it. This is thanks to M. Thatcher who, "privatized" ( sold it to capitalists) our post office, leaving us as just about the only ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 8, 2021:

@phxbillcee Yep that is what happened here, they just kept the profitable bits and ditched all the public service bits.

OK.

KateOahu comments on Dec 7, 2021:

There is a similar, less elaborate, place in Malta called “Domvs Romana”. It is on the island of Malta, near Rabat. https://www.corinthia.com/palace-hotel-and-spa/discover-malta/ten-incredible-ancient-sites-in-malta/ I also recommend seeing the rest of the sites at the link, if they are ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 8, 2021:

@MsKathleen Much less common in Europe, we have a few but not as many.

OK.

KateOahu comments on Dec 7, 2021:

There is a similar, less elaborate, place in Malta called “Domvs Romana”. It is on the island of Malta, near Rabat. https://www.corinthia.com/palace-hotel-and-spa/discover-malta/ten-incredible-ancient-sites-in-malta/ I also recommend seeing the rest of the sites at the link, if they are ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 8, 2021:

@MsKathleen Well we do only get one chance to see all the wonders of this beautiful planet.

OK.

KateOahu comments on Dec 7, 2021:

There is a similar, less elaborate, place in Malta called “Domvs Romana”. It is on the island of Malta, near Rabat. https://www.corinthia.com/palace-hotel-and-spa/discover-malta/ten-incredible-ancient-sites-in-malta/ I also recommend seeing the rest of the sites at the link, if they are ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 7, 2021:

That is lovely. I visited the habour site in Paphos, Cyprus some years ago and took these. The ruins of the old palace are in a spectacular site, on a rocky headland only yards from the waves.

Seems to me that in the opinion of many on this board, women have Bodily Autonomy when it comes to ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2021:

Thats very easy, first of all that is a strawman statement about the people on here. Because lambasting someone for making a choice, is not the same thing as saying that they should not have a choice. I for one would defend anyones right to refuse any medical procedure, even at the cost of my, ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 7, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay The John Lydgate quote did not appear until after I made my last reply. The quote I was refering to in two, was. "Pro-vaccine" does not mean forced vaccination." The risks of abortion are not relevant, since my whole point was that the anology between abortion and vaccines is not a vallid one anyway. The point of the petrol tank mataphore, which is a common one, is that the child does not know that the tank is empty before hand. That is so obvious I hardly though it worth going into detail on. Sorry you clearly are drunk, and I am not going to waste any more time.

Seems to me that in the opinion of many on this board, women have Bodily Autonomy when it comes to ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2021:

Thats very easy, first of all that is a strawman statement about the people on here. Because lambasting someone for making a choice, is not the same thing as saying that they should not have a choice. I for one would defend anyones right to refuse any medical procedure, even at the cost of my, ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 7, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay One. The "should" was intended, may be you missed the "not" before it. Please read carefully. Two. I don't know who you are quoting, but it is not me. Are you drunk ? Three. By that argument. Strictly speaking, the mere status of driving far too fast in your car does not affect anyone else either. The mere status of being the errector dangerous buildings, does not affect anyone else either. etc. But it is an effect to create risk, even if the risk does not cause direct immeadiate harm. The. "Nobody got hurt when I dropped lighted matches into the gas tank, because there was no petrol in there after all." Is a six year old absolutists argument.

Seems to me that in the opinion of many on this board, women have Bodily Autonomy when it comes to ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2021:

Thats very easy, first of all that is a strawman statement about the people on here. Because lambasting someone for making a choice, is not the same thing as saying that they should not have a choice. I for one would defend anyones right to refuse any medical procedure, even at the cost of my, ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 7, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay Yes but your question on abortion yesterday was a really challenging one, which made real demands on thinking. This is not in the same league. Sorry.

I was talking with two Mormon missionaries this weekend.

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2021:

Reduces to one question. Dear believer. Have you ever thought of asking questions ?

Fernapple replies on Dec 7, 2021:

@PeterL No best not waste your time, one question at a time is usually all they can manage to reject answering at any one time. Snowball them and they will just blue screen.

They say the most solemn occasion is coming. So let's think about the holy place.

ASTRALMAX comments on Dec 7, 2021:

I do not think that it is a question of throwing money at child poverty because to date it has not solved what is clearly an ongoing issue. There seems to be vested interests in keeping the population poor in some countries. Vested interests that are fuelled by unfettered greed of the leaders of ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 7, 2021:

True a lot of that happens, and most of the motivation is about public image. But the Catholic Church is an exception to that, because of course it has its own infrastructure which is down on the ground already, so that it could, if it wished, deliver aid directly where it is needed, as it does some, but only just enough to keep up that public image again, no more.

Sometimes even a house can tell stories. [youtube.com]

phxbillcee comments on Dec 7, 2021:

I wish there was more to it, but still...

Fernapple replies on Dec 7, 2021:

There may be more to follow. Watch this space.

“Your destiny is not determined by an outside force, it’s determined by YOU, and you ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2021:

Nah.

Fernapple replies on Dec 7, 2021:

@Marionville Yes you can choose to change course when the accidents happen, but then you had to, and you may not be given a choice. And the chances are that if you do make another choice, then that too will be redirected by fate. I did not choose to to not marry until I was nearly forty, but a cancer cell chose that fate for me, and my loved one, and I did not then choose to become a widow at forty three, but another cancer cell decided that for me and took my wife. I chose to be a garden designer and landscaper, but an offer too hard to refuse from a property developer, made me a contractor in the property industry. I did not choose to have to move back in with my parents in my late forties, but the property crash in the eighties sent the developement company bankrupt, and I needed land to start a plant nursery and our married home had none, so I became a nurseryman.

“Your destiny is not determined by an outside force, it’s determined by YOU, and you ...

Fernapple comments on Dec 7, 2021:

Nah.

Fernapple replies on Dec 7, 2021:

@Marionville Yes but the parameters are by far the most important thing. And even if you try within your parameters, the next most important thing is random noise. You can plan to restore a vintage car today, and while you are out buying the tools tommorow, a perfectly modern car can run you over and kill you. Life is a long list of random accidents which always change your path, all the more so if you are adventurus and brave, only the dull and weak end their lives doing what they set out to do. And even that is rare.

This is quite an odd thing I think.

Fernapple comments on Nov 30, 2021:

I am pleased to say that I can not remember when I last prayed.

Fernapple replies on Dec 7, 2021:

@SirDaddyGru Yes. Although there are some stats about it. I have read that in hospitals, if critically ill patients are told they are being prayed for, they actually have a slightly worse chance of recovery, it is only a tiny difference but real. So prayer may make things worse. The reason it is thought being, that patients who are told they are being prayed for become depressed because they believe that proves their condition is worse and more desparate.

Another vision of the future.

Barnie2years comments on Dec 6, 2021:

Pandemics have surfaced regularly and periodically throughout history. It occurs in nature very often when certain species are overpopulated. It certainly stands to reason that humans are just another animal and subject to the same laws of nature, even if we have the intelligence to mollify the ...

Fernapple replies on Dec 6, 2021:

It may be so. Though I am told that it is perfectly possible to create a mathematical model, of a virus for example, which is just infectious enough, mutates fast enough and kills slowly enough that it could exterminate everyone.