Is it just me or do other find it kind of strange/odd that we have heard very little from the ...

Fernapple comments on May 18, 2020:

Maybe he is not well. Or they are waiting to see what happens in the long term, so that they can seem wise after the event.

How far can someone go back reading someone else's posts?

Fernapple comments on May 18, 2020:

I do not know, but I think that posts are stored long term, so it should be possible to go a long way back. Why not put this question on the Community Senate instead, you may get more in depth answers.

I'm going to the nursery tomorrow morning, first thing (it's alway empty at opening time).

Fernapple comments on May 18, 2020:

Don't be afraid of a couple of impulse buys as well. If you are anything like here in the UK, nurseries have been hit hard, and had to dump stock. So save a something from the skip.

There are in fact two things, science and opinion.

Fernapple comments on May 18, 2020:

Good quote, like it a lot in modern terms. But slightly suspicious in translation, since the word science did not exist in any language in Hippocrates day. You have to wonder what the original Greek word was, and how much latitude was used in translation.

I checked in to see what agnostics are up to these days.

Fernapple comments on May 17, 2020:

Hello and welcome, enjoy the site. Don't worry about being an atheist, I think that there are quite possibly more self defined atheists on the site than agnostics. Generally speaking it is a fairly broad church and easy going site in that respect. In fact, the one thing that will bore most of the long term members to distraction, is debates about labels. If you have time, do check out the groups there is something for everyone.

The true story of these shipwrecked boys shows the grim vision of 'Lord of the Flies' is just ...

Fernapple comments on May 17, 2020:

The 'Lord Of the Flies' was quite deliberate theist propaganda, trying very hard to promote the theist idea that morality only comes from Abrahamic inspired authority. It was inserted into the schools reading list here in the UK quite deliberately, by pressure from the religious authorities who always enjoyed a massively exaggerated influence in our school system.

But my favorite child is still not my own.

Fernapple comments on May 17, 2020:

But that is so limiting. And I always wondered about that sort of question, why does no one ever ask you who your favourite adult is ?

Totalitarian and Democracy society

Fernapple comments on May 17, 2020:

Sorry but the post needs some work, the grammar is all over the place, and the numbers do not relate logically to any part of the text. I think you may have an interesting point here, but there are a lot of pedants on this site who will find this too sloppy to be of any value.

"I have a dream, where our president isn't a imbecile.

Fernapple comments on May 16, 2020:

Life is a learning curve. Every disaster movie you ever saw, started when some stupid, vain and greedy politicians would not listen to some scientists. **And you thought it was fiction too silly to be real !** So hows life in Amityville suiting you.

[motherjones.

Fernapple comments on May 16, 2020:

Perhaps just videos of his press conferences.

For those of you who believe there was a Paul (Saul) of Tarsus--any idea whether Paul's letters were...

Fernapple comments on May 16, 2020:

That was a time of transition, could have been either. But since they are letters and long ones at that, and if we take that literally, a big if, then perhaps not codices. The Romans used many writing media, including folded wooden cards, multiple ones of which could be used. Fail to see though why it is interesting.

Why am I suddenly getting notifications of posting to groups I am not a member of, & have in the ...

Fernapple comments on May 16, 2020:

I find it more annoying, that I don't get notifications from some of the groups I am a member of.

Hi I am new to this forum and would love to share issues as Freethinker

Fernapple comments on May 15, 2020:

Hello and welcome, enjoy the site. And if you have time, do check out the groups, there is something for everyone.

"The absurd does not liberate; it binds.

Fernapple comments on May 15, 2020:

Took a while to work that one out, but OK.

Why the World is Horrified by the American Idiot.

Fernapple comments on May 14, 2020:

In try to avoid commenting too much, on the US politics of this site, since its none of my business really, but these days it hard to walk by. I am glad someone overseas said what they did in the article, but it goes way beyond that. How can so many US citizens not understand that this president is not merely making you look immoral and selfish, but laughably silly? It is getting to the stage where just saying, USA and politics, together in the same sentence gets a laugh.

This is my potting bench ...in my living room.

Fernapple comments on May 14, 2020:

Neat. And the best place for it, you are obviously a man who has got his priorities sorted.

“We keep on being told that religion, whatever it’s imperfections, at least instils morality.

Fernapple comments on May 14, 2020:

It certainly makes being as stupid as you like excusable, since by making faith and cherry picking acceptable, it says that you no longer have to use reason or provide justifications for what you do. Thus it attracts and holds those who want to be immoral.

Robert Reich on trump opening up the country

Fernapple comments on May 14, 2020:

I think that may be preaching to the converted on this site.

A friend posted this on Facebook today.

Fernapple comments on May 14, 2020:

Nice rant, but sadly the people who need to learn from it won't be reading it.

If this universe is fine- tuned.... What would a non-fine tuned universe look Like?

Fernapple comments on May 14, 2020:

I don't know, but there would not be many people about to look at it. That may seem flip, but the point is, that for all we know, there may be infinite universes, many of which are not fine tuned but they will be empty or short lived. It would only be in the fine tuned ones that anyone would exist to ask the question. It is like asking after a ship wreck. How come all the survivers were in the one lifeboat that did not sink.

Learn to ride a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live. - Mark Twain

Fernapple comments on May 14, 2020:

I think that bikes were dangerous things in his day, with poor brakes and treads, but it was before modern traffic. Imagine what it must be like to ride a vintage bike on todays roads.

What are your thoughts about the "God of Gaps"?

Fernapple comments on May 13, 2020:

Only if your god is getting ever smaller all the time, and is now only a thousandth the size it once was.

Religion isn't the bane of humanity.

Fernapple comments on May 13, 2020:

No of course religion is not the cause or driving force of abuse, that would be putting the cart before the horse. Religion is not the cause of abuse because religion (where not good) is abuse. Religion is what happens when abusers get together and organize, and by so doing attempt to give themselves respectability, gain influence and political power, foster abusive behaviour by making others accept it as the norm, and generate on going abusive cultures which in turn create more damaged personalities ever more inclined to abuse. That is why it is easy to observe across the whole world that there is increasingly, a deepening and ever happier marriage between religion and extreme right fascist culture. Religion thrives by providing an alternative to secular culture, and if secular culture progresses and moves forward, as occasionally it does, especially towards a more humane morality. Then religion increasingly becomes the champion of abuse, because then it is the abusers who are looking for an alternative voice. The religion is not the problem argument, is to a degree quite true, but only in exactly the same way that the pro-gun argument. “Guns do not shoot people, bad people shoot people.” Is true. In that it ignores the fact that it is mainly people with bad intent who want to buy guns, and that guns enable them to do far more harm when they do.

Seems that as gardeners we have the upper hand when it comes to being happy with life.

Fernapple comments on May 13, 2020:

Of course, we were made to engage with our planet. Nothing to do with the main point, but I love the way they use the term "before times" in the article.

Poisonings from bleach and disinfectants double their typical numbers - Insider

Fernapple comments on May 13, 2020:

Well I am not surprised, when a celebrity, ( They don't have to be experts, or even own half a brain. ) makes a gesture, some sheep always follow, and a few always fall over the cliff. If you are a celebrity and you do have half a brain, you have to understand that the modern media makes your every small act, a powerful example, and therefore you should be very guarded. It is a pity you can't charge them with manslaughter.

No kidding

Fernapple comments on May 13, 2020:

Who would have guessed that ? (Ironic, rhetorical question, in the odd chance there are any Trump followers reading. )

The seat belt beeper went off and my immediate thought was, "Oh no! I'm not wearing my face mask.

Fernapple comments on May 13, 2020:

Proves you have a mind, and that it still works. You are lucky therefore.

Climbed up a peak and found an old bronze marker. Surprise!

Fernapple comments on May 13, 2020:

Beautiful photos. You are very lucky in many ways, to be able to go walking, here in the UK the lock-down is heavier, we have not even been allowed out for hiking. Envy.

Should we invent a new definition of 'god?

Fernapple comments on May 12, 2020:

God a a synonym for 'nothing much'. No I don't think so, thank you. I think that the term 'nothing much', has served me very well all though life so far, and I see no reason to be disloyal.

Like us guys don't have it bad enough as it is.

Fernapple comments on May 12, 2020:

I did read somewhere, that if you are male, then getting yourself castrated increased your life expectancy to longer than that of women. In fact it was said to be even better than giving up smoking.

AZTEC KINGS HAD RULES FOR PLAGUES, INCLUDING ‘DO NOT BE A FOOL’ [zocalopublicsquare.

Fernapple comments on May 12, 2020:

No one uses the plague word now, for contemporary events. Are we becoming over sensitive, or do we in our pride, think that we are too superior to the peoples of the past to share an experience with them.

You give a differing opinion on someones post, they hit the like on your comment and then block ...

Fernapple comments on May 12, 2020:

Maybe they think that they have to hit the like button first, to highlight the post before they can use the block feature, or get to your profile.

This year The Keukenhof, the Netherlands fabled garden where tourist stream every Spring to enjoy ...

Fernapple comments on May 12, 2020:

That is spectacular. I have heard a lot about Keukenhof over the years, even seen photos, but that is the first time I understood what all the fuss is about.

Well my dalliance with the milk thistle is over.

Fernapple comments on May 12, 2020:

If you let it flower it self seeds everywhere and you are never rid of it. I gave a plant to a friend, and a year later I asked her if she would like another one, (its biennial). "No certainly not!" She said. "My husband fell over and landed in it, and I had to help him bath for a week." Looks like you have a beautiful garden, even without it.

They should reopen the economy. Right after they reopen the Whitehouse for tours.

Fernapple comments on May 11, 2020:

I would not take a tour of the White House, you could come into contact with something infectious, deadly and nasty, or even catch a virus.

[vice.

Fernapple comments on May 11, 2020:

Denial never made anything go away. You can not prove a negative, and you can not create a negative.

The Finger Lakes Region of NY can re-open on Friday, says the governor.

Fernapple comments on May 11, 2020:

I would stay home until the numbers go down, not level out. If, and it is a big 'if' , your state puts in enough regulations to get the 'R' number below one. Then instead of exponential growth, you will get exponential shrinking, and as the death rate, which is what most people follow, trails perhaps two weeks behind the infections, then when the death rate has gone down markedly, it will be relatively safe to start taking a few careful risks.

Except Jesus in a potato. Those are legit

Fernapple comments on May 11, 2020:

Boy that cat is really moving in the second picture.

Except Jesus in a potato. Those are legit

Fernapple comments on May 11, 2020:

For interest. Many nineteenth century photos, are very detailed and pin sharp, because they used huge lenses, and big plates. It meant they had very poor depth of focus and the cameras were nearly immovable, but one thing they could do was pin sharp.

What do you think?

Fernapple comments on May 11, 2020:

Sadly all my vices are very boring.

“It has been said that man is a rational animal.

Fernapple comments on May 11, 2020:

Not sure who he was talking about when he said that, maybe its dated, I do not think that, humans being rational is a view that many hold to today.

On the 20th of May is my last day at work. Retirement here I come. Woohooo.

Fernapple comments on May 11, 2020:

Congrats. And well done you made it, enjoy your well earned.

Hey fellow agnostics... what's with all the masked photos showing up here on the site?

Fernapple comments on May 11, 2020:

Never understood why people want to update their photo at all. Surely consistency is the most useful thing you can have, in something which is designed to help people recognize you, and connect your posts and comments together.

Under the protection of "free speech", does that give the right to threaten a minority group?

Fernapple comments on May 11, 2020:

Criticize certainly, but threaten would be quite different. The old saying. " Your freedom stops at the end of my nose." Still works even when the impact is psychological, no one not engaged in a crime, should have pain or distress inflicted on them, including fear.

Nothing quite like the gift of being able to produce ATP.

Fernapple comments on May 10, 2020:

Mitochondria, you would not get far without them. ( Hope I spilled that right.)

After weeks with coronavirus, a sick woman wonders when it will end - The Washington Post

Fernapple comments on May 10, 2020:

Yes, sadly we forget when we keep seeing the deaths list, the vast amount of suffering that it brings even to lot of those many who don't die.

Morals.

Fernapple comments on May 10, 2020:

It may well be that we all have to make up our own morals. But impulses in the direction of certain morals are certainly genetic, or they would not appear in many different animals, especially social species of mammals. They are however then culturally modified, sometimes to an extreme degree. Where wrong comes into it, is where religions and other institutions especially make the false claims, such as : 1. That they are the origins of morals. 2. That they have higher morals, because theirs alone are divine, therefore belittling the morals of others. 3. They push the cultural modification of the moral impulses until they no longer have any relation to their real evolved purpose. ( For example taking the natural aggression needed in protecting self and family, and persuading people that it should be used to kill, rape, maim etc. people who could really never be any threat to us. )

I know the species of pretty much all the birds that come to my yard but ran across this article ...

Fernapple comments on May 10, 2020:

Very useful, I don't know if we have such a thing for the UK.

Ugh my biggest pet peeve from Christians.

Fernapple comments on May 10, 2020:

The only reason for joining any theist religion, or staying in one, is so that you can enjoy an exclusive access to god, that you believe others can not have. Imagine a deist god/gods which is fair and unbiased, or even just disinterested, and religion vanishes in a poof of empty air.

Whether to laugh or cry?

Fernapple comments on May 10, 2020:

Post needs more work.

"To affect the quality of the day, is the highest of arts" Richard Carlson

Fernapple comments on May 10, 2020:

Two really good ones.

These photos are from a family reunion celebrating my wife’s aunt.

Fernapple comments on May 10, 2020:

Wow. That took some organizing.

“Judge nothing, you will be happy.

Fernapple comments on May 9, 2020:

That's a big hard ask. I think that I would add, 'try to', to those lines. Then it would perhaps be more in line with what real humans can manage.

Three White House Staffers Have Now Tested Positive for Coronavirus, Including Trump's Valet, Two ...

Fernapple comments on May 9, 2020:

The silent killer creeps closer. The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it. E.F.

“By three methods we may find wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by ...

Fernapple comments on May 9, 2020:

Great quote, though someone did post it before about two days ago.

Freeze warnings past Mother's Day!! Unheard of here in the Miami Valley.

Fernapple comments on May 9, 2020:

Big freeze on the way here in the UK too, we are told. Plus a drought and all the nurseries/garden centres closed because of a virus which does not affect plants (irony). Great time to garden. But then it is never is all good when you garden, the living planet was just not designed as a hobby for humans.

Archaeological findings provide key proof of Chinese civilization origin Source:Xinhua Published: ...

Fernapple comments on May 9, 2020:

Link broken sorry.

May your troubles be less; Your fortunes be more; and nothing but happiness, come through your door.

Fernapple comments on May 8, 2020:

Thanks for the good wishes in these times, here is something for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8u4VLk0iTI

May your troubles be less; Your fortunes be more; and nothing but happiness, come through your door.

Fernapple comments on May 8, 2020:

Thanks I will buy that.

Why Your Christian Friends and Family Members Are So Easily Fooled by Conspiracy Theories ...

Fernapple comments on May 8, 2020:

All very true, but none of it is as important as the fact that, if your personal standards of truth are so low that you will accept one form of rubbish, then you will accept lots more.

Religion to me is just living between your ear, pretending it extends further than that, and acting ...

Fernapple comments on May 8, 2020:

Yep. That's very true.

All I can say is... Bravo!

Fernapple comments on May 8, 2020:

I really hope that what her husband said her, that cause the upset, was, not to smoke weed

“You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb ...

Fernapple comments on May 8, 2020:

Maybe women have more taste. Having said that, there are for example a couple in the White House, and well smart may be an overstatement, but........

The mind is the the only thing that has developed to name, or label itself?

Fernapple comments on May 8, 2020:

Near to profound. Not quite. "I think therefore I am." But close.

Total irony

Fernapple comments on May 8, 2020:

There is an old story in Europe which I never really believed. That Americans don't do or understand irony. Maybe I was wrong.

Is it just me and has Agnostic become a colossal bore?

Fernapple comments on May 8, 2020:

Its US centric, bound to be former christian centric too. But I am not too fazed by that, to me it a different exotic culture, with strange quirky habits, even if the politics does get a bit boring after a while. LOL

The Search for Planet-Friendly Protein | Yes! Magazine

Fernapple comments on May 8, 2020:

I will have a go at anything, but not something fed on 'dangerous pharmaceuticals', there are too many of them in things like chicken, salmon, and honey to start with. And can you really trust the companies, who would produce them, not to make mistakes or take short cuts, that would let the chemical through.

To sleep, or not to sleep, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The ...

Fernapple comments on May 7, 2020:

You don't need apologies, I think that W.S. would love it. But I bet you wrote that after drinking too much coffee.

Is there any Arabs here ?

Fernapple comments on May 7, 2020:

Hello and welcome. There are a few but they tend not to make it plain, there is a map app. on the site which shows roughly where people live.

Ancient Swiss Find.

Fernapple comments on May 7, 2020:

Do they make replicas, where can I get one ?

"What are we doing this for?": Doctors are fed-up with conspiracies ravinging ERs

Fernapple comments on May 7, 2020:

Not all religions date from before the middle ages.

oh my covid

Fernapple comments on May 6, 2020:

No. 1 Difference between the short sharp shock, and the long slow burn.

Ah, Spring! Morning check of the floral "children " 🥰 (Again, loading sideways for some ...

Fernapple comments on May 6, 2020:

Just love the way you get them to grow out of the vertical wall like that. Sorry bad joke but great photos.

How are we going to really get rid of the grip of this virus?

Fernapple comments on May 6, 2020:

All very true. Like you and a lot of people I like to qualify 'Survival of the fittest.' which was not Darwin's originally and the one I go for is. 'Survival of the best fitted, in the short term.' 'Survival, of the quickest adapting, in the long term.'

You never know when a frog family is watching you.

Fernapple comments on May 6, 2020:

Wonderful shot, just being out there and thinking to look up deserves credit alone.

Can we declare 'war' on social media postings proclaiming that the only solution to the Corona virus...

Fernapple comments on May 6, 2020:

Nice rant, hope it helped.

“Ballot papers don’t determine who leads; they determine who takes which position.

Fernapple comments on May 6, 2020:

Sad but true.

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

Fernapple comments on May 6, 2020:

The dead are not going anywhere or doing anything, thats a pretty big reduction in freedom. Some people gain a little freedom, some people get to have none at all.

my corona fun

Fernapple comments on May 6, 2020:

Number four especially is great, it would been even funnier if I had seen it five weeks ago, but you can't have everything.

"All that I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world.

Fernapple comments on May 6, 2020:

Sadly anything with the word, cafe, in it, seems like a romantic dream of lost love right now. Can you smell the beans, hear the chatter and the tinkle of forks and spoons.

I went downtown to capture the tulips before they gave up the ghost.

Fernapple comments on May 6, 2020:

Great photos. I especially like the apple though the railing shot, it tells a story, at least to gardeners.

Yesterday was like Xmas as I unwrapped some display items that I had not seen for 10 years and got ...

Fernapple comments on May 5, 2020:

Neat. Just neat.

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

Fernapple comments on May 5, 2020:

One quick one, for fun, can't be serious. It does not matter how unlikely it is that humans exist, since we don't know how many failed universes and worlds there are out there, where we don't. And if there are billions of failed worlds, with only humans on this one, then this one would have to be the one we are at.

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

Fernapple comments on May 5, 2020:

I though it may be fun, since I have nothing better to do, to look for the holes in his arguments. But I am sorry to say that my maths is not that good. I lost count. LOL

Male odors. The difficulty of describing "essence of man.”

Fernapple comments on May 5, 2020:

On both sexes I like the smell of soap. It makes a woman smell freshly laundered, which is sexy, ( Just want to crumple that fresh linen.) and it makes a man smell organized and disciplined, which makes him trustworthy.

Here are some attempts at catching stills of swallows in flight. Think it's easy?

Fernapple comments on May 5, 2020:

Well done. Lovely old roof too, I wonder how many years the swifts have been coming back to it ?

I just had a look at my calendar, and it seems I got home and started my quarantine 6 weeks ago, so ...

Fernapple comments on May 5, 2020:

Looks like the dream of a tropic garden.

OK....so it's Monday; and I'm bored; and I like a laugh...please share!

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

I love the last two especially. Heres a few for you. https://agnostic.com/post/492311/while-you-are-in-lock-down-you-may-have-time-for-a-laugh-some-of-these-did-it-for-me-https-ww

Where do you think we are, on the slide to fascism? [johnpavlovitz.com]

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

And that was written a year ago.

Sitting here watching the world burn, it's sad that through doing so I finally have some hope for ...

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

You have certainly diagnosed the true disease OK. But I think that the cure may kill the patient.

Hello, I am Muhammad.

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

Do write a bio, people will take your posts more seriously then, and welcome you.

Hello, I am Muhammad.

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

Hello and welcome. Enjoy the site, and if you have time do check out the groups there is everything there.

We may rethink the idea of crowded cities.

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

Or we may just do what we always do, which is forget quickly and slip back into the old habits.

A longtime Bird admirer, if inspired by my Great-aunts.

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

My mother wanted to try a bird bath, so she got one and placed it in the garden. Sadly for her the birds did not show any interest in it at all. Which was odd, because you could often hear dozens of happy birds splashing and showering in the village stream, just twenty feet away. LOL

George Takei jokes that he's' 'starting a rumour' coronavirus turns you gay

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

Oh that is an easy one, getting some people to swallow that is not much of a challenge at all. Not in a world where some people swallowed the Five 'G' causes the virus.

Not many left who remember WWII, but we do need old people.

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

I wonder if culture really changes with the generations that much, or will today's young start to develop those same habits as they grow older and mellow.

Not many left who remember WWII, but we do need old people.

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

You almost make me feel proud to be getting old. I only wish that I could live up to the standards set and demanded by my contemporaries. Still one bad apple in every barrel.

How much will it matter whoever gets the vaccine first ?

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

Is there a link to go with that ?

80 degrees yesterday with plenty of sun.

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

They look so good you could eat them. Over half an inch of rain, how I wish, we are almost into an unseasonal drought here in my part of the UK.

The Manners Pig: How did you teach your child(ren) table manners?

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

Setting a good example is the greatest power we have, nothing could be worse than saying one thing and doing something else. Not only is the lesson undermined by a bad example, but the example that is set is that it is OK to be insincere, which is perhaps the worst thing that you can teach. In have no experience of childcare, but I sometime wonder if it would ever be possible, that on a bigger scale, institutions like governments would learn that their greatest power is in example. That no amount of legislation will ever improve a nations life one half so much, as being insincere, shallow, conflict hungry and greedy harms it.