Re-branding Jesus?

DenoPenno comments on Feb 5, 2023:

Taking my thoughts on it to the extreme I wonder how long it would take for us to have a completely different Jesus? This is what Green is trying to do. It is no different than having apologists make claims over ideas that we know are not there to begin with. It can be said that David Green is a ...

Fernapple replies on Feb 5, 2023:

Maybe there was another mistranslation. Maybe when people wrote, "King of the Jews" they should have really translated it as. "Elected President with a democratic mandate from a majority of voters, and the recognition of all legal authorities, commissioned to interpret the written constitution of the Jews." LOL

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

LovinLarge comments on Feb 4, 2023:

I just do not know where to begin.

Fernapple replies on Feb 5, 2023:

That's a good start.

Why can't ghosts and god NOT be proven?

LenHazell53 comments on Feb 4, 2023:

Proof for the existence of a god or for a ghost would have to be the same as proof for anything else, testable, repeatable evidence that contributes to the overall body of scientific knowledge. The problem of course is that "God(s)" require faith and faith is the very antithesis of knowledge. Thus...

Fernapple replies on Feb 5, 2023:

@LenHazell53 Well put. It may indeed be just, that the churchmen see requiring faith as simply a way to block difficult questions, the cynic in me says. Thank you for answering, the question was largely rhetorical but good answer.

Why can't ghosts and god NOT be proven?

LenHazell53 comments on Feb 4, 2023:

Proof for the existence of a god or for a ghost would have to be the same as proof for anything else, testable, repeatable evidence that contributes to the overall body of scientific knowledge. The problem of course is that "God(s)" require faith and faith is the very antithesis of knowledge. Thus...

Fernapple replies on Feb 4, 2023:

Also. Why does god see any value in faith ?

It's only 28 days, the easiest month to white wash

jackjr comments on Feb 3, 2023:

I once had a black boss who crowed at the month being black history month until I reminded him it's the shortest and one of the darkest and coldest months of the year.

Fernapple replies on Feb 4, 2023:

@LovinLarge Yes your systemic racism is why I though it plausable that the black month had been squeezed out into Feb deliberately.

It's only 28 days, the easiest month to white wash

jackjr comments on Feb 3, 2023:

I once had a black boss who crowed at the month being black history month until I reminded him it's the shortest and one of the darkest and coldest months of the year.

Fernapple replies on Feb 4, 2023:

@LovinLarge I see. It is a bit of history I did not know. Though I did understand that the joke was feeble.

It's only 28 days, the easiest month to white wash

jackjr comments on Feb 3, 2023:

I once had a black boss who crowed at the month being black history month until I reminded him it's the shortest and one of the darkest and coldest months of the year.

Fernapple replies on Feb 4, 2023:

@LovinLarge Probably because the white establishment, grabbed the better months for their own issues.

Like most adults, we are working with different scripts.

Sgt_Spanky comments on Feb 3, 2023:

Anytime someone claims their life to be some unattainable dream of globetrotting adventure and unbroken success, I can smell the stink of that bullshit all the way from Florida. If he has time for everything but meeting you even though he belongs to a dating site then this dream life he's claiming ...

Fernapple replies on Feb 4, 2023:

Sad but true.

Jupiter's moon count jumps to 92, most in solar system: [phys.org]

vocaloldfart comments on Feb 4, 2023:

I wonder if the moons get their energy from Jupiters gravitational field. This could them be the energy for life to evolve from. Not being a physicist, therefore profess my ignorance, I do wonder if the gravitational field of a planet can generate energy, similar too but different to solar energy ...

Fernapple replies on Feb 4, 2023:

I am not a phsysicist either. But I believe not the gravity as such, which is a force which carries no energy, but the effects of gravity and motion together can indeed create tidal forces, which stretch and pull moons and planets generating heat energy. This certainly does lead to volcanism, as on the Solar Systems most volcanic moon Io, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/most-volcanic-world-in-solar-system-io-moon-still-mysterious-new-atlas-shows and could I would think, especailly if that volcanic activety took place under an ocean, fuel life.

Herb garden idea…indoors or out. [grillo-designs.com]

OldGoat43 comments on Feb 4, 2023:

Most milk bottles biodegrade after one year in natural ultraviolet light. Then they start to crumble and flake.

Fernapple replies on Feb 4, 2023:

@Kurtn If the herbs survive, they will need dividing and potting on by then anyway. Recycle the old milk bottles, and replace.

Funny Friday!

glennlab comments on Feb 3, 2023:

gOT TO KEEP THOSE MENTAL EXERCISES UP OR YOU'LL LOSE IT

Fernapple replies on Feb 4, 2023:

I never had it.

This is how I want to live. Though it's easier said than done... [youtube.com]

ASTRALMAX comments on Feb 3, 2023:

Perhaps the greatest mistake is in believing that life has some meaning that exists independently of our individual lives and this thought gives impetus to search for something that does not exist whether it is a god or imagined state of nirvana. We imagine that our lives lack something, however, ...

Fernapple replies on Feb 3, 2023:

And of course the search for transcendent meaning, is quite possibly no more than vanity anyway.

Sometimes being old and just drifting, can be a very successful strategy.

vocaloldfart comments on Feb 2, 2023:

I know the sting of the bluebottle. Stung at the age of 15 not been back swimming in the ocean since.

Fernapple replies on Feb 2, 2023:

Ouch! I am told that really hurts.

Does anyone else agree with me that we should be DISCUSSING religion rather than DEBATING it?

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2023:

Why can you not do both ?

Fernapple replies on Feb 1, 2023:

@Mcfluwster EXAMPLE. Setting a good one, of being a good human and letting that tell its own tale, and leave the rest to history.

Being considered crazy by those who are still victims of cultural conditioning is a compliment.

Paul4747 comments on Feb 1, 2023:

I have news for Jason- *everyone* is a product of cultural conditioning. Claiming to have broken free is just a reaction to the already existing predispositions you learned as you grew up. I was raised as a generic Christian- that's always going to be there, no matter that I've been an atheist for ...

Fernapple replies on Feb 1, 2023:

Yes but. Stopping at the stop sign, not killing other's pets, and getting mainstream health advice, would not make you a victim of cultural conditioning, those would be benefits of cultural conditioning. Which would help you to live a better and happier life. Being a "victim" of cultural conditioning would be things such as, believing you inherit sin from you mothers, and need to flog yourself with whips until you have no skin on your back to expiate that, spend two boring hours a week in church and pay for it, or avoid good medical care because some cultural myth is claimed to be better. Cultural conditioning does indeed have two sides, but by implication the word "victim" indicates that we are only concerned with the negative side.

The problem is not people being uneducated.

Paul4747 comments on Feb 1, 2023:

The further problem is, who is it that's been teaching them?

Fernapple replies on Feb 1, 2023:

Perhaps our whole education systems ? I just posted above. "I seem to remember Henry D. Thoreau quoting a version of that. So it must go back to at least the middle of the nineteenth century." Yet I also remember asking a person on this site, if H.D. T. was ever taught in American schools, since in the UK he is regarded as an important American author. The response was that his natural history was taught in a very boring way. Which seems strange because in Europe that is almost forgoten, and only the political and philosophical works are regarded, which are very questioning and challenging to the US economic and social system. Which makes you wonder if the type of teaching given, has not been normalized, ( Not planned it is not cospiricy. ) to deliberately to put students off reading the challenging stuff.

Interesting article.

Killtheskyfairy comments on Jan 31, 2023:

I am loving this downward trend!

Fernapple replies on Feb 1, 2023:

And the more the moderates leave, the more the churches are left in the hands of the crazies. Which of course drives even more moderates away, leaving..........ect. etc.

How Being Happy Makes You Healthier

Fernapple comments on Jan 31, 2023:

There is a link missing I think.

Fernapple replies on Feb 1, 2023:

@ASTRALMAX No that one was found, it only exists now in creationist mythology, or so the scientists say. But do you know, I sometimes wonder about creationists themselves ?

55% of adults think Jesus will return to Earth (this includes 1% of atheists. [allisrael.com]

Moravian comments on Jan 31, 2023:

You omitted "American" from your headline. We are not nearly so gullible in the UK

Fernapple replies on Jan 31, 2023:

No, but we do lie to surveys for fun.

I just dropped across this piece of religious apologetics, which I thought I would share.

ChestRockfield comments on Jan 28, 2023:

What idiot said that? Is it our senior resident apologist on Agnostic.com?

Fernapple replies on Jan 31, 2023:

@ChestRockfield Sorry, me trying to be funny.

I just dropped across this piece of religious apologetics, which I thought I would share.

ChestRockfield comments on Jan 28, 2023:

What idiot said that? Is it our senior resident apologist on Agnostic.com?

Fernapple replies on Jan 30, 2023:

PS. I think you missed this one, I am trying to say you are smart.

First I ever heard of this plant.

Fernapple comments on Jan 30, 2023:

A great reminder, takes me back. An elderly lady in the village where I grew up used to be very keen on them, and grew them in her garden, but I have hardly ever seen them since.

Fernapple replies on Jan 30, 2023:

@MsKathleen Maybe I am confusing them with Cape Gooseberries, it was a long time ago.

First I ever heard of this plant.

Fernapple comments on Jan 30, 2023:

A great reminder, takes me back. An elderly lady in the village where I grew up used to be very keen on them, and grew them in her garden, but I have hardly ever seen them since.

Fernapple replies on Jan 30, 2023:

@MsKathleen I think she did eat them yes, in fact I think she shared one with me. She lived as I remember for many years, but she would be about a hundred and twenty now.

Answer to “There's nothing more frightening in America today than an angry White man” I ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 30, 2023:

Having watched this for a while now, and even for across the pond, you can not help see the bitter irony of, people trumpeting. "Make America Great Again." By proposing the ending of democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of belief, which things are obviously even from here, exactly the things ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 30, 2023:

@fishline79 I did not think that the lines to vote were everywhere. But it would be regarded as even more of a national shame here, if they were in some places and not others.

“In the small matters trust the mind, in the large ones the heart”………..Sigmund Freud.

Fernapple comments on Jan 30, 2023:

I never found the two to be in conflict.

Fernapple replies on Jan 30, 2023:

@Marionville I am on the autistic spectrum, it helps with a lot of things.

Answer to “There's nothing more frightening in America today than an angry White man” I ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 30, 2023:

Having watched this for a while now, and even for across the pond, you can not help see the bitter irony of, people trumpeting. "Make America Great Again." By proposing the ending of democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of belief, which things are obviously even from here, exactly the things ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 30, 2023:

@fishline79 That is also very true. And the two are mutually supporting, for if you have complacency then there is no need for education.

........................ WHAT GOOD IS ART ?

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2023:

Art is wonderful, beautiful and wonderful, I love it. ( Which is the problem.) Because like beautiful things it is dangerous, and not to be trusted, most of all it should never be believed in, as a source of truth, for as a religion promoting dogma it is at its most dangerous. And like any god, ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 30, 2023:

@fishline79 I am the same, I don't know much about art, who does ? But I like it.

Every single human being on the planet was born an Atheist.

skado comments on Jan 28, 2023:

Intuitively, this seems true to the point of being not only obvious, but irrefutable. Clearly, no one is born Muslim or Buddhist or Christian. The same can be said of language. No one is born speaking French or Russian or Swahili. But I’m not aware of any scientific school of thought that ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

@skado Those comments were an enlargement on my comment about apologists in general, and have nothing to do with this line.

I just dropped across this piece of religious apologetics, which I thought I would share.

MizJ comments on Jan 28, 2023:

https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/phil_of_religion_text/CHAPTER_9_MORALITY_VALUES/Morality_Secular.htm#:~:text=Although%20religion%20and%20morality%20reflect,value%20of%20all%20human%20beings I think we are born with basic morality. Religion is used to control the masses and ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

@ChestRockfield No that is my point, we are not born with morality, only with drives which can be exploited to generate morality. But I think that you are also confussing morality, with the conventional western Christian view of morality, it is wider that that . Morality for an ancient Aztec meant killing and torturing people, morality for many hindu mystics, and Cathar Christians meant starving yourself to death. That is what I mean by the fudge, the instincts and drives which make us want morality, are so vague that they can be used to generate almost any code you like, yet they are so strong they will still drive people to obey, as long as you know how to push the correct buttons in the correct order. But that is hard and complex, it is like having a powerful ship streaming forwards at high speed, driven by its drives and instincts, but those on the bridge are people who know nothing about navagation. Which is why so many of the moral cults of the past, like Christianity and Marxism for example started by trying to promote social justice, and ended by causing exactly the opposite to an extreme degree.

........................ WHAT GOOD IS ART ?

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2023:

Art is wonderful, beautiful and wonderful, I love it. ( Which is the problem.) Because like beautiful things it is dangerous, and not to be trusted, most of all it should never be believed in, as a source of truth, for as a religion promoting dogma it is at its most dangerous. And like any god, ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

@fishline79 Then you are a true believer in the art religion. (Not religion as an art.) I would define art, as any use of technology, to promote ideas or entertain rather than produce material goods. If you wish to define it in the "high art" sense, then I am sorry but you are promoting a religious cult. I do define graphic propaganda as art in the broard sense, because I do not believe that art in any other sense really exists, just as I do not believe that the sky fairy, ghosts or the big foot exists. Nor do I believe that it defies description, art in the high sense defies description in the same way that god or spirituality defy description, because, what does not exist can not be described. Nor do I consider religion as an art merely because it uses other art forms. But because it is a technology used to manipulate human minds, just like graphic propaganda.

Looks perfect to me.

Fernapple comments on Jan 29, 2023:

Oh lovely. I am thinking about getting a new greenhouse, and you are putting salt on the wound.

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

@MsKathleen Thank you for the advice, but sadly, that is not possible, since that would block my drive.

Every single human being on the planet was born an Atheist.

skado comments on Jan 28, 2023:

Intuitively, this seems true to the point of being not only obvious, but irrefutable. Clearly, no one is born Muslim or Buddhist or Christian. The same can be said of language. No one is born speaking French or Russian or Swahili. But I’m not aware of any scientific school of thought that ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

@skado Was not talking about your comment, but about the last above. "I have never claimed religion is the source of morality." Skado.

I just dropped across this piece of religious apologetics, which I thought I would share.

DenoPenno comments on Jan 29, 2023:

Morality comes from the structure of the society that you live in. If it is OK to poke another person in the eye with a stick then you will find this going on. Morality evolves with passage of time. As for FGM, I find this more horrifying than circumcision. It has more health risks and can even ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

Yet the females are often so programmed by their cultures, that they accept it as a norm, and even take the lead in have the same thing done to their daughters.

I just dropped across this piece of religious apologetics, which I thought I would share.

MizJ comments on Jan 28, 2023:

https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/phil_of_religion_text/CHAPTER_9_MORALITY_VALUES/Morality_Secular.htm#:~:text=Although%20religion%20and%20morality%20reflect,value%20of%20all%20human%20beings I think we are born with basic morality. Religion is used to control the masses and ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

@ChestRockfield I do not think that we are born a blank sheet, we are certainly not a complete blank sheet, we are born with instincts, emotions, drives and hungers, which are hard wired. It must be so, for without those we would just sit passive, doing nothing, until we faded away. And also we see almost matching things such as empathy for those who are hurt, and a basic understanding of honesty and fair play in other social animals, which are too like ours to be coincidence. But I would not expect that you would find exact laws of behaviour encoded by evolution, such as say. Don't eat other people. Because that is not the way evolution works, it is not exact, because selection does not have time to be exact, and in some ways it is good that it is not so, because that leaves animal behaviour free to adapt to circumstance. Indeed if programming was exact, then no animal would need to think or have a thinking brain. So evolution will tend to produce vague nominal directions. For example many animals have devices to prevent incest, in a lot of species including primates females, or in some species males, go wandering at about the time they come to sexual maturity, and join other groups. Yet it is unlikely that they know that they are doing this to avoid incest, it is much more likely that in late puberty they simply become restless and curious, which drives wandering, and that they find strange things, such as foreign sexual partners exciting. Evolution does not tell them to avoid incest, but only to wander and find new lives, and if they should not be able to wander, because of say hard geographic barriers, then they can still fall back on incest as a last resort. While the well known, positive error bias. Which may be what drives religion in part, because it makes us see patterns and intentions that are not there, is another fudge. If you think you see an eye glint among the leaves in the forest. It pays to respond by hiding. Because if it is something you would very much like to kill and eat, then you may be able to surprise a good meal, while if its is something that wants to eat you then hiding may save your life. While in both cases if you are wrong, then all you lose is a few seconds and a tiny bit of effort. So it pays much better to make positive errors and see things, patterns and intentions which are not there, than to make negative errors and fail to see things which are there. Positive errors are thought therefore to be hard wired into our brains, as another rough fudge.

THERE ARE NO ATHEIST BABIES (from an atheist website) .

ASTRALMAX comments on Jan 29, 2023:

We are born with a blank sheet on to which a mixture of beliefs and facts are imprinted as time passes. The wide eyed stare of babies as they look around them and hear the background sounds which are meaningless because they have not yet learned to speak. The words cat and dog are meaningless to six...

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

As far as beliefs are concerned I do think that we are born a blank sheet yes. But we are not a complete blank sheet, we are born with instincts, emotions, drives and hungers, which are hard wired, for without those we would just sit passive, until we faded away.

THERE ARE NO ATHEIST BABIES (from an atheist website) .

Fernapple comments on Jan 29, 2023:

That is all very true. But I have little interest in arguments about how people define words. Each person may do so as they wish. The only really honest obligation is to make the definition you are using plain at the outset, if there is likely to be confusion. So that if you are defining atheist to ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

@ASTRALMAX Yes linguistic sophistry, the belief that language is a source of truth and wisdom, or even that others can be fooled into thinking it is. Is a very common failing or dishonesty.

I just dropped across this piece of religious apologetics, which I thought I would share.

MizJ comments on Jan 28, 2023:

https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/phil_of_religion_text/CHAPTER_9_MORALITY_VALUES/Morality_Secular.htm#:~:text=Although%20religion%20and%20morality%20reflect,value%20of%20all%20human%20beings I think we are born with basic morality. Religion is used to control the masses and ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

@MizJ The wait for happiness is not that odd really. If you remember that religion is just a subset of the advertising industry, and what could be more like every advertisers dream than. "The goods are due to be delivered, after you have left home and moved abroard for good." Imagine ! No complaints, no returns, no need even to manufacture, pay for or deliver the goods.

Every single human being on the planet was born an Atheist.

skado comments on Jan 28, 2023:

Intuitively, this seems true to the point of being not only obvious, but irrefutable. Clearly, no one is born Muslim or Buddhist or Christian. The same can be said of language. No one is born speaking French or Russian or Swahili. But I’m not aware of any scientific school of thought that ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

@skado For the record. if as you say. "I have never claimed religion is the source of morality. I have consistently said our moral capacity is given to us by biology, as is our capacity for complex culture, including religion. Individual local culture, in turn, determines the specific expression of that moral instinct, just as it determines the specific local language, etc. Rather than religion creating morality, it is more like it is our biological predilection for morality which, in part, causes us to generate religious culture, just as it is our biological predilection for unlimited gain that then corrupts not only those very same religions but everything else we possibly can. We have some native capacity for morality and we generate the local and temporal guidelines for it, but we are not particularly good at following either, because they are in competition with multitudes of other instincts and influences." Then I am in full agreement with you, but also for the record, I never even mentioned morality in my comment. And the only place where I differ from you is in that, I think that today reason, and education have taken us to the point where there are better ways for our, "biological predilection for morality" to be interpreted and used to generate moral codes, than traditional, and especially theist religions. And that in a world where that is already taking place, and is seen to be doing it better, then it is natural that those traditional religions will be the increasingly the places where, those who are as you say "not particularly good at following either, because they are in competition with multitudes of other instincts and influences" will find their homes.

Every single human being on the planet was born an Atheist.

skado comments on Jan 28, 2023:

Intuitively, this seems true to the point of being not only obvious, but irrefutable. Clearly, no one is born Muslim or Buddhist or Christian. The same can be said of language. No one is born speaking French or Russian or Swahili. But I’m not aware of any scientific school of thought that ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

@skado Sorry but, "I’m not aware of ". Is an absolute, it therefore is, an endorsement of all "specific, local practices".

TWENTY FIVE THINGS NOT TO TRUST: 1.

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2023:

Any one who says. "A deeper truth."

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

@fishline79 You are fortunate then not to have been with the religious apologists, and relativists I know. True it is rarely put that bluntly, but it is often implied.

I just dropped across this piece of religious apologetics, which I thought I would share.

MizJ comments on Jan 28, 2023:

https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/phil_of_religion_text/CHAPTER_9_MORALITY_VALUES/Morality_Secular.htm#:~:text=Although%20religion%20and%20morality%20reflect,value%20of%20all%20human%20beings I think we are born with basic morality. Religion is used to control the masses and ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

@ChestRockfield Religious apologists will tell you that is why you need religion, because otherwise morality is too complex for us to work out. Yet most of the complex variation comes from the many religions themselves. It is true that there are cannibals who eat people because they need food, but most cannibals eat people mainly as a religious ritual, and certainly, nobody ever sacrificed a child without even eating it, without religion. The apologists will also tell you that you can not get to morality by reasoning. Yet I think the main thing is, as Epicurus said nearly twenty five centuries ago. "Don't over think it." So here goes for just one example. Do I want to be happy, contented and to live without fear ? Yes. Therefore do I think that I am more likely to be so, if I live surounded by a society which is also happy, contented and living without fear ? Yes. Is it not therefore worth my while, to invest some of my time, effort and wealth, in making that society so ? Yes. Then job done. True that does not perhaps get you to a Christian morality, and most Christian apologists want you to do that. Because they automatically, and with their usual smug cultural imperiallism, asume that, morality and Christian morality are synonyms. But Christian morallity, for reasons too long to go into, is a very bad morality, that nobody in their sane mind would want or think you could reason to anyway.

I just dropped across this piece of religious apologetics, which I thought I would share.

ChestRockfield comments on Jan 28, 2023:

What idiot said that? Is it our senior resident apologist on Agnostic.com?

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

How did you guess.!? Funny that is it not, either you are very clever, it was very obvious, or both.

I just dropped across this piece of religious apologetics, which I thought I would share.

hankster comments on Jan 28, 2023:

scientific documentation must not cover what happened to native american children for an example of abuse using those things....

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

I chose just one example, I could certainly yes, have found thousands more, your is a very good one. But the people on this site have lives to live, and one was enough to light up the point.

........................ WHAT GOOD IS ART ?

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2023:

Art is wonderful, beautiful and wonderful, I love it. ( Which is the problem.) Because like beautiful things it is dangerous, and not to be trusted, most of all it should never be believed in, as a source of truth, for as a religion promoting dogma it is at its most dangerous. And like any god, ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 29, 2023:

@fishline79 Sorry this is a bit long, but I hope you will stick with it. A lot of art is yes neutral, but firstly there is a belief in "high" art which is widespread and deeply embedded in our culture. In which there is said to be an artistic culture which is thought of as having its own truth. Great artists are though to be able to tap into that, and they thereby gain authority. Which is a very religious view, religion in many ways being a synonym for the "proof by authority" fallacy. While moreover other religions are able to buy into that authority, a share of the artistic cult if you like, simple by exhibiting or commissioning art. And secondly, perhaps far more importantly, you have to understand that we are products of our evolution. And evolution by natural selection can only work retrospectively, it can not prefit any creature for a new environment, if creatures land in new environments by accident, they may survive, but they will be ill fitted to that environment for a long time. And few creatures had such a sudden and dramatic change of environment as we did, when we moved from being hunters in the forest, to being civilized creatures living in a mainly cultural environment. Nearly all of which culture is some form of art. A world for which we have no pre-adaptions. For example. A company wants to sell us garden furniture, so it shows us a picture of large numbers of impossibly beautiful people more than would ever gather naturally, with some airbrushing, in a garden, having an impossibly good time, with wonderful food, and people run out to buy the furniture. Because our poor ape brains are fooled, we do not really want the furniture, what we really want are the friends, the food and the party. Art is used to manipulate us, by overloading our ape brains. That is why nobody spends as much on art as people like the Nazis did, because all art is advertising and most is an attempt at mind control, 'NOT' always for bad purposes, but often. While religion is itself an art form, perhaps the biggest art form of them all, incorporating everything from painting and litrature to story telling. The purest form of advertising, with no other product to sell but more of itself, and its own artistic life. And we poor apes, made to live in groups of no more than thirty or forty in the shade of the forest, walk into the cathedral lit by a thousand stained glass windows and candles, glittering with gold, hung with great paintings, and we hear a thousand voices singing hymns composed by rare geniuses, all played on instruments which could not be made in a forest with the resources of hunter gatherers. And we go weak at the knees in awe. Which awe we are told, comes from god, but it does not come from god, it comes from artistic technology.

All my Conspiracy theories have come true.

Fernapple comments on Jan 28, 2023:

Pattern recognition. = Positive error bias. Definition, positive error bias: animal's ( including human ) brains are designed by nature, to have a positive bias in favour of recognizing patterns, more patterns than are actually there. Because in a natural environment negative errors, generally carry...

Fernapple replies on Jan 28, 2023:

@Castlepaloma I am sure that is all very true, and I quite agree with you. But it is also true that while pattern recognition is without doubt of great use. Biologists have still observed that we are inclined to vastly over recognize patterns, and that is part of our nature.

Every single human being on the planet was born an Atheist.

skado comments on Jan 28, 2023:

Intuitively, this seems true to the point of being not only obvious, but irrefutable. Clearly, no one is born Muslim or Buddhist or Christian. The same can be said of language. No one is born speaking French or Russian or Swahili. But I’m not aware of any scientific school of thought that ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 28, 2023:

How nice to know that you are. "not aware of any scientific school of thought that considers the teaching of local culture, be it language or religion or folkways, to be child abuse. There is no medical or scientific support for this claim." Perhaps you should tell the W.H.O. they are clearly on the wrong track, and would surely welcome the benefits of your wisdom in these maters. See link. https://www.who.int/teams/sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-research-(srh)/areas-of-work/female-genital-mutilation/health-risks-of-female-genital-mutilation

TWENTY FIVE THINGS NOT TO TRUST: 1.

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2023:

Any one who says. "A deeper truth."

Fernapple replies on Jan 28, 2023:

@Gwendolyn2018 Exactly, re. also relativism and alternate truth.

........................ WHAT GOOD IS ART ?

Fernapple comments on Jan 27, 2023:

Art is wonderful, beautiful and wonderful, I love it. ( Which is the problem.) Because like beautiful things it is dangerous, and not to be trusted, most of all it should never be believed in, as a source of truth, for as a religion promoting dogma it is at its most dangerous. And like any god, ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 27, 2023:

@Redheadedgammy Sorry, it is the BBC.

I've got one question. If "god" told Mike Pence to run for president?

anglophone comments on Jan 25, 2023:

The man is an imbecile. Nothing more needs to be said.

Fernapple replies on Jan 26, 2023:

The sky daddy is certainly an imbecile, but secretly I think that M. Pence may be one too.

Last one from Epicurus for a bit, so I thought I would end with a contentious one.

Diogenes comments on Jan 26, 2023:

But there is something to be said about the IQ of a person that would marry someone that didn't have enough cognitive activity to form their own opinion.

Fernapple replies on Jan 26, 2023:

Oh I don't think that he meant, that she could not form her own opinion, even those with very little cognitive activety form those, all too easily. Rather that she was keeping her true opinion hidden.

Last one from Epicurus for a bit, so I thought I would end with a contentious one.

Mcfluwster comments on Jan 26, 2023:

I feel that might be based on the personal experiences of Epicurus . I would prefer to see you keeping your E-quotes coming contentious or not. They can be very revealing.

Fernapple replies on Jan 26, 2023:

Will do soon.

SARCASM WARNING: It’s Not a Gun Problem—Americans Are Just Super Extra Evil, Crazy, and Stupid ...

MyTVC15 comments on Jan 25, 2023:

This is sarcasm people!

Fernapple replies on Jan 25, 2023:

Sorry myTVC15, it seems the irony was lost on some of those who read it, and especially on those who did not read it properly.

Eating chicken without killing chicken? Would you eat lab grown meat? [bbc.com]

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2023:

Try anything once.

Fernapple replies on Jan 25, 2023:

@waitingforgodo Love that tune though, however many times.

"We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink.

Diogenes comments on Jan 25, 2023:

I would rather have a "meal" of cheese and crackers and have an enlivening conversation with someone of interest- than to sit down to a glutinous spread- with someone who was talking about their last glutenous 'feast'.

Fernapple replies on Jan 25, 2023:

Epicurus also said. "Only send me a pot of cheese and I shall feast."

Academic vs Scientific | ARMACAD

Fernapple comments on Jan 25, 2023:

Science is a relatively new word. As indeed is "academic" which is a Romantic usage, referring to the school of philosophers in Athens led by Plato and Aristotle, which gained its name because the members met in an arcade. Those who practice science were always referred to as, "natural philosophers"...

Fernapple replies on Jan 25, 2023:

@ASTRALMAX That is very true. Science was perhaps at its strongest in the past, when it was in the hands of the gentlemen and lady amateurs who were independent at least, or the old teaching institutions, who imposed little on what they did. Those were the golden eras from which science still gains a lot of its credit. But a lot of modern research could simply not be funded that way, so science had to become a competitive game at the upper levels, and has lost some of its independence for a dollar. But there are still some old fashioned institutions, and some amateurs, the three types are not mutually exclusive, so those others can still hold science to its integrity, and hopefully it will not lose all its creativity. Science as we know it, if it loses its way, may be replaced in time by a new branch of philosophy, which will take up the empirical torch, but you will not take away its acheivements so far. Nor do I think, if we can maintain good education, will the theocrats be able to put the empirical cat back in the bag, now it has grown so strong. You still have to worry about America especially, but there is no law which states that the empirical tradition can not change it geographic home. And I feel that even in America the current rising tide of anti-education and theocracy will soon reach its high point, and face a reaction, from the moderate majority.

I just got lucky, finding Baruch Spinoza's Ethics on Audible.

AnneWimsey comments on Jan 24, 2023:

Jews do not 'excommunicate'...that is a strictly Catholic concept.

Fernapple replies on Jan 24, 2023:

Correct, strictly speaking he was shunned.

The last scientist who worked in the Alexandria Library was a mathematician, astronomer, physicist ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2023:

I would not say avoid the film "Agora", about her life, for it does capture some of the spirit of the times, but it is a wildly inaccurate depiction the facts of her life and times. Worth a look if you take your sceptical head with you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agora_(film)

Fernapple replies on Jan 24, 2023:

@David1955 They also made her thirty or forty, when she was in fact in her sixties at her death. And they had her working on the heliocentric solar system, for which there is no evidence, I suppose they thought that the maths she did was too difficult for the audience.

"In old age, we all regret not having killed laziness in ourselves." Epicurus.

Mcfluwster comments on Jan 24, 2023:

This confirms that one does learn from being lazy . But having revealed our losses do we action the cure? Well the rest of society is trying to make us give up anything risky or dangerous like sky diving and even driving [too much bouncing of the kerb {sidewalk} etc] . One actually learns better by ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 24, 2023:

That was Epicurus exactly, I think you would have got on.

“The ‘60s are gone, dope will never be as cheap, sex never as free, and the rock ‘n’ ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 24, 2023:

The sixties were also horrible, housing and schools were cold and damp, the teachers beat the s##t out of you, travel was difficult, public transport was dirtier than modern cattle trucks, Christian dogma was dominant, the food was inedible and everything not actually illegal, was expensive and ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 24, 2023:

@Marionville Yes you were the generation that perhaps got the best out of the sixties, I was only twelve when they ended.

Some really beautiful animals, and their history.

Budgie comments on Jan 23, 2023:

I am doing evolution with my class so thanks this will be very useful.

Fernapple replies on Jan 24, 2023:

Pleased to help.

"In old age, we all regret not having killed laziness in ourselves." Epicurus.

ASTRALMAX comments on Jan 23, 2023:

Probably a true reflection on his personal life. However, contrast that with the words of Bertrand Russell: "Time that you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time."

Fernapple replies on Jan 24, 2023:

@FrayedBear I also find that prevarication is big help, in finding the best way forward. Invariably a few months thinking about it gets better methods and results.

"In old age, we all regret not having killed laziness in ourselves." Epicurus.

ASTRALMAX comments on Jan 23, 2023:

Probably a true reflection on his personal life. However, contrast that with the words of Bertrand Russell: "Time that you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time."

Fernapple replies on Jan 23, 2023:

@ASTRALMAX Oh, I really like hard work. "I could sit and watch people doing it all day." Jerome K. Jerome.

"In old age, we all regret not having killed laziness in ourselves." Epicurus.

Willow_Wisp comments on Jan 23, 2023:

Why do I always get to have a different experience. I'm old, and I regret not getting enough time on my ass, and working so hard I'm physically damaged from it. I think Epicurus had a posh life, what a GD diva!

Fernapple replies on Jan 23, 2023:

He certainly did have a posh life.

"In old age, we all regret not having killed laziness in ourselves." Epicurus.

ASTRALMAX comments on Jan 23, 2023:

Probably a true reflection on his personal life. However, contrast that with the words of Bertrand Russell: "Time that you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time."

Fernapple replies on Jan 23, 2023:

If you don't ever learn how to do leisure, especially early, then you will reach your grave without ever having a meaningful exprience, is very true. But perhaps Epicurus, who appreciated leisure most of all, was meaning too lazy to take leisure properly.

"In old age, we all regret not having killed laziness in ourselves." Epicurus.

Sticks48 comments on Jan 23, 2023:

I appreciate my laziness. Most people l know who don't have that bit of laziness seem to spend a lot of time doing "busy work", a mostly useless non-productive waste of time. Stop and enjoy your "lazy".

Fernapple replies on Jan 23, 2023:

If you don't ever learn how to do leisure, especially early, then you will reach your grave without ever having a meaningful exprience, is very true. But perhaps Epicurus, who appreciated leisure most of all, was meaning too lazy to take leisure properly.

"In old age, we all regret not having killed laziness in ourselves." Epicurus.

KateOahu comments on Jan 23, 2023:

Quite the opposite, “I” regret not having taken more leisure.

Fernapple replies on Jan 23, 2023:

Yes I could go with that. See Sticks below.

"If you shape your life according to nature, you will never be poor, if according to people's ...

ASTRALMAX comments on Jan 22, 2023:

I do not know for certain but think that Epicureanism and Daoism probably originated around the same historical period.

Fernapple replies on Jan 23, 2023:

@MsKathleen Thank you, you may over estimate me, but I try to make useful/amusing gifts of knowledge when I can, and at least I get a warm glow from knowing it is valued.

"If you shape your life according to nature, you will never be poor, if according to people's ...

Mcfluwster comments on Jan 22, 2023:

Priorities IS the secret of life

Fernapple replies on Jan 22, 2023:

@Mcfluwster That is sad, but It does not take long to get to four no.

"If you shape your life according to nature, you will never be poor, if according to people's ...

ASTRALMAX comments on Jan 22, 2023:

I do not know for certain but think that Epicureanism and Daoism probably originated around the same historical period.

Fernapple replies on Jan 22, 2023:

They are from more or less exactly the same time yes, Epicurus and Laozi may even have had overlapping lifetimes, though several thousand miles apart. And of course they have very similar views, you could perhaps say that the civilizations of the old world, were ready for those ideas at about that time.

"If you shape your life according to nature, you will never be poor, if according to people's ...

LenHazell53 comments on Jan 22, 2023:

I am quite fond of Epicurus as a philosopher.

Fernapple replies on Jan 22, 2023:

Me too. Especially since he was all but atheist.

Well the world turns, and strange things happen.

Pralina1 comments on Jan 22, 2023:

Man 🙁 I had a lengthy discussion w my sister last week ( face time ). My sister is the brains in the family , the doctor , and I am lazy AND a freak 🤡 All my life I ate nothing than nuts , tomatoes and mozzarella and goat cheese , bread , pasta , tones of olive oil / lemon / vinegar , steak ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 22, 2023:

My thoughts exactly. I try to eat the best stuff when I easily can, in part because I tend to like the Med diet anyway, but I do not bother much at all.

"If you shape your life according to nature, you will never be poor, if according to people's ...

Mcfluwster comments on Jan 22, 2023:

Priorities IS the secret of life

Fernapple replies on Jan 22, 2023:

How come you are on level four ?

Church of England apologizes for treatment of LGBTQ people “For the times we have rejected or ...

KKGator comments on Jan 21, 2023:

I don't believe them. They're lying.

Fernapple replies on Jan 21, 2023:

Well he also said, that they were not going to recognize same sex marriage at the same time !?

Well the world turns, and strange things happen.

JackPedigo comments on Jan 21, 2023:

All of these are a part of my diet (except the fish). One can get the omega's from flax seed. One thing consistently not discussed is the fact some people's body reacts to certain foods and that reaction can cause inflammation. I took, what is known as a blood anti-gen test. It showed a high ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 21, 2023:

Good advice.

"Not what we have, but what we enjoy constitutes our wealth." Epicurus.

Garban comments on Jan 21, 2023:

I’m with Horace: “As for me, when you want a laugh, you will see me in fine state, fat and flourishing, a hog from Epicurus's herd.” - Quintus Horatius Flaccus - Letter to Tibullus

Fernapple replies on Jan 21, 2023:

Speaking as a nice well fattened old porker from Epicuruses herd, I shall be quoting my trough filler a lot more soon.

Well the world turns, and strange things happen.

Garban comments on Jan 21, 2023:

Mackerel is one of the few fish I don’t care for. King Mackerel especially, yuck. I need to try Edamame, it doesn’t sound appealing, but my taste buds aren’t in my ears. All the other recommendations are regulars on the menu.

Fernapple replies on Jan 21, 2023:

@AnneWimsey Yes that was the one I did not know. Thank you, I will look it up.

Free For All

Fernapple comments on Jan 21, 2023:

I have not blocked anybody. If you don't like their posts or comments, it is easy to ignore them, but sometimes even the worst trolls post something interesting, so why miss out.

Fernapple replies on Jan 21, 2023:

@LovinLarge That is the other reason why I did not block anyone, you have to meet them head on now and again, if only so that anyone else watching, gets to see the obvious holes in their arguments. (OK, so the site's toxic narcarssist runs away with his fingers in his ears, at the sight of me, but if people are not ready for personal growth, that's not my problem. )

Well the world turns, and strange things happen.

LovinLarge comments on Jan 21, 2023:

Will have to try mackerel one day.

Fernapple replies on Jan 21, 2023:

Try smoked, its very tasty, and the smoking is slightly unhealthy, so you don't have to feel too guilty about going against your principles by taking health advice. It worked for me. LOL

Another world, filled with wonderful things. Alien beauty. [youtube.com]

Julie808 comments on Jan 20, 2023:

Fascinating! Yes, some of those fungi do like like sea corals! Nice that his love of photographing the fungi is helping the mycologists. I'll have to finish watching it later. Now it's time for my evening walk. :-)

Fernapple replies on Jan 21, 2023:

@Julie808 It is a long one yes, but I thought worth the time. Fun-gee would be the way here in England, but this is Australian of course.

50 Things Basically Every Single American Believes Are Completely Normal But Are Actually Very, ...

Fernapple comments on Jan 20, 2023:

Interesting list yes. It would be nice to know though which countries the comments came from.

Fernapple replies on Jan 20, 2023:

@David1955 So did I, but Europe being very variable, it would be nice to be more specific, since some of the things listed are true of some parts of Europe, but not others.

“The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike.” ― Delos Banning McKown

Fernapple comments on Jan 16, 2023:

The silent and the non-existent also sound very alike. Do not go to god for advice.

Fernapple replies on Jan 18, 2023:

@Mcfluwster And not an especially bright or honest human at that.

A Big Step Towards Hydrogen Fuel Out of Thin Air—Just Like a Plant [goodnewsnetwork.org]

vocaloldfart comments on Jan 17, 2023:

Gladstone qld has just built it's own hydrogen plant. operational who knows when. there is presently a lot of kafuffle about the production of hydrogen. Apparently there are two sorts of hydrogen. Green hydrogen and some other kind. Then you have hydrogen fuel cells, which seem to be as easy to ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 18, 2023:

Here you go all the gen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zklo4Z1SqkE

I don't know why I assumed this site would be better than facebook.

yvilletom comments on Jan 17, 2023:

Naming-calling is a form of violence - verbal violence, and one of those ancient Romans said violence arises from powerlessness.

Fernapple replies on Jan 18, 2023:

Those who know they can not win the arguments, reach for their weapons.

A Big Step Towards Hydrogen Fuel Out of Thin Air—Just Like a Plant [goodnewsnetwork.org]

vocaloldfart comments on Jan 17, 2023:

Gladstone qld has just built it's own hydrogen plant. operational who knows when. there is presently a lot of kafuffle about the production of hydrogen. Apparently there are two sorts of hydrogen. Green hydrogen and some other kind. Then you have hydrogen fuel cells, which seem to be as easy to ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 18, 2023:

The "other kind" I would think, simply means using fossil fuels as the energy source to split the water. So still the same greenhouse gas, perhaps even more since the system willl involve some energy waste, you just get to use the hydrogen in the city streets, and generate the polution in some distant power station, much like none green electric.

One reason I love talking economics with my son, a respected economist, is that I know his opinions ...

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Jan 15, 2023:

Yes. I know nothing of rocket science, so I rely on scientists with good reputations in the field for information. The crocks are easily weeded out for educated people in any field. My field, literature, is subjective, but not many people outside of academia argue about literature. On the other ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 17, 2023:

@Gwendolyn2018 And I am told that they added the eleventh comandment, just to annoy the Catholics. As well as the final verses of the Song of Solomon, the ones which tell you that it is in fact a metaphor for the so called, love of god, in case anyone thought that it was just a romantic/soft porn, poem.

"Never sleep with someone who doesn't want to show up on the streets with you." Aristotle.

Marionville comments on Jan 17, 2023:

That’s a great quote…and you can turn it round the other way too!

Fernapple replies on Jan 17, 2023:

In my case that would leave me very lonely on the streets.

One reason I love talking economics with my son, a respected economist, is that I know his opinions ...

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Jan 15, 2023:

Yes. I know nothing of rocket science, so I rely on scientists with good reputations in the field for information. The crocks are easily weeded out for educated people in any field. My field, literature, is subjective, but not many people outside of academia argue about literature. On the other ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 17, 2023:

@Gwendolyn2018 And of course most of the fundamentalists prefer the King James, which is arguably at least , by far the worst, most miss translated and even rewritten version you can get.

An interesting point, don't you think?

lerlo comments on Jan 16, 2023:

What am I missing? The answer to both is are people selfish? But the main difference in the questions is stealing is illegal, hoarding is not. It's up to the state to regulate rationing in serious situations. However as you probably know, mandating masks to protect Society still resulted in ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 16, 2023:

Hoarding has been illegal in my country on several occasions.

What world awaits Gen Z? | Malcolm Gladwell x Brain Bar

Fernapple comments on Jan 16, 2023:

Moderate quite good, though I have doubts about whether the sports analogy works for real life, quite so perfectly as he claims.

Fernapple replies on Jan 16, 2023:

@rainmanjr It seems to in the video, but I am just always wary of analogy and metaphor, you can use those to prove anything.

One reason I love talking economics with my son, a respected economist, is that I know his opinions ...

LovinLarge comments on Jan 15, 2023:

Trumpers are the worst. They don't understand or appreciate the significance of expertise because none of them have any. Trump himself has none. A good example is how they've berated Dr. Fauci throughout the pandemic because someone having devoted their lives to developing a body of knowledge is ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 16, 2023:

@LovinLarge I just wrote this for Gwen below. None of us can have a deep knowledge of everything, or even most things, and therefore when dealing with subjects of which I have no deep knowledge, which is most of them naturally. I fall back on the default position of using whatever seems to be the consensus among the acknowledged mainstream experts. While, where there is dispute among even them, I try to look for the side which seems to be using the best methods, using my experience in the fields which I do know to tell me what works best. The problem is, that when you have reject education in principle, as something that is a threat to your world view, then you can not use either of those methods, or even admit to yourself that there could be such things as methods. And rejecting education is sadly for many a tribal issue, where membership and status in the tribe depends upon the degree to which you are anti-education.

One reason I love talking economics with my son, a respected economist, is that I know his opinions ...

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Jan 15, 2023:

Yes. I know nothing of rocket science, so I rely on scientists with good reputations in the field for information. The crocks are easily weeded out for educated people in any field. My field, literature, is subjective, but not many people outside of academia argue about literature. On the other ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 16, 2023:

None of us can have a deep knowledge of everything, or even most things, and therefore when dealing with subjects of which I have no deep knowledge, which is most of them naturally. I fall back on the default position of using whatever seems to be the consensus among the acknowledged mainstream experts. While, where there is dispute among even them, I try to look for the side which seems to be using the best methods, using my experience in the fields which I do know to tell me what works best. The problem is, that when you have reject education in principle, as something that is a threat to your world view, then you can not use either of those methods, or even admit to yourself that there could be such things as methods. And rejecting education is sadly for many a tribal issue, where membership and status in the tribe depends upon the degree to which you are anti-education. I tend to find that my knowledge of the bible is quite good, not great, but quite good when compared with most of the American Christians I hear from. That is probably because in the UK , the schools are/were often Christian, and like many in the UK, I was therefore taught about the Bible in school. Yet here is the strange thing. That does not seem to have prevented, and may even have helped, the UK to become very secular.

You get one life to live, don't waste a minute of it on your knees, praying to an imaginary sky ...

racocn8 comments on Jan 15, 2023:

That is the downside of Pascal's Wager that is never mentioned, wasting the one life you have living in a state of threat, delusion and hatred of everyone else.

Fernapple replies on Jan 16, 2023:

The other downside to Pascal's wager is. If there was a god/supernatural/second life/higher intelligence/great unknown, whatever, surely it would prefer atheists anyway. After all we do not tell it what to do, pretend to speak in its name to fool others, or set up imposters in its place.

Types of Atheists (Psychology of Atheism Part 1) - YouTube

silverotter11 comments on Jan 15, 2023:

I sure wish my Dad were still here. I know what I can't be bothered with (like church and that dogma) but I've never considered there was such a range of terminology to explain it all. I suppose it depends on how important it is to each person. My Dad studied the Bible. He said to me one ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 16, 2023:

The more false the product you are trying to sell, the more attractive you have to make the advert, and that applies to the high and sacred arts as well. Therefore the better the art the more you should distrust it as a source of truth.

Let's get personal.

ASTRALMAX comments on Jan 14, 2023:

Around the age of ten years it was decided that I would attend Sunday school for religious instruction. It had been agreed between our parents that a friend and I would go there together. We deliberately walked slowly because neither one of us did not want to spend and hour reciting religious ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 15, 2023:

That's not so much a fun fact, as a, smart kid well done.

Some really beautiful animals, and their history.

Diaco comments on Jan 14, 2023:

Awesome! love this 😍

Fernapple replies on Jan 14, 2023:

Thank you.

The Asshole Hypothetically speaking there's a person named John.

Beowulfsfriend comments on Jan 13, 2023:

Zorasterism, while not a major religion, Freddie Mercury was born one, does not seek out nor allow converts. Those would be my kind of neighbors. Plus, they used to put the dead out to be eaten by animals, mostly vultures. When I visited the large Baih'i temple in Chicago, I was surprised to ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 14, 2023:

Yes there are a few like that, the Samaritans for one are very famous thanks to the Bible story, though in reality thanks to their no converts rules, there are now only a few thousand left.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Hated More Than Andrew by Older Brits—Poll

Fernapple comments on Jan 13, 2023:

Actually no, a lot of us Brits think that they are all a waste of space.

Fernapple replies on Jan 13, 2023:

@barjoe I know. That's what you get for using social media, lots of unneeded information on minor celebs, who did little or nothing to earn their celeb status. LOL

Warning.

ChestRockfield comments on Jan 12, 2023:

1. I will likely never vacation within the US again. For the cost of just the hotel in the US, I can get flight, hotel, transportation, food, and alcohol in Jamaica... and have better weather. 2. Everything is failing here. I would not be surprised at all if we stopped being a democracy some ...

Fernapple replies on Jan 12, 2023:

It is rare that you are actually sad to find out that you were right, but I happened to me today.

Take a deep breath and remember: even the roughest days get better Good morning.

LovinLarge comments on Jan 11, 2023:

Again, agnostic or atheist?

Fernapple replies on Jan 12, 2023:

@LovinLarge The more time I spend on this site, where the majority are from the USA, the more I start to think that the USA is a broken society, and a failing democracy. The other day someone posted, about there being no cheap hotels in the USA like there are overseas. Well yes, because it seems to me that, in the USA, most people, especially the poor and middle income people, are not encouraged to travel, so of course there are no hotels for them. That no doubt, helps to keep people from widening their horizons and broadening their minds. Which is great if you want a nation of mindless drudges, who work, get their pay, go back spend it where they earned it, and never question anything. But, in Europe many companies, and institutions actively encourage travel. So that taking your vacation, especially abroad, is almost, compulsory, and you would be seen as strange with poor promotional prospects, if you did not show an appetite for widening your horizons. Generally speaking has nobody ever noticed that trying to restrict and discourage travel, is what countries like North Korea and the old Soviet Union did ? Presumably in case anyone finds out that it is possible to improve on the workers paradise, and woe betide, by how very much. ( I like this may post it just to get the hornets buzzing. LOL )

This applies to UK. No idea what happens anywhere else.

Fernapple comments on Jan 11, 2023:

Yes, it is called animal hygiene, in case they are carrying diseases, that could transmit to others. At the moment we have an outbreak of bird flu, so you would not be able to walk your parrot past a chicken farm, but nobody told the sparrows of course.

Fernapple replies on Jan 11, 2023:

@Jolanta Yes it is very sad. When I was a child in the UK, growing up around farms and villages, the "cheap cheap" of sparrows, was the perminant background sound track to our days. Now you rarely hear them. I am told that in part, it is due to modern farm practices, farm hygiene means that there is no spilled grain about these days, so they have lost a major food source.