Historic go-ahead for malaria vaccine to protect African children [bbc.com]

Fernapple comments on Oct 7, 2021:

You never seem to hear these things on the main news feeds.

Fernapple replies on Oct 7, 2021:

@FearlessFly Good on them.

While in the procedure room the other day Spotify decided it wanted to spark a lively debate by ...

skado comments on Oct 6, 2021:

I didn’t know who the guy was, so this particular instance is not an issue for me. But in general... I tend to think consistency for consistency’s sake can produce as much harm as good sometimes. The question becomes ‘consistent with what?’. Without stating the specific principle ...

Fernapple replies on Oct 7, 2021:

@JeffMurray Sounds good to me. It is a big issue for me too, since being on the border of the autistic spectrum, I can not do that very handy thing, that most people seem to have little trouble with, cognitive dissonance. It annoys me to death, and I have a compultion if I find myself holding contraditions, to work away at it , no mater what the cost.

While in the procedure room the other day Spotify decided it wanted to spark a lively debate by ...

skado comments on Oct 6, 2021:

I didn’t know who the guy was, so this particular instance is not an issue for me. But in general... I tend to think consistency for consistency’s sake can produce as much harm as good sometimes. The question becomes ‘consistent with what?’. Without stating the specific principle ...

Fernapple replies on Oct 7, 2021:

@JeffMurray I do not think that you can ever get to a point where, as you put it, you have "beliefs logically consistent with each other." Any more than you can have final truth, or total knowledge of everything. But that is not the point: "beliefs logically consistent with each other", final truth and knowledge, may be an unattainable ends, but they can still be and are, a goals, or targets to aim for. Which is perhaps their greatest value, because if you ever believed that you had attained them, (absolutism) or stopped believing that they existed as a hypothetical target, (relativism) then you would stop progressing, no longer move forward and no longer have any reason to explore. A dead, passive, dull and aimless none-life. And sadly a life of arrogant dogmatism, without any empathy for the rest of humanity, who you would be forced to regard as failed and lesser beings.

Anti-Vaxxers are terrorists, plain and simple...

skado comments on Oct 6, 2021:

We like things plain. And simple.

Fernapple replies on Oct 7, 2021:

@p-nullifidian One bit of tongue deserves another bit.

Anti-Vaxxers are terrorists, plain and simple...

skado comments on Oct 6, 2021:

We like things plain. And simple.

Fernapple replies on Oct 6, 2021:

No we don't. Some of us value nuance.

There are still mysteries in the most unexpected of places. I love this one. [youtube.com]

KateOahu comments on Oct 6, 2021:

After the full minute and 20 second self-aggrandizing commercial, I still wouldn’t pay a monthly fee to get his posts.

Fernapple replies on Oct 6, 2021:

No I always skip the first bit.

Thought antivaxxers were the epitome of motivated human ignorance?

wordywalt comments on Oct 5, 2021:

What is this "germ theory" crap?? Germs and their effects area long-proven scientific fact, not a theory.

Fernapple replies on Oct 6, 2021:

In scientific language, "theory" is quite different from the popular usage, and means the highest level of certainty recognized by science.

Fuck off Uber & Lyft with your in-vehicle face recognition\ analysis linked advertising ?

Fernapple comments on Oct 5, 2021:

Don't knock it until you tried it. Get in the cab with no trousers and wearing a big plastic strap on, and see what they offer you then.

Fernapple replies on Oct 6, 2021:

@whiskywoman Oh, my hands I assure you, are more than good enough on their own. They have even been described as god like, as in. "Oh, my god, I never had anything like that before !" LOL

Fuck off Uber & Lyft with your in-vehicle face recognition\ analysis linked advertising ?

Fernapple comments on Oct 5, 2021:

Don't knock it until you tried it. Get in the cab with no trousers and wearing a big plastic strap on, and see what they offer you then.

Fernapple replies on Oct 5, 2021:

@FrayedBear No I just have a very big nose. Though sadly anything you may have heard about, if your nose is big, so is everything else, is not true. LOL

Fuck off Uber & Lyft with your in-vehicle face recognition\ analysis linked advertising ?

Fernapple comments on Oct 5, 2021:

Don't knock it until you tried it. Get in the cab with no trousers and wearing a big plastic strap on, and see what they offer you then.

Fernapple replies on Oct 5, 2021:

@FrayedBear A nose job, always worked for my first girlfriend.

You've heard about "there is no "I" in Team. Well....that's not exactly correct;

Fernapple comments on Oct 3, 2021:

Yes but its the negative part.

Fernapple replies on Oct 5, 2021:

@Robecology Yes I am retiring, so I don't care if people know who I am, or what I look like any longer.

LET'S STOP THE PLEASANT EUPHEMISMS: They aren't "anti-Vax.

Fernapple comments on Oct 2, 2021:

I don't disagree, but you have to also grant that a lot of them are victims of disinformation, pedaled by exploiters, which they have not been given the education to see through.

Fernapple replies on Oct 2, 2021:

@Flowerwall Yes they are.

LET'S STOP THE PLEASANT EUPHEMISMS: They aren't "anti-Vax.

Fernapple comments on Oct 2, 2021:

I don't disagree, but you have to also grant that a lot of them are victims of disinformation, pedaled by exploiters, which they have not been given the education to see through.

Fernapple replies on Oct 2, 2021:

@Flowerwall Yes I agree with that. That is why my original comment was the qualifier. "I don't disagree, but you have to also grant that a lot of them are victims of disinformation, pedaled by exploiters, which they have not been given the education to see through."

LET'S STOP THE PLEASANT EUPHEMISMS: They aren't "anti-Vax.

Fernapple comments on Oct 2, 2021:

I don't disagree, but you have to also grant that a lot of them are victims of disinformation, pedaled by exploiters, which they have not been given the education to see through.

Fernapple replies on Oct 2, 2021:

@Flowerwall I don't think anyone would doubt that natural immunity, is likely to be a lot better than that acquired by vaccine. But it comes with a much higher risk of being very ill and/or death. Cutting down on the infections is not the only issue, if you really want to acquire your immunity with a strong chance of serious illness and death, and to do so in a country where the hospitals are overwealmed, like India, and you have to be treated in the street, go for it. A little bit of immunity, acquired by vaccine goes a long way to prevent the more damaging effect even if it does not completely stop infection. In the UK we now have 90% of adults vaccinated, but the same percentage 90% of those in intensive care and dead in recent weeks are unvaccinated.

This report will stir the cockles of many hearts. Let's find out who and why?

Fernapple comments on Oct 2, 2021:

Eliminate the competition for the Russian Orthodox Church, which is deeply wedded to the Russian state.

Fernapple replies on Oct 2, 2021:

@FrayedBear Yes the Catholic church is not nearly so wedded to the French government as the Orthodox is to the Russian, despite the Marxist heritage.

This report will stir the cockles of many hearts. Let's find out who and why?

Fernapple comments on Oct 2, 2021:

Eliminate the competition for the Russian Orthodox Church, which is deeply wedded to the Russian state.

Fernapple replies on Oct 2, 2021:

@FrayedBear Still more impressed by the also stated fact that France is doing someting about it.

Something to think about

skado comments on Oct 1, 2021:

A pretty narrow and uninformed view of “religion”. That is to say, his view of religion was as narrow as those he was criticizing.

Fernapple replies on Oct 2, 2021:

@skado Good people I am sorry to say would do bad things even without religion, for good people to do bad things, you do not need religion, only misunderstanding. No man in history perhaps did as much harm as Thomas Midgley, who invented and personally marketed both leaded petrol and CFCs. Yet everyone who knew him said that you could not have met a better, kinder, more moral or well intended person. ( Google him if you like.) The role that religion plays is that of an enabler for evil people, especially in deliberately promoting misunderstanding. Since it is the one system of thought that makes no attemp to safegaurd against misunderstanding. Such as asking for reason, evidence, or the test of falsification etc.. Religion has a lot in common with guns. The old argument by the pro-gun lobby being that guns never harmed anyone, it is the people who point them at others and pull the trigger who are responsible for the harm. To which the equally old worn out answer is that, who would want a gun except someone who wanted to point it and pull the trigger, or indulge in a trivial entertainment at the cost of maintaining something very dangerous, in the home. And no doubt guns were, and still are sometimes, useful and even kind things. To the early farmer who needed to feed people when crops failed and protect the crops, they were a useful, and perhaps even a kinder way to kill animals than trapping and spearing with primitive and often painful devices. But very few people in the gun owning Western World today are primitive farmers, living on the edge of starvation or threatened by wildlife. So it is with religion, it is true as LucyLooHoo says, that once religion was a needed to explain the thunder, by people like the early farmers. But those days too are well gone. The days when good people needed religion are for the most part over. There are, and have been for a long time far better ways of acheiving good ends, and understanding, available to good people. The only people who now truly NEED religion, are those who wish to promote misunderstanding (evil), and increasingly so with time. It is not religions past but is future which is all important, and that future is increasingly that of religion belonging to the evil intended and promoting evil. So that while those who wish to still pratice the sport of marksmanship, or collect antique guns, may not be directly involved in gun crime, but only induging in trivial entertainments and sentimental attachments. They nontheless help to promote gun culture in the world, thus indirectly contributing to the harm guns do. And so it is with those who indulge in religion for the same reasons, promoting and normalizing it adds to it power and influence and thus to the power and influence of the evily intended, who...

LET'S STOP THE PLEASANT EUPHEMISMS: They aren't "anti-Vax.

Fernapple comments on Oct 2, 2021:

I don't disagree, but you have to also grant that a lot of them are victims of disinformation, pedaled by exploiters, which they have not been given the education to see through.

Fernapple replies on Oct 2, 2021:

@anglophone A lot of them are just sheep, often following an anti social agenda, created by others, because they have a problem with society and other people in general, not because they have any knowledge or even real interest in vaccines. A tiny handful of people exploit that for power, prestige and profit, and while I think that the theory that all anti-vax propaganda can be traced back to just a handful of individuals, has a little too much of the conspiracy theory, about it. I am sure that many of the instigators in the first place were, as has been claimed, members of the alternate medicine, homeopathy, and snake oil movement, who thought that a new disease causing panic was a wonderful profit making opportunity. While many of the clergy thought that a new panic, was a great opportunity to pose as defenders of their congregations and thus win even more power over them, if the cost was that a few may die, in their minds, "So what." plenty more where those sheep came from.

The worlds largest living organism.

LucyLoohoo comments on Oct 1, 2021:

I wonder what eats it?

Fernapple replies on Oct 2, 2021:

I think that it is mostly a saprophyte living on dead material in the soil, but sometimes it becomes a parasite and kills trees.

Crayfish Craziness, An All Female Species: [nationalgeographic.com]

LucyLoohoo comments on Sep 29, 2021:

Look up PARTHENOGENISIS.....it's a handy way evolution saves more than a few species...Vietnamese Walking Sticks, for example. I used to love showing these at the zoo, telling people ''they're all female.'' Jaws dropped.

Fernapple replies on Oct 1, 2021:

@LucyLoohoo Really, that sounds a very challenging job, I am impressed and facinated.

People can change.

Fernapple comments on Oct 1, 2021:

Agreed, I don't really see how you can take someones nationality away, anyway, especially without a day in court. Surely if she has done something wrong, she should be encouraged to come back and face trial, everyone is entitled to a day in court if there are charges to answer. While if there are ...

Fernapple replies on Oct 1, 2021:

@Shane4Agnostic If that is her idea then she is wrong. government is about fairness not forgiveness.

We know our dogs have extraordinary senses…but can they sense the presence of a ghost?

Fernapple comments on Oct 1, 2021:

Dogs have better senses than us. So they can sense things we can't, (having been around dogs, I have observed that first hand ). But that just means there may be something there I can't sense, it is a god of the gaps argument to just drop "ghosts" into the hole. It is just an unknown.

Fernapple replies on Oct 1, 2021:

@Ryo1 My memory of it is. Have you ever had the freeze and stare fixatedly into the distance, sometimes for quite a long time, effect. Often more than one dog will do it at the same time, quite silent and still. Yet as a human you get nothing ?

This seems to be my life story

Pralina1 comments on Oct 1, 2021:

I wish I was weird ! I am just boring 😂😂😂

Fernapple replies on Oct 1, 2021:

What Glenlab and Sticks said.

The late season colour is still astounding, White Phlox and two different sorts of Helianthemum, ...

FrayedBear comments on Sep 30, 2021:

6' - what are you feeding them? Steroids?

Fernapple replies on Oct 1, 2021:

Just planted in good soil in semi shade.

The village held a fund raising event, one of the scarecrow competitions.

Marionville comments on Sep 30, 2021:

Why does the Vicar of Dibley spring to mind?

Fernapple replies on Sep 30, 2021:

The real one, of whom I think this is a genuine attempt at a portrait, is just like a slim version of the V.O.D.

I haven’t posted in such a long time.

MyLiege comments on Sep 29, 2021:

https://link.medium.com/RAy0WeuDXjb Just in case… because I don’t see the link.

Fernapple replies on Sep 30, 2021:

What Glenlab said.

Ya know, IF there is alien technology at Area 51, "they" did not brief Trump about it because there ...

PondartIncbendog comments on Sep 29, 2021:

Aliens wouldn't talk to him anyway.

Fernapple replies on Sep 30, 2021:

@Gwendolyn2018 They probably only come here to talk to the dolphins anyway. LOL

Crayfish Craziness, An All Female Species: [nationalgeographic.com]

LucyLoohoo comments on Sep 29, 2021:

Look up PARTHENOGENISIS.....it's a handy way evolution saves more than a few species...Vietnamese Walking Sticks, for example. I used to love showing these at the zoo, telling people ''they're all female.'' Jaws dropped.

Fernapple replies on Sep 30, 2021:

@LucyLoohoo Birdman and Charlene are only half way there. Bee queens do mate with multiple drones, but they only do so once, over a period of a day or two at the beginning of their lives. The drone dies, because mating rips off his genitals and part of his abdomen, which the queen carries off to get the full dose of his sperm. They also do parthenogenisis, in that all a queen's female eggs are fertilized with the stored sperm, making workers and new queens, but the queens sons ( drones ) are made from eggs produced partenogenically from unfertilized eggs. Which means that when drones mate with other queens, they are only passing on their mothers genes, so that the queen is effectively acting as a male, and the drones are only sperm delivery systems for their mother. Ain't nature wonderful.

To use the bible as a Christian's worst enemy.

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Sep 28, 2021:

I have not heard any Christian mention that lepers (and "leprosy" covered a variety of diseases and was a catch-all term) were to be sent away from the camp or town. They banded together until the diseases ran their courses or died. No one went to care for them. By this rule, anti-vaxxers who ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 29, 2021:

@Gwendolyn2018 They only claim that the book supports whatever they want, they don't ever bother to read it.

Herd of reindeer? [fb.watch]

barjoe comments on Sep 29, 2021:

Yes I've herd of reindeer.

Fernapple replies on Sep 29, 2021:

@EarnestEccentric Well somebody had a bad night.

Herd of reindeer? [fb.watch]

barjoe comments on Sep 29, 2021:

Yes I've herd of reindeer.

Fernapple replies on Sep 29, 2021:

Very good hearing, they are very quiet animals.

Sad that he was killed, but what on earth was he thinking?

BitFlipper comments on Sep 29, 2021:

If he was killed by the natives how did we get the story?

Fernapple replies on Sep 29, 2021:

As I remember at the time, the fishermen owned up to the coast guard.

To use the bible as a Christian's worst enemy.

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Sep 28, 2021:

I have not heard any Christian mention that lepers (and "leprosy" covered a variety of diseases and was a catch-all term) were to be sent away from the camp or town. They banded together until the diseases ran their courses or died. No one went to care for them. By this rule, anti-vaxxers who ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 29, 2021:

Leviticus 13:45 also prescribes that the infected should wear a covering over their mouths.

say something original and wise.

Fernapple comments on Sep 26, 2021:

If one person says it, its called a lie, if a million people say it, its called culture.

Fernapple replies on Sep 26, 2021:

@hankster Could be.

Can The Volcano In La Palma Produce A Tsunami On The East Coast Of United States? - AS.com

Petter comments on Sep 24, 2021:

I think people are "barking up the wrong tree". The ***real*** danger island is Teneriffe. If that split and fell into the sea it would generate a truly dramatic tidal wave, that would cross the Atlantic ocean to New York. This is not far-fetched. The volcanos that formed Teneriffe are extremely ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 25, 2021:

@barjoe It has happened several times in the past, and the US is in the front line for the worst effects. But then you are sitting on top of Yellow Stone, which is basically just a big bomb with an unstable fuse. Accept it, if you live in the US, you are going to go extinct sooner or later.

Extremely well written!

Organist1 comments on Sep 22, 2021:

What's the difference between this and malapropisms?

Fernapple replies on Sep 22, 2021:

One is Latent, and the other is Angleish.

Militant Atheists?

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2021:

Fortunately, after long contact with the atheist community it seems that such people are rare, and I have had few contacts with them. I always describe myself as a "broad church sceptic", meaning that I am happy with anyone who has rejected the dogma of religion, and happy to support any views ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 22, 2021:

@Organist1 You have to be a little wary though, because there can be said to be consequences that follow from 'normalizing' some things. Even helping to expand and support the most harmless fringe of religion, does help to enlarge the pool in which the extreme fundamentalists swim, and makes their activeties seem a small amount less unreasonable.

Countries That Have Produced The Most Serial Killers - WorldAtlas

Fernapple comments on Sep 22, 2021:

Probably basically true, but you do have to be wary of a possible bias, because some countries may under-report deaths and crimes, or not even have the term serial killer as part of their culture. Especially in countries with large unrecorded populations, who are often the main victims of violent ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 22, 2021:

@LenHazell53 Yes not trying to excuse the USA, I am sure you are still top, by a long way. Just adding a nuance.

I recommend watching this guy's video on TikTok here.

Fernapple comments on Sep 21, 2021:

I think that tiktok has moved on. Which is a shame because I am very interested in the possible harmful effects of coffee, and was convinced a few weeks ago to try giving it up, (I still drink tea. ) and I must say that within a few days I started to feel twenty years younger.

Fernapple replies on Sep 21, 2021:

@St-Sinner Yep that is it.

Poor baby.

MattHardy comments on Sep 19, 2021:

The science is inconclusive. https://www.bmj.com/content/327/7429/1459 https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k5094

Fernapple replies on Sep 20, 2021:

Brilliant. I just wish that it was possible to make all the anti-vax crowd read that. ( Probably too stupid to get the idea of parallels though.)

As a desert resident, I wonder how long before this is available, and the cost.

Beowulfsfriend comments on Sep 18, 2021:

Also, using it and creatively aiming any reflection toward solar panels as well.

Fernapple replies on Sep 19, 2021:

I think that a mirror would still be more effecting for that, since white pigment scatters the light randomly, where a mirror keeps the lines of the solar rays intact and directs them to a given point.

As a desert resident, I wonder how long before this is available, and the cost.

Redneckliberal comments on Sep 18, 2021:

IM WONDERING HOW LONG IT WILL BE BEFORE WE REALIZE THAT LIVING UNDERGROUND MAY BE THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE SOLUTION TO ESCAPING THE HEAT WEVE CREATED

Fernapple replies on Sep 19, 2021:

And liberating space above ground for nature.

Hey suddenly overnight a mysterious thing happened. I became an 8!! How?? LOL

barjoe comments on Sep 17, 2021:

You should get a free t-shirt. Write to Admin. They run small but they are good quality.

Fernapple replies on Sep 17, 2021:

They stopped doing the shirt sorry. But the upside is that if you have one, they could become collectables. LOL

A lot of people are saying that after losing the election, Donald Trump was unhinged or crazy.

Charles1971 comments on Sep 15, 2021:

There is inadequate profanity in the English language to convey my loathing and utter contempt of Trump.

Fernapple replies on Sep 16, 2021:

@wordywalt If he is the only one, then you are either saintly or you need to get out more. LOL

Think that just about sums it up.

LucyLoohoo comments on Sep 10, 2021:

Pay attention to how they treat food servers, parking attendants, custodians, etc. That shows their true character!

Fernapple replies on Sep 11, 2021:

What I was going to say. Confirm that.

Outside my bedroom window I have put up a bird feeder.

Fernapple comments on Aug 26, 2021:

Photo would be nice ?

Fernapple replies on Sep 10, 2021:

@Mooolah Well thumbs are not everything, a cold wet nose, soft fur between the pads, and a good tail wag, make for a much better friend, to my mind anyway.

Anti abortion is anti equality.

Fernapple comments on Sep 9, 2021:

Yes obviously, no disagreement for this man. But then I don't live in Texas or suffer from Texan culture.

Fernapple replies on Sep 9, 2021:

@Deb57 I just wonder if the US can turn itself round before its too late, or if it is now in a hopeless feedback loop, that will push it over the brink. Beware the rest of the world if it does go, it still has massive economic power and arms, a large dying animal in its death throws can do massive harm.

Want to be happier, lower your expectations apparently.

Fernapple comments on Sep 9, 2021:

Or plant a garden, its the only thing which always exceeds expectations.

Fernapple replies on Sep 9, 2021:

@Lorajay Have you never put in a little plant, that you did not think would live, and then two years later found a lovely bush full of bright bloom ?

Being "unique" may not be a good thing.

Druvius comments on Sep 8, 2021:

Yerp.

Fernapple replies on Sep 9, 2021:

That looks very useful, should work fine. And no rust problems.

The garden visiting season is coming to an end now, but after several weeks of cold grey weather it ...

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Sep 7, 2021:

Gorgeous! I love that about British culture. We have garden tours in the U.S., but it is not nearly the widespread intitution it appears to be on your side of the pond. So am I green with envy or just envious of your green? 🤔 💚

Fernapple replies on Sep 8, 2021:

Mainly with private gardens, it is down to a couple of charities organizing it all. Especially the National Gardens Scheme, which raises money mainly for cancer treatment, nursing and research causes.

The garden visiting season is coming to an end now, but after several weeks of cold grey weather it ...

KateOahu comments on Sep 7, 2021:

Lovely. Lucky you, to have the opportunity! The only formal gardens I have ever visited were at the San Anton Palace in Valleta, Malta, which are extensive and beautiful. I hope to visit proper English gardens whenever it is safe to travel again.

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2021:

@MsKathleen that sounds good anyway.

The garden visiting season is coming to an end now, but after several weeks of cold grey weather it ...

KateOahu comments on Sep 7, 2021:

Lovely. Lucky you, to have the opportunity! The only formal gardens I have ever visited were at the San Anton Palace in Valleta, Malta, which are extensive and beautiful. I hope to visit proper English gardens whenever it is safe to travel again.

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2021:

@MsKathleen Take a breath, then another. Life can be hard to maintain sometimes, but at least the effort is small.

The garden visiting season is coming to an end now, but after several weeks of cold grey weather it ...

KateOahu comments on Sep 7, 2021:

Lovely. Lucky you, to have the opportunity! The only formal gardens I have ever visited were at the San Anton Palace in Valleta, Malta, which are extensive and beautiful. I hope to visit proper English gardens whenever it is safe to travel again.

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2021:

I am sure you will.

13. Not enough! 😆

Fernapple comments on Sep 6, 2021:

I try to avoid cities, but I have done four.

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2021:

@Ryo1 Yes but not to any cities.

Certainly troubling, hope they are able to find some.

Fernapple comments on Sep 4, 2021:

The link could be improved perhaps.

Fernapple replies on Sep 4, 2021:

@silverotter11 Read thank you see above.

Certainly troubling, hope they are able to find some.

Fernapple comments on Sep 4, 2021:

The link could be improved perhaps.

Fernapple replies on Sep 4, 2021:

@silverotter11 It does not work with a click, members will have to cut paste and search. Its a good article, but, the https:// bit is missing from the link.

What does the bible say about "rights"?

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Sep 3, 2021:

In reality, humans have no rights. All of the "rights" guaranteed by the US Constitution--or any code--are entirely human constructions. In nature, there are no rights. The predator does not consider the rights of the prey; moles don't give a damn if they ruin my lawn. However, given my ...

Fernapple replies on Sep 3, 2021:

I wholly agree with you, but for a small point of history. Voting did exist at the time of Jesus, the Greek city states had been governing themselves main by voting, (excluding women of course, with one or two exceptions) for some three to four hundred years, at least, by the time of Jesus, some of those were only two or three hundred miles away, and had been the super powers of the last five centuries. Therefore any educated person in the Holy Land would have been well familiar with the idea, and also probably with the fact that the Romans still kept their more rudimentary ( a bit like ours today) system going, as a token gesture to their once democratic past.

Anti-vaxxers storm the wrong BBC building in botched U.K. protest [globalnews.ca]

Fernapple comments on Sep 3, 2021:

So anti-vax protesters can't do effective research. Now that is an amazing new development !

Fernapple replies on Sep 3, 2021:

@anglophone Oh yes. Though I think that it is not ignorance as such, more anti -education. Fake education builds upon itself, and is designed to do so, perhaps even more than the real thing, since it needs support and reinforcement without the appeal to evidence and logic. Therefore if you are pedalling nonsense you have an even greater need to back it up with more nonsense in support. What is also interesting though, I often wonder, is is there also a third largely unrecognised area called pseudo-education. Which while it is not false education, it is employed by charlatans to waste time and convince people that they are getting a lot of education, without allowing time for real worthwhile studies like science, maths and history. For example you can go to an ecclesiastical college and spend vast amounts of time in the study of calligraphy, Christian literature or the spelling and history of obscure words, all of which are basically, for all but a few specialists, obsolete skills, and you are then told you have been given a good education. The religions love spelling bees, and craft work classes, etc. and sorry, they are both good and useful, but are they being depolyed as distractions ? Education should not perhaps just be measured by true and false, but also by worth.

The Myth of Religious Violence .

Fernapple comments on Sep 1, 2021:

No war was ever started for a single simple reason. You can therefore put any spin on the origins of collective violence you like, from economics, religion, violent instinct, personal ambition, race, the nature of politics, class conflict or the need to redirect it, and many more including, the...

Fernapple replies on Sep 3, 2021:

@bbyrd009 Sadly that should perhaps read, my sons so called leaders.

From time to time, I’ll see headlines that read something like "When you die you realize what’s ...

Fernapple comments on Sep 2, 2021:

Youth is wasted on the young, who have not the wisdom to use well it or know its power and value, and lost to the old who do.

Fernapple replies on Sep 2, 2021:

@Marionville My paraphrase of.

Have you put your happiness beyond your cognitive horizon?

Fernapple comments on Sep 2, 2021:

Sorry the link seems not to work.

Fernapple replies on Sep 2, 2021:

@barjoe Yep that one worked, thank you. Funny.

Vaccine passports.

hankster comments on Sep 1, 2021:

im just waiting for the day when all the annoying antivaxxers have died off, or wised up, and we don't have to hear them anymore. may take a while but its coming.

Fernapple replies on Sep 2, 2021:

@Charles1971 In the UK we have two simple stats. Nearly 90% are vaccinated, yet just the reverse 90% of those in intensive care are unvaccinated. Yes in 10% of those cases vax failed, because there are no absolutes, but odds of nine times nine to one, are very very good. Not science, not oppinion, just simple maths.

Enjoy.

Fernapple comments on Sep 1, 2021:

I am old enough to remember the days before double glazing. When you would wake u in the morning to find that your breath in the night had made "frost ferns" on the inside of your window. Something like "dark skies" that todays children hardly ever get to see.

Fernapple replies on Sep 1, 2021:

@FrayedBear Yes I do remember all those things. And hot water bottles, a warm drink before bed, teachers telling you to stop writing and jump up and down in class to keep your circulation going, and asking for jobs in the farmers barn, so that you could go where the animals and their dung gave off heat.

A few minutes ago, here at work, a gorgeous blondie arrived, wearing a company hi-viz vest, asking ...

Fernapple comments on Aug 30, 2021:

Why, in the UK the churches have been almost completely behind the vax program. Why should it have anything to do with religion anyway, except that, as major social institutions you would expect the churches to be behind any major social project, for the peoples benefit, including their members. You...

Fernapple replies on Aug 30, 2021:

@Gwendolyn2018 I have known you, and some others on this site, long enough, to be well aware of that. And I do love me some good weird. LOL

The ever-generous USA has been spreading its largesse to the Taliban, it appears.

David1955 comments on Aug 29, 2021:

I'm still laughing at the $150 million the Afgan president fled with when he left, apparently suitcases stuffed with it. Only it's not funny really. The war in Afghanistan is like a microcosm of everything that's wrong with the US and this world run by elites.

Fernapple replies on Aug 29, 2021:

@David1955 Or ruling establishments, would do.

The ever-generous USA has been spreading its largesse to the Taliban, it appears.

David1955 comments on Aug 29, 2021:

I'm still laughing at the $150 million the Afgan president fled with when he left, apparently suitcases stuffed with it. Only it's not funny really. The war in Afghanistan is like a microcosm of everything that's wrong with the US and this world run by elites.

Fernapple replies on Aug 29, 2021:

Agree with that. But I do wish it was not the custom to use the word "elites" like that though. Elites has a sub-meaning of better and superior. What could be better and superior about being corrupt, greedy stupid, incompetent, entrenched and nepotitic. I think that the word , establishments, is much better.

How many "maybe's, perhaps's and unknowns" are contained in this article?

Fernapple comments on Aug 29, 2021:

I have no difficulty stating that with a straight face. Its called probabilities. It is a branch of math. Really Powder, I fully respect anyones right to refuse any medical treatment, and don't think anyone should be forced to take anything if they don't want. But supporting your choice ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 29, 2021:

@powder Everything is to do with maths, maths is the way humans model the world, including poker if they are wise.

“The cure for boredom is curiosity.

Castlepaloma comments on Aug 29, 2021:

Curiosity leads to good imagination. Everything one has ever achieved in life, was all once imaginated

Fernapple replies on Aug 29, 2021:

That's even better than the posted quote.

Captain Godbotherer Kent Hovid is in the crap again Biblically sanctioned wife beating does not ...

Fernapple comments on Aug 29, 2021:

Yes but the faithful will say. "He is a Christian. Therefore we must forgive him, and remember a sinner returned to the fold, is our most precious gift. Unlike the evil unbelievers, who think that you should be judged by what you really do, not by your praising of the lord."

Fernapple replies on Aug 29, 2021:

@anglophone Actually no, most mainstream Muslims think that all sinners must spend some time in purgatory to pay for their sins, before they can assend to heaven. That Christians claim to have a stupidly easy, "get out of jail free card," is one of the things they think is most stupid about Christianity.

From “The Sacred Depths of Nature” by Ursula Goodenough page 47 “William James: “At ...

KateOahu comments on Aug 27, 2021:

Is this not the main tenet of Buddhism? "Acceptance".

Fernapple replies on Aug 28, 2021:

Religous Naturalism, simply and in some ways, is just taking the Buddhist idea of acceptance, and adding that it is legitimate to find joy and wonder in the marvells of nature, and that doing so helps with acceptance.

Outside my bedroom window I have put up a bird feeder.

Fernapple comments on Aug 26, 2021:

Photo would be nice ?

Fernapple replies on Aug 27, 2021:

@Mooolah True. And by definition, if you are on this site, you do not have any, right ?

Outside my bedroom window I have put up a bird feeder.

Fernapple comments on Aug 26, 2021:

Photo would be nice ?

Fernapple replies on Aug 26, 2021:

@Mooolah True. But I did only say, " would be nice" not, obligitory. And you can get a friend to take them.

According to Urban Dictionary: Religionist An arrogant, prideful, egoistic, religious person ...

Fernapple comments on Aug 24, 2021:

Like you, I come from the UK, and they tend not to be visible on the streets here, ( like they are in some counties I hear, ) it is true. But I came through the English education system, which was very C. of E. in those days, still may be so, and I met a couple of truly evil ones there. I have ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 25, 2021:

@Ryo1 I think that the link to the left in the UK may depend on where you are. My impression is that there may be a left leaning in the church in some urban areas, but in the rural areas, where I live, there is a lot of right wing thinking within the church. Most of those I have encountered are on the right, and certainly our own former rector, was as right wing as they come, especially with regard to womens rights, being one of those who threatened to leave for the Church of Rome if they ordained women. ( A threat which he did not have the courage to carry out, when it came to it.) And that would fit with his attitudes generally. (The police have been called over issues of wife beating.) He and at least one other local rector have also been involved in scandals involving the planning laws, and their borderline legal support for large capitalist corporations, at the expense of local communities, as well as a completely illegal land rental scam, which did go to court.

OK people, this really illustrates my problem re definitions.

Rignor comments on Aug 24, 2021:

From Nerruan-Webster: Definition of vaccine 1 : a preparation that is administered (as by injection) to stimulate the body's immune response against a specific infectious agent or disease... https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vaccine There is no guarantee that a vaccine will provide ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 25, 2021:

@Rignor To use a military metaphor. (Because I do not have patience to go into detail with 'powder' any longer.) Strengthening your immune system with things like vitamin C, is like giving your troups more amunition. A vaccine, is like enemy recognition lessons, where you show them photographs and silhouettes of the enemies planes and tanks etc..

”Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the...

Marionville comments on Aug 24, 2021:

It certainly appears to be so at times…the rule though..I’m not so sure.

Fernapple replies on Aug 25, 2021:

@JackPedigo One of the simple reasons of course is that the individual can put their concience and personal moral judgement on hold when they are part of a group. Also groups also have to appeal to a wide range of oppinion and the lowest common denominators of thinking, which means that "group think" has to be primitive and simplistic to a degree.

You know.

Fernapple comments on Aug 23, 2021:

I agree with you totally about the vax argument, but I think you miss the point if you think that this site is especially to blame. The site just reflects the attitudes of the larger society as a whole, and indeed I would say that if anything, the debate on this site is more civil than the wider ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 24, 2021:

@Scott321 Agreed. There is little point to attempting dialog with those who have fingers in their ears. But it is also important not to ailienate moderates who could possibly listen.

"Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first ...

Fernapple comments on Aug 23, 2021:

Something else that she was sadly wrong about, there are numerous examples of wild animals with healed leg fractures. And also examples of social animals especially dogs, elephants, monkeys and apes, where injured animals survived because other group members cared for and fed them. That comes ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 23, 2021:

@kmaz Yes but it does make it a poor marker of civilization, if we can not make it a purely human atribute, or use it to fix a date. And as my point about the Greeks made civilization had an exact meaning. As to the scientific research in animals, it is so widspread and well documented in so many cases , that it will only require the shortest of searches if you are interested, and you will find lots of case quite easily.

You know.

Fernapple comments on Aug 23, 2021:

I agree with you totally about the vax argument, but I think you miss the point if you think that this site is especially to blame. The site just reflects the attitudes of the larger society as a whole, and indeed I would say that if anything, the debate on this site is more civil than the wider ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 23, 2021:

@SpikeTalon Humour is nearly always cruel, in some ways the anti-vaxer joke has simply taken the place of the race joke. Because it is still, just, PC to mock members of some political groups.

WTF are purple carrots and where did they come from?

Fernapple comments on Aug 23, 2021:

I am told that wild carrots are poisonous, and that some brave person long ago, must have found a rare genetic mutation, which was not, and had the foresight and courage to eat and grow it.

Fernapple replies on Aug 23, 2021:

@barjoe, @Druvius Could be I am getting mixed up, see Barjoe above.

WTF are purple carrots and where did they come from?

Fernapple comments on Aug 23, 2021:

I am told that wild carrots are poisonous, and that some brave person long ago, must have found a rare genetic mutation, which was not, and had the foresight and courage to eat and grow it.

Fernapple replies on Aug 23, 2021:

@barjoe Could be that I am getting mixed up with those.

I just love these feisty little characters, and are they bright! Shows that all intellect does not ...

Redneckliberal comments on Aug 22, 2021:

ITS A GOOD THING THESE LITTLE GUYS DONT GET ANY BIGGER THAN THEY DO!!

Fernapple replies on Aug 23, 2021:

@Redneckliberal I am told that they have very thick flexible skin which acts like rubber armour, and a powerful bite, as well as long claws.

I just love these feisty little characters, and are they bright! Shows that all intellect does not ...

Redneckliberal comments on Aug 22, 2021:

ITS A GOOD THING THESE LITTLE GUYS DONT GET ANY BIGGER THAN THEY DO!!

Fernapple replies on Aug 22, 2021:

Even at that size they say that lions are afraid of them. Because they are so fierce.

I just love these feisty little characters, and are they bright! Shows that all intellect does not ...

Word comments on Aug 22, 2021:

They give them the easy stuff. They should try an old fashion school locker combination lock.

Fernapple replies on Aug 22, 2021:

@Marionville Yes that was it.

Some folks out there keep searching that elusive fountain of youth.

SpikeTalon comments on Aug 22, 2021:

Interesting, now the word (for) is getting removed from my posts for some curious reason...

Fernapple replies on Aug 22, 2021:

@yvilletom I thought it was after "searching". But perhaps, by fountain, is more meaningful.

Some folks out there keep searching that elusive fountain of youth.

SpikeTalon comments on Aug 22, 2021:

Interesting, now the word (for) is getting removed from my posts for some curious reason...

Fernapple replies on Aug 22, 2021:

Good critical thinking.

I just love these feisty little characters, and are they bright! Shows that all intellect does not ...

Word comments on Aug 22, 2021:

They give them the easy stuff. They should try an old fashion school locker combination lock.

Fernapple replies on Aug 22, 2021:

When I went to school we did not have lockers, and even the locks on the desks were disabled so that the teachers could inspect the contents, and make sure you did not have anything you should not have.

It has been at least - a matter of weeks - since I last had the - privilege of posting - to my ...

xenoview comments on Aug 22, 2021:

Evidence that a spiritual being exist.

Fernapple replies on Aug 22, 2021:

It - keeps - inserting - little - lines - in - your - text.

So here's a part of the big bang idea that just never worked for me.

Fernapple comments on Aug 21, 2021:

No it is a lot more weird than that. A lot of cosmologists think that there is no center, and every observer creates their own center. That if you go in a straight line for long enough you will in the end returning to where you started, because space is curved. (Therefore what we think is straight ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 21, 2021:

@yvilletom Cosmology and the so called higher levels of Physics, it seems to me stopped having the sort of rigour that should go with true sciences, and became a speculative game, with overtones of religion. I prefer hard engineering level physics and biology.

When Medusa met Midas...

Pralina1 comments on Aug 20, 2021:

I have questions She lives alone ? Who is wearing that baseball cup ? I have tried to hide my hair in one of those when walking dogs night time alone , does not work 😂

Fernapple replies on Aug 21, 2021:

I think it is her basball cap, because it is full of holes, so that the snakes can pop though. LOL

"Never collect inanimate objects.

LiterateHiker comments on Aug 18, 2021:

I love my book collection.

Fernapple replies on Aug 19, 2021:

@Ello The book communicates the knowledge, but in an animate way, since the reader can pick and mix, go slow or fast., backwards and forwards, jump or miss nothing out, no other media is so interactive. It may not be, quite, fully animate, but it is the most animate of all inanimate things.

“They have plundered the world, stripping naked the land in their hunger…they are driven by ...

Fernapple comments on Aug 19, 2021:

I always though that Tacitus, at least in this sense, was a historian, and that he was supposedly quoting Carraticus, the British king, about the Romans ?

Fernapple replies on Aug 19, 2021:

@Marionville Well my spelling of the kings name is certain not correct. And I can tell you that without even looking it up.

A little dating advice....

Gemini-1947 comments on Aug 19, 2021:

I always thought that storks brought sporks.

Fernapple replies on Aug 19, 2021:

No that is Spoonbills.

"Never collect inanimate objects.

LiterateHiker comments on Aug 18, 2021:

I love my book collection.

Fernapple replies on Aug 19, 2021:

Books are not inanimate, they become animate as soon as you start to read.

Perspective

Fernapple comments on Aug 18, 2021:

To quote waitingforgodo below. "To achieve the stated aim is success." But I think that it is true that there are some aims which are better than others. Therefore having better aims may be regarded itself as a form of success, which raises some successes above others. At one end of the scale....

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

@holdenc98 Yes there is some truth in that, but as a stop gap until we manage to find humane ways to control our numbers, such as universal birth control, a lot of misery for one species at least will be eased. And do not forget that poor starving people often cause a lot of damage because of that. Even if rich westerners cause more. PS. It is only a parable to make another point, you could put genocide in at number one if you like, or anything you think is the greatest good.

Renewable energy will never be 100% green, says expert [euronews.com]

Willow_Wisp comments on Aug 17, 2021:

Well, CO2 is everywhere. Open a soda, more CO2 for the atmosphere. Light a match CO2. Mix concrete, CO2.

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

Concrete is the big one, cement production is probably one of the most CO2 intensive industries there is.

Perspective

waitingforgodo comments on Aug 18, 2021:

To achieve the stated aim is success. If the aim is to acquire material things and it's achieved then that is success. Is there a problem with accomplishment resulting in a modestly comfortable lifestyle? Should success necessarily be conflated with a debacle of dissolute debauchery? In ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

I will quote you if I may.

Perspective

waitingforgodo comments on Aug 18, 2021:

To achieve the stated aim is success. If the aim is to acquire material things and it's achieved then that is success. Is there a problem with accomplishment resulting in a modestly comfortable lifestyle? Should success necessarily be conflated with a debacle of dissolute debauchery? In ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

Your first line is all that need be said on the subject. Well stated.

US lab stands on threshold of key nuclear fusion goal [bbc.com]

Willow_Wisp comments on Aug 17, 2021:

I found this technology very promising about 20 years ago. The glass bead now seems to be a good bit larger than it originally was. Still after the initial explosion loading the next bead into place for the next explosion is troublesome. It's good competition for tokamaks which are more of a ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

Real informed oppinion thank you.

If Agnosticism is one of a group of things that we hope will eventually rid us of religion, then ...

creative51 comments on Aug 16, 2021:

This is not your first post on "how to get rid of religion". Instead of trying to get rid of religion, why not try spreading the legitimization of alternative free thinking ideas of atheism and agnosticism. Atheism and agnosticism are not even accepted as legitimate trains of thought in much of the ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

Quite. If we want to have Atheism and Agnosticism accepted and treated with respect, then the one thing we should not do is be hostile to religion. Be hostile to some of the more extreme parts of religion, where it causes the most harm yes, but to religion as a whole no.

If Agnosticism is one of a group of things that we hope will eventually rid us of religion, then ...

Fernapple comments on Aug 16, 2021:

I don't think we need to preach or have a methodology, we should leave that to the religious. If more and more people are seen to lead good, happy, secular lives, supportive of their communities, then there will be no reason for anyone to want religion. In other words, set a good example and let the...

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

@Mcflewster Yes but you could preach methodology, which may not be as bad as preaching conclusions, but is still preaching. But then there is no hard line, between explaining or teaching, when they are openly wanted and requested, and preaching when it is being impossed and perhaps not wanted, quite the opposite most expressions of thought probably fall into a huge grey area between. Yes I have changed my icon. I am about to retire from work so no longer need to be discreet, so this is the real adult me. And I am saying hello to everyone with my real name of Richard, so hello.