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:

@bbyrd009 Quite. Though you could say, that knowing, I don't know, is a kind of assumed knowledge, so that there is no real way of escaping from some assumption of knowledge, other than perhaps saying. "I don't know if I don't know or not." Or in other words. "I am not sure if I am agnostic." Which seems a bit extreme, best stick to just, lets not preach, perhaps.

This is a photo my father took 78 years ago of my first two pets.

Willow_Wisp comments on Aug 17, 2021:

They need to make cats and dogs live longer.

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

@OldGoat43 Yes, dogs bodies were adapted by nature to be wolf sized, both very big and very small breeds often have health problems, because the organs and the whole system were not designed for those sizes. I think that there should be restrictions placed on breeders by law, placing size limits on dogs that can be bred from. Causing misery and life long discomfort and pain, just for the novelty of having the biggest or the smallest, seems the ultimate in sick human arrogannce. After all, if I took a metal pipe and beat a dog so badly that it could not walk or breath properly for the rest of its life, I would be charged with cruelty. So if it is not legal to do it with a metal pipe, why is it OK to do it by sellective breeding ?

Today I will post a new icon which shows me as I really am now, not at ten years old.

Marionville comments on Aug 17, 2021:

Good morning to the all grown up Richard…and may I say it’s a very good picture! Congratulations on crossing the threshold of level 9, and now that you’ll have more time on your hands, retirement tends to allow you that commodity, you may find your ascent to level 10 progresses at a much ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 17, 2021:

Small band but very sellect. And I do think that the Americans apprieciate the little ways in which we try to introduce a little culture.

Today I will post a new icon which shows me as I really am now, not at ten years old.

Petter comments on Aug 17, 2021:

Keep it up. (Read that as you may!)

Fernapple replies on Aug 17, 2021:

I try to in both senses. Read that as you may.

Today I will post a new icon which shows me as I really am now, not at ten years old.

AnonySchmoose comments on Aug 17, 2021:

A hearty greeting to you Richard. Congratulations on retirement from work. Will recommend not retiring from play.... 😂 😂 😂 Guess that profile photo was taken at The Alhambra.

Fernapple replies on Aug 17, 2021:

My grandmother always warned me. "Never try to pull the wool over a womans eyes, we have really good memories." LOL

Today I will post a new icon which shows me as I really am now, not at ten years old.

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Aug 17, 2021:

Wait!!! There's a level 9?!?!?!? I have been at 8 so long I thought it was like the level screens on the Ms Pacman game, if that was all she wrote, lol

Fernapple replies on Aug 17, 2021:

Yes I think there is a ten too, but that can only be reached by people with, faster than light ships, which can travel backwards in time.

Today I will post a new icon which shows me as I really am now, not at ten years old.

hankster comments on Aug 17, 2021:

happy 9 slogging. on to the second infinity. welcome.

Fernapple replies on Aug 17, 2021:

I am told that if you shoot for the infinite, eventually the bullet will come round and hit you in the butt. But you may not have to worry for a hundred billion years or so, so old guys can aim as high as they like, wont be around for the consequences.

Today I will post a new icon which shows me as I really am now, not at ten years old.

FrayedBear comments on Aug 17, 2021:

An excellent name sadly marred by King Richard II & the US Nixon fellow. Stay safe.

Fernapple replies on Aug 17, 2021:

Yep, a lot of people say that I am a propper Dick.

Today I will post a new icon which shows me as I really am now, not at ten years old.

Lauren comments on Aug 17, 2021:

Wow, this is exciting! Congratulations on your retirement, and it's a pleasure to meet you again.

Fernapple replies on Aug 17, 2021:

Always a pleasure even to pass by some ladies even for a second or too.

Today I will post a new icon which shows me as I really am now, not at ten years old.

Babyoda comments on Aug 17, 2021:

Congratulations, you are far from annoying, you are what I call on this site one of the good ones. I always enjoy your comments.

Fernapple replies on Aug 17, 2021:

Thank you. I try not to annoy, with a few exceptions, but of course on one ever manages that completely.

Today I will post a new icon which shows me as I really am now, not at ten years old.

Julie808 comments on Aug 17, 2021:

Aloha Richard! Nice to finally see you! Congratulations on your upcoming retirement and therefore no more reason to be discrete about your agnosticism. You're doubly free! Also thank you for not annoying me, as I've always found your comments to be thoughtful, supportive and often humorous!...

Fernapple replies on Aug 17, 2021:

Thank you. You will get there, charm always wins out in the end.

Today I will post a new icon which shows me as I really am now, not at ten years old.

Sticks48 comments on Aug 17, 2021:

Congratulations Richard! Nice picture. It's a keeper

Fernapple replies on Aug 17, 2021:

Thank you, though I am no looker.

Today I will post a new icon which shows me as I really am now, not at ten years old.

Pralina1 comments on Aug 17, 2021:

Congrats ♥️♥️♥️

Fernapple replies on Aug 17, 2021:

Thank you.

Today I will post a new icon which shows me as I really am now, not at ten years old.

SpikeTalon comments on Aug 17, 2021:

Smashing Richard, bravo and well wishes to you in retirement! That certainly is something to be happy about. As for your personality, always considered you to be someone who tried to be fair with everyone, and far from being a prat of the sorts. Hope you decide to stick around.

Fernapple replies on Aug 17, 2021:

Will certainly stick arround, though I may do a little less, when once retired I will, I hope, be spending less time tied to the computer.

Sometimes the adverts catch my eye! One for US Veterans but an idea that can work elsewhere & for ...

Fernapple comments on Aug 17, 2021:

Yes smart idea, the charities could raise their profiles by lending there names to people advertising products. And the companies could do something for charity and get credit for showing their social values, at little cost to anyone.

Fernapple replies on Aug 17, 2021:

@FrayedBear That is because now that I have everything in place for world dominion, I no longer need to hide. LOL

I was thinking about beginning a new religion that skips the middle man, god, and the minions, and ...

redbai comments on Aug 16, 2021:

What is the "universe mother" and how is that any different than a god?

Fernapple replies on Aug 16, 2021:

@hankster Make sure they know that the "stuff" needs to be at least tens and twenties.

Evolution by natural selection has no foresight, it merely adjusts any creature to be better at ...

FearlessFly comments on Aug 13, 2021:

"We are not adapted by evolution to live in the cultural environment." . . . neuroendocrinology does not agree -- a very good read : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31170723-behave

Fernapple replies on Aug 16, 2021:

@AnneWimsey Well done.

Evolution by natural selection has no foresight, it merely adjusts any creature to be better at ...

FearlessFly comments on Aug 13, 2021:

"We are not adapted by evolution to live in the cultural environment." . . . neuroendocrinology does not agree -- a very good read : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31170723-behave

Fernapple replies on Aug 16, 2021:

@AnneWimsey Yes I know culture can be changed, and that is good, but you miss my point that much of the need for change comes from the fact that it often goes in directions to which we are ill adapted by nature. Perhaps it is best to give a practical example. Culture has enabled us to farm, and thereby to produce and market vast amounts of cheap carbs. especially sugar. But our biological adaptions were made on the plains of Africa where needed calories were hard to find, and sugar was rare to the point of unknown. You could only get it probably, if you raided, at great risk, a rare bee's nest. Thus nature has given us a very strong taste for sweet foods, high in calories, because they were hard to get where we evolved, so that today, with vast amounts of sugar freely available and promoted to us by a well funded advertising industry, we gorge ourselves on it. That destroys our teeth, and gives us all the ills of obesity and diabetes, millions die early miserable deaths because of it. In time we may possibly evolve to loose our taste for sweet foods, but that will take, at least, thousands of years, because biological evolution is much slower than cultural changes. Likewise on the plains of Africa it payed to be credulous, because if the adults told you not to go near the lake at night, because the hyenas would get you, it payed you to listen and believe, or you could end up dead. But that same credulity in today much safer age, often gets young people killed, when the old people tell them that you have to carry a bomb, or avoid te vaccine, because if you don't, the daemons in hell will get you. It maybe that in time we will evolve, to become more naturally sceptical and cynical, but that again will take thousands of years.

Evolution by natural selection has no foresight, it merely adjusts any creature to be better at ...

FearlessFly comments on Aug 13, 2021:

"We are not adapted by evolution to live in the cultural environment." . . . neuroendocrinology does not agree -- a very good read : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31170723-behave

Fernapple replies on Aug 15, 2021:

@AnneWimsey No you have missed the point, I am not saying that culture does not exist or work for many animals, only that its ill effects can not be countered by biological evolution as fast as it advances.

Why Is Pantheism Wrong?

Heavykevy1985 comments on Aug 15, 2021:

So essentially, god is whatever people want him to be? Fine by me.

Fernapple replies on Aug 15, 2021:

Unfortunately what a lot of people want him to be, is very nasty.

Stupid and religion is a plague. How to tell from the stupid from the smart?

MrDragon comments on Aug 13, 2021:

They are trumptards, and they are selfish, and braindead, and they don't care about anyone and are only focused on their own bellybutton.

Fernapple replies on Aug 14, 2021:

No they can't focus on their belly button, most of them can't see their belly button, or toes for that matter.

Apparently, two thirds of Americans don't have passports (while one fifth of Brits don't have ...

Fernapple comments on Aug 13, 2021:

Some would say perhaps that it is just a matter of size, Britain is quite small in square miles compared with the US, to make similar journeys for a Britain you have to travel at least across Europe. But on the other hand Europe is huge compared with the US in terms of cultural differences, so that ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 14, 2021:

@Charles1971 It is not really about whether a country is better or worse. I would not like live full time in many of the countries I visited. Some of the Islamic states I have visited may well be absolute misery to live in long term, yet they were also some of the most rewarding places to visit I have been to. If only because of the way people respond to life, often with the greatest warmth and humanity, in countries where life is difficult, and they can often show you where your own country fails in some things even though they may not overall be as good. I remember in one Islamic country we got lost, and were forced to stop at a tiny, family run, back street supermarket for toilets and food. It did not have any foriegn visitors normally, but an aunt who had been to Britain and spoke English was sent for, so that she could explain the menu in the cafeteria to us. And while we ate the young ladies at the till packed my shopping into bags. In the same country, a hotel porter who saw that I had bought some local food to take home with me , and insisted on explaining the cooking method at length, though he need not have done, and a cafe owner who seeing that we had a long wait for a bus, invited us to sit at one of his tables, and even gave us free teas for which he refused all payment. No doubt, the tea was cheap, it was a slack part of the day, and it was good for business to make it look like his tables were in demand. But none the less would that happen in England ? No. And you learn things that you could never learn without the experience. For example, though I am wholly anti-religion, I have learned just what a lift to the heart the morning call to prayer can be, in a quite little village where the loudest other thing is the cock crow, and the emotive power of that.

Apparently, two thirds of Americans don't have passports (while one fifth of Brits don't have ...

Fernapple comments on Aug 13, 2021:

Some would say perhaps that it is just a matter of size, Britain is quite small in square miles compared with the US, to make similar journeys for a Britain you have to travel at least across Europe. But on the other hand Europe is huge compared with the US in terms of cultural differences, so that ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@Ryo1 Yes, I could not agree with that more. See also if you like my reply to Charles1971 above.

Apparently, two thirds of Americans don't have passports (while one fifth of Brits don't have ...

Charles1971 comments on Aug 13, 2021:

I don't have a passport and never have had one. This is because I've never traveled outside the U.S. due to lack of disposable income to do so. Also, the U.S. is a big country. I'm within a few hours drive to the coast, mountains, swamp and wetlands, forests, semi-tropical islands, a multitude of...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

Yes that is what I used to say. But I was fortunate to find a modicum of spare income, in middle life, and to travel. It was such a good experience, that I would now be happy to spend my last cent on travel and then lay down and die, in the knowledge that I had done as much as I could, to see as much as I could, of this wonderful planet, which is all the justification for happiness in life that is needed I think.

Why Aren't We All Conspiracy Theorists?

TheMiddleWay comments on Aug 12, 2021:

This is basically the meme theory which has already been thoroughly discredited. I think the solution is a lot simpler and it has to do with the way our brain works to make patterns. Conspiracy theorists are nothing more than pareidolia, seeing patterns where there are none. In trying to answer ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay Fair enough but on its own dimension, means whether objectivism comes between relativism and absolutism, or stands to one side. It still means that relativism and absolutism are not the only possitions you can take.

Why Aren't We All Conspiracy Theorists?

TheMiddleWay comments on Aug 12, 2021:

This is basically the meme theory which has already been thoroughly discredited. I think the solution is a lot simpler and it has to do with the way our brain works to make patterns. Conspiracy theorists are nothing more than pareidolia, seeing patterns where there are none. In trying to answer ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay Please also see why objectivism is the middle ground, and relativism and asolutism are but fringe philosophies. Put much better than by me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba3BZwqVl2Q

Why Aren't We All Conspiracy Theorists?

TheMiddleWay comments on Aug 12, 2021:

This is basically the meme theory which has already been thoroughly discredited. I think the solution is a lot simpler and it has to do with the way our brain works to make patterns. Conspiracy theorists are nothing more than pareidolia, seeing patterns where there are none. In trying to answer ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay Yes but it is definitions of words and not philosophical discussions which we are talking about.

Why Aren't We All Conspiracy Theorists?

TheMiddleWay comments on Aug 12, 2021:

This is basically the meme theory which has already been thoroughly discredited. I think the solution is a lot simpler and it has to do with the way our brain works to make patterns. Conspiracy theorists are nothing more than pareidolia, seeing patterns where there are none. In trying to answer ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay "Relativism. The doctrine that all knowledge is relative." Longmans Modern English Dictionary. Which by definition, even if all available knowledge is relative, excludes the possiblity that there could be, non relative knowledge, even if it is unobtainable. P.S. the middle ground is called Objectivism.

"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my ...

Marionville comments on Aug 13, 2021:

It happens from time to time in politics…at least here in the U.K. there have been some notable political figures who have “crossed the floor of the house” and switched parties and political views. It also does happen occasionally in religion too…it must do, or the majority of members on ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@Marionville Mine was much the same, but perhaps a little more religious. We were afflicted with a deeply theist head master, and in those days in the state sector they could still get away, ( probably still can ) with running a state school as if it were a church school. The real shock came when I encountered teachers and so called educators , belittling the sciences, which by then I had already come to love. We had sadly a more than usual perhaps level of bullying in the school. One of the boys was a hunch back and so of course he got even more bullying than most. One day it was so bad, and he was so shaken, that several of us had to physically hold him up in order to get him into the morning assembly. The irony of which, was that our headmaster was so delusional that the very mornings address he delivered was. "How lucky we were that we did not go to a school where there was a culture of bullying." No love of delusional thinking or cultures since then.

Why Aren't We All Conspiracy Theorists?

TheMiddleWay comments on Aug 12, 2021:

This is basically the meme theory which has already been thoroughly discredited. I think the solution is a lot simpler and it has to do with the way our brain works to make patterns. Conspiracy theorists are nothing more than pareidolia, seeing patterns where there are none. In trying to answer ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay Is not having your own definition of relativism not used by anyone else, just another form of absolutism.

"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my ...

Marionville comments on Aug 13, 2021:

It happens from time to time in politics…at least here in the U.K. there have been some notable political figures who have “crossed the floor of the house” and switched parties and political views. It also does happen occasionally in religion too…it must do, or the majority of members on ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@Marionville No I am English I never was. I was born and raised secular, and my first real encounter with religion came at school and I found it horrific. The rest is a reaction to that.

"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my ...

Marionville comments on Aug 13, 2021:

It happens from time to time in politics…at least here in the U.K. there have been some notable political figures who have “crossed the floor of the house” and switched parties and political views. It also does happen occasionally in religion too…it must do, or the majority of members on ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

Yes, by by definition we are not religious.

Evolution by natural selection has no foresight, it merely adjusts any creature to be better at ...

FearlessFly comments on Aug 13, 2021:

"We are not adapted by evolution to live in the cultural environment." . . . neuroendocrinology does not agree -- a very good read : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31170723-behave

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@FearlessFly Yes I have read it, but it is and while I do not disagree with it , it is not relevant to my point. In the time available culture will have an effect on some genes, but not total adaption. In part because cultural evolution moves much faster than biological evolution, especially since the agricultural revolution, when its effects have grown exponentialy. Biological evolution will certainly be affected by culture, but it can never keep up the pace to the point where we can be said to be in any way adapted to the cultural environment.

Why Aren't We All Conspiracy Theorists?

TheMiddleWay comments on Aug 12, 2021:

This is basically the meme theory which has already been thoroughly discredited. I think the solution is a lot simpler and it has to do with the way our brain works to make patterns. Conspiracy theorists are nothing more than pareidolia, seeing patterns where there are none. In trying to answer ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay Sorry, but I think then that you are then using the wrong label for yourself, not being a relativist does not make you an absolutist, There is a middle way. Accepting that there may be such a thing as truth, but also accepting that humans may never own it, but that it is desirable to adjust your views to move towards it when you can. The middle way. Sorry that may seem like an argument about labels, boring, but sometimes label represent nuances which are not boring.

Why Aren't We All Conspiracy Theorists?

TheMiddleWay comments on Aug 12, 2021:

This is basically the meme theory which has already been thoroughly discredited. I think the solution is a lot simpler and it has to do with the way our brain works to make patterns. Conspiracy theorists are nothing more than pareidolia, seeing patterns where there are none. In trying to answer ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay How can you say "It's exactly that "it's just an opinion" philosophy that in my opinion leads to problems for people seeking the truth. You find this when people say "that is MY truth" as a way to squelch any further discussion on the topic." I thought you said that you were a relativist, on my now deleted tract on the Elephant Story.

Why Aren't We All Conspiracy Theorists?

TheMiddleWay comments on Aug 12, 2021:

This is basically the meme theory which has already been thoroughly discredited. I think the solution is a lot simpler and it has to do with the way our brain works to make patterns. Conspiracy theorists are nothing more than pareidolia, seeing patterns where there are none. In trying to answer ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay Thank you, I will look that up. But I must say that I was always surprised that anyone even attempted a journal on the subject, it does not seem to warrant that. Since in its original incarnation it was just a minor metaphorical hypothesis, proposed by R, Dawkins as a way of thinking about things, from a new perspective, never intended as a serious subject for scientific theory. Though I do remember him saying that some people seemed to be taking it way too seriously.

Evolution by natural selection has no foresight, it merely adjusts any creature to be better at ...

FearlessFly comments on Aug 13, 2021:

"We are not adapted by evolution to live in the cultural environment." . . . neuroendocrinology does not agree -- a very good read : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31170723-behave

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

Then neuroendocrinology is wrong, however good the read. It simply would not be possible for us to have evolutionary adaptions to the cultural environment in that short a space of time, evolution does not go that fast. It 'IS' possible for uus to have evolutionary adaptions which favour us creating a cultural environment and even wanting to live in it, ( though there may be small pre-adaptions,) but saying that we are adapted to the cultural environment is putting the cart before the horse.

Evolution by natural selection has no foresight, it merely adjusts any creature to be better at ...

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Aug 13, 2021:

Part of the lie is inherent in language, and one only need observe shrewdly certain examples of tv pundits presenting ideological values as if they were factual news to see this lie in action. Language affords us many opportunities to communicate messages through connotation alongside literal ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@MikeInBatonRouge Rational and bright, Back pats all round.

Religion was the original traditional culture of the world, which was used to explain and justify ...

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Aug 13, 2021:

Interesting food for thought. You have categorized concepts differenting than I would, lumping science and philosophy together, while religion opposes both. What makes a bit more sense to me is that philosophy occupies a space between science and religion. It is where musings on existance can...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

That is true. But I was taking a more historical perspective in which, philosophy (especially western philosophy ) began as an attempt to answer the problems created by an existing unregulated and mainly religious culture. The Greeks especially, at that time, had just started to uncover the secrets of maths and democratic politics, so that it would have seemed logical and natural to them, to try to use the methods and rules of maths and political debate, to address problems of understanding and explaining in other areas beyond those spheres, including those traditional to religion. A conflict which got several early philosophers, like Socrates and Hypatia killed. Then latter, especially with the Renaissance, when it began to become apparent that debate and mere mathematical logic alone, would not answer all questions well without some extra help, it became needful to develop the experimental method and with it science. Which was certainly at first seen as a sub-set of philosophy, and was even called, natural philosophy, which is the name by which Newton, for example, would probably have known it, and he would probably have called himself a philosopher. He certainly would not have called himself a scientist, since the word was not even coined then. Science thus historically, grew out of philosophy, even alchemists, which was another title Newton certainly did use would have also called themselve philosophers.

Evolution by natural selection has no foresight, it merely adjusts any creature to be better at ...

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Aug 13, 2021:

Part of the lie is inherent in language, and one only need observe shrewdly certain examples of tv pundits presenting ideological values as if they were factual news to see this lie in action. Language affords us many opportunities to communicate messages through connotation alongside literal ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

Agreed, I did overstate my case for effect, and I am not so foolish as to assume that culture is not a source of truth, sometimes, as I am sure you realize. Yet I do think, that by far the greater bulk of culture is basically misleading, and there there is nothing built into the basic nature of culture which in any way favours truth over lies. It promotes both equally happily, and since it is possible to invent a thousand errors for every truth, it is natural that errors should come to be the dominant form. Save where people make huge efforts such as science and philosophy to try to eliminate them, and indeed it would not have been needful to invent those methods of working at all, had not unregulated culture so obviously failed.

Evolution by natural selection has no foresight, it merely adjusts any creature to be better at ...

yvilletom comments on Aug 13, 2021:

Here's your final 'graph with singular pronouns rather than plural. I can therefore, thanks to evolution, spot a lion stalking me though the long grass very well, most of the time. (Not always.) But a salesman stalking me through a field of adverts, or a priest hunting though a thicket of ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

My over generalizing was quite deliberate, for humorous effect.

Why Aren't We All Conspiracy Theorists?

TheMiddleWay comments on Aug 12, 2021:

This is basically the meme theory which has already been thoroughly discredited. I think the solution is a lot simpler and it has to do with the way our brain works to make patterns. Conspiracy theorists are nothing more than pareidolia, seeing patterns where there are none. In trying to answer ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

I am very interested in the history of the meme theory, and would be especially interested in reading about it being discredited, do you have any links please.

How Much Of Life Depends Upon Placebo Effects?

Fernapple comments on Aug 9, 2021:

Evolution by natural selection has no foresight, it merely adjusts any creature to be better at living in the existing environment, from the starting point of its existing adaptations to former environments. Therefore when the environment changes suddenly, as it sometimes does, all creatures are ill...

Fernapple replies on Aug 13, 2021:

@EarnestEccentric Done it this morning. https://agnostic.com/discussion/615519/evolution-by-natural-selection-has-no-foresight-it-merely-adjusts-any-creature-to-be-better-at-livi

Religion was the original traditional culture of the world, which was used to explain and justify ...

Ryo1 comments on Aug 12, 2021:

I met a man a long time ago who told me that he was diagnosed with leukemia, and then he met God, and God helped him to fight and recover from the disease. Of course, most people, probably including the man himself (because he sounded intelligent and not like a religious freak), know that it was ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 12, 2021:

A personal belief is quite compatable you need only keep the two apart in your head, but the institutions and the methods of thought, they are quite different.

5 Billion bibles have been printed according to the Guinness Book of records, and a further 100 ...

Fernapple comments on Aug 11, 2021:

It is a fact, that most of the fundies and evangelicals, almost universally, prefer the King James. Which is almost universally regarded by most biblical scholars, as the most mixed up confused and inaccurate of all the versions. Funny that ain't it.

Fernapple replies on Aug 12, 2021:

@Gwendolyn2018 I suspect that St Paul being educated was probably in the know, and what he knew was that the gospels were works of fiction. But no proof. The King James editors though, only took the story of the resurection from the other three gospels, and in the seventeenth century they were probably long past having to worry about pagans at least at home.

Religion was the original traditional culture of the world, which was used to explain and justify ...

creative51 comments on Aug 12, 2021:

I disagree it was the original culture. Pre-historic homo sapiens had culture. At some point proto religion did begin to emerge. While some may say it developed to answer the unanswerable questions, it was immediately a source of power and control over people. This has been its main role.

Fernapple replies on Aug 12, 2021:

Yes, you are perfectly correct, I should have included that nuance, but I try to keep post short, and sometimes I cut a little too much out.

Religion was the original traditional culture of the world, which was used to explain and justify ...

anglophone comments on Aug 12, 2021:

Thank you sharing that historical perspective. I am no position to comment on the philosophy thread in your post. My own perspective is that it was Sir Isaac Newton that really got the scientific revolution going with his Laws of Motion and their predictive power to explain the positions of ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 12, 2021:

You do not have to know much about philosophy really. My point is really only about its history, which is that it started when people began to question traditional , given, wisdom. And that it started the thread in human thought which eventually led to science, originally called, natural philosophy, which is the name Newton would have known it by, I think, though he may have even been before that name, and have called himself just a philosopher or perhaps alchemist.

I think I see the problem...

RichCC comments on Aug 12, 2021:

Half of all people are below average at math. *** ** *David Ellis' fourth Law of Thermodynamics* ** (I know there are multiple 'laws' of thermodynamics often having to do with rates of entropy and stuff -- I'm ignoring those.) ** *If the probability of success is not almost one, it is ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 12, 2021:

@Petter Most people have an above average number of legs. Because if one person in say every hundred is an amputee, then the average number of legs is 1.99. So ninety nine people out of a hundred have an above average number.

Religion was the original traditional culture of the world, which was used to explain and justify ...

RichCC comments on Aug 12, 2021:

One of my favorite thoughts came years ago from a blogger named Greta Christina. As I've said before on Agnostic, please excuse the specific wording because I'm paraphrasing from memory. *** Over the years we've had many supernatural explanations for various events -- the sun was Apollo carrying a...

Fernapple replies on Aug 12, 2021:

Yes, I always liked that argument. And if there is a god in the gaps, then he/she/it is shrinking all the time, and has been for a long time, in fact I think it has now got so tiny, perhaps, nobody can find it anymore. LOL.

The evolved nature of human psychology is apparently such that most of us are predisposed to ...

bbyrd009 comments on Aug 11, 2021:

“ Is there a common thread to all major world religions, of which science can approve? I think there is.” what is it?

Fernapple replies on Aug 12, 2021:

Religion was the original traditional culture of the world, which was used to explain and justify everything using the authority of tradition, and the supernatural. Then two thousand six hundred years ago (approx.) in the west, the Greeks invented philosophy, because by then, it was becoming plain that religion had failed, and a better way to justify ideas had to be found. At first appeal to logic and free debate in the case of philosophy, and later by empirical evidence and the experimental method in philosophies child science. At which point 2600 years ago, religion became obsolete. But it continued to persist by using fake authority to promote ideas that could not easily be justified by philosophy and science, especially to the uneducated. Religion is therefore, the use of fake authority, tradition and the supernatural to justify ideas, in fact it is an exact synonym for the fallacy, of "argument from authority". What you have to ask yourself therefore, is who would want to use such a fallacy, it could of course only be the fraudulent and the criminal, only they would want or need false justification. Religion is therefore by its nature opposed to science, philosophy, and education, because without opposition it does not exist, and opposition is the only thing it has to sell, in order to find itself a place in the market of ideas. The apologists for religion will tell you that religion is not in conflict with science and philosophy, because they have a lot of common ground on which they agree, but the real thing to consider is that if religion agrees with science and philosophy , then its ideas, 'are', science and philosophy, supported by much better props than fake authority, and not therefore, needing religion. That is only the case of the dishonest criminal doing a bit of honest trade, "on the side", because that increases its profits and power, but it is not a justification for the crimes. ( Like this, may post it. )

5 Billion bibles have been printed according to the Guinness Book of records, and a further 100 ...

Fernapple comments on Aug 11, 2021:

It is a fact, that most of the fundies and evangelicals, almost universally, prefer the King James. Which is almost universally regarded by most biblical scholars, as the most mixed up confused and inaccurate of all the versions. Funny that ain't it.

Fernapple replies on Aug 12, 2021:

@Gwendolyn2018 Yes they also added the commandment about not making images, and an extra verse to the Song Of Solomon, the one which explains how it is really all metaphor and not sexual. They also added the resurrection story, to the gospel of Mark, since it seems that the earliest gospel did not originally include it, wonder why?

How Much Of Life Depends Upon Placebo Effects?

Fernapple comments on Aug 9, 2021:

Evolution by natural selection has no foresight, it merely adjusts any creature to be better at living in the existing environment, from the starting point of its existing adaptations to former environments. Therefore when the environment changes suddenly, as it sometimes does, all creatures are ill...

Fernapple replies on Aug 11, 2021:

@EarnestEccentric Oh I have read your peices so far, and you are certainly not thick. Though if you don't mind, I have improved the comment a bit and may make a post out of it. Then we can see if the members shred it to bits.

"COVID-19: Common question, Can the fully vaccinated spread Delta?

Fernapple comments on Aug 8, 2021:

My understanding of it is that, if you are vaccinated you can still both catch and spread all strains of the virus. BUT, IT IS MUCH LESS LIKELY. That however will be very hard to explain to the anti -vac crowd, especially the religious fundamentalist section, since they have been trained for years ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 9, 2021:

@powder Well it is just possible that this virus may be quite different from all other pandemics, and will not fade when when we get near to herd immunity, as polio , smallpox and seasonal flu all do, but somehow I think that such a rare and unexplainable exception is unlikely. Especially as that here in the UK we are begining to see just the effects you would expect as herd immunity gets near.

So it seems that yesterday or the day before, depending where you live, was.

RichCC comments on Aug 9, 2021:

I had it as Thursday, August 12th. So we may get a very temporary stay -- Ha, ha.🙂 https://m.facebook.com/events/d41d8cd9/global-prayer-to-end-atheism/942359172978622/#_=_ Sorry for the FB link and I won't be surprised if Agnostic doesn't accept it. Ha, ha again. Who is your source for ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 9, 2021:

I think my source may have been someone on this site. Never mind.

I stole this from one of George's sources... (thanks George!)

Julie808 comments on Aug 9, 2021:

Or s/he could crawl into bed to cuddle with the object of his/her affections, for a few moments, instead of spinning around getting dizzy!

Fernapple replies on Aug 9, 2021:

That probably just about, sums up the whole tragedy of the human condition. LOL

"COVID-19: Common question, Can the fully vaccinated spread Delta?

Fernapple comments on Aug 8, 2021:

My understanding of it is that, if you are vaccinated you can still both catch and spread all strains of the virus. BUT, IT IS MUCH LESS LIKELY. That however will be very hard to explain to the anti -vac crowd, especially the religious fundamentalist section, since they have been trained for years ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 9, 2021:

@powder Yes but a vaccinated person is less likely to spread the disease, that is the point of probabilities.

I don't understand why some people (likely leaning to the right) are so bothered by a vax ...

DenoPenno comments on Aug 8, 2021:

At 75 years of age I have been wondering the same thing. Anti-vaxxers forget that this is not a "choice." It is often a requirement. I have been vaccinated my entire life and have seen many bad diseases removed from society because of it. This includes polio. You just cannot cure stupid!

Fernapple replies on Aug 8, 2021:

Polio is nearly extinct in the world today, except for two countries where it still lingers. Namely Pakistan and Afghanistan, where of course, some of the religious authorities are opposed to vaccine.

Saw a good post on another site comparing covid restrictions to taxes.

Marionville comments on Aug 7, 2021:

I can’t agree…I don’t see any exemptions being made here in the U.K. for the rich….the Covid regulations applied to everyone equally…as being rich or privileged was no barrier to catching it, social distancing and mask wearing was mandated for all regardless of status. Comparing covid ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 8, 2021:

Yes but being confined to home, when your home is a two thousand acre estate, is very different to being confined to a third floor bed sitting room, especially if you are a family.

Values to live by

racocn8 comments on Aug 7, 2021:

Some others not necessarily implied: Be Truthful. Seek to ennoble and inform in your discourse. Seek to understand the motives of others. Keep it brief and use simple language. Gauge your language to your audience. Only be eloquent when the occasion permits. Avoid speaking out of egotism. ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 8, 2021:

Prefer your list.

Pastor: Christians Should Reject Vaccines Since God’s Law Overrides Man’s Law | Beth Stoneburner...

DenoPenno comments on Aug 7, 2021:

God's law overrides man's law. OK. Please explain just what this has to do with vaccines. What does any of it have to do with your bible?

Fernapple replies on Aug 8, 2021:

It does ignore one of the few plain statements made by the book's central figure. "Render unto Caesar what is due unto Caesar." In other words. Obey the law of your country. And that was the Roman Empire, which had a great deal less of a democratic mandate than most modern western nations.

Wearing masks is such a minor inconvenience and so simple to do.

Fernapple comments on Aug 7, 2021:

Like you say. "Wearing masks is such a minor inconvenience and so simple to do." Can not doing it therefore really be counted as a "Liberty", in any real meaningful sense of the word. But then protesting against masks is also easy to do, and a cheap way to virtue signal. It is not like defending ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 7, 2021:

@Buck Try reading it carefully and properly, you will find that I am agreeing with you. Sorry it is a bit curt, I wrote under time pressure.

Humans are strange.

of-the-mountain comments on Aug 7, 2021:

Kindness!!!

Fernapple replies on Aug 7, 2021:

Yes but making someone fat and lazy, with the illness that accompanies that, is not kind really is it. Like I say, strange.

You're all gonna burn, heehee

bbyrd009 comments on Aug 6, 2021:

as if jesus would even go into a building with a cross on the roof lol

Fernapple replies on Aug 7, 2021:

Fool me once, shame on you, but fool me twice.....

While LOTR is a much better read than the Bible, which set of books do you think would make a better...

Fernapple comments on Aug 6, 2021:

I Think that it is best not to set up any text written by humans as an infallible god. There is really no difference between the worship of an invisible sky daddy who is perfect and beyond question, and the worship of a text which will soon be seen as perfect and beyond question.

Fernapple replies on Aug 7, 2021:

@SnowyOwl Quite, it does not matter if your god is a solid natural feature like a volcano, a hand made statue, an invisible mental construction passed on by word of mouth, or a printed text.

Humans are strange.

MichelleGar1 comments on Aug 6, 2021:

I like my men full figured, tall and kind. I could care less about the trim or muscled figures, most are conceited anyway, I prefer kind!

Fernapple replies on Aug 7, 2021:

Yes that is what I look for in a woman, and the power to make interesting conversation, body shape is of no interest.

Theists are a bunch of scared little kids

Julie808 comments on Aug 5, 2021:

That and being good - for the sake of it being the right thing to do - rather than the fear of God's wrath. They can't understand that!

Fernapple replies on Aug 6, 2021:

They have been repeatedly told that human nature is evil, and needs to be cured. That the good parts of the human condition also come from our nature, by default, since there is no where else. And that even the good parts of their religion, were put into it by humans responding to the good in their own natures. Would mean turning the whole world view they have been taught to believe on its head.

God is Actually a WAR GOD | What the Church Doesn't Want You to Know - YouTube

AnneWimsey comments on Aug 5, 2021:

"The Church doesn't want me to know?." I read the OT, duhhhh

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

The Roman Catholic church did for centuries try to stop people reading the Buy-Bable. I don't think that you have to think long to understand why.

Humans are strange.

racocn8 comments on Aug 5, 2021:

That would only be in the US. Preferred body types everywhere else in the world are broader than 'slim'. However, I have been frustrated that shortly after the relationship becomes stable and reliable, the pounds pile on. After marriage, my ex-wife's stomach folded over her crotch in a matter of ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

That is kind of my serious point behind the joke. Though I think it would be wrong to make it too sexist, as both sexes are capable of letting go and giving way to spoiling by their partners, when once they feel safe and stable especially..

The Case of the Missing Delta Where is the material that was where the Grand Canyon is?

Fernapple comments on Aug 5, 2021:

At a very rough estimate, and given that I can only find a area for the Grand Canyon National Park and not for the canyon itself. And taking an average depth of one mile, which is probably an overestimate, given the first bit, and taking the Sea Of Cortez at 62,000 square miles, the canyon could ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

@yvilletom Or beyond of course, certainly some of the sediment from every river finds its way to the furthest corners of the world, depending on its boyancy of course. But the Sea Of Cortez was the area quoted by the article so I went with that. It is perfectly possible of course that if there was a suitable channel in the seas, seabed that nearly all of the sediment would be flushed out of the Sea of Cortez, but that I think would be unlikely.

Emotions, beliefs, and absolute certainties belong in one category, and a willingness to look at the...

Fernapple comments on Aug 5, 2021:

Then you mean to tell me, that you are taking back, all that which you wrote about your absolute certainty that the biblical authors, editor and scribes all wrote in the one literary genre, namely the metaphorical one ?

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

@skado What no proper answer ?

Why didn't I think of this solution?

Charles1971 comments on Aug 5, 2021:

Why even bother with the bible on her face? Why not just rely on the invisible god forcefield being generated by her faith and prayers?

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

Because she wanted to show off her Christian virtue, like the good little hypocrite she is. ( Virtue signaling being perhaps the important rite among Christians. Some would say the Eucarist, but nah! Virtue signaling. )

Emotions, beliefs, and absolute certainties belong in one category, and a willingness to look at the...

Fernapple comments on Aug 5, 2021:

Then you mean to tell me, that you are taking back, all that which you wrote about your absolute certainty that the biblical authors, editor and scribes all wrote in the one literary genre, namely the metaphorical one ?

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

@skado No this time I am very serious.

Isn't this what the Olympics are supposed be?

Fernapple comments on Aug 5, 2021:

Your story has disappeared, the link now goes to something else.

Fernapple replies on Aug 5, 2021:

@FrayedBear Yes it works now.

Online Dating Vocabulary: What You Need to Know.

Fernapple comments on Aug 4, 2021:

Here is the bottom line. MEN ARE EASY. Most of us will fall over, roll on our backs, and play dead for any female who can stay awake long enough to give the orders. Therefore it follows that any man who is on a dating service, is a reject who has been passed over by the last thousand and a half ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 4, 2021:

@Lorajay And there is a whole ocean between us, or I would be on the next bus. But never give up hope, and remember, one good friend is worth a thousand poor lovers.

Copied from Facebook. One reason why I am not a fan of home schooling.

barjoe comments on Aug 4, 2021:

Antivaxxers are big on homeschooling to keep from protecting their kids’ health

Fernapple replies on Aug 4, 2021:

@Beowulfsfriend Yes I remember that story smart kid, but sadly it is the, not quite so smart kids, who are realy vunerable, and can't so easily stand to have a ball and chain put round their ankles at the start..

Online Dating Vocabulary: What You Need to Know.

Fernapple comments on Aug 4, 2021:

Here is the bottom line. MEN ARE EASY. Most of us will fall over, roll on our backs, and play dead for any female who can stay awake long enough to give the orders. Therefore it follows that any man who is on a dating service, is a reject who has been passed over by the last thousand and a half ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 4, 2021:

@Lorajay That is sad, I know when I was newly widowed the message went round the grape vine, and in no time I had three lady friends, who all wanted to date me in pretty quick time. But I was not ready and we soon moved on, and I guess that eventually the grape vine was sending out the message, that I was not interested. Which in some ways was a shame because a couple of years down the line, I easily could be. But it is because of that personal experience, that I recommended enlarging the grape vine by cultivating more friends, as perhaps the best way forwards.

Online Dating Vocabulary: What You Need to Know.

Fernapple comments on Aug 4, 2021:

Here is the bottom line. MEN ARE EASY. Most of us will fall over, roll on our backs, and play dead for any female who can stay awake long enough to give the orders. Therefore it follows that any man who is on a dating service, is a reject who has been passed over by the last thousand and a half ...

Fernapple replies on Aug 4, 2021:

@LiterateHiker Seriously, perhaps the best way to find a good partner, is to cultivate the widest possible circle of high quality friends of your own sex. (Applies to both men and women.) Because few people can resist the thrill of matchmaking, and you then get to find the best choices in your circle of like minded people as soon as they become available.

I broadcast fennel seeds in my shady beds in hope of attracting swallowtail butterflies.

Fernapple comments on Aug 3, 2021:

I love fennel for its own sake as well, it is not just a great herb but looks so attractive too. I don't know why more people don't grow it, though the fact that there are the two forms both the root vegetable and the leaf herb can cause confusion.

Fernapple replies on Aug 3, 2021:

@glennlab It seems that our swallow tail here, lives on the Milk Parsley, Peucedanum palustre , so perhaps I would not get it on fennel anyway. You say that you do not like the licorice flavour, does that mean that you are growing the Florence Fennel type with the edible white bulbs at the base ? Have you tried the leaf herb, which has more of an anice flavour.

I broadcast fennel seeds in my shady beds in hope of attracting swallowtail butterflies.

Fernapple comments on Aug 3, 2021:

I love fennel for its own sake as well, it is not just a great herb but looks so attractive too. I don't know why more people don't grow it, though the fact that there are the two forms both the root vegetable and the leaf herb can cause confusion.

Fernapple replies on Aug 3, 2021:

@glennlab I wish mine would attract the swallow tails, we can I think just get them in the UK, but I am fairly well north.

“Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 31, 2021:

Yes, but such things often bring about a reaction in time, we could be on the verge of a new age of faith in traditional education and the idea of 'good taste' as and objective standard, which can be taught. When everyone can have unlimited trash delivered to their screen for free, the real ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@Diogenes Yes but Constantine only made it state religion after it had gained a huge following and as a politically motivated move, because it seemed likely to be a uniting force. He remained himself a pagan and unbaptised until he was on his deathbed. Pagan also means villager, to imply that villagers were slower on the uptake and more primitive....

“Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 31, 2021:

Yes, but such things often bring about a reaction in time, we could be on the verge of a new age of faith in traditional education and the idea of 'good taste' as and objective standard, which can be taught. When everyone can have unlimited trash delivered to their screen for free, the real ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@whiskywoman Yes I love Facebook like a cat loves a cold bath.

@Admin.

Fernapple comments on Jul 31, 2021:

I get the opposite, likes and no notifications.

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@FrayedBear In your settings.

@Admin.

Fernapple comments on Jul 31, 2021:

I get the opposite, likes and no notifications.

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@LenHazell53 Yes but I have them on and still don't get all of them.

“Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after ...

Fernapple comments on Jul 31, 2021:

Yes, but such things often bring about a reaction in time, we could be on the verge of a new age of faith in traditional education and the idea of 'good taste' as and objective standard, which can be taught. When everyone can have unlimited trash delivered to their screen for free, the real ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@Marionville Yes that is the current state of things. But the growing division between the thinking discerning faction and the credulus faction, will eventually lead to a point where it becomes obvious that the discerning are gaining benefits that others don't recieve. ( For example. A lot of people in the anti -vax communities, even if only a tiny minority so far, must be starting to ask. Why did my grandmother die, and not theirs. ) Then people start to ask questions like. How does this work ? How do I change sides ? Can I learn to do this ? Is discerment the real qualification that defines the upper class ? For I think that sadly the reaction, will also bring with it a new growth of class distinctions, and the death of liberal relativism. (Mixed blessings.) Remember what happened to Christianity in the Roman world, at first it was seen as a despised cult, for rebelious Jewish peasants only, until it was realized that it could be a uniting force in a decaying empire, and in the end everyone adopted it, to the point where they invented "pagan " as an insult word for the few who would not change. And with modern technology, at first nearly everyone rejected it, the Luddites hated it, and the church deplored it. Yet apart from a few groups like the Armish, were would you find anyone today, who would not like to own more of it.

I'm sure all the men on this site already knew this but occasionally you guys need a reminder.

Fernapple comments on Jul 30, 2021:

My grandmother used to say. Horses sweat. Men perspire. But ladies glow.

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@waitingforgodo Yes, but she does not glisten, she is just being modest. She shines brightly, so brightly that I can see the glow on the other side of the world. ( Go no, now ask where the puke emoji went. LOL )

There is nothing more obnoxious to me than an evangelistic Christian trying to convert me.

xenoview comments on Jul 30, 2021:

I don't care if a person is religious. I do have an issue with religious organizations.

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@LenHazell53, @xenoview No it is not true that it is fine as long as the religious keep it to themselves, because what they do among themselves, is still on the conscience of every human. That is the argument which leads to thousands of little girls, being flown to foreign lands where they do not understand the culture, being taken into dark back rooms to be painfully mutilated by stranger using a dirty knife, in an attempt to turn her into a passive beast of burden. I do not think that you really mean to say. " As long as it is not my daughter, I am fine with that."

There is nothing more obnoxious to me than an evangelistic Christian trying to convert me.

xenoview comments on Jul 30, 2021:

I don't care if a person is religious. I do have an issue with religious organizations.

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@LenHazell53 Yes I agree with you, but of course every member of every cult is not there by choice. Many are threatened, frightened, decieved and bullied into giving support. And if the wish is to get more people out of those cults. Then helping them to escape, is much better than threatening them, which only drives them deeper in, and confirms what the cult leaders tell them, which is invariably that the world outside the cult is a threatening and nasty place.

Haven't gotten one of these in awhile. Do elder guys really respond to these??? 😆

SpikeTalon comments on Jul 30, 2021:

I'm sure some fools would.

Fernapple replies on Jul 31, 2021:

@FrayedBear Yes I got one of those, chatted for a while mainly pointless stuff, no dating or sexual things. Then suddenly she wrote. "Can we move this conversation to another platform." WTF, I thought. OH, you mean an empty disused platform, that the rail company does not bother to light anymore, where your pimp and a couple of thugs are waiting in the dark to grab my savings. No thanks, bye. LOL

There is nothing more obnoxious to me than an evangelistic Christian trying to convert me.

xenoview comments on Jul 30, 2021:

I don't care if a person is religious. I do have an issue with religious organizations.

Fernapple replies on Jul 30, 2021:

@LenHazell53 I would not, because there are such things as former KKK and Nazi party members, some of whom later made valuable contributions to humanity in exactly the opposite ways to the intentions of those groups. Very few people are unable to change or learn, and on one should be prevented from making personal growth or changing for the better, because they are kept locked in a pigeon hole by the assumptions of others.

Many people dying in hospitals think that Covid is a "hoax" and have a "cold.

Fernapple comments on Jul 30, 2021:

You may be basically right, but I would ask where you got the stat if any which proves the "many people" statement from. While I have heard anecdotally of an odd case or two of people dying in hospital, still claiming that the virus is a hoax, it was not many, and it was only anecdotal. You are ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 30, 2021:

@Tourirst Well done. Keep up the good work, and don't let anyone least of all old pedants like me get you down.

I'm glad I don't live in Anchorage Alaska ...but wait I live out with the Wasillabillies?

Fernapple comments on Jul 30, 2021:

Why am I reminded of Amity Island, so many things sound so familiar, certainly nobody is coming up with any new plot lines ? ( Joke only for those over a certain age.)

Fernapple replies on Jul 30, 2021:

@FrostyJim Just when you thought it was safe to give someone a hug....

I have often been mad as heck for about five years and this week, I am mad as heck again.

BDair comments on Jul 29, 2021:

The odds of an 8 year old dying from Covid 19 is statistically zero. The odds of a child dying from vaccination, are greater than that of the virus. To date there have been 337 CV19 deaths in the 0-17 year old group in the U.S.. ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 29, 2021:

@BDair Yes, there are other methods (protocols if you like ) available to control the virus. But none of them including the vaccinations are mutually exclusive, in fact a lot of them complement one another. While if you have one which renders the vacs unnecessary, you had better write about it to the WHO and let the world know, because there are a lot of countries fighting the virus and failing, even with the vaccinations. And your Nobel prize I am sure will be a certainty.

Certainly a big factor in my dating preferences. :)

AnneWimsey comments on Jul 28, 2021:

I have Warlord-ess potential, need an armor-polishing sword-sharpening sidekick that can cook & groom the horses!

Fernapple replies on Jul 29, 2021:

@AnneWimsey Consider it a deal, come Armagedon I will be on the first boat. (There probably wont be planes.)

I have often been mad as heck for about five years and this week, I am mad as heck again.

BDair comments on Jul 29, 2021:

The odds of an 8 year old dying from Covid 19 is statistically zero. The odds of a child dying from vaccination, are greater than that of the virus. To date there have been 337 CV19 deaths in the 0-17 year old group in the U.S.. ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 29, 2021:

Yes but she is not talking about the child being vaccinated, only the general and older population. And there is a small risk to children, plus the unknown as yet, long term effects, which may be nothing, but may also exist.

I like Chris Cuomo's classification of the two groups in the US today: the "Vaccinated" and the ...

t1nick comments on Jul 28, 2021:

Cuomo made another good observation. The anti-vaccine crowd insist that ,"it's their body, their right to control their body, and their right not to get vaccinated". They are the same people who choose to deny women' the right to control their own bodies.

Fernapple replies on Jul 29, 2021:

I am not very familiar with US culture, but I have also heard that you have a subculture which takes a pride in saying that it would be prepared to. "Take a bullet for my country." But not it seems a tiny jab from a very small needle. Presumably because that is really scary. Forgive me, but to a foreigner this seems really strange. LOL

Certainly a big factor in my dating preferences. :)

AnneWimsey comments on Jul 28, 2021:

I have Warlord-ess potential, need an armor-polishing sword-sharpening sidekick that can cook & groom the horses!

Fernapple replies on Jul 29, 2021:

@AnneWimsey Do I get to make shallow jokes at their expense, when you finally stand over your enemies with your foot on their chest and your sword at their throat ?

Certainly a big factor in my dating preferences. :)

AnneWimsey comments on Jul 28, 2021:

I have Warlord-ess potential, need an armor-polishing sword-sharpening sidekick that can cook & groom the horses!

Fernapple replies on Jul 28, 2021:

Yep, I can do that, but I don't come cheap.

After having a scope recently, I couldn’t help but wonder why someone chooses proctology?

K9Kohle789 comments on Jul 28, 2021:

The patient is knocked out and quiet. Easy money.

Fernapple replies on Jul 28, 2021:

Not in the UK, here they keep you wide awake.

I've practiced Spanish at least five minutes a day for 188 days, per my Duolingo app.

Pralina1 comments on Jul 27, 2021:

Breathing . Avoiding killing assholes .

Fernapple replies on Jul 27, 2021:

The second can be much harder than the first.

It has been brought to my attention that in one of my recent acerbic, satirical posts that perhaps I...

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Jul 24, 2021:

I have been criticized for falling into the teacher role when I am not in the classroom. This was more so when I was a substitute teacher for seven years. One does not sub for that long and be successful at it unless one is strict but fair and kind. Teaching adults is a bit different and is even ...

Fernapple replies on Jul 24, 2021:

@t1nick The trouble with that is, that it is often someone else who gets sick with the virus they passed on.