"When do we invade Australia?

Paul4747 comments on Oct 22, 2021:

Maybe so, but your link doesn't show it.

Fernapple replies on Oct 23, 2021:

Yep link does not work for me either.

This American is ashamed of much of our infrastructure.

Leetx comments on Oct 22, 2021:

4 trillion for Iraq, 2.5 trillion for Afghanistan.. but, roads and bridges in America ? NO WAY

Fernapple replies on Oct 23, 2021:

I think G. B. Shaw said. That a bullet takes more than one life, one the person it kills, and a little bit of all the lives wasted making it and paying for it.

Excerpts from Thomas M.

Fernapple comments on Oct 22, 2021:

Why would a relativist be defending " established knowledge" surely established knowledge is as far away from relativism as you can get. Seems ironic.

Fernapple replies on Oct 22, 2021:

@bbyrd009 Interesting, do please enlarge.

Excerpts from Thomas M.

Fernapple comments on Oct 22, 2021:

Why would a relativist be defending " established knowledge" surely established knowledge is as far away from relativism as you can get. Seems ironic.

Fernapple replies on Oct 22, 2021:

@TheMiddleWay Relativism above all, if it is about anything, is about the denial of established knowledge. I am not telling you to change any of your views, or that any of them are wrong, I am just saying that you have applied a wrong label to yourself. Come on man up and admit to a minor mistake. And we did not talk about this at length, if you think that, you do not know my idea of length.

if Potential Spam calls back I'm gonna ask 'em out.

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Oct 21, 2021:

I love to play with them. Next time, I am going to ask the caller what he/she is wearing and go from there.

Fernapple replies on Oct 22, 2021:

I go direct to the colour of their underwear.

Sometimes the little details make all the difference.

Fernapple comments on Oct 21, 2021:

I wonder what is on the front ?

Fernapple replies on Oct 22, 2021:

@whiskywoman Is it not the tail it seems to come out behind the bum star ?

I am sick and tired of being told I must understand Trump voters.

Fernapple comments on Oct 21, 2021:

You wrote. "To me, they are selfish, ignorant and mean." I think that you understand them perfectly, I don't see the problem.

Fernapple replies on Oct 22, 2021:

@LiterateHiker Oh I see the problem you have with them, I meant, I just don't see the problem you have with 'understanding' them, you seem to have done that perfectly.

Sometimes the little details make all the difference.

Fernapple comments on Oct 21, 2021:

I wonder what is on the front ?

Fernapple replies on Oct 21, 2021:

@zeuser I was thinking of something beginning with P and ending with S. LOL

quit chasin normal....it's a myth

Fernapple comments on Oct 20, 2021:

When I was young, I wanted to be a great eccentric. So I did my best. When I was mature, I knew that I had failed and had just become the village idiot. Now I am old, I am OK with that. Since I now know that all the worlds great eccentrics really wanted to be the village idiot, all the time. ...

Fernapple replies on Oct 20, 2021:

@whiskywoman Thank you. But sadly, that's not what the people in my village think. LOL

Religion scholar Anthea Butler on "White Christianity" and its role in fueling fascism [msn.com]

AnonySchmoose comments on Oct 20, 2021:

It is depressing to know that many people buy the BS

Fernapple replies on Oct 20, 2021:

@AnonySchmoose It is I think almost inevitable, that crazy people with crazy ideas, gravitate to religion. Since it is the one source of structure, prestige and political power, which does not require those following it, to demonstrate that their ideals are justified by logic, like academic institutions, evidence, like science, or mainstream universal democratic support, like genuine politics. Religion, in secular states especially, has always prospered, by being the provider of an alternate voice to the political mainstream, but now that we live in a world where most nation states, legal systems and academic institutions etc. have embraced evidence, reason, human rights, and universal suffrage, who needs an alternate voice except the anti-social ? The manifest destiny of religion is with the criminal until democracy fails, it may get worse yet, though hopefully it will get smaller as moderate people are driven away.

I love an old story, and they don't come much older than this.

waitingforgodo comments on Oct 20, 2021:

Mmm, bilateral symmetry, well ahead.

Fernapple replies on Oct 20, 2021:

Yes. Never managed it myself, I bend to the right, though not politically. LOL

Someone mentioned the Canadian Hubert Reeves on here a few months ago.

Robecology comments on Oct 19, 2021:

And if we "win" - NBD...99% of all life that was ever on earth is now extinct.... I think Procyon's likely to be the next dominant species;

Fernapple replies on Oct 19, 2021:

@Robecology Yes we still have hedgehogs, sadly they are getting fewer all the time. when I was young you saw them everywhere, but today they are an uncommon thing. And sadly again, you more often see them dead by the roadside, they have very poor road skills, which combined with the shortage of insects, due to the agricultural industry, the many hazards in gardens, rat and slug poisons, and perhaps the rising numbers of their natural predator the badger, due to legal protection of badgers, they are having a hard time.

Someone mentioned the Canadian Hubert Reeves on here a few months ago.

Robecology comments on Oct 19, 2021:

And if we "win" - NBD...99% of all life that was ever on earth is now extinct.... I think Procyon's likely to be the next dominant species;

Fernapple replies on Oct 19, 2021:

Your trash collectors are a lot more cute than ours, all we seem to get are ugly old blokes. ( Nothing wrong with ugly old blokes, of course, one myself. )

That tiny little town on the south coast of Crete, called Ierapetra, was where my husband and I ...

Fernapple comments on Oct 18, 2021:

Crete is lovely, though I only know the area round Rethimno.

Fernapple replies on Oct 19, 2021:

@TheoryNumber3 Yes they are very kind. I want to go back one day and do the more touristy things like Konosus, which I missed out on the first time.

An American asked his British friend to fill in the various US states on a blanked out map and this ...

Tejas comments on Oct 18, 2021:

He did awful. It looks more of a joke to me. I consider myself somewhat decent at geography. (I like maps history and like to know population density) I could do better with Europe than he did the us

Fernapple replies on Oct 19, 2021:

Yes I come from the UK and I think that he was deliberately having a joke, I mean mixing up Alaska and Hawaii, which have to be two of the most obvious.

That tiny little town on the south coast of Crete, called Ierapetra, was where my husband and I ...

Fernapple comments on Oct 18, 2021:

Crete is lovely, though I only know the area round Rethimno.

Fernapple replies on Oct 19, 2021:

@TheoryNumber3 I only took one bus ride which was not too dramatic, though very beautiful. Mainly I hiked, but I still got to some pretty dramatic places. Isolated churches in the mountians, Rethimno town centre which still has Islamic style windows, and coastal walks to bays only reachable on foot or by boat.

In the culture of victimhood, being a victim is well recognized.

linxminx comments on Oct 17, 2021:

Okay. Point taken. We can carry being a victim too far. But isn't that just as bad as not hearing nor listening to a victim at all? What's needed is balance. However, in my opinion, human beings and balance do not seem to live in the same universe. 😀

Fernapple replies on Oct 17, 2021:

Balance is good, but I think that just a lack of assumptions, is even better.

Science and medicine wins every time

RobertMartin comments on Oct 14, 2021:

I decided to update by including medicine because the comments made sense to me.

Fernapple replies on Oct 15, 2021:

Medicine could include faith healing, and new age rubbish its a very wide term, perhaps, scientific medicine, would have been the best choice.

I hear that people are quiting their jobs, can anyone explain this in common language?

waitingforgodo comments on Oct 14, 2021:

Put simply: Quantitative easing and concomitant fiscal imperatives, in the contextual framework of restrictive industrial motility and systemic crisis, has fomented a partial diversification in the attitudinal paradigm. We're all gunna die some day soon, why work.

Fernapple replies on Oct 15, 2021:

Sounds like someone actually took his new age philosophy lessons seriously. LOL

How many times a month, do you as an agnostic, answer to a point of an argument or to a direct ...

zeuser comments on Oct 13, 2021:

I've learned a while ago that you are not required to attend every argument to which you are invited. As for direct questions, if I don't know, I say I don't know. If it's important to me, I'll make a note and follow up on it. Except for little white lies (no, no, those jeans look great on you), I ...

Fernapple replies on Oct 14, 2021:

@zeuser Too late sorry.

"I've learned a while ago that you are not required to attend every argument to which you are ...

zeuser comments on Oct 14, 2021:

Well, I wish I was the one who thought it up. I stole this from a meme, I have no idea who originated it. BUT, I wholeheartedly agree with it, and I do try to live by it.

Fernapple replies on Oct 14, 2021:

Ten out of ten for honesty then. LOL

Dangerous unicorns

Killtheskyfairy comments on Oct 13, 2021:

And the lower two are real even!

Fernapple replies on Oct 14, 2021:

The top one maybe real in a sense. Since if you read the description of the unicorn in the Bible, (Job,) it is fairly obvious that what they are taliking about, is a rhino.

How many times a month, do you as an agnostic, answer to a point of an argument or to a direct ...

zeuser comments on Oct 13, 2021:

I've learned a while ago that you are not required to attend every argument to which you are invited. As for direct questions, if I don't know, I say I don't know. If it's important to me, I'll make a note and follow up on it. Except for little white lies (no, no, those jeans look great on you), I ...

Fernapple replies on Oct 14, 2021:

I love. "you are not required to attend every argument to which you are invited." That would make a great quote. Will post it, I hope you don't mind.

How many times a month, do you as an agnostic, answer to a point of an argument or to a direct ...

DenoPenno comments on Oct 13, 2021:

Let me modify the question you are giving and change it to a simple "I don't know." I say it a lot in religious discussions without going on forever about bible doctrine. One of my favorites is **"I don't know and you don't either. You're making it up." **If this gets back to "the bible says" I ...

Fernapple replies on Oct 13, 2021:

Good answer, that could have been my reply too, if I could write so well.

White Nationalist CAUGHT On Camera By Anti-Karen - YouTube

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Oct 12, 2021:

I could not help but notice the heavy presence of alcohol, which may very well impair judgment and impact the tone of the discourse, but it certainly doesn't excuse it. The alcohol seems mostly to have "helped" in the removal of this "Ken's" personal self-policing function. Perfect opportunity to ...

Fernapple replies on Oct 13, 2021:

"There is truth in wine and children." Plato or Socrates.

The Dark World of New Age Gurus

rainmanjr comments on Oct 12, 2021:

From Tao te Jing.

Fernapple replies on Oct 13, 2021:

Great quote.

Let me paraphrase an absolutely true statement by Adam Schiff: It is not true that power ...

Matias comments on Oct 12, 2021:

What political crisis? There has never been a time or place in history when men did not seek power. Therefore, the present is just business as usual. If there is a crisis, the origin is not to be found in the characters of men (because those characters are the same whereever you look), but in the...

Fernapple replies on Oct 13, 2021:

@wordywalt If your post is mainly intended to be about the USA today, then perhaps it would be good to make that plainer. Since this site is seen all around the world, and therefore people like Matias and I, who are both from Europe are bound to see it as generalized statements.

10 Reasons to Wear a Mask

Fernapple comments on Oct 12, 2021:

You should wear them all the time, corona virus or not, there are lots of other infections out there, humans are probably the dirtiest species on the planet, (we have the most diseases ) and the mouth is our dirtiest part. A no brainer as they say.

Fernapple replies on Oct 12, 2021:

@KKGator You can look really good in them too.

Boredom:

Fernapple comments on Oct 12, 2021:

I like to lower the car window, when I am passing perfect strangers, lean out for a second or two, and call out. "Hey, long time no see, how you doin', really should catch up, but anyway I will see you this weekend. See you soon !" And drive off. Sometimes I like to address small children who are...

Fernapple replies on Oct 12, 2021:

@yvilletom Yes but they are private in the UK.

Let me paraphrase an absolutely true statement by Adam Schiff: It is not true that power ...

Matias comments on Oct 12, 2021:

What political crisis? There has never been a time or place in history when men did not seek power. Therefore, the present is just business as usual. If there is a crisis, the origin is not to be found in the characters of men (because those characters are the same whereever you look), but in the...

Fernapple replies on Oct 12, 2021:

@wordywalt Both Matias and I read it the same way, as that is what it seems to mean. And I am not sure that is true, human character is very much modified by experience, including that of power, though I would not deny all genetic determinism and certainly think some people will be more prone to corruption than others. I do think that both extremmes are in error. Corruption is in part both learned and inherent, and it is wrong to over simplify.

Arriving there is what you’re destined for.

Diogenes comments on Oct 12, 2021:

"Wealthy with what I've gained on the way"? Satire?

Fernapple replies on Oct 12, 2021:

No, I dont think so. In the bigger context of the whole poem, it seems to refer to experiences and memories. It is of course a metaphor using the travels of Odysseus as a base, it goes on to say that Ithaca is poor, but it is a launch pad and a retreat at the end, and better at both of those because it is poor.

Today's hike: "Don't look!"

DenoPenno comments on Oct 11, 2021:

I'm sure there are hazards of outdoor peeing. One would be in getting caught. I find it strange today that so many people now claim you are contaminating the ground and maybe should be arrested. OMG! In my youth everyone peed outdoors. Even with an outdoor toilet you ended up peeing on the ground. I...

Fernapple replies on Oct 12, 2021:

You take the wild berries and fungi out of the woods to eat, so you should put something back.

Believers and non-believers alike seem to gravitate toward literalizing mythology these days.

LiterateHiker comments on Oct 10, 2021:

Don't generalize about people. I alway have known myths, the Bible, Koran, etc. are just made-up stories.

Fernapple replies on Oct 11, 2021:

@skado No. "They are symbolic representations" yes, and sometimes of, "useful and most profound wisdom" but for the greater part by far, they are symbolic metaphorical representations of humanities collective folly, misunderstandings, lies and political propaganda. And the sad part is that religion does not make any distinction between what is true and good, and what is neither, which is why it, including its symbolism is increacingly only the resort of the anti social, and their most useful tool. Sorry but the world has moved on, and just because it is expressed indirectly by metaphor and symbolism, does not make it any less twadle than if it is expresssed directly. Saying that Adolph Hitler painted some rather nice landscapes, (they were pretty poor really) does not justify becoming a Nazi.

Where to go not just to read about or view history, but to live in it. [youtube.com]

whiskywoman comments on Oct 10, 2021:

romans bathed nude

Fernapple replies on Oct 11, 2021:

They also had showers, or something very like them, but they did not use soap, they used to rub each other with olive oil and then get a friend to rub it off. So I have this really big shower, with heads that send water everywhere, lots of room for more than one persion to splash about, and I can get olive oil. I was thinking if you are ever in England.....?

New Rule: The Slow-Moving Coup | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Oct 9, 2021:

Speaking as an outsider, who can only address the big picture, because I do not know the detail. I still think that the USA and its democracy, which has survived so much and climbed so many hurdles in its history, are stronger and better than that, and I hope I am not wrong. But if I am. ...

Fernapple replies on Oct 10, 2021:

@MyTVC15 Sorry can't help with that, it is not a new idea to draw parallels between ancient civilizations and modern ones, (often they are of very debatable value) so it could be one of many.

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and blind can see”……………..Mark Twain.

Castlepaloma comments on Oct 10, 2021:

Certainly the world can use alot more kindness than fear.

Fernapple replies on Oct 10, 2021:

@Marionville Sadly Twain's statement can be generalized to cover all emotions both good and bad.

You know you are!

DenoPenno comments on Oct 9, 2021:

I cannot go with the meme here. Science has never attempted to prove if gods were real or fake. There is no valid starting point to make them want to do so.

Fernapple replies on Oct 10, 2021:

I think that was Killtheskyfairy's point too.

New Rule: The Slow-Moving Coup | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Oct 9, 2021:

Speaking as an outsider, who can only address the big picture, because I do not know the detail. I still think that the USA and its democracy, which has survived so much and climbed so many hurdles in its history, are stronger and better than that, and I hope I am not wrong. But if I am. ...

Fernapple replies on Oct 9, 2021:

@Buck Sadly yes. A few years ago I read a book called Rubicon by Tom Holland, about the last days of the Roman republic, and how its fall into the hands of dictators became inevitable, a story of class divisions, social breakdown, the loss of ideology, and economic corruption. It was all so familiar.

Individuals have the right to chose to not suffer, and NO government should have the power to make a...

Fernapple comments on Oct 9, 2021:

Yes, and no country should be in the business of enforcing theologically derived laws, but most of them are.

Fernapple replies on Oct 9, 2021:

@Buck Its because they put the ideology first, and see people as there to serve the ideology, (as interpreted by them ) they don't see the ideology as being there to help them serve people.

New Rule: The Slow-Moving Coup | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Oct 9, 2021:

Speaking as an outsider, who can only address the big picture, because I do not know the detail. I still think that the USA and its democracy, which has survived so much and climbed so many hurdles in its history, are stronger and better than that, and I hope I am not wrong. But if I am. ...

Fernapple replies on Oct 9, 2021:

@Buck He is usually correct, I do hope that this time he is in error. The one thing that I can say is that, predicting the future, especially political future, is almost impossible. Key players die suddenly, or are found to have f##ked someone else's partner, people do things like crash planes into buildings with all sorts of unforseen political consequences, the world is a very unpredictable place.

“Only stupid people never change their minds”………..….Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Castlepaloma comments on Oct 9, 2021:

I won't change my mind About being not for war, slavery, murders and stealing. Is that stupid?

Fernapple replies on Oct 9, 2021:

Could not agree with you more, but it did say "never".

Found a good quote: "Correct a fool and he will get angry with you.

barjoe comments on Oct 8, 2021:

What if a fool corrects you? What if the person correcting you isn't correct? The wise man laughs.

Fernapple replies on Oct 9, 2021:

If the person correcting you, is not correct, then it is not a correction, and you have not been corrected. Sorry. I love playing with words. Not really a paradox, but much the same sort of word play as in the famous. The second sentence in this paragraph is true. The first sentence in this paragraph is false. (If a fool corrects you, are they not a "wise fool".)

Going down this slide is called reverse ejaculation.

p-nullifidian comments on Oct 8, 2021:

Just think about it, the little kids get to yell, “I’m a sperm!” while sliding down the dick slide in the opposite direction.

Fernapple replies on Oct 9, 2021:

Maybe the religious are right, and even sperm have freewill.

Freeman Dyson - Can Science Deal with God? - YouTube

skado comments on Oct 8, 2021:

Yes religion is art. And the job of art is to give expression to the truths that cannot be expressed in literal prose. It is the use of symbol and metaphor - the one capacity humans have that other animals don’t.

Fernapple replies on Oct 9, 2021:

@rainmanjr Yes, while Beethoven certainly created some wonderful music, I am a fan, I can not say that he ever gave me an idea, at least not outside of those he expressed as musical notation, which is itself a form of writen prose (his only direct product). Therefore every idea in Beethoven is expressable as writen literal prose.

Freeman Dyson - Can Science Deal with God? - YouTube

skado comments on Oct 8, 2021:

Yes religion is art. And the job of art is to give expression to the truths that cannot be expressed in literal prose. It is the use of symbol and metaphor - the one capacity humans have that other animals don’t.

Fernapple replies on Oct 9, 2021:

@skado Yes, but you could not get them to understand the colour purple, by showing them a picture of it no mater how good the artist. While using metaphors such as warmth, is prose, perhaps not literal prose if you take a very crude and simplistic view of the term, which I would not, but you yourself have just expresssed the idea in words, as your example of what you say can not be expressed in words.

Slavery in the Bible There are 4 types of slavery referenced in the bible: INTRODUCTION  ...

Fernapple comments on Oct 8, 2021:

No information is useful in deconverting the religious. They have no interest in information. Everyone has to find their own path out, and finding an interest in information is one of the last stages, after people escape.

Fernapple replies on Oct 8, 2021:

@SirDaddyGru Well done. And I am corrected. But I would still hold that your case is a quite rare and exceptional one.

Freeman Dyson - Can Science Deal with God? - YouTube

skado comments on Oct 8, 2021:

Yes religion is art. And the job of art is to give expression to the truths that cannot be expressed in literal prose. It is the use of symbol and metaphor - the one capacity humans have that other animals don’t.

Fernapple replies on Oct 8, 2021:

@rainmanjr They cerytainly have a lot to say, but I am sorry to say that I do not think that theyhave anything to say that is not expressable as literal prose. Indeed since literal prose is compossed of words, which are themselves totally abstract symbols and metaphores, no idea could possibly exist which is not expressible as literal prose.

Freeman Dyson - Can Science Deal with God? - YouTube

skado comments on Oct 8, 2021:

Yes religion is art. And the job of art is to give expression to the truths that cannot be expressed in literal prose. It is the use of symbol and metaphor - the one capacity humans have that other animals don’t.

Fernapple replies on Oct 8, 2021:

Can you give me an example of such a truth ?

Slavery in the Bible There are 4 types of slavery referenced in the bible: INTRODUCTION  ...

Fernapple comments on Oct 8, 2021:

No information is useful in deconverting the religious. They have no interest in information. Everyone has to find their own path out, and finding an interest in information is one of the last stages, after people escape.

Fernapple replies on Oct 8, 2021:

@SirDaddyGru Everone is different, but of course you deconverted yourself, I assumed, perhaps wrongly that it was talking about deconverting someone else, which is very hard, and has a lot more to do with emotion than facts.

In the 1980s, musician Daryl Davis set out to understand the Ku Klux Klan.

Fernapple comments on Oct 8, 2021:

You can do a lot with patience, its the most powerful thing there is. Wish I had some.

Fernapple replies on Oct 8, 2021:

@Ryo1 Since I am not trying to convert anybody, I am able to enjoy being just as judgemental as I like, and its fun.

I often see posts containing questions about various aspects of Jesus's Christ's acts and teachings ...

NostraDumbass comments on Oct 7, 2021:

The mythicist theory of Christian origins can be summed up in 5 brief bullet points. It is elegant in its simplicity, while still retaining enormous explanatory power. 1. At the start of Christianity Jesus Christ is a celestial deity, much like any other in contemporary Pagan mystery religions...

Fernapple replies on Oct 8, 2021:

Most biblical scholars think that even Mark was not the original, but probably copied from an earlier lost work.

I often see posts containing questions about various aspects of Jesus's Christ's acts and teachings ...

Fernapple comments on Oct 7, 2021:

I have heard people make a case for many different possibilities about Jesus, such as. He was real but not the myths attached to him, he was real but the stories are a result of poor copy and translation, he is a made up fictional persona, (Perhaps made up by pro-Roman Jews, in a pro-Roman ...

Fernapple replies on Oct 8, 2021:

@NostraDumbass That is very true, and that is in many ways because they wrote long after the fact, when Christianity was well established. But which also means that they too, had already lost most first hand contact with the evidence, if there ever was any.

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 If this is Florida, will we be seeing Dengue Fever deniers soon ? " Dengue Fever does not exist, I will not wear insect repellant, its against my rights. Its a government scam to make money for big pharma. etc."

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.