Fernapple's Profile

Want to be happier, lower your expectations apparently.

Fernapple comments on Sep 9, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Sep 9, 2021:

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

Being "unique" may not be a good thing.

Druvius comments on Sep 8, 2021:

Yerp.

Fernapple replies on Sep 9, 2021:

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

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

MikeInBatonRouge comments on Sep 7, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Sep 8, 2021:

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

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

KateOahu comments on Sep 7, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2021:

@MsKathleen that sounds good anyway.

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

KateOahu comments on Sep 7, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2021:

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

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

KateOahu comments on Sep 7, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2021:

I am sure you will.

13. Not enough! 😆

Fernapple comments on Sep 6, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Sep 7, 2021:

@Ryo1 Yes but not to any cities.

Certainly troubling, hope they are able to find some.

Fernapple comments on Sep 4, 2021:

The link could be improved perhaps.

Fernapple replies on Sep 4, 2021:

@silverotter11 Read thank you see above.

Certainly troubling, hope they are able to find some.

Fernapple comments on Sep 4, 2021:

The link could be improved perhaps.

Fernapple replies on Sep 4, 2021:

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

What does the bible say about "rights"?

Gwendolyn2018 comments on Sep 3, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Sep 3, 2021:

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

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

Fernapple comments on Sep 3, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Sep 3, 2021:

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

The Myth of Religious Violence .

Fernapple comments on Sep 1, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Sep 3, 2021:

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

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

Fernapple comments on Sep 2, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Sep 2, 2021:

@Marionville My paraphrase of.

Have you put your happiness beyond your cognitive horizon?

Fernapple comments on Sep 2, 2021:

Sorry the link seems not to work.

Fernapple replies on Sep 2, 2021:

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

Vaccine passports.

hankster comments on Sep 1, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Sep 2, 2021:

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

Enjoy.

Fernapple comments on Sep 1, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Sep 1, 2021:

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

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

Fernapple comments on Aug 30, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 30, 2021:

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

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

David1955 comments on Aug 29, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 29, 2021:

@David1955 Or ruling establishments, would do.

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

David1955 comments on Aug 29, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 29, 2021:

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

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

Fernapple comments on Aug 29, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 29, 2021:

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

“The cure for boredom is curiosity.

Castlepaloma comments on Aug 29, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 29, 2021:

That's even better than the posted quote.

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

Fernapple comments on Aug 29, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 29, 2021:

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

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

KateOahu comments on Aug 27, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 28, 2021:

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

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

Fernapple comments on Aug 26, 2021:

Photo would be nice ?

Fernapple replies on Aug 27, 2021:

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

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

Fernapple comments on Aug 26, 2021:

Photo would be nice ?

Fernapple replies on Aug 26, 2021:

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

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

Fernapple comments on Aug 24, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 25, 2021:

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

OK people, this really illustrates my problem re definitions.

Rignor comments on Aug 24, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 25, 2021:

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

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

Marionville comments on Aug 24, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 25, 2021:

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

You know.

Fernapple comments on Aug 23, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 24, 2021:

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

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

Fernapple comments on Aug 23, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 23, 2021:

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

You know.

Fernapple comments on Aug 23, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 23, 2021:

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

WTF are purple carrots and where did they come from?

Fernapple comments on Aug 23, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 23, 2021:

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

WTF are purple carrots and where did they come from?

Fernapple comments on Aug 23, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 23, 2021:

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

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

Redneckliberal comments on Aug 22, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 23, 2021:

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

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

Redneckliberal comments on Aug 22, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 22, 2021:

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

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

Word comments on Aug 22, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 22, 2021:

@Marionville Yes that was it.

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

SpikeTalon comments on Aug 22, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 22, 2021:

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

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

SpikeTalon comments on Aug 22, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 22, 2021:

Good critical thinking.

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

Word comments on Aug 22, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 22, 2021:

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

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

xenoview comments on Aug 22, 2021:

Evidence that a spiritual being exist.

Fernapple replies on Aug 22, 2021:

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

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

Fernapple comments on Aug 21, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 21, 2021:

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

When Medusa met Midas...

Pralina1 comments on Aug 20, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 21, 2021:

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

"Never collect inanimate objects.

LiterateHiker comments on Aug 18, 2021:

I love my book collection.

Fernapple replies on Aug 19, 2021:

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

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

Fernapple comments on Aug 19, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 19, 2021:

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

A little dating advice....

Gemini-1947 comments on Aug 19, 2021:

I always thought that storks brought sporks.

Fernapple replies on Aug 19, 2021:

No that is Spoonbills.

"Never collect inanimate objects.

LiterateHiker comments on Aug 18, 2021:

I love my book collection.

Fernapple replies on Aug 19, 2021:

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

Perspective

Fernapple comments on Aug 18, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

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

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

Willow_Wisp comments on Aug 17, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

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

Perspective

waitingforgodo comments on Aug 18, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

I will quote you if I may.

Perspective

waitingforgodo comments on Aug 18, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

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

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

Willow_Wisp comments on Aug 17, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

Real informed oppinion thank you.

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

creative51 comments on Aug 16, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

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

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

Fernapple comments on Aug 16, 2021:

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

Fernapple replies on Aug 18, 2021:

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

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 ...