I got to inspect my bees yesterday for the first time since last fall.

Fernapple comments on Mar 11, 2021:

Wonderful. I used to keep bees many years ago as a boy, but had to give it up when I started work, I miss it. But I retire soon. Swarms can be a pain , but doing it the natural way is by far the best way to make more colonies. We always used to catch them the old fashioned way, in an empty box, and then tip them out on to a ramp in front of the hive in the evening, and let them walk in . It always seemed to work fine, and the bees settled happily though some people like more control.

All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fernapple comments on Mar 11, 2021:

I remember as a child, my experiment with the javelin and the sports teacher did not end well.

American candy bars are mostly sugar.

Fernapple comments on Mar 10, 2021:

Strange, in the same way here in Britain, we alway consider our chocolate inferior to the European brands.

There is a little game I like to play when I see some thing like this, switch the genders and see if...

Fernapple comments on Mar 9, 2021:

Are good and evil, one thing amongst men, and another amongst women ? (Paraphrasing J.R.R. Tolkien.)

“Those who will not reason, are bigots, those who cannot, are fools, and those who dare not, are...

Fernapple comments on Mar 9, 2021:

And those who don't bother are lazy. ( Can I go back to bed now ?)

What was God?

Fernapple comments on Mar 9, 2021:

One thing worth remembering, is that generating a word, is a nearly cost free exercise and can be fun. It was especially one of the few amusements available in the past, when there were no modern media, organized sports or government arts departments. Look at how much Shakespeare and other medieval writers just play with words, for its own sake, compared with modern authors, who are more interested in plot, character and realism etc. It must have been even more so in prehistory, when the nights were long dark and boring, and even music and dance need some light and instruments, not always available, but playing with words that is easy. It has always been easy to create words, to the same degree that today, you can create false news on the inter-net for a few presses on the keyboard, and the price of a half cents worth of electricity. Someone thinks it would be a good joke to tell his foolish friend that, furniture polish causes cancer. It goes viral across the net. And before you know where you are, furniture stores which sell it, are being burned down, people who work in the polish industry are being killed, and wax factories are going bankrupt. From our perspective today, words like god and religion carry huge baggage, which they have collected over time, and we think they must always have been important because of that. But that impression only comes from the baggage they carry. When once they were new and fresh minted, the new words and ideas ( Note I include 'ideas' as well. ) which became god and religion, could have been quite frivolous, and trivial. Indeed, since it would be a truly impossible thing for naive people, lacking written histories, to foresee the long term consequences of any cultural phenomenon they made, that is most likely. And prehistoric people undoubtedly had a frivolous side, they were human just like us after all. The reality, though not of course the certainty, is that we may today be, fighting, killing, stealing, exploiting, oppressing one another, and suppressing sources of truth like science and philosophy. Because originally, once around the campfire, on a dark dull boring night, a Stone-age comic, decided that he or she, ( No "he" lets blame a man. ) would liven the night up, by making a joke.

A blackbird with attitude.

Fernapple comments on Mar 8, 2021:

All blackbirds have attitude, I love em.

Ain’t that the truth.....

Fernapple comments on Mar 8, 2021:

The Royal family, having no longer any political meaning in the twentieth century, reinvented itself as a soap-opera. Thereby, hitting on one of the best marketing strategies ever. Because providing substitute lives, for those who don't have the imagination to get a life, was almost certainly the biggest growth area of the century. And they will continue to grow rich of those who bother with them , for the foreseeable future.

What’s the greatest thing about life itself ?

Fernapple comments on Mar 8, 2021:

Making people smile. And sunshine, which makes me smile.

Attention: This is all in German and Plattdeutsch.

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2021:

I can not understand a word of course, but it looks beautiful. Sad that you feel you will not be able to travel. My friend, who is very elderly, loved travel more than anything, I am still trying to persuade her that she can still make a trip or two, even if we have to hire a nurse to travel on the plane with us.

Avoiding cooties

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2021:

I wear the mask alone in the car, when I have a cold nose. What really worries me though is wearing it when I go to the bank.

atlantic ocean road Norway,

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2021:

Would love to know exactly where that mossy old railway is.

How to be happy spending money.

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2021:

Money does not make you happy, it is poverty that makes you unhappy. If you have enough to avoid poverty then you are well enough. So, since I have no mortgage to pay off, I would just put enough in a pension to ensure I never starve, then spend the rest to make others happy and the world a healthier place.

The following quote automatically appeared on my iPad this morning thanks to my handy dandy "Bible ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2021:

Love me some flesh.

I am A long-time, moral and patriotic liberal who has served this country who has served this ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2021:

Should 4, "getting dark money of politics" be " getting dark money OUT of politics" ?

Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2021:

And the best way to stop people reading books, is to persuade them to read just one book.

Mt. Stuart, 9,420', from Tronsen Ridge, WA

Fernapple comments on Mar 7, 2021:

Always a good idea to include some foreground in landscape shots, to give depth and contrast, plus chromatic perspective, note how the dark shades on the trees are much stronger than the shadows on the mountains.

This Church’s “Obedience” Video for Kids is All Kinds of Creepy | Hemant Mehta | Friendly ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 6, 2021:

And if you obey, it shows you believe. Wow the benefits of that are beyond credible.

Elementary students were posed the question, "who would you most like to be stranded on a desert ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 6, 2021:

Smart.

An Unfortunate truth The best lack all conviction, while the worst, Are full of passionate ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 6, 2021:

Ironically though. Yates was probably referring to Christians as the best, and sceptics as the worst.

and for all the mask addicts USA is on a good path to finally get rid of a non working method to ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 5, 2021:

( This has been said so many times before it is getting really boring. ) The main purpose of masks is to prevent you infecting others, if they do not prevent you getting infected, that is besides the point. Though it is hard to see how they would not at least help a little bit, even with that.

I just went to Amazon and I ordered all of William Shakespeare's works.

Fernapple comments on Mar 5, 2021:

Going on a long flight ?

Why are people leaving the site?

Fernapple comments on Mar 5, 2021:

Two reasons I think. First, that the dating service it advertises is quite useless to most of those who join because of it, so they just leave. And second, those who stay are old, we die a lot.

Calvin and Hobbs

Fernapple comments on Mar 5, 2021:

The schools system is a test of compliance, not a source of education.

[msn.] Is this your crazy aunt?

Fernapple comments on Mar 5, 2021:

No, sorry, can not claim that one, looks very like a couple I know, but all of mine are accounted for. Have you thought of taking her down to the police station, and handing her in, the relatives may still turn up to claim her.

Best country?

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2021:

There is nothing that breeds complacency more quickly, than the belief that you are the best at something. So you make no effort and then one day you turn round and find that the world has left you behind. Hubris is the parent of apathy.

the lady with the dog knitted her replica

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2021:

I should leave of the tomatoes too.

Now that you mention it...

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2021:

Which may be a quite deliberate symbolism. I am not a great Star Wars fan, but I have to admit that there was from the beginning a tradition of inserting multi-layered metaphors into the scripts.

Ramen, my Pastafarians...

Fernapple comments on Mar 4, 2021:

So do theists, the difference is , that atheists don't claim that their morals are perfected, and supported by a higher authority than everyone else's. They may even be open to debate and improvement.

Yosemite, Yosemite ,Japan, Texas, Switzerland, japan , Lk Reiner, WA, Golden bridge Vietnam, G ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2021:

Some great images, one day we can travel again.

Anymore I just worry about the Statute of Limitations!

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2021:

Welcome back.

“Being generous often consists of simply extending a hand.

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2021:

Assume, puts an ass ahead of you and me. ( Rare that a spelling joke actually contains wisdom as well. )

Which do you 'trust' ?

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2021:

How can you compare anyway, a search engine, a social media, on line retailers etc. and if you can what does it prove ?

Can physics prove if God exists? [bbc.com]

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2021:

What a load of twaddle. The BBC is trying far too hard to prove that it is inclusive. The stupid deserve equal air time.

Can physics prove if God exists? [bbc.com]

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2021:

Which god ?

"Happy birthday" is just another way of saying "I'm enjoying slowly watching you die of old age."

Fernapple comments on Mar 3, 2021:

Yep life is a death sentence. But I do prefer. 'Many happy returns.'

Apparently, god is a genetic disorder... yes? : [en.m.wikipedia.org]

Fernapple comments on Mar 2, 2021:

Yes but the problem with that bit of tabloid science interpretation, is that, feelings and spirituality do not equal God. Most early religions did not include a god, and in fact for by far the greater part of human history and probable prehistory, most religions were not theistic, yet almost certainly, people must have had the same feelings. I sometimes have feelings of being deeply in tune with nature and the universe, I call them "feelings of being in tune with nature and the universe" , not god.

These scammers really need to develop some new lines: What can I say , you look so great and ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 2, 2021:

We are still missing the sick emoji.

If money is the root of all evil, why do churches ask for it?

Fernapple comments on Mar 1, 2021:

They want to take temptation away from sinners ? I presume they burn it in the stove, so that it can do no more harm. LOL

Canadian Atheist Group: Churches Breaking COVID Rules Must Lose Tax-Exempt Status | Val Wilde | ...

Fernapple comments on Mar 1, 2021:

Why on earth would anyone give tax exemptions to churches in the first place.

One doughnut to rule them all!

Fernapple comments on Mar 1, 2021:

"And in the darkness bind them." Told you you needed more fiber in your diet.

Research Suggests Proper Fit of COVID Face Masks Is More Important Than Material

Fernapple comments on Mar 1, 2021:

IN the UK we have a good mask take up, but we do seem to be plagued by people who seem to think that a visor is a substitute, which of course is nothing but a load of gaps decorated with a bit of plastic.

My doggo is almost as happy to see my neighbor as he is to see me.

Fernapple comments on Mar 1, 2021:

Hunt in packs, it works well.

The Guardian: Trump has captured the Republican party – and that's great news for Biden.

Fernapple comments on Feb 28, 2021:

Sorry to sound a warning about counting chickens, but there are four years yet to the next election, and the twists and turns of history are manifold.

What do bees do in winter?

Fernapple comments on Feb 28, 2021:

Yes and they live six months like that in winter, but only six weeks when they are working flat out in summer.

God is really quite sadistic when you think about it.

Fernapple comments on Feb 28, 2021:

The biblical god seems quite sadistic to me, and I did not have to think about it very much.

Up to the 18th-19th century the church has historically taken a stand against every development in ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 28, 2021:

The church had to take a stand against every development in every sphere, since if you claim total authority on everything in all spheres, that is what you must do. It may have conceded some ground, but do not think that it has given up its imperial claims. It may just be biding its time.

Did anyone else know he was on tour?

Fernapple comments on Feb 27, 2021:

The second coming. And the J.W.s never predicted it !

@Admin Hey there! I'm sorry to say but is there any reason as to why i can't write back to ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 27, 2021:

Will try a test mail.

A Riddle for all members to solve (and the answer is NOT the first one you think of either btw), " ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 27, 2021:

Perfection.

A Riddle for all members to solve (and the answer is NOT the first one you think of either btw), " ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 27, 2021:

Infinity ?

Any gamers out there, especially PC gamers?

Fernapple comments on Feb 27, 2021:

I think there is a group for gamers. If not why not make one.

[youtube.com] Billie Jean

Fernapple comments on Feb 27, 2021:

Paddling to fetch worms to the surface perhaps ? Nice if someone gives you a soundtrack to help you work.

Is There any Value for Spiritual Naturalists in Retaining God as a Metaphor?

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

I like metaphor. But I have to play devils advocate here, and say that, since neurologically you are working with metaphor by default internally, is it not doubling any problems with metaphor if you start with external metaphor as well.

I have noticed that from time to time, a debate will ensue on line here, about whether Jesus was a ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

It does not matter if they existed or not. Since if they did not, then some authors or story tellers created the things they said and the examples they gave, and who is to say, if those story tellers were not greater in wisdom or folly than their creations. So that sayings and examples given have to stand on their own merit, or not at all.

I have noticed that from time to time, a debate will ensue on line here, about whether Jesus was a ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

The question, did either really exist, has no real importance, since there is no way of ever resolving it with any acceptable degree of objective certainty. Though some may consider it can be proved to their satisfaction subjectively. But the point that you perhaps miss is that, speculation, as long as you don't take it seriously, is a fun game that people like to play, and which can be good training for more important questions. (Just fun for me.) The gamblers betting game on where will you place your line of skepticism, at least, and what sort of evidence you personally value most.

I hadn't considered this before but I agree, it is a diminishing term.

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

Interesting the way the term has changed meaning. Originally it meant any country not in the Soviet or NATO blocks. In other words, it included such well developed countries as Switzerland and Ireland, and I am not sure but it may even have included China. In other words, Cold War neutral countries. It is only over time that it has come to mean much the same as developing countries, perhaps of course because most of them were.

Phys.org: Atheists and believers both have moral compasses, but with key differences.

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

So it seems to be saying, that the difference between atheist morality and theist morality, is that theist morality is more grounded in "us and them" but atheists are more generous to everyone. No big surprise there then.

Three years ago today I joined this community.

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

I tried pot once, it was quite good, but it did not change my life, and I would not cross the street to try it again. Glad you are enjoying the site, will see you at nine all being well.

4 is the glass platform over the grand canyon 2 shows with some ingenuity we can replace oil and ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

I like Jonathan, he looks just like me.

Friday and its hot again in texas got the air on

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

OK normally you do humour, today you do wisdom, obviously you are a polymath.

“If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

If I remember correctly, H. Ford was about the worst person at that who ever lived. I suppose if you only do a thing a tiny bit, that tiny bit becomes vastly more important.

All great men are dead, and I'm not feeling too well myself Mark Twain

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

And buried with their feet of clay.

I click to view perks and i get sent to picture i screen shot. Is "Tshirt" suppose to be a link?

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

Yep me too.

Much learning does not teach understanding. - Heraclitus

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

Sometimes it does just the opposite. ( If anyone doubts it, it even has several names, like, indoctrination. ) always liked A. C. Clarke's quote as well. " My favourite definition of an intellectual: 'Someone who has been educated beyond his/her intelligence."

Scientists accidentally discover life 3,000 feet under Antarctic ice: [ecology.news]

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

Really interesting thank you. Though the line. " The ice shelves several hundred miles thick " Did make me smile. ( I think they mean wide. )

It was 50 degrees (F) and sunny today, so i cranked up the tiny electic chainsaw on the 7-foot pole ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 26, 2021:

You look good for 178 anyway. LOL

When I talk to atheists I feel they have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

Fernapple comments on Feb 25, 2021:

My understanding of the world was deeply informed by the study of mythology, and its metaphorical interpretations, especially those studied in youth. However there is great danger in taking just one single mythology, especially the one endemic to the culture in which you live, and promoting it alone as a metaphor which offers wisdom and a panacea for the worlds ills. Because that leads to exactly the same absolutism, as a literal belief in a deity, indeed it is no more than making a pseudo-deity out of a metaphor, with exactly the same anti-human and anti-tolerant results. All of the evils of a religion are contained within it culture, including its mythology, ( It can not be otherwise if there are no literal gods. ) throwing away the bath water, (literal superstition I assume. ) will not stop the baby growing up to be a monsterous thug if that is its wish, and that is build into its nature.

The circle in the sky highlights one of the furthest objects the human eye can see without optical ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 25, 2021:

Yes, it is a lovely challenge in some ways, where I live, I get about one night a month when the conditions are good enough for a good view of it. Our night sky is not bad, but far from pitch black. I had some friends down from the city once and I took them on a walk to the pub. It was a good night and they were stunned by the sky, especially the Milky Way which they had never seen before. Trying to add something for their amusement, I told Mary that the ancient Egyptians though that it was shaped like a naked lady, but that I can not see it, and think that some people see naked ladies everywhere, like faces in the forest. But Mary was delighted and swore she could see her plainly. OH well.

[youtube.

Fernapple comments on Feb 24, 2021:

Intrusive music spoils what would otherwise be a good reading.

Neron the black jaguar is simply beautiful - Black jaguar's have a genetic condition called ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 24, 2021:

Never seen one like that before.

It's been a while.

Fernapple comments on Feb 24, 2021:

Not my favourite insult word, what could be more wonderful and nobler than a female dog. LOL

Rounding the corner for the last stretch.

Fernapple comments on Feb 24, 2021:

No but they send you the invoice.

First ever lottery ticket.

Fernapple comments on Feb 24, 2021:

Yes I am told that one of the prizes offered was a royal pardon, literally a get out of jail free card.

“And yet the central animating force of our species, the wellspring of our joy and curiosity, the ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 23, 2021:

Beautiful quote. Do you have the book/speech/ article ?

I've got a neighbour who still has his Christmas lights up...

Fernapple comments on Feb 23, 2021:

Remind him that it is bad luck not to take them down on 12th night.

“Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority.

Fernapple comments on Feb 23, 2021:

Great quote.

Conservative Writer Admits Christians Are “Better Known for Our Hate” | Beth Stoneburner | ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 23, 2021:

As the world increasingly adopts ideas like human rights, and respect for human diversity, as the norm, where can the hateful people go ? Science offers no support for hate, politics demands respect for majority opinion, philosophy for logic etc. But religion with increasingly no role in the global debate, is looking for support/money/credibility wherever it can find it, asks no questions, and can be manipulated to say anything you want. Do you think its a given ?

ok, this is gonna stir in some problematic commentary and divide the opinions, but i'll say it.

Fernapple comments on Feb 23, 2021:

Did the walls of Jericho come tumbling down ? Yes they did, according to archeology, many times, because its a big earthquake zone, and they never mastered earthquake proof building. Did they come tumbling down because someone blew trumpets ? There are not just factually accurate accounts, and false accounts. There are also, once factual accounts garbled to the point where they are no longer of value, and the older they are the more garbled they become..

Vaccinate! The difference is astronomical. A simulation on how herd immunity works. [npr.org]

Fernapple comments on Feb 23, 2021:

While I agree with the simulation and its conclusion, I have to wonder how well thought though it is. There are clear spaces round the infected at the beginning in the last shot, which seems contrived, surely the distribution should be random ?

I invented a new word!

Fernapple comments on Feb 23, 2021:

That would be just like Jesus inventing the golden rule.

New visitor to the feeder area a little while ago, an opossum.

Fernapple comments on Feb 22, 2021:

Wow wonderful, I would love to have a possum visit my feeder. They are I think the only marsupial in North America.

Evangelist: Pray for Me in Asia Because Buddhists Have “Emptiness on the Inside” | Hemant Mehta ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 21, 2021:

It is good to have emptiness on the inside, at least now and again. Constipation really hurts, there is nothing as painful as being full of s##t.

Hello friends...

Fernapple comments on Feb 21, 2021:

Don't worry, you mean a lot to us too, and we really value the funny memes. Well there ain't much else happening.

Ken Ham: The Perseverance Rover’s Budget Should Have Been Spent on Creationism | Hemant Mehta | ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 21, 2021:

It not the money, its the fear that people may find real learning can be fun and beautiful, that has him worried.

More funny and punny

Fernapple comments on Feb 21, 2021:

Like the one about dropping things especially, I get that.

I am surrounded by churchgoers.

Fernapple comments on Feb 21, 2021:

Just take apart one religious/ supernatural claim now and again, so that they understand the methods and how it is done, say. "How should we decide about this." Then when they are ready they will have the skills, they need. Taking down the odd one, is not the same as telling them what to think, since there will always be plenty left. The other thing, which I think works very well, is to widen their horizons by introducing them to the wonder of other things, especially science, nature, history and imaginative fiction. Not only does that give them alternatives, but when they realize that some of the things they have learned to love, are threatened by and at odds with religious/supernatural ideologies, they will understand what they stand to lose if they go down that route. I was raised on the popular children's stories of the Greek Myths, and also great naturalists, explorers and scientists, not as hard science, but just as tales, often biographical, of wonder. I still get a warm tingle, when someone mentions Ant Lions or Mason Bees and my mind goes back to the imagined warmth of the South of France and the stories of the naturalist Fabre, or the German villages of Konrad Lorenz in King Solomons Ring. (Nothing about Solomon, just about a scientist who set out to understand the languages of animals.)

An illustration of innumerate superstition. And a lot of syllables.

Fernapple comments on Feb 21, 2021:

12A also works I am told. LOL

Greetings, i am a user of humanist.

Fernapple comments on Feb 21, 2021:

Hello and welcome. They are sister sites one nested inside the other, so that members of one can see posts made by members in the other, we have been seeing your posts comments for a while. Funny old world is it not.

So i was checking into my Blocks & Follows, as i do from time to time, and noticed a Whole Bunch of ...

Fernapple comments on Feb 20, 2021:

Mine are still there, but thank you anyway, you just reminded me to update the list.

I was just trying to log in to agnostic.

Fernapple comments on Feb 20, 2021:

You are not the only one.

Hello all, please how can i get to the admin/support on here?

Fernapple comments on Feb 20, 2021:

Hello and welcome. Sorry but it is a rule of the site that you can not message people until you reach level 5 or 6 I think. It is annoying but it does protect members against spam and scam. Don't worry if you are not a robot or a troll the levels soon stack up. But you should be able to reply to messages sent to you.

Looking for suggestions...

Fernapple comments on Feb 20, 2021:

No can't help. Our village gardening club made me Vice Chairman, but they never asked me to organize any, so I left.

[cnn.

Fernapple comments on Feb 20, 2021:

Sorry the link no longer works.

Blocking: I'm curious... What do you (specifically) use it for on this site?

Fernapple comments on Feb 19, 2021:

You can block for any reason you like, I suppose. I never have though. If it is a post type you do not like, you can also tweak your settings to show me less of.

Confirm or deny.

Fernapple comments on Feb 19, 2021:

You don't. You look for something it the Bible which corresponds to your lack of morality or evil intentions, then you say, look I must be moral, it says so here.

Was a brutal three weeks of temps during the day in the single digits and nights well below zero.

Fernapple comments on Feb 19, 2021:

Well done. It is important to keep them going into the spring at least of course. But then there is some debate over whether, it is best to let them find natural food only when feeding their young.

I was in the kitchen having toast and coffee in my slippers and pajamas reading agnostic.

Fernapple comments on Feb 19, 2021:

I have seen none. But absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, so agnostic I remain. However there is no observable benefit that would be gained from the existence of a higher power, so its existence or not is of no importance. But I would strongly suspect that if there is a higher power, then that would be exactly they way, it would be most likely, to want things.

Monday, Monday.

Fernapple comments on Feb 19, 2021:

Promise yourself a big treat afterwards. ( I hope you get a good outcome, too.)

What do you get when you do not know the difference betwen 18% and 60%. A Texas Republican.

Fernapple comments on Feb 19, 2021:

A gold star in the maths class ? A 42% smaller pay rise ? 42% less cannibals say. "Ugh we don't eat nasty Texan republicans ?