Cf. Lockdown to Retirement. After retirement comes death. Discuss?

Fernapple comments on May 25, 2020:

I retire next year, thank for the heads up, but can I ask. How is that any different from working life?

Fernapple replies on May 25, 2020:

@FrayedBear Good article, though you or someone has posted it before.

The Death of Expertise

motrubl4u comments on May 24, 2020:

The main problem is 24 hour news and social media. The news outlets don't care if anything is factual anymore as long as they're the first to air with it. And thanks to social media any jackass with a Facebook account can spread misinformation to thousands.

Fernapple replies on May 25, 2020:

I would go further than that and say. They do not care if anything is factual, significant, new or even interesting, as long as they have something to air.

If spaceships from "other" worlds could reach our Earth much less our Galaxy, could they be organic ...

Fernapple comments on May 24, 2020:

Really did they not tell you to take your medication ?

Fernapple replies on May 25, 2020:

@PondartIncbendog What raw beans?!

If spaceships from "other" worlds could reach our Earth much less our Galaxy, could they be organic ...

hankster comments on May 24, 2020:

gigantic and self-healing orange skin. seems like that would be pretty sticky.

Fernapple replies on May 25, 2020:

@PondartIncbendog His skin does not self heal, he remains ugly.

Austria Has 90% Drop in Coronavirus Cases After Requiring People to Wear Face Masks | Science Times

Fernapple comments on May 24, 2020:

In the UK the government tried to pedal the line that, masks were no help, to cover the fact that due to their own incompetence, they could not get enough to go round. And now they are stuck having to defend a position which is increasingly at odds with the rest of the world and the advice of the ...

Fernapple replies on May 24, 2020:

@RV439 I do not think that the UK government has that much courage, they will just keep on track until they look completely stupid as usual.

Ghana or Senegal can do it, but USA and UK can't... [theguardian.com]

Fernapple comments on May 24, 2020:

Africa of course, both their governments and populations, has previous experience with a wide range of tropical diseases, especially malaria. They also take things seriously, and don't pander to spoiled brat elements within the population.

Fernapple replies on May 24, 2020:

@Allamanda I did not say that malaria was comparable with covid. I said that it was part of their experience, meaning that they have cultures used to treating disease with respect. In which case I singled it out for having the greatest cultural impact.

How many US citizens will be dead or permanently incapacitated from C19 by November?

MsDemeanour comments on May 24, 2020:

There are other species far more endangered than humans.

Fernapple replies on May 24, 2020:

Yes but it is not extinction that faces us, but a lot of truly horrible death for individuals, a lot of miserable sickness even fo those who live, and many left ill and dependent for perhaps months and years to come.

Why to wear a mask.

Rodatheist comments on May 23, 2020:

The requirement of wearing a face mask is due to the need of health officials to calm people’s fears, and not because it helps in any way. Wearing a mask gives a false sense of security. There is nothing that a mask can do that cannot be accomplished with safe distance, even in the presence of ...

Fernapple replies on May 24, 2020:

@Rodatheist No the air you expel contains droplets and micro droplets, and they are now proved to be a major and paerhaps the main way that the virus spreads. The knowledge is improving all the time.

Death takes a Holiday?

MrDragon comments on May 23, 2020:

Wasn't there a movie about that?

Fernapple replies on May 24, 2020:

@MrDragon Yep. here you go. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Takes_a_Holiday

I'm looking to buy a new bicycle to get some more exercise and my research has shown me that ...

Julie808 comments on May 24, 2020:

I spent $600 on my bike a few years ago. No doubt part of the price was in the shipping, since I ordered it from the Specialized catalog from my local bicycle shop. I got what I wanted and they service it yearly to make sure it's running smooth. I love my bike, it's comfortable, easy to care ...

Fernapple replies on May 24, 2020:

Great story. It is all about gettting the one you need I think. I have been thinking of changing my road bike for a folder which can go traveling with me, since I don't do a lot of local biking, but one that would drop in the back of the van, or go in the hold of a plane, would hopefully be used a lot.

[agnostic.

TheMiddleWay comments on May 22, 2020:

>>"Religion cheapens life."<< The problem with this statement is that you are using a value judgement that hasn't been agreed upon before the debate. Cheapened as determined by whom? By what metrics? Is their life cheaper because they could have done more but for their beliefs? Less? Is your life ...

Fernapple replies on May 24, 2020:

@TheMiddleWay No but that is by far its best and most worthwhile use. The one which most widens and enriches your experience, giving far wider interaction with a much greater community than you could gain otherwise. Its by far the main reason I am here.

An interesting history, it may interest US members especially who would like to know about life in ...

motrubl4u comments on May 23, 2020:

Its technically not law in the US. Common misconception. The only thing that is legally put down is that there can't be a state religion in the U.S. Its an unfortunate fact but that is it nonetheless.

Fernapple replies on May 23, 2020:

Yep. In Britain there is a state church of course, which may well be why outside of schools we are a fairly secular society.

The hard-to-imagine alternate reality of 'the intellectual right'... [newrepublic.com]

Fernapple comments on May 22, 2020:

Big cookies and pop ups, no thanks.

Fernapple replies on May 23, 2020:

@Marionville Yes I use a desktop, and the same one that I use for business and banking etc. so I have to be very careful.

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm ...

Fernapple comments on May 23, 2020:

Not sure. Ignorance often invests the most in weapons.

Fernapple replies on May 23, 2020:

@yvilletom Like everything else they do, sometimes well and sometimes badly. Sadly it is possible to have the power that knowledge gives without the knowledge. Democracy has four corner stones not just three, the right to life free of the fear of violence, freedom of expression and the right to vote, but also the right to a good education. And if you have a culture which has an anti- education bias, then you can not manage democracy in any true sense.

Golden Eagle Snatches Kid - YouTube

AnneWimsey comments on May 23, 2020:

I believe the eagle was going for one of the little dogs....no way coukd it carry the weight of the child. Probably a young inexperienced bird.

Fernapple replies on May 23, 2020:

Eagles have often been seen to attack prey far too large for them to carry off. Some people think that they are just doing it for the sport, while another theory says that they may be testing to see if things are sick, so that they will know where the likely carrion will be later.

[agnostic.

TheMiddleWay comments on May 22, 2020:

>>"Religion cheapens life."<< The problem with this statement is that you are using a value judgement that hasn't been agreed upon before the debate. Cheapened as determined by whom? By what metrics? Is their life cheaper because they could have done more but for their beliefs? Less? Is your life ...

Fernapple replies on May 23, 2020:

@TheMiddleWay Then why go on the internet at all.

[agnostic.

TheMiddleWay comments on May 22, 2020:

>>"Religion cheapens life."<< The problem with this statement is that you are using a value judgement that hasn't been agreed upon before the debate. Cheapened as determined by whom? By what metrics? Is their life cheaper because they could have done more but for their beliefs? Less? Is your life ...

Fernapple replies on May 22, 2020:

@TheMiddleWay You should, Causes are not advanced by gaining an association with folly.

The hard-to-imagine alternate reality of 'the intellectual right'... [newrepublic.com]

Fernapple comments on May 22, 2020:

Big cookies and pop ups, no thanks.

Fernapple replies on May 22, 2020:

@MarkWD It is not the anoying popups at the time, but what they plant on your system that discourages me.

[agnostic.

TheMiddleWay comments on May 22, 2020:

>>"Religion cheapens life."<< The problem with this statement is that you are using a value judgement that hasn't been agreed upon before the debate. Cheapened as determined by whom? By what metrics? Is their life cheaper because they could have done more but for their beliefs? Less? Is your life ...

Fernapple replies on May 22, 2020:

@TheMiddleWay I did not dispute your point. Though I could perhaps. Had you wished to dispute the post you could easily have written something like. 'Does wanting another life prove that you are not satisfied with this one?' But I did not comment on that. My comment was on bad reading of the post. Which is something you seem to have a problem with, the fact that you misread my comment as well, only confirms this. I would dearly love for there to be a good range of apologists on this site, to prevent it becoming an atheist echo chamber, and I have enjoyed the debates that I had with the few that there are, who are for the most part very good. But if you repeatedly make clumsy mistakes, you will only discredit the very points that you are trying to make, and confirm the worst prejudices of the most bigoted atheists. It is needful on a site like this to maintain a top game. These comments are only intended with the deepest desire to help, and to encourage diversity . Please take them that way

I think this study on smiling is worth a read, be careful sourpusses; it might be affecting your ...

Allamanda comments on May 22, 2020:

Interesting in that they measured the 'width' of the smiles: I don't see how that is workable as a metric when some people's mouths are twice as wide as others in repose. Mine is small and as I have heavy 'marionette lines' I feel I look grim in repose so I have always made an effort to smile a lot...

Fernapple replies on May 22, 2020:

It could be as an adjusted percent of the normal resting mouth, or it could just be sadly that the same genetics that give you a wide mouth also make you happy. Life was never fair.

There could hardly be anything more beautiful... [mymodernmet.com]

seenoevil9620 comments on May 21, 2020:

Just shows how nature is waiting in the shadows for our demise .............

Fernapple replies on May 22, 2020:

@BigMac10 It is nothing to do with hate, its just the truth. If I say that someone will move into your house, and enjoy living there when you have died, it does not mean that I hate you or want you to die. Its just a fact that life moves on.

[youtube.com] "Fewer Traffic Deaths but are Deadlier" Can anybody explain this title to me?

RavenCT comments on May 21, 2020:

Ugh! Headlines - even for News shows - are getting butchered. There used to be an Editor (or two) that checked that everything was correct - I'm betting there isn't now. Just like at newspapers - more and more staff are let go and they rely on spell check - which has no idea what **order ...

Fernapple replies on May 22, 2020:

@bingst Thats what the report said, its just sloppy headline writing.

[agnostic.

TheMiddleWay comments on May 22, 2020:

>>"Religion cheapens life."<< The problem with this statement is that you are using a value judgement that hasn't been agreed upon before the debate. Cheapened as determined by whom? By what metrics? Is their life cheaper because they could have done more but for their beliefs? Less? Is your life ...

Fernapple replies on May 22, 2020:

He means that their lives are cheapened because they value them less. That was plain to a careful reading of the post.

Four years ago today, my spouse and I took a niece and her husband on a boat trip to see Isola Bella...

Robecology comments on May 21, 2020:

Wow; lavish living. I wonder how they "made their fortune"? I'm guessing fossil fuels or weapons/ war machines.

Fernapple replies on May 22, 2020:

Bankers and at least one cardinal, it seems, so capitalism and religion seems to be the sourse of their wealth. Seventeenth century, so it pre-dates the fossil fuel boom.

When I first got this Wisteria I thought it was a big disappointment, its a form called Roseum, and ...

JackPedigo comments on May 21, 2020:

To all who want to grow Wisteria Good Luck. It is a beast and sends vines and roots everywhere. Be prepared for a full time job. One was on the property when we bought it and it was beautiful (but managed to send vines everywhere). Then I noticed another non-similar plant growing right from it's ...

Fernapple replies on May 22, 2020:

I am pleased to say that this one is not grafted, and it has stayed small, 8feet high 8feet spread, and not produced any runners, for some ten years now. Sadly grfted plants are often put on to cheap weedy root stocks to save the growers money.

Now I'm having problems with the site.

Allamanda comments on May 19, 2020:

if the edit is too far down the page, it only shows top part of it for me, on Firefox on Mac, all of the last year.

Fernapple replies on May 19, 2020:

Yes me too.

To acquire immunity to eloquence is of the utmost importance to the citizens of a democracy.

Fernapple comments on May 19, 2020:

“Charisma is the ability to influence without logic.” Quintin Crisp.

Fernapple replies on May 19, 2020:

@OwlInASack Boris does not have charisma that I had noticed. I still think that I would far rather have him than the orange person, who shall be nameless for the sake of good taste, but **charisma** !

Florida man who called coronavirus ‘fake crisis’ gets infected, warns others | KXAN.com

Fernapple comments on May 19, 2020:

Says site not available in Europe. Could you copy and paste an good extract ?

Fernapple replies on May 19, 2020:

@barjoe Yep. Got it thanks.

Reprinted by request: What?

Fernapple comments on May 19, 2020:

We are all unclean, one of the dirtiest and most disease ridden animals on the planet, even before Covid-19. Perhaps we are now, only just beginning, to act as we should.

Fernapple replies on May 19, 2020:

@Garbonza You need a good friend.

The new dog! She reminds me of Anubis, the Egyptian god.....those ears!

p-nullifidian comments on May 18, 2020:

In honor of your new companion, please allow me to share a sentiment that is in our vet's waiting area.

Fernapple replies on May 19, 2020:

Great quote. Well worth turning my head sideways to read it.

Recognition merited.

Fernapple comments on May 18, 2020:

After weeks of lock-down. Lets take a moment to recognize all the people who still have clothes that fit.

Fernapple replies on May 19, 2020:

@MissKathleen Now you begin to sound almost too good. A small taste for a little sin, puts the salt into lifes soup, and makes a lady interesting.

When you post something on the internet or on this platform for that matter, and someone starts ...

Fernapple comments on May 18, 2020:

It is often just an admission that they know they can not win the argument. In which case you can ask yourself if you are wrong, or admit that you lack the skills needed to argue at that level even if not wrong, but some people find those things hard to do, perhaps because they were taught that ...

Fernapple replies on May 19, 2020:

@Fred_Snerd Glad you enjoyed the irony in it. Though it was not intended as ironic, merely to point up that people who are bullied, especially in childhood and especially by parents and teachers, often grow up believing that nothing short of perfection is permitted, and that feeling often has very destructive effects on their self esteem and social skills.

Recognition merited.

Fernapple comments on May 18, 2020:

After weeks of lock-down. Lets take a moment to recognize all the people who still have clothes that fit.

Fernapple replies on May 18, 2020:

@MissKathleen Well done.

Your grossly incompetent president called Obama's presidency "grossly incompetent"...

linxminx comments on May 17, 2020:

I'm not sure I would call Trump incompetent. He is a consummate autocrat and white collar crook. He is actually quite competent in making sure corporate interests come first, the rich stay and get richer, and above all, he is making sure he profits while most Americans continue to struggle. I ...

Fernapple replies on May 18, 2020:

I don't know about that. He was formerly a business man and famous for being such an incompetent one, that independent business analists say, he earned over his lifetime less than bank interest rates, plus nearly going bankrupt twice. Which he would not have survived if he had not recieved politically motivated bail outs. Which is about as failed and incompetent in business as you can get.

[dailystar.co.uk] An alternate universe?

Allamanda comments on May 18, 2020:

Isn't that like The National Inquirer?

Fernapple replies on May 18, 2020:

Noted as perhaps the most trash publication available in the UK. Does not mean that this report is false, just don't accept it as 100% accurate.

Is it just me or do other find it kind of strange/odd that we have heard very little from the ...

Fernapple comments on May 18, 2020:

Maybe he is not well. Or they are waiting to see what happens in the long term, so that they can seem wise after the event.

Fernapple replies on May 18, 2020:

@Triphid That's it.

See if you can translate the following phrases, each followed by a hint as to what it says.

FearlessFly comments on May 18, 2020:

I'll see you in a while Beer in hell ? I am hearty to excess I ate three and I ate one for you too An eye for an eye

Fernapple replies on May 18, 2020:

@Julie808 Yep, M-E-2

But my favorite child is still not my own.

Fernapple comments on May 17, 2020:

But that is so limiting. And I always wondered about that sort of question, why does no one ever ask you who your favourite adult is ?

Fernapple replies on May 17, 2020:

@MissKathleen My friend Sylvia, she is very, very, old, but if I shop for her groceries, or cut her lawn, then her face lights up like a sunbeam.

Totalitarian and Democracy society

Fernapple comments on May 17, 2020:

Sorry but the post needs some work, the grammar is all over the place, and the numbers do not relate logically to any part of the text. I think you may have an interesting point here, but there are a lot of pedants on this site who will find this too sloppy to be of any value.

Fernapple replies on May 17, 2020:

@AmyTheBruce Yes but a little bit of pedantry can be fun.

DRUNKDRIVERS4TRUMP "My feelings are greater than your life."

LucyLoohoo comments on May 17, 2020:

Please tell me she's being satirical? Because she's making a point I've been repeating for weeks! NOBODY has the ''freedom'' to endanger anyone else. And yet...the baby-like pustule fans are demanding just that!

Fernapple replies on May 17, 2020:

Being satirical is always bound to fail, because sooner or later real life always comes up with something more outrageous, and those to who she is trying to speak will not get it.

"I have a dream, where our president isn't a imbecile.

Omnedon comments on May 15, 2020:

Don't wake up. You'll be disappointed.

Fernapple replies on May 16, 2020:

@Omnedon Best option in the long run.

Why am I suddenly getting notifications of posting to groups I am not a member of, & have in the ...

Fernapple comments on May 16, 2020:

I find it more annoying, that I don't get notifications from some of the groups I am a member of.

Fernapple replies on May 16, 2020:

@Lilac-Jade Thanks I will try that.

Why the World is Horrified by the American Idiot.

Fernapple comments on May 14, 2020:

In try to avoid commenting too much, on the US politics of this site, since its none of my business really, but these days it hard to walk by. I am glad someone overseas said what they did in the article, but it goes way beyond that. How can so many US citizens not understand that this president is...

Fernapple replies on May 15, 2020:

@Beowulfsfriend Yes that is another issue. How can a country which claims to be the champion of democracy, not try its best to get as many people engaged with the voting as possible, yet instead it ends up having large numbers of appathetic none voters, and many disenfranchised. It seems almost like a retreat to the origins of democracy centuries ago, when the 'people' and the 'voters', meant, landowning white males over forty. Perhaps it is just the usual case, that long ago the US led the world in democrasy, and that leaders often assume that they can give up trying and improving because they think the job is a done one, then one day they turn round and find themselves at the rear.

A metaphor is a lie to help people understand what’s true. .......Terry Pratchett.

Cutiebeauty comments on May 14, 2020:

Huh? Metaphors are used to explain..

Fernapple replies on May 15, 2020:

@yvilletom The world is a stage I pass through between birth and death.

The Lily of the Valley, Convallaria majalis, is in flower in the garden now.

Killtheskyfairy comments on May 14, 2020:

Lucky you! We had this by the front door on our first home. I used to take a sprig every morning to smell all day. I tried to take some to replant when we moved but couldn’t get them to flourish.

Fernapple replies on May 14, 2020:

Yes, I shall try to make up a posy to take to my friend tonight. I will lose some flowers, but they will scent her house.

The Lily of the Valley, Convallaria majalis, is in flower in the garden now.

RussRAB comments on May 13, 2020:

How big of an area do they cover? That second photo looks like they go on forever.

Fernapple replies on May 14, 2020:

Its about twenty feet by ten. The area was a gravel area but the lily just took over, and I have not tried to stop it.

Seems that as gardeners we have the upper hand when it comes to being happy with life.

Fernapple comments on May 13, 2020:

Of course, we were made to engage with our planet. Nothing to do with the main point, but I love the way they use the term "before times" in the article.

Fernapple replies on May 13, 2020:

@MarkWD No I think we were evolved in the DNA.

Should we invent a new definition of 'god?

Fernapple comments on May 12, 2020:

God a a synonym for 'nothing much'. No I don't think so, thank you. I think that the term 'nothing much', has served me very well all though life so far, and I see no reason to be disloyal.

Fernapple replies on May 13, 2020:

@Storm1752 That is very true, but you have to be aware of the, 'proving my father was a fish', type of fallacy.

To be able to say how much you love is to love but little. - Petrarch

brentan comments on May 13, 2020:

I think Shakespeare stole that one too. I think Antony says it to Cleopatra at the start of the play.

Fernapple replies on May 13, 2020:

It great fun spotting Shakespeare's borrowings, he plagiarized like mad, but as you know, it was not seen as a crime in those days, rather it was seen as showing respect to the collective culture.

AZTEC KINGS HAD RULES FOR PLAGUES, INCLUDING ‘DO NOT BE A FOOL’ [zocalopublicsquare.

Fernapple comments on May 12, 2020:

No one uses the plague word now, for contemporary events. Are we becoming over sensitive, or do we in our pride, think that we are too superior to the peoples of the past to share an experience with them.

Fernapple replies on May 12, 2020:

@RoboGraham Think that is probably true.

The Finger Lakes Region of NY can re-open on Friday, says the governor.

Fernapple comments on May 11, 2020:

I would stay home until the numbers go down, not level out. If, and it is a big 'if' , your state puts in enough regulations to get the 'R' number below one. Then instead of exponential growth, you will get exponential shrinking, and as the death rate, which is what most people follow, trails ...

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

@Spinliesel Smart move. When it is all over, there may be a lot of people who have changed their tune along the way.

This came up on another post.

Lorajay comments on May 11, 2020:

I think I do it because I think the icon should actually look like how the person looks at the current time.

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

Can look like anything you wish, but I do think that there is something to be said for consistency. Personally mine is me aged eleven as painted by the village postman.

This came up on another post.

skado comments on May 11, 2020:

I’m a visually oriented person so I like easy recognition of the person I’m responding to, but I guess some people may be more verbally oriented, so they pay more attention to names, or maybe some people don’t even care who they’re responding to - I don’t know. I appreciate people who ...

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

Yes me too, I often go just by a quick glance at the photo. That is why I raised the question.

The first five days after the weekend are always the hardest.

Omnedon comments on May 11, 2020:

Did you know that 40% of sick days are taken on Mondays and Fridays?

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

@Omnedon Sorry I did the math and was looking for a deeper trick, which was also a mistake.

Except Jesus in a potato. Those are legit

Fernapple comments on May 11, 2020:

For interest. Many nineteenth century photos, are very detailed and pin sharp, because they used huge lenses, and big plates. It meant they had very poor depth of focus and the cameras were nearly immovable, but one thing they could do was pin sharp.

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

@LucyLoohoo They had to use a really big lens that grabbed a lot of light to get the expossure time down, take ten photos to get one good one, and use a saucer of very expensive fish paste. Sometimes they cheated and killed the cat first.

"All you have to do is look around you and see the beauty of god's creation!" It's like you've ...

JeffMesser comments on May 11, 2020:

it's the absolute dumbest "reason" that the churchies give me and it makes me laugh. the beauty just makes me appreciate nature ... not some man in the sky who judges me. now if they wish to admit that their precious buy-bull is NOT to be taken literally then we can talk.

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

@JeffMesser Yes but then if you said that, god is just a black box, then they could not have a special exclusive relationship with it, and then they would be just like everybody else. That's why I have always called myself a broad church skeptic and respect deism. Because the differences between deist, agnostic, atheist humanist etc, are tiny when compared to those who think that they have an excusive relationship with god/gods and understand its mind. Because when you think that you are superior and entitled. As the 'good' books say you can dash their babies brains out against the rocks, stone them for not respecting your holy day, and cut their heads off for even surgesting you may not know what god thinks.

The first five days after the weekend are always the hardest.

Omnedon comments on May 11, 2020:

Did you know that 40% of sick days are taken on Mondays and Fridays?

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

@Omnedon 40% on a Monday and 40% on a Friday.

"All you have to do is look around you and see the beauty of god's creation!" It's like you've ...

JeffMesser comments on May 11, 2020:

it's the absolute dumbest "reason" that the churchies give me and it makes me laugh. the beauty just makes me appreciate nature ... not some man in the sky who judges me. now if they wish to admit that their precious buy-bull is NOT to be taken literally then we can talk.

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

He's is just not as good as his supposed creation. And according to his supposed book, bats are birds, so he must have lost his notes somewhere.

The first five days after the weekend are always the hardest.

Omnedon comments on May 11, 2020:

Did you know that 40% of sick days are taken on Mondays and Fridays?

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

@Omnedon Did your comment mean, 'on' a Monday **and** a Friday.

In Search of God’s Perfect Proofs

Storm1752 comments on May 11, 2020:

I don't see the mathematical logic. You'd think it'd be the other way around.

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

@Storm1752 No not the bible, the book on popular maths the article is promoting. You did not read the link idi you, don't worry you are not the only one to comment on a post with out reading it, especially one that looks wooy. Guilt myself. LOL

The first five days after the weekend are always the hardest.

Omnedon comments on May 11, 2020:

Did you know that 40% of sick days are taken on Mondays and Fridays?

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

Surprised its not more than that. LOL

This came up on another post.

bobwjr comments on May 11, 2020:

People like to change things it's normal

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

Shortest reply and perhaps the most profound.

This came up on another post.

Bierbasstard comments on May 11, 2020:

The only thing constant in life is change.

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

Amen. I can live with that.

This came up on another post.

Allamanda comments on May 11, 2020:

'Messaging' in essence - eg. I used a photo with a mask, to signal that we ought to be wearing them. Now I figure we all know that so I can go back to a recognisable photo, and in my case my chin is particularly important as it indicates a degree of stubbornness I would be foolish to hide.

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

Yes that is a genuine good reason. To make a topical point in the short term, understandable.

“It has been said that man is a rational animal.

Fernapple comments on May 11, 2020:

Not sure who he was talking about when he said that, maybe its dated, I do not think that, humans being rational is a view that many hold to today.

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

@Marionville Yes and even he was writing in the past tense. Though I suspect that there were still at that time many fundamentalists, who still held it as doctrine, (It used to be part of the humans are special, and therefore given souls argument.) so he was perhaps being a little contentious.

Nothing quite like the gift of being able to produce ATP.

Fernapple comments on May 10, 2020:

Mitochondria, you would not get far without them. ( Hope I spilled that right.)

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

@Word Yes I saw an article about that too, though I think that it is thought to be rare. Can't remember where I saw it now.

In Search of God’s Perfect Proofs

Storm1752 comments on May 11, 2020:

I don't see the mathematical logic. You'd think it'd be the other way around.

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

My reading of the article is that the 'god' is a purely metaphorical one, just an artistic outline to frame the ideas into a group. The book sounds like a really interesting read.

In Search of God’s Perfect Proofs

LucyLoohoo comments on May 10, 2020:

Well...good for you. How can one be an atheist and still believe in a ''book'' created by that god?

Fernapple replies on May 11, 2020:

My reading of the article is that the 'god' is a purely metaphorical one, just an artistic outline to frame the ideas into a group. The book sounds like a really interesting read.

Nothing quite like the gift of being able to produce ATP.

Petter comments on May 10, 2020:

Yep! I'll drink to that. All we pathetic males can give to our descendants are X and Y characteristics of the cell nucleus. Mothers supply the essential bricks and mortar, including mitochondrial DNA. So here's to mothers and their daughters everywhere. P.S. Good to see you back.

Fernapple replies on May 10, 2020:

And you only borrowed the X bit from grandmom, anyway.

Nothing quite like the gift of being able to produce ATP.

Fernapple comments on May 10, 2020:

Mitochondria, you would not get far without them. ( Hope I spilled that right.)

Fernapple replies on May 10, 2020:

@Amzungu2 Thank you. No but it may be rude of me to say, that I typo'ed the word 'spelled' deliberately, pitty Americans don't do irony.

I see that the vegan-guilt-trip posts now appear in the main feed, under 'Family and Parenting'.

Cutiebeauty comments on May 10, 2020:

Anyone can post in the public forums.

Fernapple replies on May 10, 2020:

@Allamanda If when you post in a group, you click on the option of choose a catagory then your post appears in the main feed as well, under that listing. That is why some fools, not naming any in particular, end up with the same post appearing several times.

Morals.

RiverRick comments on May 10, 2020:

Just treat others as you wish to be treated. (Unless you like to be tied up and spanked!)

Fernapple replies on May 10, 2020:

OR YOUR FRIEND LIKES TO BE TIED UP AND SPANKED.

Patience rewarded on both sides. [youtube.com]

Allamanda comments on May 10, 2020:

Is this a good thing? I've always believed habituating wold animals to human contact, plus unsuitable foods etc. can cause problems... Foxes already represent an urban pest in some places and are treated badly.

Fernapple replies on May 10, 2020:

No I do not think it is a good thing, I am working on the assumption that these are exceptional circumstances and that no one will be stupid enough to emulate them.

Whether to laugh or cry?

Fernapple comments on May 10, 2020:

Post needs more work.

Fernapple replies on May 10, 2020:

@Allamanda More introduction, and some explaination of the US cultural background.

Religion its real good or bad ?

barjoe comments on May 9, 2020:

Deja Vu all over again.

Fernapple replies on May 10, 2020:

Deja Vu comes round regularly on this site.

COUNTRIES BEATING COVID-19 and those that aren't quite there yet.

JayOleck38 comments on May 9, 2020:

Spoilers: we in the US are in the "not good" category.

Fernapple replies on May 10, 2020:

Another big surprise, we in the UK arn't either.

Ginormous Coneflower, or tiny cat? Who can say? 😜 All i know for sure is it is sideways.

RavenCT comments on May 9, 2020:

@Admin @developer this sideways thing is still happening - can you fix the issue? Thanks! (L)

Fernapple replies on May 10, 2020:

@MikeInBatonRouge You could try taking a much wider photo, and then cropping it down to shape in a photo editor , that could perhaps fool the site. But perhaps not worth the bother, maybe it will get fixed.

“Judge nothing, you will be happy.

Fernapple comments on May 9, 2020:

That's a big hard ask. I think that I would add, 'try to', to those lines. Then it would perhaps be more in line with what real humans can manage.

Fernapple replies on May 9, 2020:

@Robecology I like a bit of failure, it makes me feel at home with all the other creatures. LOL

Thoughts?

David1955 comments on May 8, 2020:

Well, I take this as a kind of rejection of agnosticism, implied anyway. Being a strident atheist, I broadly agree here, though I see atheism not merely as a proposition but a statement that there is not a scrap of evidence that any god exists. Anyone got any evidence, then give us a call. I note...

Fernapple replies on May 9, 2020:

Good point about gods in the plural. This site especially tends to be post christian and USA centric, so that god singular tends to be the default. But that is just allowing imperial chritianity to dictate the terms.

CW: Whoa.

prometheus comments on May 9, 2020:

I don't get it... "If he really believed all of it he wouldn't have killed himself." I'm pretty certain if many Christians truly believed in the after life they would commit suicide in droves just like in that recent TV show on the subject. Sure some religions inserted some rules in their rule ...

Fernapple replies on May 9, 2020:

Most christian theology forbids suicide. It is usually termed self murder, and deemed to be against the, "thou shalt not kill," commandment. Some christian sects, including I think, Roman Catholic, consider it to be the worst of all sins, because the suicide can not repent before death. Dante had a special circle of hell reserved for suicides.

“By three methods we may find wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by ...

Fernapple comments on May 9, 2020:

Great quote, though someone did post it before about two days ago.

Fernapple replies on May 9, 2020:

@Marionville Don't be sorry it happens to everyone. Just one of those things. Quite fun really.

Today's hike: Can bicyclists share the trail with hikers?

t1nick comments on May 9, 2020:

Any of the participants involved in adrenaline sports involving speed (often called extreme) tend to be self-centered, tactless, and discourteous. Whether it is mountain biking snowboarding, skiing, snow mobilizing, motocross, atv, etc. They tend to have the same personality flaws even if their ...

Fernapple replies on May 9, 2020:

Especially so of cyclists, who have been told, ( not entirely without some truth ) that they are saving the planet. You tell people they are virtuous, a lot of them get arrogant, look at religious people.

“You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb ...

Fernapple comments on May 8, 2020:

Maybe women have more taste. Having said that, there are for example a couple in the White House, and well smart may be an overstatement, but........

Fernapple replies on May 8, 2020:

@MarkWD Yes, but I am told that she was opposed to him running for president. So if one of them does have a brain cell, or even two of them to rub together and make a spark, then I would guess, based on that evidence, that it is the female of the species.

The mind is the the only thing that has developed to name, or label itself?

Fernapple comments on May 8, 2020:

Near to profound. Not quite. "I think therefore I am." But close.

Fernapple replies on May 8, 2020:

@Word Thank you for the background, interesting. Though sadly I have changed my mind about profound, a little given some reflection, it is still clever. But since. "The mind is the the only thing that has developed to name, or label itself? " Is a substatement of the simpler and more general. The mind is the the only thing that has developed to name, or label. It does I think after all fall a little short.

FIRST, I am very much aware of the honeybee crisis and take every precaution in my life to protect ...

LucyLoohoo comments on May 8, 2020:

Maybe we could give them teeeeeeny lil' AK47s?

Fernapple replies on May 8, 2020:

Oh, they have got those. One of them shot me once, and my whole arm swelled up, very painful.

Lying Christian Pastor: It’s “Scientifically Impossible to Be an Atheist” | Hemant Mehta | ...

MissKathleen comments on May 6, 2020:

Aren’t all clergy delusional liars?

Fernapple replies on May 7, 2020:

They are certainly either one or the other, and sometimes both.

Is there any Arabs here ?

Fernapple comments on May 7, 2020:

Hello and welcome. There are a few but they tend not to make it plain, there is a map app. on the site which shows roughly where people live.

Fernapple replies on May 7, 2020:

@Word Look under members.

The many variations of cardinals.

Novelty comments on May 7, 2020:

Here’s a few more... 💋

Fernapple replies on May 7, 2020:

They are not that variable, they all think and act alike.

Safety versus freedom. Make of that what you will. Any thoughts?

Fernapple comments on May 6, 2020:

The dead are not going anywhere or doing anything, thats a pretty big reduction in freedom. Some people gain a little freedom, some people get to have none at all.

Fernapple replies on May 7, 2020:

@Metahuman That's interesting. Do you have a quote ?

How are we going to really get rid of the grip of this virus?

Fernapple comments on May 6, 2020:

All very true. Like you and a lot of people I like to qualify 'Survival of the fittest.' which was not Darwin's originally and the one I go for is. 'Survival of the best fitted, in the short term.' 'Survival, of the quickest adapting, in the long term.'

Fernapple replies on May 6, 2020:

@Mcflewster I think that part of the problem is that the meaning of the words 'fit' and 'fittest' has changed since Darwin's day. In those days it certainly probably had more of the, peg the same shape as the hole, meaning than it does today, after a century of misuse by those who misunderstood Darwin, and promoted the idea that it meant strong, they are bound to have affected the way we understand the word.

Can we declare 'war' on social media postings proclaiming that the only solution to the Corona virus...

anglophone comments on May 6, 2020:

Why declare war on those who flaunt their own cognitive failures and delight the rest of us with their magnificent absurdities?

Fernapple replies on May 6, 2020:

Well they may infect you. And not with faith, something nearly as nasty.

“Compared to what we ought to be, we are half awake.” — William James

TCorCM comments on May 6, 2020:

What did he mean by that?

Fernapple replies on May 6, 2020:

Yep, could mean dozens of metaphorical ways, so vague it is almost meaningless.

I just had a look at my calendar, and it seems I got home and started my quarantine 6 weeks ago, so ...

Fernapple comments on May 5, 2020:

Looks like the dream of a tropic garden.

Fernapple replies on May 6, 2020:

@Allamanda No its the fact that it is untidy that makes it dream like.

As a diversion from my recent posts about human evolution, I’d like to get opinions on a literary ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 28, 2020:

I am sorry to say that, nature does not have intent or purpose. Nemesis is just a human invention, like all the other gods.

Fernapple replies on May 5, 2020:

@Aristippus No I am saying that it never existed in either sense, justice is just an idea in the minds of a few species of social animals including us, it does not exist as a diety or as an abstract law of nature, big nature is purely thoughtless.

Sitting here watching the world burn, it's sad that through doing so I finally have some hope for ...

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

You have certainly diagnosed the true disease OK. But I think that the cure may kill the patient.

Fernapple replies on May 4, 2020:

@Allamanda The link was not that important deleted. Thanks.

Where do you think we are, on the slide to fascism? [johnpavlovitz.com]

Bakunin comments on May 4, 2020:

tRump is a poor example of a fascist because he is soooo self centered that he lacks the necessary self discipline shown in classic 20th century examples like Franco and Mussolini. But tRump is a 21st century fascist. 20th century fascists were nationalists. 21st century fascists are ...

Fernapple replies on May 4, 2020:

tRump I think, especially makes one big mistake that better fascists (sic) never did, Hitler, Mussolini, and even little ones like Blair, all knew that if you stand for nothing, then you can appear to stand for whatever your audience wants to hear. You talk to the employers about controling unions, and you tell the workers about protecting their rights, etc. But tRump ( love the way you caps. that.) Is a bit too dumb for that , and seems to think it enough that his followers cheer. Sadly that however may not be fatal to his chances.

How much will it matter whoever gets the vaccine first ?

MsAl comments on May 4, 2020:

The way it sounds vaccines arent in the near future anyway. Especially with the way people keep getting reinfected after recovery.. And any experts I hear talk about it say it's a minimum of a few years even if one is possible.

Fernapple replies on May 4, 2020:

@greyeyed123 Yep, that is what the mainstream news services and the government has been saying in the UK.

Not many left who remember WWII, but we do need old people.

Fernapple comments on May 4, 2020:

I wonder if culture really changes with the generations that much, or will today's young start to develop those same habits as they grow older and mellow.

Fernapple replies on May 4, 2020:

@MissKathleen Because of course, everyone who wants to sell you something, wants to tell you that if you buy this, ( including political and religious ideals, ) then it does everything, gives you everything and you don't even have to make the effort or obey the rules.

If you think that religion is a bad thing today, then I am sorry to say that I have a very sad ...

1of5 comments on May 4, 2020:

That brings us back to the age old question: does religion create the hatred in its followers or just release it?

Fernapple replies on May 4, 2020:

Now that is just the question I started to ask, indeed the even simpler question, why is there such a strong association between religion and intolerant extreme political views. I then suddenly thought of this, which I think goes some way at least to explaining it.

What if a vaccine is not able to be developed for COVID 19? [cnn.com]

bobwjr comments on May 3, 2020:

We will survive like the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 it will be costly

Fernapple replies on May 4, 2020:

@JackPedigo Like the metaphor.