Be subtle and many will miss your point...

Fernapple comments on Apr 30, 2023:

Yes, I used to think that the story that, Americans could not understand irony, was an urban myth. Then I joined this site.

ANIMALS ARE NOT HAPPY AS PETS Just heard a program on NPR where they interviewed an "Animal ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 29, 2023:

A lot of people cause a lot of pointless pain and unhappiness to the animals they keep as pets. Not alway though unkindness, but though a total lack of understanding of the animals needs, and a total lack of empathy. If you doubt that, you only have to look at the large numbers of people who are toxic parents to their children, and then ask if you think that dealing with an animal which has different needs, instincts, senses, diet requirements and a much more limited ability to explain its needs to humans, is likely to be any more successful ? While sadly it is often those most devoted to both their children and their pets who, often, cause the most harm, though a combination of misguided care, and frequently, that bad care being taken to an excessive level. Yet having said that, there are some animals, such as dogs especially, who have adapted over tens of thousands or years to live in the human world. We and our homes, are, their natural environment, and there is no other to which they are naturally adapted. So the idea that the ethicist is quoted as expressing, that, animals should " live in the nature, eat what they want to eat, run as and where they want to run." Is just another stupid example of exactly that misguided and misunderstanding care. It is of course at its worst in the case of the so called "exotic" pets, who are rarely happy in a captive environment, and usually least understood by many of the people keeping them. Although some of them are kept by people very well educated in their needs, in the case of exotics it is very much the two extremes. The middle way is in this as in many things nearly always the best way, and pet ownership should sadly be regulated therefore. Breeding even more so. At the minimum licenses should be required, the requirements for which should be more stringent for more exotic animals, and training courses should be offered at the public expense, and in most cases required as a minimum. It should also be remembered that pets, do have a very positive impact on human health and wellbeing. For many of the old sick and lonely, they can literally add years to their lives.

Well this is certainly one type of cancer I don’t have to worry about getting….

Fernapple comments on Apr 29, 2023:

Best, for safeties sake, to avoid all contact with humans. Make sex a DIY project.

Who is allowed to be proud?

Fernapple comments on Apr 29, 2023:

You said it yourself, "minorities" . The degree to which pride is justified is directly related to size, (Other things as well.) It is well justified to feel pride in your own achievements, acceptable to be proud of your group, and can be stretched to a minority just. But it is odd to be proud of belonging to a majority, and it would be very odd to be proud of being human, very strange to be proud of belonging to the mammals, and laughable to be proud to be a vertebrate. Pride, if justifiable, is about personal worth, and the degree to which it is justified is exactly in proportion to your, and your immediate personal groups, part in the collective achievement, which dilutes with size.

Who is allowed to be proud?

Fernapple comments on Apr 28, 2023:

Two different meanings of the word pride.

Excuse me but a sad thing has happened.

Fernapple comments on Apr 28, 2023:

Well at least the wealthy surgeons made some extra money out of her before she died. You can always use an extra apartment near a good beach. And the malpractice will be paid for out of the insurance, which is paid for by all the possibly really sick, and low earning people's medical insurance.

I can't find it! Anyone relate?

Fernapple comments on Apr 28, 2023:

They say that if you call out its name repeatedly, "knife sharpener" it helps some people to remember where they put things. It never worked for me, but some people swear that it works for them.

Let's talk about evil in a religious context.... - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Apr 27, 2023:

If you don't want to address your own failings and weaknesses, then you have to find someone else to blame and hate. You just have to find an excuse, and/or a system that can provide an excuse. There is I think, a link between religion, falsehood and evil, for although religion does not have to be immoral or evil, but then neither is it naturally moral, at a basic level, it is simply amoral, completely neutral on issues of morality. To use the wonderful metaphor coined by a member here, it is a sauce which you can pour over anything. Which is sadly why though it is not evil, it is so much more useful to the evil of intent, who can get the best use out of the weapons and smoke screens of religion. While if you have good intent, why would you need to hide the sight and flavour with a sauce. And that is my main problem with religion on all issues, it does not have to be an evil thing, ( Some none deist philosophies promote a lot that is good. ) but it is a tool which most readily fits the hand of those with evil intent. Especially conservative extremes, who are so successful at promoting the false myth that religion is not merely a source of morality, but even the 'only' source of morality, exactly because that helps greatly to raise the caliber of one of their main weapons. In fact of course, there is an exact analogue with the gun law issue. Where the pro-gun lobby love to point out that, a rifle is a useful tool, for the farmer to protect the worlds food, and for the poor to feed their families, etc., and they say that. "Guns do not kill people. It is only the shooters who do that." Neither does religion create, conservative extremism, bullying, sexism, racism, anti-intellectualism, pseudo-education, science denial, or extreme nationalism, etc. but it does help them very greatly to promote themselves. So with the same pragmatism which makes most pro gun control people, think that the world would be both a happier and safer place if there were fewer guns. So it is, that I think that the world would be a far happier and safer place if there was less religion.

My favorite physics joke!

Fernapple comments on Apr 27, 2023:

Yes but only if they are genetically compatible, otherwise they are just having fun.

God's word is final and he also said ... "Life begins at birth.. Gen 2:7"

Fernapple comments on Apr 26, 2023:

Yes, but there the mother has no choice, god is a cruel as---le, who wants to do it to them against their will. With as much blood pain and death for the mothers as possible. It just is no fun for him if they choose to do it themselves, in a safe, clean and painless way.

What better place to ask this question: What's the difference between a Christian who loves god and...

Fernapple comments on Apr 26, 2023:

I believe that a good Christian is required to do both. Since the love of god is required for salvation, but so is the fear of god. The terms " Fear of god. " And "God fearing Christian." were introduced originally into Christian dogma, because it was thought that Christians should distance themselves from pagan classical philosophy. Many schools of which ( Stoics, Epicurians )shared the same idea, that. "You have nothing to fear from god." Because if god is all good, then god can do no harm, especially to anyone who has tried their best to be good and moral themselves. But under Christian theology, God may ask you to do things which may seem evil to you, but you still have a duty to obey. And the only reasonable reason for doing so, is the acceptance of gods authority, fearfully, and the idea that god "moves in mysterious ways," and is "beyond understanding". So that it is not possible to interpret the will of god by reason and good moral judgment alone, and therefore only fearful blind obeying will do. A great idea for those who claim to be the spokesmen of god, for if they meet with. "No I will not do that its wrong." Then they answer with. "You will do it because god speaks through me, and you can not judge god or understand his commandments."

We Europeans know that the US are a world of its own, and that it is kind of weird.

Fernapple comments on Apr 26, 2023:

In the beginning was a highly evolved social animal. Descended from several generations of species of highly evolved social animals, with both individual desires and social instincts. A story. " In the cave that night, it was warm around the fire, but the food had run out and the apes were near to starving. They knew that outside it was cold and the snow storm, which blew hard, had a long way still to go. Yet outside they also knew, some migrating animals would have perished on the ice of the frozen lake, a few days walk away. Easy meat, if you got there before the wolves and eagles, who, as yet, would also be sheltering from the storm. Some of the apes felt hunger greatly and were impatient, they went early, and died in the cold. Some got it just right and leaving on the last edge of the storm, they found the food and survived. But when they returned to the cave, they found some of those who were too were afraid of the cold and lingered too long had grown too weak, and they died too. " You have balance instincts like fear of the cold and hunger, that is what they are for. The need to balance them, is therefore hard wired into our systems, to help us make value judgments. And that applies to the social instincts and the self serving desires as well. Conflict is built in to our brains and for good reason. Story two. "Some apes were stuck in a high tech tent in the arctic snows, and they were running out of food and fuel. The leader, who had been on a survival course, said that it was always best to stay where you were. So they all did. Not even a couple of them went out to try and find the food dump. And they all died. " Often natural instincts can be modified and overwritten by cultural training, sometimes that works well, and sometimes it does not. While often it fails completely, especially when some cultural institutions, like political groups and religions, with hidden agendas, push for extremes and absolutes.

How many times do you say sorry?

Fernapple comments on Apr 25, 2023:

Admitting your failings and wrong doings, is is nine tenths of the way to amending them.

The U.

Fernapple comments on Apr 24, 2023:

Followed the link and read the paper now. Very good.

The U.

Fernapple comments on Apr 24, 2023:

Interesting but the graphics are a little small and hard to read, sorry.

What if I told you there were dark secrets behind the Christianity cult?

Fernapple comments on Apr 24, 2023:

I would say the line should be "there was a dark secret".

I can no longer send messages to folks on here…..😞

Fernapple comments on Apr 24, 2023:

Yes, it has been like that for a while. The best thing is, if you want to say something rude about another member, do it in public, on a post. Its much better that way really.

Yeah, that takes some time…

Fernapple comments on Apr 24, 2023:

Doing well if he can remember it.

Atheism is a non-prophet organization. George Carlin.. what do you guys think?

Fernapple comments on Apr 23, 2023:

I prefer not to think it hurts the brain. But I strongly assume that this is a spelling joke, but it is best not to assume either, since it can make and ass out of you and me. Ass-u-me.

Texas to Force the Christian Bible in EVERY PUBLIC SCHOOL CLASSROOM!!! - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Apr 23, 2023:

Pity they are not planning to teach Christianity in schools like they do in the UK. It has nearly killed Christianity stone dead.

Why should I swear on anything as obscene as the Buy Bull when I can swear on something as erudite ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 23, 2023:

Why should I be asked to swear at all ? Is the state saying that all its citizens, including me, are habitual liars ? And what worth is swearing ? If the state holds the power to punish you should you be found lying. Then why should you not be asked to simply repeat a line saying something like. "I understand and accept that failing to tell the truth, and the whole truth, in a court of law, is a serious matter, and that the state may punish me, if I am found to be lying." Surely that would be much better. ( I would also if I had my way, add that. "I understand that a court of law is not in any way a church, and there is no bonus for claiming the biggest fibs." But I don't think that they would go for that ! )

I was in the mood to see some religious programming this morning so I watched a Xian kids show and ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 23, 2023:

It is a very good idea to familiarize yourself with what the other side say, think and do, so sometimes I force myself do that too. But being "in the mood" for it ? Please, Please, Please, see your doctor and get them to review your medication before its too late.

ℍ𝔸𝕀𝕃 𝕊𝔸𝕋𝔸ℕ ☠Ⓐ♆𖤐⁶⁶⁶𖤍

Fernapple comments on Apr 23, 2023:

Actually we hardly hear anything at all, about Satan in the bible, he was largely made up after the bible was written. In the old testament most of the very few mentions of Satan, is of satans, the profession of being a satan, ( Means roughly, legal advocate of the other side. ) most of them help God, and it is to be assumed they are all different. While the mentions in the N. T. are few, mostly late, and mostly metaphorical, such as the "Beast", which could really be anybody. And they are mostly in Revelation, the bit that many think should be dropped, and was certainly a late tack on. PS. 66 books, not chapters, perhaps, depending on how you count them.

Those who self-identify politically as liberal or progressive have a special talent for darkening ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 23, 2023:

If you don't care, you don't have anything to get depressed about, if you do care you have to worry.

“One hour in the bath is worth four hours of sleep”…………….Napoleon Bonaparte.

Fernapple comments on Apr 23, 2023:

"Against this background of confusion and stress, and hope, this strained and heaving France and Europe, this stormy and tremendous dawn, appears this dark little archaic personage, hard, compact, capable, unscrupulous, imitative, and neatly vulgar. Like all men of limited vision, this man was a snob to the bone, his continual solicitude for big titles shows as much." H. G. Wells on N. B.

“One hour in the bath is worth four hours of sleep”…………….Napoleon Bonaparte.

Fernapple comments on Apr 23, 2023:

Ugh no.

The further I get away from my deconstruction and the more I have interactions with Christian’s ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 22, 2023:

Not hate, only pity.

Be skeptical. The truth doesn’t need a salesman.

Fernapple comments on Apr 22, 2023:

I agree. Though I actually like your line, even better than his. Though I don't agree, suspect that truth suffers because the lies employ the most and best salesmen.

In valor there is hope. - Tacitus

Fernapple comments on Apr 21, 2023:

And the other way round.

Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.

Fernapple comments on Apr 21, 2023:

I keep reading these things, and stand amazed at how many people, got to what is basically the Dunning Kruger effect, directly or in directly , long before Dunning and Kruger.

Pay attention.

Fernapple comments on Apr 19, 2023:

Warm drinks like tea are good, as long as it does not make them sick and cause choking; do not give if they are fainting. It is better to heat the body core first rather than put them in front of a fire.

Heavenly fiction.

Fernapple comments on Apr 19, 2023:

Oh. Mother Teresa's clock must have jammed through over use.

King Charles's coronation At the bottom of Charles' coronation invitation is a picture of the Green...

Fernapple comments on Apr 19, 2023:

He did say that he wanted to change his title, "Protector of the faith." to "Protector of faiths.". Perhaps this is a crude silly way of saying that again.

Fox and Dominion settle for US$787.

Fernapple comments on Apr 19, 2023:

The great superpower that all dictators, propagandists and liars need, most of all, is a complete lack of a sense of humour. If you can see how silly you look, you have lost it.

No further comment necessary.

Fernapple comments on Apr 19, 2023:

Missed one.

So the English aristocracy used to speak French.

Fernapple comments on Apr 18, 2023:

English only began really, when the Anglo-Saxon spoken by the people blended with the nobles French, old Gallic from Wales and Scotland, the churches Latin and a little Old Norse borrowed from the Danes. It is really a dialect made up of several original languages, and not a true pure language at all.

WORLD NEWS AND COMMENTARY from Jeff Childers 'Whoopsies! More bad news for mask lovers.

Fernapple comments on Apr 18, 2023:

Best become nudists. After all, if a small piece of paper tissue in front of your face does all of that, just think what wearing thick heavy clothes all over your body could do.

82% of Buddhists 68% of Hindus 52% of Historically Black Protestants 83% of Jews 60% of Mainline...

Fernapple comments on Apr 17, 2023:

I did the Pew research https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/fact-sheet/public-opinion-on-abortion/ And found these figures. About three-quarters of White evangelical Protestants (74%) think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. By contrast, 84% of religiously unaffiliated Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, as do 66% of Black Protestants, 60% of White Protestants who are not evangelical, and 56% of Catholics. At 84% religiously unaffiliated are by far the biggest, they list here.

“Human beings make life so interesting.

Fernapple comments on Apr 16, 2023:

The fix ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6Ld4mx-TnU

In my case it would be youfuckface

Fernapple comments on Apr 16, 2023:

So what do you have against oral sex, if it is between adults, who both consent ?

A certain person’s penchant for a man of an indubitably loathsome character reminds me of the ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 16, 2023:

The Ancient Greeks had a word for it. "The lover of evil." Some people have a hatred of mainstream society, and its values, probably because they are unwilling to make the effort to engage with it or them. But secretly they feel guilty about that, so they make heros out of antisocial people, so that they can pretend to themselves that they do have some values, just alternate ones, and that the fault is with society.

Inmate Eaten Alive By Bedbugs In Fulton County Georgia I'm all about Trump being investigated, ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 15, 2023:

What happened to, "duty of care."

Anyone else have new posts just never show up? Has happened more than once now.

Fernapple comments on Apr 14, 2023:

No, but sometimes you have to click the Submit button and then wait a while, if you don't then they may not post.

Why don't I get to have any fun?

Fernapple comments on Apr 14, 2023:

They are sent out in order to annoy people, and get frustrated when they are blocked and meet with hostility. That reinforces their church's message that the outside world is a bleak and hostile place, and that the only routes to comfort and humanity are inside the churches community. The pastors who send them out know this, because they once went through the same learning process themselves. It is not about converting you, but about brain-washing them, and deepening their dependence on the church. I think that like barjoe below, a good idea may be, to give them lunch money, and let them know that the kindest person on the street was an atheist.

I forgot to share my favorite April poems.

Fernapple comments on Apr 14, 2023:

"A spring day came when I began to know that this was not the first spring of the world. That I had lived through other winters - perhaps seven or eight of them - and known a sudden tender day like this one, when I stood with flowers in my hands, My thumb and fingers would not meet around the violet stems, I had picked so many, and were cold with tightly keeping them. Why is it always sad to be so happy ? Why is there sorrow in this return so longed for and so unfailing ? On this day I first felt regret that spring must always go, and that when I am gone it will return forever." D. C. Peattie.

Funny, I never think of him as very quotable but he keeps popping up.

Fernapple comments on Apr 14, 2023:

Oh, he is one of the best quote mines ever.

Evening Star....

Fernapple comments on Apr 13, 2023:

Yes it, (Venus) has been very bright recently. Even this side of the Atlantic despite the horrible weather.

Well here's something interesting that I never knew Why do mother octopuses commit suicide just ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 13, 2023:

Some spiders allow their young to eat them. But in that case, the reason is seemingly obvious since that way they provide food for the young in the early stages by doing so. This just seem strange.

Florida is unsafe for travel for LGBTQIA+ people.

Fernapple comments on Apr 13, 2023:

Sorry the link seems to be missing.

Sunday past, I'm sitting at a memorial bench I donated to this park near our home, on behalf of my ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 13, 2023:

Only one small thought of perhaps some comfort, which is that. Death can not take away what has been. The life that was lived is still a good one, and it still leaves a legacy of meaning and good intent in those who remember. Intend for yourself, that I shall now live the life that they would have wanted for me, and my life shall express the wisdom their life passed on to me. It does work. My wife still gives me good advice in my head, even after more than twenty years.

I’m still running on an iPhone 10! Anyone else out there a tight assed mfer like me!? 🤠

Fernapple comments on Apr 13, 2023:

Until about six month ago, I was still using a Blackberry.

“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 12, 2023:

I hope she is correct. Trying my best.

HIDDEN RINGS OF URANUS REVEALED IN IMAGES.

Fernapple comments on Apr 12, 2023:

When the first found it, they were going to call it George, really no kid.

I’d marry that woman!! ☺️ [yahoo.com]

Fernapple comments on Apr 12, 2023:

Fortunately. I don't think she would marry you, so no issue to worry about here. LOL

Yeah, you know who you are…

Fernapple comments on Apr 12, 2023:

Yep. As to the first one. I live in a small village, been there, done, that nearly every day.

Just be yourself.

Fernapple comments on Apr 12, 2023:

Yes I commented on a comment under your last post, that being yourself can often mean wanting to help and please others. We are social animals and being yourself often therefore means, filling the needs of others.

Mythicism means you can make a non-existent historical character into anything you want.

Fernapple comments on Apr 11, 2023:

Sadly you can interpret it to mean anything you like, but then say. "Yes but it is in my holy book, so it must be true." That is how the trick works.

What does the injunction, "Be yourself!" mean?

Fernapple comments on Apr 11, 2023:

As with so many things, I think that it is the path through the centre that is the best way. Take either extreme and you will cause harm.

Well ain’t that some shit!? Happy Easter y’all!!! 🤠

Fernapple comments on Apr 11, 2023:

She managed to keep the royal soap opera going, long past its sell by date. I don't think that the new lead will do quite as well.

Radical Leftist Ron DeSantis Vs Small Businesses - Shorts - YouTube

Fernapple comments on Apr 11, 2023:

Sorry the video does not play. Error message.

Sumbitches 😒 [axios.com]

Fernapple comments on Apr 11, 2023:

Sounds like good advice, charge at home, use your own charger in a socket or carry a battery.

I like this lady’s style. [futurism.com]

Fernapple comments on Apr 11, 2023:

Yep great. I await to hear for the bible belt, with its renewed and extra loud calls to defund NASA.

“The sensitivity of the poor to injustice is a trivial thing compared with that of the rich.

Fernapple comments on Apr 10, 2023:

“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.” Anatole France

Who knew!? 🤷‍♀️

Fernapple comments on Apr 10, 2023:

Groan.

So after an enjoyable day in the forest I came home and decided to run up to the grocery store for ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 10, 2023:

You were lucky that you made it to the forest. In this country, because nearly everyone gets a compulsory holiday at Easter, the roads get completely jammed by people trying to escape. You can't get anywhere.

5 reasons to suspect that Jesus never existed | Salon.com

Fernapple comments on Apr 10, 2023:

There are, and have been several different positions on the issue. Not just history or myth, but also pure fiction, garbled pro-Roman propaganda earlier Jewish texts reused etc. My own thought is that whatever theory people hold, given the almost complete lack of any real evidence, and what evidence there is badly garbled, it is a delusion to think that any theory could ever be provable. I have seen people make what seemed like really good cases for all of them, but nobody had a single bit of solid evidence.

I'm pretty convinced that cognitive laziness is the primary force behind the power of religion.

Fernapple comments on Apr 9, 2023:

Very true. Although the optimist in me, thinks that paganism, is often an early step on the road to becoming a "non" after people reject Christian dogma.

“I don’t wish to be without my brains, tho’ they doubtless interfere with a blind faith which...

Fernapple comments on Apr 9, 2023:

A mathematician, and said to have written the worlds first computer program.

A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there.

Fernapple comments on Apr 9, 2023:

But sadly when science says. "I felt carefully in that corner, and it was not there. " It then gets a kicking from the other two for presumption.

I posted this in FB, but it bears repeating: Happy Ostara .

Fernapple comments on Apr 9, 2023:

There is possibly an even more direct link between eggs and Easter as well as a metaphor for fertility. Since in the days before modern farming, many people harvested wild birds eggs for eating. While before modern selective breeding had improved their performance, and electric light had altered their day length artificially, even domestic hens probably stopped laying in the winter. So that eggs were a symbol of spring directly, because for most people, they were the first new food to appear after the hunger of winter, just as the preserved autumn harvest began to run out.

Do atheists experience cognitive dissonance in their life as it unfolds?

Fernapple comments on Apr 8, 2023:

Yes I have moved from early literal belief in Christianity, which I adopted in early childhood despite not being raised as such. But being open to doubt and a natural Humanist, in later youth I accepted the extreme ecumenical relativist view, that all religion was a single stream of wisdom equally valid. But then when I discovered the folly of that view, in my late teens, and fell for and/or was then inducted into the cult of the metaphorical view of religion, of the sort Skado has published on this site, which is very popular in the clergy within the UK, and was the way I was expected to go following a Church of England schooling. But then seeing that for the the painted face of corruption, and hollow sham, that it is, I became in the end an agnostic at the deist end though gradually drifting more towards the atheist end as I aged.

ON COGNITIVE DISSONANCE (Thanks to racocn8 for initiating this important discussion: ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 8, 2023:

Yes That is why I love Skado so much, to have an almost perfect example of all those things at first hand for study is almost too good to be true. I do hope this is not a farewell message, for I am a long way from being bored.

Does religion hold a "power" over people, or do people enthusiastically throw themselves in to ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 8, 2023:

Both. That is why it persists things which are supported by more than one prop, tend to be enduring.

Some folks don’t have anything better to do but hate folks who are different from them?

Fernapple comments on Apr 8, 2023:

Pathetic, or a publicity stunt. Or actually a publicity stunt based on a someone else's publicity stunt. Which is even more pathetic. I don't think that I ever drank a Bud light, must give it a try.

Jesus carrying a cross to good friday [youtu.be]

Fernapple comments on Apr 8, 2023:

Old Christian saying. "We all choose our own cross." ( Which is odd if you think about it. Because surely according to Christian dogma, Jesus did the cross bit for all of us anyway ? )

No matter how bad a day I might be having, I always take solace in the fact that at least I don’t ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 8, 2023:

Yes you do.

One of the central tenets of liberalism, first proposed by John Stuart Mill, is the so-called harm ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 7, 2023:

No I do not accept the basic premise, that liberalism has abandoned the idea of the common good. Indeed I would say that the common good is central to it. What you are talking about is libertarianism, which is quite different from liberalism although related perhaps, if generally (wrongly ) regarded as always being on opposite political wings. "I can do whatever I like as long as I do not harm somebody. " Should perhaps be qualified with the word, "knowingly" because "not knowingly harm somebody", is the best, in a world controlled by chaos and the phenomena of unforeseen consequences that we can ever hope for. Though I would perhaps take knowingly as a given, since you would hardly need a degree in philosophy to appreciate that it should be included. And in part that shows a logical fault in the argument, since you could equally also add "not knowingly harm somebody." to the statement, "work for the common good". Since the same criticism, that I may unknowingly cause more harm than good, can equally be leveled at attempts to work for the common good. While it is also true. That if I do not attend to my own good to some degree, and try to ensure my own health and happiness. Then I may become a unhappy or broken person, who is less able to work effectively for the common good, and may even become a net burden on everyone else, due not to unavoidable misfortune which is forgivable, but to my neglect of the self, the first person I have a duty to care for. Indeed I would say that the core value of liberalism would be. "I should be free to do the best for my own self interest, as long as I try my best ( even though I may fail, ) to add net worth to the common good at the same time." I can well understand, that the idea that liberalism has abandoned the idea of the common good, and that it is just a synonym for libertarianism, may well be a commonality among anti-liberal propagandists. To the point even of becoming banal and unquestioned dogma. But wisdom is alway in the nuance, and the closed world of propagandists, is not a good place to go seeking it.

Thanks to Garban for directing my attention to this excellent article: Do Animals Have Culture ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 7, 2023:

Very good. And of course the fact that culture evolves faster than genes, explains why it is hard to have genetic tools with which to deal with any negative side effects that cultural phenomena may bring with them. The first great mismatch occurs, when language especially, enables a great leap forward in cultural complexity and its speed of evolution, long before the agricultural revolution brings civil life and the second great mismatch.

Why Aliens Have Never Visited Earth (that we know of) New Theory based on the Fermi Paradox:...

Fernapple comments on Apr 6, 2023:

Yes there only needs be one doomsday technology, whose dangers can not be understood by more primitive tech. waiting to be discovered, and everybody goes the same way.

What's so bad about bacon?

Fernapple comments on Apr 6, 2023:

Could well be true, i am not a biochemist, but there are no actual papers sited, and he does not say who pays for his "group".

The fossil fuel industry knew about their impact on climate as early as 1970

Fernapple comments on Apr 6, 2023:

I remember that it was about then, that the myth of a coming ice age became common in popular culture. Makes you wonder if oil money was not behind it.

None of This Garbage Is Important - In These Times

Fernapple comments on Apr 6, 2023:

We have a saying in the UK. "Goes to every dog hanging."

Spittin' Facts

Fernapple comments on Apr 6, 2023:

"Everything I tell people is positive and gives them hope !" Sorry fails at the first premise anyway.

Would it be unethical to wine and dine an accountant and whisper sweet nothings into his/her ear ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 6, 2023:

Yes but who would do our taxes next year ?

Modern Americans behave as if intelligence were some sort of hideous deformity. —  Frank Zappa

Fernapple comments on Apr 6, 2023:

Some do, but I still have hopes, it was not always so, and may not be so again.

Ultimately, any allocation or distribution (of goods or money or other resources) is always done by ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 6, 2023:

That is very true. I like it that you especially quote "making x-thousand dollars per month". Since of course even if the values in property etc. represented by dollars are real, which is arguable, dollars themselves certainly are merely a social construct made by government, as is all money. Even the original material basis is long gone in most cases, in my own country, if you go to the Bank Of England and give them a ten Pound Sterling note, you will no longer be given ten pounds of silver, nor is there even the promise that you would.

To be swigged, not sipped ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 4, 2023:

Or just put it on your bonfire and light a match.

“Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 4, 2023:

I am not sure that you can have either one without the other, certainly you can not have what may be called "true knowledge" without integrity.

Russia abducting Ukrainian children.

Fernapple comments on Apr 4, 2023:

I have some sympathy for the Russians over this, in the one sense that. If they left the children in the war zone, then they would be accused of using them as human shields, but if they evacuate them, then they will be accused of abduction and brainwashing. Either way the they are in deep s##t. But I don't have a lot of sympathy, because they would not be in that fix, if they had not invaded in the first place.

Today, I visited Lyme Regis, the world-famous Jurassic Coast, Dorset, England.

Fernapple comments on Apr 4, 2023:

I used to collect them as a child in our local village stream. They were washed out of the banks and were quite common in the gravel, though I never found one much bigger than about 8cm, (3 inch) across. Sadly I lost them when I moved house.

“We must look beneath every stone, lest it conceal some politician ready to sting us.

Fernapple comments on Apr 4, 2023:

In those days they had democracy, so there were no politicians, orators was the closest they got.

My Sunday sermon.

Fernapple comments on Apr 3, 2023:

The God of the gaps is usually about finding a gap and then filling it with god. This sounds almost as though they have not so much found a gap, and put god in it, so much as invented a gap that did not exist, so that they could insert their god. When your narcissism is not getting its regular dose of hypocrisy, you have to work extra hard.

Yep, Grandparents, parents, husband, husband’s family, kids, daughter in law…runs in the family.

Fernapple comments on Apr 3, 2023:

Yep. Religion: synonym narcissism.

Madeira, Portugal

Fernapple comments on Apr 2, 2023:

Some of my photos.

Madeira, Portugal

Fernapple comments on Apr 2, 2023:

Not many flat places on Madeira. You certainly need one leg shorter that the other.

Canadian advice…

Fernapple comments on Apr 2, 2023:

If you think that things that make it easier to do stuff, won't make people do that stuff more. Then I would like to point out that, in the days before airplanes and steam ships, a few people had visited more than one continent, but not many.

Because who knew???

Fernapple comments on Apr 2, 2023:

Great words. But I don't know about not using them, I can't wait for my next Mamihlapinatapai for example.

Joseph Campbell on mythology…

Fernapple comments on Apr 2, 2023:

While not wrong, that has to be the most banal and obvious statement ever made.

Thanks! I guess I will sleep in...

Fernapple comments on Apr 2, 2023:

Sure. Your wife is sleeping with the pastor.

The biased reasoning is always the same: my conception of the Good influences my definition of the ...

Fernapple comments on Apr 2, 2023:

Paradox. I believe truth is good, therefore I do not hold belief to be good, therefore I can not believe truth is good.